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# Somali movements and governments since 1895: aims and obstacles

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists the main Somali movements and governments from 1895 to now, era by era: what each set out to do, and the obstacles that sources record for each, with a source for every era.

## The Dervish movement, 1895 to 1920

- **What they set out to do:** a Somali authority under [Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) to end British, Italian and Ethiopian rule, based at Taleh.
- **What held it back:** colonial powers arming rival clans against it, rivalry between Sufi orders, and the defeat of its WWI backers. Taleh fell in February 1920.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervish_movement_%28Somali%29)

## UN Trusteeship, 1950 to 1960

- **What they set out to do:** a 10-year run-up to independence. The Somali Youth League won the 1954 and 1956 elections, and Somalis ran the administration by 1956.
- **What held it back:** a thin budget, a banana-only economy, little higher education, and a south on a different track from the north.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_Territory_of_Somaliland)

## The union, 1960 to 1969

- **What they set out to do:** joining two newly free territories into one [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/).
- **What held it back:** two legal, tax, police, school and currency systems merged after the fact. The north gave the 1961 constitution under 50% support.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)

## Greater Somalia, 1960 to 1978

- **What they set out to do:** uniting every Somali-inhabited land under the five-pointed star.
- **What held it back:** neighbours holding the Ogaden and NFD, the 1961 NFD vote left unacted, and African bodies holding to colonial borders.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)

## The Barre era, 1969 to 1991

- **What they set out to do:** one party, an anti-clan ideology, Somali taught in schools from 1972, a mass literacy drive, roads joining north and south.
- **What held it back:** rule by security law and, after 1978, clan-targeted repression. The state collapsed on 26 January 1991.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)

## Reconciliation rounds and transitional governments, 1991 to 2012

- **What they set out to do:** Djibouti 1991, Addis Ababa 1993, Arta 2000 (first civil-society-led talks), the Kenya talks of 2004 (federal charter and the 4.5 clan formula).
- **What held it back:** faction leaders who gained more from the vacuum, neighbours able to veto, and dependence on foreign backers.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Government)

## The Federal Government, 2012 to now

- **What they set out to do:** federal member states and a move toward one person, one vote.
- **What held it back:** 4.5 becoming permanent, and centralising amendments passed without a referendum. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) left in 2024, [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) suspended ties, and South West followed in 2026.
- [Horn Review](https://hornreview.org/2026/04/21/analysis-of-somalias-constitution-crisis/), [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/4-5-in-somalia-from-temporary-fix-to-permanent-obstacle/)

## Puntland, 1998 to now

- **What they set out to do:** a self-governing state built at a three-month Garowe conference of elders, business and civil society, as a building block for federal Somalia.
- **What held it back:** being defined by one clan family. It now runs apart from Mogadishu until there is a referendum-approved constitution.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland)

## Somaliland, 1991 to now

- **What they set out to do:** a return to 1960 borders and home-grown institutions.
- **What held it back:** no UN member recognising it until Israel on 26 December 2025, a move Somalia and the AU rejected.
- [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/1963551)

## Where it stands now

On 5 November 2026 the Supreme Court ruled that parliament's term ended on 14 April 2026 and the president's on 15 May 2026. It ordered a deal on an election framework within 30 days (about 5 December 2026) and elections within 90 days (about 3 February 2027). The government rejects the ruling, and the presidency dismissed the chief justice on 4 November. Sources: [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-supreme-court-rules-president-parliament-terms-expired-orders-elections-within-90-days), [Eurasia Review](https://www.eurasiareview.com/08112026-somalias-constitution-applies-to-the-presidency-too-court-rules-oped/).


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# Laas Geel and Somali rock art: the first herders' paintings, about 5,000 years old

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Laas Geel, a granite outcrop near the Hargeisa–Berbera road, holds around ten rock shelters painted with decorated cows, people with raised arms, dogs and a giraffe. A French team recorded it in December 2002 and attributes the paintings to the period of early cattle herding in the Horn, usually dated to the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. More than 70 rock art sites have been reported across the north, including Dhambalin, Karin Heegan, Dhagah Kure and Dhagah Nabi Gallay, and they hold the earliest pictures of herding in the Somali lands.

## In short

The oldest pictures made by people in the Somali lands are painted and carved on rocks in the northern highlands. They show cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and wild animals, often with people beside them. Archaeologists read them as the art of the first herders of the Horn of Africa.

The best known site is Laas Geel near Hargeisa. Sada Mire, the first head of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s Department of Archaeology, wrote in 2015 that over 70 rock art sites had been reported to the department, and mapped about 30 of them ([Mire 2015, "Mapping the Archaeology of Somaliland", *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Laas Geel: how it was recorded

A French team led by Xavier Gutherz of the University of Montpellier was surveying for rock shelters with buried layers from the time "when production economy appeared in this part of the Horn of Africa (circa 5th and 2nd millennia B.C.)". On 4 December 2002, on the way back to Hargeisa, "we were informed of the site by an inhabitant of Daarbudhuq, a small village on the national road between Hargeisa and Berbera; he then proceeded to take us there" ([Gutherz, Cros and Lesur, *Journal of African Archaeology* 1(2), 2003, pp. 227–228](https://hal.science/hal-02155252/document)).

The team thanks Osman Ali Bile, then Somaliland's Minister of Culture and Tourism, and [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Ismaël and Mohamed Abdi Ali "for their precious help in the field" (same source, p. 228, note 4). People living nearby had known the paintings long before 2002.

**The name.** The authors write that the rock stands where two wadis meet, with seasonal pools and a water table close to the surface, and that "the Somali name means: 'The dromedaries' waterhole'". They kept the spelling Las Geel on the advice of their Somali guides (same source, p. 228).

## What the paintings show

- **Where.** The granite massif lies 4 km west of the road from Hargeisa to Berbera. It has about 20 small shelters. The paintings are only on the eastern side, in about ten shelters on three levels. The largest are about 5 m deep and 10 m wide (Gutherz et al. 2003, p. 228).
- **Colours.** "In order of frequency, red ochre, white, yellow ochre and, more seldom, black." Most figures are polychrome (same source).
- **Cows.** The cattle "are cows with the udder and the four teats clearly drawn". They are "all humpless cows", with long horns, mostly claw-shaped or lyre-shaped, often white with reddish-brown tips. Their necks carry a painted panel that the authors call a "plastron", which "could represent a piece of fabric or leather resting on the neck of the animals during special ceremonies" (same source, pp. 228, 234).
- **People.** "Stocky human figures with spindle-shape legs and raised arms" stand beside the cows (same source, abstract).
- **Other animals.** Dogs or other canids beside the people, "a single giraffe and some antelopes" (same source, abstract).
- **Layers.** In places one painting covers an older one, which the authors take as a sign that the site was painted more than once (same source, p. 234).

The authors call Laas Geel, for "the abundance of its paintings, their quality, the originality of the type of representation of bovines and human figures", one of "the major Holocene sites of rock art in this region of Africa" (same source, abstract).

## How old are the paintings?

- **The regional style.** The Laas Geel paintings belong to "a pan-regional style that is usually dated from the IIIrd and IInd millennia BC, the period of the outbreak and development of cattle breeding in the Horn of Africa" (Gutherz et al. 2003, p. 234).
- **The excavated shelter.** Sada Mire notes that the dating rests on "small fragments of pigment found in layers believed to date to 3500–2500 BCE" in Shelter 7, the only excavated shelter, where no pottery at all was found ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **Older stone tools.** The deeper layers of Shelter 7 held stone tools with Middle Stone Age traits, including the Levallois technique, mixed with Late Stone Age blades. This matches an industry first named the "[Hargeisan](/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/)" by the archaeologist J. Desmond Clark in 1954, from the end of the last Ice Age ([Gutherz et al., "The Hargeisan revisited", *Quaternary International* 343, 2014](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038)).
- **No pottery.** The 2003 team found no pottery at Laas Geel or at other dwelling sites they saw. "If we give a Neolithic or Protohistoric age, we must admit that these pastoral groups lived in the area without using pottery" (Gutherz et al. 2003, p. 234).

## Other rock art sites

- **Karin Heegan (Karinhegane).** Studied by Steven Brandt and Nanny Carder in the 1980s. It has painted cows with the same decorated neck as Laas Geel. Brandt dated charcoal from a test pit at its entrance to 1600 and 2100 years before present, which Gutherz's team thinks may date a later occupation rather than the paintings ([Brandt and Carder, "Pastoral rock art in the Horn of Africa", *World Archaeology* 19, 1987](https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1987.9980034); [Gutherz et al. 2003, p. 234](https://hal.science/hal-02155252/document)).
- **Dhambalin, [Saaxil](/en/regions/sahil/).** A sandstone rock shelter in the Saaxil region, recorded by Sada Mire in 2007. Mire calls it "the first and only site in Somali territory that depicts sheep and goats unambiguously". It shows hunters with bows and dogs, giraffes, antelopes and decorated sheep, goats and cattle ([Mire, "The Discovery of Dhambalin Rock Art Site, Somaliland", *African Archaeological Review* 25, 2008](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-008-9032-2); [Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **Dhagah Kure and Dhagah Nabi Gallay.** Two more sites with cattle paintings in the same style. Both also carry Sabaean and Himyarite writing from South Arabia, which in places appears to have been added on top of the paintings later (Mire 2015).
- **Haadh and [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/) Rihin, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/).** Cattle paintings in the Laas Geel style, recorded by Mire in 2007 (Mire 2015).
- **Dhagah Maroodi.** A petroglyph site, where the cattle are carved into the rock rather than painted. Mire calls it "unique" for this reason (Mire 2015).
- **Sabeeno Furte, near [Ceerigaabo](/en/regions/sanaag/), Sanaag.** Pecked figures 4 to 5 m up a smoothed cliff above a spring, showing mounted horses, standing men, and camels carrying loads "caravan style" (Mire 2015). A similar cave, God Hardhane near [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), was described by I. M. Lewis in 1958 (cited in Mire 2015).
- **Dacawale, Dhaymoole.** Paintings that Mire describes as "what appear to be lunar calendars, depicting a 28-day calendar, and crescents and full moons", with geometric designs and animals (Mire 2015).

## What the rock art tells us

Mire writes that the rock art indicates that between the third and second millennia BCE, "herding humpless cows… sheep and goats… as well as hunting antelopes, giraffes and other wild animals, was the basis for the subsistence economy". The hunting scenes "suggest a mixed economy and much greener environment than the region offers today". Most sites lie in an east–west belt of granite and limestone shelters across the middle of Somaliland ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Threats

Mire lists wind and rain erosion, wasps' nests, baboons that damage the walls, graffiti, deliberate vandalism, the use of painted rocks as building stone, and above all looting and the illegal antiquities trade ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)
- [Heritage sites in Somalia](/en/society/heritage-sites/)


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# The Land of Punt and the Somali coast: what the Egyptian records say

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Punt was a land that ancient Egypt reached by sea for myrrh, incense, ebony, gold and live animals, from about 2500 BC to about 1150 BC. Its exact place is debated. Many scholars put it on the African side of the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in an area that includes parts of today's Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and northern Somalia, and a 2020 isotope study of baboons that Egypt imported from Punt pointed to that same region.

## In short

*Punt* (in Egyptian, *Pwnt*) appears in Egyptian records for more than 1,300 years. The Egyptians also called it *Ta-netjer*, "God's Land". They went there by ship for myrrh and incense to burn in their temples, and for ebony, ivory, gold, animal skins and live animals.

No Egyptian text gives a map. Where Punt lay is still argued. The main views are set out below, each with its source. The modern Somali state of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) took its name from Punt ([BBC News, Puntland profile](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14114727)).

## Every recorded Egyptian contact with Punt

The American Egyptologist James Henry Breasted collected the early records in 1906 ([Breasted, *Ancient Records of Egypt*, vol. 2, §247](https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof02brea_0)):

- **Fourth Dynasty (about 2600–2500 BC).** A man from Punt appears as a servant of one of the sons of King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.
- **Fifth Dynasty.** King Sahure sent an expedition to Punt. King Isesi sent another, which brought back a dancing dwarf.
- **Sixth Dynasty.** Under Pepi II an officer named Enenkhet was killed by "the Sand-dwellers on the coast" while building a ship for Punt. Another expedition went under the assistant treasurer Thethy.
- **Eleventh Dynasty (about 2000 BC).** Henu, chief treasurer of Mentuhotep III, sent an expedition to Punt and went with it as far as the Red Sea coast.
- **Twelfth Dynasty.** An officer of Amenemhet II named Khentkhetwer recorded his safe return from Punt. Another expedition went under Senusret II. A Middle Kingdom story, the *Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor*, is set on a voyage to Punt.
- **Eighteenth Dynasty (about 1470 BC).** Queen Hatshepsut's expedition, carved on her temple at Deir el-Bahari (see below).
- **Twentieth Dynasty (about 1150 BC).** Papyrus Harris I, from the reign of Ramesses III, describes ships returning from Punt and their goods carried overland to Coptos on the Nile ([Breasted, *Ancient Records of Egypt*, vol. 4, §407](https://archive.org/details/ancient-records-of-egypt-vol-4_202011)).

Breasted noted that apart from Hatshepsut's reliefs, "none of these sources contains more than the meagerest reference to the fact of the expedition" (vol. 2, §247).

## Hatshepsut's expedition, about 1470 BC

The fullest record of Punt is a series of painted reliefs on the middle terrace of Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari in Thebes. The expedition returned just before the ninth year of her reign ([Breasted, vol. 2, §246](https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof02brea_0)). Five ships are shown.

**The land.** The reliefs show the houses of the people of Punt "set on poles", among trees, beside water (§254).

**The ruler.** The chief of Punt is named *Perehu*. Behind him walks his wife, named Eti in Breasted's reading (Ati in other translations), then two sons and a daughter, and three servants driving "the ass which bears his wife" (§254, 258).

**The meeting.** The text over the people of Punt reads (§257):

> "Why have ye come hither unto this land, which the people know not? Did ye come down upon the ways of heaven, or did ye sail upon the waters, upon the sea of God's-Land?"

The Egyptian inscriptions present the people of Punt as paying tribute. Joyce Tyldesley, a biographer of Hatshepsut, reads it as a trading mission that the temple texts describe in the language of tribute ([Tyldesley, *Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh*, 1996, pp. 145–149](https://archive.org/details/hatchepsutfemale00tyld)).

**The cargo.** Over the ships (§265):

> "The loading of the ships very heavily with marvels of the country of Punt; all goodly fragrant woods of God's-Land, heaps of myrrh-resin, with fresh myrrh trees, with ebony and pure ivory, with green gold of Emu, with cinnamon wood, khesyt wood, with ihmut-incense, sonter-incense, eye-cosmetic, with apes, monkeys, dogs, and with skins of the southern panther, with natives and their children. Never was brought the like of this for any king who has been since the beginning."

Thirty-one live myrrh trees were brought back to be planted at the temple of Amun (§272). The reliefs were later damaged: Hatshepsut's name and figures were hacked out after her death, and Amun's name was erased under Amenhotep IV (§246, note).

## Where was Punt? What each source says

- **The Egyptian port.** Excavations led by Kathryn Bard and Rodolfo Fattovich at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis on Egypt's Red Sea coast found ship timbers, anchors and inscribed stelae naming Punt expeditions. This was a harbour for the voyage, so Punt lay south along the Red Sea ([Boston University, Mersa/Wadi Gawasis project](https://www.bu.edu/archaeology/archaeological-investigations-at-mersa-wadi-gawasis-egypt/)).
- **The baboon study, 2020.** Egypt imported sacred hamadryas baboons from Punt. Nathaniel Dominy and colleagues measured oxygen and strontium isotopes in 155 modern baboons from 77 places and compared them with mummified baboons. Two New Kingdom mummies "were sourced to a region that encompasses much of present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, and portions of [Somalia and Yemen](/en/relations/yemen/)." The authors write that this "corroborates the balance of scholarly conjecture on the location of Punt" ([Dominy et al., *eLife*, 2020](https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.60860)).
- **The follow-up DNA study, 2023.** Mitochondrial DNA from a later baboon mummy (about 800–540 BC) matched modern baboons in Eritrea, Ethiopia and eastern [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), pointing to the port of Adulis in Eritrea for that later period ([Grathwol et al., *eLife*, 2023](https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.87513)).
- **Archaeologists of the Somali coast.** Neville Chittick wrote that "to the Ancient Egyptians, the land of Punt, usually identified with the northern Somali coast, was equated with the land of incense" ([Chittick 1979, p. 273](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)). Sada Mire places Punt "possibly somewhere on the African side of the southern Red Sea Coast" and writes that it "may well be the area of current-day Somalia/[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)" ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **Other views.** Jacke Phillips reviewed the evidence linking Punt and later Aksum ([Phillips, "Punt and Aksum: Egypt and the Horn of Africa", *Journal of African History* 38, 1997](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853797007068)). Dimitri Meeks argued for western Arabia ([Meeks, "Locating Punt", in O'Connor and Quirke, *Mysterious Lands*, 2003](https://archive.org/details/mysteriouslands0000unse)).
- **Names.** W. H. Schoff recorded Eduard Glaser's view that the names Pano and Opone, on the Somali coast in the 1st-century *Periplus*, echo "Punt" ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 87](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).

## "Puntite" claims and looting

Since 2012, sites in Somaliland have been reported as "Pharaonic" or "Puntite". Sada Mire was asked by the Somaliland government to look into them in 2014. She found that the sites shown to her were cairns emptied of their stones, and that a man was selling so-called "Pharaonic" sculptures for up to US$15,000. She wrote that the sculptures and the sites "must be examined properly", and that demand for them has driven looting ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [The Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/)
- [Frankincense and myrrh: the ancient Somali incense trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/)


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# The Somali ports in the Periplus, 1st century AD: Avalites, Malao, Mundus, Mosylon and Opone

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 2,000 years ago a Greek-speaking merchant from Roman Egypt wrote a sailing guide, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, that lists a chain of trading towns on the Somali coast: Avalites (near Zeila), Malao (Berbera), Mundus (Heis), Mosylon, the Market of Spices near Cape Guardafui, and Opone (Ras Hafun). It says these towns exported myrrh, frankincense, cinnamon-type spices, tortoiseshell and ivory, and that 'this country is not subject to a king, but each market-town is ruled by its separate chief.'

## In short

The *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* is a Greek handbook for merchants sailing from Roman Egypt into the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Its author is unknown. Most scholars date it to the 1st century AD; the archaeologist Neville Chittick preferred the 2nd or early 3rd century ([Chittick 1979, *International Journal of Nautical Archaeology* 8.4, p. 273](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

Sections 7 to 14 of the book walk along the north coast of today's Somali lands, port by port, from the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) round Cape Guardafui to Ras Hafun. The text calls the people of this coast *Barbaroi* (Berbers) and their land the "far-side" coast, because it lay across the sea from Arabia. The quotations below are from W. H. Schoff's 1912 English translation ([Schoff, *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, 1912, pp. 25–28](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).

## How the coast was governed

The Periplus says the far-side coast had no single ruler:

> "This country is not subject to a King, but each market-town is ruled by its separate chief." (§14)

Ships came from Egypt "about the month of July", and also from western India, from Ariaca and Barygaza (Bharuch), bringing "wheat, rice, clarified butter, sesame oil, cotton cloth… and honey from the reed called *sacchari*" (sugar cane). Some ships sailed only to these towns; others traded as they went along the coast (§14).

## Port by port

**Avalites (§7), near Zeila.** "The first is called Avalites; to this place the voyage from Arabia to the far-side coast is the shortest." It was "a small market-town… which must be reached by boats and rafts." Imports were flint glass, sour-grape juice from Diospolis in Egypt, cloth "made for the Berbers", wheat, wine and a little tin. Exports were "spices, a little ivory, tortoise-shell, and a very little myrrh, but better than the rest." The text adds that the Berbers sometimes crossed the strait on rafts themselves to sell at Ocelis and Muza in Arabia, and calls the people of this place "very unruly." Schoff identifies Avalites with Zeila and notes the village of Abalit on the north shore of the bay ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 74](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).

**Malao (§8), Berbera.** About 800 stadia (roughly 145 km) further on, with an anchorage "sheltered by a spit running out from the east." "Here the natives are more peaceable." Imports were tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, drinking-cups, a little soft copper, iron, and some gold and silver coin. Exports were "myrrh, a little frankincense… the harder cinnamon, *duaca*, Indian copal and *macir*… and slaves, but rarely." Schoff identifies Malao with Berbera, whose sand spit still shelters the harbour ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 80](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).

**Mundus (§9), [Heis](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) (Xiis).** "Two days' sail, or three, beyond Malao", where "the ships lie at anchor more safely behind a projecting island close to the shore." It exported the same goods plus "the incense called *mocrotu*". The text says "the traders living here are more quarrelsome"; the newer translation quoted by the 2022 Heis excavators renders it "rather hard bargainers" ( [Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)). Schoff and later archaeologists match the "island close to the shore" with the rocky islet less than 200 m off Heis.

**Mosylon (§10).** Two or three days further east, "on a beach, with a bad anchorage." It shipped "a great quantity of cinnamon (so that this market-town requires ships of larger size)", fragrant gums, spices, tortoiseshell, *mocrotu*, frankincense, ivory and myrrh. Imports included silver plate, a little iron and glass. Its site is debated: Schoff says most commentators put it at Ras Hantara, while Glaser preferred Ras Khamzir much further west ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 82](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)). Chittick thought the Heis harbour fitted Mundus better and that the two names may have been confused by ancient writers. He noted that Pliny the Elder named the "Mossylites cape and harbour" as the furthest point east he knew ([Chittick 1979, p. 274](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

**The frankincense groves (§11).** Beyond Mosylon came "the so-called Little Nile River", a spring, "Cape Elephant", and "a large laurel-grove called [Acannae](/en/regions/caluula/), where alone is produced the far-side frankincense, in great quantity and of the best grade."

**The Market and [Cape of Spices](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/) (§12), Cape Guardafui.** "An abrupt promontory, at the very end of the Berber coast toward the east." Its anchorage was dangerous in north winds. When the sea turned "more turbid" before a storm, ships ran for shelter to a headland called [Tabae](/en/regions/qandala/). The market produced "cinnamon and its different varieties, *gizir*, *asypha*, *arebo*, *magla* and *moto*, and frankincense." Chittick linked this market to rock-cut walls of the Roman period near the village of Daamo, just west of the cape ([Chittick 1979, p. 275](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

**Pano and Opone (§13), Ras Hafun.** After the village of Pano came "another market-town called Opone", where "the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced", along with "slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers; and a great quantity of tortoise-shell, better than that found elsewhere." Opone is identified with Ras Hafun, about 150 km south of Guardafui. See [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/).

**[Azania](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/) (§15).** South of Opone the Periplus describes the "small and great bluffs of Azania", then the "Courses of Azania", the first called Sarapion and the next Nicon, a coast "destitute of harbours" that runs on towards Rhapta in today's [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/).

## What the goods were

- **Myrrh and frankincense** are tree resins. They were burned in temples across Egypt, Arabia and the Roman world. Chittick calls aromatic gums "the chief commodity sought by merchants coming to the Horn of Africa" ([Chittick 1979, p. 273](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).
- **"Cinnamon" (*kasia*)** in the Periplus was a range of bark spices, graded under local names. Schoff argued that much of it was re-exported from India and Southeast Asia through Somali ports, while some may have been local ([Schoff 1912, notes pp. 82–87](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).
- **Mocrotu** was, in Schoff's reading, a high grade of frankincense. He cites the Arabic *mghairot* and a Somali word recorded as *mokhr* ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 82](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).
- **Tortoiseshell, ivory and slaves** were also exported. The Periplus records Egyptian demand for enslaved people from Opone as rising.

## What archaeology later found

- **Heis (Xiis), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/).** In the 1880s the French explorer [Georges Révoil](/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/) found Roman glass and pottery in cairns here. Chittick found Roman glass of about the 4th century AD in 1976. Excavations in 2018 and 2019 mapped a cemetery of over 300 cairns stretching 1,800 m along the coast. Imported goods were found at 80 of them: Parthian glazed ware, Roman glass and amphorae, and South Arabian jars of the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. One intact grave held a young person buried with a large Roman glass bottle of the 3rd century AD, iron anklets and a necklace of glass and bronze beads ([Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres, *Networked spaces*, MOM Éditions, 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)).
- **Ras Hafun, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/).** Two port sites, dated from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD (see [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/)).
- **No stone houses at Heis.** Chittick found no permanent dwellings at Heis. He suggested that trade was run by herders who set up portable houses, like the Somali *aqal*, during the trading season ([Chittick 1979, p. 274](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).
- **Sewn boats.** Chittick linked the survival on this coast of the *beden*, a boat sewn together with no metal fastenings, to the rough, harbourless shore, since sewn hulls survive landing through surf (same source).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Heritage sites in Somalia](/en/society/heritage-sites/)
- [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/)


---

# Opone and Ras Hafun (Xaafuun): an ancient Somali port, 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ras Hafun (Xaafuun), on the Indian Ocean coast south of Cape Guardafui, holds two of the oldest excavated port sites in the Somali lands. Excavations in 1975–76 found a stone building with Hellenistic-style painted pottery at Hafun West and a trading site with Parthian and Roman goods at Hafun Main. Archaeologists date the two sites from about the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD and identify Hafun Main with Opone, a market town named in the 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

## In short

Ras Hafun is a sandstone headland on the Indian Ocean coast of [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region, about 150 km south of Cape Guardafui. It is joined to the mainland by a sand spit, or tombolo, about 25 km long ([Chittick 1979, "Early ports in the Horn of Africa", *International Journal of Nautical Archaeology* 8.4, p. 275](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)). In Somali it is Xaafuun. The town of Hafun lies on the headland.

Two ancient sites were excavated here in 1975 and 1976 by an expedition of the British Institute in Eastern Africa led by Neville Chittick, "in collaboration with Somali colleagues" and with the help of the government of the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) (same source, p. 273). Their finds make Hafun one of the earliest dated trading places on the coast of East Africa.

## What the Periplus says about Opone

The 1st-century Greek *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* describes the last market town of the "far-side" coast before [Azania](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/) (§13):

> "Beyond Tabae, after four hundred stadia, there is the village of Pano. And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along a promontory, toward which place the current also draws you, there is another market-town called Opone, into which the same things are imported as those already mentioned, and in it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced (the *arebo* and *moto*), and slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers; and a great quantity of tortoise-shell, better than that found elsewhere." ([Schoff translation, 1912, p. 28](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236))

W. H. Schoff identified Opone with "the remarkable headland now known as Ras Hafun" and Pano with Ras Binna. He also recorded the German scholar Eduard Glaser's view that the names Pano and Opone echo the Egyptian "[Land of Punt](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/)" ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 87](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).
## Hafun West: a port of the last centuries BC

Hafun West lies by a shallow lagoon between the headland and the mainland. Chittick's team found the badly eroded remains of a building partly made of cut stone blocks. In the lower layers were fragments of "high-quality painted pottery apparently of Hellenistic origin" and large storage jars ([Chittick 1979, p. 275](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

- **Date.** Chittick first took the site to be "a small port establishment of the 2nd or 3rd century BC of which the Roman geographers were ignorant." A later study dates Hafun West from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD ([Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511), citing Smith and Wright, *Azania* 23, 1988).
- **The hinterland.** A wadi from the Darror valley runs into the lagoon. Chittick notes that the valley leads to an area "where it is said good quality myrrh may be obtained."
- **Later use.** By about the 3rd century AD the stone building was in ruins and people lived among its debris. They left many turtle bones but no turtle shells, which Chittick suggests were sold for export, as the Periplus describes. A large mound of *Murex* shells nearby may have been used to make purple dye. The lagoon's edges suit salt-making by evaporation, which is still done there (Chittick 1979, p. 276).
- **Burials.** Small cairns nearby were built with stones taken from the main building. One held a crouched burial, hands to the face, facing west, with no grave goods (same source).

## Hafun Main: the market of Opone

Hafun Main lies on the south side of the headland, next to a harbour sheltered from the north-east monsoon. Chittick wrote that it "is probably to be identified with the mart named Opone in the Periplus" ([Chittick 1979, p. 276](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

- Test pits found up to 2 m of occupation layers, mostly bands of charcoal and sand, with many ovens made from old pots.
- There were no stone houses, only traces of large post-holes, which suggests buildings of wood and matting.
- Low rectangular stone tombs nearby held glazed pottery related to "Parthian" types, and glass.
- The base of a Sasanian-Islamic blue-glazed jar near a cairn, which the excavators read as a sign that people still came here in later centuries.

Chittick provisionally dated Hafun Main to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The later study gives the 2nd to 5th centuries AD and says the imported goods came "from the Roman Empire, the Gulf and South Asia" ([Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)). Egyptian red-slipped pottery of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD from Hafun matches finds at Coptos and Myos Hormos, the Roman Red Sea ports in Egypt (same source).

## Why Hafun matters to the record

- It is one of the few places on the Horn of Africa where a port named in a Greek text has been matched with excavated remains.
- The excavators read the finds as evidence of the Somali coast trading with Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, Parthian and Sasanian Persia and South Asia over about 500 years.
- Sada Mire, who headed [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s Department of Archaeology, describes Ras Hafun as "an important site from the third century BCE, serving as a settlement to support Graeco-Roman trade" ([Mire 2015, "Mapping the Archaeology of Somaliland", *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## The beden boat

Chittick photographed a *beden*, a sewn boat built without metal fastenings, afloat in the Hafun lagoon in 1975–76, next to a dugout canoe (*huri*) with a stone anchor ([Chittick 1979, fig. 4](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)). He linked the survival of sewn boats on this coast to its open, surf-beaten landing places.

## Related pages

- [The Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Heritage sites in Somalia](/en/society/heritage-sites/)


---

# Frankincense and myrrh: the ancient Somali incense trade, from Egypt to China

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> For more than 3,000 years the northern Somali coast was known abroad as a land of incense. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Chinese writers all describe frankincense and myrrh coming from it: the 1st-century Periplus says the best 'far-side' frankincense grew there 'in great quantity', the 6th-century monk Cosmas called the region 'the frankincense country called Barbaria', and a Chinese official in 1225 wrote that the Somali coast was the only Muslim land that produced frankincense.

## In short

Frankincense and myrrh are dried resins tapped from trees. Frankincense comes from *[Boswellia](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/)* trees and myrrh from *Commiphora* trees, both of which grow in the dry hills of the northern Horn of Africa and southern Arabia. In the ancient world they were burned in temples and used in medicine, perfume and burials.

The archaeologist Neville Chittick wrote that aromatic gums were "the chief commodity sought by merchants coming to the Horn of Africa" throughout history ([Chittick 1979, *International Journal of Nautical Archaeology* 8.4, p. 273](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)). This page gathers what each ancient source says, in order.

## Egypt: "heaps of myrrh-resin" from Punt, about 1470 BC

Egyptian ships sailed to the Land of Punt for incense from at least the 25th century BC. Many scholars place Punt on the African side of the southern Red Sea and [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), a region that includes northern Somalia (see [the Land of Punt](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/)).

Queen Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari shows her ships being loaded with "heaps of myrrh-resin, with fresh myrrh trees… with *ihmut*-incense, *sonter*-incense". Thirty-one live myrrh trees were carried back to be planted for the god Amun ([Breasted, *Ancient Records of Egypt*, vol. 2, §§265, 272](https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof02brea_0)). Around 1150 BC Papyrus Harris I records ships returning with "plentiful myrrh of Punt, laden by ten-thousands, without number" ([Breasted, vol. 4, §407](https://archive.org/details/ancient-records-of-egypt-vol-4_202011)).

## Greek and Roman writers: the "frankincense-bearing country"

**Strabo, about 20 AD.** Drawing on the earlier geographer Artemidorus, Strabo describes the coast beyond the Bab el-Mandeb: after the promontory of Pytholaus "one comes to the country that bears frankincense", then to river-lands "that produce frankincense along the rivers", and to "the cinnamon-bearing country", ending at the promontory he calls Notu-ceras, the "[Horn of the South](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)" ([Strabo, *Geography* 16.4.14, trans. H. L. Jones, LacusCurtius](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16D*.html)). Chittick notes that Strabo's knowledge of this coast "ends with the region of Cape Guardafui" ([Chittick 1979, p. 273](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

**The *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, 1st century AD.** This merchants' guide lists what each Somali port exported ([Schoff translation, 1912, pp. 25–28](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)):

- **Avalites (near Zeila):** "a very little myrrh, but better than the rest."
- **Malao (Berbera):** "myrrh, a little frankincense (that known as far-side)."
- **Mundus ([Heis](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/)):** the same, plus "the incense called *mocrotu*."
- **Mosylon:** "a great quantity of cinnamon", fragrant gums, *mocrotu*, frankincense and myrrh.
- **The grove of [Acannae](/en/regions/caluula/), beyond Mosylon:** "where alone is produced the far-side frankincense, in great quantity and of the best grade."
- **The Market of Spices, Cape Guardafui:** cinnamon of five named grades, and frankincense.

The Romans' name for the cape, *Aromata*, means "spices". W. H. Schoff, the translator, quotes a letter from the naturalist R. E. Drake-Brockman, written at Berbera in January 1910: "The Horn of Africa was known to the Romans as the *regio aromatifera* on account of the large quantities of myrrh that were exported" ([Schoff 1912, notes p. 87](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).

Schoff read *mocrotu* as a top grade of frankincense, related to the Arabic *mghairot* and a Somali word he recorded as *mokhr* (same source, notes p. 82).

## Byzantium and Aksum: "the frankincense country called Barbaria", 6th century

Cosmas, a Greek merchant from Alexandria who sailed the Red Sea, wrote his *Christian Topography* around 550 AD. He calls the Horn "the frankincense country called Barbaria, lying along the ocean". He describes how the trade worked ([Cosmas Indicopleustes, *Christian Topography*, trans. J. W. McCrindle, 1897, Book II, pp. 51–52](https://archive.org/details/christiantopogra00cosm)):

> "The region which produces frankincense is situated at the projecting parts of Ethiopia, and lies inland, but is washed by the ocean on the other side. Hence the inhabitants of Barbaria, being near at hand, go up into the interior and, engaging in traffic with the natives, bring back from them many kinds of spices, frankincense, cassia, calamus, and many other articles of merchandise, which they afterwards send by sea to Adule, to the country of the Homerites, to Further India, and to Persia."

Adule was the port of the kingdom of Aksum, in today's Eritrea. The Homerites were the Himyarites of Yemen. Cosmas also copied a Greek inscription at Adulis in which an earlier king of Aksum boasted of campaigns reaching "on the East to the country of frankincense" (same source, pp. 63–64).

## China: "the only one which produces frankincense", 1225

Zhao Rugua (Chau Ju-kua), a Song dynasty customs official in the port of Quanzhou, wrote a guide to foreign lands and goods in 1225, the *Zhufan zhi*. He described two Somali countries ([Hirth and Rockhill, *Chau Ju-kua*, 1911, pp. 128–131](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)):

- **Pi-p'a-lo (the Berbera coast):** "The land is also rich in putchuck, liquid storax gum, myrrh, and tortoise shell of extraordinary thickness, for which there is a great demand in other countries."
- **Chung-li (the Somali coast and Socotra):** "Among the countries of the Ta-shi [the Muslim lands] this is the only one which produces frankincense."

The translators add that "at the present time the best myrrh comes from the Somali country near Harar" (same source, p. 197). See [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

## What archaeology adds

- Sada Mire, who headed [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s Department of Archaeology, writes that the region's frankincense and myrrh "were linked to temples of many ancient civilizations including Ancient Egypt". She describes ancient burials at [Shalcaw](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/) on the Red Sea coast, with Sabaean writing, as a key to "the trade in frankincense and myrrh, still a big part of the economy in this area" ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- She notes that the mountains of Shimbiris and Daallo in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) "host many archaeological sites, also being part [of] the ancient incense trade" (same source).
- At Ras Hafun, a valley running into the lagoon leads to an area "where it is said good quality myrrh may be obtained" ([Chittick 1979, p. 276](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [The Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/)
- [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)


---

# British Somaliland, 1884–1960: the protectorate before independence

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> British Somaliland was a British protectorate on the Gulf of Aden coast of the Horn, from the treaties of 1884–1886 until 26 June 1960. Britain held it mainly to supply livestock to Aden. Its capital moved from Berbera to Hargeisa in the 1940s. It got a Legislative Council in 1957 and its first party elections in 1960, became the independent State of Somaliland on 26 June 1960, and joined the former Italian south on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic.

## In short

British Somaliland was the northern coast of the Somali lands, from Zeila in the west to the borders of the Majeerteen in the east. Britain held it as a protectorate for 76 years, from the treaties of 1884–1886 to independence on 26 June 1960 ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

Five days after independence, it joined the former Italian trust territory to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). Since 1991 the self-declared [Republic of Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has claimed the protectorate's borders. In 2023 [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) communities in Las Anod and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) rejected its rule and joined the federation, now as [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) (["Las Anod conflict", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_conflict_%282023%29)).

## Why Britain came, 1884

The Library of Congress says Britain wanted the coast "as a source of mutton and other livestock products for its naval port of Aden". Aden in turn guarded the sea route to British India ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).

British occupation began "in earnest" in February 1884, when Major A. Hunter arrived at Berbera to sign treaties with the clans. He placed British vice-consuls at Berbera, Bulhar and Zeila (same source). The texts of those treaties, and how they changed from friendship to protection, are told in [the colonial treaties, 1884–1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).

## How large, and how ruled?

In 1910 Lord Curzon described the protectorate to the House of Lords as a strip "300 to 400 miles in length and some 200 miles in width". He put its people at "between 200,000 and 300,000" ([HL Deb 6 April 1910, vol. 5, cc. 556–98](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1910/apr/06/somaliland)).

British rule for its first decades was thin. From 1899 to 1920 the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) fought Britain across the interior. In 1910 the government withdrew its forces to the coast. Curzon called this "the abandonment" of the interior and asked the government to defend it (same source).

## A "neglected backwater"?

The Library of Congress contrasts the two colonies. Italy planned plantations and settlers in the south. In its words, "British Somaliland stayed a neglected backwater", used as "little more than a supplier of meat products to Aden" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm)).

It adds that the cost of the Dervish wars took money away from development. When the two territories joined in 1960, the north "lagged far behind the south in economic infrastructure and skilled labor" (same source).

## Burao, 1922

On 24 February 1922 Captain Allan Gibb, the District Commissioner at [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), was shot dead while trying to stop a clash between two groups. The Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill, told the Commons that the Governor sent for two aeroplanes from Aden "for purposes of demonstration". Churchill said that they "did not drop any bombs", and that the leaders "undertaken to carry out the terms imposed upon them" ([HC Deb 14 March 1922, vol. 151, cc. 1953–4](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1922/mar/14/somaliland)).

Later histories tell a fuller story. They say the trouble began over a new tax and a disarmament order, that the Governor proposed a fine of 2,500 camels, and that Burao was burned. The historian James Lawrence writes that "the entire area was razed by a combination of bombing, machine-gun fire and burning". The same accounts say the tax was dropped and the Governor, Geoffrey Archer, was soon replaced (["1922 Burao tax revolt", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Burao_tax_revolt)), citing Millman, *British Somaliland* (2013), and Lawrence, *Imperial Rearguard*, p. 168.

## War, 1940–1941

In August 1940 Italian forces invaded and took British Somaliland. For a short time all the Somali territories except [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) and Kenya's north were under one ruler. In March 1941 British forces came back and retook the protectorate, and from there drove Italy out of East Africa ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm)). See [fascist rule and the war, 1923–1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).

## The military administration, 1941–1949

After 1941 a British military governor ran the protectorate. The Library of Congress records changes greater than in the decades before ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)):

- **A new capital.** The capital moved from Berbera, on the hot coast, to Hargeisa on the inland plateau.
- **Services.** Health and veterinary services began. Farming was improved in the Gabiley–[Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) corridor, more bore wells were dug, and the first secular elementary schools opened.
- **Courts.** The courts combined Somali customary law (*xeer*), sharia and British common law.
- **Forces.** The Somaliland Camel Corps, raised during the Dervish wars, was reorganised as five battalions of Somaliland Scouts.

In July 1945 Sheikh Bashir Sheikh Yusuf led an armed revolt near Burao and was killed. See [Sheikh Bashir](/en/people/sheikh-bashir/).

## The parties

The [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) opened branches in the north. The Library of Congress names the two main northern parties ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)):

- **The Somali National League (SNL),** "mainly associated with the Isaaq clan-family".
- **The United Somali Party (USP),** supported by the Gadabuursi and Ciise of the Dir, and the Dhulbahante and [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) of the [Daarood](/en/society/darod/).

The same source says that until 1954 no party "could mobilize grass-roots support" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

## The Haud and the turn to self-rule, 1954–1959

In 1954–1955 Britain handed the Haud grazing lands to Ethiopian administration. Protests followed, and a new party, the National United Front (NUF), rose under Michael Mariano. See [the Haud, 1954–1955](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).

The Library of Congress says the protests "forced Britain in 1956 to introduce representative government in its protectorate" and to accept eventual union with the south ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)):

- **1957.** A Legislative Council of six members, appointed by the governor to represent the main clan-families.
- **1958.** Enlarged to twelve elected members, two appointed and fifteen elders and notables. Towns voted by secret ballot; the countryside chose by acclamation in clan assemblies.

In June 1958 a British MP, Fenner Brockway, told the Commons that political progress had been "much greater in [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/)" and that there were "no elected Ministers in British Somaliland" ([HC Deb 26 June 1958, vol. 590, cc. 596–7](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1958/jun/26/future)).

## The 1960 election

In 1960 the first party elections were held for a 33-seat Legislative Assembly. The SNL and the USP won all seats but one. Michael Mariano won the last seat for the NUF ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)). The Library of Congress writes that his party's defeat was "clearly attributable to his Christian affiliation", which opponents had made a campaign issue (same source).

Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal became the first Somali to lead the government, as head of a four-member cabinet (same source). See [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/).

## Independence and union, 1960

- **April 1960.** Leaders of the two territories met in Mogadishu and agreed to form a unitary state ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).
- **26 June 1960.** The protectorate became the independent [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/). Control of the Somaliland Scouts passed to its government ([HC Deb 25 July 1960, vol. 627, cc. 1068–70](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)).
- **1 July 1960.** The union with the south was "acclaimed", and Britain's first ambassador to the Somali Republic presented his credentials (same source).

The same record says that about 1,500 Somalis living in Britain "became aliens on 26th June, 1960" when the protectorate became independent (same source). The full story of those five days is told in [independence and union, 26 June to 1 July 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).

## Who suffered?

- **In the Dervish wars, 1899–1920,** fighters and families across the interior were killed, and herds were lost on all sides. See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **In 1922,** a British official was killed at Burao. Later histories say the town was burned and a fine in camels was imposed on the people (["1922 Burao tax revolt", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Burao_tax_revolt)).
- **In 1945,** [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Bashir and men of his group were killed in the revolt near Burao. See [Sheikh Bashir](/en/people/sheikh-bashir/).
- **From 1955,** herders lost British administration of the Haud grazing lands. See [the Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).

## Sources differ

- **The size of the population.** Curzon gave 200,000 to 300,000 in 1910, as an estimate, not a count.
- **When the union was complete.** Britain's Foreign Secretary told the Commons on 25 July 1960 that there was "a little uncertainty" about how far the Act of Union "has been consummated" ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)).
- **Burao, 1922.** Churchill told Parliament the aircraft "did not drop any bombs". Later historians, as cited on Wikipedia, say the town was bombed and burned (["1922 Burao tax revolt", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Burao_tax_revolt)).

## Legacy, as recorded

On 26 June 1960 the protectorate became an independent state with an elected government, and on 1 July it joined the south. The Library of Congress writes that "popular demand compelled the leaders of the two territories to proceed with plans for immediate unification" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)). The Library of Congress also records that after union, the gap between north and south "bred a sense of betrayal and bitterness among northerners" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm)). See [Somaliland question today](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UK House of Lords debate on the evacuation of the protectorate, 6 April 1910: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1910/apr/06/somaliland).
- UK House of Commons, statement on Burao, 14 March 1922: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1922/mar/14/somaliland).
- UK House of Commons, question on the protectorate's future, 26 June 1958: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1958/jun/26/future).
- UK House of Commons, Somaliland independence, 25 July 1960: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Imperial partition](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm), [Consolidation of colonial rule](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm), [British Military Administration](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm), [The road to independence](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm).


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# Ancient burials, standing stones and towns in the Somali lands, about 2000 BC to 1200 AD

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Before Islam, the Somali lands were dotted with stone cairns (araweelo), megalithic tombs, carved and decorated standing stones, graves with Sabaean and Himyarite writing from South Arabia, early Christian burials marked with crosses, and dry-stone towns. Archaeologist Sada Mire mapped many of these sites in Somaliland and dates them across roughly 2000 BC to 1500 AD, with pre-Islamic towns such as Ceeg Weyne and Gidheys and a sacred site at Aw-Barkhadle that later became a Muslim shrine.

## In short

Most of what is known about the Somali lands before about 1200 AD comes from stones in the ground: burial mounds, tombs, standing stones, inscriptions and the foundations of towns. Very few of these sites have been excavated.

The main source is a survey by Sada Mire and the staff of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s Department of Archaeology, published in 2015 with almost 100 sites not reported before. Mire writes that "the body of past and recent archaeological discoveries in Somaliland (and Somalia)… account for more than 200 sites, many of them clusters of sites" ([Mire 2015, "Mapping the Archaeology of Somaliland: Religion, Art, Script, Time, Urbanism, Trade and Empire", *African Archaeological Review* 32: 111–136](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Unless another source is named, the facts below are from that article.

## Cairns: the araweelo mounds

Stone burial mounds, called *araweelooyin* in Somali, "are found all over the country". In some places they stand in lines, as along the Red Sea coast road between [Heis](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) (Xiis) and [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). Until recently they were the only stone burial structures reported in Somali archaeology.

They are under threat: stonecutters selling building stone look for cairns "as these are perfectly sized stones for building local houses".

At Heis, a cemetery of over 300 cairns along 1,800 m of coast held imported Roman, Parthian and South Arabian goods of the 1st to 3rd centuries AD ([Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)). See [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

## Megalithic tombs

Recent surveys found "countless megalithic burials and stelae cemeteries". Mire lists cairns, tumuli, dolmens, passage graves and standing stones (*hawelti*, a Cushitic word later borrowed into the Semitic languages of the Horn).

- **Gidheys**, near [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/), has elaborate graves, single carved stones and stelae cemeteries, and some burials with funeral chambers. Some burials stand more than 2 m above ground.
- **[Saaxil](/en/regions/sahil/) region and Bustanka** (Dhaymoole area) have many round or rectangular tombs with upright stelae.
- Locals describe old traditions of burial standing, sitting or lying down, and some burials inside the trunks of large trees.

Mire writes that the megalithic traditions "could go back to Neolithic times", but that many seem to date "from about the second millennium BCE up until recently, being contemporary with Islam". She notes "great similarities with sites in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, Djibouti and Eritrea". "It is only during Islamic times that a certain homogeneity emerged but everything before that testifies to elaborate burial practices of localized styles."

## Decorated standing stones (stelae), about 1500 BC to 1500 AD

Carved and decorated grave-stones were "a widely practiced tradition in Somaliland", though not reported before the recent surveys. They are concentrated between [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) in Saaxil and Burco in Togdheer.

- The carvings include "solar and geometric signs as well as schematic depictions of animals".
- **Ximan**, in Sheekh district, has large wadis ringed by decorated stelae about 1 m tall, which Mire links to "Cushitic pre-Islamic cultures probably a few millennia old".
- **Suuqsade (Xaragotir)** has huge cairns (*araweelooyin/maguurto*), stelae cemeteries and cross-shaped burials.
- **Hayeeti Oodan**, near Berbera, has a grave marked with a stele carved with what Mire reads as a crown, possibly the grave of a pre-Islamic priest.
- Other sites: Aw-Barkhadle, Gidheys, Nagaagir, Qar-Gebi Haqayo Malaas, Siir, Darayley and [Bagan](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

Mire calls decorated stelae "one of the most threatened class of Somali antiquities" because of demand from collectors in the UK, Italy and the Gulf.

## Writing from South Arabia, about 9th century BC to 3rd century AD

Several sites carry Sabaean and Himyarite script, the writing of the ancient kingdoms of Yemen:

- The rock art sites of **Dhagah Nabi Gallay** and **Dhagah Kure**, where the writing seems to have been added on top of the paintings.
- A burial site at **Shalcaw** on the Red Sea coast, with Sabaean writing, among ancient burials exposed in the walls of flood-cut wadis.
- Possibly the megalithic burials of **Qar-Gebi**.
- More inscribed rocks around Hargeisa found in 2007, some of which "were bulldozed by developers".

Mire writes that the region "seems to have formed part of the Himyarite and Sabaean cultures" and was linked with the pre-Aksumite kingdoms of the highlands.

In 2021 a team of epigraphers published seven Sabaic inscriptions from a looted sanctuary in [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region, which they date most likely to the late 8th or 7th century BC. The same team questions the reading of writing at Dhagah Kure. See [The Sabaean inscriptions of the Somali coast](/en/history/sabaean-inscriptions-on-the-somali-coast/).

## Early Christian burials, about 4th to 12th century AD

Mire's 2015 article was, in her words, "the first report of ancient Christianity in Somali territory". She lists:

- A grave at **Aw-Barkhadle** marked with a stele carrying a cross "probably of Byzantine appearance".
- Many cross-shaped tombs, called *laanqayr*, and megalithic burials with stones laid in a cross, especially at **Dhuxun** in Saaxil and around **Dhubato** near Hargeisa.
- Christian burials at Suuqsade (Xaragotir), Gala Caddo near Dhagah Kure, Aroori and Kal Bare.
- Finds of Christian manuscripts in Ethiopian languages, including Ge'ez.

She notes that Christian burials are often found inside early Islamic ruined towns, which she takes as a sign that "the areas that blossomed as towns under Islam were most likely also significant pre-Islamic centres". The northern Somali regions, she writes, were in pre-Islamic times part of the Aksumite empire.

## Pre-Islamic towns, about 10th century BC to 12th century AD

- **Ras Hafun**, on the Indian Ocean coast, was a port from the last centuries BC (see [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/)).
- **Heis (Xiis)**: Roman glass, studied by E. M. Stern in 1987.
- **Gabiley**: people digging wells found two vases, one with figures resembling Graeco-Roman pottery.
- **Ceeg Weyne**, south of Burco, and **Seeto**, near Burco: dry-stone towns that "seem to be more ancient than the early Islamic towns". At Ceeg Weyne the house foundations include ostrich eggshell, and nearby wadis form natural lakes (*haro*).
- **Gidheys, Darayley and Bagan** in Saaxil: ancient towns with burials that may be older than, or as old as, the pre-Islamic phase of Aw-Barkhadle.

Mire also cites the historian George Hourani: Greek records say the Barbars of the Somali coastal cities were, around 300 BC, "more active seafarers than the Arabs".

## Aw-Barkhadle: from a pre-Islamic sacred site to a Muslim shrine

Aw-Barkhadle lies about 30 minutes' drive from Hargeisa, on the Berbera road. It holds a ruined town, the tomb of the saint Aw-Barkhadle, and Christian, Muslim and pre-Islamic burials, including cairns, dolmens and phallic gravestones ([Mire 2015, "Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae", *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z)).

- **The oral history.** Local informants say that about 850 years ago an Arabian sheikh, [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Yusuf al-Kawnayn, known as Aw-Barkhadle, came to the place then called Dogor, now named after him. "According to the oral history, Aw-Barkhadle has been a centre of Muslim pilgrimage since the twelfth century". Mire calls his tomb "the most important pilgrimage centre in Somali territory" (same source).
- **The older layer.** Mire writes that the site "was a pre-Islamic centre", with a sacred mountain, trees, stones and a well associated with deities, "most prominently the sky God", and that it links "the pre-Islamic/pre-Christian with the Islamic through myths, legends and ancestor worship" ([Mire 2015, "Mapping"](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **Waaq.** She suggests the site may be linked to the worship of Waaq, the Sky-God "adhered to by the Cushitic people of the Horn both before and during the practice of Christianity and Islam" ([Mire 2015, "Wagar"](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z)).
- **The legend of Bu'ur Ba'ayr.** Local tradition tells of a duel in which Aw-Barkhadle defeated Bu'ur Ba'ayr, the leader of the people of the old religion, at the hill that bears his name (same source).
- **The rulers.** Mire writes that the [Walashma](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) dynasty of Ifat and Adal justified its rule through Islam and claimed direct descent from Aw-Barkhadle, and that its leaders were buried at the site ([Mire 2015, "Mapping"](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Threats

Mire records looting for the antiquities trade, stone collecting for building, bulldozing for development, and the spread of the shrub *Prosopis juliflora*, which has hidden the dolmens at Aw-Barkhadle. In 2015 Somaliland had no heritage protection law and no requirement for environmental impact checks ([Mire 2015, "Mapping"](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Related pages

- [Laas Geel and Somali rock art](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/)
- [The wagar, sacred trees and the sky-god Waaq](/en/history/wagar-sacred-tree-and-waaq/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Heritage sites in Somalia](/en/society/heritage-sites/)


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# Chinese records of the Somali coast, 800s–1200s: Po-pa-li, Pi-p'a-lo and Chung-li

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The oldest Chinese description of the Somali coast was written in the mid-800s by the Tang scholar Duan Chengshi, who called it Po-pa-li (Berbera) and said its people lived on meat, milk and blood, traded ivory and ambergris, and 'from of old… has never been subject to any foreign power.' In 1225 the Song customs official Zhao Rugua described two Somali countries: Pi-p'a-lo, with 'four cities', rich in myrrh and ivory, and Chung-li, whose king lived in a brick house roofed with glazed tiles and which he called the only Muslim land that produced frankincense.

## In short

Chinese writers knew of the Somali coast centuries before any European wrote about it in detail. Their reports came from Arab and Persian sailors and merchants in the ports of southern China. The two key texts are by Duan Chengshi (mid-800s) and Zhao Rugua (1225). Both were translated into English by Friedrich Hirth and W. W. Rockhill in 1911; the quotations below are from that edition ([Hirth and Rockhill, *Chau Ju-kua*, 1911](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)).

## Po-pa-li: Duan Chengshi, mid-800s

Duan Chengshi was a Tang dynasty official and writer. His *Youyang zazu* ("Miscellany from Youyang"), written in the middle of the 9th century, has the earliest known Chinese account of the Somali coast. He called it *Po-pa-li* (in Cantonese *Pat-pat-lik*). Hirth and Rockhill translate it in full (p. 128, note 1):

> "The land of Pa-pa-li is in the south-western Ocean. They do not eat any cereals, but they eat meat; more frequently even they prick a vein of one of their oxen, mix the blood with milk and eat it uncooked. They have no clothes, but they wrap round their waists a sheep's skin which hangs down and covers them. Their women are clear-skinned and well-behaved. The people of this country make their own countrymen prisoners whom they sell to strangers at prices many times more than they would fetch at home. The products of the country are elephants' tusks and *a-mo* perfume [ambergris]."

He describes how trade was done:

> "When Po-ssi [Persian] traders wish to enter this country, they form a caravan of several thousand men, and after having made the natives a present of strips of cloth, all of them both young and old draw blood by pricking themselves and take an oath, after which they trade their goods."

And how the land defended itself:

> "From of old this country has never been subject to any foreign power. In fighting they use elephant's tusks, ribs, and wild cattle's horns as spears, and they have corselets, and bows and arrows. They have twenty myriads of foot-soldiers. The Arabs are continually making raids on them."

"Twenty myriads" is 200,000. The *New Book of Tang* (*Xin Tang shu*) repeats this account in shorter form (Hirth and Rockhill, p. 129).

## Pi-p'a-lo: Zhao Rugua, 1225

Zhao Rugua was a member of the Song imperial family and the inspector of foreign trade at Quanzhou, then one of the world's busiest ports. In 1225 he wrote the *Zhufan zhi* ("Description of the Foreign Peoples"). Chapter 25 is on *Pi-p'a-lo*, which the translators identify as "Berbera, the Somali coast generally" (Hirth and Rockhill, pp. 128–129):

> "The country of Pi-p'a-lo contains four cities; the other places are all villages which are constantly at feud and fighting with each other. The inhabitants pray to Heaven and not to the Buddha. The land produces many camels and sheep, and the people feed themselves with the flesh and milk of camels and with baked cakes."

> "The other products are ambergris, big elephants' tusks and big rhinoceros horns. There are elephants' tusks which weigh over one hundred catties, and rhinoceros horns of over ten catties weight. The land is also rich in putchuck, liquid storax gum, myrrh, and tortoise shell of extraordinary thickness, for which there is a great demand in other countries."

He also describes the ostrich ("camel-crane"), the giraffe (*tsu-la*, from the Persian), and the zebra, "a kind of mule with brown, white and black stripes", hunted by the people "with poisoned arrows".

The translators suggest the four cities were "probably Berbera… Zeila… Magadoxo [Mogadishu]… and possibly Brawa", and that "inhabitants pray to Heaven" means the people of the four cities were Muslims (p. 129, notes 1–2).

## Chung-li: Zhao Rugua, 1225

Chapter 27 is on *Chung-li*. Hirth and Rockhill write that "there is no doubt… that the region to which it is applied is the Somali coast, but it included the island of Socotra", and that "the town in which the king of Chung-li lived may well have been Magadoxo" (pp. 131–132, note 1). Zhao Rugua writes (pp. 130–131):

> "The inhabitants of the Chung-li country go bareheaded and barefooted, they wrap themselves in cotton stuffs, but they dare not wear jackets, for the wearing of jackets and turbans is a privilege reserved to the ministers and the king's courtiers. The king lives in a brick house covered with glazed tiles, but the people live in huts made of palm leaves and covered with grass-thatched roofs. Their daily food consists of baked flour cakes, sheep's and camel's milk. There are great numbers of cattle, sheep and camels."

> "Among the countries of the Ta-shi this is the only one which produces frankincense."

*Ta-shi* is the Chinese name for the Arab and Muslim lands. He also records:

- **Funerals.** Mourners came with swords and asked how the dead person died. If killed by someone, "we will revenge him on the murderer with these swords". If the death was "by the will of Heaven, they throw away their swords and break into violent wailing."
- **Whales.** Huge dead fish washed ashore were used for oil to caulk boats and light lamps, and their bones for rafters, doors and mortars.
- **Sorcerers.** People said some could stop a ship until a trade dispute was settled; "the government has formally forbidden this practice."
- **A mountain or island** on the border of Pi-p'a-lo, "four thousand li around", yielding dragon's-blood resin, aloes, tortoiseshell and ambergris. The translators take this to be Socotra.

## What archaeology adds

Sada Mire reports Chinese ceramics from the Yuan (13th–14th century) and Ming dynasties in surface finds at the ruined town of Fardowsa near [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/), along with Sasanian pottery of the 8th century. She writes that China traded with this region "from the Tang dynasty (indirectly)", and that by the Song and Yuan, China "had a very detailed knowledge of places like Berbera… as well as other southern Somali towns such as [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/)… and Mogadishu", citing the Chinese historian Li Anshan ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Related pages

- [Frankincense and myrrh: the ancient Somali incense trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/)


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# Early Zeila (Saylac) and the Qiblatayn mosque: the north coast before 1300

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zeila (Saylac), on the Gulf of Aden near today's Djibouti border, is one of the oldest ports of the Somali coast. It is often identified with Avalites in the 1st-century Periplus. Arab geographers name it from the late 800s: in the 900s it shipped leopard skins, hides, tortoise-shell, ambergris and incense to Yemen. By the 1200s Yaqut and Ibn Sa'id call its people Muslims. Local oral history holds that its Qiblatayn mosque dates from the first years of Islam. French archaeologists who dug there in 2001 found that the mosque stands on an older building, and date the town's conversion to Islam to the late 1100s or early 1200s.

## In short

Zeila (Somali *Saylac*) sits on a low coast in [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), about 80 miles from the strait of Bab el-Mandeb ([Schoff, *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, 1912, notes p. 74](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)). It was the nearest Somali port to Arabia and the sea gate for the trade routes into the Ethiopian highlands. This page covers what is recorded about Zeila before 1300. Ibn Battuta's visit in 1331 and later accounts are on [the Somali coast towns, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

The fullest modern study of early Zeila is a chapter by the French historians and archaeologists François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Bertrand Hirsch, Régis Bernard and Frédéric Champagne, who surveyed the town in 2001 and re-read every Arabic source on it from the 9th to the 15th century ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al., "Le port de Zeyla et son arrière-pays au Moyen Âge", in *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, Centre français des études éthiopiennes, 2011](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714); quotations from it are translated here from French).

## Avalites in the 1st century

The *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* names Avalites as the first of the "far-side" Berber market towns, the one with the shortest crossing from Arabia. It was "a small market-town… which must be reached by boats and rafts". It imported glass, grape juice, cloth "made for the Berbers", wheat, wine and tin, and exported "spices, a little ivory, tortoise-shell, and a very little myrrh, but better than the rest". Its people sometimes took goods across the strait on rafts to Ocelis and Muza in Arabia themselves ([Schoff 1912, §7, p. 25](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).

Schoff identifies Avalites with Zeila and notes that "the ancient name is preserved by the village Abalit, on the north shore of the bay" (same source, notes p. 74). Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues write that "some authors" place Avalites at Zeila. A team led by Neville Chittick looked for the ancient site in 1975 and did not find it ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§2, 6](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). See [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

## The first Arabic mentions, late 800s and 900s

- **Al-Ya'qubi, late 800s.** His *Kitab al-buldan* lists "Zayla' in the region of the Mandeb" among four places on the African shore opposite Yemen. This is the oldest known mention of the town by name.
- **Al-Sayrafi, about 916.** The sea "touches Zayla', where ambergris and tortoise-shell are found".
- **Al-Istakhri, 932–950, and Ibn Hawqal (died 988).** On the coast opposite Aden "there is a place called Zayla', a port for embarking to the Hijaz and Yemen". Frankincense, spotted hides and most of the skins tanned for shoes in Yemen come from there. Ibn Hawqal puts Zeila six days' sail from Dahlak.
- **Al-Mas'udi, revised 956.** He calls the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) *al-Khalij al-Barbari*, "the Berber gulf", 500 miles long. He lists Zeila, Dahlak and Badi' as coastal towns where "Muslims live, who are however tributaries of the local people", and says the region exports leopard skins, "the largest and most beautiful for saddles", and tortoise-shell for combs.
- **Al-Muqaddasi (died 985)** writes that the eunuchs sold at Aden were "the Barbara".

All of these are quoted and discussed in [Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§53–62](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714).

**Who says what about Zeila in the 900s.**

- The Italian scholar Carlo Conti Rossini and the historian Joseph Cuoq read these texts as showing Zeila under the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia in the 10th and 11th centuries. J. S. Trimingham wrote that Ibn Hawqal says "Zaila' was in the possession of Abyssinian Christians".
- Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues argue that this is a misreading. In their view the geographers use *Habasha* for the whole region, not for the Christian kingdom. They write that the port was most likely "independent of any Christian power". They compare it to the first Swahili towns: politically independent, with Muslim merchants living among a population that was not yet Muslim. They note that every export the 10th-century writers name is a local product of the coast or the near interior (§§63–74).

## Al-Idrisi, 1154, and the question of "Zalegh"

Al-Idrisi wrote his world geography at the court of King Roger II of Sicily, finishing it in 1154. He did not travel to the Red Sea himself; Charles Guillain warned that Idrisi "had not travelled in the East beyond the shores of the Mediterranean" ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire… de l'Afrique orientale*, part 1, 1856, p. 192](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)). From P. A. Jaubert's French translation of 1836 ([*Géographie d'Édrisi*, vol. 1, pp. 39–41](https://archive.org/details/gographiededrisi01idri)), translated here:

> "Zalegh is on the shore of the salt sea, which joins the sea of Qulzum [the Red Sea]… From Zalegh to the coast of Yemen it is exactly 300 miles. Zalegh is a town of small size but very populous. Many foreign travellers are seen there, for most of the ships of Qulzum put in there with the various kinds of goods that suit Abyssinia. Exports consist of slaves and silver. As for gold, it is rare. The inhabitants… wear clothes of wool and cotton."

Elsewhere in the same book Idrisi calls Zalegh a "town on the shore of the Red Sea" whose merchants traded inland at a town called Markata (same source, p. 37).

**Who says what.** Since Conti Rossini, commentators have read Idrisi's Zalegh as Zeila. Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues point out that Idrisi names no other port on the African Red Sea coast between the strait and 'Aydhab, and links Zalegh to an inland capital that points to the northern Ethiopian highlands. They argue that the passage "cannot be taken as a verified description of the port of Zeila". It may describe a Red Sea port such as Massawa or Dahlak, or mix details from Zeila and from such a port. They suggest the old Aksumite port of Adulis, still called Zulla, as one candidate. They conclude that after the 10th century "the port of Zeila disappears from the horizon of the Arabic sources in the 11th and 12th centuries" ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§75–78](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).

## Zeila in the 1200s: a Muslim port

- **Abu Hamid al-Gharnati, about 1162**, calls the people of Zeila "the most virtuous of the [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)… they are Muslims, fast, pray, and make the pilgrimage to Mecca every year on foot". Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues treat this text as too fanciful to rely on (§79).
- **Yaqut (died 1229)**, in his dictionary of places: Zeila is "a village on the seashore in the region of the land of the Abyssinians", and its people "are Muslims" (§80).
- **Ibn Sa'id (13th century):** "Among the towns of the Abyssinians is Zayla', whose inhabitants are Muslims: they hire out boats to pilgrims and go to Aden and Zabid." It is a port "of landing and embarking", from which slaves are shipped (§81).
- **Abu l-Fida (1273–1331)** describes a town "at the bottom of a bay, in a plain", very hot, with dirty well water and "neither gardens nor fruit", "a small town the size of 'Aydhab". "Some sheikhs judge the disputes that arise between the inhabitants. Merchants lodge with the sheikhs and receive hospitality from them; it is with them that they sell and buy" ([Reinaud's translation, 1848, quoted in Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §83](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **Al-Mufaddal**, a Coptic historian writing before 1358, about events of the 1270s: "The people of Zayla' and their tribes have no kings, but they are divided into seven tribes. These people are Muslims. Their imams say the Friday sermon in the name of their seven chiefs." When the king of Yemen sent stones from Aden to build a great mosque at Zeila, so that the sermon would be said in his own name, "a number of the Zayla' tribe seized the stones and threw them into the sea". The king seized their ship at Aden for a whole year in reprisal (§§84–85).

Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues read these sources together as describing, by the late 1200s, a Muslim town that was independent and had no single ruler, governed by sheikhs and seven chiefs. It was strong enough to refuse Yemen's control and was not yet part of Ifat (§85). By about 1330 the Egyptian writer al-'Umari says the king of Ifat "reigns over Zayla'" (§91).

## When did Zeila become Muslim? Who says what

- **Oral history in Zeila** holds that the Qiblatayn mosque is "one of the earliest or indeed the earliest mosque in sub-Saharan Africa", and that "the Prophet's family travelled through Saylac to Aksum" in the 7th century ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9), citing Trimingham, *Islam in Ethiopia*, 1952, pp. 44–46).
- **Abebe Kifleyesus (2006)** and many others write that Islam spread inland "from both the coasts of the Dahlak islands and Zäyla during the second half of the 7th century" (quoted in Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, note 104).
- **Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues** conclude from the written sources that Zeila became Muslim "at the end of the 12th century at the earliest, or even the beginning of the 13th". They mention a tradition in Ibn al-Mujawir's *Ta'rikh al-Mustabsir*, written soon after 1229, that the [Banu Majid](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/), driven out of Yemen in 1159, settled partly at Mogadishu and partly at Zeila (§86 and note 103, citing Trimingham 1975, p. 124).

The faith side of how Islam reached the Somalis, including the first hijra to Aksum, is on [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/).

## The Qiblatayn mosque and the 2001 excavations

Zeila's ruins include the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, the "mosque of the two qiblas". Local people describe it as the oldest mosque in the town. The tradition holds that it had two mihrabs, one facing Mecca and one facing Jerusalem, toward which the earliest Muslims prayed ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9); [Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §13](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).

In April 2001 the French team mapped the 50-hectare town, cleared the surface of the mosque and dug a test trench ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§38–48](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)):

- **The mosque.** Only the north (qibla) wall and its mihrab were standing. They found two building phases: a first prayer hall of coral limestone, and a later extension to the west with two rooms, a well and a water channel. The later floors rest on 1.2 metres of rubble from an older building, "which could be an earlier mosque". They did not find a second mihrab. They suggest that the town's memory of "two mihrabs" may come from two successive mosques on the site, and call this "only a hypothesis".
- **The trench.** A 2.1-metre-deep trench 50 metres east of the mosque found earthen buildings in the lower levels, with only local red pottery. Imported pottery appears only in the upper levels. The oldest pieces were Yemeni "black-on-yellow" ware of the mid-13th to mid-14th century. The authors warn against reading too much into one small trench.
- **Around Zeila.** The team visited Saad Din island, 8 km offshore, where Richard Burton and the British officer A. T. Curle had seen ruins, and a burial ground called Awdal about 20 km to the south-east. They were told of a ruined town called Ina Dini 3–4 km south of Zeila but could not visit it because the site was reported to be mined.

**The mosque's condition.** Sada Mire, who headed [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s Department of Archaeology, records that the site "has faced a lot of destruction through digging and exposure of foundations, without conservation or a conservation report". The first assessment was a 2007 report to UNESCO by the archaeologist George Abungu ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). The ruined town also holds the tomb of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ibrahim Saylici, whom local tradition calls the founder of Zeila (same sources).

## "The country of Zeila"

Al-'Umari, writing about 1330, says that "this is the country that is called in Egypt and Syria the country of Zayla'; yet it is only one of their towns on the sea… whose name has spread to the whole" (quoted in Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §91). A century later the Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi used "the region of Zeila" for all the Muslim lands of the Horn. He writes that it "takes its name from the town of Zaila on a peninsula of the sea", stretched about two months' journey, and was divided into seven kingdoms: Awfat (Ifat), [Dawaro](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/), Arababni, Hadiya, Sharkha, Bali and Dara ([al-Maqrizi, trans. Rinck, *Historia regum Islamiticorum in Abyssinia*, 1790, p. 10](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_NHGlbEm0h7kC)). See [the Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/).

## Zeila in the Chinese record

The Song official Zhao Rugua wrote in 1225 that the country of Pi-p'a-lo, the Berbera coast, "contains four cities". His translators suggest these were probably Berbera, Zeila, Mogadishu and possibly [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) ([Hirth and Rockhill, *Chau Ju-kua*, 1911, pp. 128–129](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)). See [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/)
- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)
- [Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/)
- [Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518](/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/)


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# The Sultanate of Shewa (896–1285) and the founding of Ifat under the Walashma

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Sultanate of Shewa was the oldest documented Muslim state in the interior of the Horn of Africa. An Arabic chronicle found in Harar says its Makhzumi dynasty ruled eastern Shewa from 896–897 AD (283 AH) until 1285 AD (684 AH), when the Walashma family of Ifat took power. Ifat then became the leading Muslim state of the region, with Zeila as its port, and was the forerunner of the Adal sultanate.

## In short

Inland from Zeila, on the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands, Muslim states grew up along the trade routes from the coast. Arab and Egyptian writers called the whole area "the country of Zeila". The two oldest states whose rulers are known by name are the **Sultanate of Shewa**, under the Makhzumi dynasty, and **Ifat**, under the Walashma dynasty, which took over from Shewa in 1285.

Almost everything known about Shewa comes from two Arabic texts found in Harar and published by the Italian scholar Enrico Cerulli in 1931 and 1941. Ifat is also described by the Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi, writing about 1435.

## The sources

- **The "Chronicle of Shewa"** (*Dikr at-tawarikh*). An Arabic text copied in 1936 from an original of 1863 found in Harar, published by Cerulli in 1941 as "Il sultanato dello Scioa nel secolo XIII" in *Rassegna di Studi Etiopici* 1. It gives the dynasty's founding date and a list of rulers ([Lusini, "The Costs of the Linguistic Transitions: Traces of Disappeared Languages in Ethiopia", University of Naples "L'Orientale"](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)).
- **The "Harar chronicle"**, or History of the Walashma. An Arabic text copied in 1926 and published by Cerulli in 1931 (same source).
- **Al-Maqrizi, *Kitab al-ilmam bi-akhbar man bi-ard al-Habasha min muluk al-Islam*** ("Information on the Muslim kings in the land of Abyssinia"), about 1435. Published in Arabic with a Latin translation by F. T. Rinck in 1790 ([Rinck, *Macrizi Historia regum Islamiticorum in Abyssinia*, Leiden, 1790](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_NHGlbEm0h7kC)).

## The Sultanate of Shewa, 896–1285

- **Founding.** The Shewa chronicle says the dynasty was founded by Wudd ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, of the Banu Makhzum clan of Quraysh, and ruled eastern Shewa for about 400 years from 896–897 AD (283 AH). Its capital was Walalah ([Lusini](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)).
- **The dates.** The chronicle says the dynasty ruled for 390 years from 283 AH. Cerulli pointed out in 1941 that 283 to 684 AH is 401 years, not 390. The historian Stuart Munro-Hay gives the same span: the Makhzumis "have reigned in Shewa from AH 283/AD 896" until Wali Asma "deposed the kings of Shewa" ([Munro-Hay, Google Books, p. 365](https://books.google.com/books?id=NWNTfztz5KoC&pg=PA365)).
- **Early events.** The chronicle gives few early details: the death of a Queen Badit in 1063, the conversion of the "Gbbah" people to Islam in 1108, and the death of a Sultan Malasma'i of Gbbah in 1183 (Cerulli 1941; the conversion of 1108 is also given in the [*Cambridge History of Africa*, vol. 3, p. 107](https://books.google.com/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&pg=PA107)).
- **Language.** Not all the Makhzumi rulers have Arabic names. Cerulli found names that "seem to be composed of words of a Semitic language of the Ethiopian group". The tenth sultan, who reigned from 1269 to 1278, is named Dilmarrah, which Lusini reads as "guide to the victory" from roots found in Harari, Argobba and Amharic ([Lusini](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)).
- **Its place in the record.** The historians Nehemia Levtzion and Randall Pouwels write that "the oldest documented Muslim polity inland was the sultanate of Shewa" ([Levtzion and Pouwels, *The History of Islam in Africa*, 2000, p. 228](https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Ipt5A9mLMC&pg=PA228)).

## Shewa in the Egyptian records, 1274

In 1274 a letter from the new Christian king Yekuno Amlak reached Cairo by way of Yemen. The Mamluk chancery secretary Ibn 'Abd al-Zahir noted with it that "among the kings of Abyssinia is Yusuf b. Arsmaya, master of the territory of Hadaya, of Sawa [Shewa] and of [Kalgur](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/), and their districts, which are ruled by Muslim kings". The Coptic historian al-Mufaddal, writing before 1358, gives the same ruler as "lord of Gidaya, of Shoa, of Qalgur and the surroundings; it is a nation of Muslim kings" ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al., *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, 2011, ch. 2, §85](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714), translated here from French). Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues argue that Shewa's Islam came by the route to the Red Sea ports such as Dahlak, and that Ifat's rise in 1285 marks the rise of a state tied more closely to Zeila (same source, §86).

## 1285: the Walashma take over

Lusini writes that "the beginnings of the preeminence of the Sultanate of Ifat can be dated with precision to the year 684 of hijra, namely 1285 AD", when Ifat clashed with the Makhzumi state of Shewa ([Lusini](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)). Levtzion and Pouwels describe Ifat as "once Shewa's easternmost district" ([p. 228](https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Ipt5A9mLMC&pg=PA228)).

**What al-Maqrizi says about the family** ([Rinck 1790, pp. 17–18](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_NHGlbEm0h7kC), Latin translated here):

- The ruling house was said to be descended from Quraysh; others said from the Abd al-Dar, or from the Hashimites.
- It was brought from the Hijaz by a son of Aqil ibn Abi Talib, and settled in the land of Jabrah, "which today is called Jabarta". Jabarta, he writes, belongs to the region of Zeila.
- The family lived there and in the town of Awfat (Ifat), "known and celebrated for their virtue and love of peace, until the time of Umar, who is also called Walashma".
- Umar held the governorship of Awfat and its lands "for a long time, with great power", and died "dear to all for the excellence of his character". He left four or five sons, who ruled Awfat one after another.

**A second tradition.** The archaeologist Sada Mire writes that the Walashma dynasty of Ifat and Adal justified its rule through Islam and "their direct ancestral links to [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Yusuf Al-Kawnayn, also known as Aw-Barkhadle", the saint buried near Hargeisa, and that its leaders were buried at Aw-Barkhadle ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). See [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

## The languages of Ifat

Al-Maqrizi says that in Ifat an "Ethiopic language" (*al-lugha al-habashiyya*) was spoken alongside Arabic. Lusini notes that the phrase could mean any Semitic or Cushitic language of the region, and that Arabic was "most probably" used for trade and prestige. All the Walashma rulers had Arabic names ([Lusini](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)).

## Ruined towns of Ifat

Mire writes that ruined towns across [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), in the [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/)–Hargeisa–[Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/) triangle and around [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/), "are testimony to the earliest states in the Horn of Africa, as they are part of the Ifat and Awdal kingdoms". She argues that their spread across the country "challenges the notion that Arabs had outposts there, and in fact suggests that the local kingdoms of Ifat and Awdal (Adal) not only were settled people, but also were part of what might be viewed as an early Islamic Empire in the Horn of Africa" ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Surface finds at Fardowsa near Sheekh include Sasanian pottery of the 8th century and Chinese ceramics of the 13th to 17th centuries (same source).

## After 1300

Ifat's wars with the Christian kingdom under Amda Seyon in the 1320s and 1330s, its fall in 1415, and the rise of the Adal sultanate are covered on [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/) and [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Early Zeila and the north coast before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate, and the tombs of the Walashma](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/)
- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)


---

# The 1960 Constitution of the Somali Republic

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/1960-constitution/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 1960 Constitution was the founding law of the Somali Republic. The Constituent Assembly approved it on 21 June 1960, it came into force on 1 July 1960 when north and south united, and voters confirmed it in a referendum on 20 June 1961. It made Somalia a democratic, unitary republic with equal rights for all citizens.

## In short

The 1960 Constitution set up the state that north and south formed together on 1 July 1960. It was written in Mogadishu, approved by the Constituent Assembly on 21 June 1960, and published in the Official Bulletin No. 1 of 1 July 1960 ([Constitution of the Somali Republic, official English text, Parliament of Somalia](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

It lasted until 21 October 1969, when the army took power and suspended it ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)). Every Somali constitution since has drawn on it.

## What did it say about the republic?

Article 1 opens: "Somalia is an independent and fully sovereign State. It is a representative, democratic and unitary Republic. The Somali people is one and indivisible" ([1960 Constitution, art. 1](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

It also says that sovereignty belongs to the people, and that "no part of the people nor any individual may claim sovereignty". Islam is the religion of the State (art. 1).

The preamble begins "In the name of God the Merciful and Beneficent", and calls on "the sacred right of self-determination of peoples" in the UN Charter.

## Did it give equal rights?

Yes. Article 3 reads: "All citizens, without distinction of race, national origin, birth, language, religion, sex, economic or social status, or opinion, shall have equal rights and duties before the law" ([1960 Constitution, art. 3](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

Article 7 bound Somali law to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Article 2 said no one could lose citizenship "for political reasons" (same source).

## The flag and the emblem

The constitution fixed the national symbols in Article 1 ([1960 Constitution, art. 1](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)):

- **The flag:** "azure in colour, rectangular, and shall have a white star with five equal points emblazoned in its centre."
- **The emblem:** an azure shield with a gold border and a silver five-pointed star, held by two leopards, resting on two crossed spears, with two palm leaves.

See [the flag](/en/history/the-flag/) for how it was designed in 1954.

## The union of Somali territories

Article 6 says: "The [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) shall promote, by legal and peaceful means, the union of Somali territories". In the same article the Republic "repudiates war as a means of settling international disputes" ([1960 Constitution, art. 6](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

The words "legal and peaceful means" were a choice. The Library of Congress records that one wing of the Somali Youth League wanted unification "by all means necessary", and the majority changed it to peaceful means ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

Article 4 made the national territory "sacred and inviolable". Any change to it needed a four-fifths majority of the National Assembly (same source as above).

## How was power shared?

- **The National Assembly** made the laws. Its deputies were elected "by universal, free, direct and secret ballot" for five-year terms. A deputy had to be at least 25 (arts. 49, 51, 52).
- **Islam in law.** Article 50 made "the doctrine of Islam" the main source of the laws of the State.
- **The President** was elected by the National Assembly, by secret ballot, for six years, and could serve at most two terms in a row. A candidate had to be a Muslim citizen of at least 45 (arts. 70, 71, 72).
- **The President's oath:** "In the name of God I swear that I will discharge faithfully all my duties as President of the Republic and defend the Constitution with all my strength in the interest of the Country and the Nation" (art. 70).
- **The courts** could strike down laws that broke the constitution, on the request of the person affected (art. 5).

All from the [1960 Constitution](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf).

## Who signed it?

The constitution was signed in Mogadishu on 1 July 1960 by four men ([1960 Constitution, final page](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)):

- [Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), President of the Legislative Assembly, acting as Provisional President.
- Maxamed [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Gabiyow, Minister for the Constitution.
- [Cabdullaahi Ciise Maxamuud](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/), Prime Minister.
- Sheekh Maxamuud [Maxamed Faarax](/en/people/mo-farah/), Minister of Grace and Justice.

## The 1961 referendum

The constitution came into force "provisionally" on 1 July 1960. It said it must go to a popular vote within a year, and that until then its text must be posted in every town hall so that "every citizen may become acquainted with it" ([1960 Constitution, transitional provisions III and V](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

The vote was held on 20 June 1961. The Library of Congress calls it "in effect Somalia's first national election" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)). The reported result was about 1.76 million votes in favour and 183,000 against, about 90.6% yes ([1961 Somali constitutional referendum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Somali_constitutional_referendum), citing Nohlen, *Elections in Africa*, 1999).

The Library of Congress says the voting pattern showed "northern misgivings" about the union ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **The referendum figures.** The national totals come from election reference books.
- **Which text is official.** The Parliament's English copy is "the official version… as amended up to 31 December 1963", so a few articles differ from the text of 1960 ([Parliament of Somalia](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

## Read the primary source yourself

- *The Constitution of the Somali Republic*, official English text as amended to 31 December 1963, hosted by the Parliament of Somalia: [PDF](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf). Another copy: [Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Somalia-Constitution-1960.pdf).


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# Books about Somalis: every era, from the Periplus to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> People have written about Somalis for about 2,000 years: Greek merchants in the 1st century, Arab and Chinese geographers from the 9th century, Ibn Battuta in 1331, the Arabic Futuh al-Habasha in the 1500s, Portuguese and European travellers, colonial officers, modern scholars, and Somali authors writing in Somali, Arabic, English, Italian and French. These pages list the main books by era, with free links.

## The short version

Books about Somalis are listed here in six periods, plus Somali authors' own books. Each has its own page with every book listed, what it covers, the language it was written in and where to read it.

| Period | Who wrote | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 1st century to 1500 | Greek merchants, Arab and Persian geographers, Ibn Battuta, Chinese officials | [Before 1500](/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/) |
| 1500 to 1884 | Arab Faqih (Futuh al-Habasha), Portuguese chroniclers, an Ottoman admiral, European travellers | [1500 to 1884](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/) |
| 1884 to 1960 | British, Italian and German officers, officials and scholars | [1884 to 1960](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1884-1960/) |
| 1960 to 1990 | Somali and foreign historians, anthropologists and linguists | [1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/) |
| 1991 to 2005 | Writing on the fall of the state, the war and life without a state | [1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/) |
| 2006 to today | Somaliland, al-Shabaab, piracy, the diaspora | [Since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/) |
| All periods | Somali authors: poets, novelists, historians and memoirists | [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/) |
| 1956 to today | Books written in the Somali language | [Books in the Somali language](/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/) |
| 1886 to today | Grammars and dictionaries of Somali | [Somali grammars and dictionaries](/en/society/somali-grammars-and-dictionaries/) |

Some books have their own pages:

- [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/)
- [Futuh al-Habasha, the chronicle of Imam Ahmad's wars](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)
- [First Footsteps in East Africa (1856), Richard Burton](/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/)
- [A Modern History of the Somali, I. M. Lewis](/en/history/a-modern-history-of-the-somali/)
- [A Tree for Poverty (1954), the first Somali poems in English](/en/history/a-tree-for-poverty/)

## How the writing changed over time

**Outsiders on the coast (to 1500).** The first accounts are short and written by people who came by sea. The Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, from the 1st century CE, lists ports on the northern Somali coast and what they traded ([Periplus, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea); [Schoff translation, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/theperiplusoftheerythraeansea)). Arab geographers such as al-Idrisi (1154) and Yaqut (1220s) described Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu. Ibn Battuta's visit to Mogadishu in 1331 gives the fullest early picture of a Somali city ([Gibb translation, Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). Chinese records describe the Berbera coast from the 9th century and Mogadishu and [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/) after the Ming fleets of Zheng He in the 1410s and 1420s ([Zhu Fan Zhi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Fan_Zhi); [Fei Xin, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fei_Xin)).

**War and sea power (1500 to 1884).** The Futuh al-Habasha, written in Arabic by a member of the Adal army, records Imam Ahmad's wars of 1529 to 1543 and names Somali groups who fought in them ([Futuh al-Habasha, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)). Portuguese writers recorded their attacks on Somali ports. From the 1840s, British, French and German travellers wrote longer accounts, the best known being Burton's (1856).

**The colonial library (1884 to 1960).** After partition, most books were written by people working for Britain or Italy: survey journals, war histories of the campaigns against the [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/), grammars of the Somali language, studies of customary law and Islam, and the first translations of Somali poetry.

**Somali studies (from 1960).** After independence, history and anthropology of the Somali grew into a field of its own, with the Somali Studies International Association launched in 1978 and its first congress held in Mogadishu in July 1980 ([Somali studies, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_studies)). Scholars debate the place of clan, class, Islam, the state and colonial rule in Somali history.

**Somalis writing their own story.** Somali scholars wrote in Arabic for centuries. Writing in Somali grew after the Latin script became official in 1972 ([Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)), and Somali authors in the diaspora now publish in many languages.

## Where to find these books free

- **Internet Archive** (archive.org): scans of many old travel books, grammars and colonial reports, and lending copies of modern books.
- **Project Gutenberg** (gutenberg.org): free text of out-of-copyright books, such as Burton's First Footsteps.
- **HathiTrust** (hathitrust.org): scans from US and European university libraries; books before 1929 are usually open to all.
- **Gallica** (gallica.bnf.fr): the French national library, for French works such as Guillain and Révoil.
- **Open Library and WorldCat**: catalogues that show which library near you holds a book.

## Earlier lists of books on Somalia

The main printed bibliography in English is Somalia, volume 92 of the World Bibliographical Series, compiled by Mark W. DeLancey and others (Clio Press, 1988) ([Cambridge, review in Africa](https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/africa/article/mark-w-delancey-somalia-world-bibliographical-series-92-santa-barbara-oxford-clio-press-1988-xxviii-191-pp-isbn-1-85109-038-x/E7205D312D50E7398AF7D0BB122C1E09)). The US Library of Congress country study of Somalia (1992) also has a long reading list ([Library of Congress Country Studies, via Mongabay](https://news.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/somalia/REFERENCE.html)).

## Related pages

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)
- [Timeline, 1300s to 1960](/en/history/timeline-1300s-to-1960/)


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# The colonial treaties, 1884–1897: how the Somali lands were divided on paper

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 1884 and 1897 Somali elders and sultans signed treaties with Britain and Italy, and Britain signed a boundary treaty with Ethiopia. The 1884 Habr Awal treaty spoke of 'the maintenance of our independence'; by 1886 the northern treaties had become protection agreements; in 1889 the sultans of the Migertini and Obbia accepted Italian protection; and on 14 May 1897 Britain and Ethiopia drew a line through the Somali grazing lands without the Somalis present.

## In short

The Somali lands were divided by paper before they were divided by force. Between 1884 and 1897 a chain of treaties put the north under British protection, the north-east and centre under Italian protection, and the western grazing lands under Ethiopia.

The texts survive in full in two British reference collections ([Aitchison, *A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads*, vol. XIII, 1909, pp. 189–207](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.93192); [Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, 3rd ed., 1909](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)). This page lets them speak.

## Before 1884: the first agreements

Britain's first agreement on the northern coast came in 1827, with the elders of the [Habr Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/), after a British ship was plundered off Berbera ([Aitchison 1909, p. 189](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.93192)). In 1840 the chief of Tajoura sold Britain the island of Musa, and the ruler of Zeila ceded the island of Bab (same source).

On 18 April 1855 the party of the explorer Richard Burton was attacked near Berbera. Britain blockaded the port, and a new treaty followed in 1856 (same source). From 1877 to 1884 Britain recognised Egypt's claim to the coast, and Egyptian garrisons held Zeila and Berbera ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)).

## 1884: "the maintenance of our independence"

When Egypt withdrew in 1884, Britain moved to secure the coast that fed its garrison at Aden. On 14 July 1884 the elders of the Habr Awal signed a treaty at Berbera. Its opening words are their own ([Aitchison 1909, Treaty LXXXIX](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.93192)):

> "We, the undersigned Elders of the Habar Awal tribe, are desirous of entering into an agreement with the British Government for the maintenance of our independence, the preservation of order…"

The five articles were short:

- **Article 1.** The Habr Awal would never cede land "save to the British Government".
- **Article 2.** Trade at Berbera and Bulhar would be free to all.
- **Article 3.** British subjects would be safe in their country.
- **Article 4.** The slave trade would end.
- **Article 5.** A British agent could live among them.

Similar treaties followed within months: the [Gadabursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/) on 11 December 1884, the [Habr Toljaala](/en/society/habar-jeclo/) on 26 December, the Esa on 31 December, and the Habr Gerhajis on 13 January 1885 ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)).

## 1886: from friendship to protection

In 1886 a second round changed the meaning. The supplementary treaty with the Habr Awal placed them under British "protection". They agreed not to write to, or make agreements with, any other foreign power ([Aitchison 1909, Treaty XC](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.93192)). Major F. M. Hunter signed for Britain.

The Habr Toljaala and Habr Gerhajis signed protection treaties on 1 February 1886, and the [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/) on 27 January 1886 (same source). In the north-east, Britain had paid the Mijjertayn sultan a yearly subsidy since 1866, and renewed the agreement on 1 May 1884 ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)).

Britain notified the world of its Somali Coast protectorate on 20 July 1887 (same source). Britain and France settled the line between their claims near Zeila and Djibouti in February 1887 and by convention in 1888. India ran the protectorate until October 1898, when [London](/en/diaspora/london/) took it over ([Aitchison 1909](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.93192)).

## 1889: the Italian treaties

Italy came to the north-east and the Indian Ocean coast. On 8 February 1889 the Italian flag was raised at Obbia (Hobyo), and Italy notified its protectorate on 2 March 1889 ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 3, pp. 1119–1124](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert)). In May its limits were set from [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) to Cape Awad.

On 7 April 1889, at Bender [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/), the Sultan of the Migertini signed his treaty with Italy ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 3, No. 346](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert)):

> "We, Sultan Osman Mahmud Jusuf, Sultan of all the Migertini… of our own free will… placed our country… from Ras Auad to Ras-el-Kyle… under the protection and government of His Majesty Umberto I."

Yusuf Ali Yusuf, [Sultan of Obbia](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/), signed as a witness, with the Italian agent Vincenzo Filonardi (same source). Further conventions with the Migertini followed in 1901.

## 1897: the line through the grazing lands

On 14 May 1897, at Addis Ababa, Britain's envoy Rennell Rodd and Emperor Menelik II signed a treaty of friendship. Article II left the frontier of the British protectorate to be fixed by letters at Harar ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 2, No. 99, pp. 423–430](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre02hert)).

Those letters, dated 4 June 1897, drew a line from the wells of Hadou eastward to 44°E 9°N, then to 47°E 8°N. Much of the grazing land of the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) fell on the Ethiopian side (same source).

Rodd asked that the communities "formerly… under British protection" should receive "equitable treatment". Menelik answered in writing (same source):

> "The Somalis who may by boundary arrangements become subjects of Ethiopia shall be well treated and have orderly government."

The letters added one clause that would matter for sixty years: "The tribes occupying either side of the line shall have the right to use the grazing grounds on the other side", with "free access to the nearest wells" (same source). The treaty was ratified and notified on 30 August 1897.

## Who was in the room?

The 1884 and 1886 treaties carry the marks of Somali elders and sultans. The 1897 treaty does not. No Somali signed the line that divided the Haud, though the earlier treaties had promised that land would pass only to Britain.

The Library of Congress records that the 1897 treaty became the legal basis for Ethiopia's claim to the Haud and the Ogaden ([Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/26.htm)). Britain handed the Haud to Ethiopia in 1955 under it (same source). See [the Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) for where that led.

## Sources differ

- **The date of the 1886 Habr Awal treaty.** Aitchison's summary gives 13 March 1886. Hertslet gives 15 March 1886, the date it took effect.
- **What the elders understood.** The English texts are the only versions in these collections. Whether Somali copies said the same thing is not recorded in the sources we can link to.
- **The 1884 Mijjertayn agreement.** Hertslet dates it 1 May 1884; Aitchison groups it with the 1866 subsidy agreement.

## Legacy, as recorded

Fifteen years later, in 1899, the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) began its armed campaign against British, Italian and Ethiopian rule. From 1943 the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) pressed the case for independence at the UN.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- C. U. Aitchison, *A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads relating to India and Neighbouring Countries*, vol. XIII, 1909, Somali Coast section, pp. 189–207: [full text](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.93192).
- E. Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, 3rd ed., 1909: [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert), [vol. 2](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre02hert) (the 1897 Anglo-Ethiopian treaty, No. 99), [vol. 3](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert) (the Italian treaties, Nos. 346–347).


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# Early Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa before 1300: the first records and the mosque inscriptions of 1238 and 1269

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu first appears by name in Arabic geography in the 1200s, when Yaqut described it as a town 'in the land of the Berbers' governed by its own elders and exporting sandalwood, ebony, ambergris and ivory. The oldest dated buildings are mosques: a minaret inscription in Hamar Weyne records that building began in Muharram 636 AH (August 1238), and inscriptions dated 667 AH (1269) survive at the Fakhr al-Din and Arba'a Rukun mosques. Merca was described by al-Idrisi in 1154 and by Ibn Sa'id in the 1200s as a Muslim town.

## In short

The southern Somali coast, later called the Benadir, had trading towns long before 1300. The record before Ibn Battuta's visit in 1331 is thin but real: three Arab geographers, a Chinese customs official, oral traditions written down in the 1840s, and inscriptions carved in Mogadishu's mosques. This page gathers them. Ibn Battuta and later travellers are on [the Somali coast towns, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## The 1st-century coast: Azania

South of Ras [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), the 1st-century *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* describes the "Courses of [Azania](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)", a coast "destitute of harbors" with anchorages, "the first being called Sarapion and the next Nicon" ([Schoff translation, 1912, §15, p. 28](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)). The Periplus gives no towns or rulers on this stretch. See [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

## Merca in 1154: al-Idrisi

Al-Idrisi, writing in Sicily in 1154, lists "the towns of Carfouna, of Markah and of El-Nedja" as belonging to the country of Berbera, on "the sea of Yemen". He writes that "the inhabitants of Berbera feed largely on the flesh of sea turtles, which they call *lebeh*". He describes a mountain called Khakoui "with seven very high peaks", which Guillain identified with Ras Hafun, and "two days from Markah, in the desert, a river which floods like the Nile, and on which durra is sown", a description of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire… de l'Afrique orientale*, part 1, 1856, pp. 192–193](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC), quoting Jaubert's translation of Idrisi; translated here).

## Mogadishu in the 1200s: Yaqut

Yaqut al-Hamawi wrote his dictionary of places, the *Mu'jam al-buldan*, "more than a century before the voyage of Ibn Battuta", in Guillain's words ([Guillain 1856, part 1, p. 289](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)). Guillain translated the entry on Mogadishu from its abridgement ([Guillain 1856, part 1, pp. 234–235](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC), translated here):

> "Maqdishu is a town placed at the beginning of the country of the Zanj, south of Yemen, in the land of the Berbers and at the centre of their country. These Berbers are not the same as those who live in the west… The inhabitants of this town go naked, without clothing. They have no sultan; their affairs are managed and directed by *muqaddam*s [elders] chosen from among them. If a merchant comes to this country, he must stay with one of them, who protects him and acts as his patron. From this country are exported sandalwood, ebony, ambergris and ivory, which are the greatest riches of the country."

Guillain added that, from traditions he collected in Mogadishu, Yaqut's information "must refer to a time well before that in which he wrote", since sultans were already ruling the town in the early 1200s (same source, p. 235, note).

The custom of the merchant staying with a local host matches what Ibn Battuta saw in 1331, when each arriving merchant was taken in by a host who traded for him ([Gibb, *Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa*, 1929, pp. 110–111](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617)).

## Merca and Mogadishu in the 1200s: Ibn Sa'id

The 13th-century geographer Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi writes ([Guillain 1856, part 1, pp. 238–239](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC), quoting Ibn Sa'id's geography; translated here):

- "Among the towns of the Berbers that are known on the seashore is that of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), whose inhabitants are Muslims… It is the capital of the country of the Hawiye, who form more than fifty tribes or villages. It lies on the banks of a river that comes out of the Nile of Maqdishu."
- "To the east of Merca is the Muslim town of Maqdishu, whose name comes up often in the mouths of those who have travelled in those parts… on the shore of the Indian Sea; its port offers little safety."
- He calls Berbera "the capital" of the Berber towns, and names a "great mountain well known to travellers", Hafuni, with seven capes that sailors "count and rejoice when they have passed".

## The mosque inscriptions of Mogadishu

The French naval officer Charles Guillain visited Mogadishu in 1847 and copied the Arabic inscriptions he found. He published them in French translation ([Guillain 1856, part 1, pp. 289, 612–613](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)):

**The minaret of the Hamar Weyne mosque, 636 AH (1238 AD).** On the mosque still in use in Hamar Weyne, the minaret carries this text:

> "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. The building of this minaret was begun in the first days of the month of Muharram of the year 636 of the hijra. May God bless him who instituted this era. May God forgive him who built it and took charge of it; may He forgive him, his father and his mother, and all Muslims… O God, all the deeds of your servant Muhammad ibn Abd al-Shaddad are done for You."

Guillain dates the start of Muharram 636 to August 1238. He describes the building as the one old mosque of the town "still used for worship and in fairly good condition, thanks to the successive restorations" (p. 289).

**A ruined mosque between Hamar Weyne and Shingani, 667 AH (1269 AD).** Guillain copied an inscription with a verse of the Qur'an ("Perform the prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night; truly good deeds remove evil deeds") and a prayer for its owner, "al-Hajj Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Bahrani", dated "the end of Sha'ban of the year 667", which is April 1269.

**The Fakhr al-Din and Arba'a Rukun mosques, 667 AH (1269 AD).** The Fakhr al-Din mosque in Hamar Weyne carries an inscription of 667 AH (1269) naming its builder ([Archnet, Masjid Fakhr al-Din](https://next.archnet.org/sites/3781)). The Arba'a Rukun mosque in Shingani has a mihrab inscription of the same year naming its founder, Khusra ibn Mubarak al-Shirazi ([Garlake, *The Early Islamic Architecture of the East African Coast*, 1966, p. 10](https://books.google.com/books?id=IRINAQAAIAAJ)).

These inscriptions are among the oldest dated Islamic texts on the East African coast. An older epitaph from [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) is described below.

## How Mogadishu was founded: who says what

- **The tradition Guillain collected in 1847.** Guillain was told that the first Muslim settlers, whom he calls the "Emozeides", at first built houses of wood and straw covered with hides, which were slowly replaced by stone houses. Government passed down in the family of the leader of a later immigration, a dynasty called "El-M'doffeur" (the Muzaffar). The land between the lower [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) and the Shabelle "was then, it is said, very populous", and the area around the town was held by the Ajuran, "one of the great Hawiye tribes", who had friendly relations with the Muzaffar sultans and brought goods from the interior on camels. Each night after the evening prayer, criers walked the town calling "Let those from outside leave and the inhabitants stay at home", and the gates were shut. Under this dynasty, he was told, Mogadishu became "the capital of all the surrounding country", and families from it founded Barawa, Merca and other towns ([Guillain 1856, part 1, pp. 287–288](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)).
- **Ibn Battuta, 1331.** He found the ruler, Abu Bakr, to be "of [Berberah](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/) origin", speaking "the Maqdishi language" as well as Arabic ([Gibb 1929, pp. 110–111](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617)).
- **The archaeologist Sada Mire** argues from the ruined towns across the north that the region's medieval states were local settled kingdoms and "challenges the notion that Arabs had outposts there" ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## How old is Mogadishu? Who says what

- **Enrico Cerulli**, the Italian scholar who studied the town's Arabic chronicles, held that Mogadishu grew between 900 and 1250 as a settlement of Arab merchants, organised from the 10th century as a federation of 39 clans from 5 tribes. The clans of the Muqri tribe took the *nisba* al-Khatani and won the right to choose the federation's *qadi* (judge) from among themselves (summarised by E. van Donzel, quoted in [Fauvelle-Aymar et al., *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, 2011, ch. 2, §§87–88](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **Neville Chittick**, who excavated on the Somali and Swahili coasts, concluded: "there is no firm evidence of the existence of a town on the site of Mogadishu before the late 12th century. It is perhaps most likely that it grew during that century to its state of florescence, which was evidently primarily in the 13th and 14th century" (Chittick 1982, p. 61, quoted in the same source, §88).
- **Ibn al-Mujawir**, writing soon after 1229, tells that the Banu Majid, driven out of Yemen in 1159, split into three groups, one of which settled at Mogadishu, one at Zafar in Yemen and one at Zeila (cited after Trimingham 1975, p. 124, in the same source, note 103).

## Barawa's epitaph of 1105

According to Cerulli's studies, the oldest known Arabic inscription in Somalia is an epitaph at Barawa dated 498 AH, which is 1105 AD (van Donzel, quoted in [Fauvelle-Aymar et al., *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, 2011, ch. 2, §§87–88](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). That makes it older than the Mogadishu inscriptions of 1238 and 1269.

## Mogadishu in the Chinese record, 1225

Zhao Rugua's description of Chung-li, which his translators identify with the Somali coast, tells of a king who "lives in a brick house covered with glazed tiles", courtiers who alone could wear jackets and turbans, and people who lived in palm-leaf huts and ate "baked flour cakes, sheep's and camel's milk". The translators suggest that "the town in which the king of Chung-li lived may well have been Magadoxo" ([Hirth and Rockhill, *Chau Ju-kua*, 1911, pp. 130–132](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)). See [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/)
- [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/)
- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [Marco Polo and the Somali coast, about 1298](/en/history/marco-polo-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [Scholars from Zeila and the Horn in medieval Yemen, 1150–1450](/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/)
- [Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1503–1510](/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/)


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# Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim (Axmed Gurey) and the Adal campaigns, 1527–1543

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, called Gurey or Gran ('the left-handed'), led the Muslim state of Adal, based at Harar, in a war against the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia from about 1527 to 1543. Somali communities made up much of his army. He won at Shimbra Kure in March 1529 and held most of Ethiopia by 1540, but was killed at Wayna Daga on 21 February 1543 after Portugal sent 400 musketeers to Ethiopia's aid.

## In short

In the 1500s the Muslim state of Adal, with its capital at Harar, fought a long war against the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia. Its leader was Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, known in Somali as *Axmed Gurey* and in Amharic as *Gran*, both meaning "the left-handed".

Two kinds of primary source tell the story. One is an Arabic chronicle written by a man in the Imam's army, the *Futuh al-Habasha* ("The [Conquest of Abyssinia](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)"). The other is the Portuguese record of the soldiers sent to fight him. Both survive in full, in French and English translations ([Basset, *Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie*, 1897](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog); [Whiteway, *The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541–1543*, Hakluyt Society, 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

## Who was he?

Little is known of his early life. The Portuguese scholar R. S. Whiteway, who edited the records in 1902, writes that he was the son of Ibrahim al-Ghazi, and that father and son were ordinary soldiers in the troop of Garad Aboun ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiii](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

He rose fast. When his campaigns into Ethiopia began in 1528, he was only about twenty-one (same source). He took the religious title of *imam* rather than the royal title of sultan ([Basset 1897, introduction](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)).

He married Bati Del Wanbara, daughter of Mahfuz, the emir of Harar. She rode with him on campaign. Whiteway notes that even the Ethiopian chronicles, though hostile to her husband, "loudly praise her humanity" ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiv](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

## The Somali role

The *Futuh al-Habasha* names Somali communities and their leaders as they arrived at Harar to join the Imam ([Basset 1897, pp. 72–73](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)):

- The first to arrive were the **Habr Magadi**, as the chronicle spells them, led by Ahmed Gurey ibn Husayn "the Somali", a second commander also called Gurey.
- Then came the **Geri**, led by Matan ibn Uthman ibn Khalid "the Somali", who had married the Imam's sister.
- The chronicle also names the **Marehan**, who sent ninety horsemen and over seven hundred foot soldiers, and other communities of the region.
- Not every leader joined at once. Basset's notes record that the Marehan chief, Hirabou, at first refused to join the campaign. He later sent a contingent under his son Ahmed, but stayed at odds with Harar ([Basset 1897, p. 36, notes](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)). Basset adds that the Marehan fighters, under the vizier Addole, "distinguished themselves" at the battle of Badeqeen, holding a river crossing. In the same note he calls them, in 1897, "still today the poorest and the most savage of the Somalis". That line is Basset's own comment; it is not in the chronicle (same source).

The chronicle describes how the Imam received each group with gifts of clothing and food. It says he sold his wives' jewellery and his household goods to buy arms for the army, keeping nothing for himself ([Basset 1897, p. 73](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)).

Whiteway concludes that the Imam was "probably" Somali himself, since he was closely tied to many Somalis, though the chronicle never states his origin ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiii](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

## How was the war fought?

The dates below come from Whiteway's summary of the Ethiopian, Arabic and Portuguese sources ([Whiteway 1902, pp. xxxv–xxxvi](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

- **Firearms.** Firearms reached Arabia in 1515, and Muslim merchants brought them to Zeila. Ethiopia did not yet have them. Adal's army included matchlock men, mostly Turks from Zabid in Yemen (same source, pp. xxxii–xxxiii).
- **March 1529, Shimbra Kure.** The first great battle. The chronicle gives Ethiopia's army as 16,000 horse and over 200,000 foot, against 560 horse and 12,000 foot for Adal. Both sides agree Adal was far smaller, and Adal won.
- **17 July 1530.** Debre Libanos, the most sacred monastery in Ethiopia, was burned.
- **28 October 1531, Amba Sel.** Emperor Lebna Dengel was defeated and nearly captured. He never again offered a pitched battle.
- **1539, Amba Geshen.** Adal stormed the royal mountain fortress where the royal family was held.
- **2 September 1540.** Lebna Dengel died at Debre Damo as a fugitive, with almost all his land in Adal's hands.

## Portugal joins the war, 1541–1543

Ethiopia asked Portugal for help. In 1541 about 400 Portuguese musketeers landed at Massawa under Christovão da Gama, son of Vasco da Gama ([Whiteway 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). The Imam asked the Ottoman pasha at Zabid for reinforcements.

The Portuguese won battles in February and April 1542. In August 1542 the Imam defeated them, and Christovão da Gama was captured and killed (same source, introduction).

On 21 February 1543, at Wayna Daga near Lake Tana, the surviving Portuguese and the army of the new Ethiopian emperor, Galawdewos, met the Imam's army. The Imam was killed in the battle ([Whiteway 1902, pp. xxxiv, lxix–lxx](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). His son Muhammad, born in 1531, was captured, and later exchanged for an Ethiopian prince held by Adal.

## After the Imam

Del Wanbara agreed to marry the Imam's successor, [Nur ibn Mujahid](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/), on condition that he avenge her husband. Nur killed Emperor Galawdewos in battle in 1559 ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxv](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

Whiteway writes that the long war opened the way for Oromo migration into the highlands from about 1537, which changed the map of the region for good (same source, p. xxiv). Adal itself declined in the decades after 1543 ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal)).

For a Cairo biography of the Imam's son, with an account of the last battle and the exchange of captive princes, see [Imam Ahmad's son and the end of the war, 1543–1560](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/). For Emir Nur, the end of the sultanate and the move to Awsa, see [The end of Adal, 1543–1583](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/).

## Who suffered?

Both sides record great losses. The chronicle puts Adal's own dead at Shimbra Kure at 5,000. It says that on the Ethiopian side more than 10,000 leading men were killed in that one battle ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxvi](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). Churches and monasteries were burned and looted across Ethiopia, and many people were killed or taken captive.

## Sources differ

- **His origin.** The chronicle does not give it. Whiteway thought him probably Somali, but wrote that the evidence "does not appear decisive" ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiii](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).
- **The date of Shimbra Kure.** Ethiopian accounts give 7 or 9 March 1529; the Muslim chronicle says only "early March" (same source, p. xxxv).
- **The Marehan contingent.** The chronicle's text gives ninety horse and over seven hundred foot. Basset's note gives eighty horse and five hundred foot, under Ahmed son of Hirabou ([Basset 1897, pp. 36, 72–73](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)).
- **The name of the Portuguese commander.** Older accounts sometimes call him Pedro da Gama. The Portuguese records name him Christovão (Christopher) da Gama ([Whiteway 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

## How he is remembered

For many Somalis, Imam Axmed Gurey is a hero of the faith and of Somali arms. In Ethiopia he is remembered as the leader of a devastating invasion. Whiteway noted in 1902 that Christian traditions about him were many, while Muslim memory of him had faded ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxv](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). Both memories are part of the history of the Horn.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Qadir, *Futuh al-Habasha*, French translation by René Basset, *Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie (XVIe siècle)*, 1897: [full text](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog).
- R. S. Whiteway (ed.), *The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541–1543, as narrated by Castanhoso*, Hakluyt Society, 1902: [full text](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich).


---

# The Somali Civil War

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-civil-war/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Civil War is the long war that grew out of armed resistance to Siad Barre's military government in the 1980s. Rebel fronts fought the army from 1988 and drove Siad Barre out of Mogadishu in January 1991. The fronts then split, Mogadishu was divided, and famine in 1991–1992 killed an estimated 300,000. UN and US forces intervened from 1992 to 1995. Transitional governments followed from 2000, the Islamic Courts and Ethiopia fought in 2006–2009, and since 2009 the government and African Union troops have fought al-Shabaab. Writers date its start to 1978, 1981, 1988 or 1991.

## In short

The Somali Civil War "grew out of resistance to the military junta led by [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) during the 1980s". Wikipedia gives its start as "1978/1981/1988/1991 (disputed)", and treats it as still going on ([Wikipedia, "Somali Civil War"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Civil_War)).

This page is an overview. Each stage has its own page, linked below, with the full sources.

## 1978–1991: the fronts against Siad Barre

- **The fronts.** Four main armed movements fought the government: the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF, from 1978–81), the Somali National Movement (SNM, 1981), the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM, 1985) and the United Somali Congress (USC, 1989). See [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).
- **Repression.** The Library of Congress writes that Siad Barre "unleashed a reign of terror against the Majeerteen, the Hawiye, and the Isaaq", carried out by the Red Berets ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm)). See [the 1986 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-1986/) for the power struggle of 1986.
- **May 1988.** The SNM attacked [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Hargeisa. The army answered with "massive aerial bombing... that damaged or destroyed virtually every building in Hargeysa" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)). See [the Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).
- **October 1990.** SNM fighters had pushed government forces out of almost all of [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), Togdheer and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).
- **December 1990 to January 1991.** In "the final assault on Siad Barre's forces", fighters of the Abgaal wing of the USC fought in Mogadishu "without the assistance of either the SNM, the SPM, or the Habar Gidir faction of the USC" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm)). Siad Barre left the capital in January 1991. See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## 1991–1995: collapse, famine and intervention

- **A government no one shared.** The USC named a provisional government in February 1991. Its allies said they had not been consulted. The SPM and SSDF drove USC forces out of Kismayo, and "violent clashes throughout March threatened to return the country to civil war" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).
- **The north.** In May 1991 the SNM announced the Republic of Somaliland. See [the Burao conference and Somaliland's declaration](/en/history/somaliland-declaration-1991/).
- **Mogadishu divided.** Fighters of interim President [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) (Abgaal) and General [Mohamed Farah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) (Habar Gidir) "engaged in open battle beginning in September" 1991. By the end of the year Aidid held the south of the city, with the port and airport, and Ali Mahdi the north. Both sides "used food as a weapon" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).
- **Famine.** The UN estimated "perhaps 300,000 people died since November 1991" ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **The UN and the US.** UNOSOM I (1992–1993), the US-led UNITAF (1992–1993) and UNOSOM II (1993–1995) followed. The battle of 3–4 October 1993 in Mogadishu led the US to withdraw. See [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/), [the UN and US intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) and [the battle of Mogadishu, 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/).
- **The rest of the 1990s.** See [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## 2000–2009: transitional governments, the Islamic Courts and Ethiopia

- **Two governments.** The Transitional National Government came out of the Arta conference in Djibouti in 2000, and the Transitional Federal Government out of the Kenya talks of 2002–2004. See [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).
- **2006.** The Islamic Courts Union took Mogadishu in June. Ethiopian forces entered in December. See [the war in Somalia, 2006–2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/).

## 2009 to now: al-Shabaab

Since 2009 the main fight has been between the government, backed by African Union troops, and al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab left Mogadishu on 6 August 2011, during a famine in which a later study estimated about 258,000 deaths, and it still holds large rural areas. See [the war in Somalia, 2009 to now](/en/history/somali-civil-war-2009-present/) and [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).

## Who suffered?

- **The Isaaq of the north-west,** in the army's campaign of 1988–1989 ([the Isaaq genocide](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/)).
- **People in the famine zones of 1991–1992,** an estimated 300,000 dead (UN), and of 2010–2012, about 258,000 dead ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-)).
- **The people of Mogadishu,** in the fighting of 1991–1992, in 1993, in 2006–2011, and in bombings since.
- **Refugees.** In 1992 the UN counted "almost one million Somalis" who had fled to neighbouring countries and elsewhere ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

## Sources differ

- **When it began.** Writers give 1978 (the SSDF rising), 1981 (the founding of the SNM), 1988 (the SNM offensive) or 1991 (the fall of Siad Barre) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Civil_War)).
- **Somaliland.** Somaliland's government holds that the 1960 union was revoked in May 1991. The federal government holds that Somaliland is part of Somalia. See [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Siad Barre's repressive measures"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm), ["Politics of reconciliation"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm), ["Politics of succession"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm), ["Politics of disintegration"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm), ["Foreign relations"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm).
- UN Peacekeeping, *UNOSOM I: background*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html).
- [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FEWS NET, mortality study, 2010–2012 (May 2013): [PDF](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf).


---

# The Somali flag (Calanka Soomaaliya): who designed it, when, and what the star means

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/the-flag/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali flag is a white five-pointed star on a light blue field. It was designed by Mohammed Awale Liban and approved by the territorial council on 12 October 1954, six years before independence. The five points stand for the five lands where Somalis live.

## The flag in one line

A white five-pointed star, centred on a light blue field. In Somali it is *Calanka Soomaaliya*, and the star is often called *xiddigta*.

## Who made it and when

The flag was designed by **[Mohammed Awale Liban](/en/people/mohammed-awale-liban/)**, a Somali scholar, after the territorial council could not agree on earlier proposals ([Flag of Somalia, Wikipedia, citing CRW Flags and Costantino 2001](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia); [Mohammed Awale Liban, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Awale_Liban)). The council approved it on **12 October 1954**, when the south was still the UN [Trust Territory of Somaliland](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/) under Italian administration ([Flag of Somalia, Wikipedia, citing the UN General Assembly record of 14 December 1954](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)).

[Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/), a leader of the Somali Youth League and later prime minister, tells the story in his memoir ([Hussein, *My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State*, 2017, pp. 97–98, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)).

On 26 June 1960 the north became independent as the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/). On 1 July 1960 it joined the south, and the star flag became the flag of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Flag of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)). Somalis mark 12 October as Flag Day (*Maalinta Calanka*).

## What it means

**The star.** Its five points stand for the five lands where Somalis live: the former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/), the former Italian Somalia, [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) (today Djibouti), the Somali Region of Ethiopia, and the [North Eastern Province](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/) of Kenya ([Znamierowski, *The World Encyclopedia of Flags*, 1999, p. 222, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)). The Library of Congress gives the same five: the former Italian and British territories, the Ogaden, Djibouti and Kenya's Northern Frontier District ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)). Two of those five, the north and the south, united in 1960. Djibouti became its own independent country in 1977.

**The blue.** Most accounts say the light blue first honoured the United Nations, which oversaw the south's road to independence from 1950 to 1960 ([Flag of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)). The German flag reference Flaggenlexikon says this "supposedly" came from Liban himself ([Flaggenlexikon](https://flaggenlexikon.de/fsomali.htm)). The CIA World Factbook gives the meaning used today: the sky and the seas around the Somali coast ([CIA World Factbook, archived 2012, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)).

**The white.** The star's white is often read as peace and prosperity.

## The flag in the law

Every Somali constitution since independence has written the flag into its first articles.

- **1960.** Article 1 of the first constitution of the Somali Republic says: "The national flag shall be azure in colour, rectangular, and shall have a white star with five equal points emblazoned in its centre" ([Constitution of the Somali Republic, 1960, art. 1(4)](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)). See [the 1960 Constitution](/en/history/1960-constitution/).
- **2012.** Article 6 of the Provisional Constitution says: "The flag of the Federal Republic of Somalia… is a light blue rectangle in the centre of which is a white star with five equal points." The same article lets each federal member state have its own flag and symbols ([Provisional Constitution of Somalia, 2012, art. 6](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)). Schedule One shows the flag and emblem as images.

The emblem has stayed the same since 1960: a blue shield with a gold border and a silver star, held by two leopards, over two crossed spears and two palm leaves ([1960 Constitution, art. 1(5)](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

## Colours

The light blue is close to hex #418FDE (RGB 65, 143, 222). The star is plain white ([Flag of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Somalia)).

## What to know today

The flag is flown across most of the Somali lands and the diaspora. In [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), which has used its own flag since 1996, people have been arrested for raising the star flag. In September 2015, four singers of the Horn Stars band were held at Hargeisa airport after sharing photos with the star flag from a show in Mogadishu. A Hargeisa court freed them days later ([Hiiraan Online, 2015](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2015/Sept/101797/somaliland_detains_musicians_after_mogadishu_show.aspx); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-somaliland-court-frees-singers-after-outcry)).

## Context

See the [two national anthems](/en/history/national-anthems/) and [Toosoo: the call](/en/toosoo/).


---

# Books about Somalis before 1500: Greek, Arabic and Chinese writers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The oldest written accounts of the Somali coast are the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE), Arabic geographies such as al-Idrisi (1154) and Yaqut (1220s), Ibn Battuta's account of Mogadishu in 1331, and Chinese records from the 9th to the 15th centuries. This page lists each one, what it says and where to read it free.

## What these books are

Before 1500, the Somali coast appears in books written by outsiders who traded or travelled there. Greek merchants, Arab and Persian geographers, a Moroccan traveller and Chinese officials each wrote down what they saw or heard. None of these authors was Somali, and most never went inland, so the books describe the ports far more than the interior.

Arabic writers usually call the people of the northern coast **Barbar** and the land **Bilad al-Barbar**, and they describe the coast south of it as the land of the **Zanj** ([Periplus, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea)). Greek writers used the related name **[Barbaria](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)** ([Periplus, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea)). Chinese writers used **[Bobali](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/)** or **Bibaluo** for the Berbera coast ([Zhu Fan Zhi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Fan_Zhi)).

## What they record

They are the only written record of places such as Zeila, Berbera, Mogadishu, Marka and [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/) for many centuries. Historians use them to date the arrival of Islam, the rise of Mogadishu as a trading city and the links between the Somali coast, Arabia, Persia, India and China. Ibn Battuta's visit in 1331 is the most detailed: he describes the sultan of Mogadishu, his court, the qadi and the city's food and cloth ([Ibn Battuta, Rihla, trans. H. A. R. Gibb, Fordham Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). More on these towns is on [The Somali coast towns, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/) and [Medieval and early modern polities](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).

## How to read them

Most of these works were written in Arabic, Greek or Chinese and later translated into English or French in the 19th and 20th centuries. The free links below go to scanned translations or editions where one exists. Where no free copy was found, the WorldCat link shows the nearest library that holds the book.

## The books, oldest first

### Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 40-70 CE)

**Anonymous Greek merchant** · Greek

Trade ports on the northern Somali coast (Malao, Mundus, [Mosylon](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/), Opone) on what the Greeks called the Barbaria coast; incense, cinnamon and tortoiseshell.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/theperiplusoftheerythraeansea) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Periplus+of+the+Erythraean+Sea+Anonymous+Greek+merchant)

### Geographia (c. 150 CE)

**Claudius Ptolemy** · Greek

Lists places on the Somali coast and the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/).

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.5077) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16104620W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_(Ptolemy)) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Geographia+Claudius+Ptolemy)

### Youyang Zazu (Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang) (c. 863)

**Duan Chengshi** · Chinese

Describes the land of Bobali (Berbera coast) and its people, cattle and ivory trade.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youyang_Zazu) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Youyang+Zazu+Duan+Chengshi)

### Muruj al-Dhahab (Meadows of Gold) (947)

**al-Mas'udi** · Arabic

Sailing to the land of the Berbers and the Zanj on the East African coast.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/meadowsofgold0000masu) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meadows_of_Gold) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Muruj+al-Dhahab+al-Mas%27udi)

### Surat al-Ard (c. 977)

**Ibn Hawqal** · Arabic

Mentions Zeila as a port on the Habasha route.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Hawqal) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Surat+al-Ard+Ibn+Hawqal)

### Nuzhat al-Mushtaq (Tabula Rogeriana) (1154)

**al-Idrisi** · Arabic

Describes Zeila, Berbera and the coast of the 'Barbar' south toward Marka.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_Rogeriana) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Nuzhat+al-Mushtaq+al-Idrisi)

### Mu'jam al-Buldan (Dictionary of Countries) (1224-1228)

**Yaqut al-Hamawi** · Arabic

Describes Mogadishu and its people, called 'Barbar', and their trade in sandalwood, ebony and ambergris.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Mu%27jam+al-Buldan+Yaqut+al-Hamawi)

### Zhu Fan Zhi (Description of Foreign Peoples) (1225)

**Zhao Rugua** · Chinese

Describes the country of Bibaluo (Berbera) with its camels, sheep and frankincense, and Zhongli.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork0000ruku) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Fan_Zhi) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Zhu+Fan+Zhi+Zhao+Rugua)

### Kitab al-Jughrafiya (c. 1250-1286)

**Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi** · Arabic

Names Mogadishu, Marka and Berbera; calls Mogadishu a city of Muslims.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Sa%27id_al-Maghribi) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Kitab+al-Jughrafiya+Ibn+Sa%27id+al-Maghribi)

### Masalik al-Absar (c. 1340s)

**al-Umari** · Arabic

Describes the Muslim states of the Horn including Adal (Awfat/[Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)) and their rulers.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Umari) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Masalik+al-Absar+al-Umari)

### Rihla (The Travels) (1355)

**Ibn Battuta** · Arabic

His 1331 visit to Zeila and Mogadishu: the sultan's court, the qadi, the city's hospitality, food and cloth trade.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/the-travels-of-ibn-battuta-01) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20167593W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Battuta) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Rihla+Ibn+Battuta)

### al-Ilmam bi-akhbar man bi-ard al-Habasha min muluk al-Islam (c. 1430s)

**al-Maqrizi** · Arabic

History of the Muslim kingdoms of the Horn, including Ifat and the Walashma dynasty.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Maqrizi) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=al-Ilmam+bi-akhbar+man+bi-ard+al-Habasha+min+muluk+al-Islam+al-Maqrizi)

### Xingcha Shenglan (Overall Survey of the Star Raft) (1436)

**Fei Xin** · Chinese

Ming fleet visits to Mogadishu (Mugudushu), Brava (Bulawa) and [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/); stone houses and dry land.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fei_Xin) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Xingcha+Shenglan+Fei+Xin)

### Yingya Shenglan (1451)

**Ma Huan** · Chinese

Zheng He's voyages; notes on the East African ports visited by the fleet.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ying-yai-sheng-lan-j.-v.-g-mills) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Huan) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Yingya+Shenglan+Ma+Huan)

### Kitab al-Fawa'id (c. 1490)

**Ahmad ibn Majid** · Arabic

Navigation guide naming Somali coast landmarks and ports.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_M%C4%81jid) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Kitab+al-Fawa%27id+Ahmad+ibn+Majid)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1500 to 1884](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Ruined towns of the Somali interior: Abasa, Amud, Fardowsa and the stone towns of the trade routes

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dozens of ruined stone towns lie across the Somali interior, most of them in Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag and the Nugaal valley. They have mosques, houses of stone and mud mortar, wells, walls and cemeteries, and finds of Chinese porcelain, Yemeni pottery, glass and Arab coins. Archaeologists link most of them to the trade routes between the coast and the highlands, and to the Muslim states of Ifat and Adal, with dated material from about the 12th to the 16th century and older finds at some sites. Few have been excavated.

## In short

Across the Somali interior stand the ruins of stone towns with mosques, houses, wells and cemeteries. Local people point out about 70 of them. They were first written about by Richard Burton in 1854, surveyed by a British officer in the 1930s and visited by a few teams since, but only a handful have been dug ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). This page gathers what each of those visits recorded.

Most of the dated material is from the 12th to the 16th century, the age of the trade routes from Zeila and Berbera to the highlands and of the sultanates of [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) and Adal. Some sites hold older finds.

## Who recorded them

**Richard Burton, 1854.** On 9 December 1854, on his way to Harar, Burton visited two ruined towns in the hills west of Hargeisa, Darbiyah Kola ("Kola's fort") and Aububah. At Darbiyah Kola he saw houses, wells "filled with rubbish", a palace "with its walls of stone and clay intersected by layers of woodwork", and a roofless mosque with "twelve square pillars of rude masonry" and an arched mihrab: "for a mile and a half in length all was ruins—ruins—ruins". His guides told him the two towns had fought each other until both were destroyed, about 300 years before. At Aububah he saw the domed tomb of Shaykh Aububah, two mosques, a small minaret and a large graveyard, and heard of a third town called Ahammed. Burton called them "remains of Galla settlements" ([Burton, *First Footsteps in East Africa*, 1856, Project Gutenberg ebook 6886](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). See [First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/).

**A. T. Curle, 1930–1934.** Alexander Curle, a British political officer marking the border with Ethiopia, reported about twenty ruined towns in the journal *Antiquity* ([Curle, "The Ruined Towns of Somaliland", *Antiquity* 11, 1937, pp. 315–327](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00012928)). As summarised by Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues ([*Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, 2011, ch. 2, §§2, 21](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714), translated here):

- Thirteen of the towns formed a dense group across south-western [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and the Ethiopian [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/), between 1,500 and 2,000 metres above sea level.
- The four largest were Abasa, Amud, Au Bare and Gogesa. Each had about 200 houses, with walls still standing up to 5 metres high. The mosques were the best preserved buildings.
- Curle dated the towns to the 15th and 16th centuries. He collected "several thousand items", among them glazed pottery, Chinese celadon of the Song and Ming dynasties (12th–15th centuries), Arab and Egyptian coins, and glass. The collection went to the British Museum.
- He dug only one test pit, in a refuse heap at Amud, which went down 1.37 metres through ash, bone and rubbish.

**Neville Chittick, 1975.** The British-Somali expedition led by Chittick visited Abasa and Zeila. At Abasa it found houses "moderately well built of fairly regular but uncut stone set in mud mortar… mostly small, consisting of one or two rooms" (quoted in Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §22).

**The French survey, 2001.** Fauvelle-Aymar, Hirsch, Bernard and Champagne spent two week-long missions in Somaliland in February and April 2001, visiting Zeila, Abasa, Amud, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) and Berbera with the support of the Somaliland authorities. They handed what they collected to the Ministry of Education and Culture ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §3 and note 4](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).

**Sada Mire and Somaliland's Department of Archaeology, from 2007.** Mire's survey maps about 40 ruined towns, pre-Islamic and Islamic, of the "closer to 70" reported by local people. She finds clusters in the Sheekh–Hargeisa–[Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/) triangle, where "some of the earliest ruined towns in Somaliland are located", and around [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) in the west ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

**The Spanish team, 2015–2020.** A Spanish archaeological project led by Alfredo González-Ruibal and Jorge de Torres Rodríguez, working with Somaliland archaeologists, studied eleven sites in central Somaliland between Berbera and Hargeisa ([González-Ruibal et al., "Exploring long distance trade in Somaliland (AD 1000–1900)", *Azania* 52, 2017, pp. 135–172](https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2017.1328214); [de Torres Rodríguez, González-Ruibal, Franco Fernández, Martínez Barrio and Gutiérrez de León Juberías, "Towns in a sea of nomads: territory and trade in Central Somaliland during the Medieval period", in *Shaping Cultural Landscapes*, Sidestone Press, 2022, pp. 255–274](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf)). Their results are set out under "Central Somaliland" below.

**The [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) valley, 2021.** Said M-Shidad Hussein reported several newly found ruined towns in the Nugaal valley, three of them relatively large. He notes that they lie "in the same region where the first interior city in Somalia was reported in 1154" and suggests one may be that city ([Hussein, "Ruined towns in Nugaal: a forgotten medieval civilisation in interior Somalia", *Azania* 56.2, 2021, pp. 250–271](https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2021.1925025), abstract).

## The sites

- **Abasa (Abbasa)**, near the village of Bon in Awdal, about 1,536 metres up. A town of several hectares on a plain crossed by a seasonal river. Curle measured its mosque at about 60 by 54 feet, with "twelve unevenly placed pillars of varying forms", some round and some cross-shaped, a brushwood roof and a mihrab of "four recessed rounded arches". Chittick found that the mihrab arch had fallen between 1934 and 1975. The 2001 team found cowrie shells, some pierced, in an open space that may have been a market ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§21–26](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). Mire calls Abasa "one of the best preserved ruined towns of Somaliland", now "covered with cacti which protects it from looters" ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). The 2018 survey of Abasa and two nearby sites is on [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola)](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/).
- **Amud (Camuud)**, about 1,504 metres up on the slopes of a limestone plateau in Awdal. Several hundred houses, densely built. Curle described a mosque with a pointed-arch mihrab and "an antechamber containing a storage well 8 feet deep and lined with plaster to hold the water for ablutions". The 2001 team found the mosque by its well, and a cemetery of at least a hundred Muslim graves without inscriptions. The site was then being used as a quarry for public works ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§27–30](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **Sheikh (Fardowsa)**, beside the town of Sheekh, about 60 km south of Berbera. The 2001 French team saw about 10 hectares, with a possible town wall, graves, house foundations and a deep well. Local people gave its medieval name as Ferdussa. The team saw pottery, glass bangles, cowries and an Arab coin, and dated several pieces to the 14th and 15th centuries ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§32–34](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). The Spanish team measures the town at about 35 hectares (see below). Mire reports Sasanian pottery of the 8th century and Chinese ceramics of the 13th to 17th centuries from the surface ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **Berbera.** A cemetery about 3 km long and 20 to 50 metres wide runs along the shore, with probably several thousand graves, some marked by a single standing stone ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§36–37](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **In [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and the east,** Mire lists Maduuna, God Caanood near [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), and Shimbiris. She links inland towns in the east to the ports of [Heis](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) (Xiis), [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) and Laasqoray ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **In Awdal and Selel,** Mire lists Cad Cad, Old Amuud, Old Jidhi, [Derbiga](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/) and Qoorgaab near Boorama (same source). The towns between Borama and Hargeisa, among them Kabab, Gogeysa and Cad Cad, are on [Kabab and the medieval towns of the Gebiley region](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/).
- **Aw-Barkhadle**, near Hargeisa, is a ruined town and burial ground that Mire describes as a pre-Islamic and Islamic sacred centre. See [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

## Central Somaliland: Fardowsa, Qalcadda, Biyo Gure and Bagan

The full 2024 report on Fardowsa is summarised on [Fardowsa: the medieval trading town at Sheekh](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/).

The Spanish project found six permanent settlements in its area. All are built in the same way, with square or rectangular houses of flat stones bound with mud, and none has a defensive wall or a street plan. Most date from the 15th and 16th centuries; Fardowsa, the largest, probably goes back to the 12th century ([de Torres Rodríguez et al. 2022](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf), p. 265):

- **Fardowsa** covered "around 35 ha" at the foot of a pass from the Ogo mountains down to the coastal plain, and served as a resupply stop for caravans. In 2020 the team cleared about 600 square metres and found two large houses of identical plan around a courtyard, which they read as the compound of "an extended, wealthy family". Finds include pottery and glass from China, South-East Asia, Persia, Yemen and the Middle East, and camel bones in refuse pits. The team writes that this points to "the existence of privileged groups in the settlements, something not documented before in the medieval archaeology of Somaliland". Fardowsa was abandoned towards the end of the 16th century; there are almost no imports from the 17th century (p. 265).
- **Qalcadda**, near the Jerato Pass on the main route from Berbera to Hargeisa, is a caravan station: a square building with rooms around a central courtyard, beside a rectangular fort with round corner towers. Its name comes from the Arabic *qal'a*, "fortified place". A radiocarbon date from one of its four successive lime floors gives 1486–1646 AD. The team suggests that the cost of building and garrisoning it makes it more likely "a state initiative" of the Adal period than a private venture (pp. 268–269).
- **Biyo Gure**, a village of about 30 buildings on the coastal plain, held many imports, among them Chinese porcelain, Martaban and celadon wares and Yemeni pottery of the 15th and 16th centuries. It was destroyed by fire; the team writes that who attacked it, "perhaps nomadic raids, Portuguese soldiers, or locals", is unknown (pp. 265–268).
- **Bagan** (6 hectares) and **Gidheys** (2 hectares) are villages of loosely grouped houses with very few imports (p. 269).

The team describes trade on this coast as tied to the seasons. The north-east monsoon made sailing easy from about October to April, the same months when herders returned to the coast and its wells. Trading meetings were also "places for social and political interactions" for the nomadic communities (pp. 256–257). They see the Portuguese raid on Berbera in 1518, when the fleet found the town "completely empty of people and goods", as one of the first of the events that ended this trade system (p. 255).

## Trade and dates

Nicholas Tait and Timothy Insoll write that the Somaliland town sites "are linked to the Ifat and Adal Sultanates and seem to have operated between the late thirteenth and the late sixteenth centuries". Imported goods seen at many of them include Chinese celadon and blue-and-white porcelain, Yemeni "black-on-yellow" pottery, glass beads and glass bangles ([Tait and Insoll 2021, p. 438](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-021-09435-9)).

Mire writes that the material from the Somali region runs "from Tang Dynasty to Ming Dynasty China" and that "the people of this region were part of the Silk Road trade". She notes that ancient Christian burials are often found inside early Islamic ruined towns, and takes this as a sign that "the areas that blossomed as towns under Islam were most likely also significant pre-Islamic centres" ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Harlaa: the excavated town at the other end of the route

The best-excavated town on these routes lies just over the border, at Harlaa, about 40 km north-west of Harar in eastern Ethiopia. A team from the University of Exeter and Addis Ababa University dug there over five seasons from 2015 ([Insoll et al., "Material cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia", *Antiquity* 95, 2021, pp. 487–507](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.169)):

- The authors report twenty-seven radiocarbon dates, which they read as showing the town was lived in from the mid-6th to the 15th century, with a peak of trade and craft in the 12th and 13th centuries.
- Its mosque existed by the mid-12th century. Arabic inscriptions found there include one dated 657 AH (1259–1260) and one with a partial date of the 440s AH (1048–1057).
- Pottery came from Yemen, Iran, India and China, including 160 sherds of Chinese and South-East Asian wares. Shells from the Red Sea were worked into jewellery there ([Insoll 2021, *Journal of African Archaeology* 19](https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-20210001)).
- Some pottery rims at Harlaa are decorated like those of the Somaliland towns, and "many of the finer decorated rims at Harlaa… are potentially imports from Somaliland". A burnished sherd from Curle's Somaliland collection in the British Museum is "visually identical" to a Harlaa ware ([Tait and Insoll 2021, pp. 438–439](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-021-09435-9)).
- The authors identify Harlaa with Hubat, capital of a small [Harla](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/) sultanate tied to Ifat. They credit Said M-Shidad Hussein with the suggestion that the Somali word *hoobat* and the Arabic *hubut*, both meaning to come down a slope from high ground, describe Harlaa's position between highland and lowland ([Insoll et al. 2021, p. 504](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.169)).

## Who built them: who says what

- **Burton's guides, 1854**, told him the towns of Darbiyah Kola and Aububah had been "Galla" (Oromo) settlements, and Burton wrote the same ([Burton 1856](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)).
- **In eastern Ethiopia**, ruined stone towns and tombs are commonly called "Harla" and ascribed by the people living there today to "legendary ancient giants" ([Insoll et al. 2021, p. 488](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.169)).
- **Sada Mire** argues that the spread of the towns across the whole country "challenges the notion that Arabs had outposts there", and writes that it suggests the kingdoms of Ifat and Adal "not only were settled people, but also were part of what might be viewed as an early Islamic Empire in the Horn of Africa" ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).
- **Tait and Insoll** link the Somaliland town sites to the Ifat and Adal sultanates ([2021, p. 438](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-021-09435-9)).

## Threats

The 2001 team found the Abasa mosque much reduced since Curle's photographs, Amud being quarried for building stone, and the Sheikh site dug by treasure hunters and threatened by the growth of the modern town ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§24, 30, 34](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). Mire photographed looted and destroyed sites across Somaliland, among them a looted cairn in Togdheer, and calls decorated stelae "one of the most threatened artefacts in this region" ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/)
- [Heritage sites in Somalia](/en/society/heritage-sites/)
- [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola) and its neighbours](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/)
- [Kabab and the medieval towns of the Gebiley region](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/)
- [Aw Bare, Aiyanle and the medieval towns across the border](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/)


---

# The Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), 2001–2004

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) was an alliance of Somali faction leaders opposed to the Transitional National Government (TNG) formed at the Arta conference in 2000. Its leaders met at Awasa in Ethiopia and announced it in Addis Ababa on 23 March 2001. It was led by five co-chairmen and refused to recognise the TNG. Its members included the Rahanweyn Resistance Army's leader, Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigadud, and its forces were commanded in the south by General Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan. It joined the IGAD peace talks in Kenya in 2002 that produced the Transitional Federal Government in 2004.

## In short

"At a press conference in Addis Ababa on 23 March, the Somali leaders who had met in Awasa announced the formation of the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC). They stated that its aim would be to hold an 'all-inclusive national reconciliation conference within six months to form a representative Transitional Government of National Unity'," the UN Secretary-General reported in 2001 ([UN Security Council, S/2001/963, para. 13](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf)).

Its "five co-chairmen" kept up a "categorical refusal to recognize the Transitional National Government" ([S/2002/189, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/189&l=en&t=pdf)). For the governments of these years, see [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Founding, 2001

From the UN Secretary-General's report of October 2001 ([S/2001/963, paras. 7–15](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **Awasa.** "From early March, the Mogadishu faction leaders and the leaders who had met in El-Berde gathered in Addis Ababa and subsequently convened in Awasa, Ethiopia." Ethiopian officials told the UN the aim was "a common platform to facilitate discussions with the TNG", and denied any plan for "a parallel government".
- **The TNG's view.** TNG leaders "saw the meeting in Awasa as part of an Ethiopian plan to undermine the TNG". The Prime Minister asked the Security Council to act against "Ethiopian intervention"; Ethiopia rejected the accusations.
- **First disputes.** SRRC and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) "immediately denounced" the TNG's National Commission for Reconciliation and Property Settlement in May 2001.
- **The promised conference.** In September 2001 SRRC told the UN its conference "was postponed and would now be convened late in 2002".
- **The UN's comparison.** "Both the TNG and SRRC claim to be national, multi-clan alliances. Both have stated that they wish to pursue national reconciliation. Both include personalities who were prominent in the previous [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) regime. Neither seems to disagree on any major political issue" (para. 59).

## Refusing the TNG, 2001–2002

From the UN Secretary-General's report of February 2002 ([S/2002/189, paras. 5–17 and 30–33](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/189&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **Nairobi talks, November 2001.** SRRC leaders in Ethiopia said "they had resolved never to sit with the 'Arta faction' as long as it claimed to be the Government", with Abdiqasim Salad Hassan as President. See [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/).
- **Al-Itihaad claims.** SRRC and Colonel [Abdullahi Yusuf](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) "alleged that the leadership of the Transitional National Government is pro-Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya and that it was linked to al-Qa'idah". The TNG President denied any link.
- **A split.** At talks in Kenya in December 2001, the TNG signed an agreement with "the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, led by Osman 'Atto' (none of the five co-chairmen of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council was present)". See [Osman Ali Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/). A UN report of 2003 lists both "the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council" and "the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council — Mogadishu" ([S/2003/636, para. 42](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/).** These regions were held by "an alliance of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council and the Rahanwein Resistance Army". See [the Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/).
- **Forces.** "The forces of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, under the command of General 'Morgan', are estimated to have 5,000 to 8,000 militia in training for an offensive against Kismayo and possibly [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/) and/or [Merka](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)." See [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/).

## Into the Kenya talks, 2002

From the UN Secretary-General's report of June 2002 ([S/2002/709, paras. 4–22](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/709&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **1 March 2002.** After meeting at Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), Ethiopia, the Council said "it would participate in the IGAD national reconciliation conference for Somalia to be held at Nairobi". The TNG Prime Minister was concerned that the Council and Ethiopia "expected the conference to start from scratch, rather than building on the achievements of the Arta peace process".
- **Equal footing.** The TNG and Djibouti wanted the TNG accepted as the government, while "the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council and Ethiopia are of the view that all the Somali parties should participate on the basis of equality".
- **1 April 2002.** [Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigadud](/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/), chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army and "one of the leaders of the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council", was named President of a new "South-Western Regional State of Somalia" covering Bay, Bakool, [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Lower Juba. Some Council leaders, "such as General Abdullahi Aden Nur", opposed it.
- **Fighting.** In mid-February 2002, Council and [Juba Valley Alliance](/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/) militias fought at [Bardere](/en/regions/baardheere/); General Morgan "was reported to have attacked the town but was repulsed". Renewed fighting between TNG supporters and the Council in Mogadishu, after a UN staff abduction, suspended UN operations, and "an estimated 1 million inhabitants of the city were thus denied access to critical assistance".

At the Kenya conference in 2003, "many other leaders belonging to the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council" took part throughout ([S/2003/636, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)). The talks produced the Transitional Federal Parliament and Government in 2004. See [the Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/).

## Who suffered?

- **People of Mogadishu,** about 1 million of whom lost access to UN aid when fighting between the TNG and the Council resumed in 2002 (S/2002/709, para. 15).
- **People of Bardere and Gedo,** caught in fighting between the Council and the Juba Valley Alliance in 2002 (S/2002/709, para. 13).
- **Children.** The UN listed both SRRC and SRRC–Mogadishu among "Somali parties recruiting or using child soldiers" (S/2003/636, para. 42).

## Sources differ

- **The name.** UN reports use "Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council", "Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council" and "Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council".
- **Ethiopia's role.** The TNG called the Awasa meeting an Ethiopian plan to undermine it. Ethiopia denied planning "a parallel government" (S/2001/963).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2001/963 (11 October 2001), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf); S/2002/189 (21 February 2002), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/189&l=en&t=pdf); S/2002/709 (27 June 2002), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/709&l=en&t=pdf); S/2003/636 (10 June 2003), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Books about Somalis, 1500 to 1884: the Futuh, Portuguese, Ottoman and European travellers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 1500 to 1884 the main written sources on Somalis are the Arabic Futuh al-Habasha (about 1559), on Imam Ahmad's wars; Portuguese accounts of their attacks on Mogadishu, Brava and Zeila; an Ottoman admiral's travels; and European travellers such as Guillain (1856), Burton (1856) and Révoil (1882). This page lists each with free links.

## What these books are

Three kinds of writing describe Somalis between 1500 and 1884.

**An Arabic chronicle from the inside.** The Futuh al-Habasha ("Conquest of Abyssinia") was written by Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Qadir, known as Arab Faqih, about the campaigns of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim from 1529 to 1543 ([Futuh al-Habasha, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)). It was translated into French by René Basset in 1897 and into English by Paul Lester Stenhouse, with notes by Richard Pankhurst, in 2003 ([Tsehai Publishers](https://www.store.tsehaipublishers.com/product_info.php/history/the-conquest-of-abyssinia-p-58)). It names many Somali groups who fought in the Imam's army. The wars themselves are on [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527 to 1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

**Portuguese and Ottoman accounts from the sea.** After Vasco da Gama passed Mogadishu in 1499, Portuguese writers recorded the coast's cities, their trade and the Portuguese attacks on [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/), Zeila and Berbera. The Ottoman admiral Seydi Ali Reis wrote of sailing the same waters in the 1550s.

**European travellers from the 1840s.** British, French and German travellers wrote longer accounts of the north and the Banaadir coast. Richard Burton's First Footsteps in East Africa (1856) covers his journey of 1854 to 1855 from Zeila to Harar and his camp at Berbera, which was attacked in April 1855 ([First Footsteps, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/firstfootstepsin01burtuoft)). The Spectator reviewed it on 2 August 1856 ([Spectator Archive](https://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/2nd-august-1856/28/burtons-exploration-of-harar)).

## How historians use them

Historians read these books alongside Somali oral history, poetry and genealogies, which cover the same centuries from the inside. The travellers often depended on interpreters, and they wrote for European readers, so their descriptions reflect their own aims and assumptions as well as what they saw.

## The books, oldest first

### Roteiro da primeira viagem de Vasco da Gama (1497-1499)

**Alvaro Velho (attributed)** · Portuguese

Vasco da Gama's fleet passing Mogadishu in 1499 and bombarding it.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.181606) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Roteiro+da+primeira+viagem+de+Vasco+da+Gama+Alvaro+Velho)

### Livro de Duarte Barbosa (c. 1516)

**Duarte Barbosa** · Portuguese

Describes Zeila, Berbera, Mogadishu and Brava, their trade and rulers.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.00951) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL26560608W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duarte_Barbosa) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Livro+de+Duarte+Barbosa+Duarte+Barbosa)

### Lendas da India (c. 1550s)

**Gaspar Correia** · Portuguese

Portuguese voyages along the East African and Somali coast.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_Correia) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Lendas+da+India+Gaspar+Correia)

### Decadas da Asia (1552-1563)

**Joao de Barros** · Portuguese

Portuguese attacks on Brava (1506), Zeila (1517) and the Somali coast.

Where to read: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Barros) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Decadas+da+Asia+Joao+de+Barros)

### Mir'at ul-Memalik (Mirror of Countries) (1557)

**Seydi Ali Reis** · Ottoman Turkish

Ottoman admiral's account of sailing the Indian Ocean, including the Somali coast.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533014) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002005192969) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19820805W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seydi_Ali_Reis) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Mir%27at+ul-Memalik+Seydi+Ali+Reis)

### Futuh al-Habasha (The Conquest of Abyssinia) (c. 1559)

**Shihab al-Din Ahmad bin Abd al-Qader (Arab Faqih)** · Arabic

Eyewitness history of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim's wars of 1529-1543, naming many Somali clans who fought.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Futuh+al-Habasha+Shihab+al-Din+Ahmad+bin+Abd+al-Qader)

### Dos feitos de D. Christovam da Gama (1564)

**Miguel de Castanhoso** · Portuguese

The Portuguese expedition of 1541-1543 against Imam Ahmad, seen from the Ethiopian side.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.181670) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24366868W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o_da_Gama) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Dos+feitos+de+D.+Christovam+da+Gama+Miguel+de+Castanhoso)

### Memoir on the Western or Edoor Tribes inhabiting the Somali coast (1848)

**Charles Cruttenden** · English

Indian Navy officer's survey of the northern coast, clans and trade.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Memoir+on+the+Western+or+Edoor+Tribes+inhabiting+the+Somali+coast+Charles+Cruttenden)

### Documents sur l'histoire, la geographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale (1856)

**Charles Guillain** · French

French naval survey of 1846-1848 of Mogadishu, Marka, Brava and the Banaadir coast.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/2551836) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t9k368j0b) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12284857W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Documents+sur+l%27histoire%2C+la+geographie+et+le+commerce+de+l%27Afrique+orientale+Charles+Guillain)

### First Footsteps in East Africa, or an Exploration of Harar (1856)

**Richard Francis Burton** · English

Journey of 1854-1855 from Zeila to Harar and Berbera; Somali poetry, clans and customs.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49414) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044005625124) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL68668W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=First+Footsteps+in+East+Africa%2C+or+an+Exploration+of+Harar+Richard+Francis+Burton)

### What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile (1864)

**John Hanning Speke** · English

Speke's 1854-1855 travels in the [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) and [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) country.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/whatledtodiscove0000spek) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010960477) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3278756W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hanning_Speke) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=What+Led+to+the+Discovery+of+the+Source+of+the+Nile+John+Hanning+Speke)

### Baron Carl Claus von der Decken's Reisen in Ost-Afrika (1869-1879)

**Carl Claus von der Decken (ed. Otto Kersten)** · German

The 1865 [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river expedition in which von der Decken was killed near [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/).

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL26438678W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Klaus_von_der_Decken) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Baron+Carl+Claus+von+der+Decken%27s+Reisen+in+Ost-Afrika+Carl+Claus+von+der+Decken)

### La vallee du Darror (1882)

**Georges [Revoil](/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/)** · French

Travels in Majeerteen country ([Bari](/en/regions/bari/)) in 1878-1881.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/lavalledudarror00rvgoog) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=La+vallee+du+Darror+Georges+Revoil)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis before 1500](/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1884-1960/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# The Somali coast in Greek and Roman writers: Herodotus, Eratosthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy and the name Barbaria

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Greek and Roman geographers described the Somali coast from about the 3rd century BC. Eratosthenes and Artemidorus, quoted by Strabo, describe a 'myrrh-bearing' and 'cinnamon-bearing' coast beyond the Bab el-Mandeb ending at the 'Horn of the South'. Pliny names the Gulf of Abalites and the port of Mossylum, 'to which cinnamon is brought for exportation'. Ptolemy, about 150 AD, lists the market towns from Avalites to Opone and writes that the interior 'is called Barbaria, in which there are many elephants'. Herodotus' 'long-lived Ethiopians' are sometimes linked to the Horn, but his commentators How and Wells call them 'a mythical people'.

## In short

Before Arab and Chinese writers, the Somali coast was described by Greek and Roman geographers. None of them is known to have been there; they worked from sailors' and merchants' reports. Their works give names of capes, ports and peoples from the Bab el-Mandeb to Cape Guardafui and south along the Indian Ocean. The fullest account, the merchants' guide called the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, has its own page: [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/). This page covers the others, in date order.

## Herodotus and the "long-lived Ethiopians", about 430 BC

Herodotus tells how the Persian king Cambyses, after conquering Egypt, sent spies to "the 'Long-lived' Ethiopians, who dwell in that part of Libya which is by the Southern Sea". Their king, "the tallest and the most beautiful of all men", sent back a bow and the message that Cambyses should attack only when the Persians could draw a bow that size. Most of his people lived to 120 years, "and their food was boiled flesh and their drink was milk". Cambyses marched against them, but his army ran out of food before it had gone a fifth of the way and turned back (Herodotus, *Histories* 3.17–25, [Macaulay translation, Project Gutenberg ebook 2707](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2707)). Elsewhere Herodotus places Ethiopia at the far south-west edge of the inhabited world, producing gold, elephants, ebony "and men who are of all men the tallest, the most beautiful and the most long-lived" (3.114, same source).

**Who says what.** Herodotus gives no place names that can be fixed on a map. The 1912 commentary of W. W. How and J. Wells calls the long-lived Ethiopians "a mythical people", whose description is "partly based on Homer… partly on travellers' tales", exaggerated because "they live at the end of the world" ([How and Wells, *A Commentary on Herodotus*, vol. 1, 1912, note on 3.17–26](https://archive.org/details/commentaryonhero0001wwho)). The same note records the older view of the historian Heeren, who found "a foundation of fact" for the story in Cosmas' 6th-century account of the frankincense trade, and How and Wells' reply that "the evidence of Cosmas is too late and doubtful".

## Eratosthenes, 3rd century BC, quoted by Strabo

Eratosthenes, librarian at Alexandria, described the coast beyond the strait. Strabo quotes him: after the islands of the strait, "the next voyage, following the sinuosities of the bays, along the myrrh-bearing country in the direction of south and east as far as the cinnamon-bearing country, is about five thousand stadia; and to the present time, it is said, no one has arrived beyond that country; and though there are not many cities on the coast, there are many in the interior that are beautifully settled" (Strabo, *Geography* 16.4.4, [Loeb translation, 1932, on LacusCurtius](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16D*.html)).

The "cinnamon" of these Greek writers came to them through these ports; whether any of it grew there is a separate question, discussed on [Frankincense and myrrh](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/).

## Artemidorus, about 100 BC, quoted by Strabo

Artemidorus of Ephesus gives the most detailed list before the Periplus. Strabo, writing about 20 AD, follows him. Past the strait at Deirê comes "the country that bears frankincense", then river-lands that produce myrrh and frankincense, then the "cinnamon-bearing country", the mountain Elephas "which juts out into the sea", the harbour of Psygmus, a watering-place of the "Cynocephali" (baboons), and "the last promontory of this coast, Notu-ceras", the Horn of the South. "After rounding this promontory approximately towards the south, we no longer, he says, have any record of harbours or places." Along the coast stood "pillars and altars of Pytholaüs and Lichas and Pythangelus and Leon and Charimortus". The country "abounds in elephants" and has leopards and the rhinoceros (Strabo 16.4.14–16, [same source](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16D*.html)).

The mountain Elephas, a name that also appears in the Periplus and in Ptolemy, "seems to be the modern Ras el Fil, or Filuk", a headland 800 feet high about 40 miles west of Cape Guardafui ([Schoff, *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, 1912, notes p. 85](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)). See [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

## Pliny the Elder, about 77 AD

Pliny's *Natural History* follows the African shore of the Red Sea past Adulis: "Beyond these is the Gulf of Abalites, the island of Diodorus, and other desert islands; also, on the mainland, a succession of deserts, and then the town of Gaza, and the promontory and port of Mossylum, to the latter of which cinnamon is brought for exportation: it was thus far that Sesostris led his army." He adds that King [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) of Mauretania held that at Mossylum "the Atlantic Sea begins", meaning that he thought the African coast turned west there (Pliny, *Natural History* 6.34, [Bostock and Riley translation, vol. 2, 1855, p. 96](https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00plin)).

Abalites is the Avalites of the Periplus, the bay of Zeila. Mossylum is the Periplus' Mosylon, whose site is discussed on [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/). Avalites is identified with Zeila; see [Early Zeila](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

## Ptolemy, about 150 AD

Claudius Ptolemy's *Geography* gives each place a longitude and latitude. Book 4, chapter 7, "Aethiopia below Egypt", lists the Somali coast in order ([Stevenson's translation, 1932, pp. 107–108](https://archive.org/details/PtolemysGeographyBook4)):

- "After the strait in the Red sea": Dire, then "in Avalites bay" the Avalites market place, Malao market place, [Mondu](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) market place, "Mosylum promontory and market place", Cobe market place, the Elephas mountains, Acanna market place, and "Aromata promontory and market place", Cape Guardafui.
- "In the Barbaricus bay": Pano village, Opone market place, the Zingis promontory, the Phalangis mountains, Apocopa, the "Austri Cornu" (Horn of the South), the Little and the Great Beach, Essina, "Sarapionis station and emporium", Tonice market place, and the river and town of Rhapta.
- On the peoples: the Avalitae live "near a bay of this name, and the Mosyli above the promontory with a market place of this name. The entire maritime coast to the Rhaptum promontory is called Azania; the interior region is called Barbaria, in which there are many elephants."

Ptolemy places Opone at 4° 15′ north and the Aromata promontory at 6° north, and Avalites at 8° 25′ north (same pages). See [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/).

## Cosmas Indicopleustes, about 550 AD

The Alexandrian merchant Cosmas wrote that the sons of Ham received the lands "from Gadeira in the west to the ocean of Ethiopia, called Barbaria, beyond the Arabian Gulf", and that "Zingium… is situated beyond the country called Barbaria which produces frankincense" ([McCrindle, *The Christian Topography of Cosmas*, 1897, Book II](https://archive.org/details/christiantopogra00cosm)). His account of the frankincense trade of Barbaria is on [Frankincense and myrrh](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/).

## The name Barbaria, Berber and Bilad al-Barbar

The northern Somali coast was known for some 1,500 years by a name built on *barbar*:

- **Greek, 1st century.** The Periplus calls the African shore south of Berenice, in southern Egypt, "the country of the Berbers" (§2), and the ports past the strait, from Avalites to Cape Guardafui, the "far-side" Berber market-towns (§7) ([Schoff 1912](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)).
- **Greek, 2nd century.** Ptolemy calls the gulf south of Guardafui the "Barbaricus bay" and the interior "Barbaria" (above).
- **Greek, 6th century.** Cosmas: "the country called Barbaria which produces frankincense" (above).
- **Arabic, 10th century.** Al-Mas'udi calls the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) *al-Khalij al-Barbari*, "the Berber gulf" ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al., *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, 2011, ch. 2, §56](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **Arabic, 13th century.** Yaqut places Mogadishu "in the land of the Berbers" and adds: "These Berbers are not the same as those who live in the west" ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire… de l'Afrique orientale*, part 1, 1856, pp. 234–235](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC), translated here). See [Early Mogadishu](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).
- **Arabic, 1331.** Ibn Battuta calls Zeila "the capital of the [Berberah](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)" and their land "a desert, which extends two months' march, beginning at Zayla' and ending at Maqdashaw" (quoted in Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §93). Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues note that the Berbera of the Arab writers "are generally identified with the Somali" (§94).
- **Chinese, 9th and 13th centuries.** Po-pa-li and Pi-p'a-lo, read by the translators as Berbera. See [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).
- **Today.** The port of Berbera keeps the name.

**On the word itself.** Schoff wrote in 1912 that the name "seems to be foreign to the people", suggested it is "probably related to the Arabic *bar*, a desert", and noted the same name across Africa: the Somali port of Berbera, the Nile town of Berber, and the Berbers of North Africa ([Schoff 1912, notes, p. 56](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)). The Greek *barbaros* meant anyone who did not speak Greek. Yaqut himself notes that the Arabic word was used for two different peoples, in the Horn and in North Africa.

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [The Land of Punt and the Somali coast](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [Books about the Somalis before 1500](/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/)


---

# The Burao conference and Somaliland's declaration, May 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-declaration-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After the Somali National Movement (SNM) took Hargeisa, Burao and Berbera at the end of January 1991, it called the leaders of the north's clans to a conference at Burao in April–May 1991. The conference passed resolutions on the north's independence from the south. In May 1991 the SNM announced the Republic of Somaliland within roughly the borders of former British Somaliland, with Abdirahman Ahmed Ali 'Tuur' as president. No other country recognised it at the time.

## In short

In 1991, after the fall of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government, the Somali National Movement (SNM) held the north-west. At a conference in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in the spring of 1991, leaders of the north's main clans debated its future, and in May 1991 the SNM announced the Republic of Somaliland, ending, in its view, the 1960 union with the south ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).

Human Rights Watch wrote at the end of 1992 that the SNM had "unilaterally declared independence in May 1991, to create the Republic of Somaliland, an entity not recognized by any other country" ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1993*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)). The story since then is told in [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Before the conference

- **October 1990.** SNM fighters had pushed government forces out of almost all of [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), Togdheer and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).
- **End of January 1991.** The SNM took the remaining garrisons at Berbera, Burao and Hargeisa. It refused to hand control to the new United Somali Congress (USC) government in Mogadishu, and refused to join USC unity talks (same source).
- **End of February 1991.** An SNM conference "seriously debated" revoking the 1960 act of union (same source).
- **Other northern groups.** The [Somali Democratic Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/), backed mainly by the Gadabuursi, and the United Somali Front, formed by the Ciise, "felt apprehension at the prospect of SNM control of their areas". There were clashes between the SNM and the USF around Zeila in February (same source).

For the war that came before, see [the Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/) and [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

## The Burao conference

The Library of Congress records ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)):

- **Who came.** The SNM "persuaded the leaders of all the north's major clans to attend a conference at Burao in April 1991".
- **What it decided.** Delegates "passed several resolutions pertaining to the future independence of the north from the south".
- **A constitution.** It created "a standing committee, carefully balanced in terms of clan representation, to draft a constitution".
- **Interim rule.** It called for an interim government "until multiparty elections could be held".
- **The SNM's role.** The SNM Central Committee adopted most of the conference's resolutions as party policy. "Although some SNM leaders opposed secession", it went ahead with plans for an independent state.

## The declaration and the first government

- **May 1991.** The SNM announced the Republic of Somaliland. Its border "roughly paralleled those of the former colony, British Somaliland" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)). See [British Somaliland, 1884–1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).
- **The leaders.** SNM Secretary General [Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur"](/en/people/abdirahman-ahmed-ali-tuur/) was named president and Hassan Isse Jama vice president. Tuur appointed a 17-member cabinet (same source).
- **Its mandate.** The SNM called it "an interim government having a mandate to rule pending elections scheduled for 1993" (same source).
- **1991–1992.** The interim government made sharia the main law of the republic, chose a flag, promised freedom of the press, free elections and the right to form parties, and "tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to win international recognition" (same source).

## The first year

Human Rights Watch reported on 1991 and 1992 ([HRW, *World Report 1993*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)):

- **Rebuilding.** In 1991 the government "appeared to be making progress in establishing peace and security", rebuilding infrastructure destroyed in 1988, and encouraging the return of "the 400,000 refugees who had fled to Ethiopia".
- **Resources.** It "had virtually no resources, and international assistance was slow in coming due to the lack of diplomatic recognition".
- **Land mines.** Mines in towns and countryside killed and injured "hundreds of people", and killed livestock.
- **January 1992.** Fighting between two Isaaq sub-clans at Burao "left over 150 dead, and forced tens of thousands to flee".
- **March 1992.** Fighting broke out in Berbera and spread to [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) and Hargeisa. "Most civilians had to flee Berbera."

## Who suffered?

- **Returning refugees and displaced families** in towns destroyed in 1988 (HRW).
- **People killed or maimed by land mines,** in the hundreds by HRW's count.
- **People of Burao and Berbera** in the fighting of 1992: over 150 dead at Burao, and most of Berbera's civilians forced out (HRW).
- **Communities around Zeila,** in clashes between the SNM and the United Somali Front in February 1991 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **The date.** The Library of Congress gives 17 May 1991 for the announcement. Somaliland marks 18 May as its national day (see [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)).
- **The conference dates.** The Library of Congress says the conference met "in April 1991". The declaration followed in May.
- **Whether the union could be ended.** Somaliland's government holds that the 1960 union was never completed and was revoked in 1991. The federal government and most states hold that Somaliland is part of Somalia under the 1960 union. See [independence and union, 26 June to 1 July 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).
- **Support in the north.** The Library of Congress records that "some SNM leaders opposed secession", and that non-Isaaq groups feared SNM control. In 2023 [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) leaders in Las Anod rejected Somaliland's rule (see [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), "Politics of succession": [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1993*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm).


---

# The Sultanate of Mogadishu: the city and its rulers, 900s–1800s

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu was a Muslim trading city ruled by its own sultans from at least the 1300s. Ibn Battuta visited in 1331 and met its ruler, Abu Bakr, 'of Berberah origin'. Portuguese sailors passed it in 1499 and around 1516 described a rich town with a king. Local tradition recorded by Guillain in the 1840s says the old dynasty, the Muzaffar, lost the city to the Abgaal, whose imams still held the title of sultan in his day.

## In short

Mogadishu was one of the main Muslim trading cities of the East African coast. By the 1300s it had its own ruler, whom its people called "the Shaykh". Travellers and sailors from Morocco, Portugal and China described it between the 1300s and 1500s ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).

Most of what is known about its rulers comes from these visitors, from coins, and from traditions told in the city and written down by the French naval officer Charles Guillain in the 1840s ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire... de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 1, pp. 524–525](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis21guil)).

## Founding traditions

- **Before Islam.** Guillain reported "an old local tradition" that a town stood on the site before the birth of Islam. He wrote that "the fact is not impossible" (p. 524).
- **The Muslim city.** He dated the present town, founded by Muslim Arabs, to the year 295 of the Hijra, about 907–908 CE (p. 524).
- **Ninth century.** The Library of Congress writes that Mogadishu "dates back at least to the ninth century, when Persian and Arabian immigrants intermingled with Somali elements" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).
- **The name.** The same source gives two readings: from the Arabic-Persian *maqad shah*, "seat of the shah", or from a Swahili phrase for "last northern city". It says the meaning "is uncertain" (same source).

For the coast before 1300, see [early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast before 1300](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).

## Ibn Battuta, 1331

The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta sailed for fifteen days from Zeila and reached "Maqdashaw", which he called "an enormous town". He wrote that its people were merchants who slaughtered hundreds of camels every day ([Ibn Battuta, trans. Gibb 1929, pp. 110–111](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)).

- **The ruler.** "They call the sultan 'the Shaykh'." His name was Abu Bakr, and he was "of [Berberah](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/) origin, and he talks in the Maqdishi language, though he knows Arabic" (same source).
- **The court.** A *qadi* (judge) and *wazirs* (ministers) served him. On Fridays he walked from the mosque to his palace under "four canopies of coloured silk, each surmounted by a golden bird" (same source).
- **Trade.** Young men met each ship in small boats and took a merchant as their guest. The host sold and bought for him, and a sale made without the host was "regarded by them as invalid" (same source).

The full visit is told in [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/).

## Contact with China, 1400s

A note in the 1898 Hakluyt edition of Vasco da Gama's journal, citing the Russian scholar Bretschneider, records that "in 1417 an embassy was sent from Mu-ku-tu-su (Magadoxo) to China" ([Ravenstein, *A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama*, 1898](https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog)).

## The Portuguese, 1499–1506

- **2–3 January 1499.** Returning from India, Vasco da Gama's ships passed "a large town, with houses of several stories, big palaces in its centre, and four towers around it", called Magadoxo. The journal says: "When we were quite close to it we fired off many bombards" ([Ravenstein 1898, p. 88](https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog)). Ravenstein's note says it is "not clear" whether this was "a sign of rejoicing or in wanton enmity" (same page).
- **1500 and 1506.** According to Dames's notes on Barbosa, Cabral described it in 1500 as "a very rich and beautiful town of Moors" without landing, and Tristão da Cunha passed it without landing in 1506 ([Barbosa, trans. Dames, vol. 1, p. 31](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)).

## Barbosa's description, about 1516

The Portuguese official Duarte Barbosa wrote ([Barbosa, trans. Dames, vol. 1, p. 31](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)):

- **The town.** "A very great Moorish town called Magadoxo; it has a king over it."
- **Trade.** Ships came from Cambay in India and from Aden, bringing cloth and spices, "and they carry away much gold, ivory, wax and many other things".
- **Food.** "Flesh-meat in great plenty, wheat, barley, horses and fruit of divers kinds, so that it is a place of great wealth."
- **The people.** "They speak Arabic. The men are for the most part brown and black, but a few are fair. They have but few weapons, yet they use herbs on their arrows."

Dames added that "the Portuguese rule was never consolidated as far north as Magadoxo" (same page). The Library of Congress writes that among Somali towns "only Mogadishu successfully resisted the repeated depredations of the Portuguese" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).

## The Muzaffar dynasty and the Abgaal

Guillain recorded the tradition told in the city in the 1840s (pp. 524–525):

- **The Muzaffar.** Mogadishu prospered under "the dynasty of the M'doffeur sultans", usually written Muzaffar.
- **The Ajuran.** The city stood on the coast of the territory of the "Odjourane", the Ajuran. See [the Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/).
- **The Abgaal.** "At a time that I cannot fix", an Abgaal group moved into Ajuran territory. "After a long war" the city "fell into the hands of the chief of the [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/), Omar Djéloulé", and his descendants kept authority "with the title of sultan".
- **The cause, as told.** The attack was said to have been urged by a leading townsman who had been mistreated by "the sultan Fekheur-ed-Din", the reigning Muzaffar, and who took refuge with the Abgaal.

Ravenstein, in 1898, wrote that the city reached its height under the Muzaffar, "which was expelled by the Abgal Somal, probably in the sixteenth century" ([Ravenstein 1898, p. 88, note](https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog)).

Guillain wrote that "under the domination of these half-savage conquerors, the decline of the Arab city must have happened quickly", and that the town split into two quarters, Hamarweyne and Shingaani (p. 525). These are his words, not a finding of later research.

## The Abgaal imams, as listed in the 1840s

Guillain was given this list of Abgaal rulers, from the founder to the ruler of his day (p. 525):

| Order | Ruler |
|---|---|
| 1 | Imam Djéloulé |
| 2 | Imam Omar |
| 3 | Imam Ahmed |
| 4 | Imam Mohammed |
| 5 | Imam Ahmed |
| 6 | Imam Mahmoud |
| 7 | Imam Ali |
| 8 | Imam Osman |
| 9 | Imam Mohammed |
| 10 | Imam Ahmed, the ruling *cheikh* when Guillain visited |

Guillain names the conqueror as "Omar Djéloulé"; his list gives Imam Omar and Imam Djéloulé as two names. He wrote that Sultan Ahmed promised him a family tree of "thirty names" back to Yacoub, the founder of the line, but that he forgot to remind him of it (p. 525).

## Later rule

- **1586.** According to Dames, the city "fell into the hands of the Turkish raider 'Ali Bey in 1586, but Turkish rule did not last long" ([Barbosa, trans. Dames, vol. 1, p. 31, note](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)).
- **1828 onwards.** Dames writes that Sayyid Said of Muscat "took possession of it in 1828", and that it then formed part of the Muscat and Zanzibar domain (same note). See [the sultanates, the coast and customary law, 1700s–1880s](/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/).

## Sources differ

- **When the city was founded.** Guillain gives 295 AH (about 907–908 CE). The Library of Congress says "at least" the 9th century. Others date the sultanate itself to the 13th century or about 1330 (["Sultanate of Mogadishu", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu)).
- **Who the rulers were.** Ibn Battuta called Abu Bakr "of Berberah origin", a term he used for Somalis. Some later historians, as cited on Wikipedia, describe the founder of the dynasty, Fakhr ad-Din, as of Arab descent (same source).
- **The name Fakhr ad-Din.** Wikipedia gives it to the founder of an early dynasty. Guillain gives it to the last Muzaffar sultan before the Abgaal took the city.
- **When the Abgaal took the city.** Guillain could not fix a date. Ravenstein wrote "probably in the sixteenth century".
- **Barbosa's description of the people.** Barbosa wrote that the people "speak Arabic". Ibn Battuta, two centuries earlier, said the ruler spoke "the Maqdishi language".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Ibn Battuta, *Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354*, trans. H. A. R. Gibb (1929), pp. 110–111: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353).
- *A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–1499*, trans. E. G. Ravenstein (Hakluyt Society, 1898), p. 88: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog).
- *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, trans. M. L. Dames (Hakluyt Society, 1918), vol. 1, p. 31: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans).
- Charles Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 1 (Paris, 1856), pp. 524–525, in French: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis21guil).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), "Mogadishu and its Banaadir hinterlands": [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm).

## Related pages

- [Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1503–1510](/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/)


---

# Books about Somalis, 1884 to 1960: the colonial era

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis-1884-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 1884 and 1960 most books about Somalis were written by British, Italian and German officers, officials, explorers and scholars: hunting and survey journals, official histories of the wars against the Dervishes, language grammars, studies of law and Islam, and the first Somali poetry in English translation. This page lists the main ones with free links.

## What these books are

After the partition of the Somali lands from 1884 ([Partition, 1884 to 1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/)), the number of books about Somalis grew fast. Most were written by people working for the colonial powers.

- **Explorers' and officers' journals.** Harald Swayne's Seventeen Trips through [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) (1895) and Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti's Somalia e Benadir (1899) describe the land, routes and people ([Swayne, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/seventeentripsth00sway)).
- **The wars against the Dervishes.** The British War Office published an Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901 to 1904 (1907), and Douglas Jardine's The Mad Mullah of Somaliland (1923) gave the colonial government's account of the Sayyid's movement ([Official History, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory01stafgoog)). The movement itself is on [The Dervish movement, 1899 to 1920](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **Language and law.** Leo Reinisch (1900 to 1903) and J. W. C. Kirk (1905) wrote early grammars of Somali ([Kirk, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/grammarofsomalil00kirkuoft)). Massimo Colucci (1924) wrote on customary law in the south.
- **Scholarship on history and Islam.** Enrico Cerulli's studies, collected in three volumes from 1957, include Arabic chronicles of Mogadishu and the Sufi orders. J. Spencer Trimingham's Islam in Ethiopia (1952) covers the Somali and Adal.
- **The first Somali literature in English.** Margaret Laurence's A Tree for Poverty (1954) was the first book of Somali poems and stories in English translation ([Margaret Laurence, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Laurence)). Andrzejewski and [Musa Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) published Hikmad Soomaali in 1956.

## How they are read today

These books record names, places, poems and the workings of colonial rule. Later scholars, Somali and non-Somali, have also written about how the colonial view shaped them, for example in [Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/)'s The Invention of Somalia (1995), listed on [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/). More on this period is on [British Somaliland, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and [Fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).

## The books, oldest first

### Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas (1893-1896)

**Philipp Paulitschke** · German

Two-volume ethnography of the Somali, Afar and Oromo.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ethnographienor00paulgoog) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822027031038) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10327536W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Ethnographie+Nordost-Afrikas+Philipp+Paulitschke)

### Seventeen Trips through Somaliland (1895)

**Harald G. C. Swayne** · English

British officer's hunting and survey trips in the north, 1885-1893.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/seventeentripst01swaygoog) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044012424537) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL205155W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_George_Carlos_Swayne) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Seventeen+Trips+through+Somaliland+Harald+G.+C.+Swayne)

### Il Giuba esplorato (1895)

**Vittorio Bottego** · Italian

Expedition of 1892-1893 up the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/viaggidiscopert00btgoog) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Bottego) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Il+Giuba+esplorato+Vittorio+Bottego)

### Somalia e Benadir (1899)

**Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti** · Italian

First European crossing of the Somali peninsula from Obbia to Berbera (1891).

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL34075679W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Robecchi_Bricchetti) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia+e+Benadir+Luigi+Robecchi+Bricchetti)

### Die Somali-Sprache (1900-1903)

**Leo Reinisch** · German

Somali texts, grammar and dictionary from the Viennese expedition.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/diesomalisprache01rein) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Reinisch) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Die+Somali-Sprache+Leo+Reinisch)

### In Pursuit of the Mad Mullah (1902)

**Malcolm McNeill** · English

British officer's account of the 1901 campaign against the Dervishes.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.105962) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL9436017W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=In+Pursuit+of+the+Mad+Mullah+Malcolm+McNeill)

### Lugh: emporio commerciale sul Giuba (1903)

**Ugo Ferrandi** · Italian

Life and trade at [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) on the Juba in the 1890s.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/lughemporiocomm00ferrgoog) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044012931655) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18041946W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Lugh%3A+emporio+commerciale+sul+Giuba+Ugo+Ferrandi)

### A Grammar of the Somali Language (1905)

**J. W. C. Kirk** · English

Grammar with Somali texts and poems collected in the north.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/grammarofsomalil00kirkuoft) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044086560521) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5749282W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Grammar+of+the+Somali+Language+J.+W.+C.+Kirk)

### Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901-04 (1907)

**War Office (General Staff)** · English

Official British military history of the first four campaigns against the Dervishes.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory01stafgoog) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL28475066W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Official+History+of+the+Operations+in+Somaliland%2C+1901-04+War+Office)

### Nel Benadir: la citta di Merca (1910)

**Gherardo Pantano** · Italian

Life in Marka under early Italian rule.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Nel+Benadir%3A+la+citta+di+Merca+Enrico+Cerulli+%2C+Gherardo+Pantano)

### Somaliland (1911)

**Angus Hamilton** · English

Journalist's account of British Somaliland and the Dervish wars.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somaliland+Angus+Hamilton)

### British Somaliland (1912)

**Ralph E. Drake-Brockman** · English

Colonial medical officer's survey of peoples, customs, plants and animals.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=British+Somaliland+Ralph+E.+Drake-Brockman)

### Ai confini meridionali dell'Etiopia (1913)

**Carlo Citerni** · Italian

Survey of the Ethiopia-Italian Somalia border in 1910 to 1911.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/aiconfinimeridio00cite) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12336620W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Ai+confini+meridionali+dell%27Etiopia+Carlo+Citerni)

### The Mad Mullah of Somaliland (1923)

**Douglas Jardine** · English

British colonial secretary's history of the Dervish state and the wars of 1899-1920.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland) · [Read free on HathiTrust](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015001538811) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7094254W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Jardine) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Mad+Mullah+of+Somaliland+Douglas+Jardine)

### Principi di diritto consuetudinario della Somalia italiana meridionale (1924)

**Massimo Colucci** · Italian

Customary law (xeer) in the south.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL44002885W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Principi+di+diritto+consuetudinario+della+Somalia+italiana+meridionale+Massimo+Colucci)

### Major Dane's Garden (1925)

**Margery Perham** · English

Novel set in British Somaliland, written after her 1922 stay.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/majordanesgarden00perh) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001398793) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1239944W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Perham) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Major+Dane%27s+Garden+Margery+Perham)

### Ferro e fuoco in Somalia (1931)

**Francesco Saverio Caroselli** · Italian

The Dervish wars as seen from Italian Somalia, published by the Ministry of Colonies.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL44817292W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Ferro+e+fuoco+in+Somalia+Francesco+Saverio+Caroselli)

### Orizzonti d'impero: cinque anni in Somalia (1935)

**Cesare Maria De Vecchi** · Italian

Fascist governor's own account of 1923-1928 in Somalia.

Where to read: [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008852691) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL22134379W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Maria_De_Vecchi) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Orizzonti+d%27impero%3A+cinque+anni+in+Somalia+Cesare+Maria+De+Vecchi)

### Somalia italiana (1937)

**Guido Corni (ed.)** · Italian

Two-volume official survey of Italian Somalia.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia+italiana+Guido+Corni)

### Ex-Italian Somaliland (1951)

**Sylvia Pankhurst** · English

The British administration years and the debate over the former Italian colony.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ExItalianSomaliland) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001609755) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3421705W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Pankhurst) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Ex-Italian+Somaliland+Sylvia+Pankhurst)

### Islam in Ethiopia (1952)

**J. Spencer Trimingham** · English

History of Islam in the Horn, with long chapters on the Somali, the Sufi orders and Adal.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/islam-in-ethiopia-j-spencer-trimingham) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Spencer_Trimingham) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Islam+in+Ethiopia+J.+Spencer+Trimingham)

### A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose (1954)

**Margaret Laurence** · English

First collection of Somali poems and stories in English translation, made in British Somaliland.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/history/a-tree-for-poverty/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/treeforpovertyso0000unse) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1751538W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Laurence) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Tree+for+Poverty%3A+Somali+Poetry+and+Prose+Margaret+Laurence)

### Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho (1955)

**Ioan M. Lewis** · English

Ethnographic survey for the International African Institute.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/peoplesofhornofa0000lewi) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009908066) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL135974W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Lewis) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Peoples+of+the+Horn+of+Africa%3A+Somali%2C+Afar+and+Saho+Ioan+M.+Lewis)

### Somalia: scritti vari editi ed inediti (1957-1964)

**Enrico Cerulli** · Italian

Three volumes of Cerulli's studies of Somali history, law, Islam, clans and literature, including Arabic chronicles.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6758303W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Cerulli) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia%3A+scritti+vari+editi+ed+inediti+Enrico+Cerulli)

### Somalia (International Conciliation no. 522) (1959)

**A. A. Castagno** · English

The country on the eve of independence.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia+A.+A.+Castagno)

### The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963)

**Margaret Laurence** · English

Memoir of living in British Somaliland, 1950-1952.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-prophets-camel-bell-laurence/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/prophetscamelbel0000laur_k5o8) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001609746) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10612107W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Prophet%27s+Camel+Bell+Margaret+Laurence)

### Warriors and Strangers (later Warriors: Life and Death among the Somalis) (1971)

**Gerald Hanley** · English

British officer's memoir of service with Somali soldiers in the 1940s.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/warriors-hanley/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Hanley) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Warriors+and+Strangers+Gerald+Hanley)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1500 to 1884](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)
- [Books about Somalis since 1960: history and research](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# The Transitional Federal Parliament, 2004–2012

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Transitional Federal Parliament was Somalia's legislature from 2004 to 2012. Its 275 members were chosen by clan at the peace conference in Kenya: 61 seats each for the Hawiye, Darod, Digil and Mirifle, and Dir, and 31 for the other clans. It was sworn in at Nairobi in August 2004, elected Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden Speaker and then Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed President. It first met inside Somalia at Baidoa in February 2006, doubled to 550 seats in 2009 to take in the opposition, and was replaced by a new 275-member Federal Parliament on 20 August 2012.

## In short

"On 22 August, 194 members of the Transitional Federal Parliament were sworn into office" at the United Nations Office at Nairobi. On 29 August 2004 "an additional 66 members of parliament were sworn in in the presence of the Kenyan Vice-President, who declared the Parliament formally inaugurated" ([UN Security Council, S/2004/804, para. 7](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf)).

Eight years later, "Somalia's eight-year political transition ended successfully, with the establishment of a new, leaner Federal Parliament on 20 August" 2012 ([S/2013/69, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)). For the governments it served, see [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## How members were chosen, 2004

From the UN Secretary-General's report of October 2004 ([S/2004/804, paras. 2–10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **By clan.** "Each Somali clan (Hawiye, Darod, [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), Dir and the 'Allied' clans) was requested to submit a list of names." Each was asked for "a list of 61 members of parliament by 5 July, with the exception of the 'Allied' clans which was asked to submit a list of 31". That made 275 seats.
- **Disputes.** "Owing to controversies regarding the method of selection of members of the transitional federal parliament, many Somali leaders absented themselves" from the conference at the end of June 2004. Dividing seats among sub-clans "proved challenging", and the Ministers of the regional body IGAD held "no fewer than six ministerial meetings in Nairobi over a period of five months". Differences within the Harti (Darod) were settled after the Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, stepped in.
- **Women.** "Only 23 women members of parliament were sworn in. This falls far short of the agreed 12 per cent, or 33 of the total number of 275 seats", set by the Transitional Federal Charter.

## The first sessions, 2004

From the same report ([S/2004/804, paras. 7–9](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **2 September.** The Parliament first met in Nairobi. Farah Hirsi Bulhan, aged 83, the eldest member, became interim Speaker.
- **15 September.** "Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden [was elected] as speaker of the Parliament, with 161 votes", from a field of 11, ahead of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Aden Mohamed Nur with 105. 266 of 275 members voted. See [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/).
- **10 October.** The date set for electing a transitional President. Parliament elected [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/).

## Inside Somalia, 2006

- **Choosing a venue.** After the split between the President's camp in Jowhar and the Speaker's in Mogadishu during 2005, "the Speaker announced, on 30 January, that Baidoa had been selected as the venue of the first session of the Transitional Federal Parliament inside Somalia" ([S/2006/122, para. 9](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **26 February 2006.** The session opened in Baidoa. It "allowed the transitional federal institutions to begin to address some of the key differences that had divided the leadership and paralysed the political process for most of 2005" ([S/2006/418, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf)). Before it, "some two thousand armed men, most of them freelance militia, were persuaded to move to camps several kilometres outside the city limits" (same source, para. 17).

## The 2009 expansion

From the UN Secretary-General's report of March 2009 ([S/2009/132, paras. 6–15](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **Acting President.** When Abdullahi Yusuf resigned on 29 December 2008, "the Speaker of Parliament, Sheikh [Adan Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/), assumed the presidency in an acting capacity, in line with article 45 of the Transitional Federal Charter".
- **26 January 2009.** "The Transitional Federal Parliament voted in favour of an expansion by 275 seats, with 200 seats allocated to ARS and the remaining 75" to civil society, business, women, the diaspora and other opposition groups. It also extended its own mandate by two years. See [the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia](/en/history/alliance-for-the-re-liberation-of-somalia/).
- **30 January 2009.** Meeting in Djibouti, the enlarged Parliament elected [Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) President.
- **Losing Baidoa.** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) took Baidoa. "The fall of Baidoa and the seizure of the Parliament building is a setback for the newly expanded Transitional Federal Parliament, which is unlikely to return to Baidoa in the short term."

## The Kampala Accord, 2011

From the UN Secretary-General's report of September 2011 ([S/2011/549, paras. 3–7](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **The rift.** President Sheikh Sharif and the Speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, disagreed. "The Speaker maintained that elections for the Presidency, the Speaker and the Speaker's deputies should be held before the end of the transition on 20 August 2011", while the President cited security concerns.
- **9 June 2011.** In the Kampala Accord, "both sides agreed to defer the elections for 12 months from August 2011". The Prime Minister was to resign within 30 days.
- **11 July 2011.** "393 members of the Transitional Federal Parliament voted in favour of the Kampala Accord, with 36 against and 7 abstentions."

## The handover, 2012

- **Selecting a successor.** From 5 May 2012, "some 135 traditional and clan elders appointed by the signatories to the road map" met in Mogadishu to choose the members of the National Constituent Assembly and the new Parliament. The process "was marred by reports of intimidation and threats against those preparing the nominations", and some clans were reluctant "to provide the required quota of 30 per cent women representatives" ([S/2012/643, paras. 7–9](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **20 August 2012.** The new Federal Parliament took over, with 275 members "selected by 135 traditional elders and vetted by a Technical Selection Committee", and elected [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/) Speaker ([S/2013/69, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)). See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) and [the 2012 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/).

## Who suffered?

- **Women,** who held 23 of 275 seats in 2004 against an agreed 33 (S/2004/804).
- **Civilians in and around Baidoa.** Militiamen moved out of the town before the 2006 session left camps that lacked "food, water, shelter and other necessities". "Some returned to Baidoa, where they began to harass civilians. Others established checkpoints outside the city to extort money from passing vehicles" (S/2006/418, para. 18).

## Sources differ

- **The size.** The Parliament had 275 members from 2004, 550 after the vote of January 2009, and was replaced by a 275-member Federal Parliament in 2012 (S/2004/804; S/2009/132; S/2013/69).
- **The Speaker's surname.** UN reports spell it both "Aden" (2004) and "Adan" (2011).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2004/804 (8 October 2004), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/122 (21 February 2006), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/418 (20 June 2006), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf); S/2009/132 (9 March 2009), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf); S/2011/549 (30 August 2011), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf); S/2012/643 (22 August 2012), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf); S/2013/69 (31 January 2013), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Where the Somalis come from: genealogies, language, migration theories and genetics

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> There is no single answer, and each kind of evidence tells part of the story. Somali genealogies trace the main clan families to a few founding ancestors, some of them holy men said to have come from Arabia. Linguists place Somali in the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family, among the Lowland East Cushitic languages of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Historians argued for decades over whether the Somalis spread south from the Gulf of Aden coast (I. M. Lewis, 1960) or north and east from southern Ethiopia (Herbert S. Lewis, 1966). Genetic studies link Somalis most closely to other Cushitic-speaking peoples of the Horn, and find a non-African component that two studies date to about 3,000 years ago and before 23,000 years ago respectively.

## In short

Where the Somalis come from is answered differently by genealogists, linguists, historians and geneticists. This page sets out what each says, with its source. The older names used for the people of the coast (Barbaria, Berber, Bilad al-Barbar) are covered on [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/), and the people who lived in the Somali lands in the Stone Age on [The Stone Age in the Somali lands](/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/).

## Genealogies: what Somalis say about their ancestors

Somali clans trace their descent through long genealogies in the male line. Four of the five main clan families (Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye) are often grouped as Samaale, after a shared ancestor; the Rahanweyn are grouped as Saab, after their ancestor Saabe ([EUAA Country Focus Somalia, 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf), as cited on [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)).

Several genealogies run back to holy men said to have come from Arabia. In 1854 Richard Burton recorded these traditions in the north ([Burton, *First Footsteps in East Africa*, 1856, Project Gutenberg ebook 6886](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)):

- **[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ishaaq.** "The Sherif Ishak bin Ahmed left his native country Hazramaut, and, with forty-four saints… landed on Makhar", the coast between Karam and Cape Guardafui, about "fifteen generations or 450 years ago". His tomb is at [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/).
- **Darod.** "Darud Jabarti bin Ismail bin Akil (or Ukayl) is supposed by his descendants to have been a noble Arab from El Hejaz, who, obliged to flee his country, was wrecked on the north-east coast of Africa, where he married a daughter of the Hawiyah tribe."
- **Dir and Hawiye.** Burton was told that Dir, Aydur, Darod and, "according to some", Hawiye were the "old" genealogies, and that Dir and Aydur were the ancestors of several northern clans.

**Who says what.** Burton himself wrote that the Somalis were related to the Oromo (whom he called by the older name "Galla"), "Islamised and Semiticised by repeated immigrations from Arabia" (same source). The archaeologist Sada Mire notes that the [Walashma](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) rulers of Ifat and Adal "justified their rule and expansion in the Horn of Africa through Islam and their direct ancestral links to [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Yusuf Al-Kawnayn", the saint of [Aw-Barkhadle](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/) ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). The genealogies themselves are on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Language: a Cushitic people

Somali belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. The Glottolog catalogue of the world's languages classifies it as Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East Cushitic, Lowland East Cushitic, Southern Lowland East Cushitic, Omo-Tana, Eastern Omo-Tana ([Glottolog, "Somali"](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/soma1255)). Its nearest relatives are spoken in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya; Oromo, Afar and Saho are more distant Cushitic relatives. See [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## Two migration theories

**I. M. Lewis, 1960: from the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) southward.** The anthropologist Ioan Lewis described "the expansion of the Hamitic Somali from the shores of the Gulf of Aden to the plains of Northern Kenya over the last ten centuries". He based it on oral tradition, which he found "so abundant, and from a variety of sources both inside and outside [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), so much in agreement" that the migration could be reconstructed "with what I believe is a fairly high degree of probability" ([I. M. Lewis, "The Somali Conquest of the Horn of Africa", *Journal of African History* 1.2, 1960, pp. 213–230](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700001808), abstract).

**Herbert S. Lewis, 1966: from southern Ethiopia.** The anthropologist Herbert Lewis (no relation) challenged this. He described the "traditional view" as being that the Oromo "occupied most of the Horn of Africa until the Somali, beginning about the tenth century, swept south and south-west from the shores of the Gulf of Aden driving the Galla before them". His own thesis was "that both the Galla and the Somali originated in southern Ethiopia, that the Somali expanded to the east and north much earlier than the Galla, and that the Galla lived only in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya until their migrations began about 1530" ([H. S. Lewis, "The Origins of the Galla and Somali", *Journal of African History* 7.1, 1966, pp. 27–46](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700006058), abstract; "Galla" is the older outside name for the Oromo).

**E. R. Turton, 1975: the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)–Tana country.** Turton argued that "[Garre](/en/society/garre/) or proto-Garre Somali gained control of the area between the Juba and the Tana rivers before the Galla arrived", pushing Bantu-speaking peoples back to the Tana, and that the Orma Oromo reached the coast in about the 16th century from southern Ethiopia by way of the Lorian Swamp and the Tana ([Turton, "Bantu, Galla and Somali migrations in the Horn of Africa", *Journal of African History* 16.4, 1975, pp. 519–537](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700014535), abstract).

**Archaeology.** Sada Mire argues from the rock art, burials and ruined towns of the north that the region had long local continuity, and that its medieval towns were built by "local kingdoms" of "settled people", not by Arab outposts ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). See [Laas Geel and Somali rock art](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/) and [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## Genetics

Genetic studies sample living people and estimate how their ancestry was formed. They answer a different question from the genealogies: not who a clan's founder was, but where the bulk of a population's ancestors lived.

**Y chromosome (the male line), 2005.** A study of 201 Somali men found haplogroup E3b1 (now called E-M78 and related branches) in 77.6% and K2 in 10.4%. Most carried one closely related set of markers. The authors concluded that "the male Somali population is a branch of the East African population, closely related to the Oromos in Ethiopia and North Kenya", with lineages "introduced into the Somali population 4000–5000 years ago", and estimated that about 15% of Somali Y chromosomes come from Eurasia and about 5% from sub-Saharan Africa ([Sanchez et al., "High frequencies of Y chromosome lineages characterized by E3b1, DYS19-11, DYS392-12 in Somali males", *European Journal of Human Genetics* 13, 2005](https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201390), abstract).

**Genome-wide, 2012.** A study of 235 people from ten Ethiopian populations, South Sudanese and Somalis found "a match between genetic data and linguistic affiliation". It identified a non-African component in Horn of Africa genomes that "may represent gene flow into Africa, which we estimate to have occurred ~3 thousand years ago", closer to populations of the Levant than of the Arabian Peninsula ([Pagani et al., "Ethiopian genetic diversity reveals linguistic stratification and complex influences on the Ethiopian gene pool", *American Journal of Human Genetics* 91, 2012](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.05.015), abstract).

**Genome-wide, 2014.** A study that added Yemeni samples found a distinct non-African ancestry it named "Ethio-Somali", "found at its highest frequencies in Cushitic speaking Somali populations" and also common among the Afar, Amhara, Oromo and Tigray. It found this ancestry "significantly differentiated from all neighboring non-African ancestries in North Africa, the Levant, and Arabia", "estimated to have diverged from all other non-African ancestries by at least 23 ka" (thousand years ago). It notes that the Arabian lactase persistence gene, which arose about 4,000 years ago, is "almost absent in the Somali (1.6%)". The authors conclude that the migration that brought this ancestry into the Horn "is most likely pre-agricultural", before about 7,000 years ago ([Hodgson, Mulligan, Al-Meeri and Raaum, "Early Back-to-Africa Migration into the Horn of Africa", *PLoS Genetics* 10.6, 2014, e1004393](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1004393)).

**Who says what on dates.** The 2012 study dates the non-African gene flow to about 3,000 years ago using one method (linkage disequilibrium). The 2014 study accepts that this method gives dates "within the last few thousand years", but argues from other evidence that the ancestry itself is much older.

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)


---

# The Ajuran state: rulers of the southern rivers and coast

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ajuran-state/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ajuran (Ajuuraan) were a Hawiye clan whose rulers, the house of Gareen, held power over the Shabelle and Juba valleys and the Benadir coast in the centuries before about 1700. The Library of Congress dates their state to about 1550–1650. Traditions written down in the 1840s say Ajuran rule over Merca lasted 'fifteen generations', and that it ended when the Abgaal took Mogadishu, a group led by Amir took Merca, and the Tunni and Digil took Brava.

## In short

The Ajuran (in Somali *Ajuuraan*) were a clan of the Hawiye. Their rulers held power over the farming lands of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba rivers and over the towns of the Benadir coast before about 1700. The Library of Congress dates the "Ujuuraan (also seen as Ajuuraan) state" to "between 1550 and 1650", ruled by "the clan of the Gareen" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).

Almost everything known about the Ajuran comes from oral traditions. The earliest written record of them is in the notes of the French naval officer Charles Guillain, who collected traditions on the coast in 1846–1848 ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire... de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 2](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis22guil)). Much of the modern account rests on Lee Cassanelli's *The [Shaping of Somali Society](/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli/)* (1982), built on oral history collected in the 1970s.

## Dates

- **Library of Congress.** The state rose "between 1550 and 1650" and prospered "on the lower reaches of the interriverine region". Its power was not reduced "until the Portuguese penetration of the East African coast in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).
- **Guillain.** At [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) he was told that Ajuran rule "lasted, it is said, fifteen generations", and he wrote that "it must have been contemporary with that of the Portuguese in the Indian seas" (part 2, vol. 2, p. 141).
- **Other accounts.** Wikipedia, citing Cassanelli and others, says the Ajuran rose in the late 1300s and held power for about three centuries (["Ajuran Sultanate", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuran_Sultanate)).

## Who they were

Guillain recorded at Merca that the Ajuran "were part of the great family of the Soumal-Haouiya", the Hawiye. He wrote that this fitted the claim of the 13th-century geographer Ibn Said that Merca was "the capital of the Hawiya" (part 2, vol. 2, p. 140).

The ruling line is called the house of Gareen. The Library of Congress names it as "the clan of the Gareen" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)). Wikipedia, citing Cassanelli, says its rulers took the title *imam* and drew authority from descent from a holy man (["Ajuran Sultanate", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuran_Sultanate)).

## How it ruled, by the modern account

Wikipedia gives this account, citing Cassanelli (1982) on most points (["Ajuran Sultanate", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuran_Sultanate)):

- **Water.** The rulers controlled wells and the river water of the Shabelle and Juba, and are credited with dykes, dams and stone wells.
- **Tribute.** They took tribute from farmers in grain and from herders in livestock, collected by officials called *wazirs*.
- **Army.** Cassanelli (pp. 90 and 104, as cited) describes a standing army, with Arab, Persian and Turkish soldiers hired at times, and stone forts in the coastal districts (p. 92).
- **Reach.** At its height, by this account, its land stretched from Hobyo in the north to Kismayo in the south and to Qelafo in the west (Cassanelli, p. 102, as cited).
- **Towns.** Mareeg, Qelafo and Merca are named as seats of its rulers.

The Cassanelli book is held by the Internet Archive with restricted access ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/shapingofsomalis0000cass)).

## Merca under the Ajuran

Guillain recorded the traditions of Merca in the 1840s (part 2, vol. 2, pp. 140–141):

- **Before.** The oldest known people of the town were the "Ouélloun". The Ajuran drove them out.
- **Growth.** Under the Ajuran the town, at first "huts of leaves, mats and branches", grew and was split into two quarters, Khéroubi in the north and Eurgouci in the south, with six groups in each.
- **Stone houses.** One of the northern groups were "emigrants from Mogadishu" who "built houses of stone".
- **Strength.** Guillain called Ajuran rule "one of the strongest that were organised among the native peoples".

## Mogadishu and the Muzaffar

Mogadishu stood "on the coast" of Ajuran territory, Guillain wrote, and was ruled by its own Muzaffar sultans (part 2, vol. 1, p. 524, [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis21guil)). Wikipedia, citing later historians, describes the Muzaffar as clients of the Ajuran (["Ajuran Sultanate", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuran_Sultanate)). See [the Sultanate of Mogadishu](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/).

## Brava and the Portuguese, 1506

The Portuguese official Duarte Barbosa described [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/) as "a great town of Moors, of very fine stone and mortar houses". He wrote: "It has no king, but is ruled by elders" ([Barbosa, trans. Dames, vol. 1, p. 30](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)).

- **The attack.** Barbosa wrote that the Portuguese "slew many of its people and carried many into captivity, and took great spoil of gold and silver and goods" (same page).
- **The date.** His editor Dames identifies this as the attack of Tristão da Cunha in 1506, after the town refused a tribute promised in 1503. Brava "was reduced after a brave defence and a great slaughter" (same page, note).
- **After.** Barbosa wrote that the town was later resettled, "so that now it is as prosperous as it was before" (same page).

In the 1840s, Guillain found that Brava kept "no memory" from before Ajuran rule, and no memory of the Portuguese (part 2, vol. 2, pp. 169–170).

## How it ended

Guillain recorded a separate ending in each town:

- **Mogadishu.** An Abgaal group invaded Ajuran territory, and "after a long war" Mogadishu fell to the Abgaal chief Omar Djéloulé (part 2, vol. 1, p. 524).
- **Merca.** A chief named Amir, "an [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/) perhaps", raised a following, "seized the town and drove out the Odjourane". His power "lasted thirty-four years", until war with the Biimaal (part 2, vol. 2, p. 141).
- **Brava.** The Ajuran were driven out "according to some by the Galla [Oromo], according to others by the present [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/)". They fled inland toward Ganane ([Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/)) and joined the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) (part 2, vol. 2, p. 169).

Wikipedia, citing Cassanelli and Lewis, says that in the late 1600s the rulers raised taxes and were accused of abandoning sharia. It names the Abgaal imams in Mogadishu and Ibrahim Adeer, founder of the Gobroon line at Afgooye, as the leaders of the revolts that ended Ajuran rule (["Ajuran Sultanate", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuran_Sultanate)). The Gobroon rulers of Afgooye are told in [the Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).

## The Ajuran after 1700

Guillain met Ajuran communities still living along the Shabelle in the 1840s. He recorded the village of Ferâlé, "inhabited by the Odjourane, whose sultan, named Abdi-ben-Aïça, lives at Koubad" (part 2, vol. 2, p. 48). For the Ajuran clan today, see [the Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/).

## Sources differ

- **Dates.** The Library of Congress gives 1550–1650. Guillain's tradition gives fifteen generations, at the same time as the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean (1498 onwards). Wikipedia gives the late 1300s to the late 1600s.
- **Who ruled Brava.** Barbosa, writing about 1516, said Brava had "no king" and was ruled by elders. Modern accounts place Brava inside Ajuran territory at that time.
- **When the Portuguese weakened it.** The Library of Congress names the 17th and 18th centuries. Barbosa's attack on Brava was in 1506.
- **Who drove the Ajuran from Brava.** Guillain's informants named either the Oromo or the Tunni.
- **How large it was.** The account of a state from Hobyo to Kismayo and Qelafo comes from oral history. Cassanelli built it from interviews recorded in the 1970s.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Charles Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 1 (Paris, 1856), p. 524, in French: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis21guil).
- Charles Guillain, same work, part 2, vol. 2, pp. 48, 140–141 and 169–170, in French: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis22guil).
- *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, trans. M. L. Dames (Hakluyt Society, 1918), vol. 1, p. 30: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), "Mogadishu and its Banaadir hinterlands": [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm).
- Lee V. Cassanelli, *The Shaping of Somali Society* (1982): [Internet Archive, restricted](https://archive.org/details/shapingofsomalis0000cass).

## Related pages

- [The Ajuuraan clan today](/en/society/ajuuraan/)
- [Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1503–1510](/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/)


---

# Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990: history and research in the Republic years

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 1960 and 1990 the study of Somalis became an academic field. The main books include I. M. Lewis's A Pastoral Democracy (1961) and Modern History (1965), Andrzejewski and Lewis on poetry (1964), Touval and Drysdale on the border disputes, Cassanelli and Said Samatar (1982), Laitin and Samatar (1987) and Ahmed Samatar on the socialist state (1988).

## What these books are

From independence in 1960, history and anthropology of the Somali grew into a field of its own. The Somali Studies International Association was launched in November 1978 and held its first congress in Mogadishu from 6 to 13 July 1980 ([Somali studies, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_studies); [SSIA at Somali National University](https://events.snu.edu.so/ssia/about/)).

The books of this period fall into a few groups:

- **Society and clan.** I. M. Lewis's A Pastoral Democracy (1961) became a standard English-language study of northern pastoral society ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/pastoraldemocrac0000lewi)). His general history has its own page: [A Modern History of the Somali](/en/history/a-modern-history-of-the-somali/).
- **Borders and nationalism.** Saadia Touval (1963) and John Drysdale (1964) wrote on the drive to unite all Somali territories and the disputes with Ethiopia and Kenya.
- **History before colonial rule.** Lee Cassanelli's The Shaping of Somali Society (1982) rebuilt the history of the south from oral sources ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/shapingofsomalis0000cass)).
- **Language and poetry.** Andrzejewski and Lewis's Somali Poetry (1964) and David Laitin's study of the 1972 script decision (1977) ([Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)).
- **The Republic.** Laitin and [Said Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) (1987), [Ahmed Samatar](/en/people/ahmed-samatar/) (1988) and [Abdi Samatar](/en/people/abdi-samatar/) (1989) wrote on the state, the economy and the military government. See also [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The books, oldest first

### A Pastoral Democracy (1961)

**Ioan M. Lewis** · English

Pastoralism, politics and clan among the northern Somali.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/a-pastoral-democracy-lewis/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/pastoraldemocrac0000imle) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006009916) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL135977W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Pastoral+Democracy+Ioan+M.+Lewis)

### Somali Nationalism (1963)

**Saadia Touval** · English

International politics and the drive to unite all Somali territories.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/touvalsomalinati0000unse) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somali+Nationalism+Saadia+Touval)

### Somali Poetry: An Introduction (1964)

**B. W. Andrzejewski & I. M. Lewis** · English

Somali poems with translations and an introduction to forms and poets.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somalipoetryintr0000unse) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somali+Poetry%3A+An+Introduction+B.+W.+Andrzejewski)

### The Somali Dispute (1964)

**John Drysdale** · English

The territorial disputes with Ethiopia and Kenya after 1960.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Somali+Dispute+John+Drysdale)

### The Modern History of Somaliland (later A Modern History of the Somali) (1965)

**Ioan M. Lewis** · English

Standard English-language history from the 19th century, updated in 1980, 2002 and 2003.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/history/a-modern-history-of-the-somali/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofs0000imle) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003567302) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20540538W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Modern+History+of+Somaliland+Ioan+M.+Lewis)

### Italian Colonialism in Somalia (1966)

**Robert L. Hess** · English

Italian rule from the 1880s to 1941.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/italiancoloniali0000robe) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001609754) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6586663W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Italian+Colonialism+in+Somalia+Robert+L.+Hess)

### L'Italia nel Benadir (1966)

**Giuseppina Finazzo** · Italian

Italian action on the Banaadir coast in the late 19th century.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12216172W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=L%27Italia+nel+Benadir+Giuseppina+Finazzo)

### Heelloy: Modern Poetry and Songs of the Somali (1974 (rev. 1996))

**John William Johnson** · English

The rise of heello songs and modern poetry from the 1940s.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Heelloy%3A+Modern+Poetry+and+Songs+of+the+Somali+John+William+Johnson)

### Historical Dictionary of Somalia (1975)

**Margaret Castagno** · English

First edition of the reference dictionary of people, places and events (Scarecrow Press).

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000cast) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7090939W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Historical+Dictionary+of+Somalia+Margaret+Castagno)

### Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience (1977)

**David D. Laitin** · English

The 1972 decision to write Somali and its political effects.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/politics-language-and-thought-laitin/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Politics%2C+Language%2C+and+Thought%3A+The+Somali+Experience+David+D.+Laitin)

### Mohamed Abdulle Hassan (1979)

**Nicole Lécuyer-Samantar** · French

Short biography of the Sayyid in a French series on African figures.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6601620W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Mohamed+Abdulle+Hassan+Nicole+L%C3%A9cuyer-Samantar)

### Somalia and the World (1980)

**Hussein Mohamed Adam (ed.)** · English

Proceedings of the international symposium held in Mogadishu in 1979.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL22678096W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia+and+the+World+Hussein+Mohamed+Adam)

### The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900 (1982)

**Lee V. Cassanelli** · English

Southern Somali history from oral sources: the Ajuran, the [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and the Banaadir coast.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/shapingofsomalis0000cass) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000103579) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6091618W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Shaping+of+Somali+Society%3A+Reconstructing+the+History+of+a+Pastoral+People%2C+1600-1900+Lee+V.+Cassanelli)

### Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism: The Case of Sayyid Mahammad Abdille Hasan (1982)

**Said S. Samatar** · English

The Sayyid's poetry and how it carried the Dervish movement.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-samatar/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Oral+Poetry+and+Somali+Nationalism%3A+The+Case+of+Sayyid+Mahammad+Abdille+Hasan+Said+S.+Samatar)

### Somalia: Nation in Search of a State (1987)

**David D. Laitin & Said S. Samatar** · English

Overview of Somali history, society and the Barre state.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somalianationins0000lait) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia%3A+Nation+in+Search+of+a+State+David+D.+Laitin)

### Socialist Somalia: Rhetoric and Reality (1988)

**Ahmed I. Samatar** · English

The Barre government's 'scientific socialism' in practice.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/socialistsomalia00sama) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4628690W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Socialist+Somalia%3A+Rhetoric+and+Reality+Ahmed+I.+Samatar)

### The State and Rural Transformation in Northern Somalia, 1884-1986 (1989)

**Abdi Ismail Samatar** · English

Colonial and post-colonial economy of the north.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/stateruraltransf0000sama) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+State+and+Rural+Transformation+in+Northern+Somalia%2C+1884-1986+Abdi+Ismail+Samatar)

### Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People (1990)

**Africa Watch** · English

Human rights report on the 1988-1989 war in the north.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia%3A+A+Government+at+War+with+Its+Own+People+Africa+Watch)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Early Berbera: Malao, Po-pa-li and the 'land of Berbera' before 1300

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden in Woqooyi Galbeed, is identified with Malao, a market town described in the 1st-century Periplus as 'better than' Avalites, with an open roadstead and trade in myrrh, frankincense and 'the harder cinnamon'. Chinese writers from the mid-800s describe a land of Po-pa-li or Pi-p'a-lo, which their translators read as Berbera and the Somali coast. Arab geographers used 'Berbera' for the whole northern Somali coast. Around the modern town lie a coastal cemetery about 3 km long and ruins that Richard Burton visited in 1855.

## In short

Berbera has the best natural harbour on the Somali shore of the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/). Its early history is known only from foreign writers and from ruins that have not been excavated. This page gathers what each source says about it before 1300. For the name "Berbera" itself, which Arab and Greek writers used for the whole coast, see [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/).

## Malao in the Periplus, 1st century AD

The Greek merchants' guide called the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* describes Malao, about 800 stadia east of Avalites ([Schoff, *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, 1912, §8, p. 25](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)):

> "After Avalites there is another market-town, better than this, called Malao… The anchorage is an open roadstead, sheltered by a spit running out from the east. Here the natives are more peaceable. There are imported into this place the things already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking-cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity, iron, and gold and silver coin, not much. There are exported from these places myrrh, a little frankincense (that known as far-side), the harder cinnamon, duaca, Indian copal and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely."

Schoff wrote that "Malao is the modern Berbera" (same source, notes p. 79). Ptolemy, about 150 AD, also lists a "Malao market place" between Avalites and [Mondu](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) ([Stevenson's translation of Ptolemy's *Geography*, 1932, p. 107](https://archive.org/details/PtolemysGeographyBook4)). See [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

## Malao: Berbera or Siyaara? Who says what

A Spanish team that surveyed the Berbera coast in 2018–2020 questions the usual reading. The Periplus calls Malao's anchorage an "open roadstead" sheltered by a spit or headland "running out from the east". The team writes that this "does not fit modern Berbera at all, which has a closed, calm roadstead", and that it fits Siyaara, about 30 km east of Berbera, better: Siyaara has a prominent rocky headland, the only one between the Djibouti border and central [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), and wells with drinking water all year. They suggest looking not for one spot but for a stretch of about 100 km of coast, from the mouth of the Issutugan river to Siyaara, where different landing places may have been used ([González-Ruibal, de Torres et al., "Nomads Trading with Empires: Intercultural Trade in Ancient Somaliland in the First to Seventh Centuries CE", *American Journal of Archaeology* 126.1, 2022, pp. 119–120](https://doi.org/10.1086/718184), open access).

What they found on that coast (same source, pp. 120–126):

- **Siyaara.** Pieces of three Himyarite (South Arabian) jars, dated loosely from the 1st millennium BC to the mid-1st millennium AD, and several large pre-Islamic cairns on the shore, placed "to be seen from the sea or the coast". Siyaara was later the site of a large seasonal fair, at its height between the 11th and 16th centuries.
- **Ceel Gerdi**, 22 km east of Berbera. Six shell middens run for 6 km along the shore. Three are Neolithic; three hold imports of the 5th–7th centuries AD, among them a Late Aksumite jug from eastern Tigray, a Himyarite jar and a dark glass bangle of a type common in Egypt and the Levant. The team reads them as short-stay camps of small nomad groups who herded, fished, gathered shellfish and probably hunted. A camel bone from one midden is, they write, the oldest found so far in Somaliland.

They conclude that the coast's trade at this period ran mainly through a regional network linking the Horn with South Arabia, and that the nomads of the Berbera coast were "not the typical specialized pastoralist society" but "mobile communities with a mixed economy" (pp. 126, 132).

## Po-pa-li and Pi-p'a-lo in the Chinese record

- **Mid-800s.** Duan Chengshi's *Youyang zazu* describes "the land of Pa-pa-li… in the south-western Ocean". Its people "do not eat any cereals, but they eat meat; more frequently even they prick a vein of one of their oxen, mix the blood with milk and eat it uncooked". They wrap "a sheep's skin" round their waists. "The people of this country make their own countrymen prisoners whom they sell to strangers." Its products are ivory and ambergris ([Hirth and Rockhill, *Chau Ju-kua*, 1911, p. 128, note 1](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)).
- **1225.** Zhao Rugua writes that "the country of Pi-p'a-lo contains four cities; the other (places) are all villages which are (constantly) at feud and fighting with each other". Its people "feed themselves with the flesh and milk of camels and with baked cakes". It produces ambergris, ivory, rhinoceros horn, myrrh, liquid storax and "tortoise shell of extraordinary thickness" (same source, p. 128).

The translators read Pi-p'a-lo, Cantonese *Pat-pa-lo*, as "Berbera, the Somali coast generally", and suggest that the four cities were probably Berbera, Zeila, Mogadishu and possibly [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) (same source, pp. 128–129). See [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

## The "land of Berbera" in the Arab geographers

Arab writers used *Barbara* for a coast and a people, not only for one town:

- **Al-Mas'udi, 956**, calls the Gulf of Aden *al-Khalij al-Barbari*, "the Berber gulf" ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al., *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, 2011, ch. 2, §56](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **Al-Idrisi, 1154**, describes "the land of Berbera… where one finds a great number of villages", which begins at a place called Djouah and runs round the Horn as far as [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and a town called el-Nedja, "the last land dependent on Berbera". "The inhabitants of Berbera feed largely on the flesh of sea turtles" ([Jaubert, *Géographie d'Édrisi*, vol. 1, 1836, pp. 40–45](https://archive.org/details/gographiededrisi01idri), translated here).
- **Ibn Sa'id, 13th century**, calls Berbera "the capital" of the Berber towns on the shore ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire… de l'Afrique orientale*, part 1, 1856, pp. 238–239](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)). See [Early Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).

## Ruins and graves around the town

- **Burton, 1855.** Richard Burton visited ruins about a mile south-south-east of the town, including "a small building about eight yards square divided into two compartments", which he took to be a mosque. At the springs behind the town, "the rocks… were covered with ruins of mosques and houses", with "fine mortar mixed with coarse gravel, bits of glass bottles and blue glazed pottery". He also passed "extensive cemeteries" which, he was told, "belonged to a race preceding their own" ([Burton, *First Footsteps in East Africa*, 1856, Project Gutenberg ebook 6886](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)).
- **The shore cemetery, 2001.** A French team found a cemetery along the shore about 3 km long and 20 to 50 metres wide, with "probably several thousand" graves, some marked by a single standing stone. They suggest it "could have been used continuously from the Middle Ages until today" and note that the sea is wearing away the graves nearest the shore ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011, §§36–37](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).
- **The hinterland.** Inland, the medieval town of Fardowsa near [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/), about 60 km south, served the caravans going to and from Berbera ([de Torres Rodríguez et al., "Towns in a sea of nomads", 2022, p. 265](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf)). See [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## A seasonal port

De Torres Rodríguez and his colleagues describe trade on this coast as seasonal. The north-east monsoon made sailing easy between about October and April, when herders also came back to the coast and its wells; in summer the coastal plain "remains almost empty". They suggest that this is why the Portuguese fleet that attacked Berbera in 1518 found it "completely empty of people and goods" ([de Torres Rodríguez et al. 2022, pp. 255–257](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf)). Later travellers, among them Burton, described the same seasonal fair at Berbera (same source).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/)
- [The trade fairs of the Berbera coast, about 1000–1600](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/)
- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518](/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/)


---

# UNOSOM I, 1992–1993: the first UN operation in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UNOSOM I was the first United Nations operation in Somalia, set up by Security Council resolution 751 on 24 April 1992. It began with 50 unarmed observers to monitor a ceasefire in Mogadishu between the forces of Ali Mahdi Mohamed and General Mohamed Farah Aidid, and was later authorised up to 3,500 security troops. At its largest it had 54 observers and 893 troops. Six of its soldiers died. With food aid looted and ships shelled, the UN turned to a US-led force, UNITAF, in December 1992, and UNOSOM I gave way to UNOSOM II in March 1993.

## In short

The United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM, later called UNOSOM I) ran from April 1992 to March 1993. It was set up to monitor a ceasefire in Mogadishu, to protect UN staff and supplies at the city's port and airport, and to escort food aid ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I mandate](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1mandate.html)).

It never reached its planned size. By late 1992 the UN Secretary-General reported that aid was being looted and UN troops fired on, and the Security Council authorised a US-led force instead ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)). The whole UN and US intervention, through 1995, is told in [the UN and US intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## The crisis, 1991–1992

The UN's own account gives this picture of the country in early 1992 ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)):

- **Mogadishu.** From November 1991 the heaviest fighting since January broke out between forces backing interim president [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) and those backing General [Mohamed Farah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/), chairman of the United Somali Congress.
- **Hunger.** "Almost 4.5 million people in Somalia, over half of the estimated population, were threatened by severe malnutrition." It estimated "perhaps 300,000 people died since November 1991".
- **Refugees.** "Almost one million Somalis sought refuge in neighbouring countries and elsewhere."

See [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Getting to a ceasefire

- **January 1992.** A UN team led by James Jonah visited Mogadishu. All faction leaders "except General Aidid" backed a ceasefire (UN background).
- **23 January 1992.** Resolution 733 called for an end to fighting and imposed a "general and complete embargo" on weapons to Somalia (same source). See [the UN arms embargo, 1992–2023](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/).
- **12–14 February.** Talks at UN headquarters in New York, with the Arab League, the OAU and the [Organization of the Islamic Conference](/en/relations/oic/).
- **3 March 1992.** After four days of talks in Mogadishu, Ali Mahdi and Aidid signed an "Agreement on the Implementation of a Ceasefire", which accepted a UN security unit for aid convoys and 20 observers on each side of the city.
- **27–28 March.** Aidid and Ali Mahdi signed letters of agreement on monitoring and on fair distribution of aid.

## The mission

- **24 April 1992.** Resolution 751 set up UNOSOM. It provided 50 unarmed observers at once and agreed "in principle" to a security force (UN background).
- **28 April.** Mohamed Sahnoun of Algeria was named the Secretary-General's Special Representative ([UN, UNOSOM I facts and figures](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html)).
- **Early July.** The chief military observer, Brigadier-General Imtiaz Shaheen of [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), arrived with the first observers.
- **12 August.** After "considerable delays and difficulties", the faction leaders agreed to 500 UN security troops in Mogadishu. Pakistan provided the unit. The first troops arrived on 14 September (UN background).
- **28 August.** Resolution 775 allowed four more units of up to 750 each to protect convoys across the country, and four zone headquarters. With 719 logistics troops added on 8 September, the planned total was 4,219 (same source).

## Facts and figures

From the UN's own record ([UN, UNOSOM I facts and figures](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html)):

| | |
|---|---|
| Duration | April 1992 to March 1993 |
| Headquarters | Mogadishu |
| Special Representatives | Mohamed Sahnoun (Algeria), April–November 1992; Ismat Kittani (Iraq), November 1992–March 1993 |
| Authorised | 50 observers, 3,500 security troops, up to 719 support troops |
| Largest size (28 February 1993) | 54 observers and 893 troops and support personnel |
| Troops from | Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Zimbabwe |
| Deaths | 6 military personnel |
| Cost | $42.9 million net |

## Aid under attack, late 1992

The UN described the situation in October and November 1992 ([UN background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)):

- **The mission.** "UNOSOM troops in Mogadishu were fired upon and their vehicles and arms taken." Several local authorities "refused to agree to the deployment of United Nations troops".
- **The aid.** "Relief ships were prevented from docking, threatened and even shelled." Large sums of cash and food "were being extorted from donor agencies".
- **The dying.** "According to some estimates, as many as 3,000 persons a day were dying of starvation in Somalia, while warehouses remained stocked."
- **Sahnoun.** He resigned and was replaced by Ismat Kittani on 3 November 1992.
- **100-Day Programme.** From September a 100-day aid plan asked for $82.7 million, of which $67.3 million was received.

## The turn to force

- **24 and 29 November 1992.** The Secretary-General wrote to the Security Council, set out five options, and concluded "there was no alternative but to resort to the enforcement provisions under Chapter VII". On 25 November the acting US Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleburger, said the US was ready to lead such an operation (UN background).
- **3 December 1992.** Resolution 794 authorised "all necessary means to establish as soon as possible a secure environment for humanitarian relief operations in Somalia" (same source).
- **9 December 1992.** The first troops of the US-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF) landed in Mogadishu. UNOSOM stayed responsible for political and aid work (same source).
- **26 March 1993.** Resolution 814 created UNOSOM II, which took over in May 1993 ([UN, UNOSOM II mandate](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2mandate.html)).

## Who suffered?

- **People in the famine zones,** above all in the countryside of central and southern Somalia, where the UN estimated perhaps 300,000 deaths from November 1991 (UN background).
- **The people of Mogadishu,** caught in fighting between the two factions.
- **Aid workers,** whose lives were "put in danger" as they distributed food (UN background).
- **Six UNOSOM soldiers** who died in the mission (UN facts and figures).

## Sources differ

- **Why the mission stalled.** The UN account puts it down to the absence of a government, faction leaders who refused or delayed deployment, and attacks on aid.
- **The number of deaths.** The UN gave "perhaps 300,000" from November 1991 and "as many as 3,000 persons a day" at the worst point, both as estimates.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Peacekeeping, *UNOSOM I: background (full text)*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html).
- UN Peacekeeping, *UNOSOM I: mandate*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1mandate.html); *facts and figures*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html).
- UN Peacekeeping, *UNOSOM II: mandate*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2mandate.html).


---

# Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005: the fall of the state and new research

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Books published between 1991 and 2005 deal with the collapse of the Somali state, the war and the UN intervention, Somaliland, the economy without a state, minorities and the southern farming regions, Somali Islam and the diaspora. Authors include Ali Jimale Ahmed, Catherine Besteman, Abdi Sheik-Abdi, Lidwien Kapteijns, I. M. Lewis, Peter Little and Ken Menkhaus.

## What these books are

After the collapse of the central government in January 1991, writing about Somalis turned to the causes of the war, the famine and the UN intervention of 1992 to 1995 ([UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)), and to how people lived without a state.

- **Questioning older accounts.** [Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/)'s The Invention of Somalia (1995) and Catherine Besteman's Unraveling Somalia (1999) brought in the history of southern farming and minority communities. Besteman and Lee Cassanelli edited The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia (1996).
- **Former officials' accounts.** Jama Mohamed Ghalib (1995) and Mohamed Osman Omar (1992) wrote on the end of the Republic.
- **Faith and culture.** I. M. Lewis's Saints and Somalis (1998), Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi's Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) and Lidwien Kapteijns's study of women's oral literature (1999).
- **Life without a central state.** Peter Little (2003) on trade and livestock, Ken Menkhaus (2004) on governance, and Cindy Horst and others on refugees.
- **Reporting.** Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down (1999) on the battle of 3 and 4 October 1993 in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))).

These authors disagree about the weight of clan, the state, class and outside powers in explaining the war; see [A Modern History of the Somali](/en/history/a-modern-history-of-the-somali/) for the main debate.

## The books, oldest first

### Tarikh harakat al-jihad al-Islami al-Sumali didda al-isti'mar (1992)

**Ali Mahmud Ali Mayuf** · Arabic

History of Somali Islamic resistance to colonial rule.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10239814W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Tarikh+harakat+al-jihad+al-Islami+al-Sumali+didda+al-isti%27mar+Ali+Mahmud+Ali+Mayuf)

### Divine Madness: Mohammed Abdulle Hassan (1856-1920) (1993)

**[Abdi Sheik-Abdi](/en/people/abdi-sheik-abdi/)** · English

Biography of the Sayyid and the Dervish movement.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Divine+Madness%3A+Mohammed+Abdulle+Hassan+Abdi+Sheik-Abdi)

### An Anthology of Somali Poetry (1993)

**B. W. Andrzejewski with Sheila Andrzejewski** · English

Translations of Somali poems from the 19th century to the 1980s.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3823955W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=An+Anthology+of+Somali+Poetry+B.+W.+Andrzejewski+with+Sheila+Andrzejewski)

### The Invention of Somalia (1995)

**Ahmed Ali Jimale (ed.)** · English

Essays questioning older accounts of Somali history, including the role of southern and minority communities.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-invention-of-somalia-ahmed/) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002969852) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20660822W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Invention+of+Somalia+Ahmed+Ali+Jimale)

### Colloquial Somali (1995)

**Martin Orwin** · English

Course book for learning Somali.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/orwin-colloquial-somali) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21284516W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Colloquial+Somali+Martin+Orwin)

### The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia: The War Behind the War (1996)

**Catherine Besteman & Lee V. Cassanelli (eds.)** · English

Farming land in the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba valleys and how it changed hands.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-struggle-for-land-in-southern-somalia-besteman-cassanelli/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18985199W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Struggle+for+Land+in+Southern+Somalia+Catherine+Besteman)

### Daybreak is Near: Literature, Clans, and the Nation-State in Somalia (1996)

**Ali Jimale Ahmed** · English

Somali literature and politics.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3245398W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Daybreak+is+Near+Ali+Jimale+Ahmed)

### Mending Rips in the Sky: Options for Somali Communities in the 21st Century (1997)

**Hussein M. Adam (ed.)** · English

Papers from the Somali Studies International Association.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/mendingripsinsky0000unse) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003949100) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18959757W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Mending+Rips+in+the+Sky%3A+Options+for+Somali+Communities+in+the+21st+Century+Hussein+M.+Adam)

### Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society (1998)

**Ioan M. Lewis** · English

Sufi saints, the cult of saints and Islam in everyday Somali life.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/saintssomalispop00lewi) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL135972W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Saints+and+Somalis%3A+Popular+Islam+in+a+Clan-based+Society+Ioan+M.+Lewis)

### Unraveling Somalia: Race, Violence, and the Legacy of Slavery (1999)

**Catherine Besteman** · English

The [Gosha](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/) and Jareer communities of the Juba valley.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/unravelingsomali0000best) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1935942W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Unraveling+Somalia%3A+Race%2C+Violence%2C+and+the+Legacy+of+Slavery+Catherine+Besteman)

### Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (1999)

**Mark Bowden** · English

The 3-4 October 1993 battle in Mogadishu.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/black-hawk-down-bowden/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/blackhawkdownsto00bowd_1) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003530023) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL491846W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book)) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Black+Hawk+Down%3A+A+Story+of+Modern+War+Mark+Bowden)

### Women's Voices in a Man's World: Women and the Pastoral Tradition in Northern Somali Orature, c. 1899-1980 (1999)

**Lidwien Kapteijns** · English

Women's songs and stories and their place in society.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/womens-voices-in-a-mans-world-kapteijns/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/womensvoicesinma00kapt) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004100638) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL447854W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Women%27s+Voices+in+a+Man%27s+World%3A+Women+and+the+Pastoral+Tradition+in+Northern+Somali+Orature%2C+c.+1899-1980+Lidwien+Kapteijns)

### The Cold War Fallout: Boundary Politics and Conflict in the Horn of Africa (2000)

**Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe** · English

Superpower rivalry and the Somali-Ethiopian conflict.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Cold+War+Fallout%3A+Boundary+Politics+and+Conflict+in+the+Horn+of+Africa+Abdisalam+M.+Issa-Salwe)

### Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001)

**Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi** · English

Overview of religion, family, poetry, food and daily life.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004211756) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL978755W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Culture+and+Customs+of+Somalia+Mohamed+Diriye+Abdullahi)

### Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda (2001)

**Scott Peterson** · English

A reporter's account of the early 1990s, including Mogadishu 1992 to 1993.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/me-against-my-brother-peterson/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1981834W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Me+Against+My+Brother+Scott+Peterson)

### Somali Sultanate: The Geledi City-State over 150 Years (2001)

**Virginia Luling** · English

History and life of the [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) sultanate at [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/).

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4797400W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somali+Sultanate+Virginia+Luling)

### Imperialismo e resistenza in Corno d'Africa (2002)

**Gerardo Nicolosi** · Italian

The Sayyid's movement and Italian and British rule.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6072652W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Imperialismo+e+resistenza+in+Corno+d%27Africa+Gerardo+Nicolosi)

### Somalia: Economy Without State (2003)

**Peter D. Little** · English

Livestock, cross-border trade and money transfer after 1991.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/somalia-economy-without-state-little/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somaliaeconomywi0000litt) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL13617590W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia%3A+Economy+Without+State+Peter+D.+Little)

### Historical Dictionary of Somalia (new edition) (2003)

**[Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/)** · English

Reference work, Scarecrow Press African Historical Dictionaries.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000mukh) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5954326W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Historical+Dictionary+of+Somalia+Mohamed+Haji+Mukhtar)

### Somalia: State Collapse and the Threat of Terrorism (2004)

**Ken Menkhaus** · English

Adelphi Paper on governance without a state.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia%3A+State+Collapse+and+the+Threat+of+Terrorism+Ken+Menkhaus)

### Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Contested Nationalism and the Crisis of the Nation-State in Somalia (2004)

**Abdi M. Kusow (ed.)** · English

Essays on nationalism and the state.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8896873W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Putting+the+Cart+Before+the+Horse+Abdi+M.+Kusow)

### The Law of the Somalis: A Stable Foundation for Economic Development in the Horn of Africa (2005)

**Michael van Notten** · English

Somali customary law (xeer).

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8896877W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Law+of+the+Somalis%3A+A+Stable+Foundation+for+Economic+Development+in+the+Horn+of+Africa+Michael+van+Notten)

### Jubba Land History (2005)

**Aden Boqow** · English

History of the Juba region.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL13814651W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Jubba+Land+History+Aden+Boqow)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Heis (Xiis): the ancient port and its 300 cairns, 1st to 3rd centuries AD

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Heis, in Somali Xiis, on the Sanaag coast, is a burial ground of more than 300 stone cairns stretching 1.8 km along the shore beside a small rocky island. Roman, Egyptian, Parthian, South Arabian and Indian goods have been found there, dated from the 1st to the 3rd century AD. It is usually identified with Mundus, one of the 'far-side' ports in the 1st-century Periplus. A Spanish team surveyed it in 2018 and dug four of the cairns in 2019. They write that the people buried there were nomadic herders who traded with foreign merchants on the coast.

## In short

Heis (Somali *Xiis*) is on the coast of [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), in eastern [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It is the best-studied ancient trading site on the Somali shore of the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/). Almost everything found there is imported, and almost all of it comes from graves. This page draws mainly on the report of the Spanish team that worked there in 2018 and 2019 ([Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres, "New evidence of long-distance trade in Somaliland in Antiquity: imported materials from the 2018–2019 field seasons at Xiis (Heis), first to third centuries AD", in *Networked Spaces*, MOM Éditions, 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)). Paragraph numbers below refer to that report.

## Who has worked there

- **[Georges Révoil](/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/), late 19th century.** The French explorer collected Roman glass and pottery from the cairns. His glass was studied in 1986, and the whole collection was published as a monograph in 1993 (§1).
- **Neville Chittick, 1976.** He found Roman glass "of about the 4th century AD" in a small robbed cairn and pottery he dated to the 2nd–5th centuries (§1).
- **2017–2018 surveys.** Carl Phillips surveyed the site for a construction company planning a road to a future harbour; the Spanish team, from the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit) of the Spanish National Research Council, surveyed it separately (§1).
- **2019 excavation.** The Spanish team dug four cairns. Work stopped in 2020 after tropical storm Pawan destroyed the road to Xiis (§1).

## The site

There are three areas (§§2–3):

- **The cemetery.** More than 300 cairns of different shapes and sizes run for 1,800 metres along the shore, between a rocky island and the mouth of a seasonal river. Most lie in an area of about 800 by 250 metres below a plateau called Ma'ajilayn, 145 metres above sea level.
- **Ma'ajilayn plateau.** Roman amphorae, South Arabian storage jars and cooking pots, but no buildings.
- **The island**, less than 200 metres offshore, with a 15-metre platform of coral stone and terraces. It is the only part of the site with pottery from the medieval and later periods.

## What the graves held

The team mapped every cairn by drone. Imported goods were found with 80 of them: Parthian glazed pottery from southern Iraq at 46, glass at 25, amphorae at 19, plain wheel-made wares at 15 and stone or glass beads at 7 (§4). Of the four excavated graves (§4):

- two held a single skeleton each and no goods;
- one, intact, held a young person with "a large Roman glass bottle dated to the 3rd century AD, iron anklets and a necklace with glass and bronze beads";
- one, looted, still held "a rich assemblage of artefacts from the 1st century AD", among them millefiori glass, a Roman ribbed glass bowl, Parthian glazed pottery, Italian terra sigillata and decorated glass inlays from a box.

## Where the goods came from

The report identifies (§§6–22):

- **Wine jars (amphorae)** from Campania in Italy, the Aegean (Rhodes or Kos), Cilicia in Turkey, southern Gaul and Egypt. One amphora sherd carries a Greek graffito with the letters A, Y, N (§8).
- **Fine tableware**: Italian terra sigillata, probably from Arezzo; Eastern Sigillata from the area of Antioch; and red-slipped bowls from workshops on the Nile.
- **Glazed jars** from the Basra region of southern Iraq, "over a hundred sherds" (§12).
- **Storage jars** from South Arabia.
- **Beads** of carnelian and agate, most likely from South Asia (§25).

Local pottery is almost absent: "less than 1% of the entire documented assemblage" (§5). One handmade local cooking pot has a type the team also finds "in indigenous contexts from the 1st millennium AD to the 13th century in the Berbera region" (§11).

## Dates

The team dates the goods from the early 1st century to the 3rd century AD, with the 1st century as "the apex in long-distance trade at the site". It records "a total absence of materials dated from the 4th century onwards" and concludes that "long-distance trade in Xiis came to an end at some point around the 3rd century AD" (§§23–24). It suggests two reasons: Somali coast ports had no fixed buildings and "shifted easily", and Aksum's role in the Red Sea grew from the 3rd century (§24).

## Who was buried there

The team writes that the dead "were nomads, as they were buried in the same kind of graves that appear along the routes leading to the interior of Somaliland and that are still used today by transhumant pastoralists". It notes the absence of local pottery, since herders "were probably using baskets and gourds", and that no permanent settlement of this period has been found on the coast or inland (§27). It reads the hilltop as the place "where the indigenous people awaited the arrival of the foreign merchants", and the foot of the hill as a possible meeting place or ritual space, noting that "banquets, pilgrimages and other rituals related to funerary spaces are historically known among the pastoralists of the Horn" (§26).

The same team later described trade between nomads and foreign merchants on this coast as seasonal, following the monsoon, and called medieval coastal fairs "later examples of a centuries-old tradition of commerce between nomads and foreign traders" ([de Torres Rodríguez et al., "Towns in a sea of nomads", 2022, p. 269](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf)).

## Heis and the Periplus

Heis "has been traditionally identified with one of the 'far-side ports'" of the Periplus, Mundus or Mosylon. The team writes that "most authors tend to agree that the best match would be Mundu", because the Periplus describes ships anchoring "at the island that lies very near the shore", like the island at Xiis (§2). The Periplus says of Mundus that the traders there "are rather hard bargainers" (quoted §2). See [the Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

**Chittick's reading, 1979.** Neville Chittick described the cairns as "extending for some 4 km along the coast", found "no dwelling site", and noted among the surface sherds "a vessel of Nubian ware, evidence of trade with upper Egypt". He compared the local name of the cape, Ma'ajilayn, with Mosyllon, but wrote that the Periplus' description of Mundus, "where an island close to the shore is mentioned, fits the site better. Perhaps the places have been confused." He too concluded that "the trade was conducted by nomads who presumably would have come and pitched temporary dwellings (perhaps like the modern Somali *aqal*, easily dismantled for travel) during the trading season", and suggested that the fine Roman glass "would be ill-adapted to nomadic life… Perhaps these objects were destined only for the dead" ([Chittick, "Early ports in the Horn of Africa", *International Journal of Nautical Archaeology* 8.4, 1979, pp. 273–274](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

**Boats.** Chittick linked the open, exposed landing places of this coast to "the survival in this region of sewn boats (*beden*), built without any metal fastenings, which are said to endure striking the foreshore as they ride in through the surf better than other vessels" (same source, p. 273).

Ras Hafun, the other excavated ancient site on the Somali coast, has a similar mix of goods but also Indian pottery, which has not been found at Heis (§25). See [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)
- [Frankincense and myrrh](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/)
- [The Xiis cairns and Somali star lore](/en/history/xiis-cairns-and-somali-star-lore/)
- [The Sabaean inscriptions of the Somali coast](/en/history/sabaean-inscriptions-on-the-somali-coast/)


---

# The UN and US intervention, 1992–1995: UNOSOM and UNITAF

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From April 1992 to March 1995 the United Nations ran two missions in Somalia, UNOSOM I and II, and from December 1992 to May 1993 a US-led force, UNITAF, of about 37,000 troops secured food deliveries during the famine. The UN estimates the operations saved at least a quarter of a million lives. Fighting with General Aidid's faction from June 1993, including the battle of 3 October 1993, killed hundreds of Somalis and over 150 UN troops, and the last UN forces left in March 1995.

## In short

After the government fell in January 1991, war and drought brought famine to the south. The UN estimates that perhaps 300,000 people died from November 1991 to late 1992. About 4.5 million people, over half the population, were threatened by severe hunger ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

The world answered with two UN missions and a US-led force. The UN credits them with saving at least a quarter of a million lives (see below). The operation also became a war with one faction in Mogadishu, and ended with the UN's withdrawal in 1995.

## UNOSOM I, April–December 1992

- **23 January 1992.** UN Security Council resolution 733 called for a ceasefire and placed an arms embargo on Somalia ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **3 March 1992.** Interim President [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) and General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid, leaders of the two wings of the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/), signed a ceasefire for Mogadishu (same source).
- **24 April 1992.** Resolution 751 created the UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The Algerian diplomat [Mohamed Sahnoun](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/) became the UN's special representative (same source).
- **14 September 1992.** The first 500 UN security troops, from [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), arrived in Mogadishu (same source).

Fighting and looting kept food from reaching the hungry. In November 1992 the Secretary-General told the Council that only force could secure deliveries (same source).

## UNITAF, December 1992–May 1993

On 3 December 1992 the Security Council unanimously passed resolution 794. It authorised "all necessary means to establish as soon as possible a secure environment for humanitarian relief operations" ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

The United States offered to lead the force. The first troops of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), known in the US as Operation Restore Hope, landed in Mogadishu on 9 December 1992. At its height UNITAF had about 37,000 troops from more than 20 countries, covering about 40 percent of the country (same source).

In March 1993, 15 Somali movements met in Addis Ababa and signed an agreement on disarmament and a transitional council ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

## UNOSOM II, May 1993–March 1995

Resolution 814 of 26 March 1993 created a larger mission, UNOSOM II, with a mandate to disarm the factions and rebuild institutions. It took over from UNITAF on 4 May 1993. It was authorised up to 28,000 troops and police from 34 countries ([UN, UNOSOM II facts and figures](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)).

## 5 June 1993 and the war with Aidid's faction

Aidid's faction, the USC/SNA, had signed the Addis Ababa agreement but did not cooperate with disarmament. On 5 June 1993, armed attacks on UN troops in south Mogadishu killed 25 Pakistani soldiers, by the UN's count ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

Resolution 837 of 6 June called for the arrest of those responsible. From 12 June UN forces carried out air and ground attacks in south Mogadishu. On 17 June the UN representative ordered that Aidid be detained (same source).

## 3 October 1993

US Rangers raided south Mogadishu to capture Aidid's aides. They detained 24 suspects. Somali fighters shot down two US helicopters, and 18 US soldiers were killed and 75 wounded ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). A Malaysian soldier was also killed ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1994*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)).

Human Rights Watch reported that "several hundred Somalis may have been killed". Aidid's side gave 315 dead and 812 wounded, figures the Red Cross called "plausible" (same source).

Days later President Clinton announced that US forces would leave by 31 March 1994. On 9 October Aidid's faction declared a unilateral ceasefire with the UN ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

## Who suffered?

Somalis died from famine, from faction fighting, and from the fighting between UN forces and Aidid's militia. Human Rights Watch documented violations of the laws of war by all sides in 1993 ([HRW, *World Report 1994*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)):

- **By UN and US forces.** On 13 June Pakistani troops fired on a crowd and killed at least ten people, including women and children. On 17 June UN forces fired on Digfer Hospital, and at least five patients died. On 12 July US helicopters fired missiles at what the UN called a command centre of [General Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/); no warning was given, and the UN first said 13 died, but the Red Cross verified at least 54. Africa Watch estimated that by the end of October, 500 to 600 Somalis had been killed by US or UN forces and over 2,000 wounded.
- **By Aidid's forces.** Fighters used hospitals to fire from and "civilians seem to have been used to 'shield' his troops". Somalis working for the UN were killed, in what were reported to be summary executions.
- **Trials.** Six Canadian soldiers were charged over the beating to death of a Somali in their custody (see [The Somalia affair](/en/history/somalia-affair-canada-1993/)). Belgian forces opened an inquiry over their conduct in Kismayo (see [Belgian and Italian troops in Somalia, 1993](/en/history/belgian-italian-troops-somalia-1993/)).

UNOSOM II lost 154 personnel: 149 soldiers and 5 civilian staff ([UN, UNOSOM II facts and figures](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)).

## Withdrawal, 1995

After 1993 several countries withdrew their troops. The final phase was covered by a seven-nation force under US Lieutenant-General Anthony Zinni. The last UN troops left Mogadishu in early March 1995 ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

## What the UN says it achieved

The UN's own summary credits the operation with a national ceasefire and with 52 of 92 planned district councils and 8 of 18 regional councils. It says "at a minimum, an estimated quarter of a million lives were saved" ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

It also notes that more than 250 elders, scholars, women's groups and community organisations took part in the Addis Ababa conference of March 1993, "an unprecedented broadening of political participation" (same source). What followed is told in [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Sources differ

- **Pakistani dead on 5 June 1993.** The UN gives 25 killed. Human Rights Watch gives 24.
- **Somali dead on 3 October 1993.** No agreed figure exists. Human Rights Watch reported several hundred; Aidid's side gave 315.
- **The 12 July 1993 raid.** UNOSOM first gave 13 dead. The Red Cross verified at least 54.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- United Nations, *UNOSOM I: background*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html).
- United Nations, *UNOSOM II: background*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html), and [facts and figures](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1994*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm).


---

# Abasa (Darbiyah Kola): a medieval town in Awdal and its neighbours Hasadinle and Iskudarka

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abasa, which Richard Burton called Darbiyah Kola, 'Kola's fort', is a ruined medieval town about 20 km north of Borama in Awdal. It covers 56.5 hectares and had about 200 stone houses, two mosques, two cemeteries and a large public building. A Spanish team surveyed it in 2018 with two smaller sites nearby, the village of Hasadinle and the hamlet of Iskudarka Dayeergalka Kifiile. The imported pottery dates all three to the 15th and 16th centuries, when the area belonged to the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din (Adal). The team reads them as farming settlements set back from the main trade routes.

## In short

Abasa is one of about 20 medieval town sites known in western [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and the neighbouring part of Ethiopia. It lies about 9 km south-east of the village of Boon and about 20 km north of [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), close to the Ethiopian border. Almost everything on this page comes from one study, which brings together a 2018 survey by the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit) of the Spanish National Research Council, the objects and photographs A. T. Curle gave to the British Museum in the 1930s, and old maps ([de Torres Rodríguez, "Kola's Kingdom: The Territory of Abasa (Western Somaliland) during the Medieval Period", *International Journal of Historical Archaeology* 28, 2024, pp. 545–575](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-023-00721-7), open access). For the other ruined towns of the region, see [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## Burton's "Kola's fort", 1854

On his way to Harar, Richard Burton followed the Abasa valley and described a ruined city:

> "This is the site of Darbiyah Kola,—Kola's Fort,—so called from its Galla queen. It is said that this city and its neighbor Aububah fought like certain cats in Kilkenny till both were 'eaten up:' the Gudabirsi fixed the event at the period when their forefathers still inhabited Bulhar on the coast,—about 300 years ago… The mosque is a large roofless building containing twelve square pillars of rude masonry… for a mile and a half in length all was ruins—ruins—ruins."

(Burton, *[First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)*, quoted in de Torres Rodríguez 2024, pp. 549–550; "Galla" is an older outside name for the Oromo that is now considered offensive, as de Torres notes on p. 545.)

The name Darbiyah Kola is no longer used locally. De Torres writes that an Italian map of 1894 marks "Darbija-Cola" in this area and a British map of 1926 "Darbiya Kola", while British boundary maps of the 1930s mark "ruins" with the name Abasa, which has been used since. On the strength of the maps and Burton's description, he identifies Abasa with Darbiyah Kola (p. 550).

## Who has visited

- **A. T. Curle, mid-1930s**, an officer of the British–Ethiopian boundary commission. He described the main mosque, photographed its mihrab before it collapsed, and estimated about 200 houses. His photographs and finds are in the British Museum (pp. 546, 550).
- **The Soviet–Somali expedition, 1971**, and **Neville Chittick, 1975**, who drew the first sketch plan of the mosque and recorded that the mihrab arch had fallen (pp. 550, 552).
- **Fauvelle-Aymar and Hirsch, 2001**, who recorded the site's decay and heard of a second site of the same name (p. 550).
- **The Incipit team, 2018**, who mapped the main mosque by drone and dug one small test pit inside it (p. 552).

## The town

De Torres describes the site as follows (pp. 549–553):

- **Size.** 56.5 hectares in a basin 2 km south of the Abasa river. The team recorded 97 houses and thinks the total is closer to Curle's 200. The houses are spread out, with no sign of a planned street layout.
- **Houses.** Rectangular or square, usually 20 to 40 square metres, with two or three rooms. The walls are of flat stones set in mud mortar, and some still stand about 1.5 metres high.
- **The main mosque.** 18 by 17 metres, on the east edge of the town, not in the centre. It has 12 pillars in three rows, round or cross-shaped rather than the square ones Burton described, with wooden beams set into them. Its mihrab, now fallen, stood out 2 metres from the qibla wall. It had no minaret or minbar, which de Torres notes are also missing from the other medieval mosques of Somaliland except at Zeila. A lower wall around it probably enclosed a courtyard.
- **The test pit.** It reached the levelled bedrock on which the mosque was built. No older building was found under it, and the only find was a fragment of a bronze bangle.
- **A second, smaller mosque**, 4.1 by 3.8 metres inside, at the far east of the site (p. 555).
- **A large building** of about 300 square metres across the ravine on the west side, with a curved stone entrance corridor. Nothing was found in it. De Torres lists several possible uses, among them a stronghold, the house of a local sheikh, a trade post or a prison, and calls it most likely a public building (pp. 555–557).
- **Two cemeteries** (p. 558). The northern one has only slab-lined Muslim graves facing Mecca, the kind found at Fardowsa and other medieval sites. The south-western one has mostly graves marked by a line of small slabs, and also small cairns with two stones on top marking head and feet.

## What was found

Curle recorded celadon, a piece of Chinese Ming porcelain, hammer stones and an iron arrowhead. Chittick dated the Islamic and Chinese pottery to the 15th and 16th centuries (p. 560). In 2018 the team found very few imports: one celadon sherd, one sherd of "speckled ware", one piece of blue-and-white fritware, two sherds of Yemeni white cream ware, eight pierced cowries and some softstone objects. De Torres calls speckled ware a kind of "fossil type" for the Adal period, and dates the group to the 15th–16th centuries (pp. 560–562). Most of the pottery was local and handmade, and grinding stones lay all over the site, which he takes as a sign that farming mattered there (p. 562).

## The two neighbouring sites

- **Hasadinle**, about 6 km from Abasa across the Wenole hills, near the Okholale river. Curle called it a minor site, but in 2018 the team found a village of about 60 houses over 11 hectares, and a mosque of 11 by 13 metres with four square pillars that Curle had not recorded. Stone circles there may be bases for haystacks, as local people still use them. Two polished sherds probably came from the northern Ethiopian highlands (pp. 563–566).
- **Iskudarka Dayeergalka Kifiile**, about 8 km north of Abasa, known to the Somaliland Department of Archaeology as "Abasa 2". The team used the local name, which it translates as "the mountain where monkeys meet". It is a hamlet of about 20 small houses on 1 hectare, with a mosque of 9 by 6 metres along a short L-shaped street, a well over 10 metres deep and a nearby old river bend still farmed today. Half of a bored stone, which de Torres reads as the weight of a digging stick, is the first found in an archaeological context in Somaliland (pp. 567–569).

## How de Torres reads the sites

- **Farming, not long-distance trade.** The sites sit on a route from the coast towards Harar, but de Torres notes that 19th-century reports put the main caravan route further west, through what is now Djibouti, and that imports at Abasa are far fewer than at [Fardowsa](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/). He suggests that farming was the main activity (pp. 548–549).
- **One shared culture.** The same pottery, building methods and mosque plan at all three sites suggest to him "a common identity" across the region in the 15th and 16th centuries, the period of the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din. He notes that the mosques of western Somaliland differ in plan from medieval mosques in Shewa and the Harar region (pp. 569–572).
- **Who lived there.** He writes that it is "unclear who were, ethnically speaking, the inhabitants", since the Arab texts describe the Somali as nomads distinct from the people of the sultanate. He finds few cairns, the usual nomad burial, near the sites (pp. 571–572).
- **The legend of Kola.** He links the story to Somali traditions of rulers called "Galla" defeated by Muslim holy men, such as the story of Aw Barkhadle. Aw Boba, the town Burton named as Kola's enemy, carries the name of a holy man whose descendants, de Torres writes citing Stenhouse and Pankhurst, fought for Imam Ahmad in the 16th century. He suggests the legend may combine the westward spread of the Somalis and the arrival of Islam (pp. 572–573).
- **The end.** He found no sign of destruction and suggests the towns were left gradually after the sultanate broke up in the late 16th century (p. 573).

## Related pages

- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [The sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)
- [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/)
- [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)


---

# The battle of Mogadishu, 3–4 October 1993 (Maalintii Rangers)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 3–4 October 1993 a US special forces raid in central Mogadishu, aimed at aides of General Mohamed Farah Aidid, turned into a night-long battle after Somali fighters shot down two US Black Hawk helicopters. Eighteen US soldiers and one Malaysian soldier were killed. Somali deaths are estimated at several hundred; Aidid's side gave 315 dead and 812 wounded, and US Army estimates run from 500 to 1,500 casualties. Days later the US set 31 March 1994 as the date to withdraw its forces.

## In short

On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, US special forces raided a building near the Olympic Hotel, close to [Bakara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) Market in Mogadishu. Their aim was to capture two senior aides of General [Mohamed Farah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/). Somali fighters shot down two US Black Hawk helicopters, and the fighting lasted through the night ([US Army Center of Military History, *The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994*, CMH Pub 70-81-1, pp. 18–23](https://universityofleeds.github.io/philtaylorpapers/pmt/exhibits/2181/Somaliaarmy.pdf)).

Eighteen US soldiers and one Malaysian soldier were killed. Human Rights Watch reported that "several hundred Somalis may have been killed" ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1994*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)). The battle is known in Somali as *Maalintii Rangers*, "the day of the Rangers". The wider UN and US mission is told in [the UN and US intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## Why the raid happened

- **5 June 1993.** Forces of Aidid's Somali National Alliance (SNA) ambushed UN troops in south Mogadishu. The US Army history gives 24 Pakistani soldiers killed and 44 wounded (CMH, p. 16). The next day UN Security Council resolution 837 called for the arrest of those responsible ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **June 1993.** US AC-130 gunships attacked weapons stores and Radio Mogadishu, Aidid's radio station. On 17 June the UN envoy, Admiral Jonathan Howe, issued a warrant for Aidid's arrest with a $25,000 reward (CMH, p. 16).
- **12 July 1993.** US helicopters attacked a meeting at an Aidid compound. A crowd then killed four foreign journalists who came to report on it (CMH, p. 16). Human Rights Watch reported that the Red Cross counted at least 54 dead in the raid ([HRW 1994](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)).
- **8 August 1993.** A mine killed four US military police (CMH, p. 17).
- **22 August 1993.** The US defence secretary sent a special force, Task Force Ranger, "capturing Aideed and his key lieutenants and turning them over to UNOSOM II forces" (CMH, pp. 17–18). It answered to US command, not to the UN.

From late August the task force carried out six raids in Mogadishu. In one it captured [Osman Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/), Aidid's financial aide. In another it mistakenly raided a UN office (CMH, p. 18). On 25 September SNA fighters shot down a US Black Hawk with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing three soldiers (CMH, p. 19).

## 3 October: the raid

The task force left the airport at about 15:30 by helicopter and road convoy. By 15:42 it reached the target near the Olympic Hotel and detained 24 Somalis (CMH, p. 19).

Fire from the surrounding streets was heavier than in earlier raids. A Black Hawk was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed a few blocks away. A second Black Hawk was shot down less than a mile further south (CMH, pp. 19–21).

At the second crash site, the US history records that a crowd "overran" the position and killed all the defenders except the pilot, Michael Durant, who was taken prisoner. Two US soldiers who defended the site were later given the Medal of Honor (CMH, p. 21).

## The night and the "Mogadishu Mile"

US soldiers held buildings around the first crash site through the night, under fire, while helicopter gunships fired on the streets around them (CMH, pp. 21–23). A US convoy carrying the detainees could not find the site and returned to base after heavy losses.

A relief column of more than 60 vehicles was put together with Pakistani tanks and Malaysian armoured carriers. It reached the first crash site at 01:55 on 4 October. At dawn the soldiers left on foot and in the carriers, under fire, and reached the Pakistani-held stadium by about 06:30 (CMH, pp. 22–23).

## The dead and wounded

| Side | Killed | Wounded | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task Force Ranger (US) | 16 on 3–4 October, 1 more on 6 October | 57, and 12 more on 6 October | CMH, p. 23 |
| US 10th Mountain Division | 2 | 22 | CMH, p. 23 |
| Malaysian forces | 2 (HRW gives 1) | 7 | CMH, p. 23; HRW 1994 |
| Pakistani forces | 0 | 2 | CMH, p. 23 |
| Somalis | 315, by Aidid's count | 812, by Aidid's count | HRW 1994 |

The US Army history says that "various estimates placed Somali casualties between 500 and 1,500" (CMH, p. 23). Human Rights Watch reported that the Red Cross called Aidid's figures "plausible" ([HRW 1994](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)).

## What followed

- **6 October 1993.** President Bill Clinton ordered US forces to stop all actions against Aidid except in self-defence. He sent the envoy Robert Oakley back to Somalia, and announced that all US forces would leave by 31 March 1994 (CMH, p. 24).
- **9 October 1993.** Aidid's side declared a unilateral ceasefire with the UN ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **14 October 1993.** Aidid released Durant and a Nigerian soldier captured earlier, as what he called a "goodwill gesture" (CMH, p. 24). Human Rights Watch noted that the Red Cross visited both men while they were held ([HRW 1994](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)).
- **March 1994 and March 1995.** US forces left by March 1994. The last UN troops left Mogadishu in March 1995 ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

The US Army history calls the battle "a watershed in U.S. involvement in Somalia" (CMH, p. 23).

## Who suffered?

- **Somali residents of the Bakara and Olympic Hotel area,** where the fighting took place in "a densely populated area of narrow streets" (HRW 1994). The dead included fighters and civilians; the sources linked here do not separate the two.
- **US and UN soldiers,** 19 killed on 3–4 October and dozens wounded (CMH, p. 23).
- **The families of the dead on both sides.** The US Army history describes the bodies of US soldiers "being dragged through the streets" afterwards (CMH, introduction).

## Sources differ

- **Somali dead and wounded.** Aidid's side gave 315 dead and 812 wounded. The US Army history cites estimates of 500 to 1,500 Somali casualties. Human Rights Watch reported "several hundred" dead.
- **Malaysian dead.** The US Army history gives 2 killed; Human Rights Watch gives 1.
- **The purpose of the raid.** The US Army history says it aimed to capture two of Aidid's "key lieutenants". Human Rights Watch described it as an armed sweep, "ostensibly in search of weapons".
- **Who was fighting.** The US history speaks of Somali "militia" and "mobs". It does not separate armed SNA fighters from residents who joined in.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- US Army Center of Military History, *The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994*, CMH Pub 70-81-1 (Richard W. Stewart, about 2002): [PDF](https://universityofleeds.github.io/philtaylorpapers/pmt/exhibits/2181/Somaliaarmy.pdf).
- United Nations, *UNOSOM II: background*: [text](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1994*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm).


---

# Books about Somalis since 2006: Somaliland, al-Shabaab, piracy and the diaspora

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Books published since 2006 cover the Islamic Courts and al-Shabaab, piracy off the coast, Somaliland and Puntland, the first civilian governments, Somalis in Kenya, Britain and North America, and life in refugee camps. Authors include Mark Bradbury, Mary Harper, Stig Jarle Hansen, Harun Maruf, Abdi Samatar, Markus Hoehne, Lidwien Kapteijns and Keren Weitzberg.

## What these books are

Since 2006, books about Somalis have followed the main events of the period: the Islamic Courts Union and the Ethiopian intervention of 2006 ([Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/)), the rise of al-Shabaab ([Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)), piracy off the coast, the federal governments from 2012, and the growth of Somali communities abroad.

- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).** Mark Bradbury's Becoming Somaliland (2008) and Markus Hoehne's study of [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) (2015).
- **Al-Shabaab.** Stig Jarle Hansen (2013) and [Harun Maruf](/en/people/harun-maruf/) and Dan Joseph (2018) wrote histories of the movement.
- **Piracy.** Jay Bahadur (2011), Jatin Dua (2019) and Awet Weldemichael (2019).
- **The first Republic revisited.** [Abdi Samatar](/en/people/abdi-samatar/)'s Africa's First Democrats (2016) on [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) and [Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/).
- **The diaspora and refugees.** Ben Rawlence on Dadaab (2016), Keren Weitzberg on Somalis in Kenya (2017), Giulia Liberatore on Somali women in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) (2017) and Cawo Abdi on Somali migrants (2015).

## The books, oldest first

### Transnational Nomads: How Somalis Cope with Refugee Life in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya (2006)

**Cindy Horst** · English

Life, money and networks in the Dadaab camps.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL9030960W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Transnational+Nomads+Cindy+Horst)

### Renewers of the Age: Holy Men and Social Discourse in Colonial Benaadir (2008)

**Scott S. Reese** · English

Islamic scholars and Sufi orders on the Banaadir coast under Italian rule.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/renewers-of-the-age-reese/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL9090942W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Renewers+of+the+Age%3A+Holy+Men+and+Social+Discourse+in+Colonial+Benaadir+Scott+S.+Reese)

### Becoming Somaliland (2008)

**Mark Bradbury** · English

How Somaliland built institutions after 1991.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/becoming-somaliland-bradbury/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/becomingsomalila0000brad) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005686202) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2232292W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Becoming+Somaliland+Mark+Bradbury)

### Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society (2008)

**I. M. Lewis** · English

Short overview by Lewis of history and society.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland-lewis/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21746003W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Understanding+Somalia+and+Somaliland+I.+M.+Lewis)

### East Africa and the Indian Ocean (2009)

**Edward A. Alpers** · English

Essays on the Indian Ocean coast including the Banaadir ports.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=East+Africa+and+the+Indian+Ocean+Edward+A.+Alpers)

### The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (2009)

**Gebru Tareke** · English

Includes the Ogaden war of 1977 to 1978.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ethiopianrevolut0000gebr) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3240655W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Ethiopian+Revolution+Gebru+Tareke)

### Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding (2010)

**Afyare Abdi Elmi** · English

Clan, Islam and peace-building since 1991.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/understandingsom0000elmi) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17389170W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Understanding+the+Somalia+Conflagration%3A+Identity%2C+Political+Islam+and+Peacebuilding+Afyare+Abdi+Elmi)

### The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World (2011)

**Jay Bahadur** · English

Journalist's time with pirates in Puntland.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Pirates+of+Somalia%3A+Inside+Their+Hidden+World+Jay+Bahadur)

### Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State (2012)

**Mary Harper** · English

BBC Africa editor's account of Somalia after 1991.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/gettingsomaliawr0000harp) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16615706W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Getting+Somalia+Wrong%3F+Faith%2C+War+and+Hope+in+a+Shattered+State+Mary+Harper)

### Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991 (2013)

**Lidwien Kapteijns** · English

The violence of 1991-1992 in Mogadishu and the south.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/clan-cleansing-in-somalia-kapteijns/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/clancleansingins0000kapt) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16654370W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Clan+Cleansing+in+Somalia%3A+The+Ruinous+Legacy+of+1991+Lidwien+Kapteijns)

### Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group (2013)

**Stig Jarle Hansen** · English

History of al-Shabaab from 2005 to 2012.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/al-shabaab-in-somalia-hansen/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Al-Shabaab+in+Somalia%3A+The+History+and+Ideology+of+a+Militant+Islamist+Group+Stig+Jarle+Hansen)

### The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia (2013)

**James Fergusson** · English

A journalist's account of Somalia and the diaspora around 2010.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place-fergusson/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/worldsmostdanger0000ferg_z9a1) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21060539W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+World%27s+Most+Dangerous+Place+James+Fergusson)

### A House in the Sky (2013)

**Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett** · English

Memoir of a Canadian journalist held hostage in Somalia from 2008 to 2009.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/a-house-in-the-sky-lindhout/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/houseinskymemoir0000lind) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17918639W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+House+in+the+Sky+Amanda+Lindhout)

### Between Somaliland and Puntland: Marginalization, Militarization and Conflicting Political Visions (2015)

**Markus V. Hoehne** · English

The contested Sool and Sanaag regions.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/between-somaliland-and-puntland-hoehne/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Between+Somaliland+and+Puntland%3A+Marginalization%2C+Militarization+and+Conflicting+Political+Visions+Markus+V.+Hoehne)

### Elusive Jannah: The Somali Diaspora and a Borderless Muslim Identity (2015)

**Cawo Mohamed Abdi** · English

Somali migrants in the UAE, South Africa and the US and their faith.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/elusive-jannah-abdi/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/elusivejannahsom0000abdi) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20498124W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Elusive+Jannah%3A+The+Somali+Diaspora+and+a+Borderless+Muslim+Identity+Cawo+Mohamed+Abdi)

### Somali Oral Poetry and the Failed She-Camel Nation State (2015)

**Ali Mumin Ahad** · English

Reading of Somali poetry and the idea of the nation.

Where to read: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21102334W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somali+Oral+Poetry+and+the+Failed+She-Camel+Nation+State+Ali+Mumin+Ahad)

### A Man of Good Hope (2015)

**Jonny Steinberg** · English

The life of Asad Abdullahi, a Somali who grew up as a refugee and moved to South Africa.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/a-man-of-good-hope-steinberg/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20245218W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Man+of+Good+Hope+Jonny+Steinberg)

### Africa's First Democrats: Somalia's Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen (2016)

**Abdi Ismail Samatar** · English

The civilian governments of 1960-1969 and their two leaders.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/africas-first-democrats-samatar/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21126490W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Africa%27s+First+Democrats%3A+Somalia%27s+Aden+A.+Osman+and+Abdirazak+H.+Hussen+Abdi+Ismail+Samatar)

### City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp (2016)

**Ben Rawlence** · English

Lives in the Dadaab camps in Kenya.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/cityofthornsnine0000rawl_o2t1) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102324968) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20016085W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=City+of+Thorns%3A+Nine+Lives+in+the+World%27s+Largest+Refugee+Camp+Ben+Rawlence)

### Somali, Muslim, British: Striving in Securitized Britain (2017)

**Giulia Liberatore** · English

Young Somali women in London and how they practise Islam.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/somali-muslim-british-liberatore/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20595431W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somali%2C+Muslim%2C+British+Giulia+Liberatore)

### We Do Not Have Borders: Greater Somalia and the Predicaments of Belonging in Kenya (2017)

**Keren Weitzberg** · English

Somalis in Kenya from colonial times.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/we-do-not-have-borders-weitzberg/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20210596W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=We+Do+Not+Have+Borders+Keren+Weitzberg)

### Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al-Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally (2018)

**Harun Maruf & Dan Joseph** · English

History of al-Shabaab by two VOA journalists, one of them Somali.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/inside-al-shabaab-maruf/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20597859W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Inside+Al-Shabaab+Harun+Maruf)

### Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean (2019)

**Jatin Dua** · English

Piracy off Somalia, insurance and the shipping trade.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/captured-at-sea-dua/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21211825W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Captured+at+Sea+Jatin+Dua)

### Piracy in Somalia: Violence and Development in the Horn of Africa (2019)

**Awet Tewelde Weldemichael** · English

History of piracy off the Somali coast.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/piracy-in-somalia-weldemichael/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21194258W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Piracy+in+Somalia+Awet+Tewelde+Weldemichael)

### Mobile Urbanity: Somali Presence in Urban East Africa (2019)

**Neil Carrier & Tabea Scharrer (eds.)** · English

Somalis in Nairobi, Kampala and other East African cities.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/mobile-urbanity-carrier-scharrer/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL21355351W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Mobile+Urbanity+Neil+Carrier)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# The Somalia affair: Canadian troops in Beledweyne, 1993

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somalia-affair-canada-1993/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 1,400 Canadian troops, mostly of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, were posted to Beledweyne in December 1992 under the UN-backed mission. On 4 March 1993 soldiers shot two fleeing Somalis, killing Achmed Aruush, and on 16 March 1993 they tortured to death a 16-year-old, Shidane Abukar Arone, and photographed it. One soldier was convicted of manslaughter and torture. Canada disbanded the regiment in 1995, and a public inquiry, cut short in 1996, reported in 1997 that many senior officers had been evasive or deceptive.

## In short

The "Somalia affair" is the name used in Canada for the killings of Somali civilians by Canadian soldiers in Beledweyne in 1993 and the scandal that followed. This page records what the sources report. The Belgian and Italian cases are in [Belgian and Italian troops in Somalia, 1993](/en/history/belgian-italian-troops-somalia-1993/). The wider mission is covered in [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) and [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/).

## Deployment

In December 1992 about 1,400 Canadian troops, mostly of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, arrived in Beledweyne (Belet Huen) as part of the UN-backed humanitarian mission ([Richard Foot, *The Canadian Encyclopedia*, 2018](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/somalia-affair)).

## The killings

- **4 March 1993.** Soldiers set a trap with food and water near the camp's perimeter fence and shot two Somalis in the back as they fled, killing Achmed Aruush (*The Canadian Encyclopedia*).
- **16 March 1993.** Shidane Abukar Arone, 16, was caught inside the base. He was tortured for hours and was dead shortly after midnight. His abusers took photographs, and soldiers who heard his screams did not step in (*The Canadian Encyclopedia*; [Ali Amad, VICE, 14 March 2018](https://www.vice.com/en/article/remembering-the-somalia-affair-canadas-forgotten-abu-ghraib-moment/)).

VICE reported that six Somalis were killed by Canadian soldiers during the deployment (VICE, 2018).

## Trials

Master Corporal Clayton Matchee was found hanging in his cell after his arrest, was left brain-damaged, and was found unfit to stand trial. Private Kyle Brown was convicted of manslaughter and torture, sentenced to five years and dismissed from the forces; he was released after less than two years. Another soldier pleaded guilty to negligent performance of duty, and Lieutenant Colonel Carol Mathieu was acquitted of minor charges. No one else was convicted over the deaths of Arone or Aruush (*The Canadian Encyclopedia*). VICE reported that Canada compensated Arone's clan with the value of 100 camels, about US$15,000, and that his parents' lawsuit for $5 million was dismissed in 1999 (VICE, 2018).

## Disbandment and inquiry

After videos of racist remarks and hazing in the regiment came out, Defence Minister David Collenette disbanded the Canadian Airborne Regiment in 1995. He said in 2020: "if you didn't think you could really change the culture, then you needed to take a fresh start" ([*The Guardian* via Yahoo News, 2 December 2020](https://uk.news.yahoo.com/war-crimes-former-minister-reveals-163033996.html)).

A public inquiry led by Federal Court judge Gilles Létourneau held hearings from late 1995. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien ended the hearings at the end of 1996, before the inquiry had heard testimony on Arone's death. Its report, released in 1997, found that officers had tampered with documents and spoke of "evasion and deception, which in our view were apparent with many of the senior officers who testified before us" (*The Canadian Encyclopedia*; VICE, 2018).

## Sources differ

- **How many Somalis were killed.** *The Canadian Encyclopedia* describes the two deaths in March 1993; VICE reported six deaths during the deployment.
- **The inquiry's recommendations.** 157 (*The Canadian Encyclopedia*) or 100 (VICE).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Richard Foot, "Somalia Affair", *The Canadian Encyclopedia* (2018): [article](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/somalia-affair).
- Ali Amad, "Remembering the 'Somalia Affair'", VICE (2018): [article](https://www.vice.com/en/article/remembering-the-somalia-affair-canadas-forgotten-abu-ghraib-moment/).


---

# The Harla: the 'giant builders' of the ruins and the medieval town of Harlaa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Harla are a people named in sources from the 13th to the early 16th century, among them the chronicle of the Ethiopian king Amda Seyon and the Futuh al-Habasha, as Muslims of the south-east of the Ethiopian highlands. In oral tradition around Harar and the Chercher mountains, the Harla are giants who built the ruined towns, mosques and burial mounds of the region and were destroyed for their pride. A Somali Issa clan near Jijiga and a farming clan of the Afar both carry the name Harla. The excavated town of Harlaa near Dire Dawa, dated from the mid-6th to the 15th century, takes its archaeological name from them.

## In short

"Harla" is a name found in three places: in medieval written sources, in the oral traditions of eastern Ethiopia, and in the names of living clans. Archaeologists have also used it for an excavated medieval town, Harlaa, between Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) and Harar. This page sets out each, with its source. The main sources are a French–Ethiopian survey of "Harla" sites published in 2011 ([Chekroun, Fauvelle-Aymar, Hirsch et al., "Les Harla : archéologie et mémoire des géants d'Éthiopie", in *Espaces musulmans de la Corne de l'Afrique au Moyen Âge*, CFEE, 2011, pp. 75–98](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/717), in French, translated here; paragraph numbers below refer to it) and the excavation report on Harlaa ([Insoll et al., "Material cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia", *Antiquity* 95, 2021, pp. 487–507](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.169)).

## The Harla in the written sources

The 2011 authors write that the Harla "appear from the 13th century in a few early written sources from or about Ethiopia" (§1). Their notes list (note 2):

- **Ibn Sa'id, 13th century**, quoted in Abu l-Fida, names a people called "Xaria", which the authors list among the mentions of the Harla.
- **Al-Mufaddal**, an Egyptian chronicle, mentions a "country of the Harla".
- **The chronicle of the wars of Amda Seyon**, the 14th-century Christian king of Ethiopia, mentions the Harla twice.
- **The *Futuh al-Habasha***, the 16th-century account of Imam Ahmad's war, mentions the Harla many times. See [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/).
- **A historical note on the [Awsa](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)** (Aussa) in the Afar country speaks of "a group of Harla".

From these the authors conclude that the name "was carried by Muslims of the south-eastern part of Ethiopia", though "we are not in the least able to know which group or groups" called themselves by it (§46).

## The giants of the oral tradition

Among the Oromo of the Chercher mountains and the Harar area, ruined stone walls, mosques and burial mounds are often called "Harla" work. The traditions say the Harla were giants of great size, wealth and strength, who built these places and then left them or were destroyed "as a divine punishment caused by the arrogance of the giants" (§1). The authors note that such traditions are found only among the Oromo of the Chercher and some neighbouring peoples, not among all Oromo, and think they date from the time these peoples settled the region in the 16th century (§1).

Examples the team recorded (§§6, 12, 25):

- At **Genda Harla**, east of Harar, villagers said the large stone enclosure was built by Harla about forty metres tall, who hunted wild pigs with their bare hands and could eat a whole sheep for breakfast. An old man told the team that the Harla were "the former inhabitants of the country", and that when the Oromo arrived some joined them and most left.
- At **Harlaa**, villagers showed a reddish mark on a rock as a Harla footprint; the team identifies it as a growth on the stone.
- At the mosque of **Direbelo**, villagers said "it is a mosque of the Harla, who were giants".

A version recorded in 1999 at Harlaa says the Harla "were herders who came from the Ogaden", so rich that they poured their cows' milk into the river, refused the fast and even set out to translate the Qur'an into the Harla language, until "they were cursed and disappeared" (note 4, quoting Le Quellec and Poissonnier 1999).

## Clans named Harla today

The 2011 authors list living groups that carry the name (note 3 and §47):

- a **Harla clan of the Issa** Somali, near Jijiga (citing d'Abbadie 1890 and Cerulli 1964);
- small **Oromo** communities of the Chercher, such as at Genda Harla, that claim descent from the Harla who lived there before them;
- the **Harälla** of the Awsa among the Afar, a settled farming clan of the inner Awash delta.

In each case, the authors suggest, the present group took the name from an earlier population, which implies "a process of social fusion between an indigenous population and a population of immigrants" (§47).

## What the sites are

The team visited sites called "Harla" in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and sorted them into four kinds (§§34, 37–41):

- **Stone cist graves ("dolmens")**, the oldest; one has been dated to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.
- **Burial mounds (tumuli)**, many dated to the 8th–11th centuries AD.
- **Muslim sites**, meaning towns, small isolated mosques and inscribed gravestones. None was excavated at the time, but the authors place them broadly in the 13th to early 16th centuries, the period of the [sultanate of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/). They note that the mosques resemble the dated mosques of eastern Shewa.
- **Small walled enclosures** like Genda Harla, which they think are more likely later defensive posts of the Harar sultanate, 16th–19th centuries.

So, they write, local people use "Harla" for ruins of very different ages, from prehistoric graves to late fortifications (§§35, 46).

## Who were the Harla? Who says what

- **The 2011 authors** put forward the hypothesis that the legends were formed in the 16th century by incoming Oromo and Somali groups who saw the end of the medieval Muslim towns of the region, and that the Harla, "transfigured into giant builders, rich and proud", were "precisely the inhabitants of this medieval urban civilisation". They ask, without answering, whether the newcomers destroyed that civilisation or moved into a space it had already left (§§45–46).
- **Insoll and colleagues, 2021**, who excavated Harlaa, write that its name "relates to the common appellation 'Harla' given to ruined stone-built towns and funerary monuments in the region". They find that "the most probable conclusion is that Harlaa was Hubät/Hobat, the capital of the Hārlā sultanate", a small territory tied to Ifat. They credit Said Shihad Hussein with the suggestion that the name comes from the Somali *hoobat* and the Arabic *hubuut*, both meaning a descent from high ground, which fits Harlaa's position between highland and lowland (pp. 504–505).

## The excavated town of Harlaa

Harlaa lies about 15 km south-east of Dire Dawa and 40 km north-west of Harar, at 1,700 metres. The excavators found a mosque, workshops, houses, cemeteries and a fortification wall (Insoll et al. 2021, p. 488). The 2011 team had earlier recorded a small mosque, inscribed Arabic gravestones (one dated 1048–1057), 13th-century Ayyubid and Mamluk coins shown by villagers, and stone moulds and crucibles that it takes to be the tools of jewellers (§§8, 14, 18). The excavation dates, imports and inscriptions are summarised on [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## Related pages

- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola) and its neighbours](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/)
- [Where the Somalis come from](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/)
- [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/)
- [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/)


---

# Belgian and Italian troops in Somalia, 1993: the abuse cases

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/belgian-italian-troops-somalia-1993/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 1997, four years after the UN-backed missions, photographs published in Belgium and Italy showed soldiers of both countries abusing Somalis in 1993. In Belgium two paratroopers photographed holding a Somali boy over a fire were acquitted by a military court on 30 June 1997, which called it a 'playful game'; prosecutors had asked for a month in jail. In Italy two generals who led the 1993 contingent asked to be relieved of their commands, and a government commission found 'isolated cases of torture and racism' but no role for top commanders.

## In short

Canada, [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) and Italy all faced scandals over how their soldiers had treated Somalis during the UN-backed missions of 1992–1994. The Canadian case is covered in [The Somalia affair](/en/history/somalia-affair-canada-1993/), and the missions in [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/). This page records the Belgian and Italian cases as the sources report them. Individual soldiers who were not public figures are not named here.

## Belgium: the paratroopers in Kismayo

Belgium's paratroopers served around Kismayo (see [The UN intervention](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)). In April 1997 the Brussels daily *Het Laatste Nieuws* published photographs given to it by a former paratrooper, among them soldiers holding a Somali over a fire and a paratrooper urinating on a dead Somali. Two paratroopers were arrested and charged with assault and battery. Defence Minister Jean-Pol Poncelet said: "We will prosecute this without mercy. Such people do not belong in the army." The military auditor, General Jean-Yves Minne, said the most serious allegation concerned a Somali accused of theft who was reportedly locked in a container without water for two days and found dead ([*The Irish Times*, 17 April 1997](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/belgian-atrocities-exposed-1.63206)).

On 30 June 1997 a military court acquitted the two paratroopers charged over the fire photograph, finding that the incident was a "playful game meant to discourage the child from stealing". Prosecutors had asked for a month in jail for each ([*Spokesman-Review*, AP, 1 July 1997](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jul/01/court-troops-playing-not-torturing-boy/)).

## Italy: the photographs and the Gallo commission

In June 1997 the Italian newsweekly *Panorama* published photographs and interviews describing torture and abuse by Italian soldiers in 1993, including a photo it said showed a soldier raping a Somali woman. A former infantryman told the magazine that after an Italian lieutenant was shot near their camp, Italian and German troops fired machine guns and grenades at the town of Jalalaqsi for an hour, although the villagers had not been involved. Generals Bruno Loi and Carmine Fiore, who had led the contingent in 1993, asked to be relieved of their commands, and Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government set up a commission of inquiry ([*Deseret News*, AP, 15 June 1997](https://www.deseret.com/1997/6/15/19317836/2-italian-generals-resign-over-torture-of-somalis)).

The commission, chaired by Ettore Gallo, a former president of the Constitutional Court, questioned more than 100 people. It reported in August 1997 that "some isolated cases of torture and racism did occur", that they did not compromise the mission's humanitarian spirit, and that top commanders had no role ([*Deseret News*, AP, 10 August 1997](https://www.deseret.com/1997/8/10/19355036/cases-of-torture-racism-in-somalia-by-italian-troops-are-deemed-isolated)).

## Sources differ

- **The Belgian fire case.** The prosecution sought one month in jail; the court acquitted (AP).
- **Italy.** *Panorama* published photographs and soldiers' accounts of abuse; the Gallo commission called the cases isolated and cleared top commanders.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *The Irish Times*, "Belgian atrocities exposed" (1997): [article](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/belgian-atrocities-exposed-1.63206).
- *Deseret News* (AP), "Cases of torture, racism in Somalia by Italian troops are deemed isolated" (1997): [article](https://www.deseret.com/1997/8/10/19355036/cases-of-torture-racism-in-somalia-by-italian-troops-are-deemed-isolated).


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# Who dug where: a history of archaeology in Somalia and Somaliland, 1854 to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/history-of-archaeology-in-the-somali-lands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Archaeology in the Somali lands began with travellers' notes, from Richard Burton in 1854 and Georges Révoil in the 1880s, and with colonial-era collectors of stone tools. Proper surveys started in the 1920s and 1930s, notably A. T. Curle's work on the ruined towns near Borama. After independence came Neville Chittick's coastal surveys and Ras Hafun excavations (1968–1976), a Soviet–Somali expedition (1971, 1973), and a busy 1980s with Steven Brandt, Margherita Mussi, Swedish-funded training and a new National Museum in Mogadishu, opened in 1987. Most of the collections were lost after 1991. Since 2001 French, Somali and Spanish teams have worked in Somaliland, among them the teams that found Laas Geel in 2002 and surveyed Heis in 2018.

## In short

This page lists who has done archaeological work in Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), when and where, and what became of the finds. It follows the overview by the Spanish archaeologist Jorge de Torres Rodríguez ([de Torres Rodríguez, "Against All Odds: The History of Archaeological Research in Somaliland and Somalia", *Northeast African Studies* 18.1–2, 2018, pp. 271–310](https://doi.org/10.14321/nortafristud.18.1-2.0271); page numbers below are from [the author's open copy](https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/216289/4/Against%20all%20odds-NEAS.pdf), which runs from p. 265). De Torres himself led the Spanish project described near the end.

De Torres writes that the Somali people's division among five countries after the colonial partition left research split into separate traditions "published in three main languages (Italian, English, and French)", which made cross-border work and the pooling of data difficult (p. 266).

## Travellers and collectors, 1854–1920

- **Richard Burton, 1854**, noted ruined towns on his way from Zeila to Harar (pp. 267–268). See [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola)](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/).
- **[Georges Révoil](/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/)**, who travelled along the coast and through the Darror valley in the early 1880s, was the first to describe the region's cairns. He brought back stone tools, Chinese, Indian and Yemeni pieces, and Roman and Egyptian glass and pottery from Heis (p. 268). See [Heis (Xiis)](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/).
- **Stone-tool collectors.** Italian expeditions gathered stone tools near Hobyo (1891) and on the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) (1901). In [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/), H. W. Seton-Karr and others collected from 1897 the samples on which later Stone Age studies were built (p. 268).
- **A pause, 1900–1920.** De Torres writes that the war between the British and the Dervish movement of Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan stopped research in British Somaliland, and that only one expedition worked in [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/), in 1913 (p. 268). See [The Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## The first proper surveys, 1920s–1950s

- **Boundary commissions.** The Anglo-Italian (1929–30) and British–Ethiopian (1932–34) border commissions brought scholars into the field (p. 268).
- **Italian Somaliland.** Expeditions in 1924 and 1935 dug caves and rock shelters with Stone Age material for the first time (Paolo Graziosi). Enrico Cerulli published notes on burial monuments in the Majeerteen country (p. 269).
- **A. T. Curle**, of the British–Ethiopian commission, surveyed ruined towns around [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) and dated them to the Adal period, 15th–16th centuries. De Torres calls his work "pioneering" for combining digging, aerial photographs and historical texts (p. 269). See [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).
- **J. D. Clark**, serving in Somalia in 1941–1946, made field trips that led to his 1954 book, which de Torres calls "the only synthesis of the earlier stages of the prehistory of the Horn of Africa". It includes a chapter on rock art, first recorded in the 1940s (p. 270).
- **Paolo Graziosi** led a new Italian project in 1953 under the trust administration (p. 270).

## After independence, 1960–1990

- **1960s.** De Torres describes little activity. The exceptions were reports on earlier digs, studies of coin hoards and, in 1968, Neville Chittick's survey of the coast between Mogadishu and Kenya, the first academic paper on the historical remains of the Benadir (p. 270).
- **The Soviet–Somali expedition, 1971 and 1973**, led by S. A. Warsame, A. Nikiforov and L. L. Galkin, visited Amud, Gorbag and Abasa near Borama, Zeila, the rock art site of God-Hardune near [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), and several cairn fields (p. 271).
- **Chittick, 1975–1976.** Invited by the Somali government, Chittick surveyed the coast north of Mogadishu looking for pre-Islamic sites. He found and later excavated Ras Hafun, found ancient trade goods at Damo, and recorded the deserted town of Maduna near Ceel Afweyn (pp. 271–272). After Chittick and his colleague Mathew Smith died, no final report was published; much of the record is in Nairobi and the material kept in Mogadishu "is certainly lost" (p. 272). See [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/).
- **1980 congress.** The first congress of the Somali Studies International Association was held in Mogadishu in July 1980. For it Chittick dug two trenches near the Jaamac mosque in Mogadishu, six metres deep, which de Torres writes did not find evidence of the city before the 12th century (p. 272). See [Early Mogadishu](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).
- **Steven Brandt, 1980–1989.** In the north he excavated Medishe, Gud and Karin Hegaan, giving the first systematic radiocarbon dates in the country, and recorded the Karin Hegaan paintings. In the south, at Gogoshiis Qabe in the Buur Heybe hills, he found the remains of 16 people from the early Holocene, buried under stone cairns with kudu horns, which de Torres calls the largest sample of prehistoric human remains in the Horn. A survey for the planned [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) dam on the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) in 1987 recorded 686 sites over 420 square kilometres, including 160 cairns and 11 rock art sites (pp. 273–275).
- **Margherita Mussi, from 1982**, surveyed the middle Jubba around [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) and Baardheere. Her team defined the "Luuqian" stone-tool industries, dated about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago (pp. 275–276).
- **Swedish support, from 1981.** After a Somali delegation visited Sweden, the Swedish research agency SAREC funded training, a heritage law and a site register, led by Sune Jönsson from 1982. Somali students were sent abroad to train (pp. 276–279).
- **Ahmed Dualeh Jama**, one of those students, worked with Chittick at Biyo Gure near Berbera in 1984, and from 1986 to 1990 surveyed [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/), Gezira, Mogadishu and the Benadir interior and dug at the Shangani mosque (1986), Xamar Jajab (1989) and [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) (1990). The Shangani dig reached five metres and nine layers, from before the 11th century to the 19th. In 1996 he became the first Somali to earn a doctorate in archaeology (pp. 279–280, 283).
- **The National Museum.** A new National Museum in Mogadishu, replacing the Italian-era Garesa Museum, opened its exhibitions in May 1987, and an Antiquities Law was in its final stages that year (p. 280).

## After 1991

De Torres writes that the collections of the National Museum "were lost at some point during the early 1990s", and that almost all of Brandt's Buur Heybe material was destroyed in Mogadishu, though some public collections had been taken to universities in the United States with permission (pp. 282–283). He writes that fieldwork has since been possible mainly in Somaliland (p. 283):

- **2001.** Fauvelle-Aymar and Hirsch visited Zeila, Amud, Abasa, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) and Berbera and dug test pits at Zeila (p. 283). See [Early Zeila](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).
- **2002.** A French team from Toulouse led by Xavier Gutherz was taken by local guides to Laas Geel, and excavated there between 2003 and 2010 (pp. 283–284). See [Laas Geel and Somali rock art](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/).
- **2007.** Sada Mire's work with the Somaliland authorities led to a Department of Archaeology that year, site surveys, and local wardens for key sites. The department was merged with tourism in 2010 and given its own funding again in late 2017 (pp. 285, 289).
- **2015 onward.** The Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit-CSIC) of Spain began work, digging at Bulhar from 2016, surveying Heis in 2018 and studying the medieval towns of the west. By 2019 it had documented 30 sites, tested seven and recorded more than 200 cairns (pp. 285–287).

## What de Torres sees as open questions

He lists three main challenges: the lack of laws and institutions to regulate research, the need to set clear research questions, and low public awareness of the need to protect heritage. He notes that an Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Act was being drafted in Somaliland (pp. 288–289). He names themes where Somali evidence could matter most: the medieval Muslim states, the spread of livestock, rock art, ancient trade and the archaeology of nomads, including the many undated cairns (pp. 289–292). See [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [The Stone Age in the Somali lands](/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/)
- [Heritage sites in Somalia](/en/society/heritage-sites/)


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# The Juba Valley Alliance (JVA), 1999–2006

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) was a militia alliance that held the port city of Kismayo from 1999, when it pushed out General Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan, until September 2006. The UN described it as balanced between Haber Gedir factions of the Hawiye and the Marehan, a Darod sub-clan. Its chairman, Colonel Barre Aden Shire 'Hirale', sat in the 2004 Transitional Federal Parliament and became Minister of Defence. The JVA fought Morgan's forces for years and ran Kismayo airport for revenue. On 24 September 2006 Barre Hirale fled Kismayo and the Islamic Courts took the city.

## In short

The Juba Valley Alliance "ousted [General Morgan] from Kismayo in 1999", the UN Secretary-General reported ([UN Security Council, S/2004/804, para. 12](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf)). In 2006 the UN described it as "delicately balanced between the Haber Gedir factions of the Hawiye and those belonging to the Marehan, one of the major Darod sub-clans" ([S/2006/418, para. 36](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf)).

Its rule of Kismayo ended on 24 September 2006, when its chairman, Barre "Hirale", "fled Kismayo together with his militia", and the Islamic Courts took over the city ([S/2006/838, para. 27](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/838&l=en&t=pdf)). For the fighting over Kismayo afterwards, see [the battles for Kismayo, 2006–2012](/en/history/battles-for-kismayo-2006-2012/).

## Leaders

- **Barre Aden Shire "Hirale".** "The Chairman of the Juba Valley Alliance in control of Kismayo" ([S/2006/122, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf)). He became a member of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) in 2004 ([S/2004/804, para. 12](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf)) and later "the Minister of Defence of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)" ([S/2006/838, para. 23](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/838&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Yusuf Mire Serar.** Named in 2005 as leading "other leaders of the Juba Valley Alliance" at reconciliation talks ([S/2005/642, para. 47](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf)).

## The wars with General Morgan

General [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/) and the JVA had been "fighting over territories in the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Valley for a number of years" (S/2005/642, para. 47).

- **February 2002, [Bardere](/en/regions/baardheere/).** Fighting broke out "between the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council and the Juba Valley Alliance militias". Morgan "was reported to have attacked the town but was repulsed" ([S/2002/709, para. 13](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/709&l=en&t=pdf)). See [the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council](/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/).
- **2004.** In late August Morgan moved some 500 militia from El Berde to the lower Juba. "On 15 September, Barre Hirale and his JVA militia attacked General 'Morgan' some 70 kilometres outside of Kismayo. Both sides suffered casualties." Morgan surrendered to Kenyan authorities at the Amuma border point on 24 September ([S/2004/804, para. 24](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **2005 talks.** A reconciliation effort launched in [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/) in September 2005 aimed "to improve security in the region, strengthen the Juba Valley Alliance and reconcile General 'Morgan' and the Alliance" (S/2005/642, para. 47).

## Kismayo under the JVA

- **Other fighting.** In early 2004, "the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) militia fought with the [Sheikhal](/en/society/sheekhaal/) militia in Haramka area. At least 13 people were reported killed and 29 wounded" ([S/2004/469, para. 32](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/469&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **The airport.** The UN Monitoring Group listed Kismayo airport as owned by "Barre Hirale/Juba Valley Alliance", generating about "$300,000" a year; the report's annex gives $362,304 ([S/2006/229, para. 44 and annex](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/229&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Peace talks.** JVA leaders were absent from the Kenya peace conference for almost two months in 2003 ([S/2003/636, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)). In November 2005 Barre Hirale proposed meetings in Kismayo to bring together the split Jowhar and Mogadishu wings of parliament (S/2006/122, para. 5).
- **Strain in 2006.** "Localized disputes along the lower Juba Valley" and tensions spilling over from Mogadishu had "begun to strain the Juba Valley Alliance" (S/2006/418, para. 36).

## The fall of Kismayo, 2006

From the UN Secretary-General's report of October 2006 ([S/2006/838, paras. 23 and 27](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/838&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **A [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) plan.** Barre Hirale "reportedly proposed the creation of a Jubaland autonomous region, to include the Lower and Middle Juba and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) regions". The plan met "resistance from the transitional federal institutions, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts and local populations".
- **24 September 2006.** "After inconclusive negotiations with the forces of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts under the command of Hassan Turki, and facing a potential confrontation with the latter, the Chairman of the Juba Valley Alliance, Barre 'Hirale', fled Kismayo together with his militia." See [the Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) and [Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki](/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/).

## Who suffered?

- **The Bantu communities of the lower Juba Valley,** where "high malnutrition rates" after harvest failure were made worse by "the current conflict between forces loyal to General 'Morgan' and JVA" (S/2004/804, para. 32).
- **People of [Buale](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and Jilib districts,** displaced by clashes in 2004 (S/2004/469, para. 32).
- **Children.** The UN listed the Juba Valley Alliance among "Somali parties recruiting or using child soldiers" (S/2003/636, para. 42).
- **People of Kismayo, Lower and Middle Juba and Gedo** in 2006, where the UN recorded "numerous reports of killings, rapes, extortion and kidnappings", and refugees, "mostly of women and children", fled to Kenya (S/2006/838, para. 27).

## Sources differ

- **Its clan base.** The UN described the JVA in 2006 as a balance between Haber Gedir (Hawiye) and Marehan (Darod) factions. Human Rights Watch quoted a Juba Valley resident in 2008 who said later militias there were "the same [Habar Gedir](/en/society/habar-gidir/) gunmen who have occupied us for years" ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*, 2008, note 164](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2002/709, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/709&l=en&t=pdf); S/2003/636, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf); S/2004/469, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/469&l=en&t=pdf); S/2004/804, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2004/804&l=en&t=pdf); S/2005/642, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/122, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/418, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/838 (23 October 2006), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/838&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, report S/2006/229: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/229&l=en&t=pdf).


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# From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves in Somaliland, Djibouti and eastern Ethiopia, 1300s–1500s

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Before Islam, the dead in the Somali lands were usually buried under single stone cairns placed in visible spots along valleys and passes. With the towns of the Ifat and Adal period, 14th to 16th centuries, a new kind of burial appeared: small rectangular graves facing Mecca, grouped in cemeteries at the edge of each settlement. A 2025 study of 19 cemeteries at 16 sites by Carolina Cornax-Gómez and Jorge de Torres Rodríguez sorts these graves into seven types, finds that the commonest are slab-lined graves, small stone mounds and graves marked by two standing stones, and traces older nomad customs, such as coloured stones and stone rings, inside the new Muslim graves.

## In short

Burial customs are one of the clearest physical traces of the coming of Islam to the Somali lands. This page follows one study, which brings together 19 cemeteries at 16 medieval sites in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), Djibouti and the Somali Region of Ethiopia, recorded by the Spanish National Research Council between 2015 and 2023 ([Cornax-Gómez and de Torres Rodríguez, "From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa", *Azania* 60.1, 2025, pp. 105–139](https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2025.2455899), open access). For the older cairns and standing stones, see [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

## Two traditions

The authors describe two burial traditions (pp. 108–109):

- **Nomad cairns.** Since the Neolithic, burials in Somaliland and Djibouti had taken the form of cairns of many shapes and sizes, sometimes in fields of hundreds, placed along wadis or at visible places such as mountain passes and gathering grounds.
- **Town cemeteries.** With the permanent settlements of the Ifat (dated by the authors 1285–1415) and Adal (1415–1573) period came small rectangular graves, laid out by Islamic custom and grouped in cemeteries on the edge of each settlement. The authors call the change "radical", arising with no local forerunner, which they read as a sign of outside origin or at least strong outside influence.

They stress that the two were not opposed. They record "common grounds", places where nomad and town practices sit side by side, "apparently without this being the result of state regulation or imposition" (p. 109).

## The sites

The sample runs from hamlets to towns (pp. 109–110):

- **Somaliland:** Abasa, Aroqolab, Biyo Gure, Fardowsa, [Kabab](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/), Maduuna, Qalcadda, Qubuurale and Dameraqad.
- **Somali Region of Ethiopia:** Aw Boba, Aw Bare, Warabeley, [Aiyanle](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/), Qararu and Garba Jiri.
- **Djibouti:** Handoga, the only medieval town known there.

All but Handoga (12th–16th centuries) and Qubuurale (13th–14th) date mainly to the 14th–16th centuries. The authors note that the graves themselves cannot be dug "for religious reasons", since the local Muslim communities protect them, so the dates come from the settlements (pp. 109–112). Larger towns such as Handoga and Aw Boba have about 250 to 300 graves; villages such as Aroqolab and Qararu 30 to 60 (p. 111).

## Seven grave types

The authors propose this typology (pp. 112–116):

- **T1, cist graves:** one or two rows of half-buried slabs forming a rectangular box. Similar graves are found at Awfat in Ethiopia, which may have been the burial place of the Walashma dynasty of Ifat.
- **T2, small stone mounds**, sometimes with a slab rectangle on top. The plain mound is the commonest type in the sample.
- **T3, a pit marked on the surface**: by a ring of stones, by two standing stones at either end, or by a paving of small stones.
- **T4, a pit marked by a line of upright slabs** along one side. The authors call it specific to the medieval period and found only in western Somaliland and just across the Ethiopian border.
- **T5, cairn-like graves** showing nomad influence.
- **T6, carved rectangular tombstones**, found only at Aw Boba. Local people explained a hole at the base of some as an entrance for the angels; the authors suggest it may be for drainage.
- **T7, rare forms**, such as a cross-shaped grave at Handoga.

Two kinds of addition appear on many types: small standing stones (stelae), at 13 of the 16 sites, and white or red pebbles laid on the grave for contrast of colour, at 7 sites (pp. 115–117).

## What the counts suggest to the authors

- **Three types dominate**: cist graves (10 sites), plain stone mounds (12 sites) and graves marked by two stelae (10 sites) (p. 116).
- **Handoga stands apart**, with circular graves, walled enclosures with entrances and no cist graves, which the authors link to stronger nomad roots and possibly an earlier start (pp. 119–120, 129–131).
- **Mixed types are of one age.** Different grave types lie side by side without overlapping, so the authors think they were used at the same time, by different groups in each community, rather than one after another (pp. 121–123).
- **Bigger places had more variety**, though not without exception (p. 123).

## Where the new graves came from

The authors trace two influences (pp. 123–126):

- **Nomad customs carried over:** the coloured pebbles, the ring of stones round a grave and the use of stelae, all known from pre-Islamic graves.
- **The Muslim towns of Ethiopia:** cist graves are the usual type at older sites in Shewa, such as Nora and the possible Walashma cemetery at Awfat, and at Harlaa near Harar. Since those sites are older, the authors suggest the Somaliland and Jijiga regions took the style from them. See [The Harla and Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/).

They also mention Yemenis in the trade and politics of Ifat and Adal, students from the region at al-Azhar in Cairo, and different schools of Islam in towns such as Harar, while noting that these cannot be tied directly to particular grave types (p. 126).

## Three case studies

- **Aw Boba**, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia 8 km from the Somaliland border, named after a holy man whose tomb is there and who is mentioned in the *Futuh al-Habasha*. Burton passed it in 1854. Its cemetery runs 500 metres along the river over about two hectares and holds the widest range of grave types found in the borderlands, including the carved tombstones found nowhere else, one with a zigzag pattern (pp. 126–129). See [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola)](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/) for Burton's story of Aw Boba and Abasa.
- **Handoga**, in western Djibouti, a town of about 16 hectares of round buildings. The cemetery seems to have grown out from a row of mound graves on a cliff above the wadi, visible from far off, unlike the hidden-away cemeteries of the other towns. The authors describe it as "a town that grew from local initiatives and nomadic roots" (pp. 129–131).
- **Qararu**, a hamlet of three or four houses near Aw Bare, in Ethiopia. Its medieval cemetery of slab graves is surrounded by a later and larger cemetery of nomad graves, stone heaps with stelae on top, in two phases (pp. 131–133).

## After the towns

The authors write that after the towns were abandoned in the 16th century, nomads kept coming back to some of them as *siyaaro*, places of pilgrimage, and buried their dead around the ruins, as at Qararu and Dameraqad, and "finding its maximum expression at Aw Barkhadle", the shrine on top of a medieval town in Somaliland (p. 133). They conclude that the change in belief does not seem to have led to conflict between nomads and townspeople, and that later nomad cemeteries kept the plain, grouped layout of the medieval town cemeteries rather than the visible cairns of earlier times (pp. 134–135).

## Related pages

- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)
- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [The sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)


---

# Futuh al-Habasha: the 16th-century chronicle of Imam Ahmad's wars

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Futuh al-Habasha ("The Conquest of Abyssinia") is an Arabic chronicle by Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Qadir, known as Arab Faqih, who took part in the Adal army. It records the campaigns of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim (Axmed Gurey) from 1529 to 1543 and names many Somali groups who fought in them. It was translated into French in 1897 and English in 2003.

## What it is

Futuh al-Habasha ("The Conquest of Abyssinia") is a history written in Arabic in the 16th century. Its author was Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Qadir ibn Salim ibn Uthman, known as **Arab Faqih** ("the Arab jurist"), a scholar of Adal-era Harar who took part in the Adal army ([Futuh al-Habasha, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)).

It is a first-hand account of the war between the Adal Sultanate and the Ethiopian kingdom led by **Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi**, known in Somali as Axmed Gurey, from 1529 to 1543 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)). The war itself is told on [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527 to 1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

## What it records

The chronicle describes the Adal army's campaigns into the northern, central and southern highlands of today's Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)). The author names his informants, including Emir Hussain ibn Abu Bakr al-Gaturi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)).

It is one of the earliest texts to name Somali groups by name. It mentions fighters from several Somali clan groups in the Imam's army, among them the Harti, Marraihan (Marehan), Girri, Jarso, Hawiye and Habr Magadle, and it describes their part in battles ([Futuh al-Habasha, English translation by Stenhouse, Tsehai Publishers](https://www.store.tsehaipublishers.com/product_info.php/history/the-conquest-of-abyssinia-p-58); [I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofs0000lewi)). Historians use these passages to show where Somali groups lived and how they took part in Adal's wars in the 16th century.

The linguist Giorgio Banti places the work within Harari literature, as it was written in the Harar of the Adal period ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)).

## Translations and editions

- **French, 1897 to 1909.** René Basset published the Arabic text and a French translation in Paris, Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)). Later scholars still cite Basset's edition of the Arabic.
- **English, 2003.** Paul Lester Stenhouse translated it into English as The Conquest of Abyssinia, with annotations by Richard Pankhurst, published by Tsehai Publishers; the publisher describes it as the first complete English translation ([Tsehai Publishers](https://www.store.tsehaipublishers.com/product_info.php/history/the-conquest-of-abyssinia-p-58)).
- **Doctoral study, 2013.** Amélie Chekroun wrote a doctoral thesis in Paris on the text and the Adal sultanate ([CORE, Chekroun thesis PDF](https://core.ac.uk/download/46817155.pdf); [Annales islamologiques, IFAO](https://www.ifao.egnet.net/anisl/46/16)).

## How it has been received

The book is the main written source for the wars of the 1530s, and every major history of Adal and of Imam Ahmad cites it. The Ethiopian historian Hussein Ahmed reviewed the English translation ([Wikipedia, references](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuh_al-Habasha)). Ethiopian Christian chronicles, such as the chronicle of Emperor Lebna Dengel, cover the same war from the other side, and historians read the two together.

The text as it survives stops before the Imam's death in battle in 1543. The author refers to a second part, which has not been found ([Futuh al-Habasha, Tsehai Publishers](https://www.store.tsehaipublishers.com/product_info.php/history/the-conquest-of-abyssinia-p-58)).

## Where to read it

- English translation: [The Conquest of Abyssinia, Tsehai Publishers](https://www.store.tsehaipublishers.com/product_info.php/history/the-conquest-of-abyssinia-p-58)
- Find it in a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Futuh+al-Habasha)
- French translation by Basset: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Histoire+de+la+conqu%C3%AAte+de+l%27Abyssinie+Basset)

## Related pages

- [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527 to 1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1500 to 1884](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)
- [Imam Ahmad's son and the end of the war, 1543–1560](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/)


---

# The Interim Government of Somalia, 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/interim-government-of-somalia-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After Siad Barre fled Mogadishu in January 1991, the United Somali Congress (USC) named one of its members, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, provisional President, and he appointed Omar Arteh Ghalib Prime Minister of a 'Provisional Government of National Unity'. Other armed movements said they had not been consulted and refused to recognise it. In July 1991, at a meeting in Djibouti, six factions agreed on an interim government under the 1961 constitution with Ali Mahdi as President, but fighting between his wing of the USC and General Mohamed Farah Aidid's wing destroyed it. From November 1991 Aidid's forces attacked Ali Mahdi's positions in Mogadishu.

## In short

"Following its defeat of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), the Executive Committee of the USC announced the formation of an interim provisional government, even though it did not exercise effective authority over the entire country. The USC chose one of its own members, Ali Mahdi Mahammad (b. 1939), as provisional president," the US Library of Congress records ([*Somalia: A Country Study*, "Government structure"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)).

"In January the USC proclaimed a provisional government which none of the other factions recognized," the US State Department reported. In July, in Djibouti, six factions agreed to an interim government with Ali Mahdi as President, but "their efforts to establish a government were aborted by fighting between factions of the USC" ([US Department of State, *Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991*: Somalia](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504)). For how Siad Barre fell, see [the fall of Mogadishu, 1990–1991](/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/).

## The provisional government, early 1991

- **29 January 1991.** "A mere three days later, without consulting the armed movements, or even the other factions of the USC, Ali Mahdi, a businessman and member of the USC, declared himself Interim President" ([Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, *No Mercy in Mogadishu*, 1992](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/)). See [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/).
- **Powers.** "The president served as head of state, but the duties and responsibilities of the office were not defined. For the most part, the provisional president retained the same powers that had been stipulated in the constitution of 1979" ([Library of Congress, "Government structure"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)).
- **The cabinet.** Ali Mahdi named [Omar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/) Prime Minister. "Ghalib's cabinet, called the Provisional Government of National Unity, initially consisted of twenty-seven full ministers and eight deputy ministers" (same source).
- **Why Ghalib.** His appointment "demonstrated the sensitivity of Mahammad and other USC leaders to the role of clans in the country's politics. Ghalib belonged to the important Isaaq clan-family of northern Somalia", though he was not a member of the SNM. He had been Siad Barre's first foreign minister, from 1969 to 1976 (same source).
- **Elections.** The President promised elections once security returned, but "rivalries within the USC, as well as opposition to the interim government in other parts of the country, made the questions of elections a moot point" (same source).

## Rejected by the other movements

From the Library of Congress ([*Somalia: A Country Study*, "Politics of succession"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)):

- **The south.** "The USC's announcement of a provisional government in February 1991 angered its allies, who maintained that they had not been consulted." The SSDF "refused to accept the legitimacy of the provisional government". The SPM and the SSDF "ousted USC forces from Chisimayu", and "violent clashes throughout March threatened to return the country to civil war".
- **The north.** The SNM "criticized the USC's unilateral takeover of the central government" and refused to join unity talks. "Lacking the cooperation of the SNM, the provisional government was powerless to assert its own authority in the region." On 17 May 1991 the SNM announced the Republic of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). See [the Burao conference and Somaliland's declaration](/en/history/somaliland-declaration-1991/).

## The Djibouti agreement, July 1991

"In July, at a meeting in Djibouti, six factions—including the USC and two Darod movements but not the SNM—agreed to form an interim government, under the old 1961 constitution, with a 2-year term of office until elections could be held. The six factions announced a 72-member cabinet, headed by Ali Mahdi Mohamed as President" ([State Department, 1991](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504)).

## The split with Aidid

- **The challenge.** "Mahammad's most serious challenger was General Mahammad Faarah Aidid, leader of a USC faction that supported cooperation with the SNM." Aidid "contested the authority of the Mogadishu-based USC Executive Committee to form an interim government without consultation" ([Library of Congress, "Government structure"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)). See [Mohamed Farah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/).
- **Clans.** "Mahammad was a member of the Abgaal clan of the Hawiye clan-family, whereas Aidid was a member of that same clan-family's Habar Gidir clan" (same source).
- **September 1991.** "By September, Aidid had established his own rival government in the southern part of the capital. A series of clashes between forces loyal to Aidid and those loyal to Mahammad compelled the latter to retreat to northern Mogadishu" (same source).
- **17 November 1991.** "General Aidid's forces, drawn mainly from the [Habr Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/) subclan of the Hawiye, launched an all-out attack on President Mahdi's positions, manned largely by members of the [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/) subclan." They "overran most of the city, but failed to dislodge Mahdi's forces" from the north ([Africa Watch and PHR](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/)).
- **The result.** "In November and December, thousands of people were killed in Mogadishu, and at year's end Somalia had almost ceased to exist as a state" ([State Department, 1991](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504)).

For the years that followed, see [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Who suffered?

- **People of Mogadishu,** thousands of whom were killed in the fighting between the two USC wings in November and December 1991 (State Department).
- **Darod residents of Mogadishu,** attacked after the fall of the government; hundreds were killed and hundreds of thousands fled (State Department). See [the fall of Mogadishu](/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/).
- **People of Kismayo and the south,** where USC, SPM and SSDF forces fought from February 1991 (Library of Congress, "Politics of succession").

## Sources differ

- **The date.** Africa Watch gives 29 January 1991 for Ali Mahdi's declaration. The Library of Congress dates the USC's announcement of a provisional government to February 1991. The State Department says January.
- **The cabinet.** The Library of Congress counts 27 ministers and 8 deputy ministers in the first cabinet. The State Department gives a 72-member cabinet after the Djibouti agreement of July.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Government structure"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm); ["Politics of succession"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm).
- US Department of State, *Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991*: Somalia: [text](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504).
- Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, *No Mercy in Mogadishu* (26 March 1992): [text](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/).


---

# Medieval mosques of Somaliland: Abasa, Amud, Dameraqad, Maduuna and Zeila, 1300s–1500s

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fifteen medieval mosques are known in the old towns and villages of Somaliland, eleven of them in the west near the Ethiopian border. A 2023 study by Carolina Cornax-Gómez and Jorge de Torres Rodríguez finds that the inland mosques share one plan: a single prayer hall of stone set in earth, a mihrab that sticks out from the back wall, no minaret, and stone pillars in the larger ones. The coastal mosques of Zeila differ, with cut limestone, courtyards, a round minaret and carved decoration, which the authors compare with Mogadishu and the Red Sea. Most of the inland mosques face north rather than towards Mecca, which the authors suggest may follow older mosques in Ethiopia.

## In short

This page follows the first full study of the medieval mosques of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Cornax-Gómez and de Torres Rodríguez, "Urban mosques in the Horn of Africa during the medieval period", *Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée* 153, 2023, pp. 37–64](https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.19266), open access). It draws on seven years of fieldwork by the Spanish National Research Council (Incipit-CSIC), older reports and archive photographs. It covers mosques built in permanent towns and villages, not the open-air prayer places marked with stones that are common in nomad country (p. 40).

## How many, and where

The authors count 15 medieval mosques in Somaliland's old settlements, of very uneven documentation (p. 42):

- **West, near the Ethiopian border: 11**, at sites such as Abasa, Amud, Hasadinle, Iskudarka Dayeergalka Kifiile, Aroqolab and Dameraqad. The authors think, as A. T. Curle did in 1937, that probably every medieval town here had a mosque.
- **Central Somaliland: none found yet**, at Bagan, Gidheys, Qubuurale, Fardowsa or Biyo Gure. The authors put this down to the mosques not having been identified, since the region "was significantly Islamicized from the 14th century onwards".
- **The coast:** Zeila, where two mosques may be medieval. The Portuguese priest Francisco Álvares described [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) in the early 16th century as having two mosques and a madrasa, the only mention of a school building in the region (pp. 43, 47).
- **The east:** Maduuna, near [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), where two mosques were recorded in the 1980s (p. 43).

The western towns date mostly to the 14th–16th centuries, with their peak under the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din (Adal), about 1415 to the 1570s. None of the sites seems to have lasted past the 16th century (pp. 43–44).

## The inland plan

The authors describe a "remarkable uniformity" among the inland mosques (pp. 44–51):

- **Layout.** Usually one prayer hall, sometimes inside an outer wall (Abasa, Hasadinle). Side rooms are rare: at Amud, where Curle thought a plastered basin was for washing before prayer, and at Dameraqad, where the side rooms hold graves.
- **Building.** Medium and large stones in rough rows, bound with earth and faced with flatter dressed stones. Doors and windows are small, and Curle noted that the halls must have been dark.
- **Size.** From 27.7 square metres (the small mosque at Abasa) to 308 square metres (the large one at Abasa). Half are under 66 square metres.
- **Pillars.** Larger mosques have stone pillars, round, square or cross-shaped, sometimes mixed in one building, often with wooden beams set into them. Curle thought the beams held hangings; the authors note the custom lasted in Somaliland until recently.
- **Mihrab.** The prayer niche usually sticks out from the back (qibla) wall with a square back. At Abasa, Curle photographed one of four stepped round arches before it fell.
- **No minarets** have been found inland. The authors suggest the call to prayer may have been made from the roof. No minbar survives, though one may have been of wood.
- **Position.** The main mosque usually stands in the middle of the settlement. Abasa is an exception, which the authors link to the town growing outward. See [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola)](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/).

## Which way they face

From Somaliland, Mecca lies to the north-west. Only four of the mosques face that way: both at Maduuna, the one at Iskudarka and one at Dameraqad. Most face north, and two face north-east. The authors call the reasons "unknown" given "the Somalis' excellent knowledge of astronomy", and suggest that the western mosques may have copied the orientation of the older mosques of Ethiopia, a practice known elsewhere in the Muslim world. They connect this with the story of Zeila's mosque of the two qiblas, which Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues have suggested may come from a rebuilding to correct its direction (p. 51). See [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

## Dameraqad: a religious centre

Dameraqad, about 35 km north-east of [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) at a mountain pass, has only about 30 buildings but six mosques, a large cemetery and many nomad cairns and open-air mosques, spread over some 24 hectares. The authors suggest it was a *tariqa*, a religious community, serving "urban residents and nomads alike" (p. 45).

## Zeila and Maduuna

- **Zeila.** Its mosques were built of cut and plastered limestone, with front courtyards. The Sahari (Shahari) mosque has a round minaret on a square base, a many-lobed pointed arch over its mihrab and two carved floral motifs, the only decoration known in Somaliland's medieval mosques. The authors compare Zeila's mosques with those of Mogadishu and the Red Sea, and note mentions of rooms set aside for students from Zeila at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus and at al-Azhar in Cairo (pp. 47, 49–51, 57–59).
- **Maduuna.** An inland town in the east with a central Friday mosque, courtyards and arched windows and niches of flat stones. The authors describe it as a place where Islam probably developed "in a fully nomadic environment" through missionaries active from the 13th century (pp. 47, 59).

## Compared with Ethiopia and Djibouti

- **Ethiopia.** The authors had detailed plans for nine medieval mosques there, eight in the Ifat region and one at Harlaa. These share building methods with western Somaliland but usually have the mihrab set inside the wall, sometimes built of cut stone, and some carry inscriptions, which Somaliland's inland mosques lack (pp. 54–55). See [The Harla and Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/).
- **The Ogaden.** Curle recorded a mosque at Rugayi with an arcaded inner court and a tiled walk. A site called Derbi Belanbel was found in the Somali Region of Ethiopia in 2018 (p. 54).
- **Djibouti.** At Handoga two large mosques recorded in 2022 have protruding square mihrabs like those of western Somaliland, but with front courtyards (p. 56).
- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).** Three inland towns with round houses were reported in 2021, but no mosque has been identified there yet (p. 57).

The authors conclude that Somaliland's medieval mosques reflect "at least three different traditions": the western inland style linked to Ethiopian Islam and the sultanates, the coastal style of Zeila, and the separate case of Maduuna (pp. 57–59).

## Related pages

- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)
- [The sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)


---

# Somali national anthems: Qolobaa Calankeed and Soomaaliyeey Toosoo

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/national-anthems/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's national anthem since 1 August 2012 is 'Qolobaa Calankeed' ('Every nation has its own flag'), credited to Abdullahi Qarshe. From 2000 to 2012 the anthem was 'Soomaaliyeey Toosoo' ('Somalis, wake up'), a 1940s song sung at independence in 1960 and still sung everywhere today.

## Three anthems in three eras

- **1960 to 2000:** an instrumental anthem with no official words, by the Italian composer Giuseppe Blanc.
- **2000 to 2012:** "Soomaaliyeey Toosoo".
- **2012 to now:** "Qolobaa Calankeed".

Sources: [National anthem of Somalia (1960–2000), Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_anthem_of_Somalia_%281960%E2%80%932000%29); [Soomaaliyeey toosoo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soomaaliyeey_toosoo); [Qolobaa Calankeed, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qolobaa_Calankeed).

## Qolobaa Calankeed (since 2012)

**What it means:** "Qolobaa calankeed" means "every nation has its own flag". The song is about the star flag.

**Who made it:** The music and words are credited to **[Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/)**, the musician often called the father of modern Somali music ([CIA World Factbook 2007, p. 778, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qolobaa_Calankeed)). Some sources credit the words to the poet Hussein Aw-Farah Dubbad. It is dated to 1959.

**When it became the anthem:** On 1 August 2012, with the Provisional Constitution. Article 6 of that constitution says, in its own words: "Somalia has a national anthem which is 'Qolobaa Calankeed'" ([Provisional Constitution of Somalia, 2012, art. 6(3)](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)). The 1960 Constitution named the flag and emblem but no anthem ([Constitution of the Somali Republic, 1960, art. 1](https://parliament.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Nuqulo-Af-Ingiriis/1960_somali_constitution_-_english.pdf)).

**Opening line:** "Qolobaa calankeed, waa ceynoo" ("Every nation has its own flag, of its kind").

**Full text:** published by the Somali Embassy in [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) ([archived copy, via Wikipedia's source list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qolobaa_Calankeed)).

## Soomaaliyeey Toosoo (2000–2012)

**What it means:** "Somalis, wake up". Its opening calls on Somalis to rise and lean on one another.

**Who made it:** The words are most often credited to **Ali Mire Awale** and **Yusuf Haji Adam**, though the credit is contested. Wikipedia dates it to 1947, citing Axmed Cali Abokor's study *The Camel in Somali Oral Tradition* ([Soomaaliyeey toosoo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soomaaliyeey_toosoo)).

**Its life:** It was sung at independence on 1 July 1960. Children sang it at school in the mornings. The [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) made it the official anthem in July 2000, 40 years after independence ([nationalanthems.info](https://nationalanthems.info/so-12.htm)). It was replaced in August 2012, but it is still often sung as the anthem in practice ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soomaaliyeey_toosoo)).

**Opening line:** "Soomaaliyeey toosoo, toosoo isku tiirsada ee" ("Somalis, wake up; wake up and lean on one another").

## The 1960 to 2000 anthem

At independence Somalia used an instrumental anthem written by the Italian composer Giuseppe Blanc. It had no official words ([National Anthems of the World archive](https://www.national-anthems.org/anthems/country/SOMALIA/naw_id/FOR-033); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_anthem_of_Somalia_%281960%E2%80%932000%29)).

## Context

See [Toosoo: the call](/en/toosoo/) and [the flag](/en/history/the-flag/).


---

# Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586: the Somali coast in travellers' own words

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From the 1300s to the 1500s the Somali coast was lined with rich trading towns. Ibn Battuta found Mogadishu 'an enormous town' ruled by its own sultan in 1331; Vasco da Gama saw houses of several storeys in 1499; and Duarte Barbosa described Zeila, Berbera, Barawa and Mogadishu trading gold, ivory and grain with India and Arabia, before Portuguese fleets attacked Barawa, Zeila and Berbera between 1506 and 1518.

## In short

Long before any colonial map, the Somali coast had cities. Visitors from Morocco, Portugal and China wrote down what they saw there, and their words survive. This page lets them speak, with links to the full texts.

They describe self-governing towns, built in stone, trading cloth, gold, ivory, grain and livestock across the Indian Ocean. They also record the Portuguese attacks of the early 1500s that broke several of these towns.

## Mogadishu in 1331: Ibn Battuta

The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta left Mecca at the end of 1330, sailed down the Red Sea, and crossed from Aden to the Somali coast early in 1331 ([*Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa*, trans. H. A. R. Gibb, 1929, ch. III, pp. 110–111](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617)).

He calls the people of the coast the *[Berberah](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)*, the old Arabic name for the Somalis. Their land, he writes, stretched "two months' journey from [Zayla](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)' to Maqdashaw" (same source, p. 110).

He describes Mogadishu as "an enormous town". Its people were merchants with many camels (same source):

- **How trade worked.** When a ship arrived, young men rowed out in small boats, each with a covered dish of food for a merchant, saying "This is my guest". The host then sold and bought for the merchant. A sale made behind the host's back was invalid. Ibn Battuta calls this practice "of great advantage to them".
- **Who ruled.** The ruler was called "the Shaykh". His name was Abu Bakr, he was "of Berberah origin", and he spoke "the Maqdishi language", though he knew Arabic.
- **How guests were received.** Any scholar, *sharif* or man of religion was taken to meet the sultan before finding lodging. Ibn Battuta was lodged in the students' house, fed three times a day, and given clothes on the fourth day.
- **Friday.** The sultan prayed behind a screen in the mosque, then walked home with four silk canopies held over him, each topped with a golden bird.

Mogadishu's trade reached far. In the Maldives, Ibn Battuta noted that sheep were rare and imported "from Ma'bar, Mulaybar and Maqdashaw" (same source, p. 246).

## Zeila in 1331

Ibn Battuta stopped first at Zeila (Saylac). He found "a large city with a great bazaar", but complained of the smell of fish and of the camels slaughtered in its streets, and chose to sleep on his ship ([Gibb 1929, p. 110](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617)).

## Mogadishu in 1499: Vasco da Gama's fleet

On his way home from India in early 1499, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed past Mogadishu. A member of the crew wrote ([*A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–1499*, trans. E. G. Ravenstein, Hakluyt Society, 1898, p. 88](https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog)):

> "We found ourselves off a large town, with houses of several stories, big palaces in its centre, and four towers around it. This town faced the sea… and was called Magadoxo. When we were quite close to it we fired off many bombards."

The editor notes that it was unclear whether the guns were fired "merely as a sign of rejoicing or in wanton enmity". The same edition records that in 1417 an embassy from Mogadishu travelled to China (same source, notes to Girolamo Sernigi's letter, p. 132).

## The coast around 1518: Duarte Barbosa

Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese official in India, wrote a description of the Indian Ocean coasts that he finished around 1518. His words on the Somali towns survive ([*The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, vol. 1, trans. M. L. Dames, Hakluyt Society, 1918, pp. 30–36](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)).

- **[Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) (Brava).** "A great town of Moors, of very fine stone and mortar houses… It has no king, but is ruled by elders". It was a self-governing town, run by its senior merchants.
- **Mogadishu (Magadoxo).** "A very great Moorish town… it has a king over it". Ships came from Cambay in India and from Aden with cloth and spices, and left with "much gold, ivory, wax". Barbosa adds that it had meat, wheat, barley, horses and fruit, "so that it is a place of great wealth".
- **Berbera (Barbora).** Ships came from Aden and Cambay, and left with gold, ivory and other goods. Aden's merchants bought "provender, flesh, honey and wax, for that land is exceeding fruitful".
- **Zeila.** "A place of great traffic… a well-built place with right good houses, many of them built of stone and mortar with flat roofs." It had many horses and cattle, and plenty of butter, milk, meat, wheat, millet, barley and fruit, "all of which they carry hence to Adem".

## The Portuguese attacks, 1506–1518

Barbosa and his editor record what happened next ([Barbosa 1918, pp. 30–36](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)):

- **1506, Barawa.** A Portuguese fleet under Tristão da Cunha demanded tribute. The town refused and was taken "after a brave defence and a great slaughter". Barbosa says the Portuguese "slew many of its people and carried many into captivity". Many people fled inland.
- **1517, Zeila.** A Portuguese fleet under Lopo Soares de Albergaria took and destroyed the town.
- **1518, Berbera.** A fleet under António de Saldanha "destroyed the whole place".

Mogadishu was spared. The editor notes that "Portuguese rule was never consolidated as far north as Magadoxo" (same source, p. 31).

## After 1518

Barbosa's editor records that the Ottoman captain Ali Bey held Mogadishu briefly in 1586, and that the sultans of Muscat and Zanzibar claimed it from 1828 ([Barbosa 1918, p. 31, note](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)). The [Ajuran state and Adal](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/) ruled the land behind the coast in these centuries.

## Reading these sources fairly

These writers were outsiders. Ibn Battuta was a guest, and his comments on Zeila's smell are his own. The Portuguese came as rivals and attackers. Their words carry the views of their time, including descriptions of skin colour that we do not repeat here.

Read for their facts, they agree on one thing: the Somali coast was rich, built in stone, governed by its own people, and tied by trade to Arabia, India and China.

## Sources differ

- **The year of Ibn Battuta's visit.** Gibb's translation places it early in 1331, after the pilgrimage at the end of 1330 ([Gibb 1929, ch. III](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617)). Other editions of his travels date the journey differently, because his own text gives few fixed dates.
- **The date Berbera was attacked.** Barbosa's text says 1518; his editor argues that the attack probably came at the start of 1518 and not in 1517 as some Portuguese chronicles imply ([Barbosa 1918, pp. 34–35](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Ibn Battuta, *Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354*, trans. H. A. R. Gibb, 1929: [full text](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617).
- *A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–1499*, trans. E. G. Ravenstein, 1898: [full text](https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog).
- *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, vol. 1, trans. M. L. Dames, 1918: [full text](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans).

## Related pages

- [Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1503–1510](/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/)
- [Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518](/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/)


---

# Seven recurring problems in the Somali record since 1884

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/what-held-us-back/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sources describe seven problems that recur in the Somali record since 1884, from clan shares in government to mandates that outlived their terms. This page lists each one with the sources that describe it.

Every group since 1895 moved the work forward. The record also shows the same limits returning, era after era. These are forces, not people. Naming them blames no one.

## Is Somalia a failed state? What the record says

People ask this often. The term comes from an index: the Fund for Peace published a "Failed States Index" until 2014, when it renamed it the Fragile States Index ([Fragile States Index list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_States_Index)). It is the index's label, not a finding of ours. The short answer: the indexes rank Somalia among the most fragile states in the world, and since 2012 it has rebuilt federal institutions and cleared most of its foreign debt, as set out below.

**What the indexes say.** The Fund for Peace's Fragile States Index ranked Somalia first, the most fragile of 179 countries, in 2024, with a score of 111.3 out of 120 ([Fragile States Index list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_States_Index)). The index measures pressure on a state, such as conflict, displacement and weak services. It does not measure what people are building.

**What has been built since 2012.** Somalia has had a federal government with a provisional constitution since 2012. In December 2023 it reached the end of the debt relief process for poor countries, which cut its external debt from 64% of GDP in 2018 to under 6% by the end of 2023 and brought US$4.5 billion in debt service savings ([World Bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/12/13/imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia-afe-1223); [IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/countries/som/key-questions-on-somalia)). It became the eighth member of the East African Community on 4 March 2024 ([KT Press](https://www.ktpress.rw/2024/03/somalia-becomes-the-8th-member-of-the-east-african-community/)), and it has held a seat on the UN Security Council since 1 January 2025, its first since the early 1970s ([UN](https://media.un.org/photo/en/asset/oun7/oun71045070)).

**What is still hard.** Fighting with al-Shabaab, disputes between the federal government and member states, hunger and displacement all continue.

## 1. Clan used as the unit of politics

Colonial powers armed rival groups against the Dervish movement ([Dervish movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervish_movement_%28Somali%29)). After 1978 the state used repression aimed at particular clans ([Siad Barre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). The "4.5" formula, first used in the late 1990s and formalised at Arta in 2000, made clan shares the working logic of government ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Role-of-4.5-in-democratisation-and-governence-in-Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf)).

## 2. Power held in one centre that others reject

The unions of 1960 and 1969, and the constitutional changes of 2024 to 2026, each pushed the north or the member states away. By 2026, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) had cut ties with the federal government ([Horn Review](https://hornreview.org/2026/04/21/analysis-of-somalias-constitution-crisis/)).

## 3. Institutions joined after the fact, not designed together

The 1960 union merged two legal, tax, police, school and currency systems only after independence. Fewer than half of northern voters approved the 1961 constitution ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).

## 4. Outside vetoes and outside dependence

Each neighbour sponsored its own track of peace talks, and outside backers supported rival factions ([Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)). The 2004 government rested on foreign backing.

## 5. Temporary deals that became permanent

The 4.5 formula and the 2012 Provisional Constitution were both meant to be transitional ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/4-5-in-somalia-from-temporary-fix-to-permanent-obstacle/)).

## 6. Mandates that outlived their terms

Transitional mandates were extended in 2009 and 2011 ([The New Humanitarian](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2011/06/20/somali-power-struggle-could-intensify-premier-quits)). In November 2026 the Supreme Court ruled that the 2026 extensions of the terms of parliament and the president were unlawful ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-supreme-court-rules-president-parliament-terms-expired-orders-elections-within-90-days)).

## 7. Some gain more from the vacuum than from a state

Analysts describe faction leaders in the 1990s, and some who hold office through clan quotas today, as gaining more from a weak state than a strong one ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/4-5-in-somalia-from-temporary-fix-to-permanent-obstacle/)).

## Other parts of the record

The [Somali Youth Club](/en/history/somali-youth-league/)'s founders refused to name their clans. Northern elders rebuilt peace with local money in the 1990s. Arta in 2000 brought women and civil society to the table.


---

# Aksum and the 'frankincense country': the Adulis inscription and Cosmas on Barbaria and Sasu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/aksum-adulis-inscription-and-barbaria/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Greek inscription once at the Red Sea port of Adulis, copied by the merchant Cosmas around 525 AD, records the campaigns of an unnamed king of Aksum, in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. He claims to have conquered the Sesea and the Rhausi 'in the interior of the frankincense country' and to have set the Solate to guard the coast. Cosmas took the Sesea to be 'the nations of Barbaria', his name for the northern Somali coast. Nineteenth-century scholars linked the Sesea with the Issa and dated the king anywhere from about the 1st to the late 3rd century AD. Cosmas also describes Aksum's gold trade with a distant land called Sasu.

## In short

Aksum, the kingdom centred in what is now Tigray in northern Ethiopia, traded through the Red Sea port of Adulis. Two texts from Adulis mention the land of frankincense south of the Bab el-Mandeb, which Greek writers called Barbaria (see [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)). Both survive only because the Alexandrian merchant Cosmas, later called Indicopleustes, copied them into his *Christian Topography* around 550 AD. This page uses the English translation and notes of J. W. McCrindle ([*The Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk*, Hakluyt Society, 1897, Book II, pp. 51–67](https://archive.org/details/christiantopogra00cosm)).

## How Cosmas came to copy it

Cosmas writes that "some five and twenty years ago", at the start of the reign of the emperor Justin I (518–527), Elesbaan, king of the Aksumites, was preparing an expedition against the Himyarites across the Red Sea. The king asked the governor of Adulis, named Abbas, for copies of the Greek writing on a marble throne and a stone tablet near the town. Cosmas and another merchant, Menas, made the copies (pp. 54–56). McCrindle's notes identify Elesbaan with the king also known as Kaleb, and date Cosmas' visit to about 525 (p. 55, note).

## Two inscriptions, not one

Cosmas read the tablet and the throne as one text by the Egyptian king Ptolemy. McCrindle explains that they were separate (p. 59, note 2):

- **The tablet** records the campaigns in Asia of Ptolemy III Euergetes, who came to the throne in 247 BC (p. 57, note 1).
- **The throne** carries a different text, by an unnamed king who calls himself the son of the god Ares and writes that he was "the first and alone of the kings of my race" to make these conquests. Scholars have since read him as a king of Aksum (pp. 59–66).

## What the Aksumite king claims

After conquests around Aksum and towards the Nile and Egypt, the king writes (pp. 62–64):

> "My arms were next directed against the Sesea nation. These had retired to a high mountain difficult of access; but I blockaded the mountain on every side, and compelled them to come down and surrender… The tribes of Rhausi I next brought to submission: a barbarous race spread over wide waterless plains in the interior of the frankincense country. [Advancing thence towards the sea] I encountered the Solate, whom I subdued, and left with instructions to guard the coast."

He says he restored their lands "subject to the payment of tribute", sent a fleet against peoples on the Arabian shore, and ruled from "the country of frankincense" in the east to "Ethiopia and Sasu" in the west (pp. 64–65). He set up the throne at Adulis "in the twenty-seventh year of my reign" (p. 66).

Cosmas added a note to the line about the Sesea: "Here he indicates the nations of Barbaria" (p. 66).

## Who says what about the peoples

These identifications come from 19th-century scholars quoted in McCrindle's notes. They rest on similarities of names:

- **Vivien de Saint-Martin (1863)** wrote that the king's campaigns reached "the country of Harrar and of the Somalis, which produces aromatics, and on to the coast region which is washed by the sea of Aden, and which terminates at Cape Guardafui" (p. 60, note 3). He suggested that the Sesea "ought to designate a part at least of the Somali people, of which one of the principal tribes bears still the name of Issa", and that the Rhausi might be the Rhapsii of Ptolemy, or the Arsi in the interior. He found the Solate "uncertain" (p. 63, note 1).
- **On the date**, the notes record four views: Saint-Martin, the 2nd century AD; August Dillmann, before Zoskales, the king named in the Periplus (that is, around the start of the Christian era); D. H. Müller, Zoskales himself; and Eduard Glaser, the end of the 3rd century AD (pp. 60, 65–66, notes).

## Barbaria and the frankincense trade in Cosmas

Cosmas describes the frankincense country as lying "at the projecting parts of Ethiopia", inland but washed by the ocean. "The inhabitants of Barbaria, being near at hand, go up into the interior and, engaging in traffic with the natives, bring back from them many kinds of spices, frankincense, cassia, calamus, and many other articles of merchandise, which they afterwards send by sea to Adule, to the country of the Homerites, to Further India, and to Persia." Arabia, he adds, is "a couple of days" across the sea from Barbaria, and beyond Barbaria lies the ocean "called Zingion" (pp. 51–52). See [Frankincense and myrrh](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/).

## The gold trade of Sasu

Cosmas describes how every other year the king of Aksum sent agents, with "upwards, say, of five hundred" other traders, to the land of Sasu, "near the ocean" and rich in gold mines. They brought oxen, lumps of salt and iron, fenced a camp with thorns, and laid out the goods. The local people came with gold "in nuggets like peas, called tancharas", put it on what they wanted and stepped back; each side added or took away until both were content, "because their language is different and interpreters are hardly to be found". The round trip took six months (pp. 52–54).

Where Sasu was is disputed in McCrindle's notes. One note puts it "near the coast, and only 5° to the north of the equator" (p. 51). Glaser first placed it near Hobyo, then argued that the inscription should read Kasu, a region far to the west near Meroe in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/). Saint-Martin placed it to the south-west, in the region of Kafa in Ethiopia (pp. 64–65, notes).

## Related pages

- [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)
- [The Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)


---

# Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331: what the Rihla says

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited Zeila and Mogadishu in 1331 and described them in his Rihla (The Travels), dictated in 1355. He called Mogadishu an enormous town of merchants, described how young men met each ship and hosted the traders, and recorded the sultan, his qadi and his court. It is the most detailed written account of a Somali city before 1500.

## The traveller and the book

Ibn Battuta (1304 to about 1369) was a scholar from Tangier in Morocco who travelled for almost thirty years across Africa and Asia. In 1355 he dictated his travels to the writer Ibn Juzayy, and the result is known as the **Rihla** ("The Journey") ([The Rihla, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rihla)).

In 1331 he sailed from Aden down the East African coast. He stopped at **Zeila** on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and then at **Mogadishu**, before going on to Mombasa and Kilwa ([Ibn Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa 1325 to 1354, trans. H. A. R. Gibb, 1929, Fordham Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)).

## What he wrote about Zeila

Ibn Battuta called Zeila "a large city with a great bazaar". He also wrote that it smelled strongly of fish and of the blood of camels slaughtered in the streets, and that he and his companions chose to sleep on their ship ([Gibb translation, Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). He wrote that the land of the [Berberah](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/) stretched for two months' journey from Zeila to Mogadishu, and that his ship sailed for fifteen days from Zeila to Mogadishu ([Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)).

## What he wrote about Mogadishu

**A city of merchants.** He described Mogadishu as an "enormous town" whose people were merchants who owned many camels and slaughtered hundreds a day for food ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)).

**Hosting traders.** When a ship arrived, small boats called sumbuqs came out to meet it. Young men in each boat brought covered dishes of food and each chose a merchant, saying "This is my guest." The host lodged the merchant, and bought and sold on his behalf. A sale made without the host, or at too low a price, was not accepted ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)).

**The qadi and the students.** As a scholar, Ibn Battuta was taken to the qadi (judge) and lodged in the students' house. Food was brought three times a day for three days. On the fourth day, a Friday, the qadi and a wazir (minister) gave him a set of clothes ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)).

**The sultan's court.** He prayed at the main mosque behind the sultan's screen. He wrote that the people called their sultan "the Shaykh", that the sultan's name was Abu Bakr, that he was "of Berberah origin", and that "he talks in the Maqdishi language, though he knows Arabic" ([Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)). Later historians give his full name as Abu Bakr ibn Shaykh Umar ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/general%2Fibn-battuta-a-legendary-traveller-1.1158141)). After prayers the Shaykh walked to his palace in sandals while everyone else went barefoot, under four silk canopies each topped with a golden bird ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). When he first reached the palace, a palace servant brought out betel leaves and areca nuts as a welcome gift, and a wazir whose duty was to look after guests greeted him for the sultan ([Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)).

## Why historians use it

The passage is the fullest description of a Somali city before 1500. It shows Mogadishu in the 14th century as a Muslim city with its own ruler, judges and scholars, trading by sea with Arabia, Egypt and India ([AramcoWorld, The Traveler: Ibn Battuta](https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.traveler.ibn.battuta.htm)). It is read with the inscriptions and mosques of the city, such as the Fakhr al-Din mosque of 1269, described on [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/), and with other records on [The Somali coast towns, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## Where to read it

- Gibb's English translation, the Mogadishu and Zeila passages: [Fordham Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)
- Gibb's 1929 selection, scanned in full (the Somali passages are on pages 110 to 111): [Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)
- The complete Hakluyt Society translation, volume III (for India and beyond): [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta)
- The full Hakluyt Society edition in a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Travels+of+Ibn+Battuta+Gibb+Hakluyt)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis before 1500](/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# First Footsteps in East Africa (1856): Richard Burton in Zeila, Harar and Berbera

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> First Footsteps in East Africa is Richard Burton's account of his 1854 to 1855 journey from Zeila to Harar and back to Berbera, published in London in 1856. It describes the Somali coast towns, the governor of Zeila Sharmarke Ali Saleh, Somali poetry and customs, and the attack on his camp near Berbera in April 1855. It is free to read online.

## What the book is

First Footsteps in East Africa, or, An Exploration of Harar was written by the British officer and traveller **Richard Francis Burton** and published in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1856 ([Shapero Rare Books, first edition](https://shapero.com/products/richard-burton-first-footsteps-east-africa-1856-first-edition-104241); [Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). It tells the story of an expedition sent from Bombay and Aden by the East India Company in 1854.

## The journey

- **Zeila.** The expedition ran from 29 October 1854 to 9 February 1855. Burton spent much of that time in Zeila as the guest of the governor, El Hajj **Sharmarke Ali Saleh** ([Richard Francis Burton, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton)). The book gives a long portrait of Sharmarke and his family ([Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)).
- **Harar.** Burton reached Harar on 3 January 1855 and stayed about ten days, the first European known to have entered the city ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton); [Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/-9781406800975)).
- **Berbera.** He reached Berbera on 31 January 1855. In April 1855, while the expedition was camped near Berbera, it was attacked. Lieutenant William Stroyan was killed, John Hanning Speke was wounded, and Burton was struck by a spear that passed through both cheeks ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton); [Bauman Rare Books](https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/burton-richard-f/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/102263.aspx)). The British then blockaded Berbera in 1855 and 1856 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton)).

## What it says about Somalis

The book is full of description of Somali life in the north: towns, trade, dress, food, clans and the way travellers were protected by an *abbaan* (a local guide and protector) ([Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). Burton's own judgements are often harsh; he called the Somalis a "fierce and turbulent race" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton)).

His most quoted lines are about Somali poetry. He wrote that there were "thousands of songs" on every subject, from loading camels to drawing water, and that "the country teems with 'poets, poetasters, poetitos, and poetaccios'", with every man's place in poetry "as accurately defined as though he had been reviewed in a century of magazines". He added that many poems were so idiomatic that Arabs who had lived among Somalis for years could not follow them ([First Footsteps, Project Gutenberg text](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). More on the poetry itself is on [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

The appendix includes Speke's diary of his attempt to reach the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) valley, a sketch grammar of the Harari language and weather records from the winter of 1854 to 1855 ([Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)).

## How it was received

The Spectator reviewed the book on 2 August 1856 ([Spectator Archive](https://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/2nd-august-1856/28/burtons-exploration-of-harar)). After the attack at Berbera the expedition ended. A two-year inquiry largely cleared Burton, but his career suffered ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton)). The book has been reprinted many times, including an 1894 memorial edition and a 1966 edition by Gordon Waterfield ([Internet Archive, 1894 edition](https://archive.org/details/firstfootstepsin01burtuoft); [Internet Archive, 1966 edition](https://archive.org/details/firstfootstepsin0000burt_u5w2)). Historians of the Somali north still use it for its detail on Zeila, Berbera and the trade routes, reading it alongside Somali sources.

## Where to read it

- Full text, free: [Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)
- Scans of the 1894 edition: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/firstfootstepsin01burtuoft)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=First+Footsteps+in+East+Africa+Burton)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1500 to 1884](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# The 'nomad kings': great cairns of the Somali and Afar lowlands, about 650–1000 AD

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/nomad-kings-great-cairns-650-1000/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between about 650 and 1000 AD, herders in what are now Djibouti, western Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia built much larger burial cairns than before or after, some up to 57 metres across. A Spanish–Djiboutian team that dug ten of them between 2021 and 2024 found goods from Harar, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt or Syria, the Roman or Byzantine world and the Maldives. The team argues that these tombs belonged to ranked nomad leaders, whom it calls kings and queens, who rose as Aksum declined in the 600s and before the Muslim towns of the 1100s. The same kind of cairns, with Persian Gulf pottery, are known in Somaliland at Yirowe, Jidhali and Bulhar.

## In short

Very little is known of the Somali and Afar lowlands between the end of the Roman trade and the Muslim towns of the 1100s. This page follows a 2025 excavation report that fills part of that gap, based on work by the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit-CSIC) of Spain and the Djiboutian research centre IRAH-CERD ([González-Ruibal, de Torres Rodríguez et al., "Rise of the Nomad Kings: Pastoral Polities in the Horn of Africa (A.D. 650–1000)", *Journal of Field Archaeology* 50.8, 2025, pp. 737–766](https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2025.2479290), open access). The digs were in southern Djibouti, near the borders of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Ethiopia. The team also mapped cairn cemeteries in western Somaliland from satellite images (p. 738).

## The setting

The authors note that the region between the Bab el-Mandeb and central Somaliland was known to Greek, Roman and then Islamic writers as Barbaria, and its people as Barbar. Citing the historian G. W. Bowersock, they suggest the name is "probably not related to 'Barbarian' but to a local ethnonym *Barbar" (p. 738). See [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/).

They write that the lowlands "remained strictly nomadic" until the first stone-built settlements of the 12th century, and that before their work, "for the period between the late 2nd millennium B.C. and the arrival of Islam during the 12th–13th centuries A.D., our archaeological knowledge was basically non-existent" for this area (p. 738).

## What was dug

The team surveyed five clusters of cemeteries in the Dikhil and Ali Sabieh regions, with 154 cairns in all, and dug ten cairns at Unda Kontali, Abou Youssouf and Daas Biyo (pp. 739–740). They describe four forms: simple cairns, and cairns on raised, low or flat platforms. Simple cairns are commonly about 12 metres across; the largest, on a platform at Guistir, reaches 57 metres, and the main cairn at Daas Biyo 45 metres (p. 739). Some combine black basalt with red rhyolite and white sandstone carried from far away; the authors note that red and white are important colours in Afar tradition (p. 739). Most cairns had been looted, some with bulldozers (p. 739).

## Dates

All seven burials with radiocarbon dates were built between about 650 and 1000 AD. Four more cairns in Djibouti and Somaliland (at Guistir, Yirowe and Jidhali) are dated to the same span by imported pottery, and a cairn in Somaliland by an earlier radiocarbon date. The authors conclude that "no large cairns existed before the 7th century A.D. or after the 11th century A.D.", and that building was most intense in the 7th and 8th centuries (p. 754). Their report also illustrates a small cairn at Bulhar in Somaliland, dated to the 10th century (p. 759, fig. 24).

## What was found

The cairns held few goods, partly because of looting (pp. 740, 753). Among the finds the authors list (pp. 741–742, 754–758, table 4):

- **From the region:** three-legged and footed pots and grinding stones from the Harar area and the Ethiopian highlands. The authors suggest the pots were used to burn incense.
- **From further away:** turquoise-glazed "Sasanian-Islamic" pottery from the Persian Gulf, dated 7th–10th centuries; Roman honeycomb-patterned glass and a black glass perfume bottle; glass from Egypt or Syria of the 8th–9th centuries; pottery from Yemen; and cowrie and olive shells, which they trace to the Maldives.

They note that the same Persian Gulf pottery has been found at Yirowe and Jidhali in Somaliland and at Gezira in southern Somalia (pp. 757–758).

## How the authors read the evidence

- **Rank, not just wealth.** They estimate that the main cairn at Daas Biyo needed "a minimum of 500 people working for four days". Comparing tomb sizes across three periods, they give a mean diameter of 17.65 metres for 120 cairns of 650–1000 AD, against 5.97 metres for 87 cairns of the 1st–3rd centuries at Heis and 6.82 metres for 142 Muslim ring graves after 1200, with far greater inequality in the middle period (pp. 755–756, 762, table 3). See [Heis (Xiis)](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/).
- **Kings and queens without a capital.** They argue for "a process of hierarchization but not centralization": rival leaders, "probably clan heads", each with their own cemetery at a watering place or route junction. They note that "such leaders were not necessarily only men", citing queens of oral memory such as Gudit and Araweelo and the Somali title *boqoraad* (p. 761). They use "king" for a paramount leader, noting that the Somali *boqor* is usually translated so (p. 738).
- **Why then.** They list five factors: nomads' place in Indian Ocean trade from the 1st century; their control of incense, myrrh and salt; their close ties with Aksum, shown by a contingent "from Barbaria" in Aksum's expedition to Himyar in 525; the fall of Aksum and Himyar in the 7th century; and the rise of the Harla in the Harar highlands (pp. 761–763). See [Aksum and the Adulis inscription](/en/history/aksum-adulis-inscription-and-barbaria/) and [The Harla](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/).
- **Trade moves east.** With Adulis abandoned by about 650 AD, they argue that "long-distance trade was simply displaced from the north to the east of the Horn", to Zeila, and that "the Islamization of Zeila coincides chronologically with the end of cairn-building in the region" (pp. 757–759). See [Early Zeila](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).
- **Before the sultanates.** They conclude that the Muslim states of the 12th century onward "did not develop in a vacuum: they were the evolution and culmination of previous political formations, including nomad polities" (p. 763).

## Related pages

- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)
- [From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)


---

# A Modern History of the Somali by I. M. Lewis (1965 to 2002): editions and debate

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/a-modern-history-of-the-somali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Modern History of the Somali is a general history by the British anthropologist I. M. Lewis, first published in 1965 as The Modern History of Somaliland and revised in later editions up to a fourth edition in 2002. For decades it was the most cited English-language history of the Somali. Its emphasis on clan as the key to Somali politics has been both widely followed and challenged by Somali and other scholars.

## The author

Ioan Myrddin Lewis (1930 to 2014) was a British social anthropologist at the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Economics. He did fieldwork among the pastoral Somali of the [British Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in the 1950s and published on Somali society for more than fifty years ([I. M. Lewis, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Lewis); [Peoples of the Horn of Africa, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/peoplesofhornofa0000lewi); [A Pastoral Democracy, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/pastoraldemocrac0000lewi)). His other main books are listed on [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/).

## The editions

- **1965:** The Modern History of Somaliland: From Nation to State ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofs0000lewi)).
- **1980:** a revised edition, A Modern History of Somalia: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa.
- **2002:** the fourth edition, A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa, published by James Currey (Oxford), Btec Books (Hargeysa) and [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) University Press ([Journal of African History review, Cambridge](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/clan-and-state-a-modern-history-of-the-somali-nation-and-state-in-the-horn-of-africa-by-i-m-lewis-fourth-edition-oxford-james-currey-hargeisa-btec-books-athens-ohio-university-press-2002-pp-xi347-2495-paperback-isbn-082141495x/867C589E71E39296B8B70C96150A39FC)).

## What it covers

The book runs from the Somali people's origins and the spread of Islam, through the coastal sultanates and the 19th-century scramble for the Horn, the Dervish movement, Italian and British rule and the nationalist movement, to independence in 1960, the civilian governments, the military government of 1969 to 1991, and, in later editions, the collapse of the state and the rise of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Powell's, publisher description](https://www.powells.com/book/a-modern-history-of-the-somali-9780821414958)). Throughout, Lewis explains politics through the system of clan families and lineages that he had studied in the field.

## How it was received

- **Praise.** The historian [Said Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) wrote in African Studies Review that Lewis "writes authoritatively, magisterially and often brilliantly" ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/a-modern-history-of-the-somali-9780821414958)).
- **Reviews of the 2002 edition.** It was reviewed in the Journal of African History in 2004 under the title "Clan and State" ([Cambridge](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/clan-and-state-a-modern-history-of-the-somali-nation-and-state-in-the-horn-of-africa-by-i-m-lewis-fourth-edition-oxford-james-currey-hargeisa-btec-books-athens-ohio-university-press-2002-pp-xi347-2495-paperback-isbn-082141495x/867C589E71E39296B8B70C96150A39FC)), and in the Netherlands by Erasmus University scholars ([Erasmus University, review record](https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/book-review-of-a-modern-history-of-the-somali-i-m-lewis-ed-2002-o/)). One bookseller's summary of the 2002 edition notes that Lewis maintains his reading that the civil wars reflect the divisions of the traditional clan system ([Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/743438)).
- **The clan debate.** [Abdi Samatar](/en/people/abdi-samatar/)'s article "Destruction of State and Society in Somalia: Beyond the Tribal Convention" (Journal of Modern African Studies, 1992) argued against explaining the crisis through clan alone and pointed to the state, class and history ([Cambridge Core](https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/destruction-of-state-and-society-in-somalia-beyond-the-tribal-convention/C219BB7F94E9AC64B99F9E5B7ABC2700)). A 1994 article in the refugee journal Refuge summed up this view as going beyond scholarship that reduces the causes to "Somali segmentary clanism" ([Refuge, York University](https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/download/21799/20468)). The essays in [Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/)'s The Invention of Somalia (1995) made related arguments about the place of southern and farming communities.

## Where to read it

- 1965 edition: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofs0000lewi)
- 2002 edition in a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Modern+History+of+the+Somali+Lewis)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)
- [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Fardowsa: the medieval trading town at Sheekh, about 1300–1600

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fardowsa, also written Ferdussa, is a ruined medieval town beside Sheekh in Togdheer, at the top of the pass from Berbera to the interior. Excavated by a Spanish team in 2016 and 2020, it is the most excavated site in Somaliland. Radiocarbon dates place its founding in the early 1300s, its peak in the 1400s and its abandonment in the 1500s, with some later use. About 10% of its pottery was imported, from China, South-East Asia, India, Iran, Yemen and Egypt, a high share for an inland site. Two large identical houses held far more imports and camel and cattle bones than ordinary houses, which the excavators read as evidence of wealthy trading households.

## In short

Fardowsa lies on the edge of the modern town of [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/), about 60 km south of Berbera, where the Ogo mountains drop to the coastal plain. Its place at the top of the main pass between Berbera and the interior made it a caravan stop. This page follows the full report of the Spanish excavations ([de Torres Rodríguez, González-Ruibal et al., "City of Traders: Urbanization, Social Change, and Territorial Control in Medieval Fardowsa (Central Somaliland)", *Journal of African Archaeology* 22, 2024, pp. 86–114](https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10038), open access). Section numbers below refer to that report. For the other towns of the region, see [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## Discovery

- **Travellers, about 1900.** Writers who used the pass described the tomb of Sheikh Guldu Hamed and a village around it, and two of them mentioned the ruins of a large town nearby with a cemetery of thousands of graves. British maps of the 1930s mark ruins north-east of the village (§2.1).
- **2001.** François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar and Bertrand Hirsch visited and recorded the name "Ferdussa", which local people gave as the town's medieval name. They collected finds, including an Arab coin, dated broadly to the 13th–17th centuries (§2.1).
- **2015.** Sada Mire listed it as "Fardowsa" in the first inventory of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s archaeological sites (§2.1).
- **2016 and 2020.** The Incipit-CSIC team dug two test pits, then in 2020 opened about 700 square metres, which the authors call "the largest archaeological intervention in Somaliland" (§§2.2–2.3).

The authors measure the town at about 18 hectares, with two cemeteries, one of which has almost disappeared under modern Sheekh. About a third of the site has been damaged by building (§2.1). An earlier paper by the same team gave a larger figure of about 35 hectares (see [Ruined towns](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)).

## Dates

The radiocarbon dates the report gives (§§2.2–2.3, 5):

- **Earliest floor:** calibrated AD 1305–1365 (75% probability) or 1383–1405.
- **The large compound:** built at the end of the 14th or start of the 15th century (dates of 1327–1430 and 1421–1455).
- **An ordinary house on the edge of town:** 1441–1506 (86% probability).
- **Last, occasional use:** 1499–1600 (76% probability) or 1615–1644.

The authors conclude that Fardowsa was founded "at some point during the first decade of the 14th century", grew fast in the 15th, declined in the 16th, and was used only now and then in the early 17th. No finds date from then until the 19th century, when part of the ruins was reused as a fortified camp (§5).

## The houses

The town had no wall and no clear street plan, and no mosque has been found yet. Houses stood apart with open spaces between them, some of which were fenced pens or yards (§2.4).

The 2020 dig uncovered a walled compound with two houses of identical plan: three roofed rooms on the west and a long, probably open, space on the east. The authors write that they are "significantly larger than any house documented so far in Somaliland", and that the matching plan "suggests a preconceived design". A refuse heap beside them yielded about 60 kg of animal bones from an area of just 1.35 square metres (§§2.3–2.4).

## What was traded

About 10% of the pottery from the 2020 dig was imported. The authors call this high for an inland site, where imports "rarely surpass 1%", but low compared with coastal fairs, where imports are over 90% (§3.1). The imports include (§3.1):

- **From East and South-East Asia:** Ming blue-and-white porcelain, mostly of the mid-15th to mid-16th centuries, and celadon from southern China, Thailand or Myanmar.
- **From India:** a few pieces of Black and Red Ware, among the earliest imports.
- **From Iran, the Gulf and Arabia:** "speckled" glazed ware, which the authors call characteristic of late medieval Somaliland; green-glazed wares; Yemeni yellow ware of the 13th–14th centuries; Tihama green-on-green ware, one piece with writing; and Yemeni white cream ware, the commonest import.
- **Other goods:** glass vessels and bangles, softstone, cowries (most of them pierced), a bronze buckle and a metal amulet case of the kind used to hold verses of the Qur'an (§§2.3, 3.2).

No Qing porcelain was found, which the authors take to mean that "by the mid-17th century, Fardowsa was not acting as a trade center anymore" (§3.1).

## Rich and ordinary households

In the ordinary houses, goats and sheep make up 80–90% of the animals eaten. In one of the large houses they fall to about 56%, with cattle at about 23% and camels at about 20%, many of them young. The authors note that camels are kept mainly for transport and milk, so eating them suggests wealth (§4). They conclude that "social and economic inequality had come in parallel with the expansion of permanent settlements", shown in the size of the houses, their prestige goods and the "consumption of expensive animals such as camels", and that this wealth was "mostly related to trade". They add that they have no information on whether this rank was inherited (§5).

## How the authors explain its rise and end

- **Rise.** They link the town's growth to the expansion of Indian Ocean trade in the 15th century, when, at trading sites near Berbera, imports from Yemen fell from 57% to 33% and East Asian imports rose to 40%. They suggest that Fardowsa lay at the edge of the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din (Adal), "under its influence or limited control", and that the sultanate's interest in safe trade routes is seen in the fortified caravan station of Qalcadda (§5).
- **Peace.** They note that Fardowsa, like most settlements in Somaliland, was unwalled, and they see no sign that the new inequality led to conflict (§§5–6).
- **End.** They point to China's export bans from 1521, Portuguese attacks in the Red Sea, including on Zeila in 1517 and Berbera in 1518, and the wars and defeat of the sultanate later in the century. They describe a gradual abandonment and "a progressive return to a nomadic lifestyle", with the pass later used by nomads until a religious community settled at Sheekh in the 18th century (§5).

## Related pages

- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)
- [From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)
- [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/)


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# A Tree for Poverty (1954): the first Somali poems and stories in English

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/a-tree-for-poverty/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose is a collection of Somali poems and folk tales translated into English by the Canadian writer Margaret Laurence, working from literal translations by B. W. Andrzejewski and Musa Haji Ismail Galaal. It was printed in a small edition in 1954, was her first book, and was reissued in 1970 and 1993.

## What the book is

A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose is a collection of Somali gabay and other poems, with folk tales and a short historical background, translated into English ([Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3027389); [49th Shelf](https://49thshelf.com/Books/A/A-Tree-for-Poverty2)). It was the first book by **Margaret Laurence** (1926 to 1987), who later became one of Canada's best-known novelists ([Margaret Laurence, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Laurence)).

## How it was made

Laurence went with her husband Jack, an engineer, to the [British Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in 1950 ([Canadian Writers Abroad](https://canadianwritersabroad.com/2012/10/22/margaret-laurence/); [Penguin Random House Canada](https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/98381/the-prophets-camel-bell-by-margaret-laurence)). She did not speak Somali. The linguist **B. W. Andrzejewski**, who had come to the Protectorate for language research, and his Somali colleague **[Musa Haji Ismail Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/)** gave her literal translations, and Galaal discussed the finer meanings of words with them; Laurence then wrote her own English versions ([Canadian Literature, UBC](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/view/193548/189861); [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3027389)).

The book was printed in a small edition in 1954 ([Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3027389)), with Nairobi given as the place of publication in at least one citation ([African Poems](https://africanpoems.net/survival/a-war-gabay/)). Laurence later wrote a memoir of her years in the Protectorate, [The Prophet's Camel Bell](/en/books/the-prophets-camel-bell-laurence/) (1963) ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/prophetscamelbel0000laur_k5o8)).

## How it was received and used

The book has been cited as the first collection of Somali literature in English translation, a decade before B. W. Andrzejewski and I. M. Lewis published Somali Poetry: An Introduction (1964) ([Margaret Laurence, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Laurence); [Somali Poetry, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somalipoetryintr0000andr)). Literary scholars in Canada study it as the start of Laurence's writing about Africa ([Canadian Literature, UBC](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/view/193548/189861)). A facsimile edition with a new preface by Laurence appeared in 1970 ([Canadian Writers Abroad](https://canadianwritersabroad.com/2012/10/22/margaret-laurence/)), and it was reissued by ECW Press in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) in 1993 ([Blackwell's](https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/A-Tree-for-Poverty-by-Margaret-Laurence/9781550221770)).

## Where to read it

- 1993 edition: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/treeforpovertyso0000unse)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Tree+for+Poverty+Laurence)

## Related pages

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1884-1960/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


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# Kabab and the medieval towns of the Gebiley region, about 1400–1600

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between Borama and Hargeisa lie the ruins of medieval towns and villages that the British officer A. T. Curle first listed in 1937. Kabab, 44 km east of Borama, covers about 20 hectares with about 90 houses, two cemeteries and a large oval enclosure on its highest point. A 2024 survey by the National Museum of Somaliland and a Spanish team recorded eight more sites in the Gebiley area, the largest being Beeyo Dhaadheer, about 25 hectares with about 180 buildings. The finds are mostly local pottery and stone tools, with a few cowries, softstone and glass, and the authors date the sites broadly to the 15th and 16th centuries.

## In short

The hill country between [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) and Hargeisa holds many ruined medieval settlements. They were first listed by A. T. Curle, a British vice-consul, in 1937, and visited by staff of the Somali Academy of Sciences in the mid-1980s. Research then stopped until a Spanish team from the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit-CSIC) returned. This page follows two short reports:

- [Rouco Collazo, "A medieval town in Western Somaliland: Kabab", *Nyame Akuma* 102, 2024, pp. 68–75](http://hdl.handle.net/10261/377788), open access.
- [Allamagen, de Torres Rodríguez et al., "The medieval occupation of the Gebiley region: Documenting the archaeology of Central Somaliland", *Nyame Akuma* 104, 2025, pp. 47–54](http://hdl.handle.net/10261/415503), open access. Its first author is from the National Museum of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

Neither site has been excavated, so all dates come from objects picked up on the surface. For the wider picture, see [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## Kabab

Kabab lies 44 km east of Borama and 60 km north-west of Hargeisa, on a small plain at about 1,520 metres. Curle noted only "about twenty houses". The Incipit team mapped it in 2018 (Rouco 2024, pp. 68–69).

- **Size.** The site covers about 20 hectares, with houses spread over 14 hectares and no clear clusters. About 90 buildings were recorded, which Rouco calls "larger than indicated by A.T. Curle" and about half the size of the towns Curle called principal, such as Abasa (p. 70). See [Abasa](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/).
- **Houses.** They are rectangular, with two or three rooms and probably a yard with a low stone fence, built of dry-laid local sandstone (p. 70).
- **A possible mosque.** One better-built building in the centre may be a mosque, but no mihrab survives, so Rouco does not count it as one (p. 71).
- **The oval enclosure.** At the highest, southern end stands a stone enclosure about 67 metres across with at least one narrow entrance, holding four buildings. Rouco notes that inland sites of this period are generally unwalled, and suggests "a defensive or similar function" (p. 71).
- **Graves.** Two cemeteries lie at the northern edge, with about thirty visible graves. Most are cists of upright slabs, some in pairs and some small enough for children, laid east–west so that the head faced Mecca (p. 71). See [From cairns to cemeteries](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/).
- **Finds.** All the pottery was local and handmade. The only import was cowrie shells; no imported pottery, softstone, glass beads or bangles were found, which Rouco calls "striking" (pp. 72–73).

Rouco gives a tentative date from the 15th to the late 16th century and places Kabab among the inland settlements of the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din (Adal). He suggests that the lack of imports may mean it "was not integrated into the same level as other towns" in the trade networks (p. 73).

## The 2024 Gebiley survey

In October 2024 the National Museum of Somaliland and the StateHorn project spent three days recording eight sites. Four were known from Curle and four were new (Allamagen et al. 2025, pp. 47–48, table 1):

| Site | Type | Area | Buildings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beeyo Dhaadheer | Town | 25 ha | about 180 |
| Gogeysa | Village | 5 ha | about 55 |
| Cad Cad | Village | 4 ha | about 60 |
| Dhabi Oomane | Village | 3 ha | about 15 |
| Musa Hassan | Village | 1.5 ha | about 25 |
| Dhagax La Galay | Hamlet | 0.25 ha | about 12 |
| Geri Go'an | Isolated houses | 0.15 ha | 3 |
| Satiile | Pottery scatter | 0.01 ha | none |

The authors describe the sites as alike: at the foot of hills, near streams, with scattered square or rectangular houses "without any evidence of planning", and stone terraces on steep slopes (p. 47).

- **Beeyo Dhaadheer** runs for about 1 km along the Dibra Wein river. A possible mosque stands near its centre. The authors call it "a major site in central Somaliland", linking the river with the pass to the [Gebiley](/en/regions/gabiley/) plains (p. 49).
- **Gogeysa**, which Curle called a major town, turned out to be a middle-sized village. It sits in flat farmland and yielded the only imported pottery of the survey, including two pieces of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain of the 16th century or later (pp. 49, 52).
- **Cad Cad** lies near the small medieval fort of Derbiga Cad. The authors suggest the pair may mean control of the area was disputed, either in the Christian–Muslim wars of the 14th–16th centuries or between nomads and settled people (p. 49).
- **Dhagax La Galay** has a walled cemetery of almost half a hectare. Its medieval cist graves are sometimes filled with white quartz, and later stone-pile graves with stelae lie above them (p. 50).

## What the finds suggest to the authors

Most finds were local handmade pots and stone tools. The authors read the grinding stones and handstones as signs of farming. Imports were few: 29 cowries and 16 pieces of softstone vessels, each at five sites, and 12 glass fragments; the softstone probably came from Arabia, and the bangles probably from Egypt (pp. 51–52). They take this scarcity to mean the settlements "played a modest role in the trade networks" (p. 52).

They group the sites in two clusters. One follows a route from the Gebiley valley, which they say now grows 85% of Somaliland's vegetables, through the pass at Kabab and Dhagax La Galay to the Dibra Wein valley, where the site of Dameraqad also lies. The other, Satiile, Cad Cad and Musa Hassan, follows the wide wadis along the Ethiopian border towards Borama (p. 52). They give a preliminary date from the 15th to the early 17th century, and suggest some sites may be older (pp. 52–53).

## Related pages

- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Fardowsa, the medieval trading town at Sheekh](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/)
- [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/)
- [History of archaeology in the Somali lands](/en/history/history-of-archaeology-in-the-somali-lands/)


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# Aw Bare, Aiyanle and the medieval towns across the Somaliland–Ethiopia border, about 1400–1650

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On the Ethiopian side of the border near Borama and Tog Wajaale, a Spanish, Somaliland and Ethiopian team recorded 19 medieval sites between 2022 and 2025, 15 of them new to research. They include the towns of Aw Bare, at least 33 hectares, and Aw Boba, the excavated village of Aiyanle, the hilltop fort of Sacmewey, and cemeteries and gathering places of nomads, one with a smelting area. Radiocarbon dates place Aiyanle's main use in the 1400s and 1500s and its end by the mid-1600s. The authors argue that the 1930s border split one medieval landscape in two, and that the sites belong with those of western Somaliland.

## In short

The border between [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Ethiopia was drawn in the early 1930s. A recent report argues that it also split the study of one medieval landscape: sites on the Somaliland side were visited again and again, while those a few kilometres away in Ethiopia were known only by name. This page follows that report ([de Torres Rodríguez, Rouco Collazo et al., "Breaking Borders: The Medieval Archaeology of the Ethiopian-Somaliland Borderland", *African Archaeological Review* 43, 2026, pp. 453–494](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-026-09660-0), open access). Its authors come from the Incipit-CSIC institute in Spain, the National Museum of Somaliland, the Ethiopian Heritage Authority and universities in Ethiopia, Spain and Argentina.

The work took place in 2022, 2023 and 2025 in the Aw Bare and Harawo districts of Ethiopia's Somali Region, between [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) and Jigjiga. The team recorded 19 sites, 15 of them unpublished, opened about 250 square metres at Aiyanle and obtained twelve radiocarbon dates (pp. 455–456).

## Why the border matters to the authors

The authors note that A. T. Curle, who worked on the boundary commission, recorded sites mostly on the British side, and that later visits followed the same pattern. By the 2020s, they write, Somaliland's medieval archaeology was "relatively well defined", while in Ethiopia "information was reduced to a series of names and some photographs". This, they argue, could wrongly "suggest that the core of the medieval settlement was located in Somaliland" (pp. 454–455). They describe the area as part of the sultanates of [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) (1285–1408/09) and Barr Sa'd al-Din, or Adal (1408/09–1583) (p. 454).

## The towns

- **Aw Boba**, near the village of Gocti, was seen by Richard Burton in 1854 and by Curle. The name appears in the 16th-century chronicle known as *The [Conquest of Abyssinia](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)*. The saint's tomb and mosques are still in use. Its cemetery has the widest range of grave types on the border, including carved headstones and one with a zig-zag pattern found nowhere else in the region. The authors note that Burton recorded oral traditions of a rivalry between Aw Boba and Abasa, 10 km away in Somaliland (pp. 457–458). See [Abasa](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/).
- **Aw Bare** lies under the modern village of the same name, on a natural route to Borama. The team traced at least 33 hectares of ruins, with walls more than 1.5 metres high in the market area and a medieval house holding later tombs beside the saint's shrine. Its 1-hectare cemetery holds only one grave type, the slab-lined cist, which the authors call exceptional (pp. 458–460).

## Aiyanle: the excavated village

Aiyanle lies 3.5 km south-east of Aw Bare. It covers 1.6 hectares with about 50 houses of 35–50 square metres and two cemeteries. Low walls across the site are, the authors write, the first farming terraces found in the region (pp. 460–461).

The dig found two phases (pp. 461–464):

- **The first phase**, from about the mid-1400s into the 1500s, had well-built houses, Chinese porcelain, a Chinese coin, softstone vessels and a rotary millstone.
- **The second phase** had poorer walls, rooms turned into stores, no imported pottery and simple hand querns. The terraces were built over fallen houses in this phase. It also yielded a set of 14 bronze beads, whose closest parallels the authors place in the Ethiopian highlands.

The authors date the main use to the 1400s and 1500s, under the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din, and the end of the village to the mid-1600s. They link the decline to the sultanate's collapse and suggest that people moved to Aw Bare, which they describe as "the only town in the region that survived" (p. 464).

A study of slopes, soils, water and satellite images of vegetation led them to conclude that farming was possible but limited, and "needed to be complemented by other activities, such as herding" (pp. 466–469).

## Forts, hamlets and cemeteries

- **Sacmewey** is a walled hilltop of 90 by 75 metres at about 1,860 metres, above the pass of Ag Giogsi, or Gawa. Its wall is about 1.5 metres thick, with drains and a guarded southern gate. Inside is a building known as the tomb of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Sacmewey. The authors read its position as a marker between the bush to the north and the farmland of Tog [Wajaale](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/) to the south (pp. 469–472).
- **Garba Jirri** (Curle's Derbile) is a compound of four houses and a mosque, still kept up by nomads who gather there each season (p. 472).
- **Qararu** is a hamlet of 3–4 houses with a medieval cemetery and a larger later one; a pre-Islamic cairn stands 200 metres away (pp. 472–474).
- **Derbiga Gabra** is a hilltop hamlet with a plastered mosque of 7.5 by 7.5 metres, the only plastered one known in the region, and a cemetery far larger than the hamlet (p. 474).
- **Dooble** is a cemetery of about 150 graves round a central structure, with no village (p. 475).

## Nomad sites

West of Tog Wajaale, in Harawo district, the team found cemeteries with few or no buildings, which it links to nomads (p. 476).

- **Dirri** has graves edged with slabs and filled with white quartz, set beside open-air prayer places. The authors think they may be early Muslim nomad graves of the 12th–14th centuries, but say only excavation can tell (p. 476).
- **Sheikh Woofle** grew up round a saint's tomb. The authors interpret it as a seasonal gathering place for nomads. A small pit there held about 5 kg of iron slag, the first evidence of smelting found at a medieval Muslim site in the region. They link this to the Somali smiths known as *tumaal*, whom ethnographers describe as a low-status group (pp. 477–479, 486).

## What was found

About 4,000 objects were collected, most of them local handmade pots and stone tools (p. 479). Imports were few. They included:

- Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and celadon.
- Speckled and white cream wares.
- A moulded sherd matching 12th–13th-century wares from Balis in Syria, the earliest import found.
- Polished pottery from the Ethiopian highlands.
- Glass perfume flasks, bangles and beads.
- Softstone vessels, probably from Arabia.
- Carnelian, probably from India.
- 41 cowries at Aiyanle alone (pp. 481–485).

The authors suggest that most trade goods "passed through the region" towards Harar and other markets, and that the local economy was "firmly rooted in an agropastoral system rather than trade" (p. 486).

## How the authors read the evidence

- **Farmers and nomads.** They describe settled farmers and nomads living in "adjacent but differentiated territories", with Aw Bare, Sacmewey and Sheikh Woofle as the three main centres (pp. 487–488).
- **Saints.** Five of the 19 sites bear the names of holy men, and three more have central tombs with legends of sheikhs. The authors argue that Islam, and the tombs of saints in particular, gave settled and nomadic people "a shared religious identity", and that these shrines outlived the towns after the sultanate fell (pp. 489–490). See [Medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/).

## Related pages

- [Kabab and the medieval towns of the Gebiley region](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/)
- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [The Harla](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/)
- [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/)


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# Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia, 1903 to 2025

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/postage-stamps-and-postal-history-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The first stamps of the Somali south were issued in 1903 for the Benadir Company under Italian authority, and British Somaliland issued its own from 1903 to 1960. Italian Somaliland used overprinted Benadir and Italian stamps, then its own 'Somalia' sets from 1930. British forces used overprinted British stamps from 1941, and the UN trust territory issued stamps in Italian and Somali. The Somali Republic's first stamps came out on 1 July 1960. The postal service had about 100 post offices in 1991 and stopped working with the civil war. International mail partly resumed in 2013–2014, and the national postal service officially restarted in July 2025.

## In short

The south's first stamps were issued in 1903 for the Benadir Company, under Italian authority, and the first [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) stamps came out on 1 July 1960 ([Wikipedia, "Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia", citing Rossiter and Flower, *The Stamp Atlas*, 1986, and the *Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue* Part 14, 1981](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Somalia)).

In 1991 Somalia had "some 100 post offices and a postal staff of 2,165". By 2013 there was one general post office in the capital and about 25 staff ([Universal Postal Union, 26 April 2013](https://www.upu.int/en/news/2013/4/mail-services-could-soon-resume-in-somalia)).

## The colonial south, 1903–1950

From the Wikipedia article and its catalogue sources ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Somalia)):

- **1903.** The first stamps were issued for the Benadir Company.
- **1905.** Italy took over the colony directly after revelations that the Benadir Company had tolerated the slave trade; stamps were overprinted on Benadir issues. See [the partition of the Somali lands](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/).
- **1916.** Italian stamps began to be overprinted for [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/). Benadir overprints went on until 1926.
- **1925.** Italian stamps overprinted *Oltre [Giuba](/en/regions/jubba-river/)* were issued for Trans-Juba, the part of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) that Britain ceded to Italy; the area was then joined to Italian Somaliland.
- **1930.** The first definitive set inscribed "Somalia" was issued.
- **1936–1941.** Stamps of Italian East Africa were used. See [fascist rule and the war](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).
- **1941–1950.** Under British occupation, British stamps were overprinted "M.E.F." (Middle East Forces), then "E.A.F." (East Africa Forces) from 15 January 1943, then "B.M.A. Somalia" and "B.A. Somalia" from 1948 to 1950. See [the British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/).
- **1950–1960.** The trust territory under Italian administration issued stamps inscribed in Italian and Somali. See [the UN trusteeship](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## British Somaliland, 1903–1960

Stamps were issued for British Somaliland from 1903 to 1960, first under that name and later as the Somaliland Protectorate. On 26 June 1960 a set was overprinted "[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Independence 26 June 1960" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Somalia)). See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and [the State of Somaliland, 1960](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/).

## The Republic, 1960–1991

- **1 July 1960.** The first stamps of the Somali Republic were issued on the day of union.
- **1969.** After the coup, stamps were inscribed for the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) (Wikipedia).
- **Textiles on stamps.** A 2012 study traced how Somali stamps showed dress and textiles as symbols of national politics ([Heather Marie Akou, "The Changing Politics of Textiles as Portrayed on Somali Postage", 2012, as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Somalia)).

## Collapse and revival, 1991–2025

- **1991.** The service had about 100 post offices and 2,165 staff (UPU, 2013). It stopped operating during the civil war. Stamps continued to be produced abroad without authority, apparently for collectors (Wikipedia).
- **22 April 2013.** Somalia's minister and [Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) Post signed a memorandum, witnessed by the UPU, for Dubai to act "as a hub for handling mail destined for Somalia". The minister said: "We ask for all means of assistance as we have to start from ground zero" ([UPU, 2013](https://www.upu.int/en/news/2013/4/mail-services-could-soon-resume-in-somalia)).
- **October 2014.** The government relaunched delivery of mail from abroad and introduced postcodes nationwide for the first time ([BBC, 13 October 2014, as reposted](https://soomaaliyeeytoosoo.blogspot.com/2014/10/bbc-news-somalias-government-launches.html)).
- **2025.** Somalia took over direct handling of international mail through an exchange centre in Mogadishu on 1 May, and the Ministry of Communications and Technology officially resumed the national postal service on 28 July (Wikipedia, citing the ministry and [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa).

## Who suffered?

- **Somalis abroad and at home,** who for more than two decades could not send or receive letters through a national post (UPU, 2013).

## Sources differ

- **How long the post was closed.** The UPU wrote in 2013 of "23 years with no postal services". Reports in 2025 spoke of a "36-year suspension" (as cited by Wikipedia).
- **Validity of later stamps.** Stamps issued in Somalia's name from 1991 to April 2025 were made outside any working postal service, and their validity is disputed (Wikipedia).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Universal Postal Union, "Mail services could soon resume in Somalia", 26 April 2013: [article](https://www.upu.int/en/news/2013/4/mail-services-could-soon-resume-in-somalia).
- Wikipedia, "Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia", with its catalogue references: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Somalia).


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# The trade fairs of the Berbera coast and their Asian imports, about 1000–1600

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Surveys around Berbera between 2016 and 2020 recorded four trading places used between about 1000 and 1600: Bandar Abbas, a feasting ground with a mosque of the 11th–13th centuries; Siyaara, a beach fair used from the 11th to the early 19th century; Farhad, a fair just south of Berbera; and Biyo Gure, a small village that was burned in the 1500s. Over 90% of the objects collected were imported, and the authors trace about 90% of the imported pottery to Asia, from Yemen and Iran to India, China, Thailand and Myanmar. They read the region as a place goods passed through on the way to the interior, more than a final market.

## In short

This page follows a survey report by the Incipit-CSIC team of Spain ([González-Ruibal, de Torres et al., "Asia in the Horn. The Indian Ocean trade in Somaliland", *Archaeological Research in Asia* 27, 2021, article 100289](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100289), open access). Section numbers below refer to it. The team looked at four sites near Berbera, recorded 1,485 objects, and found that over 90% were imported and only 8.5% were local handmade pottery (§1). Test pits were dug at three sites; the rest of the finds came from the surface. For the earlier history of the town, see [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/).

The authors note that Berbera appears in Arabic texts from the 13th century as a lesser port than Zeila, that Ludovico di Varthema mentioned it in 1505, and that the Portuguese sacked it in 1518. They could not find the medieval town itself, which they think lies under later buildings (§1).

## Bandar Abbas, 11th–13th centuries

The site lies on the coast about 8 km east of Berbera. The authors note that the name is first recorded by Richard Burton in 1854–55, and that *bandar* is Persian for "port" (§1.1, note 1).

- **What is there.** On about 2 hectares of dune are hearths, heaps of butchered bones, pots buried in stone-lined pits, a hut built of camel bones, two graves and a mosque with a mudbrick qibla wall and mihrab. The authors write that mudbrick is "unknown in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) but common across medieval Yemen" (§§1.1, 1.1.2).
- **Finds.** Most of the pottery is Yemeni cooking and storage ware of the 11th–12th centuries, with Indian cooking pots, Iranian sgraffiato, Chinese celadon and Qingbai, glass perfume flasks, kohl sticks and beads of Indian carnelian and agate (§1.1.1).
- **Reading.** Because camels are usually killed only for feasts and religious occasions, the authors interpret the site as "a place for intercultural religious celebrations", where Yemenis and local people feasted together, with some trade on the side. They date its main use to the 12th century (§1.1.2).

## Siyaara, 11th to early 19th century

Siyaara is about 30 km east of Berbera. It covers about 8 hectares of sandy plain beside the beach, with a fort, two coral-stone buildings and Muslim cemeteries with thousands of graves (§1.2).

- **Sources.** The authors note that the 15th-century navigator Ibn Majid names it as a port with sailing seasons different from Zeila's. Burton recorded a local story that in 1266 it was ruled by a non-Muslim chief, a magician, who was driven out by two holy men from Arabia; the authors suggest this "might be an allegory" for the arrival of Muslim missionaries (§1.2).
- **Finds.** With 525 items, it has yielded more imports than any other site in the survey, including the largest set of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain known in Somaliland: 48 sherds, mostly cups and bowls from Jingdezhen (§1.2.2).
- **Dates.** About 61% of the datable imported pottery belongs to the Adal period, 31% to the 11th–14th centuries and 8% to the 17th–19th (§1.2.2).
- **Reading.** The earliest finds cluster round a large cairn, with mounds of ash and bone. The authors suggest trade began there "with a ritual element", and note that *siyaaro* is the Somali word for a pilgrimage to the tombs of holy men. From the 13th or 14th century, they write, it became "a more conventional kind of fair" (§1.2.3). See [From cairns to cemeteries](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/).

## Farhad, 13th to 16th century

Farhad is a rocky hill 3.5 km south of Berbera port, beside the main road inland. Sailors used it as a landmark until colonial times. The finds cover about 5 hectares, but quarrying and new building have destroyed most of the site since 2017 (§1.3). With no buildings, grinding stones or cemetery, the authors read it as an open fair rather than a village. Compared with Siyaara, half of its fine wares are from Yemen, and 30% of its pottery is storage jars. They suggest the two fairs "catered to different customers" (§§1.3.1–1.3.2). A fort, perhaps Ottoman, was later built on the hilltop (§1.3.2).

## Biyo Gure, 15th to 16th century

Biyo Gure is a village of perhaps 30 buildings on a spur above the Biyo Gure river, 10 km from the sea. The authors estimate about a hundred people lived there (§1.4).

- **Farming and trade.** Grinding stones point to farming. Imports were unusually rich for a village, including Myanmar celadon, one bowl possibly marked with a letter of the Pyu script. Glass slag suggests glass was melted there, the only such evidence the team has found in Somaliland (§§1.4–1.4.1).
- **Burned.** Three houses far apart from each other had burned, with layers of ash 40 cm thick. The authors write that who destroyed it is "difficult to say" in a century of wars and foreign intervention (§1.4.2).
- **Reading.** They suggest that its people sold food and water to caravans and to traders waiting on the coast for ships (§1.4.2).

## How the sources of goods changed

The authors' table of imported pottery from all four sites (§2, table 1):

| Source | 12th–14th centuries | 15th–16th centuries |
|---|---|---|
| Yemen | 56% | 33% |
| China | 16% | 32% |
| Iran | 14% | 20% |
| India | 12% | 0% |
| South-East Asia | 1% | 8% |
| Egypt | 1% | 7% |

They add that Indian trade continued in beads, bangles and probably cloth, and that Egypt also sent glass (§§1.2.3, 2). They place the peak of Asian imports between about 1450 and 1525, and link the fall to Ming export bans from about 1521, Portuguese action in the Indian Ocean, and the wars and collapse of the Adal sultanate (§§2–3).

## Where the goods went

Inland, the authors note, local pottery makes up about 99% of finds, against an average 7% on the coast. They read Somaliland as "more a transition zone that conveyed goods to the interior than a destination", with Berbera probably second to Zeila. Fardowsa is the exception, which they explain by its place at the top of the main pass (§2). See [Fardowsa](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/).

## Related pages

- [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)
- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/)
- [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/)
- [Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518](/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/)


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# Handoga: a medieval town of nomads in Djibouti, about 1100–1500

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/handoga-medieval-town-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Handoga, 10 km west of Dikhil in southern Djibouti, is the only medieval town known in Djibouti. It began as a camp of huts in the 12th–13th centuries, was rebuilt in stone in the 14th, and was abandoned without signs of violence by about the end of the 15th. It covers 20 hectares with about 320 buildings, three mosques and a cemetery of about a thousand graves. Its excavators note that its round rooms round open yards, its few imports of beads, bangles and cowries, and its graves resemble nomad practice more than the stone towns of Somaliland, and they argue that it rose while the Ifat sultanate declined and emptied once trade on the Zeila–Harar route was restored.

## In short

This page follows the main report on Handoga by two members of the Incipit-CSIC team of Spain ([Rouco Collazo and de Torres Rodríguez, "Gone with the wind. Urbanization and deurbanization processes in the medieval Muslim Horn of Africa: the case of Handoga (Djibouti)", *World Archaeology*, 2025](https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2025.2545180), open access). Section numbers below refer to it. The authors describe the people of the area today as Afar (§3.1). Handoga belongs to the same medieval Muslim world as the towns of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), and its excavators compare it closely with them. See [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

## Research

French archaeologists dug several houses in the 1970s, and a short visit in 2006 found iron slag and copper ingots in what was identified as a metal workshop. Since 2021 the StateHorn project has mapped the site and dug two complete compounds, a foundry, two mosques and test pits (§2).

## Two phases

- **A camp, 12th–13th centuries.** Under the stone buildings are post holes and trenches of huts and fences, radiocarbon dated to the 12th and 13th centuries. The authors suggest the place began as a gathering centre for nomads and a watering stop for caravans between the Red Sea coast and the interior (§§2, 3.2).
- **A stone town, 14th–15th centuries.** Early in the 14th century the huts were replaced by stone buildings with no break in use. The authors compare the town at its height with Aw Bare and Fardowsa in size (§2). See [Fardowsa](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/) and [Aw Bare](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/).
- **The end.** They describe the town as "peacefully but comprehensively abandoned", with no trace of burning, by the end of the 15th century (§2). In one passage the paper puts the end in the 16th century (§3.5).

## The town

Handoga stretches 540 metres along an escarpment above the Chekeiti wadi and covers about 20 hectares with about 320 buildings. There are no streets or squares, and no public buildings except mosques (§§2, 3.1). Allowing five people to a household, the authors estimate about 1,600 people at its peak (§3.1).

Three mosques are known. Two in the north, of about 10 by 14 and 12 by 13 metres, are joined, the courtyard wall of one built against the qibla wall of the other. The authors suggest they may have served different groups, or men and women (§3.1).

## Round houses round open yards

Each house is a compound of round or oval rooms with stone footings, set round an open yard where most cooking was done. The authors contrast this with the square, many-roomed stone houses of Fardowsa and the sultanate towns, and note that it is close to the camps that nomads in the region still build (§3.2).

## Farming and trade

- **Grinding stones.** About 200 grinding-stone fragments were found, but a study of 88 of them found them "minimally curated", which the authors take as a sign that farming had lower standing than herding or trade (§3.3).
- **Imports.** Thousands of cowries were found, many with their backs cut off on site, along with glass beads and bangles, stone beads, mother-of-pearl pendants, a bronze dinar weight and two Chinese coins. Imported pottery and softstone vessels, common in Somaliland, are almost absent. The authors note that the imports are "light and easily transportable" and worn on the body, and suggest they suited a nomadic population (§3.3).

## The cemetery

The cemetery runs for more than a kilometre south of the town, with about a thousand graves and open-air prayer places. The slab-lined cists common in Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia are absent; most graves are rings or ovals of stones. At its core is a row of cairn-like tombs on the escarpment, some walled with an entrance to the south, which the authors compare with the *das* tombs recorded among the Afar (§3.4). Because a thousand graves seem too few for the town, they suggest that many people were buried in the cemeteries of the nomad groups they came from (§3.4). See [From cairns to cemeteries](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/).

## How the authors explain its rise and end

They link the stone town to the decline of the [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) sultanate, when the last sultan of Ifat was killed at Zeila and the main route inland came under Ethiopian control. They argue that this opened a chance for places on the margins, and that once the sultanate of Barr Sa'd al-Din restored the Zeila–Harar route, "there was no reason for Handoga to remain as a permanent settlement" (§4). They found no clear evidence that a drier climate caused the end (§4). They compare it with later coastal towns founded by nomads, such as Kismaayo, Mareeg, Hobyo, Boosaaso and Bulhar, but note that Handoga alone was completely abandoned (§4).

## Related pages

- [The 'nomad kings': great cairns of the lowlands](/en/history/nomad-kings-great-cairns-650-1000/)
- [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/)
- [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)


---

# Nomads, towns and the state under Ifat and Adal: what archaeology suggests

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Medieval western Somaliland held two very different ways of life: stone villages and towns with mosques and farms, and herders whose traces are cairns, open-air mosques and seasonal fairs. In a 2020 study, the archaeologist Jorge de Torres Rodríguez argues that the sultanates of Ifat and Adal held these groups together through three shared 'spheres of interest': trade, religion and war. He links the end of the towns in the 16th century to Portuguese disruption of trade, the wars with Ethiopia and the Oromo, and a shift under Imam Ahmad towards tighter control, after which, he writes, a nomadic way of life prevailed.

## In short

This page follows an article by Jorge de Torres Rodríguez of the Incipit-CSIC institute in Spain ([de Torres Rodríguez, "Built on diversity: Statehood in Medieval Somaliland (12th–16th centuries AD)", *Anejos de Nailos* 6, 2020, pp. 159–188](http://hdl.handle.net/10261/216279), open access). He asks how the sultanates of Ifat and Adal held together peoples with "very different beliefs, lifestyles, languages and ethnicities" for more than three centuries (p. 159). For the political history, see [The sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) and [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

## The sites

By 2020 the team had mapped 27 medieval sites in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), partly dug seven, and recorded more than 500 burial mounds (p. 165). De Torres groups them in four settings (pp. 165–167):

- **The coast.** Of the three ports named by Arab and Portuguese sailors, Zeila, Berbera and [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/), he writes that only Zeila was a city. The usual trading place was a seasonal fair with few buildings, such as Farhad, Bandar Abbas or Siyaara, used by nomads in the trading season from October to April. See [The trade fairs of the Berbera coast](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/).
- **Around [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/).** Fardowsa and its neighbouring villages stood at the first resting place for caravans after the coastal plain, with the caravan station of Qalcadda nearby. See [Fardowsa](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/).
- **Around [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/).** Eighteen sites were known, eight of them studied, from towns such as Amud and Abasa to hamlets such as Aroqolab. They had few imports and, he writes, "a clear agricultural vocation". Derbi Cad was a hilltop stronghold, and Dameraqad a religious centre. See [Abasa](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/).
- **Nomad sites.** Cairns along the wadis, mosques outlined on the ground, and the funerary sanctuary of Iskudar.

## What the towns had in common

De Torres describes the towns as alike everywhere (pp. 172–176):

- **Layout.** Houses were scattered with no street plan. Only Derbi Cad and Qalcadda were walled, which he explains by their distance from the Christian frontier.
- **Houses.** They were square or rectangular, usually 20–40 square metres, with two or three rooms, built of flat stones set in mud.
- **Mosques.** These were the main buildings, with square mihrabs, sometimes walled courtyards, and no minarets or minbars, unlike the 16th-century mosques of Zeila. See [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/).
- **Graves.** Most were slab-lined cists, but cemeteries varied more than houses did.
- **Pottery.** Local handmade pots were highly standard, with no local fine wares.

He notes that pottery published from Harar and Shewa looks closer to highland Ethiopian traditions, and suggests there were "different regional traditions" within the sultanates (p. 179).

## The nomads

De Torres describes the yearly cycle of herders in Somaliland, citing I. M. Lewis: south to the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) after the *Gu* rains of April, back north in the hot *Hagaa* season and the *Dayr* rains, and to home wells for the dry *[Jiilaal](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/)* (pp. 180–181). He writes that cairns became especially widespread in the late first and early second millennia AD, and that open-air mosques were later added beside them (p. 181).

- **Iskudar** was a sanctuary in use from about the mid-12th to the late 14th century. He describes its feasts among the cairns as having a "clear non-Islamic background", which he takes as a sign that older beliefs lasted "well into the 14th century" among nomads (pp. 167, 182, 185).
- **Dameraqad**, recorded by Curle as a village, has 12–15 buildings, at least three of them mosques, and large graves ringed with stones. After it was abandoned, nomads built a carefully made open-air mosque in front of it, its floor laid with pink quartz. De Torres contrasts this with Iskudar: nomads "who were pagans two centuries ago" kept visiting a Muslim site (pp. 185–187).

He notes that medieval texts mention Somali groups in the sultanate and that *The Conquest of Abyssinia* sometimes calls them unruly. He cites it for both Somali clans defying Imam Ahmad, mostly outside Adal's borders, and others, such as the Girri, seeking his protection (p. 182). See [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/).

## Three "spheres of interest"

De Torres proposes that the sultanates were held together less by a shared material culture than by three areas where groups met and cooperated (pp. 183–188):

- **Trade.** Nomads controlled the routes and the coastal fairs, and he argues trade "would have been impossible without their participation". He points to Qalcadda, a walled enclosure of 55 by 90 metres with round corner bastions and a courtyard building like Middle Eastern caravan stations, as "explicit evidence" of state control. He also notes there are no recorded incidents over trade in the texts.
- **Religion.** He cites oral traditions of missionaries such as Sheikh Isaaq, said to have come to Zeila in 1153 and settled at Maydh, and Aw Barkhadle. He also notes sites named after holy men, such as Aw Barkhadle, Aw Bare and Aw Boba. See [Aw Bare and Aw Boba](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/).
- **War.** He writes that nomads were "fully and systematically incorporated" into Adal's armies in the 16th century, while some Somali groups outside Adal resisted Imam Ahmad's rule and taxes, or sided with the sultan's party, which favoured peace with Ethiopia.

## The end of the towns

He argues that in the 16th century war and religion merged into jihad, the Portuguese disrupted trade, and Imam Ahmad sought tighter control of land and resources. After defeats by Ethiopia and the Oromo, he writes, only religion remained, "and for this unifying force a state was not strictly necessary anymore". He adds that it "would be derogative to consider it a collapse": the new order was, in his words, "as stable and efficient as the previous one, but less diverse and based on the nomadic culture" (p. 188).

## Related pages

- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)
- [Kabab and the medieval towns of the Gebiley region](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/)
- [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal, 1415–1520](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/)
- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)


---

# The Sabaean inscriptions of the Somali coast, about 700 BC

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/sabaean-inscriptions-on-the-somali-coast/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2019 a looted sanctuary on the east coast of Bari region, about 50 km south-south-west of Cape Guardafui, yielded seven inscriptions in Sabaic, the language of the ancient kingdom of Saba in Yemen. A team of French and Yemeni epigraphers dates them most likely to the late 8th or 7th century BC. The texts are dedications to a god called Akhakhatan by Sabaeans, at least one from the capital Marib, and mention 'the boat of Saba' and a Sabaean ruler named Yathaʿʾamar Watar. The authors read them as evidence of a royal Sabaean sea venture to the Somali coast, probably for incense.

## In short

This page follows the first publication of the inscriptions ([Prioletta, Robin, Schiettecatte, Gajda and Nuʿmān, "Sabaeans on the Somali coast", *Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy* 32, supplement 1, 2021, pp. 328–339](https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12202); open version on [HAL](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03483948)). Four of the authors are from France's national research centre, CNRS, and one is from the University of Dhamar in Yemen. Page numbers below refer to the open version. For other pre-Islamic writing and burials, see [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

## How the inscriptions came to light

From spring 2019, photographs of "illegally excavated remains and inscriptions" began to circulate online, and some were sent to two of the authors with a request to approach the local authorities. Seven inscribed blocks and an incense altar were reported (p. 1). The authors thank a senior adviser to the President of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), and a Somali resident in the United Kingdom, for photographs sent "to prevent their illegal export" (p. 1).

## Where the site is

The finders did not disclose the location; one source named Cape Guardafui and another the town of [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/). By matching the hills in the photographs with satellite elevation data, the authors place the site on the east coast about 50 km south-south-west of Cape Guardafui, 20 km north of Bargal and 110 km north of Xaafuun, probably near the Abdexan well (p. 2).

They note that the French explorer Georges Révoil reported an ancient temple at a place he called Abdaham in 1880. The photographs show walls of finely dressed stone "typical of South Arabian monumental constructions", and the authors think the two are the same site. They add that built remains of this age are "exceptional" in the Somali lands, where earlier evidence is mostly rock art, megaliths and cairns (p. 2).

## Dating

Six of the seven texts are carefully cut in boustrophedon, with lines running alternately right-to-left and left-to-right, in a style close to the standard of the late 8th and early 7th centuries BC. Two name a ruler of Saba called Yathaʿʾamar or Yathaʿʾamar Watar. Three Sabaean rulers had that name. The authors favour the earliest, Yathaʿʾamar Watar son of Yakrubmalik, who reigned in the last quarter of the 8th century BC. They add that this date "remains admittedly highly uncertain" (p. 3).

## What the texts say

The inscriptions are numbered [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) 2021-1 to 2021-7, after the region (p. 2). In the authors' translations (pp. 3–9):

- **Bari 2021-1.** A man "dedicated to Akhakhatān" an offering and his son "when he was priest of Akhakhatān in Rḥbm".
- **Bari 2021-3.** A man "in charge of the offerings to Akhakhatān" dedicated his life "when he provided the food supplies with his father on the boat of Yuhaythaʿ".
- **Bari 2021-4.** A man "of Ḥadaqān of Maʾrib" dedicated his children and an altar "when his lord Yathaʿʾamar appointed him", and "directed the boat of Sabaʾ".
- **Bari 2021-5.** A man placed his possessions and "the life of his female servant" under the god's will.
- **Bari 2021-6.** A damaged text names Yathaʿʾamar Watar and "the boat of Sabaʾ", and possibly "an expedition".

The other two are a dedication of an inscription and a small fragment. The texts also invoke ʿAthtar, a god worshipped across South Arabia, and Almaqah, the god of Saba (pp. 4, 10).

The word translated "boat" is *mrkb*, which can also mean a caravan. The authors write that "in the Somali context, there is little doubt that the Sabaeans travelled by sea". If so, this would be the first word for a ship in South Arabian inscriptions from before the Christian era (p. 6).

## How the authors read them

- **A temple.** All the texts are dedications, which to the authors mark the site as a sanctuary or temple of Akhakhatan, a god known otherwise from only two short texts in Yemen. They suggest he "may have been the protector of traders or of sailors" (p. 10).
- **A royal venture.** The ruler's name, the god Almaqah, the language and the names all point to Saba. One family, Ḥadaqān, is also known from inscriptions at Matara in Eritrea. The authors argue that the expeditions were "a centralised enterprise, organised and managed by Sabaean rulers" (pp. 10–11).
- **Pure Sabaic.** Unlike the Sabaic inscriptions of Ethiopia and Eritrea, these show no local influence, which the authors take to mean the writers came straight from Saba (p. 11).
- **Why there.** They think the "primary goal" was aromatic resins, noting that the area has springs and incense trees, and that ancient writers praised its aromatics. The likely route ran along the north coast and round Cape Guardafui (p. 11). See [Ancient frankincense and myrrh](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/).

## Other South Arabian writing: who says what

- **Shalcaw (Shuula).** A four-letter inscription reading *Ybḥd* is cut on a block in a dry-stone tomb near Shalcaw, 25 km south-west of Heis. The authors call it the only other South Arabian inscription known from Somalia, and say its script may be early, though "the argument… is not decisive" (pp. 11–12). See [Heis (Xiis)](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/).
- **[Dhagah Nabi Gallay](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/) and Dhagah Kure.** Sada Mire lists possible Sabaean or Himyarite writing at these rock-art sites ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Having examined published photographs of Dhagah Kure, the authors write that they show "neither convincing signs nor any meaningful sequence of characters" (p. 12, note 60).

## Related pages

- [Punt and the Somali coast](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [Opone and the ancient port at Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/)
- [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Ancient ruins of the north-east recorded by Georges Révoil](/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/)


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# The Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates, 1700s–1927

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Majeerteen Sultanate, ruled from Bargal and Alula, and the Sultanate of Hobyo, founded in the 1870s by Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid, were two Somali kingdoms of the north-east coast. They traded livestock, frankincense and gum with Arabia and India, signed protection treaties with Italy in 1889 while keeping their own rule, and kept it until Italy occupied both by force in 1925–1927.

## In short

In the 1800s two Somali kingdoms ruled the north-east coast. The Majeerteen Sultanate held the Horn itself, from the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) round Cape Guardafui. The Sultanate of Hobyo held the Indian Ocean coast to the south.

Both signed treaties with Italy in 1889 and kept governing themselves for over thirty years. Italy ended both by military force between 1925 and 1927.

## The Majeerteen Sultanate

The Library of Congress dates the Majeerteen Sultanate to the mid-1700s. It "came into its own" in the 1800s under [Boqor Cismaan](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/) Maxamuud ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm)).

It grew rich on "a liberal trade policy that facilitated a flourishing commerce in livestock, ostrich feathers, and gum arabic" (same source). The Boqor lived at Bargal, near Cape Guardafui. An Italian government survey, written in early 1925, found it a town of about 600 people, with four stone forts, the sultan's house and sixteen other stone buildings ([*La Migiurtinia ed il territorio del Nogal*, Regio Governo della Somalia Italiana, c. 1926](https://archive.org/details/4767385f-64cb-20acdc-2ef-3e-10c-061c-73)).

## Who lived there, by the Italian count

The same survey counted about 43,700 people in the sultanate: 10,850 in the coastal villages and 29,860 in the interior, with a floating population besides. It gave the area as about 78,000 square kilometres, about 0.5 people per square kilometre ([*La Migiurtinia*](https://archive.org/details/4767385f-64cb-20acdc-2ef-3e-10c-061c-73)).

Its authors warned that the figures "must be accepted with many reservations", because people moved with the seasons and often gave exaggerated answers (same source). It placed most of the people in the Majeerteen branch of the [Daarood](/en/society/darod/). Among its legible figures for the interior:

- [Cismaan Maxamuud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/), spread across most of the territory: about 6,000.
- [Cali Saleebaan](/en/society/ali-saleebaan/), in the mountains between the Daror valley and the coast: about 5,000.
- Siwaaqroon, behind Cape Guardafui: about 4,000.
- [Ciise Maxamuud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/), near the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/): about 2,000.
- Ugaas Saleebaan, behind Bargal and Hurdiya: about 1,500.
- [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) living in the sultanate: about 400.

The survey also named small groups living among the Majeerteen: the Midgaan, Yibir and Tumaal. It described them, in the words of its time, as "people considered of inferior race" (same source).

## Britain and the shipwrecked sailors

The Horn was a dangerous coast for steamships. In 1862 the Majeerteen agreed with Britain to protect the lives of shipwrecked sailors ([*Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04*, War Office, 1907, vol. 1, p. 46](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

The agreement was renewed in 1879 and on 1 May 1885. Britain paid 360 dollars a year to the Majeerteen sultan and to Yuusuf Cali at [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/) (same source). The Library of Congress says the sultan acknowledged "a vague vassalage to the British" but kept his kingdom free ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm)).

## Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid and the founding of Hobyo

[Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/) was a kinsman of Boqor Cismaan. The British War Office records that, as governor of Alula, he "fought for several years" against Boqor Cismaan, and made peace with him in 1884 ([*Official History*, vol. 1, p. 132](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

He then turned south. The same source says he took Hobyo with about fifty matchlock men and held it against an attempt to remove him in 1885. The Library of Congress adds that he had gone into exile in Arabia and came back in the 1870s with "a score of Hadhrami musketeers" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm)).

From Hobyo he extended his rule inland, to the wells of Galkayo in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), where he built a small fort ([*Official History*, vol. 1, p. 132](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

## The 1889 treaties with Italy

On 8 February 1889 an Italian warship raised the Italian flag at Hobyo, under a treaty with the Sultan ([Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, 1909, vol. 3, No. 348, p. 1123](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert)). In May, Italy set its limits from [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) to Cape Awad.

On 7 April 1889, at Bender Alula, Boqor Cismaan signed his treaty with Italy ([Hertslet 1909, vol. 3, No. 346, p. 1119](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert)):

> "We, Sultan Osman Mahmud Jusuf, Sultan of all the Migertini, have of our own free will put to this Act our hand and seal."

He placed his country "from Ras Auad to Ras-el-Kyle" under Italian protection. He promised to make no treaties with other powers. Yuusuf Cali signed as a witness (same source). The land between the two sultanates, which both claimed, also passed under Italian protection with "the consent of the two Sultans" (same source, No. 349).

## Protection, not rule

For three decades, Italy's protection meant little on land. The War Office wrote in 1906 that Italy's relations with the two sultans were "limited to the payment of an annual subsidy" ([*Official History*, vol. 1, p. 42](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)). Italy paid 3,600 thalers a year to the two sultans (Hertslet, vol. 3).

The Italian government's own survey admits that its protectorate was "more nominal than effective" in the years after 1889 ([*La Migiurtinia*, ch. X](https://archive.org/details/4767385f-64cb-20acdc-2ef-3e-10c-061c-73)). It records that Boqor Cismaan even offered his protectorate to France and Germany. A new convention, signed on 18 August 1901, renewed the agreement (same source; Hertslet vol. 3).

## Between Britain and the Dervishes

In the winter of 1902–1903 a British force landed at Hobyo to march against the [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/). The British accused Yuusuf Cali of obstructing them. In January 1903 they removed him and his son to Aden, and Italy sent them into exile in Eritrea ([*Official History*, vol. 1, pp. 132–133](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

In May 1903 Italy brought back his son, Cali Yuusuf, as sultan of Hobyo (same source, p. 189). The 1905 Illig agreement then gave the Dervishes the Nugaal valley between the two sultanates. The Majeerteen sultan, the Italian survey records, at first kept friendly terms with the Dervishes, and later fought them ([*La Migiurtinia*, ch. X](https://archive.org/details/4767385f-64cb-20acdc-2ef-3e-10c-061c-73)).

## The end, 1925–1927

In the 1920s Italy's fascist government decided to bring the two sultanates under direct rule. Governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi led the campaign ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm); ["Campaign of the Sultanates", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_of_the_Sultanates)).

The occupation began in October 1925. The Italian survey itself records, in a footnote, that Bargal, the Boqor's town, "no longer exists: it was bombarded and razed to the ground on 28 and 29 October 1925" ([*La Migiurtinia*, note to entry 20](https://archive.org/details/4767385f-64cb-20acdc-2ef-3e-10c-061c-73)). Resistance in both sultanates went on into 1927.

## Who suffered?

The people of Bargal lost their town. Fighters and families across the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) and Mudug regions died in the campaign of 1925–1927, and their rulers were removed. No agreed figure for the dead exists in the sources we can link to.

## A family that wrote

The house of Hobyo left another mark. In the early 1920s [Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/), of the Hobyo ruling family, created the Osmanya script for writing Somali. See [how Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## Sources differ

- **When Hobyo came under Italian protection.** The Library of Congress says 1888 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). Italy's own notification gives a treaty and flag-raising on 8 February 1889 ([Hertslet, vol. 3, p. 1123](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert)).
- **When Hobyo was founded.** The War Office puts Yuusuf Cali's move to Hobyo after 1884; the Library of Congress says the 1870s.
- **The British agreement.** The War Office dates the renewal to 1 May 1885; Hertslet dates it to 1 May 1884.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- E. Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, 3rd ed., 1909, vol. 3, Nos. 346–349 (the 1889 treaties and notifications): [full text](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert).
- War Office, *Official History of the Operations in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), 1901–04*, 1907, vol. 1: [full text](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog).
- Regio Governo della Somalia Italiana, *La Migiurtinia ed il territorio del Nogal* (in Italian), c. 1926: [full text](https://archive.org/details/4767385f-64cb-20acdc-2ef-3e-10c-061c-73).


---

# Timeline: the 1300s to independence in 1960

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/timeline-1300s-to-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From Mogadishu's trading towns and the Adal Sultanate to the Somali Youth League and the union of 1 July 1960, these are the dated events that shaped Somali unity, each with its source.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-before-1500">Before 1500</a></li><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</a></li><li><a href="#era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>

<h2 id="era-before-1500">Before 1500</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">9th c. or earlier</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu exists as a trading town where Persian and Arab immigrants mix with Somalis.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Mogadishu townspeople, Indian Ocean merchants. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">S3</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1331</h3><p class="tl__body">Ibn Battuta visits Mogadishu and calls it "an exceedingly large city"</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Mogadishu, Muslim scholars and traders. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">S3</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">14th c</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu, Merca and Baraawe are described as centres of urban life and learning.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Banaadir coastal towns. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">S3</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1415</h3><p class="tl__body">Ethiopian Negus Yeshaq invades the Muslim kingdom of Ifat and kills its king Saad ad-Din near Saylac (Zeila).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Ifat (Walashma rulers), Solomonic Ethiopia. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/5.htm">S2</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15th–16th c</h3><p class="tl__body">"Centralized state systems" emerge, the most important being Adal. At its 16th-century height its influence runs from Saylac through Jijiga and the Harar plateau to the Ethiopian highlands.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Adal Sultanate, Harar. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/5.htm">S2</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">c. 1300–c. 1575</h3><p class="tl__body">Britannica dates Adal c. 1300–1575, with Harar as its capital. Border raids against Ethiopia begin in the 14th century. Mahfuz, governor of Zeila, leads attacks until he is killed in 1516.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Adal, Zeila governors, Ethiopia. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal">S22</a></p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1533–1541</h3><p class="tl__body">By 1533 Ahmad Grañ's forces control most of central Ethiopia. Ethiopia appeals to Portugal, and 400 Portuguese musketeers land at Massawa in 1541. Adal then gets about 900 Arab, Turkish and Albanian musketeers plus cannon (Britannica does not call this formal Ottoman state support).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Adal; Ethiopia; Portugal; Turkish/Arab musketeers. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal">S22</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Later 16th c</h3><p class="tl__body">Oromo invasions end Adal's power. "Its nomadic followers lost unity" and the state becomes insignificant.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Adal, Oromo migrants. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal">S22</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">c. 1529–1543</h3><p class="tl__body">Imam Ahmad Guray ("Gran", dated 1506–43 by LoC) leads Muslim forces into the Ethiopian highlands. He is killed in 1543 when a Portuguese-supported Ethiopian army with cannon defeats his forces.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Imam Ahmad, Adal; Ethiopia; Portugal (Christovão da Gama's expedition, which LoC names as led by Pedro da Gama). Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/5.htm">S2</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15th–16th c</h3><p class="tl__body">Sufi migrants carry Islam inland from the coast into the Banaadir hinterland.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Sufi scholars, coastal towns. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">S3</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">c. 1550–1650 (LoC dating; </h3><p class="tl__body">disputed<b>, as other accounts give a much longer span).</b> The Ujuuraan (Ajuran) state rises under the Gareen lineage in the inter-riverine region.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Ajuran, inter-riverine clans. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">S3</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">17th–18th c</h3><p class="tl__body">Portuguese expansion weakens Ajuran. Mogadishu alone resists repeated Portuguese attacks.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Portugal, Ajuran, Mogadishu. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">S3</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Precolonial to 1950s (structural)</h3><p class="tl__body">Xeer (<em>heer</em>): explicit contracts between lineages set up every formal political unit among northern pastoralists. Lewis counts over 360 diya-paying (blood-compensation) groups in the British Protectorate (pop. c. 640,000). Groups ally ad hoc by treaty, and colonial district offices registered these contracts and applied them as law.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Diya-paying groups, clans (<em>tol</em>), elders; British administration. Source: <a href="https://cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/clanship-and-contract-in-northern-somaliland1/EDF65B709C7BAD3A63B3F14593F7248C">S25</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1695</h3><p class="tl__body">Geledi Sultanate (Gobroon dynasty) established after overthrowing Ajuran vassals.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Geledi (Afgooye), Ibrahim Adeer. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_the_Geledi">S21</a> (citing Luling 2002)</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1728 onward</h3><p class="tl__body">Portugal is expelled from Mombasa. Omani authority over the Banaadir coast follows, but it is "mostly nominal": tribute, a qadi and a few askaris.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Oman, later Zanzibar; Banaadir towns. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm">S4</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-18th c</h3><p class="tl__body">The northern coast falls under the sharifs of Mukha, who rule on behalf of the declining Ottoman Empire and collect tribute.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Ottoman Empire (indirect), Mukha sharifs. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm">S4</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1749/1750</h3><p class="tl__body">Isaaq Sultanate established. Guled Abdi (Eidagale, Garhajis) is crowned in July 1750, with Toon as capital and later Hargeisa. Power is shared with akils, garaads, subordinate sultans and clerics. The Habr Yunis break away under Farah Guled. By the 1880s the sultanate has shrunk to the Eidagale and Arap.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Isaaq Sultanate, Habr Yunis, other Isaaq lineages. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate">S30</a> (citing Lewis 2002; Laitin 1977)</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-18th c. to 19th c</h3><p class="tl__body">The Majeerteen Sultanate rises and flourishes under Boqor Ismaan Mahamuud, who holds a "vague vassalage" to Britain.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Majeerteen Sultanate. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm">S5</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1843</h3><p class="tl__body">Geledi Sultan Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim destroys the Bardera jama'a (a reformist religious community).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Geledi, Bardera jama'a. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_the_Geledi">S21</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1848, 1878</h3><p class="tl__body">Geledi sultans Yusuf (1848) and Ahmed Yusuf (1878) are killed fighting the Bimaal near Merca.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Geledi, Bimaal. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_the_Geledi">S21</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1854–55</h3><p class="tl__body">Richard Burton finds Haaji Shermaarke Ali Saalih (Habar Yoonis, Isaaq) holding real power over a declining Saylac.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> British India, Isaaq notables. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm">S4</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-19th c., 1870s</h3><p class="tl__body">A civil war of about five years between Boqor Ismaan and his cousin Yuusuf Ali Keenadiid. Keenadiid returns with Hadhrami musketeers and founds the Hobyo Sultanate.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Majeerteen, Hobyo, Hadhrami mercenaries. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm">S5</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1884</h3><p class="tl__body">The Mahdist revolt ends Khedive Ismail's Horn ambitions. Egypt needs British help to evacuate its troops from the Somali coast.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Egypt, Britain, Mahdist Sudan. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">S6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1856; 1884–86</h3><p class="tl__body">The East India Company signs a treaty with Habr Awal sheikhs (1856) ending the Berbera blockade. In 1884 the Habr Awal allow a British presence at Berbera, and Egypt leaves Berbera in October 1884. Treaties with coastal sub-clans follow in 1884–86.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain; Habr Awal and other Isaaq lineages; Egypt. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate">S30</a></p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Feb 1884</h3><p class="tl__body">Major A. Hunter arrives at Berbera to sign friendship and protection treaties with Somali clans. Vice consuls are posted at Berbera, Bulhar and Saylac.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, northern clans (incl. Isaaq). Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">S6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1887–1897</h3><p class="tl__body">Menelik II extends Ethiopian rule over Harar and the Ogaden. Ethiopian armies repeatedly despoil the Ogaden.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Ethiopia (Menelik II). Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">S6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1888–1889</h3><p class="tl__body">Hobyo (1888) and then the Majeerteen (1889) accept Italian "protection"</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Italy (Filonardi), Hobyo, Majeerteen. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">S6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1893</h3><p class="tl__body">Filonardi and the Italian navy occupy Mogadishu, Merca, Barawa and Warsheekh. On 2 Oct 1893 Lt. Talmone is killed at Merca, the first recorded act of resistance.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Italy; Banaadir townspeople. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance">S18</a> (citing Hess 1966)</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Nov 1896</h3><p class="tl__body"><b>Lafoole</b>: Consul Antonio Cecchi and about 14 Italians are killed near Afgooye by Wa'daan and Bimaal fighters. Italians call it "the Somali Adwa".</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Bimaal, Wa'daan (Hawiye); Italy. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance">S18</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1897</h3><p class="tl__body">Anglo-Ethiopian treaty (the LoC study refers to the 1897 treaty under which Ethiopia's title to the Haud was later confirmed).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, Ethiopia. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a> (1897/1908 border agreements)</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">By c. 1900</h3><p class="tl__body">The Somali peninsula is divided into British Somaliland, French Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopian Ogaden and Kenya's NFD.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, France, Italy, Ethiopia. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">S6</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm">S13</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1893–1916</h3><p class="tl__body">Somali pastoralists in Kenya's northern frontier repeatedly fight British rule. Turton argues the resistance was limited: groups never united even along clan lines, and weaker segments sided with the government against stronger rivals.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> NFD Somali pastoralists; British East Africa. Source: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-resistance-to-colonial-rule-and-the-development-of-somali-political-activity-in-kenya-18931960/4C145E9BBE5B153DC4CB2EBA52B82F09">S24</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1899–1920</h3><p class="tl__body"><b>Dervish movement</b> of Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan (Salihiyya order). It fights Ethiopia, Britain and Italy and withstands four major campaigns (1900–04). Britain withdraws to the coast in 1910. Taleh is bombed by the RAF in 1920 and the Sayyid dies of influenza.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Dervishes (core: Dulbahante and Ogaden, Darod); Britain; Italy; Ethiopia; rival Somali clans and Qadiriyya. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/10.htm">S7</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a>; <a href="https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029">S17</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1900s</h3><p class="tl__body">Italy temporarily grants the Sayyid the Nogal territory to contain him.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Italy, Dervishes. Source: <a href="https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029">S17</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1909</h3><p class="tl__body">Shaykh Uways al-Barawi (1847–1909), leader of the Uwaysiya branch of the Qadiriyya, who had close ties to Zanzibar's rulers and a role in East African Muslim resistance, is assassinated by representatives of the rival Salihiyya led by Mohamed Abdullah Hassan.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Qadiriyya/Uwaysiya; Salihiyya/Dervishes; Zanzibar. Source: <a href="https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/muslim-politics-and-resistance-to-colonial-rule-shaykh-uways-b-muhammad-albarawi-and-the-qadiriya-brotherhood-in-east-africa/7E6B77046CAC06E6C6C45121EF076E56">S27</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Early 1900s–1924</h3><p class="tl__body">Sheikh Hassan Barsane (Salihiyya) of the Middle Shabelle resists Ethiopian raids and later refuses Governor De Vecchi's disarmament order, invoking Sharia. He is captured in April 1924 and dies in a Mogadishu prison on 18 Aug 1928.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Hassan Barsane, Gaalje'el/Barsame; Italy (De Vecchi). Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane">S19</a> (citing Cassanelli 1982; Touval 1963; Hess 1966)</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1904–1908</h3><p class="tl__body">Bimaal resistance continues: Turunley (Feb 1907), Finlow (July 1908). Italian expeditions in 1908 subdue Afgooye and the surrounding area.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Bimaal under Sheikh Abdi Abikar Gaafle and Ma'alin Mursal; Italy. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance">S18</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1906–1910</h3><p class="tl__body">Governor Carletti starts Italy's colonial programme of plantations and settlement between the Shabelle and Jubba.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Italy. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm">S8</a></p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1923</h3><p class="tl__body">The first fascist governor, De Vecchi, is appointed. In 1926 the northern protectorates (Majeerteen, Hobyo) are incorporated after a military campaign.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Fascist Italy; Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15 July 1924 – 1926</h3><p class="tl__body">Britain cedes Trans-Juba (Oltre Giuba, capital Kismayo, c. 91,000 km² and c. 120,000 people) to Italy as a reward for joining the Allies in WWI. It is ceded on 15 July 1924, organised in 1925 and merged into Italian Somaliland on 10 June 1926. The southern half of Jubaland stays British as Kenya's NFD. Britannica and LoC date the cession to 1925 (<b>dates vary</b>).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, Italy. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oltre_Giuba">S32</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">S6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1920–1922; c. 1933; 1952</h3><p class="tl__body">Somali scripts: Osmanya (Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid, 1920–22), the Borama/Gadabuursi script (Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur, c. 1933) and Kaddare (1952). The Arabic-versus-Latin dispute ("Latin waa laa diin", "Latin is irreligion") stalls a decision. A modified Latin script is recommended in 1962 and adopted only in 1972.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Script inventors; SYL (whose aims included a standard orthography); religious opponents of Latin. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_writing_systems">S31</a> (citing Laitin 1977; Lewis 1958); <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1934</h3><p class="tl__body">Welwel incident in the disputed Ogaden.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Italy, Ethiopia. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1935–1941</h3><p class="tl__body">Italy conquers Ethiopia (1935–36) and British Somaliland (1940). The Ogaden, north and south are administered together with a common currency and taxes.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Fascist Italy. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm">S9</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1919 to 1940s</h3><p class="tl__body">Isaaq and Harti traders in Nairobi and Isiolo campaign through petitions, lawyers and associations for "Asiatic" status (the 1919 Somali Exemption Ordinance came closest). Turton calls the campaign sectarian, at times denying that they were Somali.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Isaaq and Harti trader associations in Kenya; Kenya colonial government. Source: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-resistance-to-colonial-rule-and-the-development-of-somali-political-activity-in-kenya-18931960/4C145E9BBE5B153DC4CB2EBA52B82F09">S24</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1939</h3><p class="tl__body">Burao riot over education policy, led by figures including Sheikh Bashir.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Sheikh Bashir, Isaaq (Habr Je'lo) community; Britain. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Sheikh_Bashir_rebellion">S20</a> (citing Jama Mohamed, <em>Past &amp; Present</em> 2002)</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mar 1941</h3><p class="tl__body">Britain reoccupies the north and places the south and the Ogaden under British Military Administration (BMA).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm">S9</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Early 1940s (Khalif's framing)</h3><p class="tl__body">Khalif (Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, 2024) notes that I. M. Lewis called the Dervish movement "proto-nationalism", as much religious as national. He dates the SYC (13 urban civil servants, Mogadishu) and the SNL (Hargeisa) to roughly the same time, and lists two founding nationalist goals that were later "lost": reining in clannism and Greater Somalia.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYC/SYL, SNL. Source: <a href="https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/analyses/ebbs-and-flows-somali-nationalism">S29</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">13 May 1943</h3><p class="tl__body">Somali Youth Club (SYC) founded in Mogadishu. Its 13 founders come from four of the six major clan-families and do not disclose their clans.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYC founders; police and junior officials; BMA tolerance. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Somali-Youth-League">S14</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2–7 July 1945</h3><p class="tl__body">Sheikh Bashir revolt at Burao. Sheikh Bashir is killed on 7 July at Bur Dhab. Britain seizes about 6,000 Habr Je'lo camels under collective punishment. The unrest spreads to Erigavo.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Sheikh Bashir and followers; Britain. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Sheikh_Bashir_rebellion">S20</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">29–30 Apr 1946</h3><p class="tl__body"><b>Bevin plan</b>: at the Paris Council of Foreign Ministers, the UK delegation (Foreign Secretary Bevin) proposes a "United Somalia" of British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, the Ogaden and the Reserved Areas under British trusteeship. The offer is to be withdrawn if no agreement is reached. SYC membership is about 25,000 that year.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain; Council of Foreign Ministers (US, USSR, France); Ethiopia; SYC. Source: <a href="https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1946v02/d88">S33</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1946–1949</h3><p class="tl__body">"Pro-Italia" groups (the Conferenza and others) campaign for Italian return under a trusteeship. Urbano argues they were driven by opposition to the SYL agenda and to the BMA, not by love of colonialism.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Pro-Italia associations; Hizbia Digil Mirifle (HDM, allegedly Italian-funded). Source: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/that-is-why-we-have-troubles-the-proitalia-movements-challenge-to-nationalism-in-britishoccupied-somalia194691/48D65319E9570D6826BB5C026104FF70">S16</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1947</h3><p class="tl__body">SYC renamed Somali Youth League (SYL). It opens offices in both Somalilands, the Ogaden and the NFD. Its aims are to unify all Somali territories, standardise a Somali script, expand education and oppose Italian return. It bans clannishness.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYL. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Somali-Youth-League">S14</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">January 1948 (commonly dated 11 Jan; the LoC study gives the month only)</h3><p class="tl__body">The Four Power Commission (UK, France, USSR, US) visits Mogadishu. A riot between an SYL rally and a pro-Italian counter-demonstration kills 51 Italians and 24 Somalis.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYL; pro-Italia groups; Four Powers. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1948–1949</h3><p class="tl__body">Britain hands the Ogaden back to Ethiopia under US and Soviet pressure. Grazing areas follow in 1949, and the "Reserved Areas" stay under British liaison officers.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, Ethiopia, US, USSR. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Nov 1949</h3><p class="tl__body">The UN General Assembly places ex-Italian Somalia under Italian trusteeship for 10 years, with independence fixed for no later than 1960.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> UN, Italy. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">S10</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1950–1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Italian trusteeship administration (AFIS) with a UN Advisory Council. It sets up a Territorial Council (1950). AFIS and the SYL clash in 1950–53.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> AFIS, UN, SYL. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1954</h3><p class="tl__body">Britain withdraws its liaison officers from the Haud and Reserved Area under an agreement confirming Ethiopia's title under the 1897 treaty. Protests follow, and the National United Front (NUF) is formed under Michael Mariano with SNL and SYL support, sending delegations to London and the UN.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, Ethiopia; Isaaq and other northern pastoralists; NUF, SNL, SYL. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">29 Nov 1954 – early 1955</h3><p class="tl__body">The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement is signed on 29 Nov 1954. Somali sheikhs are told only on 5 Jan 1955, days before it takes effect. In the Commons (25 Feb 1955), MPs criticise the lack of consultation, one calling it a "sad and shabby deal". The government says the 1897 treaty settled sovereignty and it will not hold the area by force. A Somali delegation in London is praised for its "dignified" conduct.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Britain, Ethiopia; northern clan leaders; Somali delegation. Source: <a href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/25/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian">S23</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1956</h3><p class="tl__body">First territory-wide southern elections. The SYL wins 43 of 60 contested seats and the HDM 13. Abdullaahi Iise becomes prime minister. Britain accepts eventual northern union and representative government.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYL, HDM; Britain. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1957–1958</h3><p class="tl__body">Haaji Mahammad Husseen is expelled from the SYL and forms the Greater Somali League (GSL), which calls for unification "by all means". The SYL majority adopts "reunification … by peaceful means". Women vote in 1958.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYL moderates, GSL radicals. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1959</h3><p class="tl__body">Pre-independence elections. The HDM and GSL boycott, and the SYL dominates (61 seats uncontested plus 20 contested).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYL, HDM, GSL. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Feb 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Northern elections. The SNL and its ally USP win 32 of 33 seats.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SNL (Isaaq-based), USP, NUF. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">April 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Northern and southern leaders meet in Mogadishu and agree a unitary state with an elected president and a 123-member assembly.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SNL, SYL leaders. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 June 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">British Somaliland becomes independent.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Somaliland, Britain. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland">S15</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1 July 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Trust territory independent. The two territories unite as the Somali Republic, with Aadan Abdullah Usmaan as president and Abdirashiid Ali Shermaarke as prime minister. The government is an SYL–SNL coalition.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SYL, SNL, UN. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">S11</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Somali-Youth-League">S14</a>; <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm">S13</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1960–61 (epilogue)</h3><p class="tl__body">The UN's Contini commission tries to merge two legal and administrative systems. The June 1961 constitution referendum gets under 50% support in the north. Northern officers attempt a coup in Dec 1961.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> North and south elites, UN. Source: <a href="http://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm">S12</a></p></li></ol>

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</div>


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# The Warsangali sultanate of Las Khorey and the Maakhir coast

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Warsangali sultanate was ruled by the Gerad (Garaad) line of the Warsangali, a Darod clan, on the Gulf of Aden coast between Bandar Jedid and Bandar Ziyada, with its seat at Las Khorey. British writers of the 1840s describe a hereditary 'Gerad Abdallah' royal line and a trade in frankincense and gum. It signed a protection treaty with Britain on 27 January 1886. During the Dervish wars its sultan married a sister to the Sayid and let Las Khorey serve as a Dervish port; Britain blockaded the coast in 1908 and exiled Sultan Mahmoud Ali Shire to the Seychelles in 1920.

## In short

The [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/) are a clan of the Darod, living on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) coast and in the mountains behind it, in today's [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) region. Their rulers, from a hereditary line called the Gerad (Garaad) Abdallah, governed the coast with its ports, chief among them Las Khorey ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire... de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 1, pp. 470–471](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis21guil)).

In 1886 the sultanate signed a treaty placing it under British protection ([Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, vol. 1, p. 408](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)). Its land became the eastern edge of [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). For the neighbouring Majeerteen states, see [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## The 1840s accounts

The French officer Charles Guillain, who sailed the coast in 1846–1848, quoted the British naval officer Charles Cruttenden's description of the "Ouarsanguéli" (pp. 470–471):

- **The people.** "A powerful and warlike population", descended "from the same mother as the Majeerteen", with whom they usually allied in wars, though "small quarrels" between them were frequent.
- **The ruling line.** The most important group was "the Guerad-Abdallah, the sovereign tribe in which the title of *guerad* or chief is passed down by inheritance". It lived on the southern slope of the high plateau.
- **Other groups.** Cruttenden named the Noh-Ahmar at Bandar Jedid, the Ogueis-Leubbah at Ras Gueri, the Eddin-Siyed at Gahm, the Mayeds at Durduri, and the Deubeiss at Ceelaayo, reaching to Bandar Ziyada.
- **Trade.** Exports were "incense, myrrh, gums", orchil dye and ghee. The Warsangali "have many horses".
- **The coast.** Guillain put the western limit of their territory at Bandar Jedid. He wrote that Guerâd, near Ras Gueri, was named to him as "the main town of the Ouarsanguéli", perhaps named for the chief's title (p. 470).

## The British treaty, 1886

- **27 January 1886.** The Warsangali signed a treaty with Britain. Like the other coastal treaties, it bound them "not to cede, sell, mortgage, or otherwise give for occupation, save to the British Government, any portion of their territory", and placed them "under British Protection" ([Hertslet, vol. 1, p. 408](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)).
- **German interest.** The British War Office history says Germany, which had commercial treaties with the Majeerteen, "also laid claim to Warsangli territory, but Great Britain concluded a treaty of protection in 1886 with the latter country" ([War Office, *Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04*, vol. 1, p. 46](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **The border.** The British protectorate was notified to the powers in 1887 as running to "Bunder Ziadeh, in the 49th meridian", the eastern edge of Warsangali land ([Hertslet, vol. 1, p. 409](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert)).

The texts of these treaties are told in [the colonial treaties, 1884–1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).

## The Dervish years, 1899–1920

- **Early years.** The War Office history says the Warsangli "assisted [the Sayid] only by selling arms, probably with a view to commercial profit rather than from any sympathy with his movement" ([War Office, vol. 1, p. 40](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **1904.** During the British campaign, Las Khorey was used as a landing place for troops, and the Warsangali sultan was asked to cooperate. A navy report records that a blockade of "the Warsangli ports" ended after the sultan "made his submission at Berbera" (same source, pp. 253–267).
- **By 1908.** Douglas Jardine, a British official, wrote that the Warsangali, "led by a Sultan who had married his daughter to the Mullah", had let the Sayid use Las Khorey "as a port through which to obtain supplies of food and clothing and arms and ammunition" ([Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland*, 1923, p. 161](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Later in the same book he calls it the Sayid's marriage to the sultan's sister (p. 256).
- **January 1908.** After the crew of a government dhow were fired on, "the Warsangli trade was stopped and a blockade instituted" (Jardine, p. 161).
- **Raids.** Jardine writes that the Sayid urged "certain of the more reckless sections of the Warsangli" to raid the [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/), and demanded that Britain "recognise the Warsangli as his 'proper Dervishes'" (pp. 168–169).
- **1915–1916.** The Dervishes built a fort at Jidali, on the western edge of Warsangali land. Early in 1916 the sultan raided Dervish herds there (pp. 255–256).
- **6–10 May 1916.** About 2,000 Dervishes attacked Las Khorey. The western quarter fell at once, "and some 300 women and children were put to death". The rest of the town held out for four days, until a British warship, HMS *Northbrook*, arrived and shelled the retreating force (Jardine, pp. 256–257). See [the Dervish movement, 1899–1920](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **1920.** Sultan Mahmoud Ali Shire was sent to Mahé, in the Seychelles, by the British (Jardine, p. 256).

## How British writers described the sultan

Jardine wrote that Mahmoud Ali Shire "was the last of the tribal Sultans in British Somaliland to retain any influence over his people", but that this influence "was maintained by tyrannical methods not far removed from those employed by the Mullah himself" (p. 256). He also wrote that the sultan "has the face of a fox" and called him, "like most mongrel orientals", "temperamentally incapable of keeping faith with anyone" (p. 256). These are Jardine's words, written in 1923 by a British official.

## Who suffered?

- **The people of Las Khorey,** in the Dervish attack of May 1916. Jardine gives about 300 women and children killed in the western quarter (p. 256).
- **Dervish fighters** killed by naval shellfire as they withdrew (pp. 256–257).
- **Coastal traders and townspeople** under the blockades of 1904 and 1908, which cut off imported food. Jardine names "rice and dates, sugar and tea" (p. 161).
- **The Dhulbahante,** raided by Warsangali sections and Dervishes in 1908–1909 (pp. 168–169).

## Sources differ

- **When the state began.** The sources linked here describe it in the 1840s. Wikipedia, citing later works, says a centralised state was founded in 1613 under Garaad Abdulle Mahmud I, with its capital first at Durduri and later at Las Khorey (["Warsangali Sultanate", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate)).
- **The sultan's tie to the Sayid.** Jardine writes of a daughter on p. 161 and a sister on p. 256.
- **The Warsangali and the Dervishes.** The War Office (1907) said they helped only by selling arms for profit. Jardine (1923) wrote that they had "committed themselves far more definitely to the Dervish cause" by 1908.
- **The sultan's character.** Jardine's description is that of a British official in conflict with him.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Charles Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 1 (Paris, 1856), pp. 470–471, in French: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis21guil).
- Edward Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, vol. 1 (3rd edition, 1909), pp. 408–409: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytr01hert).
- War Office, General Staff, *Official History of the Operations in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), 1901–04*, vol. 1 (1907): [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog).
- Douglas Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland* (1923), pp. 160–169 and 255–257: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland).


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# The Xiis cairns and Somali star lore: an astronomical study of ancient graves

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/xiis-cairns-and-somali-star-lore/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2022 three Spanish researchers published the first archaeoastronomical study in the Somali lands, measuring the orientation of 24 cairns, their standing stones and the bodies in excavated graves at the cairnfield of Xiis (Heis), dated to the 1st–3rd centuries AD. They found three clusters of orientation, near the equinox sunrise, the northern limit of the moon's rising, and the sunrise on the day the sun passes overhead. They link these to the seasons when nomads came to and left the coast, and to Somali star lore, such as the star Dirir (Spica) and the Pleiades (Lixo), while calling their results preliminary.

## In short

This page follows a study by Carolina Cornax Gómez of the University of Santiago de Compostela, with A. César González García and Jorge de Torres Rodríguez of the Incipit-CSIC institute ([Cornax Gómez, González García and de Torres Rodríguez, "The Guiding Sky: Funerary Orientations and Nomadic Movements in Somaliland during Antiquity", *Journal of Skyscape Archaeology* 8.1, 2022, pp. 36–65](https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.19238), open access). The authors call it "the first archaeoastronomical research conducted in Somalia/[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)" (p. 62). For the site itself, see [Heis (Xiis): the ancient port and its cairns](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/).

## The setting the authors describe

- **Somali sky lore.** The authors write that the Somali calendar combines solar cycles of days, weeks and years with a lunar-stellar calendar based on the stations of the moon. Citing Enrico Cerulli and Musa Galaal, they note that the lunar year was marked by the moon passing in front of the star Spica, called *Dirir*. They also mention a "sky-camel" possibly linked to the Southern Cross and the Milky Way (p. 39). See [Musa Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/).
- **The *wadaad*.** They describe this figure as combining astronomical, weather and religious knowledge, advising on moves, wells and herds and often judging disputes. Citing Abdullahi (2001), they write that the role "has a pre-Islamic origin" (p. 39).
- **Waaq.** They note that the name of a Cushitic sky god, Waaq, survives in Somali as one of the names of God (p. 37).
- **Seasons.** They set out the four seasons, *Gu*, *Hagaa*, *Dayr* and *[Jiilaal](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/)*, and note that trade on the coast ran from October to April, when the north-east monsoon brought ships and herders were wintering by the sea (pp. 39–41).

## The cairnfield of Xiis

About 450 cairns and graves line 11 km of coast near Xiis, one of the densest groups in Somaliland (p. 41). The Spanish project mapped the main field in 2018–2019 and catalogued 295 structures:

- **Types.** Most (78%) are round cairns, commonly 5–6 metres across and 2–3 metres high. About 18% are square, and a few are stone rings (p. 44).
- **Standing stones.** Eight cairns have small stelae, from two to twelve each, and all but one of these cairns are square. The authors note an ethnographic parallel in which such stones recall enemies killed by the dead person (pp. 44–45).
- **Finds.** These date from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, mostly the 1st. They include Mesopotamian glazed ware, Italian, Rhodian and Gaulish amphorae, terra sigillata, and glass from Alexandria (p. 46).

## What was measured

The team took orientations from drone photographs of 20 square cairns, 29 stelae and four excavated graves, giving 53 measurements in all. The authors call the sample "admittedly low" and the approach "a zero-order approximation" (pp. 47–49).

- **Stelae and cairn sides.** All the stelae face east, and 70% fall within the range of sunrise between the solstices. Statistical tests found the stelae and the eastern sides of square cairns "statistically equivalent" in direction (pp. 51–54).
- **Bodies.** The excavated bodies lay on their backs on a north–south axis, at right angles to the direction of the stelae (p. 54).
- **Three peaks.** Compared with random distributions, three clusters stood out:
  - near 0° declination, matching sunrise at the equinoxes, or perhaps the rising of Spica;
  - near 29°, close to the most northerly rising of the moon;
  - near 12°, matching sunrise on the day the sun passes straight overhead at Xiis (pp. 54–56).

## How the authors read the results

They suggest the orientations were deliberate and possibly religious, but say their meaning "remains, for the moment, unknown" (p. 57). Their main hypothesis links them to the nomad year: the spring equinox, or the evening rising of Spica in early March, would fall about when herders left the coast before the rains, and the autumn equinox, or Spica's dawn rising in late September or early October, about when they came back to winter and trade (pp. 57–59). They note that temples in Yemen show similar peaks at 0° and 29° (p. 59). They add that "other hypotheses… cannot be ruled out" (p. 62).

## Guguh

The team made a smaller study at Guguh (Gugux), 61 cairns on a hill in a valley used by herders between Berbera, Fardowsa and the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/). Two small open-air mosques had been built into one cairn, and the shrine of Sheikh Loobogey with its Muslim cemetery lies 800 metres away. The authors read this as a sign that the cairns are pre-Islamic and that worship later moved to the shrine (p. 59). The few measurable orientations point to about 72° and to a declination of about 18°. The authors relate the second to the rising of Regulus and of the Pleiades, which Somalis call *Lixo* and count as six stars (pp. 59–61).

## Related pages

- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)
- [The 'nomad kings': great cairns of the lowlands](/en/history/nomad-kings-great-cairns-650-1000/)
- [From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)


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# Ancient ruins of the north-east recorded by Georges Révoil, 1880–1881

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The French explorer Georges Révoil travelled the coast and interior of what is now Bari and Sanaag in 1877–1881 and described ancient remains in his 1882 book La vallée du Darror. He recorded rock-cut foundations at Olog under Cape Guardafui, the dressed-stone ruin of Khor Abdaham near Bargal, a ruined mosque and a maze-like stone 'fort' at Hafdar in the Darror valley, two plastered towers near Bosaso, shell heaps at Bargal, and Roman and earlier glass, beads and pottery from cairns he dug at Xiis. Local people told him the ruins were the work of earlier non-Muslim peoples. Some of his sites were later re-examined; Khor Abdaham is probably the Sabaean temple looted in 2019.

## In short

Georges Révoil (1852–1894) was a French traveller who made several journeys to the Somali coast between 1877 and 1881, the last with support from France's Ministry of Public Instruction. His book [*La vallée du Darror: voyage aux pays çomalis*](https://archive.org/details/lavalledudarror00rvgoog) (Paris, 1882) is one of the earliest written records of ancient remains in what is now [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) and eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). Quotations below are translated here from the French, and page numbers refer to that edition. Révoil wrote in the language of his time, and many of his readings are no longer accepted; later views are given where they exist.

## Olog, under Cape Guardafui

Below the cape, which local people called Assir, Révoil found ruins on a small rock by the sea at Olok (Olog), where the sand "barely lets one glimpse the foundations cut into the rock on a very regular plan". He picked up pottery and a fragment of a lava millstone, and local people told him that small silver coins showing a bird had once been found there (pp. 40–41). A pottery expert he consulted, Adrien de Longpérier, judged the finds Roman, and Révoil wondered if this was the anchorage named in the *Periplus* (p. 302). The epigraphers who published the Sabaean inscriptions in 2021 note that Olog and Damo are usually linked with the *Periplus*'s "Market of Spices" ([Prioletta et al. 2021, p. 2](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03483948)). See [The Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

## Khor Abdaham, near Bargal

On the coast road to Berguel (Bargal), a few kilometres from the stream of Khor Abdaham, Révoil saw the remains of "an almost square construction, made up of two rooms", standing about a metre high, of "perfectly cut and fitted" stone, with a broken moulded cornice, and a small square structure nearby. He took it to be a small temple, perhaps Greek (pp. 51–53, 294–303). His guides would not let him dig.

In 2021 the epigraphers who studied seven Sabaic inscriptions looted from a site near Bargal in 2019 matched the looted site to this area, and think it and Révoil's ruin are "one and the same". They date the inscriptions most likely to the late 8th or 7th century BC. See [The Sabaean inscriptions of the Somali coast](/en/history/sabaean-inscriptions-on-the-somali-coast/).

## Hafdar, in the Darror valley

Near Rhat in the Darror valley, Révoil visited Hafdar, which he notes the British explorer John Hanning Speke had already seen. In a dry valley he found "a large cemetery strewn with tombs of all forms", many walled in dry stone and some plastered (pp. 218–221). Two buildings stood out:

- **A mosque** of mud, its four walls still standing, with a small apse facing north-west. Révoil noted that its axis matched the mosque at Laasqoray.
- **A "fort"**, which local people called *darti*. It was a maze of dry-stone rooms covering about 400 square metres, with walls 60 cm thick and 1.5 metres high, and a separate round tower 5 metres across. Révoil wrote that its age was "a problem in itself".

His guides again refused to let him dig.

## Towers, cairns and shell heaps

- **Near Bosaso.** A few hours from Bender Gâsem (Bosaso), at a place he called Alleyah in [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/) country, Révoil saw two square towers on one base, plastered in places with "a very hard cement", among round and square cairns (pp. 292, 294).
- **Cairns everywhere.** He describes heaps of stones ringed with large stones, flat-topped "truncated pyramids", and rings with or without a standing stone. He saw them along his whole route, from Bargal to the Darror valley and Laasqoray (pp. 287–292).
- **Bargal.** Between Bargal and Binnah, a large stone platform of about 60 square metres stood among round cairns, with heaps of shells, fish bones and the shells of giant turtles. He found flints, pierced shell amulets, pottery, iron and bronze there. Révoil linked the place to the fish-eating and turtle-eating peoples described by the Greek writer Artemidorus, as quoted by Strabo (pp. 290–291, 297–298).
- **Stone tools.** He collected flaked flint axes, knives and scrapers "on the shore and on the high plateaux", and noted workshops still recognisable (pp. 286–287).

## His dig at Xiis

At Haïs (Xiis), in a cairn marked by a standing stone, Révoil found glass, enamel rods, "a mask in spun glass", green- and blue-glazed pottery, an alabaster vase fragment, beads of carnelian, amethyst, glass and bone, stone vessels, amphorae, nails and red-glazed ware (p. 293). Longpérier dated some of the pieces to Ptolemaic times and others to Roman times (p. 299). Révoil placed the ancient port of Mosylon here (p. 301). Modern researchers instead identify Xiis with the *Periplus*'s Mundus ([Cornax Gómez et al. 2022, p. 42](https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.19238)). His finds went to the Trocadéro museum in Paris and were later dated to the 1st century AD. See [Heis (Xiis)](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) and [The Xiis cairns and Somali star lore](/en/history/xiis-cairns-and-somali-star-lore/).

## What local people told him

- **Who built the ruins.** At every site, Révoil writes, he was told: "What you see before you is the work of the Gallas, the Pharsis, the pagans of old". He understood this to mean peoples living in the land before the coming of Islam (pp. 41, 53, 295). He also noted that people feared digging into these places (p. 41).
- **The cairn legend.** He recorded a legend of cairns called *arouèlo*, "heaps of stones of the women". In the legend, a conquering queen once ruled the land and ordered the mutilation of boys. When she died the men refused to bury her, so the women covered her with stones. Women, he was told, still threw a stone on such cairns as they passed and said a prayer (pp. 296–297). The story matches the legend of Queen Araweelo told today. See [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

## How his ideas are seen now

Révoil believed that Punt, the land of the Egyptian voyages, lay near [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/), and that Greek and Roman traders had settled on this coast (pp. 295–303). For current views on where Punt lay, see [Punt and the Somali coast](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/). Two of his sites have been taken up by modern research. Writing about Xiis, Cornax Gómez and colleagues note that Révoil's finds were for long the only material known from the site ([Cornax Gómez et al. 2022, p. 42](https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.19238)). Prioletta and colleagues observe that none of the archaeological surveys of the east coast had reached the Abdexan area since his visit ([Prioletta et al. 2021, p. 2](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03483948)).

## Related pages

- [Opone and the ancient port at Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/)
- [Who dug where: a history of archaeology in Somalia and Somaliland](/en/history/history-of-archaeology-in-the-somali-lands/)
- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)


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# The wagar: a sacred olive-wood object, fertility rites and the sky-god Waaq

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/wagar-sacred-tree-and-waaq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The wagar is a carved stick of African olive wood kept by Somali women to gain and protect fertility and to guard newborn children from evil spirits. In a 2015 study, the first published on the object, archaeologist Sada Mire suggests it comes from a pre-Islamic belief in sacred trees, and may be linked to Waaq, the sky-god of the Cushitic peoples of the Horn, and to the pre-Islamic sacred site at Aw-Barkhadle near Hargeisa.

## In short

The *wagar* is a sacred wooden object kept by women in northern Somali society. It is carved from the African olive tree and used in rites for fertility and to protect young children. The archaeologist Sada Mire published the first study of it in 2015. She suggests it is a survival of a pre-Islamic belief in sacred trees, and she links it to the old sky-god Waaq and to the sacred landscape at Aw-Barkhadle near Hargeisa ([Mire 2015, "Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God Belief and the Site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, Somaliland", *African Archaeological Review* 32: 93–109](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z)). Unless noted, everything below comes from that article. Mire writes from fieldwork in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) between 2007 and 2013, from interviews, and from her own family, which kept a wagar.

## The tree

- **The wagar tree** is the African olive (*Olea europaea* subsp. *africana*), which grows wild on mountain slopes and in woodland, often near water.
- **Where Mire found it:** at high points of the plateau, in the Daalo and [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/) Rihin mountains of [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), in the Dhameer Gowrac range near Laaso, and at Garbo Diir in [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/). The forests do not seem to have been planted.
- **Rock art and graves nearby.** Rock art sites such as Jilib Rihin and Haadh lie in the same ranges, and dolmens and cairns dot the peaks. Mire takes this as a hint that these mountains may once have been places of ritual.
- **A blessed tree.** The whole tree is held to be blessed and sacred (*geed amran*). Every part, from root to leaf, is used against illness and harm. Mire writes that it is not clear whether the tree has medical effects beyond its sacred standing.

## The object

- **Size and shape.** Most wagars are about 35–45 cm long. One end is narrow, about 2 cm wide, and the other end is the widest, 4–6 cm. The handle is oval. The top is flat or has two bumps, sometimes repeated at the other end.
- **Makers.** Specialist male carvers make them, from a single piece of wood. Some are richly decorated.
- **Colour.** The wood is yellow-brown when new and darkens with age. Mire's family wagar, passed down from her grandmother's grandmother, is black and thought to be at least a hundred years old.
- **What it may depict.** Mire writes that the wagar is thought to stand for a sacred figure, and that the bumps may recall the belly of a pregnant woman. Male informants told her it may represent a pre-Islamic female deity. No female informant mentioned such a figure. Mire also raises the possibility that the wagar was once a phallic object, and that its shape may have become less figurative in Islamic times.
- **Other wooden objects.** Mire lists headrests (*barkin*), spoons (*fandhaal*), combs (*saqaf* or *shanlo*), stools (*gember* or *gambadh*) and the Qur'an school writing boards (*looh*), and says the wagar is, as far as she knows, the only carved wooden object that people in northern Somalia unreservedly treat as sacred.

## The rites

- **Gub (the burning).** For a woman who cannot conceive, the tip of the wagar is heated in oil and pressed on spots on the abdomen and hips, three times, leaving permanent scars. The rite is seen as healing (*dabiib*) or medicine (*dhaymo*). Afterwards the wagar is kept in a private box (*kolay*).
- **Protection at night.** Elderly women keep a wagar under the bed against evil spirits.
- **The 40 days after birth.** During the 40-day seclusion after a birth, a mother who must leave the house holds the wagar up in front of her as she walks. A wagar is placed under the baby's bed or pillow against *umadaha hoose* ("underground beings") and *jinn*.
- **The protective bundle.** Grass and palm leaves (*'aws*) from blessed bushes, herbs and resins, and sharp iron objects such as a dagger, a knife, a screw or a razor blade are tied to the wagar and laid under the newborn's head. Mire's informants say the shine of iron "confuses" evil spirits. Wagar leaves are placed around the house.
- **In the diaspora.** Mire writes that Somali men have brought wagars from Somaliland to Sweden and the UK as gifts to wives who have given birth, especially to boys.
- **A sacred weapon.** The wagar is held at head height before the face, in the belief that God protects the bearer and brings good luck (*saa'iido*). Mire records that both women and men have used it to strike people.

## Secrecy

Mire writes that the wagar is now used in "a highly secretive way", for two reasons she gives: the shame attached to infertility, and the opposition of Salafi teaching to practices it calls un-Islamic. She writes that Sufi sheikhs who would otherwise perform openly rites such as rainmaking now avoid any link with the object, and that its use seems limited to parts of northern Somalia. She also records that Muslim scholars (*ulema*) reject amulets with Qur'anic verses as impious.

## Aw-Barkhadle, Bu'ur Ba'ayr and the saying

- **The shrine.** Aw-Barkhadle, about 30 minutes' drive from Hargeisa, holds the tomb of the saint [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Yusuf al-Kawnayn. By oral history he came about 850 years ago to a place then called Dogor. Mire calls the tomb "the most important pilgrimage centre in Somali territory". For the graves and ruins at the site, see [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).
- **Bu'ur Ba'ayr.** Local people say the saint converted the area by defeating in a duel Bu'ur Ba'ayr, leader of the old religion, at the hill that bears his name. Legend credits Bu'ur Ba'ayr with other "pagan" acts. Mire argues these acts were meant to grant sacred fertility.
- **A wooden figure at the tomb.** Women used to carry a carved human figure in a cloth sling (*qayd*), as one carries a baby, while praying for a child at the tomb. Mire was told the Qur'an has replaced the figure in recent years.
- **The cross on the forehead.** Until recently, Mire writes, pilgrims at the annual *ziyara* began at the Bu'ur Ba'ayr hill, mixed chalk from its rock with water from the sacred well, and painted a cross on their foreheads before walking around the saint's tomb, to ask for rain and fertility. She links this to gravestones at the site carved with the Ethiopian Orthodox cross.
- **"Wagar iyo ka waasi'an."** An old saying, "even more powerful than the wagar", is used by mothers to scold a child who comes home late. A local Sufi told Mire that the wagar "is a remnant of the ancient idols" worshipped by Bu'ur Ba'ayr's people at Aw-Barkhadle, and that the saying arose when the saint defeated him: the greater power being that of God.

## Waaq and the wider Horn

- **Waaq.** Mire describes Waaq (also Waĝa, Waqa) as the sky-god of many Cushitic peoples of the Horn, including the Somali before Islam, and calls it the most likely pre-Islamic belief to which the Bu'ur Ba'ayr legend belongs.
- **Not the same word.** The linguist Christopher Ehret told Mire that *wagar* and *Waaq* come from two separate Proto-Eastern Cushitic roots: *\*wagar*, "olive", and *\*waak'*, "rise up".
- **Phallic grave stones.** Phallic stelae stand on Muslim graves at Aw-Barkhadle. Mire compares them with the *kallacha* of the Oromo and Konso, the wooden *waga* grave figures of the Konso, and the stelae fields of Tuto Fela and Tututi in southern Ethiopia, and suggests they may belong to the same sky-god and fertility belief.
- **The man in the tree.** She cites an origin story told by Oromo, Afar, Saho and Somali: a girl finds a man from the sky sitting in a tree, and he comes down only when promised he may marry her; the people descend from them.
- **Spirits in trees.** The Oromo and Konso hold that *ayaana*, spirits of destiny, live in the sycamore and African olive. Mire notes that among Somalis *ayaan* are today personal spirits, also called *rooxaan*, now linked with Sufi practice, and asks whether Waaq was once thought to live in the wagar tree.

## How the author frames it

Mire calls her conclusions suggestions. She writes that the wagar "seems to denote" a Cushitic belief in sacred trees, and that it "may be linked" with Waaq and with Aw-Barkhadle. She says the links between stones, rituals and the old religion at the site are explored in other work, and that more female fertility rites remain to be studied.

## Related pages

- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)
- [The Xiis cairns and Somali star lore](/en/history/xiis-cairns-and-somali-star-lore/)
- [Laas Geel and Somali rock art](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/)
- [Saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/)
- [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/)
- [Somali lands before 1300](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)


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# Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen, 1229–1454

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Rasulid sultans ruled Yemen and its port of Aden from 1229 to 1454. Their tax books, almanacs and chronicles name Zeila as the main port for the trade of 'Abyssinia' (the Ethiopian highlands and the lands between them and the sea), name Berbera and Maydh as ports that shipped sheep to Aden, and list Mogadishu as the one East African city whose ships came to Aden every year. The French historian Éric Vallet studied these records in his 2010 book L'Arabie marchande.

## In short

The Rasulid dynasty ruled Yemen from 1229 to 1454 and ran the customs of Aden, then one of the busiest ports of the Indian Ocean. Its officials kept detailed records: tax tariffs, sailing almanacs and handbooks for the administration. The historian Éric Vallet read these records for his book *L'Arabie marchande: État et commerce sous les sultans rasūlides du Yémen* (Publications de la Sorbonne, 2010; open on OpenEdition). Several passages concern the Somali coast. They describe Zeila as the gateway to the highlands, the sheep trade of Berbera and [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/), and the ships of Mogadishu.

The main Rasulid texts Vallet uses are the *Nūr al-maʿārif* (late 13th century), the *Mulakhkhaṣ al-fiṭan* (14th century, a tax manual), the almanac of Sultan al-Ashraf ʿUmar, and the *Irtifāʿ al-dawla al-muʾayyadiyya* (a description of the state with maps). Unless noted, the facts below are from [Vallet, *L'Arabie marchande*, chapter 6](https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2455), cited by paragraph (§).

## Zeila, "the port of Abyssinia"

- **The gateway.** The Yemeni writer al-Janadi calls Zeila "the village which is the port (*bandar*) of Abyssinia", from which one sails to most anchorages of Yemen, above all Aden, and from which caravans leave for every part of Abyssinia (quoted before §44). Vallet writes that, seen from Aden, Zeila was "without question" the main port of the Muslim coast of Africa (§44).
- **Sailing seasons.** Rasulid almanacs record ships leaving Aden for Zeila on the south wind (*azyab*) from October to the end of winter. The rest of the year the north wind made the crossing from Zeila to Aden easy. Ibn Battuta took four days from Aden to Zeila in January 1331 (§44).
- **Fares.** The *Nūr al-maʿārif* gives the cost of shipping from Zeila to Aden: 4 or 5 dinars for a mule, 2 or 3 dinars for a eunuch, and 4 dinars for a *bahār* of ivory. The owner of a mule had to hire a hide to put under it on board (§44).
- **What passed through Zeila.** Gold, slaves, mules and civet came down from the interior through Zeila to Aden (§46). The full list of goods from "Abyssinia" in the *Nūr al-maʿārif* adds ivory, tanned hides, the dye *wars* and the aromatic *qusṭ* (§50).
- **The local economy.** Vallet writes that Zeila also served a local economy of fishing and herding. He quotes Ibn Battuta, who called Zeila the capital of the Barbara, Shafiʿi Muslims who lived in a desert stretching two months' march from Zeila to Mogadishu and kept camels and sheep "famous for their fat" (§46). For Ibn Battuta's full account, see [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/).

## Sheep from Berbera, Maydh and other harbours

- **Barbari sheep.** The *Nūr al-maʿārif* and the *Mulakhkhaṣ* often mention *barābir* sheep, from the coastal plain and plateau, some of them shipped to Aden through Zeila (§46).
- **The "Mayṭī" and "Barbarī".** The almanac of al-Ashraf ʿUmar records that in September the "Mayṭī" and the "Barbarī" left Aden on the north-east wind. Vallet takes these as the ships of Maydh (Mayṭ) and Berbera (Barbara), two coastal places linked with the sheep trade (§47).
- **Other harbours.** The *Nūr al-maʿārif* also mentions tanned hides shipped from Ḥayra, on the same coast, and sheep imported from Marghawiyya (§47).
- **Range of the ships.** Ships of Zeila do not seem to have sailed much further east than Aden. Ships "of Barbara" went as far as al-Aḥwar, east of Aden, which passed Somali goods on to its hinterland (§48).
- **A note on Maydh.** In a footnote, Vallet cites the historian Joseph Cuoq for the legend that a [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isḥāq, ancestor of the Isaaq, settled at Maydh in the 13th century (note 115).

## Al-ʿAra: a tax on the ships of Zeila

The 13th-century geographer Ibn al-Mujawir describes al-ʿAra, a village of fishermen and donkey drivers on the Yemeni shore near Bab al-Mandab. A tax was farmed there on fishing boats, on caravans between Aden and Zabid, and on "the ships of the people of Zeila" coming from Abyssinia, for 1,200 dinars a year. It was abolished in 1223, restored in 1227, and the farm then rose to 1,700 dinars. No medieval site has yet been found there (§48–49).

## Trade with the highlands

- **Two "sultans of Abyssinia".** The *Nūr al-maʿārif* uses "sultan of Abyssinia" both for the Walashma ruler of Ifat and for the Christian king. A Rasulid court protocol says both are to be addressed as "great and illustrious sultan". Vallet writes that the Mamluks of Egypt did not use this form for either, and reads it as Rasulid recognition of two sovereign powers (§55, §73–74). For Ifat, see [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/).
- **Kalgur.** Apart from Zeila, the only Muslim town the *Nūr al-maʿārif* names is Kalgur, on the edge of Shewa towards the Christian lands. Vallet sums up the text's picture as one land crossed, Ifat, with two ends, Zeila and Kalgur (§58–61).
- **Money.** Ifat and Kalgur used Egyptian silver dirhams, weighed rather than counted. Local rulers did not mint coins, and small trade used *ḥaras*, scraps of broken silver rings and bracelets. Barter remained the norm (§63).
- **Cloth.** Indian printed cottons dyed with indigo (*maḥābish*) were bartered for gold. A merchant who bought 10 pieces in Aden for 25 dinars could trade them for an ounce of gold worth 36 dinars in Aden, a profit of 44% (§64–65). The text gives the average gain on this trade as about 30% (§53).
- **Merchants.** Few names survive. One [Hadrami](/en/relations/yemen/) merchant family lived at Kalgur; one son died there in 1269 (§65–66).
- **The cost of eunuchs.** Carrying a eunuch from the highlands to Yemen cost 21 dinars in expenses alone, mostly food on the road (§67).
- **"Protectors".** Merchants paid a set share of their goods to a *nazīl*, "a man among the notables of Abyssinia" who defended them from "injustice and oppression". Vallet asks whether these were local *garād* chiefs, the sheikhs of Zeila with whom merchants lodged according to Ibn Saʿid, or caravan leaders. The text records no taxes paid to the state on the road or at Zeila (§69–70).

## The mosque at Zeila

Egyptian sources say that the Rasulid sultan al-Muẓaffar Yusuf tried to build a great mosque at Zeila. Only one writer, Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fadaʾil, adds that a group of Zeila threw the building stones into the sea, and that the sultan then barred Zeila's ships from Aden for a year. Vallet suggests the people of Zeila feared losing transit income to stronger Rasulid control, and he calls the attempt short-lived (§78, note 198). In the 1370s a Yemeni chronicler wrote that the governor of Zabid was obeyed by "the people of ʿAwān, of Zeila and other distant lands"; Vallet explains this as a power to have wanted persons arrested, not to govern (§84–85).

## Mogadishu's ships

These facts are from [Vallet, chapter 9](https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2458), §28–33.

- **Three seasons.** Ibn al-Mujawir divides the African route into three sailing seasons: Aden to Mogadishu, Mogadishu to Kilwa, Kilwa to the Comoros (§28).
- **The only regular East African link.** Vallet writes that by all Yemeni sources of the 13th century, Mogadishu was the only East African city reached regularly from Aden. The almanac records the "Maqdishī" ships leaving for Aden in June on the south-west wind and returning in autumn (§29).
- **Hadramawt.** Mogadishu's ships also sailed every year to al-Shihr and two nearby harbours, where they paid about 4,000 dinars in taxes and bought fish oil for coating hulls (§29, note 82).
- **Goods.** Aden tariffs list ebony, ambergris, ivory and Zanzibar copal arriving via Mogadishu, and the city also exported ghee and sesame oil. The al-Shihr tariff lists slaves of "Maqdishū" (§29–30).
- **Mogadishu cloth.** The *Mulakhkhaṣ* lists waist-cloths (*fuwaṭ maqdishī*) and bordered cottons named after Mogadishu, which are missing from the older *Nūr al-maʿārif*. Vallet reads this as a sign that weaving grew there from the later 13th century. Ibn Battuta wrote that cloth "with no equal" was made there and exported to Egypt (§30).
- **The southern towns.** Vallet writes that, apart from cloth and food, most goods on Mogadishu's ships came from the Swahili towns to the south. He cites the 14th-century Qadi Masʿud, who called [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) a small place "in the province of Maqdishū" visited by boats from India and the coast towns (§31).
- **No Rasulid claims.** Unlike Abyssinia, Mogadishu and the coast to the south never came within Rasulid ambitions, Vallet writes (§33). He notes one Hadrami sharif, Abu Zakariyya, who in the early 13th century "went to Maqdishū, where he spread knowledge widely" (note 101).

## Somalis in Aden

Ibn al-Mujawir tells a legend that the first people of Aden were driven out by the Barābir from the facing coast of the Horn, who built the first palm-leaf huts in the town. He also writes that Barbara and Abyssinians made up the majority of Aden's people. Vallet warns that the geographer's picture of Aden should be read with great caution ([Vallet, chapter 2](https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2449), §49–51).

## Related pages

- [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)
- [Early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast before 1300](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/)
- [Berbera coast trade fairs, 1000–1600](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/)
- [Nomads, towns and the state in Ifat and Adal](/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/)
- [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/)
- [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/)
- [Marco Polo and the Somali coast, about 1298](/en/history/marco-polo-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/)
- [Scholars from Zeila and the Horn in medieval Yemen, 1150–1450](/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/)


---

# The 2001 Somaliland constitutional referendum

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-constitutional-referendum-2001/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 31 May 2001 Somaliland held a referendum on a new constitution whose first article asserted Somaliland's independence. There was no voter register. Officials put the number of voters at about 1.3 million and said 97 percent approved. Puntland and the Transitional National Government in Mogadishu opposed the vote as a breach of the 1960 Act of Union, and the OAU said it could not support anything affecting Somalia's unity. The constitution introduced multi-party elections, limited to three national parties.

## In short

"On 31 May, the 'Somaliland' administration carried out a referendum on a new constitution. The first article of the constitution asserted the independence of 'Somaliland', while other articles made new provisions for political parties and elections," the UN Secretary-General reported ([UN Security Council, S/2001/963, para. 18](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf)).

"There was no electoral register but the estimated number of voters was put at 1.3 million and officials claimed that 97 per cent of the voters endorsed the constitution" (same source, para. 19). For the 1991 declaration, see [the Burao conference and Somaliland's declaration](/en/history/somaliland-declaration-1991/).

## The vote

From the UN report ([S/2001/963, paras. 18–19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **Opposition.** "The 'Puntland' administration, as well as the TNG [[Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)], opposed the referendum on the grounds that it violated the Act of Union of 1960." See [independence and union, 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).
- **Observers.** "Although the referendum was peaceful, it was largely avoided by the international community."
- **The OAU.** A week before the vote, the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, Salim A. Salim, said the OAU "could not support any action that would affect the unity and sovereignty of Somalia".
- **Recognition.** After the vote, President [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) "called on the international community to recognize 'Somaliland'".

## What the constitution set up

- **Parties.** Article 9 allows exactly three national political parties. New political associations compete for those places every ten years in a vote held alongside local elections ([University of Tartu, De Facto States Research Unit, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).
- **Parliament.** Two houses: an elected House of Representatives and a House of Elders ([Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)) whose members are "appointed by kinship groups" ([International Election Observation Mission, 2018, p. 16](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)).
- **First party.** In early July 2001 Egal formed a new party, the Allied People's Democratic Party (UDUB), "in preparation for parliamentary and presidential elections expected in 2002" ([S/2001/963, para. 20](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf)).

For the elections held under it, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/) and [the 2003 presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2003/).

## After the vote, 2001

From the UN report ([S/2001/963, paras. 20–21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **18 July 2001.** After a five-day meeting in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), some elders said UDUB was unconstitutional and called for it to be disbanded. "Another larger group of elders refuted the allegation."
- **Impeachment motion.** The same day, members of parliament tabled a motion to impeach Egal for "financial mismanagement and high treason, claiming that he had failed to pursue secession effectively". It was rejected in August.
- **Mass graves.** In March 2001 Egal asked the UN to investigate "what he alleged was genocide carried out in parts of 'Somaliland' by the former Barre regime", including mass graves found in Hargeisa. See [the Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

## Who suffered?

- **People in the east of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s claimed territory** who rejected its rule. The UN recorded that [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) opposed the vote (S/2001/963). See [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## Sources differ

- **The turnout and result.** With no voter register, the 1.3 million voters and the 97 percent yes vote were figures given by Somaliland officials (S/2001/963).
- **Its legal effect.** Somaliland's government holds that the referendum confirmed the 1991 declaration. The TNG, Puntland and the OAU held that Somalia's unity under the 1960 Act of Union stands.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2001/963 (11 October 2001), paras. 18–21: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Marco Polo and the Somali coast, about 1298

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/marco-polo-and-the-somali-coast/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Marco Polo's book, written about 1298, never names a Somali town, but scholars think parts of it describe the Somali lands. His 'island of Madeigascar', ruled by four sheikhs, full of camel-eaters and ivory traders, is read by the editor Henry Yule as partly a description of Mogadishu mixed up with Madagascar. His white sheep with black heads are, Yule notes, the sheep that Aden imported from the African coast opposite. And his 'Soldan of Aden', at war with the Christian king of Abyssinia, is read by Yule as the ruler of Adal, the Muslim lands behind Zeila.

## In short

The Venetian Marco Polo dictated his book of travels in about 1298. He never visited the Horn of Africa and wrote about it from what others told him. No Somali place appears under its own name, but three passages are linked by scholars to the Somali lands. This page follows the standard English edition by Henry Yule, revised by Henri Cordier: *The Book of Ser Marco Polo*, 3rd edition, volume 2 ([London](/en/diaspora/london/): John Murray, 1903), Book III, chapters 33–35 ([archive.org](https://archive.org/details/bookofsermarcopo002polo)). Page numbers are from that volume.

## "Madeigascar": Madagascar or Mogadishu?

**What Polo says (pp. 411–413).** Chapter 33 describes an island "about a thousand miles from Scotra" (Socotra):

- "The people are all Saracens, adoring Mahommet."
- "They have four Eskeks, i.e. four Elders, who are said to govern the whole Island."
- "The people live by trade and handicrafts."
- Together with "Zanghibar", it has more elephants than any country, and "the amount of traffic in elephants' teeth in these two Islands is something astonishing".
- "In this Island they eat no flesh but that of camels; and of these they kill an incredible number daily."
- There is red sandalwood, ambergris from whales, and many leopards, lions and other wild beasts. Ships bring "cloths of gold and silk" and other goods.
- Ships from Maabar (south-east India) reach it in 20 days but need more than 3 months to return because of a strong southward current.

The chapter goes on to the giant bird "Rukh" and its feather, sent to the Mongol emperor.

**Yule's reading (p. 413).** Yule believed Polo was the first writer to speak clearly of Madagascar, but that "his information about it was very incorrect". Madagascar has no elephants, camels, leopards, bears or lions. Yule wrote that Polo "made some confusion between Makdashau (Magadoxo) and Madagascar". He pointed to:

- **The camels.** "Above all the camel-killing indicates Sumali Land and Magadoxo as the real locality of part of the information." He quotes Ibn Battuta: at Mogadishu "the natives keep camels in great numbers, and they slaughter several hundreds daily".
- **The sheikhs.** Ibn Battuta wrote that the ruler of Mogadishu had no higher title than sheikh, and the Portuguese historian De Barros wrote that [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) was governed by 12 sheikhs. Yule added that "this kind of local oligarchy still prevails on that coast".
- **Ivory and the Muslim population**, which also fit the Somali and East African coast better than Madagascar.

**Other views (p. 414).** Cordier's added note records that the French geographer Alfred Grandidier concluded that Polo gave "a very exact description of Magadoxo" and did not know Madagascar at all. The French scholar Gabriel Ferrand believed Polo really meant the island of Madagascar. Cordier wrote that he saw no reason not to accept Yule's mixed reading.

**The Ming records (pp. 413–414).** Yule added that the Annals of the Ming dynasty describe Mogadishu ("Mu-ku-tu-su") as a dry, mountainous country by the sea, where at times it does not rain for years, and record a mission from it to China in 1427. Barawa ("Pu-la-wa") produced frankincense, myrrh and ambergris. For the Chinese sources, see [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

## White sheep with black heads

In chapter 34, on "Zanghibar", Polo writes that the sheep "are all exactly alike in colour; the body all white and the head black; no other kind of sheep is found there" (p. 422). Yule's note says: "These sheep are common at Aden, whither they are imported from the opposite African coast. They have hair like smooth goats, no wool." He adds that the Italian traveller Varthema also described them, and that a small figure of one, found in an Egyptian tomb, was in the Cairo Museum (p. 424). For the medieval sheep trade from Berbera and [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) to Aden, see [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/).

## The war between "Abash" and the "Soldan of Aden"

**What Polo says (pp. 427–431).** Chapter 35 describes "Abash" (Abyssinia), ruled by a Christian king, with Muslims living "towards Aden". The people "are in daily war with the Soldan of Aden, and with the Nubians". Polo tells a story set in 1288: the king sent a bishop on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; on the way back the "Soldan of Aden" seized and forcibly circumcised him; the king then invaded the sultan's land, beat "the Kings of the Saracens, who were three in number" at a strong pass, and ravaged the country for more than a month before going home. Polo tells the story from a strongly Christian point of view and closes it with open hostility to Muslims.

**Yule's notes (pp. 432–435).**

- **Aden or Adal.** Yule wrote that the story "requires us to conceive of the Sultan of Aden as dominant over the territory between Abyssinia and the sea, or what was in former days called Adel, between which and Aden confusion seems to have been made". He noted that a medieval map by Marino Sanudo also puts Aden on the African shore. He asked whether the sultan of Aden may once have had some power over the Muslim states of Adal, since Abyssinian letters to Egypt were sent through the sultan of Yemen.
- **The coast before.** Citing al-Masʿudi, Yule wrote that until at least the 10th century "Musalman families" lived in Zeila and the other ports as tributaries of the Christian kingdom. Later the Muslim communities of the coast grew powerful, and inland provinces such as Ifat and [Dawaro](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/) came under Muslim governors.
- **Which war?** The story resembles the campaigns of the Ethiopian king Amda Seyon against Ifat, Adal and their allies. Yule noted that the 18th-century traveller James Bruce dated those wars to about 1315–1316, too late for a book of 1298. Henry Salt and Guillaume Pauthier proposed moving the Ethiopian dates earlier to fit Polo. Yule wrote that he had at first agreed but, after studying the king lists, kept Bruce's chronology.

The French historian Éric Vallet reaches a similar view from Yemeni sources. He writes that Polo "clearly confuses" the sultan of Aden with the Muslim princes of the coast or the interior, and that relations between Rasulid Yemen and Ethiopia's rulers were generally peaceful ([Vallet, *L'Arabie marchande*, ch. 6 §75](https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2455)).

## Related pages

- [Early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast before 1300](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/)
- [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/)
- [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)
- [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/)
- [Books about Somalis before 1500](/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/)


---

# Dakar, the lost capital of the Barr Saʿd ad-Din (Adal), 1415–1520

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dakar was the capital of the Muslim sultanate that its own writers called the Barr Saʿd ad-Din and that Christian Ethiopian sources called Adal, from the 1430s or earlier until 1520, when the sultan moved to Harar. Its site has never been found. The historian Amélie Chekroun reviewed the written sources and the proposed locations in 2015; she rules out two of them and names a ruined town called Derbiga, near Ch'ina Hasen north-west of Jigjiga, as a possible but unproven candidate.

## In short

After wars with the Christian kingdom in the early 15th century, the Walashma sultans, who had ruled Ifat, moved east to the lands between Harar and today's Somali border. For about a century their capital was a town called Dakar. In 1520 the sultan moved to Harar, and Dakar was forgotten. Its site is still unknown. This page follows the French historian Amélie Chekroun, "Dakar, capitale du sultanat éthiopien du Barr Saʿd ad-dīn (1415–1520)", *Cahiers d'études africaines* 219 (2015): 569–586 ([OpenEdition](https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/18225)), cited by paragraph (§).

## The move east

- **From Ifat.** By al-Maqrizi's account, the town of Ifat was given up under Sultan Haqq ad-Din II (ruled 1376–1386), who moved to Wahal in Shewa. After the death of Saʿd ad-Din (ruled from about 1386; Chekroun's 2015 article gives 1415 as the end of his reign, while her 2022 article on Harar dates his death at Zeila to 1408 or 1409), his sons took refuge in Arabia. On his return, his son Sabr ad-Din moved the centre of power east, to the old region of "Adal" (§3–5). For the earlier period, see [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/).
- **The name of the land.** Chekroun writes that the Muslim writers of the region never call their country "Adal". They call it the *Barr Saʿd ad-Din*, "the land of Saʿd ad-Din". "Adal" is the name used by Christian Ethiopian sources (§9).

## The sources that name Dakar

- **Al-Maqrizi.** His *Kitāb al-Ilmām*, finished in 1438 from interviews with Ethiopian Muslims in Mecca in 1435–1436, says that Sultan Badlay (ruled 1433–1445) had his capital at Dakar (§4, §7).
- **The chronicle of King Eskender.** It names Dakar as the main town of the land of Adal and says the king destroyed "all the houses and the temples" there in the second year of his reign. Chekroun dates the attack to 1480, under Sultan Shams ad-Din (ruled 1472–1487) (§8).
- **The *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha*,** written in the mid-16th century, says the sultans lived at Dakar at least until Sultan Muhammad (ruled 1488 to the early 1500s) and that Dakar was not far from Harar (§8, §12). See [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/).
- **Two Harar chronicles,** the *History of the Walashma* and the *Tārīkh al-mulūk*, say Dakar was the capital until 1520 (§8).

## The move to Harar, 1520

Both Harar chronicles date the move from Dakar to Harar to the month of Shaʿban 926 AH, July–August 1520. The *History of the Walashma*, which favours the sultans, credits Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, who moved the people and the army. The *Tārīkh al-mulūk*, which favours their opponents, credits him together with the *garad* Abun. The *Futūḥ* also treats Harar as the capital in the time of Imam Ahmad (§10). For the Imam's wars, see [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

Chekroun writes that the reason for the move is unknown. It may reflect the struggles after Sultan Muhammad's death (between 1517 and 1519). She notes that each chronicle's version suits its own side (§11, §31).

## Why Dakar was forgotten

Harar's lists of emirs trace the town back to the 10th or 12th century and to the legendary [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abadir, and fold all the Muslim rulers of the east into Harar's history. Chekroun writes that Harar was the seat of sultans only from the early 16th century, and that Harari identity, shaped after the Oromo arrived in the late 16th century and again after Menelik II took the city in the late 19th century, covered over Dakar's memory (§1).

## Three proposed sites

1. **Dakar Gobana,** a village 3 km from Harar on the Jigjiga road. Travellers in the late 19th century saw some ruins there. Local Harari, Oromo, Amhara and Somali traditions say Sheikh Abadir first settled there before moving to Harar for its water. The 19th-century Arabic legend of Abadir calls Dakar a village in 1234–1235. Chekroun could not find the ruins in 2014, and residents had no memory of them (§13, §17).
2. **Fiyambiro,** at the foot of Mount Kundudo, about 20 km north-east of Harar. Enrico Cerulli proposed it in 1931 from a margin note in a manuscript of the *Futūḥ*, and later doubted it. No archaeological remains have been recorded there, which Chekroun reads as ruling it out (§15, §17).
3. **Ch'ina Hasen,** about 25 km north-west of Jigjiga. The British scholar G. Huntingford proposed it. Local tradition he recorded called it the birthplace of Imam Ahmad (§16).

Chekroun also notes that the French explorer Antoine d'Abbadie wrote that Baarentuu, one of the two founding fathers of the Oromo, occupied "Dakar among the present Barsub, who are Somali". She writes that the story appears nowhere else and that d'Abbadie gave no source (§14).

## The ruins near Ch'ina Hasen

In 1922 the Capuchin missionary Azaïs found three sites near Ch'ina Hasen: a ruined citadel with "cyclopean" walls, a ruined Muslim town, and a lone ruined mosque. In 1950 Huntingford described a large enclosure wall, old terraces and dolmen-like stone cists on the hill. Chekroun could not find the citadel in 2009 (§18–20).

**Derbiga.** Azaïs described Derbiga, an hour's walk north-west of the town, with stone enclosures, graves, the ruins of houses, and a mosque with three rows of stone columns. Local tradition said it was destroyed by "Gragn" (Imam Ahmad). In 2009 Chekroun found the mosque rebuilt, with its pillars replaced. She found ruined buildings near it, a ruined mausoleum and a probable old Qur'an school, and a cemetery of hundreds of graves, which she takes as a sign of a large settlement. Two pits like the storage pits at medieval sites in the Chercher and at Nora in Ifat lie nearby. Villagers had picked up coins with worn Arabic writing, rock-crystal beads, and part of a goldsmith's mould like those found at Harlaa (§21–25). Chekroun writes that the stonework matches 14th–15th-century Islamic sites of the Chercher and Ifat, and that the site, on the last slopes of the Harar hills above the road down to Zeila, is well placed to control the caravan route. She concludes that no evidence yet allows Derbiga to be either accepted or ruled out as Dakar, and that it was an important Islamic town either way (§23, §26).

**Nur Abdoche.** Azaïs also described a ruined mosque 15 km north-west of Ch'ina Hasen, with two round columns and an Arabic inscription over the mihrab. It was rebuilt about 40 years before Chekroun's visit. She dates it after the 16th century, finds no house ruins and only a small cemetery, and excludes it as a site for Dakar (§27–30).

## Related pages

- [The Harla and Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/)
- [Nomads, towns and the state in Ifat and Adal](/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/)
- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/)
- [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/)
- [Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate, and the tombs of the Walashma](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/)
- [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/)
- [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)


---

# The transitional governments, 2000–2012: the TNG and the TFG (Dowladda KMG)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 2000 to 2012 Somalia had two internationally backed transitional governments. The Transitional National Government (TNG) came out of the Arta conference in Djibouti in August 2000. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) came out of the Kenya talks of 2002–2004 and elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed president in October 2004. The TFG moved from Baidoa to Mogadishu in 2007, took in the Islamist opposition after the 2008 Djibouti agreement, and handed over to a new Federal Parliament on 20 August 2012.

## In short

After the central government fell in 1991, Somalia went nine years with no national government. Two transitional governments followed, both formed at conferences abroad. The Transitional National Government (TNG) ran from 2000. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG), known in Somali as *Dowladda KMG* (Ku-Meel-Gaar, "temporary"), ran from 2004 to 2012 ([Congressional Research Service, *Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace*, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).

The transition ended on 20 August 2012, when a new Federal Parliament was sworn in ([UN Secretary-General, report S/2013/69, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)).

## The Arta conference and the TNG, 2000

- **May 2000.** The Somali Reconciliation Conference opened in Arta, Djibouti, under a plan approved by IGAD, the regional body. About 400 delegates took part over several months ([CRS, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).
- **13 August 2000.** The delegates agreed to form a Transitional National Government and a Transitional National Assembly (same source).
- **26 August 2000.** They chose [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) as president (same source).

CRS records that several armed faction leaders, and the administrations of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), boycotted Arta (same source).

## The Kenya talks and the TFG, 2002–2004

- **October 2002.** IGAD opened new talks, led by Kenya, at Eldoret. About 350 delegates attended; Somaliland stayed away. The parties signed a ceasefire and agreed on a federal system ([CRS, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).
- **September 2003.** The parties agreed a Transitional National Charter (same source).
- **August 2004.** A 275-member Transitional Parliament was inaugurated in Kenya (same source).
- **October 2004.** Parliament elected [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) president of Somalia (same source).

## Baidoa, Mogadishu and Ethiopia, 2006–2008

In 2006 the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) took Mogadishu. The TFG was based at Baidoa. On 28 December 2006 Ethiopian troops took Mogadishu, and in January 2007 the TFG moved to the capital ([CRS, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).

Fighting with insurgents followed. CRS reported, in its later updates, that al-Shabaab and other armed groups held most of south-central Somalia, and that the TFG and the African Union force, [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), had no presence outside Baidoa and Mogadishu (same source). See [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).

## The Djibouti agreement, 2008–2009

In June 2008 the TFG and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), led by former Islamic Courts leaders, signed an agreement in Djibouti. It was mediated by the UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah. The parties agreed a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces and a UN force ([CRS, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).

In January 2009 the enlarged parliament elected the ARS leader, [Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), president. He appointed [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) prime minister (same source). CRS gives the parliament's size in 2010 as 550 members (same source).

## Disputes at the top, 2010–2011

- **2010.** The Speaker resigned in May after a dispute with the prime minister, and Sharmarke later resigned. In late October 2010 the president appointed Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as [Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/), prime minister ([CRS, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).
- **9 June 2011, the Kampala Accord.** The president and the Speaker agreed to delay elections for 12 months from August 2011. The accord required the prime minister to resign within 30 days ([UN Secretary-General, report S/2011/549, paras. 5–6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **August 2011.** TFG and AMISOM forces drove al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu (same source, summary).

## The end of the transition, 2012

A "road map" agreed in 2011 set the tasks for ending the transition by 20 August 2012 ([UN Secretary-General, report S/2012/643, para. 3](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf)).

- **5 May 2012.** About 135 traditional elders met in Mogadishu to choose the members of a National Constituent Assembly and the new parliament (same source, para. 7).
- **1 August 2012.** The 825-member Constituent Assembly adopted the Provisional Constitution (same source, paras. 2 and 6).
- **20 August 2012.** A new 275-member Federal Parliament was established. The elders chose its members, and a Technical Selection Committee vetted them ([S/2013/69, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **After 20 August 2012.** Parliament elected [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) president (same source).

The UN called it "the most transparent and representative election in Somalia's 20-year crisis, and the first to be held inside the country", while noting "reports of intimidation and undue interference" (same source). What followed is told in [the Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/).

## Who suffered?

Civilians suffered most in Mogadishu in 2007–2008. Human Rights Watch reported that from early 2007 "more than 870,000 civilians have fled war-torn Mogadishu alone and more than 6,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting" ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 2009*](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2009/country-chapters/somalia)). It wrote that "all sides to this conflict have regularly committed serious violations" (same source):

- **TFG forces and allied militias** carried out "killings, murder, rape, and looting" in Mogadishu, and arbitrary arrests for ransom.
- **Ethiopian forces** often fired "indiscriminately into crowds of civilians". After a roadside bomb near [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) in August 2008, soldiers killed "up to 60 civilians".
- **Insurgent forces** fought from populated areas, and killed aid workers, activists and journalists. At least ten journalists were killed from early 2007 to 2008.

## Sources differ

- **When the transition ended.** The UN dates the end to 20 August 2012, when the new parliament sat. The president was chosen after that date ([S/2013/69](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **The size of parliament.** It had 275 members in 2004, 550 by 2010 and 275 again from August 2012 ([CRS, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html); [S/2013/69](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **How the 2012 parliament was chosen.** The UN called the process the most representative in twenty years. The same report records claims of intimidation and undue influence on the elders.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Congressional Research Service, *Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace*, RL33911: [text](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html).
- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: [S/2011/549](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf) (Kampala Accord), [S/2012/643](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf) (road map and constitution), [S/2013/69](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf) (end of the transition).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 2009*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2009/country-chapters/somalia).


---

# Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate, and the tombs of the Walashma

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Awfat (Wafat), the capital of the Ifat sultanate that ruled Zeila in the 14th century, was found by French archaeologists in 2008–2009 on the Awadi river in Ethiopia's eastern escarpment. It has three parts: a town with a great mosque, a fortified hill they call the citadel, and a cemetery of tombs with Arabic inscriptions naming the family of Sultan Ali son of Sabr ad-Din, dated 1364–1373. The authors date the capital to about 1285–1376. Nearby they excavated Nora, a town of the 14th and 15th centuries.

## In short

The sultanate of Ifat (Awfat in Arabic) was the strongest Muslim state of the Horn in the 14th century, and the Arab writer al-ʿUmari says its king ruled Zeila. Its capital was lost for centuries. Between 2007 and 2010 a French team found it on the Awadi river, on the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands, guided by an 1893 report by the Italian doctor Leopoldo Traversi. This page follows François-Xavier Fauvelle, Bertrand Hirsch and Amélie Chekroun, "Le sultanat de l'Awfāt, sa capitale et la nécropole des Walasmaʿ", *Annales islamologiques* 51 (2017): 239–295 ([OpenEdition](https://journals.openedition.org/anisl/4054)), cited by paragraph (§).

## Where was Ifat?

- **Al-ʿUmari's puzzle.** Writing in the 1330s, al-ʿUmari called Awfat the largest of the seven Muslim kingdoms of Abyssinia, "entirely cultivated and peopled", with a running river, and nearest to the coasts facing Yemen: "its king rules over Zaylaʿ" (§6). The authors write that the farmland and river point inland, while Zeila points to the dry coast of today's [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). They suggest the kingdom may have held both the hinterland of Zeila and the far inland escarpment (§7).
- **Work in Somaliland.** In 2001 the team surveyed ruined towns in the Somaliland highlands first described by Alexander Curle in 1937 and dug at Zeila. They report a group of ruined medieval towns in Zeila's hinterland that left no trace in written sources, and a new dating of Zeila, which they write seems to have become important only from the late 13th century, at the same time as the rise of Ifat (§16). For Zeila, see [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).
- **Farmers, not only nomads.** The authors write that the written sources and the ruins both point to settled farming and town-dwelling Muslim societies on the highland slopes, and that the common picture of an Islam carried by nomad traders across the Afar desert should be "suspended" (§24–25). They describe an urban phase in the 14th and 15th centuries, then a "de-urbanisation" probably linked to the upheavals of the 16th century (§25).

## Nora and the towns of Rassa Hill

On the Rassa hills in today's Ifat district the team recorded Asbari, Masal, Rassa Guba, Hajji Mansur and Nora (§27–28). All stand on spurs above the Afar plain, some closed by thick walls, at about 1,300 metres (§31). The mosques have the mihrab in the north wall and stone-slab roofs on wooden beams; the houses are square with wall niches, like those of Harar (§33).

Nora was dug in April–May 2008, the first excavation of a medieval Muslim town in Ethiopia (§34–35). It has streets, square stone houses up to 2–3 metres high, a great mosque, four smaller mosques and a large cemetery (§38–39). The pottery is unglazed and imports are rare: cowries, a few beads, and bundles of iron rods that the authors compare to the *ḥakuna* iron money named by al-ʿUmari. Radiocarbon dates place the town in the 14th and 15th centuries, with one post under the great mosque dated to the 12th–13th centuries (§39). A layer of ash-like sediment 40–60 cm thick covers it, and later circular stone enclosures stand on top (§40). Nearby Faqi Dabbis has a mosque dated to the first half of the 15th century, built over an older one of the 14th (§12).

## The capital found

- **Traversi's report.** In 1893 Traversi was shown "Ali Gemb" ("Ali's wall") on the Awadi, said by a local scholar to be the town of "[Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Ali, son of Saʿd ad-Din of Zeila", with houses that "resemble those of Harar", a well-built mosque, and a tomb said to be dated 771 AH (§43–44).
- **Three parts.** After several missions, the team found the tomb in a whole cemetery (sector A), a flat-topped hill called Beri of about 13 hectares with a wall, a small mosque, massive building ruins and one inscribed tomb (sector B, the "citadel"), and the town proper in the Ferewanda valley, with a great mosque, hundreds of graves and a mould for casting rings (sector C). The authors identify the three together as "the capital of the Walashma sultans of the old sultanate of Awfat in the 14th century" (§55–59).
- **Abu al-Fida.** The geographer Abu al-Fida (1273–1331), citing travellers, wrote that Wafat, also called Jabara, was among the largest towns of Abyssinia, about twenty stages west of Zeila; that "the residence of the king is on a hill and the citadel on another hill"; that it grew bananas and sugarcane; and that it lay on high ground by a valley with a small river, with heavy rain at night. The authors note a "remarkable agreement" with the site, where sugarcane and bananas still grow by the Awadi (§61–63). They also argue that this passage is by Abu al-Fida, not by the earlier Ibn Saʿid as long thought (§61).

## The inscribed tombs

Nine inscribed tombs were found. Each is a box of four volcanic stone slabs with Arabic text running around it, ending on the north side with the Qur'anic verses 3:18–19 (§74–76).

- **Dates.** Four are dated: 1 March 1370 (T1), after 28 July 1367 (T3), 6 August 1373 (T8) and late April–early May 1364 (T9) (§75).
- **The family of Sultan Ali.** All the cemetery tombs that can be read belong to relatives of Sultan "ʿAli Nasr, son of Sultan Sabr ad-Din, son of Walasmaʿ". T1 is the tomb of a *malika* (queen), T3 of a daughter of Ali, T4 of an unnamed sultan, and T5 of a woman of the family (§80–81). The authors note that these give rare information on royal women, whom the chronicles ignore (§84).
- **The citadel tomb (T8, 1373)** is probably that of a sultan, a son of Ali with the epithet al-Naṣri. The chronicles name only one son of Ali who ruled, Ahmad (Harb Arʿad), and the authors leave open whether this is the same man (§78–79).
- **The town tomb (T9, 1364)** is that of a sheikh, "sheikh of the Walasmaʿ", of the Shafiʿi school, who died of fever (§77).
- **A hasty cemetery?** The cemetery lies on the river's flood plain, cut off from the town at high water, and its tombs look made in a single short programme. The authors suggest that graves may have been moved and gathered there by Sultan Ali near the end of his reign, a time of crisis (§85).

## The end of the capital

Al-Maqrizi says Haqq ad-Din besieged his grandfather Ali in Awfat, then left and built a new capital, Wahal, in Shewa, after which Awfat "shrank and fell into ruin". Ibn Khaldun, writing soon after, says the Walashma took Awfat and "ruined it completely". The authors trust Ibn Khaldun's version more, and place the end of the capital after 1376. Al-Maqrizi adds that after Saʿd ad-Din's defeat the Christians settled in Awfat and "turned the mosques into churches" (§69–72). The authors conclude that the site was the seat of the Walashma between 1285 and 1376, only about two days' walk from Christian territory (§87). For what came next, see [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/).

## Open questions

The authors ask where the earlier sultanate of Shewa left its remains, where the Walashma came from before they appeared in the late 13th century, and whether an origin in the eastern lands can be traced (§88).

## Related pages

- [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)
- [Nomads, towns and the state in Ifat and Adal](/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/)
- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/)
- [Medieval Muslim graves: from cairns to cemeteries](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)
- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)


---

# The battle for Mogadishu, February to June 2006

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-2006/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From February to June 2006 militias of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), a group of faction leaders, businessmen and government ministers, fought the militias of Mogadishu's sharia courts. The UN called it some of the worst fighting in the capital for nearly a decade, with hundreds killed, most of them civilians. A UN panel reported that a foreign country had secretly funded the alliance. The courts won on 2 June 2006 and took control of Mogadishu as the Islamic Courts Union.

## In short

"During the reporting period, the capital saw some of the worst fighting for nearly a decade," the UN Secretary-General wrote in June 2006. "The conflict pitted militias loyal to the leaders of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) against those belonging to some of the Shariah Courts and their associates. Both sides belong to the Hawiye, the dominant clan in the Mogadishu area" ([UN Security Council, S/2006/418, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf)).

The fighting ended on 2 June 2006 "with the militias of the Shariah Courts making significant gains" (same source, para. 15). For what came next, see [the Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).

## The two sides

- **ARPCT.** It "was formed officially on 18 February 2006. It comprises Government ministers and powerful businessmen and faction leaders. The stated aim of ARPCT is to uproot terrorist elements reportedly linked to, or protected by, some of the Shariah Courts" ([S/2006/418, para. 6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Its members.** The UN Monitoring Group listed the militias of four government ministers: [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/) (National Security), [Muse Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/) (Commerce), [Omar Mohamed](/en/people/omar-abdullahi-mohamed/) Mohamud (Religion) and Botan Isse Alin (Disarmament), along with businessmen including Bashir Raghe Shirar and Abdirashid Ilqeyte, and militia commanders ([UN Monitoring Group, S/2006/229, para. 33](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/229&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **The courts.** "At least seven Shariah Courts have been established in the city in the past few years." They provided "basic security and social services in sections of Mogadishu". Some had "been accused of being responsible for assassinations and terrorist attacks" and of "harbouring foreign individuals suspected of terrorist activities" ([S/2006/418, para. 6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **The government.** President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) and Prime Minister [Ali Mohamed Gedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/) said ARPCT was "not acting in Mogadishu on their behalf", and that its ministers should come to Baidoa to work with the government (same source, para. 7). See [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Foreign funding

The UN Monitoring Group reported that "clandestine third-country involvement in Somalia was active". During January and February 2006 "financial support was being provided to help organize and structure a militia force created to counter the threat posed by the growing militant fundamentalist movement". It did not name the country, because "it had not completed its investigation" ([S/2006/229, paras. 32 and 35](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/229&l=en&t=pdf)).

The scholar Ken Menkhaus described the alliance as "CIA-backed" ([Middle East Research and Information Project, 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)).

## The rounds of fighting

From the UN reports:

- **18–22 February and 22–25 March 2006.** ARPCT and "militant fundamentalists fought each other in a series of fierce engagements in Mogadishu and [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)" ([S/2006/229, para. 34](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/229&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **22 March.** Militia loyal to Abukar Umar Adani, "believed to be the main financier of the Shariah Courts", attacked militia of Bashir Raghe Shirar in north Mogadishu. It "began as a commercial dispute within the [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/) sub-clan" over access to the port of El Ma'an. Four days of fighting killed "at least 60 people, most of them civilians" ([S/2006/418, para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **April.** Intermittent clashes went on. "Up to 2,000 residents of Mogadishu sought safety across the border in Kenya" (same source, para. 9).
- **6 May.** Militia of the Union of Islamic Courts chairman, [Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), fought those of the ARPCT member Nur Hassan Ali "Nur Diqle". "Both sides used heavy weapons indiscriminately, causing the deaths of at least 160 people and the wounding of 250 others. Most of the casualties were civilians" (same source, para. 10).
- **14 May.** Clan elders, businessmen and politicians announced a ceasefire (same source, para. 13).
- **24–27 May.** Fighting resumed in central Mogadishu; "at least 60 people were reported killed and some 100 were injured" (same source, para. 15).
- **2 June.** The fighting ended with the courts' militias in control. "Some ARPCT leaders fled to Jowhar." On 4 June the courts took [Balad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), on the road to Jowhar (same source).

## Who suffered?

- **Civilians in Mogadishu,** who were most of the dead: at least 60 in March, at least 160 in May and at least 60 more in late May, by the UN's counts (S/2006/418).
- **People who fled,** including up to 2,000 who crossed into Kenya (S/2006/418).
- **Children.** "The two sides have been recruiting children from the streets and schools to join their militia groups" (S/2006/418, para. 56).
- **Kidnap victims.** "Children and women, as well as prominent businessmen, are reported to be the prime targets for ransom" (same source).

## Sources differ

- **Who funded ARPCT.** The UN Monitoring Group spoke of "clandestine third-country involvement" without naming the country. Menkhaus called the alliance "CIA-backed".
- **What the fight was about.** ARPCT said it was fighting terrorism. The UN noted that the March round "began as a commercial dispute" over port access, and that some court leaders called it a "commercial dispute between Adani and Raghe".
- **The name.** UN reports use both "Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT)" and "Alliance for Peace Restoration and Combat against Terror (APRCT)".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2006/418 (20 June 2006): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/418&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, report S/2006/229 (4 May 2006): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/229&l=en&t=pdf).
- Ken Menkhaus, "There and Back Again in Somalia", MERIP, February 2007: [article](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia).


---

# The Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), 2007–2009

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/alliance-for-the-re-liberation-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) was an opposition coalition founded at a congress in Asmara, Eritrea, in September 2007, first named the Alliance for the Liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia. It joined leaders of the Islamic Courts, members of parliament led by former Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, diaspora figures and elders, with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as chairman. Its aim was to end Ethiopia's military presence. In 2008 the Djibouti wing made peace with the Transitional Federal Government, and in January 2009 an enlarged parliament elected Sharif President. The Asmara wing under Hassan Dahir Aweys rejected the deal and helped form Hizbul Islam.

## In short

From 6 to 13 September 2007, opponents of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and of Ethiopia's troop presence held a "Congress for the Liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia" in Asmara, Eritrea. It ended "with the formation of the Alliance for the Liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia, the election of its leadership and the adoption of an action plan" ([UN Security Council, S/2007/658, para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/658&l=en&t=pdf)). The group became known as the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).

Its chairman, [Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), was elected President of Somalia on 30 January 2009 ([S/2009/132, para. 10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)). For the war around it, see [the war in Somalia, 2006–2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/).

## Founding, September 2007

From the UN Secretary-General's report of November 2007 ([S/2007/658, paras. 7–9](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/658&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **Who took part.** "Representatives of the Union of Islamic Courts, the 'Free Parliamentarians' led by the former Speaker of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/), [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/), the Somali Diaspora, as well as members of civil society and clan elders." See [the Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).
- **Leaders.** Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was named chairman of the executive, and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden head of a 191-member Central Committee.
- **Aims.** Its "overriding aim was to liberate Somalia from Ethiopian occupation and launch a political reconstitution process". It said it would talk to the TFG "only after the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces".
- **A rival meeting.** The UN called the Asmara meeting a "parallel congress" to the government's National Reconciliation Congress. "The Asmara-based opposition groups and some Hawiye clan elders rejected" the Jeddah agreement of September 2007 on carrying out that congress's outcome.

## The Djibouti process, 2008

From the UN Secretary-General's reports:

- **Nairobi, 28 March to 5 April 2008.** An ARS delegation led by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden met the UN Special Representative, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, and signed a memorandum of understanding on 4 April ([S/2008/466, para. 4](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2008/466&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Djibouti, 12–15 May.** The first round of TFG–ARS talks ended with a joint declaration on humanitarian access (same source, para. 6).
- **Eritrea.** Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, "while acknowledging the support of the Eritrean Government for ARS, accused it of attempting to divide the group" (same source, para. 7).
- **9 June 2008.** The TFG and ARS initialled the Djibouti agreement. It provided for a 90-day cessation of hostilities, a request for an international stabilisation force "excluding neighbouring States", Ethiopia's withdrawal once enough UN forces were in place, and for "ARS to dissociate itself from any armed groups or individuals that do not adhere to the terms of the agreement" (same source, para. 9).
- **19 August 2008.** A "technical signing" in Djibouti started implementation. A Joint Security Committee included ARS field commanders under their commander-in-chief, Omar Hershi ([S/2008/709, paras. 6–7](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2008/709&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Two wings

An ARS faction based in Asmara, led by [Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/), rejected the Djibouti agreement ([Congressional Research Service, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)). In January 2009 the Asmara wing joined three other groups to form [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/), which fought the new government ([Wikipedia, "Hizbul Islam"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)).

## Into government, January 2009

From the UN Secretary-General's report of March 2009 ([S/2009/132, paras. 6–10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **29 December 2008.** President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) resigned, saying he did not want to be an "obstacle to peace".
- **26 January 2009.** The Transitional Federal Parliament voted to grow by 275 seats, "with 200 seats allocated to ARS and the remaining 75 reserved for members of civil society, businesspeople, women, the diaspora and other opposition groups". The next day it extended its own mandate by two years, to August 2011.
- **30 January 2009.** Meeting in Djibouti, the enlarged Parliament elected the ARS chairman, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, as interim President after two rounds of voting. He was sworn in on 31 January.

See [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Who suffered?

- **Civilians in Mogadishu and the south** during the fighting between ARS-aligned insurgents, al-Shabaab, the TFG and Ethiopian forces in 2007–2008. Human Rights Watch documented abuses by all of them ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*, 2008](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)).

## Sources differ

- **The name.** The UN's 2007 report calls it the Alliance for the Liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia. From 2008 UN reports use Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia.
- **Peace or resistance.** The Djibouti wing signed the 2008 agreement. The Asmara wing rejected it and said Ethiopian troops had to leave first.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2007/658 (7 November 2007), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/658&l=en&t=pdf); S/2008/466 (16 July 2008), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2008/466&l=en&t=pdf); S/2008/709 (17 November 2008), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2008/709&l=en&t=pdf); S/2009/132 (9 March 2009), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf).
- Human Rights Watch, *So Much to Fear: War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia* (December 2008): [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia).


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# Harar becomes the capital of Adal: 1520 to the walls of Harar and Zeila

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Harar became the capital of the sultanate of the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, known to Christian sources as Adal, in July–August 1520, when the court moved there from Dakar after years of murders and rival rulers. The historian Amélie Chekroun, writing in 2022, finds no sign in the sources that Harar mattered before the 15th century, which agrees with Timothy Insoll's radiocarbon dates, all after the late 15th century. According to the chronicles she cites, Harar's wall was built under Emir Nur in the 1560s after Oromo raids, and Zeila's wall in the mid-1570s while the sultan was away at war.

## In short

Today the walled old town of Harar is often said to date back to the 10th or 13th century. The historian Amélie Chekroun, in "Harar as the capital city of the Barr Saʿd ad-Dīn (first half of the 16th century): from its emergence to its fortification", *Annales d'Éthiopie* 34 (2022): 23–44 ([HAL open copy](https://hal.science/hal-04224979)), argues from the written sources that Harar became an important town only when it became the sultanate's capital in 1520. Page numbers below refer to the journal pages.

## The founding legends

- **Emir Nur.** In 1854 Richard Burton was told that the city in its present form was the work of Emir Nur, and that before him there was "a mere mass of Bedouin villages". In the 1920s the Capuchin missionary Azaïs was told that Nur built the ramparts, finished only about 1580 (pp. 24–25).
- **Abadir.** Chekroun writes that from the late 19th century the oral tradition moved the founding back to the 12th–13th or even 10th century, centred on the saint Abadir. The Arabic *Fatḥ madīnat Harar* tells of Abadir's arrival from Mecca in 1216 with 405 companions, but it mentions Portuguese and Italians and ends with a prophecy of the Italian conquest of Ethiopia. She cites scholars who date its spread or writing to the late 19th or early 20th century (pp. 25–26).
- **Lists of emirs.** Some lists of the emirs of Harar start in the late 9th century and join unrelated dynasties, such as the 14th-century rulers of [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) and the emirs descended from ʿAli ibn Daʾud in the 17th–19th centuries (p. 25).

## What the sources and digs say

- **First mention.** The name "Harar" first appears in the Ge'ez account of King Amda Seyon's wars, which Chekroun, following Bertrand Hirsch, dates to the 15th century. In a list of about 200 territories in a Muslim coalition, Harar supplied only 3 governors, against 99 for Adal and 1,000 for Dakar (pp. 26–27).
- **Adal and the Barr Saʿd ad-Din.** Chekroun writes that the sultanate's own Arabic sources always call it the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, "the land of Saʿd ad-Din", and that "Adal" was only one territory within it (p. 27).
- **Insoll's dating.** In 2014 and 2018 the archaeologist Timothy Insoll made the first test excavations inside Harar's walls and dated six mosques that tradition calls the oldest. He concluded that they "post-date the late 15th century" and that Harar was "a late, possibly 16th century foundation" (pp. 28–29). An inscription on the minbar of the Jami mosque, which tradition dates to 1216, gives 1761–1762 (p. 29).
- **Why Harar?** Chekroun cites 19th-century observers on its cool climate, gardens, springs and position on the caravan road from the Red Sea to the highlands (pp. 29–30).

## The crisis before the move

- **The sons of Saʿd ad-Din.** After Sultan Saʿd ad-Din died at Zeila in 1408 or 1409, his sons took refuge with the [Rasulid](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/) sultan of Yemen. They came back not through Zeila, then under Christian rule, but through the port of Siyara east of Berbera, and founded the new sultanate in the 1410s–1420s, named after their father (pp. 30–31). For Siyara, see [The trade fairs of the Berbera coast](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/).
- **Sultan Muhammad (1488 to about 1517).** His reign was the longest of the dynasty. In 1517 he and [Emir Mahfuz](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/) raided the Christian kingdom; Mahfuz was killed, the sultan fled, and in the same year the Portuguese commander Lopo Soares burned Zeila. Chekroun corrects the date of 1514 given by Álvares, because Soares was in Portugal until April 1515 (pp. 31–32).
- **Five rulers in a few years.** The *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha* says Muhammad was murdered on his return, and lists five rulers who followed, each killing or overthrowing the one before: Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Mahfuz; Ibrahim ibn Ahmad, ruler of Hubat "of the tribe of Balaw"; Wasani; Mansur ibn Mahfuz; and Garad Abun, who ruled seven years until Sultan Abu Bakr, Muhammad's son, killed him. None was of Saʿd ad-Din's line. The official dynastic annals, the *Taʾrīkh al-Walasmaʿ*, leave them out (pp. 32–33).

## The move, July–August 1520

Both Harar chronicles date the move from Dakar to Harar to Shaʿban 926 AH, which Chekroun gives as 17 July to 14 August 1520. The *Taʾrīkh al-Walasmaʿ* credits Sultan Abu Bakr alone, who "transferred the people and the army from the land of Dakar to Harar". The *Taʾrīkh al-mulūk* credits him together with Garad Abun, and records Abun's death on 30 May 1525. Chekroun concludes that the move was tied to the internal conflict, but that its exact reason cannot be known. She asks whether it was flight from opponents, a fresh start, a victory of the opposition, or a response to other pressures, including from neighbouring Somali groups (pp. 33–34). For the town before Harar, see [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/).

## The walls of Harar and Zeila

- **Harar.** Emir Nur took control of the sultanate in 1551–1552 and ruled until 1567–1568; he killed the Ethiopian king Galawdewos in 1559. The *Taʾrīkh al-mulūk* describes famine and Oromo raids on Sim, Shewa, Nujub, Jidaya, Dakar and Harjaya, after which "the survivors built fortifications and dug trenches". Chekroun places the building of Harar's wall between about 1560 and 1568. The same chronicle describes a gate and ditch at Harar during an Oromo siege in the 1570s (pp. 35–36).
- **Zeila.** A late 16th-century Arabic chronicle records that the governor of Zeila, Garad Ladu, had walls built by ʿAtiya ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi, a man of Yemeni origin, while Sultan Muhammad ibn Nasir was away fighting in Ethiopia. Chekroun dates this to between 1575 and 1577. She notes Cerulli's remark that the Arabic word used, *darb*, survives in Somali as *derbi*, a wall (pp. 36–37). She places it at a time when Oromo raids on the sultanate continued (pp. 37–38). In an earlier survey, Chekroun and Bertrand Hirsch wrote that the Zeila documents published by Cerulli record the wall being built "to protect the town against Somali nomads plundering" (see [The end of Adal, 1543–1583](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)).
- **Later views.** Burton described Zeila's wall in 1854 as a long low brown wall with round towers and five gates, locked at sunset. It no longer stands (p. 38).
- **Other sites.** French surveys in 2001 noted possible enclosure walls at Zeila, [Amud](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/) and [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/). The [StateHorn](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/) project, which is digging medieval sites in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), reports that such sites usually have no defensive walls. Chekroun notes that the Somaliland sites are mostly undated, while Ifat's towns, such as Nora, had strong walls facing the Christian kingdom (pp. 38–39).

## Related pages

- [Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate, and the tombs of the Walashma](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/)
- [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/)
- [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)
- [The Harla and Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/)
- [Abasa and Darbiyah Kola: a medieval town](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/)
- [First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/)
- [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)
- [Imam Ahmad's son and the end of the war, 1543–1560](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/)
- [The end of Adal, 1543–1583: Emir Nur, the Ottomans at Zeila and the move to Awsa](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)


---

# The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons' exile in Yemen, 1408–1422

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sultan Saʿd ad-Din, the last ruler of Ifat, was pursued by the army of the Ethiopian king Dawit to an island off Zeila and killed there. The two main sources give 1402–1403 and 1415, but in 2020 the historian Amélie Chekroun used Yemeni court annals, which record his son reaching the Rasulid sultan at Taizz on 30 March 1409, to date his death to 1408–1409. His sons returned through the port of Siyara east of Berbera and founded the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, the state Christian sources call Adal.

## In short

The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din ended the sultanate of Ifat. His sons fled to Yemen, came back, and founded a new state named after him, the Barr Saʿd ad-Din. The historian Amélie Chekroun re-examined these events in "Entre Arabie et Éthiopie chrétienne : le sultan walasmaʿ Saʿd al-Dīn et ses fils (début XVe siècle)", *Médiévales* 79 (2020): 117–136 ([HAL open copy](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03086735)). Unless noted, the facts below come from that article. For a short biography, see [Saʿd ad-Din II](/en/people/saad-ad-din-ii/).

## Burton and the island

In November 1854 Richard Burton visited the small island off Zeila that bears the sultan's name. He was told that when "[Saad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) el Din" was besieged and killed by "David, King of Ethiopia", the wells dried up, and that his sons fled to a prince of Yemen and asked for help against the Christians. Burton saw a large cemetery and a mound of stones around an upright post, the tomb of "Shaykh Saad el Din", "the favourite patron saint of Zayla", with remains of votive feasts around it.

Chekroun notes three later visits. In the 1880s Stewart King dug some graves on the island and found coral and ivory ornaments. In the 1930s Alexander Curle dated the pottery there to the 15th century, with one sherd of the 12th. In 2001 French researchers saw celadon-like pottery and beads around the tomb, which they took to be offerings. Chekroun writes that the island was probably not the site of Zeila town itself, which medieval writers place on the coast, but perhaps an outpost guarding the harbour. For Zeila, see [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

## The end of Ifat

- **The background.** In the late 14th century the Walashma of Ifat owed obedience to the Christian king, who appointed and protected the sultans. Haqq ad-Din was the first to rebel; his brother and successor Saʿd ad-Din, writes al-Maqrizi, "waged constant war" on the Christians. The revolt did not succeed. Several members of the dynasty were held prisoner, and Saʿd ad-Din fled toward the coast. Ifat became a province of the Christian kingdom, and its capital was abandoned. See [Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/).
- **Al-Maqrizi's account.** The Christians followed him "until he took refuge on the island of Zaylaʿ in the middle of the sea". They besieged it and cut off the water until someone showed them a way across. After three days without water he fought, was wounded in the forehead, fell, and was speared; he died "reciting the shahada and laughing". The Christian king then held the country for twenty years. His ten sons, the eldest Sabr ad-Din ʿAli, fled to Arabia, where the Rasulid sultan al-Nasir Ahmad received them, equipped them and gave them six horses. They then went to a place called Siyara, "until God gave them the power to take back their country". Sabr ad-Din ruled for eight years and died of a stomach illness about 1421–1422.

## The date

The two usual sources disagree. Al-Maqrizi's *Kitāb al-Ilmām* gives 805 AH (1402–1403). The Harar annals of the dynasty, the *Taʾrīkh ʿUmar Walasmaʿ*, give 6 Dhu al-Hijja 817 AH (7 February 1415). Earlier historians chose one or the other.

Chekroun brings in three other sources:

- **Al-Maqrizi's own chronicle of Egypt,** the *Kitāb al-Sulūk*, which says Saʿd ad-Din died "after the year 810" (after 1407–1408) and that his sons were received with honour by the king of Yemen for "several years".
- **The Rasulid court annals** (the "Anonymous Chronicle"), which record: "The son of Saʿd ad-Din, the lord of Ethiopia, arrived with a gift at the Noble Gate of Taʿizz… and asked for help to victory against the infidel Haṭi. Our lord the Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir met him with all kindness… and promised him victory", on 13 Dhu al-Qaʿda 811, which she converts to 30 March 1409.
- **Ibn al-Daybaʿ** (1461–1537), a Yemeni historian, who also places the sons' visit to the sultan at Taizz in 811 AH.

From these she concludes that Saʿd ad-Din died, and Ifat ended, in 811 AH (1408–1409), under King Dawit (ruled 1380–1412), not under Yeshaq as sometimes written. Since Sabr ad-Din ruled eight or nine years and died in 1421–1422, the sons must have been back by 1412–1413 at the latest, so their stay in Yemen lasted at most two or three years. She also notes that the sons went to Taizz, the Rasulid political capital, not to Zabid as al-Maqrizi writes or to Sanaa as Burton was told.

## Links with Yemen

- **A Sufi at the sultan's court.** Three 15th-century Yemeni biographers describe [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Shams ad-Din ʿAli ibn ʿUmar al-Shadhili, later the patron saint of the port of Mocha. After studying in Mecca, Medina, Syria and Cairo, he went to "al-Habasha", became a trusted companion of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din, married the sultan's sister and had several children with her, then returned to Mocha. He died in 1418–1419 or 1424–1425. Chekroun writes that this is evidence of Sufism at the Walashma court, and suggests the fall of Ifat may explain his return. His tomb and mosque at Mocha were a pilgrimage site until their recent destruction.
- **Other links.** She lists a Yemeni scholar welcomed by an earlier Sultan Sabr ad-Din in the 14th century, a family of Shafiʿi Sufis from Zeila settled in the Yemeni Tihama in the 14th–15th centuries, and [Hadrami](/en/relations/yemen/) merchants at Kalgur in Ifat. See [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/).
- **"Sultan of Yemen in Ethiopia".** One Yemeni biographer, al-Burayhi, calls Saʿd ad-Din "sultan of Yemen in Ethiopia". Chekroun writes that no other source supports the idea of Yemeni rule over Ifat and that it is very unlikely.

## The "land of Dawit Adal"

A 16th-century Ethiopian church calendar records that King Tewodros, Dawit's son, ruled only nine months and died on 23 June 1413 "in the land of Dawit Adal", east of the Awash, and that his army carried his coffin back across the river. Chekroun writes that Christian sources call the Barr Saʿd ad-Din "Adal", while Muslim sources never do, and that the name stayed in Christian use for the lands as far as Zeila until the late 19th century. Following Taddesse Tamrat, she suggests "Dawit Adal" recalls King Dawit's pursuit of Saʿd ad-Din to Zeila.

## After the return

Chekroun writes that the sons' reconquest was "long and chaotic" and seems to have ended only in the second half of the 15th century. She cites al-Maqrizi that under Sultan Jamal ad-Din (ruled 1425–1432) "the Barbar", which she reads as probably Somali pastoral groups, refused his authority, and that his cousin and other rivals killed him. A Franciscan writer before 1473, Grifon of Flanders, described a "Barbarica Ethiopia" from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea whose king was called "son of Saebdin". For the capital they founded, see [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/).

## Related pages

- [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/)
- [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/)
- [The trade fairs of the Berbera coast](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/)
- [Nomads, towns and the state in Ifat and Adal](/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/)
- [First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/)


---

# The war in Somalia, 2006–2009: Ethiopia, the Islamic Courts and the insurgency

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In December 2006 Ethiopian forces entered Somalia in support of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and drove the Islamic Courts Union out of Mogadishu within days. An insurgency followed, led by former Courts members, al-Shabaab and other armed groups. Human Rights Watch found that all sides violated the laws of war. By late 2008 about 870,000 people had fled Mogadishu. After the Djibouti agreement of June 2008, Ethiopian troops left Mogadishu on 15 January 2009, and the former Courts leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was elected president on 30 January 2009.

## In short

In June 2006 the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) took control of Mogadishu. In December 2006 Ethiopian forces, invited by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and backed by the United States, drove the ICU from the city "in a matter of days" ([Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked*, August 2007](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)).

An insurgency began almost at once. Two years of fighting followed in Mogadishu and the south, until a peace deal signed in Djibouti in June 2008 led to Ethiopia's withdrawal in January 2009 ([UN Secretary-General, report S/2009/132, para. 13](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)). For the Courts themselves, see [the Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).

## Before the war, 2006

- **The Courts.** In December 2004 clan-based sharia courts in Mogadishu joined to form the ICU, chaired by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a schoolteacher ([HRW, *Shell-Shocked*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)). In June 2006 they took Mogadishu after forcing out the armed groups that had held it.
- **The TFG.** The government sat in Baidoa. Human Rights Watch wrote in 2008 that in 2006 it "had a physical presence in only two towns" ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*, December 2008](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)).
- **Kismayo.** The ICU took Kismayo in late September 2006, "allegedly" with Eritrean advisers and fighters of the [ONLF](/en/institutions/ogaden-national-liberation-front/) and OLF, armed groups opposed to Ethiopia's government ([HRW, *Shell-Shocked*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)).
- **Ethiopia's concerns.** Human Rights Watch wrote that "leading figures associated with the ICU had openly threatened war on Ethiopia and talked of annexing the whole of Ethiopia's eastern Somali region" ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)).
- **6 December 2006.** UN Security Council resolution 1725 authorised an African protection mission for Somalia, and said that states bordering Somalia would not deploy troops in it ([UN Security Council, resolution 1725](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1725%282006%29&l=en&t=pdf)).

## December 2006 to January 2007

- **Late December 2006.** Ethiopian forces, with tanks and air power, attacked ICU positions. Ethiopia's prime minister said on 24 December that his country had been "forced into war" (Reuters, as cited by [HRW, *Shell-Shocked*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)).
- **26–28 December 2006.** The ICU leaders left Mogadishu on 26 December and moved south. Ethiopian and TFG troops entered the city (same source).
- **1 January 2007.** Kismayo fell to Ethiopian forces (same source).
- **January 2007.** Ethiopian troops pushed the retreating fighters toward [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) on the Kenyan border. US ships patrolled the coast and Kenya closed its border (same source).
- **8 January 2007.** US AC-130 gunships attacked several places in southern Somalia, reportedly to kill suspects in the 1998 embassy bombings ([CRS report RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)). Oxfam said about 70 people were killed in bombings in [Afmadow](/en/regions/lower-juba/) district (same source). See [US air strikes in Somalia](/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/).
- **January 2007.** The TFG moved from Baidoa to Mogadishu ([CRS](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).

## The battle for Mogadishu, 2007

Human Rights Watch documented the fighting from research in Kenya and Somalia in April and May 2007 ([HRW, *Shell-Shocked*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)):

- **21–22 March 2007.** A TFG disarmament operation was driven back. Captured TFG soldiers were killed and their bodies mutilated in the streets.
- **Late March.** Ethiopian forces launched their first offensive in the city. Four days of bombardment ended in a short ceasefire negotiated between the Ethiopian military and Hawiye clan elders.
- **Late April.** The ceasefire broke down and a second offensive began in north Mogadishu. On 26 April the TFG declared victory.
- **The toll.** The March and April fighting caused "the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of 400,000 people".

The same report found that the insurgents "routinely deployed their forces in densely populated civilian areas" and fired mortars without regard to civilians, and that Ethiopian forces fired "inherently indiscriminate 'Katyusha' rockets in urban areas". It found that TFG forces carried out "widespread pillaging" and "mass arrests" (same source).

## The insurgency, 2007–2008

- **20 February 2007.** Security Council resolution 1744 authorised the African Union to set up a mission in Somalia, AMISOM, for six months ([UN Security Council, resolution 1744](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1744%282007%29&l=en&t=pdf)). See [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/).
- **The opposition.** Opponents grouped around the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), made up of ICU leaders, former members of parliament and others; around [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/); and around other armed factions ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)). The ICU leadership moved to Eritrea ([CRS](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).
- **February 2008.** The US designated al-Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization (same source).
- **October 2008.** HRW reported that an al-Shabaab-run administration in Kismayo publicly stoned to death a young girl who had reported a rape, after accusing her of adultery ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)).

In its December 2008 report Human Rights Watch wrote that "Ethiopian, Somali transitional government, and insurgent forces have all violated the laws of war with impunity" (same source):

- **TFG forces.** "Murder, rape, assault, and looting", and arrests of civilians to extort ransom.
- **Insurgents.** Death threats and targeted killings of people seen as TFG collaborators, "including people who took menial jobs in TFG offices or sold water to Ethiopian soldiers".
- **Ethiopian forces.** Bombardments "lobbed into densely populated neighborhoods", and a breakdown of discipline "to the point where they increasingly are responsible for violent criminality".

## The Djibouti agreement and Ethiopia's withdrawal

- **June 2008.** The TFG and the ARS signed an agreement in Djibouti, mediated by the UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah. It provided for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces and a UN force ([CRS](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)). An ARS faction based in Asmara, led by [Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/), rejected it (same source).
- **29 December 2008.** President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) resigned in Baidoa, saying he did not want to be seen as an "obstacle to peace" ([UN, S/2009/132, para. 6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **13–15 January 2009.** Ethiopian forces left their positions in north Mogadishu and "completed their withdrawal from all locations in Mogadishu two days later" (para. 13).
- **25 January 2009.** Ethiopian forces left Baidoa. Looting followed when the TFG militia left, "until Al-Shabaab took control though negotiation with local clan elders" (paras. 15 and 22).
- **26 January 2009.** Parliament grew by 275 seats: 200 for the ARS and 75 for civil society, women, the diaspora and others (para. 8).
- **30 January 2009.** Meeting in Djibouti, the enlarged parliament elected the ARS chairman, [Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), as president (para. 10).

The years after are told in [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Who suffered?

- **The people of Mogadishu.** "Since January 2007 at least 870,000 civilians have fled the chaos in Mogadishu alone, two-thirds of the city's population." Across the south, 1.1 million people were displaced ([HRW, *So Much to Fear*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia)).
- **Civilians killed.** The Elman Human Rights Center in Mogadishu estimated in December 2007 that 6,000 civilians had been killed since the end of 2006. HRW wrote that "no organization has been able to produce a credible estimate" for 2008 (same source).
- **Displaced families** in the camps on the Mogadishu–[Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) road, which HRW said had "themselves become theaters of brutal fighting", where "freelance militias have robbed, murdered, and raped displaced persons" (same source).
- **Soldiers and fighters** of every side. The sources linked here give no count.

## Sources differ

- **Why Ethiopia intervened.** Ethiopia said it was forced into war by threats from the ICU. Human Rights Watch wrote that Ethiopia's actions were "rooted in its own regional and national security interests, namely a proxy war with Eritrea" ([HRW, *Shell-Shocked*](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)).
- **The ICU.** HRW wrote that the Courts "were credited with bringing unprecedented stability" to Mogadishu, while "radical and militant Islamist elements" in it "stoked fears" (same source). US officials in 2006 labelled the whole ICU leadership extremist; the CRS report says the moderate leadership was later "marginalized" ([CRS](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).
- **The death toll.** Somali groups gave estimates of 6,000 civilians by December 2007. A later edition of the CRS report cites human rights groups and Somali observers estimating "more than 22,000 people have been killed over the past two years" ([CRS](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)). No agreed figure exists.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked: Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu*, August 2007: [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu).
- Human Rights Watch, *"So Much to Fear": War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia*, December 2008: [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia).
- UN Security Council, resolution 1725 (2006): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1725%282006%29&l=en&t=pdf); resolution 1744 (2007): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1744%282007%29&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2009/132 (March 2009): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf).
- Congressional Research Service, *Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace*, RL33911: [text](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html).


---

# Major attacks in Mogadishu, 2009 to 2013

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/mogadishu-attacks-2009-2013/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Four of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu between 2009 and 2013 were the suicide bombing of the AU base on 17 September 2009, which killed the AU force's deputy commander; the Shamo Hotel graduation bombing on 3 December 2009, which killed three ministers; the truck bomb outside the education ministry on 4 October 2011, which killed about 70 or more; and the assault on the court complex on 14 April 2013. Al-Shabaab claimed the 2009 AU base, 2011 and 2013 attacks; no group claimed the Shamo bombing at the time.

## In short

These four attacks hit the AU mission, the transitional government's ministers, students and the courts, while the city was contested and then after [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) withdrew from it in August 2011. The later bombings, from 2017 to 2022, are covered in [Mogadishu bombings, 2017 to 2022](/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/). This page records what the sources report.

## The AU base, 17 September 2009

Suicide bombers drove two white vehicles with UN markings into the compound of [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) in Mogadishu while its commanders were meeting senior Somali officials. Nine people were killed, among them the deputy force commander, Major General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza of Burundi; the force commander, General Nathan Mugisha, was lightly wounded. Al-Shabaab said the attack avenged [Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan](/en/history/al-qaeda-east-africa-cell-somalia/), an al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab leader killed by US forces near [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/) on 14 September; its spokesman said: "We have got our revenge for our brother Nabhan" ([*Long War Journal*, 17 September 2009](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/09/shabaab_suicide_atta.php)). See [Burundi's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/burundi-military-in-somalia/).

## The Shamo Hotel, 3 December 2009

A suicide bomber attacked a Banadir University graduation ceremony at the Shamo Hotel ([VOA, 3 December 2009](https://www.voanews.com/a/article-03dec09-somalia-blast-78405547/368574.html)). At least 19 people were killed, among them three ministers of the transitional government: Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali, Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Adow and Education Minister Ahmed Abdullahi Wayel. Two journalists and two professors also died, at least 50 students were reported injured, and the sports minister, [Saleban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) Olad Roble, was hurt. Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle said the bomber was "disguised as a woman". No group had claimed the attack ([Al Jazeera, 3 December 2009](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/12/03/deadly-blast-hits-somali-graduation/)). See [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## The truck bomb, 4 October 2011

A truck bomb exploded at a security checkpoint outside the compound housing the education ministry and other ministries, killing an estimated 70 people, many of them students and parents. Al-Shabaab claimed it and said the compound was targeted because government officials and foreigners were there. A nurse at Medina hospital called it "the most awful tragedy I have ever seen" ([PBS NewsHour, 4 October 2011](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/70-killed-in-somalia-truck-bombing-al-shabab-claims-responsibility)). It came two months after al-Shabaab withdrew its fighters from the city.

## The court complex, 14 April 2013

Gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the court complex in Mogadishu, and a car bomb shortly afterwards hit cars carrying Turkish aid workers on the airport road. Media reported at least 30 deaths across both attacks. Among the dead were a judge and three lawyers, including Mohamed Mohamud Afrah, head of the Somali Lawyers Association. An al-Shabaab spokesman said the court was a legitimate target because it ruled contrary to Islamic law. Human Rights Watch called the attacks war crimes; its deputy Africa director, Leslie Lefkow, said: "courthouses are no exception" to the laws of war protecting civilians ([Human Rights Watch, 16 April 2013](https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/16/somalia-new-al-shabaab-attacks-are-war-crimes)). See [Turkey's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) for Turkey's wider presence.

Attacks on Mogadishu hotels between 2015 and 2018 are covered in [Al-Shabaab's attacks on Mogadishu hotels, 2015 to 2018](/en/history/mogadishu-hotel-attacks-2015-2018/).

## Sources differ

- **AU base, 2009.** Nine killed (*Long War Journal*, on the day) or at least 21, among them 17 Burundian and Ugandan peacekeepers and 4 civilians ([Enough Project, 2009](https://enoughproject.org/blog/17-peacekeepers-4-civilians-mogadishu-killed-suicide-bombing)).
- **Shamo Hotel.** At least 19 killed (Al Jazeera; VOA), with other reports cited by VOA giving more than 60.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Human Rights Watch, "Somalia: New Al-Shabaab Attacks Are War Crimes" (2013): [statement](https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/16/somalia-new-al-shabaab-attacks-are-war-crimes).
- Al Jazeera, "Deadly blast hits Somali graduation" (2009): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/12/03/deadly-blast-hits-somali-graduation/).
- *Long War Journal*, "Shabaab suicide attack kills 9, including senior African Union commander" (2009): [article](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/09/shabaab_suicide_atta.php).


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# The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money, 1300–1530

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Writing in the 1330s, the Egyptian scholar al-ʿUmari listed seven Muslim kingdoms in Abyssinia: Ifat, Dawaro, Arababni, Hadiyya, Sharkha, Bali and Dara. He wrote that each paid a yearly tribute to the Christian king, that Egypt and Syria called the whole area 'the country of Zeila', and that its rulers used Egyptian silver dirhams rather than their own coins. The historians Amélie Chekroun and Bertrand Hirsch, in 2020, set these reports beside the Ethiopian chronicles, the Futuh al-Habasha and recent archaeology.

## In short

This page follows Amélie Chekroun and Bertrand Hirsch, "The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia", in Samantha Kelly (ed.), *A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea* (Brill, 2020), pp. 86–112 ([HAL open preprint](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02505420)). Page numbers below are those of the preprint, which runs from p. 63 to p. 81. The authors write that Muslim history in medieval Ethiopia has been studied far less than Christian history, and that archaeology is now testing the written sources (pp. 63–64). For the earlier sultanate of Shewa and the rise of the Walashma, see [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/).

## Two routes of Islam

The authors describe two main routes by which Islam entered the region. From the 9th–10th centuries, the first ran north to south, from the Dahlak Islands in the Red Sea through eastern Tigray to the highlands. From the 12th–13th centuries, a second, which became the main one, ran from the port of Zeila on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) to the eastern highlands and the Rift Valley lakes (p. 65). They write that Zeila seems to have become dominant only in the 13th century, and that Ibn al-Mujawir, who died in 1291, made it the main port of the *barr al-ʿAjam*, the "coast of the non-Arabs", facing the Arab coast. Yemeni sources record merchants, scholars, pilgrims, soldiers, diplomats and slaves passing between Yemen and the Ethiopian sultanates through Zeila (pp. 70–71). For Zeila, see [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

## The seven kingdoms and their tribute

Al-ʿUmari, who wrote his *Masālik al-abṣār* in the 1330s from Ethiopian informants, named seven "Muslim kingdoms": Awfat (Ifat), Dawaro, Arababni, Hadiyya, Sharkha, Bali and Dara. He wrote that the whole area was called in Egypt and Syria "the country of Zaylaʿ", which "is however only one of their cities on the sea whose name has extended to the whole". The kingdoms were independent of each other, but each paid "a fixed tribute which they bring every year" to the Christian king, and none ruled "unless it is invested by the ruler of ʿAmhara" (pp. 72–73).

The authors write that the Ge'ez account of King Amda Seyon's wars of 1332 gives the same picture: it says Hadiyya paid tribute from 1316–1317, and that one cause of the war was its ruler's refusal to pay. They add that this account may have been written in the 15th century (p. 73). Al-Maqrizi, writing in Cairo in the 1430s from Ethiopian travellers, says the Christian king held members of the Walashma family prisoner, appointed sultans, and sent "an army of 30,000 men" to help Sultan ʿAli put down the revolt of his nephew Haqq ad-Din (p. 73). See [Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/).

## After Ifat

After the fall of Ifat, al-Maqrizi says, the Christians turned its mosques into churches and appointed Christian governors, who took the name Walashma as a title. The authors write that the southern Muslim lands, including Dawaro, Bali, Fatagar, Ifat and Hadiyya, were under Christian control by the mid-15th century at the latest. Hadiyya kept some autonomy under a Muslim governor; the *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha* says he paid a poll tax to the king and every year gave him one of his daughters to be baptised (pp. 74–75).

The sons of Saʿd ad-Din returned from Yemen and founded the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, with its capital at Dakar. The authors write that some Arabic sources call its land ʿAdal, possibly linked to a Muslim community of ʿAdal that the Walashma attacked in 1288, and that the Christian sources use "Adal" for the whole sultanate. They write that the dynasty "imposed their power over many other formerly independent Islamic territories, both sedentary and nomadic, including Hūbat, Zaylaʿ, the Ḥārla territory, and part of the vast and complex territory of the Somali", and that the sources do not say how (p. 75). See [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/) and [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/).

## War or peace in the 1400s?

The Portuguese priest Francisco Alvares, in Ethiopia in the 1520s, thought Saʿd ad-Din's descendants kept peace with the Christian kings. Other writers describe constant war. The authors write that the truth lies between the two and that the 15th century has never been properly studied (pp. 75–76). They note:

- **Raids and tribute.** The chronicles of Kings Zara Yaqob (1434–1468) and Baeda Maryam (1468–1478) record Christian raids on the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, and an embassy from the sultan offering tribute if the raids stopped (p. 76).
- **The Futūḥ's view.** It says that from Saʿd ad-Din to Garad Abun "the infidels made incursions into the country of the Muslims… so that some of the Muslim towns even paid them the ḫarāǧ", until Imam Ahmad ended this (p. 76).
- **Emir Mahfuz.** Some historians have seen Mahfuz, whose daughter Del Wambara married Imam Ahmad, as the head of a religious party opposed to the sultans. The authors write that every source that names him, including Alvares, the chronicle of Sarsa Dengel, Pedro Paez and the *Futūḥ*, calls him a commander under Sultan Muhammad (pp. 76–77).

## How the land was governed and taxed

According to the *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha*, the sultan appointed an emir over each territory. The sultan lived from the *kharāj* tax on the population, while emirs could raise armies to raid Christian lands for booty. The *Futūḥ* also records a dispute in the 1520s over the *zakāt*, the alms tax, which "the sultan, the emirs and the other rulers who governed the land of Saʿd al-Dīn" kept for themselves instead of giving it to the poor, a custom it says dated from Saʿd ad-Din (pp. 78–79). Al-ʿUmari wrote that most Muslims of the region were Hanafi but the rulers of Ifat were Shafiʿi; the authors cite a tomb at the capital of a "sheikh of the Walasmaʿ" of the Shafiʿi school (p. 78).

## Trade towns

- **Ifat and Zeila.** Al-ʿUmari wrote that Ifat's king was respected because he ruled Zeila, "the port where the merchants who go to this kingdom approach", with imports of "silk and linen fabrics" from Egypt, Yemen and Iraq (p. 79).
- **Manadeley.** Alvares described a town of about 1,000 people, "all Moors tributary to the Prester John", with 20 or 30 Christians collecting tolls, and merchants from Morocco, Tunis, Turkey, Greece, India, Hormuz and Cairo (p. 79).
- **Gendevelu.** In 1523 an Ethiopian monk told the Venetian Alessandro Zorzi of a "great mercantile city" in Ifat, 65 days from Zeila, where camel caravans unloaded goods brought by ships from Cambay in India, and where Hungarian and Venetian ducats and the "silver coins of the Moors" were used. The authors suggest it may be the ruined town of Asbari (pp. 79–80).
- **Christian traders.** The *Futūḥ* says the Christian king sent traders with gold, ivory, civet cats and slaves through the Muslim lands and across the sea to al-Shihr and Aden (p. 80).

## Money

The authors write that the Muslim states hardly minted coins. Al-ʿUmari said their rulers used *kāmilī* silver dirhams minted in Egypt, and a hoard of such Mamluk dirhams was found in Ifat in the late 19th century, though it is now lost. A Rasulid trade manual of the late 13th century, the *Nūr al-maʿārif*, says that for everyday exchange people used *ḥaras*, "fragments of poor quality silver, of broken rings, bracelets or other", and in remoter places an iron money, the *ḥakūna*, made of small bundles of iron rods, some of which were found at Nora. Al-ʿUmari wrote that barter "in cows, sheep or textiles" stayed the most common form of exchange (p. 80).

## Related pages

- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [Nomads, towns and the state in Ifat and Adal](/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/)
- [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/)
- [The Harla and Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/)
- [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)


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# The Geledi Sultanate on the Shabeelle, 1800s

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/geledi-sultanate/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Geledi Sultanate was a Somali state on the Shabeelle river, centred on Geledi, today's Afgooye. Under Sultan Yuusuf Maxamuud in the 1840s it ruled much of the land between the Shabeelle and the Jubba, grew grain and kept large herds that fed Mogadishu, and taxed every caravan that crossed the river. The French officer Charles Guillain visited it in March 1847 and left the fullest early description.

## In short

In the 1800s the richest farmland in Somalia, along the lower [Shabeelle](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) river, was ruled from the town of Geledi. Its sultans came from the Gobroon family.

At its height, in the 1840s, Sultan Yuusuf Maxamuud held sway from the Shabeelle to the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/), and reached into the coastal towns. The best eyewitness account comes from a French naval officer, Charles Guillain, who spent 8 to 14 March 1847 in Geledi ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 2, 1856, pp. 21–41](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis22guil)).

## The town in 1847

Geledi stood where the caravan roads from the interior crossed the Shabeelle, about ten hours by camel from Mogadishu. Guillain found three large villages on both banks, with fifteen to eighteen hundred houses between them (same source, p. 22).

The houses were round, with clay walls about two metres high and thatched conical roofs. Guillain found them cooler than his own tent, and moved into them in the heat of the day (pp. 22–24).

He estimated about 6,000 people in the three villages, in a territory of fifteen villages. He found the people "cheerful, lively, but gentle", and known as brave in war (pp. 33–34).

## Grain, herds and honey

The Shabeelle flooded each rainy season and left rich soil behind. Guillain wrote that millet was "the special product of the place". It fed Geledi and Mogadishu, and much more was exported, carried to the coast in leather sacks on camels (pp. 28–31).

He saw "countless herds of camels, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats" covering the riverbanks (p. 30). Each year Geledi sent Mogadishu 300 to 400 measures of ghee and 200 of tallow. Farmers hung hollow log hives in the riverside trees to gather honey (p. 31).

## Sultan Yuusuf Maxamuud

Guillain wrote down the sultan's line from the founder of his family: "Youceuf, son of Mahhmoud, son of Adira…", fourteen generations back to Gobroon (pp. 35–36). Yuusuf had inherited only the title of sheikh of the Gobroon. Guillain says he owed his wider power "to his skill and his energy" (p. 34).

The British officer Lieutenant Christopher, who visited before Guillain, described him as tall, about forty-five, dressed in a long white cloth, carrying a small spear (quoted on pp. 34–35). His brothers Ibraahim and Muuse helped him govern and went with him to war.

Guillain also described the people's looks in the racial terms of his time. He wrote that the Somali of the north "surpasses" the Somali of Geledi in skin colour and features, the latter being "blacker", with thicker lips and flatter noses; only in a few leading families did he see reddish skin and aquiline noses (p. 33). He called Ibraahim "the man of government" with a profile showing "the spirit of intrigue and cunning", and Muuse "a handsome man" of gentle look (p. 36).

Yuusuf wrote to the French in Arabic. One letter opens: "In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate; from Sultan Yuusuf, son of Sultan Maxamuud…" (p. 7).

## Power on the coast

Geledi's reach went beyond the river.

- **Tolls.** Every caravan between Mogadishu and the lands of the Jubba crossed at Geledi and paid a transit duty to the sultan (p. 41). Guillain later records a toll of three piastres per loaded camel (same volume, p. 148).
- **Mogadishu.** In 1842 Yuusuf came to Mogadishu to mediate a dispute between its two quarters, Xamarweyne and Shingaani. Christopher reports him saying of the town: "Is this city not mine?" (pp. 39–40).
- **[Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/).** When Barawa fell under the control of [Bardera](/en/regions/baardheere/) around 1840, its people sent a delegation and a gift of 200 piastres to Yuusuf, and asked for his help to restore their old ways (p. 38).

## The war with Bardera

In the 1830s and 1840s a religious reform movement based at Bardera, on the Jubba, spread across the south. Guillain records that it banned tobacco and dancing and required women to veil (pp. 36–38). He called its leader "an enraged puritan, a great reformer" and its rule "intolerance and fanaticism", which he said most local people did not accept (pp. 36–37).

Yuusuf stood for the older customs. Guillain writes that he had on his side every community "not directly within reach" of his rival. After "a series of hard-fought battles", Yuusuf won (p. 39). When Guillain arrived, he was gathering men at Dafeed for a campaign against [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/).

## Who suffered?

Guillain records the battles of the 1840s in Barawa, Bardera and the Shabeelle valley (pp. 38–39). Guillain also records that farm work in Geledi was done by enslaved people, most brought from Zanzibar (p. 28).

## After 1847

In 1894 Italy signed a protection treaty with "Gheledi e Nadan", dated 3 November 1894 ([Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, 1909, vol. 3, p. 1086](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert)). A British War Office handbook of 1907 still called Geledi "especially worthy of mention": Mogadishu drew "all its supplies" from its district ([*Official History of the Operations in Somaliland*, vol. 1, 1907, p. 25](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

## Sources differ

- **The date of Christopher's visit.** Guillain dates it to 1845. Christopher's own report was published in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1844, so his visit was probably earlier.
- **How the Bardera war ended.** Guillain gives no date.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Charles Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale*, part 2, vol. 2, 1856 (in French), pp. 1–45 on Geledi: [full text](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis22guil).
- E. Hertslet, *The Map of Africa by Treaty*, 3rd ed., 1909, vol. 3: [full text](https://archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hert).


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# The Islamic Courts Union, 2006

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was a coalition of sharia courts that took control of Mogadishu in June 2006, the first single authority in the city since 1991. It reopened the port and airport and made the streets safer, then spread across most of south-central Somalia. Ethiopian forces, backing the Transitional Federal Government, attacked on 24 December 2006, and the ICU dissolved within days.

## In short

For six months in 2006, a coalition of Islamic courts governed Mogadishu and most of south-central Somalia. Many residents welcomed the order it brought. Its rise alarmed Ethiopia and the United States, and its end in December 2006 opened a new war ([Menkhaus, *Middle East Report*, MERIP, 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia); [Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked*, 2007](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/)).

## Where the courts came from

After 1991 Mogadishu had no single authority. Local sharia courts filled part of the gap. The political scientist Ken Menkhaus writes that they were "initially financed by local businessmen, overseen by clan elders and operated by traditional Sufi clerics" ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)).

The courts improved security in their neighbourhoods and "proved very popular". However, each court's authority covered only its own lineage (same source).

- **2000.** The courts formed an umbrella body, the Sharia Implementation Council. Its secretary-general was [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/).
- **2004.** They regrouped as the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts. It was led by [Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), with Aweys still powerful.

Menkhaus records that most of the 11 courts in Mogadishu "remained moderate and under the control of clan elders", while two had militant militias (same source).

## The battle for Mogadishu, February to June 2006

In early 2006, a group of militia and business leaders formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism. Menkhaus describes it as "CIA-backed" ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)).

Fighting between the Alliance and the courts lasted for months. In June 2006 the courts won and took Mogadishu. They then spread their authority "over most of south-central Somalia", from southern [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) to the Kenyan border (same source).

## Six months of rule

Menkhaus describes what changed under the Courts' administration in 2006 ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)):

> "Public security improved dramatically throughout the capital. The Islamists disarmed clan militias… reopened the seaport and airport, and made the streets safe."

He adds that the courts "earned widespread respect and support among locals and in the diaspora". That respect "began to fray" once hardline members pushed strict rules (same source).

Human Rights Watch also records that the courts brought "unprecedented stability to a city plagued by lawlessness and extreme violence". It notes "early indicators of extreme and repressive action" as well ([HRW 2007](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/)).

## Why Ethiopia intervened

The [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TFG) sat at Baidoa with little support in Mogadishu. Talks between the TFG and the courts reached no agreement through mid-2006. Menkhaus writes that "the TFG, the Courts and Ethiopia all share in the blame" ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)).

Ethiopia was alarmed by hardline statements from some court leaders, including claims on Somali-inhabited parts of Ethiopia. Human Rights Watch writes that Ethiopia's actions were "rooted in its own regional and national security interests", including a proxy rivalry with Eritrea ([HRW 2007](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/)).

In December 2006 the UN Security Council passed resolution 1725, authorising an African force to protect the TFG (MERIP 2007).

## The end, December 2006

Ethiopia launched a full offensive on 24 December 2006, with what the press called "tacit support" from Washington ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)). After early losses the courts "unexpectedly dissolved in Mogadishu amidst deep internal divisions".

Menkhaus explains the collapse. Business leaders refused an urban war that would wreck their property, and clan leaders feared heavy losses. Moderate Islamists rejected a confrontation with a powerful neighbour. Weapons and fighters went back to the clans, and the remaining leadership left for Kismayo (same source).

## What came after

- **2007.** Fighting in Mogadishu between Ethiopian and TFG forces and insurgents displaced about 400,000 people. Human Rights Watch found "Ethiopian, Somali and insurgent forces are all responsible" for violations of the laws of war ([HRW 2007](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/)).
- **2008–2009.** Moderate former court leaders joined talks in Djibouti. In January 2009 Sharif Sheikh Ahmed became president of the TFG. See [rebuilding, 2007–2012](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/).
- **Al-Shabaab.** The militant wing of the courts became a separate insurgency. See [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).

## Who suffered?

The sources record civilian deaths in Mogadishu in the fighting of early 2006, of December 2006, and of 2007. Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of civilian deaths in March and April 2007 alone ([HRW 2007](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/)).

## Sources differ

- **Who led the courts.** Menkhaus describes a coalition led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, "but with hardliner Aweys still playing a dominant role" ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)). Accounts differ on which man held real power.
- **Why the courts fell so fast.** Some accounts stress Ethiopia's military strength. Menkhaus argues that internal divisions mattered more ([MERIP 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Ken Menkhaus, "There and Back Again in Somalia", *Middle East Report Online*, February 2007: [text](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia).
- Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked: Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu*, August 2007: [report](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/).


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# Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From the early 1300s, freeborn Muslims from the Horn of Africa, known in Cairo as al-Zaylaʿi (from Zeila) or al-Jabarti, appear in Egyptian records as scholars and Sufis. By 1415 they had their own residence, the Riwaq of the Zayaliʿa, in the al-Azhar mosque, one of four student communities there named by al-Maqrizi. The historian Julien Loiseau, in 2019, traced this community from Fakhr ad-Din ʿUthman al-Zaylaʿi, who came to Cairo in 1305–1306, to the ancestor of the historian al-Jabarti, who arrived in the late 1400s.

## In short

This page follows Julien Loiseau, "Abyssinia at al-Azhar: Muslim Students from the Horn of Africa in Late Medieval Cairo", *Northeast African Studies* 19, no. 1 (2019): 61–84 ([HAL open copy](https://amu.hal.science/hal-02909953)). Page numbers below are those of the open copy. Loiseau writes that people bearing the name "al-Zaylaʿi", from Zeila, or "al-Jabarti", from the "Country of Jabart", were newcomers in Cairo in the 14th century, and that by 1415 they formed "one of the most visible communities of foreign students in Cairo" (pp. 6–7). For Zeila itself, see [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

## The "Country of Jabart"

The Cairo historian ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (1753–1825) was the seventh generation of a family whose founder, also called ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Zaylaʿi al-Jabarti, left the Horn of Africa in the late 15th century. He described his ancestors' homeland: "The country of Jabart, or country of Zaylaʿ, is in the territories of the Abyssinians under the reign of the Ḥaṭī… It includes different places… inhabited by this people who are Muslims… and follow the Hanafī and Shāfiʿī schools only." Loiseau reads "Country of Jabart" as a name covering several Muslim areas in present Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia and Somalia, and as a term for all Muslims of the Horn (pp. 1–2).

The founder lived for years in Mecca and two years in Medina, then came to Cairo at the start of the 10th century AH (the late 1490s). In both holy cities and in Cairo he relied on a residence for people from his homeland, the *riwāq* of the "people of Jabart". In Cairo he became its head (*shaykh*), and the office stayed in his family into the 19th century (pp. 2–3).

## The first scholars from Zeila in Cairo

- **Fakhr ad-Din ʿUthman al-Zaylaʿi** arrived in Cairo in 1305–1306 and, Loiseau writes, may be one of the earliest people from Zeila known by that name in Egypt. He wrote *Tabyīn al-ḥaqāʾiq*, a commentary on a handbook of Hanafi law, and the historian al-Suyuti listed him among the leading Hanafi scholars of Egypt. He died in 1343; his grave in the Qarafa cemetery was remembered for centuries, and an epitaph was carved for it in Ottoman times (p. 7). See [Uthman al-Zaylaʿi](/en/people/uthman-al-zaylai/).
- **Jamal ad-Din ʿAbd Allah al-Zaylaʿi** (died 1360), his student and "fellow countryman", was listed by al-Suyuti as a master of hadith in Egypt (p. 7).
- **ʿAbd Allah al-Jabarti al-Zaylaʿi** (died May 1378) was revered as a saint and buried in his own Sufi lodge in the Qarafa. In the 1390s Sultan Barquq had his body moved to the northern cemetery, near the sultan's planned tomb (pp. 7–8).
- **Others.** A holy man named ʿAbd Allah al-Zaylaʿi had a church in Giza closed and turned into a mosque in 1378–1379, after appealing to the Mamluk authorities. A Sufi named Muhammad al-Zaylaʿi, a follower of Muhammad Ibn al-Wafa, died in Cairo in 1390 after the pilgrimage (p. 8).

## The riwaq at al-Azhar, 1415

In August 1415 a Mamluk officer made overseer of al-Azhar expelled its permanent residents at night, after rumours about their conduct. Al-Maqrizi wrote that about 750 students and Sufis lived there, in four communities, each with its own *riwāq*: the "ʿAjam" (Persian speakers), the "Zayāliʿa" (from Zeila), natives of the Nile Delta, and the "Maghāriba" (North Africans). Loiseau writes that this is the first time student residences can be traced at al-Azhar (pp. 3–5).

The expulsion did not last. The biographical dictionary of al-Sakhawi, with more than 11,000 entries on people of the 15th century, names a "Riwāq al-Jabart" three times. Both people it names there were Egyptians from Upper Egypt, and Loiseau notes the long links between Upper Egypt and the Horn (pp. 5–6).

## Patrons and diplomats

- **An endowment, 1436.** Jawhar al-Lala, a powerful court eunuch of Ethiopian origin, endowed 5,000 copper dirhams each Ramadan "for the poor and travelers among the people of Zaylaʿ and Jabart who are living as permanent residents in the living quarter of the Zayāliʿa at al-Azhar" (pp. 8–9).
- **A royal letter, 1443.** The Christian king Zara Yaqob wrote to the Mamluk sultan that many Muslims lived in his kingdom under his protection, and advised him to "ask the Jabartiyya who are dwelling in the mosque of al-Azhar, since their sultan is a Muslim". Loiseau writes that the community had become "a collective agent of the Mamluk diplomatic scene", seen as well informed about their homeland (pp. 9–10). For this letter, see also [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/).
- **A scholar on the roof.** ʿAli ibn Yusuf al-Jabarti came to Cairo in the 1440s, studied in Damascus, Baghdad (where he joined the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)) and Aleppo, and from 1465–1466 lived in a cell on the roof of al-Azhar. Students of Qur'an recitation and several eunuchs followed him, and he invested in the trade of merchants he knew. He was buried in a mosque next to the tomb complex of Sultan Qaytbay (p. 11).

## From "Zaylaʿi" to "Jabarti"

Loiseau suggests that the growth of this community was linked to the Red Sea trade coming more under Egyptian control in the 15th century, and to the spread of Islam among the peoples of eastern Ethiopia. He writes that "the gradual substitution of 'Jabart' for 'Zaylaʿ'" as the name for Muslims of the Horn was likely a result of that spread (pp. 11–12).

## Related pages

- [Hassan al-Jabarti](/en/people/hassan-al-jabarti/)
- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)
- [Imam Ahmad's son and the end of the war, 1543–1560](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/)
- [Scholars from Zeila and the Horn in medieval Yemen, 1150–1450](/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/)


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# The battles for Kismayo, 2006 to 2012

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/battles-for-kismayo-2006-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Control of the port of Kismayo changed hands several times between 2006 and 2012. The Islamic Courts took it in September 2006 and left before Ethiopian and government forces entered on 1 January 2007. Al-Shabaab and allied Islamists took it from clan militias in August 2008, in fighting that killed more than 70. Al-Shabaab then fought its former allies in Hizbul Islam for the city from 1 October 2009. On 29 September 2012 al-Shabaab withdrew after Kenyan, Somali and Raskamboni forces landed nearby.

## In short

Kismayo, the main port of the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) regions, was fought over repeatedly because its seaport and airport brought in taxes and trade. This page sets out each change of control from 2006 to 2012 as the sources report it. Later events are covered in [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/) and [Presidents of Jubaland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-jubaland/).

## 2006 to January 2007: the Islamic Courts

Forces of the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) took Kismayo from the [Juba Valley Alliance](/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/) in September 2006. After the courts lost Mogadishu in December 2006, clan elders in Kismayo told them to leave; one, Mohammed Arab, said: "We told them that they were going to lose, and that our city would get destroyed." Ethiopian and transitional government forces entered the town on 1 January 2007 ([Wikipedia, Fall of Kismayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Kismayo), citing *The New York Times* and *The Guardian*). See [War in Somalia, 2006 to 2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/).

## August 2008: al-Shabaab and the Islamists return

From 20 to 22 August 2008 Islamist fighters attacked the city, held by Marehan militias loyal to Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale, and took it when the militias withdrew. The *Long War Journal* reported more than 70 people killed and that the Islamic Courts had taken the city ([*Long War Journal*, 22 August 2008](https://longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/08/the_islamic_courts_has_taken_1.php)). Wikipedia names the attacking commanders as [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) and [Hassan al-Turki](/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/) and records about 35,000 people displaced ([Wikipedia, Battle of Kismayo (2008)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kismayo_(2008)), citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and CNN).

## October 2009: al-Shabaab against Hizbul Islam

The groups that took Kismayo in 2008 then split. The Ras Kamboni Brigade and Anole, factions of [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/), rejected a new al-Shabaab administration that left them out; taxes at the seaport were an important source of money for both sides ([VOA, October 2009](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2009-10-02-voa18/415183.html)). On 1 October 2009 al-Shabaab raided Hizbul Islam-held districts in the north of the city, and at least 30 people were killed in more than five hours of fighting. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)'s spokesman [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Hassan Yaqub declared a "holy war" on Hizbul Islam; another spokesman, Ali Mohamud Rage, later said the group was fighting Ahmed Madobe alone ([*Long War Journal*, 1 October 2009](https://longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/turf_war_in_kismayo.php)). Al-Shabaab held the town and the two factions withdrew to villages about 30 km away (VOA, 2009). See [Raskamboni movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/).

## September 2012: the Kenyan-led offensive

In the early hours of 28 September 2012 Kenyan and Somali forces, backed by air strikes, landed near Kismayo. About 12,000 people had left the city in the four weeks before. Al-Shabaab's spokesman, Ali Mohamud Rage, said the group "ordered a tactical retreat at midnight" and would keep fighting; Kenya's deputy prime minister, Musalia Mudavadi, called it "a significant victory". Al Jazeera described the city as the backbone of al-Shabaab's funding, through taxes on business and shipping ([Al Jazeera, 29 September 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/09/20129295415328148.html)). Kenyan and Raskamboni forces entered the city on 1 October (Wikipedia, Battle of Kismayo (2012)). See [Kenya's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/).

## Sources differ

- **Deaths in August 2008.** More than 70 (*Long War Journal*) or at least 89 (Wikipedia, citing CNN).
- **Who led in 2009.** Al-Shabaab said it was fighting Ahmed Madobe, not Hizbul Islam; Hizbul Islam spokesmen said their fighters were defending themselves (*Long War Journal*).
- **Who took the city in 2012.** Al Jazeera reported Kenyan and Somali forces; Wikipedia also names [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) and the Raskamboni militia.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "Al-Shabab rebels pull out of key Somali town" (2012): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/09/20129295415328148.html).
- *Long War Journal*, "Turf war in Kismayo" (2009): [article](https://longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/turf_war_in_kismayo.php).
- Voice of America, on the October 2009 fighting: [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2009-10-02-voa18/415183.html).


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# Imam Ahmad's son and the end of the war, 1543–1560: al-Jaziri's biography

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A biography written in Cairo in the mid-16th century by al-Jaziri, the official in charge of the pilgrim caravan to Mecca, tells the story of Ahmad, son of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim. He was captured when his father was killed in 1543, exchanged for the captive Ethiopian prince Minas through the Ottoman governor of Yemen, received by the Ottoman sultan, and died in Cairo in 1559–1560 after he was caught trying to reach Mecca in secret. The historian Amélie Chekroun identified and translated the text in 2025.

## In short

The war between Adal and the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia in the 1530s and 1540s is known mostly from the *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha*, which stops about 1535, and from Christian and Portuguese sources. In 2025 the historian Amélie Chekroun identified a new Muslim account of the last years of the war: a biography of Ahmad, son of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, written in Cairo by ʿAbd al-Qadir al-Jaziri. She translated it into French. Her article is "Derniers échos du jihad éthiopien (XVIe siècle) : l'apport de la biographie du fils de l'imām Aḥmad par al-Jazīrī", *Bellica* 3, no. 2 (2025): 9–30 ([HAL open copy](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05395526)). Page numbers below are the journal's. For the war itself, see [Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

## The author

Al-Jaziri (1505 to about 1570) was a Sufi who, from the late 1530s to 1569, was secretary of the office of the pilgrimage from Cairo to Mecca. He wrote a history of the pilgrimage, *al-Durar al-farāʾid al-munaẓẓama*. In a chapter on the pilgrimages of kings, he gave several pages to Ahmad, the only person from Ethiopia in the book. Chekroun writes that al-Jaziri knew Ahmad personally, says he liked him, and several times cites "trustworthy men who came from Ethiopia" (pp. 15–16). She translated the text from the 2002 Beirut edition, itself based on a manuscript at the Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez (pp. 17–18).

## Which son?

According to the *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha*, the Imam and his wife Del Wambara had a son Muhammad, born in 1528, and a son Ahmad al-Najashi, born in 1533 in Tigray, who died of leprosy a year later. Chekroun writes that the Ahmad of al-Jaziri, a young adolescent in 1543, is either that Muhammad or another son not otherwise known. The chronicle of King Galawdewos calls the captured son "Mäḫammäd" or "Məhmäd", and also names another son, "Ali-Gärad", captured earlier, and a third, "Nasraddin", who ruled for a time in [Dawaro](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/) (pp. 16–17).

## The last battle, 1543

Al-Jaziri's account of the last battle, in Chekroun's translation (pp. 25–26):

- **The armies.** The Christian king, whom al-Jaziri calls Atnab Sakkad (Galawdewos), gathered Ethiopian Christians and "Franks" (Portuguese). The armies met at a place al-Jaziri spells "Wunā Dakā", the Wayna Daga of the Ge'ez sources, east of Lake Tana.
- **The Imam in red.** The Imam rode out at dawn, and "all his clothing and his mount were red, as were all his soldiers and their horses".
- **His death.** A commander of the Christian king named Kalid, who had grown up in the Imam's army and then deserted, recognised him. A Portuguese gunman shot him, not knowing who he was. Kalid cut off his head and brought it to the king, who did not believe it until Ethiopian notables confirmed it was the Imam's. Kalid then shouted in the Ethiopian language, "For whom are you fighting, when Garad Ahmad is dead?", and the Imam's army scattered.
- **The aftermath.** The camp was looted and the son was captured and sent to the king. The Imam's wife and the rest of the army went to a land called Atbara, "whose people are all Muslim Arabs", and from there she went to Aden.

Chekroun writes that this matches the Ge'ez and Portuguese accounts on many points. The Portuguese wrote that one of their own men shot the Imam and that an Ethiopian soldier tried to take the credit; the Ge'ez sources credit an Ethiopian soldier (p. 19).

## The exchange of the princes

Al-Jaziri writes that, earlier in the war, the Imam had captured Minas, a young son of the Christian king, and sent him with other captives by ship to Yemen to be sold. The Ottoman governor of Yemen, Mustafa Pasha al-Nashshar, bought him, learned who he was, taught him suras of the Qur'an, and decided against castrating him. The Imam's widow brought the Pasha rich gifts and asked him to write to the Christian king's mother. Letters went back and forth, and the queen mother sent Ahmad, with ingots of gold, while her son was away at war. Mustafa Pasha then sent Minas home with an escort. When the king returned, he was angry, fearing that Ahmad would "become like his father" (pp. 26–27). Chekroun notes that the Ge'ez sources also describe this exchange between the two mothers, Del Wambara and Queen Sabla Wangel (p. 17). Minas later ruled Ethiopia from 1559 to 1563. Al-Jaziri writes that he hid his conversion to Islam and refused to "draw the sword against the Muslims" (pp. 27–28).

## Ahmad in Cairo

Ahmad followed Mustafa Pasha to Cairo when the Pasha was removed from Yemen in 1545–1546. The governor of Egypt wrote to Sultan Süleyman, and Ahmad went to Constantinople, where the sultan granted him an allowance "according to the custom for the sons of kings". He lived in a house over the Birkat al-Fil pond in Cairo and was promised soldiers and weapons to avenge his father. Al-Jaziri describes him as handsome, intelligent and generous. When Özdemir Pasha was sent to conquer the Ethiopian coast, Ahmad was not included. His allowance shrank, he fell into debt, and he spent time at al-Azhar reading books. In 1558–1559 he joined the pilgrim caravan in disguise, planning to sail home after Mecca, but he was arrested there and brought back in chains. He fell ill and died near al-Azhar in 1559–1560 (pp. 28–29). Chekroun notes that Özdemir Pasha died the same year (p. 21).

## Captives and the slave trade

Al-Jaziri writes that the Imam swore to keep sending Ethiopian captives abroad until each was worth one dinar, that one convoy numbered 940, and that he himself bought an Ethiopian girl in Cairo in 1538–1539 for ten gold pieces (pp. 24–25). Chekroun writes that the war greatly increased the number of Ethiopian slaves on the markets of Yemen and Egypt, and that the trade through Zeila was much older than the war. She cites the Gujarati historian Hajji al-Dabir (died 1611) on soldiers of Ethiopian origin in the armies of Gujarat as a result of the war (pp. 18–19).

## Other Muslim sources on the war

Chekroun lists other mentions (pp. 11–14):

- **Hadramawt.** The annals of Ba Faqih, published in part by Robert Serjeant, record under 1541–1542 that the Imam asked the Ottoman governor at Zabid for help and received 500 Turks with their equipment.
- **India.** Al-ʿAydarus, writing in Ahmadabad in 1603, mentions the Imam's rise at Harar and says the author's own father was sent to help him in 1532–1533.
- **An Ottoman report of 1525.** The naval commander Selman Reis wrote that near Zeila was a town called Janasir whose rulers were called Mujahid, that "most books of learning are distributed from Zeila", and that raids were made every year against the Habash. Chekroun notes a place of that name, with ruins, about two kilometres from Derbiga east of Harar.
- **An Ottoman letter of about 1541** calls the Imam "Sultan Ahmed, ruler of the province of Habesh".
- **An Ottoman letter of 28 December 1544** reports that "Abbas, the nephew of Mujahid" had raised a great army and retaken the lands the Imam had held. Chekroun notes that the Galawdewos chronicle describes this resistance by the vizier Abbas, which ended with his death at the end of 1544.

## Related pages

- [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)
- [Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi](/en/people/ahmad-ibn-ibrahim-al-ghazi/)
- [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/)
- [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/)
- [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)
- [The end of Adal, 1543–1583: Emir Nur, the Ottomans at Zeila and the move to Awsa](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)


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# Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s (Mogadishu, Ifat/Adal, Ajuran)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between the 1300s and the 1700s, Somalis lived in rich coastal city-states such as Mogadishu and in large Muslim states such as Adal and Ajuran. These were the first lasting states in the Somali lands, joined by Islam, trade and learning, though none of them was one Somali nation.

## What happened

- **1331.** The traveller Ibn Battuta visited Mogadishu and called it "an exceedingly large city". In the 1300s Mogadishu, [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and Baraawe were centres of trade and learning ([Library of Congress country study](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).
- **1415.** Ethiopia's ruler Yeshaq invaded the Muslim kingdom of [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) near Saylac (Zeila). Ifat's successor was the [Adal Sultanate](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/) ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/5.htm)).
- **1400s to 1500s.** Adal grew into what the Library of Congress calls a "centralized state system". At its height its influence ran from Saylac through Jijiga and the Harar plateau to the Ethiopian highlands ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/5.htm)). Britannica dates Adal from about 1300 to 1575, with Harar as its capital ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal)).
- **1529 to 1543.** Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, known as Ahmad Guray, led Adal's forces into the highlands. By 1533 they held most of central Ethiopia. Portugal sent 400 musketeers to help Ethiopia in 1541, and the Imam was killed in 1543 ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal)).
- **1500s and after.** Sufi teachers carried Islam inland from the coast. Their networks became the main ties linking communities beyond clan ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).
- **About 1550 to 1650.** The Ajuran state organised the land between the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba rivers, controlling water and pasture ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)). Other accounts give it a much longer life, so its dates are disputed.
- **1600s to 1700s.** Portuguese attacks weakened Ajuran. Mogadishu alone resisted repeated Portuguese assaults ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).

## What the historians record

- Adal included Somali, Afar and Harari peoples. Historians describe it as a Muslim state rather than a Somali nation-state ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/5.htm)).
- After 1543 and the arrival of Oromo migrants, Britannica says Adal's "nomadic followers lost unity" and the state faded ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Adal)). The coalition did not outlast its leader.
- The coastal towns shared Islam and commerce but each ruled itself, without one government.
- Outside powers, first Portugal, shaped the result of the wars of the 1500s.

## Sources differ

The Library of Congress names the Portuguese commander Pedro da Gama; other accounts name Christovão da Gama. Ajuran's dates range from the 1200s to the 1600s depending on the source.

## Related pages

- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)
- [The end of Adal, 1543–1583: Emir Nur, the Ottomans at Zeila and the move to Awsa](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)


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# The 2012 Somali presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 10 September 2012 the new Federal Parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud President of Somalia. He beat the outgoing President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, by 190 votes to 79 in the second round, and Sharif conceded. The 275 members of parliament had been chosen by 135 traditional elders. The UN called it the most transparent and representative election in Somalia's 20-year crisis, and the first held inside the country, while noting reports of intimidation and undue interference.

## In short

The 2012 election ended Somalia's transitional period. A new Federal Parliament was set up on 20 August 2012, and on 10 September its members elected [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) President. In the second round he won 190 votes to 79 for the outgoing President, [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) ([VOA, 10 September 2012](https://www.voanews.com/content/somalia_parliament_votes_for_new_president/1505008.html)).

The UN Secretary-General wrote that the vote was "at times characterized by reports of intimidation and undue interference to influence its outcome", but "nevertheless turned out to be the most transparent and representative election in Somalia's 20-year crisis, and the first to be held inside the country" ([UN Security Council, S/2013/69, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)).

For how this system worked and what came after it, see [elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/). For the years before, see [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## How the President was chosen

The UN account sets out the steps ([S/2013/69, paras. 2 and 17–19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **The elders.** "The 275 Members of Parliament were selected by 135 traditional elders and vetted by a Technical Selection Committee."
- **The Parliament.** A new, "leaner" Federal Parliament was established on 20 August 2012. It chose [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/) as Speaker.
- **The disputes.** In the last months of the transition the signatories of the road map differed over "the selection and handling of the traditional elders", parts of the draft constitution, "the size of Parliament", the role and position of former armed faction leaders, and "the selection and vetting of members". The UN Special Representative mediated.
- **Women.** Women held 24 per cent of the National Constituent Assembly and 14 per cent of the Federal Parliament, short of the 30 per cent quota for both.
- **Broadcast.** The UN supported "the unprecedented live transmission of the proceedings of the presidential election".

## The vote, 10 September 2012

- **Round one.** Sharif Sheikh Ahmed came first, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud second and the Prime Minister, [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/), third ([Al Jazeera, 11 September 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/9/11/somali-mps-elect-hassan-sheikh-as-president)).
- **Before round two.** Two candidates, including the Prime Minister, dropped out and backed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/content/somalia_parliament_votes_for_new_president/1505008.html)).
- **Round two.** Hassan Sheikh Mohamud 190, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed 79 (VOA; Al Jazeera).
- **Concession.** Sharif Sheikh Ahmed "conceded defeat after the vote and promised to work with the new government" (VOA).

## Bribery claims

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Mogadishu, Nazanine Moshiri, reported: "They have told me that there is bribery going on all sides", with sums "ranging from what I have been told is $10,000 to $50,000". A diplomatic source told her that "if MPs don't vote with their conscience, this will continue the orgy of corruption". The president's office called the claims "baseless and not true" ([Al Jazeera, 11 September 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/9/11/somali-mps-elect-hassan-sheikh-as-president)).

## The new government

- **12 September 2012.** Suicide attackers struck the Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu "while President Mohamud was present" ([S/2013/69, para. 11](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **6 October.** The President named [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/) "Saacid" as Prime Minister. Parliament endorsed him, and on 13 November it endorsed his 10-member cabinet, which included two women (same source, para. 3).
- **Programme.** The President set out a "six-pillar policy framework" and a "bottom-up" approach in which local administrations would be formed first (same source, para. 4).

## Who suffered?

- **People at the Jazeera Hotel,** in the suicide attack of 12 September 2012 (S/2013/69).
- **Women seeking office,** who won 14 per cent of the seats against a 30 per cent quota (S/2013/69).

## Sources differ

- **How clean the vote was.** The UN called it the most transparent and representative election of the crisis while noting reports of intimidation. Al Jazeera's sources reported bribery "on all sides". The president's office denied any wrongdoing.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2013/69 (31 January 2013): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf).
- VOA, "Somalia Elects a New President", 10 September 2012: [article](https://www.voanews.com/content/somalia_parliament_votes_for_new_president/1505008.html).
- Al Jazeera, "Somali MPs elect Hassan Sheikh as president", 11 September 2012: [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/9/11/somali-mps-elect-hassan-sheikh-as-president).


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# Scholars from Zeila and the Horn in medieval Yemen, 1150–1450

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yemeni biographical dictionaries written between the late 1100s and the mid-1400s name at least 100 scholars linked to the Horn of Africa, often called al-Zaylaʿi or al-Jabarti, including students from Zeila and Mogadishu. Some founded leading scholarly families in Yemen, such as the Sufi master Ismaʿil al-Jabarti of Zabid (died 1404), and about a dozen Yemeni scholars went the other way to teach in the Horn. The historian Zacharie Mochtari de Pierrepont surveyed these records in 2023.

## In short

This page follows Zacharie Mochtari de Pierrepont, "The Abyssinian Connection? Abyssinian-Related Scholars in the Yemeni and Medieval Red Sea Environment (6th–9th/12th–15th Centuries)", *Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée* 153 (2023): 153–178 ([OpenEdition](https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/19536)), cited by paragraph (§). He surveys three Yemeni biographical dictionaries, each written as a continuation of the one before: Ibn Samura's *Ṭabaqāt al-fuqahāʾ* (late 12th century), al-Janadi's *Sulūk* (al-Janadi died in 1331), and al-Ahdal's *Tuḥfat al-zaman* (al-Ahdal died in 1451) (§9). For trade between Yemen and the Somali ports in the same years, see [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/).

## How many, and what they were called

The three works name at least 100 scholars linked to the Horn, against thousands of other scholars. The number grows over time: 6 in Ibn Samura, 30 in al-Janadi and more than 80 in al-Ahdal, though each author repeats some of the earlier ones. The author links the rise to the spread of Islam in the Horn and the strength of the [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) sultanate in the 14th century (§10, §12).

- **Al-Zaylaʿi.** Al-Janadi is the first to record the Yemeni custom of calling "most Blacks who come to [the people of Yemen] from Abyssinia" al-Zaylaʿi, whatever their actual home. Ibn Samura uses "Zaylaʿ" only for a place, and already distinguishes the people of Zeila from the people of Mogadishu. Al-Janadi adds that "most of the zayāliʿ are ʿajam" (non-Arabs), which implies some were counted as Arabs by descent (§15).
- **Al-Jabarti.** Al-Janadi writes that the people of Yemen used al-Jabarti for "most Black people coming to them from Abyssinia, especially to those who were not slaves", while slaves were called al-Habashi. The author reads this as a sign that free people from the Horn, including many scholars, had become a normal presence in Yemen (§16).
- **The counts.** In Ibn Samura, al-Zaylaʿi and al-Jabarti do not appear; in al-Janadi, al-Zaylaʿi appears 23 times and al-Jabarti 15; in al-Ahdal, each appears 50 times, while al-Habashi falls to 2 (§18).

## Students from Zeila and Mogadishu

- **The 12th century.** Ibn Samura lists among the students of a teacher called Ahmad ibn Matruh al-Habashi several "people of Zaylaʿ", and "Aḥmad al-Mazākibān, from the island of Maqdīsū in the land of Sūdān", as well as a teacher at Kaljur "in the land of Abyssinia" (§41–42).
- **Later teachers.** Al-Ahdal writes that the students of the Shafiʿi scholar Ahmad ibn Zayd al-Shaghdari came from "Zaylaʿ, al-Jabart and al-Maqdīshuh". He also names "fuqahāʾ from the western coast, such as Zaylaʿ, Barbara, al-Dankalī, and al-Jabart", who travelled to Arabia to study law (§25, §44).
- **A mosque in Zabid.** Ibrahim ibn ʿUthman al-Jabarti (died 1305) gave his name to the mosque where he prayed in Zabid, the Masjid al-Jabarti (§26).

## Yemeni scholars who went to the Horn

At least twelve Yemeni scholars went to the Horn, the author writes, for exile, to spread Islam, or for careers (§21–22):

- **Sulayman ibn Musa al-Ashʿari**, a Hanafi jurist, left Zabid over "the wrongs" committed at gatherings there called *subūt*, "administered" a land called Rurah in Abyssinia, and died there in 1254 (§22).
- **Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Tubbaʿi** went to spread Sufism, and **Ahmad ibn Muhammad** to teach Hanafi law (§22).
- **Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr** met Sultan Sabr ad-Din in Ifat and later taught at Bayt al-Faqih, where students came "from everywhere, as far as Zayla‛, Jabart and Maqdishū" (§23).
- **ʿUmar ibn ʿAli al-Qurashi** (died 1418) spread the Shadhiliyya order in the Horn, married the sister of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din of Ifat, and returned to Mocha. He is the last such case the author finds (§24). See [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/).

## Families from the Horn in Yemen

- **The Banu al-Zaylaʿi of al-Salama.** ʿAli ibn Abi Bakr al-Zaylaʿi (died 1329), born in Yemen to a family from "Baṭa, one of the villages of Abyssinia", was counted in the 15th century among the greatest holy men born in Yemen. Al-Sharji wrote that people came to live near him "until the village became a city". The family ran a mosque teaching Hanafi law and was supported by the mother of the Rasulid sultan al-Mujahid (§33–35).
- **The Banu al-Zaylaʿi of al-Luhayya.** Ahmad ibn ʿUmar al-Zaylaʿi al-Jabarti (died 1304–1305), born in the Horn, became the holy man of al-Luhayya on the Red Sea coast. His family were important brokers among the tribes of northern Tihama in the 14th and 15th centuries (§37).
- **Ismaʿil al-Jabarti of Zabid** (died 1404) was the leading Sufi master of Tihama in the late 14th century, head of the Sufis of Zabid and a companion of the Rasulid sultans al-Ashraf Ismaʿil and al-Nasir Ahmad. His descendants stayed among the leading families of Zabid through the 15th century (§38).
- **The Banu al-Jabarti of Taizz** became prominent Sufis in the Rasulid capital in the 15th century (§39).

## The ʿAqili lineage

The author writes that many scholars of Horn origin in Yemen bore the name al-ʿAqili, claiming descent from ʿAqil ibn Abi Talib of the Prophet's clan, and that this was "often a later addition" that does not appear in the earliest notices for some of them. He writes that this helped fit them into the Yemeni scholarly elite. He adds, citing I. M. Lewis, that "a son of Ismāʿīl al-Jabartī (d. 806/1404) is considered the founder of the Darūd clan in Somalia", and, citing Alessandro Gori, that many Somali families still trace their lineage to ʿAqil (§28–30). For the Darod and their traditions of origin, see [Darod](/en/society/darod/).

## The end of the connection

The author writes that by the mid-15th century, references to the Horn in the dictionaries of Lower Yemen and Tihama "seemed to dwindle", which he reads as a shift in the ties between the two shores (§46).

## Related pages

- [Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/)
- [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast before 1300](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/)
- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)


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# The end of Adal, 1543–1583: Emir Nur, the Ottomans at Zeila and the move to Awsa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After Imam Ahmad was killed in 1543, the Christian king retook his conquests within about two years. Emir Nur took control of Adal in 1551–1552, killed King Galawdewos in 1559, walled Harar against Oromo raids, and died of plague in 1567. The line of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din ended in 1559. The Ottomans created a province of Habesh in 1555 and, according to the Turkish historian Cengiz Orhonlu, took Zeila and briefly Berbera. Imam Muhammad Gasa moved the seat of power to Awsa in the 1570s–1580s, which the historians Chekroun and Hirsch take as the end of the sultanate.

## In short

This page follows Amélie Chekroun and Bertrand Hirsch, "The Muslim-Christian Wars and the Oromo Expansion: Transformations at the End of the Middle Ages (c. 1500–c. 1560)", in Samantha Kelly (ed.), *A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea* (Brill, 2020), pp. 454–476 ([HAL open preprint](https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02505427)). Unless noted, every statement below is theirs or a source they quote. For the war itself, see [Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

## How the war differed from earlier raids

- **Raiding before the war.** In the *Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha*, the emirs of Adal tell Imam Ahmad that their "fathers and ancestors never wanted to settle in the country of Abyssinia", but sent raids to the borders "for booty, cattle and such like" and came home. The authors write that raiding was part of the economy of both Muslim and Christian communities, and that before Imam Ahmad neither side tried to conquer the other.
- **When the conquest began.** The year 1527 is usually given, but it marks a Christian raid under Dagalhan. The authors date the war of conquest to 1531, following the Christian *Mäṣḥafä Sǝddät* and the Harar chronicle *Taʾrīkh al-mulūk*, which gives 937 AH (August 1530 to August 1531). The battles of Badeqe (September 1528) and Shimbra Kure (March 1529) came first, but the army still went home to Harar after each.
- **Who fought.** Raids used the regular army of the sultanate, its riders (*Malasay*) and "soldiers of the sea". For the conquest, Imam Ahmad also called up contingents from peoples who paid tribute to the sultans, "Harla, Somali, etc.", as well as soldiers from Arabia, including the Mahra. Firearms "bought at [Zaylaʿ](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)" were essential.
- **The Yemeni and Ottoman role.** The authors write that the Ottoman sultan showed little interest in the war, that the Ottomans only began to occupy the Yemeni coast in 1538–1539, and that the soldiers who came from Zabid, Aden and Mahra should be seen as part of the long ties between Yemen and Muslim Ethiopia, "rather than as an Ottoman intervention".
- **Peace inside Adal.** They write that by taking most soldiers and local emirs onto the highlands, the Imam brought "a temporary peace between the central power and the population (especially the Somali clans)".

## After 1543

The chronicle of King Galawdewos is the only source on the Muslim army after the Imam's death. Part of the army fled home and part joined the Christian side. The vizier ʿAbbas tried to hold Bali, Fatagar and Dawaro, but Galawdewos killed him in October 1544. A Christian attack on Adal in 1549–1550 killed the reigning sultan and hunted a leader named Nur. For a Muslim account of these years, see [Imam Ahmad's son and the end of the war, 1543–1560](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/).

## Emir Nur

Nur, probably the son of the Imam's vizier Mujahid ibn ʿAli, took power in 959 AH (1551–1552), keeping the sultan under his control. In March–April 1559, in a great battle in Fatagar, he killed and beheaded King Galawdewos and is said to have brought the head back to Harar. The authors write that he did not try to renew the conquest, because Adal suffered Oromo attacks, economic crisis, epidemics, famine, and the loss of many of its men in the long war. Nur built the wall of Harar and died there of plague in 1567. The *Taʾrīkh al-mulūk* calls him "the second conqueror", and the authors write that in Harari memory he is more honoured than the Imam himself. See [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/).

## The end of the sultanate

The line of Saʿd ad-Din ended in 1559 with the death of Sultan Habib ibn ʿUmar Din, son of the sultan whom Imam Ahmad had placed on the throne. According to the *Taʾrīkh al-mulūk*, five rulers then followed one another quickly. Sultan Muhammad ibn Nasir (ruled 1572/3–1575/6) led an expedition against the Christian kingdom that the authors call "a bitter failure", in which part of his army went over to the Christian side. Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Gasa (ruled 1577–1583) moved the seat of power to Awsa. The authors take this move, caused mainly by Oromo pressure around Harar and by internal quarrels, as the end of the Barr Saʿd ad-Din. They write that the war of Imam Ahmad was only one of the troubles that ended the sultanate, which began with struggles over the throne in the late 15th century.

## The Ottoman province and the Somali coast

- **The Habesh province.** Özdemir Pasha was named governor of the new Ottoman province of Habesh (Abyssinia) on 15 July 1555, first based at Suakin. Between 1557 and 1559 he took Massawa, Hirgigo and the Dahlak Islands, and, according to Orhonlu, Zeila as well and, for a short time, Berbera. Hirgigo and Zeila were made districts (*sanjaks*) of the province.
- **Doubts about Zeila.** The authors write that Zeila "did not stay long under Ottoman rule". The Arabic documents from Zeila published by Enrico Cerulli never mention Ottoman occupation; instead they name local governors (*garad*), and record a wall built between 1572 and 1577, under Garad Lado, "to protect the town against Somali nomads plundering". They write that the extent of Ottoman control in the southern part of the province "remains open".
- **Later.** The Ottomans lost their inland fort at Debarwa in 1576 and were defeated at Addi Qorro in 1578, after which they kept to the Red Sea coast. The authors write that they controlled the trade with inland Ethiopia, especially in firearms and slaves, in the following centuries.

## The Oromo expansion

The main source is the *Zenahu la-Galla*, a history of the Oromo written in the 1590s by Bahrey, a learned monk at the court of King Sarsa Dengel. He described the Oromo *gadaa* system, which he calls *luuba*: "They have neither king nor master… but rather obey the *luuba*, for a period of eight years." Following his eight-year periods:

- **1520s–1550s.** The Baarentu Oromo moved first into Bali and Dawaro, then Fatagar, "regions populated primarily by Muslims".
- **1550s.** They pushed north and fought the Christian general Hamelmal and then Emir Nur near Mount Azalo, close to the Awash, shortly after 1559.
- **1560s.** The Baarentu moved along the escarpment and east toward Harar, while the Boorana pressed on the Christian heartland. Bahrey writes that in the 1560s the Oromo began to settle in the lands they raided, instead of returning beyond the Wabi [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), and began to fight on horseback.

The authors write that the causes are hard to establish. They suggest four features of the *gadaa* system as possible factors, and write that by the 1550s–1560s "the Barr Saʿd al-Dīn had practically disappeared as such", with the last [Walashma](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) enclosed in Harar, which became a "holy city" and "symbol of a glorious, lost past".

## Related pages

- [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)
- [Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi](/en/people/ahmad-ibn-ibrahim-al-ghazi/)
- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)
- [The Harla and Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/)
- [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/)


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# The Hargeisa and Bosaso bombings of 29 October 2008

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/hargeisa-bosaso-bombings-2008/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On the morning of 29 October 2008 suicide car bombers struck five targets at about the same time: the presidency, the UNDP compound and the Ethiopian consulate in Hargeisa, and two security offices in Bosaso. Reuters counted at least 28 dead, about 25 of them in Hargeisa, with at least 20 at the Ethiopian mission; other reports gave up to 30. No group claimed the attacks. One of the bombers was later identified as Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis, the first known American suicide bomber.

## In short

The bombings of 29 October 2008 hit [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), where, Amnesty International noted, such attacks had been rare compared with south-central Somalia. This page records what the sources report. It is part of the history of [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and of [Somaliland](/en/institutions/somaliland-armed-forces/) security.

## The attacks

At mid-morning on Wednesday 29 October 2008 three cars drove at the same time into compounds in Hargeisa housing the presidency (described by Amnesty International as President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/)'s private residence), the offices of the UN Development Programme, and the Ethiopian consulate, which suffered the worst damage and the most casualties. At the UNDP offices one vehicle forced its way through the security barrier after the guards refused to open the gate. Two attacks hit government security offices in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) at about the same time ([Amnesty International, public statement AFR 52/018/2008, 30 October 2008](https://www.amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/afr520182008en.pdf)).

## The dead

Reuters, reported by the *Mail & Guardian*, counted at least 28 dead: about 25 in Hargeisa, including 3 at the presidency, at least 20 at the Ethiopian mission and 2 at the UNDP building, and 3 in Bosaso, where two car bombs hit the intelligence service compound ([*Mail & Guardian*, Reuters, 29 October 2008](https://mg.co.za/article/2008-10-29-suicide-bombers-kill-at-least-28-in-somalia)). The UN's humanitarian office confirmed that two of its national staff were killed and six injured (Amnesty International, 2008). Bari's governor, Muse Gelle, said of Bosaso: "The two cars and their drivers were blown to pieces" (*Mail & Guardian*, 2008).

## Reactions and responsibility

No group claimed responsibility. Ethiopia's foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin, said: "It is the work of the usual terrorists who try to create instability" (*Mail & Guardian*, 2008). Amnesty International condemned the attacks, called for prompt and impartial investigations, and noted that such attacks had been rare in Somaliland (Amnesty International, 2008). Wikipedia records that al-Shabaab was believed responsible and that the United States blamed al-Qaeda working through al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia, 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Hargeisa%E2%80%93Bosaso_bombings), citing the BBC and Reuters).

**Shirwa Ahmed.** One of the Hargeisa bombers was Shirwa Ahmed, who had grown up in Minneapolis. NBC News described him in 2011 as the first known American suicide bomber in Somalia, and reported that at least 20 Somali-Americans were believed to have joined al-Shabaab ([NBC News, 2 June 2011](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna43258042)).

## Sources differ

- **Deaths.** At least 28 (Reuters), 30 (CNN, cited by Wikipedia) or 21 (NBC News, 2011); Puntland did not publish a figure for Bosaso (Amnesty International).
- **Where Shirwa Ahmed died.** Somaliland (NBC News); some reports place his attack in Puntland.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Amnesty International, public statement on the Hargeisa and Bosaso bombings (2008): [PDF](https://www.amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/afr520182008en.pdf).
- *Mail & Guardian* (Reuters), "Suicide bombers kill at least 28 in Somalia" (2008): [article](https://mg.co.za/article/2008-10-29-suicide-bombers-kill-at-least-28-in-somalia).


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# Sultanates, the coast and customary law, 1700s–1880s (Geledi, Isaaq, Majeerteen, Hobyo, Bardera, xeer)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From the 1700s to the 1880s, Somalis ran their own sultanates, such as Geledi, Majeerteen, Hobyo and the Isaaq Sultanate, and settled disputes through xeer, customary law agreed between groups. Outside powers such as Oman and the Ottomans held only loose, mostly nominal claims to the coast.

## What happened

- **1695.** The [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) Sultanate, under the Gobroon dynasty, was founded at [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) after the fall of Ajuran's vassals. It had central institutions but ruled through elders ([Sultanate of the Geledi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_the_Geledi), citing Luling 2002).
- **From 1728.** After Portugal was expelled from Mombasa, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/), and later Zanzibar, claimed the Banaadir coast. The Library of Congress calls this rule "mostly nominal": some tribute, a judge and a few guards ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm)).
- **Mid-1700s.** The northern coast fell under the sharifs of Mukha, who collected tribute on behalf of the Ottoman Empire ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm)).
- **1750.** The Isaaq Sultanate crowned Guled Abdi as sultan, with Toon and later Hargeisa as its seat. Power was shared with elders, lesser sultans and religious leaders ([Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate), citing Lewis and Laitin).
- **1700s to 1800s.** The [Majeerteen Sultanate](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/) grew strong under Boqor Ismaan Mahamuud ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm)).
- **1870s.** After a civil war of about five years, Yuusuf Ali Keenadiid founded the Hobyo Sultanate ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/8.htm)).

## Xeer: law by agreement

Among northern herders, every political unit was set up by an explicit contract between groups, called xeer. The anthropologist I. M. Lewis counted more than 360 blood-compensation groups in the British Protectorate. Colonial offices later registered these contracts and applied them as law ([Lewis, Africa, 1959](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/clanship-and-contract-in-northern-somaliland1/EDF65B709C7BAD3A63B3F14593F7248C)). Xeer is still used today.

## How historians see the period

Lee Cassanelli describes Somali society from 1600 to 1900 as "politically fragmented" but held together by kinship, Sufi Islam and trade ([University of Pennsylvania Press](https://www.pennpress.org/9780812278323/the-shaping-of-somali-society)).

## What the historians record

The states were regional, and some fought each other. Geledi destroyed the religious community at [Bardera](/en/regions/baardheere/) in 1843, and Geledi sultans were killed fighting near Merca in 1848 and 1878 ([Sultanate of the Geledi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_the_Geledi)). Hobyo was born from a split inside the Majeerteen ruling house. Shared faith did not stop these rivalries.


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# Al-Qaeda's East Africa cell and Somalia, 1998 to 2011

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/al-qaeda-east-africa-cell-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Qaeda's East Africa cell carried out the bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on 7 August 1998, which killed more than 220 people, and the attacks on Israeli targets in Mombasa in November 2002. Two of its leaders later lived and fought in Somalia. Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was killed in a US helicopter raid in southern Somalia on 14 September 2009, and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was shot dead at a police checkpoint in Mogadishu in June 2011.

## In short

A small al-Qaeda network in East Africa carried out major attacks in Kenya and [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), and some of its members later sheltered in Somalia and worked with [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records what the sources report about that network's links to Somalia. Other attacks in the region are covered in [Al-Shabaab's attacks in Uganda and Kenya, 2010 to 2019](/en/history/al-shabaab-attacks-kenya-uganda-2010-2019/), and US operations in [The United States military in Somalia](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/).

## The embassy bombings, 1998, and Mombasa, 2002

On 7 August 1998 bombs struck the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing more than 220 people and injuring about 5,000. The FBI held the Comoros-born Fazul Abdullah Mohammed responsible for planning them, listed him among its most wanted, and offered a reward of US$5 million ([Al Jazeera, 11 June 2011](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/6/11/east-africa-al-qaeda-chief-killed-in-somalia)). In November 2002 an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa was bombed and a missile attack on an Israeli airliner at the city's airport missed; Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was later linked to both ([Jonathan Adams, *Christian Science Monitor*, 15 September 2009](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2009/0915/us-raid-in-somalia-kills-al-qaeda-chief)).

## Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, killed 2009

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was born in Mombasa in 1979 and was wanted by the FBI and Kenya over the 1998 bombings and the 2002 Mombasa attacks; he was believed to head an al-Qaeda cell in Mombasa. On Monday 14 September 2009 US forces struck a convoy in southern Somalia. Fox News, citing two senior US military officials, reported that Navy SEALs took part with at least two AH-6 helicopters flown from a US Navy ship off the coast, and media reports said Nabhan and three others were killed (*Christian Science Monitor*, 2009). Wikipedia records that the raid took place near Baraawe ([Wikipedia, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saleh_Ali_Saleh_Nabhan)).

## Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, killed 2011

In June 2011 Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was killed at a police checkpoint in Mogadishu's southern suburbs. A security officer, [Halima Aden](/en/people/halima-aden/), said his driver "accidentally drove up to the checkpoint" around midnight on a Tuesday; officials said he carried a false South African passport, thousands of dollars, a laptop and a modified AK-47, and identified him from photographs: "We had his pictures and so we cross-checked with his face." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called his death "a significant blow to al-Qaeda and its extremist allies and its operations in East Africa." The analyst David Shinn described him as "the leader of Al-Qaeda in East Africa for the last 10 years or so" (Al Jazeera, 2011).

## Sources differ

- **Day of Fazul's death.** Around midnight on Tuesday (Somali security officer); "last Wednesday" (an al-Shabaab commander), as reported by Al Jazeera.
- **Whether Nabhan's death was confirmed.** ABC News reported that it "has not yet been officially confirmed" but that his body was in US custody (*Christian Science Monitor*, 2009); Wikipedia records him as killed in the raid.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "East Africa al-Qaeda chief killed in Somalia" (2011): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/6/11/east-africa-al-qaeda-chief-killed-in-somalia).
- *Christian Science Monitor*, "US raid in Somalia kills Al Qaeda chief" (2009): [article](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2009/0915/us-raid-in-somalia-kills-al-qaeda-chief).


---

# Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1503–1510

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Portuguese historian João de Barros, in his Décadas da Ásia (published from 1552), wrote that Mogadishu was the first town founded on the coast by Arabs from near al-Ahsa, followed by Brava, which in his day was still governed by twelve heads 'in the manner of a republic'. He wrote that a Mogadishu ship was the first foreign vessel to reach the gold trade of Sofala. He also described Brava's twelve leaders agreeing a tribute in 1503, the storming and burning of Brava by Tristão da Cunha in 1506, and Portuguese fleets passing and bombarding Mogadishu in 1509–1510.

## In short

João de Barros wrote a history of the Portuguese in Asia, the *Décadas da Ásia*, published in parts from 1552 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Barros)). For the early history of the East African coast he says he drew on "a chronicle of the kings of Kilwa". This page quotes the Lisbon edition of 1777–1778: *Década I*, part 2 ([archive.org](https://archive.org/details/daasiadejoodebar01p2barr)) and *Década II*, part 1 ([archive.org](https://archive.org/details/daasiadejoodeb21barr)). Translations from the Portuguese are ours. For what other travellers saw in the same towns, see [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## Barros's account of how Mogadishu and Brava began

In *Década I*, book VIII, chapter IV, Barros describes the coast he calls Zanguebar and the "land of Ajan" north of it (pp. 209–214):

- **The first settlers.** He writes that, according to the Kilwa chronicle, the first foreigners on this coast were Arabs exiled after the rise of Islam, whom he calls *Emozaydij*, followers of "a Moor called Zaide", whom he calls a grandson of Husayn son of ʿAli, and whose teachings other Muslims thought heretical. They "did not found notable towns" but lived where they could be safe.
- **The seven brothers.** Later, he writes, three ships came with many Arabs led by seven brothers from a people near "the city of Laçah" (al-Ahsa), about 40 leagues from Bahrain, who were fleeing persecution by its king. "The first town they made in this land of Ajan was the city of Magadaxo, and then [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/), which even today is governed by twelve heads in the manner of a republic, which descend from these brothers."
- **Mogadishu's rise.** Mogadishu "came to such power and state that it later made itself lady and head of all the Moors of this coast".
- **The Badu.** The earlier settlers would not submit to the newcomers, Barros writes, and moved inland, marrying among the local peoples. "These are those whom the Moors who live along the sea call *Baduijs*, a common name, as we here call country people *Alarves*."
- **Pastoral land.** Of the coast "from Magadaxo toward Cape Guardafui", he writes that it was poor in crops and lived mainly by raising livestock, with grain grown by hoe, and wild fruit, game and milk.

The editors of the history of Kilwa published from an Arabic manuscript in 1895 quote a similar tradition from a report by the British official Rigby, that Arabs of the "El-Harth tribe from the neighbourhood of Bahrein" founded "Magadosha and Brava" about AD 924 ([*Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society* 1895, p. 399](https://archive.org/details/journalroyalasi74irelgoog)). For what archaeology and Arabic sources say about early Mogadishu, see [Early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast before 1300](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).

## Mogadishu and the gold of Sofala

Barros writes that "the first nation of foreign people that by way of navigation had the trade of the mine of Sofala was this city of Magadaxo". He says they did not set out to find it: a Mogadishu ship was carried there by a storm and the currents. Even after they knew the region, he writes, they never dared to sail beyond the "Cape of Currents", because of the strong currents between Madagascar and the mainland (pp. 212–214). He adds that Kilwa later took control of the Sofala trade and became the leading town of the coast (p. 214).

In chapter VI, retelling the Kilwa chronicle, Barros writes that Kilwa was founded "little more than seventy years" after Mogadishu and Brava, by ʿAli, a son of a Sultan Hasan of Shiraz and an Ethiopian mother. ʿAli first came to "the towns of Magadaxo and Brava" but went on further south, because he was Persian, "which in the sect of Mahamed differ from the Arabs", and wanted a town of his own (pp. 224–225).

## Brava's twelve heads and the tribute of 1503

In *Década I*, book VII, chapter IV, Barros writes that in 1503 the Portuguese captain Ruy Lourenço, sailing near Mombasa, captured two ships and three small boats carrying "twelve Moors, very principal men of the city of Brava". Because Brava "was ruled by a community, of which these twelve Moors were the principal heads of its government", they ransomed themselves and, in the city's name, made it tributary to the King of Portugal for 500 *mithqals* of gold a year, asking for a Portuguese flag for safe passage. Barros explains that they agreed so quickly because a very rich ship from Brava was coming behind them; Lourenço let it pass untouched (pp. 111–112).

## The sack of Brava, 1506

In *Década II*, book I, chapter II, Barros tells what followed (pp. 30–35):

- **The tribute refused.** When the twelve heads returned home, the other leaders "mistreated" them and removed them from the government for granting the tribute so lightly. The town, "very strong and confident in its walls, towers and defensible site", did not pay.
- **The defence.** When Tristão da Cunha arrived in 1506 and sent a messenger, the answer was "words of proud people". The town paraded "some six thousand men, all armed in their manner" along the beach. The Portuguese landed under arrows, spears and stones and broke in at a low point of the wall.
- **The leaders.** Barros writes that while most of the people fled, the leading men "each stayed in the place where death took him, fulfilling the oath they had made to the people to die for the defence and liberty of all".
- **The losses.** The dead of the town "could not be counted"; the Portuguese lost 42 dead and more than 70 wounded. A boat overloaded with plunder sank; Barros records a report that some of those on it had cut off women's arms to take their silver bracelets.
- **The burning.** Da Cunha stayed three days, took the town's food and goods, "and finally had it set on fire". He meant to do the same at Mogadishu, 45 leagues further on, but the weather did not allow it.

## Mogadishu and Zeila, 1509–1510

In *Década II*, book IV, chapter II, Barros writes that in 1509 the captain Duarte de Lemos lay off Mogadishu with seven ships but "did nothing" there, judging an attack "very doubtful" because of the town's site. During the night a small vessel under Gregório da Quadra lost its cable and was carried by the currents round Cape Guardafui to "the city of Zeila", where its men were taken captive. On his way back in 1510, Lemos "bombarded the city of Magadaxo", but because the coast was rough he could do no more than fire on its shore (pp. 380–381, 389). In book III, chapter II, Barros also mentions Portuguese ships taking a vessel "within sight of Magadaxo" (p. 234).

## Related pages

- [Sultanate of Mogadishu](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/)
- [The Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/)
- [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/)
- [Marco Polo and the Somali coast](/en/history/marco-polo-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1500 to 1884](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)
- [Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518](/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/)


---

# The colonial era: partition of Somali lands, 1884–1926

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/partition-1884-1926/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 1884 and 1926 the Somali lands were divided into five parts: British Somaliland, French Somaliland (Djibouti), Italian Somaliland, the Ethiopian-ruled Ogaden and Kenya's Northern Frontier District. The division was made through separate treaties with local leaders and through deals between empires, not with any single Somali authority.

## What happened

- **1884.** A revolt in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ended Egypt's plans in the Horn, and Egypt needed British help to withdraw its troops from the Somali coast. Britain filled the gap ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **1884 to 1886.** British officers signed "friendship and protection" treaties with coastal clans one by one, and vice consuls were posted at Berbera, Bulhar and Saylac ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm); [Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate)).
- **1887 to 1897.** Ethiopia's emperor Menelik II extended his rule over Harar and the Ogaden ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). An African empire, and not only European ones, took part in the partition.
- **1888 and 1889.** The Hobyo and then the Majeerteen sultanates accepted Italian "protection", opening the way to [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **1893.** Italy occupied Mogadishu, [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) and [Warsheekh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) ([Banadir resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance), citing Hess 1966).
- **1897.** An Anglo-Ethiopian treaty recognised Ethiopian claims to Somali grazing lands. It became the legal basis for the loss of the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) in 1954 ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).
- **By about 1900.** The peninsula was split into five territories ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **1924 to 1926.** Britain gave Trans-Juba, with Kismayo as its capital, about 91,000 km² and 120,000 people, to Italy as a reward for joining the Allies in the First World War. It was merged into Italian Somaliland on 10 June 1926. The southern part stayed in Kenya ([Oltre Giuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oltre_Giuba)).
- **1926.** Fascist Italy ended the last northern sultanates, Majeerteen and Hobyo, by military force ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)).

## Legacy, as recorded

That shared grievance helped unite the nationalists of the 1940s, and the five territories later became the five points of the star on the flag ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)).

## What the historians record

- Because treaties were signed clan by clan, Somali sovereignty was bargained away in pieces.
- Rival sultans each chose a different foreign patron.
- Somali land was traded between empires as a war prize, as with Trans-Juba.
- In Kenya's north, the historian E. R. Turton found that resistance never united, and weaker groups sometimes sided with the colonial government against stronger rivals ([Turton, Journal of African History, 1972](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-resistance-to-colonial-rule-and-the-development-of-somali-political-activity-in-kenya-18931960/4C145E9BBE5B153DC4CB2EBA52B82F09)).

## Sources differ

Wikipedia gives 15 July 1924 for the Trans-Juba transfer; Britannica and the Library of Congress give 1925.


---

# The 2003 Somaliland presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2003/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 14 April 2003 Somaliland held its first contested presidential election. The electoral commission said the sitting President, Dahir Riyale Kahin of UDUB, beat Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud 'Silanyo' of Kulmiye by 80 votes out of almost 500,000. Kulmiye rejected the result. On 11 May the High Court put Riyale's lead at 217 votes, and he was sworn in on 16 May 2003. Faisal Ali Warabe of UCID came third.

## In short

"'Presidential elections' took place in 'Somaliland' on 14 April 2003," the UN Secretary-General reported. On 19 April the electoral commission announced that the sitting President, [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/), "had won the election by a margin of 80 votes out of almost 500,000 cast". The Kulmiye party "rejected the results, questioning their accuracy and contending that political pressure had been exerted on the Commission" ([UN Security Council, S/2003/636, para. 21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)).

For all of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s elections, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/). For the next presidential vote, see [the 2010 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2010/).

## The candidates

From the UN report ([S/2003/636, para. 21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)):

| Candidate | Party | Description in the UN report |
|---|---|---|
| Dahir Riyale Kahin | UDUB (Allied People's Democratic Party) | the incumbent |
| Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" | Kulmiye (Solidarity Party) | "a veteran politician" |
| Faisal Ali Warabe | UCID (Justice and Welfare Party) | "a civil engineer from the diaspora" |

Riyale had become President on 3 May 2002, when [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) died in office ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). See [presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/).

## The vote

- **Polling.** "Reports indicate that the polls were conducted in a peaceful manner, with trained 'Somaliland' observers present at polling stations" ([S/2003/636, para. 22](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Observers.** "There was no official international monitoring of the elections." Representatives of South African non-governmental organisations and the Inter-Africa Group, and diplomats from Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States based in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, were present (same source).

The figures as given by the African Elections Database ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Somaliland_presidential_election)):

| Candidate | Party | Running mate | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---:|---:|
| Dahir Riyale Kahin | UDUB | Ahmed Yusuf Yasin | 205,595 | 42.08% |
| Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" | Kulmiye | Abdirahman Saylici | 205,515 | 42.07% |
| Faisal Ali Warabe | UCID | Mohammad Rashid | 77,433 | 15.85% |
| Valid votes | | | 488,543 | |
| Invalid or blank | | | 10,096 | |
| Total | | | 498,639 | |

## The dispute

- **11 May 2003.** The High Court "announced the official results, amending the figures released earlier by the Commission and placing UDUB in the lead by 217 votes" ([S/2003/636, para. 23](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Kulmiye's position.** Its chairman "reiterated that he would accept neither the Commission's results nor the High Court's decision" (same source).
- **16 May 2003.** Dahir Riyale Kahin and his deputy, Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, "were sworn into office by the president of the 'Somaliland' High Court" (same source).
- **Terms extended.** At the same time the House of Elders "extended the tenure of the House of Representatives for two years and its own term for three years" (same source). The House of Representatives was elected in 2005. See [the 2005 Somaliland parliamentary election](/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/).
- **Seven years later.** Silanyo beat Riyale in the 2010 election and was sworn in on 27 July 2010 ([S/2010/447, para. 10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Who suffered?

- **Kulmiye voters,** whose party said the count was wrong and that the commission was under political pressure (S/2003/636).

## Sources differ

- **The margin.** The electoral commission gave 80 votes. The High Court gave 217. Wikipedia's text gives 214 for the court's figure.
- **The result.** Kulmiye rejected both the commission's and the court's figures. The commission and the court declared Riyale the winner.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2003/636 (10 June 2003), paras. 21–23: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Resistance, 1890s–1945 (Banadir/Bimaal, Dervishes, Hassan Barsane, Sheikh Bashir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From the 1890s to 1945, Somalis resisted colonial rule in every part of their land: the Banaadir towns and the Bimaal in the south, the Dervish movement of Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan in the north, Sheikh Hassan Barsane on the Shabelle and Sheikh Bashir at Burao.

## What happened

- **2 October 1893.** An Italian officer was killed at [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), the first recorded act of resistance to Italy in the south ([Banadir resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance), citing Hess 1966).
- **November 1896, Lafoole.** Wa'daan and [Bimaal](/en/society/biyomaal/) fighters killed the Italian consul Antonio Cecchi and about 14 Italians near Afgooye. Different communities worked together against a common intruder ([Banadir resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance)).
- **1899 to 1920, the Dervish movement.** [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) (Mohammed Abdullah Hassan) fought Britain, Italy and Ethiopia. The [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) held off four major campaigns from 1900 to 1904, and Britain withdrew to the coast in 1910. In 1920 the Royal Air Force bombed Taleh, and the Sayid died of influenza in 1921 ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/10.htm); [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)).
- **1904 to 1908.** Bimaal resistance, led by religious teachers, continued in the south. The Sayid wrote urging them on, a rare link between north and south ([Banadir resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_resistance)).
- **Early 1900s to 1924.** [Sheikh Hassan Barsane](/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/) of Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) refused Italy's order to disarm, citing Islamic law. He was captured in April 1924 and died in a Mogadishu prison in 1928 ([Sheikh Hassan Barsane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane), citing Cassanelli 1982).
- **1939 and July 1945.** [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Bashir led protests at [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), and was killed on 7 July 1945 ([1945 Sheikh Bashir rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Sheikh_Bashir_rebellion), citing Jama Mohamed 2002).

## Legacy, as recorded

The Library of Congress calls the Dervish movement the first pan-Somali effort, and the historian Robert Hess calls the Sayid "a forerunner of modern Somali nationalism" ([Hess, Journal of African History, 1964](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029)).

## What the historians record

- The Library of Congress estimates that a third of the people of the north died during the Dervish war ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/10.htm)).
- Hess records that the movement drew its core from some communities more than others, and that many Somalis opposed it on religious grounds while still sympathising with resistance ([Hess](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029)).
- Rivalry between Sufi orders turned violent: in 1909 Shaykh Uways al-Barawi of the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) was killed by followers of the rival Salihiyya ([Journal of African History, 1969](https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/muslim-politics-and-resistance-to-colonial-rule-shaykh-uways-b-muhammad-albarawi-and-the-qadiriya-brotherhood-in-east-africa/7E6B77046CAC06E6C6C45121EF076E56)).


---

# The 2016 Somali parliamentary election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-2016/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From October 2016 to February 2017 Somalia chose a new two-house Federal Parliament by indirect election. 135 traditional elders selected 275 electoral colleges of 51 delegates each, about 14,000 people in all, who elected the 275 members of the House of the People, with seats shared by the clan-based 4.5 formula. State assemblies elected the 54-member Upper House. The UN reported bribery and intimidation of delegates and ordered re-runs for five seats, but called the vote more peaceful and inclusive than in 2012. Women won 24 percent of lower-house seats.

## In short

"Federal parliamentary elections were launched on 15 October" 2016, the UN Secretary-General reported. "Notwithstanding delays and cases of malpractice, including bribery and intimidation of delegates, the electoral process was more peaceful and inclusive than in 2012" ([UN Security Council, S/2017/21, paras. 2–3](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)).

"In February, the electoral process for the 329 Members of the House of the People and the Upper House of the Federal Parliament was completed" ([S/2017/408, para. 23](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/408&l=en&t=pdf)). The new Parliament then elected the President. See [the 2017 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2017/).

## Why an indirect vote

"As one-person, one-vote elections are not yet possible, an electoral process has been developed to facilitate a more participatory process in 2016, compared to 2012, and to advance towards universal suffrage by 2020," the UN mission in Somalia (UNSOM) explained ([UNSOM, *Somalia 2016 Electoral Process*](https://unsom.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/somalia_2016_electoral_process_0.pdf)). The mandates of the Parliament and President ended in 2016 under the Provisional Federal Constitution (same source).

The model "emerged from 18 months of public consultations and political negotiations" ([S/2017/21, para. 21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)). The National Leadership Forum, "comprising federal and regional leaders", set its rules (same source, para. 3).

## How it worked

From the UNSOM fact sheet ([UNSOM](https://unsom.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/somalia_2016_electoral_process_0.pdf)):

- **House of the People.** Its 275 seats were "again distributed in accordance with the clan-based 4.5 power-sharing formula". "135 Traditional elders will select the members of 275 electoral colleges. These electoral colleges, each of which will consist of 51 delegates, will then elect the 275 members."
- **Delegates.** Elders chose them "in consultation with sub-clan elders", to "represent all sub-clans sharing the respective seat". Each college of 51 needed "at least 16 women and 10 youth". The planned total was 14,025 delegates.
- **Upper House.** A new chamber representing the federal member states. State executives nominated at least two candidates per seat, and state assemblies elected the members, "with special arrangements for Benadir and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)".
- **Candidates.** Any citizen of the sub-clans sharing a seat, aged at least 25 with a high-school education or equivalent. The registration fee was $5,000 for men and $2,500 for women.
- **Where.** Voting took place in Garowe, [Adado](/en/states/galmudug/), Kismayo, Baidoa and Jowhar, and in Mogadishu for the Banaadir and Somaliland seats.
- **Who ran it.** A 22-member Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team, with state-level teams and an independent dispute resolution team.

The fact sheet's allocation of House of the People seats:

| State | Seats | Polling place | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puntland | 37 | Garowe | 1,887 |
| Galmudug | 36 | Adado | 1,836 |
| Jubaland | 43 | Kismayo | 2,193 |
| HirShabelle | 37 | Jowhar (tentative) | 1,887 |
| South West | 69 | Baidoa | 3,519 |
| Somaliland | 46 | Mogadishu | 2,346 |
| Banaadir | 7 | Mogadishu | 357 |
| **Total** | **275** | | **14,025** |

## Compared with 2012

The UN listed what was new ([S/2017/21, para. 21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)): "codes of conduct, secret ballots and the establishment of ad hoc implementation and dispute resolution bodies", "an expanded electorate, the conduct of elections around the country for the first time in almost 50 years and the election of an upper house on the basis of geographical, not simply clan, representation". In 2012, 135 elders had chosen a single-house parliament, with voting only in Mogadishu and no secret ballot ([UNSOM](https://unsom.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/somalia_2016_electoral_process_0.pdf)). See [the 2012 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/).

## The vote

- **15 October 2016.** Voting began ([S/2017/21, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Malpractice.** "Verified cases of electoral malpractice prompted the Forum to order re-runs for five parliamentary seats" (same source, para. 3). The Secretary-General added that "not all reported cases of misconduct were adequately addressed, including the protection of seats reserved for women" (para. 75).
- **Violence.** Militias backing rival lower-house candidates clashed in Baidoa on 29 October and 12 November. In Cadaado, clan tensions led to a civilian being shot dead by a Somali soldier. There was sporadic gunfire during polling in Garowe on 5 November (para. 12).
- **27 December.** "The new Federal Parliament was inaugurated" in a joint session. By 31 December, 43 of 54 Upper House members and 258 of 275 House of the People members had been elected (para. 2).
- **Cost.** $14 million: "60 per cent was covered by international donors, 10 per cent by the Federal Government and 30 per cent by candidate registration fees" (para. 3).

## The new Parliament

From the UN Secretary-General's report of May 2017 ([S/2017/408, paras. 2, 5 and 23](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/408&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **Speakers.** [Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/) was re-elected Speaker of the House of the People on 11 January 2017. Abdi Hashi Abdullahi was elected Speaker of the new Upper House on 22 January. See [Speakers of Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/).
- **Voters.** "Approximately 13,000 appointed clan delegates elected their representatives to the Federal House of the People in the state capitals and Mogadishu."
- **Who won.** "Women constitute 24 per cent of the House of the People, a significant increase from the 14 per cent of the previous Parliament. Overall, more than 50 per cent of the Members of Parliament are new. About 18 per cent of the elected Members are under 35 years old."
- **Women's target.** The Forum had set a 30 percent target for women; the result fell short of it ([S/2017/21, paras. 3 and 46](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)).

See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) and [elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

## Who suffered?

- **Clan elders and delegates.** "Suspected [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) operatives gunned down six clan elders and two electoral delegates on 20 October, 2, 6, 9 and 29 November and 11 and 28 December" ([S/2017/21, para. 7](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Women candidates.** "Female candidates and advocates faced threats and intimidation. They also cited corruption as an issue negatively affecting the ability of women to stage successful candidacies" (same source, para. 47).
- **People in Mogadishu.** Al-Shabaab "stepped up the use of car bombings" during the electoral period. On 11 December a minivan exploded at the port, "killing more than 35 people" (same source, para. 7).
- **A civilian in Cadaado,** shot dead by a soldier amid clan tensions over the vote (same source, para. 12).

## Sources differ

- **How many delegates.** The UNSOM fact sheet planned 14,025. The Secretary-General's reports give "close to 13,000" and "approximately 13,000" who voted.
- **Peaceful or flawed.** The UN called the process "more peaceful and inclusive than in 2012" while recording "bribery and intimidation of delegates" and misconduct not "adequately addressed".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UNSOM, *Somalia 2016 Electoral Process* (fact sheet, 2016): [PDF](https://unsom.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/somalia_2016_electoral_process_0.pdf).
- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2017/21 (9 January 2017), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf); S/2017/408 (9 May 2017), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/408&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# The 2005 Somaliland parliamentary election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 29 September 2005 Somaliland elected its first House of Representatives by popular vote: 82 members from three parties. The ruling UDUB party won 33 seats, Kulmiye 28 and UCID 21, so the two opposition parties together held a majority. When the new house first met on 29 November 2005, opposition members elected their own Speaker and deputies over UDUB objections, and President Dahir Riyale Kahin accepted the result on 7 December after the House of Elders stepped in. The next parliamentary election was not held until 2021.

## In short

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s House of Representatives was elected by popular vote for the first time on 29 September 2005. President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) had planned the vote for mid-September, and on 10 August 2005 he "postponed the parliamentary elections by two weeks, to 29 September, at the request of the 'Somaliland' electoral commission" ([UN Security Council, S/2005/642, para. 33](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf)).

The opposition parties together won a majority of the 82 seats. For all of Somaliland's elections, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/). For the vote before, see [the 2003 presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2003/).

## Before the vote

- **Delay.** In 2003 the House of Elders had "extended the tenure of the House of Representatives for two years" ([S/2003/636, para. 23](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Media rules.** Print and broadcast editors drafted a code of conduct that "calls for the news media to adhere to impartial reporting of the election" ([S/2005/642, para. 34](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Observers.** The electoral commission invited Progressio to organise an international observation mission ([International Election Observation Mission, 2018 report, p. 16](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)). Its report was published in 2006 as *Further Steps to Democracy: The Somaliland Parliamentary Elections, September 2005*.

## The result

The figures as reported by the International Republican Institute's assessment of the vote ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Somaliland_parliamentary_election)):

| Party | Votes | Share | Seats |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| UDUB (United Peoples' Democratic Party) | 261,449 | 39.00% | 33 |
| Kulmiye (Peace, Unity and Development Party) | 228,328 | 34.06% | 28 |
| UCID (Justice and Welfare Party) | 180,545 | 26.93% | 21 |
| Valid votes | 670,322 | | 82 |
| Invalid or blank | 4,585 | | |
| Total | 674,907 | | |

The same article records that 76 observers from seven countries described the elections as "generally free and fair", while saying the vote "had fallen short of meeting several international standards" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Somaliland_parliamentary_election)).

## The fight over the Speaker

From the UN Secretary-General's report of February 2006 ([S/2006/122, para. 19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **29 November 2005.** At the first session, opposition members from Kulmiye and [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) "defied a decision by the acting Speaker to adjourn Parliament and proceeded to elect a new speaker and two deputy speakers".
- **The ruling party.** UDUB members opposed the move.
- **7 December 2005.** "After an intervention by the Council of Elders", President Riyale "announced his acceptance of the election of the Speaker and his two Deputies by the opposition members of Parliament".

The Speaker from November 2005 was [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro"](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141714838)), who later founded Waddani and became President in 2024. See [speakers of the Somaliland parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-somaliland-parliament/).

## What followed

The house elected in 2005 sat until 2021. The observers of 2017 recorded only "one parliamentary election (lower house) in 2005" between 2002 and 2017 ([IEOM, 2018, p. 16](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)). The next vote for the house was held on 31 May 2021, the first parliamentary election since 2005 ([Al Jazeera, 6 June 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/somaliland-opposition-wins-first-parliamentary-polls-since)).

## Who suffered?

- **Voters,** who did not elect a new House of Representatives again until 2021 (Al Jazeera).

## Sources differ

- **How the vote was judged.** Observers described it as "generally free and fair" while noting it fell short of "several international standards".
- **The Speaker's election.** The opposition majority held it was valid. UDUB opposed it until the President accepted it on 7 December 2005.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2003/636, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf); S/2005/642 (11 October 2005), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/122 (21 February 2006), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf).
- International Election Observation Mission, *The limits of consensus?* (2018), p. 16: [PDF](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf).


---

# Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Portuguese historian João de Barros wrote that in 1513 Zeila's people came out armed on horse and foot to stop a Portuguese ship landing, that in 1517 Lopo Soares took and burned Zeila while its captain was away fighting for the King of Adal, and that António de Saldanha burned an empty Berbera the following year. He described both towns as ports of the King of Adal, whose capital was 'Arar' (Harar), each run by a governor.

## In short

João de Barros wrote a history of the Portuguese in Asia, the *Décadas da Ásia*, published in parts from 1552 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Barros)). This page quotes the Lisbon edition of 1777–1778: *Década II*, part 2 ([archive.org](https://archive.org/details/daasiadejoodeb22barr)) and *Década III*, part 1 ([archive.org](https://archive.org/details/daasiadejoodeb31barr)). Translations from the Portuguese are ours. For what Barros wrote about the southern coast, see [Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia](/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/). For other accounts of these towns, see [Mogadishu, Zeila, Berbera and Barawa, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## Zeila in 1513

In *Década II*, book VIII, chapter III, Barros writes that in 1513 Afonso de Albuquerque, leaving the Red Sea for Aden, sent Ruy Galvão in his ship and João Gomes in a caravel "to discover the city of Zeila, which is on the other coast of Africa". The people of Zeila "would not even speak with him", and many came down to the beach "on horse and on foot, all armed, showing they were ready to defend the land". Galvão noted the site of the city and its port and burned the ships in the harbour. A man from Abyssinia swam out to join him; Barros says he was the slave of an agent of the Sultan of Cairo living there, and gave Albuquerque good answers about Abyssinia and its king (pp. 293–294). In the next chapter Barros writes that Portuguese boats near Aden found five vessels "with provisions that they brought from the cities of Barbora and Zeila", took the food and burned the hulls (p. 298).

## Barros's description of Zeila

In *Década III*, book I, chapter V, Barros describes Zeila as "the principal port of the Kingdom of Adel", about 26 leagues outside the mouth of the Red Sea, in a bay (pp. 55–57):

- **An old town.** He suggests it may be the place Ptolemy called the "Avalites emporium", because "the city has old buildings of stone and lime, in the manner of the city of Aden".
- **Trade.** Its hinterland was fertile, and "almost the greater part of the things that are taken by way of trade from the land of the King of the Abyssinians" passed through it, as did the goods sent in.
- **Its ruler.** The lord of Zeila was the King of Adel, "whose capital is called Arar", 38 leagues to the south-west. Both the King of Aden and the King of Zeila lived inland and kept only governors in the ports, and Barros writes that they were enemies over the customs revenue of the Red Sea trade.
- **Zeila and Aden.** "In ancient times this Zeila was a more famous emporium and port of call at those gates of the strait than Aden," he writes, and after the Portuguese came to India Aden "began to grow greater with the decline of Zeila".

## The capture and burning of Zeila, 1517

Barros writes that Lopo Soares, governor of Portuguese India, came to Zeila in 1517 after his fleet had suffered hunger and disease in the Red Sea (pp. 55–60):

- **The reason.** Soares attacked because Zeila had helped the Ottoman-Mamluk fleet of "Raez Soleimão" (Selman Reis) after it had damaged Aden, and because his men were "broken in spirit" by how little they had done.
- **The capture.** The town fell "without much resistance", at the cost of "the lives of many Moors who were left in those streets". Soares then had it set on fire, and his men left "with very little plunder".
- **Why it was empty.** Barros explains that the captain of Zeila had gone, at his king's call, "with the best and most men he could take", to a war with the Christian king of Ethiopia, and that those left behind had already moved their goods out of the town.
- **A Portuguese captive.** Among the captives was a Portuguese sailor, João Fernandes of Leça, from the brigantine of Gregório da Quadra that had drifted to Zeila in 1509. Barros writes that three Catalans who had come to sell arms had denounced him. Many broad, long sword blades, "still black", were found in the town.

## The death of Zeila's captain

Barros adds the story of the swords the captain had taken with him (pp. 59–61). The King of Adel had marched into the Ethiopian king's lands; the Ethiopian king, then 17 years old, trapped his camp in a plain ringed by hills. On the advice of "this captain of Zeila called Mahamed", the King of Adel escaped with five horsemen, while Mahamed stayed to fight. "Trusting in the good arms he had had from the Catalans", Mahamed rode out before the armies and called for anyone who would fight him alone. A friar called Gabri Andres came out and killed him, and the army of Adel fled. Barros writes that a song was made of it, and that the priest Francisco Álvares wrote of seeing Gabri Andres honoured at the Ethiopian court. Chekroun, using other chronicles, names the emir of Adal killed in the 1517 raid as Mahfuz; see [Harar, capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/).

## Berbera in 1518

In *Década III*, book I, chapter VI, Barros writes that after leaving Aden, Soares planned to attack "a city called Barbora, which was below Zeila towards Cape Guardafui and opposite the city of Aden", but at the end of August the east winds and currents pushed his fleet back, and a storm scattered it (pp. 62–63).

In chapter X, Barros writes that the next year António de Saldanha, with six ships, turned his anger at a Gujarati merchant he could not catch "into falling on the city of Barbora" (pp. 100–101):

- **The town.** "Although it is not as noble as Zeila, which is above it to the north eighteen leagues, it almost tries to imitate it in the manner of its buildings and the life of its people, and in the coming and going of the goods of the Kingdom of Adel, whose king is its lord, and he only has a governor there, as in Zeila." He suggests it may be the port Ptolemy called "Malaca".
- **The warning.** Its people, knowing of "the taking of Zeila, which had been the year before", kept lookouts at sea, so that when Saldanha arrived he "had nothing more to do than enter it empty of people and goods".
- **The burning.** Saldanha "had fire put" to the town while he took on water, then sailed for Arabia.

## Related pages

- [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)
- [The trade fairs of the Berbera coast, about 1000–1600](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/)
- [The end of Adal, 1543–1583](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)


---

# The British Military Administration of Somalia, 1941 to 1950

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After Britain defeated Italy in East Africa, a British Military Administration governed former Italian Somaliland from 1941 until it handed the territory to Italian trusteeship on 1 April 1950. It disbanded the Italian security units and raised the Somalia Gendarmerie under British officers, at first largely from Kenyan and Ugandan askaris and later from Somali recruits trained at a new police academy. The Somali Youth Club was founded under its rule in 1943, and riots in 1948 killed 51 Italians and 24 Somalis.

## In short

British forces took [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) in 1941 and governed it, under military rule, until the UN trusteeship began in 1950. The period saw the first Somali-led police force in the south and the rise of Somali political parties. This page records what the sources report. For the force it replaced, see [Somali troops under Italian rule](/en/institutions/somali-colonial-troops-italian/); for what came after, see [The UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## British rule

Britain counter-attacked in March 1941, retook [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and placed southern Somalia and the Ogaden under military administration ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Somalia During World War II"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm)). Wikipedia dates the administration from 25 February 1941 to 1 April 1950 and lists its chief administrators as William Scupham (1941–1943), Denis Wickham (1943–1948), Eric de Candole (1948) and Geoffrey Gamble (1948–1950) ([Wikipedia, British Military Administration (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Military_Administration_(Somali))).

## The Somalia Gendarmerie

The British disbanded the Italian security units in the south and raised the Somalia Gendarmerie, commanded by British officers, to police the occupied territory. Many of its first rank and file were askaris from Kenya and Uganda who had served under British officers; it became a Somali force over time as local recruits were trained at a new police academy. Its tasks included rounding up Italian stragglers and disarming Somalis who had taken weapons during the war. In the north the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Camel Corps was reorganised and later replaced by five battalions known as the Somaliland Scouts ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "British Military Administration"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)). [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) joined the police under the British administration (see his page). See [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) and [Somaliland Camel Corps](/en/institutions/somaliland-camel-corps/).

## Parties, the Four Power Commission and the 1948 riots

The Somali Youth Club was founded in Mogadishu in 1943, had 25,000 members by 1946 and became the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) in 1947. Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States formed a Four Power Commission on the territory's future, which reached Mogadishu in January 1948. During an SYL rally held during its visit, a counter-demonstration by pro-Italian groups turned violent, and in the riot 51 Italians and 24 Somalis were killed (Library of Congress, "British Military Administration"). The powers could not agree, and the question went to the UN General Assembly, which in November 1949 placed the territory under Italian trusteeship on condition of independence within ten years (Library of Congress; Wikipedia).

## The Ogaden and the Haud

In 1948, under US and Soviet pressure, Britain returned the Ogaden to Ethiopia "over massive Somali protests", and in 1949 it returned further grazing areas (Library of Congress, "British Military Administration"). The later transfer of the Haud is covered in [The Haud transfer, 1954 to 1955](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).

## Sources differ

- **When British rule ended.** 1949 (Library of Congress) or 1 April 1950, when the trusteeship began (Wikipedia).
- **The 1948 riots.** The Library of Congress places the deaths in one riot in Mogadishu; Wikipedia describes riots in several coastal towns.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "British Military Administration": [page](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Somalia During World War II": [page](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm).


---

# The Dervish movement, 1899–1920

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Dervish movement (Daraawiish) was the armed resistance led by Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan against Britain, Italy and Ethiopia from 1899 to 1920. It fought 41 recorded battles, signed a treaty with Italy in 1905, built a stone capital at Taleh, and ended when British aircraft and ground forces took Taleh in February 1920.

## In short

The Dervishes (Daraawiish, from the Arabic for Sufi disciples) were the followers of [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/). For over twenty years they held off three empires: Britain, Italy and Ethiopia. The British War Office wrote a two-volume history of its campaigns against them, and the Somali scholar [Jaamac Cumar Ciise](/en/people/jama-omar-issa/) collected their history and poems in Somali ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog); [Jaamac Cumar Ciise, *Diiwaanka Gabayadii Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan*, Akademiyaha Dhaqanka, Muqdisho, 1974](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)). This page draws on both.

## How did the movement begin?

The Sayid came home from Mecca through Berbera in 1895 and began teaching. Jaamac Cumar Ciise records that he set up the first Dervish centre at the well of Qoryaweyn, about 60 miles from [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. vii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)).

The first Dervishes came from several communities at once, in the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) and the Ogaden. The British War Office says the Sayid made a special point of breaking down clan loyalties, putting his own authority above that of the clan headmen ([War Office 1907, p. 49](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

In August 1899 his force entered Burao. The British estimated it at 5,000 men, with 1,500 horsemen and 200 rifles ([War Office 1907, p. 49](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

On 1 September 1899 he sent the British a letter in Arabic. The British official Douglas Jardine printed it in translation ([Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland*, 1923, p. 43](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)):

> "You have oppressed our ancient religion without cause… If you want war, we accept it; but if you want peace, pay the fine."

The British Consul-General then proclaimed him a rebel. The British government held back from an expedition because of the war in South Africa ([Jardine 1923, p. 43](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

## 41 battles

Jaamac Cumar Ciise counts 41 recorded battles between the Dervishes and the British. He lists the largest, with the dates as he gives them ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. ix](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)):

- Afbakayle, 3 May 1901
- Fardhiddin, 16 July 1901
- Beerdhiga, 10 August 1902
- Cagaarweyne, 17 April 1903
- Daratoole, 18 April 1903
- Jidbaale, 10 January 1904
- Ruuga (Dul Madoba), 1913
- The air war, January 1919

The scan of his book prints the Cagaarweyne and Daratoole dates as 1905. The British record and the order of his own list place them in April 1903, when the British column was lost at Gumburu. He also writes that the Somalis "split in two": some joined the colonial side and some joined the Dervishes.

## The four British campaigns, 1901–1904

Britain sent four expeditions against the Dervishes. The War Office wrote its own two-volume history of them, which survives in full ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog); [volume 2](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory03stafgoog)). The British Parliament also published the consul's telegrams as a blue book ([*Correspondence respecting the Rising of the Mullah*, Africa No. 3, 1902](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.106629)).

- **1901.** Colonel Eric Swayne led a force of Somali levies. Fighting at Samala and Ferdiddin ended with the force returning to Burao ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **6 October 1902, Erigo.** The second expedition met the Dervishes in thick bush near [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/). The fighting was severe and the force fell back to Bohotle ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **17 April 1903, Gumburu.** A British column under Colonel Plunkett was destroyed. The War Office records that "the whole of the officers were killed" and that Dervish dead "lay in heaps before the square" ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **10 January 1904, Jidbaali.** The fourth expedition under General Egerton met 6,000 to 8,000 Dervishes. The British counted 668 bodies near the position two days later ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **21 April 1904, Illig.** British and Indian forces landed from the sea and took the Dervish coastal base at Illig ([Jardine 1923, ch. V](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

## "I wish to rule my own country"

In 1903, during the third campaign, the Sayid wrote to "the English people". Jardine printed the letter in translation ([Jardine 1923, p. 122](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)):

> "We have fought for a year. I wish to rule my own country and protect my own religion… I have moved my camp, but I have not run away."

Jardine himself, writing as a British official, admitted that the Sayid would "live for ever as a national hero" in the hearts of his countrymen ([Jardine 1923, p. 308](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

## The Illig treaty of 1905: a state that signed treaties

On 5 March 1905 the Sayid signed a written agreement with Italy's envoy, Giulio Pestalozza, at Illig. Jardine printed the full text, translated from the Arabic ([Jardine 1923, pp. 156–159](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Its main terms were:

- Peace between the Sayid's Dervishes and Italy, Britain and Ethiopia, with Italy acting as guarantor.
- A home for the Dervishes on the coast between Ras Garad and Ras Gabbe, under the Italian flag.
- The Sayid to govern the communities with him in the interior "with justice and equity", and keep the roads safe.
- A ban on importing firearms and on the slave trade.
- Grazing rights for Dervish herds in the Nugaal, within named wells.

The treaty is the clearest record that foreign powers dealt with the Dervish movement as a government. The signed text is dated 5 March, while its closing line gives 8 March 1905, the equivalent of 28 Dhu al-Hijja 1322 ([Jardine 1923, p. 158](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

## Taleh: a capital built in stone

In January 1913 the Sayid moved his headquarters to Taleh, in today's [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) region. Masons from Yemen built a walled enclosure with thirteen forts and three tall covering forts ([Jardine 1923, pp. 212–213](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

Jardine records walls 12 to 14 feet thick at the base and covering forts 50 to 60 feet high. Inside were wells and stone granaries, filled with millet from the Dervish gardens at Gaolo, ten miles away. Jardine called the fortress "a striking proof of the Mullah's military genius".

Britain had already pulled its forces back to the coast in 1910 ([Jardine 1923, ch. VI, "The withdrawal from the interior"](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

## Dul Madoba, 9 August 1913

A British-led [Somali Camel Constabulary](/en/institutions/somaliland-camel-corps/) of 109 men rode out from Burao under Richard Corfield. At Dul Madoba it met about 2,000 Dervish riflemen ([Jardine 1923, ch. VII, pp. 220–226](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

Corfield was killed about 7.15 in the morning. Thirty-five of the constabulary were killed and seventeen badly wounded. Jardine records 395 Dervish dead counted on the field.

## The end, 1920

In January 1920 Britain sent a flight of DH.9 aircraft, "Z" Unit of the Royal Air Force. Eight aircraft reached the front on 19 January, and six flew the first attack on 21 January 1920 ([Jardine 1923, pp. 262–266](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). The Camel Corps and a Somali levy of 1,500 men followed on the ground.

On 9 February 1920 the Sayid rode out of Taleh's northern gate with seventy to eighty horsemen. The levy took the fortress that evening ([Jardine 1923, pp. 274–275](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

The Sayid crossed into Ethiopian-ruled land with three or four hundred followers. They built thirteen forts at Guano Imi, near the head of the [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/), in October 1920 ([Jardine 1923, p. 307](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Illness, "probably influenza", and hunger struck the camp, and he died after six days of illness.

## Sources differ

- **The date of his death.** Jardine, the British official, gives 23 November 1920 ([Jardine 1923, p. 307](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Jaamac Cumar Ciise gives 1921, at Imey on the upper [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. xii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)), as does the Library of Congress ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/10.htm)).
- **The name.** British writers called him "the Mad Mullah". Somalis call him Sayid Maxamed, or simply "the Sayid". Calankii uses his own name and title.
- **The air war.** Jaamac Cumar Ciise dates the first air attacks to January 1919; Jardine, who was in the colonial government at the time, dates them to January 1920 ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. x](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan); [Jardine 1923, p. 266](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Jardine was Secretary to the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) administration from 1916 to 1921.
- **Who backed him.** The British records show that many Somalis fought against the Dervishes, in levies and the constabulary ([War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)). The historian Robert Hess records that many Somalis opposed him on religious grounds while still sympathising with resistance ([Hess, *Journal of African History*, 1964](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029)).

## How historians read the movement

Most of what we know comes from his opponents. Jardine, a British official, called him a "consummate scoundrel" in the same chapter where he named him a national hero ([Jardine 1923, p. 308](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Calankii reads these records for their facts and dates, not their judgements.

The Somali historian [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) studied the Sayid through his poems. Samatar showed how the Sayid used spoken verse to build and hold a movement in a society that did not yet write its language ([Samatar, *Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism*, Cambridge University Press, 1982](https://catalogo.abie.es/Record/unav.b39731091)). Hess called him "a forerunner of modern Somali nationalism" ([Hess 1964](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- War Office, *Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04*, 1907: [volume 1](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog), [volume 2](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory03stafgoog).
- *Correspondence respecting the Rising of the Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland*, Africa No. 3, 1902: [full text](https://archive.org/details/india.history.resource.106629).
- Douglas Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland*, 1923, with the Sayid's letters and the Illig treaty: [full text](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland).
- Jaamac Cumar Ciise, *Diiwaanka Gabayadii Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan*, Muqdisho, 1974, in Somali, with the Dervish history and 120 poems: [full text](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan).


---

# Fascist rule and the war, 1923–1941

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 1923 to 1941 Fascist Italy ruled southern Somalia by force, ended the last northern sultanates in 1926, and during the Second World War briefly held most Somali lands under one administration. The Library of Congress notes that the period made a united Somali administration look achievable.

## What happened

- **1923.** Cesare De Vecchi became the first Fascist governor of [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)).
- **1924.** [Sheikh Hassan Barsane](/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/) refused De Vecchi's order to disarm, citing Islamic law, and was captured in April 1924 ([Sheikh Hassan Barsane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)).
- **1926.** After a military campaign, Italy took over the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)). The same year Trans-Juba, with Kismayo, was merged into Italian Somaliland ([Oltre Giuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oltre_Giuba)).
- **From 1906.** Italian governors built a plantation economy between the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba rivers, laying the base for later differences between north and south ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm)).
- **1920s to 1930s.** Somalis created their own scripts: Osmanya by [Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/) (1920 to 1922) and the [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) script by Abdurahman [Sheikh Nuur](/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/) (about 1933) ([Somali writing systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_writing_systems)).
- **1934.** A clash at Welwel in the disputed Ogaden became Italy's pretext for invading Ethiopia ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)).
- **1935 to 1936.** Italy conquered Ethiopia. **1940:** it took [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). For a short time the Ogaden, the north and the south were run together, with a common currency and taxes ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm)).
- **1939.** Protests over education at [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), led by figures including [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Bashir ([1945 Sheikh Bashir rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Sheikh_Bashir_rebellion)).
- **March 1941.** Britain retook the north and placed the south and the Ogaden under its military administration ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm)).

## Legacy, as recorded

The Library of Congress notes that this made unification look achievable ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm)).

## What the historians record

The northern sultanates were ended by military campaign ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)). The Library of Congress traces later differences between north and south to the plantation economy Italy built in the south ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm)).


---

# The 2017 Somali presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2017/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 8 February 2017 the two houses of Somalia's Federal Parliament elected Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed 'Farmaajo' President. In the second round he had 184 votes, against 97 for the sitting President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and 46 for Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conceded before a third round. The members of parliament had been chosen from October 2016 by close to 13,000 clan delegates, in a process the UN said was more peaceful and inclusive than 2012 despite bribery and intimidation of delegates.

## In short

On 8 February 2017, 328 members of Somalia's two houses of parliament met in a [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) hangar at Mogadishu's international airport and elected [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo"](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) President. He led the second round with 184 votes. The sitting President, [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), had 97 and conceded ([UNSOM, 8 February 2017](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/51627)).

The UN Secretary-General wrote that, "notwithstanding delays and cases of malpractice, including bribery and intimidation of delegates, the electoral process was more peaceful and inclusive than in 2012" ([UN Security Council, S/2017/21, para. 3](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)).

For the previous vote, see [the 2012 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/). For the system as a whole, see [elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

## Choosing the Parliament, October to December 2016

From the UN Secretary-General's report of 9 January 2017 ([S/2017/21, paras. 2–3](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **The start.** After "prolonged negotiations over the details of the electoral model", federal parliamentary elections began on 15 October 2016.
- **The voters.** "Close to 13,000 delegates nationwide voted for the members of the lower house, while regional assemblies elected the members of the upper house."
- **A new upper house.** Parliament now had a 54-seat upper house and a 275-seat lower house. The new Parliament was inaugurated on 27 December 2016.
- **Malpractice.** The National Leadership Forum of federal and regional leaders set a code of conduct and a dispute body. "Verified cases of electoral malpractice prompted the Forum to order re-runs for five parliamentary seats."
- **Women.** Women held 24 per cent of lower house seats and 23 per cent of upper house seats, up from 14 per cent in 2012 but short of the 30 per cent target.
- **Cost.** The process cost $14 million: 60 per cent from international donors, 10 per cent from the federal government and 30 per cent from candidate fees.

The Speakers were chosen in January 2017: [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/) was re-elected Speaker of the House of the People on 11 January, and Abdi Hashi Abdullahi became Speaker of the Upper House on 22 January ([S/2017/408, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/408&l=en&t=pdf)).

## The vote, 8 February 2017

From the UN mission's statement on the day ([UNSOM](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/51627)):

- **The candidates.** None of the 21 registered candidates won a two-thirds majority in the first round.
- **Round two.** Farmaajo 184, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud 97, [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) 46. No one reached two-thirds, but the President conceded.
- **The setting.** The vote "was held at a Somali Air Force hangar at Mogadishu's international airport under tight security by [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) troops and Somali security forces". Speaker Jawari presided.
- **The concession.** Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said: "I urge the people of Somalia both in the country and in the diaspora to support the new president and work very closely with him."
- **The winner.** Farmaajo said: "This is the beginning of the unity of the Somali people... I promise not to abuse your trust, to work justly and to support the poor."

## Bribery claims

Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow reported that sources in parliament said "huge sums of money were paid by some of the candidates", and one MP told him he had "received thousands from one of the presidential candidates". Rival camps accused each other and denied the claims. Al Jazeera gave the number who chose the MPs and senators as around 14,000 elders and regional figures ([Al Jazeera, 8 February 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/2/8/abdullahi-mohamed-farmajo-declared-somalia-president)).

## After the vote

- **22 February 2017.** Farmaajo was inaugurated, with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the Presidents of Djibouti and Kenya present ([S/2017/408, para. 3](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/408&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **23 February.** He named [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) Prime Minister. Parliament endorsed him on 1 March and his 68-member cabinet on 29 March (same source, para. 4).

## Who suffered?

- **Clan elders and delegates.** Suspected al-Shabaab gunmen "gunned down six clan elders and two electoral delegates" in attacks on 20 October, 2, 6, 9 and 29 November, and 11 and 28 December 2016 ([S/2017/21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf)). See [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).
- **Delegates who faced bribery and intimidation,** as the UN recorded (S/2017/21).

## Sources differ

- **How many chose the Parliament.** The UN gives "close to 13,000 delegates" for the lower house. Al Jazeera gives around 14,000 elders and regional figures for both houses.
- **How clean the vote was.** The UN called the process more peaceful and inclusive than 2012, while recording bribery, intimidation and five re-runs. Al Jazeera's sources described large payments by candidates, which the camps denied.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2017/21 (9 January 2017): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/21&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2017/408 (9 May 2017): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/408&l=en&t=pdf).
- UNSOM, statement on the election of 8 February 2017: [text](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/51627).
- Al Jazeera, "Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo declared Somalia president", 8 February 2017: [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/2/8/abdullahi-mohamed-farmajo-declared-somalia-president).


---

# The 2010 Somaliland presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2010/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 26 June 2010 Somaliland voters elected Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud 'Silanyo' of the opposition Kulmiye party as President, with 49.59 percent of the vote. The sitting President, Dahir Riyale Kahin of UDUB, came second and accepted the result, and Silanyo was sworn in on 27 July. The vote had been put off five times since April 2008, in a crisis over the voter register that was settled by a deal mediated by Ethiopia and the United Kingdom in September 2009.

## In short

On 26 June 2010 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) held its second presidential election. On 1 July the National Electoral Commission declared [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo"](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) of the opposition Kulmiye party the winner "with 49.59 per cent of votes". The Supreme Court endorsed the result on 11 July and Silanyo was sworn in on 27 July ([UN Security Council, S/2010/447, para. 10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf)).

The sitting President, [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) of UDUB, lost. The UN Secretary-General wrote that the vote "was described as free, fair and transparent by international observers" (same source). For all of Somaliland's elections, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/). For the next presidential vote, see [the 2017 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2017/).

## Five delays, 2008 to 2009

From the UN Secretary-General's reports:

- **The first date.** The ballot "had initially been planned for April 2008" ([S/2009/684, para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/684&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **The register dispute.** In 2009, "opposition parties, civil society and the legislature rejected the decision made by the National Electoral Commission, with the support of the executive branch, to hold elections without a voters' roll". On 11 August 2009 the Parliament called on the commission and the government to drop the plan ([S/2009/503, para. 13](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/503&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Mediation.** On 21 August Ethiopia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs met the President, the opposition, civil society and elders. On 25 August Somaliland's foreign minister asked Ethiopia to mediate, and on 30 August Parliament set up a committee of the three parties (same source).
- **The fifth delay.** In early September 2009 the commission postponed the vote set for 27 September. "This was the fifth deferral of the ballot." Tension eased when the terms of the President and Vice-President were extended by one month ([S/2009/684, para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/684&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **The deal.** On 30 September 2009 the ruling UDUB party and the opposition Kulmiye and [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) signed a memorandum of understanding, "mediated by Ethiopia and the United Kingdom". They agreed to wait for the voter register, to hold the presidential vote before local council elections, and to set up a new electoral commission, whose members were sworn in on 28 October (same source).
- **New cards.** In early 2010 the commission said it would issue new voter cards by May "to ensure free and fair elections" ([S/2010/234, para. 6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/234&l=en&t=pdf)).

## The vote and the result

- **Polling day.** 26 June 2010. The international observer mission had 59 observers from 16 countries, who covered 33 percent of polling stations across Somaliland's six regions. It found the elections "reasonably free and fair, although some problems were also noted" ([International Election Observation Mission, 2018 report, p. 16](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)).
- **The announcement.** The commission chairman, Essa Yusuf Mohammed, announced the result. Al Jazeera gave about 538,000 valid votes from 1.09 million registered voters, and reported irregularities such as the ruling party's use of public funds, state media and vehicles in its campaign ([Al Jazeera, 2 July 2010](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/2/opposition-wins-somaliland-vote)).

The figures as given by the electoral commission, via the African Elections Database ([Wikipedia, "2010 Somaliland presidential election"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Somaliland_presidential_election)):

| Candidate | Party | Running mate | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---:|---:|
| Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" | Kulmiye | Abdirahman Saylici | 266,906 | 49.59% |
| Dahir Riyale Kahin | UDUB | Ahmed Yusuf Yasin | 178,881 | 33.23% |
| Faisal Ali Warabe | UCID | Mohammad Rashid | 92,459 | 17.18% |
| Total | | | 538,246 | |

Turnout was 50.31 percent of 1,069,914 registered voters (same source).

## The handover

- **The loser's response.** An opinion article published by Al Jazeera on 22 July 2010 said that Riyale "embraced the popular verdict and accepted defeat gracefully" ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/22/somaliland-a-radical-change)).
- **The new government.** Silanyo named a cabinet of 20 ministers and six vice-ministers, three of them women ([S/2010/447, para. 10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Who suffered?

- **Election staff and voters in the east.** The UN recorded "a few security incidents related to the 'presidential' elections held in June", and clashes in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) between Somaliland troops and the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) militia ([S/2010/447, para. 16](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf)). Wikipedia, citing the Progressio observer report, records violence in Sool that caused the death of an election official ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Somaliland_presidential_election)).

## Sources differ

- **How clean the vote was.** The UN said observers called it "free, fair and transparent". The observers' own later summary says "reasonably free and fair, although some problems were also noted". Al Jazeera reported use of state resources by the ruling party.
- **UDUB's vote.** Wikipedia's main table gives Riyale 178,881 votes; its table by district gives 179,881.
- **The date of the announcement.** The UN gives 1 July 2010. Al Jazeera reported the announcement on 2 July.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2009/503 (2 October 2009), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/503&l=en&t=pdf); S/2009/684 (8 January 2010), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/684&l=en&t=pdf); S/2010/234 (11 May 2010), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/234&l=en&t=pdf); S/2010/447 (9 September 2010), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf).
- International Election Observation Mission, *The limits of consensus?* (2018), with a summary of the 2010 mission on p. 16: [PDF](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf).
- Al Jazeera, "Opposition wins Somaliland vote", 2 July 2010: [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/2/opposition-wins-somaliland-vote).


---

# Nationalist era, 1943–1960 (SYL, SNL, NUF, HDM)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/nationalist-era-1943-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 1943 and 1960 Somalis built the modern movement for unity and independence. It began when 13 young Somalis founded the Somali Youth Club in Mogadishu in May 1943, refusing to say which clan they came from, and it ended with an independent, united Somali Republic in 1960.

## What happened

- **May 1943.** The [Somali Youth Club](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) (SYC) was founded in Mogadishu. Its 13 founders came from four of the six major clan families and did not disclose their clans ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Somali-Youth-League); [Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).
- **1946.** At a meeting of the great powers in Paris, Britain's foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, proposed a "United Somalia" under British trusteeship. The other powers did not agree ([US State Department, FRUS](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1946v02/d88)). SYC membership was about 25,000 that year.
- **1947.** The SYC became the Somali Youth League (SYL), with offices in all five Somali territories. Its aims were to unite Somalis, standardise a Somali script, expand education and oppose an Italian return. It banned clannishness ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).
- **January 1948.** During a visit by a four-power commission, a riot between an SYL rally and a pro-Italian counter-demonstration killed 51 Italians and 24 Somalis ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).
- **1948 to 1949.** Britain handed the Ogaden back to Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)). In November 1949 the UN placed former Italian Somalia under Italian trusteeship, with independence due by 1960.
- **1954 to 1955.** Britain agreed to hand the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) grazing lands to Ethiopia. The National United Front, backed by northern parties, sent delegations to [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and the UN. In Parliament, one MP called the deal "sad and shabby", and the Somali delegation was praised for its "dignified" conduct ([UK Parliament, Hansard, 25 February 1955](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/25/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian)).
- **1956.** The first territory-wide elections in the south; Abdullaahi Iise became prime minister ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).
- **1957 to 1958.** The SYL majority chose "reunification … by peaceful means". Women voted in 1958 (same source).

## Key people and groups

The SYL in the south, the Somali National League and the [United Somali Party](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in the north, the National United Front, and many others. The Hizbia [Digil](/en/society/digil/) [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) (HDM), an agro-pastoral party, accepted Somali statehood but wanted a federal system.

## What the historians record

- The Bevin plan and the Haud campaign did not win back the Ogaden or the Haud.
- Some Somalis, including the HDM and the pro-Italia groups, feared that a unitary state would be dominated by pastoral clans. The historian Annalisa Urbano argues the pro-Italia groups were driven by those fears, not by love of colonialism ([Urbano, Journal of African History, 2016](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/that-is-why-we-have-troubles-the-proitalia-movements-challenge-to-nationalism-in-britishoccupied-somalia194691/48D65319E9570D6826BB5C026104FF70)).

## Sources differ

Britannica gives 13 May 1943 for the founding; Somalis mark 15 May. The renaming to SYL is dated 1947 by some sources and 1948 by others.


---

# The 2009 Somali presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2009/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 30 January 2009 Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament, enlarged to take in 200 members from the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and 75 others, met in Djibouti and elected the ARS chairman, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, as interim President. The election followed President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed's resignation on 29 December 2008. Sharif won the deciding round by 293 votes to 126 for Maslah Mohamed Siad, and was sworn in on 31 January.

## In short

"On 30 January, after two rounds of voting in Djibouti, the expanded Parliament elected the Chairman of ARS, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, as the country's new interim President, and he was sworn in on 31 January," the UN Secretary-General reported ([UN Security Council, S/2009/132, para. 10](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)).

See [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), [the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia](/en/history/alliance-for-the-re-liberation-of-somalia/) and [the transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Why there was an election

From the UN report ([S/2009/132, paras. 5–8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **ARS returns.** Early in December 2008, ARS members led by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed "returned to Mogadishu for the first time in two years to commence the implementation of the Djibouti agreement".
- **The President resigns.** [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) announced his resignation before Parliament and Cabinet in Baidoa on 29 December 2008. He said he was resigning "to avoid being seen as an 'obstacle to peace' in Somalia".
- **Acting President.** The Speaker, [Sheikh Adan Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/), became acting President under article 45 of the Transitional Federal Charter, "which empowers Parliament to elect a new President within 30 days". On 12 January 2009 he set up a Parliamentary Committee for the Presidential Election.
- **A bigger Parliament.** On 26 January the Parliament voted to grow by 275 seats, "with 200 seats allocated to ARS and the remaining 75 reserved for members of civil society, businesspeople, women, the diaspora and other opposition groups". On 27 January it extended its mandate by two years, to August 2011, and the new ARS members were sworn in.

## The vote, 30 January 2009

- **Where.** The vote was held in Djibouti (S/2009/132, para. 10).
- **The candidates.** Fourteen candidates filed, among them Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the outgoing Prime Minister [Nur Hassan Hussein](/en/people/nur-hassan-hussein/), the former Prime Ministers [Ali Khalif Galaydh](/en/people/ali-khalif-galaydh/) and [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/), the minister [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/), and General Maslah Mohamed Siad, a son of the former President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([Wikipedia, "2009 Somali presidential election"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Somali_presidential_election), citing the BBC and Reuters).
- **First round.** [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) won 215 of 422 votes, Maslah Mohamed Siad 60 and Nur Hassan Hussein 59. Nur Hassan Hussein and Ali Khalif Galaydh then withdrew (same source, from the African Elections Database).
- **Deciding round.** Sharif beat Maslah Mohamed Siad by 293 votes to 126 (same source).
- **The UN's appeal.** During the talks the UN Special Representative, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, "appealed to the Somali parties to eschew the concept of 'winner takes all' and seek compromise" (S/2009/132, para. 9).

## After the vote

From the UN report ([S/2009/132, paras. 10–13 and 18](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **The inaugural speech.** Sharif "vowed to build an inclusive Government, extend a hand to hard-line armed groups still opposed to the peace talks and bring Somalia back into the regional fold".
- **Prime Minister.** On 13 February he appointed [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/). The 475-seat Parliament endorsed him by 410 votes to 9, with 2 abstentions. A 36-member Cabinet was endorsed on 21 February.
- **Return to Mogadishu.** Sharif returned to Mogadishu on 23 February 2009.
- **Ethiopia's withdrawal.** Ethiopian forces completed their withdrawal from all locations in Mogadishu in mid-January 2009, two weeks before the vote.
- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).** [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/), elected President of Puntland on 8 January 2009, "welcomed the appointment of President Sharif Ahmed and pledged to work with the new Administration".
- **Opposition.** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), "which opposes the Djibouti process", took control of Baidoa and "vowed to continue with the insurgency" (paras. 15–16). The ARS wing in Asmara rejected the process and helped form [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) ([Congressional Research Service, RL33911](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33911.html)).

## Who suffered?

- **Civilians in Mogadishu and the south,** where the war between the government, [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), al-Shabaab and other armed groups went on after the vote. See [the war in Somalia, 2006–2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/).

## Sources differ

- **The number of rounds.** The UN speaks of "two rounds of voting". Wikipedia describes a planned three-round system in which all but two candidates withdrew after the first round.
- **Where.** The vote was held in Djibouti rather than inside Somalia; the UN called the 2012 election "the first to be held inside the country" ([S/2013/69, para. 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)). See [the 2012 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2009/132 (9 March 2009), paras. 5–18: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/132&l=en&t=pdf).
- Wikipedia, "2009 Somali presidential election", with the African Elections Database results: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Somali_presidential_election).


---

# The 2017 Somaliland presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2017/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 13 November 2017 voters in Somaliland chose Muse Bihi Abdi of the Kulmiye party as President, with 305,909 votes (55.10 percent), against 226,092 (40.73 percent) for Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi 'Irro' of Waddani and 23,141 (4.17 percent) for Faisal Ali Warabe of UCID. Turnout was 80.32 percent of 704,198 voters with cards. It was the first election to use an iris-scan voter register. Waddani disputed the count, police fired on protesters in Burao, and the result was announced on 21 November.

## In short

Somaliland held its third presidential election on 13 November 2017. The outgoing President, [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo"](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/), did not stand. Three candidates ran: [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) for Kulmiye, [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro"](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) for Waddani, and Faisal Ali Warabe for [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/). Muse Bihi Abdi won with 55.10 percent ([International Election Observation Mission, *The limits of consensus?*, 2018, p. 34](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)).

The international observers, 60 people from 27 countries, reported "a largely peaceful and well-organised polling day", but also delays in counting, a social media ban, protests in which people were killed, and a result that Waddani accepted "for the sake of Somaliland, while still maintaining they were incorrect" (same report, p. 6).

For how Somaliland's elections work and all results since 2002, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/). For Somaliland's wider story, see [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## The road to the vote

From the observers' report ([IEOM, pp. 5–17](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)):

- **Delays.** The election was first set for June 2015. In March 2015 the electoral commission (NEC) asked for a nine-month delay to deal with "significant political and technical challenges", including a voter register. The [Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/) (House of Elders) then extended the President's term by two years, to March 2017, "amidst protests". The report says drought also delayed the vote.
- **A new register.** The vote used a new voter register "utilising biometric iris scan technology, designed to combat multiple voting issues that had compromised past elections".
- **Who could vote.** 704,089 registered voters collected their cards. The report notes that 169,242 others who had registered "were denied the right to vote because they had been unwilling or unable to collect their cards" (p. 27).
- **Three parties.** Under the 2001 constitution only three parties may stand. Waddani entered through the 2012 local elections "at the expense of UDUB", the party of former President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/).
- **The campaign.** The contest between Kulmiye and Waddani saw "clan-based politicking, character assassination and isolated incidences of violence" (p. 17).
- **The media.** The Ministry of Information revoked the permit of Kalsan TV over its reporting of an incident in Las Anod where shots were fired during a speech by the Kulmiye candidate (p. 26).

## The candidates

| Candidate | Party | Running mate |
|---|---|---|
| Muse Bihi Abdi | Kulmiye | Abdirahman Abdullahi Ismail "Saylici" |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" | Waddani | Mohamed Ali Aw Abdi |
| Faisal Ali Warabe | UCID | Ahmed Abdi Muse Abyan |

Source: IEOM, pp. 8 and 17. The report describes Irro as a long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives who formed Waddani after a split with UCID, and Muse Bihi Abdi as "a military commander from the days of the insurgent struggle against [Siyaad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)".

## Election day

- **Coverage.** Observers visited 355 of 1,642 polling stations, in all six regions and 17 of 21 districts, from Zeila in the west to [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/), Las Anod and Xudun in the east (IEOM, p. 6).
- **Findings.** They reported concerns over "inconsistencies in polling station management", "the issuing of unstamped ballot papers, and the prevalence of underage voting" (p. 6).
- **The social media ban.** Access to social media was blocked "from the late afternoon of polling day and for several days after". The observers wrote that the decision "effectively violated Articles 30 and 32 of the Constitution of Somaliland" and called the ban "largely futile" because of wide use of VPNs. A court case by the Human Rights Centre to stop it failed (p. 26).

## The result

The final results as issued by the NEC ([IEOM, p. 34](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)):

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---:|---:|
| Muse Bihi Abdi | Kulmiye | 305,909 | 55.10% |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" | Waddani | 226,092 | 40.73% |
| Faisal Ali Warabe | UCID | 23,141 | 4.17% |
| Invalid or blank | | 10,475 | |
| Total | | 565,617 | |

Turnout was 80.32 percent of 704,198 registered voters.

## The dispute

From the observers' account of the days after the vote (IEOM, pp. 34–35):

- **Parallel counts.** Waddani supporters said they had won "by some 20,000 votes"; in Kulmiye circles the talk was of a margin of "about 80,000 votes".
- **16 November.** Waddani stopped taking part in the count. It alleged ballot-box stuffing and showed a ballot book it said was forged.
- **The protests.** Protests broke out that evening in Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/). In Burao "police opened fire, using live ammunition", "killing between two and seven people", according to *The National*, as cited by the observers.
- **18 November.** At a joint press conference with the NEC chair, Abdikadir Iman Warsame, Irro accepted that the ballot book said to be forged "was in fact legitimate". The NEC agreed to a recount in Hargeisa but not a national one.
- **21 November.** The NEC declared Muse Bihi Abdi the winner. Irro accepted the outcome "for the sake of Somaliland" while saying the results were wrong. No formal complaint went to the Supreme Court.
- **13 December 2017.** Muse Bihi Abdi was sworn in by the Chief Justice.
- **Afterwards.** In January 2018 a group of Waddani supporters asked the UK government to "disregard the unfair, highly disputed and flawed election results".

## Who suffered?

- **Protesters in Burao,** where police fire killed between two and seven people (IEOM, citing *The National*).
- **Registered voters without cards,** 169,242 people who could not vote (IEOM, p. 27).
- **Journalists and Kalsan TV,** whose permit was revoked during the campaign (IEOM, p. 26).

## Sources differ

- **"Free and fair".** Muse Bihi Abdi wrote in the *Financial Times* that the election had been "certified as free and fair by a 60-strong team of international observers". The observers replied that they do "not purport to 'certify' elections" and avoid the term "free and fair" (IEOM, p. 15).
- **The count.** The NEC's result gave Kulmiye a margin of about 80,000 votes. Waddani maintained the result was "incorrect". The observers concluded that the irregularities they saw "were not of sufficient scale or pattern to have impacted the final result" (p. 6).
- **The number killed in Burao.** The source cited by the observers gives a range of two to seven.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- International Election Observation Mission (UCL Development Planning Unit and Somaliland Focus UK), *The limits of consensus? Report on the Somaliland Presidential Election, 13th November 2017* (March 2018): [PDF](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf).


---

# Independence and union, 26 June – 1 July 1960

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 26 June 1960 British Somaliland became independent, and on 1 July 1960 the former Italian trust territory became independent and the two united as the Somali Republic. Aadan Abdullah Usmaan became president and Abdirashiid Ali Shermaarke prime minister.

## What happened

- **February 1960.** In northern elections, the Somali National League and its ally the [United Somali Party](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) won 32 of 33 seats, on a platform of union ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).
- **April 1960.** Northern and southern leaders met in Mogadishu and agreed on a single state with an elected president and a 123-member assembly (same source).
- **26 June 1960.** British Somaliland became independent ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm); [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland)).
- **1 July 1960.** The trust territory became independent, and the two territories united as the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). Aadan Abdullah Usmaan (Aden Abdullah Osman) became president and Abdirashiid Ali Shermaarke prime minister, in a government of the Somali Youth League and the Somali National League ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm); [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Somali-Youth-League)).
- **1 July 1960.** "Soomaaliyeey toosoo" was sung at independence ([Soomaaliyeey toosoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soomaaliyeey_toosoo)).
- **1961.** The new constitution kept the aim of uniting Somali territories "by legal and peaceful means" ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)).

## What came next

The UN's Contini commission tried to merge two legal and administrative systems after the union. In the June 1961 vote on the constitution, support in the north was under 50%. In December 1961 northern officers attempted a coup ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).

## Key people and groups

The SYL and the Somali National League, the United Somali Party, the [National United Front](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/), and the people of both territories who chose union. 1 July is still celebrated by Somalis everywhere.

## What the historians record

The union was agreed in April 1960, before the two legal, tax, police, school and currency systems had been merged. The Library of Congress records northern bitterness and a sense of being let down in the years that followed ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/11.htm)).

## Sources differ

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) today argues that its five days of independence in 1960 and the way the Act of Union was made give it a legal basis to stand alone. The federal government, the African Union and most states hold that the union stands. This is a live question, and we set out both positions without deciding it.


---

# The 2021 Somaliland parliamentary and local elections

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2021/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 31 May 2021 Somaliland held joint elections for its 82-seat House of Representatives and for local councils, the first parliamentary vote since 2005. Turnout was 65 percent of about 1.07 million registered voters. Waddani won 31 seats, the ruling Kulmiye 30 and UCID 21, and the two opposition parties formed a coalition with a majority of 52. None of the 13 women who stood for parliament was elected. Observers reported minor problems and cases of underage voting but nothing that indicated fraud.

## In short

"On 31 May, 'Somaliland' held long-delayed joint parliamentary and local council elections. Sixty-five per cent of registered voters cast their votes to elect 82 members of the House of Representatives and councillors for 21 districts," the UN Secretary-General reported. On 5 June the results were announced, "with the opposition winning 52 of the 82 parliamentary seats" ([UN Security Council, S/2021/723, para. 9](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/723&l=en&t=pdf)).

It was the first parliamentary election since 2005 ([Al Jazeera, 6 June 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/somaliland-opposition-wins-first-parliamentary-polls-since)). See [the 2005 election](/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/) and [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

## Before the vote

From Scott Pegg and Michael Walls, who observed the vote, writing for the University of Tartu ([De Facto States Research Unit, 13 June 2021](https://defactostates.ut.ee/observing-somalilands-2021-parliamentary-and-local-council-elections)):

- **The delay.** The House of Representatives elected in 2005 had served 11 years beyond its five-year mandate.
- **The size.** About 1.065 million registered voters, 2,709 polling stations and more than 30,000 poll workers. It was the first time the two polls were held together.
- **Candidates.** 798 in all: 552 for 220 council seats and 246 for 82 parliamentary seats. "Only 28 (3.5%) were women", down from 5.91 percent in 2012.
- **The register.** The iris-scan voter register was "highly effective" in stopping multiple voting, which had been a serious problem in 2012. See [the 2017 presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2017/).

## The result

House of Representatives, as reported by Al Jazeera ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/somaliland-opposition-wins-first-parliamentary-polls-since)):

| Party | Seats |
|---|---:|
| Waddani (Somaliland National Party) | 31 |
| Kulmiye (Peace, Unity and Development Party) | 30 |
| UCID (Justice and Welfare Party) | 21 |
| Total | 82 |

- **The coalition.** Waddani and [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) announced "a political alliance to get the speaker of the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) parliament" (Al Jazeera).
- **Councils.** The two opposition parties "won mayoral positions in five of the seven major towns, including the capital, Hargeysa" ([S/2021/723, para. 9](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/723&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Women and minorities.** "No woman was elected to Parliament, but a minority clan candidate was elected to the House of Representatives and a woman as a mayor" (same source). Al Jazeera reported that "none of the 13 women who ran for parliament won their races".

## What observers said

- **Pegg and Walls.** Walls was chief observer of the Limited International Election Observation Mission; the two wrote in a personal capacity. They saw minor problems at the 25 polling stations they visited, "nothing that indicated fraud or malfeasance", and "several cases of underage voting". Somaliland has no birth registry to check ages ([Tartu](https://defactostates.ut.ee/observing-somalilands-2021-parliamentary-and-local-council-elections)).
- **The Brenthurst Foundation** sent a separate mission, which visited polling stations in five centres covering "more than 70% of the voting population" ([Brenthurst Foundation](https://www.thebrenthurstfoundation.org/publications/report-of-the-brenthurst-foundation-somaliland-election-monitoring-mission/)).

## What followed

- **The presidential vote.** Due in 2022, it was delayed to November 2024. See [the 2024 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2024/).
- **The next parliament.** In April 2026 the House of Elders extended the terms of the House of Representatives and local councils to October 2028 ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-elders-extend-parliament-councils-terms-by-27-months)).

## Who suffered?

- **Women candidates,** none of whom won a parliamentary seat (S/2021/723; Al Jazeera).
- **Voters,** who had waited 16 years for a new House of Representatives (Al Jazeera).

## Sources differ

- **Turnout.** The UN gives 65 percent of registered voters. The observers' blog gives no turnout figure.
- **Women candidates.** Al Jazeera counts 13 women standing for parliament. Pegg and Walls count 28 women among all 798 candidates for parliament and councils.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2021/723 (10 August 2021), para. 9: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/723&l=en&t=pdf).
- Scott Pegg and Michael Walls, "Observing Somaliland's 2021 parliamentary and local council elections", University of Tartu, 13 June 2021: [article](https://defactostates.ut.ee/observing-somalilands-2021-parliamentary-and-local-council-elections).
- Al Jazeera, "Somaliland opposition wins first parliamentary polls since 2005", 6 June 2021: [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/somaliland-opposition-wins-first-parliamentary-polls-since).


---

# The war in Somalia, 2009 to now

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-civil-war-2009-present/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Since 2009 the main war in Somalia has been between the internationally backed government, with African Union troops, and al-Shabaab. In 2009 and 2010 al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam held most of Mogadishu and attacked the presidential palace. Al-Shabaab left Mogadishu on 6 August 2011, during a famine that a later study estimated killed about 258,000 people, and lost Afgooye, Afmadow, Marka and Kismayo in 2012. It still holds large rural areas. A government offensive from August 2022 took back ground in the centre, much of which al-Shabaab retook in 2025.

## In short

After Ethiopian troops left in January 2009 (see [the war in Somalia, 2006–2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/)), the fighting did not stop. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) fought the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) of President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) and the African Union force, [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/).

In 2023 a UN panel of experts wrote that al-Shabaab "remains the most immediate threat to the peace, security and stability of Somalia" and that its "ability to carry out complex, asymmetric attacks in Somalia remains undiminished" ([UN Panel of Experts, S/2023/724, summary](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).

This page gives the main stages. Each links to a fuller page.

## 2009–2010: the battle for Mogadishu

From the UN Secretary-General's reports:

- **May to July 2009.** After failed attacks in May and June, al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam "reinforced their ranks with militia from outside Mogadishu and foreign fighters". In fighting that peaked on 12 July 2009 they "came within 300 metres of the presidential palace ([Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/))". Government forces and AMISOM pushed them back ([S/2009/503, para. 14](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/503&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **A divided city.** In September 2009 "disparate militia still controlled most neighbourhoods in Mogadishu", with "an estimated 20 to 50 fatalities per week" (same source, para. 15).
- **17 September 2009.** Two vehicle bombs in stolen UN vehicles hit the AMISOM headquarters at the airport, killing at least 21 people, 17 of them AU soldiers (same source, para. 16). See [Mogadishu attacks, 2009–2013](/en/history/mogadishu-attacks-2009-2013/).
- **11 July 2010.** Suicide attacks in Kampala, Uganda, during the World Cup final killed "over 70 people". Al-Shabaab claimed them, the first time it had struck outside Somalia ([S/2010/447, para. 6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Hospitals.** The World Health Organization counted about 1,600 civilian casualties admitted to Mogadishu's two main hospitals between 20 March and 11 July 2010, including almost 400 children under five (same source, para. 22).
- **Hizbul Islam** was "severely weakened" after the [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) group broke with it in May 2010 (same source, para. 14).

## 2011: withdrawal from Mogadishu and famine

- **20 July 2011.** The UN declared famine in southern [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). On 3 August it extended it to parts of Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), the [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) corridor and camps for displaced people in Mogadishu ([S/2011/549, para. 21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **6 August 2011.** "Following months of intense military operations by the Transitional Federal Government forces, supported by AMISOM troops, Al-Shabaab withdrew on 6 August from positions it had held in Mogadishu for nearly two years" (same source, para. 9).
- **The famine's toll.** A study by the UN's food security unit ([FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)) and FEWS NET estimated that "famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under 5" ([FSNAU, technical release, May 2013](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-)).
- **Late 2011.** "The combined operations of Kenyan military and Ethiopian troops working with forces allied with the Transitional Federal Government" gained ground outside Mogadishu, including Beledweyne on 31 December 2011 ([S/2012/74, para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/74&l=en&t=pdf)). The Kenyan contingent later joined AMISOM ([S/2012/643, para. 29](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf)).

## 2012: the towns change hands

- **May 2012.** Government and AU forces took Afgooye and [Afmadow](/en/regions/lower-juba/), after earlier gains in Bay, Bakool and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) ([S/2012/643, para. 25](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Setbacks.** When allied forces left Ceel Buur in June 2012, al-Shabaab regained southern [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) (same source, para. 26).
- **AMISOM's size.** By August 2012 AMISOM was close to its authorised strength of 17,731 uniformed personnel (same source, para. 29).
- **Marka and Kismayo.** Their capture by AMISOM and Somali forces in late 2012 were "the most significant territorial gains" of the period ([S/2013/69, para. 12](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf)). See [the battles for Kismayo, 2006–2012](/en/history/battles-for-kismayo-2006-2012/).
- **A new government.** The transition ended in August and September 2012. See [the 2012 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/).

## 2013–2021: an insurgency in the countryside

- **Bombings.** Al-Shabaab kept up attacks in the capital. The deadliest was the truck bomb at Zoobe junction on 14 October 2017, which killed at least 512 people. See [the Mogadishu bombings, 2017–2022](/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/).
- **Explosives.** The UN panel noted that improvised explosive device casualties had peaked in 2017, at 2,294 ([S/2023/724, note 14](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Islamic State.** A faction loyal to the Islamic State formed in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). See [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/).
- **The AU mission.** AMISOM became [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) on 1 April 2022, with a plan to hand security to Somali forces.

## 2022 to now: the offensive and after

- **August 2022.** The federal government, the army and clan fighters known as Macawisley opened the largest campaign against al-Shabaab in a decade, in Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle. See [the offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022–2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) and [Macawisley](/en/institutions/macawisley/).
- **2023.** The UN panel found that the offensive had "dented Al-Shabaab's ability to govern" in retaken areas, while the group "still controls significant areas of central and southern Somalia" ([S/2023/724, summary and para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **1 January 2025.** [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/) replaced ATMIS.
- **2025.** From February al-Shabaab retook most of the Middle Shabelle ground it had lost, including Adan Yabaal and, in July, Moqokori (see [the offensive against al-Shabaab](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/)).

For a year-by-year list of political events, see [the timeline, 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/). For foreign troops, see [foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Who suffered?

- **People of Mogadishu,** in years of street fighting, shelling and bombings: "20 to 50 fatalities per week" in late 2009 (S/2009/503) and 1,600 hospital admissions in under four months of 2010 (S/2010/447).
- **People in the famine areas,** about 258,000 dead from October 2010 to April 2012, more than half of them children under five (FSNAU).
- **Victims of bombings,** in Mogadishu and in Kampala in 2010 (S/2010/447).
- **AU and Somali soldiers,** including 17 AU soldiers killed at their headquarters on 17 September 2009 (S/2009/503).

## Sources differ

- **What to call it.** Wikipedia and other works call this period the [Somali Civil War](/en/history/somali-civil-war/) (2009–present). UN reports describe it as fighting between the government, its allies and AMISOM on one side and al-Shabaab on the other.
- **Who controls what.** Government and al-Shabaab claims of territory differ. In 2023 the UN panel noted that al-Shabaab released videos of celebrations in nine regions "purportedly under the group's control" (S/2023/724, para. 8).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2009/503, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2009/503&l=en&t=pdf); S/2010/447, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2010/447&l=en&t=pdf); S/2011/549, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf); S/2012/74, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/74&l=en&t=pdf); S/2012/643, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/643&l=en&t=pdf); S/2013/69, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/69&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, final report, S/2023/724 (2 October 2023): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf).
- FSNAU and FEWS NET, *Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010–2012* (May 2013): [PDF](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf).


---

# The 2022 Somali presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2022/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 15 May 2022 Somalia's Federal Parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud President for a second time. He beat the outgoing President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed 'Farmaajo', by 214 votes to 110 in the third round, and Farmaajo conceded. The vote came more than a year after Farmaajo's term ended in February 2021. In April 2021 the lower house extended his term by two years, fighting broke out in Mogadishu, and the extension was reversed on 1 May 2021.

## In short

On 15 May 2022, in a [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) hangar at Mogadishu's airport, the two houses of Somalia's Parliament elected [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) President. It took three rounds. The outgoing President, [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo"](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/), conceded, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud "was immediately sworn in" ([UN Security Council, S/2022/665, paras. 2–5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf)).

Al Jazeera reported that Farmaajo's "term ended in February 2021 without an election" ([Al Jazeera, 15 May 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president)). For the earlier rounds of this system, see [the 2017 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2017/) and [elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

## The crisis of 2021

From the UN Secretary-General's report of 19 May 2021 ([S/2021/485, paras. 2–10 and 20–21](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/485&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **The agreement.** The vote was to follow an electoral agreement of 17 September 2020. Three issues stayed open: the electoral bodies, the choice of the "[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)" seats, and the vote in the [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) region of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/).
- **Talks without agreement.** Summits planned for February and March 2021 did not agree. On 7 April the federal government said talks had broken down and blamed the Presidents of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Jubaland.
- **19 February 2021.** Clashes in Mogadishu between government forces and forces loyal to opposition presidential candidates led to "at least three civilian casualties".
- **12 April 2021.** The House of the People passed a Special Electoral Bill that replaced the 2020 agreement with a one-person-one-vote election "to be conducted within two years", and "extended the terms of the Parliament and the President of Somalia by the same duration". Farmaajo signed it on 13 April.
- **The opposition.** The National Salvation Forum, formed on 20 March by opposition candidates, the Presidents of Puntland and Jubaland and the Speaker of the Upper House, "strongly rejected" the law.
- **25 April 2021.** "Fighting broke out in Mogadishu between security forces loyal to the Federal Government and military personnel with ties to the opposition", after opposition-aligned forces moved into the city from Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).
- **The reversal.** On 27 April the Prime Minister, [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/), and the leaders of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and South West opposed the extension. On 1 May the House of the People rescinded the bill, and Farmaajo handed responsibility for the elections to the Prime Minister. A disengagement agreement followed on 5 May.

## Choosing the Parliament

- **Indirect voting.** Al Jazeera described the model: "state legislatures and clan delegates pick lawmakers, who then choose the president" ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president)).
- **Gedo.** Two rival sets of members had been chosen for Gedo, at Garbahaarrey and at El Wak. On 8 May 2022 the Speaker of the House of the People, Adan Mohamed Nur "Madobe", recognised the El Wak members, "allowing the presidential elections to proceed" ([S/2022/665, para. 3](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Women.** The process "failed to deliver on the 30 per cent quota". Women won 20 per cent of House of the People seats, down from 24 per cent in 2016, and 26 per cent of Upper House seats. In all, women held 67 seats, against 80 in 2016 (same source, para. 27).
- **Attacks during the voting.** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) bombed a Beledweyne restaurant on 19 February 2022 and, on 23 March 2022, attacked the Mogadishu airport area and killed the MP [Amina Mohamed Abdi](/en/people/amina-mohamed-abdi/) and dozens of others in Beledweyne ([Arab News, AFP, 24 March 2022](https://www.arabnews.com/news/more-than-30-killed-in-twin-attacks-in-somalia-2049716)). See [Al-Shabaab's attacks during the 2022 elections](/en/history/beledweyne-mogadishu-attacks-2022/).

## The vote, 15 May 2022

- **The candidates.** Six candidates withdrew shortly before voting, "which left 33 candidates, including 1 woman" ([S/2022/665, para. 4](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf)). News reports gave 36 candidates, counting before the withdrawals ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president)).
- **Security.** Six mortar rounds were fired at the airport on election day. Four landed about 900 metres from the hangar (S/2022/665, para. 18).

The round-by-round count, as reported by [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) ([Garowe Online, 15 May 2022](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-defeats-farmajo-in-somalia-s-titanic-presidential-race)):

| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hassan Sheikh Mohamud | 52 | 110 | 214 |
| Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo" | 59 | 83 | 110 |
| [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) | 65 | 68 | |
| [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) | 47 | 63 | |
| [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) | 39 | | |

The third-round count of 214 to 110 is also given by other outlets ([The Star, Kenya, 16 May 2022](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2022-05-16-ex-somali-leader-mohamud-wins-presidency-to-face-war-and-drought)).

## After the vote

- **The handover.** The UN called the election "peaceful and transparent" and "broadly welcomed by Somali stakeholders". Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took full authority on 23 May and was inaugurated on 9 June 2022 ([S/2022/665, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **15 June.** He named [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) Prime Minister (same source, para. 8).
- **A second term.** Al Jazeera wrote that he became "the first person to be elected president twice" ([Al Jazeera, 18 May 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/5/18/somalias-new-president)).

## Who suffered?

- **People of Mogadishu displaced in 2021.** The UN reported 200,000 people displaced around Mogadishu since 15 April 2021, within 250,000 displaced in Banaadir and two other areas ([S/2021/485](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/485&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Civilians in the February 2021 clashes,** with at least three casualties (S/2021/485).
- **Residents of Wadajir district.** Rockets fired on inauguration day, 9 June 2022, hit a residential area; "up to three civilians were reportedly killed" ([S/2022/665, para. 19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Sources differ

- **The number of candidates.** The UN gives 33 after six withdrew. News reports give 36.
- **The length of the delay.** Al Jazeera wrote on 18 May 2022 that the election "had been delayed for about two years". Farmaajo's term ended in February 2021 and the vote was held in May 2022.
- **The 2021 extension.** The House of the People passed it as a step toward direct elections. The opposition National Salvation Forum rejected it, and it was reversed on 1 May 2021 (S/2021/485).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2021/485 (19 May 2021): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/485&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2022/665 (1 September 2022): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf).
- Al Jazeera, "Somalia elects Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as new president", 15 May 2022: [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president).
- Garowe Online, results by round, 15 May 2022: [article](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-defeats-farmajo-in-somalia-s-titanic-presidential-race).


---

# Al-Shabaab (Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen), 2006 to now

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/al-shabaab/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Shabaab ('the Youth') is an armed Islamist movement that grew from the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006. It held most of south-central Somalia, including Mogadishu, until 2011, and still controls large rural areas. It aims to rule Somali lands under its version of sharia, rejects the federal government, is designated by the United States (since 2008) and is the subject of UN Security Council sanctions. UN experts estimate 7,000 to 12,000 fighters.

## In short

Al-Shabaab is the largest armed group fighting the Somali government. It is the subject of a UN sanctions regime, and the US government calls it the largest al-Qaeda affiliate ([UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2023/724](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf); [Congressional Research Service, *Al Shabaab*, IF10170, 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)).

This page describes the group from those records and from Human Rights Watch, which reports on abuses by all parties. It does not take sides. It records what the sources say. For the harm to families and how communities respond, see [Al-Shabaab: the harm it does and how Somalis respond](/en/society/al-shabaab/).

## Origins, 2006–2008

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) writes that al-Shabaab "evolved out of a militant wing" of the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/), which took Mogadishu in 2006 ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)).

When Ethiopia, backed by the US, removed the courts in December 2006, CRS says al-Shabaab "used historical anti-Ethiopian sentiment among Somalis to draw recruits and support", including in the diaspora (same source). Some founders had trained in Afghanistan (same source).

## What it says it wants

CRS summarises the group's stated aims ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)):

- It "rejects democracy".
- It seeks to unite the Somali-inhabited areas of Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia "in an Islamic state under its version of Sharia law".
- It calls the Somali government "an illegitimate apostate authority that is beholden to foreign powers".

It announced a formal affiliation with al-Qaeda in 2012. In 2015 some members urged a switch to the Islamic State; the leadership refused and moved against them (same source). See [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/).

## Territory

Al-Shabaab held "much of south-central Somalia, including the capital" from the late 2000s ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)). It withdrew from Mogadishu on 6 August 2011 ([Al Jazeera, 2011](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/8/6/al-shabab-rebels-withdraw-from-somali-capital)). African Union and partner forces pushed it out of other towns and ports between 2011 and 2014 (same source).

Its rural control then stayed "largely unchanged" until 2022 (same source). In 2023 its own videos showed Eid celebrations in nine regions, including at [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/), Bu'aale and Salagle in Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([UN Panel, S/2023/724, para. 8](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).

## How it governs and raises money

CRS says the group "capitalizes on grievances and distrust of the government" and "fills local governance roles, providing basic services and resolving disputes". It also "forcibly recruits fighters, including children" ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)).

UN monitors estimate its income at $50 to $100 million a year, from "an extensive taxation system covering all aspects of the Somali economy". It "extorts businesses even in government areas" (same source). The UN Panel describes extortion of businesses and taxes on livestock and farm produce ([UN Panel, S/2023/724](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Leaders

- **Ahmed Abdi Godane.** His predecessor was killed in a US strike in 2008. Godane then "consolidated power by assassinating rivals". He was killed in a US airstrike in 2014 ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)).
- **Ahmed Diriye (Abu Ubaidah).** He has led the group since 2014 (same source; [UN Panel, para. 6](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Mukhtar Robow.** The former deputy leader left the group, later ran for state office, and was held without charge from 2018 to 2022. In 2022 he became federal Minister of Religious Affairs ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)).

## Major attacks

- **14 October 2017, Mogadishu.** A truck bomb killed over 500 people. It is the deadliest single attack attributed to the group ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)).
- **Kenya.** It has killed hundreds of Kenyans. Attacks include the Westgate mall (2013), [Garissa University College](/en/institutions/garissa-university/) (2015, at least 147 killed) and the DusitD2 hotel (2019) (same source).
- **Bombings.** The UN Panel recorded over 2,000 casualties from about 462 bomb incidents in 2022 and at least 950 in the first half of 2023 ([UN Panel, para. 11](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Who fights it

- **African Union forces.** [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) from 2007, renamed [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) in 2022, with about 18,000 to 20,000 troops ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html); [Human Rights Watch, *World Report 2024*](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/somalia)).
- **The Somali government.** In August 2022 the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) launched an [offensive](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) "in coordination with local militias and a grassroots uprising", and the group "lost significant territory in central Somalia" ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)). The UN Panel could not confirm government claims of 3,000 fighters killed by March 2023 ([UN Panel, para. 5](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Outside powers.** The United States designated the group in 2008 and has carried out airstrikes. Human Rights Watch notes reports of Turkish drone strikes too ([HRW 2024](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/somalia)).

## Who suffered?

Human Rights Watch records harm to civilians by every party ([HRW, *World Report 2024*](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/somalia)):

- **By al-Shabaab.** "Targeted and indiscriminate attacks" killed hundreds of civilians in 2023. Its fighters "continued to execute individuals accused of working or spying for the government", often after unfair trials. It blockaded government-held towns, including Baidoa for 10 days in July 2023.
- **By government forces.** Executions after military trials "that violated international fair trial standards". Security forces arrested and detained children in areas newly taken from the group.
- **By the offensive.** The 2022 offensive, in which "government forces supported clan militia", led to civilian displacement.
- **Displacement.** In January to September 2023, 1.5 million people were newly displaced, 40 percent by conflict (UN figures in the same source).

## Sources differ

- **Size.** UN monitors estimate 7,000 to 12,000 fighters ([CRS 2023](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html)). ATMIS estimated 7,000 to 9,000 in 2022 ([UN Panel, note 2](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Income.** CRS, citing earlier UN reports, gives $50 to $100 million a year. A later UN panel estimate, cited on [our society page](/en/society/al-shabaab/), is over $150 million for 2023.
- **Losses in the 2022–2023 offensive.** The Somali government's figures and the UN Panel's findings differ, as noted above.
- **Names.** The group calls itself Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen. Governments and media also use "al-Shabab" or "Shabaab".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, final report, S/2023/724, 2 October 2023: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf).
- Congressional Research Service, *Al Shabaab*, IF10170, updated 14 February 2023: [text](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10170.html).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 2024*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/somalia).


---

# The Somali Youth League (SYL), 1943–1969

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-youth-league/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Youth League (SYL) was the party that led Somalia to independence. Thirteen young men founded it in Mogadishu on 15 May 1943 as the Somali Youth Club; it became the SYL on 1 April 1947, won the first national elections of 1956, 1959 and 1964, and governed until political parties were banned in October 1969.

## In short

The Somali Youth League was the first modern Somali political party and the one that carried the south to independence in 1960. Its aims were to unite all Somalis, end clan division, spread modern education and write the Somali language ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)). Its members swore an oath not to name their clan.

## How did it begin?

On 15 May 1943, thirteen young Somalis met in a one-room office on Via Cardinale Massaia in Mogadishu and founded the Somali Youth Club ([Mohamed Trunji, Hiiraan Online, 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)). Trunji is the author of *Somalia: The Untold History, 1941–1969*.

Britain had ruled the former Italian colony since 1941, under a [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/). The Library of Congress says British officials encouraged Somalis to organise, and let educated police and civil servants join the club ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).

One of the last surviving founders, Ali Hassan "Verdura", said in a 2002 interview that the League "was made up of people with diverse backgrounds" ([Goobjoog News, 2016](https://en.goobjoog.com/syl-day-we-were-united-by-a-common-bond-for-the-good-of-somalia-syl-co-founder/)). The Library of Congress records that the founders came from four of Somalia's six major clan-families and refused to say which ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).

## Who were the founders?

Lists of the founders differ, and Somalis still debate who gave the first push. The Somali National News Agency's list includes Abdulkadir [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Sakhawudin, [Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke](/en/people/yasin-haji-osman-sharmarke/), Mohamed Hersi Nur "Sayidin", Haji Mohamed Hussein, Dheere Haji Dheere, Dahir Haji Osman "Dhegaweyne", Ali Hassan Maslah, Mohamed Ali Nur, [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Hilowle and Mohamed Osman Barbe, among others ([SONNA, 2021](https://sonna.so/en/article/marking-78th-anniversary-of-somali-youth-league-day)).

Trunji records that Abdulkadir Sheikh Sakhawudin was elected the club's first president, with Dahir Haji Osman as secretary ([Trunji 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)). Some credit Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke with the idea; others credit Sakhawudin and Haji Mohamed Hussein.

## What did it stand for?

The club's first constitution had two aims, Trunji writes: to unite all Somalis, especially the young, by ending the prejudices that set communities against each other; and to educate the young through schools and cultural circles ([Trunji 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)).

On 1 April 1947 the club became the Somali Youth League, with a new constitution. The official newspaper, *The Somalia Courier*, wrote at the time: "childhood was over and manhood was reached" (quoted in [Trunji 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)). The League added two aims: to remove anything harmful to Somali interests, and to make Somali the national language, written in the Osmaniya script created by [Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/).

The Library of Congress lists the League's goals as: uniting all Somali territories, including Kenya's Northern Frontier District and the Ogaden; modern education for everyone; a standard written Somali; and opposing a return to Italian rule ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).

## The members' oath

Any Somali over 15 could join, and from the party congress of 1950 women joined as full paying members ([Trunji 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)). Each new member swore:

> "I swear by Almighty God that I will not take action against any Somali. In times of trouble, I promise to help the Somali. I will become the brother of all other members. I will not reveal the name of my tribe."

The oath also promised not to discriminate in marriage against Somali occupational minority communities, whom it named.

## How fast did it grow?

The Library of Congress says the club had 25,000 card-carrying members by 1946 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)). It opened offices in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/), the Ogaden and Kenya's Northern Frontier District.

A United States intelligence report of September 1948 estimated its membership across the Horn at up to 75,000, with 10,000 in Mogadishu ([CIA information report, 7 September 1948](https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp82-00457r001800820003-3)). A second report that month found League branches in Hargeisa, Berbera and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([CIA information report, 7 September 1948](https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp82-00457r001800820004-2)).

Colonial governments feared it. Kenya's governor declared the League's Garissa branch unlawful on 4 June 1948, and its leaders were exiled to Turkana until 1960 ([Trunji 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)).

## January 1948: the Four Power Commission

After the Second World War, Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States sent a commission to ask Somalis what future they wanted. It reached Mogadishu in January 1948 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).

The League held a mass rally to show the strength of the demand for independence. A counter-demonstration for Italy's return was held at the same time. In the violence that followed, the Library of Congress records 51 Italians and 24 Somalis killed (same source).

Among the Somalis who died was [Xaawo Taako](/en/people/hawo-tako/) (Hawo Tako), a League member who is remembered as a heroine of independence. A monument to her stands beside the National Theatre in Mogadishu ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-like-this-day-in-1948-somalia-popular-freedom-fighter-hawa-tako-killed); [Somali Architecture](https://somaliarchitecture.com/project/xaawo-taako)).

The League asked the commission for one thing: to reunite all Somalis under a ten-year international trusteeship leading to independence. The Library of Congress says the commission recommended a plan close to the League's ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm)).

## Why did Italy come back?

The four powers could not agree. In the British House of Commons on 29 November 1948, a minister said that "a United Somalia would be the best solution", but that the matter was now for the UN ([Hansard, 29 November 1948](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1948/nov/29/british-and-italian-somaliland)).

On 21 November 1949 the UN General Assembly placed the south under Italian trusteeship for ten years, with independence fixed for 1960 ([UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV)](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/289(IV))). The League had opposed Italy's return, but it accepted the fixed date and worked toward it.

## The road to 1960

- **1950 to 1953.** The Italian trusteeship administration jailed some League members and dismissed others from the civil service. The League answered with protests, civil disobedience and petitions to the UN Advisory Council ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).
- **1956.** In the first territory-wide elections, the League won 43 of the 60 Somali seats in the new Legislative Assembly. Its leader there, Abdullahi Iise, became the first Somali prime minister (same source).
- **1958.** Women gained the vote in the south, and the League won the municipal elections (same source).
- **1959.** Two other parties boycotted the pre-independence election. The League won 61 seats unopposed and 20 contested seats, and Abdullahi Iise formed the new government (same source).
- **1 July 1960.** The south and the north united as the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). [Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), the League's parliamentary leader, became its first president ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).

## Divisions inside the League, 1956–1960

The League was not of one mind. The Library of Congress records that in the years before independence, disputes "took the form of intraparty squabbling within the dominant SYL rather than interparty competition" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

- **Rival wings.** The same source records that [Daarood](/en/society/darod/) and Hawiye members formed factions. Each accused the other: one of being under Italian influence, the other of clan favouritism.
- **Haaji Mahammad Husseen.** He had led the party in its early years and was elected League president again in July 1957. He wanted looser ties with the West and closer ties with the Arab world. Abdullahi Iise and Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan expelled him and his supporters, and he founded the Greater Somali League (same source).
- **The 1959 boycott.** The HDM and the Greater Somali League accused the League of tampering with the election process and boycotted the 1959 vote (same source).

## After independence

The League stayed the largest party. It won 74% of seats in the municipal elections of November 1963, and 69 of 123 seats in the national election of March 1964 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/18.htm)).

In the March 1969 election, 64 parties stood, but only the League stood in every district. By the end of May 1969 its members in the assembly had grown from 73 to 109, as members of smaller parties joined it ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)).

On 21 October 1969 the army took power. The new [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) banned all political parties, the League among them ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **Where it was founded.** Most sources, including the founders' own accounts, say Mogadishu. The English Wikipedia article on the League also mentions Harar ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Youth_League)). Calankii follows Mogadishu, as the founders did ([Goobjoog News, 2016](https://en.goobjoog.com/syl-day-we-were-united-by-a-common-bond-for-the-good-of-somalia-syl-co-founder/)).
- **When it became the SYL.** *The Somalia Courier* of the time gives 1 April 1947 (quoted in [Trunji 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/May/142148/may_15_1943_a_date_to_be_remembered.aspx)); some accounts give 1948.
- **The dead of January 1948.** The Library of Congress gives 51 Italians and 24 Somalis. Other accounts give lower Somali figures.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV), 21 November 1949: [text](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/289(IV)).
- UK House of Commons debate on British and [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/), 29 November 1948: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1948/nov/29/british-and-italian-somaliland).
- US intelligence reports on Somali political organisations, September 1948: [Italian Somaliland](https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp82-00457r001800820003-3), [British Somaliland](https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp82-00457r001800820004-2), and [the League, July 1950](https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp82-00457r005200110008-8).


---

# The offensive against al-Shabaab and the Macawisley, 2022–2025

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In August 2022 the federal government, clan fighters known as Macawisley and the army opened the largest campaign against al-Shabaab in a decade, starting in Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle. ACLED counted more than 215 places retaken in the first phase. A second phase was postponed in 2023, and from February 2025 al-Shabaab took back most of the Middle Shabelle ground it had lost, including Adan Yabaal and, in July, Moqokori.

## In short

This page tells the story of one campaign: the war the federal government declared on [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) in 2022, fought by the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), clan fighters and foreign partners, and al-Shabaab's counter-offensive of 2025. It records the acts of each force as the sources describe them.

## Who the Macawisley are

*Macawisley* (also written Ma'awisley or Macwiisley) is a name for local clan fighters. It refers to the *macawis*, the sarong many of them wear, as opposed to soldiers' uniforms. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) describes those in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) as "a grassroots militia" of the Hawadle clan, fighting al-Shabaab in the countryside around Beledweyne ([Garowe Online, 21 May 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hawadle-clan-militias-left-to-fight-al-shabaab-alone-in-somalia-s-hiiraan-region)). Fighters from other clans in Hiiraan, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), including the Abgaal and [Gaalje'el](/en/society/gaaljecel/), joined later phases.

## Phase one, August 2022–2023

Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, writing in West Point's *CTC Sentinel*, record that the offensive began in August 2022. Federal forces fought alongside the Macawisley and had US and Turkish drone support. An ACLED report of April 2023 counted more than 215 places retaken in the first phase, mostly in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) states ([CTC Sentinel, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)).

Among the towns taken was Adan Yabaal in Middle Shabelle, a former al-Shabaab hub, in December 2022 (same source). In January 2023 the government said it would train and equip 24,000 more troops by 2024, mainly with money from the UAE and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) ([Paul D. Williams, *CTC Sentinel*, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## The stall, 2023

The second phase, Operation Black Lion, was to move south against al-Shabaab's strongholds in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and South West. It was postponed by June 2023. In August 2023 al-Shabaab attacked army positions at Cowsweyne in Galgaduud, causing heavy losses, and the southern Galmudug front collapsed ([CTC Sentinel, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)). Williams reported that more than 1,300 Turkish-trained [Gorgor](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) troops deserted during the offensive and several hundred were killed ([CTC Sentinel, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## Al-Shabaab's return, 2025

Al-Shabaab began its counter-offensive in February 2025, just before Ramadan, mainly in Middle Shabelle. It retook Adan Yabaal on about 16 April 2025, and by mid-May had retaken most of the Middle Shabelle ground lost since 2022. Its fighters fired mortars at the army base in [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), about 30 km from Mogadishu. On 18 March 2025 a bomb near Mogadishu targeted President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was unhurt ([CTC Sentinel, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)). See [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) and [The bomb attack on the president's convoy in Mogadishu, 18 March 2025](/en/history/attack-on-president-convoy-mogadishu-2025/).

In Hiiraan, Garowe Online reported in May 2025 that the Hawadle fighters were "left to fight al-Shabaab alone" as federal support fell, and local officials said "the government's support has diminished significantly" ([Garowe Online, 21 May 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hawadle-clan-militias-left-to-fight-al-shabaab-alone-in-somalia-s-hiiraan-region)). Al-Shabaab took Moqokori on 7 July 2025 after months of fighting ([Garowe Online, How al-Shabaab captured Moqokori](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-how-al-shabaab-captured-moqokori-town-from-govt-forces)).

## Air strikes

US air strikes rose sharply in 2025: Stanford's Mapping Militants project counted about 30 between January and May 2025, against 51 in all of 2021–2024 ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). Turkey has flown armed drones in support of the army since late 2022 ([CTC Sentinel, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## Who suffered?

The sources record harm to civilians in the contested districts. The UN reported that al-Shabaab recruited about 900 children and abducted 663 in 2022 ([CTC Sentinel, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)). For the human side, see [Al-Shabaab: the harm it does and how Somalis respond](/en/society/al-shabaab/).

## Sources differ

- **How much ground changed hands.** Government, al-Shabaab and independent counts differ; ACLED's are the most often cited.
- **Casualties.** The government and al-Shabaab each publish their own figures, and they differ.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, "Somalia at a crossroads", *CTC Sentinel* 18:5 (2025): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/).
- Paul D. Williams, "The Somali National Army versus al-Shabaab: A net assessment", *CTC Sentinel* 17:4 (2024): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/).


---

# The 2024 Somaliland presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 13 November 2024 Somaliland held a joint presidential and party election. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi 'Irro' of Waddani won the presidency with 407,908 votes (63.92 percent), against 225,519 (34.81 percent) for the sitting President, Muse Bihi Abdi of Kulmiye. Bihi conceded and Irro took office in December 2024. The vote came two years late: in October 2022 the House of Elders extended Bihi's term by two years, after protests in August 2022 in which at least five people were killed.

## In short

On 13 November 2024 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) voted in two elections at once: for President, and for the three parties allowed to stand in national elections for the next ten years. [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro"](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) of Waddani won the presidency with 63.92 percent. The sitting President, [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) of Kulmiye, had 34.81 percent ([Somaliland National Electoral Commission, interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)).

A study by the University of Tartu's De Facto States Research Unit wrote that Bihi "quickly and graciously conceded defeat", and that Irro would take office on 13 December 2024 ([Scott Pegg, University of Tartu, 9 December 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).

For how Somaliland's elections work, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/). For the previous vote, see [the 2017 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2017/).

## The crisis of 2022

- **The dispute.** Bihi's term was due to end in 2022. The government and the opposition disagreed over whether the party election or the presidential election should come first ([Pegg, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).
- **11 August 2022.** Protests took place in several towns. The UN reported that "5 male civilians were killed and 86 were injured", and that "332 persons were arrested, almost all of whom have been released" ([UN Security Council, S/2022/665, para. 55](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf)). Pegg names Hargeisa, [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/).
- **The postponement.** The electoral commission said the date of 13 November 2022 "was not viable due to time, technical and financial constraints" and moved the vote to July 2023 ([The New Arab, 1 October 2022](https://www.newarab.com/news/lawmakers-breakaway-somaliland-extend-presidents-term)).
- **1 October 2022.** The House of Elders ([Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)) voted 72 to 1, with one abstention, to extend the President's term by two years. The member who voted against, Omar Nur, told the Associated Press: "I don't want to see our country plunging into chaos" (same source).
- **The opposition.** At a press conference in Hargeisa, Irro called the extension unconstitutional and said the opposition "would no longer recognize Bihi as President when his term ends" on 13 November 2022 ([Somali Guardian, 2 October 2022](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somaliland-opposition-rejects-move-to-extend-presidents-term-by-two-years/)).

For the conflict in Las Anod from 2023, see [the North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## The vote, 13 November 2024

From Pegg's study, citing the electoral commission ([University of Tartu](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)):

- **Voters.** 1,227,048 people were registered, up from 1,065,847 in 2021.
- **Where there was no vote.** Polls were not held in four districts: Buhodle in Togdheer, and Hudun, Las Anod and Taleh in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/). Polling stations fell from 2,709 in 2021 to 2,637.
- **Turnout.** About 55 percent in the presidential vote and about 53 percent in the party vote.

The presidential result as published by the commission ([NEC](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)):

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---:|---:|
| Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" | Waddani | 407,908 | 63.92% |
| Muse Bihi Abdi | Kulmiye | 225,519 | 34.81% |
| Faisal Ali Warabe | UCID | 4,699 | 0.74% |

The commission gave 638,126 valid votes and 9,528 invalid. VOA reported that the result was announced on Tuesday, 19 November 2024 ([VOA, 19 November 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/opposition-leader-wins-somaliland-presidential-contest/7868957.html)).

## The party election

Ten parties and associations stood. Waddani (216,284 votes), Kaah (131,507) and Kulmiye (108,100) won national party status for ten years. Horseed (87,218), Hilaac (59,569), Barwaaqo (16,852), [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) (10,105), Talowadaag (6,080), Rejo (2,083) and Shacabka (2,014) did not ([NEC](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)). UCID lost its place as a national party. For the table, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

## What observers said

- **The international mission.** Its preliminary statement said the vote took place in a "mostly calm and peaceful environment where registered voters were able to exercise their right to vote during the day". It noted procedural and administrative inconsistencies and recommended more voter training and more frequent updates of the register ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/opposition-leader-wins-somaliland-presidential-contest/7868957.html)). Pegg adds that it flagged likely underage voters, poor access for disabled voters and weak secrecy of the vote.
- **The Brenthurst Foundation.** Its mission called the election "free, fair and credible" (as quoted by Pegg).

## Who suffered?

- **Protesters in August 2022:** five men killed, 86 injured and 332 arrested, by the UN's count (S/2022/665).
- **People in four districts of Sool and Togdheer,** where no polls were held (Pegg, 2024).

## Sources differ

- **The 2022 extension.** The House of Elders voted it by 72 to 1. Waddani rejected it and said it would not recognise Bihi after November 2022.
- **The commission's figures.** The NEC's interim page gives a presidential turnout of 674,863, while its valid and invalid votes add up to 647,654. Its party totals give 630,812 valid votes, while the party votes listed add up to 639,812. The shares it gives for the three candidates add up to 99.47 percent.
- **Turnout.** Pegg gives about 55 percent for the presidential vote. The NEC gives 53 percent for the party vote.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- [Somaliland National Electoral Commission](/en/government/somaliland-national-electoral-commission/), interim results of the 13 November election: [page](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election).
- Scott Pegg, "The system worked: Somaliland's 2024 presidential and political party elections", University of Tartu, 9 December 2024: [article](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2022/665 (1 September 2022): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/665&l=en&t=pdf).
- VOA, "Opposition leader wins Somaliland presidential contest", 19 November 2024: [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/opposition-leader-wins-somaliland-presidential-contest/7868957.html).
- The New Arab, report on the House of Elders' vote to extend the President's term, 1 October 2022: [article](https://www.newarab.com/news/lawmakers-breakaway-somaliland-extend-presidents-term).


---

# How Somali came to be written: from Osmanya to the 1972 Latin alphabet

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali had no single official script until 21 October 1972, when the government adopted a Latin alphabet built by the linguist Shire Jama Ahmed. A mass literacy campaign followed in 1973 to 1975, when secondary students were sent to teach reading across the countryside.

## Before 1972: many scripts, none official

For centuries, Somali scholars wrote Somali in Arabic letters, mostly for religious verse. In the early 1920s [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/), of the Hobyo ruling family, created his own alphabet, Osmanya ([Osmanya script, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanya_script)). It was used for letters and bookkeeping. Italian authorities saw it as a sign of nationalism. Osmanya was added to the Unicode standard in 2003, version 4.0 ([Unicode Osmanya chart](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10480.pdf)).

Two other home-grown scripts followed. In 1933 in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), the Qur'an teacher [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdurahman [Sheikh Nuur](/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/) created the Borama (Gadabuursi) script, used mainly for religious poems ([Gadabuursi Somali Script, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi_Somali_Script)). The Kaddare script followed in 1952 ([Osmanya script, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanya_script)). A few months after independence, a Somali Language Committee was set up to find the best way to write Somali. It considered nine scripts, Arabic, Latin and several Somali-made ones. Its report of 1962 favoured Latin, but disagreement was so strong that no government acted on it ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)). Until 1972, Italian and English were the languages of government and schools, and some key posts were held by two officials, one for each language (same source).

## 21 October 1972: the Latin alphabet

The government chose a Latin alphabet devised by [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/) ([Shire Jama Ahmed, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)). It drops p, v and z. It uses c for the Arabic ʿayn sound, x for the deep h, and q for the deep k. It adds the pairs dh, kh and sh. Long vowels are written double, as in *Soomaali*. The decision was announced on 21 October 1972, the third anniversary of the 1969 coup, for use across Somalia from 1 January 1973 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm); [Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/key-milestones-in-the-history-of-somali-language)). Every government official was given three months, later six, to learn the new script. Somali textbooks reached primary schools in 1973 and secondary schools and higher education by 1975 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)).

## The literacy campaign: "bar ama baro"

The Library of Congress puts literacy at only about 5 percent in 1972. The first round of the campaign ran in three-month sessions in towns and settled areas, taught by up to 8,000 teachers, mostly civil servants and soldiers. It reportedly taught several hundred thousand people to read and write ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)).

The rural campaign began in August 1974, with more than 20,000 teachers, half of them secondary students whose school year was suspended (same source). From 1974, schools closed. Secondary students went out to villages and nomadic camps to teach ([Hoben, "Literacy Campaigns in Ethiopia and Somalia", Northeast African Studies, 1988](https://www.jstor.org/stable/43661187)). The slogan was *bar ama baro*: "teach or learn".

Hassan M. Abukar was a 14-year-old teacher posted to [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), 362 km from Mogadishu. He was given chalk, a blackboard case, a blanket and a canteen. "What can a 14-year-old teach?" he imagined his mother asking ([Abukar, "Ololihii (The Campaign)", WardheerNews, 2015](https://wardheernews.com/ololihii-the-campaign/)).

The Ministry of Education received a UNESCO literacy prize in 1975 ([Literacy in Somalia, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_Somalia)). Claims of the literacy rate afterwards range widely, from about 55 to 80 percent ([Literacy in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_Somalia)). The campaign ran into the severe drought of 1974 to 1975, and a UN estimate put literacy at 24 percent in 1990 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)).

## Literacy today

Wikipedia, citing USAID, gives adult literacy of about 41 percent in 2022: 54 percent for men and 22 percent for women ([Literacy in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_Somalia)). The war after 1991 closed most public schools for years.

## Writing Somali now

The Hargeisa International Book Fair, founded by [Jama Musse Jama](/en/people/jama-musse-jama/) in 2008, set out to grow reading and writing in Somali. One report counted more than a hundred new Somali-language books in a single year ([NPR, 2016](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/08/16/490174033/a-land-in-limbo-hopes-that-books-will-keep-it-going)). Somali is now typed on every phone and read on every news site.


---

# The UN trusteeship, 1950–1960: ten years to independence

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 1 April 1950 to 1 July 1960 the south of Somalia was a UN trust territory run by Italy. The UN General Assembly approved the trusteeship agreement on 2 December 1950. It declared that sovereignty 'is vested in its people' and fixed independence for the end of ten years. Somalis elected their first assembly in 1956, formed their first government under Abdullahi Iise, and the UN brought independence forward to 1 July 1960.

## In short

For ten years the south of Somalia was held in trust. The United Nations placed it under Italian administration, with one condition written into international law: at the end of ten years it would be independent.

That fixed date set the south apart from almost every other colony in Africa. The Somalis used the decade to build their own parties, councils, schools and government.

## How did it begin?

After the Second World War the four great powers could not agree on the future of Italy's old colony (see [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) for the 1948 [Four Power Commission](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/)). The question passed to the UN.

On 21 November 1949 the General Assembly decided the territory "shall be an independent and sovereign State". Its independence would come at the end of ten years, under UN trusteeship with Italy as administrator ([UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV)](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/289(IV))). Italy took over the administration on 1 April 1950 ([UN document A/1550, 25 November 1950, para. 7](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/862628/files/A_1550-EN.pdf)).

## What did the agreement say?

The Trusteeship Council approved the agreement on 27 January 1950. The General Assembly approved it on 2 December 1950, by 44 votes to 6 ([*Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950*, vol. V, editorial note](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950v05/d907)). Its text, as drafted by the Trusteeship Council, survives in the UN record ([UN document T/449, 1950](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3827689/files/T_449-EN.pdf)).

- **A fixed end.** Article 23: the agreement "shall cease to be in force ten years after" its approval, "at the conclusion of which the Territory shall become an independent sovereign State".
- **A plan to hand over.** Article 24: Italy had to give the UN a plan for transferring "all the functions of government" at least 18 months before the end.
- **Duties.** Article 3 bound Italy to build "free political institutions", give Somalis a "progressively increasing participation" in government, and "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands".
- **A watchdog.** An Advisory Council of Colombia, Egypt and the Philippines sat in Mogadishu to advise and report (Article 2).

## The Declaration of Constitutional Principles

Attached to the agreement, and part of it, was a short bill of rights. Its first article reads ([T/449, Declaration, art. 1](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3827689/files/T_449-EN.pdf)):

> "The sovereignty of the Territory is vested in its people and shall be exercised on their behalf… by the Administering Authority."

Article 8 promised "full equality before the law without distinction as to race, sex, language, political opinion or religion". Article 7 required courts to apply "Islamic law and local customary law" where fitting, and to bring Somalis step by step into the judiciary (same source).

## The SYL at the United Nations

In September 1950 the Somali Youth League asked to speak to the UN's Fourth Committee about the draft agreement. The committee voted by 20 votes to 11 to let it take part ([A/1550, paras. 3–4](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/862628/files/A_1550-EN.pdf)).

The Conferenza della Somalia, a group of parties that had favoured Italy's return, was also heard (same source, para. 5). Both Somali voices were in the room when the agreement was settled.

## The hard years, 1950–1953

The start was rough. The Library of Congress records that the Italian administration jailed some SYL members and dismissed others from the civil service ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)). The League answered with protests, civil disobedience and appeals to the UN Advisory Council.

The council stepped in to mediate. After about three years, new development plans "provided a channel for the energies of Somali nationalists" (same source).

## Building a state, 1950–1960

The Library of Congress lists what was built in the decade ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)):

- **The Territorial Council, 1950.** Thirty-five members advised on every law, and came to be led by the parties. It acted "as a nascent parliament".
- **The Mogadishu municipal council, 1950.** Forty-eight members ran planning and services, and budgets from 1956.
- **Schools.** Enrolment doubled between 1952 and 1957. By 1957 about 2,000 Somalis were in secondary, technical or university study, some on scholarships in China, Egypt and Italy.
- **Trade.** Exports trebled between 1954 and 1960.

## The first Somali government, 1956

In 1956 the south held its first territory-wide elections, for a 70-seat Legislative Assembly. The SYL won 43 of the 60 Somali seats and the HDM party won 13 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

Abdullahi Iise became the first prime minister, leading five ministers, all Somali. The Library of Congress calls the four years that followed "the most stable in modern Somali politics" (same source). Women gained the vote in 1958, and Somalis took over posts from district commissioner to provincial governor.

## The date brought forward

The agreement fixed independence for 2 December 1960. On 5 December 1959, with Italy's agreement, the General Assembly advanced it to 1 July 1960 ([UN General Assembly resolution 1418 (XIV)](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/206573); [HC Deb 7 December 1959](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1959/dec/07/somalia-independence)).

The north became independent on 26 June 1960. On 1 July 1960 the two joined as the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/), under the [1960 Constitution](/en/history/1960-constitution/).

## Sources differ

- **The start date.** Some accounts give 1950, others 2 December 1950. Italy began administering on 1 April 1950, before the General Assembly approved the agreement in December.
- **Who wanted federalism.** The Library of Congress says the HDM wanted a federal state and the SYL a unitary one ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)). The 1960 Constitution chose a unitary state.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV), 21 November 1949: [text](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/289(IV)).
- Draft Trusteeship Agreement and Declaration of Constitutional Principles, UN document T/449, 1950: [PDF](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3827689/files/T_449-EN.pdf).
- Report of the Fourth Committee on the Trusteeship Agreement, UN document A/1550, 25 November 1950: [PDF](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/862628/files/A_1550-EN.pdf).
- UN General Assembly resolution 1418 (XIV), 5 December 1959: [record](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/206573).


---

# US air strikes in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The United States has carried out air strikes in Somalia since January 2007, mainly against al-Shabaab and later the Islamic State in Somalia. Strikes rose sharply after 30 March 2017, when southern Somalia was declared an area of active hostilities: the CFR counts more than 275 under the first Trump administration against about 60 in the Obama years. Amnesty International documented 14 civilian deaths in five strikes in 2017–18; AFRICOM first denied any, then acknowledged civilian deaths in strikes of April 2018 and February 2019.

## In short

US forces have struck targets in Somalia for nearly two decades, under the [US Africa Command](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) (AFRICOM) since its creation. This page records what the US government, rights groups and researchers say about the strikes, without taking sides. The wider picture of foreign forces is in [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Early strikes and leaders killed

On 8 January 2007 a US gunship attack reportedly killed eight fighters linked to [Aden Hashi Ayro](/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/), and on 1 May 2008 a US strike on his house in Dhusamareb killed him and others ([Wikipedia, Aden Hashi Farah Ayro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Hashi_Farah_Ayro)). On 1 September 2014 a US strike near Sablale in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) killed al-Shabaab's emir [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/) ([Christopher Anzalone, *CTC Sentinel*, September 2014](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)).

## The rise after 2017

On 30 March 2017 President Trump signed an order declaring southern Somalia an "area of active hostilities". Amnesty International recorded 34 strikes in the last nine months of 2017, more than in 2012–2016 combined, 47 in 2018 and 24 in the first two months of 2019; a retired US brigadier general told Amnesty the change widened who could be targeted ([Amnesty International, 20 March 2019](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/03/usa-somalia-shroud-of-secrecy-around-civilian-deaths-masks-possible-war-crimes/)). The Council on Foreign Relations counts more than 275 reported strikes under that administration, against 60 over the eight Obama years; President Biden limited strikes on taking office, then in mid-2022 sent several hundred troops back and approved targeting about a dozen al-Shabaab leaders ([Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Stanford's Mapping Militants project counted about 30 strikes from January to May 2025 alone (see [the offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022–2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/)). US strikes have also targeted the [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/), including one south-east of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) on 31 May 2024 (see [Abdulqadir Mumin](/en/people/abdulqadir-mumin/)).

## Amnesty International's findings, 2019

In *The Hidden US War in Somalia*, published on 20 March 2019, Amnesty examined five strikes in Lower Shabelle and found that they killed 14 civilians and injured 8, based on more than 150 interviews, satellite images and munition fragments. They included a strike near Darusalaam on 12 November 2017 that killed three farmers, and an explosion at Illimey on 6 December 2017 that killed five civilians, two of them children. Amnesty said the strikes appeared to violate international humanitarian law and that some could amount to war crimes (Amnesty International).

AFRICOM rejected the findings. It said its assessments "found that no AFRICOM airstrike resulted in any civilian casualty or injury", denied carrying out the Illimey attack, said those killed at Farah Waeys were al-Shabaab members, and said al-Shabaab had an interest in making false claims of civilian deaths (Amnesty International; [Amnesty International, report page](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr52/9952/2019/en/)).

## AFRICOM's admissions

On 5 April 2019 AFRICOM said a review had found that a strike near [El Buur](/en/regions/galgaduud/) on 1 April 2018 killed two civilians as well as four fighters; an internal finding of April 2018 "was not properly reported" to headquarters, and Congress had been told of zero civilian casualties. Its commander, General Thomas Waldhauser, said: "Credibility, transparency, and accountability are fundamental to military operations" ([The Defense Post, 5 April 2019](https://thedefensepost.com/2019/04/05/us-africom-admits-somalia-civilian-casualties-airstrike/)). In April 2020 AFRICOM's first quarterly civilian-casualty report acknowledged that a February 2019 strike near Kunyo Barrow killed two civilians and injured three; General Stephen Townsend said: "We are deeply sorry this occurred." Amnesty called the reports "a welcome step towards transparency" ([Al Jazeera, 27 April 2020](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/4/27/us-admits-killing-civilians-during-air-attacks-in-somalia)).

## Sources differ

- **Civilian deaths.** Amnesty and local witnesses report more than AFRICOM has acknowledged; AFRICOM has said al-Shabaab has an interest in making false claims of civilian deaths.
- **Strike counts.** Totals differ between AFRICOM releases, the CFR, Amnesty and research projects, as not all strikes are announced.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Amnesty International, *The Hidden US War in Somalia* (2019): [report](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr52/9952/2019/en/).
- Council on Foreign Relations, *[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)* backgrounder: [page](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab).


---

# The deadliest bombings in Mogadishu: 2017, 2019 and 2022 (Qaraxyadii Muqdisho)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Three truck and car bombings in Mogadishu killed more people than any other attacks in Somalia's recent history. On 14 October 2017 a truck bomb at a busy junction killed at least 512 people, later counted as 587. On 28 December 2019 a truck bomb at the Ex-Control Afgoye checkpoint killed at least 81, many of them students; al-Shabaab claimed it. On 29 October 2022 two car bombs near the education ministry at Zoobe junction killed at least 100, later counted as 121; al-Shabaab claimed them.

## In short

This page brings together the three bombings in Mogadishu with the highest death tolls since the government returned to the city. It records what was reported, the figures as they changed, and who claimed responsibility. The wider conflict is described in [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and [The offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/). Earlier attacks are covered in [Major attacks in Mogadishu, 2009 to 2013](/en/history/mogadishu-attacks-2009-2013/).

## 14 October 2017

A truck bomb exploded at a crowded junction near the Safari Hotel in Hodan district; a fuel tanker parked nearby fed the fire ([Wikipedia, 14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_October_2017_Mogadishu_bombings), citing *The Guardian*, 16 October 2017).

- **Deaths.** The government gave 358 dead and 228 injured on 20 October ([Al Jazeera, 20 October 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/20/mogadishu-bombing-death-toll-rises-to-358/)). Al Jazeera later reported 512 dead; Wikipedia gives at least 587, as of March 2018 (Wikipedia, citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), 5 March 2018).
- **Responsibility.** No group claimed it. Officials attributed it to an al-Shabaab cell. *The Economist* reported that the truck passed two checkpoints without its cargo being searched (Wikipedia).
- **Aftermath.** President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) declared three days of mourning and gave blood, and thousands marched in Mogadishu against the attack. In February 2018 a military court sentenced two men to death; one, Hassan Aden Isak, was executed on 14 October 2018 (Wikipedia, citing Bloomberg and AP). Al Jazeera reported in January 2018 that more than 1,500 children had been orphaned ([Al Jazeera, 31 January 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/video/2018/1/31/somalia-more-than-1500-children-orphaned-after-twin-blasts)).

## 28 December 2019

A truck bomb exploded during the rush hour at the Ex-Control [Afgoye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) checkpoint on the western edge of the city. The toll was first given as 78, then at least 81 ([Al Jazeera, 31 December 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/31/al-shabab-claims-deadly-attack-in-somalias-mogadishu)). Among the dead were at least 15 students of [Benadir University](/en/institutions/main-universities/), whose minibus was destroyed, and two Turkish engineers building a road from the checkpoint; Wikipedia later gives at least 85 dead and more than 140 injured, some flown to Turkey and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) for treatment (Wikipedia, December 2019 Mogadishu bombing).

- **Responsibility.** Al-Shabaab claimed it on 30 December, saying it had targeted a convoy of Turkish and Somali forces (Al Jazeera, 31 December 2019).
- **Response.** Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) set up a national committee for the injured and bereaved. Somali and US forces carried out air strikes in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) afterwards (Wikipedia, citing Reuters and VOA). UN Secretary-General António Guterres called it a "horrendous crime" ([Al Jazeera, 29 December 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/29/horrendous-crime-un-chief-condemns-deadly-mogadishu-attack)).

## The Hayat Hotel, August 2022

Al-Shabaab fighters stormed the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on the evening of Friday 19 August 2022, and security forces ended the siege on the Saturday night, after about 30 hours. The health ministry said 21 people were killed and 117 wounded, and the authorities said more than 100 people, including women and children, were rescued. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) called al-Shabaab "children of hell" and promised accountability for officials who had not done their duty ([Al Jazeera, 22 August 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/22/somalia-pm-barre-pledges-accountability-over-deadly-hotel-siege)). It was a gun-and-bomb siege rather than a single bombing, and its toll was lower than the three bombings on this page.

## 29 October 2022

Two car bombs exploded minutes apart near the education ministry at Zoobe junction, the same area as in 2017; the second went off as ambulances arrived (Wikipedia, citing Al Jazeera and AP). President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said at least 100 people had been killed and about 300 wounded, and called the attack "heinous" ([Al Jazeera, 30 October 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/10/30/hundreds-killed-wounded-in-heinous-mogadishu-car-bombings)). The toll later rose to at least 121 (Wikipedia, 2022 Somali Ministry of Education bombings, citing Voice of America).

- **Responsibility.** Al-Shabaab claimed the attack on 1 November, calling the ministry an "enemy base" (Wikipedia, citing AP).
- **Response.** The president asked for doctors and medical supplies from abroad and promised free education to the victims' children. Amnesty International described the attack on civilians as a war crime (Wikipedia, citing VOA and Amnesty International).

Attacks in Beledweyne and at Mogadishu airport during the 2022 elections are covered in [Al-Shabaab's attacks during the 2022 elections](/en/history/beledweyne-mogadishu-attacks-2022/).

Attacks on Mogadishu hotels between 2015 and 2018 are covered in [Al-Shabaab's attacks on Mogadishu hotels, 2015 to 2018](/en/history/mogadishu-hotel-attacks-2015-2018/).

## Sources differ

- **The 2017 toll.** 358 (government, October 2017), 512, and 587 (as of March 2018) are all reported.
- **The 2019 toll.** At least 78, 81 or 85, depending on the date of the report.
- **The 2022 toll.** At least 100 (the president, 30 October 2022) or at least 121 (later reports).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "Mogadishu bombing death toll rises to 358" (2017): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/20/mogadishu-bombing-death-toll-rises-to-358/).
- Al Jazeera, "Al-Shabab claims deadly attack in Somalia's Mogadishu" (2019): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/31/al-shabab-claims-deadly-attack-in-somalias-mogadishu).
- Al Jazeera, "At least 100 killed, 300 hurt in 'heinous' Mogadishu car bombings" (2022): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/10/30/hundreds-killed-wounded-in-heinous-mogadishu-car-bombings).


---

# Al-Shabaab's attacks in Uganda and Kenya, 2010 to 2019

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/al-shabaab-attacks-kenya-uganda-2010-2019/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Shabaab's deadliest attacks outside Somalia were the twin bombings in Kampala on 11 July 2010, which killed at least 74 people watching the World Cup final; the Westgate mall siege in Nairobi from 21 September 2013, which killed at least 67; the Garissa University College attack on 2 April 2015, which killed at least 147; and the DusitD2 complex attack in Nairobi on 15 January 2019, which killed 21. Uganda and Kenya both had troops in Somalia at the time.

## In short

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) has carried out attacks in the countries that sent troops to Somalia, above all Uganda and Kenya. This page records the four deadliest, as the sources report them. The troop deployments are covered in [Uganda's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/) and [Kenya's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/).

## Kampala, 11 July 2010

Two bombs exploded on the evening of the World Cup final in Kampala, one at an Ethiopian restaurant and one at a rugby club where people were watching the match. At least 74 people were killed. Al-Shabaab told Al Jazeera that it had organised and carried out the bombings ([Al Jazeera, 12 July 2010](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/12/al-shabab-behind-uganda-blasts)). Wikipedia describes it as the group's first attack outside Somalia ([Wikipedia, 2010 Kampala bombings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Kampala_bombings)).

## Westgate, Nairobi, September 2013

On Saturday 21 September 2013 gunmen entered the Westgate mall in Nairobi; the siege lasted, at least nominally, four days. At least 70 people were killed, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, which wrote that the attackers questioned shoppers and killed those they took to be Christians while sparing Muslims, and at other times killed indiscriminately. It noted unanswered questions about how many attackers there were and when they left, and that film showed Kenyan soldiers looting the mall; President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered an inquiry ([John Campbell, Council on Foreign Relations, 8 October 2013](https://www.cfr.org/blog/nairobis-westgate-mall-attack-unanswered-questions)).

In October 2013 BBC *Newsnight* named one of the four gunmen seen on CCTV as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a 23-year-old Norwegian citizen of Somali origin; Norway's intelligence service sent officers to Kenya to check the reports ([Graphic Online, BBC, 18 October 2013](https://graphic.com.gh/international/africa/norwegian-suspected-of-being-kenya-mall-attacker-named.html)). Wikipedia records that the service later confirmed he had died in the mall, after forensic identification by the FBI ([Wikipedia, Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Abdi_Dhuhulow)).

## Garissa University College, 2 April 2015

Gunmen attacked [Garissa University College](/en/institutions/garissa-university/) in north-eastern Kenya at about 5:30 a.m. and held students and staff hostage for hours. By nightfall the government confirmed 147 dead and said security forces had killed all four gunmen; a local source put the toll at 170 the next day. Media accounts described the attackers singling out Christian students. Al-Shabaab claimed the attack. Human Rights Watch's Leslie Lefkow called it a "despicable attack on students" and urged Kenya to "ensure a lawful response in line with human rights" ([Human Rights Watch, 3 April 2015](https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/03/kenya-least-147-dead-heinous-garissa-attack)).

## DusitD2, Nairobi, 15 January 2019

Five attackers struck the office complex at 14 Riverside Drive in Nairobi, which includes the DusitD2 hotel. One blew himself up outside a restaurant, and the others moved through the offices and the hotel with rifles and grenades. Twenty-one people were killed and at least 28 injured; the siege ended the next morning with about 700 people rescued. Al-Shabaab claimed the attack in a statement linking it to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Researchers at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center wrote that it was al-Shabaab's first successful suicide bombing in Kenya and its first major attack there carried out mainly by non-Somali Kenyans ([Matt Bryden and Premdeep Bahra, *CTC Sentinel*, July 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/?p=46200)).

Al-Qaeda's earlier East Africa cell, including the 1998 embassy bombings and the 2009 and 2011 killings of its leaders in Somalia, is covered in [Al-Qaeda's East Africa cell and Somalia, 1998 to 2011](/en/history/al-qaeda-east-africa-cell-somalia/).

## Sources differ

- **Kampala deaths.** 74 (Al Jazeera); early reports gave fewer, and some later analyses 76.
- **Westgate deaths.** 67 in the Kenyan government's count; at least 70 (Council on Foreign Relations); later totals of 72 including attackers.
- **Garissa deaths.** 147 (government, 2 April 2015), 148 in later counts (Wikipedia), or 170 (a local source cited by Human Rights Watch).
- **Al-Shabaab's stated reason for DusitD2.** The group cited Jerusalem; the *CTC Sentinel* authors argued the attack was planned well before that decision.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Human Rights Watch, "Kenya: At least 147 dead in heinous Garissa attack" (2015): [statement](https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/03/kenya-least-147-dead-heinous-garissa-attack).
- Matt Bryden and Premdeep Bahra, "East Africa's Terrorist Triple Helix", *CTC Sentinel* (2019): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/?p=46200).


---

# The bomb attack on the president's convoy in Mogadishu, 18 March 2025

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/attack-on-president-convoy-mogadishu-2025/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On Tuesday 18 March 2025 a bomb exploded near the presidential palace in Mogadishu as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's convoy left for the airport on its way to the front line in Middle Shabelle. The president was unhurt. Al-Shabaab said its fighters had targeted the convoy. A Reuters journalist saw four bodies at the scene; later counts were higher. Among the dead was the journalist Mohamed Abukar Dabashe, and police briefly held more than 20 journalists after the attack.

## In short

On 18 March 2025, during [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)'s counter-offensive in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), a bomb exploded beside the convoy of President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) in Mogadishu. This page records the attack as the sources report it. The fighting around it is covered in [The offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/).

## The attack

The Associated Press reported that a roadside bomb went off near the presidential palace on Tuesday 18 March, right after the president was driven out of the palace grounds in a convoy heading to the main airport. He was going to Middle Shabelle to oversee military operations against al-Shabaab, and was unharmed. The Information Ministry called the bombing a "cowardly act of desperation" ([*The Week*, PTI/AP, 19 March 2025](https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2025/03/19/fgn3-somalia-roadside-bomb.html)). The Media Line placed the blast in Hamar-Jajab district and said the device had been planted in a roadside building ([The Media Line, 19 March 2025](https://themedialine.org/mideast-daily-news/somalia-and-african-union-condemn-terrorist-attack-on-presidents-convoy)).

Al-Shabaab said in a statement on its Telegram channel: "Our fighters targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as they were leaving the presidential palace." Reuters reported that hours later state media showed the president in Adan Yabaal district, in Middle Shabelle, and that it was the first attack to target him directly since 2014, during his first term ([Reuters, via Yahoo News, 18 March 2025](https://www.yahoo.com/news/somali-militants-target-presidential-convoy-142207941.html)).

## The dead and the journalists

A Reuters journalist saw the bodies of four people near the palace (Reuters, 2025). Witnesses quoted by the Associated Press counted two or three (*The Week*, 2025). Wikipedia, drawing on later reports, gives at least 10 dead, seven of them security personnel, and 20 injured ([Wikipedia, Attempted assassination of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)).

The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that the journalist Mohamed Abukar Dabashe was killed; his body was found in a collapsed building near the site. It said armed police raided the offices of Risaala Media Corporation about 20 minutes after it broadcast footage of the scene, ordered its channels off air and held its reporters for about two hours, and that at least 17 other journalists were briefly detained at the site. A police spokesperson told the organisation that no arrests had been made and that officers were verifying journalists' identities ([CPJ, March 2025](https://cpj.org/2025/03/somali-journalist-killed-in-al-shabaab-bombing-at-least-22-others-arrested-for-reporting-attack/)).

## Reactions

The African Union Commission chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, called the bombing a "desperate attempt" by al-Shabaab to undermine Somalia's leadership (The Media Line, 2025). The British Embassy in Mogadishu said: "The UK remains a steadfast partner of the Somali government" (*The Week*, 2025).

## Sources differ

- **Deaths.** Four bodies seen by Reuters; two or three counted by witnesses (AP); at least 10 in Wikipedia's later total.
- **Journalists detained.** At least 22 in CPJ's count; the police said no arrests were made (CPJ).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Committee to Protect Journalists, "Somali journalist killed in Al-Shabaab bombing, at least 22 others arrested for reporting attack" (2025): [article](https://cpj.org/2025/03/somali-journalist-killed-in-al-shabaab-bombing-at-least-22-others-arrested-for-reporting-attack/).
- Reuters, "Somali militants target presidential convoy in bomb attack, president safe" (2025): [article](https://www.yahoo.com/news/somali-militants-target-presidential-convoy-142207941.html).


---

# Jews in Somalia and Somaliland: what the records say

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/jews-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Small numbers of Jewish traders, mostly from Yemen, lived in Somali coastal towns in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In August 1949 the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported, from World Jewish Congress information, that no Jews remained in Italian or British Somaliland and that almost all of French Somaliland's community had gone to Israel. Some writers have linked the Yibir, a Somali minority group, to Jewish origins, but the main academic study of the Yibir calls Jewish descent improbable. The US State Department lists the number of Jews in Somalia today as unknown.

## In short

"Information received by the organization department of the World Jewish Congress" showed that "there are no Jews left in Italian and British Somaliland", the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on 15 August 1949. Almost all of the Jews of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) (Djibouti) had gone to Israel, and three remained in Djibouti to settle the community's affairs ([JTA, "Only Three Jews Remain in Somaliland", 15 August 1949](https://www.jta.org/archive/only-three-jews-remain-in-somaliland-all-other-members-of-community-went-to-israel)).

For other faiths in Somalia, see [religion in Somalia in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/) and [Christians and missions](/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/).

## Traders on the coast

Yemenite Jewish traders are reported in Somali coastal towns from the 1880s. Wikipedia's article names Berbera, Zeila and [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/), but its figures are marked as needing citations ([Wikipedia, "History of the Jews in Somalia"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Somalia)). See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and [Somali seamen and early migrants](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/).

## 1949: leaving for Israel

The 1949 JTA report said the remaining Jews of the region had left for Israel. One of the three still in Djibouti wrote to the World Jewish Congress asking for money to pay taxes, duties and debts so that they could join their families there ([JTA, 1949](https://www.jta.org/archive/only-three-jews-remain-in-somaliland-all-other-members-of-community-went-to-israel)).

## The Yibir question

The Yibir (also Yibro) are a small Somali minority group, traditionally known as healers and counted among the Gabooye groups ([EUAA, *Country Focus: Somalia*, 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

- **A claimed Jewish origin.** Some accounts link the Yibir to Jewish roots; Wikipedia reports the claim but marks it as unsourced.
- **The main study.** Christian Bader's study *Les Yibro: Mages somali. Les juifs oubliés de la corne de l'Afrique* (Paris, 2000) concluded that the Yibir are "improbables descendants de Juifs", improbable descendants of Jews (as cited by Wikipedia).
- **Their own account.** In 2000 a Yibir leader, Ahmed Jama Hersi, told the *New York Times* of an oral history of arriving as Arabic-speaking teachers more than 1,000 years ago, without claiming Jewish descent ([Ian Fisher, "Djibouti Journal; Somalia's 'Hebrews' See a Better Day", *New York Times*, 15 August 2000](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/15/world/djibouti-journal-somalia-s-hebrews-see-a-better-day.html)).

## Today

The US State Department's religious freedom report for 2023 gives "unknown numbers of Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and people with no religion" in Somalia ([US State Department, *International Religious Freedom Report 2023*](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

Israel recognised the State of Somaliland during its five days of independence in June 1960, and recognised Somaliland again on 26 December 2025. See [the State of Somaliland, 1960](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) and [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Who suffered?

- **The Yibir,** who as a minority group have faced discrimination; see [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## Sources differ

- **The Yibir's origin.** Some writers claim a Jewish origin; Bader's study calls it improbable, and a Yibir leader gave a different oral history in 2000.
- **How many Jews lived in the Somali lands.** No census figure is linked here. Wikipedia's estimates of 100–200 traders in the early 1900s are unsourced.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "Only Three Jews Remain in Somaliland; All Other Members of Community Went to Israel", 15 August 1949: [article](https://www.jta.org/archive/only-three-jews-remain-in-somaliland-all-other-members-of-community-went-to-israel).
- US State Department, *International Religious Freedom Report 2023*: Somalia: [text](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html).


---

# Al-Shabaab's attacks during the 2022 elections: Beledweyne and Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/beledweyne-mogadishu-attacks-2022/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> During Somalia's indirect parliamentary elections in early 2022, al-Shabaab carried out attacks in Beledweyne and Mogadishu. On 19 February 2022 a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in Beledweyne crowded with officials and politicians, killing at least 13. On 23 March 2022 gunmen attacked the area near Mogadishu's airport, and that night two bombings in Beledweyne killed the MP Amina Mohamed Abdi and dozens of others, with tolls of more than 30 to 48. Al-Shabaab claimed the attacks.

## In short

Somalia's lower house was chosen in 2021–2022 by delegates, including clan elders, before members elected the president in May 2022 (see [Somali presidential election, 2022](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2022/) and [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/)). During the voting [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) attacked Beledweyne, the main town of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), and the airport area in Mogadishu. This page records those attacks as the sources report them.

## Beledweyne, 19 February 2022

On Saturday 19 February 2022, the eve of the first round of voting for Beledweyne's parliamentary seats, a suicide bomber set off explosives at the Hassan Dhiif restaurant, which was crowded with local officials and politicians eating lunch. At least 13 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 20 wounded; two deputy district commissioners were among the dead. A police officer, Mohamud Hassan, said: "This was the deadliest attack I can recall in this town." Al-Shabaab claimed the attack, according to SITE Intelligence ([Al Jazeera, 19 February 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/19/at-least-13-killed-by-suicide-bomber-in-central-somalia)). Wikipedia gives a later toll of 14 dead ([Wikipedia, February 2022 Beledweyne bombing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2022_Beledweyne_bombing)).

The UN put the toll at "at least 18 people, including government officials", and said the bomb went off "while a campaign meeting of electoral delegates and other officials was under way" ([S/2022/392, para. 17](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/392&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Mogadishu airport, 23 March 2022

On Wednesday 23 March 2022 security forces shot dead two gunmen who tried to storm the heavily guarded area near Mogadishu's main airport, which houses the UN, aid agencies, foreign missions and the headquarters of [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/). Three people were killed: a policeman, an AMISOM soldier and a civilian. Al-Shabaab claimed the attack ([Arab News, AFP, 24 March 2022](https://www.arabnews.com/news/more-than-30-killed-in-twin-attacks-in-somalia-2049716)).

The UN Secretary-General's account: "In Mogadishu on 23 March a group of armed Al-Shabaab fighters disguised in military uniforms infiltrated the [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) zone and attacked the SafeLane Global compound." The attack "resulted in five fatalities, including three SafeLane international employees and one Somali police officer". Two attackers were killed, and al-Shabaab fired six mortar rounds at the airport zone during the attack, with no casualties ([S/2022/392, para. 14](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/392&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Beledweyne, 23 March 2022

That night in Beledweyne a suicide bomber killed two local lawmakers, among them [Amina Mohamed Abdi](/en/people/amina-mohamed-abdi/), a member of parliament who was campaigning for re-election, along with several of her guards. Minutes later a car bomb exploded outside the town's main hospital, where the injured were being taken. The district police chief, Colonel Isak Ali Abdulle, said more than 30 people were killed in the second blast alone and that the attackers "readied a car loaded with explosives in front of a hospital to cause more casualties." Al-Shabaab said it had targeted politicians contesting the elections. The British ambassador, Katie Foster, condemned the use of violence "to intimidate and disrupt the elections" (Arab News, AFP, 2022). Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) and President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) condemned the attacks ([Wikipedia, March 2022 Somalia attacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2022_Somalia_attacks)).

The UN Secretary-General's account: "On 23 March, a person-borne improvised explosive device detonated near the Hiraan administration headquarters while electoral activities were ongoing. This explosion was followed by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive attack, which impacted first responders transporting the injured towards medical centres. The state administration reported that 50 people were killed, including female Member of Parliament, Amina Mohamed Abdi, and 106 injured" ([UN Security Council, S/2022/392, para. 19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/392&l=en&t=pdf)). "Shabaab quickly claimed credit for the suicide bombings" ([Long War Journal, 24 March 2022](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2022/03/shabaab-kills-dozens-in-twin-suicide-bombings-targeting-somalias-election-process.php)).

Beledweyne was [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)'s second voting location. After tensions between the state administration and the Hawadle clan, voting there began on 20 February. On 20 March, three days before the bombings, the state President, Ali Abdullahi Hussein "Gudlawe", replaced the head of the state election team after "complaints from clan elders and opposition candidates over the lack of transparency" (S/2022/392, para. 4). After Amina Mohamed Abdi's killing, "women candidates expressed concerns over their personal safety and security" (same source, para. 26).

## Other attacks on the election, February to April 2022

The UN wrote that "the acceleration in the electoral process led to increased Al-Shabaab attacks, mainly in the locations hosting parliamentary elections" ([S/2022/392, paras. 15–19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/392&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **9 February, Baraawe.** Mortars aimed at a polling station hit a residential area, killing four civilians.
- **10 February, Mogadishu.** A suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) electoral delegates in Xamar Weyne district. The bus was missed; five bystanders were killed.
- **19 February, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/).** A bomb at a tea shop, "reportedly targeting elders involved in the electoral process", killed four people. Two days later a roadside bomb hit the convoy of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s President [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/); he was unharmed, and two soldiers were killed.
- **14 April, Mogadishu.** Mortars fell near the [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) hangar at the airport during the swearing-in of new members of parliament. One guard was slightly injured.

See [the war against al-Shabaab since 2009](/en/history/somali-civil-war-2009-present/) and [the deadliest bombings in Mogadishu](/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/).

## Who suffered?

- **People in Beledweyne,** including the wounded and those taking them to hospital: 50 dead and 106 injured by the administration's count (S/2022/392).
- **Amina Mohamed Abdi,** a sitting member of parliament standing for re-election, and another parliamentary candidate (S/2022/392; Long War Journal).
- **Workers in the Mogadishu airport zone:** three foreign employees of SafeLane Global and a Somali police officer among five dead (S/2022/392).
- **Women candidates,** who raised fears for their safety after the killing (S/2022/392, para. 26).

## Sources differ

- **Deaths on 19 February.** At least 13 (Al Jazeera, citing state television); 14 in later counts (Wikipedia); at least 18 (UN, S/2022/392).
- **Deaths in Beledweyne on 23 March.** More than 30 (police, via AFP, the next day); at least 48 dead and 108 injured in the authorities' later estimate (Wikipedia); at least 48 (Long War Journal); 50 dead and 106 injured by the Hiraan administration's count (UN, S/2022/392).
- **Deaths at the airport.** Three plus two attackers (AFP); five plus two attackers (Wikipedia and the UN, S/2022/392).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2022/392 (13 May 2022), paras. 4, 14–19 and 26: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/392&l=en&t=pdf).
- Caleb Weiss and Andrew Tobin, "Shabaab kills dozens in twin suicide bombings targeting Somalia's election process", *Long War Journal*, 24 March 2022: [article](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2022/03/shabaab-kills-dozens-in-twin-suicide-bombings-targeting-somalias-election-process.php).

- Al Jazeera, "At least 13 killed by suicide bomber in central Somalia" (2022): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/19/at-least-13-killed-by-suicide-bomber-in-central-somalia).
- AFP via Arab News, "More than 30 killed in twin attacks in Somalia" (2022): [article](https://www.arabnews.com/news/more-than-30-killed-in-twin-attacks-in-somalia-2049716).


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# The French raid on Bulo Marer, January 2013

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/bulo-marer-raid-2013/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In the early hours of 12 January 2013 French commandos of the DGSE intelligence service raided Bulo Marer, about 110 km south of Mogadishu, to free Denis Allex, a French agent held by al-Shabaab since July 2009. The raid did not free him. France said two of its soldiers and the hostage were killed; Somali officials and al-Shabaab gave differing tolls of fighters and civilians. Al-Shabaab announced on 16 January that it had executed Allex. Somalia's federal government condemned the raid as unilateral.

## In short

Bulo Marer (Buulo Mareer) is a town in [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) that was held by [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) in 2013. This page records the French attempt to rescue a hostage there, as the sources report it. Other foreign forces are covered in [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## The kidnapping, 2009

Denis Allex and a colleague, Marc Aubrière, both French agents, were kidnapped by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu in July 2009. Aubrière escaped a month later ([Al Jazeera, 13 January 2013](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/1/13/france-confirms-failed-somali-hostage-rescue)).

## The raid, 12 January 2013

France's DGSE intelligence service launched the raid with helicopters. Ahmed [Omar Mohamed](/en/people/omar-abdullahi-mohamed/), a regional official in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), said: "Helicopters attacked al-Shabaab at 2.00am local time this morning." Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "All indications are (that Allex was) killed by his captors," and blamed the "intransigence of the terrorists". President François Hollande said the operation "confirms France's determination not to give in to the blackmail of terrorists." Al-Shabaab said Allex was alive and far from the fighting, that it held a wounded French soldier, and that French helicopters had bombed indiscriminately (Al Jazeera, 2013).

Wikipedia records that about 50 DGSE commandos took part; that US surveillance flights from Djibouti had helped locate Allex; and that President Barack Obama told Congress that US aircraft entered Somali airspace in limited support of the raid but did not use weapons ([Wikipedia, Bulo Marer hostage rescue attempt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulo_Marer_hostage_rescue_attempt)). See [Naval missions off Somalia](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/) for Camp Lemonnier.

## Allex's death and the reactions

On 16 January 2013 al-Shabaab announced that it had "reached a unanimous decision" to execute Allex and that he had been executed, saying France had "voluntarily signed Allex's death warrant" by attempting the rescue. French officials maintained that he had been killed during the raid ([Bill Roggio, *Long War Journal*, January 2013](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/shabaab_executes_fre.php)). On 13 January the federal government condemned the operation as unilateral, carried out without the knowledge or consent of the Somali authorities (Wikipedia).

## Sources differ

- **French dead.** Le Drian first spoke of two soldiers killed; Al Jazeera reported one killed and one missing the next day; Wikipedia records two killed and a third believed killed.
- **Civilian dead.** Two, according to a Somali official; more than 10, according to al-Shabaab's spokesman Ali Mahmoud Rage (Al Jazeera); at least eight in Wikipedia's count. Wikipedia also reports an account from a DGSE officer, and a larger claim by the journalist Vincent Nouzille, that commandos killed civilians during the approach.
- **Al-Shabaab dead.** About 17 (Al Jazeera).
- **When Allex died.** During the raid (France); after it (al-Shabaab).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "France confirms failed Somali hostage rescue" (2013): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/1/13/france-confirms-failed-somali-hostage-rescue).
- Bill Roggio, "Shabaab executes French hostage Denis Allex", *Long War Journal* (2013): [article](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/shabaab_executes_fre.php).


---

# Civilian era, 1960–1969

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From union on 1 July 1960 to the coup of October 1969, Somalia was a civilian democracy that held elections and changed governments peacefully. It joined two different colonial systems, faced disputes with its neighbours, and saw parties multiply until 64 stood in 1969.

## Timeline

- **26 Jun / 1 Jul 1960.** [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) (independent 26 June) and Italian-administered Somalia (1 July) unite as the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). The two parts keep separate administrative, legal and education systems, languages, police, taxes and currencies; a UN Consultative Commission for Integration (Paolo Contini) is created to merge them. **Actors:** SYL; SNL; UN. Source: [S1](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)
- **Jun 1961.** Constitution referendum: "overwhelmingly approved" in the south, under 50% support in the north. **Actors:** Northern electorate; SYL government. Source: [S1](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)
- **Dec 1961.** British-trained northern junior officers revolt against southern (Italian-trained) senior officers posted over them; ringleaders call for separation; northern NCOs arrest them. **Actors:** Northern officers; national army. Source: [S1](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)
- **1961.** Constitution preamble pledges to unite all Somali territories "by legal and peaceful means" (Greater Somalia). **Actors:** Government; pan-Somali parties. Source: [S2](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)
- **May 1962.** Mainly Hawiye faction of SYL joins new Somali National Congress (SNC). **Actors:** SYL; SNC. Source: [S1](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)
- **March 1963.** Somalia breaks relations with Britain over NFD ([Hansard, 3 April 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya); see [Kenya's NFD, 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/)); Soviet military aid begins (by late 1960s ~300 Soviet advisers, ~500 Somalis trained in USSR). **Actors:** UK; USSR; Kenya. Source: [S3](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)
- **1960–1967.** NFD (*shifta*) conflict: Somali guerrillas fight Kenyan forces for over four years after Britain ignores a commission finding near-unanimous NFD support for separation; Kenya ends limited federalism in 1964. **Actors:** NFD Somalis; Kenya; UK; Somali government (denied support). Source: [S2](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm); [S35](https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CHCO/article/view/87164)
- **Feb–Apr 1964.** Armed conflict with Ethiopia; Ethiopian air raids; [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)/OAU-mediated ceasefire (April) with demilitarised zone; Ethiopia–Kenya defence pact signed. **Actors:** Ethiopia; OAU; Sudan; Kenya. Source: [S2](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)
- **Mar 1964.** First post-independence elections: SYL wins 69 of 123 seats; Abdirizaaq Haaji Husseen named PM over Shermaarke; months without government. **Actors:** SYL; Pres. Aden Abdullah Osman; Husseen; Shermaarke. Source: [S4](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/18.htm)
- **Jun–Aug 1967.** Shermaarke elected president by Assembly; Igaal (Egal) becomes PM and pursues détente with Ethiopia and Kenya. **Actors:** Shermaarke; Igaal. Source: [S4](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/18.htm); [S5](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)
- **Sep 1968.** Somalia–Ethiopia agree air and telecom links; Ethiopia lifts 1964 border emergency, reopening grazing and the Mogadishu–Hargeysa road. **Actors:** Igaal government; Ethiopia. Source: [S5](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)
- **Mar 1969.** Elections with 64 parties; SYL+SNC win 120 of 123 seats; 77 incumbents lose; fraud charges; Supreme Court declines petitions; police chief Abshir resigns. **Actors:** SYL; 64 parties; army; police. Source: [S5](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)
- **15 Oct 1969.** President Shermaarke assassinated by a bodyguard with a lineage grievance. **Actors:** Shermaarke. Source: [S6](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)
- **21 Oct 1969.** Army seizes power; [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) (SRC) under Maj. Gen. Mahammad [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) bans parties, dissolves Assembly, suspends constitution, pledges to end "tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and misrule"; country renamed Somali Democratic Republic. **Actors:** Army; police; SRC; Siad Barre. Source: [S6](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)

## What the record shows
- **The union came before integration.** LoC stresses that north and south kept separate laws, currencies and administrations after 1960 and that the north rejected the constitution in 1961 ([S1](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).
- **The 1961 officers' revolt.** The Library of Congress records that the December 1961 revolt was about southern officers being placed over northern units ([S1](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).
- **What the pan-Somali claims led to.** They were followed by the NFD conflict, the 1964 Ethiopian war, a hostile Ethiopia–Kenya pact and a break with Britain ([S2](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm), [S3](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)). Egal's détente delivered trade and grazing access ([S5](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)).
- **64 parties in 1969.** The Library of Congress records 64 parties and widespread corruption allegations in 1969 ([S5](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)), and says the army's promise to end clan politics was popular at first ([S6](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)).


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# The Haud and the Reserved Area, 1954–1955: the grazing lands handed to Ethiopia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 29 November 1954 Britain and Ethiopia signed an agreement ending British administration of the Haud and the Reserved Area, Somali grazing lands that the 1897 Anglo-Ethiopian treaty had placed inside Ethiopia. Britain withdrew on 28 February 1955. About 300,000 people from British Somaliland grazed there. A Somali delegation protested in London and at the UN, and the loss helped unite northern politics behind independence and union.

## In short

The Haud is a wide plain of seasonal grazing south of the old [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) border. For half the year, herders from the north moved their camels and flocks there for water and grass.

On paper it had been part of Ethiopia since the [Anglo-Ethiopian treaty of 1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/). In practice Britain ran it from 1941. On 28 February 1955 Britain withdrew, under an agreement signed with Ethiopia on 29 November 1954 ([HC Deb 23 February 1955, vol. 537, cc. 1281–9](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/23/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian-2)).

## Why did Britain hold it after 1941?

After British forces drove Italy out of East Africa in 1941, Britain kept a military administration over parts of eastern Ethiopia. A wartime agreement of 1944 confirmed this "without prejudice to Ethiopian sovereignty", and either side could end it at three months' notice (same source).

The Library of Congress records that Britain ran the Haud "as an integral part of British Somaliland", though Ethiopian sovereignty was recognised ([Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/26.htm)). The rest of the Ogaden went back to Ethiopian administration in 1948.

## The agreement of 29 November 1954

In 1954 Ethiopia asked to take up "the full exercise of its sovereignty" in the areas. The Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd, told the House of Commons what followed ([HC Deb 23 February 1955](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/23/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian-2)):

> "Although these areas are used predominantly by members of British protected tribes from the Somaliland Protectorate they have been Ethiopian territory in international law since the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897. No British territory is, therefore, being transferred to Ethiopia."

The agreement promised the herders grazing rights "in perpetuity", a British liaison officer in the area, and assurances on customs and property (same source). Disputes among Somalis would be settled in British courts; disputes with Ethiopians in Ethiopian courts.

## When were the Somalis told?

The agreement was signed on 29 November 1954. The Somali elders were told on 5 January 1955, about seven weeks before the handover (same source).

Lennox-Boyd explained why the Somali leaders were not consulted: "it would not have been fair to ask Somali leaders to share responsibility for a decision that was bound to be unpopular" (same source).

## The delegation to London

The news brought what Lennox-Boyd called "widespread feeling in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)". A delegation travelled to [London](/en/diaspora/london/) to ask for the handover to be delayed ([HL Deb 23 February 1955, vol. 191, cc. 385–7](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1955/feb/23/somaliland)). The Colonial Secretary told Parliament it "put their point of view with dignity and force".

The historian Mohamed Trunji names its members as Michael Mariano, Abdirahman Ali and Mohamed Dubeh ([Trunji, Hiiraan Online, 2021](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2021/feb/181827/today_in_history_february_28_1955_the_disposal_of_the_haud_and_reserved_area.aspx)). Their case rested on three points: the 1884 and 1886 protection treaties came first; the Somalis were never consulted in 1897; and the handover denied self-determination (same source).

Britain asked Ethiopia to delay. Ethiopia declined to go beyond 28 February ([HC Deb 23 February 1955](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/23/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian-2)).

## What Parliament said

Members of all parties pressed the government on 23 and 25 February 1955.

- **Two treaties.** Members argued that the 1884 and 1886 treaties, in which the elders sought British protection "for the maintenance of their independence", conflicted with the 1897 treaty. They asked for the question to go to the International Court of Justice ([HC Deb 25 February 1955, vol. 537, cc. 1678–88](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/25/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian)).
- **The size.** Frederick Willey MP put the area at "some 25,000 square miles and about 300,000 people" (same source). Lennox-Boyd gave about 300,000 people who grazed there ([HC Deb 23 February 1955](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/23/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian-2)).
- **The government's view.** Lennox-Boyd called the 1897 treaty "unfortunate", but said "it is impossible to undo it" (same source).

## The road to the UN

After London, a second delegation, Suldaan Bihi Moumin and Michael Mariano, went to the United Nations in New York. Trunji records that herders in the north sold 6,500 sheep to pay for the journey ([Trunji 2021](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2021/feb/181827/today_in_history_february_28_1955_the_disposal_of_the_haud_and_reserved_area.aspx)).

On 22 October 1956 the Protectorate's Advisory Council voted unanimously to ask Britain to back a claim at the UN. Britain answered that the Protectorate had no right to petition the UN, being "neither a member of the United Nations nor a Trusteeship Territory" ([HC Deb 19 December 1956, vol. 562, c. 149W](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1956/dec/19/british-somaliland-reserved-area-and-haud)).

The Library of Congress records that Britain "attempted unsuccessfully to purchase the Haud from Ethiopia" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

## Who suffered?

The herders who crossed the line each season carried the cost. In November 1955 James Johnson MP told the Commons that Somali elders and chiefs had been arrested in the area on nine occasions that year ([HC Deb 17 November 1955, vol. 546, cc. 902–12](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/nov/17/british-somalis-the-ogaden)). He also said that five men had been hanged in August 1955, and that Emperor Haile Selassie later commuted death sentences on 25 others (same source). These were one member's statements in debate.

Far from the Haud, people mourned too. Trunji, then in Beledweyne, recalls that on 28 February 1955 the whole town marched in silence ([Trunji 2021](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2021/feb/181827/today_in_history_february_28_1955_the_disposal_of_the_haud_and_reserved_area.aspx)).

## What it led to

The Library of Congress says the loss changed northern politics. Until 1954 no party "could mobilize grass-roots support". Afterwards a new party, the National United Front, rose under Michael Mariano, a veteran of the SYL ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

The same source records that protests "forced Britain in 1956 to introduce representative government in its protectorate and to accept the eventual unification of British Somaliland with southern Somalia". A Legislative Council followed in 1957, and union came on 1 July 1960.

## Sources differ

- **The area.** Willey gave 25,000 square miles in 1955; Trunji gives 65,000 square kilometres. Both are near the same size, about 65,000 km².
- **The wartime agreement.** The government spoke of a 1944 agreement. The Library of Congress mentions a 1942 military convention. There were two Anglo-Ethiopian agreements, in 1942 and 1944.
- **Grazing rights after 1960.** Trunji writes that Ethiopia ended the grazing rights after Somalia's independence.

## Legacy, as recorded

The Library of Congress records that the protests over the Haud led Britain in 1956 to introduce representative government in the Protectorate and to accept its eventual union with the south ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UK House of Commons, statement and questions, 23 February 1955: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/23/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian-2).
- UK House of Commons, adjournment debate, 25 February 1955: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/feb/25/british-somaliland-anglo-ethiopian).
- UK House of Lords statement, 23 February 1955: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1955/feb/23/somaliland).
- UK House of Commons debate on British Somalis and the Ogaden, 17 November 1955: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/nov/17/british-somalis-the-ogaden).
- Written answer on the UN petition, 19 December 1956: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1956/dec/19/british-somaliland-reserved-area-and-haud).


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# The UN arms embargo on Somalia, 1992–2023

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN Security Council imposed a general and complete arms embargo on Somalia on 23 January 1992, in resolution 733. A committee and, from 2002–2003, a monitoring group tracked breaches. In March 2013 resolution 2093 eased it for the federal government's forces, while heavy weapons stayed restricted. On 1 December 2023 resolution 2714 lifted the embargo on the government, and a separate regime kept the embargo on al-Shabaab.

## In short

For almost 32 years Somalia was under a UN arms embargo; by 2013 it was described as the oldest such global arms embargo in force (Wikipedia, resolution 2093, below). This page records how it was imposed, eased and lifted, from the UN's own records and press reports, without taking sides on whether it worked.

## Imposed, 1992

On 23 January 1992 the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, unanimously adopted resolution 733, imposing a "general and complete" embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia. The same resolution asked the UN Secretary-General, with the heads of the Organisation of African Unity and the Arab League, to contact the warring factions to end hostilities and allow aid to reach people ([Wikipedia, UN Security Council Resolution 733](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_733)). Resolution 751 of 1992 set up a Security Council committee to oversee the embargo ([UN Security Council, sanctions committee 751](https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/751)). The wider events of that year are told in [The UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## Monitoring

Resolution 1425 of 2002 and resolution 1519 of 16 December 2003 set up panels of experts, based in Nairobi, to investigate breaches by land, air and sea, assess neighbouring states' ability to enforce the embargo and name violators ([Wikipedia, UN Security Council Resolution 1519](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1519)). Later resolutions continued this work through a monitoring group, later a panel of experts (UN sanctions committee page). Resolution 2036 of 2012 added a ban on charcoal exports (UN sanctions committee page). A 2016 UN report named Iran, Libya, North Korea and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) among sources of illicit arms (Geeska, below).

## Eased, 2013

On 6 March 2013 resolution 2093 suspended the embargo for one year for the forces of the new federal government of President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), which had asked for it. Light weapons could be bought "solely for the development of the security forces of the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/)"; heavy weapons such as surface-to-air missiles and howitzers stayed banned. The US, the African Union, the Arab League and IGAD backed the change; the UK, which drafted it, and France were reported to have reservations about wider arms flows ([Wikipedia, UN Security Council Resolution 2093](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_2093)).

## Lifted for the government, 2023

On 1 December 2023 the Council unanimously adopted two British-drafted resolutions. Resolution 2714 lifted the embargo on the federal government, stating there was "no arms embargo" on it, and resolution 2713 set up a separate sanctions regime keeping the embargo on al-Shabaab ([Geeska, 7 February 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/overlooked-dangers-lifting-somalias-arms-embargo); UN sanctions committee page). The government was asked to keep to its national weapons and ammunition management strategy and not to pass weapons to anyone outside its service. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the decision meant "we are now free to purchase any weapons needed" and that the government would strictly enforce its arms controls ([CGTN Africa, 3 December 2023](https://africa.cgtn.com/un-lifts-1992-somalia-arms-embargo/)).

## The debate

Suhaib Mahmoud, writing for Geeska, argued that weapons supplied to Somali forces have reached al-Shabaab through battlefield losses, raids on bases and sales by soldiers, citing the fall of the Geriley base in July 2023, and that the arming of clan militias since late 2022 raised the same risks the embargo was meant to address. He also argued that the embargo had done little to stop arms entering through neighbouring states (Geeska). In 2013 the government had argued that arms would strengthen its forces against the insurgency (Wikipedia, resolution 2093); see [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/).

## Sources differ

- **Did the embargo work?** Geeska's analysis says arms flowed in through neighbouring states regardless; the government argued in 2013 that it needed arms to fight the insurgency.
- **Risks of lifting.** The government says it controls its stocks; analysts point to diversion to al-Shabaab and clan militias.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Security Council, Somalia sanctions committee (751): [page](https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/751).
- UN Digital Library, resolution 2714 (2023): [record](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4029177).


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# Al-Shabaab's attacks on Mogadishu hotels, 2015 to 2018

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/mogadishu-hotel-attacks-2015-2018/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 2015 and 2018 al-Shabaab repeatedly attacked hotels in Mogadishu used by officials and business people. The Makka al-Mukarama hotel was attacked on 27 March 2015, killing Somalia's ambassador in Geneva, Yusuf Bari-Bari; the Sahafi Hotel on 1 November 2015, when at least 15 people were killed, among them the lawmaker Mohamed Abdi Abtidoon and the former army commander General Abdikarim Yusuf Dhagabadan; the Dayah Hotel on 25 January 2017; and the Sahafi area again on 9 November 2018.

## In short

Hotels in central Mogadishu that host members of parliament, officials and business people were frequent targets of [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) in these years. Attacks usually began with a car bomb at the gate, followed by gunmen entering the building. This page records four such attacks as the sources report them. Earlier and later attacks in the city are covered in [Major attacks in Mogadishu, 2009 to 2013](/en/history/mogadishu-attacks-2009-2013/) and [The deadliest bombings in Mogadishu](/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/).

## Makka al-Mukarama, March 2015

A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden car into the gate of the Makka al-Mukarama hotel at about 4 p.m. on a Friday, and gunmen then entered; security forces waited until daybreak before moving against them again. Among the dead was Yusuf Bari-Bari, Somalia's representative to the UN in Geneva. Nicholas Kay, the UN Special Representative, said: "I condemn this terrorist attack in Mogadishu in the strongest terms" ([Gulf News, WAM/AP](https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/un-condemns-deadly-al-shabab-raid-on-hotel-1.1481291)). Wikipedia dates the attack to 27 March 2015 and gives about 20 dead, including five attackers ([Wikipedia, 2015 Makka al-Mukarama hotel attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Makka_al-Mukarama_hotel_attack)).

## Sahafi Hotel, 1 November 2015

Early on Sunday 1 November 2015 a car bomb exploded at the main gate of the [Sahafi Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/), attackers stormed the building and a suicide bomber set off a second blast inside. At least 15 people were killed, among them the lawmaker Mohamed Abdi Abtidoon and the freelance photographer Mustaf Abdi; a senior commander and a former ambassador were wounded. Somali and African Union troops retook the hotel, and al-Shabaab claimed the attack ([Al Jazeera, 1 November 2015](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2015/11/1/al-shabab-assault-targets-senior-somali-officials)).

General Abdikarim Yusuf Adam, known as Dhagabadan, a former chief of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), was also killed ([Wikipedia, Abdikarim Yusuf Adam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdikarim_Yusuf_Adam)). Voice of America described him as the commander who led the offensive that forced al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in August 2011, and said he had survived several earlier attempts on his life ([VOA, "UN Condemns Deadly Al Shabab Hotel Attack", 2 November 2015, via GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2015/11/mil-151102-voa04.htm)). See [Commanders of the Somali army](/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/).

## Dayah Hotel, 25 January 2017

On 25 January 2017 a coordinated suicide attack struck the Dayah (Dayax) Hotel near the presidential palace, which is often used by lawmakers. Joseph Contreras, spokesperson for the UN mission, said: "The latest figures that we have been seeing range from between 15 and 20 dead," about half of them likely civilians; at least five journalists were among dozens injured ([UN News, 25 January 2017](https://news.un.org/en/node/550162)).

## Sahafi area, 9 November 2018

On Friday 9 November 2018 three explosions near the Sahafi Hotel were followed by gunfire. Authorities first reported at least 20 killed and 17 wounded. Members of the UN Security Council condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms" ([UN News, 11 November 2018](https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/11/1025451)).

## Sources differ

- **Makka al-Mukarama deaths.** "At least 18" (Gulf News, AP); about 20 including attackers (Wikipedia).
- **Dhagabadan's post.** Wikipedia and VOA call him a former army chief or commander; he does not appear in the table of transitional and federal army chiefs in [Commanders of the Somali army](/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/).
- **Dayah Hotel deaths.** 15 to 20 on the day (UN mission); 28 in Wikipedia's later count.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN News, "Somalia: UN mission condemns Al-Shabaab attack on popular Mogadishu hotel" (2017): [article](https://news.un.org/en/node/550162).
- Al Jazeera, "Al-Shabab assault targets senior Somali officials" (2015): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2015/11/1/al-shabab-assault-targets-senior-somali-officials).


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# Siad Barre era, 1969–1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From the coup of 21 October 1969 to his fall in January 1991, Siad Barre's military government wrote Somali down, taught millions to read and built roads, then narrowed to a family circle and punished whole communities. Armed fronts rose in every region, and the state collapsed on 26 January 1991.

## Timeline

- **1969–Feb 1970.** SRC issues First Charter of the Revolution; 1960 constitution repealed (Feb 1970); National Security Courts (1970). **Actors:** SRC; [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). Source: [S8](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)
- **Apr 1970; May 1971.** Alleged plots: VP Qoorsheel jailed (1970); VP Ainanche and others executed after 1971 plot, linked by LoC to rivalries and clans that lost influence after 1969. **Actors:** SRC; army factions. Source: [S9](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/23.htm)
- **21 Oct 1970.** Somalia declared a socialist state; "scientific socialism" blending Marxism, self-reliance and Islam. **Actors:** Siad Barre; SRC. Source: [S10](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm); [S7](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/21.htm)
- **1970s.** Anti-clan policy: "tribalism" condemned, old regions split into smaller units to weaken clan assemblies, ~140,000 nomads resettled; NSS (Soviet-organised) and censorship board enforce line. **Actors:** SRC; NSS. Source: [S8](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)
- **21 Oct 1972 – 1 Jan 1973.** Latin script adopted for Somali, effective 1 Jan 1973; officials given months to become literate. **Actors:** SRC; Somali Language Committee. Source: [S11](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)
- **1973–1975.** Urban then nomadic (from Aug 1974, 20,000+ teachers) literacy campaigns; literacy ~5% in 1972; UN estimate 24% in 1990. **Actors:** SRC; students; teachers. Source: [S11](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)
- **1973.** Uniform civil code replaces earlier laws and restricts sharia courts. **Actors:** SRC. Source: [S8](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)
- **Mid-1970s.** Regime informally called "MOD" (Mareehaan, Ogaden, [Dulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/)); in 1975 ten of 20 SRC members were [Daarood](/en/society/darod/) and Digil-Rahanwayn had none. **Actors:** Siad Barre; NSS chief Ahmad Sulaymaan Abdullah. Source: [S10](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)
- **1 Jul 1976.** SRC dissolves into the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), a one-party state with Barre as secretary general. **Actors:** SRSP. Source: [S12](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/26.htm)
- **1977–1978.** [Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) with Ethiopia; Soviet Union and Cuba back Ethiopia; Somali defeat; refugee influx makes Somalia aid-dependent. **Actors:** Somalia; [WSLF](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/); Ethiopia; USSR; Cuba. Source: [S13](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm); [S20](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm)
- **Apr 1978.** Attempted coup by mainly Majeerteen officers; 17 executed; Col. Abdillaahi Yuusuf Ahmad flees to Ethiopia and founds the [Somali Salvation Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/) (later SSDF). **Actors:** Majeerteen officers; SSDF. Source: [S15](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/29.htm); [S21](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)
- **May–Jun 1979.** Red Berets destroy water reservoirs around Galcaio; over 2,000 Umar Mahamuud (Majeerteen) die of thirst; mass livestock losses. **Actors:** Red Berets; Majeerteen. Source: [S15](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/29.htm)
- **6 Apr 1981.** Somali National Movement (SNM) founded in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) by 400–500 Isaaq exiles; from 1982 based in Ethiopia. **Actors:** SNM; Isaaq diaspora. Source: [S16](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm); [S21](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)
- **Feb–Jul 1982.** Barre visits US, releases Igaal and Abshir; 7 Jun arrests 17 prominent politicians, alienating Isaaq, Majeerteen, Hawiye; dissidents with Ethiopian air support seize Balumbale and [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/); US aid rises to $80m. **Actors:** US; Ethiopia; SSDF. Source: [S13](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)
- **Dec 1984.** Accord with Kenya renouncing territorial claims; WSLF halts operations after split. **Actors:** Kenya; WSLF. Source: [S13](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)
- **1985.** Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) formed from SSDF split, Ogaden (Daarood) base. **Actors:** SPM. Source: [S21](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)
- **Jan 1986.** Somalia joins [IGADD](/en/relations/igad/); Barre meets Mengistu in Djibouti. **Actors:** IGADD; Ethiopia. Source: [S13](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)
- **May–Nov 1986.** Barre injured in car crash; power struggle between "constitutional" faction (VP Samantar) and family faction (brother, son, senior wife); officer corps purged. **Actors:** Barre family; Samantar. Source: [S14](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm)
- **1984–1987.** US aid falls from $34m to ~$8.7m; Congress cuts aid over human-rights violations. **Actors:** US Congress. Source: [S13](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)
- **1988.** Peace accord with Ethiopia ends cross-border sanctuary; SNM moves into Somalia, captures [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (27 May) and part of Hargeysa (31 May); government bombardment; 300,000+ Isaaq flee to Ethiopia; ~5,000 Isaaq killed May–Dec. **Actors:** SNM; government forces; Ethiopia. Source: [S16](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm); [S20](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm); [S22](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)
- **1989.** United Somali Congress (USC) founded by Hawiye leaders who had worked with SNM. **Actors:** USC; Hawiye. Source: [S21](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)
- **Jul 1989.** Bishop Colombo killed (9 Jul); ~450 demonstrators killed by Red Berets (14 Jul); ~47 mainly Isaaq men executed at Jasiira beach (15 Jul). **Actors:** Red Berets; Hawiye; Isaaq. Source: [S17](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/31.htm)
- **1990.** [Somali Democratic Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/) ([Gadabursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/)) formed; Ogaden army officers desert to SPM. **Actors:** SDA; SPM. Source: [S21](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)
- **May–Jul 1990.** Manifesto Group: 114 notables petition for elections and human rights; 46 sentenced to death after 6 Jul stadium shooting (65+ killed); charges dropped 13 Jul after protests. **Actors:** Manifesto Group; Barre. Source: [S17](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/31.htm)
- **Dec 1990 – Jan 1991.** USC fighters enter Mogadishu; four weeks of fighting with Red Berets; Barre flees (Jan 1991); other fronts refuse to cooperate with USC. **Actors:** USC; SNM; SPM; SSDF; Red Berets. Source: [S20](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm); [S22](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)

## What the record shows
- **Clans and power.** The SRC made clanism an offence and split up the regions ([S8](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)). The Library of Congress also records that the government's inner circle came from three clans, the Mareehaan, Ogaden and Dhulbahante ([S10](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)), and that clans thought to back armed resistance were punished collectively ([S15](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/29.htm), [S16](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm), [S17](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/31.htm)). By 1991 each major clan-family had an armed front ([S21](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).
- **The script.** The Latin script for Somali was adopted from 1 January 1973 and followed by national literacy campaigns ([S11](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)). See [the Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).
- **Foreign backing.** Somalia was backed by the Soviet Union until 1977 and by the United States after it; US aid fell from US$34 million in 1984 to about US$8.7 million in 1987 ([S3](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm), [S13](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).
- **After the fall.** The Library of Congress records that the other fronts refused to cooperate with the USC once Siad Barre fell ([S20](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm)). In May 1990, 114 public figures had signed a manifesto calling for the government to resign ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)).

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# The Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991: how the state was run

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Democratic Republic was the name of Somalia from the coup of 21 October 1969 to the fall of Siad Barre in January 1991. A military Supreme Revolutionary Council ruled until 1976, when power passed to a single party, the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party. A 1979 constitution set up a presidential system and a one-party People's Assembly. National Security Courts, answerable only to the president, judged political cases until October 1990.

## In short

On 21 October 1969, six days after President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) was killed by a bodyguard, army units took over Mogadishu. A Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) took power with Major General [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) as its president. It banned political parties, closed the National Assembly, suspended the constitution and renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)).

The name lasted until Siad Barre left Mogadishu in January 1991. This page covers how the state was organised. The events of the period are told in [the Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The coup, October 1969

- **15 October 1969.** A bodyguard killed President Shermarke while Prime Minister [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) was abroad. The killer was later tried and executed by the new government ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)).
- **21 October 1969.** When it became clear that the Assembly would back Egal's choice for president, army units seized key points in Mogadishu, with police cooperation. Leading members of the civilian government, Egal among them, were detained at the presidential palace (same source).
- **Aims.** The new government said its goals included an end to "tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and misrule". It said it would honour existing treaties and support "national liberation movements and Somali unification" (same source).

The Library of Congress writes that Siad Barre was "not regarded as the author of the military takeover" but took the lead of the officers who carried it out. It also says that "no evidence indicated that the coup was Soviet-inspired" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/21.htm)).

## Rule by the SRC, 1969–1976

Two texts set up the new state: Law Number 1, issued on the day of the coup, and the First Charter of the Revolution ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)).

- **The SRC.** Law Number 1 gave the 25-member council all powers of the president, the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers, and many duties of the courts. It decided by majority vote and rarely published its debates.
- **The cabinet.** A 14-member Council of the Secretaries of State ran daily government but "lacked political power". Until 1974 several ministries were headed by officers who also sat on the SRC.
- **Siad Barre's posts.** He was head of state, chairman of the cabinet, commander-in-chief and president of the SRC.
- **The 1960 constitution.** It was repealed in February 1970. Earlier laws stayed in force unless the SRC struck them out as "incompatible...with the spirit of the Revolution".
- **Officials.** Military officers replaced civilian regional and district officials. Civil servants attended courses mixing training with "political indoctrination", and those judged "politically unreliable" were dismissed (same source).

On 21 October 1970 Siad Barre declared Somalia a socialist state. He described the ideology, "scientific socialism", as made of three parts: self-reliance, socialism on Marxist lines, and Islam. He said: "Socialism is not a religion... It is a political principle" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)).

## Plots and trials, 1970–1974

- **April 1970.** The first vice president, General Jaama Ali Qoorsheel, was arrested, convicted of treason by the National Security Court and jailed ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/23.htm)).
- **May 1971.** The second vice president, General Mohamed Ainanche, Lieutenant Colonel Salah Gaveire Kedie and other officers were arrested for plotting to kill Siad Barre. Ainanche, Gaveire and one more officer were executed after a long trial (same source).
- **1974.** Qoorsheel and most of the detained civilian leaders were freed. Egal and four former ministers were not; Egal was sentenced to 30 years for embezzlement and conspiracy (same source). He was released in 1982 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).

## Rule by the party, 1976–1991

In June 1976 a congress founded the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP). On 1 July 1976 the SRC dissolved itself and handed power to the party ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/26.htm)).

- **The Supreme Council.** The party's central committee had 73 members. They included the 19 officers of the SRC, but most were civilians.
- **The politburo.** Five former SRC members, among them Siad Barre and his son-in-law, the security chief Ahmad [Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) Abdullah, made the decisions. Siad Barre was the party's secretary general.
- **Membership.** It "never numbered more than 20,000". Members carried out directives and "did not debate policy" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/72.htm)).

The Library of Congress writes that "in practice real power over the party and the government remained with the small group of military officers who had been most influential in the SRC" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/26.htm)). In October 1980 the SRC was revived beside the party and the cabinet. The same source says the overlap "left decision making solely in Siad Barre's hands" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).

## The 1979 constitution and the People's Assembly

The 1979 constitution was approved by referendum ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)):

- **A presidential system.** The president was head of state and head of government, chose and chaired the Council of Ministers, ran foreign affairs, could declare war and emergency, and appointed the Supreme Court president.
- **Elections.** At first the legislature elected the president by a two-thirds vote for six years. Amendments in December 1984 made it a direct vote for seven years. In the first such vote, in 1986, Siad Barre was the only candidate and received 99.9 percent.
- **The People's Assembly.** 177 members: 171 elected and 6 appointed by the president ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).

Assemblies were elected in 1979 and 1984 from single lists of SRSP members, and the government announced over 99 percent approval each time. The Library of Congress writes that the Assembly met "for several days each year" and "ratified whatever laws the executive had decided to submit". The 1989 election was postponed because of the war (same source).

## Courts and law

- **The ordinary courts.** The four tiers set up in 1962 stayed in place: 84 district courts, 8 regional courts, courts of appeal at Mogadishu and Hargeisa, and the Supreme Court ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/71.htm)).
- **The Higher Judicial Council.** In 1970 military officers took every seat on the council that appointed and disciplined judges. The Library of Congress says this made "the judiciary accountable to the executive" (same source).
- **The 1973 civil code.** It replaced Italian and British laws. It ended clan and lineage rights over land, water and grazing, and limited *diya* (blood compensation) to the victim and close relatives. A later amendment banned *diya* entirely ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/70.htm)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).
- **The 1975 family law.** It gave women equal inheritance. Ten religious scholars who spoke against it were sentenced to death by a state security court and executed on 23 January 1975. See [the 1975 family law and the ten scholars](/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/).

## The National Security Courts

The National Security Courts (NSC) were set up in 1970 "as the judicial arm of the SRC" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)). Their first cases were Shermarke's killing and corruption charges against the former government.

- **Who sat.** A senior military officer presided, usually with two more officers. A military attorney general prosecuted ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/71.htm)).
- **What they heard.** Offences the government defined as against state security: embezzlement by officials, murder, political activity against the state, and theft of government food stocks.
- **Appeals.** "No other court, not even the Supreme Court, could review NSC sentences". Appeals went only to the president.
- **The end.** In October 1990 Siad Barre announced that the courts were abolished.

The Library of Congress records that "opponents of the Siad Barre regime accused the NSC of sentencing hundreds of people to death for political reasons", and calls the courts "widely feared and detested" (same source).

## Security and information

- **The National Security Service (NSS).** Organised "under Soviet direction", at first to stop professionals and dissidents leaving the country and to stop clans settling disputes in traditional ways ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)).
- **Information.** The Ministry of Information and National Guidance ran political education offices and used the press and radio for the "success of the socialist, revolutionary road". A censorship board shaped news to SRC guidelines (same source).
- **After 1978.** Following the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), the Library of Congress records "jailings, torture, and summary executions of dissidents and collective punishment of clans thought to have engaged in organized resistance" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)). See [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/) and [the Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

## Clans and local government

The SRC made "tribalism" an offence punished by prison terms and fines. Paid clan headmen were replaced by government-appointed *nabadoon* ("peacekeepers"), and marriages had to take place at district orientation centres ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm)). The government resettled 140,000 nomads in farming and fishing communities (same source).

Elected local councils were dissolved after the coup. The country was redrawn into 16 regions and 84 districts. Military officers chaired the regional councils, and most council members came from the army, the police and security services. A 1979 law allowed district elections, with candidates approved by the government first ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/69.htm)).

The Library of Congress records that the government was "commonly referred to by the code name MOD": the Mareehaan (Siad Barre's clan), the Ogaden (his mother's) and the [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) (his son-in-law's). In 1975, 10 of the 20 SRC members were [Daarood](/en/society/darod/), and the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and Rahanweyn had none ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)). By 1980 most top SRSP leaders came from the same three clans ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/72.htm)).

## The Somali script and literacy

On 21 October 1972 the SRC announced that a Latin script would be the standard way of writing Somali from 1 January 1973. Officials were given three months, later six, to learn it ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)).

- **Before.** Government papers were in English and Italian, and literacy was estimated at 5 percent in 1972.
- **The campaigns.** Up to 8,000 teachers taught in towns, then more than 20,000, half of them secondary students, went to the nomads from August 1974.
- **Result.** "Several hundred thousand people" learned to read in the first phase. The UN put literacy at 24 percent in 1990 (same source).

See [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## The end, 1990–1991

In May 1990, 114 public figures signed a manifesto calling on the government to resign. In October 1990 Siad Barre proposed a new draft constitution and abolished the National Security Courts ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)). In late January 1991 he asked his former foreign minister [Omar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/) to form a government to negotiate with the armed movements, but he left the capital before power could be handed over ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)).

The interim government that followed kept the provisions of the 1979 constitution it had not voided ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)). See [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Who suffered?

- **Detained politicians.** Egal and other civilian leaders were held from 1969, some until 1982 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/23.htm); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).
- **Those tried by the NSC.** Opponents said hundreds were sentenced to death for political reasons ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/71.htm)).
- **Whole clans** punished for armed resistance, in the Library of Congress's words, after 1978 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).
- **Ten religious scholars** executed in 1975. See [the 1975 family law](/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/).

## Sources differ

- **Who led the coup.** The Library of Congress says Siad Barre was not seen as its author but took the lead of it. The government itself later presented the coup as a planned revolution ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/21.htm)).
- **How socialist the state was.** Siad Barre called the ideology scientific socialism. The Library of Congress writes that "genuine Marxist sympathies were not deep-rooted in Somalia" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)).
- **Election results.** The government announced over 99 percent approval in 1979, 1984 and 1986. Opponents and critics were not allowed to stand ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Coup d'Etat](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm), [The revolutionary regime](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/21.htm), [Supreme Revolutionary Council](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/22.htm), [Challenges to the regime](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/23.htm), [Scientific socialism](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm), [Language and literacy](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm), [The SRSP](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/26.htm), [1980–90](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm), [Government structure](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm), [Constitution](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm), [Legislature](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm), [Local government](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/69.htm), [Legal system](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/70.htm), [Courts](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/71.htm), [Politics](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/72.htm).


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# The 1964 Somali parliamentary election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1964/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 30 March 1964 the Somali Republic held its first national election since independence. The Somali Youth League (SYL) won 69 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly. The Somali National Congress won 22, the Somali Democratic Union 15 and the Somali Independent Constitutional Party 9. It was also the first national vote in which women in the former British north could take part. A five-month crisis followed over who would be prime minister, ending with Abdirizak Haji Hussein in office.

## In short

"Countrywide municipal elections, in which the SYL won 74 percent of the seats, occurred in November 1963. These were followed in March 1964 by the country's first postindependence national elections. Again the SYL triumphed, winning 69 out of 123 parliamentary seats" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "The Husseen government"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/18.htm)).

The Library of Congress adds that the party's "true margin of victory was even greater, as the fifty-four seats won by the opposition were divided among a number of small parties" (same source). For the decade as a whole, see [the civilian era, 1960–1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/). For the party, see [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).

## Before the vote

- **The constitution.** The June 1961 referendum on the constitution "was in effect Somalia's first national election". It was "overwhelmingly approved in the south" but "supported by less than 50 percent of the northern electorate" ([Library of Congress, "From independence to revolution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).
- **Women's vote in the north.** "In May 1963, by an assembly margin of 52 to 42, suffrage was extended to women in former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) as well" (same source).
- **Political life.** The Library of Congress writes that "politics was at once the Somalis' most practiced art and favorite sport", and that "the level of political participation often surpassed that in many Western democracies" (same source).
- **The border.** The vote came weeks after fighting with Ethiopia. See [the 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/).

## The result

The figures as given in Nohlen, Krennerich and Thibaut, *Elections in Africa: A data handbook* (1999), p. 812 ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Somali_parliamentary_election)):

| Party | Votes | Share | Seats |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Somali Youth League (SYL) | 472,296 | 51.67% | 69 |
| Somali National Congress (SNC) | 186,208 | 20.37% | 22 |
| Somali Democratic Union (SDU) | 95,707 | 10.47% | 15 |
| Somali Independent Constitutional Party (Hizbia Dastur Mustaqil Somali) | 80,173 | 8.77% | 9 |
| Total | 914,069 | | 123 |

The Inter-Parliamentary Union later recorded that 21 parties contested the 1964 election ([IPU, report on the 1969 election](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1969_E.PDF)).

## The crisis over the prime minister

From the Library of Congress ([*Somalia: A Country Study*, "The Husseen government"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/18.htm)):

- **The nomination.** President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) chose [Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/) as prime minister "instead of the incumbent, Shermaarke, who had the endorsement of the SYL party leadership". The crisis "left Somalia without a government until the beginning of September".
- **Clan balance.** Hussein chose ministers "on the basis of ability and without regard to place of origin", which "broke the unwritten rules that there be clan and regional balance".
- **The first vote.** The proposed cabinet "failed to be affirmed by a margin of two votes". Forty-eight SYL members voted for Hussein, thirty-three against, and seven, including [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), abstained.
- **Greater Somalia.** The debate "centered on the issue of Greater Somalia". Hussein "was portrayed as willing to accept the continued sovereignty of Ethiopia and Kenya over Somali areas".
- **Party switching.** "In the first three months after the election, seventeen members of the parliamentary opposition resigned from their parties to join the SYL."
- **The second vote.** The President nominated Hussein again. A second cabinet list, with three more posts for opposing factions, was approved. Hussein stayed in office until the presidential election of June 1967, when the Assembly chose Shermarke over Aden Abdulle Osman.

## Who suffered?

- **Northern voters,** who had rejected the 1961 constitution by majority and whose share of power was a lasting complaint. The Library of Congress records that dissatisfaction "boiled over in December 1961" in an attempted coup by junior officers in the north ([LoC](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **The size of the SYL win.** The SYL won 69 of 123 seats, but party switching after the vote made its real majority larger (LoC).
- **How many parties stood.** The IPU gives 21 parties for 1964. The sources linked here give vote figures for four.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["From independence to revolution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm), ["The Husseen government"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/18.htm).
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, report on the 1969 Somali elections, with the 1964 comparison: [PDF](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1969_E.PDF).


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# The 1969 Somali parliamentary election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1969/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 26 March 1969 Somalia held its last multi-party national election before military rule. Sixty-four parties and 2,214 candidates stood for 123 seats. The Somali Youth League (SYL) won 73 seats with 33 percent of the valid vote, and almost all members elected for other parties then joined it. There were charges of government election fraud, and the Supreme Court declined to hear election petitions. Seven months later, after President Shermarke was killed, the army took power on 21 October 1969.

## In short

The March 1969 election was the last multi-party national vote in Somalia. The Inter-Parliamentary Union recorded that "64 different political groups, most of which were created just before the poll for purely electoral purposes, entered the field on this occasion with 2,214 candidates for the 123 available seats" ([IPU, report on the 1969 election](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1969_E.PDF)).

The Somali Youth League won 73 seats. The Library of Congress writes that "a number of charges were made of government election fraud, at least some firmly founded" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "The Igaal government"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)). The army took power seven months later. See [the 1964 election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1964/) for the previous vote and [the civilian era, 1960–1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/) for the decade.

## How the vote worked

From the IPU report ([IPU](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1969_E.PDF)):

- **The Assembly.** 123 members elected for five years.
- **Voters.** All citizens of both sexes aged 18 could vote. "There are no electoral rolls and voters cast their ballots in the constituency in which they are on polling day."
- **Constituencies.** There were 48, one per district: 10 single-seat districts decided by majority, and 38 decided by party lists with proportional representation.
- **Candidates.** Lists had to be signed by at least 500 electors of the constituency.
- **Uncontested seats.** Voting took place in 43 constituencies. In the other 5, the SYL was the only party to put up candidates, who were elected automatically.

The Library of Congress adds that "the March 1969 elections were the first to combine voting for municipal and National Assembly posts", and that a candidate needed "either the support of 500 voters or the sponsorship of his clan, expressed through a vote of its traditional assembly" ([LoC](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)).

## The result

The leading parties, from the IPU report ([IPU](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1969_E.PDF)):

| Party | Votes | Share | Seats |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Somali Youth League | 260,046 | 33.24% | 73 |
| Somali National Congress | 77,339 | 9.89% | 11 |
| Hizbia Dastur Mustaqil Somali | 27,681 | 3.54% | 8 |
| Somali African National Union | 42,006 | 5.43% | 6 |
| Somali Democratic Union | 46,064 | 5.89% | 2 |
| Popular Movement for Democratic Action | 42,629 | 5.45% | 2 |
| Other parties | | | 21 |

There were 879,554 voters, 97,320 void or blank ballots and 782,234 valid votes. All 123 members elected were men (same source).

## After the vote

- **Joining the winner.** "By the end of May 1969 the SYL parliamentary cohort had swelled from 73 to 109." With the 11 SNC members in coalition, the government side held 120 of 123 seats ([LoC](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm)). The IPU says all deputies of other parties joined the SYL "except for a single parliamentarian belonging to the Popular Movement for Democratic Action".
- **Incumbents.** "Of the incumbent deputies, 77 out of 123 were not returned (including 8 out of 18 members of the previous cabinet)" (LoC).
- **Fraud charges and the courts.** "Discontent was exacerbated when the Supreme Court, under its newly appointed president, declined to accept jurisdiction over election petitions, although it had accepted such jurisdiction on an earlier occasion" (LoC).
- **The new cabinet.** [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) formed a new cabinet. "A few of these 120 left the SYL after the composition of Igaal's cabinet became clear and after the announcement of his program" (LoC).
- **15 October 1969.** "A bodyguard killed president Shermaarke while prime minister Igaal was out of the country" ([LoC, "Coup d'Etat"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)). See [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/).
- **21 October 1969.** "When it became apparent that the assembly would support Igaal's choice" for a new president, army units seized Mogadishu. The new Supreme Revolutionary Council "banned political parties, abolished the National Assembly, and suspended the constitution" (same source). See [the Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).

## Who suffered?

- **Candidates who lost and their supporters,** who the Library of Congress says were "frustrated and angry", with no court to hear their petitions (LoC).
- **Elected members and leaders of the civilian government,** arrested after the coup and held at the presidential palace, including Egal ([LoC](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **How many joined the SYL.** The Library of Congress says the SYL grew from 73 to 109 members by the end of May 1969 and that the members of the 24 smaller parties, fifty in all, joined it. The IPU says all but one deputy from other parties joined.
- **What the results showed.** The Library of Congress writes that the high defeat of incumbents "did not unequivocally demonstrate dissatisfaction with the government", since the figures were "nearly identical with the results of the 1964 election".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Inter-Parliamentary Union, *Somalia: elections of 26 March 1969*: [PDF](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1969_E.PDF).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["The Igaal government"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/19.htm), ["Coup d'Etat"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm).


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# Kenya's Northern Frontier District, 1962–1967: the vote that was not followed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 1962 a British commission found that the people of the eastern Northern Frontier District of Kenya 'almost unanimously' wanted to leave Kenya and join the Somali Republic. In March 1963 Britain instead made the area a seventh region of Kenya, and Somalia broke off relations with Britain. Kenya became independent with the whole district in December 1963. An armed conflict followed until the Arusha memorandum of October 1967; Kenya's truth commission puts the official death toll at 2,000.

## In short

The Northern Frontier District (NFD) was the dry north of colonial Kenya. It covered about half of Kenya but held about one-thirtieth of its people ([HL Deb 3 April 1963, vol. 248, cc. 600–36](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)). Its eastern part was home mainly to Somalis.

In 1962 Britain sent a commission to ask the people what they wanted. In the east it found near-unanimous support for joining the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). Britain did not follow that finding, and the district went to independent Kenya in December 1963.

## The commission of 1962

At the Kenya constitutional conference of 1962, an NFD delegation asked for all six districts to leave Kenya and join the Somali Republic. Kenya's two main parties, KANU and KADU, were "equally unanimous" in opposing any secession, a government minister later told Parliament (same source).

Britain promised an inquiry and a decision before Kenya's new constitution came in. To make it impartial, it chose two commissioners from outside Britain: Major-General Bogert of Canada and Mr Onyiuke QC of Nigeria (same source).

Their task was "to ascertain, and report on, public opinion" in the districts of Isiolo, Garissa, Mandera, Marsabit, Moyale and Wajir. They visited from 13 October to 28 November 1962. The report was published on 20 December as Cmnd. 1900 ([HC Deb 21 December 1962, vol. 669, cc. 256–7W](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1962/dec/21/northern-frontier-district)).

## What the commission found

The government summarised the findings in the House of Lords ([HL Deb 3 April 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)):

- **The east.** In Mandera, Wajir and Garissa, apart from the Riverine and Orma areas, and in the [Ajuraan](/en/society/ajuuraan/) area of Moyale, the people "almost unanimously favoured the secession from Kenya" with the aim "of ultimately joining the Somali Republic".
- **A British period first.** These people wanted a period under British authority, to build their own government and join Somalia "as a self-governing unit".
- **The west.** Elsewhere "the people either wished to remain in Kenya or opinion was divided or uncertain". The commission said it could not get a true picture of the views of the Rendille.

Lord Lytton described the NFD as the dividing line in East Africa between what he called "non-Negro" peoples, mainly Somali and Galla (Oromo), and the rest of Kenya (same source, cc. 603–4). The Library of Congress says the commission found separation supported by both the Somalis and the Oromo herders ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)).

The Earl of Lytton, who spoke for the Somali case, estimated that "86 per cent. of the whole N.F.D. area wants secession". He asked the government to give its own figure if his was wrong (same source).

## The decision of 8 March 1963

On 8 March 1963 the Colonial Secretary, Duncan Sandys, announced the decision in Nairobi. The Somali area became a "separate Seventh Region" of Kenya, "enjoying a status equal to that of the other regions" ([HC Deb 8 March 1963, vol. 673, cc. 99–100W](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1963/mar/08/northern-frontier-district)). It took in Mandera and Wajir, Garissa less the Riverine and Orma areas, and the Ajuraan area of Moyale.

Sandys explained his reasons to Parliament ([HL Deb 12 March 1963, vol. 247, cc. 723–32](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/mar/12/kenya-1)):

- Kenya's ministers felt that Britain should not take "an irrevocable step" before Kenya had a fully representative government.
- The western NFD was "opposed with equal vehemence to secession".
- A cession without Kenya's consent "would have provoked violent reactions throughout the country", and both Kenyan parties would have left the government.

He added: "We did not, of course, imagine that this would fully satisfy Somali aspirations" (same source).

## Somalia breaks with Britain

The Somali Republic answered at once. Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke wrote on 17 March 1963 that his government, "with the support of Parliament", had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain. He wrote that protests "broke out in Mogadishu as soon as his announcement was heard over the radio" ([HL Deb 3 April 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)). See [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/).

The Somali government argued that Britain had broken its undertakings by placing the NFD inside Kenya's new constitution. The British government replied that it had only promised a decision on the findings, and had kept that promise (same source).

## Independence, December 1963

On 2 December 1963 the House of Lords debated the Kenya Independence Bill. Lord Lytton moved to leave out "the North-East Region" from independent Kenya. The government said the region held "many tribes, and not only Somalis". The amendment was negatived ([HL Deb 2 December 1963, vol. 253, cc. 872–92](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/dec/02/kenya-independence-bill)). Kenya became independent on 12 December 1963 with the whole district.

## The conflict, 1963–1967

Armed resistance followed in the north. Kenya's government called the fighters *shifta*, a word for bandits. Supporters of the Somali case in Britain, such as Lord Lytton, described it as a question of self-determination ([HL Deb 2 December 1965](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1965/dec/02/somalia-and-kenya)).

The Library of Congress records both positions. Kenya charged that the fighters were trained in Somalia, armed there with Soviet weapons and directed from Mogadishu. The Somali government officially denied this, but its radio, the Voice of Somalia, broadcast into Kenya and influenced the level of fighting ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)). The same source says the Somali Republic claimed self-determination for Somalis outside it, not sovereignty over the land.

Lord Lytton had warned the Lords in December 1963 that the area would see guerrilla war and "dreadful reprisals" ([HL Deb 2 December 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/dec/02/kenya-independence-bill)).

In December 1965 Lord Lytton told the Lords that Kenya had declared the NFD to be under a state of siege. He reported Kenya's own figures: since independence it had "killed 400 Shifta and imprisoned 500 others" ([HL Deb 2 December 1965, vol. 270, cc. 1437–54](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1965/dec/02/somalia-and-kenya)). He also described the confiscation of livestock as punishment (same source).

The British government answered that the NFD was "part of the independent country of Kenya", and that Britain could not intervene in "a dispute which is taking place between three independent countries". It said it was ready to restore relations with Somalia whenever Somalia wished (same source).

## The Arusha memorandum, October 1967

After Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal became Prime Minister in 1967, Somalia sought better relations with its neighbours. With President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia as mediator, Egal and President Jomo Kenyatta signed a "memorandum of understanding" on the border dispute at Arusha, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), in late October 1967 ([Reuters archive record, 1967](https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/293856)). Reuters reports that both sides agreed to keep peace on the border and end hostile propaganda (same source). See [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) and [the civilian era, 1960–1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Who suffered?

Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission reported in 2013 ([TJRC report, as compiled by McMaster University's Truth Commissions project](https://truthcommissions.humanities.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1CAF_References-to-History_Kenya-Report.pdf)):

> "The Shifta War, waged between 1964 to 1967, represents a period in Kenya's history during which systematic and widespread violation of human rights (including mass killings) of Kenyan citizens occurred. Officially, the death toll stands at 2,000. Unofficial estimates place the death toll at 7,000."

The commission added that in colonial times, administrators in the north had "extraordinary powers to arrest and detain" people, with travel and movement restricted (same source). Kenyan security forces also lost men.

## Sources differ

- **The death toll.** The TJRC gives 2,000 officially and 7,000 by unofficial estimates. Other estimates run higher. No agreed figure exists.
- **The war's dates.** The TJRC dates it 1964 to 1967. The Library of Congress speaks of more than four years of fighting. Other accounts date it from 1963, at independence (["Shifta War", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifta_War)).
- **The break with Britain.** Some summaries give 1962. Shermarke's own letter, read in Parliament, dates it to March 1963.
- **How many wanted to leave.** The commission gave no single figure. Lord Lytton estimated 86 percent of the whole district; the government did not give its own number.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UK House of Lords, government statement on the Kenya constitution and the NFD, 12 March 1963: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/mar/12/kenya-1).
- UK House of Commons, written answer with the decision of 8 March 1963: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1963/mar/08/northern-frontier-district).
- UK House of Lords debate on the NFD, 3 April 1963, quoting the commission's report: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya).
- UK House of Lords, Kenya Independence Bill, 2 December 1963: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/dec/02/kenya-independence-bill).
- UK House of Lords debate on [Somalia and Kenya](/en/relations/kenya/), 2 December 1965: [Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1965/dec/02/somalia-and-kenya).
- Kenya Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, 2013, history extracts: [McMaster University compilation (PDF)](https://truthcommissions.humanities.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1CAF_References-to-History_Kenya-Report.pdf).


---

# The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In February 1964 Somali and Ethiopian forces fought along their border, starting at Tog Wajaale between Hargeisa and Jigjiga, and Ethiopian aircraft struck targets inside Somalia. Both sides took the dispute to the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Sudan mediated, and talks in Khartoum in March 1964 produced a ceasefire, a joint commission and a demilitarised strip of 10 to 15 km on each side of the border. The fighting grew out of an insurgency by Somalis in the Ogaden that had begun in 1963.

## In short

In February 1964 fighting broke out along the border between the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) and Ethiopia, and Ethiopian aircraft raided targets in Somalia. [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) mediated on behalf of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and hostilities ended in April with a ceasefire, a joint commission and a demilitarised zone "ten to fifteen kilometers wide" on each side of the border ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)).

The US government's own records from the time are published in *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968*, volume XXIV, chapter on Somalia ([Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/ch8)). For the war of 1977–1978, see [the Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

## Background

- **The claim.** At independence in 1960 the Somali Republic did not accept the borders drawn in colonial treaties, nor the 1954 handover of the Haud to Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)). See [the Haud, 1954–1955](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).
- **Early clashes.** Within six months of independence there were armed incidents on the border ([Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/26.htm)).
- **The Ogaden insurgency.** A US National Intelligence Estimate of April 1964 described "Somali insurgency, encouraged and supported from Mogadiscio" in Ethiopia's Ogaden. It said "the Ethiopian army is finding it difficult to cope with the rebels" ([FRUS 1964–68, vol. XXIV, doc. 292](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d292)). A State Department paper of March 1964 spoke of "nine months of unsuccessful campaigning against Somali guerrillas in the Ogaden" ([doc. 290](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d290)).
- **The Somali view.** The same estimate described the aim as bringing "under its rule the half-million Somalis in Ethiopia and Kenya" ([doc. 292](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d292)). See [the Northern Frontier District, 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/).

## The fighting, February 1964

- **6–8 February.** "Ethiopian and Somali forces clashed at the border town of [Tug Wajale](/en/diaspora/refugees-in-somalia-1978-1990/)", between Hargeisa and Jigjiga. Fighting resumed after a lull on 9 February and "may have spread to two other border localities" ([FRUS, doc. 279](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d279)).
- **The second clash.** The same memo calls it "the second between the GSR [Somali government] and the IEG [Ethiopian government] in less than a month" (same document).
- **Emergencies.** Somalia proclaimed a national emergency and asked for a UN Security Council meeting on a charge of Ethiopian aggression. Ethiopia proclaimed an emergency in the border area and asked the OAU to consider its charge of aggression by Somalia (same document).
- **Air raids.** The State Department noted a "growing number verified reports of penetration by IEG forces, particularly Air Force, into Somali territory", and fighting that continued "beyond February 16 ceasefire deadline" ([doc. 281](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d281)).
- **Ethiopia's stated policy.** Ethiopia's information ministry said on 10 February that the Emperor had "ordered IEG forces not to counterattack into Somali territory despite attacks against them", adding that if "necessities of military action" forced a crossing they would soon return (same document).

## The powers

- **The United States.** Washington supplied Ethiopia's army. It told Ethiopia it did not share the view that the air incursions were self-defence (doc. 281). To Somalia it complained of "a growing and disturbing wave anti-US sentiment", including newspaper claims that Ethiopia had US support ([doc. 282](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d282)). On 21 February President Johnson wrote to President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) that "the fact of our friendship with Ethiopia in no way lessens our desire for continuing friendship" with Somalia ([doc. 285](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d285)).
- **The Soviet Union.** Moscow had agreed to supply Somalia with "some $35 million of military aid" ([doc. 292](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d292)). A US intelligence note says Khrushchev wrote to the Emperor on 22 February about Somali charges that Ethiopia was "carrying out air attacks on Somali territory from French and British airfields" ([doc. 287](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d287)).

## Mediation and the Khartoum agreement

- **February.** Both sides accepted an OAU call. Sudan took the lead in arranging a ceasefire, and OAU foreign ministers met in Lagos ([doc. 280](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d280); [doc. 285](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d285)).
- **Late March.** Ethiopian and Somali delegations met in Khartoum from about 24 March ([doc. 289](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289)).
- **The terms.** A ceasefire, a joint commission "to examine the causes of frontier incidents", and a demilitarised zone on either side of the border ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)). Later US documents refer to "the Khartoum Agreement of March 1964" and its "demilitarized border strip" ([doc. 299](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d299)).
- **The Hargeisa raid.** After the Khartoum talks ended, Hargeisa was bombed from the air in an attack the US "laid to IEG". On 1 April the State Department told its ambassador to raise "the Hargeisa bombing raid" with the Emperor, noting it used "US MAP-supplied equipment" and that US military aid was given "conditional on IEG undertaking to use equipment solely for defensive purposes" ([doc. 291](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d291)).

## What followed

- **Ethiopia and Kenya** signed a mutual defence pact in 1964, "in response to what both countries perceived as a continuing threat from Somalia". It was renewed in 1980 and 1987 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)).
- **Later tension.** US documents from the following years record new charges by each side that the other was breaking the Khartoum truce, including radio propaganda and troop movements into the demilitarised zone ([doc. 302](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d302)).
- **1967.** Prime Minister [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) began a policy of easing tension with Ethiopia and Kenya. See [the civilian era, 1960–1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Who suffered?

- **Soldiers on both sides** in the border fighting. The documents linked here give no count of the dead.
- **People of Hargeisa** and border areas under air attack (docs. 281 and 291).
- **Herders** who used grazing on both sides of the line. In February 1964 the US noted Ethiopia's "announced intention to close the border to Somali herdsmen who have traditional grazing and water rights on the Ethiopian side" ([doc. 279](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d279)).

## Sources differ

- **Who started it.** Each government charged the other with aggression before the OAU and the UN (doc. 279). The US said it was "not seeking assess responsibility", while also writing that the problem "would not exist in present serious form if ethnic Somalis abandoned their goal of Greater Somalia" (doc. 281).
- **Support for the Ogaden fighters.** US intelligence described the insurgency as "encouraged and supported from Mogadiscio" (doc. 292). For the guerrillas in Kenya, the Library of Congress records that the Somali government "officially denied" charges that they were trained in Somalia and "directed from Mogadishu" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)).
- **Air attacks.** Ethiopia called its incursions self-defence. Somalia said they came from French and British airfields, as reported by Soviet letters (doc. 287). The US called them "grave dangers" (doc. 281).
- **The dead.** None of the sources linked here gives a figure.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968*, volume XXIV, Africa, chapter on Somalia: [documents 275–304](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/ch8).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), "Foreign policy" (1960s): [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm).
- Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study* (1991), "The Ogaden and the Haud": [text](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/26.htm).


---

# The 1979 Somali constitutional referendum

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-constitutional-referendum-1979/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 25 August 1979 Somalia voted in a referendum on a new constitution for the Somali Democratic Republic, ten years after the 1969 coup. The official result was 3,597,592 votes for and 7,898 against, or 99.78 percent in favour. The constitution set up a presidential system in which the President was both head of state and head of government, with one legal party, the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, and a People's Assembly. It took effect with presidential approval on 23 September 1979 and stayed in force, as amended in 1984, until the government fell in 1991.

## In short

"In August 1979, a new Constitution was approved by popular referendum," the Inter-Parliamentary Union recorded ([IPU, *Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections* XIV, 1979–80](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF)). The CIA's *World Factbook* dates the constitution "25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979" ([*The World Factbook 1990*, Somalia](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)).

"The constitution of 1979 provided for a presidential system under which the president served as both head of state and head of government" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)). For the state it governed, see [the Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).

## The result

The official figures, from the African Elections Database ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Somali_constitutional_referendum)):

| Choice | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| For | 3,597,592 | 99.78% |
| Against | 7,898 | 0.22% |
| Total | 3,605,490 | |

## Background

- **After the coup.** "Following the 1969 general elections, Parliament was dissolved later in the year and the military took command of the country." In 1976 the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP) was formed as "the country's sole legal political party" ([IPU](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF)). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).
- **Outside pressure.** After the [Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), "Western countries were also pressuring the regime to liberalize economic and political life" ([Library of Congress, "Somalia's difficult decade, 1980–90"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).

## What the constitution set up

From the Library of Congress ([*Somalia: A Country Study*, "Constitution" and "Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)):

- **The President.** Head of state and head of government, choosing and chairing the Council of Ministers. The President was first to be "elected to a six-year, renewable term of office by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature".
- **Powers.** The President could "conduct foreign affairs, declare war, invoke emergency powers, serve as commander in chief of the armed forces, and appoint one or more vice presidents, the president of the Supreme Court, up to six members of the national legislature, and the members of the Council of Ministers".
- **The legislature.** A single-chamber People's Assembly of 177 members, 171 elected and 6 appointed, serving five years ([Library of Congress, "Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)). The President could dissolve it early.
- **Voting.** "Somalia had universal suffrage for persons over eighteen years of age, but women did not play a significant role in politics."

## Compared with 1961

"The constitution of 1979 resembled the constitution of 1961, also approved in a nationwide referendum." "The main difference between the two documents concerned executive power. The constitution of 1961 had provided for a parliamentary democracy, with the prime minister and Council of Ministers (cabinet) being drawn from the membership of the legislature" ([Library of Congress, "Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)). See [the 1960 constitution](/en/history/1960-constitution/).

## What followed

- **December 1979.** The first People's Assembly was elected from SRSP lists. See [the 1979 parliamentary election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1979/).
- **1984.** Amendments, also approved by referendum, made the presidency a seven-year office chosen by direct vote (Library of Congress, "Constitution"). See [the 1984 parliamentary election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1984/) and [the 1986 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-1986/).
- **After 1991.** The provisional government planned a new constitution, but "those provisions of the constitution of 1979 that had not been specifically voided by the interim government remained in force" (same source). See [the Interim Government of 1991](/en/history/interim-government-of-somalia-1991/) and [Somalia's constitutions](/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/).

## Who suffered?

- **Opponents of the government,** who had no legal party: the SRSP was "the country's sole legal political party" (IPU), and critics "were not permitted to run" in the Assembly elections that followed (Library of Congress, "Legislature").

## Sources differ

- **The result.** The figures above come from the African Elections Database as cited by Wikipedia. The IPU and Library of Congress sources linked here give no vote count for the referendum.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm); ["Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm); ["Somalia's difficult decade, 1980–90"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm).
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, *Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections* XIV (1979–80), Somalia: [PDF](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF).
- *The World Factbook 1990*, Somalia: [text](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia).


---

# The 1979 Somali parliamentary election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1979/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 30 December 1979 Somalia elected the 171 elected members of a new People's Assembly, set up by the constitution approved in a referendum that August. All candidates belonged to the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), the only legal party, and opponents of the government could not run. The government reported 3,985,838 voters and 99.91 percent support for the SRSP. It was the first legislature since the 1969 coup. In January 1980 the Assembly elected Siad Barre President for six years.

## In short

"Although the Siad Barre government suspended the National Assembly following the 1969 coup, a decade later it created a new single-chamber legislature, the People's Assembly," the US Library of Congress records. "Two such assemblies were elected, one in 1979 and another in 1984" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).

The first of those votes was held on 30 December 1979. "All candidates belonged to the SRSP", the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) recorded ([IPU, *Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections* XIV, 1979–80, pp. 121–122](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF)). For the 1984 vote, see [the 1984 parliamentary election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1984/).

## Background

- **No parliament for ten years.** "Following the 1969 general elections, Parliament was dissolved later in the year and the military took command of the country" (IPU). See [the 1969 parliamentary election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1969/) and [the Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).
- **One party.** "In 1976, the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), the country's sole legal political party, was formed" (IPU).
- **A new constitution.** "In August 1979, a new Constitution was approved by popular referendum" (IPU).
- **Outside pressure.** After the [Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), "Western countries were also pressuring the regime to liberalize economic and political life". "In response, Siad Barre held parliamentary elections in December 1979" ([Library of Congress, "Somalia's difficult decade, 1980–90"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).

## The rules

From the IPU and the Library of Congress:

- **The Assembly.** 171 members elected for five years, plus up to six appointed by the President "from among people dedicated to science, culture and art, or highly esteemed patriots" (IPU). The Library of Congress gives the total as 177 ("Legislature").
- **Voters and candidates.** Citizens could vote at 18 and stand at 21 (IPU).
- **The ballot.** "Electors could vote for or against each, the SRSP nominating an alternate candidate in the latter case" (IPU).
- **Who could run.** "Critics and opponents of the regime were not permitted to run." The government "drew up lists of candidates, all of whom were members of the only legally permitted party", and "submitted the entire lists for voter approval" (Library of Congress, "Legislature").

## The result

The official figures, as given by the IPU:

| | |
|---|---|
| Voters | 3,985,838 |
| Votes for the SRSP | 99.91% |
| Seats won by the SRSP | 171 of 171 |

"Among those elected were 20 members of the armed forces and six women" (IPU).

## After the vote

- **26 January 1980.** "The new Assembly unanimously elected incumbent President Siad Barre for a six-year term." He named a new government on 7 February (IPU). See [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/).
- **The cabinet.** "Following the elections, Siad Barre again reshuffled the cabinet, abolishing the positions of his three vice presidents" ([Library of Congress, "Somalia's difficult decade"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).
- **October 1980.** The old Supreme Revolutionary Council was revived, leaving three overlapping bodies: the party politburo, the Council of Ministers and the SRC. "The resulting confusion of functions within the administration left decision making solely in Siad Barre's hands" (same source).
- **The Assembly's role.** It "did not truly debate any legislation. It met for several days each year and ratified whatever laws the executive had decided to submit for its 'approval'" (Library of Congress, "Legislature").

## Who suffered?

- **Critics and opponents of the government,** who were barred from standing (Library of Congress, "Legislature").

## Sources differ

- **The size of the Assembly.** The IPU counts 171 elected seats plus up to six appointed. The Library of Congress gives the total of 177.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Inter-Parliamentary Union, *Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections* XIV (1979–80), Somalia, pp. 121–122: [PDF](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm); ["Somalia's difficult decade, 1980–90"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm).


---

# The Ogaden war, 1977–1978

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ogaden war was fought between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 over the Somali-inhabited Ogaden region of Ethiopia. Somali forces and the Western Somali Liberation Front took most of the region by late 1977, but Soviet arms and about 17,000 Cuban troops turned the war, and Somalia announced its withdrawal on 9 March 1978.

## In short

In 1977 Somalia went to war with Ethiopia over the Ogaden, a large region of Ethiopia where most people are Somali. For a few months Somali forces held almost all of it. Then the Soviet Union, Somalia's main arms supplier, switched to Ethiopia, and Cuban troops arrived. By March 1978 the Somali forces had withdrawn ([Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm)).

The war is remembered in Somali as *Dagaalkii 77*. It is one of the turning points in modern Somali history.

## Why did it begin?

The roots go back to partition. In the late nineteenth century Ethiopia's emperor Menelik II took Harar and extended his rule over the Ogaden ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/26.htm)). An Anglo-Ethiopian treaty of 1897 recognised Ethiopian claims to the Somali grazing lands. Britain left the Ogaden in 1948 and the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) in 1955 (same source).

At independence in 1960, the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) set out to unite all Somali-inhabited lands: the Ogaden, Kenya's north-east and Djibouti (same source). The five-pointed star on the flag stood for these five territories. Clashes on the border began within six months of independence, and again in 1964, when the Organisation of African Unity and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) mediated a halt (same source).

In 1974 and 1975 Ethiopia's emperor was overthrown, and the new military government, the Derg, faced revolts across the country. The [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) (WSLF), backed by the Somali government, began attacking Ethiopian posts in the Ogaden by February 1977 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm)).

## How was the war fought?

- **July 1977.** On 13 July, the US Secretary of State told President Carter that Ogaden fighters, "supported by Somali irregulars", were attacking a chain of Ethiopian posts. A general Somali mobilisation was under way, and at least one of three Somali army divisions was moving to the frontier ([*Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980*, vol. XVII, doc. 22](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d22)).
- **July to September 1977.** The WSLF and Somali forces captured large parts of the Ogaden, from the Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) area south to the Kenyan border ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm)).
- **September 1977, Jijiga.** After a mutiny in the Ethiopian garrison, Jijiga fell. The Somali government said it was giving "moral, material, and other support" to the WSLF (same source).
- **13 November 1977.** Somalia ended its 1974 Treaty of Friendship with the Soviet Union, closed the Soviet naval facilities at Berbera, and ordered all Soviet advisers to leave ([FRUS, vol. XVII, doc. 45, note 2](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d45)).
- **Late November 1977, Harar.** Somali forces besieged Harar on three sides. On 28 November, US officials judged the Somalis had "an even chance of taking the town" ([FRUS, vol. XVII, doc. 35](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d35)). The same day, the Soviet Union began an airlift of supplies to Ethiopia.
- **December 1977 to February 1978.** Soviet arms poured into Ethiopia. About 17,000 Cuban troops arrived by the end of the year and, with Ethiopian units, halted the Somali advance ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm)).
- **Early March 1978.** The Ethiopian army retook Jijiga (same source).

## The withdrawal, 9 March 1978

On 9 March 1978 the Somali Foreign Ministry called in Western ambassadors in Mogadishu and read a statement. The US Embassy sent the text to Washington the same afternoon ([FRUS, vol. XVII, doc. 72](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d72)):

> "Friendly countries have proposed on many occasions the withdrawal of our units in order to create an atmosphere conducive to a negotiated settlement. The GSDR has decided to effect such a withdrawal."

The statement asked for four things: the withdrawal of all foreign troops, a ceasefire, negotiations based on self-determination, and observers to prevent reprisals against Somalis in the region (same source). The Embassy recorded that President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) had met the US ambassador at 2 a.m. that night and accepted proposals from President Carter.

## Who suffered?

Somalis on both sides of the border paid for the war. The Library of Congress says the war and "the consequent refugee influx" forced Somalia to depend on outside aid to survive ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)). Refugees also crossed into Djibouti, where the railway to Ethiopia was cut for months ([FRUS, vol. XVII](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1)).

Soldiers, fighters and civilians died on both sides, and their families still remember them.

## What did it lead to?

- **April 1978.** Army officers attempted a coup in Mogadishu, which did not succeed. Some who escaped abroad formed the first armed opposition movement, later the Somali Salvation Democratic Front ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).
- **The 1980s.** The Library of Congress says the government "began to founder" after the war ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/43.htm)). Armed movements formed in the north, the centre and the south, several of them backed by Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).
- **1984.** The WSLF paused its operations; some of its own leaders said their cause had been used for other ends ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).
- **1991.** The central state collapsed thirteen years after the war ended.

## Sources differ

- **When the Somali army entered.** US records of July 1977 describe a Somali mobilisation and "irregulars" ([FRUS doc. 22](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d22)). The Library of Congress's Ethiopia study dates the formal dispatch of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) to 13 February 1978 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm)). Many other accounts say regular Somali units fought from July 1977.
- **How many died.** No agreed figure exists for soldiers, fighters or civilians killed. Published estimates vary widely.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980*, vol. XVII, part 1, *Horn of Africa*, US Department of State, 2016: [full volume](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1). It contains 110 declassified US documents on the war, including the Somali withdrawal statement of 9 March 1978.
- Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study*: [The Ogaden and the Haud](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/26.htm), [War in the Ogaden](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm).


---

# 1991–1999: Collapse, local peacemaking, the UN years and peace talks

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> When Siad Barre fell in January 1991, the state collapsed. The fronts that removed him split, Mogadishu was divided and famine killed up to 300,000 people in 1992. A UN mission came and left, while elders made peace in the north, business people funded courts, phone and money networks, Somaliland and Puntland took their own paths, and national talks from Djibouti in 1991 to Cairo in 1997 tried to restore one government.

- **Jan 1991.** A USC-led uprising overthrows Barre, who flees to his clan's territory in [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/). The USC forms an interim government under [Ali Mahdi](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) Mahammad, which other fronts reject. **Actors:** USC; SNM; SPM; SSDF. Source: [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm)
- **Jul 1991.** First Djibouti conference names Ali Mahdi interim president. It is not implemented: representation was not comprehensive, delegates did not control militias, and Aidid rejected the result. Fighting follows in Mogadishu in Nov 1991. **Actors:** Djibouti; USC factions (Ali Mahdi, Aidid). Source: [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)
- **Jan – 18 May 1991.** SNM takes Berbera, Hargeisa and [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/) (Jan 1991). Under pressure from a Grand Conference in Burco, the north-west revokes the 1960 Act of Union and declares the Republic of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on 18 May, calling the 1960 union "null and void" (Britannica dates the declaration to May, the Library of Congress to June: [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm)). No other Somali faction was consulted. The SNM receives a two-year transitional mandate under Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur" **Actors:** SNM; northern clan elders. Source: [B45](https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf); [B8](https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/58088/1/final_report-final_2010_04_12.pdf)
- **1991–1992.** Elders' peace meetings in the north: fighting in Bureo (Jan 1992) and Berbera (Mar–Oct 1992, over the port) is handled through elders' mediation. The [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) conference is the "turning point", with prisoner and marriage exchanges. **Actors:** [Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/) (council of elders); [Habar Yonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/); [Isa Musa](/en/society/ciise-muuse/); other northern clans. Source: [B7](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/3215/1/Making%20peace%20in%20Somaliland.pdf); [B45](https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf)
- **Nov 1991 – Feb 1992.** USC splits: Interim President Ali Mahdi and Gen. Aidid, both Hawiye and USC, fight in Mogadishu over the presidency, sub-clan loyalty and looted property. The Library of Congress dates the split from summer 1991, after a dispute over posts, between Abgaal fighters under Ali Mahdi (about 5,000) and Habar Gidir fighters under Aidid (about 10,000) ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)). Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights estimate 14,000 killed and 27,000 injured. **Actors:** USC (Ali Mahdi; Aidid). Source: [B44](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)
- **Nov 1991 – early 1992.** A UN aid doctor is killed in Bender Cassim ([Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)), reportedly by an underground Islamist group. The Library of Congress describes "messianic Islamism" filling the gap left by the state's collapse. **Actors:** Unnamed Islamist cell. Source: [Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/50.htm)
- **1992.** Famine: Africa Watch estimates up to 300,000 deaths by mid-1992, with Baidoa and [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) among the worst camps. Food aid is a target for looting, including systematic looting by the SNF (Marehan, Barre loyalists) in Bay, Gedo and [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). The UN says famine threatened 1.5 million and nearly 1 million became refugees. Clan-affiliated groups loot an estimated 80% of food shipments, and both Mogadishu sides use food as a weapon; a UN-mediated ceasefire follows in March 1992 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/65.htm)). UNOSOM I, 50 observers under Res. 751, is set up in April 1992 after a January arms embargo. **Actors:** SNF; SPM; USC factions; UN Security Council. Source: [B44](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm); [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)
- **8 Dec 1992.** Killings of Harti clan members in Kismayo by supporters of Col. [Omar Jess](/en/people/ahmed-omar-jess/) (over 100 dead), followed by recurring Jess–Morgan clashes into 1994. **Actors:** Jess and Morgan factions. Source: [B33](https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80610.html)
- **Dec 1992.** Res. 794 authorises the US-led [UNITAF](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/). Aid flows again by year's end. On 26–28 Dec Aidid and Ali Mahdi appear together to mark the dismantling of Mogadishu's "green line" **Actors:** UN; US; Aidid; Ali Mahdi. Source: [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html); [B33](https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80610.html)
- **Jan 1993.** Informal Addis Ababa meeting: 14 Somali movements agree to a ceasefire and to hand over weapons (signed 15 Jan). **Actors:** UN; Ethiopia; factions. Source: [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html); [B33](https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80610.html)
- **15–27 Mar 1993.** Addis Ababa National Reconciliation Conference: 15 movements sign a two-year transition with a 74-member Transitional National Council, regional councils in 18 regions, district councils and disarmament. The parties and the UN read its selection procedures differently. **Actors:** UN; Ethiopia; 15 movements. Source: [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html); [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)
- **Jan/Feb – Jun 1993.** [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) conference in the north, nearly four months (Farah and Lewis: opened 24 Feb; Bradbury: Jan–May). About 150 elders formed the voting National Guurti; Farah and Lewis count nearly 700 participants, Bradbury about 2,000 involved in some way. It adopts a Peace Charter (security, demobilisation) and a National Charter with a bicameral legislature (unelected Guurti, elected representatives). The Guurti appoints Egal president in June 1993. Funding was mainly Somali; Farah and Lewis note over $100,000 in international support, while Bradbury says UNOSOM gave none. **Actors:** Guurti; northern clans; Egal. Source: [B7](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/3215/1/Making%20peace%20in%20Somaliland.pdf); [B45](https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf); [B8](https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/58088/1/final_report-final_2010_04_12.pdf)
- **26 Mar 1993.** Res. 814 creates UNOSOM II under Chapter VII. **Actors:** UN Security Council. Source: [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)
- **5 Jun – 3 Oct 1993.** 25 Pakistani peacekeepers killed in south Mogadishu (5 Jun). Res. 837 (6 Jun). On 3 Oct a US operation leaves 18 US soldiers dead and 75 wounded. Many Somalis were also killed ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)). **Actors:** UNOSOM II; US; SNA (Aidid). Source: [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html); [B33](https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80610.html)
- **1993–1995.** Egal government revives ministries, a civil service commission and the central bank; introduces a new currency; organises police and customs; re-establishes courts; pays salaries, mostly with minimal external aid. [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) elders adopt a regional Peace Charter (Oct 1993). **Actors:** Somaliland government; Sanaag elders; businessmen. Source: [B45](https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf)
- **1994.** Fighting in Hargeisa after the Habar Yonis oppose Egal's election spreads to Burao. Up to 150,000 people flee Hargeisa. **Actors:** Somaliland government; Habar Yonis. Source: [B8](https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/58088/1/final_report-final_2010_04_12.pdf)
- **24 Mar 1994.** Nairobi: Aidid and Ali Mahdi sign a ceasefire and voluntary-disarmament declaration. **Actors:** SNA; Ali Mahdi's 12-faction alliance. Source: [B33](https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80610.html)
- **1994 onward.** Mogadishu's Hawiye business community begins funding clan-based Islamic courts to cut transaction costs and settle disputes. The first Mogadishu Islamic court is set up in Madina district after 1993. **Actors:** Business people; clan elders; local clerics. Source: [B30](https://archive.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aisha-Ahmad-The-Security-Bazaar.pdf); [B10](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/somalia-s-islamists.pdf)
- **1994–1995.** Private satellite telephone firms are introduced (1994–95). Hawala remittance networks, begun in the early 1990s over HF radio, become de facto financial institutions. **Actors:** Somali traders; diaspora; hawala firms. Source: [B28](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/1024802/-/oo5m22z/-/index.html)
- **2 Mar 1995.** US and European forces had left by March 1994 ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)). UNOSOM II withdrawal completed (mandate ended under Res. 954). The UN credits the 1992–95 effort with at least about a quarter of a million lives saved, 52 of 92 district councils, 8 of 18 regional councils, about 8,000 police and 46 district courts. **Actors:** UN. Source: [B5](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)
- **1995.** Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) formed to resist Aidid's forces in the Bay region. **Actors:** RRA (Digil-Mirifle/Rahanweyn). Source: [B36](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/rahanwein-resistance-army)
- **9 Aug 1996; Jan 1997.** Ethiopian raids on al-Itihaad bases at Luuq and Buulo Haawa (Gedo). Al-Itihaad had run Luuq since Aug 1992 through an "Islamic Association" and a sharia court. **Actors:** Ethiopia; al-Itihaad al-Islamiya. Source: [B10](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/somalia-s-islamists.pdf)
- **Late 1996 – early 1997.** Sodere (Ethiopia) conference sets up a National Salvation Council using a clan split close to what became "4.5". The formula was first conceived in 1997. **Actors:** Ethiopia; factions. Source: [B2](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Role-of-4.5-in-democratisation-and-governence-in-Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf); [B23](https://www.c-r.org/accord/legitimacy-and-peace-processes/somalia-legitimacy-provisional-constitution); [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)
- **1997.** Hargeisa conference addresses Habar Yonis grievances; Burao fighting ends. Somaliland described as peaceful since. **Actors:** Somaliland government; Guurti; Habar Yonis. Source: [B8](https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/58088/1/final_report-final_2010_04_12.pdf)
- **12 Nov – 22 Dec 1997.** Cairo Declaration, co-chaired by Hussein Aideed and Ali Mahdi: Somalia "independent, indivisible", Mogadishu as capital, a "federal democratic system", a 13-member Presidential Council, a 189-seat assembly allocated 46 each to four groups plus smaller shares. Abdullahi Yusuf and Adan Abdullahi Nur Gabyow are listed as non-signatories. **Actors:** Egypt; SNA; Ali Mahdi; others. Source: [B6](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/317/); [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)
- **5 May 1998.** Garowe conference of Darood/Harti elders declares Puntland, covering seven regions. Abdullahi Yusuf is elected by elders for a four-year term. The stated approach is "building blocks" toward national unity. **Actors:** SSDF; Harti elders; Abdullahi Yusuf. Source: [B26](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/b64-somalia-the-trouble-with-puntland.pdf)
- **1999.** According to Ahmad, Mogadishu businesspeople stop paying armed faction leaders and fund court militias instead. **Actors:** Business community; courts. Source: [B30](https://archive.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aisha-Ahmad-The-Security-Bazaar.pdf)

## 1992–1995: famine, UNOSOM and the Battle of Mogadishu

**Famine.** The UN estimated that perhaps 300,000 people died between November 1991 and late 1992, that at least 1.5 million lives were at immediate risk, and that almost one million Somalis fled to neighbouring countries and further ([UN, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)). Most of the dying was in the countryside, and the riverine towns of Baidoa and Baardheere were among the worst hit ([Human Rights Watch](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)).

**UNOSOM I (April 1992).** The Security Council set up the first UN Operation in Somalia under Resolution 751, starting with 50 ceasefire observers ([UN, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

**UNITAF, "Operation Restore Hope" (December 1992).** Resolution 794 authorised a US-led force. It deployed about 37,000 troops across roughly 40 per cent of the country, mostly the south and centre, and food deliveries improved ([UN, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

**UNOSOM II (March 1993 to March 1995).** Resolution 814 handed over to a larger UN mission with a wider mandate. On 5 June 1993, 25 Pakistani peacekeepers were killed in south Mogadishu, and the UN and General Aidid's forces became enemies ([UN, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

**The Battle of Mogadishu (3–4 October 1993).** US Rangers raided south Mogadishu to detain aides of Aidid. Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, 18 US soldiers were killed and 75 wounded, and one pilot was held until 14 October ([UN, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). Many Somalis, fighters and civilians, were also killed ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)). The US then said its forces would leave by 31 March 1994, and they did. The last UN troops left on 2 March 1995.

## What the record shows

- **Armed fronts organised by clan did not become a national government.** The Library of Congress notes that the USC "did not adapt well" from guerrilla force to party and split between Abgaal and Habar Gidir ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).
- **Two answers to collapse: separation and autonomy within Somalia.** Somaliland ended the union; Puntland declared autonomy within Somalia ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)). The killings of 1988 in the north remain the founding grievance in Somaliland ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm)).
- **Outside military intervention did not rebuild the state** (UNITAF and UNOSOM, 1992 to 1995) ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Civil-war)). It left local councils, police and courts behind.


---

# The Somali armed forces, 1960–1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali army was founded on 12 April 1960 from the police mobile group (Darawishta) and the British Somaliland Scouts, with Colonel Daud Abdulle Hirsi as its first commander. With Soviet loans it grew from about 12,000 troops in 1970 to 22,000 in 1976 and fought the 1977–78 Ogaden war. Its officers took power on 21 October 1969. After 1978 it grew larger but split along clan lines, and it dissolved when the government fell in January 1991.

## In short

For thirty years the national army was one of the central institutions of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). It was built in 1960, took power in 1969, fought Ethiopia in 1977–78, and broke apart in 1991. The army rebuilt since 2008 is described in [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/). This page covers the first army.

## Founding, 1960

A law of 6 April 1960 created the army, and 12 April, still marked as Armed Forces Day, is its founding date. It was formed from the police mobile group, the Darawishta, and the former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) Scouts, about 5,000 men, under Colonel [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) ([Wikipedia, Somali Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). The police kept a separate service; see [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/).

## Soviet support

In 1962 the Soviet Union agreed a loan of US$32 million to build up the army, later raised to US$55 million (Wikipedia, citing the Library of Congress country study). Soviet advisers arrived in 1969. From the 1960s to 1977 the army built what Wikipedia, citing the IISS, describes as the largest armoured and mechanised force in sub-Saharan Africa.

| Year | Strength | Source cited |
|---|---|---|
| 1970–71 | about 12,000 | IISS |
| 1976 | about 22,000; about 250 tanks | IISS |
| 1977 | about 35,000 | Wikipedia |
| 1980 | about 96,000 | Wikipedia |
| 1984–85 | about 123,000 | Wikipedia |
| 1987 | about 40,000 | US Defense Intelligence Agency |

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces))

## The army takes power, 1969

On 15 October 1969 President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was killed by a bodyguard. On 21 October 1969, as parliament prepared to choose his successor, army units seized key points in Mogadishu and detained ministers and leading politicians; the police co-operated. The army commander, Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, led the officers' [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), which banned parties, closed parliament and suspended the constitution ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)). See [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) and [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The Ogaden war, 1977–1978

In July 1977 the army entered Ethiopia's Somali region. Its Division 60 took the Godey front on 24 July 1977. The Soviet Union then changed sides and backed Ethiopia, which also received about 15,000 Cuban troops; by 1978 Somali forces had been pushed out of most of the Ogaden ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). The full story is told in [The Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/). After the war the government turned to the United States for military support (same source).

## Coup attempt of 1978 and after

In April 1978 a group of officers tried to seize power. The Library of Congress records about 500 soldiers killed and seventeen officers executed; several who escaped founded the [SSDF](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

In the 1980s the army grew larger on paper. In 1984 the government introduced conscription for men aged 18 to 40, for two years; many avoided it. By 1989–90 the army was organised in six sectors, twelve divisions and 45 brigades ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). The Library of Congress records purges of officers suspected of disloyalty, and the use of an elite unit, the Red Berets (*Duub Cas*), recruited from the president's own clan, in a campaign of intimidation from November 1986 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm)).

## Break-up, 1988–1991

From 1988 the army fought the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) in the north, and later the [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/) and the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/) in the south and centre. In 1990 many Ogaden officers left to join the SPM ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Wikipedia cites estimates that the army fell from as many as 65,000 in early 1990 to about 10,000 later that year. When Siad Barre left Mogadishu on 27 January 1991 the army dissolved into clan-based forces. Units loyal to him formed the core of the [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces); [Wikipedia, Somali National Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)).

## Sources differ

- **Size in the 1980s.** Estimates range from 40,000 to over 120,000 depending on the source and whether reserves and militia are counted.
- **First strength.** Accounts give between about 2,000 and 5,000 for 1960.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Coup d'état](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm), [Repressive measures](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm).
- Colin D. Robinson, "Glimpse into an army at its peak", *Defense & Security Analysis* (2019): [article](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14751798.2019.1675944).


---

# 2000–2006: Transitional governments and the rise of the courts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 2000 to 2006 two national governments were formed at conferences abroad, the TNG at Arta, Djibouti, in 2000 and the TFG at Mbagathi, Kenya, in 2004. Somaliland held its first votes, and in June 2006 the Islamic Courts Union took Mogadishu. Ethiopia's offensive in December 2006 ended Courts rule in the city.

- **2 May – 27 Aug 2000.** Arta (Djibouti) conference: 2,000–3,000 delegates, including clan elders, civil society, women (the "Sixth Clan"), religious leaders, business and diaspora. Elders chose 810 delegates for stage two. Transitional Charter: 245-seat assembly with 25 seats for women, allocated by 4.5 (44 seats to each of four clan families, 24 to "0.5" communities; RVI counts 225 plus 25 women). [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) becomes TNG president. **Actors:** Djibouti (Guelleh); civil society; elders. Source: [B35](https://www.inclusivepeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/case-study-women-somalia-2000-en.pdf); [B2](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Role-of-4.5-in-democratisation-and-governence-in-Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf); [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)
- **2000–2004.** TNG never gains authority beyond part of Mogadishu. Underrepresented groups form the Ethiopian-backed [SRRC](/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/). Business backs the TNG at first. **Actors:** TNG; SRRC; Mogadishu business. Source: [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf); [B35](https://www.inclusivepeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/case-study-women-somalia-2000-en.pdf); [B30](https://archive.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aisha-Ahmad-The-Security-Bazaar.pdf)
- **31 May 2001.** [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) constitutional referendum: about 1.18 million votes, about 97% yes. It affirms independence and a multiparty system and makes the [Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/) the upper house. **Actors:** Somaliland; Egal administration. Source: [B37](https://participedia.net/case/5117)
- **2001.** [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) term dispute: elders appoint a caretaker, and [Jama Ali Jama](/en/people/jama-ali-jama/) is elected (Nov 2001). [Abdullahi Yusuf](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) rejects the result. Local journalists estimate close to 400 deaths. **Actors:** Puntland elders; Abdullahi Yusuf; Jama Ali Jama. Source: [B26](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/b64-somalia-the-trouble-with-puntland.pdf)
- **2001.** US closes al-Barakat, which handled about half of all remittances and was the largest private employer. Investigations cited by The EastAfrican found no terror link. **Actors:** US government; al-Barakat. Source: [B28](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/1024802/-/oo5m22z/-/index.html)
- **2001–2005.** Somaliland: constitutional referendum (2001), local elections (2002), presidential election (2003), parliamentary election (2005). **Actors:** Somaliland institutions. Source: [B8](https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/58088/1/final_report-final_2010_04_12.pdf)
- **Oct 2002 – Oct 2004.** IGAD-led Somali National Reconciliation Conference (Eldoret, then Mbagathi), with Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti as the technical committee. Eldoret Declaration (27 Oct 2002). [Transitional Federal Charter](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (23 Feb 2004): federal structure, 275 MPs chosen by clan leaders using 4.5, 12% women's quota. MPs sworn in 22 Aug 2004; Abdullahi Yusuf elected president 10 Oct 2004. [Asha Haji Elmi](/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/) becomes the first woman to sign a Somali peace agreement. **Actors:** IGAD; Kenya; Ethiopia; Djibouti; clan leaders; Sixth Clan. Source: [B34](https://www.inclusivepeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/case-study-women-somalia-2002-2004-en.pdf); [B27](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)
- **2004–2006.** Mogadishu sub-clan courts merge into the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), and their militias form al-Shabaab (founded c.2004–05). **Actors:** Courts; clerics; business; al-Shabaab. Source: [B30](https://archive.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aisha-Ahmad-The-Security-Bazaar.pdf); [B31](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalias-new-government-and-the-challenge-of-al-shabab/); [B32](https://africanarguments.org/2013/04/review-al-shabaab-in-somalia-the-history-and-ideology-of-a-militant-islamist-group-2005-2012-by-magnus-taylor/)
- **2005.** "People power" campaign removes militia roadblocks in Mogadishu. **Actors:** Mogadishu civic groups. Source: [B11](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)
- **Early–Jun 2006.** The US-backed Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism ([ARPCT](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-2006/)) is blamed by clansmen for lawlessness. The ICU defeats the ARPCT leaders in Mogadishu in June 2006. **Actors:** ICU; ARPCT; US. Source: [B11](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia); [B30](https://archive.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aisha-Ahmad-The-Security-Bazaar.pdf)
- **Jun–Dec 2006.** The ICU disarms clan militias, reopens the seaport and airport and makes the streets safer. Business finance was significant: in Hansen's 2007 survey, 69% of businesses said they contributed. Within six months the ICU controls about 90% of the countryside. Many residents valued the calm but feared strict rules on women, media and civil society. **Actors:** ICU; business community; clan elders. Source: [B11](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia); [B30](https://archive.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aisha-Ahmad-The-Security-Bazaar.pdf); [B42](https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Africa/250407samatar.pdf)
- **24 Dec 2006.** Ethiopia launches a full offensive in support of the TFG, with what the press called "tacit support" from Washington. PM Meles says the aim is to protect Ethiopia's sovereignty and that troops will leave when the mission ends. The ICU calls the TFG a foreign "puppet". Al Jazeera reports Eritrea backing the ICU and earlier Arab League-mediated talks without lasting results. The ICU dissolves in Mogadishu, and Ethiopian and TFG forces enter the city at the end of 2006. **Actors:** Ethiopia; TFG; ICU; US; Eritrea; Arab League. Source: [B11](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia); [B12](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/); [B40](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/12/24/ethiopia-launches-attack-on-somalia)

## Key people and groups

Elders, women's groups, business people, religious leaders and the diaspora who came to conference after conference; the regional states that co-signed the Garowe Principles; and the many Somalis who kept towns running without a state.

## What the historians record

Each neighbour sponsored its own track of talks, and outside backers supported rival factions ([Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)). Security delivered across clan lines drew public support quickly, as the Islamic Courts showed in 2006 ([Menkhaus, MERIP, 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)). Somalis kept coming back to the table, decade after decade, until a national framework was agreed in 2012.


---

# The 1984 Somali parliamentary election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1984/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 31 December 1984 Somalia elected a new People's Assembly from a single national list of 171 candidates of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), the only legal party. Voters approved or rejected the list as a whole. The official count gave 4,207,977 votes for the list, 99.84 percent of votes cast, with 99.86 percent turnout. The same month the constitution was amended to make the presidency a seven-year office chosen by direct vote. It was the last legislative election before the government fell in 1991.

## In short

"On polling day, the single list of 171 [Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) (SRSP) candidates was presented to the electorate and received 99.84% of the votes cast. A total of 46 members were newcomers to the People's Assembly," the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) recorded of the vote of 31 December 1984 ([IPU, *Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections* XIX, 1984–85, pp. 101–102](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1984_E.PDF)).

It was "the second since the 1969 coup d'Etat" (same source). For the first, see [the 1979 parliamentary election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1979/).

## The rules

From the IPU:

- **The Assembly.** 171 members elected for five years, plus up to six appointed by the President.
- **Who could vote.** Citizens aged 18 or over. "Disqualified are the insane, prisoners and persons interdicted from public life or deprived of electoral rights consequent to a penal conviction."
- **Who could stand.** Electors "who are literate, aged 21 or above and loyal to the policy of the Revolution (of 1969), the Party Statute and Programme". "Disqualified are persons creed to tribalism, regionalism or personal interests, and those notorious for acting against the public interests."
- **One list.** The whole country was one constituency. The SRSP Central Committee proposed "a national list which includes at least 20 reserve candidates". "Each elector votes for the list as a whole. The election is deemed valid if a majority of the electorate approves this same list; in the event of rejection, another poll is held within six months."
- **The date** was set by decree of the President, Major General [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/).

The Library of Congress adds that "critics and opponents of the regime were not permitted to run in either the 1979 or the 1984 election" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).

## The result

The official figures, as given by the IPU:

| | |
|---|---|
| Registered electors | 4,220,466 |
| Voters | 4,214,667 (99.86%) |
| Blank or void ballots | 1,990 |
| Valid votes | 4,212,677 |
| Votes for the SRSP list | 4,207,977 |
| Seats won by the SRSP | 171 of 171 |

The Assembly, with its appointed members, had 152 men and 25 women (IPU).

## The 1984 constitutional amendments

"In December 1984, Siad Barre sought to broaden his political base by amending the constitution. One amendment extended the president's term from six to seven years. Another amendment stipulated that the president was to be elected by universal suffrage (Siad Barre always received 99 percent of the vote in such elections) rather than by the National Assembly. The assembly rubber-stamped these amendments, thereby presiding over its own disenfranchisement" ([Library of Congress, "Somalia's difficult decade, 1980–90"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm)).

The first direct presidential vote under these rules followed in 1986. See [the 1986 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-1986/).

## The last Assembly

"The elections scheduled for 1989 were postponed as a result of the civil strife that by then had engulfed most of the country." "The People's Assembly was not in session when the Siad Barre government was toppled" (Library of Congress, "Legislature"). See [the fall of Mogadishu, 1991](/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/).

## Who suffered?

- **Critics and opponents of the government,** who were barred from standing (Library of Congress, "Legislature").
- **People judged disloyal,** "tribalist" or "regionalist", who were disqualified as candidates under the electoral rules (IPU).

## Sources differ

- **The result.** The IPU gives 99.84 percent of votes cast, counting blank and void ballots; as a share of valid votes the same figures come to 99.89 percent. The Library of Congress says only "more than 99 percent".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Inter-Parliamentary Union, *Chronicle of Parliamentary Elections* XIX (1984–85), Somalia, pp. 101–102: [PDF](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1984_E.PDF).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm); ["Somalia's difficult decade, 1980–90"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/27.htm).


---

# 2007–2012: Insurgency, Djibouti process, and the end of transition

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 2007 to 2012 Somalis and their partners rebuilt a national government step by step. An African Union force arrived in 2007, a former opposition leader became president in 2009, al-Shabaab left Mogadishu in August 2011, and in 2012 a provisional constitution ended the transition.

- **20 Feb 2007.** Res. 1744 (unanimous) authorises [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) for six months. Its mandate is to protect dialogue participants and the transitional institutions and to support humanitarian access. The resolution welcomes Ethiopia's decision to withdraw and a reconciliation congress of political, clan and religious leaders and civil society. **Actors:** UN; AU; IGAD; Arab League. Source: [B22](https://press.un.org/en/2007/sc8960.doc.htm); [B38](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2007-10/lookup_c_glkwlemtisg_b_3454439.php)
- **Mar–Apr 2007.** Mogadishu fighting. HRW finds all three sides (Ethiopian forces, insurgents, TFG forces) responsible for serious violations of the laws of war. About 400,000 people are displaced. **Actors:** Ethiopian forces; TFG; insurgents. Source: [B12](https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/somalia0807/)
- **Jul – 30 Aug 2007.** National Reconciliation Conference produces a roadmap to 2009 elections. Key UIC and Hawiye figures refuse to attend. **Actors:** TFG; clan leaders. Source: [B38](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2007-10/lookup_c_glkwlemtisg_b_3454439.php)
- **Early Sep 2007.** Asmara conference (about 400 opposition leaders, with EU, UN and Arab League observers) forms the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), headed by [Sheikh Sharif](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) Ahmed and ex-speaker [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/). Committee shares: UIC 40%, former MPs 25%, diaspora 16%. Eritrea facilitates. **Actors:** ARS; Eritrea. Source: [B38](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2007-10/lookup_c_glkwlemtisg_b_3454439.php)
- **9 Jun – Aug 2008.** Djibouti Agreement (TFG–ARS, UN-facilitated; witnesses include the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia, the AU, the Arab League, the OIC and the EU): cessation of hostilities, Ethiopian withdrawal within 120 days after UN forces deploy, joint security and high-level committees. **Actors:** TFG; ARS (Djibouti wing); UN. Source: [B14](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/825)
- **Dec 2008 – 26 Jan 2009.** [Abdullahi Yusuf](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) resigns (Dec 2008). Ethiopia completes its withdrawal (Jan 2009). Djibouti talks agree to expand parliament from 275 to 550 seats. **Actors:** TFG; ARS; Ethiopia. Source: [B15](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/1/26/ethiopia-completes-somali-pullout)
- **Jan–Feb 2009.** Sheikh Sharif (Abgaal, former ICU co-leader) becomes TFG president and announces sharia, which was one of the insurgents' demands. PM [Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) makes reconciliation a priority. **Actors:** [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/); Sharmarke; TFG. Source: [B31](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalias-new-government-and-the-challenge-of-al-shabab/)
- **4 Feb 2009.** [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) formed from [ARS-Asmara](/en/history/alliance-for-the-re-liberation-of-somalia/) (Aweys), [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/), Jabhatul Islamiya and Anole. Its aims: oust the TFG, impose its sharia interpretation, expel AU troops. **Actors:** Hizbul Islam; [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/). Source: [B17](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/hizbul-islam); [B31](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalias-new-government-and-the-challenge-of-al-shabab/)
- **Late 2008 – 2009.** Ahlu Sunna wal Jama'a (Sufi) takes up arms against al-Shabaab and takes Dusa Mareb, among other towns. **Actors:** [ASWJ](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/). Source: [B31](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalias-new-government-and-the-challenge-of-al-shabab/); [B10](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/somalia-s-islamists.pdf)
- **Oct 2009.** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) takes full control of Kismayo after fighting Hizbul Islam. **Actors:** al-Shabaab; Hizbul Islam. Source: [B17](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/hizbul-islam)
- **2009–2010.** Al-Shabaab runs law-enforcement, justice and tax structures (e.g. Kismayo livestock tax, 2010), funded partly by the diaspora and foreign supporters. It bans aid agencies and many social practices. Its support drew on opposition to Ethiopian forces and Somali nationalism, while its tactics alienated many. **Actors:** al-Shabaab. Source: [B32](https://africanarguments.org/2013/04/review-al-shabaab-in-somalia-the-history-and-ideology-of-a-militant-islamist-group-2005-2012-by-magnus-taylor/); [B31](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalias-new-government-and-the-challenge-of-al-shabab/); [B1](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/al-shabaab)
- **11 Jul 2010.** Kampala bombings at World Cup screenings: at least 74 dead. It is al-Shabaab's first attack outside Somalia. Uganda's army spokesman says it is a reason to stay in Somalia. **Actors:** al-Shabaab; Uganda. Source: [B19](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/13/al-shabab-claims-uganda-bombings); [B1](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/al-shabaab)
- **23–25 Dec 2010.** Hizbul Islam absorbed into al-Shabaab, described by an Al Jazeera editor as "more a surrender than a merger" **Actors:** al-Shabaab; Hizbul Islam. Source: [B16](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/12/25/somalia-rebel-groups-merge); [B17](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/hizbul-islam)
- **9 Jun 2011.** [Kampala Accord](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/): President Sharif and Speaker Sharif Hassan extend the transitional mandates to Aug 2012. PM Farmaajo resigns on 19 Jun. Critics say it made Uganda the "final arbiter" **Actors:** TFG leaders; Uganda; UN. Source: [B25](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2011/06/20/somali-power-struggle-could-intensify-premier-quits)
- **20 Jul 2011.** Famine declared. A later [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)/FEWS NET study estimates about 260,000 deaths from Oct 2010 to Apr 2012, half of them children under five. [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), Mogadishu and Bay were hardest hit. Al-Shabaab banned most aid groups in its areas. **Actors:** UN; FAO; al-Shabaab; donors. Source: [B18](https://news.un.org/en/story/2013/05/438682); [B20](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/8/6/al-shabab-rebels-withdraw-from-somali-capital)
- **6 Aug 2011.** Al-Shabaab pulls out of Mogadishu overnight. Its spokesman calls it a shift to guerrilla tactics; the government calls it a "golden victory for the Somali people" **Actors:** al-Shabaab; TFG; AMISOM. Source: [B20](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/8/6/al-shabab-rebels-withdraw-from-somali-capital); [B1](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/al-shabaab)
- **Oct 2011.** Kenya deploys into the Juba Valley (Linda Nchi), citing in part a refugee burden of over 500,000 Somalis. It aims at a Jubaland administration as a buffer. Crisis Group lists risks, among them Somali fears of Ogaden-clan domination and disputes over Kismayo port revenue. **Actors:** Kenya; local allies. Source: [B13](https://hornaffairs.com/2012/02/20/report-icg-the-kenyan-military-intervention-in-somalia)
- **Sep 2011 (Roadmap) – 24 Dec 2011.** Garowe Principles (convened by the TFG, hosted by Puntland, facilitated by the UN; signed by the TFG, TFP, Puntland, Galmudug and ASWJ): a constituent assembly of up to 1,000 with 30% women; a 225-seat bicameral parliament with 20% women; elders nominate MPs; 4.5 limited to the first-term lower house; timeline to a 20 Aug 2012 presidential vote. **Actors:** Roadmap signatories; UN. Source: [B3](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1681/); [B23](https://www.c-r.org/accord/legitimacy-and-peace-processes/somalia-legitimacy-provisional-constitution)
- **9 Feb 2012.** Al-Qaeda's leader announces in a video that al-Shabaab has joined al-Qaeda, with al-Shabaab's leader pledging. Experts say the group had seen itself as an ally rather than a branch, and its first pledge to bin Laden dated from 2009. **Actors:** al-Shabaab; al-Qaeda. Source: [B21](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/02/201221054649118317.html); [B1](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/al-shabaab)
- **1 Aug 2012.** 825-member National Constituent Assembly adopts the Provisional Constitution: Islam as state religion, two-level federal system, powers outside four core areas left for negotiation, parliament to decide the number of federal member states, permanent constitution by referendum before 2016. **Actors:** NCA; traditional leaders; Technical Selection Committee (135); IIEC (15). Source: [B23](https://www.c-r.org/accord/legitimacy-and-peace-processes/somalia-legitimacy-provisional-constitution); [B24](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/A-new-government)
- **4–6 Aug 2012.** Roadmap signatories (Nairobi) proceed with 275 MPs and condemn "the use of intimidation and bribery to undermine the selection of MPs" **Actors:** Roadmap signatories; UNPOS; AMISOM. Source: [B4](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1403/)
- **20 Aug – 10 Sep 2012.** Transitional mandate ends. House of the People sworn in (20 Aug). Parliament elects Hassan Sheikh Mohamud president (10 Sep). Al-Shabaab is forced out of major cities by late 2012. **Actors:** Federal Parliament; Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Source: [B24](https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/A-new-government)

---

## Key people and groups

Elders, women's groups, business people, religious leaders and the diaspora who came to conference after conference; the regional states that co-signed the Garowe Principles; and the many Somalis who kept towns running without a state.

## What the historians record

Each neighbour sponsored its own track of talks, and outside backers supported rival factions ([Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue](https://africaportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mediation_Efforts_in_Somalia.pdf)). Security delivered across clan lines drew public support quickly, as the Islamic Courts showed in 2006 ([Menkhaus, MERIP, 2007](https://merip.org/2007/02/there-and-back-again-in-somalia)). Somalis kept coming back to the table, decade after decade, until a national framework was agreed in 2012.


---

# The 1986 Somali presidential election

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-presidential-election-1986/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 23 December 1986 Somalia held its first direct election for President. Mohamed Siad Barre, head of the only legal party, the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), was the only candidate. The official count gave him 4,887,592 votes for and 1,486 against, or 99.97 percent. It followed constitutional changes in 1984 that made the presidency a seven-year term chosen by popular vote, and a power struggle after Siad Barre was badly hurt in a car accident in May 1986.

## In short

Somalia's 1979 constitution, as amended in 1984, "provided for direct popular election of the president to a seven-year term. The first presidential election was held in 1986. Siad Barre, the sole candidate, received 99.9 percent of the votes" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)).

The vote was held on 23 December 1986. The CIA's *World Factbook* recorded that "President Siad was reelected without opposition" ([*The World Factbook 1990*, Somalia](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)). For how the state was run in these years, see [the Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).

## The rules

- **Before 1984.** The 1979 constitution "initially called for the president to be elected to a six-year, renewable term of office by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature" ([Library of Congress, "Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)).
- **The 1984 amendments.** They made the presidency a directly elected, seven-year office (same source).
- **One party.** The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP) was the "only party", with [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) as general secretary ([*World Factbook 1990*](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)).
- **The legislature.** The People's Assembly had 177 members, 171 elected and 6 appointed. In the 1979 and 1984 assembly elections, "critics and opponents of the regime were not permitted to run". The government submitted single lists of SRSP candidates, and "in both instances, the government announced that more than 99 percent of the electorate had approved the official lists" ([Library of Congress, "The legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).

## The year before the vote

From the Library of Congress ([*Somalia: A Country Study*, "Siad Barre's repressive measures"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm)):

- **23 May 1986.** Siad Barre "was severely injured in an automobile accident". He returned to work after about a month.
- **A power struggle.** The accident "unleashed a power struggle" between a "constitutional faction", led by the senior vice president, Brigadier General [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/), and a "clan faction" of the President's Marehan relatives, including his brother, his son Colonel Masleh Siad and his senior wife, Khadija.
- **November 1986.** "The dreaded Red Berets unleashed a campaign of terror and intimidation on a frightened citizenry", and the officer corps was purged "on suspicion of insufficient loyalty to the president".
- **The party congress.** The same month the SRSP held its third congress. "The Central Committee was reshuffled and the president was nominated as the only candidate for another seven-year term."

## The result

The official count, as given in Nohlen, Krennerich and Thibaut, *Elections in Africa: A data handbook* (1999), p. 813 ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Somali_presidential_election)):

| | Votes | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| For Siad Barre | 4,887,592 | 99.97% |
| Against | 1,486 | 0.03% |
| Total | 4,889,078 | |

## What followed

- **The next vote.** The *World Factbook* listed the next presidential election for December 1993. People's Assembly elections due in December 1989 were postponed ([*World Factbook 1990*](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)); the Library of Congress gives "the civil strife that by then had engulfed most of the country" as the reason ([LoC, "The legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).
- **The war.** From 1988 the government fought the Somali National Movement in the north. See [the Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/) and [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).
- **January 1991.** Siad Barre was driven from Mogadishu before his term ended. See [the Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Who suffered?

- **People targeted by the Red Berets** in the "campaign of terror and intimidation" of November 1986 (Library of Congress).
- **Officers purged** from the army in the same period (Library of Congress).

## Sources differ

- **The share of the vote.** The Library of Congress gives 99.9 percent. The count in Nohlen and others gives 99.97 percent.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Siad Barre's repressive measures"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm), ["Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm), ["The legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm).
- Central Intelligence Agency, *The World Factbook 1990*, Somalia: [Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia).


---

# The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali border war (Dagaalkii xuduudda 1982)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In July 1982 Ethiopian forces, with fighters of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), crossed into central Somalia. They took the border villages of Balanbale and Galdogob but did not reach Galkayo or Beledweyne, and the front settled into a stalemate. Somalia appealed for help and received US and Chinese arms. In April 1988 the two governments agreed to withdraw their forces from the border.

## In short

Four years after the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), fighting broke out again on the border between Ethiopia and Somalia. This time Ethiopian forces crossed into Somalia, together with fighters of the [SSDF](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/), an armed movement opposed to [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). This page sets out what happened from the sources, and gives each side's figures as that side stated them.

## Background

After Somalia's defeat in the Ogaden in 1978, officers tried to overthrow Siad Barre. One of them, Colonel [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), went to Ethiopia and founded the SSDF, which Ethiopian officers trained ([Wikipedia, 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Ethiopian%E2%80%93Somali_Border_War)). See [Armed movements, 1978 to 1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/). Somalia, for its part, still supported the [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) in the Ogaden; Western diplomats suggested the Ethiopian raids could be meant to punish it for that ([UPI, 12 July 1982](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/12/Fighting-flares-on-Ethiopian-Somali-border/3690395294400/)).

## The fighting, July to October 1982

- **1 July.** UPI reported that the fighting began with an Ethiopian air attack on Somali border troops (UPI, 12 July 1982).
- **Early July.** Ethiopian and SSDF forces, Wikipedia gives about 15,000 in all, advanced in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), aiming at Beledweyne and Galkayo. An attack near Ferfer was held by the Beledweyne garrison (Wikipedia, citing Gérard Prunier, 2021).
- **10–12 July.** An Ethiopian armoured column took Balanbale. Ethiopian forces also attacked Galdogob, supported by MiG jets. Somalia said it shot down an Ethiopian MiG during a raid on Galkayo on 11 July. Tens of thousands of people marched in Mogadishu against the attack, and Siad Barre told the Organisation of African Unity that Ethiopia was preparing "for full scale war". Ethiopia's government made no comment (UPI, 12 July 1982).
- **Balanbale and Galdogob.** Ethiopian troops held both villages and raised the Ethiopian flag there. A Somali counter-attack from El Dhere stopped the advance near Balanbale (Wikipedia, citing Gebru Tareke, *The Ethiopian Revolution*, 2009).
- **September–October.** Heavy fighting resumed near Balanbale. By October *The New York Times* reported that the Ethiopian drive had "bogged down" (Wikipedia, citing Alan Cowell, *The New York Times*, 8 October 1982).

On the Somali side, General [Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/) Salhan commanded, with Brigadier General [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) in charge of the central sector (Wikipedia).

## Foreign arms

Siad Barre declared a state of emergency and asked Western states for weapons. Most arms arrived in December 1982, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and US tanks, and China delivered fighter jets. US military aid rose from US$20 million in 1981 to US$51 million in 1983 (Wikipedia, citing Jeffrey Lefebvre, *Arms for the Horn*). Ethiopia had signed a defence pact with Libya and South Yemen in 1981, and Cuban troops and Soviet and East German advisers were in the Ogaden ([UPI, 1982](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/12/Fighting-flares-on-Ethiopian-Somali-border/3690395294400/)).

## Losses, as each side reported them

- Somalia said its troops killed more than 200 Ethiopian soldiers in the first ten days (UPI, 12 July 1982).
- Ethiopian figures cited by the historian Gebru Tareke give 383 Ethiopian dead and 998 wounded, and claim 3,506 Somali dead and more than 9,500 wounded (Wikipedia, citing Tareke, 2009, p. 393).

## What followed

Ethiopian forces did not reach Galkayo or Beledweyne. In June 1983 the Somali army held off a further Ethiopian attack at Galdogob. The SSDF split; many of its members accepted an amnesty and returned, and Ethiopia jailed Abdullahi Yusuf until 1991. Wikipedia records reprisals by government forces against Majeerteen civilians in Mudug, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), including the destruction of villages and water reservoirs (Wikipedia, citing Christopher Clapham, *African Guerrillas*, 1998). The two governments agreed in April 1988 to withdraw their forces from the border (Wikipedia, citing *The New York Times*, 26 April 1988). See [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/) and [Somali armed forces, 1960 to 1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

## Sources differ

- **The result.** Wikipedia's summary calls it a Somali defensive success, since Ethiopia did not reach its main targets; it also notes it was the first time since independence that Ethiopian troops held land inside Somalia.
- **Who did the fighting.** The SSDF claimed many of the border clashes; Wikipedia, citing several historians, says the main force was Ethiopian, with SSDF units inside it.
- **Depth of the advance.** Given as 30 or 32 kilometres inside Somalia by the end of 1982.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UPI, "Fighting flares on Ethiopian-Somali border" (12 July 1982): [article](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/12/Fighting-flares-on-Ethiopian-Somali-border/3690395294400/).
- [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, *Ethiopia's Invasion of Somalia, 1982–83* (1983): [Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=f2AMAQAAIAAJ).
- Helen Chapin Metz (ed.), *Somalia: A Country Study*, Library of Congress (1993), pp. 47–48: [PDF](https://cdn.loc.gov/master/frd/frdcstdy/so/somaliacountryst00metz_0/somaliacountryst00metz_0.pdf).


---

# The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991: SSDF, SNM, USC and SPM

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between 1978 and 1991 four main armed movements fought the military government of Siad Barre: the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF, from 1978–81), the Somali National Movement (SNM, 1981), the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM, 1985) and the United Somali Congress (USC, 1989). Most drew support mainly from one clan-family and operated from Ethiopia. Together they ended the government in January 1991, but they never formed a joint authority.

## In short

After the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), opposition to the military government grew. Some of it took up arms. Four main movements fought the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) from 1978 to 1991. Most drew their support mainly from one clan-family, though each said it spoke for the whole nation ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

By January 1991 they had driven the government from power. They had agreed to coordinate in 1990, but they never fought jointly or agreed on who would govern next ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm)).

This page records what each movement was, where it fought, and what the record says about the war, from the main published sources.

## The SSDF, 1978

Full page: [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/).

In April 1978, army officers attempted a coup in Mogadishu. The Library of Congress records that about 500 soldiers were killed in the fighting. Seventeen officers were then executed ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

Several colonels escaped abroad. One of them, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, played a major role in founding the Somali Salvation Front (SSF). It was the first movement dedicated to ending the government by force. In October 1981 it became the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). Its support came mainly from the Majeerteen (same source).

In 1982 SSDF fighters, with Ethiopian army units, took areas along the border, including two district towns. From 1988 they extended their control in western [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and southern [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) (same source). Abdullahi Yusuf later became president of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and of Somalia; see [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/).

## The SNM, 1981

Full page: [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/).

In 1981 Somalis living in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) founded the Somali National Movement (SNM) to remove the government. Its support came mainly from the Isaaq clans of the north-west. In 1982 it moved its headquarters to Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) in Ethiopia and began raids into [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

Like the SSDF, it had military and political wings and sought support from other clans. Its best-known early action was the 1983 attack on Mandera prison near Berbera, which freed northern political prisoners (same source).

## The war in the north, from May 1988

In April 1988 Siad Barre and Ethiopia's leader Mengistu Haile Mariam signed a peace agreement. Ethiopian support for the SNM was to end ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)).

The SNM then moved its fighters into Somalia. In May 1988 the fighting reached Burao and Hargeisa, and by August the SNM had taken Hargeisa and other northern towns ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)). Human Rights Watch records that the war in the north "broke out in May 1988" and was still going on in 1990 ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*, Somalia](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).

The government answered with force. The Library of Congress records "massive aerial bombing, carried out by foreign mercenary pilots, that damaged or destroyed virtually every building in Hargeysa" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)). Another study says the fighting led to "the virtual destruction of the urban centers of the north, most notably Hargeysa… and Burao" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/43.htm)).

In January 1990 Africa Watch published a 268-page report on the war, *A Government at War with Its Own People*. It examined "the conduct of the war by government forces and SNM insurgents". It estimated that by early 1990, 50,000 to 60,000 people had been killed and nearly half a million had fled the country, most to Ethiopia ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).

## The SPM, 1985

Full page: [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/).

The Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) formed in 1985 after a split in the SSDF. Its support came mainly from the Ogaden clan, many of whom were unhappy with the 1988 peace agreement with Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

In 1990 many Ogaden officers left the army and joined the SPM. With them it took and held several government garrisons in the south (same source).

## The USC, 1989

Full page: [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/).

Hawiye leaders who had worked with the SNM formed their own movement in 1989, the United Somali Congress (USC) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). From August 1990 it stepped up its attacks around Mogadishu ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).

The USC had two main wings, linked to the Abgaal and the Habar Gidir. [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid led the Habar Gidir wing ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).

## Other movements

By 1990 the north had more armed groups. The Gadabuursi formed the [Somali Democratic Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/) (SDA) in 1990, and members of the Ciise formed the United Somali Front (USF) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)). These movements were wary of SNM control of their areas.

## A civilian voice: the Manifesto of May 1990

Not all opposition was armed. In May 1990, 114 prominent citizens of Mogadishu signed a manifesto that called on Siad Barre to resign and for multiparty elections. They came from all major clans ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm)).

Forty-five signers were arrested and charged with sedition and treason. Human Rights Watch records that they were acquitted "for lack of evidence", the first such acquittals in a political trial in Somalia ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).

## The fall of the government, 1990–1991

- **August–September 1990.** The SNM, Aidid's wing of the USC and the SPM agreed to coordinate. They then signed a military alliance in Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm)).
- **December 1990–January 1991.** USC fighters entered Mogadishu and fought the government forces there. The Library of Congress records that this was done "without the assistance of either the SNM, the SPM, or the Habar Gidir faction of the USC" (same source). Siad Barre left the capital in late January 1991.
- **January 1991, the north.** The SNM took the remaining garrisons at Berbera, Burao and Hargeisa ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).

## What came after

The USC named a provisional government in Mogadishu in February 1991. The SSDF, SPM and SNM said they had not been consulted and did not accept it ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).

In the north, the SNM held a conference of the region's clans at Burao in April 1991. On 18 May 1991 it announced the Republic of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), with the SNM's Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur" as president (same source; the Library of Congress gives 17 May). See [Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur](/en/people/abdirahman-ahmed-ali-tuur/).

In Mogadishu the two wings of the USC fought each other from September 1991. By the end of the year the city was divided ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)). What followed is told in [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Who suffered?

The sources record civilian deaths and losses on every side and in every region.

- **In the north.** Africa Watch estimated 50,000 to 60,000 killed by early 1990, and nearly half a million refugees ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)). On 16 August 1990, soldiers in Berbera shot dead 17 Isaaq men in front of a restaurant, in reprisal for SNM attacks (same source).
- **In the centre and south.** The same report records that the army killed unarmed civilians and destroyed herds, water reservoirs and homes in Beledweyne, Kismayo, Bosaso, Burao and elsewhere. Several thousand Hawiye farmers and herders were held in army camps near Mogadishu and Beledweyne (same source).
- **In Mogadishu.** On 6 July 1990 the presidential guard shot dead more than 100 people at a football stadium after the crowd jeered the president (same source).
- **After the fall.** The Library of Congress records that fighters of both USC wings looted food meant for famine victims in 1991–92 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **The date of Somaliland's declaration.** The Library of Congress gives 17 May 1991. Somaliland marks 18 May.
- **The dead in the north.** Africa Watch's estimate of 50,000 to 60,000 dates from early 1990. Other estimates, made later, are higher. No agreed figure exists.
- **The SSDF's founding.** It began as the SSF after April 1978 and took the name SSDF in October 1981. Some accounts date the SSDF to 1978 or 1979.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Opposition movements](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm), [Reconciliation](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm), [Succession](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm), [Disintegration](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm).
- Human Rights Watch (Africa Watch), *World Report 1990*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm).
- Africa Watch, *Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People* (1990): [catalogue record and digital copy, University of Halle](https://www.opendata.uni-halle.de/handle/1981185920/108544).


---

# The Wagalla massacre, Wajir, February 1984

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/wagalla-massacre-1984/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In February 1984 Kenyan security forces in Wajir, in Kenya's north-east, rounded up men of the Somali Degodia clan during a disarmament operation and held them for several days at the Wagalla airstrip without food or water. Many were beaten, tortured and shot. The Kenyan government first gave 57 dead and later 365. Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) said in 2013 that 'close to a thousand' were killed; witnesses say up to 5,000. No one has been prosecuted.

## In short

Wagalla is an airstrip near Wajir, in the mainly Somali north-east of Kenya. In February 1984 Kenyan security forces sent to disarm the [Degodia](/en/society/degoodi/) clan after clashes between clans brought men to the airstrip and held them there. Al Jazeera reported in 2014 that "eyewitnesses claim that thousands of people were delivered to the airstrip, kept hungry, ordered to strip naked and lie on the ground for days" ([Al Jazeera, 27 February 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)).

Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) listed Wagalla among the massacres "committed by state security agents" and wrote that "no government official has been prosecuted or otherwise publicly held to account" ([TJRC report, as compiled by McMaster University](https://truthcommissions.humanities.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1CAF_References-to-History_Kenya-Report.pdf)).

For the region's history after independence, see [the Northern Frontier District, 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/).

## What happened

- **The operation.** It "started as an effort to disarm the ethnic Degodia clan following clan-related conflict in the region" ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)).
- **The roundup.** A former police officer told Al Jazeera that soldiers stopped men in the streets of Wajir and asked their clan: "If you say, 'I'm Degodia', they would put you in the lorry and drive off" (same source).
- **At the airstrip.** One survivor, then a schoolboy, said the men were held "for four days" on the ground with "no food or water in the scorching February sun", and were "continuously beaten and tortured, with some executed" (same source). The BBC reported witness accounts that some 5,000 men were "denied food and water for five days before being shot by the army" ([BBC News, 15 February 2011](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12463001)).
- **Other abuses.** The TJRC reported "torture, brutal beatings, rape and sexual violence", and "burning of houses and looting of property" (as quoted by [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)).
- **The burial.** Those killed were buried in an unmarked grave near the airstrip (same source).

## The death toll

| Source | Dead |
|---|---|
| Kenyan government, first figure | 57 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)) |
| Kenyan government, later | 365 "it could only confirm" ([BBC, 2011](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12463001)) |
| TJRC, 2013 | "close to a thousand"; "unable to determine the precise number" ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)) |
| Witnesses | up to 5,000 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later); [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12463001)) |

## The record since

- **15 February 2011.** Kenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, ordered an investigation and said: "We are yet to know who gave the orders to the soldiers and who made the decision." He also ordered a museum built ([BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12463001)). The TJRC's chairman, Ron Slye, called it "the worst human rights violation in Kenya's history" (same source).
- **The TJRC's own dispute.** Commission chairman Bethuel Kiplagat was himself under investigation over Wagalla. The TJRC report records that his statements on government responsibility led to conflict-of-interest objections. A claim against another commissioner, Major General Ahmed Farah, was investigated; the TJRC found that he was "out of the country before, during, and after" the massacre ([TJRC report digest, Kenya Transitional Justice Network, 2013](https://archive.org/details/the-august-2013-truth-justice-and-reconciliation-commission-of-kenya-tjrc-report)).
- **2013, the TJRC report.** It named Wagalla as "a clear example" of collective punishment in northern Kenya. It recorded that when the official Benson Kaaria was questioned, "he defended the security operation and stated that it was successful", despite "over 57 persons" killed and "only four (4) Guns recovered" (same source).
- **2014.** Al Jazeera reported that "none of the perpetrators have been brought to justice, and none of the families have been compensated". A monument had been put up in Wajir by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)).

## Who suffered?

- **Degodia men and boys** detained at the airstrip, and their families (Al Jazeera; BBC).
- **Women,** in the sexual violence the TJRC reported (as quoted by Al Jazeera).
- **Households in Wajir** whose houses were burned or looted (same source).

## Sources differ

- **The number killed.** From 57 (the first official figure) to 365 (the later official figure), "close to a thousand" (TJRC) and up to 5,000 (witnesses).
- **How long the men were held.** One survivor told Al Jazeera four days. The witness accounts reported by the BBC say five days.
- **Who gave the orders.** The government defended the operation as a security operation, as Kaaria did before the TJRC. Al Jazeera wrote that witness accounts "later formed part of the argument that the Kenyan government played a role in planning and executing the operation". In 2011 the prime minister said it was still not known "who gave the orders".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya, summary of the 2013 report (Kenya Transitional Justice Network): [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/the-august-2013-truth-justice-and-reconciliation-commission-of-kenya-tjrc-report).
- TJRC report, extracts on history compiled by McMaster University's truth commissions project: [PDF](https://truthcommissions.humanities.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1CAF_References-to-History_Kenya-Report.pdf).
- TJRC full report volumes, held by [Seattle](/en/diaspora/seattle/) University School of Law: [collection](https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/tjrc-core/).
- Abdi Latif Dahir, "Kenya's Wagalla massacre 30 years later", Al Jazeera, 27 February 2014: [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later).
- "Wagalla massacre: Raila Odinga orders Kenya probe", BBC News, 15 February 2011: [article](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12463001).


---

# The Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989: the killings in the north, from the record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 1987 to 1989, and above all after the SNM attacked Burao and Hargeisa in May 1988, the army of Siad Barre's government killed thousands of Isaaq civilians in the north-west, bombed Hargeisa and Burao, and drove 300,000 to 500,000 people into Ethiopia. A 1989 US State Department study estimated at least 5,000 civilians 'purposefully murdered' in ten months; later estimates run far higher. A 2001 study for the UN called it genocide. The SNM also killed civilians and Ethiopian refugees.

## In short

In May 1988 the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) (SNM) attacked [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Hargeisa. The army of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government answered with a campaign against the Isaaq civilians of the north-west, the SNM's main support base ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)).

A 1989 study for the US State Department, by Robert Gersony, found that the army had carried out "a widespread, systematic and extremely violent assault on the unarmed civilian Issak population" ([Gersony, *Why Somalis Flee*, August 1989, p. 60](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)). The same report recorded killings by the SNM too. Many Somalis, especially in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), call these events the Isaaq genocide. For the Isaaq clan-family itself, see [the Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/).

## Before May 1988

The SNM had raided the north from bases in Ethiopia since 1982 (see [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/)). Gersony's interviews record a small number of army killings of civilians from 1982 to 1987: 18 of the 629 he counted (pp. 32–33).

From 1986 to 1988 the army's command in the north-west was led by General [Mohamed Said Hersi "Morgan"](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/). A confidential report from this period, known in Somaliland as the "Letter of Death", proposed harsh measures against the Isaaq (["Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan", Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan), citing scholarly works).

In April 1988 Siad Barre and Ethiopia's leader agreed to stop backing each other's rebels. The SNM then moved its fighters into Somalia ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)).

## Hargeisa and Burao, May–August 1988

The SNM attacked Burao on 27 May 1988 and Hargeisa days later. The Library of Congress records the army's response as "massive aerial bombing, carried out by foreign mercenary pilots, that damaged or destroyed virtually every building in Hargeysa" ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)).

Gersony found that in both towns soldiers "sometimes engaged in the looting and killing of unarmed civilians" far from the fighting. As civilians fled toward Ethiopia, "they were attacked by Somali ground and air forces, which probably resulted in the deaths of hundreds" (p. 61).

He also found that the SNM spread its fighters, "in military and civilian dress", through Hargeisa's crowded Isaaq neighbourhoods. Civilian deaths "resulting in part from this factor may have ascended into the thousands" (p. 64).

## Berbera

Berbera saw no SNM attack. Yet refugees told Gersony that from late May to at least September 1988, soldiers "systematically collected large numbers of Issak males on the sole basis of their clan association" (p. 25).

Survivors said prisoners were taken out at night in groups of five to fifty and killed, mostly with knives, and buried nearby. One burial site was about a kilometre from the end of the airport runway. Gersony concluded that "at least five hundred and perhaps many more Issak men were systematically eliminated in Berbera in this manner solely because they were Issaks" (pp. 25–26).

## What Gersony found

Gersony's team interviewed more than 250 refugees and displaced people in 31 places in Ethiopia, [Somalia and Kenya](/en/relations/kenya/) (pp. 1–2). His main findings on the army (pp. 60–61):

- **Villages and wells.** "A systematic pattern of attacks against unarmed, civilian Issak villages, watering points and grazing areas."
- **Executions.** "Roundups, summary executions and massacres of many hundreds, if not more." He wrote that "the appearance that victims were selected for these killings principally because of their ethnic identity is unmistakable."
- **Prisons.** Detainees suffered "severe beatings, stabbing, prolonged choking", electric shock and other abuse, sometimes until death.
- **The toll.** "It is conservatively estimated that at least 5,000 unarmed civilian Issaks were purposefully murdered by the [Somali Armed Forces](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) between May 1988 and March 1989."

The 629 killings his Isaaq interviewees described were 60% men, 24% women and 14% children. About 86% were shot and 8% killed by bombing or strafing from the air (p. 32).

## What the SNM did

The same report records abuses by the SNM (pp. 62–63):

- **Civilians.** In the first three months of its offensive, the SNM killed unarmed civilians in cases "which together may have resulted in the deaths of at least several hundred or more". Some were "men sought out and killed apparently only because they were not Issaks".
- **Burao.** The SNM carried out "summary executions of fifty or more prisoners", some after brief courts martial. Some victims were civilians.
- **Refugee camps.** In attacks on UN camps for Ethiopian refugees, "at least four hundred unarmed civilian refugees were killed".

Gersony also found that the government had forcibly conscripted Ethiopian refugees from the UN camps for years, and after May 1988 armed some of them to fight the SNM (p. 63).

## Refugees

Between May 1988 and January 1989, an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people fled from the north into eastern Ethiopia, "sometimes at the rate of 4,000 a day" (Gersony, p. 1). In January 1990 Africa Watch estimated 50,000 to 60,000 killed and nearly half a million refugees by early 1990 ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).

## The record since

- **A UN study, 2001.** A study for the United Nations concluded that "the crime of genocide was conceived, planned and perpetrated by the Somalia Government", as quoted by *The Nation* ([Einashe and Kennard, *The Nation*, 22 October 2018](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/in-the-valley-of-death-somalilands-forgotten-genocide/)).
- **Mass graves.** Somaliland's War Crimes Investigation Commission, set up under President [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/), had by 2018 exhumed 11 mass graves and reburied 318 skeletons. The same article reports more than 200 mass graves, most in the valley near Hargeisa known as the Valley of Death (same source).
- **A US civil court, 2012.** A US federal court entered a $21 million judgment against [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/), Siad Barre's defence minister and later prime minister (same source).
- **A US jury, 2019.** On 21 May 2019 a jury in Virginia found Colonel Yusuf Abdi Ali liable for the torture of Farhan Warfaa, a teenager in his custody in the 1980s. It rejected the claim of attempted killing ([VOA, May 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html); [Center for Justice and Accountability](https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/warfaa-v-ali-col-tukeh/)). See [Yusuf Abdi Ali (Tukeh)](/en/people/yusuf-abdi-ali-tukeh/).

*The Nation* reported in 2018 that "no one has been criminally punished" (same source).

## Who suffered?

Isaaq civilians of every age in Hargeisa, Burao, Berbera, the villages and the grazing lands were killed, jailed, tortured and driven from their homes (Gersony, pp. 60–61). Non-Isaaq civilians killed by the SNM, and Ethiopian refugees in the UN camps, were victims too (pp. 62–63).

Gersony also recorded "heroic efforts in which non-Issak civilians saved the lives of Issak civilians", and Isaaq civilians who saved non-Isaaq lives in turn (p. 65).

## Sources differ

- **The number killed.** Gersony gave a conservative minimum of 5,000 civilians "purposefully murdered" in May 1988 to March 1989, plus at least 500 in Berbera. Africa Watch estimated 50,000 to 60,000 dead by early 1990, from all causes. *The Nation* gives about 200,000, including more than 40,000 in bombing and ground attacks. No agreed figure exists.
- **The word "genocide".** The 2001 UN-commissioned study used it, and *The Nation* calls the events "Somaliland's forgotten genocide". Gersony, in 1989, described ethnic targeting without using the word.
- **Who caused Hargeisa's civilian deaths.** Some reports blamed the army alone. Gersony wrote that the SNM's tactics shared responsibility, "without absolving either side" (p. 64).
- **The 2001 study.** Its finding is quoted here as reported by *The Nation* (2018).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Robert Gersony, *Why Somalis Flee: Synthesis of Accounts of Conflict Experience in Northern Somalia*, US Department of State, August 1989: [PDF](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf).
- Africa Watch, *Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People*, January 1990: [scanned PDF](https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/somalia_1990.pdf).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*, Somalia chapter: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), "Relations with Ethiopia": [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm).


---

# The fall of Mogadishu, December 1990 to January 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 30 December 1990 full-scale fighting broke out in Mogadishu between Siad Barre's forces and the United Somali Congress (USC). Government forces shelled mainly Hawiye districts with artillery. Foreign embassies were evacuated in early January. Siad Barre fled the city on 26 January 1991, ending 21 years of military rule, and on 29 January the USC's Ali Mahdi Mohamed declared himself interim President. Armed Hawiye groups then attacked Darod neighbourhoods; the US State Department reported hundreds killed, and hundreds of thousands of Darod residents fled the city.

## In short

The US State Department reported: "The 21-year rule of [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ended in January 1991, when Siad fled an uprising in the capital, Mogadishu" ([US Department of State, *Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991*: Somalia](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504)).

Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights wrote that the USC "played the central role in the final assault on Mogadishu in December 1990, as it was able to draw support from the Hawiye clan, who dominate the population living in and around Mogadishu". "The insurrection forced Siad Barre to flee on January 26, 1991" ([Africa Watch and PHR, *No Mercy in Mogadishu*, March 1992](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/)).

For the armed fronts, see [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/). For the war as a whole, see [the Somali Civil War](/en/history/somali-civil-war/).

## The advance on the capital, 1990

From a 1991 study by the US Center for Naval Analyses ([CNA, *Eastern Exit*, 1991, pp. 6–8](https://www.cna.org/reports/1991/2791021100.pdf)):

- **Three fronts.** In late 1990 the main rebel groups were the SNM in the north, the SPM in the south, and the USC, "primarily from Hawiye tribe", which "commenced fighting in mid-1990". See [the United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/).
- **October 1990.** The SNM stepped up its attacks, and the USC began an offensive from central Somalia "which quickly gained success against the government forces".
- **December 1990.** USC forces were "within 30 miles of Mogadishu". Talks planned for 11–13 December in Cairo "fell through" because none of the three movements would take part.
- **The city.** By late November there was "increased banditry inside Mogadishu". Foreigners kept to their homes at night, and the UN evacuated almost all of its 300 staff in December.

## The fighting, from 30 December 1990

- **The outbreak.** "On 30 December, Mogadishu erupted in fighting, with government forces using all weaponry on hand in an attempt to crush the growing USC presence in the capital" ([CNA, p. 8](https://www.cna.org/reports/1991/2791021100.pdf)).
- **Shelling.** "Government forces, primarily from the Marehan tribe, reportedly separated out members of the USC-supporting Hawiye tribe and indiscriminately fired artillery into predominantly Hawiye areas of Mogadishu" (same source). The State Department wrote: "Siad Barre shelled Mogadishu with field artillery, inflicting heavy casualties on clans he considered enemies. One Siad loyalist distributed flyers urging a war of extermination against non-Darod clans" ([State Department, 1991](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504)).
- **No quarter.** "The insurrectionists in Mogadishu gave no quarter to Siad's forces; members of the hated 'Red Hat' presidential guard were left unburied where they died" (same source).
- **The fronts' roles.** The Library of Congress records that USC Abgaal fighters "infiltrated Mogadishu, whose population was approximately 80 percent Hawiye, and successfully fought without the assistance of either the SNM, the SPM, or the Habar Gidir faction of the USC" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm)).

## The embassy evacuations, January 1991

From the CNA study ([CNA](https://www.cna.org/reports/1991/2791021100.pdf)):

- **2 January.** US Ambassador James K. Bishop asked for military help to evacuate. The ships USS *Guam* and USS *Trenton* sailed that night.
- **4 January.** There was a gun battle between embassy staff and looters. Italian and Soviet attempts to evacuate by air failed.
- **5–6 January.** Helicopters flew a 60-man force into the embassy and took out "281 people from 30 countries (including 8 Ambassadors and 39 Soviet citizens)". The evacuees were landed at Muscat, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/), on 11 January.

The State Department noted that "foreign embassies were evacuated in January and most, including that of the United States, remain vacant" at the end of 1991.

## Siad Barre's flight and the new government

- **26 January 1991.** Siad Barre fled the capital (Africa Watch and PHR). He and his supporters "regrouped to form yet another faction in southwestern Somalia, home of Siad's Marehan clan" (State Department).
- **29 January.** "A mere three days later, without consulting the armed movements, or even the other factions of the USC, Ali Mahdi, a businessman and member of the USC, declared himself Interim President. General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid, leader of another faction of the USC, objected" ([Africa Watch and PHR](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/)). See [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) and [Mohamed Farah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/).
- **Recognition.** The State Department wrote that the USC "proclaimed a provisional government which none of the other factions recognized".
- **What followed.** "On November 17, 1991, General Aidid's forces... launched an all-out attack on President Mahdi's positions" (Africa Watch and PHR). See [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Killings after the fall

From the State Department's report for 1991 ([State Department](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504)):

- **Mogadishu.** "Armed Hawiye gangs began attacking Darod neighborhoods in Mogadishu. There are credible reports that hundreds of unresisting people—mostly Darod but Hawiye as well—were killed in ethnically motivated violence."
- **Flight.** "Mogadishu's population dropped by half or more as hundreds of thousands of Darod residents and between 7,000 and 15,000 Isaaks fled the killing."
- **[Brava](/en/regions/barawa/).** USC militias entered Brava on 10 February 1991. During a 36-day occupation they "reportedly shot dead about 120 [Bravanese](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/)" and raped girls; girls taken away "are still missing".
- **Galkayo.** Darod organisations in the United States estimated "500 civilians were killed, 1,000 wounded, and 200 taken hostage" in a USC attack in February. The State Department wrote that "the numbers may be inflated" but "the allegation appears to be based on fact".

## Who suffered?

- **Hawiye residents of Mogadishu,** under government artillery fire from 30 December 1990 (CNA; State Department).
- **Darod residents of Mogadishu,** attacked in their neighbourhoods after the government fell; hundreds killed and hundreds of thousands fled (State Department).
- **Isaaq residents,** between 7,000 and 15,000 of whom fled the city (State Department).
- **The people of Brava,** including the girls taken away, and of Galkayo (State Department).

## Sources differ

- **The date Siad Barre left.** Africa Watch gives 26 January 1991. The State Department gives only "January 1991".
- **The death toll.** None of the sources linked here gives a total for the fighting of December 1990 to January 1991. The State Department speaks of "thousands of casualties".
- **Who won Mogadishu.** The Library of Congress credits the Abgaal wing of the USC fighting alone. The CNA describes the USC as a whole advancing from central Somalia.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- US Department of State, *Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991*: Somalia: [text](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/241504).
- Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, *No Mercy in Mogadishu* (26 March 1992): [text](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/).
- Adam B. Siegel, *Eastern Exit: The Noncombatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) from Mogadishu, Somalia, in January 1991*, Center for Naval Analyses, CRM 91-211 (October 1991): [PDF](https://www.cna.org/reports/1991/2791021100.pdf).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), "Politics of reconciliation": [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm).


---

# The Landshut hijacking and the Mogadishu airport rescue, October 1977

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/landshut-hijacking-mogadishu-1977/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 13 October 1977 four hijackers seized the Lufthansa airliner Landshut on a flight from Mallorca to Frankfurt and demanded the release of Red Army Faction prisoners in West Germany. After a journey through several airports the plane landed in Mogadishu, where the captain was shot dead by the hijackers' leader. With the consent of the Somali government, West Germany's GSG 9 unit stormed the plane early on 18 October 1977; three of the four hijackers were killed and all the hostages were freed.

## In short

In October 1977, during the war with Ethiopia (see [The Ogaden war, 1977–1978](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)), Mogadishu airport became the scene of one of the best-known hostage rescues of the period. This page records the events as the sources report them. Somalia's relations with Germany are covered in [Somalia and Germany](/en/relations/germany/), and the government of the day in [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The hijacking

On 13 October 1977 four Palestinian hijackers seized the Lufthansa plane *Landshut* on its flight from Mallorca to Frankfurt, with 86 passengers and five crew on board. They demanded the release of imprisoned leaders of the Red Army Faction (RAF), which was then holding the German employers' leader Hanns Martin Schleyer hostage. The plane was diverted and finally landed in Mogadishu. The captain was shot dead by the hijackers' leader ([German History in Documents and Images, German Historical Institute](https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/two-germanies-1961-1989/ghdi:video-5006)). Wikipedia records that the hijackers belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and also demanded the release of two Palestinians held in Turkey ([Wikipedia, Lufthansa Flight 181](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_181)).

## The rescue at Mogadishu

West Germany's Minister of State Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski led the negotiations with the Somali government, which agreed to let the GSG 9, a special unit of the Federal Border Guard, storm the plane. On 18 October 1977 the unit stormed the aircraft in an operation that took seven minutes. Three of the four hijackers were killed; the hostages were unharmed, and a GSG 9 officer and a flight attendant were injured (German History in Documents and Images). Wikipedia records that the assault took place under cover of darkness with ground support from the Somali armed forces, and that all the passengers and the four surviving crew were rescued (Wikipedia).

## Aftermath in Germany

After the rescue the imprisoned RAF leaders died by suicide in Stuttgart-Stammheim prison, and RAF members killed Schleyer (German History in Documents and Images).

## Sources differ

- **Time of the assault.** Accounts give shortly after midnight Central European Time or about 2 a.m. local time on 18 October.
- **Somali role.** The German Historical Institute records the Somali government's consent; Wikipedia also records ground support from Somali forces.
- **Number of passengers.** 86 passengers and five crew (German Historical Institute); Wikipedia gives 87 passengers and four crew rescued, after the captain's death.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- German History in Documents and Images, "Hijacking of the Lufthansa plane Landshut" (video and notes): [page](https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/two-germanies-1961-1989/ghdi:video-5006).
- Wikipedia, "Lufthansa Flight 181": [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_181).


---

# Timeline: the Federal Republic, 2012 to November 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Newest first: the dated events in Somali politics from the end of the transition in August 2012 to November 2026, each with its source.

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">5 Nov 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Supreme Court declares the Chief Justice's dismissal "null and void". It dismisses Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's challenge for lack of standing, but rules that extended terms apply to incumbents only if expressly stated. It holds that parliament's and the cabinet's mandates expired 14 Apr and the president's 15 May 2026, and that later measures are void, with the cabinet continuing as caretaker. It gives 30 days to agree a process and 90 days to hold elections.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Supreme Court; Presidency; Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Source: <a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-supreme-court-declares-chief-justices-dismissal-void-2026-11-05/">6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">4 Nov 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">President dismisses Chief Justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed and names Ibrahim Idle Suleiman, citing judicial overhaul.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Hassan Sheikh Mohamud; judiciary. Source: <a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-supreme-court-declares-chief-justices-dismissal-void-2026-11-05/">6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">25 Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">President invites opposition leaders to talks. Talks in August had kept dialogue alive without results.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; SFC. Source: <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php">9</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">24 Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Ali Gudlawe Hussein re-elected Hirshabelle president (81 MPs took part). Some Hiiraan community voices object to representation.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Hirshabelle Assembly; President HSM (congratulated). Source: <a href="https://horseedmedia.net/somalia-ali-gudlawe-hussein-re-elected-as-hirshabelle-leader/426803/">17</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">22 Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Liban Ahmed Hassan (JSP) elected Galmudug president, 72 of 89 votes. Sincad candidate receives 14. Outgoing leader Qoorqoor (2020-26) credited with a peaceful handover.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Galmudug parliament; JSP; Sincad. Source: <a href="https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents">16</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15 Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC) sets OPOV parliamentary elections for 15 Apr 2027 and presidential for 15 May 2027, with registration 1-22 Nov 2026. SFC rejects the calendar as non-inclusive. SFC, Nabad iyo Nolol and National Unity Council submit their own OPOV model.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> NIEBC; SFC; opposition groups. Source: <a href="https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-sets-presidential-vote-for-15-may-2027">4</a><a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php">9</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">13 Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">National AML/CFT committee sanctions former South West president Laftagareen and 9 others over alleged al-Shabaab links. His camp denies fighting alongside al-Shabaab.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; Laftagareen camp. Source: <a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-sanctions-ex-regional-leader-over-alleged-shabaab-links-2026-10-13/">39</a><a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202611030644.html">2</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">11 Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed files a constitutional case on the amendment procedure.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Sharif; Supreme Court. Source: <a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-supreme-court-declares-chief-justices-dismissal-void-2026-11-05/">6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Oct 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Laftagareen-aligned forces ("Darawish") retake several Bay towns, reported as Buurhakaba, Diinsoor, Bardaale and Qansaxdheere.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Laftagareen camp; FGS; SWS admin. Source: <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202611030644.html">2</a><a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php">9</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">30 Sep 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Galmudug rerun. JSP wins 67 of 89 seats and Sincad 7. The Supreme Court later approves the results.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> NIEBC; JSP; Sincad. Source: <a href="https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents">16</a><a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-supreme-court-declares-chief-justices-dismissal-void-2026-11-05/">6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">14-23 Sep 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Somaliland President Irro in Washington. Hudson Institute speech offers minerals and possible base access. Meets members of Congress.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Somaliland; US Congress. Source: <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/somaliland-us-recognition-iran-war/">31</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">10 Sep 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">US letter: will stop supporting UNSOS after AUSSOM authorisation expires 31 Dec 2026 and proposes a 12-month drawdown.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> US; AU; UNSC. Source: <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php">9</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">24 Aug 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Chief Justice annuls Galmudug's July vote and orders a rerun.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Supreme Court. Source: <a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-supreme-court-declares-chief-justices-dismissal-void-2026-11-05/">6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">17 Aug 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Fighting in Baidoa between federal forces and Laftagareen loyalists. Renewed clashes 28 Sep.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; Laftagareen camp; SWS admin. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council">8</a><a href="https://africanarguments.org/2026/08/somalia-pushes-ahead-with-controversial-regional-elections-despite-opponent-boycott/">11</a><a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-sanctions-ex-regional-leader-over-alleged-shabaab-links-2026-10-13/">39</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Aug 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">SNA graduates about 3,000 soldiers, its largest class since 1991.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SNA. Source: <a href="https://www.military.africa/2026/11/foreign-forces-take-a-bigger-role-in-somalias-war/">34</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">5 Aug 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Puntland forces take a camp near Galkayo airport held by units whose commanders had pledged loyalty to Mogadishu. Deni alleges federal arms movements.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Puntland; FGS-aligned units. Source: <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/5/puntland-forces-seize-government-held-camp-in-somalias-galkayo">15</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Early Aug 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Galmudug state vote. JSP dominant. SFC calls for state-level electoral commissions. Ex-PM Kheyre warns that bypassing consensus erodes trust.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> JSP; SFC; Kheyre. Source: <a href="https://africanarguments.org/2026/08/somalia-pushes-ahead-with-controversial-regional-elections-despite-opponent-boycott/">11</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">29-31 Jul 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Kampala troop-contributor summit calls for an "orderly, coordinated and phased exit" of AUSSOM with 18-24 months of support.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> AU TCCs. Source: <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php">9</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">11 Jun 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Adan Mohamed Nur "Madoobe", Speaker of the House of the People since Apr 2022, becomes South West president in a contested vote in Baidoa.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SWS; JSP; FGS. Source: <a href="https://en.kaabtv.com/nearly-five-months-into-office-aadan-madoobe-faces-ongoing-fighting-in-south-west-state/">3</a><a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/">5</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 May 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Clan elders meet SFC leaders and describe the talks as "delayed, not abandoned".</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Elders (incl. Garad Jama Garad Ali); SFC. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council">8</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">21 May 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Puntland declares federal executive and legislative mandates ended.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Puntland. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">20 May 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Deni hosts a senior US delegation in Garowe (oil, fisheries, minerals).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Puntland; US. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">12-15 May 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">US/UK-mediated talks at Halane collapse over whether the presidential mandate had ended. The president's original 4-year term ends 15 May.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS (HSM, Dep. PM Salah Jama); SFC (Sharif, Deni); US; UK. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/6/2/somalia-needs-a-political-settlement-before-it-is-too-late">7</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council">8</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">16-17 Apr 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Puntland cabinet: parliament's mandate expired 14 Apr (Art. 60) and the president's ends 15 May (Art. 91). It calls an "urgent conference" for consensus.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Puntland. Source: <a href="https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/puntland-says-somalia-has-entered-constitutional-vacuum-urges-urgent-talks">40</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">30 Mar 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">SNA enters Baidoa and dissolves the regional administration. Laftagareen resigns and leaves for Kenya.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; SWS. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a><a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/">5</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">17-19 Mar 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">South West suspends cooperation with FGS and briefly joins SFC.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SWS; SFC. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council">8</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">4-8 Mar 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Parliament approves a revised constitution with directly elected MPs and 4→5-year terms. The president signs four days later. SFC calls it a "constitutional coup".</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Parliament; President; SFC; Puntland; Jubaland. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a><a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/">5</a><a href="https://somaliatoday.com/politics/somalia-supreme-court-declares-chief-justices-dismissal-void-2026-11-05/">6</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Feb 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Talks stall over venue (Villa Somalia or Halane). Donors fund about 68% of the budget.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; opposition. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/With-Time-Running-Out-Government-%E2%80%93-Opposition-Talks-Must-Deliver-a-Consensus-Electoral-Model.pdf">14</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">9 Feb 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Somalia and Saudi Arabia sign a military cooperation agreement.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; Saudi Arabia. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Jan-Feb 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Türkiye deploys F-16s to Mogadishu. Egypt holds a deployment parade for its AUSSOM contingent.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Türkiye; Egypt; FGS. Source: <a href="https://www.military.africa/2026/11/foreign-forces-take-a-bigger-role-in-somalias-war/">34</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">12 Jan 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">FGS revokes all agreements with the UAE (Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo port arrangements, defence cooperation). FMS reject it. Somaliland says Somalia is "neither a party to, nor a guarantor of" its agreements.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; UAE; Puntland; Somaliland. Source: <a href="https://www.geeska.com/en/somalia-revokes-all-agreements-uae">18</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">7 Jan 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">US suspends assistance to the federal government over a seized WFP food consignment (76 t).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> US; FGS. Source: <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/8/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid">41</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">6 Jan 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Israeli FM Gideon Sa'ar visits Somaliland.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Israel; Somaliland. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia">1</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">27 Dec 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Al-Shabaab vows to oppose any Israeli use of Somaliland.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Al-Shabaab. Source: <a href="https://english.aawsat.com/world/5223723-somalia%E2%80%99s-al-shabaab-vows-fight-any-israeli-use-somaliland">42</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 Dec 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Israel recognises Somaliland. UNSC debate follows. The Somali parliament unanimously declares it "null and void". The AU, Arab League, IGAD, China, Türkiye, Egypt and others reject it.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Israel; Somaliland; FGS; UNSC members. Source: <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm">10</a><a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">25 Dec 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu (Banadir) local council elections: 390 seats, 20 parties and associations, 1,604 candidates, party-list proportional voting. Salvation Forum boycotts.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> NIEBC; parties; Salvation Forum. Source: <a href="https://radiodalsan.com/2025/12/25/mogadishu-votes-at-dawn-benadir-regional-council-elections-begin-in-a-historic-first/">30</a><a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Dec 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Borama (Awdal) unrest, then protests opposing Israel normalisation.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Awdal communities; Somaliland govt. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Borama_protests">35</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">18-20 Dec 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">SFC gives the president a 20 Jan 2026 deadline for inclusive election talks.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SFC. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Dec 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">UN Panel of Experts calls al-Shabaab the "greatest immediate threat". ISIS-Somalia has over 1,000 fighters (≥60% foreign). UNSC extends AUSSOM to 31 Dec 2026.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> UN PoE; UNSC. Source: <a href="https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/al-shabab-is-greatest-threat-to-peace-in-somalia-and-the-region-un-experts-say">29</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2 Oct 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Jubaland, Puntland and the Salvation Forum announce a new front in Nairobi (later the SFC). Kismayo talks between the president and Madobe follow on 5-7 Oct, without agreement.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Deni; Madobe; Salvation Forum; HSM. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council">8</a><a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf">13</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">24 Sep 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Clash at Warta Nabadda police station involving opposition leaders. PM calls it an attempted coup.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; opposition. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Aug-Sep 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Firdhiye re-elected and becomes the first president of North Eastern State (formerly SSC-Khatumo), aligned with Mogadishu.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> NES; FGS. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf">13</a><a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/the-making-of-somalia-new-northeast-state-5178184">36</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">27 Aug 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">A faction that left the Salvation Forum agrees with the president on direct election of MPs, who then elect the president.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> HSM; part of Salvation Forum. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Aug 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Fighting between federal and Jubaland forces.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; Jubaland. Source: <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/5/puntland-forces-seize-government-held-camp-in-somalias-galkayo">15</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">29 May 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Hassan Mohamed Hussein "Muungaab" appointed Banadir governor and Mogadishu mayor.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a><a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf">13</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">13-14 May 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">President launches the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP). Deni calls it a "power grab". The 6 May NCC meets without Puntland and Jubaland.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> HSM; Deni; NCC. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a><a href="https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/puntland-calls-somali-president-s-new-political-party-a-power-grab-and-a-threat-to-federal-system">19</a><a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/">21</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15 Apr 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">FGS recognises SSC-Khatumo as North Eastern State after the PM visits Las Anod on 13 Apr. Somaliland withdraws from talks.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; SSC-Khatumo; Somaliland. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Feb-May 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Al-Shabaab counteroffensive retakes Adan Yabaal (Apr) and most of Middle Shabelle. 18 Mar attack on the president's convoy.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Al-Shabaab; FGS. Source: <a href="https://hiraalinstitute.org/somalia-security-situation-2020-2025/">20</a><a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/">21</a><a href="https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/al-shabab-is-greatest-threat-to-peace-in-somalia-and-the-region-un-experts-say">29</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Jan 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">AUSSOM replaces ATMIS. Puntland's Operation Hilaac against ISIS-Somalia begins. Egypt-Somalia strategic partnership (23 Jan).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> AU; Puntland; Egypt. Source: <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/">21</a><a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a><a href="https://hiraalinstitute.org/somalia-security-situation-2020-2025/">20</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">10 Jan 2025</h3><p class="tl__body">Jubaland suspends cooperation with FGS.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Jubaland. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf">12</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">11 Dec 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Ankara Declaration: Somalia and Ethiopia affirm each other's sovereignty. Somalia drops its objection to Ethiopia in AUSSOM.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Türkiye; Ethiopia; FGS. Source: <a href="https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ankara-declaration-t-rkiye-s-diplomatic-win-in-africa">25</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">11 Dec 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Ras Kamboni clash between Jubaland forces and SNA. SNA withdraws from Lower Juba.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Jubaland; FGS. Source: <a href="https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2024/12/analysis-somali-forces-turn-their-weapons-on-each-other.php">38</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Late Nov 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Ahmed Madobe re-elected Jubaland president (third term). FGS declares the vote invalid and arrest warrants are traded.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Jubaland; FGS. Source: <a href="https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2024/12/analysis-somali-forces-turn-their-weapons-on-each-other.php">38</a><a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf">13</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">13-19 Nov 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Somaliland election: Abdirahman "Irro" (Waddani) about 64%, incumbent Muse Bihi (Kulmiye) about 35%.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Somaliland parties. Source: <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/11/19/oppositions-abdullahi-wins-presidential-election-in-breakaway-somaliland">24</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">30-31 Mar 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Parliament amends the first four chapters (stronger presidency, direct suffrage). Puntland stops recognising FGS pending a referendum.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Parliament; HSM; Puntland. Source: <a href="https://worldview.ranenetwork.com/content/analysis/2024-04-16/somalia-s-constitutional-changes-widen-rifts-at-home-and-abroad">37</a><a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/">21</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">12 Mar 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">US Treasury estimates al-Shabaab revenue at about $100m a year and designates 16 people.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> US Treasury. Source: <a href="https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/report-al-shabaab-rakes-100-million-annually-supports-groups-outside-somalia">28</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1 Jan 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Ethiopia-Somaliland MoU: sea and military access in exchange for a recognition pledge. Somalia declares it "null and void".</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Ethiopia; Somaliland; FGS. Source: <a href="https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ankara-declaration-t-rkiye-s-diplomatic-win-in-africa">25</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">19 Oct 2023</h3><p class="tl__body">FGS recognises SSC-Khatumo as an interim federal administration. Puntland objects.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; SSC-Khatumo; Puntland. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_conflict_%282023%29">26</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Feb-Aug 2023</h3><p class="tl__body">Las Anod conflict. Dhulbahante elders declare SSC-Khatumo within Somalia. Somaliland forces withdraw after Goojacade (25 Aug).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> SSC-Khatumo; Somaliland. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_conflict_%282023%29">26</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-2022</h3><p class="tl__body">Federal offensive with Ma'awisley clan militias in Hirshabelle and Galmudug, the strongest pressure on al-Shabaab in a decade.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> FGS; Ma'awisley; Danab. Source: <a href="https://riftvalley.net/?p=6063">27</a><a href="https://hiraalinstitute.org/somalia-security-situation-2020-2025/">20</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Apr-May 2022</h3><p class="tl__body">Parliament completed and Speakers elected (26-27 Apr). AMISOM becomes ATMIS (UNSCR 2628). Hassan Sheikh returns to office for a term running to 15 May 2026.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Parliament; candidates incl. Farmaajo, HSM, Sharif, Kheyre. Source: <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2022-05/somalia-25.php">23</a><a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/">5</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2021</h3><p class="tl__body">Farmaajo's term expires 8 Feb. Two-year extension approved 12 Apr. Armed standoff in Mogadishu late Apr. Extension dropped and PM Roble leads election talks. Puntland and Jubaland join the opposition alliance. AU condemns the extension.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Farmaajo; Roble; Hawiye-backed opposition; Puntland; Jubaland; AU. Source: <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2021/05/20/back-brink-somalias-political-crisis-explained">22</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Feb 2017</h3><p class="tl__body">Farmaajo chosen by parliament. HSM concedes before the third round. Process criticised as costly and vote-buying-prone.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Farmaajo; HSM. Source: <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-02-13-iss-today-somalias-elections-herald-unexpected-fresh-start/">33</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2013</h3><p class="tl__body">Jubaland formed with Kenyan and Ethiopian-brokered backing. Puntland suspends cooperation with FGS (Aug 2013).</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Jubaland; Puntland; FGS. Source: <a href="https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf">13</a><a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/somalia-still-in-transition-3">32</a></p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Aug-Sep 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">Provisional Constitution adopted 1 Aug. TFG term ends 20 Aug. Clan-nominated parliament elects Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. US and EU recognise the new federal government.</p><p class="tl__meta"><b>Who:</b> Clan elders; parliament; HSM. Source: <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/somalia-still-in-transition-3">32</a></p></li></ol>

</div>


---

# Deaths in armed conflict in Somalia by year, 1989–2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/conflict-deaths-by-year-1989-2026/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) records reported deaths from fighting in Somalia every year since 1989. Its best estimates peak at about 8,455 in 1991, when the government fell, and are lowest around 2000, at about 171. They rose again from 2006, reached about 2,983 in 2012, and reached about 4,175 in 2023, during the offensive against al-Shabaab, and 3,869 in 2025. The figures count combatants and civilians killed in fighting, not deaths from hunger or disease.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
## In short

This page gives one consistent count of deaths from armed conflict in Somalia, year by year, so that different periods can be compared. It records the numbers as the source gives them, without drawing conclusions about who was responsible. Responsibility for particular attacks is covered on the pages for each force and group.

## The source

The figures are the Uppsala Conflict Data Program's best estimates of deaths of combatants and civilians from fighting in all kinds of conflict: between states, between a government and armed groups, between armed groups, and attacks on civilians ("one-sided violence"). A conflict is counted when it causes at least 25 deaths in a year. Deaths from disease and famine caused by war are not included. The 2026 figure covers only the first half of the year and is based on quarterly reports, which can be underestimates ([Our World in Data, "Deaths in armed conflicts based on where they occurred", from UCDP 2026](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-in-armed-conflicts-by-country); [Uppsala Conflict Data Program](https://ucdp.uu.se/)).

## Year by year

| Year | Deaths | Year | Deaths | Year | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 1,061 | 2002 | 624 | 2015 | 1,239 |
| 1990 | 2,700 | 2003 | 395 | 2016 | 2,055 |
| 1991 | 8,455 | 2004 | 656 | 2017 | 2,060 |
| 1992 | 4,729 | 2005 | 338 | 2018 | 2,432 |
| 1993 | 478 | 2006 | 1,187 | 2019 | 2,179 |
| 1994 | 625 | 2007 | 1,584 | 2020 | 2,091 |
| 1995 | 443 | 2008 | 1,731 | 2021 | 2,253 |
| 1996 | 939 | 2009 | 2,146 | 2022 | 3,100 |
| 1997 | 268 | 2010 | 2,697 | 2023 | 4,175 |
| 1998 | 312 | 2011 | 2,093 | 2024 | 2,400 |
| 1999 | 522 | 2012 | 2,983 | 2025 | 3,869 |
| 2000 | 171 | 2013 | 1,037 | 2026* | 3,031 |
| 2001 | 445 | 2014 | 1,225 | | |

\* January to June 2026 only. (UCDP via Our World in Data.)

## What each period covers


<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1989–1992</h3><p class="tl__body">The war against the government of <a href="/en/people/siad-barre/">Siad Barre</a> by the <a href="/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/">SNM</a>, <a href="/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/">USC</a>, <a href="/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/">SPM</a> and others, its fall in January 1991 and the fighting that followed. See <a href="/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/">Armed movements, 1978–1991</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1993–2005</h3><p class="tl__body">The <a href="/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/">UN intervention</a> and years of fighting between factions such as the <a href="/en/institutions/somali-national-alliance/">Somali National Alliance</a> and the <a href="/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/">RRA</a>. See <a href="/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/">Rebuilding, 1991–1999</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2006–2012</h3><p class="tl__body">The <a href="/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/">Islamic Courts</a>, the Ethiopian intervention, the insurgency led by <a href="/en/history/al-shabaab/">al-Shabaab</a> and the <a href="/en/institutions/amisom/">AMISOM</a> campaign. See <a href="/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/">Foreign forces in Somalia</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2013–2021</h3><p class="tl__body">War between al-Shabaab and the federal government and AU forces, and the rise in <a href="/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/">US air strikes</a> from 2017.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2022–2026</h3><p class="tl__body">The <a href="/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/">offensive against al-Shabaab</a> with the <a href="/en/institutions/macawisley/">Macawisley</a>, fighting between federal and <a href="/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/">Jubaland forces</a>, and Puntland's campaign against the <a href="/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/">Islamic State in Somalia</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Limits of the data

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Reporting</h3><p class="tl__body">UCDP's figures are best estimates built from reported events; deaths that are never reported cannot be counted, and the source warns that its latest quarterly figures can be underestimates (Our World in Data).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Other counts</h3><p class="tl__body">The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED) uses a different method, so its totals differ from UCDP's; Human Rights Watch and the UN also publish civilian casualty figures for particular years (<a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/somalia">Human Rights Watch, <em>World Report 2024</em>, Somalia</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">By region</h3><p class="tl__body">UCDP and ACLED also record the location of each event, but those breakdowns are not reproduced here.</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Our World in Data, conflict deaths by country (from UCDP): [chart and data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-in-armed-conflicts-by-country).
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program: [database](https://ucdp.uu.se/).

</div>


---

# Ethiopia and Somalia at war: a timeline, 1527 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ethiopia-somalia-wars-timeline/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ethiopia and Somalia, and the states before them, have fought several times: Adal against the Ethiopian kingdom in 1527–1543; the border war of February–March 1964; the Ogaden war of July 1977 to March 1978; the border fighting from July 1982 until the 1988 withdrawal agreement; and Ethiopia's intervention against the Islamic Courts from December 2006 to January 2009. Ethiopian troops have since served in Somalia in the AU missions. In 2024 the two governments clashed diplomatically over Ethiopia's memorandum with Somaliland, settled by the Ankara Declaration.

## In short

This timeline lists the main wars and armed confrontations between Ethiopia and Somalia and the states before them. Each entry gives the main facts and their source, and links to the full page, which sets out where accounts differ. Many of the disputes were over the Somali-inhabited Ogaden region of Ethiopia.

## Timeline

- **1527–1543. Adal and Ethiopia.** Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi of Adal, based at Harar, with an army largely of Somali communities, fought the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia. He won at Shimbra Kure in March 1529 and held most of Ethiopia by 1540, but was killed at [Wayna Daga](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/) on 21 February 1543 after Portugal sent 400 musketeers to help Ethiopia ([Whiteway, *The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541–1543*, 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). Full page: [Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim and the Adal campaigns, 1527–1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).
- **February–March 1964. The border war.** Fighting began at Tog [Wajaale](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/) between Hargeisa and Jigjiga, and Ethiopian aircraft struck targets inside Somalia. [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) mediated, and talks in Khartoum in March produced a ceasefire and a demilitarised strip on each side of the border ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm)). Full page: [The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/).
- **July 1977–March 1978. The Ogaden war.** Somali forces and the [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) took most of the Ogaden by late 1977. Soviet arms and about 17,000 Cuban troops turned the war, and Somalia announced its withdrawal on 9 March 1978 ([Library of Congress, *Ethiopia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm)). Full page: [The Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).
- **July 1982–April 1988. The 1982 border war.** Ethiopian forces, with fighters of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, crossed into central Somalia and took Balanbale and Galdogob ([UPI, 12 July 1982](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/12/Fighting-flares-on-Ethiopian-Somali-border/3690395294400/)). The two governments agreed in April 1988 to withdraw their forces from the border. Full page: [The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/).
- **December 2006–January 2009. The intervention.** Ethiopian forces entered Somalia in support of the transitional government and drove the Islamic Courts out of Mogadishu. Human Rights Watch found that all sides violated the laws of war in the fighting that followed ([Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked*, 2007](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)). Ethiopian troops left Mogadishu on 15 January 2009. Full pages: [War in Somalia, 2006 to 2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/) and [Ethiopia's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/ethiopia-military-in-somalia/).
- **2014 onward. Inside the AU missions.** Ethiopian troops formally joined [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) in January 2014, and others have served outside the AU missions under bilateral arrangements. See [Ethiopia's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/ethiopia-military-in-somalia/).
- **2024. The [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) memorandum.** Ethiopia's memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on 1 January 2024 led to a sharp dispute with Somalia and to Somali defence pacts with Turkey and Egypt. Turkish mediation produced the Ankara Declaration on 11 December 2024 ([The National, 29 August 2024](https://thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/08/29/ethiopia-alarmed-as-egypt-sends-special-forces-and-arms-to-somalia)). See [Egypt's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/egypt-military-in-somalia/) and [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/).

## Sources differ

Each full page lists where its sources disagree. The largest disputes are over the size of the Ethiopian force in 2006 (from 4,000 to 50,000 or more) and over how many died in each war.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* and *Ethiopia: A Country Study*: [Somalia](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm), [Ethiopia](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm).
- Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked* (2007): [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu).


---

# History of Somaliland: a timeline from the Stone Age to 2024

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/history-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The north-west of the Somali lands, today's Somaliland, has Stone Age sites and ancient ports such as Zeila and Berbera, which were part of the Muslim states of Ifat and Adal in the Middle Ages. Britain made it the British Somaliland Protectorate from 1884–1886. It became independent as the State of Somaliland on 26 June 1960 and joined the south on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic. After the war of the 1980s, in which government forces killed thousands of Isaaq civilians, the Somali National Movement declared the Republic of Somaliland in May 1991. It has held its own elections since 2001 and is not recognised by the UN.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-before-1500">Before 1500</a></li><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</a></li><li><a href="#era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
## In short

This page puts the history of the north-west, the area of today's Somaliland, in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For the political dispute since 1991, see [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Before 1500: ports and sultanates

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">The Stone Age</h3><p class="tl__body">Under the Laas Geel rock paintings near Hargeisa lie stone tools from the end of the last Ice Age. See <a href="/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/">the Stone Age in the Somali lands</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-before-1500">Before 1500</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1st century</h3><p class="tl__body">The Greek <em>Periplus of the Erythraean Sea</em> describes the market of Malao, identified with Berbera, and Avalites, often identified with Zeila (<a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236">Schoff, <em>The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea</em>, 1912</a>). See <a href="/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/">early Berbera</a> and <a href="/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/">early Zeila</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">800s–1200s</h3><p class="tl__body">Arab geographers name Zeila as a port shipping skins, ambergris and incense to Yemen; by the 1200s they call its people Muslims (Fauvelle-Aymar et al., cited on <a href="/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/">early Zeila</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1300s–1500s</h3><p class="tl__body">Stone mosques were built in towns such as Abasa, Amud and Zeila (<a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.19266">Cornax-Gómez and de Torres Rodríguez, 2023</a>). See <a href="/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/">medieval mosques of Somaliland</a> and <a href="/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/">Aw Bare, Aiyanle and the border towns</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1331</h3><p class="tl__body">Ibn Battuta visited Zeila. See <a href="/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/">Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Early 1400s</h3><p class="tl__body">Sultan Saʿd ad-Din of Ifat died at Zeila; his sons founded the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, or Adal (<a href="https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03086735">Chekroun, <em>Médiévales</em> 79, 2020</a>). See <a href="/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/">the death of Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1500 to 1884: Adal and the sultanates


<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1527–1543</h3><p class="tl__body">Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim led Adal, with many Somali fighters, in war against Ethiopia (<a href="https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog">Basset, <em>Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie</em>, 1897</a>). See <a href="/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/">Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1543–1583</h3><p class="tl__body">After his death, Adal's centre moved inland; the Ottomans held Zeila. See <a href="/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/">the end of Adal</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1700s–1880s</h3><p class="tl__body">Somali sultanates, including the Isaaq Sultanate, governed alongside xeer, customary law. See <a href="/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/">sultanates, the coast and customary law</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1854–1855</h3><p class="tl__body">Richard Burton travelled through Zeila and Berbera. See <a href="/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/"><em>First Footsteps in East Africa</em></a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1884 to 1960: the British protectorate


<h2 id="era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1884–1886</h3><p class="tl__body">Treaties with northern clans made the coast a British protectorate, held mainly to supply livestock to Aden (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">Library of Congress, <em>Somalia: A Country Study</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/">British Somaliland, 1884–1960</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1899–1920</h3><p class="tl__body">The Dervishes of Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan fought Britain, Italy and Ethiopia until British aircraft and troops took Taleh in 1920 (<a href="https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog">War Office, <em>Official History</em>, 1907</a>). See <a href="/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/">the Dervish movement</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1940–1941</h3><p class="tl__body">Italy occupied the protectorate in August 1940; Britain retook it in March 1941 (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/">the British Military Administration</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1940s–1950s</h3><p class="tl__body">Political parties grew, among them the Somali National League. In the first party elections, in 1960, the SNL and the United Somali Party won all but one of 33 seats (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/nationalist-era-1943-1960/">the nationalist era</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1960: independence and union


<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 June 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">British Somaliland became independent as the State of Somaliland, with Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal as prime minister. See <a href="/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/">the State of Somaliland, 1960</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1 July 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">It joined the former Italian trust territory to form the Somali Republic. See <a href="/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/">independence and union</a> and <a href="/en/history/1960-constitution/">the 1960 constitution</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1960 to 1991: the Republic and the war in the north


<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1969</h3><p class="tl__body">The army took power under Siad Barre. See <a href="/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/">the Somali Democratic Republic</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">6 April 1981</h3><p class="tl__body">The Somali National Movement (SNM) was formed in London by Isaaq exiles (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm">Library of Congress</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">May 1988 onward</h3><p class="tl__body">After the SNM attacked Burao and Hargeisa, government forces bombed both cities and killed thousands of Isaaq civilians; hundreds of thousands fled to Ethiopia. A 1989 study for the US State Department found "a widespread, systematic and extremely violent assault on the unarmed civilian Issak population" (<a href="https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf">Gersony, <em>Why Somalis Flee</em>, 1989, p. 60</a>). See <a href="/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/">the Isaaq genocide</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1991 to 2012: the Republic of Somaliland


<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">January 1991</h3><p class="tl__body">The SNM captured "the besieged garrisons at Berbera, Burao, and Hargeysa" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm">Library of Congress, "Politics of succession"</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">April–May 1991</h3><p class="tl__body">At the Burao conference northern clan leaders debated the future; on 17 or 18 May 1991 the SNM announced the Republic of Somaliland, with Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur" as president (same source). See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-declaration-1991/">the Burao conference and declaration</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1992–1993</h3><p class="tl__body">Elders' conferences at Sheekh and Boorama made peace between clans (<a href="https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/3215/1/Making%20peace%20in%20Somaliland.pdf">Farah and Lewis, <em>Making Peace in Somaliland</em>, 1997</a>). From 1993 the government of Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal revived ministries, a central bank, a currency, police and courts (<a href="https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf">Bradbury, <em>Somaliland: Country Report</em>, 1997</a>). See <a href="/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/">Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">31 May 2001</h3><p class="tl__body">A referendum approved a constitution whose first article asserted independence; officials reported 97 percent yes (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">UN Security Council, S/2001/963, paras. 18–19</a>). See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-constitutional-referendum-2001/">the 2001 referendum</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2003</h3><p class="tl__body">First presidential election under the constitution. See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2003/">the 2003 presidential election</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2005</h3><p class="tl__body">First House of Representatives election. See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/">the 2005 parliamentary election</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">29 October 2008</h3><p class="tl__body">Suicide bombings in Hargeisa and Bosaso. See <a href="/en/history/hargeisa-bosaso-bombings-2008/">the Hargeisa and Bosaso bombings</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2010</h3><p class="tl__body">The opposition won the presidency and power changed hands. See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2010/">the 2010 presidential election</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 2012 to now


<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2017</h3><p class="tl__body">Presidential election. See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2017/">the 2017 presidential election</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2021</h3><p class="tl__body">Parliamentary and local elections, the first for parliament since 2005. See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2021/">the 2021 elections</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2023</h3><p class="tl__body">Dhulbahante communities in Las Anod and Sool rejected Hargeisa's rule and joined the federation, later as North Eastern State. See <a href="/en/states/north-eastern-state/">North Eastern State</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">13 November 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">The opposition candidate, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro", won the presidential election. See <a href="/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2024/">the 2024 presidential election</a>.</p></li></ol>

For recognition and the dispute with the federal government, see [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Who suffered?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Isaaq civilians in the north-west,</h3><p class="tl__body">killed and driven from their homes by government forces in 1988–1989 (Gersony, 1989).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">People of Sool and Las Anod,</h3><p class="tl__body">in the fighting of 2023. See <a href="/en/states/north-eastern-state/">North Eastern State</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Sources differ

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">The date of the 1991 declaration</h3><p class="tl__body">The Library of Congress gives 17 May 1991. Somaliland marks 18 May.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">What 1991 means</h3><p class="tl__body">Somaliland's government holds that it restored the independence of 26 June 1960. The federal government holds that Somaliland remains part of Somalia under the 1960 union (S/2001/963).</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Politics of succession"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm).
- Robert Gersony, *Why Somalis Flee*, US Department of State, August 1989: [PDF](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2001/963 (11 October 2001): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf).
- Ahmed Yusuf Farah and I. M. Lewis, *Making Peace in Somaliland* (1997): [PDF](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/3215/1/Making%20peace%20in%20Somaliland.pdf).

</div>


---

# History of Mogadishu: a timeline from the 1200s to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/history-of-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu appears by name in Arabic geography in the 1200s, and its oldest dated building, a mosque minaret in Hamar Weyne, was begun in 1238. Ibn Battuta described it in 1331 as a large merchant town ruled by a sultan. Under Omani and then Zanzibari claims from the 1700s, it passed to Italy, which made the Banaadir coast the core of Italian Somaliland. It was the seat of the UN trust territory from 1950 and the capital of the Somali Republic from 1960. Since the fall of Siad Barre in January 1991 it has been fought over by factions, the Islamic Courts, Ethiopian forces and al-Shabaab, and has suffered Somalia's deadliest bombings.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-before-1500">Before 1500</a></li><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
## In short

This page puts the history of Mogadishu (Muqdisho, also called Xamar) in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For the city today, see [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/).

## Before 1500: the medieval city


<h2 id="era-before-1500">Before 1500</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1200s</h3><p class="tl__body">The geographer Yaqut described Mogadishu as a town "in the land of the Berbers", governed by its own elders, exporting sandalwood, ebony, ambergris and ivory. See <a href="/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/">early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1238 and 1269</h3><p class="tl__body">A minaret inscription in Hamar Weyne records building begun in Muharram 636 AH (August 1238); inscriptions of 667 AH (1269) survive at the Fakhr al-Din and Arba'a Rukun mosques (<a href="https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC">Guillain, <em>Documents sur l'histoire… de l'Afrique orientale</em>, 1856</a>). See the same page.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1300s</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu was ruled by its own sultans (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">Library of Congress, <em>Somalia: A Country Study</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/">the Sultanate of Mogadishu</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1331</h3><p class="tl__body">Ibn Battuta visited. He described young men meeting each ship to host the traders, and the sultan, Abu Bakr, with his qadi and court (<a href="https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp">Ibn Battuta, <em>Travels</em>, trans. Gibb, 1929</a>). See <a href="/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/">Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1200s–1400s</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu ships and students appear in the records of Rasulid Yemen. See <a href="/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/">Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in Rasulid Yemen</a> and <a href="/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/">scholars from the Horn in medieval Yemen</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1500 to 1884: the Portuguese, the Ajuran and Zanzibar

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1499–1510</h3><p class="tl__body">Portuguese fleets passed the city. The historian João de Barros wrote that Mogadishu was the first town founded on the coast by Arabs, and that a Mogadishu ship was the first foreign vessel to reach the gold trade of Sofala (<a href="https://archive.org/details/daasiadejoodebar01p2barr">Barros, <em>Décadas da Ásia</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/">Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros</a> and <a href="/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/">the coast towns, 1331–1586</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">About 1550–1650</h3><p class="tl__body">The Ajuran state held the Benadir coast and the river valleys. Traditions recorded in the 1840s say its rule ended when the Abgaal took Mogadishu (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/ajuran-state/">the Ajuran state</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1700s–1880s</h3><p class="tl__body">"The Omanis exercised a shadowy authority over the Banaadir coast", which was "steadily drawn into the orbit of Zanzibari rulers" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm">Library of Congress, "The Somali Peninsula on the eve of imperial partition"</a>). See <a href="/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/">sultanates, the coast and customary law</a> and <a href="/en/history/geledi-sultanate/">the Geledi Sultanate</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1884 to 1960: Italian rule and the trusteeship

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1880s–1900s</h3><p class="tl__body">"Italy seized the Banaadir coast proper, which had long been under the tenuous authority of the Zanzibaris, to form the colony of Italian Somaliland" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">Library of Congress, "Imperial partition"</a>). See <a href="/en/history/partition-1884-1926/">the partition of the Somali lands</a> and <a href="/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/">resistance, 1890s–1945</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1941</h3><p class="tl__body">British forces took Italian Somaliland and ran it under a military administration. See <a href="/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/">the British Military Administration</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">May 1943</h3><p class="tl__body">"The first modern Somali political party, the Somali Youth Club (SYC), [was] established in Mogadishu" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">Library of Congress, "British Military Administration"</a>). See <a href="/en/history/nationalist-era-1943-1960/">the nationalist era</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">January 1948</h3><p class="tl__body">During the visit of the Four Power Commission, a riot between an SYL rally and a pro-Italian counter-demonstration killed 51 Italians and 24 Somalis (same source).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1950–1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu was the seat of the UN trust territory run by Italy. See <a href="/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/">the UN trusteeship</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1 July 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Mogadishu became capital of the independent Somali Republic. See <a href="/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/">independence and union</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1960 to 1991: the capital of the Republic


<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">21 October 1969</h3><p class="tl__body">The army took power. See <a href="/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/">the Somali Democratic Republic</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">July 1989</h3><p class="tl__body">"A July 1989 mass demonstration in Mogadishu was dispersed only after government troops shot and killed a number of persons variously estimated to be between 200 and 300" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm">Library of Congress, "Politics of reconciliation"</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">30 December 1990 – 26 January 1991</h3><p class="tl__body">The USC fought government forces in the city; Siad Barre fled. See <a href="/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/">the fall of Mogadishu</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1991 to 2012: the divided city


<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1991</h3><p class="tl__body">The USC split; Ali Mahdi held the north of the city and General Aidid the south. See <a href="/en/history/interim-government-of-somalia-1991/">the Interim Government of 1991</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1992</h3><p class="tl__body">The UN sent observers to monitor a ceasefire in Mogadishu (<a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html">UN, UNOSOM I</a>). See <a href="/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/">UNOSOM I</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">3–4 October 1993</h3><p class="tl__body">The battle between US forces and Aidid's fighters. See <a href="/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/">the battle of Mogadishu, 1993</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">February–June 2006</h3><p class="tl__body">The Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and the sharia courts fought for the city; the courts won. See <a href="/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-2006/">the battle for Mogadishu, 2006</a> and <a href="/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/">the Islamic Courts Union</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">December 2006 – January 2009</h3><p class="tl__body">Ethiopian forces held the city against an insurgency; "by late 2008 about 870,000 people had fled Mogadishu". See <a href="/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/">the war in Somalia, 2006–2009</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2009–2011</h3><p class="tl__body">Al-Shabaab held much of the city until August 2011, when government and AU forces took "control of the capital" (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">UN Security Council, S/2011/549, para. 2</a>). See <a href="/en/history/mogadishu-attacks-2009-2013/">major attacks in Mogadishu, 2009–2013</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 2012 to now


<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">August 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">The new Federal Parliament was set up in Mogadishu, ending the transition. See <a href="/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/">the Transitional Federal Parliament</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">14 October 2017</h3><p class="tl__body">A truck bomb at Zoobe junction killed at least 512 people, later counted as 587. See <a href="/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/">the deadliest bombings in Mogadishu</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2022</h3><p class="tl__body">The Hayat Hotel siege in August and two car bombs at Zoobe in October. See the same page and <a href="/en/history/beledweyne-mogadishu-attacks-2022/">the 2022 election attacks</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Who suffered?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">People of Mogadishu</h3><p class="tl__body">in every war since 1990: under shelling in 1990–1991, in the factional war of 1991–1992, in the fighting of 2006–2009, when hundreds of thousands fled, and in the bombings since 2009. See the linked pages.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Darod residents,</h3><p class="tl__body">attacked after the fall of the government in 1991. See <a href="/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/">the fall of Mogadishu</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Sources differ

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Who founded the city</h3><p class="tl__body">João de Barros, writing in the 1500s, said Arabs from near al-Ahsa founded it. Yaqut, in the 1200s, placed it "in the land of the Berbers" and said it was governed by its own elders. See <a href="/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/">early Mogadishu</a> and <a href="/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/">Mogadishu in João de Barros</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Ibn Battuta, *Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354*, trans. H. A. R. Gibb (1929): [Fordham Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [history pages](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2011/549: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2011/549&l=en&t=pdf).

</div>


---

# History of Puntland: a timeline from the sultanates to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/history-of-puntland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The north-east of Somalia, today's Puntland, was home to the Majeerteen sultanates of the 1800s and to the Dervish capital at Taleh. After 1991 the Somali Salvation Democratic Front held much of the area. In 1998 conferences in Garowe set up the Puntland State of Somalia as a regional administration within a future Somali state, and on 23 July 1998 elected Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed President. A dispute over his mandate in 2001–2002 led to fighting. Puntland has since fought Somaliland over Sool and Sanaag, faced piracy and al-Shabaab, held direct local elections in 2023, and in 2024 stopped recognising the federal government.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</a></li><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
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## In short

This page puts the history of the north-east, the area of today's Puntland State of Somalia, in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For the state today, see [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## Before 1991


<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1800s</h3><p class="tl__body">The Majeerteen Sultanate and the Sultanate of Hobyo ruled the north-eastern coast and signed treaties with Italy in 1889, and kept governing themselves until Italy ended both by force in 1925–1927. Italy's agent Vincenzo Filonardi sought these arrangements (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm">Library of Congress, "Imperial partition"</a>). See <a href="/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/">the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1899–1920</h3><p class="tl__body">The Dervish movement built its stone capital at Taleh, in today's Sool. See <a href="/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/">the Dervish movement</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1978–1981</h3><p class="tl__body">The Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), the first of the armed movements against Siad Barre, was formed. See <a href="/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/">the armed movements, 1978–1991</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1998: the Garowe conferences

From the UN Secretary-General's report of August 1999 ([UN Security Council, S/1999/882, para. 18](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/1999/882&l=en&t=pdf)):


<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">20 February 1998</h3><p class="tl__body">Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf told the UN that his priority was "an administrative structure for the North-East regions at the local level as a constituent unit of a future Somali state".</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">25 February – 4 March 1998</h3><p class="tl__body">"The Majerteens, the majority clan in North-East Somalia, held a meeting, together with other smaller clans, at Garowe." It approved "a single regional administration".</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">10–12 March 1998</h3><p class="tl__body">A meeting "which included delegates from Sool and Sanaag, agreed to give the name 'Puntland State' to the new regional administration".</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">23 July 1998</h3><p class="tl__body">The Garowe constitutional conference elected <a href="/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/">Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed</a> President and Mohamed Abdi Hashi Vice-President, "endorsed an interim charter and established a 69-member parliament". The result was challenged by the SSDF chairman, General Mohamed Abshir Musse, and the traditional leader Boqor Abdullahi Boqor Musse.</p></li></ol>

## 2001–2002: the crisis over the mandate


<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">June 2001</h3><p class="tl__body">The administration's mandate under the Transitional Charter of 30 June 1998 expired on 30 June 2001. Instead of holding elections, the House of Representatives voted on 27 June to extend its own and the executive's terms by three years. "The Chairman of the Supreme Court declared the extension unconstitutional" and assumed office as interim President; Colonel Yusuf suspended him on 29 June (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">S/2001/963, paras. 23–24</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 August 2001</h3><p class="tl__body">A conference of over 400 delegates from all five regions opened in Garowe. Colonel Yusuf called it illegal and named Galkayo his interim capital (same source). On 5 and 6 August, fighting between his forces and the Supreme Court chairman's moved UN staff from Bosaso to Hargeisa (para. 52).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">14 November 2001</h3><p class="tl__body">The conference elected <a href="/en/people/jama-ali-jama/">Jama Ali Jama</a>, "a former member of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front and a well-known opponent of Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf". Yusuf "rejected the outcome and returned with his forces to Garowe" (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/189&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">S/2002/189, para. 7</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">May 2002</h3><p class="tl__body">Yusuf's forces entered Bosaso "meeting almost no resistance"; Jama Ali Jama "fled to Las Anod" (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/709&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">S/2002/709, para. 8</a>).</p></li></ol>

## 2004 to 2012

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">October 2004</h3><p class="tl__body">Abdullahi Yusuf was elected President of Somalia by the Transitional Federal Parliament. See <a href="/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/">the Transitional Federal Parliament</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 December 2004</h3><p class="tl__body">The Indian Ocean tsunami killed about 300 people in Somalia, most on the Hafun peninsula. See <a href="/en/society/tsunami-2004-somalia/">the 2004 tsunami</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15 October 2007</h3><p class="tl__body">"After heavy fighting which resulted in at least 10 deaths, 'Somaliland' troops took control of Laascaanood", the capital of Sool. "Puntland" mobilised "to repel what they considered an invasion" (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/658&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">S/2007/658, para. 14</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">29 October 2008</h3><p class="tl__body">Suicide bombings hit Bosaso and Hargeisa. See <a href="/en/history/hargeisa-bosaso-bombings-2008/">the Hargeisa and Bosaso bombings</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-2000s to 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">Hijackings were launched from the coasts of Mudug, Nugaal and Bari, peaking in 2009–2011. See <a href="/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/">piracy off Somalia</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 2012 to now


<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2019</h3><p class="tl__body"><a href="/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/">Said Abdullahi Deni</a> became President. For all office-holders, see <a href="/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/">presidents of Puntland</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">February 2022</h3><p class="tl__body">Al-Shabaab bombed a tea shop in Bosaso "reportedly targeting elders involved in the electoral process", and two days later attacked Deni's convoy (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/392&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">S/2022/392, para. 17</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2023</h3><p class="tl__body">Direct local council elections were held in 30 districts. Dhulbahante communities in Las Anod and Sool, part of the area Puntland claims, joined the federation as what is now North Eastern State. See <a href="/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/">elections in Puntland</a> and <a href="/en/states/north-eastern-state/">North Eastern State</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">31 March 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Puntland said it no longer recognised the federal government's authority after changes to the national constitution. See <a href="/en/states/puntland/">Puntland</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Who suffered?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">People of Bosaso and Garowe,</h3><p class="tl__body">caught in the fighting of 2001–2002 (S/2001/963; S/2002/709).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">People of Las Anod and Sool,</h3><p class="tl__body">in the fighting of 2007 and later (S/2007/658).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">People of the Hafun peninsula,</h3><p class="tl__body">in the 2004 tsunami.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Migrants leaving from Bosaso</h3><p class="tl__body">In September 2007 alone, 14 boats carrying more than 1,500 people reached Yemen, "with 62 reported dead or missing" (S/2007/658, para. 47).</p></li></ol>

## Sources differ

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">The founding date</h3><p class="tl__body">The UN dates the election of the first President to 23 July 1998. Puntland marks 1 August 1998. See <a href="/en/states/puntland/">Puntland</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/1999/882 (16 August 1999), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/1999/882&l=en&t=pdf); S/2001/963, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2001/963&l=en&t=pdf); S/2002/189, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/189&l=en&t=pdf); S/2002/709, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2002/709&l=en&t=pdf); S/2007/658, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/658&l=en&t=pdf).

</div>


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# Military history of Somalia: a timeline from Adal to AUSSOM

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/military-history-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali fighters made up much of the army of Adal in its wars with Ethiopia from 1527 to 1543. From 1899 to 1920 the Dervishes fought Britain, Italy and Ethiopia. The Somali National Army was founded on 12 April 1960, took power in a coup on 21 October 1969, and fought Ethiopia in 1964, 1977–1978 and 1982. It broke up with the state in 1991. Since then Somalia has seen factional war, UN and US interventions in 1992–1995, Ethiopian intervention in 2006–2009, and the war against al-Shabaab since 2009, fought by a rebuilt army with African Union missions.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</a></li><li><a href="#era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
## In short

This page puts Somalia's wars and armed forces in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For wars with Ethiopia alone, see [Ethiopia and Somalia at war: a timeline](/en/history/ethiopia-somalia-wars-timeline/). For deaths by year since 1989, see [deaths in armed conflict by year](/en/history/conflict-deaths-by-year-1989-2026/).

## Before 1884


<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1527–1543</h3><p class="tl__body">Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim led Adal against Ethiopia. The Arabic chronicle <em>Futuh al-Habasha</em>, written by a man in his army, names Somali clans among his forces (<a href="https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog">Basset, <em>Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie</em>, 1897</a>). He was killed at Wayna Daga on 21 February 1543 after Portugal sent musketeers to Ethiopia (<a href="https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich">Whiteway, <em>The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia</em>, 1902</a>). See <a href="/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/">Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns</a> and <a href="/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/">the end of the war, 1543–1560</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">About 1550–1700</h3><p class="tl__body">The Ajuran state held the southern rivers and coast. See <a href="/en/history/ajuran-state/">the Ajuran state</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1884 to 1960


<h2 id="era-1884-to-1920">1884 to 1920</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1899–1920</h3><p class="tl__body">The Dervishes of Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan fought Britain, Italy and Ethiopia, until British aircraft and ground forces took Taleh in February 1920 (<a href="https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog">War Office, <em>Official History of the Operations in Somaliland</em>, 1907</a>). See <a href="/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/">the Dervish movement</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1925–1927</h3><p class="tl__body">Italy ended the north-eastern sultanates by force. See <a href="/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/">the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1940–1941</h3><p class="tl__body">Italy took British Somaliland in August 1940; British forces retook it in March 1941 and drove Italy from East Africa (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/">fascist rule and the war</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1960 to 1991: the national army


<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">12 April 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">The Somali army was founded from the police mobile group (Darawishta) and the British Somaliland Scouts. See <a href="/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/">the Somali armed forces, 1960–1991</a> and <a href="/en/institutions/somali-national-army/">the Somali National Army</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1963–1967</h3><p class="tl__body">Fighting in Kenya's Northern Frontier District after Britain kept the area in Kenya. See <a href="/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/">the Northern Frontier District</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">February–March 1964</h3><p class="tl__body">Border war with Ethiopia, ended by a ceasefire agreed in Khartoum (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/">the 1964 border war</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">21 October 1969</h3><p class="tl__body">The army took power and suspended the constitution (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/">the Siad Barre era</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">July 1977 – March 1978</h3><p class="tl__body">The Ogaden war. Somali forces took most of the region, but "Soviet arms and about 17,000 Cuban troops turned the war", and Somalia withdrew on 9 March 1978 (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm">Library of Congress, <em>Ethiopia: A Country Study</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/">the Ogaden war</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1978–1991</h3><p class="tl__body">Armed movements rose against the government: the SSDF, SNM, SPM and USC. See <a href="/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/">the armed movements</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">July 1982</h3><p class="tl__body">Ethiopian forces with SSDF fighters took Balanbale and Galdogob. See <a href="/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/">the 1982 border war</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1988–1989</h3><p class="tl__body">Government forces bombed Hargeisa and Burao and killed thousands of Isaaq civilians (<a href="https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf">Gersony, <em>Why Somalis Flee</em>, 1989</a>). See <a href="/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/">the Isaaq genocide</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">December 1990 – January 1991</h3><p class="tl__body">The USC took Mogadishu and the army dissolved. See <a href="/en/history/fall-of-mogadishu-1991/">the fall of Mogadishu</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1991 to 2009: factions and interventions


<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1991–1992</h3><p class="tl__body">War between USC factions in Mogadishu, and fighting across the south. See <a href="/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/">the collapse, 1991–2000</a> and <a href="/en/history/somali-civil-war/">the Somali Civil War</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1992–1995</h3><p class="tl__body">UN missions and a US-led force. See <a href="/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/">UNOSOM I</a> and <a href="/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/">the battle of Mogadishu, 3–4 October 1993</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1999–2006</h3><p class="tl__body">Militia alliances fought for Kismayo and the Juba Valley. See <a href="/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/">the Juba Valley Alliance</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">February–June 2006</h3><p class="tl__body">The courts' militias defeated the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) in Mogadishu. See <a href="/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-2006/">the battle for Mogadishu, 2006</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">December 2006 – January 2009</h3><p class="tl__body">Ethiopian forces backed the transitional government against an insurgency. See <a href="/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/">the war in Somalia, 2006–2009</a> and <a href="/en/institutions/ethiopia-military-in-somalia/">Ethiopia's military in Somalia</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">March 2007</h3><p class="tl__body">The African Union mission AMISOM arrived, led by Ugandan troops. See <a href="/en/institutions/amisom/">AMISOM</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 2009 to now: the war against al-Shabaab

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2009–2011</h3><p class="tl__body">Al-Shabaab held most of Mogadishu until 6 August 2011. See <a href="/en/history/somali-civil-war-2009-present/">the war since 2009</a> and <a href="/en/history/al-shabaab/">al-Shabaab</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">October 2011</h3><p class="tl__body">Kenyan forces entered southern Somalia; Kismayo fell to Kenyan, AU and Somali forces in 2012. See <a href="/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/">Kenya's military in Somalia</a> and <a href="/en/history/battles-for-kismayo-2006-2012/">the battles for Kismayo</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1 April 2022</h3><p class="tl__body">ATMIS replaced AMISOM; on 1 January 2025 AUSSOM replaced ATMIS. See <a href="/en/institutions/atmis/">ATMIS</a> and <a href="/en/institutions/aussom/">AUSSOM</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">August 2022 onward</h3><p class="tl__body">Government forces and clan fighters (Macawisley) opened the largest campaign against al-Shabaab in a decade. See <a href="/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/">the offensive against al-Shabaab</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Foreign forces</h3><p class="tl__body">For each country's troops, trainers and bases, see <a href="/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/">foreign forces in Somalia</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Who suffered?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Civilians in every war,</h3><p class="tl__body">above all the Isaaq in 1988–1989, the people of Mogadishu since 1990, and people across the south since 2006. See the linked pages and <a href="/en/history/conflict-deaths-by-year-1989-2026/">deaths in armed conflict by year</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Sources differ

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">When the national army ended</h3><p class="tl__body">Most accounts date its collapse to January 1991, when the government fell. Its rebuilding is dated from 2008–2009. See <a href="/en/institutions/somali-national-army/">the Somali National Army</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- War Office, *Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04* (1907): [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/16.htm); *Ethiopia: A Country Study*: [text](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/32.htm).
- Robert Gersony, *Why Somalis Flee* (1989): [PDF](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf).

</div>


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# Political history of Somalia: a timeline of governments, votes and constitutions, 1943 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/political-history-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Modern Somali politics began with the Somali Youth Club, founded in Mogadishu in 1943. The Somali Republic of 1960 was a multi-party parliamentary democracy until the army took power on 21 October 1969. Siad Barre ruled through one party, the SRSP, until January 1991. After the state collapsed, Somaliland declared independence and regional administrations such as Puntland formed. Transitional governments followed from 2000, and in 2012 a Provisional Constitution set up a federal republic whose parliament and president have since been chosen by indirect, clan-based votes.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

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## In short

This page lists the turning points of Somali politics since 1943 in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For how power is shared today, see [politics of Somalia](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/). For the economy over the same years, see [Somalia's economic history](/en/economy/economic-history/).

## 1943 to 1960: parties and independence


<h2 id="era-1920-to-1960">1920 to 1960</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">May 1943</h3><p class="tl__body">"The first modern Somali political party, the Somali Youth Club (SYC), [was] established in Mogadishu" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm">Library of Congress, <em>Somalia: A Country Study</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/nationalist-era-1943-1960/">the nationalist era</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1950–1960</h3><p class="tl__body">The south was a UN trust territory under Italian administration; it elected its first assembly in 1956. See <a href="/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/">the UN trusteeship</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1960</h3><p class="tl__body">The north held its first party elections; the SNL and USP won all but one of 33 seats (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/">British Somaliland</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 June and 1 July 1960</h3><p class="tl__body">Independence and union as the Somali Republic. See <a href="/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/">independence and union</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1960 to 1969: the parliamentary republic

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">June 1961</h3><p class="tl__body">A referendum approved the constitution. See <a href="/en/history/1960-constitution/">the 1960 constitution</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">30 March 1964</h3><p class="tl__body">First national election: the SYL won 69 of 123 seats. See <a href="/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1964/">the 1964 election</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 March 1969</h3><p class="tl__body">Sixty-four parties stood; the SYL won 73 seats. See <a href="/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1969/">the 1969 election</a> and <a href="/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/">the civilian era</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1969 to 1991: military and one-party rule

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">21 October 1969</h3><p class="tl__body">The army took power and suspended the constitution (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm">Library of Congress</a>). See <a href="/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/">the Siad Barre era</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1976</h3><p class="tl__body">The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party was formed as "the country's sole legal political party" (<a href="http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF">IPU</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">25 August 1979</h3><p class="tl__body">A referendum approved a presidential constitution. See <a href="/en/history/somali-constitutional-referendum-1979/">the 1979 referendum</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1979 and 1984</h3><p class="tl__body">Single-list elections to the People's Assembly. See <a href="/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1979/">1979</a> and <a href="/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1984/">1984</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">23 December 1986</h3><p class="tl__body">Siad Barre, the only candidate, was elected President by direct vote. See <a href="/en/history/somali-presidential-election-1986/">the 1986 election</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1978–1991</h3><p class="tl__body">Armed movements fought the government. See <a href="/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/">the armed movements</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1991 to 2012: collapse and transition


<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">January 1991</h3><p class="tl__body">Siad Barre fled; the USC named Ali Mahdi interim President. See <a href="/en/history/interim-government-of-somalia-1991/">the Interim Government of 1991</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">May 1991</h3><p class="tl__body">The SNM declared the Republic of Somaliland. See <a href="/en/history/history-of-somaliland/">the history of Somaliland</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1991–2000</h3><p class="tl__body">Faction war, UN missions and repeated peace conferences. See <a href="/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/">1991–1999</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1998</h3><p class="tl__body">Puntland was set up as a regional state within a future Somalia (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/1999/882&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">UN Security Council, S/1999/882, para. 18</a>). See <a href="/en/history/history-of-puntland/">the history of Puntland</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2000</h3><p class="tl__body">The Arta conference in Djibouti formed the Transitional National Government; the SRRC opposed it. See <a href="/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/">the transitional governments</a> and <a href="/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/">the SRRC</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2004</h3><p class="tl__body">The Transitional Federal Parliament, chosen by clan, elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed President. See <a href="/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/">the Transitional Federal Parliament</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2006</h3><p class="tl__body">The Islamic Courts held Mogadishu until Ethiopian forces intervened. See <a href="/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/">the Islamic Courts Union</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">January 2009</h3><p class="tl__body">An enlarged parliament elected the ARS leader Sharif Sheikh Ahmed President. See <a href="/en/history/alliance-for-the-re-liberation-of-somalia/">the ARS</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 2012 to now: the federal republic


<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1 August 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">A National Constituent Assembly adopted the Provisional Constitution, 621 to 13. See <a href="/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/">Somalia's constitutions</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">10 September 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">Parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 190 to 79. See <a href="/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/">the 2012 election</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2013–2016</h3><p class="tl__body">Federal member states were formed: Jubaland (2013), South West (2014), Galmudug (2015) and HirShabelle (2016); North Eastern State was recognised in 2025. See <a href="/en/states/federal-member-states/">federal member states</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2016–2017</h3><p class="tl__body">About 14,000 clan delegates chose the House of the People; state assemblies chose a new Upper House. Parliament elected Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmaajo" on 8 February 2017. See <a href="/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-2016/">the 2016 parliamentary election</a> and <a href="/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2017/">the 2017 presidential election</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">15 May 2022</h3><p class="tl__body">After a delayed electoral process, Parliament re-elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 214 to 110. See <a href="/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2022/">the 2022 election</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2024 and 2026</h3><p class="tl__body">Parliament amended the constitution, chapters 1 to 4 on 30 March 2024 and chapters 5 to 15 on 4 March 2026. Puntland stopped recognising the federal government in 2024. See <a href="/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/">Somalia's constitutions</a> and <a href="/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/">the timeline, 2012 to 2026</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Who suffered?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">People excluded from power</h3><p class="tl__body">under one-party rule from 1969 to 1991, and <b>civilians</b> in the wars that followed its collapse. See <a href="/en/history/somali-civil-war/">the Somali Civil War</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Sources differ

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Elections since 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">The UN has called each indirect vote more inclusive than the last while recording bribery and intimidation of delegates. See <a href="/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-2016/">the 2016 parliamentary election</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/13.htm).
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, Somalia election reports: [1979](http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/SOMALIA_1979_E.PDF).
- UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/1999/882: [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/1999/882&l=en&t=pdf).

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# Maritime history of Somalia: a timeline from the Periplus to the ICJ ruling of 2021

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/maritime-history-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali coast, about 3,333 km long, has traded by sea for at least 2,000 years. The 1st-century Periplus lists ports from Avalites near Zeila to Opone at Ras Hafun, exporting myrrh, frankincense and spices. Arab, Chinese and Yemeni records describe Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu as trading ports from the 800s, and Ibn Battuta and the Portuguese described rich coastal towns in the 1300s–1500s. In the 20th century the coast came under colonial rule; the Somali Navy was founded in 1964. Since the 2000s piracy, illegal fishing and a sea-border case with Kenya, decided in 2021, have shaped Somalia's relations with the sea.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-before-1500">Before 1500</a></li><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

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## In short

This page puts the history of the Somali coast and its sea trade in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For the coast today, see [fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/) and [ports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Antiquity


<h2 id="era-before-1500">Before 1500</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1st century AD</h3><p class="tl__body">The <em>Periplus of the Erythraean Sea</em>, a Greek sailing guide, lists Avalites (near Zeila), Malao (Berbera), Mundus (Heis), Mosylon, the Market of Spices near Cape Guardafui, and Opone (Ras Hafun), exporting myrrh, frankincense and spices (<a href="https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf">Chittick, <em>International Journal of Nautical Archaeology</em> 8.4, 1979</a>). See <a href="/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/">the Periplus ports</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1st–3rd centuries</h3><p class="tl__body">Roman, Egyptian, Parthian, South Arabian and Indian goods were left at Heis (Xiis) in Sanaag (<a href="https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511">Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres, 2022</a>). See <a href="/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/">Heis</a> and <a href="/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/">Opone at Ras Hafun</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Greek and Roman writers</h3><p class="tl__body">called the coast <em>Barbaria</em>. See <a href="/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/">Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 800s to 1500: the Indian Ocean trade

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-800s</h3><p class="tl__body">The Tang scholar Duan Chengshi described Po-pa-li (Berbera), trading ivory and ambergris (<a href="https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft">Hirth and Rockhill, <em>Chau Ju-kua</em>, 1911</a>). See <a href="/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/">Chinese records of the Somali coast</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">About 1000–1600</h3><p class="tl__body">Beach fairs around Berbera traded with Asia; surveys found Chinese, Indian and Persian imports (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100289">González-Ruibal, de Torres et al., 2021</a>). See <a href="/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/">the trade fairs of the Berbera coast</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1229–1454</h3><p class="tl__body">The tax books of Rasulid Yemen name Zeila as the main port for the trade of "Abyssinia", Berbera and Maydh as ports shipping sheep to Aden, and Mogadishu as an East African trading city (<a href="https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/2455">Vallet, <em>L'Arabie marchande</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/">Rasulid Yemen and the Somali ports</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">About 1298</h3><p class="tl__body">Marco Polo wrote about the coast. See <a href="/en/history/marco-polo-and-the-somali-coast/">Marco Polo and the Somali coast</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1331</h3><p class="tl__body">Ibn Battuta described young men in Mogadishu meeting each ship to host the traders (<a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617">Gibb, 1929</a>). See <a href="/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/">Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1499 to 1884: the Portuguese, Oman and Zanzibar

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1499–1500s</h3><p class="tl__body">Vasco da Gama passed Mogadishu in 1499. Duarte Barbosa described Zeila, Berbera, Barawa and Mogadishu trading gold, ivory and grain with India and Arabia. See <a href="/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/">the coast towns, 1331–1586</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Early 1500s</h3><p class="tl__body">João de Barros wrote that a Mogadishu ship was the first foreign vessel to reach the gold trade of Sofala. See <a href="/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/">Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros</a> and <a href="/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/">Zeila and Berbera in Barros</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1700s–1880s</h3><p class="tl__body">"The Omanis exercised a shadowy authority over the Banaadir coast", which was later "drawn into the orbit of Zanzibari rulers" (<a href="https://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm">Library of Congress, <em>Somalia: A Country Study</em></a>). See <a href="/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/">sultanates, the coast and customary law</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1884 to 1991: colonies, seamen and a navy

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1884 onward</h3><p class="tl__body">Britain held the northern coast mainly to supply Aden with livestock; Italy took the Banaadir ports. See <a href="/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/">British Somaliland</a> and <a href="/en/history/partition-1884-1926/">the partition</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1880s–1950s</h3><p class="tl__body">Somali seamen and traders settled abroad through Aden; Aden had 10,611 Somali residents by 1955. See <a href="/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/">Somali seamen and early migrants</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1964</h3><p class="tl__body">The Somali Navy was founded with Soviet help, with bases at Berbera and Kismayo. It dissolved with the state in 1990–1991. See <a href="/en/institutions/somali-navy/">the Somali Navy</a>.</p></li></ol>

## 1991 to now: piracy, fishing and borders


<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-2000s to 2012</h3><p class="tl__body">Armed groups from the coasts of Mudug, Nugaal and Bari hijacked ships; attacks peaked in 2009–2011. See <a href="/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/">piracy off Somalia</a> and <a href="/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/">ships hijacked off Somalia</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">26 December 2004</h3><p class="tl__body">The Indian Ocean tsunami struck the Puntland coast. See <a href="/en/society/tsunami-2004-somalia/">the 2004 tsunami</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2009</h3><p class="tl__body">The navy was re-established. See <a href="/en/institutions/somali-navy/">the Somali Navy</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2014 onward</h3><p class="tl__body">A Turkish company took over Mogadishu port, and DP World expanded Berbera from 2017. See <a href="/en/economy/ports/">ports</a> and <a href="/en/economy/port-of-berbera/">the port of Berbera</a>.</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">12 October 2021</h3><p class="tl__body">The International Court of Justice drew the sea border between Somalia and Kenya, rejecting Kenya's line along the latitude (<a href="https://lagen.nu/icj/161-20211012-JUD-01-00">ICJ, Judgment of 12 October 2021</a>). See <a href="/en/government/somalia-v-kenya-icj-maritime-case/">the Somalia–Kenya maritime case</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">8 February 2024</h3><p class="tl__body">Somalia and Turkey signed a ten-year defence and economic agreement under which Turkey is to build and train the navy. See <a href="/en/institutions/somali-navy/">the Somali Navy</a>.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Illegal fishing</h3><p class="tl__body">is estimated to cost Somalia about $300 million a year (<a href="https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/research-papers/stolen-seas-somalias-struggle-with-illegal-fishing">ENACT, Institute for Security Studies, January 2026</a>). See <a href="/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/">fishing and the sea</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Who suffered?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Seafarers held by pirates,</h3><p class="tl__body">and <b>fishing communities</b> hit by illegal fishing and the 2004 tsunami. See the linked pages.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Migrants at sea</h3><p class="tl__body">In September 2007 alone, boats from Bosaso carrying more than 1,500 people reached Yemen, "with 62 reported dead or missing" (<a href="https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/658&amp;l=en&amp;t=pdf">UN Security Council, S/2007/658, para. 47</a>).</p></li></ol>

## Sources differ

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Where the Periplus ports were</h3><p class="tl__body">Most scholars place Malao at Berbera and Opone at Ras Hafun; other identifications are discussed on <a href="/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/">the Periplus ports</a>.</p></li></ol>

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, trans. W. H. Schoff (1912): [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236).
- Ibn Battuta, *Travels in Asia and Africa*, trans. Gibb (1929): [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62617).
- International Court of Justice, *Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v. Kenya)*, judgment of 12 October 2021: [text](https://lagen.nu/icj/161-20211012-JUD-01-00).

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# Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands, from the Stone Age to the first sultanates

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali lands have a recorded past of tens of thousands of years: Stone Age hunters at Buur Heybe from about 29,000 years ago, the herders who painted Laas Geel around the 3rd millennium BC, the incense coast that Egypt called Punt, the port towns of the 1st-century Periplus such as Malao (Berbera) and Opone (Ras Hafun), and from the 9th century onward Muslim towns and states at Zeila, Mogadishu, Merca, Shewa and Ifat. This page is a timeline of that whole span, with a link to the full page on each part.

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<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
## In short

Before 1300 there was no Somali state, but there were Somali towns, trade routes, ports, rulers and religions. What survives is of four kinds: things in the ground (tools, paintings, tombs and town ruins), what foreign visitors and geographers wrote down (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Chinese), a few inscriptions, and traditions recorded later.

Sada Mire, who headed Somaliland's Department of Archaeology, counts "more than 200 sites, many of them clusters of sites" known in Somaliland and Somalia, very few of them excavated ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Neville Chittick, who led excavations on the north-east coast in 1975–76, wrote that aromatic gums were throughout history "the chief commodity sought by merchants coming to the Horn of Africa" ([Chittick 1979, *International Journal of Nautical Archaeology* 8.4, p. 273](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

## Timeline

**About 29,000 to 6,000 years ago: Stone Age hunters.** People return again and again to Guli Waabayo rock shelter on Buur Heybe, in Bay region. Its dates are "the earliest radiometric evidence of Later Stone Age (LSA) occupation in the southeastern Horn of Africa" ([Jones, Brandt, Henry and Ambrose 2021](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102844)). Full page: [The Stone Age in the Somali lands](/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/).

**About 14,000 to 5,000 years ago: a greener Horn.** The African Humid Period, when north and eastern Africa "were much wetter and greener than they are today" ([Reid et al. 2019](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109272)).

**3rd and 2nd millennia BC: the first herders paint the rocks.** Humpless cows with decorated necks, people with raised arms, dogs, sheep, goats and wild animals at Laas Geel, Dhambalin, Karin Heegan, Dhagah Kure and dozens of other sites ([Gutherz, Cros and Lesur 2003](https://hal.science/hal-02155252/document); [Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Full page: [Laas Geel and Somali rock art](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/).

**From about 2000 BC: cairns, megaliths and carved stelae.** Burial mounds (*araweelo*), dolmens, chambered tombs and decorated standing stones spread across the north ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Full page: [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/).

**About 2500 to 1150 BC: Egypt sails to Punt.** Egyptian expeditions from Sahure to Ramesses III bring back myrrh, incense, ebony, gold and baboons. Hatshepsut's reliefs of about 1470 BC show the chief of Punt, Perehu, and his family. A 2020 isotope study sourced two baboons brought from Punt to a region including "portions of Somalia" ([Breasted, *Ancient Records of Egypt*, vol. 2](https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof02brea_0); [Dominy et al. 2020](https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.60860)). Full page: [The Land of Punt and the Somali coast](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/).

**First millennium BC to 3rd century AD: writing from South Arabia.** Sabaean and Himyarite inscriptions at Dhagah Nabi Gallay, Dhagah Kure and Shalcaw ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

**3rd century BC: Eratosthenes.** The Alexandrian geographer describes a "myrrh-bearing country" and a "cinnamon-bearing country" beyond the strait, with "many [cities] in the interior that are beautifully settled" (Strabo 16.4.4). Full page: [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/).

**Last centuries BC: Hafun West.** A stone building with Hellenistic-style painted pottery at Ras Hafun, dated from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD ([Chittick 1979](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf); [Fernández Fernández et al. 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)). Full page: [Opone and Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/).

**About 20 AD: Strabo's "country that bears frankincense".** The Greek geographer describes the coast beyond the Bab el-Mandeb as far as the "Horn of the South" ([Strabo, *Geography* 16.4.14](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16D*.html)).

**1st century AD: the Periplus.** A Greek merchants' guide lists Avalites (Zeila), Malao (Berbera), Mundus (Heis), Mosylon, the Market of Spices (Guardafui) and Opone (Ras Hafun), and says "each market-town is ruled by its separate chief" ([Schoff 1912](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030139236)). Full page: [The Somali ports in the Periplus](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

**1st to 3rd centuries AD: the Heis cemetery.** Over 300 cairns, 80 of them with Roman, Parthian and South Arabian goods ([Fernández Fernández et al. 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)).

**About 150 AD: Ptolemy.** His *Geography* lists Avalites, Malao, Mondu, Mosylum, the Aromata promontory and Opone, and calls the interior "Barbaria, in which there are many elephants" ([Stevenson 1932, pp. 107–108](https://archive.org/details/PtolemysGeographyBook4)).

**2nd to 5th centuries AD: Hafun Main (Opone).** A trading site with Parthian, Roman and South Asian goods ([Chittick 1979](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

**4th to 12th centuries AD: early Christian burials.** Cross-marked graves at Aw-Barkhadle, Dhuxun and Dhubato; Mire writes that the northern Somali regions were in pre-Islamic times part of the Aksumite empire ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

**Mid-500s onward: Harlaa.** A trading town north-west of Harar, on the routes to the Somali coast, is lived in from the mid-6th to the 15th century; its mosque stands by the mid-12th century ([Insoll et al. 2021](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.169)). Full page: [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/).

**About 550 AD: "the frankincense country called Barbaria".** Cosmas Indicopleustes describes the people of Barbaria buying frankincense and spices inland and shipping them to Adulis, Yemen, India and Persia ([McCrindle 1897, pp. 51–52](https://archive.org/details/christiantopogra00cosm)). Full page: [Frankincense and myrrh](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/).

**7th century: the Qiblatayn mosque at Zeila.** Oral history holds it to be "one of the earliest or indeed the earliest mosque in sub-Saharan Africa" ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)). Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues, who dug there in 2001, date Zeila's conversion to Islam to the late 1100s or early 1200s ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). Full page: [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

**8th century: Sasanian pottery at Fardowsa**, a ruined town near Sheekh ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

**Mid-800s: China's first description.** Duan Chengshi describes Po-pa-li (Berbera), which "from of old… has never been subject to any foreign power" ([Hirth and Rockhill 1911, p. 128](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)). Full page: [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

**Late 800s and 900s: Zeila in the Arab geographers.** Al-Ya'qubi names "Zayla' in the region of the Mandeb". In the 900s al-Istakhri, al-Mas'udi and Ibn Hawqal describe it as a port for Yemen and the Hijaz, shipping leopard skins, hides, tortoise-shell, ambergris and incense ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).

**896–897 AD (283 AH): the Sultanate of Shewa.** The Makhzumi dynasty is founded in eastern Shewa, according to an Arabic chronicle from Harar ([Lusini](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)). Full page: [The Sultanate of Shewa and the founding of Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/).

**1105 (498 AH): Barawa's epitaph.** An Arabic gravestone at Barawa dated 498 AH is, according to the studies of Enrico Cerulli, the oldest known Arabic inscription in Somalia (E. van Donzel, quoted in [Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714), §87).

**1154: al-Idrisi.** His "Zalegh", usually read as Zeila, is "a town of small size but very populous", visited by many foreign merchants; Merca is a town of the country of Berbera ([Jaubert, *Géographie d'Édrisi*, 1836, vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/gographiededrisi01idri)). Fauvelle-Aymar and his colleagues argue that Idrisi's Zalegh may instead be a Red Sea port ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)).

**12th century: Aw-Barkhadle.** By oral history, the saint Yusuf al-Kawnayn comes to the place near Hargeisa that now bears his name, a site that was already a pre-Islamic sacred centre ([Mire 2015, "Wagar"](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z)).

**1200s: Yaqut and Ibn Sa'id on Mogadishu and Merca.** Yaqut describes Mogadishu governed by elders and exporting sandalwood, ebony, ambergris and ivory; Ibn Sa'id calls Merca a Muslim town and Mogadishu a town "whose name comes up often" among travellers ([Guillain 1856, part 1, pp. 234–239](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)). Full page: [Early Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).

**Early 1200s: Zeila is Muslim.** Yaqut (died 1229) and Ibn Sa'id describe Zeila's people as Muslims who hire boats to pilgrims. A source on the 1270s says the town "has no kings" but seven chiefs ([Fauvelle-Aymar et al. 2011](https://books.openedition.org/cfee/714)). Full page: [Early Zeila and the Qiblatayn mosque](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/).

**1225: Zhao Rugua.** The Song official describes Pi-p'a-lo with "four cities" and Chung-li, "the only one which produces frankincense" among the Muslim lands ([Hirth and Rockhill 1911, pp. 128–131](https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chauuoft)).

**August 1238 (Muharram 636 AH): Mogadishu's oldest dated inscription,** on the minaret of the Hamar Weyne mosque ([Guillain 1856, part 1, p. 612](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC)).

**1269 (667 AH): the Fakhr al-Din and Arba'a Rukun mosques** and a third dated inscription in Mogadishu ([Guillain 1856, part 1, pp. 612–613](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_p43vUEwuZEoC); [Garlake 1966, p. 10](https://books.google.com/books?id=IRINAQAAIAAJ)).

**1285 (684 AH): Ifat rises.** The Walashma family of Ifat takes over from the Makhzumi sultans of Shewa ([Lusini](https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf)).

**After 1300.** Ibn Battuta's visit to Zeila and Mogadishu in 1331, Ifat's wars, Adal and Ajuran: see [Medieval and early modern polities, 1300s–1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/), [Ruined towns of the Somali interior](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/), [the Somali coast towns, 1331–1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/) and [Timeline, 1300s to 1960](/en/history/timeline-1300s-to-1960/).

## How the record is built

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Archaeology</h3><p class="tl__body">Very few sites have been excavated: Buur Heybe (1935, 1940s, 1980s), Ras Hafun and Heis (1975–76), Laas Geel Shelter 7 (2000s) and Heis again (2018–19). Most northern sites are known from surveys (<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9">Mire 2015</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Foreign texts</h3><p class="tl__body">Each was written by outsiders, often from sailors' reports, and each records what its writer's world wanted from the coast: incense for Egypt, spices for Rome, ivory and ambergris for China.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Inscriptions</h3><p class="tl__body">The oldest known Arabic inscription in Somalia is an epitaph at Barawa dated 1105; Mogadishu's mosques carry dated inscriptions from 1238 and 1269.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Traditions</h3><p class="tl__body">Founding stories, saints' lives and genealogies, written down from the 1800s on.</p></li></ol>

How we source every page is set out on [how we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## More on this period

- [Who dug where: a history of archaeology in Somalia and Somaliland](/en/history/history-of-archaeology-in-the-somali-lands/)
- [Heis (Xiis): the ancient port and its cairns](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/)
- [The Sabaean inscriptions of the Somali coast, about 700 BC](/en/history/sabaean-inscriptions-on-the-somali-coast/)
- [The Xiis cairns and Somali star lore](/en/history/xiis-cairns-and-somali-star-lore/)
- [Ancient ruins of the north-east recorded by Georges Révoil, 1880–1881](/en/history/revoil-ancient-sites-north-east-1880/)
- [The wagar, sacred trees and the sky-god Waaq](/en/history/wagar-sacred-tree-and-waaq/)
- [Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu in the records of Rasulid Yemen](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [Marco Polo and the Somali coast, about 1298](/en/history/marco-polo-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [Dakar, the lost capital of Adal, 1415–1520](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/)
- [Awfat, capital of the Ifat sultanate, and the tombs of the Walashma](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/)
- [Harar becomes the capital of Adal, 1520–1577](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/)
- [The death of Sultan Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)
- [The seven Muslim kingdoms of the Horn: tribute, trade and money](/en/history/seven-muslim-kingdoms-tribute-trade-and-money/)
- [The end of Adal, 1543–1583](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/)
- [Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/)
- [Scholars from Zeila and the Horn in medieval Yemen, 1150–1450](/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/)
- [Mogadishu and Brava in João de Barros, 1503–1510](/en/history/mogadishu-and-brava-in-joao-de-barros/)
- [Zeila and Berbera in João de Barros's Décadas da Ásia, 1513–1518](/en/history/zeila-and-berbera-in-joao-de-barros/)
- [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/)
- [Aksum, the Adulis inscription and Barbaria](/en/history/aksum-adulis-inscription-and-barbaria/)
- [The 'nomad kings': great cairns, about 650–1000 AD](/en/history/nomad-kings-great-cairns-650-1000/)
- [The Harla and the town of Harlaa](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/)
- [Abasa (Darbiyah Kola) and its neighbours](/en/history/abasa-darbiyah-kola-medieval-town/)
- [Fardowsa: the medieval trading town at Sheekh](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/)
- [Kabab and the medieval towns of the Gebiley region](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/)
- [Aw Bare, Aiyanle and the medieval towns across the border](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/)
- [The trade fairs of the Berbera coast and their Asian imports](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/)
- [Handoga: a medieval town of nomads in Djibouti](/en/history/handoga-medieval-town-djibouti/)
- [Nomads, towns and the state under Ifat and Adal](/en/history/nomads-towns-and-the-state-ifat-adal/)
- [Medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/)
- [From cairns to cemeteries: medieval Muslim graves](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/)

</div>


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# The Stone Age in the Somali lands: Buur Heybe, Gogoshiis Qabe, Guli Waabayo and the Hargeisan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> People have lived in the Somali lands since the Stone Age. The best-dated sites are rock shelters on the granite hill of Buur Heybe in Bay region, where radiocarbon dates show people returning to Guli Waabayo shelter over about 20,000 years, from roughly 29,000 to 6,000 years ago. Somalia's first archaeological excavation was dug there in 1935, and in the north, the deep layers under the Laas Geel paintings hold stone tools from the end of the last Ice Age.

## In short

Long before herders painted cattle at Laas Geel, hunter-gatherers lived in the Somali lands. Their stone tools, the bones of the animals they ate and their burials survive in rock shelters and open sites. Most of what is known comes from two places: the inselbergs (*buur*) of the inter-riverine south, between the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) rivers, and the granite hills of the north around Hargeisa.

## The Buur region: Somalia's first excavation

**Buur Heybe**, in Bay region, is the largest of the granite inselbergs that rise from the flat bushland between the two rivers. Its name has been translated as "the hill of the potter's sand", and it was studied for its living pottery tradition as well as its past ([Belkin, Brandt and Noor, *The Potters of Buur Heybe, Somalia*, Left Coast Press, 2006](https://search.worldcat.org/title/76174785)).

- **1935.** The Italian archaeologist Paolo Graziosi dug the rock shelter of Gogoshiis Qabe on Buur Heybe, Somalia's first professional excavation. He named three stone tool industries, the lowest Middle Stone Age and the highest Late Stone Age and the last he called the "Eibian" ([Brandt, "Early Holocene mortuary practices and hunter-gatherer adaptations in southern Somalia", *World Archaeology*, 1988](https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1988.9980055)).
- **1940s.** The British archaeologist J. Desmond Clark dug the shelter of Guli Waabayo on Buur Heybe and the open-air Rifle Range Site on nearby Buur Hakaba. In 1954 he published *The Prehistoric Cultures of the Horn of Africa*, the first overall sequence for the region ([Jones, Brandt and Marshall 2018](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.030); [Gutherz et al. 2014](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038)).
- **1980s.** Steven Brandt led the Buur Ecological and Archaeological Project with Somali colleagues. Brandt argued in 1986 that most of Clark's culture units were "in need of revision" ([Brandt, "The Upper Pleistocene and early Holocene prehistory of the Horn of Africa", *African Archaeological Review*, 1986](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117035)).
- **1989.** Fieldwork in the south stopped as the war spread. Much of the excavated material had been exported for study with the approval of the Somali Academy of Sciences; collections left in the [Somali National Museum](/en/history/history-of-archaeology-in-the-somali-lands/) were lost when the museum was looted ([Jones, Brandt and Marshall, *Quaternary International*, 2018](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.030)).

## How old? The Guli Waabayo dates

New radiocarbon dates published in 2021, made on ostrich eggshell and animal tooth enamel, show "repeated use of the site over a ~20,000-year period". The authors find two main periods of use ([Jones, Brandt, Henry and Ambrose, *Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports*, 2021](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102844)):

- **About 29,000–26,000 to 15,000–11,000 years ago**, during the coldest and driest part of the last Ice Age, with stone tools of the **Eibian** industry. They call these "the earliest radiometric evidence of Later Stone Age (LSA) occupation in the southeastern Horn of Africa".
- **About 11,000–9,000 to 7,500–6,000 years ago**, in the early and middle Holocene, with tools of the **Bardaale** industry.

At the Rifle Range Site on Buur Hakaba, hunter-gatherers relied on the inselbergs, on big game and on dwarf antelope (dik-dik) from about 20,000 to 5,000 years ago ([Jones, Brandt and Marshall 2018](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.030)).

Brandt's 1988 study described burials of the early Holocene at Buur Heybe and what they show about how hunter-gatherers lived ([Brandt 1988](https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1988.9980055)).

## A greener Horn: the African Humid Period

Between about 14,000 and 5,000 years ago, north and eastern Africa "were much wetter and greener than they are today". Oxygen isotopes in dik-dik and warthog teeth from Gogoshiis Qabe and Guli Waabayo were used to track how dry the land was over that time ([Reid, Jones, Brandt et al., *Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology*, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109272)). A marine core from the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) shows that the shifts into and out of this wet period were abrupt, happening "within centuries rather than over millennia" ([Tierney and deMenocal, *Science* 342, 2013](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1240411)).

The wild animals painted in northern rock art, such as giraffes, which are no longer found there, fit this greener past. Sada Mire writes that the hunting scenes "suggest a mixed economy and much greener environment than the region offers today" ([Mire 2015, *African Archaeological Review* 32](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## The north: the Hargeisan and Laas Geel Shelter 7

Clark defined a "Hargeisan" industry from sites near Hargeisa, mixing Middle and Late Stone Age traits, and a later "Somaliland Wilton". The French team that recorded the Laas Geel paintings dug Shelter 7 and found two phases. The upper layers held Late Stone Age microliths. The lower layers combined Late Stone Age blades with "a Levallois technology", a Middle Stone Age method, which "supports a comparison with the 'Hargeisan Industry'" and dates to the end of the Pleistocene ([Gutherz, Diaz, Ménard, Bon et al., "The Hargeisan revisited", *Quaternary International* 343, 2014](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038)).

Mire lists other northern Stone Age sites still to be studied: Lukuud near Aw-Barkhadle, and Gumburaha and Aqalo-lamoodka near Dhubato in Hargeisa region ([Mire 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-015-9184-9)).

## From hunting to herding

The next chapter is the first herders, whose cattle, sheep and goats appear in the rock art of the north from about the 3rd millennium BC. See [Laas Geel and Somali rock art](/en/history/laas-geel-and-somali-rock-art/).

## Related pages

- [Before 1300: the ancient Somali lands](/en/history/ancient-somali-lands-before-1300/)
- [Ancient burials, standing stones and towns](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/)


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# Presidents of Somalia, 1960 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/presidents-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nine people have been President of Somalia since independence on 1 July 1960, and four more served as acting president, from Aden Abdulle Osman to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who has held office since 23 May 2022. The office was vacant from January 1997 to August 2000. This page lists every holder with dates and links to each person's page.

## In short

This is the list of heads of state of Somalia since independence on 1 July 1960. Dates follow the Wikipedia list of presidents of Somalia ([Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somalia)). How the office works today is explained in [the President and the Council of Ministers](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/).

Ali Mahdi Muhammad, named interim President in January 1991, held the title through the 1990s, but his authority reached only parts of Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Ali Mahdi Muhammad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein was acting president from 15 to 21 October 1969, after the killing of [President Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) ([Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somalia)). Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, has its own presidents; see [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Somali Republic (1960–1969)

- [Aden Abdulle Osman (Aden Adde)](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), 1 July 1960 to 10 June 1967
- [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), 10 June 1967 to 15 October 1969
- Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein, 15 October 1969 to 21 October 1969 (acting)

## Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991)

- [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), 21 October 1969 to 26 January 1991

## Interim government (1991–1997)

- [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/), 27 January 1991 to 3 January 1997

## Vacant, 3 January 1997 to 27 August 2000

No one held the office in these years.

## Transitional National Government (2000–2004)

- [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/), 27 August 2000 to 14 October 2004

## Transitional Federal Government (2004–2012)

- [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), 14 October 2004 to 29 December 2008
- [Aden Mohamed Nur (Aden Madobe)](/en/people/aden-madobe/), 29 December 2008 to 31 January 2009 (acting)
- [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), 31 January 2009 to 20 August 2012

## Federal Republic of Somalia (2012–)

- [Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle](/en/people/muse-hassan-sheikh-sayid-abdulle/), 20 August 2012 to 28 August 2012 (acting)
- [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/), 28 August 2012 to 16 September 2012 (acting)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), 16 September 2012 to 16 February 2017
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo)](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/), 16 February 2017 to 23 May 2022
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), from 23 May 2022


---

# Prime Ministers of Somalia, 1956 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has had a Somali head of government since 29 February 1956, when Abdullahi Issa became Prime Minister of the trust territory. The office was abolished from 1969 to 1987 and vacant from 1993 to 2000. Hamza Abdi Barre has been Prime Minister since 25 June 2022. This page lists every holder with dates.

## In short

This is the list of heads of government of Somalia since 1956. Dates follow the Wikipedia list of prime ministers of Somalia ([Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Somalia)). How the office works today is explained in [the President and the Council of Ministers](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/).

After the army took power in October 1969, the office was abolished until 1 February 1987 (same source). Under the transitional governments of 2000 to 2012 there were frequent changes, and several holders served only weeks (same source).

## Trust Territory of Somalia (1956–1960)

- [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/), 29 February 1956 to 1 July 1960

## Somali Republic (1960–1969)

- [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/), 1 July 1960 to 12 July 1960
- [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), 12 July 1960 to 14 June 1964
- [Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/), 14 June 1964 to 15 July 1967
- [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/), 15 July 1967 to 21 October 1969

## Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991); the post was abolished from 21 October 1969 to 1 February 1987

- [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/), 1 February 1987 to 3 September 1990
- Mohamed Hawadle Madar, 3 September 1990 to 24 January 1991

## Interim government (1991–1997)

- [Umar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/), 24 January 1991 to May 1993

## Vacant, May 1993 to 8 October 2000

No one held the office in these years.

## Transitional National Government (2000–2004)

- [Ali Khalif Galaydh](/en/people/ali-khalif-galaydh/), 8 October 2000 to 28 October 2001
- Osman Jama Ali, 28 October 2001 to 12 November 2001 (acting)
- [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/), 12 November 2001 to 8 November 2003
- Mohamed Abdi Yusuf, 8 November 2003 to 1 November 2004

## Transitional Federal Government (2004–2012)

- [Ali Mohamed Gedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/), 1 November 2004 to 29 October 2007
- Salim Aliyow Ibrow, 29 October 2007 to 24 November 2007 (acting)
- [Nur Hassan Hussein (Nur Adde)](/en/people/nur-hassan-hussein/), 24 November 2007 to 14 February 2009
- [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/), 14 February 2009 to 24 September 2010
- Abdiwahid Elmi Gonjeh, 24 September 2010 to 1 November 2010 (acting)
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo)](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/), 1 November 2010 to 19 June 2011
- [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali (Gaas)](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/), 19 June 2011 to 20 August 2012

## Federal Republic of Somalia (2012–)

- [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali (Gaas)](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/), 20 August 2012 to 17 October 2012 (acting)
- [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/), 17 October 2012 to 21 December 2013
- [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/), 21 December 2013 to 24 December 2014
- [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/), 24 December 2014 to 1 March 2017
- [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/), 1 March 2017 to 25 July 2020
- Mahdi Mohamed Gulaid, 25 July 2020 to 23 September 2020 (acting)
- [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/), 23 September 2020 to 25 June 2022
- [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/), from 25 June 2022


---

# Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Axmed Gurey)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmad-ibn-ibrahim-al-ghazi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (about 1506–1543), called Axmed Gurey in Somali and Gragn in Amharic, both meaning 'the left-handed', led the Adal Sultanate from 1527. From 1529 he fought the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia and held most of it by 1540, with Somali communities a large part of his army. He was killed at Wayna Daga in February 1543. Historians disagree on his ethnic origin.

## Who was he?

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was the imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543 ([Wikipedia, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). Somalis call him Axmed Gurey and Amharic speakers call him Gragn, both meaning "the left-handed" (same source). He led Adal's invasion of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia (same source). This page records his life without taking sides. For the full war, battle by battle, see [Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns, 1527 to 1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).

## Birth and origin

Wikipedia gives his birth as 1506, in the lowlands of Hubat in Adal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). He spent much time in the city of Harar (same source). Whiteway, who edited the Portuguese records in 1902, writes that he was the son of Ibrahim al-Ghazi, and that father and son were ordinary soldiers under Garad Aboun ([Whiteway, *The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia*, 1902, p. xxxiii](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).

His ethnic origin is disputed. Historians variously describe him as Somali, as [Harla](/en/history/the-harla-and-harlaa/) or Harari, or as Balaw ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). Whiteway thought him "probably" Somali, because of his close ties to many Somalis, but wrote that the evidence "does not appear decisive" ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiii](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). The historian Didier Morin says he is often confused with one of his commanders, Ahmed Gurey ibn Husayn "the Somali" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)).

## Rise to power

He served under [Garad Abun](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/) Adashe in a power struggle with the [Walashma](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) dynasty of Adal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). He defeated an Ethiopian force sent under the general Degelhan at the battle of Hubat (same source). He then fought and killed Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, and set up [Umar Din](/en/history/end-of-adal-1543-1583/) as sultan while he himself held power as imam (same source). He took the religious title of imam rather than the royal title of sultan ([Basset, *Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie*, 1897, introduction](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)).

After taking power in 1527 he banned wine, gambling and drum dances ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). The Adal chronicle says he sold his wives' jewellery and his household goods to buy arms for the army ([Basset 1897, p. 73](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)).

## The war with Ethiopia

In March 1529 he defeated a much larger Ethiopian army at Shimbra Kure ([Whiteway 1902, pp. xxxv–xxxvi](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). Somali communities formed much of his army, and the Adal chronicle names the Habr Magadi, the Geri and the Marehan among them ([Basset 1897, pp. 72–73](https://archive.org/details/histoiredelacon00bassgoog)). His brother-in-law Garad Matan ibn Uthman, called "the Somali" in the chronicle, was one of his commanders (same source).

By 1540 Adal held most of Ethiopia, and Emperor Lebna Dengel died a fugitive ([Whiteway 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). The chronicle and other sources record mass killings, forced conversions and the burning of churches, including Debre Libanos and the church of Mary of Zion at Aksum ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi); [Whiteway 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). The Adal chronicle also says he built mosques and towns in Begemder and Dembiya, and taught the Quran himself to new converts ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)).

## Death

Portugal sent about 400 musketeers under Christovão da Gama in 1541 ([Whiteway 1902](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). The Imam defeated them in August 1542, and da Gama was captured and executed (same source). The Imam was killed at the battle of [Wayna Daga](/en/history/imam-ahmads-son-and-the-end-of-the-war-1543-1560/), near Lake Tana, on 21 February 1543 ([Whiteway 1902, pp. lxix–lxx](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)). Wikipedia gives his death date as 10 February 1543 in its opening line ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). His wife, Bati del Wambara, led the rest of the army back to Harar (same source).

## How he is remembered

Memories of him differ sharply. In Ethiopia he is remembered for a devastating invasion. The historian Paul Henze wrote, "Every Christian highlander still hears tales of Gragn in his childhood" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). In Somali histories he appears as a national hero; one Somali history book titles its chapter on him "Somali Hero - Ahmad Gurey (1506-43)" ([*Somalia: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Modern Times*, chapter 8](https://web.archive.org/web/20050309121250/http://www.civicwebs.com/cwvlib/africa/somalia/1994/dawn_of_civilization/chapter_8.htm)). The Imam Ahmed Stadium is named after him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi)). Somali Wikipedia shows a statue of him in Mogadishu ([Somali Wikipedia, Imaam Axmed Qaasi](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaam_Axmed_Qaasi)). See [Saad ad-Din II](/en/people/saad-ad-din-ii/), whose sons founded the Sultanate of Adal.

## In short

Imam of Adal from 1527 to 1543, who led the war against Ethiopia and was killed at Wayna Daga in 1543.


---

# Aw Barkhadle (Sheikh Yusuf al-Kawneyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aw-barkhadle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aw Barkhadle, "the blessed father", is the name Somalis give to Sheikh Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, a medieval teacher of Islam in the north of Somalia. Tradition credits him with a Somali way of naming the Arabic letters that helped generations learn to read. His tomb near Hargeisa is a place of yearly pilgrimage.

## Who was he?

Aw Barkhadle, meaning "the blessed father", is the popular name of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, a teacher of Islam in the north of the Somali lands in the Middle Ages ([Wikipedia, Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). He is regarded as a saint. His tomb, near Hargeisa, draws an annual pilgrimage ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Sheikh Yusuf Kawneyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## When did he live?

The sources do not agree. Castagno's dictionary places him in the 13th century ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In 1854 the explorer Richard Burton was told by a Somali genealogist, Shaykh Jami, that "the Sayyid Yusuf el Baghdadi" visited the port of Siyaro near Berbera in 1266–67 ([Burton, *First Footsteps in East Africa*, 1856, ch. 4](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). Wikipedia notes traditions that place him earlier, and records that his son is listed as an Emir of Harar in 1038 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)).

## Where did he come from?

Local tradition says he came from Arabia to teach Islam ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Some scholars describe him instead as a Somali who studied in Zeila and then in Iraq, which would explain the title "al-Baghdadi" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). Others read the stories of Arabian origin as a later way of linking local ancestors to the Prophet's family (same source). Several communities, including families among the Gadabuursi and the Ciise, trace links to him (same source).

## The Somali names for Arabic letters

He is remembered most as a teacher. Castagno writes that he devised Somali names for the Arabic letters and vowel signs, so his students could learn to read and write Arabic "with great facility". The system was still in use in 1975 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia notes it grew into *Wadaad's writing*, the use of Arabic letters to write Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)).

## His tombs and the town

The town of Aw Barkhadle, north-east of Hargeisa, grew around his tomb. Archaeologist Sada Mire recorded local stories that the place was once called Dogor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). Other shrines to him stand near [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/), near Fedis and in Harar, and one in Sri Lanka (same source). The town is listed among Somali heritage sites. See [heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/).

## His family line

Some historians describe him as the ancestor of the [Walashma](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) family, which ruled the medieval sultanates of Ifat and Adal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). See [medieval and early modern states](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/) and [Sa'ad ad-Din II](/en/people/saad-ad-din-ii/).

## In short

A medieval saint and scholar linked by tradition to teaching Islam in the Somali language.


---

# Sa'id of Mogadishu (Saciid Muqdisho)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/said-of-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sa'id of Mogadishu (born 1301, died about 1361 or 1365) was a Somali scholar and traveller. He studied for 14 years in Mecca and 14 in Medina, travelled to India and China, and met Ibn Battuta at a mosque on India's west coast. He later settled at Ezhimala on the Malabar Coast and worked with local Shafi'i jurists.

## Who was he?

Sa'id of Mogadishu was a 14th-century Somali scholar and traveller ([Wikipedia, Sa'id of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27id_of_Mogadishu)). He was born in Mogadishu in 1301 (same source). See [medieval Somali polities](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).

## Mecca and Medina

He left Mogadishu as a teenager to study ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27id_of_Mogadishu)). He spent 14 years in Mecca and 14 in Medina, where he had many students (same source). He met the Amir of Mecca, Abu Numayy, and the Amir of Medina, al-Mansur Ibn Jammaz (same source).

## Meeting Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta met him at a mosque on the west coast of India ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27id_of_Mogadishu)). Ibn Battuta described him as "a jurist, pious from Mogadishu called Sa'id, of fine figure and character" who "used to fast continually" and "had travelled [throughout] India and China" (same source). See [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/).

The historian Peter Jackson suggests that Sa'id may have given Ibn Battuta his information on China and the succession of the Yuan dynasty, which Ibn Battuta later used in his own account ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27id_of_Mogadishu)). Wikipedia says he also visited Bengal (same source).

## Malabar

A study of the Malabar Coast records that "Faqih Sa'id from Mogadishu" settled in the small port town of Ezhimala ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27id_of_Mogadishu)). There he worked with Faqih Husayn, possibly the author of the first known [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) legal text from Malabar (same source). The same study calls him one of many East African scholars who took part in the religious life of the Malabar Coast (same source).

## Death

He may have died in 1361 or 1365 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27id_of_Mogadishu)).

## In short

A 14th-century scholar from Mogadishu who studied in Mecca and Medina for 28 years, travelled to India and China, and met Ibn Battuta.


---

# Daud Abdulle Hirsi (Daa'uud Cabdulle Xirsi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> General Daud Abdulle Hirsi (1925–1965) was the first commander of the Somali National Army. Born in Mareeg, he served in the colonial police, became a lieutenant in 1954 and, after independence in 1960, became commander-in-chief of the new army and later chief of staff with the rank of general. He died in Moscow in 1965. Schools, a main street in Mogadishu and an annual football cup are named after him.

## In short

Daud Abdulle Hirsi was the first commander of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), founded on 12 April 1960. This page records his public role from the sources available; at present most facts come from one encyclopedia article and the journal it cites, and each line shows its source.

## Early life

Wikipedia records that he was born in 1925 in Mareeg, in what is now Ceel Dheer district, studied at the local Qur'an school and worked in the colonial office in Buloburde. It says that as a young man he served as a soldier in the Italian campaign in Ethiopia, without giving a date ([Wikipedia, Daud Abdulle Hirsi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daud_Abdulle_Hirsi)).

## Police officer

He joined the police of the territory and was promoted to lieutenant in 1954, on his return (Wikipedia). The colonial and trusteeship police of the time are described in [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) and [The UN trusteeship, 1950–1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## Commander of the army

After independence on 1 July 1960 he became commander-in-chief of the Somali National Army, the first post of its kind, and was later promoted to general and chief of staff (Wikipedia, citing *Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies*, vol. 6, 2006, p. 64). The army he led in its first years, and its later growth, are described in [Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/). The civilian governments of the period are described in [The civilian era, 1960–1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Death and memory

He died in Moscow in 1965; one section of the Wikipedia article says this was during military training. Wikipedia quotes President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) as saying: "The Somali Military, today lost its father." Several schools and a main street in Mogadishu, and the annual General Daud football cup, carry his name (Wikipedia).

## Sources differ

- **His post after independence.** Wikipedia calls him commander-in-chief of the army and, in one passage, minister of defence in the first civilian government.
- **Dates of service.** Wikipedia gives his years of service only as "1945s–1965".

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies*, Macalester College: [journal archive](https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/bildhaan/).


---

# Abdi Bile: Somalia's world champion at 1,500 metres

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-bile/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Bile, born in Laascaanood on 28 December 1962, won Somalia's first world athletics title. He won the 1,500 metres at the World Championships in Rome on 6 September 1987 in 3:36.80, running the last 800 metres in 1:46.8. He later took bronze in 1993 and set Somali records at nine distances.

## Early life

Abdi Bile was born in Laascaanood on 28 December 1962. He was one of 14 children and was raised by his uncle, a police colonel ([Simon Turnbull, World Athletics Heritage, 2022](https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/abdi-bile-rome-1500m-mowa-donation)).

At high school in Mogadishu he was a strong footballer and played for Somalia's youth team. He began running only to get fitter for football. "I didn't like running at first. I found it very difficult and boring," he said. After school he worked in the pathology section of a veterinary institute (World Athletics Heritage).

## College in America

In 1983 he moved to Virginia on a scholarship from coach John Cook at George Mason University. He spoke only basic English. In 1985 he won the US college (NCAA) title at 1,500 metres (World Athletics Heritage).

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics he ran in the 1,500 metres. He finished sixth in his semi-final but was disqualified for bumping another runner (World Athletics Heritage).

## Rome, 1987

On 6 September 1987, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Bile won the 1,500 metres world title in **3:36.80**. He ran the last 800 metres in 1:46.8. Spain's José Luis González took silver and Jim Spivey of the United States took bronze. The defending champion, Steve Cram, finished eighth ([official results, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/results/world-athletics-championships/1987/2nd-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-4/men/1500-metres/final/result); World Athletics Heritage).

During the semi-finals in Rome, on 4 September 1987, he set a championship record of 3:35.67, which stood until 1991 ([Wikipedia, Abdi Bile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Bile)). He was the first Somali to become a world champion (same source).

The singlet he wore in Rome now hangs in the Museum of World Athletics (World Athletics Heritage).

## Records and later races

- **1987, Brussels:** 3:31.80, faster than his winning time in Rome.
- **1989:** 3:31.20 in Pescara, then 3:30.55 in Rieti, a Somali record. He also beat Sebastian Coe to win the World Cup 1,500 metres in Barcelona.
- **1988, 1991 and 1992:** injury kept him out of two Olympics and one World Championships.
- **1993, Stuttgart:** bronze at the World Championships.
- **1996, [Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/):** sixth in the Olympic final.

In all, he set Somali records at nine distances (World Athletics Heritage).

## Later life

Bile stayed in the United States and became a US citizen. He later lived in Minneapolis and coached the national team of the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) for a time. His college coach called him "a humble person" (World Athletics Heritage).

## Read more

- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/): football, [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) and the athletes who followed.

## Sources

- Turnbull, S. (2022). [Abdi Bile's Rome singlet donated to the Museum of World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/abdi-bile-rome-1500m-mowa-donation). World Athletics Heritage.
- Wikipedia. [Abdi Bile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Bile).
- World Athletics. [1987 World Championships, men's 1,500 metres final, results](https://worldathletics.org/results/world-athletics-championships/1987/2nd-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-4/men/1500-metres/final/result).


---

# Aden Abdulle Osman (Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan, Aden Adde)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aden Abdulle Osman, known as Aden Adde (1908–2007), was the first President of the Somali Republic, from 1 July 1960 to 6 July 1967. Born in Beledweyne, he led the Somali Youth League and the trusteeship assembly. In 1967 he lost the presidential vote in parliament and handed over power peacefully, one of the first African heads of state to do so.

## Who was he?

Aden Abdulle Osman, known to Somalis as Aden Adde, was the first President of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). He held office from 1 July 1960 to 6 July 1967 ([Wikipedia, Aden Adde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)). He is remembered most for one act. When he lost the presidential vote in 1967, he accepted the result and handed power to the winner.

## Early life

He was born in Beledweyne, in the [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) region, on 9 December 1908 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)). He lost his parents young. His father had fought in the campaigns against [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Aden Abdulla Osman"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

In 1922 he entered the first elementary school opened at Baidoa. For five years he studied and worked as a domestic servant in Baidoa and Mogadishu. From 1928 to 1933 he was a medical assistant at the De Martino Hospital in Mogadishu. He then worked for the government as a typist and interpreter ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He taught himself many subjects and spoke Somali, Arabic, Italian and English ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)).

## The Somali Youth League

He joined the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) in 1944. By 1946 he was secretary of its Beledweyne branch ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)). He served as the League's president in 1954, 1955 and 1958 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

In 1951 he joined the [Territorial Council](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/) of the trust territory. He became its Vice President, the highest post a Somali could then hold ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). From 1956 to 1960 he was President of the Legislative Assembly ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## President, 1960 to 1967

On 1 July 1960 he proclaimed the independence of the Somali Republic and the union of the trust territory in the south with the former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in the north ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He was elected the Republic's first President. He appointed [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) as Prime Minister ([Wikipedia, Abdirashid Shermarke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)).

His government's First Five Year Plan (1963 to 1967) focused on a few projects. These were the sugar factory at Jowhar, food processing, roads, and seaports at Kismaayo, Berbera and Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)). Somalia joined the Organisation of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Movement in these years.

## The handover of 1967

In the 1967 presidential vote in parliament, his former Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke won. Aden Adde accepted the result. His term ended on 6 July 1967 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)). Sources describe it as one of the first peaceful handovers of power by an African head of state after losing a vote.

## Later life

After the army took power in October 1969, he was held at the presidential palace at [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) until April 1973 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He spent most of his later years on his farm at Jannaale, in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). He died in hospital in Nairobi on 8 June 2007, aged 98 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde)). The government declared 21 days of mourning and a state funeral. It renamed Mogadishu's airport [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) in his honour (same source).

## In short

The first President of Somalia, from 1960 to 1967. He handed over office after losing the 1967 presidential vote in parliament.


---

# Edna Adan Ismail: the nurse-midwife who built a hospital in Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Edna Adan Ismail, born in Hargeisa in 1937, was the first Somali woman trained as a nurse-midwife. She worked for the World Health Organization, then sold her own assets to open the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa in 2002. Its university has trained more than 4,000 health workers. She campaigns against female genital cutting and won the Templeton Prize in 2023.

## Early life and training

Edna Adan Ismail was born in Hargeisa in 1937, when it was the capital of [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). Her father, Dr Adan Ismail, is described as a founder of medical care in the country ([Templeton Prize, 2023 announcement](https://www.templetonprize.org/?p=4011)).

She was tutored in secret with her brother until she was 15. A scholarship exam usually kept for boys took her to Britain to study nursing and midwifery ([VOA, 16 May 2023](https://www.voanews.com/a/prominent-foe-of-female-genital-mutilation-wins-prestigious-templeton-prize-/7096118.html)). She was the first Somali girl to study in the UK, at Borough Polytechnic in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) (Templeton Prize).

In 1961 she came home as the country's first professionally trained nurse-midwife (Templeton Prize). She was also the first woman appointed a director in the Ministry of Health (VOA 2023).

## Speaking out on female genital cutting

Edna has said in public that she was cut at the age of 8, without her father's knowledge. As a young midwife she treated women with serious birth injuries caused by the scarring. After a 1976 conference in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), she began to speak about the practice openly at home, despite threats (VOA 2023).

"Islam forbids female circumcision," she has said (VOA 2023). For how common cutting still is, see [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).

## The World Health Organization

When war broke out in the north, she joined the WHO. She was its regional technical officer for mother and child health from 1987 to 1991. She then served as WHO representative to Djibouti from 1991 to 1997 (VOA 2023; Templeton Prize).

## The hospital

After 1991 she returned to Hargeisa. The authorities there gave her a plot of land that had been an execution ground and a rubbish dump. She sold all her own assets to pay for building, then raised more money abroad after a *New York Times* profile (Templeton Prize).

The **Edna Adan Maternity Hospital** opened in 2002. Its teaching programme became **Edna Adan University** in 2010 (VOA 2023).

- More than 30,000 babies have been born at the hospital.
- Maternal deaths at the hospital fell by up to 75%.
- More than 4,000 students have trained there as doctors, nurses, midwives and other health workers.
- Women are 80% of the staff and 70% of the students.

(Templeton Prize; VOA 2023.)

## Public office

She was married to [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) during his time as prime minister of Somalia. In Hargeisa she later served as minister of social affairs from 2002, and as foreign minister from 2003 to 2006 (Templeton Prize).

## The Templeton Prize

In May 2023, aged 85, she won the Templeton Prize, one of the world's largest yearly awards to a single person. It was worth about £1.1 million (nearly $1.4 million). She was the first African woman to receive it (Templeton Prize; VOA 2023).

She planned to use part of it to train "the next generation of health care workers that East Africa so desperately needs" (VOA 2023).

## Sources

- Templeton Prize (2023). [Edna Adan Ismail receives the 2023 Templeton Prize](https://www.templetonprize.org/?p=4011).
- VOA News (2023). [Prominent foe of female genital mutilation wins prestigious Templeton Prize](https://www.voanews.com/a/prominent-foe-of-female-genital-mutilation-wins-prestigious-templeton-prize-/7096118.html).


---

# Hadraawi (Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame), 1943 to 2022: the master of Somali speech

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hadraawi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hadraawi was the pen name of Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame, born in Togdheer in 1943, whom newspapers called 'the Shakespeare of Somalia' when he died. He wrote more than 200 long poems and more than 70 songs, spent five years in prison from 1973 for his verse, and later walked the Somali regions on a march for peace. He died in Hargeisa on 18 August 2022, aged 79.

## Who he was

Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame was born in 1943 in the [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) region. Somalis know him as **Hadraawi**, a name that means "the master or father of speech" ([Poetry Translation Centre](https://www.poetrytranslation.org/poet/maxamed-ibraahin-warsame-hadraawi/)). Newspapers called him "the Shakespeare of Somalia" when he died ([VOA, 19 August 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/death-of-somali-shakespeare-mourned-nationwide-/6707535.html)).

He wrote more than 200 long poems and more than 70 song lyrics. The count comes from *Hal ka haleel*, a 2018 book on his life and work by Maxamed Baashe X. Xasan (VOA 2022; [African Studies Centre Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/hadraawi)). Leading singers broadcast and performed his early songs (African Studies Centre Leiden).

## Prison and the chain poems

In 1973 the military government jailed him for five years. His poems had grown sharper in their social and political criticism (Poetry Translation Centre). VOA reports he was held for working toward a society free of state control (VOA 2022).

After his release he started debates through **chain poems** (silsilad), where poets answer each other in turn. His new verse was composed in secret, then memorised and passed from person to person (African Studies Centre Leiden). The best-known chain, *Deelley*, is described on [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Exile and London

He later left Somalia. Sources differ on the route. The Poetry Translation Centre and Leiden say he joined the Somali National Movement in Ethiopia and wrote the long poem *Gudgude* there. VOA says he fled to Djibouti and kept writing political poems that people learned by heart.

From 1993 to 2001 he lived in the Somali community in [London](/en/diaspora/london/). That time inspired *Dabo Huwan*, a poem of about 800 lines (African Studies Centre Leiden).

## The march for peace

Back home, he travelled across the Somali regions on a **peace march**, urging people to stop the fighting and to reconcile. VOA dates the peace caravans to the second half of 2003. Leiden gives 2004. He also lectured at the University of Burco (African Studies Centre Leiden).

In December 2012 he received the Dutch **Prince Claus Award** for his work for peace through poetry (Poetry Translation Centre; African Studies Centre Leiden).

## Death and legacy

Hadraawi died in Hargeisa on 18 August 2022, aged 79, after years of illness. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) called him "an icon" of Somali literature. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s president, [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), announced a national funeral (VOA 2022).

VOA names "Hooyoy La'aanta" (The Mother) as one of his best-loved songs (VOA 2022). The Center for Hadraawi Literature in Hargeisa runs workshops, readings and seminars for young writers (Poetry Translation Centre).

## Read more

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/): the forms, alliteration and the great poets.
- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/): the singers who made his songs famous.

## Sources

- Poetry Translation Centre. [Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame 'Hadraawi'](https://www.poetrytranslation.org/poet/maxamed-ibraahin-warsame-hadraawi/).
- VOA News (2022). [Death of 'Somali Shakespeare' mourned nationwide](https://www.voanews.com/a/death-of-somali-shakespeare-mourned-nationwide-/6707535.html).
- African Studies Centre Leiden (2022). [Library Weekly: Hadraawi](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/hadraawi), with a reading list of books by and about him.


---

# Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (born 1955) is a teacher, civil society leader and politician. He co-founded SIMAD University in Mogadishu, was President of Somalia from 2012 to 2017, and was elected again in May 2022, the first Somali President to serve two terms. In March 2026 parliament extended his term, a step the opposition rejects; a presidential vote is set for May 2027.

## Who is he?

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is the President of Somalia. He held the office from 2012 to 2017 and was elected again in 2022 ([Wikipedia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)). The presidency's own site calls him the first Somali President elected to two terms that did not follow each other ([Villa Somalia, The President](https://villasomalia.gov.so/the-president/)).

## Early life and education

He was born on 29 November 1955 in the [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) region and went to school there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)). In 1978 he moved to Mogadishu and studied at the Polytechnic Institute, earning a diploma in 1981. He earned a master's degree in technical education at Bhopal University in India in 1988 (same source).

## Teacher and civil society

He taught at Lafoole Technical Secondary School and then at the Technical Teachers' Training College, where he became head of department in 1986 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)). He stayed in Somalia through the civil war. From 1993 to 1995 he was an education officer for UNICEF in the centre and south (same source).

In 1999 he co-founded the Somali Institute of Management and Administration (SIMAD) in Mogadishu, which grew into [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/). He was its dean until 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)). See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## First term, 2012 to 2017

In September 2012 the new Federal Parliament elected him President. He was the first President of the Federal Government after the transitional years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)). *Time* magazine listed him among the 100 most influential people of 2013 (same source). His first government was also criticised for corruption and infighting ([The EastAfrican, May 2022](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-new-president-mohamud-dove-turned-fierce-critic-3817044)). In February 2017 parliament chose Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo instead, and he handed over.

## Second term, from 2022

He founded the Union for [Peace and Development Party](/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/). In May 2022 parliament elected him President again ([The EastAfrican, May 2022](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-new-president-mohamud-dove-turned-fierce-critic-3817044)). In October 2022 he completed a doctorate in peace, governance and development ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)).

On 18 March 2025 a bomb exploded beside his convoy as it left the presidential palace in Mogadishu; he was unhurt, and al-Shabaab said its fighters had targeted him ([Reuters, via Yahoo News, 18 March 2025](https://www.yahoo.com/news/somali-militants-target-presidential-convoy-142207941.html)). See [The bomb attack on the president's convoy in Mogadishu, 18 March 2025](/en/history/attack-on-president-convoy-mogadishu-2025/).

His four-year term was due to end on 15 May 2026. In March 2026 parliament changed the constitution to extend the terms of the President and of parliament by a year ([Citizen Digital, March 2026](https://citizen.digital/news/somali-parliament-approves-constitution-change-to-extend-presidents-term-delay-election-n378547)). The opposition rejects the extension. In October 2026 the government said a presidential vote would be held in May 2027 ([BusinessDay, 16 October 2026](https://www.businessday.co.za/world/africa/2026-10-16-somalia-says-it-will-hold-a-presidential-election-in-may-2027/)).

This page records his public role only. It is updated as events change.


---

# Hawo Tako (Xaawo Taako)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hawo-tako/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hawo Tako (Xaawo Taako), also called Hawa Osman, was a Somali Youth League member who died after the January 1948 unrest in Mogadishu, during the visit of the Four-Power Commission. She is remembered as a national heroine. A monument to her stands by the National Theatre in Mogadishu.

## Who was she?

Hawo Tako, in Somali Xaawo Taako, was a member of the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/). She died after the unrest in Mogadishu in January 1948, during the visit of the Four-Power Commission ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Hawa Osman Tako"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). She is regarded as a national heroine (same source). Her name is on streets and institutions, and a monument to her stands in Mogadishu ([Somali Architecture, "Xaawo Taako"](https://www.somaliarchitecture.com/project/xaawo-taako)).

## Where she came from

The sources do not agree on her birth. Wikipedia gives 1925 and names Kebri Beyah, in today's Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia, Hawo Tako](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawo_Tako)). The Somali Architecture archive says she was born in the 1920s in southern Somalia ([Somali Architecture](https://www.somaliarchitecture.com/project/xaawo-taako)). Her other name, Hawa Osman, gives her father's name, Osman.

## What happened in January 1948

After the Second World War, the four powers (Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union) had to decide the future of Italy's former colonies. They sent a commission to Mogadishu in January 1948 to hear what Somalis wanted ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

On 11 January 1948 a large demonstration took place in Mogadishu ([Somali Architecture](https://www.somaliarchitecture.com/project/xaawo-taako)). Fighting broke out in the city. Hawo Tako was badly hurt and died ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

Accounts of her death differ:
- Castagno's dictionary records that "it is said that she was killed by an arrow" ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).
- The Somali Architecture archive says she was badly injured and died a few days later ([Somali Architecture](https://www.somaliarchitecture.com/project/xaawo-taako)).
- [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) News says she led Youth League members from the party's headquarters to protect the rally, and died in the clashes ([Goobjoog News, 11 Jan 2016](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-like-this-day-in-1948-somalia-popular-freedom-fighter-hawa-tako-killed)).
- Wikipedia notes that some sources say she died trying to protect others in the violence ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawo_Tako)).

## How Somalis remember her

In 1971 a monument to her was put up in front of the [Somali National Theatre](/en/society/national-theatre-of-somalia/) in Mogadishu ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). It stands beside the theatre and the National Museum ([Somali Architecture](https://www.somaliarchitecture.com/project/xaawo-taako)). The Somali Women's Democratic Organization, set up in 1977, was founded in her memory ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawo_Tako)). Her picture has appeared on banners and banknotes ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-like-this-day-in-1948-somalia-popular-freedom-fighter-hawa-tako-killed)).

## In short

A member of the freedom movement killed in Mogadishu in 1948, twelve years before independence.


---

# Iman (Iimaan Maxamed Cabdulmajiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/iman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Iman (Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid, born 1955 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-American model, actress and businesswoman. Discovered while studying in Nairobi, she became one of the leading models of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1994 she founded Iman Cosmetics, and since 2019 she has been CARE's first Global Advocate.

## Who is she?

Iman is a Somali-American model, actress and businesswoman. Wikipedia describes her as one of the world's best-known models since her first work in the 1970s ([Wikipedia, Iman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))). She founded her own cosmetics company and works for charity (same source).

## Early life

She was born Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid on 25 July 1955 in Mogadishu. Her grandfather urged the name Iman, Arabic for "faith" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))). Her father was a diplomat who served as Somalia's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and her mother was a gynaecologist ([Biography.com, Iman](https://www.biography.com/celebrities/iman)).

At four she was sent to boarding school in Egypt. Later the family moved to Kenya, and she studied political science at the University of Nairobi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))).

## Modelling

While she was a student in Nairobi, the American photographer Peter Beard met her. She moved to the United States, and her first assignment was for *Vogue* in 1976 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))). In 1977 she starred in Revlon's first campaign built around black women (same source). She worked with designers such as Halston, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurent.

She has said her looks are simply typically Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))).

## Film and business

She acted in films including *Out of Africa* (1985) and *Exit to Eden* (1994) ([Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/celebrities/iman)). In 1994 she started Iman Cosmetics, making shades for women whose skin tones were hard to match ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))).

## Charity

Since September 2019 she has been CARE's first Global Advocate, working against poverty ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))). She is also a spokesperson for the Keep a Child Alive programme and works with the Children's Defense Fund (same source).

## Family

She was married to the British musician David Bowie from 1992 until his death in 2016 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iman_(model))).

## In short

A fashion model from Mogadishu who first worked for *Vogue* in 1976, acted in films, founded Iman Cosmetics in 1994 and became CARE's first Global Advocate in 2019.


---

# Mo Farah (Hussein Abdi Kahin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mo-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sir Mo Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin, 1983) is a British distance runner born in Somalia. He won the 5,000 m and 10,000 m at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and six world titles, the most global distance golds of any man. In 2022 he revealed that he had been trafficked to Britain as a child under another boy's name.

## Who is he?

Sir Mo Farah is a British former long-distance runner, born in Somalia. He won four Olympic and six world championship gold medals, the most global titles of any male track distance runner ([Wikipedia, Mo Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah)). He is the most successful British track athlete in Olympic history (same source).

## A childhood under another name

He was born Hussein Abdi Kahin on 23 March 1983 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah)). In a 2022 BBC documentary he said his father was killed in the civil war when he was four. At about nine, a woman flew him from Djibouti to London with false papers under the name of another child, Mohamed Farah, and he was made to work as a domestic servant ([CBS News, July 2022](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/mo-farah-olympic-star-reveals-to-bbc-he-was-trafficked-to-uk-from-africa)). He kept the name and later became a British citizen. The Home Office said no action would be taken against him ([CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/mo-farah-olympic-star-reveals-to-bbc-he-was-trafficked-to-uk-from-africa)).

At first he was not allowed to go to school. At 11 or 12 he joined Feltham Community College, where a PE teacher saw his talent ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah)). He joined Hounslow athletics club, and later Newham and Essex Beagles (same source). His mother and two brothers live on a farm in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) (same source).

## Titles

- **Olympics:** gold in the 5,000 m and 10,000 m at London 2012, and again at Rio 2016. He was only the second man, after Lasse Virén, to win both at back-to-back Games ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah)).
- **World Championships:** the distance double in 2013 and 2015, and 10,000 m gold in 2011 and 2017 (same source). From 2011 to 2017 he won ten global finals in a row.
- **Road:** he won the 2018 Chicago Marathon in a European record of 2:05:11, and holds the world record for the one-hour run (same source).

He was made a CBE in 2013 and knighted in 2017 for services to athletics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah)).

## Giving back

After a visit to Somalia in 2011 he launched the Mo Farah Foundation to help people in the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Farah)).

## In short

A runner who arrived in Britain as a child and won four Olympic gold medals. See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/) and [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).


---

# Mohamed Ali Samatar (Maxamed Cali Samatar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> General Mohamed Ali Samatar (1931–2016) was commander of the Somali National Army from 1969 to 1987, defence minister from 1970, first vice-president from 1971 and prime minister from 1987 to 1990 under Siad Barre. He commanded during the 1977–78 Ogaden war. In exile in the US he was sued by Somalis who accused him of responsibility for torture and killings in the 1980s; in 2012 a US court entered a US$21 million judgment after he accepted default while denying wrongdoing.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Ali Samatar was one of the most senior officers and officials of the military government of 1969–1991. He was born in Kismayo on 1 January 1931 and trained at the Modena military academy in Italy and the Frunze academy in the Soviet Union ([Wikipedia, Mohammad Ali Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)). This page records his public career and the legal case against him, from the sources, without taking sides.

## Army commander and minister

- **[Commander of the Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/)**, 25 November 1969 to 1 February 1987, the third holder of the post.
- **Minister of Defence**, 1970 to 1987.
- **First vice-president**, 14 August 1971 to December 1990.
- **Prime minister**, 1 February 1987 to 3 September 1990.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar))

He led the army during the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) of 1977–78 (same source). The Library of Congress names him as one of four senior officials who, with [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), made up the ruling party's politburo in 1986 ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm)). After Siad Barre was badly hurt in a car accident on 23 May 1986, Samatar acted as head of state for several months ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)). The army of this period is described in [The Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

## Exile and the US case

After the government fell in 1991, Samatar moved to the United States and lived in Virginia. In 2004 seven Somali-born plaintiffs sued him in a US federal court. The Associated Press reported that they accused him of ordering the killing and torture of members of a minority clan in the 1980s; the plaintiffs said they had been targeted as Isaaq ([CBS News/AP, 28 August 2012](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-judge-awards-21m-to-somalis-who-sued-ex-pm-for-torturing-and-killing-his-own-people/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)).

- **1 June 2010.** In *Samantar v. Yousuf*, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not shield him, so the case could go on ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar), citing the *Washington Post*).
- **August 2012.** On the day the trial was to begin, he accepted a default judgment. A court in Alexandria, Virginia, awarded the plaintiffs US$21 million. He said he could no longer afford the case, that his health was failing, and that he had "never approved any killings". He called the case politically motivated ([CBS News/AP](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-judge-awards-21m-to-somalis-who-sued-ex-pm-for-torturing-and-killing-his-own-people/)).
- **March 2013.** Somalia's prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdon asked the US to grant him immunity ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)). See [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/).
- **March 2015.** The US Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal (same source).

"I worked 40 years for my country," he said after the 2012 judgment. "I was faithful to my country and abided by the law" ([CBS News/AP](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-judge-awards-21m-to-somalis-who-sued-ex-pm-for-torturing-and-killing-his-own-people/)).

## How sources describe his role in the north

Wikipedia records that he is alleged to have overseen the campaign in the north in the late 1980s, which many Somalis and several scholars call the Isaaq genocide, and that the plaintiffs did not claim he personally carried out abuses. His supporters described the lawsuit as a political vendetta ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)). For the war in the north, see [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/).

## Death

He died in Virginia on 19 August 2016, aged 85, and was buried in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar), citing Mareeg).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- US Supreme Court, *Samantar v. Yousuf*, 560 U.S. 305 (2010): [opinion](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1555.pdf).
- Center for Justice and Accountability, case page on *Yousuf v. Samantar*: [cja.org](http://www.cja.org/section.php?id=85).


---

# Mohamed Said Duale (Maxamed Siciid Ducaale, Dahabshiil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Said Duale, known as Dahabshiil (born about 1948), is the founder of the Dahabshiil group. He began as a shopkeeper in Burao in 1970 and started moving money for Somali families in 1988, from Dire Dawa in Ethiopia. Dahabshiil grew into one of the largest Somali money transfer companies, serving more than 100 countries.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Said Duale is a Somali businessman and the founder of Dahabshiil, one of the biggest firms that carry money from Somalis abroad to their families at home ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Said Duale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Duale)). Most Somalis know him by the company's name. In 2019 he told his life story to the scholar [Ahmed I. Samatar](/en/people/ahmed-samatar/) in a long interview ([Samatar, "The Making of Dahabshiil: A Brief Interview", *Bildhaan* vol. 21, 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)). This page follows that interview.

## A herding family

He was born in the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/), in a herding family, near the village of Habura, now under the town of Gashamo. "I believe I was born around the late forties, perhaps 1948," he said ([Samatar 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)). His father died in Yemen in 1966. His older brother worked in Aden and sent money home, but it was not enough for a large family (same source).

He wanted school and town life. He saw herding life as unchanging, with "no opportunities for progress" ([Samatar 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)). He went to [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), studied at night school and worked by day in a relative's shop (same source).

## The Burao shop, 1970

In early 1970 a friend of his uncle trusted him to run a shop of his own ([Samatar 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)). Wikipedia dates the start of Dahabshiil to this year ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Duale)). The great drought of the mid-1970s, *Dabadheer*, hit his herder customers hard and left him in debt. He then imported goods, including a shipment of rice from Bangkok paid for with a bank loan, and cleared his debts ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Duale)).

## Where the name came from

A regular customer once lost a haggle with him and gave him the nickname *dheegshiil*. "The word spread like a bushfire," he said. Years later he changed it to *dahabshiil*, "gold fryer", and it became the name of all his businesses ([Samatar 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)).

At first the whole staff was family: his wife Fadumo Kahin, his eldest son Abdirashid, and his young cousin Abdirahman, whom he taught bookkeeping ([Samatar 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)).

## Starting money transfers, 1988

In 1987 and 1988 war reached Burao. His warehouses were lost and he crossed into Ethiopia with almost nothing ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Duale)). In August 1988 he reached Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/). Many Somalis abroad wanted to send money to relatives in the refugee camps. He took their money in Dubai, changed it through Djibouti into Ethiopian birr, and carried it to the families himself ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Duale); [Samatar 2021](https://macalester.edu/international-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/569/2017/10/Samatar_The-Making-of-Dahabshiil-A-Brief-Interview.pdf)). This was the start of the transfer business.

## Dahabshiil today

The company says it has been in the money transfer business for over 50 years and sends money to more than 100 countries ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)). His son [Abdirashid Duale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Duale) is its chief executive. Money sent home is one of the biggest sources of income for Somali families. See [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) and [hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).

## In short

Founder of Dahabshiil, a money transfer company that operates across the region.


---

# Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (about 1856–1920) was a Somali religious scholar, poet and leader. He began teaching at Berbera in 1895 and led the Dervish resistance against Britain, Italy and Ethiopia for over twenty years. Many Somalis remember him as a national hero and a leading poet, while others hold different memories of him.

## Who was he?

Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan was a scholar of Islam, a poet and the leader of the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/). From 1899 to 1920 he led resistance against three empires at once: Britain, Italy and Ethiopia. Calankii counts its 131 years from 1895, the year he began teaching in Berbera.

Most of what was written about him in his lifetime came from his opponents. This page sets their records beside the Somali record: his own letters, and the history and poems collected from his companions by [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) [Jaamac Cumar Ciise](/en/people/jama-omar-issa/) ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise, *Diiwaanka Gabayadii Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan*, Muqdisho, 1974](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)).

## His life, place by place

- **Sacmadeeqo, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), 1856.** Jaamac Cumar Ciise records that he was born in 1856, in a spring of good rains called "Gobaysane", at the pool of Sacmadeeqo, about seven miles north of [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. viii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)).
- **Home and the Nugaal schools.** He learned the Quran at home, then studied with a community of scholars in the Nugaal, centred on the valleys of Casuura and Yaaheel (same source).
- **Mecca and Medina, about 1892 to 1895.** He travelled with thirteen fellow scholars and stayed more than two years (same source). The British War Office records that he joined the Salihiyya Sufi order there ([War Office, *Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04*, 1907, p. 48](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **Berbera, 1895.** He landed at Berbera and began teaching. The British record says he preached there before moving inland ([War Office 1907, p. 49](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **Qoryaweyn and the interior, 1895 to 1899.** He set up the first Dervish centre at the well of Qoryaweyn, about 60 miles from Burao, and drew people from across the country ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. vii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)).
- **Burao, 1899.** In August 1899 the Dervishes entered Burao, about 5,000 strong by the British estimate ([War Office 1907, p. 49](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **Illig, 1905.** On the coast of today's [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) he signed a written peace treaty with Italy's envoy ([Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland*, 1923, pp. 156–159](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).
- **Taleh, 1913 to 1920.** He made Taleh, in today's [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) region, his capital. Masons from Yemen built it in stone, with thirteen forts inside one wall ([Jardine 1923, pp. 212–213](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).
- **Imi, 1920.** After Taleh fell in February 1920 he moved south-west to Guano Imi, near the head of the [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/), where he died ([Jardine 1923, p. 307](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)).

## Where the name "Mad Mullah" came from

British writers called him "the Mad Mullah". Jaamac Cumar Ciise records the Somali account of where the name began ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. viii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)).

When he landed at Berbera in 1895, a British port officer asked him to pay a landing tax. He answered: "Who took the tax from you when you landed here?" The interpreter told the officer, "He is a mad wadaad, leave him." The British name grew from that answer. Calankii uses his own name and title.

## In his own words

He wrote letters in Arabic to the British. Two survive in English translation in the book of a British official, Douglas Jardine.

On 1 September 1899 he wrote ([Jardine 1923, p. 43](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)):

> "You have oppressed our ancient religion without cause… If you want war, we accept it; but if you want peace, pay the fine."

In 1903, during the third British campaign, he wrote to "the English people" ([Jardine 1923, p. 122](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)):

> "We have fought for a year. I wish to rule my own country and protect my own religion… I have moved my camp, but I have not run away."

## His poems

The Sayid composed poems throughout the struggle. Jaamac Cumar Ciise's collection holds 120 of his poems from 1904 to 1920, and 16 related poems by others ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, foreword](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)). The poems cover every purpose of Somali verse: rousing, praise, insult, lament, boasting, warning and wisdom.

The historian [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) showed that these poems were how the Sayid built and held his movement, in a society that did not yet write its language ([Samatar, *Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism*, Cambridge University Press, 1982](https://catalogo.abie.es/Record/unav.b39731091)).

### A poem of mercy

The collection tells the story behind a short poem, a *jiifto* ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, pp. 213–214](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)). In a dry season at the Dervish camp at Qudhmis, a poor man's wife gave birth. He tied up a young camel that was about to calve, to slaughter it for her.

The Sayid heard the camel's cries and came out with a Quran in his hand. He cut the rope and freed the camel. Then he gave the man enough livestock to live on and to care for his wife. The poem opens:

> *Guulle Eebbahayow, geel nimaan dhaqin,*
> *faciis gacanta haw gelin.*

In English, as a working translation: "O Lord who grants victory, into the hand of a man who does not tend camels, do not put their young." The poem goes on to praise the camel as the noblest of livestock.

## How the poems were saved

Jaamac Cumar Ciise writes that after the Dervishes were defeated, the colonial government tried to wipe out their memory, and burned the books, letters and poems it found ([Jaamac Cumar Ciise 1974, p. xii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)).

In 1955 Jaamac set out to collect what survived. He sold five camels to pay for the search, and studied the Salihiyya order so that the old Dervishes would trust him (same source, p. xiii). Between 1954 and 1974 he recorded the poems from about 25 named former Dervishes, most of them born and raised at the Dervish centre. He met them in Buuhoodle, Laascaanood, Taleex, [Qardho](/en/regions/bari/), Iskushuban, Hargeysa and Muqdisho (same source, p. xiv).

From 4 January 1972 he dictated the poems, some of them first written in Arabic script, to Axmed Faarax Cali "Idaajaa", who wrote them down in the new Somali script. The work took two years and four months. The Ministry of Culture and Higher Education published the collection in Muqdisho in 1974 (same source, p. xiv).

## Sources differ

- **His birth.** Jaamac Cumar Ciise gives 1856 ([1974, p. viii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)). The British War Office described him only as "in the prime of life" in 1900 ([War Office 1907, p. 48](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).
- **His death.** Jardine gives 23 November 1920, "probably" of influenza ([Jardine 1923, p. 307](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Jaamac Cumar Ciise gives 1921, at Imey on the upper [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([1974, p. xii](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan)). The Library of Congress also gives 1921 ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/10.htm)).
- **His years in Mecca.** Jaamac Cumar Ciise gives one journey of more than two years from about 1892. The War Office says he made "several pilgrimages" ([War Office 1907, p. 48](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)).

## How he is remembered

Even his opponents saw what he meant to Somalis. Jardine, a British official who served against him, wrote that "in the hearts of his fellow countrymen… he will live for ever as a national hero" ([Jardine 1923, p. 308](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). The historian Robert Hess called him "a forerunner of modern Somali nationalism" ([Hess, *Journal of African History*, 1964](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029)).

Somalis also hold different memories of him. Hess records that many opposed him on religious grounds while sympathising with resistance, and the British records show Somalis fighting on both sides ([Hess 1964](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/mad-mullah-and-northern-somalia/64A47DB9294A878A7FC8A0AA00589029); [War Office 1907](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog)). Jaamac Cumar Ciise writes that the Somalis "split in two" in those years.

## In short

Leader of the Dervish movement from 1899 to 1920 and a poet. His poems are widely quoted in Somali.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Jaamac Cumar Ciise, *Diiwaanka Gabayadii Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan*, Muqdisho, 1974, in Somali: [full text](https://archive.org/details/diiwaanka-gabayadii-sayid-maxamad-cabdulle-xasan).
- Douglas Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)*, 1923, with his letters and the 1905 treaty: [full text](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland).
- War Office, *Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04*, 1907: [volume 1](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory02stafgoog), [volume 2](https://archive.org/details/officialhistory03stafgoog).


---

# Sheikh Uways al-Barawi (Sheekh Uweys)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/uways-al-barawi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Uways al-Barawi (1847–1909) was a Somali scholar from Baraawe who led the Qadiriyya Sufi order in southern Somalia and spread it across East Africa. He founded the farming settlement of Biyooley, wrote poems in Arabic and Somali, and was killed in 1909. His tomb is a place of pilgrimage.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Uways bin Muhammad al-Barawi was a Somali scholar of Islam. He led the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) Sufi order in southern Somalia and spread its teaching inland and across East Africa ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Sheikh Awes Muhammad Barawi"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His branch of the order is called the Uwaysiyya after him ([Wikipedia, Uways al-Barawi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

## Early life

He was born in 1847 in Baraawe ([Brava](/en/regions/barawa/)), on the Benadir coast. His father, al-Hajj Muhammad bin Bashiir, was a local religious teacher ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). Wikipedia records his family as Tunni, of the Rahanweyn (same source). Castagno's dictionary describes his family as freed people linked to the Tunni confederation ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

He studied the Quran, its meaning, grammar, law and Sufism with a local teacher, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) al-Shashi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

## Baghdad and the return home

Around 1870 his teacher took him to Baghdad, the home of the Qadiriyya order. He studied there with Sayyid Mustafa bin Salman al-Jilani, and made the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). Castagno places his studies in Baghdad between about 1870 and 1880 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

He came home to Baraawe in 1883. On the way he passed through the Hejaz, Yemen and the north of Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). In Baraawe he was recognised as head of the local Qadiriyya ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Teaching across East Africa

He sent teachers inland and down the coast. Castagno credits him with much of the spread of the Qadiriyya in the Somali interior ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia records his influence from the islands around Zanzibar as far west as eastern Congo and as far south as Tanganyika. He had close ties with the Sultan of Zanzibar ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

Scott Reese records a Mogadishu story about his visit there. He stayed at the house of Imam Mahmud of the Abgaal. Two rival groups in the town, from Hamarweyne and Shangaani, came to him at the Friday mosque and gave up a harmful custom they had kept for years (as quoted in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

He moved inland and founded Beled al-Amin, "the town of peace", which grew into a farming settlement. The historian [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) wrote that "nomad and farmer flocked to his community" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

## Poems

He wrote religious poems in Arabic and translated hymns from Arabic into Somali ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Some are in the collection *Majmu'a Qasa'id fi Madh Sayyid al-Anbiya*, poems in praise of the Prophet ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

## His death

He disagreed sharply with [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/), of the rival Salihiyya order, and the two exchanged poems ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). In 1909 he was killed by [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His tomb at Biyooley (Biolay), about 150 miles north of Baraawe, is a place of pilgrimage (same source).

## In short

A Qadiriyya scholar from Barawa who founded the Uwaysiyya branch, which still has followers in Somalia and East Africa.


---

# Salaad Gabeyre Kediye

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/salaad-gabeyre-kediye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> General Salaad Gabeyre Kediye (1933–1972) was a Somali army officer and one of the leaders of the military takeover of 21 October 1969, often called 'the father of the revolution'. He served on the Supreme Revolutionary Council and as a minister. In May 1971 he was arrested with Vice-President Mohamed Ainanshe and charged with plotting against the government; both were tried and publicly executed in Mogadishu on 3 July 1972.

## Who was he?

Salaad Gabeyre Kediye was born in 1933 in [Harardhere](/en/regions/harardhere/), in present-day [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), trained at the Frunze military academy in Moscow and served in the army from 1956 ([Wikipedia, Salaad Gabeyre Kediye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaad_Gabeyre_Kediye)). He received the Medal of Valour in 1964 and was the son-in-law of President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) (same source).

## The 1969 takeover

On 15 October 1969 President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) was killed by a bodyguard. On 21 October army units seized key points in Mogadishu and detained the government; the police co-operated ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)). Wikipedia records that Kediye was among the officers who led the takeover, was known as "the father of the revolution", and served on the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), which Major General [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) soon headed. He became defence minister in 1970 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaad_Gabeyre_Kediye)). The wider story is told in [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Arrest, trial and execution

Writing in 1972, the anthropologist I. M. Lewis recorded that General Mohamed Ainanshe, a vice-president, and General Salad Gavaire (Salaad Gabeyre) were arrested in May 1971 and charged with a plot "to kill the revolution". They were tried and publicly executed on 3 July 1972 ([I. M. Lewis, "The politics of the 1969 Somali coup", *Journal of Modern African Studies* 10:3, 1972](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-of-the-1969-somali-coup/5DD7B198F32DD414C643C0F2152C1CD8)). Wikipedia records that Colonel Abdulkadir Dheel was executed with them ([Wikipedia, Abdulkadir Dheel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Dheel)).

Lewis noted that the government itself arranged the funerals, a duty that by custom fell to the dead men's kin ([Lewis, 1972](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-of-the-1969-somali-coup/5DD7B198F32DD414C643C0F2152C1CD8)).

## Sources differ

- **Rank.** Sources give lieutenant colonel, brigadier general or general.
- **Date of death.** 3 July 1972 in most sources; one later source gives October 1972.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- I. M. Lewis, "The politics of the 1969 Somali coup", *Journal of Modern African Studies* 10:3 (1972): [Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-of-the-1969-somali-coup/5DD7B198F32DD414C643C0F2152C1CD8).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), Coup d'état: [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm).


---

# Abdullahi Ahmed Irro (Cabdullaahi Axmed Cirro)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdullahi-ahmed-irro/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdullahi Ahmed Irro (1937–2022) was a Somali army general and military teacher. Trained in Cairo and at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, he led the Somali assault that took Godey in the Ogaden war on 24–25 July 1977. He was arrested after the coup attempt of April 1978 did not succeed, later released, and in the 1980s taught strategy and helped found the National Academy for Strategy. He died in Virginia, USA, in January 2022.

## Who was he?

Abdullahi Ahmed Irro was an officer of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) from its first years and one of its main planners and teachers of strategy. This page records his public career from the sources.

## Early life and training

Wikipedia records that he was born on 7 June 1937 in Kismayo, of the Majeerteen (Harti, Darod), grew up mainly in Mogadishu, and trained as a teacher before independence. In 1961 he studied at the Egyptian Military College in Cairo and later at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, where he specialised in strategic planning and later earned a Soviet military doctorate ([Wikipedia, Abdullahi Ahmed Irro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Ahmed_Irro)).

## In the army, 1960s–1977

He joined the army after independence in 1960 and worked in its planning and operations directorates under commanders including [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) and [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/). By the 1970s he was a colonel and commanded the 60th Division (Wikipedia, citing Abdul Ahmed III's history of Somali military officers).

## Godey, July 1977

In the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), Colonel Irro led the 60th Division's assault on Godey (Gode), with Lieutenant Colonel Abdulkadir Koosaar as deputy. The town fell on 24–25 July 1977. Of about 2,350 men in the Ethiopian 5th Brigade, only about 500 withdrew ([Wikipedia, Battle of Godey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Godey), citing Fantahun Ayele, *The Ethiopian Army*, 2014, p. 104, and Tom Cooper, *Wings over Ogaden*, 2015, p. 25). Associated Press film of foreign journalists' visit to Godey on 27 July 1977 includes an interview with him (same source, citing the AP Archive). Siad Barre awarded him the Medal of Valor.

Ethiopia retook Godey in November 1980 (Wikipedia, Abdullahi Ahmed Irro).

## The 1978 coup attempt

After the defeat in the Ogaden, officers tried to overthrow [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) in April 1978. Wikipedia, citing the memoir of [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), records that Irro sent a coded message reporting that the attempt had not succeeded and was arrested hours later. He was tried by court martial and released a few years later; the court found no concrete evidence against him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Ahmed_Irro)). Several of those involved went on to form armed opposition movements; see [Armed movements, 1978 to 1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

## Teaching strategy, 1980s

In the 1980s he taught strategy at Somali military institutes, helped set up the National Academy for Strategy, and designed courses for senior officers, presidential advisers and legislators. Wikipedia records that he declined invitations to join the armed opposition, including the [SSDF](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/) (same source).

## Later life and death

After the civil war he lived in Virginia, USA. In 2009 he was among former senior Somali officers invited by the UN political office for Somalia to advise on rebuilding the security sector (Wikipedia, citing a [UNPOS](/en/relations/un/) press release of 31 July 2009). He died on 24 January 2022 at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, aged 84 (Wikipedia, citing *The Washington Post*, 9 March 2022).

## Sources differ

- **Forces at Godey.** The Battle of Godey article's summary box gives 3,000–5,000 Somali troops and speaks of "two Ethiopian divisions destroyed", while its text describes one Ethiopian brigade.
- **Where he lived.** Wikipedia places him in Vienna, Virginia, in one section and Falls Church in another.
- **Accounts of his career.** Most details come from Somali officers' accounts and the memoir of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, as cited by Wikipedia.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Wikipedia, "Battle of Godey", with its references to Ayele and Cooper: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Godey).
- Wikipedia, "Abdullahi Ahmed Irro", with its references: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Ahmed_Irro).


---

# Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro (Cabdiraxmaan Cirro)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Irro (born 1956), is a former Somali diplomat who has been President of Somaliland since 12 December 2024. He was long the speaker of Somaliland's House of Representatives and led the Waddani party. In his term, on 26 December 2025, Israel became the first country to recognise Somaliland.

## Who is he?

Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Irro, has been President of Somaliland since 12 December 2024. He is its sixth President ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)).

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Early career

He was born on 24 April 1956 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)). He first worked for the Settlement Development Agency in several parts of Somalia. From 1981 he served in the foreign service of the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), including as first consul at the embassy in Moscow (same source). In 1991 he was named Somalia's acting ambassador to the Soviet Union, and helped Somalis abroad after the war began (same source).

## Life in Finland

In 1995 he moved to Finland to join his family, and later became a Finnish citizen ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Speaker of parliament

In 2005 he was elected to Somaliland's House of Representatives for [Sahil](/en/regions/sahil/), for the [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) party ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)). He served as speaker for most of that first elected parliament. He later led the Waddani party. In the 2017 presidential vote he came second, with 41% to 55% for Muse Bihi Abdi (same source).

## President, from 2024

In the vote of 13 November 2024 he won 63.92% against 34.81% for the sitting President, [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) ([The New Arab, November 2024](https://www.newarab.com/news/somaliland-opposition-leader-wins-presidential-election)). Somaliland's Constitutional Court found the vote free and fair, and he was sworn in on 12 December 2024 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)).

On 26 December 2025 Israel became the first country to recognise Somaliland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)). In January 2026 he hosted Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, in Hargeisa, and at the World Economic Forum in Davos he met Israel's President, Isaac Herzog. He has written to the leaders of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia asking them to recognise Somaliland, and has offered the port of Berbera to investors as a trade hub (all from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)). The federal government in Mogadishu and the African Union continue to regard Somaliland as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

This page records his public role only. It is updated as events change.


---

# Abdirashid Ali Shermarke (Cabdirashiid Cali Sharmaarke)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirashid Ali Shermarke (1919–1969) was the first Prime Minister of the Somali Republic, from 1960 to 1964, and its second President, from 1967 until he was killed in Laascaanood on 15 October 1969. Born in Xarardheere, he studied political science in Rome and was a leader of the Somali Youth League.

## Who was he?

Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was the first Prime Minister of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/), from 12 July 1960 to 14 June 1964. He was its second President, from 6 July 1967 until his death on 15 October 1969 ([Wikipedia, Abdirashid Shermarke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)).

## Early life and study

He was born in 1919 at [Xarardheere](/en/regions/harardhere/) (Harardhere) in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Abdirashid Ali Shermarke"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He came from a chiefly family of Hobyo (Obbia) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia records that his father's family was Majeerteen (Darood) and his mother's Habar Gidir (Hawiye), and that his mother raised him in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)).

He went to Quranic school, then moved to Mogadishu in 1932 and entered elementary school. He worked as a clerk in the Italian administration and then under the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He joined the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) in 1943, the year it was founded ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)).

During the trusteeship he studied at the School of Politics and Administration and the Higher Institute of Law and Economics in Mogadishu. He then went to the University of Rome and graduated with honours in political science in 1958 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Prime Minister, 1960 to 1964

He joined the Youth League's central committee in 1950. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1959, his first political post ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). When the Somali Republic was formed on 1 July 1960, President Aden Abdulle Osman named him Prime Minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)). He travelled widely and followed a non-aligned foreign policy.

## President, 1967 to 1969

In 1967 parliament elected him President over [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), who handed over peacefully. He was sworn in on 6 July 1967 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)). He was known as a strong voice for Somalis living outside the Republic. As President he moved towards peaceful relations with neighbouring countries ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His Prime Minister was [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/).

## His death

On 15 October 1969, on an official visit to Laascaanood, he was shot by one of his own bodyguards ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Six days later, on 21 October 1969, the army took power without a fight ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)). Historians still debate the motive. One study looks at personal, Cold War and political explanations ([Ingiriis, "Who Assassinated the Somali President in October 1969?", *African Security* 10:2, 2017](https://doi.org/10.1080/19392206.2017.1305861)).

## In short

A Somali Youth League leader who served as Prime Minister from 1960 to 1964 and President from 1967 to 1969. His son, [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/), later also served as Prime Minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Shermarke)).


---

# Abdullahi Issa Mohamud (Cabdullaahi Ciise Maxamuud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdullahi-issa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdullahi Issa Mohamud (1921–1988) was the first Somali head of government. He led the government of the trust territory of Somalia from 1956 to 1960. Before that he was secretary-general of the Somali Youth League and argued for Somali independence at the United Nations.

## Who was he?

Abdullahi Issa Mohamud was the first Somali to lead a Somali government. He was Prime Minister of the trust territory of Somalia, under Italian administration and UN oversight, from 1956 to 1960 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Abdullahi Issa Mohamud"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Before that he was the main voice of the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) to the world.

## Early life

Sources differ on where he was born. Wikipedia says he was born in 1921 in [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([Wikipedia, Abdullahi Issa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Issa)). Castagno's dictionary says he was born in 1922 in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His nickname was "Bidaar".

He went to a Quranic school and a primary school in Mogadishu. At sixteen he moved to Marka and worked as a postal clerk from 1939 to 1941 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Issa)). He then worked in the Department of Economic Affairs in Mogadishu, and after 1941 went into business ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## The voice of the Youth League

He joined the Somali Youth League in its early years. He was its secretary-general from 1947 to 1954 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He spoke for the League before the Four-Power Commission that visited in 1948, and then at the United Nations in the late 1940s and early 1950s ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). From 1950 to 1954 he represented the League at the UN Trusteeship Council ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Issa)).

This work mattered. The UN decided in 1949 that Italian rule would last only ten years, ending in independence in 1960. See [UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## Prime Minister, 1956 to 1960

After the 1956 elections, he was asked to form the first Somali government in the territory ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Issa)). He was confirmed again after the 1959 elections. At times he also held the foreign affairs, interior and justice posts (same source). His government prepared the handover to full independence on 1 July 1960.

## After independence

In the governments after 1960 he served as Foreign Minister and took part in UN and African meetings ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Issa)). In 1964 he was elected to the National Assembly for Beledweyne (same source).

After the army took power in October 1969, he was held in detention until 1973 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In 1974 the new government named him ambassador to Sweden. He held that post until early 1983 and then retired ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Issa)).

He spent his last years in Rome and died there in March 1988. He was brought home to Mogadishu for burial (same source).

## In short

The first Somali head of government, Prime Minister of the trust territory from 1956 to 1960.


---

# Asha Haji Elmi (Caasha Xaaji Cilmi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Asha Haji Elmi (born 1962) is a Somali peace builder and former member of parliament. She co-founded Save Somali Women and Children in 1992 and the Sixth Clan, a women's group, at the Arta peace talks in 2000, the first time women had a seat in a Somali peace process. She won the Right Livelihood Award in 2008.

## Who is she?

Asha Haji Elmi is a Somali peace builder and politician. She made sure Somali women had a place at the peace table after 1991 ([Right Livelihood, Asha Hagi Elmi](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). She served in the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) from 2004 and was selected to the Federal Parliament in August 2012 ([Wikipedia, Asha Haji Elmi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Haji_Elmi)).

## Early life and study

She was born in 1962 in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). She studied economics at the Somali National University and later earned an MBA from the United States International University in Africa ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)).

## Save Somali Women and Children, 1992

In 1992, the year after the civil war began, she co-founded Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC). She had seen that women and children suffered most in the fighting ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). SSWC handed out food and hygiene kits in Mogadishu during the conflict, and works against violence, poverty and the sidelining of women (same source).

## The Sixth Clan, 2000

Somali peace talks were built around the clans, and the delegates were men. At the Arta peace conference in Djibouti in 2000, she and other women founded the "Sixth Clan", a clan of women to sit beside the traditional clan groups ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). It was the first time women were represented in a Somali peace process (same source).

## At the peace table

She took part in the Mbagathi talks in Kenya from 2002 to 2004, which set up the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). In 2004 she was the first Somali woman to sign a peace agreement, on behalf of civil society ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). She was part of the Djibouti talks in 2008 and 2009 (same source).

Right Livelihood credits her work with these gains for women:
- a 12% quota for women in the Transitional Federal Parliament
- gender-inclusive language in the transitional charter
- a Ministry for Gender and Family Affairs

(all from [Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)).

She is also known for speaking against female genital cutting in Somalia and abroad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Haji_Elmi)).

## Awards

In 2008 she received the Right Livelihood Award "for continuing to lead at great personal risk the female participation in the peace and reconciliation process" ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). In 2009 she received a Clinton Global Citizen Award ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Haji_Elmi)).

In her words: "Women are no longer passive observers, but instead active participants" ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)).

## In short

Founder of Save Somali Women and Children and of the women's 'Sixth Clan' at the Arta conference in 2000.


---

# Hasan Adan Samatar (Xasan Aadan Samatar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hasan Adan Samatar (born 1953 in Diinsoor) is a Somali singer, guitarist and stage actor. He won the national Heesaha Hirgalay contest in 1971, joined the Waaberi ensemble, and has recorded more than 200 songs, including early songs in Maay.

## Who is he?

Hasan Adan Samatar is one of the best-known Somali singers. He is also a guitarist and a stage actor ([Wikipedia, Hasan Adan Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)). He has more than 200 songs and has sung duets with many leading artists (same source).

## Early life in Bay

He was born on 23 May 1953 in Diinsoor, in the Bay region, to a family of artists. He grew up in Baidoa and went to primary school there, then moved to Mogadishu for secondary school ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)).

He has said his love of performing began in Diinsoor:

> "As a young boy growing up in Diinsoor, I used to go to the town centre to watch dances and celebrations by townsfolk. These were mesmerizing and I think because of seeing all of that I always wanted to sing and perform." ([Hiiraan Online, August 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2010/Aug/samatar_gets_lifetime_achievement_award.aspx), as quoted in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar))

## Rise to fame

After high school he planned to study at a university in Italy. Friends talked him into entering the 1971 *Heesaha Hirgalay*, a national talent contest. He won it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)). [Soon](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/) after, he joined Waaberi, the leading Somali music and theatre ensemble of the time (same source). His first widely known song was "Haddaad diido hadalkayga" in 1974 (same source).

Many of his early songs were in [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/), the language of much of the south, as well as standard Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)). This made him a voice for listeners in Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) as well as the whole country.

## Songs and stage

He has acted in more than two dozen plays, from dramas about society to romances ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)). Some of his best-known songs are:
- "Baladweyn", words by [Hadraawi](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- "Qalanjo", words by Hadraawi
- "Dookh" and "Caashaqa ha baayicin", duets with [Magool](/en/society/somali-music/)
- "Darmaan", a duet with Saado Cali
- "Hakaba banaanshee" and "Iyooyow iyooyow", sung in Maay, words by Sahal Macallin Ciise

(all from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)). See also [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/) and [Saado Ali Warsame](/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/).

## Abroad

He left Somalia in the late 1980s and lived between [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) and Amsterdam while still touring. He settled in Djibouti in 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)). On 14 August 2010, Somali community leaders in Minneapolis gave him a lifetime achievement award ([Hiiraan Online, August 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2010/Aug/samatar_gets_lifetime_achievement_award.aspx)).

He urges Somali parents abroad to teach their children Somali songs and poetry, so they can take pride in their traditions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)).

## In short

A singer who performed in Maay and in standard Somali, and who later lived and sang abroad.


---

# Mohamed Said Hersi 'Morgan' (Maxamed Siciid Xirsi Moorgan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> General Mohamed Said Hersi 'Morgan' (1949–2025) was an army officer and son-in-law of Siad Barre. He commanded forces in the north-west in 1986–88, was the last defence minister of the central government (1990–91), and after 1991 led militia forces in the Juba valley that held Kismayo from 1993 to 1999. He later took part in peace talks and was a security adviser to Puntland's president. Many in Somaliland hold him responsible for the 1988 bombing of Hargeisa.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Said Hersi, known as "Morgan", was born on 1 January 1949 in [Qardho](/en/regions/bari/) district, in present-day Bari. He trained in the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1970 and married a daughter of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([Wikipedia, Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan)). [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) News reported that he also trained in the US and Italy and became commander of the Red Berets, the presidential guard, in 1982 ([Goobjoog News, 29 May 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/gen-hirsi-morgan-once-dubbed-the-butcher-of-hargeisa-dies-in-nairobi)). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Commander in the north, 1986–1988

From 1986 to 1988 he commanded the army's 26th Sector in the north-west, where the army was fighting the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan)). Wikipedia records a confidential report to the president from this period, known as the "Letter of Death", which proposed harsh measures against the Isaaq; it cites the scholarly works that describe it (same source).

When the SNM attacked Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in May 1988, the army retook the cities with heavy bombing. Goobjoog wrote that he "oversaw bombing and mass civilian killings in Hargeisa" and that this earned him the name "Butcher of Hargeisa" in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/gen-hirsi-morgan-once-dubbed-the-butcher-of-hargeisa-dies-in-nairobi)).

## Last defence minister, 1990–1991

From 9 September 1990 to 26 January 1991 he was minister of defence and chief of the defence forces, the last to hold the post before the central government fell ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan)). The army of this period is described in [The Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

## Kismayo and the Juba valley, 1991–2005

After January 1991 he moved south. Reports at the time described him as a commander of the Harti wing of the [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/) and as allied with the [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/) ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 1995](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149)). He signed the UN-sponsored Addis Ababa agreements of January and March 1993 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan)).

- **December 1993.** His forces took Kismayo as Belgian UN troops prepared to leave.
- **18 June 1994.** He signed a peace agreement for the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley, which his rival Colonel [Ahmed Omar Jess](/en/people/ahmed-omar-jess/) did not sign ([IRB Canada](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149)).
- **1999.** The [Juba Valley Alliance](/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/) took Kismayo from his forces.
- **2001–2004.** Further attempts to retake Kismayo, at times with Ethiopian backing according to a UN Security Council letter of 2003.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan), unless stated)

## Later life

He took part in the Kenya peace talks of 2002–2004 that led to the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). In 2016 he sought a parliamentary seat but withdrew under international pressure, and in later years he was a security adviser to [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s president, [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/gen-hirsi-morgan-once-dubbed-the-butcher-of-hargeisa-dies-in-nairobi); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan)).

He died in a hospital in Nairobi on 28 May 2025, aged 76. Puntland held a state funeral in Garowe. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) said he had "played a vital role in defending the country" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Said_Hersi_Morgan); [allAfrica, 29 May 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202505290326.html)).

## Sources differ

- **Training.** Soviet Union (Wikipedia) or the US and Italy (Goobjoog).
- **His 1990s faction.** Described in different reports as SPM, SNF-aligned or independent.
- **His legacy.** Puntland and the federal prime minister honoured him at his death; in Somaliland he is remembered for 1988.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, "Information on the Somali National Front (SNF) since 1994" (1995): [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*, Somalia: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm).


---

# Nuruddin Farah: the Somali novelist who won the Neustadt Prize

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nuruddin-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nuruddin Farah, born in Baidoa on 24 November 1945, is the best-known Somali novelist writing in English. His first novel, From a Crooked Rib (1970), told the story of a young woman fleeing a forced marriage. He wrote three trilogies about Somalia from abroad, spent 22 years in exile from 1974, and won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998.

## Early life

Nuruddin Farah was born on 24 November 1945 in Baidoa, in the south of Somalia, then under Italian rule. His mother was a traditional storyteller. His father was a merchant who later worked as an interpreter for the British ([World Literature Today, 1998 Neustadt laureate](https://worldliteraturetoday.org/neustadt-prize/1998-neustadt-prize-laureate-nuruddin-farah)).

He grew up speaking Somali, Amharic, English, Italian and Arabic, and chose English for his novels (World Literature Today). He studied at Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, graduating in 1970. He later studied theatre in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and at the University of Essex ([Encyclopedia.com, Contemporary Black Biography](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/farah-nuruddin-1945)).

## First novels and exile

His first novel, ***From a Crooked Rib*** (1970), follows a young nomad woman who runs away from a marriage to a much older man. The book earned him praise as a "male feminist" (World Literature Today).

In 1974 he left for England on a UNESCO fellowship. This began 22 years away from Somalia (Encyclopedia.com). His second novel, ***[A Naked Needle](/en/books/a-naked-needle-farah/)*** (1976), angered the military government, and he received death threats. He did not go back to live in Somalia (World Literature Today).

## The three trilogies

Farah is best known for writing Somalia's story in sets of three novels.

| Trilogy | Novels |
|---|---|
| Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship | *Sweet and Sour Milk* (1979), *Sardines* (1981), *Close Sesame* (1983) |
| Blood in the Sun | *Maps* (1986), *Gifts* (1992), *Secrets* (1998) |
| Past Imperfect | *Links* (2004), *Knots* (2007), *Crossbones* (2011) |

The first two trilogies portray life under one-man rule and the search for identity. The third follows Somalis who return to Mogadishu after 1991 (Encyclopedia.com; Penguin Random House). Sources differ by a year on some dates: Leiden gives *Close Sesame* as 1982, *Gifts* as 1990 and *Links* as 2005.

Trilogy names and the first six dates come from Encyclopedia.com. The third trilogy comes from its publisher ([Penguin Random House, Past Imperfect trilogy](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/DX4/past-imperfect-trilogy/)). Later novels include *Hiding in Plain Sight* (2014) and *North of Dawn* (2018) ([African Studies Centre Leiden, Library Weekly](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/nuruddin-farah)).

## Prizes

- **1991:** Tucholsky Prize, Stockholm, for writers in exile.
- **1993:** Best Novel award in Zimbabwe for *Gifts*.
- **1998:** Neustadt International Prize for Literature, one of the world's top literary awards.
- Other awards came in France, Italy and Britain for translations and for *[Sweet and Sour Milk](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/)* (Encyclopedia.com).

Leiden also lists the Lettre Ulysses Award, Berlin ([African Studies Centre Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/nuruddin-farah)). He has lived and taught in many countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Nigeria and South Africa (African Studies Centre Leiden).

## In short

A novelist writing in English whose books cover women's lives, power and Somalis who left and returned. For the Somali-language tradition of poetry, see [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/) and [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/).

## Sources

- World Literature Today. [1998 Neustadt Prize Laureate Nuruddin Farah](https://worldliteraturetoday.org/neustadt-prize/1998-neustadt-prize-laureate-nuruddin-farah).
- Encyclopedia.com. [Farah, Nuruddin 1945–](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/farah-nuruddin-1945).
- Penguin Random House. [Past Imperfect trilogy](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/DX4/past-imperfect-trilogy/).
- African Studies Centre Leiden. [Library Weekly: Nuruddin Farah](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/nuruddin-farah).


---

# Timacadde (Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/timacadde/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed, known as Timacadde (about 1920–1973), was a Somali poet from near Gabiley. He is best known for the poem he recited at independence in 1960, with its line about taking down the colonial flag and raising the Somali one. His poems spoke against clan division and for one nation.

## Who was he?

Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed, known as Timacadde, was described by Wikipedia as one of the leading Somali poets of his day ([Wikipedia, Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Suldaan_Mohammed_Timacade)). Geeska describes his best known line as still a slogan of Somali nationhood ([Geeska, Mahbub M. Abdillahi, 9 April 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalis-are-losing-access-their-poetic-heritage)).

## Early life

He was born in about 1920 in the small town of Galooley, near Gabiley, in what was then [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Suldaan_Mohammed_Timacade)). He went to the local Quranic school. His parents died when he was very young (same source).

He began to compose and recite poems in his early teens, before he could read or write. In 1936 he moved to Harar, where he worked in an uncle's restaurant. He spent time in Ethiopia and Djibouti in the 1940s and 1950s, then came home to Gabiley and joined the movement for independence ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Suldaan_Mohammed_Timacade)).

## The flag poem

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) became independent from Britain on 26 June 1960, and joined the south five days later to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). Timacadde marked the day with a poem of joy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Suldaan_Mohammed_Timacade)).

Its best-known line is "Kaana siib, kana saar", "take down that one, raise this one". It speaks of lowering the colonial flag and raising the [Somali flag](/en/history/the-flag/) ([Geeska 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalis-are-losing-access-their-poetic-heritage)). Geeska writes that the line "has remained a slogan for Somali nationalism" and that the poem became a powerful symbol of the shared joy of that time (same source).

See also [independence and union, 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).

## Against clan division

In the mid-1960s he joined the Somali Democratic Union and became its main poet. His poems kept speaking against clan division ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Suldaan_Mohammed_Timacade)). He refused to vote in the 1967 elections and welcomed the change of government in October 1969 (same source).

## Last years

In his early fifties he fell ill with a throat disease and was treated at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi. He died on 6 February 1973 at Kalabaydh and was buried in Gabiley ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Suldaan_Mohammed_Timacade)).

## How he is remembered

Somali poets who followed, such as [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/), grew up with his verse. Geeska warns that Somalis are losing access to this poetic heritage ([Geeska 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalis-are-losing-access-their-poetic-heritage)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## In short

A poet who wrote the verse read when the flag was raised at independence.


---

# Waris Dirie (Waris Diiriye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/waris-dirie/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Waris Dirie (born 1965 near Gaalkacyo) is a Somali model, author and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM). She was a UN special ambassador against FGM from 1997 to 2003, wrote the bestselling autobiography Desert Flower (1998), and founded the Desert Flower Foundation in Vienna in 2002.

## Who is she?

Waris Dirie is a Somali model, writer and campaigner. She is best known for her fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM) ([Wikipedia, Waris Dirie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)). Her name, Waris, means "desert flower" (same source).

## Early life

She was born in 1965 into a herding family near [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), in the Mudug region, one of twelve children ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)). As a teenager she went to Mogadishu, and then to [London](/en/diaspora/london/) to work in the house of a relative who was a Somali diplomat there (same source).

## Modelling

In London she worked as a cleaner before starting to model. She went on to model for Chanel, Levi's, L'Oréal and Revlon. She was the first black woman to appear in an Oil of Olay advertisement, and had a small part in the 1987 James Bond film *The Living Daylights* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)).

## Speaking out, 1997

In 1997, at the height of her career, she spoke publicly for the first time, to *Marie Claire*, about the FGM she had undergone as a child ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)). That year she became a UN special ambassador against FGM, a role she held until 2003 (same source).

## Books and a film

With the writer Cathleen Miller she wrote *Desert Flower* (1998), her life story. It sold more than 11 million copies worldwide ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)). Later books include *Desert Dawn*, *Letter to My Mother* and *Desert Children*. A feature film, *Desert Flower*, came out in 2009 (same source).

## Her foundations

In 2002 she founded the Desert Flower Foundation in Vienna, which works to end FGM worldwide ([Desert Flower Foundation, Waris Dirie](https://desertflowerfoundation.org/en/waris-dirie.html)). She also set up the Desert Dawn Foundation to raise money for schools and clinics in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)).

France made her a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 2007 for this work (same source).

## In short

A model and author who campaigns against female genital cutting. See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).


---

# Ahmed Omar Jess (Axmed Cumar Jees)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-omar-jess/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess led one of the two wings of the Somali Patriotic Movement after 1991, drawing mainly on the Ogaden (Absame). Allied with General Mohamed Farrah Aidid, his forces held Kismayo from 1992 until 22 February 1993, when a militia aligned with General Mohamed Said Hersi 'Morgan' took the city. His wing joined Aidid's Somali National Alliance in 1992 and had largely stopped operating by 1994. Reports from the time record killings in Kismayo in 1992 attributed to forces aligned with him.

## In short

Ahmed Omar Jess was an army colonel who led the Absame (Ogaden) wing of the [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/) (SPM) in the fighting for Kismayo after 1991. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## The SPM and the split

Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that he played a key part in leading the SPM against the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), and after its fall led one of the two wings into which the movement split; some reports say he did not found the group. The other wing was led by General Adan Abdullahi Gebiyu with General [Mohamed Said Hersi "Morgan"](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/) ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Somali Patriotic Movement](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/somali-patriotic-movement)). Wikipedia records that his wing joined General [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/)'s forces to form the [Somali National Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-national-alliance/) in 1992 ([Wikipedia, Somali National Alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Alliance)).

## Kismayo, 1992–1993

The *Christian Science Monitor* reported in April 1993 that Jess's Ogaden militia had run Kismayo from early 1992 until February 1993, and that he had demanded that relief agencies dismiss Harti staff. On 22 February 1993 a Harti militia aligned with Morgan took the city, and Morgan in turn called for the dismissal of Ogaden employees. Jess, camped near Kismayo, told the paper he was ready to fight to take it back ([Robert M. Press, *Christian Science Monitor*, 7 April 1993](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0407/07061.html)).

The same report quoted a Western diplomat describing "a brutal massacre of elite by the Ogadeni aligned with Jess" in December 1992; Harti leaders put the number killed at 749, a figure the paper did not verify (*Christian Science Monitor*). Both groups, the paper noted, are Darod sub-clans, related by marriage, and each claimed the earlier right to the city. The [UN intervention](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) was under way at the time.

## Later years

Mapping Militants records that his wing had largely stopped operating by 1994 and that the Jess-led forces had controlled territory around Kismayo (Mapping Militants). The wider story of the fronts is told in [Armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

## Sources differ

- **Founder or leader.** Some accounts call him the SPM's founder; Mapping Militants notes reports that he was not.
- **Killings in Kismayo, 1992.** The figures come from Harti leaders and a diplomat's account; they have not been independently established.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Robert M. Press, "Clan rivalries rend fabric of Somali city", *Christian Science Monitor* (1993): [article](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0407/07061.html).


---

# Omar Haji Mohamed 'Masale' (Cumar Xaaji Masalle)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-haji-masale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Major General Omar Haji Mohamed 'Masale' (1934–2014) served in the Somali army from 1961 to 1991, commanded armoured forces in the Ogaden war and was defence minister in 1981–82. After 1991 he led the Somali National Front, based in Gedo, from Nairobi. In 1996–97 the SNF fought al-Itihaad al-Islamiya for control of Gedo, and he signed the Sodere agreement of 1997. He died in Mogadishu in November 2014.

## In short

Omar Haji Mohamed, known as Masale, was a senior officer of the army of the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) and, after 1991, the leader of the [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/) (SNF). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Army career

Wikipedia records that he was born in 1934 in Beledweyne to a Marehan family, and worked as a language teacher before joining the army in 1961. He was one of the commanding officers in the 1977–78 [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), commanded the 2nd Armoured Brigade (later division), served as second deputy to the joint chiefs of staff and commanded forces in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/). He was defence minister in 1981–82, reached the rank of major general and received the Gold Medal for Bravery and Service ([Wikipedia, Omar Haji Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Haji_Mohamed), citing *[AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) Review*, Mukhtar's *Historical Dictionary of Somalia* and other works). The army of this period is described in [Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

## The Somali National Front

After the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) fell in 1991, he led the SNF, whose area ran from [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) towards Kismayo. He led its political wing from Nairobi, while General Mohammed Hashi Ghani led its armed wing from Luuq in Gedo. Wikipedia records that the SNF governed much of Gedo for most of the 1990s, backed a sharia court and police there, and took part in the peace conferences of that decade (Wikipedia).

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, citing *Africa Confidential*, recorded in December 1997 that:

- he belongs to the Marehan, the clan of the late President Siad Barre;
- the SNF fought [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) for control of Gedo;
- in January 1997 the SNF was among factions that received "several lorry loads" of arms from Ethiopia, which was reported to back efforts to drive al-Itihaad out of Gedo;
- he signed the Sodere agreement, which set up the [National Salvation Council](/en/institutions/rival-heads-of-somalia-1991-to-2012/)

([IRB, 8 December 1997, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/194859)).

## Death

Wikipedia records that he died in Mogadishu in November 2014, aged 80 (Wikipedia).

## Sources differ

- **Spelling.** Masale, Masalle or Massale; Wikipedia files him under Omar Haji Mohamed.
- **Other posts.** Wikipedia also mentions a period as health minister, without dates or a clear source.
- **Kismayo, 1999.** Wikipedia's account does not make clear which force took Kismayo that year.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM28333.E (1997): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/194859).


---

# Hussein Farrah Aidid (Xuseen Faarax Caydiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid (born 1962) is the son of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid. A former US Marine Corps reservist, he was declared leader of his father's Somali National Alliance after his father's death in August 1996. He signed the Cairo Declaration in December 1997, later served as deputy prime minister and interior minister in the Transitional Federal Government, and in 2007 broke with the government and moved to Asmara.

## In short

Hussein Farrah Aidid took over the armed movement of his father, [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/), in 1996, and later held senior posts in the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Early life and US service

Wikipedia records that he was born on 16 August 1962 in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region, moved to the United States at 17 and finished high school in Covina, California, in 1981. In April 1987 he joined the US Marine Corps Reserve as an artilleryman ([Wikipedia, Hussein Farrah Aidid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Mohamed_Farrah), citing the *Washington Post*). Between December 1992 and January 1993 he served as a Somali interpreter for the commander of the US-led [UNITAF](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) force (same source).

## Leader of the SNA, 1996–1997

His father died on 1 August 1996 after fighting in Mogadishu. Two days later the Somali National Alliance declared Hussein its leader and claimed the presidency for him, a claim no other state recognised ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Mohamed_Farrah), citing the Associated Press).

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, citing *Africa Confidential* of 13 December 1996, recorded that he blamed his father's former financier [Osman Ali Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) for his father's death, and that fighting between their militias caused "dozens of deaths". Both men belong to the Saad sub-clan of the Habar Gidir, Hawiye; Hussein to the Rer Jalaf lineage ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 12 December 1997, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858)).

In December 1996 forces of [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) attacked his positions in Mogadishu; Wikipedia records about 135 deaths in five days of fighting (Wikipedia).

## The Cairo Declaration and after

On 22 December 1997 he signed the Cairo Declaration with other faction leaders and gave up the presidential claim. On 30 March 1998 he signed a power-sharing deal with Ali Mahdi over Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Mohamed_Farrah), citing CNN and a UN Security Council press release). Wikipedia, citing a Somalia timeline, records that militias loyal to him killed about 60 civilians in Baidoa and Daynunay in February 1999 (same source). In 2001 he helped form the [Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council](/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/), which opposed the Transitional National Government (Wikipedia).

## In the Transitional Federal Government

He joined the Transitional Federal Government in 2004, became deputy prime minister and interior minister, and on 7 February 2007 was moved to public works and housing. He entered Mogadishu with government forces on 28 December 2006 (Wikipedia). In April 2007, in Asmara, he accused Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu of "genocide", a charge Ethiopia rejected, and he joined an alliance opposed to their presence. In May 2007 the government removed its deputy prime minister for being "inactive" ([Long War Journal, 12 May 2007](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/05/the_somali_government_dismisse.php); Wikipedia, citing SomaliNet). See [Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Sources differ

- **Leaving the government in 2007.** Some reports say he was dismissed; others say he resigned after disagreeing with President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/).
- **Place of birth.** Given as Mudug region or, more precisely, Galkayo.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, response SOM28291.E (1997): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858).


---

# Osman Ali Atto (Cismaan Cali Caato)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/osman-ali-atto/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Osman Ali Atto (about 1940–2013) was a businessman who financed and advised General Mohamed Farrah Aidid in the early 1990s. US forces held him from September 1993 to January 1994. He split from Aidid in 1995–96 and led his own armed faction in Mogadishu. He later sat in the Transitional Federal Government as a member of parliament and minister, and died in Mogadishu on 5 August 2013.

## In short

Osman Ali Atto was the main financier of [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/)'s movement and then one of its main rivals in Mogadishu. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Aidid's financier

Wikipedia records that in the early 1990s he was a leading figure in the khat trade and Aidid's second in command, principal adviser and financier. In December 1992, at his urging, Aidid at first welcomed the US-led UNITAF force ([Wikipedia, Osman Ali Atto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Ali_Atto), citing John Drysdale, 1994). He belongs to the Rer Hilowle lineage of the Saad, Habar Gidir, Hawiye ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 12 December 1997, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858), citing *Africa Confidential*).

## Capture, 1993

On 21 September 1993, during the [UN intervention](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/), US [Task Force Ranger](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/) captured him near Digfer hospital in Mogadishu. He was held until January 1994. On 9 July 1994 he signed the Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) peace agreement for the Somali National Alliance (Wikipedia, citing Scott Peterson, 2000).

## The split with Aidid, 1995–1996

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, citing *Africa Confidential*, recorded that he and Aidid fell out, reportedly over setting up sharia courts ([IRB, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858)). In April 1996 his 18-year-old son was shot during fighting between his forces and Aidid's (Wikipedia, citing the *Buffalo News*). When Aidid died in August 1996, the Associated Press reported that Aidid's faction held about half of south Mogadishu and "forces loyal to his former financier, Osman Hassan Ali, known as Atto" held the other half ([Spokesman-Review, AP, 2 August 1996](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/aug/02/somalia-faction-leader-aidid-dies-he-was-the/)). Aidid's son [Hussein Farrah Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/) blamed Atto for his father's death (IRB).

## In the Transitional Federal Government

He became a member of parliament in the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) and resigned as minister of public works and housing in July 2006 (Wikipedia, citing Al Jazeera). In June 2007 he accused Ethiopian forces of raiding his home; he was later kept under house arrest in Baidoa, and on 30 May 2008 insurgents briefly held him at a checkpoint at Lego (Wikipedia, citing Shabelle Media and [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)). He died of natural causes at his home in Mogadishu on 5 August 2013 (Wikipedia). See [Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Sources differ

- **Name.** He is called Osman Ali Atto and also Osman Hassan Ali.
- **Birth year.** Given as 1940 or 1945.
- **Aidid's death.** Aidid died after being wounded in fighting with Atto's militia; reports differ on the exact date and on whether a heart attack was the immediate cause.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, response SOM28291.E (1997): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858).
- Associated Press, "Somalia faction leader Aidid dies" (1996), via the *Spokesman-Review*: [article](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/aug/02/somalia-faction-leader-aidid-dies-he-was-the/).


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# Musa Sudi Yalahow (Muuse Suudi Yalaxow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Musa Sudi Yalahow is a Mogadishu faction leader and politician. He held parts of the capital in the 1990s and early 2000s, joined the Transitional Federal Parliament in 2004 and served as trade minister. In February 2006 he was a founder of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, which the Islamic Courts defeated that June. He placed his militia under the government in January 2007 and was elected to the Senate in 2021.

## In short

Musa Sudi Yalahow led one of the armed factions that held parts of Mogadishu after 1991, then moved into the transitional institutions and later the federal Senate. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Mogadishu factions, 1990s–2002

Wikipedia records that he was born in Mogadishu. In December 2001 his forces lost the Jazira airstrip after he split with his deputy, Mahmud Muhammad Finish; fighting between the two on 26 February 2002 killed at least 12 people ([Wikipedia, Musa Sudi Yalahow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Sudi_Yalahow), citing IRIN). See [the UN intervention and after](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) for the wider fighting in the capital.

## Transitional Federal Government

On 29 August 2004 he became one of the 275 members of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/), and he served as trade minister under Prime Minister [Ali Mohamed Gedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/). In October 2005, after the government moved to close privately run airstrips, he threatened to shoot down aircraft flying over Mogadishu (Wikipedia, citing BBC News).

## The 2006 alliance

In February 2006 he and other Mogadishu commanders, among them [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/), Omar Mohamoud Finish and Botan Issa, set up the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, based in Daynile, with the stated aim of fighting terrorism. Al Jazeera reported that fighting between its forces and Islamic courts militias that week killed at least 18 people ([Al Jazeera, 21 February 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/21/somali-leaders-take-on-extremists)). Wikipedia describes the alliance as US-backed and records that the Red Cross condemned his militia's occupation of the Keysaney hospital (Wikipedia, citing the *New York Times*, 31 May 2006).

In June 2006 the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) took Mogadishu. He withdrew to [Balad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), which the courts took days later, and the prime minister removed him from the cabinet (Wikipedia, citing Middle East Online).

## Return and later roles

He returned to Mogadishu on 6 January 2007, after Ethiopian and government forces entered the city. That month he and [Osman Ali Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) were reported as the first Mogadishu faction leaders to hand their militias to the government (Wikipedia, citing SomaliNet). In September 2021 he was elected to the Upper House of the [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) (Wikipedia, citing [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Media).

## Sources differ

- **Name.** Spelled Musa or Muse Sudi Yalahow.
- **Upper House.** Wikipedia's summary box dates his Senate service from 2016; its text records his election in 2021.
- **Who backed the 2006 alliance.** Reports said it had US support; the alliance described itself as a counter-terrorism body.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "Somali leaders take on extremists" (2006): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/21/somali-leaders-take-on-extremists).


---

# Mohamed Qanyare Afrah (Maxamed Qanyare Afrax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Qanyare Afrah (1941–2019) was a former police officer who co-founded the United Somali Congress in Rome in 1987 and later held the Daynile area of Mogadishu with his own militia. He was a minister in the Transitional National Government and security minister in the Transitional Federal Government from 2004. In 2006 he was a leader of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, which the Islamic Courts defeated. He died in 2019.

## In short

Mohamed Qanyare Afrah was a founder of the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/) and one of the main armed figures in Mogadishu from the 1990s to 2006. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Early career and the USC

Wikipedia records that he was born on 1 August 1941 in [Ceelbuur](/en/regions/galgaduud/), joined the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) after independence in 1960, and went into exile in Kenya in the 1970s. On 26 January 1987 he co-founded and financed the United Somali Congress in Rome ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Qanyare_Afrah)).

## Daynile

After 1991 he held the Daynile area of Mogadishu, with its airstrip, and took part in peace conferences in Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya between 1993 and 1999 (Wikipedia; this part of the article is largely uncited). He represented the Murusade clan in later parliaments (Wikipedia).

## The transitional governments

In February 2001 he joined the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) as fisheries minister (Wikipedia, citing IRIN). He stood for president in October 2004 and placed third, behind [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), and in December 2004 became security minister in the Transitional Federal Government; a [Geeska Afrika](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) report cited by Wikipedia put his militia at about 2,000 men (Wikipedia).

## The 2006 alliance

In February 2006 he was among the founders of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, headquartered in Daynile. Al Jazeera named him with [Musa Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/), Omar Mohamoud Finish, Botan Issa and Bashir Raghe Shirar, and reported at least 18 dead in fighting with Islamic courts militias that week ([Al Jazeera, 21 February 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/21/somali-leaders-take-on-extremists)). In June 2006 the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) drove his forces out of Daynile and he lost his cabinet post. He joined the government in Baidoa that July and returned to Mogadishu on 29 December 2006; in January 2007 he was among the first faction leaders to hand over his militia (Wikipedia, citing SomaliNet and the Associated Press).

## Later life

In 2013 he gave up his parliamentary seat, which passed to his son, and he lived for a time in Nairobi. He died on 29 June 2019, aged 81 (Wikipedia, citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)).

## Sources differ

- **End of his term as security minister.** 2006 (Wikipedia's text) or July 2008 (its summary box).
- **Place of death.** Given as Nairobi or Mogadishu.
- **Who backed the 2006 alliance.** Reports said it had US support; the alliance described itself as a counter-terrorism body.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "Somali leaders take on extremists" (2006): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/21/somali-leaders-take-on-extremists).


---

# Hassan Mohamed Nur 'Shatigadud' (Shaati Gaduud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Colonel Hassan Mohamed Nur 'Shatigadud' (1946–2013) was chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army from its founding in October 1995. The RRA took Baidoa in June 1999, and in April 2002 he became president of the South West State it declared. He joined the Transitional Federal Government in 2004 as a member of parliament and finance minister, was briefly national security minister in December 2007, and died in Germany in 2013.

## In short

Hassan Mohamed Nur, known as Shatigadud, led the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) of the Digil and Mirifle of Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Background

Wikipedia records that he was born in 1946 at Bakaar Yare, Wajid district, Bakool, and belongs to the Hariin of the Mirifle ([Wikipedia, Hasan Shatigadud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Muhammad_Nur_Shatigadud)). Accounts of the RRA's founding describe him as a colonel (Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army).

## The RRA, 1995–2002

After the Somali National Alliance of [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) took Baidoa on 17 September 1995, an assembly at Jhaffey, west of Baidoa, founded the RRA on 13 October 1995 and elected him chairman. The RRA took Huddur in October 1998 and Baidoa on 6 June 1999 ([Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)). Reports differ on Ethiopia's role in that capture; see the RRA page.

## South West State, 2002

On 1 April 2002 the RRA declared an autonomous South West State centred on Baidoa, with him as president (Wikipedia, citing IRIN). In July 2002 fighting broke out in Baidoa between forces loyal to him and forces of his former deputies, [Adan Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/) and [Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade](/en/people/mohamed-ibrahim-habsade/); BBC News reported at least 12 killed ([BBC News, 31 July 2002, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491)). The present member state is described in [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## In the federal government

In November 2004 he became a member of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/), and in January 2005 Prime Minister [Ali Mohamed Gedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/) named him finance minister. On 2 December 2007 Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein named him national security minister; the next day he and three other Rahanweyn ministers resigned (Wikipedia, citing Reuters). See [Rebuilding, 2007–2012](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/).

## Death

He died in Dortmund, Germany, in 2013, aged 66. His body was flown to Mogadishu and buried in Baidoa (Wikipedia, citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), 8 April 2013).

## Sources differ

- **Date of death.** Late March or 3 April 2013.
- **Date of birth.** Given as 17 June 1946 or only as 1946.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- BBC News, "Militiamen fight for Somali town" (31 July 2002): [ecoi.net record](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491).


---

# Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade (Maxamed Ibraahim Xabsade)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-ibrahim-habsade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade (1952–2015) was a former army officer who co-founded the Rahanweyn Resistance Army in late 1995 and became one of its two deputy chairmen. In 2002 he and Adan Madobe broke with the RRA chairman, Hassan Shatigadud, and their forces fought in Baidoa. He later held the land and air transport and agriculture posts in the Transitional Federal Government and sat in the federal parliament. He died in Mogadishu on 24 January 2015.

## In short

Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade was one of the founders of the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) (RRA), the armed movement of the Digil and Mirifle of Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Early life and army service

Wikipedia records that he was born on 10 November 1952 at Toosweyne, in Berdale district, Bay region, and that he served in the army under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), mainly in Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/). It identifies him with the Leysan of the Rahanweyn ([Wikipedia, Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ibrahim_Habsade)).

## Founding the RRA, 1995

After the forces of General [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) took Baidoa on 17 September 1995, local leaders who had been pushed out, among them Habsade, took up arms. He was among those who founded the RRA at Jhaffey, near Berdale, in late 1995 (Wikipedia). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) described him in 2015 as a co-founder of the movement, which "controlled southwestern regions" ([Garowe Online, 25 January 2015](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-federal-mp-dies-in-mogadishu)). He and [Adan Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/) were the two deputies of the chairman, [Hassan Mohamed Nur "Shatigadud"](/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/) ([Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)). The RRA took Baidoa in June 1999.

## The 2002 split

In April 2002 the RRA declared a South West State with Shatigadud as president. In July 2002 fighting broke out in Baidoa between forces loyal to Shatigadud and forces loyal to Habsade and Madobe; BBC News reported on 31 July 2002 that at least 12 people had been killed ([BBC News, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491)). The dispute was partly over whether to back the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) or its opponents (Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army). In May 2005 Habsade accused Madobe, by then a government minister, of attacking Baidoa on the government's behalf; 19 people were reported killed (Wikipedia, Adan Madobe, citing SABC News).

## In the federal government

He served as minister of land and air transport and as minister of agriculture in the Transitional Federal Government under President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Wikipedia, citing [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/), 3 December 2007; Garowe Online). He later sat in the federal parliament. He died in Mogadishu on 24 January 2015; relatives attributed his death to complications of diabetes and high blood pressure (Garowe Online). See [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## Sources differ

- **Date of birth.** Wikipedia gives 10 November 1952; other sources give no date.
- **The 2002 fighting.** Casualty figures come from press reports at the time, and differ between them.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Garowe Online, "Somalia: Federal MP dies in Mogadishu" (2015): [article](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-federal-mp-dies-in-mogadishu).
- BBC News, "Militiamen fight for Somali town" (31 July 2002): [ecoi.net record](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491).


---

# Fartuun Adan (Fartuun Cabdisalaan Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fartuun-adan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fartuun Adan (born 1969 in Mogadishu) is a Somali human rights defender. She leads the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, founded with her husband Elman Ali Ahmed in 1990, and co-founded Sister Somalia, the country's first rape crisis programme. With her daughter Ilwad Elman she won the Right Livelihood Award in 2022.

## Who is she?

Fartuun Adan is a Somali peace and human rights worker. She is executive director of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre in Mogadishu, and co-founder of Sister Somalia, the country's first rape crisis and support programme ([Wikipedia, Fartuun Adan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)).

## Early life and family

She was born in Mogadishu on 2 February 1969 ([Right Livelihood, 2022 laureates](https://rightlivelihood.org/2022-announcement/l1/)). She married [Elman Ali Ahmed](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/), a businessman and peace worker. He was known as the "Somali father of peace" and made popular the slogan "Drop the gun, pick up the pen" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)). He set up programmes to help young people, including former child soldiers and orphans, go back to school and earn a living (same source).

## The work begins, 1990

She and her husband began the work of Elman Peace in 1990 ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/2022-announcement/l1/)). In 1996 her husband was killed near the family home in south Mogadishu. She then left Somalia with her four daughters ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)). In 1999 the family settled in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), Canada (same source).

## Return to Mogadishu

She felt the work was unfinished. She returned to Somalia in 2006 to rebuild Elman Peace ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/2022-announcement/l1/)). Her daughter [Ilwad Elman](/en/people/ilwad-elman/) joined her in 2010 (same source).

Elman Peace works on peace building and protects women, children and others pushed to the margins ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)). Right Livelihood names as one of its biggest achievements its approach to helping former fighters, including child soldiers, give up arms and return to normal life ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/2022-announcement/l1/)). It also helped build Peace by Africa, a network of 61 peace building groups (same source).

## Sister Somalia

Sister Somalia gives counselling, health care and housing support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence ([Wikipedia, Ilwad Elman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)). It was the first programme of its kind in the country.

## Loss and awards

In November 2019 her daughter [Almaas Elman](/en/people/almaas-elman/), an aid worker, was shot and killed near Mogadishu airport ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)).

Her honours include the US International Women of Courage Award (2013), a German human rights award (2014), the Aurora Prize (2020) and the Right Livelihood Award (2022) (same source). The 2022 jury honoured her and her daughter "for promoting peace, demilitarisation and human rights in Somalia" ([Africanews, 30 September 2022](https://www.africanews.com/2022/09/30/somali-human-rights-activists-win-top-swedish-human-rights-prize)).

## In short

Co-founder of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre in Mogadishu, which runs support programmes for survivors of violence.


---

# Gaarriye (Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/gaarriye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Gaarriye, Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac (1949–2012), was a poet from Hargeisa whom the African Studies Centre Leiden calls one of the most important Somali poets of the 20th century. He started the Deelley chain of poems, in which more than 40 poets answered each other, and in 1976 published the first analysis of the metre of Somali poetry. He died in Norway in 2012.

## Who was he?

Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac, known as Gaarriye, was a Somali poet and political activist. The African Studies Centre in Leiden calls him one of the most important Somali poets of the 20th century ([ASC Leiden, Library Weekly: Gaarriye](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)).

## Early life and study

He was born in Hargeisa in 1949 and went to school at [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)). He studied at the Somali National University, then at [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), and earned a degree in biology in 1974 ([Wikipedia, Gaariye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye)). He taught in secondary schools, then joined the Academy of Culture in Mogadishu and lectured on Somali literature at the National University ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)).

## The Deelley

In the years of military rule he began the *Deelley*, a chain of poems answering one another, each using words beginning with the letter "d". More than 40 poets took part ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)). [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/) and [Saado Ali Warsame](/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/) were among them ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye); [Wikipedia, Saado Ali Warsame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)). Wikipedia describes the chain as a response to the repression of the military government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye)).

## The rules of Somali verse

Somali poems follow strict patterns of long and short sounds, but no one had written the rules down. In 1976 Gaarriye published the first analysis of the metre of Somali poetry, in the national newspaper *Xiddigta Oktoobar* ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)). Wikipedia notes that the scholar [Abdillahi Diiriye Guled](/en/people/abdillahi-diiriye-guled/) found the same system at about the same time ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Poems of reconciliation

He was a member of the Somali National Movement. After the civil war he wrote "Hagarlaawe" ("The Charitable"), one of the best-known Somali poems on reconciliation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye)). His collected poems, *Hagarlaawe: diiwaanka maansooyinka*, were published in Hargeisa in 2013 ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)).

In his later years he worked with the British scholar Martin Orwin and the poet W. N. Herbert to translate his poems into English. They published *Poems = Maansooyin* in 2008 ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)).

## His death

He died in a hospital in Norway on 30 September 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye)). A biography with his poems was published in Pisa that year, and *Mahadho*, a study of his life and work, in 2015 ([ASC Leiden](https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-weekly/gaarriye)).

## In short

A poet who described the rules of Somali poetic metre and wrote verse calling for peace.


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# Halima Aden (Xaliimo Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/halima-aden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Halima Aden (born 1997 in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya) is a Somali-American model. In 2016 she was the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant, then signed with IMG Models and became the first hijab-wearing model on the covers of British Vogue and Vogue Arabia. She became a UNICEF ambassador in 2018 and stepped back from runway work in 2020 for reasons of faith.

## Who is she?

Halima Aden is a Somali-American fashion model. She was the first model to wear a hijab on international runways and to be signed by a major agency ([Wikipedia, Halima Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Aden)). In 2021 the BBC named her one of its 100 Women (same source).

## Born in a refugee camp

She was born on 19 September 1997 in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, to a Somali family ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Aden)). At six or seven she moved with her family to the United States and settled in [St. Cloud](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/), Minnesota (same source). Her classmates at Apollo High School voted her homecoming queen. She studied at St. Cloud State University. See [refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## From pageant to Vogue

In 2016 she entered the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. She was the first contestant to wear a hijab and a burkini, and reached the semi-finals ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Aden)). The pageant brought her national attention, and in 2017 she signed with IMG Models (same source).

Her firsts include:
- first hijab-wearing model on the covers of *Vogue Arabia*, *Allure* and British *Vogue* (2017)
- first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the *Sports Illustrated* Swimsuit issue (2019)
- first black woman in a hijab on the cover of *Essence* (2020)

(all from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Aden)). She walked for designers such as Max Mara and Alberta Ferretti, and at fashion weeks in New York, Milan and [London](/en/diaspora/london/) (same source).

## UNICEF

In 2018 she became a UNICEF ambassador for children's rights ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Aden)). In that role she went back to Kakuma, where she was born ([CNN, 20 June 2018](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/06/20/africa/halima-aden-world-refugee-day-intl)).

## Stepping back

In November 2020 she announced that she had left runway modelling because it compromised her religious beliefs. She has since said she would model again only on her own terms ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Aden)). She spoke about the decision on American public radio in 2021 ([GPB / NPR, 16 February 2021](https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/02/16/im-not-cover-girl-halima-aden-on-why-she-decided-leave-modeling-career)).

## In short

A model born in Kakuma refugee camp who was the first to wear a hijab in several major fashion settings. See [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).


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# Ilwad Elman (Ilwaad Cilmaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ilwad-elman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ilwad Elman (born 1989 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-Canadian peace and human rights worker. She returned to Mogadishu from Canada in 2010 to work with her mother, Fartuun Adan, at the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, where she leads programmes for survivors of violence and for young people leaving armed groups. She shared the Right Livelihood Award in 2022.

## Who is she?

Ilwad Elman is a Somali-Canadian peace builder. She is Director of Programs and Development at the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre in Mogadishu, which her mother [Fartuun Adan](/en/people/fartuun-adan/) leads ([Wikipedia, Ilwad Elman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)).

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu on 22 December 1989 ([Right Livelihood, 2022 laureates](https://rightlivelihood.org/2022-announcement/l1/)). She is one of four daughters of Fartuun Adan and [Elman Ali Ahmed](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/), the peace worker known for the slogan "Drop the gun, pick up the pen" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)). Her father was killed in 1996, and she grew up in Canada (same source).

## Return to Mogadishu, 2010

In 2010, while fighting was still heavy and much of Mogadishu was held by [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), she came back from Canada to work with her mother ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)). She has stayed in Somalia since (same source).

## Her work

With her mother she co-founded the first rape crisis centre for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)). She helps run Sister Somalia, which gives counselling, health care and housing support to women in need (same source).

She designs programmes to help child soldiers and adults who leave armed groups to return to normal life, with training and work. She also works to open space for women in peace building and in reform of the security services ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)). Right Livelihood calls their approach to former fighters, including child soldiers, one of their most important achievements ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/2022-announcement/l1/)).

## A voice for young people

She is one of the youth leaders in the Kofi Annan Foundation's "Extremely Together" project, which works against violent extremism ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)). In 2016 she was named African Young Personality (Female) of the Year at the Africa Youth Awards (same source).

In 2022 she and her mother received the Right Livelihood Award "for promoting peace, demilitarisation and human rights in Somalia" ([Africanews, 30 September 2022](https://www.africanews.com/2022/09/30/somali-human-rights-activists-win-top-swedish-human-rights-prize)).

## Loss

In November 2019 her sister [Almaas Elman](/en/people/almaas-elman/), an aid worker, was shot and killed near Mogadishu airport ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilwad_Elman)).

## In short

Director of programmes at the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, which runs a programme for young people leaving armed groups.


---

# Yusuf Mohamed Siad 'Indha Adde' (Indhacadde)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/indha-adde/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Mohamed Siad, known as Indha Adde ('white eyes'), was governor of Lower Shabelle in the early 2000s, brought the region under the Islamic Courts in 2006 and served as the courts' defence chief in the war with Ethiopia that December. After a period in Hizbul Islam he joined the Transitional Federal Government in 2009 and served as state minister for defence until June 2010, surviving a suicide bombing in February 2010. He was later listed as a general in the national army.

## In short

[Yusuf Mohamed](/en/people/yusuf-mahamud-ibrahim/) Siad, widely known as Indha Adde, has served on both sides of Somalia's wars since 2006: with the Islamic Courts and Hizbul Islam, and then with the federal government. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Lower Shabelle

Wikipedia records that he was born in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) and belongs to the Ayr lineage of the Habar Gidir, Hawiye, citing the Associated Press. It lists him as governor of Lower Shabelle in 2002 ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Indhacade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Indhacade)).

## The Islamic Courts, 2006

In September 2006 he declared support for the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/), bringing Lower Shabelle under its control, and he became its defence chief (Wikipedia, citing Reuters). On 12 December 2006 he gave Ethiopian forces seven days to leave Somalia; on 20 December he confirmed that fighting had begun near Baidoa, and on 23 December he called for foreign fighters to join the courts (Wikipedia, citing [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Media and Reuters). The courts' forces then broke up and withdrew south.

## Hizbul Islam

He later joined [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/). In March 2009 [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/) criticised him, saying he "has made it normal to destroy every group he is part of" (Wikipedia, citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), 24 March 2009).

## In the federal government, 2009–2010

He joined the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) in May 2009 and became state minister for defence. On 15 February 2010 a suicide car bomb struck his convoy between an African Union base and the presidential palace in Mogadishu. The Long War Journal reported that the bomber hit a bus and killed four people, and quoted him: "The suicide car bomb hit the boot of one of my cars, I was in the car ahead" ([Long War Journal, February 2010](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/02/suicide_bomber_targe_5.php)). A day earlier he had called Aweys "an Al [Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) hostage" (same source).

He resigned in June 2010, saying the government had not kept its agreements, and in 2011 was listed as a general in the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) (Wikipedia, citing BBC News and SomaliaReport).

## Sources differ

- **His title in 2009–2010.** Minister of defence (Wikipedia's summary box) or state minister for defence (news reports at the time).
- **Date he left office.** 9 or 17 June 2010.
- **Intelligence claim.** The Long War Journal reported a claim that he had given information to the bombers of a September 2009 attack on an African Union base; no other source read for this page repeats it.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Long War Journal, "Suicide bomber targets Somali state minister for defense" (2010): [article](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/02/suicide_bomber_targe_5.php).


---

# Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal (Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal (1928–2002) led the State of Somaliland at its independence on 26 June 1960, then served the Somali Republic as a minister and as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1969. From 1993 until his death in 2002 he was President of Somaliland, where he oversaw the building of its institutions.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal held the highest offices in two eras. In 1960 he led the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) when the British protectorate became independent. He served the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) as a minister and then as Prime Minister. From 1993 to 2002 he was President of Somaliland ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)).

## Early life

He was born on 15 August 1928 in [Oodweyne](/en/regions/togdheer/), in today's Togdheer region. He was the son of a merchant, and his family is Habar Awal (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)). He went to school in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and was then sent to study in the United Kingdom, which was unusual at the time (same source).

## 1960: two independence days

On 26 June 1960 the British protectorate became the independent State of Somaliland, and he was chosen as its Prime Minister ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Five days later, on 1 July, it united with the former trust territory in the south to form the Somali Republic. See [Independence and union, 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).

## In the Somali Republic

He was Minister of Defence from 1960 to 1961 and Minister of Education from 1962 to 1963 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)). In 1967 President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) made him Prime Minister ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

Castagno writes that, like earlier prime ministers, he supported the goal of uniting all Somalis. His own priority was economic and social development and better relations with Ethiopia and Kenya ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He was abroad when President Shermarke was killed in October 1969 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)).

## Detention and later years

After the army took power on 21 October 1969, he was detained with other leaders of the civilian government at the presidential palace at [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He was later released and served as ambassador to India from 1976 to 1978. He was then held again until 1985 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)).

## President of Somaliland, 1993 to 2002

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. In 1993 he became its second President ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)). In his years in office, armed groups were disarmed and brought back into civilian life. Somaliland brought in its own shilling, passport and flag, and began trade with other countries (same source). Most states and the African Union still regard Somaliland as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

Wikipedia notes that some in Somaliland doubted his commitment to its separate status, because he spoke at times of future talks with the rest of Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)).

## His death

He died on 3 May 2002 during surgery at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. He was given a state funeral and buried in Berbera beside his father ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)). [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) was sworn in as President the next day (same source).

## In short

Prime Minister of the Somali Republic in 1960 and from 1967 to 1969, and President of Somaliland from 1993 to 2002.


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# Osman Yusuf Kenadid (Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Osman Yusuf Kenadid (1889–1972) was a Somali poet, teacher and member of the ruling family of the Hobyo Sultanate. Around 1920 he invented Osmanya, the first alphabet made for the Somali language. He was a founding member of the Somali Youth League.

## Who was he?

Osman Yusuf Kenadid was a Somali poet, writer and teacher. Around 1920 he invented a Somali alphabet and script, called Osmanya ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Osman Yusuf Ali Bah Yaqub"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). It was the first script designed only for the Somali language. Its letters look like neither Arabic nor Latin ([Wikipedia, Osman Yusuf Kenadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Yusuf_Kenadid)).

## Family and early life

He was born in 1889 at Ceel Huur, on the coast of today's [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region, and grew up in Gaalkacyo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Yusuf_Kenadid)). He was a son of Sultan [Yusuf Ali Kenadid](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/), founder of the Hobyo Sultanate. He was a brother of Ali Yusuf, the last sultan of Hobyo ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His family is part of the Majeerteen (Darood) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Yusuf_Kenadid)).

## Why he made a script

Somali had long been written, when at all, in Arabic letters, which do not fit all its sounds. Wikipedia records a family story. While writing letters home in Arabic script, he asked himself why Somalis, who speak Somali, had no Somali letters ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Yusuf_Kenadid)). He then built a script that matched the sounds of Somali.

He taught Osmanya in schools of the Hobyo Sultanate. Italian officials saw the script as nationalist and a threat to their rule. They stopped its use and imprisoned him for a time ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## The Youth League years

He was a founding member of the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In the late 1940s the League favoured Osmanya as the national script. A newspaper column was printed in it in the late 1950s ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Castagno records that the script was little known in the north, was seen by some as linked to one community, and was never adopted for the whole country (same source).

In 1972 the government chose the Latin-based script of [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/) as the official way to write Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Yusuf_Kenadid)). Osman Yusuf Kenadid died in Mogadishu that same year (same source).

## His writing

He wrote on Somali history and science, and textbooks on the Somali language, astronomy, geography and philosophy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Yusuf_Kenadid)). His son, [Yasin Osman Kenadid](/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/), later helped found the Society for Somali Language and Literature and wrote a Somali dictionary ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Ali Kenadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)).

## Osmanya today

Osmanya is in the Unicode standard, so it can be typed and shown on computers and phones ([Unicode, Osmanya code chart](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10480.pdf)). Some Somalis still use it as a mark of heritage. See also [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## In short

Creator of the Osmanya script for Somali in the 1920s.


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# Saado Ali Warsame (Saado Cali Warsame)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saado Ali Warsame (1950–2014) was a Somali singer and songwriter known for songs on justice and national unity, and later a member of the Federal Parliament of Somalia. She was shot dead in Mogadishu on 23 July 2014, and Al-Shabaab claimed the attack.

## Who was she?

Saado Ali Warsame was one of the best-known Somali singers of her generation. Her songs dealt with politics, justice, national pride and love ([Wikipedia, Saado Ali Warsame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)). From 2012 she served as a member of the Federal Parliament of Somalia (same source).

## Early life

She was born in 1950 in [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/), in the Togdheer region, to a family of herders ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)).

## Her music

She used satire, metaphor and references to history so that hard ideas were easy to grasp ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)). In the time of the military government, her song "Laand Karuusar" took aim at people who used public property for themselves (same source). She also sang duets with [Hasan Adan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/), including "Darmaan" ([Wikipedia, Hasan Adan Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Adan_Samatar)).

She took part in the "Deelley" chain of poems, in which many poets answered each other in verse ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)). After 1991 her songs called on Somalis to rebuild together. "Aan kuu Taliyo" used humour about political quarrels (same source).

## Life in Minnesota

After the civil war began, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later lived in [St. Cloud](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)). She became a US citizen and kept singing for the Somali community abroad. See [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Member of Parliament

When the Federal Parliament was set up in 2012, she returned to Mogadishu. She took a seat in it for a [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) constituency ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)).

## Her death

On 23 July 2014 gunmen attacked her car in Mogadishu and killed her and her driver. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) said it carried out the attack ([Al Jazeera, 23 July 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/7/23/somalia-mp-killed-in-drive-by-shooting)). Al Jazeera reported that she was the fourth politician killed in Somalia that year (same source).

The next day the government held a state funeral for her at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/). She was buried at the Madina Hospital cemetery in the Wadajir district ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saado_Ali_Warsame)). In April 2015 a court sentenced two men to death for the killing (same source).

## In short

A singer whose songs dealt with politics and justice, and who later served as a member of parliament.


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# Asli Hassan Abade (Asli Xasan Cabaade)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/asli-hassan-abade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Asli Hassan Abade (born 1958) is a Somali pilot widely described as Africa's first female military pilot. She made her first solo military flight in Somalia on 9 September 1976 and flew with the Somali Air Force until the state collapsed in 1991. She later lived in the United States, kept flying and teaching, campaigned for peace in the 2000s, and moved back to Somalia in July 2017.

## Who is she?

Asli Hassan Abade is a pilot from the first generation of the [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/). She is widely described as the first woman in Africa to fly as a military pilot. This page records her public life from the sources.

## Early life

She was born in 1958, one of nine children, and grew up on an air force base in Mogadishu where her house was "very close to the runway", watching fighter jets take off ([Africa Defense Forum, 28 April 2022](https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/women-could-do-whatever-they-wanted/); [Binta Kanteh, *Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder*, 13 November 2025](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/11/13/africas-first-female-military-pilot-honored-minnesota/)). Wikipedia gives her birthplace as Buloburde; some sources say Jijiga ([Wikipedia, Asli Hassan Abade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asli_Hassan_Abade)). In a 2017 interview with the UN mission in Somalia she recalled that in her youth "women could do whatever they wanted" (Africa Defense Forum, citing UNSOM).

## Joining the air force

The *Spokesman-Recorder* reports that in 1974 she spoke to President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) herself about joining the air force, and that she trained in Somalia, Italy and the United States. She made her first solo military flight in Somalia on 9 September 1976 ([*Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder*, 2025](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/11/13/africas-first-female-military-pilot-honored-minnesota/)). The Africa Defense Forum says she began on a Cessna 150 in 1976 and later trained on military cargo planes and an Airbus A320 ([ADF, 2022](https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/women-could-do-whatever-they-wanted/)). Wikipedia records her rank as captain.

## The civil war and the United States

Her flying career in Somalia ended with the civil war in 1991, and she moved to the United States, where she raised four children ([ADF, 2022](https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/women-could-do-whatever-they-wanted/)). She kept her US Federal Aviation Administration licence, went on flying and taught new pilots; the *Spokesman-Recorder* reported in November 2025 that she had made her last flight about six months earlier and retired ([*Spokesman-Recorder*, 2025](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/11/13/africas-first-female-military-pilot-honored-minnesota/)).

## Campaigning for peace

In the 2000s she appeared at political meetings wearing the colours of the Somali flag to urge leaders to end the conflict, and was credited with helping the reconciliation process that began at Arta, Djibouti. This earned her the nickname Calanside, "the flag-bearer" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asli_Hassan_Abade), citing BBC News, "Flying the flag for Somali peace", 2004). In 2011, during the famine, she flew to Mogadishu with medical supplies for a children's hospital, but left after one day because of al-Shabaab's presence in the city ([ADF, 2022](https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/women-could-do-whatever-they-wanted/)).

## Return to Somalia, 2017

In July 2017 she moved back to Somalia ([ADF, 2022](https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/women-could-do-whatever-they-wanted/)). She told the UN mission: "I am proud of my history, not just for Somalia, but also for Africa" (same source, citing UNSOM). On 31 October 2025 the Somali Museum of Minnesota gave her its "Living Legend" award ([*Spokesman-Recorder*, 2025](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/11/13/africas-first-female-military-pilot-honored-minnesota/)).

## Sources differ

- **"Only" woman pilot.** Several sources call her the only female pilot in the Somali Air Force. The *Spokesman-Recorder* corrected its article to say she was the first, but not the only, woman to serve in it.
- **Years of service.** Wikipedia gives 1976 to the end of 1992; the Africa Defense Forum says about ten years, ended by the war in 1991.
- **Birthplace.** Buloburde (Wikipedia) or Jijiga (some other sources).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Africa Defense Forum, "'Women could do whatever they wanted'" (2022): [article](https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/women-could-do-whatever-they-wanted/).
- Binta Kanteh, "Africa's first female military pilot honored in Minnesota", *Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder* (2025): [article](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/11/13/africas-first-female-military-pilot-honored-minnesota/).


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# Mohamud Muse Hersi "Adde Muse" (Maxamuud Muuse Xirsi "Cadde")

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamud-muse-hersi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamud Muse Hersi, known as Adde Muse (1937–2017), was a Somali army general and the president of Puntland from January 2005 to January 2009. Trained in Italy and at the Frunze academy in Moscow, he commanded the army's 21st Division, governed Sanaag during the 1974–75 drought and served as military attaché in Beijing. He later lived in Canada, was military commander of the SSDF, and as Puntland's president faced the Islamic Courts in 2006 and the rise of piracy. He died in the UAE on 8 February 2017.

## Who was he?

Mohamud Muse Hersi was one of the first officers of the Somali army after independence, and later the third president of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). This page records his public career from the sources.

## Early life and training

He was born on 1 July 1937 in Bender Bayla, on the Indian Ocean coast, and went to school in Mogadishu, where he worked at a bank before joining the army as a trainee officer in 1959. He graduated from the Modena military academy in Italy in 1963, returned to Italy's higher military school from 1967, and studied at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow in 1973–74 ([Puntland Post, "Taariikh nololeedkii Jen. Cadde Muuse Xirsi Boqor", 14 February 2017](https://puntlandpost.net/2017/02/14/taariikh-nololeedkii-jen-cadde-muuse-xirsi-boqor/)). Wikipedia records that he belonged to the [Osman Mahamuud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/) branch of the Majeerteen and descended from the line of its kings ([Wikipedia, Mohamud Muse Hersi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Muse_Hersi)).

## In the army, 1959–1979

- **1963:** secretary to the army commander, General [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) ([Puntland Post](/en/society/puntland-radio-and-news/)).
- **1964:** took part in the border war with Ethiopia (Puntland Post).
- **About 1970–1972:** commander of the 21st Division in Beledweyne, then head of army training in Mogadishu (Puntland Post; Wikipedia).
- **1974–1975:** governor of [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) during the drought of 1974–75, when he set up government relief camps (Puntland Post).
- **1976:** promoted to major general (Puntland Post).
- **1975–1979:** military attaché at the Somali embassy in Beijing (Puntland Post; Wikipedia).

## Canada and the SSDF

In 1979 he moved to [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/). The Puntland Post says he went as deputy head of the Somali embassy and in 1981 left to become military commander of the [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/), the armed movement against [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). Wikipedia, citing CBC News (2008), records that he settled in Canada and ran several petrol stations there until the mid-1990s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Muse_Hersi)). See [Armed movements, 1978 to 1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

## Return to Somalia and the presidency, 2005–2009

He returned to Puntland politics in 2002, during the dispute over its constitution, and in 2003 reached a settlement with [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Puntland Post). On 8 January 2005 he was elected president of Puntland for four years. He formed a cabinet of 16 ministers focused on security and reconciliation, and pursued oil exploration and the expansion of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)'s port and airport (Puntland Post). Wikipedia records that in April 2005 UNICEF welcomed his pledge that the state would pay primary school teachers, and that in October 2008 Puntland signed an agreement with Dubai's Lootah Group on an airport, seaport and free zone at Bosaso ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Muse_Hersi)).

**The Islamic Courts, 2006.** When the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) took Bandiiradley in November 2006 and its spokesman spoke of moving on Galkayo, he said Puntland would resist any attack (Wikipedia, citing BBC News, 12 November 2006, and Al Jazeera, 21 November 2006).

**Piracy.** Hijackings off Puntland rose sharply in 2008. He opposed paying ransoms, saying giving in to the pirates' demands "was not an option" (Wikipedia, citing CBC News, 26 November 2008). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

He was succeeded in January 2009 by [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/).

## Death

He died on 8 February 2017 in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), where he had been receiving treatment for several months. Farole and Puntland officials sent condolences ([Garowe Online, 8 February 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-former-puntland-president-dies-in-uae)). He left a wife and six children (Puntland Post).

## Sources differ

- **Years in Canada.** The Puntland Post describes a diplomatic post in Ottawa from 1979 and SSDF command from 1981; Wikipedia, citing CBC, describes him running petrol stations in Canada until the mid-1990s.
- **Number of president.** [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) calls him Puntland's second president; Wikipedia lists him as the third, counting an acting president.
- **Date in Beijing.** The Puntland Post gives the start of his posting as 1975 in one place and 1976 in another.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Puntland Post, "Taariikh nololeedkii Jen. Cadde Muuse Xirsi Boqor" (in Somali, 2017): [article](https://puntlandpost.net/2017/02/14/taariikh-nololeedkii-jen-cadde-muuse-xirsi-boqor/).
- Garowe Online, "Former Puntland President dies in UAE" (2017): [article](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-former-puntland-president-dies-in-uae).


---

# Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (born 1947), often called IOG, has been President of Djibouti since 8 May 1999. He succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, after serving for two decades as his chief of staff. He has been re-elected in 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026; the main opposition parties boycotted several of those votes.

## Who is he?

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the second President of Djibouti. He took office on 8 May 1999, succeeding [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/), who had led the country since independence in 1977 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). Gouled was his uncle ([Wikipedia, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isma%C3%AFl_Omar_Guelleh)). This page covers his public offices and elections.

## Early career

He was born on 27 November 1947 in Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), Ethiopia, and moved to [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) in 1960 (Wikipedia). In 1964 he began working for the territory's general information service. Wikipedia records that he was suspended in 1975 on suspicion of passing information to the independence movement, and that he then joined the African People's League for Independence (LPAI), led by Gouled (same source).

After independence in 1977 he became head of the security service and chief of staff to President Gouled, a post he held for more than twenty years (Wikipedia). He was named as Gouled's intended successor during the 1990s (same source; [Wikipedia, Hassan Gouled Aptidon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Gouled_Aptidon)).

## Becoming President, 1999

On 4 February 1999 Gouled announced that he would retire, and the ruling People's Rally for Progress (RPP) chose Guelleh as its candidate. Standing for the RPP and the moderate wing of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), he won the election of 9 April 1999 with 74.02% of the vote against Moussa Ahmed Idriss, and took office on 8 May (Wikipedia). Wikipedia credits him with brokering the agreement of 2000 that ended the post-independence armed conflict (same source). His first two Prime Ministers were [Barkat Gourad Hamadou](/en/people/barkat-gourad-hamadou/) and [Dileita Mohamed Dileita](/en/people/dileita-mohamed-dileita/).

## Later elections

He was the only candidate in the April 2005 election (Wikipedia). In 2010 the National Assembly amended the constitution so that he could stand for a third term, and he was re-elected in 2011 and 2016, in elections that the opposition boycotted (same source).

In April 2021 he won a fifth term. Provisional results gave him 98.58% of the vote. The main opposition parties boycotted the election, and his only challenger, the businessman Zakaria Ismail Farah, questioned whether the count was transparent ([Al Jazeera, 10 April 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/10/veteran-ruler-guelleh-re-elected-djibouti-leader-for-fifth-term)). Human rights groups and opposition parties have criticised his government, according to Al Jazeera and Wikipedia.

On 10 April 2026 he was elected to a sixth term with 97.81% of the vote. He was sworn in on 9 May 2026 and named a new cabinet on 17 May (Wikipedia).

## Offices held

- Chief of staff to the President of Djibouti, from 1977 to 1999
- President of Djibouti, since 8 May 1999. See [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/).


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# Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Cabdulqawi Axmed Yuusuf)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulqawi-yusuf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is a Somali lawyer and judge from Eyl who sat on the International Court of Justice from 2009 to 2025. He was the Court's President from 2018 to 2021, the third African to hold the post. Before that he was UNESCO's legal adviser and worked for UNCTAD and UNIDO. He resigned from the Court with effect from 30 September 2025.

## Who is he?

Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is a Somali lawyer and judge ([Wikipedia, Abdulqawi Yusuf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulqawi_Yusuf)). He served on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague from 2009 to 2025, and was its President from 2018 to 2021 (same source).

## Early life and study

He was born in Eyl, in today's Puntland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulqawi_Yusuf)). He earned a law degree at the Somali National University and did postgraduate study in international law at the University of Florence (same source). He holds a PhD in international law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva (same source). He speaks Somali, Arabic, English, French and Italian (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## Career before the Court

Wikipedia lists these posts ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulqawi_Yusuf)):

- Lecturer in law at the Somali National University, 1974 to 1981, and at the University of Geneva, 1981 to 1983.
- Somali delegate to the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, 1975 to 1980.
- At UNCTAD, chief of the legal policies service from 1987 to 1992, then head of its New York office from 1992 to 1994.
- At UNIDO in Vienna, legal adviser from 1994 to 1998 and assistant director-general for African affairs from 1998 to 2001.
- Legal adviser and director of international standards and legal affairs at UNESCO, March 2001 to January 2009.

He was elected to the Institut de droit international in 1999 (same source). He founded the *African Yearbook of International Law* and is general editor (same source). His books include *Pan-Africanism and International Law* (2014) (same source).

## The International Court of Justice

He became a judge of the ICJ on 6 February 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulqawi_Yusuf)). He was elected Vice-President on 6 February 2015, and President on 6 February 2018 (same source). He was the third African President of the Court, after Taslim Olawale Elias of Nigeria and Mohamed Bedjaoui of Algeria (same source).

On 6 June 2025 he announced his resignation, effective 30 September 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulqawi_Yusuf)). The UN elected Phoebe Okowa of Kenya to complete his term, which was due to end in February 2027 (same source).

## In short

A Somali international lawyer who served as judge of the International Court of Justice from 2009 to 2025 and its President from 2018 to 2021.


---

# Hassan Gouled Aptidon (Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Gouled Aptidon (1916–2006) was the first President of Djibouti, from independence on 27 June 1977 until 8 May 1999. Before independence he sat in the French Senate for French Somaliland from 1952 to 1958 and in the French National Assembly from 1959 to 1962. He made his party the only legal one in 1981, allowed multiparty politics again in 1992 during the civil war, and handed over to his nephew, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.

## Who was he?

Hassan Gouled Aptidon led Djibouti for its first 22 years as an independent state. He was President from 27 June 1977 to 8 May 1999 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). Before that he spent more than two decades in the politics of the French colony, including six years as a senator in Paris ([French Senate, Hassan Gouled](https://www.senat.fr/senateur-4eme-republique/gouled_hassan0137r4.html)).

## Early life

He was born on 15 October 1916 ([French Senate](https://www.senat.fr/senateur-4eme-republique/gouled_hassan0137r4.html)). The French parliamentary records give his birthplace as Djibouti, while Wikipedia gives the village of Gerisa in the Lughaya district of what was then [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([French National Assembly, Hassan Gouled](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/3504); [Wikipedia, Hassan Gouled Aptidon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Gouled_Aptidon)). He went to the public school in Djibouti from 1929 to 1935, then worked as a pharmacy apprentice at the colonial hospital, a storekeeper and a bookkeeper (French National Assembly).

## Colonial politics and Paris

In 1950 he travelled to France with [Mahamoud Harbi](/en/people/mahamoud-harbi/), another Issa leader. On his return he was elected to the territory's Representative Council and became its vice-president in October 1950 (French National Assembly). On 25 May 1952 he won the territory's seat in the French Council of the Republic, the upper house, with 14 votes out of 23. He lost the seat in June 1958 to Ahmed Robleh Gourmaneh (same source; [French Senate](https://www.senat.fr/senateur-4eme-republique/gouled_hassan0137r4.html)).

Harbi became his main rival. After the elections of November 1958 Gouled led the local Government Council from December 1958 to April 1959 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). He then sat in the French National Assembly from 19 April 1959 to 9 October 1962, taking the seat Harbi had held (French National Assembly). Wikipedia records that he was later minister of education from 1963 to 1967 and was elected to the Territorial Assembly in 1968 (Wikipedia).

## Independence

In 1975 he became president of the African People's League for Independence (LPAI), with [Ahmed Dini](/en/people/ahmed-dini-ahmed/) as its general secretary. He became head of the Government Council on 18 May 1977 and was elected President of the coming republic by the Chamber of Deputies on 28 May (Wikipedia). Djibouti became independent on 27 June 1977 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)).

## President, 1977 to 1999

In 1981 he made his party, the People's Rally for Progress (RPP), the only legal party, and he was re-elected unopposed that June (Wikipedia). After an Afar-led armed rebellion began in 1991, a referendum in September 1992 allowed up to four parties. He won a fourth term in May 1993 with 60.7% of the vote (same source). On 4 February 1999 he said he would retire, and his party chose his nephew [Ismaïl Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/), who succeeded him on 8 May 1999 (Wikipedia; [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). He died at home on 21 November 2006, aged 90 ([French Senate](https://www.senat.fr/senateur-4eme-republique/gouled_hassan0137r4.html)).

## Offices held

- Member of the French Council of the Republic (Senate) for [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), 1952 to 1958
- Vice President of the Government Council, December 1958 to April 1959
- Member of the French National Assembly, 1959 to 1962
- President of Djibouti, 27 June 1977 to 8 May 1999. See [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/).


---

# Dr Hawa Abdi (Xaawo Cabdi Dhiblaawe)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hawa-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dr Hawa Abdi (1947–2020) was one of Somalia's first women doctors. In 1983 she opened a one-room clinic near Afgooye that grew into a 400-bed hospital, and through the war her land became a camp that sheltered up to 90,000 people in 2011. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.

## Who was she?

Dr Hawa Abdi was a Somali doctor and human rights worker. She founded the Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation, whose hospital and camp near [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) cared for tens of thousands of people through the war ([Wikipedia, Hawa Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) called her Somalia's "doctor of the poor" ([Garowe Online, August 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalias-doctor-to-the-poor-and-human-rights-activist-dies-at-73)).

## Early life and study

She was born in Mogadishu on 17 May 1947. Her mother died when she was 12, and she helped raise her four younger sisters ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). In 1964 she won a scholarship from the Women's Committee of the Soviet Union and studied medicine in Kyiv, graduating in 1971 (same source). Back home she worked as a doctor in the mornings and studied law at the Somali National University, earning her degree in 1979 (same source).

## The clinic, 1983

In 1983 she opened the Rural Health Development Organization on family land in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), about 32 km from Mogadishu. It began as one room offering free care to about 24 rural women a day, and grew into a 400-bed hospital ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)).

## Staying through the war

When war came in 1991, her grandmother urged her to use her skills for people in need, and she stayed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). She opened a clinic and school for displaced people and orphans. In 2007 the work became the Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation. In the 2011 drought, 90,000 people lived on the 1,300 acres around her hospital (same source).

In 2010 armed men surrounded the compound and tried to make her close it. She refused, and they left within a week after pressure from local people, the UN and others ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). Her daughters, Deqo and Amina, both became doctors and worked with her (same source).

## Honours

*Glamour* named her and her daughters among its 2010 Women of the Year. In 2012 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). She also received the John Jay Medal for Justice and BET's humanitarian award (same source).

## Her death

She died at her home in Mogadishu on 5 August 2020, aged 73 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). Her daughter Deqo Mohamed confirmed her death ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalias-doctor-to-the-poor-and-human-rights-activist-dies-at-73)). The foundation continues her work ([Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation](https://www.dhaf.org/our-founder)).

## In short

A doctor who ran a hospital and camp for displaced people near Mogadishu from 1983. See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).


---

# Jamila Gordon: from a Somali village to Qantas and Lumachain

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jamila-gordon/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jamila Gordon is a Somali Australian technology executive. Born into a nomadic family in rural Somalia, one of 16 children, she moved to Mogadishu as a child, left for Kenya around the start of the civil war, and settled in Australia. She became group chief information officer of Qantas in 2007 and in April 2018 founded Lumachain, a food supply chain tracking company.

## Who is she?

Jamila Gordon is a Somali Australian entrepreneur. She is the founder and chief executive of Lumachain, an Australian software company that tracks food through supply chains, and was earlier chief information officer at the airline Qantas and at the construction group Leighton Holdings, later CIMIC ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon)). The BBC named her one of its 100 Women of 2021 ([BBC, 7 December 2021](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-59514598)).

## Early life in Somalia

Gordon was born in a small village in rural Somalia, into a nomadic family. "The village (where I was born) was very desolate, dusty, we had water in the wells," she told SBS News. "My mother was pregnant every year, or she had a baby ... In the end, she had 16 children" ([SBS News, 16 January 2018](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/my-australia-from-washing-dishes-to-qantas-executive)). She told CIO Australia that two of the children died young and that she was the second oldest and the eldest daughter, responsible for running the household and looking after her brothers and sisters from about the age of six ([CIO, 28 February 2017](https://www.cio.com/article/3494183/jamila-gordon-the-cio-who-escaped-the-somali-civil-war.html)).

She told StartupSmart she was put to work from the age of five instead of going to school: "I always wanted to go to school, that was my passion" ([SmartCompany, 29 July 2019](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/lumachain-food-supply-chains/)). The family moved to Mogadishu, at about the time she was 11, to escape a drought ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon); [SBS News](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/my-australia-from-washing-dishes-to-qantas-executive)). In Mogadishu she worked in her father's shop, counting what he earned and spent each day ([CIO](https://www.cio.com/article/3494183/jamila-gordon-the-cio-who-escaped-the-somali-civil-war.html)).

## Kenya and the move to Australia

As the civil war approached, her father moved the family out of Mogadishu, and the family was scattered. At 18 she was in Kenya, staying with distant relatives she had not met before; she spent just under a year there and called it "the hardest time" of her life ([CIO](https://www.cio.com/article/3494183/jamila-gordon-the-cio-who-escaped-the-somali-civil-war.html)). Through friends in Kenya she met an Australian backpacker. They later married, and she moved to Australia ([SBS News](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/my-australia-from-washing-dishes-to-qantas-executive)).

In Australia she studied English at a TAFE college in Sydney, then a diploma in accounting. Her first job was washing dishes for five dollars an hour ([SBS News](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/my-australia-from-washing-dishes-to-qantas-executive); [CIO](https://www.cio.com/article/3494183/jamila-gordon-the-cio-who-escaped-the-somali-civil-war.html)). She went to La Trobe University in Melbourne to study accounting, took one programming elective and switched to technology. She told SBS that the way she memorised the Quran in her village "was exactly the same as the process of software programming" ([SBS News](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/my-australia-from-washing-dishes-to-qantas-executive)). She graduated in 1995 ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon)).

## Career

- **1995:** software developer at QSP Software, which sent her to England to work on systems for British Gas, and to Dubai for [Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) ([CIO](https://www.cio.com/article/3494183/jamila-gordon-the-cio-who-escaped-the-somali-civil-war.html)).
- **Late 1990s:** applications lead at the insurer GIO in Australia, then Deloitte from 1998 to 1999 (same source).
- **1999 to 2007:** IBM Global Services, first as a senior project manager, then in senior roles in Europe for Solectron in Nice, AXA in Paris and ABN Amro in Amsterdam (same source).
- **2007:** group chief information officer of Qantas. She oversaw the airline's move to the Amadeus check-in and customer service system (same source).
- **Later:** chief information officer of Leighton Holdings, later CIMIC ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon)).

## Lumachain

Gordon founded Lumachain in **April 2018**. In July 2019 it raised **$3.5 million** in a round led by Main Sequence Ventures, which manages the CSIRO innovation fund. The company tracks the origin, location and condition of food items as they move from farm to processing plant to retailer, using blockchain, machine learning and smart devices ([SmartCompany, 29 July 2019](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/lumachain-food-supply-chains/)). She linked the company to her own childhood: it aims to show buyers that products were made without modern slavery (same source). In 2019 Lumachain ran a trial with Microsoft and the meat processor JBS that traced beef from paddock to plate ([Microsoft Australia, 18 November 2019](https://news.microsoft.com/en-au/features/ai-iot-and-blockchain-trace-meat-from-paddock-to-plate-at-nations-largest-food-processing-company-jbs-in-australian-first-trial/)).

## Awards

- 2009: La Trobe University Distinguished Alumni Award
- 2018: Microsoft's global awardee, International Women's Entrepreneurial Challenge ([SmartCompany](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/lumachain-food-supply-chains/))
- 2020: NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year
- 2021: Australia and [New Zealand](/en/diaspora/new-zealand/) Innovator of the Year, Women in AI Awards
- 2021: BBC 100 Women ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-59514598))

Awards without a link above are listed on [Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon). See also [Somali business pioneers](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/).

## Sources disagree

- **When she left Somalia.** SBS says she fled Somalia before the civil war, and CIO Australia says her father moved the family out of Mogadishu just before it began. Wikipedia says she became a displaced person in Kenya once the war broke out ([SBS News](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/my-australia-from-washing-dishes-to-qantas-executive); [CIO](https://www.cio.com/article/3494183/jamila-gordon-the-cio-who-escaped-the-somali-civil-war.html); [Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon)).
- **Her degree.** CIO Australia says she studied a Bachelor of Accounting at La Trobe. Wikipedia, citing La Trobe, says she graduated with a Bachelor of Business and Information Technology (same sources).
- **What Lumachain is.** Wikipedia describes blockchain and computer vision software for the meat industry. SmartCompany describes a blockchain platform for food supply chains in general ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon); [SmartCompany](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/lumachain-food-supply-chains/)).


---

# K'naan (Keynaan Cabdi Warsame)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/knaan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> K'naan (Keinan Abdi Warsame, born 1978 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-Canadian rapper, singer and filmmaker. He left Somalia at 13 and grew up in Toronto. His song "Wavin' Flag" became Coca-Cola's anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and in 2024 he won a Grammy for "Refugee".

## Who is he?

K'naan is a Somali-Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter and film director. His music mixes hip hop with Somali music and other world sounds ([Wikipedia, K'naan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)). He is best known for "Wavin' Flag", the song of the 2010 World Cup ([Britannica, K'naan](https://www.britannica.com/biography/KNaan)).

## Childhood in Mogadishu

He was born Keinan Abdi Warsame on 1 February 1978 in Mogadishu. His name, Keynaan, means "traveller" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)). He grew up in a family of artists. His grandfather was a well-known poet, and the singer Magool was his aunt and often sang to him (same source).

The civil war ended that childhood. When he was 13, he, his mother, brother and sister left for New York, where his father worked. Six months later they settled in Toronto ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)).

## Learning English through hip hop

In Toronto's Rexdale area he learned English partly by listening to rap records, copying the words by sound before he knew their meaning ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)). In 1999 he performed a spoken word piece about Somalia before the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour heard him and invited him onto his album (same source).

## Records and awards

- **The Dusty Foot Philosopher** (2005): his first album. It won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)).
- **Troubadour** (2009): his second album, which included "Wavin' Flag" (same source).
- **"Wavin' Flag"**: a new version became Coca-Cola's anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He toured 86 countries with the World Cup trophy ([Wikipedia, Wavin' Flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavin%27_Flag)).
- **Grammy, 2024**: his song "Refugee" won Best Song for Social Change ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)).

He has also directed films and won a FIPRESCI critics' prize (same source).

## A public case

In September 2024 the Associated Press reported that he had been charged in Quebec over an alleged sexual assault in 2010 ([Britannica, K'naan](https://www.britannica.com/biography/KNaan)). Calankii records court cases only as they are decided.

## In short

A rapper and singer whose songs drew on his childhood in Mogadishu and on his aunt Magool. See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/) and [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).


---

# Nadifa Mohamed (Nadiifa Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nadifa Mohamed (born 1981 in Hargeisa) is a British Somali novelist. Her novels Black Mamba Boy (2010), The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013) and The Fortune Men (2021) tell Somali lives in Yemen, Hargeisa and Cardiff. The Fortune Men made her the first British Somali novelist shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

## Who is she?

Nadifa Mohamed is a Somali-British novelist. *Granta* named her among the Best of Young British Novelists in 2013 ([Wikipedia, Nadifa Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadifa_Mohamed)). In 2021 her third novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize ([The Booker Prizes, 2021 shortlist](https://thebookerprizes.com/media-centre/press-releases/the-2021-booker-prize-for-fiction-shortlist)).

## Early life

She was born in 1981 in Hargeisa. Her father was a sailor in the merchant navy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadifa_Mohamed)). In 1986 the family moved to London for what was meant to be a short stay. War broke out in Somalia soon after, and they stayed (same source). She studied history and politics at St Hilda's College, Oxford. In 2008 she went back to Hargeisa for the first time in over a decade (same source).

## Her novels

- **Black Mamba Boy (2010).** Based on her father's life in Yemen and the region in the 1930s and 1940s. She said the book "grew out of a desire to learn more about my roots, to elucidate Somali history for a wider audience." It won the Betty Trask Award ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadifa_Mohamed)).
- **The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013).** Set in Hargeisa on the eve of the civil war, through the lives of three women. It won the Somerset Maugham Award in 2014 (same source).
- **The Fortune Men (2021).** The true story of [Mahmood Mattan](/en/books/the-fortune-men-mohamed/), a Somali sailor whom her father knew. He was wrongly convicted of murder in [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) in 1952 and was the last man hanged there (same source). It was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize ([The Booker Prizes](https://thebookerprizes.com/media-centre/press-releases/the-2021-booker-prize-for-fiction-shortlist)). In 2022 it won Wales Book of the Year ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadifa_Mohamed)).

## Teaching and other work

She taught creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, until 2021, and was Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University in 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadifa_Mohamed)). She also writes essays and articles, including for *The Guardian*.

## In short

A novelist whose books are set among Somali sailors, families and the history of Hargeisa. See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).


---

# Sheikh Omar Farouk (Sheekh Cumar Faaruuq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-omar-farouk/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Omar Farouk Haji Abdi Sultan (1939–2011) was a Somali Islamic scholar and preacher, known for recording a full Somali commentary (tafsir) on the Quran. Born near Kebri Dahar, he studied at the Islamic University of Madinah. He took part in the 2000 Arta peace conference and administered the oath to President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan. He died in Mecca in March 2011.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Omar Farouk Haji Abdi Sultan was a Somali cleric, scholar, Quran interpreter and preacher ([Wikipedia, Omar Farouk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). This page records his life without taking sides.

## Early life and study

He was born in 1939 in a village near Kebri [Dahar](/en/regions/dhahar/), in the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). He lost both parents before he was six and was raised by his grandmother (same source). He memorised the Quran by 11, then studied Islamic law and Arabic in the Somali Region and the former Northern Frontier District of Kenya, before reaching Mogadishu (same source). His teachers included [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ibrahim Sule (same source). In 1974 he entered the Islamic University of Madinah and earned a degree in Sharia (same source).

## Teaching and arrest

He taught Islamic law and Quran commentary in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). Under the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) he was arrested over a commentary on a verse of Surat al-An'am, which was taken as a reference to the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (same source). He was held for 42 days (same source).

He recorded a full commentary on the Quran, as well as lessons on Arabic grammar, the life of the Prophet, the Companions and *Riyad as-Salihin* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). He preached across Europe and Africa (same source).

## Ethiopia and al-Shabaab

Wikipedia describes him as a vocal critic of Ethiopian military involvement in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). It says he survived two assassination attempts, in the late 1990s and in 2001, which it attributes to Ethiopian intelligence (same source). It also describes him as a strong critic of al-Shabaab's methods (same source).

## Peace work

After 1991 he visited Somalia several times to work for reconciliation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). He took part in the Somali National Peace Conference at Arta, Djibouti, in 2000 (same source). Djibouti's President [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) gave him Djiboutian citizenship and an honorary seat in the transitional parliament (same source). He administered the oath of office to President [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) (same source). In 2009 he supported the reconciliation initiative of [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) (same source). See [the transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Death and legacy

He died in Mecca on 8 March 2011, aged 71, and was buried there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Farouk)). On 20 November 2019 the Sheikh Omar Farouk Foundation for Da'wah and Development was launched in Mogadishu to collect his commentary and fatwas (same source).

## In short

A Somali scholar known for his recorded Quran commentary, who took part in the Arta peace conference in 2000 and died in Mecca in 2011.


---

# Shire Jama Ahmed (Shire Jaamac Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Shire Jama Ahmed (1936–1999) was a Somali linguist who designed the Latin-based Somali alphabet. The government adopted it as the official script on 21 October 1972. It is the alphabet Somalis use today, and it made possible the literacy campaign of 1974 and 1975.

## Who was he?

Shire Jama Ahmed was a Somali linguist and scholar. He developed the Latin-based script for the Somali language, which was adopted for nationwide use in 1972 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Shirreh Jama Ahmed"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). It is the script on this page's Somali version, on phones and in schools today.

## Early life and study

He was born in 1936 in the [Dhuusamareeb](/en/regions/galgaduud/) area of Galgaduud. He grew up in Dhuusamareeb and [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) ([Wikipedia, Shire Jama Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)). He began Quranic school at about five and studied there until 1945 (same source).

His family then moved to Mogadishu. There he learned Arabic, English and Italian. From 1951 to 1954 he studied Arabic and Islamic law at a college run by graduates of Al-Azhar. He graduated from the Jamal Abdinasir Secondary School in Mogadishu, then earned a degree from Al-Azhar in Cairo. He later studied in the Soviet Union and graduated in 1967 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)).

## Work before 1972

He founded the magazine *Iftiinka Aqoonta* ("The Light of Knowledge"). He was the first president of the Somali National Academy of Culture ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)). He printed books of Somali poems, proverbs and stories in his Latin script on his own press, such as *Gabayo, Maahmaah iyo Sheekooyin Yaryar* (1965) (same source).

## The script debate

For years Somalis could not agree how to write their language. Eighteen scripts came before the Somali Language Committee: eleven new inventions, four based on Arabic and three on Latin ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)). Other scholars backed other systems, among them [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/) with Osmanya and [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdirahman Sheikh Nur with the [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) script.

Shire's argument was practical. Printing presses and typewriters around the world, and already in Somalia, used Latin letters (same source). His alphabet uses no p, v or z. It uses letter pairs such as kh, dh and sh, and the letters c and x for two Somali sounds that English lacks (same source).

## Adoption and the literacy campaign

The government that took power in October 1969 chose his script. It became official in 1972, and civil servants had six months to learn to write Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)). In 1974 and 1975 young teachers and students went to the countryside to teach reading and writing ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed)). [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)'s President Julius Nyerere said, "The Somalis are practicing what we in Tanzania preach" (same source).

See [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## In short

A linguist who designed the Latin-based Somali alphabet adopted in 1972.


---

# Mohamed Siad Barre (Maxamed Siyaad Barre)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/siad-barre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Siad Barre (about 1919–1995) was the army commander who took power in the coup of 21 October 1969 and ruled Somalia until January 1991. His government wrote Somali down in 1972 and ran mass literacy campaigns. It also ruled through detention without trial, and its forces carried out mass killings, above all in the north in 1988. He died in exile in Lagos in 1995.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Siad Barre ruled Somalia for 21 years. He led the coup of 21 October 1969, six days after President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) was killed, and governed until he left Mogadishu on 26 January 1991 ([Wikipedia, Siad Barre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). The full story of his government is on [the Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/). This page is about the man.

## Early life and police career

His exact birth year is not known; estimates run from 1909 to 1921 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). Castagno gives 1919 and records his birthplace as [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), in Gedo. His herding parents died when he was ten ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Mohamed Siad Barre"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia records his official birthplace as Garbahaarey, also in Gedo, and his family as Mareehaan (Darood) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)).

He went to school in Luuq and Mogadishu. Under the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/) (1941 to 1950) he joined the police and rose to the highest rank open to a Somali. In the 1950s he studied for two years at the Carabinieri police school in Italy ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In 1960 he moved to the new national army, and in 1965 became its commander (same source).

## The coup of 1969

After President Shermarke was killed on 15 October 1969, the army took power on 21 October without a fight. Siad Barre led the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) that now ran the country ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He said the coup was a last resort to end corruption and clan politics and to move the country forward (same source).

## What his government built

His government chose the Latin script for Somali in 1972 and sent students and teachers to teach reading across the country ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/25.htm)). It ran large public works. Somalia joined the Arab League in 1974, and that year he chaired the Organisation of African Unity ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). See [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/).

## Harm on the record

A 1970 security law let the National Security Service hold people without trial ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). In January 1975 ten religious scholars were executed for opposing a new family law (same source). After the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) and a coup attempt in April 1978, the government narrowed its base and punished whole communities ([Library of Congress 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/29.htm)).

Wikipedia, drawing on many studies, records that government units destroyed water reservoirs used by Majeerteen and Isaaq herders, and that tens of thousands of Isaaq civilians were killed, with estimates from 50,000 to 200,000 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). In 1988 government forces bombed Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), and more than 300,000 people fled to Ethiopia ([Library of Congress 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm)). Calankii records this harm as the deeds of a government and its forces, never of any community.

## Fall and death

Armed fronts rose in every part of the country in the 1980s. He left Mogadishu on 26 January 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)). After two attempts to return, he went into exile in May 1991, first in Nairobi and then in Nigeria. He died of a heart attack in Lagos on 2 January 1995 and was buried at Garbahaarey (same source).

## How Somalis remember him

Views differ widely. Some remember the script, schools and national pride of the 1970s. Many others remember detention, the bombing of the north and the collapse that followed. Both are part of the record.


---

# Mahamoud Harbi (Maxamuud Xarbi Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mahamoud-harbi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mahamoud Harbi Farah was a Somali politician in French Somaliland, now Djibouti. He sat in the French National Assembly from 1956 to 1959 and was Vice President of the territory's first Government Council from 1957 to December 1958. He campaigned for the territory to join a united Somalia, lost power after the 1958 vote to stay with France, and was killed in a plane crash in 1960.

## Who was he?

Mahamoud Harbi Farah led the first elected local government of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) and argued that the territory should join the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). He was Vice President of the Government Council, the territory's top local post, from July 1957 to December 1958 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). He also represented the colony in the French National Assembly ([French National Assembly, Harbi Farah Mahamoud](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/4892)).

## Early life

He was born in Ali Sabieh. Sources differ on the year: Wikipedia and the Assembly's record card give 1921, while the Assembly's dictionary of deputies gives 1916 ([Wikipedia, Mahmoud Harbi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Harbi); [French National Assembly](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/4892)). Wikipedia records that he worked as a waiter in Djibouti, served as a volunteer sailor in the French navy in the Second World War, and received the Croix de Guerre (Wikipedia).

## Trade unionist and deputy

After 1946 he worked in the port of Djibouti and became president of the Union of Somali Workers (Wikipedia). He sat on the territory's Representative Council and lost a contest for the French upper house in May 1952 (French National Assembly). On 2 January 1956 he won the territory's seat in the National Assembly as an independent, with 2,119 of 4,143 votes. In Paris he sat with the UDSR group and, in June 1956, proposed that a parliamentary commission be sent to study the territory's future (same source).

## Government Council and the 1958 vote

He became Vice President of the new Government Council, the head of the local government, in July 1957 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). His rival was [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/). In the referendum of September 1958 the territory voted to stay with France; Harbi had campaigned for joining a united Somalia (Wikipedia). After the November 1958 elections Gouled replaced him at the head of the council in December 1958, and in April 1959 Gouled also took his seat in the National Assembly ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html); [French National Assembly](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/4892)).

## Exile and death

Harbi moved to Mogadishu and spoke on Somali radio in favour of uniting all Somalis (Wikipedia). He died in a plane crash in 1960. Wikipedia gives the date as 29 September 1960, when United Arab Airlines Flight 738 from Geneva to Cairo crashed into the sea off Italy with all 21 people on board; the French Assembly's dictionary says March 1960 (Wikipedia; French National Assembly).

## Offices held

- Member of the French National Assembly for French Somaliland, 1956 to 1959
- Vice President of the Government Council of French Somaliland, July 1957 to December 1958. See [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/).


---

# Ahmed Dini Ahmed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-dini-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Dini Ahmed (1932–2004) was an Afar politician and Djibouti's first Prime Minister after independence, from July 1977. He had led the local Government Council in 1959–60 and was speaker of the assembly in 1977. He resigned within months, later led an armed faction of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) during the 1990s civil war, and returned from exile in 2000.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Dini Ahmed was a leading Afar politician in Djibouti across five decades. World Statesmen lists him as Vice President of the Government Council of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) from May 1959 to June 1960 and as Prime Minister of independent Djibouti from 12 July 1977 to 5 February 1978 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). After leaving office he spent many years in opposition, including in armed rebellion ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Dini Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Dini_Ahmed)).

## Early life and colonial politics

He was born in 1932 near Mount Mabla in the north of the territory, and trained as a health technician (Wikipedia). He entered politics at 26. He was a member of the government of Ali Aref Bourhan in 1962–1964, helped found the Afar Democratic Union, and was minister of home affairs until 1971 (same source).

## Independence and Prime Minister

In 1975 he became spokesman, and general secretary, of the African People's League for Independence (LPAI), which was led by [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) (Wikipedia; [Wikipedia, Hassan Gouled Aptidon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Gouled_Aptidon)). He was President of the National Assembly from 13 May to 13 July 1977 (Wikipedia). On 12 July 1977 he became the first Prime Minister of the new republic ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)), also in charge of regional planning (Wikipedia). Wikipedia records that he resigned in December 1977, while World Statesmen dates the end of his term to 5 February 1978. Wikipedia links the resignation to a bombing in the capital that was followed by a ban on an opposition party, and to disagreements with President Gouled (Wikipedia).

## Opposition and the civil war

When the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), an Afar armed group, began fighting the government in 1991, he became one of its leaders. In 1994 the movement split: a moderate faction made peace with the government in December 1994, while Dini led the faction that continued to fight. Its congress in September 1994 elected him head of its executive committee (Wikipedia). After his faction signed a reconciliation agreement with the government in February 2000, he returned to Djibouti from Yemen on 29 March 2000, after nine years in exile (same source).

## Later life

In the January 2003 parliamentary election he headed the list of the opposition Union for a Democratic Alternative in the Djibouti district. The coalition won no seats (Wikipedia). He died on 12 September 2004 at a French military hospital in Djibouti (same source).

## Offices held

- Vice President of the Government Council of French Somaliland, May 1959 to June 1960
- Minister of Home Affairs, until 1971
- President of the National Assembly of Djibouti, May to July 1977
- Prime Minister of Djibouti, 12 July 1977 to 5 February 1978 (World Statesmen dates). See [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/).


---

# Barkat Gourad Hamadou

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/barkat-gourad-hamadou/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Barkat Gourad Hamadou (1930–2018) was Prime Minister of Djibouti from 2 October 1978 to 7 March 2001, more than 22 years, the longest of anyone in the post. An Afar politician, he had been a French senator for the territory from 1965 to 1980 and a minister in the colonial government. He resigned for health reasons in 2001 and later served as ambassador to the Holy See.

## Who was he?

Barkat Gourad Hamadou was Djibouti's Prime Minister for more than two decades, from 2 October 1978 to 7 March 2001 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). He served under both of the country's presidents, [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) and [Ismaïl Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/). Before independence he spent fifteen years in the French Senate ([French Senate, Hamadou Barkat-Gourad](https://www.senat.fr/senateur/barkat_gourat_hamadou58515k.html)).

## Early life and colonial politics

He was born on 1 January 1930 at Tew'o, in the Dikhil region, and worked as a mechanic before going into politics ([French Senate](https://www.senat.fr/senateur/barkat_gourat_hamadou58515k.html)). In June 1957 he was elected to the Territorial Assembly for Dikhil and Ali Sabieh. He campaigned for the territory to stay with France in the referendum of September 1958, and kept his assembly seat in 1958, 1963 and 1967 (same source). As a member of the Afar Democratic Union he was minister of education, sport and youth from June 1960 to November 1963, and then minister of public health until September 1965, in the government led by Ali Aref Bourhan (same source).

## French senator, 1965 to 1980

On 26 September 1965 he won the territory's seat in the French Senate, defeating Abdallah Mohamed Kamil. He was re-elected on 22 September 1974 and sat with the Gaullist groups until 1980 ([French Senate](https://www.senat.fr/senateur/barkat_gourat_hamadou58515k.html)). In December 1966 he backed the bill for the 1967 referendum on the territory's future and said he hoped his compatriots would choose to remain in the French Republic (same source).

## Prime Minister, 1978 to 2001

After independence in June 1977 he became minister of health. President Gouled appointed him Prime Minister on 30 September 1978, and his first government was formed on 2 October 1978 ([Wikipedia, Barkat Gourad Hamadou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkat_Gourad_Hamadou)). He was reappointed after the elections of 1992 and 1997. Wikipedia records that he played an important part in the 1994 peace agreement with the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), the Afar rebel group, and that FRUD members joined his government in June 1995 (same source). He stayed on when Guelleh succeeded Gouled in May 1999.

In March 2000 he was taken to hospital with heart trouble and was treated in Paris until October 2000. He resigned on 6 February 2001 because of his health, and [Dileita Mohamed Dileita](/en/people/dileita-mohamed-dileita/) replaced him on 7 March 2001 (Wikipedia; [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)).

## Later life

In December 2001 he became Djibouti's ambassador to the Holy See (Wikipedia). He died in Paris on 18 March 2018, aged 88 ([French Senate](https://www.senat.fr/senateur/barkat_gourat_hamadou58515k.html)).

## Offices held

- Member of the Territorial Assembly of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), 1957 to about 1967
- Minister of education, then of public health, in the territorial government, 1960 to 1965
- French senator for French Somaliland and the Territory of the Afars and the Issas, 1965 to 1980
- Prime Minister of Djibouti, 2 October 1978 to 7 March 2001. See [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/).


---

# Dileita Mohamed Dileita

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/dileita-mohamed-dileita/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dileita Mohamed Dileita (born 1959) was Prime Minister of Djibouti from 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013, under President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. A diplomat by training, he had been ambassador to Ethiopia and helped negotiate the 2000 agreement with a faction of the Afar rebel group FRUD. He later served as the African Union's special envoy for Libya and, according to Wikipedia, became President of the National Assembly in 2023.

## Who is he?

Dileita Mohamed Dileita is a Djiboutian politician and diplomat. He was Prime Minister from 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013 ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)). This page covers his public offices.

## Diplomatic career

He was born on 12 March 1959 in Tadjoura. He studied in Cairo and Reims and at a vocational centre in Médéa, Algeria, graduating in 1981 ([Wikipedia, Dileita Mohamed Dileita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dileita_Mohamed_Dileita)). He then worked in the protocol department of the presidency. In 1990 he became the second-ranking diplomat at Djibouti's embassy in France, and in 1997 ambassador to Ethiopia, where he also represented Djibouti at the Organization of African Unity (same source). Wikipedia records that he assisted the talks that ended the 1998–2000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In December 1999 he was given the task of negotiating with a faction of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), the Afar rebel group. The talks led to an agreement in February 2000 (Wikipedia). That agreement allowed the faction's leader, the former Prime Minister [Ahmed Dini Ahmed](/en/people/ahmed-dini-ahmed/), to return from exile (same source; [Wikipedia, Ahmed Dini Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Dini_Ahmed)). In mid-2000 he became ambassador to Uganda.

## Prime Minister, 2001 to 2013

When [Barkat Gourad Hamadou](/en/people/barkat-gourad-hamadou/) resigned for health reasons, President Guelleh appointed Dileita on 4 March 2001, and he took office on 7 March. He had not served as a minister before (Wikipedia). In July 2003 he succeeded Barkat as vice-president of the ruling People's Rally for Progress (RPP), and he led the governing coalition, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), in the 2003 and 2008 parliamentary elections (same source).

He was reappointed after each of Guelleh's re-elections, in May 2005 and May 2011, and again after the 2008 election (Wikipedia). In September 2012 Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed replaced him as RPP vice-president, and Kamil succeeded him as Prime Minister in 2013 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)).

## Later roles

On 11 June 2014 the African Union Commission named him its Special Envoy for Libya, and in March 2016 he led the African Union's observer mission for the presidential election in the Republic of the Congo (Wikipedia). Wikipedia records that he was elected President of the National Assembly of Djibouti on 5 March 2023.

## Offices held

- Ambassador to Ethiopia, from 1997; ambassador to Uganda, from 2000
- Prime Minister of Djibouti, 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013. See [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/).
- African Union Special Envoy for Libya, from 2014
- President of the National Assembly of Djibouti, from March 2023 (Wikipedia)


---

# Ahmed Abdi Godane (Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Abdi Godane (1977–2014) led al-Shabaab from about December 2007 until he was killed in a US air strike on 1 September 2014. Born in Hargeisa, he studied in Sudan and Pakistan and spent time in Afghanistan. Under him al-Shabaab held most of south-central Somalia, formally joined al-Qaeda in February 2012, and carried out the 2013 Westgate attack in Nairobi. In 2013 he moved against rivals inside the movement.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Abdi Godane was the second emir of [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and the one who led it longest before 2014. This page records his public role from research sources. How al-Shabaab is organised is described in [Al-Shabaab: how it is organised, and who has led it](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## Early life

Christopher Anzalone, writing in West Point's *CTC Sentinel*, records that Godane was born in July 1977 in Hargeisa and attended the Umar bin al-Khattab Islamic school there. He won scholarships to study in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), went to Afghanistan in 1998, and returned in 2001. In the 1990s he worked for the al-Barakaat money-transfer company in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Christopher Anzalone, *CTC Sentinel*, September 2014](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)). Wikipedia gives his birth date as 10 July 1977 ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Abdi Godane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Godane)).

Anzalone records that he was suspected of involvement, with Aden Hashi Ayro, in killings of foreign nationals in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in 2003–2004 ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)). See [Aden Hashi Ayro](/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/).

## The Islamic Courts and the rise of al-Shabaab

In mid-2006 he became secretary-general of the executive council of the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/). After Ethiopia's army entered Somalia in December 2006 he helped reorganise al-Shabaab, and he became its emir in about December 2007, though the exact date is debated ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)).

Anzalone describes 2008–2010 as the movement's "golden age": it expanded fast, set up regional governors, enforced its version of sharia, and built a media operation (same source).

## Al-Qaeda

Godane sought recognition from al-Qaeda for years. A formal affiliation was announced on 9 February 2012 ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)). In June 2012 the US offered a reward of up to US$7 million for information on him (same source).

## The 2013 purge

Al-Shabaab's offensives on Mogadishu from August 2010 did not bring lasting gains, and disputes grew inside the movement. Anzalone records that Godane filled the shura with loyalists and later stopped its meetings. In June 2013 the Amniyat arrested Ibrahim al-Afghani and Mu'allim Burhan, who were then killed; in September 2013 it killed the American Omar Hammami and the Briton Usama al-Britani ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)). [Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/) fled to his home district after challenging Godane at [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/) ([Wikipedia, Mukhtar Robow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)).

## Westgate, 2013

In September 2013 al-Shabaab attacked the Westgate mall in Nairobi; Stanford's Mapping Militants project records about 68 killed. Godane claimed it as retaliation for Kenya's 2011 military entry into Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Godane); [Mapping Militant Organizations](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## Death

On the night of 1 September 2014 a US air strike hit two vehicles near Sablale in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). The US confirmed his death on 5 September; al-Shabaab named [Ahmed Diriye](/en/people/ahmed-diriye/) as his successor within a week ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)).

## Sources differ

- **When he became emir.** December 2007 (most accounts) or 2008.
- **How he is described.** Anzalone calls him "a charismatic and multifaceted leader" while recording that he used the Amniyat against rivals inside the movement ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Christopher Anzalone, "The life and death of al-Shabab leader Ahmed Godane", *CTC Sentinel* 7:9 (2014): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/).


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# Ali Mahdi Muhammad (Cali Mahdi Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Mahdi Muhammad (1939–2021) was a Mogadishu businessman who was named interim President of Somalia on 26 January 1991, the day Siad Barre's government fell. The Djibouti conference of 1991 confirmed him, but his authority covered only part of the capital. He died of COVID-19 in Nairobi on 10 March 2021 and was given a state funeral in Mogadishu.

## Who was he?

Ali Mahdi Muhammad was a Somali businessman and politician. He was named interim President of Somalia on 26 January 1991, as [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government fell ([Wikipedia, Ali Mahdi Muhammad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). He kept the title through the 1990s, but in practice his authority reached only parts of Mogadishu (same source).

## Early life and business

He was born in 1939 in Jowhar, a farming town in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). His family is Abgaal (Hawiye) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). He worked as an independent businessman in Mogadishu. He first ran for a seat in parliament in Mogadishu in 1968 (same source).

## The United Somali Congress

In the late 1980s armed fronts rose against the government. He backed the United Somali Congress (USC), the front based among the Hawiye ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). The USC was split. In June 1990 Ali Mahdi and the group known as USC-Rome rejected the election of General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid as its chairman (same source).

When USC forces entered Mogadishu and Siad Barre left on 26 January 1991, Ali Mahdi was named interim President. Aidid's side did not accept this, and fighting between the two groups destroyed large parts of the capital ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). See [collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Recognition and peace talks

A conference held in Djibouti in stages in 1991 confirmed him as President. Djibouti, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Italy recognised his government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). The Cairo Agreement of December 1997 named him President again (same source). In 2000 the Arta conference in Djibouti chose [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) as the new President, and Ali Mahdi's term ended (same source).

## Later years and death

In early March 2021 he fell ill in Mogadishu and was flown to Nairobi. He died at the Nairobi Hospital on 10 March 2021; his son said the cause was COVID-19 ([The EastAfrican, March 2021](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/former-somali-president-dies-3318962)). Just before his death he had urged Somali leaders to hold peaceful elections (same source).

The government lowered flags for three days. A state funeral was held in Mogadishu on 12 March 2021 ([Africanews, 13 March 2021](https://www.africanews.com/2021/03/13/state-funeral-held-for-ex-somali-president-ali-mahdi-mohamed)).

## In short

Interim President of Somalia named in 1991 by the Manifesto group, who later took part in peace talks until his death in 2021.


---

# Ali Maow Maalin (Cali Maow Macallin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-maow-maalin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Maow Maalin (1954–2013) was a hospital cook and health worker from Merca who was the last person in the world known to have caught naturally occurring smallpox, in October 1977. He recovered, and none of his contacts fell ill. The WHO declared smallpox eradicated in 1979. He later worked for years as a WHO polio vaccinator, and died of malaria in July 2013 during a polio campaign.

## Who was he?

Ali Maow Maalin was a Somali hospital cook and health worker from [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([Wikipedia, Ali Maow Maalin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin)). He was the last person known to have caught naturally occurring smallpox, of the *Variola minor* type (same source). See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Merca in 1954 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin)). He worked as a hospital cook and sometimes as a vaccinator for a WHO smallpox team (same source). Sources differ on his vaccination: a CDC epidemiologist said the vaccine had not taken, while Maalin said in 2007 that he had never been vaccinated because "it looked like the shot hurt" (same source).

## The last case, 1977

On 12 October 1977 two children with smallpox were found near Kurtunawarey, about 90 km from Merca ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin)). Maalin guided the vehicle that took them to an isolation camp, and is believed to have caught the disease then (same source). He fell ill on 22 October and was first thought to have chickenpox (same source). On 30 October a colleague reported him and he was moved to isolation (same source).

The WHO team traced 161 contacts and kept them under watch for six weeks; none fell ill ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin)). On 17 April 1978 the WHO's Nairobi office wrote: "Search complete. No cases discovered. Ali Maow Maalin is the world's last known smallpox case" (same source). On 26 October 1979 the WHO declared smallpox eradicated worldwide (same source).

## Polio work

He was one of about 10,000 volunteers in the campaign that ended polio in Somalia by 2008 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin)). He said: "Somalia was the last country with smallpox. I wanted to help ensure that we would not be the last place with polio too" (same source). He worked for the WHO as a local coordinator, travelling across Somalia to vaccinate children (same source).

After polio returned to Somalia in 2013, he went back to vaccinating in the Merca district (same source). He fell ill and died of malaria on 22 July 2013 (same source).

## In short

A Merca health worker who was the world's last natural smallpox case in 1977 and later spent years vaccinating children against polio.


---

# Elman Ali Ahmed (Cilmi Cali Axmed): Mogadishu businessman and peace worker

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Elman Ali Ahmed (Cilmi Cali Axmed) was a Mogadishu businessman and peace activist. He ran a vehicle repair and recovery business, a football club and a technical training institute for young fighters, and with his wife Fartuun Adan founded what became the Elman Peace Centre in 1990. He was shot dead near his home in south Mogadishu on 9 March 1996.

## Who was he?

Elman Ali Ahmed (Somali: Cilmi Cali Axmed) was a Somali businessman and social activist based in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed)). The New York Times, in a report carried by Canada's National Post, called him "a pioneering peace activist who was gunned down in Mogadishu in 1996" ([National Post, 21 November 2019](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/may-god-have-mercy-on-her-somali-canadian-aid-worker-shot-dead-in-mogadishu-compound)). He was known as the "Somali father of peace" ([Wikipedia, Fartuun Adan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)).

## Business

He owned a vehicle repair and recovery service in Mogadishu. He also managed Elman FC, a football team in the city ([Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed)). He ran a technical training institute where young fighters could learn a trade during the worst years of the civil war, and he put money into children's relief and into repairing roads and electricity supplies in the community (same source).

## Peace work

In 1990 he and his wife, [Fartuun Adan](/en/people/fartuun-adan/), began the work that became Elman Peace. Their early programme, "Drop the Gun, Pick Up the Pen", helped thousands of young people leave clan militias, disarm and go back to school or work ([Right Livelihood, Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/fartuun-adan-and-ilwad-elman/)). He was politically unaligned and publicly pressed local leaders to end the fighting ([Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed)).

## Death

After receiving death threats he had planned to move abroad. On **9 March 1996** he was shot dead near the family home in south Mogadishu, an area then controlled by the faction of [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/). His killing was said to be political; a representative of Aidid denied involvement and condemned the murder ([Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed), citing Amnesty International, 1996). Amnesty International said at the time that his murder "sent a chilling message to Somalis desirous of peace and normality — that no one is safe" ([National Post](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/may-god-have-mercy-on-her-somali-canadian-aid-worker-shot-dead-in-mogadishu-compound)).

## Family and legacy

He and Fartuun Adan had four daughters: Almaas, [Ilwad](/en/people/ilwad-elman/), Iman and Gesia ([Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed)). The family settled in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), Canada, and began returning to Somalia from 2006, when Fartuun Adan went back to continue Elman Peace ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/fartuun-adan-and-ilwad-elman/); [Wikipedia, Fartuun Adan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan)). The Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre in Mogadishu carries his name; Fartuun Adan is its executive director and Ilwad Elman works with her ([Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed)). Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman received the Right Livelihood Award in 2022 ([Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/fartuun-adan-and-ilwad-elman/)).

His daughter Iman Elman became a commander in the [Somali Armed Forces](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/). His daughter [Almaas Elman](/en/people/almaas-elman/), an aid worker who had returned from Canada, was shot dead inside a car at the Halane compound next to Mogadishu airport on 20 November 2019 ([National Post](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/may-god-have-mercy-on-her-somali-canadian-aid-worker-shot-dead-in-mogadishu-compound)).

## Sources disagree

- **Where the family was in 1996.** Wikipedia's page on Fartuun Adan says she left Somalia with her four daughters after her husband was killed in 1996. The Right Livelihood Foundation says Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman were already in asylum in Canada when he was killed. The National Post says the family fled to Canada after the war began in the early 1990s ([Wikipedia, Fartuun Adan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartuun_Adan); [Right Livelihood](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/fartuun-adan-and-ilwad-elman/); [National Post](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/may-god-have-mercy-on-her-somali-canadian-aid-worker-shot-dead-in-mogadishu-compound)).
- **When Elman Peace began.** The Right Livelihood Foundation and the National Post date it to 1990. Wikipedia's page on him describes the centre as founded by his wife and children in his honour, after his death (same sources; [Wikipedia, Elman Ali Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elman_Ali_Ahmed)).


---

# Musa Haji Ismail Galaal (Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/musa-galaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Musa Haji Ismail Galaal (1917–1980) was a Somali scholar of language, poetry, customs and traditional science from Burao. He devised an Arabic-based Somali script in the 1950s, led the 1960 committee on how to write Somali, and helped create the Latin alphabet adopted in 1972. He recorded the poems of Salaan Carrabey and wrote on Somali astronomy and weather lore.

## Who was he?

Musa Haji Ismail Galaal was a Somali scholar, writer, poet and historian. Castagno's dictionary calls him "an authority on Somali customs, language, and literature" ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Musa Galaal"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He also studied Somali astronomy and weather lore ([Wikipedia, Musa Haji Ismail Galal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)).

## Early life and career

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in 1917. His family is Habar Jeclo (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). In the early 1940s he served in the army under the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/), reaching the highest rank open to a Somali. From 1946 he worked in the protectorate's education department, and spent four years at the School of Oriental and African Studies in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## A script of his own

In the 1950s he devised a new way to write Somali in Arabic letters. He added new symbols for Somali vowels, unlike any existing Arabic letter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis judged it the most accurate Arabic script made for Somali. Many felt it went too far from Arabic, and it was not adopted (same source).

## The 1960 committee and the Latin alphabet

In 1960 he headed a government committee on the best way to write Somali. It recommended a Latin-based system ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The choice was only made in October 1972 (same source). He worked on the alphabet with the British scholar B. W. Andrzejewski and with [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). See [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## Poetry and Somali science

He recorded and wrote down a great deal of Somali poetry, including the poems of [Salaan Carrabey](/en/people/salaan-carrabey/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). He wrote two major works on the traditional Somali calendar, stars and weather, still seen as classics of Somali studies (same source). Castagno lists his writing on literature, language, traditional medicine and weather lore ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In 1974 he worked in the Ministry of Higher Education (same source).

## His legacy

He died in 1980. The Somali Studies Association gives the Musa Galaal Award to scholars whose work on Somali history and culture stands out ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)).

## In short

A scholar who recorded Somali poetry and traditional knowledge and worked on the Somali alphabet.


---

# Warsan Shire (Warsan Shire)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/warsan-shire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Warsan Shire (born 1988 in Kenya to Somali parents) is a British Somali poet raised in London. She was London's first Young Poet Laureate, won the first Brunel African Poetry Prize in 2013, and her poems were used in Beyoncé's film Lemonade (2016). Her first full collection, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, came out in 2022.

## Who is she?

Warsan Shire is a Somali-British poet, writer and teacher ([Wikipedia, Warsan Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). The Poetry Foundation notes she was born in Nairobi, raised in London, and was the first Young Poet Laureate of London ([Poetry Foundation, Warsan Shire](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire)).

## Early life

She was born on 1 August 1988 in Kenya to Somali parents, and came to the United Kingdom with her family at the age of one ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She studied creative writing at London Metropolitan University and graduated in 2010 (same source).

## Her poems

She writes for and about people whose voices are often not heard, such as refugees and migrants ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). Her lines "No one leaves home unless / home is the mouth of a shark", from the poem "Home", have been called "a rallying call for refugees and their advocates" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She has said she works "through memory, my memories and other people's memories, trying to essentially just make sense of stuff" (same source).

Her main books are:
- **Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth** (2011), a short collection ([Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire))
- **Her Blue Body** (2015), a limited pamphlet (same source)
- **[Bless the Daughter](/en/books/bless-the-daughter-shire/) Raised by a Voice in Her Head** (2022), her first full-length collection ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire))

She has read her poems in Britain, Italy, Germany, North America, South Africa and Kenya. Her work appears in collections such as *Ten: The New Wave* (2014) and *New Daughters of Africa* (2019) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She is poetry editor at *Spook* magazine and teaches poetry workshops.

Her poems have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Estonian, among others (same source).

## Prizes and Lemonade

In 2013 she won the first Brunel University African Poetry Prize ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She was chosen as London's first Young Poet Laureate ([Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire)).

Beyoncé used her poetry in the film *Lemonade* (2016), after reading her piece "For Women Who Are Difficult to Love". Beyoncé used her work again in *Black Is King* (2020) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)).

## In short

A poet writing in English about Somali migration and families. See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).


---

# Ahmed Diriye (Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-diriye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Diriye, also known as Ahmad Umar or Abu Ubaidah, has led al-Shabaab since September 2014, after Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed. Born in about 1972, he was in al-Itihaad al-Islamiya and the Islamic Courts, and in al-Shabaab served as a governor of Bay and Bakool and as a founder of its intelligence wing, the Amniyat. The US designated him in 2015 and offers a reward for information on him.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Diriye is the third emir of [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and has led it longer than anyone before him. This page records his public role from research and government sources. How al-Shabaab is organised is described in [Al-Shabaab: how it is organised, and who has led it](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## Background

Wikipedia gives his birth as 1972 in Mustahil, in Ethiopia's Somali region, and, citing *Africa Confidential*, describes him as a cousin of his predecessor ([Wikipedia, Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Umar_Abu_Ubaidah)). He was a member of [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) in 1996, then an officer of the Islamic Courts Union and head of a Qur'an school in Kismayo (same source).

## Posts in al-Shabaab before 2014

- Deputy governor of Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), 2008.
- Governor of Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), appointed 29 June 2009.
- Military commander of Bay, Bakool and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), January 2012.
- Senior adviser to Godane on internal affairs by 2013.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Umar_Abu_Ubaidah))

Wikipedia describes him as a founder of the Amniyat, al-Shabaab's intelligence wing (same source). Christopher Anzalone wrote in 2014 that he was reported to have played "an instrumental role" in the 2013 purge of Godane's critics ([Christopher Anzalone, *CTC Sentinel*, September 2014](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)).

## Emir since 2014

Al-Shabaab named him leader on 6 September 2014, days after [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/) was killed in a US strike ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Umar_Abu_Ubaidah), citing the Associated Press). The Council on Foreign Relations records that he has led it since then ([Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).

As leader he reached out to commanders who had fallen out with Godane, released some from prison, and kept al-Shabaab with al-Qaeda when the Islamic State pressed it to switch sides (Wikipedia). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that he was reported ill in 2018, that he temporarily passed some powers to his deputy in 2020, and that he was still reported as leader in 2025 ([Mapping Militant Organizations](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

He first appeared publicly as leader in a 2019 video. In November 2024 he released a 45-minute speech opposing Ethiopia's bid for sea access and calling for the removal of President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) (Wikipedia, citing Mareeg).

## Designations

The US State Department designated him on 21 April 2015, together with his deputy Mahad Karate ([US State Department, 2015, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170203085034/https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/266532.htm)). The US Rewards for Justice programme lists him as wanted ([Rewards for Justice](https://rewardsforjustice.net/terrorist-rewards/abu-ubaidah-direye/)).

## Sources differ

- **Birth year and place.** Given as about 1972; some reports say only that he is in his fifties.
- **Health.** Reports since 2018 have described him as ill. Al-Shabaab has made no public statement on his health.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Jacob Zenn, "Al-Shabaab leader Abu Ubaidah reemerges from the shadows", Jamestown Foundation (2023): [brief](https://jamestown.org/brief/al-shabaab-leader-abu-ubaidah-reemerges-from-the-shadows/).
- US Rewards for Justice, "Abu Ubaidah (Direye)": [page](https://rewardsforjustice.net/terrorist-rewards/abu-ubaidah-direye/).


---

# Ahmed Ibrahim Awale (Axmed Ibraahim Cawaale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-ibrahim-awale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Ibrahim Awale is a Somali environmentalist, botanist and author from Adadlay, east of Hargeisa. He chairs the Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation and the organisation Candlelight, and lectures at the University of Hargeisa. He described the aloe species Aloe sanguinalis in 2014, and a scorpion, Pandinurus awalei, was named after him in 2020.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Ibrahim Awale is a Somali environmentalist and author with several decades of experience ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Ibrahim Awale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ibrahim_Awale)). He chairs the Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation and Candlelight for Environment, Education and Health (same source). He lectures on environmental science at the [University of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/main-universities/) (same source).

## Early life

He was born in Adadlay, a village 95 km east of Hargeisa, near the mountain Gaan Libah ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ibrahim_Awale)). He studied at the Somali National University (same source). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Botany

In 2014 he found a new aloe species, *Aloe sanguinalis*, growing wild near Alala Adka ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ibrahim_Awale)). The botanical author abbreviation "Awale" refers to him (same source). In March 2024 he helped discover and describe another species, *Aloe kaysei* (same source). In 2020 a scorpion species, *Pandinurus awalei*, was named after him (same source).

## Writing

He has written books in English on the archaeology and natural history of Somaliland, and works in Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ibrahim_Awale)). They include *Environment in Crisis: Selected Essays on the Somali Environment* (same source).

## In short

A Hargeisa environmentalist and botanist who has described new aloe species and leads the Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation.


---

# Mukhtar Robow (Abu Mansur)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mukhtar-robow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mukhtar Robow (born 1969, Huddur) was a co-founder, spokesman and deputy leader of al-Shabaab. He broke with its leader Ahmed Godane in 2013, surrendered to the government in August 2017 and denounced the group. In December 2018 he was arrested while standing for president of South West State. In August 2022 he became federal minister of endowments and religious affairs, the only former senior al-Shabaab leader to hold a cabinet post.

## Who is he?

Mukhtar Robow is one of the few people to have held senior posts both in [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and in the federal government. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Early life

Wikipedia records that he was born on 10 October 1969 in Huddur, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), and belongs to the Leysan clan of the Rahanweyn. He studied Islamic law at the University of Khartoum, worked for the al-Haramain Foundation, and fought with [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) until 1996. In 2000 he went to Afghanistan ([Wikipedia, Mukhtar Robow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow), citing the US National Counterterrorism Center).

## In al-Shabaab, 2006–2013

He joined the Islamic Courts Union and then al-Shabaab, becoming its spokesman during the insurgency from 2007 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)). Al Jazeera describes him as a co-founder, spokesman and deputy leader, on whom the US offered a US$5 million reward ([Al Jazeera, 5 August 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/5/from-al-shabab-to-the-cabinet-somalias-move-fuels-debate)). Christopher Anzalone records that he and [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/) disagreed over strategy from 2008 ([CTC Sentinel, September 2014](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)).

In June 2013 he challenged Godane at [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/); after two leading members were killed, he fled to his home district, and Godane's forces moved against his supporters that August ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)).

## Surrender, 2017

On 23 June 2017 the US removed him from its Rewards for Justice list. On 13 August 2017 he surrendered to the government and, at a press conference in Mogadishu, denounced al-Shabaab and urged its members to leave ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow), citing Al Jazeera, CNN and Reuters).

## The South West election and arrest, 2018

In 2018 he stood for president of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/). The federal security ministry said he was ineligible; the state electoral commission cleared him. On 13 December 2018 he was arrested by Ethiopian AU troops and flown to Mogadishu. Wikipedia, citing Reuters and France 24, records that at least 12 people were killed in the unrest in Baidoa that followed. The UN envoy, Nicholas Haysom, questioned the legal basis for the arrest, and Somalia ordered him to leave the country ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)). Al Jazeera reports that Robow was then held under house arrest for about three years ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/5/from-al-shabab-to-the-cabinet-somalias-move-fuels-debate)).

## Minister, 2022

On 2 August 2022 Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) named him minister of endowments and religious affairs. Al Jazeera reported divided views. Zakaria Yusuf of the International Crisis Group said he could build a "counter-narrative" to al-Shabaab; [Afyare Elmi](/en/books/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi/) of the Heritage Institute said the appointment showed the government wanted to fight al-Shabaab on ideas, while concerns about impunity were valid ([Al Jazeera, 5 August 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/5/from-al-shabab-to-the-cabinet-somalias-move-fuels-debate)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "From al-Shabab to the cabinet: Somalia's move fuels debate" (2022): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/5/from-al-shabab-to-the-cabinet-somalias-move-fuels-debate).
- Al Jazeera, "Al-Shabab's Mukhtar Robow surrenders to government" (2017): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/8/13/al-shababs-mukhtar-robow-surrenders-to-government).


---

# Hassan Dahir Aweys

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Dahir Aweys (born 1935, Dhusamareb) was an army colonel who fought in the 1977–78 Ogaden war and later led Islamist movements: he was a military commander of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union's shura in 2006, head of the Asmara wing of the ARS, chairman of Hizbul Islam (2009–2010) and then part of al-Shabaab until he left in 2012–2013. He was taken into government custody in June 2013. The US designated him in 2001.

## Who is he?

Hassan Dahir Aweys took part in almost every major Islamist movement in Somalia from 1991 to 2013. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Army officer

Wikipedia records that he was born in 1935 in Dhusamareb, [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/). He graduated from the [General Daud](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) military academy in 1972, became a colonel in the national army and was decorated for bravery in the 1977–78 [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) ([Wikipedia, Hassan Dahir Aweys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Dahir_Aweys)).

## Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, 1991–1997

He joined [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) in 1991 and became its vice-chairman and military commander. On 7 November 2001 the US named him under its anti-terrorism financing order; he has denied links to al-Qaeda ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Dahir_Aweys)).

## The Islamic Courts, 2006

He helped set up sharia courts in Mogadishu, and on 24 June 2006 became chairman of the 90-member shura of the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/). He left Mogadishu on 27 December 2006, the day before Ethiopian forces entered ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Dahir_Aweys), citing Voice of America). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that he opposed the tactics of the courts' militia commander [Aden Hashi Ayro](/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/) ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## The ARS and Hizbul Islam, 2007–2010

From 2007 he led the Asmara-based wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia. In early 2009 this wing joined three other groups to form [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/), which rejected the new government of [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/). He became its chairman on 26 May 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Dahir_Aweys); [Wikipedia, Hizbul Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)).

## In al-Shabaab, 2010–2013

Hizbul Islam merged into [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) on 20 December 2010. Mapping Militants describes him as having been called the movement's spiritual leader. He opposed al-Shabaab's formal link with al-Qaeda at the 2012 Baidabo conference and backed [Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/) against [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/) ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab); [Wikipedia, Al-Shabaab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group))).

## Custody, 2013

In June 2013 he left al-Shabaab territory and was taken into custody by government forces. *The Economist* reported concern that his arrest after promised talks could deepen divisions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Dahir_Aweys), citing Reuters, 26 June 2013, and *The Economist*, 6 July 2013). Mapping Militants records that he was arrested in 2013 and placed under house arrest in 2014 ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## Sources differ

- **When he joined al-Itihaad.** 1991 (Wikipedia's text) or 1989 (its summary box).
- **His views.** Some sources describe him as a nationalist Islamist; the US treated him as a supporter of terrorism.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University, "Al Shabaab": [profile](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab).
- International Crisis Group, *Somalia's Islamists* (2005): [PDF](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/somalia-s-islamists.pdf).


---

# Aden Hashi Ayro (Aadan Xaashi Cayroow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aden Hashi Farah Ayro (about 1976–2008) was the first military leader of al-Shabaab. After training in Afghanistan in the 1990s and time in al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, he led the militia that helped the Islamic Courts take Mogadishu in June 2006 and then commanded all the courts' forces. Al-Qaeda named him its top figure in Somalia in 2007. He was killed with others in a US air strike on his house in Dhusamareb on 1 May 2008.

## Who was he?

Aden Hashi Ayro led the armed youth wing of the Islamic Courts that became [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Background

Wikipedia gives his birth as about 1976 and records that he trained in Afghanistan in the 1990s ([Wikipedia, Aden Hashi Farah Ayro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Hashi_Farah_Ayro)). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that he was in [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) from 1991 to 1997 and then joined the courts ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## The network of 2003–2005

Wikipedia, citing the International Crisis Group, records that from 2003 he built a network of al-Itihaad veterans that the ICG linked to the killings of four foreign aid workers and at least ten Somali former military and police officers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Hashi_Farah_Ayro)). Christopher Anzalone notes that Ahmed Abdi Godane was suspected of taking part in the killings of foreigners in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in 2003–2004 alongside him ([CTC Sentinel, September 2014](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-life-and-death-of-al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane/)). In July 2004 a raid on a compound he owned in Mogadishu killed his brother-in-law (Wikipedia).

## The Islamic Courts, 2006

In June 2006 al-Shabaab fighters helped the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) take Mogadishu, and Ayro became military chief of all the courts' forces ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Hashi_Farah_Ayro)). Mapping Militants records a split inside the courts between Hassan Dahir Aweys, seen as a nationalist, and Ayro, seen as a global jihadist ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). See [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/).

## 2007 and death

On 8 January 2007 a US gunship attack reportedly killed eight fighters linked to him; he was thought wounded. In March 2007 al-Qaeda named him its leading figure in Somalia. In August 2007 he returned briefly to Mogadishu but was asked to leave by clan elders. In December 2007 [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/) was named al-Shabaab's emir ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Hashi_Farah_Ayro)).

On 1 May 2008 a US air strike on his house in Dhusamareb killed him and [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Muhyadin Omar, with others ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Hashi_Farah_Ayro), citing BBC News and the *Washington Post*; [Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## Sources differ

- **His title.** Some sources call him al-Shabaab's first emir; Wikipedia's al-Shabaab article lists Ismail Arale as emir in 2006–2007, with Ayro as military commander.
- **Birth year.** Given as about 1976; exact date unknown.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *CTC Sentinel*, "Somalia's al-Shabab reconstitutes fighting force" (2008): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalias-al-shabab-reconstitutes-fighting-force/).
- Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University, "Al Shabaab": [profile](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab).


---

# Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki (about 1944–2015) was a veteran of the Ogaden fighting of the 1960s and 1970s and a leader in al-Itihaad al-Islamiya. He founded the Ras Kamboni Brigade, was a military leader of the Islamic Courts in 2006, and in February 2010 merged his faction into al-Shabaab. The US designated him in 2004. He died of illness in Middle Juba on 27 May 2015.

## In short

Hassan al-Turki took part in armed movements for about fifty years, from the Ogaden revolt of the 1960s to [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Ogaden and al-Itihaad

Wikipedia records that he was born in about 1944 in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia and belonged to the Reer Abdille, Ogaden, Darod. He fought in the 1963–65 Ogaden revolt, was in the [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) and fought in the 1977–78 [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) ([Wikipedia, Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Abdullah_Hersi_al-Turki)). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that he studied in Saudi Arabia ([Garowe Online, 28 May 2015](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-al-shabaabs-alturki-passes-away-at-73)). He was a leader of [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) (Wikipedia).

## Designation, 2004

On 3 June 2004 the US State Department designated him under Executive Order 13224. In a 2007 interview with Al Jazeera Arabic he rejected this, saying "I am not a terrorist" (Wikipedia, citing the State Department and Al Jazeera).

## The Islamic Courts and the Ras Kamboni Brigade

Garowe Online records that he was a military leader of the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) in 2006 (Garowe Online). After the courts broke up in December 2006 he formed the Ras Kamboni Brigade in the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley near the Kenyan border. Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that on 20 August 2008 the brigade and al-Shabaab took Kismayo after two days of fighting; that the brigade joined [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) in January 2009, with al-Turki as deputy chairman; and that a US air strike targeted him in 2008 without killing him ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Ras Kamboni Brigade](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ras-kamboni-brigade)). Wikipedia, citing the *Los Angeles Times*, records that the March 2008 strike hit homes in Dhobley.

## Al-Shabaab, 2010–2015

In February 2010 his faction formally joined al-Shabaab and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda. A rival faction under [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) formed the [Ras Kamboni Movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/), which opposes al-Shabaab (Mapping Militants). The Long War Journal estimated the brigade at 500 to 1,000 fighters at the time (Mapping Militants, citing the Long War Journal).

He died on 27 May 2015 in Hargeisa Yarey, Middle Juba. The al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage said he died of undisclosed complications; Garowe Online gave his age as 73 and recorded a US reward of US$3 million (Garowe Online).

## Sources differ

- **When the brigade was founded.** 2006, 2007 or January 2008.
- **Earlier claims.** Wikipedia records a claim, from a 2015 Somali-language report, that he was responsible for a 1989 killing in Mogadishu, and an Al Arabiya report that he fought US forces in 1993. Both are given there as reported claims.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University, "Ras Kamboni Brigade": [profile](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ras-kamboni-brigade).


---

# Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab (Xasan Maxamed Xuseen Mungaab)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-mungab/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab is Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banadir, a post he has held twice: from 27 February 2014 to October 2015, and again since 28 May 2025. He is a lawyer trained in Sudan, a former chair of the military court and a former State Minister of Justice.

## Who is he?

Hassan Mohamed Hussein, known as Mungab (Muungaab), is a Somali politician and lawyer ([Wikipedia, Hassan Mungab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mungab)). He has twice been Mayor of [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) and Governor of [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/) (same source). His second term began on 28 May 2025 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-appoints-dr-hassan-mohamed-hussein-muungaab-as-new-banadir-governor-and-mogadishu-mayor/)).

## Early life and study

Wikipedia gives his birth as 31 March 1972 in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), and his family as Abgaal (Hawiye) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mungab)). His family moved to Mogadishu in the late 1980s (same source). He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Sharia and law from the [International University of Africa](/en/relations/sudan/) in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Qaranimo, 22 October 2012](http://www.qaranimo.com/2012/10/22/top-news-sida-loo-kala-leeyahay-xubnaha-wasiirada/)). He chaired the [Somali Armed Forces](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/)' military court before becoming mayor ([Garowe Online, 27 February 2014](http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia-President-Hassan-names-new-Mogadishu-mayor_printer.shtml)).

## First term, 2014 to 2015

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) named him by decree on 27 February 2014, after talks with the prime minister and the interior minister ([Garowe Online](http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia-President-Hassan-names-new-Mogadishu-mayor_printer.shtml)). He replaced Mohamud Ahmed Nur "Tarzan" (same source). In March 2014 he met Banadir's 17 district commissioners on safety and cleanliness ([Shabelle Media, 9 March 2014](http://shabelle.net/?p=15918)). In April he said barricaded roads around agency and embassy compounds would reopen ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 25 April 2014](http://allafrica.com/stories/201404260490.html)).

In July 2014 he said a city election would choose his successor in 2016 ([Raxanreeb, 20 July 2014](http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/07/somalia-mogadishu-mayor-declares-elected-official-will-replace-him-on-2016/)). On 27 July 2014 a landmine hit his convoy near the Lafweyn hotel in Huriwa district; he was unhurt, and a pedestrian was killed ([Raxanreeb, 27 July 2014](http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/07/somalia-mogadishu-mayor-survives-landmine-explosion/)). In August 2014 his office set fines for agencies storing expired food and medicine ([Raxanreeb, 13 August 2014](http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/08/somalia-expired-food-and-drugs-imported-by-wfp-seized-in-mogadishu/)).

## Roads and services

In December 2014 he opened a USAID-funded police station in Shibis district ([Goobjoog, 30 December 2014](http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=7876)). In February 2015 he opened two paved roads in [Bakara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) Market funded by the Somali Chamber of Commerce ([Goobjoog, 2 February 2015](http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=9689)). Another road there, funded by the city and traders, opened in March 2015 ([Somali Current, 14 March 2015](http://www.somalicurrent.com/2015/03/14/mogadishu-mayor-promised-more-development/)). His administration ran a cleanliness contest among the 16 districts, won by Hamarjajab ([Wargeyska, 29 January 2015](http://www.wargeyska.so/hamarjajab-district-won-benadir-sanitation-campaign-contest/)).

## Between terms

In October 2015 the president replaced him with Yusuf Hussein Jimaale ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mungab)). He served as State Minister of Justice from August 2016 to 8 February 2017 (same source).

## Second term, since 2025

On 28 May 2025 President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud again named him Mayor and Governor ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-appoints-dr-hassan-mohamed-hussein-muungaab-as-new-banadir-governor-and-mogadishu-mayor/), [Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/muungaab-returns-as-banadir-governor-mogadishu-mayor/)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported the appointment came amid political tensions ([Hiiraan Online, May 2025](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/May/201668/president_mohamud_appoints_hassan_muungaab_as_mogadishu_mayor_amid_political_tensions.aspx)).

## In short

Mayor of Mogadishu twice, in 2014 to 2015 and since May 2025. See [Mayors of Mogadishu](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/).


---

# Mahad Karate (Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mahad-karate/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mahad Karate, born Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame between 1957 and 1962 in Harardhere, is described by the US government as al-Shabaab's deputy leader, with command over its intelligence and security wing, the Amniyat, and its finances. The US designated him on 10 April 2015, after the Garissa University College attack, and raised its reward for information on him to US$10 million in November 2022. The UN Security Council added him to its sanctions list in 2021.

## In short

Mahad Karate is one of the most senior figures in [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), named by the US as its deputy to the emir [Ahmed Diriye](/en/people/ahmed-diriye/). This page records his public role from government and research sources, without taking sides. How the movement is organised is described in [Al-Shabaab: how it is organised, and who has led it](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## Background

The US Rewards for Justice programme gives his birth as between 1957 and 1962 in [Harardhere](/en/regions/harardhere/), and lists his aliases as Mahad Mohamed Ali Karate, Mahad Warsame Qalley Karate and Abdirahim (or Abdirahman) Mohamed Warsame. It says he speaks Somali, Arabic and some Swahili ([Rewards for Justice, Mahad Karate](https://rewardsforjustice.net/terrorist-rewards/mahad-karate/)). Wikipedia records that he served in the intelligence service of the military government before 1991 and was in [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) from 1991 to 1997 ([Wikipedia, Mahad Karate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahad_Karate), citing the Counter Extremism Project and [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)).

## Role in al-Shabaab

Wikipedia records that he worked in al-Shabaab's security and finance units before becoming deputy to Ahmed Diriye, who was named emir in 2014 (Wikipedia). Rewards for Justice describes him as al-Shabaab's "shadow deputy leader", with command responsibility over the Amniyat and the movement's finances, and says the Amniyat carries out suicide attacks and assassinations in Somalia, Kenya and nearby countries (Rewards for Justice).

## Attacks attributed to the Amniyat

Rewards for Justice holds the Amniyat responsible for the attack on [Garissa University College](/en/institutions/garissa-university/) in Kenya on 2 April 2015, which killed nearly 150 people, most of them students (Rewards for Justice). Wikipedia, citing the Associated Press and CNN, records that the January 2016 attack on a Kenyan army base at [El Adde](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/) was also carried out under his leadership (Wikipedia).

## Designations and rewards

- **10 April 2015.** The US State Department designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (Rewards for Justice).
- **November 2015.** The US offered up to US$5 million for information on him (Wikipedia, citing Reuters).
- **26 February 2021.** The UN Security Council added him to its sanctions list (Wikipedia).
- **November 2022.** The US raised its reward to up to US$10 million each for Ahmed Diriye, Mahad Karate and Jehad Mostafa ([Voice of America editorial, 2022](https://editorials.voa.gov/a/increased-reward-offers-for-information-on-al-shabaab-leaders/6876230.html); Rewards for Justice).

## Reported death and later appearances

In February 2016 media reported that he had been killed in a Kenyan air strike; al-Shabaab denied it, and a Somali intelligence source doubted the report. He gave an interview to Channel 4 News in May 2022 and was photographed at an al-Shabaab ceremony in January 2024. Wikipedia, citing *The EastAfrican* and [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), records reports of clashes in 2023 between factions loyal to him and to Diriye in Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) (Wikipedia).

## Sources differ

- **His name.** Rewards for Justice spells his birth name both Abdirahman and Abdirahim.
- **His title.** The US calls him deputy leader; al-Shabaab does not publish its command structure.
- **Internal rivalry.** Some reports in 2023 described a split with Diriye; al-Shabaab has made no public statement on it.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- US Rewards for Justice, "Mahad Karate": [page](https://rewardsforjustice.net/terrorist-rewards/mahad-karate/).


---

# Abdallah Isaaq Deerow (Cabdalla Isaaq Deeroow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdallah-isaaq-deerow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdallah Isaaq Deerow (1950–2006) was the first Speaker of Parliament of the Transitional National Government, elected at the Arta conference in August 2000. He later served as Minister of Constitutional and Federal Affairs in the Transitional Federal Government. He was shot dead in Baidoa on 28 July 2006.

## Who was he?

Abdallah Isaaq Deerow presided over the parliament that chose Somalia's first transitional government after the civil war. He was elected Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly in August 2000, at the Somalia National Peace Conference in Arta, Djibouti ([Wikipedia, Abdallah Isaaq Deerow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdallah_Isaaq_Deerow)). He was later a minister in the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## The Arta conference, 2000

He took part in the Arta conference as a delegate of the Rahanweyn (Wikipedia). The assembly elected him Speaker on 20 August 2000, and as Speaker he presided over the election of [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) as President of the Transitional National Government (same source). The list of Speakers on Wikipedia dates his time in office from 9 August 2000 to 14 September 2004 ([Wikipedia, List of speakers of the Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia)).

## Dismissal, 2003

In August 2003 he was removed as Speaker. He said the decision was not valid, because the Transitional National Government's mandate had already ended earlier that month ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdallah_Isaaq_Deerow)).

## Minister, 2004 to 2006

When the Transitional Federal Government was formed in 2004, President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) named him Minister of Constitutional and Federal Affairs (Wikipedia). The government's temporary seat was then in Baidoa.

## His death

On 28 July 2006 he was shot dead by a gunman as he left Friday prayers at a mosque in Baidoa. Riots followed in the town, and the authorities began a security crackdown ([BBC News, 28 July 2006](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5224108.stm); Wikipedia).

## Offices held

- Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly, August 2000 to August 2003. See [Speakers of Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/).
- Minister of Constitutional and Federal Affairs, 2004 to 2006


---

# Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid (Cabdi Xasan Cawaale Qeybdiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-hasan-awale-qeybdiid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Hasan Awale, known as Qeybdiid (born 1948), was President of Galmudug from 2012 to 2015. Earlier he was interior minister in Mohamed Farah Aidid's administration in 1993, police chief in Mogadishu under the Transitional National Government, and police commissioner under the Transitional Federal Government.

## Who is he?

Abdi Hasan Awale, better known as Qeybdiid, was the third President of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/). World Statesmen dates his term from 14 August 2012 to 23 July 2015 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Wikipedia records that the Galmudug assembly elected him on 1 August 2012 ([Wikipedia, Abdi Hasan Awale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Hasan_Awale)). Before that he spent nearly two decades in senior security posts in Mogadishu.

## Early life

He was born in [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) in 1948 (Wikipedia). World Statesmen gives the same year ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## The Somali National Alliance, 1993

In the early 1990s he was a senior member of the Somali National Alliance, the political group led by [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid. Wikipedia records that he served as interior minister in Aidid's administration during the [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) period in 1993 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Hasan_Awale)). On 12 July 1993 a meeting at his house in Mogadishu was the target of a raid by UN forces, an event known as Bloody Monday (same source).

## Police commander, 1999 to 2007

In February 1999 BBC News reported on his role leading a new police force in Mogadishu ([BBC News, "New beat for Somalia", 18 February 1999](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/282249.stm)). By 2001 he was police chief for Mogadishu under the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (Wikipedia).

In 2006 he was a member of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, which fought the Islamic Courts Union for control of Mogadishu. In June 2006 he left the alliance. Al Jazeera quoted him saying he wanted "to give peace a chance" ([Al Jazeera, 13 June 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/6/13/us-backed-somali-commander-defects)). In December 2006 he led forces for the Transitional Federal Government at the Battle of Bandiradley, and he later served as the government's Commissioner of Police (Wikipedia).

## President of Galmudug, 2012 to 2015

He led Galmudug from August 2012 until July 2015, when [Abdikarim Hussein Guled](/en/people/abdikarim-hussein-guled/) succeeded him ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). During his term, in July 2014, the federal government endorsed a new state for the central regions to be formed from Galmudug, Ximan iyo Xeeb and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama'a. Galmudug adopted a new constitution on 17 June 2015, a month before his term ended (same source).

## Offices held

- Interior minister in Mohamed Farah Aidid's administration, 1993
- Police chief of Mogadishu under the Transitional National Government, by 2001
- Commissioner of Police under the Transitional Federal Government, from 2007
- President of Galmudug, 14 August 2012 to 23 July 2015. See [Presidents of Galmudug](/en/institutions/presidents-of-galmudug/).


---

# Abdi Sinimo (Cabdi Sinimo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-sinimo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Sinimo (Abdi Deeqsi Warfaa, about 1920–1967) was a lorry driver, poet and singer from near Borama who created the balwo, the short love song that opened the way to the heello and modern Somali music. He formed the first Balwo band in Borama in 1944.

## Who was he?

Abdi Sinimo was a Somali singer, songwriter and poet. He is credited with creating the balwo genre, which led to the heello and so to modern Somali music ([Wikipedia, Abdi Sinimo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)). His real name was Abdi Deeqsi Warfaa ([Music in Africa, "Somali music through the ages"](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## Early life

He was born around 1920 in Jaarahorato, a village north-east of [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)). He was the fourth son in a family of eighteen children (same source). As a boy he learned many kinds of Somali poetry ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). He spent much of his working life in Djibouti, driving a lorry between Djibouti and Addis Ababa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)).

## How balwo began

The story is told of a breakdown on the road from Zeila to Borama. His lorry stopped, and he worked under the bonnet for many days ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). Missing the woman he loved, he hummed short lines that became the first balwo (same source). Wikipedia dates this first song to 1943 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)). "Balwo" means misfortune. Castagno describes the balwo as a "miniature" love song of one or two lines, invented in 1944 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Balwo"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## The first band

He formed the first Balwo band in Borama in 1944 ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). Its members included the singer Khadija Eye Dharar, known as Khadija Balwo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)). Balwo spread across [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/), though some religious men opposed it ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). He also broadcast his songs on Addis Ababa radio (same source).

## Credit from his peers

The composer [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) gave him the credit. Qarshe said Sinimo "formulated and organized it into the belwo" ([Wikipedia, quoting *Bildhaan* vol. 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)). Later bands added the oud and turned balwo into the longer heello ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Death

He died in 1967 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sinimo)).

## In short

A musician credited with creating the balwo song form, which led to the heello.


---

# Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge Liibaan (Cabdikariin Axmed Mooge Liibaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdikarim-ahmed-mooge/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge Liibaan was Mayor of Hargeisa from 17 June 2021 to 30 May 2026. He won the most votes of any candidate in Hargeisa in the 2021 local elections for the Waddani party. He is the son of the artist Ahmed Mooge Liibaan.

## Who is he?

Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge Liibaan is a [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) politician ([Wikipedia, Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdikarim_Ahmed_Mooge)). He was Mayor of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, from 17 June 2021 ([Somaliland Current, 17 June 2021](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/2021/06/17/somaliland-abdikarim-ahmed-mooge-sworn-in-as-the-new-mayor-of-hargeisa/)). Wikipedia gives 30 May 2026 as the end of his term ([Wikipedia, Mayor of Hargeisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Hargeisa)).

## Early life

He was born in 1974 in Sin-ujiif, a village near Garowe ([Sayruuq News, 17 June 2021](https://www.sayruuq.com/maxaad-ka-taqaan-taariikhda-cabdikariin-mooge/)). He is the son of the singer Ahmed Mooge Liibaan and nephew of the singer [Mohamed Mooge Liibaan](/en/people/mohamed-mooge-liibaan/) ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/featured/history-made-in-somaliland-as-minority-candidate-son-of-former-singer-scoop-more-votes)). He grew up and went to school in Hargeisa (Sayruuq, same source). When fighting reached Hargeisa in the late 1980s he fled to Kaam-Abokor refugee camp in Ethiopia (same source).

## Youth work and the UN

After returning he and other young people founded HAVAYOCO, an agency for vulnerable people and youth ([Sayruuq](https://www.sayruuq.com/maxaad-ka-taqaan-taariikhda-cabdikariin-mooge/)). He later worked for UN agencies and international organisations, some of the time abroad (same source).

## Deputy minister

Under President Silanyo he was Deputy Minister of National Planning and then Deputy Minister of Fisheries ([Sayruuq](https://www.sayruuq.com/maxaad-ka-taqaan-taariikhda-cabdikariin-mooge/)). In August 2015 he resigned; [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) reported he said he was resigning to "fight clannism" ([BBC Somali, 11 August 2015](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war/2015/08/150811_somaliland)).

## Mayor of Hargeisa

He stood for the Waddani party in the 2021 local elections ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-57438122)). He won the most votes of any candidate in Hargeisa (same source; [BBC Somali, five facts](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-57487916)). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) described him as a candidate from a minority community and called the result historic ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/featured/history-made-in-somaliland-as-minority-candidate-son-of-former-singer-scoop-more-votes)). The council elected him mayor on 17 June 2021 ([VOA Somali, 17 June 2021](https://www.voasomali.com/a/5932400.html)). He followed Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdikarim_Ahmed_Mooge)).

## In short

Refugee, youth organiser and deputy minister who became Mayor of Hargeisa in 2021. See [Mayors of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/mayors-of-hargeisa/).


---

# Abdikarim Hussein Guled (Cabdikariim Xuseen Guuleed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdikarim-hussein-guled/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdikarim Hussein Guled (born 1966 or 1967) was President of Galmudug from July 2015 to February 2017. Before that he was Somalia's Minister of Interior and Security from 2012 to 2014 and the first Minister of National Security in 2014.

## Who is he?

Abdikarim Hussein Guled led [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), the federal member state in central Somalia, from 2015 to 2017. He was its fourth president, according to Wikipedia ([Wikipedia, Abdikarim Hussein Guled](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdikarim_Hussein_Guled)). World Statesmen dates his term from 23 July 2015 to 26 February 2017 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Before Galmudug he held two of the main security posts in the federal government.

## Early life and education

Wikipedia records that he was born in Beledweyne, in the [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) region, in 1966, to parents from the Galmudug area ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdikarim_Hussein_Guled)). World Statesmen gives his birth year as 1967 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). He trained as a schoolteacher and graduated from the management department of the University of Science and Technology in Yemen (Wikipedia).

## Minister of Interior and Security, 2012 to 2014

Prime Minister [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/) named his cabinet on 4 November 2012, and Guled became Minister of Interior and Security (Wikipedia). He held the post until 17 January 2014.

## Minister of National Security, 2014

When [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/) became Prime Minister, he split the security portfolio into a new Ministry of National Security and named Guled to lead it in January 2014 (Wikipedia). On 24 May 2014 Guled resigned after an al-Shabaab attack on the parliament building in Mogadishu. The Prime Minister accepted the resignation, and Khalif Ahmed Ereg was named to the post on 9 July 2014 (same source).

## President of Galmudug, 2015 to 2017

In July 2015 the Galmudug assembly elected him President. He defeated Ahmed Mo'alim Fiqi in the vote (Wikipedia). World Statesmen lists his party as the PDP ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). On 2 December 2015 he signed the [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) Agreement with [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s President [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/). Under that agreement both leaders agreed to a ceasefire and to pull troops back in the divided city of Gaalkacyo (Wikipedia). His term ended on 26 February 2017. [Mohamed Hashi](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/) Abdi "Arabey" then served as acting President until Ahmed Duale Geelle "Haaf" took office on 3 May 2017 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Offices held

- Minister of Interior and Security, 4 November 2012 to 17 January 2014
- Minister of National Security, January to May 2014
- President of Galmudug, 23 July 2015 to 26 February 2017. See [Presidents of Galmudug](/en/institutions/presidents-of-galmudug/).


---

# Abdiqasim Salad Hassan (Cabdiqaasim Salaad Xasan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdiqasim Salad Hassan (born 1941) was President of Somalia's Transitional National Government from August 2000 to 2004. He was elected at the Arta peace conference in Djibouti, which gave Somalia its first internationally recognised government since 1991. In 2004 he stood again, lost, and stood aside peacefully.

## Who is he?

Abdiqasim Salad Hassan was President of Somalia from 2000 to 2004, at the head of the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TNG) ([Wikipedia, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). The European Union welcomed his election by the National Transitional Assembly at Arta and hoped it would help restore the Somali state ([EU statement, UN document S/2000/916, September 2000](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/423761/files/S_2000_916-EN.pdf)).

## Early life and study

He was born in 1941 in [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/), in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region. His family is Habar Gidir (Hawiye) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). He studied biology at Lomonosov Moscow State University and graduated in 1965 (same source).

## In government before 1991

He held several posts in the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). In the late 1980s he was second Deputy Prime Minister. From 1990 to 1991 he was the last Minister of the Interior ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). After the government fell in 1991 he moved to Cairo (same source).

## Elected at Arta, 2000

The Arta conference opened in Djibouti in May 2000 and produced a Transitional National Charter and a Transitional National Assembly ([Wikipedia, Transitional National Government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_National_Government_of_Somalia)). Women took part as their own group, the Sixth Clan, for the first time ([Right Livelihood, Asha Hagi Elmi](https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/asha-hagi-elmi/)). On 26 August 2000 it elected him President on the third ballot, with 145 votes to 92 for [Abdullahi Ahmed Addou](/en/people/abdullahi-ahmed-addow/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). He was sworn in the next day and promised to bring the government home to Mogadishu ([The New Humanitarian, 28 August 2000](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2000/08/28/new-president-pledges-return-home)). See [rebuilding, 2000 to 2006](/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/).

## The Transitional National Government

His government held parts of Mogadishu. Much of the south was held by other groups ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). In 2003 he left the talks in Kenya that aimed to form a new government, and he dismissed Prime Minister [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/) after a dispute (same source).

## Standing aside, 2004

In October 2004 the new [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) elected [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) as President. Abdiqasim had been a candidate and withdrew peacefully ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). He later lived in Mogadishu (same source).

## In short

President of the Transitional National Government from 2000 to 2004, chosen at the Arta conference in Djibouti.


---

# Abdirahman Duale Beyle (Cabdiraxmaan Ducaale Beyle): economist, foreign minister and finance minister

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Duale Beyle (also written Beileh) is a Somali economist from Arabsiyo who worked at the African Development Bank before serving as Somalia's foreign minister from January 2014 to January 2015 and finance minister from March 2017 to August 2022. As finance minister he led Somalia's delegation when the Paris Club cancelled about $1.4 billion of its debt on 31 March 2020.

## Who is he?

Abdirahman Duale Beyle (Somali: Cabdiraxmaan Ducaale Beyle), also written Abdirahman D. Beileh, is a Somali economist, politician, poet and songwriter. He was Somalia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from January 2014 to January 2015, and Minister of Finance from 29 March 2017 to 2 August 2022 ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Beyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Beyle)).

## Early life and the African Development Bank

He was born in 1955 or 1956 in Arabsiyo, in the Gabiley area of the northwest. He studied finance and economics, took an MBA at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and a PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Beyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Beyle)). He taught economics, statistics and finance at universities in Saudi Arabia and the United States, then joined the African Development Bank as a finance officer. He worked there as an economist, manager and director, and his last post was head of the bank's Department of Agriculture and Agro-Industry, where he oversaw about 135 projects worth $3.5 billion and more than 100 staff (same source, citing the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, where he sat on the board of trustees). He also helped fund a school in [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) (same source).

## Foreign minister, 2014 to 2015

Prime Minister [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/) named him foreign minister on 17 January 2014, succeeding [Fowziya Yusuf Haji Adan](/en/people/fawzia-yusuf-adam/) ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Beyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Beyle)). During his year in office:

- In February 2014 he signed an agreement with the UN Special Representative, Nicholas Kay, setting the terms of cooperation between the federal government and the United Nations, and signed agreements with Ethiopia on police, information and aviation (same source).
- In July 2014 China reopened its embassy in Mogadishu; its chargé d'affaires, Wei Hongtian, presented his credentials to Beyle on 3 July (same source).
- In October 2014 the ministry closed nine embassies abroad, including those in Libya, Syria, Germany, England and Malaysia, for financial reasons (same source).

He handed over to [Abdisalam Omer Hadliye](/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/) on 14 February 2015 (same source).

## Finance minister, 2017 to 2022

He became finance minister on 29 March 2017 under President [Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmaajo"](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) and Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/), and stayed under Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/). He was succeeded by Elmi Mohamud Noor on 2 August 2022 ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Beyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Beyle)).

His time in office covered the first stages of debt relief. In November 2019, with World Bank Vice President Hafez Ghanem beside him, he said Somalia would reach the "decision point" of the debt relief process by February 2020 ([Hiiraan Online, 4 November 2019](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Nov/166030/somalia_to_reach_key_debt_relief_stage_in_february_finance_minister.aspx)). The IMF and World Bank declared Somalia had reached that point on 25 March 2020 ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). On 31 March 2020 he headed Somalia's delegation when Paris Club creditor countries agreed to cancel $1,358 million and reschedule $1,266 million of its debt ([Paris Club, Somalia, 31 March 2020](https://clubdeparis.org/en/sites/clubdeparis/accueil/pays-accords-signes/recherche-accords-signes/fiches/s/somalie-31-mars-2020.html)). See [Debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## Songs and poems

He has written more than 75 songs and poems, mostly on Somali nationalism and patriotism. Titles include *Qiiro Calan* (The Flag Grieves), *[Dhalinyaro](/en/society/somali-cinema/)* (Youth), *Somalia Waa Mashruuc* (Somalia Is a Project), *Ina Jicimbir* and *Lugtay Wax I Jiidayaan* (Something Holds Me Back) ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Beyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Beyle)).

## Sources disagree

- **His name.** Wikipedia uses Beyle; the Paris Club, [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership use Beileh ([Paris Club](https://clubdeparis.org/en/sites/clubdeparis/accueil/pays-accords-signes/recherche-accords-signes/fiches/s/somalie-31-mars-2020.html); [Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Nov/166030/somalia_to_reach_key_debt_relief_stage_in_february_finance_minister.aspx)).
- **The timing of the decision point.** He said in November 2019 that Somalia would reach it in February 2020, or in January as an exception ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Nov/166030/somalia_to_reach_key_debt_relief_stage_in_february_finance_minister.aspx)). The World Bank announced it on 25 March 2020 ([World Bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).


---

# Abdirahman Jama Barre (Cabdiraxmaan Jaamac Barre)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-jama-barre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Jama Barre (1937–2017) was Somalia's longest-serving foreign minister, holding the post from 1977 to 1987 and again from 1989 to 1990. He was also the country's first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the last years of the Siad Barre government.

## Who was he?

Abdirahman Jama Barre spent three decades in Somalia's foreign service. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs for more than ten years in all, longer than anyone else in the post ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Jama Barre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Jama_Barre); [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)). In the government's final years he was also first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

## Early life and education

He was born in 1937 in [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), in the Gedo region (Wikipedia). He was a cousin of President [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (same source). He studied in Italy and earned a doctorate at the University of Padua in the early 1960s (same source).

## The foreign service, 1960 to 1977

After a short time as a school headmaster he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1960, the year of independence. He served as a counsellor until 1964 and then directed the ministry's economic and social departments (Wikipedia). After the 1969 coup the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) named him Director-General of the ministry in 1970. In 1976 he joined the Central Committee of the new Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (same source).

## Foreign Minister, 1977 to 1987

He became Minister of Foreign Affairs in July 1977 and represented Somalia at the United Nations General Assembly (Wikipedia). Rulers.org lists him as Foreign Minister from 1977 to 1987 ([Rulers.org](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)). In 1986 he sat on a joint Somalia–Ethiopia committee with the Ethiopian foreign minister, Goshu Wolde (Wikipedia).

## Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, 1987 to 1991

At the end of 1987 he became Somalia's first Deputy Prime Minister, with [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) as second Deputy Prime Minister. At the same time he became Minister of Finance (Wikipedia). The Wikipedia list of finance ministers dates that post from December 1987 to April 1989 ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_(Somalia))). In 1989 he returned to the foreign ministry for a second term of about a year. He remained Deputy Prime Minister until the government fell in January 1991 (Wikipedia).

## Later life

In 2004 he was a candidate for President at the conference that formed the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) won that election (Wikipedia). He died on 15 August 2017 in [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/), in the United States (same source).

## Offices held

- Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 1970
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1977 to 1987 and 1989 to 1990. See [Foreign Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).
- First Deputy Prime Minister, 1987 to January 1991. See [Deputy Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/deputy-prime-ministers-of-somalia/).
- Minister of Finance, December 1987 to April 1989. See [Finance Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somalia/).


---

# Abdirahman Omar Osman "Yarisow" (Cabdiraxmaan Cumar Cismaan Yariisow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-omar-osman-yarisow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Omar Osman, known as Engineer Yarisow (1965 to 2019), was Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banadir from 2018 until his death. A civil engineer and former London councillor, he died on 1 August 2019 of wounds from a suicide bombing in his office on 24 July 2019, which al-Shabaab claimed.

## Who was he?

Abdirahman Omar Osman, known as Engineer Yarisow, was Mayor of [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) and Governor of [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/) ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Omar Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Omar_Osman)). He was born on 16 August 1965 in Hodan district, Mogadishu, and died on 1 August 2019 (same source).

## Study and life in London

He earned a BSc in civil engineering at the Somali National University ([Yarisow CV, Ministry of Information, March 2017](http://moi.gov.so/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Yarisow-CV-19-March-2017.pdf)). He left during the civil war in 1991 and arrived in London as a refugee ([BBC News, August 2019](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49197036)). He took a master's degree at the University of Westminster in 2004 (CV, same source). He served as a Labour Party councillor in London ([Reuters, 25 July 2019](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-mayor-idUSKCN1UK2F5)). In 2006 he became a corporate member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CV). He returned to Somalia in 2008 (BBC News, same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Mayor of Mogadishu

President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) "Farmaajo" named him after removing Thabit Abdi Mohamed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Omar_Osman)). [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) gives 21 January 2018 as the start of his term.

## The attacks of July 2019

On 22 July 2019 a car bomb at a checkpoint on the airport road killed at least 17 people ([Reuters, 22 July 2019](https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN1UH15W-OZATP)). On 24 July 2019 a woman suicide bomber blew herself up inside his office, killing six officials ([BBC News, 24 July 2019](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49100440)). The BBC reported that the US envoy James Swan, who had met the mayor earlier that day, was the target (same source). The mayor was badly wounded, flown to Doha, [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), and died there on 1 August 2019 ([BBC News, 1 August 2019](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49197036); [New York Times, 1 August 2019](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/world/africa/mogadishu-mayor-dead.html)). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed the attack ([The Guardian, 1 August 2019](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/01/mayor-of-mogadishu-dies-as-result-of-al-shabaab-attack-somalia)).

## After his death

[Omar Mohamud Mohamed](/en/people/omar-finnish/) "Finnish" followed him as mayor on 22 August 2019 ([Reuters, 22 August 2019](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-security-idUSKCN1VC24H)). Keydmedia reported in July 2021 that Ikran Tahlil Farah, a former employee of his who went missing in June 2021, may have held information about the attack ([Keydmedia, 13 July 2021](https://www.keydmedia.net/news/somali-intelligence-top-brass-accused-of-killing-female-employee)).

## In short

A refugee engineer who became a London councillor, then Mayor of Mogadishu, and died after the July 2019 attack on his office. See [Mayors of Mogadishu](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/).


---

# Abdirashid Duale (Cabdirashiid Duale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirashid-duale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirashid Duale (born 1977 in Burao) is the chief executive of Dahabshiil, the money transfer company his father Mohamed Said Duale founded in 1970. He took over from his father and expanded the firm into new markets. Dahabshiil carries money from Somalis abroad to families at home and serves aid agencies such as the UN, Save the Children and Oxfam.

## Who is he?

Abdirashid Duale is a Somali businessman and the CEO of [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/), an international money transfer company ([Wikipedia, Abdirashid Duale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Duale)). This page covers his public role in business.

## Background

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in 1977 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Duale)). His father, [Mohamed Said Duale](/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/), founded Dahabshiil in Burao in 1970 (same source). It began as an import-export business ([African Arguments, "Making money in Somaliland", 2012](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/making-money-in-somaliland-meeting-abdirashid-duale-ceo-dahabshiil-by-magnus-taylor/)). His own career began in the family shop in Burao ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Duale)).

## After the war

He said the family "more or less we lost everything" in the civil war ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/making-money-in-somaliland-meeting-abdirashid-duale-ceo-dahabshiil-by-magnus-taylor/)). Many Somalis moved to Europe, America and the Gulf, and still wanted to support relatives at home. Money transfer became the firm's main work (same source). See [hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).

## Leading the company

He took over when his father retired and expanded into new markets ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirashid_Duale)). The company has offices in London and Dubai (same source). Wikipedia says it employs more than 2,000 people and serves businesses, families and international bodies (same source). Later reports give higher figures. In 2012 he was dividing his time between London, Hargeisa and Dubai ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/making-money-in-somaliland-meeting-abdirashid-duale-ceo-dahabshiil-by-magnus-taylor/)). The firm works through many thousands of small transfers and is known for speed and trust (same source).

## Rules and partners

After 2001, rules on money transfer became much stricter. He said "compliance is number 1" ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/making-money-in-somaliland-meeting-abdirashid-duale-ceo-dahabshiil-by-magnus-taylor/)). Dahabshiil moves funds for the UN, Save the Children and Oxfam (same source). It works in parts of southern Somalia where few other services reach (same source).

## The diaspora as investors

He has said the diaspora is the largest source of investment in Somalia, mainly in housing and building ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/making-money-in-somaliland-meeting-abdirashid-duale-ceo-dahabshiil-by-magnus-taylor/)). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## In short

Chief executive of Dahabshiil, the money transfer company founded by his father in Burao.


---

# Abdirizak Haji Hussein (Cabdirisaaq Xaaji Xuseen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirizak Haji Hussein (1924–2014) was Prime Minister of the Somali Republic from 1964 to 1967. Born near Galkayo, he joined the Somali Youth League in 1944 and led it in the mid-1950s. As prime minister he chose ministers on ability, put internal development first, and asked for peaceful, UN-run votes on the Somali lands outside the republic.

## Who was he?

Abdirizak Haji Hussein was a Somali politician and diplomat. He was Prime Minister of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) from June 1964 to 1967 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Abdirazak Haji Hussein"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He is remembered for pushing to make state institutions more accountable ([Wikipedia, Abdirizak Haji Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Haji_Hussein)).

## Early life

He was born in 1924 near Galkayo in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His family is Majeerteen (Darod). He learned the Qur'an from his father and herded camels as a boy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Haji_Hussein)). In 1937 he went to school in Mogadishu. He was largely self-taught and spoke Italian and English (same source).

## The independence movement

He joined the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) in 1944 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Under the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/) he served as an officer and interpreter. In 1950 he was jailed for six months for working for independence ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Haji_Hussein)). In June 1955 he took the League's petition to the United Nations (same source). Castagno records him as League president in 1955–1956 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He was elected to the National Assembly in 1959 (same source).

## Minister and prime minister

After 1960 he served as Minister of Interior, then of Public Works and Communications ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). After the March 1964 election, President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) named him prime minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Haji_Hussein)). He picked ministers on ability, without regard to place of origin (same source). His first cabinet lost a confidence vote by two votes. A second cabinet was approved, and he served until 1967 (same source). See [the civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Peaceful means on Greater Somalia

He supported the idea of a Greater Somalia but said it must be pursued by peaceful, constitutional means ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He asked for UN plebiscites in Somali areas outside the republic. He also asked the Organisation of African Unity to send fact-finding missions (same source). Neither body acted on his request (same source).

## After 1969

After the October 1969 coup he was detained until 1973 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). From 1974 to 1979 he was Somalia's ambassador to the United Nations ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Haji_Hussein)). In later years he was asked several times to help reconcile Somali parties (same source).

## Death and honour

He died in Minneapolis on 31 January 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Haji_Hussein)). The federal government held national memorial days. He was buried in Mogadishu's National Cemetery (same source).

## In short

Prime Minister from 1964 to 1967 and later Somalia's representative at the United Nations.


---

# Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur (Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Nuur)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Jama has been Speaker of the House of the People since 10 August 2026. Before that he was Minister of Defence from December 2021 to March 2025 and Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport from March 2025. He began as a diplomat at Somalia's embassy in Ankara and was deputy, then acting, director of the national intelligence agency.

## Who is he?

Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Jama is the Speaker of the House of the People, the lower house of the Federal Parliament. He was elected on 10 August 2026 with 142 votes ([Dawan Africa, 10 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-abdulkadir-mohamed-nur-elected-speaker-of-house-of-the-people)). He came to the post after more than three years as Minister of Defence and a career in diplomacy and intelligence ([Wikipedia, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Mohamed_Nur)).

## Education

He holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from the political science faculty of Ankara University in Turkey. He speaks Somali, English and Turkish (Wikipedia).

## Diplomat in Ankara, 2009 to 2017

He served at Somalia's embassy in Ankara for eight years: as Second Secretary from 2009 to 2012, First Secretary from 2012 to 2015, and First Counsellor from September 2015. From September 2016 to May 2017 he was the embassy's chargé d'affaires (Wikipedia). Wikipedia also records that he once headed security at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/), the presidential palace (same source).

## Intelligence, 2017 to 2018

From May 2017 to August 2018 he was Deputy Director of the [National Intelligence and Security Agency](/en/institutions/nisa/) (NISA), and from October 2017 to February 2018 he was its acting Director (Wikipedia). In July 2017 the agency held a workshop on screening former al-Shabaab fighters who had left the group ([UNSOM, 5 July 2017](https://unsom.unmissions.org/nisa-convenes-second-workshop-screening-disengaged-al-shabaab-combatants-mogadishu)). In August 2018 the Speaker of the House of the People named him a senior adviser ([Radio Mogadishu, 18 August 2018](https://www.radiomuqdisho.net/guddoomiyaha-golaha-shacabka-oo-maanta-cqaadir-maxamed-nuur-jaamac-u-magacaabay-la-taliye-sare-oo-ka-tirsan-xafiiska-guddoomiyaha/)).

## Minister of Justice, 2020 to 2021

Wikipedia records that he was Minister of Justice from September 2020 until December 2021 (Wikipedia).

## Minister of Defence, 2021 to 2025

In December 2021 Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) moved him from the justice ministry to defence, swapping posts with Hassan Hussein Haji ([The EastAfrican, 27 December 2021](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-president-farmaajo-suspends-pm-roble-again-3664484)). Wikipedia dates his defence term from 26 December 2021 to 17 March 2025; our list of defence ministers, drawn from Wikidata, gives 6 December 2021 as the start ([Ministers of Defence of Somalia](/en/institutions/ministers-of-defence-of-somalia/)). On 8 February 2024 he signed a defence and economic cooperation framework agreement with Turkey's Defence Minister, Yaşar Güler, in Ankara (Wikipedia).

## Ports minister and Speaker, 2025 to now

On 17 March 2025 he became Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport. He left that post when parliament elected him Speaker on 10 August 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/from-diplomat-to-speaker-abdulkadir-mohamed-nurs-path-to-leading-somalias-house)).

## Offices held

- Chargé d'affaires, Embassy of Somalia in Ankara, 2016 to 2017
- Acting Director of NISA, October 2017 to February 2018
- Minister of Justice, September 2020 to December 2021
- Minister of Defence, December 2021 to 17 March 2025. See [Ministers of Defence of Somalia](/en/institutions/ministers-of-defence-of-somalia/).
- Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport, 17 March 2025 to 10 August 2026
- Speaker of the House of the People, 10 August 2026 to now. See [Speakers of Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/).


---

# Abdullahi Ahmed Addow (Cabdilaahi Axmed Caddoow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdullahi-ahmed-addow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdullahi Ahmed Addow (born 1936 in Barawe) was Somalia's ambassador to the United States from 1970 to 1980 and again from 1986 to 1988, and Minister of Finance from 1980 to 1984. He ran for president in 2000, 2004 and 2012.

## Who is he?

Abdullahi Ahmed Addow is a Somali diplomat and politician ([Wikipedia, Abdullahi Ahmed Addow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Ahmed_Addow)). He was born on 15 May 1936 in [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) (same source). Capital FM places his family in the Habar Gidir (Hawiye) ([Capital FM, 10 September 2012](http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/09/somalias-presidential-vote/)).

## Ambassador to the United States

He was Somalia's ambassador in Washington from 1970 to 1980, and again from 1986 to 1988 ([US State Department, Diplomatic Representation for Somalia](https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/cpr/94441.htm)). In December 1979 a US newspaper reported his statements on the offer of the former Soviet base at Berbera to the United States ([Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 24 December 1979](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=beohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0WcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5165,4640865&dq=abdullahi+ahmed+addou&hl=en)). See Somali ambassadors to the United States.

## Minister of Finance

From 1980 to 1984 he was Somalia's Minister of Finance ([Historical Dictionary of Somalia](https://epdf.pub/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-african-historical-dictionaries-historical-dict.html)). See [Finance ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somalia/).

## Presidential candidate

At the 2000 Arta conference in Djibouti he reached the third round of the presidential vote ([Rulers.org, August 2000](https://www.rulers.org/2000-08.html)). He lost to [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) by 92 votes to 145 (same source). In 2004 he lost the third round to [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) by 79 to 189 ([Rulers.org](https://rulers.org/indexa2.html)). He stood again in the 2012 election ([Capital FM, 10 September 2012](http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/09/somalias-presidential-vote/)).

## In short

Ambassador to Washington for 12 years in total, Finance Minister in the early 1980s and three-time presidential candidate.


---

# Abdulqadir Mumin (Cabdiqaadir Muumin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulqadir-mumin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulqadir Mumin is the founder of the Islamic State's branch in Somalia. Born in Puntland, he lived in Sweden and then Britain, where he preached in London and Leicester, before returning to Somalia in about 2010 and joining al-Shabaab. In October 2015 he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The US designated him in August 2016. Analysts in 2025 described him as a leading figure in the Islamic State's wider network in Africa; a US strike targeted him in May 2024.

## In short

Abdulqadir Mumin leads, or has led, the [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/), the armed group based in the mountains of [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Background

Wikipedia records that he was born in [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/), in today's [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), in the early 1950s, and is Majerteen (Ali Saleban). He lived in Gothenburg, Sweden, from about 1990 to 2003, then moved to the United Kingdom ([Wikipedia, Abdul Qadir Mumin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Qadir_Mumin)). AFP reported in January 2025 that he gained British citizenship and was a preacher at mosques in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and Leicester and in online videos in the 2000s ([Al-Monitor, AFP, 5 January 2025](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/01/quiet-financier-islamic-states-elusive-strongman)).

## In al-Shabaab

Wikipedia records that he left Britain for Somalia in late 2010, after the UK security service investigated him, and joined [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/); AFP reported that he burned his British passport on arrival and became a propagandist for the movement (Wikipedia; Al-Monitor, AFP). Al-Shabaab sent him to Puntland in 2012, and he took over its fighters in the Galgala area after [Mohamed Said Atom](/en/people/mohamed-said-atom/) left in 2014 ([Wikipedia, Islamic State – Somalia Province](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)).

## The Islamic State in Somalia

On 22 October 2015 he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Only a small number of the local fighters followed him at first (Wikipedia). On 31 August 2016 the US State Department designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (Wikipedia).

AFP reported in January 2025 that analysts saw him as the most powerful figure in the Islamic State's global network, without the formal title of leader. Tore Hamming of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation called him "the most powerful one". An unnamed European intelligence official told AFP that money and fighters were sent from Somalia to other branches in Africa and beyond (Al-Monitor, AFP).

On 31 May 2024 a US air strike southeast of Bosaso targeted him (Wikipedia). Puntland's offensive against the group from January 2025 is described on the [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) page.

## Sources differ

- **His current post.** Wikipedia records that Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud replaced him as head of the Somali branch in 2023 and that he leads the wider al-Karrar office; other reports still describe him as the branch's leader.
- **Whether he is alive.** Some reports said he was killed in the 2024 strike; AFP treated him as alive in 2025.
- **Birth year.** Given as between 1950 and 1953.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- AFP, "The quiet financier: Islamic State's elusive strongman" (2025), via Al-Monitor: [article](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/01/quiet-financier-islamic-states-elusive-strongman).


---

# Abdulrahim Abby Farah (Cabdiraxiim Abby Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulrahim-abby-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulrahim Abby Farah (1919–2018) was a Somali diplomat born in Barry, Wales. He was Somalia's first ambassador to Ethiopia, its Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1965 to 1972, and chair of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid. He then served the UN as Assistant Secretary-General from 1973 to 1978 and Under-Secretary-General from 1979 to 1990.

## Who was he?

Abdulrahim Abby Farah spent 25 years representing Somalia at, and then serving, the United Nations ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). He chaired the UN Special Committee against Apartheid from 1969 to 1972 and was a UN Under-Secretary-General from 1979 to 1990 (same source; [Wikipedia, Abdulrahim Abby Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulrahim_Abby_Farah)).

## Early life in Wales

He was born on 22 October 1919 in Barry, in south Wales (Wikipedia; [BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). His father, Abby Farah, was a Somali seaman who had come to work at Barry Docks and became a community leader. His mother, Hilda Anderson, ran a boarding house ([WalesOnline, 17 May 2018](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/barry-boy-who-helped-free-14663918); Wikipedia). He went to Gladstone Road School and Barry Grammar School, then studied at University College, Exeter ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). Wikipedia records that he also studied at Balliol College, Oxford (Wikipedia).

## Somali public service, 1950s to 1965

Wikipedia records that he began his career in the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) administration, and that he later directed the Somali Information Service (Wikipedia). After independence in 1960 he became Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia in 1961. In 1962 he represented Somalia at the UN Economic Commission for Africa ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)), and in 1964 and 1965 at meetings of the Organisation of African Unity's Council of Ministers (Wikipedia).

## At the United Nations, 1965 to 1990

From 1965 to 1972 he was Somalia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). In 1966 he was also acting Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wikipedia). From 1969 to 1972 he chaired the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, and in 1972 he presided over a special session of the Security Council ([WalesOnline](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/barry-boy-who-helped-free-14663918)). That year Somalia's Foreign Minister, [Omar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/), was President of the Security Council (Wikipedia).

He then joined the UN Secretariat. He was Assistant Secretary-General for Special Political Questions from 1973 to 1978 and Under-Secretary-General from 1979 to 1990 ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). In 1990 he led a UN mission that reported on progress towards ending apartheid in South Africa (Wikipedia).

## Later life

In 1998 he helped found the Partnership to Strengthen African Grassroots Organizations (PaSAGO) and later chaired it (Wikipedia). He died at his home in New York on 14 May 2018, aged 98 (Wikipedia; [WalesOnline](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/barry-boy-who-helped-free-14663918)).

## Offices held

- Director of the Somali Information Service
- Ambassador to Ethiopia, 1961 to 1965
- Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1965 to 1972
- Chair of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, 1969 to 1972
- UN Assistant Secretary-General for Special Political Questions, 1973 to 1978
- UN Under-Secretary-General, 1979 to 1990


---

# Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid "Soltelco" (Cabdiraxmaan Maxmuud Caydiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdurrahman-mahmoud-aidiid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid, known as Soltelco, was Mayor of Hargeisa from 14 April 2013 to 17 June 2021. The council elected him after the death of Mayor Yusuf Warsame Saeed; Qaran News reported he was the youngest person to hold the post.

## Who is he?

Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid, known as Soltelco, is a [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) politician ([Wikipedia, Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdurrahman_Mahmoud_Aidiid)). He was Mayor of Hargeisa from 2013 to 2021 (same source). He is a member of the Kulmiye party (same source). Wikipedia places his family in the Sa'ad Musa (Habar Awal, Isaaq) (same source).

## Election as mayor

Hargeisa's mayor, Yusuf Warsame Saeed, died in office in 2013 ([Qaran News, 14 April 2013](http://www.qarannews.com/2013/04/kulmiyes-abdirahman-soltelco-new-mayor-of-hargeisa/)). On 14 April 2013 a quorum of 24 councillors elected Aidiid in his place (same source). Qaran News reported he was the youngest person ever to hold the post (same source).

## End of term

After the 2021 local elections, the new council chose Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge of Waddani as mayor ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-57438122)). Mooge was sworn in on 17 June 2021 ([Somaliland Current, 17 June 2021](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/2021/06/17/somaliland-abdikarim-ahmed-mooge-sworn-in-as-the-new-mayor-of-hargeisa/)).

## In short

Mayor of Hargeisa for eight years, from April 2013 to June 2021. See [Mayors of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/mayors-of-hargeisa/) and [Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge](/en/people/abdikarim-ahmed-mooge/).


---

# Abshir Omar Huruse (Abshir Cumar Xuruuse)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abshir-omar-huruse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abshir Omar Jama, known as Huruse, was Somalia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from August 2022 to December 2023. He resigned to stand in the 2024 Puntland presidential election. Before politics he worked in business, and in 2020 he became Secretary General of the Puntland political organisation Mideeye.

## Who is he?

Abshir Omar Jama, better known as Huruse, served as Somalia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2 August 2022 to 18 December 2023 ([Wikipedia, Abshir Omar Huruse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Omar_Huruse)). He came to the post from business and from [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) politics.

## Early life and education

He was born in Garoowe, in [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), and finished secondary school and a first degree in Somalia (Wikipedia). He then took a master's degree at the University of York in the United Kingdom, studying reconstruction and development in countries affected by conflict (same source).

## Business and Puntland politics

Wikipedia records that he worked in business for most of his career before entering politics in the 2010s. On 19 July 2020 he was elected Secretary General of Mideeye, a political organisation in Puntland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Omar_Huruse); [Puntland Post, 19 July 2020](https://puntlandpost.net/2020/07/19/mideeye-flexes-its-political-muscles-in-garowe/)).

## Foreign Minister, 2022 to 2023

Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) named him Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 2 August 2022, when the new cabinet was announced ([Voice of America, 2 August 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/former-al-shabab-commander-al-qaida-member-named-to-somali-cabinet/6683860.html)). He was sworn in on 13 August 2022, together with his deputy Isaak Mohamud Mursal ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 August 2022](https://www.mfa.gov.so/h-e-abshir-omar-huruse-assumes-office-as-the-new-foreign-minister-of-somalia/)).

In September 2022 he represented Somalia at the opening of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (Wikipedia). In 2023 he was part of the delegation that restored diplomatic relations with Cuba, which had been broken off in 1977 ([Voice of America, 4 April 2023](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-cuba-resume-diplomatic-relations-after-46-years/7035852.html)). In January 2023 he opened the East African Community's verification mission, which assessed whether Somalia was ready to join the bloc ([The Independent, Uganda, 26 January 2023](https://www.independent.co.ug/eac-launches-verification-mission-to-assess-somalias-readiness-to-join-bloc/)).

## Puntland election, 2024

He resigned as Foreign Minister on 18 December 2023 to stand for President of Puntland. In the 2024 vote the incumbent, [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/), was re-elected (Wikipedia). Ali [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) then served as acting Foreign Minister ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)).

## Offices held

- Secretary General of Mideeye, from July 2020
- Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, 2 August 2022 to 18 December 2023. See [Foreign Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).


---

# Ahmed Hussen

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-hussen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Hussen (born 1976) is a Canadian lawyer and politician born in Mogadishu. He came to Canada as a teenage refugee, became the first Somali-Canadian elected to the House of Commons in 2015, and served as a federal Cabinet minister from 2017 to 2025, starting as Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Hussen is a Canadian lawyer and Liberal politician ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Hussen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Hussen)). He is the first Somali-Canadian elected to the House of Commons and the first to sit in the federal Cabinet (same source). This page covers his public role only.

## From Mogadishu to Canada

He was born and raised in Mogadishu, where his father was a long-distance trucker ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Hussen)). When fighting reached their neighbourhood, the family left for Kenya (same source). He arrived in Canada at 16 as a refugee ([Ahmed Hussen, official MP page](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). He finished high school in Hamilton, Ontario, and later moved to Toronto (same source). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) and [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Study and community work

He earned a BA at York University and a law degree at the University of [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) ([official MP page](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). He co-founded the Regent Park Community Council in Toronto (same source). The council secured a $500 million rebuilding of Regent Park, and he received the Queen's Gold Medal for this work (same source). He was national president of the Canadian Somali Congress (same source). As a lawyer he worked in criminal, immigration and refugee law (same source).

## Into politics

He worked as an assistant to Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty in the early 2000s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Hussen)). He was first elected MP for York South—Weston in 2015 ([official MP page](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)).

## In Cabinet

In January 2017 he became Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship ([official MP page](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). From 2019 he was Minister of Families, Children and Social Development (same source). From 2021 to 2023 he was Minister of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion. From 2023 to 2025 he was Minister of International Development ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Hussen)). Since 2025 he has been MP for York South—Weston—Etobicoke (same source).

## In short

A former refugee from Mogadishu who became Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.


---

# Ahmed Isse Awad (Axmed Ciise Cawad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-isse-awad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Isse Awad (born 1955 in Garowe) is a Somali diplomat. He was Somalia's first ambassador to the United States in more than two decades, presenting credentials to President Obama on 17 September 2015, and later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs until November 2020.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Isse Awad is a Somali diplomat and politician ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Isse Awad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Isse_Awad)). He was born in Garowe, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), in 1955 (same source). Wikipedia places his family in the Isse Mohamoud (Majeerteen) (same source). After the civil war he settled in Canada and became a Canadian citizen (same source).

## Study

He studied at Concordia University in Montreal, the University of Khartoum and the [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) University of Science and Technology ([AllGov, 11 March 2016](http://www.allgov.com/news?news=858451)). He holds a master's degree in managing peace and security in Africa from the Institute for Peace and Security Studies ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Isse_Awad)).

## Chief of staff and UN work

From 2001 to 2004 he was chief of staff to Prime Minister [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/) ([AllGov](http://www.allgov.com/news?news=858451)). He took part in the 2003 to 2004 Somali peace talks in Kenya (same source). He then worked for UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan and South Sudan for almost ten years, including in Abyei, Kadugli and Darfur (same source).

## Ambassador to the United States

He helped set up Somalia's embassy in Washington in 2015 ([AllGov](http://www.allgov.com/news?news=858451)). He presented his credentials to President Barack Obama on 17 September 2015 (same source). See Somali ambassadors to the United States.

## Foreign Minister

As Foreign Minister he told Reuters in April 2018 that DP World should rethink its port deals in Somalia, and hoped to normalise relations with the UAE ([Reuters, 20 April 2018](https://www.reuters.com/article/somalia-emirates-idAFL8N1RX5KA/)). He was replaced as Foreign Minister in November 2020 ([VOA Somali, 19 November 2020](https://www.voasomali.com/a/5669110.html)). See [Foreign ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).

## In short

Peace-talks official, UN peacekeeper, ambassador to Washington from 2015 and later Foreign Minister.


---

# Ali Khalif Galaydh (Cali Khaliif Galaydh)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-khalif-galaydh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Khalif Galaydh (1941–2020) was Prime Minister of Somalia's Transitional National Government from October 2000 to October 2001, and President of Khaatumo State from 2014 to 2017. Before that he ran Somalia's state sugar works, served as Minister of Industry from 1980 to 1982, and taught public policy at universities in the United States.

## Who was he?

Ali Khalif Galaydh was the first Prime Minister of the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) formed at the Arta conference in Djibouti. He held the post from 8 October 2000 to 28 October 2001 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Later he led Khaatumo State in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) from 1 September 2014 until it joined [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on 20 October 2017 (same source).

## Early life and study

He was born on 15 October 1941 in Laascaanood, then in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Wikipedia, Ali Khalif Galaydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khalif_Galaydh)). He went to school in [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/). From 1963 to 1965 he studied political science at Boston University on a scholarship. He then earned a Master of Public Administration at Syracuse University's Maxwell School (same source). From 1982 to 1987 he was a fellow at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (same source).

## Running state enterprises

From 1966 he worked at the Somali Institute of Public Administration, and became its Director General (same source). In July 1974 he became general manager of Jowhar Sugar Enterprises, the country's largest sugar producer. From 1977 to 1980 he chaired the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Sugar Project at Mareerey (same source). He also founded the private telecoms company Somtel (same source).

## Minister and Member of Parliament

He was appointed to parliament in 1979 and served as Minister of Industry under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) from 1980 to 1982 (same source). Wikipedia records that he left the country with a group of reform-minded ministers when tensions rose (same source).

## Prime Minister, 2000 to 2001

He took part in the Somalia National Peace Conference at Arta from September 1999. President [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) named him Prime Minister on 8 October 2000, and the two returned to Mogadishu from Djibouti on 14 October 2000 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Wikipedia records that in February 2001 his government negotiated the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khalif_Galaydh)). He left office on 28 October 2001.

## Khaatumo State, 2014 to 2017

In 2012 he was named to the new Federal Parliament. In September 2014 delegates elected him President of Khaatumo State, by 21 votes to 9 over the former co-president Mohamed Yusuf Jama "Indhasheel" (same source). In October 2017 he signed an agreement with Somaliland in [Aynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/), and Khaatumo joined Somaliland ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## His death

He died on 8 October 2020 in Jijiga, Ethiopia, and was buried in Mogadishu on 10 October ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khalif_Galaydh)).

## Offices held

- Minister of Industry, 1980 to 1982
- Prime Minister of the Transitional National Government, 8 October 2000 to 28 October 2001. See [Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/).
- President of Khaatumo State, 1 September 2014 to 20 October 2017. See [Leaders of Khaatumo and the North Eastern State](/en/institutions/leaders-of-khaatumo-and-north-eastern-state/).


---

# Ali Mohammed Ghedi (Cali Maxamed Geeddi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Mohammed Ghedi (born 1952) was the first Prime Minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, from December 2004 to October 2007. Before politics he was a veterinary scientist who studied at the University of Pisa and taught at the Somali National University.

## Who is he?

Ali Mohammed Ghedi was the first Prime Minister of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TFG), formed in 2004. World Statesmen dates his term from 23 December 2004 to 30 October 2007 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Wikipedia dates his appointment to November 2004 ([Wikipedia, Ali Mohammed Ghedi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mohammed_Ghedi)). Over those three years his government moved from exile in Nairobi to Jowhar, then Baidoa, and finally Mogadishu (same source).

## Early life and academic career

He was born in Mogadishu on 2 October 1952 (Wikipedia). He studied at the University of Pisa in Italy and graduated in 1978. He then worked as an assistant lecturer at the Somali National University. From 1980 to 1983 he returned to Pisa for postgraduate study and earned a doctorate in veterinary pathology and surgery. From 1983 he taught at the Somali National University and headed his department until 1990 (same source).

## Civil war years

When the civil war began, he worked with [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/)'s wing of the United Somali Congress. Wikipedia records that he served as Ali Mahdi's assistant defence secretary in the early 1990s (Wikipedia). He was not widely known in national politics before 2004 (same source).

## Prime Minister, 2004 to 2007

President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) named Ghedi as Prime Minister (Wikipedia). On 11 December 2004 parliament passed a vote of no confidence in his first government. Yusuf reappointed him two days later (same source).

The government stayed in Nairobi until 18 June 2005 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Inside Somalia it first sat in Jowhar. In 2005 the government split over where to sit, and about 100 MPs led by Speaker [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) went to Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mohammed_Ghedi)). From 26 February 2006 the government sat in Baidoa ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

In 2006 fighting in Mogadishu between the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism and the Islamic Courts Union grew. Ghedi called on the alliance's leaders, four of whom were ministers, to stop, and then dismissed them (Wikipedia). In December 2006 Ethiopian and government troops entered Mogadishu. The government moved there on 28 December 2006 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). On 1 January 2007 Ghedi declared three months of martial law and called for militias to disarm (Wikipedia).

He resigned on 29 October 2007, according to Wikipedia; World Statesmen dates the end of his term to 30 October. Salim Aliyow Ibrow then served as acting Prime Minister until Nur Hassan Hussein took office on 24 November 2007 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Offices held

- Lecturer and head of department, Somali National University, 1983 to 1990
- Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government, 23 December 2004 to 30 October 2007. See [Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/).


---

# Bashir Abdi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/bashir-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bashir Abdi (born 1989) is a Belgian long-distance runner born in Somalia. He won Olympic marathon bronze at Tokyo 2020 and silver at Paris 2024, and holds the European marathon record of 2:03:36, set in Rotterdam in 2021. He came to Belgium as a child through family reunification and began running in Ghent at 16.

## Who is he?

Bashir Abdi is a Belgian long-distance runner born on 10 February 1989 ([Wikipedia, Bashir Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashir_Abdi)). He is the European record holder in the marathon (same source). This page covers his public sporting life.

## From Somalia to Ghent

Wikipedia gives his birthplace as [El Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashir_Abdi)). Some Belgian press give Mogadishu. When he was eight, his family moved to Djibouti (same source). After time in Ethiopia, he joined his mother in [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/), where she had been recognised as a refugee (same source). At 16 he started training at Racing Club Gent, following his brother (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Track years

He ran the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashir_Abdi)). In 2018 he won silver in the 10,000 metres at the European Championships (same source). In 2020 he ran with [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) in Brussels and set a European record for 20,000 metres (same source).

## The marathon

He ran his first marathon in Rotterdam in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashir_Abdi)). In 2020 he was second in Tokyo in 2:04:49 (same source). On 24 October 2021 he ran 2:03:36 in Rotterdam, a European record (same source). He won Olympic bronze at the Tokyo Games and bronze at the 2022 World Championships (same source). That made him Belgium's first world championship marathon medallist (same source).

## Paris 2024

At the Paris Olympics he took silver in 2:06:47, behind Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola ([World Athletics, Paris 2024 men's marathon report](https://worldathletics.org/news/report/paris-2024-olympics-report-men-marathon)). He had recently recovered from a stress fracture of the hip (same source). He called it "the hardest marathon course I've ever run" (same source).

## Off the track

He co-founded Sportaround, which runs after-school sport for children in Ghent ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashir_Abdi)). With Ghent University Hospital he set up a fund to support health workers (same source). Ghent University gave him an honorary doctorate for his sport and social work (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## In short

A marathon runner of Somali birth who won Olympic bronze for Belgium in 2021.


---

# Elmi Ahmed Duale (Cilmi Axmed Ducaale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/elmi-ahmed-duale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dr Elmi Ahmed Duale (born 1935) is a Somali physician and diplomat. He was Foreign Minister in 1969, worked for the World Health Organization for 30 years, and was Somalia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2005 to late 2016.

## Who is he?

Elmi Ahmed Duale is a Somali physician, diplomat and politician ([Wikipedia, Elmi Ahmed Duale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Ahmed_Duale)). He was born in Buulo Burte, [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), in 1935 ([Hiiraan Online, July 2005](https://www.hiiraan.com/2005/july/Dr_Elmi_UN.htm)).

## Doctor and health chief

He graduated in medicine from Sapienza University of Rome in 1960 ([UN press release BIO/3707, 18 October 2005](https://www.un.org/press/en/2005/bio3707.doc.htm)). From 1963 to 1968 he was Director General of Somalia's Ministry of Health (same source).

## Foreign Minister and prison

In 1969 he was elected to parliament and named Foreign Minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Ahmed_Duale)). After the military took power in October 1969, he and other members of the cabinet were held from 1970 to 1973 (same source). See [Foreign ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).

## World Health Organization

In 1974 he joined the World Health Organization and worked there for 30 years ([UN press release, 2005](https://www.un.org/press/en/2005/bio3707.doc.htm)). He served as WHO programme coordinator in Nigeria and WHO Representative in [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and Eritrea (same source).

## Ambassador to the United Nations

He presented his credentials as Somalia's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York on 18 October 2005 ([UN press release BIO/3707](https://www.un.org/press/en/2005/bio3707.doc.htm)). He held the post for 11 years, until late 2016 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Ahmed_Duale)). In October 2010 NBC News reported that critics wanted the UN envoy for Somalia to resign, quoting the debate around the mission ([NBC News, 5 October 2010](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/37062609/ns/world_news-africa/t/critics-say-un-envoy-somalia-should-resign/)).

## In short

Physician, 1969 Foreign Minister, three decades at WHO, then Somalia's UN ambassador from 2005 to 2016.


---

# Elmi Boodhari (Cilmi Boodhari)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/elmi-boodhari/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Elmi Boodhari (Cilmi Ismaaciil Liibaan, 1908–1941) was a Somali poet from Berbera, known as the King of Romance. He was the first Somali poet to write only about love, all for one woman, Hodan. Scholars say he made the lover, not the warrior, a hero of Somali verse.

## Who was he?

Elmi Boodhari was a Somali poet and a pioneer of the Somali love poem ([Wikipedia, Elmi Boodhari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Boodhari)). Somalis call him Boqorkii Jacaylka, the King of Romance (same source). A 2014 doctoral thesis calls him "the first Somali poet to compose poems exclusively about the theme of love" ([Jamal Abdi Gabobe, University of Washington, 2014](https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/items/4077c7bb-5961-4d77-a4ea-a2ca6c330bec)).

## Early life

His full name was Cilmi Ismaaciil Liibaan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Boodhari)). He was born in 1908 near the border between Ethiopia and [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) (same source). His family is Eidagale (Isaaq) (same source).

## The baker of Berbera

He worked in a bakery in the port town of Berbera ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Boodhari)). There he fell in love with a young woman named Hodan Abdi (same source). He wrote all his poems for her (same source). Hodan married another man, and it is said that he died of heartbreak (same source). Scholars note the romantic story should be treated with care, since parts may have grown in the telling ([Gabobe 2014](https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/items/4077c7bb-5961-4d77-a4ea-a2ca6c330bec)).

## A new kind of poem

Many poets of his time wrote about feuds and revenge. He chose love alone ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Boodhari)). In his day, naming the person you loved in public was frowned upon. He was mocked for it, even by his own kin (same source, quoting Mohamed Diiriye Abdullahi, *[Culture and Customs of Somalia](/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi/)*). Mohamed Diiriye writes that he has "gained the hearts of all Somalis in every district" (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Why scholars value him

Gabobe's thesis argues his change went further than his life story. It says he replaced "the traditional warrior hero" with "the lover as a hero" in modern Somali poetry ([Gabobe 2014](https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/items/4077c7bb-5961-4d77-a4ea-a2ca6c330bec)). It finds "inwardness and constant self-examination" at the heart of his work (same source). The thesis reads him beside Majnun Layla, the lover of Arabic and Persian legend (same source).

## Death

He died in 1941 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmi_Boodhari)). Some accounts give a later year.

## In short

A poet of the 1930s and 1940s known for love poems.


---

# Fadumo Dayib (Faadumo Daayib)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fadumo-dayib/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fadumo Dayib (born 1972) is a Somali-Finnish public health expert and the first woman to run for President of Somalia, in the 2016 election. A refugee who learned to read at 14, she became a nurse in Finland, a Harvard Kennedy School Mason Fellow and a United Nations health worker. In 2017 she became the first Somali woman to serve as a UN country director in Somalia.

## Who is she?

Fadumo Qasim Dayib, known as Deeqo, is a Somali politician and public health expert ([Wikipedia, Fadumo Dayib](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadumo_Dayib)). She was the first woman to run for President of Somalia, in the November 2016 election (same source). This page covers her public life.

## Early life

She was born in 1972 in Thika, Kenya, to Somali parents ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadumo_Dayib)). Her mother sold tea by the roadside (same source). In 1989 the family was sent from Nairobi to Mogadishu (same source). As war came, they fled and became refugees in Finland ([Harvard Kennedy School, "Fadumo Dayib: shifting from dream to action"](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student-life/student-stories/fadumo-dayib-shifting-dream-action)). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Learning late, studying far

She learned to read and write at 14 ([Harvard Kennedy School](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student-life/student-stories/fadumo-dayib-shifting-dream-action)). Her mother learned at 58 (same source). In Finland she worked as a nurse and as a translator for Somali newcomers (same source). She earned two master's degrees in Finland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadumo_Dayib)). In 2015 she was a Mason Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School ([Harvard Kennedy School](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student-life/student-stories/fadumo-dayib-shifting-dream-action)).

## Health work for the UN

She worked for the United Nations in Fiji, Kenya, Liberia and Somalia ([Harvard Kennedy School](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student-life/student-stories/fadumo-dayib-shifting-dream-action)). In 2005 she set up maternal health clinics in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadumo_Dayib)). In Fiji and Liberia she set up HIV prevention work and trained health staff (same source). See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).

## Running for president

She announced her run in 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadumo_Dayib)). She was one of eighteen presidential candidates in 2016 (same source). Her platform included action against corruption and against female genital cutting (same source). She received threats for standing (same source). She said she ran for her daughters, her mother and other women: "We are here" ([Harvard Kennedy School](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student-life/student-stories/fadumo-dayib-shifting-dream-action)).

## After 2016

In 2017 she became the first Somali woman to serve as a UN country director in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadumo_Dayib)).

## In short

The first woman to declare as a candidate for President of Somalia, in 2016.


---

# Haji Farah Omar (Xaaji Faarax Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/haji-farah-omar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Haji Farah Omar (died 1948 or 1949) was one of the first modern Somali nationalists in British Somaliland. After he was dismissed from colonial service and exiled to Aden, he founded the Somali Islamic Association there in the 1920s, the first Somali political association. He petitioned the British for schools and fair treatment, and is remembered as a man who, like Gandhi, sought change by peaceful means.

## Who was he?

Haji Farah Omar was a Somali nationalist from the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) protectorate ([Wikipedia, Farah Omar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). Castagno writes that he "is today regarded as a national hero, a man who, like Mahatma Gandhi in India, sought change by peaceful means" ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Haji Farah Omar"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Early life

Wikipedia gives his birth as 1879 in Xagal, near Berbera ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). Castagno gives 1864 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His family is Habar Jeclo (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). He studied the Qur'an and Arabic in Berbera, then went on to study in Aden (same source).

## In colonial service

In the 1910s he worked as a civil servant and then an officer in British Somaliland ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). A British commander once asked him what was enough for a Somali in pay and rank. He replied that what was good enough for a European was good enough for a Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). He was later dismissed on the basis of a letter that Wikipedia describes as forged (same source).

## India and Gandhi

He studied law at Aligarh Muslim University in India ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). He met Mahatma Gandhi there and took up his method of non-violence (same source). Wikipedia dates a visit to India to 1930 (same source).

## The Somali Islamic Association

In the 1920s he was exiled to Aden for calling for social and political reform ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In Aden he founded the Somali Islamic Association (same source). Wikipedia calls it the first Somali nationalist association ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). He wrote to Aden newspapers and to members of Parliament in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He asked for more schools and better economic services in the protectorate ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). See [resistance and protest, 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).

## A spokesman at home

In August 1938 elders in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) chose him as their spokesman ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Omar)). He later gained wide backing in Hargeisa too (same source). He returned to the protectorate as an old man and died in Hargeisa ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## In short

A campaigner who petitioned British authorities for Somali rights in the 1920s and 1930s, before the Somali Youth League was founded.


---

# Hamza Abdi Barre (Xamse Cabdi Barre)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hamza Abdi Barre (born 1972 or 1973) has been Prime Minister of Somalia since 25 June 2022, under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Before politics he was a teacher and lecturer, and in 2005 he co-founded Kismayo University. He was elected MP for Afmadow in 2021. His period in office has seen debt relief in 2023 and Somalia's entry to the East African Community.

## Who is he?

Hamza Abdi Barre is a Somali politician who has been prime minister since 2022 ([Wikipedia, Hamza Abdi Barre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Abdi_Barre)). This page records his public role only. It takes no side in Somali party politics.

## Early life and teaching

Wikipedia says he was born in Nogob, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Abdi_Barre)). His family is Ogaden (Darod) (same source). He earned a bachelor's degree in Yemen in 2001 and a master's degree in Malaysia in 2009 (same source). He ran a private school network in Mogadishu in 2003–2004 (same source).

## Kismayo University

In August 2005 he co-founded [Kismayo University](/en/institutions/kismayo-university/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Abdi_Barre)). He taught for many years in Kismayo and Mogadishu, and became a senior lecturer at [Mogadishu University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) (same source). See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## Into public office

From 2011 to 2017 he was secretary-general of a political party led by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Abdi_Barre)). He advised the Banadir administration in 2014–2015 (same source). From 2019 to 2020 he chaired the [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) electoral commission (same source). On 28 December 2021 he was elected to the House of the People for [Afmadow](/en/regions/lower-juba/) (same source).

## Prime minister

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) nominated him on 15 June 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Abdi_Barre)). Parliament approved him on 25 June by 229 votes to 7 (same source).

## Record in office

A June 2026 review lists about $4.5 billion of debt relief in December 2023 ([Citizen Digital, 17 June 2026](https://citizen.digital/article/mixed-bag-for-somalia-pm-barre-in-four-year-stretch-n384810)). It also notes a national digital ID and biometric payroll (same source). The UN arms embargo was lifted in 2023, and Somalia joined the East African Community (same source). Somalia sits on the UN Security Council for 2025–2026 (same source). The same review lists ongoing attacks, disputes with some federal member states, and droughts and floods (same source). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## Debate

Remarks he made on Gaza in November 2023 drew wide criticism abroad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Abdi_Barre)).

## In short

A teacher and co-founder of a university in Kismayo who became Prime Minister in June 2022.


---

# Hassan Abshir Farah (Xasan Abshir Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Abshir Farah (1945–2020) was Prime Minister of Somalia's Transitional National Government from November 2001 to November 2003. Earlier he was Mayor of Mogadishu, a regional governor and ambassador under Siad Barre, and Puntland's interior minister. He later served as a minister in the Transitional Federal Government and as a member of the Federal Parliament.

## Who was he?

Hassan Abshir Farah was the second Prime Minister of the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TNG). World Statesmen dates his term from 12 November 2001 to 8 November 2003 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). His career ran from the military government of the 1970s, through [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), to the Federal Parliament formed in 2012 ([Wikipedia, Hassan Abshir Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Abshir_Farah)).

## Early life and education

He was born on 20 June 1945 in what was then [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) (Wikipedia). He went to secondary school in Mogadishu from 1961 to 1965 and then spent two years at the Egyptian Military Academy in Cairo. From 1980 to 1986 he studied law at the Somali National University (same source).

## Under the military government, 1969 to 1991

His public career began after the 1969 coup. His first post was deputy district commissioner of Mogadishu, and in the 1970s he became Mayor of Mogadishu (Wikipedia). Our list of mayors, drawn from World Statesmen and Wikipedia, records two terms: 1973 to 1976 and 1982 to 1987 ([Mayors of Mogadishu](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/)). He also served as governor of Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and of [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), and as Somalia's ambassador to Japan (same source).

## Puntland interior minister

In 1999 he was Interior Minister of Puntland under President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Wikipedia; [IRIN, 10 December 1999](https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/irin-121099.html)).

## Prime Minister, 2001 to 2003

President [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) appointed him Prime Minister in November 2001, after Osman Jama Ali's short term as acting Prime Minister ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). In November 2001 he said that the United States would be welcome to send troops to help monitor terrorist activity in Somalia ([BBC News, 27 November 2001](https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1678586.stm)). In October 2002 he led the TNG's delegation to the reconciliation conference that opened in Eldoret, Kenya (Wikipedia). The TNG's mandate ran out in August 2003 ([IRIN, 13 August 2003](http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35939&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA)). His term ended in late 2003, and Mohamed Abdi Yusuf followed him as Prime Minister ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Later career

In 2004 he became Minister of Fisheries in the new Transitional Federal Government (Wikipedia). On 1 August 2006 he resigned together with seven other ministers in protest at the postponement of talks with the Islamic Courts Union (same source). In 2008 he announced that he would stand for President of Puntland in the January 2009 election, which [Abdirahman Mohamed Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/) won (same source). From 2012 he was a member of the Federal Parliament (same source).

He died of COVID-19 in Turkey on 12 July 2020 ([Horn Daily, 12 July 2020](https://www.horndaily.com/2020/07/12/former-somali-prime-minister-hassan-abshir-farah-dies-of-coronavirus-in-turkey/)).

## Offices held

- Mayor of Mogadishu, 1973 to 1976 and 1982 to 1987. See [Mayors of Mogadishu](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/).
- Interior Minister of Puntland, 1999
- Prime Minister of the Transitional National Government, 12 November 2001 to 8 November 2003. See [Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/).
- Minister of Fisheries, 2004 to 2006
- Member of the Federal Parliament, from 2012


---

# Hassan Sheikh Mumin (Xasan Sheekh Muumin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mumin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Sheikh Mumin (1931–2008) was a Somali poet, playwright, broadcaster and composer from Zeila and Boorama. His play Shabeelnaagood (1965) about women, the city and the value of education is a classic of Somali literature. It was published in English by Oxford University Press in 1974 as Leopard Among the Women.

## Who was he?

Hassan Sheikh Mumin was a Somali poet, playwright, broadcaster, actor and composer ([Wikipedia, Hassan Sheikh Mumin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). His play *[Shabeelnaagood](/en/books/shabeelnaagood-mumin/)* is one of the best-known works of Somali literature.

## Early life

He was born in 1931 in Zeila, in what was then [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). At nine he moved with his family to [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/), where he finished school and studied at a local madrasa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). His family is Gadabuursi (same source).

## The Youth League and the radio

He joined the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/). He wrote his first published poem for a League rally in Boorama in the early 1950s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)).

After independence he worked at Radio Mogadishu from 1965 to 1968 as resident poet, playwright and lecturer. He later worked in the national Department of Education and Culture ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). Some of the best-known songs of the singer [Magool](/en/society/somali-music/) used his words, such as "Shimbirayahow heesa" and "Waa qaali malabkuye" ([Wikipedia, Magool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)).

## Shabeelnaagood

His best known work is the play *Shabeelnaagood* (1965). It deals with the place of women in society, life in the growing towns, changing customs and the importance of education ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). He wrote both the play and its music (same source).

The heroine, Shallaayo, is tricked into a false marriage by the "leopard" of the title (same source). The play is still taught in schools.

In 1974 Oxford University Press published it in English as *Leopard Among the Women*. It was translated by B. W. Andrzejewski, who added an introduction on the history of Somali drama ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Theater"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Later years

After the army took power in 1969, some cultural works were banned, including his poetry. He left Mogadishu for Djibouti and later settled again in Boorama ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). He died on 16 January 2008 (same source).

## In short

A playwright and poet whose 1968 play Shabeelnaagood dealt with how women were treated. See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).


---

# Ismail Ali Abokor (Ismaaciil Cali Abokor)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ismail-ali-abokor/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Brigadier General Ismail Ali Abokor (born 1937) was a member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council that took power in 1969. He was one of Somalia's vice presidents from 1971 and the first Speaker of the People's Assembly, from 1979 to 1982. He was detained in 1982 and released in 1988, after which he joined the Somali National Movement.

## Who is he?

Ismail Ali Abokor was one of the army officers who took power in the coup of 21 October 1969 and sat on the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) ([Wikipedia, Ismail Ali Abokor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Ali_Abokor)). He became one of the country's vice presidents in 1971. In 1979 he became the first Speaker of the new People's Assembly ([SNA Radio, biography, 31 August 2016](http://snaradio.net/so/articles/1603/Taariikh-nololeedkii-S-Guuto-Ismaaciil-Cali-Obokor)).

## Early life and military training

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), in the Togdheer region, in 1937, and went to primary school there ([SNA Radio, biography, 31 August 2016](http://snaradio.net/so/articles/1603/Taariikh-nololeedkii-S-Guuto-Ismaaciil-Cali-Obokor); Wikipedia). After secondary school he went to Britain for military training. SNA Radio records that he trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1958 (same source). He came home in 1960 as one of the first officers trained for the northern part of the country. In 1961 he became deputy commander of the officers' training school (same source).

## Army career, 1961 to 1969

Wikipedia records that in 1962 he headed an army unit, and in 1963 he became deputy commander of a battalion in Kismayo. He later commanded a battalion in Kismayo. In 1967 he became chief instructor at the Halane training school in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Ali_Abokor)).

## Supreme Revolutionary Council, 1969 to 1982

As a lieutenant colonel he took part in the coup of October 1969 that brought [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) to power, and joined the Supreme Revolutionary Council (Wikipedia). SNA Radio records that in 1970 he was named Minister of Information and National Guidance, and that in 1971 he became the council's third vice president ([SNA Radio, biography, 31 August 2016](http://snaradio.net/so/articles/1603/Taariikh-nololeedkii-S-Guuto-Ismaaciil-Cali-Obokor)). In 1974 he chaired the council's committee on politics and social affairs. In 1976 he became a brigadier general and an assistant secretary general of the new Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (same source).

## Speaker of the People's Assembly, 1979 to 1982

When the People's Assembly was set up under the 1979 constitution, he became its first Speaker ([SNA Radio, biography, 31 August 2016](http://snaradio.net/so/articles/1603/Taariikh-nololeedkii-S-Guuto-Ismaaciil-Cali-Obokor)). He held the post from 5 August 1979 to 26 January 1982 ([Wikipedia, List of speakers of the Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia)).

## Detention and later life

In 1982 he was arrested. SNA Radio records that the government accused him of treason and of plotting a coup. Others detained with him included [Omar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/) and [General Omar Haji](/en/people/omar-haji-masale/) Masale. He was held until 1988 ([SNA Radio, biography, 31 August 2016](http://snaradio.net/so/articles/1603/Taariikh-nololeedkii-S-Guuto-Ismaaciil-Cali-Obokor)). After his release he joined the Somali National Movement (Wikipedia). He later moved to the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (same source).

## Offices held

- Member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, 1969 to 1982
- Minister of Information and National Guidance, from 1970
- Vice President, from 1971
- Speaker of the People's Assembly, 5 August 1979 to 26 January 1982. See [Speakers of Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/).


---

# Khadra Haji Ismail Geid (Khadra Xaaji Ismaaciil Geydh)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/khadra-haji-ismail-geid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Khadra Haji Ismail Geid was Mayor of Gabiley from May 2011 to March 2012, the first woman mayor in Somaliland. She was earlier the first woman elected to a local council there, and later Director General of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

## Who is she?

Khadra Haji Ismail Geid is a [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) politician ([Wikipedia, Khadra Haji Ismail Geid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Haji_Ismail_Geid)). In 2011 she became mayor of [Gabiley](/en/regions/gabiley/), the first woman mayor in Somaliland ([UNPO, 3 June 2011](https://unpo.org/article/12705)). She was born in Gabiley District in 1964 or 1965 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Haji_Ismail_Geid)). Allsanaag places her family in the Sa'ad Musa (Habar Awal, Isaaq) ([Allsanaag, 29 March 2018](https://allsanaag.com/ciise-xawar-shaqadiisu-maxay-tahay/)).

## Local council

In 1969 her father ran for a parliamentary seat in Gabiley ([UNPO, 15 September 2011](https://unpo.org/somaliland-first-female-mayor-elected/)). In the 2002 local elections she joined Kulmiye, led by Ahmed Silanyo (same source). She won a council seat in Gabiley, the first woman elected to a local council in Somaliland ([BBC Somali, 28 November 2016](https://www.bbc.com/somali/38127360)). In 2006 she became deputy mayor (same source). Under Somaliland's 2002 local government law, the council chair is the mayor ([Somaliland Law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/body_local_government_law.htm)).

## Mayor of Gabiley

In May 2011 the mayor, Aden Muhumed, was removed over corruption allegations ([Hiiraan Online, 28 May 2011](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2011/May/18900/somaliland_s_first_woman_mayor_takes_role_in_gabiley_city.aspx)). The district council then elected her acting mayor (same source). In September 2011 UNPO reported a 72% approval rating for her ([UNPO](https://unpo.org/somaliland-first-female-mayor-elected/)). In November 2011 she and the regional governor began building a guest house on land bought for the purpose ([Somaliland Post](https://somalilandpost.news/gudoomiyaha-gobolka-gabiley-iyo-maayarka-magaalada-oo-dhagax-dhigay-dhisme-loogu-tallo-galay-guriga-martida/)). In February 2012 elders gave her a certificate of honour for new roads and the expanded council offices ([Haatuf, 17 February 2012](http://www.haatuf.net/2009files/3305.html)).

## Change of mayor, March 2012

On 10 March 2012, 12 councillors tried to meet to remove her; police stopped them and arrested them ([Araweelo News](https://archive.araweelonews.com/wararka/wararka-wararka-2/12-ka-mid-ah-xildhibaanada-golaha-deegaanka-gebilay-oo-xabsiga-loo-taxaabay-iyo-xiisado-ka-aloosan-halkaa/)). On 14 March she chaired a council session that elected Ahmed Muhumed Qalib as mayor with 16 votes ([Saxafi Media](https://saxafimedia.com/xildhibaanada-deegaanka-gabiley-ee-la-xidhay-oo-dhaar-ka-dib-isku-raacay-hogaamiye-iyo-habkii-doorashadu-u-dhacday/)). She congratulated him and became deputy mayor again (same source). On 31 March the First Lady, Amina Weris, honoured her year in office ([Somaliland Post](https://somalilandpost.news/khadra-xaaji-gaydh-shakhsi-ka-soo-baxday-hawsheeda-oo-ku-suntanaan-doonta-taariikhda-gabiley/)).

## Later posts

In January 2016 President Silanyo made her Director General of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs ([Horn Tribune, 3 January 2016](https://horntribune.com/2016/01/03/somalilandpresident-appoints-ms-khadra-h-gaydh-as-new-dg-in-the-ministry-of-presidential-affairs/)). When President [Muse Bihi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) closed that ministry in December 2017, the outgoing minister handed its work to her ([BBC Somali, 14 December 2017](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-42355768)). In February 2018 she was named deputy chair of the Quality Control Commission ([Hiiraan Online, 22 February 2018](https://www.hiiraan.com/news/2018/feb/wararka_maanta22-154784.htm)). She declined the post days later for personal reasons ([Baligubadle Media, 25 February 2018](https://baligubadlemedia.com/2018/02/khadra-xaaji-gaydh-oo-iska-casishay-xil-loo-magacaabay/)).

## In short

Somaliland's first woman councillor and first woman mayor (Gabiley, 2011 to 2012), and later a senior official in the presidency.


---

# Leyla Hussein (Leyla Xuseen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/leyla-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Leyla Hussein (born 1980) is a Somali-born British psychotherapist and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM). In 2010 she co-founded Daughters of Eve with Nimco Ali and Sainab Abdi. She presented the 2013 Channel 4 film The Cruel Cut, was appointed OBE in 2019, and was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews in 2020.

## Who is she?

Leyla Hussein is a Somali-born British psychotherapist and social activist ([Wikipedia, Leyla Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). She founded the Dahlia Project, co-founded Daughters of Eve, and is chief executive of Hawa's Haven (same source). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia in 1980 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). She later moved to the United Kingdom (same source). She earned a postgraduate diploma in therapeutic counselling from Thames Valley University (same source). She has said she is an FGM survivor (same source). See [Somalis in the United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## Health work

After working in youth outreach, she worked for ten years in reproductive health ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). At the African Well Women Clinic in Waltham Forest she worked with FGM survivors (same source). At the NAZ Project [London](/en/diaspora/london/) she was a sexual health adviser for Somalis affected by HIV (same source). She works with the Metropolitan Police on Project Azure (same source).

## Campaigning

In 2010 she founded Daughters of Eve with [Nimco Ali](/en/people/nimco-ali/) and Sainab Abdi, to educate young women and raise awareness of FGM ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). She leads Hawa's Haven, a coalition of Somali women campaigners on gender-based violence (same source). She is global ambassador for The Girl Generation, which works to end FGM in ten African countries (same source). She sits on the advisory group of the Desert Flower Foundation, the charity of [Waris Dirie](/en/people/waris-dirie/) (same source).

In 2013 she presented *The Cruel Cut* on Channel 4, a documentary on her work against FGM in the UK ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). The film and she were nominated for a BAFTA in 2014 (same source).

## Honours

She was on the BBC 100 Women list in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). With Nimco Ali she placed sixth in the Woman's Hour Power List 2014 (same source). She was appointed OBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours, for services to tackling FGM and gender inequality (same source).

## Rector of St Andrews

In 2020 she was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews for three years, the third woman and first woman of colour in the post ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Hussein)). In October 2023 the student paper *The Saint* reported that she had visited St Andrews once as Rector and missed 10 of 12 meetings of the University Court (same source).

## In short

A Somali-British psychotherapist who co-founded Daughters of Eve in 2010, was appointed OBE in 2019 and was Rector of St Andrews from 2020.


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# Madobe Nunow Mohamed (Madoobe Nuunow Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/madobe-nunow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Madobe Nunow Mohamed (1948–2017) was interim President of South West State from March to December 2014. Before that he was a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2012 and served as federal Minister of Information, of Youth and Sports, and of Constitution and Federal Affairs.

## Who was he?

Madobe Nunow Mohamed led the [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) administration in 2014, in the months before its first full president took office. World Statesmen dates his term from 3 March 2014 to 3 December 2014, when [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) succeeded him ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Wikipedia describes him as the second president of South West State ([Wikipedia, Madobe Nunow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madobe_Nunow)).

## Early life and training

He was born in 1948 in Diinsoor District, in the Bay region (Wikipedia). World Statesmen gives the same birth year. He went to primary and secondary school in Diinsoor in the 1960s, and finished secondary school in Hawle Wadag District, Mogadishu, in the 1970s. From 1979 to 1980 he studied political science at the Halane institute in Mogadishu, and in 1983 to 1984 he earned a diploma in administration and management from SIDAM (same source).

## Local government, 1966 to 1992

Wikipedia lists a long career in local administration ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madobe_Nunow)):

- member of the Somali Youth League in Bay, 1966 to 1968
- clerk at the Ministry of Interior in Bay, 1974 to 1976, then head of the ministry's office in Diinsoor, 1976 to 1978
- party official of the [Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) in Sablaale ([Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/)) and Beled Xaawo ([Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/)) in the early 1980s
- Mayor of Diinsoor in 1985
- party secretary and governor of Cadale, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), 1987 to 1990
- chairman of the Diinsoor district rescue committee, 1991 to 1992

In 1995 he was one of the founders of the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) (same source).

## Parliament and the federal government, 2001 to 2012

He was a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2012. In the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) he was Deputy Minister of Petroleum from 2004 to 2007, Minister of Information from 2007 to 2008, Minister of Youth and Sports from 2008 to 2009 and Minister of Constitution and Federal Affairs from 2009 to 2010. From 2011 to 2012 he chaired the parliamentary committee on the constitution and federal affairs (Wikipedia).

## South West State, 2014

He led the South West administration based in Baidoa from March to December 2014 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden succeeded him as President on 3 December 2014 (same source).

## His death

World Statesmen gives his death year as 2017. Wikipedia records that he died on 29 October 2017 in a bomb attack on the Nasa-Hablod hotel in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madobe_Nunow); [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Offices held

- Mayor of Diinsoor, 1985
- Member of Parliament, 2001 to 2012
- Minister of Information, 2007 to 2008; Minister of Youth and Sports, 2008 to 2009; Minister of Constitution and Federal Affairs, 2009 to 2010
- President of South West State (interim), 3 March to 3 December 2014. See [Presidents of South West State](/en/institutions/presidents-of-south-west-state/).


---

# Mohamed Abdi Hashi (Maxamed Cabdi Xaashi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Abdi Hashi (died 2020) was the first Vice President of Puntland, from 1998 to 2004, and acting President of Puntland from October 2004 to January 2005. In the 1990s he chaired the United Somali Party, a political group based in Sool.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Abdi Hashi was [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s Vice President for its first six years, under President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/). When Abdullahi Yusuf was elected President of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) in October 2004, Hashi became acting President of Puntland until the next election in January 2005 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html); [Wikipedia, Mohamed Abdi Hashi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Hashi)).

## Early life

Wikipedia records that he was born in Hargaga, a rural settlement west of Laascaanood in the [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Hashi)). His birth year is not settled: World Statesmen gives it only as "195." ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## The United Somali Party

In the 1990s he chaired the [United Somali Party](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) (USP), a political organisation founded in 1991 (Wikipedia). In January 1993 he took part in the reconciliation conference held in Addis Ababa (same source). At the end of 1996 he and others held a clan meeting in Boocame, in Sool. Wikipedia describes that meeting as one of the steps that led to the founding of Puntland (same source).

## Vice President of Puntland, 1998 to 2004

Puntland was founded on 1 August 1998, with Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as President and Hashi as Vice President (Wikipedia). Wikipedia records that the founding agreement shared the top three posts between clans. Hashi won the vice presidency in a contest with Ahmed Abdi Mohamed and Yasin Ali Abdulle Tamat (same source). He served as Vice President until October 2004.

## Acting President, 2004 to 2005

When Abdullahi Yusuf moved to the federal presidency, Hashi took over Puntland. World Statesmen dates his acting presidency from 14 October 2004 to 8 January 2005; Wikipedia gives 10 October 2004 as the start ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Hashi)). Fighting broke out between Puntland and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) at the end of October 2004, during his time in office (Wikipedia). On 8 January 2005 he stood in Puntland's presidential vote in parliament. He received 30 votes and [Mohamud Muse Hersi](/en/people/mohamud-muse-hersi/) "Adde" received 35, so Adde became President (same source).

## Later life and death

His son Abdirahman Mohamed Abdi Hashi later served as federal Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources (Wikipedia). Mohamed Abdi Hashi died in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 July 2020 and was buried in Garowe on 15 July ([VOA Somali, 15 July 2020](https://www.voasomali.com/a/5503844.html); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Hashi)).

## Offices held

- Chairman of the United Somali Party, 1990s
- Vice President of Puntland, 1 August 1998 to October 2004. See [Vice Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/vice-presidents-of-puntland/).
- Acting President of Puntland, October 2004 to 8 January 2005. See [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/).


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# Mohamed Abshir Muse (Maxamed Abshir Muuse)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abshir-muse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> General Mohamed Abshir Muse (1926–2017) commanded the Somali Police Force from 1959 until he resigned in 1969. After the 1969 coup he was detained. From 1991 to 1994 he chaired the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), the main political movement in north-eastern Somalia before Puntland was declared in 1998.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Abshir Muse led the Somali Police Force through the first decade of independence. He was police commander from 1959 until early 1969 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). After the civil war began he chaired the Somali Salvation Democratic Front from 1991 to 22 August 1994 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Early life and police career

Wikipedia gives his birth date as 1 July 1926 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Abshir Muse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Muse)). Margaret Castagno's 1975 *Historical Dictionary of Somalia* records that he was born in the British protectorate in the north but spent most of his life in the south. During the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/), from 1941 to 1950, he served in the police and rose to police inspector ([Castagno, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia records that he trained with the Carabinieri, Italy's gendarmerie (Wikipedia).

He joined the police in the southern territory during the trusteeship administration and became its commandant in 1959. He attended Princeton University in 1962 to 1963 (Castagno). After independence in 1960 he went on to command the national police of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/).

## Resignation and detention, 1969 to the 1970s

Castagno records that he resigned as commander early in 1969. Wikipedia says he resigned ahead of that year's elections because he opposed the way they were run (Wikipedia). After the military coup of October 1969 he was placed under house arrest. He was released in 1972, but was soon arrested again after a crowd gathered in Mogadishu in his support ([Castagno, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## The SSDF, 1991 to 1998

After the fall of the Barre government in 1991 he became chairman of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front. World Statesmen lists him as chairman from 1991 to 22 August 1994, when [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) succeeded him ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). World Statesmen also notes that the SSDF divided into two factions, one led by each man (same source). Wikipedia describes him as leader of the SSDF's political wing while Abdullahi Yusuf led its armed wing until 1998. Abdullahi Yusuf drew support from former military officers, and Mohamed Abshir from politicians of the 1960s civilian government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Muse)).

## His death

He died on 25 October 2017, aged 91 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Muse); [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Offices held

- Commandant of the police in the southern territory, from 1959
- Commander of the Somali Police Force, 1960 to 1969. See [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/).
- Chairman of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, 1991 to 22 August 1994. See [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/).


---

# Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi (Maxamed Cali Aw Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-aw-ali-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi has been Vice President of Somaliland since 13 December 2024. He is a member of the Waddani party and was the running mate of Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" in both the 2017 and 2024 presidential elections.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi is the Vice President of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). He took office on 13 December 2024 alongside President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro", after the two won the November 2024 election as candidates of the Waddani party ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Aw-Ali_Abdi)). Somali-language news reports call him by the title of ambassador ([Gabiley News, 31 October 2016](https://www.gabileynewsonline.com/2016/10/qabanqaabada-soo-dhaweynta-musharaxa-madaxweyne-ku-xigeen-ee-xisbiga-waddani-amb-maxamed-cali-aw-c)).

## Running mate in 2017

Waddani chose him as its vice-presidential candidate for the 2017 election, on a ticket led by [Abdirahman Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) (Wikipedia). In November 2016 he led a large Waddani delegation to [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) for a campaign event, and later that month he held an event in [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) in the United Kingdom. In April 2017 he led a Waddani delegation to Switzerland to meet people from the Somaliland diaspora (same source). The 2017 election was won by [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) of the Kulmiye party ([Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/)).

## The 2024 election

In March 2021 Waddani again chose Irro and Aw-Ali as its candidates for the next presidential election, then planned for 2022 ([Berbera Today, 30 March 2021](https://berberatoday.com/2021/03/30/cabdiraxmaan-ciro-iyo-maxamed-cali-awcabdi-oo-markale-loo-doortay-musharixiinta-madaxweynaha-iyo-kuxigee)). The election was later moved to 2024 (Wikipedia).

The vote took place in November 2024. Voice of America reported that Irro's Waddani ticket won 63.92% of the vote, against 34.81% for President Muse Bihi Abdi and 0.74% for Faysal Ali Warabe. Independent observers described the election as peaceful ([Voice of America, 19 November 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/opposition-leader-wins-somaliland-presidential-contest/7868957.html)).

## Vice President, 2024 to now

The new administration was sworn in on 13 December 2024 (Wikipedia). Aw-Ali succeeded Abdirahman Saylici, who had been Vice President since 2010 ([Vice Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/vice-presidents-of-somaliland/)).

## Offices held

- Waddani candidate for Vice President, 2017
- Vice President of Somaliland, 13 December 2024 to now. See [Vice Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/vice-presidents-of-somaliland/).


---

# Mohamed Hassan Nuriye (Maxamed Xasan Nuuriye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-hassan-nuriye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Hassan Nuriye was Mayor of Beledweyne from 7 May 2012 to May 2019. He won the town's first mayoral vote since the civil war, taking 135 of about 200 delegate votes, and banned firearms in the city on his first day.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Hassan Nuriye is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Hassan Nuriye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hassan_Nuriye)). He was Mayor of Beledweyne, the main town of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), from 2012 to 2019 (same source).

## Election in 2012

On 7 May 2012 Beledweyne held its first municipal vote since the start of the civil war in the early 1990s ([Bar-Kulan, 7 May 2012](http://www.bar-kulan.com/2012/05/07/beledweyne-finally-gets-elected-mayor/)). About 200 delegates took part (same source). Hiiraan's head of elections, Sadaq Omar Sabriye, oversaw the contest (same source). Nuriye won 135 votes; the next two candidates won 11 and 8 (same source).

## First steps in office

On his first day he banned firearms within city limits ([Bar-Kulan, 8 May 2012](http://www.bar-kulan.com/2012/05/08/newly-appointed-beledweyne-mayor-bans-firearms-in-the-city/)). He warned that weapons found would be taken and owners could be jailed (same source). He asked soldiers not on patrol to stay in their bases (same source). The municipality also began a three-day registration of all residents (same source). He announced a city beautification campaign (same source).

## Clearing the main road

On 18 July 2012 his administration set a two-night curfew in Beledweyne ([Bar-Kulan, 19 July 2012](http://www.bar-kulan.com/2012/07/19/nighttime-curfew-imposed-on-beledweyne/)). During it, soldiers took down structures built without permission along the main road (same source). Bar-Kulan described it as one of the municipality's first urban renewal efforts (same source).

## Successor

In May 2019 Safiya Hassan Sheikh Ali Jimale followed him as mayor ([Africanews, 28 May 2019](https://www.africanews.com/2019/05/28/somalia-s-first-female-mayor-appointed-in-city-of-beledweyne/)). See [Safiya Jimale](/en/people/safiya-jimale/).

## In short

Mayor of Beledweyne for seven years after the town's first post-war mayoral vote.


---

# Mohamed Hersi Ahmed (Maxamed Xirsi Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-hersi-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Hersi Ahmed, also called Mohamed Ase (Wacays), has been Mayor of Burao in Somaliland since 16 December 2023. The 13-member Burao local council elected him by 7 votes to 6.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Hersi Ahmed is a Swedish-Somaliland politician ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Hersi Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hersi_Ahmed)). He has been Mayor of Burao, the main city of [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), since 16 December 2023 (same source). He is a member of the Waddani party (same source).

## Election as mayor

The Burao local council has 13 members ([BBC Somali, 16 December 2023](https://www.bbc.com/somali/articles/c872l53lzpvo)). It had been divided for some time over the mayor's post (same source). On 16 December 2023 it elected him by 7 votes to 6 (same source). Suldan Jama Nuh was elected deputy mayor ([CBA TV](https://cbatv.net/news/somalilands-burao-local-council-elects-mohamed-ase-as-new-mayor/)). The vote followed the council's removal of the previous mayor, Abdirisaq Ibrahim Abdi ([Voice of America Somali](https://www.voasomali.com/a/duqii-magaalada-burco-iyo-ku-xigeenkiisa-oo-xilka-laga-qaaday-/7400741.html)). The Togdheer governor, Mohamed Abdullahi Nafaqo, and the regional police commander attended the session ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/articles/c872l53lzpvo)).

## Background

He became a member of the Burao council after the 2021 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) local elections ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hersi_Ahmed)). He had lived in Sweden for a time before returning home (same source). Wikipedia, citing [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/), describes him as quiet and religious, and estimates his age in his early fifties (same source).

## The day of the vote

BBC Somali reported that he fell from his chair in the council hall soon after his acceptance speech ([BBC Somali, 16 December 2023](https://www.bbc.com/somali/articles/c872l53lzpvo)). He was taken to a clinic and then home to rest, and witnesses told the BBC no illness was found (same source). The deputy mayor said he was tired after a hard campaign (same source).

## In short

Mayor of Burao since December 2023, elected by the council 7 to 6. See Mayors of Burao.


---

# Mohamed Bihi Yonis (Maxamed Bixi Yoonis)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-yonis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Bihi Yonis is a Somaliland-Canadian diplomat who was Somaliland's Minister of Foreign Affairs from June 2013 to 2015. Before that he held senior posts with the African Development Bank and with United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions, including as Deputy Joint Special Representative of the UNAMID mission in Darfur.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Bihi Yonis spent most of his career in international organisations before serving as [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 25 June 2013 until his resignation in 2015 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Yonis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Yonis)). Wikidata dates the end of his term to 26 June 2015 ([Wikidata, Q6891557](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6891557)).

## The African Development Bank

He worked for the African Development Bank in Côte d'Ivoire in several senior posts, including as Director and Management Adviser (Wikipedia).

## United Nations peacekeeping, 2001 to 2013

He was Chief Administrative Officer in the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process from 2001 to 2002, and then at the UN Truce Supervision Organization from 2002 to 2006 (Wikipedia). In 2006 he led the Darfur planning team at UN headquarters in New York, and advised the African Union Mission in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) on mission support. He then became Director of Mission Support of UNAMID, the joint African Union and United Nations mission in Darfur, and later its Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management (same source).

## Foreign Minister, 2013 to 2015

President [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) "Silanyo" named him Foreign Minister in a cabinet reshuffle on 25 June 2013. He replaced Mohamed Abdullahi Omar ([Midnimo, 25 June 2013](http://www.midnimo.com/2013/06/25/somaliland-president-silanyo-unveils-a-major-reshuffle-to-his-cabinet/); Wikipedia).

Wikipedia records that during his term he attended Somaliland's first investment conference, held in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 2014 with the UK government, and arranged a visit by Ethiopian ministers to Somaliland in November 2014. In January 2015 he led a delegation to a conference on Somaliland at the European Parliament in Brussels. Later in 2015 he attended the African Development Bank's annual meeting in Abidjan and the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town (Wikipedia).

## Resignation, 2015

In 2015 he resigned along with eleven other government officials (Wikipedia). [Saad Ali Shire](/en/people/saad-ali-shire/) succeeded him as Foreign Minister ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)).

## Offices held

- Chief Administrative Officer, UN Truce Supervision Organization, 2002 to 2006
- Deputy Joint Special Representative, UNAMID, Darfur
- Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somaliland, 25 June 2013 to 2015. See [Foreign Ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somaliland/).


---

# Mohamud Abdi Gaab (Maxamuud Cabdi Gaab)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamud-abdi-gaab/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Engineer Mohamud Abdi Gaab was Governor of Hiiraan from 2011 to 2014. Hiran State news also called him President of Hiiraan State. In January 2012 he led a delegation to Nairobi to meet Hiiraan's scholars, religious leaders and intellectuals.

## Who is he?

Mohamud Abdi Gaab was Governor of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) from 2011 to 2014 ([Wikipedia, Mohamud Abdi Gaab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Abdi_Gaab)). He holds the title of engineer ([Hiran State News](http://hiranstate.com/news.php?readmore=902)).

## Governor and "Hiiraan State"

Hiran State's news site called him "Madaxweynaha Hiiraan State", President of Hiiraan State ([Hiran State News](http://hiranstate.com/news.php?readmore=902)). In 2012 [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) published an essay on Hiiraan's place in the new Somali constitution, discussing the region's administration in that period ([Hiiraan Online, May 2012](http://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2012/may/24000/hiiraan_and_the_somali_constitution_the_prototype_of_somalia_s_dystopic_future.aspx)). See [HirShabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), the member state Hiiraan joined in 2016.

## Visit to Nairobi

On 1 January 2012 he arrived in Nairobi with a delegation from Uganda ([Hiran State News](http://hiranstate.com/news.php?readmore=902)). There he met intellectuals, scholars and religious leaders from Hiiraan (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## In short

Governor of Hiiraan from 2011 to 2014, styled by local media as President of Hiiraan State.


---

# Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle (Muuse Xasan Sheekh Cabdulle)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/muse-hassan-sheikh-sayid-abdulle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle (born 1940) is a retired Somali general and politician. He was among the first three Somali cadets to graduate from Italy's Modena Military Academy and rose to brigadier general in 1986. In August 2012, as the oldest member of the new Federal Parliament, he served as interim speaker and acting president. He was later ambassador to Italy.

## Who is he?

Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle is a senior Somali military figure and politician ([Wikipedia, Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)). He served as acting president of Somalia and interim speaker of the Federal Parliament in 2012 (same source). He was later Somalia's ambassador to Italy, and is now retired (same source). This page records his public career.

## Birth and family

Wikipedia says he was born in 1940 in Shilabo, in the Ogaden ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)). It says he comes from the [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Hassanur family, and gives his clan as the Bahgeri branch of the Ogaden (Absame, Darod) (same source). See [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/).

## Military career

He joined the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) in 1959 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)). He was one of the first three Somali cadets to graduate from the Modena Military Academy in Italy, where he studied from 1959 to 1961 (same source). He trained further in Turin from 1961 to 1963 and at the war college in Civitavecchia from 1968 to 1970 (same source). See [the Somali armed forces, 1960 to 1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

Wikipedia lists these posts (same source):

- Commander of tank and motorised battalions in Hargeisa, 1965 to 1968.
- Commander of the 26th Division in Hargeisa, 1970 to 1971.
- Director of operations at the Ministry of Defence, 1971 to 1973.
- Military adviser and aide to the president, 1973 to 1976.
- Defence attaché in Rome, 1976 to 1979.
- Commandant of the Ahmed Gurey War College in Mogadishu, 1983 to 1984.
- Commander of the 60th Division in Baidoa, 1986 to 1989.

He became a colonel in 1974 and a brigadier general in 1986 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)). In 1985–86 he studied at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. (same source).

## Acting president, 2012

The mandate of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ended on 20 August 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)). At the opening of the new Federal Parliament at Mogadishu's airport, he was named interim speaker as the oldest member (same source). At the same ceremony he was named acting president (same source).

On 28 August 2012 parliament elected [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/) as speaker (same source). On 30 August, Muse Hassan was made chair of the 15-member committee that ran the presidential vote (same source). That vote elected [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) on 10 September 2012 ([Wikipedia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mohamud)). Wikipedia's page on Muse Hassan gives the date as 1 September ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)).

## Ambassador to Italy

On 20 June 2013 the cabinet named him Somalia's ambassador to Italy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Hassan_Sheikh_Sayid_Abdulle)).

## In short

A general of the Somali National Army from 1959, acting president and interim speaker in August 2012, and later ambassador to Italy.


---

# Nur Hassan Hussein "Nur Adde" (Nuur Xasan Xuseen "Cadde")

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nur-hassan-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nur Hassan Hussein, known as Nur Adde (1938–2020), was Prime Minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government from November 2007 to February 2009. Earlier he was a police officer, chief police officer and attorney general under Siad Barre, and Secretary General of the Somali Red Crescent Society. He later served as ambassador to Italy.

## Who was he?

Nur Hassan Hussein was the second Prime Minister of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). He took office on 24 November 2007 and served until 14 February 2009 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). Wikipedia records the truce signed in Djibouti in June 2008 as one of the outcomes of his government's work ([Wikipedia, Nur Hassan Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Hassan_Hussein)).

## Police and law, 1950s to 1991

He was born on 2 February 1938 (Wikipedia). He began work in the early 1950s as a police officer in [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/). He studied law at the Somali National University and at a school of fiscal law in Rome. In 1987, under President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), he became chief police officer and attorney general, and held the post until the civil war began in 1991 (same source).

## The Somali Red Crescent

After 1991 he served as Secretary General of the [Somali Red Crescent Society](/en/institutions/somali-red-crescent-society/) (Wikipedia).

## Prime Minister, 2007 to 2009

[Ali Mohammed Ghedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/) resigned as Prime Minister on 29 October 2007, and Salim Aliyow Ibrow served as acting Prime Minister in the gap ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Hassan_Hussein); [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) nominated Nur Adde on 22 November 2007. Parliament, sitting in Baidoa, approved him on 24 November by 211 votes out of 212, and he was sworn in the same day (Wikipedia).

He said he would form a smaller cabinet. He named 15 ministers and five assistant ministers on 4 January 2008, and parliament approved the cabinet on 10 January by 223 votes to 5 (same source). A truce was signed in Djibouti in June 2008 (same source).

On 30 July 2008 he dismissed the Mayor of Mogadishu, [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Habeb Dhere. On 2 August ten ministers and one assistant minister resigned, saying they had not been consulted. He named six new ministers the next day. On 26 August he and President Yusuf signed an agreement to settle their dispute, and on 1 September parliament voted down a motion of no confidence in his government (same source). World Statesmen records that his government sat in Mogadishu until December 2008, then in Baidoa, and from January 2009 in Djibouti ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). His term ended on 14 February 2009, when [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) succeeded him (same source).

## Ambassador and death

In September 2009 he was named Somalia's ambassador to Italy ([allAfrica, 5 September 2009](https://allafrica.com/stories/200909080293.html)). He died in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) on 1 April 2020 of COVID-19 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/ex-somali-pm-dies-of-coronavirus-in-london); Wikipedia).

## Offices held

- Chief police officer and attorney general, 1987 to 1991
- Secretary General of the Somali Red Crescent Society, after 1991
- Prime Minister of Somalia, 24 November 2007 to 14 February 2009. See [Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/).
- Ambassador to Italy, from 2009


---

# Omar Arteh Ghalib (Cumar Carte Qaalib)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Arteh Ghalib (1930–2020) was Somalia's Foreign Minister from 1969 to 1976 and its Prime Minister from January 1991 to 1993. As Foreign Minister he presided over the UN Security Council in January 1972, and Somalia joined the Arab League in 1974. He was detained from 1982 and sentenced to death in 1989; the sentence was commuted.

## Who was he?

Omar Arteh Ghalib was one of the best-known Somali diplomats of the 1970s. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1969 to 1976 ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)). In January 1991, as the government collapsed, he became Prime Minister. World Statesmen dates that term from 24 January 1991 to May 1993 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Early life and teaching

He was born in 1930 in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) (Wikipedia). He went to school in Hargeisa and [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/), and studied at the University of [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/) in England ([Wikipedia, Umar Arteh Ghalib](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar_Ghalib)). He began as a schoolteacher and became headmaster of elementary schools in Laascaanood, Berbera and Hargeisa. Before leaving for Britain in 1956 he was vice-principal of Sheikh Intermediate School. On his return in 1958 he became the first principal of Gabiley Intermediate Boarding School (same source).

## Foreign Minister, 1969 to 1976

After the 1969 coup he became Minister of Foreign Affairs (Wikipedia; [Rulers.org](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)). In January 1972 he was President of the United Nations Security Council. In 1972 he acted as a mediator between Uganda and [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/). Somalia joined the Arab League in 1974, during his time as Foreign Minister (Wikipedia). [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) took over the foreign ministry himself in 1976 ([Rulers.org](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)).

## Detention, 1982 to 1990

Wikipedia records that he was dismissed in 1982 after disagreeing with the government's policy on the conflict in Ethiopia's Somali Region, and was then arrested (Wikipedia). SNA Radio lists him among the officials detained in 1982 together with [Ismail Ali Abokor](/en/people/ismail-ali-abokor/) ([SNA Radio, 31 August 2016](http://snaradio.net/so/articles/1603/Taariikh-nololeedkii-S-Guuto-Ismaaciil-Cali-Obokor)). In 1989 he was tried for treason and sentenced to death. After protests from foreign governments the sentence was commuted, and he was kept under house arrest (Wikipedia).

## Prime Minister, 1991 to 1993

On 24 January 1991, after two years of house arrest, President Siad Barre appointed him Prime Minister. Days later United Somali Congress forces took Mogadishu and Barre left the capital. [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/), who became interim President, reappointed him (Wikipedia; [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). World Statesmen lists him as a member of the United Somali Congress and dates his term to May 1993, and notes that he remained Prime Minister de facto until 3 January 1997 (same source).

He died on 18 November 2020 (Wikipedia).

## Offices held

- First principal of Gabiley Intermediate Boarding School, 1958
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1969 to 1976. See [Foreign Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).
- President of the UN Security Council, January 1972
- Prime Minister, 24 January 1991 to May 1993. See [Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/).


---

# Omar Mohamud Mohamed "Finnish" (Cumar Maxamuud Maxamed "Filish")

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-finnish/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Mohamud Mohamed, known as Omar Finnish or Filish, was Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banadir from 22 August 2019 to September 2022. In the 1990s and 2000s he led a wing of the USC/SSA faction in Mogadishu, sat in the 2004 transitional parliament and was part of the ARPCT alliance in 2006.

## Who is he?

Omar Mohamud Mohamed is a Somali politician known as Omar Finnish, also spelled Filish ([Wikipedia, Omar Finnish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Finnish)). He was Mayor of [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) and Governor of [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/) from August 2019 to September 2022 (same source). Wikipedia describes him as a former warlord (same source).

## Faction years

He led a breakaway wing of the United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Alliance (USC/SSA) ([IRIN weekly round-up, 28 December 2001](http://iys.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/hafrica/01b/ixl25.html)). The USC/SSA had first backed [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) in the civil war ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Finnish)). He was once the deputy of [Musa Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/); the two later split and fought over parts of Mogadishu (IRIN, same source). See [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/).

## Transitional parliament and 2006

He was one of the 275 members of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) on the list of 29 August 2004, as "Hon. Omar Mohamud Mohamed (Filish)" ([Somali Civil Society list of MPs](http://somali-civilsociety.org/downloads/Names%20of%20the%20selected%20Members%20of%20Parliament.pdf)). In early 2006 he joined the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism ([ARPCT](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-2006/)), which fought the Islamic Courts Union ([BBC Somali, July 2006](https://www.bbc.com/somali/news/story/2006/07/printable/060703_somalia)). After the Courts' forces won in Mogadishu, he handed over his weapons after negotiations (same source). On 12 January 2007 he was at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) when faction leaders and the transitional government agreed to disarm militias ([Garowe Online, 12 January 2007](http://www.garoweonline.com/stories/publish/article_7042.shtml)).

## Mayor of Mogadishu

President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) "Farmaajo" named him mayor and governor on 22 August 2019 ([Reuters, 22 August 2019](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-security-idUSKCN1VC24H)). He followed Abdirahman Omar Osman "Yarisow", who died after an attack on his office ([Jowhar.com](https://www.jowhar.com/news-english/somali-president-appoints-omar-filish-as-the-new-governor-of-banadir-and-the-mayor-of-mogadishu.html5/)).

## Handover, 2022

On 7 September 2022 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) named Yusuf Hussein Jimaale "Madale" in his place ([Hiiraan Online](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2022/sept/wararka_maanta7-182308.htm), [Shabelle Media, 7 September 2022](https://shabellemedia.com/mogadishu-gets-a-mayor-not-new-to-its-people/)). He handed over on the night of 13 September 2022 at the Hamar local government house ([Keydmedia, 14 September 2022](https://www.keydmedia.net/news/madale-takes-office-as-new-mayor-of-mogadishu)). Keydmedia reported he thanked the city's people at the ceremony (same source).

## In short

USC/SSA faction leader and transitional MP, then Mayor of Mogadishu from 2019 to 2022. See [Mayors of Mogadishu](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/).


---

# Saad Ali Shire (Saacad Cali Shire)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saad-ali-shire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saad Ali Shire is a Somaliland politician and agricultural economist. He was Minister of Planning and National Development from 2010 to 2015, Foreign Minister from 2015 to 2018, and Minister of Finance Development from 2018 to 2024. Before politics he worked for the FAO and the World Bank and ran Dahabshiil's UK and European business.

## Who is he?

Saad Ali Shire held three senior posts in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s government over fourteen years: planning, foreign affairs and finance ([Wikipedia, Saad Ali Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saad_Ali_Shire)). He served under two presidents, [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) "Silanyo" and [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/).

## Early life and education

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (Wikipedia). He studied agriculture at the Somali National University in Mogadishu, then earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Havana in Cuba. He completed a master's degree and a PhD in agricultural economics at Pennsylvania State University in the United States. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in Islamic banking (same source).

## Career before government

He lectured at the College of Agriculture of the Somali National University and worked for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington (Wikipedia). Before entering government he was managing director for the UK and Europe of [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) Transfer Services, a money transfer company (same source). Wikipedia lists him as a founding member of several institutions, including the [University of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/main-universities/), the [University of Burao](/en/institutions/university-of-burao/) and the Somaliland Society of Agriculture (same source).

## Minister of Planning, 2010 to 2015

After the Kulmiye party won the 2010 presidential election, President Silanyo named him Minister of Planning and National Development on 28 July 2010 ([Daljir, 28 July 2010](https://www.daljir.com/mweyne-siilaanyo-oo-magacaabay-golihiisa-wasiirada-oo-ka-kooban-20-wasiir-6-wasiir-ku-xigeen/); Wikipedia).

## Foreign Minister, 2015 to 2018

When [Mohamed Bihi Yonis](/en/people/mohamed-yonis/) resigned in 2015, Shire became Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Wikidata dates his appointment to 28 October 2015 ([Wikidata, Q84172232](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q84172232)). He kept the post after Muse Bihi Abdi became President in December 2017 (Wikipedia).

## Minister of Finance, 2018 to 2024

In President Bihi's first cabinet reshuffle, in November 2018, he moved to the Ministry of Finance Development ([Horn Diplomat, 10 November 2018](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2018/11/10/somaliland-president-makes-first-cabinet-reshuffle)). He held the post until 2024, when Abdilahi Hassan Aadam succeeded him ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_(Somaliland))).

## Offices held

- Minister of Planning and National Development, 28 July 2010 to 2015
- Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, 28 October 2015 to 10 November 2018. See [Foreign Ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somaliland/).
- Minister of Finance Development, November 2018 to 2024. See [Finance Ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somaliland/).


---

# Saeed Abdi Farah (Saciid Cabdi Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saeed-abdi-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Colonel Saeed Abdi Farah was Mayor of Galkayo, named by the Puntland administration, from 24 August 2011 to 6 February 2013. He opened new schools and businesses in Garsoor and Israa neighbourhoods and was credited with stronger local security.

## Who is he?

Colonel Saeed Abdi Farah is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Saeed Abdi Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Abdi_Farah)). He was Mayor of Galkayo, the capital of [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), from 2011 to 2013 (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## Appointment

The Puntland administration named him Mayor of Galkayo on 24 August 2011 ([Garowe Online](http://www.englishgaroweonline.com/world-news/top-news/puntland-president-fires-mudug-governor/)). He followed Abdirahman Mohamud Haji ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Abdi_Farah)).

## Work in office

[Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported seven major development projects in the city under him ([Garowe Online](http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_New_schools_and_businesses_open_in_Galkayo.shtml)). They included new schools and businesses in the Garsoor and Israa neighbourhoods (same source). With the Mudug governor, Mohamed Yusuf Jama "Tigey", he opened a construction firm and a water filtration company, Duuh (same source).

## End of term

Ahmed Ali Salaad followed him as mayor on 6 February 2013 ([Garowe Online, 6 February 2013](http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Galkayo_gets_new_mayor.shtml)). Garowe Online credited him with stronger local security and social programmes run with the Mudug regional office (same source). It reported he was expected to take a leadership post in the [Puntland Dervish Force](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) (same source).

## In short

Puntland-appointed Mayor of Galkayo from August 2011 to February 2013.


---

# Safiya Hassan Sheikh Ali Jimale (Safiyo Xasan Sheekh Cali Jimcaale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/safiya-jimale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Safiya Hassan Sheikh Ali Jimale was Mayor of Beledweyne from 27 May 2019 to 30 July 2020. She was the first woman to serve as mayor of Beledweyne, and is described as Somalia's first woman mayor since the civil war.

## Who is she?

Safiya Hassan Sheikh Ali Jimale is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Safiya Jimale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safiya_Jimale)). She was Mayor of Beledweyne, the main town of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), from 27 May 2019 to 30 July 2020 (same source).

## Mayor of Beledweyne

The HirShabelle state administration named her mayor in May 2019 ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-48449185)). She took over from Khadar Hassan Afrah, the previous mayor (same source). [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) reported it was the first time, as far as is known, that a woman had become mayor of Beledweyne (same source). Africanews called her Somalia's first woman mayor ([Africanews, 28 May 2019](https://www.africanews.com/2019/05/28/somalia-s-first-female-mayor-appointed-in-city-of-beledweyne/)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) also reported the appointment ([Hiiraan Online, 27 May 2019](https://www.hiiraan.com/news/2019/may/wararka_maanta27-160437.htm)).

## Her work before

She told BBC Somali she had worked for two years in Shibis district of the Mogadishu (Banadir) administration ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-48449185)). She said she worked there on health, security and sanitation, and helped start an ambulance service in the district (same source). She said she was born in Mogadishu and her family comes from Beledweyne (same source). She pointed to Djibouti, where a woman then led the capital's city government, as an example (same source).

## End of term

She was removed from the post at the end of July 2020 ([Hiiraan Online](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2020/Aug/wararka_maanta1-174829.htm), [Keydmedia, 1 August 2020](https://www.keydmedia.net/so/news/duqii-degmada-beledweyne-oo-xilka-laga-qaaday), [Radio Muqdisho, 1 August 2020](https://radiomuqdisho.so/duqii-magaalada-baladweyne-oo-xilka-laga-qaaday/)). Nadar Tabaax Maalin followed her as mayor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safiya_Jimale)).

## Family

She is a granddaughter of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) [Ali Jimale](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/) ([This Is Africa, 4 June 2019](https://thisisafrica.me/africans-rising/somalias-first-female-mayor-appointed-in-the-city-of-beledweyne/)). He served as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs during the trusteeship and in the early [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safiya_Jimale)).

## In short

Mayor of Beledweyne from May 2019 to July 2020, and the first woman named to the post. See also [Mayor of Mogadishu and other city lists](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/).


---

# Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nur (Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nur was a Somali religious scholar and qadi (judge) from Borama who, about 1933, created the Borama or Gadabuursi script, one of the first scripts made for writing Somali. He used it to write his own poetry and religious verse.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nur was a Somali religious leader and qadi, a judge of Islamic law ([Wikipedia, Sheikh Abdurahman Sh. Nur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdurahman_Sh._Nur)). He devised the [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) script, also called the Gadabuursi script, about 1933 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Gadabursi Script"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Early life and family

He was born in Zeila and grew up in Borama, in the Gadabuursi community ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdurahman_Sh._Nur)). His father, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Warsame, was a well-known qadi for many years (same source). As a young man he taught the Qur'an in the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) protectorate (same source).

## Qadi of the north

He followed his father into the law. He later became qadi for the whole northern region of British Somaliland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdurahman_Sh._Nur)). He was also known for his knowledge of the history of his own community (same source).

## The Borama script

In 1933 he devised a new way of writing Somali with its own letters ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdurahman_Sh._Nur)). It fitted Somali sounds closely (same source). Castagno writes that he used it for writing his own poetry ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Religious poems (qasidas) in the script survive ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdurahman_Sh._Nur)).

## A modest aim

He did not expect the whole nation to adopt it. In a text printed in the script, he wrote that he published it "with no intention of attempting to contribute to the already abundant confusion" over a standard ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Abdurahman_Sh._Nur)). Castagno notes it was never seriously considered for national use ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## One of many efforts to write Somali

His script stands beside other Somali-made scripts. These include the Osmanya script of [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/) and the work of [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/) and [Musa Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/). In 1972 Somalia adopted a Latin alphabet. See [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/) and [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## In short

Creator of the Borama, or Gadabuursi, script for Somali in the 1930s.


---

# Yasin Haji Mohamoud "Faratoon" (Yaasiin Xaaji Maxamuud Faratoon)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasin-haji-mohamoud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yasin Haji Mohamoud Hiir, known as Faratoon (born 1947), has been Speaker of Somaliland's House of Representatives since July 2023. Before that he was Somaliland's Minister of Interior from 2016, Minister of Education and Science from 2017, and Foreign Minister from November 2018 to March 2021, when Somaliland and Taiwan opened offices in each other's capitals.

## Who is he?

Yasin Haji Mohamoud Hiir, better known as Faratoon, is the Speaker of the House of Representatives of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Members elected him on 23 July 2023 ([Horn Diplomat, 23 July 2023](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2023/07/23/somaliland-parliament-elects-yasin-faratoon-as-new-speaker/)). He has held ministerial posts under three Somaliland presidents ([Wikipedia, Yasin Haji Mohamoud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Haji_Mohamoud)).

## Early life and education

He was born in Laascaanood in 1947 and went to primary school there. He attended Dayaha secondary school in [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/), then studied social welfare at Lafoole and later taught there (Wikipedia). He went on to work at Somalia's Ministry of Education, where he rose to Director General. Wikipedia records that he left for [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) in 1980 (same source).

## Early Somaliland posts, 1991 to 2003

After Somaliland declared independence in 1991 he became the first governor of the [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) region. In 1993 President [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) named him Minister of Health and Labour. In 1997 he became a member of the House of Representatives and took part in drafting Somaliland's constitution. In 2002, under President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/), he became minister responsible for resettlement (Wikipedia). He left the country in 2003 and returned in 2016 (same source).

## Minister, 2016 to 2021

In August 2016 President [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) "Silanyo" named him Minister of Interior ([Garowe Online, 15 August 2016](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somalia-somaliland-leader-makes-major-cabinet-reshuffle)). When [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) became President in December 2017, he became Minister of Education and Science ([Horn Diplomat, 14 December 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2017/12/14/breaking-somalilands-new-president-names-32-cabinet-ministers/)). In November 2018 he moved to the foreign ministry ([Horn Diplomat, 10 November 2018](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2018/11/10/somaliland-president-makes-first-cabinet-reshuffle/)).

As Foreign Minister he visited Taiwan in February 2020. On 1 July 2020 Somaliland and Taiwan announced that they would set up representative offices in each other's territory ([Anadolu Agency, 1 July 2020](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/taiwan-somaliland-announce-bilateral-relations/1896111)). Somalia's government objected when Taiwan opened its office in Somaliland in August 2020 ([Anadolu Agency, 19 August 2020](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-slams-taiwan-s-opening-of-office-in-somaliland/1946229)).

## Parliament and Speaker, 2021 to now

He resigned as Foreign Minister on 3 March 2021 to stand for parliament ([Somaliland Chronicle, 3 March 2021](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2021/03/03/minister-of-foreign-affairs-has-resigned-to-campaign-for-a-parliamentary-seat/)). He won a seat for the Kulmiye party in the 2021 parliamentary election. In August 2021 he stood for Speaker, but Abdirisak Khalif was elected (Wikipedia). After Abdirisak Khalif resigned in 2023, the House elected Faratoon Speaker on 23 July 2023, with 46 of the 81 votes cast ([Horn Diplomat, 23 July 2023](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2023/07/23/somaliland-parliament-elects-yasin-faratoon-as-new-speaker/); Wikipedia).

## Offices held

- First governor of Sool region, 1991
- Minister of Health and Labour, from 1993
- Minister of Interior, August 2016 to December 2017
- Minister of Education and Science, December 2017 to November 2018
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, November 2018 to 3 March 2021. See [Foreign Ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somaliland/).
- Speaker of the House of Representatives, 23 July 2023 to now. See [Speakers of the Somaliland Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-somaliland-parliament/).


---

# Yasmin Warsame (Yaasmiin Warsame)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasmin-warsame/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yasmin Abshir Warsame (born 5 May 1976) is a Somali-Canadian fashion model and activist. Born in Mogadishu, she moved to Toronto at 15. She has appeared on the covers of Vogue Italia and American Vogue, walked for Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier, and was a judge on Canada's Next Top Model. She acted in the 2021 film The Gravedigger's Wife.

## Who is she?

Yasmin Abshir Warsame is a Somali-Canadian model and activist ([Wikipedia, Yasmin Warsame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmin_Warsame)). In 2004 a poll by *Fashion* magazine named her "The Most Alluring Canadian" (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu on 5 May 1976 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmin_Warsame)). At 15 she moved with her family to Toronto (same source). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).

## Modelling

In 2000 she began modelling again with Ford Models in Toronto, with a booking for the Sears catalogue ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmin_Warsame)). In 2002 she moved to NEXT Models Canada and then to Paris (same source). She has worked with agencies in Toronto, Montreal, Paris, [London](/en/diaspora/london/), New York, Barcelona and Amsterdam (same source).

She has appeared on the covers of *Vogue Italia*, American *Vogue*, American and British *Elle*, *Amica* and *Surface* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmin_Warsame)). She has walked couture and ready-to-wear shows for designers from Christian Dior to Jean Paul Gaultier (same source). Her advertising work includes Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Escada, Hermès, Shiseido, Chanel, Gap and H&M (same source). See [Iman](/en/people/iman/).

## Television and film

In 2007 she was a judge on the second season of *Canada's Next Top Model* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmin_Warsame)). Her first acting role was in *[The Gravedigger's Wife](/en/society/somali-cinema/)* (2021), directed by [Khadar Ayderus Ahmed](/en/people/khadar-ayderus-ahmed/) (same source). She lives in New York and Toronto (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born model who appeared on the covers of Vogue Italia and American Vogue, and later turned to television and film.


---

# Yusuf Garaad Omar (Yuusuf Garaad Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-garaad-omar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Garaad Omar (born 1960) is a Somali journalist and diplomat. He headed the BBC Somali Service, served as Somalia's ambassador to the United Nations from 2016, and was Minister of Foreign Affairs from March 2017 to January 2018.

## Who is he?

Yusuf Garaad Omar spent twenty years as a broadcaster with the [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/) before moving into government. He was Somalia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and then Minister of Foreign Affairs from March 2017 to January 2018 ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Garaad Omar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Garaad_Omar)).

## Early life and education

He was born on 26 June 1960 in the Xamar Jajab district of Mogadishu and went to secondary school in the capital (Wikipedia). He studied French at the Somali National University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics. In 1990 he moved to Italy to study anthropology at the University of Siena. He later took the Global Master of Arts Program at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in the United States (same source). He speaks Somali, Italian, French and English (same source).

## Journalist, 1984 to 2012

He was a correspondent for Radio Mogadishu from 1984 until the civil war began in 1991. He then worked as a freelance reporter in Italy. He joined the BBC Somali Service in 1992 and became head of the service eight years later (Wikipedia). In 2012 he left the BBC to stand as a candidate in that year's presidential election (same source).

## Adviser and ambassador, 2013 to 2017

From 2013 he was a senior adviser to President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/). His work included the talks between the federal government and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) (Wikipedia). In November 2016 he presented his credentials to the United Nations as Somalia's Permanent Representative ([United Nations, 11 November 2016](https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/bio4899.doc.htm)).

## Foreign Minister, 2017 to 2018

Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) named him Minister of Foreign Affairs on 21 March 2017. He succeeded [Abdisalam Omer Hadliye](/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/) and was sworn in on 29 March 2017 (Wikipedia). On 4 January 2018 the Prime Minister removed him and two other ministers from the cabinet ([Reuters, 4 January 2018](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-government-idUSKBN1ET0JR)). [Ahmed Isse Awad](/en/people/ahmed-isse-awad/) succeeded him ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)).

## Offices held

- Head of the BBC Somali Service, from about 2000
- Senior adviser to the President of Somalia, from 2013
- Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations, 2016 to 2017
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, 29 March 2017 to 4 January 2018. See [Foreign Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).


---

# Yusuf Hussein Jimaale "Madale" (Yuusuf Xuseen Jimcaale Madaale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-hussein-jimaale-madale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Hussein Jimaale, known as Madale, was Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banadir twice: from 2 November 2015 to April 2017, and from September 2022 to 18 December 2024. He was earlier secretary of the Peace and Development Party.

## Who is he?

Yusuf Hussein Jimaale, widely known as Madale, is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Hussein Jimaale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Hussein_Jimaale)). He has twice been Mayor of [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) and Governor of [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/) (same source). He was secretary of the [Peace and Development Party](/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/), founded by President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) ([Wikipedia, Hassan Mungab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mungab)).

## First term, 2015 to 2017

He took office on 2 November 2015, replacing [Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab](/en/people/hassan-mungab/) ([Mogadishu Center profile, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180825221033/http://mogadishucenter.com/English/2015/10/27/the-profile-of-the-governor-of-benadir-and-mayor-of-mogadishu-sheikh-yusuf-hussein-jimale/); [World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)). After the 2017 change of president, Thabit Abdi Mohamed replaced him in April 2017 ([AllAfrica, 6 April 2017](http://allafrica.com/stories/201704060634.html)). World Statesmen gives 15 April 2017 as the date ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Second term, 2022 to 2024

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud named him again on 7 September 2022 ([Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news/2022/sept/wararka_maanta7-182308.htm), [Keydmedia](https://www.keydmedia.net/news/somali-president-fires-mogadishu-mayor-reinstates-madale)). He replaced [Omar Mohamud Mohamed](/en/people/omar-finnish/) "Finnish" (same sources). He took over on the night of 13 September 2022 at the Hamar local government house ([Keydmedia, 14 September 2022](https://www.keydmedia.net/news/madale-takes-office-as-new-mayor-of-mogadishu)). Deputy Prime Minister Salah Jama, MPs and elders attended (same source). Keydmedia noted the city then lacked sanitation and drainage, and its streets flooded in the rains (same source).

## Handover, 2024

[Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Amiir took over as mayor on 18 December 2024 ([Shabelle Media, 18 December 2024](https://shabellemedia.com/mohamed-ahmed-amiir-assumes-role-as-mayor-of-mogadishu/)).

## In short

Twice Mayor of Mogadishu, in 2015 to 2017 and 2022 to 2024. See [Mayors of Mogadishu](/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/).


---

# Abdullahi Qarshe (Cabdullaahi Qarshe)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdullahi Qarshe (1924–1994) was a Somali musician, poet and playwright, often called the father of modern Somali music. He was among the first Somalis to sing with the oud, shaped the heello song, founded the Walaalo Hargeisa troupe in 1955, and is credited with Qolobaa Calankeed, Somalia's national anthem since 2012.

## Who was he?

Abdullahi Qarshe was a Somali musician, poet and playwright ([Wikipedia, Abdullahi Qarshe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)). Music in Africa calls him "the first Somali to play oud while singing" ([Music in Africa, "Somali music through the ages"](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## Early life

He was born in 1924 in the Somali community of Moshi, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)). His family came from [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and is Habar Yoonis (Isaaq) (same source). In 1931 he moved to Aden for school and memorised the Qur'an. In Aden he heard Indian and Arabic music on radio and film, and bought a lute (same source).

## The heello

He made a new, shorter heello by joining Somali poetry with song ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)). His first song in the 1940s was "Ka ka'ay" ("Arise"). Many of his songs called for independence (same source). He did not claim to have started it all. He said modern music was in the air, and that [Abdi Sinimo](/en/people/abdi-sinimo/) organised it into the balwo (same source, quoting *Bildhaan* vol. 2).

## Walaalo Hargeisa and the radio

In 1955 he founded the [Walaalo Hargeisa](/en/society/somali-bands/) troupe, which staged plays across [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)). That group raised the heello on a wave of patriotic feeling ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). In 1957, at Radio Hargeisa, he composed the [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) signature tune ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)). His 1961 song "Aqoon la'aan waa iftiin la'aan" ("To be without knowledge is to be without light") became the signature tune of Radio Mogadishu (same source). He later joined the Waaberi ensemble (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## The national anthem

Somalia's anthem since 1 August 2012, "Qolobaa Calankeed" ("Every nation has its own flag"), is credited to him ([Wikipedia, Qolobaa Calankeed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qolobaa_Calankeed)). Sources date it to 1957 or 1959. Some credit the words to the poet Hussein Aw-Farah Dubbad (same source). See [Somali national anthems](/en/history/national-anthems/).

## Other works

In 1960 he wrote "Lumumba ma noole mana dhimane" in honour of Patrice Lumumba ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)). He used guitar, piano and oud, and wrote plays for stages in Mogadishu and Hargeisa (same source).

## Death

He died in 1994 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Qarshe)).

## In short

A musician and composer who played the oud and wrote songs of the independence era.


---

# Ahmed Madobe (Axmed Madoobe), Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-madobe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam, known as Ahmed Madobe (born 1951), is the President of Jubaland State, based in Kismayo. Once a commander in Islamist movements, he founded the Raskamboni movement, which with Kenyan forces took Kismayo from al-Shabaab in 2012. He became interim leader that year, was elected in 2013, and was re-elected in 2015 and 2019. His relations with the federal government have often been disputed.

## Who is he?

Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam, better known as Ahmed Madobe, is the president of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) State ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mohamed Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Islam)). Jubaland lies in southern Somalia on the borders of Kenya and Ethiopia ([Nation, 7 September 2025](https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/weekly-review/why-was-somalia-s-jubaland-formed-and-who-is-its-leader-madobe--5183878)). This page records his public role and favours no side.

## Early life

He was born in Kebri [Dahar](/en/regions/dhahar/), in the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Islam)). He finished high school in Mogadishu and studied Islamic law (same source).

## Islamist movements

Before 1991 he was a member of Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya and fought in its campaigns ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Islam)). In 2006 he became governor of the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) regions and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) under the Islamic Courts Union (same source). He was wounded and captured during the 2006–2007 fighting, and held in Ethiopia (same source). He was released in 2009 (same source).

## Raskamboni and Kismayo

In 2009 he formed the [Raskamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) movement ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Islam)). It turned against [al-Shabaab](/en/society/al-shabaab/) ([Nation](https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/weekly-review/why-was-somalia-s-jubaland-formed-and-who-is-its-leader-madobe--5183878)). In 2012 his forces and the Kenya Defence Forces took Kismayo from al-Shabaab (same source). The movement later became the Jubaland Security Force (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## President of Jubaland

He became interim head of Jubaland on 1 October 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Islam)). On 15 May 2013 he was elected interim president for two years (same source). On 28 August 2013 he signed a reconciliation agreement with the federal government in Addis Ababa (same source). The Jubaland parliament re-elected him in August 2015 and August 2019 (same source). The opposition disputed the 2019 result (same source).

## Relations with Mogadishu

His ties with the federal government have often been tense ([Nation](https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/weekly-review/why-was-somalia-s-jubaland-formed-and-who-is-its-leader-madobe--5183878)). In November 2024, during a dispute over the Jubaland election, Jubaland and federal authorities issued arrest warrants against each other's leaders ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Islam)). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## In short

President of Jubaland since 2013, after leading an armed movement in the 1990s and 2000s.


---

# Ali Jimale Ahmed (Cali Jimcaale Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Jimale Ahmed (1954–2026) was a Somali scholar, poet and critic from Mogadishu who chaired Comparative Literature at Queens College, City University of New York. He began as a radio journalist in Somalia, earned a doctorate at UCLA, and edited The Invention of Somalia (1995). His poetry, including Fear Is a Cow and Diaspora Blues, was translated into many languages.

## Who was he?

Ali Jimale Ahmed was a Somali scholar, author, poet and professor ([Wikipedia, Ali Jimale Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). Brittle Paper called him a "custodian of Somali memory" ([Brittle Paper, April 2026](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 17 April 1954 ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). He began his working life as a radio broadcaster and journalist in Somalia (same source). See [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Scholar

He earned a doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). He became professor and chair of Comparative Literature at Queens College and taught at the CUNY Graduate Center (same source). He taught African, Middle Eastern and European literature (same source). Students remember his Socratic teaching, where learning went both ways ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)).

## The Invention of Somalia

His best-known scholarly book is *The Invention of Somalia* (1995) ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). Tributes remember him as a sceptic of "invented" nations and a defender of the dignity of marginalised communities (same source). He also wrote *Daybreak Is Near* and *Silence Is Not Golden* (same source). *The Road Less Traveled* is among his other books (same source).

## Poet

His poetry books include *Fear Is a Cow*, *Diaspora Blues* and *When Donkeys Give Birth to Calves* ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). His work was translated into Japanese, Danish, Bosnian, Portuguese and Turkish (same source). Wikipedia also notes translations into languages of the former Yugoslavia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Mentor

He guided many young scholars, who carry his ideas into their own classrooms ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). Friends described his outlook as "Critical Optimism", a faith in justice and in what literature can make possible (same source).

## Death

He died on 31 March 2026 ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). The African Literature Association published a remembrance (same source).

## In short

A poet and professor of comparative literature who writes on Somali literature and history.


---

# Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam (Fowsiyo Yuusuf Xaaji Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fawzia-yusuf-adam/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam is a Somali politician from Hargeisa who became Somalia's first woman Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, serving from 4 November 2012 to 17 January 2014. In office she started the recovery of Somali state assets held abroad and signed agreements that reopened the UAE and Chinese embassies in Mogadishu.

## Who is she?

Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Fawzia Yusuf Adam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzia_Yusuf_Adam)). She was the first woman to serve as Somalia's foreign minister ([Al Jazeera, 5 November 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/11/5/somalia-prime-minister-unveils-leaner-cabinet)). This page covers her public role.

## Background

She comes from Hargeisa and lived for a long time in Britain ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/11/5/somalia-prime-minister-unveils-leaner-cabinet)). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## A first for Somali women

On 4 November 2012, Prime Minister [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/) named her Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzia_Yusuf_Adam)). His cabinet had only ten members ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/11/5/somalia-prime-minister-unveils-leaner-cabinet)). She called her nomination "historic for the Somali country and particularly for the women of Somalia" (same source). See [women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/).

## Bringing state property home

After 1991, many Somali state assets abroad were frozen to stop misuse ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzia_Yusuf_Adam)). In November 2012 the government asked the UN Security Council for help to recover them (same source). In January 2013 she and other ministers began a formal review. The assets included ships and planes thought to be in Italy, Germany and Yemen (same source).

## Reopening embassies

In May 2013 she signed an agreement with the UAE foreign minister that restored formal ties ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzia_Yusuf_Adam)). The UAE said it would reopen its embassy in Mogadishu (same source). In September 2013 [Somalia and China](/en/relations/china/) signed a cooperation agreement (same source). China would help rebuild the National Theatre, a hospital and [Mogadishu Stadium](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/), and reopen its embassy (same source).

## After office

Her term ended on 17 January 2014, when a new prime minister formed a cabinet ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzia_Yusuf_Adam)). She stood as a presidential candidate in 2022 (same source). In January 2024 Somalia nominated her to chair the African Union Commission (same source).

## In short

Somalia's first woman foreign minister and deputy prime minister, from 2012 to 2014.


---

# Ilhan Omar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ilhan-omar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ilhan Omar (born 1982 in Mogadishu) is a United States politician. She spent four years in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, came to the US as a child, and in 2016 became the first Somali-American state legislator. Since 2019 she has represented Minnesota's 5th district in Congress, the first Somali American and first African refugee to serve there.

## Who is she?

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is a member of the US House of Representatives for Minnesota's 5th district, which includes Minneapolis ([Wikipedia, Ilhan Omar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). She was sworn in in January 2019 ([Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, official site](https://omar.house.gov/about)). This page covers her public role only. It does not take sides on her politics.

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu on 4 October 1982 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). She spent her early years in Baidoa, in southern Somalia, and was the youngest of seven children (same source). Her family fled the civil war when she was eight. They spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya ([official site](https://omar.house.gov/about)). Wikipedia names the camp as Dadaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). See [refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## Coming to America

The family reached New York in 1995 and settled in Minneapolis in 1997 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). At 14 she interpreted for her grandfather at local political meetings (same source). She graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011 (same source). She worked as a community educator at the University of Minnesota and as a policy aide at Minneapolis City Council ([official site](https://omar.house.gov/about)). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## State legislator

In November 2016 she won a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). She became the first Somali-American legislator in the United States (same source).

## Congress

In 2018 she won the 5th district with 78 per cent of the vote ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). Her office lists her as the first African refugee to become a member of Congress ([official site](https://omar.house.gov/about)). She is the first woman of colour to represent Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim women in Congress (same source). She took her oath on her grandfather's copy of the Qur'an ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). She won a fourth term in 2024 (same source).

## In the news in 2026

She has received death threats, and a man was arrested in January 2026 over threats against her ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar)). In October 2026 federal agents searched her Washington home under a court warrant (same source). Reports linked it to questions about her family's immigration papers from her childhood (same source). The matter was open at the time of writing.

## In short

A former refugee from Kenya who represents a Minneapolis district in the US House of Representatives.


---

# Ismail Mire (Ismaaciil Mire Cilmi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ismail-mire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ismail Mire Elmi (about 1862–1950) was a Somali poet and a leading commander of the Dervish movement of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan. Born near Buuhoodle, he headed the Dervish army and intelligence and oversaw its forts. His poems include Gabayga Guuguule, on a severe drought, and the airport at Buuhoodle bears his name.

## Who was he?

Ismail Mire Elmi was a renowned Somali poet and a commander of the Dervish movement ([Wikipedia, Ismail Mire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). The Poetry Translation Centre calls him "one of the most renowned and best-loved Somali poets of the early twentieth-century" ([Poetry Translation Centre, Ismaciil Mire](https://poetrytranslation.org/?p=6405)). This page records his life without taking sides.

## Early life

He was born about 1862 near [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). His family is Dhulbahante (Darod) (same source). He grew up among herders on the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) plains, the life he returned to in old age (same source).

## Dervish commander

He joined the Dervish movement led by [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). He headed its army and military intelligence, and oversaw its many forts (same source). A Pergamon Press work calls him "the most important general of the dervish forces and an accomplished poet and stylist" (same source). The Poetry Translation Centre notes he spent many years as a soldier fighting the British ([PTC](https://poetrytranslation.org/?p=6405)). See [the Dervish movement, 1899 to 1920](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## 1913 and after

In August 1913 Dervish forces defeated a British-led camel constabulary, and its commander Richard Corfield was killed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). Ismail Mire composed a poem on this event (same source). After the movement's defeat in 1920 he was captured and held for a time in prison at Berbera (same source).

## The poet

One observer said his voice was "so great that he could sing his countrymen into peace or war" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). His poem *Gabayga Guuguule*, uses the alliterative letter G throughout (same source). In it he speaks to the guuguule bird during a severe drought, and describes the suffering of people, livestock and wild animals (same source). His poem "They Pounced at Dawn" is translated by the Poetry Translation Centre ([PTC](https://poetrytranslation.org/?p=6405)). He also left proverbs still used in the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Memory

A book on his life and poems by Ahmed Farah Ali appeared in 1974 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Mire)). Ismail Mire International Airport in Buuhoodle is named after him (same source). He died in 1950 (same source).

## In short

A poet and Dervish commander whose poems record drought, war and the Dervish years.


---

# Mohamed Said Atom (Maxamed Saciid Atam)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-said-atom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Said Atom (born 1966) led an armed group in the Galgala hills of Puntland that fought the Puntland government from 2010 and was aligned with al-Shabaab. Puntland forces fought his fighters there from August 2010. On 7 June 2014 he surrendered to the federal government in Mogadishu and denounced al-Shabaab's leader, Ahmed Godane. He was later reported living in Qatar.

## In short

Mohamed Said Atom led the armed group in the Galgala hills, west of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), whose fighters later formed the base of the [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/). This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Background

Wikipedia records that he was born in 1966 in Galgala and belongs to the Warsangali clan, citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). It cites a 2008 report of the UN Monitoring Group describing him as "aligned with al-Shabaab", and Garowe Online describing him as an arms trader on US and UN watch-lists ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Said Atom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Atom)).

## The Galgala fighting, 2010–2014

On 28 July 2010 he declared war on the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) government (Wikipedia, citing the *New York Times*). On 8 August 2010 [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) attacked his fighters in the Galgala hills. The Long War Journal reported 11 of his fighters and three soldiers killed in that fighting, and that the federal government sent weapons to Puntland ([Long War Journal, August 2010](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/08/fighting_between_puntland_secu.php)); Garowe Online, cited by Wikipedia, put the toll at more than 100. Puntland forces took the last outposts in late October 2010, but fighting resumed in 2011 (Wikipedia, citing Garowe Online and SomaliaReport).

## Surrender, 2014

On 7 June 2014 he surrendered to the federal government in Mogadishu. Xinhua quoted him: "I have today decided to leave [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)." He accused its emir, [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/), of misleading the movement, and spoke of the killing of innocent people and the blocking of aid to displaced people. Officials welcomed the move and repeated their offer of amnesty; pro-al-Shabaab media described him as an ally rather than a key official ([Philippine Star, Xinhua, 8 June 2014](https://philstar.com/world/2014/06/08/1332495/senior-al-shabaab-commander-surrenders-somali-govt)). [Abdulqadir Mumin](/en/people/abdulqadir-mumin/) then took over the fighters in the area (Wikipedia, Islamic State – Somalia Province).

On 24 November 2017 Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE put him on a terrorism list; he was then living in Doha, [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) (Wikipedia, citing Garowe Online).

## Sources differ

- **Deaths in August 2010.** 14 in the Long War Journal's report; more than 100 in Garowe Online's.
- **His standing.** The government called him a senior al-Shabaab commander; al-Shabaab-aligned media called him an ally.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Xinhua, "Senior al-Shabaab commander surrenders to Somali gov't" (2014), via the *Philippine Star*: [article](https://philstar.com/world/2014/06/08/1332495/senior-al-shabaab-commander-surrenders-somali-govt).


---

# Samia Yusuf Omar (Saamiya Yuusuf Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/samia-yusuf-omar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Samia Yusuf Omar (1991–2012) was a Somali sprinter from Mogadishu who ran the 200 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics at 17. She trained on a damaged track during the war and was cheered by the stadium crowd. In 2012, seeking a coach to reach the London Games, she drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Italy.

## Who was she?

Samia Yusuf Omar was a sprinter from Somalia ([Wikipedia, Samia Yusuf Omar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samia_Yusuf_Omar)). She was one of two athletes who ran for Somalia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (same source).

## Early life

She was born on 25 March 1991, the eldest of six children ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samia_Yusuf_Omar)). Her mother had run at national level in Somalia (same source). Her family came from one of Somalia's minority communities (same source). After her father died, she left school to care for her siblings (same source). See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## Training in Mogadishu

Her mother encouraged her to run ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samia_Yusuf_Omar)). She trained at Mogadishu Stadium, on a gravel track marked by shell craters (same source). She also ran in the streets, where she faced harassment from armed men who opposed women in sport (same source).

## Beijing 2008

The Somali Olympic Committee chose her for the 200 metres ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samia_Yusuf_Omar)). She ran in kit given by the Sudanese team (same source). She finished in 32.16 seconds, last in her heat (same source). The crowd cheered her loudly all the way to the line (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## After the Games

She later moved to Addis Ababa, where she looked for a coach ([Al Jazeera, "Grieving for Somali Olympian Samia Omar", 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2012/8/27/grieving-for-somali-olympian-samia-omar)). She hoped to bring her mother and younger siblings to join her (same source). "I love Somalia, but there is no peace," she told the reporter (same source).

## The journey

She travelled through [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) to Libya, hoping to train in Italy ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2012/8/27/grieving-for-somali-olympian-samia-omar)). In April 2012 her boat ran out of fuel. She drowned near an Italian navy ship. She was 21 (same source). The news became public during the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Olympics. Her sister and [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/) spoke of what happened (same source). See [migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## In her words

"If Somalia had peace, it would be the best place to live in the world," she said ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2012/8/27/grieving-for-somali-olympian-samia-omar)).

## In short

A sprinter who ran for Somalia at the 2008 Olympics.


---

# Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden (Shariif Xasan Sheekh Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden is a Somali politician who was twice Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament (2004 to 2007 and 2010 to 2012), Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in 2009 to 2010, and President of South West State from December 2014 to November 2018.

## Who is he?

Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has held three of Somalia's top posts: Speaker of parliament, Minister of Finance and state president. He was Speaker of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) from 14 September 2004 to 17 January 2007, and again from 25 May 2010 to 20 August 2012 ([Wikipedia, List of speakers of the Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia)). He was President of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) from 3 December 2014 to 7 November 2018 ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## First term as Speaker, 2004 to 2007

In 2005 the new government argued over where it should sit. President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) and Prime Minister [Ali Mohammed Ghedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/) preferred Jowhar; the Speaker wanted Mogadishu. Baidoa was chosen as a compromise ([Wikipedia, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Hassan_Sheikh_Aden)). About 100 of the 275 members followed him to Mogadishu in mid-2005 ([Wikipedia, Ali Mohammed Ghedi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mohammed_Ghedi)).

On 17 January 2007 parliament voted to remove him, by 183 votes to 8 with one abstention. Members cited his opposition to a foreign peacekeeping force and his meetings with the Islamic Courts Union ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Hassan_Sheikh_Aden)). Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe replaced him.

## Finance Minister, 2009 to 2010

On 20 February 2009 Prime Minister [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) named him Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister (same source).

## Second term as Speaker, 2010 to 2012

Parliament elected him Speaker again on 25 May 2010 (same source). In October 2010 he disagreed with President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) over how parliament should vote on the new Prime Minister, [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/). The Supreme Court ruled for a show of hands. On 9 June 2011 the two leaders signed the [Kampala Accord](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/), which delayed elections by a year in exchange for the Prime Minister's resignation (same source). The accord led to street protests in Mogadishu and other towns (same source). His term ended when the new Federal Parliament sat on 20 August 2012.

## President of South West State, 2014 to 2018

In November 2014 delegates in Baidoa elected him President of the new three-region South West State ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Hassan_Sheikh_Aden)). He took office on 3 December 2014 and left on 7 November 2018 ([World Statesmen](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)).

## Offices held

- Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament, 2004 to 2007 and 2010 to 2012. See [Speakers of Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/).
- Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, 2009 to 2010. See [Deputy Prime Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/deputy-prime-ministers-of-somalia/).
- President of South West State, 2014 to 2018. See [Presidents of South West State](/en/institutions/presidents-of-south-west-state/).


---

# Sheikh Madar (Sheekh Madar Axmed Shirwac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-madar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Madar Ahmed Shirwa (1825–1918) was a Somali religious scholar and reformer known as the founder of Hargeisa. After about 20 years of study in Harar, he set up a Qadiriyya religious community at Hargeisa in the 1860s, encouraged farming and settled homes, built the town's grand mosque in 1883, and worked to reconcile feuding communities.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Madar was a Somali religious leader, jurist, merchant and social reformer ([Wikipedia, Sheikh Madar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). He is known as the founder of Hargeisa (same source). The historian [Abdurahman Baadiyow](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) also calls him the city's founder ([Abdurahman Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)).

## Early life and study

He was born in 1825 near Berbera ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). He learned the Qur'an at a school that moved with the herders (same source). His father, a trader, paid for him to study in Harar for about 20 years (same source). His family is Habar Awal (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Founding a community

His teacher in Harar, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Kabir Khalil, advised him to set up a Qadiriyya community at Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). In the 1860s he founded a centre of learning there, the "big congregation" ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). Wikipedia names it the Jama'a Weyn ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Farming and settled life

The land around Hargeisa had good soil and water (same source). He and other leaders brought in sorghum farming and permanent houses ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). Baadiyow writes that he moved people toward farming for food security ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). He built his grand mosque in 1883, and it still stands (same source). He also led the prayers for rain, called roobdoon ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Peacemaker

The community united people by shared faith rather than by lineage alone ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). He mediated disputes that were blocking trade between Berbera and Harar ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). The religious leaders also cared for disabled people of the region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Scholar in debate

In 1897 he took part in religious debates in Berbera between the Qadiriyya and the Salihiyya orders ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Death and memory

He died in 1918 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). His tomb in Hargeisa is a place of visits and prayer (same source). Hargeisa grew into the largest city of the north. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## In short

A religious leader who founded a settlement at Hargeisa in the 1800s.


---

# Sultan Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim of Geledi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-mahamud-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim (died 1848) was Sultan of Geledi from 1798 to 1848, ruling from Afgooye on the Shabelle river. Under him the sultanate reached its height. Afgooye was the meeting point of southern caravan routes, and by the 1840s the Geledi were the strongest power in the Benadir, with influence in Mogadishu and Barawa.

## Who was he?

Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim was the third and most powerful Sultan of Geledi. He reigned from 1798 to 1848 ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). The Geledi are a Rahanweyn clan of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Geledi"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). See [the Geledi Sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).

## Early life

He was the son of Sultan Mahamud Ibrahim ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). As a youth he was sent to [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) to study Islam. Barawa was a centre of the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) Sufi order, and Geledi leaders sent their sons there (same source). Castagno writes that his grandfather, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ibrahim Adeer, was probably the first Geledi leader called sultan ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Ruling a wide alliance

His state brought together Digil and Mirifle communities with others such as the Bimaal, Sheekhaal and Wacdaan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). He ruled through local leaders: malaks, elders, imams and sheikhs all had roles (same source). He was seen as both political and religious head (same source).

## Afgooye and trade

[Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), his capital, was the meeting point of caravan routes in the south ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). It had weaving, shoemaking, jewellery and pottery (same source). It was home to the yearly Istunka festival, still held today (same source). The Geledi controlled routes from the interior to Mogadishu and Barawa. They charged duty at the river crossings at Afgooye ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## The Benadir and Zanzibar

By the mid-1800s the Geledi were the most powerful group in the Benadir ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The Sultan of Zanzibar addressed him as sultan in the 1840s (same source). He traded and allied with the Sultanate of Witu near Lamu, which shared his interest in the ivory trade ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). See [the Somali coast towns](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## Bardera and the Juba trade

In the late 1830s a religious movement based at [Bardera](/en/regions/baardheere/) closed the trade route through [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). In 1843 he led an alliance of inter-river clans that retook Bardera and reopened the route (same source). Afterwards he was the leading figure of the region (same source).

## Death and succession

He was killed in a war with the Bimaal in 1848 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His son, Sultan Ahmed Yusuf, carried on his rule (same source).

## In short

Sultan of Geledi in the 1800s, based at Afgooye.


---

# Abdi Farah Shirdon (Cabdi Faarax Shirdoon)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Farah Shirdon (born 1958 in Dhuusamareeb) is a Somali economist and businessman who was Prime Minister of Somalia from October 2012 to December 2013. He formed a ten-member cabinet that named Somalia's first woman foreign minister, launched a human rights task force and a public finance policy, and helped set up the New Deal Compact with international partners.

## Who is he?

Abdi Farah Shirdon is a Somali businessman, economist and politician ([Wikipedia, Abdi Farah Shirdon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)). He was Prime Minister of Somalia from October 2012 to December 2013 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and study

He was born in [Dhuusamareeb](/en/regions/galgaduud/) in 1958 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)). His family is Marehan (Darod) (same source). He earned a degree in economics with honours at the Somali National University in 1983 (same source). He later took a master's degree in diplomatic studies at Oxford (same source).

## Economist and businessman

From 1983 to 1985 he worked as an economist in the ministries of finance and agriculture ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)). He then founded his own company (same source). After 1991 he moved to Nairobi and ran an import-export firm (same source). In 2012 he chaired the Rajo Forum, a civil society group he co-founded (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Prime minister

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) named him prime minister on 6 October 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)). Parliament approved him on 17 October by 215 of 275 votes (same source). On 4 November he named a cabinet of only ten members ([Al Jazeera, 5 November 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/11/5/somalia-prime-minister-unveils-leaner-cabinet)). It included [Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam](/en/people/fawzia-yusuf-adam/), the first woman foreign minister (same source).

## Work in office

In February 2013 he launched an independent task force on human rights ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)). The same month he toured cities to hear people's priorities for public services (same source). In May 2013 his government launched a Public Finance Management Policy to make public money more open (same source). It also proposed a national disaster management agency (same source). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## End of term

On 2 December 2013 parliament passed a vote of no confidence, 184 to 65 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)). He accepted the decision and asked citizens to support the next government (same source). The UN envoy Nicholas Kay praised his role in the New Deal Compact with international partners (same source).

## Later

In April 2025 he returned to Mogadishu and announced a run for the presidency ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Farah_Shirdon)).

## In short

Prime Minister from October 2012 to December 2013, with a ten-member cabinet that named Somalia's first woman foreign minister.


---

# Asha Gelle Dirie (Caasha Geelle Diiriye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/asha-gelle-dirie/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Asha Gelle Dirie (born 1966 in Galkayo) is a Somali politician and civil society leader. She founded the NGO Somali Women Concerns in 1988, sat in Puntland's parliament from 1998, and was Puntland's Minister of Women Development and Family Affairs from 2005 to 2012. She chaired the federal Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission in 2014–2015 and briefed the UN Security Council in 2017.

## Who is she?

Asha Gelle Dirie is a Somali politician and civil society activist ([Wikipedia, Asha Gelle Dirie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)). She has worked for women's place in public life for four decades ([Women, Peace and Security NGO Working Group, Asha Gelle Dirie](https://womenpeacesecurity.org/peacebuilder/asha-gelle-dirie)). This page covers her public role.

## Early life and teaching

She was born in Galkayo in 1966 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)). She studied at the [Lafoole College](/en/institutions/lafoole-university/) of Education of the Somali National University, and then taught in Mogadishu (same source).

## Building women's groups

From 1984 to 1988 she worked for Somali Women Education ([WPS Working Group](https://womenpeacesecurity.org/peacebuilder/asha-gelle-dirie)). In 1988 she founded Somali Women Concerns, a local NGO active in Mogadishu and Kismayo (same source). It still works in Puntland's main cities (same source). She also chaired We Are Women Activists (same source). She later founded the Asha Gelle Foundation in Puntland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)).

## In Puntland government

From 1998 she was a member of Puntland's House of Representatives for [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)). From 2005 to 2012 she was Minister of Women Development and Family Affairs ([WPS Working Group](https://womenpeacesecurity.org/peacebuilder/asha-gelle-dirie)). The ministry grew a great deal under her ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)). She sat on the jury of the Puntland Education Fund, which rewards strong students ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## The constitution

In May 2014 she was appointed to the Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission ([WPS Working Group](https://womenpeacesecurity.org/peacebuilder/asha-gelle-dirie)). The five-member body oversaw reform of the Provisional Federal Constitution (same source). She served as its chair until 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Gelle_Dirie)).

## At the Security Council

On 27 January 2017 she briefed the UN Security Council on Somalia, speaking for civil society ([WPS Working Group](https://womenpeacesecurity.org/peacebuilder/asha-gelle-dirie)). She said "a massive structural transformation is required to advance women's representation in politics" (same source).

## In short

A women's rights organiser from Galkayo who founded women's groups and served as a minister in Puntland.


---

# Dada Masiti (Mana Sitti Habib Jamaladdin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/dada-masiti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dada Masiti (Mana Sitti Habib Jamaladdin, about 1804/1810s–1919) was a poet, mystic and Islamic scholar of Barawa. She wrote religious poems in Chimbalazi, the Bravanese language of Barawa, that taught faith to women and ordinary people. Her poems are still memorised in Barawa, and her shrine there is visited every year.

## Who was she?

Dada Masiti, "Sister Masiti", was a poet, mystic and Islamic scholar of [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) ([Wikipedia, Dada Masiti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)). She composed her poems in the [Bravanese](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/) language of Barawa (same source). One writer calls her the Rabia al-Adawiyya of East Africa, after the famous Sufi woman of Basra ([Sacred Footsteps, "Dada Masiti", 2020](https://sacredfootsteps.com/2020/10/22/dada-masiti-the-rabia-al-adawiyya-of-east-africa/)).

## Birth and family

Her name was Mana Sitti Habib Jamaladdin ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)). Sources differ on her birth. Wikipedia places it in the 1810s at Tundwa on Pate Island, near Lamu, before she moved to Barawa as a child (same source). Sacred Footsteps gives about 1804 and calls her a native of Barawa ([Sacred Footsteps](https://sacredfootsteps.com/2020/10/22/dada-masiti-the-rabia-al-adawiyya-of-east-africa/)). Her family belonged to the Mahadali Ashraf of Barawa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)).

## Hard years

Oral accounts say she eloped as a young woman and lived about ten years in a harsh marriage ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)). Her cousin Omar Qullatten helped her return from Zanzibar (same source). Her poem "Ya Rabbi ya Muta'ali" tells of this ordeal and her turn back to faith ([Sacred Footsteps](https://sacredfootsteps.com/2020/10/22/dada-masiti-the-rabia-al-adawiyya-of-east-africa/)). She never remarried ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)).

## Scholar of the Qadiriyya

Back in Barawa she studied under [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohammed Janna al-Bahluli and followed the Qadiriyya order ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)). Her poems show deep knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah (same source). Sheikh Qasim Muhyiddin al-Barawi called her a "treasure to be jealously preserved" (same source). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Poetry that teaches

She wrote in the everyday language, so ordinary people could understand ([Sacred Footsteps](https://sacredfootsteps.com/2020/10/22/dada-masiti-the-rabia-al-adawiyya-of-east-africa/)). Her poems spread religious learning among the women of Barawa (same source). Many women learned her poems by heart ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)). Her best-known poem is an elegy for her friend the qadi Sheikh Nureni Mohammed Sabir (same source).

## Death and shrine

She died on 15 July 1919 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Masiti)). She was buried at her small house in Barawa, and a yearly visit (ziyara) is made to her shrine (same source). Scholars such as Mohamed Kassim and Alessandra Vianello have studied her work ([Sacred Footsteps](https://sacredfootsteps.com/2020/10/22/dada-masiti-the-rabia-al-adawiyya-of-east-africa/)). See [the Somali coast towns](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## In short

A poet and religious teacher of Barawa who composed in the Chimbalazi language.


---

# Fathia Absie (Fadxiya Cabsiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fathia-absie/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fathia Absie is a Somali-American writer, filmmaker, producer and actor based in Minnesota. Her 2011 documentary Broken Dreams looked at how Somali youth in Minnesota were recruited by armed groups. She wrote, directed and starred in The Lobby (2015), published the graphic novel The Imperceptible Peacemaker (2014), and co-founded Eat With Muslims.

## Who is she?

Fathia Absie is a Somali-American writer, producer, actor and filmmaker ([Wikipedia, Fathia Absie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Absie)). She has made documentaries and fiction films, and published a graphic novel (same source). She co-founded Eat With Muslims, which brings Muslims and non-Muslims together over dinner (same source).

## Work before film

She was a social worker ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Absie)). She worked for the [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) Department of Job and Family Services in Columbus, the University of Washington in [Seattle](/en/diaspora/seattle/), and Voice of America in Washington, D.C. (same source). She moved to Minnesota around 2010 and joined ECHO, a Minnesota organisation serving immigrant communities, in 2013 (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Films and books

- **Broken Dreams (2011):** her first documentary, about the community's response to the recruitment of young Somali men in Minnesota by armed groups ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Absie)). Wikipedia notes that the FBI opened one of its largest counter-terrorism investigations into the disappearances (same source).
- **The Imperceptible Peacemaker (2014):** a self-published graphic novel about an invisible hero fighting injustice (same source).
- **The Lobby (2015):** a fiction film about a white man and a Somali-American woman, which she wrote, directed and starred in. It premiered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival in April 2015 (same source).
- **A Stray (2016)** (same source).

In 2017 she acted in Eric Tretbar's film *First Person Plural* (same source). Wikipedia says she began work on *Grapes of Heaven*, a story set in Berbera that draws on the poet [Elmi Boodhari](/en/people/elmi-boodhari/) (same source). She has also hosted programmes on Twin Cities PBS (same source).

## In short

A Somali-American filmmaker and writer whose films include Broken Dreams (2011) and The Lobby (2015).


---

# Fatima Jibrell (Faadumo Jibriil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fatima-jibrell/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fatima Jibrell (born 30 December 1947) is a Somali-American environmental campaigner from Sanaag. She co-founded Horn Relief, now Adeso, and led it until 2006. Her campaign against the charcoal trade helped bring Puntland's 2000 ban on charcoal exports. She won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002 and a National Geographic leadership award in 2008.

## Who is she?

Fatima Jibrell is a Somali-American environmental activist ([Wikipedia, Fatima Jibrell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). She co-founded the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization, known as Horn Relief and now as Adeso, and was its executive director (same source). She also co-founded Sun Fire Cooking and helped create the Women's Coalition for Peace (same source).

## Early life

She was born on 30 December 1947 in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), to a nomadic family ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). She went to a British boarding school until 16, then joined her father, a merchant seaman, in New York (same source). She graduated from Temple High School (same source).

In 1969 she returned to Somalia and worked for the government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). She married Abdurahman Mohamoud Ali, a diplomat, and began university in Damascus while the family was posted in Iraq (same source). After a move to the United States in 1981 she finished a BA in English and a master's in social work at the University of Connecticut (same source). See [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Horn Relief

After the civil war began in 1991, she co-founded Horn Relief with her husband and family friends ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). It changed its name to Adeso in 2012 (same source). She retired as executive director in 2006 and stayed on its board (same source).

## The charcoal campaign

Old acacia trees in north-eastern Somalia, some up to 500 years old, were being cut for charcoal sold to the Arabian Peninsula ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). Horn Relief trained young people to teach the public about the damage (same source). In 1999 it organised a peace march in Puntland against the "charcoal wars" (same source). In 2000 the Puntland government banned charcoal exports, and Wikipedia reports an 80% fall in exports after that (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

Through Sun Fire Cooking she worked to bring solar cookers to Somalia, to cut the use of charcoal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). In 2008 she wrote and co-produced the short film *Charcoal Traffic* (same source). In 2011 she published *Peace and Milk: Scenes of Northern Somalia*, a photo book, with James Lindsay (same source).

## Awards

She received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jibrell)). In 2008 she won the National Geographic Society/Buffett Foundation Award for Leadership in Conservation (same source).

## In short

A Somali-American campaigner who co-founded Horn Relief and worked to end the charcoal trade in north-eastern Somalia.


---

# Maryam Mursal (Maryan Mursal)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/maryam-mursal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maryam Mursal (born 1950) is a Somali singer and composer. She began singing in Mogadishu in 1966, at a time when few women sang in public, and became a national star with a sound called Somali jazz. After a seven-month escape with her five children during the civil war, she settled in Denmark and recorded New Dawn (1997) and The Journey (1998) for Real World Records.

## Who is she?

Maryam Mursal is a Somali composer and singer, born on 1 January 1950 ([Wikipedia, Maryam Mursal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mursal)). Real World Records describes her as one of Somalia's biggest stars ([Real World Records, Maryam Mursal](https://realworldrecords.com/artists/maryam-mursal/)). Music in Africa names her among the country's greatest women singers ([Music in Africa, "Somali music through the ages"](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## Early life and first songs

Her family came from [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mursal)). As a teenager she began singing professionally in Mogadishu (same source). Real World dates her start to 1966 ([Real World Records](https://realworldrecords.com/artists/maryam-mursal/)). Few women performed in public then, so this broke with custom ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mursal)).

## Somali jazz

Her music mixed Somali and Arabic sounds with blues and soul. It became known as Somali jazz and was popular across the country ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mursal)). She also sang with Waaberi, the large troupe of the [Somali National Theatre](/en/society/national-theatre-of-somalia/) (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Two years without singing

Her song "Ulimada" criticised the military government. She was banned from performing for about two years ([Real World Records](https://realworldrecords.com/artists/maryam-mursal/)). In that time she earned her living driving a taxi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mursal)).

## The journey

When civil war spread, she left with her five children. The journey across the Horn of Africa took seven months ([Real World Records](https://realworldrecords.com/artists/maryam-mursal/)). In Djibouti the Danish embassy gave the family asylum (same source). See [Somalis in Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/) and [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## A second career in exile

In Denmark she met again the arranger Søren Kjær Jensen, who had recorded her years before ([Real World Records](https://realworldrecords.com/artists/maryam-mursal/)). Real World released *New Dawn* in 1997, made with members of Waaberi (same source). *The Journey* followed in 1998, with Peter Gabriel on backing vocals (same source). She sang at WOMAD in 1997. She has appeared with Nina Simone ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mursal)).

## In her words

"I am a refugee but I am also a singer," she said ([Real World Records](https://realworldrecords.com/artists/maryam-mursal/)).

## In short

A singer who was among the first Somali women on the professional stage and later recorded abroad.


---

# Nimco Ali

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nimco-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nimco Ali (born about 1983) is a British campaigner of Somali heritage working to end female genital cutting. Cut at age seven, she co-founded Daughters of Eve in 2010 and The Five Foundation in 2019. She was made an OBE in 2019 and served as the UK government's independent adviser on violence against women and girls from 2020 to 2022.

## Who is she?

Nimco Ali is a British social activist of Somali heritage ([Wikipedia, Nimco Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). She campaigns to end female genital mutilation (FGM) (same source). This page covers her public work only.

## Early life

She moved to Britain from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) at age four ([Business Day, 2019](https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/world/2019-09-25-somali-born-uk-activist-launches-drive-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/)). Her family lived in Manchester and then [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). At seven she was cut while on a family holiday in Djibouti ([Business Day](https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/world/2019-09-25-somali-born-uk-activist-launches-drive-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/)). It led to health problems and surgery (same source). She studied law at [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/) University and then worked in the civil service ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)).

## Daughters of Eve

In 2010 she and the psychotherapist [Leyla Hussein](/en/people/leyla-hussein/) founded Daughters of Eve ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). It supported girls in Britain affected by FGM ([Business Day](https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/world/2019-09-25-somali-born-uk-activist-launches-drive-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/)). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## The Five Foundation

In 2019 she co-founded The Five Foundation with Brendan Wynne ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). It launched in New York beside the UN's yearly meeting ([Business Day](https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/world/2019-09-25-somali-born-uk-activist-launches-drive-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/)). It aims to raise FGM on the world agenda and get funds to grassroots groups (same source). It backs the global goal of ending FGM by 2030 (same source). The UN population agency estimates that about 3.9 million girls undergo FGM each year (same source). She says money should reach African women on the front line, "the orchestrators of their own destiny" (same source).

## Writing and honours

In 2019 she published her first book, built from interviews with women in 14 countries ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). She was made an OBE the same year ([Business Day](https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/world/2019-09-25-somali-born-uk-activist-launches-drive-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/)).

## Advising government

From 2020 to 2022 she was the UK government's Independent Adviser for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). In 2020 she also co-founded the Ginsburg Women's Health Board (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## In short

A campaigner against female genital cutting and co-founder of the charity Daughters of Eve.


---

# Sultan Nur Ahmed Aman (Suldaan Nuur Axmed Amaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nur-ahmed-aman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sultan Nur Ahmed Aman (1841–1907), known as Nuur Dheere, was a religious scholar who became the fifth Sultan of the Habr Yunis in 1879. In August 1899 he hosted at Burao the gathering where the Dervish movement of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan opened its war on British rule. He took part in the campaigns of 1899–1904, signed the 1905 Ilig peace treaty, and is buried in a white-domed tomb at Taleh.

## Who was he?

Sultan Nur Ahmed Aman was a religious leader and the fifth Sultan of the Habr Yunis ([Wikipedia, Nur Ahmed Aman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). He was one of the leaders of the Dervish movement of 1899–1920 (same source). His nickname was Nuur Dheere (same source). This page records events without taking sides.

## Scholar before sultan

He spent his early years as a student of the Ahmadiyya (Idrisiyya) Sufi order at Hahi and Berato ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). Sources differ on whether he could read and write Arabic (same source). The colonial doctor Drake-Brockman wrote in 1911 that he was living as a religious teacher at Hahi, near [Oodweyne](/en/regions/togdheer/), when his kin called him to lead (same source).

## Becoming sultan

He became sultan in 1879, after his uncle Sultan Hersi Aman died in a feud ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). Drake-Brockman wrote that he accepted "much against his will" (same source). A rival branch named its own sultan in 1881, and for some years there were two (same source). He later based himself at Burao (same source).

## The Dervish movement

He led a campaign against a French Catholic mission in the protectorate, which became one cause of the uprising ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). In August 1899 the Dervish forces gathered at Burao and declared open war on British rule ([Douglas Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland*, 1923](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Wikipedia records that he hosted the gathering in his quarter of the town ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). Jardine, a British official, names him riding beside the Sayid in the early British expeditions ([Jardine 1923](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). See [the Dervish movement, 1899 to 1920](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) and [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/).

## The Ilig treaty

On 5 March 1905 he and his brother were the main signatories of the Ilig treaty ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). It made peace between the Dervishes and the British, Ethiopian and Italian powers (same source).

## Death

He died in 1907 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Ahmed_Aman)). He is buried in a white-domed shrine at Taleh, which later became the Dervish capital (same source). His son Dolal Nur succeeded him (same source).

## In short

A sultan of the Habar Yoonis who joined the Dervish movement at Burao in 1899.


---

# Odowaa Yusuf Rageh (Odowaa Yuusuf Raage)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/odowaa-yusuf-rageh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Major General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh is a Somali army officer who commanded the Somali National Army twice: from 2019 or 2020 to June 2023, and from November 2024 to January 2026. He trained in Uganda, Sudan and Turkey. He survived a suicide car bomb aimed at his convoy in Mogadishu on 13 July 2020. The cabinet brought him back in November 2024 to 'speed up the defense of the country', and replaced him on 29 January 2026.

## In short

Odowaa Yusuf Rageh is a Somali army officer. He led the army during much of the federal government's campaign against [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records what the sources report. The full list of army chiefs is at [Commanders of the Somali army](/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/).

## Early career and training

Wikipedia records that he was born in Mahaday, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), and lists his birth date as 14 April 1987. It records that he joined the army of the transitional government, trained in Uganda in VIP protection, went to [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) for officer training in 2009, served in the protection unit at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/), and trained in Turkey from 2013, including two years at a Turkish army war institute. He became deputy commander of the army in August 2018 ([Wikipedia, Odowaa Yusuf Rageh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odowaa_Yusuf_Rageh)). See [Turkey's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/).

## First term as army commander

He became commander of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) under President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/). On 13 July 2020 a car packed with explosives targeted his convoy as it left the defence ministry compound in Mogadishu. He survived; at least one person was killed and two were injured. The army spokesman, Abdiqani Ali Ashkir, said "security forces shot and killed the driver before the car packed with explosives detonated." Voice of America described him as having a reputation "as a fighter against Islamists" and called the attack the first attempt in several years on the life of a senior military leader ([VOA, 15 July 2020](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somali-general-survives-suicide-bomb-attack-one-other-person-killed-least-two-injured/6192801.html)). He remained in post under President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) until June 2023, when [Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow](/en/people/ibrahim-sheikh-muhyadin-addow/) replaced him (Wikipedia).

## Second term, 2024–2026

On Saturday 9 November 2024 the cabinet, at an emergency meeting, dismissed Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow and brought back Odowaa, who had led operations against al-Shabaab under the president's "all-out war". The prime minister's office said his return would "speed up the defense of the country and eliminate the Khawarij groups", the government's term for al-Shabaab ([Anadolu Agency, 11 November 2024](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-cabinet-fires-army-chief-reappoints-predecessor/3390233)). See [The offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/).

On 29 January 2026 the cabinet dismissed him and endorsed Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud as his successor. Information Minister Daud Aweis said the change would advance "military modernization"; no reason was given for Odowaa's removal ([A News, Anadolu, 29 January 2026](https://www.anews.com.tr/africa/2026/01/29/somali-cabinet-dismisses-army-chief-endorses-new-commander/amp)).

## Sources differ

- **Start of his first term.** 22 August 2019 in Wikipedia's text; 27 August 2020 in its table and infobox.
- **Early career.** Wikipedia's text says he joined the army after secondary school in 2000; its promotions table starts in 2007.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Voice of America, "Somali general survives suicide bomb attack" (2020): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somali-general-survives-suicide-bomb-attack-one-other-person-killed-least-two-injured/6192801.html).
- Anadolu Agency, "Somali cabinet fires army chief, reappoints predecessor" (2024): [article](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-cabinet-fires-army-chief-reappoints-predecessor/3390233).


---

# Salaan Carrabey (Salaan Maxamuud Xirsi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/salaan-carrabey/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Salaan Carrabey (Salaan Mahamud Hirsi, about 1841/1850–1943) was a Somali poet, philosopher and trader from Beer, near Burao. He traded in Aden, India and East Africa, spoke many languages, and brought foreign words into Somali verse. He is best remembered for 'War Toolow Colka Jooja' and 'Tolnimo Waa Dugsiye', poems that called kinsmen to stop fighting. Many of his sayings are now Somali proverbs.

## Who was he?

Salaan Carrabey was a Somali poet ([Wikipedia, Salaan Carrabey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). Castagno calls him "a poet and philosopher" whose sayings "are now regarded as proverbs" ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Salaan Arrabey"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Early life

His name was Salaan Mahamud Hirsi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). Wikipedia gives his birth as 1850 in the town of Beer, near [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (same source). Castagno gives about 1841 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His family is Habar Jeclo (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). He finished his Qur'an schooling in Beer (same source).

## Trader and linguist

He worked as a merchant in Aden, India and East Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). Castagno adds that he worked as an interpreter and guide in Aden and Kenya ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He learned Arabic, English, Swahili, Hindustani and Amharic ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). See [Somalis in Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/).

## New words for Somali

He used foreign words in his poems and coined new Somali words ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He also took part in the Guba, a famous chain of poems traded between poets of the north ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). The scholar [Musa Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) wrote down many of his works (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## "Stop the war"

A long feud had divided two branches of his own kin ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). As the men gathered to fight, a sheikh, Fiqi Hasan, walked between them reading the Qur'an (same source). Salaan stepped forward and recited "War Toolow Colka Jooja" ("Oh Kinsmen, Stop the War") (same source).

## "Kinship is a shelter"

An elder told him to recite a full gabay or leave ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)). He then composed "Tolnimo Waa Dugsiye" ("Kinship Is a Shelter") (same source). It is told that the two sides then turned away and went home without fighting (same source). The poem lists past feuds and teaches that kinship is a bond of strength (same source).

## Death

He died in Burao in 1943 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaan_Carrabey)).

## In short

A poet of the 19th century whose verses are quoted as sayings.


---

# Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed (Cabdiweli Sheekh Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed (born 1959 in Bardera) is a Somali economist who was Prime Minister of Somalia from December 2013 to December 2014. Before that he worked for decades in livestock trade, central banking and regional development bodies. His government delivered a national work plan, the first EU aid programme for Somalia in 25 years, and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

## Who is he?

Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed is a Somali economist and politician ([Wikipedia, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)). He was Prime Minister of Somalia from December 2013 to December 2014 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and study

He was born in 1959 in [Bardera](/en/regions/baardheere/), in the [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)). His family is Marehan (Darod) (same source). He earned a degree in economics at the Somali National University in Mogadishu (same source). He later took a master's degree in economics at the University of Ottawa (same source).

## Livestock, banking and development

From 1984 to 1990 he was director-general of the Livestock Marketing and Health Agency ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)). Livestock was then Somalia's main export, so the post touched much of the economy (same source). In 1991 he moved to Canada, where he took citizenship (same source). From 1991 to 1998 he ran a firm called MISK Enterprises (same source). He then worked at the Bank of Canada from 1998 to 2003 (same source). See [Somalis in Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/).

He moved to the African Union's animal resources office, AU-IBAR, from 2003 to 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)). He then worked for the trade bloc COMESA from 2007 to 2009 (same source). From 2010 to 2013 he was at the Islamic Development Bank (same source).

## Prime minister

On 12 December 2013 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) named him prime minister ([Al Jazeera, 12 December 2013](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/12/12/somali-president-appoints-new-prime-minister)). The president said: "After a long consultations, I have taken the decision to name Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed as prime minister" (same source). He followed [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/), who had lost a confidence vote (same source). Al Jazeera noted he was the second prime minister in 14 months (same source). Parliament approved him on 21 December 2013 by 239 of 243 votes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)).

## Work in office

His cabinet delivered a 2014 Work Plan tied to the "Vision 2016" goals for elections and a constitution ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)). It agreed the first European Union National Indicative Programme for Somalia in 25 years (same source). The government ratified several International Labour Organization conventions (same source). It also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (same source). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## End of term and later

In December 2014 parliament passed a vote of no confidence ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Sheikh_Ahmed)). [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) became the next prime minister (same source). From February 2015 he chaired a new party, the Somali Forum for Unity and Democracy (same source).

## In short

An economist who was Prime Minister from December 2013 to December 2014.


---

# Fuad Mohamed Khalaf (Fuad Shongole)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fuad-mohamed-khalaf-shongole/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, known as Fuad Shongole, is a senior figure in al-Shabaab. He took asylum in Sweden in 1992 and returned to Somalia in 2004 to fight with the Islamic Courts. The UN Security Council placed him under sanctions on 12 April 2010, and the US offered a reward of up to US$5 million for information on his location in June 2012. Analysts at the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats project described him as a member of al-Shabaab's shura council.

## In short

Fuad Mohamed Khalaf is a senior figure in [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records what sanctions lists, the US government and researchers report about him. The group's structure is set out in [Al-Shabaab: how it is organised, and who has led it](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## Sweden and return to Somalia

He took asylum in Sweden in 1992 and returned to Somalia in 2004 to fight with the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) ([Critical Threats, American Enterprise Institute, profile, 2011, updated 2013](https://criticalthreats.org/analysis/profile-fuad-mohamed-qalaf-shongole)). Wikipedia describes him as a Somali-Swedish militant ([Wikipedia, Fuad Qalaf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuad_Qalaf)).

## Role in al-Shabaab

Critical Threats described him as a senior member with a seat on al-Shabaab's shura council, believed to be in charge of its operations in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), and recorded that he appeared with [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/) at the rally that announced the merger of al-Shabaab and [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) (Critical Threats).

## Public statements

Critical Threats recorded several of his public statements:

- In May 2009, in Marka, he called on fighters to hunt down members of the news outlet *Waaga Cusub*.
- On 25 April 2010 he accused the editors of Voice of America and the BBC of treason to Islam.
- On 27 December 2010 he said: "We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country."
- In late January 2011 he urged restraint towards the transitional government and called suicide bombing unlawful.

## Sanctions and reward

The UN Security Council's Somalia sanctions committee listed him on 12 April 2010 (UN reference SOi.005), and the United Kingdom applied the listing from 28 April 2010, recording a dozen spellings of his name ([UK Sanctions List, Somalia regime, 2023](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64774cef5f7bb700127fa266/Somalia.pdf)). The Swiss version of the list states that he facilitated money for al-Shabaab, including fundraising at mosques in Kismayo in May 2008 ([SECO, Somalia sanctions list, 2024](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/de/sd-web/E1Jps6lRxg7V/Somalia_2024-05-21%20(8).pdf)). On 7 June 2012 the US State Department offered up to US$5 million under its Rewards for Justice programme for information on his location, citing his operational and fundraising role (Critical Threats).

## Sources differ

- **His name.** Written Khalaf, Kalaf, Khalif or Qalaf, with the nickname Shongole, Shangole or Shongale (UK Sanctions List).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UK Sanctions List, Somalia regime (2023), entry SOM0006: [PDF](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64774cef5f7bb700127fa266/Somalia.pdf).
- Critical Threats, "Profile: Fuad Mohamed Qalaf (Shongole)": [page](https://criticalthreats.org/analysis/profile-fuad-mohamed-qalaf-shongole).


---

# Hibo Nuura (Hibo Maxamed Nuur)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hibo-nuura/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hibo Nuura (born 1954 in Dilla, Awdal) is one of Somalia's best-known women singers. She began singing as a teenager in 1968 and became famous with the national troupe Waaberi for love songs and patriotic songs. After more than twenty years abroad she returned to Mogadishu in 2013 to sing for its rebuilding. In 2015 she said she would leave music, except national songs.

## Who is she?

Hibo Nuura is one of the most prominent Somali singers ([Wikipedia, Hibo Nura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). Her full name is Hibo Mohamed Hudon (same source). Music in Africa lists her among the country's greatest women singers ([Music in Africa, "Somali music through the ages"](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## Early life and first songs

She was born in Dilla, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), in 1954 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). She began her music career as a teenager in 1968 (same source).

## With Waaberi

She became famous as a member of Waaberi, the national music troupe ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). She was known for love songs and for patriotic songs (same source). Waaberi performed at the National Theatre in Mogadishu ([WardheerNews, interview, 7 October 2013](https://wardheernews.com/?p=12354)). Her career spanned nearly fifty years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Abroad

She travelled abroad at the end of 1990 ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/?p=12354)). She was away when the government fell in January 1991 and Waaberi broke up (same source). She lived in Germany (same source). Wikipedia also records her living in Minneapolis ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). See [Somalis in Germany](/en/diaspora/germany/).

## Coming home

She returned to Mogadishu on 10 September 2013, after more than two decades away ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/?p=12354)). Wikipedia dates her return to 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). The Benadir administration invited her ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/?p=12354)). She planned songs to encourage the city's recovery (same source). "The country needs to be rebuilt as we have fallen behind 20 years," she said (same source).

## A change in 2015

In February 2015 she said she would leave the music industry for religious reasons ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Nura)). She said she would keep singing national, patriotic songs (same source).

## In her words

"I want to tell Somalis wherever they may be that the country is peaceful," she said on her return ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/?p=12354)).

## In short

A singer whose career spans more than fifty years, who returned to perform in Mogadishu in the 2010s.


---

# Hodan Nalayeh (Hodan Naaleeye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hodan-nalayeh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hodan Nalayeh (1976–2019) was a Somali-Canadian journalist and media producer who founded Integration TV, an online channel of positive stories about Somalis. Born in Las Anod and raised in Alberta and Toronto, she moved to Somalia to show its culture and beauty. She and her husband were killed in the attack on the Asasey Hotel in Kismayo on 12 July 2019.

## Who was she?

Hodan Nalayeh was a Somali-Canadian media executive, producer and community activist ([Wikipedia, Hodan Nalayeh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Nalayeh)). She founded Integration TV to share "positive stories" about Somalis ([Al Jazeera, 15 July 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/15/brave-inspiring-somali-canadian-journalist-killed-in-kismayo)).

## Early life

She was born in Las Anod in 1976 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/15/brave-inspiring-somali-canadian-journalist-killed-in-kismayo)). She grew up in a family of twelve children ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Nalayeh)). As a young child she moved with her family to Edmonton, and in 1992 to Toronto (same source). See [Somalis in Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) and [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).

## Study and career

She earned a BA in communications at the University of Windsor and studied broadcast journalism at Seneca College ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Nalayeh)). She worked for over 13 years in radio and television sales and production (same source). From 2014 she hosted a Somali community show on Citytv in Toronto (same source). It was called *Integration: Building a New Cultural Identity*, and she was also its executive producer (same source). She ran the Cultural Integration Agency, a firm making programmes for many communities (same source).

## Integration TV

Integration TV used tags like #SomaliaSuccess and #SomaliPositivity ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/15/brave-inspiring-somali-canadian-journalist-killed-in-kismayo)). It had more than 65,000 subscribers in 2019 (same source). She founded the Somali Refugee Awareness Project, which honoured the singer [Saado Ali Warsame](/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/) in 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Nalayeh)). See [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Going home

In 2014 she became the first of her siblings to go back, to film a documentary on Mogadishu ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/15/brave-inspiring-somali-canadian-journalist-killed-in-kismayo)). About a year before her death she moved to Somalia to show its culture and beauty (same source).

## Death

On 12 July 2019 she and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman, were killed in the attack on the Asasey Hotel in Kismayo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Nalayeh)). At least 26 people died ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/15/brave-inspiring-somali-canadian-journalist-killed-in-kismayo)). Canada's immigration minister, [Ahmed Hussen](/en/people/ahmed-hussen/), said she "highlighted the community's positive stories" (same source).

## In short

A Canadian Somali broadcaster whose media company produced programmes about Somali life.


---

# Mohamed Farrah Aidid (Maxamed Faarax Caydiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Farrah Aidid (1934–1996) was a Somali army general, diplomat and political leader. Born in Beledweyne, he served in the police, the national army and as ambassador to India, then led a wing of the United Somali Congress that helped remove Siad Barre's government in January 1991. He contested power in Mogadishu with Ali Mahdi Muhammad, clashed with UN forces in 1993, and died of wounds in August 1996.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Farrah Aidid was a Somali military officer, diplomat and faction leader ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Farrah Aidid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid)). He led a wing of the United Somali Congress (USC) ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Government Structure"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)). This page records events without taking sides. It describes harm as the acts of forces and groups.

## Early life and police service

He was born on 15 December 1934 in Beledweyne ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid)). His family is Habar Gidir (Hawiye) (same source). As a young man he moved to Galkayo and joined the police under the UN trusteeship (same source). In 1954 he trained in Rome, and in 1958 he became police chief of Banaadir province (same source). He was a member of the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) (same source).

## Army and diplomacy

After 1960 he joined the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid)). He studied at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow (same source). After the October 1969 coup he was detained, and released in October 1975 (same source). He served in the 1977–1978 war and rose to brigadier general (same source). From 1984 to 1989 he was ambassador to India (same source). See [the Ogaden war of 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

## The United Somali Congress

The Library of Congress study notes his "long history" of opposition to [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([LoC](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/66.htm)). In November 1990 he signed an agreement with the SNM and SPM to unify their efforts (same source). After January 1991 he disputed the USC committee's right to name an interim government without wider consultation (same source). Clashes followed in Mogadishu between forces loyal to him and to [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) (same source). See [the collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## The UN years

In December 1992 he welcomed the US-led [UNITAF](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) mission ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid)). After a clash on 5 June 1993 killed dozens of UN troops, the UN held his alliance responsible (same source). US forces then sought to capture him. The [Battle of Mogadishu](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/) on 3–4 October 1993 caused heavy losses (same source). In December 1993 he was flown to Addis Ababa for peace talks (same source).

## Last years

In June 1995 he declared himself president, but this was not recognised abroad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid)). He was wounded in fighting in Mogadishu and died in August 1996 (same source). His son [Hussein Mohamed Farrah](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/) was named his successor by his alliance (same source).

## In short

An officer of the trusteeship police and national army, and later chairman of the United Somali Congress. Accounts of his role after 1991 differ widely between sources.


---

# Said Sheikh Samatar (Saciid Sheekh Samatar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/said-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Said Sheikh Samatar (1943–2015) was a Somali historian who taught African history at Rutgers University–Newark from 1981 to 2015. Born to a herding family in the Ogaden, he became a leading authority on Somalia. His book Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (1982) showed how Somali poetry carried politics, and he explained Somalia to world media for three decades.

## Who was he?

Said Sheikh Samatar was a Somali scholar and writer ([Wikipedia, Said Sheikh Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Sheikh_Samatar)). He was a professor of history at Rutgers University–Newark ([Rutgers University–Newark, 2015](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)).

## A herder's childhood

He was born in 1943 in the Ogaden, a Somali-inhabited region of Ethiopia ([Rutgers](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)). He grew up among nomads. He later wrote of "seasons of plenty" and of droughts that brought hunger ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Sheikh_Samatar)). In 1958 his father, an Islamic magistrate, sent for him to start school in Qalaafo (same source). After fighting in 1963, he and his brothers became refugees in the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) (same source).

## Study in America

In 1970 he worked at the National Teaching College in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Sheikh_Samatar)). A scholarship took him to Goshen College in Indiana (same source). He worked as a welder by day to support his family and studied early and late ([Rutgers](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)). He earned a PhD in African history at Northwestern University in 1979 (same source).

## Scholar of Somalia

He joined Rutgers in 1981 ([Rutgers](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)). In 1982 Cambridge University Press published *[Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism](/en/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-samatar/)* (same source). It studied the poetry of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) (same source). With David Laitin he wrote *Somalia: Nation in Search of a State* in 1987 (same source). He edited the journal *The Horn of Africa* for about 25 years (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Explaining Somalia to the world

In 1992 he worked as a consultant and interpreter for ABC's *Nightline* in Somalia ([Rutgers](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)). He spoke on the BBC, CBS, CNN International and PBS (same source). He was an early member of the Somali Studies International Association ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Sheikh_Samatar)).

## Death

He died on 24 February 2015, two weeks after a fall ([Rutgers](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)). His daughter is the writer [Sofia Samatar](/en/people/sofia-samatar/) (same source). Rutgers leaders called him "a true friend to his colleagues" (same source). They said his advice was "freely given with candor", often with humour (same source).

## In short

A historian who studied Somali poetry as a historical source and taught at Rutgers University.


---

# Sheikh Bashir Sheikh Yusuf (Sheekh Bashiir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-bashir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Bashir Sheikh Yusuf Sheikh Hassan (about 1905–1945) was a Somali religious teacher from the Beer centre near Burao who led an armed revolt against British rule in July 1945. Related to Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, he had been jailed in 1939 after protests in Burao. His group attacked the Burao prison guard on 3 July 1945, and he was killed at Bur Dhab four days later. Many remember him as a martyr.

## Who was he?

[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Bashir was a Somali religious leader who in 1945 organised an armed attack on British installations in the north ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Sheikh Bashir"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). It is believed he was related to [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) and may have meant to carry on his movement (same source). This page records events without taking sides.

## Early life and learning

Wikipedia gives his birth as about 1905 in Taleh, the former Dervish capital ([Wikipedia, Sheikh Bashir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Bashir)). It says the Sayid was his uncle and named him (same source). His family is Habar Jeclo (Isaaq) (same source). He studied at the religious centre at Beer, east of [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), founded by his grandfather (same source). In the 1930s he opened his own Sufi order and preached against colonial rule (same source).

## 1939

In 1939 there were protests in Burao over a new British education policy, which was then dropped ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Bashir)). He played a leading part (same source). The British also announced a plan to disarm herders. He gathered armed followers to resist it, and was jailed for a short term at the end of 1939 (same source). See [resistance and protest, 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).

## The July 1945 revolt

On 2 July 1945 he gathered 25 followers at Wadamago ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Bashir)). On the evening of 3 July they entered Burao and fired on the guard of the central prison (same source). They also attacked the house of the district commissioner, and a police guard was killed (same source). The group then took up a position on the mountain of Bur Dhab, south-east of Burao (same source). He also called on religious leaders in [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/) to join, and there was unrest there too (same source).

## Death

On 7 July 1945 police forces found the group at Bur Dhab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Bashir)). In the fighting Sheikh Bashir and his deputy, Alin Yusuf Ali, were killed (same source). The British commander and several soldiers also died (same source). Others were captured or scattered (same source).

## Memory

Many local people honoured him as a martyr ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Bashir)). A poem by Yasin Ahmed Haji Nur, "Muruq Baa Dagaal Gala" (1980), recalls a story about him (same source). His revolt came two years after the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) was founded, as a new age of political struggle began.

## In short

A religious leader who led a revolt against British rule in 1945.


---

# Amal Aden (Amaal Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amal-aden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amal Aden (born 1983) is the pen name of a Somali-Norwegian writer, lecturer and activist. Orphaned at four, she reached Norway at 13 in 1996 after years as a street child. Since 2008 she has written books on integration and equality among Somalis in Norway. She won the Zola Prize in 2010, Amnesty Norway's prize in 2012 and the Gina Krog Prize in 2016.

## Who is she?

Amal Aden is the pen name of a Somali-Norwegian writer, lecturer and activist ([Wikipedia, Amal Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)). She campaigns as an openly lesbian Muslim (same source). She has been a substitute member of the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission and has written for the newspaper *Dag og Tid* since 2013 (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia in 1983 and was orphaned at four ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)). After seven years as a street child, she came to Norway in 1996, aged 13, through family reunification (same source). She has written that public services at first could not help her, and for periods she lived on the streets of Oslo (same source). She now works as an interpreter for the police, schools and others, and as an adviser and lecturer (same source).

## Books

Her books, all in Norwegian, include ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)):

- *Se oss: bekymringsmelding fra en ung norsksomalisk kvinne* (2008).
- *ABC i integrering* (2009), with 111 pieces of advice on integration.
- *Min drøm om frihet* (2009), an autobiographical account.
- *Det skal merkes at de gråter: Om likestilling blant somaliere i Norge* (2011), on equality among Somalis in Norway.
- *Om håpet glipper, er alt tapt* (2012).
- *Jacayl er kjærlighet på somali* (2015).

## Threats

She says she received 146 threatening messages after taking part in the Oslo Pride Parade in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)).

## Prizes

She has received the Zola Prize (2010), the Amnesty Prize of Amnesty International Norway (2012), Erik Bye's Memorial Prize (2014) and the Gina Krog Prize of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (2016) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)).

## In short

A Somali-Norwegian writer, writing under a pen name, whose books deal with integration and women's rights.


---

# Hassan Ali Khaire (Xasan Cali Khayre)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Ali Khaire (born 15 April 1968 in El Buur) is a Somali politician who was Prime Minister of Somalia from March 2017 to July 2020. He came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, studied in Oslo and Edinburgh, and rose to lead the Norwegian Refugee Council's work in the Horn of Africa. He resigned as prime minister in July 2020 after a no-confidence motion.

## Who is he?

Hassan Ali Khaire is a Somali politician and former aid worker ([Wikipedia, Hassan Ali Khaire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Ali_Khaire)). He was Prime Minister of Somalia from 1 March 2017 to 25 July 2020 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life

He was born on 15 April 1968 in [El Buur](/en/regions/galgaduud/), in the Galgaduud region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Ali_Khaire)). His family moved to Mogadishu when he was a baby (same source). His family is Hawiye (same source). In 1991 he left Somalia and was received in Norway as a refugee (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Study and aid work

He studied political science at the University of Oslo, finishing in 1998 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Ali_Khaire)). In 2001 he took an MBA at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh (same source). He worked as a primary school teacher in Norway (same source). From 2002 he worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council (same source). He rose to become its Regional Director for the Horn of Africa (same source). See [refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## Business

From 2013 he was executive director for Africa at [Soma Oil](/en/economy/soma-oil-and-gas/) & Gas ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Ali_Khaire)). The company held exploration rights off Somalia (same source). He resigned from the company when he became prime minister (same source). He also gave up his shares in it (same source).

## Prime minister

On 23 February 2017 President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) named him prime minister ([Al Jazeera, 23 February 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/2/23/somali-president-names-hassan-ali-khaire-prime-minister)). Al Jazeera described him as a dual Somali and Norwegian citizen (same source). Parliament approved him on 1 March 2017 with 231 votes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Ali_Khaire)). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## Resignation

On 25 July 2020, 170 members of parliament backed a motion of no confidence ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Ali_Khaire)). He said the vote was unconstitutional (same source). He still stepped down, saying he wished to "set a good example in leadership" (same source). He then said he would run for president in the next election (same source).

## In short

A former refugee and aid manager who was Prime Minister from March 2017 to July 2020.


---

# Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow (Ibraahim Sheekh Muxyidiin Addow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-sheikh-muhyadin-addow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow is a Somali army officer who commanded the Somali National Army from 19 June 2023 to November 2024. He had commanded the presidential guard and had been head of protocol for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The cabinet appointed him in place of Odowaa Yusuf Rageh during political tension in Hiiraan, and dismissed him at an emergency meeting in November 2024, bringing Odowaa back.

## In short

Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow led the Somali army for about seventeen months, between the two terms of [Odowaa Yusuf Rageh](/en/people/odowaa-yusuf-rageh/). This page records what the sources report. The full list of army chiefs is at [Commanders of the Somali army](/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/).

## Earlier career

Wikipedia records that he was born in Mogadishu in 1960, joined officer training at the Somali National Army academy in 1981 and was commissioned in 1982. It records that he served as an officer through the civil war years, became security adviser to the transitional government in 2001, chaired the security committee of the Benadir regional council from 2008, was head of protocol for President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) from 2012 to 2014, and from 2014 commanded the presidential guard's 60th battalion ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Sheikh_Muhyadin_Addow)). The Anadolu Agency, reported by *Middle East Monitor*, said he had commanded the presidential guards and had studied military logistics in Italy ([*Middle East Monitor*, Anadolu, 19 June 2023](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230619-somalia-sacks-army-chief-names-brig-gen-addow-as-new-commander-amid-political-tensions/)).

## Army commander, 2023–2024

On 19 June 2023 the cabinet, meeting under Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/), removed Odowaa and appointed Addow, then a brigadier general, as chief of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/). No official reason was given. The change came days after [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)'s president dismissed the governor of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), Ali Jeyte Osman, seen as the face of the fight against [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) in the region, who rejected his dismissal (*Middle East Monitor*, 2023). See [The offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/).

## Dismissal, November 2024

On Saturday 9 November 2024 the cabinet, at an emergency meeting, dismissed Addow and brought back Odowaa; the prime minister's office said the aim was to "speed up the defense of the country and eliminate the Khawarij groups". The article gave no reason for Addow's dismissal ([Anadolu Agency, 11 November 2024](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-cabinet-fires-army-chief-reappoints-predecessor/3390233)).

## Sources differ

- **Rank.** A brigadier general on appointment in 2023 (*Middle East Monitor*); Wikipedia's text says he was promoted major general that year, while its table gives 2019.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *Middle East Monitor* (Anadolu), "Somalia sacks army chief, names Brig. Gen. Addow as new commander" (2023): [article](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230619-somalia-sacks-army-chief-names-brig-gen-addow-as-new-commander-amid-political-tensions/).
- Anadolu Agency, "Somali cabinet fires army chief, reappoints predecessor" (2024): [article](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-cabinet-fires-army-chief-reappoints-predecessor/3390233).


---

# Magool (Xaliimo Khaliif Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/magool/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Magool (Halima Khalif Omar, 1948–2004) was a Somali singer, named by Music in Africa first among the country's greatest women singers and known as Hooyadii Fanka, the Mother of Artistry. Born in Dhuusamareeb, she began singing in 1959, sang the songs of poets such as Hadraawi and Ali Sugulle, and drew a crowd reported at over 160,000 to Mogadishu's stadium for her 1987 homecoming concert.

## Who was she?

Magool, born Halima Khalif Omar, was a Somali singer ([Wikipedia, Magool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). She earned the title Hooyadii Fanka, the "Mother of Artistry" (same source). Music in Africa names her first among the country's greatest women singers ([Music in Africa, "Somali music through the ages"](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). This Is Africa ranks her among the most popular Somali women singers of all time ([This Is Africa, 4 November 2020](https://thisisafrica.me/?p=68177)).

## Early years

She was born on 2 May 1948 in [Dhuusamareeb](/en/regions/galgaduud/), in the Galgaduud region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). Some sources give Beledweyne. She had five siblings (same source). Her family is Hawiye (same source).

## First songs

In 1959 she joined a small band in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). The same year she moved to Hargeisa and sang with that city's musicians (same source). The songwriter Yusuf Haji Adan named her Magool, meaning "flower" (same source). She returned to Mogadishu in the mid-1960s, and her fame kept growing (same source).

## The great poets' voice

She sang works by [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/), Ali Sugulle, [Hassan Sheikh Mumin](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mumin/) and Hussein Aw-Farah Dubbad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). Her songs include "Shimbiryahow Ma Duushaa?", with words by [Hadraawi](/en/society/somali-poetry/) (same source). She sang duets with [Hasan Adan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/) and [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Kuluc (same source). She could learn a whole album in a few hours (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Songs for the nation

In the 1970s she sang well-known patriotic songs ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). By the late 1970s she also sang religious songs critical of the military government (same source). She then lived in exile by her own choice until 1987 (same source).

## Mogadishu and Magool

Her 1987 homecoming concert was called "Mogadishu and Magool" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). More than 160,000 people reportedly came to the city's stadium (same source). Wikipedia calls it the most successful concert in Somali history (same source).

## Death

She died of breast cancer in a hospital in Amsterdam on 19 March 2004 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magool)). She was the aunt of the musician [K'naan](/en/people/knaan/), who remembered her singing to him as a child ([Wikipedia, K'naan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan)). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## In short

A singer who performed the work of the leading poets of her time.


---

# Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke (Cumar Cabdirashiid Cali Sharmaarke)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke (born 1960 in Mogadishu) is a Somali diplomat who served twice as Prime Minister of Somalia, from February 2009 to September 2010 and from December 2014 to March 2017. Son of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, he studied at Carleton University in Canada, worked for the United Nations, and in 2014 headed Somalia's first embassy in Washington in over two decades.

## Who is he?

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke is a Somali diplomat and politician ([Wikipedia, Omar Sharmarke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)). He was Prime Minister of Somalia twice (same source). This page covers his public role.

## Family and study

He was born in Mogadishu on 18 June 1960 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)). He is the son of [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), Somalia's second president, who was killed in 1969 ([Al Jazeera, profile, 21 September 2010](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/9/21/profile-omar-abdirashid-sharmarke)). His family is Majeerteen (Darod) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)). He studied political science and economics at Carleton University in Ottawa ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/9/21/profile-omar-abdirashid-sharmarke)). He holds Somali and Canadian citizenship (same source). See [Somalis in Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/).

## UN career

He worked for the United Nations and international NGOs, mostly in Africa ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/9/21/profile-omar-abdirashid-sharmarke)). He served in Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone, and advised on the Darfur conflict in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)).

## First term, 2009–2010

President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) named him prime minister on 13 February 2009 in Djibouti ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/9/21/profile-omar-abdirashid-sharmarke)). Parliament approved him by 414 votes to 9 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)). The government moved from Djibouti to Mogadishu and faced attacks by al-Shabaab, which killed several ministers in 2009 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/9/21/profile-omar-abdirashid-sharmarke)). A dispute with the president grew, including over a draft constitution (same source). He resigned on 21 September 2010, citing "irreconcilable difference" with the president (same source). See [Islamist movements and transitional governments](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Ambassador to the United States

In July 2014 he became Somalia's ambassador to the United States ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)). He headed the reopened embassy in Washington, the first in over two decades (same source).

## Second term, 2014–2017

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) named him prime minister again on 17 December 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharmarke)). Parliament approved him with 218 votes on 24 December (same source). His cabinet was approved in February 2015 (same source). His term ended on 1 March 2017 (same source).

## In short

Prime Minister twice, in 2009 to 2010 and 2014 to 2017, and later ambassador to the United States.


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# Ubah Ali (Ubax Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ubah-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ubah Ali (born 1996) is a social activist from Burao, in Somaliland, who campaigns against female genital mutilation (FGM). In 2015, aged 18, she founded Rajo: Hope for Somaliland Community to help orphans study. In 2018 she founded the Solace for Somaliland Girls Foundation against FGM. The BBC named her one of its 100 Women in 2020.

## Who is she?

Ubah Ali is a social activist and feminist from Somaliland who campaigns against female genital mutilation (FGM) ([Wikipedia, Ubah Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubah_Ali)). In 2020 the BBC listed her among its 100 Women (same source). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## Early life and study

She was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), in the Togdheer region, in 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubah_Ali)). She studied at the [Abaarso School](/en/institutions/abaarso-school/) of Science and Technology from 2011 to 2015 (same source). She graduated from Miss Hall's School in the United States in 2016 (same source). She then studied politics and human rights at the American University of Beirut, as a Mastercard Foundation scholar (same source). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Work with orphans

From 2012 to 2015 she tutored students at the Hargeisa Orphanage Centre ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubah_Ali)). In 2015, at 18, she set up Rajo: Hope for Somaliland Community, to give orphans and poor students a chance to study (same source). That year she also raised funds for communities hit by drought (same source).

## Campaign against FGM

In 2018 she founded the Solace for Somaliland Girls Foundation, which works to end FGM through education and awareness ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubah_Ali)). Wikipedia says the group set up the first anti-FGM group in Somaliland (same source). She argues, with doctors and some religious leaders, that the practice is cultural rather than religious (same source). She has said she is an FGM survivor (same source).

## Awards

She won the Resolution Project award in 2018–19, and was the American University of Beirut's Volunteer of the Year in 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubah_Ali)). She was on the BBC 100 Women list in 2020 (same source).

## In short

A Burao-born campaigner who founded Solace for Somaliland Girls in 2018 to work against FGM.


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# Yasin Osman Kenadid (Yaasiin Cismaan Keenadiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yasin Osman Kenadid (1919–1988) was a Somali scholar and linguist from Hobyo, and one of the founders of the Somali Youth League in 1943. Son of Osman Yusuf Kenadid, maker of the Osmanya script, he taught that script in Mogadishu, founded the Society for Somali Language and Literature, and wrote Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga (1976), for decades the standard Somali dictionary.

## Who was he?

Yasin Osman Kenadid was a Somali intellectual, writer and linguist ([Wikipedia, Yasin Osman Kenadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). He wrote a dictionary of Somali that served as the standard for decades (same source). Castagno lists him among the founders of the Somali Youth League ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Yasin Haji Osman Shermarke"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Family

He was the son of [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/), who created the Osmanya script ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His uncle, Ali Yusuf Kenadid, was the second Sultan of Hobyo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). The sultanate was founded by his grandfather, [Yusuf Ali Kenadid](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/). See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## Early life

He was born in Hobyo in 1919 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). He studied at a Qur'an school until 15. He then moved to Mogadishu, where he attended Italian and Arabic schools and learned English (same source).

## A founder of the League

He was one of the thirteen founders of the Somali Youth League ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). It began in Mogadishu in 1943 as the Somali Youth Club ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The League at first urged the use of the Osmanya script for Somali (same source). See [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).

## Teaching Somali writing

In the 1940s he taught Osmanya in Mogadishu ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He founded the Society for Somali Language and Literature (same source). In 1953 he co-wrote a book of Somali medical terms with Mario Maino (same source, bibliography). He later sat on the National Somali Language Committee that set the standard spelling of modern Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). See [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## The dictionary

His *Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga* was published in 1976 by the Academy of Culture ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). For decades it was the only standard Somali dictionary (same source). In 1984 he published a study of the poetry of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) in Naples (same source).

## Death

He died on 27 November 1988 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)).

## In short

A founder of the Somali Youth League and compiler of a Somali dictionary.


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# Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas (Cabdiweli Maxamed Cali Gaas)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas is a Somali-American economist who was Prime Minister of Somalia from June 2011 to October 2012 and President of Puntland from January 2014 to January 2019. As prime minister he devised the Roadmap for the End of Transition, which led to the federal government of 2012. Before politics he taught economics at Niagara University in New York.

## Who is he?

Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas is a Somali-American economist and politician ([Wikipedia, Abdiweli Gaas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Gaas)). He led the national government as prime minister and later led [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) as its fifth president (same source). This page covers his public role.

## Study and teaching

He earned a BA in economics with top honours at the Somali National University in 1984 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Gaas)). In 1988 he took an MA in economics at Vanderbilt University (same source). He was later a Bradley Fellow at George Mason University (same source). From 2003 he was an associate professor of economics at Niagara University in New York (same source). He speaks Somali, Arabic, Italian and English (same source).

## Prime minister

He became acting prime minister on 19 June 2011, after the Kampala agreement led his predecessor to resign ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Gaas)). On 28 June parliament approved him by 337 votes to 2 (same source). He is credited with the "Roadmap for the End of Transition" (same source). It set clear steps toward permanent institutions by mid-2012 ([African Arguments, January 2014](https://africanarguments.org/2014/01/puntlands-presidential-poll-election-of-gaas-likely-to-strengthen-moves-towards-federalism-by-dominik-balthasar/)). He stood as a presidential candidate in 2012 (same source). See [Islamist movements and transitional governments](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## President of Puntland

On 8 January 2014 Puntland's 66-member parliament elected him president ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2014/01/puntlands-presidential-poll-election-of-gaas-likely-to-strengthen-moves-towards-federalism-by-dominik-balthasar/)). He won the final round by 33 votes to 32 over the incumbent, [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/) (same source). His family is Majeerteen (Darod) (same source). Hopes were that he would mend ties with Mogadishu and widen the settlement to include all communities (same source).

## Work in Puntland

He signed a 12-point agreement with the federal prime minister in Garowe ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Gaas)). His government launched a fisheries database, a five-year development plan, and road, port and airport projects in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) (same source). In 2014 Puntland forces took the Galgala mountains from al-Shabaab (same source). He also set up a committee on money-transfer policy (same source).

## After office

In the December 2018 vote he sought re-election but was eliminated in the first round ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiweli_Gaas)). [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) succeeded him (same source).

## In short

Prime Minister from 2011 to 2012 during the end of the transitional period, then President of Puntland from 2014 to 2019.


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# Ahmed Mohamed Hassan (Ahmed Dheere), the pilot who refused to bomb Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-hassan-pilot/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, known as Ahmed Dheere, is a former Somali Air Force pilot who in July 1988 refused an order to bomb Hargeisa, then held by the Somali National Movement. He flew his MiG-17 to Djibouti, landed on a beach and was given asylum, later settling in Luxembourg. He returned to Hargeisa in 2008 as a guest of honour, and in October 2020 Somaliland's president Muse Bihi Abdi gave him a Medal of Honor.

## In short

Ahmed Mohamed Hassan was a fighter pilot in the [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) during the war in the north in 1988. This page records what the sources report about his refusal to bomb Hargeisa and what followed. The wider events are covered in [The Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/) and [Somali National Movement (SNM), 1981–1991](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/).

## The order, 1988

Wikipedia records that he was born on 1 April 1953, joined the air force in the early 1970s and rose to lieutenant colonel ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan (pilot)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Hassan_(pilot))). In late May 1988 the SNM attacked in the north and by early June had taken most of Hargeisa; government forces, pulled back to the airport and outskirts, "were ordered to begin the indiscriminate bombardment of the city." He faced a choice: "join other pilots in bombing the city or refuse and face the prospect of being shot" ([Somaliland Chronicle, from BBC *Witness History*, 21 June 2023](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2023/06/21/witness-history-the-somali-pilot-ordered-to-bomb-his-own-people-in-hargeisa/)).

Reuters reported that on 13 July 1988 he was ordered to bomb Hargeisa, refused, and dropped his bombs on bare mountains near the city. "I had already made up my mind never to drop the bombs," he said. He then came down on a beach in Djibouti after running out of fuel and gave himself up to the authorities. Somalia asked for him to be sent back, but he was given asylum ([Reuters, 27 June 2008, reposted by *Isweydii*](https://isweydii.blogspot.com/2008/06/interview-somali-pilot-returns-to-city.html)). Wikipedia records that he switched off his radio, flew his MiG-17 to Djibouti, and moved to Luxembourg with his family in 1990 (Wikipedia).

## Return and honours

In June 2008 he returned to Hargeisa for the first time, as a guest of honour at the 26 June celebrations, and peace activists gave him a certificate of appreciation. "I am glad I did not drop those bombs here," he said (Reuters, 2008).

On 29 October 2020 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s president, [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), presented him with a Medal of Honor and a Somaliland diplomatic passport at a banquet attended by ministers and SNM veterans. Bihi said: "He sacrificed his life for the people of Somaliland." The Speaker of the House, Bashe [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/), said it was "amazing that a man born in Wardhiigley (Mogadishu Burrough) could save Hargeisa" ([Somaliland Presidency, 30 October 2020](https://madaxtooyadajsl.com/?p=18301)).

## Sources differ

- **Date of the refusal.** 12 July 1988 (Wikipedia); 13 July 1988 (Reuters).
- **His bombs.** Dropped on mountains near Hargeisa (Reuters); Wikipedia does not mention them.
- **His name.** Reuters in 2008 called him Abdi Mohamed Hassan; other sources give Ahmed.
- **Birthplace.** Mogadishu (Reuters; the Speaker in 2020), or Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) in another part of Wikipedia's article.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Somaliland Presidency, "Somaliland Grants Hero Pilot Ahmed Dheere's Medal of Honor" (2020): [article](https://madaxtooyadajsl.com/?p=18301).
- Somaliland Chronicle, "Witness History: The Somali pilot ordered to bomb his own people in Hargeisa" (2023): [article](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2023/06/21/witness-history-the-somali-pilot-ordered-to-bomb-his-own-people-in-hargeisa/).


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# Ahmed Ismail Samatar (Axmed Ismaaciil Samatar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Ismail Samatar is a Somali scholar from Gabiley who is James Wallace Professor of International Studies at Macalester College in Minnesota and founding dean of its Institute for Global Citizenship. A former broadcaster at Radio Mogadishu and the BBC, he founded Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies and wrote or edited books on the Somali state, including The Making of Dahabshiil (2021).

## Who is he?

Ahmed Ismail Samatar is a Somali writer and professor ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Samatar)). He is James Wallace Professor of International Studies at Macalester College ([Macalester College, faculty profile](https://www.macalester.edu/academics/internationalstudies/facultystaff/ahmedsamatar/)). This page covers his public and academic life.

## Early life

He was born and raised in Gabiley District ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Samatar)). He began with Qur'an school and was among the first pupils of the first Gabiley primary school (same source). He went on to Amoud intermediate school and an agricultural secondary school (same source). His brother is the geographer [Abdi Ismail Samatar](/en/people/abdi-samatar/) (same source).

## The broadcaster

In the mid-1960s he joined Radio Mogadishu as a broadcaster ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Samatar)). In the late 1960s he moved to the BBC African service in [London](/en/diaspora/london/), where he worked until the mid-1970s (same source). See [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Study and teaching

He earned a BA at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 1978 ([Macalester](https://www.macalester.edu/academics/internationalstudies/facultystaff/ahmedsamatar/)). He took an MA in 1981 and a PhD in 1984 at the University of [Denver](/en/diaspora/denver/) (same source). He has lectured at Cornell, Harvard, the London School of Economics, the Somali National University and the [University of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/main-universities/), among others ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Samatar)). He is a Fulbright Fellow (same source).

## Bildhaan

He is the founding editor-in-chief of *Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies* ([Macalester](https://www.macalester.edu/academics/internationalstudies/facultystaff/ahmedsamatar/)). He also edited 28 volumes of *Macalester International* (same source). He was the founding dean of Macalester's Institute for Global Citizenship (same source).

## Books

His books include *Somalia: State Collapse, Multilateral Intervention, and Strategies for Political Reconstruction* (1995) and *The African State: Reconsiderations* (2002) ([Macalester](https://www.macalester.edu/academics/internationalstudies/facultystaff/ahmedsamatar/)). In 2021 he published *The Making of [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/)*, on the company founded by [Mohamed Said Duale](/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/) (same source). *The Rise and Fall of Somali Nationalism* appeared in 2026 (same source).

## Public life

In 2016 he entered politics in Somaliland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Samatar)). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## In short

A professor of international studies and founding editor of Bildhaan, a journal of Somali studies.


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# Mohamed Mooge Liibaan (Maxamed Mooge Liibaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-mooge-liibaan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Mooge Liibaan (died 1984) was a Somali singer, oud player, poet and teacher from Hargeisa, a member of the Waaberi troupe whose songs on Radio Hargeisa praised learning. After 1978 he joined the opposition to the military government and became a leading early figure of the Somali National Movement (SNM), running its radio and information work. He died in 1984.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Mooge Liibaan was a Somali scholar, poet, singer and political leader ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Mooge Liibaan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mooge_Liibaan)). Wikipedia describes him as one of the important cultural and political figures of his time (same source). This page records his life without taking sides.

## Early life and teaching

He was born in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mooge_Liibaan)). He went to primary school there and then to the Ahmed Guray School (same source). Before giving himself fully to music, he taught for the Ministry of Education (same source). He believed education was the best tool to build a fair society and keep culture alive (same source).

## The singer

He was a member of Waaberi, the leading national performing arts group ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mooge_Liibaan)). He was known for his skill on the oud and for a voice of deep feeling (same source). Radio Hargeisa used "the voices of Moge and Qarshe to instill a deep respect for education" ([Geeska, "Radio Hargeisa and the rise of Somali modern music"](https://www.geeska.com/en/radio-hargeisa-and-rise-somali-modern-music)). See [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) and [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Into opposition

After the 1977–1978 war he left and joined an early opposition movement based in Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mooge_Liibaan)). He spent time in Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), Harar, Addis Ababa and Jigjiga (same source). When the Somali National Movement (SNM) was founded in 1981, he became one of its early commanders (same source). See [the Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Voice of the movement

He headed the SNM's information and political affairs ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mooge_Liibaan)). He led its radio programmes on Radio Halgan, later called Radio Kulmis (same source). He organised cultural programmes and gave interviews on the movement's aims (same source).

## Death and memory

He died in 1984 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mooge_Liibaan)). In Somaliland his memory is kept in cultural institutions, monuments and schools (same source). His songs and poems are still widely heard (same source). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## In short

A singer who performed on national radio and later took part in the politics of the 1980s.


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# Said Abdullahi Deni (Saciid Cabdullaahi Deni)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Said Abdullahi Deni (born 2 July 1967 in Mogadishu) is a Somali politician who has been President of Puntland since January 2019 and was re-elected in January 2024. Before that he was federal Minister of Planning from 2014 to 2017, when his ministry published Somalia's first population estimate in over two decades. He is known in Puntland for helping to set up schools and universities.

## Who is he?

Said Abdullahi Deni is a Somali politician and businessman ([Wikipedia, Said Abdullahi Deni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). He has been President of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) since 8 January 2019 (same source). Puntland is a federal member state in the north-east of Somalia (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life

He was born on 2 July 1967 in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). His family is Majeerteen (Harti, Darod), of the Osman Mahamoud branch (same source). He studied at the Somali National University (same source). See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## Education work

Before office he became known in Puntland for his part in education ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). He helped to set up schools and universities there (same source).

## Minister of Planning

On 17 January 2014 Prime Minister [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/) named him Minister of Planning and International Cooperation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). In March 2014 he joined a government visit to Tokyo (same source). Japan then announced a 40 million dollar package for police, relief and jobs in Somalia (same source).

In September 2014 his ministry published a preliminary population estimate for Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). It was the first such government count in over two decades (same source). The UN Population Fund helped with the work (same source). The early data suggested about 12.36 million residents (same source). He held the ministry until February 2017 (same source).

## President of Puntland

He ran for president of Somalia in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). On 8 January 2019 the Puntland parliament elected him president (same source). He won 35 of 66 votes in the third round, against 31 for [Asad](/en/society/films-about-somalia/) Osman Abdullahi (same source). The outgoing president, [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/), left the race in the first round ([Garowe Online, January 2019](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-inaugurates-new-president)).

He was sworn in at the presidential palace in Garowe in late January 2019 (same source). President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) attended and called for "forgiveness and collaboration" between the federal government and the states (same source). Deni pledged to strengthen institutions, fight corruption and steady Puntland's economy (same source). On taking office he said: "A new chapter has opened for this state, a chapter of unity and brotherly relations among Somalis" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)).

## Second term

He ran again for president of Somalia in 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Abdullahi_Deni)). Since 2020 he has led the Kaah political association (same source). On 8 January 2024 the Puntland parliament re-elected him with 45 of 66 votes (same source). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## In short

Federal Minister of Planning from 2014 to 2017 and President of Puntland since 2019.


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# Abdi Ismail Samatar (Cabdi Ismaaciil Samatar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Ismail Samatar is a Somali geographer from Gabiley who taught at the University of Minnesota, where he chaired the geography department. He earned his PhD at Berkeley in 1985, wrote An African Miracle (1999) on Botswana's development, and served as President of the African Studies Association. He is a research fellow at the University of Pretoria.

## Who is he?

Abdi Ismail Samatar is a Somali scholar, writer and professor of geography ([Wikipedia, Abdi Ismail Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Ismail_Samatar)). He taught at the University of Minnesota, where he chaired the geography department ([American Association of Geographers, "Celebrating Black Geographers"](https://www.americangeo.org/celebrating-black-geographers/abdi-ismail-samatar)). This page covers his public and academic life.

## Early life and study

He was born in Gabiley in the 1950s. Wikipedia gives both 1950 and 1956 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Ismail_Samatar)). His brother is the scholar [Ahmed Ismail Samatar](/en/people/ahmed-samatar/) (same source). He earned a BA at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 1979, and a master's in planning at Iowa State in 1981 (same source). He completed a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985 ([AAG](https://www.americangeo.org/celebrating-black-geographers/abdi-ismail-samatar)).

## Teaching

He lectured at the University of Iowa in the late 1980s and early 1990s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Ismail_Samatar)). He then joined the University of Minnesota (same source). He is also a research fellow at the University of Pretoria ([AAG](https://www.americangeo.org/celebrating-black-geographers/abdi-ismail-samatar)). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Research

His work studies how democratic leadership and public institutions shape development in East and Southern Africa ([AAG](https://www.americangeo.org/celebrating-black-geographers/abdi-ismail-samatar)). He also writes on Islam, social capital and the environment in the Horn of Africa (same source). He has written four books and more than sixty articles and chapters (same source).

## An African Miracle

His book *An African Miracle* looks at state leadership and development in Botswana ([AAG](https://www.americangeo.org/celebrating-black-geographers/abdi-ismail-samatar)). It was a finalist for the Herskovits Award in 2000 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Ismail_Samatar)).

## Service

In 2003 he chaired a harmonisation committee on a Somali reconciliation charter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Ismail_Samatar)). He was President of the African Studies Association in 2013–2014 (same source). In January 2017 he was named to lead a commission overseeing the integrity of Somalia's presidential vote (same source). He often speaks on the BBC, Al Jazeera, PBS and Voice of America (same source).

## In short

A professor of geography whose research covers the Somali state, African development and public institutions.


---

# Hanan Ibrahim (Xanaan Ibraahim)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hanan-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hanan Ibrahim is a Somali-British community activist in London. She moved to the UK in 1998, founded the Somali Family Support Group and chairs the Barnet Muslim Women's Network. In 2011 Somalia's Transitional Federal Government named her to the committee of experts drafting the new constitution. She was appointed MBE in 2010.

## Who is she?

Hanan Ibrahim is a Somali social activist ([Wikipedia, Hanan Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ibrahim)). She chairs the Barnet Muslim Women's Network, among other roles (same source).

## Early life

She grew up in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ibrahim)). After the civil war broke out, she moved to the United Kingdom in 1998 (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Community work

In London she founded the Somali Family Support Group, an organisation for Somali and wider Horn of Africa communities ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ibrahim)). It runs a family advice centre, health campaigns, help with job searches and skills workshops, and works on interfaith dialogue (same source).

She has worked with the Women Interfaith Network, Sisters Against Violent Extremism and the Women's Federation for World Peace ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ibrahim)). In 2008 she joined the SAVE UK Advisory Board of Women Without Borders (same source). She has sat on the UK government's National Muslim Women Advisory Group and the National Community Forum (same source).

## Somalia's constitution

In 2011 the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) appointed her to the Committee of Experts that prepared Somalia's new draft constitution ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ibrahim)).

## Awards

She received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2004 and the Ambassador for Peace Award in 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ibrahim)). In 2010 she won the London Borough of Barnet Civic Award and was appointed MBE for her work with the Somali Family Support Group (same source).

## In short

A London community activist who founded the Somali Family Support Group and helped draft Somalia's constitution in 2011.


---

# Mohamed Hussein Roble (Maxamed Xuseen Rooble)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Hussein Roble (born February 1968 in Hobyo) is a Somali civil engineer who was Prime Minister of Somalia from September 2020 to June 2022. He studied in Mogadishu and at KTH in Stockholm, then worked for aid groups and the International Labour Organization. As prime minister he was given charge of the 2021 and 2022 elections and hosted the talks that set their final timetable.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Hussein Roble is a Somali engineer and politician ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Hussein Roble](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). He was Prime Minister of Somalia from 23 September 2020 to 25 June 2022 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and study

He was born in Hobyo, in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region, in February 1968 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). He earned a degree in civil engineering at the Somali National University (same source). He later studied at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (same source). There he finished a master's degree in environmental and sustainable engineering (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Work before politics

He worked for non-governmental organisations ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). He was then a technical adviser on engineering at the International Labour Organization, a UN agency (same source). Al Jazeera called him a "political newcomer" when he was named ([Al Jazeera, 18 September 2020](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/18/somalia-names-new-prime-minister-unveils-plan-for-elections)).

## Prime minister

President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) named him prime minister in September 2020 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/18/somalia-names-new-prime-minister-unveils-plan-for-elections)). He replaced [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/), whom parliament had voted out in July (same source). The choice came hours after the president and regional leaders agreed an election plan (same source). Under the plan, clan delegates would elect the 275 members of parliament (same source). The members would then choose the president (same source).

He kept Khadar Mohamed Gulaid as deputy prime minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). His cabinet had 26 ministers, 15 of them from the previous cabinet, and four women (same source).

On 18 December 2020 a suicide bomber struck outside a stadium in Galkayo minutes before he was due to speak ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). Seven civilians and three soldiers were killed (same source). He offered condolences to the families and called for unity (same source).

## The elections of 2021 and 2022

On 1 May 2021 the federal government gave him charge of the election process and its security ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). In September 2021 he and the president disagreed over an investigation into the death of a security officer, Ikran Tahlil Farah (same source). The president then suspended some of his executive powers (same source). In January 2022 he hosted talks with state leaders (same source). They agreed to finish parliamentary elections by 25 February 2022 (same source). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## End of term

[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) began his second term as president on 15 June 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Roble)). He named [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) as prime minister, approved on 25 June 2022 (same source).

## In short

An engineer who was Prime Minister from September 2020 to June 2022 and was given charge of the 2021 and 2022 elections.


---

# Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec (Maxamed Saleebaan Tubeec)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-sulayman-tubeec/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Saleban Tubeec (1941–2014) was a Somali singer, songwriter and record producer from near Berbera. He joined the Walaalaha Hargeisa band under Abdullahi Qarshe in 1960 and sang for independence, then moved to Mogadishu with Waaberi. After 1991 he lived in Djibouti and Denmark. He died in Germany on 11 March 2014 and was given a state funeral in Mogadishu.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Saleban Tubeec was a Somali singer, songwriter and record producer ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Sulayman_Tubeec)). Wikipedia says his songs were known for their emphasis on political justice (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Early life

He was born in 1941 in Laaleys, near Berbera, in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Sulayman_Tubeec)). He grew up in Berbera, Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (same source). His father, Saleban Tubeec, was a blacksmith, and Wikipedia gives his clan as Madhibaan (same source). His mother's family came from Hami, in Hadhramaut, Yemen (same source). See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

In 1959 he moved to Djibouti with his older brother Jama Tubeec, also a singer, and began his career there (same source).

## Walaalaha Hargeisa and Waaberi

In 1960 he returned to Hargeisa and joined the Walaalaha Hargeisa band led by [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Sulayman_Tubeec)). In the 1960s he sang for Somali independence with the band (same source). After independence and union he moved to Mogadishu with members of the Waaberi group (same source).

His songs include *Hooyo iyo aabbe*, *Nasteexo*, *Deeqa*, *Diiriyoow*, *Ammaanada ilaahay*, *Gufaaco*, *Alla maanta ayaanta*, *Aramidu* and *Waqti* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Sulayman_Tubeec)).

## Exile

After the civil war began, he moved to Djibouti and then to Kolding in Denmark, where he released the album *Nasteexo* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Sulayman_Tubeec)). In April 2013 he composed the melody for "Iisoo dhawaaw", sung by Hodan Abdirahman with Abdifatah Yare (same source). See [Somalis in Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/).

## Death

He died in a hospital in Germany on 11 March 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Sulayman_Tubeec)). On 16 March 2014 the Federal Government held a state funeral for him, attended by ministers, members of parliament and artists (same source). He is buried at General Kaahiye Cemetery in Mogadishu (same source).

## In short

A singer of Walaalaha Hargeisa and Waaberi who sang for independence in the 1960s and was given a state funeral in 2014.


---

# Soraya Miré (Suraya Miira)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/soraya-mire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Soraya Miré (born 1961) is a Somali writer, filmmaker and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), born in Beledweyne. Her 1994 documentary Fire Eyes opens with her own experience of FGM at 13 and includes interviews with others involved in the practice. In 2011 she published a memoir, The Girl with Three Legs.

## Who is she?

Soraya Miré is a Somali writer, filmmaker and activist against female genital mutilation (FGM) ([Wikipedia, Soraya Miré](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9)). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## Early life

She was born in Beledweyne in 1961 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9)). She has said she underwent infibulation at 13 (same source).

## Fire Eyes

Her documentary *[Fire Eyes](/en/books/the-girl-with-three-legs-mire/): Female Circumcision* was released in 1994 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9)). It opens with her account of her own FGM and includes interviews with others involved in the practice (same source).

## Memoir

In 2011 she published *The Girl with Three Legs: A Memoir*, written with Eve Ensley ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9)). See [Waris Dirie](/en/people/waris-dirie/), [Leyla Hussein](/en/people/leyla-hussein/) and [Nimco Ali](/en/people/nimco-ali/), who also campaign against FGM.

## In short

A Beledweyne-born filmmaker whose 1994 film Fire Eyes was about FGM.


---

# Yusuf Abdi Ali (Tukeh)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-abdi-ali-tukeh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Abdi Ali, known as Tukeh, is a former lieutenant colonel of the Somali National Army who commanded its Fifth Brigade in the north-west from about May 1987 to July 1988. In May 2019 a US civil jury in Virginia found him liable for torturing a Somali herder, Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa, and awarded US$500,000 in damages; he denied the allegations. A US immigration judge found in February 2024 that he had personally engaged in torture, and he was deported to Somalia on 20 December 2024.

## In short

Yusuf Abdi Ali was an officer of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). This page records what US courts, US immigration authorities and the press report about him. The events in the north-west in those years are covered in [The Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

## Commander of the Fifth Brigade, 1987–1988

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) states that he was a lieutenant colonel and commander of the army's Fifth Brigade in north-west Somalia from about May 1987 to July 1988. It says the army committed serious abuses in that period, including arbitrary arrests and executions, the burning of towns, unlawful use of landmines and the destruction of water reservoirs ([ICE, 23 December 2024](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero-washington-dc-removes-high-ranking-somali-national-convicted-human-rights)).

## The civil case, Warfaa v. Ali

The Center for Justice and Accountability filed a lawsuit in the United States on behalf of Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa, a herder from north-west Somalia, about 15 years before trial. Warfaa said that when he was 17 Ali tortured him, shot him and left him for dead during an interrogation, and that he survived by bribing the men sent to bury him. On Tuesday 21 May 2019, after more than three days of deliberation, a jury in a federal court in northern Virginia found Ali liable for torture and awarded US$400,000 in compensatory and US$100,000 in punitive damages. Jurors did not find enough evidence on the shooting to hold him liable for attempted killing ([Mohamed Olad Hassan, VOA, 21 May 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html)).

Ali denied torturing Warfaa. His lawyer, Joseph Peter Drennan, said the suit was based on "clan vengeance", that there was no "clear, convincing evidence" that Ali tortured anyone or directed torture, that the witnesses were biased, and that Ali deserved immunity as a former foreign official (VOA, 2019).

## Immigration ruling and removal, 2024

ICE states that its war-crimes centre asked for an investigation in March 2020, that Ali was detained in November 2022, and that on 8 February 2024 an immigration judge issued a 65-page decision finding that he had personally engaged in torture and had ordered soldiers under his command to detain, torture and assist in extrajudicial killings. He was removed to Somalia on 20 December 2024, aged 71. An ICE official, Russell Hott, said: "Though justice was delayed in this case, it ultimately prevailed" (ICE, 2024).

## Sources differ

- **Date of Warfaa's torture.** 1987 in the lead of VOA's report; 1988 later in the same report.
- **Responsibility.** The jury and the immigration judge found him responsible for torture; Ali and his lawyer denied it and called the case clan-based.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "ERO Washington, D.C. removes high-ranking Somali national convicted of human rights violations" (2024): [release](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero-washington-dc-removes-high-ranking-somali-national-convicted-human-rights).
- Voice of America, "US jury: former Somali colonel responsible for torture" (2019): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html).


---

# Khadra Dahir Ige (Khadra Daahir Cige)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/khadra-dahir-ige/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Khadra Dahir Ige (1957–2022) was a Somali singer from Hargeisa, one of the best-known female singers of the 1970s and 1980s. She joined the Waaberi group in 1974, aged 17. Many of her songs were written by the poet Hassan Ganey. She retired in 2002 and died in Hargeisa on 25 June 2022.

## Who was she?

Khadra Dahir Ige was a Somali singer, and one of the best-known female stars of the 1970s and 1980s ([Wikipedia, Khadra Dahir Ige](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Dahir_Ige)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Early life

She was born in Hargeisa in 1957, in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Dahir_Ige)). At school she played basketball in national tournaments (same source).

## Waaberi

In 1974, aged 17, she joined the dance unit of the national music group Waaberi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Dahir_Ige)). She recalled that in the 1970s Somalis became more accepting of women as singers (same source). Many of her songs were written by the poet Hassan H. Abdullahi, known as Hassan Ganey (same source). Her songs include *Afka lagama sheegto adigoon jeceyl arag* and *Yabaal* (1975) (same source).

## Later life

She retired from singing in 2002 and lived in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Dahir_Ige)). In February 2012 the website Berbera News ranked her third among 15 artists in its list of "160 Great Somalis" (same source). She died at the International Hospital in Hargeisa on 25 June 2022, aged 65 (same source).

## In short

A Hargeisa-born Waaberi singer who was one of the leading female voices of the 1970s and 1980s.


---

# Sheikh Hassan Barsane (Sheekh Xasan Barsane)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Hassan Barsane (born 1853 in Ubaadi, died in prison in Mogadishu in the 1920s) was a Somali religious scholar of the Salihiyya order who led resistance in the Shabelle valley. He fought an Ethiopian campaign into the region in the early 1900s. In 1924 he refused an order from the Italian governor to give up his people's rifles, was captured that April and died in Mogadishu Central Prison.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Hassan Barsane was a Somali cleric and religious scholar ([Wikipedia, Sheikh Hassan Barsane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). He led one of the last large revolts against Italian rule in southern Somalia in the 1920s (same source). The historian [Abdurahman Baadiyow](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) calls him "the resistance leader against Ethiopia and Italy" ([Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 15 October 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)). This page records events without taking sides.

## Early life and faith

He was born in 1853 in Ubaadi, a village about 68 km west of Jowhar ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). The village lies in today's Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) region, in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) state ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)). His family belonged to the Gaaljecel (Hawiye), herders who lived along the [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) above [Balad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) ([Castagno, Historical Dictionary of Somalia, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His father was a sheikh and a Quran teacher ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)).

He learned the Quran by heart when young (same source). He then studied Islamic law, theology and Sufism (same source). He made the Hajj and stayed three years in Mecca ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). There he met [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohammed Salih, head of the Salihiyya order, and joined it (same source). On his return he helped spread the order in the Shabelle valley ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Fighting the Ethiopian campaign

Around 1905 an Ethiopian force advanced into the Banadir interior ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)). Hassan raised a force with his students, backed by Sultan Olol Dinle of Mustahil (same source). Fighting took place near Bulo Burti, El Abdi and Balad (same source). His forces pushed the Ethiopian troops out of the area (same source). Wikipedia also records fighting at Balad and Daafeet, in the [Wanlaweyn](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) district ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). See [resistance from the 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).

## The 1924 rising

After the First World War many Somalis in the south held rifles ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). The Fascist governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi ordered them to hand the guns in (same source). Castagno writes that this policy set off the risings of Hassan Barsane, Hersi Bogor and Omar Samantar ([Castagno, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

Hassan answered the governor in a letter ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)). He wrote: "We accept no law other than our own, the law of Allah and His Prophet" (same source). He added: "It is better to die defending our laws" (same source).

In March 1924 Italian columns moved into the area from three sides (same source). They took Wanlaweyn and Jowhar and destroyed the fort at Balad (same source). Castagno writes that the government brought machine guns and artillery to make the Gaaljecel an example ([Castagno, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia lists fighting at Buloburde, El Dhere, Hiilweyne, Jiliyaale, Hareerile and Lafoole ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). Italian forces captured him in April 1924 (same source).

## Prison and death

He was held in Mogadishu Central Prison with a life sentence ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)). Several of his companions and students were executed (same source). Accounts of his death differ. Baadiyow gives 1926 at age 73 (same source). Wikipedia gives 1928 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). Baadiyow writes that thousands attended his funeral near the prison ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-hassan-barsane-the-resistance-leader-against-ethiopia-and-italy)).

## In short

A Salihiyya scholar who led the 1924 Shabelle valley rising. A secondary school in Mogadishu was later named after him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)).


---

# Sheikh Sufi (Sheekh Suufi), Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-sufi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Sufi (Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah, 1829–1904) was a Benadiri scholar, poet and reformer of Mogadishu and one of the leading Qadiriyya teachers of the Banadir coast. He trained at the Warsheikh centre, wrote religious works such as The Tree of Certitude, mediated between merchants in the coastal towns, and was buried in a Mogadishu tomb that became a place of yearly visits.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Sufi was a 19th-century [Benadiri](/en/society/minority-communities/) scholar, poet and reformer ([Wikipedia, Shaykh Sufi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). His name was Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah (same source). The historian [Abdurahman Baadiyow](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) calls him the most prominent scholar of Mogadishu in his time ([Abdurahman Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 25 June 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)).

## Early life and study

He was born in Mogadishu in 1829 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). He studied at the Qadiriyya centre of [Sheikh Abikar Mahdar](/en/people/abikar-mahdar/) at [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/), north of Mogadishu ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). His teacher, who lived from 1816 to 1876, was known as "[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) al-Shuyukh", the sheikh of sheikhs (same source). After his teacher died, he took up his place as a leader of the order (same source).

## Teacher of the Qadiriyya

He founded a Qadiriyya congregation in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). His circle included [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/) (same source). Baadiyow writes that he pledged allegiance to Uways, linking the two great branches of the order on the coast ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Writer and poet

He wrote on religious sciences and on the future of Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). His books include *Shajarat al-Yaqin* ("The Tree of Certitude") (same source). He also studied the stars (same source). He wrote many poems in private, and later scholars such as Abdallah al-Qutbi gathered them in their books (same source).

## Mediator and reformer

He was known as a mediator between merchants and shopkeepers in the coastal cities ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). As a reformer, he worked to end dances in the town that he judged immoral (same source).

## Death and memory

He died in 1904 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). His tomb became a place of yearly pilgrimage for people from across Somalia and East Africa (same source). A cemetery grew around it, where ministers, artists and presidents were later buried (same source). See [heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/).

## In short

A Qadiriyya scholar and poet of Mogadishu in the 1800s.


---

# Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i (Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Seylici)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i (1820–1882) was a Somali Sufi scholar from Kodle in the Bakool region who spread the Qadiriyya order through the upper Shabelle and the interior. After study in Mogadishu and travels to centres of learning, he founded a community of students at Qolonqol. In 1882 he gave an ijaza, a licence to teach, to the young Sheikh Uways al-Barawi.

## Who was he?

Abd al-Rahman bin Ahmad al-Zayla'i was a Somali scholar who played a key role in spreading the Qadiriyya Sufi order in Somalia and East Africa ([Wikipedia, Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_al-Zayla%27i)). Wikipedia lists him among the notable leaders of the order, beside [Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/) and [Sheikh Madar](/en/people/sheikh-madar/) ([Wikipedia, Qadiri Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qadiri_Order)).

## Early life

He was born in 1820 in the village of Kodle, in the [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_al-Zayla%27i)). He learned the basics of religious knowledge from local scholars (same source). He then moved to Mogadishu to study under [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isma'il bin Umar al-Maqdishi (same source).

## Teachers on the coast

Baadiyow writes that he was a student of [Sheikh Abikar Mahdar](/en/people/abikar-mahdar/), the leading Qadiriyya teacher of [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) ([Abdurahman Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 25 June 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). Abikar Mahdar lived from 1816 to 1876 and is buried beside an old mosque in Warsheikh (same source). Other students of that centre included [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/) of Mogadishu (same source).

## Travels and a community

He travelled to Islamic centres across the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_al-Zayla%27i)). On his return he set up a community of students near Qolonqol (same source). From there he spread the Qadiriyya through the upper [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) region (same source). The order gained wide support among herders, religious leaders and villagers of the interior (same source). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Licence to Uways

In 1882 Sheikh Uways al-Barawi visited him and received an honorary ijaza, a licence to teach ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). Uways went on to found the Uwaysiyya branch, which spread as far as Malawi and Mozambique (same source).

## Remembered in writing

The [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) scholar Qasim Muhyiddin al-Barawi wrote his life story in a Qadiriyya collection ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). He died in 1882 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_al-Zayla%27i)).

## In short

A Qadiriyya scholar who taught in the interior of the south and passed his teaching to Sheikh Sufi.


---

# Afdhere Jama (Afdheere Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/afdhere-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Afdhere Jama (born 1980) is a Somali-born American writer and filmmaker. From 2000 to 2010 he edited Huriyah, an LGBT Muslim magazine based in San Francisco. His books include Illegal Citizens (2008), Queer Jihad (2013) and Being Queer and Somali (2015), and his films include Shukaansi (2007) and Apart (2010).

## Who is he?

Afdhere Jama is an American writer and filmmaker of Somali origin ([Wikipedia, Afdhere Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afdhere_Jama)). He was born and raised in Somalia and moved to the United States as a teenager (same source). He describes himself as queer and Muslim (same source). See [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Huriyah

From 2000 to 2010 he was editor in chief of *Huriyah* ("freedom"), an LGBT Muslim magazine based in San Francisco ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afdhere_Jama)). It first appeared in Arabic and launched in English in 2002 (same source). He carried out a major interview for each issue (same source).

## Books

- *At Noonday with the Gods of Somalia* (2004) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afdhere_Jama)).
- *Illegal Citizens: Queer Lives in the Muslim World* (2008) (same source).
- *Queer Jihad: LGBT Muslims on Coming Out, Activism, and the Faith* (2013) (same source).
- *Being Queer and Somali: LGBT Somalis at Home and Abroad* (2015) (same source).

## Films

His films include *Shukaansi* (2007), *Berlinsomnia* (2008), *Apart* (2010), *Bits* (2012), *Angelenos* (2013) and *Hearts* (2015) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afdhere_Jama)).

## Views

In 2006 he said he supported a Jewish homeland in Israel, and that Muslims in the United States had to decide how they saw groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afdhere_Jama)). After the Orlando shooting in June 2016, an article he wrote in 2014 about LGBT Muslims was widely shared (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born American writer and filmmaker who edited the LGBT Muslim magazine Huriyah from 2000 to 2010.


---

# Khadija Qalanjo (Khadiija Qalanjo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/khadija-qalanjo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Khadija Qalanjo (born Khadija Mohamud Yusuf in Borama in 1950, died August 2025) was a Somali singer and folk dancer, a leading member of the national Waaberi band and the first Miss Somalia. She brought instruments into the dhaanto and Sayliciga song forms, which had mostly been sung without them. Her songs were among the first broadcast when Somali National Television began in 1983.

## Who was she?

Khadija Qalanjo was a Somali singer and folklore dancer, popular in the 1970s and 1980s ([Wikipedia, Khadija Qalanjo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadija_Qalanjo)). She was the first Miss Somalia (same source). Her full name was Khadija Mohamud Yusuf ([Goobjoog News, 30 August 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-mourns-legendary-singer-khadija-qalanjo)). Kaab TV called her "a legendary singer, cultural pioneer" ([Kaab TV, 1 September 2025](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=14550)).

## Early life

She was born in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), in the Awdal region, in 1950 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadija_Qalanjo)). Wikipedia gives her birth date as 11 May 1950 (same source). Her family is Samaroon (Gadabuursi), of the Jibril Younis branch (same source). Kaab TV also places her birth in Borama, around 1950 ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=14550)).

## Waaberi and the national stage

She rose to fame in the 1970s and 1980s as a singer and dancer (same source). She was a leading member of the Waaberi band, the national music ensemble ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-mourns-legendary-singer-khadija-qalanjo)). Waaberi grew into a cultural symbol across the Horn of Africa (same source). Somali National Television began broadcasting in October 1983 (same source). Her songs were among the first it put on air (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/) and [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Her music

At the time, many Somali songs were sung without instruments ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=14550)). She brought modern instruments into the traditional dhaanto and Sayliciga forms (same source). Kaab TV praised her "powerful voice and stage presence" (same source).

Her best known songs include "Caashaqa Sal iyo Baar", "Ragga iyo Haweenkuba", "Sharaf" and "Hooyo" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadija_Qalanjo)). She sang the duet "Soo Hor Caashaqa" with [Hasan Adan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/) (same source). In 2016 the Ethiopian group Jano Band recorded a cover of her song "Diriyam" (same source).

## Death and tributes

She died at the end of August 2025, aged 75 ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-mourns-legendary-singer-khadija-qalanjo)). Reports differ on the day and place. Wikipedia gives 30 August ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadija_Qalanjo)). Kaab TV gives Friday, 29 August ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=14550)). [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reports that she died in Hargeisa ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-mourns-legendary-singer-khadija-qalanjo)). Kaab TV reports that she was buried in Borama at the Sog-Sogley cemetery ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=14550)).

Somalia's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism paid tribute to her ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-mourns-legendary-singer-khadija-qalanjo)). It called her death "a great loss to the Somali nation" (same source). Grief was shared in Somalia and among Somalis abroad (same source).

## In short

A singer and dancer from Awdal, a Waaberi band member and the first Miss Somalia. Kaab TV described her as a role model for Somali women in a field long led by men ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=14550)).


---

# Zahra Mohamed Ahmad (Saharo Maxamed Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zahra-mohamed-ahmad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zahra Mohamed Ahmad (born 1952) is a Somali lawyer and human rights campaigner. She founded the Somali Women Development Center in Mogadishu in 2000, which gives legal aid to women and runs the Ceebla crisis line 5555. She received the US International Women of Courage Award in 2021.

## Who is she?

Zahra Mohamed Ahmad is a Somali human rights activist and lawyer ([Wikipedia, Zahra Mohamed Ahmad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Mohamed_Ahmad)). She founded the Somali Women Development Center (SWDC) (same source).

## Early life

She was born in 1952; her father was a police officer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Mohamed_Ahmad)). She became deputy manager of customs at Mogadishu Airport (same source). In 1992 she and her family left for [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), and they returned to Somalia in 2000 (same source).

## Work in Mogadishu

On her return she worked to get schools reopened and to persuade armed leaders to stop fighting, through an organisation called HINNA ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Mohamed_Ahmad)). In 2000 she founded the SWDC in Mogadishu (same source). In 2005 she went back to university and earned a degree in international and Sharia law at Somalia University (same source).

The SWDC supports women on remand or on trial and survivors of sexual violence, and reports on abuse ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Mohamed_Ahmad)). She is its main legal adviser (same source). It set up the Ceebla crisis line, 5555, which answers in Somali and English (same source).

Wikipedia records that SWDC workers were threatened, and that two of its lawyers were among those killed in the 2013 attack on Mogadishu's courthouse (same source).

## Award

The US ambassador, Donald Yamamoto, nominated her for the International Women of Courage Award, which she received in 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Mohamed_Ahmad)). Jill Biden and Antony Blinken presented it online on International Women's Day (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu lawyer who founded the Somali Women Development Center in 2000 and received the Women of Courage Award in 2021.


---

# Abdiaziz Laftagareen (Cabdicasiis Laftagareen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen (born 1970 in Beled Hawo) is a Somali politician who was President of South West State from December 2018 to March 2026. He held several federal ministries before that. In March 2026 his administration cut ties with the federal government over constitutional amendments, federal forces took Baidoa and he resigned and moved to Nairobi. Fighters loyal to him have since clashed with federal forces around Baidoa.

## Who is he?

Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed, known as Laftagareen, is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Abdiaziz Laftagareen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Laftagareen)). He was the fourth President of South West State, one of Somalia's [federal member states](/en/states/south-west-state/), from 19 December 2018 to 30 March 2026 (same source). This page records events without taking sides.

## Early life

He was born in [Beled Hawo](/en/regions/gedo/), in the Gedo region, in 1970 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Laftagareen)). He went to school in Luuq district, where he later worked as a teacher (same source). He studied at a university in Mogadishu (same source).

## Federal posts

In 2007 he was deputy general manager of Mogadishu Port ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Laftagareen)). In 2008 he became Minister of Labour and Social Affairs (same source). In 2009 and 2010 he served as Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs, then Minister of Livestock (same source). He later held posts for posts and telecommunications, information, fisheries, trade, and energy and water (same source). He also ran for Speaker of Parliament (same source).

## President of South West State

The state assembly elected him on 19 December 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Laftagareen)). He received 101 votes, against 22 for Aden Mohamed Nur Saransor (same source). The International Crisis Group described the vote as controversial ([Crisis Group, December 2018](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/24dec-somalia.pdf)). He signed the South West State Development Plan for 2021 to 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Laftagareen)). Wikipedia notes he had close ties with President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) (same source).

## The 2026 dispute

His administration opposed constitutional amendments backed by the federal government ([Al Jazeera, 31 March 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/31/somali-army-takes-over-key-city-in-southwest-as-state-leader-resigns)). Al Jazeera reports that the amendments extended the president's term by a year and changed power-sharing under the 2012 provisional constitution ([Al Jazeera, 17 August 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/8/17/somali-army-clashes-with-rebel-forces-for-control-of-key-city-baidoa)). In March 2026 his administration said it was cutting ties with the federal government ([Al Jazeera, 31 March 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/31/somali-army-takes-over-key-city-in-southwest-as-state-leader-resigns)). The state then re-elected him for five years (same source). The federal government said the vote was illegal (same source).

On 30 March 2026 federal forces entered Baidoa and took control of the city (same source). That day he posted that he had "resigned from the position of President of Southwest State" (same source). Finance Minister Ahmed Mohamed Hussein was named acting president (same source). The federal Information Minister said the government was committed to "no persecution or retaliation" (same source). He moved to Nairobi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Laftagareen)).

## Fighting around Baidoa

Fighters loyal to him tried to retake the state in May 2026 ([Al Jazeera, 17 August 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/8/17/somali-army-clashes-with-rebel-forces-for-control-of-key-city-baidoa)). On 17 August 2026 fighting broke out again in Baidoa (same source). The Defence Ministry said his fighters attacked federal positions alongside al-Shabaab, and that 30 attackers were killed (same source). His camp said its forces had "captured the city centre" (same source). Al Jazeera notes neither claim was independently confirmed (same source). The army said it pushed the fighters out after hours of fighting (same source). See [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## In short

A teacher from Gedo who held several federal ministries, led South West State for over seven years and resigned in March 2026 after federal forces took Baidoa.


---

# Faiza Jama Mohamed (Faa'isa Jaamac Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/faiza-jama-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Faiza Jama Mohamed (born 1958) is a Somali women's rights campaigner and Africa Regional Director of Equality Now. She has campaigned for the Maputo Protocol, the African Union protocol on the rights of women, and against female genital mutilation. She co-edited Journey to Equality, a 2013 review of ten years of the protocol.

## Who is she?

Faiza Jama Mohamed is a Somali women's rights activist and Africa Regional Director of Equality Now ([Wikipedia, Faiza Jama Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiza_Jama_Mohamed)). She has campaigned for the Maputo Protocol and against female genital mutilation (same source). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## Education

She holds an MBA from California State University, Fresno ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiza_Jama_Mohamed)). In 1998 she earned a human rights diploma from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague (same source).

## Campaigning and writing

In 2004 she wrote editorials in *Pambazuka News* on the importance of the African Protocol on the Rights of Women ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiza_Jama_Mohamed)). She has also written for *The Guardian* (same source).

Her writing includes a chapter on the SOAWR campaign in *Breathing Life into the African Union Protocol on Women's Rights in Africa* (same source). With Brenda Kombo and Rainatou Sow she edited *Journey to Equality: 10 Years of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa* (Equality Now, 2013) (same source). She was interviewed by the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Economics in 2017 ([LSE, "In Visibility: Faiza Mohamed"](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/vaw/2017/01/26/in-visibility-faiza-mohamed/)).

## In short

A Somali campaigner who leads Equality Now's Africa office and has worked for the African protocol on women's rights.


---

# Fakhr al-Din Uthman al-Zayla'i (died 1342/43), jurist of Zeila and Cairo

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/uthman-al-zaylai/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn Ali al-Zayla'i was a 14th-century Islamic jurist whose name means 'from Zeila'. He taught in Cairo, where students from the Somali coast had their own hostel at al-Azhar, and wrote Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, a four-volume commentary counted among the main reference works of Hanafi law. He died in Cairo in 743 AH (1342 or 1343).

## Who he was

Abu Amr Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn Ali al-Zayla'i was an Islamic scholar, theologian and jurist of the 1300s. His name, *al-Zayla'i*, means "from Zeila", the port on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) in today's [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) region ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar, Arabic Sources on Somalia, 1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). The [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Digital Library, which holds a manuscript of his main book, says he "probably came from the port city of al-Zayla'", taught in Cairo, and that little else is known of his life ([Qatar Digital Library, Tabyin al-Haqa'iq manuscript](https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/qnlhc/14472)). One online catalogue describes him as a Hanafi scholar "of Egyptian origin" who taught at the main colleges of Cairo ([Usul, al-Zayla'i al-Hanafi](https://usul.ai/author/fakhr-din-zaylaci)).

## In Cairo

He travelled widely and settled in Cairo. There he joined other students from the Somali coast at the Riwaq al-Zayla'i, a hostel and study hall at al-Azhar reserved for students from Zeila and the Horn ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). A study of Mamluk-era records traces how students from the Horn of Africa formed one of al-Azhar's earliest student communities ([Abyssinia at al-Azhar: Muslim Students from the Horn of Africa in Late Medieval Cairo, AfricArXiv](https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/8922)).

He followed the Hanafi school of law, while most Somalis follow the [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) school ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)).

## His book

His main work is *Tabyin al-Haqa'iq sharh Kanz al-Daqa'iq* ("Making the Truths Clear: a commentary on the Treasure of Subtleties"). It explains *Kanz al-Daqa'iq*, a short Hanafi law text by Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi (died 1310) ([Qatar Digital Library](https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/qnlhc/14472)). It runs to four volumes and is counted among the main reference works of Hanafi law ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)).

- Copies were made across the Muslim world. One manuscript was copied in Mecca in 870 AH (1466) ([Oriental Art Auctions, manuscript listing](https://www.orientalartauctions.com/object/artisla64098-tabayin-al-haqaliq-li-sharh-kanz-al-daqaiq-by-uthman-bin-ali-zaylai-copied-870-ah-1466-ad-in-mecca)). Leipzig University holds others ([Leipzig University Library, Arabic manuscripts catalogue](https://orient-kohd.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/KOHDArabicMSBook_manuscript_00006657?lang=en)).
- In it he reports Abu Hanifa's saying that people should face the qibla from wherever they stand: for people of the east the qibla is west, for people of the south it is north ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)).

## Death

The Leipzig catalogue gives his death as 743 AH, 1342 or 1343, in Cairo ([Leipzig University Library](https://orient-kohd.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/KOHDArabicMSBook_manuscript_00006657?lang=en)).

## Not to be confused with

- **Jamal al-Din al-Zayla'i**, a later scholar of the same school whom he influenced ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)).
- **Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i** (1820–1882), the Qadiri Sufi teacher of Qolonqol. See [Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/).

See also [how Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/).

For other scholars from Zeila in Mamluk Cairo and the residence for students from the Horn at al-Azhar, see [Scholars from Zeila at al-Azhar and in Cairo, 1300–1500](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/).


---

# Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Cabdullaahi Yuusuf Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (1934–2012) was an army officer who became the first President of Puntland (1998 to 2004) and then President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (2004 to 2008). He co-founded the Somali Salvation Democratic Front after 1978, resigned the presidency in December 2008, and died in Abu Dhabi in 2012.

## Who was he?

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was a Somali soldier and politician. He was the first President of Puntland, from 1998 to 2004, and President of Somalia's [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TFG) from 2004 to 2008 ([Wikipedia, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Ahmed)).

## Early life and army career

He was born on 15 December 1934 in [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), in the Mudug region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Ahmed)). His family is Majeerteen (Darood). He made his career in the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and served in the 1964 border war and the 1977 war with Ethiopia (same source).

## The 1978 coup attempt and the SSDF

After the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), army officers tried to overthrow [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) in April 1978. The attempt did not succeed. Seventeen alleged leaders were executed. Lieutenant Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf escaped to Ethiopia and founded the group that became the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), the first armed front against the government ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/29.htm)). The Ethiopian government later held him in prison until 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Ahmed)).

## First President of Puntland

After 1991 he went home to the north-east. In 1998 he helped set up Puntland State and became its first President ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Ahmed)). His time in office saw a hard dispute with [Jama Ali Jama](/en/people/jama-ali-jama/) over the leadership in 2001 and 2002, which he won (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## President of the Transitional Federal Government

In October 2004 the new [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/), meeting in Kenya, elected him President. He won 189 votes to 79 for [Abdullahi Ahmed Addou](/en/people/abdullahi-ahmed-addow/) in the third round ([Wikipedia, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiqasim_Salad_Hassan)). At the end of 2006 his government asked Ethiopian troops to help it against the Islamic Courts Union, which was strongly opposed by many Somalis ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Ahmed)). See [rebuilding, 2000 to 2006](/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/) and [2007 to 2012](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/).

He resigned on 24 December 2008, as parliament moved to remove him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Ahmed)). He then lived in Yemen.

## His death

He died on 23 March 2012 in Abu Dhabi, where he was being treated, from complications of pneumonia ([The World, 24 March 2012](https://theworld.org/stories/2012-03-24/somalia-ex-president-abdullahi-yusuf-dies-exile)). His body was flown to Mogadishu, where the UN recorded the ceremony at the airport on 25 March 2012 ([UN Photo](https://dam.media.un.org/archive/Ceremony-held-to-recieve-the-casket-containing-the-body-of-fomer-Somali-president-Abdullahi-Yusuf-Ahmed--2AM9LOYBUJYP.html)).

## How he is remembered

Views of him differ. Some credit him with founding Puntland and leading a national government in hard years. Others remember the armed struggles of his career and the Ethiopian deployment of 2006.


---

# Abshir Bacadle (Abshir Nuur Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abshir-bacadle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abshir Nuur Faarax, known as Abshir Bacadle, was a Somali poet whose gabay poems dealt with religion, war, reconciliation and the poor. Sources differ on where he was born, Galkacyo or Mustahil. He composed poems during the 1993 fighting in Mogadishu and the 2006 to 2009 war. Somali Wikipedia gives his death as 10 October 2010.

## Who was he?

Abshir Nuur Faarax, known as Abshir Bacadle, was a Somali poet ([Somali Wikipedia, Abshir Bacadle](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)). Somali Wikipedia says he is known in every area where Somalis live (same source). A draft English Wikipedia article calls him one of the most prolific Somali poets of the late 20th century ([Wikipedia, Draft:Abshir Bacadle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Abshir_Bacadle)). This page records events without taking sides.

## Birth

The sources differ. Somali Wikipedia says he was born in [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), in the Mudug region, in 1946 ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)). The English draft says he was born in Mustahil, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia, Draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Abshir_Bacadle)).

## His poems

The English draft says his poems were mostly about religion, war, reconciliation, natural disasters and the poor and needy ([Wikipedia, Draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Abshir_Bacadle)). Somali Wikipedia names some of them: *Tawxiid*, a poem on reconciliation (*dib-u-heshiisiin*), *Ceeryaamo*, and a poem praising women who wear the hijab ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)). It says many of his poems were on Islam and on conflict with Ethiopia (same source).

A collection of his poems, *Diiwaanka Gabayada Abshir Bacadle*, edited by Mohamed Hussein Moalim, appeared in 2015, according to the English draft ([Wikipedia, Draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Abshir_Bacadle)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## The 1970s and exile

Somali Wikipedia gives this account. In the 1970s the government detained young women who wore the hijab, in a step led by the minister for religious affairs ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)). Abshir answered with a poem against the minister, whom he named "Guuleed Fansalakh" (same source). The government then sought to arrest him, and he left for Saudi Arabia (same source). Saudi Arabia later sent him back to Somalia, and he wrote another poem about that (same source). See [the Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The 1990s and 2000s

Somali Wikipedia places him in the same clan family as [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)). It says that in 1993 he composed poems almost daily in support of Aidid's fighters against the UN operation in Somalia (same source). After an attack on a meeting of Aidid's leaders in Mogadishu in 1993, he composed a poem with the line "Gun iyo gaalaba waa farxeen, gobi se geeri waa taqaan" (same source). In English, as a working translation: "The low-born and the foreigners rejoiced, but the noble know death." Somali Wikipedia says more than 69 people died in that attack (same source).

The English draft says he lived through the battle of Mogadishu in 1993 and the Ethiopian-led war in Somalia from 2006 to 2009 ([Wikipedia, Draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Abshir_Bacadle)). Somali Wikipedia says he composed poems in support of the Islamic Courts Union ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)). See [the Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).

Somali Wikipedia also records a poem he composed about [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) after an incident involving the singer Zamzam Ahmed Duale (same source). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia.

## Death

Somali Wikipedia gives his death as 10 October 2010 ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abshir_Bacadle)).

## In short

A Somali poet of religion, war and reconciliation, active from the 1970s until his death, reported as 2010.


---

# Ahmed Abdi Karie "Qoorqoor" (Axmed Cabdi Kaariye): president of Galmudug, 2020 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-abdi-karie/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Abdi Karie, known as Qoorqoor (Axmed Cabdi Kaariye), was president of Galmudug State from 2 February 2020 to 22 October 2026. Born in Hobyo in 1968, he worked in his father's business and was a federal minister of state for public works before Galmudug. His term saw Somalia's first oil well drilled in Galmudug and the state's first direct elections, after which Liban Ahmed Hassan succeeded him.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Abdi Karie, nicknamed "Qoorqoor" (Somali: Axmed Cabdi Kaariye), was the sixth president of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), serving from 2 February 2020 to 22 October 2026 ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Abdi Karie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Karie)). He was born in Hobyo on 10 October 1968, and is from the Habar Gidir, Hawiye. He moved to Mogadishu when young, studied at the Science College and took a Bachelor of Science, then worked in his father's business (same source).

## Before Galmudug

From March 2017 to January 2020 he was minister of state for public works, reconstruction and housing in the federal government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Karie)). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) described him as "a former federal government minister and a bureaucrat with Mogadishu administration" ([Garowe Online, February 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-months-of-stalemate-galmadugs-outgoing-president-hands-over-to-qoor-qoor/)).

## Taking office, 2020

He was elected in early 2020. The outgoing president, [Ahmed Duale Gelle "Haaf"](/en/people/ahmed-duale-gelle/), at first refused to hand over, saying the federal government had "handpicked" the winner and that his own term ran to 2021. After talks in Dhuusamarreeb, Gelle handed over at a ceremony there. Qoorqoor said: "Elections come and go but our people remain. Let's work together for the sake of stability for our state" ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-months-of-stalemate-galmadugs-outgoing-president-hands-over-to-qoor-qoor/)).

## In office

He said his main tasks were to bring clan militias into the state security forces and to build the port at Hobyo. On 2 June 2020, in [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), he announced a plan to disarm clan militias and recover illegal weapons ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Karie), citing AllAfrica, June 2020). He described his relationship with the federal government as close ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Karie)).

In September 2023 he and his deputy, Ali Dahir Eid, issued conflicting decrees in a public dispute ([Horn Observer, 9 September 2023](https://hornobserver.com/articles/2444/Power-struggle-between-Galmudug-president-and-deputy-sparks-crisis)).

In April 2026 his cabinet welcomed the choice of Galmudug as the site of Somalia's first oil well, and announced preparations for direct, one-person-one-vote elections, the first in the state in more than 50 years. The cabinet's statement said the state leadership was part of the supreme council of the ruling [Justice and Solidarity Party](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/) (JSP) ([Dawan Africa, 16 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/galmudug-state-announces-preparations-for-direct-elections-praises-first-oil-well-drilling)). See [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/).

## The 2026 elections and his successor

In June 2026 he announced he would not seek another term ([Dawan Africa, 22 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents)). On 24 August 2026 the Supreme Court annulled the results of the first Galmudug parliament and local council elections, saying they had not been run in line with the constitution and election laws, and ordered that existing institutions stay in office until new ones were elected ([Dawan Africa, 24 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-supreme-court-annuls-galmudug-elections)). In the rerun on 30 September the JSP won 67 of 89 seats. On 22 October the new parliament elected Liban Ahmed Hassan of the JSP as leader, with 72 votes. Hassan thanked Qoorqoor for "facilitating a peaceful election" ([Dawan Africa, 22 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents)).

## Sources disagree

- **His name.** Wikipedia writes Karie; Garowe Online and [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa write Kariye. His nickname appears as both Qoor Qoor and Qoorqoor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdi_Karie); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-months-of-stalemate-galmadugs-outgoing-president-hands-over-to-qoor-qoor/); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents)).
- **Gelle's term.** Gelle said in January 2020 that his term ran to 2021, because his administration had been set up late. His successor took office in February 2020 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-months-of-stalemate-galmadugs-outgoing-president-hands-over-to-qoor-qoor/)).


---

# Ubah Cristina Ali Farah

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ubah Cristina Ali Farah (born 1973 in Verona) is an Italian-Somali poet, novelist and playwright. Born to a Somali father and an Italian mother, she grew up in Mogadishu until the war of 1991. Her novels include Madre piccola (2007), published in English as Little Mother, and Il comandante del fiume (2014). She has written on Somali folk theatre from 1940 to 1990.

## Who is she?

Ubah Cristina Ali Farah is an Italian writer of Somali and Italian descent ([Wikipedia, Cristina Ali Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). She is a poet, novelist, playwright, librettist and oral performer (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Verona in 1973, to a Somali father and an Italian mother ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). She grew up in Mogadishu and went to an Italian school there until the civil war broke out in 1991 (same source). Her family moved to Pécs in Hungary, then back to Verona (same source). She studied literature at La Sapienza University in Rome and holds a PhD in African Studies (same source). She has lived in Brussels since 2013 (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Her books

She has published three novels ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)):

- *Madre piccola* (2007), published in English as *[Little Mother](/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/)* by Indiana University Press in 2011, translated by Giovanna Bellesia.
- *Il comandante del fiume* (2014).
- *Le stazioni della luna*.

She has also published a book on the history and themes of Somali folk theatre from 1940 to 1990 (same source). She has worked as a UNDP consultant on oral history for peacebuilding in Somalia (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Prizes and residencies

She has received the Lingua Madre and Vittorini prizes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). She took part in the University of Iowa's International Writing Program in 2017, and was a Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellow (same source). In 2020 she held a fellowship at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (same source).

## In short

An Italian-Somali writer who grew up in Mogadishu and wrote the novel Madre piccola about Somalis after the war.


---

# Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim (Farxiyo Faarax Ibraahim)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/farhiyo-farah-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim (born about 1982) is a Somali social activist and interpreter who advocates for women's rights and reproductive health. She grew up in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya from 1992. From 2002 she worked for the National Council of Churches of Kenya on HIV testing, family planning and against female genital mutilation. She received the US International Women of Courage Award in 2008.

## Who is she?

Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim is a Somali social activist and interpreter ([Wikipedia, Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhiyo_Farah_Ibrahim)). She advocates for women's rights and reproductive health (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia in 1982 or 1983 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhiyo_Farah_Ibrahim)). Her family was attacked during the civil war, and in 1992 she moved to Kenya, to the UNHCR camps at Dadaab (same source). She left school after the eighth grade to support her family (same source). Wikipedia says she was later estranged from her family after refusing a marriage to a much older man (same source). See [refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) and [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Health work

In 2002 she became a reproductive health motivator for the National Council of Churches of Kenya ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhiyo_Farah_Ibrahim)). She promoted voluntary HIV testing and counselling and the use of contraception, and campaigned against female genital mutilation (same source). Wikipedia says the work caused tension with her family and with parts of the Somali community, and she later left the job under pressure (same source). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

By 2008 she was working as an interpreter and continuing to speak for women and girls (same source).

## Award

In 2008 she received the US International Women of Courage Award for her advocacy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhiyo_Farah_Ibrahim)).

## In short

A Somali advocate from the Dadaab camps who worked on HIV testing and against FGM and won the Women of Courage Award in 2008.


---

# Haji Muse Boqor (Xaaji Muuse Boqor): SYL minister and businessman, 1911 to 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/haji-muse-boqor/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Haji Muse Boqor Osman (Xaaji Muuse Boqor), 1911 to 1991, was a son of Boqor Osman Mahamud, a Somali Youth League politician and businessman. He was the first Minister of Interior under the Italian trusteeship, sat in Somalia's first parliament, and was named as a possible president after President Sharmarke was killed in October 1969. He was detained after the coup, later signed the 1990 Manifesto, and was killed by mortar fire in Mogadishu on 5 January 1991.

## Who was he?

Haji Muse Boqor Osman (Somali: Xaaji Muuse Boqor Cismaan) was a Somali politician and businessman. He was a son of [Boqor Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/), the Majeerteen king, and was born in Bargal, in present-day [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), in 1911 ([Wikipedia, Haji Muse Boqor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor)). He memorised the Quran as a boy and moved to Mogadishu in 1929 to continue his education (same source).

## The Somali Youth League and the trusteeship

He joined the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/), which campaigned for independence. During the ten years of the Italian trusteeship he served in the government of [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/), as the first Minister of Interior, and held the post until independence. He was also a member of Somalia's first parliament ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor)). Wikipedia lists him as a businessman and entrepreneur as well as a politician (same source).

## October 1969

On 15 October 1969 President [Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) was shot dead in Laascaanood. Haji Muse Boqor was in contention to become the next president. Six days later, on 21 October, the army led by [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) took power without resistance ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor)). See [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Detention and the Manifesto

After the coup many politicians, scholars and religious leaders were arrested as possible rivals, and he was among them. After his release he became one of the 114 signatories of the "Manifesto" of 1990, which called for an end to the fighting between Siad Barre's government and the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/) in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor)). See [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Death

On 5 January 1991, as fighting reached Mogadishu, he was killed by mortar fire in the Kaaraan district ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor)). Radio Daljir marked the 30th anniversary with an interview with his son, [Yaasiin Muuse](/en/people/yaseen-musa/) Boqor, who saw his father die; it reports that he was killed together with other well-known politicians in Mogadishu on 5 January 1991 ([Radio Daljir, 7 January 2022](https://www.daljir.com/xasuus-xaaji-muuse-boqor-cusmaan-oo-muqdishu-lagu-dilay-1991/)).

## Sources disagree

- **How he died.** Wikipedia's opening calls his death an assassination; its section on his death describes mortar shelling in Kaaraan. Radio Daljir says he was killed ("lagu dilay") along with other politicians ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor); [Radio Daljir](https://www.daljir.com/xasuus-xaaji-muuse-boqor-cusmaan-oo-muqdishu-lagu-dilay-1991/)).
- **His years as interior minister.** Wikipedia's infobox gives 1956 to 1959; its text says he held the post until independence in 1960 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Muse_Boqor)).


---

# Halima Ismail Ibrahim (Xaliimo Yarey)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/halima-ismail-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Halima Ismail Ibrahim, known as Halima Yarey, is a Somali agricultural scientist who chaired Somalia's National Independent Electoral Commission. She led it through the 2016 and 2017 elections and began voter registration work toward one-person, one-vote polls. She was nominated for the 2016 Chatham House Prize. In September 2026 she published a memoir, Hidden Waves.

## Who is she?

Halima Ismail Ibrahim is a Somali academic and public official ([Wikipedia, Halima Ismail Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ismail_Ibrahim)). She chaired Somalia's National Independent Electoral Commission (same source). She is also known as Halima Yarey ([Dawan Africa, 27 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/former-electoral-commission-chair-halima-yarey-launches-memoir-hidden-waves-in-mogadishu)). This page covers her public role only.

## Study and teaching

She was born in Mogadishu and went to school there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ismail_Ibrahim)). She took a degree in agricultural science (same source). She then earned a master's degree at the University of Turin in Italy (same source). She was a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Somali National University ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/former-electoral-commission-chair-halima-yarey-launches-memoir-hidden-waves-in-mogadishu)). She worked with the United Nations until 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ismail_Ibrahim)). See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## Electoral commission

She was elected chair of the National Independent Electoral Commission ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ismail_Ibrahim)). Under her lead the commission began voter registration (same source). In 2016 and 2017 the presidential and parliamentary elections were held, with voting in six cities (same source). That vote was still indirect (same source). Women won 24 percent of the seats, short of a 30 percent target (same source). She was nominated for the 2016 Chatham House Prize for this work (same source).

The commission began building its headquarters in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ismail_Ibrahim)). It planned a one-person, one-vote election for 2020 and 2021, at a cost of 53 million dollars (same source). Somalia's last such national vote had been in 1969 (same source). See [women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/) and [the timeline from 2012 to 2026](/en/history/timeline-2012-to-2026/).

## Memoir

In September 2026 she launched a memoir, *Hidden Waves*, in Mogadishu ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/former-electoral-commission-chair-halima-yarey-launches-memoir-hidden-waves-in-mogadishu)). It has 14 chapters and 366 pages (same source). Ministers, members of parliament, academics and writers attended the launch (same source). She plans to use the sales to support the education of orphaned children (same source). This includes building a school for orphans in [Dhuusamareeb](/en/regions/galgaduud/) (same source).

## In short

An agricultural scientist who chaired Somalia's electoral commission through the 2016 and 2017 elections and later published the memoir Hidden Waves.


---

# Hussein Shire (Xuseen Shire): founder of Gateway buses in Uganda

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hussein-shire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hussein Shire (also written Shiire) was a Ugandan businessman of Somali origin who began in Tororo in the 1950s with a shop and a Peugeot taxi, and in 1983 started the Gateway bus company, which grew to more than 100 buses across Uganda. He also owned petrol stations, shops and a 2,000-acre sugarcane farm. He died in Johannesburg on 28 June 2014, aged 85, and was buried in Tororo.

## Who was he?

Hussein Shire (Somali: Xuseen Shire; Ugandan papers also write Shiire) was a businessman of Somali origin who built one of Uganda's largest bus companies, Gateway ([Wikipedia, Hussein Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Shire)). Uganda's Sunday Monitor called him in 2004 "one of the quiet tycoons" who "keeps out of sight and hates showing off his wealth" ([Sunday Monitor, "The rise, fall and rise of Uganda's rich", 8 February 2004, reposted on the Ugandanet list](https://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg11004.html)).

## From a shop and a taxi to buses

He started in the 1950s in Tororo, in eastern Uganda near the Kenyan border. His son Abdullahi Hussein Shire told New Vision that his father was among a few businessmen who opened businesses in Tororo town in that decade ([New Vision, 2014](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1342197/gateway-bus-founder-dies-south-africa)). New Vision called him "one of the first Africans to set up a retail business in Tororo town in the early 1950's" (same source).

He carried passengers in a blue Peugeot 504 along the Tororo to Malaba highway and ran a grocery shop in Tororo, selling sodas and ice to travellers. With the profits he bought a minibus and a trailer ([Sunday Monitor, 2004](https://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg11004.html)). He entered the bus business with Tata buses in **1983**. The Gateway Tata bus was the first bus most travellers used between eastern Uganda and Kampala ([Daily Monitor, 2 July 2014](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/tororo-mourns-gateway-buses-proprietor-1576768)).

## Gateway

By 2004 Gateway had more than 100 buses running across Uganda and was the only Ugandan company running a service to Kenya ([Sunday Monitor, 2004](https://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg11004.html)). It later also ran to South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Wikipedia, Hussein Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Shire)). Its buses served eastern and northern Uganda, including the roads into Karamoja when they were in poor condition and insecure, and the routes from Soroti to Moroto and Kotido. He also set up the Gateway Bus Terminal in Kisenyi, Kampala, next to Nakivubo stadium ([Daily Monitor, 2014](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/tororo-mourns-gateway-buses-proprietor-1576768)). Tororo's mayor, Geoffrey Emokol Opuwa, called him "the first man to operate a bus company in Tororo" (same source).

## Other businesses

He also owned Shire Petroleum fuel stations, commercial buildings, Hussein Stores on Tagore Road in Tororo, Papa Bakery in Tororo, and about 2,000 acres of sugarcane that supplied Kakira Sugar Works and Mayuge Sugar Works ([New Vision, 2014](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1342197/gateway-bus-founder-dies-south-africa); [Daily Monitor, 2014](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/tororo-mourns-gateway-buses-proprietor-1576768)).

## Death

He died on Saturday 28 June 2014 in a Johannesburg hospital after knee surgery, aged 85. He had also been ill with kidney problems and had been in hospital in South Africa for nearly two months. He was buried, as he had asked, at the Muslim cemetery at Mile One on Jinja Road in Tororo. He left his widow, Mariam Hussein, and nine children ([New Vision, 2014](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1342197/gateway-bus-founder-dies-south-africa); [Daily Monitor, 2014](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/tororo-mourns-gateway-buses-proprietor-1576768)). See [Somalis in Uganda](/en/diaspora/uganda/), [Somali business in Uganda](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/) and [Somali business pioneers](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/).

## Sources disagree

- **Where and when he was born.** Wikipedia says he was born in 1928 or 1929 in Galkayo, Somalia. The Daily Monitor in 2014 says he was born in Kumi town, in Uganda's Teso sub-region, in 1931. The Sunday Monitor in 2004 says he was born in Tororo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Shire); [Daily Monitor](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/tororo-mourns-gateway-buses-proprietor-1576768); [Sunday Monitor](https://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg11004.html)).
- **When Gateway began.** The Daily Monitor gives 1983; New Vision says the early 1980s; Wikipedia says the 1980s (same sources; [New Vision](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1342197/gateway-bus-founder-dies-south-africa)).
- **His children.** New Vision and the Daily Monitor say five daughters and four sons. Wikipedia says five sons and four daughters (same sources).


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# Omar Dhuule (Cumar Dhuule Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-dhuule/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Dhuule Ali (Cumar Dhuule Cali, 1941–2005) was a Somali singer, oud player, composer and actor from Burao, called the King of Qaaci for his traditional songs. He sang with the national Waaberi troupe from 1970 to 1998, left Somalia during the civil war, and lived in Syria and then Geneva. Somali Wikipedia gives his death as 19 May 2005 and his burial in Djibouti.

## Who was he?

Omar Dhuule Ali was one of the best-known singers of modern Somali music ([Somali Wikipedia, Cumar Dhuule](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumar_Dhuule)). A history of Somali music by Music in Africa lists him among the leading male singers, with Mohamed Suleiman, Ahmed Naji and [Hassan Adan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/) ([Music in Africa, "Somali music through the ages"](https://www.musicinafrica.net/fr/node/25169)). He was called Boqorka Qaaciga, the King of Qaaci, for his traditional songs ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumar_Dhuule)).

## Early life

Somali Wikipedia says he was born in early 1941 on the outskirts of [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), in the Togdheer region ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumar_Dhuule)). It gives his birth date as 1 January 1941 (same source). Burao is in Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## The singer and oud player

He was known for qaaci songs, for playing the kaban, especially the oud, and for composing melodies ([Hiiraan Online, 12 May 2023](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2023/May/191262/waaberi_band_member_khadra_omar_dhule_passes_away_in_mogadishu.aspx)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) also says he wrote stories and arranged plays (same source). Somali Wikipedia adds comedy and acting, and says he was active from 1958 to 2005 ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumar_Dhuule)). It lists his work as patriotic songs, qaraami, qaaci, love songs and religious songs (same source).

He was a member of the national troupe Waaberi from 1970 to 1998, according to Somali Wikipedia ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumar_Dhuule)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Exile and death

When the civil war began, he was among those who left the country ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumar_Dhuule)). He lived for a time in Syria and then in Geneva, Switzerland (same source). Somali Wikipedia gives his death as 19 May 2005 and his burial place as Djibouti city (same source).

## Family

His daughter Khadra Omar Dhule was also a singer and a member of the Waaberi National Band ([Hiiraan Online, 12 May 2023](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2023/May/191262/waaberi_band_member_khadra_omar_dhule_passes_away_in_mogadishu.aspx)). She became known as a solo singer in 2005 and died in Mogadishu in May 2023 (same source). Hiiraan Online calls Omar Dhule Ali "a legendary figure in Somali music" (same source).

## In short

A Burao-born singer and oud player, a Waaberi member from 1970 to 1998, who died in exile in 2005.


---

# Rageh Omaar (Raage Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/rageh-omaar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Rageh Omaar (born 19 July 1967) is a Somali-born British journalist and writer. Born in Mogadishu, he grew up in Britain and studied history at Oxford. He became known for reporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq for the BBC, moved to Al Jazeera English in 2006, and joined ITV News in 2013, where he became International Affairs Editor.

## Who is he?

Rageh Omaar is a Somali-born British journalist and writer ([Wikipedia, Rageh Omaar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). He made his name as a BBC world affairs correspondent reporting from Iraq (same source).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 19 July 1967 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). His father was an accountant and businessman who founded Somalia's first independent newspaper, according to Wikipedia (same source). The family moved to Britain when he was two (same source). His elder brother, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, was Somalia's foreign minister (same source). He went to the Dragon School and Cheltenham College, and studied modern history at New College, Oxford (same source). See [Somalis in the United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## BBC

He began as a trainee at *The Voice* newspaper ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). In 1991 he freelanced in Yemen, mainly for the BBC World Service (same source). He then joined the BBC in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) as a producer and broadcast journalist, and was later its [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) correspondent, while based in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (same source).

He reported the 2003 invasion of Iraq for BBC News, and his reports were widely syndicated in the United States ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). He wrote a book about it, *Revolution Day* (same source). He later said the coverage had given little space to Iraqi civilians, calling it "a giant echo chamber" (same source).

## Al Jazeera and ITV

In September 2006 he joined Al Jazeera English, where he presented the documentary series *Witness* and *The Rageh Omaar Report* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). In January 2013 he joined ITV News as a special correspondent, and the next year became its International Affairs Editor (same source). Since 2015 he has also been a deputy newscaster on *ITV News at Ten* (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born British journalist known for reporting Iraq for the BBC, and later ITV News's International Affairs Editor.


---

# Sheikh Hussein of Bale (1200s): the saint from Merca honoured in Ethiopia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sheikh-hussein-of-bale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Sheikh Hussein, also known as Sheikh Huseen Baliale, was a 13th-century Muslim preacher born in Merca on the Somali coast. Tradition credits him with bringing Islam to peoples of the Bale and Sidamo highlands in today's Ethiopia. His shrine, in the town of Sheikh Hussein, draws about 50,000 pilgrims twice a year, for his birth and his death. A book of his miracles, Rabi' al-Qulub, was printed in Cairo in the 1920s.

## Who he was

Sheikh Hussein was a Muslim preacher of the 1200s who was born in [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), the port on the southern Somali coast, and lived and taught in the highlands of today's Ethiopia. He is honoured there as a saint ([Sheikh Hussein (saint), Wikipedia, citing Gish, Thay and Latif, Ethiopia, 2007, p. 83](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))). The historian Ulrich Braukämper, who studied Islam in southern Ethiopia, also traces him to Merca ([Braukämper, Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia, 2002, p. 155, via Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&pg=PA155)).

Very little about his life is documented. What is known comes from oral tradition and from a hagiography, a book written by followers in praise of a saint. This page says which is which.

## What tradition says

- **Bringing Islam inland.** He is credited with introducing Islam to the Sidamo people and to peoples of Bale ([Sheikh Hussein (saint), Wikipedia, citing Braukämper 2002](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))).
- **The Sultanate of Bale.** Tradition also credits him with founding the Muslim Sultanate of Bale ([same article, citing Østebø, Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia, Cambridge University Press, 2020, p. 52](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))).
- **Miracles.** Many miracles are attributed to him. A number are recorded in *Rabi' al-Qulub* ("Spring of the Hearts"), a hagiography printed in Cairo in the 1920s ([same article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))).

## His lineage in Somali tradition

The anthropologist I. M. Lewis recorded that the Haran Madare, a group in the Bay region, are represented in old Somali oral traditions as a branch of the "saintly Walamogge lineage", descended "from the famous Sheikh Huseen Baliale, the patron saint of the Islamic population of Ethiopia" ([I. M. Lewis, "Keeping the Birds at Bay in the Bay Area of Somalia", 1988, Roma Tre University repository](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/1027/5/43_I.M.%20LEWIS%20-%20Keeping%20the%20birds%20at%20Bay%20in%20the%20Bay%20area%20of%20Somalia.pdf)). Wikipedia, citing Lewis's *[Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/)* (1998, p. 105), links this line to the Ajuran ([Sheikh Hussein (saint), Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))).

## The shrine and the pilgrimages

The town named after him, Sheikh Hussein, lies in Bale in Ethiopia's Oromia region. About 50,000 pilgrims from many parts of Ethiopia gather there twice a year. One pilgrimage marks his birth and the other his death ([Sheikh Hussein (saint), Wikipedia, citing Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, 1952, pp. 253–256](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))).

Pilgrims traditionally carry small forked sticks called "Oulle Sheikh Hussein". At the shrine they take turns entering the saint's tomb by crawling through a small doorway ([Sheikh Hussein (saint), Wikipedia, citing the Nordic Africa Institute's Local History in Ethiopia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))).

Visiting the tombs of saints (*siyaaro*) is also an old practice among Somalis. See [saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/).

## Merca and the coast

Merca was one of the old Muslim trading towns of the southern Somali coast, and later the home of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Cali Maye Durogba, who brought the Ahmadiyya order to Somalia ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [Somali scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/) and [how Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/).

## Read further

- J. Spencer Trimingham, *Islam in Ethiopia* (Oxford University Press, 1952), pp. 253–256.
- Ulrich Braukämper, *Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays* (LIT Verlag, 2002).
- I. M. Lewis, *Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society* (Red Sea Press, 1998).


---

# Ali Feiruz (Cali Fayruus)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-feiruz/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Abdi Feiruz (1931 to 1994) was a Somali musician and one of the first popular players of the kaban, the Somali oud. Born in Djibouti, he began his career at Radio Hargeisa in the late 1950s and played with the Walaalaha Hargeisa and Waaberi groups. He composed the tune 'Ilaahayow waa kugu mahad', released at independence in 1960.

## Who was he?

Ali Abdi Feiruz was a Somali musician ([Wikipedia, Ali Feiruz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). His family was Habar Awal (Isaaq) (same source).

## Life

He was born in Djibouti in 1931 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). He moved to Hargeisa in the late 1950s and to Mogadishu in 1973 (same source). He died in Djibouti in mid-1994 (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Music

His career began at Radio Hargeisa in the late 1950s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). He was one of the first popular Somali players of the kaban, or oud, in the 1950s (same source). In the 1960s he added guitar, violin and accordion to his performances (same source).

He was a member of the Walaalaha Hargeisa group and later of the Waaberi troupe (same source). Music in Africa describes Walaalaha Hargeisa as the group that "further elevated the heello genre" in those years ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). That source does not name him.

He composed the tune "Ilaahayow waa kugu mahad" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). Its release coincided with the independence of the former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) protectorate in 1960 (same source). As of 2012 it was still the opening theme of the news on Radio Mogadishu and Radio Hargeisa (same source). Wikipedia notes his influence on Somali musicians of the 1960s and 1970s (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/) and [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/).

## In short

An oud player and composer from Djibouti who worked at Radio Hargeisa and with Waaberi, and composed a tune used as a radio news theme.


---

# Abdourahman Waberi (Cabdiraxmaan Waabberi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdourahman-waberi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdourahman A. Waberi is a novelist, poet and essayist from Djibouti, born in Djibouti City when it was the French Somali Coast. He moved to France in 1985 and now teaches at George Washington University in Washington. His books include Harvest of Skulls, Transit and In the United States of Africa, translated into more than ten languages.

## Who is he?

Abdourahman A. Waberi is a novelist, essayist, poet, academic and short-story writer from Djibouti ([Wikipedia, Abdourahman Waberi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdourahman_Waberi)). He writes in French, and his work has been translated into more than ten languages (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Early life

He was born in Djibouti City, then the French Somali Coast ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdourahman_Waberi)). In 1985 he went to France to study English literature (same source). He taught English in Caen, where he lived for most of the time after 1985 (same source). See [Somalis in France](/en/diaspora/france/).

## His books

Wikipedia lists these among his works, with their English translations ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdourahman_Waberi)):

- *Le Pays sans ombre* (1994), stories, published in English as *[The Land Without Shadows](/en/books/le-pays-sans-ombre-waberi/)* with a preface by [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/).
- *Cahier nomade* (1996), stories.
- *Balbala* (1998), a novel.
- *Moisson de crânes* (2000), published as *Harvest of Skulls*.
- *Transit* (2003), a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award in 2013.
- *Aux États-Unis d'Afrique* (2006), published as *In the United States of Africa*.
- *Passage des larmes* (2009), published as *Passage of Tears*.
- *La Divine Chanson* (2015), published as *The Divine Song*.
- *Pourquoi tu danses quand tu marches ?* (2019) and *Dis-moi pour qui j'existe ?* (2022).

His poetry includes *Les nomades, mes frères vont boire à la Grande Ourse* (2000) and *Mon nom est aube* (2016) (same source).

## Prizes and teaching

He won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1996 and the Stefan-George-Preis in 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdourahman_Waberi)). He was a Caine Prize finalist in 2000 (same source). In 2005 the magazine *Lire* named him among 50 writers of the future (same source).

He has held fellowships in Berlin, at Wellesley College and at the Villa Medici in Rome (same source). He teaches French and Francophone studies and creative writing at George Washington University (same source). In autumn 2023 he was visiting professor of world literature at the University of Bern (same source).

## In short

A Djiboutian writer in French whose novels and poems have been translated into more than ten languages.


---

# Amun Abdullahi (Amuun Cabdullaahi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amun-abdullahi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amun Abdullahi Mohammed (1974–2024) was a Somali-Swedish journalist who worked for Sveriges Radio and founded a girls' school in Mogadishu. In 2009 she reported that a youth centre leader in Stockholm's Rinkeby district was recruiting young people for al-Shabaab. She won a Swedish freedom of speech prize in 2010. She was killed near Afgooye on 19 October 2024.

## Who was she?

Amun Abdullahi Mohammed was a Somali-Swedish journalist and the founder of a girls' school in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Amun Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun_Abdullahi)). This page records events without taking sides.

## Life in Sweden

She grew up in Somalia and came to Sweden as a refugee in the 1990s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun_Abdullahi)). She lived in Umeå, then in Rinkeby and Kista in Stockholm (same source). She worked for SR International and made reports for Sveriges Radio (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

In 2009 she reported that a leader of a youth centre in Rinkeby was recruiting young people for al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun_Abdullahi)). She was attacked and threatened repeatedly because of her work (same source). She said Sweden was "more dangerous than Mogadishu" for a journalist who wants to tell the truth (same source). In 2010 she received the Swedish Publicists' Association's freedom of speech prize in memory of Anna Politkovskaya (same source).

## Return and death

She later moved back to Mogadishu and founded a girls' school ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun_Abdullahi)). On 19 October 2024, aged 49, she was killed by masked men at her farmhouse near [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) (same source). Wikipedia says the attackers were believed to be members of al-Shabaab, and that they escaped (same source).

## In short

A Somali-Swedish radio journalist who reported on al-Shabaab recruitment in Stockholm and was killed near Afgooye in 2024.


---

# Nasib Bundo (Nassib Bunda)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nasib-bundo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nasib Bundo was a leader of the Gosha, the Bantu farming communities of the lower Juba valley, in the late 1800s. A Yao former slave, he was recognised by the Sultan of Zanzibar as 'Sultan of Gosha land' and led the Gosha in battles with Ogaden herders around 1890. In 1896 he accepted British jurisdiction as headman of Gosha. Some details come from a single source and are marked as such.

## Who was he?

Nasib Bundo was a leader of the [Gosha](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/), the Bantu communities on the lower [Juba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) ([Wikipedia, Somali Bantus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Bantus)). He was a Yao former slave (same source). He was known as the "Sultan of the Gosha" (same source). See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## The Gosha communities

In the 1800s many people from today's [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), Mozambique and Malawi were enslaved and brought to the Banadir coast ([Wikipedia, Somali Bantus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Bantus)). Some escaped and settled along the Juba River from the 1840s (same source). They built fortified farming villages (same source). By 1891 their number was put at 30,000 to 40,000 (same source). The name Wa-Gosha means "people of the forest" ([Castagno, Historical Dictionary of Somalia, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Castagno describes them as farming communities on the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) banks (same source).

## Rise to leadership

The name Wa-Gosha first appears in the 1870s, when Nasib Bundo proclaimed himself Sultan of the Wa-Gosha ([Wikipedia, Somali Bantus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Bantus)). A loose Gosha confederacy grew under him (same source). Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar recognised him as "Sultan of Gosha land" and supplied him with guns ([Bantu History blog, December 2024](https://eastafricanhistory.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-history-of-nasib-bundo.html)).

## Battles with the Ogaden

Around 1890 the Gosha defeated a large Ogaden attack ([Wikipedia, Somali Bantus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Bantus)). Gosha oral tradition gives most of the credit to Nasib Bundo (same source). Relations with Ogaden communities included both trade and conflict (same source). At times he agreed with some Somali clans, among them the Bimal, to return escaped slaves (same source). The blog records three battles in the late 1880s and early 1890s, the last a Gosha victory ([Bantu History blog](https://eastafricanhistory.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-history-of-nasib-bundo.html)).

## British contact

In 1893 the British naval officer F. G. Dundas met him at Fuleile on the Juba, according to the blog (same source). In March 1896 he accepted British jurisdiction in writing as "Nasib Pondo, headman of Gosha" (same source). See [resistance from the 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).

## A differing account

The same Wikipedia article also says that the Gosha backed the independence movement in the 1940s, and that their leader Nasib Bundo was arrested by the Italian authorities and died in prison ([Wikipedia, Somali Bantus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Bantus)). This does not fit the dates of the 1870s to 1890s given elsewhere in that article.

## In short

A Yao former slave who led the Gosha Bantu communities of the lower Juba in the late 1800s and is remembered in Gosha oral tradition for the defeat of an Ogaden attack around 1890.


---

# Shamsa Araweelo (Shamso Caraweelo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/shamsa-araweelo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Shamsa Araweelo is a Somali-British campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM). She underwent FGM in Somalia at six and moved to London in 2000. She founded Charity of Peace to support survivors, and posts about FGM on TikTok, where she had over 70 million followers in 2023. The BBC named her one of its 100 Women in November 2023.

## Who is she?

Shamsa Araweelo is a Somali-British activist working to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and to support survivors ([Wikipedia, Shamsa Araweelo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamsa_Araweelo)). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia and has said she underwent FGM at six, without anaesthetic ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamsa_Araweelo)). She moved to north London with her parents in 2000, aged seven (same source). She has spoken publicly about being taken to Somalia at 17 and forced into marriage, and about her return to the UK and her divorce (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Campaigning

She has called for better training of UK health workers on FGM, drawing on her own experience of seeking care ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamsa_Araweelo)). She has worked with Metropolitan Police recruits on handling FGM cases (same source). She founded Charity of Peace to help FGM survivors, and also helps British citizens facing "honour-based violence" abroad (same source).

She supports calling the practice female genital cutting (FGC), because she says the word "mutilation" can deter survivors from seeking help ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamsa_Araweelo)). In February 2023 she joined a campaign against FGM launched by London's mayor, Sadiq Khan (same source). A video she posted in April 2023 about her experience went viral (same source).

## Recognition

In November 2023 the BBC named her on its 100 Women list ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamsa_Araweelo)). At the time she had more than 70 million followers on TikTok, where she posts about FGM (same source). In December 2023 she had reconstructive surgery in Germany (same source). As of February 2023 she was training as a police officer (same source).

## In short

A Somali-British campaigner against FGM with a large TikTok following, named to the BBC's 100 Women in 2023.


---

# Sheikh Abikar Mahdar (Sheekh Abiikar Mahdar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abikar-mahdar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Abikar Mahdar Ahmed al-Kasadi (1816 to 1876) was a Qadiriyya scholar of Mogadishu who left the city, moved between Nimow and Warsheikh, and settled at Warsheikh on the Banadir coast. His students included Sheikh Sufi, Sheikh Ahmed Haji Mahdi and Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Abikar Mahdar Ahmed al-Kasadi was a scholar of the Qadiriyya Sufi order on the Banadir coast ([Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 25 June 2024](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). The historian [Abdurahman Baadiyow](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) notes that "the records of Sheikh Abikar Mahdar are not well-preserved" (same source). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Dates

An inscription at the [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) mosque gives his dates as 1230 to 1293 in the Islamic calendar, which is 1816 to 1876 ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)).

## Mogadishu, Nimow and Warsheikh

He taught in Mogadishu (same source). Baadiyow writes that he left the city because he opposed the "Minyas" dance rituals held there (same source). He moved several times to Nimow, east of Mogadishu, before settling in Warsheikh (same source). Warsheikh lies on the coast north-east of Mogadishu, at the northern end of the Banadir coast that Italy later bought from the Sultan of Zanzibar ([Castagno, Historical Dictionary of Somalia, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Students

Baadiyow names three of his students ([Baadiyow](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)). They were [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/) of Mogadishu, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ahmed Haji Mahdi, who later founded a centre at Nimow, and [Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/) (same source). Warsheikh remained a centre of Qadiriyya learning (same source). The scholar Sheikh Abdurahman al-Eli was born near its teaching centre in 1895 (same source).

## In short

A Qadiriyya scholar who taught in Mogadishu, settled at Warsheikh and taught Sheikh Sufi, Sheikh Ahmed Haji Mahdi and Abd al-Rahman [al-Zayla'i](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/).


---

# Aden Madobe (Aadan Maxamed Nuur Madoobe)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aden-madobe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aden Mohamed Nuur Madobe (born 15 April 1956 in Hudur) is a Somali politician who has led South West State since June 2026. He was first deputy chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, then a minister and Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament from 2007 to 2010. He was acting President of Somalia from December 2008 to January 2009 and Speaker of the House of the People from 2022 to 2026.

## Who is he?

Aden Mohamed Nuur Madobe is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Aden Madobe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe)). He has led [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) since 11 June 2026 (same source). He has twice been speaker of Somalia's parliament and was briefly acting president (same source). This page records events without taking sides.

## Early life

He was born on 15 April 1956 in [Hudur](/en/regions/bakool/), the capital of the Bakool region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe)). His family is Hadame, of the Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle) (same source).

## Rahanweyn Resistance Army

He was first deputy chairman of the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/), one of the factions of the civil war ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe)). He said that from 1996 the group accepted Ethiopian help in training its troops (same source). In 2003 he split for a time with the other leader, [Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigadud](/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/) (same source). The two later reconciled and both served as ministers (same source). See [the years 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Transitional government

In January 2005 he became Minister of Justice in the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe)). In May 2005 a rival, [Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade](/en/people/mohamed-ibrahim-habsade/), accused him and Shatigadud of attacking Baidoa on behalf of the government (same source). Nineteen people were killed in the fighting for the city, which the government later used as a temporary capital (same source).

On 31 January 2007 parliament elected him Speaker (same source). When President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) resigned on 29 December 2008, he became acting President of Somalia (same source). He served until [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) was elected on 31 January 2009 (same source). In 2010 a dispute arose with Prime Minister [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) (same source). Parliament voted to remove him, and he resigned in May 2010 (same source). See [the years 2000 to 2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Federal posts

In January 2014 Prime Minister [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/) named him Minister of Industry and Commerce ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe)). In April 2022 he became Speaker of the House of the People again (same source).

## South West State

In June 2026 the South West State Assembly in Baidoa elected him leader ([Geeska, 13 June 2026](https://www.geeska.com/en/madobes-election-south-west-state-fuels-somalias-wider-electoral-crisis)). He won 88 of 90 votes while still Speaker (same source). The vote followed the resignation of [Abdiaziz Laftagareen](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) in March (same source). President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said: "I wish him success in focusing on uniting the people of South West" (same source).

Former state president [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) withdrew from the race and called it a "one-man election" (same source). He said: "No credible election has taken place in Baidoa" (same source). Laftagareen said he had been forced out and still regarded himself as the state's president (same source). He took office on 11 June 2026 and left the speakership ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe)).

## In short

A Rahanweyn Resistance Army leader from Bakool who became Speaker twice, acting President of Somalia in 2008 and 2009, and leader of South West State in 2026.


---

# Hawa Aden Mohamed (Xaawo Aadan Maxamed, Hooyo Xaawo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hawa-aden-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hawa Aden Mohamed, known as Hooyo Hawa, is a Somali educator and activist who founded the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development in 1999. After living in Canada during the war, she returned in 1995 to teach displaced women and girls. Her centre serves girls in Galkayo and nearby towns of Mudug. She won the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award in 2012.

## Who is she?

Hawa Aden Mohamed, called Hooyo Hawa ("Mother Hawa"), is a Somali social activist ([Wikipedia, Hawa Aden Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Aden_Mohamed)). She founded and directs the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development (GECPD) (same source).

## Return to Somalia

She was born in Somalia and moved to Canada after the civil war began ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Aden_Mohamed)). In 1995 she returned and set up an education programme for women and girls displaced by the war (same source). She also campaigned against female genital mutilation (same source). See [Somalis in Canada](/en/diaspora/canada/).

## The Galkayo centre

The GECPD was set up in 1999 in Galkayo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Aden_Mohamed)). It works in Galkayo, [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) and Jariban, and in the villages of Beyra, Baacad Weyn, Bali Busle, Bur Sallah and Harfo, in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) (same source). It gives primary schooling to young girls and second-chance schooling to older girls, serving 781 girls aged 8 to 18 (same source). It also offers adult literacy, skills training such as tailoring, and teacher training (same source).

Its headquarters has 38 classrooms, a conference hall for 80 people, a resource centre, skills and computer units, and two hostels (same source). It is funded by the Somali community, private investors and international organisations (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/).

## Awards

Wikipedia lists ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Aden_Mohamed)):

- 1994: Woman of the Year, Ontario Women's Directorate.
- 2001: Voices of Courage Award, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
- 2004: *Marie Claire* Top Ten Women of the World.
- 2005: Ginetta Sagan Award, Amnesty International.
- 2012: UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.

## In short

A Somali educator who returned from Canada in 1995 and founded a school and training centre for girls and women in Galkayo.


---

# Shadya Yasin (Shaadiya Yaasiin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/shadya-yasin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Shadya Yasin (born about 1984) is a Somali-Canadian teacher, poet and community organiser in Toronto. She came to Canada in 1998 and studied at York University. Since 2008 she has coordinated the York Youth Coalition of 18 youth agencies. In 2011 she helped lead Toronto rallies for Prime Minister Farmaajo and a youth walk to Ottawa on the Somali drought.

## Who is she?

Shadya Yasin is a Somali social activist, poet and teacher ([Wikipedia, Shadya Yasin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadya_Yasin)). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia around 1984, and lived for a time in [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and Kenya ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadya_Yasin)). She moved to Canada in 1998 as a teenager (same source). She earned a BA in international development and African studies at York University in 2007 (same source). She is a certified teacher (same source).

## Community work

Since 2008 she has been network coordinator of the York Youth Coalition, which links 18 youth agencies in the Weston–Mount Dennis area of Toronto ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadya_Yasin)). She sits on the Ontario Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities (same source). She has taken young people to Tanzania to volunteer and linked Toronto youth with First Nations communities at Moose Deer Point (same source).

In 2011 she was among Somali-Canadians who led rallies in support of Prime Minister [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo)](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/), who resigned that June under the [Kampala Accord](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadya_Yasin)). That year she also helped organise a youth walk to [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) about the drought in Somalia (same source).

## Poetry

She is a published poet and spoken word artist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadya_Yasin)). At York University she played the young [Hawa Jibril](/en/people/hawa-jibril/) in *Bridge of One Hair*, a musical based on the poet's life and verse (same source).

## Recognition

The *Toronto Star* named her among its People to Watch for 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadya_Yasin)).

## In short

A Toronto teacher, poet and youth organiser who came to Canada in 1998.


---

# Yamyam (Cabdulqaadir Xirsi Siyaad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yamyam/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yamyam (Abdulkadir Hersi Siyad, 1946–2005) was a Somali poet and playwright, born in Wardheer. He won the first formal Somali poetry competition, in Hargeisa in 1972, and then worked at the national academy of culture in Mogadishu. With Ahmed Farah Ali 'Idaajaa' he wrote the verse play Dabkuu Shiday Darwiishkii. He died in a car accident in Columbus, Ohio, in October 2005.

## Who was he?

Yamyam, born Abdulkadir Hersi Siyad, was a Somali poet and playwright ([Wikipedia, Yamyam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). He was one of the main contributors to the Somali National Academy of Culture, and was active as a poet from the 1960s (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Early life

He was born on 4 September 1946 in Wardheer, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, to a Marehan family ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). He began Quran school at four and finished the Quran by eight (same source). He grew up in Hargeisa (same source).

## The 1972 competition and Mogadishu

He won the first formal Somali poetry competition, held in Hargeisa in 1972 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). He then moved to Mogadishu and worked at the new national academy of folklore, arts and literature, linked to the [Somali National Theatre](/en/society/national-theatre-of-somalia/) (same source). He joined the Waaberi troupe, and his songs were performed on Radio Mogadishu (same source). He also worked for Radio Hargeisa and taught at the Somali National University at Gaheyr and Lafoole (same source).

After Somali was first written in 1972, he was among the poets who wrote down their work rather than keep it only in oral form (same source).

## Plays and poems

With Ahmed Farah Ali "Idaajaa" he wrote the verse play *Dabkuu Shiday Darwiishkii* ("The Fire the Dervish Lit"), about the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). Its first scene imagines the European powers dividing Africa at Berlin in 1884–85 (same source).

His poems include *Gabay ammaan ah* (A poem of praise), *Kowda Maajo: Hambalyo 1975*, *Ma riyaa ma run baa* (Is it a dream? Is it reality?), *Soomaali baan ahay* (I am Somali) and *Tawxiid* (1984) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). Wikipedia says that in October 1984 he wrote "Digo rogasho", criticising the government for neglecting social programmes, even though he was a relative of President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (same source).

## The war years

He stayed in Mogadishu through the 1990s and did not join any armed faction, according to Wikipedia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). At the Arta peace conference in 2000 he said he no longer celebrated national days, since Somalia lay "in ruins" (same source). He moved to Nairobi in 2001 and later to the United States (same source).

## Death

He died in a car accident in Columbus, Ohio, on 22 October 2005, aged 59 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamyam)). See [Somalis in Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/).

## In short

A Somali poet and playwright who won the 1972 Hargeisa poetry contest and co-wrote a verse play about the Dervishes.


---

# Abdirahman Farole (Cabdiraxmaan Faroole)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-farole/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamoud Farole (born 1945 in Eyl) is a Somali banker and politician who was President of Puntland from January 2009 to January 2014. His government adopted a Puntland constitution, set up a maritime police force against piracy and took part in the Garowe talks that shaped the end of Somalia's transition. He lost re-election by 33 votes to 32 in 2014 and handed over power.

## Who is he?

Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamoud Farole is a Somali banker and politician ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Farole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Farole)). He was the fourth President of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), from 8 January 2009 to 8 January 2014 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and study

He was born in 1945 in Eyl, on the coast of the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Farole)). His family is Majeerteen (Harti, Darod), of the Isse Mohamoud branch (same source). He earned a public health diploma in Mogadishu in 1964 and a statistics diploma in Beirut in 1965 (same source). He later took a commerce degree and an MBA at the Somali National University (same source). In 2005 he took a politics degree at La Trobe University in Australia (same source). See [Somalis in Australia](/en/diaspora/australia/).

## Banking and early posts

He worked as a senior manager and auditor at the Central Bank of Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Farole)). From 1970 to 1986 he was director general of the Commercial and Savings Bank (same source). In the 1990s he was governor of the Nugaal region (same source). He was Puntland's finance minister under [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), and later its planning minister (same source). He then lived in Melbourne for several years and studied for a doctorate on rebuilding banks after conflict (same source).

## President of Puntland

In January 2009 he defeated nine other candidates, including the sitting president ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Farole)). He promised to act against piracy off the coast (same source). His government passed a draft constitution in June 2009 and adopted it in April 2012 (same source). Party registration opened in September 2012, and he launched the Horseed association that November (same source).

His government arrested and tried pirate groups and backed a public campaign against piracy led by religious scholars (same source). It trained the [Puntland Maritime Police Force](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/), with support from the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (same source). In August 2010 Puntland forces fought armed fighters led by [Mohamed Said Atom](/en/people/mohamed-said-atom/) in the Galgala hills (same source). In 2012 he approved the first oil drilling in Puntland, at the Shabeel-1 well (same source).

In February 2012 he signed the Garowe Principles with federal and regional leaders (same source). These set out the new parliament and a 30 percent share for women in the constituent assembly (same source). Late in 2012 he extended his term by a year, citing the new constitution (same source). Some officials and residents objected, and protests took place in [Qardho](/en/regions/bari/) (same source).

## The 2014 vote

On 8 January 2014 the Puntland parliament voted in Garowe ([Al Jazeera, 8 January 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/1/8/somalias-puntland-appoints-new-president)). He led the first two rounds but did not reach the two-thirds needed (same source). In the run-off [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) won by 33 votes to 32 (same source). He accepted the result and thanked "those who worked with him" (same source). He handed over power on 14 January 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Farole)).

## In short

A banker from Eyl who led Puntland from 2009 to 2014, adopted its constitution and handed over power after losing the 2014 vote by one ballot.


---

# Ahmed Duale Gelle "Haaf" (Axmed Ducaale Geele): businessman and president of Galmudug, 2017 to 2020

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-duale-gelle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Duale Gelle, known as Haaf (Axmed Ducaale Geele), is a businessman from Gaalkacyo and a former federal MP who was president of Galmudug from 3 May 2017 to 2 February 2020. State lawmakers elected him in Cadaado with 53 of 89 votes. After the 2020 election he at first refused to hand over, then passed power to Ahmed Abdi Karie "Qoorqoor" in Dhuusamarreeb.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Duale Gelle (Somali: Axmed Ducaale Geele), known as Haaf or Xaaf, was the fifth president of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), from 3 May 2017 to 2 February 2020. Before that he was a businessman and a member of the federal parliament ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Duale Gelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Duale_Gelle)). He was born in [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), in Mudug, and is from the Habar Gidir, Hawiye. He graduated in economics from the Somali National University in Mogadishu (same source).

## Business and parliament

[Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) described him in 2017 as "a prominent businessman" who had been a federal member of parliament but lost his seat in the 2016–2017 federal elections ([Hiiraan Online, 3 May 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2017/May/141948/former_mp_elected_as_galmudug_president.aspx)).

## Election, 2017

On 3 May 2017 the Galmudug state assembly elected him president in Cadaado. He led in the first round and beat Ahmed Sharif in the second, with 53 of 89 votes. He replaced [Abdikarim Hussein Guled](/en/people/abdikarim-hussein-guled/), who had stepped down in February 2017 citing health reasons. In his victory speech he promised to work on security and to cooperate with neighbouring states ([Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2017/May/141948/former_mp_elected_as_galmudug_president.aspx)).

He was inaugurated in Cadaado on 29 May 2017. President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) attended, with the presidents of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), the president of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/), the vice president of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and the UN Special Representative, Michael Keating. International partners urged him to meet Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, and he promised talks with the group and solutions to the conflict in Gaalkacyo between Galmudug and Puntland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Duale_Gelle)). See [Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/).

## Handover, 2020

In January 2020, after the election of his successor, he refused to hand over power, saying the federal government had "handpicked" the winner against "the wishes of my people" and that his own term ran to 2021 because his administration had been set up late. After talks in Dhuusamarreeb he handed over to [Ahmed Abdi Karie "Qoorqoor"](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-karie/) at a ceremony there. He said: "I will work closely with the new administration and possibly give advice whenever it's sought. The spirit of brotherhood supersedes our personal interests" ([Garowe Online, February 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-months-of-stalemate-galmadugs-outgoing-president-hands-over-to-qoor-qoor/)).

## Sources disagree

- **Year of birth.** Wikipedia's infobox gives 8 July 1949; the same article's text says he was born in 1945 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Duale_Gelle)).
- **His name.** Spellings include Gelle, Geele and Geelle, and Haaf or Xaaf ([Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2017/May/141948/former_mp_elected_as_galmudug_president.aspx); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-months-of-stalemate-galmadugs-outgoing-president-hands-over-to-qoor-qoor/)).


---

# Khadar Ayderus Ahmed (Khadar Cayderuus Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/khadar-ayderus-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Khadar Ayderus Ahmed (born 10 January 1981) is a Finnish-Somali film director and writer. Born in Mogadishu, he moved to Finland as a refugee at 16. His first feature, The Gravedigger's Wife (2021), premiered at Cannes Critics' Week, won the top prize at FESPACO, and was the first Somali submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

## Who is he?

Khadar Ayderus Ahmed is a Finnish-Somali director and writer ([Wikipedia, Khadar Ayderus Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadar_Ayderus_Ahmed)). He is best known for the feature film *[The Gravedigger's Wife](/en/society/somali-cinema/)* (2021) (same source).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 10 January 1981 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadar_Ayderus_Ahmed)). At 16 he moved to Finland with his family as a refugee (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Short films

In 2008 he wrote the script for the award-winning short *Citizens*, directed by Juho Kuosmanen, and was its second assistant director ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadar_Ayderus_Ahmed)). He directed his first short, *Me ei vietetä joulua*, in 2014 (same source). He then made *Yövaras* (2017) and *The Killing of Cahceravga* (2018) (same source).

## The Gravedigger's Wife

His first feature, *The Gravedigger's Wife* (*Guled & Nasra*), premiered in July 2021 in the Critics' Week section of the 74th Cannes Film Festival ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadar_Ayderus_Ahmed)). It was nominated for the Critics' Week Grand Prize and the Caméra d'Or (same source). At FESPACO it won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, the festival's top prize (same source). It was the first Somali submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (same source). [Yasmin Warsame](/en/people/yasmin-warsame/) had her first acting role in it ([Wikipedia, Yasmin Warsame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmin_Warsame)).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born director in Finland whose The Gravedigger's Wife won FESPACO's top prize and was Somalia's first Oscar entry.


---

# Fatima Siad (Faadumo Siyaad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fatima-siad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fatima Siad (born 17 December 1986) is a Somali-American fashion model. Born in Mogadishu, she came to the United States with her mother at 13 and grew up in Boston. She finished fourth on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 10, in 2008, and has modelled for Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar and walked for Armani, Hermès and Ralph Lauren.

## Who is she?

Fatima Siad is a Somali fashion model raised in Boston ([Wikipedia, Fatima Siad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Siad)). She was the last contestant eliminated on *America's Next Top Model*, Cycle 10 (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu on 17 December 1986 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Siad)). She has said she underwent female genital cutting at seven, and that two of her sisters were killed during the civil war (same source). At 13 she and her mother fled to the United States (same source). She took part in the Boston University Upward Bound programme and went to Bryn Mawr College as a Posse Scholar (same source). See [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## America's Next Top Model

She was the second contestant chosen for Cycle 10 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Siad)). She received three first call-outs and won one challenge, and was eliminated in Rome, in fourth place (same source). She later appeared in the spin-off *Modelville* (same source).

## Modelling

She has been signed with New York Model Management and Munich Models, and earlier with IMG Models ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Siad)). She has appeared in editorials for American and Spanish *Vogue*, *Elle*, *Harper's Bazaar*, *Marie Claire* and *Cosmopolitan* (same source). She has walked for Giorgio Armani, Hermès, Ralph Lauren and Dries Van Noten, among others (same source). Her advertising work includes Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Tiffany & Co. and L'Oréal, and since 2019 Chantecaille (same source). See [Iman](/en/people/iman/).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born model raised in Boston who rose to fame on America's Next Top Model and walked for leading fashion houses.


---

# Jama Ali Jama (Jaamac Cali Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jama-ali-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jama Ali Jama (about 1939 to 13 December 2025) was a Somali army colonel and politician. He spent 11 years in prison under Siad Barre and was named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In November 2001 he was elected President of Puntland, but the outgoing president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed rejected the vote, and Jama left office in May 2002. He later sat in the Transitional Federal Parliament.

## Who was he?

Jama Ali Jama was a Somali army officer and politician ([Wikipedia, Jama Ali Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Ali_Jama)). He was elected President of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in November 2001 and held the post until May 2002 (same source). Wikipedia's list of Puntland presidents notes that Somali media often do not count him in the list ([Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland)). This page records events without taking sides.

## Early life and army

He was born around 1939 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Ali_Jama)). His family is Majeerteen (Darod), of the Osman Mahamoud branch (same source). He studied in Moscow and joined the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), where he rose to colonel (same source). In the mid-1970s the Soviet Union promoted him as a leading voice of socialism in the Horn of Africa (same source).

## Prison

The government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) accused him of taking part in a coup attempt ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Ali_Jama)). He was held in prison for 11 years (same source). Amnesty International recognised him as a prisoner of conscience (same source). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The Puntland dispute

In November 2001 he was elected President of Puntland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Ali_Jama)). The outgoing president, [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), wanted his own term extended and rejected the result (same source). This became known as the Puntland crisis of 2001 and 2002 (same source). Abdullahi Yusuf said Jama backed the group Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya (same source). In May 2002 Ethiopian troops helped Abdullahi Yusuf's forces take control, and Jama left office (same source). Fighting between forces loyal to the two men broke out again in January 2003 (same source). See [the years 2000 to 2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Later life and death

He later became a member of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Ali_Jama)). He died in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) on 13 December 2025 (same source). President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) led the national mourning ([Eastleigh Voice, December 2025](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/colonel%20jama%20ali%20jama/254723/somali-president-leads-nation-in-mourning-former-puntland-leader-jama-ali-jama)). Former president [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) and Puntland's president [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) also sent condolences ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Ali_Jama)).

## In short

An army colonel and former political prisoner who was elected President of Puntland in 2001, left office in 2002 after a dispute with Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and later sat in the federal parliament.


---

# Nasib Farah (Nasiib Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nasib-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nasib Farah (born 1981) is a Danish-Somali filmmaker and journalist. He fled Mogadishu in 1990, was separated from his family, and grew up as an unaccompanied refugee at a Danish Red Cross centre. He starred in My Cousin the Pirate (2010) and directed the documentaries Warriors from the North (2015) and Lost Warrior (2018).

## Who is he?

Nasib Farah is a Danish-Somali filmmaker ([Wikipedia, Nasib Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasib_Farah)). He has also worked as a journalist, translator and production manager (same source).

## Early life

He was born in Somalia in 1981 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasib_Farah)). In 1990 he fled Mogadishu with his family as war broke out, but was separated from them (same source). He crossed into Ethiopia, flew to Germany and settled in Denmark (same source). He grew up as an unaccompanied refugee at the Danish Red Cross centre at Avnstrup, near Lejre (same source). See [Somalis in Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/).

## Community work

He trained as a salesman and worked as a freelance journalist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasib_Farah)). He set up a non-profit that offers tutoring and after-school activities for young Somalis, and started a community TV programme, Qaran TV, for Somalis in Denmark (same source).

## Films

- **My Cousin the Pirate (2010):** he played a leading role in this film by Christian Sønderby Jepsen ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasib_Farah)).
- **Warriors from the North (2015):** his first documentary as director, shown at festivals abroad (same source).
- **Lost Warrior (2018):** co-directed with the Danish filmmaker Søren Steen Jespersen (same source).

## In short

A Danish-Somali filmmaker who arrived in Denmark as an unaccompanied child refugee and directed Warriors from the North.


---

# Said Salah Ahmed (Saciid Saalax Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/said-salah-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Said Salah Ahmed is a Somali playwright, poet, teacher and filmmaker. A former biology teacher, he directed the 1984–85 epic The Somali Dervishes, a film of 4 hours 40 minutes about the Dervish state, made on a budget of 1.8 million dollars. After the civil war he moved to Minnesota, where he wrote the children's book The Lion's Share and plays based on Somali folklore.

## Who is he?

Said Salah Ahmed is a Somali playwright, poet, educator and filmmaker ([Wikipedia, Said Salah Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Salah_Ahmed)). He was a biology teacher in Somalia (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## The Somali Dervishes

In 1984–85 he directed his first feature film, *The Somali Dervishes*, produced by Amar Sneh ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Salah_Ahmed)). It runs 4 hours 40 minutes and had a budget of 1.8 million dollars (same source). It tells the story of the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) led by [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) (same source). Its dialogue uses seven languages, including Somali, Arabic, Italian and English, and it has hundreds of actors and extras (same source). Wikipedia says the lead was played by [Sheikh Osman](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/) Mohamoud Omar, a descendant of the Sayid's family (same source).

## Minnesota

After the civil war began he moved to Minnesota ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Salah_Ahmed)). He wrote the children's book *The Lion's Share*, which became a play he wrote and produced for SteppingStone Theatre (same source). Some of his poems have been translated into English by the Poetry Translation Centre (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## In short

A Somali poet and teacher who directed the 1984–85 film The Somali Dervishes and later wrote for the stage in Minnesota.


---

# Ali Abdullahi Osoble (Cali Cabdullaahi Cosoble)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-abdullahi-osoble/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Abdullahi Osoble (born 15 June 1961 in Mogadishu) is a Somali agricultural economist and politician who was the first President of Hirshabelle State, elected in October 2016. He was earlier a federal minister of education and of planning. The state parliament removed him in a no-confidence vote in August 2017.

## Who is he?

Ali Abdullahi Osoble is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Ali Abdullahi Osoble](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdullahi_Osoble)). He was the first President of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), the federal member state made up of the [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) regions (same source). He oversaw the setting up of the state's institutions (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and work

He was born in Mogadishu on 15 June 1961 and went to school there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdullahi_Osoble)). His father, Abdullahi Osoble Siad, was Minister of Telecommunications in the 1970s and 1980s (same source). His maternal grandfather, Ahmed Gelle, was Minister of Justice before 1969 (same source). He took a degree in agricultural economics at Sam Houston State University in the United States (same source). He worked at the Bank of Somalia before 1991 (same source). He then worked for Oxfam-Quebec in Beledweyne and later in Nairobi (same source).

## Federal posts

He entered politics in 2004 and sat in the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) until 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdullahi_Osoble)). On 7 January 2005 he became Minister of Education in the government of Prime Minister [Ali Mohammed Ghedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/) (same source). He later became Minister of Planning and Economic Development (same source).

## President of Hirshabelle

On 17 October 2016 the new state's parliament in Jowhar elected him president ([Hiiraan Online, October 2016](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Oct/118229/hir_shabelle_elected_new_president.aspx)). His two rivals lost the contest (same source). Ali Abdullahi Hussein was chosen as vice-president ([Somalia Newsroom, 21 October 2016](https://somalianewsroom.com/2016/10/21/election-update-somalia-begins-selection-of-its-next-government/)).

On 14 August 2017 the state parliament voted no confidence in him ([Garowe Online, September 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-mohamed-abdi-waare-elected-as-hirshabelles-new-president)). Members gave incompetence and lack of cooperation with other state bodies as their reasons (same source). Wikipedia records 66 votes for the motion, 2 against and 6 abstentions, taken while he was absent ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdullahi_Osoble)). Wikipedia calls the removal unconstitutional (same source). The federal government endorsed the result, and Ali Gudlawe became interim president (same source). [Mohamed Abdi Waare](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-waare/) was elected in September 2017 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-mohamed-abdi-waare-elected-as-hirshabelles-new-president)).

## In short

An agricultural economist and former federal minister who was the first President of Hirshabelle from October 2016 until a no-confidence vote in August 2017.


---

# Saba Anglana

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saba-anglana/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saba Anglana (born 17 November 1970) is a Somali-Italian singer, actor and writer, born in Mogadishu. Her family was sent into exile to Italy when she was a child. She acted on Italian television in the 1990s, released the album Jidka: The Line in 2007, mixing Somali and Italian music, and in 2024 published the novel La signora meraviglia about her family.

## Who is she?

Saba Anglana is a Somali-Italian actor and singer ([Wikipedia, Saba Anglana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_Anglana)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu on 17 November 1970 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_Anglana)). Her mother's family was from Somalis living in Ethiopia (same source). Her father was a former Italian military commander who had moved to Somalia after the Second World War (same source). Wikipedia says the military government saw him as a possible spy, and the family was sent into exile in Italy while she was a child (same source).

She grew up in Italy and studied at Sapienza University in Rome ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_Anglana)). She learned Somali from her mother, including the Xamar Weyne dialect of Mogadishu (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Career

In the 1990s she acted on Italian television, including the series *La Squadra*, in which she played a Somali-Italian policewoman ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_Anglana)). In 2007 she released her first album, *Jidka: The Line*, which mixes Somali music with Italian sounds (same source). In 2024 she published the novel *La signora meraviglia*, about her family's story and her search for her roots (same source). See also [Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born singer and actor in Italy whose music mixes Somali and Italian sounds.


---

# Abdulkadir Ahmed Said (Cabdulqaadir Axmed Saciid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulkadir-ahmed-said/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulkadir Ahmed Said (born 1953) is a Somali film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor from Mogadishu. He joined the Somali Film Agency in 1970 and was director of programming at Somali television from 1984 to 1986. His short film Geedka nolosha (The Tree of Life) won a prize at the Turin International Festival of Young Cinema in 1988.

## Who is he?

Abdulkadir Ahmed Said is a Somali film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor ([Wikipedia, Abdulkadir Ahmed Said](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Ahmed_Said)).

## Career

He was born in Mogadishu in 1953 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Ahmed_Said)). In 1970 he joined the Somali Film Agency as a photographer for international relations and as an adviser on co-productions (same source). From 1984 to 1986 he was director of programming at Somali television, where he wrote and directed training programmes (same source).

He was assistant director on several productions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Ahmed_Said)):

- *[The Somali Dervish](/en/society/somali-cinema/)* (1983), the epic directed by [Said Salah Ahmed](/en/people/said-salah-ahmed/).
- *The Parching Winds of Somalia* (1984).
- *Riviera Somalia* (1984), for the Italian broadcaster RAI.
- *A Man of Race* (1987), produced by the LuceSaimon Film Institute.

## His films

His short *Geedka nolosha* (The Tree of Life) won the Prize of the City of Turin for best short film at the Turin International Festival of Young Cinema in 1988 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Ahmed_Said)). He also made *La Conchiglia* in 1992 (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu filmmaker who worked at the Somali Film Agency from 1970 and won a prize in Turin in 1988 for his short Geedka nolosha.


---

# Farah Abdullahi Abdi (Faraax Cabdullaahi Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/farah-abdullahi-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Farah Abdullahi Abdi is a Somali refugee, writer and human rights activist who works on asylum and migration for Transgender Europe in Berlin. She grew up in Nairobi and at 16 fled through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Libya to Malta, arriving in 2012. She wrote a column for Malta Today, spoke at the European Parliament in 2014 and published her memoir, Never Arrive, in 2015.

## Who is she?

Farah Abdullahi Abdi is a human rights activist and refugee from Somalia ([Wikipedia, Farah Abdullahi Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Abdullahi_Abdi)). She is the asylum and migration policy officer at the organisation Transgender Europe (same source).

## Early life

Her family fled the war in Somalia when she was three, stayed in a refugee camp and then moved to Nairobi, where she grew up ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Abdullahi_Abdi)). She spoke English, Swahili and Somali (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## The journey to Malta

At 16, after facing rejection because she is gay and transgender, she left Kenya ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Abdullahi_Abdi)). She travelled through Uganda, South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Sudan and Libya, and reached Malta by boat in 2012 (same source). She says she was imprisoned five times on the way and forced to work unpaid on building sites in Libya (same source). In Malta she was briefly detained, although she was a minor (same source). See [migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## Writing and advocacy

In Malta she worked as an interpreter and became a columnist for *Malta Today*, writing about the treatment of migrants ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Abdullahi_Abdi)). In 2014 she spoke at the European Parliament, with Terre des Hommes, for the protection of child refugees (same source). In 2015 she published her autobiography, *Never Arrive* (same source).

She later moved to Berlin, citing racial discrimination in Malta ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Abdullahi_Abdi)). She is a fellow of the Alfred Landecker Foundation and the Torschreiber Foundation for writers in exile (same source). She spoke at the LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Conference of EuroPride in 2023 (same source). See [Somalis in Germany](/en/diaspora/germany/).

## Awards

She has received the International Bremen Peace Award and the Queen's Young Leaders Award ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Abdullahi_Abdi)).

## In short

A Somali refugee writer who crossed to Malta at 16, wrote about migrants for Malta Today and now works for Transgender Europe in Berlin.


---

# Mohamed Abdi Waare (Maxamed Cabdi Waare)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abdi-waare/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Abdi Waare (born 14 February 1960 in Jowhar) is a Somali agricultural officer and politician who was President of Hirshabelle State from September 2017 to November 2020. He worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, then for the Red Cross and UN agencies after 1991. As president he aimed to bring clan militias into the state forces and planned a port at Cadale. He resigned in November 2020.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Abdi Waare is a Somali politician ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Abdi Ware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Ware)). He was the second President of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), from 16 September 2017 to 2 November 2020 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and study

He was born on 14 February 1960 in Jowhar, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Ware)). His family is Xawaadle (Hawiye), of the Yabar Madaxweyne branch (same source). He went to primary school in Halgan village in Bulo Burte district, Hiiraan, and to secondary school in Mogadishu (same source). He finished [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) Agricultural High School in 1979 (same source). In 1985 he took part in an agricultural extension course at Indiana University in the United States (same source).

## Agriculture and aid work

He worked for the Ministry of Agriculture for ten years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Ware)). He was its agricultural coordinator for the Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan regions (same source). After 1991 he worked for the Red Cross for ten years, through years of insecurity and famine (same source). He also worked for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (same source). He worked briefly for the UN Development Programme on a reconstruction project for the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (same source).

## President of Hirshabelle

In August 2017 the state parliament removed [Ali Abdullahi Osoble](/en/people/ali-abdullahi-osoble/) in a no-confidence vote ([Garowe Online, September 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-mohamed-abdi-waare-elected-as-hirshabelles-new-president)). On 16 September 2017 the parliament elected Waare president (same source). He won 74 votes in the second round, against 23 for Dahir Abdulle Awale (same source). International partners welcomed what they called an orderly election ([UNSOM, September 2017](https://unsom.unmissions.org/node/100041184)).

He said his main tasks were to disarm clan militias and bring them into the state's security forces ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdi_Ware)). He also planned a port at Cadale and a dry port at Ferfer in Hiiraan (same source). In 2018 members of parliament planned a motion to remove him (same source). He resigned on 2 November 2020 (same source). See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/).

## In short

An agricultural officer and aid worker from Jowhar who was President of Hirshabelle from September 2017 until he resigned in November 2020.


---

# Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Ayaan Xirsi Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ayaan Hirsi Ali (born Ayaan Hirsi Magan in Mogadishu on 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch and American writer, activist and former politician. She sought asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, sat in the Dutch parliament from 2003 to 2006 and wrote the film Submission with Theo van Gogh. She later moved to the United States, where her books on Islam became bestsellers. She is widely praised and widely criticised.

## Who is she?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch and American writer, activist and former politician ([Wikipedia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali)). She is known for her criticism of Islam, which has made her a debated figure (same source). This page records her public life without taking sides.

## Early life

She was born Ayaan Hirsi Magan in Mogadishu on 13 November 1969 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali)). Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a member of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front and was jailed for opposing [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (same source). At the age of five she underwent female genital cutting, arranged by her grandmother (same source). After her father left prison, the family lived in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and then Kenya for about ten years (same source). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## The Netherlands

In 1992 she went to the Netherlands and asked for asylum, saying she was fleeing a forced marriage (same source). She worked as a cleaner, a post sorter and a Somali-Dutch interpreter (same source). She took a master's degree in political science at Leiden University (same source). In 2002 she said she had given up religion (same source). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

She was elected to the Dutch lower house for the VVD party in 2003 (same source). In 2004 she wrote and narrated the short film Submission, directed by Theo van Gogh, about the treatment of women under Islamic law (same source). Mohammed Bouyeri killed van Gogh soon after the film came out, and she went into hiding (same source). In 2005 Time magazine named her among the 100 most influential people in the world (same source).

## The 2006 asylum dispute

In May 2006 a Dutch television programme reported that she had given a false name, age and account of her journey in her 1992 asylum claim ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali)). She said these facts had been public since 2002 and that the forced marriage was true (same source). The immigration minister moved to cancel her citizenship (same source). She resigned from parliament on 16 May 2006 ([Al Jazeera, 16 May 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/5/16/dutch-mp-quits-over-asylum-lies)). On 27 June 2006 the government said she would keep her Dutch citizenship ([Al Jazeera, 27 June 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/6/27/hirsi-ali-keeps-dutch-citizenship)). The row led to the fall of the Dutch cabinet days later ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali)).

## The United States

In 2006 she joined the American Enterprise Institute in Washington ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali)). Her books Infidel (2007), Nomad (2010) and Heretic (2015) became bestsellers (same source). She founded the AHA Foundation, which campaigns against forced marriage, female genital cutting and honour violence in the United States (same source). She was a fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center from 2016 to 2019 (same source). She became a US citizen on 25 April 2013 (same source). She is married to the historian Niall Ferguson (same source).

## Views and debate

She has argued for closing religious schools that teach political Islam and has called "Islamophobia" a "manufactured term" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali)). In November 2023 she announced she had become a Christian (same source). Critics have accused her of Islamophobia and questioned her standing "to speak authoritatively about Islam and the Arab world" (same source). Supporters, among them United States officials in 2006, have praised her as courageous (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born writer and former Dutch member of parliament, now living in the United States, whose criticism of Islam has drawn both strong support and strong criticism.


---

# Jonis Bascir (Yoonis Bashiir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jonis-bascir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jonis Bascir (born 17 September 1960) is a Somali-Italian actor and musician, born in Rome to a Somali father and an Italian mother. He lived for some years in Somalia as a child. He is best known for the Rai 1 series Un medico in famiglia (1998–2008). His grandfather, Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf, was the first president of the Somali National Assembly.

## Who is he?

Jonis Bascir is a Somali-Italian actor and musician ([Wikipedia, Jonis Bascir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonis_Bascir)).

## Family and early life

He was born in Rome on 17 September 1960, the son of Muheddin Hagi Bascir ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonis_Bascir)). His father is Somali and his mother Italian (same source). He lived in Somalia for some years in childhood (same source). He is the grandson of Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf, the first president of the Somali National Assembly (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Acting

He is best known for his role in *Un medico in famiglia* (1998–2008), a Rai 1 television series ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonis_Bascir)). His films include ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonis_Bascir)):

- *Stupor Mundi* (1997), directed by Pasquale Squitieri.
- *Simpatici & antipatici* (1998), directed by Christian De Sica.
- *The Stone Merchant* (2006), directed by Renzo Martinelli.
- *Anita Garibaldi* (2012).
- *Regalo a sorpresa* (2013).

## Music

He performs regularly with his own band ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonis_Bascir)). See also [Saba Anglana](/en/people/saba-anglana/) and [Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/).

## In short

A Rome-born Somali-Italian actor known for Un medico in famiglia and the grandson of the first president of the Somali National Assembly.


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# Adan Ahmed Elmi "Dhoolayare" (Aadan Axmed Cilmi): businessman, film backer and Somaliland minister

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/adan-ahmed-elmi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Adan Ahmed Elmi, known as Dhoolayare (Aadan Axmed Cilmi), is a businessman from Hargeisa who lived in Norway, paid for the Somaliland comedy film Ma Guuraan, and served as Somaliland's Minister of Agriculture under President Dahir Riyale Kahin and then as Minister of Justice from March to August 2010. He later founded the Wadajir party.

## Who is he?

Adan Ahmed Elmi (Somali: Aadan Axmed Cilmi), known as Dhoolayare, is a [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) businessman and politician. He was born in Hargeisa in 1966 and grew up in Mogadishu and Hargeisa. His father, Ahmed Elmi, was a military commander under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), and his mother, Khadija Mohamoud, owned a fruit company in eastern Hargeisa ([Wikipedia, Adan Ahmed Elmi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)). He is from the Gashanbur Eidagale, Garhajis, Isaaq (same source).

## Business, exile and film

He was a well-known businessman in Somalia before 1991. When the state collapsed he went to Europe and started businesses there ([Qurbejoog, "Waa kuma siyaasi Aadan Axmed Cilmi Dhoolayare"](https://www.qurbejoog.com/waa-kuma-siyaasi-aadan-axmed-cilmi-dhoolayare/)). He lived in Norway ([Utrop, 6 April 2006](https://www.utrop.no/live-plus/10083/)).

After returning to Somaliland, he put his own money into work by leading Somali artists. That produced the comedy film *Ma Guuraan*, with Boon Xirsi, Muuse Cali Faruur, Bas-baas, Dayrwaa and Aw-Kadleeye among the actors ([Qurbejoog](https://www.qurbejoog.com/waa-kuma-siyaasi-aadan-axmed-cilmi-dhoolayare/)). Wikipedia says his comic films came out in the late 1990s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)). He also brought a printing press to Somaliland for his business, and later handed it over to the government at a time when its budget was very small ([Qurbejoog](https://www.qurbejoog.com/waa-kuma-siyaasi-aadan-axmed-cilmi-dhoolayare/)).

## Minister of Agriculture

He joined the UDUB party in 2001 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)) and became Minister of Agriculture in the government of President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/). Qurbejoog says the ministry had existed mostly in name before him. He brought the agencies working on farming, including FAO, WFP, IFAD, GAA, World Vision and ADO, to coordinate through the ministry, and farmers received water pumps, free seed, tractors and oxen for ploughing ([Qurbejoog](https://www.qurbejoog.com/waa-kuma-siyaasi-aadan-axmed-cilmi-dhoolayare/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)). In 2006 the Norwegian magazine Utrop reported that he had moved back from Norway to become agriculture minister, and that he urged educated [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/) to return: "we need their knowledge here" ([Utrop](https://www.utrop.no/live-plus/10083/)).

## Minister of Justice, 2010

In March 2010 President Riyale reshuffled the cabinet and moved him to the justice ministry ([AllAfrica, 25 March 2010](https://allafrica.com/stories/201003251093.html); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)). After Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo became president, Ismail Mumin Are took over the post on 1 August 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)).

## After 2010

He then founded the Wadajir party, which later merged with the Rays party. In March 2011 he said the new Kulmiye government had promised large pay rises but that salaries were still paid late ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi)).

## Sources disagree

- **When he became agriculture minister.** Wikipedia's text gives 10 May 2002, while its infobox and Qurbejoog give early 2005. Utrop reported in April 2006 that he had moved back from Norway to take the post a month earlier ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Ahmed_Elmi); [Qurbejoog](https://www.qurbejoog.com/waa-kuma-siyaasi-aadan-axmed-cilmi-dhoolayare/); [Utrop](https://www.utrop.no/live-plus/10083/)).


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# Ali Haji Warsame (Cali Xaaji Warsame): accountant, Golis Telecom chief and Puntland education minister

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-haji-warsame/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Haji Warsame (Cali Xaaji Warsame), born in 1964 near Jariiban, is a Puntland accountant and businessman. He was the first director of management at Bosaso port in the 1990s, worked as an auditor and consultant in the United Arab Emirates, and was chief executive of Golis Telecom from May 2012 to October 2013. He ran for president of Puntland in 2014 and was education minister from January 2014 until he was removed on 16 June 2015.

## Who is he?

Ali Haji Warsame (Somali: Cali Xaaji Warsame) is a [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) entrepreneur, accountant and politician. He was born in 1964 in Seemade, a village near Jariiban in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/). His father was a lawyer, judge and community leader who took part in the independence movement of the 1940s and 1950s; his mother is from [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) ([Wikipedia, Ali Haji Warsame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)). He is from the Omar Mahmoud, Majeerteen, Harti, Darod (same source).

## Study and training

He began school in Hargeisa and finished primary school in Gaalkacyo. He earned a bachelor's degree in business management and administration from the Somali Institute for Development, Administration and Management (SIDAM) in 1990, and an MBA in management information systems from the American University in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 2003. He is a certified public accountant, a member of the Somali Association of Certified Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a licensed auditor in Delaware ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)).

## Bosaso port and the Gulf

He started as financial and administrative controller of Man and Brothers, a water installation firm. When the civil war began in 1991 he moved to the north-east, and from 1993 to 1996 he was the first director of management at the port of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)). See [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

He later moved to the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/). He worked as an auditor at the Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority, financial controller at the Abu Dhabi Educational Zone, senior auditor at Al-Radhwan Accounting and Auditing, and senior consultant and partner at Falcon Associates. From 2001 to 2003 he taught accounting, auditing and business law in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (same source).

## Golis Telecom

He returned to Somalia in 2012 as chief executive of [Golis Telecom](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/), the largest operator in Puntland, and held the post from May 2012 to October 2013. In 2013 the company had 41 branches and 141 centres in Puntland, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)). Golis said in 2015 that more than 1.5 million people used its network every day, and that it ran the Sahal and [Taaj](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) mobile money services ([Radio Daljir, 6 July 2015](https://daljir.com/?p=7800)).

## Politics

He ran in the Puntland presidential election held in Garowe on 8 January 2014, with the backing of former vice president Mohamed Ali Yusuf "Gaagaab". He reached the second round, where he received 16 votes, against 18 for [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) "Gaas" and 31 for the incumbent, [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/); Abdiweli Mohamed Ali went on to win ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)).

On 28 January 2014 the new president appointed him Minister of Education (same source). On 16 June 2015 President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali removed eight ministers in his first reshuffle, including Education Minister Ali Haji Warsame, who was visiting London at the time ([Garowe Online, 16 June 2015](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-leader-sacks-8-ministers-in-first-cabinet-shuffle)). See [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/).

He is also a trustee of MURDA, a UK charity that runs training and education programmes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)).

## Sources disagree

- **His years in the Gulf.** Wikipedia lists him as senior consultant and partner at Falcon Associates from June 1991 to March 2012, years that overlap with his post at Bosaso port from 1993 to 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame)).
- **His ministry.** Wikipedia's infobox calls the post Minister of Education and Higher Education, its opening paragraph Minister of Higher Education, and [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) calls him Education Minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Haji_Warsame); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-leader-sacks-8-ministers-in-first-cabinet-shuffle)).


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# Asha Ahmed Abdalla (Caasha Axmed Cabdalla)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/asha-ahmed-abdalla/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Asha Ahmed Abdalla (born 1958, Erigavo) is a Somali politician and a founding member of the Transitional Federal Parliament. She became an MP after the Arta peace conference of 2000 and, in 2004, was the first woman to run for president of Somalia. She sat in parliament until the Federal Parliament took over in August 2012.

## Who is she?

Asha Ahmed Abdalla is a Somali politician who served for more than a decade as a member of Somalia's transitional parliaments, representing the northern Sanaag constituency ([Wikipedia, Asha Ahmed Abdalla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Ahmed_Abdalla)). Wikipedia describes her as a founding member of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) and the first woman to run for president of Somalia (same source).

## Early life

She was born in 1958 in Erigavo, in the [Sanaag region](/en/regions/sanaag/). She spent her early childhood in Yemen and returned to Somalia in the late 1960s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Ahmed_Abdalla)). She later studied in the United States, graduating from LaGuardia Community College in New York, and holds Somali and American citizenship (same source, citing [allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00061242.html)).

## Arta and the Transitional National Government

In 2000 she took part in the Somali peace conference in Arta, Djibouti, and was then chosen as a member of parliament in the Transitional National Government (TNG) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Ahmed_Abdalla), citing [Somali Guardian](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalia-and-djibouti-mark-25-years-since-arta-peace-conference/)). Wikipedia records that she also held posts in the TNG cabinet: minister for demobilisation, disarmament, reintegration and disabled care, and deputy minister of labour and sports (same source). See [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## The 2004 presidential race

In 2004 she was among the 275 delegates who formed the Transitional Federal Government. That year she ran for president, the first woman in Somalia's history to do so; she was eliminated in the first round, according to Wikipedia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Ahmed_Abdalla), citing [The Guardian, 12 October 2016](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/12/somalias-female-presidential-candidate-fadumo-dayib)). She remained a member of the Transitional Federal Parliament until the Federal Parliament was inaugurated in August 2012 (same source).

## Women's and community work

She headed the Somali Women's Parliamentarian Association. Her campaign slogan was "Give Somalia a Mother's Nurturing" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Ahmed_Abdalla); [Ode magazine, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090529235534/http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/8/somalia_needs_a_mother_s_nurturing)). She founded the Community Sustaining Development Organization, which works on rehabilitation after conflict ([United Nations, "I am grateful I can contribute to the humanitarian response"](https://www.un.org/en/delegate/i-am-grateful-i-can-contribute-humanitarian-response)). In 2011 she joined a Nobel Peace Prize panel on women's political leadership in peace and conflict ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Ahmed_Abdalla)).

## In short

A Sanaag-born MP of the transitional era, from Arta in 2000 to 2012, and the first woman to stand for Somalia's presidency.


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# Barkhad Abdi (Barkhad Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/barkhad-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Barkhad Abdi (born 10 April 1985 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-American actor. In his first film, Captain Phillips (2013), he played the ship hijacker Abduwali Muse and won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor, with Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. He grew up in Yemen and Minneapolis and later acted in Eye in the Sky, Blade Runner 2049 and the series The Curse.

## Who is he?

Barkhad Abdi is a Somali actor ([Wikipedia, Barkhad Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhad_Abdi)). His first role, in [Captain Phillips](/en/society/films-about-somalia/) (2013), won him the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actor (same source).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 10 April 1985 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhad_Abdi)). His parents are Majeerteen, of the Omar Mahmoud branch (same source). The name Barkhad means "cistern" in Somali (same source). When the civil war broke out, his family moved to Yemen, where his father was teaching (same source). In 1999 the family moved to Minneapolis (same source). See [Somalis in Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/) and [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

He finished Roosevelt High School in 2003 and attended Minnesota State University Moorhead (same source). Before acting, he sold mobile phones at his brother's shop, drove a limousine and worked as a DJ (same source).

## Captain Phillips

In 2011 he joined more than 700 people at an open casting call in Minneapolis (same source). He and three other Somali men were chosen (same source). In Paul Greengrass's film he played Abduwali Muse, leader of the 2009 hijacking of the [Maersk Alabama](/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/), opposite Tom Hanks (same source). He was paid 65,000 dollars and went back to work at his brother's shop afterwards (same source).

On 16 February 2014 he won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([HuffPost UK, February 2014](https://huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/baftas-2014-barkhad-abdi-best-supporting-actor-captain-phillips_n_4800223)). He beat Bradley Cooper, Daniel Brühl, Matt Damon and Michael Fassbender (same source). The Star Tribune reported celebrations in Minneapolis that night ([Star Tribune, February 2014](https://www.startribune.com/bafta-celebrations-in-london-and-minneapolis-as-12-years-a-slave-and-barkhad-abdi-win/245881721)). He was also nominated for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhad_Abdi)).

## Later work

He played a Kenyan undercover agent in Eye in the Sky (2015) (same source). In The Pirates of Somalia (2017) he played a local fixer for a Canadian journalist (same source). He had a role in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) (same source). He was a regular in the second season of the series Castle Rock (2019) and appeared in The Curse (2023) (same source). He directed the Somali film Ciyaalka Xaafada and several music videos (same source).

In 2013 he became an ambassador for Adeso, an aid organisation founded by the Somali environmentalist [Fatima Jibrell](/en/people/fatima-jibrell/) (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/) and [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born actor raised in Yemen and Minneapolis who won a BAFTA for his first film role in Captain Phillips and has since worked in film and television.


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# Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Shariif Sheekh Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (born 1965) was President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government from January 2009 to August 2012. A religious scholar and teacher, he earlier chaired the Islamic Courts Union (2004 to 2007) and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia. His term ended with the move from transitional to federal government in 2012.

## Who is he?

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is a Somali religious scholar and politician. He was the seventh President of Somalia, leading the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TFG) from 31 January 2009 to 20 August 2012 ([Wikipedia, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)).

## Early life and study

He was born on 25 July 1965 in Mahaday, in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). As a child he studied Islam and Arabic and learned the Quran by heart ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)). He studied at the [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/) Institute in Mogadishu, linked to Al-Azhar, then at universities in Libya and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), where he earned a degree in law and Islamic law (same source).

## Teacher and community organiser

He came home to Mogadishu in 2000. He started a cultural body, the Al-Shuruuq agency, and a youth federation that brought young people together across the divided city ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)). He also taught.

## The Islamic Courts Union

Local Islamic courts in Mogadishu offered order where there was no state. In 2004 he became chairman of their union, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)). By mid-2006 the ICU held Mogadishu and much of the south. Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in December 2006 and the ICU's leadership dispersed (same source). He then led the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), which entered UN-backed talks in Djibouti in 2008 (same source).

## President, 2009 to 2012

After the Djibouti talks, the enlarged parliament met in Djibouti and elected him President on 31 January 2009 ([Al Jazeera, January 2009](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2009/01/200913191343772174.html)). He named [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/), son of the former President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), as Prime Minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)).

His government faced a hard armed campaign by [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) in Mogadishu in 2009. By 2011, with African Union troops, government forces pushed Al-Shabaab out of the capital ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)). In August 2012 the transitional period ended and the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) was formed. He stood for President in September 2012 and lost to [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) (same source). See [rebuilding, 2007 to 2012](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/).

## After 2012

He founded the Himilo Qaran party and later led opposition groupings, including the Somali Salvation Forum set up in 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Sheikh_Ahmed)). He stood again for President in 2017 and 2022.

## In short

President of the Transitional Federal Government from 2009 to 2012, who handed over to the first federal government in 2012.


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# Baar Said Farah (Baar Siciid Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/baar-said-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Baar Said Farah is a Somaliland politician. Elected for Sanaag in 2005, she was for years one of only two women, and later the only woman, in Somaliland's House of Representatives. She campaigned for a women's seat quota and an anti-rape law. In December 2024 President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi appointed her adviser on women's development.

## Who is she?

Baar Said Farah is a [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2021 and, for part of that time, its only woman ([Wikipedia, Baar Said Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baar_Said_Farah)). She represented [Dhahar](/en/regions/dhahar/), in Sanaag ([BBC Somali, 18 July 2016](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war/2016/07/160718_somaliland)). Wikipedia gives her clan as Warsangali (same Wikipedia page, citing [the APD 2005 election report](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/APD_election_report06.pdf)).

## Elected in 2005

In the [2005 parliamentary election](/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/), 246 candidates ran for 82 seats. Only seven were women, and two were elected; she was one of them, for the [Sanaag region](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Interpeace and APD, "A Vote for Peace", September 2006](https://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/2006_SomS_Interpeace_APD_A_Vote_For_Peace_ENG.pdf)). In December 2010 she was named to a UDUB party sub-committee on liaison and electoral commission affairs ([Haatuf, 21 December 2010](http://www.haatuf.net/2009files/1581798.html)).

## In the House

- January 2013: she called a new airport tax set by the aviation ministry illegal, saying it bypassed the finance ministry ([Hiiraan Online, 21 January 2013](https://www.hiiraan.com/news/2013/Jan/wararka_maanta21-20622.htm)).
- April 2013: she questioned the interior minister and the police commander in the House about an armed attack on the newspaper Hubaal ([Geeska Afrika, 30 April 2013](https://geeska.net/wasiir-duur-iyo-taliye-fadal-oo-shalay-si-adag-uga-hadlay-weerarkii-lagu-qaadya-hubaal/)).
- December 2015: in the House debate on a rape law, she called rape a national disaster that needed its own law ([Somaliland Parliament, Hansard 75, 20 December 2015](https://somalilandparliament.net/storage/hansard/1746333764_doc.pdf)).
- 2016 and 2018: she said that without a quota for women there would be no women in the House, and called the failure to adopt one a misfortune ([Somaliland Current, 13 May 2016](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/muslim-womens-changing-dress-code-in-somaliland); [Berbera Today, 31 July 2018](https://berberatoday.com/2018/07/31/waa-ayaan-darro-in-haweenka-lagala-masuugo-kootada-ay-ku-yeelanayaan-barlamaanka-xildhibaan-baar-siciid/)).

## 2021 and after

She welcomed the peaceful conduct of the May 2021 vote ([Hadhwanaag News, 5 June 2021](https://hadhwanaagnews.ca/articles/24687/Xildhibaan-Baar-Siciid-Oo-Ka-Hadashay-Natiijada-Doorashada)). After that [2021 election](/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2021/), the House had no women at all ([African Arguments, 24 January 2022](https://africanarguments.org/2022/01/how-did-somaliland-end-up-with-zero-female-mps/)), until Amina Elmi Farid filled a vacant seat in May 2023 ([Hiiraan Online, 15 May 2023](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191290/amina_elmi_farid_receives_standing_ovation_after_becoming_first_woman_in_somaliland_s_parliament.aspx)). In December 2024 President [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro)](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) appointed her presidential adviser on women's development ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baar_Said_Farah), citing [Caasimada Online, 15 December 2024](https://www.caasimada.net/bayle-oo-xil-sare-looga-magacaabay-xafiiska-madaxweynaha-somaliland/)). For the current House, see [Members of Somaliland's House of Representatives](/en/institutions/members-of-somaliland-house-of-representatives-2021/).

## In short

A Sanaag MP from 2005 to 2021, long the House's lone woman, who pressed for a women's quota and a rape law.


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# Omar Artan (Cumar Cabdulqaadir Cartan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-artan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Abdulkadir Artan (born 6 June 1992 in Mogadishu) is a Somali football referee on FIFA's international list since 2018. He was the first Somali to referee at the Africa Cup of Nations and in a continental club final, and was named CAF Referee of the Year for 2025. Picked for the 2026 World Cup, he was refused entry to the United States in June 2026, then refereed the UEFA Super Cup in August 2026.

## Who is he?

Omar Abdulkadir Artan is a Somali football referee ([Wikipedia, Omar Artan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Artan)). He has been on FIFA's international referees list since 2018 (same source). He was born in Mogadishu on 6 June 1992 (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Career in Africa

He began in Somali local leagues and became a referee in the Somali First Division ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Artan)). In January 2024 he became the first Somali to referee at the Africa Cup of Nations, in a group match between Tunisia and Namibia (same source). He took charge of the 2024–25 CAF Champions League final, won by Pyramids of Egypt over Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa (same source). He was the first referee from Somalia to run a continental final (same source). He was the only referee from sub-Saharan Africa at the 2025 FIFA Under-20 World Cup (same source). He was named CAF Men's Referee of the Year for 2025 (same source).

## The 2026 World Cup

In April 2026 FIFA picked him as one of three centre referees from Africa for the World Cup (same source). He was the first Somali chosen for the tournament (same source). In June 2026 he flew from Istanbul to Miami for a FIFA seminar (same source). US Customs and Border Protection refused him entry, citing "vetting concerns", and sent him back to Istanbul ([Global News, June 2026](https://globalnews.ca/news/11895940/somali-referee-denied-entry-to-us-world-cup/)). A State Department official later told AFP that he was "associated with suspected members of terrorist organisations" (same source). He has not been charged with any offence (same source).

He said he faced an 11-hour interview and was given no clear reason ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Artan)). He called the World Cup "the biggest dream of my life" (same source). FIFA said entry decisions rested with the host government (same source). [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/)'s mayor Olivia Chow said refusing him entry "is not right" (same source). He returned to Mogadishu on 10 June 2026 to a public welcome (same source). FIFA later said he would receive his full tournament fee (same source).

## After the World Cup

On 29 June 2026 he refereed the final match of the Kuwaiti Premier League season (same source). On 7 August he refereed the CECAFA Kagame Cup final in Kigali (same source). On 12 August 2026 he refereed the UEFA Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa in Salzburg (same source). Wikipedia records him as the first African to referee a UEFA competition match (same source). He signed the match ball "This was my World Cup" (same source). In October 2026 Egyptian media reported he had asked to referee in Egypt's Premier League (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born FIFA referee who reached the top of African refereeing, was refused entry to the United States before the 2026 World Cup and refereed the 2026 UEFA Super Cup.


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# Muna Khalif (Muna Kay)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/muna-khalif/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Muna Khalif Yusef, known as Muna Kay, is a Somali-British fashion entrepreneur, founder of the modest-wear label Um Lemar, and a member of Somalia's House of the People for South West State. She won her seat in Baidoa in November 2016 with 41 votes; a court-backed call for a re-run was later overruled by the House.

## Who is she?

Muna Khalif Yusef, widely known as Muna Kay, is a Somali entrepreneur, fashion designer and legislator ([Wikipedia, Muna Khalif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_Khalif)). She founded the clothing brand Um Lemar and sits in the House of the People of Somalia's Federal Parliament for [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia. When the civil war began, her family moved to the United Kingdom ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_Khalif), citing [Iftiimin](http://iftiimin.com/?p=565)). The UN mission in Somalia gives her clan as Tunni ([UNSOM, "Four more MPs elected to the Lower House in Baidoa", 26 November 2016](https://unsom.unmissions.org/four-more-mps-elected-lower-house-baidoa)). She studied nutrition and later took courses in fashion design ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_Khalif)).

## Um Lemar

She is founder and chief executive of Um Lemar, a clothing line for young Muslim women who want fashionable but modest dress. She later started Baby Lemar, a range for babies named after her son ([The Somalia Investor magazine, issue 4, 2015](https://www.joomag.com/magazine/the-somalia-investor-magazine-vol-1i-issue-4i-2015/0526831001452766078?page=38)). By 2016 the brand sold in North America, East Africa and Dubai and made clothes in China (same source). She also heads the Um Lemar Foundation, which trains and mentors women and girls in crafts (same source).

## Election to parliament

In November 2016 she stood for a House of the People seat for South West State in Baidoa and won with 41 votes ([UNSOM, 26 November 2016](https://unsom.unmissions.org/four-more-mps-elected-lower-house-baidoa)). See [Somali parliamentary election, 2016](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-2016/).

An electoral oversight body then called for a re-run, saying she and seven other MPs had not reached the vote threshold, and the Supreme Court upheld it. The House of the People overruled that decision and confirmed the eight members ([Garsoor Online, "Judiciary set for supremacy war as House 'annuls' Court ruling over election of 8 MPs"](http://garsoornews.com/mararkamaantay/judiciary-set-for-supremacy-war-as-house-annuls-court-ruling-over-election-of-8-mps/)). Her name appears among the House members in the parliament's 2017 member list ([Members of the 10th Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2016/)).

## In short

A London-raised fashion founder who became a South West State MP in 2016, after a dispute between the House and the courts over her seat.


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# Ramla Ali (Ramla Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ramla-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ramla Ali (born 16 September 1989) is a Somali-British boxer, model and filmmaker. She came to Britain as a refugee child, became the first boxer to represent Somalia at the Olympics in 2021, and turned professional in 2020. On 8 November 2026 she won the IBF and WBO female super-bantamweight world titles in Arlington, Texas, by split decision.

## Who is she?

Ramla Said Ahmed Ali is a Somali professional boxer, model, filmmaker and campaigner ([Wikipedia, Ramla Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramla_Ali)). She was the first boxer to represent Somalia at the Olympic Games (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

She was born on 16 September 1989 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramla_Ali)). When she was a small child her 12-year-old brother was killed by a mortar while playing outside (same source). Her family then left Somalia and reached Britain through Kenya as refugees (same source). She started boxing as a teenager (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Amateur boxing

She won the 2016 England Boxing Elite national title and the 2016 Great British championship (same source). In 2018 she switched from England to Somalia (same source). She became the first boxer to win an international gold medal for Somalia, and won the 2019 African Zone featherweight title (same source). She competed in the featherweight event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and lost her first bout (same source). She helped set up Somalia's boxing federation in Mogadishu (same source).

## Professional boxing

She turned professional in 2020, the first Somali woman to do so (same source). On 20 August 2022 she won in Jeddah in what she called the first professional women's bout in Saudi Arabia (same source). In 2023 she won and lost an IBF Intercontinental title, then won the WBA International title in Monaco (same source). In June 2024 she lost a WBC world title fight to Yamileth Mercado (same source).

On 8 November 2026 she fought the unbeaten Mikiah Kreps in Arlington, [Texas](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/), for the vacant IBF and WBO titles ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-british-boxer-ramla-ali-wins-first-world-title-with-decision-over-kreps)). She scored the only knockdown, in the third round (same source). Two judges scored for her, 97–92 and 96–93, and one for Kreps, 98–91 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramla_Ali)). Some reports noted that Kreps landed more punches and that the decision drew criticism ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-british-boxer-ramla-ali-wins-first-world-title-with-decision-over-kreps)). She dedicated the win to her father, who died in May 2026 (same source).

## Fashion, writing and film

She has worn ring kits designed by Dior, Off-White, Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Versace and Balenciaga, each with a panther from Somalia's coat of arms ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramla_Ali)). She appeared on the cover of British Vogue in 2019 (same source). Her book Not Without A Fight came out in 2021 (same source). With her husband, Richard Moore, she runs 786 Films (same source). A Film4 feature about her life, In the Shadows, is in production (same source). In 2018 she started The Sisters Club, which offers boxing to Muslim women and to survivors of violence (same source).

## In short

A refugee child who became Somalia's first Olympic boxer and, in November 2026, a world champion, alongside work in fashion, writing and film.


---

# Abdi Nageeye (Cabdi Nageeye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-nageeye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Nageeye (born 2 March 1989 in Dharwanaaje) is a Somali-Dutch marathon runner. He came to the Netherlands as a refugee child, won the Olympic marathon silver medal in Tokyo in 2021 and won the New York City Marathon in November 2024. He holds the Dutch records for the 10 km road race, the half marathon and the marathon.

## Who is he?

Abdi Nageeye is a Somali-Dutch long-distance runner ([Wikipedia, Abdi Nageeye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Nageeye)). He won the marathon silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 New York City Marathon (same source). He holds Dutch records for the 10 km road race, the half marathon and the marathon (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born on 2 March 1989 in Dharwanaaje, Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Nageeye)). At six he was resettled as a refugee in the Netherlands (same source). After four years there he lived with his family in Syria and Somalia (same source). He returned to the Netherlands through Ethiopia and was taken in by a family in Oldebroek (same source). He speaks Somali, Amharic, Arabic, Dutch and English (same source). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Racing career

He finished eighth at the 2016 Boston Marathon and 11th in the Olympic marathon in Rio that year ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Nageeye)). In October 2017 he set a Dutch marathon record of 2:08:16 in Amsterdam (same source). He lowered it to 2:06:17 in Rotterdam in 2019 (same source). He trains partly in Kenya and runs for the NN Running Team (same source).

At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, he won the marathon silver medal in 2:09:58 (same source). In April 2022 he became the first Dutchman to win the Rotterdam Marathon, in 2:04:56 (same source). He placed third at the 2022 New York City Marathon (same source). In 2024 he ran his best time, 2:04:45, in Rotterdam (same source).

## New York, 2024

At the Paris Olympics in August 2024 he dropped out with less than two miles left, slowed by hip pain after a collision ([NPR, 3 November 2024](https://www.npr.org/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5177334/nyc-marathon-2024-results)). Less than three months later, on 3 November 2024, he won the New York City Marathon in 2:07:39 (same source). Evans Chebet of Kenya was six seconds behind (same source). It was his fourth New York race and his first win in a World Marathon Major (same source). He was the first Dutch runner to win in New York (same source). Wikipedia notes he was only the second European man, after [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/), to win a World Marathon Major ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Nageeye)).

## In short

A refugee child from Somalia who became the Netherlands' record holder in the marathon, an Olympic silver medallist and the 2024 New York City Marathon winner.


---

# Amina Mohamed Abdi (Aamina Maxamed Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amina-mohamed-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Amina Mohamed Abdi (1981 to 2022) was a member of Somalia's Federal Parliament from 2012 until her death, first in a women's seat and from 2016 in an open seat for Hiiraan. Known for speaking out against corruption, she was killed by an al-Shabaab suicide bomber in Beledweyne on 23 March 2022 while campaigning for re-election.

## Who was she?

Amina Mohamed Abdi was a member of Somalia's Federal Parliament from 2012 until her death in 2022, as a member of the opposition Union for Peace and Development party ([Wikipedia, Amina Mohamed Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Mohamed_Abdi); [VOA Learning English, 23 January 2021](https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/young-female-somali-lawmaker-fights-corruption-/5743821.html)). VOA described her as a young lawmaker fighting corruption (same source).

## Early life

She went to school in Mogadishu. Reuters reported that, as an eight-year-old, she came home from school to find her house empty and her family gone as fighting broke out; she later lived with an uncle who was himself an MP ([Reuters, 18 January 2021](https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSKBN29N0UG)). Wikipedia gives her clan as Hawiye, Gaaljecel ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Mohamed_Abdi)).

## In parliament

In 2012 she stood for a seat reserved for women and won it against two other candidates ([Reuters, 18 January 2021](https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSKBN29N0UG)). In the [2016 election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-2016/) she won an open seat for [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) (same source). Her name is in the parliament's 2017 member list ([Members of the 10th Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2016/)).

In early 2021 she was preparing to defend her seat against five men ([Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSKBN29N0UG)), but the vote was delayed by disputes over how it would run ([Al Jazeera, 10 February 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/10/what-is-delaying-somalias-election)). She called for an investigation into the disappearance of intelligence officer Ikran Tahlil Farah ([The Guardian, 24 March 2022](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/24/female-opposition-mp-among-dozens-killed-in-somalia-bombings)).

## Death

On 23 March 2022 an [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) suicide bomber attacked the vehicle carrying her and her guards in Beledweyne while she was campaigning for re-election. A second car bomb went off as the wounded were brought to hospital ([The Guardian, 24 March 2022](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/24/female-opposition-mp-among-dozens-killed-in-somalia-bombings)). She was killed, aged 40. The regional leader said 48 people died in the twin bombings ([Reuters, "Death toll from twin Somalia bombings rises to 48"](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/death-toll-somalia-attack-that-killed-lawmaker-rises-15-state-tv-2022-03-24/)). See [The Beledweyne and Mogadishu attacks of 2022](/en/history/beledweyne-mogadishu-attacks-2022/).

## In short

A Hiiraan MP from 2012 to 2022 who spoke against corruption and was killed in the Beledweyne bombing while campaigning.


---

# Islam Feruz

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/islam-feruz/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Islam Feruz (born 10 September 1995) is a Somali-born footballer who played as a centre forward and represented Scotland at youth level. He grew up in Glasgow, came through Celtic's academy, joined Chelsea in 2011 and won the FA Youth Cup in 2012. He was the first player to switch to Scotland under FIFA's school-education rule.

## Who is he?

Islam Salieh Feruz is a footballer who played as a centre forward ([Wikipedia, Islam Feruz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). He was born in Somalia and represented Scotland at youth level (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Somalia on 10 September 1995 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). His family lived in [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and then moved to [London](/en/diaspora/london/) when he was five (same source). They later moved to Glasgow, where he went to Hillhead High School (same source). Wikipedia notes that Wales Online and The Scottish Sun report some uncertainty about his childhood and background (same source). See [Somalis in the United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## Celtic

At age 10 he was spotted by a Celtic youth coach during a kickabout at Castlemilk Sports Centre and joined the academy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). When he was 12, his family faced deportation (same source). Celtic youth coach Tommy Burns campaigned for them to stay, and the family were granted British passports (same source). He first played for Celtic at 14, in Tommy Burns' memorial match in 2009 (same source).

## Chelsea and loans

He turned down a professional contract at Celtic and moved to Chelsea in September 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). Celtic manager Neil Lennon blamed his agents, saying they were "badly advising" him (same source). Chelsea paid £300,000 in compensation (same source).

He scored twice in the first leg of the 2012 FA Youth Cup final, which Chelsea won (same source). He also won the Barclays U21 Premier League in 2013–14 (same source). He never played a competitive first-team match for Chelsea, and the club released him in January 2019 (same source).

He went on loan to OFI in Greece, Blackpool, Hibernian, Royal Excel Mouscron in [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) and Swindon Town ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). Wikipedia gives his total senior career as 23 appearances and no goals (same source). In February 2017 he was fined £3,000 for driving while disqualified (same source).

## Scotland

In 2009 he declared for Scotland. He was the first player to switch under a new FIFA rule for players with five years of schooling in a country before age 18 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). He scored on his under-17 debut against Cyprus at age 14 (same source). In October 2012 he scored a hat-trick for the under-19 team in a 4–3 win over Switzerland (same source). His last Scotland match was for the under-21 team against England on 13 August 2013 (same source).

In May 2012 he posted that he "would love to play in the African Nation Cup" (same source). In 2015 he said, "I want to play for Scotland and I'll be honoured if I'm selected" (same source).

## After football

In April 2020 it was reported that he had left football to start a company selling baseball caps ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Feruz)). In August 2023 he signed with Radnički Niš in Serbia and was released two months later without playing (same source). In 2010 he received the Young Scot Sport Award (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born forward raised in Glasgow who played for Scotland's youth teams and won the FA Youth Cup with Chelsea in 2012.


---

# Marwa Abdi Bashir Hagi (Marwo Cabdi Bashiir Xaaji)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/marwa-abdi-bashir-hagi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Marwa Abdi Bashir Hagi is a member of Somalia's House of the People for Puntland, elected in 2022, and deputy chair of its resources committee. In October 2023 she ran for president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Luanda, the first Somali MP to stand for the post; Tulia Ackson of Tanzania won.

## Who is she?

Marwa Abdi Bashir Hagi is a Somali politician from [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and a member of the House of the People, the lower house of Somalia's Federal Parliament, since 2022 ([Hiiraan Online, "Puntland President supports Somali lawmaker's bid for IPU presidency", 27 October 2023](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/oct/193536/puntland_president_supports_somali_lawmaker_s_bid_for_ipu_presidency.aspx)). She has served as deputy chair of the House's resources committee, and [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported she had more than 15 years of experience working with government agencies (same source).

For the full list of House members named in 2022, see [Members of the House of the People, 2022](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2022/).

## Education

She studied business administration at Algonquin College in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), Canada, and has training in information and communication technology ([Wikipedia, Marwa Abdi Bashir Hagi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwa_Abdi_Bashir_Hagi), citing the [news agencies' union of the OIC, 15 September 2023](https://una-oic.org/reports/2023/09/15/%d9%85%d9%86-%d9%87%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b4%d8%ad%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%88%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%a6%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8/)). She speaks Somali, English and Arabic (same source).

## The 2023 race for IPU president

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, the world body of national parliaments, elected its 31st president in Luanda, Angola, in October 2023 ([IPU, "IPU to elect new President in October 2023"](https://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2023-08/ipu-elect-new-president-in-october-2023)). Four women from Africa stood: Adji Diarra Mergane Kanouté of Senegal, Catherine Gotani Hara of Malawi, Tulia Ackson of [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and Marwa Abdi Bashir Hagi of Somalia ([Hiiraan Online, 27 October 2023](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/oct/193536/puntland_president_supports_somali_lawmaker_s_bid_for_ipu_presidency.aspx)).

Puntland's president [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) backed her bid. There were reports that the Somali government had withdrawn its support for the candidacy, but she confirmed she was still running (same source). Hiiraan Online called it the first time a Somali MP had stood for the post (same source). Tulia Ackson won ([Daily News, Tanzania, "History as IPU picks Tulia", 28 October 2023](https://dailynews.co.tz/history-as-ipu-picks-tulia/)). The IPU president serves three years and must remain a sitting MP throughout ([Hiiraan Online](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/oct/193536/puntland_president_supports_somali_lawmaker_s_bid_for_ipu_presidency.aspx)).

## In short

A Puntland MP since 2022, educated in Ottawa, who was Somalia's first candidate for president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.


---

# Mohamed Osman Jawari (Maxamed Cismaan Jawaari)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Osman Jawari (7 December 1945 to 28 June 2024) was a Somali lawyer and politician from Afgooye. He was a minister under Siad Barre, lived in Norway after 1991, and chaired the experts who drafted the 2012 provisional constitution. In August 2012 he became the first Speaker of the Federal Parliament and briefly acting President. He resigned as Speaker in April 2018 before a no-confidence motion.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Osman Jawari was a Somali lawyer and politician ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Osman Jawari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Osman_Jawari)). He was Speaker of the Federal Parliament from 2012 to 2018 (same source). He was acting President of Somalia from August to September 2012 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life and career

He was born on 7 December 1945 in [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), to a Rahanweyn family ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Osman_Jawari)). He took a law degree at the Somali National University (same source). Under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) he was Minister of Transport, then Minister of Labour and Sports (same source). After the war began in 1991 he went to Norway and received asylum (same source). He returned to Somalia in the 2000s (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## The 2012 constitution

He chaired the committee of experts that drafted Somalia's new constitution, working with UN officials ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Osman_Jawari)). The provisional constitution was adopted in 2012 (same source).

## Speaker and acting president

On 28 August 2012 the new Federal Parliament held its first speaker election inside Somalia in two decades (same source). He won 119 votes in the first round, and the runner-up then withdrew (same source). He said he was "honoured to have been selected as the first speaker of a [Somali] parliament that is not transitional" (same source). The UN envoy Augustine Mahiga called it "a moment of progress and optimism" (same source). As Speaker he was acting President until [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) was elected on 10 September 2012 (same source).

In March 2014 he announced that Central Bank withdrawals would need written approval from parliament's finance committee (same source). In June 2014 his office hosted the agreement that merged two rival plans into one South West State of Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) (same source). See [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/). In October 2014 he reopened the Somali National University with the higher education minister (same source).

## Resignation

In early 2018 a dispute grew between him and the executive under President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) ([Africanews, 9 April 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/04/09/somalia-parliament-speaker-quits-ahead-of-motion-against-him-lawmaker)). On 9 April 2018, as members gathered for a no-confidence motion, his deputy read out his resignation letter (same source). Mohamed Mursal Abdirahman was elected Speaker on 30 April 2018 ([VOA via GlobalSecurity, 30 April 2018](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2018/04/mil-180430-voa05.htm)).

## Death

He died on 28 June 2024, aged 78 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Osman_Jawari)). He spoke Somali, Arabic, Italian, English and Norwegian (same source).

## In short

A lawyer from Afgooye who chaired the drafting of the 2012 provisional constitution, became the first Speaker of the Federal Parliament and was acting President in 2012.


---

# Abdisalam Ibrahim (Cabdisalaam Ibraahim)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdisalam-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdisalam Abdulkadir Ibrahim (born 1 May 1991) is a Somali-born Norwegian footballer who played in midfield. He moved to Norway in 1998, joined Manchester City in 2007 and played in the Premier League in 2010. He won the Norwegian league with Strømsgodset in 2013 and played one friendly for Norway's senior team in 2014.

## Who is he?

Abdisalam Abdulkadir Ibrahim is a footballer who played as a midfielder ([Wikipedia, Abdisalam Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim)). He was born in Somalia and has represented Norway (same source). Wikipedia lists him among people from [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early career

He was born on 1 May 1991 and moved to Norway in 1998 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim)). He played youth football at Øyer-Tretten and then at Fjellhamar in Lørenskog (same source). He made his senior debut for Fjellhamar in 2006 (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Manchester City

He joined Manchester City on 1 July 2007 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim)). In 2008 he won the FA Youth Cup with City, who beat Chelsea 4–2 on aggregate (same source). He made his senior debut in an FA Cup match against Scunthorpe United on 24 January 2010 (same source). His Premier League debut came on 21 February 2010, as a substitute against Liverpool (same source).

He went on loan to Scunthorpe United in 2011 and to NEC in the Netherlands in 2011–12, where he scored once in the Eredivisie (same source). City released him on 22 January 2014 (same source).

## Strømsgodset and the league title

He spent parts of 2012 and 2013 on loan at Strømsgodset ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim)). In 2013 he played 17 matches as the club won the Norwegian top division, his first title as a professional (same source).

## Greece, Norway, Cyprus and Italy

In January 2014 he joined Olympiacos and was loaned to Ergotelis ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim)). In 2015 he signed for Veria (same source). He returned to Norway with Viking in 2016 and Vålerenga in 2017 (same source). He joined Pafos in Cyprus in 2019 and Bisceglie in Italy's Serie C in 2021 (same source). Wikipedia lists his last club as Ullensaker/Kisa (same source).

## Norway and Somalia

He played for Norway at every youth level from under-15 to under-21 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Ibrahim)). He made his senior debut on 15 January 2014, in a 2–1 friendly win away to Moldova (same source). Because he has not played a competitive match for Norway, Wikipedia says he may still be eligible for Somalia (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born Norwegian midfielder who played for Manchester City and won the Norwegian league in 2013.


---

# Ifrah Ahmed (Ifraax Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ifrah-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ifrah Ahmed (born 1989 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-Irish campaigner against female genital cutting. She arrived in Ireland as a refugee in 2006, founded United Youth of Ireland and the Ifrah Foundation, and campaigned for the Irish law that banned the practice in 2012. She later advised Somalia's government on gender and helped draft its national plan to end the practice. The film A Girl from Mogadishu tells her story.

## Who is she?

Ifrah Ahmed is a Somali-Irish social campaigner ([Wikipedia, Ifrah Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrah_Ahmed)). She founded the United Youth of Ireland and the Ifrah Foundation, which works to end female genital cutting (same source). See [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu in 1989 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrah_Ahmed)). At the age of eight she was cut by a relative who was a doctor (same source). She left Somalia at 17, during the war of 2006, and reached Ireland, where she received refugee status in 2006 (same source). She later became an Irish citizen ([UNHCR, Ifrah Ahmed](https://www.unhcr.org/us/prominent-supporters/ifrah-ahmed)). See [Somalis in Ireland](/en/diaspora/ireland/).

At a medical check after her arrival, staff had little experience of women who had been cut ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrah_Ahmed)). Wikipedia says this led her to go back to school and to speak publicly about what had happened to her (same source).

## Campaign in Ireland

In 2010 she set up United Youth of Ireland, a group for young immigrants (same source). She started the Ms Ethnic Ireland pageant to celebrate diversity and raise awareness (same source). Some members of the Somali community objected to her campaign (same source). Working with the Labour member of parliament Joe Costello, she pressed for a ban (same source). Ireland passed the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act in 2012 (same source). The Irish Times credited her campaigning for the law ([Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/fighting-female-genital-mutilation-1.1677851)).

## Work in Somalia

A Somali minister for women invited her to work on child rights programmes at the ministry ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrah_Ahmed)). In 2016 she was appointed gender adviser to the Prime Minister of Somalia (same source). She led an 18-month study of the practice in Somalia and wrote the method for its National Action Plan to end it (same source). In 2018 she made a short documentary about a ten-year-old girl who died after being cut (same source). Wikipedia reports that the case led to Somalia's first prosecution for the practice (same source). See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).

## Film and awards

The film A Girl from Mogadishu, directed by Mary McGuckian, tells her story ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrah_Ahmed)). [Barkhad Abdi](/en/people/barkhad-abdi/) appears in it (same source). It premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival (same source). She won the Women4Africa Humanitarian of the Year award in 2015 and an Irish People of the Year award in 2018 (same source).

## In short

A refugee from Mogadishu who campaigned for Ireland's 2012 ban on female genital cutting and later advised Somalia's government on ending the practice.


---

# Shire Haji Farah (Shire Xaaji Faarax): Dubai businessman and Puntland finance and planning minister

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/shire-haji-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Shire Haji Farah Yusuf (Shire Xaaji Faarax), born in Bosaso in 1950, is a businessman on the executive committee of the Somali Business Council in the UAE. After running for president of Puntland in 2014, he was Puntland's finance minister from January 2014 to June 2015, then minister of planning and international cooperation until February 2019. In April 2014 his ministry announced that Puntland would start taxing UN and international organisations.

## Who is he?

Shire Haji Farah Yusuf (Somali: Shire Xaaji Faarax) is a [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) businessman and politician, born in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) on 5 January 1950. He was Puntland's Minister of Finance and then Minister of Planning and International Relations under President [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali "Gaas"](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) ([Wikipedia, Shire Haji Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)). He is from the Ali Suleiman, Majeerteen, Harti, Darod (same source).

## Business

Wikipedia describes him as a successful entrepreneur and an executive committee member of the Somali Business Council in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/). In November 2013 Somali women held a political event in Dubai in support of his candidacy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)).

## The 2014 election

He stood in the Puntland presidential election held in Garowe on 8 January 2014 and was eliminated in the first round. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, a former prime minister of Somalia, won ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)).

## Finance minister, 2014 to 2015

On 28 January 2014 the new president appointed him finance minister, replacing [Farah Ali Jama](/en/people/farah-ali-jama/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)). In April 2014 his ministry announced that Puntland would begin taxing UN agencies and international organisations working in the state, for the first time. The head of the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) tax department, Abdiwahab Farah Ali, said the money would go to local development projects. The government had already raised taxes on companies operating in Puntland as part of the president's plan to fund more development from its own revenue (same source). See [Taxes in Somalia](/en/economy/taxes-in-somalia/) and [The money of the member states](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

## Planning minister, 2015 to 2019

In June 2015 he moved to the Ministry of Planning and International Relations, and Abdullahi Aarshe became finance minister ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)). In December 2016 he led the Puntland security forces' counter-offensive on [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/), which had been taken by the Islamic State group in Somalia; the town was retaken on 7 December 2016. He then asked those who had fled to "return to the town ... we want to tell them that the town is peaceful" (same source). See [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/).

When the president named a new cabinet on 7 August 2017, after parliament had dismissed the previous one in a no-confidence vote on 18 July, Shire Hajji Farah kept the planning and international cooperation portfolio ([Garowe Online, 7 August 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-president-unveils-his-new-cabinet-ministers)). He held the post until 11 February 2019, when Abdiqafar Hange succeeded him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)). See [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/).

## Sources disagree

- **The date of his move to planning.** Wikipedia's infobox gives both 13 June and 17 June 2015 as the start of his term as planning minister, and the end of his term as finance minister as 13 June 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah)).
- **His ministry's name.** Wikipedia calls it planning and international relations; [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)'s 2017 cabinet list calls it planning and international cooperation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Haji_Farah); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-president-unveils-his-new-cabinet-ministers)).


---

# Zamzam Dahir Mohamud (Zamzam Daahir Maxamuud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zamzam-dahir-mohamud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Zamzam Dahir Mohamud is a senator for Galmudug in the Upper House of Somalia's Federal Parliament. In October 2016 she was reported as the first woman elected to the new 54-seat Upper House, and she is on the Upper House's list of senators of the 11th Parliament.

## Who is she?

Zamzam Dahir Mohamud is a Somali politician who represents [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) state in the Upper House ([Aqalka Sare](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/)) of the Federal Parliament ([Upper House of Somalia, member page](https://senate.gov.so/members/zamzam-dahir-mohamud/?lang=en)). The Upper House's list of senators of the 11th Parliament names her, as "Zamzam Daahir Maxamuud", among Galmudug's eight senators ([Upper House, Senators of the 11th Parliament](https://senate.gov.so/sanatarradab11/)). See [Members of Somalia's Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament/).

## First woman elected to the Upper House

The Upper House was created in 2016, with 54 seats shared among the federal member states rather than by clan ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). Its first members were elected from 10 October 2016 ([Wikipedia, 2016 Somali parliamentary election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Somali_parliamentary_election)).

On 18 October 2016 the news site This Is Africa reported that she had become the first woman elected to the new 54-member Upper House, representing Galmudug ([This Is Africa, "Zamzam Dahir Mohamud becomes first woman elected Senator", 18 October 2016](https://thisisafrica.me/politics-and-society/somalia-zamzam-dahir-mohamud-becomes-first-woman-elected-senator/)). The same report noted that [Jawahir Ahmed](/en/people/jawahir-ahmed/) Elmi became the second woman elected to the Upper House for Galmudug (same source). Radio [Dalsan](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported on the opening of the Upper House elections that week ([Radio Dalsan, 16 October 2016](https://www.radiodalsan.com/upper-house-elections-kicks-off-in-somalia/)). Wikipedia's article on her dates the milestone to 2023 instead ([Wikipedia, Zamzam Dahir Mohamud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Dahir_Mohamud)).

## The 11th Parliament

In August 2021 Galmudug elected six senators for the 11th Parliament, two of them women, under Somalia's 30% quota for women in parliament ([Hiiraan Online, "Galmudug state elects six senators including two women"](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2021/aug/183538/galmudug_state_elects_six_senators_including_two_women.aspx); [Somali Dispatch, 12 August 2021](https://www.somalidispatch.com/latest-news/six-senators-elected-in-galmudug/)). The Upper House's own list places her among Galmudug's senators of that parliament, which was sworn in on 14 April 2022 ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). Her name is also in Wikipedia's list of the Upper House as of 2017 ([Members of the 10th Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2016/)).

## In short

A Galmudug senator, reported in 2016 as the first woman elected to Somalia's Upper House, and still sitting in the 11th Parliament.


---

# Farah Ali Jama "Farah Ali Shire" (Faarax Cali Jaamac): Puntland finance minister, 2009 to 2014

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/farah-ali-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Farah Ali Jama, also known as Farah Ali Shire (Faarax Cali Jaamac), is a Puntland economist and politician from Bosaso who was finance minister under President Abdirahman Farole from January 2009 to January 2014. In October 2013 he signed a $10 million Kuwaiti grant for Garowe airport and Maakhir University. He ran for president of Puntland in 2009, 2014 and 2019, and joined the Mideeye party in 2020.

## Who is he?

Farah Ali Jama (Somali: Faarax Cali Jaamac), also known as Farah Ali Shire, is a [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) economist and politician. He was born in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and is from the Bari region. He was Puntland's Minister of Finance from 28 January 2009 to 28 January 2014, under President [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/) ([Wikipedia, Farah Ali Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Ali_Jama)). He is from the Ali Suleiman, Majeerteen, Darod, and had earlier lived in Australia (same source).

## Finance minister, 2009 to 2014

He was appointed on 28 January 2009, succeeding Mohamed Ali Yusuf ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Ali_Jama)).

**Garowe airport and [Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) University.** Through its representative in [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), Faisal Hawar, the Puntland government signed a $10 million agreement in Dubai with a Kuwaiti company to build facilities at Garowe airport and at Maakhir University, financed by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. In October 2013 Farah Ali Jama and the fund's deputy director, Hamad Al-Omar, signed a follow-up grant agreement in Kuwait: $6 million for the airport and the rest for the university ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Ali_Jama), citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and the Kuwait Fund). In June 2017 Garowe Online reported that the second phase of Kuwaiti funding had been delayed, and that President [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) paid $2.5 million to the Turkish contractor to finish the airport, from a $10 million bonus paid by DP World after its Bosaso port agreement ([Garowe Online, 19 June 2017](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-government-hands-over-funds-to-complete-infrastructure-projects)).

His term ended on 28 January 2014, when the new president, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, appointed [Shire Haji Farah](/en/people/shire-haji-farah/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Ali_Jama)).

## After office

In September 2017, while visiting England, he told Garowe Online that Puntland faced "unprecedented challenges in its history since establishment in 1998", including a currency crisis. He linked it to new 1,000-shilling banknotes printed in Bosaso under President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, which he called false, and said the Farole government had handled inflation without printing currency. He said: "In terms of a country's development, Security should be first, people should be able to sleep and invest in peace." Garowe Online reported protests in parts of Puntland after the government refused to accept taxes from businesses in Somali shillings ([Garowe Online, 9 September 2017](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-farah-ali-shire-speaks-on-the-security-and-financial-crisis-in-puntland)). See [The Somali shilling and the dollar](/en/economy/somali-shilling-and-the-dollar/) and [The money of the member states](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

He ran for president of Puntland in 2009, 2014 and 2019 without winning, and joined the Mideeye party in 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Ali_Jama)).

## Sources disagree

- **His name.** Wikipedia uses Farah Ali Jama and notes he is also known as Farah Ali Shire; Garowe Online calls him Farah Ali Shire ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Ali_Jama); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-farah-ali-shire-speaks-on-the-security-and-financial-crisis-in-puntland)).


---

# Magid Magid (Majiid Majiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/magid-magid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Magid Magid (born 26 June 1989 in Burao) is a British politician and activist. He came to Britain as a refugee child in 1994 and grew up in Sheffield. He was elected a Green Party councillor in 2016 and was Lord Mayor of Sheffield from May 2018 to May 2019, the youngest holder and the first of Somali birth. From 2019 to 2020 he was a Green member of the European Parliament.

## Who is he?

Magid Magid is a British activist and politician of Somali birth ([Wikipedia, Magid Magid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magid_Magid)). He was Lord Mayor of Sheffield from May 2018 to May 2019 (same source). He was then a member of the European Parliament until January 2020 (same source). This page covers his public role and takes no side in party politics.

## Early life

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), in the Togdheer region, on 26 June 1989 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magid_Magid)). In 1994 his mother left with her six children (same source). They spent six months in a refugee camp in Ethiopia before reaching Britain (same source). The family settled in Burngreave, Sheffield, and his mother worked as a cleaner (same source). See [Somalis in Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/) and [refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

He studied aquatic zoology at the University of Hull, where he was elected president of the students' union (same source). He later worked in digital marketing and for the housing charity Shelter (same source).

## Sheffield

He joined the Green Party in 2014 and was elected a Sheffield city councillor in 2016 (same source). He was Deputy Lord Mayor from 2017 to 2018 (same source). On 16 May 2018 the council swore him in as Lord Mayor, a ceremonial post (same source). He was 28, the youngest person to hold the role ([Newstalk, May 2018](https://www.newstalk.com/Former-refugee-sworn-in-as-Lord-Mayor-of-Sheffield-in-UK)). He was also the first Somali and the first Green Party councillor in the post ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magid_Magid)).

As Lord Mayor he named rapper Otis Mensah as Sheffield's first poet laureate (same source). He set a fundraising target of 100,000 pounds for three local charities (same source). His inauguration portrait and his statements on Donald Trump drew wide media attention (same source). He said most responses were positive, though he also received racist comments (same source).

## European Parliament

In May 2019 he was elected a Green member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber, with 13 percent of the vote ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magid_Magid)). He sat on the civil liberties committee (same source). His seat ended when the United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020 (same source).

## Later work

He founded Union of Justice, a group working on racial and climate justice (same source). He published The Art of Disruption in 2020 (same source). The University of York gave him an honorary doctorate in 2023 (same source).

## In short

A refugee child from Burao who became Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 2018 and a member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020.


---

# Mohammed Ahmed (Maxamed Axmed, runner)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohammed-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohammed Ahmed (born 5 January 1991) is a Somali-born Canadian long-distance runner and four-time Olympian. He won bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2019 World Championships and silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the first Canadian medals in that event at both. He was born in Mogadishu, grew up partly in Ceel Afweyn and Kenya, and moved to Canada at 11.

## Who is he?

Mohammed Ahmed is a Canadian long-distance runner and a four-time Olympian ([Wikipedia, Mohammed Ahmed (runner)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahmed_(runner))). Wikipedia calls him his country's most successful athlete in long-distance racing (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 5 January 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahmed_(runner))). He was raised in [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), a town in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) (same source). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. His family then moved to Kenya, and to St. Catharines, Ontario, when he was 11 (same source). He began running at 13 after watching his brothers run at school (same source). See [Somalis in Canada](/en/diaspora/canada/).

## Youth and college

He won the Canadian junior 5000 m title four times and a Pan American junior title ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahmed_(runner))). He studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating in 2014, and earned eleven NCAA All-American awards (same source). He ran the 10,000 m at the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Olympics in 2012 and finished eighteenth (same source).

## Medals

- **2015:** gold in the 10,000 m at the Pan American Games in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahmed_(runner))).
- **2016:** fourth in the 5000 m at the Rio Olympics, 1.5 seconds from bronze (same source).
- **2018:** two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, in the 5000 m and 10,000 m (same source).
- **2019:** bronze in the 5000 m at the World Championships in Doha, the first for a Canadian (same source).
- **2021:** silver in the 5000 m at the Tokyo Olympics, the first Canadian Olympic medal at that distance (same source).
- **2024:** fourth in the 10,000 m at the Paris Olympics (same source).

## Records

On 10 July 2020 he ran 12:47.20 for the 5000 m in [Portland](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/), a Canadian record ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahmed_(runner))). Wikipedia lists this as the eleventh-fastest 5000 m in history (same source). He also set Canadian records in the 10,000 m, including 27:02.35 at the 2017 World Championships (same source). In 2018 he was nominated for Sports Person of the Year at the International Somali Awards (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born Canadian runner who won Olympic silver in the 5000 m in 2021 and world bronze in 2019.


---

# Ayub Daud (Ayuub Daa'uud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ayub-daud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ayub Daud (born 24 February 1990) is a Somali former footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder for Juventus and the Somalia national team. He moved to Italy at five, was top scorer at the 2009 Viareggio youth tournament with Juventus, and played one Serie A match for Juventus in March 2009 before loans in Italy and a move to Hungary.

## Who is he?

Ayub Daud is a Somali former professional footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder ([Wikipedia, Ayub Daud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Daud)). He played for the Somalia national team (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Somalia on 24 February 1990 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Daud)). His father, Daud Hussein, played for the Somalia national team (same source). At five he moved with his family to Cuneo, in Italy (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Juventus

He joined the Juventus youth system in 2000 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Daud)). He made his debut for the Primavera (under-20) team in 2007–08 (same source). At the 2009 Viareggio Tournament he scored 20 goals and was the tournament's top scorer (same source).

On 14 March 2009 he made his first-team debut, replacing Sebastian Giovinco in the final minutes of a 4–1 Serie A win over Bologna ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Daud)).

## Loans and Hungary

In August 2009 he went on loan to Crotone and returned to Juventus in January 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Daud)). He was then loaned to Lumezzane, and from January 2011 to Gubbio (same source). In August 2013 he left Italy to join Budapest Honvéd in Hungary (same source).

## In short

A Somali forward raised in Italy who played in Serie A for Juventus in 2009 and for the Somalia national team.


---

# Mustafa Mohamed (Mustafe Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mustafa-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mustafa Hassan Mohamed (born 1 March 1979) is a Somali-born Swedish long-distance runner. Born in Mogadishu, he moved to Sweden at 11. He ran the steeplechase at the 2004 Olympics, set a Swedish 3000 m steeplechase record of 8:05.75 in 2007, and in 2020 broke the Swedish marathon record with 2:10:03 in Seville.

## Who is he?

Mustafa Hassan Mohamed is a Swedish long-distance runner who mainly ran the 3000 m steeplechase ([Wikipedia, Mustafa Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Mohamed)). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu in 1979 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Mohamed)). At 11 he moved to Sweden and later became a Swedish citizen (same source). He lives in Lysekil and runs for the club Hälle IF (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Steeplechase

He was eighth at the 1998 World Junior Championships ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Mohamed)). He ran 8:18.05 in the steeplechase at the 2004 Athens Olympics (same source). He was tenth at the 2005 World Championships and fourth at the 2006 European Championships (same source).

On 28 July 2007 he ran 8:05.75, breaking a Swedish record that had stood for 31 years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Mohamed)). Later that season he was fourth at the World Championships (same source).

## Cross country and track titles

At the Nordic Cross Country Championships he won bronze as a junior in 1997, silver in 2003 and gold in 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Mohamed)). He won bronze at the 2006 European Cross Country Championships (same source). At the 2010 Swedish championships he won the steeplechase, 5000 m and 10,000 m, the second man to do so after Dan Glans in 1976 (same source).

## Marathon

He ran his first marathon in Hamburg in 2012, in 2:12:28 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Mohamed)). In 2020 in Seville he ran 2:10:03, breaking a Swedish marathon record that had stood for 36 years (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born Swedish runner who set national records in the steeplechase in 2007 and the marathon in 2020.


---

# Zahra Bani (Zahra Baani)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zahra-bani/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zahra Bani (born 31 December 1979) is a Somali-born Italian javelin thrower. Born in Mogadishu to an Italian father and a Somali mother, she moved to Turin in 1989. Her best throw, 62.75 metres at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, ranks second on Italy's all-time list. She won 17 Italian senior titles and retired in 2022 to coach in Turin.

## Who is she?

Zahra Bani is a Somali-born Italian javelin thrower ([Wikipedia, Zahra Bani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Bani)). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

She was born in Mogadishu on 31 December 1979, to an Italian father and a Somali mother ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Bani)). In 1989 her family moved to Turin (same source). She first played volleyball before she took up the javelin (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Career

Her best throw is 62.75 metres, at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Bani)). That puts her second on the Italian all-time list, behind Claudia Coslovich (same source). From 2005 she had health problems that affected her results (same source).

She won 17 Italian senior titles ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Bani)):

- Italian Athletics Championships, javelin: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2021.
- Italian Winter Throwing Championships, javelin: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017.

She retired in 2022 and coaches in Turin (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born javelin thrower who won 17 Italian titles and ranks second on Italy's all-time list.


---

# Jawahir Roble (Jawaahir Rooble)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jawahir-roble/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jawahir Roble (born 1995), known as JJ, is a Somali-born British football referee who grew up in north-west London. She began refereeing through the Middlesex FA in 2013 while working to bring Muslim girls into football, and referees wearing a hijab. She was on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2019 and was appointed MBE in 2023.

## Who is she?

Jawahir Roble, also known as Jawahir Jewels or JJ, is a Somali-born British football referee ([Wikipedia, Jawahir Roble](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Roble)). *The Daily Telegraph* called her "the most remarkable referee in England" (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia in 1995 and grew up in north-west London with her parents and eight siblings ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Roble)). She has said, "We always played football in the garden, in the house, outside, everywhere" (same source). She is a Muslim and wears a hijab when refereeing (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Refereeing

In 2013 she won a £300 grant to get Muslim girls playing football, and worked with the Middlesex FA ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Roble)). In September 2013 the Middlesex FA Women's League opened a new division for girls (same source). In return for refereeing games every week, the Middlesex FA paid for her referee training (same source).

In 2014, aged 19, she wrote: "I have a dream that one day my fellow Muslim sisters will happily play sport" (same source). She has said, "Who would ever think a black, Somali-born immigrant girl with eight siblings could ref a men's game in England with a hijab on?" (same source).

## Honours

In 2017 she won the Match Official prize at the FA's Respect Awards, for her volunteering with the charity Football Beyond Borders and the Middlesex FA ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Roble)). She was on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2019 (same source). She was appointed MBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to football (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born referee in London who works to bring Muslim girls into football, BBC 100 Women in 2019 and MBE in 2023.


---

# Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmaajo (born 1962), was Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2010 to June 2011 and President from February 2017 to May 2022. Born in Mogadishu, he spent many years in Buffalo, New York, as a public servant before returning to Somali politics.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmaajo, was President of Somalia from 2017 to 2022. Before that he was Prime Minister for eight months in 2010 and 2011 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)). The nickname comes from the Italian word for cheese ([Africanews, 28 February 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/02/28/profile-somalia-s-cheese-president-mohammed-abdullahi-mohammed-farmajo)).

## Early life

He was born on 11 March 1962 in Mogadishu. His parents were members of the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/). His father worked as a civil servant in the transport department in the 1970s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)). His family is Mareehaan (Darood) (same source).

## Diplomat and public servant in the United States

He worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1985, then as First Secretary at the Somali embassy in Washington until 1988 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)). He stayed in the United States, studied history at the University at Buffalo and graduated in 1993. He later earned a master's degree in political science there (same source).

In Buffalo he worked in public service: on the city housing authority, for Erie County on minority business, and from 2002 as Commissioner for Equal Employment at the New York State Department of Transportation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)).

## Prime Minister, 2010 to 2011

President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) named him Prime Minister on 15 October 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)). He resigned in June 2011 under the [Kampala Accord](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) between the President and the Speaker (same source). He then founded the Tayo party.

## President, 2017 to 2022

On 8 February 2017 parliament elected him President. The vote was held in a hangar at Mogadishu airport for security reasons ([UN Africa Renewal](https://africarenewal.un.org/en/magazine/farmaajo-inaugurated-ninth-president-somalia)). He was sworn in as the ninth President later that month (same source). In 2019 he gave up his US citizenship ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)).

His term was due to end in February 2021. In April 2021 parliament's lower house voted to extend his term by two years. Clashes followed in Mogadishu, and 60,000 to 100,000 people fled their homes. He then dropped the extension and returned to election talks ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdullahi_Mohamed)). In May 2022 parliament elected [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), and Farmaajo handed over power (same source).

This page records his public role only.


---

# Yusuf Osman Samatar (Barda'ad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-osman-samatar-bardaad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Yusuf Osman Samatar, known as Barda'ad (1932 to 2020), was a Somali lawyer, leader of the left-wing Somali Democratic Union and a member of parliament until the 1969 coup. He was then held without charge or trial for most of the next twenty years, much of it in solitary confinement; Amnesty International called him one of the longest-held prisoners of conscience it knew of. He was freed in February 1989.

## Who was he?

Yusuf Osman Samatar, known as Barda'ad, was a Somali lawyer, party leader and member of Somalia's parliament in the 1960s ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Osman Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Osman_Samatar)). After the military took power in 1969 he was detained for most of the following two decades; Wikipedia calls him the longest-serving political prisoner in Somalia's history (same source).

## Early life

He was born in the [Nugaal region](/en/regions/nugaal/) on 15 March 1932, into the Majeerteen clan, according to Wikipedia. He studied political science at the University of Rome, then returned to Somalia in the 1950s and took a law degree ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Osman_Samatar)).

## Party leader and MP

He joined the nationalist [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) and, after independence, helped found the country's first socialist party. He was secretary-general of the Somali Democratic Union (SDU), formed in 1962, which won 15 seats in the [1964 election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1964/), behind the Somali Youth League and the SNC ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Osman_Samatar)). He sat in parliament until the October 1969 coup, after which the new government banned the SDU (same source).

## Prisoner without trial

He was first arrested in 1969 and arrested again in 1975, and held without charge or trial under the Detention Law, which gave no independent review or right of appeal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Osman_Samatar)). From May 1975 he was kept in solitary confinement in Labatan Jirow maximum-security prison, for his non-violent criticism of the government and his refusal to join the ruling Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, according to Amnesty International material on Refworld ([Refworld](http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ace034.html)). Wikipedia, drawing on Amnesty, says he was denied medical care, family visits, lawyers and letters. He was released in February 1989; Amnesty then described him as "one of the longest held prisoners of conscience" known to it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Osman_Samatar)). See [The Somali Democratic Republic, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).

## Later life

In 1994 he moved with his family to Boston. In the early 2000s he returned to politics as an adviser to [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), later president of Somalia ([Bay State Banner, 3 May 2007](http://www.baystate-banner.com/issues/2007/05/03/news/local05030715.htm)). He was married to Maryan Muse Boqor (same source). He died in February 2020 ([Somalia Online, 19 February 2020](https://www.somaliaonline.com/community/topic/163856-somalias-longest-political-prisoner-yusuf-osman-bardaad-has-passed-away/)).

## In short

An SDU leader and 1960s MP who spent almost twenty years in detention without trial after 1969, and lived his last years in Boston.


---

# Liban Abdi (Liibaan Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/liban-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Liban Abdi Ali (born 5 October 1988) is a footballer from Burao who plays as a left winger. He grew up in Oslo, moved to England at 14 and became the first Somali to get a professional contract at Sheffield United. He went on to play for Ferencváros in Hungary, Olhanense in Portugal and FK Haugesund in Norway.

## Who is he?

Liban Abdi Ali is a footballer who plays as a left winger ([Wikipedia, Liban Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdi)). He has played in England, Hungary, Portugal and Norway (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in 1988 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdi)). He grew up mostly in Oslo, in the eastern borough of Stovner, and holds Norwegian citizenship (same source). At 14 he moved with his family to England (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Sheffield United

After spells at Newport Pagnell Town and Buckingham Town, he moved to Sheffield with help from the Football Unites, Racism Divides programme ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdi)). He joined Sheffield United's academy and was the first Somali to win a professional contract there (same source). He signed a two-year contract in 2008 and spent the next season on loan at Ferencváros, the club's Hungarian partner (same source). Sheffield United released him in July 2010 (same source). See [Somalis in Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/).

## Hungary, Portugal and Norway

He then joined Ferencváros permanently for two seasons ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdi)). In 2012 he moved to Olhanense in Portugal's Primeira Liga (same source). He later played for FK Haugesund in Norway (same source).

## International football

He has not played for any national team ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdi)). He said he wanted to play for Norway, but in 2012 Norway's coach Egil Olsen said he was not good enough for the squad (same source). In September 2018 he said he would not play for Somalia, but would try to help the country off the pitch (same source).

## In short

A Burao-born winger raised in Oslo who was Sheffield United's first Somali professional and played in Hungary and Portugal.


---

# Mohamud Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji (Maxamuud Siraaji)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamud-siraji/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Mohamud Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji is a Somali politician who grew up in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camps, studied at York University in Toronto, and won a Jubaland seat in the House of the People in a by-election on 15 February 2018, after his brother, public works minister Abbas Siraji, was shot dead in 2017. In December 2018 he became chair of the House budget and finance committee.

## Who is he?

Mohamud Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji is a Somali politician elected for [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament on 15 February 2018 ([Radio Dalsan, "Slain minister Siraji's brother Mohamud wins Jubbaland by-election"](https://radiodalsan.com/en/slain-minister-sirajis-brother-mohamud-wins-jubbaland-by-election/)). He is the younger brother of Abbas Abdullahi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Siraji, minister of public works and reconstruction, who was shot dead in Mogadishu in May 2017 ([The New York Times, 4 May 2017](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/world/africa/abbas-abdullahi-sheikh-siraji-shot-somalia.html)).

## Early life

When he was a small child his family fled the civil war and moved to the [Dadaab refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/) in north-eastern Kenya, through Liboi ([Wikipedia, Mohamud Siraji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Siraji); [CBC, "Refugee camp influx", 24 July 2011](http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2068112236)). He went to primary and secondary school in Ifo camp, at Dadaab, and on the strength of his national exam results won a scholarship to study commerce at York University in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Siraji)). He was active in student organisations there (same source).

## The 2018 by-election

His brother Abbas, a former refugee seen as a "rising star", was killed in May 2017 ([The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/world/africa/abbas-abdullahi-sheikh-siraji-shot-somalia.html)). After a nine-month wait for the by-election, Mohamud won the vacated seat on 15 February 2018 ([Halbeeg News, 15 February 2018](https://en.halbeeg.com/2018/02/15/mohamud-siraaji-wins-the-parliamentary-seat-vacated-by-his-slain-brother/)).

## In the House

On 26 December 2018 he was elected chair of the House committee on budget, finance, planning and oversight of public institutions ([Goobjoog News, 26 December 2018](https://goobjoog.com/english/mohamud-siraji-appointed-as-the-new-chairman-finance-committee/)). The committee's earlier leaders had been removed after a report claiming more than $42 million was missing from finance ministry accounts ([The African Exponent](https://www.africanexponent.com/post/9418-somalia-finance-ministry-under-fire-over-unaccounted-42million)); the parliament later apologised, calling that report wrong ([The African Exponent](https://www.africanexponent.com/post/9438-deputy-speaker-of-somalia-parliament-says-debate-on-missing-funds-totally-over-usd-40m-was-a-mistake)).

In October 2018 he spoke at the Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition in Madrid ([FAO](http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/global-parliamentary-summit/news-in-the-media/detail-events/en/c/1161395/)), and he then joined the House's food security and nutrition committee, formed in March 2019, and the East Africa Parliamentary Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Siraji); [EAPA FSN](https://eapa-fsn.org/)).

## In short

A Dadaab-raised Jubaland MP who took his slain brother's seat in 2018 and chaired the House finance committee.


---

# Mahmoud Soufi (Maxmuud Suufi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mahmoud-soufi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mahmoud Yassen Soufi (died 2 June 2019) was a Mogadishu-born footballer who played for Qatar. He played for Qatar's national team from 1988 to 1999, scoring 31 goals in 83 matches, and helped win Qatar's first Gulf Cup in 1992. He holds the record for most World Cup qualifying goals by a Qatar player, 12. A pitch at Aspire Zone is named after him.

## Who was he?

Mahmoud Soufi was a naturalised Qatari footballer who played for Al-Gharafa in the 1980s and for [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/)'s national team in the 1980s and 1990s ([Wikipedia, Mahmoud Soufi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Soufi)). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu and moved to Qatar as a young adult ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Soufi)). He first played basketball for [Al-Ittihad](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/), and was advised to switch to football by [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Hamad bin Jassim bin Faisal Al Thani (same source).

## Club career

He joined Al-Gharafa in 1984–85 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Soufi)). He was joint top scorer of the Qatari league in 1990–91 with 8 goals and in 1993–94 with 9 (same source). With Al-Gharafa he won the Qatar Stars League in 1991–92 and 1997–98 and the Emir of Qatar Cup four years running, 1995 to 1998 (same source). He moved to Al-Arabi in 1998 and also played for Al-Sadd and Muaither (same source).

## Qatar national team

He played for Qatar from 1988 to 1999, scoring 31 goals in 83 matches ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Soufi)). He helped Qatar win its first Arabian Gulf Cup in 1992, scoring against [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (same source). He scored 12 goals in 20 World Cup qualifiers, a Qatari record (same source).

Wikipedia says that after he retired his Qatari citizenship was withdrawn and he had to return to Somalia (same source).

## Death and memory

He died on 2 June 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Soufi)). For the FIFA U-17 World Cup, Pitch 8 at Doha's Aspire Zone was named after him (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born striker who scored 31 goals for Qatar and won the 1992 Gulf Cup.


---

# Sadak Joon (Saadaq Cumar Xasan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sadak-joon/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Sadak Omar Hassan, known as Sadak Joon, is a Somali MP and former police commander. He headed the Banadir regional police until April 2021, when President Farmaajo removed him and stripped his rank after he said he had blocked a parliament session on extending the government's term. In January 2022 he won House of the People seat 248 for Galmudug in Dhusamareb with 81 votes.

## Who is he?

Sadak Omar Hassan (Saadaq Cumar Xasan), known as Sadak Joon or Saadaq John, is a member of the House of the People of Somalia's 11th Federal Parliament and a former commander of the Banadir regional police in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Sadak Omar Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadak_Omar_Hassan)). The election team's list of 2022 names him as "Saadaq Cumar Xasan (Saadaq Joon)", [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) seat GSH#248 ([FEIT results list, via Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx)); see [Members of the House of the People, 2022](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2022/).

## Early life

[BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) reports that he was born in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, moved to Mogadishu in early 1993, crossed to Kenya in 2002 and then went to South Africa and on to [London](/en/diaspora/london/). He returned to Somalia in 2014 ([BBC Somali, "Waa kuma Saadaq Joon?"](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-56716810)).

## Security posts

After returning he held several posts, including commander of the [National Intelligence and Security Agency](/en/institutions/nisa/) (NISA) in Galmudug. In 2017 he was named NISA commander for the Banadir region, and later commander of the Banadir regional police ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-56716810)). The former NISA director Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbalooshe told the BBC he had chosen him for his courage and hard work (same source). Wikipedia dates his police command to 2019 to 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadak_Omar_Hassan)).

## The April 2021 stand-off

In April 2021, as parliament met to vote on a disputed two-year extension of the government's term, he issued an order saying he had stopped the session, and told MPs to hold elections in their home areas ([BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-56716810)). The same day he was removed as Banadir police commander, and President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo stripped him of his military ranks and rights; Farhan Qaroole replaced him (same source). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported criticism of the stripping of his rank as unlawful ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/darajo-ka-xayuubinta-saadaq-joon-oo-lagu-sifeeyay-sharci-daro)). In August 2022 the next president restored his rank ([Hiiraan Online, August 2022](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2022/Aug/wararka_maanta15-182112.htm)).

## Election to parliament

In January 2022 he was elected to the House of the People in Dhusamareb, Galmudug, with 81 votes against 17 for Abdullahi Hirsi Dirshe; two votes were spoiled. The seat had been held for the previous five years by Upper House deputy speaker Abshir Bukhari ([VOA Somali, 27 January 2022](https://www.voasomali.com/a/6414686.html); [Radio Dalsan](https://www.radiodalsan.com/saadaq-joon-oo-ku-guuleystay-doorashada-kursi-ka-tirsan-golaha-shacabka/)).

## In short

A Mogadishu police chief removed in 2021 for opposing a term extension, who then won a Galmudug seat in parliament in 2022.


---

# Zamzam Mohamed Farah (Samsam Maxamed Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zamzam-mohamed-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zamzam Mohamed Farah (born 19 March 1991) is a Somali 400 m runner from Mogadishu. She was one of two Somali athletes at the London 2012 Olympics and carried the flag. She trained in Mogadishu without proper facilities, ran her heat in 1:20.48 while fasting, and said afterwards she had received death threats. She said, 'Somalia is not dead. It's alive.'

## Who is she?

Zamzam Mohamed Farah is a Somali athlete from Mogadishu who runs the 400 metres ([Wikipedia, Zamzam Mohamed Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Mohamed_Farah)). She was one of only two Somali athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and Somalia's flag bearer (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Training in Mogadishu

She was born on 19 March 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Mohamed_Farah)). She has said [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) inspired her to run (same source). Her training grounds lacked proper equipment, and she and her teammates trained outdoors on a route they called "the road of death" (same source).

## London 2012

She ran her 400 m heat in 1:20.48, about 30 seconds behind the winner, and was the slowest finisher of the first round ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Mohamed_Farah)). She was fasting for Ramadan while she competed (same source). During the Games she received death threats online (same source). Wikipedia says she did not apply for asylum, despite some reports (same source).

She said: "The most important thing is being able to carry the Somali flag with 203 other countries in the Olympics. That in itself is success" (same source). She also said: "Somalia is not dead. It's alive" (same source). See [Samia Yusuf Omar](/en/people/samia-yusuf-omar/), who ran for Somalia in 2008.

## In short

A Mogadishu runner who carried Somalia's flag at the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) 2012 Olympics and ran the 400 metres.


---

# Abdi Abdirahman (Cabdixakiin Cabdiraxmaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdihakem-abdirahman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdihakim 'Abdi' Abdirahman (born 1 January 1977) is a Somali-born American long-distance runner and five-time Olympian. Born in Mogadishu, he grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He ran the 10,000 m at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics and the marathon in 2012 and 2020. In 2020, at 43, he became the oldest American runner to make an Olympic team.

## Who is he?

Abdihakim "Abdi" Abdirahman is an American long-distance runner and a five-time Olympian, in the 10,000 metres and the marathon ([Wikipedia, Abdihakem Abdirahman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdihakem_Abdirahman)). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 1 January 1977 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdihakem_Abdirahman)). He graduated from Tucson High School in [Arizona](/en/diaspora/phoenix/) in 1995, then studied at Pima Community College and the University of Arizona (same source). He became a US citizen in 2000 (same source). See [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Track

He was Pacific-10 Conference cross country athlete of the year in 1998 and second at the NCAA championships that year ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdihakem_Abdirahman)). He ran five straight World Cross Country Championships from 2000 to 2004 (same source). He was tenth in the 10,000 m at the 2000 Olympics and fifteenth in 2004 (same source). In 2008 he won the 10,000 m at the US Olympic Trials (same source). His best 10,000 m time is 27:16.99, set in June 2008 (same source).

## Marathon

He qualified for the 2012 Olympic marathon but withdrew before halfway with a knee injury ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdihakem_Abdirahman)). He was third at the New York City Marathon in 2016, in 2:11:23 (same source). At the 2020 US Olympic Trials he was third in 2:10:03, which at 43 made him the oldest American runner to qualify for an Olympic team (same source). He finished 41st in the Tokyo Olympic marathon (same source). He was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born American runner who went to five Olympics and qualified for the last at 43.


---

# Amin Askar (Amiin Caskar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amin-askar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amin Soleiman Askar (born 1 October 1985) is an Ethiopian-born footballer with Somali and Norwegian citizenship who has lived in Norway since he was two. A defender and midfielder, he played in Norway's top division for Fredrikstad, Brann and Sarpsborg 08. He represented Norway at youth level and in 2013 chose Ethiopia at senior level.

## Who is he?

Amin Soleiman Askar is a footballer who was born in Ethiopia and represented Norway at youth level ([Wikipedia, Amin Askar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Askar)). He holds Norwegian and Somali citizenship, and has lived in Norway since he was two (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Club career

He has played in several positions, including defence and midfield ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Askar)). On 27 March 2009 he signed a two-year contract with Fredrikstad (same source). Before the 2012 season he joined Brann, of Norway's top division (same source). Before the 2015 season he went on loan to Sarpsborg 08 (same source). He later played for Sprint-Jeløy (same source).

## International football

In 2013 he chose to play for Ethiopia at senior level ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Askar)). He was due to make his debut against Nigeria in the play-offs for the 2014 World Cup, but his paperwork did not arrive in time (same source).

## In short

An Ethiopian-born footballer with Somali and Norwegian citizenship who played for Fredrikstad, Brann and Sarpsborg 08.


---

# Abdulsamed Abdullahi (Cabdisamad Axmad Cabdullaahi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulsamed-abdullahi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulsamed Ahmed Abdullahi (born 19 January 1997) is a Dutch-born footballer of Somali descent who plays in midfield and captains the Somalia national team. He signed his first professional contract with FC Den Bosch in 2019 and later played for Arsenal Tivat in Montenegro. He played in Somalia's 1–0 World Cup qualifying win over Zimbabwe in September 2019.

## Who is he?

Abdulsamed Ahmed Abdullahi is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder ([Wikipedia, Abdulsamed Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulsamed_Abdullahi)). Born in the Netherlands, he plays for and captains the Somalia national team (same source). See [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## Club career

He signed his first professional contract with FC Den Bosch on 9 August 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulsamed_Abdullahi)). He made his professional debut on 12 August 2019, against Jong PSV (same source). He later played for Arsenal Tivat in Montenegro's First League (same source). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Somalia

He played for Somalia in its 1–0 win over Zimbabwe in a 2022 World Cup qualifier on 5 September 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulsamed_Abdullahi)).

## In short

A Dutch-born midfielder of Somali descent who captains the Somalia national team.


---

# Nasra Agil (Nasra Caqiil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nasra-agil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nasra Agil is a Somali-Canadian civil engineer and entrepreneur. Born in Somalia and raised in Canada, she graduated in civil engineering from Ryerson University in 2005, worked as a road inspector in Toronto and as a traffic engineer in Dubai, and returned to Somalia in 2012, where she opened the country's first dollar store.

## Who is she?

Nasra Agil is a Somali-Canadian civil engineer and entrepreneur ([Wikipedia, Nasra Agil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Agil)). She was born in Somalia and moved to Canada with her family (same source). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).

## Study and community work

As a teenager she helped launch youth programmes, survival skills workshops, educational plays and sports activities ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Agil)). She studied civil engineering at Ryerson University in Toronto and graduated with honours in 2005 (same source). Wikipedia records her as one of the first known women of Somali descent to earn an engineering degree in Canada (same source). She received the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, presented by the Governor General of Canada, and the Golden Key International Honour Society Award (same source).

## Career

She began as a road inspector for the City of Toronto's Transportation Services department ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Agil)). About two years later she moved to Dubai, where in 2007 she joined the Canadian engineering firm Cansult (same source). She later advised Nakheel Properties and worked as a senior traffic engineer for the Dubai Municipality's roads authority (same source). See [Somalis in the UAE](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/).

In 2012 she returned to Somalia to take part in reconstruction, and opened the country's first dollar store (same source).

## In short

A Somali-Canadian civil engineer who worked in Toronto and Dubai, then returned to Somalia in 2012 and opened a business there.


---

# Zam Zam Abdullahi Abdi (Samsam Cabdullaahi Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zam-zam-abdullahi-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zam Zam Abdullahi Abdi is a Somali journalist and human rights activist who works on the rights of women and children. She was abducted in Mogadishu in October 2004 while working for the Association of Somali Women Journalists. In 2016 she stood trial in Kenya's High Court on charges linked to an attack on a Mombasa police station.

## Who is she?

Zam Zam Abdullahi Abdi is a Somali journalist and human rights activist who focuses on the rights of women and children ([Wikipedia, Zam Zam Abdullahi Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zam_Zam_Abdullahi_Abdi)). She holds Somali and Kenyan citizenship (same source).

## Activism

She has worked as capacity building officer for the Coalition of Grassroots Women's Organizations ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zam_Zam_Abdullahi_Abdi)). She chaired the Somali chapter of the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect, and works for easier access to education for Somali women (same source).

## Abduction in 2004

In 2004 she was in charge of information for the Association of Somali Women Journalists ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zam_Zam_Abdullahi_Abdi)). Armed men held her in Mogadishu from 24 to 25 October that year (same source). She has said she believes she was taken because of her work defending children (same source).

## Trial in Kenya, 2016

In October 2016 she went on trial in Kenya's High Court, accused of involvement in an attack on a police station in Mombasa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zam_Zam_Abdullahi_Abdi)). The group Cage Africa criticised the case, saying lawyers for the four accused women were not allowed to present evidence against the charges (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A Somali journalist and activist for women's and children's rights who was abducted in Mogadishu in 2004 and tried in Kenya in 2016.


---

# Kadra Yusuf (Kadra Yuusuf)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/kadra-yusuf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kadra Yusuf (born 16 June 1980), also known as Kadra Noor, is a Norwegian-Somali activist. In 2000 she went undercover for a TV 2 documentary on female genital cutting in Norway's Somali community, and received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award for it.

## Who is she?

Kadra Yusuf, also known as Kadra Noor, is a Norwegian-Somali activist born on 16 June 1980 ([Wikipedia, Kadra Yusuf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Yusuf)). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## The 2000 documentary

In 2000 she investigated female genital cutting in the Somali community in Norway for the TV 2 programme *Rikets tilstand* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Yusuf)). Working undercover, she recorded imams in Norway supporting the practice (same source). She received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award for this work (same source). The Norwegian newspaper VG later profiled her among "those who change lives" ([VG, 26 December 2020](https://www.vg.no/nyheter/meninger/i/M354RJ/de-som-endrer-liv)).

## 2007

In April 2007 she called for the Quran to be reinterpreted on Muslim women's rights ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Yusuf)). Several days later a group of Somali men and women attacked her (same source).

## In short

A Norwegian-Somali activist known for an undercover 2000 documentary on female genital cutting in Norway.


---

# Yasmine Allas (Yaasmiin Callas)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasmine-allas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yasmine Allas (born 1967 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-Dutch actress and writer. She moved to the Netherlands in 1987, trained at drama school in Amsterdam and acted in theatre, then published novels in Dutch from 1998, including Idil, een meisje and Een nagelaten verhaal.

## Who is she?

Yasmine Allas is a Somali-Dutch actress and writer, born in Mogadishu in 1967 ([Wikipedia, Yasmine Allas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmine_Allas)). Her father was a general in the Somali army and was killed in 1977 (same source). She attended a private school in Mogadishu, where she learned Italian and English (same source).

At fourteen she joined her mother's relatives in Saudi Arabia, then moved to [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) and, in 1987, to the Netherlands (same source). She speaks Somali, Italian, English and Dutch (same source). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Acting

She trained at drama school in Amsterdam and began acting in the late 1980s with the theatre group The Trust ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmine_Allas)). In 1995 she played Gretchen in that company's production of *Faust* by Gustav Ernst (same source). She also worked for several years with the director Theu Boermans and had her own solo show (same source).

## Writing

Her books, all in Dutch, are ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmine_Allas)):

- *Idil, een meisje* (Idil, a girl), 1998
- *De generaal met de zes vingers* (The general with six fingers), 2001
- *De blauwe kamer* (The blue room), 2004
- *Ontheemd en toch thuis* (Uprooted but still home), essays, 2006
- *Een nagelaten verhaal* (A handed-down history), 2010, inspired by her 2006 return to Somalia

In 2006 she went back to Hargeisa for a television documentary about her youth (same source). She has written for the newspaper *de Volkskrant* (same source). The Dutch Foundation for Literature keeps an author page on her ([Letterenfonds](http://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/author/424/yasmine-allas)).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born actress and novelist who has written five books in Dutch since 1998.


---

# Hassan Mead (Xassan Miicaad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-mead/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Mead (born 28 June 1989) is a Somali-American long-distance runner. Born to a farming family in north-west Somalia, he moved to the United States in 2000, became an eight-time All-American at the University of Minnesota, and ran the 5000 metres for the United States at the 2016 Olympics.

## Who is he?

Hassan Mead is a Somali-American long-distance runner born on 28 June 1989 to a farming family in rural north-west Somalia ([Wikipedia, Hassan Mead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mead)). He moved to the United States in 2000 (same source). He lived in Minnesota, California and Washington State before finishing high school at Minneapolis South in 2007 (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis-St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## University of Minnesota

He ran cross country and track for the University of Minnesota from 2007 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mead)). He became an eight-time All-American and a nine-time Big Ten Conference champion (same source). In 2007 he was Minnesota's first freshman All-American in cross country (same source).

## Professional career

From September 2012 he trained with the Oregon Track Club under coach Mark Rowland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Mead)). In 2014 he ran 13:02.80 for 5000 metres, which placed him tenth on the US all-time list at the time (same source). In 2015 he placed third in the US 10,000 metres to make his first world championship team (same source).

On 10 July 2016 he finished second in the 5000 metres at the US Olympic Trials, 0.20 seconds behind Bernard Lagat, and went on to the 2016 Olympics in Rio (same source). He ran 27:32.49 for 10,000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born distance runner who ran for the United States at the 2016 Olympics after starring at the University of Minnesota.


---

# Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II of Ifat (Sacad ad-Diin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saad-ad-din-ii/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sa'ad ad-Din II was a sultan of Ifat, called by the historian Richard Pankhurst its last great ruler, a Muslim state of the Walashma family in the Horn of Africa, around 1400. He fought the Ethiopian empire and was killed at Zeila around 1403 or 1410. His sons founded the Sultanate of Adal, his tomb near Zeila was venerated for centuries, and the Sacadiin islands off Zeila carry his name.

## Who was he?

Sa'ad ad-Din II was a sultan of [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/), a Muslim state ruled by the Walashma family in what is now [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), Djibouti and eastern Ethiopia ([Wikipedia, Sa'ad ad-Din II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'ad_ad-Din_II)). The historian Richard Pankhurst calls him "the last great ruler of Ifat" (same source). He died around 1403 or 1410.

## His reign

Wikipedia records that he was born at the court of the Ethiopian Emperor Newaya Krestos. With his brother Haqq ad-Din II he broke with the empire and moved the family's base east to the Harar plateau ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'ad_ad-Din_II)). For years he and the Ethiopian emperors fought over the trade routes and highlands between them (same source).

## His death at Zeila

After a lost battle he withdrew to Zeila, on the coast of today's Awdal. The forces of Emperor Dawit besieged him there. The Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi wrote that his water ran out, and after three days he was killed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'ad_ad-Din_II)).

When Richard Burton visited Zeila in 1854, people told him the legend that when Sa'ad ad-Din was killed, the wells dried up and the island sank. Burton writes that his sons fled to the prince of Sana'a in Yemen and later came back ([Burton, *First Footsteps in East Africa*, 1856, ch. 3](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). Burton names four sons, Sabr ad-Din, Ali, Mansur and Jamal ad-Din, who "retrieved the cause" (same source).

## Adal after him

His sons returned and founded the Sultanate of Adal. The family now used the title "kings of Adal" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'ad_ad-Din_II)). In the 18th century, records of the Emirate of Harar still called Adal *Barr Sa'ad ad-Din*, "the land of Sa'ad ad-Din" (same source). A century after him, [Imam Ahmad](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/) led Adal at its height.

## His tomb and islands

Burton saw his tomb on an island off Zeila: "a mound of rough stones surrounding an upright pole". He wrote that Sa'ad ad-Din was "formerly the hero, now the favourite patron saint of [Zayla](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)", with the signs of recent offerings around it ([Burton 1856, ch. 3](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886)). By about 1950 the sea had washed the tomb away ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'ad_ad-Din_II)).

The Sacadiin (Sa'ad ad-Din) islands off Zeila are named after him (same source). See [medieval and early modern states](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).

## In short

A sultan of Ifat in the 1300s and 1400s. His family's state continued as Adal.


---

# Mo Ali (Maxamed Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mo-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mo Ali is a Somali-British film and television director, born in Saudi Arabia. He directed grime music videos in the early 2000s, made his feature debut with Shank in 2010, and has directed episodes of the television series COBRA and Hijack.

## Who is he?

Mo Ali is a Somali-British film and television director who was born in Saudi Arabia ([Wikipedia, Mo Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Ali)). See [Somalis in the United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## Music videos

In the early 2000s he directed grime and house music videos, including the first video for Lethal Bizzle's "Pow (Forward)", Skepta's "Rolex Sweep" and Boy Better Know's "Too Many Man" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Ali)).

## Film and television

His directing credits include ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Ali)):

- *Shank* (2010), his feature debut, set in a future [London](/en/diaspora/london/)
- *Montana* (2014)
- *[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/): The Documentary* (2018)
- *Breathe* (2021)
- *COBRA* (2021, two episodes)
- *Hijack* (2023, two episodes)

## In short

A Somali-British director who moved from grime music videos to feature films and television drama.


---

# Maryan Nuh Muse (Maryan Nuux Muuse)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/maryan-nuh-muse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maryan Nuh Muse (born 1 January 1997) is a Somali sprinter. She ran the 400 metres for Somalia at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, clocking 1:10.14 in the heats, after competing at the 2014 Youth Olympics. She trained in a stadium in Mogadishu.

## Who is she?

Maryan Nuh Muse is a Somali sprinter, born on 1 January 1997 ([Wikipedia, Maryan Nuh Muse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryan_Nuh_Muse)). Many Somalis have 1 January recorded as their birth date; see [Why so many Somalis are born on 1 January](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/).

## Running for Somalia

She competed at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryan_Nuh_Muse)). At the 2016 Olympics in Rio she ran the women's 400 metres and clocked 1:10.14 in the heats (same source). She trained in a stadium in Mogadishu (same source). She also took part in the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games (same source).

## In short

A Somali sprinter who ran the 400 metres at the 2016 Olympics after training in Mogadishu.


---

# Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali (Maxamed Cabdikariin Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abdulkarim-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali (born 1985) is a Somali-Canadian writer. He was born in Somalia, grew up partly in Abu Dhabi and moved to Canada as a youth. He wrote his memoir, Angry Queer Somali Boy (2019), while living in a shelter for homeless men in Toronto.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali is a Somali-Canadian writer, born in Somalia in 1985 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdulkarim_Ali)). As a child he lived with his father's family in Abu Dhabi, and the family later applied for refugee status in the Netherlands before moving to Canada (same source). See [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/).

## The memoir

He wrote his first book, the memoir *Angry Queer Somali Boy*, while living in a shelter for homeless men in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abdulkarim_Ali)). The book describes his struggles with drugs and alcohol after arriving in Canada (same source). The CBC included it in an article on important books about mental health and on its winter 2020 reading list, and *The Advocate* listed it among the best LGBTQ memoirs of 2019 (same source).

## In short

A Somali-Canadian writer whose 2019 memoir, written in a Toronto shelter, was widely recommended in Canada.


---

# Ali Idow Hassan (Cali Iidow Xasan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-idow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Idow Hassan (born 1 July 1998) is a Somali middle-distance runner. He ran the 1500 metres at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he was Somalia's flag bearer, and was Somalia's only qualifier in any sport for the 2024 Paris Olympics, running the 800 metres.

## Who is he?

Ali Idow Hassan is a Somali middle-distance runner, born on 1 July 1998 ([Wikipedia, Ali Idow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Idow)).

## Tokyo 2020

He was selected for the 1500 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Idow)). Before the Games he met President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, with the sports minister Hamse Said Hamse (same source). He carried Somalia's flag at the opening ceremony and ran a personal best of 3:43.96, tenth in his heat (same source).

## 2022 to 2024

At the 2022 African Championships he ran a personal best of 1:49.03 in the 800 metres and reached the semi-finals ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Idow)). He was the only athlete from Somalia in any sport to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, and ran the 800 metres in Paris in August 2024 (same source; [Olympics.com](https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/ali-idow-hassan_1897302)).

## In short

A Somali runner who carried the flag in Tokyo and was Somalia's only qualifier for Paris 2024.


---

# Boqor Osman Mahamud (Boqor Cismaan Maxamuud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Boqor Osman Mahamud (1854–1943) was king (boqor) of the Majeerteen Sultanate in the north-east, with his seat at Alula. He signed a protection treaty with Italy in 1889 but kept his own rule for decades, refusing in 1909 to fly the Italian flag at Alula. His sultanate was brought under direct Italian control only in 1927.

## Who was he?

Boqor Osman Mahamud was the best-known ruler of the Majeerteen Sultanate, a Somali state in the north-east, today's [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahamuud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(king))). Castagno's dictionary calls him "a powerful sultan" who "is remembered for his resistance to the Italians" ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Bogor Osman Mahmoud"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

*Boqor* is a Somali title for a king. Castagno explains that it means "belt", one who binds the people together ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## The Majeerteen Sultanate

The sultanate may date back to the 15th or 16th century. Its rulers sat at [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/), on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) coast, and controlled the sea trade of the area ([Castagno 1975, "Mijerteyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Ships often ran aground on the rocky coast near Cape Guardafui. In 1866 the British paid the sultan to let them rescue disabled ships and bring them to Aden (same source).

He was the son of Mahmud ibn Yusuf, who ruled from 1844 to 1860 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(king))). He took the throne as a young man.

## The split with Hobyo

About 1870 a dispute with his relative and father-in-law, [Yusuf Ali Kenadid](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/), led to fighting and split the sultanate. Yusuf Ali left and founded the Sultanate of Hobyo on the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) coast ([Castagno 1975, "Mijerteyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The two states stayed rivals for decades. See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## The 1889 treaty and the flag at Alula

In 1889 he signed a treaty of protection with the Italian consul at Zanzibar, Vincenzo Filonardi. Italy paid him a yearly subsidy and promised not to interfere in his rule ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(king))).

He tried to keep his country independent in practice. In 1909 he refused to let the Italian flag fly at Alula. Italy stopped his subsidy and bombarded coastal villages ([Castagno 1975, "Mijerteyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In 1910 rivalries inside the sultanate forced him to accept Italian residents in the coastal towns (same source).

## The end of the sultanate

After Mussolini came to power, Italy moved to rule the north-east directly. In 1927 the Majeerteen were disarmed and their land brought under Italian administration, after battles with heavy losses on both sides ([Castagno 1975, "Mijerteyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). See [fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).

He died in 1943 ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## In short

King of the Majeerteen Sultanate for over fifty years, until Italian forces took the sultanate in the 1920s.


---

# Elisa Kadigia Bove (Khadiija Bove)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/elisa-kadigia-bove/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Elisa Kadigia Bove (born 1942) is an Italian actress and singer of Italian and Somali descent. The daughter of an Italian soldier and a Somali woman, she worked in theatre, film and television, sang works by Luigi Nono, and heads ADIA, an association of African immigrant women in Italy.

## Who is she?

Elisa Kadigia Bove is an Italian actress of Italian and Somali descent, born in 1942 ([Wikipedia, Elisa Kadigia Bove](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisa_Kadigia_Bove)). She is the daughter of an Italian soldier and a Somali woman (same source). Wikipedia lists her among people from Mogadishu (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Career

She began in television advertising and became known through a 1970s campaign for the Atlantic television brand ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisa_Kadigia_Bove)). After training at the theatre school of Giorgio Strehler, she worked as an actress and singer in theatre, film and television (same source). She performed several works by the composer Luigi Nono (same source). Her film roles include Lamberto Bava's *Macabre* (1980), and her last screen role was in a comedy by Cristina Comencini (same source).

## Community work

She is president of ADIA, the Association of African Immigrant Women, a non-profit that serves immigrant women in Italy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisa_Kadigia_Bove)). She was married to the Italian politician Achille Occhetto, and they had two sons (same source).

## In short

An Italian-Somali actress and singer who later led an association for African immigrant women in Italy.


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# Samira Hashi (Samiira Xaashi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/samira-hashi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Samira Hashi (born 1991) is a Somali-British model and campaigner based in London. She came to Britain aged three at the start of the civil war, began modelling at seventeen, won the Fashion4 Africa prize in 2011, and has campaigned against female genital mutilation with Save the Children.

## Who is she?

Samira Hashi is a Somali-British model, activist and community worker based in London ([Wikipedia, Samira Hashi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samira_Hashi)). She came to Britain aged three with her mother and grandmother when the civil war began (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Modelling

She began modelling at seventeen after agencies repeatedly approached her, and has done editorials, fashion shows and campaigns ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samira_Hashi)). She won the Fashion4 Africa prize in 2011 (same source).

## Campaigning

She appeared in a BBC Three documentary about Somalia in which she discussed female genital mutilation (FGM) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samira_Hashi)). Back in London she campaigned with Save the Children, visiting schools with many Somali girls (same source). She said change would come "when we discuss what FGM is really doing", with women, men, clerics and doctors all speaking about it (same source).

## In short

A London-based Somali model who campaigns against FGM in schools and with Save the Children.


---

# Nimco Ahmed (Nimco Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nimco-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nimco Ahmed (born 1 May 1972 in Somalia) is a Somali-American political activist in Minneapolis. She has served as a state director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, as a policy aide at Minneapolis City Council, and co-founded the Minnesota League of Young Voters.

## Who is she?

Nimco Ahmed is a Somali-American political activist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, born in Somalia on 1 May 1972 ([Wikipedia, Nimco Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ahmed)). See [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/).

## Public roles

As of 2014 she was a state director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, where she ran caucus training through its Somali caucus ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ahmed)). She has worked as a policy aide to the vice president of the Minneapolis City Council (same source). She co-founded the Minnesota League of Young Voters and the non-profit FATA (same source).

From 2009 to 2010 she was a policy fellow at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota (same source). The Minnesota Women's Political Caucus named her one of two young "Women to Watch" (same source).

## In short

A Minneapolis political organiser who has held party, city council and civic roles.


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# Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi (Sheekh Cabdicasiis al-Amawi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abd-al-aziz-al-amawi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi (1838 to 1896) was a Somali scholar from Barawa who became a judge, Sufi shaykh and adviser to the sultans of Zanzibar. Appointed qadi of Kilwa at sixteen, he served as a judge in Zanzibar until 1891, founded his own branch of the Qadiriyya order, and wrote on law, theology, history and Swahili.

## Who was he?

Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi was a Somali scholar of the [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) school of law and the Ash'ari school of theology, and a shaykh of the Qadiriyya Sufi order, in which he founded his own branch ([Wikipedia, Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). Wikipedia gives his dates as 1838 to 1896 in the text and lists his birth year as 1832 in its categories (same source). He was born in [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) to the Ra Ma'limu clan (same source).

## Judge in Zanzibar

He studied in Barawa, then went to Zanzibar in his teens to study under Muhyi al-Din al-Qahtani, chief Shafi'i judge of Zanzibar ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). In 1854, aged sixteen, Sultan Sayyid Sa'id appointed him qadi (judge) of Kilwa (same source). He later served as a judge in Zanzibar until 1891, when his son Burhan took the post (same source). The historian Abdallah Salih Farsy wrote that he was in effect prime minister under Sayyid Khalifa (ruled 1888 to 1890) (same source).

He also served as adviser, ambassador and envoy for Sayyid Majid and Sayyid Barghash, travelling to Somalia, the Comoros and the Rovuma River region (same source). See [Somalis in Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/).

## Writings

He wrote on theology, law, Sufism, grammar, rhetoric and history, and began a Swahili-Arabic dictionary ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). Since 2000, unpublished parts of his work have been found in Dar es Salaam and in a library in Seeb, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) (same source). These include travel diaries, a history of the Busaidi dynasty and a theological poem, *Iqd al-la'ali* (Necklace of Pearls), with a commentary (same source).

## Relations with the sultan and with Christian missionaries

The historian Randall Pouwels writes that his success as a Sufi teacher drew converts from Ibadi to Sunni Islam, and that Sultan Barghash banned him from Friday prayers and briefly jailed him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). In his own surviving writings, al-Amawi describes himself as a close counsellor of the sultan (same source).

Farsy reports that he was the coast's most active debater with Christian missionaries (same source). He also helped Bishop Edward Steere translate some of the Psalms and the Gospel of Luke into Swahili (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A Barawa-born scholar who became a judge, Sufi leader, writer and envoy in nineteenth-century Zanzibar.


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# Halima Ahmed (Xaliimo Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/halima-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Halima Ahmed is a Somali political activist. She studied international relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy, worked at the Youth Rehabilitation Center in Mogadishu caring for former insurgents who had defected to the government, and was a prospective candidate for the Federal Parliament inaugurated in 2012.

## Who is she?

Halima Ahmed is a Somali political activist born in Somalia ([Wikipedia, Halima Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ahmed)). She earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations (same source).

## Work

She began her career at the Youth Rehabilitation Center in Mogadishu, where she cared for insurgents who had left armed groups to join the government side ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Ahmed)). She later became a prospective candidate for the new Federal Parliament of Somalia, which was inaugurated in August 2012 (same source).

## In short

A Somali activist who worked with former fighters in Mogadishu and sought a seat in the 2012 parliament.


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# Sheikh Abdallah al-Qutbi (Sheekh Cabdullaahi Qudbi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdallah-al-qutbi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Abdallah ibn Mu'allim Yusuf al-Qutbi (about 1879 to 1919) was a Somali theologian and polemicist of the Qadiriyya order who lived at Qulunqul. He is best known for al-Majmu'at al-mubaraka (The Blessed Collection), a five-part collection of polemical writings published in Cairo around 1919 to 1920.

## Who was he?

Abdallah ibn Mu'allim Yusuf al-Qutbi was a Somali theologian, polemicist and philosopher who lived from about 1879 to 1919 ([Wikipedia, Abdallah al-Qutbi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdallah_al-Qutbi)). He lived at Qulunqul, also written Kolonkol (same source).

## Faith and writing

He was a disciple of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulrahman al-Shashi and a member of the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) Sufi order ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdallah_al-Qutbi)). His best-known work is *al-Majmu'at al-mubaraka* (The Blessed Collection), a five-part collection of polemics published in Cairo around 1919 to 1920, the year 1338 in the Islamic calendar (same source).

## In short

A Qadiriyya scholar whose five-part Blessed Collection was published in Cairo around the time of his death.


---

# Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid (Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Ali Kenadid (1837–1911) founded the Sultanate of Hobyo (Obbia) on the Mudug coast in 1878. He signed a protection treaty with Italy in 1889 but kept his own rule, and was later exiled by the Italians. His son Osman Yusuf Kenadid invented the Osmanya script.

## Who was he?

Yusuf Ali Kenadid was a Somali sultan who founded the Sultanate of Hobyo, also written Obbia, in 1878 ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Obbia"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Hobyo is a port on the Indian Ocean coast of the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region. See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

"Kenadid" was not his family name. It was a title, said to have been given by his rivals, meaning roughly "he who refuses to be haltered" ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Ali Kenadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)).

## From Alula to Hobyo

He was born in 1837 into the Majeerteen (Darood) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)). He was not born to the ruling line. He built his own wealth and following (same source).

About 1870 he fell into a dispute with his relative and son-in-law, [Boqor Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/), sultan of the Majeerteen at [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/). The dispute led to fighting and split the sultanate ([Castagno 1975, "Mijerteyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia records that he spent some years in Yemen. He then came back with a band of Hadhrami fighters and took control of Hobyo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)).

Castagno records a story about his arrival. He brought masons with him, and as soon as they landed they began to build a *garesa*, a stone house that showed his rule over the area ([Castagno 1975, "Obbia"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The name Hobyo is said to mean "here is water", a Somali image for good fortune (same source).

## The treaty with Italy, 1889

In 1889 both he and Boqor Osman signed treaties of protection with the Italian consul at Zanzibar, Vincenzo Filonardi. Italy paid each sultan a yearly subsidy ([Castagno 1975, "Mijerteyn"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The treaties said Italy would not interfere in how the sultanates were run ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)). Wikipedia notes that he chose Italy as the weaker power, the one least able to interfere (same source).

## Exile

His relations with Italy broke down in the early 1900s, during the wars of the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/). Wikipedia says he refused to let British troops land in his sultanate to fight the Dervishes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)). In 1903 he and his son Ali Yusuf were arrested and exiled for a time, accused of working with [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) ([Castagno 1975, "Ali Yusuf"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). Wikipedia records that he was sent to Aden and then to Eritrea ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)).

He died in 1911. His son Ali Yusuf ruled Hobyo from 1911 until Italian forces removed him in 1925 ([Castagno 1975, "Ali Yusuf"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## His family's legacy

His son [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/) invented the Osmanya script for Somali. His grandson [Yasin Osman Kenadid](/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/) helped found the Society for Somali Language and Literature ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ali_Kenadid)).

## In short

Founder of the Sultanate of Hobyo, which he led for over thirty years.


---

# Farah Awl (Faarax Cawl)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/farah-awl/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Farah Mohamed Jama Awl (1937 to 1991) was a Somali writer from Las Khorey. Trained as an engineer in London, he became the first Somali novelist to write in the Latin script adopted for Somali in 1972. His novels include Garbaduubkii gumeysiga (1978) and Aqoondarro waa u nacab jacayl. He was killed with three of his children in Beledweyne in 1991.

## Who was he?

Farah Mohamed Jama Awl, usually credited as Farah Awl, was a Somali writer born in 1937 in Las Khorey in north-eastern Somalia ([Wikipedia, Farah Awl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Awl)). His surname Cawl, meaning "gazelle", was the nickname of his great-grandfather, a sultan of the Warsangali (same source). See [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/).

From 1959 to 1962 he studied aeronautical and automobile engineering in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) on a scholarship (same source). He then returned to Somalia and worked with the police and the National Transport Agency in Mogadishu (same source).

## Writing

He was the first Somali novelist to write in the Latin script after it was made official for Somali in 1972 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Awl)). His work is known for its descriptions of Somalia's landscape and wildlife and for including traditional Somali poetry (same source). His books include (same source):

- *Aqoondarro waa u nacab jacayl* (Ignorance is the enemy of love), listed by Wikipedia under both 1974 and 1982
- *Garbaduubkii gumeysiga* (The shackles of colonialism), 1978
- *Dhibbanaha aan dhalan* (The unborn victim), 1989

## Death

He was killed in 1991, with three of his children, during the fighting in Beledweyne in Hiiraan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Awl)). Wikipedia states that he was reportedly targeted because of his clan family (same source). His wife and one son survived him (same source). See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/).

## In short

An engineer turned novelist who pioneered the Somali-language novel in the Latin script and was killed in Beledweyne in 1991.


---

# Nasra Ali Abukar (Nasra Cali Abuukar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nasra-ali-abukar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nasra Ali Abukar (born 15 September 2004 in Mogadishu) is a Somali university student who ran the 100 metres for Somalia at the 2023 World University Games in Chengdu, finishing in 21.81 seconds. The video spread widely and led to an apology from the sports minister and the suspension of the athletics federation's chair over her selection.

## Who is she?

Nasra Ali Abukar is a Somali university student born in Mogadishu on 15 September 2004 ([Wikipedia, Nasra Ali Abukar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Ali_Abukar)). She represented Somalia in the women's 100 metres at the 2023 World University Games in Chengdu, China (same source).

## The 2023 race

She finished the 100 metres in 21.81 seconds, about ten seconds behind the winner ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Ali_Abukar)). The video of the race passed 19.8 million views on Twitter (same source). Many asked why the Ministry of Youth and Sport had picked an athlete without racing experience, and the runners Mo Farah and Abdi Nageeye criticised the selection (same source). See [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) and [Abdi Nageeye](/en/people/abdi-nageeye/).

Social media users linked her selection to family ties with the head of the athletics federation, which led to accusations of nepotism (same source). The federation's chair told [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) she had trained for two years, while Abukar said she had trained for one month (same source). On 3 August 2023 Abukar said she had run with a sprained leg and still finished the race (same source).

## Response

The Somali athletics committee apologised, and the sports minister Mohamed Barre called the episode an embarrassment and said his ministry had not known of her selection ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Ali_Abukar)). On 2 August 2023 the Somali Olympic Committee carried out the minister's order to suspend the federation's chair over "abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation" (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A Somali student whose 2023 sprint led to a public inquiry into how athletes were selected.


---

# Abdi Hakin Ulad (Cabdixakiin Cuulad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-hakin-ulad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi-Hakin Achkel Ulad (born 14 June 1991 in Kismayo) is a Danish long-distance runner. He arrived in Denmark as a refugee at eleven, became Danish half-marathon champion in 2015 and ran the marathon for Denmark at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. In 2022 he admitted a doping offence for trimetazidine.

## Who is he?

Abdi-Hakin Achkel Ulad is a Danish long-distance runner born on 14 June 1991 in Kismayo ([Wikipedia, Abdi Hakin Ulad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Hakin_Ulad)). He arrived in Denmark as a refugee with his aunt at the age of eleven and became a Danish citizen on 28 October 2010 (same source). See [Somalis in Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/).

## Running career

In 2013 he won bronze in the 10,000 metres at the European Under-23 Championships in Tampere ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Hakin_Ulad)). He became Danish half-marathon champion on 13 September 2015 and was fifth in the half marathon at the 2016 European Championships (same source). At the Hamburg Marathon he ran 2:14:03, the best Danish time since 1989, which qualified him for the 2016 Olympics in Rio (same source).

In December 2019 he ran a personal best of 2:11:03 at the Fukuoka Marathon, which qualified him for the Tokyo Olympics (same source). His results are also kept by the Danish statistics site [statletik.dk](http://statletik.dk/index.php/Profile/index/1464).

## Doping case

In November 2022 it was reported that he had tested positive for trimetazidine ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Hakin_Ulad)). He declined to have his B sample tested and admitted the offence in a Facebook post, calling it "the worse decision of his life" (same source).

## In short

A Kismayo-born runner who ran the marathon for Denmark at two Olympics.


---

# Amina Moghe Hersi (Aamina Mooge Xirsi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amina-moghe-hersi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amina Moghe Hersi (born 1964 in Bungoma, Kenya) is a Somali entrepreneur based in Uganda. She moved her hardware business to Kampala in 1996, built the Oasis Mall and Laburnam Courts apartments, and through Horyal Investments began building the Atiak sugar factory in northern Uganda in 2016. She was named Woman Investor of the Year in 2008.

## Who is she?

Amina Moghe Hersi is a Somali entrepreneur born in 1964 in Bungoma, western Kenya ([Wikipedia, Amina Moghe Hersi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Moghe_Hersi)). Her mother was a businesswoman, and as a girl she joined the family's cross-border trade between Kenya and Uganda (same source). She and her sister went to accounting school (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Business in Uganda

She closed her hardware store in Bungoma and opened one in Kampala after 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Moghe_Hersi)). She moved into property and built the Oasis Centre shopping mall and the Laburnam Courts apartments in central Kampala (same source). She also became one of Uganda's largest distributors of cement and hardware (same source). In 2008 she received the Woman Investor of the Year award (same source). See [Somalis in Uganda](/en/diaspora/uganda/).

As of 2018 her holdings were organised under [Horyal Investments](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/) Holding Company, including Oasis Mall, Nakumatt Mall, Laburnam Apartments and the Atiak sugar factory (same source).

## Atiak sugar factory

In 2016 her company began building the Atiak sugar factory in Amuru District, northern Uganda, a project of about 120 million US dollars ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Moghe_Hersi)). It was described as the first large industrial project in northern Uganda, with more than 6,000 local women expected to benefit as cane growers and distributors (same source).

## In short

A Kenyan-born Somali businesswoman who built shopping centres in Kampala and a sugar factory in northern Uganda.


---

# Mukhtar Mohammed (Mukhtaar Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mukhtar-mohammed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mukhtar Mohammed (born 1 December 1990 in Qoryoley) is a Somali-born British former 800 metres runner. He won bronze at the 2011 European Under-23 Championships and at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, and ran for Britain at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

## Who is he?

Mukhtar Mohammed is a Somali-born British former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres ([Wikipedia, Mukhtar Mohammed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Mohammed)). He was born in [Qoryoley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) on 1 December 1990 and ran for Sheffield RC (same source). See [Somalis in Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/).

## Career

He won bronze in the 800 metres at the 2011 European Under-23 Championships ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Mohammed)). In 2013 he won bronze at the European Indoor Championships (same source). He also ran at the 2012 European Championships, the 2014 World Indoor Championships, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 European Indoor Championships (same source).

His best time was 1:45.67, set in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in July 2013 (same source). He was runner-up at the British championships three times from 2012 to 2014 (same source).

## In short

A Qoryoley-born runner who won European medals for Britain in the 800 metres.


---

# Hudeidi (Xudeydi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hudeidi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Ismail Hussein Hudeidi (1928 to 2020), known as Hudeidi or Xudeydi, was a Somali oud player and composer. Born in Berbera and raised in Yemen, he learned the oud from Abdullahi Qarshe, played across Yemen, Somalia and Djibouti in the 1950s and 1960s, moved to Britain in 1973, and died in London of COVID-19 in April 2020.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Ismail Hussein Hudeidi was a Somali musician who played the oud and composed songs ([Wikipedia, Hudeidi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudeidi)). He was born in Berbera in 1928 and grew up in Yemen, where his father was a police sergeant (same source).

## Music

He fell in love with the oud after hearing it played at a party in Aden ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudeidi)). He learned to play from Abdullahi Qarshe, who advised his father to buy him an oud as well as school books (same source). See [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/).

In the 1950s and 1960s he lived in Yemen, [Somalia and Djibouti](/en/relations/djibouti/), and got into trouble for singing politically rebellious songs (same source). In 1973 he moved to the United Kingdom, where he played at family weddings and other private events and taught the oud (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

He gave a final concert at the Kayd Somali Arts and Culture centre in February 2020 (same source). He died of COVID-19 in London on 8 April 2020, eight days before his 92nd birthday (same source).

## In short

An oud master taught by Abdullahi Qarshe who played across the Horn and Yemen and spent his last decades in London.


---

# Liban Abdulahi (Liibaan Cabdullaahi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/liban-abdulahi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Liban Abdiaziz Abdulahi (born 2 November 1995) is a Dutch-born footballer who plays for the Somalia national team. A midfielder, he made his professional debut for SC Telstar in 2015, played in Iceland for Þór Akureyri in 2021, and first played for Somalia against Djibouti in December 2019.

## Who is he?

Liban Abdiaziz Abdulahi is a professional footballer born in the Netherlands on 2 November 1995 who plays as a midfielder ([Wikipedia, Liban Abdulahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdulahi)). He represents the Somalia national team (same source). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Career

He made his professional debut in the Dutch Eerste Divisie for SC Telstar on 10 August 2015, against RKC Waalwijk ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liban_Abdulahi)). In April 2021 he joined the Icelandic club Þór Akureyri, scoring once in 16 league games (same source). He later played for RKVV DEM (same source).

He made his debut for Somalia on 7 December 2019 in a 0-0 draw with Djibouti at the CECAFA Cup (same source).

## In short

A Dutch-born midfielder who has played in the Netherlands and Iceland and for Somalia.


---

# Barni Ahmed Qaasim (Barni Axmed Qaasim)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/barni-ahmed-qaasim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Barni Ahmed Qaasim is a Somali multimedia artist and documentary filmmaker in Arizona. Her first documentary, A Little Rebirth, was about her Somali community; she directed Catching Babies, on midwifery at the US-Mexico border, which won a women's health prize in 2013, and she sits on the board of the Somali Association of Arizona.

## Who is she?

Barni Ahmed Qaasim is a Somali multimedia artist and filmmaker whose work covers photo and video journalism, music videos and documentaries ([Wikipedia, Barni Ahmed Qaasim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barni_Ahmed_Qaasim)). She holds a BA in political science and an MA in broadcasting (same source).

## Film work

From 2004 to 2009 she belonged to Third World Majority, a media collective in Oakland, California, and later became its director of production ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barni_Ahmed_Qaasim)). From 2008 to 2012 she taught video production to young people for *Seventh Native American Generation* magazine (same source).

Her first documentary, *A Little Rebirth*, was about her Somali community and won an award from the Somali Association of Arizona (same source). She directed and produced *Catching Babies*, a feature documentary on midwifery on the US-Mexico border, which won the Excellence in Documenting Women's Health prize from Puente a la Salud in 2013 (same source). She was associate producer of *Under Arpaio*, which won Best of Arizona at the 2012 Arizona International Film Festival (same source).

## Community

She has worked with the Somali Association of Arizona since 2006 and sits on its board (same source). See [Somalis in Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/).

## In short

A Somali filmmaker in Arizona whose documentaries cover her community and women's health.


---

# Mo Harawe (Maxamed Harawe)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mo-harawe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mo Harawe (born 1992 in Mogadishu) is a Somali-Austrian filmmaker. After moving to Austria in 2009 he made a series of award-winning short films, including Will My Parents Come to See Me, which competed at the Berlin festival in 2022. His first feature, The Village Next to Paradise, was selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2024.

## Who is he?

Mo Harawe is a Somali-Austrian filmmaker born in Mogadishu in 1992 ([Wikipedia, Mo Harawe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Harawe)). He attended art school in Somalia and later studied visual communication and film at the Kunsthochschule Kassel in Germany (same source). He moved to Austria in 2009 (same source). See [Somalis in Austria](/en/diaspora/austria/).

## Short films

He made a series of short films from 2012, including *Life on the Horn* (2020) and *Will My Parents Come to See Me* (2022) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Harawe)). *Life on the Horn* was nominated at Locarno in 2020 (same source). *Will My Parents Come to See Me* was nominated for the Golden Bear for best short film at Berlin in 2022 and for the European Film Awards (same source).

## The Village Next to Paradise

His first feature film, *The Village Next to Paradise*, was selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Harawe)).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born director whose first feature film was selected at Cannes in 2024.


---

# Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur (Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Cali Tuur)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-ahmed-ali-tuur/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur (1931–2003) was a civil servant and diplomat who chaired the Somali National Movement in 1990 and 1991 and became the first President of Somaliland, from 1991 to 1993. He later called for reconciliation with the rest of Somalia. He died in 2003 and is buried in Burao.

## Who was he?

Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur was the first President of Somaliland. He took office on 7 June 1991, a few weeks after Somaliland declared itself a republic, and served until 1993 ([Wikipedia, President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Somaliland)). Before that he was a senior civil servant and diplomat of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/), and in 1990 and 1991 chairman of the Somali National Movement (SNM) ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Ahmed_Ali_Tuur)).

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Early life and study

He was born on 6 November 1931 in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), in what was then the [British Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). His family is Habar Yoonis (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Ahmed_Ali_Tuur)). He was among the top students of the first intermediate school in the protectorate. In 1948 he won a scholarship to the Hantoob Secondary School in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), where his classmates included future Sudanese leaders. He then studied at the University of Exeter in England (same source).

## Administrator and diplomat

He came home and joined the administration as an officer in [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) in 1956. He became District Commissioner there in 1959 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Ahmed_Ali_Tuur)). After independence he was Governor of the Eastern Region at Burao from 1961, and of the Western Region at Hargeisa from 1964. That year he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served in several diplomatic posts (same source).

## The SNM and 1991

The SNM was formed in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1981 to oppose the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm)). Tuur became its chairman in 1990. On 18 May 1991, under his leadership, the north-west declared itself independent as Somaliland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Ahmed_Ali_Tuur)).

## After the presidency

In 1993 [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) succeeded him as President ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Haji_Ibrahim_Egal)). In 1994 Tuur gave up the call for separation and began to speak publicly for reconciliation with the rest of Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Ahmed_Ali_Tuur)).

He died on 8 November 2003, aged 72, and was buried in Burao (same source).

## In short

An administrator and diplomat of the Somali Republic, and the first president of Somaliland from 1991 to 1993.


---

# Abdisalam Omer Hadliye (Cabdisalaan Cumar Hadliye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdisalam Omer Hadliye is a Somali-American economist who was Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia from January to September 2013 and Foreign Minister from February 2015 to March 2017. Before that he was deputy chief financial officer and then chief of staff to the mayor of Washington, D.C., and ran a UN finance programme in Puntland and Somaliland.

## Who is he?

Abdisalam Omer Hadliye is a Somali economist and public finance official who has worked in Washington, D.C., for the United Nations and for the Somali federal government. He was Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia in 2013 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2017 ([Wikipedia, Abdisalam Hadliye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye)).

## Education and early career

His family comes from the [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) region. He moved to the United States at 16, earned a degree in economics at Boston College in 1977, a master's in public administration at Oklahoma State University, and a PhD in public administration at the University of [Tennessee](/en/diaspora/nashville/) in 1986, where he also taught (same source).

## Washington, D.C.

From 1992 he worked in the D.C. budget office. He became chief financial officer of D.C. Public Schools in 1996, deputy chief financial officer of the city government in May 1997, and in April 1999 chief of staff in the mayor's office. In February 2007 he returned to D.C. Public Schools as chief business officer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye); [Stars and Stripes, 17 November 2016](https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/2.1198/ex-dc-bureaucrat-who-once-tried-to-fix-failing-schools-now-trying-to-fix-somalia-1.406611)).

## UN work in the north

From 2002 to 2006 he led the UN Development Programme's Governance and Financial Services programme in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), training staff in tax collection and budgets. He started UNDP's first programme to support money transfer businesses ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye)). See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).

## Central Bank governor, 2013

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) appointed him governor on 17 January 2013. In May 2013 he said provisional bank licences would be replaced by full licences and that the government planned new banknotes to replace the old shilling ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye); [CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)).

In July 2013 the UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/) reported that about 80 percent of Central Bank withdrawals were for private purposes and named him as key to the irregularities. He denied this, said the payments it described were made before he took office, asked for an independent audit and said most of the funds were in a Finance Ministry account ([Jakarta Post, 20 July 2013](https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/07/20/un-experts-say-corruption-still-rampant-somalia.html); [WardheerNews, citing Reuters](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-bank-governor-asks-u-n-for-audit-amid-slush-fund-claims)). The government hired FTI Consulting and a US law firm, and in September 2013 said their review had found the UN annex "deeply flawed and entirely unreliable" ([Yahoo News, citing AP](https://news.yahoo.com/somalia-govt-audit-faults-un-corruption-claims-172055903.html)). He resigned on 13 September 2013 and was replaced by Yussur A. F. Abrar ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye)). See [The Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/).

## Foreign Minister, 2015 to 2017

Prime Minister [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) named him Foreign Minister on 27 January 2015, and he took office on 14 February 2015 from [Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/). He served until 29 March 2017. In that role he attended Arab League meetings in Cairo and signed education and civil aviation agreements with [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) in March 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye); [Goobjoog News, February 2015](http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=10242)).

## Sources disagree

- **His name.** He appears as Abdisalam Omer, Abdusalam H. Omer, Abdisalan Hadliye Omar and Abdisalam Omer Hadliye.
- **When he left the bank.** Wikipedia says he resigned on 13 September 2013, hours after being told of changes; other reports at the time said he was dismissed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Hadliye)).


---

# Hodan Said Isse (Hodan Saciid Ciise)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hodan-said-isse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hodan Said Isse is a Somali economist and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for Puntland. Born in Hargeisa, she holds a PhD in economics from George Mason University, is clinical assistant professor emeritus at the University at Buffalo, sits on the board of the Central Bank of Somalia, and is married to the former Puntland president Abdiweli Mohamed Ali.

## Who is she?

Hodan Said Isse is a Somali economist born in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia, Hodan Said Isse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Said_Isse)). She holds a PhD in economics from George Mason University and two master's degrees, in economics and international development, from [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) University (same source). She is a clinical assistant professor emeritus at the University at Buffalo School of Management (same source; [University at Buffalo](https://management.buffalo.edu/faculty/academic-departments/finance/faculty.html)).

## Public roles

She is married to Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, former president of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), and was First Lady of Puntland during his term ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Said_Isse)). See [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/).

She is the UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in Puntland for the Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (same source). On 30 January 2019 Puntland's president [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) honoured her for her work on institutional development (same source). She sits on the board of directors of the Central Bank of Somalia (same source).

## Community work

She co-founded the US-based Somali Mental Health Foundation and founded H.E.A.L., a non-profit in Buffalo, New York, that helps refugees settle ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Said_Isse)). She won the Outstanding Educational Achievement Award at the International Somali Awards 2020 (same source).

## In short

A Hargeisa-born economist who works on maternal health in Puntland and sits on the Central Bank of Somalia's board.


---

# Halima Godane (Xaliimo Godane)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/halima-godane/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Halima Mohamed Yusuf, known as Halima Godane (1935 to 1994), was a Somali poet and political activist. Born in Kismayo, she joined the Somali Youth League in Mogadishu in the late 1940s, sat on its women's committee, recited buraanbur poetry at party gatherings, and on 12 October 1954 first recited her best-known poem, an ode to the Somali flag. She was elected to Mogadishu's city council in 1958.

## Who was she?

Halima Mohamed Yusuf, better known as Halima Godane ("the stooped one"), was a Somali poet and activist who lived from 1935 to 1994 ([Wikipedia, Halima Godane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Godane)). She was born in Kismayo and married at the age of nine (same source).

## The independence movement

She moved to Mogadishu in the late 1940s and joined the Somali Youth League ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Godane)). In the early 1950s she was elected to the party's women's committee (same source). She recited buraanbur poetry on national occasions and at party meetings (same source). On 12 October 1954 she first recited her best-known work, an ode to the flag of Somalia (same source).

## Later politics

In 1958 she supported Haaji Mahammad Husseen in forming the Greater Somalia League, and that year she was elected to Mogadishu's city council ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halima_Godane)). In 1967 she joined the Workers' Socialist Party (same source). In 1974 the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) gave her an award and a lifetime pension (same source). She held to socialist views and to the goal of a united Somalia until her death (same source).

## In short

A Kismayo-born poet of the independence movement, remembered for her 1954 ode to the Somali flag.


---

# Khadra Hussein Mohammad (Khadra Xuseen Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/khadra-hussein-mohammad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Khadra Hussein Mohammad is a Somali lawyer who in 2010 became the first woman to serve as National Deputy Prosecutor in Somaliland. She studied at the law school of the University of Hargeisa with support from the UN Development Programme. Wikipedia also describes her as the first female judge in Somalia.

## Who is she?

Khadra Hussein Mohammad is a Somali lawyer ([Wikipedia, Khadra Hussein Mohammad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Hussein_Mohammad)). She studied at the law school of the [University of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/main-universities/), which the UN Development Programme helped set up (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## Career

She joined the Somaliland Lawyers Association, which gave her access to further UNDP training ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khadra_Hussein_Mohammad)). She then worked for a year as a paralegal in the National Prosecutor's office (same source). In 2010 she was named National Deputy Prosecutor, the first woman to hold the post (same source). Wikipedia also describes her as the first female judge in Somalia (same source).

She has said that more women lawyers have made female victims more willing to come forward (same source).

## In short

A Hargeisa-trained lawyer who became the first woman National Deputy Prosecutor in Somaliland in 2010.


---

# Jama Musse Jama (Jaamac Muuse Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jama-musse-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jama Musse Jama (born 1967 in Hargeisa) is a Somali ethnomathematician and writer. He studied mathematics in Mogadishu and Pisa and holds a PhD in computational linguistics from Naples. He founded the Hargeysa International Book Fair and in 2014 the Hargeysa Cultural Centre, and has written books on traditional Somali games such as shax.

## Who is he?

Jama Musse Jama is a Somali ethnomathematician and author born in 1967 in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia, Jama Musse Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Musse_Jama)). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## Study

He studied mathematics for four and a half years at the Somali National University in Mogadishu, then studied mathematics at the University of Pisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Musse_Jama)). He earned a PhD in computational linguistics at the University of Naples "L'Orientale" (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Research and books

At Pisa he began researching traditional Somali games and the history of mathematics in the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Musse_Jama)). His books include *Shax: the preferred game of our camel-herders* (2002), *Layli Goobalay* (2002) and *Gobannimo Bilaash Maaha / Freedom is not free* (2007) (same source). He built the Somali Corpus of digital texts for language research (same source).

## Culture and literacy

He founded and organises the Hargeysa International Book Fair, and in 2014 founded the Hargeysa Cultural Centre, which he directs ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Musse_Jama)). He became a research associate at SOAS in 2019 and a senior research associate at University College [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 2020 (same source). The Nigerian Guardian wrote about his publishing work in 2026 ([The Guardian Nigeria, 3 January 2026](https://guardian.ng/art/the-new-african-publishers-towards-promised-land/)).

## In short

A Hargeisa-born mathematician who studies Somali games and runs the Hargeysa book fair and cultural centre.


---

# Leila Abukar (Leyla Abuukar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/leila-abukar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Leila Abukar (born about 1974) is a Somali-Australian community advocate in Brisbane. After the civil war she lived in a refugee camp in Kenya, moved to Australia in 1997 under a women-at-risk programme, and earned degrees in international relations from the University of Queensland. She received the Centenary Medal in 2001 and stood for the Queensland Parliament in 2015.

## Who is she?

Leila Abukar is a Somali-Australian political activist born in Somalia between 1974 and 1975 ([Wikipedia, Leila Abukar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Abukar)). She attended a private school in Mogadishu (same source). When the civil war began in 1991, her father and eldest brother were killed, and her mother took the family to a UN camp in Kenya (same source). There she worked as a volunteer interpreter, taught children and raised awareness of reproductive health (same source).

In 1997 she moved alone to Australia under a women-at-risk programme, settling in Brisbane, and her family later joined her (same source). See [Somalis in Australia](/en/diaspora/australia/).

## Study and work

She holds a bachelor's degree, a postgraduate diploma and a master's degree in international relations from the University of Queensland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Abukar)). She began as an interpreter for the Australian Department of Immigration and later held senior roles in government, councils and non-profits (same source). She has sat on the Queensland Multicultural Roundtable, the Refugees Resettlement Advisory Council and the Council for Multicultural Australia, and campaigned against female genital mutilation (same source).

In 2001 the Australian government awarded her the Centenary Medal for crisis counselling, advocacy and settlement work (same source).

## 2015 election

At the 2015 Queensland election she stood in Yeerongpilly as a Liberal National Party candidate ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Abukar)). She came second, with 36.7 per cent in the final count against the winner, Mark Bailey (same source; [The Tally Room](https://www.tallyroom.com.au/qld2015/yeerongpilly2015)). Had she won, she would have been the first Somali and first Muslim member of the Queensland Parliament (same source).

## In short

A former refugee who became a community advocate in Brisbane and stood for the Queensland Parliament in 2015.


---

# Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi (Maxamed Diiriye Cabdullaahi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-diriye-abdullahi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi (born 1958) is a Somali-Canadian linguist, writer and translator. A former journalist in Somalia, he earned a PhD in linguistics from the Université de Montréal, where he teaches, and wrote Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001).

## Who is he?

Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi is a Somali-Canadian scholar, linguist, writer and translator born in 1958 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). He worked as a journalist in Somalia before moving to Canada (same source). See [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/).

## Study and research

He earned a master's degree and a PhD in linguistics at the Université de Montréal, and a diploma in teaching French as a second language at the Université de Franche-Comté in Besançon ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). He speaks Somali, Arabic, English and French (same source).

His research covers the Afro-Asiatic languages, especially the Cushitic branch, and Somali history and culture (same source). His papers include work on how the Somali words for the four directions developed and on the progressive tense in Somali (same source).

## Writing and teaching

His best-known book is *[Culture and Customs of Somalia](/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi/)*, published by Greenwood in 2001, which discusses the origins of the Somali people among other topics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). He teaches linguistics at the Université de Montréal and works as a translator and language consultant (same source).

## In short

A Montreal-based linguist who studies the Somali language and wrote a standard English guide to Somali culture.


---

# Hassan al-Jabarti (Xasan al-Jabarti)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-al-jabarti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan al-Jabarti (died 1774) was a Somali-origin mathematician, astronomer, theologian and philosopher who lived in Cairo. His family came from Zeila, he carried out experiments watched by scholars from al-Azhar, and he was the father of the historian Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti. Most of his work remains unpublished.

## Who was he?

Hassan al-Jabarti was a Somali mathematician, theologian, astronomer and philosopher who lived in Cairo in the eighteenth century and died in 1774 ([Wikipedia, Hassan al-Jabarti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_al-Jabarti)). His family came from the Somali city of Zeila (same source). See [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) and [Somalis in Egypt](/en/diaspora/egypt/).

## Work

He is counted among the leading scholars of eighteenth-century Cairo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_al-Jabarti)). He often carried out experiments, which students and teachers from al-Azhar came to watch (same source). Most of his writings remain unpublished in archives (same source).

He was the father of Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, the historian of Egypt (same source).

## In short

A Zeila-origin scholar of mathematics and astronomy in eighteenth-century Cairo, and father of the historian al-Jabarti.


---

# Sahra Halgan (Sahra Xalgan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sahra-halgan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sahra Ahmed Mohamoud, known as Sahra Halgan (born 1972 in Hargeisa), is a Somali singer and cultural activist. She worked as a nurse for the Somali National Movement during the 1988 fighting, later lived as a refugee in Lyon, released albums from 2009, and in 2015 returned to Hargeisa, where she founded a centre for music and poetry.

## Who is she?

Sahra Ahmed Mohamoud, known on stage as Sahra Halgan, is a Somali singer and cultural activist born in Hargeisa in 1972 ([Wikipedia, Sahra Halgan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahra_Halgan)). She began singing at thirteen, though singing in public was frowned upon in her community (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## 1988

In 1988 the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) launched heavy bombing focused on Hargeisa against the Somali National Movement (SNM) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahra_Halgan)). Aged sixteen and without training, she worked as a nurse for the SNM (same source). She later said that at the front she felt free, because the soldiers were too busy to stop her singing (same source).

## Music

She then took refuge in France, settled in Lyon with political refugee status, and returned to music ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahra_Halgan)). Her albums are (same source):

- *Somaliland*, 2009
- *Faransiskiyo Somaliland*, 2015, with percussionist Aymeric Krol and guitarist Maël Salètes, mixing Tuareg rock and East African rhythms
- *Waa Dardaaran*, 2019

In 2015 she moved back to Hargeisa and founded a cultural centre for music and poetry there (same source). See [Somalis in France](/en/diaspora/france/).

## In short

A Hargeisa singer who nursed the wounded in 1988, built a career in France, and came home to open a music centre.


---

# Mohamed Haji Mukhtar (Maxamed Xaaji Mukhtaar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Haji Mukhtar (born 13 June 1947 in Hudur) is a Somali historian and professor of African and Middle Eastern history at Savannah State University in Georgia, where he has taught since 1991. He holds a PhD from al-Azhar, taught at the Somali National University and in Malaysia, and is known as an advocate for the Maay language.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Haji Mukhtar is a Somali historian born on 13 June 1947 in Hudur, now the capital of Bakool region ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Haji_Mukhtar)). His father, Malak Mukhtar Malak Hassan, was a senior chief of the Digil and Mirifle clans (same source). He is a naturalised US citizen (same source). See [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/).

He is known as an advocate for the [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) language and for all the languages spoken in Somalia (same source).

## Education

He went to school in Korkoor and Mogadishu, then earned his BA, MA and PhD at al-Azhar University in Cairo, in history and civilisation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Haji_Mukhtar)). His PhD thesis was on [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) from trusteeship to independence, 1950 to 1960 (same source).

## Career

He began in 1974 as a researcher at the Somali Academy of Culture, surveying historic sites in Marka, [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) and nearby, and in 1976 researched the history of the [Gosha](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/) people in the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Haji_Mukhtar)). From 1975 to 1983 he taught history at the Somali National University's College of Education at Lafoole, where he was the first to offer courses on the history of Somalia (same source).

He was twice a Fulbright-Hays scholar, at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of South Carolina, in 1983 to 1985 (same source). From 1986 to 1990 he taught at the National University of Malaysia (same source). Since 1991 he has taught African and Middle Eastern history at Savannah State University in Georgia (same source).

## In short

A Hudur-born historian who taught the first courses on Somali history in Mogadishu and now teaches in Georgia.


---

# Aar Maanta

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aar-maanta/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aar Maanta (born Hassan-Nour Sayid in Jigjiga) is a Somali-British singer-songwriter, actor and producer based in London. He blends traditional Somali music, including the oud-based qaraami style, with modern genres. His debut album Hiddo & Dhaqan came out in 2008, and he formed a multinational live band in London.

## Who is he?

Aar Maanta, born Hassan-Nour Sayid, is a Somali-British singer-songwriter, actor, composer, instrumentalist and producer ([Wikipedia, Aar Maanta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aar_Maanta)). He was born in Jigjiga in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and moved to the United Kingdom alone as a child at the end of the 1980s (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

He studied music at school and university, then took a science degree under family pressure before returning to singing (same source).

## Music

His music mixes many styles with traditional Somali music, including the oud-based qaraami love songs of the 1940s, and has been called "afro-hop" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aar_Maanta)). In 2006 he performed at Rise: London United, a festival attended by more than 80,000 people (same source). He has worked with the Raï singer Abdelkader Saadoun and the Somali musicians [Maryam Mursal](/en/people/maryam-mursal/) and [Hudeidi](/en/people/hudeidi/) (same source).

He recorded his debut album, *Hiddo & Dhaqan*, in his home studio and released it in 2008 (same source). He then set up a multinational live band in London to play Somali music (same source).

## In short

A Jigjiga-born, London-based musician who mixes classic Somali song with modern genres.


---

# Dahir Riyale Kahin (Daahir Rayaale Kaahin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dahir Riyale Kahin (born 1952) was President of Somaliland from 2002 to 2010. Born in Quljeed in Awdal, he became President when Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal died in May 2002, won the April 2003 vote by 80 votes, and handed over peacefully after losing in 2010.

## Who is he?

Dahir Riyale Kahin was President of Somaliland from 2002 to 2010. He was Vice President from 1997 to 2002 ([Wikipedia, Dahir Riyale Kahin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahir_Riyale_Kahin)).

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Early life and career

He was born on 12 March 1952 in Quljeed, in the [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) region. His family is Gadabuursi (Dir) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahir_Riyale_Kahin)). He went to school at Amoud and trained in Mogadishu (same source). He served at the Somali embassy in Djibouti, and in the 1980s was an officer of the [National Security Service](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), including in Berbera (same source). In the early 1990s he was Governor of Awdal.

## President, 2002 to 2010

When President [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) died on 3 May 2002, Riyale was sworn in as President ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahir_Riyale_Kahin)).

On 14 April 2003 Somaliland held its first multiparty presidential vote. The electoral commission's count gave him 205,595 votes and [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) 205,515, a difference of 80 votes ([Wikipedia, 2003 Somaliland presidential election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Somaliland_presidential_election)). The opposition disputed the count. The constitutional court confirmed the result in May 2003, and Silanyo accepted it (same source). The International Crisis Group studied this period in [Somaliland: Democratisation and its Discontents (2003)](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/66-somaliland-democratisation-and-its-discontents.pdf).

He was the first President of Somaliland who was not from the Isaaq, the largest group in the area (same Wikipedia source). In 2007 he led a delegation to the Commonwealth meeting in Kampala. In 2008 he created new regions and districts by decree, which drew criticism ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahir_Riyale_Kahin)).

## The 2010 handover

The next presidential vote was held on 26 June 2010 ([Al Jazeera, 26 June 2010](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/6/26/voting-wraps-up-in-somaliland)). Silanyo won, and Riyale handed over power ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Mohamoud)).

## In short

President of Somaliland from 2002 to 2010. He handed office to Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo after the 2010 election.


---

# Faisal Aden (Faysal Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/faisal-aden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Faisal Aden (born 1 January 1989) is a Somali professional basketball player who grew up in San Diego and played college basketball for Washington State. He played professionally in the United States, Italy, Germany and Kenya, and for the Somalia national team, scoring 59 points against Rwanda in 2013.

## Who is he?

Faisal Aden is a Somali professional basketball player born on 1 January 1989 ([Wikipedia, Faisal Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Aden)). He was born in Somalia and moved to San Diego at the age of seven (same source). He played college basketball for Washington State ([Washington State Cougars](https://web.archive.org/web/20121119100303/http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/aden_faisal00.html)). See [Somalis in San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/).

## Professional career

After the 2012 NBA draft he signed briefly with the Leuven Bears in [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Aden)). He was picked in the 2012 NBA Development League draft and then traded to the [Texas](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/) Legends (same source). In February 2013 he signed with Virtus Roma in Italy, and later spent a preseason with SC Rasta Vechta in Germany (same source). He later played for the Kenyan club KPA in the qualifying rounds of the Basketball Africa League (same source).

## Somalia national team

He chose to play for Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Aden)). On 25 January 2013 he scored 59 points in an 83-86 loss to Rwanda in qualifying for the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship (same source).

## In short

A San Diego-raised basketball player who has played on three continents and for Somalia.


---

# Sheikh Abdinasir Haji Ahmed (Sheekh Cabdinaasir Xaaji Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdinasir-haji-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Abdinasir Haji Ahmed Yusuf (1957 to 2022) was a Somali Islamic scholar and preacher. Born near Ceegaag in Cayn, he studied in Burao, Berbera, Mogadishu and Yemen, taught in Yemen from 1982 to 1992, and founded the Al-Furqan Institute in Las Anod in 1994. A public critic of attacks on civilians, he was killed by a car bomb in Kismayo on 22 February 2022; al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Abdinasir Haji Ahmed Yusuf was a Somali Islamic scholar and preacher, born in 1957 in the countryside near Ceegaag in Cayn ([Wikipedia, Abdinasir Haji Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Haji_Ahmed)). He memorised the Quran at Horufadhi and studied at the Salihiya mosque school in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (same source).

## Study

From 1965 he studied at the Al-Falah school in Berbera, and from 1967 at an al-Azhar-linked institute in Burao ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Haji_Ahmed)). He then studied with scholars in Mogadishu, did military service, and went to Yemen to study Islamic law (same source). In Yemen he chaired the Somali community, appointed by the Ministry of Endowments, and taught in religious institutes from 1982 to 1992 (same source). See [Somalis in Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/).

## Teaching in Las Anod

He returned to Somalia in 1992 and settled in Las Anod, where he preached and taught ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Haji_Ahmed)). In 1994, with [Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman](/en/people/ahmed-haji-abdirahman/) and [Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah](/en/people/abdulkadir-nur-farah/), he founded the Al-Furqan Institute of Islamic Studies (same source). He recorded more than a thousand lessons (same source). See [Sool](/en/regions/sool/).

## Death

He publicly condemned al-Shabaab's attacks on hotels, cafes and markets, including at seminars in Garowe, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Las Anod ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Haji_Ahmed)). His two co-founders were killed in 2011 and 2013 (same source). On 22 February 2022 he was killed by a car bomb while visiting Kismayo, and al-Shabaab claimed responsibility (same source).

The federal president, a former president and regional presidents condemned the killing, and some in the community criticised the [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) authorities over his security (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A scholar who taught in Yemen and Las Anod for decades and was killed in Kismayo in 2022 after speaking against attacks on civilians.


---

# Abdalle Mumin (Cabdalle Muumin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdalle-mumin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdalle Ahmed Mumin is a Somali journalist and press freedom campaigner. He is Secretary General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, writes for The Guardian, and contributed to the book Hounded: African Journalists in Exile. He survived an attack in 2015 and was detained in Mogadishu in October 2022 before being released on bail.

## Who is he?

Abdalle Ahmed Mumin is a Somali journalist and human rights activist ([Wikipedia, Abdalle Mumin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdalle_Mumin)). He is Secretary General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate and writes for The Guardian (same source). He contributed to the book *Hounded: African Journalists in Exile* (same source).

## Attack and detention

In early 2015 he survived an attack after reporting for The Wall Street Journal on the killing of al-Shabaab's leader ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdalle_Mumin)).

On 11 October 2022 he was arrested while waiting for a flight to Nairobi and held at the Godka Jilacow detention centre ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdalle_Mumin)). Wikipedia links the arrest to the authorities' campaign against armed groups, and he was released on bail on 22 October after ten days in custody (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A Somali journalist who leads the journalists' syndicate and has been attacked and detained over his work.


---

# Ugbad Abdi (Ugbaad Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ugbad-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ugbad Abdi is a Somali-American fashion model. Born in Kismayo, she grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp and, from 2009, in Des Moines, Iowa. She debuted for Valentino haute couture, has opened New York shows for Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors, and in 2019 became the first model to walk for Fendi and Lanvin wearing a hijab.

## Who is she?

Ugbad Abdi is a Somali-American fashion model born in Kismayo ([Wikipedia, Ugbad Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugbad_Abdi)). Her family fled the civil war to a refugee camp in Kenya, and in 2009, when she was nine, moved to Des Moines, Iowa with help from UNICEF (same source). See [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## Modelling

She was scouted on Instagram after finishing high school and signed with Next Management ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugbad_Abdi)). She made her runway debut in Valentino's 2018/2019 haute couture show and has opened New York Fashion Week shows for Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors (same source). She has also walked for Chanel, Miu Miu, Burberry, Fendi, Lanvin, Max Mara and others (same source).

In April 2019 she appeared in the British, American and Arabian editions of *Vogue* at the same time (same source). In 2019 she became the first model to walk for Fendi and Lanvin wearing a hijab, and in 2022 she appeared on the cover of *Vogue France* (same source).

## In short

A Kismayo-born refugee who became a leading runway model and the first to wear a hijab for Fendi and Lanvin.


---

# Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf (Caasha Luul Maxamuud Yuusuf)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/asha-lul-mohamud-yusuf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf is a Somali poet who has lived in Britain for more than 25 years. A master of classical forms such as the gabay, she published the bilingual collection The Sea-Migrations: Tahriib (Bloodaxe, 2017), named among the year's best poetry books, and Taste: Dookh (2012). She also hosts a Somali TV show in the UK.

## Who is she?

Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf is a contemporary Somali poet who has lived in Britain for more than 25 years ([Wikipedia, Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Lul_Mohamud_Yusuf)). She is known for her command of classical Somali forms such as the gabay, a field mostly led by men (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Books

Her books, in Somali with English translations, are ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Lul_Mohamud_Yusuf)):

- *Taste: Dookh*, translated by Maxamed Xasan "Alto" and Clare Pollard, Poetry Translation Centre, 2012
- *The Sea-Migrations: Tahriib*, translated by Clare Pollard, Said Jama Hussein and Maxamed Xasan "Alto", Bloodaxe Books, 2017

The critics Jeremy Noel-Tod and Carol Rumens both named *The Sea-Migrations* among the best poetry books of 2017 (same source).

## Reach in the diaspora

She reaches Somali audiences through her YouTube channel and WhatsApp messages, and hosts a Somali TV show based in the UK ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Lul_Mohamud_Yusuf)).

## In short

A London-based master of Somali classical poetry whose 2017 bilingual collection was named among the year's best.


---

# Nimco Happy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nimco-happy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nimco Elmi Ali, known as Nimco Happy, is a Somali singer born in Mogadishu who grew up in Hargeisa and Nairobi and lives in Norway. Her 2017 song Isii Nafta, sung in Somali, English, Swahili and Arabic, went viral on TikTok in 2021, and she signed with Polydor to release it officially that October.

## Who is she?

Nimco Elmi Ali, known by her stage name Nimco Happy, is a Somali singer ([Wikipedia, Nimco Happy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Happy)). She was born in Mogadishu, grew up in Hargeisa and Nairobi, and lives in Norway (same source). She comes from a family of poets (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Music

She began her career in 2015 and has staged several plays in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Happy)). Her 2017 song "Isii Nafta" became a hit in Somalia (same source). In 2021 it went viral on TikTok, noted for mixing Somali with English, Swahili and Arabic (same source). She signed with Polydor, which released it on 28 October 2021 as "Isii Nafta (Love You More than My Life)" (same source).

## In short

A Somali singer whose song "Isii Nafta" reached a worldwide audience through TikTok in 2021.


---

# Hinda Abdi Mohamoud (Hinda Cabdi Maxamuud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hinda-abdi-mohamoud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hinda Abdi Mohamoud is a Somali journalist and chief editor of Bilan Media, Somalia's first independent all-women media outlet, launched in 2022. She grew up in Hargeisa, wrote the book Raad Somali, won the 2023 Index on Censorship journalism award with her team, and was named one of the BBC 100 Women in 2024.

## Who is she?

Hinda Abdi Mohamoud is a Somali journalist who grew up in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia, Hinda Abdi Mohamoud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinda_Abdi_Mohamoud)). She holds a degree in international relations from New Generation University in Hargeisa (same source). Before becoming a journalist she self-published *Raad Somali* (Somali Footprints), on the origins of the Somali people (same source).

## Bilan Media

She is chief editor of [Bilan](/en/society/bilan-media/) Media, Somalia's first independent media outlet run entirely by women, which launched in 2022 with UN funding ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinda_Abdi_Mohamoud)). Its reporting has covered subjects rarely discussed in public, such as HIV, Alzheimer's disease and people with albinism (same source). She has also written about people living for decades in displacement camps in Mogadishu, and contributed to the *Index on Censorship* magazine (same source).

In 2023 she and her team won the Index on Censorship Press Freedom Award for journalism (same source). In 2024 the BBC named her one of its 100 Women (same source).

## In short

The chief editor of Somalia's all-women newsroom, honoured by Index on Censorship and the BBC.


---

# Asha Jama (Caasha Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/asha-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Asha Said Jama (born 15 November 1960 in Merca) is a Somali-Canadian community activist and former journalist. A graduate in journalism from the Somali National University, she worked for the state newspaper Xidigta Oktobar and as a television news anchor in Mogadishu before moving to Canada in the late 1980s. She has led the Alberta Somali Community Center in Calgary.

## Who is she?

Asha Said Jama is a Somali-Canadian social activist and former journalist, born on 15 November 1960 in [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([Wikipedia, Asha Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Jama)). She grew up in Mogadishu and earned a journalism degree at the Lafoole campus of the Somali National University (same source).

## Journalism in Mogadishu

After graduating she worked for the state newspaper *Xidigta Oktobar*, and later became a news anchor on television ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Jama)).

## Community work in Canada

Because of unrest in Somalia, she left in the late 1980s and moved to Canada ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Jama)). She became president of the Alberta Somali Community Center in Calgary and has worked with the Canadian Somali Congress and other groups (same source; [Alberta Somali Community Center](https://web.archive.org/web/20130813064711/http://albertasomali.com/node/527)). See [Somalis in Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/).

## In short

A former Mogadishu newsreader who leads Somali community work in Calgary.


---

# Maxamed Daahir Afrax (Mohamed Dahir Afrah)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/maxamed-daahir-afrax/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maxamed Daahir Afrax is a Somali novelist, playwright, journalist and scholar. His novel Maana-faay (1981) is reported to be among the first novels written in the Latin Somali script. He founded and edited the literary journal Hal-Abuur, and has written on Somali literature, on Hadraawi's poetry and on rebuilding Somalia.

## Who is he?

Maxamed Daahir Afrax is a Somali novelist, playwright, journalist and scholar ([Wikipedia, Maxamed Daahir Afrax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxamed_Daahir_Afrax)).

## Novels and journal

His novel *Maana-faay* was first published in 1981 and reissued in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1997 (same source). Wikipedia notes it is reportedly the first novel written in the romanised Somali script (same source). Our page on [Farah Awl](/en/people/farah-awl/) records a similar claim for Awl, so both are listed here as Wikipedia gives them.

In 1993 he launched *Hal-Abuur*, a journal of Somali literature and culture (same source). The historian Lidwien Kapteijns reviewed his novels in that journal as "a window on Somali society" (same source).

## Scholarship

His studies include ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxamed_Daahir_Afrax)):

- *Nadaraat fi Athaqaafah As-Soomaaliyah* (An introduction to Somali culture), in Arabic, published in Sharjah
- an Arabic essay on the poetry of [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/), 1987
- "A Nation of Poets, or Art-loving People?", 1994
- "The Mirror of Culture: Somali Dissolution Seen Through Oral Literature", in *The Somali Challenge*, 1994
- *Dal Dad Waayey iyo Duni Damiir Beeshay: Soomaaliya Dib ma u Dhalan Doontaa?* (A land without leaders in a world without conscience: can Somalia be reborn?), revised edition 2004

## In short

A novelist and critic who founded the journal Hal-Abuur and has written widely on Somali literature.


---

# Abdinur Mohamud (Cabdinuur Maxamuud)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdinur-mohamud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdinur Mohamed Mohamud (born 13 September 1997) is a Somali footballer who played for the Somalia national team in November 2011 at the age of 14. He is regarded as the youngest male player to appear in a FIFA-recognised international match. He has played as a midfielder for Horseed FC.

## Who is he?

Abdinur Mohamed Mohamud is a Somali footballer born on 13 September 1997 who plays as a midfielder for Horseed FC in the Somali First Division ([Wikipedia, Abdinur Mohamud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinur_Mohamud)).

## Record debut

He first played for Somalia in November 2011, aged 14 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinur_Mohamud)). Sources differ on whether his debut was against Djibouti on 1 November or Ethiopia on 12 November (same source). Either way, he is regarded as the youngest male footballer to play in a FIFA-recognised international, beating the record of Myanmar's Aung Kyaw Tun by between 13 and 25 days (same source).

## In short

A Somali midfielder who became the youngest male player in a FIFA international in 2011.


---

# Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo (Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud Siilaanyo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, known as Silanyo (1938–2024), was an economist who served the Somali Republic as a minister in the 1970s, chaired the Somali National Movement from 1984 to 1990, and was President of Somaliland from 2010 to 2017. He died in Hargeisa on 15 November 2024.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, known by his nickname Silanyo, was President of Somaliland from 2010 to 2017. Earlier he was a minister in the Somali government and the longest-serving chairman of the Somali National Movement (SNM) ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Mohamoud)).

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Early life and study

He was born on 1 June 1938 in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/). His father was a merchant seaman, and he was the only one of six children to go to school, with the help of an uncle ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Mohamoud)). His family is Habar Jeclo (Isaaq). He studied at [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) and Amoud, then in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) from 1958. He earned a bachelor's degree (1963) and a master's (1965) in economics at the University of Manchester (same source).

## In the Somali government

From 1965 he worked at the Ministry of Planning in Mogadishu. He was Minister of Planning from 1969 to 1973 and Minister of Commerce from 1973 to 1978 and from 1980 to 1982 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Mohamoud)).

## The SNM

He joined the SNM, which had been formed in London in 1981 ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm)). He chaired its UK branch from 1982, building offices abroad, and chaired the whole movement from 1984 to 1990 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Mohamoud)).

## In Somaliland

He sat in Somaliland's House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997, was Finance Minister from 1997 to 1999 and Planning Minister from 1999 to 2000 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Mohamoud)). He founded the Kulmiye party.

In April 2003 he lost the presidential vote by 80 votes and accepted the court's ruling ([Wikipedia, 2003 Somaliland presidential election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Somaliland_presidential_election)). In June 2010 he won, and served as President until 2017. He then retired because of age and health (same sources).

## His death

He died in Hargeisa on 15 November 2024, aged 86, while the votes of that month's election were being counted. He was given a state burial on 18 November ([Somali Guardian, November 2024](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somaliland-mourns-ex-president-as-election-ballots-continue-to-be-counted/)). Leaders in Mogadishu and Ethiopia sent condolences (same source).

## In short

President of Somaliland from 2010 to 2017. He accepted the narrow result of the 2003 election.


---

# Hodan Ahmed (Hodan Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hodan-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hodan Ahmed is a Somali political activist who in 2009 helped found the Somali Women Parliamentary Association, the first women's caucus in the Transitional Federal Parliament. As a senior programme officer at the National Democratic Institute, she supported training for women MPs and the campaign that reserved 30 per cent of seats for women in the 2012 Federal Parliament.

## Who is she?

Hodan Ahmed is a Somali political activist ([Wikipedia, Hodan Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Ahmed)). She was born in Somalia and left with her family after the civil war began in 1991, living for a time in India and studying in Kenya (same source). A visit to Mogadishu in 2003 led her to devote her career to rebuilding the country (same source).

## Work for women in parliament

She first worked with the UN Population Fund and Norwegian People's Aid ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodan_Ahmed)). In 2009, at workshops run by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), she and other women from civil society and parliament founded the Somali Women Parliamentary Association, the first women's caucus in the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) (same source).

She joined the NDI in 2010 and supported its programme to train women MPs (same source). This work helped shape provisions in the Federal Constitution adopted in August 2012, and the roadmap rule reserving at least 30 per cent of seats in the new parliament for women (same source). In 2013 she spent three months in Washington DC on the NDI's Andi Parhamovich Fellowship (same source).

## In short

An activist who helped build women's representation in Somalia's parliament from 2009 onwards.


---

# Faysal Ahmed (Faysal Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/faysal-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Faysal Ahmed is a Somali actor based in Minneapolis. Raised in Yemen, he moved to the United States as a teenager in 1999, was cast from a 2011 open call in Cedar-Riverside to play the hijacker Najee in Captain Phillips (2013), and has since appeared in Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Castle Rock and Little America.

## Who is he?

Faysal Ahmed is a Somali actor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota ([Wikipedia, Faysal Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faysal_Ahmed)). Wikipedia gives two birth years, 1993 in its lead and 1985 in its early-life section; he was born in Yemen to a family from Somalia, one of nine children (same source). In 1999 he moved to the United States with his mother and some siblings (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis-St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Acting

He worked as youth programme coordinator at the Bedlam Theater in Minneapolis ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faysal_Ahmed)). In 2011 he was one of four actors chosen from more than 700 people at a casting call at the Brian Coyle Community Center in Cedar-Riverside (same source). In *[Captain Phillips](/en/society/films-about-somalia/)* (2013) he played Najee, one of the hijackers, alongside [Barkhad Abdi](/en/people/barkhad-abdi/) (same source).

His other screen work includes (same source):

- *A Stray* (2016)
- *Watu Wote: All of Us* (2017)
- *Sicario: Day of the Soldado* (2018)
- *Castle Rock*, season two (2019), again with Barkhad Abdi
- *Little America* (2022)

## In short

A Minneapolis actor who broke through in Captain Phillips and has worked in film and television since.


---

# Mohad Abdikadar (Mohad Cabdiqaadir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohad-abdikadar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohad Abdikadar Sheik Ali (born 12 June 1993 in Beled Hawo) is an Italian middle-distance runner. He arrived in Italy as a refugee in 2006, became a citizen in 2011, won silver in the 1500 metres at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships, and in 2023 ran 3:33.79, making him the third-fastest Italian ever at that distance.

## Who is he?

Mohad Abdikadar Sheik Ali is an Italian middle-distance runner born on 12 June 1993 in Beled Hawo ([Wikipedia, Mohad Abdikadar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohad_Abdikadar)). He arrived in Sezze, Italy, in January 2006 with two brothers as refugees from the civil war, and became an Italian citizen in May 2011 (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/) and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/).

## Running

He won silver in the 1500 metres at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships in Tallinn ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohad_Abdikadar)). At the 2018 Golden Gala in Rome he ran 3:36.54, a time no Italian had reached in ten years (same source). On 3 September 2023 he won the Città di Padova meeting in 3:33.79, becoming the third-fastest Italian ever over 1500 metres (same source).

## In short

A Beled Hawo-born refugee who became one of Italy's fastest 1500 metres runners.


---

# Sumaya Dalmar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sumaya-dalmar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sumaya Dasia Dalmar (about 1988 to 2015) was a Somali-Canadian transgender activist and model in Toronto, one of the first Somalis to come out publicly as transgender. Born in Mogadishu, she grew up in Vancouver, moved to Toronto in 2009, and was the subject of Abdi Osman's 2012 work Labeeb. She died on 22 February 2015 aged 26; the cause was not made public.

## Who was she?

Sumaya Dasia Dalmar, also known as Sumaya YSL, was a Somali-Canadian transgender activist and model ([Wikipedia, Sumaya Dalmar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumaya_Dalmar)). She was among the first Somalis to come out publicly as transgender (same source). She was born in Mogadishu and left at the age of three when the civil war began; her family settled in Vancouver (same source).

## Life in Toronto

She moved to Toronto in 2009 to transition ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumaya_Dalmar)). In 2012 she was the main subject of *Labeeb*, a play and documentary work by Abdi Osman on gender, sexuality and faith in the Somali community (same source). She qualified as a speech therapist and worked as a model, and took part in the Black Queer Youth group of Supporting Our Youth (same source). She was due to start work at The 519, an LGBT community centre, the day after she died (same source). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).

## Death

She died on 22 February 2015 aged 26, in circumstances that were not made public ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumaya_Dalmar)). Her death was widely discussed, and a public memorial and candlelight vigil were held in Toronto on 3 March 2015 (same source).

## In short

A Somali-Canadian model and activist whose visibility was widely noted in Toronto before her early death.


---

# Mona Walter

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mona-walter/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mona Walter (born 1973 in Mogadishu) is a Swedish activist and commentator who came to Sweden as a refugee in 1994. Raised Muslim, she became a Christian in 2006 and has written and spoken publicly against Islam. Her views have drawn strong criticism, and she has received death threats.

## Who is she?

Mona Walter is a Swedish activist and social commentator born in Mogadishu in 1973 ([Wikipedia, Mona Walter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Walter)). She moved to Sweden as a refugee in 1994 (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Public views

She was raised Muslim, left Islam, and became a Christian in 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Walter)). She writes critically about Islam on social media and in the press, and has lived with death threats since her conversion (same source). In August 2015 she and an SVT news team were attacked with eggs while filming in Rinkeby, Stockholm (same source).

She has spoken at events of anti-Islam groups in Denmark and Norway (same source). Critics, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have called her views anti-Muslim or racist (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A Mogadishu-born Swedish commentator whose public criticism of Islam has made her a contested figure.


---

# Suldan Hassan (Suldaan Xasan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/suldan-hassan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Suldan Hassan (born 1 April 1998 in Somalia) is a Somali-Swedish long-distance runner. Blind in one eye since an accident at four, he moved to Sweden at eleven, began running at fifteen, won the Swedish 5000 metres title in 2019, and ran the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics after setting a Swedish record of 2:07:36.

## Who is he?

Suldan Hassan is a Somali-Swedish athlete born in Somalia on 1 April 1998 ([Wikipedia, Suldan Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldan_Hassan)). He lost the sight of one eye in an accident at the age of four (same source). He moved to Sweden at eleven, took up long-distance running at fifteen, and became a Swedish citizen in 2015 (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Career

He won the 5000 metres at the 2019 Swedish Championships ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldan_Hassan)). He qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a Swedish marathon record of 2:07:36 and finished 28th in the race (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born Swedish runner who set a national marathon record and ran at Paris 2024.


---

# Saida Hagi-Dirie Herzi (Saciida Xaaji Diiriye Xirsi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saida-hagi-dirie-herzi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saida Hagi-Dirie Herzi (born in Mogadishu in the 1950s) is a Somali feminist writer and one of the first Somalis to write fiction in English. Her story Against the Pleasure Principle (1990), on female genital mutilation, appeared in Index on Censorship and Daughters of Africa, and Government by Magic Spell was included in the Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories edited by Chinua Achebe.

## Who is she?

Saida Hagi-Dirie Herzi is a Somali feminist writer born in Mogadishu in the 1950s ([Wikipedia, Saida Hagi-Dirie Herzi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saida_Hagi-Dirie_Herzi)). She earned a degree in English literature at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, where she later taught, and a master's degree from the American University in Cairo (same source). She divides her time among several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Kenya (same source).

## Writing

She was one of the first Somali writers to publish fiction in English, and her stories take up women's rights, female genital mutilation and corruption ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saida_Hagi-Dirie_Herzi)).

- "Against the Pleasure Principle" first appeared in 1990 in the journal *Index on Censorship*, over concern that its depiction of genital mutilation might otherwise be censored (same source). It draws on her own experience and was later included in Margaret Busby's anthology *Daughters of Africa* (1992) (same source).
- "Government by Magic Spell" appeared in *The Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories* (1992), edited by Chinua Achebe and C. L. Innes, and was broadcast on BBC Radio in 2012 (same source).
- "The Barren Stick" was first published in 2002 (same source).

## In short

A pioneering Somali writer of English-language short stories on women's rights and politics.


---

# Mohammed Ahamed (Maxamed Axmed Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohammed-ahamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohammed Ahmed Jama (born 5 August 1985), known as Mohammed Ahamed or Egag, is a Norwegian former footballer born in Garowe. A forward, he played for Tromsdalen and for Tromsø in Norway's top division, scoring in a Europa League qualifier in 2010, and also played on loan for Sarpsborg 08.

## Who is he?

Mohammed Ahmed Jama, known as Mohammed Ahamed or Egag, is a former footballer born on 5 August 1985 in Garowe who moved to Norway ([Wikipedia, Mohammed Ahamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahamed)). He played as a forward (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Career

After playing for Fløya, he joined Tromsdalen in 2006 and Tromsø, of Norway's top division, in 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Ahamed)). He scored in Tromsø's 5-0 Europa League qualifying win over Daugava Daugavpils, and scored three league goals in 45 matches, all in 2010 (same source; [UEFA](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/clubs/players/250031308--mohammed-jama/)). He was on loan at Sarpsborg 08 in 2011, rejoined Tromsdalen in 2012, and returned to his first club, Krokelvdalen, in 2019 (same source).

## In short

A Garowe-born striker who played in Norway's top division and in Europe for Tromsø.


---

# Abukar Mohamed (Abuukar Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abukar-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulkadir Abukar Mohamed (born 1 January 1999 in Mogadishu) is a Finnish footballer who moved to Tampere aged three. A midfielder, he came through TPV and TPS, signed for Lazio in 2017 and was loaned to Karpaty Lviv in Ukraine in 2019.

## Who is he?

Abdulkadir Abukar Mohamed is a Finnish footballer born in Mogadishu on 1 January 1999 who plays as a midfielder ([Wikipedia, Abukar Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abukar_Mohamed)). He moved to Tampere with his parents at the age of three (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Career

He started with TPV's under-19 team and then played for TPS ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abukar_Mohamed)). In 2017 he signed for the Italian club Lazio, and in July 2019 joined Karpaty Lviv in Ukraine on a one-year loan (same source). In 2024 he signed for FC Lasten in Finland (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born Finnish midfielder who signed for Lazio as a teenager.


---

# Ali Musse (Cali Muuse)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-musse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Musse (born 1 January 1996 in Somalia) is a Canadian-raised winger who plays for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League and for the Somalia national team. He grew up in Winnipeg, won the 2018 PDL title with Calgary Foothills, scoring twice in extra time in the final, and turned professional with Valour FC in 2019.

## Who is he?

Ali Musse is a professional footballer born in Somalia on 1 January 1996 who moved to Canada as a child ([Wikipedia, Ali Musse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Musse)). He plays as a winger for Cavalry FC and for the Somalia national team (same source). He grew up in Winnipeg, and his family later moved to [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) (same source). See [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/).

## Career

He played youth football in Winnipeg and at the Vancouver Whitecaps academy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Musse)). He played college soccer at Tyler Junior College in [Texas](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/) and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (same source). With Calgary Foothills he won the 2018 PDL title, scoring five goals in four playoff games, including two in extra time in the final against Reading United (same source).

In February 2019 he signed his first professional contract with Valour FC of Winnipeg (same source). After a spell with 1. FCA Darmstadt in Germany, he joined Cavalry FC in Calgary in June 2021 (same source). See [Somalis in Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/).

## In short

A Winnipeg-raised winger who plays in the Canadian Premier League and for Somalia.


---

# Ahmed Mumin Warfa (Axmed Muumin Warfaa)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-mumin-warfa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Mumin Warfa (died 15 March 2021) was a Somali botanist who, with Mats Thulin, discovered the plant Cyclamen somalense. He taught at the Somali National University, worked for reconciliation after 1991, taught biology in Utah, and from 2020 was rector of Zamzam University of Science and Technology in Mogadishu. He died of COVID-19.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Mumin Warfa was a Somali botanist ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mumin Warfa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mumin_Warfa)). With the Swedish botanist Mats Thulin he discovered the species *Cyclamen somalense* (same source). He taught biology and agriculture at the Somali National University and found several plants native only to Somalia, notably in Bari region (same source). See [Bari](/en/regions/bari/).

## Peace work

When the civil war began in 1991 and the university closed, he worked as a translator for the United Nations and helped set up reconciliation councils during talks in Addis Ababa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mumin_Warfa)). He survived an assassination attempt in 1994 (same source).

## Teaching in the United States

He moved via Nairobi to the United States, where he taught biology at Salt Lake Community College and Brigham Young University in Utah ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mumin_Warfa)). He also raised funds for projects in Somalia such as [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) University (same source).

## Return to Mogadishu

In 2020 he returned to Mogadishu as rector of [Zamzam University of Science and Technology](/en/institutions/zamzam-university/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mumin_Warfa)). He died there of complications from COVID-19 on 15 March 2021 (same source).

## In short

A botanist and peace worker who co-discovered a Somali cyclamen and led a Mogadishu university in his last year.


---

# Muse Bihi Abdi (Muuse Biixi Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Muse Bihi Abdi (born 1948) is a former air force officer who was President of Somaliland from December 2017 to December 2024. He trained as a pilot in the Soviet Union, joined the Somali National Movement in 1985, chaired the Kulmiye party, and handed over after losing the November 2024 vote.

## Who is he?

Muse Bihi Abdi was the fifth President of Somaliland, from 13 December 2017 to 12 December 2024 ([Wikipedia, Muse Bihi Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Bihi_Abdi)).

Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Early life and air force career

He was born in 1948 on the outskirts of Hargeisa. He finished Amoud Secondary School in 1970 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Bihi_Abdi)). In the early 1970s he joined the [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) and trained as a pilot in the Soviet Union, graduating from the pilots' academy in Dushanbe in 1973 (same source). From 1981 to 1985 he took further training in the United States (same source).

## The SNM years

In 1985 he left the air force and joined the Somali National Movement, which opposed the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Bihi_Abdi)). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## In Somaliland politics

From 1973 to 1985 he held senior posts, including head of training in the Somali Air Force and military attaché at the Somali embassy in Washington ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Bihi_Abdi)).

After 1991 he took part in reconciliation meetings between the communities of the north at [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), Berbera, [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) and [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) (same source). In 1993 he became Minister of the Interior and National Security under President [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (same source). He was vice chairman of the Kulmiye party from 2008 and its chairman from 2010. In 2015 the party congress chose him as its presidential candidate (same source).

## President, 2017 to 2024

The presidential vote was held on 13 November 2017. He received 55% to 41% for Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro, was declared the winner on 21 November, and was sworn in at Hargeisa on 13 December 2017. Leaders from Ethiopia, Djibouti, the European Union and the United Kingdom attended ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_Bihi_Abdi); [Wikipedia, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)). In January 2024 his government signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia over sea access, which strained relations with the federal government in Mogadishu ([The New Arab, November 2024](https://www.newarab.com/news/somaliland-opposition-leader-wins-presidential-election)).

In the vote of 13 November 2024 he received 34.81% to 63.92% for [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) (same source). He pledged a peaceful handover, and Irro was sworn in on 12 December 2024 ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi)).

This page records his public role only.


---

# Hibaaq Osman (Hibaaq Cismaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hibaaq-osman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hibaaq Osman is a Somali political strategist and women's rights campaigner. She founded the Centre for the Strategic Initiatives of Women and the SIHA network in the Horn of Africa, and in 2005 founded El-Karama, a Cairo-based organisation working for women's rights across the Arab world. She has represented the V-Day movement in Africa, the Middle East and Asia since 2002.

## Who is she?

Hibaaq Osman is a Somali political strategist ([Wikipedia, Hibaaq Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibaaq_Osman)). She was born in Somalia, studied there and in Ethiopia, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and the United States, and has lived and worked in Yemen (same source).

## Work

From 1992 she was director of communications for the Fund for Peace, and she chaired the Center for the Advancement of Somali Women and Children in Washington DC ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibaaq_Osman)). She founded the Centre for the Strategic Initiatives of Women, and the SIHA network, which links women's groups across the Horn of Africa (same source).

Since 2002 she has led V-Day's work in Africa, the Middle East and Asia (same source). In 2005 she founded El-Karama, a Cairo-based organisation working on women's rights in fourteen countries of the Middle East and North Africa, including Somalia (same source). Through it she launched the Libyan Women's Platform for Peace in 2011 and the Syrian Women's Forum for Peace in 2012 (same source). See [Somalis in Egypt](/en/diaspora/egypt/).

## In short

A Somali strategist who built women's rights networks across the Horn of Africa and the Arab world.


---

# Abdusalam Abubakar (Cabdisalaan Abuubakar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdusalam-abubakar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdusalam Abubakar (born about 1990 in Somalia) is a Somali-born Irish scientist from Dublin. Twenty months after arriving in Ireland, he won the 2007 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at seventeen with a cryptography project extending Wiener's attack on RSA, and later that year won first prize for mathematics at the EU Contest for Young Scientists.

## Who is he?

Abdusalam Abubakar is a Somali-born Irish scientist from Dublin, born in 1989 or 1990 ([Wikipedia, Abdusalam Abubakar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdusalam_Abubakar)). He moved to Ireland in May 2005 and joined Synge Street CBS in central Dublin (same source). See [Somalis in Ireland](/en/diaspora/ireland/).

## Young Scientist of the Year

On 12 January 2007 he won the 43rd Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS in Dublin with a project titled "An Extension of Wiener's Attack on RSA", on cryptography ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdusalam_Abubakar)). He said afterwards that he had never used a computer before arriving in Ireland twenty months earlier (same source). In September 2007 he represented Ireland at the EU Contest for Young Scientists in Valencia and won first prize in mathematics (same source).

He went on to study financial mathematics at Dublin City University (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born Dublin student who won Ireland's top young scientist prize in 2007 with a cryptography project.


---

# Aw Jama Omar Issa (Aw Jaamac Cumar Ciise)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jama-omar-issa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aw Jama Omar Issa (about 1922 to 6 January 2014) was a Somali scholar, historian and collector of oral poetry from Buuhoodle. He spent some twenty years collecting the poems of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, published as Diiwaanka Sayid Maxamed (1974), and wrote the first detailed history of the Dervish movement (1976). He died in Djibouti aged 91.

## Who was he?

Aw Jama Omar Issa, known as Aw Jaamac, was a Somali scholar, historian and collector of oral literature ([Wikipedia, Jama Omar Issa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Omar_Issa)). He came from [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/), had an Arabic and Islamic education, and qualified as a teacher in Hargeisa in 1957 (same source). In the early 1960s he moved to Mogadishu to teach (same source).

## The Sayid's poetry and the Dervishes

He spent about twenty years collecting and writing down the orally transmitted poems of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/), published as *Diiwaanka Sayid Maxamed* in 1974 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Omar_Issa)). He used them for *Taariikhdii Daraawiishta iyo Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan, 1895-1921*, published by the Somali Academy of Culture in 1976 and described by Wikipedia as the first authoritative study of the Dervishes (same source). See [The Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## Other books

Before Somali had an official script, he wrote in Arabic, including a history of Somalia and a book on Somali political leaders, both in 1965 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Omar_Issa)). In 1966 he wrote a biography of [General Daud](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) Abdulle Hirsi, first commander of the Somali army, and in 1979 a history of Mogadishu (same source). With Mohamed Haji Omar and Ahmed Jimale he wrote *Speared from the Spear: Traditional Somali Behaviour in Warfare*, published by the Red Cross in 1997 (same source).

## Later life

From 1991 he lived in Djibouti, where he died on 6 January 2014 aged 91 (same source).

## In short

A historian from Buuhoodle who preserved the Sayid's poetry and wrote the first full history of the Dervishes.


---

# Abdulkadir Yahya Ali (Cabdiqaadir Yaxye Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulkadir-yahya-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulkadir Yahya Ali (23 April 1957 to 12 July 2005) was a Somali peace activist who founded the Centre for Research and Dialogue in Mogadishu. A former employee of the US embassy in Mogadishu, he advised the International Crisis Group and worked for many years on reconciliation. He was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Mogadishu in July 2005.

## Who was he?

Abdulkadir Yahya Ali was a Somali peace activist known for his work through the Centre for Research and Dialogue, which he founded ([Wikipedia, Abdulkadir Yahya Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Yahya_Ali)). He had worked for the United States embassy in Mogadishu (same source).

## Work

He advised and supported the International Crisis Group as an independent consultant ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Yahya_Ali)). He spent many years working for peace and reconciliation in Somalia and was widely respected in Somalia and abroad (same source).

## Death

On 12 July 2005 a group of gunmen climbed into his compound in Mogadishu, overpowered his guards, took his laptop and shot him dead ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Yahya_Ali)).

## In short

A Mogadishu peace builder who founded the Centre for Research and Dialogue and was killed at his home in 2005.


---

# Mohamud Siad Togane (Maxamuud Siyaad Togane)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamud-siad-togane/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamud Siad Togane (born 1 July 1947) is a Somali-Canadian poet and peace activist. Educated at Mennonite schools in Somalia and Eastern Mennonite College in the United States, he taught at Lafoole before settling in Canada in 1973. His first collection, The Bottle and the Bushman (1986), deals with racism and alcoholism, and his often satirical poems criticise clan politics and dictatorship.

## Who is he?

Mohamud Siad Togane is a Somali-Canadian poet and peace activist born on 1 July 1947 ([Wikipedia, Mohamud Siad Togane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Siad_Togane)). He went to Mennonite schools in Mahaddei and Jowhar, then studied in the United States, graduating in English literature from Eastern Mennonite College in 1969 (same source). See [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/).

He taught at the [Lafoole College](/en/institutions/lafoole-university/) of Education from 1970 to 1973, then left Somalia under the military government and settled in Canada in 1973 (same source). He became a Canadian citizen in 1978 and earned an MA in creative writing from Concordia University in Montreal in 1982 (same source).

## Poetry

His first collection, *The Bottle and the Bushman: Poems of the Prodigal Son* (1986), deals with racism and alcoholism ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Siad_Togane)). His poems criticise Somali clan thinking, life under dictatorship and female genital mutilation, often with satire and blunt language (same source). Some critics say his confrontational style adds to the conflict he opposes, while others see it as honest about clan influence on himself and others (same source). His poems have appeared on Montreal buses through the Poetry in Motion programme (same source).

## Peace work

He co-founded Montreal Somali House and the Somali Peace Coalition, and visited Somalia in 1991 to 1992 as part of reconciliation efforts ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Siad_Togane)).

## In short

A Montreal-based poet whose satirical verse takes on clan politics, and a co-founder of Somali peace groups.


---

# Ladan Osman (Ladan Cismaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ladan-osman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ladan Osman is a Somali-American poet, filmmaker and photographer. Born in Mogadishu and raised in Columbus, Ohio, she won the 2014 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets for The Kitchen-Dweller's Testimony, the 2020 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Exiles of Eden, and a Whiting Award in 2021.

## Who is she?

Ladan Osman is a Somali-American poet, director and photographer born in Mogadishu and raised in Columbus, Ohio ([Wikipedia, Ladan Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladan_Osman)). She earned an MFA at the Michener Center for Writers at the University of [Texas](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/) at Austin (same source). See [Somalis in Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/).

## Poetry

Her poems deal with dislocation and migration and have appeared through the Academy of American Poets, *Literary Hub* and *Prairie Schooner*, among others ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladan_Osman); [Poetry Foundation](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/ladan-osman)). Her books are (same source):

- *Ordinary Heaven*, chapbook, 2014
- *The Kitchen-Dweller's Testimony*, 2015, winner of the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
- *Exiles of Eden*, winner of the 2020 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

She received a Whiting Award in April 2021 (same source).

## Film and photography

Her photographs, performances and experimental media have been shown at the Bienal de São Paulo, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the New York African Film Festival, among others ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladan_Osman)). Her documentary work has won an ECU award and a Dikalo award (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born poet and artist whose books on migration have won major American poetry prizes.


---

# Yasin Egal (Yaasiin Cigaal)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasin-egal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yasin Ali Egal (born 1 March 1981) is a Somali former footballer who played as a defender for Elman and Banadir Telecom. He made his debut for Somalia in a World Cup qualifier against Ghana in November 2003 and later captained the national team.

## Who is he?

Yasin Ali Egal is a Somali former footballer born on 1 March 1981 who played as a defender ([Wikipedia, Yasin Egal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Egal)).

## Career

He began his career with Elman in 2003 and moved to Banadir Telecom in 2006, where he finished his career ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Egal)). He made his debut for Somalia on 16 November 2003 in a World Cup qualifier against Ghana, which Somalia lost 5-0, and later captained the national team (same source).

## In short

A Somali defender who played for Mogadishu clubs and captained the national team.


---

# Yaseen Musa (Yaasiin Muuse)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yaseen-musa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yaseen Ismail Musa (born 12 August 1980) is a Qatari former basketball player of Somali descent. He led scoring at the 1999 FIBA World Championship for Junior Men with 25 points a game, played for Qatar at Asian Championships and Asian Games, and won the FIBA 3x3 World Championships with Qatar in 2014.

## Who is he?

Yaseen Ismail Musa is a former professional basketball player born on 12 August 1980 who played for the Qatar national team ([Wikipedia, Yaseen Musa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaseen_Musa)). Wikipedia lists him among Qatari people of Somali descent (same source). See [Somalis in Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/).

## Career

At the 1999 FIBA World Championship for Junior Men he averaged 25 points a game, the best in the tournament, ahead of future NBA players Andrei Kirilenko and Juan Carlos Navarro ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaseen_Musa)). He played for Qatar at the 2007 and 2009 FIBA Asia Championships and at four Asian Games, winning silver (same source). He played his club basketball for Al Rayyan (same source). In 2014 he was part of the Qatar team that won the FIBA 3x3 World Championships (same source).

## In short

A Qatari basketball player of Somali descent who topped the scoring at a junior world championship and won a 3x3 world title.


---

# Mahmood Hussein Mattan (Maxamuud Xuseen Mataan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mahmood-hussein-mattan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mahmood Hussein Mattan (1923 to 3 September 1952) was a Somali merchant seaman in Cardiff who was wrongly convicted of the murder of shopkeeper Lily Volpert and hanged in 1952. In 1998 the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction as demonstrably flawed, the first case referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and in 2022 South Wales Police apologised to his family.

## Who was he?

Mahmood Hussein Mattan was born in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in 1923 and worked as a merchant seaman ([Wikipedia, Mahmood Hussein Mattan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmood_Hussein_Mattan)). He settled in Tiger Bay, the docks area of Cardiff, and married a local woman; as a mixed couple they faced racist abuse (same source). He left the merchant navy in 1949 and later worked in a steel foundry, among other jobs (same source). See [Somalis in Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) and [Somali seamen and early migrants](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/).

## Trial and execution

On 6 March 1952 the shopkeeper Lily Volpert was murdered in her shop in Cardiff's docks ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmood_Hussein_Mattan)). Police found nothing incriminating in Mattan's room, and the victim's relatives did not pick him out at an identity parade (same source). He was tried at Swansea in July 1952 and convicted mainly on the evidence of one prosecution witness (same source). The jury was not told that other witnesses had not identified him, and his own barrister described him in racist terms in his closing speech (same source).

He was hanged at Cardiff Prison on 3 September 1952, the last person executed there (same source).

## Cleared

His case was the first referred to the Court of Appeal by the new Criminal Cases Review Commission ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmood_Hussein_Mattan)). On 24 February 1998 the court quashed his conviction, with Lord Justice Rose calling the case "demonstrably flawed" (same source). His family received compensation, the first award for a person wrongly hanged (same source). In 1996 his remains had been reburied in a Cardiff cemetery under a headstone reading "Killed by injustice" (same source).

On 3 September 2022, the 70th anniversary of his execution, South Wales Police apologised to his family (same source).

## In books and audio

[Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/)'s novel *The Fortune Men* (2021), shortlisted for the Booker Prize, is based on his case ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmood_Hussein_Mattan)). The BBC podcast *Mattan: Injustice of a Hanged Man* followed in 2022 (same source).

## In short

A Somali seaman wrongly hanged in Cardiff in 1952, whose conviction was quashed in 1998.


---

# Fartun Abukar Omar (Fartuun Abuukar Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fartun-abukar-omar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fartun Abukar Omar (born 3 August 1986) is a Somali sprinter who ran the 100 metres for Somalia at the 2004 Athens Olympics, aged 18, setting a personal best of 14.29 seconds. ESPN noted she was the first Muslim woman to represent Somalia at any Olympic Games.

## Who is she?

Fartun Abukar Omar is a Somali athlete born on 3 August 1986 ([Wikipedia, Fartun Abukar Omar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartun_Abukar_Omar)).

## Athens 2004

She represented Somalia at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, when the country had been without a national government for thirteen years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartun_Abukar_Omar)). Aged 18, she ran the women's 100 metres and set a personal best of 14.29 seconds (same source). ESPN noted that she was the first Muslim woman to represent Somalia at any Olympic Games (same source).

## In short

A Somali sprinter who ran at the 2004 Olympics as the first Muslim woman to compete for Somalia.


---

# Ibrahim Megag Samatar (Ibraahim Meygaag Samatar): economist, finance minister and SNM leader

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-megag-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Megag Samatar (about 1939 to 2011) was a Yale-trained Somali economist who became director of the budget in 1968 and finance minister in Siad Barre's government in 1970 to 1971. He defected in 1981 while ambassador to West Germany, represented the Somali National Movement in North America, and chaired the first Somaliland House of Representatives from 1991. He later taught at Josai International University in Japan, where he died on 31 January 2011.

## Who was he?

Ibrahim Megag Samatar (also written Maygaag or Meygaag) was a Somali economist and politician. He served as finance minister of Somalia, defected from the military government in 1981, and was the first speaker of the House of Representatives of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Megag Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)). Carl Gershman, his classmate at Yale and later president of the US National Endowment for Democracy, wrote a tribute to him for the Yale class of 1965 ([Carl Gershman, "Ibrahim Samatar (1942-2011)", reposted by Abaarso Tech University, 6 November 2014](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)).

## Study and early career

He studied at Yale University and the University of California, Riverside ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)). At Yale he studied economics and lived in Jonathan Edwards College. Gershman recalls him as a believer in the "Dream of Greater Somalia", who also felt that Mogadishu treated the north as "a backyard province" ([Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)).

He went home after graduating and became Somalia's **Director of the Budget in 1968** (same source). After the military took power in October 1969 he was **Minister of Finance from 1970 to 1971** in the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), and later Minister of Industry ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)). Gershman adds that he was also adviser to the president on economic and political affairs ([Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)).

## Defection and the SNM

In 1980 he was appointed ambassador to West Germany. In 1981 he defected and asked for asylum in the United States ([Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)). He joined the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) and became its North American representative and chairman of its central committee ([Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)).

## Somaliland

He chaired the House of Representatives at the 1991 conference in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), and held the post of speaker from 1991 to 1993, when Ahmed Abdi Mohamed succeeded him. He was elected to the House at the [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) conference of 1993 but soon resigned and left politics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)). In 1991 he asked Gershman to help Somaliland reach policymakers in Washington, and gave a presentation to congressional staff. The National Endowment for Democracy later funded more than a dozen Somaliland organisations working on civic education, human rights, media and elections ([Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)). In a 1996 letter to President Bill Clinton he wrote that "one can hardly recall another example of a liberation movement which won power through the barrel of the gun and which was simultaneously so uninterested in ruling with its gun" (same source). See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).

## Japan and his last years

He moved to Japan in 1997 and worked as a researcher at Josai International University ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)). After President Egal died in 2002 he told Gershman he might run for president, but he did not. In 2008 he published a statement of his views, "Where I Stand", covering democracy, Somali unity, Islam and the economy. It ends: "We know we are a poor nation. But, poverty need not be a curse" ([Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)). He died at his home in Tōgane, Chiba Prefecture, on 31 January 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)).

## Sources disagree

- **Year of birth.** Wikipedia gives about 1939 and says the BBC reported 1939. His passport gave 20 February 1942, and Gershman's tribute is titled "1942-2011" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar); [Gershman](https://abaarsotech.blogspot.com/2014/11/)).
- **Place of birth.** Some accounts say Hargeisa. Wikipedia says he was born in Qullad, a town in Ethiopia between Hargeisa and Aware ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Megag_Samatar)).
- **His SNM title.** Wikipedia calls him the SNM's North American representative. Gershman says he was also chairman of its central committee (same sources).


---

# Zahra Abdulla (Sahra Cabdulla)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zahra-abdulla/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zahra Abdulla (born 1966) is a Somali-born Finnish politician. She was a member of Helsinki City Council from 1997 to 2017 for the Green League. In the 2007 Finnish parliamentary election she came within a few hundred votes of becoming the first Somali immigrant elected to the Finnish parliament.

## Who is she?

Zahra Abdulla is a Somali-born Finnish politician who sat on Helsinki City Council from 1997 to 2017 for the Green League ([Wikipedia, Zahra Abdulla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Abdulla)). She was born in Somalia in 1966 and spent her early years in Egypt and Kenya (same source).

## From Moscow to Helsinki

She studied medicine in Moscow ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Abdulla)). The break-up of the Soviet Union and the start of the Somali civil war led her to seek asylum in Finland, and she became a Finnish citizen in 1998 (same source). She worked for a time as a midwife (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Politics

In the 2007 Finnish parliamentary election she polled 4,174 votes and was beaten by Green League colleague Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto, who had 4,586 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Abdulla)). Had she won, she would have been the first Somali immigrant in the Finnish parliament (same source). In 2015 she left the Greens' council group, and in that year's parliamentary election she backed Veronika Honkasalo of the Left Alliance (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born former medical student and midwife who served twenty years on Helsinki City Council.


---

# Abdi Mohamed Ahmed 'AbdiXaaq' (Cabdi Maxamed Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-mohamed-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Mohamed Ahmed (born 30 December 1962), known as AbdiXaaq, is a Somali former goalkeeper who played his whole career for Kismaayo FC from 1978 to 1988. He won four Somali league titles and six cups, was Somali Footballer of the Year in 1980 and 1982, and played for the national team for nine years. He lives in Australia.

## Who is he?

Abdi [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/), nicknamed AbdiXaaq, is a Somali former footballer born on 30 December 1962 who played as a goalkeeper ([Wikipedia, Abdi Mohamed Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Mohamed_Ahmed)). He played his whole career for Kismaayo FC, from 1978 to 1988 (same source). See [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## Career

With Kismaayo he won the Somali league in 1981, 1982, 1985 and 1986, and the cup in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1987 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Mohamed_Ahmed)). He was named Somali Footballer of the Year in 1980 and 1982, and best goalkeeper of the regions five times (same source). He was known for taking free kicks and penalties (same source).

In his last match, in 1988 at the National Stadium in Mogadishu, he saved a penalty and scored the deciding penalty himself to win the league for Kismaayo (same source). He played for the Somali national team for nine years (same source).

## Later life

He lives in Australia with his family and works as a football ambassador for Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Mohamed_Ahmed)). See [Somalis in Australia](/en/diaspora/australia/).

## In short

A Kismaayo goalkeeper who won four league titles in the 1980s and was twice Somali Footballer of the Year.


---

# Ughaz Nur II (Ugaas Nuur Ugaas Rooble)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ughaz-nur-ii/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ughaz Nur II, in Somali Ugaas Nuur Ugaas Rooble (about 1835 to 1898), was the eleventh Ughaz (paramount ruler) of the Gadabuursi and a noted Somali poet. Crowned in 1848, he signed a treaty with Egypt in the 1870s, sent fighters to support the Emir of Harar against Menelik II in 1887, and ruled until his death in 1898.

## Who was he?

Ughaz Nur II (Ugaas Nuur Ugaas Rooble) was a Somali ruler and poet, the eleventh Ughaz of the Gadabuursi, who lived from about 1835 to 1898 ([Wikipedia, Ughaz Nur II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ughaz_Nur_II)). *Ughaz* is a Somali title for the paramount leader, comparable to sultan (same source). He was from the Reer Ugaas of the Makayl-Dheere (same source).

Somali Wikipedia gives his reign as 1848 to 1898 and says he was born in the [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) region ([Wikipedia (Somali), Ugaas Nuur Ugaas Rooble](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugaas_Nuur_Ugaas_Rooble)). English Wikipedia says he was born in Zeila and crowned at Bagi in 1848 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ughaz_Nur_II)).

## Egypt, Harar and Menelik

In 1876 Egypt signed a treaty with Ughaz Nur and occupied the northern Somali coast, including Zeila, as well as Harar and the Harar–Zeila–Berbera caravan route ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ughaz_Nur_II)). He travelled to Egypt to meet the Khedive Ismail Pasha, who gave him medals and gifts (same source).

He had close ties with the Emir of Harar, Abdallah II ibn Ali (same source). When Menelik II of Ethiopia took Harar in 1887, Ughaz Nur sent Gadabuursi fighters to support the Emir (same source). Somali Wikipedia puts the force at 3,000 men ([Wikipedia (Somali)](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugaas_Nuur_Ugaas_Rooble)). Menelik later offered him protection in return for cooperation, which he refused; he died in 1898 and was buried at [Dirri](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ughaz_Nur_II)). 

## Poet and lawgiver

He knew the Gadabuursi *heer* (customary law) by heart and amended it during his reign (same source). His poems and sayings are still quoted and are taught in Somali poetry classes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ughaz_Nur_II)). One of his poems was first recorded by I. M. Lewis in 1958 in the "Gadabuursi Somali script", and was later published in full in *War and Peace: An Anthology of Somali Literature* (same source). Somali Wikipedia names his poem "Kabaal nagi" ([Wikipedia (Somali)](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugaas_Nuur_Ugaas_Rooble)).

## In short

Gadabuursi Ughaz for fifty years, poet, and an ally of Harar against Menelik in 1887.


---

# Abdirahim 'Husu' Hussein (Cabdiraxiim Xuseen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahim-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahim 'Husu' Hussein Mohamed (born 21 October 1978 in Somalia) is a Finnish media personality and politician. In 2007 he became the first immigrant to chair a political party organisation in Finland, was elected to Helsinki City Council in 2017, chairs the Moniheli network of multicultural organisations, and has hosted a radio show on Yle.

## Who is he?

Abdirahim Hussein Mohamed, known as Husu, is a Finnish media personality and politician born in Somalia on 21 October 1978 ([Wikipedia, Abdirahim Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahim_Hussein)). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/) and [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/).

## Public life

In 2007 he was elected chair of the Helsinki Centre Youth, becoming the first immigrant to chair a political party organisation in Finland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahim_Hussein)). In 2016 he left the Centre Party over cuts to education and development aid and joined the Social Democrats (same source). In 2017 he was elected to Helsinki City Council (same source).

In 2019 he publicly apologised after admitting he had made up a story about racist abuse from a taxi passenger (same source).

He chairs Moniheli, a network of multicultural organisations in the Helsinki region, and has had his own radio show on the Finnish public broadcaster Yle ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahim_Hussein)).

## In short

A Somali-born Finn who has been a radio host, community leader and Helsinki city councillor.


---

# Garad Jama Garad Ali (Garaad Jaamac Garaad Cali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/garad-jama-garad-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Garad Jama Garad Ali (born 1974) is the 21st Garad, the senior traditional leader, of the Dhulbahante. He was crowned on 22 May 2006 near Las Anod. In February 2023, with other Dhulbahante elders, he declared the SSC-Khaatumo administration during the Las Anod conflict.

## Who is he?

Garad Jama Garad Ali is the 21st Garad (senior traditional leader) of the Dhulbahante ([Wikipedia, Garad Jama Garad Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garad_Jama_Garad_Ali)). He was born in 1974 in Las Anod, the son of Garad Ali Garad Jama (same source). Wikipedia notes that another source gives Sahdheer as his home town (same source).

## Succession and coronation

His father died in 1985 when he was 11, so his uncle Garad Abdiqani Garad Jama held the title ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garad_Jama_Garad_Ali)). Garad Abdiqani led the Dhulbahante delegation at the 1991 [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) conference and signed the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declaration, and later took part in founding [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in 1998 (same source). He died on 9 February 2006 (same source).

Garad Jama was crowned on 22 May 2006 in the Geedo-Qarsay valley near Las Anod, where his father, uncle and grandfather had also been crowned (same source). Guests included former Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh and Puntland's president and vice-president (same source). See [Ali Khalif Galaydh](/en/people/ali-khalif-galaydh/).

## 2007 to 2022

After Somaliland forces took control of Las Anod in 2007, he did not visit the city for fifteen years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garad_Jama_Garad_Ali)). In 2009 he told the BBC that Somaliland's army should withdraw from Las Anod and Buuhoodle (same source). He joined [Khatumo](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) State as a traditional leader from about 2012, and in 2017 criticised the plan of its president, Ali Khalif Galaydh, to merge Khatumo into Somaliland (same source). In 2019 he met Somali Region president Mustafa Mohammed Omar in Werder, Ethiopia (same source).

## The 2023 Las Anod conflict

On 23 January 2023 he returned to Las Anod for the first time in fifteen years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garad_Jama_Garad_Ali)). On 6 February 2023 he and other Dhulbahante elders declared their intent to form a state government named SSC-Khaatumo (same source). See [Las Anod](/en/regions/sool/).

## In short

The Dhulbahante's senior traditional leader since 2006, and a central figure in the founding of SSC-Khaatumo in 2023.


---

# Ayanleh Souleiman (Ayaanle Saleebaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ayanleh-souleiman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ayanleh Souleiman (born 3 December 1992), also known as Hassan Ayanleh, is a Djiboutian middle-distance runner. He won bronze in the 1500 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, holds Djibouti's records at several distances including 3:29.58 for 1500 metres, and set an indoor world record for 1000 metres in Stockholm in 2016.

## Who is he?

Ayanleh Souleiman, also known as Hassan Ayanleh, is a Djiboutian middle-distance runner born on 3 December 1992 who specialises in the 1500 metres ([Wikipedia, Ayanleh Souleiman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayanleh_Souleiman)). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Career

In 2011 he won the 1500 metres at the Pan Arab Games in Doha, his country's first medal at those games ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayanleh_Souleiman)). In 2012 he was fifth at the World Indoor Championships and won silver at the African Championships (same source). In August 2013 he won bronze in the 1500 metres at the World Championships in Moscow (same source).

In 2014 he won the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon in 3:47.32 (same source). In 2016 he set an indoor world record of 2:14.20 for 1000 metres in Stockholm, and a Diamond League record for the distance later that year (same source). He competed at the 2016 Olympics (same source).

His Djiboutian records include 1:42.97 for 800 metres and 3:29.58 for 1500 metres (same source).

## In short

A Djiboutian miler who won world championship bronze in 2013 and set an indoor world record in 2016.


---

# Sagal Abdi-Wali (Sagal Cabdi-Wali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sagal-abdi-wali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sagal Abdi-Wali (born 1984) is a British Labour politician who became MP for Holborn and St Pancras in October 2026, the first British Somali woman elected to the UK Parliament. Born in Somalia, she came to Britain aged seven as a refugee from the civil war, and led Camden Council from May 2026.

## Who is she?

Sagal Abdi-Wali is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras since October 2026 ([Wikipedia, Sagal Abdi-Wali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagal_Abdi-Wali)). She is the first British Somali woman to become an MP and the first Black woman to lead Camden Council (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia in 1984 and came to the United Kingdom aged seven with her mother and four brothers, after the family fled the civil war; her father joined them later ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagal_Abdi-Wali)). The family settled in Gospel Oak, Camden (same source). Her mother, who had trained as a lawyer in Somalia, set up the British Somali Centre in Camden (same source). She went to Parliament Hill School and studied political science at the University of Leeds (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Camden Council

She worked as a housing officer for Camden Council and joined Labour in 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagal_Abdi-Wali)). She was elected councillor for Camden Square in 2022, became Cabinet Member for Better Homes in May 2024, and was chosen as council leader after the May 2026 election (same source). She chaired Labour's National Women's Committee from 2023 (same source).

## Parliament

In the 2026 Holborn and St Pancras by-election, held after Keir Starmer left Parliament, she won with 45.2% of the vote, defeating Green Party leader Zack Polanski ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagal_Abdi-Wali)).

## In short

A Somali-born child refugee who rose from Camden housing officer to council leader and, in 2026, MP.


---

# Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (Deeqa Ibraahim Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/dekha-ibrahim-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (17 November 1964 to 14 July 2011) was a Kenyan Somali peace activist from Wajir. A founder of the Wajir Peace and Development Committee and the Coalition for Peace in Africa, she trained peacebuilders in many countries and received the Right Livelihood Award in 2007. She died after a road crash on the way to a peace conference in Garissa.

## Who was she?

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi was a Kenyan peace activist of Somali ethnicity, born in Wajir on 17 November 1964 and based in Mombasa ([Wikipedia, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekha_Ibrahim_Abdi)). She worked as a consultant to governments and civil society groups (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Peace work

She was a founding member of the Wajir Peace and Development Committee, the Coalition for Peace in Africa, ACTION (Action for Conflict Transformation) and the Peace and Regeneration Oasis ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekha_Ibrahim_Abdi)). She was a trustee of NOMADIC, a pastoralist organisation in Wajir (same source).

She trained people in peacebuilding and pastoralist development in many countries, including Somalia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Cambodia, Jordan and the United Kingdom (same source). She also worked with the group Responding to Conflict (same source).

## Awards

In 2007 she received the Right Livelihood Award for showing how religious and other differences can be reconciled after violent conflict ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekha_Ibrahim_Abdi); [Right Livelihood Award](https://web.archive.org/web/20071010212237/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/abdi.html)). She also won the Gernika Peace and Reconciliation Prize in 2008 and the Hessian Peace Prize in 2009 (same source).

## Death

On 7 July 2011 her car crashed into a truck on the way to a peace conference in Garissa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekha_Ibrahim_Abdi)). Her husband and their driver died at the scene, and she died of her injuries in Nairobi on 14 July 2011, aged 46 (same source).

## In short

A Wajir-born peacebuilder whose community model won international awards before her death in 2011.


---

# Isra Hirsi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/isra-hirsi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Isra Hirsi (born 22 February 2003) is an American climate activist of Somali descent. In January 2019 she co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike and served as its co-executive director. She was born in Minneapolis and is the daughter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

## Who is she?

Isra Hirsi is an American environmental activist who co-founded and co-led the US Youth Climate Strike ([Wikipedia, Isra Hirsi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_Hirsi)). She was born on 22 February 2003 in Minneapolis to Ilhan Omar, the Somali-American member of Congress, and Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi (same source). See [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/) and [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Climate activism

She joined her high school's environmental club in her first year at Minneapolis South High School ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_Hirsi)). In January 2019 she co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike, the American arm of the global youth climate strike movement, and helped organise hundreds of student strikes on 15 March and 3 May 2019 (same source). She won a Brower Youth Award in 2019, and was named on *Fortune*'s 40 Under 40 in government and politics in 2020 (same source).

## Barnard College

She began studying at Barnard College, Columbia University, in 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_Hirsi)). On 18 April 2024 she was suspended for taking part in the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia, and was arrested that day by New York police with other student protesters and released the same evening (same source).

## In short

A Minneapolis-born climate organiser who co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike at 15.


---

# Fathia Ali Bouraleh (Fadxiya Cali Buraale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fathia-ali-bouraleh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fathia Ali Bouraleh (born 14 October 1987) is a sprinter from Djibouti who ran the 100 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as Djibouti's second woman Olympian, competing in a headscarf. She now coaches the Girls Run 2 club in Djibouti city.

## Who is she?

Fathia Ali Bouraleh is a sprinter who competes for Djibouti, born on 14 October 1987 ([Wikipedia, Fathia Ali Bouraleh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Ali_Bouraleh)). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Running

She began training in 2004 at her high school, where a coach gave her running shoes and offered to tutor her ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Ali_Bouraleh)). She trained in a stadium because people threw stones and insults at her when she ran in the streets, even in long trousers and a headscarf (same source).

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing she ran the 100 metres as Djibouti's second woman Olympian, wearing her headscarf, and clocked 14.29 seconds in her heat (same source).

## Coaching

She now coaches the Girls Run 2 club in Djibouti city, providing equipment and financial support to its athletes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Ali_Bouraleh)).

## In short

A Djiboutian sprinter who ran at the 2008 Olympics and now coaches girls in Djibouti.


---

# Sofia Samatar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sofia-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sofia Samatar is an American novelist and scholar, the daughter of the Somali historian Said Sheikh Samatar. She wrote the fantasy novels A Stranger in Olondria (2013) and The Winged Histories (2016) and the memoir The White Mosque (2022), and teaches English at James Madison University.

## Who is she?

Sofia Samatar is an American scholar, novelist and teacher from Indiana, and an associate professor of English at James Madison University ([Wikipedia, Sofia Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Samatar)). Her father was the Somali historian and writer Said Sheikh Samatar, and her mother is a Swiss-German Mennonite from North Dakota (same source). Her parents met in Mogadishu in 1970, where her mother was teaching English (same source). See [Said Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/).

## Education

She graduated in English from Goshen College, earned a master's in African languages and literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1997, and a PhD in contemporary Arabic literature in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Samatar)).

## Books

Her first novel, *A Stranger in Olondria*, was published by Small Beer Press in 2013, followed by the companion novel *The Winged Histories* in 2016 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Samatar)). With her brother she made *Monster Portraits* (2018), illustrated prose poems (same source). Her memoir *The White Mosque* (2022) follows a trip to Uzbekistan (same source). Later books include the novella *The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain* (2024) and *Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life* (2024) (same source). She lists Somali mythology among her influences (same source).

## In short

A novelist and scholar, daughter of a Somali historian, known for *A Stranger in Olondria*.


---

# Hussein Ahmed Salah (Xuseen Axmed Salaax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hussein-ahmed-salah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hussein Ahmed Salah is a Djiboutian former marathon runner who won bronze at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the only Olympic medal ever won by a Djiboutian. He also won silver at the 1987 and 1991 World Championships and the 1985 World Marathon Cup, and his 2:07:07 from Rotterdam in 1988 remains Djibouti's national record.

## Who is he?

Hussein Ahmed Salah is a Djiboutian former long-distance runner ([Wikipedia, Hussein Ahmed Salah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Ahmed_Salah)). He is the only athlete from Djibouti to win an Olympic medal (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Career

He won the 1985 IAAF World Marathon Cup, was second at the New York Marathon in 1985, and won the Paris Marathon in 1986 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Ahmed_Salah)). He won silver in the marathon at the 1987 and 1991 World Championships (same source).

In April 1988 he ran 2:07:07 for second place at the Rotterdam Marathon, faster than the world record of the time (same source). That year he won bronze in the marathon at the Seoul Olympics (same source). His 2:07:07 is still Djibouti's national record, and he also holds the national 10,000 metres record (same source).

## In short

Djibouti's only Olympic medallist, a marathoner who won bronze in Seoul in 1988.


---

# Lula Ali Ismaïl (Luula Cali Ismaaciil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/lula-ali-ismail/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Lula Ali Ismaïl (born 1978) is a Djiboutian-Canadian film director and screenwriter, the first woman from Djibouti to make a film. Her short Laan (2011) was shown at FESPACO in 2013, and her feature Dhalinyaro (2017), filmed entirely in Djibouti, is the country's first feature film.

## Who is she?

Lula Ali Ismaïl is a Djiboutian-Canadian film director and screenwriter, and the first woman from Djibouti to produce a film ([Wikipedia, Lula Ali Ismaïl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lula_Ali_Isma%C3%AFl)). She was born in Djibouti in 1978, the youngest of eight children, and settled in Montreal in 1992 (same source). She worked for seven years as a legal assistant before taking acting courses and small television roles in Quebec (same source).

## Laan (2011)

Her first film, the 27-minute short *[Laan](/en/society/somali-cinema/)* ("Friends"), follows three young women in Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lula_Ali_Isma%C3%AFl)). It was funded mainly by her family and friends, since the Ministry of Culture had no budget for it, and she also played a lead role (same source). It was shown at Vues d'Afrique in Montreal in 2012 and at FESPACO in 2013 (same source).

## Dhalinyaro (2017)

Her first feature, *Dhalinyaro* ("Youth"), follows three young women from different backgrounds and was filmed entirely in Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lula_Ali_Isma%C3%AFl)). A co-production of Djibouti, France, Canada and Somalia, supported by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, it premiered in Djibouti in 2017 and is the country's first feature film (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## In short

The first Djiboutian woman to make a film, and director of Djibouti's first feature, *Dhalinyaro*.


---

# Ahmed Ali (Axmed Cali Maxamed), Somalia captain

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-ali-footballer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Ali Mohamed (born 23 October 1990) is a Somali footballer who captains the Somalia national team. Raised in Reeuwijk in the Netherlands from the age of five, he played amateur football there while studying law, then moved to England in 2013 and has played for non-league clubs including Halesowen Town and Nantwich Town.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Ali Mohamed is a Somali footballer born on 23 October 1990 who plays as a midfielder and captains the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Ali (Somali footballer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ali_%28Somali_footballer%29)). He was born in Somalia and grew up in Reeuwijk in the Netherlands from the age of five (same source). See [Somalis in the Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Career

He made his debut in 2010 for Alphense Boys, then played for CVV De Jodan Boys while studying law (same source). In 2013 he moved to England with his family (same source). He has played for English non-league clubs including Sheffield FC, Bromsgrove Sporting, Redditch United, Halesowen Town and Nantwich Town, where he played alongside his brother in 2023 (same source).

## In short

A Dutch-raised midfielder who plays in English non-league football and captains Somalia.


---

# Sally Raguib

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sally-raguib/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sally Raguib (born 8 September 1996) is a Djiboutian judoka. She competed for Djibouti in the women's 57 kg event at the 2012 London Olympics, losing her first bout to Corina Stefan of Romania, and also fought at African Championships and the 2013 World Championships in Ljubljana.

## Who is she?

Sally Raguib is a Djiboutian judoka, born on 8 September 1996 ([Wikipedia, Sally Raguib](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Raguib)).

## Competitions

She competed in the women's 57 kg judo event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in [London](/en/diaspora/london/), where she lost to Corina Stefan of Romania ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Raguib)). She has also competed at several African Championships and at the 2013 World Championships in Ljubljana (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## In short

A Djiboutian judoka who fought at the London 2012 Olympics aged 15.


---

# Ahmed Said Ahmed (Axmed Saciid Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-said-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Said Ahmed (born 4 July 1998) is a Somali-Finnish footballer who plays as a defender for VJS in Finland and for the Somalia national team. He played in Finland's top division for PK-35 Vantaa in 2016 and was in the Somalia team that beat Zimbabwe on 5 September 2019, the country's first ever World Cup qualifying win.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Said Ahmed is a professional footballer born on 4 July 1998 who plays as a defender for VJS in Finland and for the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Said Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Said_Ahmed)). He holds Finnish citizenship (same source). His brothers include the footballer Abdulkadir Said Ahmed and the politician [Suldaan Said Ahmed](/en/people/suldaan-said-ahmed/) (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Career

He came through VJS's youth academy and joined PK-35 Vantaa in 2015, making ten appearances in Finland's top division, the Veikkausliiga, in 2016 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Said_Ahmed)). He later played for IF Gnistan, Grankulla IFK, NJS and AC Kajaani before returning to VJS (same source).

On 5 September 2019 he made his debut for Somalia in a 1-0 win over Zimbabwe, Somalia's first ever victory in World Cup qualifying (same source).

## In short

A Finnish-based defender who played in Somalia's first World Cup qualifying win.


---

# Zourah Ali (Souhra Ali Mohamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zourah-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zourah Ali, also known as Souhra Ali Mohamed (born 23 November 1994), is a Djiboutian runner. She ran the 400 metres at the 2012 London Olympics, where she was Djibouti's flag bearer, and the 1500 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

## Who is she?

Zourah Ali, also known as Souhra Ali Mohamed, is a Djiboutian runner born on 23 November 1994 ([Wikipedia, Zourah Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zourah_Ali)). She competed at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics (same source).

## Olympics

At [London](/en/diaspora/london/) 2012 she ran the 400 metres in 1:05.37 and did not reach the semi-finals ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zourah_Ali)). She was Djibouti's flag bearer at the opening ceremony (same source). At the 2020 Games in Tokyo she ran the 1500 metres (same source).

## Career

After 2012 she was sponsored by the Republican Guard, the military unit that guards Djibouti's president, and for a time was its only female athlete (same source). She ran at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, the 2011 and 2017 Pan Arab Games, the 2019 Arab Championships in Cairo and the 2019 African Games in Rabat (same source). See [Kadra Mohamed Dembil](/en/people/kadra-mohamed-dembil/).

## In short

Djibouti's flag bearer in London 2012 and an Olympian again in Tokyo.


---

# Ali Sheikh Ahmed (Cali Sheekh Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-sheikh-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dr Ali Sheikh Ahmed Abubakar is a Somali scholar and educator who co-founded Mogadishu University in 1997 and was its first president. He studied at the Islamic University of Madinah, lectured at King Saud University from 1983 to 1992, returned to Mogadishu in 1992 to help rebuild schools, and was one of five founders of the Al-Islah movement in 1978.

## Who is he?

Dr Ali Sheikh Ahmed Abubakar is a Somali scholar who co-founded [Mogadishu University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) and served as its first president ([Wikipedia, Ali Sheikh Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Sheikh_Ahmed)).

## Education

He finished secondary school in Mogadishu in 1972 and won a Saudi scholarship to the Islamic University of Madinah, where he earned his BA, MA and PhD between 1973 and 1983 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Sheikh_Ahmed)). He lectured at King Saud University in Riyadh from 1983 to 1992 (same source). He has written on Islam in the Horn of Africa, education, reconciliation and state building (same source).

## Mogadishu University

In 1992 he moved back to Mogadishu to help restore schools and universities ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Sheikh_Ahmed)). In 1997 he co-founded Mogadishu University, the first higher education institution set up after the state collapsed, and became its first president (same source). In 2017 he founded the East African Association for Research and Development, which he leads (same source).

## Public role

He was one of five founders of the Al-Islah Islamic movement in 1978, which took part in the Arta peace conference in Djibouti in 2000 (same source). He also sat on the Somali Civic Forum reconciliation panel formed in 2004 (same source).

## In short

A scholar who returned to Mogadishu in 1992 and co-founded its first post-war university.


---

# Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-ismail-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim (born 1 January 1997) is a Djiboutian distance runner. He ran the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2016 Rio Olympics and holds Djibouti's national records at 5000 m (12:56.43), 10,000 m (27:22.38), 3000 m steeplechase and 10 km road.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim is a Djiboutian runner born on 1 January 1997 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Ismail_Ibrahim)). At the 2016 Summer Olympics he ran the 3000 m steeplechase but did not reach the final (same source).

## Best times

Wikipedia lists these personal bests, with Djiboutian national records marked ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Ismail_Ibrahim)):

- 1500 m: 3:36.98 (Kortrijk, 2017)
- 3000 m: 7:36.29 (Stockholm, 2024)
- 5000 m: 12:56.43 (Stockholm, 2024), national record
- 10,000 m: 27:22.38 (Stockholm, 2024), national record
- 3000 m steeplechase: 8:22.17 (Nice, 2021), national record
- 10 km road: 27:27 (Valencia, 2024), national record
- Half marathon: 59:54 (Lisbon, 2025)

## In short

Djibouti's record holder at 5000 m and 10,000 m, and a 2016 Olympian.


---

# Diriye Osman (Diiriye Cismaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/diriye-osman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Diriye Osman (born 1983 in Mogadishu) is a British-Somali writer and visual artist. He grew up in Nairobi and London, studied at the University of Birmingham and Royal Holloway, and published the award-winning story collection Fairytales for Lost Children (2013) and The Butterfly Jungle, which he wrote and designed on his phone.

## Who is he?

Diriye Osman is a British-Somali author, visual artist, critic and essayist, born in Mogadishu in 1983 ([Wikipedia, Diriye Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriye_Osman)). When the civil war began his family moved to Nairobi, and in 2001 to London (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

He has written about being hospitalised for psychosis at eighteen, and about how reading writers such as Nuruddin Farah helped him recover his voice (same source). He studied English literature, linguistics and fine art at the University of [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and took an MA in creative writing at Royal Holloway (same source).

## Writing

He began writing short stories in 2008, with a focus on Somali lives and on his experience as a gay man ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriye_Osman)). His debut collection, *Fairytales for Lost Children* (2013), which he also illustrated, won praise from critics and an award (same source). His later collection *The Butterfly Jungle* was written and designed on his phone (same source). His work has appeared in *The Guardian*, *Granta* and the *Financial Times*, among others (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born London writer and artist whose stories centre Somali and gay lives.


---

# Warsama Hassan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/warsama-hassan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Warsama Hassan Houssein (born 17 March 1999) is a Djiboutian footballer who plays for the Djibouti national team. Raised in Belgium's Standard Liège and Genk academies, he became the first Djiboutian to sign for a European top-flight club when he joined Slovakia's ŠKF Sereď in 2020.

## Who is he?

Warsama Hassan Houssein is a Djiboutian professional footballer, born in Djibouti on 17 March 1999 ([Wikipedia, Warsama Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsama_Hassan)).

## Club career

He joined Standard Liège's youth system in 2007 and moved to Genk's academy in 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsama_Hassan)). In January 2019 he signed for Seraing (same source). In October 2020 he joined Sereď of the Slovak top division, becoming the first player from Djibouti to sign for a top-flight club in Europe (same source). He moved to Sliema Wanderers in Malta in 2021, and Wikipedia lists his current club as AP Brera Strumica (same source).

## International career

He played for [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) at under-15 and under-17 level before choosing Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsama_Hassan)). He made his senior debut for Djibouti in a 2–1 World Cup qualifying win over Eswatini on 4 September 2019 (same source).

## In short

A Belgian-trained Djiboutian midfielder and the first from his country in a European top league.


---

# Dr Deqo Mohamed (Deeqa Aadan Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/deqo-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dr Deqo Aden Mohamed is a Somali obstetrician-gynaecologist and daughter of Dr Hawa Abdi. She worked at the Dr Hawa Abdi General Hospital and led the Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation, which ran Hope Village near Mogadishu for displaced families from 1991 to 2020. She founded the Hagarla Institute and co-founded the Somali Cancer Society.

## Who is she?

Dr Deqo Aden Mohamed is a Somali-born obstetrician and gynaecologist, born in Mogadishu to [Dr Hawa Abdi](/en/people/hawa-abdi/) and Aden Mohamed ([Wikipedia, Deqo Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deqo_Mohamed)). She studied medicine in Russia and helped at her mother's camp between her studies (same source).

## Hope Village

She went to the United States as a refugee in 2003 and became a citizen in 2008, returning to Somalia in 2007 to work ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deqo_Mohamed)). She worked as a doctor at the Dr Hawa Abdi General Hospital and served as CEO of the Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation (same source). Its Hope Village near Mogadishu offered a hospital, schools, a women's education centre, farming projects and shelter to thousands of displaced people from 1991 to 2020 (same source). In 2010 she and her mother gave a TED talk about the clinic (same source).

## Later work

She founded and leads the Hagarla Institute, co-founded the Somali Cancer Society, and lectures at the African Leadership University School of Business in Rwanda ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deqo_Mohamed)). She was a Yale World Fellow in 2016 (same source). With her mother and sister she was named a Glamour Woman of the Year in 2010 and received a BET humanitarian award in 2012 (same source).

## In short

A Somali doctor who helped run her mother's hospital and camp for the displaced, and now leads health work across Somalia.


---

# Mouna-Hodan Ahmed (Muna Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mouna-hodan-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mouna-Hodan Ahmed (born 1972) is a novelist from Djibouti, one of the few women writers in the country. She studied in France, returned to teach in Djibouti, and published her first novel, Les enfants du khat, in 2002.

## Who is she?

Mouna-Hodan Ahmed is a writer from Djibouti, born in 1972, and one of the few women writers in the country ([Wikipedia, Mouna-Hodan Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouna-Hodan_Ahmed)). She grew up in a family of five children and went to primary and secondary school in Djibouti (same source).

## Teacher and novelist

She studied at university in France and then returned to Djibouti to teach ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouna-Hodan_Ahmed)). Her first novel, *Les enfants du khat* ("The children of khat"), was published in 2002 (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## In short

A Djiboutian teacher and novelist writing in French, author of *Les enfants du khat*.


---

# Amina Warsame (Aamina Maxamuud Warsame)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amina-warsame/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amina Mahmoud Warsame is a Somali social scientist and women's rights campaigner. She co-wrote a 1985 study on female circumcision, one of the early African voices against the practice, led the Hargeisa women's group Nagaad, helped found the Somaliland Women's Research and Action Group, and in 2005 was among the first women to stand for Somaliland's parliament.

## Who is she?

Amina Mahmoud Warsame is a Somali social scientist ([Wikipedia, Amina Warsame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Warsame)). She holds a master's degree in human development from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague (same source).

## Campaigning against FGM

She co-wrote *Social and Cultural Aspects of Female Circumcision and Infibulation: A Preliminary Report* (1985), and was one of the early African voices against female genital mutilation, alongside Raqiya Abdalla, Asma El Dareer, Efua Dorkenoo and Nahid Toubia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Warsame)).

## Women's groups in Hargeisa

She lived in Sweden after leaving Somalia during the civil war ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Warsame)). She helped found the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Women's Research and Action Group and served as executive director of Nagaad, a women's network in Hargeisa (same source). In 2005 she was one of the first women to stand for a seat in Somaliland's parliament (same source). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## In short

A social scientist who spoke out early against FGM and later led women's organising in Hargeisa.


---

# Kadra Mohamed Dembil

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/kadra-mohamed-dembil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kadra Mohamed Dembil (born 22 April 1997) is a Djiboutian middle-distance runner from Ali Sabieh. She ran the 2000 m steeplechase at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing and the 1500 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where her heat time was 4:42.67.

## Who is she?

Kadra Mohamed Dembil is a Somali Djiboutian middle-distance runner, born on 22 April 1997, who lives in Ali Sabieh ([Wikipedia, Kadra Mohamed Dembil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mohamed_Dembil)).

## Training

In 2012 she joined the club Girls Run 2, which paid for her running equipment, transport to races in the capital and school costs ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mohamed_Dembil)). Her gym had a track, hurdles and weights made from powdered-milk tins filled with cement (same source). During the 2013–14 season she was offered a job with the Republican Guard, the unit that guards Djibouti's president, and finished the season with its team (same source).

## Youth Olympics and Rio

She was sent to the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing to run the 2000 m steeplechase, a race she had never run ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mohamed_Dembil)). Because water is scarce in Djibouti, the water pit was first filled with cushions for training (same source). She ran 7:07 in the first heat, 50 seconds faster than her previous best, and finished 14th overall after a fall in the second heat (same source). At the 2016 Rio Olympics she ran the 1500 metres in 4:42.67 and did not reach the semi-finals (same source). See [Zourah Ali](/en/people/zourah-ali/).

## In short

A runner from Ali Sabieh who went from cushion-filled water pits to the Youth Olympics and Rio 2016.


---

# Amin Amir (Amiin Caamir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amin-amir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amin Amir (born about 1959) is a Somali-Canadian cartoonist and painter based in Edmonton, known as Amin Arts. His political cartoons in Somali, published by outlets such as Hiiraan Online, use satire to comment on Somali politics. Hiiraan Online named him its Person of the Year in 2004, and he held his first Canadian exhibition at Edmonton City Hall in 2010.

## Who is he?

Amin Amir is a Somali-Canadian cartoonist and painter born in Somalia between 1959 and 1960 ([Wikipedia, Amin Amir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Amir)). He left Somalia after the civil war began, moved to Canada in 2000, and his family settled in Edmonton in 2006 (same source). See [Somalis in Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/).

## Art

He publishes as Amin Arts, and his political cartoons, written in Somali, appear regularly in Somali media including [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Amir)). His work uses satire and caricature to push for change in Somalia, and also paints hopeful scenes from his early life there (same source).

In 2010 he held his first Canadian exhibition at Edmonton City Hall (same source). He mentors young artists (same source).

## Awards

Hiiraan Online named him Person of the Year in 2004, and he was runner-up in the 2011 Hadaf Somalia International Cartoon Competition ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Amir)).

## In short

The Edmonton-based cartoonist whose Somali-language satire is read across the diaspora.


---

# Marian Abdi Hussein (Maryan Cabdi Xuseen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/marian-abdi-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Marian Abdi Hussein (born 24 July 1986) is a Somali-born Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party. She has been a member of the Storting (parliament) for Oslo since 2021, re-elected for 2025 to 2029, and a deputy leader of her party since March 2023. She came to Norway as a refugee aged ten.

## Who is she?

Marian Abdi Hussein is a Norwegian politician from the Socialist Left Party ([Wikipedia, Marian Abdi Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Abdi_Hussein)). She was born in Somalia on 24 July 1986 and came to Norway as a refugee aged ten (same source). She has worked as a social worker for NAV, Norway's labour and welfare service, and for the Child Welfare Service (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Parliament

She was a deputy member of the Storting for Oslo from 2017 to 2021 and was elected a full member for 2021 to 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Abdi_Hussein)). She sat on the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services and the delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and was re-elected for 2025 to 2029 (same source).

## Party deputy leader

On 18 March 2023 the party convention elected her deputy leader by 114 votes to 101 over Lars Haltbrekken ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Abdi_Hussein)). In October 2026 she said she would not seek re-election as deputy leader at the 2027 convention (same source).

## In short

A refugee child from Somalia who became an Oslo MP and deputy leader of a Norwegian party.


---

# Sheikh Ahmed Gabyow (Sheekh Axmed Gabyow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-gabyow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Ahmed Gabyow was a Somali poet and religious leader of the coast north of Mogadishu in the early decades of Italian rule. Known for masafo, a form of religious poetry, he recited a poem in June 1891 after fighting with Italian forces near Cadale and Warsheikh that is described as an early call for Somali nationalism.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Ahmed Gabyow, also known as Sheekh Axmed Abiikar or Sheikh Wacdiyow, was a Somali poet and religious leader ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Gabyow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gabyow)). He lived on the coast north of Mogadishu in the first decades of Italian rule (same source). He was known for masafo, a form of Somali poetry usually composed by religious men, and produced several dozen such poems (same source).

## The 1891 poem

Wikipedia records that he recited a poem at the end of June 1891 after fighting at Cadale and [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) in which an Italian naval lieutenant and Italian colonial troops were killed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gabyow)). The poem, which calls on Somalis to resist colonial rule "for future generations", is described as an early call for Somali nationalism (same source).

His grandson, Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Gabiow, later became a Somali Youth League minister (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A coastal religious poet whose 1891 verse is remembered as an early call to resist Italian rule.


---

# Omar Abdullahi Mohamed (Cumar Cabdullahi Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-abdullahi-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Abdullahi Mohamed (born 5 May 1996) is a Somali footballer who plays for the Somalia national team. Born in Mogadishu, he grew up in Cairo and Columbus, Ohio, played in the US USL leagues, and scored for Somalia against Zimbabwe in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in September 2019.

## Who is he?

Omar Abdullahi Mohamed is a Somali professional footballer who plays for the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Omar Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mohamed)). He was born in Mogadishu on 5 May 1996, moved with his family to Cairo at six, and in 2005 to the United States, where he grew up in [Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/), Ohio (same source).

## Club career

He started organised football at 12 with FC Blast in Columbus and joined the Columbus Crew academy at 16 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mohamed)). He signed for FC Cincinnati in January 2016, then played for [Portland](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/) Timbers 2 (2017), Des Moines Menace, and Greenville Triumph (2019–2020), before joining Menemenspor in Turkey in January 2021 (same source).

## Somalia

He was called up for Somalia's 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe in September 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mohamed)). He made his debut in Somalia's 1–0 win on 5 September 2019 and scored his first international goal in the second leg on 10 September (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born, Ohio-raised footballer who scored for Somalia in the 2019 World Cup qualifiers.


---

# Ahmed Farah Ali 'Idaja' (Axmed Faarax Cali Idaajaa)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-farah-ali-idaja/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Farah Ali 'Idaja' is a Somali literary scholar and publisher of written folklore who lives in England. He was a member of the Somali National Academy of Culture and the Somali Language Committee, and his programmes for the BBC and VOA have helped younger Somalis learn about their heritage.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Farah Ali, known as Idaajaa, is a Somali literary scholar and publisher of written folklore who lives in England ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Idaajaa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Idaajaa)).

## Work

He was a member of the Somali National Academy of Culture and the Somali Language Committee ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Idaajaa)). His work with the BBC and the Voice of America has helped Somalis born after the civil war learn about their heritage and the country's politics (same source).

## In short

A Somali folklore scholar and broadcaster who served on the language committee and the Academy of Culture.


---

# Rawdah Mohamed (Rawdah Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/rawdah-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Rawdah Mohamed is a Somali-Norwegian model and activist. Born in Somalia, she moved to Norway aged eight, began street-style modelling at Oslo Fashion Week in 2019, started the #Handsoffmyhijab campaign in April 2021, and was named an editor of Vogue Scandinavia in May 2021.

## Who is she?

Rawdah Mohamed is a Norwegian-Somali model, blogger, healthcare worker and activist ([Wikipedia, Rawdah Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawdah_Mohamed)). She was born in Somalia and moved to Norway with her family aged eight (same source). She has worked with children with autism and as a behavioural analyst (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Modelling

Her international street-style career began at Oslo Fashion Week in August 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawdah_Mohamed)). Her first magazine cover was *Costume Norge* in August 2019, and she has since appeared in *Vogue* and *V Magazine* (same source). In May 2021 she was named an editor of the new *Vogue Scandinavia* (same source).

## #Handsoffmyhijab

In April 2021 she started the #Handsoffmyhijab campaign against a French Senate vote to ban girls under 18 from wearing a headscarf in public ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawdah_Mohamed)). She posted a photo with the words written on her hand, and the hashtag trended on social media (same source).

## Comments on Queen Elizabeth II

In September 2022 she drew attention in Norwegian media for negative comments posted after the death of Queen Elizabeth II ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawdah_Mohamed)).

## In short

A Somali-born Norwegian model who started #Handsoffmyhijab and became a *Vogue Scandinavia* editor.


---

# Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah (Sheekh Cabdiqaadir Nuur Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulkadir-nur-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah (1940 to 15 February 2013) was a Somali Islamic scholar and preacher born near Eyl in Nugaal. He studied at an al-Azhar-linked school in Mogadishu and at the Islamic University of Madinah, preached in West Africa, served as a judge in Somalia, and co-founded the Al-Furqan Institute in Las Anod. He was killed in Garowe in 2013; al-Shabaab was blamed.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah was a Somali cleric, preacher and Islamic scholar ([Wikipedia, Abdulkadir Nur Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Nur_Farah)). He was born in 1940 at Canjeel Teelawaa near Eyl, in Nugaal, to a herding family (same source). See [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/).

## Study and work

He did not begin learning the Arabic alphabet until he was thirteen ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Nur_Farah)). He went to school in Eyl, moved to Mogadishu in 1960, and graduated from an al-Azhar-linked school there in 1967 (same source). He then studied in Saudi Arabia and at the Islamic University of Madinah (same source).

After graduating he was sent to preach in Niger with his friend [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Yusuf Adam, and the two later returned to Somalia, where they served as judges (same source). He co-founded the Al-Furqan Institute of Islamic Studies in Las Anod in 1994 with Sheikh [Abdinasir Haji Ahmed](/en/people/abdinasir-haji-ahmed/) and Sheikh [Ahmed Haji Abdirahman](/en/people/ahmed-haji-abdirahman/) ([Wikipedia, Abdinasir Haji Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Haji_Ahmed)).

## Death

He was killed in Garowe on 15 February 2013, in an attack attributed to al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Nur_Farah)).

## In short

A Nugaal-born scholar and judge who taught for decades and was killed in Garowe in 2013.


---

# Samiyah Hassan Nour

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/samiyah-hassan-nour/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Samiyah Hassan Nour (born 5 December 1999) is a long-distance runner from Djibouti and the national record holder at 5000 m and 10,000 m. She won 10,000 m bronze at the 2023 Francophone Games, 5000 m bronze at the 2024 African Championships, and ran the 5000 m at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

## Who is she?

Samiyah Hassan Nour is a long-distance runner from Djibouti, born on 5 December 1999, who holds the national records at 5000 m and 10,000 m ([Wikipedia, Samiyah Hassan Nour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samiyah_Hassan_Nour)).

## Results

- 2023 Francophone Games, Kinshasa: bronze in the 10,000 m in a national record of 33:21.50 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samiyah_Hassan_Nour)).
- March 2024, African Games in Accra: sixth in the 5000 m (same source).
- June 2024, African Championships in Douala: bronze in the 5000 m (same source).
- August 2024: ran the 5000 m at the Paris Olympics (same source).
- September 2025: ran the 5000 m at the World Championships in Tokyo, without reaching the final (same source).

## In short

Djibouti's fastest woman over 5000 m and 10,000 m, and an African Championships medallist.


---

# Abdulkadir Mohamed Farah (footballer)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulkadir Mohamed Farah (15 February 1961 to 24 March 2020) was a Somali footballer from Beledweyne. He played club football for Batroolka and for the Somali national team, later advised the Minister of Youth and Sports, and died of COVID-19 in a London hospital in March 2020.

## Who was he?

Abdulkadir Mohamed Farah was a Somali footballer, born in Beledweyne on 15 February 1961 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Farah (footballer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farah_(footballer))).

## Career

He began playing at schoolboy level in 1976, then at regional level, and went on to play club football for Batroolka ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farah_(footballer))). He also represented the Somali national team (same source). He later worked as an adviser to the Minister of Youth and Sports (same source).

## Death

He died of COVID-19 in a [London](/en/diaspora/london/) hospital on 24 March 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farah_(footballer))).

## In short

A Beledweyne-born national team footballer who later advised Somalia's sports ministry.


---

# Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman (Sheekh Axmed Xaaji Cabdiraxmaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-haji-abdirahman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman Mohamed (born 1957 or 1958, died 4 December 2011) was a Somali Islamic scholar from Galkayo. A former army lieutenant, he became one of Somalia's leading preachers, co-founded and served as vice president of East Africa University, and co-founded the Al-Furqan Institute in Las Anod. He was killed in Bosaso in 2011; al-Shabaab was blamed.

## Who was he?

Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman Mohamed was a Somali cleric, preacher and scholar ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Haji Abdirahman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Haji_Abdirahman)). Wikipedia gives his birth as 1957 in one place and 1958 in another; he was born in rural Mudug and grew up in Galkayo (same source). His father sat in the first Somali parliament and was among the founders of the Somali Youth League, and his mother's family included [Yasin Osman Kenadid](/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/), who wrote the first Somali-language dictionary (same source). See [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## Career

After school he did military service, trained in Iraq, and rose to lieutenant before resigning ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Haji_Abdirahman)). He was active in Islamic movements from the 1970s and became one of Somalia's leading scholars (same source). He co-founded East Africa University and served as its vice president, and was a member of the Association of Somali Scholars (same source). With [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) [Abdinasir Haji Ahmed](/en/people/abdinasir-haji-ahmed/) he co-founded the Al-Furqan Institute in Las Anod in 1994 ([Wikipedia, Abdinasir Haji Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Haji_Ahmed)).

## Death

He was killed in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) on 4 December 2011, in an attack attributed to al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Haji_Abdirahman)).

## In short

A Galkayo-raised former officer who became a leading scholar and university founder, killed in Bosaso in 2011.


---

# Abdulcadir Gabeire Farah (Cabdulqaadir Gabeyre Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulcadir-gabeire-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulcadir Gabeire Farah (1955 to 21 September 2015) was a Somali-born Polish historian and social activist. In the 1990s he became the first African to receive refugee status in post-communist Poland, co-founded the Foundation for Somalia in 2007 to help migrants of all origins, and in 2015 announced a run for Somalia's presidency. He was killed in a car bomb attack in Mogadishu that September.

## Who was he?

Abdulcadir Gabeire Farah was a Somali-born Polish historian and social activist ([Wikipedia, Abdulcadir Gabeire Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulcadir_Gabeire_Farah)). He graduated from Omdurman University in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and spoke Arabic, English, Polish, Somali and Swahili (same source). He also lectured at a college in Yemen (same source).

## Life in Poland

He moved to Poland in the 1990s and was the first African to receive refugee status there after 1989 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulcadir_Gabeire_Farah)). He learned Polish and became active in community life (same source). In 2007 he co-founded the Foundation for Somalia with Jolanta Opalińska, and became its president in 2010 (same source). The foundation raised money for a hospital in [Adado](/en/states/galmudug/) and a children's home, and ran language and job courses for migrants of every origin in Poland (same source). He became a Polish citizen in 2014 (same source).

## Death

In May 2015 he announced he would stand for President of Somalia in 2016, and returned to Mogadishu to prepare ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulcadir_Gabeire_Farah)). On 21 September 2015 he was killed in a car bomb attack near the presidential palace that killed at least eleven people; al-Shabaab was blamed (same source).

## In short

A Somali refugee who became a leading migrant advocate in Poland and was killed while preparing a presidential bid.


---

# Safia Otokoré

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/safia-otokore/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Safia Otokoré (born Safia Ibrahim, 17 October 1969) is a French Socialist Party politician born in present-day Djibouti to parents who were refugees from Somalia. She served as a regional councillor and vice-president of the Burgundy regional council, and in 2012 worked on communication in Pierre Moscovici's ministerial cabinet.

## Who is she?

Safia Otokoré, born Safia Ibrahim on 17 October 1969 in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (today Djibouti), is a French politician in the Socialist Party ([Wikipedia, Safia Otokoré](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safia_Otokor%C3%A9)). Her parents were refugees from Somalia (same source). She married the footballer Didier Otokoré, then playing for AJ Auxerre, and has run marathons (same source).

## Politics

She served as a regional councillor, vice-president of the regional council, and adviser on international development for Burgundy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safia_Otokor%C3%A9)). She supported Pierre Moscovici, often as his press officer, and in June 2012 joined his ministerial cabinet in charge of communication (same source). She has spoken for women's rights and for sport (same source).

## Book

Her autobiography, *Safia: un conte de fées républicain*, written with Pauline Guéna, was published in 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safia_Otokor%C3%A9)).

## In short

A daughter of Somali refugees, born in Djibouti, who became a regional leader in Burgundy.


---

# Abdinasir Said Ibrahim (Cabdinaasir Saciid Ibraahim)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdinasir-said-ibrahim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdinasir Said Ibrahim (born 1 July 1989) is a Somali runner who represented Somalia in the 5000 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, setting a personal best of 14:21.58. He and Samiya Yusuf Omar trained in Mogadishu despite harassment from armed groups and a lack of coaching and facilities.

## Who is he?

Abdinasir Said Ibrahim is a Somali track athlete born on 1 July 1989 ([Wikipedia, Abdinasir Said Ibrahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Said_Ibrahim)).

## Beijing 2008

Before the 2008 season he trained in Mogadishu with [Samiya Yusuf Omar](/en/people/samia-yusuf-omar/), facing harassment from armed groups who saw taking part in official events as siding with the government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Said_Ibrahim)). He also lacked steady coaching, facilities and races (same source; [Yahoo Sports](https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/track_field/news?slug=cr-somalirunners082408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)).

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing he ran the 5000 metres, finishing 12th in his heat and 37th overall in a personal best of 14:21.58 (same source).

## In short

A Somali runner who trained in wartime Mogadishu to compete at the 2008 Olympics.


---

# Sabrina Dhowre Elba (Saabiriin Dhoore)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sabrina-dhowre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sabrina Dhowre Elba (born 16 June 1989) is a Canadian model and businesswoman of Somali descent, and since April 2020 a UN goodwill ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Born in Montreal and raised in Vancouver, she is married to the actor Idris Elba.

## Who is she?

Sabrina Hibo Dhowre, Lady Elba, is a Canadian model, media personality and businesswoman of Somali descent ([Wikipedia, Sabrina Dhowre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabrina_Dhowre)). She was born in Montreal on 16 June 1989, the second of five children raised by a single mother, and moved to Vancouver at 12 (same source). She studied philosophy at Simon Fraser University (same source). Her mother is Maryam Egal (same source).

## Modelling

She has appeared in *British Vogue* and *Elle*, was crowned "Ms. Vancouver" in 2014, and is with IMG Models in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabrina_Dhowre)).

## UN and charity work

In April 2020 she was appointed a goodwill ambassador for IFAD, the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabrina_Dhowre)). With her husband Idris Elba she helped launch a $40 million IFAD fund to soften the effect of COVID-19 on rural food producers (same source). In January 2023 they received the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where she spoke on food insecurity in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Haiti, Somalia and elsewhere (same source). She became co-chair of Global Citizen's European board in 2022 (same source).

## Other work

With Idris Elba she is developing an Afrofuturist animated series, *Dantai*, and in 2022 they founded the wellness brand S'ABLE Labs ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabrina_Dhowre)). They married in Marrakesh in April 2019 (same source).

## In short

A Somali-Canadian model who works with the UN on small farmers and rural food.


---

# Hibo Wardere (Hibo Wardheere)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hibo-wardere/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born British campaigner against female genital mutilation, author and speaker. She came to London as a refugee in 1989, works as an FGM educator and mediator for Waltham Forest, trains doctors and police, and published her memoir Cut in 2016.

## Who is she?

Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), author and public speaker ([Wikipedia, Hibo Wardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Wardere)). She was subjected to FGM at the age of six, and came to London as a teenage refugee in 1989 (same source). She lives in Walthamstow (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Campaigning

She has said that NHS doctors rarely asked about or recorded her FGM ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibo_Wardere)). While training as a teaching assistant she wrote about her experience in an essay, and was then asked to speak to 120 teachers (same source). She went on to work as a mediator and FGM educator for Waltham Forest, helping pupils at risk and training doctors and police (same source).

Her story has appeared in the BBC, *The Guardian* and *The Telegraph* (same source). Her memoir, *Cut*, was published in April 2016 (same source).

## In short

A London educator and author who has become one of Britain's best-known voices against FGM.


---

# Ibrahim Mursal Warsame

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-mursal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Mursal Warsame (born 1990) is a Norwegian film director of Sudanese and Somali origins. Born in Somalia, he grew up in Sudan after his family fled the civil war, then settled in Norway. He is known for The Art of Sin, a documentary about the Sudanese artist Ahmed Umar.

## Who is he?

Ibrahim Mursal Warsame is a Norwegian film director of Sudanese and Somali origins ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Mursal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mursal)). He was born in Somalia in 1990, and his family fled during the civil war (same source).

## Sudan

In [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) he earned a bachelor's degree in oil and gas exploration from the Sudan University of Science and Technology in 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mursal)). A film and photography workshop at the Goethe-Institut Sudan that year led him into filmmaking, and his first short, *50 Piasters*, was shown at the first Sudan Independent Film Festival (same source). He was on the organising team of TEDxKhartoum, which Sudan's intelligence service shut down in May 2013 (same source).

## Norway

After twelve years in Sudan he settled in Norway, where he runs Warsame Movies ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mursal)). He wrote and directed *The Art of Sin*, a documentary about the Sudanese artist Ahmed Umar (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## In short

A Somali-born filmmaker shaped by twelve years in Sudan, now working in Norway.


---

# Chunkz (Amin Mohamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/chunkz/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Chunkz (Amin Mohamed, born 21 February 1996) is a British-Somali YouTuber, presenter and entertainer from north-west London. A founder member of the YouTube group Beta Squad, he has millions of subscribers, co-hosted Sky Sports' Saturday Social, and won the International Somali Award for Best Entertainer in 2018. He stopped making music in 2021 for religious reasons.

## Who is he?

Amin Mohamed, known as Chunkz, is a British YouTuber, influencer, presenter and entertainer born in north-west [London](/en/diaspora/london/) on 21 February 1996 ([Wikipedia, Chunkz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunkz)). He is a second-generation British Somali whose parents came from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in the 1980s (same source). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia. See [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/).

## YouTube

He started his channel in 2015 and went full-time in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunkz)). In 2019 he co-founded Beta Squad, a London YouTube group whose videos have featured Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and KSI (same source). His own channel had more than 3.6 million subscribers (same source). He won the International Somali Award for Best Entertainer in 2018 (same source).

## Other work

He released songs from 2018, including singles with Yung Filly, and in May 2021 said he was stopping music because it did not fit his religious beliefs ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunkz)). He appeared in Big Shaq's 2017 video "Man's Not Hot" and co-hosted the Sky Sports show *Saturday Social* from 2020 (same source).

## In short

A London-born British-Somali entertainer who built one of the UK's biggest YouTube audiences.


---

# Sultan Osman Ahmed of Geledi (Cismaan Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/osman-ahmed-geledi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Osman Ahmed (died early 1920s) was the fifth and last Sultan of the Geledi Sultanate, based at Afgooye, succeeding his father Ahmed Yusuf in the 1880s. He made peace with the Bimaal, led Maay-speaking forces against the Dervishes at the Battle of Hudur, signed protectorate treaties with Italy in 1902, and saw Geledi placed under direct Italian rule by 1911.

## Who was he?

Osman Ahmed was a Somali ruler, the fifth and last Sultan of the Geledi Sultanate, who died in the early 1920s ([Wikipedia (Somali), Cismaan Axmed](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cismaan_Axmed)). He was the son of Sultan Ahmed Yusuf and succeeded him in the 1880s ([Wikipedia, Osman Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Ahmed)). Wikipedia, citing the historians Lee Cassanelli and Virginia Luling, says Gobroon power weakened under his rule as former allies claimed independence (same source). See [The Geledi Sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).

## Peace with the Bimaal

Unlike his father and grandfather, he made peace with the Bimaal clan, lifting sanctions on [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and letting the town trade with the hinterland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Ahmed)). In the mid-1890s his forces defeated the Hintire clan downriver (same source).

## Ethiopia and the Dervishes

Wikipedia credits him with repelling an Ethiopian invasion of the Rahanweyn lands ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Ahmed)). Talks with the Dervish movement of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) broke down, partly over the killing of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) [Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/), which Wikipedia attributes to the Dervishes (same source). Wikipedia says more than 30,000 men from almost all the Maay-speaking clans, led by Sultan Osman, defeated the Dervishes at the Battle of [Hudur](/en/regions/bakool/) and pushed them out of Geledi lands (same source). See [The Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## Italy

After the Lafoole incident of 1896, an Italian inquiry gave conflicting evidence about Geledi involvement ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Ahmed)). Osman signed protectorate treaties with Italy in 1902 (same source). By 1911 the Geledi state had formally ended and was placed under direct Italian administration, though he remained the leading traditional figure in Afgooye until his death (same source).

## In short

The last [Sultan of Geledi](/en/people/yusuf-mahamud-ibrahim/), who fought the Dervishes at Hudur and saw his state absorbed by Italy in 1911.


---

# Amran Mohamed Ahmed (Camraan Maxamed Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/amran-mohamed-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amran Mohamed Ahmed (born 12 April 1954 in Hargeisa) is a Somali author, poet and journalist. She moved to Finland in 1990, worked as a volunteer interpreter and advocate for Somali refugees, and was named Refugee Woman of the Year by the Finnish Refugee Council in 2005. She writes in Somali and Finnish and since 2007 has worked in London for Raad TV.

## Who is she?

Amran Mohamed Ahmed is a Somali author, poet and journalist born in Hargeisa on 12 April 1954 ([Wikipedia, Amran Mohamed Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amran_Mohamed_Ahmed)). She went to school in Hargeisa, studied in Mogadishu, and made teaching materials for the Ministry of Education (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## Finland

In 1990 she moved to Finland with her husband and youngest child ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amran_Mohamed_Ahmed)). She worked as a volunteer interpreter for Somali refugees, lectured on Somali culture and spoke to journalists about where the refugees were coming from (same source). In 2005 the Finnish Refugee Council named her Refugee Woman of the Year, and in 2011 a biography of her was published (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Writing

She writes poetry, fairy tales and journalism in Somali and Finnish, helped edit the poetry collection *Nine Autumn Sessions* (2002), and broadcast for years on Somali-language radio ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amran_Mohamed_Ahmed)). Since 2007 she has lived in [London](/en/diaspora/london/), where she works as a journalist for Raad TV International (same source).

## In short

A Hargeisa-born poet and journalist who championed Somali refugees in Finland.


---

# Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire (Maxamuud Cali Shire)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamoud-ali-shire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamoud Ali Shire (died 1960) was Sultan of the Warsangali, based at Las Khorey. He signed a protectorate treaty with Britain in 1886, later sided with the Dervish movement of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, his son-in-law, and in 1920 was exiled by the British to the Seychelles for seven years.

## Who was he?

Mohamoud Ali Shire was Sultan of the Warsangali Sultanate, also called its Senior Akil, centred on Las Khorey; he died in 1960 ([Wikipedia, Mohamoud Ali Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamoud_Ali_Shire)). See [The Warsangali Sultanate](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/).

## Britain and the Dervishes

In 1886 he and other Warsangali elders signed a protectorate treaty with Britain, following similar treaties with other northern clans ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamoud_Ali_Shire)). He was father-in-law of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/), and during the conflict between the Dervishes and Britain he sided with the Dervishes (same source). In January 1908 his men fired on a British ship about to land on their coast (same source). See [The Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## Exile in the Seychelles

After the Dervish defeat in 1920, the British sentenced him to seven years' exile in the Seychelles ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamoud_Ali_Shire)). Wikipedia quotes Wardheer News that his "independent policy, strength and indifference to the powers surrounding him" had vexed [London](/en/diaspora/london/) (same source). He tried to escape from Berbera on 5 January 1920 and arrived in the Seychelles on HMS *Odin* on 3 May 1920 (same source).

He lived at Anse Etoile on Mahé and had to report to the police three times a day (same source). Other exiles there included the former Egyptian prime minister Saad Zaghloul, with whom he became friendly (same source). He wrote repeatedly asking to return, and sent letters home through Somali sailors to get round censorship (same source).

## In short

The Warsangali sultan who backed the Dervishes and was exiled by Britain to the Seychelles.


---

# Almaas Elman (Almaas Cilmaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/almaas-elman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Almaas Elman (died 20 November 2019) was a Somali-Canadian humanitarian worker and diplomat, eldest daughter of Elman Ali Ahmed and Fartuun Adan of the Elman Peace Center. She served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve and as First Secretary at the Somali embassy in Kenya, and was killed by a bullet while travelling by car in Mogadishu in November 2019.

## Who was she?

Almaas Elman was a Somali-Canadian humanitarian worker, the eldest daughter of [Elman Ali Ahmed](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/) and [Fartuun Adan](/en/people/fartuun-adan/) ([Wikipedia, Almaas Elman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaas_Elman)). She, her mother and her sisters moved to Canada in the early 1990s; her father was shot dead in 1996, and her mother helped found the Elman Peace Center (same source). Her sister [Ilwad Elman](/en/people/ilwad-elman/) was shortlisted for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize (same source). See [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/).

## Work

She served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve before returning to Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaas_Elman)). She was First Secretary at the Somali embassy in Kenya, and later worked as a liaison with European Union diplomats in Somalia (same source).

## Death

She died on 20 November 2019 after being hit by a bullet while travelling by car in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaas_Elman)). Early news reports described it as a murder, while the African Union said it had no reports of fighting in the area and called it a stray bullet from outside (same source). Canada's minister Ahmed Hussen called her death "personally devastating" (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A member of the Elman peace family who served Canada and Somalia and was killed in Mogadishu in 2019.


---

# Mustafa Haji Abdinur (Mustafe Xaaji Cabdinuur)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mustafa-haji-abdinur/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mustafa Haji Abdinur is a Somali journalist from Baidoa and Somalia correspondent for Agence France-Presse. He worked for Radio Baidoa, STN and Radio Shabelle, co-founded Radio Simba in 2007, won the Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award in 2009, and addressed the UN Security Council in June 2013.

## Who is he?

Mustafa Haji Abdinur is a Somali journalist and radio correspondent ([Wikipedia, Mustafa Haji Abdinur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Haji_Abdinur)). He was born into a working-class family in Baidoa, finished high school in Mogadishu, and returned to Baidoa in 1995 to study English (same source).

## Radio Baidoa to Radio Shabelle

He taught English in Baidoa and joined Radio Baidoa, translating world news and then producing programmes on farming, livestock and humanitarian crises ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Haji_Abdinur)). In 2001 clashes in Baidoa closed the station and he moved to Mogadishu (same source). He joined the STN television and radio network in 2002 and Radio [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) in 2004 as producer and news editor (same source). In 2006 he led a team covering the drought in the south and south-west, and edited Shabelle's English page (same source).

## AFP and Radio Simba

From 2006 he reported for Agence France-Presse, later becoming its Somalia correspondent ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Haji_Abdinur)). In 2007 he and a partner started Radio Simba, which Wikipedia says has over 2 million listeners in southern and central Somalia (same source).

## Awards

He received the CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2009 and the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year award (free press category) in 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Haji_Abdinur)). On 17 June 2013 he was one of five journalists invited to address the UN Security Council (same source).

## In short

A Baidoa-born reporter who covered Somalia for AFP through the war years and spoke at the UN Security Council.


---

# Ali Abdulkadir (Cali Cabdulqaadir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-abdulkadir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Mohamed Abdulkadir is a Somali footballer who plays as a forward for Hilltop in England and for the Somalia national team. He made his debut for Somalia against Djibouti on 15 June 2021 and is a cousin of fellow international Liban Abdulahi.

## Who is he?

Ali Mohamed Abdulkadir is a Somali footballer who plays as a forward for Hilltop and the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Ali Abdulkadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdulkadir)). He is a cousin of the Somalia international [Liban Abdulahi](/en/people/liban-abdulahi/) (same source).

## Career

In the 2019-20 season he played five league games for Hillingdon Borough in the Spartan South Midlands League before joining Hilltop ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Abdulkadir)). He made his debut for Somalia on 15 June 2021 in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Djibouti (same source).

## In short

An England-based forward who has played for Somalia since 2021.


---

# Siad Haji (Abdulkadir Abdi Haji)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/siad-haji/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulkadir Abdi "Siad" Haji (born 1 December 1999) is a Somali footballer born in a Kenyan refugee camp and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was the second pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, by the San Jose Earthquakes, and made his debut for Somalia in March 2022.

## Who is he?

Abdulkadir Abdi "Siad" Haji is a Somali professional footballer who plays as a winger ([Wikipedia, Siad Haji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Haji)). He was born on 1 December 1999 in a Kenyan refugee camp after his parents fled Somalia, and in 2004 the family moved to New Hampshire (same source). He grew up in a refugee community in Manchester and played youth football for the New Hampshire Classics (same source). See [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## College and MLS

He played for New England College, then Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Haji)). The San Jose Earthquakes took him second overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, VCU's highest-ever pick (same source). He played on loan at Reno 1868, left San Jose after 2022, joined FC Tulsa in January 2023 and Vermont Green in May 2024 (same source).

## Somalia

He played for United States youth teams before choosing Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Haji)). He made his Somalia debut in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Eswatini on 23 March 2022 (same source).

## In short

A refugee-camp-born winger who went second in the MLS draft and then chose to play for Somalia.


---

# Abdi Isak (Cabdi Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-isak/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Isak (born 1 January 1966) is a Somali marathon runner who represented Somalia at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, finishing 110th in the marathon.

## Who is he?

Abdi Isak is a marathon runner born on 1 January 1966 who competed internationally for Somalia ([Wikipedia, Abdi Isak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Isak)).

## Atlanta 1996

He ran the marathon for Somalia at the 1996 Olympics in [Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/) and finished in 110th place ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Isak)). Somalia had no national government at the time; see [Somalia at the Olympics](/en/society/somalia-at-the-olympics/) and [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/), the country's best-known runner.

## In short

A Somali marathon runner who ran at the 1996 Olympics.


---

# Mohamed Omar (Maxamed Cumar, footballer born 1999)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Omar (born 22 January 1999) is a Canadian-born footballer who plays for the Somalia national team. A Toronto FC academy graduate and Notre Dame captain, he was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in 2022, played for HFX Wanderers and San Antonio FC, joined Indy Eleven in April 2026, and was first called up by Somalia in May 2024.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Omar is a professional footballer, born in Canada on 22 January 1999, who plays for the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Omar (footballer, born 1999)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Omar_(footballer,_born_1999))). He plays as a midfielder or centre-back (same source).

## Youth and college

He joined the [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) FC Academy in 2013, then went to high school at the Berkshire School in Massachusetts, where he was named the state's top high school player in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Omar_(footballer,_born_1999))). At the University of Notre Dame he was team captain in 2021, when the team reached the NCAA semi-finals (same source).

## Professional career

The [Colorado](/en/diaspora/denver/) Rapids picked him 23rd in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, but roster limits meant no contract ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Omar_(footballer,_born_1999))). He played for HFX Wanderers in the Canadian Premier League in 2022 and 2023, as assistant captain in 2023, then San Antonio FC from 2024, and joined Indy Eleven in April 2026 (same source).

## Somalia

He trained with Canada's under-20 team in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Omar_(footballer,_born_1999))). In May 2024 he was first called up by Somalia for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Mozambique and Botswana (same source).

## In short

A Toronto-raised Notre Dame captain who now plays for Somalia.


---

# Abdi Jama (Cabdi Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Jama (born 1 November 1982 in Burao) is a British wheelchair basketball player who grew up in Toxteth, Liverpool. Paralysed at fourteen, he took up the sport at school and played for Great Britain, winning bronze at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and gold at the 2011 European Championships, and was selected for London 2012.

## Who is he?

Abdi Jama is a British wheelchair basketball player born on 1 November 1982 in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia, Abdi Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Jama)). His family moved from Somalia to Toxteth in Liverpool because of the wars (same source). He was left paralysed at fourteen (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somalis in Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/).

## Career

A Great Britain player, Ade Orogbemi, introduced him to the sport at a school taster session, and he later joined the Liverpool Vikings ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Jama)). With Great Britain he won silver at the 2007 European Championships, bronze at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, bronze at the 2009 European Championships and gold at the 2011 European Championships (same source). He was selected for the 2012 [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Paralympics (same source). He has also played club basketball in Italy and Australia (same source).

## In short

A Liverpool-raised wheelchair basketball player who won Paralympic and European medals for Great Britain.


---

# Omar Jama (Cumar Jaamac)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-jama/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Hassan Jama (born 21 May 1998) is a Finnish-born footballer who plays for Somalia. A midfielder, he has played for PS Kemi, Ekenäs IF, IF Gnistan and JäPS in Finland, and made his Somalia debut against Oman in an Arab Cup qualifier on 20 June 2021.

## Who is he?

Omar Hassan Jama is a footballer born in Finland on 21 May 1998 who represents Somalia ([Wikipedia, Omar Jama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Jama)). He plays as a midfielder (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Clubs

He joined PS Kemi from Klubi 04 in January 2017, spent 2019 at Ekenäs IF, and moved to IF Gnistan in 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Jama)). Wikipedia lists his current club as JäPS in the Ykkönen (same source).

## Somalia

He played for Finland at junior levels before Somalia called him up in 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Jama)). He made his debut on 20 June 2021 in an Arab Cup qualifier against [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) (same source).

## In short

A Finnish-born midfielder who chose to play for Somalia in 2021.


---

# Abdi Kusow (Cabdi Kusow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-kusow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Mohamed Kusow is a Somali-American sociologist and professor at Iowa State University. He holds a PhD in sociology from Wayne State University, has written widely on Somali identity, migration and the civil war, edited Putting the Cart Before the Horse (2004), and co-founded the University of Southern Somalia.

## Who is he?

Abdi Mohamed Kusow is a Somali scholar and writer, professor of sociology at Iowa State University ([Wikipedia, Abdi Kusow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Kusow)). He earned a BA at Michigan State University in 1990, a master's in urban planning at the University of Michigan in 1992, and a PhD in sociology at Wayne State University in 1998, with a thesis on Somali immigrants in Canada (same source). He is also a founder of the University of Southern Somalia (same source).

## Writing

His work includes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Kusow)):

- "The Genesis of the [Somali Civil War](/en/history/somali-civil-war/): A New Perspective" (1994)
- "The Somali Origin: Myth or Reality", in *The Invention of Somalia* (1995)
- *Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Contested Nationalism and the Crisis of the Nation-State in Somalia* (editor, 2004)
- *From Mogadishu to Dixon: The Somali Diaspora in a Global Context* (co-editor, 2025)

## In short

An Iowa-based sociologist whose research covers Somali origins, the civil war and the diaspora.


---

# Omar Moussa Bouh

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/omar-moussa-bouh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Omar Moussa Bouh (born 8 February 1961) is a Djiboutian marathon runner. He won silver at the 1983 Arab Championships, ran the marathon at the 1988 and 1996 Olympics, finished fourth at the 1994 Francophone Games, and ran a personal record of 2:13:57 in 1994.

## Who is he?

Omar Moussa Bouh, also spelled Omar Musa, is a Djiboutian long-distance runner who specialised in the marathon, born on 8 February 1961 ([Wikipedia, Omar Moussa (runner)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Moussa_(runner))).

## Results

- 1983 Arab Championships, Amman: marathon silver ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Moussa_(runner))).
- 1986: third at the Montreal marathon and fifth at the Paris Marathon; runner-up at the first Lille Marathon (same source).
- 1988 Seoul Olympics: 49th in the marathon (same source).
- 1989 World Marathon Cup: 46th in 2:19:18 (same source).
- 1994: personal best of 2:13:57, and fourth at the Francophone Games, under three minutes behind bronze medallist Omar Abdillahi Charmarke (same source).
- 1996 [Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/) Olympics: started the marathon but did not finish (same source).

## In short

One of Djibouti's leading marathon runners of the 1980s and 1990s, and a two-time Olympian.


---

# Abdirahman Yabarow (Cabdiraxmaan Yabarow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirahman-yabarow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirahman Yabarow is a Somali journalist who became Editor-in-Chief of the Voice of America's Somali service in 2009. He previously worked in the UNDP's documentation unit and as Washington correspondent for the BBC Somali service.

## Who is he?

Abdirahman Yabarow is a Somali journalist ([Wikipedia, Abdirahman Yabarow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Yabarow)).

## Career

In the early 2000s he worked in the UN Development Programme's documentation unit ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Yabarow)). He then served as Washington DC correspondent for the [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) service (same source). In 2009 he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Voice of America's Somali service (same source). See [Somalis in the Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/).

## In short

A Somali broadcaster who has led VOA's Somali-language service since 2009.


---

# Mohamed Awad (Maxamed Cabdullaahi Cawad)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-awad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Abdulahi Awad (born 7 May 1994) is a New Zealand-born Somali footballer, a winger who has played for Eastern Suburbs, Auckland City and Malta's Sliema Wanderers. He made his debut for Somalia on 15 June 2021 against Djibouti, having never been to Somalia before his call-up.

## Who is he?

Mohamed Abdulahi Awad is a Somali professional footballer who plays as a winger, born on 7 May 1994 in Hamilton, [New Zealand](/en/diaspora/new-zealand/) ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Awad (Somali footballer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Awad_(Somali_footballer))). Before his call-up he had never been to Somalia (same source).

## Clubs

He came through the Waikato youth system and joined Western Suburbs in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Awad_(Somali_footballer))). From 2014 he played college football in the United States for St. John's and SIU Edwardsville, and for Inglewood United in Australia (same source). Back in New Zealand he won the 2018–19 national championship with Eastern Suburbs and joined Auckland City in 2020; Wikipedia lists his current club as Sliema Wanderers in Malta (same source).

## Somalia

He made his Somalia debut on 15 June 2021 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Awad_(Somali_footballer))).

## In short

A New Zealand-raised winger who first saw Somalia through its national team.


---

# Abdirizak Bihi (Cabdirisaaq Bixi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdirizak-bihi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirizak Bihi is a Somali-American community activist in Minneapolis who has organised in the Somali community since 1996. He directs the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center, which trains Somali community leaders for civic action.

## Who is he?

Abdirizak Bihi is a Somali-American social activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota ([Wikipedia, Abdirizak Bihi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Bihi)). See [Somalis in Minneapolis-St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Work

He has organised within the Somali community in Minneapolis since 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirizak_Bihi)). He directs the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center, where he works to educate and train Somali leaders for civic action (same source).

## In short

A long-time Minneapolis community organiser who trains Somali civic leaders.


---

# Munira Khalif

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/munira-khalif/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Munira Khalif (born 1996) is a Somali-American from Minneapolis who served as the sixth US Youth Observer to the United Nations in 2018 and 2019. In 2015 she was accepted to all eight Ivy League universities; she studied at Harvard and co-founded Lighting the Way, a youth group for girls' education in East Africa.

## Who is she?

Munira Khalif is a first-generation Somali-American, born in 1996 and raised in Minneapolis, who served as the sixth United States Youth Observer to the United Nations in 2018–2019 ([Wikipedia, Munira Khalif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munira_Khalif)). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Education

She went to Mounds Park Academy, graduating in 2015 as commencement speaker ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munira_Khalif)). That year she made national news when she was accepted by all eight Ivy League schools as well as Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Minnesota, and went on to study economics and government at Harvard (same source).

## Work

She co-founded Lighting the Way, a youth-run non-profit working to make education more accessible for girls in East Africa, and advises Girl Up at the United Nations Foundation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munira_Khalif)). She was appointed US Youth Observer to the UN in 2017, a role chosen each year by the State Department and the UN Association of the USA (same source). She received the Youth Courage Award from the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, one of nine recipients worldwide (same source).

## In short

A Minneapolis Somali student who represented American youth at the UN.


---

# Abdurahman Baadiyow (Cabdiraxmaan Baadiyow)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdurahman Mohamed Abdullahi 'Baadiyow' (born 1954 in Elder) is a Somali scholar of Islamic history and civil society leader. A former army officer and engineer, he earned a PhD at McGill University, co-founded Mogadishu University in 1997 and chairs its board, has been a leader of the Islah movement, and has advised Somali governments on reconciliation and the constitution.

## Who is he?

Abdurahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Baadiyow, was born in 1954 in the district of Elder ([Wikipedia, Abdurahman Abdullahi Baadiyow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdurahman_Abdullahi_Baadiyow)). He was an army officer from 1971 to 1986, and is an electronic engineer, Islamic scholar and civil society activist (same source). He holds an engineering degree from the Somali National University and a PhD in Islamic history from McGill University in Canada (same source).

## Scholarship and university

His PhD thesis traced the Islamic movement in Somalia, with a case study of the Islah movement from 1950 to 2000 (same source). He is one of the founders of [Mogadishu University](/en/institutions/main-universities/), set up in 1997, and chairs its board of trustees (same source). See [Ali Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/ali-sheikh-ahmed/), its first president.

## Public life

He has sat on the Islah movement's Shura Council since 1995 and was its vice-chair from 1999 to 2008 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdurahman_Abdullahi_Baadiyow)). He chaired the National Unity Party from 2014, was a candidate in the 2012 presidential race, and later became deputy chairman of the National Forum Party (same source). He has served as a senior adviser on peace and reconciliation to the prime minister (2018), on the dialogue committee with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) (2019), and as senior constitutional adviser to the president (2022) (same source).

## In short

A historian of Somali Islam who co-founded Mogadishu University and has worked on reconciliation for decades.


---

# Mustaf Mohamed Yuusuf (Mustaf Maxamed Yuusuf)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mustaf-mohamed-yuusuf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mustaf Mohamed Yuusuf (born 1 January 1998) is a Somali goalkeeper for the Somalia national team. He played for Midnimo, Jeenyo United and Heegan in Somalia, moved to Sweden in 2020, and made his Somalia debut in a World Cup qualifier against Niger on 9 October 2015.

## Who is he?

Mustaf Mohamed Yuusuf is a Somali footballer who plays in goal for Lindsdals IF in Sweden and the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Mustaf Yuusuf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustaf_Yuusuf)). He was born on 1 January 1998 (same source). Wikipedia says he is often regarded as one of the best Somali goalkeepers (same source).

## Clubs

He began his career in Somalia with Midnimo, [Jeenyo United](/en/society/somali-football-clubs/) and Heegan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustaf_Yuusuf)). In 2020 he moved to Sweden, joining fifth-tier Nybro IF, and in 2021 Oskarshamns AIK (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Somalia

He made his debut for Somalia on 9 October 2015 in a 2–0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Niger ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustaf_Yuusuf)).

## In short

A goalkeeper who came through Somalia's domestic league and now plays in Sweden.


---

# Ahmed Gacayte (Axmed Gacayte)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-gacayte/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, known as Ahmed Gacayte (1948 to 1988), was a Somali singer, songwriter and composer from Hargeisa. Recruited by Radio Hargeysa while at school, he recorded his first song in 1965, wrote plays and songs with Amina Abdullahi and for Khadra Dahir Cige, and became famous across the Somali world. He was killed in Hargeisa in 1988, aged 40.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, known as Ahmed Gacayte, was a Somali singer, songwriter and composer born in 1948 in the Xidigta neighbourhood of Hargeisa ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Gacayte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gacayte)). He took his nickname from his father (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## Music

In 1964 reporters from [Radio Hargeysa](/en/institutions/state-media/) came to his school looking for singers and recruited him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gacayte)). In 1965 the station broadcast his first song, "Ahlan wa sahlan Daahir", and his father threw him out of the house in response (same source).

He went on to write songs and plays such as "Bood Xirsi" and "Siyar" with Amina Abdullahi, and composed songs for [Khadra Dahir Cige](/en/people/khadra-dahir-ige/) (same source). His songs include "Inaan Weli Ku Jecelahay", "Ilaah Baa Deeq Baxshee" and "Dulmiga" (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Death

He was killed in Hargeisa in 1988, aged 40, during the government's assault on the city ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gacayte)). A man was tried for his killing in 2001 and acquitted (same source).

## In short

A Hargeisa singer and composer whose songs were loved across the Somali world before his death in 1988.


---

# Sultan Ibrahim Adeer (Ibraahin Adeer)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-adeer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Adeer was the founder of the Geledi Sultanate and its ruling Gobroon dynasty, in the late 17th or early 18th century. Wikipedia, citing Virginia Luling's history of the Geledi, says he was an Ajuran general who led a revolt, drove the Ajuran from Afgooye, and extended Geledi rule over the Bay, Bakool, Gedo and Juba lands.

## Who was he?

Ibrahim Adeer was a Somali ruler who founded the Sultanate of the Geledi and its ruling house, the Gobroon dynasty ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Adeer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Adeer)). Wikidata describes him as a ruler of the 17th and 18th centuries ([Wikidata, Q5984418](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5984418)). He was the son of Adeer Gobroon, and his son Mahamud Ibrahim succeeded him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Adeer)). See [The Geledi Sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).

## Revolt against the Ajuran

Wikipedia, which cites Virginia Luling's *Somali Sultanate: the Geledi city-state over 150 years* (2002), says he was an Ajuran general who in the late 17th century gathered 12,000 Geledi and pushed the Ajuran army out of [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Adeer)). It says he united the Maay-speaking Digil and Mirifle clans by military and diplomatic means (same source). See [The Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/).

## Campaigns

According to the same article, he marched through what are now the Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) regions, defeating the Madanle; defeated the Silcis at Afgooye; expelled the Ajuran from Bardheere and [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) and set up a garrison at Dolow; and reached as far south as Kismayo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Adeer)).

## In short

The founder of the Geledi Sultanate, whose revolt ended Ajuran rule over the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba lands.


---

# Ahmed Mohamed Ali 'Kismayo' (Axmed Maxamed Cali Kismaayo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-kismayo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Mohamed Ali 'Kismayo' (1964 to 9 August 2017) was a Somali journalist who worked for Radio Mogadishu from 1987 and the BBC Somali Service from 1997 to 2012. He helped found the magazine Riyaaq in 1998 and was the first director of Puntland TV and Radio from 2013. He died in Hyderabad, India.

## Who was he?

Ahmed Mohamed Ali, known as Kismayo, was a Somali journalist born in Kismayo in 1964 ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Mohamed Kismayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Kismayo)). He went to school in Mogadishu and earned a journalism degree from the Somali National University in 1990 (same source).

## Career

He began at Radio Mogadishu in 1987 and worked there until 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Kismayo)). Displaced by the war, he lived in Kismayo and then for four years in Mombasa (same source). He taught at a secondary school in Garowe from 1995 to 1997, and in 1998 helped found the magazine *Riyaaq*, which he edited (same source).

He worked for the [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/) from 1997 to 2012 (same source). In 2013 he helped set up [Puntland TV](/en/institutions/state-media/) and Radio and became its first director (same source). In 2017 he briefly headed the [Puntland Electoral Commission](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/) before resigning because of illness (same source).

## Death

He died on 9 August 2017 in Hyderabad, India, where he was being treated for illness ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mohamed_Kismayo)).

## In short

A Kismayo-born broadcaster who reported for the BBC for fifteen years and launched [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s state broadcaster.


---

# Ibrahim Mohamed Aden (Ibraahin Maxamed Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-mohamed-aden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Mohamed Aden Gedi (born 11 November 1972) is a Somali-American former middle-distance runner. He ran the 1500 metres for Somalia at the 1996 Olympics and the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, then took US citizenship in 2000 and ran the 1500 metres for the United States at the Sydney Olympics.

## Who is he?

Ibrahim Mohamed Aden Gedi is a Somali-American former middle-distance runner, born on 11 November 1972 ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Mohamed Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Aden)). He is the younger brother of the coach [Jama Aden](/en/people/jama-aden/) (same source).

## School and college

He ran for W. T. Woodson High School in Virginia, winning the 1000 m at the 1990 state indoor meet, before moving to Fork Union Military Academy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Aden)). After Central [Arizona](/en/diaspora/phoenix/) College he ran for George Mason University and competed in the 800 m and 1500 m at the 1996 NCAA championships (same source).

## Somalia, then the United States

He ran for Somalia at the 1996 Olympics and at the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, reaching the 1500 m semi-final in 1999 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Aden)). In 2000 he became a US citizen just before the US Olympic Trials and ran the 1500 m for the United States at the Sydney Olympics, without reaching the final (same source).

## In short

A runner who represented Somalia and then the United States at the Olympics.


---

# Ali Ahmed Abdi (Cali Axmed Cabdi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-ahmed-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ali Ahmed Abdi was a Somali radio journalist and head of programmes at Radio Gaalkacyo who also wrote for the news site Puntlandi. He was shot by masked men while walking home in Galkayo and died of his injuries; the attack was blamed on al-Shabaab. The National Union of Somali Journalists condemned the killing.

## Who was he?

Ali Ahmed Abdi was a Somali journalist and human rights activist in the Mudug region ([Wikipedia, Ali Ahmed Abdi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ahmed_Abdi)). He worked for three years as head of programmes at [Radio Gaalkacyo](/en/society/puntland-radio-and-news/) and also contributed to the news website Puntlandi (same source). See [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## Death

Masked men shot him in the head as he walked home in the Is-Raac area of Galkayo, and he died of his injuries ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ahmed_Abdi)). Wikipedia gives the date as March 2012 in its account of his death and lists 2025 in its opening line (same source). It was believed he was targeted for speaking out against al-Shabaab (same source). The National Union of Somali Journalists expressed "great shock and outrage" (same source).

## In short

A Galkayo radio journalist who was shot dead for his reporting.


---

# Ibrahim Okash (Ibraahin Cukaash)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-okash/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Okash Omar (born 18 September 1964) is a former Somali runner from Jowhar who competed at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. In Seoul in 1988 he reached the 800 metres semi-finals. At the University of Southern California he set a Pac-12 conference record for 800 metres that still stood in 2021.

## Who is he?

Ibrahim Okash Omar is a former athlete who competed for Somalia, born on 18 September 1964 ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Okash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Okash)). He grew up in Jowhar, north of Mogadishu (same source).

## Olympics

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics he ran the 400 metres and finished seventh in his heat ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Okash)). At the 1988 Seoul Olympics he reached the 800 metres semi-finals, finishing eighth in his semi (same source).

## College running

He ran for the University of Southern California in 1988 and 1989, and also for George Mason University ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Okash)). In 1988 at USC he set a Pac-12 record for 800 metres, which Wikipedia says he still held in 2021, and he ranks second in USC history over 1500 metres (same source). He later ran for the Santa Monica Track Club (same source).

## In short

A Jowhar-raised two-time Olympian and a long-standing college 800 m record holder in the US.


---

# Anwar Hared (Anwar Xared)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/anwar-hared/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Anwar Hared (born 17 November 1996) is a Somali-Canadian ice hockey and bandy player from Newmarket, Ontario. He scored Somalia's first ever goal at the 2014 Bandy World Championship and scored again in 2015, making him the only Somali to score at two world championships.

## Who is he?

Anwar Hared is a Somali-Canadian ice hockey and bandy player born on 17 November 1996 ([Wikipedia, Anwar Hared](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Hared)). His family moved to Canada, where he lived for more than fifteen years, in Newmarket, Ontario (same source).

## Bandy for Somalia

He learned about the Somalia national bandy team online and trained for several months on roller skates and ice skates before joining ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Hared)). At the 2014 Bandy World Championship he scored Somalia's first ever goal, and two in total (same source). He played again at the 2015 championship in Khabarovsk and scored against China, becoming the only Somali to score at two world championships (same source).

## In short

A Canadian-raised player who scored Somalia's first goals in world bandy.


---

# Jawahir Ahmed (Jawaahir Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jawahir-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jawahir Ahmed (born 1991) is a Somali-American model from Logan, Utah. In 2013 she won the Miss Africa Utah pageant representing Somalia and was Miss Somalia at the 2013 Miss United Nations USA pageant, while studying health education at Utah State University.

## Who is she?

Jawahir Ahmed is a Somali-American model, born in 1991 in Logan, Utah, to Somali parents who had moved to the United States earlier that year as the civil war began ([Wikipedia, Jawahir Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Ahmed)). Wikipedia says her family is from the Osman Mahamoud, a sub-clan of the Majeerteen (same source).

## Study and work

In 2013 she was studying health education at Utah State University on a scholarship, and working for AmeriCorps and the CPASS college preparation programme ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Ahmed)).

## Pageants and modelling

In 2013 she was signed to the Stars Talent Group agency ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawahir_Ahmed)). That year she represented Somalia and won the Miss Africa Utah pageant, and was Miss Somalia at the Miss United Nations USA pageant (same source).

## In short

A Utah-born Somali model who represented Somalia in US pageants in 2013.


---

# Barkhad Awale Adan (Barkhad Cawaale Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/barkhad-awale-adan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Barkhad Awale Adan was a Somali journalist from Borama who worked in Mogadishu radio for 30 years and directed Radio Hurma. On 24 August 2010 he was killed by a stray bullet during fighting in Mogadishu while helping repair his station's transmitter. Journalists' unions and UNESCO condemned the danger to the press.

## Who was he?

Barkhad Awale Adan was a Somali journalist born in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) ([Wikipedia, Barkhad Awale Adan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhad_Awale_Adan)). He worked for 30 years in Mogadishu's radio industry, the last four as director of Radio Hurma (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## Death

On 24 August 2010, during fighting between [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) and al-Shabaab after a suicide bombing at the Hotel Muna, he was helping a technician repair the station's roof transmitter when a stray bullet hit him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhad_Awale_Adan)). He died at Madina hospital (same source). He was the second journalist killed in Somalia that year (same source).

The National Union of Somali Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists and UNESCO's director-general Irina Bokova all spoke out about the danger to Somali journalists (same source).

## In short

A veteran Mogadishu radio director killed by a stray bullet on his station's roof in 2010.


---

# Jiim Sheikh Muumin (Jiim Sheekh Muumin)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jiim-sheikh-muumin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jiim Sheikh Muumin (about 1945 to 24 November 2021) was a Somali musician and actor who began performing at 17. Wikipedia says he reached "rock star" status before the civil war, and that he stayed in Mogadishu through the years of conflict.

## Who was he?

Jiim Sheikh Muumin was a Somali musician and actor, born around 1945, who died on 24 November 2021 ([Wikipedia, Jiim Sheikh Muumin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiim_Sheikh_Muumin)). He began performing at the age of 17 (same source).

## Career

Wikipedia says that before the civil war he had a successful career in which he reached "rock star" status ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiim_Sheikh_Muumin)). He remained in Mogadishu through the upheavals that followed (same source).

## In short

A singer and actor whose career ran from the 1960s, and who stayed in Mogadishu through the war.


---

# Baxsan (Seynab Xaaji Cali Siigaale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/baxsan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Baxsan (Seynab Haji Ali Siigaale, 1935 to 19 October 2020) was a Somali singer, songwriter and stage actress, one of the first women in Somali popular music. Born in Baabili, she began singing in Addis Ababa, fled to Hargeisa in 1960, formed a famous quartet with Magool, Guduudo Carwo and Maandeeq, and stayed in Mogadishu through the civil war.

## Who was she?

Seynab Haji Ali Siigaale, known as Baxsan, was a Somali singer, songwriter and stage actress ([Wikipedia, Baxsan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxsan)). She was born in 1935 in Baabili, in the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/), to a merchant family (same source). Wikipedia names her with [Magool](/en/people/magool/) and [Guduudo Carwo](/en/people/guduuda-arwo/) as among the most popular performers of the twentieth century (same source).

## Early life

She ran a tea business in her home town, then worked in the coffee trade in Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), and began singing professionally in Addis Ababa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxsan)). See [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/). After the 1960 coup attempt against Emperor Haile Selassie, she escaped to [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), and Guduudo Carwo gave her the name Baxsan, meaning "escaped" (same source).

## Music

She was one of the first women in Somali popular music, at a time when women singing in public was not widely accepted ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxsan)). In 1963 she went to Hargeisa with Guduudo, where they formed a famous quartet with Magool and Maandeeq (same source). She later settled in Mogadishu (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Later life

She stayed in Mogadishu through the civil war when many artists left, which earned her wide respect ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxsan)). She died there on 19 October 2020, and the lack of a state funeral was widely criticised (same source).

## In short

One of the first women of Somali popular music, who sang from Addis Ababa to Mogadishu and stayed through the war.


---

# Knowmadic (Ahmed Ali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/knowmadic/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Ali, known as Knowmadic (born 28 November 1984 in Mogadishu), is a Somali-Canadian spoken-word poet, writer, actor and youth activist. He was Edmonton's seventh Poet Laureate, from July 2017 to June 2019, and won the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word championship with team Edmonton in 2011.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Ali, better known as Knowmadic, is a Somali-Canadian poet, writer, actor, musician and youth activist ([Wikipedia, Knowmadic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowmadic)). He was born in Mogadishu on 28 November 1984 to a nomadic father and a mother from a farming family; his pen name joins "knowledge" and "nomadic" (same source). The family moved to Italy in 1989 and then to Canada (same source).

## Spoken word

He studied comedy writing and performance at Humber College in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowmadic)). He was introduced to spoken word in 2009 by Titilope Sonuga and helped her found the Breath in Poetry Collective (same source). In 2011 he and team Edmonton won the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word championship, and in 2013 he was artist in residence at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in [Seattle](/en/diaspora/seattle/) (same source).

## Edmonton

He was Edmonton's seventh Poet Laureate, from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowmadic)). In 2017 he was runner-up for public school board trustee in Ward A (same source). He chairs the equity committee of the Edmonton Arts Council (same source). See [Somalis in Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born spoken-word poet who served as Edmonton's Poet Laureate.


---

# Bilan Osman

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/bilan-osman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bilan Osman (born 1992 in Gothenburg) is a Swedish journalist, columnist and anti-racism activist whose parents came from Somalia. She has written columns for Svenska Dagbladet and Expressen, worked for eight years as an educator for the Expo foundation, and received the ELSA Award of the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism in 2014.

## Who is she?

Bilan Osman is a Swedish journalist, opinion columnist and anti-racism activist born in Gothenburg in 1992 to parents from Somalia ([Wikipedia, Bilan Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Osman)). Her paternal grandfather, Nor Osman, was a poet (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Work

She has been a columnist for *Svenska Dagbladet* (2018 to 2019) and *Expressen* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Osman)). From 2013, for eight years, she worked as a travelling educator for the anti-racism Expo foundation (same source). She has contributed to several anthologies, including *Svart kvinna* (2015) (same source).

In 2013 she co-signed an open letter urging Muslim women in Sweden to wear the veil for a day in solidarity with a woman attacked for her hijab (same source). Her writing on race and the far right has drawn both support and criticism (same source).

## Honours

In 2014 she received the ELSA Award from the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism, and in 2020 she was nominated for a Rising Star award by the Swedish Magazine Publishers Association ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Osman)).

## In short

A Gothenburg-born journalist who writes and teaches about racism in Sweden.


---

# Maryan Seylac (Marian Zeila)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/maryan-seylac/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maryan Seylac (born 1987) is a Somali journalist and women's rights activist from Baidoa, and founder and executive director of the Somali Women Media Association (SOMWA), set up in 2006 to bring more women into Somali media. She left Somalia in 2009 after death threats from al-Shabaab and has since worked in UK Somali television.

## Who is she?

Maryan Seylac, sometimes called Marian Zeila, is a Somali journalist and women's rights activist born in 1987 ([Wikipedia, Maryan Seylac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryan_Seylac)). She was born in Baidoa, where her father was a teacher, finished primary and secondary school in Mogadishu, and studied journalism at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (same source).

## Journalism

After a short time teaching in Baidoa she became a news anchor on local radio, training on the job at stations in Baidoa, Mogadishu and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryan_Seylac)). In the United Kingdom she has been a news anchor and reporter on [Universal TV](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and Royal TV (same source).

## Somali Women Media Association

In 2006 she founded the Somali Women Media Association (SOMWA) to increase the number of women in Somali media, and she is its executive director ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryan_Seylac)).

## Leaving Somalia

In 2009 she left Somalia for Kenya and then England, after insecurity and a number of death threats from al-Shabaab because she was a woman working in media ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryan_Seylac)). In 2020 she was studying health and social care at the University of Bedfordshire (same source).

## In short

A radio journalist from Baidoa who founded SOMWA to bring Somali women into the media.


---

# Fatima Ahmed (Faadumo Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/fatima-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Fatima Ahmed (born 1949 in Phnom Penh) is an Italian-Somali writer. The daughter of a Somali sailor and a Cham mother, she moved with her family from Cambodia to Somalia, spoke on Radio Mogadishu, and later settled in Italy, where she works as a cultural mediator and has published books including Shanti, Gocce di ricordi and the novel Aukuí.

## Who is she?

Fatima Ahmed is an Italian-Somali writer born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1949 ([Wikipedia, Fatima Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Ahmed)). Her father was a Somali sailor and her mother was of Vietnamese Cham descent (same source). Her family left Cambodia because of the war and went to Somalia, where she took part in radio programmes, including on Radio Mogadishu (same source).

## Italy

The family later moved to Italy, where she worked mainly as a cultural mediator and Vietnamese interpreter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Ahmed)). She has lived near Lake Maggiore since 1989 (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Writing

Her writing deals mostly with post-colonial experience ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Ahmed)). Her books include *Il Ritorno*, *Shanti*, for which she received a medal from the Presidency of the Italian Republic, and *Gocce di ricordi*, which won literary prizes (same source). *Aukuí* was her first novel (same source).

## In short

A writer of Somali and Cham heritage whose Italian-language books explore post-colonial identity.


---

# Sheikh Mohamoud Sheikh Dalmar (Maxamuud Sheekh Dalmar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamoud-sheikh-dalmar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheikh Mohamoud Sheikh Dalmar is a Somali journalist and Islamic scholar who worked for many years for Somali media and the BBC Somali Service, and now produces radio and television in the UK for Horn Cable TV. He is known as an authority on Somali poetry and on Arabic grammar and calligraphy.

## Who is he?

Sheikh Mohamoud Sheikh Dalmar is a Somali journalist and Islamic scholar ([Wikipedia, Mohamoud Sheikh Dalmar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamoud_Sheikh_Dalmar)). He worked for many years with Somali media outlets and with the BBC's Somali service (same source).

## Today

He works as a radio and television producer in the United Kingdom for the private Somali network Horn Cable TV ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamoud_Sheikh_Dalmar)). Wikipedia describes him as a public intellectual and an authority on Muslim scripture, and an expert on Somali poetry and on Arabic grammar, syntax and calligraphy (same source). Somali Wikipedia gives the same account ([Wikipedia (Somali), Maxamuud Sheekh Dalmar](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxamuud_Sheekh_Dalmar)).

## In short

A broadcaster and scholar of Islam, Somali poetry and Arabic, formerly of the [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/).


---

# Harun Maruf (Haaruun Macruuf)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/harun-maruf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Harun Maruf is a Somali journalist based in Washington DC who reports for the Voice of America and has worked for the BBC and the Associated Press. He co-wrote the book Inside Al-Shabaab. In April 2020 Amnesty International reported threats against him by Somalia's intelligence agency, which the US Embassy condemned.

## Who is he?

Harun Maruf is a Somali journalist based in Washington DC who works for the Voice of America ([Wikipedia, Harun Maruf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Maruf)). He has also worked for the Associated Press and the BBC (same source). He holds a master's degree in international journalism from the University of [London](/en/diaspora/london/) (same source).

## Work

He co-wrote the book *[Inside Al-Shabaab](/en/books/inside-al-shabaab-maruf/)* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Maruf)).

## Press freedom

In April 2020 Amnesty International reported that Somalia's intelligence agency, [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/), had threatened him in an effort to intimidate him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Maruf)). The US Embassy in Somalia condemned the threats and called him one of the most respected Somali journalists, and [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), then a former president, also criticised the agency (same source).

## In short

A VOA journalist and author on al-Shabaab who became a press freedom case in 2020.


---

# Mubaarak Nuh (Mubaarak Maxamuud Nuux)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mubaarak-nuh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mubaarak Mohamud Nuh (born 28 April 2002) is a Somali footballer raised in Sweden. A midfielder or winger, he became the youngest player in the Swedish second tier at 15 with Östers IF, signed for Malmö FF, played for Sweden at under-17 and under-18 level, and has been called up by Somalia.

## Who is he?

Mubaarak Mohamud Nuh, nicknamed "Mubbe", is a Somali footballer who plays as a midfielder or winger ([Wikipedia, Mubaarak Nuh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mubaarak_Nuh)). He was born in Somalia on 28 April 2002 and moved with his family to Sweden at six (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Clubs

He started at Östers IF, where at 15 he became the youngest player to appear in the Swedish second tier ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mubaarak_Nuh)). After a trial with Chelsea he signed for Malmö FF, which loaned him to Jammerbugt FC in Denmark (2021), BK Olympic (2022 and 2024) and Örgryte IS (2023) (same source).

## International

He played for Sweden at under-17 and under-18 level and has been called up by the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mubaarak_Nuh)).

## In short

A Somali-born, Swedish-raised winger who played in Sweden's second tier at 15.


---

# Hassan Afif (Xasan Cafiif)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-afif/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Afif Yahya Al Yafei (born 20 December 1956 in Tanzania) is a former footballer who was raised in Somalia and played for the Somalia national team and for Horseed, before moving to Qatar, where he became a citizen and later a club manager. His sons Ali and Akram Afif have played for Qatar.

## Who is he?

Hassan Afif Yahya Al Yafei is a former footballer and manager born in Moshi, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), on 20 December 1956 and raised in Somalia ([Wikipedia, Hassan Afif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Afif)). His family traces its roots to Yafa' in Yemen (same source).

## Career

He played for Simba in Tanzania and Horseed in Somalia, and for the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Afif)). He then moved to Qatar to play for Al [Ittihad](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/) and became a Qatari citizen (same source). As a manager he led Al Gharafa from 1986 to 1987 and Al Markhiya in 2001 to 2003 and 2006 to 2007 (same source). See [Somalis in Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/).

His sons Ali and Akram are footballers who have played for Qatar (same source).

## In short

A Somalia international who built a football career in Qatar, where his sons became national team players.


---

# Luciano Ceri

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/luciano-ceri/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Luciano Ceri (born 25 March 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter, journalist and radio host born in Mogadishu, then capital of Italian Somaliland, to Italian parents. He played in the 1970s progressive rock band Big Fall, released a solo album in 1987, and has written books on world music and on Lucio Battisti.

## Who is he?

Luciano Ceri is an Italian singer-songwriter, journalist and radio host, born on 25 March 1951 in Mogadishu to Italian parents, when the city was capital of [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) ([Wikipedia, Luciano Ceri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Ceri)). He later moved to Italy to start his music career (same source).

## Music

He began in beat bands and in the 1970s played in the progressive rock group Big Fall, which recorded two albums for EMI Italiana in its three years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Ceri)). He then worked as a songwriter, often performing at Rome's Folkstudio, whose owner Giancarlo Cesaroni released his solo album in 1987 (same source).

## Writing

His books include *World Beat Music*, with Ernesto De Pascale (1993), and an annotated discography of Lucio Battisti (1996, reprinted 2008) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Ceri)). He sits on the jury of the Premio Ciampi and has written for the magazine *Easy Listening* (same source).

## In short

An Italian musician and writer born in colonial Mogadishu.


---

# Hawa Jibril (Xaawo Jibriil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hawa-jibril/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hawa Jibril (1920 to 2011) was a Somali poet known for the buraanbur, the women's poetic form. Born into a nomadic family on the Mudug plateau, she composed her first poem at twelve, joined the Somali Youth League, and moved to Toronto in 1993. Her poems were published in English and Somali as And Then She Said, and her life inspired the play Bridge of One Hair.

## Who was she?

Hawa Jibril was a Somali poet known especially for the buraanbur, a form of poetry composed by women ([Wikipedia, Hawa Jibril](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Jibril)). She was born in 1920 into a nomadic family on the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) plateau, and composed her first poem at twelve, prompted by a family quarrel (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Life

She became a member of the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Jibril)). In 1993 she moved to Toronto to escape the civil war; because she had no papers proving her Somali citizenship, her naturalisation was delayed (same source). She died in Toronto in 2011 (same source). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/).

## Legacy

Her daughter, Faduma Ahmed Alim, compiled some of her poems in English and Somali as *And Then She Said / Saa Waxay Tiri* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Jibril)). In 2007 her life and poetry were the subject of the play *Bridge of One Hair* (same source).

## In short

A buraanbur poet of the independence era whose verse was later published from Toronto.


---

# Jamal Abdi Dirieh (Jamal Cabdi Diiriye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jamal-abdi-dirieh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jamal Abdi Dirieh (born 1997) is a Djiboutian long-distance runner. He won a silver medal at the 2016 World U20 Championships and ran the 5000 metres for Djibouti at the 2017 World Championships, narrowly missing the final. His 5000 m best is 13:13.45 (Heusden-Zolder, 2017).

## Who is he?

Jamal Abdi Dirieh is a Djiboutian long-distance runner born in 1997 ([Wikipedia, Jamal Abdi Dirieh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Abdi_Dirieh)).

## Results

He won a silver medal at the 2016 World U20 Championships ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Abdi_Dirieh)). At the 2017 World Championships he ran the 5000 metres for Djibouti and narrowly missed the final (same source). His personal bests are 13:13.45 for 5000 m (Heusden-Zolder, 2017) and 30:07.47 for 10,000 m (Tlemcen, 2016) (same source).

## In short

A Djiboutian distance runner and world junior silver medallist.


---

# Hussein Ali Abdulle (Xuseen Cali Cabdulle)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hussein-ali-abdulle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hussein Ali Abdulle (about 1946 to 9 May 2017) was a Somali footballer and coach. He played for the Ocean Stars, Somalia's national team, in the 1960s and 1970s, was regarded as one of the most respected Somali players of his time, and later coached the national team. He died in Mogadishu.

## Who was he?

Hussein Ali Abdulle was a Somali football coach and former player ([Wikipedia, Hussein Ali Abdulle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Ali_Abdulle)).

## Career

He represented the Ocean Stars, Somalia's national team, in many international matches in the 1960s and 1970s, and was seen as one of the country's most respected footballers of his time ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Ali_Abdulle)). He went on to coach the national team (same source).

## Death

He died at his home in Mogadishu on 9 May 2017, aged 71, after a long illness ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Ali_Abdulle)). FIFA President Gianni Infantino sent condolences to the Somali Football Federation (same source).

## In short

A leading Ocean Stars player of the 1960s and 1970s who later coached Somalia.


---

# Naima Qorane (Nacima Qorane)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/naima-qorane/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Naima Qorane is a Somali writer, poet and activist for Somali unity. In January 2018 she was arrested at Hargeisa airport on her return from Mogadishu, and a Somaliland court sentenced her to three years for calling Somaliland a "region" rather than a "country" in her poetry. The Guardian reported the arrest as part of a wider crackdown on writers and activists.

## Who is she?

Naima Qorane is a Somali writer, poet and pan-Somali activist ([Wikipedia, Naima Qorane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naima_Qorane)).

## Arrest and sentence

In January 2018 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) security officers arrested her at Hargeisa airport on her return from Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naima_Qorane)). A Somaliland court sentenced her to three years; the cause given was that her poetry called Somaliland a "region" rather than a "country" (same source). She had said she had received death threats for her advocacy, and she reportedly received threats of sexual violence if she did not give up her phone password (same source).

The Guardian described the arrest as part of a broader crackdown, with at least 12 writers, bloggers and activists arrested in Somaliland since December 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naima_Qorane)).

## In short

A poet jailed by a Somaliland court in 2018 for writing of Somaliland as a region of Somalia.


---

# Nasteh Dahir Farah (Nastax Daahir Faarax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/nasteh-dahir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nasteh Dahir Farah (1972 or 1973 to 7 June 2008) was a Somali journalist, a correspondent for the BBC and the Associated Press, and vice-president of the National Union of Somali Journalists. He was shot dead by gunmen in Kismayo on 7 June 2008 after receiving death threats.

## Who was he?

Nasteh Dahir Farah was a Somali reporter and vice-president of the National Union of Somali Journalists, born in 1972 or 1973 ([Wikipedia, Nasteh Dahir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasteh_Dahir)). He was a local correspondent in Somalia for the BBC and the Associated Press (same source).

## Killing

He received death threats and on 7 June 2008 was shot by gunmen in Kismayo, dying in hospital there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasteh_Dahir)). Reporters Without Borders said the killers had not been identified; the BBC and Al Jazeera reported that the killing had been attributed to Islamist insurgents (same source). See [Kismayo and Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## In short

A BBC and AP reporter and journalists' union leader, killed in Kismayo in 2008.


---

# Safia Abukar Hussein (Saafiya Abuukar Xuseen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/safia-abukar-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Safia Abukar Hussein (born 1 January 1981) is a sprinter who was the first Somali woman to compete at the Olympics, running the 400 metres for Somalia at Sydney 2000. She finished sixth in her heat. Wikipedia notes that she faced criticism at home, where female athletes were uncommon.

## Who is she?

Safia Abukar Hussein is a sprinter, born on 1 January 1981, who competed internationally for Somalia ([Wikipedia, Safia Abukar Hussein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safia_Abukar_Hussein)). She was the first Somali woman to compete at the Olympics for her country (same source).

## Sydney 2000

She ran the 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, finishing sixth in her heat and not advancing ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safia_Abukar_Hussein)).

## At home

Wikipedia says female athletes were uncommon in Somalia and older men criticised her for not staying at home ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safia_Abukar_Hussein)). Her father at first disliked the idea, fearing it would stop her finding a husband, but then let her compete in Sydney for the sake of Somalia (same source). See [Samia Yusuf Omar](/en/people/samia-yusuf-omar/).

## In short

The first Somali woman to run at the Olympics, in Sydney in 2000.


---

# Souad Kassim Mohamed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/souad-kassim-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Souad Kassim Mohamed (born 30 November 1976) is a Djiboutian linguist, scholar and playwright, and senior lecturer in linguistics and French teaching at the University of Djibouti. She has studied Yemeni migrants in Ambouli and oral traditions in the Horn of Africa, and wrote the play Un enfant à tout prix about blame for childlessness.

## Who is she?

Souad Kassim Mohamed is a Djiboutian linguist, scholar and playwright, born on 30 November 1976 ([Wikipedia, Souad Kassim Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souad_Kassim_Mohamed)). She studied in France at Jean Monnet University in Saint-Étienne, the University of Burgundy in Dijon, and INALCO in Paris (same source). She is a senior lecturer in linguistics and French teaching at the University of Djibouti (same source).

## Research

She has researched the Yemeni community of Ambouli in Djibouti, arguing that they used French education to become officials and landowners, which she calls a form of "social revenge" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souad_Kassim_Mohamed)). She has also studied oral traditions in the Horn of Africa (same source). With Marine Larocca of the French Institute of Djibouti she published a study of linguistic variation in French teaching in Djibouti's secondary schools (same source).

## Playwright

Her play *Un enfant à tout prix* ("A child at any price") examines the common belief that a childless marriage is always the woman's fault ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souad_Kassim_Mohamed)).

## In short

A Djiboutian linguist and playwright who studies language, migration and oral tradition.


---

# Suldaan Said Ahmed (Suldaan Saciid Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/suldaan-said-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Suldaan Said Ahmed (born 12 February 1993) is a Mogadishu-born Finnish politician for the Left Alliance and the first Somali-born member of the Finnish parliament, where he sat for Helsinki from September 2021 to April 2023. Since January 2024 he has been the Finnish foreign minister's Special Envoy on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa.

## Who is he?

Suldaan Said Ahmed is a Finnish politician in the Left Alliance and a member of Helsinki City Council ([Wikipedia, Suldaan Said Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldaan_Said_Ahmed)). He was born in Mogadishu on 12 February 1993 and moved to Finland in 2008 through family reunification (same source). He lived in Kontiolahti, North Karelia, before moving to Helsinki in 2011, and trained as a security guard and worked as a community worker (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Parliament

He was elected to Helsinki City Council in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldaan_Said_Ahmed)). In September 2021 he entered the Finnish parliament for Helsinki, replacing Paavo Arhinmäki, and became the first Somali-born member; he was not re-elected in 2023 (same source).

## Peace mediation

In July 2022 he was appointed the Foreign Minister's Special Representative on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldaan_Said_Ahmed)). On 23 January 2024 Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen appointed him her Special Envoy on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa ([Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs](https://um.fi/current-affairs/-/asset_publisher/gc654PySnjTX/content/suldaan-said-ahmed-ulkoministerin-rauhanvalityksen-erityisedustajaksi-afrikan-sarven-alueelle-1)).

## Family

He is the brother of the footballers [Ahmed Said Ahmed](/en/people/ahmed-said-ahmed/) and Abdulkadir Said Ahmed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldaan_Said_Ahmed)).

## In short

Finland's first Somali-born MP, now its peace envoy for the Horn of Africa.


---

# Ujuni Ahmed (Ujuuni Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ujuni-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ujuni Ahmed is a Somali-Finnish activist and writer who works with immigrant women and young people in Finland. She has directed Fenix Helsinki since 2017, presented news on Yle during COVID-19, campaigns against FGM and honour violence, and wrote the 2022 book Tytöille, jotka ajattelevat olevansa yksin, staged at the Finnish National Theatre.

## Who is she?

Ujuni Ahmed is a Somali-Finnish activist and writer whose work centres on immigrants in Finland ([Wikipedia, Ujuni Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujuni_Ahmed)). She was born in Somalia, underwent FGM at two, and moved to Finland with her family in the early 1990s at three (same source). She went to school in Helsinki and trained in practical nursing and youth counselling (same source). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Work

In 2017 she became director of Fenix Helsinki, which serves immigrant women and children ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujuni_Ahmed)). In 2020 she worked for the broadcaster Yle as a news anchor and producer of COVID-19 content, and proposed presenting pandemic news in Somali (same source). She speaks out against FGM and honour violence, work for which the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture gave her an award (same source).

## Book and awards

Her 2022 book *Tytöille, jotka ajattelevat olevansa yksin* ("For girls who think they are alone"), written with Elina Hirvonen, covers her school years and her work with young immigrants; she also translated it into Somali, and a play based on it was staged at the Finnish National Theatre ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujuni_Ahmed)). She received the Finnish PEN freedom of speech award in 2020 and was writer in residence at the Finnish National Theatre in 2021 (same source).

## In short

A Helsinki activist and author who works with immigrant girls and campaigns against FGM.


---

# Youssef Omar Isahak

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/youssef-omar-isahak/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Youssef Omar Isahak (born 30 October 1969) is a Djiboutian judoka who competed in the extra-lightweight class at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. After a first-round bye he lost to Piotr Kamrowski of Poland.

## Who is he?

Youssef Omar Isahak is a Djiboutian judoka, born on 30 October 1969 ([Wikipedia, Youssef Omar Isahak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youssef_Omar_Isahak)).

## Barcelona 1992

He competed in the extra-lightweight class at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youssef_Omar_Isahak)). He had a bye in the first round and was then beaten by Piotr Kamrowski of Poland (same source).

## In short

A Djiboutian judoka who fought at the Barcelona Olympics.


---

# Zaynab Mohamed (Saynab Maxamed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/zaynab-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zaynab Mohamed (born 3 May 1997) is a Somali-born American politician who has sat in the Minnesota State Senate for District 63, south-east Minneapolis, since 2023, for the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. She was one of the first three Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate and the youngest woman ever elected to the state legislature.

## Who is she?

Zaynab Mohamed is an American politician who has served in the Minnesota State Senate since 2023, representing District 63 in south-east Minneapolis for the DFL ([Wikipedia, Zaynab Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_Mohamed)). She was born on 3 May 1997 and came from Somalia with her family at nine, growing up in Minneapolis's Powderhorn neighbourhood (same source). She graduated from the University of Minnesota in human resources in 2019 (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Before the Senate

She worked as community advocacy manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota, volunteered full-time on Omar Fateh's 2020 state Senate campaign, and from January 2022 was a policy aide to Minneapolis council member Jason Chavez ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_Mohamed)).

## State Senate

When Patricia Torres Ray did not stand again in 2022, Mohamed ran with her endorsement on a $15 minimum wage, universal health care and public safety reform ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_Mohamed)). She beat Todd Scott in the primary and Republican Shawn Holster in the general election (same source). With Erin Maye Quade and Clare Oumou Verbeten she was among the first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate, and she is the youngest woman ever elected to the legislature (same source). Omar Fateh is her brother-in-law (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born Minneapolis organiser who became Minnesota's youngest woman legislator.


---

# Ibrahim Ilyas (Ibraahim Ilyaas Axmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-ilyas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Ilyas Ahmed (born 5 March 2000) is a Somali footballer, a midfielder born to Somali refugees in Kenya. He won the Somali First Division with Horseed in 2021, later joined Tanzania's KMC, and made his Somalia debut against Eswatini on 23 March 2022.

## Who is he?

Ibrahim Ilyas Ahmed is a Somali professional footballer who plays as a midfielder, born on 5 March 2000 to Somali refugees in Kenya ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Ilyas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Ilyas)). Wikipedia lists his current club as KMC in the Tanzanian Premier League (same source).

## Career

In 2020 he played for Banaadir at the Inter-State Football Tournament ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Ilyas)). In 2021 he signed for Horseed and won the Somali First Division in his first season (same source). He made his Somalia debut on 23 March 2022 in a 3–0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying defeat to Eswatini (same source).

## In short

A Somali league champion with Horseed and a national team midfielder.


---

# Isse Ismail (Ciise Axmed Ismaaciil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/isse-ismail/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Isse Ahmed Ismail (born 8 March 1999) is a Swedish-born footballer who plays for Somalia. A midfielder, he started at IFK Osby, played for IFK Värnamo in the Superettan from 2018, and made his Somalia debut in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Djibouti on 15 June 2021.

## Who is he?

Isse Ahmed Ismail is a footballer born in Sweden on 8 March 1999 who represents Somalia ([Wikipedia, Isse Ismail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isse_Ismail)). He plays as a midfielder, and Wikipedia lists his club as IFK Stocksund (same source). See [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Career

He began at IFK Osby in 2017 and signed for Superettan club IFK Värnamo in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isse_Ismail)). He made his Somalia debut on 15 June 2021 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Djibouti (same source).

## In short

A Swedish-born midfielder capped by Somalia in 2021.


---

# Sultan Jamal ad-Din II of Adal

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jamal-ad-din-ii/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jamal ad-Din II (died about 1432 or 1433) was Sultan of Adal from 1424, the youngest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. According to the Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi, as summarised on Wikipedia, he won several battles against the Ethiopian emperor Yeshaq, including at Yedaya, Jazja and Harjah, and was known for strict justice. He was killed by his cousins and succeeded by his brother Badlay.

## Who was he?

Jamal ad-Din II was a Sultan of the [Adal Sultanate](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/) and the youngest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II ([Wikipedia, Jamal ad-Din II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_ad-Din_II)). He succeeded his brother Mansur in 1424 (same source). He belonged to the [Walashma](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) dynasty (same source). See [Dakar, lost capital of Adal](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/) and [Awfat and the Walashma tombs](/en/history/awfat-capital-of-ifat-and-walashma-tombs/).

## Wars with Emperor Yeshaq

He reorganised the army with the help of Harb Jaush, a commander who had come over from the Ethiopian side ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_ad-Din_II)). He sent Harb Jaush as an envoy to Emperor Yeshaq to seek peace, and when talks failed his forces defeated the emperor's army (same source). Wikipedia, drawing on al-Maqrizi, records further Adal victories at the second Battle of Yedaya and at Jazja, and raids into Bali that took many captives (same source).

When Yeshaq's forces attacked Adal's heartland, Jamal ad-Din returned in three days over a distance of twenty days' march and defeated them at Harjah ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_ad-Din_II)). Al-Maqrizi wrote that Yeshaq was killed in this battle (same source).

## Justice

Al-Maqrizi tells that when one of the sultan's sons broke a smaller child's hand, Jamal ad-Din broke his own son's hand in public as punishment, despite pleas for mercy from his court and from the injured child's family ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_ad-Din_II)). Al-Maqrizi remarks that his subjects followed the law strictly as a result (same source).

## Death

Weakened by constant fighting, he was attacked and killed by his cousins around 1432, and was succeeded by his brother Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_ad-Din_II)).

## In short

An Adal sultan of the 1420s known from al-Maqrizi for his wars with Ethiopia and his strict justice.


---

# Mohamud Ali Mohamed (footballer)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamud-ali-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamud Ali Mohamed (born 8 July 1994) is a Dutch-born footballer, a centre-back or defensive midfielder, who has played for Somalia since 2015. Raised in the Alphense Boys academy, he moved to Manchester in 2013 and has played across English and Welsh non-league football, returning to Atherton Collieries in September 2026.

## Who is he?

Mohamud Ali Mohamed is a footballer born in the Netherlands on 8 July 1994 who represents Somalia ([Wikipedia, Mohamud Ali (footballer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Ali_(footballer))). He plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder (same source).

## Clubs

He came through the Alphense Boys academy, with a short spell at ADO Den Haag, and made his first-team debut for Alphense Boys in April 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Ali_(footballer))). He moved to Manchester in 2013 and joined Northwich Victoria in 2014, playing in an FA Cup second-round tie against Northampton Town in December 2015 (same source). His later clubs include Glossop North End, Mossley, Droylsden, Curzon Ashton, Warrington Town, Stalybridge Celtic, Nantwich Town, Atherton Collieries, Llandudno and Rhyl 1879, and in September 2026 he returned to Atherton Collieries (same source).

After a serious knee injury at Warrington in 2021 left him unable to work as a driving instructor, supporters raised almost £1,600 for him online (same source).

## Somalia

He made his debut for Somalia on 13 October 2015 in a World Cup qualifier against Niger ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamud_Ali_(footballer))).

## In short

A Dutch-born, Manchester-based defender who has played for Somalia since 2015.


---

# Saadiq Abdikadir Mohamed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/saadiq-abdikadir-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saadiq Abdikadir Mohamed (born 15 January 1996) is a Somali footballer born in Nakuru, Kenya, who played for Banadir in Somalia and AFC Leopards in Kenya. After death threats from al-Shabaab over a post-match interview calling for peace, he moved to the United States, played college football at Saint Louis and Bradley, and was granted asylum in 2019.

## Who is he?

Saadiq Abdikadir Mohamed is a Somali footballer, born in Nakuru, Kenya, on 15 January 1996 to a Somali mother ([Wikipedia, Saadiq Abdikadir Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadiq_Abdikadir_Mohamed)). His father died when he was young, and he grew up in both Kenya and Somalia, playing for Banadir in Somalia and AFC Leopards in Kenya (same source).

## Threats in Somalia

Wikipedia says he was among many footballers targeted by al-Shabaab for playing football ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadiq_Abdikadir_Mohamed)). After a youth championship qualifying win over [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), he gave an interview that appeared to question al-Shabaab and called for peace, and received many death threats (same source). Two months earlier a teammate had been killed after staying behind with him for extra training (same source).

## Kenya and the United States

Back in Kenya he was arrested several times without charge, which Wikipedia says was to extract bribes from his family, and his Leopards contract was ended ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadiq_Abdikadir_Mohamed)). He then went to the United States, trained with the FC Dallas academy, and joined Saint Louis University, where he made the A-10 All-Rookie team (same source). He later moved to Bradley University, was granted asylum in 2019 and graduated with honours in 2020 (same source).

## Men in the Arena

J. R. Biersmith's documentary *Men in the Arena* (2017) follows him and fellow Somali footballer Sa'ad Hussein ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadiq_Abdikadir_Mohamed)).

## In short

A footballer who left Somalia after al-Shabaab threats and rebuilt his career in US college football.


---

# Sak Hassan (Sakariya Cabdi Xasan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/sak-hassan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sakariya Abdi "Sak" Hassan (born 21 March 2001) is a Dutch-born footballer raised in England who plays for Somalia. A midfielder in English non-league football, he played for Hashtag United and Wealdstone and joined Dover Athletic in September 2026. He made his Somalia debut against Eswatini in March 2022 and scored four days later.

## Who is he?

Sakariya Abdi Hassan, known as Sak, is a footballer born in the Netherlands on 21 March 2001 who represents Somalia ([Wikipedia, Sak Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sak_Hassan)). He moved to England at eight and played youth football for Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and Saffron Walden Town (same source).

## Clubs

He started senior football at Springfield in 2019, then Hornchurch, with loans and moves to Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Barking and AFC Sudbury ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sak_Hassan)). He joined Hashtag United in June 2023 and scored 22 goals in 90 league games before leaving in 2025 (same source). He signed for Wealdstone in June 2025; in March 2026 the club said he would miss the rest of the season after playing in the Baller League in breach of his contract (same source). After a short spell at Hampton & Richmond Borough, he joined Dover Athletic on 12 September 2026 (same source).

## Somalia

He was called up while playing for Sudbury and made his debut for the "Ocean Stars" on 23 March 2022 against Eswatini ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sak_Hassan)). Four days later, on 27 March 2022, he scored his first goal for Somalia (same source).

## In short

A London-raised non-league midfielder and goalscorer for Somalia.


---

# Skinz (Mohamed Ahmed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/skinz/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Skinz, real name Mohamed Ahmed, is a Danish singer of Somali descent signed to Universal Music Denmark. He released the EP Byen sover aldrig and has worked with other Danish artists, notably the singer Medina.

## Who is he?

Skinz, whose name is Mohamed Ahmed, is a Danish singer of Somali descent signed to Universal Music Denmark ([Wikipedia, Skinz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinz)). See [Somalis in Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/).

## Music

He released an EP titled *Byen sover aldrig* ("The city never sleeps") and has collaborated with several Danish artists, notably the singer Medina ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinz)).

## In short

A Somali-Danish singer on a major Danish label.


---

# Yusuf Ahmed (footballer)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yusuf Ahmed (born 24 April 1997) is a Somali-Australian footballer, a forward for Avondale in Victoria and a former Melbourne City youth player. On his competitive debut for Somalia, against Algeria on 16 November 2023, he scored Somalia's only goal in a 3–1 defeat, the country's fourth goal in World Cup qualifying history.

## Who is he?

Yusuf Ahmed is a Somali professional footballer who plays as a forward for Avondale in the National Premier Leagues Victoria and for the Somalia national team ([Wikipedia, Yusuf Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ahmed)). He was born on 24 April 1997 and is a former Melbourne City youth player, named on the city's Rising Star award in 2018 (same source). See [Somalis in Australia](/en/diaspora/australia/).

## Somalia

The Somali Football Federation learned of him through a relative, and he was first called up for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Ahmed)). On his competitive debut on 16 November 2023 he scored in the 65th minute against Algeria at the Nelson Mandela Stadium, Somalia's only goal in a 3–1 defeat and its fourth goal ever in World Cup qualifying (same source).

## In short

A Melbourne forward who scored on his Somalia debut against Algeria.


---

# Ibrahim Mohamed Hersi (Ibraahim Maxamed Hirsi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ibrahim-mohamed-hersi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ibrahim Mohamed Hersi (29 June 1944 to 14 March 2020) was a Somali international footballer and coach. After playing in Ethiopia and Sudan he moved to Somalia in 1968, played for Horseed until 1978, managed Horseed from 1976 to 1980 and the Somalia national team from 1977 to 1979, and settled in Minneapolis in 1991.

## Who was he?

Ibrahim Mohamed Hersi was a Somali international footballer, born on 29 June 1944 in either Asmara, Eritrea, or Kassala, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), who died on 14 March 2020 ([Wikipedia, Ibrahim Mohamed Hersi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Hersi)).

## Player

His career began in Ethiopia with Saxil and Dugale, then EEPCo Addis Ababa and Red Sea Asmara, before he played in Sudan for Al-Taka Kassala and Al-Waha ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Hersi)). He moved to Somalia in 1968, reportedly played for the Somali Police, and played for Horseed until he retired in 1978 (same source).

## Coach

He managed Horseed from 1976, while still playing, until 1980, and managed the Somalia national team between 1977 and 1979 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Hersi)).

## Later life

He fled to the United States in 1991 and settled in Minneapolis, where he married and had three children ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Mohamed_Hersi)). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## In short

A Horseed player and Somalia's national coach in the late 1970s.


---

# Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke (Yaasiin Xaaji Cismaan Sharmaarke)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasin-haji-osman-sharmarke/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke (died June 1947) was a Somali political activist, a founder and the first leader of the Somali Youth League (SYL), Somalia's first political party, established in 1943. Wikipedia says he and other early SYL nationalists were strongly influenced by the Dervish movement of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan.

## Who was he?

Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke was a Somali political figure and activist who led and helped found the Somali Youth League, established in 1943 as Somalia's first political party ([Wikipedia, Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Haji_Osman_Sharmarke)). Wikipedia says he was from the Osman Mahamoud sub-clan of the Majeerteen (same source). See [The Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).

## Influences

Wikipedia states that he and other early SYL nationalists were strongly influenced by the Dervish movement of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Haji_Osman_Sharmarke)). See [The Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## Death

He died in June 1947 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Haji_Osman_Sharmarke)).

## In short

The founding leader of the Somali Youth League, Somalia's first political party.


---

# Mohammed Awale Liban (Maxamed Cawaale Liibaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohammed-awale-liban/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hagi Mohammed Awale Liban was the Somali scholar who designed the flag of Somalia in 1954: a blue field with a white five-pointed star, each point standing for one of the five Somali territories. He later served as Chief of Cabinet of the Presidency under Aden Adde and head of the civil service under Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, and emigrated to Canada in 1991.

## Who was he?

Hagi Mohammed Awale Liban was a Somali scholar noted for designing the flag of Somalia in 1954 ([Wikipedia, Mohammed Awale Liban](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Awale_Liban)). Wikipedia says he was from the Reer Maxamuud of the Majeerteen, mainly based in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), and that his nephew is the anti-qat campaigner Abukar Awale "Qaad-diid" (same source). See [The flag](/en/history/the-flag/).

## Designing the flag

Under the Italian trusteeship, a legislative council of Somalis, Italians, Arabs and Indians was set up in early 1954 to prepare laws; members were chosen by parties and organisations, not elected ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Awale_Liban)). Liban sat for the Somali Labour Trade Union (same source). When the council discussed a national flag, he proposed that only the Somali members should decide it, and the debate was put off to the next day (same source).

That night he designed a blue flag with a white star in the middle, each of its five points standing for one of the five Somali territories divided by the colonial powers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Awale_Liban)). He presented it the next day, and Wikipedia says the blue stood for the United Nations (same source).

## Public service

He served in every Somali government until 1964 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Awale_Liban)). He was Chief of Cabinet of the Presidency under President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), and director general of personnel, the head of the civil service, under President [Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) (same source). He retired after the 1969 military coup and emigrated to Canada in 1991 (same source).

## In short

The man who drew the Somali flag overnight in 1954 and later ran the young republic's civil service.


---

# Kadra Mahamoud Haid (Khadra Maxamuud Xayd)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/kadra-mahamoud-haid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kadra Mahamoud Haid is a Djiboutian politician and political adviser, and First Lady of Djibouti since 1999 as the wife of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. In 2003 she spoke publicly against female genital mutilation. Reports cited on Wikipedia describe her as one of the most influential figures in Djiboutian politics.

## Who is she?

Kadra Mahamoud Haid is a Djiboutian politician and political adviser, and First Lady of Djibouti since 1999 ([Wikipedia, Kadra Mahamoud Haid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mahamoud_Haid)). She is married to President [Ismaïl Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) (same source).

## Against FGM

In 2003 she spoke against female genital mutilation, saying an estimated two million girls a year were still cut and describing the medical and psychological harm ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mahamoud_Haid)). Djibouti banned FGM by law in 1995, but Wikipedia cites an estimate that 98% of women in Djibouti have undergone it (same source).

## Influence

Wikipedia reports that the businessman Abdourahman Boreh was expelled from Djibouti after an investment dispute with her ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mahamoud_Haid)). A 2014 report quoted there said Guelleh shares power "only with his influential wife", and *Africa Intelligence* has said she "acts as a sort of vice president" (same source).

## Family

With Guelleh she has two daughters and a son; she also has a son, Naguib Abdallah Kamil, and a daughter from her first marriage ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadra_Mahamoud_Haid)).

## In short

Djibouti's First Lady since 1999, a public voice against FGM and a central figure in its politics.


---

# Iidle Elmi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/iidle-elmi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Iidle Elmi (born 1 January 1995) is a Somali-born Finnish footballer. He joined FF Jaro's juniors in 2009 and its first team in 2011, played in Latvia's top league for FB Gulbene in 2015, became a Finnish citizen in 2013, and last played for FC YPA.

## Who is he?

Iidle Elmi is a Somali-born Finnish footballer, born on 1 January 1995 ([Wikipedia, Iidle Elmi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iidle_Elmi)). See [Somalis in Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Career

He joined FF Jaro's junior squad in 2009 and signed a three-year first-team contract in January 2011, playing in the Veikkausliiga ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iidle_Elmi)). He received Finnish citizenship in 2013 (same source). In 2015 he signed for FB Gulbene in Latvia, but the club was expelled from the top league and its results annulled on suspicion of match-fixing, and he returned to Finland (same source). His last club was FC YPA in the third-tier Kakkonen (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born forward who came through FF Jaro and played in Finland's top league.


---

# Jama Aden (Jaamac Aadan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jama-aden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jama Mohamed Aden (born 28 August 1962 in Ainabo) is a Somali former middle-distance runner and coach. He ran the 1500 metres for Somalia at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, then became a coach whose athletes include Olympic 1500 m champion Taoufik Makhloufi, Ayanleh Souleiman and Genzebe Dibaba. He was arrested in Spain in June 2016 in a doping case and acquitted in November 2022.

## Who is he?

Jama Mohamed Aden is a Somali former middle-distance runner and coach, born on 28 August 1962 in [Ainabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) ([Wikipedia, Jama Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). He is the older brother of the runner [Ibrahim Mohamed Aden](/en/people/ibrahim-mohamed-aden/) (same source).

## Runner

On an athletic scholarship at Fairleigh Dickinson University he set several school records, including a 3:56.82 mile, coached by the double Olympic champion Mal Whitfield ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). He ran the 800 m and 1500 m for Somalia at the 1983 World Championships and the 1500 m at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, without reaching a final (same source).

## Coach

After a master's in exercise physiology at George Mason University, he assisted John Cook in coaching [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/) before Bile's 1987 world title ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). Athletes he has coached include Abubaker Kaki, [Ismail Ahmed](/en/businesses/worldremit/) Ismail, Taoufik Makhloufi (2012 Olympic 1500 m champion), Hamza Driouch, Ayanleh Souleiman and Genzebe Dibaba (same source). In 2011 he won the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Sports Excellence (same source).

## Doping case

In 2015 two athletes he had coached, Laila Traby and Hamza Driouch, were suspended for doping violations; Driouch's ban related to a biological passport reading from the 2012 Olympics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). In June 2016 Aden was arrested in Spain after police raided his hotel room and found performance-enhancing substances (same source). After a long legal process he was acquitted of the charges in November 2022 (same source).

## In short

A Somali Olympian who went on to coach Olympic and world champions in middle-distance running.


---

# Jamal Osman (Jamaal Cismaan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/jamal-osman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jamal Osman is a Somali-born American politician who has represented Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council since a special election in August 2020, and has been the council's vice president since January 2026. He grew up in refugee camps in Kenya and came to the United States at 14.

## Who is he?

Jamal Osman is an American politician in Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party who has served on the Minneapolis City Council for Ward 6 since 2020 ([Wikipedia, Jamal Osman (politician)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Osman_(politician))). Ward 6 includes Cedar-Riverside, Elliot Park, Stevens Square, much of Phillips and part of Seward (same source). He was born in Somalia, grew up in refugee camps in Kenya, and arrived in the United States at 14, living in public housing (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Before office

He worked as a resident advocate for CommonBond Communities, an affordable housing non-profit, and as a community organiser on housing, education and social services in the East African community ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Osman_(politician))).

## City Council

He won a special election on 11 August 2020, succeeding Abdi Warsame, and was re-elected in 2021, 2023 (48.3% after ranked-choice counting) and 2025 (58.7% in the first round) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Osman_(politician))). In January 2026 the council elected him vice president, and he chairs the Business, Housing and Zoning committee (same source). Wikipedia notes that questions were raised in 2020 over a Maplewood address he had used (same source).

## In short

A former refugee who now helps lead the Minneapolis City Council.


---

# Luul Jeylaani (Lul Jeylani Ali)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/lul-jeylani-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Lul Jeylani Ali, known as Luul Jeylaani or "Maama Luul" (1950 to 30 December 2024), was a Somali singer and actress. A member of the Waaberi national choir, she rose to fame in the 1970s and 1980s according to Wikipedia, moved to the United States in the early 1990s, returned to Somalia in 2018, and died in Minneapolis aged 74.

## Who was she?

Lul Jeylani Ali, known as Luul Jeylaani and nicknamed "Maama Luul", was a Somali singer born in 1950 ([Wikipedia, Lul Jeylani Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lul_Jeylani_Ali)). Somali Wikipedia describes her as a well-known Somali singer and actress ([Wikipedia (Somali), Luul Jeylaani](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luul_Jeylaani)).

## Career

She was a member of Hobolladii Qaranka ee Waaberi, the national Waaberi choir, and became famous in the 1970s and 1980s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lul_Jeylani_Ali)). She performed with Aweys Qamiis, Ahmed Najiib Saad, Ahmed Sharif, Ahmeday Abukar, Ahmed Falash and others, and also acted in dramas (same source). Her songs include "Ebadkaa Ogow", "Riixaanta Janad" and "Berkaad Iiga Taalla" (same source).

## Later life

She moved to the United States in the early 1990s and returned to Somalia in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lul_Jeylani_Ali)). In April 2021 false reports of her death spread online; she denied them in an interview with Radio Mogadishu ([Wikipedia (Somali)](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luul_Jeylaani)). She died after a long illness in Minneapolis on 30 December 2024, aged 74 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lul_Jeylani_Ali)).

## In short

A Waaberi singer of the golden era, remembered as "Maama Luul".


---

# Mohamed Abshir Waldo (Maxamed Abshir Waldo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-abshir-waldo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mohamed Abshir Waldo was a Somali journalist and political activist. A Columbia University journalism graduate (1968), he worked for the BBC World Service, became director of the Somali Broadcasting Service in the 1960s, served in the 1980s as information minister and briefly head of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, and later wrote on remittances and piracy.

## Who was he?

Mohamed Abshir Waldo was a Somali journalist and political activist ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Abshir Waldo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)). He grew up herding camels and went on to Columbia University, where he earned an MA in mass media from the journalism school in 1968 (same source).

## Broadcasting

He started as a radio journalist with the BBC World Service and became director of the Somali Broadcasting Service, the main government broadcaster, in the 1960s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)).

## SSDF

In the 1980s he became information minister for the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), an armed opposition movement, and briefly served as its head ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)).

## Writing

Drawing on development work in micro-finance and small business, he wrote extensively on the Somali remittance industry, and also wrote on the root causes of piracy off the Somali coast ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Abshir_Waldo)). See [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/).

## In short

A broadcaster who ran Somali radio in the 1960s and later wrote on remittances and piracy.


---

# Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdiaziz-mohamud-guled/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled, known as Abdiaziz Afrika, was a Somali journalist born in Mogadishu who made the Somali National Television programme Gungaar and directed Radio Mogadishu from November 2020. He was killed by a suicide bomber in Mogadishu in November 2021.

## Who was he?

Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled, known professionally as Abdiaziz Afrika, was a Somali journalist born in Mogadishu who was also based in London ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Mohamud_Guled)). He first worked for private radio and television stations, then joined Somali National Television and Radio around 2009 (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## Work

He produced Gungaar, a popular programme on Somali National Television; the name means "In-Depth" in Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Mohamud_Guled)). He was a strong critic of al-Shabaab and was known for interviews with detained members of the group (same source). In November 2020 he was appointed director of the state-run [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/) (same source). See also [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Death

A suicide bomber targeted his car in Mogadishu in November 2021 and he was killed; his colleague Sharmarke Warsame was among two people injured ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiaziz_Mohamud_Guled)). Wikipedia gives his death date as 20 November 2021 in its lead and 21 November in its account of the attack (same source). UNESCO's Director-General Audrey Azoulay condemned the killing on 25 November (same source).

## In short

A television and radio journalist who led Radio Mogadishu and was killed for his work in 2021.


---

# Ahmed Abdullahi Gulleid (Aag)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-abdullahi-gulleid/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Abdullahi Gulleid, known as Aag, is a Somali writer and columnist born in 1953 in Garbahaarreey, Gedo. He was jailed and deported in 1988 for questioning the military government in print, and later wrote widely on Somalia from the United Arab Emirates.

## Who is he?

Ahmed Abdullahi Gulleid, also known as "Aag", is a Somali writer and researcher ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdullahi_Gulleid)). He was born in 1953 in Garbahaarreey in the [Gedo region](/en/regions/gedo/), went to school there and then moved to Mogadishu to study (same source).

## Prison and exile

In 1988, while still in college, he questioned in print the legality and actions of the October 1969 revolutionary government, and was jailed and then deported ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdullahi_Gulleid)). He went on to study in Canada, the United Kingdom and Yemen (same source).

## Writing

He is a syndicated writer and columnist on Somali affairs, including opposition to armed Islamist groups ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdullahi_Gulleid)). Wikipedia says one of his online articles drew about 200,000 readers and more than 3,400 comments (same source). His book Somalia: A Reciprocal Curse? came out in January 2009, and he lives and works in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (same source). See [Somalis in the UAE](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/).

## In short

A Gedo-born writer who was jailed for his words in 1988 and kept writing about Somalia from exile.


---

# Aïcha Bogoreh Darrar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aicha-bogoreh-darrar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aïcha Bogoreh Darrar (1928 to 5 August 2001) was a Djiboutian independence and women's rights activist and the first First Lady of Djibouti. Born in Dikhil, she rallied women to vote for independence and led the National Union of Djiboutian Women from 1977 to 1999.

## Who was she?

Aïcha Bogoreh Darrar was a Djiboutian independence and women's rights activist and the first First Lady of Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFcha_Bogoreh_Darrar)). She was born in 1928 in Dikhil, then part of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), into a family of railway workers (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Independence work

She married [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/), a nurse who became Djibouti's first president ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFcha_Bogoreh_Darrar)). She organised women to vote for independence and for his political career, and became First Lady when Djibouti became independent in 1977 (same source).

## Women's union

She headed the first National Union of Djiboutian Women (UNFD) from 1977 to 1999; it ran literacy and vocational classes for women ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFcha_Bogoreh_Darrar)). She also founded the Aïcha Bogoreh Mother and Child Centre for orphaned children (same source). She died in Addis Ababa on 5 August 2001 (same source).

## In short

A Dikhil-born activist who brought women into Djibouti's independence vote and led its women's union for over twenty years.


---

# Faisal Jeylani Aweys

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/faisal-jeylani-aweys/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Faisal Jeylani Aweys is a Somali taekwondo fighter born in Mogadishu in 1987 and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland. Competing for Somalia, he won a bronze medal at the 2014 African Taekwondo Championships in Tunisia.

## Who is he?

Faisal Jeylani Aweys is a Somali taekwondo practitioner ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Jeylani_Aweys)). He was born in 1987 in Mogadishu and moved to Switzerland at the age of 13, where he trained in Lausanne (same source). See [Somalis in Switzerland](/en/diaspora/switzerland/).

## Career

He joined the Somalia national taekwondo team after Duran Farah spotted him at a tournament in Switzerland ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Jeylani_Aweys)). In 2010 he co-founded a taekwondo club and won his first Swiss national title (same source). In 2013 he finished fourth at the Alexandria Open in Egypt and won silver at the Open World Taekwondo Challenge Cup in Tongeren (same source).

At the 2014 African Taekwondo Championships in Tunisia he beat fighters from Gabon and Mozambique and took bronze, his best continental result for Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Jeylani_Aweys)). By June 2014 he was ranked 56th in the world in his weight class (same source). See [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born, Swiss-trained fighter who won Somalia an African taekwondo bronze in 2014.


---

# Farhan Hadafo

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/farhan-hadafo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Farhan Hadafo Adawe is a Somali-Italian wheelchair sprinter who became Somalia's first Paralympian at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, where he set an African record in the T52 100 metres. He was born in Somalia and grew up in Turin.

## Who is he?

Farhan Hadafo Adawe is a Somali-Italian para-athlete who became Somalia's first athlete at the Paralympic Games ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhan_Hadafo)). He was born in Somalia in 1996 or 1997, the son of a mechanic, with arthrogryposis, a condition that stiffens the joints (same source).

## Early life

At six he was sent to live with aunts in Italy for surgery, which eased his pain, though he still uses a wheelchair ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhan_Hadafo)). He grew up in Turin and took up para-athletics, competing in the T52 class (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Career

He set an Italian record of 18.83 seconds in the T52 100 metres, enough to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhan_Hadafo)). He ran for Somalia because he did not yet hold Italian citizenship, and his 18.49 seconds set an African record, though he did not advance from his heat (same source). He was named International Somali Award Sportsman of the Year in 2017, won bronze in the 100 metres at the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships, and had become an Italian citizen by 2020 (same source). See [Somalia at the Olympics](/en/society/somalia-at-the-olympics/).

## In short

Somalia's first Paralympian, a Turin-raised sprinter who set an African record in Rio.


---

# Guduuda 'Arwo (Shamis Abokor Ismail)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/guduuda-arwo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Guduuda 'Arwo, born Shamis Abokor Ismail, was a Somali singer who in 1953 became the first woman to record as a vocalist for Radio Hargeisa. She later formed a quartet with Baxsan, Magool and Maandeeq, and died in Hargeisa in 2017.

## Who was she?

Guduuda 'Arwo, also written Guduudo Carwo, was a Somali singer whose real name was Shamis Abokor Ismail ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guduuda_%27Arwo)). She sang for Radio Hargeisa in Hargeisa (same source). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## Radio Hargeisa

Radio Hargeisa recruited her in 1953, and she used a false name so that her family, which the BBC described as "conservative", would not know she was singing ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guduuda_%27Arwo)). She sang her first heello song in August 1953, becoming the first woman recording vocalist in the [British Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and the Trust Territory (same source). Like Dalays before her, she faced criticism for this (same source).

## The quartet

In 1963 she formed a quartet with [Baxsan](/en/people/baxsan/), [Magool](/en/people/magool/) and Maandeeq ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guduuda_%27Arwo)). At her peak she sang love songs to audiences of thousands (same source). It was she who gave Baxsan her stage name ([Wikipedia, Baxsan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxsan)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## Later life

Her career ended after a stroke left her paralysed, and from around 1997 relatives cared for her ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guduuda_%27Arwo)). She died in Hargeisa in 2017, aged 85 (same source).

## In short

The first woman to record for Radio Hargeisa, who opened the way for Somali women singers.


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# Hassan Abdillahi (Karate)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hassan-abdillahi-karate/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hassan Abdillahi, known as Karate, is a Somali-Canadian journalist and community activist who founded Ogaal Radio in Toronto, which Wikipedia calls the largest Somali community radio station in Canada. He received a national ethnic media award in 2009.

## Who is he?

Hassan Abdillahi, nicknamed "Karate", is a Somali journalist and social activist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Abdillahi)). He founded and leads [Ogaal](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Radio (88.9 FM) in Toronto, which Wikipedia describes as the largest Somali community radio station in Canada (same source). See [Somalis in Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) and [Somalis in Canada](/en/diaspora/canada/).

## Work

Wikipedia says he played a supporting role in the formation of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) state in southern Somalia, set up formally in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Abdillahi)). In November 2009 he received a National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada award at Seneca College (same source).

## In short

The founder of Toronto's best-known Somali community radio station.


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# Hindia Haji Mohamed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hindia-haji-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hindia Haji Mohamed (about 1988 to 3 December 2015) was a Somali radio and television journalist for Radio Mogadishu and Somali National Television. She was killed by a car bomb in Mogadishu in 2015, three years after her husband, journalist Liban Ali Nur, was killed in a bombing.

## Who was she?

Hindia Haji Mohamed was a Somali broadcast journalist for [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/) and a producer for Somali National Television ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindia_Haji_Mohamed)). She was a mother of five and was studying international relations and diplomacy at [Somali International University](/en/institutions/private-universities-in-mogadishu/) (same source).

## Her husband

Her husband, Liban Ali Nur, was also a journalist; he was killed in 2012 in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindia_Haji_Mohamed)). Wikipedia notes that they were among the few married couples worldwide both killed as journalists (same source).

## Death

On 3 December 2015, aged 27, she was killed when a bomb planted under her car seat went off outside the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu as she drove home from university ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindia_Haji_Mohamed)). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed the attack; two men were later executed by firing squad and four others received prison terms (same source). She was the 38th journalist killed in Somalia since 2010, and UNESCO's Director-General Irina Bokova condemned the killing (same source). See [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## In short

A young radio and TV journalist killed in 2015, three years after her journalist husband.


---

# Hussein Samatar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/hussein-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hussein Samatar (1964 to 25 August 2013) was a Somali-American banker and community organiser who founded the African Development Center in Minneapolis in 2004 and in 2010 became the first Somali American elected to public office in Minnesota, on the Minneapolis School Board.

## Who was he?

Hussein Samatar was a Somali-American banker, community organiser and politician ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Samatar)). He was born in 1964 and grew up in Kismayo in the [Lower Juba region](/en/regions/lower-juba/); his mother came from Afmadow (same source). He finished high school in Mogadishu and graduated from the Somali National University in 1991, days before the civil war broke out (same source).

## In Minnesota

He arrived in Minnesota in December 1991 with the first wave of Somali migrants and learned English with help from a Minneapolis librarian ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Samatar)). He earned an MBA at the University of St. Thomas and joined Wells Fargo in 2002 (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis-St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

In 2004 he founded the African Development Center, which gave microloans and business training to recent immigrants; by 2009 its loan portfolio was $10 million ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Samatar)).

## Public office

The mayor appointed him to the Minneapolis Library Board in 2006, and in 2010 he won a seat on the Minneapolis School Board, the first Somali American elected to public office in Minnesota ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Samatar)). He took office on 11 January 2011 (same source). See [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/).

## Legacy

He died of leukaemia on 25 August 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Samatar)). In 2018 Minneapolis opened a pedestrian path in Cedar-Riverside named Samatar Crossing in his honour (same source).

## In short

A banker who backed immigrant businesses and opened the door to Somali-American elected office in Minnesota.


---

# Abdul Lahij Ahmed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdul-lahij-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdul Lahij Ahmed is a Somali marathon runner who ran for Somalia at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, finishing 73rd in 2 hours 44 minutes 39 seconds. The Los Angeles Times described the crowd rising to cheer him as he entered the stadium in pain.

## Who is he?

Abdul Lahij Ahmed ran the marathon for Somalia at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles ([Wikipedia, 1984 Olympic men's marathon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_marathon)). He finished 73rd in 2 hours 44 minutes 39 seconds (same source).

## The finish

The Los Angeles Times wrote that he "entered the stadium, obviously in pain", and that the crowd "rose to its feet, cheering wildly to encourage him to finish. He did." (same source). See [Somalia at the Olympics](/en/society/somalia-at-the-olympics/) and [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/).

## In short

The Somali marathon runner the Los Angeles crowd cheered over the line in 1984.


---

# Aadan-Gurey Maxamed Cabdille

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aadan-gurey-maxamed-cabdille/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aadan-Gurey Maxamed Cabdille (1840 to 1920) was a Somali poet from Galgaduud whose poem Todobaatan iyo Toban (Seventy and Ten) appeared in the first printed collection of early Somali poetry. Only five or six of his poems survive, and some are taught in Somali secondary schools.

## Who was he?

Aadan-Gurey Maxamed Cabdille (Aadan-Gurey Mohamed Abdille) was a Somali poet who lived from 1840 to 1920 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aadan-Gurey_Maxamed_Cabdille)). He was born in the [Galgaduud region](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and spent much of his life in the Ximan area between [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) and [Abudwak](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) (same source). At times he also led fighters in clan feuds over grazing land between the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) valley, Mudug and Galgaduud (same source).

## Poetry

He began composing in his twenties and thirties and was an established poet by the 1870s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aadan-Gurey_Maxamed_Cabdille)). His best-known poem, Todobaatan iyo Toban ("Seventy and Ten"), was printed in the first book collecting early Somali poems (same source). With no written Somali at the time, only five or six of his poems survive, among them Ab Hareeri and Angarafareey (same source).

He died in 1920, the same year as [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/); the two did not know each other's work (same source). Several of his poems are in Somali high school textbooks (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## In short

A nineteenth-century Galgaduud poet whose few surviving verses are still taught in Somali schools.


---

# Abdi Sheik-Abdi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdi-sheik-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdi Abdulkadir Sheik-Abdi, born 15 November 1942 in Somalia, is a Somali author and historian based in the United States. He holds a doctorate in African history from Boston University and has written short stories, two novels, a collection of fables and essays.

## Who is he?

Abdi Abdulkadir Sheik-Abdi is a Somali author based in the United States, born on 15 November 1942 in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sheik_Abdi)). See [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Study and work

He holds BA and MA degrees in English literature and African studies from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and a doctorate in African history from Boston University ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sheik_Abdi)). He has taught in both Somalia and the United States (same source).

He has written many short stories, two novels, a collection of fables, and articles and essays ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_Sheik_Abdi)).

## In short

A Somali writer and historian who taught in Somalia and the United States.


---

# Abdigani Diriye

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdigani-diriye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdigani Diriye, born in 1986, is a Somali computer scientist at IBM Research Africa who works on human-computer interaction and financial technology. He founded the Somali startup fund Innovate Ventures in 2012 and was named an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 in 2017.

## Who is he?

Abdigani Diriye is a Somali computer scientist and research scientist at IBM Research Africa, working on human-computer interaction, data mining and financial technology ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdigani_Diriye)). He left Somalia for the United Kingdom at age five because of the conflict (same source). See [Somalis in the UK](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## Education

He studied computer science and mathematics at Queen Mary University of [London](/en/diaspora/london/), took a master's at King's College London, a PhD in computer science at University College London in 2012, and an MBA at INSEAD in 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdigani_Diriye)). He then did postdoctoral research at Carnegie Mellon University (same source).

## Work

At IBM his team builds ways to assess credit for people applying for loans, including a 2016 machine-learning approach to credit scoring for Africans ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdigani_Diriye)). In 2012 he founded Innovate Ventures, a startup fund in Somalia that has worked with Oxfam, VC4Africa and Telesom (same source). He has published more than 35 patents and papers (same source).

## Awards

He was a TEDGlobal 2017 fellow, a Next Einstein Forum fellow, an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 in 2017, and a Quartz Africa Innovator in 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdigani_Diriye)).

## In short

A London-trained computer scientist building credit tools for Africa and backing Somali startups.


---

# Abdillahi Diiriye Guled (Caraale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdillahi-diiriye-guled/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdillahi Diiriye Guled, known as Caraale or Arale, is a Somali literary scholar credited with discovering how Somali poetry is scanned: by the length of syllables (morae) rather than stress. His book Miisaanka Maansada (1975) set out the first full theory of Somali metre.

## Who is he?

Abdillahi Diiriye Guled, also known as Arale or Caraale, is a Somali literary scholar and prosodist credited with discovering the Somali scansion system ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Diiriye_Guled)). He is the son of Aw Diiriye Guled Warsame Guutaale, a poet who took part in the Silsiladda Xaydha poem chain and founded the town of Gashamo (same source).

## Career

He majored in English at the Somali National University and taught English ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Diiriye_Guled)). He wrote some of the first Somali-language textbooks for primary and secondary schools, and in 1978 became a lecturer in Somali language and literature at the university (same source). See [Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## Somali metre

He showed that classical forms such as the geeraar, gabay, jiifto and hees are scanned by the length of syllables, the mora, rather than by tone or stress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Diiriye_Guled)). He first published this in Xiddigta Oktoobar and then in his book Miisaanka Maansada (1975) (same source). The poet [Gaarriye](/en/people/gaarriye/), his friend, made the same discovery independently around the same time, and scholars such as John William Johnson built on their work (same source). See [Somali poetic metre](/en/society/somali-poetic-metre/).

His books include Miisaanka Maansada (1975), Gabaygeena Miisaan (1978), Jiiftadeena Miisaan (1978) and Gibil Xidh (2016) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdillahi_Diiriye_Guled)).

## In short

The scholar who worked out how Somali poetry is measured, and wrote early Somali school books.


---

# Abdisalam Yasin Mohamed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdisalam-yasin-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdisalam Yasin Mohamed is a Somali professor with a PhD in African literature from SOAS who taught at King Saud and King Abdulaziz universities in Saudi Arabia and took part in founding the Somali National Movement. He is president of Shifa University in Somaliland.

## Who is he?

Abdisalam Yassin Mohamed is a Somali professor and academic who took part in setting up the Somali National Movement (SNM) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Yasin_Mohamed)).

## Academic work

He holds a PhD in African literature from SOAS University of [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and taught at King Saud University and King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Yasin_Mohamed)). His research has appeared in academic journals including the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs (same source). See [Somalis in Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/).

He is president of Shifa University in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdisalam_Yasin_Mohamed)). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.

## In short

A literature scholar who taught in Saudi Arabia and now leads a university in Somaliland.


---

# Abdiwali Abdirahman Mohamed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdiwali-abdirahman-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdiwali Abdirahman Mohamed, born 1 January 2000, is a Somali footballer who plays as a defender for Horseed. He played for Mogadishu City Club in the 2020-21 CAF Champions League and first played for Somalia in August 2019.

## Who is he?

Abdiwali Abdirahman Mohamed is a Somali footballer who plays as a defender for [Horseed Sports Club](/en/society/horseed-fc/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiwali_Abdirahman_Mohamed)). His recorded birth date is 1 January 2000 (same source); see [why so many Somalis have 1 January birthdays](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/).

## Career

He made two appearances for Mogadishu City Club in the 2020-21 CAF Champions League ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiwali_Abdirahman_Mohamed)). He first played for Somalia on 3 August 2019, a 4-1 loss to Uganda in qualifying for the 2020 African Nations Championship (same source). See [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/).

## In short

A young Somali defender who has played club football in Africa's Champions League and for the national team.


---

# Abdo Xamar Qoodh

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdo-xamar-qoodh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdo Xamar Qoodh (Abdo Ismael Bouh, 1949 to 8 August 1991) was a Djiboutian Somali songwriter, composer and singer from Ali Sabieh. With his brother Said Xamar Qoodh he is counted among Djibouti's greatest musicians, known for songs such as Dhooley and Ubaxeey.

## Who was he?

Abdo Xamar Qoodh, born Abdo Ismael Bouh, was a Djiboutian songwriter, composer and singer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdo_Xamar_Qoodh)). He was born in 1949 into an artistic family in Ali Sabieh, then in [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), and moved to Djibouti city for secondary school (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Music

He began singing as a child and started his career in the 1960s with his older brother, Said Xamar Qoodh ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdo_Xamar_Qoodh)). Many Djiboutians regard the two brothers as among the greatest Djiboutian musicians, and Abdo's songs of love and journeys shaped the next generation in the 1970s and 1980s (same source). His popular songs include Dhooley, Ubaxeey and Leleel (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

He died on 8 August 1991 at Peltier Hospital in Djibouti city ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdo_Xamar_Qoodh)).

## In short

An Ali Sabieh singer whose love songs helped shape modern Djiboutian music.


---

# Abdulle Raage Taraawiil

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/abdulle-raage-taraawiil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdulle Raage Taraawiil (1932 to April 2000) was a Somali poet and actor from Eeldheer who joined Radio Mogadishu in 1960 with guuroow poems on national politics. He was jailed for four years from 1982 over his poetry, and in the late 1980s wrote verses warning of the violence ahead.

## Who was he?

Abdulle Raage Taraawiil was a Somali poet, born in Eeldheer district in 1932 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulle_Raage_Tarawiil)). He died in Mogadishu in April 2000 (same source).

## Radio and stage

He joined [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/) in 1960 with a collection of guuroow poems on national politics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulle_Raage_Tarawiil)). He also acted, and in the 1960s play Shabeel Naagood he recited verses mocking the government's policy of non-alignment: "Why stand in the middle: may the ground swallow you!" (same source).

## Prison and later poems

In 1982 he was accused of anti-government activity and held for four years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulle_Raage_Tarawiil)). In the late 1980s he wrote a poem warning that respect and trust were being lost and that innocent people would suffer as fighting spread (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## In short

A radio poet and actor whose verses challenged governments and foresaw the war.


---

# Aden Farah Samatar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/people/aden-farah-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aden Farah Samatar was a Djiboutian Somali songwriter, composer, poet and singer from Ali Sabieh, known for songs about political justice. From 1963 he sang with Group Arreh and later Gacan Macan, and was among the pioneers of modern Djiboutian music during the independence years.

## Who was he?

Aden Farah Samatar was a Djiboutian songwriter, composer, poet and singer whose work stressed political justice ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Farah_Samatar)). He was born in Ali Sabieh, then in [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), and grew up there and in Djibouti city (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Music

He began singing in 1963 with Group Arreh and later joined the larger group Gacan Macan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Farah_Samatar)). In the 1970s he sang for Djiboutian independence with the Arreh Group (same source). With Aden Elmi God, Said Xamar Qoodh, Ibrahim Souleiman Gadhle and Roda Ahmed he was among the first generation of modern Djiboutian musicians (same source). See also [Abdo Xamar Qoodh](/en/people/abdo-xamar-qoodh/) and [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

## In short

An Ali Sabieh singer and poet who sang for Djibouti's independence.


---

# Bajuni Islands (Jasiiradaha Bajuni)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/bajuni-islands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Bajuni Islands are a chain of small islands off the coast of Lower Juba, between Kismaayo and Ras Kamboni. The six main islands are Chandra, Chovaye, Chula, Koyama, Darakasi and Ngumi. They are home of the Bajuni people, a Swahili-speaking fishing and sailing community, and were part of British Jubaland until 1926.

## Where they are

The Bajuni Islands lie in the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), from Kismaayo south to [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) near the Kenyan border ([Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)). They are in the [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) region ([Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)). In Somali they are called Jasiiradaha Jubbada Hoose, and in Italian Isole Giuba ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q804213)).

## The islands

There are six main islands ([Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)):

- **Koyama**, 6.38 km², the largest
- **Chovaye** (Tovai), 5.46 km²
- **Chandra**, 2.95 km²
- **Ngumi**, 2.56 km²
- **Chula** (Tula), 1.99 km², where the village of Ndowa stands; the only island with a sizeable population
- **Darakasi**, 1.99 km²

Smaller islands include Kandha Iwu, Fuma and Ilisi. The island of Kismaayo was joined to the mainland in 1961 when Kismaayo port was built ([Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)).

## History

Sources describe the islands as part of the trading world of the Somali coast and of the Ajuran state ([Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)). Under British rule they were part of Jubaland. Britain gave mainland Jubaland to Italy in 1924 and the islands two years later, in 1926 ([Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)).

C. Wightwick Haywood, a British official in Kismaayo, visited in 1913 and wrote that only Chovaye and Chula were lived on. People grew maize, millet, sweet potatoes and coconuts and travelled by dhow. On Chovaye he saw ruins of what he called "a fair-sized town", with stone scrollwork like that on the houses of the Lamu islands in Kenya ([Haywood, *Geographical Journal*, via JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1787038)).

## The Bajuni people

The islands are mainly lived on by the Bajuni (Wabajuni), a Swahili-speaking people who are traditionally fishermen and sailors; some also work metal ([Wikipedia: Bajuni people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_people)). They trace their roots to coastal Bantu peoples of the Swahili coast and to Somalis from the mainland, and also to later Arab, Persian and Somali arrivals. Some Bajuni clan names are Bantu in origin and others southern Somali; one clan is called Garre, and the Katwa clan is also of Somali origin ([Wikipedia: Bajuni people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_people)).

The Bajuni are [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) Muslims, and a *kadhi* (Muslim judge) settles disputes in the community ([Wikipedia: Bajuni people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_people)). Many Bajuni now live in Kenya, mainly in Mombasa and other towns of the coast, and many moved there from southern Somalia because of war ([Wikipedia: Bajuni people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_people)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Bajuni Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_Islands)
- [Wikipedia: Bajuni people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_people)
- [Wikidata Q804213](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q804213)
- [C. W. Haywood, *Geographical Journal*, via JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1787038)


---

# Jubba River (Webiga Jubba)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/jubba-river/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Jubba (Webiga Jubba, Juba, Giuba) is southern Somalia's main river. It starts on the Ethiopian border at Dolow, where the Dawa and Ganale rivers meet, and flows south through Gedo, Middle Juba and Lower Juba to the Indian Ocean at Goobweyn near Kismaayo. Its valley is the country's richest farmland.

## Course

The Jubba begins at the Ethiopia–Somalia border, where the Dawa and the Ganale Dorya rivers join, and runs south to the Indian Ocean, which it reaches at Goobweyn near Kismaayo ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). Towns along its course include Dolow, [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), Burdhubo, Beled Hawo, [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/), Bu'aale and Goobweyn ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). Its basin, including the Ethiopian highlands that feed it, is put at about 749,000 km² ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River), citing [World Resources Institute](https://web.archive.org/web/20101110220920/http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/af10.html)).

The river gives its name to the regions of [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/), to the older name "Upper [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)" for Gedo, Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), and to [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) (formerly Trans-Juba, Italian Oltre Giuba) ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). See also the [Dawa River](/en/regions/dawa-river/), one of its two source rivers.

## Farming and wildlife

The Jubba valley is mostly savanna and is described as the most fertile part of Somalia ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). Farms along the river grow sorghum, maize, beans and sesame, and bananas along the lower Jubba and Shabelle were a major export ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)). Wildlife recorded in the basin includes giraffes, lions, leopards, hippopotamus, crocodiles, oryx and the Somali wild ass ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)).

## History

In the Middle Ages the Ajuran state controlled water on the Jubba and Shabelle. Sources describe irrigation ditches called *kelliyo* that took river water to farms at Baardheere, [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and other places, where sorghum, maize, beans and cotton were grown in the Gu and Xagaa seasons. Land was measured in units called *moos*, *taraab* and *guldeed* ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). Crops from the valley went to the coastal ports of Mogadishu, Marka, [Baraawe](/en/regions/barawa/), Kismaayo and Hobyo for trade across the Indian Ocean ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)).

In the 1860s the German explorer Karl Klaus von der Decken took the steamer *Welf* up the river. It was wrecked in the rapids above Baardheere, and he and three of his party were killed there ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). The Italian Vittorio Bottego travelled about 640 km of the river in 1891 ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). Britain handed the land west of the river, Jubaland, to Italy in 1924–25, and it became the Oltre Giuba colony ([DC Stamps: Oltre Giuba](https://www.dcstamps.com/oltre-giuba-italian-colony/)).

See also [the Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/).

## Floods and drought

The Jubba's level depends on rain in the Ethiopian highlands, so it can flood in Somalia even when local rain is low. In wet years, the Shabelle reaches the Jubba and both run to the sea together ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)). Somalia's two rainy seasons, Gu (April to June) and [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) (October to December), set the flood risk ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). Official flood warnings come from the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)) and the FAO water and land project [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) ([FAO SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)
- [Wikidata Q138491](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138491)
- [World Resources Institute, watersheds of Africa](https://web.archive.org/web/20101110220920/http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/af10.html)
- [FAO SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)


---

# Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and Banaadir

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts. More than a third of them live in displacement camps, most work is informal, and an unskilled worker often earns less than it costs to live.

## Who lives there

About 2.97 million people in 20 districts (early 2026). Over 1.1 million live in 2,493 displacement sites. Most of these sites are in [Kahda](/en/society/internal-displacement/) (1,241) and Dayniile (1,029) ([EUAA displacement sites](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/13-idps-and-idp-sites-mogadishu)).

The city's oldest community, the [Reer Xamar](/en/society/minority-communities/) (Benadiri), live in the old quarters of Shangaani and Xamar Weyne and face exclusion ([EUAA demographics](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/11-mogadishu-demographics-and-clan-composition)).

## Work and money

About two-thirds of businesses are informal, and only 7% employ more than 20 people. [Bakaara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) market has more than 20,000 businesses, and women run many small food and tea businesses. Jobs often come through relatives or officials ([EUAA economy](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)).

### Monthly pay and costs (US dollars)

- House worker: $50 to $100 a month
- Watchman: $100 to $150 a month
- New nurse or soldier: about $200 a month
- What one adult needs to live: $200 to $250 a month
- Shack rent in Dayniile or Kahda: about $50 a month
- "Free" public school, per child: $10 to $15 a month
- Caesarean birth in a private clinic: $250 to $300, once
- Water for a family of six: $20 to $30 a month

An unskilled worker earns less than it costs to live, and there are no public social services ([EUAA economy](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)).

## Who governs

The federal government and the Banadir Regional Administration. The city is not a federal member state, and its final status is still to be decided ([Heritage Institute, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)).

In December 2025 the city held its first direct local vote in more than 50 years, for 390 council seats. About 1,605 candidates stood and about 500,000 people registered. The opposition stayed away ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/25/somali-capital-holds-first-direct-election-in-five-decades)).

## Top needs

1. Fair handling of land disputes and evictions.
2. Jobs that don't depend on connections.
3. School fees families can afford.
4. The cost of giving birth safely.
5. Clean, affordable water.

## What we don't know yet

Up-to-date eviction numbers for 2026, and how many people arrived from each region. If you know, use "Fix this page".

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). Mogadishu sits on the coast, close to the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley. Heavy Deyr rain brings flash flooding in the city and river floods upstream ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).


---

# Boorama (Borama) and Awdal

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/awdal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Awdal is the far north-west region, on the borders with Djibouti and Ethiopia, with Borama (Boorama) as its capital and about 300,000 to 636,000 people. It is run by Somaliland and is largely free of fighting, but the 2025 drought killed many animals and many residents say they feel left out of power.

## Who lives there

Estimates for September 2024 range from about 303,218 people (IOM, likely an undercount) to 636,108 (IPC). The region has four districts: Borama (the capital), Baki, Lughaye and Zeylac. It borders Djibouti, Ethiopia and the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) ([EUAA Awdal, May 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)).

The Gadabursi (Dir) are the majority, and the Issa (Dir) also live here, mainly towards Djibouti ([EUAA Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)). Occupational minorities, such as the [Gabooye](/en/society/minority-communities/), face discrimination and weak protection across [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([EUAA minorities guidance, Oct 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/391-persons-belonging-low-status-occupational-minorities)). Their numbers in Awdal are not known. Almost no one has been displaced by conflict: 8 people in 2023.

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Herding is the base of the economy. In July 2025 an assessment found wide shortages of water and grazing and "significant livestock losses", worst in Lughaye and Zeylac ([OCHA, Aug 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-conditions-central-and-northern-regions-flash-update-no1-5-august-2025)). Across Somalia, a 200-litre water barrel doubled or tripled in price in many districts, and fuel rose from $0.60 to $1.50 a litre by April 2026 ([OCHA, Apr 2026](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2025-2026-drought-emergency-situation-report-no-5-6-april-2026)).

## Who governs

The Somaliland administration runs the whole region. Somaliland declared independence in 1991. The UN and the African Union treat it as part of Somalia. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and Somalia and the AU rejected that ([Al-Monitor, Dec 2025](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/12/somalia-denounces-israeli-recognition-somaliland)).

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds no land here. There were six security incidents and one death from April 2023 to March 2025. Gadabursi leaders have long said Awdal is left out of power in Somaliland. There were violent protests in Borama in May 2023, and in September 2023 a conference of Gadabursi traditional leaders in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) called for Awdal to leave Somaliland ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)). Somaliland set up a drought committee for Awdal in July 2025 ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/monthly-humanitarian-update-september-and-october-2025)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). In the north, floods come as flash floods along seasonal streams rather than from rivers, and the northern highlands are the coolest part of the country, with mean temperatures as low as 19°C ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **July 2025:** a drought emergency was declared. Food reached 5,500 households in Awdal and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) on 20 July.
- **August 2025:** more than 38 health and nutrition centres reported serious gaps after funding cuts ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-conditions-central-and-northern-regions-flash-update-no1-5-august-2025)).
- **October 2025:** dry weather was forecast to last into November.

## Top needs

1. Water for people and animals in Lughaye and Zeylac.
2. Health and nutrition care as clinics lose funding.
3. Income for herders who lost animals.
4. Paid work for young people.
5. A voice for people who feel left out.

## What we don't know yet

Local prices and wages, and the number of minority families. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Hargeysa (Hargeisa) and Woqooyi Galbeed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Woqooyi Galbeed is the north-western region that holds Hargeisa (Hargeysa) and the port of Berbera, with about 1 to 1.45 million people. It is run by Somaliland and free of al-Shabaab, and Hargeisa is a trade hub, but more than 71,000 displaced people in its settlements lack food and health care.

## Who lives there

Estimates for September 2024 range from about 1,022,984 people (IOM, likely an undercount) to 1,447,484 (IPC). The districts are Hargeisa (the capital), [Gebiley](/en/regions/gabiley/) and Berbera ([EUAA Woqooyi Galbeed, May 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/282-wogoyi-galbeed)).

Hargeisa city has 1.2 to 1.5 million people in eight districts. Most people are Isaaq, and Gadabursi and Issa communities live here too. Very few Dhulbahante and Warsangeli remain since the conflict in the east. The [Gabooye](/en/society/minority-communities/) minority lives mainly in Daami (Ga'an Libah district). Migrants from Ethiopia and Yemen live in the city too. Its 16 settlements for displaced people hold 71,606 people: 65% are women and 24% are under five, and food and health care are their worst gaps ([EUAA Hargeisa, May 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Hargeisa is a trade hub on the road from Berbera port to Jigjiga and Addis Ababa. Poverty is widespread, and low wages often support households of seven to nine people ([EUAA Hargeisa](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)). Across Somalia, water barrels doubled or tripled in price, and fuel went from $0.60 to $1.50 a litre by April 2026 ([OCHA, Apr 2026](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2025-2026-drought-emergency-situation-report-no-5-6-april-2026)).

## Who governs

The [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) administration runs the whole region, under President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (since 2024). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds no land ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/282-wogoyi-galbeed)). Somaliland declared independence in 1991. The UN and the AU treat it as part of Somalia. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025. Crowds celebrated in Hargeisa, and Somalia and the AU condemned the move ([Al-Monitor](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/12/somalia-denounces-israeli-recognition-somaliland)).

Hargeisa has a mayor, Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge (since June 2021), councils and city departments ([EUAA Hargeisa](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)). The health ministry ran a polio campaign with WHO and UNICEF ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/monthly-humanitarian-update-september-and-october-2025)). There were 14 security incidents and 22 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025, including clashes with the Gacan Libaax militia in [Saaxil](/en/regions/sahil/) in August 2023 and election violence in Baligubadle in August 2024 ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/282-wogoyi-galbeed)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). In the north, floods come as flash floods along seasonal streams rather than from rivers, and the northern highlands are the coolest part of the country, with mean temperatures as low as 19°C ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **22 July 2025:** a drought emergency, with an appeal for 650,000 people across Somaliland ([OCHA, Aug 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-conditions-central-and-northern-regions-flash-update-no1-5-august-2025)).
- **28 September to 2 October 2025:** emergency polio vaccination for more than 865,000 children under five, after cases in nearby regions ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/monthly-humanitarian-update-september-and-october-2025)).
- **Ongoing:** 71,606 displaced people short of food and health care ([EUAA Hargeisa](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)).

## Top needs

1. Food and health care for displaced people in Hargeisa's 16 settlements.
2. Paid work for young people in a low-wage city.
3. Child health: vaccination and nutrition.
4. Papers and services for minorities and migrants.
5. Water and fodder for herders in the drought.


---

# Burco (Burao) and Togdheer

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/togdheer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Togdheer is the northern region around Burco (Burao), with about 894,874 people including Buuhoodle. The Somaliland administration runs Burco, Sheikh and Oodweyne, while Buuhoodle is held by North Eastern State. Herding is the main living, and about 63% of people were in IPC Phase 2 to 4 in January 2026.

## Who lives there

 About 894,874 people including Buhodle (IPC, Jan 2026). Districts: Burco/Burao (capital), [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/), Owdweyne, Buhodle. [EUAA Togdheer, 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer). Minorities: occupational minorities ([Gabooye](/en/society/minority-communities/) and others) face discrimination across [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). [EUAA minorities, Oct 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/391-persons-belonging-low-status-occupational-minorities). Displaced: no new conflict displacement from the region (Apr 2025–Feb 2026); 36 people arrived in Burao from Buhodle; NRC recorded 202 evictions in 2025 and early 2026. [EUAA Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer)

## Work and money

 Herding dominates; About 63% of people analysed were in IPC Phase 2–4 in January 2026; five locations were "severely impacted" by drought in November 2025. [EUAA Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer). Cash aid of $140 went to 720 households in Togdheer and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). [OCHA, Aug 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-conditions-central-and-northern-regions-flash-update-no1-5-august-2025). Nationally, water barrels doubled or tripled and fuel rose to $1.50/litre by April 2026. [OCHA sitrep 5](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2025-2026-drought-emergency-situation-report-no-5-6-april-2026). Local wages: not found.

## Who governs

 The Somaliland administration runs Burao, Sheikh and Owdweyne. [EUAA Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer). Buhodle town is held by the federal-aligned coalition (SSC-Khatumo / [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/)), with nearby areas contested. [EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; the UN and AU treat it as part of Somalia; Israel recognised it on 26 Dec 2025. [Al-Monitor](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/12/somalia-denounces-israeli-recognition-somaliland). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/): no presence reported. Five incidents, one death (Apr 2025–Mar 2026, excl. Buhodle). Aid access mostly "very limited restrictions". [EUAA Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). In the north, floods come as flash floods along seasonal streams rather than from rivers, and the northern highlands are the coolest part of the country, with mean temperatures as low as 19°C ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- 15 May 2025: protesters clashed with security forces in Burao after rumours that SSC-Khatumo prisoners would be freed; 2 to 6 killed. [EUAA Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer)
- July 2025 onward: drought; five locations severely hit by Nov 2025. [same](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer)
- Jan 2026: 63% in food stress or worse. [same](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/283-togdheer)
- Buhodle: contested between administrations; water shortages Sept 2025. [EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)

## Top needs

1. Food for families in IPC Phase 2–4.
2. Water and fodder to keep herds alive.
3. Income for herders and youth.
4. Calm and trust after the May 2025 deaths and the Buhodle divide.
5. Help for evicted and arriving families.


---

# Laascaanood (Las Anod) and Sool

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/sool/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sool is a region in the north with Las Anod (Laascaanood) as its capital and about 571,000 people. After the 2023 conflict most of it is run by North Eastern State, which the federal government recognised in 2025, while Somaliland holds the west, and 72% of people were short of food in early 2026.

## Who lives there

About 570,788 people, not counting [Buhodle](/en/regions/togdheer/) (IPC, February 2026). The districts are Las Anod (the capital), Taleex, Xudun and [Caynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) ([EUAA Sool, 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)). Most people are Dhulbahante (Harti, Darod), and [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) is led by Dhulbahante leaders ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/the-making-of-somalia-new-northeast-state-5178184)). Occupational minorities face discrimination across the north ([EUAA minorities](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/391-persons-belonging-low-status-occupational-minorities)).

**Displaced:** 419 people were newly displaced by conflict from April 2025 to February 2026, mostly inside Caynabo and Xudun. NRC recorded 1,922 evictions ([EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)). Since the 2023 conflict, very few Dhulbahante still live in Hargeisa ([EUAA Hargeisa](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)), and 210 people from Las Anod moved to Hargeisa between 2023 and 2025 ([EUAA Woqooyi Galbeed](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/282-wogoyi-galbeed)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

About 72% of people were short of food or worse in January 2026. Taleex, Godaalo, Xudun and Buhodle ran short of water in September 2025 ([EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)). Across Somalia, water barrels doubled or tripled in price, and fuel rose to $1.50 a litre by April 2026 ([OCHA, Apr 2026](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2025-2026-drought-emergency-situation-report-no-5-6-april-2026)).

## Who governs

Control is split, as of 31 March 2026 ([EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)):

- **North Eastern State:** Las Anod, Taleex, Xudun, Buhodle and Gumays. It grew out of the SSC-Khaatumo administration formed in 2023. It became a federal member state in July 2025, and the federal government endorsed it on 2 August 2025 after a conference in Las Anod.
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** Caynabo, Oog and Qorilugud.
- **Contested:** areas west of Xudun, Gumays and Buhodle, and Boocame, where North Eastern State and Puntland-aligned forces have clashed.

There were 43 security incidents and 26 deaths from April 2025 to March 2026. Aid access is heavily limited in northern Xudun and Taleex.

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). This is semi-arid country. Parts of central Somalia get as little as 50 to 150 mm of rain a year ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **July and August 2025:** North Eastern State was formed and endorsed by Mogadishu.
- **September 2025:** water shortages in Taleex, Godaalo, Xudun and Buhodle.
- **31 October 2025:** fighting in Boocame between [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and North Eastern State forces ([EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)).
- **January to April 2026:** 72% short of food or worse, with drought continuing ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2025-2026-drought-emergency-situation-report-no-5-6-april-2026)).

## Top needs

1. Water in Taleex, Xudun, Godaalo and Buhodle.
2. Food for the 72% who are short.
3. Help for the 1,922 evicted and the people displaced by conflict.
4. Contact and trust restored across the front line, for families split since 2023.
5. Records and services rebuilt after the 2023 war.


---

# Ceerigaabo (Erigavo) and Sanaag

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/sanaag/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sanaag is a region on the northern coast with Erigavo (Ceerigaabo) as its capital and about 446,000 people. Control is split between Somaliland in the west, local forces in the east and others, and after a fourth poor rainy season 73% of people were short of food by early 2026.

## Who lives there

About 445,736 people (IPC, January 2026). The districts are Erigavo (the capital), [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/) and Laasqoray, and [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/) and [Dhahar](/en/regions/dhahar/) are also key towns ([EUAA Sanaag, 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/272-sanaag)). Isaaq clans (Habar Yonis and Habar Jeclo) live in the west. The Warsangeli (Harti, Darod) live in the east, with loyalties split between [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/). North Eastern State also claims Dhulbahante areas ([EUAA Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/272-sanaag)). Occupational minorities face discrimination across the north ([EUAA minorities](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/391-persons-belonging-low-status-occupational-minorities)).

**Displaced:** 10,133 people were newly displaced by conflict from April 2025 to February 2026. Most (8,968) stayed inside Sanaag, and 5,086 came from Dhahar. NRC recorded 154 evictions ([EUAA Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/272-sanaag)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Most families herd animals. Over 70% of livelihoods in the affected areas depend on rain-fed herding, and Sanaag faced a fourth poor rainy season in late 2025 ([OCHA, Sep–Oct 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/monthly-humanitarian-update-september-and-october-2025)). By January 2026, 73% of people were short of food or worse, and drought had hit schools, clinics and nutrition ([EUAA Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/272-sanaag)). Cash aid of $140 went to 720 households in [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Sanaag ([OCHA, Aug 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-conditions-central-and-northern-regions-flash-update-no1-5-august-2025)).

## Who governs

Control is split, as of 31 March 2026 ([EUAA Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/272-sanaag)):

- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** the west, including Erigavo, Jidali and Ceel Afweyn.
- **Warsangeli autonomous forces:** Badhan, Dhahar, Elbuh, Hingalol and Laasqoray.
- **Mixed:** the south-east.
- **Others:** North Eastern State claims parts of the east, and Puntland keeps positions there.
- **[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/):** present in the Almadow (Golis) mountains for over a decade.

There were 48 incidents and 54 deaths from April 2025 to March 2026, mostly clashes between sub-clans.

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). In the north, floods come as flash floods along seasonal streams rather than from rivers, and the northern highlands are the coolest part of the country, with mean temperatures as low as 19°C ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **May 2025:** a peace conference in Ceel Afweyn reconciled the Habar Yonis and Habar Jeclo after years of violence. It is one of the region's most important recent steps ([EUAA Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/272-sanaag)).
- **July and September 2025:** a clash in Ceelbuh killed a civilian, and a Warsangeli elder was killed in a US air strike near Badhan.
- **26 February 2026:** North Eastern State accused Somaliland forces of attacks on civilians in Laasqoray district.

## Top needs

1. Water and pasture for herders after four poor seasons.
2. Food and nutrition, with 73% short of food or worse.
3. Help for the 10,133 newly displaced, mainly from Dhahar.
4. Schools and clinics kept open through the drought.
5. The May 2025 peace held, and trust between clans kept.


---

# Boosaaso (Bosaso) and Bari

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/bari/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bari is Puntland's north-east region, with the port city of Bosaso (Boosaaso) as its capital and about 1.28 million people. Its frankincense harvesters have been displaced by fighting in the mountains, food prices rose by up to half in late 2025, and Bosaso is a main crossing point for migrants heading to Yemen.

## Who lives there

About 1,281,189 people (IPC, January 2026). The region has six districts: Bosaso (the capital), Qardho, Bandarbeyla, Iskushuban, [Calula](/en/regions/caluula/) and [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/) ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31724)).

Fighting displaced 24,660 people from April 2025 to February 2026, almost all inside Bari. The largest flow was 17,299 people from Qandala, and 14,524 of them went to Bosaso district. Another 1,597 arrived from other regions ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31724)).

About 2,500 rural frankincense families fled after fighting grew in December 2024. They came from Balli Dhedin, Hamure, Qandala and Buq ([Radio Ergo, Mar 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/03/puntland-war-against-daesh-displaces-frankincense-farmers-in-bari-region/)).

## Work and money

- **Frankincense:** families harvest twice a year. Displaced harvesters now have no income, and many carry debts to traders, for example $300 ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/03/puntland-war-against-daesh-displaces-frankincense-farmers-in-bari-region/)).
- **Living costs:** water in Dhurbo costs $6 a barrel. School fees are $40 a month per child.
- **Food prices:** flour, rice and oil rose 30% to 50% in late 2025 in Bosaso, Garowe and Qardho ([AllAfrica, Dec 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202512150074.html)).

## Who governs

The [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) State administration. Puntland forces fight [ISIS-Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/) in the Al Miskaad mountains, with outside support. Puntland said in June 2025 that the area was 98% cleared, but the group was active again by October 2025. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) is present in the Al Madow mountains west of Bosaso. From April 2025 to March 2026 there were 719 incidents and 1,034 deaths ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31724)).

## Migrants passing through

Bosaso is a main departure point to Yemen for Ethiopians, Eritreans and Somalis from the south. Smugglers charge $300 to $500 a person. By July 2026 over 200 migrants had died at sea or in the desert that year. On 22 July, 56 Ethiopians, including 10 children travelling alone, were returned home from Bosaso with IOM ([AllAfrica, Jul 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607220291.html)).

## Top needs

1. Water and food for displaced and drought-hit families.
2. Income for displaced frankincense harvesters and fishers.
3. Safety information and dignity for migrants, especially children alone.
4. School places that families can afford.
5. Basic health care and first aid in new settlements.

## What we don't know yet

Fishing incomes, port and trade figures, and minority communities in Bosaso. If you know, use "Fix this page".

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). In the north, floods come as flash floods along seasonal streams rather than from rivers, and the northern highlands are the coolest part of the country, with mean temperatures as low as 19°C ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).


---

# Garoowe (Garowe) and Nugaal

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/nugaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Nugaal is the region around Garoowe (Garowe), Puntland's capital, with about 656,910 people in three districts: Garoowe, Burtinle and Eyl. Drought has pushed herding families into camps around Garoowe, and 79% of people were in IPC Phase 2 to 4 in early 2026.

## Who lives there

 About 656,910 people (IPC, January 2026). Three districts: Garowe (also [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s capital), Burtinle, Eyl ([EUAA 2026, Nugal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)). Displaced: drought pastoralists fill camps on Garowe's outskirts such as Jillab; Garowe municipality registered nearly 500 newly displaced families from December 2025 to February 2026 ([Radio Ergo, Feb 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/02/long-drought-forces-hundreds-of-pastoralist-families-to-flee-to-garowe/)). NRC recorded 14,898 evictions in 2025, and Garowe IDP sites face land-dispute eviction risk ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)). Arrivals from [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) also go to Nugal ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)).

## Work and money

Drought losses: one family lost 300 goats and camels since 2024; another 62 animals. Water bought from bowsers at 30 cents per 20-litre jerrycan, brackish; households get about 10 litres a day. Koranic school $3 a child in the village; Garowe schools charge $10 a child ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/02/long-drought-forces-hundreds-of-pastoralist-families-to-flee-to-garowe/)). Flour, rice, oil up 30 to 50% (Dec 2025) ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202512150074.html)). 79% of people in IPC Phase 2 to 4 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)).

## Who governs

 Puntland State government is seated in Garowe; Nugal regional administration; Garowe municipality, whose executive director Abdalla Mohamed Abdalla says the council cannot meet needs ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/02/long-drought-forces-hundreds-of-pastoralist-families-to-flee-to-garowe/)). Puntland forces hold the whole region; no al-Shabaab or ISS control shown. ACLED: 20 incidents, 22 deaths April 2025 to March 2026, including police-military clashes in Garowe ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). This is semi-arid country. Parts of central Somalia get as little as 50 to 150 mm of rain a year ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- Since 2024: four poor rainy seasons; \~500 families arrive Dec 2025 to Feb 2026; no clinic in Jillab camp ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/02/long-drought-forces-hundreds-of-pastoralist-families-to-flee-to-garowe/)).
- 2025: 14,898 evictions ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)).
- May and July 2025: civilian killings in Garowe; a disarmament campaign met resistance from clan militias ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)).
- Apr 2025: repeated cuts to the communications cable in Burtinle ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31722)).

## Top needs

1. Clean, affordable water and food in Garowe camps.
2. Health care for children and elderly in camps (none in Jillab).
3. Income for ex-herders in town.
4. School places at a price families can pay.
5. Secure tenure records to reduce eviction harm.


---

# Gaalkacyo (Galkayo) and Mudug

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/mudug/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mudug is a region of central Somalia with about 1.5 million people, split between Puntland in the north and Galmudug in the south. Its main city, Galkayo (Gaalkacyo), is the only city shared by two member states, and in 2026 its people face drought, empty camps and fighting along the city line.

## Who lives there

About 1,528,722 people (IPC, early 2026): 918,998 in northern Mudug and 597,037 in the south ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31721)). The region has five districts: Galkayo, [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/), Jariiban, Hobyo and [Xarardheere](/en/regions/harardhere/). Galkayo is the only city shared by two member states. North Galkayo is under [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and South Galkayo under [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) ([SSF III, 2026](https://stabilityfund.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SSF-III_Lighting-up-Galkayo.pdf)). The Majeerteen (Omar Mahmoud, Darod) are the main clan in the north and the Habar Gidir (Sa'ad, Hawiye) in the south. The Leelkase, Sheekhaal, Dir and Marehan also live here ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)).

**Displaced:**
- About 66,000 people were displaced by drought in Hobyo district in February 2026 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31721)).
- 254 families pushed out by drought registered in the Sahan, Mudud and Dooho camps in three months, with more in Horiyo camp ([Radio Ergo, Aug 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/08/impoverished-pastoralists-in-mudug-flee-to-resource-poor-camps-in-galkayo/)).
- Clan clashes in Galdogob displaced 8,010 people in December 2024 ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Herding is the base. Three years of poor rain killed whole herds: two families lost 50 and 70 goats. New arrivals look for cleaning work and live on shop credit, and one widow owes $330 to two shops ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/08/impoverished-pastoralists-in-mudug-flee-to-resource-poor-camps-in-galkayo/)). Since solar streetlights came back, Galkayo traders work late in the shared Suuqa-Weyn market, and milk and clothes sellers earn more after dark ([SSF III](https://stabilityfund.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SSF-III_Lighting-up-Galkayo.pdf)).

## Who governs

North Galkayo, Galdogob and Jariiban are under Puntland. South Galkayo, Hobyo and Xarardheere are under Galmudug ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31721)). The city has two district councils and two police commands. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds Amara, Qey'ad and areas to the west, and blockaded Xarardheere town in August 2025.

**Working across the line:** from July 2025 a CARE-led group (SSF III) worked with neighbourhood committees on both sides to repair 429 streetlights and add 23 new solar ones ([SSF III](https://stabilityfund.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SSF-III_Lighting-up-Galkayo.pdf)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). This is semi-arid country. Parts of central Somalia get as little as 50 to 150 mm of rain a year ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **4 to 5 August 2026:** heavy fighting in Galkayo between Puntland forces and federally backed forces. Families fled the front-line neighbourhoods ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608050448.html)).
- **August 2026:** Galkayo camps went weeks without water, children fell sick, and no aid came ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/08/impoverished-pastoralists-in-mudug-flee-to-resource-poor-camps-in-galkayo/)).
- **2025:** 48 security incidents in Galkayo, the most in Mudug ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31721)).

## Top needs

1. Water and food in the Galkayo camps.
2. Safety information for civilians when fighting starts.
3. Income for former herders living on shop credit.
4. Health care for sick children.
5. Trust across the city line.


---

# Dhuusamarreeb (Dhusamareb) and Galgaduud

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/galgaduud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Galgaduud is a region of central Somalia in Galmudug State, with Dhusamareb (Dhuusamarreeb) as its capital and about 845,000 people. Government-aligned forces hold most towns and al-Shabaab holds the south-east, and families face displacement, revenge killings and landmines.

## Who lives there

About 844,925 people (IPC, 2026) ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31719)). The region has five districts: Dhusamareb (the capital), [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/), [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/), Ceel Buur and Ceel Dheer. Communities include Habar Gidir sub-clans, the Suleiman, Ayr, Duduble and Murusade (all Hawiye), and the Marehan (Darod). Smaller and minority groups have not been well counted ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)).

Conflict displaced 11,203 people from April 2023 to March 2025. Cadaado took in 9,710 arrivals, and Ceel Buur had the most people leave ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). About 1,000 more people moved from Dhusamareb to Cadaado district in November 2025 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31719)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Most rural families herd camels and goats, and towns live by trade. We have not yet found checked figures for wages or prices in Dhusamareb.

## Who governs

Galmudug State runs the region from Dhusamareb. A federal-aligned coalition holds Dhusamareb, Guri Ceel, Cadaado, Ceel Dheer, Masagaway, Bahdo, Balanbal, Heraale and Cabudwaaq. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds the centre and south-east, including Wahbo, Ceel Buur, Galhareri and Osweyne. Most rural land south of the Guri Ceel to Cadaado road is mixed ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31719)). Clan militias known as Ma'awisley fight al-Shabaab around Ceel Buur ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). This is semi-arid country. Parts of central Somalia get as little as 50 to 150 mm of rain a year ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **28 June 2025:** al-Shabaab publicly executed five men in Ceel Buur.
- **July to November 2025:** clan revenge killings in Hindheere, where a mother and her three daughters died, and in Balanbal and Guudoole.
- **September 2025:** an attack on Ceel Dheer was pushed back.
- **April 2025 to March 2026:** 298 security incidents and 580 deaths ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31719)).
- **July 2024:** a landmine killed three children in Heraale ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)).

## Top needs

1. Food and water for displaced families in Dhusamareb and Cadaado.
2. Income for displaced women and former herders.
3. An end to cycles of clan revenge deaths, through remembrance and recognition.
4. Safety for children from landmines and attacks.
5. Papers for people fleeing areas held by al-Shabaab.

## What we don't know yet

Wages and prices, the names of district officials, the minority groups in the region, and which aid agencies work there. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Beledweyne (Belet Weyne) and Hiiraan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/hiiraan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hiiraan is a region of Hirshabelle State on the Shabelle river, with Beledweyne as its capital and about 505,000 to 598,000 people. Its towns are held by the state and federal governments, and families there face bombings, local clashes, evictions of displaced people and the river's floods.

## Who lives there

Estimates for 2024 run from about 505,000 people (IPC) to 598,000 (IOM). The region has three districts: Beledweyne (the capital), Bulo Burto and Jalalaqsi. The Hawadle (Hawiye) are the largest group north-east of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river. The Gaaljecel and Badicadde live mainly to the south-west. Smaller groups include the Udeejeen, Faqi Omar, Faqi Muhmed, Reer Aw Hassan and Makanne ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)).

Conflict displaced 10,542 people from or within Hiiraan between April 2023 and March 2025. Beledweyne took in the most arrivals, and Jalalaqsi had the most people leave. Displaced families also face eviction: Beledweyne evicted 50 households in early 2024 and 130 households (780 people) in the next three months ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Families farm along the river and herd animals. We have not yet found checked wage or price figures for the region.

## Who governs

[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) State and the federal government hold the towns of Beledweyne, Bulo Burto and Jalalaqsi. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds western Bulo Burto district and areas on the west bank between Jalalaqsi and Beledweyne. It retook many villages in June 2024 when clan militias pulled back. African Union troops from Djibouti still work in the region ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) runs through this region. River floods in Somalia happen mostly along the Juba and Shabelle, and the worst have come in the Deyr season, as in 1961, 1977, 1997 and 2006 ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **Bombings in towns:** on 23 September 2023 a truck bomb at a Beledweyne checkpoint killed at least 36 people. On 2 July 2024 a car bomb at a Beledweyne base killed at least 4.
- **Clan clashes:** around Halfooley in July 2023, December 2024 (more than 20 dead) and February 2025, and between Hawadle and Abgaal fighters on the Middle Shabelle border in April 2024.
- **Overall:** 394 security incidents and 899 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025, and children taken into al-Shabaab ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)).
- **Floods:** the Shabelle often floods Beledweyne. In May 2023, Somalia's disaster agency said floods drove more than 245,000 people from their homes there ([The EastAfrican](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/almost-250-000-flee-floods-in-somali-city-4239222)). An aid group later counted about 201,000 ([ActionAid via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/actionaid-press-release-beledweyne-flooding-response-19th-july-2023)).

## Sources differ

Flood figures for 2023 vary: about 200,000 to 245,000 for Beledweyne, depending on who counted and when.

## Top needs

1. Flood warnings and help to recover for riverside families.
2. Protection for displaced families from eviction.
3. Income for farmers and displaced people after floods and fighting.
4. School places, so children stay away from recruitment.
5. Trust rebuilt between clans after recent clashes.

## What we don't know yet

Flood numbers for 2025 and 2026, prices and wages, and the local groups working in Beledweyne. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Shabelle River (Webiga Shabeelle)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/shabelle-river/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Shabelle (Webiga Shabeelle, Shebelle, Uebi Scebeli) rises in the Bale highlands of Ethiopia and runs about 1,820 km through the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Hiiraan, Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle. Near Mogadishu it turns south-west along the coast, and in most years it dries out before reaching the Jubba.

## Course

The [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, in the Bale Mountains, and flows south-east into Somalia towards Mogadishu ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River); [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Shebeli-River)). Its total length is given as 1,820 km ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)). In Somalia it passes through [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

Near Mogadishu the river turns sharply south-west and runs parallel to the coast. Below this point it becomes seasonal. In most years it ends in wetlands and sandy plains north-east of the Jubba; only in years of heavy rain does it reach the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) and so the sea ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)). Older writers called it "the Nile of Mogadishu", and the traveller Thomas Wakefield recorded the name "Adari River" ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

Its tributaries include the Erer, the Galetti and the Wabe. The Fafan reaches it only in very wet years ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

## People and farming

Arsi Oromo live around its source, Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia along its middle course, and Somalis in Somalia along its lower course ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)). In the lower basin farming has largely replaced herding, and bananas grown along the southern Shabelle and Jubba were a major Somali export ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

In the Middle Ages the Ajuran state controlled the water of the Shabelle and Jubba. Irrigation ditches called *kelliyo* fed farms that grew sorghum, maize, beans and cotton in the Gu and Xagaa seasons, and crops went to the coastal ports of Mogadishu, Marka, [Baraawe](/en/regions/barawa/), Kismaayo and Hobyo for trade ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

See also [the Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/).

## Dams

In 1989 the Melka Wakena dam was built on the upper Shabelle in the Bale Mountains with Soviet help. It produces 153 megawatts and was described as Ethiopia's largest hydroelectric plant ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River), citing [Media Ethiopia](https://web.archive.org/web/20060522223124/http://www.mediaethiopia.com/Engineering/Lulseged_on_hydroelectric.htm)).

## Floods

People along the river give its big floods names. Sources record the *hidigsayley* flood of 1965, the *soogudud* of 1966 and the *kabahay* of 1978, and say the river flooded about every other year before the 1960s ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

On 23 October 1999 a night flood in the Somali Region of Ethiopia hit 14 of 117 kebeles in Kelafo woreda and 29 of 46 in Mustahil woreda. Local authorities reported 34 people and about 750 animals dead and 70,000 people affected ([UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia, 1999](https://www.africa.upenn.edu/eue_web/som1199.htm)). A flood called *dawdle* in 2003 washed away 119 people and about 100 animals, and in April 2005 about 30,000 people were cut off by water and 2,000 camels and 4,000 sheep and goats were lost ([Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)).

Somalia's two rainy seasons, Gu (April to June) and [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) (October to December), set the flood risk, but the river also rises with rain in the Ethiopian highlands ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). River levels and flood warnings are published by FAO [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) ([FAO SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)) and the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)
- [Britannica: Shebeli River](https://www.britannica.com/place/Shebeli-River)
- [Wikidata Q141915](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141915)
- [UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia, Somali Region floods, Nov 1999](https://www.africa.upenn.edu/eue_web/som1199.htm)
- [FAO SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)


---

# Somali Current

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/somali-current/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Current is an ocean current along the coast of Somalia that reverses with the monsoon. From June to September it runs north-east at up to 7 knots and pulls cold, nutrient-rich water up from the deep, making the sea off Somalia one of the most productive in the world for fish. In the northern winter it weakens and turns south.

## What it is

The Somali Current is a boundary current of the western Indian Ocean that runs along the coasts of [Somalia and Oman](/en/relations/oman/). It is compared to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, and it is the only major upwelling system on the western edge of an ocean ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current)).

Unlike most ocean currents, it changes direction with the seasons because it is driven by the monsoon winds ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current); [Schott and McCreary, *Progress in Oceanography* 2001](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0079-6611(01)00083-0)).

## The seasons

- **March to May, before the monsoon:** a shallow current 50 to 100 km wide flows north near the coast over a southward undercurrent. In the south, the East African Coast Current crosses the equator and continues north as the southern Somali Current to about 3 to 4°N ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current)).
- **June to September, south-west monsoon:** the current strengthens from mid-May and flows north-east. Speeds are about 2 m/s in mid-May and 3.5 m/s or more in June, up to about 7 knots. It travels about 1,500 km north-east and turns east near Cape Guardafui to join the Indian monsoon current ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current)).
- **Northern winter, north-east monsoon:** the winds reverse and the current weakens and turns south ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current)).

The Somali year has four seasons. The Jilaal, from December to March, is the harshest dry season, and the Xagaa, from July to September, is the second dry season; they fall between the Gu and [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains ([Wikipedia: Geography of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Somalia)).

## Why the sea off Somalia is rich

During the south-west monsoon, wind pushes coastal water offshore and cold water rises from below to replace it. A narrow low-level wind called the Somali Jet, or Findlater Jet, blows across the ocean parallel to the coasts of Somalia and Oman and causes more upwelling out at sea. The two together bring up very large amounts of cold, nutrient-rich water, creating one of the most productive ocean ecosystems in the world ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current)). This is the base of Somalia's fish stocks; see [fishing companies in Somalia](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/).

## Size and speed

The current is shallow, often less than 150 m deep south of 5°N. In mid-September it typically carries about 37 million cubic metres of water a second (37 sverdrups), weaker than the Gulf Stream, but flows of 60 to 70 sverdrups have been measured south of Socotra ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current); [Beal and Chereskin, *Deep-Sea Research* 2003](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0967-0645(03)00046-8)).

Two large eddies form in summer: the Great Whirl off the Somali coast and the Socotra Eddy. The US ship *Wilkes* recorded both in August and September 1979 ([Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current); [Bruce 1979, *Journal of Geophysical Research*](https://doi.org/10.1029/jc084ic12p07742)).

## How it was studied

Scientists agreed on the current's existence by 1966 ([Warren et al. 1966](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1966DSRA...13..825W)). Lighthill in 1969 explained it by waves at the ocean's western edge ([Lighthill 1969](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1969.0040)), and studies through the 1970s showed that local winds set off the current each year ([Leetmaa 1972](https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-7471(72)90025-3)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Current)
- [Wikidata Q1267550](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1267550)
- [Schott and McCreary, "The monsoon circulation of the Indian Ocean", *Progress in Oceanography*, 2001](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0079-6611(01)00083-0)
- [Beal and Chereskin, *Deep-Sea Research II*, 2003](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0967-0645(03)00046-8)
- [Lighthill, *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A*, 1969](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1969.0040)


---

# Jowhar (Johar) and Middle Shabelle

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/middle-shabelle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Middle Shabelle is the farming region along the Shabelle river north of Mogadishu, with Jowhar as its capital and about 1 to 1.26 million people. River floods in 2025 cut off thousands of families, and conflict there caused the highest death toll of any southern region between 2023 and 2025.

## Who lives there

Estimates for September 2024 run from about 1.01 million people (IPC) to 1.26 million (IOM). The region has four districts: Jowhar (capital of the region and of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) State), Balcad, Cadale and [Adan Yabaal](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/). The Abgaal (Hawiye) are the main clan, and Somali Bantu farming families live in Jowhar district ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)).

Conflict displaced 66,238 people from April 2023 to March 2025. Cadale took in 38,087 of them, and 10,496 left Jowhar for other regions.

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Families farm along the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river, growing vegetables, maize, sesame, okra and beans. Before the 2025 floods a village grocery earned $10 to $15 a day. Farmers spent $250 to $300 on seed and labour each season, often borrowed. Charging a phone costs 4,000 shillings ([Radio Ergo, Nov 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/11/middle-shabelle-villagers-left-stranded-after-river-floods-in-mahaday/)).

## Who governs

Hirshabelle State and federal forces hold Jowhar, Mahaday, Adan Yabaal town and Adale, and the coast. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds a strip in the north-west, from Fidow to the [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) border, and land east of Adan Yabaal. In November 2024 it controlled the Balcad to Jowhar road. Most rural land is mixed or unclear. African Union police are to be based in Jowhar ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)). The Mahaday district office led sandbag repairs to the river banks in 2025 ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/11/middle-shabelle-villagers-left-stranded-after-river-floods-in-mahaday/)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) runs through this region. River floods in Somalia happen mostly along the Juba and Shabelle, and the worst have come in the Deyr season, as in 1961, 1977, 1997 and 2006 ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **September 2025:** the Shabelle broke its banks north of Mahaday. More than 13,000 families in seven villages were cut off. Crops were lost weeks before harvest, wells were ruined, a health centre closed and Obaale school flooded ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/11/middle-shabelle-villagers-left-stranded-after-river-floods-in-mahaday/)).
- **Roadside bombs:** 7 civilians were killed on a minibus on the Jowhar to Mogadishu road in August 2024, and 5 were killed in Balcad in June 2024.
- **Local fighting:** a conflict between Abgaal sub-clans ran from July 2023 until a peace deal in August 2024, and Hawadle and Abgaal fighters clashed in December 2024. Al-Shabaab retook El Baraf in February 2025.
- **Overall:** 424 incidents and 1,867 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025, the highest death toll of the five southern regions in the same report ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)).

## Top needs

1. Flood warnings and recovery for riverside farm villages.
2. Clean water and health care after the floods.
3. Farm income and seed after crops were lost.
4. Records and recognition for Somali Bantu farmers.
5. Safe travel information for the Jowhar to Mogadishu road.

## What we don't know yet

The number of Somali Bantu families, wages and current prices in Jowhar, and flood data for 2026. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Marka (Merca) and Lower Shabelle

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/lower-shabelle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Lower Shabelle is Somalia's biggest farming region, along the Shabelle river south-west of Mogadishu, with Marka (Merca) as its capital and about 835,000 to 1.59 million people. The government holds the main towns and al-Shabaab most of the farmland, and fighting and land disputes have driven over 78,000 people from their homes.

## Who lives there

Estimates for September 2024 run from about 835,000 people (IOM) to 1.59 million (IPC). The region has seven districts: Marka (the capital), Afgooye, Wanla Weyn, [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/), Baraawe (the official capital of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)), Kurtunwaarey and Sablaale. Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn) clans make up a large share. The Biyomaal live around Marka, Hawiye clans in the east, and Somali Bantu farmers along the river. The Gorgaarte are a marginalised clan ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)).

Conflict displaced 78,367 people from April 2023 to March 2025, most from Kurtunwaarey and Qoryooley.

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

The region grows more food than any other in Somalia ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)).

- **Day pay:** farm work pays about $4 a day, selling milk $3 to $4, and gathering firewood 50 cents ([Radio Ergo, Jul 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/07/clan-conflict-over-land-in-lower-shabelle-leaves-families-destitute/)).
- **Costs:** one family spent $200 on sorghum, maize and bean seed. Water in the Afgooye camps costs 4,000 shillings (about $0.70) a jerrycan ([Radio Ergo, Oct 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/farming-families-from-lower-shabelle-warzone-villages-face-misery-in-afgoye/)).

## Who governs

The federal government and South West State hold the towns of Marka, Baraawe, Qoryooley, Bulo Mareer, Afgooye and Wanla Weyn, with army units and African Union troops from Uganda. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds nearly all the central, southern and south-western land, including Kurtunwaarey, Sablaale, Mubarak and Awdhegle, and takes a share of harvests as tax ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)). In Afgooye's Eyle camp, a committee of host families collects food for new arrivals ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/farming-families-from-lower-shabelle-warzone-villages-face-misery-in-afgoye/)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) runs through this region. River floods in Somalia happen mostly along the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Shabelle, and the worst have come in the Deyr season, as in 1961, 1977, 1997 and 2006 ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **May 2026:** clan militias fought over farmland near Beder. More than 50 families fled to Buufow-Ba'ad near Marka. Canals were cut, nothing was planted that season, and no aid was reported ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/07/clan-conflict-over-land-in-lower-shabelle-leaves-families-destitute/)).
- **May 2025:** fighting near Anoole and Sabiid drove more than 500 families to Eyle camp in Afgooye, where each family gets 20 litres of water a day ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/farming-families-from-lower-shabelle-warzone-villages-face-misery-in-afgoye/)).
- **Violence:** 1,416 incidents and 2,122 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025, with Afgooye worst hit (639). Drone strikes on 18 March 2024 killed 23 Gorgaarte civilians. A clash between the Jiido and Garre in Qoryooley in July 2024 displaced about 2,100 people ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)).

## Top needs

1. Food, water and shelter for families fleeing fighting and land disputes.
2. Records of who farms which land, kept by farmers themselves.
3. Farm work and seed for farmers who lost a season.
4. School places for children taken out of school when they fled.
5. Recognition for marginalised groups, including the Gorgaarte and Somali Bantu families.


---

# Baydhabo (Baidoa) and Bay

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/bay/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bay is a farming region in South West State, with Baidoa (Baydhabo) as its main city and about 1.25 to 1.8 million people. Baidoa hosts more displaced people than any other district IOM assessed, over 730,000 in 2024, and families there face evictions, drought and fighting.

## Who lives there

Estimates for September 2024 run from about 1.25 million people (IPC) to 1.8 million (IOM). The region has four districts: Baidoa, Buur Hakaba, Qansax Dheere and Diinsoor. Baidoa serves as the working capital of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/). Most people are Rahanweyn, Mirifle in the north and Digil in the south, and speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/). Small Hawiye groups also live here. Baidoa district hosted 731,492 displaced people in September 2024, the most of any district IOM assessed ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Families farm sorghum and keep animals ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)). In the Baidoa camps:

- A small shop earns $3 to $5 a day, and a vegetable stall up to $5.
- Water costs $0.25 for 20 litres at private wells.
- Private school costs $5 a month per child ([Radio Ergo, Sep 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/09/idp-families-kicked-off-baidoa-land-lose-their-assets-income-schools-and-health-centre/)).

## Who governs

The federal government and South West State hold the towns of Baidoa, Buur Hakaba, Berdale, Qansax Dheere and Diinsoor, with Ethiopian troops in Diinsoor. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds Lego, Labatan Jirow, Bulo-Fulay and over half of rural Bay. It besieged Baidoa for nearly two weeks in July 2023 ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)). In March 2026 South West State cut ties with the federal government, federal forces took Baidoa and the state's leader resigned ([South West State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_State_of_Somalia)). Adan Madoobe has led the state since June 2026, and the former leader's side still holds towns in Bay, where fighting continues ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/nearly-five-months-into-office-aadan-madoobe-faces-ongoing-fighting-in-south-west-state/)). Camp committees speak for residents, and Islamic Relief has run livelihood support in the camps ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/09/idp-families-kicked-off-baidoa-land-lose-their-assets-income-schools-and-health-centre/)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The south-west gets the most rain in Somalia, around 600 mm a year ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **July 2026:** more than 160 displaced families were evicted from Iraroog camp in Baidoa when the land was sold. More than 300 children lost their school, and a free health centre closed ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/09/idp-families-kicked-off-baidoa-land-lose-their-assets-income-schools-and-health-centre/)).
- **Displacement:** conflict displaced 23,722 people from April 2023 to March 2025. Clan clashes in Diinsoor in March 2024 displaced 1,371 households.
- **Violence:** 670 incidents and 621 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025, 431 of them in Baidoa ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)).
- **Drought:** animals are dying of drought and disease. One family lost 27 animals ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/09/idp-families-kicked-off-baidoa-land-lose-their-assets-income-schools-and-health-centre/)).

## Top needs

1. Secure shelter and records for evicted displaced families in Baidoa.
2. Water at prices families can pay.
3. Schools and health care lost after evictions.
4. Income to restart small shops and stalls.
5. Services in Maay, the language most people speak.

## What we don't know yet

Wages outside the camps, and figures for 2026 displacement. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Xuddur (Hudur) and Bakool

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/bakool/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bakool is a region in South West State, on the border with Ethiopia, with Xudur (Hudur) as its capital. About 392,000 to 543,000 people live there, and many families have been pushed off their farms and herds by two years of drought and by sieges of its towns.

## Who lives there

Estimates for 2024 run from about 392,000 people (IOM) to 543,000 (IPC). The region has five districts: Xudur (the capital), Waajid, Ceel Barde, Tayeeglow and Rab Dhuure ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/221-bakool)).

Conflict displaced 20,284 people between April 2023 and March 2025, and half of them left for other regions. In October 2025 more than 1,000 displaced families were registered in camps around Xudur. They came from Tayeeglow, El-garas, Biyoley and Mubarak ([Radio Ergo, Oct 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/hundreds-fleeing-drought-and-insecurity-in-bakool-suffer-misery-in-camps-in-hudur/)).

## Clans and communities

Most people are Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle), who speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/). The Jajele (Hawiye) live in the north, and the Aulihan (Ogaden, Darod) along the Ethiopian border ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/221-bakool)). Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Most families live by farming and herding together. Two years of drought killed livestock and ended farming for many. Well water costs 2,000 shillings a jerrycan, but some well owners let families with no cash take water free ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/hundreds-fleeing-drought-and-insecurity-in-bakool-suffer-misery-in-camps-in-hudur/)). We have not found wage figures for Bakool.

## Who governs

The federal government and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) hold the towns of Xudur, Waajid, Ceel Barde, Yeed and Ato, with Ethiopian troops in Xudur and Waajid. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds Rab Dhuure and Tayeeglow towns and much of the east and south-east. It keeps Xudur and Waajid under siege, taxes people heavily and takes children. In August 2024 goods reached Xudur only by air or by donkey cart ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/221-bakool)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The south-west gets the most rain in Somalia, around 600 mm a year ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **October 2025:** aid to the Xudur camps has "sharply declined". Families lack toilets, shelter and money for health care, and walk one to three hours for water ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/hundreds-fleeing-drought-and-insecurity-in-bakool-suffer-misery-in-camps-in-hudur/)).
- **Sieges:** supply roads to Xudur and Waajid were blocked in August 2024.
- **Violence:** 284 incidents and 583 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/221-bakool)).

## Who is helping

Host families in Xudur take in new arrivals and share what they have ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/hundreds-fleeing-drought-and-insecurity-in-bakool-suffer-misery-in-camps-in-hudur/)).

## Top needs

1. Water close to the Xudur camps.
2. Food at fair prices under siege.
3. Health care for sick children.
4. Contact for families separated as they fled.
5. Income after herds and farms were lost.

## What we don't know yet

Whether the sieges continue in 2026, current prices and wages, and which local groups work in Xudur. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Garbahaarrey (Garbaharey) and Gedo

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/gedo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Gedo is the south-western region on the borders with Kenya and Ethiopia, with Garbahaarrey as its capital and about 1 million people in six districts. Control is split between federal-aligned forces, Jubaland and al-Shabaab, and over 29,000 people were newly displaced from April 2025 to February 2026, most in Belet Xaawo.

## Who lives there

 About 1,014,335 people (IPC estimate, January 2026). Six districts: Garbahaarey (capital), Luuq, Doolow, Belet Xaawo (Beled Hawo), Ceel Waaq and [Bardhere](/en/regions/baardheere/) ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)). It borders Kenya (Mandera) and Ethiopia. Displaced: 29,107 people newly displaced April 2025 to February 2026, 25,163 of them in Belet Xaawo ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)). Returnees from Ethiopian camps (Boqol-Maayo, Liban zone) live in Kabaaso camp, Doolow ([Radio Ergo, Dec 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/12/somali-families-who-returned-from-ethiopia-face-fallout-from-aid-cuts-in-gedo-displacement-camps/)).

## Work and money

 Herding, riverside farming on the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), and cross-border trade (estimate). In Kabaaso camp a mother earns no more than $3 a week cleaning; a grocery stall made $2 to $3 a day before it collapsed in July 2025; tap water costs about $0.6 a jerrycan; school fees are $5 a month; WFP cash ($80) was cut in May 2025 ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/12/somali-families-who-returned-from-ethiopia-face-fallout-from-aid-cuts-in-gedo-displacement-camps/)). Rice, flour and sugar rose 1 to 6% in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) in August 2025 because of the Belet Xaawo fighting ([WFP/Logistics Cluster, Aug 2025](https://logcluster.org/sites/default/files/public/2025-08/wfp-somalia-joint-markets-and-supply-chain-update15th-august-2025.pdf)). Water prices rose sharply in the late-2025 drought ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)).

## Who governs

 Control is split, as of 31 March 2026. Federal-aligned forces hold Garbahaarey, Belet Xaawo and Burdhubo. Jubaland forces with Ethiopian and Kenyan forces hold Doolow. Luuq, Ceel Waaq and Bardhere towns are under mixed Jubaland and federal control. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds [El Adde](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/), Cows Qurun, large rural parts of Garbahaarey and Ceel Waaq, and most of Bardhere district ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)). The Jubaland Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management runs appeals for the displaced ([OCHA, 3 Aug 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-conflict-displacement-hiraan-and-gedo-regions-flash-update-no2-3-august-2025)). Gedo had 31 aid access incidents in 2025, more than any other region ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The [Juba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) runs through this region. River floods in Somalia happen mostly along the Juba and Shabelle, and the worst have come in the Deyr season, as in 1961, 1977, 1997 and 2006 ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- July to August 2025: three waves of federal–Jubaland fighting in Belet Xaawo and Doolow; 28,000 displaced locally and 10,200 into Mandera, Kenya ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-conflict-displacement-hiraan-and-gedo-regions-flash-update-no2-3-august-2025)).
- May to July 2025: aid cuts left returnee families in Doolow eating once a day, children out of school ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/12/somali-families-who-returned-from-ethiopia-face-fallout-from-aid-cuts-in-gedo-displacement-camps/)).
- January 2026: 54% of people stressed or worse on food, 4% in emergency; 915 evictions recorded in 2025 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)).
- September 2025: clan militia clashes near Luuq left at least four dead ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/211-gedo)).

## Top needs

1. Food and cash income for displaced and returnee families.
2. Clean, affordable water.
3. Children back in school ($5 a month is out of reach).
4. Help after eviction and displacement: documents, finding services.
5. Basic health and nutrition for mothers and small children.


---

# Bu'aale (Buale) and Middle Juba

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/middle-juba/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Middle Juba is a farming region on the Juba river in the south, with about 447,000 people. Al-Shabaab controls all of it, and Jilib is its main base, so tens of thousands of families have left for Kismayo, Gedo and Mogadishu, where they need food, papers and a safe place to sleep.

## Who lives there

About 447,217 people (IPC, January 2026) ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31709)). The region has three districts: Bu'aale (the capital), Jilib and Saakow. Somali Bantu communities are the largest group. The Aulihan and Mohamed Zubeir (Ogaden, Darod) are the strongest clans politically ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)).

## Who has left

- **April 2023 to March 2025:** 52,217 people were newly displaced, and 19,612 of them went to [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Banadir ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)).
- **April 2025 to February 2026:** another 4,805 were displaced, and 4,704 of them went to Lower Juba, mainly from Bu'aale and Jilib ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31709)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

Families farm along the Juba river and keep animals. We have not found checked price or wage figures inside the region. People who reach Kismayo pay [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) market prices: rice, flour and sugar rose 1% to 6% in August 2025 ([WFP and Logistics Cluster](https://logcluster.org/sites/default/files/public/2025-08/wfp-somalia-joint-markets-and-supply-chain-update15th-august-2025.pdf)).

## Who governs

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) controls the whole region, including Bu'aale, Jilib, Saakow and Salagle, as of 31 March 2026. UN access is under "very heavy restrictions" across the region ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31709)).

Where people arrive, the Jubaland administration in Kismayo and its Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management are in charge ([OCHA](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-conflict-displacement-hiraan-and-gedo-regions-flash-update-no2-3-august-2025)). The Danish Refugee Council works with displaced families around Kismayo ([DRC, Aug 2024](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/rapid-needs-assessment-turqata-qarsa-shariifadda-basra-bilicsan-gasho-kismayo-lower-jubba-somalia-25th-august-2024)).

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The [Juba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) runs through this region. River floods in Somalia happen mostly along the Juba and Shabelle, and the worst have come in the Deyr season, as in 1961, 1977, 1997 and 2006 ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **April 2025 to March 2026:** 109 security incidents and 312 deaths, including 54 incidents of violence against civilians by al-Shabaab.
- **January 2026:** al-Shabaab publicly executed five men in Jilib, accused of spying.
- **January 2026:** 59% of people were short of food or worse, and 4% were in an emergency ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31709)).
- **October 2024:** UN experts named Middle Juba as one of the regions where al-Shabaab most often takes children ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)).

## Top needs (for people who have left)

1. Food and income on arrival in Kismayo and Gedo.
2. A safe place to sleep, and knowing where services are.
3. Children kept in school and away from recruitment.
4. Papers and registration, so families can reach aid.
5. Finding scattered family members.

## What we don't know yet

Population by district, prices and wages, and how many people from Middle Juba now live in Mogadishu. If you know, use "Fix this page".


---

# Kismaayo (Kismayo) and Lower Juba

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/lower-juba/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Lower Juba is the far southern region on the border with Kenya, with the port city of Kismayo (Kismaayo) as its capital and about 1.2 million people. Jubaland holds Kismayo and the border towns, al-Shabaab holds Jamaame and much of the countryside, and over 34,000 people were newly displaced in 2025 and early 2026.

## Who lives there

About 1,204,269 people (IPC, January 2026) ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31710)). The districts are Kismayo (the capital), [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), Badhaadhe and Afmadow. Communities include the Somali Bantu (Jareer), Biyomaal, Tunni, Gaaljaal, the Ogaden (Mohamed Zubeir) and other Darod clans including Harti groups, and the Bajuni ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/213-lower-juba)).

The Bajuni live in Kismayo and on the [Bajuni Islands](/en/regions/bajuni-islands/) near Kenya. They speak [Kibajuni](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/), most are poor fishers, and they have no representative in the [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) government ([Minority Rights Group](https://minorityrights.org/communities/benadiri/)).

**Displaced:** 34,081 people were newly displaced from April 2025 to February 2026, 25,629 of them from Jamaame. Another 5,042 arrived from other regions ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31710)). In 2024 about 6,552 people from Bula Xaaji, Harbole and Miido settled in sites around Kismayo ([DRC, Aug 2024](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/rapid-needs-assessment-turqata-qarsa-shariifadda-basra-bilicsan-gasho-kismayo-lower-jubba-somalia-25th-august-2024)).

Clan names are given as the sources record them, to show who lives where. No clan owns a region, and every community here has its own story.

## Work and money

- **Fishing:** Bajuni fishers paid $3 for a block of ice in Kismayo. One night's trip brings in about 40 kg of fish ([FAO](https://fao.org/emergencies/resources-repository/news/detail/Somalia-FAO-and-FCDO-provide-marginalized-fisherfolks-with-ice-for-the-first-time-in-Bajuni-Islands-/en)).
- **Herding:** drought killed whole herds. One family near Buulo-Haaji lost 35 cattle and 25 goats ([Radio Ergo via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/drought-hit-lower-juba-pastoralists-flee-towards-somali-kenyan-border)).
- **Prices:** staple foods rose 1% to 6% in Jubaland in August 2025 ([WFP](https://logcluster.org/sites/default/files/public/2025-08/wfp-somalia-joint-markets-and-supply-chain-update15th-august-2025.pdf)).

## Who governs

The Jubaland administration under [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/), based in Kismayo. Ties with the federal government began to ease after the President's visit in October 2025 ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510060048.html)). Jubaland forces, with Kenyan and Ethiopian forces, hold Kismayo, Afmadow, Dhobley, Dif, Kolbiyow, [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/), Koday, Bulo Xaji and Bar Sanguni. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) holds Jamaame, Hagar, Mido, Berhani and Badhaadhe towns and much of rural Afmadow, as of 31 March 2026 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31710)). Jubaland's fisheries ministry worked with FAO to bring ice machines to the Bajuni Islands.

## Climate and seasons (Gu, Deyr)

Somalia has two rainy seasons: the Gu, from April to June, and the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), from October to December. Temperatures stay between about 25 and 28°C through the year in most places ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)). The [Juba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) runs through this region. River floods in Somalia happen mostly along the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Shabelle, and the worst have come in the Deyr season, as in 1961, 1977, 1997 and 2006 ([Red Cross Climate Centre](https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Somalia_2024_final.pdf)).

For 2026, the Gu rains were below average. The forecast for the Deyr from October to December 2026 is for well above-average rain, which helps crops but raises the risk of floods ([FAO GIEWS, Sep 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)). For official flood and weather warnings, see the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## What people face now

- **26 November 2025:** at least 21 civilians were killed in an air strike or ground operation in Jamaame.
- **2025 to early 2026:** 4,304 people were evicted, and aid access is heavily limited across most of Kismayo.
- **January 2026:** 50% of people were short of food or worse ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31710)). Drought pushed herders towards [Kulbiyow](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/), where host families share one meal a day ([ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/drought-hit-lower-juba-pastoralists-flee-towards-somali-kenyan-border)).

## Top needs

1. Food and income for displaced families around Kismayo and Kulbiyow.
2. Clean water and shelter in displacement sites.
3. Help after eviction: papers, new sites and services.
4. A fresh start for herders who lost their animals, and for Bajuni fishers.
5. Schools and health care for children and new mothers.


---

# Ewaso Ng'iro and Lagh Dera

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/ewaso-ngiro/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ewaso Ng'iro (Ewaso Nyiro North) is a Kenyan river that rises on Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, flows east through Laikipia, Samburu and Isiolo, and spreads into the Lorian Swamp. Below the swamp its dry-season bed runs through Wajir and Garissa counties into Somalia, where it is called Lagh Dera.

## Course

The Ewaso Ng'iro starts at Thome, near Nanyuki in Laikipia County, where the Naro Moru River from Mount Kenya meets the Ngarinyiru from the Aberdare range ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). It is fed partly by Mount Kenya's glaciers and flows east. Below Saricho it spreads into the Lorian Swamp, a large wetland ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)).

The catchment crosses seven dry and semi-dry districts: Meru, Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo, Wajir, Marsabit and Garissa ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). Below the swamp the river is seasonal; its bed through Somalia is called Lagh Dera ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). Wajir and Garissa are two of the three counties of former [North Eastern Province](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/), where most people are Somali ([Wikipedia: North Eastern Province](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Eastern_Province_(Kenya))).

The name comes from the Maasai language and means "river of brown (muddy) water" ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). Its upper basin covers about 15,200 km² ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)).

## Water and wildlife

The river is the largest of Kenya's five water catchments ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). Its water keeps the Samburu, Shaba and Buffalo Springs national reserves green in dry country ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). It also feeds Lake Ol Bolossat, the only lake in central Kenya, which was declared a protected area in 2018 ([The Star, Feb 2018](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/02/20/why-lake-that-feeds-ewaso-was-declared-protected-area_c1708470); [The Standard](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000172240/discovering-central-kenya-s-only-natural-lake)).

## Less water downstream

Studies of the basin report that its tributaries dry up more often in the dry season, rain has become less reliable, and low-season flow has fallen ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). Much of the water is taken for irrigation in the upper catchment, where the population has grown fast, leaving less for herders and wildlife downstream ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro); [NETWAS, 2005](https://web.archive.org/web/20070524041456/http://www.netwas.org/newsletter/articles/2005/09/5)). The African Development Fund puts Kenya's renewable fresh water at under 650 m³ per person per year, one of the lowest in the world ([Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)). A 2026 study in *Hydrology and Earth System Sciences* looks at water in the basin ([HESS, 2026](https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/30/2225/2026/)).

For Somalia's main rivers, see the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) and the [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Ewaso Ng'iro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewaso_Ng%27iro)
- [Wikidata Q1757939](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1757939)
- [The Star, Lake Ol Bolossat protected, 2018](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/02/20/why-lake-that-feeds-ewaso-was-declared-protected-area_c1708470)
- [Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2026](https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/30/2225/2026/)


---

# Dawa River (Webiga Daawa)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/dawa-river/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Dawa (Webiga Daawa, Daua) is a river of southern Ethiopia whose basin covers about 58,961 km² across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. It flows south-east, forms part of the Ethiopia–Kenya and Ethiopia–Somalia borders, and meets the Ganale at Dolow to form the Jubba River.

## Course

The Dawa rises in the highlands of southern Ethiopia and flows south-east. It forms part of the Ethiopia–Kenya border and then part of the Ethiopia–Somalia border ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)). At Dolow on the Somali border it meets the Ganale Dorya, and the two form the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)). The meeting point, at about 4.18°N, 42.08°E and 180 m above sea level, is in Somalia's [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) region ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1178464)).

The basin covers about 58,961 km², 81% of it in Ethiopia, lying between about 3.9° and 6.5°N and 38.0° and 42.1°E. It falls from 3,098 m in the north-west to 169 m at the outlet. The Awata, Digati and Mormora are its main tributaries ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)). Its names are Webiga Daawa in Somali, Laga Daawwaa in Oromo and Daua in Italian ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)).

## Climate and water

The basin spans three climate zones: cool highlands, a temperate middle and hot lowlands. Ethiopian rainfall records for 1996–2016 show about 1,500 mm a year at the northern end, falling to about 200 mm near the outlet. The average temperature rises from about 15.5°C in the north to 28°C in the south ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)).

Groundwater is shaped by the rocks: water is freshest in volcanic areas and saltiest in sedimentary areas. In the dry south-east, people get water from flash floods after heavy rain and from shallow wells in dry river beds ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River); [Environmental Earth Sciences, 2016](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5777-0); [Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2016](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5480-3)).

## Plants, animals and herders

The biggest trees of the riverine forest grow along the lower Dawa, among them African ebony (*Diospyros mespiliformis*), sycamore fig, tamarind and African mahogany ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)). BirdLife International lists the Dawa–Wachile area of Ethiopia as an Important Bird Area ([BirdLife: Dawa–Wachile IBA](http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dawa--wachile-iba-ethiopia)). Borana herders in the basin raise cattle and sheep because the long dry season makes crops hard to grow ([Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)).

When the river runs low, herders on all sides depend on the same water. The Danish Refugee Council reported on what happens to communities "when the river dries out" ([Danish Refugee Council](https://drc.ngo/news/when-the-river-dries-out-all-life-disappears)), and SIPRI studied climate and security in the Ethiopia–Kenya–Somalia border area ([SIPRI, 2020](https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/sipripp54_0.pdf)).

## Dams on the Ganale–Dawa system

Ethiopia opened the Genale Dawa III hydroelectric plant in February 2020 ([Construction Review Online, Feb 2020](https://constructionreviewonline.com/2020/02/ethiopia-inaugurates-genale-dawa-iii-hydroelectric-power-plant/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Dawa River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawa_River)
- [Wikidata Q1178464](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1178464)
- [BirdLife International: Dawa–Wachile IBA](http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dawa--wachile-iba-ethiopia)
- [SIPRI, climate-related security risks, 2020](https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/sipripp54_0.pdf)
- [Danish Refugee Council](https://drc.ngo/news/when-the-river-dries-out-all-life-disappears)


---

# Berbera and Saaxil (Sahil) region

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/sahil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saaxil (Sahil, Arabic for 'coast') is a region of Somaliland on the Gulf of Aden with the port city of Berbera as its capital. Somaliland formed it out of the old Woqooyi Galbeed region; it took in Sheikh district from Togdheer in 1998. Somaliland's planning ministry counted 149,244 people in 1997.

## Where it is

Saaxil is a region in northern Somaliland with a long coastline on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/). It borders [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) to the north-west, Maroodi Jeex to the south-west, Togdheer to the south and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) to the east. Its capital is the port city of Berbera ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)). Before 1991 its land was part of the [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) region, with some areas in [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)). For the wider picture see [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

The name comes from the Arabic *sāḥil*, "coast", long used for the northern Somali coast ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)).

## How the region took shape

- **British rule:** the area was Berbera District, one of six districts of the [British Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)).
- **1960:** the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) joined the former [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)).
- **By 1964:** Berbera, Borama and Hargeisa districts were merged into the Woqooyi Galbeed region ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)).
- **1968 to 1982:** parts of the district were moved into Togdheer; Awdal was cut out of western Woqooyi Galbeed in June 1984 ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)).
- **After 1991:** Somaliland set up Sahil region. In 1998 Sheikh district was moved into it from Togdheer, and the Local Autonomy Act of 2002 listed it as one of Somaliland's six regions ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland); [Somaliland Law: local government law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/body_local_government_law.htm)).
- **2008 and 2020:** Somaliland redrew its regions on 22 March 2008, changing Sahil's area; a new regions and districts law that came into force on 4 January 2020 restored it ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland); [Somaliland regions and districts law 2019](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/Xeerka__wkb__Gobolada_iyo_Degmooyinka_2019SLLaw.pdf)).

## Districts

Sources differ on the number of districts. The Wikipedia article on the region lists two, Berbera and Sheekh ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)). Somaliland's 2019 regions and districts law divides Saaxil into eight districts, with Berbera as regional capital and Sheekh as a district capital ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland); [Somaliland regions and districts law 2019](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/Xeerka__wkb__Gobolada_iyo_Degmooyinka_2019SLLaw.pdf)). See the page on [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/).

## People

Somaliland's Ministry of National Planning gave the region 149,244 people in 1997 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland), citing the [Somaliland Ministry of Planning](http://slministryofplanning.org/images/REGIONS/Sahil.pdf)). Most people are from the Isse Musse branch of the Isaaq. Smaller groups are the Garhajis, mainly the Habar Yonis, the Habar Je'lo and the Arap, all part of the wider Isaaq ([Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)).

## Work and money

Berbera's port is the region's main source of work and trade. Livestock exports to the Gulf pass through it, and the port was rebuilt and expanded by DP World under an agreement signed in 2016 ([Wikipedia: Berbera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera)). See also [livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Sahil, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahil,_Somaliland)
- [Wikidata Q281589](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q281589)
- [Somaliland Law: regions and districts law, 2019](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/Xeerka__wkb__Gobolada_iyo_Degmooyinka_2019SLLaw.pdf)
- [Somaliland Ministry of Planning: Sahil region](http://slministryofplanning.org/images/REGIONS/Sahil.pdf)
- [Wikipedia: Berbera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera)


---

# Baraawe (Barawa, Brava)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/barawa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Baraawe (Barawa, Brava) is an Indian Ocean port town in Lower Shabelle and the capital of South West State. It is one of the oldest towns on the Somali coast, named by Arab geographers in the 1200s and by a Chinese imperial decree in 1430, and home of the Bravanese people and their Chimini language.

## Where it is

Baraawe sits on the Indian Ocean coast of [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), south-west of Marka and Mogadishu, at about 1.11°N, 44.03°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q613246)). It is the capital of South West State and that state's main sea port ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). The town has many names: Baraawe in Somali, Barawy in [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/), Brava in Italian and Barāwa in Arabic ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). See also the [Lower Shabelle region page](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## Early history

Oral history says the town was founded by Aw-Ali, a holy man of the Tunni, a Digil group, and that the Tunni were its first settlers ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). The geographer Ibn Sa'id, writing in the 1200s, described Baraawe as one of the three main towns of the coast with Mogadishu and Marka, and al-Idrisi described its coral houses ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)).

In 1430 Baraawe was one of 18 western ports named in a decree of the Ming Xuande Emperor, written as Pu-la-wa (不喇哇). The Chinese sailor Fei Xin, who travelled with the Ming treasure fleets, wrote about its people ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)).

## The Portuguese attack and later rule

In 1506 a Portuguese fleet under Tristão da Cunha attacked the town, burned and looted it. The people who had fled inland came back and rebuilt it, and the Portuguese did not hold it ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa); Duarte Barbosa's account, [Hakluyt Society 1866](https://archive.org/details/adescriptioncoa00barbgoog)).

In the 1800s the town paid tribute to the Geledi Sultanate inland. A British parliamentary account of 1876 records that Abobokur Yusuf, brother of Sultan Ahmed Yusuf, drew about 2,000 dollars a year from Baraawe ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). Italy took the town as a protectorate in 1908 and it became part of [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)).

See also [the Geledi Sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).

## A centre of learning

Baraawe produced many religious scholars. Among them is [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/), founder of the Uwaysiyya branch of the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) order, who was killed in 1909. The female poet-saint [Dada Masiti](/en/people/dada-masiti/) also came from the town ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa); [Kassim, *Dada Masiti*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XpdAzRYruCwC&q=Dada%20Masiti&pg=PA34)). In the 1940s and 1950s the town was a stronghold of the Hizbiya Digil-Mirifle party ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)).

## People and languages

The Tunni are the largest group in the town. Garre, Sheekhaal, Marehan and [Bravanese](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/) people also live there ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). The Bravanese speak Chimini (Chimwiini), a form of Swahili. The Tunni speak their own Somali dialect, and others speak standard Somali ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). The town was known for weaving and for hand-made goods such as sandals, Quran rests and carved wedding beds ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)).

Population figures differ widely. Wikidata gives 32,800 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q613246)). The English Wikipedia article gives about 260,800 for the town and 350,800 for the district ([Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)). The 2005 UNDP rural and urban estimate is the older official baseline ([UNDP 2005](https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)).

## Since 2009

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) took control of Baraawe in 2009. In September 2009 a US raid near the town killed [Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan](/en/history/al-qaeda-east-africa-cell-somalia/) ([VOA, 2009](https://web.archive.org/web/20090917172536/http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-15-voa15.cfm)). In October 2013 a US Navy SEAL raid on a beach house in the town did not reach its target ([Army Times, 2013](http://www.armytimes.com/article/20131010/NEWS08/310100006/Fear-grips-Somali-town-raided-by-SEAL-commandoes)). Somali forces and [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) troops took the town in October 2014 during Operation Indian Ocean ([Al Jazeera, 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/11/10/taking-barawe-the-fog-of-war)).

In February 2025 South West State signed a $500 million deal with a Kuwaiti firm to develop Baraawe port ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/feb/200311/southwest_state_of_somalia_signs_500m_deal_with_kuwaiti_firm_to_develop_barawa_port.aspx)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Barawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barawa)
- [Wikidata Q613246](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q613246)
- [Al Jazeera, "Taking Barawe", 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/11/10/taking-barawe-the-fog-of-war)
- [Hiiraan Online, Barawa port deal, 2025](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/feb/200311/southwest_state_of_somalia_signs_500m_deal_with_kuwaiti_firm_to_develop_barawa_port.aspx)
- [UNDP 2005 population estimates](https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)


---

# Gabiley (Gebiley)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/gabiley/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Gabiley is a farming town 58 km west of Hargeisa, the centre of Gabiley district and of the Gabiley region that Somaliland created out of Woqooyi Galbeed. The area is described as Somaliland's main farmland, with sources crediting it with up to 85% of Somaliland's food crops.

## Where it is

Gabiley lies 58 km west of Hargeisa in the Qalax valley ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)), at about 10.18°N, 45.56°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016892)). Gabiley district is bounded by the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) to the north, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) to the west, Hargeisa district to the east and the Somali Region of Ethiopia to the south ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)).

Before 1991 the town was in the [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) region. Somaliland later made Gabiley a region of its own, and the Somaliland government lists it among its regions ([Wikipedia: Regions of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Somaliland); [Statoids](http://www.statoids.com/yso.html)). For the wider picture see [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## The name

The name is said to come from the Somali word *gebi*, a cliff or ridge, after the cliffs and ridges of the area ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)).

## Rock art

Dhagax Gurre, a rock-art site about 45 km north-east of Gabiley, has painted shelters on a rocky hill. The main shelter shows cattle, one giraffe and one human-like figure; a second shows sheep or goats and people holding bows. The paintings are said to be more than 5,000 years old ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)).
See also [medieval towns of Gebiley and Kabab](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/).

## Farming

Gabiley is described as the most fertile part of Somaliland and its main farmland, producing up to 85% of its food supplies ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)). Crops named for the area include maize, sorghum, wheat, barley, beans, groundnuts, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbages, watermelon, papaya, oranges and lemons ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)). The UK government has run a programme in Gabiley on women's work and income ([UK Government case study](https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/gabiley-somalia-uk-aid-promoting-womens-economic-empowerment)).

## Climate

Gabiley has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), cooled by its height. The average temperature is 21.4°C and average rain is 489 mm a year. June is the hottest month (24.5°C) and January the coolest (17.6°C). August is the wettest month with 91 mm, and December the driest with 2 mm ([Climate-Data.org](https://en.climate-data.org/location/56199/)).

## People

Most people in Gabiley district are from the Jibril Abokor and Abdalla Abokor branches of the Sa'ad Musa, part of the Habar Awal Isaaq ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)). Wikipedia gives a town population of about 141,000 ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)).

People from the Gabiley area include the poet [Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed](/en/people/timacadde/) Timacade, and the family of the British Olympic runner [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) comes from the area ([The Guardian, 2012](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/aug/10/mo-farah-mother-somaliland)).

## Schools, health and services

Timacade University opened in 1999, and the district has secondary schools including Qalax Secondary and Al-Irshaad Secondary ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)). The [Gabiley National Library](/en/society/public-libraries-in-somaliland/) opened in April 2021 ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)). Wikipedia lists six general hospitals in Gabiley ([Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Gabiley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley)
- [Wikidata Q1016892](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016892)
- [Climate-Data.org: Gabiley](https://en.climate-data.org/location/56199/)
- [Statoids: regions of Somalia and Somaliland](http://www.statoids.com/yso.html)
- [UK Government: Gabiley women's economic empowerment](https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/gabiley-somalia-uk-aid-promoting-womens-economic-empowerment)


---

# Xarardheere (Harardhere)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/harardhere/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Xarardheere (Harardhere, Harardera) is a coastal-district town in Mudug, in Galmudug state, about 210 m above sea level. Around 2008 to 2012 it was one of the main bases of Somali piracy. Al-Shabaab held it from at least 2012 until Somali forces retook it on 16 January 2023.

## Where it is

Xarardheere is the capital of Xarardheere district in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region, in [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) state ([Wikipedia: Harardhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere)). It lies at about 4.65°N, 47.86°E, roughly 210 m above sea level, inland from the Indian Ocean coast between [Hobyo](/en/regions/hobyo/) and the Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) coast ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q598676)). The Italian spelling was Harardera ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q598676)).

## People

A 2005 UNDP estimate put the population at about 65,500 ([UNDP 2005, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere); [UNDP 2005 table](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203029/https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)). As in most of Galmudug, most people are from the Hiraab branch of the Hawiye ([Wikipedia: Harardhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere)). Historian Lee Cassanelli lists Xarardheere with El Dher as farming centres of the [Hiraab Imamate](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/) that grew sorghum and beans alongside herds of camels, cattle, goats and sheep ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo), quoting Cassanelli).

People recorded as coming from Xarardheere include [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), Somalia's second president; [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/), the first commander of the [Somali Armed Forces](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/); [Mohamed Abshir Muse](/en/people/mohamed-abshir-muse/), the first [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) commander; and General [Salaad Gabeyre Kediye](/en/people/salaad-gabeyre-kediye/) ([Wikipedia: Harardhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere)).

## Piracy years

From about 2008 Xarardheere was one of the main bases of piracy off Somalia. Reports from that time describe a share market in the town where investors bought and sold stakes in planned hijackings ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)). Some residents told reporters in 2008 that pirate spending had brought jobs and trade to the town ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)).

When [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) forces pushed pirate groups out of Eyl and Garacad, the groups were reported to operate mainly from Hobyo, El Danaan and Xarardheere ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)). In May 2010 the [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) militia briefly took the town and a commander said it would end piracy there. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) was later reported to demand 20% of future ransoms from pirate leaders in Xarardheere ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)). A 2017 report named a "Hobyo-Haradhere piracy network" ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)).

## Al-Shabaab control and recapture

Al-Shabaab controlled the town from at least 2012 to 2023 ([Wikipedia: Harardhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere)). In 2018 a US airstrike on a camp outside the town was reported to have killed about 60 fighters ([Military Times, Oct 2018](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/17/us-airstrike-wiped-out-al-shabab-camp-in-somalia-intel-officials-say/)). On 16 January 2023 the Somali Armed Forces retook Xarardheere during the offensive in central Somalia ([Wikipedia: Harardhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Harardhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harardhere)
- [Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)
- [Wikidata Q598676](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q598676)
- [UNDP 2005 rural and urban population estimates](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203029/https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)
- [Military Times, Oct 2018](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/17/us-airstrike-wiped-out-al-shabab-camp-in-somalia-intel-officials-say/)


---

# Hobyo (Obbia)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/hobyo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hobyo (Obbia) is an old port town on the Indian Ocean in Mudug, in Galmudug state. Sources date it to the Ajuran period in the 1200s; it later served the Hiraab Imamate, and from 1884 it was the seat of the Sultanate of Hobyo under Yusuf Ali Kenadid, which signed a protectorate treaty with Italy in 1888.

## Where it is

Hobyo is a port town on the Indian Ocean in the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) region, part of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) state, at about 5.35°N, 48.53°E ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016908)). Its Italian name was Obbia. It has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) ([Climate-Data.org](https://en.climate-data.org/location/31540/)). The town has a sea port and is served by Obbia airstrip ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)).

## Ajuran and the Hiraab Imamate

Sources describe Hobyo, with the Mareeg area, as a coastal outpost of the Ajuran state from the 1200s ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)). In the late 1600s the Hiraab rose against Ajuran rule and set up the [Hiraab Imamate](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/) ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)). The historian Lee Cassanelli describes it as an alliance of related groups: army leaders and advisers from the Habar Gidir and Duduble, a judge from the Sheekhaal, and the imam from the Mudulood branch. It ruled lands from the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley and the Benadir coast to Mudug ([Cassanelli, *The Shaping of Somali Society*, quoted in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)).

Through Hobyo the Imamate exported livestock, hides and skins, aromatic woods and raisins, and imported rice, other food and cloth. Traders came for textiles, precious metals and pearls ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)).

## The Sultanate of Hobyo

In 1884 Yusuf Ali Kenadid, of the Majeerteen, took Hobyo with Hadhrami musketeers and founded the Sultanate of Hobyo. He had earlier tried to take the Majeerteen Sultanate from his cousin [Boqor Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/) and been forced into exile in Yemen ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)). Historians describe both sultanates as having a working administration, a state flag, a standing army and written records that still exist ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)).

In late 1888 Sultan Kenadid signed a treaty with Italy that made Hobyo an Italian protectorate; Boqor Osman signed a similar treaty the next year. Both rulers are described as signing to advance their own aims and to play the European powers against each other ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)). Relations broke down when Kenadid refused to let British troops land at Hobyo to fight the [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/), and Italy exiled him and his son Ali Yusuf to Aden and then Eritrea ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)).

See also [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## People

Wikipedia gives about 11,800 people in the town and 67,249 in Hobyo district ([Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)); Wikidata gives 12,564 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016908)). These figures go back to the 2005 UNDP estimates ([UNDP 2005](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203029/https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)).

## Piracy and the port

After about 2009, when [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) forces drove pirate groups from Eyl and Garacad, the groups were reported to work mainly from Hobyo, El Danaan and [Xarardheere](/en/regions/harardhere/) ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)).

In August 2019 [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) began a project to build a port at Hobyo under agreements signed with Somalia in December 2018 ([Bloomberg, Aug 2019](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-19/qatar-plans-to-build-new-port-in-central-somalia-town-of-hobyo); [Middle East Monitor, Aug 2019](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo)
- [Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)
- [Wikidata Q1016908](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016908)
- [Bloomberg, Qatar plans port at Hobyo, 2019](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-19/qatar-plans-to-build-new-port-in-central-somalia-town-of-hobyo)
- [Climate-Data.org: Hobyo](https://en.climate-data.org/location/31540/)


---

# Maydh (Mait)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/maydh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maydh (Mait, Meit, Mette) is an old port on the Gulf of Aden in eastern Sanaag. It is known for the domed tomb of Sheikh Isaaq, the forefather of the Isaaq, and appears in the 1400s sailing guide of Ahmad ibn Majid and in Portuguese accounts of the 1500s. It was once eastern British Somaliland's main export point for hides.

## Where it is

Maydh lies on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) coast of eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), at about 11.0°N, 47.1°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1017540); [Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) administers it as part of Sanaag ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)). The French writer Pierre d'Avity gave its ancient name as Acanne ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)).

## Sheikh Isaaq's tomb

Maydh was home to [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq ibn Ahmed al-Hashimi (Sheekh Isxaaq), who came from Arabia in the 1100s or 1200s and is regarded as the founding father of the Isaaq clan family. His domed tomb is in the town, and tradition says he and his followers built the old town on earlier foundations ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)). Genealogies collected by the scholars Cox and Abud say that many clan forefathers are buried in or near Maydh, and the writer Augustus Henry Keane called it an early centre from which Somalis spread ([Keane, *Man Past and Present*](https://archive.org/download/manpastpresent00keanuoft/manpastpresent00keanuoft.pdf); [Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)).

## Old maps and travellers

The medieval Arabic *Book of Curiosities* marks Maydh, Heis and other capes on its map of the Somali coast ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)). The 15th-century navigator Ahmad ibn Majid named Maydh among the ports of the northern coast, with Berbera, the islands off Zeila, [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/), Heis and El-Sheikh ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)).

The chronicle *Futuh al-Habasha* records that the Harti who fought on the left wing of Imam Ahmad's army at the battle of Shimbra Kure were called "the people of Mait" ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)). Leo Africanus wrote that the town was under the Sultanate of Adal ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)).

The Portuguese priest Francisco Álvares described "Meti" in the 1520s as a town of 50 or 60 hearths with two mosques, large burial grounds and a school where children wrote on boards with inkpots. The people fled when the Portuguese fleet arrived; the Portuguese dug about 40 water holes, then burned the houses, mosques and boats when they left ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)). Duarte Barbosa described "Met" as a town with plenty of meat but little trade ([Barbosa, Hakluyt Society](https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n7/mode/2up)).

See also [Heis (Xiis), ancient port and cairns](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/).

## Trade

In the 1800s and early 1900s Maydh traded frankincense from the mountains to its south, and Arab and Indian (Banyan) merchants called there on the way west. It was the main export point for large hides in eastern [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and second after Heis for skins, with more than 15,000 shipped. Dhows carried livestock and goods between Maydh and Berbera ([Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)).

For local conditions in eastern Sanaag, see the FAO food security survey of the region ([FSNAU Sanaag survey, May 2002](https://web.archive.org/web/20210711080102/https://www.fsnau.org/downloads/Sanaag%20Survey%20-%20May%202002.pdf)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Maydh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydh)
- [Wikidata Q1017540](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1017540)
- [Keane, *Man Past and Present*](https://archive.org/download/manpastpresent00keanuoft/manpastpresent00keanuoft.pdf)
- [Duarte Barbosa, *A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar*](https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n7/mode/2up)
- [FSNAU Sanaag survey, 2002](https://web.archive.org/web/20210711080102/https://www.fsnau.org/downloads/Sanaag%20Survey%20-%20May%202002.pdf)


---

# Qoryooley (Qoryoley)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/qoryooley/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Qoryooley is a farming town on the Shabelle in Lower Shabelle, 123 km south-west of Mogadishu and 23 km west of Marka, in South West State. AMISOM forces took it from al-Shabaab in March 2014; it changed hands again in 2015 and has seen repeated attacks on military bases since.

## Where it is

Qoryooley ([Maay](/en/society/maay-language/): Qornyooley; Italian: Coriolei) is in the [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) region of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/), 123 km south-west of Mogadishu and 23 km west of the coastal town of Marka ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley)). It lies at about 1.78°N, 44.53°E and 62 m above sea level ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2054709)), in the irrigated farmland of the lower [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/).

The town is said to be named after Ahmed Qoryoley, who founded it before independence ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley)).

## People

Population estimates vary by year and source:

- 2000: about 62,700 ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley))
- 2005: the UNDP rural and urban estimate ([UNDP 2005](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203029/https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf))
- 2006: about 51,720 ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley))
- 2022: about 120,000, of whom 75% were Garre and 25% from other groups ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley))
- 2024: 134,205 in Qoryooley district ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley))

The Garre are the largest group in the town ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley)). IOM has published a location report for Qoryooley as part of its community stabilisation work in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) ([IOM Somalia, Qoryooley location report](https://somalia.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1041/files/documents/COSI_Lower%20Shabelle_Location_Report_Qoryooley.pdf)).

## Climate

Qoryooley is hot and dry, with about 296 mm of rain a year. May is the wettest month (65 mm) and February the driest (1 mm). The average temperature is 26°C; March is the hottest month and July the coolest ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley), from [NASA Earth Observations](https://neo.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=TRMM_3B43M)).

## Since 2014

- **March 2014:** fighting outside the town killed four soldiers and a civilian. On 22 March Ugandan [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) troops took Qoryooley from al-Shabaab in Operation Eagle ([Garowe Online, 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140311152532/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia-Federal-Govt-AMISOM-troops-clash-with-Al-Shabaab_printer.shtml); [UN photo archive](https://dam.media.un.org/archive/AMISOM-offensive-in-Qoryooley-2AM9LOB8QODK.html)).
- **July 2015:** after al-Shabaab overran a base at [Leego](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) in June, AMISOM left several towns, and al-Shabaab retook Qoryooley on 4 July ([Somalia Newsroom, 2015](https://somalianewsroom.com/2015/07/03/%E2%80%8Banalysis-amisom-vacates-10-towns-in-somalia-amid-al-shabaabs-ramadan-attacks/)).
- **May 2017:** al-Shabaab attacked [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) bases near the town ([AllAfrica, 2017](https://allafrica.com/stories/201705140173.html)).
- **2018 to 2020:** attacks on army positions and on the El-Salini base outside the town; an assault with suicide bombers on El-Salini on 19 February 2020 killed between about 20 and 31 people by different counts ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/extremists-attack-african-union-base-in-somalia/4326537.html); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/al-shabaab-kills-over-20-soldiers-in-attack-on-military-base-in-somalia)).
- **2023:** an attack on a base and the district office on 4 July, and an attempt to take the town on 1 September that the army stopped after about two hours ([The Somali Digest](https://thesomalidigest.com/fierce-battle-between-al-shabaab-and-sna-in-qoryoley/)).
- **12 June 2024:** Garre and Jiiddo clan militias fought for more than four hours in the town ([Somali Guardian](https://somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/gunfight-between-clan-militias-erupts-in-south-somalias-qoryoley-town-2/)).

## People from Qoryooley

The middle-distance runner [Mukhtar Mohammed](/en/people/mukhtar-mohammed/) and the footballer Abdi Sharif are listed as coming from the town ([Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Qoryoley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoryoley)
- [Wikidata Q2054709](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2054709)
- [IOM Somalia, Qoryooley location report](https://somalia.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1041/files/documents/COSI_Lower%20Shabelle_Location_Report_Qoryooley.pdf)
- [Somalia Newsroom, AMISOM leaves 10 towns, 2015](https://somalianewsroom.com/2015/07/03/%E2%80%8Banalysis-amisom-vacates-10-towns-in-somalia-amid-al-shabaabs-ramadan-attacks/)
- [Somali Guardian, clan militia fighting, 2024](https://somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/gunfight-between-clan-militias-erupts-in-south-somalias-qoryoley-town-2/)


---

# Jamaame (Jamame, Giamama)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/jamaame/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jamaame is a farming town on the lower Jubba River in Lower Juba, 53 km from Kismaayo, almost on the equator. The UNDP put the population at about 129,000 in 2005. Al-Shabaab has held it since 2014, and a US airstrike there on 15 November 2025 killed at least 12 civilians, according to The Guardian.

## Where it is

Jamaame is the centre of Jamaame district in the [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) region of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) ([Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)). It lies between the Indian Ocean to the east and the farmland along the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) to the west, 53 km from the port of Kismaayo ([Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)). The equator passes over the town, at about 0.07°N, 42.75°E and 10 m above sea level ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1017154)). Jamaame airstrip is about 1 km south of the town ([Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)).

Under Italian rule the town was called Giamama, and earlier Villaggio Regina Margherita ([Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)).

## People and farming

The UNDP estimated the population at about 129,149 in 2005 ([UNDP 2005](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203029/https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)). Many farms surround the town ([Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)). The lower Jubba valley is described as the most fertile part of Somalia, growing maize, sesame, beans and fruit, and in the past bananas for export ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River); [Wikipedia: Shebelle River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebelle_River)). A 2015 letter from the town described daily life there under al-Shabaab ([Horseed Media, 2015](https://horseedmedia.net/2015/08/18/somalia-a-letter-from-jamaame/)).

## Who controls it

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) has controlled Jamaame since 2014 ([Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)). Kismaayo, the capital of Jubaland, is held by Jubaland and federal forces ([Lower Juba region page](/en/regions/lower-juba/)).

## Fighting and airstrikes

- **June 2018:** US special forces and al-Shabaab fighters clashed near Jamaame, and one American soldier was killed ([New York Times, June 2018](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/world/africa/american-soldier-killed-somalia-.html)).
- **US strikes:** the [US Africa Command](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) has announced airstrikes on al-Shabaab targets in the Jamaame area ([AFRICOM press release](https://www.africom.mil/pressrelease/36039/us-forces-conduct-strikes-targeting-al-shabaab)).
- **15 November 2025:** The Guardian reported that a US airstrike in Jamaame killed at least 12 civilians, eight of them children. A resident said a school and at least 18 homes were destroyed. The paper reported it as the largest number of civilians killed by a single US action in Somalia in 18 years, and that no investigation appeared to have taken place ([The Guardian, June 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/16/somalia-us-trump-war-alshabaab-islamists-drone-airstrikes-civilian-deaths-children)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Jamame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame)
- [Wikidata Q1017154](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1017154)
- [UNDP 2005 rural and urban population estimates](https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203029/https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)
- [The Guardian, US strikes and civilian deaths in Somalia, June 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/16/somalia-us-trump-war-alshabaab-islamists-drone-airstrikes-civilian-deaths-children)
- [New York Times, American soldier killed in Somalia, June 2018](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/world/africa/american-soldier-killed-somalia-.html)


---

# Badhan (Baran)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/badhan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Badhan is a highland town in eastern Sanaag, about 1,095 m above sea level, claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland and run in practice by Puntland for many years. It is a centre for the Warsangali and for the eastern Sanaag area, with a branch of the Somali National University and an estimated 65,500 people.

## Where it is

Badhan lies in eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) at about 10.71°N, 48.33°E and 1,095 m above sea level ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q799021)). It sits on the road between the coastal town of Las Khorey and Erigavo, and roads are being built to link it with El Dahir and from there to the [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)–Qardho–Garowe highway ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).

## Who runs it

Eastern Sanaag is claimed by both [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). Badhan has been run in practice by Puntland for many years, while Somaliland keeps a claim and has named its own mayor and governor for the town ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag); [Hoehne, *Between Somaliland and Puntland*, Rift Valley Institute 2015](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Between%20Somaliland%20and%20Puntland%20by%20Markus%20Hoehne%20-%20RVI%20Contested%20Borderlands%20(2015)%20(1).pdf)).

- **Early 2000s:** Somaliland named a "Badhan" region, while Puntland announced a [Haylan](/en/regions/dhahar/) region ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).
- **2007 to 2009:** a Warsangali movement set up the [Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) state ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).
- **September 2019:** Puntland forces arrested Somaliland's deputy governor for Badhan ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).
- **January 2021:** Puntland sent troops to stop Somaliland voter registration in the district ([MENAFN](https://menafn.com/1101491037/Somalias-Puntland-Army-Takes-Over-Badhan-to-Block-Somaliland-Parliamentary-Municipal-Elections)).
- **25 May 2023:** Puntland held local council elections in the town; the council elects the mayor ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).

## People and work

UrbanStats estimates the population at about 65,500 from satellite images ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)). Most people in and around Badhan are Warsangali, part of the Harti Darod, and the town hosts Warsangali clan meetings ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)). Herding is the main work. In droughts herders move near water and water prices rise; in November 2005 [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) reported very high water prices in the district ([BBC Somali, 2005](https://www.bbc.com/somali/news/story/2005/11/051116_biyo)). A 2019 nutrition survey covered the district ([Badhan SMART survey 2019](https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205302/https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/assessments/badhan_smart_survey_2019_final_report.pdf)).

## History

- Before colonial rule the area was part of the Warsangali Sultanate ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).
- In the 1910s the Dervish forces of [Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) built a fort at Badhan ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag); [Marcus, appraisal of the Dervish state](https://wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/An-appraisal-of-the-%E2%80%98Dervish-state%E2%80%99_Marcus.pdf)).
- In 1933 drought led the British to open a relief camp at Badhan for 2,500 to 3,000 people. In 1945 herders from Zeila to Badhan protested against anti-locust campaigns that used poisoned bait ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).
- In the 1970s floods led the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government to move the people of Xubeera to Badhan, and the 1974–75 Dabadheer drought brought relief operations to the area ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).
- Warsangali areas around Badhan saw little fighting in the 1980s. Warsangali leaders took part in the conferences that founded Puntland in 1998 ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).

## University and media

The Somali National University has a branch in Badhan, paid for partly by a $6 million grant from the [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) Fund for Arab Economic Development to the federal government, with building managed by Puntland ([Kuwait Fund](https://kuwait-fund.org/en/web/kfund/current-news-events/-/asset_publisher/8Vn82dPrFd8B/content/signature-of-grant-agreements-in-the-federal-republic-of-somalia)). It announced its first programmes and admissions in September 2023 ([Radio Muqdisho](https://www.radiomuqdisho.net/arday-u-fadhiisatay-imtixaanka-aqbalaadda-ee-jaamacadda-ummadda-faraceeda-puntland-sawirro/)). Radio Daljir, Puntland State TV and [SBC TV](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) work in the town ([Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Badhan, Sanaag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badhan,_Sanaag)
- [Wikidata Q799021](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q799021)
- [Markus Hoehne, *Between Somaliland and Puntland*, Rift Valley Institute, 2015](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Between%20Somaliland%20and%20Puntland%20by%20Markus%20Hoehne%20-%20RVI%20Contested%20Borderlands%20(2015)%20(1).pdf)
- [Kuwait Fund grant agreements with Somalia](https://kuwait-fund.org/en/web/kfund/current-news-events/-/asset_publisher/8Vn82dPrFd8B/content/signature-of-grant-agreements-in-the-federal-republic-of-somalia)
- [Badhan SMART nutrition survey, 2019](https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205302/https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/assessments/badhan_smart_survey_2019_final_report.pdf)


---

# Caluula (Alula)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/caluula/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Caluula (Alula) is an old port on the Guardafui Channel at the north-east tip of Somalia, about 100 nautical miles from Bosaso. Sources identify it with Acannae, a frankincense market named in the 1st-century Periplus. It later served as a capital of the Majeerteen Sultanate, and since 2013 it has been the capital of Puntland's Gardafuul region.

## Where it is

Caluula lies on the coast of the Guardafui Channel, about ten miles east of Ras Filuk and about 100 nautical miles from Bosaso ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)), at about 11.96°N, 50.76°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q448076)). It was in the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region. In 2013 [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) made it the capital of a new region, Gardafuul (Gardafu), carved out of Bari: the government announced it on 8 April 2013 and Puntland's parliament approved it on 20 July 2013 ([Garowe Online, 2013](https://web.archive.org/web/20140426201442/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Puntland_Parliament_approves_new_region_and_cabinet_members_printer.shtml)).

The name is read as *Cal* (the Cal mountains of the north-east) and *luul* (pearl), "the pearl of the Cal mountains" ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)).

## Ancient Acannae and the frankincense trade

Sources identify Caluula with Acannae in the 1st-century *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* and with Akkania in Ptolemy's 2nd-century *Geography* ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia); [Ptolemy, *Geography* 4.7](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/4/7*.html)). A grove near the town gave what the Periplus calls the finest frankincense, the "far-side" (peratic) incense, from beyond the Bab el-Mandeb strait. It went to other ports of the northern coast, among them Malao, [Mosylon](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/) and Opone, and on to Roman Egypt and Arabia ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)). Cosmas Indicopleustes recorded this trade still running in the 6th century ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)). See also [frankincense and myrrh](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/).

## Ruins

About 20 km east of Caluula is a stone platform monument, 24 m by 17 m, with standing stones at its corners and graves and cairns nearby. It is the largest of a group of platform monuments found only in far north-eastern Somalia. Neville Chittick surveyed them in 1975–76 for the British Institute in Eastern Africa ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)).

## The Majeerteen Sultanate and Italian conquest

The navigator Ahmad ibn Majid named Caluula among the ports of the northern coast in the 1400s ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)). In the early modern period it served as a capital of the Majeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia), and a castle from that time still stands ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)). In the late 1920s, in Italy's campaign against the northern sultanates, Caluula, [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), Bargal, Qandala and Habo were heavily bombarded, and much of their old buildings were destroyed ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)). See [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/) and [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/).

See also [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## Today

Puntland's education ministry counts 11 primary schools in Caluula district, among them Xabo, Geesaley, Murcanyo, Xoogad and Caluula Primary ([Puntland Ministry of Education](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)). The town has an airstrip and a small sea port ([World Airport Codes](http://www.world-airport-codes.com/somalia/alula-188.html); [Somali government transport paper, 2010](https://www.somalitalk.com/2010/may/istambul/transport.pdf)). It has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) ([Deutscher Wetterdienst](https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_632000_kt.pdf)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)
- [Wikidata Q448076](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q448076)
- [Ptolemy, *Geography*, book 4 chapter 7](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/4/7*.html)
- [Garowe Online, Puntland parliament approves new region, 2013](https://web.archive.org/web/20140426201442/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Puntland_Parliament_approves_new_region_and_cabinet_members_printer.shtml)
- [Puntland Ministry of Education, primary schools](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)


---

# Baardheere (Bardhere, Bardera)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/baardheere/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Baardheere (Bardera) is a farming town on the Jubba River in Gedo, about 250 km west of Baidoa, at a crossroads linking Kismaayo, Baidoa, Baraawe and the Kenyan border towns. It was a centre of Islamic learning and the ivory trade, the seat of a religious community that the Geledi Sultan destroyed in the 1840s, and later Somalia's first commercial onion-growing area.

## Where it is

Baardheere lies on the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) in the [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) region of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), about 250 km west of Baidoa, at about 2.34°N, 42.28°E and 97 m above sea level ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q797499)). It stands where roads meet from Elwak and Mandera on the Kenyan border, and from Kismaayo, Baidoa, [Baraawe](/en/regions/barawa/) and Diinsoor ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)). It is described as Gedo's second-largest city ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)).

The name is read as *bar*, palm tree, and *dheere*, tall, after the palms that line the river banks and farms ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)).

## History

- **Middle Ages:** Baardheere was a farming and trading town on the Jubba within the lands of the Ajuran state, linked by road to the Benadir ports, and a centre of Islamic learning ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)).
- **1800s:** under [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) rule it was a walled town and the main ivory market of the southern Horn ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)).
- **1830s and 1840s:** a religious community (jama'a) based in Baardheere began imposing its teaching on the region and took Baraawe in 1840. Sultan Yusuf Mahamud of Geledi led a coalition against it, besieged the town and burned it ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere); [Cassanelli, via Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=dR5yCmUejWEC&q=established+magico-religious+practices.+By+1840,+the+jama'a+of+baardhere&pg=PA200)).
- **1860s:** the German explorer Karl Klaus von der Decken was killed near the town after his steamer was wrecked in the rapids ([Wikipedia: Jubba River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_River)).
- **After 1960:** Baardheere became the seat of Baardheere district ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)).

## Farming and trade

Baardheere was the first place in Somalia where onions were grown for market, and output grew fast before falling in the 1980s ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)). The fertile soil lies in a narrow strip along both banks, where pumps water private farms. Away from the river, families farm in the two rainy seasons, growing sorghum, maize and beans ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)). Crops include sorghum, maize, onions, beans, sesame, tobacco, bananas, watermelon, oranges, papayas and mangoes. Herding for meat, milk and butter is also important ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)).

Mogadishu's market once had a section for Baardheere onions. Since the civil war, much of the produce goes instead to Kenyan markets in Wajir, Garissa, Mombasa and Nairobi ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)). ACTED has worked with farmers in the area on farming that can withstand drought ([ACTED](https://www.acted.org/en/in-somalia-acted-encourages-a-resilient-agriculture-against-climate-change/)), and aid agencies have given cash support to displaced families in the town ([ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/cash-based-assistance-support-displaced-families-bardera)).

## Schools

Baardheere has long been known for the study of Islamic law ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)). It has 20 elementary schools and 17 primary and secondary schools. Bardera Polytechnic College opened in July 2008 for vocational training for people aged 16 to 60; it includes the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Valley Agricultural Institute and the Juba Valley Veterinary Institute ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)). Norway's aid agency evaluated secondary and vocational schooling in Gedo for 2013 to 2015 ([Norad, 2016](https://norad.no/en/toolspublications/publications/2016/secondary-and-vocational-education-evaluation-2013-2015-in-gedo-region-of-somalia/)).

## Climate

Baardheere is hot and humid, with a hot arid climate ([Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere); [Deutscher Wetterdienst](http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_632500_kt.pdf)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Bardere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardere)
- [Wikidata Q797499](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q797499)
- [Norad, secondary and vocational education in Gedo, 2016](https://norad.no/en/toolspublications/publications/2016/secondary-and-vocational-education-evaluation-2013-2015-in-gedo-region-of-somalia/)
- [ACTED, resilient farming in Somalia](https://www.acted.org/en/in-somalia-acted-encourages-a-resilient-agriculture-against-climate-change/)


---

# Sheekh (Sheikh) and the Fardowsa ruins

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/sheikh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheekh (Sheikh) is a highland town at about 1,430 m in the Golis mountains, on the Berbera–Burco road, 71 km from Berbera. Beside it lie the Fardowsa ruins, one of the largest medieval towns found in the Horn, which traded with Arabia, India and China from about the 1300s to the early 1500s. The modern town grew from a religious community founded in the 1800s.

## Where it is

Sheekh lies at about 1,430 m on a plateau in the Golis mountains, about 71 km from Berbera on the coast and about 60 km from Burco inland ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)). The paved Berbera–Burco road climbs from hot, dry Berbera, passes the village of Laaleys at about 46 km, and reaches the Sheikh pass at about 1,490 m through a series of hairpin bends ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)).

Before 1991 Sheekh district was one of the districts of [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) moved it to the new [Saaxil region](/en/regions/sahil/) in 2002, and its 2019 regions and districts law confirmed Sheekh as a district capital ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland); [Somaliland regions and districts law 2019](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/Xeerka__wkb__Gobolada_iyo_Degmooyinka_2019SLLaw.pdf)).

## The Fardowsa ruins

Next to Sheekh are the ruins of Fardowsa, one of the largest medieval settlements found in the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)). Excavations show it was lived in from at least the late 1300s and flourished in the 1400s, in the time of the [Adal Sultanate](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/), on the caravan route between Berbera and the interior ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland); [*Journal of African Archaeology*, Fardowsa study](https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10038)).

The ruins have multi-room stone buildings with walls more than 1.2 m high. Finds include an Arab coin, glass bangles and pieces of Chinese porcelain. Compared with other inland sites of the time, Fardowsa has an unusually large amount of imported pottery and glass, which suggests it traded directly with the Indian Ocean world rather than only seeing goods pass through ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland); [*Journal of African Archaeology*](https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10038)).

The town declined in the early 1500s, a time of falling trade with Asia, Portuguese warfare in the Red Sea and the wars between Adal and Ethiopia. Archaeologists found no clear sign that it was destroyed by force ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)).

A German explorer described the ruins in 1882: they stretched about 1,000 m north along a mountain slope, with the outlines of houses, courtyards, streets and two large squares, built of stone and clay. He estimated 6,000 to 8,000 past inhabitants and wrote that local people had several times found gold coins there and sold them to merchants at Berbera ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)).

For the full archaeology, see [Fardowsa, a medieval trading town](/en/history/fardowsa-medieval-trading-town/).

## The pass and the religious settlement

After Fardowsa declined, the Sheikh pass stayed an important caravan road to Berbera. The Isse Musse protected caravans through the pass for payment, and their Musa Jibril branch levied tolls on the pass and the coast roads ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)).

The modern town grew from a religious community (*tariqa*) led by Sayyid Adan Ahmad, a scholar of the Habar Awal who had studied for ten years in the Hejaz. I. M. Lewis dated its founding to about 1885. The historian Sayid-Ahmed Dhegey, a descendant of one of the founders, dates it to 1850–1855, and the German traveller Josef Menges met Sayyid Adan there in 1882 ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)).

## Sheikh Secondary School

Just outside the town is a secondary school founded in 1958, later run by SOS Children's Villages as the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Sheikh Secondary School. It was looted and destroyed by government troops in 1989 and reopened in 2003 ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)). A few months after it reopened, the British couple who had restored it were killed at the school ([The Telegraph, 2003](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/1444828/British-aid-couple-killed-at-Somali-school.html)); Wikipedia attributes the killing to members of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)). Former students include Somaliland presidents [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) and Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo. The Pharo Foundation took over the school in 2019; it had about 260 students in 2022 ([Pharo Foundation](https://www.pharofoundation.org/our-projects/pharo-secondary-school-sheikh/)).

## People and climate

Most people are from the Mohamed Isse branch of the Isse Musse, Habar Awal Isaaq, with a smaller Habar Yonis presence ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)). Sheekh has a semi-arid climate cooled by its height, averaging 19.1°C, from 14.4°C in January to 22.5°C in June, with about 466 mm of rain a year, most of it in the Gu rains of April and May ([Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland); [Climate-Data.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20141107001858/http://en.climate-data.org/location/56192/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Sheikh, Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh,_Somaliland)
- [Wikidata Q256295](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q256295)
- [*Journal of African Archaeology*, Fardowsa](https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10038)
- [The Telegraph, British aid couple killed at Somali school, 2003](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/1444828/British-aid-couple-killed-at-Somali-school.html)
- [Pharo Foundation: Pharo Secondary School, Sheikh](https://www.pharofoundation.org/our-projects/pharo-secondary-school-sheikh/)


---

# Qandala (Candala)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/qandala/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Qandala is an old port town on the Gulf of Aden in Bari, Puntland, 75 km east of Bosaso, with about 19,300 people. Sources identify it with Tabae in the 1st-century Periplus, and it was a Majeerteen Sultanate port. On 26 October 2016 an Islamic State-linked group took the town; Puntland forces retook it on 7 December 2016.

## Where it is

Qandala is the main town of Qandala district in the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), 75 km east of Bosaso on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)), at about 11.47°N, 49.87°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1668870)). It sits at the mouth of a dry river bed (wadi), which forms a natural sheltered harbour ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). Wikipedia gives its population as about 19,300 ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)).

## Ancient port and frankincense

Sources identify Qandala with Tabae, a port named in the 1st-century *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). The ports of the far north-east traded incense, gums and aromatic woods to Roman Egypt, Arabia, Persia and India ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). Its nickname, Gacanka Hodonka ("the gulf of plenty"), is linked to the frankincense and myrrh of the nearby Cal Miskat mountains, which local people still harvest ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). See also [frankincense and myrrh](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/).

## The Majeerteen Sultanate

In the early modern period Qandala was a port of the [Majeerteen Sultanate](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/), trading with southern Arabia, Egypt and India alongside [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), Bargaal, Habo, Caluula and Bosaso. A castle from this period still stands ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). In the late 1920s Italian bombardment in the campaign against the northern sultanates badly damaged Qandala, [Caluula](/en/regions/caluula/), [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/), Hafun and Habo ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)).

## 2016: Islamic State-linked group takes the town

On 26 October 2016 a group linked to the Islamic State took Qandala with about 50 armed fighters after a short gunfight with local security forces. It was the first town in Somalia held by an Islamic State-linked group ([Reuters, Oct 2016](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-security-idUSKCN12Q0VW)). Reports then differed on whether the fighters had withdrawn ([Long War Journal, Oct 2016](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/10/islamic-state-fighters-withdraw-from-captured-somali-port-town.php)).

On 7 December 2016 a Somali official said Puntland forces had retaken the port, killing 30 militants; four soldiers were also killed ([Washington Post / AP, Dec 2016](https://web.archive.org/web/20161208150812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somalia-recaptures-town-from-is-linked-fighters-34-dead/2016/12/07/69404608-bc95-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html)). Reports in 2017 said the Islamic State group in Somalia worked closely with pirate networks, one of them based in Qandala ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)).

## Schools and transport

Puntland's education ministry lists 15 primary schools in Qandala district, among them Xamure, Dhadar, Turmasale and Gurur ([Puntland Ministry of Education](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)). The town has a small sea port and an airstrip, Candala airport ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala); [Great Circle Mapper: HCMC](http://www.gcmap.com/airport/HCMC)). OCHA publishes a reference map of the district ([OCHA, Qandala district map](https://reliefweb.int/map/somalia/somalia-reference-map-qandala-district-22-feb-2012)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)
- [Wikidata Q1668870](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1668870)
- [Reuters, Islamic State-linked fighters seize Qandala, Oct 2016](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-security-idUSKCN12Q0VW)
- [Washington Post / AP, Somalia retakes town, Dec 2016](https://web.archive.org/web/20161208150812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somalia-recaptures-town-from-is-linked-fighters-34-dead/2016/12/07/69404608-bc95-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html)
- [Puntland Ministry of Education, primary schools](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)


---

# Caynabo (Aynabo, Ainabo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/caynabo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Caynabo (Aynabo) is the second-largest town in Sool after Laascaanood, almost exactly halfway between Burco (127 km) and Laascaanood (124 km) on the main road. It is known for the deep Caynabo well. The Habar Je'lo took the town from the Dhulbahante in a 1954–55 war, and in 1974–75 the Soviet Union airlifted people from the area during the Dabadheer drought.

## Where it is

Caynabo is the seat of Caynabo district in western [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), administered by [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)). It stands on the paved road between [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/), 127 km away, and Laascaanood, 124 km away, and is the second-largest town in Sool after Laascaanood ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)), at about 8.96°N, 46.41°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4058907)). The name is said to mean "black" in Somali ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)).

## The Caynabo well

The Caynabo well is known across the Somali lands for its depth and plentiful water. It draws herders from Togdheer, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and Sool and is the subject of many poems ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)). Old stone structures have also been found at Caynabo, one of many little-studied archaeological sites in the north ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)).

## History

- **Early to mid-1800s:** Caynabo was the base of the Soocane fighting group led by the poet and leader Kite Fiqi ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)).
- **Dervish period:** the town was one of the temporary centres of the Dervish movement, under Haji Sudi of the Habar Je'lo, the deputy of [Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)).
- **After the [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/):** sources record that the Habar Je'lo took wells and grazing from the Dhulbahante, who moved south towards the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/). I. M. Lewis wrote that Dhulbahante lineages once called Reer Caymeed after the Ain valley came to graze mainly in the northern Haud ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba), quoting Lewis).
- **1954–55:** in a war between the Habar Je'lo and the Dhulbahante, the Habar Je'lo took Caynabo and its wells, which the Dhulbahante had held at the start of the century. Poets on both sides composed well-known poems about the war ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)). The line between the two groups today runs roughly between Oog and Guumays in Sool ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)).
- **1974–75, the Dabadheer drought:** the Soviet Union, then allied with the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government, airlifted about 90,000 people from Caynabo, Beer and Hobyo to new farming and fishing settlements (*Danwadaagaha*) in Lower and Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba); [book source via Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=ynEhEAAAQBAJ&dq=dabadheer+aynaba&pg=PA26)).

## Oil exploration

Caynabo lies in oil block SL10B/13. In November 2019 Genel Energy presented estimates of an active petroleum system with several stacked reservoirs that it put at up to 1.3 billion barrels in total ([Genel Energy presentation](https://www.genelenergy.com/media/2333/genel-somaliland-aow-presentation.pdf); [Energy Voice](https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/africa/ep-africa/373989/genel-somaliland-cpc-exploration/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Aynaba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aynaba)
- [Wikidata Q4058907](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4058907)
- [Genel Energy, Somaliland presentation](https://www.genelenergy.com/media/2333/genel-somaliland-aow-presentation.pdf)
- [Energy Voice, Genel in Somaliland](https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/africa/ep-africa/373989/genel-somaliland-cpc-exploration/)


---

# Dhahar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/dhahar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dhahar is the main town of Dhahar district in eastern Sanaag, an area claimed by both Puntland and Somaliland. Puntland has strong influence there and calls the area Haylan region. In July 2025 fighting in Dhahar between Puntland forces and local militias linked to SSC-Khatumo left soldiers and others dead.

## Where it is

Dhahar is the capital of Dhahar district in eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), at about 9.75°N, 48.82°E ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3780880)). Roads link it east towards Hingalol and Sheerbi: in August 2022 the Puntland president laid the foundation stone for a road from Dhahar to Hingalol; the 45 km road to Sheerbi was then almost finished, while only 20 of the 70 km to Hingalol were built ([Horseed Media, 2022](https://horseedmedia.net/madaxweynaha-puntland-oo-dhagax-dhigay-wadada-dhahar-sheerbi-371922)). See also [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/), the other main town of eastern Sanaag.

## Who runs it

The town is claimed by both [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), and sources describe it differently. Reuters reported Dhahar as a Puntland town in 2021; SBC reported in 2019 that it was in practice under Somaliland; a 2014 study called it a district of Puntland ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar)). Puntland names the area Haylan region and sends its governor there ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar)). Wikipedia also records a Somaliland army base in the town, home to its 93rd division ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar)).

## Timeline

- **November 2009:** Puntland and Somaliland forces clashed near Dhahar ([VOA](https://web.archive.org/web/20201130060118/https://www.voanews.com/archive/somaliland-troops-clash-puntland-forces)).
- **2016:** an incident between the two sides at Boodda-Cad, a settlement 30 km west of Dhahar ([BBC Somali, July 2016](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war/2016/07/160718_somaliland)).
- **January 2018:** Somalia's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Gamal Mohamed Hassan, visited Dhahar and Badhan with Puntland officials ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar); [BBC Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-42557608)).
- **March 2021:** police fired into the air to break up protesters in Dhahar who backed President Farmaajo and opposed Puntland President Deni ([Reuters, March 2021](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-somalia-politics-idUSKBN2BG2DH)).
- **May and October 2023:** visits by Puntland ministers and the Haylan governor ([Daljir](https://www.daljir.com/wafdi-wasiiro-ah-oo-tagay-dhahar/)).
- **September 2023:** 24 of Dhahar district's 33 councillors, including members of Puntland's ruling Kaah party, rejected Local Law No. 7 agreed by Puntland's parties ([Horseed Media, 2023](https://horseedmedia.net/xildhibaanada-degmada-dhahar-ee-maamulka-puntland-oo-meel-adag-ka-istaagey-heshiisyada-xisbiyada-382589)).

## July 2025 fighting

On 15 July 2025 heavy fighting broke out in Dhahar between Puntland forces, including the [Puntland Maritime Police Force](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/), and local militias aligned with SSC-Khatumo, after Puntland forces moved to remove new checkpoints. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported four soldiers killed and ten wounded in hours of fighting ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/july/202220/four_soldiers_killed_in_deadly_clashes_between_puntland_forces_and_clan_militias_in_dhahar_district.aspx)); Wikipedia records dozens dead in total ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar)).

The fighting came during a conference in Laascaanood where Warsangali and Dhulbahante delegates were discussing a new federal member state backed by the federal government. The same day Puntland's parliament expelled a former speaker, Abdirashid Yusuf Jibril, after an arrest warrant was issued ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-parliament-expels-former-speaker-as-arrest-warrant-is-issued)). Puntland's president held the federal government responsible for efforts to bring Sanaag into SSC-Khatumo, and Somalia's Ministry of Interior urged Puntland to withdraw its troops from Dhahar ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/july/202222/federal_government_urges_puntland_to_withdraw_troops_after_deadly_clashes_in_dhahar_district.aspx); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-federal-government-undermining-puntland-unity-minister-says-after-deadly-clashes)). See [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar)
- [Wikidata Q3780880](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3780880)
- [Hiiraan Online, clashes in Dhahar, July 2025](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/july/202220/four_soldiers_killed_in_deadly_clashes_between_puntland_forces_and_clan_militias_in_dhahar_district.aspx)
- [Reuters, March 2021](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-somalia-politics-idUSKBN2BG2DH)
- [FSNAU Sanaag survey, 2002](https://www.fsnau.org/downloads/Sanaag%20Survey%20-%20May%202002.pdf)


---

# Bargaal (Bargal)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/bargaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bargaal is a small coastal town on the Guardafui Channel in Bari, Puntland, about 35 nautical miles south of Cape Guardafui. It was the usual residence of Boqor Osman Mahamud of the Majeerteen Sultanate, with four forts and about 120 brick buildings in 1925, until Italian forces bombed and destroyed it on 28–29 October 1925.

## Where it is

Bargaal is the centre of Bargaal district in the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). It faces the Guardafui Channel of the Indian Ocean, 26 nautical miles north of Gumbah, 11 north of Ras Binnah, 30 south of Tohen and 35 south of Cape Guardafui ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)), at about 11.29°N, 51.08°E and 6 m above sea level ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q808131)). Wikipedia gives the district about 6,798 people ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)).

## Seat of the Majeerteen Sultan

Bargaal may date from the early modern period, when it served as the seasonal seat of the Majeerteen Sultanate ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)). The Italian study *Migiurtinia ed il Territorio del Nugál*, written in early 1925, describes it as the usual home of [Boqor Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/) ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal); [Roma Tre University archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20200923105434/https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/handle/2307/2725)).

That study recorded ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)):

- about 800 people of the Adan Abdirahman and 150 of the Osman Mahmud, both Majeerteen
- four forts, the king's house, about 120 brick buildings and about 200 huts
- drinking water on site, slightly salty
- two parts: Old Bargaal and Eirod, where the Sultan lived

## Destruction in 1925

Italian forces bombed and destroyed Bargaal on 28–29 October 1925, during the campaign to bring the northern sultanates under direct Italian rule ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)). Caluula, [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), Qandala and Habo were also heavily damaged in that campaign ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)). See [Caluula](/en/regions/caluula/) and [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/).

See also [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## Since 2000

- **June 2007:** fighting at Bargaal, known as the Battle of Bargal ([Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)).
- **2012:** the Puntland Highway Authority announced a project to connect Bargaal and other towns to the 750 km main road linking Bosaso, Garowe and [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) ([Sabahi, June 2012](http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/newsbriefs/2012/06/28/newsbrief-07)).

## Schools

Puntland's education ministry lists three primary schools, one secondary school and an institute in Bargaal district, among them Wadikhayr, Taageer, Qorraxad, Abdehan and Bargaal Primary ([Puntland Ministry of Education](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Bargal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargal)
- [Wikidata Q808131](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q808131)
- [*Migiurtinia ed il Territorio del Nugál*, Roma Tre University archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20200923105434/https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/handle/2307/2725)
- [Puntland Ministry of Education, schools](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)


---

# Ceel Afweyn (El Afweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ceel Afweyn (El Afweyn) is a district town in western Sanaag, on the Burco–Ceerigaabo road, 283 km from Burco and 88 km from Ceerigaabo. It holds one of the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa. More than 300 people were killed there in October 1988, and a local conflict that began in 2015 ended with a peace deal in November 2019.

## Where it is

Ceel Afweyn is the seat of Ceel Afweyn district in western [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), administered by [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It lies on the main road between [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/), about 283 km away, and Ceerigaabo, about 88 km away ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)), at about 9.93°N, 47.22°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5350699)).

## People and work

The 2005 UNDP estimate gave 12,159 people ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5350699)); a 2012 estimate gave about 60,000 ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)). Most people are from the Habar Je'lo (Bi'ide) and the Habar Yonis (Saad Yonis), both Isaaq ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).

The town's economy rests on livestock. Its market is the largest in Sanaag and described as one of the largest in the Horn of Africa, drawing animals from across the Somali lands ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)). See [livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/). The town has nine primary and secondary schools, among them Aadan Abokor Qorsheel School and [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) Primary and Intermediate ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).

## The Maduna ruins and rock art

Near Ceel Afweyn is the ruined Islamic town of Maduna, described as the largest and most accessible ruin of its kind in Somaliland. Its main feature is a large rectangular mosque whose 3 m walls still stand, with a mihrab, surrounded by partly standing houses; a large baobab tree grows on the slope below ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)). Its dry-stone building style links it to [Amud](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/) and Abasa and so probably to the [Adal Sultanate](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/); the archaeologist Sada Mire dates it to the 1400s to 1600s ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn); [*Northeast African Studies*, via JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/nortafristud.18.1-2.0271)).

The area also has prehistoric caves, rock carvings, cairns and the rock-art site of God-Hardune. A joint Somali–Soviet expedition studied the carvings in 1972 ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).

## 1988

In October 1988, during the war in the north, more than 300 people in and around Ceel Afweyn were killed after an army officer died from a landmine laid by the Somali National Movement, and the town was bombed by the [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) ([Human Rights Watch / Africa Watch, 1990](https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/somalia_1990.pdf); [Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)). Community Aid Abroad (now Oxfam Australia) reported that many people fled the bombing and that a "scorched earth" policy was applied to villages on the Ceel Afweyn plains ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)). Wikipedia places these killings within what it calls the Isaaq genocide ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).

See also [the Isaaq genocide, 1987 to 1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

## Since 1991

- **July 2000:** Ceel Afweyn was reported as the worst-hit place in Sanaag in floods ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).
- **December 2002 to April 2003:** after defeat at Dhuudo, [Jama Ali Jama](/en/people/jama-ali-jama/)'s forces from [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) stayed in Ceel Afweyn until the sides reconciled; they surrendered in part in March 2003 and withdrew to [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) in April ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).
- **2012:** the Somaliland government dug a 350 m well to give safe water to more than 1,000 households ([Somaliland Sun](https://www.somalilandsun.com/somaliland-government-to-avail-el-afweyne-residents-safe-drinking-water/)).
- **2015 to 2019:** a conflict between two local communities over grazing, water and political power. A government-led delegation brokered an agreement in July 2018, fighting returned in September, and a peace deal was announced on 5 November 2019 ([ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somaliland-declaration-peace-halts-protracted-conflict-ceel-afweyn); [Horn Diplomat, 2019](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2019/09/01/somaliland-conflict-of-el-afwayn-disrupts-education-for-hundreds-of-children/)).
- **27 May 2020:** Somaliland's environment ministry seized illegally cut timber in the district ([Hargeisa Press](https://hargeisapress.com/ceel-afweyn-wasaaradda-deegaanka-oo-qabatay-dhir-qoyan-oo-la-soo-jaray/)).

## Birds and people from Ceel Afweyn

Birds recorded at the town include the Egyptian vulture, the lappet-faced vulture, the squacco heron and the wattled starling ([Birdquest Somaliland report](https://web.archive.org/web/20210226235754/https://www.birdquest-tours.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SOMALILAND-REP-12-ebook.pdf)). The Olympic runners [Bashir Abdi](/en/people/bashir-abdi/) of [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) and [Mohammed Ahmed](/en/people/mohammed-ahmed/) of Canada have family roots in the town ([Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: El Afweyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Afweyn)
- [Wikidata Q5350699](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5350699)
- [Human Rights Watch / Africa Watch, *Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People*, 1990](https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/somalia_1990.pdf)
- [ReliefWeb, peace declaration in Ceel Afweyn](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somaliland-declaration-peace-halts-protracted-conflict-ceel-afweyn)
- [Birdquest Somaliland trip report](https://web.archive.org/web/20210226235754/https://www.birdquest-tours.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SOMALILAND-REP-12-ebook.pdf)


---

# Caabudwaaq (Abudwak)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/caabudwaaq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Caabudwaaq (Abudwak) is a district town in northern Galgaduud, close to the Ethiopian border, in Galmudug state. It is a herding and trading town and a stop for trucks crossing between Somalia and Ethiopia. Its airport was rebuilt with money from people of the area living abroad, with the first scheduled flight in October 2012.

## Where it is

Caabudwaaq is the seat of Caabudwaaq district in northern [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), part of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) state, near the border with the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)), at about 6.23°N, 46.45°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q335731)). Trucks and travellers crossing between Ethiopia and Somalia stop there, and the town has a long history of herding ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)). OCHA publishes a reference map of the district ([OCHA, Cabudwaaq district map](https://reliefweb.int/map/somalia/somalia-reference-map-cabudwaaq-district-22-feb-2012)).

## People

Several Somali groups live in the town; the Marehan (Sade, Darod) are the largest ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)). A 1996 report of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada described it as a Marehan town ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)), and the Marehan held the town's seats in the Galmudug Assembly list of June 2015 ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)).

## The airport

People from the area living abroad paid for a major rebuild of Caabudwaaq airport from 2011, and its first scheduled flight left on 11 October 2012 ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)). Local people built the first 3 km phase of the runway themselves. In December 2020 Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) visited and announced $200,000 from the federal government for the second phase ([Horseed Media, 2020](https://horseedmedia.net/xukuumada-rooble-oo-200000-ku-bixinaysa-dhismaha-garoonka-diyaaradaha-caabudwaaq-video-346886)). The airport closed for two days in June 2021 when armed men stopped planes landing ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)). In December 2022 a cargo plane carrying khat ran off the runway, probably after a landing gear failure ([Aviation Herald](https://avherald.com/h?article=5027e3f1)).

## Timeline

- **September 2007:** a WHO polio programme worker was killed in an attack in the east of the town ([Hiiraan Online, 2007](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2007/sept/4256/un_staff_member_killed_in_galgadud_region.aspx)).
- **August 2008:** failed rains caused water shortages and a serious humanitarian situation in the district ([ReliefWeb, rapid needs assessment](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/rapid-needs-assessment-abudwak-galgadud-region-central-somalia-assessment-report-6-11)).
- **2009 to 2015, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a:** the Sufi armed group Ahlu Sunna ran the town. In July 2010 it stopped two local radio stations, and in March 2011 it closed seven Quran schools ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)). In March 2012 it announced a crackdown on charcoal burning after clashes between charcoal traders and herders ([Suna Times](https://sunatimes.com/articles/1737/Herders-in-Abudwak-up-in-arms-with-charcoal-traders)).
- **March and June 2013:** Ahlu Sunna and the federal government signed agreements in Caabudwaaq on local administration under the federal constitution ([Hiiraan Online, March 2013](https://hiiraan.com/news/2013/mar/wararka_maanta6-21135.htm)).
- **2013 to 2016:** clan fighting in the district in 2012, 2014 and 2016, with reconciliation reported in August 2014 ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)).
- **July to September 2015:** Ahlu Sunna occupied the town ahead of the new Galmudug administration, then withdrew in September. In October 2015, 150 soldiers of the Somali Army's 21st Division were sent to the town ([Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)).
- **February 2023:** a new district administration was installed ([Radio Arlaadi, 2023](https://radioarlaadi.so/2023/02/13/maamulka-cusub-ee-degmada-caabudwaaq-oo-la-caleema-saaray/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Abudwak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak)
- [Wikidata Q335731](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q335731)
- [ReliefWeb, rapid needs assessment in Abudwak](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/rapid-needs-assessment-abudwak-galgadud-region-central-somalia-assessment-report-6-11)
- [Horseed Media, federal funding for Caabudwaaq airport, 2020](https://horseedmedia.net/xukuumada-rooble-oo-200000-ku-bixinaysa-dhismaha-garoonka-diyaaradaha-caabudwaaq-video-346886)
- [Aviation Herald, cargo plane overrun](https://avherald.com/h?article=5027e3f1)


---

# Dhoobley (Dhobley)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/dhobley/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dhoobley is a border town in Lower Juba, about 15 km from Liboi in Kenya. Herders settled it in the early 1970s; it grew as a transit point for refugees after 1991 and is now described as Jubaland's second-largest town after Kismaayo. Kenyan forces took it in October 2011 and have kept a presence there under the African Union since 2012.

## Where it is

Dhoobley lies in [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/), part of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), right on the Kenyan border, about 15 km north-east of the Kenyan town of Liboi ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))), at about 0.41°N, 41.01°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207668)). It was once called Liboi-Somalia. Its position on the border has made it, by Wikipedia's account, the second-largest town in Jubaland after Kismaayo ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))).

## Founding and refugees

Herders settled the place between 1971 and 1974 to raise their animals ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))). After the central government fell in 1991, many people passed through Dhoobley on their way to the refugee camp then at Liboi in Kenya, and in 1993 it became an official settlement for displaced families ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))). In early 2007 Kenya largely closed the border, and thousands of people turned back stayed in Dhoobley as displaced people ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))). See [refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## Fighting and foreign forces

- **3 March 2008:** a US naval missile strike hit Dhoobley, aimed at [Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan](/en/history/al-qaeda-east-africa-cell-somalia/), whom the US held responsible for the 1998 embassy bombings in Nairobi. At least four people were killed and 20 hurt ([New York Times, March 2008](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/world/africa/04iht-04somalia.10669297.html)).
- **3 April 2011:** forces of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) and the [Raskamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) Movement took the town from al-Shabaab, shelling it; ten fighters were reported killed ([Hiiraan Online, April 2011](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2011/Apr/government_forces_capture_dhobley_town.aspx)).
- **October 2011:** the Kenyan army took control of Dhoobley in [Operation Linda Nchi](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/), launched after a series of kidnappings, including of foreign aid workers ([BBC News, Oct 2011](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15331448)).
- **March 2012:** Kenyan forces joined the African Union mission, [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) ([Hiiraan Online, March 2012](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Mar/23275/operation_linda_nchi_ends_as_african_union_takes_over.aspx)). Since then the town has been held by the Somali government with foreign forces ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))).
- **March 2020:** the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and the Kenya Defence Forces opened the Dhobley Forward Operating Base north of the town ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/amisom-establishes-new-army-camp-for-sna-in-somalias-jubaland)).
- **May 2024:** Kenyan army engineers finished a tarmac road from Dhoobley to Afmadow under the African Union mission, and in 2025 they rebuilt the airstrip ([Streamline Feed, 2025](https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/kdf-engineers-overhaul-strategic-somali-airstrip-near-kenyan-border); [Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))).

WardheerNews has described the town picking up the pieces after years of violence ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/dhobley-somali-town-scarred-by-violence-picking-up-the-pieces/)).

## Work, water and schools

The town lives from the livestock trade, cross-border trade including money changing, the airport, and transport fees between the two countries ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))). It has about eight boreholes, and in droughts herders from surrounding districts and from North Eastern Kenya bring their animals to water there ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))). There are eight schools, three of them secondary ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))).

Neighbourhoods include Diif Somali, Tuulo Barwaaqo, Deg-ilima, Tabto, Sukaylaa, Daku, Kulmis, Wadajir, [Durdur](/en/society/dur-dur-band/), Basro, Daar Daar, Dhagax and Laanta Shabaax ([Wikipedia: Dhobley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Dhobley (Lower Juba Region)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobley_(Lower_Juba_Region))
- [Wikidata Q1207668](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207668)
- [New York Times, US strike in Somalia, March 2008](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/world/africa/04iht-04somalia.10669297.html)
- [BBC News, Kenya troops in Somalia, Oct 2011](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15331448)
- [Hiiraan Online, Operation Linda Nchi ends, March 2012](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Mar/23275/operation_linda_nchi_ends_as_african_union_takes_over.aspx)


---

# Warsheekh (Warsheikh)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/regions/warsheikh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Warsheekh (Warsheikh) is a coastal district town in Middle Shabelle, Hirshabelle state, just north of Banadir. It was a settlement of the medieval Sultanate of Mogadishu, and coins of the Mogadishu sultans were dug up there in 1920–21. In April 1890 two Italian naval officers were killed offshore, which led to the first colonial naval bombardment of the coast.

## Where it is

Warsheekh is the centre of Warsheekh district, on the coast of south-eastern [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) state. The district borders Banadir to the south and Adale district to the north ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)), at about 2.3°N, 45.8°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016898)). The Italian spelling was Uarsceik ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016898)).

## Medieval town and coins

Warsheekh is described as an early Muslim centre and one of the main settlements of the [Sultanate of Mogadishu](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/) in the Middle Ages ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). It later fell under the Ajuran state, and after Ajuran's fall in the late 1600s under the Hiraab Imamate ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). See [the Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/) and [Hobyo](/en/regions/hobyo/).

In three digs at Warsheekh in 1920 and 1921, the Italian scholar Enrico Cerulli found coins of the medieval sultans of Mogadishu. They were kept at the Scuola Orientale of the University of Rome and lost in the Second World War. Cerulli reported similar coins from the village of Moos, about 14 km north-west, and G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville recorded another find there in 1963 ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). See [early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).

## The old mosque

An old mosque near the cape has an inscription dating its building to 1278 AH (1861–62 CE), by [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abu Bakr bin Mihzar bin Ahmad al-Kasadi. It has three rows of east–west piers, a mihrab decorated with leaf patterns, and side rooms, one holding the Sheikh's tomb ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)).

## 1890 and Italian rule

In April 1890 the Italian naval lieutenant Carlo Zavagli and Captain Angelo Bartorello were killed offshore by local Somalis. Italy answered with the first colonial naval bombardment of the coast ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). Around 1900 the town became part of the [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) protectorate, and after independence in 1960 it became the seat of Warsheekh district ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). See [colonial treaties, 1884 to 1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).

## People today

There is no official count for the town; Wikipedia gives an estimate of 65,000, and 150,573 for the district in 2016 ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). The district's people are Abgaal Hawiye, mainly the Cumar Galmaax branch (Celi and Mataan) ([Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)). The district has its own website ([Warsheikh district](https://warsheikhdistrict.so/)), and Star FM has reported on the district hospital ([Star FM](https://www.starfmsomalia.com/wareysi-isbitaalka-degmada-warsheekh/)). The coast near the town is described as a destination for visitors ([Somali Safari](http://somalisafari.com/destination/warsheikh/)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Warsheikh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsheikh)
- [Wikidata Q1016898](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1016898)
- [Warsheikh district website](https://warsheikhdistrict.so/)
- [UNDP 2005 rural and urban population estimates](https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Somalia/UNDP-POP-RURAL-URBAN%202005.pdf)


---

# How Somalia is divided: states, regions and districts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/administrative-divisions/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia is officially a federal republic made up of federal member states, the Banadir Regional Administration (Mogadishu), 18 regions (gobollo) and their districts (degmooyin). The 18 regions date from June 1984. Since 1991 Somaliland, Puntland and other administrations have created further regions of their own.

## The levels today

Under the federal system, Somalia has three levels below the national government ([Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia); [Ministry of Planning: federal member states](https://mop.gov.so/federal-member-states/)):

1. **Federal member states**, plus the Banadir Regional Administration for Mogadishu, which belongs to no state.
2. **Regions** (*gobol*, plural *gobollo*): 18 in the pre-1991 map.
3. **Districts** (*degmo*, plural *degmooyin*). Wikipedia counts 72 in the official map; the UN's common operational datasets list district-level population for every region ([OCHA / HDX, Somalia population data](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ps-som)).

The Federal Parliament decides the final number and borders of member states. In December 2014 it passed a law setting up the Boundary and Federalization Commission to draw state borders and settle disputes between states ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia); [Provisional Constitution, 2012](https://web.archive.org/web/20130124010543/http://www.somaliweyn.com/pages/news/Aug_12/Somalia_Constitution_English_FOR_WEB.pdf)).

## Federal member states

The federal government counts these member states ([Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)):

- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), founded 1998
- [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/)
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)
- [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/), established November 2014 ([Raxanreeb, 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20141109181558/http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/11/somalia-south-west-state-endorses-a-new-constitution/))
- [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), formed October 2016 ([Garowe Online](http://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-president-elected-for-hir-shabelle-state))
- [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/), which in 2025 replaced the SSC-Khatumo administration recognised in 2023
- Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991; the federal government counts it as part of Somalia, while Somaliland runs its own government ([Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/))

[Banadir](/en/states/banadir/) covers Mogadishu. For how the member states work see [federal member states](/en/states/federal-member-states/).

## The 18 regions

In 1982 Somalia reorganised its eight provinces into 16 regions. In June 1984 Awdal was split from Woqooyi Galbeed and Sool from Nugaal, giving the 18 regions still used on most maps ([Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia); [Statoids](http://www.statoids.com/uso.html)). Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), Lower Juba, Gedo, Bay and Bakool were created under President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) in 1974–75, and Banadir shrank to the city of Mogadishu ([Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)).

The 18: [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), [Banadir (Mogadishu)](/en/regions/mogadishu/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

Since 1991 several administrations have made new regions inside these. Examples: Somaliland's [Saaxil](/en/regions/sahil/) and Gabiley ([Gabiley](/en/regions/gabiley/)), and Puntland's Gardafuul around [Caluula](/en/regions/caluula/), approved in 2013 ([Garowe Online, 2013](https://web.archive.org/web/20140426201442/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Puntland_Parliament_approves_new_region_and_cabinet_members_printer.shtml)), and Haylan around [Dhahar](/en/regions/dhahar/) ([Wikipedia: Dhahar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhahar)).

## How the map changed before 1991

- **1931:** [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) had seven commissariats: Alto [Giuba](/en/regions/jubba-river/), Alto Uebi-Scebeli, Basso Giuba, Basso Uebi-Scebeli, [Migiurtinia](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/), Mogadiscio and Mudugh ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)).
- **1936 to 1941:** after Italy's war on Ethiopia, the Somalia Governorate of Italian East Africa had ten commissariats, adding Somali-inhabited parts of Ethiopia: Ogaden (capital Uarder) and Uebi Gestro (capital Callafo), plus Nogal (capital Eil) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)). See [fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).
- **1950 to 1960:** the UN Trust Territory under Italian administration had six regions (Alto Giuba, Basso Giuba, Benadir, Hiiraan, Migiurtinia, Mudugh); [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) had two (Burao and Hargeisa) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)).
- **1960 to 1964:** the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) kept the 12 districts of the two former territories. In 1964 a Northeastern (Burao) Province was made from Burao, Erigavo and Las Anod, and a Northwestern (Hargeisa) Province from Berbera, Borama and Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)).
- **1968:** the capital of Lower Juba moved from Kismaayo to Jamaame ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)). See [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/).

## Administrations declared since 2000

Before the current member states, several administrations were declared, including [Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) (2007–2009), Himan and Heeb (2008–2015), [Azania](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/) (2011–2013) and a Central Regions State ([Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)
- [Statoids: regions of Somalia](http://www.statoids.com/uso.html)
- [Ministry of Planning: federal member states](https://mop.gov.so/federal-member-states/)
- [OCHA / HDX: Somalia population data by region and district](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ps-som)
- [Provisional Constitution of Somalia, 2012](https://web.archive.org/web/20130124010543/http://www.somaliweyn.com/pages/news/Aug_12/Somalia_Constitution_English_FOR_WEB.pdf)


---

# How Somalia's federal system works: the member states

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/federal-member-states/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has six federal member states: Puntland (1998), Jubaland (2013), South West (2014), Galmudug (2015), Hirshabelle (2016) and North Eastern State (recognised 2025), plus Banadir, the capital region. In November 2026 three states have good working ties with the federal government and three do not.

## How the states came about

The idea of a federal Somalia appears in every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward. The 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it, and Article 1 of the 2012 constitution says "Somalia is a federal state" ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Critics have called federalism divisive.

Puntland came first. On 5 May 1998 a conference of elders in Garowe declared it, as a "building block" toward a united Somalia. In its first years it built a parliament, a tax system, courts and independent media ([Crisis Group, 2009](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/b64-somalia-the-trouble-with-puntland.pdf)). The other states were formed after 2012, through conferences backed by the federal government and its partners ([Heritage Institute, Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)).

## Each state in November 2026

- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) (1998).** Led mainly by Harti (Darod) clans. Leader: [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/). It has not recognised the federal government since 31 March 2024, and says federal mandates have ended. Its forces and federal forces clashed at Galkayo in August 2026 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/5/puntland-forces-seize-government-held-camp-in-somalias-galkayo)).
- **[Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) (2013).** Home to many clans. Leader: [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/), in a third term since November 2024, which the federal government disputes. It suspended cooperation in January 2025, and talks have run since October 2025 ([Heritage Institute, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)).
- **[South West](/en/states/south-west-state/).** Mainly [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) (Rahanweyn) communities; the Heritage Institute notes Digil concerns about being left out. Leader: Adan Madoobe, since 11 June 2026, with federal backing. The former leader's side still holds towns in Bay, and fighting continues ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/nearly-five-months-into-office-aadan-madoobe-faces-ongoing-fighting-in-south-west-state/)).
- **[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) (2015).** Several clans; smaller clans report being left out. Leader: Liban Ahmed Hassan, elected 22 October 2026. Works with the federal government ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents)).
- **[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) (2016).** Mainly Hawadle, Abgaal and other clans. Leader: Ali Gudlawe Hussein, re-elected 24 October 2026. Works with the federal government ([Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/somalia-ali-gudlawe-hussein-re-elected-as-hirshabelle-leader/426803/)).
- **[North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).** Formed as an interim administration in 2023 and recognised as a member state in April 2025. Led mainly by [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) leaders. Leader: Abdikadir Firdhiye. Works with the federal government. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) opposes it, and it overlaps with Puntland's claims in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/the-making-of-somalia-new-northeast-state-5178184)).
- **[Banadir](/en/states/banadir/).** Not a member state; its final status is still to be decided. Its leader is appointed, and a local council was elected in December 2025 ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/2025/12/25/mogadishu-votes-at-dawn-benadir-regional-council-elections-begin-in-a-historic-first/)).

Clan information is from the Heritage Institute ([Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)) and The EastAfrican. No clan owns a state.

## Sources differ

Sources give different founding dates for South West State, and the federal government and Jubaland disagree on whether Jubaland's current mandate is valid.

## What it means for people

Smaller communities in several states say they are left out of power ([Heritage Institute, Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)). Where the states and the centre do not work together, people can face two sets of rules for papers, taxes and aid.


---

# Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026: the facts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 18 May 1991 the north-west declared the Republic of Somaliland and ended the 1960 union. Since then it has rebuilt its own government with local money and held regular elections. No UN member recognised it until Israel did in December 2025, and Somalia and most of the world still count it as part of Somalia.

## 1960: two independences, one union

[British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) became independent as the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) on 26 June 1960 ([State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). On 1 July 1960 it joined the former Italian trust territory in the south to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/), with Mogadishu as capital.

In the June 1961 referendum on the union constitution, much of the north stayed away. About 100,000 northerners voted, and over 60% of them voted against. On 10 December 1961 a group of junior officers, mostly northern, tried to restore Somaliland's independence in Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/). Loyal soldiers ended the attempt within hours ([1961 revolt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_revolt_in_Somalia)).

## The 1980s: the war in the north

The Somali National Movement was formed in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) on 6 April 1981 by several hundred Isaaq exiles, to remove [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government. In May 1988 it took Burao and part of Hargeisa. Government forces then shelled and bombed both cities, which were left largely destroyed. The Library of Congress gives an estimate of 5,000 Isaaq killed between 27 May and the end of 1988 (other estimates are much higher), and over 300,000 people fled to Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm)). These killings remain the founding grievance in Somaliland.

## 1991: the declaration

In January 1991 the Somali National Movement took Berbera, Hargeisa and Burao. A Grand Conference in Burao then revoked the 1960 Act of Union, and on 18 May 1991 declared the Republic of Somaliland. No other Somali group was consulted ([Bradbury, 1997](https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf)).

## Built by elders, with local money

Elders' conferences of the Isaaq and other northern clans made the peace. The [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) conference in 1992 and the [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) conference in 1993 built trust through customary law (xeer), and were paid for mostly by communities themselves ([Farah and Lewis, 1997](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/3215/1/Making%20peace%20in%20Somaliland.pdf)). From 1993 to 1995 the Egal government revived ministries, a central bank, a currency, police and courts, with little outside aid ([Bradbury](https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/progressio.org.uk/files/Somaliland-Country-Report-Mark-Bradbury.pdf)). A 2001 referendum approved a constitution with a council of elders ([Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)) as its upper house ([Participedia](https://participedia.net/case/5117)).

## Elections

Somaliland has held "regular, though often delayed" elections ([Responsible Statecraft](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/somaliland-us-recognition-iran-war/)). In November 2024 the opposition candidate, [Abdirahman Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/), won, and power passed peacefully ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/19/oppositions-abdullahi-wins-presidential-election-in-breakaway-somaliland)).

## The recognition question

- **January 2024:** a deal with Ethiopia offered sea access in return for a pledge of recognition. Somalia called it "null and void". The Ankara Declaration of December 2024 eased the dispute ([ORF](https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ankara-declaration-t-rkiye-s-diplomatic-win-in-africa)).
- **26 December 2025:** Israel recognised Somaliland. Somalia, the African Union, the Arab League, IGAD, the OIC and others rejected the move ([UN Press](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)). Many other states, including China, Egypt and [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/), also rejected it ([Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/africa/somalia-african-nations-condemn-israel-recognition-somaliland)).

## Two positions

Somaliland's government says it has met the tests of a state since 1991. Israel has noted that about 35 states recognised Somaliland during its few days of independence in June 1960 ([UN Press](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)). The federal government and most states hold that Somaliland is part of Somalia under the 1960 union. We set out both and take no side.

## Not one view inside

[Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) communities in Las Anod and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) rejected Hargeisa's rule in 2023 and chose the federation, forming what is now [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) ([Las Anod conflict](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_conflict_%282023%29)). Borama saw protests in December 2025 ([2025 Borama protests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Borama_protests)).

## Where things stand in 2026

Somaliland left talks with the federal government after Mogadishu recognised North Eastern State in April 2025 ([Heritage Institute, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)). The question of union or separation is still open.


---

# Puntland State of Somalia: Garoowe (Garowe), history and leaders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/puntland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland is Somalia's oldest federal member state, formed in 1998 at a conference of elders in Garoowe as a building block toward a united Somalia. It covers the north-east, including Bari, Nugaal and northern Mudug, and is led by Said Abdullahi Deni. Since 31 March 2024 it has not recognised the federal government's authority.

## How it began

Puntland came first among the member states. A conference of elders and politicians met in Garoowe in 1998 and declared a regional state that stays part of Somalia. The stated idea was "building blocks": stable regions first, then a united country ([Crisis Group, 2009](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/b64-somalia-the-trouble-with-puntland.pdf)). Sources differ on the founding date. Crisis Group gives the Garoowe conference of May 1998, and Puntland's own records give 1 August 1998 ([Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland)). In its first years Puntland built a parliament, a tax system, courts and independent media ([Crisis Group, 2009](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/b64-somalia-the-trouble-with-puntland.pdf)).

## Land and people

The capital is Garoowe, in [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/). The main port and largest city is Boosaaso, in [Bari](/en/regions/bari/). Puntland claims Bari, Nugaal, northern [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and parts of [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), some of which [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) also claim. A 2016 estimate gave about 4.3 million people. Livestock, fishing and frankincense carry the economy, and livestock is shipped from Boosaaso to the Gulf. The coast is about 1,600 km long ([Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland)). Most people belong to Harti (Darod) clans, with other communities in every region ([Heritage Institute, Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)).

## Leaders

- [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), 1998 to 2004, later president of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)
- [Mohamud Muse Hersi](/en/people/mohamud-muse-hersi/) "Cadde", 2005 to 2009
- [Abdirahman Mohamed Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/), 2009 to 2014
- [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) "Gaas", 2014 to 2019
- [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/), since January 2019

Dates as given in [Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland).

## Votes at home

On 25 May 2023 Puntland held local council elections by direct vote in 30 districts, after a pilot in Qardho, Ufeyn and Eyl in October 2021. Observers called it historic, though some parties asked for a delay and voting stopped in a few places for security reasons ([Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2023/05/26/somalias-puntland-holds-historic-local-polls/); [PDRC](https://pdrcsomalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Puntland-Local-Government-Elections-Lessons-learned-for-future-democratization.pdf)).

## Puntland and the federal government

On 31 March 2024 Puntland said it no longer recognised the federal government's authority, after changes to the national constitution, and would act on its own until a constitution is agreed by a referendum it takes part in ([Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland)). Puntland and federal forces clashed at Gaalkacyo in August 2026 ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/5/puntland-forces-seize-government-held-camp-in-somalias-galkayo)).

## Where this state fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state". The idea runs through every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward, and the 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Two or more regions may join to form a member state. Each state has its own leader, parliament and constitution, and works with the federal government in Mogadishu. See the overview page on how the federal system works.


---

# Somali passport: cost, documents and where to apply

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/somali-passport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali passports are issued by the Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA). Since 2025 you must hold a national ID card from NIRA before you apply, then bring two photos and a police clearance certificate and give your fingerprints in person. The government's service page lists a fee of US$180, and the ICA promises the passport within about a week.

## Who issues the Somali passport?

The Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) of the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) issues the passport. Its headquarters are at Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu ([ICA, ordinary passport](https://immigration.gov.so/en/?p=13644)). It issues three kinds: ordinary, service and diplomatic ([ICA services](https://immigration.gov.so/services)). Most people need the ordinary passport.

## What do you need first?

**A national ID card comes first.** On 6 August 2025 the ICA announced that a valid National Identity Card is "a mandatory requirement for all Somali passport applications", starting 1 September 2025 ([ICA, 6 Aug 2025](https://immigration.gov.so/news/national-id-card-required-for-passport-applications)). People without one register with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) first. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa reported in July 2026 that people can now register for the ID card at passport service centres ([Dawan Africa, 2 Jul 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-introduce-new-third-generation-passport-in-october)). See [National ID card (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/).

## Which documents do you bring?

The ICA lists these for an ordinary passport ([ICA, ordinary passport](https://immigration.gov.so/en/?p=13644); [ICA services](https://immigration.gov.so/services)):

- Your national ID card (or a citizenship certificate)
- A certificate of non-criminal record (police clearance)
- Two recent passport photos
- The completed application form
- Proof that you paid the fee

The government's own service directory also lists a written request letter and a birth certificate ([somalia.gov.so, ordinary passport](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/ordinary-passport)). For renewals, the ICA asks for a signed letter giving the reason. Passports with less than six months left, or with no free pages, can be renewed ([ICA services](https://immigration.gov.so/services)).

## How do you apply inside Somalia?

The ICA describes four steps ([ICA, ordinary passport](https://immigration.gov.so/en/?p=13644)):

1. **Prepare documents:** national ID, police clearance and two photos.
2. **Submit:** at the headquarters in Mogadishu or at a regional immigration office.
3. **Biometrics:** give your fingerprints, digital photo and signature at an enrolment centre.
4. **Collect:** pick up the passport in person where you applied.

The government directory adds that you attend a personal interview and a check of your documents ([somalia.gov.so](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/ordinary-passport)). The ICA office is open Saturday to Thursday, 8 am to 4 pm. Its published contacts are phone +252 61 0555001, WhatsApp +252 61 446 5000, the short code 2000 and info@immigration.gov.so ([ICA](https://immigration.gov.so/en/?p=13644)).

## How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

- **Fee:** the government's service directory lists **US$180**, paid by mobile money ([somalia.gov.so, checked 12 Nov 2026](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/ordinary-passport)). Fees have changed over time. In 2016 the fee was reported as US$83 ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM105248.E, 17 Mar 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html)). Embassies set their own fees, which include consular charges.
- **Time:** the directory says about one week. After delays of about three months in 2026, ICA Director General Hussein Qasim Yusuf apologised and promised passports within seven days to applicants anywhere in the world ([Dawan Africa, 3 Jul 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-passport-delays-resolved-pledges-one-week-processing)).
- **Validity:** the biometric passport issued from 2013 was valid for five years ([IRB Canada, 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html)).

## How do you apply from abroad?

Somali embassies take applications by appointment. The Embassy of Somalia in Washington, DC is an example of the current system ([Embassy of Somalia, USA, passports](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/consular-services/passports/)):

- You must apply for the NIRA ID with the passport, through one combined appointment.
- Each person books their own slot. Walk-ins are not accepted.
- Payment is digital only. Money orders are no longer accepted.
- The embassy handles new passports and renewals of expired ones, not lost passports.

NIRA has also opened service centres inside Somali embassies, including in Nairobi and Pretoria ([SONNA, Nairobi](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-expands-civil-registration-services-with-launch-of-nira-office-at-embassy-in-nairobi/); [SONNA, Pretoria](https://sonna.so/en/nira-launches-new-service-center-at-the-somali-embassy-in-pretoria/)). Check with the embassy that serves your country before you pay.

## What is the new passport?

Somalia is replacing its passport with a third-generation one. In May 2025 the ICA and the Ministry of Finance began buying it with technical help from the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) ([SONNA, 19 May 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-launches-overhaul-of-national-passport-system/)). The ICA said in January 2026 that the new passport would meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and that current passports stay valid ([ICA, 15 Jan 2026](https://immigration.gov.so/news/new-somali-passport-planned-for-2026)). It has a polycarbonate data page and stronger anti-forgery features, and the ICA set October 2026 for its launch ([Dawan Africa, 2 Jul 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-introduce-new-third-generation-passport-in-october)). The cabinet reviewed progress in August 2026 ([AllAfrica, Aug 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608070076.html)).

## Why has the Somali passport been hard to use?

After 1991 most state records were destroyed, so there was no trusted register behind the documents. A 2016 Canadian government research response collected the official views: the US said many governments did not accept Somali passports because of widespread fraud, and Canada did not recognise them because there were "no credible or verifiable registrars" for the documents behind them ([IRB Canada, 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html)). The same report said biometric passports and new ID cards began in December 2013 ([IRB Canada, 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html)). Linking every passport to a biometric national ID is the government's answer to that problem ([ICA, 2025](https://immigration.gov.so/news/national-id-card-required-for-passport-applications)).

## Where can you travel with it?

The Henley Passport Index 2026 gives the Somali passport a score of 33, ranked 97th: you can enter 33 places without a visa arranged in advance ([Gulf News, Jan 2026](https://gulfnews.com/world/worlds-weakest-passports-for-2026-revealed-1.500409207)). Some reports for 2026 give 32 ([Le360](https://en.le360.ma/world/henley-passport-index-strongest-to-weakest-african-passports_OAFP5ZUJBRFIVPQQIR54LLHXIE/)). The full current list is on the [Henley Passport Index](https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index) site. Rules change often, so check with the embassy of the country you are visiting.

## Related pages

- [National ID card (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Why so many Somalis have 1 January as their birthday](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/)

## Sources

1. Immigration and Citizenship Agency. Ordinary passport. [immigration.gov.so](https://immigration.gov.so/en/?p=13644). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Immigration and Citizenship Agency. Services. [immigration.gov.so](https://immigration.gov.so/services). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. Immigration and Citizenship Agency. "National ID card required for passport applications", 6 August 2025. [immigration.gov.so](https://immigration.gov.so/news/national-id-card-required-for-passport-applications). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Immigration and Citizenship Agency. "New Somali passport planned for 2026", 15 January 2026. [immigration.gov.so](https://immigration.gov.so/news/new-somali-passport-planned-for-2026). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Federal Government of Somalia. Ordinary passport (service directory). [somalia.gov.so](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/ordinary-passport). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Washington DC. Passports. [usa.mfa.gov.so](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/consular-services/passports/). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. SOM105248.E, Somalia: passports, 17 March 2016 (via ecoi.net). [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/). "Somalia launches overhaul of national passport system", 19 May 2025. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-launches-overhaul-of-national-passport-system/). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Dawan Africa. "Somalia to introduce new third-generation passport in October", 2 July 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-introduce-new-third-generation-passport-in-october). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Dawan Africa. "Somalia says passport delays resolved, pledges one-week processing", 3 July 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-passport-delays-resolved-pledges-one-week-processing). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Gulf News. "World's weakest passports for 2026 revealed", January 2026. [gulfnews.com](https://gulfnews.com/world/worlds-weakest-passports-for-2026-revealed-1.500409207). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# State of Somaliland, 26 June to 1 July 1960

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The State of Somaliland was the independent country formed from the British Somaliland Protectorate on 26 June 1960. It lasted five days: on 1 July 1960 it joined the former Italian-run Trust Territory of Somalia to form the Somali Republic. Sources record that about 33 countries recognised it, and Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal was its only prime minister.

## What it was

The State of Somaliland (Qaranka Soomaaliland) became independent from the United Kingdom on 26 June 1960. On 1 July 1960 it united with the Trust Territory of Somalia, which became independent from Italian administration the same day, to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). Its territory was the whole of the former British Somaliland Protectorate ([Somaliland Constitution 1960, via Somaliland Law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_constitution_1960.HTM)). For the full story of these days see [independence and union, 26 June to 1 July 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/) and [British Somaliland, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).

## How it came about

Britain had first planned a slower handover so that local politicians could gain experience. Sources say strong pan-Somali feeling and a landslide in the February 1960 elections led the elected leaders to ask for independence and union instead ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). In April 1960 the Legislative Council of British Somaliland passed a resolution asking for independence and union with the Trust Territory, and a joint conference in Mogadishu agreed the plan ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland); [Somaliland constitutional conference, May 1960](https://web.archive.org/web/20210625211953/https://saxafimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Somaliland_constitutional_conference_may1960.pdf)).

## Its constitution and government

The Somaliland Order in Council 1960 (SI 1960/1060), made on 23 June 1960, set 26 June as the day of independence and ended British protection that day ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland); [Somaliland Constitution 1960](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_constitution_1960.HTM)). It set up a Westminster-style system:

- **Council of Ministers:** the Prime Minister and four other ministers.
- **Legislative Assembly:** 33 members elected in February 1960 from 33 single-member seats, plus a Speaker.
- **High Court:** judges as set by the Council of Ministers.

[Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/), formerly Leader of Government Business in the Legislative Council, was the first and only Prime Minister ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). On 27 June 1960 the new Legislative Assembly passed a law to allow union with the Trust Territory ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)).

## Recognition

Sources record that 33 countries recognised the State of Somaliland during its five days, among them the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Israel, Libya and the Soviet Union ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). The United Kingdom signed several agreements with it in Hargeisa on 26 June 1960 ([UK–Somaliland treaties 1960, via Somaliland Law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/Treaties_between_the_UK_and_the_State_of_Somaliland_1960.pdf)). US Secretary of State Christian Herter sent congratulations to the Council of Ministers in Hargeisa ([US *Department of State Bulletin*, vol. 43, 1960](https://web.archive.org/web/20201030015511/https://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-dept-of-state-office-of-public-co/department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin/page-25-department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin.shtml)). Queen Elizabeth II's message spoke of a connection "some 130 years" old and 60 years of British administration ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)).

## After the union

The first government of the Somali Republic was led by [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/), with [Aden Abdullah Osman Daar](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) as President and [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) as Prime Minister ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). In the 1961 constitutional referendum, more than 60% of voters in the former Somaliland voted against the constitution, which was adopted nationally ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). In December 1961 British-trained officers in the north attempted a revolt to end the union; it failed ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). See [the 1960 constitution](/en/history/1960-constitution/).

## Its place in later claims

The Republic of Somaliland, declared in 1991, regards itself as the legal successor of the 1960 State of Somaliland. It has not received the wide recognition the 1960 state had ([Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland); [Brenthurst Foundation, 2011](https://web.archive.org/web/20131005084350/http://www.thebrenthurstfoundation.org/Files/Brenthurst_Commisioned_Reports/BD-1105_Consequences-of-Somalilands-International-Recognition.pdf)). The [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) regards Somaliland as part of Somalia ([Wikipedia: Administrative divisions of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Somalia)). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)
- [Constitution of Somaliland, 1960](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_constitution_1960.HTM)
- [Treaties between the UK and the State of Somaliland, 1960](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/Treaties_between_the_UK_and_the_State_of_Somaliland_1960.pdf)
- [US *Department of State Bulletin*, vol. 43, July–September 1960](https://web.archive.org/web/20201030015511/https://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-dept-of-state-office-of-public-co/department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin/page-25-department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin.shtml)
- [Brenthurst Foundation, consequences of Somaliland's recognition, 2011](https://web.archive.org/web/20131005084350/http://www.thebrenthurstfoundation.org/Files/Brenthurst_Commisioned_Reports/BD-1105_Consequences-of-Somalilands-International-Recognition.pdf)


---

# Jubaland State of Somalia: Kismaayo (Kismayo), history and leaders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/jubaland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jubaland is the southern member state formed in 2013 from Gedo, Middle Juba and Lower Juba, with Kismaayo as its working capital. Ahmed Mohamed Islam "Madobe" has led it since May 2013. His third term, from November 2024, is disputed by the federal government, and the two sides have been in talks since October 2025.

## How it began

On 28 February 2013 more than 500 delegates met in Kismaayo to plan a state for the three [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) regions. They approved a provisional constitution on 2 April 2013 and elected Ahmed Mohamed Islam "Madobe" president on 15 May 2013 ([Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubaland)).

The federal government at first opposed the process. On 28 August 2013 the two sides signed an agreement in Addis Ababa: a Juba Interim Administration under Madobe for two years, and federal management of Kismaayo's port and airport after six months, with the revenue kept for Jubaland's services and security. The UN envoy Nicholas Kay called it "a breakthrough" ([Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubaland)).

## Land and people

[Bu'aale](/en/regions/middle-juba/) is the capital in law; Kismaayo is the working capital and largest city. Jubaland covers about 110,000 square kilometres along the Kenya border. Population figures differ widely, from about 2.5 million to 3.4 million ([Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubaland)). Lower Juba alone had about 1.2 million people in January 2026 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31710)). Many clans live here, among them the Ogaden, Harti and other Darod groups, the Somali Bantu (Jareer), Biyomaal, Tunni and the Bajuni ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/213-lower-juba)). No clan owns the state.

## Jubaland and the federal government

Madobe won a third term in a regional vote on 25 November 2024. The federal government said the vote happened without it, both sides issued warrants for each other's leaders, and Jubaland suspended ties. Federal troops left Jubaland after clashes in December 2024 ([Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubaland)). Jubaland suspended cooperation in January 2025, and talks have run since October 2025 ([Heritage Institute, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)).

## Sources differ

The federal government and Jubaland disagree on whether the current mandate is valid. We set out both and take no side.

## What it means for people

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) still holds much of the countryside, including [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/). Over 34,000 people were newly displaced in Lower Juba from April 2025 to February 2026 ([EUAA 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/print/pdf/node/31710)).

## Where this state fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state". The idea runs through every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward, and the 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Two or more regions may join to form a member state. Each state has its own leader, parliament and constitution, and works with the federal government in Mogadishu. See the overview page on how the federal system works.


---

# South West State of Somalia: Baydhabo (Baidoa), history and leaders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/south-west-state/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> South West State covers Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, with Baydhabo (Baidoa) as its working capital. It was formed at a Baidoa conference in 2014. In March 2026 it cut ties with the federal government, federal forces then took Baidoa, and Adan Madoobe has led it since June 2026 with federal backing.

## How it began

The idea is older than the state. In 2002 the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) leader Hasan Muhammad Nur "Shatigadud" declared a South West State, which ended in 2005. In 2014 two plans competed: a six-region state and a three-region state. On 27 March 2014, 733 delegates in Baidoa backed the three-region plan of Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), and the state was set up in November 2014 after a further conference ([South West State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_State_of_Somalia)). Sources give different founding dates.

## Land and people

Baraawe is the capital in law; Baidoa is the working capital and largest city. A 2022 estimate gave about 4.2 million people ([South West State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_State_of_Somalia)). Most people are Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn), alongside other clans and minorities; the Heritage Institute notes Digil concerns about being left out of power ([Heritage Institute, Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)).

## Leaders

- [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/), elected 17 November 2014
- [Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) "Laftagareen", elected 19 December 2018
- Adan Madoobe, since 11 June 2026

The 2018 vote was postponed several times. On 13 December 2018 the candidate Mukhtar Robow was arrested, and at least 12 people were killed in Baidoa in the unrest that followed ([South West State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_State_of_Somalia)).

## South West and the federal government

On 17 March 2026 the state cut ties with the federal government during the constitution dispute. Federal forces took Baidoa on 30 March 2026 and the regional leader resigned ([South West State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_State_of_Somalia)). Adan Madoobe took office on 11 June 2026, but the former leader's side still holds towns in Bay and fighting continues ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/nearly-five-months-into-office-aadan-madoobe-faces-ongoing-fighting-in-south-west-state/)).

## Where this state fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state". The idea runs through every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward, and the 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Two or more regions may join to form a member state. Each state has its own leader, parliament and constitution, and works with the federal government in Mogadishu. See the overview page on how the federal system works.


---

# Galmudug State of Somalia: Dhuusamarreeb (Dhusamareb), history and leaders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/galmudug/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Galmudug is the central member state covering Galgaduud and southern Mudug, with Dhuusamarreeb as its capital. The current state was formed through a conference that opened in Cadaado in April 2015. Liban Ahmed Hassan was elected its leader on 22 October 2026, and the state works with the federal government.

## How it began

An earlier Galmudug administration was set up in the 2000s with [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) as its capital, under its first president Mohamed Warsame Ali "Kiimiko". The present state grew from a federal process. On 16 April 2015 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) opened the central state formation conference in Cadaado, and the state's flag was adopted there on 17 June 2015 ([Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmudug)). The 2012 constitution allows two or more regions to join as a member state, and Galmudug joined [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) with the southern part of Mudug ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)).

## Land and people

The capital is Dhuusamarreeb. The state has 10 districts and about 1.3 million people (2014 estimate). Hobyo, on the coast, has a small port that is growing ([Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmudug)). Gaalkacyo is split between Galmudug in the south and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in the north. Several clans live here, and smaller clans report being left out ([Heritage Institute, Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)). No clan owns the state.

## Leaders

[Abdi Hasan Awale](/en/people/abdi-hasan-awale-qeybdiid/) "Qaybdiid" was elected in August 2012. [Ahmed Abdi Kariye "Qoorqoor"](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-karie/) became president in February 2020 ([Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmudug)). Liban Ahmed Hassan was elected on 22 October 2026 and pledged to serve all residents ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents)).

## Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a

The Sufi movement Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a was active in central Somalia from 1991 to 2018 and took part in the 2014 central regions agreement that led to the state ([Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmudug)).

## Communities against al-Shabaab

Since 2022 local defence groups known as Macawiisley have fought al-Shabaab in central Somalia, with federal support, and fighting reached El Buur district in 2025 ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Feb/200303/ma_awisley_militia_strikes_al_shabaab_stronghold_in_el_buur.aspx)).

## Where this state fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state". The idea runs through every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward, and the 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Two or more regions may join to form a member state. Each state has its own leader, parliament and constitution, and works with the federal government in Mogadishu. See the overview page on how the federal system works.


---

# Hirshabelle State of Somalia: Jowhar (Johar), Beledweyne, history and leaders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/hirshabelle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hirshabelle joins Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle into one member state, with Jowhar as its capital and Beledweyne as its second city. It was the last of the five post-2012 states, with its first leader elected in October 2016. Ali Gudlawe Hussein was re-elected on 24 October 2026, and the state works with the federal government.

## How it began

Hirshabelle was set up under Article 49 of the provisional constitution, which lets two or more regions form a member state. It was the last of the states formed after 2012. [Ali Abdullahi Osoble](/en/people/ali-abdullahi-osoble/) won the first leadership vote in October 2016, and parliament approved a 52-member cabinet on 11 March 2017 ([Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirshabelle)).

## Land and people

The capital is Jowhar, in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), and Beledweyne in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) is the second city. The [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) runs through both regions, and its farms feed much of the south. The 2014 population survey counted about 1.03 million people; a 2019 estimate gave about 1.96 million ([Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirshabelle)). Hawadle, Abgaal and other clans live here, along with Shiidle, Somali Bantu and other riverine communities ([Heritage Institute, Nov 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)). No clan owns the state.

## Leaders

- Ali Abdullahi Osoble, elected October 2016, removed by parliament in 2017
- [Mohamed Abdi Waare](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-waare/), elected September 2017
- Ali Abdullahi Hussein "Gudlawe", elected 2020 with 86 of 99 votes ([Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirshabelle)), re-elected 24 October 2026 ([Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/somalia-ali-gudlawe-hussein-re-elected-as-hirshabelle-leader/426803/))

## Communities against al-Shabaab

In mid-2022 local defence groups known as Macawiisley rose against al-Shabaab in Hiiraan, angered by its taxes and forced recruitment. Community leaders, among them the late Chief Elmi Hagar Guure, led the start of the revolt ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2022/oct/188198/the_battle_of_hiiraan_birthplace_of_an_organic_ma_awisley_movement_to_uproot_al_shabaab_from_somalia.aspx)). The federal government armed and backed the groups, and moved to bring them into the national army in 2025 ([Ma'awisley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27awisley)).

## What it means for people

Hirshabelle's leaders say the fighters who rose in 2022 still need more support ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202509080019.html)).

## Where this state fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state". The idea runs through every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward, and the 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Two or more regions may join to form a member state. Each state has its own leader, parliament and constitution, and works with the federal government in Mogadishu. See the overview page on how the federal system works.


---

# North Eastern State of Somalia: Laascaanood (Las Anod), history and leaders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/north-eastern-state/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> North Eastern State, or Waqooyi Bari, is Somalia's newest member state, with Laascaanood (Las Anod) as its capital. It grew from the SSC-Khaatumo administration formed in 2023, was recognised as a member state in 2025 and renamed in July 2025. Abdikadir Ahmed Aw-Ali "Firdhiye" was elected its first president on 30 August 2025.

## How it began

The movement is older than the state. The SSC ([Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), Cayn) movement began in the diaspora in 2009. On 12 January 2012 about 2,300 delegates in Taleex declared the Khaatumo State of Somalia ([North East State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia)).

In 2023 fighting broke out in Las Anod between local forces and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s army ([Las Anod conflict](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_conflict_%282023%29)). On 6 February 2023 Dhulbahante elders declared their wish to rejoin the federation as SSC-Khaatumo. Abdikadir Ahmed Aw-Ali "Firdhiye" became its leader on 5 August 2023 with 30 of 45 votes, and the federal government recognised it as an interim administration on 19 October 2023 ([North East State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia)).

## Becoming a state

The federal government recognised it as a member state in April 2025. On 30 July 2025 delegates in Las Anod renamed it North Eastern State (Waqooyi Bari). An 83-member parliament was set up on 17 August 2025, and on 30 August 2025 Firdhiye and Abdirashid Yusuf Jibril were elected the first president and vice president ([North East State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia)).

## Land and people

The capital is Laascaanood. The state covers parts of Sool, Sanaag and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), including Buuhoodle. Most people are Dhulbahante, and other communities live here too ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/the-making-of-somalia-new-northeast-state-5178184)). No clan owns the state. In early 2026, 72% of people in Sool were short of food ([EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)).

## Sources differ

Sources give different dates for when it became a full member state: April 2025 in one account, and July 2025, with federal endorsement on 2 August 2025 after the Las Anod conference, in the EUAA ([EUAA Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-security-situation/271-sool)).

## Overlapping claims

Somaliland claims the same land under its 1991 declaration and opposes the state. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) also claims parts of Sool and Sanaag, and in February 2026 it rejected a federal plan for local elections in Sool and Buuhoodle ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602240379.html)). Somaliland left talks with the federal government after Mogadishu recognised the state ([Heritage Institute, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)). We set out each position and take no side.

## Where this state fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state". The idea runs through every major peace text from Cairo in 1997 onward, and the 2004 Mbagathi conference adopted it ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Two or more regions may join to form a member state. Each state has its own leader, parliament and constitution, and works with the federal government in Mogadishu. See the overview page on how the federal system works.


---

# Banaadir (Benadir): how Muqdisho (Mogadishu) is governed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/banadir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Banaadir is the capital region around Muqdisho (Mogadishu). It is the only region that belongs to no member state, and its final status is still to be agreed. The federal president appoints its governor, who is also mayor of Mogadishu. It has 20 districts, and its first directly elected local council was voted in during December 2025.

## What Banaadir is

Banaadir is the region (gobol) that holds the capital. It is the only region in the country that does not belong to any member state ([Banaadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaadir)). The 2012 provisional constitution left the capital's final status to be decided later, and that is still open ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)).

## Districts and people

Banaadir has 20 districts since 2024, when Darusalam, [Garasbaley](/en/society/internal-displacement/) and Gubadley were added to the earlier 17 ([Banaadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaadir)). Estimates for 2025 give about 3.3 million people, the most of any region; the 2014 estimate was about 1.65 million ([Banaadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaadir)). People from every part of the country live in the city, alongside the Banadiri ([Reer Xamar](/en/society/minority-communities/)), one of its oldest communities ([Minority Rights Group](https://minorityrights.org/communities/benadiri/)).

## Who runs it

The governor of Banaadir is also the mayor of Mogadishu, and is appointed by the federal president. [Hassan Mohamed Hussein](/en/people/hassan-mungab/) holds the post ([Banaadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaadir)).

## The December 2025 vote

In December 2025 Mogadishu residents voted directly for local councils in Banaadir, which Radio [Dalsan](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) called a historic first ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/2025/12/25/mogadishu-votes-at-dawn-benadir-regional-council-elections-begin-in-a-historic-first/)).

## More about the city

For people, districts, displacement and services in the city itself, see the Muqdisho (Mogadishu) region page. Over 1.1 million people there live in 2,493 sites for displaced families ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/13-idps-and-idp-sites-mogadishu)).

## Sources differ

Population figures for the capital vary. The EUAA counts about 2.97 million people in 20 districts in early 2026, with most displacement sites in Kahda (1,241) and Dayniile (1,029) ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/13-idps-and-idp-sites-mogadishu)). Other estimates for 2025 are higher, at about 3.3 million ([Banaadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaadir)).

## Where Banaadir fits

Article 1 of the 2012 provisional constitution says "Somalia is a federal state" ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/federalism.pdf)). Regions join to form member states, but the capital region was left outside them, with its final status for later talks. Until that is settled, Banaadir is run by an administration that answers to the federal government.


---

# Somali national ID card (NIRA): how to register and why you need it

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/national-id-nira/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) gives every Somali an 11-digit national ID number and a biometric card. Registration was free as of April 2026, more than 1.5 million people had registered by September 2026, and since September 2025 you need the card to apply for a passport.

## What is the Somali national ID?

It is the first national identity card since the central state collapsed in 1991. The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) was set up under the Identification and Registration Act, Law No. 009 of March 2023 ([EUAA, Somalia: Displacement in Mogadishu, June 2026, section 4.1](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification)). NIRA launched officially on 16 September 2023 ([Dawan Africa, 19 Sep 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-15-million-citizens-in-three-years)).

Each person gets a unique 11-digit National Identification Number, called *Tirsi Aqoonsi* in Somali. The system uses fingerprints and face recognition ([EUAA 2026, 4.1](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification)). The ID comes in three forms: a physical card, a digital wallet called *eAqoonsi*, and a printable certificate with a QR code (same source).

## Why do you need it?

The card is becoming the key to other services:

- **Passport:** from 1 September 2025 every passport applicant must hold the card first ([Immigration and Citizenship Agency, 6 Aug 2025](https://immigration.gov.so/news/national-id-card-required-for-passport-applications)). See [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/).
- **Travel and transport:** the government tied domestic travel to the national ID in August 2025 ([AllAfrica, 8 Aug 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202508080353.html)).
- **Public services:** North-East State made the ID mandatory for its services in March 2026 ([EUAA 2026, 4.2](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/42-cards-issued-and-nira-offices), citing [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa, 17 Mar 2026).
- **Salaries:** the government plans to link its payroll to the national ID by the end of 2027 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-link-government-payroll-to-national-id-by-end-of-2027)).

## How do you register?

1. **Go to a registration centre** in person. Anyone can register ([EUAA 2026, 4.1](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification)).
2. **Show a document if you have one:** a passport, driving licence, birth certificate or school certificate (same source). The government's service page asks for a passport or birth certificate ([somalia.gov.so, national ID card](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/national-id-card)).
3. **Give your biometrics:** fingerprints and a digital photo.
4. **Receive your number,** then your card, digital ID or printable certificate.

**If you have no papers,** a witness who is already registered can vouch for you. Witnesses must be trusted people, such as government employees or community leaders. Elders who vouch for applicants are reportedly required to be registered as guarantors at the Ministry of Interior ([EUAA 2026, 4.1](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification)). This matters most for displaced families, who have the fewest documents and the fewest registered elders to vouch for them (same source, citing UNHCR's Somalia Annual Results Report 2024).

## Does it cost money?

As of 1 April 2026, registration and the physical card were free ([EUAA 2026, 4.1](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification), citing the World Bank team that supports NIRA). NIRA had announced charges after 31 October 2025, then extended the free period ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-extends-free-id-registration)). The government's service directory lists a fee of US$5 by mobile money ([somalia.gov.so](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/national-id-card)). Ask your centre which rule applies today.

## Where can you register?

- **Inside Somalia:** in November 2025 NIRA centres worked in Banadir, [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/). By March 2026 they had opened in North-East State, including Las Anod, [Buhodle](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Huddun ([EUAA 2026, 4.2](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/42-cards-issued-and-nira-offices)). At that time NIRA was not yet working in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) or [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) (same source).
- **Mogadishu:** a mass registration campaign started on 18 August 2025 in Shangani and Boondheer districts, aiming at all 3.5 million residents of the city (same source, citing the World Bank).
- **Abroad:** ID services were available at 31 Somali embassies in September 2026, according to NIRA's Director-General ([Dawan Africa, 19 Sep 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-15-million-citizens-in-three-years)). These include Nairobi and Pretoria ([SONNA, Nairobi](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-expands-civil-registration-services-with-launch-of-nira-office-at-embassy-in-nairobi/); [SONNA, Pretoria](https://sonna.so/en/nira-launches-new-service-center-at-the-somali-embassy-in-pretoria/)). In the United States the passport and ID are booked together ([Embassy of Somalia, USA](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/consular-services/passports/)).
- **Passport centres:** you can register for the ID at passport service centres ([Dawan Africa, 2 Jul 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-introduce-new-third-generation-passport-in-october)).

## How many people have registered?

- **November 2025:** more than 1 million IDs issued nationwide ([EUAA 2026, 4.2](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/42-cards-issued-and-nira-offices), citing Somali Dispatch).
- **31 March 2026:** about 700,000 physical cards issued, most in Mogadishu, with more than 600,000 further registrations waiting for duplicate checks (same source, citing the World Bank).
- **September 2026:** more than 1.5 million registered, said NIRA Director-General Abduwali Ali Abdulle [Timacadde](/en/society/somali-poetry/) ([Dawan Africa, 19 Sep 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-15-million-citizens-in-three-years)).
- **Cost to reach everyone:** the programme needs about US$125 million to cover every citizen ([Biometric Update, Jan 2026](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202601/somalia-requires-125m-to-fully-implement-national-digital-id-system)).

## Related pages

- [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)
- [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Why so many Somalis have 1 January as their birthday](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/)

## Sources

1. EUAA. *Somalia: Displacement in Mogadishu*, June 2026, section 4.1 "Application process and identity verification". [euaa.europa.eu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. EUAA. Same report, section 4.2 "Cards issued and NIRA offices". [euaa.europa.eu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/42-cards-issued-and-nira-offices). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. Immigration and Citizenship Agency. "National ID card required for passport applications", 6 August 2025. [immigration.gov.so](https://immigration.gov.so/news/national-id-card-required-for-passport-applications). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/). National ID card (service directory). [somalia.gov.so](https://www.somalia.gov.so/services/national-id-card). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Dawan Africa. "Somalia registers 1.5 million citizens in three years", 19 September 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-15-million-citizens-in-three-years). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Dawan Africa. "Somalia extends free ID registration". [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-extends-free-id-registration). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Biometric Update. "Somalia requires $125M to fully implement national digital ID system", January 2026. [biometricupdate.com](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202601/somalia-requires-125m-to-fully-implement-national-digital-id-system). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Embassy of Somalia, Washington DC. Passports. [usa.mfa.gov.so](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/consular-services/passports/). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Somali Republic, 1960 to 1969

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Republic (Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, Repubblica Somala) was the state formed on 1 July 1960 by the union of the State of Somaliland and the UN Trust Territory of Somalia. It was a parliamentary republic with an elected president, a prime minister and a 123-member National Assembly. It lasted until the military coup of October 1969, after which it was renamed the Somali Democratic Republic.

## How it was formed

In April 1960 leaders of [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and the Trust Territory of Somalia met in Mogadishu and agreed to form a single state. An elected president would be head of state, and a prime minister answerable to an elected National Assembly of 123 members from both territories would hold executive power ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)). British Somaliland became independent as the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) on 26 June 1960, and on 1 July 1960 it united with the Trust Territory, which became independent the same day, to form the Somali Republic ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)). See [independence and union](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).

## Its first leaders

- **President of the National Assembly:** Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf, the speaker who had led the act of union ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)).
- **President:** [Aden Abdullah Osman Daar](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), from 1 July 1960; his appointment was confirmed in a national referendum a year later ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)).
- **Prime Minister:** [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), appointed on 22 July 1960. His coalition was led by the Somali Youth League (SYL) and supported by the two northern parties, the Somali National League (SNL) and the United Somali Party (USP) ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)).

## The constitution

A constitution drafted in 1960 was approved in a national referendum in 1961. Most voters in the former [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) voted against it ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic); [Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). See [the 1960 constitution](/en/history/1960-constitution/).

## Two systems in one state

At the union the north and south had different administrative, legal and school systems, run in different languages, with different police, taxes and currencies, and little trade between them ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)). In 1960 the UN set up the Consultative Commission for Integration, led by the UN official Paolo Contini, to merge the legal systems; a Somali-led Consultative Commission for Legislation took over its work in 1964 ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic); [Contini, *The Somali Republic: An Experiment in Legal Integration*](https://archive.org/details/somalirepublicex0000cont/page/n12)).

The political scholar Janina Dill is quoted as writing that British rule in the north kept traditional self-government, while Italian rule in the south wore it down and centralised administration ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)).

## Parties and voting

At independence the north had two parties: the SNL, with its main support among the Isaaq, and the USP, supported largely by the Dir and Darod. In the united state the northern Darod joined the SYL. The southern opposition Greater Somalia League drew support from the SNL and USP against the SYL ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)). Women had voted in the south since the 1958 municipal elections; the northern assembly extended the vote to women in the former British Somaliland in May 1963, by 52 votes to 42 ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)). Sources describe politics in these years as a national pastime followed closely on the radio ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)). See [the 1964 parliamentary election](/en/history/somali-parliamentary-election-1964/).

## The end of the republic

Abdirashid Ali Shermarke later became President (1967–1969). The parliamentary period ended in 1969, when the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) took power in a coup without bloodshed and renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic ([Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic); [Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)). For the whole period see [the civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Somali Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Republic)
- [Wikidata Q7559152](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7559152)
- [Paolo Contini, *The Somali Republic: An Experiment in Legal Integration*, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somalirepublicex0000cont/page/n12)
- [Wikipedia: State of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Somaliland)


---

# Somali birth certificate: how to register a birth and get a certificate

Source: https://calankii.com/en/states/birth-records/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2020 only about 3 in every 100 Somali children under five had their birth registered, and 3 in 1,000 had a birth certificate. Birth certificates are issued by local governments: in Mogadishu by the Banadir Regional Administration, for a fee reported at US$15 to US$30 in 2026. A new digital civil registry began in 19 districts in August 2025.

## How many Somali births are registered?

Very few. The Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020 found that 3.5% of children under five were registered with a civil authority, and only 0.3% had a birth certificate ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM201367.E, 2 Mar 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2090364.html), citing the survey). UNICEF gives the same picture: about 3% registered and 0.3% with a certificate ([UNICEF Somalia, "Giving every child a legal identity"](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity)). The survey was run by Somalia's statistics bureau with support from the UN Population Fund ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, SHDS 2020](https://microdata.nbs.gov.so/index.php/catalog/50/variable/V71)).

Most children are born at home, and home births are generally not documented. Hospitals give birth notices, but these are not standard and are sometimes mistaken for certificates ([IRB Canada, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2090364.html)).

## Why are so few births recorded?

Records kept before 1991 were mostly destroyed during the civil war ([IRB Canada, SOM105248.E, 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html)). In 2021 a Somali government report said the country had no national civil registration system and no identity document that proved nationality ([IRB Canada, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2090364.html), citing the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation). That is one reason so many Somali adults abroad have 1 January as their official birthday (see [Why so many Somalis have 1 January as their birthday](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/)).

## What do the laws say?

- **2003:** a national law gave local governments the duty to register births, deaths, marriages and divorces (IRB Canada 2023, citing a 2015 assessment).
- **2012:** the Provisional Constitution does not set out a direct right to birth registration (same source).
- **August 2021:** the Council of Ministers approved a Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Policy. A CRVS bill was expected to become law by the end of 2023 (same source).
- **March 2023:** the Identification and Registration Act (Law No. 009) set up NIRA for the national ID ([EUAA, June 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification)). See [National ID card (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/).

## Who issues a birth certificate?

Local governments do, and each federal member state has its own procedure ([IRB Canada, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2090364.html)):

- **Mogadishu (Banadir):** the Banadir Regional Administration began issuing birth certificates in July 2014, for passports and visas. You apply at your district office (*degmada*). Staff take your details, photo and thumbprint. The certificate is usually ready in a week, sometimes the same day (same source).
- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), Baidoa and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/):** municipal offices issue certificates (same source, citing focus groups).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** births are registered, but many go unregistered (same source, citing the US State Department).

A Banadir certificate carries a serial number, the municipality's stamp and seal, the mayor's signature, and the child's name, date and place of birth, sex, parents' names and address. It is not proof of nationality and has no nationality field (same source).

## How much does it cost?

- **2020:** US$24 in Mogadishu, according to a UNHCR brochure ([IRB Canada, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2090364.html)).
- **2026:** US$15 for the standard service and US$15 to US$30 for faster service, according to a person interviewed in April 2026 ([EUAA, June 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification)). The same report found some displaced families cannot afford these fees.

## What is changing?

On 10 August 2025, Africa CRVS Day, the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation launched a unified digital civil registration service in 19 districts. It covers Jubaland, South West, [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and North-East State ([Ecofin Agency, 11 Aug 2025](https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-digital/1108-48024-somalia-pilots-19-district-digital-civil-registry-lays-groundwork-for-nationwide-legal-identity)). Local offices can now record births, marriages, divorces and deaths in one national database. Health facilities without computers received tablets (same source, citing UNICEF).

The ministry is testing links to health, schools, the national ID and immigration. The education ministry plans to link registration to school enrolment, starting with primary-age children who were never registered (same source). UNICEF and Germany support the work ([Biometric Update, 12 Aug 2025](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202508/somalia-rolls-out-digital-crvs-system-on-foundations-laid-with-unicef-support)).

## Related pages

- [National ID card (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)
- [Why so many Somalis have 1 January as their birthday](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/)

## Sources

1. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. SOM201367.E, "Somalia: Birth registration, including requirements and procedures", 2 March 2023 (via ecoi.net). [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2090364.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. SOM105248.E, Somalia: passports, 17 March 2016. [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1167317.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. [UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/). "Giving every child a legal identity: Somalia's progress towards a birth registration system". [unicef.org](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020, data archive. [microdata.nbs.gov.so](https://microdata.nbs.gov.so/index.php/catalog/50/variable/V71). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. EUAA. *Somalia: Displacement in Mogadishu*, June 2026, section 4.1. [euaa.europa.eu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/41-application-process-and-identity-verification). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Ecofin Agency. "Somalia pilots 19-district digital civil registry", 11 August 2025. [ecofinagency.com](https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-digital/1108-48024-somalia-pilots-19-district-digital-civil-registry-lays-groundwork-for-nationwide-legal-identity). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Biometric Update. "Somalia rolls out digital CRVS system on foundations laid with UNICEF support", 12 August 2025. [biometricupdate.com](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202508/somalia-rolls-out-digital-crvs-system-on-foundations-laid-with-unicef-support). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Every aid organisation funded in Somalia, 2024 to 2026: UN agencies and NGOs by money received

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN's Financial Tracking Service records 212 organisations that received humanitarian funding for Somalia between 2024 and 2026. Reported funding fell from US$1.03 billion in 2024 to US$541 million in 2025 and US$346 million in 2026 so far. The World Food Programme received the most in each year.

## What this list is

Donors and aid agencies report the humanitarian money they give and receive to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which publishes it in the **Financial Tracking Service (FTS)**. This page lists every organisation that FTS records as a **destination** of humanitarian funding for Somalia in 2024, 2025 and 2026, with the amount it received each year ([OCHA FTS, Somalia](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025); [FTS API, flows to Somalia by organisation](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025&groupby=organization)). The data was downloaded on 12 November 2026, so the 2026 figures cover the year so far.

FTS counts only what is reported to it. It covers humanitarian aid, inside and outside the yearly response plan, but not most development money, such as World Bank projects that pass through the federal budget (see [Every federal government body and its budget](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/)). Some agencies report money under "Confidential" names to protect their staff; those rows appear as FTS publishes them.

## The totals

Humanitarian funding recorded for Somalia ([FTS API](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025&groupby=organization)):

- **2024:** US$1,032.3 million.
- **2025:** US$540.6 million.
- **2026, to 12 November:** US$346.1 million.

The **World Food Programme** received the largest share each year: US$431.9 million in 2024, US$112.0 million in 2025 and US$55.2 million so far in 2026 (same source). For the reasons behind the fall and the donors involved, see [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## Every organisation, by money received

Ordered by total received over the three years. "None" means no funding was recorded for that year.

| Organisation | 2024 (US$) | 2025 (US$) | 2026 to date (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| World Food Programme | 431,859,504 | 112,004,915 | 55,210,517 |
| International Organization for Migration | 51,535,657 | 37,599,130 | 14,570,089 |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | 49,715,882 | 25,141,427 | 23,025,058 |
| United Nations Children's Fund | 55,308,124 | 25,245,274 | 13,771,518 |
| International Committee of the Red Cross | 40,389,576 | 25,778,910 | 15,099,089 |
| United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees | 46,418,472 | 23,807,949 | 10,830,246 |
| Norwegian Refugee Council | 32,973,768 | 22,798,670 | 19,864,263 |
| International NGOs (Confidential) | 49,298,417 | 22,186,982 | 2,912,326 |
| Save the Children | 12,575,391 | 11,962,632 | 14,256,888 |
| Qatar Charity | 1,674,219 | 22,192,992 | 14,568,134 |
| Concern Worldwide | 9,686,285 | 10,245,850 | 16,999,526 |
| Acción Contra el Hambre - Spain | 11,673,574 | 11,835,079 | 13,173,794 |
| Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development | 20,564,767 | 7,148,786 | 3,673,097 |
| Action Contre la Faim - Action Against Hunger International | 7,212,586 | 11,267,654 | 8,513,742 |
| United Nations Support Office in Somalia | 9,182,000 | 12,046,145 | none |
| Global Partnership for Education | none | 20,000,000 | none |
| Danish Refugee Council | 7,049,879 | 8,364,609 | 3,901,510 |
| UN Agencies (Confidential) | 15,000,000 | 4,307,972 | none |
| Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs | 11,449,535 | 2,392,052 | 4,846,940 |
| HALO Trust | 5,250,226 | 3,255,115 | 9,659,947 |
| International Labour Organization | 11,606,704 | 5,273,638 | none |
| UN Agencies [TBD] | none | none | 16,000,000 |
| United Nations Population Fund | 3,721,095 | 7,762,376 | 2,425,871 |
| Somalia, Government of | 11,060,083 | 2,207,960 | 296,266 |
| World Health Organization | 4,238,400 | 4,899,901 | 3,106,571 |
| World Vision Germany | 353,895 | 5,964,389 | 5,020,069 |
| International Rescue Committee | 5,366,791 | 4,674,870 | 507,497 |
| Tadamun Social Society | none | 9,835,794 | 692,140 |
| Italian Agency for Development Cooperation | 684,556 | 2,738,226 | 6,667,279 |
| Norwegian Red Cross | 3,537,894 | 3,427,675 | 2,339,399 |
| International Wars and Disasters Victim's Protection Association (Al-Ameen) | 1,963,142 | 3,489,478 | 3,053,118 |
| Adventist Development and Relief Agency | 1,477,931 | 6,326,227 | 300,000 |
| Somalia Humanitarian Fund | 18,320,055 | -30,407,699 | 19,193,265 |
| International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies | 5,310,789 | 1,690,067 | none |
| Islamic Relief Worldwide | 5,171,308 | 1,250,445 | none |
| International NGO Safety Organisation | 2,004,759 | 2,036,982 | 1,925,264 |
| World Vision International | 2,730,035 | 1,323,046 | 1,600,105 |
| United Nations Development Programme | 2,062,569 | 3,423,821 | none |
| Private (individuals & organizations) | 2,344,643 | 2,659,110 | 93,750 |
| Al Rahma Islamic Organization | 4,800,000 | none | none |
| CARE International | 4,594,023 | none | none |
| ACT Alliance / Finn Church Aid | 993,134 | 1,641,452 | 1,667,322 |
| Trocaire | 2,562,237 | 1,318,704 | 289,377 |
| Integrity Global, Imc. | 4,100,000 | none | none |
| Plan International | 2,034,365 | 1,187,248 | 810,698 |
| New Ways Organization | 1,325,000 | 1,265,000 | 1,237,200 |
| Agency for Minority Rights and Development | 850,000 | 1,649,999 | 1,300,000 |
| Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency | 3,729,279 | none | none |
| African Relief Committee | 3,423,166 | 303,278 | none |
| Dignity First Somalia | 850,000 | 1,584,997 | 1,015,300 |
| CARITAS | 2,486,543 | 958,514 | none |
| Mandher Relief and Development Organization | 1,230,019 | 1,795,001 | 319,999 |
| Wardi Relief and Development Initiatives | 1,124,998 | 1,475,501 | 719,911 |
| Danish Red Cross | 170,432 | 1,570,352 | 1,543,210 |
| Qatar Red Crescent Society | 570,709 | 2,480,859 | 100,000 |
| ACT Alliance / Norwegian Church Aid | 999,229 | 492,895 | 1,633,544 |
| Finnish Red Cross | none | 836,563 | 2,216,514 |
| Zamzam Foundation | 262,874 | 980,842 | 1,759,575 |
| AYUUB Organization | 1,321,497 | 1,309,737 | none |
| Arche Nova E.V. - Initiative for People in Need | 1,628,257 | 976,954 | none |
| Islamic Development Bank | none | 2,500,000 | none |
| World Bank | 910,194 | 910,194 | 667,476 |
| Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion | 1,202,550 | 990,452 | 273,284 |
| Action Contre la Faim - France | 2,445,466 | none | none |
| Solutions for Humanity International | 850,154 | 403,046 | 1,100,008 |
| Alight | 1,163,939 | 1,136,320 | none |
| Mahasin Foundation for Development and Education | 1,099,703 | 200,000 | 989,187 |
| Polish Humanitarian Action | 1,484,107 | 802,755 | none |
| Wadajir Rural Development Organization | 374,990 | 1,330,000 | 566,972 |
| Social Rural Development Initiative | 1,098,997 | 1,141,263 | none |
| Kulmiye Relief & Development Organization | none | 1,709,996 | 502,500 |
| Puntland Minority Women Development Organisation | 400,000 | 1,191,000 | 600,000 |
| Somali Relief and Development Society | 699,932 | 1,077,607 | 398,810 |
| Action Against Hunger - Canada | none | 1,053,779 | 1,037,344 |
| Golweyne Relief and Rehabilitation | 774,999 | 799,998 | 500,000 |
| ACT Alliance / Canadian Lutheran World Relief | 857,569 | 1,199,128 | none |
| Rural Development Support Agency | 600,000 | 950,000 | 478,979 |
| Oxfam Novib Netherlands | 899,524 | 1,123,438 | none |
| Deeg-Roor Medical Organization | 690,000 | 1,300,000 | none |
| Oxfam Canada | none | 1,017,442 | 930,033 |
| International Medical Corps US | 1,248,632 | 500,000 | none |
| SOS Children's Villages - Somalia | none | 1,330,000 | 400,000 |
| CARE Somalia | 949,904 | 773,000 | none |
| Hidig Relief And Development Organization | 298,124 | 1,411,817 | none |
| CARE Canada | none | 1,671,512 | none |
| Oxfam | 828,606 | 815,506 | none |
| Salama Medical Agency | 299,996 | 1,269,998 | none |
| MEDAIR | none | 1,130,000 | 382,948 |
| Serving Together for Social Development International Solidarity | 400,000 | 1,100,000 | none |
| Canadian Foodgrains Bank | none | 336,047 | 1,089,207 |
| Social Environmental Agency | 699,979 | 719,600 | none |
| Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. (German Agro Action) | 1,368,932 | none | none |
| KAAH Relief and Development Organization | 549,999 | 756,487 | none |
| Somali Women and Child Care Association | 850,000 | none | 444,174 |
| National NGOs (Confidential) | 355,566 | 845,805 | 50,495 |
| INTERSOM Relief and Development Organization | 394,040 | 239,568 | 599,998 |
| Mustaqbal Development and Relief Organization | 599,891 | 630,000 | none |
| Community Empowerment and social Development Organization | none | 1,220,000 | none |
| Access Development and Relief Organization | 450,000 | 761,598 | none |
| Towfiiq Umbrella Organization | none | 399,999 | 800,000 |
| CARE France | none | 1,168,224 | none |
| Integrated Service for Displaced Population | none | 1,154,987 | none |
| Mercy-USA for Aid and Development | 450,000 | 699,967 | none |
| Banadir Development Foundation | 449,999 | 689,999 | none |
| Rural Education and Agriculture Development Organization | 400,000 | 700,000 | none |
| Not specified | 184,178 | 14,840 | 855,769 |
| Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates | 1,051,859 | none | none |
| Volunteers for Relief and Development Somalia | none | 400,000 | 650,000 |
| Peace Action Society Organisation for Somalia | none | 425,600 | 604,500 |
| Direct Aid | 557,837 | 459,582 | none |
| Humanitarian Integrity for Women Action on Advocacy for Peace and Human Right | none | 300,917 | 697,536 |
| Daryeel Bulsho Guud | none | 950,000 | none |
| Himilo Relief and Development Association | none | 429,340 | 512,581 |
| Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization | none | 937,740 | none |
| Somali Lifeline Organization | none | 403,142 | 500,000 |
| Humedica | 359,212 | 295,760 | 225,911 |
| Wamo Relief and Rehabilitation Services | 500,017 | none | 363,599 |
| Action Sustainability and Improvements Programme | none | 593,600 | 250,000 |
| ASAL Youth Development Association | none | 830,000 | none |
| German Red Cross | none | none | 823,600 |
| Peace and Development Action | 399,873 | 414,719 | none |
| Somali Association for Rehabilitation and Development | 799,976 | none | none |
| Action for Social and Economic Progress | 399,992 | 394,976 | none |
| Humanitarian Africa Relief Development Organization | none | 235,999 | 557,349 |
| Umbrella for Relief and Rehabilitation Organization | none | 779,963 | none |
| Lifeline Gedo | 375,000 | 400,000 | none |
| Himilo Organization for Development | none | 307,200 | 462,800 |
| Taakulo Somaliland Community | none | 761,597 | none |
| Somali Helping Hands Association | none | 249,999 | 511,524 |
| Skills Active Forward | none | none | 757,955 |
| Wajir South Development Association | 741,840 | none | none |
| Somaliland Youth Development and Voluntary Organization | none | 726,875 | none |
| Somali Vulnerable Actors | none | 699,999 | none |
| Centre for Research and Integrated Development | none | 671,851 | none |
| iMC Worldwide | 648,632 | none | none |
| International Atomic Energy Agency | none | none | 642,515 |
| International Aid Charity | 616,371 | none | none |
| Nomadic Development Organization | none | none | 607,852 |
| African Relief and Development Foundation | 300,000 | 300,000 | none |
| Action Against Poverty | none | none | 599,992 |
| KAALO Aid and Development | none | 599,174 | none |
| Horn Aid for Development and Human Rights | none | 593,597 | none |
| World Vision Ireland | 578,951 | none | none |
| Somali Women Association | none | 552,000 | none |
| World Vision New Zealand | none | 539,245 | none |
| Vétérinaires Sans Frontières International | 464,076 | none | none |
| Somali Children Welfare and Rights Watch | 450,000 | none | none |
| Cooperazione Internazionale - COOPI | 449,171 | none | none |
| United Arab Emirates, Government of | 356,656 | 74,091 | none |
| Somali Young Doctors Association | none | 429,913 | none |
| Puntland Youth Peer Education Network | none | 425,600 | none |
| Juba Foundation | none | 400,000 | 3,481 |
| Aid Vision | 400,000 | none | none |
| Fayadhowr Orientation Organization | 400,000 | none | none |
| Somali Peace Line | 400,000 | none | none |
| World Vision Somalia | none | 400,000 | none |
| Nomadic Assistance for Peace and Development | 370,799 | none | none |
| CARE Luxembourg | none | 352,526 | none |
| Tanad Relief and Development Organisation | 350,000 | none | none |
| Centre for Peace and Democracy | 350,000 | none | none |
| Community Rehabilitation & Development Organization | none | 350,000 | none |
| Development and Empowerment for Humanity formerly (DEH Relief and Development Organization) | 349,999 | none | none |
| Rasawad Welfare Association | 349,999 | none | none |
| Action Against Disasters Somalia | 349,955 | none | none |
| Somalia Relief Centre | 349,603 | none | none |
| African Development Trust | none | none | 333,333 |
| CARE Denmark | 331,015 | none | none |
| African Volunteers for Relief and Development | 330,000 | none | none |
| Jubba Youth Association | none | none | 329,101 |
| Somalia Resilience Program | none | none | 320,501 |
| Somaction | none | none | 313,500 |
| Social Life and Agricultural Development Organisation | none | 307,119 | none |
| Women Action for Advocacy and Progress Organization | none | 300,000 | none |
| Somali Community Concern | none | none | 300,000 |
| Banadir Primary Health Care Consortium | none | 299,998 | none |
| Active in Development Aid | none | 299,996 | none |
| Development and Peace | 278,361 | none | none |
| Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa | 275,851 | none | none |
| Somali Red Crescent Society | 269,951 | none | none |
| CARE Germany-Luxembourg eV | 267,953 | none | none |
| Hikma Charity Association | none | 266,667 | none |
| Oxfam GB | none | 263,769 | none |
| Socio-Economic Development and Human Rights Organization | 250,000 | none | none |
| Northern Frontier Youth League | 250,000 | none | none |
| United Nations Mine Action Service | 240,000 | none | none |
| Al-basar International Foundation | 120,000 | 120,000 | none |
| Agro Pastoral Charity Center | none | none | 229,999 |
| Physicians Across Continents | none | 220,000 | none |
| Community Rehabilitation for Peace and Development Organization | none | 219,998 | none |
| Africa Youth Development Association | none | 200,000 | none |
| Candlelight for Health, Education and Environment | none | 200,000 | none |
| Poor and Needy Philanthropic Association | 140,127 | 22,077 | none |
| Private Voluntary Organizations | 136,129 | none | none |
| Plan International Ireland | 121,951 | none | none |
| Fathurahman Charitable Association | 100,723 | none | none |
| African Relief and Development | 100,000 | none | none |
| Safa Marwa Relief and Development Organization | 80,442 | none | none |
| ActionAid International | 77,323 | none | none |
| Plan International Spain | none | none | 72,699 |
| Oxfam Ireland | 28,478 | none | none |
| Oxfam Deutschland | none | none | 18,559 |
| Estijabah Network for Humanitarian Aid and Relief | 16,883 | none | none |
| African Aid Initiative | none | 16,393 | none |
| Al Nada Charity | none | none | 7,350 |
| Benadir Charity Council | 5,306 | none | none |
| Novel Alliance for Development Aid | none | 3,257 | none |
| International Health Partners | none | none | none |
| Swiss Development Cooperation/Swiss Humanitarian Aid | none | none | none |
| ACT Alliance / Diakonia, Sweden | none | none | none |
| Civil Society in Development | none | none | none |
| International Council of Voluntary Agencies | none | none | none |
| United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime | none | none | none |

## Kinds of organisation on the list

- **UN agencies, funds and programmes**, such as WFP, UNICEF, IOM, FAO, UNHCR, WHO, UNFPA and OCHA.
- **The Red Cross and Red Crescent movement**: the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the [Somali Red Crescent Society](/en/institutions/somali-red-crescent-society/).
- **International NGOs**, such as the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, Concern Worldwide, Action Against Hunger and the Danish Refugee Council.
- **Somali NGOs**, which deliver much of the aid on the ground and also receive money through the pooled **[Somalia Humanitarian Fund](/en/institutions/ocha-somalia/)**.
- **Governments and others**, including the Government of Somalia itself and foundations and charities from the Gulf, such as [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Charity.

## Download the data

The full table is free to download as a CSV file: [humanitarian-funding-by-organisation-2024-2026.csv](/data/institutions/humanitarian-funding-by-organisation-2024-2026.csv). Each row names its source.


---

# Every federal government body in Somalia and its budget, 2025 to 2027

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal budget funds 77 bodies, from the Office of the President to the Somali Disabled Agency. The 2027 budget sent to parliament totals US$1.26 billion. This page lists each body with what it spent in 2025, its 2026 budget and the amount proposed for 2027, taken line by line from the Appropriation Act.

## What this list is

Every year the Ministry of Finance sends parliament an Appropriation Act. Its annex lists each "public body", meaning every federal entity paid fully or partly from the national budget, with a code, the amount it spent last year, its budget this year and the amount proposed for next year ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted to parliament](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)). This page copies that annex, sub-head by sub-head. It is the most complete official list of federal bodies that exists in one place.

The act was submitted in November 2026 and still needs the approval of both houses of parliament, so the 2027 amounts can change. The 2025 figures are actual spending; the 2026 figures are the approved budget (same source).

## The totals

The proposed 2027 budget is **US$1,260,342,662**: US$644,188,319 for running costs and US$616,154,343 for projects, most of them paid for by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the EU and the UN ([Appropriation Act for 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)). The 2026 budget was US$1,386,807,242 and actual spending in 2025 was US$969,544,408 (same source). The six biggest budget heads proposed for 2027:

- **Ministry of Finance:** US$224,298,500
- **Ministry of Defence:** US$183,598,079
- **Ministry of Public Work & Reconstruction:** US$121,751,015
- **Ministry of Water and Energy:** US$93,180,128
- **Ministry of National Security:** US$89,964,254
- **Ministry of Education and Higher Education:** US$85,263,701

"Other activities of the state", inside the Ministry of Finance head, holds costs that belong to no single body, such as transfers and shared payments (same source).

## Every body, line by line

Amounts are in US dollars. "Part of" names the budget head that the body sits under. "None" means the body had no line that year. Bodies with their own page on this site are linked.

| Code | Body | Part of | 2025 actual | 2026 budget | 2027 proposed |
|---|---|---|---:|---:|---:|
| 010100 | [Office of the Presidency](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) |  | 12,638,662 | 12,417,366 | 12,417,366 |
| 010201 | [Office of Speaker (People's House)](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) | Parliament | 27,429,915 | 28,004,201 | 27,509,066 |
| 010202 | [Upper House (Senate)](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) | Parliament | 7,301,446 | 7,973,196 | 7,213,996 |
| 010300 | [Office of the Prime Minister](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) | Prime Minister | 12,982,859 | 11,062,156 | 11,185,432 |
| 010400 | [Ministry of Foreign Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/) |  | 3,945,879 | 4,530,203 | 4,862,483 |
| 010401 | Embassies | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 5,062,557 | 5,235,689 | 5,235,689 |
| 010500 | [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/) |  | 93,112,723 | 118,317,223 | 92,304,117 |
| 010501 | Accountant General | Ministry of Finance | 3,619,522 | 3,710,644 | 4,511,110 |
| 010502 | Other Activities of the State | Ministry of Finance | 120,023,169 | 119,492,891 | 118,756,801 |
| 010503 | Directorate of Financial Reporting Center | Ministry of Finance | 985,906 | 995,632 | 977,992 |
| 010504 | Somali Revenue Authority | Ministry of Finance | none | none | 7,748,480 |
| 010600 | Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development |  | 13,346,714 | 20,460,662 | 27,815,387 |
| 010601 | [National Statistics Department](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/) | Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development | 8,447,410 | 14,106,182 | 16,709,159 |
| 010602 | Somalia Investment Authority | Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development | none | none | 152,460 |
| 010700 | [Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-interior/) |  | 15,119,813 | 22,354,621 | 19,209,456 |
| 010701 | Somali Refugee and IDPs Commission | Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs | 809,060 | 870,640 | 898,480 |
| 010702 | National ID Authority DADSOM | Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs | 1,294,490 | 2,069,700 | 1,484,940 |
| 010703 | [Somali Disaster and Humanitarian Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) | Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs | 6,671,722 | 30,035,000 | 9,510,660 |
| 010800 | Ministry of Religious Affairs |  | 3,743,244 | 5,383,637 | 4,541,433 |
| 010900 | Ministry of Justice and Constitution |  | 2,367,910 | 2,521,535 | 2,343,523 |
| 010901 | Custodian Corps | Ministry of Justice and Constitution | 11,452,966 | 11,429,440 | 11,489,440 |
| 011001 | [Supreme Court](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/) | Judicial Authorities | 2,308,862 | 2,709,897 | 2,723,517 |
| 011002 | [Banaadir Court](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/) | Judicial Authorities | 2,104,300 | 2,294,464 | 2,266,864 |
| 011003 | [Appeal Court](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/) | Judicial Authorities | 1,028,292 | 1,194,399 | 1,183,179 |
| 011005 | Judiciary Service Committee | Judicial Authorities | 123,987 | 186,372 | 177,552 |
| 011100 | [Attorney General](/en/institutions/attorney-general/) |  | 1,970,429 | 2,144,108 | 2,114,348 |
| 011200 | Solicitor General |  | 616,110 | 734,420 | 731,072 |
| 011300 | [Auditor General](/en/institutions/auditor-general/) |  | 4,034,970 | 4,005,254 | 4,019,774 |
| 012200 | National Reconciliation Commission | Special Commissions | 474,333 | 496,772 | 470,312 |
| 012300 | [National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/) | Special Commissions | 12,441,331 | 14,139,046 | 14,103,766 |
| 012400 | [Human Rights Commission](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/) | Special Commissions | none | 474,000 | 502,040 |
| 012500 | Independent Constitution Review and Implementation Commission | Special Commissions | 962,729 | 1,098,856 | 1,118,896 |
| 012600 | National Civil Service Commission | Special Commissions | 1,536,734 | 1,697,314 | 1,702,114 |
| 012700 | [National Independent Anti- Corruption Commission](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/) | Special Commissions | 144,000 | 144,120 | 144,120 |
| 020100 | [Ministry of Defence](/en/institutions/ministry-of-defence/) |  | 1,620,817 | 3,752,835 | 2,304,555 |
| 020101 | [Armed Forces](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) | Ministry of Defence | 166,282,124 | 177,460,524 | 177,460,524 |
| 020102 | Military Court | Ministry of Defence | 3,744,008 | 3,740,000 | 3,740,000 |
| 020103 | Orphans and Disabled | Ministry of Defence | 60,000 | 93,000 | 93,000 |
| 020200 | Ministry of National Security |  | 1,290,681 | 1,602,689 | 1,717,109 |
| 020201 | [Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) | Ministry of National Security | 49,829,412 | 49,681,986 | 49,681,986 |
| 020202 | [National Security Force](/en/institutions/nisa/) | Ministry of National Security | 36,691,927 | 28,466,720 | 32,066,720 |
| 020203 | Immigration Department | Ministry of National Security | 6,402,282 | 6,535,639 | 6,498,439 |
| 030100 | Ministry of Water and Energy |  | 33,715,256 | 138,551,181 | 93,180,128 |
| 030200 | Ministry of Mineral |  | 1,854,556 | 2,586,788 | 2,568,488 |
| 030202 | Somali Petroleum Authority | Ministry of Mineral | 1,071,460 | 1,081,820 | 1,045,380 |
| 030300 | Ministry of Agriculture |  | 45,517,365 | 63,147,963 | 59,777,067 |
| 030301 | Somali Agricultural Regulatory and Insp. Service | Ministry of Agriculture | none | 36,000 | 36,000 |
| 030400 | Ministry of Livestock and Forestry |  | 5,065,094 | 21,390,995 | 18,047,353 |
| 030500 | Ministry of Fishery and Marine Resource |  | 7,549,104 | 18,406,040 | 14,595,280 |
| 030502 | Offshore Fisheries Development Project | Ministry of Fishery and Marine Resource | 83,061 | 112,776 | 112,776 |
| 030600 | Ministry of Information |  | 4,731,644 | 6,292,834 | 5,904,320 |
| 030700 | Ministry of Post and Telecommunication |  | 5,021,431 | 15,678,493 | 34,682,983 |
| 030701 | Somali National Telecommunications Authority | Ministry of Post and Telecommunication | 707,383 | 841,644 | 824,004 |
| 030702 | Data Protection Authority | Ministry of Post and Telecommunication | 169,820 | 242,540 | 304,100 |
| 030800 | Ministry of Public Work & Reconstruction |  | 36,838,541 | 98,593,630 | 121,258,115 |
| 030801 | Somali Construction Development Agency | Ministry of Public Work & Reconstruction | none | 508,725 | 492,900 |
| 030900 | Ministry of Transport and Aviation |  | 2,317,799 | 4,303,879 | 15,529,315 |
| 030901 | Civil Aviation and Metro-Authority | Ministry of Transport and Aviation | 8,917,949 | 13,829,897 | 10,483,312 |
| 031000 | Ministry of Transport and Ports |  | 1,503,888 | 2,587,240 | 1,872,880 |
| 031001 | Hamar Port | Ministry of Transport and Ports | 918,100 | 1,032,200 | 1,080,200 |
| 031002 | Somali Marine Research | Ministry of Transport and Ports | 590,544 | 594,548 | 638,528 |
| 031100 | Ministry of Industry & Commerce |  | 2,454,973 | 2,523,834 | 2,583,774 |
| 031101 | Somali Quality Assurance Agency | Ministry of Industry & Commerce | 1,314,880 | 1,463,216 | 1,493,516 |
| 031200 | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change |  | 1,256,535 | 1,477,936 | 1,467,460 |
| 040100 | Ministry of Health |  | 70,365,408 | 61,361,312 | 15,175,101 |
| 040101 | National Medicine Regulatory Authority | Ministry of Health | none | none | 60,000 |
| 040200 | [Ministry of Education and Higher Education](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/) |  | 49,669,218 | 120,390,820 | 74,627,625 |
| 040201 | [National University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) | Ministry of Education and Higher Education | 8,175,352 | 8,272,680 | 8,215,008 |
| 040202 | Somali Academy Arts and Sciences | Ministry of Education and Higher Education | 1,184,974 | 1,313,092 | 1,318,312 |
| 040203 | Intergovernmental Academy of Somali language | Ministry of Education and Higher Education | 250,078 | 342,256 | 372,256 |
| 040204 | National Commission for Higher Education | Ministry of Education and Higher Education | none | none | 730,500 |
| 040300 | Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs |  | 31,535,531 | 73,156,934 | 77,079,444 |
| 040400 | Ministry of Youth and Sport |  | 1,077,754 | 1,234,276 | 1,258,936 |
| 040500 | Ministry of Family and Human Rights Dev. | Ministry of Women and Human Rights Dev. | 1,063,113 | 1,191,624 | 1,186,908 |
| 040501 | Somali Disabled Agency | Ministry of Women and Human Rights Dev. | 600,306 | 637,036 | 643,336 |

## Bodies that are new in the 2027 budget

Four bodies appear with money for the first time in 2027: the **Somali Revenue Authority** (US$7,748,480), the **National Commission for Higher Education** (US$730,500), the **Somalia Investment Authority** (US$152,460) and the **[National Medicine Regulatory Authority](/en/institutions/medicines-regulator/)** (US$60,000) ([Appropriation Act for 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## What is not on this list

- **Member states:** [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), South West, [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and the Banadir Regional Administration have their own budgets. The federal budget pays them grants, but their ministries are not federal bodies. See [Member-state institutions](/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/) and [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** it runs its own government and budget. See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).
- **The Central Bank:** it is independent and keeps its own accounts. See [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/).
- **Donor money outside the budget:** much aid goes straight to UN agencies and NGOs and never passes through the Treasury. See [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## Download the data

The full table is free to download as a CSV file: [federal-budget-by-body-2025-2027.csv](/data/institutions/federal-budget-by-body-2025-2027.csv). Each row names its source.


---

# The Federal Government of Somalia: how it is organised

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Federal Government of Somalia (Dowladda Federaalka Soomaaliya) replaced the Transitional Federal Government on 20 August 2012. It has a President chosen by parliament, a Prime Minister and Council of Ministers running about 25 ministries, a two-house Federal Parliament, federal courts, and independent offices and agencies. It works alongside six federal member states and the Banadir regional administration. Its 2026 budget is about $1.39 billion.

## What it is

The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) is the internationally recognised government of Somalia, based in Mogadishu. It replaced the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) (TFG) on 20 August 2012, when the Provisional Constitution came into use. Somalia's official name since then is the Federal Republic of Somalia ([Federal Government of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Government_of_Somalia); [Provisional Constitution 2012, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## How it came about

- **1991:** the central government of the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) collapsed.
- **2000:** the Transitional National Government was formed at a conference in Arta, Djibouti, under [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/).
- **2004:** the Transitional Federal Government was formed in Kenya under [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/).
- **2009:** [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) became TFG president after a UN-brokered agreement.
- **22 June 2012:** leaders agreed the text of the Provisional Constitution; a National Constituent Assembly adopted it on 1 August 2012.
- **20 August 2012:** the TFG's mandate ended and the Federal Government began. [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) was elected its first President in September 2012.

Sources: [Federal Government of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Government_of_Somalia); [Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012).

## The branches

| Part | What it does | Page |
|---|---|---|
| President | Head of state; appoints the Prime Minister | [President and Council of Ministers](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) |
| Prime Minister and Council of Ministers | Runs the ministries, drafts laws and the budget | [President and Council of Ministers](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) |
| Federal Parliament | House of the People (275 seats) and Upper House (54 seats); passes laws, approves the budget | [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) |
| Courts | Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, federal and state courts | [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/) |
| Independent offices | Attorney General, Auditor General, Central Bank | [Attorney General](/en/institutions/attorney-general/), [Auditor General](/en/institutions/auditor-general/), [Central Bank](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/) |
| Independent commissions | Elections, human rights, anti-corruption, boundaries, civil service and others | [Independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/) |

The constitution changes of 30 March 2024 let the President appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister. The changes of 4 March 2026 set five-year terms and created a Supreme Judicial Council. A referendum on the full constitution is still pending ([Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/)).

## Ministries

The cabinet has about 25 ministries, from Agriculture and Irrigation to Youth and Sports. The full list is on the [President and Council of Ministers](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) page. Ministers change in reshuffles, and the Office of the Prime Minister publishes the current list ([Office of the Prime Minister](https://opm.gov.so/)).

## Agencies and bodies

Federal agencies with their own pages on this site:

- **Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS):** censuses, surveys and official numbers. [Page](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/)
- **Somalia Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA):** droughts, floods and emergency aid. [Page](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/)
- **National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA):** set up in March 2023 to issue national ID numbers. [Page](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- **Immigration and passports.** [Page](/en/states/somali-passport/)
- **State media:** SONNA, Radio Mogadishu and SNTV. [Page](/en/institutions/state-media/)
- **Ports and the national airline.** [Ports](/en/economy/ports/), [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/)
- **Telecoms regulation:** the National Communications Authority. [Page](/en/economy/telecoms/)
- **Security forces:** the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) and the [National Intelligence and Security Agency](/en/institutions/nisa/) (NISA) come under the Ministries of Defence and Internal Security.

## Staff and money

- **Civil servants:** 5,751 in the federal civil service count published by the statistics bureau, 1,488 of them women ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.23](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). The federal payroll at the end of 2025 held 23,573 civilian staff ([Government jobs and pay](/en/economy/government-jobs-and-pay/)). The two counts measure different groups.
- **Budget:** about $1.39 billion for 2026. In 2025 the government raised $404 million itself, mostly from taxes on trade, and received $516 million in donor grants ([Budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/)).

## The federal government and the states

Under the constitution Somalia is a federation. The federal government shares power with six federal member states, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), Jubaland, South West, [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/), plus the Banadir regional administration in Mogadishu ([Federal member states](/en/states/federal-member-states/)). Each state has its own president, parliament and constitution.

- **Puntland** has not recognised the federal government's authority since 31 March 2024. See [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/).
- **Jubaland** suspended ties after its November 2024 regional vote. See [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)** declared independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).

## In November 2026

Early in November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect, and a new Chief Justice was sworn in on 7 November 2026 ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term)). The UN's political mission closed on 31 October 2026; see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## How to use it

- **Find a ministry:** most ministries have a website ending in .gov.so; the Office of the Prime Minister lists them.
- **Official decisions:** the cabinet's decisions are published by the Office of the Prime Minister and by SONNA.
- **Documents:** for an ID card, passport or birth record, see the NIRA, passport and [birth records](/en/states/birth-records/) pages.

## Its legal basis

The Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia, adopted 1 August 2012 and amended on 30 March 2024 and 4 March 2026.


---

# Federal Parliament of Somalia: the House of the People and the Upper House

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/federal-parliament/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Federal Parliament has two houses: the House of the People, with 275 members, and the Upper House, with 54 members who represent the member states. It makes federal laws, approves the budget, approves the Prime Minister and cabinet, and chooses the President. It sits in Mogadishu.

## What it does

The Federal Parliament is the law-making branch of the Federal Republic of Somalia. The 2012 Provisional Constitution gives it two houses: the House of the People and the Upper House ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 55, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

The House of the People passes, amends or rejects laws. It can prepare any law except the annual budget, which the Council of Ministers drafts ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 69](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). It also approves the independent commissions, can call the Prime Minister and ministers to answer questions, and gives or withdraws confidence in the government (same source).

The Upper House represents the federal member states. It takes part in changing the constitution, in choosing and removing the President, and in declaring a state of emergency. It also approves members of several commissions, including the Judicial Service Commission and the electoral commission ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 71](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## How many members, and who they represent

- **House of the People:** 275 members. Each seat is filled through clan-based selection under the "4.5" formula, first agreed in 1997 as a temporary arrangement. The formula gives 61 seats each to the Darod, Dir, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)) clan families and 31 seats to other communities ([Rift Valley Institute, The role of 4.5 in democratisation, 2023](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Role-of-4.5-in-democratisation-and-governence-in-Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf); [Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2023: Somalia](https://freedomhouse.org/country/somalia/freedom-world/2023)).
- **Upper House:** 54 members chosen by state, not by clan. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) have 11 seats each. [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and South West have 8 each ([UN Security Council briefing by UNSOM head Michael Keating, 2017, as summarised by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)).
- **Women:** the agreed target is 30 percent of seats. In the 2021 to 2022 selection, 54 women won House of the People seats, about 20 percent ([UNDP and UNSOM electoral update, May 2022](https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/iesg_newsletter_april-may_2022.pdf)). The UN noted that the 30 percent target was not met ([UN Somalia press release](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/172528)).

## A short history

Independent Somalia's first parliament was the one-chamber National Assembly of 1960 to 1969. It stopped sitting after the army took power in October 1969, and a People's Assembly sat under the 1979 constitution ([Constitution of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Somalia)). From 2000 to 2012 the transitional parliaments met mostly outside the country, in Djibouti, Kenya and later Mogadishu.

The present parliament was formed in August 2012. Its first session met on 20 August 2012 at Mogadishu airport while the main building was being repaired ([Federal Parliament of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). The Upper House was added in 2016. The 10th Parliament sat from 27 December 2016. The 11th Parliament was sworn in on 14 April 2022, when 250 of 275 House members and 40 of 54 Upper House members took the oath (same source).

## Changes in 2024 and 2026

On 30 March 2024 both houses approved amendments to chapters 1 to 4 of the constitution. In the House of the People, 212 of 275 members voted for them; in the Upper House, 42 of 54 did ([ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, 7 April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-approves-the-amendments-to-the-provisional-constitutions-chapters-1-4/)). The changes let the President appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister, who still needs the confidence of the House of the People. They also set five-year terms and moved toward direct, one-person-one-vote selection of members.

On 4 March 2026 parliament approved amendments to chapters 5 to 15, with 185 House members and 37 Upper House members voting in favour. The President signed them on 8 March 2026. A public referendum on the final text is still pending ([ConstitutionNet, 7 April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)). The amended text keeps the Upper House chosen by the member-state leaders, gives Mogadishu its own Upper House seats as the capital, and extends parliament's term from four to five years. Puntland, Jubaland and later [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) said they did not accept the amendments, and opposition groups say the 11th Parliament's term ended in April 2026 (same source; [Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-opposition-group-rejects-election-of-house-speaker-as-sham-exercise)).

## Who leads it

Each house elects a Speaker and deputies by secret ballot ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 65](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Abdi Hashi Abdullahi has been Speaker of the Upper House since 2017. [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) was elected Speaker of the House of the People on 10 August 2026, with 142 votes, after his predecessor Aden Mohamed Nur became President of South West State ([Dawan Africa, 10 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-abdulkadir-mohamed-nur-elected-speaker-of-house-of-the-people)).

## How to use it

- **Follow its work:** sessions are public unless the rules say otherwise ([Article 68](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). The state news agency [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) reports most sittings ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/)).
- **Raise an issue:** each member of the House of the People has a duty to represent the people who chose them, and each Upper House member speaks for a member state ([Article 61](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Contact your member through their office in Mogadishu or their state.
- **Read the laws:** the constitution and its amendments are published on the Constitute Project and ConstitutionNet sites linked above.

## Its legal basis

Chapter 6 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution (Articles 55 to 86), as amended on 30 March 2024 and 4 March 2026.


---

# International bodies in Somalia: the UN, the African Union, the World Bank and the IMF

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN's political mission in Somalia closed on 31 October 2026, after more than three decades of UN missions, and its work passed to Somali institutions and UN agencies such as UNICEF, WHO, WFP and UNFPA. The African Union runs a support mission, AUSSOM. The World Bank and IMF fund and advise the government, and Somalia itself sits on the UN Security Council for 2025 and 2026.

## The UN political mission, 2013 to 2026

UN missions have worked in Somalia for more than three decades. The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) supported the federal government from 2013 ([UNSOM](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/53358)). On 30 October 2024 the Security Council adopted resolution 2753, which replaced UNSOM with a smaller **UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS)** from 1 November 2024, for a two-year handover ([UN Security Council, resolution 2753 (2024)](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/323/40/pdf/n2432340.pdf); [UNTMIS](https://untmis.unmissions.org/en/node/64)).

UNTMIS closed on **31 October 2026**, at the request of the federal government and under Security Council resolutions 2753 (2024) and 2809 (2025). Its tasks passed to Somali institutions and to UN agencies, funds and programmes, following a roadmap agreed between the government and the UN ([Citizen Digital, 27 October 2026](https://citizen.digital/article/un-mission-in-somalia-ends-october-31-after-successful-two-year-transition-n392798)). Before closing, it handed over its support to justice and prisons ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/un-mission-concludes-justice-and-prisons-support-in-somalia)).

## UN agencies that stay

The UN Secretary-General said the UN will keep supporting Somalia through its resident agencies, funds and programmes ([Citizen Digital, October 2026](https://citizen.digital/article/un-mission-in-somalia-ends-october-31-after-successful-two-year-transition-n392798)). The main ones, by what they do ([UN Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/)):

- **UNICEF:** children's health, vaccines, nutrition, schools and clean water.
- **WHO:** health systems, disease outbreaks and the health data on [this site's health numbers page](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/).
- **WFP:** food aid and cash support in droughts, and school meals.
- **UNFPA:** mothers' health and population data; it ran the 2014 Population Estimation Survey and the 2020 health survey with the government.
- **UNHCR and IOM:** refugees, people displaced inside Somalia, and migrants.
- **UNDP:** support to parliament, courts, the electoral commission and local government.
- **FAO:** farming, food security data and early warning of drought, through its [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and SWALIM units.
- **OCHA:** coordinates the humanitarian response. See [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## The African Union

The African Union has run missions in Somalia since 2007. Since January 2025 the mission is the **AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM)**. The UN Security Council renewed its mandate for another year in December 2025 ([Dawan Africa, December 2025](https://www.dawan.africa/news/un-security-council-approves-one-year-extension-for-aussoms-mandate); [Security Council Report, December 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php)). Somalia is also a full member of the African Union, as it has been since the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963.

## The World Bank and the IMF

- **World Bank:** funds Somali government programmes through grants from its International Development Association. These include the Baxnaano cash safety net, health, schooling and water ([World Bank, Somalia](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia)). See [Baxnaano: Somalia's safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/).
- **IMF:** supports a three-year programme of economic reform, the Extended Credit Facility, for 2023 to 2026. The Central Bank reports on its benchmarks every year ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The IMF and World Bank confirmed Somalia's debt relief in December 2023. See [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## Somalia's own seats

- **UN Security Council:** Somalia was elected a non-permanent member for 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026, its first seat since 1971 to 1972, with 179 votes in the General Assembly ([The EastAfrican, June 2024](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-elected-a-non-permanent-member-of-the-un-4649882); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-officially-joins-united-nations-security-council-after-54-years/)). Its ambassador, Abukar Dahir Osman, held the Council presidency in January 2026 ([Heritage Institute, 2026](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/A-Policy-Report-Somalias-Mandate-in-the-UN-Security-Council.pdf)).
- **East African Community:** Somalia joined the EAC as its eighth member state, after signing the treaty in December 2023 ([EAC, Somalia](https://www.eac.int/eac-partner-states/somalia)).
- **Other bodies:** Somalia is a member of the UN (since 1960), the Arab League (since 1974), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and IGAD.

## How to use them

- **Help in a crisis:** UN agencies work through Somali partners. Ask the local district office or health centre which programmes run in your area.
- **Data:** most UN data on Somalia is free, for example at UN Somalia, WHO and UNICEF. This site's [Data section](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/) brings the main series together.


---

# Somali universities one by one: SNU, Hargeisa, Amoud, Mogadishu, SIMAD, Benadir and Puntland State

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/main-universities/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's oldest university, the Somali National University, began as an institute in 1950 and reopened in 2014 after 23 years closed. The largest universities founded after 1991 include Mogadishu University (1997), Amoud University in Borama (1998), the University of Hargeisa (1998, teaching from 2000), SIMAD University (1999), Benadir University (2002) and Puntland State University (2004).

## At a glance

For how many universities there are and who checks their quality, see [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/). This page profiles the main ones, from their own websites and other sources.

| University | City | Founded | Type | Students (latest given) |
|---|---|---|---|---:|
| Somali National University | Mogadishu | 1950 (institute); 1969 (university); reopened 2014 | Public | not published |
| Mogadishu University | Mogadishu | 1997 | Private, non-profit | not published |
| Amoud University | Borama | 1998 | Public | 5,111 (2020/21) |
| University of Hargeisa | Hargeisa | 1998, teaching from 2000 | Public | about 7,000 |
| SIMAD University | Mogadishu | 1999 (institute); 2011 (university) | Private, non-profit | about 3,800 |
| Benadir University | Mogadishu | 2002 | Private | 13,670 (2023) |
| Puntland State University | Garoowe | 2004 | Public | over 1,000 |

Student numbers come from Wikipedia's university pages, which take them from the universities; none were found in an independent count.

## Somali National University (SNU)

**Founded:** 1950, as the Higher Institute of Politics and Administration, during the UN trusteeship. A Higher Institute of Economics, Law and Social Sciences followed in 1956, and a Higher Institute of Law and Economics under the Somali government in 1964. It became the national university in 1969 ([SNU, history](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)).

**Faculties added (same source):** law and economics (1969); agriculture and chemistry (1971); education (1972); medicine, geology, veterinary medicine and engineering (1973); Islamic studies, languages and journalism (1979); political science (1981); technical teacher training (1984).

**Closure and reopening:** it closed in 1991 and stayed closed for more than two decades. The cabinet approved its reopening on 26 November 2013, and it reopened on 16 August 2014.

**Today:** five campuses, [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), Gaheyr and KM4 in Mogadishu, plus [Abudwak](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) ([Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/)) and [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/) ([Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/)), with faculties of agriculture, economics, education, engineering, languages, law, medicine, science, sharia, social science and veterinary medicine, and a graduate school ([SNU](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)).

## University of Hargeisa

**Founded:** 1998; teaching began in 2000 with two faculties. It is a public university and describes itself as [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s only chartered university ([University of Hargeisa](https://uoh.edu.so/)). Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam is named as its founder and first chancellor, from 2000 to 2006 ([University of Hargeisa, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hargeisa)).

**Size:** 7 colleges, 16 faculties, 37 undergraduate programmes and 35 postgraduate programmes, on four campuses ([University of Hargeisa](https://uoh.edu.so/)). Its colleges cover agriculture and veterinary science, business and economics, education, engineering and computing, medicine and health, sharia and law, and social science. It also runs an Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Gaariye Institute of Somali Studies ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hargeisa)).

**Leader:** Dr [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Sulub is president (same source).

## Amoud University

**Founded:** 1998 in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), Awdal, with 66 students, two faculties (education and business administration) and three teachers. By 2020/21 it had 5,111 students (4,599 undergraduate, 512 postgraduate) in 14 faculties and schools, and 238 teaching staff ([Amoud University, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoud_University)).

Its first medical graduates finished in June 2007; King's College [London](/en/diaspora/london/) supervised their final exams and supports the College of Health Sciences curriculum (same source). Amoud and Mogadishu University are both dated to 1999 in another reference ([Education in Somalia, State University reference](https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1381/Somalia-HIGHER-EDUCATION.html)), so sources differ by a year or two.

## Mogadishu University (MU)

**Founded:** 1997, by its own account ([Mogadishu University](https://mu.edu.so/our-story/)). It is a non-state university with campuses in Mogadishu and its main address at KM4. Its president is Dr Ibrahim Mohamed [Mursal](/en/society/murusade/) (same source).

**Faculties:** sharia and law, education and humanities, computer science and IT, economics and management, engineering, medicine, health sciences, political science and public administration, agriculture and environmental science, veterinary science, dentistry and civil aviation. It also runs the Institute for Somali Studies, a legal clinic, a media training centre and Radio Himilo, and publishes the *Somali Studies Journal* and the *Mogadishu University Journal* (same source).

## SIMAD University

**Founded:** 6 November 1999 as the Somali Institute of Management and Administration Development; its board of trustees made it a university on 20 January 2011 ([SIMAD University, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMAD_University)). [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), later President of Somalia, is listed among its founders (same source). The university says it was founded and is sponsored by Direct Aid of [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), and it runs the Dr Sumait Hospital and the SIMAD iLab innovation centre ([SIMAD University](https://simad.edu.so/about-us/)).

**Faculties:** management sciences, computing, social sciences, economics, law and education ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMAD_University)).

## Benadir University (BU)

**Founded:** October 2002 in Mogadishu as a medical school to train Somali doctors. It reports 13,670 students in 2023, on its Prof. Addow campus and Dr Shahiid campus at KM13. Twenty of its students were among those killed in the bombing of 28 December 2019 in Mogadishu ([Benadir University, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benadir_University)).

## Puntland State University (PSU)

**Founded:** it began as the Garowe School of Management, a women's school, whose first 60 graduates were women. It then became [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) Community College, and in 2004, with UNDP and USIU in Nairobi, it became a four-year university. It has campuses in Garoowe, [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) and Boosaaso and faculties of business and economics, social science, computer science, health sciences, and sharia and law ([Puntland State University, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_State_University)).

## How to use them

- **Check a certificate:** SNU, Mogadishu University and others offer online certificate checks on their websites.
- **Check the list:** the [National Higher Education Commission](/en/institutions/national-commission-for-higher-education/) is reviewing all registered universities; see [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).
- **Scholarships:** see [Scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/).

## Its legal basis

Public universities: SNU is a federal institution, reopened by a cabinet decision of 26 November 2013; the University of Hargeisa and Amoud University are public universities in Somaliland; Puntland State University is a Puntland public university. Private universities register with the federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education and, from 2026, are assessed by the National Higher Education Commission ([Dawan, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)).


---

# Somalia's federal government: the President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal government is led by a President, chosen by parliament, and a Prime Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been President since May 2022 and Hamza Abdi Barre Prime Minister since June 2022. The Council of Ministers runs about 26 ministries, prepares the budget and drafts laws.

## How the federal executive is built

Somalia has a **President** as head of state and a **Prime Minister** as head of government. The President is chosen by the two houses of parliament. The Prime Minister leads the **Council of Ministers**, which holds the executive power of the federal government ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 97, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

The 2024 amendments let the President both appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and cabinet still need the confidence of the House of the People. Parliament kept this split rather than a system where the President also heads the government ([ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, 7 April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)). The March 2026 amendments kept the President chosen by parliament (same source).

## What the President does

Under the 2012 constitution the President ([Article 90](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)):

- Appoints the Prime Minister.
- Signs laws passed by parliament so they take effect.
- Is commander in chief of the armed forces and declares a state of emergency or war under the law.
- Appoints judges, senior officials, heads of federal institutions and ambassadors, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers or the judicial oversight body.
- Opens the House of the People and addresses it once a year.
- Receives foreign diplomats and confers state honours.

The President's office is Villa Somalia in Mogadishu.

## What the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers do

The Council of Ministers is the highest executive body. It is made up of the Prime Minister, deputy prime ministers, ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers ([Article 97](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). It ([Article 99](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)):

- Sets government policy and carries it out.
- Prepares draft laws and sends them to the House of the People.
- Prepares the annual budget and the final accounts.
- Sets the national development plan. The current plan is the National Transformation Plan; see [the National Transformation Plan](/en/economy/national-transformation-plan/).
- Appoints and dismisses senior public officials and proposes ambassadors.

**Rules for members:** the Prime Minister must be at least 40 and ministers at least 30, and all must have a university education. While in office they may not run a private business, buy or rent government property, or sell or rent their own to the government ([Article 98](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

**Size:** the Council of Ministers named in August 2022 had 75 members: 26 cabinet ministers, 24 state ministers and 25 deputy ministers ([Hiiraan Online, August 2022](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2022/Aug/187239/somalia_s_new_prime_minister_names_a_25_member_cabinet.aspx)). In June 2026 the Prime Minister named Abdisalan Abdi Ali as a second Deputy Prime Minister, alongside Salah Ahmed Jama ([Garowe Online, June 2026](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-pm-appoints-second-deputy-pm-as-part-of-major-cabinet-reshuffle)).

## The ministries

The federal cabinet ministries listed in 2025 were ([CIA, World Leaders: Somalia, updated August 2025](https://www.cia.gov/resources/world-leaders/historical-data/2026-may/somalia/)):

- Agriculture and Irrigation
- Defence
- Education and Higher Education
- Endowments and Religion
- Energy and Water
- Environment and Climate Change
- Finance
- Fisheries and Maritime Resources
- Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
- Health
- Information
- Interior
- Internal Security
- Justice and Constitution
- Labour and Social Affairs
- Livestock
- Petroleum and Mineral Resources
- Planning and Investment
- Ports and Transport
- Posts and Communications
- Public Works and Housing
- Trade and Industry
- Transport and Civil Aviation
- Women and Human Rights
- Youth and Sports

The full official names are longer; for example, the Ministry of Education's full name is the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). Ministers change often in reshuffles. The Office of the Prime Minister publishes the current list ([Office of the Prime Minister](https://opm.gov.so/)).

## Presidents since 1960

- [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), 1960 to 1967
- [Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), 1967 to 1969
- [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), 1969 to 1991
- [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/), 2000 to 2004 ([Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/))
- [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), 2004 to 2008 (Transitional Federal Government)
- [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), 2009 to 2012
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), 2012 to 2017
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) (Farmaajo), 2017 to 2022
- Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, from 15 May 2022

Source: [List of presidents of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somalia). For the history of each period, see [the civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/) and [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## In the news, November 2026

Opposition groups say the terms of the President, parliament and government ended in 2026. Five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled the same in early November 2026; the Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term)). See [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/).

## How to use it

- **Services:** most services people need, such as passports, ID cards and birth records, are run by federal agencies under these ministries. See [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/), [National ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/) and [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/).
- **Statements and decisions:** the Council of Ministers meets weekly, usually on Thursdays, and its decisions are published by the Office of the Prime Minister and the state news agency [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/)).

## Its legal basis

Chapter 7 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution (Articles 87 to 104), as amended on 30 March 2024 and 4 March 2026.


---

# Puntland's institutions: constitution, parliament, courts and electoral commission

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland runs its own institutions under its 2012 constitution: a 66-member House of Representatives that makes laws and elects the President, a Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, an Attorney General, an Auditor General and a nine-member Electoral Commission. Said Abdullahi Deni was re-elected President by parliament on 8 January 2024, with 45 of 66 votes.

## What it is

Puntland is Somalia's oldest federal member state, set up at a conference in Garoowe in 1998. Its government has three branches: the House of Representatives, the President and Council of Ministers, and the courts, all based in Garoowe ([Government of Puntland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Puntland)). For its history, land and leaders, see [Puntland State of Somalia](/en/states/puntland/).

Since 31 March 2024 Puntland has not recognised the federal government's authority and has said it will act on its own until a federal constitution is agreed in a referendum it takes part in (same source). Its own institutions keep working.

## The constitution

The first charter was adopted in July 1998 by more than 460 delegates at the Garoowe conference. The current constitution was approved on 18 April 2012, when 472 of 480 delegates voted for it ([Constitution of Puntland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Puntland)). The English text is held in the FAO's legal database ([Constitution of the Puntland State of Somalia, FAOLEX](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)).

**How it is changed (Article 139):** a change can be proposed by one fifth of MPs, by the Council of Ministers, or by 5,000 voters. A special committee studies it, and after at least a month the House can ratify it with two thirds of its members. Changes to the founding articles need a referendum.

**The 2023 changes:** on 25 July 2023 the House approved changes to 11 parts of the constitution, including articles 44, 46, 56, 64 and 112. The cabinet had asked to change mainly Article 46, to allow more than three political parties. The House also changed the way the President is elected, from a vote in parliament to a direct vote. Some groups questioned whether the process was followed ([PDRC, 2023](https://pdrcsomalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Puntland-Constitutional-Amendment-Analysis-of-Changes-Effects-and-Prospects-of-Application.pdf)). Two political associations, Mideeye and Horseed, refused to take part in the Electoral Commission over the changes (same source). Fighting broke out in Garoowe in June 2023 as parliament debated the voting changes, and the sides agreed a ceasefire on 21 June ([Reuters, 20 June 2023](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/fighting-erupts-somalias-puntland-regional-parliament-debates-voting-changes-2023-06-20/); [Reuters, 21 June 2023](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/armed-factions-somalias-puntland-agree-ceasefire-after-deadly-clashes-2023-06-21/)). The direct vote for President was dropped in November 2023, and parliament chose the President again in January 2024 ([2024 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Puntland_presidential_election)).

## The House of Representatives

- **Members:** 66, for five-year terms. The constitution says they are to be elected directly, pending a census (Article 60).
- **Powers (Article 64):** pass, amend and repeal laws; approve or reject war and peace treaties; ratify foreign loans and international agreements by half plus one; approve new districts and regions; and oversee the government.
- **Leaders:** it elects a Speaker and two deputy speakers at its first sitting (Article 63). Abdirizak Ahmed Said was elected Speaker on 4 January 2024 ([House of Representatives of Puntland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_of_Puntland)).
- **Sittings:** open to the public unless the House votes to meet in closed session.

## The President

The House elects the President and Vice President for five years. A candidate must be at least 40 years old, among other conditions in Article 78 ([FAOLEX](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)). On 8 January 2024 [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) won in the third round with 45 votes to 21 for Guled Salah Barre. He is the first Puntland president to be re-elected ([2024 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Puntland_presidential_election)).

The President leads a Council of Ministers and agencies such as the Puntland Agency for Social Welfare (PASWE), the Puntland Highway Authority and the [State Bank of Puntland](/en/economy/member-states-money/) ([Government of Puntland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Puntland)). Puntland had 4,130 civil servants in the latest national count, 1,157 of them women, the most of any member state ([SNBS, Somalia Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.23](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)).

## The courts

The constitution sets out these courts ([FAOLEX, Articles 90 to 101](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)):

| Court | Who sits | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Chief Justice, deputy and three judges, plus two alternates, for five years | Highest court; seat in Garoowe |
| Constitutional Court | The Supreme Court judges plus four others, two chosen by the House and two by the Council of Ministers | Rules on the constitution; the only body that can overturn the Electoral Commission |
| Courts of Appeal | At least three judges, in each regional capital | Hears appeals from district courts |
| Magistrates Courts | Set by law | First-instance courts in each district |
| Supreme Judicial Service Council | Chief Justice, Attorney General, three Supreme Court judges and two lawyers confirmed by the House | Runs the judiciary and protects its independence |

## Attorney General and Auditor General

- **Attorney General (Articles 103 to 107):** part of the judiciary, with a deputy and regional attorneys general. The cabinet nominates the Attorney General and the House confirms them. The office reported 4,440 cases, 90 percent of them closed ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.20](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). Compare the [federal Attorney General](/en/institutions/attorney-general/).
- **Auditor General (Articles 109 and 110):** an autonomous office that checks that public money is spent as the budget says, and can inspect any state institution or local government. The Council of Ministers appoints the Auditor General and the House confirms them.

## The Puntland Electoral Commission

The Puntland Electoral Commission (PEC) runs elections and referendums, registers and oversees political parties, settles election disputes and announces results (Article 114). It has nine members for six years: three named by the President, three by the House and one by each of the three parties, all approved by the House (Articles 112 and 113) ([FAOLEX](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)). It has worked since 2012 on moving from votes in parliament to elections by the people ([Puntland Electoral Commission, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_Electoral_Commission)). It held one-person-one-vote district council elections in May 2023 ([2024 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Puntland_presidential_election)).

## How to use them

- **Laws and the constitution:** the House of Representatives publishes the constitution in Somali on its website, and the English text is on FAOLEX.
- **A court case:** start at the district Magistrates Court; appeals go to the regional Court of Appeal in the regional capital.
- **Elections and parties:** the Electoral Commission handles voter registration and party questions.

## Its legal basis

The Constitution of the Puntland State of Somalia, approved 18 April 2012 and amended 25 July 2023; the Puntland electoral laws.


---

# Somali Red Crescent Society (Bisha Cas): what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-red-crescent-society/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Red Crescent Society was founded in April 1963 and is Somalia's national Red Crescent society. It runs clinics and mobile health teams, the Keysaney hospital in Mogadishu, rehabilitation centres and disaster response. It reports serving almost 1.5 million people through its clinics in 2024.

## What it is

The Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS, in Somali *Bisha Cas*) was founded in April 1963 and became a legal body under Presidential Decree No. 187 in 1965. The IFRC describes it as an independent, non-political national humanitarian organisation ([IFRC case study](https://ifrc.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/Longitudunal%20Review%20Case%20study_Somali%20Red%20Crescent.pdf)). It is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and works across Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Red_Crescent_Society)).

## What it reports doing

The SRCS annual report for 2024 lists these programmes ([SRCS annual report 2024](https://data-api.ifrc.org/documents/SO/Annual%20Report_Somalia_2024.pdf)):

- **Primary health care:** which it calls its flagship programme. In 2024 it reports serving 1,477,502 people through its clinics and mobile health teams, 90% of its target. Of these, 664,876 were children under five.
- **Mother and child health:** antenatal care, deliveries, nutrition for children and mothers, and immunisation.
- **Keysaney hospital:** its war-wounded and fistula hospital in Mogadishu.
- **Physical rehabilitation:** centres in Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Galkayo.
- **Disasters:** flood response, cash help and hygiene campaigns, with emergency funds from the IFRC.

Earlier reports give 57 fixed and 15 mobile clinics in 2019, and 65 fixed and 35 mobile clinics in 2023 ([SRCS annual report 2019](https://data-api.ifrc.org/documents/SO/Annual%20Report_Somalia_2019.pdf); [SRCS annual report 2023](https://data-api.ifrc.org/documents/SO/Annual%20Report%20Somalia%202023.pdf)).

## Who leads it

Dr [Ahmed Mohamed Hassan](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-hassan-pilot/) was president of the SRCS for 43 years until he died in July 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Red_Crescent_Society)). The 2018 and 2019 annual reports name Yusuf Hassan Mohamed as president ([SRCS annual report 2019](https://data-api.ifrc.org/documents/SO/Annual%20Report_Somalia_2019.pdf)). The 2024 report says its general assembly extended the terms of the president, vice president and executive committee for another four years ([SRCS annual report 2024](https://data-api.ifrc.org/documents/SO/Annual%20Report_Somalia_2024.pdf)).

## Partners

The 2024 report thanks the ICRC, the IFRC, the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization, the Red Cross societies of Norway, Germany, Britain, Finland, Canada, Iceland and Denmark, the Turkish, Kuwaiti and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Red Crescents, and Hormuud Telecom ([SRCS annual report 2024](https://data-api.ifrc.org/documents/SO/Annual%20Report_Somalia_2024.pdf)). See also the [ICRC in Somalia](/en/institutions/icrc-somalia/).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by the Somali Red Crescent Society itself for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | US$269,951 |
| 2025 | none recorded |
| 2026, to November | none recorded |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

Most money for its work reaches it through partner Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, which FTS lists under their own names, such as the Norwegian Red Cross ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)).


---

# State media in Somalia: SONNA, Radio Mogadishu, SNTV, Radio Hargeisa and Puntland TV

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/state-media/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal government runs three media outlets through its Ministry of Information: the news agency SONNA (founded 5 January 1964), Radio Mogadishu (1951) and Somali National Television, SNTV (1983, relaunched in 2011). Somaliland's government runs Radio Hargeisa (1943) and Somaliland National TV (2005), and Puntland's runs Puntland TV and Radio (2013).

## What it is

Somalia's governments own several of the country's oldest media outlets. At the federal level they sit under the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) run their own state broadcasters. For private radio, TV, websites and press freedom, see [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Federal state media

### SONNA, the Somali National News Agency

- **Founded:** 5 January 1964, as the state news agency under the Ministry of Information in Mogadishu. It marked its 60th anniversary in January 2024 ([SONNA, 60th anniversary](https://sonna.so/en/celebrating-six-decades-of-journalism-somalia-national-news-network-sonna-marks-its-60th-anniversary/); [Horn Observer](https://hornobserver.com/articles/1938/Somalia-National-News-Agency-celebrates-59th-founding-anniversary)).
- **Before 1991:** it had offices in all 18 regions until the central government collapsed (same SONNA source).
- **After 1991:** its work stopped in 1990 to 1991 and the federal government relaunched it in 2011 ([State Media Monitor](https://statemediamonitor.com/?p=5625)).
- **Today:** it publishes news in Somali and English at sonna.so, including the decisions of the federal cabinet and the statements of the President and Prime Minister.

### Radio Mogadishu (Radio Muqdisho)

- **Founded:** 1951, under the UN trusteeship, broadcasting news in Somali and Italian. After independence in 1960 it was modernised with Soviet help and added services in Amharic and Oromo ([Radio Mogadishu, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)).
- **1991 to 2001:** it closed when the civil war began, and the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) reopened it on 23 August 2001 (same source).
- **Archives:** in 2013 it began digitising its archive of recordings going back to 1951 (same source).
- **Today:** it calls itself "the voice of the Republic of Somalia" (Codka Jamhuuriyadda) and publishes news in Somali and English at radiomuqdisho.so ([Radio Muqdisho](https://www.radiomuqdisho.so/)).

### Somali National Television (SNTV)

- **Founded:** regular TV began on 17 August 1983, funded by [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), with two hours a day in Somali and Arabic, and three on Fridays and holidays. Reception was limited to Mogadishu ([Somali National Television, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)).
- **Relaunch:** after 20 years off air, test broadcasts began on 18 March 2011 and the channel officially relaunched on 4 April 2011. It now broadcasts 24 hours a day, on land transmitters and by satellite (same source).
- **Today:** news, regional reports from each member state, programmes on history, poetry and the diaspora, at sntv.so ([SNTV](https://sntv.so/)).

## Somaliland state media

Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. Its government runs:

- **Radio Hargeisa (Radio Hargeysa):** founded in 1943 in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) as the first Somali-language station. It broadcasts mostly in Somali, with news bulletins in Amharic, Arabic and English, from the Ministry of Information in Hargeisa. It spread the *balwo* songs of [Abdi Sinimo](/en/people/abdi-sinimo/) and the *heello* music of [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) ([Radio Hargeisa, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Hargeysa)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).
- **Somaliland National Television (SLNTV):** began broadcasting on 20 July 2005, before the parliamentary election of 29 September 2005, first from a 1.5 kW transmitter in Hargeisa and later by satellite. During that campaign the election monitors criticised its coverage as favouring the ruling party ([Somaliland National TV, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_National_TV)).

## Puntland state media

- **Puntland TV and Radio (PLTV):** set up in April 2013 under President [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/), and run by Puntland's Ministry of Information from Garoowe, with an office in [London](/en/diaspora/london/). It broadcasts on land and by satellite, and Radio Puntland also uses shortwave ([Puntland TV and Radio, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_TV_and_Radio)).
- **Directors (same source):** Ahmed Mohamed Kismayo (2013 to 2014), Abdifatah Nur Ashkir (2014 to 2016), Jamal Arab Yusuf (2016 to 2020), Dahir Afloow, and Abdifatah Nur Ashkir again from 2020.

## Who regulates the media

The federal media law of 9 January 2016 set up a Media Council to oversee the sector. In March 2024 the Minister of Information appointed six of its nine members ([Landinfo, 2016](https://landinfo.no/asset/3568/1/3568_1.pdf); [RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)). The federal statistics bureau's yearly count of violations against journalists shows detentions as 71.4 percent of recorded cases, killings 10.7 percent and attacks on media outlets 7.1 percent ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.25](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)).

## How to use them

- **Official statements:** SONNA publishes federal cabinet decisions and appointments in English and Somali.
- **Old recordings:** Radio Mogadishu and Radio Hargeisa hold the oldest Somali broadcast archives.

## Its legal basis

Federal Media Law of 2016; the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism oversees SONNA, Radio Mogadishu and SNTV. Somaliland's and Puntland's ministries of information oversee their broadcasters.


---

# Elections in Puntland (Doorashooyinka Puntland)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland's House of Representatives, with 66 members, elects the state president. The members are chosen through clan elders and delegates. Since 1998 every president has been chosen this way, most recently Said Abdullahi Deni, re-elected on 8 January 2024. Puntland held its first one-person-one-vote local elections in three districts in October 2021, then in 30 districts on 25 May 2023, when Kaah won the most seats. Puntland rejects the federal electoral commission and the federal 2027 election plan.

## How Puntland chooses its leaders

- **The House of Representatives:** [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) has a single-chamber House of Representatives with 66 members, elected for five years. The 2012 constitution limited the number of political parties to three, and the 2023 amendments were meant mainly to allow more ([Constitution of Puntland, via FAOLEX](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)).
- **The president:** in practice, local elders select delegates, the delegates choose the members of parliament, and parliament elects the president and vice-president ([Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_presidential_election)).
- **The 2023 change and its reversal:** amendments of 25 July 2023 moved to a direct vote for the president. Fighting broke out in Garoowe in June 2023 while parliament debated the change, and a ceasefire was agreed on 21 June ([Reuters, 21 June 2023](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/armed-factions-somalias-puntland-agree-ceasefire-after-deadly-clashes-2023-06-21/)). The direct presidential vote was dropped in November 2023, and parliament again chose the president in January 2024.

For Puntland's institutions, including the Puntland Electoral Commission, see [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/). For its presidents, see [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/).

## Presidential elections

| Date | Elected | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1 August 1998 | Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed | At the founding of Puntland |
| 14 November 2001 | Jama Ali Jama | Chosen by traditional leaders; his election was disputed |
| 8 January 2005 | Mohamud Muse Hersi "Adde" | House of Representatives |
| 8 January 2009 | Abdirahman Mohamed Farole | House of Representatives |
| 8 January 2014 | Abdiweli Mohamed Ali "Gaas" | House of Representatives |
| 8 January 2019 | Said Abdullahi Deni | House of Representatives; 35 votes to 31 in the third round |
| 8 January 2024 | Said Abdullahi Deni | House of Representatives; 45 votes to 21 |

Sources: [Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_presidential_election); [Africanews, January 2019](https://www.africanews.com/2019/01/09/somalia-s-puntland-region-elects-new-president); [2024 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Puntland_presidential_election). Sources differ on whether the 2019 runner-up was Asad Osman Abdullahi or Abdiweli Gaas. In 2019 parliament first elected its Speaker and deputies on 4 January ([2019 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Puntland_presidential_election)).

## Direct local elections

**25 October 2021: three districts.** [Qardho](/en/regions/bari/), Eyl and Ufeyn held Puntland's first one-person-one-vote local council elections, for 87 seats. Of 46,839 registered voters, 61.6 percent voted. Kaah won 35 seats, Mideeye 25, Caddaalada iyo Sinnaanta 20, Horseed 3, Runta iyo Cadaaladda 2, and Mustaqbal and Ifiye 1 each ([2021 Puntland municipal elections, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Puntland_municipal_elections)).

**25 May 2023: 30 districts.** The second round covered 30 of Puntland's 33 districts. More than 387,000 voters registered, most of them aged 18 to 30, and 3,775 candidates stood from seven parties. Polling was postponed in three districts, including the capital Garoowe, after security incidents ([Africanews, 26 May 2023](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2023/05/26/somalias-puntland-holds-historic-local-polls/)). Results were announced on 3 June 2023 and sent to the Supreme Court to be certified:

| Party | Seats (of 774) | Share of vote |
|---|---:|---:|
| Kaah | 286 | 38.4% |
| Mideeye | 211 | 27.3% |
| Caddaalada iyo Sinnaanta | 133 | 16.2% |
| Ifiye | 78 | 7.3% |
| Mustaqbal | 57 | 8.6% |
| Shaqaalaha Xoogsatada Ah | 7 | 1.7% |
| Runta iyo Cadaaladda | 2 | 0.5% |

Source: [2023 Puntland municipal elections, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Puntland_municipal_elections). Turnout was 48.1 percent (186,181 votes), and women won 129 of the 774 seats (17 percent) (same source). Opposition politicians accused Deni of shaping the process to extend his mandate (Africanews, as above). The Puntland Development and Research Center has published analyses of the transition ([PDRC](https://pdrcsomalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/SHAPING-PUNTLAND-DEMOCRATIC-TRANSITION.pdf.pdf)).

## Puntland and the federal elections

- **The federal amendments:** Puntland has withdrawn recognition of the federal government and rejected the March 2026 constitutional amendments ([Africa at LSE, May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)). See [Politics of Somalia](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/).
- **Local polls in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and Cayn:** in February 2026, Puntland's Ministry of Interior called the federal electoral commission's plan for local elections in Sool, [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) illegal. It said Galdogob had already voted in May 2023 and that the other districts fall under Puntland. The commission then removed Galdogob from its list ([AllAfrica / Shabelle, 24 February 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602240379.html)). Parts of Sool now fall under the North East State; see [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).
- **The 2027 timetable:** on 31 October 2026, Deni rejected the federal timetable for the 15 May 2027 presidential vote and called for an interim council to lead the country to elections ([Dawan Africa, 31 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-president-rejects-2027-election-plan-calls-for-interim-council)).

See [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

## Its legal basis

The [Constitution of Puntland](/en/government/constitution-of-puntland/), approved on 18 April 2012 and amended on 25 July 2023, together with Puntland's electoral and political parties laws.


---

# Constitution of Somalia (Dastuurka Soomaaliya): 1960 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has had three constitutions and two transitional charters. The current one is the Provisional Constitution, adopted on 1 August 2012 by a National Constituent Assembly vote of 621 to 13. Parliament amended chapters 1 to 4 on 30 March 2024 and chapters 5 to 15 on 4 March 2026. The 2026 changes extended the terms of parliament and the President to five years. A referendum is still needed to make the constitution permanent. Puntland, Jubaland, South West State and the opposition reject the amendments.

## Somalia's constitutions in order

| Text | Adopted | How |
|---|---|---|
| Constitution of the Somali Republic | 1 July 1960 | Constituent Assembly; confirmed by referendum on 20 June 1961 |
| Constitution of the Somali Democratic Republic | 25 August 1979 | Referendum under the military government |
| Transitional National Charter | 2000 | Arta conference, Djibouti |
| Transitional Federal Charter | 2004 | Somali reconciliation conference in Kenya |
| Provisional Constitution | 1 August 2012 | National Constituent Assembly, Mogadishu |

Sources: [Constitution of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Somalia); [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/); [UN Political Office for Somalia, 1 August 2012](https://unpos.unmissions.org/01-august-2012).

- **1960:** the constitution set up a parliamentary republic. See [The 1960 Constitution](/en/history/1960-constitution/).
- **1979:** the constitution set up a presidential system with one party.
- **2004:** the Provisional Constitution of 2012 repealed the 2004 charter ([Article 19, 2012](https://www.refworld.org/publisher,ART19,,SOM,505706f72,0.html)).

## The 2012 Provisional Constitution

A National Constituent Assembly of 825 members met in Mogadishu and adopted the text on 1 August 2012. The vote was 621 for, 13 against and 11 abstentions ([UNPOS, 1 August 2012](https://unpos.unmissions.org/01-august-2012)). It has 15 chapters. Among its main points ([Provisional Constitution 2012, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)):

- **The state:** Somalia is a federal republic. Islam is the religion of the state, and no law may go against Sharia (Article 2).
- **Language:** Somali ([Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) and Maxaa-tiri) is the official language and Arabic the second language (Article 5).
- **The capital:** Mogadishu is the capital (Article 9).
- **Rights:** Chapter 2 sets out a bill of rights. Article 15 bans the circumcision of girls.
- **The federal system:** Chapter 5 sets out the levels of government.
- **Parliament:** Chapter 6 covers the Federal Parliament.
- **Independent commissions:** Chapter 10 sets them up.
- **Referendum:** the text stays provisional until the public approves it in a referendum.

## The review, 2012 to 2026

The constitution was meant to be reviewed and put to a referendum within a few years. The review took more than 14 years. Under President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission and a parliamentary oversight committee were set up again. In January 2024 the two houses of parliament agreed how amendments would be adopted, in three parts: chapters 1 to 4, 5 to 9 and 10 to 15 ([ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, 7 April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)).

**30 March 2024: chapters 1 to 4.** In the House of the People, 212 of 275 members voted for the changes; in the Upper House, 42 of 54 did. The President signed them the next day (same source; [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-approves-the-amendments-to-the-provisional-constitutions-chapters-1-4/)). The changes:

- **The President:** to be elected directly, and to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister still needs the confidence of the House of the People.
- **Parliament:** one-person-one-vote elections in place of the clan-delegate system used since 2000.
- **Parties:** at least three national parties.
- **Terms:** five-year terms with a single general election.

[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) suspended cooperation with the federal government and said the 2012 text was the only legitimate one (ConstitutionNet, as above).

**4 March 2026: chapters 5 to 15.** These passed with 185 votes in the House of the People and 37 in the Upper House, together with some changes to chapters 2 and 4. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed them on 8 March 2026 (ConstitutionNet, as above). According to ConstitutionNet, the changes:

- **Powers:** share out powers among the federal, state and local levels, and recognise local government as a third tier.
- **Mogadishu:** Banadir becomes the capital, with law-making powers and seats in the Upper House.
- **Courts and commissions:** they set out the Constitutional Court, the court structure, the commissions and the security institutions.
- **Revenue:** they set how revenue is raised and shared.
- **Elections:** the House of the People is elected directly, while the President is chosen by parliament and the Upper House by the state leaders. There is no cap on the number of parties, but a party needs 10 percent of the vote to enter parliament.
- **Terms:** five years for parliament and the President. Speaker Aden Mohamed Nur said this applied to the sitting office holders.

A Supreme Judicial Council was set up under the new text in 2026 ([Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/)). The Minister of Justice said in October 2026 that putting the constitution into effect could take up to five years ([Ministry of Justice](/en/institutions/ministry-of-justice/)). The referendum required by Article 136(2) has no date yet.

## The dispute

- **The term extension:** without the 2026 amendments, parliament's term would have ended on 16 April 2026 and the President's on 15 May 2026 ([Africa at LSE, May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)).
- **The member states:** Puntland withdrew recognition of the federal government in 2024. [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) suspended ties in November 2024, after electoral laws were passed. Days after the March 2026 signing, the then president of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) said he was cutting ties and rejected the amendments. That made three of the six member states (ConstitutionNet, as above).
- **The opposition:** the Somali Future Council calls the extension unconstitutional and rejects the vote (same sources). See [Politics of Somalia](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/).
- **Parliament:** in February 2026, opposition-aligned MPs disrupted sittings. 19 MPs were suspended, then six more (ConstitutionNet, as above).
- **The court ruling:** in early November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect. Ibrahim Idle [Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) was sworn in as Chief Justice on 7 November 2026 ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term)).

For the elections that follow from the constitution, see [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

## How to read it

The 2012 English text is on the Constitute Project site. The official English text of 1960 is on the parliament's website, and the House of the People publishes laws on parliament.gov.so. ConstitutionNet tracks the review process.

## Its legal basis

Article 136 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution sets the procedure for amendment and for the final referendum.


---

# Deputy Prime Ministers of Somalia, 2005 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/deputy-prime-ministers-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's governments have named a Deputy Prime Minister since the transitional period. Salah Jama has held the post since 2 August 2022. Fawzia Yusuf Adam, Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2014, was the first woman in the post.

## In short

Dates come from the position-held records in Wikidata, checked against each person's Wikipedia article where one exists. Several deputy prime ministers also held a ministry at the same time. ([Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Deputy Prime Ministers

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Hussein Mohamed Farah Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/) (Xuseen Maxamed Faarax Caydiid) | 2005 to 13 May 2007 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [Wikipedia, Hussein Farrah Aidid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Farrah_Aidid) |
| Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi (Cabdixakiin Maxamuud Xaaji Faqi) | 12 November 2010 to 20 July 2011 | also Minister of Defence | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [Wikipedia, Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdihakim_Mohamoud_Haji-Faqi) |
| Hussein Arab Isse (Xuseen Carab Ciise) | 20 July 2011 to 4 November 2012 | also Minister of Defence | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [Wikipedia, Hussein Arab Isse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Arab_Isse) |
| [Fawzia Yusuf Adam](/en/people/fawzia-yusuf-adam/) (Fowsiya Yuusuf Xaaji Aadan) | 4 November 2012 to 17 January 2014 | also Minister of Foreign Affairs | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [Wikipedia, Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawzia_Yusuf_H._Adam) |
| Ridwan Hirsi Mohamed (Ridwaan Xirsi Maxamed) | 17 January 2014 to 27 February 2015 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [Wikipedia, Ridwan Hirsi Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridwan_Hirsi_Mohamed) |
| Mohamed Omar Arte (Maxamed Cumar Carte) | 27 January 2015 to 29 March 2017 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [Wikipedia, Mohamed Omar Arte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Omar_Arte) |
| Mahdi Mohamed Guled (Mahdi Maxamed Guuleed) | 21 March 2017 to 2 August 2022 | acting Prime Minister 25 July to 27 September 2020, per World Statesmen | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846), [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Salah Jama (Saalax Jaamac) | 2 August 2022 to now |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846) |

## Sources

- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111819846)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Rival and transitional heads of Somalia, 1991 to 2012

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/rival-heads-of-somalia-1991-to-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between the fall of Siad Barre in January 1991 and the end of the transition in August 2012, more than one person often claimed to lead Somalia. Ali Mahdi Mohamed was named interim president in January 1991; Mohamed Farrah Aidid and then his son Hussein Aidid led a rival government from 1995 to 1998; a five-man National Salvation Council followed in 1997; then came the Transitional National Government under Abdiqasim Salad Hassan from 2000 and the Transitional Federal Government from 2004.

## In short

After the government of [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) fell in January 1991, no single authority controlled the country. World Statesmen lists every person who held or claimed the post of head of state in this period, including rival claimants in Mogadishu, with the places where the transitional governments were based. The Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu for most of 2006, is listed because it governed much of southern Somalia at the time. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Mogadishu claimants, 1991 to 1998

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) (Cali Mahdi Maxamed) | 29 January 1991 to 4 April 1997 | United Somali Congress (USC/SSA); interim president to 21 July 1991 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Ali Mahdi Muhammad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad) |
| [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) (Maxamed Faarax Caydiid) | 15 June 1995 to 1 August 1996 | USC/SNA; interim president in opposition to Ali Mahdi; died in office | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mohamed Farrah Aidid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid) |
| [Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/) (Xuseen Maxamed Faarax Caydiid) | 4 August 1996 to 20 March 1998 | USC/SNA; succeeded his father | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Hussein Mohamed Farrah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Mohamed_Farrah) |

## National Salvation Council co-chairmen, 1997 to 2000

The council had five co-chairmen, one from each of the main factions. World Statesmen gives 27 August 2000, when the Arta government took office, as its end. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html))

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Ali Mahdi Mohamed](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) (Cali Mahdi Maxamed) | 4 April 1997 to 27 August 2000 | USC/SSA | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| [Osman Hassan Ali "Ato"](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) (Cusmaan Xasan Cali "Caato") | 4 April 1997 to 27 August 2000 | USC/SNA | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Abdulkadir Mohamed Aden "Zobe" (Cabdiqaadir Maxamed Aadan "Soobe") | 4 April 1997 to 27 August 2000 | Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Cabdillaahi Yuusuf Axmed) | 4 April 1997 to 27 August 2000 | Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Aden Abdullahi Nur "Gabyow" (Aadan Cabdillaahi Nuur "Gabyow") | 4 April 1997 to 27 August 2000 | Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |

## Transitional governments and the Islamic Courts, 2000 to 2012

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) (Cabdiqaasim Salaad Xasan) | 27 August 2000 to 14 October 2004 | President of the Transitional National Government, chosen at Arta, Djibouti; mostly confined to the Mogadishu area | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Transitional National Government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_National_Government) |
| [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Cabdillaahi Yuusuf Axmed) | 14 October 2004 to 29 December 2008 | President of the Transitional Federal Government; based in Nairobi, then Jowhar (2005), Baidoa (2006) and Mogadishu (January 2007); resigned | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Transitional Federal Government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Government) |
| [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) (Shariif Sheekh Axmed) | 5 June 2006 to 28 December 2006 | Chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu and parts of the south | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Islamic Courts Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union) |
| [Aden Mohamed Nur "Madobe"](/en/people/aden-madobe/) (Aaden Maxamed Nuur "Madoobe") | 29 December 2008 to 31 January 2009 | Acting president as Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Aden Madobe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Madobe) |
| [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) (Shariif Sheekh Axmed) | 31 January 2009 to 20 August 2012 | President of the Transitional Federal Government, elected by the enlarged parliament in Djibouti | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Transitional Federal Government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Government) |

## Related pages

- [Presidents of Somalia](/en/people/presidents-of-somalia/)
- [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)
- [Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/)
- [Somali Civil War](/en/history/somali-civil-war/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Lafoole University (Lafoole College), Somalia's teacher training college

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/lafoole-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Lafoole, 22 km west of Mogadishu on the Afgooye road, was Somalia's main teacher training college and part of the Somali National University. It began as a two-year technical college, became a separate college in 1965 and was renamed Lafoole University in 1973. In 1983 to 1984 it had 1,344 students, 24% of them women, in 13 programmes. It reopened in 2014 as the national university's Faculty of Education.

## In short

Lafoole University, often called Lafoole College, was a teaching college at Lafoole in Afgooye district, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafoole_University)). It lies 22 km west of Mogadishu on the road to Afgooye (same source). It was Somalia's main teacher training college and part of the Somali National University (same source).

## History

- **Start:** a two-year technical college teaching agricultural science, livestock and civil service skills ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafoole_University)).
- **1965:** it became a stand-alone college (same source).
- **1972:** the Somali National University added a faculty of education ([SNU, history](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)).
- **1973:** it was renamed Lafoole University ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafoole_University)).
- **1984:** SNU added technical teacher training ([SNU, history](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)).

## The college's own account

The Somali National University's Faculty of Education, which calls itself the former Lafoole College of Education, gives this history ([SNU Faculty of Education](https://education.snu.edu.so/the-faculty/)):

- **1963:** founded as the National Teacher Education Center, with 60 students.
- **1970s:** the four-year programme was cut to two years to train more teachers faster.
- **1983:** back to four years, with a new curriculum that added practical teaching.
- **1991:** it stopped working because of the civil war.
- **2014:** it reopened as part of the Somali National University, after 25 years.
- **Today:** more than 1,000 students in five departments: educational sciences, science and mathematics, English, social studies, and teacher training.

Sources differ on the founding year: 1963 in the faculty's account, 1965 in Wikipedia's.

## Students

In the 1983 to 1984 school year Lafoole had 13 main programmes and 1,344 students, 24% of them women ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafoole_University)). Its main purpose was teacher training, but it also turned out thousands of graduates with other degrees (same source).

## Two names, two schools

The name "Lafoole College" was sometimes used for the Lafoole Orphanage Boys College, across the Mogadishu to Afgooye road ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafoole_University)). That college had two secondary schools: an ordinary one and a technical school supported by West Germany (same source).

## Closure and the teacher gap

The college closed in 1991 ([SNU Faculty of Education](https://education.snu.edu.so/the-faculty/)). In 2004 the University of Burao noted that Lafoole, the only college that trained teachers, had been closed for 13 years ([Wikipedia, University of Burao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). It linked this to the low number of graduate teachers: in the education ministry figures it quoted for 2003/04, only 241 of 2,590 teachers had degrees (same source).

Former students keep an alumni association website ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafoole_University)).

## Read more

- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [University of Burao](/en/institutions/university-of-burao/)
- [Lower Shabelle region](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


---

# Speakers of the Somali Parliament since 1956 (Guddoomiyeyaasha Baarlamaanka)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's parliament has had 15 speakers since the office was created in 1956, starting with Aden Abdulle Osman, who later became the first President. Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur has been Speaker of the House of the People since 10 August 2026. The Upper House, created in 2016, has been led by Abdi Hashi Abdullahi since 2017. The speaker acts as President when the President is absent.

## What the speaker does

The Speaker chairs parliament's sittings, represents the house and runs its work. Each house elects its Speaker and deputies by secret ballot ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 65, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). When the President is temporarily absent, through illness or travel, the Speaker of the House of the People acts as President ([List of speakers of the Parliament of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia)). For the houses themselves, see [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/); for their current members, see [Members of the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament/).

## National Assembly, 1956 to 1969

| No. | Speaker | From | To |
|---:|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aden Abdulle Osman | 29 February 1956 | 1 July 1960 |
| acting | Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf | 1 July 1960 | 26 July 1960 |
| 2 | Jama Abdullahi Qalib | 26 July 1960 | 26 May 1964 |
| 3 | Ahmed Mohamed Obsiye | 26 May 1964 | 1 March 1967 |
| 4 | Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein | 1 March 1967 | 21 October 1969 |

Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia). [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) left the post on 1 July 1960 to become the first President of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein was acting President after President [Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) was killed in October 1969, until the army took power on 21 October 1969. See [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## People's Assembly, 1979 to 1991

Parliament did not sit from 1969 to 1979. The People's Assembly elected under the 1979 constitution had three speakers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia)):

| No. | Speaker | From | To |
|---:|---|---|---|
| 5 | Ismail Ali Abokor | 5 August 1979 | 26 January 1982 |
| 6 | Mohamed Ibrahim Liqliiqato | 26 January 1982 | 1 November 1989 |
| 7 | Hussein Kulmiye Afrah | 1 November 1989 | 22 January 1991 |

## Transitional parliaments, 2000 to 2012

| No. | Speaker | From | To |
|---:|---|---|---|
| 8 | Abdallah Isaaq Deerow | 9 August 2000 | 14 September 2004 |
| 9 | Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden | 14 September 2004 | 17 January 2007 |
| 10 | Aden Mohamed Nur "Madobe" | 17 January 2007 | 25 May 2010 |
| 11 | Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden | 25 May 2010 | 20 August 2012 |

Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speakers_of_the_Parliament_of_Somalia). See [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## House of the People, 2012 to today

| No. | Speaker | From | To | How elected |
|---:|---|---|---|---|
| acting | Muse Hassan Abdulle | 20 August 2012 | 28 August 2012 | Oldest member |
| 12 | Mohamed Osman Jawari | 28 August 2012 | 9 April 2018 | Elected 2012; re-elected January 2017 with 141 votes |
| 13 | Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman | 30 April 2018 | April 2022 | 147 of 265 votes in the second round |
| 14 | Aden Mohamed Nur "Madobe" | April 2022 | 11 June 2026 | 163 of 252 votes in the second round |
| 15 | Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur | 10 August 2026 | today | 142 votes |

Sources: [MPR News / AP, August 2012](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/08/29/somalia-lawmakers-select-new-speaker); [Africanews, January 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/01/12/somalia-s-speaker-of-parliament-reelected//); [Africanews, April 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/04/30/ex-somalia-defense-minister-elected-new-speaker-of-parliament/); [Anadolu Agency, April 2022](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-s-parliament-elects-new-speaker/2574904); [Dawan Africa, 10 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-abdulkadir-mohamed-nur-elected-speaker-of-house-of-the-people).

- Jawari resigned in April 2018 before a no-confidence motion against him was to be tabled ([Africanews, April 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/04/30/ex-somalia-defense-minister-elected-new-speaker-of-parliament/)).
- [Aden Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/), who had already been speaker from 2007 to 2010, left the post when he was elected President of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) in June 2026 ([AllAfrica, June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606100614.html)). First Deputy Speaker Saadia Samatar, elected in 2022 as Somalia's first woman deputy speaker, acted as Speaker until August ([The EastAfrican, 2022](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-first-female-deputy-speaker-3798242)).
- An opposition group rejected the August 2026 election as invalid, saying parliament's term had ended ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-opposition-group-rejects-election-of-house-speaker-as-sham-exercise)).

## Upper House, 2016 to today

The Upper House (also called the Senate) was created in 2016. Abdi Hashi Abdullahi has been its Speaker since 2017. He was re-elected on 26 April 2022 with 28 votes, against 24 for Salah Jama and 2 for Osman Dubbe ([Africanews, April 2022](https://www.africanews.com/2022/04/26/senate-speaker-abdi-hashi-re-elected-in-somalia); [Upper House, leadership](https://senate.gov.so/leadership-of-the-senate/?lang=en)).

## Its legal basis

Article 65 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the rules of procedure of each house.


---

# Members of Somalia's Federal Parliament (Xildhibaannada Baarlamaanka Federaalka)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/members-of-parliament/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's 11th Federal Parliament, sworn in in April 2022, has 329 seats: 275 in the House of the People and 54 in the Upper House. This page lists all 54 Upper House members by state, as the Upper House publishes them, and the 104 House members that the House's own online directory shows, by state and seat number. The House directory does not yet list all 275 members.

## What this list covers

The 11th Federal Parliament was sworn in on 14 April 2022. It has 275 seats in the House of the People and 54 in the Upper House ([Federal Parliament of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). For how the seats are filled and what each house does, see [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/). For the people who have chaired it since 1956, see [Speakers of the Somali Parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-parliament/).

The lists below come from each house's own website, read on 12 November 2026:

- **Upper House:** the senators page of the Upper House lists all 54 current members with their member state ([Upper House, Senators of the 11th Parliament](https://senate.gov.so/sanatarradab11/)). Names there are written in Somali spelling, and we keep that spelling.
- **House of the People:** the members directory of the House lists 104 members, with the state each represents and their seat number, written "HOP#" ([House of the People, Members](https://parliament.gov.so/members/)). The other 171 members of the House are not yet in that directory, so this part of the list is incomplete. Wikipedia keeps a longer list of 267 House members, but its sources date from 2016 to 2022 and some names may be out of date ([List of members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)).

Members are named here as public office holders. Both websites also publish members' emails and phone numbers; we do not copy those.

## Upper House: seats by member state

The Upper House says its 54 seats are shared as follows ([Upper House, constituencies](https://senate.gov.so/deegaan-doorashada/)):

| Member state | Seats | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| Somaliland | 11 | 20.4% |
| Puntland | 11 | 20.4% |
| Jubaland | 8 | 14.8% |
| Galmudug | 8 | 14.8% |
| South West | 8 | 14.8% |
| Hirshabelle | 8 | 14.8% |
| **Total** | **54** | **100%** |

The [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) seats are filled by people chosen in Mogadishu for the northern regions. Somaliland declared independence in 1991, and Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).

## Upper House leadership

The Speaker is Abdi Hashi Abdullahi (Cabdi Xaashi Cabdullaahi), from the Somaliland seats. The First Deputy Speaker is Ali Shacbaan Ibrahim (Cali Shacbaan Ibraahim), from [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), and the Second Deputy Speaker is Abdullahi Ali Hersi (Cabdullaahi Cali Xersi), from [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). Samsam Ibrahim Ali (South West) and Iftiin Hassan Iman ([Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)) are the house's whips ([Upper House, Senators of the 11th Parliament](https://senate.gov.so/sanatarradab11/); [Upper House, leadership](https://senate.gov.so/leadership-of-the-senate/?lang=en)).

## Upper House: all 54 senators

### Somaliland (11 seats)

| Senator | Role |
|---|---|
| Cabdi Xaashi Cabdullaahi | Speaker |
| Axmed Ibraahim Maxamed Abwaan Qorane |  |
| Axmed Maxamed Siciid |  |
| Bilaal Idiris Cabdullaahi |  |
| Cabdiraxmaan Barre Cusmaan |  |
| Deka Xasan Xuseen |  |
| Leyla Axmed Ismaaciil |  |
| Naciima Xasan Gadhweyne |  |
| Prof. Cabdi Ismaaciil Samatar |  |
| Saalax Axmed Jaamac |  |
| Saciid Cabdi Xuseen |  |

### Puntland (11 seats)

| Senator | Role |
|---|---|
| Cabdullaahi Cali Xersi | Second Deputy Speaker |
| Cabdi Cabdullaahi Xaashi Goley |  |
| Cabdikaani Ugaas Geelle Maxamed |  |
| Cabdisamad Yuusuf Maxamed |  |
| Daahir Ayaanle Saciid |  |
| Dr. Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Maxamuud Faroole |  |
| Farxaan Cali Xuseen |  |
| Maxamed Cismaan Majino |  |
| Samiira Xaaji Maxamuud |  |
| Saredo Maxamed Xasan |  |
| Saynab Ismaaciil Maxamed |  |

### Galmudug (8 seats)

| Senator | Role |
|---|---|
| Cabdi Axmed Dhuhulow |  |
| Cabdi Xasan Cawale |  |
| Cabdihakim Macallin Axmed Maalin |  |
| Cabdiweli Ibraahim Aadan (Garyare) |  |
| Duniya Maxamed Cali |  |
| Farxaan Cali Maxamuud |  |
| Siciid Siyaad Shirwac |  |
| Zamzam Daahir Maxamuud |  |

### Hirshabelle (8 seats)

| Senator | Role |
|---|---|
| Cali Shacbaan Ibraahim | First Deputy Speaker |
| Axmed Maxamed Cali (Afcadey) |  |
| Fartuun Cabdiqaadir Faarax (Karama) |  |
| Muuse Suudi Yalaxoow |  |
| Nuur Maxamed Geedi Canjeex |  |
| Prof/Dr. Cusmaan Maxamuud Maxamed (Dufle) |  |
| Xasan Iidow Muxumed |  |
| Zamzam Cabdillaahi Axmed |  |

### Jubaland (8 seats)

| Senator | Role |
|---|---|
| Iftiin Hassan Iman | Whip |
| Cabdirisaaq Maxamed Cusmaan |  |
| Cabdullaahi Sheekh Ismaaciil |  |
| Ibraahim Awgab Cismaan |  |
| Ilyaas Badal Gaboose |  |
| Leyla Nuur Maax |  |
| Maryan Faarax Kahiye |  |
| Xasan Daahir Yaroow |  |

### South West (8 seats)

| Senator | Role |
|---|---|
| Samsam Ibraahim Cali | Whip |
| Aadan Cabdinasiir Maxamed |  |
| Ayaan Aadan Cabdullaahi |  |
| Cabdiweli Maxamed Ibraahim |  |
| Cali Sh. Max'ud Gacal Cali Yare |  |
| Dr. Xuseen Maxamed Daahir |  |
| Maxamuud Maxamed Cabdinor |  |
| Xasan Xuseen Xaaji |  |

## House of the People: members in the official directory

The House of the People is led by Speaker [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/), elected on 10 August 2026 with 142 votes ([Dawan Africa, 10 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-abdulkadir-mohamed-nur-elected-speaker-of-house-of-the-people)). The directory names Abdullahi Omar Abshir, from South West, as Second Deputy Speaker. It also names the chairs of four committees ([House of the People, Members](https://parliament.gov.so/members/)).

The House's 275 seats are shared among clans under the 4.5 formula, not by state. The directory still shows the member state each member is linked to. "Northern regions" is the directory's term (Gobollada Waqooyi) for members chosen for the Somaliland areas. Seat numbers are the directory's own.

Of the 104 members listed, 23 are linked to South West, 17 to Puntland, 17 to the northern regions, 16 to Jubaland, 14 to Hirshabelle, 12 to [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and 1 to Banadir. The directory shows no state for 4 members. These counts reflect only who is in the directory, not the full House.

### Puntland (17 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdi Ibrahim Warsame (Qowdhan) | 196 | Chair of the Budget, Finance, Planning, International Cooperation and Public Accounts committee |
| Abdikafar Elmi Hange Mohamed | 144 |  |
| Abdillahi Bidhan Warsame Hassan | 235 |  |
| Abdiqani Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed | 75 |  |
| Abdirisak Hassan Ahmed Dhokir | 221 |  |
| Abdulasis Mohamed Mohamud Ali (Qambi) | not shown |  |
| Abdulatif Musse Nur Yusuf (Sanyare) | 199 |  |
| Abdullahi Farah Mire Muse | 228 |  |
| Abdullahi Hassan Roble | 249 |  |
| Abdullahi Mohamed Jama Said - Jakato | 191 |  |
| Ahmed Abdi Hashi Fiqi | 166 |  |
| Ainanshe Yusuf Hussein Mohamud | 222 |  |
| Ali Haji Dahir Saleban Adan | 220 | Chair of the Justice, Religious Endowments and Religious Affairs committee |
| Ali Mahdi Mohamed Ali | 169 |  |
| Ali Yusuf Ali Hosh | 200 |  |
| Bashir Abdi Mohamed Mohamud (Amerika) | 273 |  |
| Daud Abdikarim Sh Omar | 14 |  |

### Northern regions (17 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdillahi Abdi Mohamed | 264 | Chair of the Roads, Ports, Airports, Energy and Transport committee |
| Abdillahi Hashi Abib Tubeh | 201 |  |
| Abdiqani Ismail Said Bixi | 241 |  |
| Abdirahman Ahmed Suge Roble | 245 |  |
| Abdirahman Idan Yonis | 259 |  |
| Abdiwahab Abdi Omar Ahmed | 270 |  |
| Abdullahi Osman Duale | 229 |  |
| Adnan Osman Elmi Boqore | 236 |  |
| Ahmed Abdi Kooshin | 205 |  |
| Ahmed Osman Dirie | 233 |  |
| Aidarus Salah Yusuf Sugule | 224 |  |
| Ali Abdi Ibrahim Dubad | 271 |  |
| Ali Mohamud Adan Qalib | 240 |  |
| Amino Omar Jama Artan | 202 |  |
| Asho Kos Mohamud Omar Haji Khaire | 211 |  |
| Ayub Ismail Yusuf Gahayr | 215 |  |
| Bihi Iman Egeh | 237 |  |

### Jubaland (16 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abbas Ali Ibrahim | 111 |  |
| Abdikadir Hussein Abdi Hassan | 91 |  |
| Abdikadir Mohamud Dagane Hajir | 78 |  |
| Abdinur Ali Aden Mohamud | 28 |  |
| Abdirashid Jire Khalinle Abdi | 82 |  |
| Abdirashid Mohamed Duale Edle | 125 |  |
| Abdirishid Mohamed Hidig | 72 |  |
| Abdulkadir Mohamed Wa'ays Ali | 112 |  |
| Abdullahi  Abukar Haji (Abdullahi Arab) | not shown |  |
| Adar Hared Jibril Rooble | 132 |  |
| Ahmed Aden Ahmed Sugaal | 127 | Chair of the Truth-Seeking, Reconciliation and Property Restitution committee |
| Ahmed Mohamud Jama | 29 |  |
| Ahmed Osman Ibrahim Hussein (Daqare) | not shown |  |
| Amina Hussein Ali Mohamed | 87 |  |
| Asad Abdirisaq Mohamed Arab | 120 |  |
| Bale Ibrahim Abdi Omar | 100 |  |

### South West (23 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdifitah Abullahi Araye Adow | 173 |  |
| Abdikadir Abdirahman Dhure Kheyre (Yarisow) | 150 |  |
| Abdirahman Isaaq Mohamed Haji | 185 |  |
| Abdirisak Hagi Abdi Mursal | 42 |  |
| Abdisalam Abdi Ali Hussein | 167 |  |
| Abdulkadir Omar Moalin | 186 |  |
| Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali Adan | 177 |  |
| Abdullahi Adan Ahmed (Black) | 193 |  |
| Abdullahi Hassan Ali (Abdalla) | 151 |  |
| Abdullahi Mohamed Ali | 178 |  |
| Abdullahi Omar Abshir | 152 | Second Deputy Speaker |
| Adan Hassan Mohamed | 172 |  |
| Adan Mohamed Ali Hamud | 253 |  |
| Aden Mohamed Nur (Saran soor) | 170 |  |
| Ahmed Mathobe Nunow | 99 |  |
| Ahmednur Sh Mohamed Lohos | 50 |  |
| Ali Mohamud Mohamed | 187 |  |
| Ali Sheikh Mohamed Nur | 143 |  |
| Alwiya Sid Abdullahi | 148 |  |
| Amina Mohamed Mursal | 213 |  |
| Aweis Hussein Moalin | 80 |  |
| Aweys Mohamad Omar | 62 |  |
| Dr. Abdirashid Mohamed nor (Jilley) | 175 |  |

### Hirshabelle (14 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdikarim Abdow Heydar | 252 |  |
| Abdikarim Omar Hussein | 74 |  |
| Abdinasir Haji Shirwa Mohamed | 4 |  |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Sheikh Ali (Moobleen) | 70 |  |
| Abdirisaq Abdullahi Moallin | 63 |  |
| Abdirizak Omar Mohamed Tifow | 11 |  |
| Abdulfatah  Kasim Mohamud | not shown |  |
| Abdulkadir Osoble Ali | 140 |  |
| Abdulrahman Ahmed Osman | 10 |  |
| Ali Hajiadam Abubakar | 39 |  |
| Ali Hassan Ibrahim | 9 |  |
| Ali Mohamed Omar | 115 |  |
| Dahaba Susow Munye | 88 |  |
| Dahir Amin Jesow Qanyare | 30 |  |

### Galmudug (12 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame | 138 |  |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein Odowaa | 69 |  |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud Jimale | 95 |  |
| Abdirizak Adam Warsame (Xusul) | 137 |  |
| Abdisabir Nor Shuriye Geelle | 71 |  |
| Abdisalam Haji Ahmed Liban (Dhabancad) | 38 |  |
| Abdisamad Mohamud Hassan Farah | 39 |  |
| Abdishakur Ali Mire Mohamed | 54 |  |
| Abdullahi Aden Kulane Hashi | 40 |  |
| Adar Ali Mohamed (Shalaqbeen) | 81 |  |
| Aden Osman Hussein | 13 |  |
| Dayah Ahmed Omar Abdulle | not shown |  |

### Banadir (1 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdirahman Abdulkadir Ade | 105 |  |

### State not shown in the directory (4 listed)

| Member | Seat no. | Role |
|---|---:|---|
| Abdikadir Mohamud Mohamed | not shown |  |
| Abdikarim Mohamed Dirie | not shown |  |
| Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur | not shown | Speaker |
| Ali Mohamed Sheikh Hassanow | 250 |  |

## How to use it

- **Find your member:** the House directory and the Upper House senators page both have search boxes, and show each member's state and, for the House, seat number.
- **Former members:** the Upper House keeps a separate list of former senators on the same page.
- **Laws and votes:** bills, laws and committee reports for the Upper House are on senate.gov.so; the House posts news and documents on parliament.gov.so.

## Its legal basis

Articles 55 to 86 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026, set the size and roles of each house ([Provisional Constitution 2012, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).


---

# Elections in Somalia: how voting and selection work (Doorashooyinka Soomaaliya)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia last held a nationwide one-person-one-vote election in March 1969. From 2000 to 2022, members of parliament were chosen by clan delegates and then elected the President. Laws passed in 2024 bring back direct voting. Mogadishu voted directly in December 2025, followed by South West, Galmudug and Hirshabelle in 2026. The electoral commission has set national parliamentary elections for 15 April 2027 and the presidential election for 15 May 2027. Opposition groups, Puntland and Jubaland reject the process.

## In short

Somalia has chosen its leaders in four different ways:

- **1956 to 1969:** multi-party, one-person-one-vote elections.
- **1969 to 1991:** a military government with one legal party.
- **2000 to 2022:** an indirect system in which clan elders named delegates, the delegates chose members of parliament, and parliament elected the President.
- **Since 2024:** new laws bring back direct voting. It started with local and state elections in 2025 and 2026.

For the bodies involved, see [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/), [Members of the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament/) and [Independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/), which covers the electoral commission. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) run their own elections: see [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/) and [Elections in Puntland](/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/).

## Elections before 1969

[Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/), the Trust Territory under Italian administration, held local elections in 1954 and 1958 and parliamentary elections in 1956 and 1959. [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) held parliamentary elections in 1959 and 1960 ([Elections in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somalia)). After the two territories united in 1960, voters approved the constitution in a referendum on 20 June 1961. There were 1,756,216 votes in favour (90.6 percent) and 183,000 against. In the former British Somaliland, the Somali National League called for a boycott, and about 60 percent of the roughly 100,000 votes cast there were against ([1961 Somali constitutional referendum, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Somali_constitutional_referendum)).

| Election | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|
| National Assembly | 30 March 1964 | Somali Youth League 69 of 123 seats; 914,069 votes cast |
| National Assembly | 26 March 1969 | 64 parties stood; Somali Youth League 73 seats; 879,554 votes cast |

Sources: [1964 election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Somali_parliamentary_election); [1969 election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Somali_parliamentary_election). After the 1969 vote most members from smaller parties joined the Somali Youth League. The army took power on 21 October 1969 (same source). See [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Under the military government, 1969 to 1991

The [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) banned all political parties in 1969. The 1979 constitution set up a People's Assembly, chosen in 1979 and 1984 with the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party as the only legal party ([Elections in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somalia)). On 23 December 1986 [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), the only candidate, was confirmed as President with 4,887,592 votes for and 1,486 against, given as 99.97 percent ([1986 Somali presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Somali_presidential_election)).

## The delegate system, 2000 to 2022

From the Arta conference of 2000 to the 2022 vote, there was no popular vote for national office. Seats in the House of the People were shared out by the "4.5" formula: 61 seats each for the Darod, Dir, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)) clan families, and 31 for other communities ([Rift Valley Institute, 2023](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Role-of-4.5-in-democratisation-and-governence-in-Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf)). Clan elders named delegates, the delegates elected the member for each seat, and the new parliament elected the President.

In the 2021 to 2022 round:

- **Upper House:** state assemblies chose the 54 senators between 29 July and 13 November 2021. Women won 13 of the 54 seats.
- **House of the People:** voting ran from 1 November 2021 to 31 March 2022, well past the deadlines set.

Source: [2021 to 2022 Somali parliamentary election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021%E2%80%932022_Somali_parliamentary_election). The two houses then elected [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) as President on 15 May 2022. In the third round he won 214 votes, against 110 for the outgoing President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) "Farmaajo" ([2022 Somali presidential election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Somali_presidential_election)).

## The 2024 election laws

In 2024 parliament passed three election laws, which set up the following:

- **The commission:** the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC), chaired by Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan.
- **The voting rules:** a national electoral law for one-person-one-vote.
- **The parties:** a Political Parties law, approved in a joint sitting with 177 votes in favour and one abstention ([SONNA, November 2024](https://sonna.so/en/parliament-approves-political-parties-and-unions-federal-government-of-somalia-act/); [AllAfrica, November 2024](https://allafrica.com/stories/202411210150.html)).

The cabinet had approved the bills in August 2024 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-cabinet-approves-direct-voting-system-for-2026-elections)). Under the law, the commission sends results to the Supreme Court for a final ruling. The 2024 constitutional amendments provided for a direct presidential vote, but the amendments of 4 March 2026 returned the choice of President to parliament, kept the Upper House chosen by state leaders and made the House of the People directly elected ([ConstitutionNet, April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process); see [Constitution of Somalia](/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/)). They also extended the terms of parliament and the President from four years to five. Without the amendments, parliament's term would have ended on 16 April 2026 and the President's on 15 May 2026 ([Africa at LSE, May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)).

## Direct votes in 2025 and 2026

| Place | Polling day | Seats | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banadir (Mogadishu), district councils | 25 December 2025 | 390 | Justice and Solidarity Party 177, Towfiiq 49, Ramaas 42; 20 parties stood |
| South West, local councils | May 2026 | 297 | Justice and Solidarity Party 148, Horumar iyo Midnimo Qaran 46, Karaama 20 |
| Galmudug, House of Representatives (rerun) | 30 September 2026 | 89 | Justice and Solidarity Party 67; 149,475 ballots |
| Hirshabelle, House of Representatives | 30 September 2026 | 99 | Justice and Solidarity Party 78, KAAMA 6, Iftin Qaran 5, others 10; 114,633 ballots |
| Hirshabelle, local councils | 30 September 2026 | 222 | Justice and Solidarity Party 158, KAAMA 17, MADALSAN 14, Iftin Qaran 12, others 19 |

Sources: [Gulf Times, December 2025](https://www.gulf-times.com/article/717562/international/somalis-vote-in-mogadishus-first-local-election-in-nearly-60-years); [Dawan Africa, Banadir councillors sworn in, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-banadir-region-swears-in-390-local-councillors); [Dawan Africa, South West, 14 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hassan-sheikhs-party-wins-majority-seats-in-south-west-state-council-elections); [Dawan Africa, Galmudug rerun, 2 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/justice-and-solidarity-party-wins-big-in-galmudug-re-run-election); [Dawan Africa, Hirshabelle, 3 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/justice-and-solidarity-party-wins-78-seats-in-hirshabelle-assembly-election). The Banadir seat counts come from one report.

- **Banadir:** key opposition parties boycotted the Mogadishu vote and said they would not recognise the results. ([Hornreview, December 2025](https://hornreview.org/2025/12/25/somalias-elections-first-direct-vote-in-decades-sparks-tension-hope/)).
- **[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), first vote:** the first Galmudug vote on 30 July 2026 covered 11 districts and more than 270,000 registered voters, for 243 local council seats and 89 assembly seats ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-galmudug-election-results-expected-within-48-hours)).
- **Galmudug, annulment:** on 24 August 2026 the Supreme Court annulled that vote. It found that breaches of the constitution and election laws had affected the outcome, and ordered new elections ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-supreme-court-annuls-galmudug-elections)).
- **Galmudug, after the rerun:** the court approved the rerun results on 13 October, and the new assembly elected Liban Ahmed Hassan as state president on 22 October.
- **[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/):** the parties accepted the results. The new assembly re-elected Ali Abdullahi Hussein "Guudlaawe" as state president on 24 October 2026 with 81 votes ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/guudlawe-re-elected-as-leader-of-somalias-hirshabelle-state-with-81-votes)).
- **[North East State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/):** in April 2026 the commission set a vote for 30 June 2026 ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-electoral-commission-announces-polling-dates-for-3-federal-states)). No result had been published by November 2026.

## The 2027 national timetable

On 15 October 2026 the electoral commission announced the following ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-sets-presidential-vote-for-15-may-2027)):

| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration of parties and voters reopens | 1 to 22 November 2026 |
| Deadline for parliamentary candidate lists | 22 November 2026 |
| Campaign begins | 27 February 2027 |
| Elections for both houses of parliament | 15 April 2027 |
| Presidential election | 15 May 2027 |

The opposition [Somali Future Council](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/), formed in late 2025, rejects the March 2026 amendments and the term extension. Its members include former presidents and prime ministers and the leaders of Puntland and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/). In June 2026 it proposed its own model, in which voters would elect members of parliament and parliament would elect the President. In later talks, the Somali Future Council and two other groups put a one-person-one-vote model to the UK, US, EU and UN and agreed there would be no return to indirect elections. The government says only a one-person-one-vote election will be held. Puntland and Jubaland have withdrawn recognition of the federal institutions (same sources; [Africa at LSE, May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)).

In early November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended, and asked political leaders to agree an electoral model within 30 days. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect because the Chief Justice had not chaired the panel; opposition groups backed it. Ibrahim Idle Suleiman was sworn in as Chief Justice on 7 November 2026 ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term)). See [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/).

## How to vote

- **Register:** voters register in their district with the electoral commission, which issues a voter card. In 2025 it registered 918,890 people across Mogadishu's 16 districts ([Dawan Africa, 2025](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-923000-voters-in-mogadishu)).
- **Choose a party:** voters choose among parties' candidates. In Mogadishu more than 1,600 candidates stood for 390 council seats ([Gulf Times, December 2025](https://www.gulf-times.com/article/717562/international/somalis-vote-in-mogadishus-first-local-election-in-nearly-60-years)).
- **Complaints:** complaints about the vote go through the commission and then the Supreme Court.

## Its legal basis

Chapter 6 and Article 111G of the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the National Electoral Law, the Political Parties law and the law setting up the electoral commission, all passed in 2024.


---

# Politics of Somalia: how power is shared (Siyaasadda Soomaaliya)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia is a federal republic. Power is shared between a federal government in Mogadishu and the member states, and seats in parliament have been shared among clans under the 4.5 formula since 2000. Laws passed in 2024 began a move to party-based, direct elections. In 2026 the President's Justice and Solidarity Party won the state votes that were held. The Somali Future Council, an opposition group whose members include the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland, rejects the 2026 constitutional changes and the 2027 election plan.

## The system in short

- **The state:** under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026, Somalia is a federal republic.
- **The President:** head of state, chosen by parliament since 2000. The 2024 amendments provided for a direct vote, but the March 2026 amendments returned the choice to parliament ([ConstitutionNet, April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)). See [Constitution of Somalia](/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/). Since the 2024 amendments, the President also appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister.
- **The Prime Minister and cabinet:** they run the government and need the confidence of the House of the People.
- **Parliament:** two houses, which pass laws and the budget.
- **Member states:** each of the federal member states has its own president and assembly.

See [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/), [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) and [Federal member states](/en/states/federal-member-states/).

## Clan power-sharing

Since the Arta conference of 2000, seats in the House of the People have been shared among clans under the "4.5" formula. The Darod, Dir, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)) clan families get 61 seats each, and other communities get 31 ([Rift Valley Institute, 2023](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Role-of-4.5-in-democratisation-and-governence-in-Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf)). The 2024 election laws aim to replace it with party lists chosen by voters. See [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/) and [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/).

## Political parties before 1991

| Party | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Somali Youth League (SYL) | 1943 to 1969 | The first Somali political organisation; won 69 of 123 seats in 1964 and 73 in 1969 |
| Somali National League (SNL) | before 1960 to 1969 | Northern party; called for a boycott of the 1961 constitutional referendum |
| Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP) | 1976 to 1991 | The only legal party under the military government |
| United Somali Congress (USC) | 1987 to 2000 | One of the armed movements that fought the military government |

Sources: [List of political parties in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Somalia); [1964 election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Somali_parliamentary_election); [1961 referendum, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Somali_constitutional_referendum). The army banned all parties when it took power on 21 October 1969. See [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/) and [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Parties from 2011 to 2024

Parties existed in these years but could not stand in elections, because members of parliament were chosen by clan delegates. Leading figures founded their own parties:

- **[Peace and Development Party](/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/):** [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), 2011.
- **Union for Peace and Development:** Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's later party, under which he won the 2022 vote.
- **Himilo Qaran:** [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/).
- **Tayo:** [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) "Farmaajo".

In October 2019 several opposition parties formed the Forum for National Parties ([List of political parties in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Somalia)).

## Parties under the 2024 laws

The Political Parties law of November 2024 requires parties to register with the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ([SONNA, November 2024](https://sonna.so/en/parliament-approves-political-parties-and-unions-federal-government-of-somalia-act/)). The commission certified 43 political organisations between 20 January and 14 May 2025, and 61 by September 2025 ([Dawan Africa, 2025](https://dawan.africa/news/somalias-electoral-commission-registers-18-new-political-parties)). It cleared 20 parties for the Mogadishu council vote and 35 for the [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) votes ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/20-political-parties-cleared-for-somalias-banaadir-regional-council-election); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-electoral-body-clears-35-parties-for-hirshabelle-vote)). It reopened party registration on 31 October 2026 for the 2027 elections ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-opens-registration-for-political-parties-ahead-of-2027-polls)).

**Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP; Xisbiga Cadaaladda iyo Wadajirka).** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched the party in Mogadishu on 13 May 2025 and was elected its chairman. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) became deputy chairman ([Garowe Online, May 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/analysis-power-consolidation-somalia-s-hassan-sheikh-launches-party-before-2026-vote); [Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/fgs-fms-political-heavyweights-take-key-posts-as-president-mohamud-unveils-news-party)). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s president called it a power grab, and former Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) warned it could destabilise the country ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/puntland-calls-somali-president-s-new-political-party-a-power-grab-and-a-threat-to-federal-system)). The JSP won the most seats in every direct vote held in 2025 and 2026:

| Vote | JSP share of seats |
|---|---|
| Mogadishu (Banadir) district councils | 177 of 390 |
| South West local councils | 148 of 297 |
| Galmudug assembly (rerun) | 67 of 89 |
| Hirshabelle assembly | 78 of 99 |

The details are on [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

**Other parties that have won seats:**

- **Mogadishu:** Towfiiq and Ramaas.
- **South West:** Horumar iyo Midnimo Qaran and Karaama.
- **Hirshabelle:** KAAMA, Iftin Qaran, SINAAD and MADALSAN.

Towfiiq rejected the first Galmudug results and was later left off the list of parties for the rerun ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/towfiiq-excluded-from-parties-contesting-galmudug-election-rerun)).

## The opposition: Somali Future Council

The Somali Future Council was formed in Nairobi on 2 October 2025. It was set up by the presidents of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) (Ahmed Mohamed Islam "Madobe") and Puntland ([Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/)) and the Somali Salvation Forum opposition coalition ([Garowe Online, October 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-opposition-leaders-announce-new-coalition-to-guide-political-transition); [Somali Future Council, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council)). Its members include:

- former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed;
- former Prime Ministers Hassan Ali Khaire, [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) and [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/);
- MP Abdirahman Abdishakur.

The council rejects the March 2026 constitutional amendments and the one-year term extension. It has proposed a transitional council to oversee constitutional and electoral reform ([Africa at LSE, May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)). Its talks with the federal government in Mogadishu on 13 to 15 May 2026, and again in August, ended without agreement ([Somali Future Council, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council)). In later talks it joined Nabad iyo Nolol and the National Unity Council in putting a one-person-one-vote model to international partners ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-sets-presidential-vote-for-15-may-2027)).

In early November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended, and asked political leaders to agree an electoral model within 30 days. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect because the Chief Justice had not chaired the panel; opposition groups backed it. Ibrahim Idle Suleiman was sworn in as Chief Justice on 7 November 2026 ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term)). See [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/).

## The federal government and the member states

Relations between Mogadishu and some member states have broken down several times:

- **Puntland:** has withdrawn recognition of the federal government.
- **Puntland and Jubaland together:** both rejected the March 2026 amendments ([Africa at LSE, May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)).
- **South West:** suspended ties in early 2026 (same source). It then held direct elections, and in June 2026 its assembly elected Aden Mohamed Nur "Madobe", the Speaker of the House of the People, as state president ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/madobes-election-south-west-state-fuels-somalias-wider-electoral-crisis)).
- **Galmudug and Hirshabelle:** both held direct assembly elections in 2026.
- **North East State:** formed in August 2025, it is the newest member state; see [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

See [Institutions of the member states](/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/) and [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/).

Somaliland declared independence in 1991 and runs its own government and elections. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

Al-Shabaab, an armed group fighting the federal government, holds or contests parts of the south and centre. See [Al-Shabaab: structure and leaders](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended on 30 March 2024 and 4 March 2026; the 2024 National Electoral Law and Political Parties law; the constitutions of the member states.


---

# Somalia's courts: the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and how the judiciary works

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal courts are led by the Supreme Court in Mogadishu, with a Constitutional Court for disputes over the constitution and between governments, and appeal and lower courts in each member state and in Banadir. A Supreme Judicial Council oversees judges. Ibrahim Idle Suleiman was sworn in as Chief Justice on 7 November 2026.

## What the courts do

The courts hold the judicial power of the Federal Republic of Somalia ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 105, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). The constitution says judges are independent of the government and parliament and answer only to the law. A judge cannot be sued or prosecuted for a ruling made as a judge ([Article 106](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

Hearings are public by default. A court may close a hearing for national security, children, rape cases or to protect witnesses. Every side must be heard before a decision, and decisions must give reasons ([Article 107](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## How the courts are arranged

The 2012 constitution sets three tiers ([Article 108](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)):

1. **The Constitutional Court**, which rules on the meaning of the constitution.
2. **Federal courts**, led by the federal high court, now called the Supreme Court.
3. **Member-state courts**, each led by the state's own high court.

Cases that involve the federal government go to a federal court. Any court can decide whether a case raises a constitutional question and pass it to the Constitutional Court ([Article 109](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

Under the amended constitution of 2026, each member state and the Banadir Regional Administration (Mogadishu) has an appeal court whose president sits on the national Supreme Judicial Council ([Dawan Africa, 23 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-cabinet-approves-nominees-to-supreme-judicial-council)). Below the appeal courts sit regional and district courts, a pattern that goes back to the court law of the 1960s ([Judiciary of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somalia)).

## The Constitutional Court

The 2012 text provides for five judges, including a Chief Judge and a Deputy. Judges must know both law and sharia and the constitution. They are proposed by the judicial oversight body, approved by the House of the People, and appointed by the President ([Article 109B](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

The court can check a draft law on request of the cabinet, parliamentary committees or ten members of either house. It alone settles disputes between member states, or between a state and the federal government. It also hears disputes between federal bodies about their powers, and impeachment cases against the President ([Article 109C](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). The March 2026 amendments set out the court's rules in more detail ([ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, 7 April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)).

## Who oversees judges

The 2012 constitution created a nine-member Judicial Service Commission to appoint, discipline and transfer federal judges and set their pay ([Article 109A](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Parliament passed its founding law in June 2014 ([Judiciary of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somalia)).

The 2026 constitution places this work with a **Supreme Judicial Council** under Article 145. Its members by office are the Chief Justice, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General, the presidents of the state appeal courts and of the Banadir appeal court, and the chair of the Human Rights Commission. Four more members, two senior lawyers and two legal experts, serve five-year terms. The cabinet approved the four nominees in July 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 23 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-cabinet-approves-nominees-to-supreme-judicial-council)).

## Chief Justices since 2009

- [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Farah, December 2009 to November 2010
- Aidid Abdullahi Ilka-Hanaf, April 2011 to May 2016
- Ibrahim Idle [Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), May 2016 to May 2018
- Bashe [Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/), May 2018 to 2026
- Ibrahim Idle Suleiman, sworn in again on 7 November 2026

Sources: [Judiciary of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somalia); [Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term).

## In the news, November 2026

In early November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended. They asked political leaders to agree an electoral model within 30 days. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect because the Chief Justice had not chaired the panel. Opposition groups backed the ruling ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term)).

## Other systems people use

Most disputes in Somalia never reach a state court. Families and communities often settle them through xeer, the Somali customary law, or through sharia judges. See [Xeer: Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) run their own court systems under their own constitutions.

## How to use the courts

- **Start locally:** most civil and criminal cases begin at the district court where you live.
- **Appeal:** a ruling can go to the regional or state appeal court, and then to the Supreme Court.
- **A constitutional question:** the government, a person or a group can apply to the Constitutional Court on a matter of public interest ([Article 109](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## Its legal basis

Chapter 9 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution (Articles 105 to 109C), as amended in March 2026, including Article 145 on the Supreme Judicial Council.


---

# Governors of the Central Bank of Somalia, 1960 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/governors-of-the-central-bank-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Central Bank of Somalia and its forerunner, the Somali National Bank, have had 15 governors since 1960. The post was empty from 1991 to 2001. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has been Governor since April 2019.

## In short

The Somali National Bank was founded in 1960 and renamed the Central Bank of Somalia in 1975. It stopped working in 1991. Transitional governments named governors from 2001, and the Central Bank Act of 2012 re-established it. The Wikipedia list gives terms by year and rests on the bank's own history page. ([Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Governors

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdi Adan Mohamed (Cabdi Aadan Maxamed) | 1960 to 1964 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Abdi Haji Abikar (Cabdi Xaaji Abikar) | 1964 to 1968 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Abdullahi Ahmed Addow (Cabdullaahi Axmed Addow) | 1968 to 1970 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Abdirahman Nur Hirsi (Cabdiraxmaan Nuur Xirsi) | 1970 to 1974 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Omar Ahmed Omar (Cumar Axmed Cumar) | 1974 to 1978 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Mahmoud Jama Ahmed (Maxamuud Jaamac Axmed) | 1978 to 1984 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Omar Ahmed Omar (Cumar Axmed Cumar) | 1984 to 1987 | second time | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Mahmoud Mohamed Nur (Maxamuud Maxamed Nuur) | 1987 to 1989 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Omar Ahmed Omar (Cumar Axmed Cumar) | 1989 to 1990 | third time | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Ali Abdi Amalow (Cali Cabdi Amaalow) | 1990 to 1991 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Mohamed Mohamud Ulusow (Maxamed Maxamuud Uluusow) | 2001 to 2005 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| Bashir Isse Ali (Bashiir Ciise Cali) | 2005 to 2010 | Wikidata gives 2006 to 2010 | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109745158) |
| Abdullahi Haji Jama (Cabdullaahi Xaaji Jaamac) | 2010 to 2013 |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |
| [Abdisalam Omer Hadliye](/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/) (Cabdisalaam Cumar Hadliye) | 17 January 2013 to 13 September 2013 | exact dates from Wikidata | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109745158) |
| Yussur Abrar (Yusur Abraar) | 13 September 2013 to 1 November 2013 | exact dates from Wikidata | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109745158) |
| Bashir Isse Ali (Bashiir Ciise Cali) | 27 November 2013 to 4 April 2019 | exact dates from Wikidata | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109745158) |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Cabdullaahi) | April 2019 to now |  | [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia) |

## Related pages

- [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Central Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Madina Hospital (Medina Hospital), Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/madina-hospital/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Madina Hospital is a public hospital in Wadajir district, Mogadishu, opened on 25 May 1968. It is one of the city's two main hospitals and the ICRC calls it Somalia's de facto war hospital, taking most casualties from bombings and shootings in the capital. It can run four operations at once, the most in the country.

## In short

Madina Hospital, also spelled Medina, is a public hospital in Wadajir district, Banadir (Mogadishu) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madina_Hospital)). It opened on 25 May 1968 and is listed with 400 beds (same source). It focuses on trauma and emergency care for mothers, treating several hundred wounded patients and pregnant women each month (same source).

## Somalia's main trauma hospital

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls Madina "Somalia's de facto war hospital" ([ICRC, 9 November 2021](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-madina-hospital-receives-mogadishus-war-casualties)). It receives most of the people hurt by car bombs, shootings, grenades and suicide attacks in Mogadishu (same source).

It can run four operations at the same time, the highest surgical capacity in the country (same source). Its whiteboard of emergency cases is read in the city as a measure of insecurity (same source).

Wikipedia lists the injuries it treats as road accidents, falls, explosions, gunshot and knife wounds, and violence between people ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madina_Hospital)).

## The October 2017 bombing

The truck bombing of 14 October 2017 pushed the hospital far beyond its limit ([ICRC, 2021](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-madina-hospital-receives-mogadishus-war-casualties)). Staff treated about 50 to 80 patients who needed abdominal surgery, plus vascular operations and amputations. Treating everyone took three to four days (same source). See [Mogadishu bombings, 2017 to 2022](/en/history/mogadishu-bombings-2017-2022/).

## ICRC support

Madina is one of four hospitals the ICRC supports in Somalia ([ICRC, 2021](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-madina-hospital-receives-mogadishus-war-casualties)). The ICRC pays running costs: salaries, medical supplies, maintenance and electricity (same source). The other three are:

- Keysaney Hospital, Mogadishu
- Bay Regional Hospital, Baidoa
- Kismayo General Hospital, Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)

In one period reported in 2021, the four hospitals treated 231 weapon-wounded patients, more than half of them at Madina (same source).

## Leadership

Dr Mohamed Abdirahman Jama (Burtuqal) was appointed chief medical director in 2024 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madina_Hospital)). Dr Abdikadir Haji Maalim is named as one of its surgeons ([ICRC, 2021](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-madina-hospital-receives-mogadishus-war-casualties)).

## Read more

- [Hospitals in Somalia by city](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/)
- [Health in Somalia: the key numbers](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


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# Ministry of Education of Somalia (Wasaaradda Waxbarashada): what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education runs national education policy, the curriculum, the Grade 8 and Grade 12 national exams, teacher standards and the registration of universities. Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir is minister. Its 2024/25 school count covered about 645,000 primary and 202,000 secondary pupils outside Puntland and Somaliland, which run their own ministries.

## What it does

The federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MoECHE) sets national education policy for Somalia ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). Its main jobs are:

- **Curriculum:** it writes the national curriculum for grades 1 to 12. In December 2025 the minister announced a full review of the curriculum in 2026, a review committee was set up, and the ministry laid the foundation stone of a national curriculum development centre ([Dawan Africa, curriculum review](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-set-to-revamp-education-curriculum-in-upcoming-review); [Dawan Africa, curriculum centre](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-curriculum-centre-construction)).
- **National exams:** through the Somali National Examination Board it runs the Grade 8 and Grade 12 exams. The 2025/26 Grade 12 exams ran from 20 to 25 June 2026, with 44,136 students in 158 exam centres across 58 districts. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) opened them ([Dawan Africa, June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/44000-somali-students-begin-grade-12-exams); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/more-than-44-000-students-sit-somalia-s-2026-secondary-school-exams)). For results, see [Exam results](/en/society/exam-results/).
- **Teachers:** it sets teacher standards. At a national education meeting in August 2026 the federal government, the states and Banadir agreed on reforms, and the government announced the hiring of 4,000 teachers ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-announces-recruitment-of-4000-teachers-school-reforms-at-national-education-meeting)).
- **School counts:** it counts pupils, schools and teachers each year in the regions it reaches; the statistics bureau publishes them ([SNBS](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). See [Schools in numbers](/en/data/schools-and-learning-numbers/).
- **Universities:** it registers universities. About 130 are registered, and in 2026 the [National Higher Education Commission](/en/institutions/national-commission-for-higher-education/) began reviewing them against national standards ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)). See [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/).

## Who leads it

Farah [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulkadir is the federal minister. In April 2026 he called for one national curriculum and tighter rules for teachers, saying the federal system had weakened common standards and oversight ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-minister-unify-curriculum-regulate-teachers); [AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604230343.html)).

## How the work is shared

Education is shared between the federal government and the member states. The federal ministry sets national policy, the curriculum and exams; state ministries of education run schools in their states. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) run their own ministries, curricula and exams: the federal school count does not include them ([SNBS](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). In August 2026 Somaliland's Ministry of Education and Science announced its own 2025/26 national exam results ([AllAfrica, August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html)).

## In numbers

From the ministry's own count for 2024/25 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Tables 1.1 to 1.5](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- **Primary pupils:** 644,904, of whom 45.8 percent are girls. Banadir has 240,373.
- **Secondary pupils:** 201,697, of whom 42.3 percent are girls.
- **Private schools:** about half of primary pupils (50.6 percent in 2025) attend private schools.

The bureau's tables do not all agree; [Schools in numbers](/en/data/schools-and-learning-numbers/) lists the differences.

## A short history

The Ministry of Education ran a single national school system from independence in 1960. After Somali was first written in 1972, it led the move to Somali-language schooling and the literacy campaigns of 1973 to 1975, and primary enrolment rose from 6.9 percent in 1971 to 31.8 percent in 1977 ([UNESCO UIS](https://uis.unesco.org/en/country/so)). The national system stopped in 1991, and communities, private schools and Quran schools kept teaching. The federal ministry rebuilt its role after 2012. See [The Somali language is written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## How to use it

- **Exam registration and results:** through your school; results are published by the examination board.
- **Certificates:** national exam certificates are issued through the examination board.
- **University recognition:** check that a university is registered with the ministry before enrolling.

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, which gives every person the right to education (Article 30), as amended in 2024 and 2026; the ministry's mandate is set by the Council of Ministers.


---

# Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/norwegian-refugee-council-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Norwegian Refugee Council has worked in Somalia since 2004. It reports helping 748,618 people in 2025 with shelter, water, food, schooling, legal help and cash. Mohamed Abdi is its country director.

## What it does

NRC is a Norwegian humanitarian organisation that works with people forced from their homes. Its September 2025 fact sheet says it was established in Somalia in 2004 and has 13 international and 178 national staff ([NRC fact sheet, September 2025](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/fact-sheets/2025/factsheet_somalia_sep2025.pdf)). Its work covers shelter and settlements, water and sanitation, food security and cash, education, and information, counselling and legal assistance on housing, land and property ([NRC Somalia](https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/somalia)).

## What it reports doing

NRC says it assisted 748,618 people through its programmes in Somalia in 2025 ([NRC Somalia](https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/somalia)). Its programme update for December 2025 reports 654,643 people supported through emergency response and 273,801 people reached in hard-to-reach areas ([NRC programme update No. 20, via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/nrc-somalia-country-office-programme-update-no-20-31st-december-2025)).

## Who leads it

Mohamed Abdi is NRC's country director for Somalia ([NRC Somalia](https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/somalia); [NRC fact sheet, September 2025](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/fact-sheets/2025/factsheet_somalia_sep2025.pdf)). The country office has met the disaster management agency, SoDMA, on the humanitarian response ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/sodma-norwegian-refugee-council-discuss-somalia-humanitarian-response)); see the [disaster management agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by NRC for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | US$33.0 million |
| 2025 | US$22.8 million |
| 2026, to November | US$19.9 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## What it says about 2025 and 2026

In August 2025 NRC said the UN appeal for Somalia was only 17% funded, and warned that more than three million Somalis would be left without help as aid shrank ([NRC](https://www.nrc.no/news/2025/august/somalia-safe-water)). In 2026 it has published statements on worsening hunger and on floods coming on top of drought and conflict ([NRC, 2026](https://www.nrc.no/news/2026/crisis-hunger-levels-worsen-in-somalia); [NRC, 2026](https://www.nrc.no/news/2026/hunger-crisis-threatens-somalia-as-floods-come-on-top-of-drought-and-conflict)).

## How to use it

NRC publishes fact sheets and monthly programme updates for Somalia ([NRC Somalia](https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/somalia)). Displacement figures from UNHCR and IOM are on the [UNHCR](/en/institutions/unhcr-somalia/) and [IOM](/en/institutions/iom-somalia/) pages.


---

# Somaliland's institutions: president, parliament, Guurti, courts and central bank

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland runs its own institutions from Hargeisa under its 2001 constitution: a President, a cabinet, an 82-member House of Representatives, an 82-member House of Elders (Guurti), a Supreme Court, the Bank of Somaliland and a National Electoral Commission. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) has been President since December 2024.

## Where it stands

On 18 May 1991 a conference in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) declared the Republic of Somaliland in the north-west. Since then Somaliland has built and paid for its own government. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025. The federal government of Somalia, the African Union and most states regard it as part of Somalia ([UN Press, December 2025](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)). This page describes its institutions as they work today. For the history and both positions, see [Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## The constitution

Somaliland's first founding document was the National Charter, agreed at the [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) conference of 1993. The constitution was adopted by both houses on 30 April 2000 and approved in a referendum on 31 May 2001, with 97 percent in favour. It has 130 articles ([Constitution of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Somaliland); [Participedia](https://participedia.net/case/5117)). It combines elected bodies with a house of traditional elders.

## The President and cabinet

The President is chosen by direct popular ballot for five years and leads the government, with a Vice President and a cabinet of about 23 ministries ([Politics of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Somaliland)). In November 2024 the opposition candidate Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) won, and power passed peacefully from the previous President, [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) ([Al Jazeera, 19 November 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/19/oppositions-abdullahi-wins-presidential-election-in-breakaway-somaliland)).

## The House of Representatives (Golaha Wakiilada)

- **Size and term:** 82 members, chosen for five years in six regional constituencies by party list ([House of Representatives of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_(Somaliland))).
- **Powers:** it passes laws and can approve, reject or amend the annual budget. It also checks the yearly spending reports the government must prepare (same source).
- **Recent sittings:** members were chosen in 2005 and again on 31 May 2021. After the 2021 ballot, Waddani held 31 seats, Kulmiye 30 and [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) 21 (same source). Yasin Haji Mohamoud has been Speaker since July 2023.
- **Term extension:** in April 2026 the Guurti extended the terms of the House and of district councils by 27 months, from 7 July 2026 to 7 October 2028 ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-elders-extend-parliament-councils-terms-by-27-months)).

## The House of Elders (Golaha Guurtida)

The Guurti is the upper house. It has 82 members who represent traditional leaders, and was given its role as peacemaker and upper house at the Boorama conference in 1993 ([House of Elders of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Elders_(Somaliland))). It reviews laws passed by the lower house. The lower house can override a Guurti rejection with a two-thirds majority. The Guurti has also decided several times to extend the terms of the President and the lower house when ballots were delayed (same source). Its six-year term has been extended since 1993 rather than renewed by a new selection. Sources differ on who chairs it in 2026: Wikipedia lists Muse Haji Abdi Duale as chairman since 12 July 2026 ([House of Elders of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Elders_(Somaliland))), while [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa reports [Saleban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) Mahmoud Adan presiding over its sessions in 2026 ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-elders-extend-parliament-councils-terms-by-27-months)).

## The courts

Somaliland has five levels of courts: the Supreme Court, the regional appeal courts, the regional courts, the district courts and the courts of the armed forces. The Supreme Court has a chief judge and at least four other judges. It is the final court of appeal, rules on disputes over ballots, acts as the constitutional court and tries ministers who are impeached ([Judiciary of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somaliland)). Judges apply a mix of sharia, laws from before 1969 and the British period, and xeer customary law (same source). The Supreme Court confirmed the result of the 2003 presidential ballot ([Parliament of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Somaliland)).

## The Bank of Somaliland

The [Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/) was set up on 1 October 1994 in Hargeisa and has 16 branches. It acts as central bank and also as a commercial bank. It issues the Somaliland shilling, and its legal aims are steady prices and exchange rates, credit that supports growth, and support for government economic policy ([Bank of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Somaliland)). Abdinasir Ahmed Hersi has been Governor since January 2025 (same source). See also [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/).

## The National Electoral Commission

Somaliland's National Electoral Commission, set up in 2001 and chaired by Muse Hassan Yusuf since September 2022, runs its presidential, parliamentary and local council ballots. Only three national parties may stand at a time. Parties qualify through the local council ballot, and need at least 20 percent of the votes in four of the six regions, a rule meant to stop parties forming around one community ([Politics of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Somaliland); [National Electoral Commission (Somaliland), Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electoral_Commission_(Somaliland))).

## Regions and local councils

Somaliland counts six regions in its constitution: Awdal, [Maroodi Jeex](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Sahil](/en/regions/sahil/), Togdheer, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/). Each has district councils chosen at local council ballots, first held in 2002 ([Parliament of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Somaliland)). Since 2023, communities in Las Anod and much of Sool have joined the federation as [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) instead ([Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)).

## How to use them

- **Papers and ID:** Somaliland issues its own birth records, ID cards and passports in Hargeisa and the regional towns. See [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/).
- **Money:** banks and money transfer firms in Somaliland are licensed by the Bank of Somaliland, not by the Central Bank in Mogadishu.

## Its legal basis

Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland, approved 31 May 2001; the Constitutive Law of the Bank of Somaliland; Somaliland electoral laws.


---

# UNICEF in Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UNICEF, the UN children's agency, has worked in Somalia since 1972 and says it has more than 300 staff and about 200 partner organisations. It works on children's health, nutrition, water, schools and child protection. Sandra Lattouf is its Representative.

## What it does

UNICEF says it opened its first office in Mogadishu in 1972. It now has more than 300 staff working in Mogadishu, Baidoa, Dollow, Garowe and Hargeisa, with a support office in Nairobi, Kenya ([UNICEF Somalia](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/about-us)).

It says it works with about 200 international and national NGOs and community groups to deliver services in five areas: health, nutrition, water and sanitation (WASH), education and child protection. It also responds to emergencies and supports peace-building and development ([UNICEF Somalia](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/about-us)).

## Who leads it

Sandra Lattouf is the UNICEF Representative in Somalia ([UNICEF Somalia](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/about-us)). She spoke for UNICEF in a joint UN statement on hunger in May 2026 ([UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by UNICEF for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 55.3 million |
| 2025 | 25.2 million |
| 2026, to November | 13.8 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## What it reports

In a joint statement on 15 May 2026, UNICEF, WFP and FAO said that about 1.9 million children in Somalia were acutely malnourished, including 493,000 with severe acute malnutrition. They said that in [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/) district nearly 40% of children under five were acutely malnourished, and that more than 500 health and nutrition facilities had closed for lack of funding ([UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)).

## How the work is shared

UNICEF works through the federal [Ministry of Health](/en/institutions/ministry-of-health/) and [Ministry of Education](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/), state ministries, and NGO partners who run many of the clinics and feeding centres. The wider UN set-up is on the [international bodies page](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## How to use it

UNICEF Somalia publishes press releases, situation reports and research on its website ([UNICEF Somalia](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/)). Funding figures for UNICEF and other agencies can be checked on OCHA's FTS ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)).


---

# Elections in Somaliland (Doorashooyinka Somaliland)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland elects its President, House of Representatives and local councils by one-person-one-vote. Its constitution allows only three national political parties at a time. Since 2002 it has held four presidential, two parliamentary and three local elections. In the last one, on 13 November 2024, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" of Waddani won the presidency with 63.92 percent of the vote. In April 2026 the House of Elders extended the terms of parliament and local councils to October 2028.

## Background

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared independence from Somalia in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, while most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. It runs its own elections, separate from those of the federal government in Mogadishu. For its government bodies, see [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/). For its leaders, see [Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/). For the federal system, see [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/); for [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), see [Elections in Puntland](/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/).

## How elections work

- **President:** elected directly for a five-year term, with a vice-president as running mate ([Elections in Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland)).
- **House of Representatives:** 82 members, elected directly for five years (same source).
- **House of Elders (Guurti):** also 82 members. It is not elected by voters. Its term runs one year beyond that of the lower house (same source; [Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-elders-extend-parliament-councils-terms-by-27-months)).
- **Three parties only:** Article 9 of the constitution allows exactly three national political parties. New "political associations" can compete for those three places every ten years, in an election held alongside local elections ([University of Tartu, De Facto States Research Unit, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)). Party contests were held in 2002, 2012 and 2024 (same source).
- **The commission:** the [Somaliland National Electoral Commission](/en/government/somaliland-national-electoral-commission/) (NEC) registers voters, runs the polls and announces interim results. Results go to the courts for final certification ([Somaliland NEC](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)).

The constitution was approved in a referendum on 31 May 2001 with 97.1 percent in favour ([Elections in Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland)).

## Presidential elections

| Year | Winner | Party | Share | Runner-up | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---:|---|---|
| 2003 | Dahir Riyale Kahin | UDUB | 42.08% | Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" (Kulmiye), 42.07% | 498,639 votes |
| 2010 | Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" | Kulmiye | 49.59% | Dahir Riyale Kahin (UDUB), 33.23% | 50.3% of 1,069,914 |
| 2017 | Muse Bihi Abdi | Kulmiye | 55.10% | Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Waddani), 40.73% | 80.3% of 704,198 |
| 2024 | Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" | Waddani | 63.92% | Muse Bihi Abdi (Kulmiye), 34.81% | about 53% |

Sources: [Elections in Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland); [2017 election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Somaliland_presidential_election); [Somaliland NEC, 2024 interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election).

- **2003:** the two leading candidates were separated by about 0.01 percentage points of nearly half a million votes.
- **2017:** Faysal Ali Warabe of [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) came third with 4.17 percent.
- **2024:** the vote was held on 13 November 2024, after a delay from 2022. The NEC's interim count gave Irro 407,908 votes, [Muse Bihi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) 225,519 and Faysal Ali Warabe (UCID) 4,699. Irro's running mate was [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Ali.

## The 2024 party contest

On the same day, ten parties and associations competed for the three national party places ([Somaliland NEC](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)):

| Party or association | Votes | Result |
|---|---:|---|
| Waddani | 216,284 | National party |
| Kaah | 131,507 | National party |
| Kulmiye | 108,100 | National party |
| Horseed | 87,218 | Not placed |
| Hilaac | 59,569 | Not placed |
| Barwaaqo | 16,852 | Not placed |
| UCID | 10,105 | Lost party status |
| Talowadaag | 6,080 | Not placed |
| Rejo | 2,083 | Not placed |
| Shacabka | 2,014 | Not placed |

The NEC said Waddani, Kaah and Kulmiye hold party status for the next ten years. Kaah was a new party, led by Mohamoud Hashi Abdi ([University of Tartu, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).

## Parliamentary and local elections

| Election | Date | Seats | Result |
|---|---|---:|---|
| House of Representatives | 2005 | 82 | UDUB 33, Kulmiye 28, UCID 21 |
| House of Representatives | 31 May 2021 | 82 | Waddani 31, Kulmiye 30, UCID 21 |
| Local councils | 2002 | not given | UDUB first, with 40.8% |
| Local councils | 2012 | 323 | Kulmiye 99, Waddani 68, UCID 40, others the rest |
| Local councils | 31 May 2021 | 220 | Kulmiye 93, Waddani 79, UCID 48 |

Sources: [Elections in Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland); [2021 parliamentary election, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Somaliland_parliamentary_election); [Al Jazeera, June 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/somaliland-opposition-wins-first-parliamentary-polls-since). The 2021 vote was the first parliamentary election since 2005. About 1.07 million people registered and turnout was 65.3 percent. No party had a majority, and Waddani and UCID formed a coalition. None of the 13 women candidates won a seat (same Wikipedia source).

## The 2026 term extension

The next parliamentary and local elections were due on 31 May 2026. In February 2026 the NEC proposed a ten-month delay, citing drought, insecurity and technical problems ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somaliland-delays-elections-by-10-months-over-security-drought-concerns)). On 28 April 2026 the House of Elders voted by majority to extend the terms of the House of Representatives and the district councils by 27 months, from July 2026 to October 2028. It cited voter registration, insecurity in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) and parts of [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), and drought ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-elders-extend-parliament-councils-terms-by-27-months)). Critics said the extension went beyond the NEC's request. International partners called for elections as soon as possible, in line with the NEC's technical advice ([AllAfrica, April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604290127.html); [EU Delegation to Somalia, international partners' statement](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/somalia/international-partners-statement-situation-somaliland_en)).

## How to vote

Voters register with the NEC and receive a voter card, which they show at their polling station. Results are posted by the NEC on slnec.net and confirmed by the courts.

## Its legal basis

The Constitution of Somaliland, approved in 2001, including Article 9 on the three-party limit; Somaliland's election and voter registration laws.


---

# Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia (Wasaaradda Arrimaha Dibadda): embassies and diplomacy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation runs the country's relations with other states and international bodies and manages its embassies abroad: about 41 embassies, 3 consulates-general and missions to the UN in New York and Geneva. Abdisalam Abdi Ali is minister. In 2025 and 2026 its main work was Somalia's seat on the UN Security Council and its response to Israel's recognition of Somaliland.

## What it does

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation speaks for the Federal Republic of Somalia abroad. It runs Somalia's embassies and consulates, takes part in the UN, the African Union, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, IGAD and the East African Community, and receives the credentials of foreign ambassadors in Mogadishu ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/); [Dawan Africa, EU ambassador](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-receives-credentials-of-new-eu-ambassador-laszlo-mathe)). For the bodies Somalia belongs to, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## Who leads it

- **Minister:** Abdisalam Abdi Ali, named on the ministry's own pages as minister in 2026 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=9081); [Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs, April 2026](https://www.fm.gov.om/en/62048/)).
- **State Minister:** Ali [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-outlines-strategy-to-safeguard-territorial-unity)).
- **Deputy Minister:** Hassan Mohamed Ali "Nadaara" ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/)).

Earlier foreign ministers are listed on [foreign ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/).

## Where Somalia has missions

The ministry publishes a "Find our embassy abroad" list ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/find-our-embassy-abroad/)). A list compiled from it counts 41 embassies, 3 consulates-general and permanent missions to the UN in New York and Geneva ([List of diplomatic missions of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_of_Somalia)):

- **Africa (17):** Algiers, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Cairo, Asmara, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Tripoli, Rabat, Abuja, Dakar, Pretoria, [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), Khartoum, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Lusaka.
- **Americas (2):** Washington and Havana.
- **Asia and the Middle East (17):** Baku, Beijing, New Delhi, Jakarta, Baghdad, [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) City, Kuala Lumpur, Muscat, Islamabad, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah (consulate-general), Damascus, Ankara, Abu Dhabi, Dubai (consulate-general), Aden (consulate-general).
- **Europe (8):** Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Moscow, Belgrade, Stockholm, [London](/en/diaspora/london/).

Countries without a Somali embassy are usually covered by a neighbouring one; the embassy in Algiers, for example, also covers Mauritania and Tunisia (same source).

## Main issues, 2024 to 2026

- **UN Security Council:** Somalia sat on the Council for 2025 and 2026, its first seat since 1971 to 1972, and held its presidency in January 2026 ([International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)).
- **Ethiopia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), 2024:** the ministry treated the January 2024 memorandum between Ethiopia and Somaliland as a threat to Somalia's territorial integrity, and sought support from regional and international bodies; talks led to the Ankara Declaration. The State Minister set out this "sovereignty diplomacy" in July 2026, naming diplomacy, legal means such as the Kenya sea-border case at the International Court of Justice, and the East African Community as its main tools ([Dawan Africa, 26 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-outlines-strategy-to-safeguard-territorial-unity)).
- **Israel and Somaliland, 2025 to 2026:** Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025. On 4 November 2026 the ministry condemned Israel's reported appointment of an ambassador to Hargeisa and the start of an embassy building, called the steps "null and void", said opening a mission needs the host state's consent under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and noted that the African Union, IGAD, the Arab League and the OIC had rejected the recognition ([Shabelle Media via AllAfrica, 4 November 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202611040327.html)). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).

## How to use it

- **Somalis abroad:** embassies take passport applications and renewals by appointment for the Immigration and Citizenship Agency, which issues the passport, and some embassies, including Nairobi and Pretoria, have NIRA national ID service centres. See [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/) and [National ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/).
- **Contact:** the ministry's website lists each embassy's address and phone number.

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, which gives foreign affairs to the federal government (Article 54), as amended in 2024 and 2026; the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.


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# Save the Children in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/save-the-children-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Save the Children says it has worked in Somalia since 1951, in health, nutrition, schooling and child protection. It reports reaching 3.5 million people, including 1.9 million children, across 17 regions in 2025. In 2026 it reported that child admissions for severe malnutrition had nearly tripled in six months.

## What it does

Save the Children is an international charity for children. It says it has worked in Somalia since 1951, giving health, nutrition, education and child protection services. It reports reaching 3.5 million people, including 1.9 million children, across 17 regions of the country in 2025 ([Save the Children, 2026](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/somalia-one-three-people-facing-severe-food-shortages-hunger-surges-towards-2022-peak)).

## What it reports in 2026

Save the Children has issued several statements on hunger in Somalia in 2026:

- that admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition to its centres nearly tripled in six months ([Save the Children, 2026](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/somalia-children-facing-deadly-hunger-admissions-severe-malnutrition-nearly-triple-six-months));
- that one in three people faced severe food shortages, as hunger rose towards its 2022 peak ([Save the Children, 2026](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/somalia-one-three-people-facing-severe-food-shortages-hunger-surges-towards-2022-peak));
- that the Middle East conflict pushed up food and fuel prices and delayed aid ([Save the Children, 2026](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/somalia-emergency-escalates-middle-east-conflict-drives-food-and-fuel-prices-delays-aid)).

It reports that the European Union renewed funding for health and nutrition services in seven drought-hit districts ([Save the Children Somalia](https://www.savethechildren.net/somalia/news/european-union-renews-support-life-saving-services-across-seven-drought-hit-districts)).

## Who leads it

Save the Children releases in 2026 quote Mohamed Mohamud Hassan as Country Director for Somalia. A June 2026 release quotes Mohamed Abdulkadir Said as Acting Country Director ([Save the Children, 2026](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/somalia-one-three-people-facing-severe-food-shortages-hunger-surges-towards-2022-peak); [Save the Children, 2026](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/somalia-children-facing-deadly-hunger-admissions-severe-malnutrition-nearly-triple-six-months)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by Save the Children for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | US$12.6 million |
| 2025 | US$12.0 million |
| 2026, to November | US$14.3 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## How the work is shared

The federal bodies for its main areas of work are the [Ministry of Health](/en/institutions/ministry-of-health/) and the [Ministry of Education](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/). UN figures on child malnutrition are on the [UNICEF](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/) page.


---

# Somaliland Ministry of Finance and Economic Development: budget and taxes

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-ministry-of-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development collects taxes, prepares the yearly budget and manages public money. Its 2026 budget of 4.58 trillion Somaliland shillings, about US$424.5 million, was the largest Somaliland has drafted. Abdillahi Hassan Aden is minister. A revised public finance law came into force in August 2026.

## What it does

The ministry says it is responsible for managing public finances, national budget planning and economic policy ([Somaliland Ministry of Finance](https://slmof.org/departments/budget/)). Under the presidential decree that put the 2026 budget into effect, it oversees the budget's execution and reports regularly on progress ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/the-president-of-the-republic-of-somaliland-issues-a-presidential-decree-on-the-execution-of-the-2026-national-budget)).

## Who leads it

| Office | Person | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minister | Abdillahi Hassan Aden | [Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=52403) |
| Director General | Mohamed Hassan Salebaan (also written Suleiman) | [Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-ministry-of-finance-presents-2026-budget-draft-to-parliamentary-committee); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-brings-new-public-finance-law-into-force-to-boost-accountability) |
| Accountant General | Hassan Muse Khalif | [Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-ministry-of-finance-presents-2026-budget-draft-to-parliamentary-committee) |

## The 2026 budget

The Council of Ministers approved a 2026 budget of 4.58 trillion [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) shillings, about US$424.5 million, at its 43rd session, chaired by President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro). Horn Diplomat reported it as the largest budget Somaliland has drafted ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=52403)). The minister's figures, as reported:

| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total budget | 4.58 trillion SlSh (about US$424.5 million) |
| Central government share | US$265.4 million, 11% more than in 2025 |
| Revenue forecast | 22% above the 2024 budget |
| Average deficit, 2022 to 2024 budgets | 11% |

The minister said the 2024 deficit had been fully closed. The budget's stated priorities were social services, defence, national security, infrastructure and economic stability ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=52403)).

The House of Representatives approved the budget on 23 December 2025, and the President issued a decree bringing it into effect under Articles 75 and 90 of the constitution ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/the-president-of-the-republic-of-somaliland-issues-a-presidential-decree-on-the-execution-of-the-2026-national-budget)).

## The 2027 budget

In July 2026 the minister began consultations with the House committee on economy, finance and trade. The ministry said the 2027 budget will prioritise economic growth, national security and defence, public administration and essential public services ([Horn Diplomat via allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607200062.html)).

## Its legal basis

On 20 August 2026 Somaliland brought into force amendments to its Public Financial Management Law. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa gives the original law as No. 75/2016; the ministry refers to it as Law No. 75/2025 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-brings-new-public-finance-law-into-force-to-boost-accountability); [Horn Diplomat via allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607200062.html)). Officials said the law strengthens internal audit, separates internal auditors from the Auditor General, sets the House's role in budget oversight, and provides for a Single Treasury Account ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-brings-new-public-finance-law-into-force-to-boost-accountability)).

## Related pages

[Finance ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somaliland/), the [Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/), [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/) and [the economy of Somaliland](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).


---

# United Somali Congress (USC), 1989–2003

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The United Somali Congress (USC) was an armed movement founded in 1989, with support mainly from the Hawiye clan-family. Its fighters drove Siad Barre's government out of Mogadishu in January 1991. It then split between Ali Mahdi Mohamed, named interim president, and General Mohamed Farah Aidid. The two wings, the USC/SSA and the USC/SNA, fought for Mogadishu from late 1991, made peace in 1997, and by 2003 many of their commanders had joined the transitional institutions.

## In short

The United Somali Congress was the last of the four main armed movements against the military government, and the one that took Mogadishu. Its part in the fall of the government is told in [The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/). This page follows the USC itself, through its split and its two wings, up to 2003.

## Founding, 1989

The Library of Congress records that Hawiye leaders who had worked with the Somali National Movement formed the USC in 1989 ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Wikipedia gives its founding place as Rome, on 7 January 1989, and names Ali Mohamed Osoble "Wardhigley", a former SNM vice-chairman, as its founder ([Wikipedia, United Somali Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress)).

Its military wing was formed in late 1989 at Mustahil in Ethiopia under General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid, a member of the Habar Gidir; ACCORD's study of Somali militias gives the same year ([ACCORD, *Conflict Trends* 2016/2](https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/understanding-civil-militia-groups-somalia/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress)). See [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/).

## The disputed chairmanship, 1990

In June 1990 a USC congress elected Aidid chairman. Members based in Rome and Mogadishu, including Ali Mahdi Mohamed, rejected the vote ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress), citing John Drysdale, *Whatever Happened to Somalia?*, 1994). In October 1990 the SNM, SPM and Aidid's USC agreed to hold no talks with the government until it fell (same source).

## Taking Mogadishu, December 1990–January 1991

USC fighters entered Mogadishu in December 1990 and fought the government's forces there. [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) left the capital on 26–27 January 1991 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress)). The USC then named Ali Mahdi Mohamed interim president. The SNM, SSDF and SPM said they had not been consulted ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)). See [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/).

## The split and the war for Mogadishu, 1991–1992

The Library of Congress describes the USC as drawn mainly from the Hawiye, divided between an Abgaal wing around Ali Mahdi and a Habar Gidir wing around Aidid. Their fighters clashed in the summer of 1991 and fought openly from September. By the end of 1991 Aidid's forces held south Mogadishu, with the port and airport, and Ali Mahdi's held the north ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).

The same study estimates Aidid's forces at about 10,000 fighters and Ali Mahdi's at about 5,000. A UN-mediated ceasefire took effect in March 1992 but did not end the division. It records that fighters on both sides looted food meant for famine relief in 1991–92 (same source).

## Two wings: USC/SNA and USC/SSA

- **USC/SNA.** Aidid's wing joined allies, including the SPM of [Ahmed Omar Jess](/en/people/ahmed-omar-jess/), to form the Somali National Alliance in August 1992. After Aidid's death in 1996 his son Hussein Mohamed Farah Aidid led it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress); [Wikipedia, Somali Patriotic Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Patriotic_Movement)).
- **USC/SSA.** Ali Mahdi's wing joined the Somali Salvation Alliance. Its deputy chairman [Musa Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/) later led it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress)).

Both wings were in conflict with the UN operation from 1992 to 1995 (same source). That period is covered in the history of [the collapse, 1991–2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## Peace between the wings and after, 1997–2003

The two wings made peace in June 1997. After the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) was formed at Arta in 2000, [Hussein Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/) and Musa Sudi Yalahow joined the opposing [Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council](/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/) (SRRC), while other USC commanders backed the new government. In 2003 several USC commanders disarmed and some joined the interim institutions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Somali_Congress)).

## Sources differ

- **Founding year.** 1989 in the Library of Congress and most accounts; some sources give 1987.
- **The 1990 election.** Aidid's supporters treated it as valid; Ali Mahdi's did not.
- **Numbers.** Fighter estimates for 1991–92 are rough and come from outside observers.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Opposition movements](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm), [Reconciliation](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm), [Succession](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm), [Disintegration](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm).
- ACCORD, "Understanding civil militia groups in Somalia" (2016): [article](https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/understanding-civil-militia-groups-somalia/).


---

# World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/wfp-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The World Food Programme gives food, cash and nutrition support in Somalia, helps run the government's Baxnaano safety net and school meals, and runs the UN air service for aid workers. It is the largest receiver of recorded humanitarian funding in Somalia: US$431.9 million in 2024 and US$112.0 million in 2025, according to OCHA.

## What it does

WFP says it delivers food, nutrition and cash assistance in emergencies and works on longer-term resilience through social protection, school meals and climate adaptation ([WFP Somalia](https://www.wfp.org/countries/somalia)). It lists these strands:

- **Emergency aid:** food or cash, and fortified foods to treat and prevent malnutrition in children and in pregnant and breastfeeding women.
- **Safety nets:** support to the government-owned national safety net, **Baxnaano**, and to locally sourced school meals.
- **Food systems:** livelihoods training, community assets, help to smallholder farmers, and anticipatory cash before forecast climate shocks.
- **Government support:** policy advice and technical help to federal and member-state ministries.
- **Services:** WFP manages the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), which flies aid workers and supplies.

## Who leads it

Hameed Nuru is WFP's Country Director in Somalia ([UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by WFP for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 431.9 million |
| 2025 | 112.0 million |
| 2026, to November | 55.2 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

The fall from 2024 to 2026 matches WFP's own statement that "critical funding shortages" let it reach "only a fraction of those in need" ([WFP Somalia](https://www.wfp.org/countries/somalia)).

## What it reports

WFP says 5.4 million people in Somalia face emergency levels of hunger on the IPC scale, and that hunger has grown sharply since early 2025. It says there is a risk of famine in Baidoa district for 26,000 displaced people under a worst-case scenario for October to December 2026, and that malnutrition among displaced people in Beledweyne is expected to reach extremely critical levels. It puts poverty at 54% of the population ([WFP Somalia](https://www.wfp.org/countries/somalia)).

## How the work is shared

Baxnaano is run by the [Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-labour-and-social-affairs/). School meals link to the [Ministry of Education](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/). Drought response is coordinated with the [disaster management agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) and OCHA.

## How to use it

WFP's Somalia page has its country brief and news ([WFP Somalia](https://www.wfp.org/countries/somalia)).


---

# Concern Worldwide in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/concern-worldwide-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Concern Worldwide, an Irish aid organisation, has worked in Somalia for 40 years. It reports reaching about 372,000 people directly in 2025 across seven regions, with health, nutrition, water, schooling and livelihoods work, and €18.8 million of donor funding.

## What it does

Concern Worldwide is an Irish humanitarian organisation. It says 2026 marks its 40th year in Somalia ([Concern Worldwide](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)). It lists these areas of work:

- **Emergencies:** water and sanitation, such as wells in Baidoa.
- **Health and nutrition:** support to outpatient clinics and treatment of acute malnutrition.
- **Education:** free schooling for more than 10,000 children in Banadir and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/).
- **Livelihoods:** self-help groups and training.
- **Child hunger across borders:** the Hanaano initiative, which also covers Ethiopia and Kenya ([Concern Worldwide](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

## Where it works

Concern says it worked across seven regions in 2025. Places it names include Mogadishu, Daynile district in Banadir, Baidoa and Lower Shabelle ([Concern Worldwide](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

## What it reports doing

For 2025 Concern reports reaching about 372,000 people directly and about 947,000 indirectly, more than 1.32 million in all, with €18.8 million of donor funding by the end of the year ([Concern Worldwide](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

## Partners

It works in the Somalia Cash Consortium and the BRCiS resilience consortium, and supports health facilities through Caafimaad Plus. Funders it names include Irish Aid, the European Union and its humanitarian office ECHO, the UK's FCDO, WFP and UNICEF ([Concern Worldwide](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by Concern for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | US$9.7 million |
| 2025 | US$10.2 million |
| 2026, to November | US$17.0 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## How to use it

Concern publishes an annual report with its objectives and results for each year ([Concern Worldwide](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)). Funding for other NGOs is on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).


---

# Constitution of Somaliland (Dastuurka Somaliland)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/constitution-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's constitution was adopted by its two houses of parliament on 30 April 2000 and approved in a referendum on 31 May 2001, with 97 percent voting in favour. It has 130 articles in five chapters. It sets Hargeisa as the capital, Islam as the state religion, Somali as the official language and a limit of three political parties. The President is directly elected for five years, for at most two terms. There is an 82-member elected House of Representatives and an 82-member House of Elders (Guurti).

## Background

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, while most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. Its constitution applies in the areas it governs. For the institutions it sets up, see [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/). For its history since 1991, see [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## How it was made

The preamble sets out the steps that led to the constitution ([Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland, English translation, SomalilandLaw.com](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_constitution.htm)):

- **[Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), 1991:** the Conference of the Somaliland Communities met in Burao from 27 April to 5 May 1991 and declared independence with effect from 18 May 1991.
- **[Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), 1993:** the Conference of Elders in Borama, from 24 January to 25 May 1993, adopted a National Charter. The charter called for a constitution within a year.
- **Hargeisa, 1996 and 1997:** the third Grand Conference, on 26 November 1996, set up a Constitution Working Party to sift two drafts. An interim constitution was adopted in Hargeisa in February 1997 ([Constitution of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Somaliland)).
- **Parliament, 2000:** both houses of parliament made corrections and amendments on 30 April 2000.
- **The referendum, 2001:** voters approved the text on 31 May 2001, with 97.1 percent in favour ([Elections in Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland)).

The final text has a preamble and five chapters, with 130 articles, down from 156 in the 1997 version (Wikipedia, as above).

## What it says

**The state**

- **Article 2:** the territory is the area of the former [British Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). It borders the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
- **Article 3:** the capital is Hargeisa.
- **Article 5:** Islam is the state religion, and promoting any other religion is prohibited. Laws must be grounded on Islamic Sharia and must not go against it. The Islamic and Gregorian calendars are both used.
- **Article 6:** Somali is the official language, and Arabic is the second.
- **Article 9:** there may be no more than three political parties, and no party may be based on region or clan.

Source: [SomalilandLaw.com translation](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_constitution.htm).

**Rights.** Part Three lists individual rights and freedoms. Article 36 gives women the same rights, freedoms and duties as men, "save for matters which are specifically ordained in Islamic Sharia". It also directs the government to legislate against practices that are contrary to Sharia and harm women (same source).

**Parliament**

- **House of Representatives:** 82 members, elected directly by secret ballot for five years (Articles 40 and 42). If war, instability, a disaster, an epidemic or famine prevents an election, the outgoing House stays on until a new one is elected. The House of Elders decides this on the cabinet's proposal (Article 42).
- **House of Elders (Guurti):** 82 members, chosen "in a manner to be determined by law", for six years (Articles 58 and 60). Former Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Speakers, and five people named by the President, sit as honorary members without a vote. The Guurti passes laws on religion, tradition and security. It reviews other bills, except money bills, and can send a bill back once (Article 61).

**The President**

- **Election:** the President and Vice-President are elected together by direct secret ballot (Article 83).
- **Term:** five years, and no one may serve more than two terms (Article 88).
- **Who can stand:** a candidate must be a Somaliland citizen by birth with no other citizenship, a Muslim and at least 40 years old (Article 82).

**The courts.** The Supreme Court is also the Constitutional Court, with a chairman and at least four other judges (Article 101). The President appoints them after consulting the Judicial Commission. Parliament confirms the chairman at a joint sitting (Article 105).

**Amendments**

- **Who can propose:** the President, after consulting the cabinet, or one third of either house (Article 126).
- **Approval:** two thirds of the total membership of each house, voting separately.
- **Limits:** no amendment may conflict with Islamic Sharia, the country's territorial unity, democracy and the multi-party system, or fundamental rights (Article 127).

## The constitution in practice

- **Term extensions:** the House of Elders has extended terms before, a practice [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa notes continues to be debated. In April 2026 it extended the terms of the House of Representatives and district councils by 27 months, to October 2028 ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-elders-extend-parliament-councils-terms-by-27-months)).
- **The three-party contest:** the three-party rule decides which parties may stand. Every ten years, political associations compete for the three places, most recently in November 2024. See [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

## Its legal basis

The Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland, approved by referendum on 31 May 2001. The text used here is the English translation by SomalilandLaw.com; the Somali text is the official one.


---

# FAO in Somalia: farming, livestock, fisheries and the FSNAU and SWALIM data units

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/fao-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says it has more than 400 staff, six offices and 76 projects in Somalia, working on farming, livestock, fisheries, water and land. It also runs data units on food security and on water and land. Etienne Peterschmitt is its Representative.

## What it does

FAO says it has more than 400 staff and six offices across Somalia, with a support office in Nairobi, Kenya, and a portfolio of 76 projects. It says its work aims at changing agri-food systems in line with FAO's global framework of better production, nutrition, environment and life ([FAO Somalia](https://www.fao.org/somalia/en/)).

The work it reports on its site includes cash help to families hit by drought and floods, veterinary campaigns for livestock, fodder training in Kismayo, water works on the Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) basin, market gardens for women farmers, fish for school meals, beekeeping in Odweyne, and land cover mapping ([FAO Somalia](https://www.fao.org/somalia/en/)).

FAO also manages two long-running data units: the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU), which publishes food security analysis for Somalia, and the Somalia Water and Land Information Management project (SWALIM), which publishes river, rainfall and land data ([FSNAU](https://fsnau.org/); [SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)).

## Who leads it

Etienne Peterschmitt is the FAO Representative in Somalia ([UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by FAO for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 49.7 million |
| 2025 | 25.1 million |
| 2026, to November | 23.0 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

FAO reports that the United Kingdom added £2.5 million through RESTORE, a project restoring riverine ecosystems and water management, to help communities prepare for El Niño floods ([FAO Somalia](https://www.fao.org/somalia/en/)).

## What it reports

In the joint UN statement of 15 May 2026, FAO, WFP and UNICEF said 6 million people, 31% of the population, were in crisis-level hunger or worse (IPC 3+), including 1.9 million in emergency (IPC 4) ([UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)).

## How the work is shared

FAO works with the federal [Ministry of Agriculture](/en/institutions/ministry-of-agriculture/), the [Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range](/en/institutions/ministry-of-livestock-forestry-and-range/) and the [Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy](/en/institutions/ministry-of-fisheries-and-blue-economy/), and with state ministries.


---

# Ministry of Health of Somalia (Wasaaradda Caafimaadka): what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-health/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Health and Human Services sets national health policy, runs vaccination campaigns with partners, licenses medicines and coordinates the aid agencies that pay for much of the health system. Dr Ali Haji Adam Abubakar has been minister since August 2022. Its budget falls from US$61 million in 2026 to a proposed US$15 million in 2027, mainly because a World Bank project is ending.

## What it does

The federal Ministry of Health and Human Services (MoHHS) is the government body for health in Somalia. Its work, as its website and budget describe it:

- **Policy and plans:** it writes the national health strategy and the rules for hospitals, clinics and health workers. In April 2026 it launched the Somalia Community Health Strategy 2025 to 2029, which sets out how community health workers bring primary care to villages ([UNICEF Somalia, press release](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/somalia-launches-new-community-health-strategy-strengthen-primary-health-care-and)).
- **Vaccines:** it runs routine immunisation and national campaigns with WHO and UNICEF ([Ministry of Health](https://moh.gov.so/en/)).
- **Medicines:** a new [National Medicine Regulatory Authority](/en/institutions/medicines-regulator/) gets its own budget line in 2027 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).
- **Coordination:** most health care in Somalia is paid for by donors or provided privately. The ministry's own account says that since 1991 the health sector "has been supported by multiple partners", that the private sector "provides the largest health services to the population", and that it chairs the health, nutrition and water working group under the national development plan ([Ministry of Health, About](https://moh.gov.so/en/about-us/)).
- **Data:** in 2026 it launched a National Master Health Facility List, a register of every health facility ([Ministry of Health](https://moh.gov.so/en/)).

The National Institute of Health, led by Director General Dr Hussein Abukar Muhyadin, does health research and public health training under the ministry (same source).

## Who leads it

Dr Ali Haji Adam Abubakar is minister. The ministry's site says he is a physician, was elected to parliament in February 2022 and was appointed minister in August 2022 ([Ministry of Health, The Minister](https://moh.gov.so/en/the-minister/)). The Director General is Yusuf Hassan [Isaq](/en/society/isaaq/) ([Ministry of Health](https://moh.gov.so/en/)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Health | 70,365,408 | 61,361,312 | 15,175,101 |
| National Medicine Regulatory Authority | none | none | 60,000 |

Most of the ministry's budget is donor project money passed through the Treasury. The World Bank's [Damal Caafimaad](/en/relations/world-bank/) health project, the largest, brought in US$31.3 million in 2025 and was budgeted at US$43.0 million in 2026 and US$10.4 million in 2027. The World Bank's COVID-19 vaccination project fell from US$30.1 million in 2025 to nothing in 2027 (same source). Much more health aid goes straight to UN agencies and NGOs and never passes through the budget. See [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## What it reports doing

These are the ministry's own statements, as reported:

- **Vaccination:** the minister said national immunisation coverage reached 76 percent in April 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/health-minister-says-somalias-immunization-coverage-hits-76percent)). In November 2026 a new national committee chaired by the Prime Minister adopted a six-month plan to reach unvaccinated children and end polio ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-adopts-six-month-plan-to-reach-unvaccinated-children-end-polio)).
- **Pandemic preparedness:** it launched a Pandemic Fund project to strengthen disease surveillance and response ([Ministry of Health](https://moh.gov.so/en/); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-usdollar25-million-pandemic-fund-project-to-strengthen-disease-response)). In October 2026 it set up a committee of six ministries to prepare for Ebola and asked arriving travellers for a health declaration ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-sets-up-committee-to-prepare-for-ebola-threat); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-requires-health-declaration-for-travellers-amid-ebola-outbreak)).
- **Newborns:** it issued national newborn care guidelines in 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-national-guidelines-for-newborn-care)) and opened an expanded newborn care unit at [Balcad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) Hospital ([Ministry of Health](https://moh.gov.so/en/)).
- **Blood bank:** the ministry says the minister re-established the National Blood Bank after more than 30 years ([Ministry of Health, The Minister](https://moh.gov.so/en/the-minister/)).
- **World health bodies:** the ministry lists Somalia's election to the WHO Executive Board for 2023 to 2026 and the minister's election as a vice-president of the 77th World Health Assembly in 2024 (same source).

## Other records on health

- A data analysis reported by [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa found that only 27 percent of people can reach basic care and that Somalis spend about US$219 million a year on treatment abroad ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/only-27percent-access-basic-care-as-somalia-spends-dollar219m-abroad-for-treatment-data-shows)).
- The ministry has told aid agencies to align their health projects with national plans ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-orders-aid-agencies-to-align-health-projects-with-national-plans)).
- For long-run numbers on births, deaths and disease, see [Health numbers 1990 to 2025](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/) and [Health facility records](/en/data/health-facility-records-2020-2024/).

## How the work is shared

Health is shared between the federal government and the member states, each of which has its own ministry of health. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) run their own health ministries and plans. In 2013 the health authorities of Somaliland, Puntland and south-central Somalia formed a joint coordination structure with partners, which the ministry says worked until 2016 ([Ministry of Health, About](https://moh.gov.so/en/about-us/)).

## How to reach it

The ministry publishes news, strategies and guidelines at [moh.gov.so](https://moh.gov.so/en/). Public hospitals and health centres are run by the member-state ministries, the Banadir Regional Administration and their partners.

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution gives every person the right to health care (Article 27), as amended in 2024 and 2026; the ministry's mandate is set by the Council of Ministers.


---

# Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation of Somalia (Wasaaradda Arrimaha Gudaha)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-interior/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation handles the federal government's relations with the member states, local government and district councils, reconciliation between communities, and the move to one-person-one-vote local elections. It oversaw Mogadishu's first local council election in nearly 60 years on 25 December 2025, after which 390 Banadir councillors were sworn in in April 2026.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal government's link to the member states and to local government. Its work, as shown in its public statements and the cabinet's decisions, covers:

- **Federal affairs:** relations between the federal government and the member states, Banadir and the district administrations. See [Federal member states](/en/states/federal-member-states/) and [Institutions of the member states](/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/).
- **Local government:** forming district councils and setting their rules. In 2026 the cabinet approved new administrative rankings for Banadir's districts on the ministry's proposal ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-cabinet-approves-new-administrative-rankings-for-banadir-districts)).
- **Local elections:** working with the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on the move from clan selection to one-person-one-vote, starting with the capital ([AllAfrica, November 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511180634.html)).
- **Reconciliation:** supporting peace talks between communities and national consultative meetings with the member states. A national consultative meeting in January 2026 backed national unity and the push for elections ([AllAfrica, January 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202601250073.html)).

Somalia's police and internal security sit with a separate Ministry of Internal Security; see the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/).

## Who leads it

Ali Yusuf Ali "Hosh" is named as Minister of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation in 2026 ([Raxanreeb](https://raxanreeb.com/?p=42508)).

## The Banadir local elections, 2025 to 2026

- **The vote:** on 25 December 2025 Mogadishu held its first local election in nearly 60 years, by one-person-one-vote, under heavy security ([Gulf Times, December 2025](https://www.gulf-times.com/article/717562/international/somalis-vote-in-mogadishus-first-local-election-in-nearly-60-years)). In January 2026 the ministry called the vote historic ([Dawan Africa, January 2026](https://dawan.africa/news/somalias-ministry-of-interior-hails-banadir-local-council-elections)).
- **The councillors:** 390 local councillors for Banadir's districts were sworn in in April 2026 ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-banadir-region-swears-in-390-local-councillors)).
- **District chairs:** by a circular of 13 June 2026 the ministry set the election of district council chairpersons for 5 July 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/banadir-district-council-chairperson-elections-set-for-july-5); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/article/somalia-announces-july-5-banadir-district-council-speaker-elections)).

For Mogadishu's own administration, see [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/).

## How to use it

- **District services:** most day-to-day local services, such as land papers and business licences in Mogadishu, are run by the district and the Banadir Regional Administration, not by the ministry.
- **Elections:** voter registration is run by the electoral commission; see [Independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/).

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026, which sets the federal system and the levels of government (Chapter 5); the ministry's mandate is set by the Council of Ministers.


---

# Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), 1985–2004

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) was an armed movement in southern Somalia. The Library of Congress dates it to 1985, after a split in the SSDF; other accounts date it to 1989. Its support came mainly from the Ogaden clan. In 1990 many Ogaden officers left the army and joined it. After 1991 it divided into two wings, one led by Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess and one by General Mohamed Said Hersi 'Morgan', which contested Kismayo through the 1990s.

## In short

The SPM was one of the four main armed movements that ended the military government; its part in that story is told in [The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/). This page follows the movement from its founding to its last years, when its fighters and its area passed to new groups in Jubaland.

## Founding

The Library of Congress records that the SPM was formed in 1985 from a split within the SSDF, with support mainly from the Ogaden clan. Many Ogaden were unhappy with the 1988 peace agreement between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). See [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/).

Wikipedia dates its active armed life to 1989 to 2004 and names its founding commanders as Colonel Shukri Weyrah Kariye and Colonel Bashir Bililiqo. Its headquarters were at [Bu'aale](/en/regions/middle-juba/) (1989–1991), Kismayo (1991–1999) and Dhobley (1999–2004) ([Wikipedia, Somali Patriotic Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Patriotic_Movement)).

## The army defections of 1990

In 1990 many Ogaden officers left the national army and joined the SPM. The Library of Congress records that this greatly increased its strength, and that SPM forces then took and held several government garrisons in the south ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). In August–September 1990 the SPM agreed with the SNM and Aidid's wing of the USC to coordinate their campaigns ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm)). Shortly before the government fell, SPM fighters took the [Baledogle](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) air base (Wikipedia).

## Two wings after 1991

After the government fell, the SPM refused to accept the provisional government named by the USC in Mogadishu ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)). It then divided along clan lines into two wings ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Patriotic_Movement)):

- **The Absame wing (SPM/SNA)**, led by Colonel [Ahmed Omar Jess](/en/people/ahmed-omar-jess/) and Gedi Ugas Madhar. On 12 August 1992 it joined [General Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/)'s forces in the Somali National Alliance. See [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/).
- **The Harti wing**, with Aden Abdullahi Nur "Gabyow" as chairman and General Mohamed Said Hersi "Morgan" as its militia commander.

## The contest for Kismayo, 1991–1999

Kismayo, the main port of the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley, was fought over for most of the decade. A 1995 review by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, drawing on contemporary reports, records that Ahmed Omar Jess fought Morgan for control of southern Somalia including Kismayo. When Morgan signed a peace agreement on 18 June 1994, Jess did not, and an SPM group denounced the deal. By October 1994 the agreement was described as largely dormant, and tension between militias in Kismayo rose again after UN forces left in early 1995 ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, via ecoi.net, 9 June 1995](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149)).

Different reports at the time described Morgan as SPM leader or as a commander allied with the Somali National Front, which reflects how alliances shifted (same source). See [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/).

## Jubaland, 1998, and after

In 1998 the Harti wing under Morgan, based in Kismayo, announced an autonomous Jubaland. A coalition called the Allied Somali Forces, later the [Juba Valley Alliance](/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/), opposed it and took Kismayo in 1999; Morgan went into exile ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Patriotic_Movement)). The SPM moved its base to Dhobley near the Kenyan border and was inactive after about 2004.

Wikipedia lists the [Ras Kamboni Brigades](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) and the Raskamboni movement among groups that later emerged from its area and membership (same source). The Raskamboni movement's founder, Ahmed Madobe, has led Jubaland State since 2012–13; see [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/).

## Sources differ

- **Founding year.** 1985 (Library of Congress) or 1989 (Wikipedia and other accounts, which may date its armed campaign rather than its founding).
- **Morgan's role.** Reported variously as SPM leader, SPM commander or SNF-aligned commander.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Opposition movements](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm), [Reconciliation](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/74.htm), [Succession](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm).
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, "Information on the Somali National Front (SNF) since 1994" (1995): [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149).


---

# Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-ministry-of-foreign-affairs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, based in Hargeisa, runs Somaliland's search for international recognition and its offices abroad. Abdirahman Dahir Adan has been minister since 14 December 2024. In December 2025 Israel became the first UN member state to recognise Somaliland; Somalia's government rejects this and considers Somaliland part of Somalia.

## What it does

The ministry handles Somaliland's relations with other governments and international bodies, and its missions and representative offices abroad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(Somaliland))). Its central aim since 1991 has been recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991; Somalia considers Somaliland part of its territory and opposes its recognition ([Dawan Africa, 3 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-rejects-hassan-sheikhs-remarks-on-its-status-and-foreign-relations)).

## Who leads it

| Office | Person | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minister | Abdirahman Dahir Adan (also written Adam Bakal), since 14 December 2024 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(Somaliland)) |
| Deputy minister | Roda Jama Elmi | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(Somaliland)) |

Earlier ministers include Dr Essa Kayd Mohamoud ([Somaliland Current](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/former-foreign-minister-essa-kayd-mohamoud-delivers-powerful-call-for-unity-and-global-acceptance/)). The full list is on [foreign ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somaliland/); Somaliland's presidents are on [presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/).

## Recognition by Israel

On 26 December 2025 Israel formally recognised Somaliland's independence. Israel's foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar visited Hargeisa in January 2026, the first visit by an Israeli foreign minister in 34 years, and was received by President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/president-irro-welcomes-israeli-foreign-minister-gideon-saar-during-historic-visit-to-somaliland)). Somalia's foreign ministry issued a joint statement calling the visit illegal ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia](https://web.mfa.gov.so/joint-statement-on-the-illegal-visit-of-the-israeli-official-to-somaliland-region-of-the-federal-republic-of-somalia-on-6-january-2026/)). The reactions of other governments and bodies are on [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/).

## Its statements in 2026

On 3 October 2026 the ministry answered remarks by Somalia's President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) in an interview with Al Jazeera. It said ([Dawan Africa, 3 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-rejects-hassan-sheikhs-remarks-on-its-status-and-foreign-relations)):

- that Somalia had no authority to decide Somaliland's diplomatic relations;
- that Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960, before Somalia on 1 July 1960, and that its withdrawal from the union on 18 May 1991 reaffirmed its statehood;
- that its ties with Israel are based on cooperation, development and regional stability, and it rejected claims that Berbera could be used to launch attacks on other countries;
- that it supports Ethiopia's access to the sea and rejects interference in the 2024 memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland.

Earlier in 2026 the ministry denied reports of foreign forces in the [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) region ([Buraopost](https://bbndailynews.blogspot.com/2026/01/somaliland-rejects-claims-of-foreign.html)).

## Related pages

[Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/), [Somaliland 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) and the federal [Ministry of Foreign Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/).


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# Ministry of Finance of Somalia (Wasaaradda Maaliyadda): budget, taxes and debt

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Finance prepares the budget, collects taxes and customs through its Revenue Directorate, pays salaries, manages public debt and leads the government's work with the IMF and World Bank. Bihi Iman Egeh is minister. Domestic revenue reached $404.31 million in 2025, which the ministry says is double the level four years earlier.

## What it does

- **Budget:** it drafts the federal budget each year for the Council of Ministers and parliament, consults on it, and reports on spending during and after the year ([Ministry of Finance, 2026 Budget Consultation Report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/2026%20Budget%20Consultation%20Report.pdf); [MoF, 2025 end-year budget performance report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FGS%202025%20end-year%20budget%20performance%20report.%20.pdf)). Parliament's Joint Finance and Budget Committee questions the ministry on its forecasts and spending plans ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/mps-push-for-stronger-fiscal-accountability-as-2026-budget-review-advances)). For the numbers, see [Budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/).
- **Revenue:** its Revenue Directorate collects customs duties, sales and income taxes, road tax and rental tax. Domestic collections in 2025 were US$404.31 million ([Revenue Directorate, Annual Revenue Performance 2025](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf)). See [Taxes in Somalia](/en/economy/taxes-in-somalia/).
- **Debt:** it publishes a yearly debt management report ([MoF, FY2025 Annual Debt Management Report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)). Somalia reached the end of the debt relief process in December 2023; see [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).
- **IMF and World Bank:** it leads the economic reform programme under the IMF Extended Credit Facility. In October 2025 the IMF completed its fourth review of the programme ([IMF, Press Release 25/341](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/10/10/pr-25341-somalia-imf-completes-agreement-on-the-4th-review-of-the-ecf-arrangement)).
- **Pay and accounts:** it runs the government's financial management system (SFMIS), through which salaries and payments are made. See [Government jobs and pay](/en/economy/government-jobs-and-pay/).

## Who leads it

Bihi Iman Egeh is Minister of Finance. In September 2026 he said government revenue had doubled in four years, crediting digital tax systems such as the Somalia Customs Management System (SOMCAS) and online platforms for road and rental tax ([Dawan Africa, September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-revenue-doubled-in-four-years-cites-finance-reforms)).

The ministry's site lists a Minister, a Deputy Minister, a State Minister and a Director General, [Suliman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Omar, who runs day-to-day work ([Ministry of Finance, Leadership](https://mof.gov.so/leadership)). Egeh has held the post since 12 July 2023, when he replaced Elmi Mohamud Nur ([Wikipedia, Bihi Egeh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihi_Egeh)).

## Its own budget lines

The 2027 budget the ministry sent to parliament totals US$1,260,342,662: US$644 million for running costs and US$616 million for donor-funded projects. The ministry's own lines in it ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Finance | 93,112,723 | 118,317,223 | 92,304,117 |
| Accountant General | 3,619,522 | 3,710,644 | 4,511,110 |
| Other activities of the state | 120,023,169 | 119,492,891 | 118,756,801 |
| Financial Reporting Center | 985,906 | 995,632 | 977,992 |
| Somali Revenue Authority (new line) | none | none | 7,748,480 |

For the first nine months of 2026 the ministry reported revenue and grants of US$619.24 million, 45.6 percent of the year's budget. Domestic revenue was US$304.75 million, 6.6 percent more than in the same months of 2025, and donor grants were US$314.48 million, 35.8 percent of plan ([Budget performance report, end Q3 2026](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/10/vvfltmwo/FGS%20budget%20performance%20report%20at%20end%20Q3%202026%20final.pdf)). For every federal body's budget, see [Every federal government body and its budget](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## Finance ministers since 1956

The full list with sources is on [finance ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somalia/). In short, from the list kept on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_(Somalia)), which gives some overlapping dates for 2012 to 2014:

- **1956 to 1969:** Salad Abdi Mohamed, Osman Ahmed Roble, Abdulkadir Mohamed Aden, Awil Haji Abdullahi Farah, Ali Omar Shego and Sufi [Omar Mohamed](/en/people/omar-abdullahi-mohamed/).
- **1969 to 1991:** Mohamed Abdi Arrale, [Ibrahim Megag Samatar](/en/people/ibrahim-megag-samatar/), Mohamed Yusuf Weirah (twice), Abdirahman Noor Hersi, [Abdullahi Ahmed Addow](/en/people/abdullahi-ahmed-addow/), Mohamed [Sheikh Osman](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/) (twice), Abdullahi Warsame Nur, [Abdirahman Jama Barre](/en/people/abdirahman-jama-barre/) and Mohamed Gelle Yusuf.
- **2000 to 2012:** Sayid Sheikh Dahir, Hussein Mahmud [Sheikh Hussein](/en/people/sheikh-hussein-of-bale/), Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, Muhammad Yusuf Weyrah, Muhammad Ali Hamud, [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/), Hussein Abdi Halane and Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle.
- **Since 2012:** Mohamud Hassan Suleiman, Hussein Abdi Halane, Mohamud Ibrahim Adan, [Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/) (2017 to 2022), Elmi Mohamud Nur (2022 to 2023) and Bihi Iman Egeh (since 2023).

## Plans for 2026 to 2030

The Public Financial Management Reform Strategy for 2026 to 2030, dated 31 March 2026, sets out plans to extend SFMIS to the member states, oversee state-owned enterprises and manage fiscal risks ([MoF, PFM Reform Strategy](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Public%20Financial%20Management%20Reform%20Strategy%20-%20March%2031.pdf)). Consultations on the 2027 budget began in 2026 with a focus on raising domestic revenue ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-begins-consultations-on-2027-budget-with-focus-on-raising-domestic-revenue)).

## Money from abroad

Donor grants still pay for a large part of the federal budget: $516 million in 2025, more than the government's own revenue ([Budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/)). The ministry has said that cuts in international aid have hit education and health ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-shifts-in-international-aid-have-affected-education-and-health)), and in 2026 that Turkish budget support had stalled ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-faces-budget-pressure-as-turkish-support-stalls)). See [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## How to use it

- **Reports:** budgets, budget performance reports, debt reports and revenue reports are free on mof.gov.so and revenuedirectorate.gov.so.
- **Paying tax:** businesses register with the Revenue Directorate; many taxes can now be paid online or by mobile money.

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the Public Financial Management Act; the annual Appropriation Act passed by parliament.


---

# OCHA in Somalia and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ocha-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, coordinates aid agencies in Somalia, publishes the yearly aid plan and runs the Somalia Humanitarian Fund, a pooled fund set up in 2010. The 2026 plan asks for US$852 million to help 2.4 million people. George Conway is the Humanitarian Coordinator.

## What it does

OCHA coordinates the UN agencies and NGOs that deliver aid, tracks funding and publishes the yearly Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Somalia ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia)). Its Financial Tracking Service (FTS) is the main public record of aid flows to Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)).

## The Somalia Humanitarian Fund

OCHA says the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) was created in 2010 as a multi-donor pooled fund. Donors put money into one unearmarked fund, and the Humanitarian Coordinator decides allocations to the most urgent projects, mainly run by international and national NGOs and some UN agencies ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia)).

## Who leads it

George Conway is the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia); [UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)). On 9 October 2026 he issued a statement on fighting in Baidoa, saying he was "gravely concerned" by escalating violence there ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by OCHA (its own operations, not the pooled fund) for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 11.4 million |
| 2025 | 2.4 million |
| 2026, to November | 4.8 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## The 2026 plan

The 2026 plan, launched on 26 January 2026, counts 4.8 million people in need and targets 2.4 million, at a cost of US$852 million. It prioritises 1.6 million people in 21 districts ([UN Somalia, 26 January 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/308876-humanitarian-partners-seek-us852-million-assist-24-million-people-2026)). By May 2026 the plan was 15.2% funded ([UN Somalia, 15 May 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/316125-un-agencies-warn-worsening-hunger-and-malnutrition-crisis-somalia-famine-risk-emerges)).

## What it reports

OCHA says authorities estimate more than 4.6 million people, nearly one in four, have been affected by drought after the 2025 rains failed, with [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) among the worst hit, and that nearly half a million people have left their homes ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia)).

## How to use it

Flash updates, funding overviews and the SHF allocation dashboard are on OCHA's Somalia page ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia)). Funding by organisation is on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).


---

# Somali National Front (SNF), 1991–2001

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-national-front/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali National Front (SNF) was an armed movement formed in early 1991, after the fall of Siad Barre's government, largely from army units loyal to him and with support mainly from the Marehan. It held much of the south-west in 1991, was pushed out of Bay and Lower Juba by April 1992, and then held Gedo for most of the decade. It joined the Transitional National Government in 2001.

## In short

The Somali National Front was formed after the government fell in January 1991. Unlike the four older movements, it grew from forces that had served the fallen government. Wikipedia describes it as made up largely of loyal remnants of the national army, splinters of the [Somali Democratic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-movement/) and supporters of Siad Barre, with support mainly from the Marehan, his own clan ([Wikipedia, Somali National Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)). The four older movements are covered in [The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

## Leaders

- **[General Omar Haji](/en/people/omar-haji-masale/) Mohamed "Masale"**, a former defence minister, was its political and militia leader for most of the 1990s. Human Rights Watch called him "the undisputed leader" in 1994 ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, via ecoi.net, 1995](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149)).
- **General [Mohamed Hashi](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/) Gani** led its military wing from [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) in Gedo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)).
- **General Mohamed Said Hersi "Morgan"** fought alongside SNF forces in Gedo in 1993, while reports at the time also called him an SPM leader ([IRB Canada, 1995](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149)).

In March 1992 Siad Barre and General Hashi Gani publicly criticised each other before television crews, which Wikipedia records as a sign of division inside the movement ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)).

## The campaign of 1991–1992

- **March–April 1991.** Heavy fighting with the United Somali Congress. The SNF lost Kismayo and fell back to [Bardera](/en/regions/baardheere/) and Gedo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)).
- **November 1991–March 1992.** It moved back into areas it had lost, while its opponents fought each other in Mogadishu. At its height it held parts of Bay, Gedo, Middle and Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) (same source). The Library of Congress records the USC split that made this possible ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).
- **April 1992.** Forces led by [General Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) pushed it back. Siad Barre left Somalia through the Kenyan border on 27 April 1992 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)). See [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) and [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/).

## Gedo, 1992–1999

For most of the 1990s the SNF governed and operated in Gedo. Around 1992 it backed a sharia court in Luuq district. Wikipedia records fighting in August 1996 near Mandera between SNF forces, supported by Ethiopian helicopters, and al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, during which the Kenyan town of Mandera was hit ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)). In 1994 the SNF took part in reconciliation conferences in Gedo and Bay (same source).

In the late 1990s it divided into groups that supported Ethiopia and groups that opposed it; in June 1999 some SNF forces fought the Ethiopian army. The same year a coalition, the Allied Somali Forces (later the [Juba Valley Alliance](/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/)), took much of Gedo from it (same source).

## Into the TNG, 2001

In June 2001 the SNF merged into the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) formed at Arta ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Front)). The years that followed are covered in [2000–2006: Transitional governments and the rise of the courts](/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/).

## Sources differ

- **Founding date.** March 1991 in most accounts; some say only "shortly after" the government fell.
- **Who led it.** Contemporary reports gave different leaders for different years and areas; the IRB Canada review collects several of them.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, "Information on the Somali National Front (SNF) since 1994" (1995): [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195149).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Disintegration](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm).


---

# Somaliland Civil Service Commission: hiring for government jobs

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-civil-service-commission/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's Civil Service Commission recruits, promotes and transfers Somaliland's civil servants. In August 2026 it announced 774 vacancies, to be filled by open examinations after 1,399 civil servants retired, with places shared out by region. Abdiasis Hirsi Warsame is its chairman.

## What it does

The commission manages [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s civil service. Its departments cover recruitment, selection, transfer, promotion and demotion of civil servants ([Somaliland Civil Service Commission](https://csc.govsomaliland.org/article/department-recruitment-promotion-demotion-transfer)). It publishes vacancies on its website and social media ([Dawan Africa, 31 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-announces-774-civil-service-jobs-in-open-competition)).

## Who leads it

Abdiasis Hirsi Warsame is chairman ([Dawan Africa, 31 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-announces-774-civil-service-jobs-in-open-competition)).

## The 2026 recruitment

On 31 August 2026 President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) launched a recruitment programme, and the commission announced the following ([Dawan Africa, 31 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-announces-774-civil-service-jobs-in-open-competition)):

| Item | Number |
|---|---|
| Civil servants who retired | 1,399 |
| Posts filled by open examination (grades A and B) | 774 (399 grade A, 375 grade B) |
| Posts filled by the institutions themselves (grades C and D) | 625 (242 grade C, 383 grade D) |

The 774 examined posts are shared out by region:

| Region | Share |
|---|---|
| Awdal | 25% |
| Maroodi Jeex | 20% |
| Togdheer | 20% |
| Sanaag | 15% |
| Sool | 10% |
| Saaxil | 10% |

The chairman said applicants may only apply for vacancies in the region where they live, that applications are made online, and that a national ID card is required. Universities in Somaliland shortlist candidates, set the examinations and send the results, while the commission oversees the process. Vacancies were to be published on 5 September 2026. The chairman described it as the first time Somaliland had announced so many civil service vacancies at once ([Dawan Africa, 31 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-announces-774-civil-service-jobs-in-open-competition)).

## Compared with the federal commission

In the same weeks, Somalia's federal Prime Minister ordered open competition for department director posts, a decision the House of the People annulled; see the [National Civil Service Commission](/en/institutions/national-civil-service-commission/).

## Related pages

[Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/) and the [Somaliland Ministry of Finance and Economic Development](/en/institutions/somaliland-ministry-of-finance/).


---

# Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-energy-and-water/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Energy and Water Resources sets policy and tariffs for electricity and water, licenses power companies under the Electricity Act, and runs World Bank solar and water projects. Abdullahi Bidhaan Warsame is minister. Its 2026 budget was US$138.6 million, almost all of it donor project money; US$93.2 million is proposed for 2027.

## What it does

The ministry's website says it has "the mandate to oversee the Somalia Energy sector, set policies, and strategic frameworks, approve tariffs for the electricity services, and build the technical capacity of electricity service providers" ([Ministry of Energy and Water Resources](https://moewr.gov.so/)). It also covers water: national water policy, groundwater and rural water supply ([MoEWR, About](https://moewr.gov.so/about/)).

Somalia's electricity is produced and sold almost entirely by private companies, most running diesel generators, with a growing share of solar. The ministry's role is to make the rules, set tariffs and channel public money into the grid. The ministry says the Somalia Electricity Act was approved during the current minister's term and that a national electricity regulator was set up to license providers and oversee tariffs ([MoEWR, The Minister](https://moewr.gov.so/team/the-minister/)). It also chairs an energy sector working group of the member states' energy ministries, donors, power companies and universities (same source). See [Electricity](/en/economy/electricity/).

## Who leads it

Abdullahi Bidhaan Warsame is minister ([MoEWR, The Minister](https://moewr.gov.so/team/the-minister/); [Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-energy-minister-blames-fuel-costs-middle-east-crisis-for-mogadishu-electricity-price-hike)). An older page on the ministry's site names an earlier minister, Jama Taqal, appointed by presidential decree ([MoEWR, About](https://moewr.gov.so/about/)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Water and Energy | 33,715,256 | 138,551,181 | 93,180,128 |

The rise in 2026 comes from World Bank projects that pass through the budget. The largest are [ASCENT](/en/economy/solar-and-wind-power/), for clean energy access (US$46.6 million in 2026, US$47.7 million proposed for 2027), Barwaaqo, for rural water (US$17.7 million and US$25.1 million), and Ground Water for Resilience (US$10.4 million and US$12.1 million) (same source).

## What it reports doing

These are the ministry's statements, as reported:

- **Free power for public buildings:** in November 2025 the ministry said it had connected 335 health and education facilities to free electricity, including Somali National University and schools in Mogadishu ([SONNA, 24 November 2025](https://sonna.so/en/ministry-of-energy-provides-free-electricity-access-to-335-facilities-across-the-country/)). In 2026 the minister visited facilities in Dhusamareb receiving free power under the Somalia Electricity Recovery Project, known as ILAYS ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/300649/somalias-energy-minister-visits-health-and-education-facilities-powered-by-free-electricity-in-dhusamareb)). It also announced the electrification of 150 public health facilities ([MoEWR, press release](https://moewr.gov.so/press-release-electrification-of-150-public-health-facilities/)).
- **A national grid plan:** it published the Somalia Generation and Transmission Plan in 2025 ([MoEWR, Generation and Transmission Plan 2025](https://moewr.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Somalia-Generation-and-Transmission-Plan-2025-MoEWR.pdf)) and set a target of 50 percent of electricity from renewables by 2028 ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-generate-50percent-of-electricity-from-renewables-by-2028)).
- **Power from Ethiopia:** in 2026 the minister said Somalia plans to import electricity from Ethiopia, hoping for a price near 5 US cents per kilowatt-hour ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-import-power-from-ethiopia-energy-minister-says)).
- **State stakes:** the government plans to take stakes in electricity and water companies ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-plans-state-stakes-in-power-water-firms-to-expand-infrastructure)).

## Prices

On 25 October 2026 three Mogadishu power companies, BECO, Mogadishu Power and Blue Sky Energy, raised tariffs by 5 US cents per kilowatt-hour. The minister said the companies first asked to double prices, which the ministry refused, and blamed fuel costs linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. He said "Somalia is among the countries with the highest electricity prices in the world", that more than US$250 million of investment is needed, and that the government aims to cut prices by 45 percent in Mogadishu and eight other cities ([Dawan Africa, 28 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-energy-minister-blames-fuel-costs-middle-east-crisis-for-mogadishu-electricity-price-hike)).

## How the work is shared

Each member state has its own ministry of energy and water. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) run their own. The federal ministry holds coordination conferences with the state ministries; one was held in Dhusamareb ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/dhusamareb-hosts-federal-state-energy-and-water-coordination-conference/)).

## How to reach it

Policies, plans and press releases are on [moewr.gov.so](https://moewr.gov.so/). Electricity bills and connections are handled by the private power company in each city.

## Its legal basis

The Electricity Act, as described by the ministry, and the mandate given by the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Somalia (Wasaaradda Warfaafinta)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-information/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism speaks for the government, oversees the state media (SONNA, Radio Mogadishu and SNTV), licenses and regulates the media under the 2016 Media Law, and looks after culture, heritage and tourism. Abdifatah Qasim Mahmoud became minister in May 2026, replacing Daud Aweis Jama.

## What it does

- **Government voice:** it gives the federal government's weekly briefing and issues its press releases, published on moi.gov.so ([Ministry of Information, weekly briefing, 15 May 2026](https://moi.gov.so/2026/05/15/federal-government-of-somalias-weekly-briefing-mogadishu-friday-15th-may-2026/)).
- **State media:** it oversees the news agency SONNA, Radio Mogadishu and Somali National Television. See [State media](/en/institutions/state-media/).
- **Media law:** it applies the 2016 Media Law, under which a Media Council oversees the sector. In March 2024 the minister appointed six of the council's nine members ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)). See [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).
- **Culture and tourism:** it marks cultural days, supports artists and represents Somalia in tourism bodies. Its minister met UN Tourism (UNWTO) officials and addressed African tourism ministers in Riyadh ([SONNA, UNWTO](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-information-holds-meeting-with-unwto-officials-in-riyadh/); [SONNA, Riyadh](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-information-addresses-african-tourism-ministers-meeting-in-riyadh/)). See [Heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/).
- **Public information campaigns:** in 2025 and 2026 it ran public awareness work around the local elections ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/information-minister-lauds-the-historic-local-elections-with-media-and-public-play-key-role/)).

## Who leads it

- **Minister:** Abdifatah Qasim Mahmoud, a member of parliament, was appointed by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) in May 2026 ([AllAfrica, May 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202605060597.html)). Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama presided over the handover ([Office of the Prime Minister](https://opm.gov.so/?p=23100)).
- **Previous minister:** Daud Aweis Jama, who held a master's degree in journalism from Kenyatta University, served from 2022 until May 2026 (same sources). In early 2026 he launched a national media Ramadan quiz and chaired a meeting on the ministry's part in the National Transformation Plan ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/301243/minister-daud-aweis-launches-national-media-ramadan-quiz-competition); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/information-minister-chairs-a-technical-meeting-on-national-transformation-plan-implementation/)).

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) gave the ministry a medal of distinction for its work ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/president-hassan-honors-ministry-of-information-culture-and-tourism-with-medal-of-distinction)).

## Press freedom

RSF ranked Somalia 126th of 180 in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, up from 136th in 2025. Journalists are often tried under the 1964 Penal Code ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)). The statistics bureau's count of violations against journalists shows detentions as 71.4 percent of recorded cases ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.25](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). On World Press Freedom Day 2026 the minister congratulated Somali journalists ([Ministry of Information](https://moi.gov.so/2026/05/03/the-minister-of-information-extends-congratulations-to-somali-journalists-on-world-press-freedom-day/)).

## How to use it

- **Statements:** official statements and weekly briefings are on moi.gov.so and SONNA.
- **Media outlets and journalists:** registration and press accreditation go through the ministry and the Media Council under the 2016 Media Law.

## Its legal basis

The Media Law of 9 January 2016; the 2012 Provisional Constitution, which protects freedom of expression and of the media (Article 18), as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), 1995–2004

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) was an armed movement founded on 13 October 1995 at Jhaffey, west of Baidoa, after forces of General Mohamed Farah Aidid took Baidoa that September. Led by Colonel Hassan Mohamed Nur 'Shatigadud', it drew its support from the Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn) of Bay and Bakool. It took Baidoa on 6 June 1999, with Ethiopian backing according to several reports, declared a South West State in 2002, and its leaders later joined the Transitional Federal Government.

## In short

The Rahanweyn Resistance Army was the armed movement of the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), the Maay-speaking clan-family of the Bay and Bakool farmlands, often called the Rahanweyn. It was formed to take back Baidoa and the surrounding regions after they were occupied in 1995, and it became the base for the first South West State. For the society and language of this area, see [Baidoa and Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/).

## Why it was formed, 1995

In March 1995 the Digil-Mirifle had set up a Supreme Governing Council in Baidoa. On 17 September 1995 the militia of General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid's Somali National Alliance took Baidoa and ended the council ([Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)). See [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/).

On 13 October 1995 a *shir* (assembly) at Jhaffey, west of Baidoa, founded the RRA and elected Colonel Hassan Mohamed Nur "Shatigadud" as its chairman (same source).

## Leaders

- **Colonel Hassan Mohamed Nur "Shatigadud"** (1946–2013), chairman.
- **[Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade](/en/people/mohamed-ibrahim-habsade/)** and **[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Adan Mohamed Nur "Madobe"**, his two deputies.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army); [BBC News, 31 July 2002, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491))

## Campaign, 1996–1999

- **Early 1996.** The RRA attacked positions held by Aidid's forces in Huddur and Baidoa.
- **October 1998.** It took Huddur, the main town of Bakool. By early November Aidid's forces had fallen back to Baidoa.
- **6 June 1999.** It took Baidoa.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army))

Reports at the time disagreed about Ethiopia's part. Wire reports collected by GlobalSecurity said the RRA took Baidoa with the backing of an Ethiopian force, and then took Bur Hakaba the same month. [Hussein Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/)'s side said Ethiopian troops took the town themselves. Neither claim could be checked independently at the time ([GlobalSecurity, "Ethiopia: 2nd war with Somalia, 1998–1999"](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/ethiopia3.htm)).

## The Arta conference and the SRRC, 2000–2001

The Arta peace conference in Djibouti (May–August 2000) formed the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) and paused RRA operations. Within months the RRA left the Arta arrangement ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)) and joined the [Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council](/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/), a coalition opposed to the TNG. The wider story is told in [2000–2006: Transitional governments and the rise of the courts](/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/).

## The South West State and the 2002 split

In April 2002 the RRA declared an autonomous "South West State of Somalia" for Bay, Bakool and neighbouring regions, with Shatigadud as president ([Uppsala Conflict Data Program, RRA internal conflict](https://ucdp.uu.se/nonstate/5304)). In July 2002 fighting broke out in Baidoa between forces loyal to Shatigadud and forces loyal to his former deputies [Adan Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/) and Habsade. BBC News reported on 31 July 2002 that at least 12 people had been killed ([BBC News, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491)). Fighting continued into late 2002; the dispute was partly over whether to back the SRRC or the TNG ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)).

## Into the TFG, 2004

The leaders later reconciled, and all joined the Transitional Federal Government formed in 2004 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)). In 2002 the RRA had also signed the Geneva Call deed of commitment banning landmines, with fifteen other factions (same source, citing Landmine Monitor). The present member state is described in [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## Sources differ

- **Ethiopia's part in the 1999 capture of Baidoa.** Reported as support for the RRA by some agencies, as a direct Ethiopian capture by Aidid's side, and not confirmed independently.
- **The date of the South West State.** April 2002 in most reports; some accounts place its first declaration earlier.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- BBC News, "Militiamen fight for Somali town" (31 July 2002): [ecoi.net record](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/20491).
- Landmine Monitor, *Somalia* reports 2002 and 2005, which describe the RRA's deed of commitment.


---

# Somaliland Ministry of Education and Science: schools and national exams

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-ministry-of-education/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's Ministry of Education and Science runs schools, the curriculum and the national Grade 8 and secondary exams in Somaliland, separately from the federal ministry in Mogadishu. Prof. Ismail Duale Yusuf is minister. A record 42,519 students sat Somaliland's national exams in 2026, and almost all who sat the secondary exam passed.

## What it does

The ministry runs [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s school system, including the national certificate exams for Grade 8 (intermediate) and the fourth year of secondary school, which decide whether students move on to the next level ([allAfrica, 29 June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606290094.html); [allAfrica, 26 August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html)). Somaliland runs its own ministry, curriculum and exams, separate from the federal [Ministry of Education](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/) in Mogadishu, which covers the federal member states ([Ministry of Education page](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/)).

The exams are set and marked by the Somaliland National Examination and Certification Board, which also lets students check and verify results online ([Somaliland National Examination and Certification Board](https://slnecb.org/results)).

## Who leads it

Prof. Ismail Duale Yusuf is Minister of Education and Science ([allAfrica, 26 August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html)). Reports in 2026 also call the ministry the Ministry of Education, Training and Science ([allAfrica, 29 June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606290094.html)).

## The 2026 national exams

President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) opened the 2026 exams at [Farah Omar](/en/people/haji-farah-omar/) Secondary School in Hargeisa. The government said a record 42,519 students sat them, the most in Somaliland's history ([allAfrica, 29 June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606290094.html)).

The minister announced the results on 25 August 2026 at the National Examinations Office for the eastern regions in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/). Two reports give slightly different figures:

| Exam | allAfrica | Dawan Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 8, sat | 26,116 | 26,116 (14,407 boys, 11,709 girls) |
| Grade 8, passed | 25,806 | 25,860 |
| Secondary, result | 16,051 sat, 27 failed | 16,051 passed, 27 failed, 41 did not sit |

Sources: [allAfrica, 26 August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html); [Dawan Africa, 25 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-16000-pass-somaliland-secondary-exams). The minister said all students in vocational and technical education passed ([Dawan Africa, 25 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-16000-pass-somaliland-secondary-exams)).

In 2025 the secondary pass rate was 97.9% ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somaliland-records-979percent-pass-rate-in-secondary-school-examinations)).

## How to use it

How to check a result in Somaliland, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) or the federal system is explained on [exam results](/en/society/exam-results/).

## Related pages

[Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/), [Somaliland University of Technology](/en/institutions/somaliland-university-of-technology/) and the federal [National Commission for Higher Education](/en/institutions/national-commission-for-higher-education/).


---

# World Health Organization (WHO) in Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/who-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The World Health Organization advises Somalia's federal and state health ministries, supports polio and other vaccination, and helps respond to disease outbreaks and floods. Dr Humphrey Karamagi became WHO Representative in Somalia on 23 August 2026.

## What it does

WHO in Somalia is part of WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region office. Its work follows a Country Cooperation Strategy agreed with Somalia for 2021 to 2025 ([WHO EMRO](https://www.emro.who.int/countries/som/index.html)). It reports work on essential health services and health security, polio eradication and immunisation, emergency and critical care, and outbreak response ([WHO EMRO](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/)).

## Who leads it

WHO says Dr Humphrey Karamagi took up his duties as WHO Representative in Somalia on 23 August 2026, and that he has more than 25 years of experience in health systems and public health in fragile settings ([WHO EMRO](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/)). WHO reports that his first mission to a federal member state was to [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), focused on its health priorities ([WHO EMRO](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by WHO for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 4.2 million |
| 2025 | 4.9 million |
| 2026, to November | 3.1 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## What it reports

On its Somalia pages in 2026, WHO reports:

- that Somalia and health partners agreed priorities to strengthen essential health services and health security;
- that Somalia's Prime Minister pledged stronger oversight and investment in polio eradication and immunisation;
- that WHO and Puntland's Ministry of Health stepped up the emergency response when floods affected 90,000 people in [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) ([WHO EMRO](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/)).

OCHA reports a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases and cholera linked to drought and displacement, and a high number of "zero-dose" children who have had no vaccines ([OCHA Somalia](https://www.unocha.org/somalia)).

## How the work is shared

WHO works with the federal [Ministry of Health](/en/institutions/ministry-of-health/) and with state health ministries, including Puntland's and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s. Health figures it publishes are on [this site's health numbers page](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/).


---

# Ministry of Defence of Somalia (Wasaaradda Gaashaandhigga): what it does and who has led it

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-defence/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Ministry of Defence (Wasaaradda Gaashaandhigga) runs policy and resources for the Somali Armed Forces: the army, air force and navy. The president is commander-in-chief. Ahmed Moalim Fiqi has been minister since April 2025. The first minister after independence in 1960 was Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal, and Mohamed Ali Samatar held the post from 1970 to 1987.

## What it does

The Ministry of Defence co-ordinates and supervises the federal government's work on national security and the Somali Armed Forces: the army, the air force and the navy. It sets defence policy and provides resources to the armed forces, which are responsible for the country's territorial integrity. The President of Somalia is supreme commander of the armed forces ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Somalia))). Day-to-day command of the army sits with the Chief of Defence Forces ([Wikipedia, Somali Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). The ministry's website is [mod.gov.so](https://mod.gov.so/). For the forces themselves, see [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) and [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/).

## How it is organised

Under the minister and deputy minister, a secretary-general runs the ministry, with three deputy secretaries-general for development, policy and management. Their divisions cover procurement, the defence industry, human resources, finance and accounts, alongside an internal audit division, a legal division and an integrity unit. The Chief of Defence Forces, with the chiefs of the army, navy and air force and the director of defence intelligence, also sits in the ministry's chart ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Somalia))).

## History

**1960 to 1991.** After independence, the [Darawishta](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) of the south merged with the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Scouts of the former British protectorate and new recruits to form a Somali National Army of about 5,000. Its first commander was Colonel [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/), and officers trained in the United Kingdom, Egypt and Italy ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Somalia)), citing Colin D. Robinson, *Defense & Security Analysis*, 2019, and the Library of Congress Country Study, 1992). After the coup of October 1969, most defence ministers came from the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/). The armed forces broke apart with the civil war at the end of the 1980s (same source).

**2004 to 2012.** The armed forces were rebuilt step by step after the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) was set up in 2004. When Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi became minister in November 2010, the ministry worked from two rooms in a privately owned building, with no internet or electricity, because al-Shabaab held the ministry's own building ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Somalia)), citing [Harun Maruf](/en/people/harun-maruf/) and Dan Joseph, *[Inside Al-Shabaab](/en/books/inside-al-shabaab-maruf/)*, 2018, p. 167).

**The Guulwade Plan.** In April 2015 the ministry launched the Guulwade (Victory) Plan, a roadmap for the federal armed forces drawn up with the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia. International partners were to train and support 10,900 soldiers drawn from different regions ([UN Security Council, S/2015/331](https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=s/2015/331)).

**December 2021.** Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) swapped the defence and justice ministers, moving Hassan Hussein Haji to justice and [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) to defence. President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) "Farmaajo" suspended Roble the next day ([The EastAfrican, 27 December 2021](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-president-farmaajo-suspends-pm-roble-again-3664484)).

## Money and payroll

About two-thirds of the army's budget comes from outside donors, and defence was nearly a quarter of the 2024 federal budget of $1.1 billion, according to an assessment in the US Military Academy's CTC Sentinel ([CTC Sentinel, 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)). In April 2026 Fiqi said soldiers' pay would be tied to monthly verification and deployment checks under a new payroll system, and that the ministry had finished a digital registration of security personnel. The meeting, with the World Bank and other partners, also covered procurement, pensions and draft defence legislation ([Dawan Africa, 28 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-tie-troop-pay-to-monthly-verification-deployment-checks)). For the federal budget, see [The federal budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/).

## The minister today

Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) moved **Ahmed Moalim Fiqi** from foreign affairs to defence in April 2025, replacing Jibril Abdirashid Haji, who became deputy prime minister ([Reuters, 27 April 2025](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/somalias-prime-minister-appoints-new-defence-minister-reshuffle-2025-04-27/); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-after-diplomatic-blunders-fiqi-shifted-to-defence)). In September 2026 he said al-Shabaab would be unable to capture a single village even if African Union troops left ([Dawan Africa, 20 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-army-can-hold-off-al-shabaab-even-without-au-troops)).

## Defence ministers

| Minister | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) | 1960 | 1961 |
| Sheikh Ali Ismail | 1961 | 1962 |
| Hilowle Moalin Mohamed | 1962 | 1964 |
| Aden Isaq Ahmed | 1964 | 1966 |
| Abdirahman Haji Mumin | 1966 | 1967 |
| Haji Yusuf Iman Gulaid | 1967 | 1969 |
| Hilowle Moalin Mohamed | 1969 | 1970 |
| Salad Gabeire Kediye | April 1970 | July 1970 |
| [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/) | 1970 | 1987 |
| Aden Abdullahi Nur | 1987 | 1989 |
| Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman | 1989 | 1990 |
| [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/) | 1990 | January 1991 |
| Abdirahman Mahmud Ali | January 2005 | |
| Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale | August 2006 | 2007 |
| Ismail Ahmed Nur | December 2007 | |
| Mohiyadin Muhammad Haji | January 2008 | August 2008 |
| Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman | 2008 | 2008 |
| Mohamed Abdi Mohamed | 21 February 2009 | August 2009 |
| Abdullahi Boos Ahmed | August 2009 | 10 November 2010 |
| Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi | 12 November 2010 | 20 July 2011 |
| Hussein Arab Isse | 20 July 2011 | 4 November 2012 |
| Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi | 4 November 2012 | 17 January 2014 |
| Mohamed Sheikh Hassan | 17 January 2014 | 27 January 2015 |
| Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini | 27 January 2015 | 21 March 2017 |
| Abdirashid Abdullahi Mohamed | 21 March 2017 | 12 October 2017 |
| Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman | November 2017 | March 2018 |
| Hassan Hussein Haji | 2020 | December 2021 |
| Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur | December 2021 | March 2025 |
| Jibril Abdirashid Haji | March 2025 | April 2025 |
| Ahmed Moalim Fiqi | April 2025 | |

Source for the table: [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Somalia)), which for 1960 to 1991 cites [Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/), *Historical Dictionary of Somalia* (2003). Mohamed [Mursal](/en/society/murusade/) [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdurahman left the post when he was elected speaker of parliament ([Reuters, 30 April 2018](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/somalias-former-defense-minister-elected-new-speaker-of-parliament-idUSKBN1I11MU/)). Where the To column is empty, the source gives no end date.

## Sources disagree

- **Samatar's years.** The source list gives Mohamed Ali Samatar as minister from 1970 to 1987, but also lists Brigadier [General Omar Haji](/en/people/omar-haji-masale/) Mohamed as minister from October 1981 to 1982, citing the US Army country study of 1982 ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Somalia))).
- **1971.** The same page says Major General Muhammad Ainanshe, a member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, lost the defence portfolio on 10 April 1971, citing Daniel Compagnon's thesis, but he does not appear in its list of ministers (same source).
- **2018 to 2020.** The list has no minister between Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman in March 2018 and Hassan Hussein Haji in 2020 (same source).


---

# Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-petroleum-and-minerals/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources sets oil, gas and mining policy, and its regulator, the Somali Petroleum Authority, licenses exploration under the 2020 Petroleum Law. Dahir Shire Mohamed is minister. In 2026 the Turkish drilling ship Çağrı Bey came to drill Curad-1, Somalia's first offshore exploration well, off Galmudug.

## What it does

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources makes federal policy for oil, gas and mining. Its stated mission is "to effectively capitalize upon Somalia's natural resources and distribute the ensuing benefits fairly and proportionately amongst the Member States and the Somali people" ([Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources](https://mopmr.gov.so/)). It also issues rules for the "downstream" side, the import, storage and sale of fuel, under its Petroleum Downstream Regulation (same source).

Under it sits the **Somali Petroleum Authority (SPA)**, the regulator. The 2020 Petroleum Law created the SPA to license and oversee oil and gas work, and a Somali National Oil Company to take part in operations ([S&P Global, August 2020](https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/080420-somalia-establishes-oil-regulator-as-bids-open-for-first-ever-licensing-round)). The cabinet approved the SPA's first board on 30 July 2020; its first chair and chief executive was Ibrahim Ali Hussein (same source; [Hiiraan Online, August 2020](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2020/Aug/179352/somalia_announces_regulator_leadership.aspx)).

## Who leads it

Dahir Shire Mohamed is minister. He replaced Abdirizak [Omar Mohamed](/en/people/omar-abdullahi-mohamed/) in a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/99222/somalia-prime-minister-hamza-abdi-dismisses-petroleum-minister-in-cabinet-reshuffle); [Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-petroleum-minister-curad-1-oil-well-to-be-drilled-offshore-galmudug-state)). The ministry's Director General is [Mohamed Hashi](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/) Arabey ([Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources](https://mopmr.gov.so/)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources | 1,854,556 | 2,586,788 | 2,568,488 |
| Somali Petroleum Authority | 1,071,460 | 1,081,820 | 1,045,380 |

## What it has done, step by step

- **2019:** the ministry signed an agreement with Shell and ExxonMobil settling their old obligations and setting out how their pre-1991 concessions could be converted into production sharing agreements ([Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources](https://mopmr.gov.so/)).
- **February 2020:** the Petroleum Law was ratified ([Oilfield Technology, 24 February 2020](https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/24022020/somalia-ratifies-petroleum-law/)). The ministry's site says the law makes any oil discovered "the sole property of the Somali people" (same source as above).
- **August 2020 to March 2021:** Somalia ran its first offshore licensing round, with bids open from 4 August 2020 to 12 March 2021 ([Modern Diplomacy, August 2020](https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/08/06/bids-open-for-somalias-first-ever-oil-block-licensing-round/); [Oil Review Africa](https://oilreviewafrica.com/exploration/exploration/somalia-launches-first-offshore-licensing-round)). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) rejected the law and withdrew from the process ([Offshore Technology](https://www.offshore-technology.com/features/sizing-up-somalia-a-new-offshore-oil-frontier-in-the-making/)).
- **2024:** [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) and Somalia signed an oil and gas cooperation agreement on 7 March 2024. In July 2024 Türkiye's state oil company TPAO and the SPA signed an exploration and production agreement for three offshore blocks of about 5,000 square kilometres each ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkiye-somalia-sign-deal-on-cooperation-in-hydrocarbons-field/amp); [Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-inks-offshore-oil-and-gas-deal-with-somalia-207909)). The Turkish survey ship Oruç Reis began 3D seismic surveys in October 2024 ([Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-to-explore-oil-and-gas-off-somalia-coast-198635)).
- **April 2025:** TPAO and the SPA signed a second agreement, for three onshore blocks covering 16,000 square kilometres ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkiye-somalia-sign-deal-for-onshore-hydrocarbon-exploration/amp)).
- **2026:** the Turkish drilling ship Çağrı Bey arrived in Mogadishu. In April 2026 the minister said the first exploration well, **Curad-1**, would be drilled in deep water off [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), between Mareeg and [Harardhere](/en/regions/harardhere/), about 275 kilometres from the coast ([Dawan Africa, 10 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-petroleum-minister-curad-1-oil-well-to-be-drilled-offshore-galmudug-state)). In March 2026 the ministry met US embassy officials and American investors about oil and mining ([Radio Dalsan, March 2026](https://radiodalsan.com/2026/03/04/somalia-united-states-discuss-oil-and-mineral-investment-in-mogadishu/)).
- **Minerals:** the ministry has asked Türkiye for help to map mineral reserves ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-turkiyes-help-to-map-and-develop-mineral-reserves)) and has warned against petroleum and mineral deals made outside the federal framework ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-warns-against-illegal-petroleum-and-mineral-deals)).

For the wider story of oil in Somalia, see [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/) and [Türkiye's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/).

## How the work is shared

How oil and mineral income is shared between the federal government and the member states is one of the open questions of the constitutional review. Puntland runs its own petroleum agency and has signed its own exploration deals, and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) licenses exploration in its own territory ([Offshore Technology](https://www.offshore-technology.com/features/sizing-up-somalia-a-new-offshore-oil-frontier-in-the-making/)).

## Its legal basis

The Petroleum Law of 2020, and the ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Somali National Alliance (SNA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-national-alliance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali National Alliance was a coalition formed at Bardere on 16 June 1992 by General Mohamed Farrah Aidid's wing of the United Somali Congress, the Somali Patriotic Movement, the Somali Democratic Movement and the Southern Somali National Movement. Aidid was elected chairman in August 1992. It fought UNOSOM II from June to October 1993. After Aidid's death in 1996 his son Hussein led it. It became the core of the SRRC in 2001 and was folded into the Transitional National Government in 2002.

## In short

The Somali National Alliance (SNA) was the coalition built around [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) in the years after 1991. It should not be confused with the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), which uses the same initials. This page records its history from the sources, without taking sides.

## Formation, 1992

On 16 June 1992 four armed movements met at [Bardere](/en/regions/baardheere/) and formed the alliance: Aidid's wing of the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/), a wing of the [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/), the [Somali Democratic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-movement/) and the Southern Somali National Movement. The earlier Somali Liberation Army became its armed wing. On 10 August 1992 Aidid was elected its first chairman; a council of elders held much of the decision-making power ([Wikipedia, Somali National Alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Alliance)).

## The war with UNOSOM II, 1993

On 5 June 1993 an attack on Pakistani peacekeepers in Mogadishu killed 25 soldiers; the UN Security Council's resolution 837 that followed led to open conflict between the SNA and UNOSOM II, which ended after the battle of 3–4 October 1993 (Wikipedia). The UN's side of these events, and the record of who was killed, is told in [The UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/). On 21 September 1993 US forces captured Aidid's financier [Osman Ali Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) ([Wikipedia, Osman Ali Atto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Ali_Atto)).

## The split, 1995–1996

In June 1995 an SNA congress removed Aidid as chairman and chose Osman Ali Atto; later that month Aidid declared himself president of Somalia (Wikipedia). The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, citing *Africa Confidential*, recorded that the two men fell out over setting up sharia courts ([IRB, 12 December 1997, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858)). When Aidid died in August 1996, the Associated Press reported that his faction held about half of south Mogadishu and Atto's forces the other half ([Spokesman-Review, AP, 2 August 1996](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/aug/02/somalia-faction-leader-aidid-dies-he-was-the/)).

In September 1995 SNA forces took Baidoa; the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) was formed that October to oppose them and took the town back in June 1999 ([Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)).

## Hussein Aidid and the end of the alliance, 1996–2002

After his father's death [Hussein Farrah Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/) was elected leader. In 1997 he signed the Cairo agreement with [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/)'s Somali Salvation Alliance; Wikipedia records that it later broke down. In 2001 the SNA became the core of the [Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council](/en/history/somalia-reconciliation-and-restoration-council/), which opposed the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). After talks in Kenya, the transitional assembly voted on 20 January 2002 to fold the SNA into the government, and the alliance was dissolved that year (Wikipedia). See [Rebuilding, 1991–1999](/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/) and [2000–2006](/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/).

## Sources differ

- **Who led it in 1995–1996.** The June 1995 congress chose Atto; Aidid rejected this and declared himself president (Wikipedia).
- **Why the Cairo agreement broke down.** Wikipedia attributes this to Ethiopian pressure on the Somali Salvation Alliance; the sources read for this page give no other account.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, response SOM28291.E (1997): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194858).
- Associated Press, "Somalia faction leader Aidid dies" (1996), via the *Spokesman-Review*: [article](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/aug/02/somalia-faction-leader-aidid-dies-he-was-the/).


---

# UNFPA in Somalia: mothers' health, population data and gender-based violence

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/unfpa-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, works in Somalia on safe childbirth, family planning, gender-based violence and population data. It ran the 2014 Population Estimation Survey and supported the 2020 health survey with the government.

## What it does

UNFPA describes itself as the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, with the mission of a world where "every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled" ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/about-us)). In Somalia its work covers:

- **Mothers' health:** midwives, safe delivery and family planning.
- **Gender-based violence:** services for survivors, and quarterly situation briefs. Its latest covers April to September 2026 ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en)).
- **Female genital mutilation:** campaigns asking parents to pledge not to cut their daughters ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en)).
- **Youth:** UNFPA reports that Somalia launched a Youth, Peace and Security Action Plan, and it has called for youth leadership and women's economic inclusion ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en)).
- **Population data:** UNFPA ran the 2014 Population Estimation Survey and supported the 2020 Somali Health and Demographic Survey with the government ([this site's international bodies page](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)).

## What it reports

UNFPA reports that northern and central Somalia face a compounding crisis of droughts and floods, and that women and girls are taking part in flood preparedness ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by UNFPA for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.7 million |
| 2025 | 7.8 million |
| 2026, to November | 2.4 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## How the work is shared

UNFPA works with the federal [Ministry of Health](/en/institutions/ministry-of-health/), the [Ministry of Family and Human Rights](/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/), the [Ministry of Youth and Sports](/en/institutions/ministry-of-youth-and-sports/) and the [National Bureau of Statistics](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/), which now leads population data work.

## How to use it

The gender-based violence situation briefs and other reports are on UNFPA's Somalia site ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en)).


---

# IOM in Somalia: migration, displacement and stabilisation

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/iom-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The International Organization for Migration works in Somalia on displacement tracking, help for displaced people and migrants, returns, and stabilisation work with the Interior Ministry. Manuel Marques Pereira is its Chief of Mission. OCHA records US$51.5 million of humanitarian funding to IOM in 2024.

## What it does

IOM is the UN migration agency. In Somalia it tracks displacement, helps displaced people and migrants, and supports community stabilisation and recovery with the government ([Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=28490)).

## Who leads it

Somalia's Foreign Ministry says Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi accepted the credentials of Manuel Marques Pereira as IOM Chief of Mission in Somalia ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/foreign-minister-ambassador-ahmed-moalim-fiqi-accepts-the-credentials-of-the-new-iom-chief-of-mission-in-somalia/)). In January 2026 the Interior Ministry's director general held an introductory meeting with him on stabilisation and governance ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/dg/300372/somalias-interior-ministry-director-general-meets-iom-head-to-strengthen-cooperation-on-stabilization-and-governance)). An IOM statement in April 2026 still quotes him in this post ([GlobalSecurity.org, April 2026](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2026/04/mil-260424-iom01.htm)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by IOM for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 51.5 million |
| 2025 | 37.6 million |
| 2026, to November | 14.6 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## What it reports

IOM estimated that about 62,000 people had been displaced by drought across five districts of Somalia since the start of 2026 ([ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/drought-displaces-nearly-62000-somalia-climate-shocks-intensify)). It has called for global action on Somalia's climate crisis ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/regional/190053/somalias-climate-crisis-demands-global-action-says-iom)).

## How the work is shared

IOM works with the [Ministry of Interior](/en/institutions/ministry-of-interior/) on stabilisation, with the [Immigration and Citizenship Agency](/en/institutions/immigration-and-citizenship-agency/) on borders and migration, and with UNHCR on displaced people ([UNHCR in Somalia](/en/institutions/unhcr-somalia/)).


---

# Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-agriculture/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation is responsible for crops, irrigation, seeds, pest control and food security policy. Mohamed Abdi Hayir (Maareeye) is minister. Its 2026 budget was US$63.1 million, mostly World Bank and IFAD project money, and in August 2026 it hosted a national summit on investing in farming.

## What it does

The ministry says its "overarching mandate" is "to address food insecurity, food systems transformative agenda, and end malnutrition and hunger in Somalia" ([Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, About](https://moa.gov.so/about/)). The tasks it lists include (same source):

- rebuilding and running irrigation canals and flood defences, mostly along the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba rivers;
- controlling crop pests and diseases, including desert locusts;
- checking the quality of seeds, fertiliser and farm produce;
- improved seed systems, with drought- and pest-resistant varieties;
- keeping an Agricultural Information Management System of farm data;
- bringing in new farm machines and methods.

Under it sits a small regulator, the **Somali Agricultural Regulatory and Inspection Service**, which has its own budget line of US$36,000 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## Who leads it

Mohamed Abdi Hayir, known as Maareeye, is minister. The Director General is Eng. Mohamed Hassan Abdulle ([NAFIS 2026 communiqué, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 17 August 2026](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/NAFIS-2026-Communique-Final-17Aug.pdf)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation | 45,517,365 | 63,147,963 | 59,777,067 |
| Agricultural Regulatory and Inspection Service | none | 36,000 | 36,000 |

Almost all of this is donor project money passed through the budget. The largest is the World Bank's **Somalia Food Systems Resilience Project** (US$40.0 million in 2025, US$54.7 million budgeted for 2026, US$48.7 million proposed for 2027). The **Rural Livelihoods Resilience Programme**, funded through IFAD and the UN, is budgeted at US$9.1 million for 2027 (same source).

## What it reports doing

- **New headquarters:** the ministry opened a new head office in Mogadishu on 29 June 2026, built under the World Bank's food systems project at an estimated US$1.4 million ([Dawan Africa, 29 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-agriculture-ministry-to-open-dollar14-million-headquarters-in-mogadishu)).
- **Investment summit:** on 11 and 12 August 2026 it held the second National Agri-Food Investment Summit (NAFIS 2026) in Mogadishu, with more than 400 participants. The Prime Minister told the summit that Somalia spent more than US$2.2 billion on food imports in 2025. The ministry's communiqué says Somalia has an estimated 8.9 million hectares of cultivable land and three major river systems, "yet only a small fraction" is in commercial use ([NAFIS 2026 communiqué](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/NAFIS-2026-Communique-Final-17Aug.pdf)).
- **[Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) irrigation:** in 2026 the minister visited farms in Afgooye during a water shortage and promised action to improve irrigation ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-agriculture-inspects-farms-in-afgooye-district/); [Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/301102/somali-agriculture-ministry-pledges-action-to-improve-irrigation-and-boost-crop-production-in-afgooye)).
- **Partners:** the ministry names the IFAD-funded Rural Livelihoods Resilience Programme, the World Bank food systems project, FAO and WFP as its main partners ([NAFIS 2026 communiqué](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/NAFIS-2026-Communique-Final-17Aug.pdf)).
- **Monthly reports:** it publishes a monthly newsletter of its work ([Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, newsletters](https://moa.gov.so/newslettermoai-monthly/)).

## Other records on farming

FAO's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit ([FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)) and its water and land unit (SWALIM) publish independent data on harvests, rain and river levels. For rain records, see [Gu and Deyr rains, 1950 to 2023](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/) and [Rain by region](/en/data/rain-by-region-1991-2023/).

## How the work is shared

Each member state has its own ministry of agriculture; [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) run their own. Livestock and forestry are a separate federal ministry, the Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range.

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development of Somalia (Wasaaradda Qorsheynta)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-planning/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED) writes the country's national development plans, coordinates aid with donors, promotes investment and oversees the national statistics bureau. Its current plan is the National Transformation Plan for 2025 to 2029, approved by the cabinet in February 2025. Mohamud Abdirahman Sheikh Farah "Beenebeene" is minister.

## What it does

- **National plans:** it writes and tracks Somalia's national development plans. The Council of Ministers approved the **National Transformation Plan (NTP) for 2025 to 2029** in February 2025, and the ministry launched it in March 2025 ([MoPIED, cabinet approval](https://mop.gov.so/somalias-cabinet-approves-national-transformation-plan-ntp-2025-2029-advancing-economic-growth-and-stability/); [MoPIED, launch](https://mop.gov.so/?p=7574)). It replaced the Ninth National Development Plan (NDP-9) of 2020 to 2024, and the ministry has published a report on poverty reduction under NDP-9 ([MoPIED](https://mop.gov.so/the-ministry-of-planning-launches-report-on-poverty-reduction-efforts-under-ndp-9/)). See [National Transformation Plan](/en/economy/national-transformation-plan/).
- **Aid coordination:** it coordinates development partners and UN agencies. In 2026 it launched a Somalia Development Cooperation Programme for 2026 to 2030 with UNDP ([MoPIED, June 2026 newsletter](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MONTHLY-NEWSLETTER-JUNE-2026.pdf)). See [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).
- **Member state plans:** it helps align the member states' own plans with the NTP. [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) launched a 2026 to 2030 plan aligned with it (same source), and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) launched its separate Fourth Five-Year Development Plan for 2026 to 2030 ([UNDP Somalia](https://www.undp.org/index%2Ephp/somalia/news/puntland-launches-fourth-five-year-development-plan-2026-2030)).
- **Drought and development:** in 2026 it reviewed progress on the plan alongside the drought response ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-assesses-development-plan-drought-response)).
- **Statistics:** the Somali National Bureau of Statistics reports to the ministry. See [National Bureau of Statistics](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/).
- **Investment:** it promotes private investment. See [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/).

## Who leads it

Mohamud Abdirahman [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Farah "Beenebeene" is minister; the ministry's newsletters of 2026 name him as Mahmoud A. Sheikh Farah ([MoPIED, March 2026 newsletter](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Mopied-Monthly-Newsletter-March-2026.pdf)). In January 2026 the ministry's senior leadership met to review its 2026 work plan ([Radio Dalsan, January 2026](https://radiodalsan.com/2026/01/28/ministry-of-planning-holds-senior-leadership-meeting-to-review-2026-work-plan-and-accelerate-national-transformation-agenda/)).

## How to use it

- **Reports:** the plans and a monthly newsletter are free on mop.gov.so.
- **Data:** for official numbers, use the statistics bureau's publications; see the [Data section](/en/data/gdp-national-accounts-2018-2024/).

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the Statistics Law, under which the statistics bureau sits with the ministry; the ministry's mandate is set by the Council of Ministers.


---

# Somali Democratic Movement (SDM)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-democratic-movement/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) was the political and armed movement of the Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn) of Bay and Bakool, founded in April 1989. In June 1992 one wing was a founding member of General Aidid's Somali National Alliance, while other members leaned to Ali Mahdi. At a congress in March 1993, held under UN guard, members replaced leaders aligned with either faction. After Aidid's forces took Baidoa in 1995, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army took over its role.

## In short

The Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) was the main organisation of the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), often called the Rahanweyn, the Maay-speaking farming and herding communities of Bay and Bakool, from 1989 until the mid-1990s. This page records what the sources say, without taking sides. The region is described in [Baidoa and Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/).

## Founding

Wikipedia's list of civil-war factions gives April 1989 as its founding date, citing [Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/)'s *Historical Dictionary of Somalia* (2003), and lists among its leaders [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/) and M. Ali Dheere ([Wikipedia, Factions in the Somali Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Democratic_Movement)). It was one of the clan-based fronts that formed against the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) in the late 1980s; see [Armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

## In the Somali National Alliance, 1992

On 16 June 1992 a wing of the SDM was one of four movements that founded the [Somali National Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-national-alliance/) at [Bardere](/en/regions/baardheere/), with General [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/)'s wing of the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/) ([Wikipedia, Somali National Alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Alliance)). Other members sided with [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/).

## The 1993 congress and the Baidoa council

The *Christian Science Monitor* reported from Baidoa in September 1993 that, at an SDM congress held under UN guard in March 1993, representatives of both Aidid and Ali Mahdi had been replaced by new leaders aligned with neither. In August 1993 a UN-assisted district council was formed in Baidoa. The activist Hussein M. Idriss called it "the first truly Rahanweyn government since independence"; the elder Malag Moktar pressed the UN on disarmament, saying many weapons remained hidden ([Robert M. Press, *Christian Science Monitor*, 8 September 1993](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0908/08022.html)). See [The UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## After 1995

In March 1995 the Digil and Mirifle set up a Supreme Governing Council in Baidoa. On 17 September 1995 Aidid's forces took the town and ended the council, and on 13 October 1995 the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) was founded to oppose them ([Wikipedia, Rahanweyn Resistance Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn_Resistance_Army)). The RRA took Baidoa in June 1999 and became the region's main armed movement.

## Sources differ

- **Founding.** April 1989 (Mukhtar, via Wikipedia) or "late 1980s"; one list gives 1991.
- **Leaders.** Lists differ, and some names given for the SDM, such as Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, are better known from other movements.
- **Alignment.** Parts of the movement backed Aidid and parts Ali Mahdi; the 1993 congress tried to end both links.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Robert M. Press, "A local council grows in Somalia", *Christian Science Monitor* (1993): [article](https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0908/08022.html).


---

# Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Somalia (Wasaaradda Cadaaladda)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-justice/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs leads the constitutional review, drafts and reviews laws, supports the courts, prisons and legal aid, and proposes members of judicial bodies. Hassan Moalim Mohamud Sheikh Ali is minister. In October 2026 he said putting the newly approved constitution into effect could take up to five years.

## What it does

- **The constitution:** it led the federal side of the 13-year review of the 2012 Provisional Constitution. It welcomed parliament's approval of the amended constitution in 2026 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/ministry-of-justice-welcomes-historic-approval-of-somalias-constitution-after-13-year-review/)), and met the member states' justice ministers on finishing it ([AllAfrica, November 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511130473.html)). In January 2026 it rejected claims that key actors had been left out of the review ([AllAfrica, January 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202601280493.html); [ConstitutionNet](https://constitutionnet.org/fr/node/20026)).
- **Judicial bodies:** it proposes members of judicial bodies. In July 2026 the cabinet approved its nominees to the new Supreme Judicial Council ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-cabinet-approves-nominees-to-supreme-judicial-council)). See [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/).
- **Prisons and justice services:** it works with partners on courts, prisons and legal aid. In August 2026 it marked the close of the UN mission's support to justice and prisons ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/un-mission-concludes-justice-and-prisons-support-in-somalia)). See [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).
- **Training:** it sends officials for training, for example to Egypt on new forms of crime and digital transformation ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-justice-sends-officials-to-egypt-for-capacity-building-on-emerging-crimes-and-digital-transformation/)).

## Who leads it

- **Minister:** Hassan Moalim Mohamud [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali ([Ministry of Justice, the minister](https://moj.gov.so/wasiirka-wasaaradda/)). Spellings of his name vary between sources.
- **State Minister:** Ilyas Sheikh Omar ([Ministry of Justice, state minister](https://moj.gov.so/wasiiru-dowlaha/)).

## In 2026

- **Implementing the constitution:** on 14 October 2026 the minister said putting the new constitution into effect could take up to five years ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/minister-hassan-mohamud-implementing-somalias-constitution-could-take-up-to-five-years)).
- **MPs in the cabinet:** on 26 October 2026 he said that separating members of parliament from the cabinet straight away would create a constitutional vacuum ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/separating-lawmakers-from-cabinet-now-would-create-constitutional-vacuum-justice-minister-says)).
- **The term dispute:** in November 2026 five judges of the Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President and parliament had ended; the Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect. See [Attorney General](/en/institutions/attorney-general/).

## How to use it

- **Laws and the constitution:** the ministry publishes legal texts and news on moj.gov.so; the constitution is on the Constitute Project and ConstitutionNet sites.
- **A court case or complaint about a judge:** go to the court, or to the Supreme Judicial Council for judges' conduct.

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended on 30 March 2024 and 4 March 2026; the ministry's mandate is set by the Council of Ministers.


---

# Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-labour-and-social-affairs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs sets labour law and work permits, runs vocational training, and runs Baxnaano, the national cash safety net paid for mainly by the World Bank. Prof. Salim Aliyow Ibrow has been minister since October 2025. Its budget rises to a proposed US$77.1 million in 2027.

## What it does

The ministry's site says it "is mandated to provide policy direction and guidance on all labour administration and vocational training matters" and "to protect and develop the labour force" ([Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs](https://molsa.gov.so/about-us/)). Its main areas of work:

- **Labour law:** it drafts labour laws and rules on working conditions, and aims "to continually modernize labour legislation with the aim of increasing employment" ([MoLSA](https://molsa.gov.so/)).
- **Work permits:** foreign workers pay a work-permit charge, which raised US$2.69 million in 2025 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).
- **Skills:** it runs technical and vocational training, including the Skills for Employability, Inclusion and Productivity project funded by the African Development Bank ([MoLSA](https://molsa.gov.so/); same Appropriation Act).
- **Social protection:** it runs **Baxnaano**, which pays regular unconditional cash to poor and vulnerable households, and other "social transfers for vulnerable people" ([MoLSA](https://molsa.gov.so/)). See [Baxnaano: Somalia's safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/).
- **Civil service:** in 2026 it worked with the [National Civil Service Commission](/en/institutions/national-civil-service-commission/) on merit-based hiring ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-reviews-study-on-barriers-to-merit-based-civil-service-hiring)).

## Who leads it

Prof. Salim Aliyow Ibrow was appointed minister by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) on 27 October 2025, replacing [Yusuf Mohamed](/en/people/yusuf-mahamud-ibrahim/) Adan ([AllAfrica, October 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510270683.html); [Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/salim-aliyow-ibrow-appointed-minister-after-10-years)). The ministry's site says he was born in [Qoryoley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) District in 1944, is a veterinary scientist, served as acting Prime Minister in 2007, and earlier held the portfolios of justice and religious affairs, energy and water, livestock, finance and higher education ([MoLSA, The Minister](https://molsa.gov.so/the-minister/)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs | 31,535,531 | 73,156,934 | 77,079,444 |

Most of it is the World Bank's social protection money. The project "Building Opportunities and Outcomes in Social Protection and Youth Employment in Somalia", which carries Baxnaano's second phase, is budgeted at US$66.5 million for 2026 and US$70.8 million for 2027. The earlier Shock-Responsive Social Safety Net project brought in US$28.0 million in 2025 and has ended (same source).

## What it reports doing

- **Baxnaano phase 2:** launched in May 2025 to widen cash support and add youth employment ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-launches-baxnaano-phase-2-to-expand-social-protection-and-youth-employment/)).
- **Reviews with partners:** the minister chaired a Baxnaano review meeting with the World Bank in Nairobi ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-labor-chairs-baxnaano-review-meeting-in-nairobi/)) and met WFP on social protection in March 2026 ([AllAfrica, March 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202603100207.html)).
- **Coordination:** it convenes a social protection coordination meeting of government and partners in Mogadishu ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/ministry-of-labor-convenes-social-protection-coordination-meeting-in-mogadishu/)).
- **Regional jobs:** the minister presented a regional employment strategy at an ILO meeting in Cairo ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-minister-of-labor-advances-regional-employment-strategy-at-ilo-summit-in-cairo/)).

## Other records on its work

- The Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU) publicly welcomed the dismissal of an earlier labour minister, saying the minister had disregarded workers' rights ([FESTU](https://www.festu.org/trade-unions-welcome-dismissal-of-minister-of-labour-and-social-affairs-following-disregard-for-human-and-labour-rights-of-somali-workers/)).
- For jobs and pay, see [Jobs in Somalia](/en/economy/jobs-in-somalia/) and [Government jobs and pay](/en/economy/government-jobs-and-pay/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# UNHCR in Somalia: refugees, returnees and displaced people

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/unhcr-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, works in Somalia with refugees and asylum seekers, Somalis returning home and people displaced inside the country, and runs a monitoring network that reports new displacement. OCHA records US$46.4 million of humanitarian funding to UNHCR in 2024 and US$23.8 million in 2025.

## What it does

UNHCR works in Somalia with three groups: refugees and asylum seekers living in Somalia, Somali refugees who return, and Somalis displaced inside the country. It runs the Protection and Return Monitoring Network (PRMN, now PSMN), which reports new displacement, and publishes dashboards on its data portal ([UNHCR data portal](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)).

## Who leads it

On 11 January 2026, Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Ali (Hosh) met Jing Song, described as the new head of UNHCR in Somalia, to discuss displacement and civil registration ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-unhcr-seek-durable-solutions-for-displaced-persons); [Ministry of Interior](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=30609)). An earlier ministry notice names Charles Mballa as UNHCR Country Representative ([Ministry of Interior](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=26537)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by UNHCR for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 46.4 million |
| 2025 | 23.8 million |
| 2026, to November | 10.8 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## What it reports

UNHCR flash alerts in 2026 report, for example, that clashes in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) in March displaced 2,364 people, and that [Dayniile](/en/society/internal-displacement/) district near Mogadishu already hosted about 673,000 displaced people ([UNHCR flash alert via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2138044/Flash%20Alert%20%239_Clashes%20%20in%20Mubarak%20and%20Darusalaam%20Villages%20in%20Lower%20Shabelle%20Displace%20Nearly%202400%20Civilians.pdf)). Its quarterly reports and annual results report for 2025 are public ([UNHCR Q1 2026 report](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/123070); [UNHCR annual results report 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2026-06/unhcr-annual-results-report-2025-somalia.pdf)).

## How the work is shared

UNHCR works with the [Ministry of Interior](/en/institutions/ministry-of-interior/), the national refugee agency (National Commission for Refugees and IDPs), the [disaster management agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) and IOM ([IOM in Somalia](/en/institutions/iom-somalia/)).

## How to use it

Displacement figures by region and month are on the UNHCR data portal ([UNHCR data portal](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)).


---

# Ministry of Ports and Marine Transport of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-ports-and-marine-transport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Ports and Marine Transport makes the rules for ports, ships and seafarers, runs the Somali ship register and represents Somalia at the International Maritime Organization. In April 2026 it registered the first merchant ship under the Somali flag since 1991, and in June 2026 Somalia joined 15 IMO conventions at once. Abdulkadir Omar Moallim became minister in October 2026.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for ports, shipping and the sea lanes. Its work, from its budget and reported activity:

- **Ports:** it oversees Mogadishu port, which is run under concession by the Turkish company Albayrak; the harbour fees it collects were US$38.1 million in 2025, one of the largest single non-tax revenue lines in the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)). The budget also carries a separate line for **[Hamar](/en/regions/mogadishu/) Port** (same source). See [Ports](/en/economy/ports/).
- **The ship register:** it keeps the national register of ships flying the Somali flag, with a technical partner, Somali Ship Register Limited ([Dawan Africa, 2 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-first-merchant-vessel-under-its-flag-since-1991)).
- **Treaties and safety:** it represents Somalia at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and prepares the maritime safety and pollution treaties that the cabinet approves ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-government-approves-maritime-safety-oil-pollution-treaties)).
- **Research and training:** the budget funds **Somali Marine Research**, and in 2026 the government set up a maritime academy ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-establishes-maritime-academy)).

## Who leads it

Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) appointed **Abdulkadir Omar Moallim** minister in October 2026 ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-pm-appoints-abdulkadir-omar-moallim-as-ports-minister)). He replaced **[Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/)**, minister from March 2025, who was elected Speaker of the House of the People on 10 August 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/from-diplomat-to-speaker-abdulkadir-mohamed-nurs-path-to-leading-somalias-house)). Between the two, State Minister Mohamed Abdulkadir Dhucle acted as minister (same sources).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)), where the ministry is listed as "Ministry of Transport and Ports":

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry | 1,503,888 | 2,587,240 | 1,872,880 |
| Hamar Port | 918,100 | 1,032,200 | 1,080,200 |
| Somali Marine Research | 590,544 | 594,548 | 638,528 |

## What it reports doing

- **First ship on the flag since 1991:** on 1 April 2026 the merchant ship **Guney** (IMO 8230417) was entered on the register. The minister said: "This is the first time since the state collapse that a ship has been registered under Somalia's flag" ([Dawan Africa, 2 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-first-merchant-vessel-under-its-flag-since-1991)). Earlier, the minister signed a memorandum to launch the national ship registry ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-ports-signs-mou-to-launch-national-ship-registry/)).
- **15 IMO conventions:** on 26 June 2026 Somalia deposited its accession to 15 IMO conventions at once, including SOLAS, MARPOL, COLREG, STCW, SAR and the Nairobi wreck removal convention. The minister said Somalia had ratified three maritime treaties before this ([Maritime Africa, June 2026](https://maritimafrica.com/en/somalia-accedes-to-15-international-maritime-conventions-marking-a-historic-milestone/)).
- **Regional port checks:** it welcomed approval of a regional port state control agreement on ship safety ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/300079/somali-minister-of-ports-welcomes-approval-of-regional-port-state-control-agreement-to-boost-maritime-safety)).
- **Partners:** it signed maritime cooperation agreements with [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-turkey-sign-maritime-cooperation-deals); [Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-turkiye-ink-maritime-cooperation-deal/3821615)) and the cabinet approved one with Egypt ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-cabinet-approves-maritime-cooperation-deal-with-egypt)). In 2026 the Turkish line Akkon started a direct service to Mogadishu ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/turkish-shipping-firm-akkon-lines-launches-direct-service-to-mogadishu-port)).

## How the work is shared

Somalia's other big ports are run outside the federal ministry: Berbera by [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) with DP World, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) with P&O Ports, and Kismayo by [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/). See [Ports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026, and the maritime laws and IMO conventions Somalia has joined.


---

# UNDP in Somalia: governance, elections, justice and climate

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/undp-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN Development Programme supports Somalia's parliament, courts, electoral commission, local government and climate work. Its country programme for 2026 to 2030 was launched on 21 June 2026. Christophoros Politis became Resident Representative in August 2026.

## What it does

UNDP supports the institutions of the state rather than giving emergency aid. Its work in Somalia covers parliament, the courts, the electoral commission, local government, jobs and climate resilience ([this site's international bodies page](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/); [UNDP Somalia](https://www.undp.org/somalia/press-releases/new-project-boost-climate-resilience-across-17-cities-somalia)). It reports a project to build climate resilience across 17 Somali cities ([UNDP Somalia](https://www.undp.org/somalia/press-releases/new-project-boost-climate-resilience-across-17-cities-somalia)).

## The 2026 to 2030 programme

UNDP launched a new five-year country programme for Somalia on 21 June 2026 ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/node/594586)). UNDP said the programme "positions UNDP to address Somalia's complex development challenges more effectively" ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/speeches/new-country-programme-positions-undp-address-somalias-complex-development-challenges-more-effectively)). Its 2025 annual report is public ([UNDP Somalia annual report 2025](https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2026-05/somali-annual_report_2025-final-spread.pdf)).

## Who leads it

UNDP says Christophoros Politis presented his credentials as Resident Representative on 11 August 2026; he was previously deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine and Tajikistan ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/press-releases/undp-reaffirms-commitment-somalias-transformation-new-resident-representative-presents-credentials)). Lionel Laurens held the post from 2023, after four years as UNDP's Resident Representative in Zambia ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/speeches/new-country-programme-positions-undp-address-somalias-complex-development-challenges-more-effectively)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by UNDP for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.1 million |
| 2025 | 3.4 million |
| 2026, to November | 0 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

FTS records humanitarian funding only, so development projects may not appear in these figures. In May 2026 UNDP called for more investment in jobs and services as shocks deepened ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/node/582851)).

## How the work is shared

UNDP works with the [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/), the [courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/), the [independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/) including the electoral commission, the [Ministry of Planning](/en/institutions/ministry-of-planning/) and the [Ministry of Environment and Climate Change](/en/institutions/ministry-of-environment-and-climate-change/).


---

# Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-fisheries-and-blue-economy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy licenses fishing in Somalia's waters, registers fishing boats and sets fisheries policy. Ahmed Hassan Aden is minister. Foreign fishing licences now go through SOMTURK, a partnership with Türkiye's OYAK group, and fishing licence income in the budget rises from US$535,000 in 2025 to a planned US$6.8 million in 2027.

## What it does

The ministry describes its focus as "strengthening Somalia's blue economy through sustainable fisheries development, community empowerment, and inclusive growth" ([Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy](https://mfbe.gov.so)). It was earlier called the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources. Its main jobs:

- **Licences:** only the federal ministry may issue licences for fishing in Somalia's Exclusive Economic Zone. In March 2026 it issued Government Notice MFBE008 on licence and levy fees for foreign vessels ([MFBE, foreign fishing licences, March 2026](https://mfbe.gov.so/uploads/documents/1775368131_F-_Foreign_fishing_licenses_-March_2026__1_.pdf)). It has published standard procedures for licensing ([MFBE, licensing procedures](https://mfbe.gov.so/blog/2024/07/23/ministry-of-fisheries-and-blue-economy-standard-operating-procedures-for-fishing-vessel-licensing-and-guidelines-and-requirements-for-local-licensing/)).
- **Local fishers:** Somali fishers, businesses and boats register and get licences and certificates through its online Fisheries Services Portal ([MFBE](https://mfbe.gov.so)).
- **Foreign vessels:** **SOMTURK** is the ministry's exclusive service provider for foreign licensing, while the ministry keeps the power to regulate (same source). SOMTURK is a partnership with the Turkish group OYAK ([MFBE](https://mfbe.gov.so); [Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-turkeys-oyak-seal-lucrative-fisheries-deal)).
- **Training and markets:** it trains fishers in handling, processing and quality control (same source), and has worked on tariff-free fish exports to China ([The EastAfrican](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/somalia-to-export-fish-to-china-under-tariff-free-deal-5558546); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-exempt-fish-exporters-to-china-from-taxes)).

## Who leads it

Ahmed Hassan Aden is minister ([MFBE](https://mfbe.gov.so); [Dawan Africa, 26 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-fisheries-investment-as-national-fisheries-week-opens-in-mogadishu)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Fisheries | 7,549,104 | 18,406,040 | 14,595,280 |
| Offshore Fisheries Development Project | 83,061 | 112,776 | 112,776 |

The World Bank's Somali Sustainable Fisheries Development Project pays for most of it: US$6.6 million in 2025 and US$13.1 million proposed for 2027. On the income side, **fishing licence fees** brought in US$535,000 in 2025; the budget expects US$5.29 million in 2026 and US$6.77 million in 2027 (same source).

## What it reports doing

- **Licences to Turkish vessels:** on 3 April 2026 it announced an international fishing licence for the Turkish vessel Ergun Reis A ([MFBE news](https://mfbe.gov.so/news.php)).
- **Ranking:** in September 2026 it said it ranked second among 12 economic-sector ministries in a government performance assessment (same source).
- **Fisheries Week:** it held the third National Fisheries Week in Mogadishu on 26 and 27 October 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-fisheries-investment-as-national-fisheries-week-opens-in-mogadishu)).
- **El Niño warning:** in October 2026 it ran awareness work for fishers ahead of the 2026 El Niño ([MFBE](https://mfbe.gov.so)).
- **Partners:** it set up joint fisheries committees with [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-turkiye-launch-fisheries-cooperation-committees)) and held talks with Italy ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-italy-discuss-fisheries-cooperation-in-rome)).

## Other records on fishing

Reports on foreign boats fishing without licences in Somali waters go back decades. A January 2026 report in ADF Magazine describes the damage illegal foreign fishing does to Somali fish stocks ([ADF Magazine, January 2026](https://adf-magazine.com/2026/01/illegal-fishing-by-foreign-vessels-decimates-somali-fish-stocks/)). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) runs its own campaign against illegal fishing ([AllAfrica, April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604220286.html)). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## Its legal basis

The Fisheries Law, the government notices it issues under that law, and its mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI), 1983–1997

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI, 'the Islamic Union') was a Salafi Islamist movement formed in 1983 by the merger of two older groups, with Sheikh Ali Warsame as its first leader. After 1991 it fought for and briefly held Bosaso and Marka, ran Gedo from Luuq in the mid-1990s, and fought Ethiopia in the Ogaden. Ethiopian operations in 1996–97 pushed it out of Gedo; it then gave up armed struggle. Several later leaders of the Islamic Courts and al-Shabaab began in it. The US designated it in 2001.

## In short

Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya was the first large armed Islamist movement in modern Somalia. Many of the people who later led the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) and [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) passed through it, though the movement itself ended its armed campaign in 1997. The wider story of Islamist movements is told in [Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000–2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Founding

Wikipedia, drawing on Afyare Abdi Elmi's *[Understanding the Somalia Conflagration](/en/books/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi/)* (2010), records that AIAI formed in 1983 from a merger of [Wahdat al-Shabaab al-Islami](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/) (Union of Islamic Youth) and al-Jama'a al-Islamiya (the Islamic Group). Its founder and first leader was [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) [Ali Warsame](/en/people/ali-haji-warsame/). In the years after the Ogaden war it ran Islamic schools in refugee camps, and it became public in 1989 ([Wikipedia, Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya)). The Library of Congress describes the growth of Islamist movements in this period ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, Rising Islamism](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/50.htm)).

## Leaders

- **Sheikh Ali Warsame**, 1983–1992.
- **Sheikh Abdullahi Bade**, chairman, killed in August 1992.
- **Sheikh Abdulsalam Osman**, chosen in 1992.
- **[Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/)**, named as a leader when the US sanctioned him in November 2001.
- **[Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki](/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/)**, named as a leader when the US designated him in June 2004.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya), citing the US State Department)

## After 1991

In 1992 AIAI took control of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and ran the port of Marka. SSDF forces under [Abdullahi Yusuf](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) drove it out of Bosaso that year ([Wikipedia, Somali Salvation Democratic Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)). See [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/). It also fought the United Somali Congress at Arare bridge ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya)).

In January 1993 its leaders told the *New York Times* that they saw the US-led force as an occupation ([New York Times, 15 January 1993](https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/15/world/islamic-militants-pushed-aside-express-anger-in-somali-port.html)).

## Luuq and Gedo, 1991–1996

By 1994 AIAI administered [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) from Luuq, applying sharia in place of customary law and introducing free schooling ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya)). The [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/), with Ethiopian backing, fought it there.

## War with Ethiopia

AIAI also operated in Ethiopia's Somali region. Ethiopian forces ambushed its leadership on 11 August 1992; a ceasefire at the end of that year broke down in 1994, when AIAI fought alongside the [Ogaden National Liberation Front](/en/institutions/ogaden-national-liberation-front/). In 1996 it was linked to an attempt on the life of an Ethiopian minister. Ethiopian and local forces then drove its remaining fighters into the disputed border areas ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya), citing Alex de Waal, *Islamism and Its Enemies in the Horn of Africa*, 2004).

## The end of the armed wing, 1997

In 1997 AIAI renounced armed struggle in Somalia and divided into centres in Mogadishu, Bosaso and Hargeisa. Many members moved into schools, health work and business. A non-armed successor, al-I'tisam, formed around 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya)).

## Links to later movements

The Council on Foreign Relations records that hardliners from AIAI joined the Islamic Courts Union in the early 2000s as its youth militia, which became al-Shabaab, and that Osama bin Laden partly funded and armed AIAI in the 1990s ([Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that al-Shabaab's first leader, [Aden Hashi Ayro](/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/), was in AIAI from 1991 to 1997 ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## Designations

The US froze AIAI's funds on 24 September 2001 and listed it as a terrorist organisation on 7 November 2001; the UK and [New Zealand](/en/diaspora/new-zealand/) followed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya)).

## Sources differ

- **Founding year.** 1983 in most accounts; some give 1984.
- **How far later movements continued it.** Some writers treat al-Shabaab as AIAI's direct heir; others stress that AIAI as a body gave up arms in 1997 and that many members took peaceful paths.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- International Crisis Group, *Somalia's Islamists* (2005): [PDF](https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/somalia-s-islamists.pdf).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Rising Islamism](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/50.htm).


---

# AMISOM, the African Union Mission in Somalia, 2007–2022

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/amisom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> AMISOM was the African Union's military and police mission in Somalia from 2007 to March 2022. Uganda sent the first troops in March 2007; Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone followed. At its peak the UN authorised more than 22,000 personnel. With the Somali army it pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 and out of the main southern ports by 2014. It was replaced by ATMIS on 1 April 2022.

## In short

AMISOM was the largest African Union operation of its time. It was created after Ethiopia's army and the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) drove the Islamic Courts out of Mogadishu in December 2006 (see [The Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/)). It was followed by [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) in 2022 and by [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/) in 2025. Other foreign bodies in the country are listed in [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## Mandate

The AU Peace and Security Council approved AMISOM on 19 January 2007 with a six-month mandate. The UN Security Council endorsed it in February 2007 and renewed it many times ([Wikipedia, African Union Mission to Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia)). The Council on Foreign Relations records that Uganda was the first contributor and kept the largest contingent ([Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).

## Troops

The UN raised the authorised ceiling from 12,000 (2010) to 17,731 (February 2012) and 22,126 (from 2014), and set a reduction to 19,626 by February 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia), citing UN Security Council resolutions 2036, 2124 and 2472). CFR put the force at about 20,000 in 2022 ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).

Late in the mission the contingents were (Wikipedia, citing AMISOM figures):

| Country | Troops |
|---|---|
| Uganda | 6,223 |
| Burundi | 5,432 |
| Ethiopia | 4,395 |
| Kenya | 3,664 |
| Djibouti | 960 |
| Police (Nigeria, Ghana and others) | about 250 |

Sierra Leone sent about 850 troops but withdrew them during the Ebola epidemic (same source).

## Commanders

Force commanders included Major General Levi Karuhanga of Uganda (2007–2008), Major General Francis Okello of Uganda (2008–2009), Lieutenant General Osman Noor Soubagleh of Djibouti (2016–2018), Lieutenant General Jim Beesigye Owoyesigire of Uganda (2018–2019), Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn of Ethiopia (2019–2020) and Lieutenant General Diomede Ndegeya of Burundi (2020–2021). Francisco Madeira of Mozambique was the AU's special representative from 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia)).

## Main operations

- **Mogadishu, 2010–2011.** Ugandan and Burundian troops with Somali forces pushed al-Shabaab out of the capital; it announced a withdrawal in August 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia); [CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).
- **Kenya, October 2011.** Kenya sent its army into southern Somalia in [Operation Linda Nchi](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/) and later joined AMISOM; Kenyan forces and Somali allies took Kismayo in 2012 ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).
- **[Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), May 2012.** Operation Free [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).
- **[Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/), August–October 2014.** Operation Indian Ocean, with Somali forces and US support, took the port of Barawe ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia)).

## Losses

The AU did not publish full casualty figures. Wikipedia, drawing on SIPRI and press reports, lists more than 550 known deaths, while saying the true number is likely much higher. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) overran several bases, among them [Janaale](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/) (1 September 2015, Ugandan troops), El Adde (15 January 2016, Kenyan troops, 141 killed according to Stanford's Mapping Militants project) and Bulamarer (1 April 2018, 46 killed) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia); [Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). On 17 September 2009 a suicide bombing at its headquarters killed the deputy force commander, Major General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza of Burundi (Wikipedia).

## Funding

The European Union paid troop allowances, the UN provided logistics through its support office, and the United States spent several billion dollars over a decade training and equipping AMISOM and Somali forces ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia); [CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). In 2007 the first pledges were US$40 million from the US, €15 million from the EU and US$11.6 million from the AU (Wikipedia).

## Record of abuses

In September 2014 Human Rights Watch published *"The Power These Men Have Over Us"*, based on 50 interviews including 21 Somali women and girls, almost all displaced. It documented 10 cases of rape or sexual assault and 14 of sexual exploitation, mostly at the main AMISOM base near Mogadishu airport, run largely by Ugandan troops, and at the Burundian base in the national university compound. Troop-sending countries have sole jurisdiction over their soldiers, and Human Rights Watch found only two investigations since 2012, neither ending in a conviction. It reported that AMISOM at first denied or played down the allegations ([Human Rights Watch, 8 September 2014](https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/09/08/power-these-men-have-over-us/sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-african-union-forces)).

## The end of AMISOM

The UN Security Council's last extension ran to 31 March 2022. On 1 April 2022 the mission became the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Mission_to_Somalia)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder (updated 2022): [page](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab).
- Human Rights Watch, "The Power These Men Have Over Us" (2014): [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/09/08/power-these-men-have-over-us/sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-african-union-forces).


---

# Attorney General of Somalia: the federal prosecution service

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/attorney-general/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Office of the Attorney General is Somalia's federal prosecution service: it brings criminal cases to court, gives the government legal advice and reports to parliament each year. It handled 2,645 cases in its latest published count, settling 28 percent itself and sending 35 percent to court. Suleiman Mohamed Mahmoud is Attorney General.

## What it does

The Attorney General leads the federal prosecution service. The office decides which crimes to take to court, presents the case for the state, and advises the government on the law. The 2012 constitution names the Attorney General as one of three **independent offices**, with the Auditor General and the Central Bank, and says the federal government and each member state should have one ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 114, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

The constitution also gives the office other roles:

- **Reporting:** the Attorney General must send a yearly report to both houses of parliament and to the public ([Article 111J(6)](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).
- **Complaints against officials:** the Ombudsman can pass a complaint about an official, including one suspected of corruption, to the Attorney General to prosecute ([Article 111J(5)](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).
- **Judges:** the Attorney General sits on the body that oversees judges. Under the 2026 constitution that is the Supreme Judicial Council ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-cabinet-approves-nominees-to-supreme-judicial-council)).

## The cases it handles

The federal office's case count, published by the national statistics bureau ([SNBS, Somalia Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.19](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

| Case type | Cases | Settled by the office | Settled by courts | Still open |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Property and assets | 860 | 290 | 310 | 260 |
| Killing and assault | 570 | 235 | 160 | 175 |
| Drugs and substances | 333 | 69 | 135 | 129 |
| Gender-based violence | 297 | 55 | 145 | 97 |
| Road traffic | 253 | 80 | 98 | 75 |
| Financial crimes | 212 | 7 | 20 | 185 |
| Human trafficking | 79 | 9 | 24 | 46 |
| Maritime crimes | 41 | 0 | 36 | 5 |
| **All cases** | **2,645** | **28%** | **35%** | **37%** |

Financial crimes are the slowest to close: 185 of 212 were still open. The office reported more than 250 cases of money laundering and terrorist financing, and about $1 million frozen in accounts ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/office-of-the-attorney-general-probes-over-250-cases-freezes-1-million-in-crackdown-on-terror-financing/)).

## Prosecutors in the member states and Somaliland

Each member state and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own attorney general's office. Cases they reported, and the share closed ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Table 2.20](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- Somaliland: 28,563 cases, 97 percent closed
- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/): 4,440 cases, 90 percent closed
- South West: 967 cases, 79 percent closed
- [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/): 410 cases, 84 percent closed
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/): 183 cases, 74 percent closed
- [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/): 63 cases, 67 percent closed

These are cases recorded by each office. They show how much each system records, which is not the same as how much crime there is. Many disputes in all areas are settled through xeer and elders instead. See [Xeer: Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## Who leads it

[Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) Mohamed Mahmoud is Attorney General. In January 2026 he chaired a two-day review of the office's 2025 work and its plans for 2026, with all prosecution departments ([SONNA, 27 January 2026](https://sonna.so/en/office-of-the-attorney-general-presents-2025-achievements-and-2026-plans/)).

In November 2026 the office said a ruling by five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division, on the end of the terms of the President and parliament, had no legal effect ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-swears-in-new-supreme-court-chief-amid-dispute-over-governments-term); [The Standard](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/africa/article/2001561886/somalia-ag-rejects-supreme-court-decision-on-president-mohamuds-term-end)). See [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/).

## How to use it

- **Report a crime:** go to the nearest police station, which passes cases to the prosecutor. In Mogadishu, cases go to the Banadir courts.
- **Corruption by an official:** report it to the [Anti-Corruption Commission](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/), which can pass it on for prosecution.

## Its legal basis

Article 114 and Article 111J of the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the attorney general laws of each member state and of Somaliland.


---

# International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/icrc-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The International Committee of the Red Cross first worked in Somalia in 1942 and has been there permanently since 1977. It has 12 offices, works with the Somali Red Crescent Society, visits detainees and reunites families. OCHA records US$40.4 million of humanitarian funding to the ICRC in 2024.

## What it does

The ICRC says it first carried out work in Somalia in 1942 and has kept a permanent presence since 1977 ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/somalia)). It is a neutral, independent humanitarian organisation whose mandate comes from the Geneva Conventions. In Somalia it reports:

- emergency help, including cash assistance;
- support for people to earn a living again, for example fishing as a new source of income during drought;
- visits to people in detention;
- restoring contact between separated family members;
- promoting and monitoring respect for international humanitarian law ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/somalia)).

## Where it works

## Work with the Somali Red Crescent

The ICRC says it works alongside the [Somali Red Crescent Society](/en/institutions/somali-red-crescent-society/) to help people affected by "decades of armed conflict and climatic shocks" ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/somalia)).

## The money

OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) records humanitarian funding that donors and agencies report to it. It is not the whole budget of an organisation, and recent years are still being filled in. FTS lists these amounts received by the ICRC for work in Somalia ([OCHA FTS](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Humanitarian funding recorded (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 40.4 million |
| 2025 | 25.8 million |
| 2026, to November | 15.1 million |

The same figures for 212 organisations are on [this site's aid funding list](/en/institutions/aid-organisations-funding-2024-2026/).

## What it reports

On 13 October 2026 the ICRC warned that El Niño flood risks could bring further hardship to millions in Somalia. Its [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) head of office has described people displaced both by fighting and by drought ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/somalia)).

## How to use it

People looking for a missing relative can ask the ICRC or the Somali Red Crescent for help through the family links service ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/somalia)).


---

# Somalia's independent commissions: what each one does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/independent-commissions/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's constitution sets up independent commissions to do jobs that should not depend on the government of the day: protecting human rights, fighting corruption, drawing state boundaries, running elections, settling disputes between governments and overseeing judges. Several now have members, including the Anti-Corruption Commission (2021), the electoral commission (2024) and the Human Rights Commission.

## Why there are independent commissions

Chapter 10 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution says Somalia shall have independent commissions at both federal and member-state level. Their duties and numbers are set by laws passed by both houses of parliament, and the member states must be consulted when commissioners are chosen ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 111, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

Most commissioners are chosen the same way. The relevant minister proposes names. The Council of Ministers approves them. The relevant house of parliament approves them. The President then formally appoints them ([Article 112](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

The constitution also names three **independent offices** that every level of government should have: the Attorney General, the Auditor General and the Central Bank ([Article 114](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Each has its own page.

## The commissions, one by one

**Human Rights Commission.** It promotes and monitors human rights, investigates and reports on abuses, seeks redress for victims, does research and teaches officials and the public about rights. It has at most nine members ([Article 111B](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). The House of the People approved a new set of nine members in October 2025; they choose their own chair ([Dawan Africa, October 2025](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-approves-members-of-the-independent-national-human-rights-commission)). Its chair also sits on the Supreme Judicial Council ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-cabinet-approves-nominees-to-supreme-judicial-council)).

**Anti-Corruption Commission.** It investigates corruption in the public sector, on a complaint or on its own initiative. It can freeze, seize and return the proceeds of crime. Its scope covers bribery of officials, embezzlement, trading in influence, abuse of office and illicit enrichment ([Article 111C](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Its nine members were sworn in by the Chief Justice in April 2021 and elected Mohamed Hussein Hamud as chair on 4 May 2021 ([Horn Observer, May 2021](https://hornobserver.com/articles/888/Somalia-Independent-Anti-Corruption-Commission-elects-its-Chairperson-and-Deputy)).

**National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC).** The constitution gives the electoral commission the job of registering voters and candidates, drawing constituencies, regulating parties and settling election disputes ([Article 111G](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Parliament passed the law setting up the NIEBC in November 2024 ([ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)). Its chair is Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan. In 2025 it registered 918,890 people across Mogadishu's 16 districts, the first such registration in decades ([Dawan Africa, 2025](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-registers-923000-voters-in-mogadishu)). In 2026 it opened offices with the national ID agency in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and began registration in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Dawan Africa, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-electoral-commission-launches-voter-registration-in-mahadaay)). It also appointed a registrar of political parties ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-electoral-commission-appoints-political-party-registrar)).

**Boundaries and Federation Commission.** It studies maps, population and economic data and advises parliament on the borders of federal member states. Parliament makes the final decision ([Article 111E](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). The 2024 law gave the electoral commission the name "Electoral and Boundaries Commission", joining the two jobs in its title.

**Inter-State Commission.** It helps the federal and state governments work together and settle administrative and political disputes. The Prime Minister appoints members, and each state appoints at least as many ([Article 111F](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

**Judicial Service Commission.** It advises on hiring, discipline and removal of judges and protects the courts' independence ([Article 111A](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Under the 2026 constitution this work sits with the Supreme Judicial Council. See [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/).

**Parliamentary Service Commission.** It runs the services, staff and budget of parliament. The two Speakers lead it, with four House members and two Upper House members, at least three of them women, and one outside expert ([Article 111D](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

**National Security Commission.** It is meant to design a national security framework, put human security first and give the public a way to follow security spending ([Article 111H](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

**Truth and Reconciliation Commission.** It is meant to help national healing by recording what happened, supporting reparation and promoting forgiveness. Elders, members of parliament, civil society, judges and security staff should all sit on it ([Article 111I](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

**Ombudsman.** An office that investigates complaints of abuse of power, unfair treatment or corruption by any public officer, from a ministry to the police. The Ombudsman serves seven years ([Article 111J](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## The review commission

A separate body, the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission (ICRIC), drafted the 2024 and 2026 amendments to the constitution ([ConstitutionNet, April 2026](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)).

## How to use them

- **A rights complaint:** take it to the Human Rights Commission in Mogadishu, or to the human rights body of your state. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) have their own.
- **A corruption report:** the Anti-Corruption Commission can act on complaints from anyone.
- **Registration:** the NIEBC registers people at district centres, often alongside the national ID agency. See [National ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/).

## Its legal basis

Chapter 10 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution (Articles 111 to 114), the laws that set up each commission, and the 2024 electoral laws.


---

# Institutions of Jubaland, South West, Galmudug and Hirshabelle: parliaments, leaders and courts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Each of Somalia's southern and central member states has its own parliament, president, cabinet, courts and attorney general. In 2026 Galmudug (89 seats) and Hirshabelle (99 seats) elected their parliaments by one-person-one-vote for the first time, and South West elected a 95-seat assembly in a party vote. Jubaland's 75 members, chosen through elders, serve from 2025 to 2030. Each parliament elects the state's president.

## How a member state is built

Under Somalia's constitution, two or more regions may join to form a federal member state, and each state has its own constitution, parliament, president and cabinet ([Provisional Constitution 2012, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). The pattern is the same in all four states on this page: a single-house parliament makes the state's laws and elects the state president, who appoints a cabinet of state ministers. For each state's history, land and past leaders, see [Federal member states](/en/states/federal-member-states/). For [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), see [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/).

## At a glance

| State | Capital | Seats | How the current members were chosen | Speaker | President |
|---|---|---:|---|---|---|
| Jubaland | Kismaayo (working) | 75 | Nominated by traditional elders, for 2025 to 2030 | Abdi Mohamed Abdirahman | Ahmed Mohamed Islam "Madobe" |
| South West | Baidoa (working) | 95 | Party vote, 2026 | Mahad Mohamed Sheikh Hassan | Adan Mohamed Nur "Madobe" |
| Galmudug | Dhuusamarreeb | 89 | One-person-one-vote, 2026 | Hussein Mohamed Nur Mohamed | Liban Ahmed Hassan |
| Hirshabelle | Jowhar | 99 | One-person-one-vote, 30 September 2026 | Abdihakim Luqman Haji Mohamed | Ali Abdullahi Hussein "Gudlawe" |

Sources are given in each state's section below.

## Jubaland

- **Constitution:** a provisional constitution approved on 2 April 2013 by a conference of more than 500 delegates in Kismaayo ([Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)). In late 2025 the speaker announced that parliament had amended it to replace the words "Federal Member State" with "Jubbaland State" ([Somali Guardian](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalias-jubaland-withdraws-from-federal-system-calls-itself-independent-government/); [Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/jubbaland-rebrands-its-status-tensions-mogadishu-surge)).
- **Parliament:** in November 2024 Jubaland's electoral commission published the names of 75 members for 2025 to 2030, nominated by their traditional elders ([Halqabsi, November 2024](https://halqabsi.com/2024/11/jubaland-electoral-commission-publishes-list-of-new-regional-parliament-members)). Abdi Mohamed Abdirahman was elected speaker with 65 votes to 7 ([SBC](https://allsbc.com/?p=5933)).
- **President:** parliament re-elected [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) on 25 November 2024, after it changed the constitution to allow a third term. The federal government did not accept the vote and Jubaland suspended ties ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/jubaland%20constitutional%20amendments/55697/jubaland-parliament-allows-president-ahmed-madobe-to-seek-third-term); [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)).

## South West State

- **Parliament:** the Third Parliament has 95 seats. In the 2026 vote the [Justice and Solidarity Party](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/) (JSP) won 51 of 95 seats and 67,970 votes, 53 percent of valid ballots. On 4 June 2026 the assembly elected Mahad Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Hassan speaker with 70 votes to 25, Adan Hassan Mohamed first deputy (82 votes) and Shamso Mohamed Yarow second deputy (73 votes) ([Dawan Africa, 5 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/jsp-sweeps-south-west-state-assembly-leadership-elections)).
- **Two votes in 2026:** in March 2026 a 95-member assembly had re-elected Ali Said Fiqi as speaker and [Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) "Laftagareen" as president with 66 votes ([Kaab TV](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=18366)). The federal government called that vote unconstitutional. South West cut ties with the federal government on 17 March 2026; federal forces took Baidoa on 30 March and the state leader resigned ([South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)).
- **President:** Adan Mohamed Nur "Madobe", until then Speaker of the federal House of the People, was elected on 10 June 2026 with 88 of 90 votes cast ([AllAfrica, June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606100614.html)).

## Galmudug

- **Parliament:** 89 seats. The members were elected by one-person-one-vote, in a vote held twice, with nearly 200,000 ballots cast, and sworn in on 16 October 2026. The National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ran the vote, and its chairman, Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, spoke of a five-year term ([Dawan Africa, 17 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/89-new-galmudug-state-lawmakers-sworn-in-after-direct-vote)). JSP won 67 of the 89 seats in the 30 September 2026 rerun and Sincad 7 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/liban-ahmed-hassan-elected-galmudug-leader-pledges-to-serve-all-residents)).
- **Speaker:** Hussein Mohamed Nur Mohamed, elected on 18 October 2026 with 79 votes; deputies Abdulkadir Ahmed Ali Quri and [Mursal](/en/society/murusade/) Abdi Adan Elmi, each with 87 votes ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/galmudug-parliament-elects-new-speaker-and-two-deputies)). The previous speaker was Mohamed Nur Gacal.
- **President:** parliament elected Liban Ahmed Hassan on 22 October 2026 ([Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/)).

## Hirshabelle

- **Parliament:** 99 seats, elected directly on 30 September 2026, the first time [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)'s members were chosen by one-person-one-vote. They were sworn in at Jowhar on 20 October 2026 in the presence of the national electoral commission ([Dawan Africa, 21 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hirshabelle-parliament-sworn-in-after-historic-direct-elections)).
- **Speaker:** Abdihakim Luqman Haji Mohamed, speaker since 4 November 2020, was re-elected on 22 October 2026. Abdirahman Abdi Iidow and Jama Ali Mohamud were elected deputies unopposed ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/abdihakim-luqman-re-elected-speaker-of-hirshabelle-parliament)). The first speaker was [Sheikh Osman](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/) Barre.
- **President:** Ali Gudlawe was re-elected with 81 votes in October 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/guudlawe-re-elected-as-leader-of-somalias-hirshabelle-state-with-81-votes)).

## Courts, prosecutors and civil servants

Each state has its own courts and attorney general. The national statistics bureau's latest counts ([SNBS](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/), Facts and Figures 2024, Tables 2.20 and 2.23 ([SNBS](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf))):

| State | Cases at the attorney general | Share closed | Civil servants | Of whom women |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| South West | 967 | 79% | 166 | 23 |
| Galmudug | 410 | 84% | 175 | 43 |
| Jubaland | 183 | 74% | 699 | 124 |
| Hirshabelle | 63 | 67% | 152 | 28 |

For comparison, Puntland reported 4,440 cases and 4,130 civil servants, and the federal government 2,645 cases and 5,751 civil servants. See the [federal Attorney General](/en/institutions/attorney-general/).

## How to use them

- **State services:** IDs, land, local courts and state taxes are handled by state ministries and district administrations.
- **A court case:** start at the district court; appeals go to the state's appeal court.

## Its legal basis

Article 49 and Chapter 5 of the [Provisional Constitution of Somalia](/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/), as amended in 2024 and 2026; each state's own constitution.


---

# Ministers of Defence of Somalia, 1960 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministers-of-defence-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has had more than 25 defence ministers since 1960. Ahmed Moalim Fiqi has held the post since April 2025. Under military rule, Mohamed Ali Samatar held it from 1971 to the late 1980s. Some dates are known only to the year.

## In short

The list joins the Wikipedia table of defence ministers with the position-held records in Wikidata. Where only a year is known, only the year is shown. Gaps in the list (1991 to 2004, 2017 to 2020) are periods the two sources do not cover; a listing of ministers in those years is part of our upgrade queue. ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Somali Republic, 1960 to 1969

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal) | 22 July 1960 to 1961 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Ali Ismail Yacqub (Cali Ismaaciil Yacquub) | 1961 to 1962 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Hilowle Moalin Mohamed (Hilowle Macallin Maxamed) | 1962 to 1964 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Aden Isaq Ahmed (Aadan Isaaq Axmed) | 1964 to 1966 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Abdirahman Haji Mumin (Cabdiraxmaan Xaaji Muumin) | 1966 to 1967 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Haji Yusuf Iman Guled (Xaaji Yuusuf Iimaan Guuleed) | 1967 to 1969 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Hilowle Moalin Mohamed (Hilowle Macallin Maxamed) | 1969 to 1970 | second time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |

## Somali Democratic Republic, 1969 to 1991

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Salaad Gabeyre Kediye](/en/people/salaad-gabeyre-kediye/) | April 1970 to July 1970 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/) (Maxamed Cali Samatar) | 6 August 1971 to 1987 | Wikidata dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Ali Ismail Yacqub (Cali Ismaaciil Yacquub) | October 1981 to 1982 | Wikipedia dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29) |
| Aden Abdullahi Nur (Aadan Cabdullaahi Nuur) | 1986 to January 1991 | Wikidata gives 1986 to 1988; Wikipedia gives 1989 to January 1991 | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman (Xuseen Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan) | 1989 to 1990 | Wikidata dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/) (Maxamed Siciid Xirsi Moorgan) | 1990 to 26 January 1991 | Wikidata dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |

## Transitional governments, 2004 to 2012

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdirahman Mahmud Ali (Cabdiraxmaan Maxamuud Cali) | January 2005 to not given |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale (Barre Aadan Shire Hiiraale) | August 2006 to 2007 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Ismail Ahmed Nur (Ismaaciil Axmed Nuur) | December 2007 to not given |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Mohiyadin Muhammad Haji (Muxyadiin Maxamed Xaaji) | January 2008 to 2 August 2008 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman (Xuseen Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan) | 2008 to 2008 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Mohamed Abdi Mohamed Gandhi (Maxamed Cabdi Maxamed Gaandi) | 21 February 2009 to August 2009 | Wikidata gives 21 February 2009 to 10 November 2010 | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Abdullahi Boos Ahmed (Cabdullaahi Boos Axmed) | August 2009 to 10 November 2010 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi (Cabdixakiin Maxamuud Xaaji Faqi) | 12 November 2010 to 20 July 2011 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Hussein Arab Isse (Xuseen Carab Ciise) | 20 July 2011 to 4 November 2012 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |

## Federal Government, since 2012

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi (Cabdixakiin Maxamuud Xaaji Faqi) | 4 November 2012 to 17 January 2014 | second time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Mohamed Sheikh Hassan (Maxamed Sheekh Xasan) | 17 January 2014 to 27 January 2015 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini (Cabdulqaadir Sheekh Diini) | 27 January 2015 to 21 March 2017 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Abdirashid Abdullahi Mohamed (Cabdirashiid Cabdullaahi Maxamed) | 21 March 2017 to 12 October 2017 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman (Maxamed Mursal Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan) | November 2017 to March 2018 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Hassan Hussein Haji (Xasan Xuseen Xaaji) | 24 October 2020 to 6 December 2021 | Wikidata dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) (Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Nuur) | 6 December 2021 to March 2025 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi (Jibriil Cabdirashiid Xaaji Cabdi) | 17 March 2025 to 27 April 2025 | Wikidata dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |
| Ahmed Moalim Fiqi (Axmed Macallin Fiqi) | 27 April 2025 to now | Wikidata dates | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633) |

## Related pages

- [Ministry of Defence](/en/institutions/ministry-of-defence/)
- [Somali army commanders](/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Ministry of Defence (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28Somalia%29)
- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98684633)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Ministry of Communications and Technology of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-communications-and-technology/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Communications and Technology makes policy for telecoms, the internet, the postal service and government digital services. In 2026 it approved rules under the data protection law and a national cybersecurity framework. Its budget grows from US$15.7 million in 2026 to a proposed US$34.7 million in 2027, mostly from a World Bank digital project.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for telecoms, the internet and digital government. Its work, as reported:

- **Policy and law:** it writes national policy for telecoms, internet and technology, and drafted the rules under the Public Data Protection Law, which the government approved in February 2026 ([ITWeb, 6 February 2026](https://itweb.africa/article/somalia-adopts-data-regulatory-framework/raYAyMorJGG7J38N)).
- **Cybersecurity:** in June 2026 it issued a National Cybersecurity Risk Management Framework, based on the ISO/IEC 27000 standards. Operators of critical information infrastructure must send yearly risk assessments to the National Communications Authority ([TechAfrica News, 21 July 2026](https://techafricanews.com/2026/07/21/somalia-launches-national-cybersecurity-risk-management-framework/)).
- **Digital government:** it leads the Strategic Digital Transformation Plan 2025 to 2030 ([TechAfrica News, October 2025](https://techafricanews.com/2025/10/13/somalia-launches-national-consultation-on-strategic-digital-transformation-plan-2025-2030/)) and plans a national data centre ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-plans-national-data-centre-to-strengthen-digital-infrastructure)).
- **Service quality:** the minister meets the telecom companies on quality of service and digitalisation ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-communications-and-technology-convenes-telecom-leaders-to-advance-service-quality-and-digitalization/); [AllAfrica, October 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510270071.html)).
- **The post:** the Somali Postal Service sits under the ministry ([Wikidata, Somali Postal Service](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7559149)).

## Bodies under it

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

- **National Communications Authority (NCA):** the independent regulator, set up by the Communications Act of 2017 ([NCA, History](https://nca.gov.so/about/history)). It licenses operators, manages radio spectrum and runs SOMCIRT, the national cyber incident team. See [National Communications Authority](/en/institutions/national-communications-authority/).
- **Data Protection Authority:** the body that enforces the data protection law; it has had its own budget line since 2025.

## Who leads it

Mohamed Adam Moalim was appointed minister on 17 April 2024 by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/). He had earlier been minister of livestock, forestry and range and minister of public works ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Adam Moalim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Adam_Moalim)). Reports from February, July and October 2026 name him as minister ([ITWeb](https://itweb.africa/article/somalia-adopts-data-regulatory-framework/raYAyMorJGG7J38N); [TechAfrica News](https://techafricanews.com/2026/07/21/somalia-launches-national-cybersecurity-risk-management-framework/)). The NCA's report of the SOMCIRT launch in March 2026 names the minister as Mohamed Hassan Mohamed ([NCA](https://mail.nca.gov.so/news/somalia-launches-national-cybersecurity-response-center-somcirt)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)), where the ministry is listed as "Ministry of Post and Telecommunication":

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry | 5,021,431 | 15,678,493 | 34,682,983 |
| National Communications Authority | 707,383 | 841,644 | 824,004 |
| Data Protection Authority | 169,820 | 242,540 | 304,100 |

The growth comes from the World Bank's **Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project**, budgeted at US$13.6 million in 2026 and US$32.6 million in 2027, with a further US$4.0 million a year from the African Development Bank for the same programme. On the income side, telecom spectrum fees brought in US$5.2 million in 2025 (same source).

## Other records on telecoms

Somalia's telecoms are run by private companies such as Hormuud, Somtel, Golis and Telesom, and mobile money is used across the country. See [Telecoms](/en/economy/telecoms/), [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and [Phones and internet in numbers](/en/data/phones-and-internet-numbers/).

## Its legal basis

The Communications Act of 2017, the Public Data Protection Law and its 2026 regulations, and the ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Intergovernmental Academy of Somali Language (AGA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-language-academy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Intergovernmental Academy of Somali Language, known as AGA, was launched in Djibouti on 26 June 2013 by Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somaliland to develop and standardise the Somali language. Its headquarters in Mogadishu was opened in December 2022 by the presidents of Somalia and Djibouti. Ma'allin Said Salah is its chairman.

## What it does

The academy works to develop, standardise and promote the Somali language across the countries where it is spoken ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Somali_Language_Academy)). Its 2026 conference focused on standardising the language, linguistic research, cultural heritage and cooperation between member states ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/deputy-prime-minister-salah-ahmed-jama-closes-regional-somali-language-academy-conference-in-mogadishu/)).

## How it was set up

On 26 June 2013 the governments of Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) launched the academy at a ceremony in Djibouti City, organised by Djibouti's Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Culture and Waqf with the Somali-Speaking PEN Centre of Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Somali_Language_Academy)). In January 2015 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) announced a new headquarters in Mogadishu, and its foundation stone was laid in February 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Somali_Language_Academy)).

In December 2022 Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia and [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) of Djibouti opened the academy's building in Mogadishu. Hassan Sheikh thanked Djibouti for its role in the project, and said the Somali language "is the common thread that binds the Somali people together" ([Hiiraan Online, December 2022](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Dec/189271/somalia_djibouti_celebrate_launch_of_somali_language_academy.aspx)).

## Who leads it

Ma'allin [Said Salah](/en/people/said-salah-ahmed/) is chairman and Ismail Abdi Ahmed is deputy chairman ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/deputy-prime-minister-salah-ahmed-jama-closes-regional-somali-language-academy-conference-in-mogadishu/); [Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-hosts-regional-summit-to-advance-somali-language-agenda)).

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 040203 under the Ministry of Education and Higher Education ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 250,078 |
| 2026 (budget) | 342,256 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 372,256 |

This is Somalia's federal contribution. Other member governments' contributions are not in this budget.

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing

Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama closed a four-day AGA conference in Mogadishu, attended by Education Minister Farah Abdulkadir, a deputy minister from Ethiopia's Somali Region and a Kenyan envoy. The conference issued a communiqué setting out a three-year strategic plan for the language ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/deputy-prime-minister-salah-ahmed-jama-closes-regional-somali-language-academy-conference-in-mogadishu/); [Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-hosts-regional-summit-to-advance-somali-language-agenda)).

## Related pages

Somalia's own [Somali Academy of Arts and Sciences](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/) has a separate budget line. Somali-language terms in technology are also produced by the [National Communications Authority](/en/institutions/national-communications-authority/), which launched a Somali cybersecurity glossary ([National Communications Authority](https://nca.gov.so/news/national-communications-authority-launches-somali-cybersecurity-terminology-glossary)).


---

# ATMIS, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, 2022–2024

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/atmis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> ATMIS replaced AMISOM on 1 April 2022 under UN Security Council resolution 2628. Its job was to hand security to Somali forces and leave by the end of 2024. It started with about 19,000 personnel from Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, withdrew 2,000 by June 2023 and 3,000 more by the end of 2023, handed bases to the Somali army, and gave way to AUSSOM on 1 January 2025.

## In short

ATMIS was the second of three African Union missions in Somalia. It followed [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) (2007–2022) and was followed by [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/) (from 2025). Unlike AMISOM, it was built around a timetable: hand over to the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and leave.

## Creation

The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2628 unanimously in March 2022, turning AMISOM into ATMIS ([Amani Africa, "ATMIS drawdown: UN bodies"](https://amaniafrica-et.org/?p=18602)). ATMIS began on 1 April 2022, the day after AMISOM's mandate ended, with its headquarters in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, African Union Transition Mission in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Transition_Mission_in_Somalia)). The troop-sending countries were Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti (same source).

Its leaders were the head of mission, Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, and force commander Lieutenant General Sam Kavuma (same source). Within days of its start, on 6 April 2022, Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) declared the outgoing AU envoy Francisco Madeira unwelcome; President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) rejected the order (same source).

## The drawdown in phases

- **Phase one, 2,000 troops.** Extended by resolution 2670 to 30 June 2023. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported on 4 July 2023 that it was complete, with bases at Xaaji Cali, Miirtugo, Cadale, Albao, Marka Ayub, Gherille in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and Al-Jazeera in Mogadishu handed to the Somali army ([Garowe Online, 4 July 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/au-mission-completes-the-first-phase-of-troops-drawdown-in-somalia); [Amani Africa](https://amaniafrica-et.org/?p=18602)).
- **Phase two, 3,000 troops.** Resolution 2687 of June 2023 set a ceiling of 14,626 by the end of September 2023 ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/au-mission-completes-the-first-phase-of-troops-drawdown-in-somalia)). The deadline was later moved to the end of December 2023 ([Amani Africa](https://amaniafrica-et.org/?p=18602)).
- **Phase three, 4,000 troops.** Planned for June 2024, then staggered under resolution 2741, which extended ATMIS to 12 August 2024 ([Amani Africa](https://amaniafrica-et.org/?p=18602)).

In April 2024 ATMIS still had about 14,000 troops and 850 police ([Paul D. Williams, *CTC Sentinel*, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## Attacks on its camps

- **3 May 2022, El Baraf, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) attacked a Burundian camp. A Burundian officer said 30 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded; it was the first attack on ATMIS ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Transition_Mission_in_Somalia), citing Africanews).
- **26 May 2023, Buulo Mareer, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/).** Al-Shabaab overran a Ugandan camp after suicide car bombs. Uganda's president said 54 Ugandan soldiers were killed; al-Shabaab claimed 137. It was the deadliest attack on Ugandan troops since 2007 ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Transition_Mission_in_Somalia)).

On 17 July 2024 two civilians were shot dead at Buulo Mareer; ATMIS opened an investigation on 20 July (Wikipedia).

## Money and politics at the end

ATMIS ended with a funding shortfall of more than US$100 million at 31 December 2024 ([Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, *CTC Sentinel*, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)). In May 2024 Somalia asked the UN to end the mission as planned. Tension between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/), after Ethiopia's January 2024 agreement with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), made planning its successor harder ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Transition_Mission_in_Somalia)). On 1 January 2025 [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/) took over.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Amani Africa, "ATMIS drawdown: UN bodies (UNSC and UNSOS)": [page](https://amaniafrica-et.org/?p=18602).
- *CTC Sentinel*, "Somalia at a crossroads" (May 2025): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/).


---

# Foreign Ministers of Somalia, 1960 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> 30 people have been Somalia's foreign minister since independence in 1960, two of them in an acting role. The first was Abdullahi Issa Mohamud, from 1960 to 1964. Fawzia Yusuf Adam, from 2012 to 2014, was the first woman in the post. Abdisalam Abdi Ali has held it since April 2025.

## In short

The list follows the foreign-minister list kept by Rulers.org, which the Wikipedia article on the ministry also uses. Exact dates come from the position-held records in Wikidata where they exist; otherwise only the year is shown. Some men held the post more than once: Mohamed Ali Hamoud three times, and Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali three times. ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Somali Republic, 1960 to 1969

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Abdullahi Issa Mohamud](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/) (Cabdullaahi Ciise Maxamuud) | 1960 to 1964 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ahmed Yusuf Dualeh (Axmed Yuusuf Ducaale) | 1964 to 1967 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal) | 1967 to 1969 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Haji Farah Ali Omar (Xaaji Faarax Cali Cumar) | 1969 to 1969 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |

## Somali Democratic Republic, 1969 to 1991

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Omar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/) (Cumar Carte Qaalib) | 1969 to 1976 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (Maxamed Siyaad Barre) | 1976 to 1977 | first time; also head of state | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Abdirahman Jama Barre](/en/people/abdirahman-jama-barre/) (Cabdiraxmaan Jaamac Barre) | 1977 to 1987 | first time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Mohamed Ali Hamoud (Maxamed Cali Xamuud) | 1987 to 1988 | first time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (Maxamed Siyaad Barre) | 1988 to 1989 | second time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Abdirahman Jama Barre](/en/people/abdirahman-jama-barre/) (Cabdiraxmaan Jaamac Barre) | 1989 to 1990 | second time; Wikidata gives April 1989 as the start | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali (Cali Axmed Jaamac Jangali) | 1990 to 1990 | first time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ahmed Mohamed Adan "Qaybe" (Axmed Maxamed Aadan "Qaybe") | 1990 to 1991 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |

## Civil war and rival administrations, 1991 to 2000

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Ali Hamoud (Maxamed Cali Xamuud) | 1991 to 1993 | second time; Wikipedia gives 1991 to 1992 | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Jama Mohamed Ghalib (Jaamac Maxamed Qaalib) | 1995 to 1998 | in Mohamed Farah Aidid's administration | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |

## Transitional National Government, 2000 to 2004

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ismail Mahmud Hurre "Buubaa" (Ismaaciil Maxamuud Xurre "Buubaa") | 2000 to 2002 | first time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim (Yuusuf Xasan Ibraahim) | 2002 to 2004 | first time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |

## Transitional Federal Government, 2004 to 2012

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Cabdullaahi Sheekh Ismaaciil) | 2004 to 2006 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ismail Mahmud Hurre "Buubaa" (Ismaaciil Maxamuud Xurre "Buubaa") | 2006 to 2007 | second time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Hussein Elabe Fahiye (Xuseen Cilaabe Faahiye) | 2007 to 2007 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Mohamed Ali Hamoud (Maxamed Cali Xamuud) | 2007 to 2008 | third time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali (Cali Axmed Jaamac Jangali) | 2008 to 2009 | second time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar (Maxamed Cabdullaahi Cumaar) | 20 February 2009 to 2009 | first time; start date from Wikidata | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali (Cali Axmed Jaamac Jangali) | 2009 to 2010 | third time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim (Yuusuf Xasan Ibraahim) | 2010 to 12 November 2010 | second time; end date from Wikidata | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar (Maxamed Cabdullaahi Cumaar) | 12 November 2010 to 2011 | second time; Wikidata gives 20 February 2012 as the end | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Mohamed Mohamud Ibrahim (Maxamed Maxamuud Ibraahim) | 2011 to 2012 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Abdullahi Haji Hassan Mohamed Nur (Cabdullaahi Xaaji Xasan Maxamed Nuur) | 20 February 2012 to 4 November 2012 | dates from Wikidata | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |

## Federal Government, 2012 to now

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Fawzia Yusuf Adam](/en/people/fawzia-yusuf-adam/) (Fowsiyo Yuusuf Xaaji Aadan) | 4 November 2012 to 17 January 2014 | first woman in the post; also Deputy Prime Minister | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/) (Cabdiraxmaan Ducaale Beyle) | 17 January 2014 to 27 January 2015 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Abdisalam Omer Hadliye](/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/) (Cabdisalaan Cumar Hadliye) | 27 January 2015 to 29 March 2017 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Yusuf Garaad Omar](/en/people/yusuf-garaad-omar/) (Yuusuf Garaad Cumar) | 29 March 2017 to 4 January 2018 | start date from Wikidata (Abdisalam Omer's end); Rulers.org gives 2017 to 2018 | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ahmed Isse Awad (Axmed Ciise Cawad) | 4 January 2018 to 19 November 2020 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Mohamed Abdirizak Mohamud (Maxamed Cabdirisaaq Maxamuud) | 19 November 2020 to 20 November 2021 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Abdisaid Muse Ali (Cabdisaciid Muuse Cali) | 20 November 2021 to 2 August 2022 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Balal Mohamed Osman (Balaal Maxamed Cismaan) | 2022 to 2022 | acting | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| [Abshir Omar Huruse](/en/people/abshir-omar-huruse/) (Abshir Cumar Xuruuse) | 2 August 2022 to 18 December 2023 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ali Mohamed Omar (Cali Maxamed Cumar) | 2023 to 2024 | acting | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Ahmed Moalim Fiqi (Axmed Macallin Fiqi) | 7 April 2024 to 27 April 2025 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |
| Abdisalam Abdi Ali (Cabdisalaan Cabdi Cali) | 27 April 2025 to now |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961) |

## Related pages

- [Ministry of Foreign Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/)
- [Foreign Ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)
- [Wikipedia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_%28Somalia%29)
- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25338961)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-commerce-and-industry/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry registers companies, issues trade licences, sets trade and manufacturing policy and, through the Somali Quality Assurance Agency, checks product standards. Gamal Mohamed Hassan became minister in December 2025. Businesses can now register and get licences online through its eBusiness portal.

## What it does

The ministry "has overall responsibility for the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of Somalia's internal and external trade & manufacturing policy" ([eBusiness Somalia](https://ebusiness.gov.so/)). Its main services:

- **Company registration:** through the Somali Business Registration and Licensing System (SBRS), anyone can reserve a business name, incorporate a private or public limited company, register a foreign company and file the yearly return, online (same source).
- **Trade licences:** it issues the trade licence a business needs to operate, and its portal lets anyone check a business's registration or licence number (same source).
- **Standards:** the **[Somali Quality Assurance Agency](/en/institutions/somali-bureau-of-standards/)**, under the ministry, sets and checks product quality standards. It has its own budget line ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).
- **Trade policy:** it leads Somalia's trade talks and trade promotion, and spoke at the 2026 national farm investment summit with the agriculture minister ([NAFIS 2026 communiqué](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/NAFIS-2026-Communique-Final-17Aug.pdf)).

## Who leads it

**Gamal Mohamed Hassan** (also written [Jamaal](/en/society/biyomaal/) Mohamed Hassan) was appointed by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) on 13 December 2025, replacing Mahamud Geesood, and was sworn in by the House of the People ([SONNA, December 2025](https://sonna.so/en/prime-minister-hamza-abdi-barre-announces-cabinet-reshuffle-appoints-new-ministers-for-commerce-and-public-works/); [AllAfrica, December 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202512150409.html)). He was earlier Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Development ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/ex-planning-minister-gamal-makes-a-comeback-in-cabinet-mini-reshuffle)). See [Ministry of Planning](/en/institutions/ministry-of-planning/).

**Earlier ministers**, from the list on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Industry_and_Trade_(Somalia)): Abdirahman Abdi Osman (until 2015), Abdirashid [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) (from 2015), Khadra Ahmed Dualeh (2017 to 2018), Mohamed Abdi Hayir (from 2018) and Jibril Abdirashid Nur (from 2022).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)), where it is listed as "Ministry of Industry and Commerce":

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry | 2,454,973 | 2,523,834 | 2,583,774 |
| Somali Quality Assurance Agency | 1,314,880 | 1,463,216 | 1,493,516 |

On the income side, local company registrations brought in US$427,900 in 2025, and the budget expects US$1.41 million in 2027. Business and profession licences brought in US$922,075 in 2025 (same source). The African Development Bank's project to grow the Somali private sector and investment is budgeted at US$1.2 million for 2027 (same source).

## How to use it

- **Register a business:** go to [ebusiness.gov.so](https://ebusiness.gov.so/). The site lists 13 services, from name reservation to annual returns. Its office is on Mohamud Harbi Road, behind the National Theatre, Mogadishu (same source).
- **Check a business:** enter its business identification number (UBI) or licence number on the same site.
- See also [Starting a business](/en/economy/starting-a-business/) and [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/).

## How the work is shared

Each member state has its own ministry of commerce, which also licenses businesses. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) run their own company registers.

## Its legal basis

The Company Law and the trade licensing rules it applies, and its mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Puntland Ministry of Finance: budget, revenue and spending

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/puntland-ministry-of-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland's Ministry of Finance collects taxes and prepares the state budget from Garowe. Puntland raised US$100 million of its own revenue in 2025, more than any other member state. Its budget fell from US$466.8 million in 2025 to US$315.8 million in 2026, mainly because donor projects shrank, and the cabinet approved US$308.2 million for 2027.

## What it does

[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s Ministry of Finance collects the state's taxes and fees, prepares the yearly budget for the cabinet and parliament, and records and moves revenue into the state treasury ([Dawan Africa, 20 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-moves-to-boost-revenue-from-coastline)). Puntland runs its own budget separately from the federal government; see [member states' money](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

## Who runs it

| Office | Person | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minister | Mohamed Farah Mohamoud | [Wikipedia](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Ministry_of_Finance_(Puntland)) |
| Director General | Ahmed Jama Jowle | [Shabelle Media via allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511200036.html) |
| Deputy Director General for Revenue | Abdulqadir Ahmed Hashi | [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-moves-to-boost-revenue-from-coastline) |

In an April 2026 reshuffle, President [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) appointed new state ministers in several sectors including finance, a new Accountant General and new leadership of the State Bank of Puntland ([Dawan Africa, 2 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-puntland-reshuffles-ministers-senior-officials)).

## The budgets

| Year | Budget (US$) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 466.8 million | [Shabelle Media via allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511200036.html) |
| 2026 | 315.8 million | [Shabelle Media via allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511200036.html) |
| 2027 (cabinet approved) | 308.2 million | [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-cabinet-approves-2027-budget-exceeding-dollar308-million) |

Presenting the 2026 budget, the Director General said domestic revenue had risen by 16% in the year, while internationally funded projects were set to fall. [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Media reported that 57% of international projects were cut compared with 2025 allocations, and that Puntland authorities put this down to a wider fall in foreign aid ([Shabelle Media via allAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511200036.html)).

The cabinet approved the 2027 budget of US$308,213,973 at a meeting in Garowe chaired by President Deni. The statement said the budget covers domestic revenue and ongoing development projects, that it aims to raise domestic revenue and manage spending in the face of pressures from conflicts in the Middle East, and that no existing entitlements or allowances were cut. It is about US$7.6 million, or 2.4%, below 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-cabinet-approves-2027-budget-exceeding-dollar308-million)).

## Where the money came from in 2025

Ministry of Finance data published by the Central Bank of Somalia give Puntland's 2025 accounts as follows ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

| Item | US$ |
|---|---|
| Revenue and grants | 119 million |
| Own revenue | 100 million (84%) |
| of which taxes | 83 million |
| of which fees and charges | 16 million |
| Donor grants | 19 million |
| Spending | 118 million |
| of which salaries | 56 million |
| of which goods and services | 43 million |
| of which building and equipment | 18 million |

These are the state's own accounts. The larger budget figures above also include donor-funded projects.

## What it reports doing

In September 2026 ministry officials met in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) on raising revenue from the coastline, including fishing, maritime trade and port services, and on making sure the money is recorded and sent to the treasury ([Dawan Africa, 20 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-moves-to-boost-revenue-from-coastline)).

## Related pages

[Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/), [member states' money](/en/economy/member-states-money/), and the federal [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/).


---

# AUSSOM, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, 2025 to now

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/aussom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> AUSSOM is the African Union mission that replaced ATMIS on 1 January 2025. The AU Peace and Security Council approved it on 1 August 2024 and the UN Security Council endorsed it in resolution 2767 on 27 December 2024. It was authorised for up to 11,911 personnel. In February 2025 troops were allocated to Uganda (4,500), Ethiopia (2,500), Djibouti (1,520), Kenya (1,410) and Egypt (1,091). Burundi left. Funding has been its main problem.

## In short

AUSSOM is the third African Union mission in Somalia, after [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) and [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/). It is smaller than both and is meant to support the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) rather than lead the fight against [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). Its head is Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, who also led ATMIS ([Wikipedia, AUSSOM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Support_and_Stabilization_Mission_in_Somalia)).

## Approval

The AU Peace and Security Council adopted its concept of operations on 1 August 2024. The UN Security Council endorsed it in resolution 2767, adopted on 27 December 2024, and it began on 1 January 2025 with up to 11,911 personnel: 11,146 soldiers, 680 police and 85 civilians ([Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, *CTC Sentinel*, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)).

## Who sends troops

On 25 February 2025 Somalia and the AU agreed the allocation ([CTC Sentinel](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Support_and_Stabilization_Mission_in_Somalia), citing Voice of America):

| Country | Troops allocated |
|---|---|
| Uganda | 4,500 |
| Ethiopia | 2,500 |
| Djibouti | 1,520 |
| Kenya | 1,410 |
| Egypt | 1,091 |

Burundi, which had served since 2007, said it would not take part, citing "a lack of consensus" on its troop numbers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Support_and_Stabilization_Mission_in_Somalia), citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), 29 December 2024).

## Egypt and Ethiopia

Ethiopia's January 2024 memorandum of understanding with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) strained its relations with Somalia, which at first said Ethiopian troops would not join AUSSOM. In August 2024 Somalia announced that Egyptian forces would take their place. Turkish mediation led to the Ankara Declaration of 11 December 2024, after which Somalia said it could reconsider; Ethiopia was then included in the February 2025 allocation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Support_and_Stabilization_Mission_in_Somalia), citing BBC News, 12 December 2024). Egypt deployed troops, helicopters and light aircraft in early 2026 (same source, citing Egypt Today, 11 February 2026). Uganda's foreign minister had objected to Egypt's role in 2024 (same source).

## Funding

The *CTC Sentinel* study records that the mission needed about US$96 million for January–June 2025 and that less than a fifth had been raised. Pledges included US$1 million from China, US$3 million from Japan, US$1.6 million from Korea and US$10 million from the AU Peace Fund. At a summit in Kampala on 25 April 2025 the troop-sending countries asked for at least 8,000 more personnel ([CTC Sentinel, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)). In 2026 reports described a looming cut in US funding for the mission ([Mada Masr, 19 August 2026](https://www.madamasr.com/en/2026/08/19/feature/politics/as-us-funding-cut-for-au-mission-looms-somalia-faces-reckoning-it-isnt-ready-for/)).

## Conduct

In March 2025 The New Humanitarian reported allegations of abuse by AU personnel; critics say the immunity of foreign troops limits accountability ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union_Support_and_Stabilization_Mission_in_Somalia), citing The New Humanitarian, 12 March 2025).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *CTC Sentinel*, "Somalia at a crossroads: resurgent insurgents, fragmented politics, and the uncertain future of AUSSOM" (May 2025): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/).
- UN Security Council resolution 2767 (2024): [UN documents](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/2767(2024)&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Foreign Ministers of Somaliland, 1991 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> 16 people have been Somaliland's foreign minister, one of them acting, since it declared independence in 1991. The first was Sheikh Yusuf Ali Sheikh Madar. Edna Adan Ismail, from 2003 to 2006, was the first woman in the post. Abdirahman Dahir Adan Bakaal has held it since December 2024.

## In short

The list follows Rulers.org. Exact dates come from the position-held records in Wikidata where they exist; where the two sources differ, the note says so. ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Foreign ministers of Somaliland

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheikh Yusuf Ali Sheikh Madar (Sheekh Yuusuf Cali Sheekh Madar) | 1991 to 1993 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Osman Abdillahi Jama (Cismaan Cabdillaahi Jaamac) | 1993 to 1995 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Hassan Ali Awaleh (Xasan Cali Cawaale) | 1995 to 1996 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Suleiman Mahmud Adan (Suleymaan Maxamuud Aadan) | 1996 to 1997 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Mahmoud Salah Nur (Maxamuud Saalax Nuur) | 1997 to 2001 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Abdihamid Garad Jama (Cabdixamiid Garaad Jaamac) | 2001 to 2002 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Mohamed Said Gees (Maxamed Saciid Gees) | 2002 to 2003 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/) (Edna Aadan Ismaaciil) | 25 June 2003 to 26 June 2006 | first woman in the post | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Abdillahi Mohamed Duale (Cabdillaahi Maxamed Ducaale) | 2006 to 28 July 2010 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Mohamed Abdullahi Omar (Maxamed Cabdillaahi Cumar) | 28 July 2010 to 25 June 2013 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| [Mohamed Bihi Yonis](/en/people/mohamed-yonis/) (Maxamed Bixi Yoonis) | 25 June 2013 to 26 June 2015 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| [Saad Ali Shire](/en/people/saad-ali-shire/) (Saacad Cali Shire) | 28 October 2015 to 10 November 2018 | Rulers.org gives 2015 as the start | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| [Yasin Haji Mohamoud Hiir](/en/people/yasin-haji-mohamoud/) (Yaasiin Xaaji Maxamuud Hiir) | 10 November 2018 to 3 March 2021 | resigned to stand for parliament (Somaliland Chronicle, 3 March 2021); Wikidata gives 3 March 2020 | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321), [Somaliland Chronicle, 3 March 2021](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2021/03/03/minister-of-foreign-affairs-has-resigned-to-campaign-for-a-parliamentary-seat/) |
| Liban Yusuf Osman (Liibaan Yuusuf Cismaan) | March 2021 to 2021 | acting | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Essa Kayd Mohamoud (Ciise Keyd Maxamuud) | 2021 to 14 December 2024 | Wikidata gives 3 March 2020 as the start | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |
| Abdirahman Dahir Adan Bakaal (Cabdiraxmaan Daahir Aadan Bakaal) | 14 December 2024 to now |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321) |

## Related pages

- [Foreign Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/)
- [Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)
- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104869321)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Governors of French Somaliland, 1884 to 1977

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/governors-of-french-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> France ruled the territory that is now Djibouti from 1884 to 27 June 1977. It was led by a commandant at Obock from 1884, by governors from 1887, and by high commissioners after it was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. Léonce Lagarde was the first, and Camille d'Ornano the last, handing over at independence.

## In short

France bought Obock in 1862 but left it unoccupied until 1884. The territory was named [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) (Côte française des Somalis) in 1896 and the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. Acting governors held the post between many appointed governors, and they are listed too. Wikipedia's list draws on World Statesmen; where the two disagree, we give the World Statesmen dates and say so in the note. ([Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Obock and Dependencies, 1884 to 1896

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Léonce Lagarde | 24 June 1884 to 7 August 1887 | Commandant | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Léonce Lagarde | 7 August 1887 to 20 May 1896 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |

## French Somaliland, 1896 to 1967

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Léonce Lagarde | 20 May 1896 to 7 March 1899 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Antoine Mizon | 7 March 1899 to 11 March 1899 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Alfred Albert Martineau | 28 March 1899 to 13 April 1900 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Gabriel Louis Angoulvant | 13 April 1900 to 6 December 1900 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Alphonse Bonhoure | 6 December 1900 to 7 September 1901 | Governor; 1st term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Louis Ormiéres | 7 September 1901 to June 1902 | acting Governor; 1st term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Alphonse Bonhoure | June 1902 to 23 May 1903 | Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Albert Dubarry | 23 May 1903 to December 1903 | acting Governor; 1st term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Alphonse Bonhoure | December 1903 to 2 April 1904 | Governor; 3rd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Albert Dubarry | 2 April 1904 to 5 August 1904 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Pierre Hubert Auguste Pascal | 5 August 1904 to 9 September 1905 | Governor; 1st term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Raphaël Antonetti | 9 September 1905 to 13 October 1905 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Louis Ormiéres | 13 October 1905 to 19 May 1906 | acting Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Paul Patté | 19 May 1906 to 19 June 1906 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Pierre Hubert Auguste Pascal | 19 June 1906 to July 1908 | Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jean Baptiste Castaing | 11 July 1908 to 5 January 1909 | acting Governor; 1st term; dates from World Statesmen | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Pierre Hubert Auguste Pascal | 5 January 1909 to June 1911 | Governor; 3rd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jean Baptiste Castaing | June 1911 to December 1911 | acting Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Pierre Hubert Auguste Pascal | December 1911 to April 1913 | Governor; 4th term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Henri Carreau | 25 April 1913 to May 1913 | acting Governor; 1st term; dates from World Statesmen | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Adrien Jules Jean Bonhoure | May 1913 to 2 March 1914 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Fernand Deltel | 2 March 1914 to 7 February 1915 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Henri Carreau | 7 February 1915 to 14 April 1915 | acting Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Paul Simoni | 14 April 1915 to 19 September 1916 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Victor Marie Fillon | 8 October 1916 to 28 August 1917 | Governor; dates from World Statesmen | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Édouard Geffriaud | 28 August 1917 to 8 September 1918 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jules Lauret | 8 September 1918 to 3 May 1920 | Governor; 1st term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| M. Lassaigne | 3 May 1920 to 29 June 1920 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Edmond Lippman | 29 June 1920 to 29 November 1920 | acting Governor; 1st term; dates from World Statesmen | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jules Lauret | 29 November 1920 to 25 May 1922 | Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Edmond Lippman | 25 May 1922 to 8 January 1923 | acting Governor; 2nd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jules Lauret | 8 January 1923 to 22 February 1924 | Governor; 3rd term | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Pierre-Amable Chapon-Baissac | 18 May 1924 to 9 July 1934 | Governor; dates from World Statesmen | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jules Marcel de Coppet | 7 May 1934 to 18 July 1935 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Achille Louis Auguste Silvestre | 18 July 1935 to 20 December 1935 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Armand Léon Annet | 20 December 1935 to 1 May 1937 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| François Pierre-Alype | 1 May 1937 to 19 March 1938 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| François Pierre-Alype | 19 March 1938 to 27 April 1938 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Hubert Jules Deschamps | 27 April 1938 to 2 May 1939 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Hubert Jules Deschamps | 2 May 1939 to 25 July 1940 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Gaetan Louis Elie Germain | 25 July 1940 to 7 August 1940 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Pierre Nouailhetas | 7 August 1940 to 21 October 1942 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Auguste Charles Jules Truffert | 21 October 1942 to 4 December 1942 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Christian Raimond Dupont | 4 December 1942 to 26 December 1942 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| André Bayardelle | 30 December 1942 to 22 June 1943 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Michel Raphael Saller | 22 June 1943 to 7 January 1944 | acting Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Michel Raphael Saller | 7 January 1944 to 1 May 1944 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jean Chalvet | 1 May 1944 to 30 April 1946 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Paul Henri Siriex | 30 April 1946 to 1 March 1950 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Numa François Henri Sadoul | 1 March 1950 to 6 April 1954 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Roland Pré | 6 April 1954 to 13 August 1954 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| René Jean Albert Petitbon | 13 August 1954 to 7 August 1957 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Maurice Meker | 7 August 1957 to 1958 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Jacques Marie Julien Compain | 1958 to 16 November 1962 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| René Tirant | 16 November 1962 to 15 September 1966 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Louis Saget | 15 September 1966 to 3 July 1967 | Governor | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |

## French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, 1967 to 1977

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Saget | 3 July 1967 to 5 February 1969 | High Commissioner | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Dominique Ponchardier | 5 February 1969 to 21 August 1971 | High Commissioner | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Georges Thiercy | 21 August 1971 to 1 August 1974 | High Commissioner | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Christian Dablanc | 1 August 1974 to 9 February 1976 | High Commissioner | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Camille d'Ornano | 9 February 1976 to 27 June 1977 | High Commissioner | [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland), [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |

## Related pages

- [Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti](/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/)
- [Governors of British Somaliland](/en/institutions/governors-of-british-somaliland/)
- [Governors of Italian Somaliland](/en/institutions/governors-of-italian-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, List of governors of French Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_French_Somaliland)
- [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Jubaland Ministry of Finance and Economic Development: budget and revenue

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/jubaland-ministry-of-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jubaland's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development runs the state's budget from Kismayo. Ahmed Abdirizak Mohamed Handal is minister. Its 2025 budget was about US$63.4 million. In 2025 the state raised US$37 million of its own revenue, mostly taxes, and received US$33 million in donor grants.

## What it does

[Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)'s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development prepares the state budget for the Jubaland Regional Assembly, collects state revenue and reports on spending ([Halqabsi, October 2024](https://halqabsi.com/2024/10/jubaland-parliament-approves-2025-budget-with-28-increase-to-boost-development); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/kismayo-hosts-budget-execution-forum-and-ipsas-implementation-meeting)). Jubaland's capital is Kismayo.

## Who leads it

Ahmed Abdirizak Mohamed Handal is Jubaland's Minister of Finance ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/kismayo-hosts-budget-execution-forum-and-ipsas-implementation-meeting)). Jubaland's president is Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) ([Dawan Africa, 16 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/jubaland-launches-dollar21-million-project-for-displaced-in-doolow)); see [presidents of Jubaland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-jubaland/).

## The budget

The Jubaland Regional Assembly approved the 2025 budget in October 2024. The ministry gave the total as US$63,387,111, and Halqabsi reported it as a 28% increase ([Halqabsi, October 2024](https://halqabsi.com/2024/10/jubaland-parliament-approves-2025-budget-with-28-increase-to-boost-development); [Halqabsi](https://halqabsi.com/?p=9411)). This site has not found a published figure for Jubaland's 2026 or 2027 budget.

## Where the money came from in 2025

Ministry of Finance data published by the Central Bank of Somalia give Jubaland's 2025 accounts as follows ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

| Item | US$ |
|---|---|
| Revenue and grants | 70 million |
| Own revenue | 37 million |
| of which taxes | 28 million |
| Donor grants | 33 million |
| Spending | 68 million |
| of which salaries | 41 million |
| of which building | 5 million |

Jubaland raised the second-largest own revenue of the member states in 2025, after [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s US$100 million (same source; see [member states' money](/en/economy/member-states-money/)).

## What it reports doing

Kismayo hosted a quarterly meeting on budget execution and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), attended by the federal Accountant General, Mohamed Mohamud Abdulle, finance officials of the member states and Banadir, and the [North East State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/)'s accountant general. Minister Handal said such meetings strengthen cooperation on budget management, financial reporting and accountability ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/kismayo-hosts-budget-execution-forum-and-ipsas-implementation-meeting)).

In June 2026 President Madobe launched a US$21 million resilience project in Doolow for displaced people and host communities, funded by the African Development Bank, with about 2,000 homes, irrigation canals and farms ([Dawan Africa, 16 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/jubaland-launches-dollar21-million-project-for-displaced-in-doolow)).

## Related pages

[Institutions of the member states](/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/), the [Puntland](/en/institutions/puntland-ministry-of-finance/) and [Hirshabelle](/en/institutions/hirshabelle-ministry-of-finance/) finance ministries, and the federal [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/).


---

# Ministry of Family and Human Rights Development of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Family and Human Rights Development, earlier called the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development, leads government policy on women, children, families, disability and human rights. Ambassador Khadija Mohamed Al-Makhzoumi is minister. After the UN ended its Independent Expert on Somalia in October 2025, the ministry told the UN that Somalia is ready to monitor human rights itself.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal government's lead for women's rights, families, children, people with disabilities and human rights. Its work, as reported:

- **Human rights:** it speaks for Somalia at the UN Human Rights Council. Since 1993 the Council had appointed an Independent Expert on Somalia; in October 2025 it adopted Resolution 60/28, without a vote, ending that mandate. At the Council's 63rd session on 3 October 2026, the minister said Somalia is "ready to take on its new role in monitoring and protecting human rights" and asked for an OHCHR office to open in Mogadishu soon ([Dawan Africa, 4 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-ready-for-rights-monitoring-role-after-un-ends-expert-mandate)).
- **The Human Rights Commission:** it led the process that set up the Independent National Human Rights Commission, whose members the President confirmed by decree in December 2025 ([AllAfrica, December 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202512110205.html); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-al-makhzoumi-hails-presidential-decree-finalizing-the-independent-national-human-rights-commission)). See [Independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/).
- **Women's rights:** it seeks partners for women's rights programmes ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-stronger-global-partnerships-to-advance-womens-rights)).
- **Disability:** the **Somali Disabled Agency** sits under it with its own budget line ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## Who leads it

Ambassador Khadija Mohamed Al-Makhzoumi is minister ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-ready-for-rights-monitoring-role-after-un-ends-expert-mandate)). She was earlier Minister of Environment and Climate Change ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-minister-of-environment-calls-for-urgent-action-at-climate-mobility-summit)). Maryan Ali Abukar was reported as deputy minister in August 2026 ([AllAfrica, August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608170116.html)). An earlier minister was Deqa Yasin Hagi Yusuf ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/team/d/deqa-yasin-hagi-yusuf)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Family and Human Rights Development | 1,063,113 | 1,191,624 | 1,186,908 |
| Somali Disabled Agency | 600,306 | 637,036 | 643,336 |

The World Bank's "Rajo Kaaba" project, Somalia Empowering Women through Education and Skills, is a separate project line of US$21.0 million proposed for 2027 (same source).

## Other records on its work

- In 2026 the ministry expressed sorrow over the death of a mother at a hospital in Hargeisa ([AllAfrica, August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608170116.html)).
- A [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa report, "Somali women take back their ministry", covers the ministry's history and its name ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-women-take-back-their-ministry)).
- Each member state has its own ministry of women and human rights; [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/)'s minister in 2026 was Hodon Abdullahi Shire ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-galmudug-state-president-unveils-22-member-cabinet)).

## Its legal basis

Chapter 2 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the law setting up the Human Rights Commission; and the ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers.


---

# Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-environment-and-climate-change/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Environment and Climate Change sets environmental and climate policy, represents Somalia at the UN climate talks and seeks climate finance for drought and flood resilience. Bashir Mohamed Jama is minister. In November 2026 it opened Somalia's pavilion at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for the environment and climate change. Its work, as reported:

- **Climate policy:** it leads Somalia's climate plans, including the Climate Change Action Plan published through the NAP Global Network in 2026 ([Somalia Climate Change Action Plan](https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/somalia-climate-change-action-plan-V4.pdf)).
- **UN climate talks:** it represents Somalia at the yearly COP. On 10 November 2026 it opened Somalia's national pavilion at COP31 in Antalya, [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/). The minister said Somalia needs international financing to reduce climate risks and build resilience ([Dawan Africa, 10 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-inaugurates-national-pavilion-at-cop31-in-turkiye)).
- **Biodiversity:** with UNDP it launched a national biodiversity conservation programme ([UNDP Somalia](https://www.undp.org/somalia/press-releases/somalia-launches-national-biodiversity-conservation-programme)), and the Global Environment Facility lists Somalia's projects ([GEF, Somalia](https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-06/Somalia.pdf)).
- **Cities:** a UNDP project supports climate resilience in 17 Somali cities ([UNDP Somalia](https://www.undp.org/somalia/press-releases/new-project-boost-climate-resilience-across-17-cities-somalia)).
- **Partners:** it works with WFP on climate resilience and food security ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/environment-minister-and-wfp-country-director-forge-strategic-alliance-on-climate-resilience-and-food-security/)) and with the World Bank ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-minister-of-environment-and-world-bank-country-director-forge-strategic-partnership/)).

## Who leads it

**Bashir Mohamed Jama** is minister. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) reported him as newly appointed in early January 2025, and he was named as minister in reports from February, April and November 2026 ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-inaugurates-national-pavilion-at-cop31-in-turkiye); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/environment-minister-participates-in-the-africa-regional-forum-on-sustainable-development-in-ethiopia/)). Before him, Ambassador Khadija Mohamed Al-Makhzoumi held the post, including at COP29 in Baku in November 2024 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-minister-of-environment-signs-landmark-agreement-to-support-vulnerable-communities)). She now leads the [Ministry of Family and Human Rights Development](/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Environment and Climate Change | 1,256,535 | 1,477,936 | 1,467,460 |

Most climate money for Somalia does not pass through this line. It goes through other ministries' projects, such as the World Bank's clean energy and water projects under the energy ministry, or straight to UN agencies (same source).

## What it reports doing

- In 2026 the minister visited [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), where moving sand dunes threaten coastal towns ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/environment-minister-assesses-climate-impact-in-galmudug-as-sand-dunes-threaten-coastal-communities/)).
- He spoke on water security at the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in Addis Ababa ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/environment-minister-addresses-water-security-at-arfsd12-in-addis-ababa/)).
- He visited the disaster management agency, SoDMA, to coordinate on climate shocks ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-minister-of-environment-and-climate-change-visits-sodma-headquarters/)). See [Disaster management agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/).

## Other records on climate

For a century of rain and temperature records, see [Rainfall and temperature, 1901 to 2023](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution (Article 25 gives every person the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health), as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Puntland Ministers of Planning and International Cooperation, 2007 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/puntland-ministers-of-planning-and-international-cooperation/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland has no foreign ministry. Rulers.org lists its Minister of Planning and International Cooperation in that place, with nine terms since 2007. Daud Mohamed Omar has held the post since 2024, his second time in it.

## In short

Dates are known only to the year. Rulers.org is the only source we found that lists every holder; we will add exact dates as we find them in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) government notices. ([Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Ministers of Planning and International Cooperation

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ali Abdi Aware (Cali Cabdi Cawaare) | 2007 to 2008 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Farah Adan Dhala (Faarax Aadan Dhala) | 2009 to 2010 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Daud Mohamed Omar (Daa'uud Maxamed Cumar) | 2010 to 2014 | first time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Ali Ahmed Fatah (Cali Axmed Fataax) | 2014 to 2015 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| [Shire Haji Farah](/en/people/shire-haji-farah/) (Shire Xaaji Faarax) | 2015 to 2019 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Abdiqafar Elmi Hange (Cabdiqafaar Cilmi Xange) | 2019 to 2022 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Jamal Arab Yusuf (Jamaal Carab Yuusuf) | 2022 to 2022 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Mohamed Said Farole (Maxamed Saciid Faroole) | 2022 to 2024 |  | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |
| Daud Mohamed Omar (Daa'uud Maxamed Cumar) | 2024 to now | second time | [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html) |

## Related pages

- [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/)
- [Puntland institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/)

## Sources

- [Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z](https://rulers.org/fm4.html)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# South West State Ministry of Finance: budget and revenue

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/south-west-state-ministry-of-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> South West State's Ministry of Finance runs the state budget from Baidoa. In 2025 the state had US$26 million in revenue and grants, of which only US$5 million was its own revenue and US$21 million came from donor grants. In March 2026 the finance minister, Ahmed Mohamed Hussein, briefly became acting president. In September 2026 the new leader, Aden Madobe, said he wanted a digital tax system linked to the treasury.

## What it does

The ministry handles the state's money; its leader in 2026 praised it for its work on economic development ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/south-west-leader-madobe-says-baidoa-security-improved-in-first-100-days)). [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) administers the regions of Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), with Baidoa as its interim capital ([Dawan Africa, 16 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/south-west-state-lawmakers-approve-26-member-cabinet)).

## Where the money came from in 2025

Ministry of Finance data published by the Central Bank of Somalia give South West State's 2025 accounts as follows ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

| Item | US$ |
|---|---|
| Revenue and grants | 26 million |
| Own revenue | 5 million |
| Donor grants | 21 million |
| Spending | 25 million |
| of which building | 2 million |

South West raised the least own revenue of the five member states in 2025 (same source; see [member states' money](/en/economy/member-states-money/)). This site has not found a published total for its 2026 or 2027 budget.

## The 2026 change of government

On 30 March 2026, after federal forces and allied troops took control of key sites in Baidoa, the state's leader [Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) (Laftagareen) resigned and named his Finance Minister, Ahmed Mohamed Hussein, acting president ([allAfrica, 1 April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604010762.html); [Al Jazeera, 31 March 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/31/somali-army-takes-over-key-city-in-southwest-as-state-leader-resigns)). [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Aden Mohamed Nur (Madobe) later became leader. On 16 July 2026 the state parliament approved his cabinet of 26 ministers, with 26 deputy ministers and three state ministers ([Dawan Africa, 16 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/south-west-state-lawmakers-approve-26-member-cabinet)).

## Plans for tax collection

At the annual forum of regional governors and district commissioners in Baidoa on 26 September 2026, Madobe said he wanted to introduce a structured tax collection system using a digital platform linking regions and districts to the state treasury, and that the public should be able to see the taxes collected ([Dawan Africa, 27 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/security-revenue-top-agenda-as-south-west-leaders-meet-in-baidoa)).

## Donor-funded work

On 19 July 2026 the state launched the World Bank-backed Bulsho project in Baidoa, part of the federal Bulsho Programme for 2025 to 2030 led by the Ministry of Interior, to strengthen local government and services ([Dawan Africa, 19 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/south-west-state-launches-world-bank-backed-bulsho-project)).

## Related pages

[Institutions of the member states](/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/), the [Jubaland](/en/institutions/jubaland-ministry-of-finance/), [Puntland](/en/institutions/puntland-ministry-of-finance/) and [Hirshabelle](/en/institutions/hirshabelle-ministry-of-finance/) finance ministries, and the federal [Ministry of Interior](/en/institutions/ministry-of-interior/).


---

# Finance Ministers of Somalia, 1956 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has had a finance minister since the trusteeship government of 1956, when Salad Abdi Mohamed held the post. Mohamed Yusuf Weirah held it three times and Hussein Abdi Halane twice. Bihi Iman Egeh has been Finance Minister since July 2023.

## In short

The list follows the list of ministers in the Wikipedia article on the Ministry of Finance, which draws on [Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/)'s Historical Dictionary of Somalia for the years to 1991. Exact dates come from the position-held records in Wikidata where they exist. Where the two sources disagree, both are shown and the note says so. The sources list no finance minister for 1991 to 2000. ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Trust Territory of Somalia, 1956 to 1960

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salad Abdi Mohamed (Salaad Cabdi Maxamed) | 1956 to 1959 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Osman Ahmed Roble (Cismaan Axmed Rooble) | 1959 to 1960 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |

## Somali Republic, 1960 to 1969

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdulkadir Mohamed Aden (Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Aadan) | 1960 to 1964 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Awil Haji Abdullahi Farah (Cawil Xaaji Cabdullaahi Faarax) | 1964 to 1966 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Ali Omar Shego (Cali Cumar Shego) | 1966 to 1969 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Sufi Omar Mohamed (Suufi Cumar Maxamed) | May 1969 to October 1969 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |

## Somali Democratic Republic, 1969 to 1991

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Abdi Arrale (Maxamed Cabdi Carraale) | 1969 to 1970 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Ibrahim Megag Samatar (Ibraahim Meygaag Samatar) | 1970 to 1971 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Mohamed Yusuf Weirah (Maxamed Yuusuf Weyrax) | 1971 to 1974 | first time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Abdirahman Noor Hersi (Cabdiraxmaan Nuur Xirsi) | 1974 to 1978 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Mohamed Yusuf Weirah (Maxamed Yuusuf Weyrax) | 1978 to 1980 | second time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Abdullahi Ahmed Addow (Cabdullaahi Axmed Caddoow) | 1980 to 1984 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Mohamed Sheikh Osman (Maxamed Sheekh Cismaan) | 1984 to 1987 | first time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Abdullahi Warsame Nur (Cabdullaahi Warsame Nuur) | February 1987 to December 1987 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| [Abdirahman Jama Barre](/en/people/abdirahman-jama-barre/) (Cabdiraxmaan Jaamac Barre) | December 1987 to April 1989 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Mohamed Sheikh Osman (Maxamed Sheekh Cismaan) | April 1989 to February 1990 | second time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Mohamed Gelle Yusuf (Maxamed Geelle Yuusuf) | 1990 to 1991 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |

## Transitional National Government, 2000 to 2004

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayid Sheikh Dahir (Sayid Sheekh Daahir) | 2000 to 2002 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |
| Hussein Mahmud Sheikh Hussein (Xuseen Maxamuud Sheekh Xuseen) | 2002 to 2006 | Wikidata lists Salim Aliyow Ibrow for 2004 to 2006 | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |

## Transitional Federal Government, 2004 to 2012

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salim Aliyow Ibrow (Saalim Caliyoow Ibroow) | 2004 to 2006 | listed in Wikidata; Wikipedia lists Hussein Mahmud Sheikh Hussein for these years | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| [Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigadud](/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/) (Xasan Maxamed Nuur Shaatigaduud) | 2006 to 2007 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |
| Mohamed Yusuf Weirah (Maxamed Yuusuf Weyrax) | 2007 to 2007 | third time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |
| Mohamed Ali Hamoud (Maxamed Cali Xamuud) | 2008 to 2009 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |
| [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) (Shariif Xasan Sheekh Aadan) | 20 February 2009 to 21 February 2010 | also Deputy Prime Minister | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Hussein Abdi Halane (Xuseen Cabdi Xalane) | 2010 to 2011 | first time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle (Cabdinaasir Maxamed Cabdulle) | 2011 to 2012 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |

## Federal Government, 2012 to now

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamud Hassan Suleiman (Maxamuud Xasan Suleymaan) | November 2012 to January 2014 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |
| Mohamed Rashid Sheikh Mohamed (Maxamed Rashiid Sheekh Maxamed) | September 2012 to December 2013 | Wikipedia gives dates that overlap the row above | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29) |
| Hussein Abdi Halane (Xuseen Cabdi Xalane) | 17 January 2014 to 27 January 2015 | second time | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Mohamud Ibrahim Adan (Maxamuud Ibraahim Aadan) | 27 January 2015 to 29 March 2017 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| [Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/) (Cabdiraxmaan Ducaale Beyle) | 29 March 2017 to 2 August 2022 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Elmi Mohamud Nur (Cilmi Maxamuud Nuur) | 2 August 2022 to 12 July 2023 | Wikidata gives 9 July 2023 as the end | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |
| Bihi Iman Egeh (Bixi Iimaan Cige) | 12 July 2023 to now |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013) |

## Related pages

- [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/)
- [Governors of the Central Bank of Somalia](/en/institutions/governors-of-the-central-bank-of-somalia/)
- [Finance Ministers of Somaliland](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somalia%29)
- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107710013)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Hirshabelle Ministry of Finance and Economic Development: budget and revenue

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/hirshabelle-ministry-of-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hirshabelle's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development prepares the state budget in Jowhar. The cabinet approved US$44.4 million for 2026 and US$47.45 million for 2027, up 7%. In 2025 the state raised US$8 million of its own revenue and received US$17 million in donor grants, so most of its money came from grants.

## What it does

[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)'s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development drafts the state's yearly budget bill and presents it to the Council of Ministers, which is chaired by the state president ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/top-english-news/296111/hirshabelle-cabinet-approves-44-3-million-budget-for-2026); [Dawan Africa, 28 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hirshabelle-state-approves-dollar4745m-budget-for-2027-up-7percent-from-2026)). It also collects state taxes, including taxes on goods carried on the main roads ([allAfrica, 11 August 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202508110001.html)).

## Who leads it

President Ali Abdullahi Hussein (Ali Guudlawe) reshuffled the cabinet in October 2025 by decree under Articles 56 and 57 of the Hirshabelle constitution ([allAfrica, 28 October 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510280505.html)). Newly appointed ministers and deputy ministers, including for finance, were sworn in at the cabinet session that approved the 2026 budget ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/top-english-news/296111/hirshabelle-cabinet-approves-44-3-million-budget-for-2026)).

## The budgets

| Year | Budget (US$) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 33.5 million | [Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/hirshabelle-approves-dollar335m-budget-for-2025) |
| 2026 | 44,355,094 | [Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/top-english-news/296111/hirshabelle-cabinet-approves-44-3-million-budget-for-2026) |
| 2027 (cabinet approved) | 47.45 million | [Dawan Africa, 28 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hirshabelle-state-approves-dollar4745m-budget-for-2027-up-7percent-from-2026) |

The cabinet approved the 2027 budget on 28 October 2026, at its first session after Guudlawe's re-election. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa reported it as about US$3.1 million, or 7%, more than 2026. The same meeting discussed district elections, floods, the El Niño forecast and the Sabuun barrage on the Jowhar Offstream Storage Programme ([Dawan Africa, 28 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hirshabelle-state-approves-dollar4745m-budget-for-2027-up-7percent-from-2026)).

## Where the money came from in 2025

Ministry of Finance data published by the Central Bank of Somalia give Hirshabelle's 2025 accounts as follows ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

| Item | US$ |
|---|---|
| Revenue and grants | 24 million |
| Own revenue | 8 million |
| Donor grants | 17 million |
| Spending | 24 million |
| of which salaries | 9 million |
| of which building | 1 million |

## Other records

In August 2025 Hirshabelle's Minister of State for Internal Affairs, [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Gacal, was dismissed after saying truck drivers faced burdensome and unregulated taxes on the roads of Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). He had called on the finance ministry to put new tariffs before the state parliament for approval before enforcing them ([allAfrica, 11 August 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202508110001.html)).

## Related pages

[Institutions of the member states](/en/institutions/member-state-institutions/), [member states' money](/en/economy/member-states-money/), the [Puntland Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/puntland-ministry-of-finance/) and the federal [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/).


---

# Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation of Somalia and the Civil Aviation Authority

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation sets policy for air and road transport, and the Somali Civil Aviation Authority under it runs air traffic control and issues overflight and landing permits. In 2023 Somalia's upper airspace became controlled Class A airspace again after about 30 years. Overflight fees brought in US$19.9 million in 2025, and the budget expects US$46.7 million in 2027.

## What it does

The **Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation** makes federal policy for air and land transport. The **Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA)**, under it, is the body that runs air navigation. Its director general has described it as "the legally mandated body responsible for managing all air navigation services across Somalia's airspace" ([Goobjoog, November 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-asserts-full-airspace-authority-as-somaliland-issues-unilateral-flight-directive)). Together they:

- **Run the airspace:** the SCAA provides air traffic control and issues landing and overflight permits (same source).
- **License airlines:** the government said it would license all airlines flying in Somali skies ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia-to-license-all-airlines-operating-within-its-skies)).
- **Oversee airports:** [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) in Mogadishu and the federal airports. In May 2026 the minister warned airlines and agencies at [Aden Adde](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) airport to respect passengers' rights ([Federal Government weekly briefing, 15 May 2026](https://moi.gov.so/2026/05/15/federal-government-of-somalias-weekly-briefing-mogadishu-friday-15th-may-2026/)).
- **Road transport:** vehicle number plates and driving licences, which raised US$2.37 million and US$1.43 million in 2025 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## Who leads them

**[Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Nuh** became minister in 2025, taking over from Fardowsa Osman Egal in a handover led by Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/deputy-pm-salah-oversees-handover-at-ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation)). He chaired the ministry's public service meeting in January 2026 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/ministry-of-aviation-holds-high-level-meeting-to-enhance-public-service-delivery)). In February 2026 the Prime Minister named Major General Sulub Ahmed Firin as deputy minister ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-makes-changes-in-government-and-police)).

**Ahmed Moallin Hassan** is Director General of the SCAA ([Garowe Online, 26 January 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/what-it-means-for-somalia-to-regain-class-a-classification-of-airspace); [Goobjoog, November 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-asserts-full-airspace-authority-as-somaliland-issues-unilateral-flight-directive)).

## The airspace, step by step

- **About 30 years uncontrolled:** after the civil war, Somalia's airspace was classed as uncontrolled (Class G), and international flights over Somalia were handled from Kenya ([Garowe Online, January 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/what-it-means-for-somalia-to-regain-class-a-classification-of-airspace)).
- **2018:** the government moved air traffic operations to Mogadishu (same source).
- **January 2023:** IATA confirmed that airspace above 24,500 feet was reclassified as Class A, where every flight must be cleared by air traffic control. The SCAA's director general said: "It [is] welcoming news. We will be celebrating." [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that more than 400 flights a day cross Somali airspace and that the change could raise more than US$34 million a year (same source).
- **November 2025:** [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) began requiring its own overflight permits from 10 November 2025. The federal SCAA rejected this and said it alone issues permits ([AllAfrica, November 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511030152.html); [Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-asserts-full-airspace-authority-as-somaliland-issues-unilateral-flight-directive)). Several flights were diverted from the airspace over Somaliland as the federal rules were enforced ([AllAfrica, November 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511140051.html)).
- **2026:** the SCAA denied reports that it had handed airspace control to the UAE ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalias-civil-aviation-authority-denies-reports-of-handing-over-airspace-control-to-uae)). The cabinet approved new aviation safety rules ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/cabinet-approves-aviation-safety-crackdown-and-ratifies-key-maritime-conventions/)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)), where the authority is listed as "Civil Aviation and Metro-Authority":

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Transport and Aviation | 2,317,799 | 4,303,879 | 15,529,315 |
| Civil Aviation Authority | 8,917,949 | 13,829,897 | 10,483,312 |

On the income side, **overflight fees** collected through IATA were US$19.90 million in 2025, budgeted at US$30.69 million in 2026 and proposed at US$46.69 million in 2027. Airport fees brought in US$4.15 million in 2025 and passenger fees US$6.07 million (same source).

## How the work is shared

Somaliland runs its own Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Development, and its minister said in March 2026 that Hargeisa had taken legal steps against Mogadishu over airspace management ([AllAfrica, March 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202603060199.html)). Member states have transport ministers of their own. For airlines, see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) and [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/).

## Its legal basis

The Civil Aviation law and Somalia's membership of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Commanders of the Somali army since 1960 (Taliyaha Ciidanka Xoogga)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-army-commanders/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The head of Somalia's armed forces has been called commander-in-chief (1960–1991), chief of army (2005–2012) and chief of staff or commander of the national army (since 2013). The first was General Daud Abdulle Hirsi, from 12 April 1960. Siad Barre held the post from 1965 to 1969 and Mohamed Ali Samatar from 1969 to 1990. Since 2005 the post has changed hands more than twenty times. On 29 January 2026 the cabinet named Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud to the post.

## In short

The commander of the armed forces is the professional head of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and, in principle, of the [air force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) and [navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/). The president appoints the commander, and every holder so far has come from the army ([Wikipedia, Chief of Defence Force (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_Defence_Force_(Somalia))). This page lists them with their dates.

## The Republic and the military government, 1960–1991

Title: commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

| Commander | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) | Major general | 12 April 1960 | 1965 (died in office) |
| [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) | Major general | 1965 | 1969 |
| [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/) | Lieutenant general | 1969 | 1990 |
| [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/) | Major general | 25 November 1990 | 20 January 1991 |

(Wikipedia, citing Harold Nelson's Library of Congress country study, *Somalia: a country study*, 1982, and other sources.) Siad Barre took power as army commander in October 1969; see [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/). The national army broke up with the fall of his government in January 1991.

## The transitional government, 2005–2013

Title: chief of army. After 1991 there was no national army until the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) began to build one.

| Commander | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Ismail Qasim Naji | 15 April 2005 | 10 February 2007 |
| Abdullahi Ali Omar | 10 February 2007 | 21 July 2007 |
| Salah Hassan Jama | 21 July 2007 | 11 June 2008 |
| Said Dheere Mohamed | 11 June 2008 | 14 May 2009 |
| Yusuf Osman Dhumal | 15 May 2009 | 6 December 2009 |
| Mohamed Gelle Kahiye | 6 December 2009 | 6 September 2010 |
| Ahmed Jimale Gedi | 6 September 2010 | 29 March 2011 |
| Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini | 29 March 2011 | 13 March 2013 |

All held the rank of major general (Wikipedia, citing Al Jazeera, 14 April 2005, [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Media, [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and Reuters, 2009).

## The federal government, 2013–now

Title: chief of staff of the armed forces, or commander of the Somali National Army.

| Commander | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Dahir Adan Elmi | 13 March 2013 | 25 June 2014 |
| Abdullahi Anod | 25 June 2014 | 24 September 2015 |
| Mohamed Adam Ahmed | 24 September 2015 | 5 April 2017 |
| Ahmed Mohamed Jimale | 5 April 2017 | 12 October 2017 |
| Abdiweli Jama Hussein Gorod | 12 October 2017 | 16 August 2018 |
| Dahir Adan Elmi (second term) | 16 August 2018 | 27 August 2020 |
| [Odowaa Yusuf Rageh](/en/people/odowaa-yusuf-rageh/) | 27 August 2020 | 19 June 2023 |
| [Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow](/en/people/ibrahim-sheikh-muhyadin-addow/) | 19 June 2023 | 9 November 2024 |
| Odowaa Yusuf Rageh (second term) | 9 November 2024 | 29 January 2026 |
| Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud | 29 January 2026 | — |

(Wikipedia, citing Shabelle Media, VOA, Goobjoog, [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) and others.)

**Recent changes.** In November 2024 the cabinet, at an emergency meeting, dismissed Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow and brought back Odowaa Yusuf Rageh, who had led operations against al-Shabaab from 2020 to 2023; the prime minister's office said the aim was to "speed up the defense of the country" ([Mohamed Dhaysane, Anadolu Agency, 11 November 2024](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-cabinet-fires-army-chief-reappoints-predecessor/3390233)). On 29 January 2026 the cabinet dismissed Odowaa and unanimously endorsed Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud, a graduate of a Turkish military academy who had led the army's General Support Command since 2024, according to Information Minister Daud Aweis ([Anadolu Agency via A News, 29 January 2026](https://www.anews.com.tr/africa/2026/01/29/somali-cabinet-dismisses-army-chief-endorses-new-commander/amp)).

## Sources differ

- **Odowaa's first term.** Wikipedia's text dates it from 22 August 2019; its table gives 27 August 2020.
- **Rank.** The post is usually held by a major general; the commander appointed in 2026 was a brigadier general.
- **Titles.** The same post has been called commander-in-chief, chief of army, chief of defence force and commander of the national army.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Anadolu Agency, "Somali cabinet fires army chief, reappoints predecessor" (2024): [article](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-cabinet-fires-army-chief-reappoints-predecessor/3390233).
- Anadolu Agency via A News, "Somali Cabinet dismisses army chief, endorses new commander" (2026): [article](https://www.anews.com.tr/africa/2026/01/29/somali-cabinet-dismisses-army-chief-endorses-new-commander/amp).
- Wikipedia, "Chief of Defence Force (Somalia)", with its references: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_Defence_Force_(Somalia)).


---

# Finance Ministers of Somaliland, 1991 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland has had 18 finance ministers since 1991, starting with Ismail Mahmud Hurre. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo", later President, held the post from 1997 to 1999. Abdilahi Hassan Aadam has been Minister of Finance Development since 2024.

## In short

The ministry is now called the Ministry of Finance Development. The list follows the table in the Wikipedia article on the ministry, which cites the ministry's own list of former ministers, and the position-held records in Wikidata. ([Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Finance ministers of Somaliland

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ismail Mahmud Hurre (Ismaaciil Maxamuud Xurre) | 1991 to 1993 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Abdillahi Mohamed Duale (Cabdillaahi Maxamed Ducaale) | 1993 to 1994 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Ibrahim Abdi Muse (Ibraahim Cabdi Muuse) | 1994 to 1994 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Mohamed Ahmed Samatar (Maxamed Axmed Samatar) | 1994 to 1994 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Mohamed Dhimbil Galbedi (Maxamed Dhimbil Galbeedi) | 1994 to 1995 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Awil Haji Omar (Cawil Xaaji Cumar) | 1995 to 1996 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Suleiman Mohamoud Adan (Suleymaan Maxamuud Aadan) | 1996 to 1997 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Yusuf Ainab Muse (Yuusuf Caynaab Muuse) | 1997 to 1997 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo"](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) (Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud "Siilaanyo") | 1997 to 1999 | later President of Somaliland | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Mohamed Said Gees (Maxamed Saciid Gees) | 1999 to 2001 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Hussein Farah Dodi (Xuseen Faarax Doodi) | 2001 to 2003 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Hussein Ali Duale (Xuseen Cali Ducaale) | 2003 to 2010 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Mohamed Hashi Elmi (Maxamed Xaashi Cilmi) | 2010 to March 2012 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Abdiaziz Mohamed Samale (Cabdicasiis Maxamed Samaale) | March 2012 to February 2015 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Zamzam Abdi Adan (Samsam Cabdi Aadan) | February 2015 to December 2017 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Yusuf Mohamed Abdi (Yuusuf Maxamed Cabdi) | December 2017 to November 2018 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| [Saad Ali Shire](/en/people/saad-ali-shire/) (Saacad Cali Shire) | November 2018 to 2024 |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |
| Abdilahi Hassan Aadam (Cabdillaahi Xasan Aadan) | 2024 to now |  | [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987) |

## Related pages

- [Somaliland Ministry of Finance Development](/en/institutions/somaliland-ministry-of-finance/)
- [Finance Ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/finance-ministers-of-somalia/)
- [Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Ministry of Finance (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_%28Somaliland%29)
- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138637987)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Foreign forces in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Several foreign states have deployed forces in Somalia since 2006, alongside the African Union missions. Ethiopia intervened in December 2006 and withdrew from Mogadishu in January 2009, and has had troops in Somalia since under the AU and on its own. Kenya crossed the border in October 2011 and joined AMISOM in 2012. The United States carries out air strikes and has trained Somali units. Turkey has run a training base in Mogadishu since 2017. The UAE trained Somali troops from 2014 to 2018. Egypt joined the AU mission in 2025–2026.

## In short

Besides the African Union missions ([AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) and [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)), several states have sent or trained forces in Somalia on their own terms. This page lists them by country, from the sources, without taking sides on whether each deployment was welcome.

## Ethiopia

Full page: [Ethiopia's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/ethiopia-military-in-somalia/). Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in strength in December 2006, at the request of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/), and drove the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) from Mogadishu ([Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on 24 December 2006 that Ethiopia had been compelled to act to protect its sovereignty. Estimates of the force range from 4,000 (the Ethiopian government) to 50,000 or more; an insurgency grew from early 2007, and Ethiopian forces withdrew from Mogadishu in January 2009 ([Wikipedia, War in Somalia (2006–2009)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Somalia_(2006%E2%80%932009))). The CFR records the view that the intervention helped radicalise [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) (CFR). Ethiopian troops later joined the AU missions, and others serve outside them, as in [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) (see [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/)).

## Kenya

Full page: [Kenya's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/). On 16 October 2011 Kenyan forces crossed into southern Somalia in Operation Linda Nchi, saying they aimed to create a buffer against al-Shabaab after kidnappings near the border. About 2,400 troops crossed at first. Kenya agreed in November 2011 to place its forces under AMISOM, which it formally joined in June 2012. Kismayo was taken on 28 September 2012 by AMISOM, the Somali army and the Ras Kamboni militia ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi), citing Reuters, the BBC and the International Crisis Group). See [Raskamboni movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/).

## United States

Full page: [The United States military in Somalia](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/). The CFR records more than 275 reported US air strikes under the first Trump administration against 60 in the eight Obama years, the deployment of regular US troops from 2017, the withdrawal of about 700 personnel at the end of that term, and the return of several hundred troops in mid-2022. It also records that the US suspended aid to most Somali units from 2017 to 2019 over corruption concerns (CFR). The US-trained Danab commando brigade is described on the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) page. Stanford's Mapping Militants project counted about 30 US strikes from January to May 2025 (see [the offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022–2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/)).

## Turkey

Full page: [Turkey's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/). Turkey opened a military training base, Camp TURKSOM, in Mogadishu in 2017 ([Reuters, 1 October 2017](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/turkey-opens-military-base-in-mogadishu-to-train-somali-soldiers-idUSKCN1C50J9/)). It trains the army's Gorgor battalions, has flown armed drones from Mogadishu since late 2022, and in 2025 sent attack helicopters that Turkish officials said remained under Turkish control ([Wikipedia, Somali Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). Turkish mediation produced the Ankara Declaration between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) on 11 December 2024 (see [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)).

## United Arab Emirates

Full page: [The United Arab Emirates' military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uae-military-in-somalia/). The Associated Press reported that the UAE began training Somali soldiers in 2014, paid the salaries of 2,407 of them and worked with an anti-piracy force in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). On 8 April 2018 Somali security forces seized US$9.6 million in cash from a UAE aircraft at Mogadishu airport; Somalia said the money was undeclared, and the UAE said its soldiers were held at gunpoint. On 15 April 2018 the UAE ended its training mission ([Defense News, AP, 17 April 2018](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/04/17/uae-stops-training-somalias-military-after-cash-seizure/)). See [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/).

## Egypt, Eritrea and others

The two largest AU contingents have their own pages: [Uganda's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/) and [Burundi's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/burundi-military-in-somalia/). See also [Djibouti's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/djibouti-military-in-somalia/).

Full pages: [Egypt's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/egypt-military-in-somalia/) and [Qatar and Saudi Arabia](/en/institutions/qatar-saudi-military-in-somalia/). Somalia announced in August 2024 that Egyptian forces would join the new AU mission; Egypt's allocation was 1,091 personnel, and it deployed troops, helicopters and aircraft in early 2026 (see [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)). About 5,000 Somali recruits trained in Eritrea from 2019 began returning in December 2022 (full page: [Eritrea and Somalia](/en/institutions/eritrea-and-somalia-military/)). The European Union's training mission has trained about 7,000 soldiers since 2010 (full page: [The UK and the EU in Somalia](/en/institutions/uk-eu-military-in-somalia/)), and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), the UK, Italy and Uganda have also funded or trained Somali forces (see [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/)).

## Sources differ

- **Ethiopia, 2006.** Ethiopia and the transitional government called it a response to an Islamic Courts threat; Wikipedia's account of the war describes the two years that followed as an occupation (Wikipedia, War in Somalia (2006–2009)).
- **Size of the Ethiopian force.** From 4,000 (Ethiopia) to 50,000–60,000 (other estimates).
- **The UAE cash, 2018.** Somalia called it undeclared money; the UAE said it was for paying Somali soldiers.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder: [page](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab).
- Associated Press, "UAE stops training Somalia's military after cash seizure" (2018), via Defense News: [article](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/04/17/uae-stops-training-somalias-military-after-cash-seizure/).


---

# Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-religious-affairs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs runs the Hajj for Somali pilgrims, oversees mosques and religious endowments (awqaf) and sets policy on religious education and guidance. Mukhtar Robow Ali is minister. For the 2026 Hajj it agreed a quota of 11,500 pilgrims with Saudi Arabia and capped the package price at US$4,543.50.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for religion. Somalia's constitution makes Islam the religion of the state. The ministry's main jobs, as reported:

- **Hajj and Umrah:** it signs Somalia's yearly Hajj quota with Saudi Arabia, licenses Hajj agents, sets the maximum price of the Hajj package and sends officials to look after pilgrims in Makkah and Mina ([Hiiraan Online, November 2025](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Nov/203600/somalia_and_saudi_arabia_sign_1447_2026_hajj_quota_agreement.aspx); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/ministerial-oversight-ensures-smooth-hajj-for-somali-pilgrims-as-they-embark-on-a-spiritual-journey-to-mina/)).
- **Endowments (awqaf):** it oversees property given as religious endowments.
- **Mosques and guidance:** it oversees mosques, religious education and religious guidance.

## Who leads it

**Mukhtar Robow Ali** (Mukhtaar Roobow) is minister. He signed the 2026 Hajj quota agreement in Jeddah with Saudi Arabia's Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-2026-hajj-quota-agreement-for-11500-pilgrims); [Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-2026-hajj-quota-agreement)). He was appointed minister in August 2022, having left al-Shabaab, where he had been deputy leader and spokesman, in 2017 ([Wikipedia, Mukhtar Robow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)). See [Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/) and [Al-Shabaab: structure and leaders](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## The 2026 Hajj

- **Quota:** 11,500 places for Somali pilgrims for the Hajj of 1447 (2026) ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-2026-hajj-quota-agreement-for-11500-pilgrims)).
- **Price cap:** the ministry set the maximum package price at **US$4,543.50**, down from US$4,604 the year before ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sets-price-cap-opens-registration-for-2026-hajj-pilgrims); [Hajj Reporters](https://hajjreporters.com/?p=30748)).
- **Health checks:** all pilgrims had to pass a health screening ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-mandates-health-screening-for-2026-hajj-pilgrims)).
- **Meals:** after pilgrims complained about food in May 2026, the ministry said meals are not part of the official package ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-hajj-fees-do-not-include-meals)).
- **Launch:** Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) launched the 2026 Hajj services ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-barre-launches-2026-hajj-services-pledges-better-care-for-pilgrims)), and the minister inspected the Somali pilgrims' camps in Mina ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/article/minister-of-endowments-inspects-relocation-of-somali-pilgrims-in-makkah)).
- **Ranking:** in June 2025 the ministry said Somalia had risen to fourth place worldwide in a ranking of Hajj pilgrim services ([AllAfrica, June 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202506100012.html)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Religious Affairs | 3,743,244 | 5,383,637 | 4,541,433 |

## Related bodies

The Somali Religious Council and the Council of Ulama are separate religious bodies outside the government. For faith in Somali life, see [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) and [Quran schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/).

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution, which makes Islam the religion of the state (Article 2), as amended in 2024 and 2026, and the ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers.


---

# Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-public-works/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing builds roads and public buildings, sets construction standards and housing policy, and runs large World Bank urban and road projects. Ayub Ismail Yusuf is minister. Its budget is the largest of any economic ministry in the 2027 proposal, at US$121.3 million, and in May 2026 it announced a plan to rehouse 12,000 families in Mogadishu.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for public building works, roads and housing. Its work, as reported:

- **Roads:** it runs federal road projects, such as the 22-kilometre Beledweyne to Kalabeyr road, for which it sought supervision consultants in 2026 ([MoPWRH, April 2026](https://mpwr.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/reoi_consultancy_supervision_beledweyne_kalabeyr_road_22km_-april_2026_clean.pdf)), and road works in Dhusamareb that began in February 2026 ([MoPWRH, 25 February 2026](https://mpwr.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Somalia-Launches-Construction-of-Dhusamareb-25-02-2026.pdf)).
- **Building permits:** in July 2026 it tendered for a National Electronic Building Permit Management System, to digitise building permits across Somalia ([MoPWRH](https://mpwr.gov.so/2026/07/15/design-development-deployment-and-commissioning-of-the-national-electronic-building-permit-management-system-ebpms/)).
- **Housing policy:** it finalised a National Housing Policy in May 2026, to guide urban development and building standards, for the cabinet to approve ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-finalizes-national-housing-policy-to-guide-urban-development)).
- **Construction industry:** the **Somali Construction Development Agency** sits under it with its own budget line since 2026 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## Who leads it

**Ayub Ismail Yusuf** is minister ([Dawan Africa, 8 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-plan-to-rehouse-12000-families-after-evictions-from-government-land)). He became minister in the December 2025 reshuffle that also changed the commerce minister ([SONNA, December 2025](https://sonna.so/en/prime-minister-hamza-abdi-barre-announces-cabinet-reshuffle-appoints-new-ministers-for-commerce-and-public-works/)). An earlier minister was Mohamed Adam Moalim, now minister of communications ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Adam Moalim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Adam_Moalim)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Public Works and Reconstruction | 36,838,541 | 98,593,630 | 121,258,115 |
| Somali Construction Development Agency | none | 508,725 | 492,900 |

Most of this is World Bank project money. The largest projects in the 2027 proposal are the **Infrastructure Development for Access and Jobs** programme (US$67.6 million), the **Somalia Urban Resilience Project phase 2** (US$23.6 million) and the Horn of Africa road corridor to Djibouti and Ethiopia (US$23.1 million) (same source).

## What it reports doing

- **Rehousing families:** on 8 May 2026 the minister announced a plan to move about 12,000 families, nearly 80,000 people, who live on state land in Mogadishu to new homes in the Jaziira area on the city's edge, with schools, clinics and markets. The first phase is 6,000 homes ([Dawan Africa, 8 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-plan-to-rehouse-12000-families-after-evictions-from-government-land)). The same day, former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo said the plan was a response to public anger over demolitions in Mogadishu and asked whether it had been in the budget ([Dawan Africa, 8 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/former-somali-president-farmaajo-questions-government-housing-plan)).
- **Investors:** in August 2026 the minister met investors from [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/), Djibouti and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-public-works-minister-meets-investors-from-turkiye-djibouti-and-sudan)).
- **Resettlement:** it works with IOM on reconstruction and resettlement ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/article/ministry-of-public-works-and-iom-strengthen-collaboration-on-reconstruction-and-resettlement)).
- **Hargeisa roads:** a 45-kilometre road project in Hargeisa backed by the World Bank and UNOPS was announced ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-announces-45km-road-project-in-hargeisa-backed-by-world-bank-unops)).

## Other records

The Ministry of Planning published a study of the real estate and construction sector in 2026 ([Ministry of Planning, Real Estate and Construction Sectoral Study](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Real-Estate-and-Construction-Sectoral-Study.pdf)). For people forced from their homes, see [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Turkey's military in Somalia: Camp TURKSOM, drones and the sea pact

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Turkey opened Camp TURKSOM, its largest military training base abroad, in Mogadishu on 30 September 2017. Reported to have cost about US$50 million, it trains Somali officers, NCOs and the Gorgor infantry battalions. Turkey has flown armed drones from Mogadishu since December 2021. In February 2024 the two countries signed a 10-year defence and economic agreement under which Turkey is to build and train a Somali navy. Turkey's parliament authorised troops on Somali land and in its waters from July 2024, and Turkish ships began oil drilling off Somalia in April 2026.

## In short

Since 2017 Turkey has become one of the largest foreign military partners of the federal government. This page covers its military role: the base, training, aircraft, the 2024 defence agreement and Turkish forces' mandate. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Camp TURKSOM, 2017

Turkey opened the base on 30 September 2017 at Jaziira, on the coast at the southern edge of Mogadishu. It covers about 4 square kilometres, with three residential blocks and training grounds, and took about two years to build. Somalia's defence ministry said more than 200 Turkish military staff would train about 1,500 Somali soldiers at a time. Turkey's chief of general staff, Hulusi Akar, said Turkey would support Somalia "until their country becomes militarily stronger", and Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) called it "a concrete step" towards an integrated national army ([Voice of America, 30 September 2017](https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-opens-largest-foreign-military-base-in-mogadishu/4051001.html)). Al Jazeera reported that it cost a reported US$50 million and was meant to train 10,000 soldiers; Akar called it "the largest training base of its kind outside of Turkey" ([Al Jazeera, 1 October 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/turkey-sets-largest-overseas-army-base-somalia-171001073820818.html)).

## What it trains

- **Officers and NCOs.** Officer courses last two years and NCO courses one year (Wikipedia, citing *Military Africa*).
- **Gorgor battalions.** The first Gorgor ("eagle") infantry battalion graduated on 18 April 2019; nine had been trained by June 2023. About 5,000 Somali trainees had passed through by 2023, according to Anadolu Agency (Wikipedia, Camp TURKSOM). VOA described the Gorgor as "commandos" trained in their thousands ([VOA, 21 February 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agreement-with-turkey-/7496758.html)).

See [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/).

## Drones and aircraft

The UN Panel of Experts reported that Bayraktar TB-2 armed drones were delivered to Mogadishu on 6 December 2021 by two Turkish Air Force A400M aircraft. Turkey told the Panel the drones were assigned to Turkey's own counter-terrorism work in Somalia, not given to Somalia. The Panel said the delivery was "not compliant with the arms embargo" and noted that Turkey had never publicly reported any air strikes in Somalia ([UN Panel of Experts, S/2022/754, para. 96](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/754&l=en&t=pdf)). Two Akinci drones followed in 2025, and six T129 attack helicopters arrived in March and June 2025; Turkish officials said the helicopters stayed under Turkish control ([Wikipedia, Somali Air Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Air_Force), citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)). See [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/).

## The 2024 defence and economic agreement

Somalia's defence minister [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) and Turkey's Yaşar Güler signed a 10-year Defence and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in Turkey on 8 February 2024. Somalia's parliament endorsed it by 213 votes to 3. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) said Turkey would build, train and equip a Somali navy against terrorism, piracy, illegal fishing and toxic dumping. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said: "We asked for the support not to fight Ethiopia or invade another country" ([VOA, 21 February 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agreement-with-turkey-/7496758.html)). The deal followed Ethiopia's January 2024 memorandum of understanding with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). See [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/).

## Turkish forces' mandate

On 27 July 2024 Turkey's parliament approved deploying Turkish armed forces to Somalia, on land and in its waters, for two years ([Africanews, 28 July 2024](https://www.africanews.com/2024/07/28/turkey-approves-two-year-military-deployment-to-somalia/)). In July 2026 it extended the mandate from 27 July 2026 to July 2028, at Somalia's request; the motion left troop numbers and equipment to the president, and some opposition parties asked for the numbers and cost to be disclosed ([Dawan Africa, 22 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/turkish-parliament-approves-two-year-extension-of-troop-deployment-in-somalia)).

## Oil and the sea

Turkey's seismic ship Oruç Reis surveyed Somali waters from late 2024. The drilling ship Çağrı Bey reached Mogadishu in April 2026 to drill the [Curad-1](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/) well, about 372 km offshore. Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi called it "a historic day" ([Dawan Africa, 10 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-first-offshore-oil-drilling-project-with-turkish-vessel-cagri-bey)).

## Sources differ

- **Capacity of the base.** About 1,500 trainees at a time (VOA, Al Jazeera) or about 1,000 (Reuters, as cited by Wikipedia).
- **Turkish staff.** More than 200 in 2017 (VOA); more than 300 later (Wikipedia).
- **Revenue terms.** Some reports said Turkey would receive 30 per cent of revenue from Somalia's exclusive economic zone; the agreement's text has not been published.
- **Who controls the aircraft.** Turkey says the drones and helicopters are its own; Somali officials have described their use in operations against al-Shabaab.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Voice of America, "Turkey opens largest foreign military base in Mogadishu" (2017): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-opens-largest-foreign-military-base-in-mogadishu/4051001.html).
- Voice of America, "Somalia approves defense agreement with Turkey" (2024): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agreement-with-turkey-/7496758.html).
- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2022/754 (2022): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/754&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Ministry of Internal Security of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-internal-security/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Internal Security oversees the Somali Police Force, the National Intelligence and Security Agency and the immigration agency, and coordinates security with the member states. General Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag has been minister since April 2024. Its budget head, which includes the police and NISA, is US$86.3 million for 2026 and a proposed US$90.0 million for 2027.

## What it does

The Ministry of Internal Security is the federal body that oversees policing and internal security. In the federal budget it is listed as the "Ministry of National Security", and the bodies paid through it are ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

- the **Somali Police Force**, see [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/);
- the **National Security Force**, meaning the National Intelligence and Security Agency, see [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/);
- the **Immigration Department**, see [Immigration and Citizenship Agency](/en/institutions/immigration-and-citizenship-agency/).

Its reported work in 2026 includes running the Joint Police Programme with international partners, training police units such as the Darawiish, airport and border security, and maritime security cooperation ([Ministry of Internal Security, news](https://mois.gov.so/en/category/news/); [Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/300028/minister-of-internal-security-launches-meeting-on-phase-ii-of-joint-police-programme)).

## Who leads it

**General Abdullahi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ismail (Fartaag)** was appointed minister by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) in April 2024. The ministry's biography says he studied at the Jaalle Siyaad Military Academy, led the reorganisation of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) from 2001 to 2004, commanded the army's 60th Division in Dollow, [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), from 2011 to 2013, was Vice-President of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) from 2013 to 2016, and has been a senator for Gedo in the Upper House since 2016 ([Ministry of Internal Security, The Minister](https://mois.gov.so/en/minister/)). The deputy minister in July 2026 was General Sulub Ahmed Firin ([Ministry of Internal Security, July 2026](https://mois.gov.so/en/?p=999)). The Director General is Mohamed Hassan Shire ([Ministry of Internal Security](https://mois.gov.so/en/the-director-general/)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry | 1,290,681 | 1,602,689 | 1,717,109 |
| Police Force | 49,829,412 | 49,681,986 | 49,681,986 |
| National Security Force (NISA) | 36,691,927 | 28,466,720 | 32,066,720 |
| Immigration Department | 6,402,282 | 6,535,639 | 6,498,439 |
| **Total** | **94,214,301** | **86,287,034** | **89,964,254** |

Security companies pay a licence fee to the government; it raised US$5,840 in 2025, and the budget expects just over US$1 million in 2027 (same source).

## What it reports doing

- **Joint Police Programme:** in January 2026 the minister opened a meeting on phase II of the programme, which pays for police with donor support ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/300028/minister-of-internal-security-launches-meeting-on-phase-ii-of-joint-police-programme); [SONNA](https://preview.sonna.so/en/article/interior-security-minister-opens-psc-meeting-on-phase-ii-of-joint-police)).
- **Police training:** it closed training for the fifth group of the Darawiish police force ([Ministry of Internal Security](https://mois.gov.so/en/category/news/)).
- **Interpol:** the minister met senior Interpol officials on cross-border crime and attended Interpol's 93rd General Assembly ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-internal-security-meets-senior-interpol-officials-to-boost-transnational-crime-cooperation/); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-strengthens-global-security-cooperation-at-93rd-interpol-general-assembly/)).
- **Partners:** he met the AU special envoy on security and counter-terrorism in March 2026 and the [Republic of Korea](/en/relations/south-korea/)'s ambassador on maritime security in July 2026 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/internal-security-minister-meets-au-special-envoy-on-security-and-counterterrorism-efforts); [MoIS](https://mois.gov.so/en/?p=999)).
- **Mogadishu:** the minister said Mogadishu was "safer than ever", citing progress against al-Shabaab ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/internal-security-minister-declares-mogadishu-safer-than-ever-cites-progress-against-terrorism)).
- **Monthly reports:** the ministry publishes a newsletter ([MoIS Newsletter, June 2026](https://mois.gov.so/en/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MOIS%20Newsletter%20June%202026%20%20.pdf)).

## How the work is shared

Each member state has its own security ministry and police. In June 2026 the ministry held a federal and state security consultation conference ([Ministry of Internal Security](https://mois.gov.so/en/category/news/)). For the forces, see [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/), [Puntland's security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) and [Jubaland's security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/). Defence is a separate ministry: see [Ministry of Defence](/en/institutions/ministry-of-defence/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026, and the police and NISA laws.


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# The United Arab Emirates' military in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/uae-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UAE has funded and trained Somali forces since about 2010, first the Puntland Maritime Police Force and from 2014 federal army units in Mogadishu. It ended its training mission in April 2018 after Somali forces seized US$9.6 million from a UAE plane, and resumed it after 2022, funding about 10,000 personnel for new units. Four Emirati soldiers and a Bahraini officer were killed in an attack at Mogadishu's General Gordon base in February 2024. In January 2026 Somalia's cabinet cancelled all agreements with the UAE, including security and defence cooperation.

## In short

The [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (UAE) has been one of the main funders and trainers of Somali forces, working with the federal government at some times and with regional administrations at others. This page records its military role from the sources. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## The Puntland Maritime Police Force, from 2010

The UN Monitoring Group reported in 2012 that the Puntland Maritime Police Force was set up in 2010 and trained by private firms, and that it was financed mainly by senior UAE officials; the UAE government officially denied involvement ([UN Monitoring Group, S/2012/544, paras. 61–64](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/544&l=en&t=pdf)). Ido Levy of the Washington Institute wrote in 2024 that Emirati advisers helped create the force, funded at about US$50 million a year, and that it fought in the Galgala mountains and led the retaking of [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/) from the Islamic State faction in 2016 ([Ido Levy, Washington Institute, 18 March 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)). See [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/).

## Training federal forces, 2014–2018

The Associated Press reported that the UAE began training Somali soldiers in 2014 and paid the salaries of 2,407 of them. On 8 April 2018 Somali security forces seized US$9.6 million in cash from a UAE aircraft at Mogadishu airport; Somalia said the money was undeclared, and the UAE said its soldiers were held at gunpoint. On 15 April 2018 the UAE ended its training mission ([Defense News, AP, 17 April 2018](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/04/17/uae-stops-training-somalias-military-after-cash-seizure/)).

## Return after 2022

Levy wrote that the training resumed after [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) returned to office in 2022. He reported that the UAE funded about 10,000 personnel for new federal units, including a military police unit of 3,500–4,500 trained in Uganda and brigades trained in Ethiopia and Egypt; that it paid about US$9 million a month to the new brigades, at about twice the normal army salary; and that it gave vehicles and training to [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)'s forces in 2023 ([Washington Institute, 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)). See [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/).

**General Gordon base, February 2024.** On 10 February 2024 an attacker inside the General Gordon base in Mogadishu killed three Emirati soldiers and a Bahraini officer; a fourth Emirati soldier died on the way home. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed the attack and called the UAE an "enemy of Shariah law" for backing the government ([Africanews, 14 February 2024](https://www.africanews.com/2024/02/14/al-shabaab-bodies-of-uae-soldiers-returned-to-abu-dhabi/)).

## Air strikes and bases in the north

- **Air strikes.** The UAE does not announce strikes in Somalia. Caleb Weiss of *Long War Journal* reported that the UAE was believed to have carried out its first drone strike in Somalia in June 2023, in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), and at least two strikes in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s Cal Miskaad mountains in early 2025 during Puntland's offensive against the Islamic State faction, with some Puntland outlets confirming its role ([Caleb Weiss, *Long War Journal*, 5 February 2025](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2025/02/us-uae-conducting-airstrikes-in-northern-somalia.php)). See [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/).
- **[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/).** The same report said almost 200 Emirati troops were based at a maritime police base in Bosaso (*Long War Journal*, 2025).
- **Berbera.** The UAE built and controls the port and military base at Berbera in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Africanews, 13 January 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/)).

## Cancellation, January 2026

On 12 January 2026 Somalia's Council of Ministers said it "hereby nullifies and revokes all existing agreements with the United Arab Emirates", covering the ports of Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo and bilateral security and defence cooperation, citing "strong evidence" of actions against Somalia's sovereignty and unity. The decision was said to apply to federal agencies and regional administrations (Africanews, 13 January 2026). Africanews linked the rift to the UAE's reported support for Israel's recognition of Somaliland and to a dispute over the use of Berbera.

## Sources differ

- **Who funded the Puntland force.** The UN group said senior UAE officials; the UAE government denied involvement in 2012.
- **Deaths in February 2024.** Three Emirati soldiers and a Bahraini officer were reported killed at first; a fourth Emirati died later. Al-Shabaab claimed many more.
- **Effect of the 2026 cancellation.** Puntland and Somaliland, which host Emirati facilities, did not accept the federal decision, according to regional reports.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Defense News (AP), "UAE stops training Somalia's military after cash seizure" (2018): [article](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/04/17/uae-stops-training-somalias-military-after-cash-seizure/).
- Ido Levy, "Emirati military support is making a difference in Somalia", Washington Institute (2024): [analysis](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia).
- Africanews, "Somalia cancels all agreements with United Arab Emirates" (2026): [article](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/).


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# Ministry of Youth and Sports of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-youth-and-sports/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Youth and Sports makes policy for young people and sport, oversees the National Youth Council and sports bodies, and leads the National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security for 2026 to 2030, which has an indicative cost of US$56 million. Mohamed Abdulkadir Ali, a former footballer, is minister. Its budget is about US$1.26 million.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for youth and sport. Its work, as reported:

- **Youth, peace and security:** on 21 September 2026 the government endorsed a five-year National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security for 2026 to 2030, with an indicative cost of **US$56 million**. Its six pillars are youth in governance and peace processes; protection and security; empowerment and livelihoods; conflict prevention, climate and resilience; institutional partnerships; and disengagement and reintegration. The minister signed its foreword ([Dawan Africa, 22 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-endorses-dollar56-million-youth-peace-and-security-plan-for-2026-2030)). It was launched in Mogadishu on 28 October 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-youth-peace-and-security-action-plan-2026-2030)).
- **Jobs and skills:** in August 2026 the minister announced a joint programme with the labour ministry to give jobs and training to 28,000 young people ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-provide-jobs-and-training-for-28000-youths-minister-says)).
- **National Youth Council:** in July 2026 the minister said the ministry was preparing a policy for the council's leaders to be elected rather than appointed by the President ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-plans-elections-for-national-youth-council-minister-says)). He denied that the removal of the council's chairman was linked to the chairman's criticism of the government ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-minister-denies-youth-council-chairmans-removal-was-linked-to-government-criticism)).
- **Sport:** it oversees national sports bodies. The minister called for a legal review of the framework of the Somali Olympic Committee ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-sports-minister-calls-for-legal-review-of-olympic-committee-framework)), and the government suspended the committee's leaders, citing misconduct ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-suspends-olympic-committee-leaders-over-misconduct)). The minister has said the national football team relies more and more on players from the diaspora ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-national-team-increasingly-reliant-on-diaspora-players-minister-says)).
- **States:** it convenes the youth and sports ministers of the member states ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-convenes-national-consultative-meeting-of-youth-and-sports-federal-ministers/)).

## Who leads it

**Mohamed Abdulkadir Ali**, a former footballer, became minister in May 2025; the Somali Football Federation welcomed his appointment ([Inside World Football, 7 May 2025](https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2025/05/07/somali-fa-welcomes-former-footballer-new-head-sports-ministry/)). He took over from Mohamed Barre in a handover overseen by the second Deputy Prime Minister ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/second-deputy-prime-minister-oversees-handover-at-ministry-of-youth-and-sports)).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Youth and Sport | 1,077,754 | 1,234,276 | 1,258,936 |

The youth plan's US$56 million is far more than the ministry's own budget; the report on the plan names no funding source ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-endorses-dollar56-million-youth-peace-and-security-plan-for-2026-2030)). Larger youth job programmes sit in other budgets, such as the World Bank social protection and youth employment project under the [Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-labour-and-social-affairs/).

## Other records

Somalia's referee [Omar Artan](/en/people/omar-artan/) was unable to take part in the 2026 World Cup after a US entry setback ([AllAfrica, June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606090556.html)). For young Somalis and work, see [Jobs in Somalia](/en/economy/jobs-in-somalia/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# The United States military in Somalia: AFRICOM, Baledogle and Danab

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After the UN-era mission of 1992–1994, the US returned to Somalia militarily from 2007 with air strikes and, from 2013–14, training of the Danab commando brigade at Baledogle airfield. About 700 US troops were in Somalia when President Trump ordered most of them out in December 2020; President Biden sent fewer than 500 back in May 2022. In February 2024 the US agreed to build five bases for Danab, which was then nearing its target of 3,000 personnel.

## In short

The United States has had three kinds of military role in Somalia: the UN-backed intervention of 1992–1994, air strikes since 2007, and training and advising the Somali army's Danab commandos since 2013–14. Its forces in Africa come under US Africa Command (AFRICOM). This page covers the training mission, bases and troop numbers. The strikes are covered in [US air strikes in Somalia](/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/), and the 1990s in [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) and [The Battle of Mogadishu, 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/). It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Danab, from 2013

Danab ("lightning") is a commando unit of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), based at Baledogle airfield in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). Wikipedia records that its first company of 150 recruits began training in October 2013 under Bancroft Global Development, a US private firm, with costs paid by the AU mission and reimbursed by the US State Department, and that the aim was a unit drawn from all clans ([Wikipedia, Danab Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danab_Brigade), citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), February 2014, and VOA, July 2014). In 2017 the two governments set a target of 3,000 Danab personnel. In February 2024 the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, said the force would reach that target "within several months" and was taking on more of its own recruiting and training ([VOA, 15 February 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/7489376.html)).

In May 2017 a US Navy SEAL was killed during a raid with Danab forces at Barii, about 40 miles west of Mogadishu, the first US combat death in Somalia since 1993 (Wikipedia, citing Reuters, 5 May 2017).

## Baledogle

In 2017 Al Jazeera described the US presence in Somalia as unacknowledged by Washington, but including a large site at Baledogle airfield ([Al Jazeera, 1 October 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/turkey-sets-largest-overseas-army-base-somalia-171001073820818.html)). Wikipedia records that US special operations forces and contractors repaired and expanded the barracks there for Danab (Wikipedia, Danab Brigade).

## Troop numbers: withdrawal and return

- **December 2020–January 2021.** President Trump ordered the withdrawal of about 700 US troops. Forces were then rotated in and out from elsewhere in East Africa. The AFRICOM commander, General Stephen Townsend, told Congress in March 2022 that the rotations amounted to "commuting to work" and that "we are marching in place at best" ([PBS NewsHour, AP, 16 May 2022](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/biden-acts-to-deploy-u-s-troops-to-somalia-reversing-trumps-ordered-withdrawal)).
- **May 2022.** President Biden signed an order on 16 May 2022 to station a "small, persistent" force in Somalia again, drawn from elsewhere in Africa. The White House gave the number as under 500; *The New York Times* reported a cap of about 450, and that Biden also approved standing authority to target about a dozen suspected al-Shabaab leaders (PBS NewsHour, 2022).

## The five bases agreement, 2024

On 15 February 2024 the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding under which the US would build up to five bases for Danab. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) presided; Defence Minister [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) and the US chargé d'affaires signed. Phee said Danab's reliance on "temporary, often inadequate" camps hampered its readiness, and that the Somali army should eventually run the bases ([VOA, 15 February 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/7489376.html)). Somali reports named the locations as Baidoa, Dhusamareb, Jowhar, Kismayo and Mogadishu, and one put the value at over US$100 million ([Dawan Africa, February 2024](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-us-sign-dollar100-million-mou-for-construction-of-military-bases-to-strengthen-danab-brigade)).

## Air support

US forces direct air strikes when Danab units are in contact with al-Shabaab, according to Wikipedia. The number and record of strikes, and Amnesty International's findings on civilian deaths, are set out in [US air strikes in Somalia](/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/).

Al-Qaeda's earlier East Africa cell, including the 1998 embassy bombings and the 2009 and 2011 killings of its leaders in Somalia, is covered in [Al-Qaeda's East Africa cell and Somalia, 1998 to 2011](/en/history/al-qaeda-east-africa-cell-somalia/).

## Sources differ

- **When Danab began.** Training began in October 2013 and the first graduates finished in February 2014 (Wikipedia); some reports date the unit to the 2017 agreement on 3,000 personnel.
- **Troops in 2022.** "Under 500" (White House) or about 450 (*The New York Times*).
- **Value of the 2024 bases deal.** Over US$100 million in one Somali report; the US did not give a figure.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Voice of America, "US, Somalia sign deal to build military bases" (15 February 2024): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/7489376.html).
- PBS NewsHour (AP), "Biden acts to deploy U.S. troops to Somalia, reversing Trump's ordered withdrawal" (2022): [article](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/biden-acts-to-deploy-u-s-troops-to-somalia-reversing-trumps-ordered-withdrawal).


---

# Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range of Somalia: what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-livestock-forestry-and-range/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's federal Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range is responsible for animal health, livestock export certificates, forests and grazing land. Livestock is Somalia's largest export: about US$970 million in 2024, according to Central Bank data, mostly sheep and goats sold to the Gulf. Hassan Hussein Mohamed was minister in 2025, and the ministry's budget is US$21.4 million for 2026.

## What it does

The ministry is the federal body for livestock, forests and rangeland. Its work, as reported:

- **Animal health:** it runs veterinary services and the checks that export animals must pass. Its director of animal health, Qaasim Abdi Moallim, spoke for the ministry on exports in 2025 ([Ecofin Agency, 28 October 2025](https://www.ecofinagency.com/news/2810-49903-somalia-targets-record-1-billion-in-livestock-exports-for-2025)). A veterinary laboratory funded with the African Development Bank opened to support exports ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/african%20development%20bank/70317/somalia-launches-new-veterinary-laboratory-to-boost-livestock-exports-and-economic-growth)).
- **Markets:** it seeks access to new markets. In 2026 Somalia sought wider access to Gulf markets and held talks with Libya on live animal exports ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-eyes-more-gulf-market-access-for-livestock-exports); [AllAfrica, November 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202611090225.html)).
- **Forests and rangeland:** it makes policy and rules for forests and grazing land, and works on restoring degraded rangeland ([SONNA, 10 February 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-fao-discuss-livestock-forestry-and-climate-adaptation-strategies)).

## Who leads it

**Hassan Hussein Mohamed** was minister in 2025, when he met FAO's regional head for Africa, Abebe Haile-Gabriel, and FAO's Somalia representative, Etienne Peterschmitt ([SONNA, 10 February 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-fao-discuss-livestock-forestry-and-climate-adaptation-strategies)). The ministry's official Feysal Ali spoke for it at a COP29 side event in November 2024 ([IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin](https://enb.iisd.org/media/feysal-ali-ministry-livestock-forestry-and-range-somalia-fast-fao-cop29-side-event-19nov)).

## Livestock exports in numbers

From Central Bank data reported by Ecofin Agency ([Ecofin Agency, 28 October 2025](https://www.ecofinagency.com/news/2810-49903-somalia-targets-record-1-billion-in-livestock-exports-for-2025)):

- **2018:** US$311 million.
- **2024:** about US$970 million.
- **2018 to 2024:** 31.5 million animals exported in total.
- **Herd:** about 56 million head, by official estimates.
- **Share:** livestock is about 9 percent of GDP and more than 60 percent of export earnings; sheep and goats make up about 90 percent of shipments.

The ministry projected more than US$1 billion for 2025. The ministry's official said Somalia "capitalized on the decline of [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and Australia's market positions" in the Gulf (same source). In 2026 the National Bureau of Statistics said livestock exports weakened in 2025 because of severe drought ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/drought-aid-cuts-slows-somalia-gdp-growth-to-31percent)). See [Trade, exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Ministry of Livestock and Forestry | 5,065,094 | 21,390,995 | 18,047,353 |

The rise from 2026 comes mainly from the World Bank's project for pastoral economies in the Horn of Africa (De-risking, Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies), budgeted at US$13.0 million in 2026 and US$18.7 million in 2027. On the income side, export duty on livestock products raised US$51,099 in 2025 (same source).

## How the work is shared

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) run their own livestock ministries and export checks, and each member state has its own livestock ministry. See [Ports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Its legal basis

The ministry's mandate from the Council of Ministers under the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026.


---

# Qatar and Saudi Arabia: Gulf military support to Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/qatar-saudi-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Qatar gave Somalia 68 armoured vehicles in January 2019, while Somalia stayed neutral in the Gulf dispute and had ended UAE training. Qatar has trained Somali soldiers in Doha: 600 returned to form a new unit in Mogadishu. On 19 January 2026, a week after Somalia cancelled its agreements with the UAE, Somalia and Qatar signed a defence cooperation agreement covering training and defence capability. Somalia and Saudi Arabia signed a military cooperation memorandum in Riyadh in February 2026.

## In short

Gulf states have become major military partners of Somalia since the 2010s, and their rivalries have shaped who supports which Somali government and region. The [UAE](/en/institutions/uae-military-in-somalia/) and [Turkey](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) have their own pages. This page covers [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) and Saudi Arabia. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Qatar

**The 2017 Gulf crisis.** In June 2017 Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain imposed a blockade on Qatar. Somalia stayed neutral. A European Parliament resolution of July 2018 said "the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) has sought to remain neutral" and that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had stopped budget support payments to Somalia ([The New Arab, 18 January 2019](https://www.newarab.com/news/qatar-donates-68-armoured-vehicles-somalia)). The UN Monitoring Group wrote in 2017 that the government had found itself "increasingly isolated" by that neutrality, opposed by regional administrations, many MPs and parts of the Mogadishu business community ([UN Monitoring Group, S/2017/924](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/924&l=en&t=pdf)).

**Armoured vehicles, 2019.** On 17 January 2019 Qatar delivered 68 armoured vehicles to Mogadishu. Qatar's defence ministry said the gift "aims to strengthen the Somali state" in its fight against armed groups. It came nine months after Somalia's break with the UAE over training (The New Arab, 2019). Reports differ on the model: *Military Africa* identified Qatari-built Storm personnel carriers.

**Training in Doha.** Somali soldiers have trained in Qatar. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that 600 soldiers returned from long-term training in Doha to form a new formation in Mogadishu under the Banadir command of the intelligence agency, NISA, later brought up to brigade strength, with Turkey supplying weapons and equipment ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-edges-toward-100-000-troop-goal-with-new-qatar-trained-unit-deployed-in-capital)). See [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/).

**The 2026 agreement.** On 19 January 2026, at the DIMDEX defence exhibition in Doha, Somali Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and Qatar's minister of state for defence, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, signed a defence cooperation agreement. The Qatar News Agency said it aimed to "strengthen co-operation in a way that serves mutual interests" ([The National, 20 January 2026](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/01/20/somalia-and-qatar-deepen-defence-ties-with-new-co-operation-agreement)). Al Jazeera described it as covering military training, the exchange of expertise and the development of defence capabilities ([Al Jazeera, 10 February 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).

## Saudi Arabia

In February 2026 Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman signed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation in Riyadh. Somalia's defence ministry said it would strengthen "defence and military frameworks" across "multiple areas of common interest"; neither government released further details ([Al Jazeera, 10 February 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).

## The setting in 2026

Both agreements followed Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in December 2025 and Somalia's cancellation of all its agreements with the UAE on 12 January 2026. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said Somalia "will never allow" a reported Israeli military base in Somaliland. Relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE had also worsened over Yemen (Al Jazeera, 2026).

## Sources differ

- **The 2019 vehicles.** Described as Storm personnel carriers (*Military Africa*) or as Casspir-type vehicles (*Army Recognition*).
- **Training numbers.** Garowe Online gives 600 returning soldiers; officials did not give the brigade's final size.
- **Signing date of the Qatar agreement.** The National dated its report 20 January 2026 and said the deal was signed "on Monday", 19 January.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- The National, "[Somalia and Qatar](/en/relations/qatar/) deepen defence ties with new co-operation agreement" (2026): [article](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/01/20/somalia-and-qatar-deepen-defence-ties-with-new-co-operation-agreement).
- Al Jazeera, "Somalia, Saudi Arabia sign agreement on military cooperation" (2026): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation).
- The New Arab, "Qatar donates 68 armoured vehicles to Somalia" (2019): [article](https://www.newarab.com/news/qatar-donates-68-armoured-vehicles-somalia).


---

# Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a (ASWJ), 1991–2021

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a (ASWJ) began in 1991 as a body of Sufi scholars and followers. In late 2008, after al-Shabaab destroyed Sufi tombs and killed clerics, it took up arms. With Ethiopian training and support it took Guri'el, Dhusamareb and other Galgaduud towns from al-Shabaab in 2009, signed a power-sharing deal with the transitional government in March 2010, merged into Galmudug State in 2017–2018, and fought the Galmudug administration at Guri'el in 2021.

## In short

Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a ("people of the Sunna and the community") is the name used by Somali followers of the Sufi orders, the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/), Ahmadiyya and Salihiyya, whose role in Somali religious life is described by the [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm). The armed group of that name arose in 2008 in response to attacks on Sufi shrines and scholars by [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records its armed history from the sources.

## Origins, 1991

Stanford's Mapping Militant Organizations project dates the group to 1 January 1991, formed to protect Sufi Muslims ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama)). Wikipedia records that it arose in opposition to Salafi groups such as [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/), and that during the 1990s it worked with the Somali National Alliance of [General Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) ([Wikipedia, Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)).

## Taking up arms, 2008–2009

In 2008 al-Shabaab destroyed Sufi tombs and attacked clerics. ASWJ fighters, drawn from clan militias, first attacked in December 2008, in an unsuccessful attempt to take Guri'el in which 15 were killed ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)). In March 2009, after more clerics were killed, it declared jihad against al-Shabaab (Wikipedia).

Mapping Militants records that in February 2009 it took Guri'el, [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/), Dhusamareb, Masagaway and Cadaado. In 2008–2009 it held much of [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and southern [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and parts of [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/). A 2008 UN report estimated it at about 5,000 fighters ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)).

## Ethiopian support

Mapping Militants records that Ethiopia trained and armed ASWJ from December 2008, training about 1,000 fighters in four-month rotations, and that Ethiopian troops joined an ASWJ attack on al-Shabaab positions on 11 March 2011 ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama)).

## Main battles

- **16 March 2009, Dhusamareb area.** Fighting with al-Shabaab; Mapping Militants records 146 killed, 231 wounded and many thousands displaced.
- **5 June 2009, Wabxo.** 123 killed.
- **24 April 2011, Dhusamareb.** ASWJ retook the town.
- **28 April and 3 May 2011, Gedo.** Fighting at Luuq and the capture of Garbahaarey.

([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a))

## Deals with the government

On 15 March 2010 ASWJ and the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) signed a power-sharing agreement: the group would back the fight against al-Shabaab and receive ministries, diplomatic posts and senior security positions. [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohamed Sheikh Hassan signed for ASWJ. The group later said the promised posts were not delivered ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama)).

In February 2015 ASWJ fighters and the national army clashed at Guri'el, leaving at least 16 dead; a five-point agreement followed on 5 March 2015 (Wikipedia, citing Al Jazeera and [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)).

## Galmudug, 2017–2021

In December 2017 ASWJ and Galmudug State signed a power-sharing agreement. ASWJ recognised Galmudug's authority, its forces joined the state's forces, and its leader Sheikh Mohamed Shakir Ali Hassan became chief minister ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama)). The merger took effect in January 2018 (Wikipedia). ASWJ had held Dhusamareb, now Galmudug's capital, until December 2017 (Mapping Militants). See [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/).

After a new Galmudug administration took office, the arrangement broke down. In September 2021 fighting near Dhusamareb killed at least 10 people, and on 1 October 2021 ASWJ took Guri'el ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a), citing [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)).

## Leaders named in the sources

Sheikh Mohamed Yusuf Hefow (founder), Sheikh Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, Sheikh Mohamed Shakir Ali Hassan, Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Hassan and spiritual leader Sheikh Mahmud Sheikh Hasan Farah ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University, "Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a" (updated 2019): [profile](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama).
- Vanda Felbab-Brown, study of hybrid conflict and militias in Somalia (United Nations University, 2020): [PDF](https://i.unu.edu/media/cpr.unu.edu/post/3895/HybridConflictSomaliaWeb.pdf).


---

# Financial Reporting Center of Somalia (FRC): the financial intelligence unit

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/financial-reporting-center/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Financial Reporting Center is Somalia's financial intelligence unit. Banks, money transfer companies and mobile money firms must report suspicious and large cash transactions to it, and it passes cases to the police and prosecutors. In 2025 it received 309 reports and sent 25 cases to law enforcement, most about terrorist financing. Amina M. Ali is Director.

## What it does

The FRC describes itself as "Somalia's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an independent and national center of expertise in the analysis of suspicious financial activities and the investigation of financial crimes" ([FRC, About](https://frc.gov.so/about-frc)). It was set up in 2016 under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, to collect, analyse and pass on financial information about money laundering and terrorist financing ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf); [AML/CFT Act 2016, Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Anti-Money-Laundering-and-Countering-the-Financing-of-Terrorism-Act-English-Version.pdf)).

How it works:

- **Reports in:** banks, money transfer businesses, mobile money operators and other "reporting entities" must send it Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Large Cash Transaction Reports through an online system called goAML ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf)).
- **Analysis:** its Analysis Department looks for patterns, networks and links to crimes (same source).
- **Cases out:** it passes finished cases to law enforcement agencies for investigation (same source).
- **Sanctions lists:** it publishes lists of people and groups under targeted financial sanctions ([FRC](https://frc.gov.so/)).
- **Coordination:** it works with the **National Anti-Money Laundering Committee (NAMLC)**, chaired by the Minister of Finance ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf)).

## Who leads it

**Amina M. Ali** is Director of the FRC ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf)). The Minister of Finance, Bihi Iman Egeh, chairs the NAMLC (same source). See [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/).

## Its 2025 numbers

From the FRC's own annual report ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf)):

- **309 reports received** in 2025, including STRs, large cash reports, tip-line information and requests from law enforcement.
- **25 cases passed** to law enforcement agencies for investigation.
- **Crimes linked:** terrorist financing was the largest share of analysed cases, followed by human trafficking, corruption and other crimes.

## The money

From the federal budget ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)), where it is listed under the Ministry of Finance as "Directorate of Financial Reporting Center":

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Financial Reporting Center | 985,906 | 995,632 | 977,992 |

## International checks

Somalia is going through a **mutual evaluation** by the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), the regional body that checks countries against FATF standards. The FRC says it has submitted the technical compliance documents, and the next stage is the effectiveness assessment ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf)). Somalia amended its AML/CFT law in 2025 through Law No. 40 of 11 May 2025 ([AML/CFT Amendment Act 2025, Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AML-CFT-Amendment-Act-2025-English-Translation.pdf)). A 2021 opinion piece in [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) described the risks of a poor evaluation for Somalia's banks and remittances ([Hiiraan Online, November 2021](https://www.hiiraan.org/op4/2021/nov/184524/somalia_s_mutual_evaluation_risk.aspx)).

Money sent home from abroad passes through money transfer companies, which are reporting entities under these rules ([FRC Annual Report 2025](https://frc.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-FRC-Annual-Report.pdf)). See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) and [Licensed banks and money companies](/en/economy/licensed-banks-and-money-companies/).

## Its legal basis

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act of 2016, as amended by Law No. 40 of 2025.


---

# Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS): who counts Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali National Bureau of Statistics is the federal body that collects and publishes Somalia's official numbers: prices, GDP, household surveys, business counts and, in future, the census. It was set up under Statistics Law No. 24 of February 2020, replacing a 1970 law, and is based in Mogadishu with branches in the member states.

## What it does

The Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS) is the official keeper of Somalia's statistics. Its law calls it "the central repository for all statistics generated in Somalia" ([Somali Statistics Law No. 24, Article 6](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Somali-Statistics-Law.pdf)).

The law gives it these main jobs (same source, Article 7):

- Coordinate the national statistical system across ministries and member states.
- Advise the federal and state governments on statistics.
- Collect, analyse and publish national statistics, alone or with other bodies.
- Keep a national data bank, and help ministries set up their own statistics units.
- Be the contact point for international agencies on statistics.

It can carry out surveys, and on the advice of its Board the Minister can order a census of the whole country or any part of it (same source, Articles 29 and 30). It must keep personal information confidential, and its staff take an oath of secrecy (Articles 53 and 54).

## How it is run

The bureau is an autonomous body with its own legal identity, led by a Director General and a Deputy, with a Board of Directors and six directorates ([SNBS, Annual Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SNBS-Annual-report-2024.pdf)). Its head office is in Mogadishu, and the law provides for branches in the member states, regions and districts ([Statistics Law, Article 6](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Somali-Statistics-Law.pdf)).

- **May 2020:** the Council of Ministers appointed Sharmarke Farah as the first Director General, with Abdirahman Omar Dahir as Deputy ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-cabinet-appoints-the-director-general-and-deputy-for-the-newly-established-independent-national-bureau-of-statistics)).
- **2024:** Dr Abdisalam Abdirahman Mohamed was Director General, with Abdirahman Omar Dahir still Deputy ([SNBS, Annual Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SNBS-Annual-report-2024.pdf)).

## Where it came from

Somalia's first statistics law was Law No. 35 of 1970. Government statistics stopped with the collapse of 1991. After 2012 the work restarted as a Directorate of National Statistics. Law No. 24 of February 2020 made it an independent bureau, matched to the federal system ([SNBS, Annual Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SNBS-Annual-report-2024.pdf); [AidData](https://www.aiddata.org/blog/statistics-development-in-somalia-challenges-and-opportunities-in-a-complex-environment)).

## What it publishes

- **Consumer prices:** a monthly price index and inflation rate. See [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/).
- **GDP:** yearly national accounts. See [Somalia's GDP 2018 to 2024](/en/data/gdp-national-accounts-2018-2024/).
- **Household surveys:** the Somalia Integrated Household Budget Survey of 2022 (7,212 households) measured poverty, spending, schooling, phones and money ([SNBS, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). It worked with UNFPA on the Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020.
- **Facts and Figures:** a yearly pocket book of numbers on schools, health, money, trade, government and justice. The 7th edition came out in October 2024 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)).
- **Other reports in 2024:** a household shocks report, Somalia's first national disability report, food security data and gender statistics ([SNBS, Annual Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SNBS-Annual-report-2024.pdf)).

## The first business census, 2024

In December 2024 the bureau published the Somalia Integrated Business Establishment Census (SIBEC-2024), the first count of every business in the country (same source):

- **174,149 businesses** counted: 28 percent formal, 25 percent informal and 47 percent micro.
- **What they do:** 78 percent wholesale and retail trade, 10 percent hotels and food, 5 percent other services, 3 percent manufacturing.
- **Where:** Banadir 48,387 (28 percent), [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) (Hargeisa) 31,491 (18 percent) and [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) (Bosaso) 19,308 (11 percent).
- **Who works:** men are 66 percent of workers in formal and informal firms; women are 70 percent of workers in micro-businesses. 91 percent of businesses have a single owner.

## The census

Somalia's 1975 Population and Livestock Census released only limited data, and a second census in 1985 to 1986 released none ([UNFPA Somalia, census history](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/node/21328)). The 2014 Population Estimation Survey, run with UNFPA, counted about 12.3 million people ([UNFPA, PESS 2014](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population-Estimation-Survey-of-Somalia-PESS-2013-2014.pdf)). A new Population and Housing Census was launched in 2023, the first in nearly 50 years ([VOA via GlobalSecurity, May 2023](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2023/05/mil-230502-voa06.htm)). The bureau in 2024 sent staff to study census work in Djibouti, Burundi and South Africa ([SNBS, Annual Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SNBS-Annual-report-2024.pdf)). See [How many people live in Somalia](/en/economy/population/).

## How to use it

- **Download data:** reports and tables are free on the bureau's website, nbs.gov.so.
- **Ask for data:** the law gives a right of access to published statistics (Article 55). Contact the bureau in Mogadishu at the address on its site.
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** Somaliland's Ministry of Planning keeps its own statistics.

## Its legal basis

Somali Statistics Law, Law No. 24 of February 2020, which repealed Law No. 35 of 1970.


---

# National Independent Human Rights Commission of Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-human-rights-commission/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's first National Independent Human Rights Commission was created by a law signed in December 2025, after the UN ended its independent expert's mandate on Somalia at the government's request. Its nine members were approved by both houses of parliament. Dr Maryan Qasim Ahmed, a former minister, was elected chairperson in February 2026.

## What it does

The commission is mandated to document human rights violations, support victims and advise the government on rights-based governance ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/558136916a1a)). The constitution lists a human rights commission among Somalia's independent commissions; see [independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/).

## How it was set up

| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 25 September 2025 | Federal cabinet votes to end the mandate of the UN independent expert on human rights in Somalia | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/senate-endorses-commissioners-of-the-national-independent-human-rights-commission/) |
| 8 October 2025 | UN Human Rights Council resolution ends the expert's mandate, giving Somalia full control of its human rights affairs for the first time since 1993 | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/senate-endorses-commissioners-of-the-national-independent-human-rights-commission/) |
| 11 October 2025 | House of the People endorses the commission | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/senate-endorses-commissioners-of-the-national-independent-human-rights-commission/) |
| Late 2025 | Senate approves the nine commissioners, 28 votes of 55 present, one abstention; they take their oath | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/senate-endorses-commissioners-of-the-national-independent-human-rights-commission/) |
| Early December 2025 | President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signs the law creating the commission | [TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/558136916a1a) |
| February 2026 | Commissioners elect Dr Maryan Qasim Ahmed as chairperson | [TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/558136916a1a) |

The nine nominees were put forward by the Minister of Family and Human Rights Development and endorsed by the cabinet ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/558136916a1a)).

## Who leads it

Dr Maryan Qasim Ahmed was born in [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) in 1959. She trained in medicine at Somali National University and has held ministerial posts covering women and family affairs and social development ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/558136916a1a)).

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 012400 under Special Commissions ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | none (new line) |
| 2026 (budget) | 474,000 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 502,040 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing in 2026

- **April:** the National Union of Somali Journalists gave the commission its 2025 State of the Media report, which records 72 media freedom violations. The chair said the commission would review the findings ([NUSOJ, 27 April 2026](https://nusoj.org/2026/04/27/national-human-rights-commission-receives-state-of-the-media-report-nusoj-urges-decisive-action-on-media-freedom-violations/)).
- **April:** it agreed to work with the Centre for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) on monitoring and accountability in security operations, after Somalia approved a national policy on protecting civilians in military operations ([Dawan Africa, 27 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-rights-commission-partner-with-civic-on-security)).
- **June:** it condemned a video showing a woman being abused in Mogadishu and called for an investigation and prosecution ([Dawan Africa, 22 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-rights-body-condemns-abuse-of-woman-in-mogadishu)).

## Other records

An opinion piece in The Standard (Kenya) reported criticism that some of the commission's officials had become involved in politics, which critics said affected its neutrality ([The Standard](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/article/2001544156/why-somalias-human-rights-commission-is-in-the-spot-over-political-involvement)).

## How the work is shared

The commission works alongside the [Ministry of Family and Human Rights](/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/), which proposed its members, and the courts ([courts and judiciary](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/)).


---

# Somaliland armed forces (Ciidanka Qaranka Somaliland)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-armed-forces/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's armed forces were formed after the 1993 Borama conference, when the government of Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal brought SNM and clan fighters into a single national force; they were formally set up on 2 February 1994. They include an army of about 8,000 (2019 estimate; the IISS gave about 12,500 in 2024), a coast guard of about 600 and a police force of under 6,000. In 2019 about 35% of Somaliland's budget went on security.

## In short

Somaliland declared itself independent in May 1991 (see [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)). It has built its own security forces, which are not part of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/). Its other public bodies are described in [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).

## How they were formed

In 1991 the main armed force in the north-west was the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/), alongside clan militias. After the 1993 [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) conference, the civilian government of [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) disarmed armed groups and recruited new forces from across Somaliland. Wikipedia gives 2 February 1994 as the formal founding date ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Armed_Forces)). Wikipedia draws on a 1999 study of small arms in Somaliland for this period ([Forberg and Terlinden, *Small Arms in Somaliland*, 1999](https://www.bits.de/public/pdf/rr99-1.PDF)).

## Branches and size

- **Army.** About 8,000, according to its chief of staff in 2019. The IISS *Military Balance 2024* gives about 12,500 ([Michael Horton, *CTC Sentinel*, November 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Armed_Forces)).
- **Coast guard.** Formed in 2009 and based in Berbera, with about 600 personnel. Much of its equipment came from the UK for anti-piracy work (Wikipedia). It watches 528 miles of coast from observation posts, supported by trained coastal monitors with mobile phones ([CTC Sentinel, 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/)).
- **Police.** See [Somaliland Police Force](/en/institutions/somaliland-police/). Under 6,000 men and women, including a Special Protection Unit created to guard foreign organisations after four foreign aid workers were killed in 2003–2004, and Rapid Response Units for counter-terrorism (same source).
- **Custodial corps.** Guards prisons (Wikipedia).

There is no air force. Horton records that recruits had to bring their own personal weapon, because of the UN arms embargo on Somalia ([CTC Sentinel, 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/)).

## Money

Horton reported a national budget of about US$233 million in 2019, with roughly 35% going to the security services, police and military ([CTC Sentinel, 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/)). The UK supports the police; the UK and EU have supported the army and coast guard (same source).

## Leaders

The president is commander-in-chief. Wikipedia lists Major General Nimcaan Yusuf Osman as chief of the general staff and Ahmed Hurre Haariye as coast guard commander ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Armed_Forces)).

## Countering al-Shabaab

On 29 October 2008 suicide bombers struck Hargeisa, killing 25 people there, in attacks coordinated with bombings in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). Horton describes how Somaliland then formalised a system in which each village has a community leader, often a clan elder, who reports to district officials, making community information the core of its counter-terrorism. Somaliland authorities say at least three al-Shabaab attacks have been stopped since 2008. Horton names the eastern borderlands of Sanaag and Sool as the weakest area ([CTC Sentinel, 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/)).

## Conflicts in the east

Sool and eastern Sanaag are claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland. Wikipedia records that Puntland claimed them from 1998 and that Somaliland forces returned to Las Anod in 2007, saying local communities had asked them to. Later clashes include fighting at Ayn in 2010, the battle of Tukaraq in 2018 and the Las Anod conflict of 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Armed_Forces)). The people and history of these regions are described in [Laascaanood (Las Anod) and Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/).

## Sources differ

- **Army size.** About 8,000 (2019) or about 12,500 (IISS, 2024).
- **Spending.** Wikipedia gives different budget figures in different places; Horton's 35% share for 2019 is from interviews.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Michael Horton, "How Somaliland combats al-Shabaab", *CTC Sentinel* 12:10 (2019): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/).
- Ehrhart Forberg and Ulf Terlinden, *Small Arms in Somaliland* (1999): [PDF](https://www.bits.de/public/pdf/rr99-1.PDF).


---

# National Civil Service Commission of Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-civil-service-commission/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's National Civil Service Commission manages hiring, pay grades and conditions for federal civil servants. Hassan Abshirow Mohamed is chairman. In September 2026 the Prime Minister told it to fill department director posts by open competition, but the House of the People annulled that decision by 136 votes to 2.

## What it does

The commission runs the federal civil service: recruitment, job grades and pay, and conditions of service. In 2026 it trained ministry committees on the government's Civil Service Pay and Grading Policy, which its chairman said would standardise salaries and job grades across the public sector ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/civil-service-commission-launches-second-phase-of-training-on-government-pay-and-grading-policy/)).

## Who leads it

Hassan Abshirow Mohamed (also written [Hassan Abshir](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/) Mohammed) is chairman ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/civil-service-commission-launches-second-phase-of-training-on-government-pay-and-grading-policy/); [Dawan Africa, 5 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-civil-servants-to-receive-50percent-healthcare-discount-at-hodan-hospital); [allAfrica, November 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511120045.html)).

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 012600 under Special Commissions ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 1,536,734 |
| 2026 (budget) | 1,697,314 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 1,702,114 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## How big the civil service is

Sources give different numbers. In April 2026 the commission's chairman put the number of civil servants at about 15,000 across government institutions ([Dawan Africa, 5 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-civil-servants-to-receive-50percent-healthcare-discount-at-hodan-hospital)). In September 2026 Finance Minister [Bihi Iman Egeh](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/) put the workforce at about 10,000 to 11,000, said the government had not increased it since taking office, and said temporary workers had been counted and screened to stop salaries being paid under several names ([Dawan Africa, 10 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-it-has-curbed-growth-in-government-workforce)).

## The 2026 dispute over director posts

On 17 September 2026 Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) ordered ministries and agencies to fill department director posts by open competition on merit, starting on 20 September, and told the commission to run the process with his office. A second phase was to cover directors-general ([Dawan Africa, 17 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-pm-orders-open-competition-for-director-posts)).

On 23 September 2026 the House of the People voted to annul the decision, by 136 votes to 2 with 2 abstentions, after about 30 members brought a motion. Some members argued that it could cost current directors their posts ([Dawan Africa, 23 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-annuls-pm-hamzas-decision-on-open-competition-for-department-directors)).

On 22 September 2026 the Office of the Auditor General issued a notice calling on the commission to respect its constitutional, administrative and financial independence ([Dawan Africa, 22 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/auditor-general-urges-civil-service-commission-to-respect-constitutional-independence)); see [Auditor General](/en/institutions/auditor-general/).

## What it reports doing

In April 2026 the commission signed an agreement giving civil servants a 50% discount on care at Hodan Hospital in Mogadishu ([Dawan Africa, 5 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-civil-servants-to-receive-50percent-healthcare-discount-at-hodan-hospital)).

## How the work is shared

The [Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs](/en/institutions/ministry-of-labour-and-social-affairs/) leads civil service policy and met the commission in November 2025 ([allAfrica, November 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511120045.html)). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own civil service commission ([Somaliland Civil Service Commission](https://csc.govsomaliland.org/articles/tp)).


---

# Puntland's security forces: Darawiish, PSF, PMPF and police

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland has its own forces, separate from the federal army: the Puntland Darawiish (its regular force), the Puntland Security Force (PSF), a counter-terrorism unit based in Bosaso and built from 2002 with US support, the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF), an intelligence agency and a police force. In January 2025 Puntland sent about 3,000 troops into the Cal Miskaad mountains against the Islamic State in Somalia in Operation Hilaac.

## In short

[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) was founded in 1998, largely by leaders of the [SSDF](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/), and has built its own security forces since then. Its civil institutions are covered in [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/). This page describes each armed body.

## The Puntland Darawiish

The Darawiish (Dervish force) is Puntland's regular military force, described by Wikipedia as its national guard. Its listed weapons range from rifles and machine guns to older T-54/T-55 tanks, BTR-60 armoured vehicles and BM-21 rocket launchers ([Wikipedia, Puntland Security Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_Security_Force)). A 2014–2015 agreement for 3,000 Puntland troops to join the federal army was not carried out ([Wikipedia, Somali Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)).

## The Puntland Security Force (PSF)

The PSF is a counter-terrorism unit with its headquarters in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/). Wikipedia records that it was formally set up in 2002 within a joint intelligence and security service, with help from the US Central Intelligence Agency, and split from the Puntland Intelligence Agency in 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_Security_Force)). Vice News reported in 2022 that it was about 600 strong, that US Navy SEALs later took over its training, and that it operated largely outside Somali government control ([Amanda Sperber, Vice News, 20 May 2022](https://www.vice.com/en/article/puntland-security-force-somalia-cia/)).

**Leaders.** Mohamed Aden Bidar (2003–2004), Osman Abdullahi Mohamud (2004–2010), [Asad](/en/society/films-about-somalia/) Osman Abdullahi (2010–2018) and Mohamud Osman Abdullahi (from 2018) (Wikipedia). Vice reported that the force had been led by members of one family, the Diano family, across three generations ([Vice](https://www.vice.com/en/article/puntland-security-force-somalia-cia/)).

**Bosaso, December 2021.** After Puntland's president dismissed the PSF director in November 2021, rival PSF groups fought in Bosaso. Vice reported that at least 22 people were killed, including children, that mortar fire hit a hospital and homes, and that about 100,000 people fled. It traced mortars used to US manufacture; the [US Africa Command](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) said US forces were not involved. The director was reappointed in March 2022 (same source).

**Operations.** Wikipedia lists the Galgala campaign against al-Shabaab from 2010 and the 2016 [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/) campaign against the Islamic State among its engagements ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_Security_Force)).

## The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF)

A locally recruited force set up to stop piracy and illegal fishing. It had about 500 members in March 2012, with 1,000 planned (Wikipedia). In January 2015 Puntland and the EU agreed a base in Garowe for EU maritime security training (same source).

The UN Monitoring Group's July 2012 report recorded that the force was set up in May 2010 with the involvement of Erik Prince, founder of the US firm Blackwater, and trained by Saracen International and then Sterling Corporate Services at a camp at Qaw/Bandar Siyada, west of Bosaso, able to host 1,500 trainees. It described the force as over 1,000 strong, reporting directly to Puntland's president, and called the programme "the most brazen violation of the arms embargo by a private security company". It said the force was financed mainly by senior UAE officials; the UAE government officially denied any involvement ([UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, S/2012/544, 13 July 2012, paras 61–64](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/544&l=en&t=pdf)). See [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/).

## Intelligence and police

The Puntland Intelligence Agency was set up in 2001 under President [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) with US help. The police include a [Special Protection Unit](/en/institutions/somaliland-police/) (Wikipedia). The Armo Police Academy, south of Bosaso, opened in December 2005 with UN funding ([Wikipedia, Somali Police Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force)).

## Operation Hilaac, 2025

In January 2025 Puntland launched Operation Hilaac ("Lightning") against the [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/), sending about 3,000 troops into the Cal Miskaad mountains of Bari, with a second phase announced on 30 January and US air strikes in support ([Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, *CTC Sentinel*, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)).

## Relations with the federal government

The same study records that Puntland has stayed out of the federal National Consultative Council since January 2023 ([CTC Sentinel, 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)). Its forces therefore answer to Garowe, not Mogadishu. Puntland also disputes [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/); see [Somaliland armed forces](/en/institutions/somaliland-armed-forces/).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Amanda Sperber, "Revealed: CIA-trained militia used US-made weapons in deadly attack", Vice News (2022): [article](https://www.vice.com/en/article/puntland-security-force-somalia-cia/).
- *CTC Sentinel*, "Somalia at a crossroads" (May 2025): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/).


---

# Vice Presidents of Somaliland, 1991 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/vice-presidents-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland has had six vice presidents since 1991. Dahir Riyale Kahin became President when Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal died in 2002. Abdirahman Saylici served for 14 years, from 2010 to 2024. Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi has been Vice President since 13 December 2024.

## In short

The Vice President is elected on the same ticket as the President under [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s constitution of 2001. ([Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Vice Presidents

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hassan Isse Jama (Xasan Ciise Jaamac) | 7 June 1991 to 16 May 1993 | Somali National Movement | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384) |
| Abdirahman Aw Ali Farrah Tolwaa (Cabdiraxmaan Aw Cali Faarax Tolwaa) | 16 May 1993 to 16 February 1997 |  | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384) |
| [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) (Daahir Rayaale Kaahin) | 16 February 1997 to 3 May 2002 | became President on Egal's death; Wikidata gives 16 May 1993 as his start date | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384) |
| Ahmed Yusuf Yasin (Axmed Yuusuf Yaasiin) | 3 May 2002 to 27 July 2010 | UDUB | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384) |
| Abdirahman Saylici (Cabdiraxmaan Saylici) | 27 July 2010 to 13 December 2024 | Kulmiye | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384) |
| [Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi](/en/people/mohamed-aw-ali-abdi/) (Maxamed Aw-Cali Cabdi) | 13 December 2024 to now | Waddani | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384) |

## Related pages

- [Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Vice President of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Somaliland)
- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16885384)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Bank of Somaliland (Baanka Somaliland): Somaliland's central bank

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Bank of Somaliland, also called the Central Bank of Somaliland, was set up on 1 October 1994 in Hargeisa. It issues the Somaliland shilling, licenses banks and money firms, and also works as a commercial bank. Abdinasir Ahmed Hersi is Governor. In 2026 it is building a national payment system and asking for access to the world payment network.

## What it does

The Bank of Somaliland was established on 1 October 1994 and is provided for in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s constitution. It is the monetary authority and central bank of Somaliland and also runs as a commercial bank, with a head office in Hargeisa and 16 other branches ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Somaliland)). It issues the Somaliland shilling, which is used in Somaliland in place of the Somali shilling issued by the [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/institutions/central-bank-of-somalia/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Somaliland)).

Representatives of banks, financial companies and microfinance institutions from across Somaliland took part in its 2026 payment system training ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/central-bank-of-somaliland-launches-major-training-to-revolutionize-national-payment-system)). The wider picture is on [the economy of Somaliland](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).

## Who leads it

| Office | Person | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Governor | Abdinasir Ahmed Hersi | [Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/central-bank-of-somaliland-launches-major-training-to-revolutionize-national-payment-system) |
| Deputy Governor | Hamse Abdirahman Khaire | [Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/central-bank-of-somaliland-launches-major-training-to-revolutionize-national-payment-system) |
| Director General | Yasiin Calase | [Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/central-bank-of-somaliland-launches-major-training-to-revolutionize-national-payment-system) |

Abdirahman Duale Mohamud was Governor from 1997 to 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Duale_Mohamud)). In April 2026 the bank held the last quarterly meeting of its outgoing board of directors ([Horn Tribune, 12 April 2026](https://horntribune.com/2026/04/12/central-bank-of-somaliland-bids-emotional-farewell-to-outgoing-board-members-in-final-quarterly-meeting/)).

## What it reports doing

- **Strategic plan:** it finalised a medium-term strategic plan for 2026 to 2028 at a workshop in Hargeisa ([Horn Tribune, 19 November 2025](https://horntribune.com/2025/11/19/somaliland-central-bank-unveils-ambitious-2026-2028-strategic-plan-to-lead-national-financial-markets)).
- **National payment system:** on 29 March 2026 the Governor launched a two-week training programme for banks, money firms and the bank's own staff on a national payment system ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/central-bank-of-somaliland-launches-major-training-to-revolutionize-national-payment-system)).
- **Payment infrastructure:** the Governor lists a national payment switch, instant payments, a credit bureau, deposit insurance and core banking systems among the bank's projects ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somalilands-central-bank-governor-hails-u-s-bill-h-r-7993-as-path-to-global-financial-inclusion/)).

## Access to world banking

The Governor says Somaliland's banks face restrictions on international payment networks such as SWIFT, which banks use for payments between countries. On 29 January 2026 Governor Hersi wrote to the US Treasury on this. On 19 March 2026 a US congressman introduced bill H.R.7993, which would ask the Treasury to report within 180 days on the legal and technical barriers to Somaliland's access to the US financial system. Hersi welcomed the bill, calling access "a strategic necessity" ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somalilands-central-bank-governor-hails-u-s-bill-h-r-7993-as-path-to-global-financial-inclusion/)).

## How the work is shared

The Bank of Somaliland works alongside Somaliland's [Ministry of Finance and Economic Development](/en/institutions/somaliland-ministry-of-finance/), which runs the budget. Its place among Somaliland's other bodies is on the [Somaliland institutions page](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).


---

# Hizbul Islam, 2009–2014

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hizbul Islam ('Islamic Party') was an armed Islamist coalition formed in January 2009 from four groups, including Hassan Dahir Aweys's wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia and the Ras Kamboni brigades. It fought the Transitional Federal Government and AU troops, then fought al-Shabaab over Kismayo from October 2009. It was absorbed into al-Shabaab in December 2010, broke away again in September 2012, and renounced violence in 2013.

## In short

Hizbul Islam was formed in early 2009, as Ethiopian troops left Somalia and a new transitional government under [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) took office. It rejected that government. For about two years it was the second-largest armed opposition after [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), which first fought beside it, then against it, and finally took it over. The period is told in [2007–2012: Insurgency, Djibouti process, and the end of transition](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/).

## Four founding groups

Wikipedia records that Hizbul Islam was formed in January 2009 by merging ([Wikipedia, Hizbul Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)):

- the Asmara wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, led by [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/);
- Jabhatul Islamiya;
- Mu'askar Ras Kamboni, led by [Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki](/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/) (see [Raskamboni movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/));
- Mu'askar Anole.

On 7 February 2009 it announced it would keep fighting the new government and AU forces in Mogadishu (same source, citing allAfrica).

## Leaders

- **Omar Iman Abubakar**, first chairman, 7 February–26 May 2009.
- **Hassan Dahir Aweys**, chairman from 26 May 2009 until the group was absorbed on 20 December 2010.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam))

## Fighting with al-Shabaab, 2009–2010

From 1 October 2009 Hizbul Islam and al-Shabaab fought over Kismayo. Al-Shabaab won and expelled the Ras Kamboni fighters; in November 2009 the faction of [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) was forced out of Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam); [Wikipedia, Ras Kamboni Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Kamboni_Movement)). In February 2010 Hassan al-Turki's branch announced a merger with al-Shabaab. In late 2010 Hizbul Islam lost its positions in Bay and gave up [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)).

In April 2010 the BBC reported that the group had banned radio stations in its areas from playing music (same source, citing BBC News, 13 April 2010).

## Absorbed, December 2010

From mid-December 2010 al-Shabaab fighters took over Hizbul Islam positions, and on 20 December 2010 the group was dissolved into al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that the two groups had co-operated in mid-2009 before clashing, and that some observers saw the late-2010 merger as a takeover ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## The break of 2012 and after

In September 2012 Hizbul Islam announced that its former members would leave al-Shabaab, citing differences over foreign fighters and al-Shabaab's global aims ([Hiiraan Online, 24 September 2012](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Sept/26102/hizbul_islam_splits_with_al_shabaab.aspx)). Mapping Militants records that the split was over "globalism vs. nationalism" and that the group later renounced violence ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). Wikipedia dates the renunciation to 2013, and records that in June 2014 a former official said it would continue as a political party named Istiqlal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)).

Hassan Dahir Aweys left al-Shabaab in 2012, was arrested in 2013 and was placed under house arrest in 2014 ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, report S/2010/91 (2010): [UN document](https://www.undocs.org/S/2010/91).
- [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), "Hizbul Islam splits with al-Shabaab" (2012): [article](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Sept/26102/hizbul_islam_splits_with_al_shabaab.aspx).


---

# Jubaland security forces (Darawiish)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jubaland's security forces include the Jubaland Darawiish (Dervish) force, headquartered in Kismayo with a main base at Afmadow, a presidential unit and the state police. They grew out of the Raskamboni movement that took Kismayo with Kenyan and Somali forces in 2012. After Ahmed Madobe's disputed re-election in November 2024 they fought the Somali National Army at Ras Kamboni in December 2024, when about 600 federal soldiers crossed into Kenya, and again in Gedo in 2025.

## In short

The Jubaland Darawiish is the armed force of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) State. Its core came from the [Raskamboni movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) of [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/). This page records what the sources say about it, without taking sides between the state and federal governments.

## Structure

Wikipedia records that the Darawiish (Somali: *Ciidamada Daraawiishta Jubaland*) is headquartered in Kismayo with its main base at [Afmadow](/en/regions/lower-juba/), and was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Mahad Islaam. Madobe has said it focuses on counter-terrorism. It draws mainly on the Ogaden and Marehan clans ([Wikipedia, Jubaland Darawiish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubaland_Darawiish), citing [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)). Its units named in reports of the 2024 fighting include Birjeex, Hanqadh and Abris, alongside a presidential unit ([Wikipedia, Battle of Ras Kamboni (2024)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ras_Kamboni_(2024))). No official figure for its size has been published.

## The 2013 agreement

Under the agreement signed in Addis Ababa on 28 August 2013, Jubaland's forces were to be integrated into the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), while the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Interim Administration would command the regional police ([Wikipedia, Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubaland)).

## The 2024 crisis

Madobe was re-elected for a third term on 25 November 2024 by the state's House of Representatives. The federal government said the vote had no federal involvement and called it unlawful; on 27 November a Banadir court issued a warrant for Madobe's arrest on treason charges, and a Kismayo court answered with a reward for the arrest of President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) (Wikipedia, Battle of Ras Kamboni, citing AFP). The same day Darawiish and federal troops exchanged fire at Ras Kamboni, near the Kenyan border (Wikipedia, Jubaland Darawiish).

On 11 December 2024 fighting began near Ras Kamboni over the Oodow well, the town's water source. After about six hours Jubaland forces held the town. Jubaland said 250 federal soldiers surrendered, a claim not independently verified; its deputy security minister, Adan Ahmed Haji, told Reuters that 42 Turkish-trained [Gorgor](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) soldiers had surrendered. About 600 federal soldiers crossed into Kenya, where Kenyan forces disarmed them and arranged their return to Mogadishu. The British embassy condemned the "unacceptable loss of life" (Wikipedia, Battle of Ras Kamboni, citing Reuters, the *Daily Nation* and Horseed Media).

## Gedo, 2025

In July 2025 federal and Jubaland forces fought in [Beled Hawo](/en/regions/gedo/), in Gedo. AFP reported at least five dead. A Jubaland commander, [Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/), said the army had tried to "take full control of the town"; the federal government blamed Madobe and called the attack criminal ([The Defense Post, AFP, 23 July 2025](https://thedefensepost.com/2025/07/23/somali-clashes-regional-forces/amp/)). Garowe Online reported that the fighting spread from Ras Kamboni and El Wak to Beled Hawo and then Doolow, and linked it to the dispute over voter registration for the planned direct elections ([Garowe Online, 29 July 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/gedo-on-the-brink-somali-government-and-jubaland-battle-for-control)). The two governments have been in talks since October 2025 (see [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)).

## Sources differ

- **Who started the fighting.** Each side has blamed the other for both the Ras Kamboni and the Beled Hawo clashes.
- **Numbers.** Surrender and casualty figures for December 2024 come mainly from Jubaland.
- **The 2024 election.** Jubaland says it followed the state constitution; the federal government says it was unlawful.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- AFP, "Somali clashes with regional forces" (2025), via The Defense Post: [article](https://thedefensepost.com/2025/07/23/somali-clashes-regional-forces/amp/).
- Garowe Online, "Gedo on the brink: Somali government and Jubaland battle for control" (2025): [article](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/gedo-on-the-brink-somali-government-and-jubaland-battle-for-control).


---

# Vice Presidents of Puntland, 1998 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/vice-presidents-of-puntland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland has had eight vice presidents since 1998, each elected with a president. Ilyas Osman Lugator has been Vice President since 2024, serving under Said Abdullahi Deni. Mohamed Abdi Hashi, the first, later served as acting President.

## In short

Wikipedia lists each vice president by the year of election and the president served. Exact start and end dates are not given there. ([Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Vice Presidents

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Mohamed Abdi Hashi](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/) (Maxamed Cabdi Xaashi) | 1998 to 2004 | with Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Ahmed Mohamoud Gunle (Axmed Maxamuud Gunle) | 2001 to 2002 | with Jama Ali Jama | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Mohamed Ali Yusuf (Maxamed Cali Yuusuf) | 2004 to 2005 | with Mohamed Abdi Hashi | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Hassan Dahir Afqurac (Xasan Daahir Afqurac) | 2005 to 2009 | with Mohamud Muse Hersi | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Abdisamad Ali Shire (Cabdisamad Cali Shire) | 2009 to 2014 | with Abdirahman Farole | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Abdihakim Abdullahi Haji Omar Amey (Cabdixakiim Cabdullaahi Xaaji Cumar Camey) | 2014 to 2019 | with Abdiweli Gaas | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Ahmed Elmi Osman Karash (Axmed Cilmi Cismaan Karaash) | 2019 to 2024 | with Said Abdullahi Deni | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |
| Ilyas Osman Lugator (Ilyaas Cismaan Lugatoor) | 2024 to now | with Said Abdullahi Deni | [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland) |

## Related pages

- [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Vice President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_Puntland)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Ras Kamboni brigades and the Raskamboni movement

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ras Kamboni is a coastal place in Lower Juba near the Kenyan border. An armed group based there under Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki fought in the Islamic Courts era and joined Hizbul Islam in 2009. After al-Shabaab drove its Kismayo wing out in late 2009, that wing became the Raskamboni movement under Ahmed Madobe. Allied with Kenya, it took Dhobley in April 2011 and, with Kenyan and Somali forces, Kismayo in late September 2012. Its leader has headed Jubaland since.

## In short

Two different armed bodies have carried the Ras Kamboni name. The first, the Ras Kamboni brigades, was an Islamist force led by [Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki](/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/). The second, the Raskamboni movement, grew from part of it under Ahmed Madobe, turned against [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), allied with Kenya and became the base of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) State. Wikipedia records that the Raskamboni movement drew its support mainly from the Ogaden clan of the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley ([Wikipedia, Ras Kamboni Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Kamboni_Movement)).

## The Ras Kamboni brigades

Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki was a leader of [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/); the US designated him in June 2004 ([Wikipedia, Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Itihaad_al-Islamiya), citing the US State Department). His force, based at Ras Kamboni in the far south, was one of four groups that formed [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) in January 2009 ([Wikipedia, Hizbul Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)). Wikipedia lists the [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/) among its predecessors in the area ([Wikipedia, Somali Patriotic Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Patriotic_Movement)).

## The split of 2009–2010

From 1 October 2009 Hizbul Islam and al-Shabaab fought for Kismayo. Al-Shabaab won and expelled the Ras Kamboni fighters, and in November 2009 the faction led by Ahmed Madobe withdrew from Lower Juba. In February 2010 al-Turki's branch announced it was merging with al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia, Ras Kamboni Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Kamboni_Movement); [Long War Journal, February 2010](http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/02/shabaab_absorbs_sout.php)). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records the same division: one faction merged into al-Shabaab in 2010, the rest allied with Kenya ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## The Raskamboni movement under Ahmed Madobe

Wikipedia dates the Raskamboni movement from 7 October 2009, with Ahmed Madobe as chairman and Maalim Mohamud as deputy, and estimates it at under 1,000 fighters in 2010. After Hizbul Islam was absorbed into al-Shabaab in December 2010, it allied with [Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/) and the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ([Wikipedia, Ras Kamboni Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Kamboni_Movement)). See [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/).

## With Kenya: Dhobley and Kismayo

- **3 April 2011.** With government forces and the Kenyan air force, it took Dhobley near the Kenyan border from al-Shabaab (same source, citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)).
- **October 2011.** Kenya sent its army into southern Somalia ([Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).
- **28 September 2012.** Kenyan troops landed on the beach at Kismayo ([The Guardian, 28 September 2012](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/28/kenyan-soldiers-capture-kismayo-somalia)). With the Somali army, AU troops and Raskamboni fighters, they took the city, al-Shabaab's main port and source of revenue ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).

## Jubaland and Kismayo after 2012

Ahmed Madobe became interim leader of the Jubaland administration in 2012 and was chosen president in 2013 ([Nation, 7 September 2025](https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/weekly-review/why-was-somalia-s-jubaland-formed-and-who-is-its-leader-madobe--5183878)). In February 2014, after security chief Isse Kamboni was shot dead on 19 February, Raskamboni forces carried out a search operation in Kismayo; more than 150 civilians were detained and seven civilian deaths were reported (same source, citing Keydmedia).

In late November and December 2024, after Madobe's re-election, Jubaland and federal forces clashed at Ras Kamboni; some federal troops were captured and others crossed into Kenya ([Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, *CTC Sentinel*, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *The Guardian*, "Kenyan troops launch beach assault on Somali city of Kismayo" (2012): [article](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/28/kenyan-soldiers-capture-kismayo-somalia).
- Matthew J. Thomas, "Exposing and exploiting weaknesses in the merger of al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab", *Small Wars and Insurgencies* 24:3 (2013): [article](https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2013.802611).


---

# Speakers of the Somaliland Houses of Representatives and Elders, 1991 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/speakers-of-somaliland-parliament/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's House of Representatives has had eight speakers since 1991; Yasin Haji Mohamoud has led it since July 2023. The House of Elders (Guurti) has had three; Muse Haji Abdi Duale has led it since July 2026.

## In short

The House of Representatives has 82 members chosen by vote; the House of Elders (Golaha Guurtida) has 82 members. Wikipedia lists speakers of each house. ([Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Speakers of the House of Representatives

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Ibrahim Megag Samatar](/en/people/ibrahim-megag-samatar/) (Ibraahim Meygaag Samatar) | 1991 to 1993 | Somali National Movement | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |
| Ahmed Abdi Mohamed Habsade (Axmed Cabdi Maxamed Xaabsade) | 1993 to 1995 |  | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |
| Abdirahman Hussein Beedaani (Cabdiraxmaan Xuseen Beedaani) | 1995 to 1997 |  | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |
| Ahmed Muhammad Aden Qaybe (Axmed Maxamed Aadan Qaybe) | 1997 to 2005 |  | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |
| [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) (Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Cabdillaahi Cirro) | November 2005 to 2 August 2017 | dates from Wikidata; later President of Somaliland | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141714838), [Wikipedia, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Mohamed_Abdullahi) |
| Bashe Mohamed Farah (Baashe Maxamed Faarax) | August 2017 to August 2021 | Kulmiye | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |
| Abdirisak Khalif Ahmed (Cabdirisaaq Khaliif Axmed) | August 2021 to June 2023 | Waddani | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |
| [Yasin Haji Mohamoud Faratoon](/en/people/yasin-haji-mohamoud/) (Yaasiin Xaaji Maxamuud Faratoon) | July 2023 to now | Kulmiye | [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29) |

## Speakers of the House of Elders (Guurti)

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheikh Yusuf Ali Sheikh Madar (Sheekh Yuusuf Cali Sheekh Madar) | 1993 to July 2004 | died in office; the same article also names him Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Yusuf Sheikh Madar | [Wikipedia, House of Elders (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Elders_%28Somaliland%29) |
| Suleiman Mohamoud Adan (Saleebaan Maxamuud Aadan) | August 2004 to July 2026 | resigned | [Wikipedia, House of Elders (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Elders_%28Somaliland%29) |
| Muse Haji Abdi Duale (Muuse Xaaji Cabdi Ducaale) | July 2026 to now |  | [Wikipedia, House of Elders (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Elders_%28Somaliland%29) |

## Related pages

- [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_%28Somaliland%29)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# State forces of Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/state-forces-galmudug-hirshabelle-south-west/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West State each have their own police and Darawiish (Dervish) forces, alongside federal army, police and intelligence units. South West's Darawiish began in 2015 as clan home guards and became its Special Police Force in February 2016. A joint army force for Galkacyo, shared by Galmudug, Puntland and the federal government, was set up in February 2018. In June 2023 South West police and federal army units fought in Barawe. In April 2026 the federal government pledged to pay South West's Darawiish on a par with the army.

## In short

Each federal member state keeps its own forces, usually called Darawiish (Dervish); Robinson notes that the name recalls the rural mobile police of the years before 1991 (IPI, below). This page covers [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)'s forces have their own pages: [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) and [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/). This page records what the sources say, without taking sides between the states and the federal government.

## How state forces began

Colin Robinson, writing for the International Peace Institute in 2019, recorded that South West's Darawiish were created in 2015 as "effectively clan home guards" and became the South West State Special Police Force in February 2016. He wrote that state forces were often seen as closer to their communities than the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), since they serve where they are recruited, but that promised federal and international support had largely not reached them ([Colin Robinson, IPI Global Observatory, 7 November 2019](https://theglobalobservatory.org/2019/11/state-level-military-forces-potentially-turn-tide-war-al-shabaab/)).

## The National Security Architecture

The federal government and the member states agreed a National Security Architecture in May 2017, endorsed at the [London Somalia Conference](/en/relations/united-kingdom/), setting the size, command and funding of the army, police and other forces. A revised version followed in March 2023. The Somali Dialogue Platform, in a 2024 policy brief, recorded that Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West took a more accommodating view of the architecture than Puntland or Jubaland, partly because of the shared campaign against al-Shabaab and partly because they depend on federal funds ([Somali Dialogue Platform, *The Shaping of the Somali National Security Architecture*, March 2024](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/pb_EN_NSArch_WEB.pdf)).

## Clan militias

The same brief recorded that Galmudug and Hirshabelle backed the arming of the [Macawisley](/en/institutions/macawisley/) clan militias in the 2022 offensive, while Puntland, Jubaland and South West opposed it, fearing that state assets would be turned to clan agendas. A South West minister interviewed for the brief said arming clan militias was "akin to arming al-Shabaab". In October 2023 the president named Ali Jeyte, a former [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) governor and [Macawisley](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) leader, as coordinator for what the government called community defence forces; in May 2023, after his dismissal as governor, he had declared Hiiraan separate from Hirshabelle (Somali Dialogue Platform).

## The Galkacyo joint force

In February 2018 Galmudug, Puntland and the federal government set up a joint army force for the divided city of [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), with equal contributions from the two states, under central army command. The brief describes it as a possible model for the army, and records that its pay fell from US$350 to US$200 a month and that its first commander was killed by al-Shabaab (Somali Dialogue Platform).

## Barawe, 2023

In June 2023 South West State police, newly deployed to [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/), the state's designated capital, fought federal army units that had been in the town since [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) and the army took it from al-Shabaab on 6 October 2014. The brief records that many in South West saw the army there as drawn mainly from Hawiye clans around Mogadishu, and that a South West minister alleged the soldiers taxed local people (Somali Dialogue Platform).

## Pay talks, 2026

On 13 April 2026 [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa, citing state media, reported that the federal government had pledged to align the pay and benefits of South West's Darawiish, then stationed at Awdiinle, with those of the army, after meetings attended by the intelligence director Mahad Mohamed Salad and the police commissioner. Officials said the government was "working toward standardizing their rights"; the units were later moved back to Baidoa and their former bases ([Dawan Africa, 13 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-pledges-pay-parity-for-south-west-darawish-national-army)).

## Sources differ

- **Who pays.** State forces are usually funded by the member states; federal pledges to fund or absorb them have been made several times.
- **Barawe.** The 2024 brief draws mainly on South West officials' accounts of the fighting; it does not set out a federal account.
- **Clan militias.** Galmudug and Hirshabelle supported arming them; South West, Puntland and Jubaland opposed it.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Somali Dialogue Platform, *The Shaping of the Somali National Security Architecture* (2024): [PDF](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/pb_EN_NSArch_WEB.pdf).
- Colin Robinson, "State-level military forces can potentially turn tide in war against al-Shabaab", IPI Global Observatory (2019): [article](https://theglobalobservatory.org/2019/11/state-level-military-forces-potentially-turn-tide-war-al-shabaab/).


---

# Macawisley: the clan militias of central Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/macawisley/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Macawisley (Ma'awisley) is the name given to clan-based militias in central Somalia that have fought al-Shabaab, named after the macawis sarong their fighters wear. Local groups appeared from about 2014. From mid-2022 Hawadle and other clan militias in Hiiraan fought alongside the Somali National Army in the federal offensive against al-Shabaab, and the government armed and supported them. Reports since have recorded both territorial gains and abuses, disputes with federal forces, and complaints that support fell away in 2025.

## In short

Macawisley is the common name for clan militias in central Somalia that took up arms against [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). They are not one organisation: each is drawn from a clan or sub-clan and defends its own area. This page records what the sources say about them, without taking sides.

## The name and the first groups

Wikipedia records that the name comes from the *macawis*, the sarong the fighters wear. Groups first appeared in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and Hiiraan in about 2014 and have grown and shrunk since. In 2018 Hibaad Ali Dasar organised about 60 men in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) after refusing al-Shabaab's taxes; the group was defeated by October and he was killed in an ambush. In June 2019 a Macawisley group clashed with al-Shabaab in Adan Yabaal district ([Wikipedia, Ma'awisley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27awisley), citing Voice of America and [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)).

## Clans

Wikipedia, drawing on several sources, records that the militias are mainly Hawadle, with fighters also from the Abgaal, [Gaalje'el](/en/society/gaaljecel/), Habar Gidir, Murusade and Surre. It gives estimates of 8,000 to 10,000 fighters, mostly farmers and herders with little formal training (Wikipedia, citing the Rift Valley Institute and others).

## The 2022 offensive

In June 2022 a militia defended Bahdo and reportedly killed up to 70 al-Shabaab fighters (Wikipedia, citing Voice of America). In early September 2022 the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), with Macawisley militias, African Union air support and a US air strike, began an offensive in Hiiraan around Buq Aqable, an area al-Shabaab had held for almost a decade. It spread into [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) near Dhusamareb and into Bay. Officials said dozens of towns and villages were retaken; the Long War Journal could not verify their death tolls ([Long War Journal, 27 September 2022](https://www.fdd.org/analysis/shabaab-continues-to-lose-ground-in-central-somalia/)). The wider campaign is described in [the offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022–2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/).

Wikipedia records that the government began arming the militias in 2022, and cites Al Jazeera reporting that it armed militias from President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)'s clan and others close to him. On 7 February 2025 the defence minister announced that integration into the national army was under way (Wikipedia, citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)).

## Disputes and abuses

Wikipedia, citing PeaceRep, The Somali Digest and Africa Confidential, records:

- in February 2024, Hawadle leaders complained that federal figures were using the offensive for political ends, and the Murusade divided over government involvement;
- in February 2024, militias in Diinlaawe executed three brothers accused of spying for al-Shabaab;
- in May 2024, militias clashed with the army's [Danab](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) units at El Baraf after Danab reportedly tried to disarm local forces.

Al Jazeera, cited by Wikipedia, reported accusations that militias settled land disputes by force and ran roadblocks for money (Wikipedia).

## 2025

On 21 May 2025 Garowe Online reported that Hawadle Macawisley fighters around Beledweyne faced growing al-Shabaab attacks after federal troops withdrew from places in Middle Shabelle, including Adan Yabaal. A local official said government support had "dropped significantly", and community leaders called for a review of security coordination ([Garowe Online, 21 May 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hawadle-clan-militias-left-to-fight-al-shabaab-alone-in-somalia-s-hiiraan-region)). See [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/).

## Sources differ

- **How well the model works.** Trends Research described the coordinated clan offensives as unprecedented, while noting that some militias stopped at clan boundaries ([Trends Research, 2023](https://trendsresearch.org/?p=4130)); a PeaceRep analysis argued that clan-based mobilisation would remain ineffective against al-Shabaab ([PeaceRep](https://peacerep.org/?p=24081)).
- **Who is armed.** The government presents the militias as local volunteers; critics say arms went first to clans close to the president.
- **Numbers.** Estimates range up to 10,000 fighters; none is official.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Caleb Weiss, "Shabaab continues to lose ground in central Somalia", Long War Journal (2022): [article](https://www.fdd.org/analysis/shabaab-continues-to-lose-ground-in-central-somalia/).
- Garowe Online, "Hawadle clan militias left to fight al-Shabaab alone in Somalia's Hiiraan region" (2025): [article](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hawadle-clan-militias-left-to-fight-al-shabaab-alone-in-somalia-s-hiiraan-region).


---

# Mayors of Hargeisa, 2003 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/mayors-of-hargeisa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Three mayors led Hargeisa between February 2003 and May 2026: Hussein Mohamed Jiciir, Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid and Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge. Wikipedia records Aadan Cumar Fure as mayor from 1950 to 1959. This page lists each with dates and sources.

## In short

The Mayor of Hargeisa heads the city's local government. Wikipedia records that Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge, of the Waddani party, was elected mayor after the 2021 municipal elections. Dates for 2003 to 2026 come from Wikidata. ([Wikipedia, Hargeisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa), [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85784492))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85784492); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Mayors

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aadan Cumar Fure | 1950 to 1959 |  | [Wikipedia, Hargeisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa) |
| Hussein Mohamed Jiciir (Xuseen Maxamed Jiciir) | February 2003 to 23 December 2012 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85784492), [Wikipedia, Hussein Mohamed Jiciir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Mohamed_Jiciir) |
| Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid (Cabdiraxmaan Maxamuud Caydiid) | 14 April 2013 to 17 June 2021 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85784492), [Wikipedia, Abdurrahman Mahmoud Aidiid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdurrahman_Mahmoud_Aidiid) |
| Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge (Cabdikariin Axmed Mooge) | 17 June 2021 to 30 May 2026 |  | [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85784492), [Wikipedia, Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdikarim_Ahmed_Mooge) |

## Sources

- [Wikidata, position-held records](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85784492)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Egypt's military in Somalia: the 2024 pact and AUSSOM

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/egypt-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Egypt and Somalia signed a military cooperation agreement on 14 August 2024. From 27 August Egyptian military aircraft flew arms, ammunition and special forces to Mogadishu, and Ethiopia said it could not 'stand idle'. In January 2025 the two presidents agreed to put the 2024 protocols into effect and raised ties to a strategic partnership. Egypt was allotted about 1,091 troops in the AU mission AUSSOM, delayed by funding, and in late 2026 was preparing a brigade-sized force for Middle Shabelle.

## In short

Egypt became a military partner of the federal government in 2024, during Somalia's dispute with Ethiopia over Ethiopia's memorandum of understanding with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), and while Egypt had its own long dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. This page records what the sources report. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## The August 2024 agreement and arms flights

Egypt and Somalia signed a military cooperation agreement on 14 August 2024. Two weeks later two Egyptian military transport aircraft landed at Mogadishu airport carrying arms, ammunition and about 300 commandos of an Egyptian special forces unit, and eight transport aircraft had landed by 29 August. Officials told *The National* that the number of Egyptian commandos had reached 1,000, that the troops would train and equip Somali army units and protect key government sites and officials, and that Egyptian armoured vehicles, rocket launchers, artillery, anti-tank missiles, radars and drones would follow, some overland from an Egyptian facility in Djibouti ([The National, 29 August 2024](https://thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/08/29/ethiopia-alarmed-as-egypt-sends-special-forces-and-arms-to-somalia)). The Atlantic Council dated the first flights, of two C-130 aircraft, to 27 August ([Atlantic Council](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/?p=793165)). Egypt delivered anti-aircraft weapons twice in 2024 under the agreement ([Wikipedia, Somali Air Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Air_Force), citing Reuters, 23 September 2024).

**Ethiopia's response.** On 28 August 2024 Ethiopia's foreign ministry said the region was "moving into uncharted waters" and that Ethiopia could not "stand idle while other actors are taking measures to destabilise the region". It did not name Egypt (The National, 2024).

## The strategic partnership, January 2025

In January 2025, with President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi present in Cairo, the two countries agreed to put the 2024 military protocols into effect and raised relations to a strategic partnership. The protocols were described as strengthening Somalia's forces against al-Shabaab and the Islamic State faction. Before Cairo, Hassan Sheikh had met Ethiopia's prime minister in Addis Ababa, after the Turkish-brokered talks in Ankara ([Garowe Online, 25 January 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/egypt-somalia-activate-2024-military-pact-elevate-ties-amid-ethiopia-tensions)).

## AUSSOM

Egypt was allotted about 1,091 troops in the [African Union Support and Stabilization Mission](/en/institutions/aussom/), which began in January 2025, but delayed joining, citing funding. In August 2025 Somalia's defence ministry said training of the Egyptian units was complete, and in September 2025 a 16-member Egyptian team visited Mogadishu to look at sites. In October 2026 Egypt was reported to be preparing a brigade-sized battle group for Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) under the bilateral agreement, with a headquarters planned at Ceelcade near Ciciley airfield, an area held by Burundian AU troops, before moving about 1,000 personnel into AUSSOM. Cairo had not given the full size ([Addis Standard via AllAfrica, 27 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610270081.html), citing *The East African*).

## Sources differ

- **Date of the first flights.** 27 August 2024 (Atlantic Council) or the following days (other reports).
- **Size of the force.** About 1,000 commandos by 29 August 2024 and a total in the "low thousands" (*The National*); about 1,091 in AUSSOM; the bilateral force's size undisclosed.
- **Whether Egypt had deployed by 2026.** Egypt Today reported in February 2026 that Egypt had deployed troops, helicopters and light aircraft (cited by Wikipedia; see [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)); *The East African* reported in October 2026 that the AUSSOM contingent was still to move in (Addis Standard, 2026).
- **Coordination.** The AU had not said publicly how a bilateral Egyptian force would work with AUSSOM; Burundian troops in the area were reportedly not formally told (Addis Standard, 2026).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- The National, "Ethiopia alarmed as Egypt sends special forces and arms to Somalia" (2024): [article](https://thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/08/29/ethiopia-alarmed-as-egypt-sends-special-forces-and-arms-to-somalia).
- [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), "Egypt, Somalia activate 2024 military pact" (2025): [article](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/egypt-somalia-activate-2024-military-pact-elevate-ties-amid-ethiopia-tensions).
- Addis Standard via AllAfrica, "Egypt to deploy troops in Somalia under bilateral deal ahead of AUSSOM integration" (2026): [article](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610270081.html).


---

# Presidents and Prime Ministers of Djibouti, 1957 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/leaders-of-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Djibouti has had two presidents since independence on 27 June 1977: Hassan Gouled Aptidon, until 1999, and his nephew Ismail Omar Guelleh, since 8 May 1999. It has had five prime ministers. Before independence, the French territory had a local Government Council from 1957, led first by a vice president and from 1967 by a president.

## In short

Djibouti, formerly [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) and then the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, is home to Somali (mainly Issa) and Afar communities. World Statesmen notes each leader's community, and the top posts have been shared between the two: both presidents have been Issa, and every Prime Minister since July 1977 has been Afar. ([World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Vice Presidents of the Government Council, 1957 to 1967

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Mahamoud Harbi Farah](/en/people/mahamoud-harbi/) (Maxamuud Xarbi Faarax) | July 1957 to December 1958 | MUR party | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) (Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon) | December 1958 to April 1959 | UPA party | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| [Ahmed Dini Ahmed](/en/people/ahmed-dini-ahmed/) | May 1959 to June 1960 | PMP party | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Ali Aref Bourhan | June 1960 to November 1966 | first time | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Abdallah Mohamed Kamil | 5 November 1966 to April 1967 |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |
| Ali Aref Bourhan | 27 April 1967 to 7 July 1967 | second time | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html) |

## Presidents of the Government Council, 1967 to 1977

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ali Aref Bourhan | 7 July 1967 to 29 July 1976 |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| Abdallah Mohamed Kamil | 29 July 1976 to 18 May 1977 |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) (Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon) | 18 May 1977 to 27 June 1977 | head of government until independence | [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |

## Presidents of the Republic, 1977 to now

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) (Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon) | 27 June 1977 to 8 May 1999 | first President; elected 1981, 1987 and 1993 | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Djibouti) |
| [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) (Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle) | 8 May 1999 to now | elected 1999, 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026, according to Wikipedia | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Djibouti) |

## Prime Ministers, 1977 to now

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) (Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon) | 27 June 1977 to 12 July 1977 | also President | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| [Ahmed Dini Ahmed](/en/people/ahmed-dini-ahmed/) | 12 July 1977 to 5 February 1978 |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| Abdallah Mohamed Kamil | 5 February 1978 to 2 October 1978 |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| [Barkat Gourad Hamadou](/en/people/barkat-gourad-hamadou/) | 2 October 1978 to 7 March 2001 | longest-serving Prime Minister | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| [Dileita Mohamed Dileita](/en/people/dileita-mohamed-dileita/) | 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013 |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |
| Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed | 1 April 2013 to now |  | [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html), [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti) |

## Related pages

- [Djibouti and the Somali diaspora](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)
- [Governors of British Somaliland](/en/institutions/governors-of-british-somaliland/)
- [Governors of Italian Somaliland](/en/institutions/governors-of-italian-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Djibouti](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Djibouti.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of prime ministers of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Djibouti)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Ethiopia's military in Somalia since 2006

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ethiopia-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ethiopian forces entered Somalia in 2006 and openly went to war with the Islamic Courts on 24 December 2006, taking Mogadishu with the transitional government. Estimates of their numbers range from 4,000 (Ethiopia) to 50,000 or more. Human Rights Watch found that Ethiopian, government and insurgent forces all committed serious abuses in Mogadishu in 2007. Ethiopia left Mogadishu in January 2009, joined the AU mission in January 2014 and kept other troops outside it. After its 2024 memorandum with Somaliland, it remained in AUSSOM following the Ankara Declaration.

## In short

Ethiopia, Somalia's largest neighbour, has had troops in Somalia for most of the period since 2006: as an intervening army in 2006–2009, as part of the AU missions since 2014, and in bilateral deployments along the border. A timeline of all the wars is at [Ethiopia and Somalia at war](/en/history/ethiopia-somalia-wars-timeline/). Earlier wars between the two states are covered in [The Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) and [The 1982 border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/). This page is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## The 2006 intervention

Wikipedia records reports of Ethiopian armoured vehicles crossing the border from June 2006, an estimated 5,000 Ethiopian troops inside Somalia by 20 July 2006 according to Reuters, and the first clash with Islamic Courts forces at [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/) on 9 October 2006. Ethiopia publicly acknowledged on 24 December 2006 that its forces were fighting the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) ([Wikipedia, War in Somalia (2006–2009)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Somalia_(2006%E2%80%932009))). Ethiopian and transitional government forces entered Mogadishu in late December 2006. The Council on Foreign Relations records the view that the intervention helped radicalise [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) ([CFR, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).

**Numbers.** Ethiopia's government said 4,000 troops; the transitional government spoke of 12,000–15,000; other estimates reached 50,000 (Wikipedia).

## Mogadishu, 2007

Insurgent attacks on Ethiopian and government forces began within a week of their arrival in January 2007. In two rounds of fighting, from 29 March to 2 April and from 18 to 26 April 2007, Human Rights Watch found that:

- insurgents fired mortars from populated areas without spotters and executed suspected informers;
- Ethiopian forces carried out area bombardment with BM-21 rockets and artillery, hit hospitals repeatedly, and occupied and looted the al-Hayat and al-Arafat hospitals;
- government forces looted widely, blocked aid and mistreated detainees.

HRW said the parties showed "a wanton disregard for civilian life and property" and that some of the acts, committed with criminal intent, amounted to war crimes. The UN estimated that at least 365,000 people had fled the city by late April 2007 ([Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked: Civilians under Siege in Mogadishu*, August 2007](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu)).

**Withdrawal.** Ethiopian forces withdrew from Mogadishu in January 2009, the month [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) was elected president. Wikipedia gives estimates of 16,210–20,000 civilians killed in the war (citing Reuters) and over a million people displaced by November 2007 (Wikipedia). See [Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## In the AU missions and outside them

Ethiopian forces returned to Somalia in November 2011. On 22 January 2014, at a flag ceremony in Baidoa, 4,395 Ethiopian troops formally joined [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) as its sixth contingent, covering [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) ([VOA, January 2014](https://www.voanews.com/a/ethiopian-troops-join-au-force-in-somalia/1835401.html); [Hiiraan Online, January 2014](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Jan/52984/somali_govt_welcomes_ethiopia_s_integration_into_amisom.aspx)). It was later allotted 2,500 troops in [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/). Other Ethiopian troops have served outside the AU missions under bilateral arrangements, for example in Gedo; see [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/).

## The 2024 crisis and Ankara

On 1 January 2024 Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on sea access, which Somalia called an attack on its sovereignty. Somalia signed defence agreements with [Turkey](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) in February 2024 and [Egypt](/en/institutions/egypt-military-in-somalia/) in August 2024; when Egyptian arms arrived, Ethiopia said it could not "stand idle" ([The National, 29 August 2024](https://thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/08/29/ethiopia-alarmed-as-egypt-sends-special-forces-and-arms-to-somalia)). Turkish mediation produced the Ankara Declaration between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) on 11 December 2024, and Ethiopia remained in AUSSOM (see [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)). In October 2026 Ethiopia was reported to have recently withdrawn some troops from Somalia ([Addis Standard via AllAfrica, 27 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610270081.html)).

## Sources differ

- **Size of the 2006 force.** 4,000 (Ethiopian government), 12,000–15,000 (transitional government), up to 50,000 or more (other estimates).
- **Civilian deaths in Mogadishu, 2007.** HRW cited estimates by local groups and Hawiye elders of 400 to 1,000 killed in the first round of fighting and almost 300 in the second, which it could not verify independently.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Human Rights Watch, *Shell-Shocked: Civilians under Siege in Mogadishu* (2007): [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/08/13/shell-shocked/civilians-under-siege-mogadishu).
- Council on Foreign Relations, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder: [page](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab).


---

# Presidents of the Somali Region of Ethiopia, 1993 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-the-somali-region-of-ethiopia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Region of Ethiopia, one of the country's federal regional states, has had 14 presidents (officially chief administrators) since January 1993. Abdi Mohamoud Omar "Abdi Iley" held the post longest, from 2010 to 2018. Mustafe Mohamed Omer has led the region since 22 August 2018.

## In short

The region's head is formally the chief administrator, but is usually called the president. Two Wikipedia articles carry lists of office-holders, the list article and the article on the region. They agree on dates and differ on two points, shown in the notes. Party names follow the tables: ESDL is the Ethiopian Somali Democratic League and ESPDP the Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party. ([Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Presidents (chief administrators)

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdullahi Mohamed Sa'di (Cabdullaahi Maxamed Saacdi) | 23 January 1993 to November 1993 | first head of the region; the two Wikipedia tables give his party as the ONLF and the ESDL | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Hassan Jire Qalinle (Xasan Jire Qalinle) | 1993 to April 1994 | ESDL | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Abdirahman Ugas Mohamed Qani (Cabdiraxmaan Ugaas Maxamed Qani) | April 1994 to 1995 | ESDL | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Ahmed Makahel Hussein (Axmed Makaahiil Xuseen) | 1995 to June 1995 | ESDL | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Mahdi Ayoub Guleed (Mahdi Ayuub Guuleed) | June 1995 to June 1995 | a few weeks; listed in only one of the two Wikipedia tables | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Eid Dahir Farah (Ciid Daahir Faarax) | June 1995 to October 1997 | ESDL | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Khader Ma'alin Ali (Khadar Macallin Cali) | October 1997 to October 2000 | ESDL, then ESPDP from 1998 | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Abdulrashid Dulane (Cabdirashiid Dulane) | October 2000 to 21 July 2003 | ESPDP | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Abdi Jibril Ali (Cabdi Jibriil Cali) | 21 July 2003 to October 2005 | ESPDP | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Abdullahi Hassan Mohamed "Lugbuur" (Cabdullaahi Xasan Maxamed "Lugbuur") | October 2005 to November 2008 | ESPDP | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Daud Mohamed Ali "Daud Axmaar" (Daa'uud Maxamed Cali "Daa'uud Axmar") | November 2008 to 12 July 2010 | ESPDP | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Abdi Mohamoud Omar "Abdi Iley" (Cabdi Maxamuud Cumar "Cabdi Iley") | 12 July 2010 to 8 August 2018 | ESPDP | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Ahmed Abdi Sheikh Mohamed "Ilkacase" (Axmed Cabdi Sheekh Maxamed "Ilkacase") | 8 August 2018 to 22 August 2018 | 14 days | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |
| Mustafe Mohamed Omer "Cagjar" (Mustafe Maxamed Cumar "Cagjar") | 22 August 2018 to now | ESPDP until April 2019, then the Somali Democratic Party, and from November 2019 the Prosperity Party | [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region), [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region) |

## Related pages

- [Ethiopia and Somalia](/en/relations/ethiopia/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, List of chief administrators of the Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_administrators_of_the_Somali_Region)
- [Wikipedia, Somali Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Kenya's military in Somalia: Linda Nchi, AMISOM and El Adde

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kenyan forces entered southern Somalia on 16 October 2011 in Operation Linda Nchi, joined the AU mission AMISOM in 2012 and helped take Kismayo that September. Kenya's heaviest loss came at El Adde in Gedo on 15 January 2016, when al-Shabaab overran a Kenyan base; Kenya gave no death toll, while officials cited by CNN said at least 141 soldiers died. UN monitors reported in 2016 that Kenyan forces took a fee of $2 per bag on charcoal exported from Kismayo, against the UN ban.

## In short

Kenya has had troops in southern Somalia since October 2011, first in its own operation and then as one of the main contingents of the AU missions, holding sectors in the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) regions and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/). This page records their record from the sources. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)'s attacks inside the country are covered in [Al-Shabaab's attacks in Uganda and Kenya](/en/history/al-shabaab-attacks-kenya-uganda-2010-2019/).

## Operation Linda Nchi, 2011–2012

On 16 October 2011 Kenyan forces crossed into southern Somalia in Operation Linda Nchi ("protect the country"), saying they aimed to create a buffer against al-Shabaab after kidnappings near the border. About 2,400 troops crossed at first. Kenya agreed in November 2011 to place its forces under [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), which it formally joined in June 2012. Kismayo was taken on 28 September 2012 by AMISOM, the Somali army and the Ras Kamboni militia ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi), citing Reuters, the BBC and the International Crisis Group). See [Raskamboni movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) and [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/).

## El Adde, January 2016

At dawn on 15 January 2016 al-Shabaab fighters overran the Kenyan base at El Adde in Gedo. Paul D. Williams of the International Peace Institute called it Kenya's "largest ever military defeat". Reports of how many soldiers were at the base ranged from a company of about 100 to 200; officials familiar with the recovery told CNN that "at least 141" Kenyan soldiers were killed, which would make it al-Shabaab's deadliest attack on Kenyans, and likely the AU mission's largest loss in a single battle ([Paul D. Williams, *The Battle at El Adde*, International Peace Institute, July 2016](https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1607_Battle-at-El-Adde.pdf)). Somalia's president, [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), said in February that about 200 had died; the Kenya Defence Forces spokesman said: "It is not true. This information never came from us." Kenya gave no figure ([Al Jazeera, 25 February 2016](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/2/25/somali-leader-200-kenyan-troops-dead-in-january-raid)).

**The air campaign that followed.** The UN Monitoring Group reported that attacks by Kenyan and other forces in Gedo after El Adde, including an intense air campaign, killed at least 12 civilians, destroyed homes, water points and livestock, and displaced at least 8,600 people. Somalia's government told the UN Human Rights Council that Kenyan air strikes had "targeted civilian areas and caused heavy casualties". Kenya called the Group's account "erroneous" ([UN Monitoring Group, S/2016/919, paras. 71–73](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2016/919&l=en&t=pdf)).

**Kulbiyow, January 2017.** On 27 January 2017 al-Shabaab attacked the Kenyan base at Kulbiyow near the border. Reported deaths ranged from nine (a Kenyan military spokesman) to more than 60 in other reports ([*Long War Journal*, January 2017](https://longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/01/shabaab-details-deadly-raid-on-kenyan-military-base-in-somalia.php)).

## The charcoal trade

The UN Security Council banned Somali charcoal exports in 2012. The Monitoring Group reported in 2013, 2014 and 2016 that the Kenyan contingent played "a substantial role" in the illicit export of charcoal. In 2016 it wrote that, according to industry and NGO sources, Kenyan forces received a fee of $2 per bag for charcoal exported from Kismayo, a port "effectively under their control", and that a Kenyan base stood next to the charcoal stockpile at Buur Gaabo. It said this was "not conclusive proof" of direct involvement there, but showed Kenyan forces were not stopping exports. It wrote to the head of AMISOM and received no reply ([S/2016/919, para. 134](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2016/919&l=en&t=pdf)). See [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/).

## Sources differ

- **El Adde deaths.** Al-Shabaab claimed more than 100; officials cited by CNN said at least 141; Somalia's president said about 200; Kenya did not publish a figure.
- **Troops at El Adde.** A company of about 100, 160, or 200, depending on the source (Williams, 2016).
- **Air strikes in Gedo.** The UN group and Somalia's government reported civilian harm; Kenya rejected the account.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Paul D. Williams, *The Battle at El Adde: The Kenya Defence Forces, al-Shabaab, and Unanswered Questions*, International Peace Institute (2016): [PDF](https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1607_Battle-at-El-Adde.pdf).
- UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/), S/2016/919 (2016): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2016/919&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# The UK and the EU in Somalia: EUTM, Atalanta and the Baidoa training centre

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/uk-eu-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The European Union launched a training mission for Somali forces, EUTM Somalia, on 7 April 2010, first in Uganda and in Mogadishu from 2014; it reached 5,000 troops trained in November 2019. The EU's naval operation Atalanta has patrolled off Somalia since December 2008. By 2026 the EU had given nearly €2.8 billion to the AU missions in Somalia since 2007, largely for troop allowances. The UK runs a training centre in Baidoa and said in January 2023 that it had trained over 2,700 Somali soldiers.

## In short

European states have mostly supported Somalia's forces through training, money and naval patrols rather than through ground troops in combat. The EU runs a training mission and a naval operation and has paid a large share of the AU missions' costs. The United Kingdom trains Somali army units in Baidoa. This page records what the sources report. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## The EU training mission, from 2010

The EU agreed on 25 January 2010 to set up a training mission for Somali security forces, and EUTM Somalia was launched on 7 April 2010, under Spanish command from 4 May 2010. Its first mandates were carried out in Uganda; the mission moved to Mogadishu in January 2014 ([Spanish Ministry of Defence, *EUTM Somalia*](https://emad.defensa.gob.es/en/operaciones/operaciones-en-el-exterior/44-EUTM-Somalia/)). Wikipedia records that early training took place at Bihanga camp in Uganda and that the first "train the trainers" course in Mogadishu began in February 2014 at Jazeera Training Camp, with 16 EU trainers and 60 Somali soldiers ([Wikipedia, EUTM Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Training_Mission_in_Somalia), citing the EEAS and EUTM Somalia).

**Numbers.** The mission reached 5,000 troops trained on 1 November 2019, according to Spain's defence ministry. Its ninth mandate, in force since January 2025, shifted towards advising the Somali General Staff and the defence ministry, building a Somali-owned training system and training the Somali navy (Spanish Ministry of Defence). Wikipedia gives the mandate's end as 28 February 2027 and the mission's common costs for 2024 as €15.3 million (Wikipedia, citing the EEAS). See [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/).

## Operation Atalanta, from 2008

The EU's naval force, Operation Atalanta, began on 8 December 2008 to protect World Food Programme ships and other vulnerable shipping and to deter piracy off Somalia. In March 2012 its area was extended to Somali coastal territory and internal waters, and in May 2012 EU forces struck pirate boats on the shore near [Harardhere](/en/regions/harardhere/), with no casualties reported. In 2024 its arms-embargo task was refocused on al-Shabaab, and its mandate runs to 28 February 2027. It usually has about 600 personnel, one to three warships and a patrol aircraft ([Wikipedia, Operation Atalanta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Atalanta)). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## EU money for the AU missions

The EU has paid a large share of the AU missions' running costs, mainly troop allowances. In July 2026 [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) reported a €75 million package from the European Peace Facility for [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/), covering costs from 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, for troop allowances, non-lethal equipment and operational support, and that EU support for the AU missions in Somalia came to nearly €2.8 billion since 2007 ([Dawan Africa, 2 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/eu-reviews-dollar81-million-aussom-support-package)). See [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) and [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/).

## The United Kingdom

The British Army trains Somali National Army units at a training centre in Baidoa, Southwest State. In June 2021 the training covered defensive operations, command, shooting, first aid and human rights for companies of about 100 soldiers, counter-IED work run with the SNA and AMISOM, and a staff officers' course; the army had trained its 500th Somali soldier in January 2021 and planned about 600 more that year. The UK minister for Africa, James Duddridge, announced £1.6 million to counter roadside bombs and £3.37 million for Somali forces working with AMISOM ([Joint Forces News, 2 June 2021](https://www.joint-forces.com/?p=43813)). In January 2023 the outgoing UK ambassador, Kate Foster, said: "We have now trained over 2700 troops and donated 43 vehicles." The UK also gave £4.5 million that year through the UN trust fund for logistics for more than 10,000 SNA personnel. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) visited the Baidoa centre ([Garowe Online, 24 January 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/uk-trains-over-2700-sna-soldiers-releases-4-5-million-for-al-shabaab-war)).

NATO's, the US-led and China's naval missions are covered in [Naval missions off Somalia](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/).

## Sources differ

- **EUTM totals.** About 3,600 trained by 2014 (Wikipedia, citing Sabahi) and 5,000 by November 2019 (Spanish Ministry of Defence).
- **EU funding totals.** Nearly €2.8 billion for the AU missions in Somalia since 2007 (Dawan, 2026); this is separate from the cost of EUTM and Atalanta.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Spanish Ministry of Defence, *EUTM Somalia*: [page](https://emad.defensa.gob.es/en/operaciones/operaciones-en-el-exterior/44-EUTM-Somalia/).
- [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), "UK trains over 2700 SNA soldiers" (2023): [article](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/uk-trains-over-2700-sna-soldiers-releases-4-5-million-for-al-shabaab-war).
- Dawan Africa, "EU reviews $81 million AUSSOM support package" (2026): [article](https://www.dawan.africa/news/eu-reviews-dollar81-million-aussom-support-package).


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# Uganda's military in Somalia, 2007 to 2027

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ugandan troops were the first AU peacekeepers in Somalia, landing in Mogadishu on 6 March 2007 under mortar fire, and Uganda kept the largest contingent in AMISOM, ATMIS and AUSSOM. Its heaviest single loss came at Buulo Mareer in May 2023, when Uganda's president said 54 soldiers were killed. In November 2021 a Ugandan court martial in Mogadishu convicted five soldiers of killing seven civilians at Golweyn. In late 2026 Uganda began withdrawing its about 4,500 AU troops, in phases to August 2027, while keeping about 2,000 under a bilateral arrangement.

## In short

Uganda has sent troops to Somalia under every African Union mission since 2007 and has usually had the largest contingent. This page records what the sources report about that deployment. For the missions as a whole, see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) and [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/). It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)'s attacks inside the country are covered in [Al-Shabaab's attacks in Uganda and Kenya](/en/history/al-shabaab-attacks-kenya-uganda-2010-2019/).

## Arrival, March 2007

The first Ugandan troops landed at Mogadishu airport on 6 March 2007, the first foreign peacekeepers in the city since the UN left in 1995. Mortar fire hit the airport during their welcoming ceremony, and later attacks with rockets and grenades killed ten people, according to a Medina hospital official; the AU and Somalia's deputy defence minister said the Ugandans had no casualties. About 800 had arrived within two days. [Aden Hashi Ayro](/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/), speaking as an Islamic Courts commander, called in an audio tape for Somali youth to fight what he called the occupation by Ethiopia and others ([Al Jazeera, 8 March 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/3/8/au-troops-under-attack-in-mogadishu)). See [Ethiopia's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/ethiopia-military-in-somalia/).

## The largest contingent

The Council on Foreign Relations records that Uganda was the first contributor to AMISOM and kept the largest contingent ([CFR, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Ugandan and Burundian troops, with Somali forces, pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)). At its largest AMISOM listing, Uganda had 6,223 troops, and in AUSSOM it was allotted 4,500, the most of any country (see [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)).

## Losses

- **[Janaale](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/), 1 September 2015.** Al-Shabaab overran a Ugandan base in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)).
- **Buulo Mareer, 26 May 2023.** Al-Shabaab overran a Ugandan camp after suicide car bombs. Uganda's president said 54 Ugandan soldiers were killed; al-Shabaab claimed 137. It was the deadliest attack on Ugandan troops since 2007 ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). See [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/).

## Golweyn, 2021

On 10 August 2021 Ugandan troops patrolling the supply route between Beldamin and Golweyn, about 120 km southwest of Mogadishu, fired on civilians at a farm. AMISOM said at first that its forces had broken up an al-Shabaab ambush; relatives and witnesses accused the soldiers of placing some of the bodies on remotely controlled mines and detonating them, which set off protests in Mogadishu. In October AMISOM admitted that its troops had unlawfully killed seven civilians. A Ugandan military court sitting at Halane camp in Mogadishu from 5 October convicted five soldiers: two were sentenced to death and three to 39 years in prison. Somalia's justice minister, [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/), announced the verdict, and the families' spokesman said they expected compensation ([VOA, 13 November 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/two-ugandan-soldiers-sentenced-to-death-in-somalia/6311893.html)). In October 2022 Uganda's appeals court replaced the two death sentences, of Captain Charles Asiimwe and Corporal Edison Bwambale, with 20-year terms, cut two other sentences to 16 years on the ground that the soldiers had followed orders, and freed Corporal Alexander Babu because witnesses had not implicated him. The judge said the court martial "might have been influenced by the reaction or riots" ([Garowe Online, 15 October 2022](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/world/africa/uganda-court-gives-reprieve-soldiers-convicted-of-killing-civilians-in-somalia)).

Human Rights Watch's 2014 report on sexual exploitation by AU troops named the main AMISOM base near the airport, run largely by Ugandan troops, as one of the places where abuses occurred (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)).

## Withdrawal, 2026–2027

In late October 2026 Uganda's army chief, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, announced that Uganda was "handing over security to our Somali brothers". The first group of 109 soldiers left Mogadishu, and the BBC reported that the withdrawal of the about 4,500 Ugandan troops in the AU mission would be carried out in phases and completed in August 2027. About 2,000 Ugandan troops deployed under a separate bilateral arrangement were to remain. The BBC noted that AUSSOM's funding was uncertain ([BBC via Graphic Online, 2 November 2026](https://www.graphic.com.gh/international/international-news/uganda-begins-withdrawing-troops-from-somalia-after-20-years.html)).

## Sources differ

- **Buulo Mareer deaths.** 54 (Uganda's president) or 137 (al-Shabaab).
- **Golweyn.** AMISOM first described an ambush; it later admitted seven civilians were killed unlawfully.
- **Golweyn sentences.** Death for two soldiers (court martial, 2021); 20 years for those two on appeal (2022).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Voice of America, "Two Ugandan soldiers sentenced to death in Somalia" (2021): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/two-ugandan-soldiers-sentenced-to-death-in-somalia/6311893.html).
- Al Jazeera, "AU troops under attack in Mogadishu" (2007): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/3/8/au-troops-under-attack-in-mogadishu).
- BBC via Graphic Online, "Uganda begins withdrawing troops from Somalia after 20 years" (2026): [article](https://www.graphic.com.gh/international/international-news/uganda-begins-withdrawing-troops-from-somalia-after-20-years.html).


---

# Office of the Auditor General of Somalia: who checks how public money is spent

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/auditor-general/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Office of the Auditor General checks the federal government's accounts and reports to parliament on how public money was collected and spent. It is an independent office under the constitution and Law No. 14 of 2023. For 2024 it gave the government's accounts a qualified opinion: fair overall, except for named problems such as port and airport revenue it could not verify.

## What it does

The Auditor General audits the accounts of the federal government and its ministries, departments and agencies, and reports the results to parliament. The 2012 constitution names the Auditor General as one of three independent offices, with the Attorney General and the Central Bank ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 114, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

The office does three kinds of audit:

- **Financial audits:** is the government's yearly account a fair record of what came in and went out?
- **Compliance audits:** did ministries follow the laws on spending, buying, hiring and assets? The 2025 round looked at procurement, staff, government assets and internal controls in 22 federal institutions ([Goobjoog, 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalias-auditor-general-sounds-alarm-over-financial-mismanagement-across-government)).
- **Performance audits:** did a programme get value for the money?

It works to the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions, the global rules for public auditors ([OAGS, Audit of the 2024 Financial Statements](https://oag.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Audited-Annual-Financial-Statements-2024.pdf)).

## How an audit reaches the public

1. The Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance prepares the year's accounts under the Public Financial Management Law (Law No. 17 of 2019).
2. The Auditor General audits them and writes an opinion.
3. The report goes to the Speakers of both houses of parliament. The audit of 2024 was signed on 30 June 2025 ([OAGS, 2024 audit](https://oag.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Audited-Annual-Financial-Statements-2024.pdf)).
4. The Auditor General briefs the Council of Ministers, and the reports are published on the office's website ([OAGS, briefing on 2024 and 2025 results](https://oag.gov.so/?p=13316)).

In August 2025 the office released 38 reports from its 2024 work ([OAGS](https://oag.gov.so/?p=12979)).

## What the 2024 audit found

The Auditor General gave the federal government's 2024 accounts a **qualified opinion**. That means the accounts are fair in all important ways except for specific problems it lists ([OAGS, 2024 audit, sections 1 to 3](https://oag.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Audited-Annual-Financial-Statements-2024.pdf)):

- **Port and airport money:** the government received $32.2 million from two concession contracts in 2024: $28.2 million from the company that runs the Port of Mogadishu and $4.0 million from the company that runs [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/). The government is owed 62.17 percent of the port company's gross revenue and 25 percent of the airport company's. The auditors could not get the companies' audited accounts, so they could not confirm the government received its full share.
- **Budget gaps not explained:** large differences between the budget and actual spending were not explained in the notes, as the accounting rules require.
- **Money outside the budget:** six of the 21 audited bodies received $5.05 million from donors that did not appear in the government accounts. The largest were the Ministry of Energy and Water ($2.48 million) and the Ministry of Justice ($1.28 million). Another $9.4 million received by ministries and agencies was listed only in an appendix. The law says all grants must be in the national budget.

## Who leads it

Ahmed Isse Gutale is the Auditor General ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalias-auditor-general-sounds-alarm-over-financial-mismanagement-across-government)). The office has published yearly performance reports since 2018 ([OAGS, Annual Performance Reports](https://oag.gov.so/?p=9780)), and set out its own growth plan for 2017 to 2020 ([INTOSAI Journal](https://intosaijournal.org/?p=1357)). For the 2021 accounts the office gave a disclaimer of opinion, meaning it could not form an opinion on them ([OAGS, Annual Performance Reports](https://oag.gov.so/?p=9780)).

## In the states

The constitution says the federal government and each member state should have their own independent offices, including an Auditor General, for their own budgets ([Article 114](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## How to use it

- **Read the audits:** all public reports are free at oag.gov.so, under financial, compliance and performance audits.
- **See where the money goes:** the federal budget and revenue are explained on [Budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/).
- **Report a concern:** corruption complaints go to the [Anti-Corruption Commission](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/).

## Its legal basis

Article 114 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution; Law of the Office of the Auditor General, Law No. 14 of 2023; Public Financial Management Law, Law No. 17 of 2019, Article 45(3).


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# Burundi's military in Somalia, 2007 to 2025

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/burundi-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Burundi was the second country to send troops to the AU mission in Somalia, in 2007, and grew to about 5,400–5,500 soldiers, the second-largest contingent. In 2016–2017 a dispute over EU-funded allowances, after EU sanctions on Burundi, led Burundi to threaten to withdraw until a new payment deal was signed in January 2017. Burundi left the AU mission after AUSSOM began in 2025, when Somalia offered about 1,000 places and Burundi sought 2,000 to 3,000.

## In short

Burundi kept troops in Somalia for about eighteen years, from 2007 until 2025, under the AU missions [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) and briefly [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/). For most of that time it had the second-largest contingent after [Uganda](/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/). This page records what the sources report. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Arrival and growth

Burundi was the second country, after Uganda, to send troops to AMISOM, in 2007 ([Kaab TV, 26 February 2025](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=11089)). It had about 1,700 troops in AMISOM by the end of 2008, and at its peak about 5,500, more than a fifth of its whole army. The Institute for Security Studies writes that the deployment was a steady source of income for Burundi's army, and that after the country's 2015 political crisis cut other funding, its defence budget was largely financed through AMISOM ([Bram Verelst, ISS Today, 14 January 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/can-burundi-afford-to-pull-its-troops-out-of-somalia)). Burundian and Ugandan troops, with Somali forces, pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)).

## Losses

- **17 September 2009.** A suicide bombing at AMISOM's headquarters in Mogadishu killed the deputy force commander, Major General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza of Burundi (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)).
- **3 May 2022, El Baraf, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) attacked a Burundian camp. A Burundian officer said 30 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded (see [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/)).
- Kaab TV reported in 2025 that hundreds of Burundian soldiers had died in Somalia over the deployment (Kaab TV, 2025). Burundi did not publish a total.

Human Rights Watch's 2014 report on sexual exploitation by AU troops named the Burundian base in the national university compound in Mogadishu as one of the places where abuses occurred (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)).

## The allowances dispute, 2016–2017

AMISOM soldiers' allowances came from an EU-funded pool and were paid through their governments. In March 2016 Africanews, citing Reuters, reported that the government received $1,000 per soldier a month and kept $200, about $13 million a year for Burundi, and that the EU planned to stop that money passing through the government, to press President Pierre Nkurunziza into talks with the opposition after the 2015 crisis. A European diplomat said: "Support for Burundi's contingent of AMISOM cannot continue as it is" ([Africanews, 29 March 2016](https://www.africanews.com/2016/03/29/burundi-eu-plans-to-cut-back-funding-for-peacekeeping/)). After months without payment, Burundi threatened in January 2017 to withdraw its 5,400 troops. On 19 January 2017 Burundi and the AU signed a memorandum on a new payment channel; the AU's peace and security commissioner, Smaïl Chergui, said: "The agreement we have reached satisfies everyone" ([Africanews, 20 January 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/01/20/burundi-drops-threat-to-withdraw-troops-from-somalia-after-au-agreement/)). See [The UK and the EU in Somalia](/en/institutions/uk-eu-military-in-somalia/).

## Exit from the AU mission, 2025

Under the ATMIS drawdown Burundi's contingent shrank. For AUSSOM, Burundi offered 3,000 of the planned 12,626 soldiers; Somalia said it would accept about 1,000, and Burundi said it would not take part. Somalia's defence minister cited a lack of consensus on numbers, and Burundian officials said the allocation would leave their soldiers exposed (ISS, 2025). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported in February 2025 that Burundi had wanted its contingent raised from just over 1,000 to at least 2,010, and that its troops were set to leave ([Garowe Online, 26 February 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/burundi-troops-leave-somalia-as-aussom-faces-dispute-over-force-size)). Egypt's planned force was later set to take a headquarters near Ciciley airfield in Middle Shabelle, an area held by Burundian troops (see [Egypt's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/egypt-military-in-somalia/)). Burundi had meanwhile expanded its deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under a 2022 bilateral arrangement (ISS, 2025).

## Sources differ

- **What Burundi asked for in AUSSOM.** 3,000 (ISS) or at least 2,010 (Garowe Online); Somalia's offer about 1,000.
- **Peak strength.** About 5,400 (Africanews, 2017) or about 5,500 (ISS, 2025).
- **Losses.** Burundi published no total; Kaab TV reported hundreds of deaths.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Bram Verelst, "Can Burundi afford to pull its troops out of Somalia?", ISS Today (2025): [article](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/can-burundi-afford-to-pull-its-troops-out-of-somalia).
- Africanews, "Burundi drops threat to withdraw troops from Somalia after AU agreement" (2017): [article](https://www.africanews.com/2017/01/20/burundi-drops-threat-to-withdraw-troops-from-somalia-after-au-agreement/).
- Garowe Online, "Burundi troops leave Somalia as AUSSOM faces dispute over force size" (2025): [article](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/burundi-troops-leave-somalia-as-aussom-faces-dispute-over-force-size).


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# Leaders of Khaatumo, SSC-Khaatumo and the North Eastern State, 2012 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/leaders-of-khaatumo-and-north-eastern-state/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdikadir Ahmed Aw-Ali Firdhiye has led SSC-Khaatumo since 5 August 2023 and the North Eastern State since 30 August 2025. Before that, Khaatumo State (2012 to 2017) was led by three rotating co-presidents and then by Ali Khalif Galaydh.

## In short

Khaatumo State was declared on 12 January 2012 in Sool, claiming Sool, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and Cayn, with Taleex as a temporary capital. It merged into [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on 20 October 2017. The [SSC-Khaatumo](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) administration was declared in Laascaanood on 5 August 2023. The federal government recognised it as an interim administration on 19 October 2023, and endorsed the North Eastern State (Waqooyi Bari) on 30 July 2025. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Somaliland oppose it. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, North East State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, North East State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Khaatumo State, 2012 to 2017

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Ilmi Osman Karash (Axmed Cilmi Cismaan Karaash) | 12 January 2012 to 2013 | one of three rotating co-presidents | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Abdinur Ilmi Qaje Binde (Cabdinuur Cilmi Qaaje Biindhe) | 12 January 2012 to 2013 | one of three rotating co-presidents | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Mohamed Yusuf Jama Indhasheel (Maxamed Yuusuf Jaamac Indhosheel) | 12 January 2012 to 1 September 2014 | one of three rotating co-presidents | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| [Ali Khalif Galaydh](/en/people/ali-khalif-galaydh/) (Cali Khaliif Galaydh) | 1 September 2014 to 20 October 2017 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |

## SSC-Khaatumo and the North Eastern State, since 2023

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdikadir Ahmed Aw-Ali Firdhiye (Cabdiqaadir Axmed Aw-Cali Firdhiye) | 5 August 2023 to 30 July 2025 | chairman of the SSC-Khaatumo central committee | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, North East State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia) |
| Ali Abdullahi Gaboobe (Cali Cabdullaahi Gaboobe) | 30 July 2025 to 30 August 2025 | interim | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, North East State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia) |
| Abdikadir Ahmed Aw-Ali Firdhiye (Cabdiqaadir Axmed Aw-Cali Firdhiye) | 30 August 2025 to now | President of the North Eastern State | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, North East State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia) |

## Related pages

- [Sool region](/en/regions/sool/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, North East State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East_State_of_Somalia)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


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# Mayors of Mogadishu and Governors of Banadir, 1936 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/mayors-of-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu has had about 40 mayors since 1936. Since 2010 the mayor has also been Governor of the Banadir Regional Administration. Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab has held the post since 28 May 2025, his second time.

## In short

The Mayor of Mogadishu also serves as Governor of the Banadir Regional Administration. Both posts are named by the federal government. Banadir was recognised as a regional administration on 14 April 2017. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Under Italian and British rule and the trusteeship, 1936 to 1960

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romeo Campani | 1936 to 1937 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Rag Scarpa | 1937 to 1937 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Dr. Sicar | 1937 to 1937 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Luigi Barbino | 1937 to 1937 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Marcelio Baudino | 1937 to 1938 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Sanatore Guliano | 1938 to 1941 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Pietro Bartelli | 1941 to 1950 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Oliveri Olivierio | 1950 to 1950 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Enrico Aliviero | 1950 to 1953 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Carlo Vecco | 1953 to 1956 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Mohamed Sheikh Jamal (Jamaal Jabiye) (Maxamed Sheekh Jaamac (Jamaal Jabiye)) | 1956 to 1958 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ali Omar Sheegow (Cali Cumar Sheegow) | 1958 to 1960 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |

## Somali Republic and Somali Democratic Republic, 1960 to 1991

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Rage (Axmed Raage) | 1960 to 1962 | Somali Youth League | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ahmed Muude (Axmed Muude) | 1962 to 1963 | Somali Youth League | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Sharif Imaankeey (Shariif Imaankeey) | 1963 to 1965 | Somali Youth League | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Omar Istarliin (Cumar Istarliin) | 1965 to 1966 | Somali Youth League | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Sharif Aydarus (Shariif Caydaruus) | 1966 to 1970 | Somali Youth League | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ahmed Mohamud Adde (Qorweyne) (Axmed Maxamuud Cadde (Qoorweyne)) | 1970 to 1970 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Osman Jeelle (Cismaan Jeelle) | 1970 to 1973 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/) (Xasan Abshir Faarax) | 1973 to 1976 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Yusuf Aburas (Yuusuf Aburas) | 1976 to 1981 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Abdullahi Salad (Cabdullaahi Salaad) | 1981 to 1982 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/) (Xasan Abshir Faarax) | 1982 to 1987 | second time | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ali Haji Muse (Cali Xaaji Muuse) | 1987 to 1990 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Syedomar Afrah | 1990 to 1990 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ahmed Jilacow (Axmed Jilacow) | 1990 to 1991 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |

## After the collapse of the central state, 1991 to 2010

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdullahi Gacal Sebriye (Cabdullaahi Gacal Sebriye) | 1991 to 1994 | United Somali Congress | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Hussein Ali Ahmed (Xuseen Cali Axmed) | 1994 to 2000 | United Somali Congress | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ibrahim Shaweye (Ibraahim Shaweeye) | 2005 to 2007 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Adde Gabow (Cadde Gaabow) | 2007 to 2007 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Mohamed Omar Habeb Dheere (Maxamed Cumar Xabeeb Dheere) | 2007 to 2008 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Mohamed Dhakahtur (Maxamed Dhakhtar) | 2008 to 2010 |  | [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |

## Mayors and governors, since 2010

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamud Ahmed Nur Tarzan (Maxamuud Axmed Nuur Tarsan) | 13 July 2010 to 27 February 2014 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab (Xasan Maxamed Xuseen Mungaab) | 27 February 2014 to 2 November 2015 | first time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Yusuf Hussein Jimale Madale (Yuusuf Xuseen Jimcaale Madaale) | 2 November 2015 to 15 April 2017 | first time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Thabit Abdi Mohamed (Taabid Cabdi Maxamed) | 15 April 2017 to 21 January 2018 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Abdirahman Omar Osman Yarisow (Cabdiraxmaan Cumar Cusmaan Yariisow) | 21 January 2018 to 1 August 2019 | died on 1 August 2019 of wounds from an attack on his office on 24 July 2019, according to Wikipedia | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Abdirahman Omar Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Omar_Osman) |
| Omar Mohamud Mohamed Finnish (Cumar Maxamuud Maxamed Filish) | 22 August 2019 to 14 September 2022 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Yusuf Hussein Jimale Madale (Yuusuf Xuseen Jimcaale Madaale) | 14 September 2022 to 18 December 2024 | second time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Mohamed Ahmed Amiir (Maxamed Axmed Amiir) | 18 December 2024 to 28 May 2025 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |
| Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab (Xasan Maxamed Xuseen Mungaab) | 28 May 2025 to now | second time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu) |

## Related pages

- [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, Mayor of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Mogadishu)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Presidents of Galmudug, 2006 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-galmudug/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Galmudug has had seven presidents since 2006, plus one acting president and one leader named in opposition. Liban Ahmed Hasan Shuuluq became President in late October or early November 2026; sources give 22 October and 4 November 2026.

## In short

Galmudug was declared in south [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) on 14 August 2006. On 30 July 2014 the federal government endorsed a new central regions state formed from Galmudug, Ximan iyo Xeeb and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a. The present Galmudug State, with its capital at [Dhuusamareeb](/en/regions/galgaduud/), was set up in 2015. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Galmudug, 2006 to 2015

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Warsame Ali Kimiko (Maxamed Warsame Cali Kiimiko) | 14 August 2006 to 14 August 2009 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| Mohamed Ahmed Alin (Maxamed Axmed Caalin) | 14 August 2009 to 14 August 2012 | Wikipedia gives 1 August 2012 as the end date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| [Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid](/en/people/abdi-hasan-awale-qeybdiid/) (Cabdi Xasan Cawaale Qeybdiid) | 14 August 2012 to 23 July 2015 | Wikipedia gives 1 August 2012 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |

## Galmudug State, since 2015

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Abdikarim Hussein Guled](/en/people/abdikarim-hussein-guled/) (Cabdikariin Xuseen Guuleed) | 23 July 2015 to 26 February 2017 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| Mohamed Hashi Abdi Arabey (Maxamed Xaashi Cabdi Carabeey) | 26 February 2017 to 3 May 2017 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| [Ahmed Duale Gelle Haaf](/en/people/ahmed-duale-gelle/) (Axmed Ducaale Geelle Xaaf) | 3 May 2017 to 12 April 2020 | Wikipedia gives 2 February 2020 as the end date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| Mohamed Ali Hasan Shakir (Maxamed Cali Xasan Shaakir) | 30 January 2020 to 29 February 2020 | named by Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a, in opposition; Chief Minister 6 December 2017 to 2 February 2020 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| [Ahmed Abdi Karie Qoorqoor](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-karie/) (Axmed Cabdi Kaariye Qoorqoor) | 12 April 2020 to 4 November 2026 | Wikipedia gives 2 February 2020 to 22 October 2026 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |
| Liban Ahmed Hasan Shuuluq (Liibaan Axmed Xasan Shuuluq) | 4 November 2026 to now | Justice and Solidarity Party; Wikipedia gives 22 October 2026 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug) |

## Related pages

- [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/)
- [Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Galmudug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Galmudug)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Presidents of Hirshabelle, 2016 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-hirshabelle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hirshabelle has had three presidents and one acting president since it was formed on 17 October 2016. Ali Abdullahi Hussein Gudlawe has been President since November 2020. A separate Hiiraan State administration existed in Beledweyne from June to September 2023.

## In short

Hirshabelle was formed from the [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) regions, with its capital at Jowhar, on 17 October 2016. From 25 June to 25 September 2023 a separate Hiiraan State administration was declared in Beledweyne; it was not recognised by Hirshabelle or the federal government. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Before and after the state's formation, 2011 to now

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamud Abdi Gaab (Maxamuud Cabdi Gaab) | 2011 to 2014 | listed by Wikipedia as an earlier regional leader | [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle) |
| [Ali Abdullahi Osoble](/en/people/ali-abdullahi-osoble/) (Cali Cabdullaahi Cosoble) | 17 October 2016 to 14 August 2017 | removed by a no-confidence vote of the state parliament, according to Wikipedia | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirshabelle) |
| Ali Abdullahi Hussein Gudlawe (Cali Cabdullaahi Xuseen Guudlaawe) | 17 August 2017 to 23 October 2017 | acting; Wikipedia gives 14 August to 16 September 2017 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle) |
| [Mohamed Abdi Waare](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-waare/) (Maxamed Cabdi Waare) | 23 October 2017 to 2 November 2020 | Wikipedia gives 16 September 2017 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle) |
| Ali Abdullahi Hussein Gudlawe (Cali Cabdullaahi Xuseen Guudlaawe) | 2 November 2020 to now | acting to 12 November 2020; Wikipedia gives 12 November 2020 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle) |

## Hiiraan State administration, 2023

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ali Jeyte Osman (Cali Jeyte Cismaan) | 25 June 2023 to 25 September 2023 | interim; Governor of Hiiraan March 2020 to 17 June 2023 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |

## Related pages

- [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Hirshabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Hirshabelle)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Leaders of Jubaland, 1925 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-jubaland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe has led Jubaland since the state was set up on 15 May 2013. Before him the area was run by Italian, then Somali National Front, Juba Valley Alliance and Azania leaders. This page lists each with dates and sources.

## In short

Jubaland (Trans-Juba) was ceded by Britain to Italy by a convention of 15 July 1924 and run as a separate Italian territory until it was joined to Italian Somalia in 1926. Between 1998 and 2001 a Jubaland state was declared from Kismaayo. In April 2011 the [Azania](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/) administration was proclaimed, and on 15 May 2013 the Jubaland State of Somalia was set up. The federal government and Jubaland signed an agreement on 27 August 2013 creating the Interim [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Administration. Jubaland cut ties with the federal government on 28 November 2024. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Jubaland under Britain and Italy, 1913 to 1926

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Lionel Bretherton | 1913 to 1922 | British commissioner of Jubaland Province (then part of British East Africa), as listed by Wikipedia | [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |
| Cecil Thornehill Davenport | 1923 to 1923 | British commissioner, as listed by Wikipedia | [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |
| Corrado Zoli | 10 July 1925 to 31 December 1926 | High Commissioner; Wikipedia gives 16 July 1924 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |

## Jubaland, 1993 to 2001 (Somali National Front and Juba Valley Alliance)

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/) (Maxamed Siciid Xirsi Moorgan) | 22 February 1993 to 11 June 1999 | chairman of the Somali National Front, holding Kismaayo; Wikipedia names Omar Haji Masale as leader for these dates | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |
| [Omar Haji Masale](/en/people/omar-haji-masale/) (Cumar Xaaji Masalle) | 22 February 1993 to 11 June 1999 | Somali National Front; Wikipedia lists him for these dates, World Statesmen lists Morgan | [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |
| Ahmed Warsame Mohamed (Axmed Warsame Maxamed) | 11 June 1999 to 18 June 2001 | Allied Somali Forces, later Juba Valley Alliance | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |

## Juba Valley Alliance, 2008

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale (Barre Aadan Shire Hiiraale) | 3 April 2008 to now | Juba Valley Alliance, as listed by Wikipedia (no end date given) | [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |

## Azania, 2011 to 2013

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Abdi Mohamed Gandhi (Maxamed Cabdi Maxamed Gaandi) | 3 April 2011 to 15 May 2013 | President of Azania, based largely in Kenya | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |

## Jubaland State of Somalia, since 2013

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) (Axmed Maxamed Islaam Madoobe) | 15 May 2013 to 20 January 2014 | President | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |
| [Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) (Axmed Maxamed Islaam Madoobe) | 20 January 2014 to 6 June 2015 | Chairman of the Interim Juba Administration | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |
| [Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) (Axmed Maxamed Islaam Madoobe) | 6 June 2015 to now | President; re-elected 2019 and 25 November 2024 (the 2024 vote is not recognised by the federal government) | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland) |

## Related pages

- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)
- [Raskamboni Movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/)
- [Jubaland Security Forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Jubaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Jubaland)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Presidents of Puntland, 1998 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Eight people have led Puntland since it was declared on 1 August 1998, some of them as acting or disputed presidents. Said Abdullahi Deni has been President since 8 January 2019. Before 1998 the Somali Salvation Democratic Front led the north-east.

## In short

Puntland was declared an autonomous state in Garowe on 1 August 1998, covering [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) and [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and claiming [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). Before 1998 the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) led the north-east. The Garowe II conference of February 2012 recognised Puntland as a state within Somalia. On 31 March 2024 Puntland withdrew its recognition of the federal government after constitutional amendments were adopted. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Chairmen of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, 1991 to 1998

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Mohamed Abshir Muse](/en/people/mohamed-abshir-muse/) (Maxamed Abshir Muuse) | 1991 to 22 August 1994 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Cabdillaahi Yuusuf Axmed) | 22 August 1994 to 1 August 1998 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |

## Presidents of Puntland, since 1998

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Cabdillaahi Yuusuf Axmed) | 1 August 1998 to 30 June 2001 | first term | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| Yusuf Haji Nur (Yuusuf Xaaji Nuur) | 1 July 2001 to 14 November 2001 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Jama Ali Jama](/en/people/jama-ali-jama/) (Jaamac Cali Jaamac) | 14 November 2001 to 21 November 2001 | World Statesmen notes he contested the post until 8 May 2002; Wikipedia lists him as acting president to 8 May 2002 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) (Cabdillaahi Yuusuf Axmed) | 21 November 2001 to 14 October 2004 | second term; left to become President of Somalia; Wikipedia gives 8 May 2002 as the start of this term | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Mohamed Abdi Hashi](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/) (Maxamed Cabdi Xaashi) | 14 October 2004 to 8 January 2005 | acting; Wikipedia lists him as the second president, not acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Mohamud Muse Hersi Adde](/en/people/mohamud-muse-hersi/) (Maxamuud Muuse Xirsi Cadde) | 8 January 2005 to 11 January 2009 | Wikipedia gives 8 January 2009 as the end date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Abdirahman Mohamed Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/) (Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Faroole) | 11 January 2009 to 14 January 2014 | Wikipedia gives 8 January 2009 to 8 January 2014 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) (Cabdiweli Maxamed Cali Gaas) | 14 January 2014 to 8 January 2019 | Wikipedia gives 8 January 2014 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |
| [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) (Saciid Cabdullaahi Deni) | 8 January 2019 to now | re-elected in 2024, according to Wikipedia | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland) |

## Related pages

- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)
- [Puntland's institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/)
- [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, President of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Puntland)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Presidents of Somaliland, 1991 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland has had six presidents since it declared itself a republic in 1991. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro has been President since 12 December 2024. In 1960 the State of Somaliland existed for five days, led by Prime Minister Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal.

## In short

The Republic of Somaliland was proclaimed in [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/) on 18 May 1991 and its first president took office on 28 May 1991. Before that, the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) existed for five days, from 26 June to 1 July 1960, with Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal as its Prime Minister. Somaliland was recognised by Israel on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## State of Somaliland, 26 June to 1 July 1960

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal) | 26 June 1960 to 1 July 1960 | Prime Minister | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |

## Republic of Somaliland, since 1991

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur](/en/people/abdirahman-ahmed-ali-tuur/) (Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Cali Tuur) | 28 May 1991 to 16 May 1993 | Somali National Movement | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |
| [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal) | 16 May 1993 to 3 May 2002 | died in office | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |
| [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) (Daahir Rayaale Kaahin) | 3 May 2002 to 27 July 2010 | UDUB | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |
| [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) (Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud Siilaanyo) | 27 July 2010 to 14 December 2017 | Kulmiye; Wikipedia gives 13 December 2017 as the end date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |
| [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) (Muuse Biixi Cabdi) | 14 December 2017 to 12 December 2024 | Kulmiye; Wikipedia gives 13 December 2017 to 13 December 2024 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |
| [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) (Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Cabdillaahi Cirro) | 12 December 2024 to now | Waddani; Wikipedia gives 13 December 2024 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland) |

## Related pages

- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)
- [Presidents of Somalia](/en/people/presidents-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of presidents of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_Somaliland)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Presidents of South West State, 2002 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/presidents-of-south-west-state/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> South West State has had four presidents, two acting presidents and one interim president since it was formed on 3 March 2014. Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe has been President since 11 June 2026. An earlier State of Southwestern Somalia was declared in Baidoa in 2002.

## In short

The Rahanweyn Resistance Army proclaimed a State of Southwestern Somalia in Baidoa on 1 April 2002. The present South West State (Koonfur Galbeed; in [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/), Koofur Orsi) was formed on 3 March 2014. On 17 March 2026 South West suspended cooperation with the federal government after a new constitution was adopted, and federal forces entered Baidoa on 28 March 2026. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## State of Southwestern Somalia, 2002

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigadud](/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/) (Xasan Maxamed Nuur Shaatigaduud) | 1 April 2002 to 3 October 2002 | Rahanweyn Resistance Army; World Statesmen says his term ran to about 2006, while Baidoa was held by others from 3 October 2002 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |

## South West State, since 2014

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Madobe Nunow Mohamed](/en/people/madobe-nunow/) (Madoobe Nuunow Maxamed) | 3 March 2014 to 3 December 2014 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |
| [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) (Shariif Xasan Sheekh Aadan) | 3 December 2014 to 7 November 2018 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |
| Abdulkadir Sharif Sheikhuna Maye (Cabdiqaadir Shariif Sheekhunaa Maye) | 7 November 2018 to 19 December 2018 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |
| [Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) (Cabdicasiis Xasan Maxamed Laftagareen) | 19 December 2018 to 30 March 2026 | not recognised by the federal government after 22 March 2026 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |
| Ahmed Mohamed Hussein (Axmed Maxamed Xuseen) | 30 March 2026 to 2 April 2026 | acting; Wikipedia gives 1 April 2026 as the end date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |
| Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi (Jibriil Cabdirashiid Xaaji Cabdi) | 2 April 2026 to 11 June 2026 | interim; Wikipedia gives 1 April 2026 as the start date | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |
| [Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/) (Aadan Maxamed Nuur Madoobe) | 11 June 2026 to now |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia) |

## Related pages

- [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)
- [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of leaders of South West State of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_South_West_State_of_Somalia)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Short-lived Somali administrations and their leaders, 1998 to 2023

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/short-lived-somali-administrations/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Two smaller administrations declared after 1991 had named presidents and later joined bigger states: Maakhir in Sanaag (2007 to 2009) and Ximan iyo Xeeb around Cadaado (2008 to 2015). This page lists their leaders with dates and sources.

## In short

Since 1991 many local administrations have been declared and later joined a larger state or ended. This page lists those that were declared with a named leader. Larger ones (Khaatumo, [Azania](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/), the 2002 Southwestern State, the 2023 [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) State) are on their state's list. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Maakhir State, 2007 to 2009 (Sanaag, capital Badhan)

Declared on 1 July 2007 in eastern [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/); joined [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) on 11 January 2009. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Maakhir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakhir))

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jibril Ali Salad (Jibriil Cali Salaad) | 1 July 2007 to 11 January 2009 | President | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Maakhir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakhir) |
| Abdullahi Ahmed Jama Ilkajir (Cabdillaahi Axmed Jaamac Ilkajiir) | April 2008 to 11 January 2009 | de facto leader; later Puntland interior minister | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Maakhir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakhir) |

## Ximan iyo Xeeb (Himan and Heeb), 2008 to 2015 (capital Cadaado)

Declared on 12 June 2008 around [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/); joined the central regions state that became Galmudug in 2015. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Himan and Heeb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himan_and_Heeb))

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Abdullahi Aden Tiiceey (Maxamed Cabdillaahi Aadan Tiiceey) | 12 June 2008 to 13 June 2013 | President | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Himan and Heeb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himan_and_Heeb) |
| Abdullahi Ali Mohamed Barleh (Cabdillaahi Cali Maxamed Baarleex) | 13 June 2013 to 16 April 2015 | President | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, Himan and Heeb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himan_and_Heeb) |

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Eritrea and Somalia: sanctions, the 2018 thaw and the recruits trained in Eritrea

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/eritrea-and-somalia-military/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN Security Council placed sanctions on Eritrea in 2009 after accusations that it supported armed groups in Somalia, including al-Shabaab; UN monitors later reported for four mandates in a row that they had found no conclusive evidence of such support, and the sanctions were lifted on 14 November 2018. From 2019 about 5,000 Somali recruits were sent to Eritrea for military training. Their families protested in 2021, and a UN report alleged some had gone into Ethiopia's Tigray war, which Somalia denied. The first of them returned to Mogadishu on 21 December 2022.

## In short

Eritrea's role in Somalia's conflicts has changed sharply. In the 2000s it was accused of supporting armed groups in Somalia and was placed under UN sanctions. After Eritrea made peace with Ethiopia in 2018 it became a partner of Somalia's federal government and trained thousands of Somali recruits. This page records what the sources report. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Sanctions, 2009 to 2018

The UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo, travel bans and asset freezes on Eritrea in 2009 after accusations that it supported armed groups, including Somalia's [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/); Eritrea called the accusation baseless ([UPI, 14 November 2018](https://www.upi.com/Security-Council-lifts-embargo-against-Eritrea-after-9-years/3041542221952/)). In its 2017 report the UN Monitoring Group wrote that it had looked into allegations by "a neighbouring Member State" of Eritrean support to al-Shabaab and had received some corroborating information, but that "for its fourth consecutive mandate" it had "not found conclusive evidence of support provided by Eritrea to Al-Shabaab". Eritrea's foreign ministry had denied sending arms to Somalia, and its UN mission denied "any engagement with Al-Shabaab" ([UN Monitoring Group on Eritrea, S/2017/925, summary and paras. 29–30](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/925&l=en&t=pdf)). After Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement in July 2018, the Security Council unanimously lifted the sanctions in resolution 2444 on 14 November 2018. Somalia's president, [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/), said the region was "swiftly progressing towards partnership and economic cooperation" (UPI, 2018). See [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/).

## The recruits trained in Eritrea, 2019–2022

From 2019 Somali recruits were sent to Eritrea for training, the first group in secret ([VOA, 21 December 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/first-batch-of-somali-troops-trained-in-eritrea-arrives-home-/6885944.html)). Families said their sons had been recruited under false pretences, and protests began in Mogadishu and other towns in January 2021 ([The New Arab, Reuters, 19 July 2022](https://www.newarab.com/news/somalia-says-5000-missing-soldiers-come-home-soon-eritrea)). One father, Bashir [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali, said: "Our son was very young and he was told that he was going to [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) for training"; he said the family had had no contact since ([Anadolu Agency, 10 June 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-parents-take-to-streets-over-missing-army-recruits/2269788)).

**The Tigray allegation.** In June 2021 a UN human rights report, citing "credible sources", said Somali trainees had crossed the Eritrean border with Eritrean forces into Ethiopia's Tigray war. Somalia's information minister, Osman Dubbe, said: "No Somali soldier is fighting in Tigray." Anadolu reported that the government confirmed the troops were in Eritrea for training (Anadolu, 2021), while Voice of America reported that the ministry denied that troops were trained in Eritrea and fought in Tigray ([VOA, 10 June 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-denies-reports-its-troops-fought-tigray/6206869.html)). [VOA Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) later said it had found no evidence that Somali soldiers were deployed to Tigray (VOA, 2022). The New Arab reported that a Somali intelligence officer investigating the case was killed (The New Arab, 2022). This was Ikran Tahlil Farah of the intelligence agency, who a former NISA director told VOA may have held records on the programme; see [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/).

**Return.** After [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) became president in 2022 he visited the soldiers in Eritrea. His spokesman, Abdikarim Ali Kar, said: "They are 5,000 soldiers who were missing and now found," and denied that they had been held against their will (The New Arab, 2022). The first group landed in Mogadishu on 21 December 2022. Defence Minister [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) said they would fight al-Shabaab, and they were held at a secure part of the airport before going to an undisclosed base (VOA, 2022). See [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/).

## Sources differ

- **Training in Eritrea, 2021.** The government confirmed it (Anadolu) or denied it (VOA's account of the same briefing).
- **Tigray.** A UN human rights report alleged Somali trainees took part; Somalia denied it; VOA Somali found no evidence.
- **Support to al-Shabaab before 2018.** Accusations by a neighbouring state led to the 2009 sanctions; UN monitors found no conclusive evidence in four mandates up to 2017.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/), report on Eritrea, S/2017/925 (2017): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/925&l=en&t=pdf).
- Voice of America, "First batch of Somali troops trained in Eritrea arrives home" (2022): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/first-batch-of-somali-troops-trained-in-eritrea-arrives-home-/6885944.html).
- Anadolu Agency, "Somali parents take to streets over missing army recruits" (2021): [article](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-parents-take-to-streets-over-missing-army-recruits/2269788).


---

# Djibouti's military in Somalia since 2011

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/djibouti-military-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Djibouti became the third country to send troops to the AU mission in Somalia when an advance party landed in Mogadishu on 20 December 2011, with about 800 more to follow. Its contingent later served in Hiiraan, around Beledweyne and Bulo Burde, and in Galgaduud. Djibouti was allotted 1,520 troops in AUSSOM in 2025, and in March 2026 its 13th battalion took over from the 11th in Beledweyne and Bulo Burde.

## In short

Djibouti, Somalia's small neighbour to the north-west, has had troops in the AU missions in Somalia since December 2011. It also hosted the Arta conference of 2000 and the Djibouti talks of 2008 (see [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)). This page records what the sources report about its forces. It is part of [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Arrival, December 2011

On 20 December 2011 an advance party of 100 Djiboutian soldiers landed at Mogadishu airport, according to an AMISOM statement, which said "a further 800 troops will follow" within about a week; a Somali security officer had earlier said 200 had arrived. They were to be based at Al Jazeera IV in southern Mogadishu. AMISOM's deputy commander, Brigadier General Audace Nduwumunsi, called it "a great step forward". With the Burundian and Ugandan forces already there, numbering 9,800, the deployment was to bring [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) to 10,700. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) said the Djiboutian soldiers would be "ineffective" ([AFP via Terra Daily, 20 December 2011](https://www.terradaily.com/reports/First_Djibouti_troops_join_AU_Somalia_force_999.html)). The *Long War Journal* reported "over 200" troops that day ([*Long War Journal*, 20 December 2011](https://longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/12/200_troops_from_djibouti_arriv.php)).

## Hiiraan and Galgaduud

Djibouti's contingent later moved to [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), where Wikipedia shows it on patrol at Beledweyne and firing on al-Shabaab near Bulo Burde. Wikipedia records its area as Hiiraan and [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) ([Wikipedia, Djibouti Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_Armed_Forces)). AMISOM listed Djibouti's contingent at 960 troops (see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)).

## In AUSSOM

Djibouti was allotted 1,520 troops in the [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/) mission that began in 2025. In March 2026 its 13th battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Aden Abdullahi, arrived at Beledweyne's Ugaas Khalif airport to replace the 11th battalion under Colonel [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Said, whose tour had covered Beledweyne, Dhusamareb and Bulo Burde. Part of the new battalion moved on to Bulo Burde. The mission said the outgoing troops had helped take several areas from al-Shabaab in Hiiraan and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) ([AUSSOM, 16 March 2026](https://au-ssom.org/djiboutis-battalion-13-deploys-to-somalia-under-aussom/)). See [State forces of Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West](/en/institutions/state-forces-galmudug-hirshabelle-south-west/).

## Sources differ

- **First arrivals, 20 December 2011.** 100 (AMISOM statement), 200 (a Somali security officer) or over 200 (*Long War Journal*).
- **Size of the contingent.** About 900 planned in 2011 (AMISOM); 960 in AMISOM's listing; 1,520 allotted in AUSSOM; Wikipedia's infobox gives a larger figure of 3,500 under [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- AFP via Terra Daily, "First Djibouti troops join [AU Somalia](/en/relations/african-union/) force" (2011): [article](https://www.terradaily.com/reports/First_Djibouti_troops_join_AU_Somalia_force_999.html).
- AUSSOM, "Djibouti's Battalion 13 deploys to Somalia under AUSSOM" (2026): [article](https://au-ssom.org/djiboutis-battalion-13-deploys-to-somalia-under-aussom/).


---

# Islamic State in Somalia (ISS), 2015 to now

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Islamic State in Somalia is an armed group based in the mountains of Bari region in Puntland. It began in October 2015, when Abdulqadir Mumin, then an al-Shabaab commander, and a small number of fighters pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Islamic State recognised it as a province in December 2017. UN and US officials described it as a financial hub for the Islamic State in Africa. Puntland forces began Operation Hilaac against it in January 2025 and took most of its mountain bases.

## In short

The Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) is much smaller than [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), which it split from and which has fought it since 2018. Its base is the Cal Miskaad (al-Miskaad) and Golis mountains of [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region, in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). This page records what UN, US, Puntland and research sources say about it, without taking sides.

## Origins, 2012–2017

Wikipedia, drawing on studies in West Point's *CTC Sentinel*, records that al-Shabaab sent [Abdulqadir Mumin](/en/people/abdulqadir-mumin/) to Puntland in 2012 to recruit. When the local commander [Mohamed Said Atom](/en/people/mohamed-said-atom/) left for the government in 2014, Mumin took over the group ([Wikipedia, Islamic State – Somalia Province](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)).

In October 2015 Mumin pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State's leader. Only about 20 of some 300 local fighters followed him at first. The Islamic State recognised the group as its "Somalia Province" in a video released on 25 December 2017 (same source).

## Leaders

- **Abdulqadir Mumin**, leader from 2015. Wikipedia lists him as emir until 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)).
- **Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud**, listed as emir from 2023 (same source).
- **Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf**, head of finance from 2019, designated by the US Treasury in February 2025 ([US Treasury, 8 February 2025](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1652)).
- Deputies killed: Mahad Maalin (killed by al-Shabaab, October 2018) and Abdihakim Mohamed Ibrahim "Dhoqob" (US air strike at Xiriiro, Bari, 14 April 2019) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)).

## Size, by year

Estimates vary widely and come from different observers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province), which cites each):

| Year | Estimate | Who estimated |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | about 20 | Founding accounts |
| 2016 | up to 300 | Experts |
| 2017 | about 200 | United Nations |
| 2018 | 100–300 | *CTC Sentinel* |
| 2024 | 600–700 | UN Security Council report |
| 2025 | 600–700, some up to 1,600 | *CTC Sentinel*, May 2025 |

In October 2024 the [US Africa Command](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) commander, General Michael Langley, said the group had doubled in a year ([Voice of America, 1 October 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/exclusive-africom-chief-says-islamic-state-doubles-size-in-north-somalia/7805706.html)). By 2024 roughly half its members were reported to be foreign, mostly from Ethiopia, elsewhere in East Africa and Yemen ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)).

## Main events

- **26 October–7 December 2016.** The group held the port town of [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/) until Puntland forces retook it.
- **8 February and 23 May 2017.** Attacks in Bosaso, including a suicide bombing near the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Hotel that killed five.
- **November 2017.** First US air strikes against it, in the Buqo valley east of Bosaso.
- **December 2018.** Al-Shabaab declared war on it; the two have clashed since.
- **25 January 2023.** A US raid in northern Somalia killed Bilal al-Sudani, a senior Islamic State finance official.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province), citing *CTC Sentinel*, Reuters and Voice of America)

## Money

UN monitors reported in 2023 that the group's "al-Karrar" office sent about US$25,000 a month in cryptocurrency to the Islamic State in Afghanistan, and later called it that branch's largest donor. In February 2018 the US Treasury designated a Bosaso-based financier and two companies said to have funded it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)). Puntland said it was looking into gold mining in Cal Miskaad as a source of money (same source). The UN Panel of Experts reported that after a violent change of leadership in late 2018 the faction began extorting "taxes" from Puntland businesses, and that it fought al-Shabaab in Puntland and Mogadishu in 2018–2019 ([UN Panel of Experts, S/2019/858](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2019/858&l=en&t=pdf)). Its 2023 report said operations were largely confined to Bari and that Bilal al-Sudani's death in January 2023 was a setback for the group ([S/2023/724](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Operation Hilaac, 2025

In January 2025 Puntland launched Operation Hilaac ("Lightning"), sending about 3,000 troops into the Cal Miskaad mountains. A second phase was announced on 30 January 2025, and the US carried out a major strike against the group on 1 February 2025 ([Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, *CTC Sentinel*, May 2025](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)). During January the group used at least seven roadside bombs and two drone attacks, according to ACLED data cited in the same study. Puntland forces took many of its bases during 2025, though reports say it kept some villages near Bosaso ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Somalia_Province)).

## Sources differ

- **Size.** Estimates for 2024–2025 range from about 100 to 1,600 fighters.
- **Who leads.** Some reports describe Mumin as leader of the Islamic State's wider network in Africa; others say leadership passed to Abdirahman Fahiye in 2023.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *CTC Sentinel* (West Point), Weiss and Webber, "Islamic State-Somalia: A growing global terror concern" (2024): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/islamic-state-somalia-a-growing-global-terror-concern/).
- US Treasury, designation of a senior ISIS-Somalia financier (2025): [press release](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1652).


---

# Al-Shabaab: how it is organised, and who has led it

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Shabaab is run by an emir with an executive council (tanfid) of 7 to 14 members and a consultative shura. Its departments include the Jabhat (army), Amniyat (intelligence), Jaysh al-Hisbah (police), Zakat (taxes), courts and regional governors. Its emirs have been Ahmed Abdi Godane (named in 2007/2008, killed in 2014) and Ahmed Diriye (Abu Ubaidah, since 2014). Its base has been Jilib since 2014. Estimates of its size range from 7,000 to 12,000 fighters (UN, 2022–2024).

## In short

The history of al-Shabaab, its aims, attacks and the harm it has done are told in [Al-Shabaab, 2006 to now](/en/history/al-shabaab/), and its effect on families in [Al-Shabaab: the harm it does and how Somalis respond](/en/society/al-shabaab/). This page goes one level deeper: how the movement is organised, who has led it, and how its size and money have been estimated. It reports what research and government sources say, without taking sides.

## Councils and departments

Wikipedia, drawing on research by the International Crisis Group and others, records that al-Shabaab is led by an emir with an executive council (*tanfid*) of 7 to 14 members, supported by a consultative *shura* ([Wikipedia, Al-Shabaab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group))). Stanford's Mapping Militants project describes the shura as the main decision-making body, controlling funds and budgets ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)); the Council on Foreign Relations puts it at about a dozen members ([CFR, *Al-Shabaab* backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).

Its departments (*maktab*), as listed by Wikipedia:

| Department | Role |
|---|---|
| Jabhat | Military |
| Amniyat | Intelligence and internal security |
| Jaysh al-Hisbah | Police |
| Zakat | Taxation |
| Garsoor | Islamic courts |
| Wilayah | Local administration |
| Da'wa | Preaching |
| Sanaaca | Explosives |

The UN Monitoring Group wrote in 2013 that Godane had kept his leadership "largely unchallenged" partly by strengthening the Amniyat, which it called al-Shabaab's "secret service", structured as "a clandestine organization within the organization" so that it could survive the group's dissolution ([UN Monitoring Group, S/2013/413](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/413&l=en&t=pdf)).

Regional governors (*waali*), about ten, run its areas and oversee tax collection, recruitment and services ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)); Mapping Militants counts nine regional administrations). It runs permanent and mobile courts (Mapping Militants). Its Kenyan wing is called Jaysh Ayman (Wikipedia).

## Headquarters by period

- Mogadishu, 2006–2010
- Kismayo, 2008–2012
- [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/), 2012–2014
- [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/), Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), from 2014

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)); [CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab))

## Emirs

- **[Aden Hashi Ayro](/en/people/aden-hashi-ayro/)** led its militia in the Islamic Courts period; he was killed in a US air strike on 1 May 2008 (Mapping Militants). Wikipedia lists Ismail Arale as first emir in 2006–2007.
- **Ahmed Abdi Godane (Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr)**, publicly named emir in December 2007, led until he was killed in a US strike on 1 September 2014. He announced the formal link with al-Qaeda in February 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)); [Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).
- **Ahmed Diriye ([Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah](/en/people/ahmed-diriye/))**, emir since September 2014 ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Mapping Militants reports that he was said to be ill from 2018 and handed some duties to his deputy in 2020.

## Deputies and senior figures named in the sources

- **Mahad Karate**, first deputy emir; **Abukar Ali Adan**, second deputy and former head of the Jabhat.
- **Ali Mohamed Rage**, spokesman.
- **[Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/) Hajji Nurow**, head of the Amniyat.
- **Mohamed Mire (Abu Abdirahman)**, former head of zakat and of the regional administrations, reported killed in December 2024.
- **[Fuad Mohamed Khalaf (Fuad Shongole)](/en/people/fuad-mohamed-khalaf-shongole/)**, under UN sanctions since April 2010, described by Critical Threats as a shura council member ([Critical Threats](https://criticalthreats.org/analysis/profile-fuad-mohamed-qalaf-shongole)).
- Earlier leaders who left: **Mukhtar Robow**, former deputy and spokesman, who left in 2017 and became federal minister of religious affairs in August 2022; **[Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/)**, who left in 2012; **Ibrahim al-Afghani**, a deputy killed in an internal purge in June 2013.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)); [Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab))

## Size over time

| Year | Estimate | Source cited |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | about 400–600 | CFR; Wikipedia |
| 2008 | about 2,000 | African Union |
| 2013 | 5,000 | UN |
| 2017 | 7,000–9,000 | US State Department |
| 2020 | 5,000–10,000 | US Africa Command |
| 2022–2024 | 7,000–12,000 | UN Panel of Experts |
| 2022 | 15,000–18,000 | President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud |

([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)); [CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab))

## Money

The US Treasury estimates its income at about US$100 million a year, of which CFR reports about a quarter goes on weapons and explosives ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Sources include checkpoint tolls, taxes on imported goods, zakat, and payments from businesses. The UN Panel of Experts reported in 2019 that the group had begun taxing imports through Mogadishu port and could raise money in areas it did not physically control, and that it had been making its own explosives since at least July 2017 ([UN Panel of Experts, S/2019/858](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2019/858&l=en&t=pdf)). The Monitoring Group estimated in 2017 that al-Shabaab earned at least US$10 million a year by taxing charcoal on its way to Buur Gaabo and Kismayo ([S/2017/924](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/924&l=en&t=pdf)). Its 2023 report said captured ammunition, some made as recently as 2020, showed an "uninterrupted illicit supply" ([S/2023/724](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)). See [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/). Mapping Militants records that in 2024 the US Treasury described a money-laundering network that included companies in the UAE (Mapping Militants). Paul D. Williams lists the main weapons as rifles, machine guns, mortars and, above all, roadside bombs ([CTC Sentinel, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## Names used for it

It calls itself Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen. The federal government calls it *Khawarij*, and has asked media to use the term UGUS (*Ururka Gumaadka Ummadda Soomaaliyeed*) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group))).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University, "Al Shabaab": [profile](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab).
- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, report S/2023/724: [UN document](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf).


---

# Naval missions off Somalia: Ocean Shield, CTF-151, China's escorts and Djibouti's bases

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From late 2008 several navies patrolled the waters off Somalia against piracy. NATO ran Operation Allied Provider and Operation Allied Protector, then Operation Ocean Shield from August 2009 until 15 December 2016. The US-led Combined Maritime Forces set up Combined Task Force 151 in January 2009, and the EU's Operation Atalanta began in December 2008. China has sent naval escort fleets since December 2008. Many of these forces are supported from Djibouti, home of Camp Lemonnier, the only permanent US base in Africa.

## In short

As hijackings off Somalia rose in 2008, navies from many countries sent warships to the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and the Indian Ocean. This page records the main missions other than the EU's, which is covered in [The UK and the EU in Somalia](/en/institutions/uk-eu-military-in-somalia/). The piracy itself is covered in [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/), and Somalia's own navy in [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/).

## NATO: Allied Provider, Allied Protector and Ocean Shield

NATO records that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for help on 25 September 2008, and that NATO defence ministers agreed on 9 October 2008. Operation Allied Provider, from October to December 2008, escorted World Food Programme ships and patrolled the waters around Somalia. Operation Allied Protector, from March to August 2009, "helped to deter, defend against and disrupt pirate activities" in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa ([NATO, "Counter-piracy operations (2008–2016)", updated 19 May 2022](https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48815.htm)).

The North Atlantic Council approved Operation Ocean Shield on 17 August 2009. NATO records that a strategic assessment in March 2012 allowed its ships to disable pirate vessels and to use force against suspected pirate ships, that from January 2015 it operated with a smaller "focused presence", and that the operation ended on 15 December 2016. NATO credited naval patrols, shipping-industry practices and armed security teams on ships with suppressing piracy, noting "no successful piracy attacks since 2012" (NATO, 2022). Wikipedia records that the US Navy contributed the most ships, followed by the Indian Navy ([Wikipedia, Operation Ocean Shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ocean_Shield)).

## Combined Task Force 151

The Combined Maritime Forces, a naval partnership that NATO describes as US-led, set up Combined Task Force 151 in January 2009. Its task is to suppress piracy outside coastal states' territorial waters, in coordination with the EU's naval force, and to help patrol the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor through the Gulf of Aden. Command rotates among member navies every three to six months; Bahrain, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, Jordan, [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), the Philippines, [New Zealand](/en/diaspora/new-zealand/), South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/), the UK and the US have led it ([Combined Maritime Forces, CTF 151](https://combinedmaritimeforces.com/ctf-151-counter-piracy/)).

## China's escort fleets

China's navy sent its first escort fleet to the Gulf of Aden in December 2008. By April 2019 its fleets had escorted more than 6,600 ships in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, and the 32nd fleet had just been sent ([*China Daily*, Xinhua, 19 April 2019](https://enapp.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201904/19/AP5cb9a619a3104dbcdfaa6b74.html)). Wikipedia records that the escorts at first covered only Chinese ships and aid shipments, and later opened to other countries' merchant ships ([Wikipedia, Chinese anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_anti-piracy_operations_in_the_Gulf_of_Aden)).

## Djibouti's bases

Many of these forces are supported from neighbouring Djibouti. Al Jazeera reported in April 2026 that Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base, is the headquarters of US Africa Command's Horn of Africa task force, has more than 4,000 personnel and "remains the only permanent US military base on the continent"; Djibouti's finance minister said in 2017 that the US paid $65 million a year. It reported that Japan's and Italy's presence in Djibouti followed the anti-piracy operations off Somalia, and that China, which pays about $20 million a year, and France also have bases there ([Faisal Ali, Al Jazeera, 8 April 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/8/our-geography-is-our-oil-why-djibouti-hosts-many-foreign-military-bases)). See [Djibouti's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/djibouti-military-in-somalia/) and [The United States military in Somalia](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/).

## Sources differ

- **Why piracy fell.** NATO credits naval patrols together with industry measures and armed guards; [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) also records action on land by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s forces.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- NATO, "Counter-piracy operations (2008–2016)": [page](https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48815.htm).
- Combined Maritime Forces, "CTF 151: Counter-piracy": [page](https://combinedmaritimeforces.com/ctf-151-counter-piracy/).


---

# SoDMA, the Somalia Disaster Management Agency: droughts, floods and emergency aid

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somalia Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) is the federal body that leads the response to droughts, floods and other disasters, coordinates aid with the member states and international agencies, and runs the National Emergency Operations Center. It began during the 2011 drought, was set up in law by Law No. 17 of 27 June 2016, and has been an autonomous agency since August 2022. Its commissioner is Mohamud Moallim Abdulle.

## What it does

SoDMA is the federal government's lead body for disasters. Its own profile lists its core jobs ([SoDMA, Institutional Profile, January 2026](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Institutional-Profile-Somalia-Disaster-Management-Agency-SoDMA.pdf)):

- coordinating disaster risk management across the country;
- running the **National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC)**;
- emergency preparedness, contingency plans and coordinating early warning;
- coordinating the humanitarian response with UN agencies and aid groups;
- collecting disaster information and situation reports;
- recovery, resilience and risk reduction programmes;
- writing disaster policy in line with national and international frameworks.

When drought worsened, the federal leadership told all government agencies to work through SoDMA, which [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) described as the only official body coordinating aid and disaster response ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/sodma-commissioner-rallies-humanitarian-partners-for-unified-response-as-drought-situation-worsens/)).

## Its history

- **2011:** created by the Prime Minister of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) during the 2010 to 2011 drought and famine ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/)). See [the Gu and Deyr rains](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/) for how badly the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) of 2010 failed.
- **27 June 2016:** Law No. 17 formally established it, after a presidential decree and approval by the Federal Parliament ([SoDMA, Institutional Profile](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Institutional-Profile-Somalia-Disaster-Management-Agency-SoDMA.pdf)).
- **2017 to 2022:** it worked under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management (same source).
- **August 2022:** the government made it an autonomous federal agency again, and the ministry was abolished, with SoDMA taking over its legal duties (same source; [SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/)).
- **5 February 2026:** the Council of Ministers approved a regulation for a national fund for disaster risk management. In June 2026 SoDMA began consultations on how the National Disaster Risk Management Fund will work ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/sodma-launches-consultative-meeting-on-the-establishment-of-national-disaster-risk-management-fund/)).
- **2026:** a new National Disaster Management Policy was under review. The commissioner said it makes the cash safety net that expands in a shock part of the national response ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/sodma-commissioner-says-somalia-advancing-toward-stronger-disaster-response-systems/)). See [Baxnaano: Somalia's safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/).

## How it is organised

Its departments are ([SoDMA, Institutional Profile](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Institutional-Profile-Somalia-Disaster-Management-Agency-SoDMA.pdf)):

- Office of the Commissioner
- Administration and Finance
- Human Resources
- Disaster Risk Reduction
- Humanitarian
- Recovery and Resilience
- Research, Training and Capacity Building, with a Center for Disaster Research and Capacity Building
- the National Emergency Operations Center
- an Aid Diversion Prevention and Accountability Unit
- a Logistics and Supply Chain Unit

**Leaders:** Mohamud Moallim Abdulle is commissioner; SoDMA's reports in 2026 name Dr Ahmed Abdi Aadan as deputy ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## Criticism

- **December 2022:** the agency said it was close to running out of food stocks during the drought response ([Somali Disaster Management Agency, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Disaster_Management_Agency)).
- **May 2025:** the governor of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) said SoDMA had delivered expired COVID-19 supplies instead of medicines, and in [Moqokori](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) SoDMA was reported to have claimed delivery of 133 boxes of medicine where 12 boxes of out-of-date supplies arrived. [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) State then suspended cooperation with SoDMA (same source).
- **Capacity:** observers say the agency has limited funding and staff for the size of the droughts and floods it must answer. It joined the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) in 2023 (same source).

## How to use it

- **National emergency number:** 449 ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/)). Police: 991.
- **Help after a flood or drought:** SoDMA works through the member states' own disaster agencies and district authorities. Ask the district office which programmes are running.
- **Data:** SoDMA publishes situation updates and a weekly forecast on sodma.gov.so. FAO's [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FSNAU publish river levels and food security warnings. See [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## Its legal basis

Law No. 17 of 27 June 2016 establishing the agency; the 2022 government decision making it an autonomous federal agency; the 2026 regulation on the National Disaster Risk Management Fund.


---

# Governors of Italian Somaliland, 1889 to 1960

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/governors-of-italian-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Italy ran southern Somalia through company agents, commissioners and governors from 1893 to 1941, Britain ran it from 1941 to 1950, and Italy ran it again as a United Nations trust territory from 1950 to 1960. Abdullahi Issa became the first Somali Prime Minister of the trust territory in 1956. This page lists every head of the administration.

## In short

Italy declared a protectorate over parts of the Benadir coast in 1889. The Filonardi company ran the coast from 11 October 1893, then the Benadir Company from 1 May 1898 to 1905. Italian Somalia became a colony on 30 April 1908. British forces took Mogadishu on 25 February 1941, and on 1 April 1950 the territory became a United Nations trust territory under Italian administration until 1 July 1960. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Company and royal commissioners, 1893 to 1901

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vincenzo Filonardi | 11 October 1893 to 15 July 1896 | Commissioner for the Filonardi company | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Vincenzo Filonardi | 15 July 1896 to 16 September 1896 | Royal Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Antonio Cecchi | 17 September 1896 to 26 November 1896 | Royal Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Emilio Dulio | 26 November 1896 to 25 January 1897 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Giorgio Sorrentino | 26 January 1897 to 20 November 1897 | Royal Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Emilio Dulio | 20 November 1897 to 30 April 1898 | Royal Civil and Military Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Emilio Dulio | 1 May 1898 to 30 June 1901 | Royal Commissioner (Benadir Company period) | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |

## Governors and commissioners, 1901 to 1941

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emilio Dulio | 1 July 1901 to 5 October 1903 | Governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Igino Badolo | July 1901 to April 1902 | acting for Dulio | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Ugo Ferrandi | 5 October 1903 to 11 November 1903 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Eugenio Cappello | 12 November 1903 to 9 December 1903 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Alessandro Sapelli | 9 December 1903 to 30 April 1905 | acting to 15 April 1904 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Luigi Mercatelli | 1 May 1905 to 24 January 1906 | Royal Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Alessandro Sapelli | 25 January 1906 to 5 February 1906 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Giovanni Cerrina Feroni | 5 February 1906 to 18 May 1907 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Tommaso Carletti | 18 May 1907 to 31 August 1907 | Civil Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Alberto Corsi | 31 August 1907 to 18 January 1908 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Tommaso Carletti | 18 January 1908 to 27 December 1908 | Governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Gino Macchioro Vivalba | 27 December 1908 to 28 April 1910 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Giacomo De Martino | 28 April 1910 to 16 September 1916 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Giovanni Cerrina Feroni | 16 September 1916 to 20 June 1920 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Carlo Riveri | 21 June 1920 to 8 December 1923 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Cesare Maria De Vecchi | 8 December 1923 to 5 June 1928 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Guido Corni | 5 June 1928 to 30 June 1931 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Maurizio Rava | 1 July 1931 to 7 March 1935 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Rodolfo Graziani | 7 March 1935 to 22 May 1936 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Angelo De Rubeis | 7 January 1936 to 25 May 1936 | acting for Graziani | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Ruggiero Santini | 25 May 1936 to 15 December 1937 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Francesco Saverio Caroselli | 15 December 1937 to 11 June 1940 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Gustavo Pesenti | 11 June 1940 to 31 January 1941 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Carlo De Simone | 31 January 1941 to 20 March 1941 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |

## Trans-Juba, 1925 to 1926

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corrado Zoli | 10 July 1925 to 31 December 1926 | High Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |

## British administration, 1941 to 1950

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Gordon Cunningham | 25 February 1941 to 20 March 1941 | General Officer Commanding, East Africa Force | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| William Eric Halstead Scupham | 14 March 1941 to 3 May 1943 | Deputy Chief Political Officer | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Denis Henry Wickham | 3 May 1943 to 1948 | Chief Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Eric Armar Vully de Candole | 1948 to 1948 | Chief Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Geoffrey Massey Gamble | 1948 to 1 April 1950 | Chief Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |

## Trust Territory under Italian administration, 1950 to 1960

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giovanni Fornari | 1 April 1950 to 1953 | Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Enrico Martino | 1953 to 1957 | Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Enrico Anzilotti | 1957 to 24 July 1958 | Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| Mario Di Stefano | 24 July 1958 to 30 June 1960 | Administrator | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |
| [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/) (Cabdullaahi Ciise Maxamuud) | 29 February 1956 to 1 July 1960 | first Somali Prime Minister of the trust territory | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland) |

## Related pages

- [Italian Somaliland and the trusteeship](/en/history/nationalist-era-1943-1960/)
- [Fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/)
- [Prime ministers of Somalia](/en/people/prime-ministers-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Italian_Somaliland)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Members of Somaliland's House of Representatives, elected 2021 (Golaha Wakiilada)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/members-of-somaliland-house-of-representatives-2021/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland's House of Representatives has 82 members, elected on 31 May 2021 in six regional constituencies. The Speaker is Yaasiin Xaaji Maxamuud Xiir (Faratoon). This page lists all 82 members by region, as the House's own website publishes them, with each member's committee.

## In short

The House of Representatives (Golaha Wakiilada) is the lower house of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s parliament; the House of Elders (Guurti) is the upper house ([Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_(Somaliland))). It has 82 members, elected in six multi-member constituencies that match Somaliland's regions, by open-list proportional representation, for a five-year term ([Wikipedia, 2021 Somaliland parliamentary election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Somaliland_parliamentary_election)).

The current members were elected on 31 May 2021, in a vote held together with local council elections ([Wikipedia, 2021 Somaliland parliamentary election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Somaliland_parliamentary_election)). The House's own website lists all 82 members with their region and committee; the names below are copied from it, read on 13 November 2026, in the Somali spelling it uses ([Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current)). Nicknames are shown in brackets, as on that site.

Somaliland declared independence in 1991. Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/) and [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

## Seats by party and region, 2021

Wikipedia's table of the 2021 results gives the seats each party won in each region ([Wikipedia, House of Representatives (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_(Somaliland))):

| Region | UCID | Kulmiye | Waddani | Seats |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Maroodi Jeex | 5 | 8 | 7 | 20 |
| Togdheer | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
| Awdal | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| Sanaag | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| Sool | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| Sahil | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| **Total** | **21** | **30** | **31** | **82** |

The House's website files 13 members under [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and 11 under [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), while the election table gives each region 12 seats ([Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_(Somaliland))). The website does not give most members' party, so the lists below show region and committee only.

## Leadership

- **Speaker of the House of Representatives:** [Yaasiin Xaaji Maxamuud Xiir](/en/people/yasin-haji-mohamoud/) (Faratoon)
- **First Deputy Speaker:** Siciid Mirre Faarax (Giire)
- **Second Deputy Speaker:** Cali Xaamud Jibriil

([Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current))

The speakers since 1991 are listed in [Speakers of the Somaliland parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-somaliland-parliament/).

## Maroodi Jeex (Hargeisa): 20 members

Source for this list: [Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current).

| Member | Role | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Abdilahi Mohamed Ahmed Gacmadhere |  | Internal Affairs, Defense, and Security Committee |
| Axmed Cabdi Ibraahin (Timo-jilic) |  | Public Works, Technology, Housing, and Transport Committee |
| Axmed Cabdi Muuse (Inni) |  |  |
| Axmed Dayib Aadan (Kucadeeye) |  |  |
| Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (kaare) |  |  |
| Axmed Yuusuf Nuur (Guruuje) |  |  |
| Cabdikariin Maxamed Muxumed |  | Judiciary, Justice, Legal Affairs, and Human Rights Committee |
| Cabdinaasir Yuusuf Cismaan (Qodax) |  |  |
| Dr. Ciise kayd Maxamuud |  | Social Affairs Committee |
| Ibraahim Maxamed Jaamac (khadar Guun) |  |  |
| Jamaal Aadan Diiriye |  |  |
| Maxamed Cismaan Maxamed |  |  |
| Maxamed Jaamac Ismaaciil (Koodbuur) |  |  |
| Maxamed Khadar Daahir |  |  |
| Maxamed Xassan Siciid |  |  |
| Maxamed Xuseen Jaamac (Raamboo) |  |  |
| Siciid Maxamed Ismaaciil (Sokeeye) |  |  |
| Xasan Saleebaan Dhuxul (Laabsaalax) |  |  |
| Xuseen Ismaciil Jaamac |  |  |
| Yaxye Cabdilaahi Aamin (Araarse) |  |  |

## Awdal (Borama): 13 members

Source for this list: [Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current).

| Member | Role | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Cali Xaamud Jibriil | Second Deputy Speaker |  |
| Aamina Cilmi Fariid |  |  |
| Abiibakar Siciid Cali |  |  |
| Axmed Yaasiin Maxamed Xasan |  |  |
| Bashiir Xuseen Xirsi |  |  |
| Cabdikariin Aadan Cumar |  |  |
| Cabdiqani Maxamed Aadan (Qaniyo) |  |  |
| Cali Xuseen Nuur |  |  |
| Fu'aad Axmed Diiriye |  |  |
| Jimcaale Axmed Cilmi Yoonis |  |  |
| Mahamed Abiib Yuusuf |  |  |
| Maxamed Xuseen Maydhane |  |  |
| Mukhtar Xasan Maydhane |  |  |

## Togdheer (Burao): 15 members

Source for this list: [Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current).

| Member | Role | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Amiin Saleebaan Jaamac |  |  |
| Axmed Maxamed Hure (Barkhar) |  |  |
| Axmed Maxamuud Cabdillaahi (Fanax) |  |  |
| Cabdikariim Aadan Cali |  |  |
| Cabdilaahi Yuusuf Axmed |  |  |
| Faysal Yuusuf Jaamac Xaashi |  |  |
| Guuleed Maxamed Warsame |  |  |
| Jaamac Abokor Maxamed |  |  |
| Jamaal Cali Aadan (Jaah) |  |  |
| Maxamuud Faarax Jaamac |  |  |
| Nuuradiin Axmed Dayib |  |  |
| Saleebaan Axmed Carab |  |  |
| Saleebaan Nuur Warsame (Food) |  |  |
| Xasan Axmed Cilmi (Xasan Kayse) |  |  |
| Xuseen Aadan Cabdi |  |  |

## Sanaag (Erigavo): 13 members

Source for this list: [Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current).

| Member | Role | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Siciid Mirre Faarax (Giire) | First Deputy Speaker | Standing Committee |
| Axmed Cabdi Ducaale (Walhad) |  |  |
| Axmed Jaamac Saalax |  |  |
| Cabdikariim Miicaad Isaaq |  |  |
| Cumar Jaamac faarax |  |  |
| Ibraahim Cali Jaamac (Suudi) |  |  |
| Jaamac Axmed Oogle (Caano Boodhe) |  |  |
| Khadar Cali Xasan |  |  |
| Maxamuud Saalax Cabdi Axmed |  |  |
| Mubaarik Muuse Ismaaciil |  |  |
| Saalax Maxamed Diiriye |  |  |
| Saleebaan Diiriye Barre |  |  |
| Siciid Jaamac Xasan |  |  |

## Sool (Las Anod): 11 members

Source for this list: [Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current).

| Member | Role | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Yaasiin Xaaji Maxamuud Xiir (Faratoon) | Speaker of the House of Representatives | Standing Committee |
| Abokor Faarax Warsame (Caga-Yare) |  |  |
| Axmed Cali Casoowe |  |  |
| Axmed Muuse Jaamac |  |  |
| Bile Cabdi Ducaale |  |  |
| Maxamuud Xayir Ducaale |  |  |
| Mukhtaar Ibraahim Xaashi |  |  |
| Mustafe Axmed Cabdilaahi (khayreeye) |  |  |
| Qaasin Aadan Saleebaan |  |  |
| Saleebaan Maxamed Faarax (Goox) |  |  |
| Yuusuf faarax Warsame |  |  |

## Sahil (Berbera): 10 members

Source for this list: [Somaliland House of Representatives, Current members](https://somalilandparliament.net/Parliament/member/current).

| Member | Role | Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Aadan Cismaan Xarbi |  |  |
| Cabdilaahi Muuse Cabdi |  |  |
| Cabdirashiid Cabdilaahi Muuse |  |  |
| Cabdiraxmaan Yuusuf Maxamuud (Badheedhe) |  |  |
| Cabdixakiim Hugur Cabdi |  |  |
| Cali Jaamac Caraale (Cali-qaran) |  |  |
| Maxamed jaamac Liibaan |  |  |
| Mubaarig Xuseen Maxamed (Xeel-Dheere) |  |  |
| Xasan Cumar Xasan (X.Ogaal) |  |  |
| Xirsi Cabdilaahi Xirsi |  |  |

## About the names

Names are written as the House publishes them, in Somali spelling: "Maxamed" is Mohamed, "Cabdi" is Abdi, "Xasan" is Hassan, "Siciid" is Said. The title "Md." (Mudane, "Honourable") is dropped. To search for a member in English spelling, swap x for h and drop the c at the start of a name. For the members of the House of Elders and of Somalia's Federal Parliament, see [Members of Somalia's Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament/).


---

# National Communications Authority of Somalia (NCA): what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-communications-authority/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Communications Authority is Somalia's telecoms and internet regulator, set up by the Communications Act of 2017. It licenses phone, internet and broadcast operators, manages radio spectrum, protects consumers and runs SOMCIRT, the national cyber incident team launched in March 2026. Mustafa Yasin Sheikh has been Director General since November 2022.

## What it does

The NCA "was established through the Communications Act of 2017 and its mandate is to regulate the Communications sector including telecommunications, Internet, broadcasting, Information, and Communications Technology, eCommerce services" ([NCA, History](https://nca.gov.so/about/history)). Its stated duties are to develop the sector, ensure "fair and sustainable competition" and interconnection between networks, protect consumers, and act as an independent regulator (same source). In practice:

- **Licences:** telecom, internet and broadcasting companies need an NCA licence.
- **Spectrum:** it assigns radio frequencies. Spectrum fees raised US$5.2 million for the federal budget in 2025 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).
- **Cybersecurity:** it is the lead cybersecurity regulator. Since the June 2026 national framework, operators of critical information infrastructure must send it a yearly risk assessment ([TechAfrica News, 21 July 2026](https://techafricanews.com/2026/07/21/somalia-launches-national-cybersecurity-risk-management-framework/)).
- **SOMCIRT:** the Somalia Computer Incident Response Team runs inside the NCA. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) opened it on 7 March 2026. It receives reports of cyber incidents, issues alerts and coordinates responses; anyone can report at somcirt.gov.so ([NCA, March 2026](https://mail.nca.gov.so/news/somalia-launches-national-cybersecurity-response-center-somcirt)).

## Who leads it

Mustafa Yasin [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) has been Director General since 19 November 2022. The NCA says he was earlier its Deputy Director General and a board member, ran the Somalia Network Information Centre (SONIC), the registry for .so internet addresses, from 2018 to 2021, and was a senior policy adviser at the Ministry of Communications in 2017 and 2018 ([NCA, Director General](https://nca.gov.so/about/director-general)).

## The money

The federal budget lists the NCA as the "Somali National Telecommunications Authority" ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| National Communications Authority | 707,383 | 841,644 | 824,004 |

## The sector it regulates

Somalia's networks are run by private companies, including Hormuud, Somtel, Golis and Telesom, and mobile money is used across the country. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own regulator. See [Telecoms](/en/economy/telecoms/), [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) and [Phones and internet in numbers](/en/data/phones-and-internet-numbers/).

## How to use it

- **Complaints about a phone or internet company:** the NCA's mandate covers consumer protection; its site lists how to contact it ([NCA](https://nca.gov.so/)).
- **Cyber incidents:** report to SOMCIRT at somcirt.gov.so ([NCA](https://mail.nca.gov.so/news/somalia-launches-national-cybersecurity-response-center-somcirt)).

## Its legal basis

The Communications Act of 2017 ([NCA, History](https://nca.gov.so/about/history)). It sits under the [Ministry of Communications and Technology](/en/institutions/ministry-of-communications-and-technology/).


---

# Somali National Army (Xoogga Dalka Soomaaliyeed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-national-army/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali National Army (SNA) is the federal government's land force. It was founded on 12 April 1960, dissolved with the government in 1991, and has been rebuilt since 2008. On paper it has about 32,000 soldiers; government estimates put the deployable force near 19,000 (CTC Sentinel, 2024). Its best-known units are the US-trained Danab (about 2,000) and the Turkish-trained Gorgor (about 6,000). About two-thirds of its budget comes from donors.

## In short

The Somali National Army (SNA) is the main armed force of the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/). Its commander-in-chief is the president; it is run through the [Ministry of Defence](/en/institutions/ministry-of-defence/) and led by a Chief of Defence Forces ([Wikipedia, Somali Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). In January 2026 the cabinet appointed Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud as army chief ([SONNA, 29 January 2026](https://sonna.so/en/article/somali-cabinet-appoints-brig-gen-ibrahim-mohamed-mohamud-as-new-army-chief-vows-to-intensify-modernization-and-security-operations)).

Its main task today is the war with [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records what the army is, how it is built and paid for, and what researchers say about it.

## 1960–1991: the first army

A law of 6 April 1960 created the army, and 12 April, now [Armed Forces Day](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/), marks its founding. It was formed from the police mobile group (*[Darawishta](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/)*) and the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) Scouts, with Colonel [Daud Abdulle Hirsi](/en/people/daud-abdulle-hirsi/) as its first commander ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)).

With Soviet loans and advisers it grew from about 12,000 troops in 1970 to 22,000 in 1976, and by the late 1970s had one of the largest armoured forces in sub-Saharan Africa (same source, citing the IISS *Military Balance* and the Library of Congress). It fought the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) of 1977–78. In October 1969 army officers led by [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) took power; see [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/). When the government fell in January 1991 the army broke apart, and in January 1992 the UN placed an arms embargo on Somalia (same source).

## Rebuilding, 2008–2023

The present army dates from 2008, under the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). The BBC reported in December 2008 that most of its new soldiers had left ([Wikipedia, Somali National Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Army), citing BBC News, 12 December 2008). Paul D. Williams, who has studied the army since 2008, records that it grew on paper from under 7,000 troops in 2009 to about 32,000 by 2024 ([Paul D. Williams, *CTC Sentinel*, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

Divisions were re-formed from 2013: Division 60 at Baidoa and Division 21 at Dhusamareb that year, and later Divisions 12 April, 27, 26 and 43 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Army)). Biometric registration began in 2014 to remove "ghost soldiers" from the payroll ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)).

In December 2023 the UN Security Council lifted the arms embargo on the federal government ([CTC Sentinel, 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)). In 2026 the army received its first tanks in decades ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Army)).

## Special units

- **[Danab](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) ("Lightning").** A commando force trained first by the US contractor Bancroft Global Development at Baledogle airfield from October 2013, then by US special forces. It recruits from all clans and accepts women. Williams puts it at about 2,000 troops ([Wikipedia, Danab Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danab_Brigade); [Hiiraan Online, 8 February 2014](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Feb/53215/somalia_trains_its_first_commandos_after_the_collapse_of_the_central_government.aspx); [CTC Sentinel, 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).
- **[Gorgor](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) ("Eagle").** Battalions trained by Turkey, many at Camp TURKSOM in Mogadishu, opened in 2017. Williams puts them at about 6,000 ([CTC Sentinel, 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/); [Reuters, 1 October 2017](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/turkey-opens-military-base-in-mogadishu-to-train-somali-soldiers-idUSKCN1C50J9/)). In 2026 the first full Gorgor commando brigade graduated in Turkey ([Shabelle Media, 8 August 2026](https://shabellemedia.com/somali-and-turkish-commanders-graduate-first-full-gorgor-commando-brigade-in-manisa/)).
- **Eritrea-trained troops.** About 5,000 recruits trained in Eritrea from 2019 began returning in December 2022. Voice of America found no evidence that they had been sent to the Tigray war ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces), citing VOA).

## Who trains and pays it

Williams records that about two-thirds of the army's budget comes from outside donors, and that defence was nearly a quarter of the 2024 federal budget of US$1.1 billion. The main partners are the United States, Turkey, the European Union (whose training mission has trained about 7,000 soldiers since 2010), the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), with the UK the main funder of a UN trust fund ([CTC Sentinel, 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)). Egypt, Italy, Uganda and Ethiopia have also trained Somali soldiers.

## Air and sea

The army has no working air force or navy of its own; see [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/) and [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/). Turkey has flown armed drones from Mogadishu since late 2022, and in 2025 sent attack helicopters that Turkish officials said stayed under Turkish control ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)).

## What researchers say

Williams's 2024 net assessment judged that al-Shabaab held "a slight overall military advantage" in how it used its forces, cohesion and morale, even though the army was probably more than twice its size. It names roadside bombs as the main cause of army casualties, and reports that more than 1,300 Gorgor troops deserted during the recent offensive ([CTC Sentinel, 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)). The UN reported that the army recruited 121 children between 2019 and 2022 (same source). The offensive itself is described in [the 2022–2025 offensive against al-Shabaab](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Paul D. Williams, "The Somali National Army versus al-Shabaab: A net assessment", *CTC Sentinel* 17:4 (2024): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/).
- Colin D. Robinson, "Glimpse into an army at its peak", *Defense & Security Analysis* (2019), on the army of the 1980s: [article](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14751798.2019.1675944).


---

# Governors of British Somaliland and the northern coast, 1830 to 1960

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/governors-of-british-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Before 1884 Zeila and Berbera were run by local governors and then by Egypt. Britain ran the Somaliland Protectorate through political agents, consuls, commissioners and governors from 1884 to 26 June 1960, except for Italian occupation from August 1940 to March 1941. Sir Douglas Hall was the last governor.

## In short

Zeila was under Ottoman rule from 1548 and under the Sharifs of Mecca from 1630. From 1830 local hereditary governors ran it. Egypt occupied Berbera and Zeila in 1870 and left in October 1884. Britain signed treaties with Somali clans from 1884 and proclaimed the protectorate on 20 July 1887. Italy occupied it from 19 August 1940 to 16 March 1941. It became independent as the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) on 26 June 1960 and joined Somalia on 1 July 1960. ([World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Governors of Zeila and Berbera, 1830 to 1884

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayyid Muhammad al-Barr | 1830 to 1841 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Haji Sharmarke Ali Salih (Xaaji Sharmaarke Cali Saalax) | 1841 to 1855 | first time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad | 1855 to 1857 | first time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Haji Sharmarke Ali Salih (Xaaji Sharmaarke Cali Saalax) | 1857 to 1861 | second time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad | 1861 to 1874 | second time | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Ahmad Rashid Husni Pasha | 1869 to 1870 | Egyptian commander | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Abdirahman Bey | 1870 to 1874 | Egyptian governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Muhammad Ra'uf Pasha | 1874 to 1878 | Egyptian governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Radwan Pasha | 1878 to 1880 | Egyptian governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Muhammad Nadi Pasha | 1880 to December 1882 | Egyptian governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Rida Pasha | December 1882 to 1884 | Egyptian governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Firhad Bey Muhhib | 1883 to 1883 | Governor of Berbera under Harar | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |
| Abdul Rahman Bey Fa'iz | 1883 to 1884 | Governor of Berbera under Harar | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html) |

## British political agents, consuls and commissioners, 1884 to 1919

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick Mercer Hunter | February 1884 to February 1889 | Political Agent | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Langton Prendergast Walsh | August 1884 to February 1889 | acting for Hunter | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Edward Vincent Stace | February 1889 to August 1893 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Charles William Henry Sealy | August 1893 to 18 November 1896 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| William Butler Ferris | March 1895 to 18 November 1895 | acting for Sealy | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| William Butler Ferris | 18 November 1896 to 12 February 1897 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| James Hayes Sadler | February 1897 to 11 September 1901 | Consul-General from 1 October 1898 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux | 11 September 1901 to 18 March 1902 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Eric John Eagles Swayne | 18 March 1902 to March 1906 | Commissioner and Consul-General | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux | March 1906 to July 1907 | Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| William Southern Malcolm Jones | July 1907 to January 1908 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux | January 1908 to January 1910 | Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| William Henry Manning | January 1910 to June 1910 | Commissioner | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Horace Archer Byatt | June 1910 to May 1914 | Commissioner; Robert Edward Salkeld, Geoffrey Archer and others acted in between | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Geoffrey Francis Archer | 22 May 1914 to October 1919 | Commissioner; Thomas Astley Cubitt and Gerald Henry Summers acted in between | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |

## Governors, 1919 to 1940

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geoffrey Francis Archer | 23 October 1919 to 17 August 1922 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Gerald Henry Summers | 6 September 1922 to 29 November 1925 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Harold Baxter Kittermaster | 29 November 1925 to 18 June 1932 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Arthur Salisbury Lawrance | 21 June 1932 to 2 March 1939 | Commissioner, then Governor from 10 May 1935 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Vincent Goncalves Glenday | 2 March 1939 to 18 August 1940 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |

## Italian occupation, 1940 to 1941

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guglielmo Nasi | 19 August 1940 to 27 August 1940 | military governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Carlo De Simone | 27 August 1940 to 16 March 1941 | military governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |

## British military governors and governors, 1941 to 1960

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Ranald Macfarlane Reid | 16 March 1941 to 23 March 1941 | military governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Ferdinand Lindley Augustus Buchanan | 23 March 1941 to 8 April 1941 | acting military governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Arthur Reginald Chater | 8 April 1941 to 3 March 1943 | military governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Gerald Thomas Fisher | 3 March 1943 to 7 April 1948 | military governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Edward Barry | 7 April 1948 to 15 June 1948 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Gerald Reece | 15 June 1948 to 5 February 1954 | military governor, then Governor from 15 November 1948 | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Theodore Ouseley Pike | 5 February 1954 to 24 June 1959 |  | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Philip Carrel | 24 June 1959 to 11 July 1959 | acting | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| Douglas Basil Hall | 13 July 1959 to 25 June 1960 | last governor | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |
| [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (Maxamed Xaaji Ibraahim Cigaal) | 26 June 1960 to 1 July 1960 | Prime Minister of the independent State of Somaliland | [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html), [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland) |

## Related pages

- [British Somaliland, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/)
- [Colonial treaties, 1884 to 1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/)
- [Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somalia](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia.html)
- [Wikipedia, List of colonial governors of British Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_British_Somaliland)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Immigration and Citizenship Agency of Somalia: passports, visas and borders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/immigration-and-citizenship-agency/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Immigration and Citizenship Agency issues passports, visas and residence permits, checks travellers at airports and borders, and handles applications for Somali citizenship. Since 1 September 2025 foreigners must get an electronic visa (ETAS) before travelling, and a new ICAO-standard passport was announced for 2026. Hussein Qasim Yusuf has been Director General since February 2026.

## What it does

The agency "is mandated with the management of migration in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia and other laws of the country" ([Immigration and Citizenship Agency, About](https://immigration.gov.so/about)). Its listed duties include (same source):

- issuing all Somali travel documents: passports, visas, temporary stay and residence permits;
- checking passports and travel documents at entry and exit points, and collecting travellers' details at airports;
- registering refugees and asylum seekers on arrival and passing their details to the refugee agency, the agency for internally displaced people and the security services;
- checking applications from foreigners for Somali citizenship;
- stopping people barred from travel by a court or government order from leaving, and deporting people where the law allows;
- following the international conventions on migration and refugees that Somalia has signed.

It has two divisions, Immigration and Citizenship, and an executive office for the Director General (same source).

## Who leads it

**Hussein Qasim Yusuf** became Director General in February 2026, after a formal handover at the agency's headquarters ([ICA, February 2026](https://immigration.gov.so/news/new-director-general-assumes-leadership)). Coverage in 2025 named Mustafa [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali Dhuxulow as Director General ([Standard Media](https://standardmedia.co.ke/business/amp/africa/article/2001528056/somalia-introduces-evisas-from-sept-1)).

## The money

The federal budget lists the agency as the "Immigration Department" under the Ministry of Internal Security ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Line | 2025 actual (US$) | 2026 budget (US$) | 2027 proposed (US$) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Immigration Department | 6,402,282 | 6,535,639 | 6,498,439 |

The fees it handles bring in more than it costs. In 2025, **passport fees** raised US$10.48 million, **visa fees** US$8.52 million and the registration of arrivals and departures US$918,650 (same source).

## What it reports doing

- **E-visas:** since **1 September 2025**, foreign nationals must apply online for an electronic visa, the ETAS, before they travel, not on arrival. The only official site is etas.gov.so, and the agency warns against unofficial websites and agents ([ICA, ETAS](https://immigration.gov.so/news/somalia-launches-e-visa-etas-system)). Holders of diplomatic and UN passports, residence permits and multiple-entry visas, and citizens of countries with visa-free arrangements, were reported as exempt ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/immigration/202694/somalia-rolls-out-new-e-visa-system-to-ease-travel-boost-security)). President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said anyone entering with a foreign passport needs a visa, including Somalis holding foreign passports, and reports described confusion among the diaspora ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somali%20e-visa/212787/somali-president-hassan-sheikh-announces-new-visa-rules-for-foreign-passport-holders)).
- **New passport:** on 15 January 2026 the agency announced a new national passport for 2026, with stronger security features and full alignment with ICAO standards. Current passports remain valid ([ICA, January 2026](https://immigration.gov.so/news/new-somali-passport-planned-for-2026)).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** the e-visa rules led to a dispute with Somaliland, which in November 2025 began requiring its own overflight permits ([Somali Guardian](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somaliland-to-enforce-overflight-permits-as-visa-feud-with-somalias-govt-escalates/)). See [Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation](/en/institutions/ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation/).

## How to use it

- **Visa to visit Somalia:** apply at etas.gov.so before travel and carry a copy of the approval ([ICA](https://immigration.gov.so/news/somalia-launches-e-visa-etas-system)).
- **Passport:** apply at the agency's offices or a Somali embassy. See [The Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/).
- **Contact:** the agency lists phone +252 61 0555001, WhatsApp +252 61 446 5000 and call centre 2000, open Saturday to Thursday, 8 am to 4 pm (same source).

## Its legal basis

The 2012 Provisional Constitution (Article 8 on citizenship), as amended in 2024 and 2026, Somalia's citizenship law, and the international refugee conventions Somalia has signed.


---

# Members of Somalia's House of the People, 11th Parliament (2022)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2022/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> On 1 April 2022 Somalia's Federal Election Implementation Team (FEIT) published the names of 245 elected members of the House of the People, the 275-seat lower house of the 11th Federal Parliament, with each member's seat number. 50 of the 245 are women. This page gives that full list by member state and seat.

## In short

The House of the People (Golaha Shacabka) is the lower house of Somalia's Federal Parliament, with 275 seats; the Upper House has 54 ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). Members are not chosen by a popular vote. In 2016 the electorate was more than 13,000 delegates, up from 135 male elders in 2012, according to a UN statement quoted by Wikipedia ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). Kenya's The Star headlined the 2022 round "Somalia's elections where the people don't vote" ([The Star, 14 April 2022](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2022-04-14-somalias-elections-where-the-people-dont-vote)).

The Federal Election Implementation Team (Guddiga Hirgelinta Doorashooyinka Heer Federaal, FEIT) published the results for both houses in a signed and stamped list. It named 245 House members, each with a seat number written "GSH#" (Golaha Shacabka), and their sex ([FEIT results list, as published by Hiiraan Online, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that four seats were held back as suspended, three from South West, including the seat of former Speaker [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/), and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) seat HOP086, where the result for Fahad Yasin was suspended; Hirshabelle and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) still had 26 seats to elect at the time (same source). The members were sworn in on 14 April 2022 ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)).

The House's own online directory lists 104 members ([House of the People, Members](https://parliament.gov.so/members/)). This page fills the gap with the full FEIT list. For the Upper House senators and the House directory, see [Members of Somalia's Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament/). For how the parliament works, see [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## Members named, by member state

| Member state | Members named | Women |
|---|---:|---:|
| Somaliland seats | 46 | 13 |
| Puntland | 37 | 6 |
| Galmudug | 37 | 9 |
| Hirshabelle | 27 | 4 |
| South West | 66 | 12 |
| Jubaland | 27 | 5 |
| Banadir | 5 | 1 |
| **Total** | **245** | **50** |

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx). Women made up 50 of the 245 House members named (20%). Hiiraan Online counted 64 women across both houses, about 19%, against a 30% target (same source).

## About the list

- Names are copied in the Somali spelling FEIT used. "Maxamed" is Mohamed, "Cabdi" is Abdi, "Xasan" is Hassan, "Cali" is Ali. Nicknames are in brackets, as on the list.
- Seat numbers are as printed. The list prints three seat numbers twice: GSH#033 (twice under Hirshabelle), GSH#063 (Hirshabelle and South West) and GSH#158 ([Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and South West).
- The list marks Jubaland member Maxamuud Muxumed Cumar (Kuulow), seat GSH#079, as deceased ("dhintay").
- Seats on the "[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)" list were filled in Mogadishu for the northern regions; Somaliland itself does not take part in federal elections. See [Members of Somaliland's House of Representatives](/en/institutions/members-of-somaliland-house-of-representatives-2021/).
- Where a member already has a page on Calankii, the name links to it.

## Somaliland seats: 46 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Ifraax Maxamed Cawad (Nooleeyo) | GSH#037 | Woman |
| Dr. Cabdilaahi Xaashi Abiib | GSH#201 | Man |
| Aamina Cumar Jaamac | GSH#202 | Woman |
| Axmed Cabdi Kooshin | GSH#205 | Man |
| Maxamed Ibraahim Cabdi | GSH#206 | Man |
| Dr. Maxamed Xasan Maxamed | GSH#207 | Man |
| Maxamed Haruun Cabdullaahi | GSH#208 | Man |
| Maxamed Xuseen Haadi | GSH#209 | Man |
| Faadumo Xasan Cali | GSH#210 | Woman |
| Caasho Maxamuud Cumar | GSH#211 | Woman |
| Nuuriya Aadan Ciise | GSH#212 | Woman |
| Dr Cilmi Mohamed Nuur | GSH#214 | Man |
| Ayuub Ismaaciil Yuusuf | GSH#215 | Man |
| Dr. Maxamed Cilmi Ibrahim | GSH#218 | Man |
| Caydaruus Saalax Yuusuf | GSH#224 | Man |
| Maxamed Cabdi Xayir Maareeye | GSH#225 | Man |
| Maryan Maxamed Ciise | GSH#226 | Woman |
| Cabdilahi Cismaan Ducaale | GSH#229 | Man |
| Axmed Cismaan Diiriye | GSH#233 | Man |
| Cadnaan Cismaan Cilmi (Boqore) | GSH#236 | Man |
| Biixi Iimaan Cige | GSH#237 | Man |
| Ismaaciil Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Bashiir | GSH#238 | Man |
| Mahdi Maxamed Guuleed Khadar | GSH#239 | Man |
| Cali Maxamuud Aadan | GSH#240 | Man |
| Cabdiqani Ismaacil Siciid | GSH#241 | Man |
| Faadumo Ismaaciil Xuseen | GSH#242 | Woman |
| Samsam Muxumed Cumar | GSH#243 | Woman |
| Saciid Maxamed Maxamuud | GSH#244 | Man |
| Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Suge | GSH#245 | Man |
| Nuuradiin Cabdillaahi Coljoog | GSH#246 | Man |
| Khadra Maxamed Tukaale | GSH#247 | Woman |
| Jaamac Maxamed Askar | GSH#254 | Man |
| Guuleed Biixi Cabdi | GSH#255 | Man |
| Nadra Salaax Cabdi | GSH#257 | Woman |
| Sahra Yuusuf Cige | GSH#258 | Woman |
| Cabdiraxmaan Iidaan Yoonis | GSH#259 | Man |
| Sulayman Cali Xuseen | GSH#260 | Man |
| Fozia Yuusuf Xaaji Aadan | GSH#262 | Woman |
| Muuse Siciid Jaamac | GSH#263 | Man |
| Cabdilaahi Cabdi Maxamed | GSH#264 | Man |
| Saynab Maxamed Caamir | GSH#267 | Woman |
| Maxamed Cali Xagaa | GSH#268 | Man |
| Cabdiraxman Maxamed Cumar | GSH#269 | Man |
| Cabdiwahaab Cabdi Cumar | GSH#270 | Man |
| Cali Cabdi Ibraahim | GSH#271 | Man |
| Maxamuud Cabdiraxmaan Cumar | GSH#272 | Man |

## Puntland: 37 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Daa'uud Cabdikariin Sheikh Cumar | GSH#014 | Man |
| Siciid Cali Muuse | GSH#027 | Man |
| Maxamed Aadan Diini | GSH#036 | Man |
| Maxamed Abdullaahi Keyse | GSH#073 | Man |
| Cabdiqani Maxamuud Maxamed | GSH#075 | Man |
| Muuse Axmed Ismaaciil | GSH#076 | Man |
| Maxamed Bashiir Cali | GSH#083 | Man |
| Sahra Cabdilaahi Cigaal Cumar | GSH#094 | Woman |
| Farxiyo Yusuf Cumar | GSH#121 | Woman |
| Maxamed Cabdiraxman Axmed | GSH#128 | Man |
| Sacdiyo Yaasiin Xaaji Samatar | GSH#129 | Woman |
| Ismaaciil Shire Jaamac | GSH#142 | Man |
| Cabdiqafaar Cilmi Xaange | GSH#144 | Man |
| Faysal Axmed Maxamuud | GSH#149 | Man |
| Maxamuud Axmed Aadan | GSH#157 | Man |
| Sadaam Maxamud Cabdi | GSH#158 | Man |
| Axmed Cabdi Xaashi (Axmed Taajir) | GSH#166 | Man |
| Cali Mahdi Maxamed Cali | GSH#169 | Man |
| Khadra Axmed Maxamed | GSH#174 | Woman |
| Maxamed Cabdiqaadir Maxamed | GSH#190 | Man |
| Cabdullaahi Maxamed Jaamac | GSH#191 | Man |
| Maxamed Faarax Nuux | GSH#192 | Man |
| Cabdi Ibrahiim (Qawdhan) | GSH#196 | Man |
| Cismaan Cali Yuusuf | GSH#198 | Man |
| Cabdiladiif Muuse Nuur | GSH#199 | Man |
| Cali Yusuf Cali Xoosh | GSH#200 | Man |
| Cali Xaaji Daahir Saleebaan | GSH#220 | Man |
| Cabdirizaaq Xasan Maxamed | GSH#221 | Man |
| Caynaanshe Yuusuf Xuseen | GSH#222 | Man |
| Xirsi Jaamac Gaani | GSH#223 | Man |
| Cabdicasiis Maxamed Maxamuud | GSH#227 | Man |
| Cabdilaahi Faarax Mire | GSH#228 | Man |
| Fardowso Cismaan Cigaal | GSH#232 | Woman |
| Marwo Bashiir Cali | GSH#234 | Woman |
| Cabdilaahi Bidhaan Warsame | GSH#235 | Man |
| Cabdilaahi Xasan Rooble | GSH#249 | Man |
| Bashiir Cabdi Maxamed | GSH#273 | Man |

## Galmudug: 37 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Jawaahir Maxamed Axmed | GSH#001 | Woman |
| Farax Cabdi Diini | GSH#007 | Man |
| Yuusuf Xeyle Jimcaale | GSH#012 | Man |
| Aadan Cismaan Xuseen (Qoryooley) | GSH#013 | Man |
| Qaladla Cali Cawaale | GSH#017 | Woman |
| Sahro Colaad Cabdi | GSH#018 | Woman |
| Shamso Cilmi Xasan | GSH#020 | Woman |
| Xuseen Axmed Culusoow | GSH#021 | Man |
| Maxamed Abukar Cali (Jacfar) | GSH#025 | Man |
| Yuusuf Geelle Ugaas (Dhageey) | GSH#026 | Man |
| Cumar Cali Cabdi | GSH#035 | Man |
| Cabdisalaan Xaaji Axmed (Dhabanacad) | GSH#038 | Man |
| Cabdullaahi Aadan Kulane | GSH#040 | Man |
| Xuseen Qaasim Yuusuf Iidow | GSH#043 | Man |
| Faa'iso Maxamed Jeyte | GSH#048 | Woman |
| Mustaf Sheekh Cali Dhuxulow | GSH#049 | Man |
| Xuseen Maxamed Nuur | GSH#051 | Man |
| Raysal Qorane Abshir | GSH#053 | Woman |
| Cabdishakuur Cali Mire | GSH#054 | Man |
| Maxamed Xuseen Abuukar (Gaaraxo) | GSH#055 | Man |
| Qaali Cali Shire | GSH#060 | Woman |
| Dayax Axmed Cumar | GSH#061 | Man |
| Maxamed Ibraahim Cali (Maxamed Cajiib) | GSH#064 | Man |
| Yaasiin Cabdullahi Faray | GSH#067 | Man |
| Cabdiraxman Maxamed Xuseen (Odowaa) | GSH#069 | Man |
| Cabdisaabir Nuur Shuuriye | GSH#071 | Man |
| Cadar Cali Maxamed (Shalaqbeen) | GSH#081 | Woman |
| Qasim Cabdikariin Cilmiseed | GSH#089 | Man |
| Cabdiraxman Maxamed Maxamuud | GSH#095 | Man |
| Qaali Axmed Diiriye | GSH#096 | Woman |
| Xirsi Aadan Rooble | GSH#101 | Man |
| Mahad Cabdala Cawad | GSH#104 | Man |
| Cabdirsaaq Aadan Warsame | GSH#137 | Man |
| Cabdiraxman Cabdishakur Warsame | GSH#138 | Man |
| Cabdisamed Maxamuud Xasan | GSH#139 | Man |
| Mahad Maxamed Salaad | GSH#147 | Man |
| Saadaq Cumar Xasan (Saadaq Joon) | GSH#248 | Man |

## Hirshabelle: 27 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Cabdinasir Xaaji Shirwac Maxamed | GSH#004 | Man |
| Maxamed Cumar Caymooy | GSH#005 | Man |
| Maxamuud Cabdullaahi Axmed (Abuukaate) | GSH#006 | Man |
| Maxamed Deeq Bare Cumar (Feyore) | GSH#008 | Man |
| Cabduraxmaan Axmed Cismaan Gureey | GSH#010 | Man |
| Cabdirisaaq Cumar Maxamed | GSH#011 | Man |
| Xiis Xasan Aadan | GSH#015 | Woman |
| Daahir Amiin Jeesow | GSH#030 | Man |
| Yuusuf Xuseen Axmed (Gamaadiid) | GSH#031 | Man |
| Khaliif Cabdi Cumar | GSH#032 | Man |
| Yusuf Ibrahim Afrax (Yusuf Kabaale) | GSH#033 | Man |
| Maxamuud Cabdiraxman Sh. Farax Beenebeene | GSH#033 | Man |
| Farxiyo Maxamed Dhaqane | GSH#052 | Woman |
| Cabdullahi Maxamed Cali (Sanbaloolshe) | GSH#058 | Man |
| Cabdirisaaq Macalim Ciid | GSH#063 | Man |
| Cusmaan Maxamed Cabdi (Daalo) | GSH#065 | Man |
| Maalik Ibraahim Cabdalla | GSH#066 | Man |
| Maxamed Ibraahim Nuur (Macalimuu) | GSH#068 | Man |
| Cabdiraxman Maxamed Shekh Cali | GSH#070 | Man |
| Cabdikariim Cumar Xuseen | GSH#074 | Man |
| Dahabo Susow Maxamuud | GSH#088 | Woman |
| Khadiijo Maxamed Diiriye | GSH#097 | Woman |
| Maxamuud Maxamed Jimcale (Saysay) | GSH#098 | Man |
| Cabdifitaax Qaasim Maxamed | GSH#109 | Man |
| Cali Maxamed Cumar (Cali Balcad) | GSH#115 | Man |
| Cabdikariim Cabdow Xeydar | GSH#252 | Man |
| Maxamed Cabdullahi Xasan Nuux | GSH#274 | Man |

## South West: 66 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Siid Cali Isaaq Maxamed | GSH#002 | Man |
| Xuseen Cali Xaaji Cabdalla | GSH#016 | Man |
| Nuura Mustafe Muktar | GSH#041 | Woman |
| Cabdirisaaq Xaaji Cabdi | GSH#042 | Man |
| Maryan Maxamed Cali | GSH#044 | Woman |
| Maxamuud Axmed Maxamed | GSH#045 | Man |
| Maxamed Wardheere Adan | GSH#046 | Man |
| Xaawo Sokor Cali | GSH#047 | Woman |
| Axmed Shekh Maxamed (Mashruuc) | GSH#050 | Man |
| Maxamed Jaamac Mursal (Geele) | GSH#056 | Man |
| Muqtaar Axmed Xasan | GSH#057 | Man |
| Aweys Maxamed Cumar | GSH#063 | Man |
| Maxamed Shaikh Cabdulaahi Ciirow | GSH#077 | Man |
| Aweeys Xuseen Macalin | GSH#080 | Man |
| Shariif Maxamed Cabdulaahi | GSH#085 | Man |
| Axmed Madoobe Nuunow | GSH#099 | Man |
| Cali Sheekh Maxamed Nuur | GSH#143 | Man |
| Maxamed Cabdala Axmed | GSH#145 | Man |
| Calwiya Siid Cabdulaahi | GSH#148 | Woman |
| Cabduqadir Abdirahman Dhure | GSH#150 | Man |
| Cabdulahi Xuseen Cali Cabdala | GSH#151 | Man |
| Cabdulahi Cumar Abshir | GSH#152 | Man |
| Farxiya Maxamed Cabdi | GSH#153 | Woman |
| Jawahir Adawe Abdi | GSH#155 | Woman |
| Maxamed Aadan Maxamed | GSH#156 | Man |
| Maxamed Barre Maxmud | GSH#158 | Man |
| Maxamed Yuusuf Xasan | GSH#160 | Man |
| Yusuf Aadan Maxamed | GSH#161 | Man |
| Maxamed Cusmaan Cumar | GSH#162 | Man |
| Isaaq Maxamed Maxamuud | GSH#163 | Man |
| Maxamed Abuukar Cabdi | GSH#164 | Man |
| Saalim Aliyow Ibrow | GSH#165 | Man |
| Cabdisalaan Cali Cabdi | GSH#167 | Man |
| Luul Ibraahim Cumar | GSH#168 | Woman |
| Aadan Maxamed Nuur (Saransoor) | GSH#170 | Man |
| Fowsiya Maxamed Sheekh | GSH#171 | Woman |
| Mahad Cabdiraxmaan Aadan | GSH#172 | Man |
| Abdulfatax Cabdulle Caraye | GSH#173 | Man |
| Dr Cabdirashid Maxamed Nuur | GSH#175 | Man |
| Maxamed Mursal Maxamuud | GSH#176 | Man |
| Cabdulahi Sheeq Cali Baraka | GSH#177 | Man |
| Cabdulahi Maxamed Cali | GSH#178 | Man |
| Maxamed Keerow Maxamed | GSH#179 | Man |
| Sadaad Maxamed Nuur | GSH#180 | Man |
| Maryan Macalin Isaag | GSH#181 | Woman |
| Maxamed Mursal Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan | GSH#182 | Man |
| Muqtaar Maxamed Guuleed | GSH#183 | Man |
| Xasan Cabdi Nuur Cabdi | GSH#184 | Man |
| Cabdiraxman Isakh Maxamed | GSH#185 | Man |
| Cabduqaadir Cumar Macalin | GSH#186 | Man |
| Dr Cali Saciid Faqi | GSH#187 | Man |
| Maxamed Cabdi Maxamed | GSH#188 | Man |
| [Sheekh Aadan Maxamed Nuur Madoobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/) | GSH#189 | Man |
| Cabdulaahi Aadan Axmed (Black) | GSH#193 | Man |
| Xamza Saciid Xamza | GSH#194 | Man |
| Maxamed Xasan Maxamed (Murjaan) | GSH#195 | Man |
| Cumar Cali Balash | GSH#197 | Man |
| Aamina Maxamed Mursal | GSH#213 | Woman |
| Jaamac Taqal Cabaas | GSH#230 | Man |
| Isaaq Maxamuud Mursal (Fanax) | GSH#231 | Man |
| Cali Maxamed Sheekh | GSH#250 | Man |
| Nuuracayn Khliif Sheekh Abuu | GSH#251 | Woman |
| Aadan Maxamed Cali | GSH#253 | Man |
| Suhuur Xaaji Culisow | GSH#256 | Woman |
| Saalax Shariif Cali | GSH#261 | Man |
| Ismaciil Iidow Maxamed | GSH#275 | Man |

## Jubaland: 27 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Nasra Mahdi Caraale | GSH#023 | Woman |
| Cabdinuur Cali Aadan | GSH#028 | Man |
| Axmed Maxamuud Jaamac | GSH#029 | Man |
| Cabdirashiid Maxamed Xidig | GSH#072 | Man |
| Maxamuud Muxumed Cumar (Kuulow) (marked deceased on the FEIT list) | GSH#079 | Man |
| Cabdirashiid Jire Qalinle | GSH#082 | Man |
| Saadaq Cabdullahi Cabdi | GSH#092 | Man |
| Saciid Maxamed Cali | GSH#093 | Man |
| Maxamed Sheekh Nuur Cismaan | GSH#107 | Man |
| Maxamed Cali Cumar | GSH#108 | Man |
| Cabaas Cali Ibraahim | GSH#111 | Man |
| Cabdiqaadir Maxamed Waceys | GSH#112 | Man |
| Maryan Aweys Jaamac | GSH#113 | Woman |
| Cumar Ibraahim Xaashi | GSH#114 | Man |
| Yuusuf Maxamed Ismaaciil | GSH#118 | Man |
| Asad Abdirsaaq Maxamed | GSH#120 | Man |
| Maxamed Cabdiraxmaan Nadiif | GSH#124 | Man |
| Xasan Xuseen Maxamed | GSH#126 | Man |
| Axmed Aadan Axmed | GSH#127 | Man |
| Mowliid Cabdi Maxamuud | GSH#130 | Man |
| Cadar Xareed Jibriil | GSH#132 | Woman |
| Maxamed Xasan Aadan | GSH#133 | Man |
| Sahra Jaamac Cali | GSH#134 | Woman |
| Cumar Yuusuf Qaladiid | GSH#136 | Man |
| [Hamse Cabdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) | GSH#203 | Man |
| Xasan Cabdi Ismaaciil | GSH#217 | Man |
| Roodo Carab Cabdi | GSH#219 | Woman |

## Banadir: 5 members

Source: [FEIT results list, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185684/feit_electoral_commission_announced_the_list_of_members_of_both_houses_of_the_somali_parliament.aspx).

| Member | Seat | Sex |
|---|---|---|
| Khadiijo Maxamed Al Makhzuumi | GSH#034 | Woman |
| Maxamuud Cabdiqaadir Xaaji | GSH#084 | Man |
| Cabdiraxmaan Cabdulqaadir Cadde | GSH#105 | Man |
| Maxamed Nuur Abuukar | GSH#265 | Man |
| Cumar Shariif Mxamed | GSH#266 | Man |


---

# National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/nisa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA, in Somali Hay'adda Sirdoonka iyo Nabadsugidda Qaranka) is the federal government's intelligence service. It was set up in January 2013 and has several thousand staff, including the special units Gaashaan and Waran. Its budget and staff numbers are classified. It has been at the centre of political disputes, notably over the 2021 disappearance of its employee Ikran Tahlil Farah, and press freedom groups have documented its detention of journalists.

## In short

NISA gathers intelligence, runs counter-terrorism operations against [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and guards key sites in Mogadishu. It works alongside the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/). This page records what it is and what has been reported about it.

## Founding

NISA was established in January 2013 by the new Federal Government, replacing the [National Security Service](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) of the military era, which had ceased to function around 1990 ([Wikipedia, National Intelligence and Security Agency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_and_Security_Agency_(Somalia)), citing Walta Info, 10 January 2013). Its budget and number of employees are classified (same source). Paul D. Williams, writing for West Point's *CTC Sentinel* in 2024, put its strength at "several thousand" ([CTC Sentinel, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## Special units

- **Gaashaan ("Shield").** Its first group, about 40 soldiers and 3 officers chosen from army special troops, was reportedly trained by US Army Special Forces in 2009–2010; a second group was trained at Mogadishu airport in 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_and_Security_Agency_(Somalia)), citing Voice of America and the *[Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) Citizen*, July 2014).
- **Waran.** A special forces unit. In May 2018 NISA was reported to have about 300 in Waran and about 400 in Gaashaan (same source).

## Foreign support

A former minister said the CIA trained NISA officials in its early years, and the UAE gave vehicles and equipment in April 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_and_Security_Agency_(Somalia)), citing AFP and *The National*).

## Directors

Directors named in the sources include Abdullahi Mohamed Ali "Sanbaloolshe" (reappointed April 2017), Fahad Yasin, Yasin Abdullahi (from September 2021) and Mahad Mohamed Salad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_and_Security_Agency_(Somalia))).

## The Ikran Tahlil case, 2021

Ikran Tahlil Farah, 24, worked in NISA's cybersecurity department. She was abducted on 26 June 2021 near her home in Mogadishu's Abdulaziz district, close to the agency's headquarters. On 2 September 2021 NISA said its investigation found she had been handed to al-Shabaab, which killed her. Al-Shabaab denied any part in it. Her mother said she did not believe the agency's account ([Voice of America, 2 September 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_al-shabab-denies-killing-somali-security-agency-employee/6219168.html)).

A former NISA director told VOA that she may have held records about a programme that sent Somali recruits to Eritrea for training (same source). Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) suspended NISA's director Fahad Yasin; President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) overruled him and appointed Yasin national security adviser. The dispute deepened the split between the two leaders in September 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_and_Security_Agency_(Somalia)), citing Reuters, 6 September 2021).

## What rights groups and researchers report

- The Somali Journalists Syndicate has recorded detentions of and raids on journalists by NISA officers from 2020 to 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_and_Security_Agency_(Somalia)), citing SJS).
- The US State Department's 2020 human rights report and Amnesty International's 2020 report also describe arbitrary detention by security services (same source).
- The scholar Mohamed Haji Ingiriis has argued that a security system designed from outside shaped NISA and weakened it against al-Shabaab (same source, citing *African Security Review*, 2020).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Voice of America, "Al-Shabab denies killing Somali security agency employee" (2021): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_al-shabab-denies-killing-somali-security-agency-employee/6219168.html).
- US State Department, *2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Somalia*: [report](https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/somalia/).


---

# Members of Somalia's 10th Federal Parliament (2016 to 2022)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2016/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's 10th Parliament was elected indirectly in October and November 2016 and inaugurated on 27 December 2016. It was the first with two houses: a 275-seat House of the People and a 54-seat Upper House. This page lists the 268 House members and 53 senators that the parliament's website showed in April 2017, as kept by Wikipedia.

## In short

The House of the People was elected between 23 October and 10 November 2016, and the Upper House on 10 October 2016, in indirect elections ([Wikipedia, 2016 Somali parliamentary election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Somali_parliamentary_election)). This was the first parliament with two houses: the Upper House was created in 2016 ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). The tenth parliament was inaugurated on 27 December 2016, and the parliament's office said members would serve from 2016 to 2020 (same source). The 11th Parliament replaced it in April 2022; see [Members of the House of the People, 11th Parliament (2022)](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2022/).

The names below come from Wikipedia's list of members, which cites the parliament's own member pages as captured on 3 April 2017 ([Wikipedia, List of members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). That list gives 268 House members of 275 and 53 senators of 54, without seat or state. Names are spelled as on that list. Wikipedia's article heads the list as the 11th Parliament, but its sources are the 2017 member pages, so they show the 10th Parliament as seated in 2017; editors may have changed some names since.

## How the 2016 vote worked

Each House member was elected by an electoral college of 51 people appointed by the 135 traditional elders; of the 51, 16 were meant to be women, 10 youth and 25 from civil society ([Wikipedia, 2016 Somali parliamentary election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Somali_parliamentary_election)). Across the country the electorate grew from 135 male elders in 2012 to more than 13,000 delegates in 2016, 30% of them women, voting in six locations, according to a UN statement to the Security Council quoted by Wikipedia ([Wikipedia, Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia)). The Upper House's 54 members were chosen by federal member state rather than by clan (same source). On 27 December 2016 the UN mission reported that 283 members of both houses had been sworn in ([UNSOM, "Somalia swears in 283 members of parliament", 27 December 2016](https://unsom.unmissions.org/somalia-swears-283-members-parliament)).

Members who later held other offices, such as minister, are covered in the office lists in [Lists of office-holders](/en/institutions/). Where a member has a page on Calankii, the name links to it.

## Upper House: 53 senators (2017)

Source: [Wikipedia, List of members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia).

| Senator | Senator |
|---|---|
| Abdi Ahmed Dhuhulow | Hussein Mohamud Hashi Adan |
| Abdifatah Hassan Roble | Hussein Sheikh Mohamud |
| Abdikafi Moalim Hassan | Iftiin Hassan Iman |
| Abdikarim Mohamed Hassan | Ilyas Ali Hassan |
| [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/) | Jawahir Ahmed Elmi |
| Abdirizak Ahmed Ali | Mahdi Dahir Sheikh Nur |
| Abdirizak Osman Hassan Abdirizak Jurile | Mohamed Amin Sheikh Osman |
| Abdisalam haji Mohamud Dhere | Prof. Mohamed Osman Farah |
| Abdiwahid Elmi Omar | Mohamud Ahmed Mohamud |
| Abdulahi Ibrahim Yusuf | Mohamud Hussein Rage |
| Abdullahi Abdi Garuun | Mowlid Hussein Guhad |
| Abdullahi Ali Abukar | Muhyadin Sh. Ali Jama |
| Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Fartaag) | Muno Omar Hassan |
| Abshir Mohamed Ahmed (Bukhari) | [Muse Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/) |
| Abukar Ahmed Hashi | Mustafa Mohamoud Qodah |
| Adan Abdi Adan | Naima Ibrahim Yusuf |
| Ahmed Abdi Haabsade | [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) |
| Ahmed Abdihafid Mohamed (Bulsho) | Osman Ahmed Maow |
| Ahmed Hashi Mohamud | Prof/Dr. Osman Mohamud Dufle |
| Ahmed Moalim Omar Ahmed | Saido Hassan Osman |
| Botan Barre Samatar | Samira Mohamed Khalif |
| Fadumo Hassan Adam Gariyow | Shukri Aden Mohamed |
| Dr. Farhan Ali Hussein | Timiro Mohamed Ali |
| Fartun Abdikadir Farah Karama | Yusuf Gelle Ugas |
| Hassan Farah Hujale | [Zamzam Dahir Mohamud](/en/people/zamzam-dahir-mohamud/) |
| Hodan Mohamud Osman | Zamzam Ibrahim Ali |
| Hussein Ali Haji Abdalla |  |

## House of the People: 268 members (2017)

Source: [Wikipedia, List of members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia).

| Member | Member |
|---|---|
| Abas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji{{efn|Reported Killed On 4 May 2017 In An Apparent Friendly Fire Incident Involving Government Forces. Investigation Currently In Progress. | Hiis Hassan Adam |
| Abdalla Haji Ali Ahmed | Dr. Hussein Abdi Elmi |
| Dr. Abdi Ali Hassan | Hussein Arab Essa |
| Abdi Shire Jama | Hussein Mohamud Sheikh Hussein |
| Abdiaziz Abdilahi Mohamed (Hukun) | Hussein Osman Hussein |
| Abdiaziz Elmi Ali | Hussein Qasim Yusuf |
| [Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) | Ibrahim Isak Yarow |
| Abdiaziz Salah Arman | Ibrahim Mohamed Hussein Bule |
| Abdifatah Ismael Tahir | Idiris Abdi Taktar |
| Abdifatah Mohamed Ali | Ikran Aden Absuge |
| Abdifatah Mohamed Ibrahim | Ikran Yusuf Hersi |
| Abdifitah Kasim Mohamud | Iman Abdullahi Ali |
| Abdihakim Moallim Ahmed Malin | Isak Mohamed Mohamud (Aboow) |
| Abdikarim Khalif Abdi Dhala | Isgowe Derow Isak |
| Abdinasir Seid Musse | Ismail Abdirahman Sh. Bashiir |
| Abdirahman Ahmed Suge | Jama Mohamed Askar |
| [Dr. Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/) | Jamal Hassan Ismail |
| Abdirahman Idan Yonis | Jawahir Adawe Abdi |
| Abdirahman Kulmiye Hersi | Jeylani Nur Ikar |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Abdulle | Jibril Abdirashid Haji |
| Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein | Khadijo Mohamed Diriye |
| Abdirashid Dahir Gabobe | Khadra Mohamed Tukale |
| Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed | Khalid Maow Abdulkadir |
| Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig | Khaliif Abdi Omar (Xan Fresh ) |
| Abdirashid Mohamud Hassan Abdi | Khaliif Sheikh Abdulahi |
| Abdirisak Dahir Mohamud | Liban Abdirahman Sharif Salah (Liban Doob ) |
| Abdirizak Ahmed Mohamed (Jindi) | Liban Osman Abdirahman |
| Abdirizak Omar Mohamed | Lul Abdi Aden |
| Abdisabir Nur Shuriye | Mahad Abdalle Awad |
| Abdisatar Abdisalam Sh. Hassan | Mahad Mohamed Salad |
| Abdishakur Ali Mire | Mariam Aweis Jama |
| Abdiwahab Ugas Hussein Ugas Khalif | Maryam Haji Abdi Gedi |
| Abdiweli Ibrahim Sh. Mudey | Maryan Ahmed Harun |
| Abdiwelli Mohamed Qanyare | Maryan Arif Kasim |
| Abdo Mah Farah | Maryan Moalim Isak |
| Abdukadir Aden Nur | Maryan Mohamed Hussein |
| Abdulasis Mohamed Mohamud (Qambi) | Maryan Mohamud Isse |
| Dr. Abdulaziz Abdullahi Yusuf (Dh.qol) | Mina Hassan Mohamed |
| Abdulkadir Arabow Ibrahim | Moalim Ali Adan |
| Abdulkadir Dahir Adam | Mohamed A. Mohamed (Garweyne) |
| Abdulkadir Hassan SheikhAden | Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye |
| Abdulkadir Mohamed Osman | Mohamed Abdi Kadiye |
| Abdulkadir Osoble Ali | Mohamed Abdi Mohamed Gandi |
| Abdulkadir Sh. Ali Ibraahim (Baqdaadi) | Mohamed Abdikafi Mohamed |
| Abdullahi Abukar Haji | Mohamed Abdullahi Farah |
| Abdullahi Ali Ahmed | Mohamed Abdulle Farah |
| Abdullahi Bidhan Warsame | Mohamed Abukar Islaw |
| Abdullahi Bile Noor | Mohamed Adan Moalim Ali |
| Abdullahi Godah Barre | Mohamed Ahmed Abtidoon |
| Abdullahi Hussein Ali (Abdalla) | Mohamed Ali Hussein |
| Abdullahi Mohamed Ali | Mohamed Ali Omar |
| Abdullahi Mohamed Nur | Mohamed Dirie Khalif |
| Abdullahi Olad Roble | Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim Qoone |
| Abdullahi Omar Abshir | Mohamed Hassan Idiris |
| Abdullahi Osman Duale | Mohamed Hussein Isak (Afaraale) |
| Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Ali | Mohamed Ibrahim Abdi |
| Abdullahi Yusuf Hassan (Alankey) | Mohamed Isak Osman (Fanah) |
| Abdurahman Adan Ibrahim (Ibbi) | Mohamed Jama Mursal |
| Adam Isak Ali | Mohamed Mursal Mohamud (Boorow) |
| Adan Ali Hassan | Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman |
| Adan Ibrahim Dhayow | Mohamed Nur Iftin (Shambara) |
| Ahmed Dhimbil Roble | Mohamed Nureni Bakar |
| Ahmed Haji Mohamed (Taaw) | Mohamed Omar Aimoy |
| Ahmed Ismail Mohamed | Mohamed Omar Arte |
| Ahmed Ismail Shabel | Mohamed Omar Dalha |
| Ahmed Mayow Abdulle | [Mohamed Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/) |
| Ahmed Moalim Fiqi | Mohamed Said Abdilahi |
| Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed | Mohamud Abdirahman Sheikh Farah (Beene Beene) |
| Ahmed Mohamed Jama | Mohamud Abdullahi Ahmed |
| Ahmed Mohamud Sh. Muhamed | Mohamud Ahmed Isse |
| Ahmed Omar Islow | Mohamud Ali Magan |
| Ahmed Osman Ibrahim | Mohamud Hayir Ibrahim |
| Ali Abdi Osman | Mohamud Moalim Yahye |
| Ali Aden Hussei | Mohamud Mohamed Bono |
| Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali | Mohamud Mohamed Jimale |
| Ali Ahmed Sharif Osman | [Mohamud Siraji](/en/people/mohamud-siraji/) |
| Ali Mohamed Muse | Muna Khalif Sheikh Abu |
| Ali Mohamed Omar | Muse Ahmed Ismail |
| Ali Osman Hersi | Muse Said Jama |
| Ali Sheikh Mohamed Nur | Mustafa Sh.Ali Duhulow |
| Ali Yusuf Ali Hoosh | Nadifa Adan Isak |
| Ali Yusuf Osman | Nadifa Farah Jama |
| Amina Hassan Ali | Naima Mohamed Gaal |
| [Amina Mohamed Abdi](/en/people/amina-mohamed-abdi/) | Nuriya Adan Isse |
| Amina Omar Jama | Omar Ismail Waberi |
| Amina Sheikh Osman | Omar Osman Wasuge |
| Anab Hassan Elmi | Osman Elmi Boqore |
| Asha-Kos Mohamud Omar | Osman Haji Ali |
| Asha-Kos Mohamud Omar | Osman Libah Ibrahim |
| Bihi Iman Egeh | Osman Mohamed Abdi |
| Bootaan Isse Alim | Qasim Mohamed Jama |
| Burhan Adan Omar | Rabaco Sheikh Nur |
| Cabdulqadir Cali Caseyr | Sadik Hirsi Warfa |
| Dahabo Susow Mohamud | Sadio Muse Abdullahi |
| Dahir Abdi Abdullahi (Dr. Go) | Sadiq Abdikraim Haji Ibrahim |
| Dahir Amin Jesow | Sadiya Yasin Haji Samatar |
| Dahir Mohamud Muse | Sadiyo Arays Isse |
| Dallays Hassan Adan | Safio Hassan Nur |
| Daud Mohamed Omar | Sagal Abdirisak Bihi |
| Deka Hussein Hassan | Sahra Abdulkadir Abdirahman |
| Deko Said Hassan | Sahra Haji Hussein Ali |
| Dhahar Ali Farah | Sahra Jama Ali Qorshel |
| Duniyo Mohamed Ali | Said Hassan Gedi |
| Dr. Elmi Mohamud Nur | Said Hussein Iid |
| Elmi Omar Elmi (Caynsane) | Said Mohamed Mohamud Haid |
| Faduma Hassan Ali | Said Nur Qailie |
| Faduma Ismail Hussein | Saido Mohamed Hassan |
| Fadumma Farah Ibrahim | Salah Ahmed Jama |
| Fadumo Odawa Rage | Prof. Salim Aliyow Ibrow |
| Fahma Ahmed Nur | Samira Hassan Abdulle |
| Faisal Abdille Guled | Samra Ibrahim Omar |
| Farah Abdi Hassan | Sandhere Mohamed Iftin |
| Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir | Sareda Mohamed Abdalla |
| Farhia Hassan Ahmed | Sayid Ali Abdulkadir Moalim |
| Farhia Mumin Ali | Sharif Mohamed Abdalla |
| Farhio Mohamud Dhaqane | Sharif Shek Maye |
| Fawzia Mohamed Sheikh | Sharmarke Saleban Burale |
| Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam | Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur (Modobe) |
| Faysal Omar Guled | Sheikh Nur Mohamed Hassan |
| Hamza Said Hamza | Sulaiman Mohamud Hashi |
| Hamza Sheikh Hussein | Suuri Dirie Arab |
| Hani Mohamed Aden | Swaqar Ibrahim Abdalla |
| Hanifa Mohamed Ibrahim | Ubah Tahlil Warsame |
| Hashim Noor Aden | Warsame Mohamed Hassan |
| Hassan Abdi Ismail | Yacqub Ali Mohamed |
| Hassan Abdinur Abdi | Yurub Ahmed Raabi |
| Hassan Ali Mohamed | Yusuf Hayle Jimalle |
| Hassan Ibrahim Mohamed | Yusuf Hussein Ahmed |
| Hassan Moalim Hussein | Yusuf Ibrahim Afrah |
| Hassan Moallim Mohamud Sh. Ali | Zahra Yusuf Ige |
| Hassan Osman Hussein (Qoryooley) | Zakarie Data Internet |
| Hawa Mohamed Adan | Zakarie Hassan Sh. Ali |
| Hawa Yusuf Ahmed | Zakarie Mohamud Haji Abdi |
| Hersi Adan Roble | [https://web.archive.org/web/20141022135723/http://www.parliament.gov.so/index.php/en/membersparliament-3 Federal Parliament Of Somalia - Members] |


---

# National Economic Council of Somalia (NEC): what it does

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-economic-council/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Economic Council advises Somalia's President on the economy. The President chairs it, the Prime Minister is deputy, and its members include the cabinet's economic ministers, the Central Bank governor, the member states and nine national economic experts. Set up in 2018 and restructured by presidential decree in November 2022, it publishes a yearly National Economic Situation Report.

## What it does

The NEC "was initially established by the Federal Republic of Somalia in 2018, and was restructured in November, 2022 through a presidential decree". It is "a key component of the Office of the President responsible for providing advisory services on economic matters" ([National Economic Council, About](https://nec.gov.so/about-us/)). The Ministry of Planning describes the NEC, with the statistics bureau, as one of the "arm's length" bodies it spun off so that they could work at a distance from the ministry ([Ministry of Planning, The Ministry](https://mop.gov.so/about/the-ministry/)).

Its listed functions include ([NEC, Functions](https://nec.gov.so/about-us/functions/)):

- giving economic advice to the President and the members of the political council;
- researching economic trends for policy-makers and investors;
- helping align the economic policies and plans of the federal government and the member states;
- helping the government meet the conditions attached to foreign financial assistance;
- advising on regional and international economic and trade agreements;
- holding conferences twice a year and commissioning research from Somali and international experts.

## Who sits on it

The President of the Federal Government chairs the council, and the Prime Minister is deputy chair. Its members are the economic sub-committee of the cabinet, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Federal Member States and nine national economic experts. A team of National Economic Advisers does its research and advice ([NEC, About](https://nec.gov.so/about-us/)).

**Dr Hassan Aden Hoosow**, economic adviser to the President, chairs the council's work and announced its third National Economic Situation Report in December 2025 ([Radio Dalsan, December 2025](https://radiodalsan.com/news/298566/somalia-releases-third-national-economic-situation-report)).

## What it publishes

- **National Economic Situation Report:** a yearly report on the state of the economy; the third edition came out in December 2025 (same source).
- **Climate and the economy:** it has commissioned a national study, "Economic Resilience Under Climate Pressure: A National Diagnostic for Somalia" ([terms of reference, via the National Bureau of Statistics](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/TOR_Climate-Resilience-and-Disaster-Economics-Assessment.pdf)).

## Other estimates of the economy

The NEC's numbers sit next to those of other bodies. The World Bank estimated growth of about 3 percent in 2025, down from about 4 percent in 2023 and 2024 ([World Bank, 13 May 2026](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/05/13/somalia-growth-continues-but-shocks-and-aid-cuts-intensify-risks-to-jobs-and-livelihoods)), and the government reported 3.1 percent ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-economy-grew-31percent-in-2025-as-domestic-revenue-hits-dollar404m-report)). See [Economy at a glance](/en/economy/economy-at-a-glance/) and [GDP and national accounts](/en/data/gdp-national-accounts-2018-2024/).

## The money

The federal budget has no separate line for the NEC. The Office of the Presidency, which the NEC says it is part of, had a budget of US$12.4 million in 2026 ([Appropriation Act for 2027, as submitted](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## Its legal basis

The presidential decree of November 2022 that restructured it ([NEC, About](https://nec.gov.so/about-us/)).


---

# Somali Police Force (Booliska Soomaaliyeed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-police-force/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Police Force was formed in 1960 by joining the police of the former Italian-run south and British Somaliland, about 3,700 officers, with Mohamed Abshir Muse as its first commander. It broke apart in 1991 and has been rebuilt since 2008. Officially the federal police now number about 40,000 (CTC Sentinel, 2024). Its units include the Turkish-trained Haramcad special police, a criminal investigation department and a coast guard. Member states run their own police.

## In short

The Somali Police Force is the federal police service. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and the other member states also have their own police (see [Puntland's security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) and [Somaliland armed forces](/en/institutions/somaliland-armed-forces/)). This page records its history and structure from the sources.

## Before 1960

Wikipedia records a British armed constabulary on the Somaliland coast from 1884, a Somaliland Coastal Police from 1910 and the [Somaliland Police Force](/en/institutions/somaliland-police/) from 1926. In the south, the Italian administration had its own police corps ([Wikipedia, Somali Police Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force)).

## 1960–1991

At independence in 1960 the two services were joined into the Somali Police Force, about 3,700 strong. About 1,000 of them formed the Darawishta, a mobile force. [Mohamed Abshir Muse](/en/people/mohamed-abshir-muse/) became the first commander ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force), citing the Library of Congress country study). The Darawishta, with the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) Scouts, also formed the core of the new army ([Wikipedia, Somali Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces)). See [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/).

The force set up an air wing and a women's unit in 1961 and a national fire brigade in 1971. In 1976 it was placed under the president's security adviser rather than the interior ministry. When the government fell in 1991, the Darawishta and the riot unit stopped working (Wikipedia).

## Rebuilding

The Armo Police Academy near [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) opened on 20 December 2005 with UN funding. After al-Shabaab left Mogadishu in August 2011, the police set up their headquarters there. In January 2013 the UN reported paying stipends to 5,388 officers in Mogadishu, Baidoa and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), and 4,463 officers in Mogadishu were biometrically registered ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force), citing UN Security Council report S/2013/69). Japan and the EU funded stipends through the UN until December 2015 (same source).

Officially the federal police now number about 40,000, according to Paul D. Williams's 2024 study ([CTC Sentinel, April 2024](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-somali-national-army-versus-al-shabaab-a-net-assessment/)).

## Units

- **Haramcad ("Cheetah").** A special police force whose first 120 cadets graduated in Isparta, Turkey, in 2019. Planned at 600–800 officers, it supports the army in urban counter-insurgency and guards Mogadishu's airport and the Green Zone.
- **Criminal Investigation Department.** About 180 officers, trained since 2019 by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime with US funding ([UNODC](https://www.unodc.org/easternafrica/Stories/unodc-training-somali-police-force.html)).
- **Explosive ordnance disposal.** First teams trained in April 2014 by the EU and the UN Mine Action Service.
- **Coast guard.** Shares maritime law enforcement with the navy out to 200 nautical miles.
- **Others.** Traffic police, women's unit, custodial corps, fire brigade, riot unit and rapid response team.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force), unless stated)

## Training partners and agreements

Ethiopia signed a police development agreement in February 2014; the US pledged US$1.9 million for security sector reform in August 2014; Turkey signed a police support treaty in January 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force); [US State Department, 2014](https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/230394.htm)). Officers train at Armo and at the General Kahiye Police Academy in Mogadishu, which was being renovated from May 2023 (Wikipedia).

## Leaders

Commissioners named in the sources include Osman Omar Wehliye (2011–2014), Brigadier General [Bashir Abdi](/en/people/bashir-abdi/) Mohamed (appointed June 2018) and Major General [Asad](/en/society/films-about-somalia/) Osman Abdullahi ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Police_Force)). On 17 June 2009 the Mogadishu police chief, Colonel Ali Said, was killed in fighting in the capital (same source, citing BBC News).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Security Council, report of the Secretary-General on Somalia, S/2013/69: [UN document](https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2013/69).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [catalogue record](https://www.loc.gov/item/93016246/).


---

# Data Protection Authority of Somalia: who checks how your data is used

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/data-protection-authority/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's Data Protection Authority was set up under the Data Protection Act, Law No. 005 of 2023. It registers organisations that collect personal data, handles complaints and must be told of data breaches within 72 hours. In May 2026 it began registering banks, telecoms, hospitals, NGOs and government offices. Mohamed Nur Olow leads it.

## What it does

The Data Protection Act, [Law No. 005 of 2023](/en/government/data-protection-act-2023/), was signed in March 2023 and set up the Data Protection Authority as the national body for protecting personal data and privacy in the public and private sectors ([Dawan Africa, 25 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-trains-public-private-institutions-on-data-protection-law)). The authority's mandate covers ([Dawan Africa, 25 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-trains-public-private-institutions-on-data-protection-law)):

- registering and licensing data controllers and data processors;
- issuing guidance and standards;
- handling complaints and enforcement;
- public awareness and training.

[Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) News describes it as an independent regulator and reports that the law was part of the reforms Somalia passed on the way to debt relief ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-hamze-barre-lays-foundation-stone-for-somalia-data-protection-authority)).

## Who leads it

| Period | Head | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Mohamed Ahmed Ali "Royal", Director General; suspended by the Minister of Communications in November 2024 | [Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-hamze-barre-lays-foundation-stone-for-somalia-data-protection-authority); [Halqabsi, November 2024](https://halqabsi.com/2024/11/somalias-data-protection-agency-director-suspended-from-duty) |
| 2026 | Mohamed Nur Olow (also written Noor Olow), Director General | [Dawan Africa, 20 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-moves-to-tighten-oversight-of-personal-data-handling); [Dawan Africa, 25 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-trains-public-private-institutions-on-data-protection-law) |

Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) laid the foundation stone for the authority's main building in Mogadishu ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-hamze-barre-lays-foundation-stone-for-somalia-data-protection-authority)).

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 030702 under the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 169,820 |
| 2026 (budget) | 242,540 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 304,100 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing in 2026

- **20 May:** it launched a registration and oversight system for organisations that handle citizens' data. The director said it would assess them every six months, that the rules apply to telecoms, banks, fintech firms, hospitals, NGOs and government agencies, and that breaches must be reported within 72 hours ([Dawan Africa, 20 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-moves-to-tighten-oversight-of-personal-data-handling)).
- **31 May:** it issued a notice, based on Article 32 of the law, requiring all data controllers and processors in Somalia to register, and said it would issue certificates to those that qualify ([Dawan Africa, 31 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-data-protection-authority-opens-registration-for-institutions-handling-personal-data)).
- **June:** it ran a five-day training course on the law for public and private bodies, attended by the heads of the Somali Universities Association and the Somali Bankers Association ([Dawan Africa, 25 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-trains-public-private-institutions-on-data-protection-law)).

## How the work is shared

The authority's budget line sits under the [Ministry of Communications and Technology](/en/institutions/ministry-of-communications-and-technology/). The [National Communications Authority](/en/institutions/national-communications-authority/) regulates telecoms firms, and the national ID agency holds identity data ([NIRA](/en/states/national-id-nira/)).


---

# Members of Puntland's House of Representatives, 2024 to 2029

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/members-of-puntland-parliament-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Puntland's House of Representatives has 66 members. The list of the 6th parliament was announced on 1 January 2024, signed and stamped by the committee that settled disputes and approved members; it includes 17 members from the SSC-Khaatumo areas of Sool and Cayn. The House then elected Abdirizak Ahmed Said as speaker and, on 8 January 2024, re-elected Said Abdullahi Deni as president.

## In short

The House of Representatives ([Golaha Wakiilada](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)) is [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s one-chamber legislature, with 66 members serving five years ([Wikipedia, House of Representatives of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_of_Puntland)). Under Puntland's constitution it makes and amends laws, approves or rejects war and peace agreements, and elects the state's president and vice-president ([Constitution of Puntland, FAOLEX](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)).

The list of the 6th parliament was announced on 1 January 2024. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that it included 17 members from the [SSC-Khaatumo](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) areas, and that it was announced after a long dispute over how members were selected ([Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm)). Candidates said that President [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) had interfered with seats chosen by clans and removed members they had picked; the list also included Faarax Yuusuf Jaamac Dalmar, then held in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) after the fighting in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) the year before (same source).

On 4 January 2024 the House elected Abdirizak Ahmed Said as speaker, with two deputies, and on 8 January it elected the president ([Wikipedia, House of Representatives of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Representatives_of_Puntland); [BBC Somali, 4 January 2024](https://www.bbc.com/somali/articles/cw8013p9nexo)). See [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/) and [Elections in Puntland](/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/).

## About the list

The names below are copied from the two-page list published by Hiiraan Online, which carries the stamp and signatures of Puntland's committee for settling disputes and approving the House of Representatives ([Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm)). Spelling is as on the list, in Somali. The list numbers members 1 to 66 and groups them by region. Wikipedia keeps an English-spelled version of the same list ([Wikipedia, 6th Parliament of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Parliament_of_Puntland)).

| Region | Members |
|---|---:|
| Bari (Bosaso) | 21 |
| Nugaal (Garowe) | 9 |
| Mudug (Galkayo) | 10 |
| Sanaag | 11 |
| Sool | 8 |
| Cayn (Buuhoodle) | 7 |
| **Total** | **66** |

## Bari (Bosaso): 21 members

Source: [signed list, via Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm).

| No. | Member |
|---:|---|
| 1 | Faarax Salaad Nuux |
| 2 | Cabdirisaaq Cumar Ismaacil |
| 3 | Faarax Jaamac Yusuf |
| 4 | Maxamad Baari Shire |
| 5 | Axmad Bile Siciid |
| 6 | Axmad Xaaji Maxmuud Axmad |
| 7 | Maxamad Maxamuud Cabdi (Shendi) |
| 8 | Maxamuud Cali Maxamuud |
| 9 | Maxamuud Dhakuul Xirsi |
| 10 | Xasan Cabdale Xasan |
| 11 | Abuubakar Maxamd Cumar |
| 12 | Cabdikhaaliq Maxamad Maxamuud |
| 13 | Bashiir Mire Axmad Adan |
| 14 | Mustafe Bile Maxamuud |
| 15 | Maxamuud Shire Cismaan |
| 16 | Axmad Siciid Yuusuf |
| 17 | Nasiib Muuse Cali |
| 18 | Cabdiqaadir Xasan Siciid |
| 19 | Maxamad Salaad Cabdi |
| 20 | Maxamad Maxamuud Cumar |
| 21 | Maxamad Siciid Cali |

## Nugaal (Garowe): 9 members

Source: [signed list, via Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm).

| No. | Member |
|---:|---|
| 48 | Maxamed Cali Subeyr |
| 49 | Cabdimahad Cali Liibaan |
| 50 | Cabdirisaaq Jaamac Aadan |
| 51 | Yuusuf Cali Siciid |
| 52 | Cabdirishiid Axmed Maxamed |
| 53 | Mukhtaar Cabdiraxmaan Axmad |
| 54 | Ibrahin Casayr Guraase |
| 55 | Cabdiqani Faarax Dhaashane |
| 56 | Yaasin Jaamac Cumar |

## Mudug (Galkayo): 10 members

Source: [signed list, via Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm).

| No. | Member |
|---:|---|
| 57 | Xuseen Axmad Nuur Maxamad |
| 58 | Liibaan Bedel Shikh Maxamuud |
| 59 | Maxamad Maxamuud Ciise |
| 60 | Cismaan Ysuf Xaraare |
| 61 | Xareed Xasan Cali |
| 62 | Muno Axmed Cabdale Diyano |
| 63 | Cabdiwali Yusuf Warsame |
| 64 | Axmad Jamal Xangule |
| 65 | Abdiraxmaan Shiikh Xasan |
| 66 | Cabdikafi Cabdi Abshir |

## Sanaag: 11 members

Source: [signed list, via Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm).

| No. | Member |
|---:|---|
| 37 | Cabdirashiid Yuusuf Jibrii Cawl |
| 38 | Cabdicasiis Axmad Salax |
| 39 | Maxamad Faarax Maxamad |
| 40 | Cabdiqaadir Saalax Cali Guuleed |
| 41 | Mursal Maxamuud Cabdi Cali |
| 42 | Axmed Cabdiraxmaan Jamac (Kuluc) |
| 43 | Cali Axmad Maxamuud Samatar |
| 44 | Cabdirisaaq Axmad Saciid Faarax |
| 45 | Maxamad Cawil Cali Dalaf |
| 46 | Maxamuud Axmad Xasan |
| 47 | Jamac Maxamad Farax |

## Sool: 8 members

Source: [signed list, via Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm).

| No. | Member |
|---:|---|
| 22 | Farax Maxamad Cabdi Xaashi |
| 23 | Maxamad Mursal Maxamd |
| 24 | Ismaacil Saleebaan Geele |
| 25 | Maxamuud Adanwli Maxamad |
| 26 | Faysal Maxmad Dalmar |
| 27 | Qaalib Xassan Maxamuud |
| 28 | Xasan Yuusuf Majabe |
| 29 | Mukhtar Cumar Cali |

## Cayn (Buuhoodle): 7 members

Source: [signed list, via Hiiraan Online, 1 January 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2024/jan/wararka_maanta1-186165.htm).

| No. | Member |
|---:|---|
| 30 | Jacafar Maxamed Gaadawayne |
| 31 | Khadar Farax Maxamad |
| 32 | Cabdiraxmaan Xaji Axmad Aadan |
| 33 | Mowliid Abokar Caafi |
| 34 | Cabdirisaaq Shariif Axmad |
| 35 | Xasan Ducaale Cali |
| 36 | Maxamuud Cabdiraxmaan Maaxamuud |


---

# Somali Navy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-navy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Navy was founded in 1964 with Soviet help, with bases at Berbera and Kismayo, and dissolved with the state in 1990–91. It was re-established in June 2009 but stayed small. Under a ten-year defence and economic agreement signed with Turkey on 8 February 2024 and approved by parliament 213 to 3, Turkey is to build, train and equip it. Its exact strength has not been published.

## In short

The Somali Navy is the federal government's sea service. It was a working force in the 1970s and 1980s, disappeared in 1991, and has been rebuilt slowly since 2009, mainly with Turkish help. This page records what the sources say, without taking sides. The land army is described in [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and the earlier forces in [Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

## Founding and Soviet era, 1964–1991

Wikipedia records that the navy was founded in 1964 with Soviet advisers, with bases at Berbera on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and Kismayo on the Indian Ocean and a radar site at [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/). Its first vessels were Soviet patrol and torpedo boats. In 1977 President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ended the treaty with Moscow and expelled Soviet advisers over Soviet support for Ethiopia in the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/). By 1990 it had two Osa-II missile boats, four torpedo boats, several patrol craft and a landing ship. It dissolved as the government fell in 1990–91, and some vessels reportedly went to Aden ([Wikipedia, Somali Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Navy)).

## Re-establishment, 2009–2023

The navy was re-established in June 2009 under Admiral [Farah Omar](/en/people/haji-farah-omar/) Ahmed. Up to 500 recruits trained in Mogadishu that year as the first part of a planned 5,000-strong force; in December 2009 its commander described it as "practically nothing" (Wikipedia). An August 2011 agreement between the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) called for a Somali marine force. In January 2020 Turkey donated patrol and landing vessels (Wikipedia). Puntland's own maritime force is described in [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/).

## The Turkey agreement, 2024

On 8 February 2024 Somalia's defence minister, [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/), and Turkey's defence minister, Yaşar Güler, signed a Defence and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in Turkey. The cabinet approved it, and both houses of parliament endorsed it by 213 votes to 3. It runs for ten years ([Voice of America, 21 February 2024](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agreement-with-turkey-/7496758.html)).

Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) called it "a historic day for the country" and said Turkey would build, train and equip the navy to protect Somali waters from terrorism, piracy and "foreign interference" ([Defense News, AP, 21 February 2024](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2024/02/21/somalia-makes-deal-with-turkey-to-bolster-naval-force/)). An unnamed Somali official told VOA the deal allows Turkish warships to deploy in Somali waters (VOA). The full text has not been published.

The deal came weeks after Ethiopia's memorandum of understanding with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) of 1 January 2024. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said it was not aimed at Ethiopia and called the timing "just a coincidence" (VOA). Analyst Mohamed Gaas of the Raad Peace Research Institute told AP it gave Somalia "crucial support", and Turkey a chance "to expand its influence" in Africa (Defense News, AP).

## Since 2024

Wikipedia records that Turkey delivered two helicopters in June 2025, and that a naval training base near Cadale in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) was reported in early 2026. Its listed equipment includes Turkish-built patrol boats. It gives no reliable personnel figure (Wikipedia).

## Sources differ

- **Founding year.** 1964 or 1965.
- **Revenue terms.** Some reports said Turkey would receive 30 per cent of revenue from Somalia's exclusive economic zone; the agreement's text has not been published.
- **Size.** No official figure; estimates speak of hundreds of personnel.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Voice of America, "Somalia approves defense agreement with Turkey" (2024): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agreement-with-turkey-/7496758.html).
- Associated Press, "Somalia makes deal with Turkey to bolster naval force" (2024), via Defense News: [article](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2024/02/21/somalia-makes-deal-with-turkey-to-bolster-naval-force/).


---

# Members of Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament, 2004

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/members-of-transitional-federal-parliament-2004/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament was formed at the Kenya peace talks in 2004, with 275 seats shared among clans. Its member list was first published on 29 August 2004, and the members were to serve until 2009. This page gives the 278 names in Wikipedia's copy of that list, numbered as there.

## In short

The Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) was the legislature of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, set up at the peace conference held in Kenya in 2004 ([Wikipedia, Transitional Federal Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Parliament)). See [The Transitional Federal Parliament, 2004 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/) and [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

Its list of members was first published on 29 August 2004, and the members were to serve until 2009 ([Wikipedia, List of members of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Somali_Transitional_Federal_Parliament)). Wikipedia's list cites the published document "Selected Members of the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia (275) 29.08.2004 – 2009" ([Somali civil society, PDF, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150913083825/http://somali-civilsociety.org/downloads/Names%20of%20the%20selected%20Members%20of%20Parliament.pdf)). That copy numbers 278 entries, because some seats changed hands after 2004 and editors added the later holders; where Wikipedia adds a note (a cabinet post, a later office, or a community), it is shown in the third column.

Members who later held the top offices, such as [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), who was elected president by this parliament in October 2004, are covered in [Lists of office-holders](/en/institutions/). For the parliaments that followed, see [Members of the 10th Federal Parliament (2016)](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2016/) and [Members of the House of the People (2022)](/en/institutions/members-of-parliament-2022/).

## How the seats were shared

Members were selected through traditional clan leaders or shura councils, and seats were shared under the "4.5" formula: one share each for the four major clans and a half share for a coalition of other clans ([Wikipedia, Transitional Federal Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Parliament), citing the [CIA World Factbook](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/somalia/)). The parliament elected the president and prime minister and could propose and pass laws (same source). After the 2008–2009 unity agreement with the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, the number of seats was raised to 550, of which 75 were reserved for business people and civil society (same source). The Federal Parliament replaced it on 20 August 2012 (same source). Names below are spelled as on Wikipedia's list; "Hon." is dropped.

## The members

Source: [Wikipedia, List of members of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Somali_Transitional_Federal_Parliament), from the [29 August 2004 list](https://web.archive.org/web/20150913083825/http://somali-civilsociety.org/downloads/Names%20of%20the%20selected%20Members%20of%20Parliament.pdf).

| No. | Member | Note on Wikipedia |
|---:|---|---|
| 1 | Faid Mahamed Ali |  |
| 2 | Ismail A.rahin Mohamed Ali |  |
| 3 | Abdilahi Mohamed Shine |  |
| 4 | Omar Nur Gacal |  |
| 5 | Omar Yusuf Bariise |  |
| 6 | Axmed Gacal Taako |  |
| 7 | Khalif Axmed Gabow |  |
| 8 | Xaaji Gacamey |  |
| 9 | Muxuyadin Yalaxow |  |
| 10 | Osman Mohamud Mohamed (Dufle) |  |
| 11 | Geni Omar |  |
| 12 | Kufra Feeleey |  |
| 13 | [Abdalla Derow Isak](/en/people/abdallah-isaaq-deerow/) |  |
| 14 | Abdalla Haji Ali |  |
| 15 | Abdi Abdulle Saeed |  |
| 16 | Abdi Ahmed Dhuhulow |  |
| 17 | Abdi Bulle Hussein |  |
| 18 | Abdi Haji Yaris |  |
| 19 | Abdi Harshi Abdillahi |  |
| 20 | Abdi Mohamed Tarrah |  |
| 21 | Abdi Warsame Isak |  |
| 22 | Abdiaziz Abdullahi Mohamed |  |
| 23 | Abdiazis Ibrahim Osman |  |
| 24 | Abdiaziz Shekh Yusuf |  |
| 25 | Abdikafi Moalin Hassan |  |
| 26 | Abdikarim Ahmed Ali |  |
| 27 | Abdillahi Ahmed Abdille |  |
| 28 | Abdirahaman Jama Abdalla |  |
| 29 | Abdirahman Abdi Warre |  |
| 30 | Abdirahman Haji Ismail |  |
| 31 | Abdirahman Mohamud Ali |  |
| 32 | Abdirahman Osman Dirir |  |
| 33 | Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig |  |
| 34 | Abdirizak Issak Bihi |  |
| 35 | Abdiwali Ibrahim Muday |  |
| 36 | Abdiwali Sh Maxamed |  |
| 37 | Abdow Maax Farah |  |
| 38 | Abdukadir Aden Jibar |  |
| 39 | Abdulahi Aden Ahmed (Black) |  |
| 40 | Abdulahi Aden Ali (Shaletey) |  |
| 41 | Abdulfatah Ibrahim Rashid |  |
| 42 | Abdulkadir Haji Mohamoud Dakane |  |
| 43 | Abdulkadir Mohamed Haji |  |
| 44 | Abdulkadir Nur Arale (urjufle) |  |
| 45 | Abdulkadir Osman Wehli |  |
| 46 | Abdulkadir Sheikh Mohamed Nur |  |
| 47 | Abdulahi Bille Nour |  |
| 48 | Abdullahi Ahmed Afrah (Jaangoow) |  |
| 49 | Abdullahi Gedi Shador |  |
| 50 | Abdullahi Moalim Mohamed ‘Fah’ |  |
| 51 | Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail |  |
| 52 | Said Mohamed Addo |  |
| 53 | Abdulrahman Yusuf Diriye |  |
| 54 | Abdurahman Aden Ibrahim ‘Ibbi’ |  |
| 55 | Adan Abdullahi Diriye (Mafadhiiste) |  |
| 56 | Aden Mohamed Ali |  |
| 57 | Aden Mohamud Mohamed (Fero) |  |
| 58 | Adil Sheegow Sagar |  |
| 59 | Ahmed Abdi Omar |  |
| 60 | Ahmed Abdillahi Jama (Dakir) |  |
| 61 | Ahmed Abdorahman Mohamed |  |
| 62 | Ahmed Dhimbil Robleh (Koba Weeyne) |  |
| 63 | Ahmed Diriye Mohamed (Dhaadhaan) M |  |
| 64 | Ahmed Duale Gelle (Haaf) |  |
| 65 | Ahmed Hashi Mohamoud (Hashiis) |  |
| 66 | Ahmed Issa Awale (Ishabaydhabo) |  |
| 67 | Ahmed Mohamed Abdi (Ahmedtaw) |  |
| 68 | Ahmed Ismail Jumale |  |
| 69 | Ahmed Mohamed Suleiman |  |
| 70 | Ahmed Mohammed Samar |  |
| 71 | Ahmed Nur Sheikh ‘Lohos’ |  |
| 72 | Ahmed Omar Gagale |  |
| 73 | Ahmed Shariff Mohamed Sidi |  |
| 74 | Ahmed Sheik Abdirahman |  |
| 75 | Ali Mumin Ismail |  |
| 76 | Ali Aden Hussein (Eylow) |  |
| 77 | Ali Ahmed Jama |  |
| 78 | Ali Alas Qareey |  |
| 79 | Ali Haji Mohamoud ‘Ali-Bash’ |  |
| 80 | Ali Hassan Guyow |  |
| 81 | Ali Ismail Abdi-ger |  |
| 82 | Ali Jeyte Osman |  |
| 83 | Ali Mohamed Faqay | "Chairman and Political Leader of the Bravanese people, Minister of State, Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic" |
| 84 | Ali Mohamoud Abdi |  |
| 85 | Ali Osman Jidow |  |
| 86 | Ali Sheikh Mohamed Nur |  |
| 87 | Ali-Bashi Haji |  |
| 88 | Amina Mohamed Mursal |  |
| 89 | Amir Ahmed Mohamed |  |
| 90 | [Asha Abdalla](/en/people/asha-ahmed-abdalla/) |  |
| 91 | Asha Abdi Sheikh |  |
| 92 | Asha Abdullahi Isse |  |
| 93 | [Asha Haji Elmi](/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/) |  |
| 94 | Avv. Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed |  |
| 95 | Awad Ahmed Ashara |  |
| 96 | Barre Aden Shire |  |
| 97 | Bashir Mohamed Aden |  |
| 98 | Botan Isse Alin |  |
| 99 | Cabdi Cumar Axmed (Abdi Omar Ahmed) |  |
| 100 | Cisman Cilmi Boqoreh |  |
| 101 | Dahir Haji Khalif |  |
| 102 | Deqa Olujog Jama |  |
| 103 | Fadumo Hassan Ali |  |
| 104 | Fahma Ahmed Nur |  |
| 105 | Faisal Omer Gulaid |  |
| 106 | Farah Hassan Mohamed |  |
| 107 | Farahan Ali Mohamoud |  |
| 108 | Fatuma Dahir Adan |  |
| 109 | Fowsiya Mohamed Sheikh Hasan |  |
| 110 | Gelle Mohamed Adan |  |
| 112 | Haji Adam Hussein |  |
| 113 | Hassan Abdi Guure |  |
| 114 | Hassan Abdi Hirey |  |
| 115 | Hassan Abdunur Aden (Albera) |  |
| 116 | [Hassan Abshir Farah](/en/people/hassan-abshir-farah/) |  |
| 117 | Hassan Ahmed Jama |  |
| 118 | Hassan Burale Mohamed |  |
| 119 | Hassan Dhimbil Wasame |  |
| 120 | Hassan Ibrahim Mohamed |  |
| 121 | Hassan Isak Yaqub ‘Ges Adde’ |  |
| 122 | Hassan Moallin Hussein |  |
| 123 | Hassan Mohamed Idiris |  |
| 124 | Hassan Mohamed Nur (Sharti Gadud) |  |
| 125 | Hassan Omar Hussein |  |
| 126 | Hassan Omar Mohamed |  |
| 127 | Hawa Abdillahi Qayad |  |
| 128 | Hiddo Farah Abdi |  |
| 129 | Hilowle Iman Omar |  |
| 130 | Hirsi Bulhan Farah |  |
| 131 | Hussein Abdi Mohamed |  |
| 132 | Hussein Abdisalan Mohamed |  |
| 133 | Hussein Addawe Badow |  |
| 134 | Hussein Arale Addan |  |
| 135 | Hussein Elabe Faahiye |  |
| 136 | Hussein Mohamed Jama Keynan |  |
| 137 | Hussein Mohammud Muse ‘Bantu’ |  |
| 138 | Hussein Mohamud Sheikh Hussein |  |
| 139 | Hussein Osman Hussein |  |
| 140 | Ibrahim Abdulahi Osman (Garabey) |  |
| 141 | Ibrahim Aden Hassan (Kiish) |  |
| 142 | Ibrahim Habeeb Noor |  |
| 143 | Ibrahim Hussein Ali Salah |  |
| 144 | Ibrahim Isak Aymow (Jarere) |  |
| 145 | Ibrahim Isak Yarow |  |
| 146 | Ibrahim Mohamed Deeq |  |
| 147 | Ibrahim Mohamed Isak (Ibrow) |  |
| 148 | Ibrahim Shaikh Ali Mohamed |  |
| 149 | Ing. Nur Wabar Abdi |  |
| 150 | Isak Mohamed Nur |  |
| 151 | Isak Mohamud Mohamed |  |
| 152 | Ismail Hassan Farah |  |
| 153 | Ismail Hassan Jama |  |
| 154 | Ismail Hassan Mohamoud |  |
| 155 | Ismail Mohamoud Hure |  |
| 156 | Ismail Qasim Naji |  |
| 157 | Isse Weheliye Malin |  |
| 158 | Jama Abdillahi Ofleh |  |
| 159 | [Jama Ali Jama](/en/people/jama-ali-jama/) |  |
| 160 | Jama Gure Qobey |  |
| 161 | Jamal Hassan Mohamed |  |
| 162 | Jeylani Ali Kediye |  |
| 163 | Jibril Mohamed Sheikh Osman |  |
| 164 | Khadija Mohamed Diriye |  |
| 165 | Khalid Omar Ali |  |
| 166 | Lul Abdi Aden |  |
| 167 | Mahad Aabdalle Aawed |  |
| 168 | Mahamud Abdi Hassan (Begos) |  |
| 169 | Mariam Arif Qassim |  |
| 170 | Maulid Ma’ane Mohamud |  |
| 171 | Maxamed Abdillahi Kamil |  |
| 172 | Maxamed Cali Xagaa |  |
| 173 | Maxmed Cali Daheye |  |
| 174 | Mire Hagi Farah Mohamed |  |
| 175 | Moalin Mohamud Mohamed (Jiis) |  |
| 176 | Moalin Nur Hassan |  |
| 177 | Modobe Nunow Mohamed |  |
| 178 | Mohamed Abdi Awad |  |
| 179 | Mohamed Abdi Hayer |  |
| 180 | Mohamed Abdi Yussuf |  |
| 181 | Mohamed Aden Wayel |  |
| 182 | Mohamed Ahmed Kulan |  |
| 183 | Mohamed Ali Bilaal |  |
| 184 | Mohamed Ali Shiriye |  |
| 185 | Mohamed Diriye Ali |  |
| 186 | Mohamed Hashi Gaani |  |
| 187 | Mohamed Hassan Faqi |  |
| 188 | Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim |  |
| 189 | Mohamed Hussein Addo |  |
| 190 | Mohamed Hussein Isak |  |
| 191 | Mohamed Hussein Rage |  |
| 192 | Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed (Habsade) |  |
| 193 | Mohamed Ismail Barkale | "Elder of the Bajuni people, Petitioner to I.G.A.D. (Africa's Intergovernmental Authority on Development) on Tribal Rights" |
| 194 | Mohamed Jama Furuh |  |
| 195 | Mohamed Maalim Abdirahman |  |
| 196 | Mohamed Mohamoud Aden |  |
| 197 | Mohamed Mohamud Guled (Gamadere) | "Formerly the Minister of Public Works and Housing; as of February 7, 2007, Minister of the Interior" |
| 198 | Mohamed Mursal Borrow |  |
| 199 | Mohamed Nurani Bakar |  |
| 200 | Mohamed Omar Habeb (M. Dhere) |  |
| 201 | Mohamed Osman Bulbul |  |
| 202 | Mohamed Osman Isak (Fanah) |  |
| 203 | Mohamed Osman Maye |  |
| 204 | Mohamed Osman Mostaro |  |
| 205 | [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/) |  |
| 206 | Mohamed Sh. Nageye |  |
| 207 | Mohamed Sheikh Ahmed Gabyo |  |
| 208 | Mohamed Shiekh Isak (Abadir) |  |
| 209 | Mohammed Hassan Ali Daryeel |  |
| 210 | Mohamoud Ahmed M. Kulalihi |  |
| 211 | Mohamoud Mohamed Hassan |  |
| 212 | Mohamud Sayed Aden |  |
| 213 | Mohamud Abdillahi Jama |  |
| 214 | Mohamud Barre Hussein |  |
| 215 | Mohamuud Salad Noor |  |
| 216 | Mukhtar Mohamed Yusuf |  |
| 217 | Mumin Ibrahim Isak |  |
| 218 | Muna Ibrahim Abikar |  |
| 219 | Munye Said Omar |  |
| 220 | Muqtar Munye Bishar |  |
| 221 | Musa Nur Amin | "Minister of Internal Affairs" |
| 222 | Muse Ali Omar |  |
| 223 | Muse Hersi Fahiye |  |
| 224 | [Muse Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/) |  |
| 225 | Mustafa Sheikh Ali Duhulow |  |
| 226 | Nur Ahmed Dirshe |  |
| 227 | Nur Matan Abdi |  |
| 228 | Nur Sheikh Hussein Addo |  |
| 229 | Omar Aden Hassan |  |
| 230 | Omar Ahmed Jess |  |
| 231 | Omar Hashi Adan |  |
| 232 | Omar Islaw Mohamed |  |
| 233 | Omar Mohamud Mohamed (Filish) |  |
| 234 | Omar Ugas Mumin |  |
| 235 | Omer Hassan Subeir |  |
| 236 | Osman Adan Dhubow |  |
| 237 | Osman Hassan Ali Ato |  |
| 238 | Osman Liban Ibrahim |  |
| 239 | Osman Muqtar Mohamed (Mirow) |  |
| 240 | Qamar Adan Ali Abdalla |  |
| 241 | Rashid Adan Abdullahi ‘Gebyow’ |  |
| 242 | Sead Hassan Shire | "Warsangali/Dubays" |
| 243 | Saeed Mohamed Rage |  |
| 244 | Sahra Abdulkadir Abdirahman |  |
| 245 | Salad Ali Jelle |  |
| 246 | Salah Ali Farah |  |
| 247 | Salah Ismail Saqawe |  |
| 248 | Salim Aliyow Ibrow |  |
| 249 | Saredo Mohamed Abdalla |  |
| 250 | [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) |  |
| 251 | Sharif Safi Roble |  |
| 252 | Sharif Salah Mohamed Ali |  |
| 253 | Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur (Madobe) | "First Deputy Chairman of RRA" |
| 254 | Sheikh Aden Moalin Isak |  |
| 255 | Sheikh Aden Sheikh Mohamed Der |  |
| 256 | Sheikh Hassan Bile |  |
| 257 | Sheikh Jama Haji Hussein |  |
| 258 | Sheikh Nur Ali Aden |  |
| 259 | Suleyman Olad Roble |  |
| 260 | Surie Dirie Arab |  |
| 260 | Xirsi Adan Rooble Afrax |  |
| 262 | Yussuf Mahamed Harare |  |
| 263 | Yusuf Abdillahi Kahin |  |
| 264 | Yusuf Gelle Ugas |  |
| 265 | Yusuf Hassan Iibrahim |  |
| 266 | Yusuf Mire Mohamoud "Serar" |  |
| 267 | Yusuf Mohamed Abduqadir |  |
| 268 | Yusuf Mohamed Kahair |  |
| 269 | Zakariye Xuseen Areh |  |
| 270 | Zakia Abdissalam Alim |  |
| 272 | Zeinab Maxamed Caamir |  |
| 274 | Zekaria Mohamoud Haji Abdi |  |
| 275 | Hussein Mohamed Farah Aidid |  |
| 276 | Ibrahin Abdi Nur |  |
| 277 | Mohamed Mohamoud Haid |  |
| 278 | Mohamed Ahmed Furre | "Ogaden Cowlyahan Reer Cali" |
| 279 | Serar Ali Muhamud Deria |  |
| 280 | [Ali Abdullahi Osoble](/en/people/ali-abdullahi-osoble/) | "Minister of Education, Minister of Planning, Minister of Reconciliation" |
| 281 | Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Waafow |  |


---

# Somali Air Force (Ciidanka Cirka Soomaaliyeed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-air-force/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Air Force grew out of the Somali Aeronautical Corps of the 1950s and took its name after independence in 1960. Built mainly with Soviet aircraft, it fought in the 1977–78 Ogaden war and in the 1980s also flew Chinese and British-built jets. It stopped functioning when the state collapsed in 1991. It was re-formed from 2015 and by 2024 flew five Italian-supplied helicopters, while Turkish drones flown from Mogadishu were, according to Turkey, under Turkish control.

## In short

The air force is one branch of Somalia's armed forces, alongside the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and the [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/). It was once among the larger air forces in the Horn of Africa. It ceased to exist in 1991 and is now being rebuilt on a small scale. This page sets out its history from the sources.

## Before independence

Under Italian trusteeship in the 1950s, a Somali Aeronautical Corps (Corpo Aeronautico della Somalia) flew transport aircraft, trainers and six P-51 Mustang fighters; the Mustangs went back to Italy before independence. It was renamed the Somali Air Force in 1960. Its founder and first chief was [Ali Matan](/en/diaspora/refugees-in-somalia-1978-1990/) Hashi, described as Somalia's first pilot ([Wikipedia, Somali Air Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Air_Force), citing Tom Cooper's 2015 history of the Ogaden war).

## The Soviet-era force, 1960s–1977

Italy trained airmen from 1962, and about 50 cadets trained as jet pilots in the Soviet Union (Wikipedia, citing John Drysdale, 1964). [Asli Hassan Abade](/en/people/asli-hassan-abade/), widely described as Africa's first female military pilot, made her first solo military flight on 9 September 1976 ([*Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder*, 13 November 2025](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/11/13/africas-first-female-military-pilot-honored-minnesota/)). By July 1975 the International Institute for Strategic Studies counted three Il-28 bombers, MiG-15s, 23 MiG-17s and MiG-19s, 24 MiG-21s, transport aircraft and Soviet helicopters (Wikipedia, citing *The Military Balance 1975–76*). The air force grew under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), whose government was closely allied with Moscow until 1977; see [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The Ogaden war, 1977–78

In the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), Somali bombers flew high-altitude missions until Ethiopian fighters contested the skies, and none of the Il-28s survived the war. The Soviet Union switched its support to Ethiopia during the war, leaving the air force without its main supplier of parts (Wikipedia, citing Cooper, 2015).

## The 1980s

A US government study recorded that by 1980 fewer than six of about 21 combat aircraft were thought to be working, kept flying by Pakistani mechanics. Chinese Shenyang J-6 jets began arriving in 1981, alongside British-built Hawker Hunters and Italian SF.260 light attack aircraft ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Air_Force), citing the Library of Congress country studies of 1982 and 1993). The IISS counted 2,500 personnel and 56 combat aircraft in 1990 (Wikipedia, citing *The Military Balance 1990–91*).

**The north, 1988.** When fighting broke out between government forces and the Somali National Movement in May 1988, government aircraft bombed Hargeisa and other northern towns, and Wikipedia records that up to 90 per cent of Hargeisa was destroyed. *The New York Times* reported strafing of people fleeing, and scholars such as Adam Jones have written that mercenary pilots were paid per sortie (Wikipedia, citing Jane Perlez, *The New York Times*, 1988, and Adam Jones, 2004). One pilot, [Ahmed Mohamed Hassan](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-hassan-pilot/), refused the order and flew to Djibouti ([Reuters, 27 June 2008, reposted by *Isweydii*](https://isweydii.blogspot.com/2008/06/interview-somali-pilot-returns-to-city.html)).

## Collapse, 1991

The armed forces had been breaking apart since 1987–88. When Siad Barre left Mogadishu in January 1991 the air force ceased to exist. In 1993 UN forces found the wrecks of MiG-21s, MiG-15 trainers and MiG-17s at Mogadishu airport and Hawker Hunters at Baidoa (Wikipedia, citing the Australian War Memorial).

## Rebuilding since 2015

- **Headquarters.** On 1 July 2015 Defence Minister Abdulkadir [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Dini reopened the air force headquarters at Afisone in Mogadishu (Wikipedia, citing [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)).
- **Size.** In 2017 it had no aircraft and about 170 personnel, trained mainly in Turkey; the World Bank put the cost of rebuilding over ten years at US$50 million (Wikipedia, citing the World Bank, 2017).
- **Helicopters.** Italy delivered five Agusta-Bell 412EPX helicopters to the army in July and August 2024. The UN Panel of Experts called this "a positive development" that gave the army and the AU mission close air support, medical evacuation and troop transport, but said keeping them flying "will remain challenging" because of maintenance costs ([UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2024/748, para. 107 and annex 15](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2024/748&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Air base.** Work on an air base at Wargaadhi, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), began in December 2023 (Wikipedia, citing Radio Dalsan).

## Turkish drones

The UN Panel of Experts reported in October 2022 that Bayraktar TB-2 armed drones had been delivered to Mogadishu on 6 December 2021 by two Turkish Air Force A400M aircraft, according to confidential reports. Turkey told the Panel it had delivered no drones to the Somali authorities and that the systems were "assigned to be used by [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) in the fight against terrorism in Somalia". The Panel said that, as Turkey was not exempted from the arms embargo, the delivery was "not compliant with the arms embargo" ([UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2022/754, 10 October 2022, para. 96](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/754&l=en&t=pdf)). Six Turkish T129 attack helicopters arrived in 2025; Turkish officials said they stayed under Turkish control (Wikipedia, citing Garowe Online, November 2025). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [the UN arms embargo](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/).

## Sources differ

- **Il-28 bombers.** Wikipedia's account gives both three and four in service in 1977.
- **Turkish training dates.** Cadet training in Turkey is dated 2013 in one source and 2014 in another.
- **Pakistani jets.** Reports in 2026 described a contract for JF-17 fighters from [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/); neither government had made a formal statement (Wikipedia, citing Radio Dalsan and Business Insider Africa).
- **Who flies the drones.** Turkey says the drones and attack helicopters are under its control; Somali officials have described their use against al-Shabaab (Wikipedia, citing ILKHA, 2022).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2022/754 (2022): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/754&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2024/748 (2024): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2024/748&l=en&t=pdf).
- Wikipedia, "Somali Air Force", with its references: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Air_Force).


---

# Somali Petroleum Authority: the oil and gas regulator

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-petroleum-authority/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Petroleum Authority regulates oil and gas exploration in Somalia and runs licensing rounds for exploration blocks. It was set up under the 2020 petroleum law, with Ibrahim Ali Hussein as its first chairman. In August 2026 its chairman, Abdulqadir Aden, said Somalia was preparing an open bidding round.

## What it does

The Somali Petroleum Authority is the regulator for oil and gas exploration and production. Petroleum Economist reported in 2020 that it was the country's first upstream regulator, created under the petroleum law, and that it would oversee licensing of exploration blocks ([Petroleum Economist, 2020](https://pemedianetwork.com/petroleum-economist/articles/upstream/2020/inaugural-somali-regulator-plots-confident-course)). Policy is set by the [Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources](/en/institutions/ministry-of-petroleum-and-minerals/); the authority handles licensing and regulation.

## Who leads it

| Period | Chairman | Source |
|---|---|---|
| From 2020 | Ibrahim Ali Hussein, first chairman and chief executive | [Petroleum Economist, 2020](https://pemedianetwork.com/petroleum-economist/articles/upstream/2020/inaugural-somali-regulator-plots-confident-course) |
| 2026 | Abdulqadir Aden | [Dawan Africa, 22 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-launch-open-bidding-for-oil-blocks-as-exploration-enters-final-stage) |

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 030202 under the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 1,071,460 |
| 2026 (budget) | 1,081,820 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 1,045,380 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing in 2026

On 21 August 2026 chairman Abdulqadir Aden said Somalia is preparing an open, competitive bidding round for companies seeking oil blocks. "Companies seeking to operate in Somalia's petroleum sector will enter an open competitive process," he said, at a Canada-supported training on petroleum investment for staff of the finance and petroleum ministries and the authority ([Dawan Africa, 22 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-launch-open-bidding-for-oil-blocks-as-exploration-enters-final-stage)).

At the same event the petroleum ministry's Director General, [Mohamed Hashi](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-hashi/) Arabey, said Somalia has close to 300 petroleum blocks offshore and onshore to be marketed to investors. The authority's chairman said he hoped for results on Somalia's oil prospects in the coming months ([Dawan Africa, 22 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-launch-open-bidding-for-oil-blocks-as-exploration-enters-final-stage)).

## Other records

The Petroleum Law approved in February 2020 created the authority to issue licences and review production sharing agreements. Somalia's first offshore licensing round, for seven blocks, opened on 4 August 2020 and closed on 12 March 2021 ([S&P Global, 4 August 2020](https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/080420-somalia-establishes-oil-regulator-as-bids-open-for-first-ever-licensing-round); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_industry_of_Somalia)). In December 2022 the federal government declared oil operations licensed by [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) illegal, saying only federal authorities can grant oil permits. The full history is on [this site's oil and gas page](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/).

## How the work is shared

The authority works with the [Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources](/en/institutions/ministry-of-petroleum-and-minerals/) and the [Ministry of Finance](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/). One summary of the 2020 law says it gives 55% of oil revenue to the federal government and 45% to the member states ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_industry_of_Somalia)).


---

# National Disability Agency of Somalia (Hay'adda Naafada)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-disability-agency/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's National Disability Agency works for the rights of disabled people. Its chairman, Mohamed Abdullahi Jama, says it pushed for the National Disability Rights Protection Law, in force since 31 December 2024, which sets a 5% quota for disabled people on councils at every level. It launched a national disability policy in January 2026.

## What it does

The National Disability Agency is the federal body for the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities. Its chairman said in February 2026 that the agency had existed for about five years ([The Somali Times, February 2026](https://somnews.pages.dev/articles/somali-national-disability-agency-chairman-demands-implementation-of-5-political-quota-and-inclusive-drought-relief)). It carried out a national disability survey, published in January 2024 with a foreword by its chairperson ([NDA Disability Survey Report](https://tcd.ie/triss/assets/PDFs/1.%20NDA%20Disability%20Survey%20Report%20-%20Final%20.pdf)).

## Who leads it

Mohamed Abdullahi Jama (Sugaal Macalin) is chairman ([The Somali Times, February 2026](https://somnews.pages.dev/articles/somali-national-disability-agency-chairman-demands-implementation-of-5-political-quota-and-inclusive-drought-relief); [NDA Disability Survey Report](https://tcd.ie/triss/assets/PDFs/1.%20NDA%20Disability%20Survey%20Report%20-%20Final%20.pdf)). The federal cabinet extended the term of the agency's board by four years at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-cabinet-extends-national-disability-agency-board-term)).

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 040501 under the Ministry of Family and Human Rights Development ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 600,306 |
| 2026 (budget) | 637,036 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 643,336 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## The 2024 law and the 5% quota

The chairman said the National Disability Rights Protection Law was signed by President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) on 30 December 2024 and came into force on 31 December 2024. He said it has 39 articles and that Article 7 sets a quota of 5% for people with disabilities on government councils at federal, state and district levels ([The Somali Times, February 2026](https://somnews.pages.dev/articles/somali-national-disability-agency-chairman-demands-implementation-of-5-political-quota-and-inclusive-drought-relief)).

## What it reports doing

In a TV interview aired on 14 February 2026, the chairman said ([The Somali Times, February 2026](https://somnews.pages.dev/articles/somali-national-disability-agency-chairman-demands-implementation-of-5-political-quota-and-inclusive-drought-relief)):

- the agency launched a National Disability Policy in January 2026, in line with the government's national plan;
- it is writing guidelines for the 5% quota, to put to the Council of Ministers before the elections;
- two disabled candidates were elected to district councils in the Banadir elections;
- the electoral commission has consulted disability groups on how to apply the quota.

The chairman took part in a meeting led by the acting Minister of Justice, Ilyaas [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Omar, with the constitutional bodies on the rights of disabled people in the constitutional review ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-government-commits-to-including-people-with-disabilities-in-politics/)).

## How the work is shared

The agency's budget line sits under the [Ministry of Family and Human Rights](/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/). Elections and the quota involve the electoral commission (see [independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/)).


---

# Somaliland Camel Corps (1914–1944)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-camel-corps/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somaliland Camel Corps was the British protectorate's mounted force, made up mainly of Somali soldiers under British officers. It grew out of the Camel Constabulary, defeated by the Dervishes at Dul Madoba in 1913, and was formed in 1914. It fought in the 1920 campaign that ended the Dervish state, held the Tug Argan gap against the Italian invasion of August 1940, was re-formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1944, when the Somaliland Scouts replaced it.

## In short

The Camel Corps was the armed force of [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). Its riders were mostly Somali; its officers were British. It is remembered both for fighting the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) and for the defence of the protectorate in 1940. This page records its history from the sources. Its counterpart in the Italian south is described in [Somali troops under Italian rule](/en/institutions/somali-colonial-troops-italian/).

## The Camel Constabulary and Dul Madoba, 1913

Before the corps there was a Camel Constabulary. On 9 August 1913 a force of 109 men rode out from [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) under Richard Corfield and met about 2,000 Dervish riflemen at Dul Madoba. Corfield was killed; Douglas Jardine's history records 35 of the constabulary killed and 17 badly wounded, and 395 Dervish dead counted on the field ([Douglas Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland*, 1923, ch. VII](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland)). Wikipedia names the Dervish commanders as Ibraahin Xoorane and Axmed Aarey ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Camel Corps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Camel_Corps)).

## Formation and the 1920 campaign

The British formed the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Camel Corps on 12 March 1914. It grew to about 700 riders (Wikipedia). In January 1920 it took part in the combined land and air campaign, with "Z" Unit of the Royal Air Force, the Somaliland police and King's African Rifles units, that took the Dervish forts and ended the movement's state (Jardine, 1923, pp. 262–266; Wikipedia).

## Between the wars

After the 1931 financial crisis the corps had 14 British officers and 400 Somali soldiers. In 1939 it had 14 British officers, one British NCO and 554 other ranks, mostly Somali, in four companies, only one of which still rode camels (Wikipedia).

## Tug Argan, August 1940

When Italian forces invaded in August 1940, the corps screened their advance and then joined the defence of the Tug Argan gap on the road to Berbera. Captain Eric Wilson, seconded to the corps, commanded machine-gun posts "manned by Somali soldiers" on Observation Hill, which held from 11 to 15 August. His Somali sergeant was killed beside him. Wilson was awarded the Victoria Cross; the citation, published in the *[London](/en/diaspora/london/) Gazette* on 14 October 1940, believed him dead, but he had been taken prisoner and survived ([Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum, "Eric Wilson VC"](https://queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/vc_gc/eric-wilson-vc.html)). The British left Berbera on 17 August 1940 and most of the corps was disbanded (Wikipedia).

## Re-formed and disbanded, 1941–1944

The British returned on 16 March 1941 and re-formed the corps, which became a mechanised regiment in 1942. Plans to send it to Burma were dropped after several mutinies, and it was disbanded in 1944. The Somaliland Scouts took its place ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Camel_Corps)). See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).

## Sources differ

- **Dul Madoba losses.** Wikipedia gives 57 killed or wounded of 110 men; Jardine gives 35 killed and 17 badly wounded of 109.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Douglas Jardine, *The Mad Mullah of Somaliland* (1923): [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/TheMadMullahOfSomaliland).
- Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum, "Eric Wilson VC", with the Victoria Cross citation: [page](https://queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/vc_gc/eric-wilson-vc.html).


---

# National Commission for Higher Education: who checks Somalia's universities

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/national-commission-for-higher-education/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's National Commission for Higher Education oversees universities under the Higher Education Act No. 30, in force since December 2024. The cabinet named its 15 members in July 2025. In 2026 it drafted standards with up to 200 criteria for judging universities, and it will run self-assessments and site visits. The education ministry says about 130 universities are registered.

## What it does

The commission works under Somalia's Higher Education Act No. 30, which came into force in December 2024. It is mandated to lead, supervise and reform universities and other post-secondary institutions in line with national education policy and standards ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202161/somali_cabinet_approves_15_member_higher_education_oversight_body.aspx)).

## Who leads it

The federal cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/), approved the commission's 15 members in July 2025, on a proposal from the Ministry of Education. The ministry said the members include professors, researchers and administrators chosen through several vetting stages ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202161/somali_cabinet_approves_15_member_higher_education_oversight_body.aspx)). The Prime Minister then appointed Dr Ahmed Ibrahim Nageeye as its Secretary General ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-barre-names-dr-ahmed-nageeye-as-head-of-higher-education-committee)).

Reports in 2026 name two different people as chair:

| Date | Name and title | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | Dr Abdinur Sheikh Mohamed, chairperson; Mohamad Ali Farah, deputy chairperson | [New Vision, May 2026](https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/education/somalia-benchmarks-ugandas-higher-education-s-NV_233716_052026) |
| August 2026 | Mahmoud Ahmed Jimale, chairman | [Dawan Africa, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards) |

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 040204 under the Ministry of Education and Higher Education ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | none (new line) |
| 2026 (budget) | none (new line) |
| 2027 (proposed) | 730,500 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing in 2026

- **May:** a delegation visited Uganda's National Council for Higher Education in Kampala to study how it licenses universities and accredits programmes ([New Vision, May 2026](https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/education/somalia-benchmarks-ugandas-higher-education-s-NV_233716_052026)).
- **August:** it held a two-day consultation with universities in Mogadishu, opened by Education Minister Farah [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulkadir. The chairman said it had drafted a national policy, strategy and regulations, and standards with up to 200 criteria for evaluating universities. Universities will assess themselves first, followed by site visits, and the results will be published ([Dawan Africa, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)).

At the same meeting the ministry's Permanent Secretary, Hassan Mohamed Ali, said Somalia has about 130 registered universities, and asked whether their graduates can compete in the region ([Dawan Africa, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)).

## How the work is shared

The commission works with the [Ministry of Education](/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/). The largest universities are listed on [main universities](/en/institutions/main-universities/).


---

# Somaliland Police Force (Ciidanka Booliska Somaliland)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-police/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somaliland Police Force is Somaliland's civilian police, under the interior ministry and headquartered in Hargeisa. It was re-formed in 1993, largely from SNM fighters, and has under 6,000 men and women. It includes a criminal investigation department, a Special Protection Unit that guards foreign organisations and a Rapid Response Unit. A separate Custodial Corps (Asluubta) runs the prisons. The UNDP and the UK have supported its training.

## In short

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own police, separate from the federal [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/). It is one of three uniformed services, with the army and the coast guard described in [Somaliland armed forces](/en/institutions/somaliland-armed-forces/). This page describes the police and the prison service from the sources.

## History

A police force existed in the British protectorate, handling internal security and issuing permits such as identity papers ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Police](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Police)); see [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). After 1991 the force was rebuilt in 1993, largely out of fighters of the Somali National Movement, under the government of [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) (Wikipedia).

## Size and organisation

Michael Horton wrote in 2019 that the police had "under 6,000 men and women", including a Special Protection Unit set up to guard foreign organisations after four foreign aid workers were killed in 2003–2004, and Rapid Response Units for counter-terrorism. He reported that about 35 per cent of Somaliland's 2019 budget of about US$233 million went on the security services, police and military, and that the UK supported the police ([Michael Horton, *CTC Sentinel*, November 2019](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/)).

Wikipedia records that the force comes under the interior ministry, has a commandant for each region, and includes a criminal investigation department (CID) and a small anti-riot unit. In 2003 Hargeisa had eight police stations and 24 police posts. A first Rapid Response Unit of almost 70 was trained, and a second of almost 100 finished training on 14 March 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Police)).

**Weapons.** Because of limited money and the [UN arms embargo](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/), many officers' rifles have been their own, brought by recruits and former fighters (Wikipedia).

## Outside support

The UNDP has supported police training and reform since at least 2010. Since December 2021 the UK has funded a Somaliland Security Programme covering planning, public order and counter-terrorism (Wikipedia).

## Commissioners

| Commissioner | Years |
|---|---|
| Elmi Roble Furre | 1997–1999; October 2010–June 2011 |
| Mohamed Saqadhi Dubad | 2006–2010; 2011–2012 |
| Abdillahi Fadal Iman | March 2012–November 2019 |
| Mohamed Adan Saqadhi | November 2019–23 January 2025 |
| Brigadier General Abdirahman Abdillahi Hassan "Abdi Dheere" | from 23 January 2025 |

(Wikipedia, citing [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) for 2025.)

## Rights reporting

The US State Department's report for 2010 described the police as "firmly under civilian control" and attributed no unlawful killings to them. It recorded that half of the 765 prisoners at Mandera prison were held on the orders of regional or district security committees rather than courts (Wikipedia, citing the US State Department, 2010). In September 2009 more than 100 people, including opposition leaders, were detained after four people were killed in demonstrations in Hargeisa, and in October 2011 the journalists' union NUSOJ condemned police for beating a journalist in Hargeisa (Wikipedia).

## The Custodial Corps (Asluubta)

The Custodial Corps, Ciidanka Asluubta, guards Somaliland's prisons and also serves as military police. Wikipedia dates its origins to the protectorate's prisons service of 1 November 1949 and gives 1993 as its formation in its present form. Its work is set out in Somaliland's Prisons Law, Law No. 65 of 2014 ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Custodial Corps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Custodial_Corps), citing *Xeerka Xabsiyada*, 2014).

## Sources differ

- **Size.** Wikipedia's summary box gives about 6,000; Horton gives "under 6,000".
- **The Custodial Corps' start.** 1949 (as the prisons service) or 1993 (as now organised).
- **Who leads the police.** Parts of the Wikipedia article still name Mohamed Adan Saqadhi, while its table lists his successor from January 2025.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Michael Horton, "Somaliland combats al-Shabaab", *CTC Sentinel* (2019): [article](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somaliland-combats-al-shabaab/).
- Wikipedia, "Somaliland Police", with its references: [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Police).


---

# Somalia's medicines regulator and the 2026 Medicine Law

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/medicines-regulator/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia set up an interim National Medicines Regulatory Agency under the health ministry in February 2023. In January 2026 the House of the People passed a Medicine Bill by 141 votes to none, to create a permanent authority for medicines and health equipment. The 2027 budget proposes the regulator's first own budget line, of US$60,000.

## What it does

A medicines regulator decides which medicines may be imported and sold, licenses pharmacies and importers, and checks quality. A 2026 journal article reports that the federal government, through the Ministry of Health, set up an interim National Medicines Regulatory Agency on 19 February 2023 ([Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 2026](https://www.dovepress.com/pharmacy-practice-in-somalia-addressing-educational-and-regulatory-gap-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-AMEP)).

## The 2026 Medicine Law

On 3 January 2026 the House of the People passed the Medicine Bill at its third reading, with 141 votes in favour, one abstention and none against. The bill was drafted by the Ministry of Health and reviewed by the House's social services committee. The committee chair, Nadra Salah Abdi, said it would strengthen oversight of medicines and help protect patients from unsafe or counterfeit drugs ([Hiiraan Online, January 2026](https://www.hiiraan.com/national4/2026/Jan/204097/somalias_parliament_approves_medicine_bill_to_regulate_pharmaceuticals.aspx)). [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa reported that the law creates a Somali Pharmaceutical and Health Equipment Authority, to be set up once the law comes into effect ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-approves-pharmaceutical-law)).

Health Minister Dr Ali Haji Adam welcomed the vote ([Hiiraan Online, January 2026](https://www.hiiraan.com/national4/2026/Jan/204097/somalias_parliament_approves_medicine_bill_to_regulate_pharmaceuticals.aspx)).

## The money

The figures are from the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, where the body is sub-head 040101 under the Ministry of Health ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | none |
| 2026 (budget) | none |
| 2027 (proposed) | 60,000 |

The line first appears in the 2027 proposal.

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## Other records

- **Egypt:** in June 2026 Egypt's Drug Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with its Somali counterpart on medicines and biological products ([Masrawy, 17 June 2026](https://www.masrawy.com/news/news_egypt/details/2026/6/17/3004055/%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A6%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A)).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** Somaliland suspended the sale of medicines made in Mogadishu, citing its own quality-control requirements ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-suspends-sale-of-mogadishu-made-medicines-over-quality-control-requirements)).
- A 2026 journal article on pharmacy in Somalia says frameworks have been developed but enforcement remains limited ([Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 2026](https://www.dovepress.com/pharmacy-practice-in-somalia-addressing-educational-and-regulatory-gap-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-AMEP)).

## How the work is shared

The regulator sits under the federal [Ministry of Health](/en/institutions/ministry-of-health/). [WHO](/en/institutions/who-somalia/) advises on medicines policy.


---

# Somali troops under Italian rule: the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops, 1908 to 1941

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-colonial-troops-italian/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Italy formed a colonial force in southern Somalia on 5 April 1908, first called the Guard Corps of Benadir and later the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops. It included Somali companies, the zaptié police and, from 1925, irregular units called dubat. Its dubat garrison at Walwal clashed with Ethiopian forces on 5 December 1934, the incident Italy used for its 1935–1936 invasion of Ethiopia, in which the corps fought. Britain's reconquest of 1941 ended the Italian force.

## In short

Under Italian rule in southern Somalia, Somalis served in a colonial army and police. This page records what the sources say about that force. Its counterpart in the British north was the [Somaliland Camel Corps](/en/institutions/somaliland-camel-corps/). After 1941 the British built new forces, which led to the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) and the army of 1960 (see [Somali armed forces, 1960 to 1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/)).

## Founding, 1908

The force was set up on 5 April 1908, after Italy took over the Benadir coast from the Sultan of Zanzibar. It was first named the Guard Corps of Benadir (*Corpo della Guardia di Benadir*) and later the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops. Its first organisation had a command, a section of zaptié (colonial police, likened to Somali carabinieri), five local companies and a company of gunners. In July 1908 Italian forces under Major Antonino Di Giorgio took [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and then fought the army of the [Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) ([Wikipedia, Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Corps_of_Somali_Colonial_Troops), citing I. M. Lewis, *A Modern History of Somalia*, 1988, and Olsen and Shadle, 1991).

**The dubat.** In 1925 Italy formed the dubat, irregular Somali units under Major Camillo Bechis, operating mainly in the Ogaden and sometimes on camels (Wikipedia).

## Walwal, December 1934

The border between Italian [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) was not clearly defined ([Wikipedia, Ual-Ual incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ual-Ual_Incident)). On 23 November 1934 the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission reached the wells at Walwal and Wardair; the Italian officer in command there "declined to permit the joint commission to enter", and the commission withdrew to a camp about 30 km away. On 5 December there was "a serious encounter" between Italian colonial troops and Ethiopian forces near the wells. Ethiopia offered to go to arbitration and took the matter to the League of Nations, the British foreign secretary, Sir John Simon, told the House of Commons ([Hansard, House of Commons, 17 December 1934](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1934/dec/17/abyssinia-and-italy)). The Walwal garrison was made up of dubat (Wikipedia). See [The Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) for the later history of the region.

## The wars of 1935–1941

Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935 (see [Ethiopia and Somalia at war](/en/history/ethiopia-somalia-wars-timeline/)). The Somali corps fought on the southern front, including against the Ethiopian defences in the Ogaden in April 1936, under General Luigi Frusci, and was awarded Italy's gold medal for military valour for the campaign. In 1940 it was brought into the Italian army as the 101st and 102nd Somali divisions (Wikipedia). Italy invaded [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in 1940; the British counter-attacked in March 1941, retook the north and placed southern Somalia and the Ogaden under military administration ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Somalia During World War II"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm)).

## Sources differ

- **Casualties at Walwal.** Not given by the British government in 1934; Wikipedia's account of the crisis gives about 150 Ethiopian and 50 Italian-side dead ([Wikipedia, Abyssinia Crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyssinia_Crisis)); other accounts give different figures.
- **Siad Barre.** Wikipedia's page on the corps calls [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) a former zaptié; his own page records that he joined the police under the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/), after 1941.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Hansard, "Abyssinia and Italy", House of Commons, 17 December 1934: [record](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1934/dec/17/abyssinia-and-italy).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Somalia During World War II": [page](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/12.htm).


---

# Somali Bureau of Standards (SOBS): product standards and inspection

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-bureau-of-standards/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Bureau of Standards sets and applies quality standards for goods imported, exported and made in Somalia. It works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, uses Bureau Veritas to inspect goods before they are shipped to Somalia, and inspects markets and ports. Hawa Ahmed Hassan is its director.

## What it does

The bureau oversees and regulates quality standards for products imported, exported, manufactured and used in Somalia ([US International Trade Administration](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-trade-standards)). When Commerce Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Maareye announced its resumption, he described it as responsible for adopting and applying standards for imported and locally made products, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/minister-maareye-re-opened-the-somali-bureau-of-standards)).

It represents Somalia in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO lists its board as made up of representatives of several ministries, the Chamber of Commerce, and the agency's director and deputy director ([ISO](https://www.iso.org/member/8867946.html)).

For imports, it has contracted Bureau Veritas to inspect goods at the port of departure and issue certificates against Somali standards ([US International Trade Administration](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-trade-standards)).

## Who leads it

Hawa Ahmed Hassan is director. At a national export expo in 2026 she said the bureau was ready to work with exporters and producers to certify products that meet international standards ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-launches-national-export-promotion-expo-in-mogadishu)).

## The money

In the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, the body appears as "Somali Quality Assurance Agency", sub-head 031101 under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 1,314,880 |
| 2026 (budget) | 1,463,216 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 1,493,516 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing

- **Ports:** it seized substandard flour at Mogadishu port in 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, May 2024](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2024/May/196318/somalia_authorities_seize_substandard_flour_at_mogadishu_port.aspx)), and seized expired food imported from Turkey at Mogadishu seaport ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-bureau-of-standards-seizes-expired-food-from-turkey-at-mogadishu-seaport)).
- **States:** it introduced the national quality policy in Kismayo ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-bureau-of-standards-introduces-national-quality-policy-in-kismayo)).
- **Markets:** on 3 November 2026 its inspection teams visited the [Bakara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) vegetable market after concerns about fruit and vegetables ripened early by methods that do not meet food safety standards. It asked the public to report produce suspected to be unsafe ([Dawan Africa, 4 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-test-fruit-ripening-chemicals-amid-safety-concerns)).

## The Made in Somalia mark

On 22 September 2026 the government launched a "[Made in Somalia](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/)" mark for goods produced in the country that meet required standards. Officials said 75 factories were operating regularly in Somalia, and the Ministry of Commerce said the country imported about US$9 billion of goods in 2024 ([Dawan Africa, 22 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-made-in-somalia-mark-for-locally-produced-goods)).

## How the work is shared

The bureau sits under the [Ministry of Commerce and Industry](/en/institutions/ministry-of-commerce-and-industry/). Farm chemicals and crop inputs are checked by a separate regulator, the Somali Agricultural Regulatory and Inspection Service ([SARIS](/en/institutions/somali-agricultural-regulatory-and-inspection-service/)), under the [Ministry of Agriculture](/en/institutions/ministry-of-agriculture/), which in November 2026 said it would test chemicals used to ripen bananas ([Dawan Africa, 4 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-test-fruit-ripening-chemicals-amid-safety-concerns)). Medicines are regulated separately; see [medicines regulator](/en/institutions/medicines-regulator/).


---

# Somali Academy of Sciences, Culture and Arts (SOMASCA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-academy-of-sciences-and-arts/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Academy of Sciences, Culture and Arts is a federal body in Mogadishu that works on Somali literature, arts and culture. Ismail Yusuf Osman has led it since December 2023, when the Prime Minister removed his predecessor over remarks on the Maay language. In October 2026 it called for Somalia's arts law to be renewed.

## What it does

The academy is a public body in Mogadishu that works on Somali arts, literature and culture ([Dawan Africa, 6 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-academy-of-sciences-and-culture-calls-for-the-renewal-of-somalias-arts-law)). It brings together poets, academics and its own members to discuss the state of Somali arts and literature ([Dawan Africa, 6 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-academy-of-sciences-and-culture-calls-for-the-renewal-of-somalias-arts-law)).

## Who leads it

| Period | Head | Source |
|---|---|---|
| To December 2023 | Abdulkadir Nur Hussein Maah, chairman | [Hiiraan Online, December 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Dec/194191/prime_minister_barre_sacks_somali_academy_of_sciences_arts_chainman_over_dialect_debate.aspx) |
| From December 2023 | Ismail Yusuf Osman, first as acting chairman, named president in 2026 | [Hiiraan Online, December 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Dec/194191/prime_minister_barre_sacks_somali_academy_of_sciences_arts_chainman_over_dialect_debate.aspx); [Dawan Africa, 6 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-academy-of-sciences-and-culture-calls-for-the-renewal-of-somalias-arts-law) |

## The 2023 dispute over Maay

In December 2023 Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) removed the chairman, [Abdulkadir Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/) Hussein Maah, and named Ismail Yusuf Osman acting chairman. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that this came a few hours after Maah wrote to the Minister of Justice asking for the [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) dialect to be removed from the constitution, which led to calls on social media for his removal. Article 5 of the provisional constitution names Somali (Maay and Maxaa-tiri) as the official language, with Arabic as the second language ([Hiiraan Online, December 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Dec/194191/prime_minister_barre_sacks_somali_academy_of_sciences_arts_chainman_over_dialect_debate.aspx)).

## The money

In the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, the body appears as "Somali Academy Arts and Sciences", sub-head 040202 under the Ministry of Education and Higher Education ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)):

| Year | US$ |
|---|---|
| 2025 (actual) | 1,184,974 |
| 2026 (budget) | 1,313,092 |
| 2027 (proposed) | 1,318,312 |

All federal bodies' budgets are compared on [federal bodies and their budgets](/en/institutions/federal-bodies-and-budgets/).

## What it reports doing

At a seminar in Mogadishu on 5 October 2026, the academy called for the law regulating the arts to be reviewed and renewed. Its president said the law could be put again to the Council of Ministers and the Federal Parliament, and raised creative rights and the ownership of some old Somali songs ([Dawan Africa, 6 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-academy-of-sciences-and-culture-calls-for-the-renewal-of-somalias-arts-law)).

## Related bodies

The [Intergovernmental Academy of Somali Language](/en/institutions/somali-language-academy/) works on the language across the region. A separate National Academy of Maay Culture and Sciences is based in Baidoa ([Maay Academy](https://maayacademy.so/?p=539)).


---

# Demobilisation and the programme for disengaged combatants

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/disengaged-combatants-programme/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's main demobilisation effort is the National Programme for the Treatment and Handling of Disengaged Combatants, set up in 2013 for people leaving al-Shabaab. The intelligence agency NISA screens them: those judged high risk go to military courts, and those judged low risk go to rehabilitation centres in Mogadishu (Serendi), Baidoa, Kismayo and Beledweyne. By 2018, 241 men had completed the Serendi programme. Women were added in 2019 and community reintegration in 2020. Earlier efforts included faction leaders handing their militias to the government in 2007.

## In short

Somalia has no single disarmament programme for all armed groups. The main programme since 2013 deals with people who leave [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). This page records how it works and what researchers have found, without taking sides.

## Earlier hand-overs

After Ethiopian and government forces entered Mogadishu at the end of 2006, faction leaders including [Musa Sudi Yalahow](/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/), [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/) and [Osman Ali Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) were reported in January 2007 to be among the first to hand their militias to the government ([Wikipedia, Musa Sudi Yalahow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Sudi_Yalahow), citing SomaliNet). Senior figures who later left al-Shabaab, such as [Mohamed Said Atom](/en/people/mohamed-said-atom/) in 2014 and [Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/) in 2017, did so by public surrender to the federal government.

## The national programme, 2013

The National Programme for the Treatment and Handling of Disengaged Combatants and Youth at Risk was set up in 2013 to give residential care to men leaving al-Shabaab and to children associated with armed forces and groups. In 2019 it added rehabilitation for women formerly associated with al-Shabaab, and in 2020 a community reintegration stage with education, job training, mental health support and monthly allowances ([IOM and UNICEF project document, UN Peacebuilding Fund, 2022](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2022-12/prodoc_gtw_220223_0.pdf)).

RUSI researchers describe five parts: outreach, including radio amnesty appeals by political leaders; reception, with transfer to the [National Intelligence and Security Agency](/en/institutions/nisa/) (NISA); screening by NISA into "high-risk" cases, sent to military courts, and "low-risk" cases offered a centre; rehabilitation at four official centres in Mogadishu, Baidoa, Kismayo and Beledweyne; and reintegration support ([James Khalil and others, *Deradicalisation and Disengagement in Somalia*, RUSI, January 2019](https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/deradicalisation-and-disengagement-in-somalia.pdf)).

## Serendi

The Serendi centre in Mogadishu is residential and semi-open, with stays of about six or seven months and up to a year. Residents may opt out, in which case they return to NISA. The 2019 RUSI study found that 241 men had completed the programme through the formal exit process set up in 2015, with 62 in residence; most came from outside Banadir, from [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/). More than two-thirds of those interviewed said amnesty offers by successive presidents had substantially motivated them to leave (RUSI, 2019).

## Amnesty

The RUSI study recorded that the programme rested on the amnesty announced by President [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) in April 2017, the latest of several such appeals, but that these had only been announced verbally and were not defined in law, which made it hard to explain who was eligible and what they would receive (RUSI, 2019).

## Children

On 3 July and 6 August 2012 the government signed two UN action plans to end the recruitment and use of children by its forces and the killing and maiming of children; in 2014 the defence minister signed procedures requiring that children captured or released from armed forces or groups be handed to UN-led reintegration centres. The IOM and UNICEF document records that full compliance has been hard to achieve, and that in 2017 the defence ministry ordered a ban on recruiting anyone under 18 (IOM and UNICEF, 2022).

## The debate

A 2023 RUSI review of Serendi found a well-run centre with capable Somali staff, but recommended less emphasis on centres and more on reintegration as the main aim ([Martine Zeuthen, RUSI, 11 April 2023](https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/policy-briefs/treatment-and-handling-disengaged-combatants-somalia-challenges-and-recommendations)). The IOM and UNICEF document likewise argued for community-based programmes for young people in Baidoa, Kismayo, Jowhar and Dhusamareb (IOM and UNICEF, 2022). The clan militias raised for the 2022 offensive pose a separate demobilisation question; see [Macawisley](/en/institutions/macawisley/).

## Sources differ

- **Legal basis.** The programme relies on presidential amnesty announcements that, as of the 2019 study, had no written legal framework.
- **Numbers.** Published figures cover single centres at single dates; no complete national total has been found.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- James Khalil, Rory Brown, Chris Chant, Peter Olowo and Nick Wood, *Deradicalisation and Disengagement in Somalia*, RUSI Whitehall Report 4-18 (2019): [PDF](https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/deradicalisation-and-disengagement-in-somalia.pdf).
- IOM and UNICEF, project document for the UN Peacebuilding Fund (2022): [PDF](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2022-12/prodoc_gtw_220223_0.pdf).


---

# Somali Agricultural Regulatory and Inspection Service (SARIS): seeds, pesticides and fertiliser

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-agricultural-regulatory-and-inspection-service/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Agricultural Regulatory and Inspection Service checks seeds, pesticides, fertiliser and plant health. It was set up under SARIS Law No. 32 of December 2024 and works under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. Since its laboratory opened, imported seeds and pesticides need its clearance, and in November 2026 it said it would test chemicals used to ripen bananas.

## What it does

The SARIS Law, Law No. 32 of December 2024, sets up a legal framework for inspecting and controlling agricultural chemicals, seeds and plant varieties in Somalia. It makes SARIS the central authority for monitoring plant safety, regulating agricultural chemicals and checking the quality of seeds and fertiliser ([UNEP Law and Environment Assistance Platform, from FAOLEX](https://leap.unep.org/en/countries/so/national-legislation/somali-agricultural-regulatory-and-inspection-services-saris-law)).

A separate agricultural chemicals law, No. 33 of 2024, requires importers and traders to register any new product with SARIS before it reaches the market ([Dawan Africa, 4 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-test-fruit-ripening-chemicals-amid-safety-concerns)). The Ministry of Agriculture reports that SARIS runs FertiTrack, a digital system for tracking fertiliser ([Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, newsletter, August 2026](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/MoAI-NEWSLETTER-AUGUST-2026.pdf)).

## Who leads it

Abdi Mohamed Hussein was listed as interim director of SARIS in January 2024 ([FAO Plant Treaty](https://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/countries/membership/country-details/en/c/359377/?iso3=SOM)). The Ministry of Agriculture reported that the SARIS board of directors held its first meeting in October 2026 ([Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation](https://moa.gov.so)).

## The laboratory and the import rule

Agriculture Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Maareeye opened a new SARIS laboratory complex in Mogadishu. It has units to test the quality, safety and environmental effects of pesticides, and to check that seeds are free of disease and suited to Somali conditions. At the opening he announced that importing seeds or pesticides without SARIS clearance would be a crime ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-agriculture-opens-new-national-laboratory-complex-to-regulate-agricultural-inputs-in-somalia/); [Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-opens-first-lab-to-test-farm-inputs)).

## The money

In the federal Appropriation Act for 2027 as submitted to parliament, SARIS is sub-head 030301 under the Ministry of Agriculture, with US$36,000 in 2026 and US$36,000 proposed for 2027, and no 2025 spending recorded ([Ministry of Finance, Appropriation Act 2027](https://mof.gov.so/storage/documents/2026/11/xihvtskp/Appropriation%20Act%20for%202027%20Submitted%20to%20Parlement.pdf)).

## What it reports doing in 2026

On 3 November 2026 SARIS said reports had circulated on social media about two products, Ethar Plus and Ethephon 40% SL, being used to ripen bananas. It said ripening after harvest is allowed with approved substances used as labelled, that it would test the identity of the substances people had complained about, and that anyone endangering public health would face legal action. The minister visited the fruit section of [Bakara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) market ([Dawan Africa, 4 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-test-fruit-ripening-chemicals-amid-safety-concerns)).

## How the work is shared

SARIS sits under the [Ministry of Agriculture](/en/institutions/ministry-of-agriculture/). Food sold in markets is also inspected by the [Somali Bureau of Standards](/en/institutions/somali-bureau-of-standards/).


---

# Sultans of Ifat and Adal, 1197 to 1577

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/sultans-of-ifat-and-adal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Walashma dynasty ruled Ifat from about 1197 to 1403 and Adal from 1415 to 1559. After 1559 the emirs of Harar led Adal until Imam Muhammad Jasa moved the capital to Awsa in 1577. Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim led Adal's armies from 1527 to 1543. Many early reign dates are not known.

## In short

[Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) and Adal were Muslim states of the Horn of Africa whose lands ran from Zeila on the coast inland toward Harar and Shewa. The Walashma dynasty's last ruler of Ifat, [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) ad-Din II, was killed near Zeila about 1403; his sons returned from Yemen and founded the Adal sultanate in 1415. The reign dates below follow the Wikipedia articles on the Walashma dynasty and the Adal Sultanate, which rest on al-Maqrizi and later historians. ([Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty), [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty), [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Sultans of Ifat (Walashma dynasty), about 1197 to 1403

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Umar Walasma (Umar Dunya-Hawaz) | 1197 to 1276 | founder of the dynasty | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Ali Baziyu | 1276 to 1299 | son of Umar | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Haqq ad-Din Umar | 13th century to 13th century | son of Umar; dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Husein Umar | 13th century to 13th century | son of Umar; dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Nasr ad-Din Umar | 13th century to 13th century | son of Umar; dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Mansur Ali | 13th century to 13th century | dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Jamal ad-Din Ali | 13th century to 13th century | dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Abud Jamal ad-Din | 13th century to 13th century | dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Zubayr Abud | 13th or 14th century to 14th century | dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Mati Layla Abud | 14th century to 14th century | daughter of Abud; dates not known | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Haqq ad-Din I | 14th century to 1328 |  | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Sabr ad-Din I | 1328 to 1332 | defeated by Emperor Amda Seyon of Ethiopia | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Jamal ad-Din I | 1332 to 14th century | ruled as a vassal of Amda Seyon | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Nasr ad-Din Nahwi | 14th century to 14th century |  | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Ali ibn Sabr ad-Din | 14th century to 14th century |  | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Ahmad ibn Ali | 14th century to 14th century |  | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| Haqq ad-Din II | 14th century to 1374 |  | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |
| [Sa'ad ad-Din II](/en/people/saad-ad-din-ii/) | 1374 to 1403 | killed about 1403 | [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty) |

## Sultans and emirs of Adal, 1415 to 1577

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sabr ad-Din II | 1415 to 1422 | son of Sa'ad ad-Din II | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Mansur ad-Din | 1422 to 1424 | son of Sa'ad ad-Din II | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Jamal ad-Din II | 1424 to 1433 | son of Sa'ad ad-Din II | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Shihab ad-Din Ahmad Badlay | 1433 to 1445 | son of Sa'ad ad-Din II | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Muhammad ibn Badlay | 1445 to 1472 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Shams ad-Din ibn Muhammad | 1472 to 1488 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Muhammad ibn Azhar ad-Din | 1488 to 1518 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Garad Abun Adashe | 1518 to 1525 | emir; the Walashma dynasty article gives 1519 to 1525 | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Mahfuz | 1518 to 1519 | listed in the Walashma dynasty article | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad | 1525 to 1526 | the Walashma dynasty article gives 1518 to 1526 | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Umar Din | 1526 to 1553 | sultan at Harar while Imam Ahmad led the state | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| [Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi](/en/people/ahmad-ibn-ibrahim-al-ghazi/) (Axmed Ibraahim al-Gaasi (Axmed Gurey)) | 1527 to 1543 | Imam and leader of Adal's armies | [Wikipedia, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ibrahim_al-Ghazi) |
| Ali ibn Umar Din | 1553 to 1555 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Barakat ibn Umar Din | 1555 to 1559 | last Walashma sultan | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Nur ibn Mujahid | 1559 to 1567 | Emir of Harar | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Uthman the Abyssinian | 1567 to 1569 | Emir | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Talha Abbas | 1569 to 1571 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Nasir ibn Uthman | 1571 to 1572 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Muhammad ibn Nasir | 1572 to 1576 |  | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Mansur ibn Muhammad | 1576 to 1577 | Emir | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |
| Muhammad Jasa | 1577 to 1583 | Imam; moved the capital to Awsa | [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate) |

## Related pages

- [Imam Ahmad and Adal, 1527 to 1543](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/)
- [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)
- [Medieval and early modern polities](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia, Walashma dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walashma_dynasty)
- [Wikipedia, Adal Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adal_Sultanate)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Sultans of Mogadishu, 10th to 19th centuries

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/sultans-of-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu was ruled by sultans from at least the 13th century. Most of them are known only from the names stamped on Mogadishu coins, so their dates are not known. Ibn Battuta met its ruler Abu Bakr ibn Umar in 1331. From the 19th century the city was under Omani and then Zanzibari suzerainty, and Italy annexed it in 1905.

## In short

The sultanate of Mogadishu was established before 1331; World Statesmen notes that it was later called the [Hiraab](/en/society/hawiye/) sultanate. Mogadishu was under Omani suzerainty from 1828 and under Zanzibar from 1861. It was leased to Italy in 1892 and annexed by Italy on 16 March 1905. ([World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Sultans named on Mogadishu coins

The Wikipedia list of sultans, drawn from coins, in its order. A private coin collection shows at least 23 sultans. ([Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu))

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abu Bakr ibn Fakhr ad-Din | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Ismail ibn Muhammad | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Al-Rahman ibn al-Musa'id | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Yusuf ibn Sa'id | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Sultan Muhammad | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Rasul ibn Ali | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Yusuf ibn Abi Bakr | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Malik ibn Sa'id | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Sultan Umar | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |
| Zubayr ibn Umar | not known to not known |  | [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu) |

## Sultans listed by World Statesmen

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Umar (Cumar) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Ahmad I (Axmed I) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Muhammad I (Maxamad I) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Ahmad II (Axmed II) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Mahmud (Maxamuud) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Ali (Cali) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Uthman (Cismaan) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Muhammad II (Maxamad II) | not known to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Ahmad III (Axmed III) | about 1860 to not known |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |

## Related pages

- [Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331](/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/)
- [Early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html)
- [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Mogadishu)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Sultans of the Isaaq, 1750 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/sultans-of-the-isaaq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Guled dynasty has held the title of Sultan of the Isaaq since Guled Abdi took it in about 1750. Daud Mahamed Abdiqadir has been Sultan since 13 February 2021. The title continued under British rule and after independence as a traditional office.

## In short

The Isaaq Sultanate's modern line, the Guled dynasty, began in the mid-18th century. In the 19th century the [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) formed their own sultanate. The area became part of the British protectorate in 1884, then of Somalia in 1960, and of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) from 1991. ([World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Sultans of the Isaaq (Guled dynasty)

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guled Abdi (Guuleed Cabdi) | July 1750 to 1808 | founder of the Guled dynasty | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Farah Guled (Faarax Guuleed) | 1808 to 1845 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Hassan Farah (Xasan Faarax) | 1845 to 1870 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Deria Hassan (Diiriye Xasan) | 1870 to 1943 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Abdillahi Deria (Cabdillaahi Diiriye) | 1943 to January 1967 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Rashid Abdillahi (Rashiid Cabdillaahi) | January 1967 to 1969 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Abdiqadir Abdillahi (Cabdiqaadir Cabdillaahi) | 1969 to 1975 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Mahamed Abdiqadir (Maxamed Cabdiqaadir) | 1975 to 12 February 2021 | died 2021 | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |
| Daud Mahamed Abdiqadir (Daa'uud Maxamed Cabdiqaadir) | 13 February 2021 to now |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate) |

## Related pages

- [Sultans of the Habar Yoonis](/en/institutions/sultans-of-the-habar-yoonis/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html)
- [Wikipedia, Isaaq Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq_Sultanate)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Sultans of the Habar Yoonis, about 1769 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/sultans-of-the-habar-yoonis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Yoonis sultanate split from the Isaaq sultanate in about 1769 under Sugulle Ainanshe. From 1881 to 1917 rival sultans held the title at the same time. Uthman Ali Madar has held it since 1979, according to World Statesmen.

## In short

The [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) sultanate became part of the British protectorate in 1884. World Statesmen notes that it recognised the rule of the Dervish leader Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan from 1899 to 1907 and was then joined to the protectorate. ([World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Sultans of the Habar Yoonis

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugulle Ainanshe Hirsi (Sugulle Caynaanshe Xirsi) | about 1769 to 1797 | first sultan | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Diriye Sugulle (Diiriye Sugulle Caynaanshe) | 1797 to 1854 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Hersi Aman (Xirsi Amaan) | 1854 to 1879 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Nur Ahmed Aman (Nuur Axmed Amaan) | 1879 to 1907 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Awad Diiriye (Cawad Diiriye) | 1881 to 1892 | rival sultan | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Dolal Nur (Doolaal Nuur) | 1910 to 1917 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Madar Hersi Diiriye (Madar Xirsi Diiriye) | 1890 to 1938 | rival sultan to 1917 | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Ali Madar (Cali Madar) | 1938 to 1979 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |
| Uthman Ali Madar (Cismaan Cali Madar) | 1979 to now |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate) |

## Related pages

- [Sultans of the Isaaq](/en/institutions/sultans-of-the-isaaq/)
- [The Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html)
- [Wikipedia, Habr Yunis Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Yunis_Sultanate)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Garaads and sultans of the Warsangali, 1613 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/rulers-of-the-warsangali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Warsangali state was founded in about 1613, and its rulers took the title Garaad until 1910 and Sultan after that. Said Abdisalaan Mohamud has held the title since 1997, according to World Statesmen. Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire was exiled to the Seychelles by Britain from 1920 to 1928.

## In short

The [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/) signed a protectorate treaty with Britain on 27 January 1886. World Statesmen notes that they recognised the Dervish leader's rule from 1908 to 1920. The area became part of Somalia in 1960. ([World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Garaads, 1613 to 1910

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdulle Mahmud (Cabdulle Maxamuud) | 1613 to 1672 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Ali (Cali) | 1672 to 1694 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Naleye (Naaleeye) | 1694 to 1721 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Mohamed (Maxamad) | 1721 to 1764 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Mohamud Ali (Maxamuud Cali) | 1764 to 1804 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Mohamud (Maxamuud) | 1804 to 1840 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Mohamed (Maxamad) | 1840 to 1890 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Ali Shire (Cali Shire) | 1890 to 1910 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |

## Sultans, since 1910

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamud Ali Shire (Maxamuud Cali Shire) | 1910 to 1960 | in exile in the Seychelles May 1920 to May 1928 | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Abdisalan Mohamud (Cabdisalaan Maxamuud) | 1960 to 1997 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |
| Said Abdisalaan Mohamud (Siciid Cabdisalaan Maxamuud) | 1997 to now |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate) |

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html)
- [Wikipedia, Warsangali Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali_Sultanate)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Sultans of the Majeerteen and of Hobyo, about 1800 to 1927

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/sultans-of-majeerteen-and-hobyo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Majeerteen sultanate in the north-east and the Hobyo sultanate on the central coast were the two main sultanates of what is now Puntland and Galmudug. Boqor Osman Mahamud ruled the Majeerteen from 1860 to 1927 and Yusuf Ali Kenadid founded Hobyo in 1878. Italy absorbed both into its colony in 1925 to 1927.

## In short

Both sultanates signed protectorate treaties with Italy in 1889: Hobyo on 9 February and the Majeerteen on 7 April. Hobyo split off from the Majeerteen sultanate in 1878. Italy took Hobyo into its colony in October 1925 and the Majeerteen sultanate in 1927. ([World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Sultans of the Majeerteen

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahmud IV (Maxamuud IV) | not known to 1815 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Majeerteen Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen_Sultanate) |
| Uthman II (Cismaan II) | 1815 to 1842 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Majeerteen Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen_Sultanate) |
| Yusuf IV (Yuusuf IV) | 1842 to 1844 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Majeerteen Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen_Sultanate) |
| Mahmud V ibn Yusuf (Maxamuud V Yuusuf) | 1844 to 1860 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Majeerteen Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen_Sultanate) |
| [Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/) (Cismaan Maxamuud (Boqor Cismaan)) | 1860 to 1927 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Majeerteen Sultanate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen_Sultanate) |

## Sultans of Hobyo

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Yusuf Ali Kenadid](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/) (Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid) | April 1878 to 28 September 1911 | founder | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Hobyo) |
| Ali Yusuf Kenadid (Cali Yuusuf Keenadiid) | 1911 to October 1925 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html), [Wikipedia, Sultanate of Hobyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Hobyo) |

## Related pages

- [Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# Sultans of Geledi, about 1750 to 1908

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/sultans-of-geledi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Geledi sultanate, centred on Afgooye, was founded in about 1750 and ruled by the Gobroon dynasty until Italy took it into its colony on 3 September 1908. Its best-known ruler, Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, ruled from 1828 to 1848. This page lists each sultan with dates.

## In short

World Statesmen dates the founding of the Geledi sultanate to about 1750 and its incorporation into the Italian colony to 3 September 1908. ([World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html))

Each row below gives the holder's name in English and Somali spelling, dates in office and the source for that row. Dates are from [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html); where sources give different dates, the note says so. How we source: [How we check facts](/en/about/how-we-check-facts/).

## Sultans of Geledi (Gobroon dynasty)

| Name | In office | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ibrahim Adeer (Ibraahin Adeer) | 18th century to 18th century |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Mahamud Ibrahim Adeer (Maxamuud Ibraahim Adeer) | 18th century to 1828 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim (Yuusuf Maxamuud Ibraahim) | 1828 to 1848 | World Statesmen gives his name as Yusuf ibn Muhammad | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Ahmad Yusuf (Axmed Yuusuf) | 1848 to 1878 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |
| Uthman Ahmad (Cismaan Axmed) | 1878 to 3 September 1908 |  | [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html) |

## Related pages

- [Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/)

## Sources

- [World Statesmen, Somali traditional states](https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Somalia_native.html)

We also publish every row of every office-holder list as one open data file: [office-holders.csv](/data/institutions/office-holders.csv).


---

# UN Monitoring Group on Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN Monitoring Group on Somalia (from 2009 on Somalia and Eritrea, later a panel of experts) investigated breaches of the UN arms embargo and sanctions on Somalia from 2002–2003. It reported to the Security Council committee set up under resolution 751. Its reports covered arms flows, finance, charcoal, piracy, private security companies and the conduct of Somali officials. Its July 2012 report, for example, found that US$7 of every US$10 received by the Transitional Federal Government in 2009–2010 never reached state coffers, and named private firms training Puntland's maritime police.

## In short

The Monitoring Group was a team of experts appointed by the UN Secretary-General to investigate breaches of the [UN arms embargo on Somalia](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/). Its reports are among the most detailed public records of who armed and financed which forces. This page describes the group and records the main findings of one report, in its own words where it used strong language, without endorsing them.

## Mandate

Resolution 1519 of 16 December 2003 set up a group of four experts based in Nairobi to investigate breaches of the embargo by land, air and sea, carry out field research in Somalia and neighbouring states, assess how well states could enforce it, and list violators for the Security Council committee set up under resolution 751 of 1992 ([Wikipedia, UN Security Council Resolution 1519](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1519)). It followed a panel created by resolution 1425 of 2002. From 2009, when sanctions were also placed on Eritrea, it covered both countries, and it later became a panel of experts ([UN Security Council, sanctions committee 751](https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/751)).

## The July 2012 report

The report sent to the Security Council on 13 July 2012 (S/2012/544) covered the last year of the transitional institutions. Its main findings, as stated in its summary, were:

- **Public money.** A World Bank-commissioned study found US$131 million of [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) revenue unaccounted for in 2009–2010, 68 per cent of recorded income; the group said "out of every US$ 10 received … US$ 7 never made it into State coffers", and that almost US$1.5 million of passport revenue went missing in 2010–2011.
- **[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).** The group said al-Shabaab had suffered military defeats and loss of territory and revenue, mainly at the hands of foreign forces; that it announced a merger with al-Qaeda in February 2012; and that a ban on Somali charcoal exports would hurt its income, but that the main importers, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, had not enforced it.
- **Piracy.** Fewer ships were hijacked because of industry measures, naval patrols and private guards; pirates were moving into kidnapping on land, and the group said senior officials had shielded "a notorious pirate kingpin" by giving him a diplomatic passport. See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).
- **Arms.** Yemen's arms markets remained the main source for non-state groups; foreign governments' supplies to the government and other forces were a secondary source.
- **Foreign forces.** It noted the arrival of Djiboutian forces in December 2011, Kenya's entry in October 2011 and move into [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) in June 2012, and Ethiopian operations from February 2012. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).
- **Eritrea.** It found no evidence for claims that Eritrea flew arms to al-Shabaab in late 2011, but found that Eritrea kept links with arms dealers in Somalia.
- **Civilians.** It recorded attacks on civilians, rape, recruitment of children and forced displacement by armed parties, and said al-Shabaab blocked aid while officials and militias in government areas acted as "gatekeepers" to displaced people's camps.

([UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, S/2012/544, 13 July 2012](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/544&l=en&t=pdf))

## Private security in Puntland

The same report said that Saracen International, and from late 2011 Sterling Corporate Services, trained the Puntland Maritime Police Force at a camp west of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), and called this "the most brazen violation of the arms embargo by a private security company". It said the programme was financed mainly by senior UAE officials; the UAE government officially denied involvement (S/2012/544, paras 61–64). See [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/).

## Later reports

Later reports continued to track arms and finance. A 2016 report named Iran, Libya, North Korea and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) among sources of illicit arms ([Geeska, 7 February 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/overlooked-dangers-lifting-somalias-arms-embargo)).

**Reports of 2013 to 2017.** The summaries of the group's next four reports said:

- **July 2013 (S/2013/413).** Al-Shabaab had lost towns, including Kismayo, to AU and national forces, but still controlled most of southern and central Somalia with about 5,000 fighters, and had shifted to guerrilla warfare. Godane's hold on the group rested partly on the [Amniyat](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/), which the report described as al-Shabaab's "secret service", built as "a clandestine organization within the organization". The group called the 2012 merger with al-Qaeda "largely symbolic". It also said about 80 per cent of withdrawals from the Central Bank were for private purposes, and that US$12 million of US$16.9 million transferred to it could not be traced ([S/2013/413, 12 July 2013](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2013/413&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **October 2014 (S/2014/726).** Al-Shabaab could no longer match its strength of 2009–2010 but had "evolved in qualitative terms" after Godane's purge of dissenters in 2013, and was exporting attacks such as the one on Nairobi's Westgate mall. More than 13,000 weapons and about 5.5 million rounds had been notified for the government since the embargo was eased, and some had been diverted to Mogadishu's arms markets. The report described clan fighting in Lower and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) with an "alleged role of senior army officers and soldiers", and clashes in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) between [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) forces and forces of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Khatumo](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) ([S/2014/726, 13 October 2014](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2014/726&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **October 2016 (S/2016/919).** States had notified more than 20,000 weapons and 13 million rounds for the government's forces since March 2013, while arms sent to regional forces outside the government flowed "de facto unchecked". Al-Shabaab had moved away from the charcoal trade, often attacking charcoal burners and traders, and taxed sugar, farming and livestock instead. Civilians were harmed by al-Shabaab attacks, by international forces "including as a result of the use of aerial weaponry", and by clan fighting involving federal and regional forces and militias ([S/2016/919, 31 October 2016](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2016/919&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **November 2017 (S/2017/924).** About one weapons shipment a month was reaching Puntland, mainly from Yemen, and the group recommended no further easing of the embargo. Al-Shabaab had resumed taxing charcoal on its way to the ports of Buur Gaabo and Kismayo, earning at least US$10 million a year, with Dubai the main destination. The Islamic State faction had briefly held [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/). Fighting in Galkayo and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) displaced more than 180,000 people, and checkpoints on supply routes "often manned by national and/or regional administration forces" extorted aid convoys ([S/2017/924, 2 November 2017](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/924&l=en&t=pdf)).

**The 2019 report (S/2019/858).** By 2019 the work was done by the Panel of Experts on Somalia, under Security Council resolution 2444 (2018). Its first final report, dated 1 November 2019, said in its summary that:

- al-Shabaab's use of roadside and other improvised bombs had reached "its greatest extent in Somali history", up by about a third in a year, and that blast analysis showed it had made its own explosives since at least July 2017;
- al-Shabaab had begun taxing imports through Mogadishu port, and could raise money in areas it did not hold;
- the suicide bomber who killed Mogadishu's mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman "Yarisow", on 24 July 2019 had worked at the regional administration under a false identity;
- al-Shabaab and the Islamic State faction fought each other in Puntland and Mogadishu in late 2018 and early 2019, and the Islamic State faction was linked for the first time to a plot abroad, against St Peter's Basilica in Rome;
- 15 civilians were killed by regional security forces during protests in Baidoa after the arrest of [Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/) in December 2018, and members of the [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) parliament received US$20,000–30,000 each to elect a preferred candidate;
- of army soldiers listed in 2017–2018 records it checked, fewer than half appeared in the 2019 biometric registration of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), and fewer than a fifth of one sector's soldiers issued government-marked weapons in 2017 did.

([UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2019/858, 1 November 2019](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2019/858&l=en&t=pdf))

**The 2023 report (S/2023/724).** The panel's report dated 2 October 2023 said in its summary that al-Shabaab remained "the most immediate threat", with its ability to carry out complex attacks "undiminished", though the government offensive had "dented" its hold on retaken areas; that the Islamic State faction was largely confined to Bari and had lost its finance chief Bilal al-Sudani in January 2023; that fighting in Las Anod was destabilising; that captured ammunition, some made as recently as 2020, showed al-Shabaab still had an "uninterrupted illicit supply"; and that heavily armed clan militias in the member states were a continuing oversight problem ([UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2023/724, 2 October 2023](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Sources differ

- **Findings and responses.** Parties named in the reports could reject them; in 2012 the UAE government officially denied involvement in the Puntland programme (S/2012/544).
- **Verification.** The 2012 report itself said independent verification was "severely hampered" by lack of access, witnesses' fear of reprisals and denial by officials (S/2012/544).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/), report S/2012/544 (2012): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2012/544&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, reports S/2019/858 (2019): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2019/858&l=en&t=pdf) and S/2023/724 (2023): [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2023/724&l=en&t=pdf).
- UN Security Council, sanctions committee 751: [page](https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/751).


---

# Somali National Movement (SNM), 1981–1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali National Movement (SNM) was an armed movement founded in April 1981 by Somalis in London and Saudi Arabia to remove the government of Siad Barre. Its support came mainly from the Isaaq clans of the north-west. It fought from bases in Ethiopia from 1982, attacked Burao and Hargeisa in May 1988, took the north-west in January–February 1991, and on 18 May 1991 its central committee and northern elders declared the Republic of Somaliland.

## In short

The Somali National Movement (SNM) was one of the four main armed movements that fought the military government between 1978 and 1991. The wider story of all four is told in [The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/). This page goes deeper into the SNM itself: who founded it, how it was led and paid for, how it fought, and what it became.

Its support came mainly from the Isaaq clans of the north-west ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Several other clans took part, and it presented itself as a national movement ([Wikipedia, Somali National Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement)).

## Founding, 1981

The Library of Congress records that the SNM was founded in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1981 by Isaaq dissidents ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Wikipedia gives the date as 6 April 1981 and names among the founders Hassan Isse Jama, Hassan Adan Wadadid, Ahmed Mohamed Gulaid and Omar Elmi Dihood, several of them former diplomats. Some accounts place the formal founding in Jeddah in the same month, because many of the first members lived in Saudi Arabia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement)).

Its first publication, *Somalia Uncensored*, was printed in London from June to December 1981 and edited by Hassan Isse Jama, a former [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/) broadcaster (same source).

## Leaders

Accounts describe the SNM as the front with the most regular internal elections: it had five chairmen, each elected by its central committee or congress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement), citing Ridout, *Journal of the Middle East and Africa*, 2012).

- **Ahmed Mohamed Gulaid**, 1981–1982 (elected in October 1981, with Ahmed Ismail Abdi "Duksi" as secretary-general)
- **Yusuf [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali Madar**, 1982–1983
- **Colonel Abdiqadir Kosar Abdi**, 1983–1984
- **Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo"**, 1984–1990. He later became president of Somaliland; see [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/).
- **Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur"**, 1990–1991, who became Somaliland's first president; see [Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur](/en/people/abdirahman-ahmed-ali-tuur/).

## The armed wing and the move to Ethiopia

Wikipedia traces the armed wing to "Afraad", the Fourth Brigade of the [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/), formed with Isaaq officers. From February 1982 Isaaq officers and Fourth Brigade fighters crossed into Ethiopia and became the core of the SNM's forces ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement), citing I. M. Lewis, *Blood and Bone*, 1994).

In 1982 the SNM moved its headquarters to Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) in Ethiopia and began raids into [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Ethiopia's government under Mengistu Haile Mariam hosted its bases until the April 1988 Barre–Mengistu agreement ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm)).

## How it was paid for

Wikipedia, drawing on studies by Dominik Balthasar and William Reno, records that the SNM had no single foreign sponsor. Money was collected mainly through clan networks, above all among Isaaq workers and traders in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, each community raising a set amount. Inside the country, households were asked for a young man and a sheep. Traders in Dire Dawa used SNM radios to move money to fighters, and the money-transfer company [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) began as one of its financiers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement)).

## Main actions

- **2 January 1983, Mandera.** SNM commandos attacked Mandera prison near Berbera and the Cadaadle armoury. The Library of Congress records that the raid freed northern dissidents ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). The SNM said more than 700 were freed; independent estimates said about a dozen ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement)).
- **27–31 May 1988, Burao and Hargeisa.** After the Barre–Mengistu accord, the SNM moved its fighters into Somalia and attacked both cities. Wikipedia cites an estimate of 3,000 to 5,000 SNM fighters. The army retook the towns by the end of July 1988 with heavy bombing ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement)).
- **January–February 1991.** The SNM took the remaining garrisons at Berbera, Burao and Hargeisa ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).

## Harm to civilians, as the records describe it

The government's response in the north was the deadliest part of the war; Africa Watch estimated 50,000 to 60,000 dead by early 1990 ([Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)). Many Somalis and several scholars call the campaign against the Isaaq a genocide.

The records also describe harm by SNM fighters. A 1989 US State Department study by Robert Gersony, *[Why Somalis Flee](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/)*, reported that in 1988 SNM fighters attacked nine of twelve UN-run refugee camps in the north-west, killing more than 400 refugees, about 60% of them children ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement), citing Gersony 1989). The SNM said the camps had been armed by the government; Gersony found no sign of this (same source).

## From movement to government, 1991

In February 1991 SNM leaders met Ciise, Gadabuursi, [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) and [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) representatives at Berbera. At the Burao conference of the northern clans (27 April–18 May 1991), the SNM central committee and elders declared the Republic of Somaliland on 18 May 1991, with Abdirahman Tuur as president for two years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Movement); [Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)). The 1993 [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) conference then chose [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) as president. What followed is told in [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Sources differ

- **Where it was founded.** London (Library of Congress) or Jeddah (some accounts cited by Wikipedia), both in April 1981.
- **Mandera.** More than 700 freed (SNM) or about a dozen (independent estimates).
- **Refugee camps, 1988.** The SNM's claim that camps were armed is disputed by the Gersony report.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Opposition movements](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm), [Succession](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm), [Relations with Ethiopia](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/78.htm).
- Human Rights Watch, *World Report 1990*, Somalia: [text](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm).


---

# Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), 1978–2001

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) was the first armed movement against Siad Barre's government. It grew out of officers who escaped after the coup attempt of April 1978, took the name SSDF in Aden in October 1981, and fought from Ethiopia with Ethiopian and Libyan support. Its support came mainly from the Majeerteen. After 1991 it held much of the north-east, and its leaders, elders and others founded Puntland at the 1998 Garowe conference.

## In short

The SSDF was the first of the armed movements against the military government. Its place among the four main movements is told in [The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/). This page records the SSDF's own history from its start in 1978 to the founding of Puntland in 1998.

## The coup attempt of April 1978

In April 1978, soon after the [Ogaden war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), army officers tried to seize power. The Library of Congress records that about 500 soldiers were killed and seventeen officers were later executed. Most of the plotters were Majeerteen officers, and several escaped abroad ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

One of them, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former army commander, set up a base in Ethiopia. The movement he helped found, the Somali Salvation Front (SSF), was the first dedicated to ending the government by force (same source). See [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/).

## The 1981 merger in Aden

In October 1981, in Aden (then South Yemen), the SSF merged with the Somali Workers Party and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Somalia to form the SSDF, with an 11-member central committee ([Wikipedia, Somali Salvation Democratic Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)). The Library of Congress dates the change of name to the same month ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Its radio station, Radio Halgan ("Struggle"), broadcast from Ethiopia from 1981 to 1988 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)).

## Ethiopian and Libyan support

Wikipedia, citing a 1989 article in *Northeast African Studies*, records that Ethiopia organised, trained and financed the SSDF and that its military structure from 1981 was backed by Ethiopia and Libya. The same article says the movement had little independence from Ethiopian security forces ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)).

## The border war of 1982

In late June 1982, SSDF fighters and Ethiopian army units crossed into [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/). The Library of Congress records that they occupied areas along the border, including two district towns ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). Wikipedia names the towns as [Balanbale](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) and Galdogob and gives a figure of about 15,000 Ethiopian troops; it says the aim of reaching Galkayo and Beledweyne was not met ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)). Historians including Gérard Prunier argue that the attack strengthened [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s position at home (same source).

## Splits and decline, 1982–1988

- **1982–1983.** Many SSDF members accepted a government amnesty and returned ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)).
- **1985.** Ethiopia's government detained Abdullahi Yusuf; he was held until the Derg fell in 1991 (same source).
- **1985.** A group left the SSDF and formed the Somali Patriotic Movement ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)). See [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/).
- **1986–1988.** A congress elected Hassan Ali Mire chairman in 1986; he resigned in 1988 and the central committee chose Muuse Islan Farah ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)).
- **1988.** After the Barre–Mengistu agreement, Ethiopia closed SSDF camps and Radio Halgan (same source).

Even so, from 1988 the Library of Congress records SSDF control spreading in western Mudug and southern [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).

## The north-east after 1991

After the government fell in January 1991 the SSDF was the main armed body in the north-east. In 1992 Abdullahi Yusuf's forces drove a group linked to al-Itihaad al-Islamiya out of the port of Bosaso ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)). The SSDF rejected the provisional government named by the USC in Mogadishu in February 1991, saying it had not been consulted ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm)).

In 1994 it divided into two wings: one under chairman [General Mohamed Abshir](/en/people/mohamed-abshir-muse/) Muse, based in Saudi Arabia, and one under deputy chairman Abdullahi Yusuf ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)).

## The Garowe conference and Puntland, 1998

In 1998 a three-month conference in Garowe brought together SSDF representatives, elders, traders and civil groups. It founded the Puntland State of Somalia, and Abdullahi Yusuf became its first president ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Salvation_Democratic_Front)). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). In 2004 Abdullahi Yusuf was chosen president of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/).

## Sources differ

- **Founding date.** The SSF began after April 1978; the SSDF name dates from October 1981. Some accounts date the SSDF to 1978 or 1979.
- **How independent it was.** Some studies describe it as largely directed by Ethiopia; its own leaders described it as a national movement.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): [Opposition movements](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm), [Succession](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/75.htm).
- Gebru Tareke, "From Lash to Red Star", *Journal of Modern African Studies* 40:3 (2002): [JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876045).


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# Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) was an armed and political movement of the Gadabuursi, founded in 1989 and based around Borama in today's Awdal region. It was led by Mohamed Farah Abdullahi 'Hansharo'. After the Somali National Movement declared Somaliland independent in May 1991, the SDA split: by 1992 one wing took part in the Somaliland government, while a larger wing opposed independence and worked with Ali Mahdi Muhammad in Mogadishu.

## In short

The Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) was the movement of the Gadabuursi (Dir) of the north-west, around Borama. It was one of several clan-based movements of the late 1980s, but it took a different path from the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) (SNM) over the future of the north. This page records what the sources say, without taking sides on Somaliland's status. The region is described in [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/).

## Founding and leader

Wikipedia records that the SDA was founded in 1989 and led by Mohamed Farah Abdullahi, known as Hansharo, citing Redie Bereketeab's *National Liberation Movements as Government in Africa* (2017) and the *Europa World Year Book 2002*. It is distinct from the Horyaal Democratic Front, an earlier Gadabuursi movement that opposed the Derg on the Ethiopian side of the border ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Farah Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farah_Abdullahi)). The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, citing *Africa Events* of April 1993 and US academics, also named him as leader and recorded that the SDA had no written agenda beyond its position on Somaliland ([IRB, 16 February 1994, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195211)).

## The north-west, 1990–1992

An IRB response of September 1992, drawing on press reports and the researcher Patrick Gilkes, recorded that:

- Gadabuursi militias helped the Somali army retake Zeila and Loyada in April 1990;
- the Gadabuursi town of Dila was partly destroyed by the SNM, and some Gadabuursi refugees could not return;
- in February 1991 the SNM was accused of "ethnic cleansing" in the Borama area (the report gives no SNM response);
- fighting broke out in the town at the end of March 1992;
- the two Gadabuursi members of the SNM-led government resigned or were dismissed in early 1992

([IRB, 1 September 1992, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1311612.html)).

## The split over Somaliland

After the SNM declared the Republic of Somaliland on 18 May 1991, the SDA divided. The September 1992 IRB response described three wings: one led by a recently dismissed Somaliland minister; one that said the SNM had broken its promises of fairness to all northern clans; and one that strongly backed Somali unity, whose leader was reported to be in Mogadishu working with [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) (IRB, 1992). By February 1994 the IRB described two factions: a larger one opposed to Somaliland's independence, and a smaller one that supported it and was represented in the Somaliland government (IRB, 1994). A November 1995 IRB response recorded that Gadabuursi openly linked to the anti-independence SDA might regard themselves as at risk in Somaliland ([IRB, 15 November 1995, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194743)).

Elders from all of Somaliland's clans met at the Borama conference of January to May 1993, which agreed a national charter ([Charles G. Thomas and Toyin Falola, 2020, chapter 5, "Somaliland, 1991–present"](https://ucp.manifoldapp.org/read/048dd300-32fb-4842-8814-4f060c9b7c5a/section/8a2922c8-aceb-432c-8c70-22f203f7fd68)). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Sources differ

- **Number of wings.** Three in 1992, two by 1994 (IRB).
- **The leader's name.** Given as Mohamed Farah Abdullahi, "Hansharo" and, in one 1994 account, "Hashari".
- **The 1991 accusations.** Recorded by the IRB from press reports; the sources read for this page do not give the SNM's answer.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM16491.E (1994): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195211).
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM11602 (1992): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1311612.html).


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# Piracy off Somalia: the groups, the peak and the response

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Armed groups based on the coasts of Mudug, Nugaal and Bari carried out ship hijackings off Somalia from the mid-2000s. Attacks peaked in 2009–2011, with 237 attempted and 28 successful hijackings reported in 2011, and ransoms estimated at tens of millions of dollars a year. Naval patrols, armed guards on ships and action on land by Puntland's forces cut attacks sharply from 2012. Hijackings resumed on a smaller scale from late 2023. The best-known network, Hobyo-Harardhere, was led by Mohamed Abdi Hassan 'Afweyne', sentenced in Belgium in 2016.

## In short

Piracy off Somalia was carried out by armed groups based in coastal towns such as Eyl, Garacad, Hobyo and [Harardhere](/en/regions/harardhere/). This page records what the sources say about who took part, how it was financed and how it was countered, without taking sides on its causes.

## How it began

Wikipedia records that Somalia's navy dissolved in 1990–91 (see [Somali Navy](/en/institutions/somali-navy/)), leaving its waters unpatrolled. Foreign trawlers fished there without licences, and local fishermen formed armed groups. Some coastal communities described these groups as a "people's coastguard" defending their waters, and one estimate put losses to unlicensed fishing at about US$300 million a year ([Wikipedia, Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)).

## The peak, 2008–2011

Wikipedia, citing press and industry reports, records 111 attacks and 42 hijackings in 2008, and 237 attempted and 28 successful hijackings in 2011. Ransoms in 2008 were estimated at about US$80 million (Wikipedia). In October 2008 the UN Security Council's resolution 1838 called on states to use force against piracy, and naval missions including the EU's Operation Atalanta, NATO's Operation Ocean Shield and the multinational Combined Task Forces patrolled the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and Indian Ocean (Wikipedia).

The naval missions are covered in [Naval missions off Somalia](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/).

## Networks and bases

- **Hobyo-Harardhere network.** Led from 2005 by Mohamed Abdi Hassan "Afweyne", described as the most powerful pirate organisation (Wikipedia).
- **Other groups.** Wikipedia names Abdul Hassan's "Central Regional Coast Guard" of about 350 men; Abshir Boyah, jailed by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in 2010; and [Isse Mohamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/) Yusuf in [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/), who renounced piracy in 2015 and was later sanctioned by the US over alleged supply of fuel and arms to the [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/) (Wikipedia).

Wikipedia records that investors bought shares in planned attacks through a "bourse" in Harardhere, that ransoms were paid in dollars and that weapons came mostly from Yemen and Mogadishu through hawala dealers (Wikipedia).

## Links to armed groups

The UN's counter-piracy chief said in 2011 that al-Shabaab sought closer ties with pirates, but that he had no definite proof. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) was reported to have demanded 20 per cent of future ransoms from Harardhere gangs, and [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) briefly seized Harardhere in May 2010 and drove out the local pirates (Wikipedia). Afweyne's son alleged that his father paid al-Shabaab a share of ransoms for protection ([Maritime Executive, 14 March 2016](https://maritime-executive.com/article/somali-pirate-kingpin-sentenced-to-20-years)).

## The response on land and the decline

Puntland's government set up the Puntland Maritime Police Force in 2009–2010, pushed pirate gangs out of Eyl and Garacad, and began a base at Bandar Siyada, west of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/); pirates then moved to Hobyo, El Danaan and Harardhere. In Eyl, religious leaders and elders also turned against piracy (Wikipedia). See [Puntland security forces](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/). Attempted hijackings fell to 75 in 2012, and in 2013 there were none that succeeded; the risk firm Control Risks credited ship protection measures, armed guards, naval patrols and action on shore (Wikipedia).

## Afweyne's trial

In October 2013 Belgian police arrested Afweyne and Mohamed Moalin-Aden "Tiiceey", a former president of Himan and Heeb, after luring them to Brussels as consultants on a fictitious film. In March 2016 a court in Bruges sentenced Afweyne in absentia to 20 years for leading the 2009 hijacking of the Belgian vessel *Pompei*; Tiiceey received five years and called himself "a political prisoner". The *Maritime Executive* recorded that Afweyne had begun recruiting in 2003, retired in 2013 and invested ransom money in businesses including khat (Maritime Executive).

## Resurgence since 2023

The International Maritime Bureau reported in December 2023 the first successful hijacking of a cargo ship in the area in six years. In March 2024 Indian naval commandos retook the MV *Ruen* and took 35 suspects to Mumbai for trial. In 2026 the tanker *[Honour 25](/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/)* was hijacked in April and freed by Puntland forces in September; five crew members were reported killed (Wikipedia).

## Sources differ

- **Causes.** Some accounts stress illegal fishing and dumping by foreign ships; others stress profit and organised investment.
- **Links to al-Shabaab.** Reported demands for a share of ransoms are documented; operational ties have not been proven.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- *Maritime Executive*, "Somali pirate kingpin sentenced to 20 years" (2016): [article](https://maritime-executive.com/article/somali-pirate-kingpin-sentenced-to-20-years).


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# Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ogaden-national-liberation-front/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is an ethnic Somali movement in Ethiopia's Somali Region, founded in 1984, that sought self-determination for the Ogaden. It took part in regional elections in 1991, later fought Ethiopian forces, and claimed an attack on an oil field at Abole in April 2007 in which at least 74 people were killed. Ethiopia's counter-insurgency campaign that followed was documented by Human Rights Watch. The ONLF signed a peace agreement with Ethiopia in Asmara on 21 October 2018.

## In short

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is a movement of ethnic Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, the area Somalis call the Ogaden. This page records its history as the sources report it. For the wider background see [The Ogaden War, 1977–78](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), [Ethiopia and Somalia: a timeline of wars](/en/history/ethiopia-somalia-wars-timeline/) and the clan page [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/).

## Founding and the 1991 elections

The Council on Foreign Relations wrote that the ONLF was founded in 1984 by members of several ethnic Somali liberation groups, after the [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) lost support following the 1977–78 war. It said the group seeks self-determination for the Ogaden, did well in regional elections in 1991, and that its political wing later merged into the Somali People's Democratic Party. It noted that the ONLF was not on the US, EU or UK lists of terrorist organisations ([Rebecca Bloom and Eben Kaplan, Council on Foreign Relations, 27 April 2007](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ogaden-national-liberation-front-onlf)).

## The Abole attack, April 2007

On 24 April 2007 ONLF fighters attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration site at Abole in the Somali Region. At least 74 people were killed, 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese oil workers, and seven Chinese workers were taken away. The ONLF said the violence "had not been without warning" (Council on Foreign Relations, 2007).

## Ethiopia's counter-insurgency, 2007–2008

Human Rights Watch reported in June 2008 that Ethiopia's army began a counter-insurgency campaign in the region in June 2007. It documented more than 150 executions and 87 villages burned or forcibly evacuated, along with mass detention, rape, the seizure of livestock and the blocking of aid and trade; the International Committee of the Red Cross was expelled from the region in July 2007. One person told the organisation: "Anyone with a bowl of water is suspected of supplying the ONLF." The report also documented abuses by the ONLF, including the killings at Abole, summary executions of people it suspected of collaborating with the government, and the mining of roads ([Human Rights Watch, "Collective Punishment", 12 June 2008](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/06/12/collective-punishment/war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-ogaden-area-ethiopias)).

## The 2018 peace agreement

On 21 October 2018 the Ethiopian government and the ONLF signed a peace agreement in Asmara, Eritrea. Ethiopia's delegation was led by Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and the ONLF's by its leader, Admiral [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Osman. The agreement allows the ONLF to "peacefully pursue its activities" in Ethiopia, and the two sides set up a joint committee to carry it forward ([Africanews, 22 October 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/10/22/eritrea-hosts-final-peace-pact-between-ethiopia-and-onlf/)).

## Sources differ

- **Terrorist listings.** The Council on Foreign Relations noted in 2007 that the US, EU and UK did not list the ONLF as a terrorist organisation (CFR, 2007).
- **Responsibility for abuses.** Human Rights Watch documented abuses by both the Ethiopian army and the ONLF (HRW, 2008).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Human Rights Watch, "Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia's Somali Regional State" (2008): [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/06/12/collective-punishment/war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-ogaden-area-ethiopias).
- Council on Foreign Relations, "Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)" (2007): [backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ogaden-national-liberation-front-onlf).


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# Edna Adan Maternity Hospital (Edna Adan University Hospital), Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/edna-adan-hospital/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa opened in 2002, built from 1997 on a former rubbish dump by the midwife Edna Adan Ismail. By 2013 its staff had delivered more than 14,000 babies and treated more than 140,000 patients. The hospital reports a maternal death rate of 390 per 100,000 women it admits, against a national estimate of 1,600.

## In short

The Edna Adan Maternity Hospital, now called Edna Adan University Hospital, is a referral hospital for mothers and babies in Hargeisa, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Direct Relief, February 2017](https://www.directrelief.org/2017/02/what-a-difference-edna-adan/)). It was founded by the midwife Edna Adan Ismail (same source); see [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/).

## How it was built

Building began in 1997 on land that had been a rubbish dump ([Christian Science Monitor, December 2013](https://csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2013/1205/Edna-Adan-Ismail-puts-compassion-at-the-heart-of-an-African-hospital)). Her former husband, then president of Somaliland, gave the land (same source). She sold her savings and valuables to pay for the work, and when money ran out she raised funds abroad and asked local traders for cement (same source).

The hospital opened in 2002 ([UN SDG Partnerships](https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/edna-adan-university-hospital-committed-further-improving-and-accelerating-our)). Wikipedia gives the opening date as 9 March 2002 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_Adan_Maternity_Hospital)).

## Births and patients

By December 2013, Edna Adan and her team had delivered more than 14,000 babies and treated more than 140,000 patients ([Christian Science Monitor](https://csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2013/1205/Edna-Adan-Ismail-puts-compassion-at-the-heart-of-an-African-hospital)). Patients came from as far as Mogadishu, about 800 km away, and from Ethiopia (same source).

Visiting surgeons hold free "surgical camps" for cleft lip, club foot, hydrocephalus and fistula (same source).

## Mothers' deaths

The hospital reports a maternal mortality rate of 390 per 100,000 among women it admits ([UN SDG Partnerships](https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/edna-adan-university-hospital-committed-further-improving-and-accelerating-our)). That is about a quarter of the national estimate it cites, 1,600 per 100,000 (same source). It reports an early 75% fall in maternal deaths among its patients and has a target of 150 per 100,000 (same source).

## Training midwives and nurses

Training midwives is the hospital's main mission. Reported numbers rise over time:

- 2013: 300 midwives trained, sent to remote areas ([Christian Science Monitor](https://csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2013/1205/Edna-Adan-Ismail-puts-compassion-at-the-heart-of-an-African-hospital)).
- 2017: 183 midwives, in Direct Relief's count ([Direct Relief](https://www.directrelief.org/2017/02/what-a-difference-edna-adan/)).
- Goal: 1,000 public health midwives over six years ([UN SDG Partnerships](https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/edna-adan-university-hospital-committed-further-improving-and-accelerating-our)).

The sources give different counts. Direct Relief has also shipped 81 midwife kits, which it links to more than 4,000 births in Somaliland ([Direct Relief](https://www.directrelief.org/2017/02/what-a-difference-edna-adan/)).

## Read more

- [Health in Somalia: the key numbers](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Hospitals in Somalia by city](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/)


---

# Diaspora-built mother and child hospitals in Baardheere and Caabudwaaq

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/diaspora-built-mother-and-child-hospitals/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis in North America set up East Bardera Mothers and Children's Hospital in Baardheere, Gedo, in May 2006, and added the West Bardera Maternity Unit on 13 December 2008. In Caabudwaaq, Galgaduud, diaspora friends of the town opened the Abudwak Maternity and Children's Hospital in July 2009 in a rented nine-room building.

## In short

In the 2000s, Somalis abroad paid for small hospitals for mothers and children in their home towns. Three of them have Wikipedia articles, which are the source for this page.

## East Bardera Mothers and Children's Hospital, Baardheere (2006)

The hospital, known locally as *Isbitaalka Bariga Baardheere*, was set up in May 2006 by Somalis living in North America ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bardera_Mothers_and_Children%27s_Hospital)). [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) is the largest city in Gedo region (same source).

- **Why it opened:** the town's general hospital, which had served it for about 40 years, was destroyed in 1991. The main Bardera hospital was out of service from 1994 (same source).
- **Staff:** a team of nurses and a senior midwife; women are 75% of the staff (same source).
- **Money:** founders and friends pay for medicines, rent and salaries. Running costs were a little over $30,000 a year (same source).
- **Supplies:** most medicines and equipment come from supporters in the United States and Canada. A local businessman welded the beds (same source).
- **Patients:** more than 6,000 people used it in 2007 ([Wikipedia, West Bardera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bardera_Maternity_Unit)).

In 2007, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Spain tried to re-equip the main Bardera hospital; Wikipedia says armed militias blocked the effort ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bardera_Mothers_and_Children%27s_Hospital)).

## West Bardera Maternity Unit (2008)

The unit opened on 13 December 2008 as an offshoot of the East Bardera hospital, to serve the west side of town and nearby Sarinley and Muuri ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bardera_Maternity_Unit)). It offers antenatal care, deliveries, post-natal care and child vaccination, often free (same source).

Four women work there: midwives, nurses and a junior pharmacist. Eight work at the East Bardera hospital, and the two share one pharmacy (same source). Bardera Polytechnic trains the staff at no cost (same source).

## Abudwak Maternity and Children's Hospital, Caabudwaaq (2009)

Diaspora friends of [Caabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/), the largest town in Galgaduud, campaigned for two years before the hospital opened in July 2009 in a rented building of nine rooms ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak_Maternity_and_Children%27s_Hospital)). It serves Caabudwaaq and nearby Balanbal, Bangeeleey and Dhabad (same source).

- **Before it opened:** patients with serious illness or difficult pregnancies travelled half a day to [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) (same source). In September 2007 a polio vaccination worker was killed in the area (same source).
- **Staff:** two midwives, two junior nurses, a pharmacist and an infectious disease specialist (same source).
- **Services:** antenatal and delivery care, post-natal care, children's health, a pharmacy and an outpatient clinic (same source).
- **Supporters:** Somalicare, the Somali-American Women Aid Project and the Somali Education and Health Organization (same source).

## Read more

- [Health in Somalia: the key numbers](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Hospitals in Somalia by city](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/)
- [Gedo region](/en/regions/gedo/)
- [Galgaduud region](/en/regions/galgaduud/)


---

# East Africa University (EAU), Bosaso

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/east-africa-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> East Africa University is a non-profit university founded in Bosaso, Puntland, in 1999, when it began teaching about 500 students. It now lists eight campuses, from Bosaso and Garoowe to Ceerigaabo and Buuhoodle, and more than 50 degree programmes. Its first students graduated in June 2005.

## In short

East Africa University (EAU) is a not-for-profit university with its headquarters in Bosaso, Bari region, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa_University)). Its rector is Dr Abdullaahi Ali Ugaas ([EAU](https://eau.edu.so/)).

## How it started

A group of Somalis set up the university in Bosaso in 1999, from what had been a Bender Qassim University institution ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa_University)). Classes began in October 1999 with about 500 students (same source). The university's own site gives both 1998 and 1999 as its start ([EAU](https://eau.edu.so/)).

- **March 2000:** foundation stone laid for the first campus, about 5 km from Bosaso town centre, with Puntland officials present ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa_University)).
- **February 2005:** the first students finished their degrees; they graduated in June 2005 (same source).
- **First courses:** Arabic and Islamic studies, and business administration (same source).

## Campuses

The university lists eight campuses ([EAU](https://eau.edu.so/)):

- Bosaso (main campus), Bari
- Garoowe, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/)
- Qardho, Bari
- [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), Mudug
- [Goldogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) (Galdogob), Mudug
- Burtinle, Nugaal
- [Ceerigaabo](/en/regions/sanaag/) (Erigavo), Sanaag
- [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/), Togdheer

The Buuhoodle branch opened on 18 April 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa_University)). On 18 March 2013 the Puntland government gave land in Garoowe for the university to grow (same source).

## What it teaches

EAU says it offers more than 50 degree programmes at diploma, bachelor's, master's and doctoral level ([EAU](https://eau.edu.so/)). Wikipedia lists nine faculties ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa_University)):

- Social Science and Economics
- Administration and Management
- Sharia and Islamic Studies
- Information Science and Technology
- Education and Science
- Medicine and Health Science
- Engineering
- Veterinary Science and Agriculture
- Marine, Environment and Earth Sciences

The Galkacyo campus runs a Higher Institute of Health Science with two-year diplomas in general nursing and medical laboratory work (same source). The university has also taught short courses for the Puntland Ministry of Planning's statistics staff and for legal professionals (same source).

## Distance learning

EAU runs a Virtual Distance Electronic Learning Centre (VDEL) for online classes and digital libraries ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa_University)). It names Mogadishu University among its partners ([EAU](https://eau.edu.so/)).

## Read more

- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Bari region](/en/regions/bari/)


---

# Gollis University, Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/gollis-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Gollis University is a private, non-profit university in Hargeisa, founded in 2004 by Dr Saeed Ahmed Hassan. It opened to students in 2005 with 40 criminal justice and 40 civil engineering students, reached 706 students by the end of 2007, and now has campuses across Somaliland and in Garoowe.

## In short

Gollis University (GU) is a privately owned, non-profit university in Hargeisa, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)). It takes its name from the Golis Mountains, near which it stands (same source).

## How it started

Dr Saeed Ahmed Hassan founded Gollis in 2004 as a non-profit institution ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)). It opened to students in 2005 and was upgraded to a university within 10 months (same source).

The first intake was 40 criminal justice students and 40 civil engineering students. By the end of 2007 it had 706 students (same source).

## Graduations

At its 17th graduation, at the Hargeisa campus in October 2018, 784 students graduated, with President [Musa Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) as chief guest ([Somaliland Standard, 4 October 2018](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-president-attends-golis-university-graduation-ceremony)). The chancellor spoke about how the university had grown and said many past graduates were using their education (same source).

Wikipedia names Saeed [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) as president and Dr Saeed A. H. Ibrahim as chairman ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)).

## Campuses

The university lists these campuses ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)):

- Hargeisa (main campus)
- Berbera
- [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/) (Burao)
- [Ceerigaabo](/en/regions/sanaag/) (Erigavo)
- Laascaanood (Las Anod)
- Buuhoodle
- Garoowe, in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)

## What it teaches

**Bachelor's degrees** come from these faculties ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)):

- Engineering: civil, telecommunication, electrical, computer and industrial engineering
- Information and Communication Technology
- Management and Economics: business management, accounting and finance, economics, business IT
- Geology and Water Resources
- Agriculture, and Veterinary Medicine
- Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: medicine, public health, nutrition, clinical laboratory, anaesthesia, clinical officers
- Social and Behavioural Science: development studies, social science, political science and international relations
- Law; Islamic Studies and Sharia; Education; Applied Statistics

**Master's degrees:** Business Administration (MBA), Management, and Public Health (same source).

## Money and research

Student fees, about $500 per student per semester, are the university's main income ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)).

The Gollis University Research Institute (GURI) runs research across faculties and works with other universities, NGOs and international bodies (same source).

## Read more

- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed and Hargeysa](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# University of Burao (Jaamacadda Burco)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/university-of-burao/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The University of Burao is a community-founded university in Burco, Togdheer, that registered its first students in September 2004. It has more than 10 faculties, from veterinary medicine and agriculture to medicine, engineering and Sharia, and branches in Sheekh, Caynabo and Oodweyne. Six classes had graduated by 2016.

## In short

The University of Burao (UB) is an independent, community-based university in Burco (Burao), the main city of Togdheer region in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). It was set up in 2004, and its first students registered in September 2004 (same source).

## How it started and grew

At the start there were 167 students in four colleges, plus 430 primary teachers on a short course to upgrade their skills ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). Six classes had graduated by 2016 (same source). In 2016 the university joined the Association of Arab Universities (same source).

It has branches outside Burco in [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/), [Caynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) (Aynabo) and Oodweyne (same source).

## Who runs it

A board of trustees answers to the Togdheer Development Committee ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). A president, accountable to the board, runs the university day to day (same source).

## Campus

The main campus is in the Shacab suburb in north-west Burco, about 2 km from the city centre, on a fenced site of about 3.75 hectares ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). It has lecture halls, ICT, science, engineering and veterinary labs, a library, a printing press, a guest house, a sports ground and a mosque (same source).

## Faculties

The university lists these faculties and units ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)):

- Animal Science and Agriculture
- Education
- Business Administration, Public Management and Economics
- Information and Communication Technology
- Medicine and Health Sciences
- Languages
- Sharia and Law
- Community Development
- Engineering
- School of Rural Development and Somali Studies
- Department of Research, Training and Short Courses

Veterinary students ran a biogas project, and ICT students did web development research (same source).

## Why it opened these faculties, in its own words

The university's case for its faculties, as given on Wikipedia, used these figures ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)):

- **Livestock:** official 1997 figures put the herd at about 23.5 million head, with only about three dozen qualified vets in the country.
- **Teachers:** the Ministry of Education counted 106,480 school pupils in 2003/04 and 2,590 teachers, of whom only 241 had degrees. That is one teacher per 41 pupils and one graduate teacher per 442.
- **Teacher training:** the only teacher college, Lafoole, had been closed for 13 years because of the civil war.

## Read more

- [Togdheer region](/en/regions/togdheer/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)


---

# Kismayo University (Jaamacadda Kismaayo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/kismayo-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kismayo University is a private, non-profit university in Kismaayo, founded in September 2005 as the first university in the Jubaland region. Its main campus, next to the old Kismaayo airport, was built in 2009. It has faculties of economics and management, computing, medicine and health, Sharia and law, and education.

## In short

Kismayo University is a private university in Kismaayo (Kismayo), Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_University)). It was founded in September 2005 and was the first university in the [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) region (same source). It is registered as a private, non-profit higher education institution with the federal Ministry of Education (same source).

## Why it was founded

Its founders wanted local secondary school graduates to study at home instead of going to Mogadishu, Hargeisa or Kenya ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_University)). The main campus, just north of Kismaayo next to the old Kismaayo airport, was built in 2009 (same source).

## Graduations

- **6 September 2023:** the 14th graduation, at Dawad Hall in Kismaayo ([Kismayo University](https://ku.edu.so/kismayo-university-14th-convocation-ceremony/)).
- **4 September 2025:** a joint 15th and 16th graduation, also at Dawad Hall. The chairman of the Jubaland parliament, then acting president, attended ([Kismayo University](https://ku.edu.so/category/16th-graduation-ceremony)).
- The Imam al-Shafi'i Institute, part of the Faculty of Sharia and Law, has graduated 145 students ([Kismayo University](https://ku.edu.so/145-graduates-honored-at-imam-shafii-institute-in-kismayo)).

The university's site also lists a branch in [Dhoobley](/en/regions/dhobley/), near the Kenyan border ([Kismayo University](https://ku.edu.so/category/dhoobley-branch)).

## How it is run

The university has five governing bodies ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_University)):

- Board of Trustees
- University Senate
- Academic Council
- Operations Board
- Development Board

## Faculties and degrees

From the university's own list, as given on Wikipedia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_University)):

- **Economics and Management Sciences:** business administration, accounting, public administration
- **Computer Studies:** computer science, information technology
- **Medicine and Health Sciences:** general nursing, medicine and health sciences, public health
- **Sharia and Law:** fiqh, usul al-fiqh, Qur'an and Sunnah, law
- **Education:** Islamic studies and Arabic, social science (history and geography), sciences (biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics)

## Networks and partners

Kismayo University is a member of the Somali Research and Education Network (SomaliREN), the Association of African Universities, the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN) and the Association of Somali Universities ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_University)).

It lists partnerships with Kenyatta University in Kenya, and with Makerere University, the Islamic University in Uganda and Kampala University in Uganda (same source).

## Read more

- [Lower Juba and Kismaayo](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Admas University in Hargeisa and Garoowe

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/admas-university-hargeisa-and-garowe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Admas University, a private university based in Addis Ababa, opened a campus in Hargeisa in September 2006 with about 150 students, under agreements between the Ethiopian and Somaliland education ministries. It grew to more than 3,000 students and more than 7,000 graduates. A second campus opened in Garoowe, Puntland, in March 2014.

## In short

Admas University is a private university from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with two campuses in Somali areas: Hargeisa in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Garoowe (Garowe) in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Wikipedia, Admas Hargeisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admas_University_College%E2%80%93Hargeisa); [Wikipedia, Admas Garowe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admas_University_College%E2%80%93Garowe)).

## Hargeisa campus (2006)

Admas began teaching in Hargeisa in September 2006 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admas_University_College%E2%80%93Hargeisa)). Wikipedia describes it as the first private higher education institution in Somaliland (same source). It rests on two agreements: one between the education ministries of Ethiopia and Somaliland, and one between Admas University in Ethiopia and Admas University in Hargeisa (same source).

**Growth (same source):**

- First intake: about 150 students in four bachelor's subjects: ICT, accounting, economics and management.
- Later: more than 3,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students on five nearby campuses.
- Graduates: more than 7,000 with bachelor's and master's degrees and postgraduate diplomas.

**Graduations:** its 11th class, 606 students, graduated at the Maansoor Hotel in Hargeisa in October 2019, with Vice President Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismael attending ([Somaliland Standard, 13 October 2019](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-vp-joins-admas-in-graduating-606-students/)).

**Accreditation:** its 11 undergraduate and 7 postgraduate programmes are accredited by Somaliland's National Commission for Higher Education and by Ethiopia's Education and Training Authority, formerly HERQA (same source). It has run joint postgraduate programmes with foreign universities (same source).

## Admas University in Ethiopia

The parent Admas University is a private university in Addis Ababa ([Wikipedia, Admas Hargeisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admas_University_College%E2%80%93Hargeisa)). Hargeisa and Garoowe are its campuses outside Ethiopia (same source). Its Hargeisa graduates work in Somaliland's private, public and NGO sectors, according to the same account.

## Garoowe campus (2014)

The Garoowe campus opened in March 2014 in Puntland's administrative capital ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admas_University_College%E2%80%93Garowe)). Its faculties (same source):

- **Business:** accounting, economics, management, marketing management
- **Informatics:** computer science, information technology, office administration and technology systems
- **Social Sciences:** development studies, sociology, educational planning and management
- **Health Sciences:** health officer

## Read more

- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Nugaal region](/en/regions/nugaal/)


---

# Somaliland University of Technology (SUTECH), Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somaliland-university-of-technology/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somaliland University of Technology in Hargeisa began in 2000 as the Hargeisa College of Applied Arts and Technology, a non-profit founded by Dr Saeed Sheikh Mohamed. He gave a 20-hectare campus, and its buildings, paid for by the Islamic Development Bank, opened in 2007. It has faculties of engineering, ICT, business, sciences and social sciences.

## In short

The [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) University of Technology (SUTECH), in Somali *Jaamacadda Teknoolajiyadda Somaliland*, is a university in Hargeisa, Woqooyi Galbeed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_University_of_Technology)).

## From college to university

Dr Saeed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohamed founded it in 2000 as a small non-profit, the Hargeisa College of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_University_of_Technology)). CAAT was an approved centre for the British exam boards City and Guilds and Edexcel (same source).

## Campus

Dr Saeed gave a 20-hectare site for the campus ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_University_of_Technology)). The Islamic Development Bank, based in Jeddah, paid for the buildings, which opened in 2007 (same source).

## Faculties and institutes

The university lists ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_University_of_Technology)):

- Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
- Institute of Global Studies
- Faculty of ICT and Computer Sciences
- Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
- Faculty of Allied Sciences
- Faculty of Natural Sciences
- Faculty of Environment Studies
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Hargeisa College of Vocational Training and Alternative Studies: accounting technician, office management, computer skills, agriculture extension, women's empowerment

Two centres serve all faculties: a School of Foreign Languages and a high school diploma programme (same source).

## Size and recognition

The university directory uniRank lists SUTECH as a private, non-profit, mixed university, recognised by Somaliland's Ministry of Education since 2007 ([uniRank](https://www.unirank.org/so/uni/jaamacadda-teknoolajiyadda-somaliland/)). It gives these ranges (same source):

- **Students:** 1,000 to 1,999.
- **Teaching staff:** fewer than 50.
- **Admission:** by entrance exam and school grades, with 80% to 89% of applicants accepted.
- **Degrees:** below bachelor's, bachelor's and master's.
- **Address:** Berbera Road, Geed Habeeya, Hargeisa.

## Partners

SUTECH has partnership agreements with the University of Khartoum and Ahfad University for Women in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_University_of_Technology)). It also joined three other African universities in an EU-funded Intra-ACP academic programme to build master's and PhD programmes and exchange staff and students (same source).

## Read more

- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed and Hargeysa](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# University of Somalia (UNISO), Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/university-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The University of Somalia (UNISO) is a private, co-educational university in Mogadishu, founded in 2005 by a group of independent scholars. It had about 6,000 students in 2014, six colleges including health science and engineering, teaching hospitals, and master's degrees in subjects from business to anatomy and pathology.

## In short

The University of Somalia (UNISO), in Somali *Jaamacadda Soomaaliya* and in Arabic جامعة الصومال, is a private university in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Somalia)). A group of independent scholars founded it in 2005 (same source).

## Where and how big

Its headquarters is in central Mogadishu, and it has a branch in Ceelasha Biyaha (El-sha Biyaha) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Somalia)). In 2014 it had about 6,000 students, men and women (same source).

## Graduations

- **August 2025:** the 19th graduation, which also marked the university's 20th year, saw 1,569 students finish bachelor's and master's degrees ([The Star, 28 August 2025](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2025-08-28-university-of-somalias-19th-convocation-showcases-resurgence-of-higher-learning)). Fields included medicine, health sciences, engineering, computer science, agriculture, veterinary science, business and public administration (same source).
- **September 2026:** the 20th graduation, at the National Theatre in Mogadishu, had 1,684 graduates: 827 women and 857 men ([Dawan Africa, 16 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/women-lead-top-positions-at-unisos-20th-graduation-ceremony)). Women came first in six of the university's eight faculties, and the overall top graduate was a woman (same source).

UNISO's president, Dr Hassan Mohamed Sayid, said in 2025 that nearly half of its graduates were self-employed or working in major companies ([The Star, 2025](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2025-08-28-university-of-somalias-19th-convocation-showcases-resurgence-of-higher-learning)). Education Minister Farah Abdikadir spoke at that ceremony (same source).

## Six colleges

Wikipedia lists six colleges ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Somalia)); a 2026 report counts eight faculties ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/women-lead-top-positions-at-unisos-20th-graduation-ceremony)):

- College of Health Science
- College of Business Administration
- College of Engineering and Computer
- College of Education and Social Science
- College of Sharia and Law
- College of Agro-veterinary Science

## Facilities

The university runs networking and programming labs, medical labs, libraries, teaching hospitals, printing services and internet access for students ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Somalia)).

## Master's degrees

Its postgraduate department offers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Somalia)):

- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- Master of Leadership and Governance
- Master of Computer Systems
- Master of Public Health
- Master of Anatomy
- Master of Physiology
- Master of Pathology

## Read more

- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Jamhuriya University of Science and Technology (JUST), Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/jamhuriya-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jamhuriya University of Science and Technology is a private university in Mogadishu, set up in 2011 by a group of Somali scholars. It teaches medicine and health, engineering, computing and business, and was fully accredited by the federal higher education directorate in 2013. More than 1,000 students graduated at its 10th ceremony on 4 December 2025.

## In short

Jamhuriya University of Science and Technology (JUST), in Somali *Jaamacadda Jamhuriya*, is a private university in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamhuriya_University_of_Science_and_Technology)). A group of Somali scholars and intellectuals set it up in 2011 ([JUST](https://just.edu.so/)). Its president is Eng. [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Mohamud ([JUST, 4 December 2025](https://www.just.edu.so/news/just-marks-its-10th-graduation-ceremony-a-decade-of-excellence-service-and-national-impact)).

## Campuses

Wikipedia names two campuses in Mogadishu, Digfeer and Banaadir ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamhuriya_University_of_Science_and_Technology)). The university's address is Digfeer Street, Hodan district ([JUST](https://just.edu.so/)).

## Faculties and degrees

From Wikipedia's list ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamhuriya_University_of_Science_and_Technology)):

- **Medicine and Health Science:** medicine and general surgery, nursing, public health, medical laboratory technology, and a diploma in pharmacology
- **Engineering:** civil, biomedical, and electrical engineering (telecommunications and networking, or power and energy)
- **Computer and Information Technology:** computer applications, multimedia, networking and security
- **Economics and Management:** business administration, public administration, accounting and finance

The university also lists seven postgraduate programmes ([JUST](https://just.edu.so/)).

## Accreditation

In 2013 the federal government's Directorate of Higher Education and Culture gave JUST full accreditation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamhuriya_University_of_Science_and_Technology)).

## Centres

JUST lists six centres: the Jamhuriya Research Center, a Center for Graduate Studies, a Professional Training and Exam Center, Jtech, an Incubation Center for start-ups, and a University Language Center ([JUST](https://just.edu.so/)).

## The 2025 graduation

JUST held its 10th graduation, for the class of 2025, on 4 December 2025 at the National Theatre of Somalia ([JUST](https://www.just.edu.so/news/just-marks-its-10th-graduation-ceremony-a-decade-of-excellence-service-and-national-impact)). More than 1,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students graduated, 52 of them on full scholarships (same source). State Minister for Education Nura Mustaf Mukhtar attended (same source). Students showed an RFID system that put each graduate's name and photo on the stage screen (same source).

## Read more

- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Zamzam University of Science and Technology (ZUST), Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/zamzam-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zamzam University of Science and Technology grew out of an agricultural training school that the Zamzam Foundation started in 2012. It became a university in 2013, opened a faculty of agriculture in 2014 and medicine in 2015, and moved to a permanent campus at KM11, Weydow, Mogadishu, on 4 September 2016. It also has campuses in Baidoa and Jowhar.

## In short

Zamzam University of Science and Technology (ZUST) is a Somali university founded in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_University_of_Science_and_Technology)). Its main campus is in Mogadishu, and it has campuses in Baidoa and Jowhar (same source).

## From farm school to university

In 2012 the Zamzam Foundation started an agricultural training school ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_University_of_Science_and_Technology)). Its stated purpose was "rebuilding food production system of the country and accelerate its yield, while promoting income generation for low-income families" (same source). The school ran 22 training programmes (same source).

## Timeline

From Wikipedia's account ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_University_of_Science_and_Technology)):

- **2013:** the training school became ZUST and offered its first graduate-level courses.
- **2014:** the faculty of agriculture opened.
- **2015:** the faculty of medicine opened.
- **4 September 2016:** the permanent campus at KM11, Weydow, Mogadishu, began work.
- **Now:** six faculties and a centre for graduate studies.

## Research and business centres

ZUST lists these centres ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_University_of_Science_and_Technology)):

- Research and Innovation Center (RIC)
- Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Studies (SAES)
- Center for Poultry Production
- Zamzam Techno Park
- BINA Business Incubator, Somalia

## Graduations

- **October 2023:** 181 students received certificates from the faculties of health science, medicine and surgery, business and management, agricultural science, engineering, and computer and information science ([ZUST, 31 October 2023](https://zust.edu.so/2023/10/31)).
- **2025:** the 8th graduation, for the class of 2025. Guests included Mohamed Abdi Xayir (Maareeye), federal Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation ([ZUST](https://zust.edu.so/?p=6230)).

## Leaders

Wikipedia names Prof. Dr [Ahmed Mumin Warfa](/en/people/ahmed-mumin-warfa/) among its leaders, and Mohamud Mohamed Harbi as head from 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_University_of_Science_and_Technology)). The university's 2025 graduation report names Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan as president ([ZUST](https://zust.edu.so/?p=6230)).

## Read more

- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Bay region](/en/regions/bay/)
- [Middle Shabelle region](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)


---

# Maakhir University, Badhan (now Somali National University, Badhan campus)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/maakhir-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maakhir University opened in Badhan, Sanaag, in April 2010, founded by people from the region living abroad with support from the Puntland government. Kuwait pledged money for its buildings in 2010, its first graduation was in December 2014, and a seven-storey building was finished in September 2018. In September 2019 it became a branch of the Somali National University.

## In short

[Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) University, in Somali *Jaamacadda Maakhir*, is a university in [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/), in eastern Sanaag ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakhir_University)). It was created in 2010 by people from the region living abroad, with support from the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) government (same source). In September 2019 it became a branch of the Somali National University (*Jaamacadda Ummadda Soomaaliyeed*) (same source).

## Why it was founded

Its stated aim was affordable higher education for people in the region and elsewhere in the country ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakhir_University)). The diaspora from Sanaag has been its main sponsor. Its members bought equipment, vehicles and office supplies abroad and sent them to Badhan, and helped pay for a new campus (same source).

## Timeline

From Wikipedia's account ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakhir_University)):

- **April 2010:** the university opened. The first year ended with a ceremony in November.
- **December 2010:** [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) committed $10 million to build Garoowe International Airport and Maakhir University.
- **April 2014:** Kuwait and Puntland signed the building agreement in Dubai. The money came from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, and Puntland's representative to Kuwait, Faisal Hawar, signed for Puntland.
- **December 2014:** first graduation ceremony.
- **September 2018:** a new seven-storey building was finished. Puntland President [Abdiweli Gaas](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) visited.
- **September 2019:** it became the Somali National University's branch in Puntland.

## Today

The Somali National University lists Badhan in Sanaag as one of its five campuses, with [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), Gaheyr and KM4 in Mogadishu and [Caabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) ([SNU, history](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)). For the national university's full story, see [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/).

## Iqra Institute for Higher Education, Badhan

Badhan also has the Iqra Institute for Higher Education, set up in 2008 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iqra_Institute_for_Higher_Education)). It was founded to give poor young people in Sanaag vocational training and short courses in management and languages, so they could earn a living (same source). Its founders pointed to the lack of higher education in the region, which pushed young people to move elsewhere to study (same source). It teaches on its main campus in Badhan and belongs to the Union of Somali Institutes (same source).

## Read more

- [Sanaag region](/en/regions/sanaag/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Barwaaqo University, Somaliland's women's university

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/barwaaqo-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Barwaaqo University is a non-profit residential university for women at Baliga Cas, about 30 km north of Hargeisa. Ava Ramberg and Jonathan Starr founded it in autumn 2017, and its first class graduated in spring 2021. It trains teachers, and its network says 90% of its graduates find work.

## In short

Barwaaqo University (BU), in Somali *Jaamacadda Barwaaqo*, is a non-profit university for women in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barwaaqo_University)). It is Somaliland's first residential women's university (same source). Its campus is near Baliga Cas, about 30 km north of Hargeisa (same source).

It belongs to the Abaarso Network with [Abaarso School](/en/institutions/abaarso-school/) and the Kaabe primary schools ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).

## How it started

Ava Ramberg and Jonathan Starr co-founded the university in autumn 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barwaaqo_University)). The first class graduated in spring 2021, and President [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) gave the first commencement address (same source).

Its stated mission is to prepare Somali women to become professionals who drive development in their communities (same source).

## What it teaches

Wikipedia lists these degrees ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barwaaqo_University)):

- Bachelor of Education in English Studies
- Bachelor of Education with Montessori Specialisation
- Bachelor of Education with Secondary Humanities Specialisation
- Bachelor of Arts in English for International Communication (discontinued from 2025)

The network says 90% of Barwaaqo graduates are employed, and that 90% of teachers at its Kaabe primary schools are Barwaaqo graduates ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).

## Cost and admission

For 2022 to 2026, the full cost of tuition, room and board was $3,500 a year; organisations and private donors give scholarships ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barwaaqo_University)). Applicants sit an entrance exam, write an essay and show a secondary school certificate (same source).

## Campus and student life

The campus has two quadrangles, one for students and one for staff, plus a community school and a mosque ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barwaaqo_University)). The architect Stephen Finney designed the staff quadrangle and the community school (same source).

Students live in houses on campus, up to four to a room, in 48 rooms (same source). Clubs include an Islamic club, a maths (*xisaab*) club, gardening, spelling bee, drama and hiking; sports include football, basketball and volleyball (same source). In the "Barwaaqo Gives Back" programme, students volunteer during school breaks (same source).

## Read more

- [Abaarso School](/en/institutions/abaarso-school/)
- [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# University of Gedo (Jaamacadda Gedo), Baardheere

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/university-of-gedo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The University of Gedo opened its first campus in Baardheere on 29 August 2008. The Somali Development Foundation, led by Professor Warsame Ali, raised money for it in more than 50 cities on five continents. It began with diplomas in business, nursing and Islamic studies, and plans campuses in Beled Xaawo and Garbahaarey.

## In short

The University of Gedo, in Somali *Jaamacadda Gedo*, is a university in [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) (Bardera), Gedo region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gedo)). Wikipedia describes it as public. Its first campus opened on 29 August 2008 (same source).

## Recognition

The directory uniRank lists the University of Gedo as officially recognised by the federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education, and as open to men and women ([uniRank](https://www.unirank.org/so/uni/jaamacada-gedo/)).

## Who built it

The Somali Development Foundation (SDF), headed by Professor Warsame Ali, drove its founding ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gedo)). The SDF held fundraising drives in more than 50 cities on five continents (same source). This made Gedo one of about six regions with local post-secondary education after 1991 (same source).

## Campuses

The founders planned at least two campuses, in Baardheere and Beled Xaawo (Beled Hawo), and possibly a third in Garbahaarey (Garbahaarreey), the regional capital ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gedo)).

## First programmes

In its first phase the university offered ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gedo)):

- **Diplomas:** business administration, nursing, Islamic studies
- **Non-credit courses:** mathematics; Somali, Arabic and English; computer studies

Academic policy is set locally. The founders planned to link the curriculum to Coventry University in England (same source).

## Working with other schools

The University of Gedo, Kismayo University and Bardera Polytechnic worked with education funders, teachers, parents and independent schools on a shared, standard curriculum for primary and secondary schools in the wider [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gedo)).

## Staff

Wikipedia names ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Gedo)):

- Prof Ali Malaq Ahmed, chancellor
- Bashir Omar Isse, vice-chancellor for academics
- Mohamud Hassan Elmi, vice-chancellor for administration and finance
- Omar Sanweyne, dean of registration, exams and student affairs
- Arab [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Don, dean of science

## Read more

- [Diaspora-built mother and child hospitals in Baardheere and Caabudwaaq](/en/institutions/diaspora-built-mother-and-child-hospitals/)
- [Kismayo University](/en/institutions/kismayo-university/)
- [Gedo region](/en/regions/gedo/)


---

# Universities in Laascaanood (Las Anod): Nugaal, Ilays and others

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/universities-in-laascaanood/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Laascaanood, the main town of Sool, has had a university since 2004, when Nugaal University opened to serve Sool, Cayn and Sanaag. Ilays National University followed in 2012, growing out of the Ilays Educational Academy. Gollis University and East Africa University also list campuses in the area.

## In short

Laascaanood (Las Anod) is the main town of Sool region. Two universities were founded there: Nugaal University in 2004 and Ilays National University in 2012 ([Wikipedia, Nugaal University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nugaal_University); [Wikipedia, Ilays National University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilays_National_University)). Wikipedia places Nugaal University in the [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) of Somalia (same source).

## Nugaal University (2004)

Nugaal University was set up in 2004 to give higher education to people in Sool, Cayn and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nugaal_University)). Some of its teachers come from outside the country (same source). It is a member of the Association of Arab Universities and is funded by the Sool community (same source). Its website is nugaaluniversity.edu.so (same source).

## Ilays National University (2012)

Prof. Abdisalam Tungub founded Ilays National University (INU) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilays_National_University)). He first set up the Ilays Educational Academy, and INU was formed in 2012 to give higher education to the academy's graduates and to people in Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (same source). It has foreign and Somali lecturers (same source).

Wikipedia cites Somali news reports from 11 September 2015 on the opening of the Ilays university in Laascaanood, in Horufadhi Media and [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) (same source).

## Branch campuses

- **Gollis University**, based in Hargeisa, lists a Laascaanood campus ([Wikipedia, Gollis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollis_University)). See [Gollis University](/en/institutions/gollis-university/).
- **East Africa University**, based in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), lists campuses in nearby [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Ceerigaabo ([EAU](https://eau.edu.so/)). See [East Africa University](/en/institutions/east-africa-university/).

## Read more

- [Sool region](/en/regions/sool/)
- [Leaders of Khaatumo and the North Eastern State](/en/institutions/leaders-of-khaatumo-and-north-eastern-state/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Private universities in Mogadishu: Indian Ocean, City, Horseed, Jobkey and more

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/private-universities-in-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Indian Ocean University, founded on 3 May 1993, is described as Somalia's oldest private non-profit university; its first students began in September 1993. Dozens more followed in Mogadishu, including Horseed International University (2010), Jobkey University (2011) and City University of Mogadishu (2012). This page covers the smaller ones; the biggest have their own pages.

## In short

After the state collapsed in 1991, private groups opened universities in Mogadishu. By 2015 about 40 for-profit universities operated in Mogadishu alone ([Times Higher Education, 2015](https://timeshighereducation.com/node/130664)). In August 2026 the federal education ministry said about 130 universities were registered in Somalia ([Dawan, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)); see [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/). The largest Mogadishu ones (Mogadishu University, SIMAD, Benadir, UNISO, Jamhuriya, Zamzam) have their own pages. This page covers smaller ones.

## Indian Ocean University (1993)

Indian Ocean University (IOU), in Somali *Jaamacadda Bedweynta Hindiya*, is described as the oldest private, non-profit accredited university in Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_University)).

- **Founded:** a group of Somali intellectuals set it up on 3 May 1993, when the national university had closed (same source).
- **First students:** September 1993, in business administration and nursing (same source).
- **Campus:** on the airport road at KM4, about 1 km from [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) (same source).
- **Registration:** with the Ministry of Higher Education and Culture (same source).
- **President:** Samawade Ali-Dahir, as of 2015 (same source).

## Horseed International University (2010)

Horseed International University (HIU) is a non-profit private university in Mogadishu, founded in 2010 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseed_International_University)). It takes part in an international health education partnership led by RIT Croatia (same source).

## Jobkey University (2011)

Jobkey University (*Jaamacadda Jobkey*) began teaching at the end of 2011, after more than three years of planning by intellectuals and diaspora members ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobkey_University)). It is chartered and approved by the federal government (same source). Wikipedia gives 1,000 to 1,999 students and an admission rate of 60% to 70% (same source). Its motto is "Success Starts Here" (same source).

## City University of Mogadishu (2012)

City University (CU) is a private, non-profit university founded in 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_University_of_Mogadishu)). Its five colleges (same source):

- **Humanities and Social Sciences:** political science, public administration, law, English; an MA in international relations
- **Agriculture and Natural Resources:** agronomy, marine and fisheries science, animal science
- **Engineering and Computing:** civil engineering, computer science, cybersecurity
- **Business and Administrative Sciences:** accounting, economics; an MBA
- **Health and Human Services:** public health, social work with a mental health focus

## Hope University

Hope University (HU) was founded in Hargeisa in 2008 by Najib [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulkarim as a non-profit, cost-recovering university for health, technology and management ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_University)). It also runs a Mogadishu branch (same source).

## Others listed

Wikipedia's list of Mogadishu universities also includes Somali International University, Al-Imra International University, Daaru Salaam University, Abrar, Almaas, An-Nour, Global, Hormuud, Imam, Jazeera, Metropolitan, Mogadishu Polytechnic, Nile University of Science and Technology, Plasma, Qudus, Hano Technical University and Hansan Medical College ([Wikipedia, List of universities in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Somalia)).

## Read more

- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Jamhuriya University](/en/institutions/jamhuriya-university/)
- [Zamzam University](/en/institutions/zamzam-university/)
- [University of Somalia (UNISO)](/en/institutions/university-of-somalia/)


---

# Garissa University, Kenya: history, courses and the 2015 attack

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/garissa-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Garissa University is a public university in Garissa, the main town of Kenya's Somali-majority north-east. It opened in 2011 as a college of Moi University and became a full university on 23 October 2017. On 2 April 2015 gunmen killed 148 people there, most of them students; a Kenyan court in 2019 convicted three men linked to al-Shabaab.

## In short

Garissa University is a public university in Garissa town, Garissa County, in north-eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College)). It was the first public university college to offer approved degrees in the former North Eastern Province (same source).

## How it started

The university began in 2011 as a constituent college of Moi University, in the buildings of the former Garissa Teachers' Training College ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College)). Its library dates from 1996, when it served the teacher training college (same source).

President Uhuru Kenyatta granted it a charter as a full university on 23 October 2017 (same source).

## What it teaches

It has schools of education, information science, and arts and social sciences ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College)). Its motto is "Oasis of innovation" (same source).

**Leaders named:** Prof. Ahmed Warfa, vice-chancellor; Prof. Nganga Stephen Irura, deputy vice-chancellor for finance and administration; and Prof. Hussein A. Golicha, deputy vice-chancellor for academics (same source).

## The attack of 2 April 2015

In the early hours of 2 April 2015, armed attackers entered the campus, shot two security guards and then fired on students ([Al Jazeera, 19 June 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/6/19/kenya-court-convicts-three-over-garissa-university-massacre)). 148 people were killed, most of them students, and 79 or more were wounded ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College)). Al-Shabaab claimed the attack (same source). Al Jazeera described it as the second deadliest attack in Kenya, after the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi ([Al Jazeera, 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/6/19/kenya-court-convicts-three-over-garissa-university-massacre)).

The attackers took Christian students hostage and freed most Muslim students, according to Wikipedia's account of the attack ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College)).

## After the attack

- Classes were suspended the next day, and buses took students home ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_University_College)).
- About 650 surviving students moved to Moi University's main campus in Eldoret (same source).
- The Garissa campus reopened on 5 May 2015 with tighter security. Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi urged students to return; many refused (same source).

## The court case

In June 2019 a court in Nairobi found three men guilty. Judge Francis Andayi said they "were members of the al-Shabab terrorist group whose members carried out the attack" ([Al Jazeera, 19 June 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/6/19/kenya-court-convicts-three-over-garissa-university-massacre)). A fourth accused, Sahal Diriye Hussein, was acquitted (same source).

Rashid Charles Mberesero, a Tanzanian, was sentenced to life in prison. Two Kenyans, Mohamed Ali Abikar and Hassan Aden Hassan, were each sentenced to 41 years ([The Citizen, South Africa](https://citizen.co.za/news/news-africa/2150351/three-accomplices-given-long-sentences-for-kenya-university-attack/)). Kenyan outlets spell one name "Abdikar" ([Nation](https://nation.africa/kenya/news/3-suspects-found-guilty-in-garissa-university-terror-attack-178378)).

## Read more

- [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [The Northern Frontier District, 1962 to 1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/)
- [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)


---

# University of Djibouti (Université de Djibouti)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/university-of-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The University of Djibouti is Djibouti's public university, set up by decree on 7 January 2006 from the earlier University Centre of Djibouti. It has five faculties, including medicine and engineering, and two technology institutes. It had 2,500 students in 2008 and says it now has more than 11,000 in 35 fields of study.

## In short

The University of Djibouti is the public university of Djibouti, in Djibouti City ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Djibouti)).

## How it started

It was established by decree on 7 January 2006 and grew out of the University Centre of Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Djibouti)). The university's own site says the Pôle Universitaire de Djibouti became a full university in 2006 by the will of President [Ismaïl Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) ([Université de Djibouti](https://www.univ.edu.dj/)).

## How big it is

- 2008: 2,500 students ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Djibouti)).
- 2015: more than 7,000 students (same source).
- Today: more than 11,000 students in 35 fields of study, by the university's own count ([Université de Djibouti](https://www.univ.edu.dj/)).

## Faculties and institutes

The university lists seven teaching units ([Université de Djibouti](https://www.univ.edu.dj/)):

- Faculty of Law, Economics and Management (FDEG)
- Faculty of Letters, Languages and Humanities (FLLSH)
- Faculty of Engineering (FI)
- Faculty of Medicine (FM)
- Faculty of Sciences (FS)
- University Institute of Industrial Technology (IUT-I)
- University Institute of Tertiary (services) Technology (IUT-T)

It also runs a doctoral school (same source).

## Degrees

The university's first cycle is a two-year programme leading to a DUT or DEUG; one more year leads to a *licence* (bachelor's degree) ([AACRAO EDGE, updated January 2022](https://aacrao.org/edge/country/djibouti)). EDGE noted that the university was preparing to move to the French licence, master and doctorate (LMD) system (same source). The university now lists a doctoral school ([Université de Djibouti](https://www.univ.edu.dj/)).

Teacher training for state schools runs separately, at the Centre de Formation des Personnels de l'Education Nationale (CFPEN), which offers a two-year BTS diploma ([AACRAO EDGE](https://aacrao.org/edge/country/djibouti)). EDGE names the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training as the body overseeing education (same source).

## Where it is

The main address is the Balbala campus, at the RN2 and RN5 crossroads, Djibouti ([Université de Djibouti](https://www.univ.edu.dj/)). The site lists research projects with CEALT, Djibouti's research centre, and cooperation with [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) from 2022 (same source).

## People

Staff named by Wikipedia include Dr Abdou Idris Omar, a bioclimate researcher; [Souad Kassim Mohamed](/en/people/souad-kassim-mohamed/), a linguist and senior lecturer in French; and Hassan Rayaleh, who manages research programmes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Djibouti)). The Olympic runner Ayanleh Souleiman is listed among its alumni (same source).

## Read more

- [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Jigjiga University (Jaamacadda Jigjiga), Somali Region of Ethiopia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/jigjiga-university/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Jigjiga University is a public Ethiopian university in Jigjiga, capital of the Somali Region, founded in 2007 with 714 students. It now has eight colleges, a referral hospital and an Institute of Somali Language and Literature Studies. It reports 722 academic staff and 23,204 graduates from 2009 to 2017.

## In short

Jigjiga University (JJU) is a public university in Jigjiga (Jijiga), capital of the Somali Region of Ethiopia, 635 km from Addis Ababa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga_University)). It was one of 13 new government universities founded in Ethiopia at that time (same source).

## How it grew

- **2007:** opened with 714 students ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga_University)).
- **2008:** about 1,500 students (same source).
- **2009:** about 2,800 students (same source).
- **Today:** an intake capacity of 21,379, and 23,204 graduates between 2009 and 2017, by the university's own figures ([Jigjiga University](https://www.jju.edu.et/)).

The Faculty of Law was formed in 2004, before the university, and planned its first graduates for July 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga_University)). It took about 60 regular students a year and more than 500 working students in summer courses (same source).

## Colleges, schools and institutes

The university lists ([Jigjiga University](https://www.jju.edu.et/)):

- **Colleges:** Institute of Technology; Medicine and Health Science; Dryland Agriculture; Education and Behavioural Studies; Veterinary Medicine; Business and Economics; Social Sciences and Humanities; Natural and Computational Science.
- **Schools:** Law; Psychology; Graduate Studies.
- **Institute:** Somali Language and Literature Studies.

## Somali Language and Literature Studies

The Institute of Somali Language and Literature Studies opened at the start of 2006 in the Ethiopian calendar, which is 2013 to 2014 ([Jigjiga University, ISLLS](https://www.jju.edu.et/ISLLS.php)). It offers a degree in regular, summer and evening (extension) modes (same source). About 46 students graduated in its first class, which the university calls the first degree-level graduates in the history of Somali language study (same source).

Its research covers (same source):

- an inventory of the Somali Region's heritage
- traditional dry-season grazing among Somali herders
- traditional Somali marriage practices
- the oral literature of herders and farmer-herders

It has trained Af-Somali teachers in Fafan zone and held a symposium on links between Somali and Amharic (same source).

## Staff and facilities

JJU reports 722 academic staff, 53 expatriate staff and 758 non-teaching staff, with 168 staff housing units ([Jigjiga University](https://www.jju.edu.et/)). It runs a referral hospital and research sites for poultry, farming and a plant nursery (same source).

## Read more

- [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Abaarso School of Science and Technology, near Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/abaarso-school/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abaarso School is a non-profit boarding school for grades 7 to 12 in Abaarso, 18 km west of Hargeisa, founded in 2009 by the American former finance executive Jonathan Starr. Teaching is in English on an American curriculum. Its network says more than 390 alumni have won scholarships worth $65 million, at universities including Harvard, Yale and MIT.

## In short

Abaarso School of Science and Technology is a non-profit, mixed boarding school in Abaarso, [Maroodi Jeex](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)). The campus is 18 km west of Hargeisa (same source). It teaches grades 7 to 12 and is accredited in the United States, according to its network ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).

## How it started

Jonathan Starr, an American former finance executive, founded the school in 2009 and gave half a million dollars of his own money ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)). It was a secondary school only until 2013, when it added an intermediate school (same source).

In 2014 the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) gave it candidate status for accreditation (same source).

## How students are taught

- **Entry:** by test. In 2015 to 2016, 9% of applicants to grade 7 were accepted ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)).
- **Language:** all teaching is in English, except Islamic studies, Arabic and Somali (same source).
- **Hours:** about 30 hours of classes a week, mainly mathematics, English and logical thinking, on an American-based curriculum (same source).
- **Students:** about 120 in the upper school and 98 in the lower school, in Wikipedia's count (same source). The network says 60% of its students are female and 85% get financial aid ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).

## Results

Within six years of opening, the school had sent more than 60 students to schools and colleges abroad, including Amherst, Georgetown, MIT and Harvard ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)). The network now says more than 390 alumni have earned scholarships totalling $65 million, with places at Harvard, Yale, MIT, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).

The anti-FGM campaigner [Ubah Ali](/en/people/ubah-ali/) is a former student ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)). The network says an alumna was on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2020, and that the school is a 2026 finalist for the World's Best School Prize ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).

## Campus and money

The campus has a school building, separate boys' and girls' dormitories, staff housing, a mosque, computer and chemistry labs, sports grounds and a library of about 30,000 books ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)). The US programme American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) gave grants in 2014 and $879,225 in 2015 for new buildings (same source).

## The wider network

- **Barwaaqo University** (2017): an all-female university for teachers, with three education degrees ([Abaarso Network](https://abaarsonetwork.org/)).
- **Kaabe Schools** (2019): English-immersion primary schools from age three; 90% of their teachers are Barwaaqo graduates (same source).

Students also tutor children at the Hargeisa Orphanage and in Abaarso village; nine orphanage students have won full scholarships to the school ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaarso_School_of_Science_and_Technology)).

## Read more

- [Scholarships for Somali students](/en/society/scholarships/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia's economy at a glance

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/economy-at-a-glance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's economy was worth about $13.2 billion in 2025 and grew about 3 percent. Families spend more than the country produces, because money sent home and aid fill the gap: the country imports $7.3 billion of goods a year and exports $1.3 billion.

## How big the economy is

Somalia's economy (GDP at market prices) was about **$13.2 billion in 2025** ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Measured in 2025 prices, it grew from $10.0 billion in 2021 to $11.5 billion in 2025, a steady rise of about 3 to 4 percent a year ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, Table 2](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

Growth is expected to slow in 2026. The IMF projects **2.3 percent in 2026**, 2.7 percent in 2027 and about 4 percent over the medium term, with inflation of 6.5 percent in 2026 ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)). The World Bank projects 2.8 percent for 2026 ([World Bank, 13 May 2026](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/05/13/somalia-growth-continues-but-shocks-and-aid-cuts-intensify-risks-to-jobs-and-livelihoods)). Both name drought and falling aid as the main reasons.

## Where the money goes

- **Families spend more than the whole economy produces.** Household spending equalled about 124 percent of GDP in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). This is possible because money from relatives abroad and aid pays for much of what families buy.
- **Investment is rising.** Spending on buildings, machines and equipment reached about 26 percent of GDP and grew 6 percent in 2025, led by imports of machinery and by construction (same source).
- **Government is small.** Federal government spending was about 7.3 percent of GDP in 2025 (same source).
- **Imports are large.** Imports of goods and services equalled about 80 percent of GDP. Food is the single largest item (same source).

## Money from outside

Total money sent into Somalia reached a record **$6.79 billion in 2025**. Of this, $3.13 billion was sent by individuals to their families, about 24 percent of GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Foreign direct investment rose to $880 million, mainly in telecoms, finance, energy and property (same source). See [Money sent home](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/).

## Trade

Somalia sold $1.26 billion of goods abroad in 2025 and bought $7.30 billion. Live animals were about 73 percent of goods exports ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Trade, exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).

## The state's money

The federal government collected $404 million of its own revenue in 2025 and received $516 million in grants. It spent $971 million ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). External debt fell from $5.2 billion in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2025 after debt relief (same source). See [The federal budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/) and [Debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## People and work

In the 2022 national household survey, **54.4 percent** of people lived below the national poverty line. Only about a quarter of adults were working or looking for work, and youth unemployment was 30.1 percent ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). See [Jobs, work and poverty](/en/economy/jobs-and-poverty/).

## Somalia's main numbers, 2025

- GDP: about $13.2 billion
- Real growth: about 3 percent
- Inflation (average): 3.7 percent
- Shilling: 30,103 per US dollar on average (street notes)
- Money sent in from abroad: $6.79 billion (individuals: $3.13 billion)
- Goods exports: $1.26 billion; goods imports: $7.30 billion
- Bank assets: $2.30 billion
- Federal domestic revenue: $404 million
- External debt: $1.48 billion (11 percent of GDP)

All figures: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).

## Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) keeps its own budget and currency. Its cabinet approved a 2026 budget of about $424.5 million (4.58 trillion Somaliland shillings) ([Horn Diplomat, 29 November 2025](https://www.horndiplomat.com/somaliland-cabinet-endorses-record-424-million-budget-for-2026-citing-strong-revenue-outlook/)). Federal figures above do not fully cover Somaliland's own accounts.

## Sources disagree

The size of GDP depends on who measures it. The Central Bank uses $13.2 billion for 2025. Older World Bank figures used lower numbers. Remittance figures also differ: $3.1 billion counts only money sent by individuals, while $6.8 billion counts all transfers, including business and aid money.

The national statistics bureau's own GDP release gives somewhat different shares for 2025: household spending **123 percent** of GDP, investment **22 percent**, government **8.8 percent** and imports **75 percent**. It puts GDP per person at **$793** and growth at **3.1 percent** ([SNBS, GDP 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Somalia-GDP-2025.pdf)). The bureau also revises earlier years: household spending growth in 2024 was cut from 8.8 percent to 3.9 percent in its latest release (same source).

## Data file

Somalia's GDP by type of spending for 2019 to 2025 (families, government, investment, exports, livestock exports and imports), in millions of US dollars, as a share of GDP and as real growth, plus GDP per person and national income, is in [gdp-by-spending-2019-2025.csv](/data/economy/gdp-by-spending-2019-2025.csv). Source: [Somali National Bureau of Statistics, GDP 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Somalia-GDP-2025.pdf).


---

# Pastoralism in Somalia: how herding works

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Most rural Somalis are pastoralists: they live from camels, cattle, sheep and goats and move with them to find grass and water. The FAO estimates about seven million herders and agro-pastoralists earn about USD 3 billion a year from their animals, two-thirds of it from milk. Livestock made up about 60 percent of GDP in 2013 to 2016 and 80 percent of export earnings. In the 2016/17 drought about 1 million people gave up herding.

## Who herds

The FAO estimates about **seven million** pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Somalia. Agro-pastoralists farm as well as keep animals ([FAO Statistics Working Paper 23-37, Otte and others, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). In 2016 the Somali Chamber of Commerce said more than half of the country's people relied on livestock for food and income ([Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). In 2020 the UN said livestock involved up to 60 percent of the workforce ([UN Somalia, 19 June 2020](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/50359)).

## What herding earns

- Herders earn about **USD 3 billion** a year: two-thirds from milk, one-third from meat, mostly sold as live animals. That is roughly **USD 430 per person** a year ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)).
- Livestock made up about **60 percent** of GDP in 2013 to 2016 and **80 percent** of export earnings in normal years (same source, citing the World Bank and FAO, 2018).
- Poorer herding families also earn from firewood, charcoal, loans, gifts and money sent from relatives abroad (same source).

For herd sizes, see [How many livestock does Somalia have?](/en/economy/livestock-numbers-in-somalia/).

## Seasons and movement

The Somali year has four seasons: the main **Gu** rains (April to June), the dry **Xagaa** (hagaa), the short **Deyr** rains (October to December) and the long dry **Jilaal** ([FAO GIEWS, Country Brief Somalia, 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf) for Gu and Deyr; [Herren, ODI Pastoral Development Network, 1990](http://cdn-odi-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/5369.pdf) for jilaal and hagaa). A camel may give as little as 1 litre of milk a day in jilaal and about 5 litres in the late Gu ([Herren, 1990](http://cdn-odi-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/5369.pdf)).

Families split their herds. Cattle and camels are often sent with herders to distant grazing areas where there is thought to be more pasture ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)).

## Risks

Drought is the largest risk. Cattle die first, sheep and goats next, camels last. In 2016/17 about 4 million extra animals died, 2.2 million people were displaced, and about **1 million people** left herding after selling their breeding animals for food ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). See [Drought and livestock losses](/en/economy/drought-and-livestock-losses/).

Disease is the second: outbreaks have led Gulf buyers to ban Somali animals several times. See [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/) and [Livestock vaccination](/en/economy/livestock-vaccination-ppr-and-ccpp/).

## Related pages

- [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/)
- [Camel milk trade](/en/economy/camel-milk-trade/)
- [Xeer: customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/)


---

# How many people live in Somalia? Population, ages and growth

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/population/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 19.7 million people lived in Somalia in 2025, according to UN estimates, up from 2.9 million in 1960. Half of all Somalis are under about 16, women have about six children on average, and the UN expects the population to reach about 37 million by 2050.

## How many people

The UN estimates Somalia's population at about **19.7 million in 2025** ([UNFPA, World Population Dashboard](https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population/SO)). This UN figure covers the whole country, including [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

Somalia has had no national census since 1991. The first nationwide count since then was the **Population Estimation Survey of 2014**, run with UNFPA to prepare for a census, which found about **12.3 million** people: 42 percent in towns, 23 percent in villages, 26 percent nomadic and 9 percent displaced ([World Bank working paper, citing UNFPA PESS 2014](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/509221549985694077/pdf/WPS8735.pdf); [UN Somalia, PESS report](https://somalia.un.org/en/download/6916/33489)). Nomads were counted at water points in the dry season (same sources).

## Population by region, 2014 survey

The 2014 Population Estimation Survey counted 12,316,895 people in the 18 pre-war regions, split into towns, villages, nomads and camps for displaced people ([UNFPA, Population Estimation Survey 2014, Table 2.1](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population-Estimation-Survey-of-Somalia-PESS-2013-2014.pdf)). Banaadir had the most people, about 13.4% of the total; Sool had the fewest. Banaadir has no rural or nomad count because it is all city.

| Region | Towns | Villages | Nomads | Displaced (camps) | Total |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) | 287,821 | 143,743 | 233,709 | 7,990 | 673,263 |
| [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) | 802,740 | 138,912 | 255,761 | 44,590 | 1,242,003 |
| [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) | 483,724 | 57,356 | 154,523 | 25,760 | 721,363 |
| [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) | 120,993 | 13,983 | 187,632 | 4,820 | 327,428 |
| [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) | 159,717 | 30,804 | 352,692 | 910 | 544,123 |
| [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) | 471,785 | 65,483 | 133,234 | 49,010 | 719,512 |
| [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) | 138,929 | 31,047 | 213,227 | 9,495 | 392,698 |
| [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) | 381,493 | 79,752 | 185,736 | 70,882 | 717,863 |
| [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) | 183,553 | 52,089 | 214,024 | 119,768 | 569,434 |
| [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) | 81,379 | 135,537 | 252,609 | 51,160 | 520,685 |
| [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) | 114,348 | 249,326 | 100,402 | 51,960 | 516,036 |
| [Banaadir](/en/regions/mogadishu/) | 1,280,939 | – | – | 369,288 | 1,650,227 |
| [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) | 215,752 | 723,682 | 159,815 | 102,970 | 1,202,219 |
| [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) | 93,046 | 463,330 | 195,986 | 39,820 | 792,182 |
| [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) | 61,928 | 134,050 | 147,248 | 24,000 | 367,226 |
| [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) | 109,142 | 177,742 | 144,793 | 76,728 | 508,405 |
| [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) | 56,242 | 148,439 | 131,240 | 27,000 | 362,921 |
| [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) | 172,861 | 161,512 | 124,334 | 30,600 | 489,307 |
| **All 18 regions** | | | | | **12,316,895** |

## How it has grown

UN estimates of Somalia's population ([UN World Population Prospects 2024, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population-with-un-projections?country=~SOM)):

- 1950: 2.2 million
- 1960: 2.9 million
- 1970: 3.7 million
- 1980: 5.9 million
- 1990: 7.1 million
- 2000: 8.8 million
- 2010: 12.3 million
- 2020: 16.7 million
- 2025: 19.7 million
- 2030 (projected): 22.9 million
- 2050 (projected): 37.2 million
- 2100 (projected): 67.4 million

## A very young country

- **Median age:** about **15.6 years** in 2025: half of all Somalis are younger ([UN WPP 2024, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/median-age?country=~SOM)).
- **Children:** in 2023 about **8.6 million** of the 18.4 million people were under 15, nearly half. About 9.3 million were aged 15 to 64, and fewer than half a million were 65 or older ([UN WPP 2024, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population-young-working-elderly?country=~SOM)).
- **Births:** women had about **6.1 children** on average in 2023, down from 7.6 in 2000 ([UN WPP 2024, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?country=~SOM)).
- **Life expectancy:** about **58.8 years** in 2023, up from 48.9 in 2010 ([UN WPP 2024, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy?country=~SOM)).

## Towns are growing fastest

About **55 percent** of Somalis lived in towns and cities in 2025, up from 18 percent in 1960 and 39 percent in 2010 ([UN, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-population-urban?country=~SOM)). The World Bank notes that two thirds of poor Somalis now live in towns ([World Bank blog, April 2025](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/africacan/five-facts-about-poverty-in-somalia-afe-0425)).

## Young people and jobs

Every year about 500,000 young people look for their first job ([MENA Startup Digest, August 2026](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)). See [Jobs, work and poverty](/en/economy/jobs-and-poverty/).

## Data file

Year-by-year figures from 1950 to 2023, with UN projections to 2100, are in [population-somalia-1950-2100.csv](/data/economy/population-somalia-1950-2100.csv). Columns: year, population, estimate or projection, median age, births per woman, life expectancy and urban share. Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024, via Our World in Data.


---

# Why is Somalia poor? The numbers and the forces

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/why-is-somalia-poor/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia produces about $670 of goods and services per person a year, and just over half of Somalis live below the national poverty line. The main reasons in the data are the loss of state institutions in 1991, repeated droughts, a narrow export base, few jobs, and a state that collects very little tax. Several of these are now changing.

## How poor, in numbers

- Somalia's economy was about **$13.2 billion** in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Shared among about 19.7 million people ([UNFPA](https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population/SO)), that is roughly **$670 per person** a year.
- In 2022, **54.4 percent** of people lived below the national poverty line ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Food-Security-Facts-Sheets-2024.pdf)).
- About **3 in 4 nomadic people** are poor ([World Bank blog, April 2025](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/africacan/five-facts-about-poverty-in-somalia-afe-0425)).
- In 2026, **47 percent** of households could not afford a minimum basket of food and essentials without help ([CFSVA 2026](https://fsnau.org/downloads/CFSVA-2026-SNBS-FAO-FSNAU-WFP.pdf)).

Money from relatives abroad lifts what families can spend. Net transfers into the country, mostly remittances and grants, equalled about 27 percent of GDP in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The forces behind it

### 1. The loss of state institutions in 1991

When the state collapsed in January 1991, the Central Bank, the national currency and the public banks stopped working ([Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)). The Central Bank still has not printed a shilling since 1991, so the economy runs on dollars ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

### 2. Droughts and floods

Most rural families live from rain-fed farming and herding. In late 2025 the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains largely did not come, and southern cereal output fell 83 percent below average, the lowest since 1995 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The World Bank finds that poorer districts are the most exposed to drought ([World Bank blog](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/africacan/five-facts-about-poverty-in-somalia-afe-0425)).

### 3. A narrow export base

Somalia imported $7.3 billion of goods in 2025 and exported $1.26 billion. About 73 percent of goods exports were live animals sold to the Gulf ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). In 1983 a Saudi ban on Somali cattle opened a large budget gap ([US Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/61.htm)).

### 4. Few jobs

Only about a quarter of adults were working or looking for work in 2022, and youth unemployment was 30.1 percent ([SNBS, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). About 500,000 young people enter the labour market each year, against about 80,000 new jobs ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)).

### 5. A state that collects little

The federal government raised $404 million of its own revenue in 2025, about 3 percent of GDP, and depended on donors for most of its budget ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Federal capital spending on roads and buildings was only $75 million that year (same source).

### 6. Old debts that blocked finance

Debts from before 1991, swollen by unpaid interest, reached $5.2 billion and kept Somalia from normal World Bank and IMF lending until debt relief in December 2023 ([World Bank, 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative); [IMF, 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).

### 7. Insecurity

Insecurity disrupted planting and harvesting in 2025, according to the Central Bank ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What is changing

- **Money from abroad** reached a record $6.79 billion in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Mobile money** reaches most adults, and payments can now move instantly between banks ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Debt relief** has reopened low-cost finance ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).
- **Domestic revenue** nearly doubled from 2020 to 2025, and bank lending grew 14 percent in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Trade blocs:** Somalia joined the East African Community in 2024 ([EAC](https://eac.int/press-releases/3049-somalia-finally-joins-eac-as-the-bloc-s-8th-partner-state)).

See [Forces moving now](/en/forces/).


---

# Where jobs in Somalia are advertised

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/jobs-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most jobs in Somalia are advertised online on a few sites: the government's National Job Portal, ReliefWeb for aid and UN jobs, Somali Jobs for private and NGO work, and the UN's own careers site.

## Who this is for

This page is for anyone looking for paid work in Somalia: school and university leavers, people changing jobs, and Somalis abroad who want to work at home. It lists the places where jobs are advertised. Calankii does not host job adverts.

## The job market in brief

About **500,000 young people** enter the labour market each year, against about **80,000 new jobs** ([MENA Startup Digest, August 2026](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)). In the 2022 national household survey, youth unemployment was **30.1 percent**, and 35.6 percent in towns ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). See [Jobs, work and poverty](/en/economy/jobs-and-poverty/) for the full numbers.

## Where jobs are advertised

**1. The National Job Portal (government).** The federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs launched a national job portal in 2025 at **jobportal.gov.so**. Public bodies, private companies and international organisations can post vacancies for free, and job seekers can search them and find training and volunteer openings ([SONNA, Somali National News Agency](https://sonna.so/en/?p=440130); [SONNA, launch report, March 2025](https://sonna.so/en/ministry-of-labour-launches-the-national-job-portal)).

**2. ReliefWeb Jobs (aid, UN and NGO work).** ReliefWeb, run by the UN's humanitarian office OCHA, lists aid and development jobs by country. Its Somalia page carries vacancies from UN agencies and NGOs in Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Garowe, Baidoa, Kismayo and other towns ([ReliefWeb, Somalia jobs](https://reliefweb.int/jobs?advanced-search=%28C216%29)). Aid groups also post on their own websites ([Africarrieres, finding jobs in Somalia](https://africarrieres.com/somalia/en/guide/pratique/finding-jobs)).

**3. Somali Jobs (private sector and NGOs).** A Somali job board founded in December 2011, with offices listed in Hargeisa and Mogadishu, at **somalijobs.com**, with a phone app ([Somali Jobs](https://www.somalijobs.com); [Apple App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6443817164)).

**4. UN careers.** UN jobs open to Somali nationals are posted on the UN's own careers sites and gathered by trackers such as UN Vacancies ([UN Vacancies, open to Somali nationals](https://unvacancies.org/jobs/open-to/somali-nationals)).

**5. LinkedIn, Facebook and company pages.** Banks, telecom companies and larger firms often post on LinkedIn and their own pages ([Africarrieres](https://africarrieres.com/somalia/en/guide/pratique/finding-jobs)).

## Government jobs

Federal civil service jobs are filled through ministries and the [National Civil Service Commission](/en/institutions/national-civil-service-commission/). In 2026 the Ministry of Labour reviewed a study on barriers to hiring on merit in the civil service ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-reviews-study-on-barriers-to-merit-based-civil-service-hiring)). Each federal member state and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own civil service.

## Training

The Ministry of Labour runs short employability courses for young people ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/ministry-of-labor-launches-initiative-to-equip-200-somali-youth-with-employability-skills/)). Three innovation hubs, iRise Hub and SIMAD iLab in Mogadishu and HarHub in Hargeisa, train and support people starting their own businesses ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)).


---

# How many livestock does Somalia have?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/livestock-numbers-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia had about 52.9 million camels, cattle, goats and sheep before the 2016/17 drought, according to an FAO study using FSNAU counts: 28.7 million goats, 13.65 million sheep, 6.61 million camels and 3.93 million cattle. The drought cut the total to about 36.1 million. A 2026 report puts the national herd at about 56 million. Counts differ widely by source: for goats, FAOSTAT gives 11.6 million and FSNAU 27.8 million.

## The herd before the 2016/17 drought

These are estimates for 2015/16 from an FAO study by Otte and others, built on the 2014 livestock figures of the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit ([FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)) ([FAO Statistics Working Paper 23-37, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en), Table 1).

| | Camels | Cattle | Goats | Sheep | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animals (million) | 6.61 | 3.93 | 28.70 | 13.65 | 52.89 |
| Live weight (million tonnes) | 2.02 | 0.82 | 0.64 | 0.31 | 3.79 |
| Births a year (million) | 1.31 | 0.99 | 18.14 | 6.99 | 27.43 |
| Deaths a year (million) | 0.54 | 0.36 | 7.85 | 2.94 | 11.69 |
| Animals that can be sold a year (million) | 0.77 | 0.62 | 10.28 | 4.04 | 15.71 |
| Value of those animals (USD billion) | 0.42 | 0.12 | 0.38 | 0.11 | 1.03 |
| Milk that can be taken (million tonnes) | 1.47 | 0.47 | 0.32 | 0.15 | 2.41 |
| Value of that milk (USD billion) | 1.28 | 0.36 | 0.24 | 0.11 | 1.99 |

## What the numbers show

- **Camels carry the most weight.** They make up more than half of all livestock by body weight and by income, even though goats far outnumber them ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)).
- **Milk is worth more than meat.** Herders earn about USD 3 billion a year, two-thirds from milk and one-third from meat, mostly sold as live animals. For camels and cattle, milk is about 75 percent of the income (same source).
- **Many animals die even in good years.** About 12 million animals die each year, 60 percent of them young animals in their first three or four months. About 2 million of the 22 million breeding females die each year, mostly sheep and goats (same source).

## After the drought

The FAO model estimates that the 2016/17 drought cut the herd from **52.9 million to 36.1 million**, a fall of 32 percent. Sheep and goats fell by more than 30 percent, camels and cattle by less than 20 percent ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). See [Drought and livestock losses](/en/economy/drought-and-livestock-losses/).

In July 2026 the African Exponent, citing a World Bank document, put the national herd at about **56 million** animals ([African Exponent, 29 July 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)).

## Exports

In 2024 Somalia exported more than 6.4 million animals: 5.9 million sheep and goats, 291,692 cattle and 212,616 camels ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). From 2018 to 2024 exports totalled about 31.5 million animals, about 90 percent of them sheep and goats ([African Exponent, 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)). For values, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## Sources disagree

Every figure above is a model or an estimate. The gap is largest for goats: FAOSTAT reports **11.6 million** and FSNAU **27.8 million** ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). Camel counts are closer: FAO estimates reported in 2016 gave about 7.2 million ([Gulf Times, 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). See also [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/).


---

# Camels in Somalia: the world's largest herd

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has the largest camel herd in the world: about 7.2 million head, almost half as many again as Sudan, the second-largest, according to FAO estimates reported in 2016. Somalia is also by far the largest producer of camel milk, says the FAO. Camels are sold live to the Gulf, milked for city markets, and since 2025 turned into yoghurt in Mogadishu.

## How many camels?

Somalia has an estimated **7.2 million camels**, about a third of all the camels in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). That is almost 50 percent more than [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), which has the second-largest herd ([Bloomberg, in Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)).

A ranking of the 20 countries with the most camels puts Somalia first with 7.15 million, ahead of Sudan with 4.79 million and Kenya with 2.93 million ([PMC table, camel populations by country](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6389616/table/T1)). In August 2025 Africanews reported "over 7 million" camels, more than any other country ([Africanews, 5 August 2025](https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/05/camels-at-the-heart-of-somalias-agricultural-transformation/)).

All Somali camels are dromedaries, the one-humped camel ([Wikipedia, Dromedary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromedary)).

## Camel milk

Somalia is "by far" the largest producer of camel milk in the world, the FAO says ([Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). Most milk is drunk by herding families or sold fresh in towns.

In 2025 the [Beder Camel Farm](/en/economy/camel-milk-trade/) near Mogadishu opened the country's first factory that turns camel milk into yoghurt. Its manager, the veterinarian Dr Abdirisak Mire Hashi, said each camel on the farm now gives up to **10 litres** a day, about double the 5 litres of the past ([Africanews, 5 August 2025](https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/05/camels-at-the-heart-of-somalias-agricultural-transformation/)). The same report says the government has passed a Dairy Act and a livestock sector strategy.

## Camels for sale abroad

Camels are shipped live to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), along with sheep, goats and cattle ([Gulf Times, 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). The Central Bank counted **212,616 camels** among more than 6.4 million animals exported in 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For values by year, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

At Berbera, camels shipped to Saudi Arabia fell to **zero in 2017 and 2018**, after Saudi Arabia's partial ban of November 2016. In 2013 to 2016, 89 to 98 percent of Berbera's camel exports had gone to Saudi Arabia ([Mtimet and others, Global Food Security, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). See [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/).

## Who depends on them

More than half of Somalia's people rely on livestock for food and income, and livestock makes up about 40 percent of GDP, the Somali Chamber of Commerce said in 2016 ([Gulf Times](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). Dromedaries are adapted to desert life and can go for long periods without drinking ([Wikipedia, Dromedary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromedary)).

## Sources disagree

Counts differ by year and method. The FAO-based figure of about 7.2 million (2016) and the table figure of 7.15 million are close. Production figures for camel milk vary much more between sources, and the sources do not say how each was counted.


---

# Money sent home: remittances to Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis abroad and businesses sent a record $6.79 billion into Somalia in 2025. Of that, $3.13 billion was money sent by people to their families, about a quarter of the whole economy. One household in five receives this money, mostly through hawala companies and mobile money.

## How much comes in

Total money sent into Somalia reached **$6,786 million in 2025**, up 5 percent from $6,434 million in 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The Central Bank splits it into four kinds:

- **Money sent by individuals to families:** $3,134 million, up 15 percent. This is about 46 percent of the total and about 24 percent of GDP.
- **Business transfers:** $2,454 million (36 percent).
- **Aid agency (NGO) transfers:** $936 million (14 percent).
- **Other bank (SWIFT) transfers:** $262 million (4 percent).

All four figures: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).

The Central Bank calls family remittances "the largest and most stable source of inflows" (same source). They are larger than all aid and larger than all exports.

## How the money travels

Two channels carry almost all of it:

- **Money transfer businesses (hawala companies)** handled $3,077 million in 2025. Seven in ten dollars they carried were family remittances ($2,141 million).
- **Commercial banks** handled $3,709 million. Most of it was business money ($1,952 million). Banks carried $993 million of family remittances.

Source for both: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). In December 2025 the Central Bank licensed 14 money transfer businesses (same source). See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).

## Who receives it

The 2022 national household survey found that **20.7 percent of households** received money from someone living outside the household in the year before. About 22 percent of town and village households received it, against 10.8 percent of nomadic households ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

The same survey found the money arrives through **hawala (55.4 percent)** and **mobile money (41.5 percent)**. Towns use hawala more (62 percent). Nomadic families mostly use mobile money (72.3 percent) (same source).

Typical family support is $50 to $200 a month ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)).

## What it pays for

Most remittance money pays for food, rent, school and health. The Central Bank says remittances "underpinned the spending base and cushioned the pull-back in donor support" in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). It also keeps dollars flowing in, which pays for imports.

## What it costs

Sending money to Somalia cost about **6.6 percent** of the amount on average in late 2024. The UN goal is 3 percent ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)).

Since 1 January 2026 the United States charges a **1 percent tax** on money sent abroad when it is paid in cash, money order or cashier's cheque. Transfers paid from a US bank account or US debit or credit card are not taxed ([RSM US](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances)).

## Times the channel was nearly closed

- **2001:** after 11 September, the United States shut down [Al-Barakaat](/en/businesses/al-barakat/), then the largest Somali transfer company, on suspicion of terrorist links, which the company denied ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/amid-the-chaos-money-transfer-is-booming-business-in-somalia-1300076)).
- **2013:** Barclays, the last big UK bank serving Somali transfer companies, said it would close the accounts of all but 19 of its 165 remittance clients. Dahabshiil won a court order delaying the closure, and diaspora campaigners, backed by Oxfam, got Barclays to postpone four times ([Oxfam](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/7954); [COMPAS, University of Oxford](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2014/saving-the-lifeline-studying-the-somali-diaspora-involvement-in-the-2013-14-campaign)).

## Sources disagree

The World Bank has often given about $1.7 to $2 billion a year for remittances ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)). The Central Bank's newer series gives $3.1 billion for individuals alone in 2025. The difference comes from what is counted and from better reporting by transfer companies.

## Data file

Money received from abroad each year from 2021 to 2025, split by banks and money transfer businesses and by type (family, business, aid groups, other) is in [remittance-inflows-2021-2025.csv](/data/economy/remittance-inflows-2021-2025.csv). Figures are in millions of US dollars. Source: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, Table 11](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).


---

# Somalia's exclusive economic zone: the sea Somalia controls

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somalias-exclusive-economic-zone/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) covers about 830,389 square kilometres of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, reaching 200 nautical miles from the coast. From 1972 Somali law claimed a 200-mile territorial sea. On 30 June 2014 President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud proclaimed an EEZ in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and sent its outer limits to the UN. The southern edge was fixed by the World Court in 2021.

## How big is it?

Somalia's exclusive economic zone covers **830,389 square kilometres**. It reaches 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) out from the baselines from which the territorial sea is measured ([Wikipedia, Exclusive economic zone of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone_of_Somalia)). Somalia's coast, about 3,333 km long, is the longest in mainland Africa ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

Inside an EEZ, a country has the right to fish, drill for oil and gas, and use the water, currents and wind for energy. Ships of other countries may still pass through.

## The laws, from 1972 to 2014

| Year | Law or act | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Law No. 37 on the Territorial Sea and Ports, passed 10 September 1972 | Claimed a **territorial sea of 200 nautical miles** |
| 1989 | Law No. 5 of 26 January 1989, approving the Somali Maritime Law of 1988 | Provided for a 200-mile territorial sea and an exclusive economic zone |
| 1989 | Ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) | UNCLOS allows a 12-mile territorial sea and a 200-mile EEZ |
| 2014 | Presidential proclamation of 30 June 2014 | Set out the EEZ under the 1988 law, in line with UNCLOS |

Source for the table: [Wikipedia, Exclusive economic zone of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone_of_Somalia). Wikipedia gives 9 February 1989 as the date parliament ratified UNCLOS.

The difference matters. Under the 1972 law, foreign ships in the 200 miles were in Somali territorial waters. Under UNCLOS and the 2014 proclamation, the first 12 miles are territorial sea and the rest is an economic zone.

## The 2014 proclamation

On 30 June 2014 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) proclaimed an EEZ of 200 nautical miles from the normal baselines. The same day Somalia deposited a list of coordinates for its outer limit with the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea ([ICJ, Application of Somalia, 28 August 2014](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20140828-APP-01-00-EN.pdf)). The UN lists the deposit under a note dated 3 July 2014 ([UN DOALOS, Somalia national legislation](https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/STATEFILES/SOM.htm)).

The proclamation claims sovereign rights to explore, use, conserve and manage the natural resources of the seabed, the subsoil and the water above, and to produce energy from water, currents and winds ([Wikipedia, Exclusive economic zone of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone_of_Somalia)).

## Borders with neighbours

In August 2014 Somalia asked the International Court of Justice to fix its sea border with Kenya. The Court ruled on 12 October 2021. See [Somalia v. Kenya: the sea border case](/en/government/somalia-v-kenya-icj-maritime-case/).

## What lives in it

Cold, nutrient-rich water rises to the surface off the Somali coast, a process called upwelling. It feeds plankton, which in turn supports small fish such as sardines, herring and scad ([Wikipedia, Exclusive economic zone of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone_of_Somalia)). For catches, licences and illegal fishing, see [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/).


---

# Blackheaded Somali sheep: the breed behind the livestock trade

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/blackheaded-somali-sheep/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Blackheaded Somali is Somalia's main breed of sheep: white with a black head, hairy rather than woolly, without horns, and with a fat rump that stores energy for the dry season. It is raised for meat across Somalia, Djibouti, eastern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, and is one of the animals most shipped to the Gulf. South Africa's Dorper and Blackheaded Persian breeds come from it.

## What it looks like

The Blackheaded Somali is a breed of domestic sheep. It is white with a black head. It is a **hair sheep**, meaning it grows hair, not wool, and it is **polled**, meaning it has no horns. It belongs to the **fat-rumped** group of breeds, which store fat on the rump ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)).

The fat rump works as a store of energy. Animals draw on it in the long dry seasons, when grazing is poor. Hair instead of wool keeps the animal cooler in heat.

## Where it is kept

The breed is found throughout Somalia, in Djibouti, in eastern Ethiopia, in northern Kenya, and as far west as the Toposa area of south-eastern South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)). In other words, it covers almost all the lands where Somalis herd.

Somalia reports two breeds of sheep to the FAO's Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS): the Blackheaded Somali and the **Somali Arab** ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)).

## Meat and exports

The breed is raised mainly for meat and is a major export, chiefly to the Arabian Peninsula through the port of Berbera ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)). The same source names the markets of **[Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/)** and **Yirowe** as among the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa, with as many as 10,000 sheep and goats sold a day.

Sheep and goats are counted together in trade figures. The Central Bank recorded 5.9 million sheep and goats among the animals exported in 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). At Berbera alone, sheep and goat exports ran at 2.8 to 3.2 million a year in 2013 to 2016, then fell to about 1.3 million in 2017 and 2018 after Saudi Arabia's partial ban ([Mtimet and others, Global Food Security, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)).

| Year | Sheep and goats from Berbera | To Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2,852,875 | 2,339,358 |
| 2014 | 3,054,416 | 2,412,989 |
| 2015 | 3,159,883 | 2,875,494 |
| 2016 | 2,806,612 | 2,413,686 |
| 2017 | 1,327,185 | 1,088,292 |
| 2018 | 1,285,307 | 1,066,805 |

Source for the table: [Mtimet and others, 2021, Table 1](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/).

## Breeds that came from it

South Africa's **Blackheaded Persian** derives from the Blackheaded Somali ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)). The Blackheaded Persian was in turn crossed with the Dorset Horn in South Africa to create the **Dorper**, now one of the most widely farmed meat sheep in the world ([Wikipedia, Dorper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorper)).

## Related pages

- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [The Somali goat](/en/economy/somali-goat/)
- [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/)


---

# Cattle in Somalia: Boran and the Somali breeds

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/boran-and-somali-cattle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia has about 3.9 million cattle, according to an FAO estimate. They are zebu, humped cattle. The Boran is a beef breed of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia; Kenya's improved Boran was bred partly from the 'Somali Boran'. Large brown-red cattle from Somalia make up an estimated 60 to 70 percent of the cattle sold at Garissa in Kenya.

## How many cattle?

An FAO study estimates Somalia had **3.93 million cattle** before the 2016/17 drought, against 6.61 million camels and over 42 million sheep and goats. Cattle and their milk were worth about USD 0.48 billion a year, three-quarters of it from milk ([FAO Statistics Working Paper 23-37, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). Cattle are the least drought-hardy of the four species: they die first when the rains fail (same source).

Somalia exported **291,692 cattle** in 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Cattle also walk across the land border to Kenya, and less than 30 percent of them are formally taxed at the border ([Ng'asike and others, Pastoralism, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)). See [The cattle trade to Kenya](/en/economy/cattle-trade-with-kenya/).

## The Boran

The **Boran** is a zebu beef breed whose origin is given as Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. It descends from the shorthorned zebu of the Borana people of southern Ethiopia ([Wikipedia, Boran cattle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boran_cattle)).

- **Weight:** bulls 650 to 850 kg, cows 350 to 500 kg.
- **Colours:** white, fawn, red, black or spotted.
- **Traits:** fertile, early to mature, hardy and calm, and adapted to local conditions over more than a thousand years in Africa. It has little resistance to the tsetse-borne disease trypanosomiasis.
- **Ancestry:** a DNA study found it 64 percent Bos indicus (Indian humped cattle), 24 percent European Bos taurus and 12 percent African Bos taurus.

All from [Wikipedia, Boran cattle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boran_cattle).

## The Somali Boran and the Kenyan Boran

Three types are named: the small **Orma Boran**, the **Somali Boran**, and the **Kenyan (improved) Boran**, which was developed from the Orma Boran, the Borana and the Somali Boran. The Boran Cattle Breeders' Society has managed breeding in Kenya since 1951 ([Wikipedia, Boran cattle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boran_cattle)).

## Cattle from Somalia in Kenya's markets

At Garissa market in Kenya, an estimated **60 to 70 percent** of cattle come from Somalia. They are described as large brown-red cattle that resist drought, weigh 280 to 350 kg live at grade II, and fetch higher prices than the smaller Boran kept by Kenyan herders ([Ng'asike and others, Pastoralism, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)).

## Related pages

- [Rinderpest in Somalia](/en/economy/rinderpest-in-somalia/), the cattle plague eradicated by 2010
- [How many livestock does Somalia have?](/en/economy/livestock-numbers-in-somalia/)


---

# How to send money to Somalia: ways, costs and rules

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/how-to-send-money-to-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most people send money to Somalia through a Somali money transfer company, paid out in cash at an agent or straight into the receiver's mobile wallet (EVC Plus, Zaad, eDahab or Sahal). It typically costs 5 to 7 percent of the amount. Since January 2026, transfers from the US paid in cash carry an extra 1 percent US tax.

## Who this is for

This page is for anyone abroad who supports family or friends in Somalia. About one Somali household in five receives money from someone outside the household ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). We do not send money and do not recommend any company.

## The ways to send

1. **Through an agent of a Somali money transfer company.** You pay cash or card at an office abroad, and the receiver collects cash from an agent in Somalia, usually within hours ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)).
2. **Through a company's app or website, paid into a mobile wallet.** The money lands in the receiver's EVC Plus, [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/), eDahab or Sahal account. In 2022, 41.5 percent of families who received money from abroad got it by mobile money, and 72.3 percent of nomadic families did (same survey, [SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).
3. **By bank transfer** to a bank account in Somalia. Banks carried $993 million of family remittances in 2025, against $2,141 million carried by money transfer companies ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What it costs

The cost is the **fee plus the exchange rate margin** (the difference between the rate you get and the market rate).

- The average cost of sending money to Somalia was about **6.6 percent** in late 2024, against a UN goal of 3 percent ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)).
- From the **United States**, the World Bank measured an average of **5.60 percent** in early 2025 ([World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, US to Somalia](https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/corridor/US/SO)).
- From **Sweden**, it measured **6.79 percent** in the third quarter of 2025 ([World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Sweden to Somalia](https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/corridor/SE/SO)).
- Prices for the **UK**, the **Netherlands** and **Australia** are on the same World Bank site ([UK to Somalia](https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/corridor/United-Kingdom/Somalia)).

Many Somali companies lower fees for large amounts, regular senders and during Ramadan ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)). Most money is sent and paid out in US dollars, so there is often no currency change at the Somali end ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The US remittance tax

From **1 January 2026** the United States charges a **1 percent tax** on money sent abroad when it is paid for in **cash, money order or cashier's cheque**. Transfers paid from a **US bank account or a US debit or credit card are not taxed** ([RSM US](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances)).

## What the receiver needs

- For **cash pickup:** the full name you gave, matching their ID, and the transfer code.
- For a **mobile wallet:** a registered EVC Plus, Zaad, eDahab or Sahal number. New financial accounts in Somalia must now be opened with a national ID, checked through the Hubiye eKYC platform ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- For a **bank account:** the bank name and account number.

## How to check a provider

- **Is it licensed where you live?** In the UK, check the Financial Conduct Authority register. For example, Dahabshiil says it is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority and Canada's FINTRAC ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)).
- **Is it licensed in Somalia?** The Central Bank had licensed 14 money transfer businesses and 6 mobile money operators by December 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## How much Somalis send

Somalis abroad sent **$3.13 billion** to their families in 2025, up 15 percent on 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/) and [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).


---

# The Somali goat: breed, milk and trade

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-goat/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali goat is the main goat breed of the Somali lands, kept in Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and north-eastern Kenya. It is raised mostly for meat, is usually white with short hair, and both males and females have horns. It survives drought well and can give one to three kilograms of milk a day even with little water. Goats and sheep together are Somalia's largest livestock export by number.

## The breed

The Somali is a breed, or a group of breeds, of domestic goat. It is found in Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and north-eastern Kenya, and is used mainly for meat ([Wikipedia, Somali goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_goat)).

The goats have short ears and short hair. The coat is usually white, sometimes with spots or patches. Both males and females usually have horns (same source).

## Built for drought

Somali goats are drought tolerant. When milked, each can give **one to three kilograms of milk a day**, even when water is scarce ([Wikipedia, Somali goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_goat)).

## How many?

Three countries report the Somali goat to the FAO's Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS): Kenya, [Somalia and Yemen](/en/relations/yemen/). None of the three reports population numbers, so DAD-IS lists its conservation status as unknown ([Wikipedia, Somali goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_goat)).

Goats are counted with sheep in export figures. The Central Bank recorded **5.9 million sheep and goats** exported in 2024, out of more than 6.4 million animals in all ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). In 2016 the Ministry of Livestock said 5.5 million animals had been sold abroad that year by late November ([Bloomberg, in Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)).

## Where they go

Somali livestock goes live by sea mainly to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) ([Gulf Times, 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). Sales peak before the Hajj. Estimates of the Hajj season's share of yearly exports range from 52 to 70 percent ([Mtimet and others, Global Food Security, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). Animals pass through quarantine stations built by Saudi importers at Berbera, where they are inspected, sampled, tested and vaccinated before a health certificate is issued (same source). For the companies that run these stations, see [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/).

## Why buyers want them

In 2016 [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/), director-general of the Ministry of Livestock, said traditional herding gives Somali meat "a unique taste", and credited vaccination by veterinary workers with keeping animals healthy and raising sales. Over the five years before, the FAO had worked with the government, with EU and UK money, on livestock infrastructure, vaccination and fodder ([Bloomberg, in Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). The same report said Somalia already supplied Egypt and was about to start exporting to Malaysia.

## Related pages

- [Blackheaded Somali sheep](/en/economy/blackheaded-somali-sheep/)
- [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/)
- [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/)


---

# The camel milk trade: from herds to city markets

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/camel-milk-trade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Camel milk is the most valuable thing Somali herds produce: the FAO values the milk that can be taken from camels at about USD 1.28 billion a year. Since the early 1970s women traders called abakaar have carried camel milk from herds 100 to 150 km inland to Mogadishu, moving 1.5 to 5 tonnes a day by the late 1980s. In 2025 the first camel-milk yoghurt factory opened near Mogadishu.

## How much is it worth?

The FAO estimates that Somali camels can supply about **1.47 million tonnes** of milk a year, worth about **USD 1.28 billion**, more than all live animal sales of every species combined. For camels and cattle, milk is about 75 percent of the income they bring ([FAO Statistics Working Paper 23-37, Otte and others, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). Somalia is "by far" the largest producer of camel milk in the world, the FAO says ([Gulf Times, 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)).

## The abakaar of Mogadishu

A study by the anthropologist Urs Herren in 1987 to 1989 followed the camel milk trade into Mogadishu ([Herren, ODI Pastoral Development Network Paper 30a, November 1990](http://cdn-odi-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/5369.pdf)). It found:

- The trade is **run entirely by women**, called **abakaar**. Many are heads of households, widowed, divorced or left by their husbands, with a herding background.
- It moved **1.5 to 5 tonnes** of camel milk a day from herds **100 to 150 km** inland, reliably and at a price people could pay, with no outside help.
- Professional traders began coming to the area beyond [Wanlaweyn](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) soon after **1970**, when the new Baidoa road was finished around 1973, and a milk traders' cooperative was formed in about 1971 or 1972.
- The "big abakaar" (abakaar weyn), 19 members of that cooperative at the time, carried milk in woven **haan** containers holding up to 50 litres, bought in Buulo Barde. "Small abakaar" and freelance traders used plastic jerrycans.
- Traders rented a truck each day to collect milk along the roads.
- Wealthier Mogadishu families sent women and children to villages such as [Leego](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) in the wet season to drink fresh, cheap milk. About 190 houses were owned by these visitors, who drank perhaps 1,000 litres a day.

## Seasons and prices

A milking camel gives about **600 litres** a year for people to drink. Daily milk can fall to **1 litre** in the dry Jilaal and rise to about **5 litres** in the late Gu rains. Milk is cheapest in the wet seasons, when there is most of it ([Herren, 1990](http://cdn-odi-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/5369.pdf)).

## New dairies

In August 2025 the Beder Camel Farm near Mogadishu ran Somalia's first factory turning camel milk into yoghurt. Its manager, the vet Dr Abdirisak Mire Hashi, said each camel on the farm gave up to 10 litres a day, double the 5 litres of the past. The report says only a fraction of Somalia's camel milk reaches supermarket shelves, and that the government has passed a Dairy Act ([Africanews, 5 August 2025](https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/05/camels-at-the-heart-of-somalias-agricultural-transformation/)).

## Related pages

- [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/)
- [Pastoralism in Somalia](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/)


---

# Gulf bans on Somali livestock, 1998 to 2020

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saudi Arabia, the biggest buyer of Somali animals, has banned or limited imports from Somalia several times over animal disease, mainly Rift Valley fever. The first ban ran from February 1998 to May 1999. A second, from September 2000, lasted until November 2009. A partial ban from November 2016 cut Berbera's sheep and goat exports by more than half. Each ban cost herders and traders hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the studies cited here.

## Why bans happen

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a viral disease spread by mosquitoes. It mainly infects domestic animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and camels, and can pass to people through blood, raw milk or mosquito bites ([Wikipedia, Rift Valley fever](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rift_Valley_fever)). Outbreaks usually follow unusually heavy rain and flooding, which breed more mosquitoes (same source). Saudi Arabia has also banned animals from neighbours such as [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and Djibouti over fears of RVF ([Arab News, 2019](https://www.arabnews.com/node/1570441/amp)).

Saudi Arabia matters most because it buys the largest share. At Berbera, 79 to 91 percent of sheep and goats shipped in 2013 to 2018 went to Saudi Arabia ([Mtimet and others, Global Food Security, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)).

## The 1998 ban

Saudi Arabia's agriculture ministry banned livestock from Somalia and several other countries after the World Health Organization reported RVF in the region. It ended a 16-month ban in **May 1999** ([USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Saudi Arabia Livestock Annual, 1 September 1999](https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Livestock+Annual_Riyadh_Saudi+Arabia_09-01-1999.pdf)). One study dates the ban from February 1998 to May 1999 and estimates the loss at **$109 million** (Cagnolati and others, 2006, cited in [Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)).

## The 2000 to 2009 ban

Saudi Arabia banned Somali livestock again from **September 2000**, the year RVF broke out in Saudi Arabia and Yemen ([Wikipedia, Rift Valley fever](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rift_Valley_fever)). Cagnolati and others estimate the loss from September 2000 to December 2002 alone at **$326 million** (cited in [Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). Mtimet and others call it the longest RVF-related ban in recent decades.

Saudi Arabia lifted the ban in **November 2009**. Saudi officials were to inspect animals before shipment ([VOA, 5 November 2009](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2009-11-05-voa53/414105.html); [Hiiraan Online, November 2009](https://www.hiiraan.com/news2/2009/nov/saudi_arabia_resumes_livestock_trade_with_somalia.aspx)). Reports differ on the length: [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) calls it a nine-year ban and VOA an eleven-year one.

## The 2016 partial ban

In **November 2016** Saudi Arabia imposed a partial ban after RVF and foot-and-mouth disease were found in a few consignments. No RVF outbreak had been reported in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) at the time. The ban was lifted each year for the Hajj season ([Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)).

The effect at Berbera:

- Sheep and goat exports fell about **57 percent**, from about 2.5 million a year in 2013 to 2016 to about 1 million in 2017 and 2018.
- Camel exports to Saudi Arabia fell to **zero** in 2017 and 2018.
- Estimated lost revenue: $42.3 million (2016), $178.2 million (2017), $207.6 million (2018), $134.8 million (2019) and $207.5 million (2020), about **$770 million** over five years including COVID-19 effects.

All three points come from [Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/).

In April 2020 Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) announced it was temporarily lifting the ban on livestock imports from Somalia ([MEWA, April 2020](https://www.mewa.gov.sa/en/MediaCenter/News/Pages/News1842020.aspx); [Hiiraan Online, April 2020](https://store.hiiraan.com/news4/2020/Apr/177825/saudi_arabia_lifts_ban_on_somali_livestock.aspx)).

## Quarantine as the answer

To meet Saudi rules, Saudi importers built quarantine stations at Berbera. Animals are inspected, sampled and tested in on-site laboratories, and vaccinated. Sick animals are rejected; healthy ones get a health certificate, and a port vet makes a last check ([Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). See [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/) and [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).


---

# Drought and livestock losses in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/drought-and-livestock-losses/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Drought is the biggest single killer of Somali herds. The FAO estimates the 2016/17 drought caused about 4 million extra animal deaths worth about USD 290 million, and cut the herd by a third, from 52.9 to 36.1 million, mostly through lost births. Total losses that year were nearly USD 1.3 billion, with USD 640 million more over the next five years. In the 2021 to 2023 drought, more than 3 million animals had died by mid-2022, according to reports at the time.

## Why drought hits herds so hard

In a drought, animals die, but the bigger loss comes later. Weak animals miscarry or do not conceive, so fewer are born for a year or more. Cattle die first, then sheep and goats; camels hold out longest ([FAO Statistics Working Paper 23-37, Otte and others, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)).

## The 2016/17 drought in numbers

All figures below are from the FAO study ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)):

- **About 4 million extra deaths**, mostly sheep and goats, worth about **USD 290 million**.
- **14.8 million fewer births**, mostly goats (10.5 million) and sheep (4 million).
- Together with fewer animals sold, the herd fell from **52.9 million to 36.1 million**, down 32 percent. Sheep and goats fell by more than 30 percent, camels and cattle by less than 20 percent.
- Animals sold fell from **15.7 million** in the year before the drought to **8.2 million** in the year after.
- Losses in the drought year alone were nearly **USD 1.3 billion**, mostly from lost milk and lower sales. A further **USD 640 million** was lost over the next five years as herds rebuilt.
- **2.2 million people** were displaced, and about **1 million** gave up herding after selling their breeding animals to buy food.

Five years after the drought, goats had come closest to recovering; cattle were still 0.1 million (3 percent) below where they would have been (same source).

## The 2021 to 2023 drought

In December 2021 [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FEWS NET reported livestock deaths in parts of [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) on a scale like 2016/17 ([FSNAU, Somalia Food Security Outlook, December 2021](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia-Food-Security-Outlook-December-2021.pdf)). In May 2022 they warned that livestock deaths would likely reach 10 to 30 percent of herds in the worst-hit areas by September ([FEWS NET, May 2022](https://fews.net/east-africa/somalia/alert/may-2022)).

By mid-2022 more than **3 million** animals had died, Down to Earth reported as the FAO appealed for USD 131 million ([Down to Earth, 2022](https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/africa/somalia-drought-fao-asks-for-131-million-to-aid-relief-efforts-84220)).

## Effects on markets

When herds are thin, markets close. [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/)'s livestock market shut for two months in 2016 because of drought and the poor condition of animals, leaving about 1,500 people who depend on it without work ([Radio Ergo, 31 May 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)). See [Burao livestock market](/en/economy/burao-livestock-market/).

## Related pages

- [How many livestock does Somalia have?](/en/economy/livestock-numbers-in-somalia/)
- [Pastoralism in Somalia](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/)


---

# Hawala and Somali money transfer companies

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali money transfer companies, often called hawala, carried the country's money when there were no banks after 1991. They move money from relatives abroad to families at home in hours, and in 2025 the 14 licensed companies carried $3.08 billion into Somalia, most of it family support.

## What they are

A money transfer company takes money from a sender in one country and pays it to a receiver in another, through its own network of agents. Somalis call this **xawaalad** (hawala). In Somalia these companies are licensed as **money transfer businesses**. In December 2025 the Central Bank had licensed **14** of them ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## How a transfer works

The Rift Valley Institute describes the system this way ([Rift Valley Institute, March 2014](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)):

1. A sender abroad gives cash and the receiver's details to an agent.
2. The agent sends the details through the company's central hub to an agent near the receiver in Somalia, who pays out, usually **within hours**.
3. The debt between the two agents is settled later. Agents abroad gather deposits and send them to the company's bank account. The money then goes to a clearing house, usually in the **[United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/)**, which pays Somali traders to buy imports. The traders refill the local agent's cash in Somalia.

Cash rarely crosses borders. The system works because it runs on trust. The same report notes that the companies first built their agent networks on clan ties, and the larger companies later built networks that cut across clan lines, which let them serve everyone (same source).

## How they grew

Before 1991, Somalis abroad already sent money home. When the state and the banks collapsed in 1991, demand for other ways to move money grew fast ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)). With no banks, transfer companies also held deposits for families, businesses and aid agencies, and delivered cash for relief, including during the 2011 famine (same source).

By 2012, remittances were at least $1.2 billion a year, more than aid (about $800 million), exports ($500 million) or foreign investment ($100 million) (same source).

## The main companies

- **Dahabshiil** is the largest and longest-established. In 2014 it was estimated to hold 40 to 60 percent of the market ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)). It says it has worked for about 50 years and serves more than 100 countries, and it is regulated in the UK, Sweden and Canada ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)).
- **[Al-Barakaat](/en/businesses/al-barakat/)** was the largest company until late 2001, when the United States shut it down on suspicion of links to terrorism, which the company denied ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/amid-the-chaos-money-transfer-is-booming-business-in-somalia-1300076)). The US 9/11 Commission later found the attackers' money had moved through a US bank, not a Somali transfer company ([Africa Research Institute](https://africaresearchinstitute.org/blog/10-things-to-know-about-somali-remittances/)).

Somali financial services are led by business groups that each include a bank and a money transfer company, according to the US International Trade Administration. [Dahabshil International Bank](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/) and Amal Bank are among the largest banks ([US International Trade Administration, January 2024](https://trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-banking-services-and-financial-services)). See [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/), [Amal group](/en/businesses/amal-group/), [Kaah Express and KIMS](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/), [WorldRemit](/en/businesses/worldremit/), [Tawakal Express](/en/businesses/tawakal-express/), [Iftin, Juba Express and Taaj](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/) and the [directory of Somali companies](/en/businesses/).

## Cost

Sending £120 from the UK to Somalia cost 5.65 percent in late 2013, cheaper than sending to Nigeria (7.36 percent), Ethiopia (8.29 percent) or Kenya (9.77 percent) ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)). Fees are lower for large amounts and during Ramadan (same source).

## The bank account closures

Transfer companies abroad need bank accounts. In 2013 Barclays said it would close the accounts of most UK money transfer companies. Dahabshiil won a court order delaying the closure of its account, and Somali campaigners, supported by Oxfam, won several delays ([Oxfam](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/7954); [COMPAS, University of Oxford](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2014/saving-the-lifeline-studying-the-somali-diaspora-involvement-in-the-2013-14-campaign)). Similar closures happened in the United States ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)).

## Rules today

The Central Bank licenses and supervises money transfer businesses. The number licensed rose from seven in early 2024 ([US International Trade Administration](https://trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-banking-services-and-financial-services)) to 14 in December 2025. In 2025 the Central Bank amended its anti-money-laundering rules and made a national ID compulsory for new accounts, checked through the Hubiye eKYC platform ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Today's numbers

In 2025 money transfer businesses carried **$3,077 million** into Somalia. **$2,141 million** of that, about 70 percent, was money sent by individuals to their families ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). In the 2022 household survey, 55.4 percent of families who received money from abroad got it through hawala ([SNBS, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). See [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/).


---

# Meat, hides and skins: Somalia's livestock products

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/meat-hides-and-skins/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia sells most of its animals abroad alive, but it also exports chilled meat by air and hides and skins by sea. Fresh meat exports were worth about USD 16 million in 2023 and nearly tripled to USD 13.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Somaliland exported about 1,200 tonnes of skins and 700 tonnes of hides in 2015, mainly to Pakistan, India, China and Turkey. Together with live animals, livestock exports passed USD 1 billion in 2024.

## Meat exports

The African Exponent, citing the Central Bank's quarterly reports, gives these values for fresh meat exports ([African Exponent, 29 July 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)):

| Period | Meat exports |
|---|---|
| 2023 | About USD 16 million |
| Last quarter of 2024 | USD 4.95 million |
| First quarter of 2025 | USD 13.7 million |

Adding meat, hides and skins to live animals took total livestock export earnings to an estimated **USD 1.03 billion in 2024**, according to the same report, citing the Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank. See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## How the chilled meat trade works

A 2012 study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Terra Nuova mapped the chilled meat chain, from herders to exporters who fly carcasses to the Gulf ([Negassa and others, ILRI Research Report 32, 2012](https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/24793)). It found:

- A grading system for slaughter animals that traders widely recognise.
- Only exporters understood the health and safety rules of importing countries.
- Exporters paid mainly by carcass weight; agents paid per live animal.
- Exporters and agents had long-term ties, while herders sold for cash, deal by deal.
- Goats were more profitable to trade, and bigger operators had lower costs.
- Lack of money to invest was the main barrier traders named.

## Hides and skins

A study by Terra Nuova, ILRI and the IGAD [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Technical Veterinary School mapped the hides and skins trade in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in 2016, in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), Gabiley, Hargeisa, Berbera, [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), Las Anod and [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Terra Nuova, 23 February 2017](https://terranuova.org/news-en/hide-and-skins-trade-in-somaliland)). It found:

- In **2015**, Somaliland exported about **1,200 tonnes of skins** (dried and "wet blue", a first stage of tanning) and **700 tonnes of hides**.
- Buyers were in **[Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), India, China and Turkey**.
- Up to **30 percent** of goods were rejected for low quality.

UN trade data compiled by the OEC show Somalia's exports of "other hides and skins" in 2022 at about **USD 1.19 million**, almost all to Pakistan ([OEC](https://oec.world/profile/bilateral-product/other-hides-and-skins/reporter/som)). Hides and skins exports rose 43 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the African Exponent reported, without giving a value.

## Bones and tallow

In Somaliland, bones from slaughterhouses and butchers are made into jewellery and household items, and fat (tallow) into soap. ILRI found the two chains directly employed more than 150 people and supported about 1,000. Soap sold for about USD 0.5 a bar, and in 2014 the tallow and soap chain was worth about USD 150,000 to the groups making it ([ILRI, 25 January 2019](https://www.ilri.org/news/assessing-somalilands-bone-and-tallow-value-chains-role-towards-economic-growth)). The same article puts Somaliland's 2014 live exports at 3.4 million animals.


---

# Fisheries law in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/fisheries-law-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's main fisheries laws are the Fisheries Law of December 2014 and the Fisheries Development and Management Law, No. 008 of 2023, signed on 21 March 2023. The 2014 law banned bottom trawling, cancelled earlier licences and kept the first 24 nautical miles for Somali fishers. The 2023 law says the federal Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy registers and licenses fishing vessels. Puntland opposed the 2023 law, and the federal government and member states had not settled how to share licence money.

## In short

Somalia has had two main fisheries laws in recent years. The **Fisheries Law of December 2014** banned bottom trawling, cancelled all licences issued before it, and kept the first **24 nautical miles** from the coast for Somali fishers ([Glaser and others, Frontiers in Marine Science, 6 December 2019](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00704/full)). The **Fisheries Development and Management Law, No. 008 of 2023**, was signed on 21 March 2023 and is the law the federal fisheries ministry now cites for registering and licensing vessels ([Hiiraan Online, April 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Apr/190708/somalia_takes_action_to_curb_illegal_fishing_with_new_licensing_and_supervision_law.aspx); [Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, fishing vessel registration brief](https://mfbe.gov.so/uploads/documents/1775368408_BRIEF_on_Fishing_vessel_REGISTRATION_.pdf)).

For the sea area these laws cover, see [Somalia's exclusive economic zone](/en/economy/somalias-exclusive-economic-zone/). For the wider fishing industry, see [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/).

## Before 2014

On 10 September 1972 Parliament passed **Law No. 37 on the Territorial Sea and Ports**, which claimed a territorial sea of 200 nautical miles ([Wikipedia, Exclusive economic zone of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone_of_Somalia)). After the central government collapsed in 1991, foreign fleets fished Somali waters with licences from various authorities or with none. Italian trawlers fished under the companies SOMITFISH (1981–83) and SHIFCO (from 1987) until 2006, and Egyptian trawlers held licences from Somaliland until 2012 ([Glaser and others, 2019](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00704/full)).

## The 2014 Fisheries Law

The law that took effect in December 2014 did three main things, according to Glaser and others:

- it **banned bottom trawling**;
- it **cancelled all earlier licences**;
- it **kept the first 24 nautical miles** for Somali fishers.

A summary held by the UN Environment Programme's law database says that under the law, "no foreign fishing vessel shall fish, attempt to fish or participate in fishing operations in Somali waters without a valid license issued under this Law" ([UNEP LEAP, Fisheries Law of the Federal Republic of Somalia, review 2016](https://leap.unep.org/en/countries/so/national-legislation/fisheries-law-federal-republic-somalia-review-2016)). Somalia's 2017 report to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission says the law also protects endangered species, including sharks, seabirds, marine mammals and turtles ([IOTC, Somalia national report, 14 November 2017](https://iotc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2017/11/IOTC-2017-SC20-NR24_-_Somalia.pdf)).

## The 2018 revenue deal and the first licences

In **February 2018** Somalia's National Security Council signed an **interim agreement on sharing revenue** from fishing licences between the federal government and the member states ([World Bank factsheet, 7 March 2019](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/factsheet/2019/03/07/somalia-issues-fishing-licenses-fees-will-help-develop-fisheries-sector)). In December 2018 the federal government granted **31 tuna licences** to vessels of the China Overseas Fisheries Association. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported a deadlock between the federal government and the member states over their share of the money ([Garowe Online, 13 December 2018](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/china-gets-fishing-rights-in-somalia-amid-deadlock-over-revenue-sharing)). Glaser and others put the government's revenue from these licences at about **USD 1 million**.

In July 2020 a new draft licensing law was written. It still needed approval from the federal parliament in 2021 ([Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Risk Bulletin 20](https://riskbulletins.globalinitiative.net/esa-obs-020/03-somalia-proposes-reforms-to-fishing-licences.html)). The same bulletin reports that in August 2020 four officials of the fisheries ministry were sent to prison. The head of finance and administration received 10 years and was ordered to repay **USD 137,907**.

## The 2023 law

The president signed the **Fisheries Development and Management Law** on **21 March 2023**, one of eight bills signed that day. Puntland's administration opposed it ([Hiiraan Online, April 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Apr/190708/somalia_takes_action_to_curb_illegal_fishing_with_new_licensing_and_supervision_law.aspx)). The law covers licensing, supervision and protection of the exclusive economic zone. It also covers Somali ships fishing outside Somali waters ([The EastAfrican](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-seeks-to-shield-its-fish-from-looters-3478170)).

- **Who licenses.** The [Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy](/en/institutions/ministry-of-fisheries-and-blue-economy/) says the law gives it the job of managing all fishing vessels in the Federal Republic ([ministry registration brief](https://mfbe.gov.so/uploads/documents/1775368408_BRIEF_on_Fishing_vessel_REGISTRATION_.pdf)).
- **Fees.** A ministry notice of March 2026 sets licence and levy fees for foreign vessels in the zone under **Article 79** of the law ([ministry notice, March 2026](https://mfbe.gov.so/uploads/documents/1775368131_F-_Foreign_fishing_licenses_-March_2026__1_.pdf)).
- **Revenue sharing.** The EastAfrican reported that the federal government and member states still had to agree how to apply a revenue-sharing formula. Some states had not followed an earlier deal on sharing natural resources.

## Sources disagree

- **Who may license.** The federal government says it alone issues foreign fishing licences under the 2023 law. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) issue their own ([Daily Maverick, citing ISS Today, 13 March 2025](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-13-turkey-throws-somalia-lifeline-to-crack-down-on-illegal-fishing.md)). Glaser and others record seven Thai-owned trawlers flagged in Djibouti fishing off Puntland in 2017 under Puntland licences, even though the 2014 law bans trawling.
- **Is the 2023 law an amendment or a replacement?** News reports describe it as a new law. The ministry cites it by its own number (No. 008 of 2023). The full gazetted text was not found online, so this page does not say which articles of the 2014 law remain in force.


---

# Land law in Somalia: who owns the land and how it is recorded

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/land-law-and-land-ownership/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Land in Somalia is governed by three systems at once: written state law, Islamic law (sharia) and Somali customary law (xeer). The 1975 Land Law made all land state property, held only through 50-year registered leases, but by 1988 just 0.06 percent of land in the south and centre had been registered, and most records were destroyed after 1991. Somaliland has its own land laws from 1999, 2001 and 2009. In 2022, 48.5 percent of households owned their home and 23.3 percent owned and used land.

## Who owns homes and land

From the national household survey of 2022 ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf), tables 5.2 and 7.4):

| Housing | Rural | Urban | Nomadic | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own their home | 63.3% | 42.6% | 46.7% | 48.5% |
| Rent | 20.3% | 38.5% | 0.8% | 28.9% |
| Stay free with the owner's permission | 13.4% | 16.2% | 28.4% | 17.0% |
| Stay free without permission | 3.0% | 2.7% | 24.1% | 5.5% |

- **23.3 percent** of households own and use land: 30.5 percent in rural areas, 22.8 percent in towns and 11.0 percent among nomads.
- Of land parcels, **74.8 percent** are used for homes, 20.9 percent for farming, 3.5 percent for business and 2.4 percent for grazing.
- Most parcels have one owner. Among single owners, men hold 61.7 percent of house plots and 71.0 percent of farm plots (same source).

## Three kinds of law

Land in the Somali lands is governed by formal state law, customary law (**xeer**, applied by elders) and Islamic law (**sharia**). Where the three overlap or differ, lawyers and judges are often unsure which applies ([Legal Action Worldwide and NRC, Housing, Land and Property in Somalia, October 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf)). In practice, most land disputes in the south and centre are settled by clan elders (same source). Xeer has separate rules for farmers (xeer qodato), herders (xeer daaqsato) and fishers (xeer dabato), and private land disputes made up about **80 percent** of cases before the courts in Mogadishu, according to a 2023 review for the Heritage Institute ([Heritage Institute, Land Governance Review, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).

## Before 1975

The 2023 Heritage Institute review, by Dr Surer Qassim Mohamed of Cambridge University, says the **1970** Law for Social Protection abolished group rights over land and water and claimed them for the state, and that the government passed 22 laws on crop farming between 1970 and 1976. It dates the **Urban Land Law to 1973, amended in 1980** ([Heritage Institute, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)). The same review cites research finding that titles in farming areas often went to traders, businessmen and officials from Mogadishu and regional capitals.

## The 1975 Land Law

The government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) passed the **Land Law of 1975**. It tried to end customary ownership in the countryside and make the state the owner of all land. The only way to hold land was a registered **leasehold of 50 years** ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf)). An IGAD land profile adds that occupants had to register within six months of the law, and that registration was most active in the irrigated Shabelle and Juba valleys ([IGAD Land Governance Portal, Somalia](https://land.igad.int/index.php/countries/39-countries/somalia)).

Few people registered. By **1986 only 0.05 percent** of the land of south-central Somalia was registered, and by **1988 only 0.06 percent** ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf), citing Norton, NRC, UN-Habitat and UNHCR, 2008).

The government also appears to have passed a law on **urban land in 1973**, but little is known of its contents. It is not clear whether the 1975 law is still in force; the 1973 law probably is not (same source).

## After 1991

Most land records in the registry, rural and urban, were destroyed in the fighting after 1991. One study found that even the owners of prime city plots could often not be traced ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf), citing HanVard Africa, 2012). During the years without a central state, land decisions were made locally by whichever authority held the area (same source).

## Deegaan and guri/galti

Two customary ideas shape rural land:

- **Deegaan** means traditional ownership of an area by a group.
- **Guri and galti** describes the relationship between settled residents (guri) and outsiders (galti). Historically, residents gave outsiders access to land if they followed local customs and authorities.

Both definitions are from [LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf). The same report says displacement after 1991 brought stronger groups into farming areas, and that weaker groups and minorities were often displaced or had to lease land on insecure terms.

## The law today

- **No national land law.** The Heritage Institute review says there has been no national land policy or land reform since 1991, and that the 2012 Provisional Constitution is the only national law that refers to land. The constitution says the federal government "shall develop a national land policy" and lets member states make land policies ([Heritage Institute, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).
- **Two kinds of plot.** Laws in use still separate **daminyaale** (land for permanent use) from **munishibaale** (land for temporary use, where only temporary structures such as a baraako, cariish, mundul or aqal may be built). Permanent buildings are now common on temporary plots (same source).
- **Mogadishu.** The capital is not part of any member state, and no post-war law governs its land. The Banadir Regional Administration's Land Department (Waaxda Dhulka) registers sales between individuals but no longer registers or hands out new urban land (same source). After 1991, most public land and buildings were occupied, according to research the review cites.

## Member states' land laws

All from the [Heritage Institute review, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf):

| Government | Main land laws |
|---|---|
| Puntland | Urban Land Law 2000; land law 2005; Urban Land Management Law 2020; a Land Dispute Tribunal |
| Jubaland | Land management law (Xeer Maareynta Dhulalka) 2018, creating the Jubaland Land Authority; an 11-member land use and dispute commission; a digital plot register |
| South West | Urban land law passed 2022, with a State Land Registry and a Land Dispute Tribunal; tax records accepted as proof of ownership |
| Galmudug | Rural and farm land law 2020; Urban Land Law signed February 2022 |
| Hirshabelle | Draft law only, as of 2023 |
| Somaliland | Agricultural Land Ownership Law 1999; urban Law No. 17 (2001, amended 2008); Urban Land Dispute Resolution Regulation 2014 |

## Somaliland's land laws

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s 2001 constitution says all land and natural resources are "public property commonly owned by the nation" and run by the state. Its main land laws are ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf)):

| Year | Law |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Agricultural Land Ownership Law |
| 2001 | Constitution |
| 2001 | Urban Land Management Law (amended 2006 or 2008) |
| 2009 | Land Tenure Act |

Urban, farm and grazing land fall under three different ministries. The process to register land is slow and costly, so most people buy and sell outside it. In 2006 Hargeisa had about **60,000 developed properties but only 3,000 titles** (same source). Under a UNDP and Ministry of Agriculture project, **5,795 farm title deeds** were issued in one year around 2011 to 2012. A 2011 assessment found that **90 percent** of civil court cases in Somaliland were about land (same source).

## Sources disagree

- **How much land was registered.** The 2014 LAW and NRC report gives 0.05 percent of south-central Somalia's land by 1986 and 0.06 percent by 1988. The 2023 Heritage Institute review, citing UN-Habitat, gives 0.5 and 0.6 percent of Somalia's land area for the same years ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf); [Heritage Institute, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).
- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s urban land law.** Somalia's 2018 National Action Programme to Combat Desertification names a Puntland Urban Land Management Law of 2008 ([UNCCD, 2018](https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/naps/2018-06/NAP%20Full%20Report%20-%20Final%2023%20May%20digital.pdf)); the Heritage Institute review lists laws of 2000, 2005 and 2020.
- **Somaliland's urban law amendment.** LAW and NRC give 2006 or 2008; the Heritage review gives 2008.

## Related pages

- [Evictions in Mogadishu and other cities](/en/economy/evictions-in-somali-cities/)
- [Prices and the cost of living](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/)
- [Farming and harvests](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)
- [Xeer: customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/)


---

# Mobile money in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/mobile-money/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most Somalis pay and get paid by phone. In 2022, 85 percent of adults owned a mobile phone and 82 percent of phone owners used it for money. Hormuud's EVC Plus is the largest service; Zaad, Sahal and eDahab lead in the north.

## How common it is

The 2022 national household survey found that **85 percent** of people aged 15 and over owned a mobile phone, and **81.8 percent** of phone owners used it for financial transactions ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). In 2016 the World Bank already counted 73 percent of people aged 16 and over using mobile money ([World Bank blog](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/a-game-changer-the-prospects-and-pitfalls-of-mobile-money-in-somalia)).

People buy food, pay rent and school fees, take taxis and receive wages and aid this way. Mobile money works on a basic phone through short USSD codes, with no smartphone or internet needed.

## The main services

- **EVC Plus** (Hormuud Telecom), across southern and central Somalia. Reported at about 155 million transactions worth about $2.7 billion a month, and used by more than 145 aid groups to pay people ([TechCabal, June 2026](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)). Hormuud also runs the [WAAFI](/en/businesses/waafi/) app.
- **Zaad** (Telesom), in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It works in US dollars ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)).
- **Sahal** (Golis Telecom), in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and the northeast ([Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia)).
- **eDahab** (Somtel), in Somaliland and beyond. Somaliland's new Wadaag Bank wallet connects to both Zaad and eDahab ([Tech Africa](https://tech.africa/?p=88129)).

## The rules

The Central Bank of Somalia issued its Mobile Money Regulations in 2019. In February 2021 it gave the first mobile money licence to Hormuud for EVC Plus ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). Before then, operators had run for years without a licence, because no regulator was working ([University of Oxford research](https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1ac123d0-39ae-4ad2-8717-23e6b4fedcf2/files/rnz806072v)).

By December 2025 the Central Bank had licensed **6 mobile money operators**, alongside 13 local banks, 1 foreign bank branch and 14 money transfer businesses ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). New accounts must now be opened with a national ID, checked through the "Hubiye" eKYC platform (same source). EVC Plus was re-certified by the GSMA, the global mobile industry body, in August 2025 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-hormuud-telecom-re-certified-by-gsma-for-secure-mobile-money-services)).

## Dollars on the phone

Most mobile money in Somalia is held in US dollars. The Central Bank says dollar transactions on mobile money "have become more favorable for purchasing goods and services", which lowered demand for the shilling and helped push it down 7.1 percent in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For small change, people still use old shilling notes. See [The Somali shilling](/en/economy/somali-shilling-and-the-dollar/).

## Linking banks and phones

In 2025 the Central Bank launched the **Somalia Instant Payment System (SIPS)**, run through the Somalia Payment Switch. It allows real-time transfers between banks around the clock and is being opened to mobile money operators. It uses a national QR code standard called **SOMQR** ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf); [Techloy](https://www.techloy.com/somalia-launches-first-national-instant-payment-system/)).

The older national payment system handled 1.41 million transactions worth $2.42 billion in 2025, up 25 percent in value ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## How aid uses it

Aid agencies send cash straight to families' phones. Somalia's national safety net, Baxnaano, has reached more than 3.7 million people ([World Bank](https://shorthand.worldbankgroup.org/reforms-and-relief-how-somalia-turned-a-page-amid-a-global-debt-crisis/)).

## Sources disagree

TechCabal gives 155 million transactions a month for EVC Plus alone. Other reports give the same figure for the whole national market ([TechAfricaNews](https://techafricanews.com/2025/08/20/somalias-hormuud-telecom-secures-gsma-mobile-money-re-certification/)). The year EVC Plus started is given as 2009 by some sources and 2011 by others.


---

# How to start and register a business in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/starting-a-business/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In federal Somalia you register a business online at ebusiness.gov.so, run by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry: reserve a name, register the company, then apply for the licences your trade needs. Since 2022 this takes about four days on average, down from more than two months. Somaliland has its own separate registration.

## Who this is for

This page is for anyone starting a shop, service or company in Somalia, at home or from abroad. It sets out the official route and links to the official offices.

## Most Somali businesses are small

In the 2022 national household survey, 15.8 percent of households ran their own business. The most common were street and market trading (37.2 percent) and small shops and workshops such as tailors, barbers and mechanics (23.4 percent). **More women than men own them**, and only about a third (34.7 percent) were registered ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

## Register online (federal Somalia)

The **Somali Business Registration System (SBRS)** at **ebusiness.gov.so** was launched by the federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 30 March 2022. You can reserve a business name, register a new business, change the details of an existing one, read the rules and fees, and pay online or by mobile money from any device ([Radio Muqdisho](https://radiomuqdisho.so/somalia-launches-online-business-registration-system)).

The steps:

1. **Search for and reserve a company name.**
2. **Pay the fee** online or by mobile money.
3. **Submit the registration details** (owners, directors, address, type of business).
4. **Download your business letter and certificate of incorporation.**
5. **Apply for the licences** your activity needs (for example import and export, food, health or transport).

Steps follow the portal's own process ([Radio Muqdisho](https://radiomuqdisho.so/somalia-launches-online-business-registration-system); [3E Accounting guide](https://www.3ecpa.com.hk/services/other-jurisdictions-setup/somalia-company-registration/)).

## How long it takes

The online system cut registration from **nine steps to three**, and the average wait from **more than two months to four days**. About 1,089 businesses registered during the pilot from 2021 to April 2022. The target was 5,000 businesses by December 2025, 30 percent of them led by women ([World Bank, June 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2022/06/27/going-digital-makes-life-easier-for-somalia-s-business-owners)).

## Costs

Fees depend on the type of business and are published on the portal ([Radio Muqdisho](https://radiomuqdisho.so/somalia-launches-online-business-registration-system)).

## Trade marks

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry registers trade marks. It publishes the list of documents needed ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, trade mark requirements](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/REQIRMENTS-FOR-TRADE-MARK-REGISTRATION-1.pdf); [Bowmans](https://bowmanslaw.com/insights/you-can-now-protect-your-trade-mark-in-somalia/)).

## Money to start

- **Banks:** 13 local banks and one foreign branch are licensed. Their lending grew 14 percent in 2025, mostly for trade and property ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Islamic finance, microfinance and Takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/).
- **Microfinance:** the Central Bank licensed the first 7 microfinance institutions in November 2025, to serve micro-businesses, women and young people (same source).
- **Credit records:** a Credit Information System and Collateral Registry are being built with the IFC, so lenders can see a borrower's record (same source).
- **Mobile money:** most customers already pay by phone. See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

In 2022 only 2 percent of households that borrowed got their loan from a bank ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

## Help and training

Three innovation hubs, iRise Hub and SIMAD iLab in Mogadishu and HarHub in Hargeisa, formed a national startup network in 2026. It received more than 3,600 applications, trained about 500 entrepreneurs and incubated more than 200 startups ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)).

## Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) registers businesses through its own commerce ministry. In 2021 it cut business registration fees by 50 percent ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-commerce-ministry-cuts-50-of-business-registration-fees)). Somaliland also launched a $500,000 interest-free loan scheme for young entrepreneurs ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-launches-dollar500000-interest-free-loan-scheme-for-young-entrepreneurs)).


---

# Evictions in Mogadishu and other Somali cities

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/evictions-in-somali-cities/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Forced evictions push more than 190,000 people out of their homes in Somalia most years, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council: more than 207,000 in 2023 and more than 192,000 in 2024. Most are displaced families living on private land without written agreements, and over 90 percent of evictions happen in Banadir (Mogadishu), Bay (Baidoa) and Woqooyi Galbeed (Hargeisa). In 2023, 100,907 people were evicted in Mogadishu alone.

## The numbers

| Year | Where | People evicted | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan to 7 Oct 2014 | Mogadishu | More than 34,000, of them 20,000 from late August to 7 October | [UNHCR, cited by LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf) |
| 2023 | All Somalia | 207,851 | [NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf) |
| 2023 | Mogadishu | 100,907 | [NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf) |
| 2015 to 2024 | Mogadishu | More than 1.3 million | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) |
| 2024 | Mogadishu | 68,880 | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) |
| 2024 | All Somalia | More than 192,000 | [EUAA, citing NRC, October 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions) |
| 2024 | Mainly Mogadishu and nearby | 197,000 cases involving displaced people | [EUAA, October 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions) |
| 2025 | Mogadishu | 149,452 | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) |
| Jan 2026 | Mogadishu | 7,134 | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) |

The two 2024 figures come from different counts and the source does not explain the gap. An EUAA summary of NRC data says more than 2 million people were evicted, many more than once, across Somalia from 2017 to 2025 ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)).

## Where

In the first eight months of 2025, Mogadishu had more than 80 percent of the 140,000 people evicted in Somalia, most of them from camps in [Dayniile](/en/society/internal-displacement/) and Kahda. At the end of 2024, **47 percent** of 2,057 displacement sites in the city were at extreme or high risk of eviction ([EUAA, citing NRC and the camp management cluster](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)).

In 2024, Banadir (mainly the Daynile and Kahda districts of Mogadishu), Bay (Baidoa) and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) (Hargeisa) accounted for **over 90 percent** of forced evictions ([EUAA, October 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions)). Other figures from the same source:

- **Hargeisa:** 41 percent of households in displacement sites rely on spoken, unwritten land agreements.
- **Garowe:** 36 percent of displacement sites face a severe risk of eviction.
- **Beledweyne:** the UN recorded the eviction of 180 displaced households in the first half of 2024.

## Who is evicted

Those most affected are displaced people in towns, especially those living on private land without formal tenure agreements ([EUAA](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions)). In Mogadishu, **87 percent** of displaced people have no clear tenure arrangement ([NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf)). Women and children make up about 80 percent of Somalia's 3.8 million displaced people ([EUAA](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions)).

## Why

Relative calm in parts of the south and centre raised land values, making property an attractive investment. A 2014 study found that evictions were increasingly carried out by companies, businesspeople and diaspora returnees, some using forged title documents ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf)). The same study calls abuse of camp residents by camp "gatekeepers" a serious and widespread problem.

In a 2021 analysis, private landlords carried out **89 percent** of recorded evictions in Somalia and the state 11 percent ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)).

NRC reported more evictions led by government bodies in Mogadishu in 2023, including the clearing of **13 sites** by security forces, which made more than **10,000 people** move again ([NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf)).

## The cost

An NRC study found that evictions since January 2022 had displaced about 143,500 people and destroyed more than **$4.6 million** of schools, latrines, water points and other facilities ([SOOHA, 18 December 2024, reporting NRC](https://sooha.org/en/?p=15640)). An NRC study of minority and marginalised displaced groups in Mogadishu found 89 percent of households surveyed had been evicted or were at risk ([NRC](https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-minority-marginalised-displaced-communities-in-mogadishu)).

## The 2013 relocation plan

In January 2013 the new Federal Government announced a plan to move almost **300,000** displaced people from Mogadishu to camps outside the city. The UN then counted 369,000 people in camps in the city, and the mayor, [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Nur Tarsan, said 270,000 would be moved ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf), citing IRIN, 27 February 2013). Amnesty International and Refugees International reported shelters being bulldozed with little or no warning in 2013 and 2014 (same source).

## Public land clearances in Mogadishu, 2024 to 2026

The federal and Banadir authorities have cleared sites they say are public land ([Geeska, 6 November 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)):

- **8 July 2024:** homes demolished at Dabdemiska, Wadajir district; police said the site would become a fire station.
- **27 October 2024:** residents ordered out of Kalluunka, near the airport, in homes built in 1977 and 1978.
- **4 August 2025:** Sinaay market, Warta Nabadda district, cleared; clashes left at least two dead.
- **7 August 2025:** Belego Arab market, Shibis district, demolished.
- The government said the clearances would reopen **52** closed roads. About 100 government buildings in the city were said to be occupied by residents (same source).
- **23 August 2026:** nearly ten people were hurt when security forces demolished homes in Tookiyo, Yaaqshiid district; the federal government said the land is state-owned ([Radio Dalsan via AllAfrica, 23 August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608240117.html)).

Opposition politicians and others say some cleared public land was sold to private buyers; the article reports these as claims ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)).

## Sources disagree

NRC gives 149,452 people evicted in Mogadishu in 2025; Geeska gives about 142,000 people displaced in 2025 ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends); [Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)).

## Related pages

- [Land law in Somalia](/en/economy/land-law-and-land-ownership/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Foreign companies in Somalia: who runs the port, the airport and other concessions

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Foreign firms run several of Somalia's main assets under concessions. Turkey's Albayrak group has run Mogadishu port since 2014 and paid the federal government $38.1 million in 2025, its 62.17 percent share of gross revenue. Favori, a Turkish firm, has run Aden Adde airport since 2013; it reported $29.7 million of gross revenue in 2025. DP World of Dubai runs Berbera and its P&O Ports unit holds Bosaso, and Dubai's Simatech opened a container terminal in Mogadishu in 2016.

## The short version

Since 2013 the federal government has handed the running of Mogadishu's port and airport to Turkish companies in exchange for a share of revenue, while DP World of Dubai and its subsidiary P&O Ports have taken concessions for Berbera and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/). For all Somali-owned firms, see the [Somali businesses](/en/businesses/).

## Mogadishu port: Albayrak

The Turkish **Albayrak** group took over the operation and modernisation of Mogadishu port in late **2014** ([Anadolu Agency, September 2025](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkish-firm-modernizes-and-runs-somalia-s-gateway/3700103)). Its local company is **Mogadishu Alport Corporation, Albayrak-Somalia**. Albayrak later signed a new **14-year concession** with the federal government, announced by Somali National Television, after talks on revenue sharing; the ports minister at the time was Mariam Aweys Jama ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/business/economy/turkish-firm-signs-new-contract-to-operate-somalias-port-of-mogadishu/amp)).

Somalia's Auditor General reported that the government received **$38,081,786.42** from Albayrak-Somalia in **2025**, under a deal giving the government **62.17 percent of gross revenue**. Independently audited accounts for the port were not available during the audit, and the company committed to an external audit ([Dawan Africa, 10 August 2026, reporting the Auditor General](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-auditor-general-reports-usdollar422-million-in-2025-port-and-airport-concession-revenue)).

## Aden Adde airport: Favori

**Favori LLC**, part of Turkey's Kozuva group, has run [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) since **2013**. The UN Monitoring Group described the contract in 2016 as a "technically poor" deal for the federal government, and the government was reviewing it in 2025 ahead of its expiry in 2028 ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-government-expresses-dissatisfaction-over-management-of-mogadishu-airport); [Garowe Online, Turkey digs deeper into Somalia infrastructure projects](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/turkey-digs-deeper-into-somalia-infrastructure-projects)). For 2025 the Auditor General reported Favori's gross revenue at **$29,713,321**; the government's 25 percent share was $7,428,330.25, of which it received **$4,153,948.72**, with the rest flagged for follow-up. Favori said its audited accounts would be available in 2027 ([Dawan Africa, 10 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-auditor-general-reports-usdollar422-million-in-2025-port-and-airport-concession-revenue)).

## DP World and P&O Ports

**DP World** of Dubai signed a **$442 million** joint venture with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) to manage and expand **Berbera** port ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/dp-world-signs-442m-joint-venture-with-somaliland-1.1825624)). In 2017 **P&O Ports**, part of DP World, signed a **30-year, $336 million** concession for **Bosaso** with [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Seatrade Maritime](https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/p-o-ports-inks-concession-to-develop-336m-port-in-somalia)). On 12 January 2026 the federal government announced it was cancelling all agreements with the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), including port arrangements at Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo ([Africanews, 12 January 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-accusations-of-undermining-national-unity)); Somaliland and Puntland rejected the move. See [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Simatech

**Simatech**, a Dubai shipping group, ran the first container ship service between Jebel Ali and Mogadishu in **January 2013** and supplied the first container handling equipment at the port. On **19 June 2016** President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) opened its **Simatech International Container Terminal (SICT)** in Mogadishu, built under an agreement with the federal government ([Hiiraan Online, June 2016](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Jun/106020/simatech_launches_container_yard_freight_station_logistics_zone_in_mogadishu.aspx)). Its liner services were later taken over by Global Feeder Shipping ([Splash247](https://splash247.com/global-feeder-shipping-takes-over-simatechs-container-services/)).

## Banks

**Ziraat Katilim**, a Turkish participation (Islamic) bank, is the only foreign bank branch on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed banks ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/); [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- **Length of the original port deal.** Reports describe Albayrak's first concession as 20 years or 30 years ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/turkey-digs-deeper-into-somalia-infrastructure-projects); [Middle East Institute](https://mei.edu/publications/far-benefactor-turkish-government-exploiting-somalias-fragility)).
- **Length of the airport deal.** Some reports give 20 years, others 15 years from 30 June 2013 (same sources).


---

# Working for the federal government: how many staff and what they are paid

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/government-jobs-and-pay/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2025 the federal government paid 23,573 civilian staff, not counting the army and police. About a quarter were still on temporary contracts. Pay for all government workers, including the security forces, cost $371 million in 2025, the largest item in the federal budget.

## The short version

The federal government's pay bill grew from $250 million in 2021 to **$371 million in 2025**. Until recently, a third of that was paid outside the official payroll; by the end of 2025 almost all of it went through the payroll system ([Federal Ministry of Finance, Non-formalized Non-security Wage Bill Review, 18 March 2026](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Wage%20Bill%20Analysis%20Report%20%20End%202025.pdf)).

## Who is on the payroll

At the end of 2025 the federal government paid **23,573** civilian staff, excluding the armed forces, military court and police (same source):

| Group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary staff | 5,922 | 25.1% |
| Permanent staff | 5,301 | 22.5% |
| Teachers paid for member states | 5,193 | 22.0% |
| Guards at ministries (ilaalo) | 3,631 | 15.4% |
| Consultants | 1,894 | 8.0% |
| Federal teachers | 831 | 3.5% |
| Members of Parliament and senators | 328 | 1.4% |
| Lecturers | 212 | 0.9% |
| Ministers | 78 | 0.3% |
| Others (commissions, attachees, the President and other small groups) | 183 | 0.8% |

The ministry says a quarter of staff are "yet to be mainstreamed into the civil service". The largest single employer is the Office of the President, with 1,998 people on its payroll, followed by the Ministry of Finance with 1,358 (same source).

## How pay is spread

The ministry sorts staff into grades by monthly pay ([Wage Bill Review](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Wage%20Bill%20Analysis%20Report%20%20End%202025.pdf)):

| Grade | Monthly pay | Share of staff |
|---|---|---|
| A | $700 and above | 27.6% |
| B | $400 to $699 | 14.3% |
| C | $251 to $399 | 35.4% |
| D | $250 and below | 22.8% |

Most teachers paid for the member states are in grade C. Most ministry guards are in grade D. For pay in the private sector and the cost of living, see [Jobs and poverty](/en/economy/jobs-and-poverty/) and [Mogadishu's economy](/en/economy/mogadishu-economy/).

## What it costs

In 2025 federal pay cost **$371.1 million**, 98 percent of what was budgeted and 8.6 percent more than in 2024. That was **38 percent** of all federal spending. Of it, $204 million was basic salaries and $131 million was allowances ([Federal Ministry of Finance, 2025 End-Year Budget Performance Report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FGS%202025%20end-year%20budget%20performance%20report.%20.pdf)). About $193 million of the total went to civilian staff, and the rest to the security forces ([Wage Bill Review](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Wage%20Bill%20Analysis%20Report%20%20End%202025.pdf)).

Government workers paid **$10.5 million** in income tax in 2025, and private sector workers $17.1 million ([2025 End-Year Budget Performance Report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FGS%202025%20end-year%20budget%20performance%20report.%20.pdf)). See [Taxes in Somalia](/en/economy/taxes-in-somalia/).

The member states spend an even larger share on pay: **57 percent** of their budgets on average in 2025, and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) **99.5 percent** (same source). See [How the federal member states raise and spend money](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

## Ending off-payroll pay

In 2021, **36 percent** of federal pay was paid outside the official payroll system. Under a reform that is a condition of the Recurrent Cost and Reform Financing project (RCRF III), this was cut every year ([Wage Bill Review](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Wage%20Bill%20Analysis%20Report%20%20End%202025.pdf)):

| Year | Paid outside the payroll | Share of all pay |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $90.7 million | 36.3% |
| 2022 | $91.2 million | 35.1% |
| 2023 | $47.3 million | 16.2% |
| 2024 | $7.6 million | 2.2% |
| 2025 | $0.1 million | 0.03% |

The target had been to finish by the end of 2024; it was reached a year later (same source).

## Notes on the figures

The Central Bank's [Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) gives federal pay in 2025 as **$371 million**, the same as the Finance Ministry. The wage bill review says its civilian totals for 2021 and 2022 include some security pay, while those for 2023 to 2025 do not, so the civilian totals are not comparable across all five years.


---

# Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor: goods, companies and road taxes

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most food and fuel for central Somalia comes in through Bosaso port and goes south by lorry through Galkayo to Beledweyne and beyond. A 2021 Rift Valley Institute study found that Puntland taxes these goods at full port rates when they cross into Galkayo, Galmudug charges about $465 to $520 per lorry, and Galmudug and Hirshabelle each earn roughly $300,000 a month from their main checkpoints. Large Puntland importers such as Tawfiq lead the trade.

## The short version

Galkayo (Gaalkacyo) in Mudug is split between [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in the north and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) in the south. It sits on the main road that carries imported goods from **[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) port** to central and southern Somalia. In 2021 the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) published a study of this route, written by Khalif Abdirahman and based on interviews in Galkayo, Jowhar and [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) in March 2021 ([RVI, Contested Commerce, November 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)). The study calls it the **Bosaso trade corridor**. It runs through Puntland, Galmudug and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), and also feeds parts of [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) and Ethiopia's Somali Region (same source).

## What moves along the road

- **Going south:** rice, sugar, wheat flour, pasta and cooking oil are the main goods by quantity. Powdered milk, drinks, building materials, fuel, vehicles, electronics and clothes also come in through Bosaso ([RVI 2021, pp. 19–22](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)).
- **Going north:** goats, sheep, cattle and camels, along with fruit, vegetables, sorghum, maize and beans from [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) (same source, table 1).
- **Other routes:** cement from Ethiopia and fuel brought back from Ethiopia go straight to their buyers and do not cross Galkayo. Some traders in Tog [Wajaale](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/), on the Ethiopia–[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) border, buy mobile phones in Mogadishu, where tariffs are lower (same source, p. 21).
- **Where the goods end up:** the director of one of the largest importers told RVI that Puntland "doesn't buy even 15 per cent of the goods we bring through Bosaso port", and that the rest goes to Ethiopia's Somali Region and south-central Somalia ([RVI 2021, p. 28](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)).

## The companies

RVI names **Tawfiq, Alfadl, Red Sea, Mustaqbal, Mansur and Maruf** as the main Puntland-based importers of staple foods. They have branches or partners in Galkayo and Beledweyne ([RVI 2021, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)). The study's other findings on these firms:

- **Tawfiq** is the second-largest company in Puntland, with head offices in Bosaso and in Salalah, Oman. It also has offices in Hargeisa, Djibouti, Mogadishu and Kismayo. It was earlier led by [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/), who became president of Puntland ([RVI 2021, p. 25](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)).
- In 2008 Tawfiq and Omani shareholders built a pasta factory in Salalah. The study says such factories now find it hard to compete with Turkish pasta (same source, p. 20).
- Each large importer holds the sole right to certain brands of powdered milk. Tawfiq imports Amis and Qamar, and Sagal imports Anchor and Bahja (same source, p. 21).
- Firms put their annual profit at **15 to 25 percent**. They rely on moving large volumes (same source, p. 25, note 52).
- [Hormuud](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/) occupies the most visible building in central Galkayo, a few metres from the line between the two states. The study notes that Hormuud is a major shareholder in [Golis](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/) (same source, p. 25).

## Taxes along the road

- **Puntland** charges the same tariffs at Galkayo as at Bosaso port on imported goods that come in from Galmudug. This makes goods imported through Mogadishu too expensive to sell in Puntland. About 15 checkpoints between Bosaso and Galkayo each charge a district fee, called **birqaad** ("lifting the barrier"), which together come to about $200 per lorry ([RVI 2021, p. 28](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)).
- **Galmudug and Hirshabelle** charge by the lorry, not by the goods. A standard 36-tonne lorry paid $520 in Galmudug. A 33-tonne lorry paid $500 going south, or $270 if it carried livestock going north. Renting a 33-tonne lorry from Bosaso to Galkayo cost $2,500, of which about $1,200 was tax if it went on into Galmudug (same source, pp. 28–29).
- **Revenue.** Galmudug says its main checkpoint in south Galkayo raises about $200,000 a month, and another official put it at $300,000 or more. Hirshabelle's checkpoint near Beledweyne raises about $300,000 a month, and Hirshabelle is reported to raise nearly $10,000 a day in all from transport fees. Puntland's revenue officials declined to give figures (same source, p. 26).
- **Budgets.** Puntland's 2021 budget was $341.9 million and Galmudug's 2020 budget was $17.2 million. Both figures include aid and federal transfers (same source, p. 26, note 58).
- **Other checkpoints.** The study says al-Shabaab and Islamic State checkpoints also tax lorries on parts of the route. Transport firms and traders negotiate together whenever any authority raises its charges (same source, p. 29).

## Ports near Galkayo

In August 2019 the federal government signed an agreement with **Mwani [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/)** to build a port at **Hobyo**. By 2021 no building had started, but Galmudug had begun a gravel road to the site ([Ship Technology, 20 August 2019](https://www.ship-technology.com/news/mwani-qatar-hobyo-port-somalia/); [RVI 2021, p. 30](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)). The study also describes **Gara'ad** port, on the Puntland side, as nearly finished and paid for by Galkayo business people (same source, p. 30).

## Background

The study traces the line through Galkayo back to a boundary between areas of the Darod and Hawiye clans. It says both states now treat it like an international border for tax purposes ([RVI 2021, p. 31](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)). For the region, see [Gaalkacyo (Galkayo) and Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/). For the ports, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/). For how the states raise money, see [How Somalia's federal member states raise and spend money](/en/economy/member-states-money/).


---

# Trade across the Ethiopia–Somaliland border: Tog Wajaale, Jigjiga and the Gaashamo routes

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most trade between Ethiopia's Somali Region and Somaliland is small-scale and outside formal customs. Livestock goes north to Somaliland and on to Berbera, worth $170 million in Somaliland's 2020 export figures, and food, electronics and clothes go south. Tog Wajaale is the main formal crossing. A 2021 Rift Valley Institute study counted about 42 livestock lorries a day on four small routes near Gaashamo alone, with charges of $50 to $200 a lorry depending on the route.

## The short version

Ethiopia's Somali Regional State and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) share a long land border. A 2021 Rift Valley Institute (RVI) study by Mustafe M. Abdi says that small-scale informal trade across this border "far exceeds" formal trade ([RVI, Regularly Irregular, October 2021, p. 5](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf)). **Tog Wajaale** is the main crossing for formal trade on the Berbera corridor (same source, p. 7). The study's fieldwork took place in the Gaashamo area and in Jigjiga in March 2021 (same source).

## What crosses the border

- **North to Somaliland:** sheep, goats, cattle and camels. Somaliland's trade figures put its 2020 exports of these animals at **$170 million**, and the study says most of them come from Ethiopia's Somali Region. Many are shipped on from Berbera port ([RVI 2021, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf); [Somaliland Ministry of Finance, Trade Statistical Bulletin 2020](https://slmof.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Annual-Trade-Statistical-Bulletin-2020-L.pdf)).
- **South to Ethiopia:** sugar, rice, cooking oil, pasta, wheat flour, canned fish and biscuits, mostly from [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/). Electronics, cosmetics, clothes, building materials and medicines come from Hargeisa and Tog Wajaale ([RVI 2021, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf)). Ethiopian federal and regional rules ban imports of medicines by this route (same source, note 26).
- **Seasons:** almost half of the year's livestock exports go in the three months before the Hajj, a period known locally as **arrafo**. A lorry carries about 85 sheep and goats in a normal season and up to 150 at that time (same source, p. 13).

## How the rules changed

- **1994 to 2002:** trade centred on **Hartasheikh**, and lorries with Somaliland number plates could drive freely inside the Somali Region ([RVI 2021, p. 16](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf)).
- **From 2002:** the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) closed the Hartasheikh route and began seizing goods it called contraband. Much of the trade moved to **Tog Wajaale**, which became the main formal crossing and a distribution centre for goods brought in containers from Berbera (same source, p. 15).
- **2010:** before then, the Somali Region had customs offices only in Jigjiga and [Kebribeyah](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/). In 2010 the federal government opened customs points at Tog Wajaale, Harshin, Hartasheikh, Daroor and Gaashamo. It also let three licensed traders in each zone import rice, pasta, sugar, cooking oil and wheat flour duty-free (same source, p. 15).
- **2012:** the asphalt road from Jigjiga to Gode was finished, and more goods began to travel by lorry instead of on foot (same source, p. 17).
- **August 2018:** most trade restrictions ended when a new regional administration took office (same source, p. 17).

## The Gaashamo routes and what they charge

The study looked at four small crossings north of Gaashamo town: Dabagorayaale, Haaji Saalah, Duruqsi and Ballidhiig. Together they saw **36 to 48 lorries a day** in both directions and an average of **42 livestock lorries a day** going north in a normal season. The livestock count rose to **126 a day** in the third month of arrafo ([RVI 2021, pp. 12–13, table I](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf)).

- **Dabagorayaale:** drivers said they paid the regional Special (Liyu) Police **$50 to $70** to avoid unloading for inspection. One driver put it at up to $50 for a lorry of 12 tonnes or more. The study calls this an informal and illegal charge (same source, pp. 19–20).
- **Haaji Saalah:** the Liyu Police check lorries for security but charge no fees (same source, p. 21).
- **Duruqsi:** this was the busiest of the four routes, with 14 to 17 lorries a day from each side. There is no checkpoint in the town. At Halhalis, 25 km to the south, lorries bringing goods from Somaliland paid **$150 to $200**, and livestock lorries going north paid **$80 to $120**. In 2016 and 2017 the charges had been up to $250 and $170. On the Somaliland side a district development fee of **$10 to $30** a lorry applies (same source, p. 22).

## Plans for the corridor

The study notes that a Hargeisa bypass and a dry port at Berbera, both under way in 2021, were adding to Tog Wajaale's importance ([RVI 2021, p. 7](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf)). For the port, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/). For Somaliland's economy, see [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/). For the trade south of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), see [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/). For Somalis living in Ethiopia, see [Ethiopia (Somali refugees and the Somali Region)](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/).


---

# Banks in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/banks/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has 13 local commercial banks and 1 foreign bank branch, all licensed by the Central Bank. Together they held $2.3 billion of assets in 2025 and lent $540 million. Only about 2 percent of household loans come from banks.

## Who is licensed

In December 2025 Somalia's financial system had **34 licensed core institutions**: 13 local commercial banks, 1 international bank branch, 14 money transfer businesses and 6 mobile money operators. In November 2025 the Central Bank also licensed the first **7 microfinance institutions** that lend but do not take deposits ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

Among the largest banks are [International Bank of Somalia (IBS)](/en/businesses/international-bank-of-somalia/), [Premier Bank](/en/businesses/premier-bank/), [Salaam Somali Bank](/en/businesses/salaam-somali-bank/), [Dahabshil International Bank](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/) and Amal Bank ([African Business, August 2025](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)). See [Somalia's main banks and stock exchanges](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/). Banks follow Islamic finance rules: they sell at an agreed mark-up, lease or share profit instead of charging interest ([Central Bank of Somalia, Islamic bank reporting guideline](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Guideline-on-Financial-Reporting-for-Islamic-Commercial-Banks-in-Somalia.pdf)). See [Islamic finance, microfinance and Takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/).

In 2022 Somalia licensed its first two foreign banks since 1970 ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/somalia-licences-first-two-foreign-banks-since-1970-3868954)).

For the smaller and newer banks, from Agro to Ziraat, see [Somalia's newer banks](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/), and see [MyBank Somalia](/en/businesses/mybank-somalia/).

## How big they are

All figures from the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf):

- **Total assets:** $2,299 million in December 2025, up 14 percent from $2,020 million. This is about 20 percent of GDP.
- **Financing (loans):** $540 million, up 14 percent. Trade finance ($205 million) and property loans ($139 million) are the largest parts.
- **Investments:** $359 million, mostly shares in companies ($215 million) and property ($128 million).
- **Customer deposits:** $1,630 million, about 82 percent of what banks owe.
- **Bad loans:** about 3 percent of loans.

## How safe they are

The Central Bank requires banks to hold capital of at least 12 percent of their risk-weighted assets. Banks held about 15 percent in December 2025. Their liquid assets were about 54 percent of short-term liabilities, against a minimum of 20 percent. Core capital was about 14 percent, against a minimum of 8 percent ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who borrows

Few families borrow from banks. In the 2022 national household survey, only **2.0 percent** of households that borrowed got the loan from a commercial bank. Most borrowed from shops and traders, or from relatives and friends (17.5 percent) ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

Credit to businesses rose from $222.7 million in 2021 to about $620 million by June 2026, according to the Ministry of Planning ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/exclusive-world-bank-says-somalias-development-financing-ranked-top-tier-clarifying-the-dispute-over-the-state-of-the-economy)).

## New laws and tools

- **Financial Institutions Law**, revised May 2025: sets the rules for microfinance.
- **Takaful (Islamic insurance) Law**, with rules on licensing and capital.
- **Credit Information System and Collateral Registry**, agreed with the IFC in September 2025, to be run by the Central Bank. They will let lenders see a borrower's record and register what is pledged against a loan.
- **National ID for new accounts**, checked through the Hubiye eKYC platform.

All four: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).

Somalia has joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which lets payments between African countries settle in local currencies. The Central Bank plans to link the instant payment system to PAPSS by the end of 2026 ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-plans-regional-payment-integration-through-instant-payments-system); [Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/383521/somalia-to-expand-instant-payment-system-with-banks-mobile-money-and-regional-networks)). The IMF says stronger anti-money-laundering rules are needed to win **correspondent banks**, the foreign banks that let Somali banks send and receive international payments ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)).

## Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) licenses its own banks. Wadaag Bank opened on 31 August 2025 as the sixth licensed bank there and the first digital-first Islamic bank; its wallet links to [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and eDahab ([Tech Africa](https://tech.africa/?p=88129)).

## A short history

The Somali National Bank opened on 4 July 1960. After 1969, banks were nationalised under the military government. All banking stopped when the state collapsed in January 1991 ([Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)). For two decades, money transfer companies did the work of banks. The Central Bank was re-established under the Central Bank Act of 2012 (same source). See [The Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/). See [Economic history](/en/economy/economic-history/).


---

# The Central Bank of Somalia (Bankiga Dhexe ee Soomaaliya), 1960 to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Central Bank of Somalia licenses and supervises the country's banks, money transfer companies and mobile money firms, and is preparing to bring back the Somali shilling. It began as the Somali National Bank on 4 July 1960, took its current name in 1975, stopped working in 1991 and was re-established by law in 2012. Abdirahman M. Abdullahi has been governor since April 2019.

## The short version

The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) is the country's central bank, based in Mogadishu. Under the Central Bank of Somalia Act (Law No. 130 of 22 April 2012) it must ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

- set monetary and foreign exchange policy, and hold the country's foreign reserves;
- license, regulate and supervise all banks and financial institutions;
- run and oversee payment systems;
- act as banker, adviser and fiscal agent to the government;
- be the only issuer of Somali notes and coins;
- publish monetary, financial and balance of payments statistics.

The bank has not issued Somali currency since 1991, and the economy is "largely dollarized" ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [The Somali shilling and the dollar](/en/economy/somali-shilling-and-the-dollar/).

## History

From the bank's own history page ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)):

| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1950 | The Cassa per la Circolazione Monetaria della Somalia is set up in Rome to issue the somalo |
| 1954 | Credito Somalo set up to lend to farming, livestock and industry |
| 30 June 1960 | Somali National Bank created by Decree-Law No. 3; opens on 4 July 1960 |
| 1961 | Currency unified; the north moves from the East African shilling to the Somali shilling |
| 1962 | First Somali shilling banknotes |
| 1968 | Somali Credit Bank merged into the Somali National Bank |
| 1975 | Renamed the Central Bank of Somalia; until then it had also done commercial banking |
| 1970s | Banks nationalised under the military government |
| January 1991 | Operations stop when the state collapses |
| 2001 to 2010 | Former central bankers keep the institution going for the transitional governments |
| 2012 | Re-established under the Central Bank Act |

For the wider story, see [Economic history](/en/economy/economic-history/).

## Governors

| Governor | In office |
|---|---|
| Mohamed Mohamud Ulusow | 2001 to 2005 (Transitional National Government) |
| Bashir Isse Ali | 2005 to 2010 |
| Abdullahi Jama Ali | 2012 to early 2013 |
| Abdusalam H. Omer | January to September 2013 |
| Yussur A. F. Abrar | 13 September to 1 November 2013 |
| Bashir Isse Ali | November 2013 to April 2019 |
| Abdirahman M. Abdullahi | April 2019 to today |

Source: [CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/).

## The 2013 resignations

In July 2013 the UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/) reported that, on average, about 80 percent of withdrawals from the Central Bank were made for private purposes. It said the bank worked as a "slush fund" for a patronage system rather than to pay for government spending, and named the governor, Abdusalam Omer, as "key to these irregularities". It also said $12 million of $16.9 million transferred by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers could not be traced ([Jakarta Post, 20 July 2013](https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/07/20/un-experts-say-corruption-still-rampant-somalia.html); [WardheerNews, citing Reuters](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-bank-governor-asks-u-n-for-audit-amid-slush-fund-claims)). Omer denied the allegations and asked the UN for an independent audit of the bank, and the government called the report a "gross misrepresentation" ([WardheerNews, citing Reuters](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-bank-governor-asks-u-n-for-audit-amid-slush-fund-claims); [Hiiraan Online, July 2013](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/July/30443/somali_govt_refutes_un_corruption_allegation_as_unbalanced.aspx)). Omer left in September 2013.

His successor, Yussur Abrar, resigned after about seven weeks. In her letter she wrote that "the central bank has not been allowed to function free of interference, and as such cannot operate as a credible institution" ([VOA, November 2013](https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-central-bank-chief-quits-over-graft-concerns/1783161.html); [OCCRP, 5 November 2013](https://occrp.org/en/news/somalia-head-of-central-bank-resigns-citing-corruption)).

## The bank today

- **Board.** Seven members: the governor (chair), deputy governor Dr Ali Yassin [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali, and five non-executive members. It met 10 times in 2025 and has audit, licensing and supervision, currency, and human resources committees ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Who it licenses.** At the end of 2025: 13 local banks, 1 foreign bank branch, 14 money transfer businesses, 6 mobile money operators and 7 microfinance firms (same source). See [Licensed banks and money companies](/en/economy/licensed-banks-and-money-companies/) and [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/).
- **Payments.** Since 2020 it has built a national payment system, an IBAN numbering system, the SOMQR code standard and the Somalia Instant Payment System ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)). See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).
- **New laws in 2025.** Parliament passed a revised Financial Institutions Law in May 2025 and an Insurance Law allowing Takaful ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **The shilling.** The bank is preparing a currency board to bring back the Somali shilling, with changes to the Central Bank Act before Parliament and reserve management rules approved by the board (same source).
- **IMF programme.** Its reforms are tied to the IMF Extended Credit Facility for 2023 to 2026. From 2016 onwards the IMF set it benchmarks under four staff-monitored programmes, starting with a currency reform roadmap (same source).
- **Board members in 2025.** Abdirahman M. Abdullahi (Governor), Dr Ali Yasin Sheikh Ali (Deputy Governor), Dr Aues Abo Scek, Faysal A. Warsame, Prof. Abdullahi Sh. Ali, Prof. Hussein A. Warsame and Hanifa Mohamed Ibrahim ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Microfinance and takaful.** It licensed the first seven non-deposit-taking microfinance institutions on 9 November 2025 ([CBS, 9 November 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-Grants-First-Licences-to-Microfinance-Institutions.pdf)) and the first takaful (Islamic insurance) companies in January 2026 ([CBS, 27 January 2026](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-CBS-Grants-First-Licenses-to.pdf)).
- **Credit information.** With the International Finance Corporation it is building a credit information system and a register of collateral ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). It works to a Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2029 (same source).

## What the law asks it to do

The Central Bank of Somalia Act (Law No. 130 of 22 April 2012), Part II section 5, gives the bank eight jobs ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

1. Make and carry out monetary policy and foreign exchange policy.
2. Hold and manage Somalia's foreign exchange reserves.
3. License, regulate and supervise all banks and financial institutions.
4. Set policy for payment, clearing and settlement systems.
5. Run those systems where it makes sense.
6. Act as banker, adviser and fiscal agent to the government.
7. Be the only issuer of Somali notes and coins.
8. Gather and publish monetary, financial and balance of payments statistics.

The constitution lists the central bank as one of three independent offices, with the Attorney General and the Auditor General ([Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 114, via Constitute Project](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). See [Independent commissions](/en/institutions/independent-commissions/).

## How to use it

- **Check a licence:** before you put money with a bank, money transfer firm or microfinance company, check that it appears on the bank's published licence lists ([CBS, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).
- **Read the numbers:** the annual report and statistics are free on the bank's website.
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** the [Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/) in Hargeisa does this work in Somaliland. See [Somaliland's institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/).

## Its legal basis

Central Bank of Somalia Act, Law No. 130 of 22 April 2012; Article 114 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution; Financial Institutions Law 2025; Insurance Law 2025.

## Sources disagree

- **The founding of the currency office.** The bank's history page dates the Cassa per la Circolazione Monetaria to 1950 in one place and 1949 in another, and gives the start of the somalo as both 16 May and 16 July 1950 ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)).
- **The 2013 figure.** Reports of the UN monitors' findings give "about 80 percent" of withdrawals as an average, while Reuters reported "almost three-quarters" for September 2012 to April 2013 ([Jakarta Post](https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/07/20/un-experts-say-corruption-still-rampant-somalia.html); [WardheerNews, citing Reuters](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-bank-governor-asks-u-n-for-audit-amid-slush-fund-claims)).
- **The years 2010 to 2012.** The bank's list of governors has a gap between Bashir Isse Ali's first term, which it ends in 2010, and Abdullahi Jama Ali's start in 2012 ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)).


---

# Electricity in Somalia: who supplies power and what it costs

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/electricity/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has no national grid. Power is sold by private companies that run diesel generators, and prices are among the highest in the world: about $0.81 per kWh on average in 2023. In Mogadishu, BECO, Blue Sky Energy and Mogadishu Power raised their prices by 5 cents on 25 October 2026, to 46, 46 and 38 cents per kWh. In 2022, 61.9 percent of people had electricity at home.

## The short version

After 1991 there was no state power company. Private firms filled the gap with diesel generators, each wiring its own neighbourhood. By 2012 Mogadishu had about 36 separate small suppliers. In 2014 several of them merged to form the **Banadir Electric Company (BECO)**, which now supplies about **85 percent** of the capital's power; Blue Sky Energy and Mogadishu Power Supply (MPS) serve other districts ([bgs.so, Navigating Non-Technical Barriers to Affordable Electricity in Somalia, 10 October 2025](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)). Another Mogadishu firm, the Somali Energy Company (SECO), generates and sells power in Banadir ([Wikipedia, Somali Energy Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Energy_Company)).

## Who has power

From the 2022 national household survey ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf), chapter 6):

| | Has electricity |
|---|---|
| All people | 61.9% |
| Towns | 80.1% |
| Villages | 39.4% |
| Nomadic households | 8.7% |

For lighting, 54.1 percent of people use electricity, 35.2 percent torches and 9.7 percent solar lamps. For cooking, 47.9 percent use [charcoal](/en/economy/charcoal-trade/) and 41.3 percent firewood; gas and electricity are hardly used (same source). The national plan aims to raise access to 80 percent by 2029 ([bgs.so, 2025](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)). See [The National Transformation Plan](/en/economy/national-transformation-plan/).

## What it costs

**By region, 2023** ([bgs.so, 2025, citing Shuraako and the National Transformation Plan](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)):

| Area | Price per kWh |
|---|---|
| Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland | $1.00 |
| Jubaland | $0.90 |
| Somalia average | $0.81 |
| South West State, Somaliland | $0.70 |
| Banadir (Mogadishu) | $0.36 |

**Mogadishu companies, 25 October 2026** ([Dawan Africa, 25 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/mogadishu-power-firms-raise-tariffs-by-5-cents-amid-fuel-price-surge)):

| Company | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| BECO | 41 cents | 46 cents |
| Blue Sky Energy | 41 cents | 46 cents |
| Mogadishu Power | 33 cents | 38 cents |

The companies said fuel prices in Somalia had risen by more than 70 percent, linking this to conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (same source). The Somali Researchers Association compared Mogadishu's new price with **$0.16** in Nairobi and **$0.024** in Addis Ababa ([SRA, 26 October 2026](https://www.sra.so/electricity-prices-mogadishu-vs-nairobi-and-addis-ababa/)).

BECO's price was about $1.20 per kWh when it began in 2014 and fell to $0.36 by 2022, before rising to $0.41 when world fuel prices jumped in 2022 ([bgs.so, 2025](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)). A family of six in Mogadishu paid about $25 to $35 a month for electricity in early 2025 ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)). See [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/).

## How power is made

- Diesel generators make about **88 percent** of Somalia's electricity, and solar about 11 percent ([bgs.so, 2025](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)). See [Solar and wind power](/en/economy/solar-and-wind-power/).
- BECO alone burns about **1,300 barrels of diesel a day**, costing about $193,700 a day or $70 million a year, from an installed capacity of 72 megawatts (same source).
- Power lost between the generator and the customer is about 40 percent nationally and 15 to 20 percent in Mogadishu. Rival firms often run two or three parallel sets of poles and cables in the same street (same source).
- In the study's survey of Mogadishu, 71 percent of businesses reported regular power cuts and 54 percent had lost goods to spoilage; 56 percent of households said electricity took an excessive share of their income (same source).

## The law

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) signed the **National Electricity Act** on 8 March 2023 ([Hiiraan Online, March 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Mar/190258/somalia_s_president_signs_three_bills_passed_by_parliament_into_law.aspx); [Ministry of Energy and Water Resources](https://moewr.gov.so/event/national-electricity-act-2023/)). It created the **National Electricity Authority** to license suppliers, set and approve prices and run subsidies. The cabinet approved the authority in July 2023 ([FAOLEX, Somalia Electricity Act 2023](https://faolex.fao.org/zh/documents/LEX-FAOC244649/somalia-electricity-act-2023-som-2022)). Between 2012 and 2025 Somalia had more than ten energy ministers ([bgs.so, 2025](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- **BECO's starting price.** The same 2025 study gives $1.20 per kWh in 2014 in one place and $1.00 in another ([bgs.so, 2025](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf)).
- **Mogadishu's price in 2025.** The study gives both $0.36 and $0.34 per kWh, while BECO's own price before October 2026 was $0.41 ([bgs.so](https://bgs.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Navigating-Non-Technical-Barriers-to-Affordable-Electricity-in-Somalia.pdf); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/mogadishu-power-firms-raise-tariffs-by-5-cents-amid-fuel-price-surge)).
- **The national average.** The same study gives $0.81 per kWh in one table and a range of $0.61 to $0.90 elsewhere (same source).


---

# Investing in Somalia: what flows in, where, and the rules

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Foreign direct investment into Somalia reached $880 million in 2025, mostly in telecoms, finance, energy and property. Foreigners may fully own a Somali company, a stock exchange was opened in Mogadishu in June 2025, and Somalia received debt relief in 2023 and joined the East African Community in 2024. The IMF still lists climate, conflict and aid cuts as the main risks.

## How much is invested

Foreign direct investment (FDI) rose to **$880 million in 2025**, about 7 percent of GDP, up from $765 million in 2024. The Central Bank says investors were mainly interested in **telecommunications, financial services, energy and real estate** ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

Spending on buildings, machines and equipment reached about 26 percent of GDP in 2025, led by imports of machinery and by construction (same source).

Somali banks are investors too: they held $215 million in company shares and $128 million in property investments in 2025 (same source).

## Who invests from outside

- **Gulf and Turkey:** a Turkish company, Albayrak, runs and has modernised Mogadishu port ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkish-firm-modernizes-and-runs-somalia-s-gateway/3700103)). DP World of Dubai expanded Berbera port under a $442 million joint venture agreed with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/dp-world-signs-442m-joint-venture-with-somaliland-1.1825624)).
- **Development finance:** the IFC has worked in Somalia since 2015 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/ifc-somalia-sign-agreements-to-unlock-private-sector-investment-2)). Norfund committed $10 million in 2018 to a fund for small Somali businesses ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/norfund-s-10m-to-support-somali-small-businesses-1399000)), and Swedfund invested $5 million in 2023 ([AVCA](https://www.avca.africa/news-insights/member-news/swedfund-invests-usd-5-million-in-somali-fund/)).
- **Somalia's own development bank:** the Somalia Development and Reconstruction Bank announced its first investment in September 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-development-bank-announces-first-investment-at-mogadishu-forum)).

## The rules for investors

- **Ownership:** foreign investors may register a fully owned Somali company without a local partner, and may set up a single-director company, according to SOMINVEST, the federal investment promotion office ([SOMINVEST, via 3E Accounting](https://www.3ecpa.com.hk/services/other-jurisdictions-setup/somalia-company-registration/)).
- **Registration:** companies register online with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry at ebusiness.gov.so ([Radio Muqdisho](https://radiomuqdisho.so/somalia-launches-online-business-registration-system)). See [How to start and register a business](/en/economy/starting-a-business/).
- **Finance laws:** a revised Financial Institutions Law (May 2025) and a Takaful (Islamic insurance) Law were passed in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The stock exchange

The **[National Securities Exchange of Somalia](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) (NSES)** was inaugurated in Mogadishu on 19 June 2025. It plans to list shares and sukuk (Islamic bonds), with telecoms and energy firms expected among the first listings ([Khusoko](https://khusoko.com/2025/06/23/somalia-launches-first-stock-exchange-in-2026/)). Officials aimed for at least 10 listed firms within two years ([Daba Finance](https://dabafinance.com/en/news/somalia-national-stock-exchange-launch-capital-markets-integration)). By May 2026 trading had not yet begun, and the national news agency warned of unregulated private share sales in the meantime ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/capital-without-guardrails-the-dangerous-gap-between-investor-appetite-and-regulatory-safety/)).

## What has changed for investors

- **Debt relief** in December 2023 cut foreign public debt to $1.5 billion by 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Trade blocs:** Somalia joined the East African Community in 2024 and ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area in 2026 ([EAC](https://eac.int/press-releases/3049-somalia-finally-joins-eac-as-the-bloc-s-8th-partner-state); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-ratifies-afcfta-becomes-50th-member-and-eyes-made-in-somalia-exports)).
- **Payments:** instant bank payments and the national QR code standard launched in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The risks

The IMF lists **more severe climate shocks, renewed regional conflict, further aid cuts and domestic challenges** as the main risks. It also says stronger anti-money-laundering rules are needed to win new correspondent banks, the foreign banks that move international payments ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)). Growth is forecast at 2.3 percent in 2026 (same source). The economy runs mostly on US dollars, and a new Somali shilling is still being prepared ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Where to look further

The federal investment promotion office SOMINVEST publishes sector guides and procedures for investors (sominvest.gov.so). The Central Bank publishes lists of licensed banks and financial firms (centralbank.gov.so).


---

# Ogaden Basin oil and gas: Calub, Hilala and the Djibouti pipeline plan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/ogaden-basin-oil-and-gas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ogaden Basin, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, covers about 350,000 square kilometres and holds the Calub and Hilala gas fields, found by the US company Tenneco in the 1970s. In 2013 Ethiopia signed a deal with China's Poly-GCL to produce the gas and pipe it about 767 km to Djibouti for export. A test of crude oil from Hilala began in 2018. In 2025 Ethiopia's Energy Outlook dropped the export plan, citing lack of financing, and the Chinese firm was sidelined.

## The basin

The Ogaden Basin lies in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia ([Radio Dalsan, 29 June 2025](https://www.radiodalsan.com/ethiopia-abandons-ambitious-ogaden-gas-export-project-citing-funding-delays-and-strategic-shift/)). It covers some **350,000 square kilometres** and is made of sedimentary rock up to 10,000 metres thick and is geologically similar to oil-rich basins in the Middle East ([Wikipedia, Ogaden Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_Basin)). The basin has been divided into **21 blocks** (same source).

## A century of searching

| Year | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Standard Oil makes the first exploration | [Wikipedia, Ogaden Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_Basin) |
| 1974 | Tenneco reports a gas discovery | [Wikipedia, Ogaden Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_Basin) |
| Dec 1999 | Ethiopia and the Texas firm Sicor announce the Gazoil Ethiopia Project to develop the gas fields | [Wikipedia, Ogaden Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_Basin) |
| 24 Apr 2007 | Attack on an exploration site at Abole run for Malaysia's Petronas: about 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese workers killed; the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) carried it out | [Wikipedia, Ogaden Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_Basin) |
| Nov 2013 | Ethiopia signs a petroleum development agreement with Poly-GCL, a joint venture of China Poly Group and Hong Kong's Golden Concord | [The Reporter Ethiopia](https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/5300/) |
| 2018 | Crude oil test production begins near Hilala | [Hiiraan Online, March 2018](https://www.hiiraan.org/news4/2018/Mar/157314/oil_in_ogaden.aspx); [Belex](https://www.belex.com/en/news/ethiopia-and-the-discovery-of-gas-and-oil-in-ogaden/) |
| Feb 2019 | Ethiopia and Djibouti sign a memorandum for a gas pipeline to the Red Sea | [Pipeline and Gas Journal, February 2019](https://pgjonline.com/news/2019/02-feb/ethiopia-and-djibouti-sign-deal-to-build-gas-pipeline) |
| Early 2022 | The pipeline plan goes on hold | [Radio Dalsan, 29 June 2025](https://www.radiodalsan.com/ethiopia-abandons-ambitious-ogaden-gas-export-project-citing-funding-delays-and-strategic-shift/) |
| 2025 | The Ethiopian Energy Outlook 2025 drops the gas export plan | [Radio Dalsan, 29 June 2025](https://www.radiodalsan.com/ethiopia-abandons-ambitious-ogaden-gas-export-project-citing-funding-delays-and-strategic-shift/) |

Other companies have held blocks in the basin, including Pexco Exploration of the Netherlands, Petronas of Malaysia, Lundin East Africa of Sweden, SouthWest Energy of Hong Kong and Afar Explorer of the US ([Wikipedia, Ogaden Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_Basin)).

## Calub and Hilala

Calub lies about 1,200 km south-east of Addis Ababa, and Hilala about 80 km further east ([World Oil, 3 November 2017](https://worldoil.com/news/2017/11/3/china-poly-to-see-ethiopian-gas-exports-by-2019-minister-says/)). Reserve estimates differ: some reports give 4 trillion cubic feet for the two fields, others 8 trillion. In 2025 the energy economist Dr Lidet Tadesse put Ethiopia's gas reserves at **6.9 trillion cubic feet** ([Radio Dalsan, 2025](https://www.radiodalsan.com/ethiopia-abandons-ambitious-ogaden-gas-export-project-citing-funding-delays-and-strategic-shift/)).

## The export plan and its end

The plan was to turn the gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipe it about **767 km** to the port of Djibouti, at a cost of about $4 billion for the pipeline ([Pipeline and Gas Journal, 2019](https://pgjonline.com/news/2019/02-feb/ethiopia-and-djibouti-sign-deal-to-build-gas-pipeline)). In 2017 officials expected exports by 2019 ([World Oil, 2017](https://worldoil.com/news/2017/11/3/china-poly-to-see-ethiopian-gas-exports-by-2019-minister-says/)).

The Ethiopian Energy Outlook 2025, written by the Ministry of Water and Energy, Ethiopian Electric Power and the Petroleum and Energy Authority, said the $4.5 billion LNG export project was no longer viable because of financing problems. It turned policy towards using the gas at home, for fertiliser and backup power. Poly-GCL was sidelined after failing to meet its targets ([Radio Dalsan, 29 June 2025](https://www.radiodalsan.com/ethiopia-abandons-ambitious-ogaden-gas-export-project-citing-funding-delays-and-strategic-shift/); [Upstream](https://www.upstreamonline.com/field-development/ethiopia-loses-patience-with-china-s-poly-gcl-and-cancels-gas-fields-contract/2-1-1305118)).

## Related pages

- [Oil and gas in Somalia](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/)
- [Soma Oil & Gas](/en/economy/soma-oil-and-gas/)


---

# Ships hijacked or attacked off Somalia, 2005 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 2005 to 2012, hundreds of ships were attacked off Somalia and dozens were held for ransom, among them the supertankers Sirius Star and Samho Dream, the arms ship Faina and the Maersk Alabama. Attacks fell to almost none by 2013. They resumed on a smaller scale from 2017 and again from late 2023: the bulk carrier Abdullah was held in 2024 and the tanker Honour 25 was retaken by Puntland forces in September 2026. This page lists cases with a published record, with a source for each.

## In short

Ship attacks off Somalia grew from the mid-2000s. Pirates held ships and crews until owners paid ransoms ([Wikipedia, List of ships attacked by Somali pirates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_attacked_by_Somali_pirates)). For who ran the networks and how the attacks were stopped, see [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

By October 2012 attacks had fallen to a six-year low, with one ship attacked in the third quarter against 36 in the same months of 2011, according to the International Maritime Bureau. In 2013 the US Office of Naval Intelligence counted 9 attacks and no successful hijackings. Control Risks credited better practice by ship crews, armed guards on board, navies at sea and new coastal forces on land (all as reported in [Wikipedia, List of ships attacked by Somali pirates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_attacked_by_Somali_pirates)).

Oceans Beyond Piracy estimated the cost of Somali piracy to world trade at **$6.6 to $6.9 billion a year** in 2011 (same source).

## The cases

Dates are when the ship was seized or attacked. "Flag" is the country where the ship was registered, which is often not the owner's country.

| Date | Ship | Type and flag | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Apr 2005 | Feisty Gas | LPG tanker, Hong Kong | Released; owner reportedly paid $315,000 in Mombasa, according to a UN report | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Feisty_Gas) |
| 27 Jun 2005 | Semlow | Freighter with UN food aid, Kenya | Held about 100 days; released 3 Oct 2005 | [source](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4636695.stm) |
| 5 Nov 2005 | Seabourn Spirit | Cruise ship, Bahamas | Attack failed; crew drove pirates off with a hose and a sound device | [source](http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/11/05/somalia.pirates/index.html) |
| 16 Jan 2006 | Safina al-Birsarat | Dhow, India | Retaken by USS Winston S. Churchill on 22 Jan; ten men later jailed in Kenya | [source](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6105262.stm) |
| 1 Jun 2007 | Danica White | Cargo ship, Denmark | Held 83 days; released after a $723,000 ransom | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Danica_White) |
| 28 Oct 2007 | Golden Nori | Chemical tanker, Japan | Hijacked with 23 crew | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Golden_Nori) |
| 29 Oct 2007 | Dai Hong Dan | Cargo ship, North Korea | Crew regained control the next day | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dai_Hong_Dan_incident) |
| 21 Aug 2008 | Iran Deyanat | Bulk carrier, Iran | Freed 10 Oct 2008, crew unharmed | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Iran_Deyanat) |
| 15 Sep 2008 | Stolt Valor | Chemical tanker, Hong Kong | Hijacked in the Gulf of Aden safety corridor | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT_Stolt_Valor) |
| 25 Sep 2008 | Faina | Ro-ro ship, Belize flag | Released 5 to 6 Feb 2009 after a reported $3.2 million ransom | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Faina) |
| 29 Oct 2008 | Yasa Neslihan | Bulk carrier, Marshall Islands flag | Hijacked with 20 Turkish crew | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Yasa_Neslihan) |
| 10 Nov 2008 | Stolt Strength | Chemical tanker, Philippines | Released 21 Apr 2009 | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Stolt_Strength) |
| 11 Nov 2008 | Powerful | Cargo ship, Denmark | Attack stopped by HMS Cumberland and a Russian frigate | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Powerful) |
| 15 Nov 2008 | Sirius Star | Oil supertanker, Liberia flag, Saudi Aramco's Vela | Seized with 2 million barrels of crude; released Jan 2009 | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sirius_Star) |
| 18 Nov 2008 | Delight | Grain carrier, Hong Kong | Released 10 Jan 2009 | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Delight) |
| 17 Dec 2008 | Zhenhua 4 | Ship of China Communications Construction | Attack beaten off | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Zhenhua_4) |
| 1 Jan 2009 | S Venus | Freighter, Panama | Attack beaten off by guards on board | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_S_Venus) |
| 4 Apr 2009 | Hansa Stavanger | Container ship, Germany | Hijacked; a German police rescue was called off | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Hansa_Stavanger) |
| 6 Apr 2009 | Win Far 161 | Fishing vessel, Taiwan | Used as a mother ship; released 11 Feb 2010 after ransom; two crew died in captivity | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV_Win_Far_No.161) |
| 8 Apr 2009 | Maersk Alabama | Container ship, United States | Captain held in a lifeboat; US Navy rescue on 12 Apr, three pirates killed | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maersk_Alabama_hijacking) |
| 14 Apr 2009 | Liberty Sun | Cargo ship with food aid, United States | Attack failed | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Liberty_Sun) |
| 26 Apr 2009 | Qana | Tanker, Yemen | Retaken by Yemen's coastguard next day | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Qana) |
| 8 Jul 2009 | Horizon-1 | Bulk carrier, Turkey | Hijacked in the Gulf of Aden with 23 Turkish crew | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon-1) |
| 29 Mar 2010 | Iceberg 1 | Ro-ro ship, Panama | Held nearly three years; freed by Puntland maritime forces on 23 Dec 2012 | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Iceberg_1) |
| 4 Apr 2010 | Samho Dream | Supertanker, South Korea | Released 6 Nov 2010 after 217 days and a ransom | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Samho_Dream) |
| 7 Apr 2010 | Yasin C | Bulk carrier, Turkey | Crew locked in engine room; released without ransom 10 Apr | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Yasin_C) |
| 5 May 2010 | Moscow University | Tanker, Russia | Retaken by a Russian Navy warship next day | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Moscow_University) |
| 10 Oct 2010 | Izumi | Cargo ship, Japan to Mombasa | Held off Hobyo and Harardhere and used as a mother ship | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Izumi) |
| 15 Jan 2011 | Samho Jewelry | Chemical tanker, South Korea | Retaken by South Korean Navy commandos six days later | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Samho_Jewelry) |
| 8 Feb 2011 | Savina Caylyn | Oil tanker, Italy | Hijacked about 880 miles off Somalia with 22 crew | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savina_Caylyn) |
| 5 Mar 2011 | Guanabara | Oil tanker | Crew hid in a safe room; four pirates captured, three tried in Japan | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Guanabara) |
| 12 Jan 2012 | Patiño | Spanish Navy supply ship | Attacked by mistake; one pirate killed, six captured | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Spanish_oiler_Patiño) |
| 13 Mar 2017 | Aris 13 | Tanker, Comoros | Seized off Alula, first big hijack since 2012; released, no ransom paid | [source](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-hijack-idUSKBN16L0EW) |
| 12 Mar 2024 | Abdullah | Bulk carrier, Bangladesh | Released after ransom | [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_attacked_by_Somali_pirates) |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Honour 25 | Tanker, Palau, 17 crew | Five-month standoff; Puntland Maritime Police Force retook it on 29 Sep 2026; five crew killed by the hijackers, 16 suspects detained | [source](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/puntland-forces-rescue-another-hijacked-ship-somali-pirates-2026-09-29/) |

## After 2012

The tanker **Aris 13**, seized off [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/) in March 2017, was the first large commercial ship hijacked since 2012 ([Reuters, March 2017](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-hijack-idUSKBN16L0EW)).

From late 2023 attacks grew again. The Bangladeshi bulk carrier **Abdullah** was seized on 12 March 2024 and released after a ransom ([Wikipedia, List of ships attacked by Somali pirates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_attacked_by_Somali_pirates)). In 2026 pirates held the tanker **Honour 25** off [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) for five months; their demand fell from $3 million to $1 million before the [Puntland Maritime Police Force](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/) stormed the ship ([Reuters, 29 September 2026](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/puntland-forces-rescue-another-hijacked-ship-somali-pirates-2026-09-29/)).

## About this list

The list covers cases with their own published record. It is not every attack: the International Maritime Bureau counted 237 attempted and 28 successful hijackings in 2011 alone (see [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)).


---

# Solar and wind power in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/solar-and-wind-power/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most of Somalia's electricity comes from diesel generators run by private firms: about 90 percent in 2021, according to the World Bank. Solar is growing. IRENA counted 51 MW of solar panels at the end of 2023, up from 47 MW a year earlier. BECO opened an 8 MWp solar plant in Mogadishu in 2020, and in 2025 the government tendered a 55 MW solar plant with 160 MWh of batteries at Jazeera, Mogadishu, paid for by the World Bank.

## Diesel and the switch to solar

In December 2021 the World Bank said about **90 percent** of Somalia's electricity came from isolated diesel mini-grids run by private companies, and that about 9 million of Somalia's 15 million people had no electricity. It approved **$150 million** for the Somalia Electricity Recovery Project, to bring cheaper and cleaner power to 1.1 million households and to power 205 health centres and 380 schools ([World Bank, 9 December 2021](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/12/09/a-150-million-electricity-recovery-project-aims-to-help-light-up-somalia)). For prices and suppliers, see [Electricity in Somalia](/en/economy/electricity/) and the [electricity companies directory](/en/businesses/electricity-companies-directory/).

## How much is installed

- **51 MW** of solar panels at the end of 2023, up from **47 MW** at the end of 2022, according to IRENA figures reported by pv magazine ([pv magazine, Patrick Jowett, 7 February 2025](http://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/07/somalia-opens-solar-plus-storage-tender/)).
- Wikipedia, citing the World Economic Forum, gives about 100 MW of solar and wind out of about 400 MW of total capacity in 2025, and about 10 percent of electricity from renewables ([Wikipedia, Solar power in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Somalia)).
- The country gets 5 to 7 kWh of sunlight per square metre a day and over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, according to the Somalia Investment Promotion Office as cited by Wikipedia (same source).

## The plants

| Plant | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Garowe, 2016 | Somalia's first hybrid solar and wind plant | [Wikipedia, citing LifeGate 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Somalia) |
| BECO, Mogadishu, 2020 | 8 MWp solar plant supplying four hours a day; BECO aimed to reach 100 MWp for $40 million. BECO then had 35 MW of capacity against an estimated demand of 200 MW | [SONNA, June 2020](https://sonna.so/en/beco-builds-8-mwp-solar-power-plant-in-mogadishu/) |
| Jazeera, Mogadishu, tendered 2025 | 55 MW of solar with a 160 MWh battery store, under the World Bank's ASCENT programme (Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation in Somalia) | [pv magazine, 7 February 2025](http://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/07/somalia-opens-solar-plus-storage-tender/) |
| Other 2025 tenders | A 10 MW solar plant with 20 MWh of batteries, and off-grid solar with batteries for 28 schools and colleges in two regions | [pv magazine, 2025](http://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/07/somalia-opens-solar-plus-storage-tender/) |
| Berbera, 2026 | A 5 MW solar plant, as reported by Ecofin Agency | [Wikipedia, citing Ecofin Agency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Somalia) |

## Why batteries matter

BECO's chief engineer, Mohamud Farah, told reporters in 2020: "Unless we have batteries to store electricity, we can't stop using fossil fuels" ([SONNA, 2020](https://sonna.so/en/beco-builds-8-mwp-solar-power-plant-in-mogadishu/)). The 2025 tenders all pair panels with battery storage ([pv magazine, 2025](http://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/07/somalia-opens-solar-plus-storage-tender/)).

## Wind

The African Development Bank estimates that Somalia could produce 30,000 to 45,000 MW from renewables, mostly from onshore wind, according to [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) ([SONNA, 2020](https://sonna.so/en/beco-builds-8-mwp-solar-power-plant-in-mogadishu/)).

## Sources disagree

- **BECO's first plant.** SONNA reported an 8 MWp plant in 2020 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/beco-builds-8-mwp-solar-power-plant-in-mogadishu/)). Wikipedia describes a 10 MW plant built in 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Somalia)).
- **How much solar there is.** IRENA counted 51 MW of solar at the end of 2023 ([pv magazine](http://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/07/somalia-opens-solar-plus-storage-tender/)); the World Economic Forum figure cited by Wikipedia is about 100 MW of solar and wind in 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Somalia)).

For solar and wind firms, see [Somali solar and wind companies](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/).


---

# Soma Oil & Gas: the British-founded oil explorer in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/soma-oil-and-gas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Soma Oil & Gas was set up in London in 2013 and in August 2013 became one of the first foreign firms to sign an exploration deal with Somalia's new federal government. It paid for a large offshore seismic survey. Payments it made to Somali officials under a 'capacity building' deal led the UK Serious Fraud Office to open an investigation in July 2015, which it closed in December 2016 for lack of evidence. A successor company registered in the British Virgin Islands now holds three offshore blocks.

## The 2013 deal

Soma Oil & Gas was incorporated in **April 2013**, a month before the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) conference on Somalia of May 2013. In **August 2013** it signed a deal with Somalia's federal government to explore for oil offshore ([Bloomberg, in World Oil, 10 August 2015](https://worldoil.com/news/2015/8/10/uk-soma-probe-looks-at-payments-to-somali-officials/)).

The company was chaired by Michael Howard, a former leader of the UK Conservative Party, and funded by the Russian businessman Alexander Djaparidze. His firm Winter Sky owned 30 percent and provided $50 million for a seismic survey (same source). Soma said it had spent $40 million on surveys of **60,000 square kilometres** off the coast (same source). The Wikipedia article on the company describes a 20,552 km 2D seismic survey in 2014 that showed deep-water potential ([Wikipedia, Soma Oil & Gas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soma_Oil_%26_Gas)).

## The payments and the investigation

About eight months after the oil deal, Soma made payments to Somali government officials under a **capacity-building agreement**. A report by UN investigators said these could be a conflict of interest ([World Oil, 2015](https://worldoil.com/news/2015/8/10/uk-soma-probe-looks-at-payments-to-somali-officials/)). The UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/) was reported to have said that at least **$580,000** paid from June 2014 might have been corrupt payments, which Soma denied ([Global Witness](https://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/oil-company-chaired-michael-howard-investigated-over-somalia-deal)).

Soma said the UN had "fundamentally misunderstood" the agreement, that the government had asked for it, and that the money covered costs such as the legal fees of a Canadian lawyer advising the government ([World Oil, 2015](https://worldoil.com/news/2015/8/10/uk-soma-probe-looks-at-payments-to-somali-officials/)).

| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| July 2015 | The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opens a criminal investigation and searches Soma's London office on 31 July | [World Oil, 2015](https://worldoil.com/news/2015/8/10/uk-soma-probe-looks-at-payments-to-somali-officials/) |
| Late 2015 | A Somali government inquiry finds no evidence of a "quid pro quo" deal with Soma | [The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/soma-oil-cleared-of-corruption-charges--1362236) |
| 2016 | The UK High Court refuses Soma's request to stop the investigation | [DAC Beachcroft](https://www.dacbeachcroft.com/en/What-we-think/High-Court-refuses-to-intervene-in-conduct-of-SFO-investigation) |
| 14 Dec 2016 | The SFO closes the case: "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction" | [SFO](https://www.sfo.gov.uk/?p=14498) |

The SFO said it had never suspected Michael Howard personally ([World Oil, 2015](https://worldoil.com/news/2015/8/10/uk-soma-probe-looks-at-payments-to-somali-officials/)). No charges were brought.

## The company today

In 2020 the business moved to **Soma Oil & Gas Ltd (BVI)**, registered in the British Virgin Islands and owned through a holding structure by Basil M. Shiblaq. In 2023 it took over production sharing agreements **129 and 130** (Mid Somalia High basin) and **192** (Mogadishu Deep basin), and in 2024 the federal government recognised it as sole operator ([Wikipedia, Soma Oil & Gas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soma_Oil_%26_Gas)). A 2015 study by RPS Energy, presented by Soma, estimated 21 billion barrels of oil in place across its blocks, before risk (same source).

For the wider story of oil in Somalia, the 2020 Petroleum Law and the first offshore well drilled by Turkey in 2026, see [Oil and gas in Somalia](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/).


---

# Somalia's main banks and stock exchanges: Salaam, IBS, Premier, Dahabshil and the NSES

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's first private bank since 1991, Salaam Somali Bank, opened in Mogadishu in October 2009. It was followed by Dahabshil Bank International, International Bank of Somalia (IBS, 2014) and Premier Bank (2015). In November 2026 the Central Bank listed 15 licensed banks. Somalia's official stock exchange, the NSES, opened in June 2025. In February 2026 it said it planned to start trading during 2026.

## The short version

All banking stopped when the state collapsed in January 1991 ([Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)). For almost two decades money transfer companies did the work of banks. Private banks began to open from 2009. The Central Bank's register listed **15 licensed banks** in November 2026: Agro Bank, Amal Bank, Amana Bank, Bushra Bank, Bulsho Bank, Dahabshiil International Bank, Daryeel Bank, GIB, Idman Bank, IBS Bank, My Bank, Premier Bank, Salaam Bank, Sombank and Ziraat Katilim of Turkey ([CBS, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)). Together banks held $2.3 billion of assets at the end of 2025 ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For sector figures, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/) and [The Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/).

## Salaam Somali Bank

Full page: [Salaam Somali Bank](/en/businesses/salaam-somali-bank/).

- Opened in **October 2009** in Mogadishu, with first branches in Hamarweyne and [Bakaara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/). It describes itself as the first bank to operate in Somalia since 1991 ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank)).
- In 2010 it launched DEEQTOON, mobile banking built on Hormuud Telecom's technology. In 2009 the two firms set up the Hormuud Salaam Foundation (same source; see [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/)).
- In October 2014 it opened Somalia's first cash machines, in Mogadishu ([BBC, 7 October 2014](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29519877)).
- It reports 55 branches, 20 of them in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank)).
- With the World Bank and the reinsurer ZEP-RE it runs drought insurance for herders. By March 2026 this had enrolled more than **163,000** pastoralists and paid out **$4.5 million** ([Devex, 3 April 2026](https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/in-drought-hit-somalia-savings-accounts-offer-a-lifeline-112193)).
- In 2024 it won The Banker's Islamic Bank of the Year, international category ([The Banker, Islamic Banking Awards 2024](https://www.thebanker.com/content/5b2f8e2d-aadd-5a62-8cb0-a972c5c483e3)).

## International Bank of Somalia (IBS)

Full page: [International Bank of Somalia (IBS)](/en/businesses/international-bank-of-somalia/).

- Incorporated in July 2013 and opened on **11 October 2014** in Mogadishu, with President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) at the opening. Bloomberg reported it as the first Somali lender able to handle foreign transactions ([Bloomberg, 13 October 2014](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-13/somali-bank-becomes-first-lender-to-handle-foreign-transactions.html); [Wikipedia, International Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_of_Somalia)).
- It was founded by Somali businesspeople mostly based in Dubai. In March 2015 it offered **$10 million** of shares to the public, 10 percent of its capital (same source).
- It lists seven branches in Mogadishu and branches in Garowe, Kismayo, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Baidoa, and issues Mastercard and Visa cards (same source).

## Premier Bank

Full page: [Premier Bank](/en/businesses/premier-bank/).

Incorporated in 2013, licensed by the Central Bank in 2014 and opened in Mogadishu on 21 May 2015, when it was reported to be bringing more debit cards to the country ([Hiiraan Online, 26 May 2015](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2015/May/99789/somalia_s_new_international_bank_brings_more_debit_cards_to_war_torn_country.aspx); [Wikipedia, Premier Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Bank)).

## Dahabshil Bank International

Full page: [Dahabshil Bank International](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/).

Owned by the [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) group and based in Hargeisa. It became an officially recognised institution in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in early 2009 and opened its first branch in Hargeisa that year. By November 2014 it had lent **$70 million** to finance, livestock, farming, health and education ([Wikipedia, Dahabshil Bank International, citing Reuters, November 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International)). See [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/).

## Amal Bank

Amal Bank is on the Central Bank's register of licensed banks, which lists it with an address in Garowe ([CBS, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)). It is named among the largest banks by African Business ([African Business, August 2025](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)).

For the other licensed banks, see [Somalia's newer banks](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/) and [MyBank Somalia](/en/businesses/mybank-somalia/).

## Stock exchanges

- **Somali Stock Exchange (SSE).** A private exchange set up by the Somali Economic Forum. It was registered on 24 March 2011 and sold its first shares on **1 September 2015**, at offices in Garowe, Mogadishu and Hargeisa ([Wikipedia, Somali Stock Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Stock_Exchange); [UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, 17 June 2019](https://sseinitiative.org/all-news/the-un-sustainable-stock-exchange-welcomes-the-somali-stock-exchange/)).
- **National Securities Exchange of Somalia (NSES).** The official exchange, backed by the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank, opened in Mogadishu on **19 June 2025**. It plans to list shares and sukuk (Islamic bonds), starting with telecoms, banking, property and energy firms. Its first chief executive is Yasin M. Ibar, formerly head of the Somali Banking Association. It is one of nine members of the East African Securities Exchanges Association ([MFW4A](https://www.mfw4a.org/news/somalia-launches-its-first-stock-exchange-mogadishu); [African Capital Markets News, 4 September 2025](https://africancapitalmarketsnews.com/national-stock-exchange-launched-in-somalia/)). In February 2026 it said it planned to start trading during 2026 ([Africa Global Funds, 10 February 2026](https://africaglobalfunds.com/analysis/interviews/building-trust-from-the-ground-up-somalias-capital-market-takes-shape/)). See [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/).

## Sources disagree

- **The first bank since 1991.** Salaam Somali Bank says it was the first, opening in October 2009 in Mogadishu. Dahabshil Bank International was recognised in Somaliland in early 2009, and IBS was described by Bloomberg in 2014 as the first lender to handle foreign transactions ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank); [Wikipedia, Dahabshil Bank International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International); [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-13/somali-bank-becomes-first-lender-to-handle-foreign-transactions.html)).
- **First Somali Bank.** A bank of that name, founded by [Liban Abdi](/en/people/liban-abdi/) Egal, is described as the first commercial bank to open in southern Somalia since 1991, in May 2012; its website closed in 2016 ([Wikipedia, First Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Somali_Bank)). See [Somali business pioneers](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/).
- **The first stock exchange.** The NSES is widely reported as Somalia's "first" stock exchange, but the privately run Somali Stock Exchange began selling shares in 2015 ([MFW4A](https://www.mfw4a.org/news/somalia-launches-its-first-stock-exchange-mogadishu); [UN SSE initiative](https://sseinitiative.org/all-news/the-un-sustainable-stock-exchange-welcomes-the-somali-stock-exchange/)).
- **The number of banks.** The Central Bank's 2025 annual report counts 13 local banks and 1 foreign branch; its register lists 15 banks in November 2026 ([CBS, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf); [CBS, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).
- **The Hormuud Salaam Foundation.** Its founding year is given as 2009 on Wikipedia but 2013 in a sponsored article in The EastAfrican ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank); [The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/sponsored/salaam-somali-bank-solidify-its-growth-in-somalia-banking-sector-4629888)).


---

# Who is licensed: Somalia's banks, money transfer firms, microfinance and insurers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/licensed-banks-and-money-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Central Bank of Somalia publishes lists of the firms it licenses. In November 2026 they named 15 banks, 17 money transfer businesses, 24 microfinance institutions and 8 Takaful (Islamic insurance) companies. Six mobile money operators were licensed at the end of 2025.

## The short version

The Central Bank of Somalia licenses and supervises banks, money transfer businesses, microfinance firms and Islamic insurers. It publishes a register for each. Below are the names on those registers on 12 November 2026 ([CBS, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)). The Central Bank's own pages hold the current lists.

## Banks

The [Central Bank's licensed banks register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) lists 15:

[Agro Bank](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/), Amal Bank (Garowe), Amana Bank, Bulsho Bank, Bushra Bank, [Dahabshiil International Bank](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/), Daryeel Bank ([Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)), GIB, IBS Bank, Idman Bank, [My Bank](/en/businesses/mybank-somalia/), Premier Bank, Salaam Bank, Sombank, and Ziraat Katılım, a Turkish bank.

All other banks listed are in Mogadishu. Together, banks held **$2.3 billion** in assets at the end of 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/).

## Money transfer businesses (hawala)

The [licensed money transfer register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) names 17:

Amal Express, Amana Express, Asal Express, Bakaal Express, Dahabshiil, Fundaza, Hibo (Bosaso), Hodan, [Iftin Express](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/), [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/), Naafic, Quick, Rcash (Garowe), Sahan, [Tawakal](/en/businesses/tawakal-express/) Express (Garowe), TAYO and Yiksi.

These firms carry most of the money families abroad send home. See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) and [How to send money to Somalia](/en/economy/how-to-send-money-to-somalia/).

## Mobile money

By December 2025 there were **6 licensed mobile money operators** ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The first licence went to Hormuud's EVC Plus in February 2021 ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## Microfinance

The [licensed microfinance register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) lists 24, up from the first 7 licensed on 9 November 2025:

Access MFI, Amana MFI, Asal, Bulaal Finance, Bushra, Dahab MFI, Future Finance House, Haldoor, Himilo (Garowe), Hogaan (Baidoa), Horseed, Idman MFI, Kaafi, [KIMS](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/) (Hargeisa), Kobciye, Maal, Midnimo, OSOB, RAAS, SICOF (Somali Industrial Cooperative Finance), Somali Microfinance (SOM), Tijaaro, Wadaag Microfinance (Hargeisa) and WE-INVEST (Hargeisa).

These firms lend small amounts but do not take savings. See [Islamic finance, microfinance and Takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/).

## Takaful (Islamic insurance)

The [licensed Takaful register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) lists 8:

Amanah Insurance, Baraka Takaful, [FISO Insurance](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/), Kobciye Insurance, Salmastar Insurance, Takaaful Africa, Tamini Insurance and Wadaag Insurance (Hargeisa).

The first four licences were approved on 24 January 2026 ([Central Bank of Somalia, 27 January 2026](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-CBS-Grants-First-Licenses-to.pdf)).

## Telecoms

Phone companies are licensed by a different body, the National Communications Authority, which lists seven mobile operators with spectrum licences ([NCA, licence register](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses)). See [Telecoms and internet](/en/economy/telecoms/).

## Sources disagree

The Central Bank's [Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) counts **13 domestic banks, 1 foreign bank branch and 14 money transfer businesses** at December 2025. The online registers checked in November 2026 show 15 banks and 17 money transfer businesses. The registers are newer, but they do not show when each licence was given. The registers show logos rather than written names, so some spellings here are taken from each firm's web address.

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own central bank and licenses its own banks, such as Wadaag Bank ([Tech Africa](https://tech.africa/?p=88129)). Some firms based in Hargeisa also appear on the federal Central Bank's registers. See [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).


---

# Islamic finance, microfinance and Takaful insurance in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali banks work under Islamic rules: instead of charging interest they sell goods at an agreed mark-up, lease, or share profit. In 2025 Somalia passed its first insurance law, for Islamic (Takaful) insurance, and a law that lets the Central Bank regulate microfinance. The first seven microfinance firms were licensed in November 2025 and the first four Takaful insurers in January 2026.

## The short version

Islam forbids interest (riba), so Somali banks do not lend money at interest. They finance customers through contracts that follow Islamic law. Until 2025 there was no law for insurance or for small lenders. Two laws passed that year changed this, and the Central Bank of Somalia has now licensed the first microfinance firms and the first Islamic insurers.

## How Islamic banking works here

The Central Bank's reporting rules for "Islamic commercial banks" list the main contracts banks use ([Central Bank of Somalia, Guideline on Financial Reporting for Islamic Commercial Banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Guideline-on-Financial-Reporting-for-Islamic-Commercial-Banks-in-Somalia.pdf)):

- **Murabaha**, a "cost plus sale": the bank buys goods and sells them to the customer for an agreed higher price, paid over time.
- **Ijarah**, a lease: the bank owns an asset and rents it to the customer.
- **Mudarabah** and **Musharakah**, partnerships: the bank and the customer share profit (and in a Musharakah, losses).
- **Qard**, an interest-free loan, including **Qard Hassan**, a good-will loan.

The Central Bank has also issued a **Shariah Governance Framework** (2020) for banks, so each bank's products are checked against Islamic law ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## How much the banks lend

From the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf):

- Total bank financing reached **$540 million** in 2025, up 14 percent from $473 million.
- The two biggest uses were **trade financing ($205 million)** and **real estate ($139 million)**.
- Credit to the private sector was only about **4.7 percent of GDP** in 2025, up from 2.2 percent in 2021. Total bank assets were about 20 percent of GDP.

For the banks themselves, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/).

## Microfinance: small loans for small traders

In May 2025 Parliament passed a revised **Financial Institutions Law**, which for the first time gave the Central Bank power to license and supervise microfinance ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

On **9 November 2025** the Central Bank's board licensed the first seven **non-deposit-taking microfinance institutions**, meaning firms that lend but do not take savings ([Central Bank of Somalia, press release, 9 November 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-Grants-First-Licences-to-Microfinance-Institutions.pdf)):

1. [KIMS](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/) Microfinance Institution
2. Bushra Microfinance Ltd
3. Maal Microfinance Ltd
4. Midnimo Microfinance
5. RAAS Microfinance
6. Asal Microfinance
7. Haldoor Microfinance

The Central Bank said many households, small firms, women-owned businesses and young people's start-ups rely on "informal finance, family networks, or short-term trade credit", and that licensed firms should offer them "Sharia-compliant, small-ticket, and flexible" products. Other microfinance firms had to apply by **6 December 2025** or face legal action ([Central Bank of Somalia, 9 November 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-Grants-First-Licences-to-Microfinance-Institutions.pdf)).

By November 2026 the Central Bank's register listed **24** licensed microfinance institutions ([Central Bank of Somalia, microfinance register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/)). See [Who is licensed](/en/economy/licensed-banks-and-money-companies/).

Many Somali women already save and borrow through their own rotating groups (ayuuto or hagbad). See [Women in Somalia's economy](/en/economy/women-in-the-economy/).

## Takaful: Islamic insurance

Takaful is insurance in which members put money into a shared fund that pays out when one of them suffers a loss, run under Islamic rules. Somalia's **Islamic Insurance (Takaful) Law** was enacted in **May 2025**, the country's first insurance law ([Central Bank of Somalia, press release, 27 January 2026](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-CBS-Grants-First-Licenses-to.pdf)).

On **24 January 2026** the Central Bank's board licensed the first four insurers, the first in Somalia's history to get full permission to operate ([Central Bank of Somalia, 27 January 2026](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Central-Bank-of-Somalia-CBS-Grants-First-Licenses-to.pdf); [SONNA, 27 January 2026](https://sonna.so/en/central-bank-of-somalia-issues-first-ever-takaful-licenses-to-four-firms-historic-move-to-regulate-insurance-sector/)):

1. First Somali Takaful Insurance Ltd
2. Amanah Insurance Ltd
3. Baraka Takaful Insurance Ltd
4. Salmaster Insurance

By November 2026 the register listed **8** Takaful operators ([Central Bank of Somalia, Takaful register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/)). See [Somali Takaful companies](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/).

## What else is planned

- A **Credit Information System** and a **Collateral Registry**, to be run by the Central Bank with help from the International Finance Corporation under an agreement signed in September 2025. They are meant to make it easier for lenders to judge risk and for borrowers to use property as security ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Sukuk** (Islamic bonds) are planned for the new national stock exchange. See [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/).

## Sources disagree

Reports differ on the month the Takaful law was enacted. The Central Bank's own press release says **May 2025**. The lower house of Parliament approved the insurance bill in March 2025 ([Hiiraan Online, March 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Mar/200654/somali_parliament_approves_insurance_and_financial_institutions_bills.aspx)). The press release also spells the fourth insurer "Salmaster", while the national news agency writes "Salmastar" ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/central-bank-of-somalia-issues-first-ever-takaful-licenses-to-four-firms-historic-move-to-regulate-insurance-sector/)).


---

# Rinderpest in Somalia: the last stand of cattle plague

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/rinderpest-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Rinderpest, or cattle plague, was the second disease ever wiped out worldwide, after smallpox. Its last hiding place was the 'Somali ecosystem' of southern Somalia, north-eastern Kenya and south-eastern Ethiopia, where the last evidence of the virus dates to 2001. Somali vets and partners vaccinated and tested cattle in Gedo and the Juba regions for over a decade. The OIE recognised Somalia as free of rinderpest in 2010, and the world was declared free in 2011.

## What rinderpest was

Rinderpest was a viral disease of cattle, buffalo and other cloven-hoofed animals that killed huge numbers of animals across Africa, Asia and Europe. On 25 May 2011 the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE, now WOAH) recognised the last eight countries as free, and the FAO followed in June 2011, making it the second disease in history wiped out after smallpox ([WOAH, Rinderpest](https://www.woah.org/en/disease/rinderpest/)).

## The Somali ecosystem

The disease's last refuge was the **Somali ecosystem**: south-eastern Ethiopia, north-eastern Kenya and Somalia. It was the last place rinderpest was diagnosed, in **2001**, in the part of the ecosystem inside Kenya ([FAO, EMPRES Transboundary Animal Diseases Bulletin 38, 2011](https://fao.org/docrep/014/i2259e/i2259e00.pdf)).

A mild form of the virus was found in Tsavo East National Park in Kenya in 1994. Genetic tests showed it belonged to the "African type 2" lineage, and experts suspected it had circulated unseen in north-eastern Kenya and the Trans [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) area of southern Somalia (same source). Because the mild strain caused few clear signs, it was hard to find.

## The work inside Somalia

After 1991, rinderpest was a target of the livestock vaccination and veterinary training that aid agencies ran in Somalia. The Italian NGO **Terra Nuova**, one of 12 international NGOs in the programme, trained Somali vets and later worked in **[Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Lower Juba and Middle Juba**, the regions suspected of holding the last cases ([FAO, EMPRES 38](https://fao.org/docrep/014/i2259e/i2259e00.pdf)).

Its work from 1996 to 2009, as described in the bulletin:

- Searching for disease, including asking herders what they had seen.
- **1,608 sites** sampled in random surveys from September 2002 to November 2007, mostly in central and southern Somalia, with **28,700 blood samples**, nearly all from cattle and 97 from warthogs.
- **1,425 specimens** taken to test for the virus, and more than **1,300 questionnaires** answered by herders.
- Vaccination of cattle at risk with a heat-stable vaccine from the Botswana Vaccine Institute, by trained Somali teams.
- Training Somali vets and building links with local authorities and later the Somali Veterinary Authority.

The bulletin is dedicated in part to **Manmohan Bogal**, killed while supervising a rinderpest vaccination campaign in Gedo on 26 January 1999.

## Freedom

The Somali Ecosystem Rinderpest Eradication Coordination Unit (**SERECU**) linked the vets of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia from January 2006 to December 2010, with money from the African Union's PACE programme, FAO, AU-IBAR and the EU ([FAO, EMPRES 38](https://fao.org/docrep/014/i2259e/i2259e00.pdf)). The data gathered went into the dossier of the Somali Veterinary Authority, and the OIE recognised **Somalia as officially free from rinderpest in 2010** (same source).

## Related pages

- [Livestock vaccination: PPR and CCPP](/en/economy/livestock-vaccination-ppr-and-ccpp/)
- [Boran and Somali cattle](/en/economy/boran-and-somali-cattle/)


---

# The Somali shilling and the dollar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-shilling-and-the-dollar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's own currency is the Somali shilling, but no new notes have been printed by the Central Bank since 1991, so most prices, savings and mobile money are in US dollars. Old and privately printed shilling notes still serve as small change, at about 30,000 shillings to the dollar in 2025.

## The currency today

The Central Bank of Somalia **has not issued domestic currency since 1991**, and the economy is "largely dollarized" ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Big payments, rents, salaries and nearly all mobile money are in US dollars. Shilling notes are used for small change in markets and transport.

Most shilling notes now in use were printed outside any central bank after 1991. About 95 to 98 percent of notes in circulation are estimated to be counterfeit or unauthorised ([TechCabal, June 2026](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).

## The street exchange rate

The shilling lost **7.1 percent** against the dollar in 2025, the biggest fall in a decade. The average rate went from 28,118 shillings per dollar in 2024 to **30,103** in 2025. By December 2025 it was 32,043 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

Average shillings per US dollar (same source):

- 2020: 25,761
- 2021: 26,039
- 2022: 26,833
- 2023: 27,201
- 2024: 28,118
- 2025: 30,103

The Central Bank says the fall came from more demand for dollars, partly because paying in dollars by mobile money has become easier than paying in shillings (same source).

## How the currency began

All dates from the [Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/):

- **1950:** the somalo replaced the Italian lira in the south, issued by a currency office set up in Rome.
- **30 June 1960:** the [Somali National Bank](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/) was founded, one day before the union of the north and the south. It opened on 4 July 1960.
- **1961:** a decree brought the north from the East African shilling onto the Somali shilling, uniting the money of the new republic.
- **15 October 1962:** the first Somali shilling notes entered circulation.
- **1975:** the bank was renamed the Central Bank of Somalia.
- **1980s:** prices rose fast and the shilling fell. Programmes with the IMF and World Bank made little progress.
- **1990:** a 1,000-shilling note was in circulation.
- **January 1991:** the Central Bank stopped working when the state collapsed.

### Before the somalo: rupia, lira and East African shilling

- **Before 1909:** the Indian rupee and the Maria Theresa thaler, a silver coin, were in use. From 1893 to 1896 the Filonardi trading company issued 5-rupia promissory notes ([Wikipedia, Italian Somaliland rupia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Somaliland_rupia)).
- **1909 to 1925, the rupia:** Italy's southern colony used the **rupia**, equal to the Indian rupee and split into 100 *bese*. Bronze 1, 2 and 4 bese coins came in 1909 and silver ¼, ½ and 1 rupia coins in 1910. From 1920 the Banca d'Italia issued 1, 5 and 10 rupie notes (same source).
- **1925 to 1926, the lira:** the [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) lira replaced the rupia between 1 July 1925 and 30 June 1926, at **8 lire to 1 rupia** (same source).
- **1938 to 1941, the Italian East African lira:** a special series of 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 lire notes was issued for Italian East Africa. During the Italian occupation of [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in 1940 and 1941, it briefly replaced the East African shilling ([Wikipedia, Italian East African lira](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_East_African_lira)).
- **1941, the East African shilling:** after Britain took the Italian territories, the **East African shilling** of the East African Currency Board, tied to the British pound and split into 100 cents, replaced the lira at **1 shilling to 24 lire**. It stayed in British Somaliland until 1962 ([Wikipedia, East African shilling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_shilling)).

**Sources disagree** on the north: the Central Bank of Somalia says British Somaliland used the Indian rupee until 1951 and the East African shilling after that; Wikipedia says the East African shilling was used there from 1941 ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/); [Wikipedia, East African shilling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_shilling)). For the franc of Djibouti, see [The Djiboutian franc](/en/economy/djiboutian-franc/).

### The somalo, 1950 to 1963

The **somalo** (plural *somali*) was the money of the southern territory while Italy ran it as a UN trust territory from 1950 to 1960. It was split into 100 centesimi. It was set equal to the East African shilling used in the British-run north, and swapped for the small amount of Italian lire still in use at 87.49 lire to one somalo. Its notes were issued in Rome by the Cassa per la Circolazione Monetaria della Somalia, in values of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 somali, printed in Italian and Arabic, from 22 May 1950 ([Wikipedia, Somalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalo); [CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)).

After independence the somalo and the East African shilling were both replaced, one for one, by the Somali shilling. A presidential decree of 29 October 1963, signed by President [Aden Abdulla Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) and Prime Minister [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), said that most somalo notes had already been withdrawn. It ordered the Somali National Bank, other banks and post offices to exchange the rest, and ended their use as legal money on **31 December 1963** ([Bollettino Ufficiale della Repubblica Somala, 2 November 1963, Decree No. 287](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/6696/1/52.%20ANNO%20IV.%20Mogadiscio_%202%20Novembre%201963_%20Suppl.%20N.%201%20al%20N.%2011.pdf)).

**Sources disagree** on two dates:

- The order creating the somalo, Ordinance No. 14, is dated 16 May 1950 by the Central Bank's history page and Wikipedia, but 18 May 1950 in the 1963 decree ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/); [Bollettino Ufficiale, 1963](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/6696/1/52.%20ANNO%20IV.%20Mogadiscio_%202%20Novembre%201963_%20Suppl.%20N.%201%20al%20N.%2011.pdf)). The Central Bank's page also gives 16 July 1950 in one place.
- The first Somali shilling notes are dated 15 October 1962 by the Central Bank, while Wikipedia gives 15 December 1962 as the day somalo notes began to be withdrawn. The 1963 decree refers to a ministerial decree of 20 November 1962 setting the shilling notes as legal tender ([CBS, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/); [Wikipedia, Somalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalo); [Bollettino Ufficiale, 1963](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/6696/1/52.%20ANNO%20IV.%20Mogadiscio_%202%20Novembre%201963_%20Suppl.%20N.%201%20al%20N.%2011.pdf)).

## The plan for new notes

Bringing back a real Somali shilling is a top goal of the Central Bank's 2025 to 2029 plan. The bank proposes a **currency board**: every new shilling would be backed by foreign reserves, and the bank would publish its balance sheet every week ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

- A full rollout is expected to cost more than **$70 million** for printing, branches and storage. No date has been set ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-new-somali-shilling-project-enters-advanced-stage)).
- A new Central Bank bill passed its second reading in the House of the People on 10 October 2026. MPs questioned a proposed rate of **100 new shillings to 1 dollar** and debated Islamic finance rules and the bank's independence. It is not yet law ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-parliament-advances-central-bank-bill-amid-debate-over-islamic-finance-and-currency)).
- The IMF says currency reform "should proceed carefully once key prerequisites are in place" ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)).
- The Central Bank is consulting all federal member states on how the exchange would work ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The Somaliland shilling

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has printed its own shilling since 1994 ([Wikipedia, Somaliland shilling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_shilling)). In August 2026 the authorities set an official rate of 11,000 (buying) and 11,100 (selling) Somaliland shillings per dollar, required money changers to pay $700 to register plus a $130 annual tax, and stopped unlicensed changers from exchanging through [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and eDahab ([Radio Ergo, 25 August 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/08/somaliland-closes-black-markets-with-outcry-from-informal-local-money-changers/)). Zaad itself holds money in dollars ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)).

## Effects on families, as reported

In the 2026 parliamentary debate, MPs said rural families and small traders struggle to make change without small notes ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-parliament-advances-central-bank-bill-amid-debate-over-islamic-finance-and-currency)). The Central Bank says a working national currency would give the country "monetary sovereignty" ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Data file

Monthly street exchange rates from January 2020 to December 2025 are in [somali-shilling-per-us-dollar-2020-2025.csv](/data/economy/somali-shilling-per-us-dollar-2020-2025.csv). Source: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, Table 3](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).


---

# Women in Somalia's economy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/women-in-the-economy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Women own more household businesses in Somalia than men do: 56.7 percent of one-owner household businesses belong to women, against 35.4 percent for men. But far fewer women are in paid work or looking for it (15.4 percent against 39.9 percent of men), and many save and borrow through their own rotating savings groups, called ayuuto or hagbad.

## The short version

The government's household survey found that women own more household businesses than men and take more of the decisions about how the money is used. The same survey found women less likely than men to have a job, to have finished school or to hold a bank account ([SNBS, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). Many women save and borrow through savings groups they run themselves ([Al Jazeera, 8 April 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/8/ayuuto-the-somali-female-social-lending-manual-on-braving-crisis)).

## Who owns household businesses

From the [Somali National Bureau of Statistics, Integrated Household Budget Survey (SIHBS) 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf), chapter 8:

- Only **15.8 percent** of households ran a business of their own in the past 12 months.
- Of businesses with one owner, **56.7 percent are owned by women** and **35.4 percent by men**. Another **7.9 percent** are owned jointly by a woman and a man.
- Women own more in towns and in farming areas. Among nomadic households ownership is almost equal: **44.2 percent women, 44.1 percent men**.
- Women decide how business earnings are used in **54.9 percent** of cases, against **32.1 percent** for men. They manage the business in **56.6 percent** of cases.
- The most common household businesses are trading on a street or in a market (**37.2 percent**) and small shops and workshops (**23.4 percent**).

## Work and jobs

From the same survey ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf), chapter 7), for people aged 15 and over:

| | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| In work | 12.2% | 32.9% |
| In work or looking for work | 15.4% | 39.9% |
| Unemployed (of those looking) | 20.6% | 14.3% |
| Young people unemployed | 32.0% | 29.0% |

Women are more likely than men to work in basic, low-skill jobs (16.0 percent of employed women). For where jobs are posted, see [Where jobs in Somalia are advertised](/en/economy/jobs-in-somalia/).

## School and bank accounts

- **69.9 percent** of women and girls aged 6 and over have had no formal schooling, against **60.6 percent** of men and boys. In nomadic areas the figure for women is **93.5 percent** ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).
- Only **3.1 percent** of women have finished secondary school and **2.7 percent** have higher education ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).
- Only **8.8 percent** of all adults own a bank account: 10.3 percent in towns, 2.0 percent among nomads. Ownership rises to 27.6 percent for people with higher education ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). Most people pay by phone instead; see [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## Savings groups: ayuuto and hagbad

**Ayuuto**, also called **hagbad**, is "an interest-free rotating savings scheme based on mutual trust" ([Al Jazeera, 8 April 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/8/ayuuto-the-somali-female-social-lending-manual-on-braving-crisis)). Members pay a fixed sum into a pot at each meeting and one member takes the whole pot in turn. In one Mogadishu group described by Al Jazeera, 10 women each paid $10 a month. Members also borrow from the pot in a crisis, and women use the payouts to buy food or start small businesses such as selling milk or firewood.

The groups have no written contract or legal protection, so money can be lost if the keeper disappears or dies ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/8/ayuuto-the-somali-female-social-lending-manual-on-braving-crisis)). Aid groups have built on them. In [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), 22 women in Docol each saved $1 a week and, with a cash grant, opened a clothing and shoe shop ([International Rescue Committee, 2026](https://www.rescue.org/uk/article/you-dont-save-alone-meet-ayuuto-savings-collectives)). The same practice is widespread in the diaspora ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/8/ayuuto-the-somali-female-social-lending-manual-on-braving-crisis)).

## Cash payments go to women

Under **Baxnaano**, the government's cash safety net, women were **100 percent** of direct recipients of the regular payments ([World Bank, 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)). The follow-on BOOST-You project, approved in October 2025, aims to create 28,000 jobs for young people by 2029, **16,800 of them for women** ([World Bank, 28 October 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/10/28/over-738000-somalis-to-benefit-from-world-bank-supported-initiative-for-jobs-social-protection-and-climate-resilience)). See [Baxnaano, the cash safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/).

## Women in decision-making

Somalia has a **30 percent** quota for women's seats, and the national plan to 2029 commits to "ensuring the 30% women's quota" ([Ministry of Planning, NTP Executive Summary](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NTP-Executive-Summary.pdf)). See [The National Transformation Plan](/en/economy/national-transformation-plan/).

## Sources disagree

Figures for women's share of seats in Parliament differ:

- UN Women says the share "dropped from 24 to 20%" in the 2022 elections ([UN Women Somalia](https://open.unwomen.org/our-reach/SO/XM-DAC-41146-SOM_D_2.1)).
- The Ministry of Planning gives **12.33 percent** and aims to raise it to 30 percent ([NTP Executive Summary](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NTP-Executive-Summary.pdf)).

## Where the numbers come from

Almost all figures here come from SIHBS 2022, a national household survey by the Somali National Bureau of Statistics.


---

# Livestock vaccination in Somalia: PPR and CCPP

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/livestock-vaccination-ppr-and-ccpp/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Two diseases kill the most sheep and goats in Somalia: peste des petits ruminants (PPR, 'goat plague') and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), a lung disease of goats. In 2012 the FAO targeted about 20 million sheep and goats, 60 percent of the national flock, for PPR vaccination at about USD 0.28 an animal. In early 2020 a national campaign vaccinated 14.5 million goats against CCPP, at about USD 0.40 a dose, against USD 40 to 50 to replace a dead goat.

## Two diseases of sheep and goats

- **Peste des petits ruminants (PPR)** is a viral disease of sheep and goats, often called goat plague. It spreads fast through flocks.
- **Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP)** is a bacterial lung disease of goats.

Sheep and goats are most of Somalia's herd and of its exports, so these diseases hit both herders and trade. See [How many livestock does Somalia have?](/en/economy/livestock-numbers-in-somalia/).

## The 2012 PPR campaign

In 2012 the FAO ran a PPR vaccination campaign across the whole country, in five zones: Banadir, central, north-eastern, north-western and southern. About **20 million sheep and goats**, some **60 percent** of the estimated national small-ruminant population, were targeted ([Pastoralism journal, 2018](https://pastoralismjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13570-018-0122-8)).

A blood study afterwards found that the share of animals with protection against PPR rose from **62 to 76 percent**. The full cost of vaccinating was estimated at **USD 0.28 per animal** (same source). The FAO helped Somalia draw up a **15-year phased strategy** to control and possibly eradicate PPR (same source). A joint FAO and OIE report noted that no new PPR outbreaks had been reported in Somalia since the campaigns began in 2012 ([WOAH Africa, PPR advocacy paper](https://rr-africa.woah.org/app/uploads/2000/11/ppr-advocacy-en.pdf)).

## The 2020 CCPP campaign

From late January to the end of April 2020, during COVID-19, floods and insecurity, **14.5 million goats** were vaccinated against CCPP across Somalia, and **3.5 million** animals were treated for parasites, infections and wounds in Banadir, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([UN Somalia, 19 June 2020](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/50359)).

- **Cost:** a CCPP vaccine dose cost about USD 0.40, while replacing a goat that died of the disease cost USD 40 to 50.
- **Where:** areas included [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) (around Qardho), [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) near the Lower Juba and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) borders, and Middle Shabelle.
- **Who paid:** the UK's DFID bought the 14.5 million doses and paid for work in the south and centre; USAID paid for Somaliland and Puntland; the EU's ECHO co-funded central Somalia; Germany paid for medicines and equipment.

All from the same [UN Somalia report](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/50359), which also says livestock makes up about 40 percent of GDP and involves up to 60 percent of the workforce.

## Disease and trade

Gulf buyers have stopped Somali animals over disease before, most recently from 2016. Healthy, vaccinated animals are a condition for export. See [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/) and [Rinderpest in Somalia](/en/economy/rinderpest-in-somalia/).


---

# Somali business groups: how Dahabshiil, Hormuud and other conglomerates are built

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-business-groups/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most large Somali companies belong to a few transnational groups that own money transfer, banking, phone and mobile money networks, and often power, cement, property and trade firms. A 2019 Clingendael Institute study found these groups are usually registered abroad, often in Dubai or under UK law, and grew by serving the Somali market where there was no state banking system. It names Dahabshiil and Hormuud as the two largest.

## The source

The most detailed public study of Somali business groups is *Transnational capital in Somalia* by the Clingendael Institute's Conflict Research Unit in the Netherlands, published in June 2019. Its authors interviewed **49 people**, from small business owners to money transfer owners, investors and ministers, in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), Dubai, the UK and by phone with Mogadishu, between September 2018 and March 2019 ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019, annex](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). Unless another link is given, the facts below come from that report. The report itself warns that, given the informal nature of many links, interviewees may have reasons to misrepresent events.

## How the groups are built

- Many key Somali businesses are **headquartered in Dubai**, with boards of Somalis holding UK or other passports. Dubai, and to a lesser extent Djibouti, are the main financial hubs.
- The groups are run as **shareholder companies**, often incorporated under UK law in Dubai, or as an informal family group under one chief executive, even where Somali law has no framework for national incorporation or share trading.
- Their business models are built around Somali conditions: no banking system, wide use of mobile phones, and gaps such as the lack of insurance.
- A small number of conglomerates replaced many smaller firms. Smaller companies often work as distributors for the big groups, which act as wholesalers.
- Most groups run large social programmes (schools, hospitals, emergency aid) through foundations, which the report says builds public trust and a licence to operate.

## The Dahabshiil model

[Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) began in imports in the 1970s and moved into remittances in the 1980s, mainly from Somalis in the Gulf. During the war it paid recipients from the sale of goods bought abroad with the money sent, which kept cash flowing in the Somali regions. In 2019 it worked in about **126 countries** with about **5,000 staff** and **24,000 agents**. It is incorporated in the UK, headquartered in Dubai and run from Hargeisa. The report says it keeps a controlling share of at least 51 percent in the firms it buys or builds, and lists interests in banking (Dahabshil Bank International), telecoms (Somtel), microfinance (MicroDahab), electricity (Sompower in Hargeisa and Tayo Energy in Berbera), the Berbera cement plant, property, food, cars and a shopping mall. It also lists three universities and seven hospitals the group supports. See [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) and [Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/).

## The Hormuud model

Hormuud was set up in **2002**, "largely on the legacy" of Al-Barakat, which was closed by US sanctions in 2001. The report, citing Africa Intelligence, names Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale as owner of both. It works from Mogadishu with "aligned entities" in Hargeisa (Telesom) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) (Golis), each with its own local shareholders, and its core businesses are calls and the mobile money platforms EVC, [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and Sahal. The report says this spread-out ownership, with thousands of large and small shareholders, gives the group a licence to operate across territories. In 2019 Hormuud, Telesom and Golis together held about **81 percent of SIM cards**; Somtel held about **16 percent**. Since 2014 Hormuud had paid the federal government a flat **$400,000 a month** in tax, citing the UN Monitoring Group's 2016 report. See [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/), [Telesom](/en/businesses/telesom/), [Golis Telecom](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/) and [Al-Barakat](/en/businesses/al-barakat/).

## Other named groups

The report's list of sources on business entities names, among others: Al-Buruuj, Amal Bank, [Amal Capital](/en/businesses/amal-group/), Amal Express and Amal Group; FAACO; GSK Group and its nine logistics firms in Djibouti; Hormuud University; Indhadeero Construction and Indhadeero Group; MSG Trading; Nura Tiles; Ominco Group; [Taaj Money Transfer](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/); and TUSMO Medical. In livestock it names the Indhadeero and Omar groups as old Somali companies with strong positions. In Somaliland it describes a takaful insurer set up by Kenyan Somalis as the first insurer to operate across all Somali regions. See the [Somali businesses](/en/businesses/) and [Somaliland Beverage Industries](/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/).

## The debate over market power

- The Clingendael report describes the big groups as close to an **oligopoly** and quotes businesspeople saying small firms grow only as far as the big groups let them. It also credits the groups with keeping telecoms, remittances and imports working through the war years.
- The Somali site Halqabsi argued in 2023 for regulation of large companies' market power ([Halqabsi, March 2023](https://halqabsi.com/2023/03/monopoly-menace-somalias-big-companies-and-the-need-for-regulatory-oversight/)).
- The companies present themselves as broadly owned by Somali shareholders and as major employers and taxpayers; Hormuud says it employs more than 20,000 people ([Total Telecom, 5 November 2021](https://totaltele.com/20-years-of-driving-connectivity-in-somalia/)).

## Sources disagree

- **Who owns Hormuud.** Clingendael names one owner; Hormuud describes thousands of Somali shareholders ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/featured/business-n/hormuud-telecom-bridging-the-telecommunication-gap-in-the-state-of-somalia-despite-hard-times)).
- **Dahabshiil's size.** Clingendael gives about 5,000 staff; Wikipedia gives over 2,000 ([Wikipedia, Dahabshiil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)).


---

# Rift Valley fever outbreaks in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/rift-valley-fever-outbreaks-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne virus of livestock that also kills people. Major outbreaks hit southern Somalia in 1997-98 and 2006-07, both after heavy rain and floods. In 2006-07 the WHO recorded 114 human cases and 51 deaths in Somalia, most in Lower Juba and Gedo. Each outbreak also led Gulf countries to ban Somali animals, costing the livestock trade hundreds of millions of dollars.

## What the disease is

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a virus that mainly infects sheep, goats, cattle and camels. Animals catch it mostly from mosquito bites. People catch it by touching infected blood, breathing near animals being butchered, drinking raw milk from infected animals, or through mosquito bites. Severe cases can cause blindness, brain infection and bleeding. Outbreaks usually come in years of unusually heavy rain and flooding, which let more mosquitoes hatch ([Wikipedia, Rift Valley fever](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rift_Valley_fever)).

## 1997-98

A major outbreak hit Kenya, [Somalia and Tanzania](/en/relations/tanzania/) in 1997-98, after the El Niño rains and widespread flooding ([WHO Africa, Rift Valley fever](https://www.afro.who.int/pt/node/591)). One Australian government bulletin gives about 89,000 human cases and 478 deaths across the Horn of Africa for the outbreak, dating it 1996-97 ([Australian Department of Agriculture, EAD Bulletin 100](https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/animal-plant/animal-health/ead-news-bulletins/ead-bulletin-100.pdf)).

Saudi Arabia then banned livestock from Somalia and its neighbours from February 1998 to May 1999 ([USDA, 1999](https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Livestock+Annual_Riyadh_Saudi+Arabia_09-01-1999.pdf)).

## 2006-07

Heavy rain in southern Somalia in December 2006 brought mosquitoes that spread the virus among herds ([Wikipedia, 2006-2007 East Africa Rift Valley fever outbreak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006%E2%80%932007_East_Africa_Rift_Valley_fever_outbreak)). From **19 December 2006 to 20 February 2007**, Somalia reported **114 human cases and 51 deaths**, a fatality rate of 45 percent. Three cases were confirmed in a laboratory ([WHO, Disease Outbreak News, 9 May 2007](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2007_05_09-en)).

| Region | Cases |
|---|---|
| Lower Juba | 73 |
| Gedo | 26 |
| Hiiraan | 7 |
| Middle Shabelle | 4 |
| Middle Juba | 2 |
| Lower Shabelle | 1 |

Source: [WHO, 9 May 2007](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2007_05_09-en). The regional counts add up to 113, one fewer than the total WHO gives.

The same outbreak caused 684 cases and 155 deaths in Kenya, 333 of them in [North Eastern Province](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/), and 264 cases and 109 deaths in [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) (same source).

## The cost to trade

After an RVF outbreak in Saudi Arabia and Yemen in 2000, Saudi Arabia banned Somali livestock until 2009. In 2016 it imposed a partial ban after RVF and foot-and-mouth disease were found in a few shipments ([Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). See [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/).


---

# The Djiboutian franc (Faran-ka Jabuuti)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/djiboutian-franc/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Djiboutian franc (DJF) is the currency of Djibouti. France created it by decree in March 1949, tied to the US dollar, and since 13 February 1973 the rate has stayed at 177.721 francs to one dollar. It works as a currency board: the Central Bank of Djibouti, founded on 3 December 1977, issues francs only against dollar reserves.

## The short version

The **Djiboutian franc** (code DJF) is the money of Djibouti. Its value is fixed at **177.721 francs to one US dollar**, and Djibouti has no exchange controls ([Banque Centrale de Djibouti, History of the Djibouti franc](https://banque-centrale.dj/historique-du-franc-djibouti/)). The IMF noted in 2004 that the franc had been pegged to the dollar at the same parity since the early 1970s ([IMF, Public Information Notice 04/23](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2004/pn0423.htm)). For the Somali shilling and the older currencies of the Somali lands, see [The Somali shilling and the dollar](/en/economy/somali-shilling-and-the-dollar/).

## How the franc began

All dates below are from the Central Bank of Djibouti ([History of the Djibouti franc](https://banque-centrale.dj/historique-du-franc-djibouti/)):

- **Before 1949:** a private bank held the right to issue money in the territory, then called the Côte Française des Somalis (French Somali Coast).
- **20 March 1949:** the French government created the Djibouti franc by **decree 49/374**, at **214.392 francs to one dollar**, based on the dollar's gold value of 888.6708 milligrams of fine gold. Issue passed to the public Treasury, which kept an account at the French American Banking Corporation in New York. Every franc had to be backed by its value in dollars, and anyone, resident or not, could change francs freely. The territory left the franc zone and became a free trade zone.
- **18 December 1971:** after the dollar's gold value was cut by 7.895 percent, the rate became **197.466** francs to the dollar.
- **13 February 1973:** after a further 10 percent cut, the rate became **177.721**. It has not changed since.
- **27 June 1977:** at independence, the new government gave the right to issue money to the national Treasury for the time being.
- **3 December 1977:** the **Central Bank of Djibouti** was created.

## How the currency board works

Under a currency board, the central bank can issue local money only when it holds the same value in a reserve currency. The Central Bank of Djibouti describes its rules as ([Banque Centrale de Djibouti, History](https://banque-centrale.dj/historique-du-franc-djibouti/); [The currency board](https://banque-centrale.dj/le-currency-board/)):

- the reserve currency is the **US dollar**;
- notes and coins in circulation are covered by foreign currency at **more than 100 percent**;
- commercial banks are required to hold convertible foreign currency in proportion to their franc deposits;
- the bank may lend to the state only with the specific approval of the Council of Ministers;
- the bank pays its dividends to the national Treasury.

## Recent figures

The IMF's 2025 review of Djibouti gave ([IMF, Press Release 25/292, 11 September 2025](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/09/11/pr25292-djibouti-imf-executive-board-concludes-2025-article-iv-consultation)):

| Measure | 2022 | 2024 | 2025 (projected) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross official reserves | $581 million | $338 million | $393 million |
| Real GDP growth | | 6.5% | 6.0% |
| Average consumer price inflation | | 1.6% | 1.5% |

The IMF board called for amending the central bank law to give the bank more autonomy, bringing in reserve requirements step by step, and keeping future central bank profits to build reserves (same source).

## Sources disagree

- **Date of creation.** The Central Bank of Djibouti's history page gives **20 March 1949** for decree 49/374, while its currency board page and its table of features give **17 March 1949** ([History](https://banque-centrale.dj/historique-du-franc-djibouti/); [The currency board](https://banque-centrale.dj/le-currency-board/)).
- **Reserve cover.** The Central Bank states that money in circulation is covered at more than 100 percent; the IMF said in 2025 that reserve levels "remain below the monetary base", a wider measure that also includes bank reserves held at the central bank ([Banque Centrale de Djibouti](https://banque-centrale.dj/historique-du-franc-djibouti/); [IMF, 2025](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/09/11/pr25292-djibouti-imf-executive-board-concludes-2025-article-iv-consultation)).

For Somali money transfer firms and banks that work in Djibouti, see [Dahabshil Bank International](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/). For the port, see [Port of Djibouti and Doraleh](/en/economy/port-of-djibouti/).


---

# Somali business pioneers: founders of Somali firms at home and abroad

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali business founders include Mohamed Said Duale, who started Dahabshiil as a shop in Burao in 1970; Abdirizak Ido, who founded NationLink Telecom in 1997; Liban Abdi Egal, who opened First Somali Bank in Mogadishu in 2012; Amina Moghe Hersi, who built malls and a sugar factory in Uganda; and Jamila Gordon, who founded the Australian tech firm Lumachain in 2018.

## The short version

This page lists Somali business founders and executives, in Somalia and abroad, whose work is recorded in published sources. For the companies themselves, see [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/), [Somalia's main banks and stock exchanges](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) and [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).

## The founders

| Person | What they built | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Said Duale | Dahabshiil | Burao, then worldwide | 1970 (money transfer from 1988) |
| Abdirashid Duale | Chief executive of Dahabshiil | Burao-born | today |
| Ali Mahdi Muhammad | Businessman before politics | Mogadishu | before 1991 |
| Abdirizak Ido | NationLink Telecom | Mogadishu | 1997 |
| Liban Abdi Egal | First Somali Bank | Mogadishu | 2012 |
| Hassan M. Osman (Dudde) | Somali Stock Exchange, Somali Economic Forum | Mogadishu, Garowe, Hargeisa | 2011 to 2015 |
| Amina Moghe Hersi | Oasis Mall, Laburnam Courts, Atiak Sugar Factory | Kampala and northern Uganda | 2000s to 2010s |
| Jamila Gordon | Lumachain | Sydney, Australia | 2018 |
| Nasra Agil | Shop in Mogadishu after a career in Dubai | Toronto, Dubai, Mogadishu | 2012 |

## The people

**[Mohamed Said Duale](/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/)** was born around 1948 near Gashamo. In 1970 he was given charge of a shop in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), which became Dahabshiil. He traded clothes, car parts and rice, lost his warehouses when fighting reached Burao in 1987, and in August 1988 began moving money for refugees from Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) in Ethiopia. That became the money transfer business ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Said Duale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Said_Duale); [Wikipedia, Dahabshiil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)). See [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/).

**Abdirashid Duale**, his son, was born in Burao in 1977 and runs Dahabshiil today. See [Abdirashid Duale](/en/people/abdirashid-duale/).

**Ali Mahdi Muhammad** (1939 to 2021) worked as an independent businessman in Mogadishu before he was named interim President on 26 January 1991 ([Wikipedia, Ali Mahdi Muhammad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Mahdi_Muhammad)). See [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/).

**Abdirizak Ido** founded NationLink Telecom in September 1997 and is its president and controlling shareholder. Forbes listed him in 2017 among five multi-millionaires from Somalia ([Forbes, 29 August 2017](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2017/08/29/5-multi-millionaires-from-somalia-you-should-know/); [Wikipedia, NationLink Telecom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NationLink_Telecom)).

**Hassan M. Osman (Dudde)**, an economist with the Somali Economic Forum, is chief executive of the Somali Stock Exchange, which the forum set up. It was registered in 2011 and sold its first shares on 1 September 2015 ([Wikipedia, Somali Stock Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Stock_Exchange); [UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, 2019](https://sseinitiative.org/all-news/the-un-sustainable-stock-exchange-welcomes-the-somali-stock-exchange/)).

**Amina Moghe Hersi** was born in 1964 in Bungoma, Kenya, and grew up in her family's cross-border trade between Kenya and Uganda. Through [Horyal Investments](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/) she owns the Oasis Mall and Laburnam Courts apartments in Kampala, and in 2016 began building the $120 million Atiak Sugar Factory in northern Uganda ([Wikipedia, Amina Moghe Hersi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Moghe_Hersi); [Daily Monitor, 11 November 2013](http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Amina-Omusementi--The-Somali-woman-building-an-empire-in-Kampala/-/691232/2068154/-/jbqmn4/-/index.html)).

**[Jamila Gordon](/en/people/jamila-gordon/)** was born into a nomadic family, one of 16 children, and moved to Mogadishu at 11. When the war began she went to Kenya and later Australia, where she earned a business and IT degree in 1995. She became chief information officer of Qantas and CIMIC, and in April 2018 founded Lumachain, which tracks food supply chains, with $3.5 million in seed funding. The BBC named her one of its 100 Women in 2021 ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon); [WeShape, 27 February 2021](https://weshape.tech/2021/02/27/how-ai-helps-shatter-barriers-to-equality/)).

**[Nasra Agil](/en/people/nasra-agil/)** (also written Agile) was born in Somalia and raised in Canada. She studied civil engineering at Ryerson University, graduating in 2005, worked as a road inspector in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) and then for the engineering firm Cansult in Dubai. In 2012 she returned to Somalia and opened what is described as the country's first dollar store ([Wikipedia, Nasra Agil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasra_Agil)).

For company profiles, see the [directory of Somali companies](/en/businesses/) and [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/).

## Sources disagree

- **The first bank in the south since 1991.** First Somali Bank is described as the first commercial bank to open in southern Somalia since 1991, in May 2012. Salaam Somali Bank says it opened in Mogadishu in October 2009 ([Wikipedia, First Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Somali_Bank); [Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank)).
- **Jamila Gordon's company.** Lumachain is described both as blockchain and computer vision software for the meat industry and as an AI platform for food supply chains ([Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon); [WeShape](https://weshape.tech/2021/02/27/how-ai-helps-shatter-barriers-to-equality/)).


---

# Somalia's federal budget and taxes

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The federal government's 2026 budget is about $1.39 billion. In 2025 it collected $404 million of its own money, mostly taxes on trade, and got $516 million in grants from donors. Domestic revenue has nearly doubled since 2020.

## The 2026 and 2027 budgets

Parliament approved the federal budget for 2026 on 23 December 2025, at **$1,386,807,242**, by 174 votes to 4 with one abstention ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/Dec/204011/somalias_parliament_approves_139_billion_national_budget_for_2026.aspx); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-s-parliament-approves-1-38-billion-2026-budget-amid-chaos)). Donors were expected to cover about two thirds of it ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-parliament-approves-1-3b-budget-donors-cover-66-7)).

On 27 October 2026 the Council of Ministers approved a draft 2027 budget of **$1,259 million**, about 9 percent less than 2026. It still needs a vote in Parliament ([The Rio Times, citing SONNA](https://www.riotimesonline.com/somalia-budget-2027-us-1-26-billion-cabinet-2026/)).

## What came in, 2025

All figures from the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf), based on Ministry of Finance data:

- **Total revenue and grants:** $920 million, against a budget of $1,332 million (69 percent received).
- **Domestic revenue:** $404 million, 94 percent of target and up 9 percent on 2024. It has nearly doubled from $211 million in 2020.
- **Taxes:** $283 million, up 6 percent. For the tax rates people and businesses pay, see [Taxes in Somalia](/en/economy/taxes-in-somalia/).
- **Other domestic revenue (fees, licences, charges):** $122 million, up 19 percent.
- **Grants from donors:** $516 million, against a budget of $902 million. Multilateral bodies such as the World Bank gave $497 million. Bilateral grants from single countries were only $19 million, against $170 million budgeted.

## What went out, 2025

Same source:

- **Total spending:** $971 million, 71 percent of the budget.
- **Salaries:** $371 million, the largest item, fully paid and up 9 percent.
- **Goods and services:** $254 million. The largest item was **consulting and professional fees, $116.7 million**, 12 percent of all federal spending, followed by "other general expenses" at $48.6 million ([Ministry of Finance, 2025 End-Year Budget Performance Report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FGS%202025%20end-year%20budget%20performance%20report.%20.pdf)).
- **Transfers to federal member states:** about $180 million, up 12 percent.
- **Building and equipment (capital):** $75 million, up 162 percent but only 41 percent of plan.
- **Social benefits:** down 88 percent from 2024, as aid for these programmes fell.
- **Deficit:** $51 million, about 0.4 percent of GDP.

The IMF projects a deficit of 0.9 percent of GDP for 2026. It advises stronger customs and income tax collection and one shared sales tax between the federal government and the states ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)).

## The member states' own money, 2025

Each federal member state runs its own budget. Figures from the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf):

- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/):** $119 million in revenue and grants, of which $100 million was its own revenue. It spent $118 million, including $18 million on building.
- **[Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/):** $70 million, of which $37 million was its own revenue and $33 million grants. It spent $68 million.
- **[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/):** $33 million, of which $11 million was its own revenue. It spent $29 million.
- **South West:** $26 million, of which $5 million was its own revenue. It spent $25 million.
- **[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/):** $24 million, of which $8 million was its own revenue. It spent $24 million.

Puntland's cabinet approved a 2027 budget of more than $308 million ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-cabinet-approves-2027-budget-exceeding-dollar308-million)).

## Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s cabinet approved a record 2026 budget of about **$424.5 million** (4.58 trillion Somaliland shillings) in November 2025 ([Horn Diplomat, 29 November 2025](https://www.horndiplomat.com/somaliland-cabinet-endorses-record-424-million-budget-for-2026-citing-strong-revenue-outlook/)). A presidential decree of 23 December 2025 put it into effect ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/the-president-of-the-republic-of-somaliland-issues-a-presidential-decree-on-the-execution-of-the-2026-national-budget)).

## How it compares

Federal revenue and grants were about 7 percent of GDP in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Domestic revenue alone was about 3 percent of GDP.

## Where to read the originals

The Ministry of Finance publishes budget documents, mid-year and end-year reports ([Ministry of Finance archive](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FGS%202025%20end-year%20budget%20performance%20report.%20.pdf)).

## Data file

Federal money in and out from 2020 to 2025 (tax, other income, donor grants, total spending, pay and building), with the 2025 budget next to what was actually spent, is in [federal-budget-2020-2025.csv](/data/economy/federal-budget-2020-2025.csv). Figures are in millions of US dollars. Source: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, Table 4](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf), using Finance Ministry data.


---

# Burao livestock market

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/burao-livestock-market/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Burao, in Togdheer, has one of the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa. Together with the nearby Yirowe market, it sells up to 10,000 sheep and goats a day, many of them trucked to Berbera and shipped to the Gulf. Animals come from across Somalia and from the Somali Region of Ethiopia. In 2016 a two-month closure during drought left about 1,500 people who depend on the market without income.

## Size

Burao and Yirowe are described as among the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa, with **as many as 10,000 sheep and goats** sold a day, many of them shipped to the Gulf states through the port of Berbera ([Wikipedia, Burao District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_District)). The Wikipedia article on Yirowe says that market handles up to 70 percent of the sheep and goats and 65 percent of the camels exported from Berbera ([Wikipedia, Yirowe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yirowe)); that article cites a 2001 trade directory and a 1998 journal for these shares.

## Where the animals come from

Animals reach Burao from all over the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia, Burao District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_District)). A presentation hosted by IGAD's livestock centre names the Somali Region of Ethiopia and parts of southern Somalia as important sources of Burao's export animals, and describes the market grounds as in poor condition ([IGAD, Burao livestock market actors](https://pt.slideshare.net/IGADSTVS/burao-livestock-market-actors)). Some animals are sold for meat at home ([Radio Ergo, 31 May 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)).

## Buyers, brokers and prices

Brokers (dilaal) match herders with buyers. In May 2016 a Saudi-owned export company, Al-Jabir, spent **USD 2.5 million in three days** buying **48,700 goats** at Burao: 18,000 on the Saturday, 15,500 on the Sunday and 15,200 on the Monday. Export goats sold for **USD 45 to 61** each. Only goats in excellent condition were bought for Saudi Arabia, a broker for the company said ([Radio Ergo, 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)).

Three years earlier a good goat had sold for about USD 80. Traders linked the fall to the war in Yemen and economic trouble in some Arab countries (same source). Sales rise ahead of Ramadan, Eid and the Hajj.

## The 2016 closure

The market closed for two months in early 2016 because of drought and the poor condition of the animals. About **1,500 people** depend directly on it. One broker told Radio Ergo that on a good day he could earn up to USD 200, which paid school fees for ten of his children, and that he had borrowed money to get through the closure ([Radio Ergo, 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)).

## From Burao to the ship

Export animals go by truck to Berbera, where quarantine stations check, test and vaccinate them before shipment ([Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). See [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/), [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/) and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/).


---

# The cattle trade from southern Somalia to Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/cattle-trade-with-kenya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Since 1991, when fighting closed the old export routes through Kismayo and Mogadishu, cattle from southern Somalia have been walked across the border to Garissa in Kenya. Garissa grew into one of the biggest livestock markets in East Africa, and an estimated 60 to 70 percent of the cattle sold there come from Somalia. Traders buy at about USD 200 a head in Somalia, sell for about USD 400 in Garissa and USD 500 in Nairobi.

## Why the trade moved

When the central state collapsed on 21 January 1991 and fighting blocked the old routes to Kismayo and Mogadishu, livestock traders in southern Somalia took their business across the border to Kenya ([Ng'asike, Stepputat and Njoka, Pastoralism, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)). Kenya had opened its borders under reforms in the late 1980s and has a shortage of meat, so Somali cattle found buyers (same source).

## Garissa market

Garissa, in north-eastern Kenya, hosts what the study calls the biggest livestock market in East and Central Africa. The market has moved three times to cope with the crowds; its latest move, to Waberi, was agreed between the local Somali Council of Elders and the county government. The elders sit on Garissa's Livestock Marketing Association, which runs the market and settles disputes ([Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)).

- Cattle are sold on **Wednesdays** only; sheep and goats every day.
- Cattle make up **90 percent** of animals traded, sheep and goats 7 percent, donkeys 2 percent and camels less than 1 percent.
- An estimated **60 to 70 percent** of the cattle come from Somalia, mostly large brown-red cattle that resist drought and weigh 280 to 350 kg live (grade II).

All from [Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y).

## Routes and costs

Small traders and brokers buy from "bush markets" and from primary markets such as **Afmadow** in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), where cattle gather in hundreds. Hired trekkers then walk them to Garissa. From **Boni** in the far south, old stock routes run west through Hulugho to Garissa. About **20 percent** of Somali livestock entering Kenya comes by truck; the rest is walked ([Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)).

- **Prices:** about USD 200 a head in Somalia, about USD 400 in Garissa, about USD 500 in Nairobi. Grade II cattle sell for USD 500 to 550 in Nairobi.
- **Taxes on the way:** the study reports informal taxes and harassment from clan militias, [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and Jubaland authorities. Al-Shabaab claims one head of cattle from every 40 to 45, sometimes collected on the way back.
- **Formal tax:** less than 30 percent of cattle are formally taxed at the border, according to the Kenya Livestock Marketing Council; Garissa County charges a cess of about USD 36 a truck.
- **Credit:** about 70 percent of deals in Nairobi are made on informal credit, and defaulters are traced through clan networks.

All from [Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y).

## How it has changed

In the early 2000s, 75 percent of the cattle leaving Garissa went to Nairobi. By 2018 that share had fallen to 30 to 40 percent, because since 2010 wealthier Somali traders have bought or leased ranches near the Kenyan coast to fatten cattle for sale at home or for export through Mombasa ([Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y), citing Little 2005).

## Related pages

- [Boran and Somali cattle](/en/economy/boran-and-somali-cattle/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)


---

# Taxes in Somalia: what people and businesses pay

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/taxes-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Under the federal Income Tax Act of 2025, salaries are taxed at 0 percent on the first $100 a month, 6 percent up to $500, 12 percent up to $1,500 and 18 percent above that. Employers take the tax from pay and send it in by the 15th of the next month. Most federal tax money still comes from customs on imports: $175 million of the $281 million in taxes collected in 2025.

## The short version

Somalia passed a new **Income Tax Act**, which came into force on **11 May 2025**. Its regulations were signed on 15 May 2025. It replaced the Direct Taxation Law of 1966 ([Ministry of Finance, Income Tax Manual, November 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)). The figures below come from the Finance Ministry's own guide to the law. The manual says that where it differs from the Act and the regulations, the law prevails.

## Tax on salaries

Your employer takes the tax from your pay each month and must pay it to the Inland Revenue Department by the 15th of the next month. No costs can be deducted from a salary ([Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)).

| Monthly pay | Rate on that part |
|---|---|
| $0 to $100 | 0% |
| $100 to $500 | 6% |
| $500 to $1,500 | 12% |
| Over $1,500 | 18% |

- Non-residents pay a flat **18 percent**.
- Residents under 18 years old pay a flat **20 percent**.

**Worked example, using the bands above:** on a salary of $1,000 a month, the first $100 is tax-free, the next $400 is taxed at 6 percent ($24) and the last $500 at 12 percent ($60). The tax is **$84 a month**.

You count as a resident if you have a permanent home in Somalia, are a citizen without a permanent home abroad, or are in Somalia for 183 days or more in 12 months ([Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)).

## Tax on a business you run yourself

Individuals pay tax on their **profit**, not their sales, using yearly bands: 0 percent up to $1,200, 6 percent to $6,000, 12 percent to $18,000 and 18 percent above. Every business must register on form TR1, pay in four instalments (by 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December) and file a return by **31 March** of the next year. Even a business making a loss pays a minimum tax on 5 percent of its income ([Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)).

## Tax on companies

For resident companies the guide lists ([Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)):

- sales under $10,000: a fixed **$150**;
- sales of $10,000 to $50,000: **1.5 percent**;
- sales over $50,000: **15 percent** of taxable profit.

Non-resident companies pay a flat 18 percent. Partnerships do not pay tax themselves; each partner pays on their share.

## Taxes taken at the point of payment

| Payment | Rate |
|---|---|
| Rent from land and buildings | 5% |
| Rent from vehicles and equipment | 10% |
| Dividends | 5% |
| Murabaha profit and other returns on debt | 10% |
| Service fees | 10% |
| Royalties | 15% |
| Insurance premiums | 5% |
| Gains from selling property or shares | 15% |
| Income of trusts (amaano) | 26% |

Source: [Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf). The first **$100,000** of gain on selling your own main home is not taxed.

The tax office's ETAS system also takes **5 percent** from businesses that receive payments into merchant mobile money accounts ([Revenue Directorate, Annual Revenue Performance 2025](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf)). See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## What each tax raised

Federal domestic revenue, in millions of US dollars ([Revenue Directorate, Annual Revenue Performance 2025](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf), Table 1.1):

| | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customs | 129.9 | 171.3 | 186.0 | 175.3 |
| Sales tax | 34.0 | 41.3 | 51.4 | 67.3 |
| Income tax | 18.7 | 24.4 | 36.2 | 44.8 |
| Fees and other non-tax income | 80.8 | 101.7 | 101.9 | 123.6 |
| **Total domestic revenue** | **262.7** | **329.5** | **369.4** | **404.3** |

All domestic revenue was about **3.1 percent of GDP** in 2025; income tax alone was 0.3 percent (same source). Customs fell in 2025, which the report puts down to weaker trade and the Red Sea disruption. Sales tax grew 31 percent, helped by digital collection in Mogadishu markets and taxes on airline tickets, phone services and hotels. Its listed sources in 2025 included a $3.3 million "signature bonus" and $3.98 million of urban road user taxes ([Revenue Directorate](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf)). In 2025 the office registered 1,700 new medium and large taxpayers and 31,000 rented properties (same source). Implementation of the new income tax law was delayed into 2026. Running the revenue office cost about **$437,000** in salaries and bonuses in 2025, plus about $500,000 for computer systems and operations ([Revenue Directorate](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf)). For the full budget, see [Somalia's federal budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/).

## Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) sets its own taxes. Its Finance Ministry lists a **6 percent** tax on salaries, a **5 percent** goods and services tax, and 12.5 percent withholding on payments to non-residents ([Somaliland Ministry of Finance Development, tax types](https://www.slmof.org/tax-types/)). Member states such as [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) also run their own taxes. See [How the federal member states raise and spend money](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

## Sources disagree

- The 2025 revenue report gives income tax as **$44.8 million** in its table but "roughly **$38 million**" in its text ([Revenue Directorate](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf)). In the same table, the separate taxes add up to $14 million to $17 million more each year than the "tax revenue" total.
- The Income Tax Manual's table gives **15 percent** on gains from selling property, but one of its own worked examples uses **10 percent** ([Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)).
- In the Income Tax Manual's own first example, a shop worker earning $1,000 a month has **$120** withheld. Using the manual's monthly bands, the tax on $1,000 is **$84** ([Income Tax Manual](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/Somalia%20Income%20Tax%20Manual_English%20Version.pdf)).
- Somaliland's tax page gives rental income tax as 12.3 percent, but its own example uses 10 percent ([Somaliland Ministry of Finance Development](https://www.slmof.org/tax-types/)).

## Data file

Federal revenue by type of tax for 2022 to 2025, in US dollars, is in [federal-domestic-revenue-by-tax-2022-2025.csv](/data/economy/federal-domestic-revenue-by-tax-2022-2025.csv). Source: [Revenue Directorate, Annual Revenue Performance 2025, Table 1.1](https://revenuedirectorate.gov.so/sites/default/files/Annual%20Revenue%20Performance_2025_FINAL11_1.pdf).


---

# Somalia's debt and debt relief

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's foreign debt fell from $5.2 billion in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2025, after the IMF and World Bank confirmed debt relief on 13 December 2023. Most of the old debt dated from before 1991 and had grown through unpaid interest.

## Where the debt came from

Most of Somalia's foreign debt was borrowed by the government before 1991. When the state collapsed, payments stopped, and unpaid interest and penalties kept adding to the total for three decades. By the end of 2018 the debt stood at about **$5.2 billion** ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)), equal to 61 to 67 percent of GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## How the debt was cleared

Debt relief came through the **Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative**, a programme run by the IMF and World Bank.

- **March 2020 (Decision Point):** Somalia became the 37th country to qualify. The IMF and World Bank agreed its debt would be cut from $5.2 billion to $557 million in present-value terms once reforms were done ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). On 31 March 2020 the Paris Club of creditor countries cancelled $1.4 billion straight away ([Paris Club](https://clubdeparis.org/sites/default/files/node/field_news_files/prsomalia20200331.pdf)).
- **2020 to 2023:** Somalia carried out the agreed reforms under IMF programmes, including on budgets, revenue, the Central Bank and public financial management.
- **13 December 2023 (Completion Point):** the IMF and World Bank boards confirmed debt relief worth **$4.5 billion** in debt-service savings ([IMF, 13 December 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).
- **March 2024:** Paris Club creditors cancelled most of what was still owed to them ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/regional/25303/relief-for-somalia-as-paris-club-creditor-nations-cancel-99-per-cent-of-debt)).

## The debt today

All figures from the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf):

- **Total foreign public debt:** $1,482 million at the end of 2025, about **11 percent of GDP**.
- **Non-Paris Club countries:** $799 million (54 percent). These countries are outside the Paris Club deal, so Somalia must agree relief with each one separately.
- **Multilateral lenders** (such as the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank): $634 million (43 percent).
- **Paris Club countries:** $46 million (3 percent), down from $3,072 million in 2019.
- **Commercial lenders:** under 1 percent.

The debt fell 37 percent in 2023 and 46 percent in 2024, then only 2 percent in 2025, as the main relief deals were finished (same source).

## Who Somalia still owes

The Finance Ministry's own debt report for 2025 gives more detail ([Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report FY2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)):

- **All of the debt is foreign.** The federal government has not borrowed at home and has not guaranteed anyone else's loans.
- **Largest lenders:** among countries outside the Paris Club, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Iraq, the [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) Fund and the Saudi Fund for Development. Among multilateral lenders, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund and the IMF.
- **One commercial loan**, from a Serbian company: $2.73 million.
- **Unpaid arrears:** $498.8 million, about a third of all debt. More than half of it ($255 million) is unpaid interest, and $115 million is other charges.
- **Payments in 2025:** only **$8.1 million**, to lenders that have already given relief, such as the Saudi and Kuwait funds and Russia. This was under 1 percent of government revenue.
- **Settled in 2025:** arrears with the Arab Monetary Fund and the Abu Dhabi Fund. Talks with Spain and Romania were described as close to agreement.
- **Currencies:** 25 percent of the debt is in UAE dirhams, 19 percent in Kuwaiti dinars, 19 percent in Arab accounting dinars, 12 percent in IMF special drawing rights and 11 percent in US dollars.
- **Repayments ahead:** most fall between 2029 and 2033, when rescheduled loans come due. The average time to repay is 19.5 years.

The ministry says Somalia can still receive World Bank grants instead of loans until June 2028 (same source).

## What changed after relief

- Somalia can again get low-cost loans and grants from the World Bank's IDA. The World Bank's portfolio in Somalia is about **$2.34 billion** ([World Bank, Somalia](https://www.worldbank.org/so)).
- The IMF approved a new three-year Extended Credit Facility of about $100 million in December 2023 ([IMF, 13 December 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23437-imf-concludes-the-sixth-review-of-the-extended-credit-facility-for-somalia)).
- Somalia joined Afreximbank in 2025 and is building a stock exchange ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/03/apo-newsfeed/somalia-joins-afreximbank-as-it-seeks-to-boost-intra-african-trade-and-economic-growth-2); [MFW4A](https://www.mfw4a.org/news/somalia-launches-its-first-stock-exchange-mogadishu)).

## Context

The Central Bank says the lower debt "created additional fiscal space for development priorities" ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

Reports give different amounts for the March 2024 Paris Club cancellation, from about $1.2 billion to more than $2 billion ([China Daily](https://chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/381121); [Arise News](https://arise.tv/somalia-granted-over-2bn-debt-relief-by-paris-club-to-boost-economic-recovery-efforts)).


---

# Eastleigh: the Somali trading hub of Nairobi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Eastleigh, the Nairobi estate called Little Mogadishu, grew from the 1990s into East Africa's largest Somali trading district, built by refugees with trading links to Dubai, China, India and Thailand. Counts run from about 40 malls (Neil Carrier, 2017) to at least 72 malls and more than 25,000 shops (Eastleigh Voice). About 200,000 people visit each day, and Somali money transfer firms such as Kaah Express, Amal Express and Juba Express appear on Kenya's register of licensed remittance providers.

## The short version

Eastleigh is an estate in eastern Nairobi. Somalis have lived there since Nairobi's early years, but its rise as a market came after 1991, when refugees with trading experience from Mogadishu arrived ([Neil Carrier, *Little Mogadishu: Eastleigh, Nairobi's Global Somali Hub*, Oxford University Press 2017, University of Bristol record](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub/)). One account says Mogadishu's looted market was "reborn" in Eastleigh a few years later ([The New Humanitarian / Refugees Deeply, January 2017](https://newsdeeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/refugees/articles/2017/1/6/what-we-can-learn-from-the-little-mogadishu-migrant-hub)).

## How the malls grew

Carrier's book describes the "malling" of Eastleigh: shopping centres built and filled by Somali traders whose networks reached **China, India, Thailand and the Gulf** ([Boston University African Studies, review of Carrier, 2018](https://bu.edu/africa/files/2018/10/Rodima-Taylor-bk-rv-offpr.pdf)). A typical mall is a large building divided into hundreds of small stalls, each run by its own shopkeeper ([LSE review, 15 September 2017](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2017/09/15/book-review-little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub-by-neil-carrier)). Investment from Somalis abroad is a key part of what Carrier calls the Eastleigh formula of big malls filled with small shops ([Refugees Deeply, January 2017](https://newsdeeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/refugees/articles/2017/1/6/what-we-can-learn-from-the-little-mogadishu-migrant-hub)).

Named centres include:
- **Garissa Lodge**, a lodging house whose rooms became shops in the early 1990s, the start of the mall model ([Carrier, *Little Mogadishu*, 2017](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub/); [Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/garissa%20lodge/44438/eastleigh-from-a-small-city-estate-to-east-africa-s-commercial-centre)).
- **Amal Shopping Plaza**, with more than 500 shops ([Bloomsbury, Global Sociology student resources](https://bloomsburyonlineresources.com/global-sociology-3e/student-zone)).
- **Business Bay Square**, about **130,000 square metres**, one of the largest malls in East Africa ([People Daily](https://peopledaily.digital/business/the-reinvention-and-rise-of-nairobis-little-mogadishu/amp)).

## Size

- Carrier gave "40-odd" shopping malls in 2017 ([Refugees Deeply, January 2017](https://newsdeeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/refugees/community/2017/01/12/the-misrepresentation-of-a-migrant-success-story)).
- The local paper *Eastleigh Voice* counts at least **72 malls and more than 25,000 shops** ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/garissa%20lodge/44438/eastleigh-from-a-small-city-estate-to-east-africa-s-commercial-centre)).
- About **200,000 people** come each day, and buyers travel from [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia ([People Daily](https://peopledaily.digital/business/the-reinvention-and-rise-of-nairobis-little-mogadishu/amp)).

## Money transfer firms

The Central Bank of Kenya's register of licensed money remittance providers lists several Somali firms at Eastleigh addresses, including **Taaj Money Transfer** (Shariff Centre, licensed 2 October 2015) and **[Kaah Express](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/)** (Kaah Building, licensed 22 October 2014), with **Juba Express** licensed on 10 July 2014 ([Central Bank of Kenya, directory, 2016](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers.pdf); [directory, November 2020](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-Nov-2020.pdf)). The register dated 30 September 2026 lists Amal Express, Dahabshill Money, Iftin Express, Juba Express, Kaah Express and Tawakal Money; Taaj Money Transfer does not appear on it ([Central Bank of Kenya](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf)). See [Tawakal Express](/en/businesses/tawakal-express/) and [Iftin, Juba Express and Taaj](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/).

## Sources disagree

- **Number of malls.** About 40 in Carrier's 2017 count; at least 72 in *Eastleigh Voice* (sources above).
- **What drove the growth.** Carrier stresses trade networks and diaspora investment; a 2017 Refugees Deeply essay argues the "success story" is often told without the refugees who work for low pay in the malls ([Refugees Deeply, The misrepresentation of a migrant success story](https://newsdeeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/refugees/community/2017/01/12/the-misrepresentation-of-a-migrant-success-story)).

For the Somali community in Kenya, see [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/). For a Somali-founded Kenyan company, see [Hass Petroleum](/en/businesses/hass-petroleum/).


---

# Somalia's trade: exports and imports

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia buys far more from abroad than it sells. In 2025 it imported $7.3 billion of goods and exported $1.26 billion, mostly live sheep, goats, cattle and camels sold to Gulf countries. Money sent home by Somalis abroad pays for most of the gap.

## The trade gap

All figures for 2025 from the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf):

- **Goods imports:** $7,297 million, about 55 percent of GDP.
- **Goods exports:** $1,261 million, about 10 percent of GDP.
- **Goods trade gap:** $5,563 million, about 42 percent of GDP.
- **Services gap** (transport, insurance, professional services): $1,434 million.
- **Current account gap:** $3,160 million, about 24 percent of GDP, up from 20 percent in 2024.

The gap is paid for mainly by money from abroad. Net transfers into the country, mostly remittances and grants, were $3,608 million in 2025 (same source). Foreign direct investment added $880 million (same source).

## What Somalia sells

**Live animals** are the biggest export: worth $922.9 million in 2025, about 73 percent of goods exports, sold mainly to Saudi Arabia, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), with sales peaking before the Hajj ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Crops, meat and fish grew in 2025 and offset most of the fall in animal sales (same source).

**Sources disagree:** the same Central Bank report gives livestock exports as $922.9 million (down 3 percent) in its agriculture chapter, and as $823 million (down 10 percent) in its national accounts chapter, which values exports differently.

More detail: [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/), [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/), [Frankincense and myrrh](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/) and [the charcoal trade](/en/economy/charcoal-trade/).

## What Somalia buys

Imports in 2025 included **food** (the largest item), **fuel**, building materials, machinery, clothing and shoes ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Imports of machinery rose, which the Central Bank reads as firms building up their capacity (same source).

Because so much food is imported, world food and fuel prices pass straight into prices in Somali markets. See [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/).

## Trade blocs and deals

- **East African Community (EAC):** Somalia became the eighth full member on 4 March 2024 ([EAC](https://eac.int/press-releases/3049-somalia-finally-joins-eac-as-the-bloc-s-8th-partner-state)).
- **African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA):** Somalia ratified the agreement in August 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-ratifies-afcfta-becomes-50th-member-and-eyes-made-in-somalia-exports)).
- **Afreximbank:** Somalia joined in March 2025 ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/03/apo-newsfeed/somalia-joins-afreximbank-as-it-seeks-to-boost-intra-african-trade-and-economic-growth-2)).
- **PAPSS:** Somalia has joined the Pan-African payment system, and the Central Bank plans to link its instant payment system to it by the end of 2026, so trade payments with other African countries can settle in local currencies ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-plans-regional-payment-integration-through-instant-payments-system); [Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/383521/somalia-to-expand-instant-payment-system-with-banks-mobile-money-and-regional-networks)).
- **National export strategy:** the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's National Export Development and Promotion Strategy for 2025 to 2030, prepared with World Bank funding, aims to widen exports beyond livestock and names four priority sectors: livestock, farming, fisheries and mining ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)).

## The ports

Most trade passes through four seaports: Mogadishu, Berbera, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Kismayo. A Turkish company, Albayrak, runs and has modernised Mogadishu port ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkish-firm-modernizes-and-runs-somalia-s-gateway/3700103)). DP World of Dubai runs and expanded Berbera port under a $442 million joint venture agreed with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/dp-world-signs-442m-joint-venture-with-somaliland-1.1825624)).

## Context

The Central Bank says livestock exports leave "foreign earnings exposed to each rainfall season" ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Data file

Exports, imports, the size of the economy (GDP), transfers received from abroad (family money and aid), foreign investment and foreign debt for each year from 2018 to 2025 are in [balance-of-payments-2018-2025.csv](/data/economy/balance-of-payments-2018-2025.csv). Figures are in millions of US dollars. Source: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, Table 6](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf), estimates by the Finance Ministry, the statistics bureau and the Central Bank.

For exports and imports broken down by product for 2022 to 2024, see [Imports and exports by product, 2022 to 2024](/en/data/imports-and-exports-by-product-2022-2024/).


---

# Somali shops in South Africa: spaza stores, Mayfair and the attacks

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-shops-in-south-africa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis in South Africa work mainly in retail: small township grocery shops (spaza shops), wholesale, textiles and restaurants. The Somali Community Board estimated about 70,000 Somalis in the country in 2015, about 6,000 of them in Mayfair, Johannesburg, where they built two shopping centres. Somali-run shops have been looted in waves of attacks on foreign traders, including more than 1,000 immigrant-owned shops in Gauteng in January 2015.

## The short version

Most Somalis in South Africa came after 1991 and many entered retail. In 2015 the **Somali Community Board of South Africa** estimated about **70,000** Somalis in the country, "mainly involved in the retail business sector", with the largest community in Cape Town, then Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). Its officials stressed the figures were estimates ([Anadolu Agency, 25 February 2015](https://aa.com.tr/en/world/little-mogadishu-2nd-home-for-somalis-in-s-africa/72000)).

## Mayfair, Johannesburg

Mayfair, less than ten minutes from central Johannesburg, is called "little Mogadishu". A Somali businessman who arrived in 1995 told Anadolu there were "probably less than 200" Somalis there then; by 2015 the community board put the number at about **6,000**. Somalis built **two shopping centres** in Mayfair selling imported and local goods, and own textile shops, supermarkets and restaurants. Some own fleets of trucks that carry goods to Somali shops in other cities, and many have bought property in the area (all from [Anadolu Agency, 25 February 2015](https://aa.com.tr/en/world/little-mogadishu-2nd-home-for-somalis-in-s-africa/72000)). The 2015 *Wits Vuvuzela* series "From Mogadishu to Mayfair and beyond" followed the same community ([Wits Vuvuzela, 12 November 2015](https://witsvuvuzela.com/2015/11/12/from-mogadishu-to-mayfair-and-beyond/)).

## How the shops work

Researchers who surveyed more than 1,000 spaza shopkeepers in South Africa's three main cities found that foreign-owned shops tend to stay open longer and to price each item carefully rather than adding one mark-up to everything ([Mail & Guardian, 29 January 2015](https://mg.co.za/article/2015-01-29-spazas-its-not-just-the-economy-stupid); [Piper and Charman, Southern African Institute for Migration](https://sihma.org.za/journals/Piper-Charman.pdf)). GroundUp has reported on South African shopkeepers learning from the methods of Somali shopkeepers ([GroundUp, How South Africans are learning from Somali businesses](https://groundup.news/article/how-south-africans-are-learning-somali-businesses_3281/)). A University of Cape Town study published in August 2026 compared five Somali and five South African spaza owners ([University of Cape Town, 5 August 2026](https://www.news.uct.ac.za/images/userfiles/downloads/media/2026_08_05_SpazaShops.pdf)).

## Attacks on shops

- In **May 2011** IRIN reported threats and intimidation against foreign traders, including Somalis, in townships ([IRIN / The New Humanitarian, 20 May 2011](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2011/05/20/foreign-traders-face-threats-intimidation)).
- In **2013** the radio programme *The World* reported Somali shopkeepers killed and shops looted in a series of attacks ([The World, 15 November 2013](https://theworld.org/stories/2013-11-15/not-wanted-somalis-south-africa)).
- In **January 2015** more than **1,000 shops** owned by immigrants from Somalia, Ethiopia, [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), Bangladesh and elsewhere were looted across Gauteng, starting in Soweto ([Anadolu Agency, 25 February 2015](https://aa.com.tr/en/world/little-mogadishu-2nd-home-for-somalis-in-s-africa/72000)).

## Sources disagree

- **How many Somalis.** The community board's 70,000 is its own estimate; its secretary-general said numbers change constantly as people arrive and leave ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/world/little-mogadishu-2nd-home-for-somalis-in-s-africa/72000)).
- **Shops and crime.** Some South African officials and residents link foreign-run spaza shops to crime and unfair competition; researchers at the Scalabrini Institute argue the picture is "more complicated than that" ([SIHMA blog](https://www.sihma.org.za/Blog-on-the-move/spazas-foreigners-and-crime-it-s-more-complicated-than-that)).

For the community itself, see [Somalis in South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/).


---

# Somali businesses in Minnesota: the malls of Minneapolis

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-businesses-in-minnesota/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali Minnesotans run hundreds of shops, mostly in Minneapolis malls known as suuqs, such as Karmel Mall, which has about 650 businesses, and Madina Mall. A Concordia University study counted 129 Somali street-front businesses and 245 inside malls in the Twin Cities. During the immigration enforcement surge of December 2025 to March 2026, some mall owners reported sales falls of up to 50 percent.

## The short version

Somali businesses in Minnesota grew from the 1990s around Lake Street, Cedar-Riverside and south Minneapolis. Many are small stalls inside indoor malls, called **suuqs** (markets), selling clothing, jewellery, electronics, halal food, travel and money transfer services ([Somali business owners in the Twin Cities, CORE repository](https://core.ac.uk/download/46721289.pdf); [Minnesota Daily](https://mndaily.com/221306/uncategorized/somali-businesses-growing-locally)).

## How many

- A study of Somali business owners counted **129 Somali-owned street-front businesses** and **245 Somali-owned businesses inside suuqs** in the Twin Cities. Its sample covered about 38 percent of the street-front firms and 17 percent of those in malls ([Somali business owners in the Twin Cities, CORE repository](https://core.ac.uk/download/46721289.pdf)).
- A 2015 Concordia University study found **2,000 to 3,200 African-owned businesses** in Minnesota, more than earlier estimates ([Star Tribune, 2015](https://www.startribune.com/study-finds-african-immigrants-more-powerful-economic-force-than-previously-thought-in-twin-cities/311854661)).
- At Riverside Mall in Cedar-Riverside, **37 of 44 businesses** were owned by women in 2015 ([Star Tribune, Women drive success of Somali mall in Minneapolis](https://www.startribune.com/women-drive-success-of-somali-mall-in-minneapolis/323386601)).

## The malls

**Karmel Mall** (2910 Pleasant Avenue South) has about **650 businesses**; it is owned by the developer Basim Sabri. **Madina Mall** has about 40 shops ([Sahan Journal, 25 June 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/minnesota-somali-businesses-struggle-after-immigration-crackdown/)). Other outlets have described five African malls within two miles of each other in south Minneapolis, each with 300 to 500 businesses ([Minnesota Daily](https://mndaily.com/221306/uncategorized/somali-businesses-growing-locally)).

## The 2025 to 2026 enforcement surge

US immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, called **Operation Metro Surge**, intensified in December 2025 ([Minnesota Reformer, 9 September 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/09/09/immigrant-businesses-hoped-customers-would-return-after-operation-metro-surge-but-many-havent/)). Reported effects on Somali business:
- At Karmel Mall, foot traffic fell by as much as **50 percent** for some owners, and the owner reported **$1.5 million** of unpaid rent ([Sahan Journal, 25 June 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/minnesota-somali-businesses-struggle-after-immigration-crackdown/)).
- At Madina Mall, **12 of 40 shops** closed and returned their keys (same source).
- A Hennepin County survey of 81 Lake Street businesses found average revenue losses of **$57,000** per business; 96 percent reported a negative impact (same source).
- Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said on 10 June 2026 that the surge cost the city almost **$700 million**, including $445 million of lost business revenue; the city set up a $7 million Small Business Resiliency Fund (same source).
- National outlets reported empty malls in January 2026 ([Associated Press via WTOP, January 2026](https://wtop.com/lifestyle/2026/01/somali-businesses-struggle-during-the-minneapolis-ice-crackdown/); [Africanews, 19 January 2026](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2026/01/19/minneapolis-businesses-and-shopping-malls-stay-empty-over-fears-of-ice-patrols/)).

## Sources disagree

- **Mall size.** Counts for Karmel Mall run from "more than a hundred" businesses in some January 2026 reports to about 650 in Sahan Journal (sources above).
- **The success story.** *Twin Cities Business* has written about the gap between the picture of Somali business success and household incomes ([Twin Cities Business](https://tcbmag.com/?p=15367)). Minnesota Compass puts the median Somali household income at $49,554 for 2020 to 2024 ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)).

For the community itself, see [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).


---

# Somali business in Uganda: fuel stations, Kisenyi and the Oasis Mall

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis in Uganda run fuel station chains, foreign exchange and money transfer offices, supermarkets, hardware and property. Somali-owned fuel chains named in 2009 included City Oil, Hashi Empex, Hass Petroleum and Hared. Amina Moghe Hersi built the Oasis Mall and Laburnam Courts in Kampala and in 2016 began the $120 million Atiak Sugar Factory. Kampala's Kisenyi district is known as Little Mogadishu.

## How it began

The first Somalis to settle in Uganda came in colonial times as the "Somali Scouts" of the British army; many stayed, took Ugandan citizenship, and worked in the meat trade. Thousands left during Idi Amin's rule and came back after 1986. After 1991 refugees arrived, some in camps such as [Nakivale](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) and others with relatives in Kampala's **Kisenyi** district ([The Observer, Kampala, September 2009, reprinted by Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx)). A 2010 academic study, based on interviews with 40 Somali entrepreneurs, workers and students, described Kisenyi as known as "Little Mogadishu" because of its many Somali-owned businesses ([CORE repository, 2010 study](https://core.ac.uk/download/188553291.pdf)).

## Fuel, money and shops

In 2009 the Kampala newspaper *The Observer* reported that Somali businesses held a large share of Uganda's fuel industry and also ran foreign exchange bureaus, money transfer offices and supermarkets. It named Somali-owned fuel station chains **City Oil**, **Hashi Empex**, **Hass Petroleum** and **Hared**. City Oil began in the 1980s as Mandela Auto Spares, selling spare parts, then tyres, before opening fuel stations. Its director said the firms' strength was sourcing goods through Somali links around the world ([The Observer, 2009, via Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx)). See [Hass Petroleum](/en/businesses/hass-petroleum/).

## Gateway buses

**Hussein Shire** began in Tororo in the 1950s with a shop and a taxi, and in 1983 started the **Gateway** bus company, which grew to more than 100 buses across Uganda ([Wikipedia, Hussein Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Shire); [New Vision](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1342197/gateway-bus-founder-dies-south-africa)). See [Hussein Shire](/en/people/hussein-shire/).

## Amina Moghe Hersi and Horyal Investments

**Amina Moghe Hersi**, born in 1964 in Bungoma, Kenya, grew up in her family's cross-border trade and opened a hardware store in Kampala after 1996. She became one of Uganda's largest distributors of cement and hardware and won the Woman Investor of the Year award in 2008 ([Wikipedia, Amina Moghe Hersi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Moghe_Hersi); [The Observer, 2009](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx)). In February 2018 her holdings were grouped under **Horyal Investments Holding Company**: the Oasis Mall, the Nakumatt Mall and Laburnam Courts apartments in Kampala, the Atiak Sugar Factory, Rabo Enterprises, Kingstone Enterprises and Kingstone Namanve ([New Vision advertisement, 9 February 2018](https://www.newvision.co.ug/digital_assets/dcda8833-ea0a-4630-9b3d-6426f90bdc42/Horiyal-Investments-Holding-Co..pdf)). Construction of the **$120 million** Atiak Sugar Factory in Amuru District, northern Uganda, began in 2016, with commercial production planned for 2017 ([Daily Monitor, 23 March 2016](http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Prof-Latigo-faults-Amuru-leaders-investments/-/688334/3129652/-/xokyd2z/-/index.html); [Uganda Radio Network, 2018](https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/pictorial-development-of-sugar-factory-in-amuru-)).

## Trade between the two countries

The first Uganda–Somalia business summit was held in Kampala on **9 and 10 August 2022**, with more than 120 companies; [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), Somtel, eDahab and [Dahabshil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) Bank took part, and Dahabshiil said it already worked in Uganda ([The Star, Kenya, 9 August 2022](https://www.the-star.co.ke/business/2022-08-09-somali-uganda-hold-first-ever-business-summit-together); [Private Sector Foundation Uganda](https://www.psfuganda.org/15-psfu-news/410-uganda-somalia-hold-first-ever-business-summit-together.html)). Ugandan traders have in turn looked for markets in Mogadishu ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ugandan-traders-seek-new-market-in-mogadishu)).

## The 2026 debate

On 31 March 2026 members of Uganda's parliament asked whether refugees, naming Somalis and Eritreans, should run small businesses such as salons and shops in Kampala suburbs including Makindye, Ggaba, Kabalagala, Kansanga and Lukuli. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire, replied that Uganda's policy allows refugees to work and run businesses to support themselves ([Pulse Uganda, 1 April 2026](https://www.pulse.ug/story/government-pressed-by-mps-on-somalis-eritreans-take-over-of-makindye-kabalagala-suburbs-2026040106273653714)).

For the community, see [Somalis in Uganda](/en/diaspora/uganda/). For other founders, see [Somali business pioneers](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/).


---

# Somali businesses in the UK: money transfer firms, shops and the 2013 banking crisis

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UK is home to the head offices or registered companies of several of the biggest Somali money transfer firms, including Dahabshiil, WorldRemit and Juba Express. A 2013 study for the UK government counted about 17 companies sending money from the UK to Somalia and put the regulated flow at around $380 million a year. In the 2021 census, 8.5 percent of Somalis aged 16 to 64 in England and Wales were self-employed.

## The short version

Many of the companies that send money from Somalis abroad to Somalia are registered in the UK. A September 2013 study written for the UK government by Beechwood International counted an estimated **17 companies** serving the UK–Somalia corridor. Five held full payment-institution status and the other 12 were small payment institutions ([Beechwood, Safer Corridors Rapid Assessment, 2013, p. 35](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)). The firms have a trade body, the **Somali Money Services Association (SOMSA)** (same source).

## Companies on the UK register

The UK Companies House register lists these companies (searched 12 November 2026):

| Company | UK company number | Incorporated | Registered office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dahabshiil Transfer Services Ltd | 03538207 | 31 March 1998 | London EC4 |
| Dahabshiil Holdings Limited | 05011753 | 9 January 2004 | London EC4 |
| Iftin Express Limited | 05860963 | 28 June 2006 | London NW6 |
| Amal UK Express Limited | 06013583 | 29 November 2006 | London NW10 |
| Juba Express Limited | 07049593 | 20 October 2009 | London W12 |
| WorldRemit Ltd. (first named Clean Remittances Ltd) | 07110878 | 22 December 2009 | London W1 |

Source for every row: [Companies House search](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search/companies?q=dahabshiil); each company's record is found by searching its name on that service. The register also shows that **Kaah Express (UK)**, later renamed KaahPay Global Ltd (05483627), was dissolved on 19 December 2023 ([Companies House](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05483627)). [Dahabshiil Group](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/) Holdings, based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, was entered on the UK register of overseas entities on 5 December 2022 ([Companies House, OE006358](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/OE006358)).

For the firms themselves, see [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/), [WorldRemit](/en/businesses/worldremit/), [the Amal group](/en/businesses/amal-group/) and [Kaah Express and KIMS](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/).

## How much money goes through the UK

- The UK financial regulator's figures showed **$39.8 million** of reported transfers to Somalia in 2012. The 2013 study says this understates the real total, because most firms did not have to report their volumes ([Beechwood 2013, p. 22](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)).
- Firms that shared their own transaction records with the study suggested a regulated flow of about **$380 million** a year, including money sent by aid agencies and companies (same source, p. 22).
- The study put the average cost of sending money from the UK to Somalia at **5.14 percent**, close to the 5 percent goal that G8 leaders set in 2009, and well below the 12.4 percent average for Africa (same source, p. 18).
- Among aid agencies surveyed for the study, 88 percent used Somali transfer companies. Of those, 69 percent used [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), 15 percent Kaah, and 8 percent each used Olympic, Amal and [Juba Express](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/) (same source, p. 55).

## The 2013 bank account closures

In 2013 Barclays gave notice that it would close the accounts of most money transfer firms, including the last four specialised Somali firms that still had accounts at a UK bank ([Beechwood 2013, p. 16](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)). WorldRemit was the only firm in the corridor that did not receive a notice. At the time it sent money only to [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) (same source, p. 36). In April 2013 the Financial Conduct Authority publicly censured Horn Express Ltd, formerly Qaran Express Money Transfer, for mixing customers' money with its own between 2009 and 2011 (same source, p. 38). For the court case and the campaign that followed, see [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) and [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/).

## Shops and small firms

- In the 2021 census, **8.5 percent** of Somalis aged 16 to 64 in England and Wales were self-employed and 34.1 percent were employees ([ONS, Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- A study of Somali businesses in Leicester interviewed 25 owners and 25 workers and held three focus groups. It found that family and community ties alone do not explain how these businesses start and grow ([Ram, Theodorakopoulos and Jones, Work, Employment and Society 22(3), 2008](https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/forms-of-capital-mixed-embeddedness-and-somali-enterprise/)).
- A follow-up study by the same team found that the economic and political setting "imposes harsh constraints upon Somali business activity", and that trading across borders is likely limited to a small minority ([Jones, Ram and Theodorakopoulos, IJURR 34(3), 2010](https://www.ijurr.org/article/transnationalism-as-a-force-for-ethnic-minority-enterprise-the-case-of-somalis-in-leicester/)).

For Somali life in UK cities, see [London (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/london/) and [Other UK cities](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/).


---

# Livestock exports: Somalia's biggest earner

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/livestock-exports/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Live animals are Somalia's biggest export. In 2025 the country shipped more than 5.9 million sheep, goats, cattle and camels, worth $922.9 million and about 73 percent of all goods exports, according to the Central Bank. Most go to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE, and sales peak before the Hajj. Gulf import bans over Rift Valley fever have cut the trade several times since 1998.

## The numbers

| Year | Value | Animals | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $860.8 million | | [The African Exponent, 29 July 2026, citing the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/) |
| 2024 | $950.9 million | More than 6.4 million: 5.9 million sheep and goats, 291,692 cattle and 212,616 camels | [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) (value); [The African Exponent](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/) (animals) |
| 2025 | $922.9 million, down 3 percent | More than 5.9 million: over 5.5 million sheep and goats, 222,010 cattle and 193,013 camels | [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) |

In 2025 livestock made up about 73 percent of goods exports and about 7 percent of GDP. The Central Bank cites a national herd of about 56 million camels, cattle, sheep and goats, from the Ministry of Livestock's 2020 strategy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Buyers and the Hajj

- **Where they go.** Saudi Arabia, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) are the main buyers. Sales follow the Hajj and Eid al-Adha ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **The Hajj share.** A 2020 study of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s markets says 70 percent of sheep and goat exports leave in the Hajj season, and that buying for the Hajj starts 45 to 60 days before Eid al-Adha. Oman and Yemen are the main buyers of cattle from Berbera ([Musa, Wasonga and Mtimet, Pastoralism journal, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0155-7)).
- **Meat and skins.** The African Exponent reports that, with meat, hides and skins added, 2024 exports passed $1 billion, citing the Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank ([The African Exponent, 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)). The Central Bank says higher sales of meat, crops and fish made up most of the 2025 fall in live animals ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The ports

- **Berbera.** Exports through Berbera stopped in 1988 when war reached the north and restarted in 1991. About half the sheep and goats shipped from Berbera come from the Somali region of Ethiopia ([Pastoralism journal, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0155-7)). DP World says more than 4.1 million animals pass through each year, according to The African Exponent ([The African Exponent, 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)).
- **The other ports:** see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## The bans

| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| To May 1999 | A 14-month Saudi ban over Rift Valley fever. Afterwards exports rose to 2.17 million sheep and goats by the end of 1999 | [Pastoralism journal, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0155-7) |
| From 19 September 2000 | Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and the UAE banned Somali animals over Rift Valley fever. The others lifted it after about a year; Saudi Arabia kept it until November 2009. Exports fell from about 2 million head to 50,000 by 2003, and trade moved to Djibouti | [Pastoralism journal, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0155-7) |
| November 2009 | The Saudi ban ended after a Saudi investor set up a private quarantine station in Berbera to check animals before export | [Pastoralism journal, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0155-7) |
| From December 2016 | A third Saudi ban, eased during the Hajj seasons | [Pastoralism journal, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-019-0155-7) |

## Sources disagree

- **The 2024 value.** The Central Bank gives $950.9 million for 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The African Exponent gives $969.9 million ([The African Exponent, 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)).
- **The 2025 value.** The same Central Bank report gives $922.9 million (down 3 percent) in its farming chapter and $823 million (down 10 percent) in its national accounts chapter, which values exports differently ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

For livestock exporters and other firms, see the [farming, livestock and fishing directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/) and [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/). For all of Somalia's exports and imports, see [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).


---

# Somalia's seaports: Mogadishu, Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/ports/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Almost all of Somalia's trade moves through four seaports: Mogadishu, Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo. A Turkish company has run Mogadishu port since 2014, and DP World of Dubai expanded Berbera. In January 2026 the federal government cancelled its agreements with the UAE, including port deals, which Somaliland and Puntland rejected.

## Why ports matter

Somalia imported $7.3 billion of goods in 2025, including food, fuel, building materials and machinery, and exported $1.26 billion ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Most of this moves by sea. The country's coastline, about 3,333 kilometres, is the longest in mainland Africa (same source).

## Mogadishu

The capital's port is the main entry point for southern and central Somalia. The Turkish company **Albayrak** took over its operation and modernisation in late 2014, after Turkey's engagement with Somalia grew from 2011 ([Anadolu Agency, September 2025](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkish-firm-modernizes-and-runs-somalia-s-gateway/3700103)). Trade between Turkey and Somalia is close to $500 million a year (same source). For the Auditor General's 2025 revenue figures for the port operator, see [Foreign companies in Somalia](/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/).

## Berbera

Berbera, on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), is [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s main port. **DP World** of Dubai signed a $442 million joint venture with Somaliland to manage and expand it ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/dp-world-signs-442m-joint-venture-with-somaliland-1.1825624)). For the concession, the 2021 terminal and measured effects, see [Port of Berbera](/en/economy/port-of-berbera/). Berbera is also the main port for live animals; see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## Bosaso

[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) is [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s port on the Gulf of Aden. In 2017 **P&O Ports**, part of DP World, signed a 30-year, $336 million concession to manage and develop it, including a 450-metre quay ([Seatrade Maritime](https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/p-o-ports-inks-concession-to-develop-336m-port-in-somalia); [WAM](https://www.wam.ae/en/article/hszr5a66-po-ports-wins-usd-336m-30-year-concession-for-port)). For the concession, the 2022 upgrade and the 2026 disputes, see [Port of Bosaso](/en/economy/port-of-bosaso/). Research from the University of [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and Durham University describes a later revamp of the port ([Durham University](https://durham.ac.uk/research/current/thought-leadership/somalia-puntland-state-port)).

## Kismayo

Kismayo is the main port of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and the far south. Jubaland raised $37 million of its own revenue in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For the Kismayo charcoal stockpiles, see [The charcoal trade](/en/economy/charcoal-trade/). For its history, revenue and the 2026 dispute, see [Port of Kismayo](/en/economy/port-of-kismayo/).

## Ports and the internet

Undersea internet cables also land at the ports. PEACE lands at Mogadishu, Kismayo, Berbera and Bosaso; DARE1 at Mogadishu and Bosaso; 2Africa at Mogadishu and Berbera; G2A at Berbera and Bosaso; EASSy at Mogadishu ([National Communications Authority](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)). See [Telecoms and internet](/en/economy/telecoms/).

## The 2026 dispute over UAE agreements

On 12 January 2026 the federal government announced it was cancelling all agreements with the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), including port arrangements at Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo and security agreements, citing actions it said undermined Somalia's sovereignty and unity ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8249); [Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-accusations-of-undermining-national-unity)).

Responses differed:

- **Somaliland** called the cancellation legally invalid ([The Standard](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/africa/article/2001538373/somalia-cancels-all-uae-deals-after-somaliland-yemeni-spats)).
- **DP World** said its operations at Berbera continue under existing agreements (same source).
- **Puntland** objected to the description of a Bosaso agreement (same source).
- **The [North East State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/)** backed the federal decision ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalias-north-east-state-backs-federal-move-to-cancel-uae-deals)).


---

# Farming in Somalia: the two harvests, the crops and the land

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's farms grow mainly maize and sorghum, with two rain-fed seasons: Gu (April to June), which normally gives about 60 percent of the cereal crop, and Deyr (October to December). In 2025 the Gu harvest in the south was about 129,400 tonnes, 14 percent above average, but the Deyr harvest was about 15,600 tonnes, the lowest since 1995. In 2022 only 23.3 percent of households owned and used land.

## The two seasons

Most crops depend on rain. The main **Gu** season runs from April to June and its crops normally give about **60 percent** of the year's cereal. The second, **[Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/)** season runs from October to December, with its harvest in January. Farmers along the Juba and Shabelle rivers also grow an off-season crop on the land the river floods. Lower and Middle Shabelle are the main maize areas, and Bay is the sorghum belt ([FAO GIEWS, Country Brief Somalia, 15 September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf)).

## Recent harvests

| Season | Cereal harvest | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Gu, south | About 129,400 tonnes, about 14 percent above the 1995 to 2024 average | [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, citing FSNAU](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) |
| 2025 Gu, north | Only 830 tonnes, about 93 percent below average, after long dry spells, pests and high input costs | [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) |
| 2025 Deyr, south | About 15,600 tonnes including 3,000 tonnes off-season, 83 percent below average and the lowest Deyr since 1995 | [FSNAU, Post-Deyr 2025 analysis, February 2026](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_2025_Post_Deyr_IPC_Analyses_Findings_and_Recommendations_Final_-_24_Feb_2026.pdf) |
| 2026 Gu | Below-average, erratic rain; between 25 and 70 percent of cropland in Lower and Middle Shabelle and Bay was in severe drought in mid-June. Late rains helped part of the crop recover, and quelea birds damaged fields | [FAO GIEWS, September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf) |

## Prices

Between January and June 2026, sorghum in Baidoa rose 25 percent and maize in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) rose 70 percent. In July 2026 both were about twice their price a year earlier. In Mogadishu, diesel rose 65 percent between January and April 2026, which raised the cost of pumping water onto riverside farms and of trucking grain ([FAO GIEWS, September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf)). See [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/).

## Hunger

About 6 million people, over 30 percent of the population, faced Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between April and June 2026, including about 1.9 million in Emergency (Phase 4). FAO noted a risk of famine in [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/) district, Bay ([FAO GIEWS, September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf)).

## Who owns the land

The national household survey of 2022 found that **23.3 percent** of households owned and used land: 30.5 percent in villages, 22.8 percent in towns and 11.0 percent among nomads. Most parcels were used for homes (74.8 percent) and 20.9 percent for farming. Among farm parcels with one owner, 71.0 percent were owned by men ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

## Fights over farmland

In July 2026 Radio Ergo reported that more than 50 families had fled fighting over farmland around Beder village in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) since early May. The fighting cut irrigation canals and stopped planting. One farm worker who had earned about $4 a day had planned to farm a five-hectare family plot ([Radio Ergo, 2 July 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/07/clan-conflict-over-land-in-lower-shabelle-leaves-families-destitute/)).

## Farm exports

For farming, livestock and fishing firms, see the [farming, livestock and fishing directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/) and [Somali commercial farms](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/). For sesame, bananas and lemons, see [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/). For live animals, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).


---

# Port of Berbera (Dekada Berbera)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/port-of-berbera/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, is Somaliland's main seaport. DP World of Dubai has run it under a 30-year concession since 2017 and opened a new container terminal in June 2021, raising capacity from 150,000 to 500,000 containers (TEU) a year. Its share of regional container trade rose from 9 percent in 2017 to 14 percent in 2024, according to a study for British International Investment.

## The short version

Berbera is a port town on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Its port is the largest in Somaliland and a route for goods to and from Ethiopia. DP World, a company owned by the government of Dubai, holds a 30-year concession with an automatic 10-year extension, announced in September 2016 ([CILT UK, September 2016](https://ciltuk.org.uk/News/Latest-News/ArtMID/6887/ArticleID/10252/DP-World-wins-30-year-concession-for-port-of-Berbera-in-Somaliland)). The federal government of Somalia does not recognise the arrangement ([Garowe Online, 13 January 2026](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/uae-s-dp-world-says-operations-at-berbera-port-unaffected-by-uae-somalia-dispute)). For all four main Somali ports, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## The Soviet period

In the 1970s the Soviet Union used Berbera as a naval support site. A US Defense Intelligence Estimate of 20 February 1976 described a "missile support facility under construction at Berbera" and a new airfield that it expected to become the main Soviet support site outside the USSR for Indian Ocean missions. It also said Soviet ships might get "secure and exclusive military berthing and repair facilities" apart from the commercial port ([US Office of the Historian, FRUS 1969 to 1976, volume E-6, document 155](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d155)). The runway later appears as [Berbera Airport](/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/).

## The DP World concession

- **2016:** DP World announced the 30-year concession and a planned investment of up to **$442 million**, phased with traffic ([CILT UK](https://ciltuk.org.uk/News/Latest-News/ArtMID/6887/ArticleID/10252/DP-World-wins-30-year-concession-for-port-of-Berbera-in-Somaliland); [Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/dp-world-signs-442m-joint-venture-with-somaliland-1.1825624)).
- **March 2017:** DP World Berbera began operations ([DP World, 24 June 2021](https://www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone)).
- **1 March 2018:** Ethiopia agreed to take **19 percent**. The shares then stood at DP World 51 percent, Somaliland 30 percent and Ethiopia 19 percent; before the deal DP World held 65 percent and Somaliland 35 percent ([Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/ethiopia-acquires-19-stake-in-dp-world-berbera-port)).
- **Early 2022:** British International Investment, the UK's development finance body, joined as a minority investor through its Africa Gateway partnership with DP World ([Consultancy.africa, 28 January 2026](https://www.consultancy.africa/news/2242/investments-in-somalilands-berbera-port-are-delivering-tangible-benefits)).

## The 2021 container terminal

On 24 June 2021 Somaliland's president, [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), and DP World's chairman, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, opened a new terminal with a **400-metre quay**, a **17-metre depth**, three ship-to-shore cranes and eight yard cranes. Capacity rose from **150,000 to 500,000 TEU** a year. A second phase is planned to lengthen the quay to 1,000 metres, add seven cranes and reach **2 million TEU**. An Ethiopian delegation led by the finance and transport ministers attended ([DP World, 24 June 2021](https://www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone)).

## Economic zone and the road to Ethiopia

At the same event, ground was broken for the **Berbera Economic Zone**, modelled on Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai and placed on the Berbera to Wajaale road. The upgrade of that road, the **Berbera Corridor**, was funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the UK's Department for International Development. In May 2021 DP World and Ethiopia's transport ministry signed a memorandum on the Ethiopian side of the Addis Ababa to Berbera road (same source). See [Ethiopia and Somaliland border trade](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/).

## Measured effects

An evaluation by Itad and Steward Redqueen for British International Investment, reported in January 2026, found ([Consultancy.africa](https://www.consultancy.africa/news/2242/investments-in-somalilands-berbera-port-are-delivering-tangible-benefits)):

| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Share of regional container trade | 9% (2017), 14% (2024) |
| Average ship turnaround | 64 hours (2018), about 25 hours (2024) |
| Transport cost savings, 2024 | $8.4 million |
| Jobs supported by port and economic zone, 2024 | about 2,490 |
| Jobs directly from the port expansion | 921 |
| Value added by port and zone, 2024 | $45.1 million |
| Share of Somaliland GDP from the expansion | about 0.4% |

DP World's own figures, from 2021, were a 35 percent rise in volumes since 2017 and ship waiting times cut from four or five days to a few hours ([DP World, 24 June 2021](https://www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone)). Berbera is also the main port for live animal exports; see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/) and [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/).

## The 2026 dispute

On 12 January 2026 the federal government cancelled all agreements with the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), including port arrangements at Berbera ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)). DP World told Reuters that its Berbera operations continue under existing agreements and that it "remains focused on the safe, efficient operation of the port" ([Garowe Online, 13 January 2026](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/uae-s-dp-world-says-operations-at-berbera-port-unaffected-by-uae-somalia-dispute)). Somaliland and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) said they stood by their cooperation with the UAE ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/farmajo-welcomes-cancellation-of-uae-agreements-as-somaliland-and-puntland-stand-by-cooperation)).

## Sources disagree

- **Ownership in 2016.** One report gives DP World 65 percent and Somaliland 35 percent; others give 51 and 30 percent, the split after Ethiopia joined in 2018 ([Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/ethiopia-acquires-19-stake-in-dp-world-berbera-port); [CILT UK](https://ciltuk.org.uk/News/Latest-News/ArtMID/6887/ArticleID/10252/DP-World-wins-30-year-concession-for-port-of-Berbera-in-Somaliland)).
- **Legal standing.** Somaliland calls the agreements valid; the federal government calls them void (sources above).


---

# Port of Bosaso (Dekada Boosaaso)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/port-of-bosaso/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bosaso, on the Gulf of Aden, is Puntland's main seaport and one of Somalia's two main ports for live animal exports. P&O Ports, part of DP World of Dubai, took over its management in October 2017 under a 30-year, $336 million concession, and DP World signed a further upgrade contract in December 2022. Puntland raised $100 million of its own revenue in 2025, the highest of the federal member states.

## The short version

[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) is the commercial city of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), and its port is Puntland's main gateway for trade ([Dawan Africa, 19 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-traders-and-dp-world-reach-agreement-to-end-bosaso-port-dispute)). The federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry names Bosaso as one of Somalia's four main ports, with Mogadishu, Berbera and Kismayo, and says all four face "capacity limitations and outdated facilities" ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, National Export Development and Promotion Strategy](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)). For all four ports, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## The P&O Ports concession

- **April 2017:** Puntland's president, [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) "Gaas", signed a 30-year concession in Dubai with **P&O Ports**, part of DP World, reported to be worth **$336 million** ([Garowe Online, 12 October 2017](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)). The investment was split into **$136 million** for a first phase and **$200 million** for a second ([Seatrade Maritime](https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/p-o-ports-inks-concession-to-develop-336m-port-in-somalia)).
- **Plans:** a 450-metre quay, a 5-hectare back-up area, and dredging to 12 metres. Local traders said sand on the shore was keeping large container ships out of the narrow channel ([Garowe Online, 12 October 2017](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)).
- **12 October 2017:** Puntland handed the port over to P&O Ports at a ceremony in Bosaso (same source).
- **4 February 2019:** Paul Anthony Fermosa, head of P&O Ports at Bosaso, was shot dead near the port. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) said it carried out the attack ([Garowe Online, 4 February 2019](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-al-shabaab-kills-head-of-po-ports-at-puntlands-bosaso-port)).

## The 2022 upgrade contract

On 9 December 2022 DP World and the Puntland government signed a construction agreement for a new pier of about 150 metres (500 feet), repairs to the existing quay of about 215 metres (700 feet), a container yard of about 3,000 square metres and a container stripping yard of about 4,000 square metres. The work was planned to take 12 months from early 2023 ([Maritime Executive, 9 December 2022](https://maritime-executive.com/article/dp-world-to-modernize-somalia-s-bosaso-port-as-it-expands-african-ops)). Bloomberg reported in August 2023 that DP World expected to finish the expansion by the end of that year ([Bloomberg, 17 August 2023](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-17/dp-world-expansion-of-somali-port-will-finish-end-of-year)).

## Livestock and shipping costs

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry says Berbera and Bosaso are "the primary live animal export points", with livestock yards and loading equipment, but that their expansion has not kept pace with export growth ([National Export Development and Promotion Strategy](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

The same strategy lists shipping prices quoted by Maersk:

| Route | 20-foot container | 40-foot container | Days at sea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosaso to Jebel Ali (UAE) | $1,500 | $5,000 | 6 to 8 |
| Bosaso to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) | $750 | $1,000 | 2 to 3 |
| Mogadishu to Jebel Ali (UAE) | $1,000 | $1,500 | 8 to 9 |

## Puntland's revenue

In 2025 Puntland had total revenue and grants of **$119 million**, the highest of the federal member states. Of this, **$100 million** was its own revenue, $83 million of it from taxes, and $19 million came from external grants ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The Central Bank collects trade data by product for the ports of Mogadishu, Bosaso and Kismayo every quarter (same source). See [Money of the federal member states](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

## The 2026 disputes

- **January:** the federal government cancelled all its agreements with the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), including port arrangements at Bosaso ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)). Puntland, with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), rejected the decision ([The New Arab, 13 January 2026](https://www.newarab.com/news/somali-regions-dismiss-government-decision-sever-uae-ties)).
- **July:** traders objected to new service charges at the port, saying they would raise import costs. On 18 July 2026 the Puntland government, business representatives and DP World announced an agreement to end the dispute. The terms were not published ([Dawan Africa, 19 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-traders-and-dp-world-reach-agreement-to-end-bosaso-port-dispute)).

## Sources disagree

- **Cost of the expansion.** The 2017 concession was reported at $336 million ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)); Bloomberg's 2023 report gave **$366 million** ([Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-17/dp-world-expansion-of-somali-port-will-finish-end-of-year)).
- **Who ran the port in 2019.** [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) described Paul Anthony Fermosa both as head of P&O Ports and as director of DP World at Bosaso ([Garowe Online, 4 February 2019](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-al-shabaab-kills-head-of-po-ports-at-puntlands-bosaso-port)). P&O Ports is part of DP World.
- **Completion.** No report found as of 12 November 2026 confirms when the 2022 to 2023 works were finished.

For the trade route from Bosaso south to Galkayo, see [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/).


---

# The khat trade: how much Somalia spends on imported khat

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/khat-trade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia imported about $450 million of khat in 2025, more than the $404 million the federal government raised in domestic revenue that year, according to a National Economic Council report. Most comes by air from Kenya (miraa), the rest from Ethiopia. Khat is also one of the biggest single sources of customs duty.

## The short version

Khat (qaad or jaad) is a leaf that is chewed as a mild stimulant. Almost all of it is grown in Kenya and Ethiopia and flown or driven into Somalia fresh each day. It is one of the country's largest imports and one of the government's largest single sources of customs duty.

## How much Somalia spends

- **2025: $450.4 million** of khat imports, according to the National Economic Council's *State of the Economy Report 2026*, which uses Central Bank data. That is more than the **$404.3 million** of federal domestic revenue in 2025, and almost half of the $922.9 million earned from livestock exports ([Dawan Africa, 27 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-spent-dollar4504m-on-khat-imports-in-2025-more-than-domestic-revenue)).
- Food was the largest import, at **$2.4 billion** (same source). See [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).

## Where it comes from

- **Kenya (miraa):** Kenya's agriculture minister told parliament in December 2025 that Kenya sends **13 to 17 tonnes** of miraa to Somalia every day. Somalia takes **80 to 90 percent** of Kenya's miraa trade, and more than 17 million kilograms had been sent since the market reopened in July 2022 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-spent-dollar4504m-on-khat-imports-in-2025-more-than-domestic-revenue)).
- **Ethiopia (hareeri):** Ethiopia's official khat exports to Somalia fell to **2,580 tonnes** in the first quarter of its 2025/26 financial year, down 35 percent on a year earlier (same source). In 2022 Somalia accounted for close to 80 percent of Ethiopia's khat export earnings ([Addis Fortune, 17 July 2022](https://addisfortune.news/?p=24358)).

## The taxes it pays

- In 2019 khat taxes at Mogadishu airport raised **$16.6 million**, about 5 percent of federal revenue ([Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Risk Bulletin 9, 2020](https://riskbulletins.globalinitiative.net/esa-obs-009/02-somalias-khat-ban-has-led-to-the-emergence-of-a-contraband-industry.html)).
- In [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), khat taxes made up roughly **30 percent** of government revenue, about $35 million a year (same source).
- Mogadishu's city government also charges its own excise on the khat trade ([Somali Public Agenda, 2025](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)). See [Mogadishu's economy](/en/economy/mogadishu-economy/).

## Bans and price jumps

**2020.** On 18 March 2020 the federal government stopped international flights and halted khat imports because of COVID-19. Before the ban about 50 tonnes of miraa reached Mogadishu daily, worth roughly $1 million at retail. Miraa that sold for **$20 to $25 a kilo** jumped to **$300 a kilo** in early April, then settled at $80 to $120 by June. Smuggling grew by road through Beledweyne, by sea to Kismayo and Mogadishu, and on small aircraft. Kenyan-registered aircraft carrying COVID-19 supplies were found with hidden khat at least three times. On 26 May 2020 a Silverstone Air Services flight delivered khat to Jowhar; the convoy carrying it onward hit a roadside bomb and nine soldiers were killed. Silverstone and Buff Air Services had their licences suspended on 1 June 2020 ([Global Initiative, 2020](https://riskbulletins.globalinitiative.net/esa-obs-009/02-somalias-khat-ban-has-led-to-the-emergence-of-a-contraband-industry.html)). Somaliland and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) lifted their bans before Eid in May 2020 ([Global Initiative, 2020](https://riskbulletins.globalinitiative.net/esa-obs-009/02-somalias-khat-ban-has-led-to-the-emergence-of-a-contraband-industry.html)).

**Trade with Kenya.** Before the pause, Kenya sent close to 55,000 tonnes a year to Somalia, worth about $50 million at export prices. No Kenyan shipments reached Somalia from 2020 until a deal agreed during the President's visit to Kenya in 2022. In Ethiopia in 2022, at least 830 khat exporters lost their licences over suspected over-invoicing, and a plan to double the minimum export price for khat sent to Somalia to $10 a kilo was reversed back to $5 ([Addis Fortune, 2022](https://addisfortune.news/?p=24358)). In 2024 Somalia halted Ethiopian imports during tensions between the two countries ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-spent-dollar4504m-on-khat-imports-in-2025-more-than-domestic-revenue)).

## Who chews

In the 2022 national household survey, **2.5 percent** of adults said they chew khat: 5.3 percent of men and almost no women ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf), Table 4.8). For what khat does to health and daily life, see [Khat (qaad) in Somalia](/en/society/khat/).

## Sources disagree

- **Value of imports.** The $450.4 million figure for 2025 is far above an estimate by the writer Mohamed Mukhtar Ibrahim of **$131 million to $171 million a year**. He took Kenya's 13 to 17 tonnes a day at $28 a kilo on arrival in Mogadishu; at the retail price of $40 a kilo the total is $187 million to $245 million ([WardheerNews, 12 January 2026](https://wardheernews.com/the-economic-cost-of-khat-mira-to-somalia/)). His estimate leaves out Ethiopian khat. The $450.4 million figure is taken from press reports of the National Economic Council report ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-spent-dollar4504m-on-khat-imports-in-2025-more-than-domestic-revenue)).


---

# Port of Kismayo (Dekada Kismaayo)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/port-of-kismayo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kismayo is the main port of Jubaland and the far south of Somalia. The modern port was built in 1964 with US help, mainly to export bananas, and refurbished by Somalia and the United States in 1984. In 2016 it shipped livestock to the Gulf for the first time in more than two decades. Jubaland raised $37 million of its own revenue in 2025, and the federal cancellation of UAE agreements in January 2026 named Kismayo along with Berbera and Bosaso.

## The short version

Kismayo lies on the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/). Its port is the main port of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and the far south, and one of Somalia's four main ports with Mogadishu, Berbera and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, National Export Development and Promotion Strategy](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)). For all four ports, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Building the port, 1964 to 1984

- **1964:** the modern port was built with United States help, and the former island was joined to the mainland by a causeway ([Wikipedia, Port of Kismayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Kismayo)).
- **1966:** a CIA handbook described the port as mainly an outlet for **bananas** and other farm produce, able to take only shallow ships; larger ships were unloaded by small boats offshore. A plan for completion by 1967 provided four protected berths for 10,000-ton ships (same source).
- **After 1969:** the port served the Somali navy and the Soviet navy (same source).
- **1984:** Somalia and the United States refurbished the four-berth wharf of about 630 metres (same source).

## Control after 2012

In August 2013 an agreement placed the port under the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Interim Administration, with management to pass to the federal government after six months and port revenue set aside for Jubaland ([Wikipedia, Port of Kismayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Kismayo)). Disputes over control of the port and its revenue were reported at the time ([VOA via GlobalSecurity, 28 May 2013](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2013/05/mil-130528-voa03.htm)).

## Livestock and charcoal

- In June 2016 the port's general manager, Ahmed Haji Adan, said a shipment of **1,200 cattle** to the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) was the first livestock shipped from Kismayo in "more than two decades" ([Garowe Online, 15 June 2016](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia-first-livestock-exported-at-jubalands-kismayo-port-in-25-years)).
- The Ministry of Commerce and Industry says Mogadishu and Kismayo handle far smaller volumes of livestock than Berbera and Bosaso and lack specialised equipment ([National Export Development and Promotion Strategy](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).
- Kismayo was the main exit point for charcoal before the UN ban of 2012; in 2023 the UN Security Council allowed a one-off sale of the stockpiles there. See [The charcoal trade](/en/economy/charcoal-trade/).

## Jubaland's revenue

In 2025 Jubaland had total revenue and grants of **$70 million**. Its own revenue was **$37 million** ($28 million from taxes, $9 million from other sources), and external grants were **$33 million**. It spent $68 million, $41 million of it on staff pay ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The Central Bank collects trade data by product for the ports of Mogadishu, Bosaso and Kismayo every quarter (same source). See [Money of the federal member states](/en/economy/member-states-money/).

## The UAE agreements and the 2026 dispute

- **December 2022:** [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that the DP World affiliate running Berbera and Bosaso was "moving to take over" Kismayo port. No terms were reported ([Garowe Online, 23 December 2022](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/after-djibouti-failure-dp-world-heads-up-somalia-for-controversial-port-projects)).
- **12 January 2026:** the federal government cancelled all agreements with the United Arab Emirates, including port arrangements at Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)).
- **13 January 2026:** Jubaland, with [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), rejected the decision, saying Mogadishu had no legal authority to stop agreements the regions had made directly with the UAE ([Garowe Online, 13 January 2026](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-s-uae-deal-suspension-draws-strong-rejection-from-federal-states)).

## Sources disagree

- **Who controls the port.** The 2013 agreement provided for federal management after six months, while Wikipedia lists Jubaland as the port authority ([Wikipedia, Port of Kismayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Kismayo)). Jubaland in 2026 described its port agreement as its own to make (Garowe Online, above).
- **Terms of any UAE deal.** No published source found as of 12 November 2026 gives the date, value or operator of a Kismayo port agreement with the UAE or DP World.


---

# Somalia's charcoal trade: the export ban, the stockpiles and the money

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/charcoal-trade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Charcoal from Somali acacia trees was shipped to Gulf markets for years. The UN Security Council banned Somali charcoal exports in 2012, after the government asked it to, because the trade was paying al-Shabaab. UN experts later estimated that a tree was cut every 30 seconds between 2011 and 2017. In 2023 the Council allowed a one-off sale of the old stockpiles at Kismayo.

## The bans

- **December 2010:** Somalia's own ban on charcoal took effect, under President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) ([Geeska, Mahbub M. Abdillahi, 30 May 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).
- **February 2012:** the UN Security Council banned exports of Somali charcoal to cut al-Shabaab's income ([VOA, Mohammed Yusuf, 6 December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-charcoal-sacks-clutter-somali-town/1559772.html)). The measure is resolution 2036. The Somali government had asked for it, saying charcoal production "destroys the environment and contributes to food insecurity" ([Security Council Report, September 2023](https://securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/09/somalia-vote-on-draft-resolution.php)).
- **October 2014:** resolution 2182 let navies stop ships carrying Somali charcoal at sea (same source).
- **2018:** resolution 2444 confirmed the ban. The EU has its own ban, and the United States has sanctioned people in the trade ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).

## Where it went

More than 80 percent of Somali charcoal went to Gulf countries, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, as reported by Geeska ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)). In 2019 an Australian researcher, drawing on UN Monitoring Group reports, described charcoal sold through agents in Dubai, re-bagged in Iran to hide where it came from, and shipped with papers naming Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana or Iran as the origin ([The Strategist, Elizabeth White, 29 April 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/)).

## The money

| Estimate | Who made it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $25 million a year to al-Shabaab, in the year it controlled Kismayo | UN Monitoring Group | [VOA, 6 December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-charcoal-sacks-clutter-somali-town/1559772.html) |
| About $7.5 million to al-Shabaab in 2018, from some 60,000 tonnes | UN Monitoring Group | [The Strategist, 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/) |
| $15 million for the trade | Correctiv, a German investigative newsroom | [Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal) |
| $40 million to $70 million from Kismayo alone | Ken Menkhaus, political scientist | [Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal) |

In November 2019 the UN Panel of Experts reported that al-Shabaab had stepped away from the charcoal trade but could still tax lorries carrying it, and that the group was "not financially dependent on the charcoal trade" ([Garowe Online, 13 November 2019](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-al-shabaab-abandons-charcoal-trade-resorts-to-mafia-style-taxation)). A later UN panel recorded no illicit charcoal exports from January 2022 ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).

## The Kismayo stockpiles

- **December 2012:** more than four million sacks lay at Kismayo's southern entrance alone, with a stockpile worth an estimated $40 million. Local authorities said more than 5,000 people worked in the trade, and dozens of empty ships waited at the port ([VOA, 6 December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-charcoal-sacks-clutter-somali-town/1559772.html)).
- **September 2022:** UN experts counted 12,900 tonnes in five places in and around Kismayo, worth about $12 million on world markets ([Security Council Report, 2023](https://securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/09/somalia-vote-on-draft-resolution.php)).
- **7 September 2023:** the Council voted unanimously for resolution 2696, a one-off exemption so the stockpile could be cleared. Under the government's plan, the Kismayo firm Waamo Trading and Logistics Company would handle it with [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), and the money would pay for the clearance, new trees, Kismayo's recovery, livestock work and water wells (same source).

## The trees

UN experts estimated that between 2011 and 2017 a tree was cut down on average every 30 seconds ([The Strategist, 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/)). Geeska, citing VOA, gives the UN figure as 8.2 million trees in that period. Most of the wood is acacia ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).

## Charcoal at home

Many low-income households cook with charcoal because they have no electricity or gas. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change hands out cooking gas (LPG), and in 2022 the jump in fuel prices after Russia invaded Ukraine made charcoal the cheaper choice for many families ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) have their own bans (same source).

## Sources disagree

- **How much the trade was worth.** Correctiv put the trade at $15 million, while Ken Menkhaus put the money from Kismayo alone at $40 million to $70 million ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)). The UN Monitoring Group's figures are for al-Shabaab's share only ([The Strategist, 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/)).

For the rest of Somalia's trade, see [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).


---

# Port of Djibouti and Doraleh (Dekada Jabuuti)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/port-of-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Djibouti's ports carry about 95 percent of Ethiopia's imports and are the main income of the Djiboutian economy. Beside the old port, Djibouti opened the Doraleh Container Terminal in 2009 and, in 2017, the $580 million Doraleh Multipurpose Port with China Merchants and new ports at Tadjourah and Ghoubet. In February 2018 the government took the container terminal from DP World; a London tribunal ruled in October 2025 that the seizure was unlawful, which Djibouti disputes.

## The short version

Djibouti sits at the southern entrance of the Red Sea. Its ports are the main sea route for Ethiopia: Oxford Business Group reported in 2018 that they handle roughly **95 percent of Ethiopia's imports**, and quoted a World Bank economist saying about **80 percent** of Djibouti's transport activity comes from Ethiopia ([Oxford Business Group, Djibouti 2018](https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/reports/djibouti/2018-report/economy/wind-in-their-sails-the-revamping-of-its-port-infrastructure-is-putting-djibouti-on-the-global-logistics-map)). TradeMark Africa gives about 95 percent of Ethiopia's imports and exports ([TradeMark Africa](https://trademarkafrica.com/?p=14654)). For the Djiboutian franc, see [The Djiboutian franc](/en/economy/djiboutian-franc/). For Somali ports, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## The ports

From Oxford Business Group's 2018 report ([Oxford Business Group](https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/reports/djibouti/2018-report/economy/wind-in-their-sails-the-revamping-of-its-port-infrastructure-is-putting-djibouti-on-the-global-logistics-map)):

| Port | Opened | Cost | Capacity or size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doraleh Container Terminal | 2009 | | 928,000 TEU handled in 2017 | Built and run by DP World until February 2018 |
| Doraleh Multipurpose Port | May 2017 | $580 million | 2 million tonnes of bulk cargo a year; stores 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser and 100,000 tonnes of grain | Funded by the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority and China Merchants |
| Tadjourah | June 2017 | | 5 million tonnes of minerals a year; two 455-metre quays | For potash from Ethiopia's Afar and Tigray areas; financed by the Arab Fund and the Saudi Fund for Development |
| Ghoubet | June 2017 | $64 million | 5 million tonnes of salt a year; 400-metre quay, 15-metre depth | For salt from Lake Assal |
| Damerjog livestock port | Planned for 2018; not started as of August 2018 | $70 million | 80,000 animals a month | For livestock to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Libya |

## The dispute with DP World

- **2006:** DP World received a 50-year concession for the Doraleh Container Terminal ([Khaleej Times, 2 October 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/london-court-rules-djibouti-illegally-seized-dp-world-port)).
- **23 February 2018:** the government took control of the terminal. Djibouti cited mismanagement ([Oxford Business Group](https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/reports/djibouti/2018-report/economy/wind-in-their-sails-the-revamping-of-its-port-infrastructure-is-putting-djibouti-on-the-global-logistics-map); [DP World / Dubai Media Office, 12 July 2021](https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2021/july/12-07/arbitration-tribunal-rejects-djibouti-port-company-bid-to-escape-contract-with-dp-world)).
- **Earlier awards:** a tribunal of the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) ordered Djibouti to pay the terminal company **$385 million** plus interest for breaking its exclusive rights by developing new container facilities with China Merchants ([Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/london-court-orders-djibouti-to-pay-385-million-to-dp-world-jv)).
- **October 2025:** an LCIA tribunal found the seizure unlawful and the concession still valid, but awarded no damages against the state port company, [Port de Djibouti](/en/infrastructure/port-of-djibouti/) SA, saying the harm came from the government directly. DP World says its awards against Djibouti total about **$685 million**, and that claims of about $1 billion against the government and China Merchants Port Holdings continue ([Khaleej Times, 2 October 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/london-court-rules-djibouti-illegally-seized-dp-world-port)).
- **30 September 2025:** Djibouti issued a statement claiming victory and holding that it acted lawfully and that the dispute is over (same source).

## Ethiopia and Somaliland

In March 2018, days after the Doraleh seizure, Ethiopia agreed to take a 19 percent share in DP World's port at Berbera in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/ethiopia-acquires-19-stake-in-dp-world-berbera-port)). Ethiopia and Djibouti agreed in February 2026 to deepen cooperation at Doraleh ([AllAfrica, 27 February 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602270391.html)). See [Port of Berbera](/en/economy/port-of-berbera/).

## Sources disagree

- **Ethiopia's share.** Figures of about 95 percent are given for Ethiopia's imports (Oxford Business Group), for its imports and exports (TradeMark Africa), and for its inbound trade (Africanews), all measured differently ([Africanews, 2 May 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/05/02/ethiopia-moves-to-take-stake-in-port-of-djibouti-after-pm-s-visit/)).
- **Cost of the multipurpose port.** Oxford Business Group gives $580 million; other reports give $590 million ([Engineering News, 23 June 2017](https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/djibouti-2017-06-23)).
- **The Doraleh seizure.** DP World and the LCIA tribunals call it unlawful; the government of Djibouti says it acted lawfully ([Khaleej Times, 2 October 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/london-court-rules-djibouti-illegally-seized-dp-world-port)).


---

# Aid to Somalia: how much, from whom, and the 2025 to 2026 cuts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aid is still a large part of Somalia's economy, but it is falling fast. The 2026 UN humanitarian plan asks for $852 million, 40 percent less than the year before, and only about 15 percent had been funded by May 2026. Donor grants paid more than half of the federal budget in 2025.

## Three kinds of aid

Aid reaches Somalia in three main ways:

1. **Grants to the government budget.** In 2025 the federal government received **$516 million** in grants, 96 percent of it from multilateral bodies such as the World Bank ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
2. **Development projects,** mainly through the World Bank, whose Somalia portfolio is about **$2.34 billion**, including regional projects ([World Bank, Somalia](https://www.worldbank.org/so)).
3. **Humanitarian aid** through UN agencies and NGOs, for food, water, health and shelter. NGO transfers into Somalia through banks and transfer companies were **$936 million** in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The humanitarian plan for 2026

On 26 January 2026 the federal government, the UN and aid partners launched the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. It asks for **$852 million to help 2.4 million people**, 40 percent less than the year before ([UN Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/en/308876-humanitarian-partners-seek-us852-million-assist-24-million-people-2026)).

How much of each year's plan was funded:

- **2024:** 57.7 percent.
- **2025:** about 27 to 29 percent.
- **2026 (by late April):** about 15 percent, the lowest level on record at that point in the year.

Sources: [Save the Children, via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-when-aid-disappears-childhoods-disappear-too); [UN Geneva, December 2025](https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2025/12/114250/somalia-funding-cuts-impact-assistance-millions-affected-drought).

## Who gives

Humanitarian funding recorded for Somalia by the UN's Financial Tracking Service, in US dollars ([UN OCHA, Financial Tracking Service](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)):

| Year | Total recorded | Largest donor |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $1.33 billion | United States ($368 million) |
| 2020 | $1.10 billion | United States ($496 million) |
| 2022 | $2.38 billion | United States ($1.28 billion) |
| 2023 | $1.34 billion | United States ($662 million) |
| 2024 | $1.03 billion | United States ($433 million) |
| 2025 | $541 million | European Union humanitarian aid ($95 million) |
| 2026 (so far) | $346 million | European Union humanitarian aid ($82 million) |

In 2022, the year of the severe drought, funding peaked at $2.38 billion. By 2025 it was less than a quarter of that. The United States gave most in every year from 2017 to 2024; in 2025 it recorded $54 million (plus $17 million listed separately under the US State Department) and fell to third place, behind the European Union ($95 million) and the United Kingdom ($82 million). The Financial Tracking Service also lists the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) itself as a source of humanitarian funding: $342 million in 2022 and $79 million in 2024. Other large givers in 2025 were Saudi Arabia, Germany, the UN's emergency fund (CERF) and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) ([FTS 2025](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2025)).

## What the cuts mean

- More than **300 health facilities** had closed or stopped working because of funding shortages by mid-2026, according to OCHA ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ocha-somalia-faces-deepening-humanitarian-crisis-amid-drought-and-flood-risks)).
- Federal social benefit spending fell 88 percent in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- Bilateral grants to the federal budget reached only $19 million in 2025, against $170 million planned (same source).
- The UN's emergency fund (CERF) released **$16 million** for Somalia in 2026 to fill part of the gap ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-gets-dollar16m-as-un-releases-dollar160m-for-underfunded-crises)).
- The World Bank and IMF both name aid cuts as a main reason growth is slowing in 2026 ([World Bank, May 2026](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/05/13/somalia-growth-continues-but-shocks-and-aid-cuts-intensify-risks-to-jobs-and-livelihoods); [IMF, October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)).

## How aid reaches people

Much aid now goes to families as cash on their phones. Hormuud's EVC Plus is used by more than 145 aid groups to pay people ([TechCabal, June 2026](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)). The national safety net programme **Baxnaano**, run by the government with World Bank funding, has reached more than 3.7 million people with regular cash ([World Bank](https://shorthand.worldbankgroup.org/reforms-and-relief-how-somalia-turned-a-page-amid-a-global-debt-crisis/)).

## Climate money

The Green Climate Fund has 7 projects in Somalia worth **$182 million**, covering farming, clean energy and early warning of drought and floods ([Green Climate Fund, Somalia](https://www.greenclimate.fund/countries/somalia)).

## Aid compared with other money

Money sent home by Somalis abroad is larger than all aid. Families received $3.13 billion from relatives abroad in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). In 2023 remittances were already larger than all development and humanitarian aid combined ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)).

## Local groups

Somali aid groups are asking for a larger share of aid to go directly to local organisations. The 2025 Country Humanitarian Forum in Baidoa took up this "Somali-led" approach ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/baidoa-hosts-2025-country-humanitarian-forum-as-pressure-mounts-for-somali-led-aid-reform)).

## Data file

The 15 largest humanitarian donors to Somalia in each year from 2017 to 2026, with the yearly total, are in [humanitarian-funding-by-donor-2017-2026.csv](/data/economy/humanitarian-funding-by-donor-2017-2026.csv). Source: [UN OCHA Financial Tracking Service](https://fts.unocha.org/countries/206/summary/2026), checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Frankincense and myrrh: Somalia's resin trade

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Frankincense (foox, beeyo, maydi) and myrrh (malmal) are resins tapped from wild trees in the mountains of Sanaag and Bari. Maydi, from Boswellia frereana, is sold as the most expensive frankincense. Harvesters were paid about $5 to $7 a kilo in 2016 and about $6 in 2021, and one Hargeisa exporter estimated Somaliland's exports at more than 3,000 tonnes a year.

## The trees and the grades

Frankincense is a resin from *Boswellia* trees. In Somali regions two kinds are traded: *Boswellia carterii* (also called *B. sacra*), which also grows in [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/), and *Boswellia frereana*, sold as **maydi** ([Comboni Missionaries, citing Kontinente, 19 March 2021](https://combonimissionaries.ie/2021/03/19/somaliland-incense-sweet-smelling-fragrance-from-heaven/)). VOA described maydi as "the most expensive frankincense resin" ([VOA, 23 December 2016](https://www.voanews.com/amp/somaliland-frankincense-industry-threatened-by-high-demand/3647998.html)).

Younis Aroma, a firm in northern [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) certified by FairWild for sustainable wild harvesting, lists frankincense from *B. sacra* and *B. frereana*, myrrh from *Commiphora myrrha*, and opoponax from *Commiphora erythraea* ([FairWild, Younis Aroma](https://www.fairwild.org/all-fairwild-participants/younisaroma)).

## Where it grows

The trees grow on the cliffs of the Cal Madow mountains, which rise more than 2,400 metres above the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), around [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/) in Sanaag ([AP via Global News, Jason Patinkin, 24 December 2016](https://globalnews.ca/news/3146852/last-wild-frankincense-forests-are-under-threat-from-overharvesting/)). VOA photographed harvesters near Gudmo and Mader Moge and sorters in Erigavo and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([VOA, 2016](https://www.voanews.com/amp/somaliland-frankincense-industry-threatened-by-high-demand/3647998.html)). In Puntland the trade runs through [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region, with resin shipped from [Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/) port ([Radio Ergo, 7 June 2021](https://radioergo.org/en/2021/06/somali-frankincense-traders-in-puntland-turn-to-other-livelihoods/)).

## The work and the pay

| Who | Pay or price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Harvesters, Somaliland | Raw resin rose from about $1 a kilo to $5 to $7 over six years to 2016 | [AP, 2016](https://globalnews.ca/news/3146852/last-wild-frankincense-forests-are-under-threat-from-overharvesting/) |
| Harvesters, Mader Moge | About $6 a kilo, paid in dollars; each tapping gives 2 to 5 kg | [Comboni Missionaries, 2021](https://combonimissionaries.ie/2021/03/19/somaliland-incense-sweet-smelling-fragrance-from-heaven/) |
| Sorters, Erigavo | About 40 cents a kilo; the fastest sort about 5 kg a day | [Comboni Missionaries, 2021](https://combonimissionaries.ie/2021/03/19/somaliland-incense-sweet-smelling-fragrance-from-heaven/) |
| Harvester, Qandala | Local price fell from $5 to $6 a kilo to $2 in 2021 | [Radio Ergo, 2021](https://radioergo.org/en/2021/06/somali-frankincense-traders-in-puntland-turn-to-other-livelihoods/) |
| Harvester renting trees, Qandala | Paid $250 a year to rent two trees and earned about $3,000 a year, harvesting in June and October | [Radio Ergo, 2021](https://radioergo.org/en/2021/06/somali-frankincense-traders-in-puntland-turn-to-other-livelihoods/) |

Men climb the cliffs at dawn, some barefoot. A harvester told AP that every year some fall and break legs or die ([AP, 2016](https://globalnews.ca/news/3146852/last-wild-frankincense-forests-are-under-threat-from-overharvesting/)). In Mader Moge, 80 families live from resin, and Erigavo has about 100 resin merchants ([Comboni Missionaries, 2021](https://combonimissionaries.ie/2021/03/19/somaliland-incense-sweet-smelling-fragrance-from-heaven/)).

## Exports and buyers

- Hargeisa exporter Barkhad Jibril Hassan estimated [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s resin exports at more than 3,000 tonnes a year. His biggest customer was the US firm doTerra ([Comboni Missionaries, 2021](https://combonimissionaries.ie/2021/03/19/somaliland-incense-sweet-smelling-fragrance-from-heaven/)).
- Somaliland's environment minister, Shukri Ismail, told AP in 2016 that frankincense was the government's biggest source of revenue after livestock. Shipments went to Yemen and Saudi Arabia and on to Europe and the United States ([AP, 2016](https://globalnews.ca/news/3146852/last-wild-frankincense-forests-are-under-threat-from-overharvesting/)).
- From Qandala, resin went to Saudi Arabia and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/). One exporter sold 150 bags in 2020, against more than 1,200 bags in a normal year, after buyers stopped ordering during COVID-19. About 200 families in Qandala and [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/) turned to other work ([Radio Ergo, 2021](https://radioergo.org/en/2021/06/somali-frankincense-traders-in-puntland-turn-to-other-livelihoods/)).

## Overtapping and conflict

Ecologist Anjanette DeCarlo of Conserve Cal Madow told AP that adult trees were dying at an "alarming" rate because tappers cut too often and all year round, and that a new tree takes about 40 years before it can be tapped ([AP, 2016](https://globalnews.ca/news/3146852/last-wild-frankincense-forests-are-under-threat-from-overharvesting/)). In March 2025 Radio Ergo reported that fighting between Puntland forces and the Islamic State group in Bari had cut about 2,500 rural families off from their frankincense trees ([Environmental Peacebuilding Association, citing Radio Ergo, 11 March 2025](https://www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org/news/show/195d13e30367)).

## Sources disagree

- **Harvester prices.** AP gave $5 to $7 a kilo in 2016, a 2021 report from Mader Moge gave about $6, and Radio Ergo reported $2 a kilo in Qandala in 2021, down from $5 to $6 ([AP](https://globalnews.ca/news/3146852/last-wild-frankincense-forests-are-under-threat-from-overharvesting/); [Comboni Missionaries](https://combonimissionaries.ie/2021/03/19/somaliland-incense-sweet-smelling-fragrance-from-heaven/); [Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/2021/06/somali-frankincense-traders-in-puntland-turn-to-other-livelihoods/)).

For the rest of Somalia's exports, see [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).


---

# Somali Airlines (Shirkadda Duulimaadyada Soomaaliyeed), 1964 to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-airlines/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali Airlines was Somalia's national airline from 1964 to 1991. It began as a joint venture with Italy's Alitalia, flew to Rome, Frankfurt, Cairo, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Nairobi, and stopped flying when the civil war began in 1991. In July 2025 the government signed for two Airbus A320s to restart it; the latest reports, from August 2026, set a first flight for mid-September 2026.

## The short version

Somali Airlines was set up on **5 March 1964** and began domestic flights in July 1964. The Somali government and Alitalia each owned half. In 1977 the government bought out Alitalia's share. At its height in the 1980s it flew Boeing 707s from Mogadishu and Berbera to Europe, the Gulf and East Africa. Flights stopped in **1991** with the civil war ([Wikipedia, Somali Airlines, citing Flight International and Guttery's *Encyclopedia of African Airlines*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines)).

## Fleet and routes

From Flight International's yearly airline directories:

- **1965:** three Douglas DC-3s and two Cessna 180s, flying inside Somalia and to Aden ([Flight International, 15 April 1965](https://web.archive.org/web/20160306212258/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%202177.html)).
- **1970:** three DC-3s, four Vickers Viscounts and two Cessna 185s ([Flight International, 26 March 1970](https://web.archive.org/web/20131230142457/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200551.html)).
- **1974:** a Boeing 720B leased from Tempair, the airline's first jet ([Flight International, 7 February 1974](https://web.archive.org/web/20140107211259/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%200183.html)).
- **1985:** two Boeing 707-320Cs and two Fokker F27s, **714 staff**, flying from Mogadishu and Berbera to Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Nairobi and Rome ([Flight International, 30 March 1985](https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225126/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200980.html)).
- **1987:** an order for an Airbus A310 to replace the 707s on European and Middle East routes ([Wikipedia, citing Flight International, 7 November 1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines)).

A Nairobi service started in January 1966 was dropped in June 1966 after Kenya banned the airline's flights, during tensions between the two countries over the Northern Frontier District ([Wikipedia, citing Guttery 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines)).

## Accidents

The Aviation Safety Network records six events, three with deaths ([Aviation Safety Network, Somali Airlines](https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/operators/5298)):

| Date | Place | Aircraft | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 May 1970 | Mogadishu | Vickers Viscount | 5 of 30 |
| 16 August 1975 | Bosaso | Douglas C-47 | 0 of 11 |
| 20 July 1981 | Balcad | Fokker F27 (flight 40) | 50 of 50 |
| 17 May 1989 | Nairobi | Boeing 707 | 0 of 70 |
| 28 June 1989 | Hargeisa | Fokker F27 | 30 of 30 |

Flight 40 broke up in severe turbulence ([Aviation Safety Network](https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19810720-0)). The Fokker that crashed after take-off from Hargeisa in June 1989 was claimed by rebels to have been shot down ([Aviation Safety Network](https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19890628-1); [Flight International, January 1990](https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200101.html)).

## Plans to fly again

- **July 2012:** the government announced plans to revive the airline ([Laanta, 24 July 2012](https://laanta.net/2012/07/24/somalia-to-revive-national-airline-after-21-years/)).
- **December 2017:** Somalia took back control of its own airspace after 27 years ([Voice of America](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-takes-control-of-its-own-skies/4182804.html)).
- **28 July 2025:** at a ceremony at the Prime Minister's Office, the government signed to buy two Airbus A320s from Lima Holding Group to restart the airline. Transport Minister [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Nuuh said the planes would be flying within two months ([SONNA, 29 July 2025](https://sonna.so/en/the-return-of-the-white-star-somali-airlines-resumes-operations-after-three-decades/); [Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202363/somalia_buys_airbus_jets_to_relaunch_somali_airlines_after_33_year_hiatus.aspx)). He also said two or three more aircraft would follow ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/c2648e1321aa)).
- **27 October 2025:** the transport minister said flights would restart before the end of 2025 ([ch-aviation, 31 October 2025](https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/160023-somali-airlines-poised-to-resume-flights-by-ye25)). That date passed without flights.
- **August 2026:** the civil aviation authority said the airline was in its "final stages" and the first flight was expected "around mid-September" 2026. Regulatory and safety approvals were still needed ([ch-aviation, 19 August 2026](https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/170707-somali-airlines-now-targets-late-3q26-restart); [Bloomberg, 16 August 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-16/somalia-national-airline-to-resume-service-after-35-years); [Dawan Africa, 18 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-airlines-expected-to-resume-flights-in-mid-september)). No report of a first flight was found when this page was checked on 12 November 2026.

Today the airlines flying in Somalia are private firms. The largest local carriers include Daallo Airlines and Jubba Airways ([Wikipedia, Somali Airlines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines)).
See [Flying in Somalia: the private airlines since 1991](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) and [Mogadishu's economy](/en/economy/mogadishu-economy/).

## Sources disagree

- Reports describe the gap since 1991 as 33, 34 or 35 years, depending on the date of the report.
- The seller of the A320s is written as Lima Holding Group by [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) and as Lema Holdings in some other reports.
- Alitalia's share is given as 50 percent at the founding and 49 percent when the government bought it in 1977 ([Wikipedia, citing Guttery 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines)).


---

# Flying in Somalia: the private airlines since 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Since Somali Airlines stopped in 1991, flights in and out of Somalia have been run by private, mostly Somali-owned airlines. The oldest is Daallo Airlines, started in Djibouti in 1991, followed by Jubba Airways in 1998; the two merged their holding companies in 2015. Mogadishu airport recorded about 253,000 arrivals and 234,000 departures in 2023.

## The short version

When Somalia's national airline stopped in 1991, private firms took over. Most are owned by Somalis but registered in Djibouti, Dubai or Nairobi. They fly small and medium-sized planes between Somali towns and to Djibouti, Nairobi, Dubai, Jeddah and Entebbe. Foreign airlines such as Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Airways and Uganda Airlines also fly to Mogadishu ([EUAA, Somalia country focus 2025, citing Ahmed Nur Ali 2024](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility)). For the national airline and its planned return, see [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/).

## The airlines

| Airline | Founded | Founder | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daallo Airlines | 1991 (first flight 20 March 1991) | Mohammed Ibrahim Yassin Olad | Djibouti, later Dubai |
| Jubba Airways | 1998 (first flight May 1998) | Said Nur Qailie | Mogadishu, later Nairobi |
| Air Somalia | 2001 (closed 2002) | Somali owners | Somalia |
| African Express Airways | | Somali owners | Nairobi |
| Maandeeq Air | 2015 (first flight 15 October 2015) | Shueib Ali Warsame | Mogadishu |

Sources: [Wikipedia, Daallo Airlines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines); [Wikipedia, Jubba Airways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_Airways); [Wikipedia, Air Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Somalia); [Wikipedia, African Express Airways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Express_Airways); [Wikipedia, Maandeeq Air](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maandeeq_Air).

- **Daallo** began in Djibouti in 1991. In March 2000 it had 42 staff and flew to Berbera, [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), Djibouti, Dubai, Hargeisa, Jeddah, Mogadishu and Sharjah. It suspended all flights in March 2010 and resumed later that year ([Wikipedia, Daallo Airlines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines)).
- **Jubba Airways**' first flight in May 1998 was the first direct flight from Sharjah to Mogadishu since 1991. It flies to Mogadishu, Bosaso, Galkayo, Hargeisa, Djibouti and Dubai, and carries Hajj pilgrims ([Wikipedia, Jubba Airways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubba_Airways)).
- In **February 2015** Daallo and [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) formed a joint holding company, African Airways Alliance, while keeping their own names (same sources).
- **Air Somalia** was the first private airline wholly owned by Somalis. It had one Tupolev Tu-154, delivered in December 2000. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) banned it from its airspace in June 2001, and it stopped all flights in 2002 ([Wikipedia, Air Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Somalia)).
- **Maandeeq Air** started domestic flights in October 2015 and began flying Mogadishu to Nairobi in September 2024, using Fokker 50 and Fokker 70 planes ([Wikipedia, Maandeeq Air](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maandeeq_Air)).
- Other carriers flying inside Somalia include Freedom Airline Express, Salaam Air Express and Halla Airlines ([EUAA, citing Ahmed Nur Ali 2024](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility)).

## Traffic and the airspace

- In **2023** Mogadishu's [Aden Adde](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) airport recorded **253,008 arrivals** and **233,808 departures** ([EUAA, citing the Somali National Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract, November 2024](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility)).
- Somalia took back control of its own airspace in December 2017 ([Voice of America](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-takes-control-of-its-own-skies/4182804.html)). After new radio navigation equipment in 2023, daily flights through Somali airspace rose from about 220 to about 500 by June 2024 ([EUAA, citing Ahmed Nur Ali 2024](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility)).
- In February 2023 the IATA ticket settlement system for travel agents restarted in Mogadishu after 33 years (same source).
- Air travel is described as too expensive for most ordinary Somalis ([EUAA, citing the Finnish Immigration Service, 2020](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/212-mobility-and-accessibility)).

## Safety

- On **2 February 2016** a bomb exploded on [Daallo Airlines Flight 159](/en/society/air-crashes-in-somalia/) about 20 minutes after it left Mogadishu for Djibouti. The plane returned and landed; the only person killed was the man carrying the bomb, which officials said was hidden in a laptop. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed the attack ([Wikipedia, Daallo Airlines Flight 159](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines_Flight_159); [VOA, 6 February 2016](https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2016/02/sec-160206-voa02.htm)). In May 2016 a military court convicted 10 people ([VOA, 30 May 2016](https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2016/05/sec-160530-voa01.htm)).
- In **January 2025** the [Somali Civil Aviation Authority](/en/institutions/ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation/) issued orders to airlines that had been taking passengers without properly assigned aircraft, after complaints from passengers, and suspended some domestic aircraft until repairs were done. It did not name the airlines ([SONNA, 21 January 2025](https://sonna.so/en/scaa-ensures-continuity-of-domestic-and-international-flights-amid-safety-concerns)).
- Daallo Airlines is on the European Union's list of airlines banned from its airspace ([Wikipedia, Daallo Airlines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines)).

For the accident record of the old national airline, see [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/).

## Sources disagree

- **Who was first.** Air Somalia is described as the first private airline owned entirely by Somalis, though Daallo, also Somali-owned, began flying ten years earlier from Djibouti ([Wikipedia, Air Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Somalia); [Wikipedia, Daallo Airlines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines)).
- **Flight 159 timing.** Reports put the explosion at about 15 or about 20 minutes after take-off ([Wikipedia, Daallo Airlines Flight 159](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines_Flight_159); [VOA](https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2016/02/sec-160206-voa02.htm)).
- **Air Somalia's ban.** Somali media said the Somaliland ban was over the airline's name and the Somali star on its planes; Somaliland's aviation minister, Abdillahi Duale, disputed this ([Wikipedia, Air Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Somalia)).


---

# Sesame and bananas: Somalia's crop exports

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sesame is now Somalia's biggest export crop by value, grown mostly along the Shabelle and Juba rivers. Bananas were the country's main crop export before 1991: at the peak they employed over 120,000 people and earned about $90 million a year. Exports stopped in the war and restarted in small shipments to the Gulf in 2014 and 2019.

## The numbers

In its export strategy for 2025 to 2030, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry puts farm exports at about **$63 million in 2023**, about 7 percent of all goods exports. That figure covers sesame, bananas, citrus fruit, frankincense and myrrh ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, National Export Development and Promotion Strategy, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)). The Central Bank reported that sales of crops rose in 2025 (see [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/)).

## Sesame

- **The leading export crop.** The same strategy calls sesame "Somalia's leading export crop by value". It says Somali sesame sells for its high oil content and low use of chemicals, to buyers in China, the Middle East and Europe, and that two crops a year are possible ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)).
- **The farms.** A study in the Ministry of Agriculture's January 2025 report counted 3,098 smallholder sesame farmers in Bal'ad district, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). It names the farmer cooperatives Arif, Ali Sharaf, Moumin Group and 19 Mars, and says sesame from there goes to Dubai and other countries. Of the farmers surveyed, 57 percent sold to processors, 21 percent to hotels, 14 percent to schools or research bodies and 9 percent to other farmers ([Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Country Report on Agriculture, January 2025](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Country-Report-on-Agriculture-in-Somalia-Jan-2025-.pdf)).
- **What holds output down.** The same report lists little fertiliser, irrigation or pest control (same source).

## Bananas: the history

| Period | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | Italian colonial plantations began in the Juba and Shabelle valleys | [SAIS Perspectives, Wyatt Constantine, 17 May 2021](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia) |
| 1935 | A state monopoly, Regia azienda monopolio banane, shipped bananas to Italy in refrigerated boats | [SAIS Perspectives, 2021](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia) |
| After 1969 | Plantations were nationalised under the National Banana Board | [SAIS Perspectives, 2021](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia) |
| Peak years | Up to 200,000 tonnes a year, over 120,000 jobs and about $90 million in revenue | [Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, June 2024](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/A-Country-Report-on-Agriculture-in-Somalia-June-2024.pdf) |
| 1980s | The Italian firm De Nadai worked with the Somali state, and output rose again | [SAIS Perspectives, 2021](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia) |
| 1990 | Bananas earned about 30 percent of export earnings | [SAIS Perspectives, citing Webersik 2005](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia) |
| Late 1990s | Dole arrived in southern Somalia, and the local partners of Dole and De Nadai fought over the trade, the "banana wars". The El Niño floods of 1997 and 1998 destroyed most plantations and canals | [SAIS Perspectives, 2021](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia) |
| July 2014 | The largest shipment in a decade left Mogadishu port for Kuwait and the UAE, from Bal'ad, Afgoye, Awdheegle and Janaale | [Goobjoog, 10 July 2014](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-federal-government-exports-banana-to-kuwait-and-uae) |
| November 2019 | Two containers went to Saudi Arabia, under a project with the USAID-funded GEEL programme | [FreshPlaza, 29 November 2019](https://www.freshplaza.com/europe/article/9168492/somalia-resumes-banana-export-first-shipment-to-saudi-arabia/) |

Under the colonial plantations, girls aged 8 to 15 weeded and harvested for about 40 US cents a day, and about three-quarters of export earnings went abroad, according to a 1993 study cited by SAIS Perspectives ([SAIS Perspectives, citing Samatar 1993](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia)).

## Bananas today

- **Imports beat exports.** In 2024 Somalia imported $2.84 million of bananas from Ethiopia and Kenya, most from Ethiopia, according to UN Comtrade data reported by FreshPlaza ([FreshPlaza, 23 July 2026](https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9860148/somali-banana-growers-face-market-access-challenges/)).
- **Janaale** in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) once had 20,000 hectares of bananas. Growers there and in Buulo Mareer pay at road checkpoints (*isbaaro*) and pay al-Shabaab, and these costs push up their prices (same source).
- **New plants.** The Ministry of Agriculture backs tissue-culture plantlets, such as those from the Filsan company in [Afgoye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), and expects better planting material to raise yields by at least 25 percent ([Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, June 2024](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/A-Country-Report-on-Agriculture-in-Somalia-June-2024.pdf)).

## Citrus

Sun-dried lemons became one of Somalia's few lasting fruit exports after the banana trade fell, and farmers in Afgooye and [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) have replanted lemons ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- **How much sesame is exported.** The export strategy says Somalia exports about 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes of sesame a year ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)). The trade-data site Selina Wamucii gives 28,672 tonnes worth $43 million for 2019 ([Selina Wamucii](https://www.selinawamucii.com/insights/prices/somalia/sesame-seeds/)).
- **The banana peak.** The Ministry of Agriculture gives about $90 million at the peak, and dates the fast growth to the early 1970s ([MoAI, June 2024](https://moa.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/A-Country-Report-on-Agriculture-in-Somalia-June-2024.pdf)). SAIS Perspectives says output fell from about 1973 and rose again in the 1980s ([SAIS Perspectives, 2021](https://saisperspectives.com/2021-issue/2021/5/17/sustainable-development-and-commodity-production-a-critical-look-at-the-role-of-the-banana-trade-in-somalia)). The export strategy says exports peaked at over $90 million in the 1980s ([MoCI, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)).


---

# Fishing and the sea: Somalia's fisheries in numbers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has about 3,333 km of coast, the longest in mainland Africa. Fish exports were worth about $25.9 million in 2025 and about $145 million over five years, according to the Central Bank. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is estimated to cost the country about $300 million a year. In 2018 the federal government issued 31 tuna licences to Chinese longline vessels, its first foreign licences in over 20 years.

## The coast and the catch

Somalia's coast is about **3,333 km** long, the longest in mainland Africa, running from the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) to the Kenyan border. The Central Bank says the fishing industry has stayed small since the early 1990s. Small boats and industrial vessels supply fresh fish to local markets and for export ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Fish exports

- **2025:** fish exports passed **$25.86 million** ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Five years to 2025:** about **$144.97 million** of fish products were exported (same source).
- Higher sales of fish, meat and crops made up most of the fall in live animal exports in 2025 (same source). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).
- The Ministry of Commerce and Industry's export strategy put fish exports at about $15 million in 2023, about 2 percent of goods exports. It lists tuna, snapper, lobster and dried fish ([Ministry of Commerce and Industry, National Export Development and Promotion Strategy, 2026](https://moci.gov.so/en//wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NATIONAL-EXPORT-DEVELOPMENT-AND-PROMOTION-STRATEGY-FOR-SOMALIA_Final-Report.pdf)).

## Foreign licences

- **December 2018:** the federal government granted fishing rights to the China Overseas Fisheries Association, which represents 150 companies, under 31 tuna licences. A ministry adviser said waters up to 24 nautical miles (44 km) from shore were kept for local fishermen, and that the ministry could order ships into port for inspection ([Garowe Online, 13 December 2018](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/china-gets-fishing-rights-in-somalia-amid-deadlock-over-revenue-sharing)).
- **January 2019:** the UN described the 31 licences for Chinese longline vessels as the first foreign fishing licences in over 20 years, covering tuna and tuna-like species. The FAO, the Italian development agency and the World Bank had worked on the tuna deal since 2013 ([UN Somalia, 7 January 2019](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/34537)).
- **Who issues them.** The federal government and the member states had not agreed how to share fishing revenue ([Garowe Online, 2018](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/china-gets-fishing-rights-in-somalia-amid-deadlock-over-revenue-sharing)). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) issue their own licences without the federal government ([Daily Maverick, citing ISS Today, 13 March 2025](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-13-turkey-throws-somalia-lifeline-to-crack-down-on-illegal-fishing.md)).

## Illegal fishing

- **The cost.** Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs Somalia about **$300 million a year**, according to the Institute for Security Studies' ENACT programme ([ENACT, Halkano Wario and Samira Abdi Aden, 20 January 2026](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/research-papers/stolen-seas-somalias-struggle-with-illegal-fishing)).
- **Who.** ISS researchers name vessels from China, Iran, South Korea, Taiwan, Spain and other European countries. A Mogadishu researcher told them that the government rarely receives catch reports from licensed operators ([Daily Maverick, 13 March 2025](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-13-turkey-throws-somalia-lifeline-to-crack-down-on-illegal-fishing.md)).
- **Enforcement.** Trawling is banned in federal territorial waters. A case backed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime led to the arrest of 33 Iranian and Pakistani fishermen and fines totalling $356,000 ([Daily Maverick, citing ISS Today, 4 February 2025](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-04-local-and-global-cost-of-illegal-tuna-off-somalias-coast.md)).

## The Turkey agreement

A memorandum signed in February 2024 makes the Turkish armed forces Somalia's partner in maritime security for 10 years. ISS researchers report that, under the deals, Turkey is to train Somali forces and should receive 30 percent of revenue from Somalia's exclusive economic zone ([Daily Maverick, citing ISS Today, 13 March 2025](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-13-turkey-throws-somalia-lifeline-to-crack-down-on-illegal-fishing.md)).

## Sources disagree

- **The 24-mile zone in the China deal.** [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) quoted a ministry adviser saying waters up to 24 nautical miles were kept for local fishermen ([Garowe Online, 2018](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/china-gets-fishing-rights-in-somalia-amid-deadlock-over-revenue-sharing)). ISS researchers wrote that the December 2018 deal let Chinese companies fish within 24 nautical miles of the shore for $1 million ([Daily Maverick, 4 February 2025](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-04-local-and-global-cost-of-illegal-tuna-off-somalias-coast.md)).

For fishing firms, see the [farming, livestock and fishing directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/) and [Somali fishing companies](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/). For Somalia's ports, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).


---

# Baxnaano: Somalia's national cash safety net

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Baxnaano is Somalia's government-run safety net. Since 2019 it has paid poor families $20 a month by mobile money, rising to $60 in emergencies such as drought or locusts, and the World Bank says it has supported more than four million Somalis. Women receive the regular payments for their households.

## What it is

Baxnaano is the name of Somalia's **national safety net**, run by the federal **Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs** with support from the World Bank and the [Somalia Multi-Partner Fund](/en/relations/world-bank/) ([World Bank, December 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/12/10/turning-hope-into-action-investing-in-resilience-through-somalia-s-national-safety-net)).

It began in **2019** under the Shock Responsive Safety Net for Human Capital Project. It was designed as a **state-led** safety net system, run by the Somali government ([World Bank results brief, October 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)).

## How much families get

- **Regular support:** **$20 a month** per household, for a three-year cycle, linked to child nutrition ([World Bank, 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)).
- **Emergency support:** up to **$60 a month** for up to six months during droughts, floods or locust attacks (same source; [World Bank, December 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/12/10/turning-hope-into-action-investing-in-resilience-through-somalia-s-national-safety-net)).

## How it is paid

Payments go by **mobile money**. Women were **100 percent** of direct recipients of regular payments and 72 percent of recipients of the locust emergency payments ([World Bank, 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)). See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## How many people it reaches

- In its first two years, about **200,000 households** (over 1 million people) received regular payments, in 880 villages across 21 districts. About **100,000 households** got emergency payments after the desert locust outbreak ([World Bank, 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)).
- By December 2025 the World Bank said Baxnaano had supported **more than four million Somalis** ([World Bank, December 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/12/10/turning-hope-into-action-investing-in-resilience-through-somalia-s-national-safety-net)).

## Who pays for it

Early funding came from World Bank grants: $65 million in 2019, $40 million in 2020 for the locust response, and $185 million more in 2021 ([World Bank, 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)).

On 28 October 2025 the World Bank approved **BOOST-You**, a **$112 million** project ($100 million from IDA, $10 million from the Somalia Multi-Partner Fund and $2 million from the Global Shield Financing Facility). It will give regular and emergency cash to about **123,000 households (about 738,000 people)**, add cash linked to health and schooling, and aims to create **28,000 jobs for young people by 2029**, 16,800 of them for women ([World Bank, 28 October 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/10/28/over-738000-somalis-to-benefit-from-world-bank-supported-initiative-for-jobs-social-protection-and-climate-resilience)).

## One register for all programmes

The government is building a **Unified Social Registry** with a common registration form, so that one record of each household can be used by every support programme ([World Bank, 2022](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2022/10/10/developing-a-state-led-social-safety-net-system-to-boost-human-capital-and-build-resilience-in-somalia-the-baxnaano-prog)).

## Pressures in 2025 and 2026

Federal spending on social benefits fell 88 percent in 2025 as outside funding dropped ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Aid to Somalia](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).


---

# Oil and gas in Somalia: the deals, the law and the first offshore well

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/oil-and-gas/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has never produced oil commercially. In April 2026 Turkey's state oil company TPAO began drilling Curad-1, the country's first offshore well, about 370 km off Mogadishu. In late October 2026 the Somali Petroleum Authority said the well had reached rock where signs of oil can appear and expected to reach its target in December.

## The short version

Oil companies first searched Somalia in the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1980s firms including Amoco, Chevron, Conoco and Eni held concessions from the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), and declared "force majeure" when the war began, suspending their work without giving up their rights ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/investing-in-somalia-the-oil-and-gas-sector); [Hiiraan Online, November 2007](https://www.hiiraan.com/news2_rss/2007/Nov/the_history_of_hydrocarbon_oil_gas_exploration_activities_in_somalia.aspx)). There was almost no exploration for about 20 years, until new licences were announced in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in 2012 ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/investing-in-somalia-the-oil-and-gas-sector)). See [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).

## Who is in charge

- The **Somalia Petroleum Corporation**, owned by the federal government under the Ministry of Natural Resources, was set up in 2007 after the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) passed a petroleum law ([Wikipedia, Somalia Petroleum Corporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_Petroleum_Corporation)).
- The **Petroleum Law** was approved in February 2020. It created the **Somali Petroleum Authority** as the regulator, which issues licences and reviews production sharing agreements ([S&P Global, 4 August 2020](https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/080420-somalia-establishes-oil-regulator-as-bids-open-for-first-ever-licensing-round)). One summary of the law says it gives 55 percent of oil revenue to the federal government and 45 percent to the member states ([Wikipedia, Mineral industry of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_industry_of_Somalia)).
- Somalia's first offshore **licensing round**, for seven blocks, opened on 4 August 2020 and closed on 12 March 2021 ([S&P Global](https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/080420-somalia-establishes-oil-regulator-as-bids-open-for-first-ever-licensing-round); [Wikipedia, Mineral industry of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_industry_of_Somalia)).

## The disputed deals

| Date | Company | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| February 2022 | Coastline Exploration (US) | Petroleum Minister Abdirashid Ahmed signed seven production sharing agreements for offshore blocks. President Farmaajo and Prime Minister Roble each declared the deal "null and void", citing a decree banning agreements with foreign firms during the election period. The minister said the president knew of the signing ([OE Digital, 21 February 2022](https://www.oedigital.com/news/494456-coastline-exploration-signs-seven-psas-for-offshore-blocks-in-somalia); [VOA, 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-government-us-company-dispute-legality-of-oil-deal-/6536605.html); [Hiiraan Online, February 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Feb/185369/petroleum_minister_says_farmajo_signed_off_on_offshore_exploration_contract.aspx)) |
| 12 March 2024 | Liberty Petroleum (US) | Three agreements for offshore blocks 131, 190 and 206, signed by Petroleum Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed. On 13 March Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre called the deal "null and void" because it had not been reviewed by the Inter-Ministerial Contract Committee under the 2016 contracts law ([Hiiraan Online, March 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Mar/195402/liberty_petroleum_and_somalia_sign_key_offshore_oil_exploration_agreements.aspx); [Garowe Online, 13 March 2024](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-pm-hamza-abdi-barre-rejects-oil-deal-with-american-firm)) |

A 2021 investigation reported on an earlier proposed agreement that would have given Liberty and Coastline access to all seven offshore blocks ([DeSmog, 8 April 2021](https://www.desmog.com/2021/04/08/us-somalia-oil-exploration-deal/)).

## The Turkey agreements and Curad-1

- **7 March 2024:** [Somalia and Turkey](/en/relations/turkey/) signed an agreement in Istanbul on cooperation in oil and gas ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkiye-somalia-sign-deal-on-cooperation-in-hydrocarbons-field)).
- **19 July 2024:** Turkey's state oil company TPAO signed an exploration and production agreement for three offshore blocks ([Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-inks-offshore-oil-and-gas-deal-with-somalia-207909); [Garowe Online, 23 April 2025](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/turkey-to-secure-up-to-90-of-somalia-s-oil-and-gas-revenue-document-reveals)).
- **October 2024 onward:** the Turkish survey ship Oruç Reis mapped 4,464 square kilometres across the three blocks ([Drilling Contractor, 31 August 2026](https://drillingcontractor.org/cagri-bey-nears-early-completion-at-curad-1-well-offshore-somalia-79662)).
- **10 April 2025:** a second agreement covered three onshore blocks of about 16,000 square kilometres ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkiye-somalia-sign-deal-for-onshore-hydrocarbon-exploration)).
- **April 2026:** the drillship Çağrı Bey began drilling **Curad-1**, about 370 km off Mogadishu, in about 3,500 metres of water, aiming for a total depth of about 7,500 metres. About 470 to 480 people worked on the drilling and support ships ([Drilling Contractor](https://drillingcontractor.org/cagri-bey-nears-early-completion-at-curad-1-well-offshore-somalia-79662)).
- **29 October 2026:** Somali Petroleum Authority chairman Abdulkadir Aden Mohamed said the drill had passed into Early Cretaceous rock, "where the signs showing that oil is present begin", with about 2,000 metres left. He hoped to reach the target in December. Rock samples are being studied jointly by Turkish experts and the authority ([Dawan Africa, 29 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-first-offshore-oil-well-hits-critical-zone-petroleum-authority-says)).

**Revenue terms.** In April 2025 the Swedish-based site Nordic Monitor published what it said was the July 2024 agreement. It reported that Turkey could take up to 90 percent of yearly output to recover its costs, and that Somalia would receive 5 percent of revenue. Somali lawmakers who approved the deal told Nordic Monitor they had not seen the document, and the government did not comment ([Garowe Online, 23 April 2025](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/turkey-to-secure-up-to-90-of-somalia-s-oil-and-gas-revenue-document-reveals)).

## Somaliland and Puntland

Both have issued their own licences. Genel Energy received an onshore exploration licence from Somaliland in August 2012. Its foreign staff left in September 2013 over security threats, and it later returned. Africa Oil took overlapping rights from Puntland in the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) valley in the same period, and a 2014 UN report warned that exploration there risked fuelling conflict ([UCL, January 2023](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/jan/opinion-somalilands-oil-find-could-reset-regional-balance-heres-how); [Sweet Crude Reports](https://sweetcrudereports.com/somaliland-opposition-calls-for-probe-into-oil-company-pullout)). In December 2022 the federal government declared Genel's operations in Somaliland illegal, saying only federal authorities can grant oil permits ([Bloomberg, 28 December 2022](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-28/somalia-declares-genel-oil-operations-in-disputed-region-illegal); [JURIST, December 2022](https://www.jurist.org/news/2022/12/somalia-rejects-genel-energys-illegal-claim-to-oil-exploration/)). See [The economy of Somaliland](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).

## Sources disagree

- **The law's year.** Most sources date the Petroleum Law to February 2020; some give 2019 ([S&P Global](https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/080420-somalia-establishes-oil-regulator-as-bids-open-for-first-ever-licensing-round); [Wikipedia, Mineral industry of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_industry_of_Somalia)).
- **When Curad-1 finishes.** In August 2026 the authority's director general expected drilling to end by late September; in late October its chairman said December ([Drilling Contractor](https://drillingcontractor.org/cagri-bey-nears-early-completion-at-curad-1-well-offshore-somalia-79662); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-first-offshore-oil-well-hits-critical-zone-petroleum-authority-says)).
- **The size of Turkey's offshore blocks.** Reports give about 5,000 square kilometres for each of the three blocks, or 15,000 in total, while the seismic survey covered 4,464 square kilometres ([Drilling Contractor](https://drillingcontractor.org/cagri-bey-nears-early-completion-at-curad-1-well-offshore-somalia-79662); [Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-inks-offshore-oil-and-gas-deal-with-somalia-207909)).


---

# Jobs, work and poverty in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/jobs-and-poverty/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2022 just over half of Somalis (54.4 percent) lived below the national poverty line, and only about a quarter of adults were working or looking for work. Youth unemployment was 30.1 percent, and far fewer new jobs appear each year than young people looking for them.

## Poverty

The 2022 Somalia Integrated Household Budget Survey found that **54.4 percent** of people lived below the national poverty line ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, food security fact sheet](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Food-Security-Facts-Sheets-2024.pdf)).

The World Bank's reading of the same survey ([World Bank blog, 30 April 2025](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/africacan/five-facts-about-poverty-in-somalia-afe-0425)):

- About **3 in 4 nomadic people** are poor. Towns have the lowest rate.
- Because towns are growing fast, **two thirds of poor people now live in towns**.
- About three quarters of people lack basic services such as schooling, water or sanitation. Almost every nomadic person does.
- Districts with more poverty are also more exposed to drought and floods.
- About half of nomadic households own fewer than two "livestock units" per person, too few to live from the herd.

Larger households are poorer: poverty is 24.3 percent in households of 1 to 3 people and 63.4 percent in households of 10 or more ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Food-Security-Facts-Sheets-2024.pdf)).

## Who works

All figures for people aged 15 and over from the [Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf):

- **Employment rate:** 21.7 percent of adults had work (men 32.9 percent, women 12.2 percent).
- **Labour force participation:** 25.9 percent were working or looking for work (men 39.9 percent, women 15.4 percent).
- **Unemployment:** 16.3 percent of those in the labour force. It is higher in towns (19.3 percent) than in rural (10.6 percent) and nomadic areas (5.5 percent).
- **Youth unemployment:** **30.1 percent** overall, 35.6 percent in towns, and higher for young women (32.0 percent) than young men (29.0 percent).

The World Bank calls this one of the lowest labour force participation rates in the region. Most people who work do so in low-paid, informal work ([World Bank blog](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/africacan/five-facts-about-poverty-in-somalia-afe-0425)).

## What kind of work

About a quarter of employed people do clerical support work, and another quarter are in professional services. Women are more often in basic jobs (16.0 percent) ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

## Small family businesses

- **15.8 percent** of households ran their own business in the past year: 18.0 percent in towns, 16.9 percent in rural areas and 3.2 percent among nomads.
- **More women than men own these businesses:** 56.7 percent are owned by women alone, 35.4 percent by men alone.
- The most common are **street or market trading** (37.2 percent) and small shops and workshops such as tailors, barbers, mechanics and carpenters (23.4 percent).
- Only **34.7 percent** are registered.

All four: [SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf).

## Money tools families use

- **8.8 percent** of adults own a bank account (10.3 percent in towns, 2.0 percent among nomads).
- **85 percent** own a mobile phone, and 81.8 percent of owners use it for money.
- **27.6 percent** of people aged 10 and over used the internet in the past three months.

All three: [SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf).

## Young people and jobs

About **500,000 young people** enter the labour market each year, against about **80,000 new jobs**, according to figures cited at the launch of a national startup network in August 2026 ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)). The World Bank warns that drought and aid cuts are putting jobs and livelihoods at risk in 2026 ([World Bank, May 2026](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/05/13/somalia-growth-continues-but-shocks-and-aid-cuts-intensify-risks-to-jobs-and-livelihoods)).

## Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ran its own household survey with its own labour figures. Those are not included in the national numbers above ([Somaliland Ministry of Planning](https://mopnd.govsomaliland.org/site/downloadfile/file/MjAyNS8wOS8yMDI1LTA5LTExLTA4LTU0LTM5LTIxNDMtMTc1NzU4MDg3OS5wZGY%3D)).


---

# Somalia's National Transformation Plan 2025 to 2029 and Vision 2060

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/national-transformation-plan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Transformation Plan (NTP) is the federal government's five-year plan for 2025 to 2029, launched in March 2025. It has four pillars (governance, the economy, people and skills, and climate) and is the first of seven five-year phases toward Somalia's Centennial Vision 2060.

## What it is

The **National Transformation Plan (NTP-I, 2025 to 2029)** is the federal government's medium-term development plan. The Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development announced its launch on 17 March 2025 ([Ministry of Planning](https://mop.gov.so/somalia-launches-national-transformation-plan-ntp-2025-2029/)). It follows the earlier National Development Plans, the last of which covered 2020 to 2024 ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/kenya%20somalia%20trade-somalia%20economy/127920/somalia-pm-hamza-barre-launches-five-year-national-transformation-plan)).

The Central Bank describes it as "a decisive shift in the country's development strategy", aimed at private-sector-led growth, stronger state institutions and jobs for young people ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## The four pillars

From the plan's executive summary ([Ministry of Planning, NTP Executive Summary](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NTP-Executive-Summary.pdf)):

1. **Transformational governance:** institutions, justice, security and inclusive politics, including a 30 percent quota for women, up from 12.33 percent of seats in Parliament.
2. **Sustainable economic transformation:** farming, industry, energy, infrastructure, tourism, public finance and financial services.
3. **Social and human capital transformation:** education, health, social protection and jobs.
4. **Environment and climate resilience.**

## Its main goals

The plan's stated goal is "to consolidate peace and create sustainable economic growth and improved social well-being". Its objectives include building transparent and accountable institutions, keeping the economy stable, and laying the foundations to diversify it (same source).

## Some economic targets for 2029

From the executive summary ([Ministry of Planning](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NTP-Executive-Summary.pdf)):

- **Energy and extractive industries:** attract **$5.3 billion** of private investment, create 15,000 jobs, cut electricity prices by **50 percent**, and add $1.45 billion to GDP. National bodies for oil (SONOC) and electricity (SONEC) are to coordinate the sector.
- **Tourism:** 50,000 to 75,000 visitors a year, and training for 10,000 hospitality workers a year.
- **Public finance:** stronger revenue collection, financial inclusion and private-sector growth to reduce dependence on donors.
- **Farming and food:** targets for seed, crops and poultry, including 86 million eggs a year to cut imports.

## How it was made

The plan was drafted through a pre-lab phase of desk reviews and consultations, sector "labs" for each pillar, and a post-lab phase that turned lab outcomes into the final plan and a set of bankable projects. Government, the private sector, civil society, the UN and development partners took part (same source).

## Centennial Vision 2060

The NTP is the first step of Somalia's **Centennial Vision 2060**, which aims "to create a prosperous, secure, democratic, inclusive, and competitive country with a high-quality life" ([Ministry of Planning, NTP Executive Summary](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NTP-Executive-Summary.pdf)). The vision is to be delivered through **seven five-year phases** of national transformation, ending at the 100th anniversary of independence in 2060 ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-launches-vision-2060-roadmap-to-guide-long-term-development)).

## How it is paid for

The federal budget for 2026 is about $1.39 billion, two thirds of it expected from donors ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-parliament-approves-1-3b-budget-donors-cover-66-7)). The plan's energy target alone counts on $5.3 billion of private investment ([Ministry of Planning, NTP Executive Summary](https://mop.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NTP-Executive-Summary.pdf)). See [The federal budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/) and [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/).


---

# Prices and the cost of living in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Prices in Somalia rose 6.8 percent in the year to September 2026, down from a peak of 8.4 percent in May. Leisure, eating out, schooling, health care and housing costs rose most, while drought pushed grain prices in farming areas to about double their level a year earlier.

## The latest figure

Somalia's consumer price index rose **6.8 percent** in the twelve months to September 2026, according to the Somali National Bureau of Statistics. Prices rose 0.5 percent in September alone ([SNBS, Consumer Price Index, September 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/CPI-2026_September.pdf)).

The yearly rate climbed from 4.0 percent in January 2025 to a peak of **8.4 percent in May 2026**, then eased to 6.7 percent in July and 6.9 percent in August. On average, prices in 2025 were 3.7 percent higher than in 2024 ([SNBS, CPI December 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CPI-December-2025.pdf)). The month-by-month figures are in the data file below.

## What costs more

Year to September 2026, by type of spending ([SNBS, CPI September 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/CPI-2026_September.pdf)):

- **Recreation, sport and culture:** up 14.3 percent.
- **Restaurants and hotels:** up 13.7 percent.
- **Education:** up 11.5 percent.
- **Health:** up 9.6 percent.
- **Housing, water, electricity and fuel:** up 9.2 percent.
- **Clothing and shoes:** up 9.2 percent.
- **Transport:** up 6.8 percent, after falling 1.6 percent in the year to July.
- **Food and soft drinks:** up 5.6 percent.

Only one group fell: alcohol, tobacco and narcotics, which includes khat, down 0.4 percent (same source). See [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/).

## Prices by state

Year to September 2026 ([SNBS, CPI September 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/CPI-2026_September.pdf)):

| State | Price rise |
|---|---|
| Banaadir (Mogadishu) | 8.7% |
| Puntland (estimated by the bureau) | 7.7% |
| Galmudug | 6.8% |
| Jubaland | 6.0% |
| Hirshabelle | 5.5% |
| South-West State | 5.3% |

[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) briefly reached 17.7 percent in May 2026 ([SNBS, CPI May 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/May-CPI-Report-2026.pdf)). The bureau's index does not cover [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Prices since 2017

Before 2025 the bureau measured prices in **Mogadishu only**. Its yearly rate each December ([SNBS monthly reports, 2017 to 2024 archives](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CPI-2024.zip)):

| December of | Price rise over 12 months (Mogadishu) |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 5.3% |
| 2018 | 3.5% |
| 2019 | 3.1% |
| 2020 | 4.8% |
| 2021 | 5.7% |
| 2022 | 6.1% |
| 2023 | 6.6% |
| 2024 | 5.6% |

The highest rate in the old series was **7.7 percent in July 2022**, which the bureau put down mainly to drought cutting food production ([SNBS, CPI July 2022, in the 2022 archive](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CPI-2022.zip)). In mid-2019 the bureau named khat (miraa) prices as one reason for the rise ([SNBS, CPI June 2019, in the 2019 archive](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CPI-2019.zip)).

Since January 2025 the index covers every federal member state and uses spending weights from the 2022 household survey, so figures from before and after 2025 are not directly comparable ([SNBS, CPI July 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CPI-_July-2026.pdf)).

## How prices are measured

The bureau collects prices twice a month, in the first and third weeks, in Mogadishu and in every federal member state. The index covers **537 items** in 13 groups, weighted by what families reported buying in the 2022 national household survey ([SNBS, CPI July 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CPI-_July-2026.pdf)).

## Grain prices after the drought

The [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains of October to December 2025 largely did not come. In southern Somalia, the Deyr cereal harvest was about 15,600 tonnes, 83 percent below the long-term average and the lowest since 1995 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that between January and June 2026, sorghum prices in Baidoa rose about 25 percent and maize prices in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) about 70 percent. They eased in July with the Gu harvest but were still about **double** their level a year earlier. In Mogadishu, cereal prices were 25 to 45 percent above the year before ([FAO GIEWS, Somalia country brief](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM)).

Between November 2025 and May 2026, the price of wheat flour rose about 66 percent in [Wanlaweyn](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) and 42 percent in Qoryooley ([SNBS, June 2026 report](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/June-2026-%E2%80%93-REPORT-5.pdf)).

## Why prices move

- **Imports:** food is Somalia's largest import, so world food and fuel prices pass straight into local markets ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Rain:** poor rainy seasons cut local harvests and raise grain prices (FAO, above).
- **Transport and distribution:** in March 2026 the bureau reported cost pressure in transport, food distribution and imported goods ([SNBS, Inflation Outlook, April 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Somalias-Inflation-Outlook.pdf)).
- **The shilling:** small purchases in shillings cost more when the shilling falls. It lost 7.1 percent against the dollar in 2025. See [The Somali shilling and the dollar](/en/economy/somali-shilling-and-the-dollar/).

## Forecasts

The IMF expects inflation of **6.5 percent** in 2026 ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)). The World Bank expects about 6 percent ([World Bank, May 2026](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/05/13/somalia-growth-continues-but-shocks-and-aid-cuts-intensify-risks-to-jobs-and-livelihoods)). The Association of African Central Banks uses 7 percent as its ceiling for price stability ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What it means for families

A 2026 joint assessment by the national statistics bureau, FAO, [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and WFP found that **47 percent** of households cannot pay for a minimum basket of food and other essentials without help. Among displaced families the share is **77 percent**. For food alone, 29 percent of households fall below the minimum, rising to 53 percent among displaced families and 38 percent in rural areas. Aid lowers the share below the full basket only from 47 to 43 percent ([CFSVA 2026, SNBS, FAO, FSNAU and WFP](https://fsnau.org/downloads/CFSVA-2026-SNBS-FAO-FSNAU-WFP.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- The Central Bank's [Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) gives inflation in December 2025 as **5.3 percent**. The statistics bureau's own December report gives **5.1 percent** ([SNBS, CPI December 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CPI-December-2025.pdf)).
- The Central Bank gives average inflation in 2024 as **3.3 percent** ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The bureau's old Mogadishu-only index showed yearly rates of **4.8 to 6.2 percent** in every month of 2024 ([SNBS 2024 archive](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CPI-2024.zip)).
- The bureau's March 2026 report gives **7.8 percent**; its April report revises March to **7.9 percent** ([SNBS, CPI April 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/April-CPI-Report-2026.pdf)). The data file uses each month's first report.

## Data file

Monthly and yearly price changes for January 2025 to September 2026, with yearly rates by state from May 2025, are in [consumer-prices-monthly-2025-2026.csv](/data/economy/consumer-prices-monthly-2025-2026.csv). Each row links to the bureau's report for that month. The older Mogadishu-only yearly rates for every month from January 2017 to December 2024 are in [inflation-monthly-2017-2024.csv](/data/economy/inflation-monthly-2017-2024.csv).


---

# Somalia's economic history, 1920s to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/economic-history/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Over a century Somalia's economy went through colonial plantations and trade, a young republic living on aid and customs in the 1960s, state control after 1970 followed by IMF reforms in the 1980s, and, after 1991, an economy rebuilt by private firms, money transfer companies and money from Somalis abroad.

## Before independence

Italy ruled the south, Britain the north and France the area that became Djibouti. In 1947 the whole budget of the British protectorate was only £213,139 ([US Library of Congress, Somalia country study](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/57.htm)).

In the south, Italian settlers built plantations along the [Shabelle River](/en/regions/shabelle-river/) from 1919. They grew cotton, sugar and bananas. Banana exports to Italy began in 1927 and grew under Italian tariffs that kept out other bananas; by 1955 the plantations produced 94,000 tons. A sugar estate near Jowhar met about 80 percent of the country's demand by 1950 (same source). In both north and south, a new class of Somali civil servants, teachers, soldiers and traders grew up (same source).

The money of the south was the somalo from 1950, and the [Somali National Bank](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/) opened on 4 July 1960 ([Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)).

## The young republic, 1960 to 1969

At independence most Somalis lived from herding and farming. The new state could collect customs at ports but found it hard to tax herders and farmers. Italian and British subsidies paid about **31 percent** of the government's running budget in the first three years ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/58.htm)).

A five-year plan of 1963, worth more than $100 million in grants and loans, built roads, ports and irrigation, and set up model farms in Baidoa, [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and Tog [Wajaale](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/). In the early 1960s the value and number of animals exported about doubled, and livestock overtook bananas as the leading export. The country became nearly self-sufficient in sugar (same source). But the budget still depended on foreign aid, and grain imports rose quickly as towns grew (same source).

## State control, 1970 to 1980

After the military took power in October 1969, the government declared Somalia a socialist state on 20 October 1970. The Somali word chosen for socialism was **hantiwadaag**, which can be translated as "sharing of livestock"; herds were not nationalised ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/59.htm)).

- The state **nationalised banks**, insurance, fuel distribution and the sugar factory, and created state agencies for building materials and food (same source).
- Spending on farming rose from under 10 percent of the budget to 29.1 percent by 1974, much of it on cooperatives (same source).
- During the 1974 to 1975 drought, the government, with Soviet help, moved about **90,000 herders** to new farming and fishing cooperatives in the south (same source).

After the 1977 to 1978 Ogaden war, debt rose faster than exports. By the end of the 1970s, debt equalled 4 billion shillings, owed in roughly equal thirds to socialist countries, Western countries and Arab oil producers. Factory output fell: canned meat dropped from 14.4 million cans in 1975 to 1.5 million in 1979 ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)).

## Debt and IMF reforms, 1980 to 1990

From 1980 Somalia turned to the IMF and World Bank. Agreements in 1981 and 1982 ended the state's role as employer of last resort for school leavers and its monopoly on grain trading. In 1983 Saudi Arabia stopped importing Somali cattle, citing disease, then sheep and goats, which hit export earnings and the budget ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/61.htm)).

In 1985 the Paris Club rescheduled Somalia's debt, the shilling was devalued, and a free market for foreign exchange was opened for most private trade. A foreign exchange auction began in 1986. By 1988 a law allowed private banks (same source).

Official figures for the 1980s showed falling income per person, but much of the real economy was outside them. About **165,000 Somalis worked abroad**, mostly in Arab countries, and one estimate put their remittances at over $330 million a year, against $30 million recorded through banks ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/64.htm)). Livestock traders kept 60 percent of their foreign earnings to import goods under a system called *franco valuta* (same source).

## Collapse and private rebuilding, 1991 to 2012

In January 1991 the state collapsed and the Central Bank stopped working ([Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)). With no banks, **money transfer companies** carried money from relatives abroad and held deposits for families, firms and aid agencies ([Rift Valley Institute, 2014](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)). Private telecom companies built mobile networks, and by the late 2000s mobile money spread. By 2012, remittances were at least $1.2 billion a year, more than aid, exports or foreign investment (same source).

## Rebuilding the state's institutions, 2012 to today

- **2012:** the Central Bank was re-established by law ([Central Bank of Somalia, History](https://centralbank.gov.so/history/)).
- **2019 to 2021:** mobile money rules, then the first mobile money licence ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)).
- **December 2023:** debt relief under HIPC, worth $4.5 billion ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).
- **2024:** Somalia joined the East African Community ([EAC](https://eac.int/press-releases/3049-somalia-finally-joins-eac-as-the-bloc-s-8th-partner-state)).
- **2025:** instant payments, the first microfinance licences, and bank assets of $2.3 billion ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

See [Somalia's economy at a glance](/en/economy/economy-at-a-glance/) for today's numbers.


---

# Mogadishu's economy: the city's money, taxes and costs

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/mogadishu-economy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu is Somalia's biggest market and port, and most government revenue is collected there. The city government (Banadir Regional Administration) collected about $58.5 million in 2024 and approved a $63.8 million budget for 2026. Most businesses are small and informal, and an unskilled worker often earns less than the roughly $200 to $250 a month it costs one adult to live.

## The short version

Mogadishu (Muqdisho) is the seat of the federal government, the main port for southern and central Somalia, and the country's biggest market. Most of the government's tax money is collected in the city ([EUAA, citing World Bank 2021](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)). The city is run by the Banadir Regional Administration (BRA), whose mayor is also governor of Banadir region. For the city's history and people, see [Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and Banaadir](/en/regions/mogadishu/).

## The city budget

| Year | Budget | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | about $68 million | [Somali Public Agenda, July 2025](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/) |
| 2025 | $101,274,078 (approved 30 December 2024) | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/banadir-municipality-approves-101-3-million-budget-for-2025) |
| 2026 | $63.8 million (approved 45 votes to 1) | [Dawan Africa, 22 December 2025](https://www.dawan.africa/news/banadir-region-approves-dollar638-million-budget-for-2026) |

## Where the city's money comes from

A study by the Mogadishu research group Somali Public Agenda found that the BRA collected **$47 million in 2023** and **$58.5 million in 2024**, not counting grants ([Somali Public Agenda, 2025](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)). Its main sources, from interviews with officials:

- **Road tax and fines**, about $600,000 to $750,000 a month. A bajaaj (three-wheeler) pays $15 a month.
- **Land services** (building permits, land titles, transfers), about $300,000 a month.
- **Civic registry** (birth certificates and similar), $240,000 to $250,000 a month.
- **Business licences**, about $3 million in 2024. Licences cost $50 to $800 depending on size.
- **15 percent of port revenue**, which the federal government collects at Mogadishu port.
- Taxes on property, markets, khat and billboards.

Property taxes and land services are collected by two private companies that keep a share. A senior BRA official told the researchers the two contracts "did not follow proper procurement procedures" ([Somali Public Agenda](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)). The study found the BRA has no law behind its taxes and relies on directives from the mayor ([Somali Public Agenda](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)).

## Where it goes

About **85 percent** of the 2024 budget went on running costs, including pay for 3,000 to 3,400 staff costing about $1.3 million a month. Sources told the researchers that staff numbers were rising, with new people added to the payroll "without apparent responsibilities or needs justifying their recruitment" ([Somali Public Agenda](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)). They also said the city has a road maintenance budget but most roads built in the past ten years have potholes or have been washed away (same source). About 15 percent was left for building and services such as roads, schools and health ([Somali Public Agenda](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)).

## Business and the port

- About two-thirds of businesses are informal. Most have 1 to 5 workers; only 7 percent have more than 20 ([EUAA, citing World Bank 2021](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)).
- **Bakaara**, the biggest market, has more than 20,000 indoor businesses in about 7,000 buildings (same source). See [Bakaara market](/en/economy/bakaara-market/).
- Women hold a large share of micro businesses, especially food and tea shops (same source).
- The port is run by the Turkish company Albayrak, which took over in 2014 ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkish-firm-modernizes-and-runs-somalia-s-gateway/3700103)). See [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).
- [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) also collects its own taxes in the city from businesses and people building homes ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)).

## What things cost

These figures come from interviews by the EU Asylum Agency in March 2025, and are not official statistics ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)):

| Item | Monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Survival costs for one adult, without aid | $200 to $250 |
| Small stone house, 2 to 3 rooms (Karaan, Yaqshid, Kahda) | $90 to $250 rent |
| Flat near the airport | $700 to $1,200 rent |
| Electricity, family of six | $25 to $35 |
| Tap water, family of six | $20 to $30 |
| Private secondary school, per child | $30 to $50 |

| Job | Monthly pay |
|---|---|
| Maid | $50 to $100 |
| Watchman | $100 to $150 |
| Waiter | $150 to $200 |
| Beginner nurse or ordinary soldier | about $200 |

For prices across the country, see [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/). For power prices, see [Electricity in Somalia](/en/economy/electricity/).

## Sources disagree

How many people live in Mogadishu is disputed, which changes every "per person" figure:

- The 2014 UN population estimate counted about **1.65 million** in Banadir ([UNFPA, Population Estimation Survey 2014](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population-Estimation-Survey-of-Somalia-PESS-2013-2014.pdf)).
- Somali Public Agenda puts it at about **2 million**, and notes the city government claims **over 3.5 million** ([Somali Public Agenda](https://somalipublicagenda.org/examining-benadir-regional-administration-bra/)).


---

# Telecoms and internet in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/telecoms/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's phone networks were built by private Somali companies after 1991. Hormuud, Somtel, Golis and Telesom are the largest, and seven mobile operators hold spectrum licences from the National Communications Authority. In 2022, 85 percent of adults owned a phone, but only 27.6 percent of people had used the internet in the past three months.

## How many people are connected

The 2022 national household survey found ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)):

- **85 percent** of people aged 15 and over owned a mobile phone, with little difference between towns, villages and nomadic areas.
- **81.8 percent** of phone owners used their phone for money transfers and payments.
- **27.6 percent** of people aged 10 and over had used the internet in the past three months, mostly outside the home.

Phone and internet prices fell 1.8 percent in the year to July 2026 ([SNBS, CPI July 2026](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CPI-_July-2026.pdf)).

## The main companies

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has given **spectrum licences** to seven mobile operators: Amtel Somalia, [Golis Telecom Somalia](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/), [Hormuud Telecom Somalia](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/), Somtel Ltd, [Somtel Somalia](/en/businesses/somtel/), Somtel Telecommunications Company and Telesom ([NCA, licence register](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses)).

- **Hormuud Telecom** is the largest network in southern and central Somalia and runs EVC Plus, the largest mobile money service ([TechCabal, June 2026](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)). It launched 5G in 2024 in Mogadishu, Kismayo, Galkayo, Baidoa, Dhusamareeb, Beledweyne, [Afgoye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), Merca and Dhobley, and says its network covers 81 percent of people ([Connecting Africa, March 2024](https://connectingafrica.com/5g-networks/hormuud-telecom-launches-5g-in-somalia)).
- **Somtel** runs eDahab mobile money and co-owns the DARE1 undersea cable ([NCA, submarine cables](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)).
- **Golis Telecom** serves [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and the northeast and runs Sahal mobile money ([Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia)).
- **Telesom** serves [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and runs Zaad mobile money ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)).

For each company's history, see [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/).

The NCA also lists licensed internet providers, regional network builders, virtual operators (such as Somnet and [Durdur](/en/society/dur-dur-band/)), the Somali Research and Education Network, and 21 registrars for the country's **.so** web domain ([NCA, licence register](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses)).

## Market share

Estimates differ widely. Omdia put Hormuud's share at over 39 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2023 ([Connecting Africa](https://connectingafrica.com/5g-networks/hormuud-telecom-launches-5g-in-somalia)). Other estimates give Hormuud about 45 to 47 percent ([TS2](https://ts2.tech/en/internet-access-in-somalia-growth-challenges-and-the-future-of-connectivity/)).

## The regulator

The **National Communications Authority** was set up in 2018 under the National Communications Act. On the ITU's ICT Regulatory Tracker, Somalia's score rose from 0 in 2007 to **77.5 in 2024**, the largest gain of any country measured ([Dawan Africa, May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-tops-global-ict-reforms-gains-from-2007-2024-itu-says)).

## Undersea cables

Five undersea cables land in Somalia ([NCA, submarine cables](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)):

- **DARE1:** Mogadishu and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/). Somali landing owned by Somtel (50 percent), Hormuud (40 percent) and Djibouti Telecom (10 percent).
- **PEACE:** Mogadishu, Kismayo, Berbera and Bosaso. Somali segments owned by Hormuud.
- **G2A:** Berbera and Bosaso, with Golis, Hormuud and Telesom.
- **2Africa:** Berbera and Mogadishu.
- **EASSy:** Mogadishu.

Damage to cables in the Red Sea has slowed Somalia's internet in recent years ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/disruption-of-the-red-sea-internet-cables-affecting-somalia)).

## Satellite internet

The NCA approved an operating licence for **Starlink** on 13 April 2025, to bring satellite internet to remote areas ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/national-communications-authority-grants-operational-license-to-starlink)). Its cost limits who can use it ([Tech in Africa](https://www.techinafrica.com/?p=40569)).

## How it grew

After the state collapsed in 1991, private Somali companies built the phone networks with no state regulator. Mobile money operators ran for years without a licence, until the Central Bank's first licence in 2021 ([University of Oxford research](https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1ac123d0-39ae-4ad2-8717-23e6b4fedcf2/files/rnz806072v); [VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). Today telecoms are one of the main areas for foreign investment ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).


---

# Bakaara market: Mogadishu's biggest market

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/bakaara-market/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bakaara (Suuqa Bakaaraha) is Mogadishu's biggest market. A World Bank study in 2021 counted more than 20,000 indoor businesses in about 7,000 buildings, plus many outdoor traders. It sells grain, fuel, clothes, electronics, medicine and money exchange. Fire is a regular loss: blazes in 2007, 2023, 2024 and 2026 burned hundreds of shops.

## How big it is

Bakara is the biggest market in Mogadishu. It "hosts more than 20 000 indoor businesses housed in some 7 000 buildings in addition to numerous outdoor businesses" ([EUAA, Somalia country focus 2025, citing World Bank, Somalia Country Economic Memorandum, June 2021, p. 104](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)). Radio Ergo calls it the largest market in Mogadishu ([Radio Ergo, 23 May 2024](https://radioergo.org/en/2024/05/another-fire-in-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-ruin-for-families/)).

## The name and the start

The market's Somali name is Suuqa Bakaaraha. Wikipedia says the name comes from *baqaar*, a grain store, and that the market began in late 1972, under the government of [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([Wikipedia, Bakaara Market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakaara_Market)).

## What it sells

Wikipedia lists maize, sorghum, beans, peanuts, sesame, wheat, rice, petrol and medicine ([Wikipedia, Bakaara Market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakaara_Market)). In August 2011 AFP described "a sprawling network of narrow streets" selling soft drinks, electronic goods and restaurant supplies, with money exchange services ([AFP via Terra Daily, 15 August 2011](https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Somali_businesses_warily_return_to_war-hit_market_999.html)). The traders who lost stock in recent fires ran clothing shops, tailoring, jewellery stores, juice stalls, electronics shops and clothing warehouses ([Radio Ergo, 7 February 2023](https://radioergo.org/en/2023/02/69636/); [Radio Ergo, 23 May 2024](https://radioergo.org/en/2024/05/another-fire-in-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-ruin-for-families/); [Dawan Africa, 21 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/fire-erupts-at-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-extensive-property-damage)).

## The war years

- **October 1993:** the market was one of the areas where the [Battle of Mogadishu](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/) was fought ([Wikipedia, Bakaara Market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakaara_Market)).
- **2011:** a UN report estimated that al-Shabaab earned up to **$60 million a year** from Bakara. African Union troops ([AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)) took the market in August 2011. On 15 August AFP found traders slowly coming back, and troops found 137 artillery shells in an empty house there ([AFP via Terra Daily, 15 August 2011](https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Somali_businesses_warily_return_to_war-hit_market_999.html)).
- **2012:** by April 2012 buildings damaged in the fighting were being repaired, and the main street was busy again ([VOA, Peter Heinlein, 30 April 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/370225/p1.html)).

## Fires

| When | What burned | Source |
|---|---|---|
| October 2007 | About one-third of the market, including some 200 shops and many smaller stalls, by a business committee's estimate | [Mail & Guardian, citing AFP, 4 October 2007](https://mg.co.za/article/2007-10-04-massive-fire-a-death-blow-to-somali-market) |
| 21 January 2023 | Property of about 300 families; about 50 workers lost jobs. The Bakara business committee put the loss at about $2.5 million. One tailor lost about $11,000, including seven sewing machines | [Radio Ergo, 7 February 2023](https://radioergo.org/en/2023/02/69636/) |
| 5 April 2024 | Around 200 small businesses. One clothing trader put his loss at $70,000, including a $30,000 stock loan | [Radio Ergo, 23 May 2024](https://radioergo.org/en/2024/05/another-fire-in-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-ruin-for-families/) |
| Late 2025 | Parts of the market, mainly the medicine section, Suuqa Daawada | [Dawan Africa, 21 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/fire-erupts-at-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-extensive-property-damage) |
| July 2026 | Clothing warehouses, electronics shops and a restaurant, spreading to two-storey buildings. Firefighters brought it under control after several hours; no deaths were reported | [Dawan Africa, 21 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/fire-erupts-at-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-extensive-property-damage) |

An engineer told Radio Ergo that the market has bare electrical wires near a fuel station and "no systems to handle fire outbreaks", and that fire engines struggle to reach burning shops. The Banadir Regional Administration said it planned to improve emergency firefighting services ([Radio Ergo, 23 May 2024](https://radioergo.org/en/2024/05/another-fire-in-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-ruin-for-families/)).

## Sources disagree

- **The 2007 fire.** AFP reported witnesses and security sources saying a stray bullet may have started it, with many residents blaming fighting near the former Defence Ministry ([Mail & Guardian, citing AFP](https://mg.co.za/article/2007-10-04-massive-fire-a-death-blow-to-somali-market)). Wikipedia, citing The [Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/) Dispatch, says a shell fired during fighting started it ([Wikipedia, Bakaara Market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakaara_Market)).
- **The cause of recent fires.** Radio Ergo reported an electrical fault as the believed cause in 2023 ([Radio Ergo, 2023](https://radioergo.org/en/2023/02/69636/)). For July 2026, witnesses suggested an electrical fault, and the authorities had not confirmed the cause ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/fire-erupts-at-mogadishus-bakara-market-causes-extensive-property-damage)).

For shops and markets, see the [shops, food and markets directory](/en/businesses/shops-food-and-markets-directory/). For the city's budget, taxes, rents and wages, see [Mogadishu's economy](/en/economy/mogadishu-economy/).


---

# Who connects Somalia: the phone companies, from Somali Telecom Group to Hormuud

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's phone networks are run by private Somali companies that grew up after the state network collapsed in 1991. The first, Somali Telecom Group, opened in Bosaso in 1994. Today Hormuud is the largest in the south and centre, Golis in Puntland and Telesom in Somaliland, with Somtel, NationLink, Telcom, Somafone and Amtel also operating.

## The short version

When the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) fell in 1991, the state telephone network, which had held a complete monopoly, collapsed. Private Somali firms filled the gap, with no taxes, no licences and no regulator. Golis Telecom spent $2.7 million on Chinese equipment and had repaid the whole sum two years later ([Hassan M. Osman, Somali Economic Forum, in Hogan Lovells Africa newsletter, September 2012](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)). By 2012 there were about 11 operators, and a fixed line cost about $10 a month with free unlimited local calls (same source). For the regulator, cables and internet use, see [Telecoms and internet in Somalia](/en/economy/telecoms/).

## The companies

| Company | Founded | Based in | Main area | Mobile money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somali Telecom Group (STG) | 1993 (first service 1994) | Dubai head office | Puntland, Somaliland | |
| Netco | 1993 | Bosaso | Puntland | |
| NationLink | 1997 | Mogadishu | South and centre | |
| Telcom | 1997 | Mogadishu (Bakaara) | Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Bosaso | |
| Hormuud | 2002 | Mogadishu | South and centre | EVC Plus |
| Golis | 2002 | Bosaso | Puntland | Sahal |
| Telesom | 2002 | Hargeisa | Somaliland | Zaad |
| Somafone | 2003 | Mogadishu | South and centre | |
| Somtel | 2009 (Dahabshiil stake 2008) | Hargeisa | Somaliland and Somalia | eDahab |

Sources for each row are in the sections below.

**Somali Telecom Group and Netco.** STG was founded in 1993 in Rockville, Maryland, in the United States, and opened its first service in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) in 1994 under the name North Eastern Telecommunications Company (Netco). It then opened in Hargeisa (1994), Galkayo (1997), Mogadishu (1998), [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (1999) and Garowe (2000) ([Wikipedia, Somali Telecom Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Telecom_Group)). The 2012 Hogan Lovells newsletter calls Somali Telecom "the first private telecommunication company to open in Somalia in 1994" ([Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)). Netco is owned by Ismael Haji Abdi ([Wikipedia, Netco (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netco_(Somalia))).

**NationLink.** Founded in September 1997 by the businessman Abdirizak Ido, who Forbes listed among Somalia's multi-millionaires in 2017 ([Forbes, 29 August 2017](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2017/08/29/5-multi-millionaires-from-somalia-you-should-know/); [Wikipedia, NationLink Telecom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NationLink_Telecom)).

**Telcom.** Headquartered in [Bakaara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) market, Mogadishu, with about 750 staff and offices in Dubai and [London](/en/diaspora/london/). It ran linked networks in Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Bosaso ([Wikipedia, Telcom (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telcom_(Somalia))). With Hormuud and NationLink it jointly owned Global Internet Company, which in 2009 was the largest internet provider and the only dial-up provider in south and central Somalia ([Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia)).

**Hormuud.** Founded in Mogadishu in 2002 by a group of small shareholders, starting with 16 sites. In 2021 it said it had about 20,000 full- and part-time staff, 45 percent of them engineers, and more than 800 customer service centres, and that 3 million people used EVC Plus ([Total Telecom, 5 November 2021](https://totaltele.com/20-years-of-driving-connectivity-in-somalia/)). In 2012 its sales were about $40 million a year ([Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)). See [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/).

**[Golis](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/).** Founded in 2002 in Bosaso. It is the largest operator in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), covering more than 50 districts, and runs the Sahal mobile money service ([Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia); [Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)). In August 2011 Salaam Bank launched a service called Kaaftoon with Golis ([Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia)).

**[Telesom](/en/businesses/telesom/).** Founded in Hargeisa in 2002 by local investors, the first telecom company to operate in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It runs the [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) mobile money service ([Telesom, About](https://www.telesom.com/about); [GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)).

**Somafone.** Set up in 2003 in Mogadishu as a subsidiary of Somafone FZ LLC of Dubai Internet City, with more than 150 staff ([Wikipedia, Somafone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somafone)).

**[Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/).** Based in Hargeisa. The money transfer company [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) bought a majority stake in 2008; Wikipedia gives its ownership as 95 percent Dahabshiil and 5 percent public shares ([Wikipedia, Somtel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel); [Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia)). It runs eDahab and co-owns the DARE1 undersea cable landing ([NCA, submarine cables](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)). See [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/).

**Amtel.** Listed by the National Communications Authority as one of seven mobile operators holding a spectrum licence ([NCA, licence register](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses)).

## How the companies work together

- In **2005** several operators signed an interconnection deal to set prices and maintain their networks ([Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia)). The Hogan Lovells newsletter describes them as cooperating "to maintain their networks and set prices" ([Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)).
- In **July 2014** Hormuud, NationLink and Somtel agreed to set up the Somali Telecommunication Company so their customers could call across the three networks ([Wikipedia, citing TeleGeography, 23 July 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia)).
- In **2022** the National Communications Authority set an interconnection framework, which Golis joined ([NCA, interconnection framework](https://nca.gov.so/interconnection-framework/)).

## Pressure from armed groups

On 30 September 2011 al-Shabaab ordered NationLink, Telcom and Dahabshiil to stop operating in areas it held. The order was withdrawn a few days later on condition that the firms paid it zakat. Hormuud was not named in the order ([IRIN, October 2011](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/93885/somalia-al-shabab-tax-move-threatens-livelihoods)). In January 2014 al-Shabaab ordered telecom companies to shut down mobile internet in areas it controlled ([Al Jazeera, 9 January 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/01/al-shabab-bans-internet-somalia-20141981213614575.html)).

## Sources disagree

- **Who came first.** The 2012 newsletter calls Golis "among the first" to set up, but in the same article names Somali Telecom as the first private operator, in 1994. Golis gives its own founding year as 2002 ([Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf); [Wikipedia, Somali Telecom Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Telecom_Group)). Netco's founding year is given as 1993, but STG lists its Bosaso service as opening in 1994.
- **Golis profit.** The 2012 newsletter says Golis reported over $40 million of profit in 2005, the same figure it gives for Hormuud's yearly sales ([Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)).
- **Hormuud's size.** Reported staff numbers run from about 7,000 to more than 35,000, and shareholder counts from about 12,000 to 189,000, depending on the source and year ([Total Telecom](https://totaltele.com/20-years-of-driving-connectivity-in-somalia/); [Wikipedia, Hormuud Telecom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)).
- **The 2011 date.** IRIN dates al-Shabaab's order to 30 September 2011 ([IRIN](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/93885/somalia-al-shabab-tax-move-threatens-livelihoods)); the trade union federation ITUC gave 2 October ([ITUC OnLine, 5 October 2011](https://www.goiam.org/?p=39394)).


---

# The economy of Somaliland: budget, shilling, Zaad and Berbera

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somaliland-economy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland runs its own budget, central bank and currency. Its 2026 budget is about $424.5 million, its economy was put at about $4.6 billion in 2024 by its planning ministry, and daily life runs on Zaad and eDahab mobile money in US dollars alongside the Somaliland shilling.

## The basics

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has run its own administration in the northwest since 1991, with its own budget, central bank and currency. Its figures are reported separately from the federal government's.

- **Size of the economy:** about **$4.58 billion** in 2024, or about **$912 per person**, according to Somaliland's Ministry of Planning and National Development ([Wikipedia, Economy of Somaliland, citing the ministry's GDP Report 2024](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Somaliland)).
- **Population used by the government:** about 6.25 million in 2024 (same source).

These figures are produced by Somaliland's own statistics office and are not part of the federal national accounts.

## The budget

Somaliland's cabinet endorsed a record budget for 2026 of about **4.58 trillion Somaliland shillings, about $424.5 million**, on 29 November 2025, citing a strong revenue outlook ([Horn Diplomat, 29 November 2025](https://www.horndiplomat.com/somaliland-cabinet-endorses-record-424-million-budget-for-2026-citing-strong-revenue-outlook/)). A presidential decree of 23 December 2025 put it into effect ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/the-president-of-the-republic-of-somaliland-issues-a-presidential-decree-on-the-execution-of-the-2026-national-budget)). In mid-2026 the finance ministry presented its 2027 budget priorities to parliament ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607200062.html)).

## The currency

Somaliland issues the **Somaliland shilling** through the [Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/). It was introduced on **18 October 1994**, after parliament backed President Egal's plan in September 1994, at 1 Somaliland shilling to 100 Somali shillings; the Somali shilling stopped being legal tender there on 31 January 1995. The first coin, a 1-shilling piece, was minted in 1994 at the Pobjoy Mint in England ([Wikipedia, Somaliland shilling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_shilling)). In August 2026 the authorities set an official rate of **11,000 shillings per dollar (buying) and 11,100 (selling)**. Money changers must now register, at $700 plus a $130 annual tax, and unlicensed changers can no longer exchange through [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and eDahab. Hundreds of informal changers lost their work ([Radio Ergo, 25 August 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/08/somaliland-closes-black-markets-with-outcry-from-informal-local-money-changers/)).

## Mobile money

**Zaad**, run by [Telesom](/en/businesses/telesom/), holds money in US dollars and is used for most daily payments. Telesom added a currency exchange function to Zaad so users can switch between dollars and shillings on the phone ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)). **eDahab**, run by [Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/), is the second service.

## Banks and finance

- **Wadaag Bank** opened on 31 August 2025 as Somaliland's sixth licensed bank and its first digital-first Islamic bank. Its wallet connects to Zaad and eDahab, and it sells shares to the public ([Tech Africa](https://tech.africa/?p=88129)).
- Somaliland engaged AlHuda CIBE to draft rules for Islamic banking ([Salaam Gateway](https://salaamgateway.com/story/somaliland-engages-alhuda-cibe-to-develop-islamic-banking-regulations)).
- A **$500,000 interest-free loan scheme** for young entrepreneurs was launched ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-launches-dollar500000-interest-free-loan-scheme-for-young-entrepreneurs)).
- Somaliland cut business registration fees by 50 percent in 2021 ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-commerce-ministry-cuts-50-of-business-registration-fees)).

## Factories

The largest single factory investment is the Coca-Cola bottling plant run by **[Somaliland Beverage Industries](/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/)**, founded in 2010 by the businessman Ahmed Osman Guelleh. The plant opened on 22 May 2012. In 2012 it had 57 workers and made 11,000 bottles an hour for more than 120 customers in Somaliland, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Mogadishu ([NPR, 28 August 2012](https://www.npr.org/2012/08/28/160117706/somaliland-a-pocket-of-stability-in-a-chaotic-region); [Wikipedia, Somaliland Beverage Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries)). Its cost is given as $17 million by NPR and Wikipedia, but $15 million by Reuters at the time and by The Star in 2019 ([The Star, 29 May 2019](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2019-05-29-sbi-coca-cola-sets-the-pace-for-industrialisation-in-somaliland)).

## Berbera port

DP World of Dubai agreed in 2016 to manage and expand Berbera port under a $442 million joint venture with Somaliland ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/dp-world-signs-442m-joint-venture-with-somaliland-1.1825624)). In January 2026 the federal government announced it was cancelling port agreements with the UAE, including at Berbera. Somaliland called that decision legally invalid, and DP World said its operations continue under existing agreements ([The Standard](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/africa/article/2001538373/somalia-cancels-all-uae-deals-after-somaliland-yemeni-spats)). See [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Money from abroad and telecoms

[Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), the largest Somali money transfer company, was founded in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia, Dahabshiil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)). Three undersea internet cables land at Berbera: PEACE, 2Africa and G2A, the last co-owned by Telesom, Golis and Hormuud ([National Communications Authority](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)).

## Sources differ

Older outside estimates of Somaliland's economy, from before its own GDP reports, were much lower and are not comparable ([Wikipedia, Economy of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Somaliland)). Somaliland's household survey uses its own methods ([Somaliland Ministry of Planning](https://mopnd.govsomaliland.org/site/downloadfile/file/MjAyNS8wOS8yMDI1LTA5LTExLTA4LTU0LTM5LTIxNDMtMTc1NzU4MDg3OS5wZGY%3D)).


---

# How Somalia's federal member states raise and spend money

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/member-states-money/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Each federal member state runs its own budget. In 2025 Puntland raised $100 million of its own revenue, far more than any other state, while South West, Hirshabelle and Galmudug relied on donor grants for most of their money. The federal government sent about $180 million to the states that year.

## The states' money in 2025

All figures for 2025 come from Ministry of Finance data published by the [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).

**[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)**
- Revenue and grants: $119 million, of which **$100 million was its own revenue** (84 percent): $83 million in taxes and $16 million in fees and charges.
- Donor grants: $19 million.
- Spending: $118 million, including $56 million in salaries, $43 million in goods and services, and **$18 million on building and equipment**, the most of any state.

**[Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)**
- Revenue and grants: $70 million, of which $37 million was its own revenue ($28 million in taxes).
- Donor grants: $33 million.
- Spending: $68 million, including $41 million in salaries and $5 million on building.

**[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/)**
- Revenue and grants: $33 million, of which $11 million was its own revenue.
- Donor grants: $22 million, about two thirds of the total.
- Spending: $29 million, including $11 million in salaries and $3 million on building.

**[South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)**
- Revenue and grants: $26 million, of which $5 million was its own revenue.
- Donor grants: $21 million.
- Spending: $25 million, including $2 million on building.

**[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)**
- Revenue and grants: $24 million, of which $8 million was its own revenue.
- Donor grants: $17 million.
- Spending: $24 million, including $9 million in salaries and $1 million on building.

## What the numbers show

- Every state spent close to what it received, and most ended the year with a small surplus.
- Running costs, mainly salaries and goods, took 85 to 94 percent of each state's spending. Money for roads, buildings and equipment was small everywhere.
- Puntland raises most of its own money. South West, Hirshabelle and Galmudug depend mainly on grants.

All three points: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf).

## Money from the federal government

The federal government transferred about **$180 million** to the member states in 2025, up 12 percent from $160 million in 2024, against $239.5 million planned (same source).

The IMF recommends one shared sales tax between the federal government and the states, and stronger customs and income tax collection ([IMF, 5 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)). In the 2026 budget consultations, the Ministry of Finance noted that member states still collect and use their own taxes ([Ministry of Finance, 2026 Budget Consultation Report](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/2026%20Budget%20Consultation%20Report.pdf)).

## Puntland's state bank

Puntland runs its own **State Bank of Puntland**, set up in 1998 and based in Garowe. It has nine branches, including [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), Galkayo, Qardho, [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/) and [Calula](/en/regions/caluula/), and about 200 staff in 2025. Its governor in 2026 is Abdirisak Warsame Serar. It follows federal financial laws because Puntland has not yet passed its own ([Wikipedia, State Bank of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bank_of_Puntland)). On 27 April 2026 Puntland's president laid the foundation stone for a new branch in Badhan, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Dawan Africa, 27 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-president-breaks-ground-on-state-bank-branch-in-badhan)). In 2021 the bank stopped businesses and banks accepting $50 notes because of widespread forgeries; it allowed them again in February 2025 ([Goobjoog News, 19 February 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/puntland-central-bank-okays-use-of-50-note-after-4-year-suspension-over-counterfeiting)). See [The Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/).

## Next year

Puntland's cabinet approved a 2027 budget of more than **$308 million** ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-cabinet-approves-2027-budget-exceeding-dollar308-million)).

## Not covered here

Banadir (Mogadishu) is run by the Banadir Regional Administration, and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) keeps its own accounts. See [The economy of Somaliland](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/) and [The federal budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/).


---

# Somali media companies: who founded and owns Somali TV, radio and news sites

Source: https://calankii.com/en/economy/somali-media-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most Somali media are private companies started after 1991, many by Somalis abroad. HornAfrik was opened in Mogadishu in 1999 by three Somali Canadians; Hiiraan Online was founded in Ottawa the same year by a former Somali Airlines captain; Shabelle Media Network began in Merca in 2002; Universal TV, set up in 2005, broadcasts by satellite from London. Founding years for about 30 outlets are listed below with sources.

## The short version

When the state broadcaster stopped working in 1991, private Somali companies filled the gap with FM radio, then satellite TV and news websites. Media Landscapes notes that many of the Somali-language satellite TV channels were founded in the diaspora ([Media Landscapes, Somalia: television](https://medialandscapes.org/country/somalia/media/television)). Two TV services are run by authorities: Somali National Television (1983) in Mogadishu and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) National TV (2004) in Hargeisa (same source; [Wikipedia, Mass media in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Somalia)). For how Somalis get their news and the safety of journalists, see [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## The best-known companies

**HornAfrik (1999 to 2010).** Opened in Mogadishu on **12 December 1999** by **Ahmed Abdisalam Adan, Mohamed Elmi and Ali Iman Sharmarke**, Somali emigrants to Canada. It was the first independent radio network headquartered in Mogadishu and ran Radio HornAfrik, Capital Voice, HornAfrik TV, a website and a training centre ([Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Mohamed Elmi](http://www.cjfe.org/cjfe_gala/award_winners/Mohamed_Elmi); [Wikipedia, HornAfrik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HornAfrik)). Its founders won CJFE's International Press Freedom Award in 2002. Ali Iman Sharmarke was killed in Mogadishu in 2007 ([CJFE, Ali Iman Sharmarke](http://www.cjfe.org/cjfe_gala/award_winners/Ali_Iman_Sharmarke)). HornAfrik closed in 2010 ([Wikipedia, HornAfrik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HornAfrik)).

**Hiiraan Online (1999).** A news website founded in **[Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) on 1 July 1999** by **Ahmed Gure**, a former [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/) captain, and still run from Ottawa. It publishes in English and Somali and carries job adverts for aid agencies and government ([University of Alberta, Minority Media archive](http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/MinorityMedia/items/show/354); [Open Society Foundations, Mapping digital media, December 2011](https://www.issuelab.org/resources/13092/13092.pdf)).

**Shabelle Media Network (2002).** Founded in **2002 in [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)** by a group of young Somali graduates and later moved to Mogadishu; it began satellite TV to Africa, Asia and Australia and in 2005 added North America and Europe ([Radio Netherlands Media Network, 30 April 2005, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121201051112/http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/new-somali-satellite-tv-station-launched)). Its owner is Abdimaalik Yusuf Banna ([Wikipedia, Shabelle Media Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabelle_Media_Network)). Reporters Without Borders named Radio [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) its media of the year in 2010 ([RSF, December 2010, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20101216022733/http://en.rsf.org/somalia-press-freedom-prize-goes-to-somali-10-12-2010,39003.html)). Several of its directors and reporters were killed between 2007 and 2012 ([VOA, 21 September 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/four-journalists-killed-in-somalia-in-24-hours/1512442.html)).

**Universal TV (2005).** A private satellite channel set up in **2005**, with studios in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and Kuala Lumpur, described as the first and largest Somali satellite network of its type ([Mapping the Somali Media, 2012](https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/152265/e2d1cfa0839cf2bbb992b7a8f41f7c2a.pdf); [Somali Directory UK, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171221223719/http://www.somalidirectory.co.uk/Universal-TV-175-84.htm)). A UK company, Universal Somali TV Limited, is on the Companies House register ([Companies House, 10839282](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10839282)). Somaliland police closed its Hargeisa office on 27 June 2020, and Somaliland withdrew its licence on 12 February 2025 ([Somaliland.com, archived 2020](https://web.archive.org/web/20200627200559/https://www.somaliland.com/news/universal-tv-a-somali-news-channel-in-somaliland-shut-down/); [Somali Magazine, 2025](https://somalimagazine.so/somaliland-revokes-universal-tvs-license-tightens-grip-on-media/)). A Somaliland minister named its owner as Engineer Ahmed Abubakar ([Horn Observer](https://hornobserver.com/articles/3184/Somaliland-officially-withdraws-licence-from-Universal-TV-over-critical-reporting)).

**Horn Cable TV (2003).** A private news channel in Hargeisa, owned by Farhan Haji Ali ([Wikipedia, Horn Cable Television](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Cable_Television)).

**Garowe Online (2004).** A bilingual news site in Garowe owned by Garowe News Group, which also owns [Radio Garowe](/en/society/puntland-radio-and-news/). A BBC analysis in 2011 described it as read every morning by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ministers and officials ([Wikipedia, Garowe Online](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Online)).

## Founding years of other outlets

From the table in Wikipedia's article on Somali media ([Wikipedia, Mass media in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Somalia)):

| Outlet | Type | Founded | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio Gaalkacyo | Radio | 1993 | Galkayo |
| Dawan Tribune | Press | 2000 | Hargeisa |
| SBC (Somali Broadcasting Corporation) | Radio and TV | 2001 | Bosaso |
| Puntland Post | News site | 2001 | Garowe |
| Horseed Media | News site and radio | 2002 | Bosaso |
| Geeska Afrika | Press | 2003 | Hargeisa |
| Eastern Television Network | TV | 2005 | Bosaso |
| Ogaal | Newspaper | 2005 | Hargeisa |
| Star FM | Radio | 2005 | Mogadishu |
| Dalmar Press | Press | 2006 | Mogadishu |
| Risaala Radio | Radio | 24 April 2011 | Mogadishu |
| Mustaqbal Radio | Radio | 15 March 2012 | Mogadishu |
| Radio Dalsan | Radio | 1 April 2012 | Mogadishu |
| Goobjoog FM and Goobjoog TV | Radio and TV | 2012 | Mogadishu |
| Puntland TV and Radio | Radio and TV | 2013 | Garowe |
| Somali Cable TV | TV | 2015 | Mogadishu |
| Radio Hiddo | Radio | 2015 | Mogadishu |
| Som Production | Radio | 2019 | Mogadishu |

## Sources disagree

- **HornAfrik's founders.** CJFE and Wikipedia name three founders; some versions of the Wikipedia article list only two (sources above).
- **HornAfrik's closure.** Wikipedia gives 2010 in its summary and says it closed "the year after" its 2008 ninth anniversary ([Wikipedia, HornAfrik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HornAfrik)).
- **Horseed Media.** The same Wikipedia table gives 2002 in one row and 2008 in another ([Wikipedia, Mass media in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Somalia)).


---

# Disasters in Somalia: a list from 1974 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/disasters-in-somalia-list/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> This is a dated list of Somalia's recorded disasters: droughts and famines, floods, cyclones, the 2004 tsunami, disease outbreaks, fires and air and boat disasters. The deadliest were the 1991–92 famine (about 212,000 to 248,000 deaths), the 2010–12 famine (about 258,000) and the 2016–18 and 2020–23 droughts. Each line links to the page or UN record with the figures.

## How this list works

Entries from 1997 onward follow the disaster records that ReliefWeb, the UN's humanitarian information service, keeps for Somalia. Each record has a GLIDE number and collects dated reports from OCHA, WHO, FAO, the Red Cross and others ([ReliefWeb, Somalia disasters](https://reliefweb.int/country/som#disasters)). Earlier entries come from the pages linked. Figures are the ones given on each linked page or record.

## Droughts and famines

| Years | Event | Deaths | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973–1975 | Dabadheer drought | about 18,000 | [Dabadheer](/en/society/drought-1973-1975-dabadheer/) |
| 1991–1993 | Famine in the south | about 212,000 to 248,000 | [1991–93 famine](/en/society/famine-1991-1993/) |
| 2010–2012 | Famine, declared 20 July 2011, ended 3 February 2012 | about 258,000 | [2010–12 famine](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/) |
| 2016–2018 | Drought | about 45,000 excess deaths (estimate) | [2016–18 drought](/en/society/drought-2016-2018/) |
| 2020–2023 | Drought, five poor rainy seasons in a row | 71,100 excess deaths, Jan 2022 to Jun 2024 (estimate) | [2020–23 drought](/en/society/drought-2020-2023/) |

ReliefWeb also lists a regional "Horn of Africa crisis" for 2011–2012, which "affected 13 million people" across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and neighbours ([ReliefWeb, DR-2011-000029-KEN](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/dr-2011-000029-ken)), and a Somalia drought record running from 2015 ([ReliefWeb, DR-2015-000134-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/dr-2015-000134-som)).

## Floods and storms

| Date | Event | Page or record |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 1997 | Deyr floods | [FL-1997-000265-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-1997-000265-som) |
| May 2003 | Horn of Africa floods | [FL-2003-000204-KEN](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2003-000204-ken) |
| Apr 2005 | Heavy rains and floods | [ST-2005-000066-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/st-2005-000066-som) |
| Nov 2006 | Horn of Africa floods | [FL-2006-000169-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2006-000169-som) |
| Jun and Oct 2008 | Floods | [FL-2008-000091-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2008-000091-som), [FL-2008-000185-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2008-000185-som) |
| Oct 2009 | Flash floods | [FF-2009-000229-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2009-000229-som) |
| 2007–2024 | Every flood from 2007 to 2024 | [Floods in Somalia, 2007 to 2024](/en/society/floods-in-somalia-2007-2024/) |
| Nov 2013 | Puntland cyclone, 162 dead | [Cyclones, 2013 to 2020](/en/society/cyclones-in-somalia-2013-2020/) |
| May 2018 | Cyclone Sagar | [Cyclones, 2013 to 2020](/en/society/cyclones-in-somalia-2013-2020/) |
| Dec 2019 | Cyclone Pawan | [Cyclones, 2013 to 2020](/en/society/cyclones-in-somalia-2013-2020/) |
| Nov 2020 | Cyclone Gati | [Cyclones, 2013 to 2020](/en/society/cyclones-in-somalia-2013-2020/) |
| May 2022 | Rain and windstorm, Gaalkacyo | below |
| Oct–Dec 2023 | Deyr floods, 2.48 million affected, 188 dead | [2023 Deyr floods](/en/society/floods-2023-deyr/) |

**[Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), May 2022.** Heavy rain and windstorms hit North Gaalkacyo on 10 May 2022. About 4,416 displaced people (736 households) in 18 of the 20 camps around the city were affected. The 18 camps held about 40,254 displaced people ([ReliefWeb, VW-2022-000214-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/vw-2022-000214-som); IFRC, 21 May 2022).

## Tsunami and locusts

| Date | Event | Deaths | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Dec 2004 | Indian Ocean tsunami, Puntland coast | about 300 | [2004 tsunami](/en/society/tsunami-2004-somalia/) |
| 2019–2021 | Desert locust upsurge; national emergency 2 Feb 2020 | | [Desert locusts](/en/society/desert-locusts-2019-2021/) |

## Disease outbreaks

| Years | Disease | Cases and deaths | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86, 1994, 2007, 2011, 2017 | Cholera | 78,701 cases and 1,163 deaths in 2017 | [Cholera](/en/society/cholera-in-somalia/) |
| 2005, 2013–14, 2017–21 | Polio | 195 cases in 2013 | [Polio](/en/society/polio-in-somalia/) |
| 2014–2022 | Measles | 23,039 cases in 2017 | [Measles](/en/society/measles-in-somalia/) |
| 1997–98, 2006–07 | Rift Valley fever | 114 cases, 51 deaths in 2006–07 | [Other outbreaks](/en/society/other-disease-outbreaks-in-somalia/) |
| 2009 | H1N1 influenza pandemic | | [ReliefWeb, EP-2009-000084-MEX](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2009-000084-mex) |
| 2020–2023 | COVID-19 | 27,334 cases, 1,361 deaths reported | [COVID-19](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/) |
| 2023–2025 | Diphtheria | 3,129 cases, 132 deaths in 2025 (to week 46) | [Diphtheria](/en/society/diphtheria-2023-2025/) |
| 2025 | Kala-azar, Sanaag | 5 cases, 2 deaths | [Other outbreaks](/en/society/other-disease-outbreaks-in-somalia/) |
| 2026 | Dengue, Somaliland | 1,442 cases in one week | [Other outbreaks](/en/society/other-disease-outbreaks-in-somalia/) |

## Fires, air crashes and boats

| Date | Event | Deaths | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jul 1981 | Somali Airlines Flight 40 | 50 | [Air crashes](/en/society/air-crashes-in-somalia/) |
| 1981–2026 | All major air crashes | | [Air crashes](/en/society/air-crashes-in-somalia/) |
| 2007–2024 | Gulf of Aden and Mediterranean boat sinkings | over 1,400 dead or missing in 2007 alone | [Boat disasters](/en/society/migrant-boat-disasters/) |
| 1–2 Apr 2022 | Waaheen market fire, Hargeisa | 0 | [Waaheen fire](/en/society/hargeisa-waaheen-market-fire-2022/) |

## Sources

- ReliefWeb (UN OCHA). [Somalia: disasters](https://reliefweb.int/country/som#disasters), and each record linked above.
- The pages linked in each table, which give their own sources for every figure.


---

# Famines and droughts in Somalia: a timeline and the Somali names for them

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/famines-and-droughts-timeline/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalis give names to severe droughts. Xarama-cune (1913–14, "eating the forbidden") and Dabadheer (1973–75, "long-tailed") are the best known; the Red Cross also records Mahanaw (1980s), Mahadiid (1990s) and Sima (from 2011, "equal"). Famine was declared in 2011 and killed about 258,000 people. The 1991–92 famine killed about 212,000 to 248,000. Famine was projected but not declared in 2017 and 2022.

## Names for droughts

*Abaar* means drought in Somali, and severe droughts are given names ([ICRC, 26 September 2019](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-conflict-drought-so-severe-it-has-names)). The Heritage Institute (HIPS) says the names "are usually related to their duration and/or intensity and ensuing impacts", and gives *Gaatamo* (a flash drought), *Gaag-ma-reebto* ("wiped out nearly all living organisms") and *Dabadheer* ("long tailed because it lasted longer than previously known droughts") ([HIPS, 3 November 2022, via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-calling-averting-drought-becoming-famine)).

| Name | Years | Meaning or note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xarama-cune | 1913–14 | "eating the forbidden"; famine in herding areas | [Muna Ismail, Yeheb, 11 April 2017](https://www.yeheb.org/drought-context-vulnerability-solutions-muna-ismail/) |
| Dabadheer | 1973–75 | "long tailed" | HIPS 2022 |
| Mahanaw | 1980s | "mostly affected rural villages" | ICRC 2019 |
| Mahadiid | 1990s | "made worse by the civil war" | ICRC 2019 |
| Sima | from 2011 | "means 'equal'... because the drought is hammering everyone equally hard" | ICRC 2019 |

Muna Ismail calls Xarama-cune "one of the worst droughts in the last century" ([Yeheb](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/), 2017). The famine of 1991–92 is remembered in the south as *Caga Barar*, "swollen feet" (see [the 1991 to 1993 famine](/en/society/famine-1991-1993/)).

## Timeline

| Years | Event | Deaths (estimates) | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913–1914 | Xarama-cune drought and famine | not known | above |
| 1973–1975 | Dabadheer drought; state of emergency November 1974; about 250,000 people in some 20 relief camps | about 18,000 | [Dabadheer](/en/society/drought-1973-1975-dabadheer/) |
| 1975 | About 100,000 herders resettled to farming and fishing settlements | | [Dabadheer](/en/society/drought-1973-1975-dabadheer/) |
| 1991–1993 | Famine in the south during the civil war | about 212,000 to 248,000 | [1991–93 famine](/en/society/famine-1991-1993/) |
| 2010–2012 | Famine declared 20 July 2011 in parts of the south; ended 3 February 2012 | about 258,000 | [2010–12 famine](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/) |
| 2016–2018 | Drought; national disaster declared 28 February 2017; famine not declared | about 45,000 excess deaths | [2016–18 drought](/en/society/drought-2016-2018/) |
| 2020–2023 | Five poor rainy seasons in a row; famine projected for Baidoa and Burhakaba in September 2022, not declared | about 71,100 excess deaths, Jan 2022 to Jun 2024 | [2020–23 drought](/en/society/drought-2020-2023/) |

The figures are those given, with sources, on each linked page. The death estimates come from different methods and are not directly comparable.

## Related pages

- [Disasters in Somalia: a list from 1974 to 2026](/en/society/disasters-in-somalia-list/)
- [Rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)

## Sources

- ICRC (2019). [Somalia: A drought so severe it has names](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-conflict-drought-so-severe-it-has-names), 26 September 2019.
- Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (2022). [Somalia is calling: averting drought from becoming a famine](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-calling-averting-drought-becoming-famine), 3 November 2022.
- Ismail, M. (2017). [Drought in Somalia: context, vulnerability, and solutions](https://www.yeheb.org/drought-context-vulnerability-solutions-muna-ismail/). Yeheb, 11 April 2017.
- The linked pages for each event, which cite [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/), FEWS NET, the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UNICEF, WHO and UK Hansard.


---

# Somali culture: an overview of faith, family, language, dress, food and the arts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-culture/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali culture rests on Islam, the family and lineage, and a deep love of the spoken word, above all poetry. Daily life runs on shared customs: greetings with salaam, respect for elders, tea and canjeero, and dress such as the dirac and the macawiis. Since 2008 the Hargeysa International Book Fair has become a major meeting place for Somali writers.

## In short

Somalis share one language, one faith and a long tradition of poetry. Customs vary from town to countryside and from region to region, and they change abroad. This page gives the main threads and links to a full page on each.

## Faith

Nearly all Somalis are Sunni Muslims. Prayer, Ramadan, the two Eids and the Qur'an school shape the day and the year ([US State Department, 2023 religious freedom report, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). Many social customs come from Islamic tradition ([EthnoMed, Somali cultural profile](https://ethnomed.org/culture/somali/)). Read more: [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Greetings and respect

The common greeting is *salaan*: "Asalaamu calaykum", answered with "Wacalaykum salaan". On parting, people say *nabad gelyo*, "go in peace". By custom, men shake hands with men and women with women. Elders are shown respect and are often called "aunt" or "uncle" even by strangers (EthnoMed).

## Family and lineage

The family comes before the individual, and decisions about health, marriage and money are often shared ([Minnesota Department of Health, Somali health profile](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/coe/profiles/somali.html)). Each Somali traces descent through the father's line, and the lineage still matters in politics and in settling disputes. Read more: [clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/), [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/), and [Somali names](/en/society/somali-names/).

Somali society also includes communities outside the main clan families, such as the Bantu, Benadiri and Bajuni. Read more: [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## Language and the spoken word

Somali is the mother tongue of almost all Somalis. It was written officially only from 1972, so for centuries knowledge travelled by memory and voice. Poetry has long been the most respected art. Poems carried law, news, love and politics, and were quoted in councils. Read more: [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/), [how Somali came to be written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/), [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/) and [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/).

## Dress

- **Women** often wear the *dirac*, a long, light dress, over an underskirt (*gorgorad*), with a shawl (*garbasaar*). The older *guntiino* is a single length of cloth wrapped around the body. The dirac became popular in the 1960s and 1970s and replaced the guntiino as everyday wear ([Dirac, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirac_%28dress%29)).
- **Men** often wear the *macawiis*, a cloth wrapped around the waist like a sarong, with a shirt and the *koofiyad* cap. The macawiis can be adjusted for work or for prayer ([Daljir, 2 May 2025](https://daljir.com/?p=179212)).

## Food and tea

Spiced tea (*shaah*) and the flat pancake *canjeero* start the day in many homes. Lunch is the main meal, often rice or pasta with meat. Read more: [Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/).

## Music, media and books

Somali song grew out of poetry. The radio stations of Hargeisa and Mogadishu made singers famous across the Horn from the 1940s. Read more: [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/) and [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

The **Hargeysa International Book Fair** began in 2008 as a three-day local event. Founder [Jama Musse Jama](/en/people/jama-musse-jama/) said "we never planned anything" ([Brittle Paper interview, 2020](https://brittlepaper.com/2020/09/literary-culture-in-somaliland-an-interview-with-jama-musse-jama/)). It is run each August by the Redsea Cultural Foundation, at the Hargeysa Cultural Centre, with its library and archive ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/events/seventh-international-book-fair-somaliland-and-opening-hargeysa-cultural-centre/); Brittle Paper).

## Sport and heritage

Football is the most popular sport. Read more: [sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/) and [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/).

The Somali lands also hold rock art at Laas Geel, ancient ports and medieval stone towns. Read more: [heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/).

## Sources

- EthnoMed, University of Washington. [Somali cultural profile](https://ethnomed.org/culture/somali/).
- Minnesota Department of Health. [Somali Refugee Health Profile](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/coe/profiles/somali.html).
- US State Department (2023). [Somalia: International Religious Freedom Report, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html).
- Brittle Paper (2020). [Literary culture in Somaliland: an interview with Jama Musse Jama](https://brittlepaper.com/2020/09/literary-culture-in-somaliland-an-interview-with-jama-musse-jama/).
- Rift Valley Institute. [The seventh International Book Fair in Somaliland and the opening of the Hargeysa Cultural Centre](https://riftvalley.net/events/seventh-international-book-fair-somaliland-and-opening-hargeysa-cultural-centre/).
- Daljir (2025). [Preserving Somali identity: the cultural power of clothing](https://daljir.com/?p=179212).


---

# Al-Shabaab: what it is, the harm it does, and how Somalis respond

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/al-shabaab/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Shabaab is an armed group that grew out of the youth wing of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006 and pledged itself to al-Qaeda in 2012. It funds itself by forcing people to pay 'taxes', more than $150 million in 2023 by a UN panel's estimate, and recruits children. Its bombings have killed thousands of Somalis. Former fighters can now leave through amnesty and rehabilitation centres.

## In short

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) ("the youth" in Arabic) is, in the UN's words, Somalia's "main security threat" ([UN Office on Children and Armed Conflict, 2025](https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/en/node/1307)). This page sets out the facts, the harm, and what Somalis are doing about it.

## Where it came from

- **1990s.** Its forerunner was al-Ittihad al-Islami, a Salafi armed group ([Council on Foreign Relations, backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)).
- **Early 2000s.** Hardliners split off and became the youth militia of the Islamic Courts Union, which took Mogadishu in June 2006 (CFR).
- **December 2006.** Ethiopian forces entered Somalia and removed the Courts. The group grew from about 400 fighters to several thousand by 2008 (CFR).
- **2008.** The United States listed it as a terrorist organisation (CFR).
- **2011.** It largely withdrew from Mogadishu after offensives by African Union and Somali forces (CFR).
- **2012.** Its leaders declared allegiance to al-Qaeda (CFR).

For the wider history of these years, see [rebuilding, 2000 to 2006](/en/history/rebuilding-2000-2006/).

## How it funds itself

A UN panel of experts estimated al-Shabaab's income for 2023 at more than **$150 million**. It takes money by force, which researchers call "taxtortion". It charges at checkpoints, demands *zakat* by force, extorts businesses, taxes imports, farm produce and water, and kidnaps for ransom ([EUAA, Somalia Country Focus, May 2025, section 1.10](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

It can force payment even where it has no permanent presence, depending on how strong the local security forces are. Both men and women must pay (EUAA 2025).

## The harm to Somalis

- **14 October 2017, Mogadishu.** A truck bomb at the Zoobe junction killed more than 500 people, the deadliest attack in Somalia's history. No group claimed it, but al-Shabaab is widely held responsible (CFR; [NPR, 2 December 2017](https://www.wamc.org/2017-12-02/mogadishu-truck-bombs-death-toll-now-tops-500-probe-committee-says)).
- **29 October 2022, Mogadishu.** Car bombs at the Ministry of Education killed more than 100 people (CFR).
- **Abroad.** It killed 74 people in Kampala in 2010, 67 at a Nairobi shopping centre in 2013, and 148 at Garissa University in Kenya in 2015 (CFR).
- **Punishments.** In areas it holds it has carried out stonings and amputations, and it blocks aid agencies, even in drought (CFR). See [rain, drought and floods](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## How it recruits

The EUAA describes recruitment as a range from willing to forced, drawing on 2023 to 2025 sources ([EUAA, Somalia Country Focus, May 2025, section 1.1.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- **Who.** It recruits men and women, from majority and minority groups, as fighters, suicide bombers, informants and helpers. Recruits are usually aged 11 to 25, and some sources report children of nine or younger.
- **Grievance.** Many Rahanweyn, Somali Bantu (Jareer) and members of smaller Benadir-coast minorities are in al-Shabaab. A former deputy police commissioner told the EUAA that long feelings of being marginalised helped draw them in. One expert said they rarely reach leadership and serve mostly as foot soldiers.
- **Control.** Where it has ruled for years, joining is "normal", and families may know no other authority.
- **Mediation.** It settles local clan disputes, then demands young men from the clans it helped.
- **Force.** It recruits on the spot under threat, and after the 2022 offensive stalled in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), some communities offered fighters to it to avoid reprisals.
- **Pay.** It offers pay and support to families. Rank-and-file pay is reported at $200 to $300 a month, similar to a low-rank government soldier.
- **Online.** It recruits through propaganda videos aimed at Somalia and neighbouring countries.

## Children

From October 2021 to September 2024, the UN verified **8,493 grave violations** against **6,801 children** in Somalia. In that time, 2,821 children were recruited and used by armed groups, and 82% of these cases were by al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab also carried out most abductions of children ([UN Office on Children and Armed Conflict, 10 December 2025](https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/en/node/1307)).

## How Somalis respond

**A way out.** Many fighters were forced to join. Prospects of amnesty have helped some leave. As of January 2024, five rehabilitation centres in Mogadishu, Kismaayo and Baidoa, and one reception centre in [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), were supporting 215 women and 502 men who had left the group (EUAA 2025).

**Communities.** In surveys of people in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), most said they had lost at least one child to al-Shabaab. Heavy "taxes", humiliation and the taking of children were the main grievances ([ACCORD, via ecoi.net, 22 April 2022](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2072197.html)).

**The state and local forces.** Local militias known as [Macawisley](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) formed in Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle from 2014 (ACCORD 2022). From mid-2022 they fought alongside government forces in an offensive in central Somalia. The offensive took ground, then stalled in parts of Galgaduud and Mudug, where al-Shabaab returned and threatened people who had resisted (EUAA 2025).

## Sources

- Council on Foreign Relations. [Al-Shabaab backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab), updated December 2022.
- EUAA (2025). [COI Report Somalia: Country Focus](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf), sections 1.1 and 1.10.
- UN Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (2025). [Somalia: volatile security situation with dramatic impact on children](https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/en/node/1307).
- ACCORD (2022). [Query response on the Macawiisley militia](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2072197.html) (German).
- NPR (2017). [Mogadishu truck bombs death toll now tops 500, probe committee says](https://www.wamc.org/2017-12-02/mogadishu-truck-bombs-death-toll-now-tops-500-probe-committee-says).


---

# Somali clans and lineage: how the system works

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/clans-and-lineage/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali society is organised by descent through the father. Most Somalis belong to one of five large clan families: Dir, Isaaq, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle). Each splits into clans, sub-clans and lineages, down to the 'diya-paying group' that shares duties under customary law.

## The short version

Somalis trace descent through the male line to a shared ancestor. The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) names five large clan families. They are the Dir, the Isaaq, the Darood, the Hawiye and the Rahanweyn ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The conflict-data project ACLED uses the same five ([ACLED methodology](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)).

Four of the five (Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye) are often grouped as [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/), after a shared ancestor. The Rahanweyn are grouped as Saab, after their ancestor Saabe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Scholars do not all count the families the same way. Some place the Isaaq inside the Dir, and some count [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) separately ([ACLED methodology](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)).

Each family has its own page, built the same way: [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/), [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). Every clan, sub-clan and lineage the sources name is on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## The levels of a lineage

Each clan family divides into "a complex hierarchy of sub-clans, sub-sub-clans, primary lineage groups, and diya-paying units" ([ACLED methodology](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)). A person can name the line of fathers that links them to each level. Children learn this list by heart.

The diya-paying group (in Somali, the group that pays and receives *mag*) is the working unit. Its members pay compensation together when one of them causes harm, and receive it together when one of them is harmed ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Clans as contracts

The anthropologist I. M. Lewis showed that northern Somali groups were bound together by explicit agreements called *xeer*. He counted more than 360 diya-paying groups in the former British Protectorate alone ([Lewis, "Clanship and Contract in Northern Somaliland", Africa, 1959](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/clanship-and-contract-in-northern-somaliland1/EDF65B709C7BAD3A63B3F14593F7248C)). Descent says who you are. Contract says who you stand with. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## What clan does in daily life

Clan is a safety net. The EUAA reports that "most Somalis rely on support by their clan or lineage" for protection, resources and jobs. Lineage elders mediate disputes and share out compensation ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The same report notes that groups with "long" genealogies (*laan dheer*) have more living members and so more weight ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Groups with shorter genealogies have less. This is why some communities are called minorities. See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## Marriage ties: xidid

Ties made through marriage are called *xidid*, literally "root". Marriages often build alliances between families who see each other as equals ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.5](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). A woman keeps her father's and grandfather's names after marriage ([The Cultural Atlas](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-naming)).

## Clan in national politics: the 4.5 formula

Since the Arta conference of 2000, seats in federal bodies have been shared by clan. The four large clan families each get an equal share. All minority groups together get half a share, the "0.5" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf); [Bertelsmann BTI 2024](https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/SOM)). Sources disagree on which four are counted. Most name Dir, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn, with Isaaq counted within Dir.

## What the law says

The Provisional Constitution of 2012 says all citizens have equal rights and duties before the law, "regardless of ... clan" ([Constitution of Somalia, Article 11](https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)).


---

# Somalia exam results: how to check Grade 8 and Grade 12 results (natiijada imtixaanka)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/exam-results/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Grade 12 and Grade 8 national exam results are released by three separate bodies: the federal Somali National Examination Board for most of the south and centre, Puntland's Ministry of Education, and Somaliland's examination board. In August 2026, 40,037 of 42,916 federal Grade 12 candidates passed, a rate of 92.8 percent.

## Which exam body is yours?

Your results come from the body that ran your exam. There are three.

- **Federal exam (most of southern and central Somalia, including Banadir and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)).** Run by the federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education through the Somali National Examination Board. Official site: [soneb.gov.so](https://soneb.gov.so). The government's services page lists a "Hubi Natiijada Imtixaanka" (check exam results) service that links there ([somalia.gov.so, services](https://www.somalia.gov.so/so/adeegyadda)). Ministry site: [moe.gov.so](https://moe.gov.so).
- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).** The Puntland Ministry of Education runs its own Grade 8 and Grade 12 exams. Puntland and the federal government have disagreed over a single unified exam ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-federal-govt-in-deadlock-over-unified-exams)). Results are announced in Garowe and shared through the ministry and local media.
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).** The Somaliland National Examination and Certification Board runs its own exams. You can check or verify a result with your roll or index number at [slnecb.org/results](https://slnecb.org/results).

## How to check (steps)

1. Have your **roll number or index number** ready. It is on your exam entry slip.
2. Open the official site for your exam body (links above). Do not pay any website that is not official.
3. Enter the number exactly as written. Check your name and school on the result.
4. Keep a screenshot. Your school receives the official result sheet and later the certificate.
5. If the site is busy on results day, try again later or ask your school. Results are also read on national radio and TV.

## When results come out

- **Federal Grade 12:** exams were held 20 to 25 June 2026, and results were announced on 15 August 2026 ([Dawan, 13 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-announce-high-school-exam-results-on-aug-15); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/more-than-44-000-students-sit-somalia-s-2026-secondary-school-exams)).
- **Puntland:** exams opened in Garowe in late May 2026 for 16,068 Grade 8 and 9,153 Grade 12 students, in 161 centres ([Sooha, 30 May 2026](https://sooha.org/en/?p=19609)).
- **Somaliland:** the 2025–2026 results were announced in late August 2026 ([AllAfrica, August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html)).

## The latest numbers

**Federal Grade 12, 2026:** 44,330 registered and 42,916 sat the exam: 24,407 boys and 18,509 girls. 40,037 passed and 2,879 did not, a pass rate of 92.81 percent. The exam ran in 58 districts and 158 centres. The top student was Mohamed Isse Dahir of Howlwadaag School, Banadir. Second was Farxiyo [Farah Omar](/en/people/haji-farah-omar/) of Ahmed Binu Hambal School, Jubaland. Third was Aamino Khalid Abdalla of Imam Shafici School, Banadir ([Dawan, 15 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-grade-12-examination-results-more-than-40000-students-pass)).

**Federal Grade 12, 2025:** 39,382 students sat the exam in June 2025. The results were released in Jowhar, the first time outside Mogadishu. Results in [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) and Kismayo were cancelled after disruption ([Dawan](https://dawan.africa/news/ministry-of-education-cancels-12th-grade-results-in-luuq-and-kismayo-amid-disruptions)).

**Somaliland Grade 12, 2026:** 16,051 students sat the secondary exam and all but 27 passed ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html)). In 2025 the pass rate was 97.9 percent ([Dawan](https://dawan.africa/news/somaliland-records-979percent-pass-rate-in-secondary-school-examinations)).

## Common problems

- **Lost roll number:** ask your school or the regional education office.
- **Wrong name on the result:** report it through your school before certificates are printed.
- **Results cancelled in your area:** the ministry announces resits. Ask your school for the date.
- **Using results abroad:** universities may ask for a verified copy. Somaliland's board offers a verify service online ([slnecb.org](https://slnecb.org/results)).

## Read more

- [scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/)
- [learning English for free](/en/society/learn-english-free/)


---

# Health in Somalia: the key numbers for mothers, children and families

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/health-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> One in ten Somali children dies before age five: 101 deaths per 1,000 births in 2024, per the World Bank. The 2020 national health survey found that only 32 percent of births had a skilled health worker present and only 11 percent of young children were fully vaccinated. Lack of money and distance are the main barriers.

## Where the numbers come from

The main source is the **Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020 (SHDS)**. It was run by the federal government with UNFPA and covered more than 100,000 households. Field work ran from 2018 to early 2020, and it reached nomadic families as well as towns and villages ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/somalia-health-and-demographic-survey-2020); [National Bureau of Statistics](https://nbs.gov.so/somali-health-and-demographic-survey-2020/)). Recent yearly estimates come from the [World Bank](https://data.worldbank.org/country/somalia).

## Children

- **Under-five deaths:** 101.1 per 1,000 live births in 2024 ([World Bank, SH.DYN.MORT](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?locations=SO)).
- **Infant deaths (first year):** 65.4 per 1,000 in 2024 ([World Bank, SP.DYN.IMRT.IN](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?locations=SO)).
- **Full vaccination:** only 11 percent of children aged 12 to 23 months had all basic vaccines (BCG, pentavalent, polio and measles) ([SHDS 2020, Key findings](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)).
- **Nutrition:** 28 percent of children under five are stunted (too short for their age) and 12 percent are wasted (too thin) ([SHDS 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)).
- **Birth registration:** only 3.5 percent of births had been registered ([SHDS 2020, foreword](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)).

## Mothers

- **Maternal deaths:** 563 per 100,000 live births in 2023, a modelled estimate ([World Bank, SH.STA.MMRT](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT?locations=SO)). The SHDS measured 692, down from 732 in 2015 ([SHDS 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)).
- **Where babies are born:** 79 percent at home and 21 percent in a health facility.
- **Skilled help at birth:** 32 percent.
- **Antenatal care from a skilled worker:** 31 percent.
- **No check-up in the two days after birth:** 89 percent of mothers.
- **Main causes of maternal death:** bleeding after birth, eclampsia, obstructed labour and infection.

All but the first: [SHDS 2020, Key findings](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).

## Families and homes

- **Fertility:** 6.9 children per woman. Women with no schooling have 7.2, and women with higher education 3.7.
- **Early marriage:** 36 percent of women aged 20 to 24 married before 18.
- **Water:** 65 percent of households use a safe water source. 12 percent travel 30 minutes or more for water.
- **Toilets:** 57 percent have an improved toilet not shared with other households.
- **Phones:** three in four women own a mobile phone, and 64 percent use it for payments.

Source: [SHDS 2020, Key findings](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).

## Barriers to care

73 percent of women face at least one problem in getting care. The top barriers are cost (65 percent) and distance (62 percent). Nearly half of households (48 percent) pay for health care from their own income ([SHDS 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)). In 2014 Somalia had about 0.05 doctors per 1,000 people, the latest figure the World Bank holds ([World Bank, SH.MED.PHYS.ZS](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?locations=SO)).

## Chronic disease and disability

6 percent of Somalis have a chronic disease. The most common are high blood pressure (33 percent of cases) and diabetes (20 percent). About 5 percent live with a disability, and 42 percent of them had no care in the past year ([SHDS 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)).

## Female circumcision

The survey found that 99 percent of women aged 15 to 49 had been cut, most between ages 5 and 9. 72 percent of women surveyed believe it is a religious requirement ([SHDS 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)).

## Hospitals rebuilt

New and rebuilt hospitals are opening. Mogadishu's former Digfeer hospital, rebuilt with Turkish support, opened in January 2015 with about 200 beds ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/the-turkeys-president-formally-opens-digfeer-hospital); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdo%C4%9Fan_Hospital)). It has trained about 250 doctors ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/turkish-somali-doctors-conduct-successful-open-heart-surgery)).

Download the numbers: [somalia-health-indicators.csv](/data/society/somalia-health-indicators.csv).


---

# Islam in Somalia: faith, the Sufi orders and religion in law

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/islam-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> More than 99 percent of Somalis are Sunni Muslims, most following the Shafi'i school of law. Islam reached the Somali coast within the first centuries of the faith, and Sufi orders such as the Qadiriyya and Ahmadiyya shaped learning, trade and resistance for centuries. The 2012 constitution makes Islam the state religion.

## Who believes what

More than 99 percent of Somalis are Sunni Muslims, according to the federal religious affairs ministry. Other faiths together are under 1 percent, including a Christian community of about 1,000 ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

Most Somalis follow the **Shafi'i** school of Islamic law and **Ash'ari** theology, a pattern that held for generations. In recent decades Salafi teaching has also grown ([Religion in Somalia, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Somalia)).

## How Islam arrived

Islam reached the Somali coast early, carried by Arab and Persian traders between the 7th and 10th centuries ([Religion in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Somalia)). Zeila on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean became centres of Muslim trade and learning.

In Mogadishu, the **Fakhr al-Din Mosque** carries an inscription dating it to 1269, naming Sultan Fakhr al-Din. Its marble mihrab came from India ([Archnet: Masjid Fakhr al-Din](https://next.archnet.org/sites/3781); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakhr_al-Din_Mosque)). The Jama'a Xamar Weyne mosque may be older, dated by some to 1238 ([List of mosques in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mosques_in_Somalia)).

## The Sufi orders (tariiqo)

For centuries, Somali Islam was taught through Sufi brotherhoods. Each had its own teachers, settlements and poems of praise.

- **Qadiriyya:** the oldest and most widespread order in Somalia, named after [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdul Qadir al-Jilani of Baghdad. The Somali historian [Abdurahman Baadiyow](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) describes its great sheikhs in Banadir ([Baadiyow, "The prominent Sheikhs of the Qadiriyya order in Banadir", WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/the-prominent-sheikhs-of-the-qadiriyya-order-in-banadir)).
- **Ahmadiyya:** brought to Somalia by Sheikh Cali Maye Durogba of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/); the smallest of the three main orders ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).
- **Salihiyya:** a branch of the Ahmadiyya founded by Muhammad ibn Salih in 1887 ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). It was strongly anti-colonial. Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan spread it in the north, and Sheikh Xasan Barsane led its resistance in the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley ([Salihiyya, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihiyya); [Sheikh Hassan Barsane, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). See [the Sayyid and the Dervish state](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/).

[Sheikh Uways](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/) is credited with founding the farming settlement of Beled al-Amin, where followers worked the land and studied together ([Uways al-Barawi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis studied such communities in *[Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/): Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society* (Red Sea Press, 1998).

## Great scholars

**Sheikh Uways al-Barawi (1847–1909).** A scholar from [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) who led a Qadiriyya branch, the Uwaysiyya, that spread across East Africa. He wrote religious poems in Somali using Arabic letters. He died at Biyoole in 1909 ([Uways al-Barawi, Wikipedia, citing Bradford Martin 1993](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)).

## Faith in the law

The Provisional Constitution of 2012 says: "Islam is the religion of the State." No law may conflict with "the general principles of Shari'ah" ([Constitution of Somalia, Article 2](https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)). It protects the right to practise religion but bans spreading any religion other than Islam ([US State Department, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

In daily justice, most areas use three systems side by side: customary law (*xeer*), sharia and the penal code. Elders often look to local xeer before sharia ([same report](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs arranges Hajj travel for Somali pilgrims and regulates religious teaching ([same report](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

## Faith in daily life

Most Somali children begin at the Qur'an school (*dugsi* or *malcaamad*). They write verses on a wooden board (*loox*) with a stick pen. They learn to spell the Qur'an through Somali ([Geeska, the Somali Qur'an school](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-quran-school); [Traditional education in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_education_in_Somalia)). The Ministry of Endowments has started a national count of Qur'an schools ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/quran%20schools/253036/somali-government-launches-nationwide-census-of-quranic-schools)).

## Read more on faith

- [Why almost every Somali is Muslim](/en/society/why-somalis-are-almost-all-muslim/) and [how Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/)
- [The Sufi orders](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/), [Somali scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/) and [saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/)
- [Qur'an schools](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/), [the Islamic calendar](/en/society/islamic-calendar-in-somalia/), [Ramadan and Eid](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/) and [Hajj from Somalia](/en/society/hajj-from-somalia/)
- [Zakat, sadaqa and waqf](/en/society/zakat-sadaqa-and-waqf-in-somalia/) and [religion in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/)
- [The 1975 family law](/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/), [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/) and [Christians and missions](/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/)
- [Wadaad, sheekh, macallin and xaaji: religious roles and titles](/en/society/wadaad-sheekh-and-xaaji-religious-roles/)
- [Mawlid in Somalia](/en/society/mawlid-in-somalia/)
- [Mosques in Somalia](/en/society/mosques-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia's minority communities: Bantu (Jareer), Benadiri, Bajuni, Gabooye and others

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/minority-communities/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Alongside the five large clan families, Somalia is home to communities often called minorities: Somali Bantu (Jareer), Benadiri groups, Bajuni, the Gabooye occupational groups, Asharaf and Sheikhal. One 2025 estimate puts Somali Bantu alone at 1 to 1.5 million people. Most have less political weight than their numbers suggest.

## What "minority" means here

In Somali, minorities are called *dadka laga tirada badan yahay*, "people who are fewer in number". The EUAA notes the label is also political: it describes power as much as size ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). No census since the 1980s has counted clan, so every number below is an estimate ([EUAA, same section](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The report groups minorities in three ways. There are occupational groups, ethnic minorities with roots outside Somalia, and long-settled coastal and religious lineages ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Somali Bantu (Jareer)

- **Where:** mainly along the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) rivers, and in Bay region.
- **How many:** about 1 to 1.5 million, per the Minority Empowerment and Development Agency (MEDA) in 2025.
- **History:** partly descended from people brought from today's [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) as slaves in the 1800s.
- **Language:** many speak [Af-Maay](/en/society/maay-language/). Some speak Bantu languages such as [Zigula](/en/society/mushunguli-language/) and Mushunguli, around [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/) and [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/).
- **Work:** farmers above all: maize, cassava, rice.

All points: [EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.2](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf). The scholar Catherine Besteman traces this history in *[Unraveling Somalia](/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/): Race, Violence and the Legacy of Slavery* ([University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999](https://www.pennpress.org/9780812216882/unraveling-somalia/)).

## Benadiri communities

"Benadiri" comes from the Persian *bandar*, "port". It covers old urban and coastal communities from Mogadishu to [Merka](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) and Kismayo. Many trace roots to Arab and Persian traders who married locally. Many speak [Af-Reer Xamar](/en/society/benadiri-somali/), a softer-sounding form of standard Somali. MEDA estimates about 500,000 people ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Anita Adam's study lists groups including Bandhabow, Morshe, Iskashato, Dhabarweyne, Yakuub, [Asharaf](/en/society/asharaaf/), Amudi and Reer Maanyo ([same](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The Barawani ([Bravanese](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/)) of Barawa speak Chimiini, a Swahili-related language ([Bravanese dialect, Wikipedia, backup source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravanese_dialect)).

## Bajuni

The Bajuni live on the coast around Kismayo and on islands such as Koyama, Chovaye and Chula. They speak Kibajuni, close to Swahili, and live by fishing and trade. They number about 10,000 to 15,000 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.2](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Gabooye and other occupational groups

Gabooye is an umbrella name for groups who were traditionally craftspeople and hunters. They live across the Somali lands, from eastern Ethiopia to Kenya. Groups include Madhiban, Muse Deriye, Tumal and Yibir. MEDA estimates 100,000 to 200,000 people ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

- **Madhiban:** barbers, leather workers, shoemakers. They were previously known as Midgan, a term the EUAA describes as derogatory ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).
- **Tumal:** blacksmiths, and today often mechanics.
- **Yibir:** a small group known as healers.

Scholars disagree on which groups belong under the Gabooye name ([same section](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Asharaf and Sheikhal

These lineages were long respected as religious teachers. Asharaf trace descent to the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Many live in Mogadishu, Afgooye, Baidoa and [Xuddur](/en/regions/bakool/). Many Asharaf and [Sheikhal](/en/society/sheekhaal/) run businesses today ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Marriage across groups

Marriage often builds alliances between families who see each other as equals, so marriage between a "strong" and a "weak" group is traditionally frowned upon. Marriages between majority clans and Asharaf, Sheikhal and most Benadiri groups are accepted, usually with the wife from the minority group. Marriage with Gabooye or Somali Bantu (Jareer) is generally not accepted. When a Gabooye or Bantu man marries a woman from a majority clan, her family normally rejects it, and her relatives may threaten or attack the husband or his family. In al-Shabaab areas, such marriages happen more often ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.5](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## What they face now

The US State Department reported in 2024 that minority communities "frequently lived in deep poverty" and faced "numerous forms of discrimination and exclusion" ([US State Department, Human Rights Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2107699.html)). MEDA found school enrolment of 28 to 40 percent among Bantu children ([EUAA, citing MEDA 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Under the 4.5 formula, all minorities together share half a seat-share ([same](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

Things are moving. Benadiri, Asharaf and Sheikhal have gained ground in education and business in Mogadishu. Some Benadiri have served as ministers since 2012 ([same](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).


---

# Somali clan tree: every clan, sub-clan and lineage

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali clan tree runs from the clan family down to the diya-paying group that pays blood money together. Jan Abbink's Total Somali Clan Genealogy (Leiden, 2009) names about 850 groups, and ACLED's 2025 list about 430. This page and its six family pages give both in full, with each source's own placement.

## What this tree is

Somalis trace descent through the father's line. Counting the fathers is called *abtirsiinyo* or *abtirsiimo*, "the counting of fathers" ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2nd edition, 2009, p. 2](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

The most detailed published tree is by the anthropologist Jan Abbink of the African Studies Centre in Leiden. It names about 850 groups, from the clan families down to the groups that pay blood money together. The conflict-data project ACLED published its own list of about 430 clan groups in 2025 ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

This page gives both lists in full, family by family. Each group sits where that source places it. Where the sources place a group differently, both placements are shown. The [download](#download) holds every row with its source.

## How to read it

Abbink uses six levels ([Abbink 2009, pp. 5-6](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)):

| Level | What it means |
|---|---|
| Clan family | The largest group, such as Dir or Hawiye |
| Division | Two "moieties" or territorial parts of a family, where there are any |
| Clan | Called *qabiil* or *qolo* in Somali |
| Sub-clan | A branch of a clan |
| Lineage | A branch of a sub-clan |
| Sub-lineage or diya-paying group | The group that pays blood money (*mag*) together, often called *jilib* or *reer* |

Abbink writes that diya-paying groups "typically range from c. 1000 to 4000 people" (p. 6). He adds that people "know their clan and clan family" and their own lineage, "but the levels in-between may be fused or telescoped" (p. 6).

Two marks in his tree are shown here in words. A name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in Abbink's words. The sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted" (p. 7).

Some lines are traced through a mother, called *bah* in Somali. Abbink gives the Hawiye *Bah Girei* and *[Bah Arbera](/en/society/karanle/)* as examples (p. 5).

## What the sources say about the tree itself

Abbink writes that his tree "does not purport to be an accurate historical tree at any specific point in time" ([Abbink 2009, p. 2](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). He notes that groups join other lines through *heer* (contract) and *sheegad* (adoption). Over time some lines split off and others are "telescoped" (p. 3).

He quotes two views on how far the tree is history. I. M. Lewis found that northern genealogies contain "a very significant basis in fact". A. O. Mansur wrote that the system is "mythic" and "the fruit of the nomadic pastoral life" (pp. 2-4).

The World Bank says "there is no clear agreement on the clan and subclan structures" ([World Bank 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

## The top of the tree

Abbink traces all Somalis to Hiil, a "mythical" first ancestor. From Hiil come [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/) and, "often, on the same level", Sab ([Abbink 2009, p. 11](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

| Line | Families Abbink places under it |
|---|---|
| Saab | Digil, Rahanweyn, Tunni |
| Irir, son of Samaale | Dir, Isaaq, Hawiye |
| Darod | Harti and Ogaden, Marehan |
| "Pre-Hawiya" | Gardere, Yakabur, Mayle |

The EUAA counts five large families: Dir, Isaaq, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). Each has its own page: [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/), [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/).

## The tree, family by family

The full lists are on one page per clan family. Each page gives Abbink's tree and ACLED's 2025 list for that family, level by level ([Abbink 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007); [ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

- [Dir](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/)
- [Isaaq](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/)
- [Darod](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/)
- [Rahanweyn, Digil and Tunni](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/)
- [Groups outside the clan families, and the Somali Bantu](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-other-groups/)

## The World Bank charts

The World Bank printed two charts from Somali research partners in 2005 ([World Bank 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

| Family | South-central partner (CRD) | Puntland partner (PDRC) |
|---|---|---|
| Darod | Kablalah (Koombe, Kumade), Sade (Marehan, Facaye), Leelkase | Marehan, Awrtable, Leelkase, Harti, Ogaden |
| Hawiye | Karanle (Murusade), Gugundhabe (Badi Adde, Jidle, Jejele), Haskul, Gorgate (Abgal, Habar Gidir, Sheekhaal, Duduble, Ujejen), Rarane, Jambeele; associates Hawadle, Gaaljecel, Ajuran, Degoodi | Habar Gidir, Abgaal, Mururusade, Hawaadle, Ujuuran |
| Dir | Isaaq (Garxajis, Habar Jeclo, Habar Awal, Habar Tol Jaclo), Isse, Gadsan, Ortoble, Gadabursi, Biyomal, Qubeys | Gadabursi, Iise, Biyamaal |
| Isaaq | Placed under the Dir | Habar Yoonis, Habar Awal, Habar Tol Jaalo, Habar Jaalo, Iidagale |
| Rahanweyn | One family: Digil (Geledi, Tunni, Garre, Jiiddo, Begedi, Shanta Aleen) and Mirifle (17 sub-clans) | Rahanweyn and Digil as two families |

## Where sources differ

- **The Isaaq.** The World Bank's south-central chart places the Isaaq under the Dir. Its [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) chart, Abbink and ACLED show the Isaaq as a family of their own.
- **[Digil](/en/society/digil/) and Rahanweyn.** Abbink shows Digil, Rahanweyn and [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) as three families under Saab. ACLED and the south-central chart put the Digil and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) under one Rahanweyn family. The Puntland chart shows two families.
- **The Hawadle and Ajuran.** Abbink places the Hawadle in a "pre-Hawiya" group and the [Ajuraan](/en/society/ajuuraan/) under the Hawiye Jambelle. The south-central chart calls both "Hawiye associates". ACLED places the Hawadle under the Hawiye.
- **Murusade and Karanle.** Abbink puts [Murosade](/en/society/murusade/) beside Karanle. The south-central chart and Wikipedia put Murusade under Karanle.
- **Spellings.** The same group can appear in several spellings, such as [Habr Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/) and Habar Gidir, or [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/) and Abgaal. ACLED's list gives its older spellings for many groups; they are in the download.

## Download

Every row on this page and the six family pages is in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/data/society/somali-clan-tree.csv). The file also holds the clan trees printed on Wikipedia's Dir, Isaaq, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn pages, row by row as indented there (backup). It has these columns:

| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| group | The group's name, as the source spells it |
| clan_family | The family the source places it in |
| lineage_path | Its full line from the family down, as the source gives it |
| source | Abbink 2009, ACLED 2025, World Bank 2005 (CRD or PDRC chart), or Wikipedia (backup) |
| source_note | The source's own marks, and ACLED's older names for the group |

## Read more

- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/), [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/)
- [Clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)


---

# Somali clan tree: Darod

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists every Darod group in Jan Abbink's Total Somali Clan Genealogy (2009) and ACLED's 2025 clan list, in each source's own placement. It is one part of the Somali clan tree.

This page is one part of [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/). It gives the Darod section of each source in full. For history, places and records, see the [Darod](/en/society/darod/) page.

## How to read it

Spellings are the source's own. In Abbink's tree, a name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in his words. His sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted". Here such a line is marked as having ancestors left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 7](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). Each indent is one level down: clan, sub-clan, lineage, then the diya-paying group.

## Abbink's tree

Darod groups as Abbink charts them.

- [Tanadleh](/en/society/leelkase/)
  - Leelkase
    - Suhurre
    - Mu'umin Aadan
    - Mahamed Aadan
    - Mohamud 'Ali
    - Iman
    - Korshe
    - Malasmuge
  - Absame
    - Weyteen
      - Farah
      - 'Ali [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/)
      - Legod
      - Alaye
      - Jus
- Yuusuf
  - Awrtobleh
- Kablalah
  - Kumade
    - Galimeris
    - Absame
    - Abaskul
    - 'Abdi
    - [Yabarre](/en/society/jidwaaq/)
    - [Bartire](/en/society/bartire/)
    - [Balad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)
    - Weiten
    - Jid Waaq
      - Abasgul
      - Bartire
      - Yabareg
      - [Bah Geri](/en/society/ogaadeen/) Kombe
      - Tagal Waaq
    - Ogaden
      - Malingur
      - Reer Ishak
      - Reer Dalal
      - Reer Ugas Elmi
      - Bah Magan
      - Reer Ugas Koshin
      - Abdalla
        - Reer Hassan Aden
        - Reer Yahya
      - Bahalla (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
        - Bah Geri
          - Geri Jarso
          - Geri Babuli
        - Aulihan
          - [Reer Afgab](/en/society/aulihan/)
          - Reer Wafate
        - Mohamed Zubeir
          - Musa
          - Reer 'Abdulle
          - Reer Isaaq
          - Reer Amaden
          - Reer 'Ali Nasir
          - Reer Adan Khair
      - Moqabul
        - Makahil
        - Reer [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/)
          - Hassan
          - Ibrahim/Gumhille
      - 'Abdalla
      - Kanti
      - Talamuge
        - Abudwaaq
        - Simwodel
          - Ibrahim ('Abdalla)
          - (Reer) Mohammed
        - Sinwak
          - Abdwak
  - Kombe-Harti
    - [Mora Hasse](/en/society/dishiishe/)
      - Tinleh
        - Reer Ugas
        - Reer Aw
        - Hussein Abdalle
      - Dashishe
        - Mugdi
        - [Saleeban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/)
        - Reer Sakariye
        - Reer Boqor
        - Reer Muse
        - Reer Gobdoon
        - Reer Isaaq
        - Reer Fahiye
        - Reer Mahamed 'Iise
        - Reer Ma'awiye
      - Kaptanle
      - Maganlabbe
    - Geh
    - Haile
    - Jambel
    - Amlaleh
    - Jiram
  - Mahamed Harti
    - D'ulbahante ([Se'ed Harti](/en/society/dhulbahante/))
      - Ahmaad
      - Mahammad
      - Yuunis
      - Muuse
        - Yahia
        - Habrwa
          - Shurshere (Garaad)
            - Ahmed
              - Nalaye
              - Nuur
              - Samakaab
              - 'Igaal
              - 'Ali Geri
              - Aadan
              - 'Ali
              - 'Abdi
                - Fayir
                - 'Umar
              - Mahmuud
                - Siyaad
                - Wa'ays
              - Hassan Ugaaz
              - Haamud Ugaaz
              - Husseen Ugaaz
              - Mahamuud Ugaaz
              - Faraah
                - Ahmad
                - Mahammad
                - 'Igaal
      - Barkad (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
        - Mahamud
          - 'Ali
          - 'Iise
          - Wiggid
        - Amar
        - 'Ali
      - Hayaag
      - Khaalid
    - [Majerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/) (Mohamed Harti)
      - Mahmood
        - [Osman Mahmoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/)
        - [Isa Mahmoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/)
        - [Omar Mahmoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/)
          - Reer Khalaf
          - Reer Hersi
          - Reer Mahad
      - Saleeban
        - 'Ali
          - Awlyahan
          - Isma'iil
          - Bi'iidyahan
          - 'Umar
          - Sa'id
        - Se'ed
        - Ugar
        - Isma'iil
        - Aden
        - Aderahin
        - Mahmuud
          - 'Isa
          - 'Ismaan
          - 'Omr
      - Noleys
        - Muse
        - Abdalla
        - Jibrahil
          - 'Ali
          - Nuh
          - Siwaqrun
      - Daanwayne (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
      - 'Ali Ugar
      - 'Ali Jibrahil
    - Wabeneya
      - 'Ali
      - Ahmed
    - Abdirahim
    - Ibrahim
      - Reer Mahamoud
      - Gumasoor
    - Warlaabe
    - Warsangeli
      - Omer
        - Mohamed
        - Reer Noah
        - Dubeys
      - Ogeyslabe
      - Hinjiye
      - Habr Ahmed
      - 'Idamoge
      - 'Iise
        - Si'id
          - Jibriil
          - Adan
        - Hussein
      - 'Olmarabe
      - Awramale
      - Nuuh 'Umar
      - Garweyne
      - Degaweyne
        - Ahmed
      - Gobyawuud
      - Riighaye
      - Tuure
      - Garad
        - Reer Garad
      - Mahumud
      - Awi (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
      - Bah Habr 'Ismaan
      - Bah Habr Hassan
      - Bah 'Idoor
      - Reer Farah
      - Bah Yabare
      - Bihna Guuleed
    - Gerri
      - Ow-Bere
      - Hassan
    - Kaskikabe
      - Reer Warsame
        - 'Ade
        - Da'ar
        - Baari
    - Gashanle
    - Se'ed Harti
    - Gesagul
    - Ugastabe
    - Libangashe
- Sa'ade
  - Marehan
    - Mohamed
      - Nur
      - Hassan
      - Siyad
      - Diini
      - Talhe
      - 'Ali Dheere
      - Isak
      - Samatar
      - Islam
      - Ahmed
      - 'Ali Hussein
      - Eli
      - Habr Yakub
    - Hawrarsame
      - Yusuf
      - Aadan
      - Mahamud
    - Reer Talhe
    - Reer Hassan
    - Reer Ahmed
    - Habr 'Isse
    - Siyad Hussein
    - 'Ali Hussein
    - Reer Dini
      - Guled
      - Koshin
      - Shirwa
      - Nuur
      - Warfaa
      - Mohamoud
      - Siad
      - Warsame
      - Ugas-Sharmarke
      - Hersi
      - Dala
      - Mohamoud-Guled
      - Sharmarke
    - Reer Soonfure
    - Reer Eli Dhere
    - Reer Uur-Mudug
    - Yacoub
    - Osman
    - Wagardhai
    - Guled Farah
    - Hersi Farah
    - Ina Nuur
    - Bah Abaskul
    - Reer Yusuf
    - Garad
  - Awrtable
    - Mur'ase
  - Fahaie
  - Wagardha
  - Urmidig
    - Idigsoor
    - Ayahud
    - Arah Adag
  - Aw Same
    - Hassan
      - Lebiyal
      - Waqmashe
      - Sonfure
      - Amanrer
    - Isaaq
- 'Iise
- Suhurre

## ACLED's 2025 list

- Abasguul
- Abdi Kombe
  - Jambeel
- Absame
- Ali Jibrail
- Amaanle
- Auliyan
- Awrtable
- Bartire
  - Jidwaaq
- Dalshishle
- Dhulbahante
  - Ahmed Garad
  - Ali Geri
  - Araale
    - Mahad
  - Awrtable
  - Baabdalle
  - Baharar
  - Baharsame
  - Barkad
  - Bihina
    - Caraale
    - Farah
  - Cigaal Naleeye
  - Cigaale Cali
  - Elmi Naaleeye
  - Farah Ali
  - Farah Garaad
  - Fiqishini
  - Hassan Ugas
  - Hayag
  - Jama
  - Jamac Siyaad
  - Kumar Wacays
  - Mohamoud Ugaadhyahan
  - Naleeye Ahmed
  - Nur Ahmed
  - Omar Wacays
  - Osman Mohamoud
  - Qayaad
  - Reer Abokor
  - Reer Elmi
  - Reer Hagar
  - Samokaab Ali
  - Ugaadyahan
  - Ugaasyo
  - Wacays Aden
  - Yayxe
- Dhulbahante Barakeeye
- Eli Omar
- Garaad
  - Gullied
- Geri Kombe
- Habar Warsame
- Habsade
- Harti
  - Dhulbahante
  - Garikombe
  - Janbeel
  - Kaski Qabe
  - Leelkayse
  - Warsangeli
- Isa Mohamud
- Jilible
- Leelkayse
- Mahamous
- Majeerteen
  - Ali Jibril
  - Ali Mohamed
    - Omar Mahmud
  - Ali Saleban
    - Bicidyahan
    - Colyahan
  - Beidyahan
  - Bicidyahan
  - Dashishe
  - Idig Facle
  - Ismail Saleban
  - Issa
  - Issa Mahmud
    - Ahmed Kheyre
    - Ali Ibrahim
    - Cabdi Cise
    - Hasan Idris
    - Hassan Ugaar
    - Mohamed Ugaar
    - Muse Issa
    - Nuh Muse
    - Reer Hassan
    - Reer Muse
    - Reer Samakaab
    - Reer Shirwac
    - Reer Yoonis
    - Reer Yunis
  - Issa Mahmud Xiddo
  - Nuh Mohamud
  - Nuux Ali Jibrail
  - Omar Mahmud
    - Bah Yucqub
    - Khalaf
    - Reer Hersi
    - Reer Xirsi
  - Omar Mahmud Reer Mahad Mohamed
    - Muse
  - Osman Mahmud
    - Bah
      - Yacqub
    - Bahdir
    - Warfa
      - Ali
  - Osman Mahmud Bahdhulbahante
  - Osman Mahmud Bahdirroble
  - Osman Mohamud
    - Reer Muse
  - Reer Abdulle
    - Omar Mahmud
  - Reer Mohamud
  - Reer Shirwac
  - Siwaaqroon
    - Reer Gahayle
  - Ugaar Saleban
  - Umar Mohamud
  - Wabeneye
  - Wadal Muge
  - Wadalmuge
  - Xuseen Ibrahim
- Marehan
  - Bahararsame
  - Cili
  - Dalal
  - Fuqu Muhumed
  - Gabawen
  - Hawrarsame
  - Hororsame
  - Muse Fiin
  - Reer Ahmed
  - Reer Aw Hassan
  - Reer Cafi
  - Reer Dalal
  - Reer Dini
  - Reer Garaad
  - Reer Siyad
  - Reer Ugas Sharmake
  - Siyad Hussein
  - Wagardhac
- Marehan Talha
- Mohamed Siyaad
- Musa
- Musa Abdalla
- Musa Ismail
- Muse Dheriyo
- Ngaar
  - Saleban
- Nuur
  - Ahmed
- Ogaden
  - Abdalla
  - Absame
    - Bah Geri
  - Awlyahan
  - Bartire
  - Magabul
  - Maqabul
  - Mohamed Zubeyr
    - Amaadin
    - Guled Qalaf
    - Reer Isaq
      - Ali
  - Mohamed Zubeyr Reer Abdula
  - Mohamed Zubeyr Reer Warfa
  - Tolamoge
    - Abdalle
- Omar Mahmud
- Reer Hassan
- Reer Hersi
- Reer Omar
- Reer Samatar
- Shermoge
- Ujeedeen
- Warsangeli
  - Adan Siciid
  - Bahi Ogoslabe
  - Bihi
    - dor
  - Cawramale
  - Dubays
  - Garabsare
  - Husen
  - Muhumud
  - Nuux Cumar
  - Ogayslabeh
  - Reer Fatax
  - Reer Garaad
  - Reer Haji
  - Reer Salah
  - Reer Yusuf
  - Ugas Labe
- Warsangeli Hussein
  - Issa

## Download

Every row here is also in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/), which you can download from the main tree page.

## Read more

- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Somali clan tree: Dir

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists every Dir group in Jan Abbink's Total Somali Clan Genealogy (2009) and ACLED's 2025 clan list, in each source's own placement. It is one part of the Somali clan tree.

This page is one part of [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/). It gives the Dir section of each source in full. For history, places and records, see the [Dir](/en/society/dir/) page.

## How to read it

Spellings are the source's own. In Abbink's tree, a name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in his words. His sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted". Here such a line is marked as having ancestors left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 7](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). Each indent is one level down: clan, sub-clan, lineage, then the diya-paying group.

## Abbink's tree

Dir groups as Abbink charts them.

- Madoobe
  - 'Isa
    - Hawla Gati ([Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/)?)
      - Mekahir
      - Idleh
      - Mahamud
        - Hassan
        - Abokor
          - Yusuf
          - 'Ali
    - Dalool (Abbink: "could not be confirmed from more than one source")
      - Fourlaba (Holleh)
        - Mahadleh
          - Birbore
          - Abokor
        - Saheb
          - Ahmed
          - Eli
      - Walal Doon (Haula Gati)
        - Mekahir
        - 'Idleh
        - Mahamud
    - Eliye
      - Mamasan
        - Omr
        - Hassan
        - Aur
          - Abdarrahman
        - Khaireh
        - Mohorre
      - Musa
        - [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/)
          - Reer Gedi
        - Bideh
        - Yunis
          - Mahamud
          - Reer Hubla
  - Horone
    - Habr Walal
      - Galalla
        - Barrah
        - 'Idleh
        - Awse
      - Gelwalal
        - Abdalla
          - Adan
    - Ohdagub
      - Reer Ma'alin
      - Ashkir(a)
  - Wardikh
  - Urweina
    - Fiqi
    - Abdalla
- Mandaloog
  - [Gadabursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/)
    - Habr Afan (Samaroon)
      - 'Isa
      - Zubeir
        - Mahamed
        - Musa
          - Sa'ad
          - Fin
          - Adan
          - (Reer) Hamud
          - Mahakil
    - Habr Yusuf
    - Gobo
    - Jibrain
    - Hebjirreh
    - 'Ali Ganoon
    - Mikadore
      - Mahakil
        - Musa
          - Dera
            - 'Ali
            - Abokor
            - Musa
        - Elli
        - Abdalla
          - Weid
            - Musa
            - Hassan
            - Gedi
          - Kamis
        - Egeh
          - Hassan
      - [Mahad Assa](/en/society/maxamed-case/)
        - Adan
        - Hussein
        - Musa
          - Aadan
          - Maris
          - Usman
          - Mohammed
        - Abokor
          - Barreh
          - Abdalla
          - Se'ed
    - Reer Ugaas (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
    - [Bimaal](/en/society/biyomaal/)
      - Da'ud
    - Soliman
    - Yasmin
      - Boras
    - Sa'ad
- [Mahdaweyn](/en/society/gurgure/)
  - Gurgura
    - Akisho
    - Gariir
    - Layiile
    - Guure
    - Reer Awsad
    - 'Ali (Warday)
- Maahe
  - Hiniftire
    - Gaadsan
    - Dabrube
    - Barsuk
    - Mandeluq
  - Hassan
    - Bajumal
    - Biyamaal
    - Quranyow
    - Isaaq
  - [Suhure](/en/society/surre/)
    - Qubeys
      - Lafagaab
    - 'Abdalle
      - 'Abdi
      - Na'adoor
      - [Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/)
      - Goorad

## ACLED's 2025 list

- Biyamal
- Ciise
  - Mohamoud
- Farah Nur
  - Gadabuursi
- Gadabuursi
- Gadabuursi Makhila
- Gadabuursi Mohamud Noor
- Gadabuursi Reer Mohamud Noor
- Gadsan
- Issa
- Issa Rati
- Qubeys
- [Reer Mahad](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/)
  - Omar
- Samaroon Reer Dudub
- Warday

## Download

Every row here is also in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/), which you can download from the main tree page.

## Read more

- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Somali clan tree: Hawiye

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists every Hawiye group in Jan Abbink's Total Somali Clan Genealogy (2009) and ACLED's 2025 clan list, in each source's own placement. It is one part of the Somali clan tree.

This page is one part of [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/). It gives the Hawiye section of each source in full. For history, places and records, see the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) page.

## How to read it

Spellings are the source's own. In Abbink's tree, a name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in his words. His sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted". Here such a line is marked as having ancestors left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 7](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). Each indent is one level down: clan, sub-clan, lineage, then the diya-paying group.

## Abbink's tree

### Hawiye

Hawiye groups as Abbink charts them. Abbink places Karanle under Bah Arbera, with the sub-clans Gidir, Kaariye and Sihawiye. Murosade sits beside it on the same line. See [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/), [Karanle](/en/society/karanle/) and [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/).

- Bah Girei
  - Gurgate
    - Abgal
      - Sul Harti
      - Wa'Aysle
      - Eli Omar
      - Matan
      - Yusuf
      - [Warsengeli](/en/society/warsangali/)
      - [Wa'abudan](/en/society/wacbuudhan/)
        - Da'ud
      - Se'ile
      - Agon-yare
      - [Mobileen](/en/society/moobleen/)
    - Derandole
      - Hillivi
      - 'Usman
    - Ujudeen
    - [Sheikhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/) (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
      - Lobogay
      - Aw Qudhub
      - Gandershe
      - [Aw Hassan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/)
      - Martile
      - Reer Fiqi Omar
        - Reer [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/)
          - Aw Gutub
    - Damay
      - Hirab (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
        - Mudulood
        - Mahamud
        - Madarki'is
        - [Habr Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/) (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
          - [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/)
            - Reer Hiluwe
            - Reer Jalaf
            - Reer Nimale
            - Lugayare
          - 'Ayr
            - [Absiye](/en/society/cayr/)
            - [Ayanle](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/)
          - [Saleeban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/)
            - Farah
              - Mahamed Abdi
              - Heysow
            - Dashame
              - Gaabane
              - Abokor
          - Saruur
        - [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/)
        - Qudib
        - Ibrahim
        - Ahmed
  - Jambelle
    - [Ajuraan](/en/society/ajuuraan/)
      - Garen
      - Gelberis
      - Yibidalla
      - Gashe
      - Dulhata
      - Waqle
    - Hintere
    - Garure
    - Arure
    - Olagir
  - [Gugundabe](/en/society/jijeele/)
    - Jidle
    - Jibidle
      - Murala
      - Saada'adde
    - [Galja'el](/en/society/gaaljecel/)
      - Doqondiide
      - Aloofi
      - Barsame
      - 'Aafi
      - Sugow
      - D'eemoow
      - Nooloow
      - Makahiil Weynaha
      - Oda 'Ad
      - Abtisame
      - Dirsame
    - Jajele
    - Molaal
    - Jilideen
    - Badi-Adde
    - Murille
    - Degodiye
      - Masare
      - Fardanow
      - Midhimaal
      - Gelible
      - Dumaal
      - Jibrail
      - Fau
      - Reer Mohamud
      - Mau
      - Samatar
  - Sil'is
  - Wadalan
- Bah Arbera
  - Rarane
  - Haskul
    - 'Arid
    - Idin
  - Karanle
    - Gidir
    - Kaariye
    - Sihawiye
  - Wadare
  - Murosade
    - Mohamed Amal
    - Nur 'Abdi
    - Septi
    - Gabdi
    - Foo'ulus

### Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle

Abbink calls these a "pre-Hawiya" group. They claim descent from 'Imr, "an ancestor on the same genealogical level as Samaale". He writes that the Hawadle "are today often presented as one of the major clan-group within the Hawiye" ([Abbink 2009, p. 30](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

- Gardere
  - Gilale
  - Ormale
  - Hon
- Yakabur
  - Daule
  - Hober
- Mayle
  - Hawadle
    - 'Abdi Yusuf
    - Farmagge
    - 'Abdalle
    - Allagumar
    - Walahmooge
    - Abdirahman
  - Gerra
    - Tuf
    - Kuranyo

## ACLED's 2025 list

- Abgal
  - Abdalla Arone
  - Abdalla
    - Agonyar
    - Galmaah
  - Abukar
  - Abukar Gabane
  - Agonyar
  - Agoonyar Gaabane
  - Cabdale Caroone
  - Celi
  - Cosoble Ali
  - Daud
  - Gaabane Mohamed
  - Galmaax Yoonis
  - Galmah
  - Habar
    - Nugal
  - Harti Abgal
  - Hassan Gaab
  - Kabaale
  - Matan Abdulle
  - Mohamed Muse
    - Dhiblabe Turyare
    - Suubiye Turyare
  - Reer Matan
  - Wabudhan
    - Mataan Muse
    - Mohamed Muse
  - Wacaysle
  - Wacaysle Ali Gaaf
  - Warsangeli
- Ajuran
- Awramale
- Baadiade
- Cali
- Ciroole
- Daud
- Gaaljecel
  - Caafi
  - Caloofi
  - Hadame
  - Sogow
  - Wasuge
- Garjin
- Gugundhabe
  - Jijeele
- Habar Gedir
  - Ayr
    - Ayanle
    - Bilaal
    - Cabsiiye
    - Cabsiye
    - Habanji
    - Habar Aji
    - Saruur
    - Yabadhaalo
    - Yabar Dhowrakece
    - Yabardhowrakacay
  - Duduble
    - Eli
    - Mohamed Amal
  - Habaraji Ayr
  - Jalah
  - Reer Aw Hassan
  - Sacad
    - Reer Hilowle
    - Reer Jalaf
  - Sacad Barkhadle
  - Sacad Farale
  - Sacad Indhayar
  - Sacad Muse
  - Sacad Reer Nimcaale
  - Saleban
- Hawadle
  - Aadan Warsame
  - Abdirahman
  - Adam Yaber Madaxweyne
  - Agoon
  - Ali Madaxweyne
  - Baana Yaber Madaxweyne
  - Cabdalla
  - Farax Cagaweyne
  - Galible Hassan Agoon
  - Harun
  - Hassan Musa
  - Hussein Yaber Madaxweyne
  - Ibrahim Isse
  - Iidle Yaber Madaxweyne
  - Mohamed Yabar Madaxweyne
  - Reer Ugaas
  - Xarun Sub
  - Yaber Dige
  - Yaber Madaxweyne
- Hawadle Abdi Yussuf
- Hiraab
  - Wacdaan
- Lugayare
- Madhiban
- Mobleen
- Murule
- Murusade
- Ormale
- Reer Khalaf
- Saad
  - Reer Jalaf
- Sheeqaal
  - Awqudub
  - Loobogay
- Wejis
- Wesle
- Xawadley

## Karanle in more detail

A fuller Karanle tree appears on Wikipedia, which cites a Somali source. It is given here as a backup source ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)).

- Karanle
  - Gidir: Aw Bakr (Ahmed Maqi), Warneif (Taa'uud; Faasi, with Aw Qariib), Abshale
  - Kaariye: Af Haaj; Laasuge, with Abu Bakr (Sa'ad ad-Diin; Muhammed, with Sultan Muhammed)
  - Mursal (Murusade): Sabti (Abu Bakr, Idinle, Abdalla and Ibrahim Sabti); Foorculus (Muhammed Foorculus or Hilibi, Ahmed Foorculus or Daguuro, Ebakar Foorculus or Hawar Ceene)
  - Sexawle: Balaw (Iye, with Reer Garaad Mahiiqe; Shurbul), Ba'ad, Bur'aal (Bade Samatar, with Arabi and Haro; Farah Samatar)

Abbink lists Gidir, Kaariye and Sihawiye under Karanle, and Murosade beside it ([Abbink 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). The World Bank's south-central chart places Murusade under Karanle ([World Bank 2005](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

## Download

Every row here is also in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/), which you can download from the main tree page.

## Read more

- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Somali clan tree: Isaaq

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists every Isaaq group in Jan Abbink's Total Somali Clan Genealogy (2009) and ACLED's 2025 clan list, in each source's own placement. It is one part of the Somali clan tree.

This page is one part of [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/). It gives the Isaaq section of each source in full. For history, places and records, see the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) page.

## How to read it

Spellings are the source's own. In Abbink's tree, a name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in his words. His sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted". Here such a line is marked as having ancestors left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 7](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). Each indent is one level down: clan, sub-clan, lineage, then the diya-paying group.

## Abbink's tree

Isaaq groups as Abbink charts them. Abbink notes that the Isaaq tree also uses uterine lines, citing Lewis 1994b (p. 31).

- Habr Magaadleh / Habr Garhaji
  - [Habr Yunis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/)
    - [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/)
      - Sa'ad Yuunis
        - 'Ali
          - Logh
          - Beleh
          - Salah
        - 'Arreh
          - Khalil
          - Gamba
          - Dandan
          - Kul
          - Isahaq
          - Isma'il
          - Musa
    - (no name given) A (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
      - Gunbuur
      - Reer 'Abdi Hirsi
      - Reer Waid
      - Reer Sugulle
      - Kharrab
      - Muuse
        - Isma'iil
          - Muuse
          - Yuunis
        - 'Alle
        - 'Abdalle
    - (no name given) B (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
      - Isaaq
      - 'Ali
    - Da'ud ('Idagalle)
      - 'Isa
      - Bilal
      - Mohammed
        - 'Ali
        - Urkurag
      - Musa
        - Abokor
          - Hassan
          - Adan
        - Adarahman
          - Yuunis
          - Abdulla
  - [Arap](/en/society/arap/) (Arab)
    - Elli
      - Mohamed
        - Ahmed
        - Musa
        - Zubeir
    - 'Idman
    - 'Abdulla
    - Isma'iil
      - Musa
        - Gadwein
  - [Habr Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/)
    - Zubeir
      - Muuse
        - Sa'ad
          - Jibriil
            - Abokor
          - Reer Dalal
          - Reer Samatar
            - Haad
        - Abdurahman
        - Hassan
        - Isaq
          - Abokor
          - Yesif
          - Makahil
          - 'Abdulla
        - Isma'iil
        - 'Abdulla
        - 'Iisa
          - Aadan
          - Abokor
          - Mohammed
        - Idrais
        - Afgab
        - Egalla
    - Ayub
    - Ahmad
- Habr Habuusheed
  - (Habr) [Tolja'elo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/)
    - Ahmed
      - Reer Daahir
      - Farah
    - Muuse
      - Abokor
        - Jibriil
          - 'Omr
          - Abokor
    - Ibrahim (Sambuur)
      - Mohamed
      - Reer Hassan
        - Aadan
    - Mahammed (Ibraan)
      - Husseen (Abokor)
        - Jibriil
      - 'Ali Barre
      - Abdullah
        - Reer Yunis
        - Hassan
        - Butaleh
        - Heldid
        - Adan
      - Hassan
      - Egale
      - 'Isa
    - Barre Abdilleh (Abbink: the ancestors between this group and the one above are left out)
      - Ahmad
      - Samatar
      - Nabad

## ACLED's 2025 list

- Aden Essa
- Arab
  - Musa [Celi](/en/society/duduble/)
    - Barsuug
- Arab Abdalla
- Arab Salah
- [Cidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/)
- Cidagale Habar Yoonis
- Cidagale Reer Abdi Dheer
- Cidagale Reer Guled
- Dubeys
- Essa
- Garxajis
  - Ciidagale
- [Habar Afan](/en/society/habar-cafaan/)
- Habar Awal
  - [Abdale Abokor](/en/society/sacad-muuse/)
  - Abdirahman
    - Muse
      - Isa Muse
  - Isa
  - Isa Muse
  - Sacad Muse
- Habar Basanbuur
- Habar Jeclo
  - Abdala Arab
  - Aduruxmiin
  - Ahmed Abokor
  - Ahmed Farah
  - Ali Bare
  - Baho
  - Bare Cabdulle
  - Basanbuur
  - Bicido
  - [Biciide](/en/society/muuse-abokor/) Iidle
  - Biciidle
  - Faahiye
  - Imraan
  - Isaq
  - Muse Abokor
  - Omar
  - Reer Badeed
  - Reer Biniin
  - Reer Idle
  - Reer Umar
  - Reer Xaad
  - Reer Yoonis
  - Roobsuge
  - Samane
  - Soolomadaw
  - Udur Ximin
  - Yeesif
- Habar Mohamud Hamud
- Habar Yoonis
  - Abdala Hamud
  - Bah [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/)
  - Baha Ismail
  - Cabdalle Xamud
  - Cali Siciid
  - Geeko
  - Isaq
  - Ismail
  - Jibriil Turwa
  - Mohamud Hamud
  - Muse Carre
  - Muse Ismail
  - Muse Turwa
  - Reer Wayd
  - Sacad Yoonis
  - Sacad
    - Muse Jibril
      - Abokor
  - Urursuge
- Habar Yoonis Egal
  - Siciid
- [Issa Muse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/)
  - Abdalla Qoyan
- Reer Cadaawe
- Reer Hareed
  - Jibril Abokor
- Reer Isaq
- Reer Ugadh
- Reer Wacays
- [Wabar](/en/society/degoodi/)

## Download

Every row here is also in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/), which you can download from the main tree page.

## Read more

- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Somali clan tree: groups outside the clan families

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree-other-groups/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists the groups that Abbink places outside the Somali clan framework, and the Somali Bantu groups in ACLED's 2025 list. It is one part of the Somali clan tree.

This page is one part of [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/). It gives the groups Abbink places outside the clan families, and the Somali Bantu groups in ACLED's list, in full. See also [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## How to read it

Spellings are the source's own. In Abbink's tree, a name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in his words. His sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted". Here such a line is marked as having ancestors left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 7](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). Each indent is one level down: clan, sub-clan, lineage, then the diya-paying group.

## Abbink's tree

Abbink lists groups that "do have not a place in the traditional Somali genealogy". Some are occupational groups. Others are coastal, riverine or Bantu-origin communities. Many "are often linked or co-opted to the Somali clans" ([Abbink 2009, pp. 36-38](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

- Sab groups (Baidari)
  - Yibir
    - Mohammed Hanif: Musa (Reer Beli, Reer Malekhal, Yibir Gudud, Galab, Reer Gedideri), Ayub, Gedi, Anjid, Jama
  - Midgan (now Madhiban; the EUAA calls the old name derogatory)
  - Tumaal
  - Gabooye
  - Madjiban
  - Gobaweyn
  - Mosa Dirie
  - Waraabeye
- Benadiri
  - Reer [Hamar](/en/regions/mogadishu/)
    - Dhabar Weyn
    - Shanshiya (Shanshi)
    - [Moorshe](/en/society/ajuuraan/)
    - Qalmashube
    - Bandhahwau
    - Rer Faqi
  - Shangani
    - Amudi
    - Bah Fadal
    - Rer Sheich
    - Abakarow
  - [Ashraf](/en/society/asharaaf/)
    - Hussein
    - Hassan
  - [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) clans
    - Shukereere
    - Rer Maanyo
    - Ahmed Nur
    - Ali'iyo Mohammed
    - Duruqbe
    - Gameedle
- Baraawa
  - Bida
  - Hatimi
  - Ashraf
- Bajuun
- Ribe
- Zanj
- [Helai](/en/society/eelay/)
- Reer [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)
- Aweer (Boni)
- Jareer ([Gosha](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/))
  - Gabaawiin
  - Rer Dhooboy
  - Shiidle
  - Kaboole
  - Makanne
  - Duubo
  - Jaaji
  - [Mushungulu](/en/society/mushunguli-language/)
  - Eyle (Aylo)
  - Manyasa
  - Miyau
  - Majindo
  - Makua
  - Mlima
  - Pokomo
  - Manyika

Abbink also gives Lewis's outline of the Yibir. Mohammed Hanif (Yibir) has the sons Musa, Ayub, Gedi, Anjid and Jama. Under Musa come Reer Beli, Reer Malekhal, Yibir Gudud, Galab and Reer Gedideri (p. 38).

## ACLED's 2025 list

- Jareer
  - Weyne
    - Gawaweene
    - Shiidle
  - Weyne Makane
  - Weyne Seddex Cumarow

## Download

Every row here is also in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/), which you can download from the main tree page.

## Read more

- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Somali clan tree: Rahanweyn, Digil and Tunni

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This page lists every Rahanweyn, Digil and Tunni group in Jan Abbink's Total Somali Clan Genealogy (2009) and ACLED's 2025 clan list, in each source's own placement. It is one part of the Somali clan tree.

This page is one part of [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/). It gives the Rahanweyn, [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) section of each source in full. For history, places and records, see the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/) page.

## How to read it

Spellings are the source's own. In Abbink's tree, a name with a question mark "could not be confirmed from more than one source", in his words. His sign -/- means "intervening ancestors or nodes in a line are omitted". Here such a line is marked as having ancestors left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 7](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). Each indent is one level down: clan, sub-clan, lineage, then the diya-paying group.

## Abbink's tree

### Rahanweyn

Rahanweyn groups as Abbink charts them. Abbink divides the Rahanweyn into the [Mirifle Siyeed](/en/society/mirifle/) (the eight) and the Mirifle Sagaal (the nine).

- Mirifle Siyeed
  - Medovo
    - Boqol Hore
      - Dissow
      - Eimid
      - Komal
      - Jalalle
    - Boqol Daabe
      - Ma'alim Weyne
      - [Jiron](/en/society/jiron/)
      - Reer Dumal
      - [Leisaan](/en/society/leysan/) Hersi
      - Leisaan [Bari](/en/regions/bari/)
      - Harau
      - Garuwale
    - Boqol Dambe
      - [Harien](/en/society/hariin/)
    - [Helai](/en/society/eelay/) (Elay)
      - Borohad
        - Barre
        - Lelle
      - Nassiye
        - Alemo
        - Madweyne
      - Gedafade
        - Reer Weyne
        - Warasilay
        - Yarre
        - Rawallan
      - Da'ud
      - Jembalul
      - Gurballabo
  - Leik Au Edda
    - Barbaro
    - Yantar
    - Helleda
    - Waravane
    - Gibile
- Alemo (Mirifle Sagaal)
  - Kassanle
    - Wen
      - Herdo
    - Yer
      - Ifmogi
    - 'Irde
  - Aysha Omardin
    - [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/)
    - Wakdere
    - Wakbio
    - Gasar Gudda
    - Galluweger
    - [Luwai](/en/society/luway/)
    - [Hadama](/en/society/hadame/)
    - Jelible
    - Sarma
    - Yantaar
    - Mangiar
    - Balguri
    - Wangial
    - [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/)
      - Gobron
    - Eyle
    - Hegbio (Abbink: "could not be confirmed from more than one source")
    - Radana (Abbink: "could not be confirmed from more than one source")

### Digil

Digil groups as Abbink charts them.

- [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/)
  - Dirmedo
  - Ieran
- Dubdere
- [Irole](/en/society/begedi/)
- [Garre](/en/society/garre/)
- Dagine
- Osman
- Dube
- Jiddu
  - Hafow
    - Gadinale
    - Gowsitta
    - Gulle
    - Seyye
  - Farre
  - Gogo
    - Wa'ayse
    - Qorowa'
    - Odleh
    - Mahammad
    - Maddow
    - Masulle
    - Surow
    - Yokor

### Tunni

Tunni groups as Abbink charts them.

- Daffarat
  - Arweri
  - Boqolle
  - Reer Mudun
  - Geesi
- Weriille
  - Mudove
  - Gafle
  - Tera (Yare)
  - Furur
- Ajiuwa
  - Hura
  - Waaqsheyn
  - Mabagolle
  - Nijey
- Daqtira
  - Min-horaad
  - Waransille
  - Bedelamma
  - Kummurto
- Goigal
  - Hamar
  - Doile
  - Matangalle
  - Fadiido

## ACLED's 2025 list

- Digil
  - Bagadi
  - Dabarre
  - Duubane
    - Darbane
  - Garre
  - Garre Maqabul
  - Garwale
  - Geledle
  - Heledo
  - Jambaluul
  - Jiido
  - Jiido Safar
  - Jilible
  - Shanta Caleemo
  - Tuni
- Mirifle
  - Boqol Hore
  - Elay
  - Elidhere
  - Emid
  - Erdo
  - Gabaweyn
  - Hadame
  - Haraaw
  - Harin
  - Harin Aw
    - Yare
  - Hubeer
  - Jeron
  - Jiron
  - Leeysan
  - Leeysan Banaani
  - Leeysan Bari
  - Luway
  - Maalim Weyne
  - Yantar

## Download

Every row here is also in [somali-clan-tree.csv](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/), which you can download from the main tree page.

## Read more

- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Somali names: how they work, and nicknames (naanays)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-names/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Somali name has three parts: your own name, your father's name and your grandfather's name, with no family surname. Women keep their names after marriage. Many Somalis are also known by a nickname (naanays), often given for looks or character.

## Three names, no surname

A Somali name is a chain of fathers. Take **Maxamed Cali Axmed**: Maxamed is his own name, Cali is his father's name, and Axmed is his grandfather's name ([Cabdalla Cumar Mansuur, WardheerNews, 2021](https://wardheernews.com/somali-names-and-individual-identity)). His son might be **Xasan [Maxamed Cali](/en/people/mo-ali/)**. Each generation, the oldest name drops off and a new one is added.

There is no family name shared by parents and children ([The Cultural Atlas: Somali naming](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-naming)). Somalis usually address each other by the first two names.

Some offices ask for more. Passport, court and registry offices may add the **mother's name** to tell people apart. Final school exams ask for **four names**, adding the great-grandfather ([WardheerNews, 2021](https://wardheernews.com/somali-names-and-individual-identity)). Beyond the names on paper, children learn the longer chain of forefathers by heart (see [clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)).

## Women keep their names

A woman does not change her name at marriage. Keeping her father's and grandfather's names is a mark of respect for her own family ([The Cultural Atlas](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-naming)). A mother and her children therefore have different "surnames" on foreign forms.

## Names abroad

Other countries force the chain into a first name and a surname, each in its own way. Maxamed Cali Cabdullaahi becomes "Mohamed Abdullahi" in the UK and USA, "Mohamed Ali Abdullaahi" in Italy and "Mohamed Ali" in Sweden ([WardheerNews, 2021](https://wardheernews.com/somali-names-and-individual-identity)). Brothers can end up with different surnames in different countries.

Spelling changes too. In standard Somali writing, *x* is a deep "h" and *c* is the Arabic ʿayn sound, so Maxamed is Mohamed and Cali is Ali (see [how Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)).

## Common names and their meanings

Most Somali first names come from Arabic and Islam, written the Somali way ([Behind the Name, Somali names](https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/somali)):

| Somali spelling | Common English spelling | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Maxamed | Mohamed | Muhammad |
| Cali | Ali | Arabic, "lofty, sublime" |
| Axmed | Ahmed | Ahmad |
| Cabdullaahi | Abdullahi | Abd Allah, "servant of God" |
| Xasan | Hassan | Hasan |
| Faarax | Farah | Farah |
| Fadumo | Fadumo, Fatima | Fatima |
| Xaawo | Hawo | Eve |
| Caasha | Asha | Aisha |
| Maryan | Maryan | Maryam |

Some names are Somali words. **Ayaan** means "good luck" and **Hodan** means "rich, lush" (Behind the Name). The poet [Hadraawi](/en/society/somali-poetry/) is known by a name meaning "master of speech" (see below).

## Nicknames: naanays

Many Somalis are known better by a nickname than by their name, partly because so many people share the same names ([The Cultural Atlas](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-naming)). A *naanays* is given by family or friends in childhood, often from looks or character. Examples include *Yare* ("small", for a young-looking face) and *Macanay* ("sweet", often for girls) ([Poetry Translation Centre, "Why do Somali poets have nicknames?"](https://www.poetrytranslation.org/articles/why-do-somali-poets-have-nicknames)).

Poets are often known only by their nickname: *Hadraawi* means roughly "master of speech" ([VOA, 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/death-of-somali-shakespeare-mourned-nationwide-/6707535.html)). The Poetry Translation Centre notes that nicknames are less common among Somalis raised abroad.

## Birthdays on 1 January

Many Somalis fled without a birth certificate, or knew only the year. Refugee and immigration officers often filled in 1 January as the date ([MPR News, 2025](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/01/02/why-so-many-somali-americans-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-new-years-day)). The full story, country by country, is on [why so many Somalis have 1 January birthdays](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/).


---

# Somali poetry (maanso): the forms, the poets and its place today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-poetry/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis have been called a 'nation of poets'. Poetry, or maanso, carried law, news, love and politics for centuries, in strict metres such as the gabay, geeraar and jiifto, each line bound by alliteration. The page covers poets from the Sayyid to Timacadde, Hadraawi and Gaarriye.

## A nation of poets

The Canadian writer Margaret Laurence lived in the Somali north in the early 1950s. Her first book, *A Tree for Poverty* (Nairobi, 1954), was a collection of Somali poems and stories in English ([Margaret Laurence, Orlando, Cambridge](https://orlando.cambridge.org/index.php/profiles/laurma)). She is credited with calling Somalia a "nation of bards" ([Somali literature, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)).

For most of history Somali was not written. Poems were the archive. They were memorised, passed on and quoted in councils. The historian [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) showed how poetry drove politics and resistance in his book *[Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism](/en/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-samatar/)* (Cambridge University Press, 1982; [cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)).

## The rules: metre and alliteration

Every line of a Somali poem must alliterate. The poet picks one sound, and a word in each half-line must start with it. Samatar calls this *hikaad* ([Orwin, "Alliteration in Somali Poetry", 2011, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)). The poem also follows an unwritten metre, counted in syllables.

The main forms ([Ismaaciil Galaal, 1970, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature); [Samatar, WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/gabay-hayir-somali-mock-heroic-song)):

- **Gabay:** the long, serious poem, 14 to 16 syllables a line. Used for politics, war, peace and wisdom.
- **Geeraar:** short lines of 7 syllables. Traditionally recited on horseback, often in war.
- **Jiifto:** 7 syllables, a slower, reflective metre.
- **Buraambur:** poetry composed and performed by women.
- **Heello and hees:** song forms. Work songs (for watering camels, grinding grain, churning milk) and modern songs.

Samatar lists six forms of *maanso*: gabay, geeraar, jiifto, weeglo, guuraw and buraambur ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/gabay-hayir-somali-mock-heroic-song)).

## Great poets

**Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920).** Leader of the Dervish resistance, and called a master of eloquence by Samatar. His poems were weapons in a twenty-year struggle ([Samatar 1982, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)). See [the Sayyid and the Dervish state](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/).

**[Cilmi Boodhari](/en/people/elmi-boodhari/).** Known for love poems to Hodan Abdulle, unlike the war themes of his time ([Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, *Culture and Customs of Somalia*, 2001, cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)).

**Timacadde ([Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed](/en/people/timacadde/), 1920–1975).** Born near Gabiley. At independence in 1960 he recited a poem whose line about lowering the colonial flag and raising the Somali flag became a national slogan. The scholar Ahmed Ismail called him "the greatest Somali poet of the 20th century". He also wrote against clannism ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalis-are-losing-access-their-poetic-heritage); [Roma Tre archive](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/handle/2307/2401)).

**Hadraawi (Maxamed Ibraahim Warsame, 1943–2022).** Born in [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/). Wrote more than 200 poems and the words of more than 70 songs. He was jailed for five years from 1973 for his poetry. In 2003 he walked across the Somali lands on a peace caravan. He died in Hargeisa on 18 August 2022. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said, "We have lost an icon" ([VOA, 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/death-of-somali-shakespeare-mourned-nationwide-/6707535.html)).

**Gaarriye ([Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac](/en/people/gaarriye/), 1950–2012).** In 1979 he began the *Deelley*, a chain of poems all alliterating on the letter D. Forty-nine poets joined it, one of them a woman. They debated the nation and its troubles in verse ([Ali Mumin Ahad, study of the Deelley debate, Peter Lang, 2015](https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/22541)).

## Poetry today

Poems now travel by radio, recordings and phones as well as by memory. The Hargeysa Cultural Centre, opened alongside the Hargeisa International Book Fair, works to collect and keep them ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/events/seventh-international-book-fair-somaliland-and-opening-hargeysa-cultural-centre/)). But Geeska warns that many works have been lost to "time, war, displacement, and the fading memories of its custodians" ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalis-are-losing-access-their-poetic-heritage)).

## Read more

- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)


---

# Sport in Somalia: football, running and the Somalis who won the world

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/sport-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Football is Somalia's favourite sport, and running has given Somalis their biggest wins. Abdi Bile won the 1,500 metres world title in Rome in 1987. The national football team won its first World Cup qualifier in 2019, and Mogadishu Stadium reopened for football in 2020 after years of occupation.

## Running: Abdi Bile, world champion

**Abdi Bile** was born in Laascaanood on 28 December 1962. On 6 September 1987, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, he won the 1,500 metres at the World Championships in 3:36.80. He ran the last 800 metres in 1:46.8, beating the defending champion Steve Cram, who finished eighth ([Simon Turnbull, World Athletics Heritage, 2022](https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/abdi-bile-rome-1500m-mowa-donation)).

He also won bronze at the 1993 World Championships, beat Sebastian Coe at the 1989 World Cup, and set Somali records at nine distances. Injury kept him out of the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. His Rome singlet now hangs in the Museum of World Athletics in Oregon ([same](https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/abdi-bile-rome-1500m-mowa-donation); [official 1987 results](https://worldathletics.org/results/world-athletics-championships/1987/2nd-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-4/men/1500-metres/final/result)).

## Mo Farah: the most decorated Somali-born athlete

**[Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/)** won four Olympic gold medals for Great Britain, at 5,000 and 10,000 metres in both 2012 and 2016 ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mo-Farah)). In a 2022 BBC documentary he revealed that he was born in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) as Hussein Abdi Kahin. He said he was brought to the UK illegally at about nine to work as a servant ([NPR, 12 July 2022](https://laist.com/news/npr-news/mo-farah-says-he-was-trafficked-to-the-u-k-and-forced-into-child-labor); [Athletics Weekly](https://athleticsweekly.com/news/mo-farah-i-was-smuggled-into-uk-and-this-isnt-my-real-name-1039958323/)).

Many Somali-born runners now compete for other countries. Somalia has not yet won an Olympic medal ([Somalia at the Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_Olympics)).

## Samia Yusuf Omar

At 16, the sprinter **[Samia Yusuf Omar](/en/people/samia-yusuf-omar/)** ran for Somalia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She had trained in Mogadishu Stadium and around the city. After the Games she faced threats at home ([Somalia at the Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_Olympics)).

## Football: the Ocean Stars

Football is played in every Somali town, and the national team is called the Ocean Stars.

- **Home in exile.** Somalia's last home international was against Mauritius in Mogadishu in 1988. For decades the team played "home" games in Djibouti ([Inside World Football](https://insideworldfootball.com/?p=110855)).
- **First qualifier win.** On 5 September 2019, in Djibouti, Somalia beat Zimbabwe 1–0 for its first-ever World Cup qualifying win. Anwar Sidali scored late in the game. Somalia was ranked 202nd in the world, Zimbabwe 112th ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-wins-first-ever-football-world-cup-qualifier/1574332); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/sports/somalia-win-first-ever-world-cup-qualifier)).
- **The stadium returns.** Mogadishu Stadium had been occupied by various forces and left in disrepair for much of two decades. It reopened for football on 30 June 2020: Horseed beat Mogadishu City Club 2–1 ([FIFA, 1 July 2020](https://ipt.fifa.com/news/joyous-return-for-stadium-mogadishu-after-16-year-wait)).
- **Legends visit.** In 2025, former African stars including Samuel Eto'o and Jay-Jay Okocha played an exhibition match in Mogadishu ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/historic-and-hopeful-etoo-okocha-and-adebayor-mogadishu)).

The [Somali Premier League](/en/society/somali-first-division/) plays in Mogadishu. FIFA has also funded the rebuilding of Waamo Stadium in Kismayo ([FIFA, 2020](https://ipt.fifa.com/news/joyous-return-for-stadium-mogadishu-after-16-year-wait)).


---

# The Somali language: Af-Soomaali, Maay and the other languages of Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/the-somali-language/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali is a Cushitic language spoken by roughly 20 to 27 million people across the Horn of Africa and the diaspora. The 2012 constitution names Somali, in its two main forms Maay and Maxaa-tiri, as the official language, with Arabic as the second language.

## A Cushitic language

Somali belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. Its closest relatives are Aweer and [Garre](/en/society/garre/), then Rendille, spoken in Kenya and Ethiopia ([Somali languages, Wikipedia, backup source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)). Oromo and Afar are more distant cousins in the same branch.

Counts of speakers differ by source and year. Wikipedia's language entry gives about 24 to 27 million first-language speakers worldwide ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)). Somali is spoken in Somalia, Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and North Eastern Kenya, and by a diaspora of millions.

## Three main forms

Linguists group Somali into three main varieties ([Wikipedia, citing Lamberti 1986](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)):

- **Northern Somali (Af-Maxaa or Maxaa-tiri).** The basis of [Standard Somali](/en/society/northern-somali/). It is used in schools, radio and government across most of the Somali lands.
- **Benaadir.** Spoken on the coast from Cadale to south of Marka, including Mogadishu. The urban form, [Af-Reer Xamar](/en/society/benadiri-somali/), is known as softer-sounding ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).
- **[Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) (Af-Maay).** Spoken mainly by [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) communities in Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and parts of [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) and the Jubbas. Speakers of Maxaa often do not understand it easily ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, citing Lamberti](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The linguist Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi argues Maay is a separate language ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)).

A 2011 study of Somali Americans tested how well Maxaa speakers understand Maay ([Hassan Deqa, Somali Dialects in the United States, 2011](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## What the law says

Article 5 of the Provisional Constitution names Somali as the official language, "Maay and Maxaa-tiri", with Arabic as "the second language" ([Constitution of Somalia, 2012](https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)). A 2025 opinion piece in [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) notes that Maay is still not taught in schools ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/opinion-a-constitutional-promise-still-unfulfilled-where-is-maay-in-our-classrooms)). In Baidoa, a Maay academy has launched its own Maay script and calls for Article 5 to be applied ([National Academy of Maay Culture and Sciences](https://maayacademy.so/historic-launch-of-elif-maay-script-in-baidoa-marks-new-era-for-somali-linguistic-diversity/)).

## Other languages spoken in Somalia

- **Arabic:** the language of faith and of much trade and schooling.
- **[Kibajuni](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/):** spoken by the Bajuni of the Kismayo coast and islands ([EUAA](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).
- **Chimiini (Bravanese):** spoken in [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/), related to Swahili ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravanese_dialect)).
- **[Zigula](/en/society/mushunguli-language/) and Mushunguli:** Bantu languages kept by some Somali Bantu farmers in [Lower Jubba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) ([EUAA](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).
- **English and Italian:** from colonial schooling. English now leads in universities and business.

## A language of poets

Somali was a spoken language for most of its history. It carried law, news and history in verse. That is why poetry still holds such weight. See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/) and [how Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).


---

# Hawiye (Hawiye clan family)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hawiye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Hawiye are one of the five large Somali clan families, with the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Rahanweyn. By tradition they descend from Hawiye, son of Irir, son of Samaale. Their best-known branches include the Abgaal, Habar Gidir, Murusade, Hawadle, Ajuran and Gaaljecel. Most live in central and southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, with communities in Ethiopia and Kenya.

## Name and family tree

The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) lists the Hawiye as one of five large Somali clan families. The others are the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Rahanweyn ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The conflict-data project ACLED uses the same five ([ACLED methodology, 2025](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)).

The Hawiye are one of the [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/) families. The EUAA defines Samaale as the ancestor of the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Somali genealogy names Hawiye as a son of Irir, son of Samaale. Dir is counted as Irir's other line ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)).

Tradition gives the founder's name as [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ahmed, called Hawiye. It places his tomb at Qundhuro in the Hararghe area of Ethiopia (same source). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis wrote that claims of descent from noble Arab families are most probably a way of expressing the importance of Islam (same source, quoting Lewis).

## Main branches

The World Bank says "there is no clear agreement on the clan and subclan structures". It printed two charts from Somali research partners to show this ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

| Chart | Hawiye branches it shows |
|---|---|
| South-central partner (CRD) | Karanle (Murusade); Gugundhabe (Badi Adde, Jidle, Jejele); Haskul; Gorgate (Abgaal, Habar Gidir, Sheekhaal, Duduble, Udeejeen); Rarane; Jambeele. It lists Hawadle, Gaaljecel, Ajuran and Degoodi as "Hawiye associates". |
| Puntland partner (PDRC) | Habar Gidir, Abgaal, Murursade, Hawaadle, Ujuuraan |

ACCORD is an Austrian research centre. It calls the Habar Gidir and the Abgaal "the two most important and commonly used sub-divisions" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The Abgaal, Habar Gidir and Duduble are often grouped together as the Hiraab ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)).

ACLED's 2025 coding list places many groups under the Hawiye. They include the Abgaal, Habar Gidir, Hawadle, Murusade, Ajuran, Gaaljecel, Sheekhaal, Murule, Wacdaan, Moobleen and others ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The places below come from the EUAA's 2025 security report, region by region.

| Region | What the EUAA records |
|---|---|
| Mogadishu | All clans live here, but the city is "dominated by the Hawiye clan". The mayor and most district commissioners are Hawiye ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/23-benadir-and-mogadishu/231-security-situation)). |
| Middle Shabelle | The Abgaal are the main clan ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)). |
| Hiiraan | The Hawadle hold the land north-east of the Shabelle. The Gaaljecel and Badi Adde hold the south-west ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)). |
| Galgaduud | Habar Gidir sub-clans (Saleebaan, Cayr, Duduble) and the Murusade ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). |
| Mudug | The Sacad (Habar Gidir) in the south. The Sheekhaal also live here ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)). |
| Lower Shabelle | "Numerous Hawiye clans in the east" ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)). |
| Bakool, Gedo, the Jubbas | The Jajele in north Bakool. Small Ajuran, Sheekhaal and Hiraab groups in Gedo. The Gaaljecel between Kismayo and Afmadow ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |

Hawiye communities also live in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and in north-eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)).

## History on record

- **About 1550 to 1650.** The Ajuran state organised the land between the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba rivers. Its dates are disputed ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)). See [medieval and early modern polities](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).
- **November 1896.** Wacdaan and [Bimaal](/en/society/biyomaal/) fighters killed the Italian consul Antonio Cecchi at Lafoole, near [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/). See [resistance, 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).
- **May 1962.** A mainly Hawiye wing of the Somali Youth League joined the new Somali National Congress ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/15.htm)).
- **1989.** Hawiye leaders founded the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).
- **1991.** The USC split into an Abgaal wing under [Ali Mahdi](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) and a Habar Gidir wing under [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)). See [rebuilding, 1991 to 1999](/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/).
- **2015 and 2016.** The member states of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) were formed, in areas where most people are Hawiye.
- **2022 onward.** Hawadle and other Hawiye clan fighters, known as [Macawisley](/en/institutions/macawisley/), fought al-Shabaab alongside the army.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative". Lower down, elders (*oday*) settle disputes and manage shared land and water ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

Under the 4.5 formula, the Hawiye hold 61 of the 275 seats in the House of the People. See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data. Galmudug had the most: almost 220 incidents and at least 590 deaths. Most of the Galmudug conflicts it names involve Hawiye sub-clans, and others involve Darod or Dir groups ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Examples it names:

- Cayr against Duduble, and Saleebaan against Cayr, in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/).
- Murusade against Cayr, near Ceel Buur.
- Sacad against [Leelkase](/en/society/leelkase/) (Darod), in Galkayo district. ACLED counted 37 incidents between Habar Gidir and Leelkase militias in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)).
- Abgaal sub-clans against each other in Middle Shabelle, and Abgaal against Hawadle near Jalalaqsi.

See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/) for the full list.

## Where sources differ

- **The branch list.** The two World Bank charts above group the same clans differently.
- **Associated clans.** The south-central chart calls the Hawadle, Gaaljecel, Ajuran and Degoodi "associates". The EUAA calls the Ajuran and Gaaljecel "proto-Hawiye" and the Hawadle a Hawiye sub-clan.
- **Size.** Some writers call the Hawiye the largest Somali clan family. No count supports any claim about which family is largest.

## Read more

- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- Hawiye clans with their own page: [Karanle](/en/society/karanle/), [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/), [Wacbuudhan](/en/society/wacbuudhan/), [Udeejeen](/en/society/udeejeen/), [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/), [Jijeele](/en/society/jijeele/), [Ajuuraan](/en/society/ajuuraan/), [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/), [Degoodi](/en/society/degoodi/) and [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/)
- Hiraab and Habar Gidir lines with their own page: [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/), [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/), [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/), [Ayaanle Cayr](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/), [Habar Caji](/en/society/habar-caji/), [Saleebaan](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), [Sacad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/), [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/) and [Moobleen](/en/society/moobleen/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)


---

# Somalia national football team (the Ocean Stars): history, results and records

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's national football team, the Ocean Stars, is run by the Somali Football Federation, a member of FIFA and CAF since the 1960s. It has never reached the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. Its first World Cup qualifying win came on 5 September 2019, 1–0 against Zimbabwe in Djibouti. By RSSSF's count it has played 145 recorded internationals, with 15 wins, 19 draws and 111 losses.

## In numbers

- **Members of:** FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF). RSSSF dates both memberships to 1963 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)); Wikipedia gives FIFA 1962 and CAF 1968 ([Somali Football Federation, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)).
- **Recorded internationals:** 145 played, 15 won, 19 drawn, 111 lost, 75 goals scored and 362 conceded, up to November 2025 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **World Cup qualifiers:** 23 played, 1 won, 4 drawn, 18 lost ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers:** 13 played, 3 won, 2 drawn, 8 lost ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **Biggest defeat:** 0–14 against North Korea on 14 November 1963 ([Somalia national football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).
- **Most caps:** Omar Abdulkadir, 31, from 1999 to 2007 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).

## Beginnings: the 1940s and the Somali Youth League

The first Somali football teams were formed in the 1940s, and early matches were tied to the anti-colonial movement. The Somali Youth League put together a team of local young men to play the Italian expatriate clubs. That team, later renamed Bondhere, won the first several competitions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). The RSSSF records that Bondhere, earlier called SYL "[Leego](/en/history/somali-youth-league/)", won the second division in 1958, under the UN trusteeship ([RSSSF, Somalia champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).

The Somali Football Federation was founded in 1951, and the first Somali commissioner for sport was named in 1958 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). Somalia's first national team captain was Mohamed Shangole; the longest-serving was Hasan Babay ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).

## Playing away from home

After the civil war began in the early 1990s, FIFA matches could not be played in Somalia, and the team played its "home" qualifiers abroad, mostly in Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). Between 16 November 2011 and 22 July 2019 Somalia lost 18 matches in a row, and it went 28 games without a win from January 2009 to July 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). The 2012 CECAFA Cup included a 0–7 defeat by [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) in Uganda ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).

## 5 September 2019: the first World Cup qualifying win

In Djibouti, in front of about 4,000 people, Somalia beat Zimbabwe 1–0 in the first round of 2022 World Cup qualifying. It was Somalia's first World Cup qualifying win and its first competitive win since 1984, against Kenya ([BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49621822); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). RSSSF credits the 86th-minute goal to Anwar Shakunda; other reports spell the scorer Anwar Sidali ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)). Zimbabwe won the return leg 3–1 in Harare five days later, and Somalia went out ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).

## Recent matches

- **2023:** World Cup qualifiers against Algeria (1–3) and Uganda (0–1), both played away or in Morocco ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **2024:** Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Eswatini, including a 2–2 draw on 26 March in South Africa after Somalia came back from two goals down ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).
- **2025:** six World Cup qualifiers, all lost or drawn, then a 2–1 friendly win over Bahrain on 17 November and an Arab Cup qualifier against [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) in [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), drawn 0–0 and lost 1–4 on penalties ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).

## Kit and home ground

From the 1970s to the 1990s the team wore sky blue with the Somali flag; in the 2010s it moved to blue and white vertical stripes, and the coat of arms on the shirt was replaced by the federation crest. Home games are meant for Mogadishu Stadium; while it was rebuilt, the team used [Engineer Yarisow Stadium](/en/society/stadiums-in-somalia/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).

## Head-to-head, selected opponents

| Opponent | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uganda | 24 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| Kenya | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Tanzania | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Burundi | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Zanzibar | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Djibouti | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Ethiopia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Yemen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

Source: [RSSSF, updated 12 February 2026](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html).

## Read more

- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)
- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Somali Football Federation](/en/society/somali-football-federation/)
- [Somaliland national football team](/en/society/somaliland-national-football-team/)


---

# Why almost every Somali is Muslim: what the record shows

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/why-somalis-are-almost-all-muslim/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> More than 99 percent of people in Somalia are Sunni Muslims, according to the federal religious affairs ministry. Historians and official records point to six things that kept it that way for over a thousand years: very early contact with Arabia, faith woven into family lineages, a religious teacher and Qur'an school in almost every community, the Sufi orders, long wars with Christian Abyssinia, and colonial and Somali governments that kept Christian missions out or small.

## The number

More than 99 percent of Somalia's people are Sunni Muslims, according to the Federal Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. All other faiths together are under 1 percent, including a Christian community of about 1,000 ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). The Pew Research Center's world table puts Somalia at 98.5 percent Muslim, from a 2005 estimate ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/chart/interactive-data-table-world-muslim-population-by-country/)). Pew has never run its own survey inside Somalia. See [religion in Somalia in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/).

Very few countries are this close to one faith. Historians and official records point to the six reasons below. Each is given with the source that makes the point.

## 1. Islam arrived very early

The Library of Congress country study says Islam was "probably brought to Somalia by early followers of the Prophet who sought refuge from persecution in Mecca", or through Persian and Arab merchants who settled the coast "1,000 or more years ago" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). Local tradition holds that the first Muslims reached Zeila in the Prophet's lifetime ([Masjid al-Qiblatayn, Zeila, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_al-Qiblatayn,_Zeila)). By the late 800s the Arab geographer al-Ya'qubi wrote that Muslims lived along the northern Somali coast ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing the Encyclopedia Americana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

So Islam had centuries to settle before any Christian mission reached the Somali coast in the 1880s. See [how Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/).

## 2. Faith is woven into lineage

Many Somali lineages trace their founding ancestor to a Muslim holy man from Arabia. The forefathers of large clan families, such as [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq and Sheikh [Daarood](/en/society/darod/), are remembered in these genealogies as Arabian sheikhs who came across the sea ([Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)). Scholars read these accounts in different ways. The historian Christopher Ehret treats clan founders such as Isaaq and Darod as historical people around whom legends grew. The archaeologist Sada Mire calls Arab founding ancestors part of "the Somali Islamic myth of origin", while linking the stories to real migrations from South Arabia ([Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia, citing Ehret and Mire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)). The scholar [Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/) reads such stories as an older origin belief recast in Islamic form ([Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, Wikipedia, citing Ahmed, The Invention of Somalia, 1995](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis described this "total Somali genealogy", whose top branches reach the Prophet's tribe of Quraysh ([Lewis, "Historical Aspects of Genealogies in Northern Somali Social Structure", Journal of African History, 1962](https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/historical-aspects-of-genealogies-in-northern-somali-social-structure1/818BF4812E44980408CA34549694DC3C)).

The Library of Congress study notes that northern herders "are likely to honor lineage founders as saints" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). Because faith and family line are tied together, leaving Islam is seen by many as leaving the family. The US State Department reports that conversion "continued to be socially unacceptable", "seen as a betrayal of family and clan" ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

## 3. A teacher and a Qur'an school almost everywhere

Even among nomads, every community had a *wadaad*, a man of religion. The Library of Congress study calls the *wadaddo* "the oldest stratum of literate people in Somalia". They taught, wrote documents, judged by religious law and led prayers ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/46.htm)).

Almost every child starts at the Qur'an school (*dugsi* or *malcaamad*) at age 3 or 4. A UN Peacebuilding Fund project document says Somalis "almost universally" attend for a few years, across income, place and clan. The education ministry estimates about 50,000 Qur'an schools teaching over 4 million children ([UN Peacebuilding Fund, Building Peace Through Religious Education in Somalia](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)). The same document notes that when state schools shut after 1991, the Qur'an schools kept running. See [Qur'an schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/).

## 4. The Sufi orders and their farming villages

From the 1400s, Sufi brotherhoods spread through the towns, then the countryside. Their sheikhs founded farming villages (*jamaaco*) on land that elders gave "to God". In the 1950s there were more than 90 such villages in the south, with about 35,000 members ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). Most Somalis belonged to an order at least in name. See [the Sufi orders](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## 5. Centuries of war with Christian Abyssinia

The Library of Congress study says "loyalty to Islam reinforces distinctions that set Somalis apart from their immediate African neighbors", most of whom were Christian or followed local faiths ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/44.htm)). From the 1300s the Muslim states of the Somali coast and highlands, [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) and then Adal, fought the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia. In the 1500s Imam Ahmad of Adal led Somali and other Muslim fighters deep into the highlands ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). See [the medieval Somali states](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).

In 1899 the Dervish movement of [Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) again framed resistance to British, Italian and Ethiopian rule as a defence of the faith. See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## 6. Missions were kept out or kept small

**In the British north.** A French Catholic mission opened an orphanage at Daymoole near Berbera in 1891. According to a history by the Somali Christian writer Aweis A. Ali, meeting children from this orphanage was one of the things that angered the Sayyid against British rule, and the mission was expelled in 1910 ([Aweis A. Ali, "A Brief History of Christian Missions in Somalia", 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). After that the British government shut missions out. In 1927 the Colonial Secretary told Parliament that the [Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) was one of only two places in the Colonial Empire from which all Christian missions were excluded ([Hansard, 29 July 1927](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1927/jul/29/christian-missions)). In 1937 his successor said the government had "for many years" been "obliged... to exclude all missionaries" because the people were "almost entirely" Muslim nomads ([Hansard, 28 April 1937](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1937/apr/28/british-somaliland-abys-sinian-refugees)). In 1947 the question was still under review ([Hansard, 30 July 1947](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1947/jul/30/somaliland-christian-missions)).

**In the Italian south.** A Swedish Lutheran mission worked from 1896 and a Catholic mission from 1904, mostly among farming communities on the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) rivers. Italy expelled the Swedish mission in 1935 ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). The Catholic bishop claimed about 40,000 Catholics in 1940, but only about 8,500 were counted around 1950 and about 100 in 2004 ([Christianity in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing the Diocese of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)).

**After independence.** The 1961 constitution declared the republic an Islamic state while guaranteeing freedom of religion ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)). The Mennonite and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) Interior missions were expelled in 1976 ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). The 2012 constitution makes Islam the state religion and bans spreading any other religion ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html); [Constitution of Somalia, Article 2](https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)). See [Christians and missions in Somalia](/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/).

## How the six fit together

None of the sources gives a single cause. The Library of Congress study adds that Somalis also kept older customs inside their Islam, such as the yearly feast for the clan ancestor in the north and the rain prayer (*roobdoon*) among farmers in the south ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/48.htm)). Later debates, such as the [1975 family law](/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/) and the [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/), were arguments about how to live as Muslims, not about whether to.

## Read further

- I. M. Lewis, *[Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/): Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society* (Red Sea Press, 1998) ([review notice, BSOAS](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/africa-i-m-lewis-saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clanbased-society-xvii-174-pp-london-haan-associates-1998-1295-paper/8AD14C2E39D237C6BD54754C7DB468F7)).
- [Abdurahman M. Abdullahi](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) (Baadiyow), *The Islamic Movement in Somalia: A Historical Evolution with a Case Study of the Islah Movement, 1950–2000*, PhD thesis, McGill University, 2011 ([McGill eScholarship](https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/downloads/qn59q852t)).
- [Islam in Somalia: faith, the Sufi orders and religion in law](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).


---

# Darod (Daarood clan family)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/darod/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Darod (Daarood) are one of the five large Somali clan families, with the Dir, Isaaq, Hawiye and Rahanweyn. By tradition they descend from Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, called Darod. Their three best-known groups are the Ogaden, the Marehan and the Harti (Majeerteen, Dhulbahante and Warsangeli). They live in north-eastern, central and southern Somalia, and in Ethiopia and Kenya.

## Name and family tree

The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) lists the Darod as one of five large Somali clan families. The others are the Dir, Isaaq, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The conflict-data project ACLED uses the same five ([ACLED methodology, 2025](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)). The name is spelled Daarood in standard Somali, and Darood or Darod in English.

The Darod are one of the [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/) families. The EUAA defines Samaale as the ancestor of the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Somali genealogy links the Darod to the Samaale through the mother's side. Tradition says the founder married Dobira, a daughter of the Dir ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darod)).

Tradition names the founder as [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, called Darod. It places his tomb at Haylaan in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), a place of pilgrimage (same source). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis wrote that claims of descent from noble Arab families are most probably a way of expressing the importance of Islam. He added that "there is a strong historically valid component" in the Darod case (same source, quoting Lewis).

## Main branches

The Austrian research centre ACCORD writes that the Darod "are commonly divided into three major groups referred to as Ogaden, Marehan, and Harti". The Harti are the Majeerteen, the Dhulbahante and the Warsangeli ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). A UK Home Office report gives the same three groups ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The World Bank says "there is no clear agreement on the clan and subclan structures". It printed two charts from Somali research partners to show this ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

| Chart | Darod branches it shows |
|---|---|
| South-central partner (CRD) | Kablalax (with Koombe and Kumaade), Sade (with Marehan and Facaye) and Leelkase |
| Puntland partner (PDRC) | Marehan, Awrtable, Leelkase, Harti and Ogaden |

ACLED's 2025 coding list places these groups under the Darod: Majeerteen, Dhulbahante, Warsangeli, Marehan, Ogaden, Leelkase, Awrtable, Bartire, Dashiishe and others ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The places below come from the EUAA's 2025 security report, region by region.

| Region | What the EUAA records |
|---|---|
| Bari | The Cismaan Maxamuud (Majeerteen) are the main clan, and the Cali Saleebaan are politically important ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/262-bari)). |
| Nugaal | The Ciise Maxamuud (Majeerteen) live mostly here ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/261-nugal)). |
| Mudug | The Cumar Maxamuud (Majeerteen) in the north. The Leelkase and Marehan also live here ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)). |
| Sool | "Most of Sool's population belongs to the Dhulbahante clan" ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)). |
| Sanaag | The Warsangeli in the east, and the Dhulbahante in some southern areas ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)). |
| Gedo | The Marehan hold most land west of the Juba ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/211-gedo)). |
| Lower and Middle Juba | The Maxamed Subeer (Ogaden) and other Darod groups, including the Harti. The Awlyahan (Ogaden) in Middle Juba and along the Ethiopian border ([EUAA 2025, Lower Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/213-lower-juba); [EUAA 2025, Middle Juba](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)). |
| Galgaduud | The Marehan live here with Hawiye and Dir clans ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). |

ACCORD adds that the Ogaden also live in Ethiopia and Kenya ([ACCORD 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

## History on record

- **1700s to 1927.** The Majeerteen Sultanate and the Sultanate of Hobyo ruled the north-east coast. Italy occupied both by force in 1925 to 1927. See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).
- **1866 to 1886.** Britain paid the Majeerteen sultan a yearly subsidy from 1866. The Warsangeli signed a British protection treaty on 27 January 1886. See [colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **1899 to 1920.** Many early followers of the [Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) were Dhulbahante and Ogaden ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/10.htm)). The British War Office noted that the Sayid worked to put his authority above clan loyalties.
- **1950s.** In British Somaliland, the United Somali Party drew support from the Dhulbahante and Warsangeli, with the Gadabuursi and Ciise. See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).
- **Mid-1970s.** The Library of Congress records that [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government was informally called "MOD", for Marehan, Ogaden and Dhulbahante ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).
- **1978 to 1981.** The [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/) formed, with support mainly from the Majeerteen.
- **1985 to 1989.** The [Somali Patriotic Movement](/en/institutions/somali-patriotic-movement/) formed, with support mainly from the Ogaden.
- **5 May 1998.** Harti elders at Garowe declared [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).
- **2012 onward.** [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) formed around Kismayo, where the EUAA records Ogaden political weight.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative". Lower down, elders (*oday*) settle disputes and manage shared land and water ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

In Puntland, the EUAA records that the presidency "traditionally rotated" between three Majeerteen sub-clans ([EUAA 2025, Nugaal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/261-nugal)). Under the national 4.5 formula, the Darod hold 61 of the 275 seats in the House of the People. See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Examples involving Darod groups:

- Marehan against Gelidle ([Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)) in [Bardhere](/en/regions/baardheere/), and [Reer Aw Xasan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/) (Marehan) against Rahanweyn groups in [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), both in Gedo.
- Majeerteen sub-clans against each other in Kismayo, and Majeerteen against the Cawrmale south of Kismayo.
- Leelkase and Cumar Maxamuud against Sacad (Habar Gidir) around Galkayo.
- Dhulbahante against Cumar Maxamuud (Majeerteen) between [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/).
- Dhulbahante sub-clans against each other, and Warsangeli sub-clans against each other, in Sool and Sanaag.
- Dhulbahante against [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) and Habar Jeclo (Isaaq) around Ceerigaabo, [Caynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) and [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/).

In 2023, fighting around Laascaanood set [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) forces against Dhulbahante fighters, joined by other Harti clans ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)). See [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **The branch list.** ACCORD's three groups and the two World Bank charts group the Darod differently.
- **The founder.** Tradition gives an Arabian origin. Some scholars treat the story as a later genealogy and note that the name Darod is pre-Islamic ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darod)). Lewis saw a "historically valid component" in it.
- **Size.** Some writers call the Darod the largest Somali clan family. No count supports any claim about which family is largest.

## Read more

- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Mareexaan (Marehan)](/en/society/mareexaan/)
- [Ogaadeen (Ogaden)](/en/society/ogaadeen/)
- [Warsangali (Warsangeli)](/en/society/warsangali/)
- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/), with [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/), [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/), [Omar Mahamoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) and [Ali Saleebaan](/en/society/ali-saleebaan/)
- [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/)
- [Dishiishe](/en/society/dishiishe/)
- [Leelkase](/en/society/leelkase/)
- [Awrtable](/en/society/awrtable/)
- [Scholars from Zeila and the Horn in medieval Yemen, 1150–1450](/en/history/zeila-and-jabarti-scholars-in-medieval-yemen/)
- [Jidwaaq](/en/society/jidwaaq/) and [Bartire](/en/society/bartire/)
- Ogaden lines: [Mohamed Zubeir](/en/society/mohamed-zubeir/) and [Aulihan](/en/society/aulihan/)


---

# How Islam reached the Somalis: the coast, the traders and the teachers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Islam reached the Somali coast early. Tradition links it to the Prophet's lifetime, and an Arab geographer recorded Muslims on the northern coast by the late 800s. From ports such as Zeila, Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa it moved inland over centuries, carried by traders, travelling teachers and holy men remembered as founders of lineages. By the 1300s Somali scholars were teaching in Cairo.

## In short

There is no single date when the Somalis became Muslim. The sources describe a long process: very early contact across the Red Sea and [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), Muslim trading towns on the coast, and then centuries of teachers moving inland. The record below separates tradition, written sources and archaeology, and says which is which.

## The tradition: the first hijra

In about 613 to 615, a small group of the Prophet Muhammad's followers fled persecution in Mecca and crossed the Red Sea to the Christian kingdom of Aksum, in today's Eritrea and Ethiopia. Islamic sources call its king the Negus (*an-Najashi*) and say he protected them ([Migration to Abyssinia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_to_Abyssinia)). Aksum lay next to the Somali lands, and the Library of Congress country study says Islam was "probably brought to Somalia by early followers of the Prophet who sought refuge from persecution in Mecca" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)).

Local tradition in Zeila says the first Muslims built the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, the "mosque of the two qiblas", in the Prophet's lifetime. Its oldest remains are undated, and archaeologists say more digging is needed ([Masjid al-Qiblatayn, Zeila, Wikipedia, citing Insoll 2020 and Fauvelle-Aymar 2011](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_al-Qiblatayn,_Zeila)). The same article notes that some scholars date the Islamisation of the region as late as the 1200s and 1300s, while others put it earlier.

## The first written record

In the late 800s the Arab geographer al-Ya'qubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali coast ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing the Encyclopedia Americana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). The Library of Congress study also names Persian and Arab merchants and seamen who "founded settlements along the Somali coast 1,000 or more years ago" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)).

On the southern coast, Mogadishu's oldest dated mosque inscriptions come from the 1200s. When the traveller Ibn Battuta visited in 1331, Mogadishu had a Muslim sultan, a judge (*qadi*) and scholars of law. See [the Somali coast towns, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

## Inland: teachers and holy men

Islam moved from the ports to the herders and farmers through people, not armies alone. Somali tradition credits several sheikhs with spreading it, including Aw Barkhadle, [Aw Qutub](/en/society/sheekhaal/), Aw Cismaan Fiqi Cumar ("Garweyne") and Aw Cismaan Xasan bin Cakaabir ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Mohamed-Abdi, Histoire des croyances en Somalie, 1992](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

**Aw Barkhadle** ("Blessed Father"), also called Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, is remembered as a scholar based near Zeila. Oral tradition says he came from Arabia; the archaeologist Sada Mire recorded legends of "an Arabian sheikh" who came to the place once called Dogor, now named [Aw-Barkhadle](/en/history/ancient-burials-stelae-and-towns/) after him. The Italian scholar Enrico Cerulli found him named in the Harar manuscripts ([Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). He is also credited with devising Somali names for the Arabic vowel signs, the root of the "wadaad's writing" used to write Somali in Arabic letters ([same article, citing Laitin, Politics, Language and Thought, p. 85](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)). See [Aw Barkhadle](/en/people/aw-barkhadle/).

Many lineages trace their founder to an Arabian sheikh who married into local families. **[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq** is said to have crossed from Arabia in the 900s or 1000s, settled at [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) and fathered the eight sons from whom the Isaaq descend ([Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia, citing Lewis and the Library of Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)). Similar traditions exist for Sheikh [Daarood](/en/society/darod/) and others. Scholars differ on how to read them. See [why almost every Somali is Muslim](/en/society/why-somalis-are-almost-all-muslim/).

In the countryside, each community came to have a *wadaad*, a man of religion who taught, led prayers, wrote documents and settled disputes by religious law ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/46.htm)).

## Somali scholars abroad: al-Zayla'i and the Cairo hostel

By the 1300s, scholars from the Somali coast were known across the Muslim world under the name *[al-Zayla'i](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/)* ("from Zeila"). **Uthman ibn Ali al-Zayla'i** (died 1342) settled in Cairo and studied with other Somali students at the Riwaq al-Zayla'i, a hostel for students from Zeila at al-Azhar. He wrote a four-volume commentary on Hanafi law, *Tabyin al-Haqa'iq* ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar, Arabic Sources on Somalia, 1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). A research paper traces how students from the Horn formed one of al-Azhar's first student communities ([Abyssinia at al-Azhar: Muslim Students from the Horn of Africa in Late Medieval Cairo, AfricArXiv](https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/8922)).

## The Muslim states

From the late 1200s, Muslim sultanates ruled the trade routes inland from Zeila: first [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/), then Adal, with later capitals at [Dakkar](/en/history/dakar-lost-capital-of-adal-1415-1520/) and Harar ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Lewis and Briggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). On the southern coast, Mogadishu and later the Ajuran ruled. These states built mosques, kept judges and tied the Somali lands to Arabia, Egypt and India. See [the medieval Somali states, 1300s to 1700s](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).

## The Sufi wave, from 1500

In 1503, [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Abu Bakr al-Aydarus of Aden is said to have brought the Qadiriyya Sufi order into the Horn ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Mohamed, Sufi poetry in Somali, 1977](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). The Library of Congress study says Sufi orders appeared in Somali towns in the 1400s and "rapidly became a revitalizing force" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). In the 1800s new orders spread far into the countryside. See [the Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## Which school of law

Somalis follow the Sunni branch of Islam and mostly the **Shafi'i** school of law, named after Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (767 to 820) ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)).

## Read further

- [Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/), *Arabic Sources on Somalia* (African Studies Association, 1987).
- J. Spencer Trimingham, *Islam in Ethiopia* (Oxford University Press, 1952), which covers the Somali lands.
- [Islam in Somalia: faith, the Sufi orders and religion in law](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).


---

# Somali dialects: Northern, Benadir, Ashraf, Maay and Digil

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-dialects/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Linguists group the speech of Somalis into five dialect groups: Northern Somali, Benadir, Ashraf, Maay and Digil. The largest survey, by Marcello Lamberti in 1981, studied 52 dialect variants across southern Somalia. Northern Somali is the base of written Standard Somali; Maay and the Digil varieties differ most from it.

## The five dialect groups

The Norwegian country-information centre Landinfo summarised the research on Somali dialects in a 2011 report for its immigration service ([Landinfo 2011](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). It follows the Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, whose book Die Somali-Dialekte (1986) is described by the SOAS linguist Martin Orwin as the most relevant publication on the subject ([Landinfo 2011, p. 4](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Lamberti sorts Somali into five groups that form a chain, with fluid transitions between neighbours ([Landinfo 2011, p. 6](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

- **[Northern Somali](/en/society/northern-somali/)**: the northwest, the northeast, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, northern Kenya and the Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).
- **[Benadir](/en/society/benadiri-somali/)**: the coast and hinterland from Hobyo to south of Marka, including Mogadishu.
- **[Ashraf](/en/society/ashraf-somali/)**: spoken by the [Ashraf](/en/society/asharaaf/) of Shingaani in Mogadishu and of the Marka district.
- **[Maay](/en/society/maay-language/)**: the inter-river lands of Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Middle Juba and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/).
- **[Digil](/en/society/digil-languages/)**: [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/), [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/), [Garre](/en/society/garre-language/) and [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/).

## Earlier ways of grouping them

The first scientific grouping was made by Enrico Cerulli in 1919. He named four groups after the clan families whose speech he recorded: Isaaq (with Ciise and Gadabuursi), [Daarood](/en/society/darod/), Hawiye and Sab ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Martino Moreno moved the Hawiye into a Benadir group and the Sab into a [Digil](/en/society/digil/) group. B. W. Andrzejewski and John Saeed used three groups: Common Somali, Coastal or Benadir, and Central Somali ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

Somali speakers often use a simpler two-way split. **Maxaa-tiri** ("what did you say?") covers Northern and Benadir speech. **Maay-tiri**, also called Maxaa-rabtaa or Maxaa-jira, covers the Maay and Digil varieties ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). The 2012 Provisional Constitution names "Maay and Maxaa-tiri" together as the Somali language ([Constitute Project, Somalia 2012, Article 5](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)).

## How the groups differ

Lamberti found clear sound differences between the two halves. All Maxaa-tiri dialects have the throat sounds written c and x; the Maay dialects lack them but have a sound like the "gy" in Hungarian ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Grammar differs too: in Maxaa-tiri a sentence without a definite article is wrong, while Maay speakers can leave the article out ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

Lamberti counted 67 dialect features. Benadir shares 40 of them with Northern Somali; Ashraf shares 14 with Northern Somali and 14 more with Benadir only; Maay shares few with Northern Somali and many more with Benadir and Ashraf ([Landinfo 2011, p. 16](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

Some linguists treat Maay and the Digil varieties as separate languages. Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi wrote that these varieties "constitute separate Cushitic languages" ([Culture and Customs of Somalia, 2001](https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri)). I. M. Lewis compared the gap between Maay and Northern Somali to that between Spanish and Portuguese ([Saints and Somalis, 1998, p. 74](https://books.google.com/books?id=P5AZyEhMtbkC)). Mauro Tosco wrote that all are "dialects" in social terms, but that no classification so far has tested mutual understanding ([Ashraf Somali, Wikipedia, quoting Tosco 2012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf_Somali)).

## Lamberti's 1981 survey

Lamberti did his fieldwork in 1981 in Mogadishu, [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/), Luuq, Saakow, [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/), Bu'aale, Marka, [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/), Qansax Dheere, Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba, [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), Kismaayo and Cadale. He studied 52 dialect variants, using about 600 words and 500 standard phrases with 78 speakers ([Landinfo 2011, p. 4](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Orwin told Landinfo that no systematic field study of the dialects had been carried out since the 1980s ([Landinfo 2011, p. 4](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## What changed the map

Lamberti named three forces. Nomadic movement spread dialects and made the north, where herding is strongest, more uniform than the settled south. Clan ties kept dialects distinct even when clans lived side by side. Migration moved speech south: Daarood groups from the north settled in Lower Juba and Kenya in the 1800s and 1900s, and about 300,000 nomads were resettled along the lower Shabelle and in Dujuuma after the 1973 to 1974 drought ([Landinfo 2011, p. 7](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). After 1972, school books and radio used a standard based mainly on [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and Ogaden Daarood speech ([Landinfo 2011, p. 8](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## Read more

- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)
- [Somali grammars and dictionaries](/en/society/somali-grammars-and-dictionaries/)
- [Somali writing systems](/en/society/somali-writing-systems/)


---

# Somali First Division (Somali National League): every champion since 1933

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-first-division/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali First Division, now called the Somali National League, is Somalia's top men's football league. It has run since 1967, with earlier championships under Italian rule from 1933. Mogadishu City Club, counting its earlier names, has the most titles (10), ahead of Horseed (8). Gaadiidka won the 2025–26 season.

## The league today

The Somali National League, formerly the Somali Premier League and widely called the First Division, is the top men's football league in Somalia. It was set up in 1967, is run by the Somali Football Federation, and each club may register four foreign players at a time ([Somali First Division, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_First_Division)). The federation also runs a second and third division and the Somalia Cup ([Somali Football Federation, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)). In 2015 Al Jazeera reported foreign players arriving as the league revived ([Al Jazeera, 1 July 2015](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2015/7/1/somalias-football-revival-lures-foreign-players)).

## Before independence

The RSSSF, which keeps football records by country, finds league championships under Italian colonial rule from at least 1932/33 to 1939/40, won by Italian clubs. The first Somali clubs were formed in the 1940s. Among the earliest were Bondhere (first called SYL "[Leego](/en/history/somali-youth-league/)", founded by the Somali Youth League), the transport team Autoparco (later Gaadiidka), the Public Works team Lavori Publici (later Jeenyo, from the Italian *genio*), Shibis, Hamarweyne and Wardhiigley. Police and army teams became the strongest; because matches between them caused tension, they were later merged to form Horseed ([RSSSF, Somalia champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).

## Every champion

| Season | Champion |
|---|---|
| 1933 | Comando Marina |
| 1937, 1938 | AC Amaruini (Hamarweyne) |
| 1939 | Arabe |
| 1946/47 | AC Mogadiscio |
| 1952 | SC Genio Officina (Jeenyo) |
| 1953/54 | AS Corpo di Polizia (Police) |
| 1954/55 to 1956/57 | Autoparco (Gaadiidka), three in a row |
| 1957/58 | AS Mogadiscio |
| 1959/60 | Lavori Publici (Jeenyo) |
| 1967 | Somali Police (Booliska) |
| 1968 | Hoga (Xoogga) |
| 1969, 1970, 1971 | Lavori Publici (Jeenyo) |
| 1971/72, 1972/73, 1973/74 | Horseed |
| 1975/76 | Mogadishu Municipality |
| 1976/77 to 1979/80 | Horseed, four in a row |
| 1980/81 | Lavori Publici (Jeenyo) |
| 1982 | Wagad |
| 1983 | National Printing Agency (Madbacadda Qaranka) |
| 1984 | Marine Club (Badda) |
| 1985 | Wagad |
| 1986 | Mogadishu Municipality |
| 1987, 1988 | Wagad |
| 1989 | Mogadishu Municipality |
| 1990 | Gaadiidka |
| 1994 | Morris Supplies |
| 1995 | Alba |
| 1998 | Ports Authority (Dekedda) |
| 1999 | Banaadir Telecom |
| 2000 to 2003 | Elman FC |
| 2004–06 | Banaadir Telecom |
| 2007 | Ports Authority (Dekedda) |
| 2009/10 | Banaadir Telecom |
| 2011, 2012 | Elman FC |
| 2013/14 | Banaadir Telecom |
| 2014/15 | Heegan |
| 2015/16 | Banaadir Telecom |
| 2016/17, 2018, 2019 | Dekedda |
| 2019/20 | Mogadishu City Club |
| 2021 | Horseed |
| 2022 | Gaadiidka |
| 2023/24 | Dekedda |
| 2024/25 | Mogadishu City Club |
| 2025/26 | Gaadiidka |

Source: [RSSSF, Somalia champions, list by Karel Stokkermans and others](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html). Years not shown were not played or are not known. RSSSF notes that [Elman FC](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/)'s own player profiles date its four titles to 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003, and that the 2004 season was suspended after a few weeks and resumed only in August 2006.

## Titles by club since 1967

- **10:** Mogadishu City Club, counting [Mogadishu Municipality](/en/society/mogadishu-city-club/) and Banaadir Telecom
- **8:** Horseed
- **6:** Dekedda (Ports Authority) and Elman FC
- **4:** Lavori Publici (now Jeenyo) and Wagad
- **3:** Gaadiidka
- **1:** Alba, Heegan, Hoga, Marine Club, Morris Supplies, National Printing Agency, Somali Police

Source: [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html), which counts 48 titles since 1967 and notes that two may be missing.

## A season in detail: 2021

Ten clubs played 18 rounds from January to July 2021. Horseed and Mogadishu City Club finished level on 38 points. The play-off on 2 August was awarded to Horseed after Mogadishu City Club declined to play, because two of its players were suspended. Elman FC and [Geeska Afrika](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) were relegated, and [Badbaado](/en/society/badbaado-camp/) and Saxafi Hotel came up ([RSSSF, Somalia 2021](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)). Heegan beat Geeska Afrika 13–0 in the last round ([same](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)). Wikipedia records a crowd of 65,000 at Horseed against Mogadishu City Club, the largest of the season ([Somali First Division, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_First_Division); [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/tanks-gone-somalis-fill-mogadishu-stadium-with-65000-fans-for-first-time-since-2004/)).

## Inter-state championship

Teams of the federal member states play their own championship:

- 2016: [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) beat [Jubbaland](/en/states/jubaland/) on penalties
- 2017: Jubbaland 1–0 Puntland
- 2020: Banadir beat [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) on penalties
- 2023/24: Galmudug beat [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) on penalties

Source: [RSSSF, Somalia cup winners](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html).

## Read more

- [Somalia Cup and Super Cup](/en/society/somalia-cup/)
- [Somali football clubs](/en/society/somali-football-clubs/)
- [Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)
- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)


---

# Somali poetic metre (miisaan): how gabay, geeraar and jiifto are measured

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-poetic-metre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Every Somali poem follows a metre (miisaan) built from long and short vowels, plus alliteration. Poets used the metres for centuries without naming the rules. Somali scholars, above all Cabdillaahi Diiriye Guuleed 'Carraale' and Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac 'Gaarriye', first wrote the rules down in the 1970s, after Somali gained its Latin script.

## Rules everyone hears and few could state

Somalis judge a line to be poetry when its parts alliterate and balance one another with a regular rhythm. The scholar [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) wrote that even the best poets and reciters "are unable to clearly express the complex rules of Somali verse" ([Rirache, Somali poetic genres, quoting Samatar in Somalia in Word and Image, 1986](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)). In 1854 the explorer Richard Burton wrote that the country teemed with poets and that every man had an ear for a good poem; in 1964 B. W. Andrzejewski and I. M. Lewis praised Somali poets for their results in "the very difficult medium of Somali prosody" ([Rirache, citing Andrzejewski and Lewis 1964, pp. 45 to 46](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)).

## The two building blocks

The metre counts syllables by their vowels. A long vowel (as in **aa**) counts as two units and a short one as one. The SOAS scholar Martin Orwin describes the patterned units as long-vowel syllables, short-vowel syllables, and short-vowel syllables that end in a consonant ([Orwin 2018, Metre and extrametricality in the geeraar](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). Alongside the metre, every line must alliterate on one chosen sound through the whole poem; see [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Who decoded it

According to the Djibouti scholar Maxamed Cabdillaahi Riiraash (Rirache), the metres were first identified, "shortly after the Somali language was put into a script", by **Cabdillaahi Diiriye Guuleed** ("Carraale") and **Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac** ("[Gaarriye](/en/people/gaarriye/)"), on the basis of the number and order of vowels ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)). Orwin dates Gaarriye's first published account of the geeraar metre to 1976, and an article on the jiifto to the same year ([Orwin 2018](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). Carraale's latest statement of his system appeared in 2016.

Other scholars who have published on the metres include Cabdalla Cumar Mansuur (1977), the American folklorist John William Johnson (1979 and 1996), Francesco Antinucci with Axmed Faarax Cali "Idaajaa", Giorgio Banti and Francesco Giannattasio (1996), who also studied the chanted performance, and Faarax Axmed Cali "Gamuute" ([Orwin 2018](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). Orwin and Riiraash published a joint study in 1997 using what Orwin calls the "Djibouti approach". The writer Cabdiraxmaan C. Faarax "Barwaaqo" built software that checks a line's metre ([Orwin 2018](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)).

## The main metres

Riiraash groups the metres by how many vowel units a line holds and how they are split into two balancing halves ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)):

- **Jiifto** (also called jiib): nine units split 4 and 5. Most songs that go with folk dances use it.
- **[Geeraar](/en/society/geeraar/)**: usually ten units split 5 and 5, with nine or eleven allowed. It was traditionally recited on horseback.
- **Gabay**: the long serious line, made of two half-lines. Wikipedia's summary gives 14 to 16 syllables a line ([Somali literature, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)).
- **Buraambur**: the main genre composed by women; see [Somali women's poetry](/en/society/somali-womens-poetry/).

Zainab Mohamed Jama lists gabay, geeraar, jiifto and buraambur as the four main styles of classical poetry ([Jama 1994, Oral Tradition 9/1, p. 186](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)).

## Short metres and new ones

Riiraash and his colleagues Cabdi Migane and Cumar Macallin found far more metres than expected, many from work songs and children's songs, which he sees as the base of the longer forms. A line of a short metre can be doubled, or two metres joined, to make a new one; the dance metre **hirwo** (also wiglo or dhaanto) is two **shubaal** lines joined ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)). See [Somali work songs and children's verse](/en/society/somali-work-songs/).

## Read more

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Geeraar](/en/society/geeraar/)
- [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/)


---

# Dir (Dir clan family)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/dir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Dir are one of the five large Somali clan families, with the Isaaq, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn. By tradition they descend from Dir, son of Irir, son of Samaale. Their best-known clans include the Gadabuursi, the Ciise, the Biyomaal and the Surre. They live in Awdal and around Hargeisa, in pockets of central and southern Somalia, and in Djibouti and Ethiopia.

## Name and family tree

The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) lists the Dir as one of five large Somali clan families. The others are the Isaaq, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The conflict-data project ACLED uses the same five ([ACLED methodology, 2025](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)).

The Dir are one of the [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/) families. The EUAA defines Samaale as the ancestor of the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Somali genealogy names Dir as a son of Irir, son of Samaale. Hawiye is counted as Irir's other line ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dir_%28clan%29)).

Tradition links two other families to the Dir through marriage. The founder of the Darod is said to have married a Dir daughter. The founder of the Isaaq is said to have married a woman of the Magaadle, a Dir lineage (same source). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis saw claims of descent from noble Arab families as most probably a way to express the importance of Islam ([Wikipedia, Darod, backup, quoting Lewis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darod)).

## Main branches

The Austrian research centre ACCORD writes that "the Dir include groups such as Issa, Gadabursi, and Biymaal" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). Somali genealogy groups the Dir under four sons. They are Madaxweyne, Madaluug (the Gadabuursi line), Madoobe (the Ciise line) and Mahe (the Biimaal and Surre line) ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dir_%28clan%29)).

The World Bank says "there is no clear agreement on the clan and subclan structures". It printed two charts from Somali research partners to show this ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

| Chart | Dir branches it shows |
|---|---|
| South-central partner (CRD) | Isaaq (Garxajis, Habar Jeclo, Habar Awal, Habar Tol Jacle), Ciise, Gadsan, Gadabuursi, Biyomaal and Qubeys |
| Puntland partner (PDRC) | Gadabuursi, Ciise and Biyomaal. It shows the Isaaq as a separate family. |

ACLED's 2025 coding list places these groups under the Dir: Biyomaal, Ciise, Gadabuursi, Gadsan, Qubeys, Warday and others ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The places below come from the EUAA's security reports, region by region.

| Region | What the EUAA records |
|---|---|
| Awdal | Most people are Gadabuursi, with Borama at the centre of their land. The Ciise also live here ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal); [EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |
| Woqooyi Galbeed | Gadabuursi and Ciise communities live in Hargeisa ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Hargeisa](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)). |
| Lower Shabelle | The Biyomaal live around Marka ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)). |
| Lower Juba | The Biyomaal live in and around Jamaame ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |
| Galgaduud | Dir groups are among the five main clans of the north ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |
| Mudug | Dir groups live in Galkayo and at Towfiiq. A Qubeys enclave lives in the south ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug); [EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |
| Hiiraan | The Faqi Cumar and Faqi Maxamuud, both Dir, live in the north-east ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)). |

A UK Home Office report places the Ciise and Gadabuursi in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It adds the bordering regions of Ethiopia and Djibouti ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

## History on record

- **11 and 31 December 1884.** The Gadabuursi and the Ciise signed treaties with Britain. See [colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **November 1896.** Biimaal and Wacdaan fighters killed the Italian consul Antonio Cecchi at Lafoole. Biimaal resistance to Italy went on until 1908. See [resistance, 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).
- **About 1933.** [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdurahman [Sheikh Nuur](/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/) created the [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) (Gadabuursi) script in Borama. See [how Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).
- **1950s.** In British Somaliland, the United Somali Party drew support from the Gadabuursi and Ciise, with the [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) and [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/). See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).
- **1989 and 1990.** The Gadabuursi formed the [Somali Democratic Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/). Members of the Ciise formed the United Somali Front ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).
- **2002 to 2010.** [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) was president of Somaliland. ACCORD notes he is Gadabuursi ([ACCORD 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).
- **September 2023.** Gadabuursi clan chiefs met in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), Canada. They said they wanted Awdal to leave Somaliland ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative". Lower down, elders (*oday*) settle disputes and manage shared land and water ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

Under the national 4.5 formula, the Dir hold 61 of the 275 seats in the House of the People. Most sources count the Isaaq within that Dir share. See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Examples involving Dir groups:

- Biyomaal against Ogaden (Darod) in [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), and Biyomaal against Habar Gidir (Hawiye) in Marka.
- Surre against Marehan (Darod) in [Caabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) and Laandheer, [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/).
- Surre against [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/) in Jariiban and Hobyo, and Saleebaan Cabdalle (Surre) against Loobage (Sheekhaal) at Towfiiq.
- Faqi Cumar against Hawadle (Hawiye), near Beledweyne.
- Gadabuursi against Isaaq groups in El Bardaale, Gabiley; dormant.

The EASO also recorded disputes between Gadabuursi sub-clans in Borama in 2020 ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **The Isaaq.** ACCORD writes that the Isaaq say they are a family of their own. It adds, "while southern Somalis and the [Majerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/) claim that Isaaq are part of the Dir" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The two World Bank charts show both views.
- **The branch list.** Genealogy, ACCORD and the World Bank charts each list Dir clans differently.
- **Minority status in the south.** The EASO calls the Biyomaal "a minority clan" around Marka, although they belong to the Dir family ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- Dir clans with their own page: [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/), [Habar Cafaan](/en/society/habar-cafaan/), [Maxamed Case](/en/society/maxamed-case/), [Ciise](/en/society/ciise/), [Biyomaal](/en/society/biyomaal/) and [Surre](/en/society/surre/), [Gurgure](/en/society/gurgure/); see also [Xeer Ciise](/en/society/xeer-ciise/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)


---

# Northern Somali (Af-Maxaa): the dialect group behind Standard Somali

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/northern-somali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Northern Somali is the largest Somali dialect group, spoken from Djibouti and the northwest through the northeast, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, northern Kenya and the Lower Juba. Lamberti's map puts it at more than 70% of all Somalis. It is the base of Standard Somali and the language of most classical Somali poetry.

## Where it is spoken

Northern Somali is spoken by more than 70% of all Somalis, according to Marcello Lamberti's 1986 dialect map ([Northern Somali, Wikipedia, citing Lamberti 1986](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Somali); the map is reproduced in [Landinfo 2011, pp. 17 to 22](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Its speech area runs from Djibouti and the northwest through the northeast, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and northern Kenya. B. W. Andrzejewski and I. M. Lewis linked this wide spread to southward population movements from the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) coast over many centuries ([Andrzejewski and Lewis, Somali Poetry, 1964, p. 6](https://archive.org/details/somalipoetryintr0000andr)).

## Three subgroups, and a fourth in Kenya

Lamberti divides Northern Somali into three subgroups ([Landinfo 2011, p. 10](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

1. **Northern Somali proper**, in [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). It includes Ciise, Gadabuursi and the Isaaq dialects. Djibouti and Zeylac use the Ciise dialect ([Landinfo 2011, p. 6](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).
2. **The [Daarood](/en/society/darod/) group**, in [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), the Ogaden of Ethiopia, northern [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/). It includes the Majeerteen, [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/), [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/), Degodiya, [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) and [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/) dialects.
3. **The Lower Juba group**, spoken by families who moved from the north to the Lower Juba in the 1800s. Because the coast there was Benadir-speaking, these dialects carry clear Benadir features.

Lamberti also proposed a fourth subgroup in northern Kenya, with Ogaadeen, Harti and Degodiya dialects ([Landinfo 2011, p. 11](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). He found the first two subgroups very uniform, even though they are the mother tongue of more than half the population.

## How it sounds

Lamberti lists the features that mark Northern Somali ([Landinfo 2011, p. 11](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

- the throat sounds written **c** and **x**;
- a difference between **q** and **kh**, as in qal ("slaughter!") and khal;
- the definite article fixed to the end of the noun, as in ninku ("the man");
- plurals of short masculine nouns made by repeating part of the word, as in san ("nose"), sanan ("noses").

Inside the group there are local marks. In Ciise, Gadabuursi and Isaaq speech the letter **dh** stays a hard "d" sound between vowels, as in yidhi ("he said"); elsewhere it softens to an "r" sound, giving yiri. In the Daarood group the letter **j** is often said like "ch", so joog ("stay!") sounds like choog ([Landinfo 2011, p. 11](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). The linguist Giorgio Banti has studied the many Arabic and Harari loanwords in Northern Somali ([Banti, Strata of loanwords in Northern Somali](https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110292343.185/html?lang=en)).

## Base of the written standard

John Saeed notes that Northern Somali was used by famous poets and by the political class, which gave it the most prestige ([Northern Somali, Wikipedia, citing Saeed, Somali, 1999, p. 5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Somali)). Lamberti wrote that the Daarood dialects of Mudug and the Ogaden became the model for school books and radio after 1972 ([Landinfo 2011, p. 8](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Martin Orwin of SOAS told Landinfo that Standard Somali is in practice "a range of different dialects and forms of expression" rather than one fixed norm ([Landinfo 2011, p. 8](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

It is also the dialect most studied by linguists, above all the Isaaq dialect. Lamberti notes a grammar of the Majeerteen dialect in 1955 and dictionaries in 1962 and 1976 ([Landinfo 2011, p. 11](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [How Somali became a written language in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)


---

# Somalia Cup (General Da'ud Cup) and Somalia Super Cup: every winner

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somalia-cup/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somalia Cup, first played in 1972, is named after General Da'ud Abdulle Hersi, founder of the Somali National Army. Horseed has won it most often, nine times. The Somalia Super Cup, played since 2013, sets the league champion against the cup winner; Dekedda has won it three times.

## The General Da'ud Cup

Somalia's national cup is named after **General Da'ud Abdulle Hersi**, founder of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/), who died in 1965. The first edition was played in 1972 ([RSSSF, Somalia cup winners](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)). The Somali Football Federation organises it alongside the three league divisions ([Somali Football Federation, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)). Records for many years were lost, and the RSSSF list below has gaps, most of them between 1990 and 2000.

## Every known cup winner

| Year | Winner | Final |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Horseed | |
| 1975 | Horseed | |
| 1976 | Horseed | |
| 1977 | Lavori Publici | beat Marine Club |
| 1979 | Marine Club | |
| 1980 | Lavori Publici | |
| 1981 | National Printing Agency | |
| 1982 | Horseed | |
| 1983 | Horseed | |
| 1984 | Waxool | |
| 1985 | Petroleum | |
| 1986 | Marine Club | |
| 1987 | Horseed | |
| 1989 | Mogadishu Municipality | |
| 2001 | Mogadishu Municipality | |
| 2002 | Dekedda (Ports Authority) | |
| 2003 | Banaadir Telecom | |
| 2004 | Dekedda | |
| 2007 | SIIT Daallo | 1–0 Dekedda |
| 2010 | Feynuus | 0–0, 2–0 Dekedda |
| 2012 | Banaadir SC | 3–1 Badbaado |
| 2014 | LLPP Jeenyo | 4–2 Heegan |
| 2015 | Horseed | 2–1 Heegan |
| 2016 | Jeenyo United | 2–2 Banaadir SC, 4–1 on penalties |
| 2017 | Elman FC | 1–0 Jamhuuriya Team Banooni (Gaalkacyo) |
| 2018 | Banaadir SC | 4–3 Horseed |
| 2019 | Horseed | 3–2 Mogadishu City Club |
| 2020 | Horseed | 3–0 Dekedda |
| 2023 | Dekedda | 2–0 Elman FC |
| 2024 | Dekedda | 2–1 |
| 2026 | Mogadishu City Club | 3–2 Horseed, after extra time |

Not played: 1978, 2013, 2021, 2022 and 2025. Source: [RSSSF, updated 14 August 2026](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html). RSSSF adds that [Elman FC](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/)'s own player profiles suggest it also won a cup around 1999.

## Cup titles by club

- **9:** Horseed
- **6:** Mogadishu City Club, counting [Banaadir SC](/en/society/mogadishu-city-club/), Mogadishu Municipality and Banaadir Telecom
- **4:** Dekedda; Jeenyo United, counting Lavori Publici and LLPP Jeenyo
- **2:** Marine Club
- **1:** Elman FC, Feynuus, National Printing Agency, Petroleum, SIIT Daallo, Waxool

Source: [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html), 31 known titles.

## The Somalia Super Cup

The Super Cup opens the season with a single match between the league champion and the cup winner. When no cup was played in 2021, the league's top two met instead: Horseed beat Mogadishu City Club 2–0 on 5 June 2022 ([RSSSF, Somalia 2021](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)).

| Year | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Elman FC | 1–1 Banaadir SC, 5–4 on penalties |
| 2014 | LLPP Jeenyo | 2–2 Banaadir SC, 5–4 on penalties |
| 2015 | Horseed | 0–0 Heegan, 3–1 on penalties |
| 2016 | Banaadir SC | 1–1 Jeenyo United, 3–2 on penalties |
| 2017 | Elman FC | 1–0 Dekedda |
| 2018 | Dekedda | 3–0 Banaadir SC |
| 2019 | Dekedda | 3–0 Mogadishu City Club |
| 2021 | Horseed | 2–0 Mogadishu City Club |
| 2023 | Dekedda | 3–2 Gaadiidka |
| 2024 | Mogadishu City Club | 4–1 Dekedda |

Source: [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html).

## Read more

- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Somali football clubs](/en/society/somali-football-clubs/)
- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)


---

# The Sufi orders in Somalia: Qadiriyya, Ahmadiyya and Salihiyya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> For about 500 years, most Somali Muslims belonged, at least in name, to a Sufi order (tariiqo). Three were the largest: the Qadiriyya, the oldest and biggest; the Ahmadiyya, brought from Mecca by Sheikh Cali Maye of Merca; and the Salihiyya, the order of Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. Their sheikhs founded more than 90 farming villages in the south, and their rivalries shaped Somali religious life into the 20th century.

## What a Sufi order is

A Sufi order (Arabic *tariqa*, Somali *tariiqo*, "path") is a brotherhood of Muslims who follow a chain of teachers back to a founding saint. Members meet for *dhikr*, the chanting of God's names and religious poems, sometimes with rhythmic movement. In Somalia, members were called *daraawiish* (dervishes) and their leaders *sheekh* ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

Sufi orders appeared in Somali towns in the 1400s and "rapidly became a revitalizing force". The Library of Congress study adds that "most Somalis were nominal members of Sufi orders but few underwent the rigors of devotion to the religious life" ([same source](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). A man usually joined his father's order, so lineages were often linked to one order.

## The three main orders

### Qadiriyya

The oldest Sufi order in Islam, founded in Baghdad by Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (died 1166). It reached Harar in the 1400s and spread among Somalis and Oromo in the 1700s, often under Somali sheikhs ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). One account says [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Abu Bakr al-Aydarus of Aden brought it into the Horn in 1503 ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Mohamed 1977](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

It later split into two Somali branches:
- **The [Zayla](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)'iyya**, after Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i, who taught at Qolonqol and died in 1882 or 1883 ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/).
- **The Uwaysiyya**, after Sheikh Uways al-Barawi (1847 to 1909) of [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/). He studied in Baghdad around 1870, returned in 1883, wrote devotional poetry and tried to write Somali hymns in Arabic letters with his own spelling system ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm); [Uways al-Barawi, Wikipedia, citing Samatar 1992](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). He founded the farming village of Biyooley. See [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/).

Other Qadiri teachers include **Sheikh Sufi** (Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah al-Shashi, 1829 to 1904) of Mogadishu, whose tomb draws yearly visitors ([Shaykh Sufi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). See [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/).

### Ahmadiyya (Idrisiyya)

Founded by Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi (1760 to 1837) of Mecca. It was brought to Somalia by **[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Cali Maye Durogba** of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), a poet who joined the order on pilgrimage. His tomb became a place of pilgrimage. The Library of Congress study calls it the smallest of the three, with "few ritual requirements beyond some simple prayers and hymns" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

### Salihiyya

A dispute over the Ahmadiyya's leadership among its Arab founders led Muhammad ibn Salih to found the Salihiyya in 1887. It spread first among the Somalis of the Ogaden ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm); [Salihiyya, Wikipedia, citing Andrzejewski 1994](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihiyya)).

- **Sheikh Maxamed Guuleed** (died 1918) founded Salihiyya villages among the Shidle on the middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), then among the Ajuran ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).
- **Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan** was the best-known Salihiyya figure. He led the Dervish resistance against British, Italian and Ethiopian rule from 1899 to 1920. See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) and [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/).
- **Sheikh Xasan Barsane** led resistance in the Shabelle valley and died in an Italian prison. See [Sheikh Hassan Barsane](/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/).

The Salihiyya rejected asking dead saints to intercede with God (*tawassul*), which the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) accepted. The anthropologist I. M. Lewis describes this as the main teaching dispute between the two ([Salihiyya, Wikipedia, citing Lewis, Saints and Somalis, 1998, p. 38](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihiyya)).

A smaller order, the **Rifa'iyya**, an offshoot of the Qadiriyya, was found mainly among Arab families in Mogadishu ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

## The rivalry of the 1900s

Sheikh Uways and Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan led rival orders and attacked each other in Arabic poems. Uways accused the Salihiyya of allowing the killing of scholars and of refusing to honour saints such as al-Jilani ([Uways al-Barawi, Wikipedia, citing Abdullahi, The Islamic Movement in Somalia, 2015, p. 73](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uways_al-Barawi)). Uways was killed in 1909, and his tomb at Biyooley is a place of pilgrimage. Castagno's *Historical Dictionary of Somalia* says he was killed by Dervishes ([Castagno, 1975, via the Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The linguist Mauro Tosco gives the date as 19 April 1909 and writes that he and all but one of his disciples were killed "by the rival clan of the Jidle" ([Tosco, "Somali writings", Afrikanistik-Aegyptologie-Online, 2010](https://dipp.archiv.hbz-nrw.de/journals/mp_/https://www.afrikanistik-aegyptologie-online.de/archiv/2010/2723)).

## The jamaaco: farming villages of the orders

Sheikhs asked lineage elders for land to build a mosque and a village. The land was usually given freely, often between two clans or by a river, and counted as "given to God". The village worked as a buffer between rivals. In 1819 Sheikh Ibraahim Xasan Jebro founded the first such village on the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) river, at [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

In the 1950s there were more than 90 *jamaaco* in the south with about 35,000 members, mostly in [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Bay and along the middle and lower Shabelle ([same source](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). The study says jamaaco members farmed together and were the only farmers who cleared brush around fields to cut tsetse fly breeding.

## Saints and blessing

Leaders of orders were believed to carry *baraka*, a blessing from God that could remain at their tomb after death. Followers visit the tombs, especially on the anniversaries of the saint's birth and death ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/).

## The orders since 1991

From the 1970s, Salafi teaching spread and criticised tomb visits and some Sufi practices. See [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/). In 2008 and 2009 al-Shabaab destroyed Sufi tombs and killed Sufi clerics. A Sufi body formed in 1991, **Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a**, then took up arms against al-Shabaab in central Somalia ([Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, Wikipedia, citing the Mapping Militants Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a); [BBC, "Somali rage at grave desecration", 2009](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8077725.stm)). See [Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/).

## Read further

- B. G. Martin, *Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth-Century Africa* (Cambridge University Press, 1976).
- [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) (ed.), *In the Shadow of Conquest: Islam in Colonial Northeast Africa* (Red Sea Press, 1992).
- Scott S. Reese, *[Renewers of the Age](/en/books/renewers-of-the-age-reese/): Holy Men and Social Discourse in Colonial Benaadir* (Brill, 2008).
- I. M. Lewis, *[Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/): Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society* (Red Sea Press, 1998).


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# Benadir Somali (Af-Reer Xamar): the coastal dialects of Mogadishu and the Benadir

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/benadiri-somali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Benadir Somali is the group of coastal dialects spoken from Hobyo to south of Marka, including Mogadishu. Lamberti divides it into five subgroups: Abgaal, Gaaljecel, Ajuuraan, Xamar (the speech of Xamar Weyne) and Biimaal. It shares 40 of 67 dialect features with Northern Somali.

## Where it is spoken

Benadir Somali, also called Coastal Somali or Af-Reer Xamar ("the language of the people of Xamar"), is spoken on the Benadir coast from Hobyo to south of Marka, including Mogadishu, and in the land just inland ([Landinfo 2011, p. 6](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf); [Benadiri Somali, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benadiri_Somali)). Cerulli's 1919 grouping called this area the Hawiye group, covering the coast from Hobyo to about 150 km south of Mogadishu and the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Martino Moreno later renamed it the Benadir group.

## Five subgroups

Marcello Lamberti, who surveyed the dialects in 1981, divides Benadir into five subgroups ([Landinfo 2011, p. 12](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

1. **Abgaal**, in [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and Middle Shabelle down to Mogadishu.
2. **[Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/)**, in southern [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) to the Jowhar district and northern [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/); also in Saakow and [Bu'aale](/en/regions/middle-juba/) in Middle Juba after moves between 1900 and 1980.
3. **Ajuuraan**, in Hiiraan and in the Diinsoor, Saakow and Bu'aale districts, again after moves in the early 1900s.
4. **Xamar**, in Xamar Weyne, the oldest quarter of Mogadishu.
5. **Biimaal**, from Mogadishu to the south of the [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) districts and in Marka and [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/). It has a Lower Shabelle form and a Lower Juba form, which differ little.

Abgaal and Biimaal have the most speakers. Lamberti also describes a mixed Benadir form north and south of Mogadishu, built from Abgaal, Xamar and Biimaal, which has no native speakers and is used between speakers of different Benadir dialects ([Landinfo 2011, p. 12](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## The Xamar dialect

Martin Orwin of SOAS told Landinfo in 2006 that the Xamar dialect of Xamar Weyne can be spoken fluently by people from other clans, for example a [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) or Abgaal child who grew up among the [Reer Xamar](/en/society/minority-communities/). He explained this by the general fact that children pick up dialects more easily than adults ([Landinfo 2011, p. 12](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## How it differs

Lamberti found that the Benadir dialects vary a great deal, even inside one dialect. In Af-Xamar, "we say" can be heard as waa niraahdaa, niraadaa or niraa. He also found more freedom in grammar than in Northern Somali ([Landinfo 2011, p. 12](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Of 67 dialect features he counted, Benadir shares 40 with Northern Somali ([Landinfo 2011, p. 16](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). The coastal dialects have some sounds that [Standard Somali](/en/society/northern-somali/) lacks, and the linguist Giorgio Banti notes loanwords from Harari ([Benadiri Somali, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benadiri_Somali)). Papers from the 2015 linguistics workshop at the Hargeysa Cultural Centre describe it as a southern coastal dialect ([Papers from the Linguistics Workshop, Hargeysa Cultural Centre, 2018, pp. 91 to 92](https://books.google.com/books?id=jNl7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91)).

Together with Northern Somali, Benadir belongs to the Maxaa-tiri half of the Somali dialects, as opposed to [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) ([Landinfo 2011, p. 5](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)
- [Ashraf Somali](/en/society/ashraf-somali/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


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# Geeraar: the short-lined Somali poem once recited on horseback

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/geeraar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The geeraar is a classical Somali poetic metre with short lines of about six to eight syllables, built around a fixed core of long, short, short, long. It was traditionally recited on horseback and used for war, challenge and praise. Faarax Nuur's 'Rag sabaan ka sabaan baan' is one of the best-known geeraar poems.

## A poem from the saddle

The geeraar is one of the four classical Somali metres, alongside the gabay, jiifto and buraambur ([Jama 1994, Oral Tradition 9/1, p. 186](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)). The SOAS scholar Martin Orwin notes that several works report it was traditionally recited on horseback. He quotes the writer Faarax Axmed Cali "Gamuute": "A distinct beat that resonates the rhythmic falling of the hooves of a cantering horse, distinguishes Geeraar" ([Orwin 2018, Metre and extrametricality in the geeraar, p. 107](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)).

The first written mention is in J. W. C. Kirk's 1905 grammar, in a chapter on songs, where he noted "a distinctly poetical style" in the geeraar, gabay and hees ([Orwin 2018, p. 107](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)).

## The line

A geeraar line is short. Cabdalla Cumar Mansuur (1977) gave a basic line of seven syllables, which may have six when it ends in **-aa**, often at the end of a verse, or eight when it ends in **iyo**, **oo**, **-na** or a calling ending such as **-yow** ([Orwin 2018, pp. 110 to 111](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). He held that a line needs at least two long vowels, in the third and sixth places, and none in the fourth and fifth.

Every scholar agrees on a fixed **core**: a long-vowel syllable, two short ones, then a long one. [Gaarriye](/en/people/gaarriye/), who published the first account of the metre in 1976, wrote it as 2-1-1-2, with a short opening before it ([Orwin 2018, p. 108](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). His examples:

- *Iska seexo idhaa* ("And say: just sleep"), 1-1 then 2-1-1-2
- *Salaantaan badiyaa* ("I give many greetings"), 1-2 then 2-1-1-2

Cabdillaahi Diiriye Guuleed "Carraale" counts lines by syllables and long vowels, as "six-three" or "seven-two" lines ([Orwin 2018, pp. 109 to 110](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). The Djibouti scholar Maxamed Cabdillaahi Riiraash describes ten vowel units split 5 and 5 ([Rirache, Somali poetic genres](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)).

## Words that do not count

Gaarriye noted that small words at the end of a line, such as **oo**, **ee**, **eey**, **baa**, **buu**, **baan** and **bay**, are tied in grammar to the next line but are not needed by the metre. Orwin calls this "extrametricality" and found it held in every geeraar he examined ([Orwin 2018, pp. 108 to 109](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). It is the only such rule proposed for any Somali metre.

Giorgio Banti and Francesco Giannattasio (1996) gave the most detailed study, with separate patterns for the geeraar of Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan and for other poets ([Orwin 2018, p. 113](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)).

## "Rag sabaan ka sabaan baan"

Orwin analyses Faarax Nuur's geeraar "Rag sabaan ka sabaan baan" ("Time and time again"), using the text and translation of Rashiid [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Cabdillaahi Xaaji Axmed and Ismaaciil Aw Aadan (2009). Nine verses follow one refrain line, *Hadduu saakimi waayona* ("And if he fails to calm down"), and each verse lists a gesture of hospitality: a sleeping mat, the milk of the camel Suub milked three times, a slaughtered animal; later verses turn to the spear ([Orwin 2018, pp. 123 to 125](https://unora.unior.it//retrieve/handle/11574/199777/90124/Orwin%20-%202018%20-%20Metre%20and%20'extrametricality'%20in%20the%20geeraar.pdf)). The whole poem alliterates on **s**.

## Read more

- [Somali poetic metre](/en/society/somali-poetic-metre/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [The Sayyid and the Dervish state](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/)


---

# Isaaq (Isaaq clan family)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/isaaq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Isaaq are one of the five large Somali clan families, with the Dir, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn. By tradition they descend from Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed, whose tomb is at Maydh in Sanaag. Their main branches include the Habar Awal, Garxajis (Habar Yoonis and Ciidagale), Habar Jeclo and Arap. Most live in Somaliland, with communities in Ethiopia and Djibouti.

## Name and family tree

The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) lists the Isaaq as one of five large Somali clan families. The others are the Dir, Darod, Hawiye and Rahanweyn ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The conflict-data project ACLED uses the same five ([ACLED methodology, 2025](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)). In Somali the family is also called *Reer Sheekh Isxaaq*.

The Isaaq are one of the [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/) families. The EUAA defines Samaale as the ancestor of the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

Tradition names the founder as [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ishaaq bin Ahmed, a scholar who came from Arabia in the 12th or 13th century. It places his tomb at [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/), on the [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) coast, a place of pilgrimage ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq)). He is said to have married a woman of the Magaadle, a Dir lineage, and a Harari woman. Their sons' lines are called the Habar Magaadle and the Habar Habuusheed (same source). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis saw claims of descent from noble Arab families as most probably a way to express the importance of Islam ([Wikipedia, Darod, backup, quoting Lewis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darod)).

## Main branches

The World Bank says "there is no clear agreement on the clan and subclan structures". It printed two charts from Somali research partners to show this ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

| Chart | Isaaq branches it shows |
|---|---|
| South-central partner (CRD) | Garxajis, Habar Jeclo, Habar Awal and Habar Tol Jacle, placed under the Dir |
| Puntland partner (PDRC) | Habar Yoonis, Habar Awal, Habar Tol Jacle, Habar Jeclo and Ciidagale, as a family of its own |

A fuller list, drawn from the World Bank and a 2001 UK Home Office assessment, runs as follows ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq)):

- **Habar Awal:** Ciise Muuse and Sacad Muuse.
- **Garxajis:** Habar Yoonis and Ciidagale.
- **Habar Jeclo:** Muuse Abokor, Maxamed Abokor and Samane Abokor.
- **Others:** Arap, Ayuub, Tol Jeclo, Sanbuur and Imraan.

ACLED's 2025 coding list places the Habar Awal, Habar Jeclo, Habar Yoonis, Ciidagale, Garxajis and Arap under the Isaaq ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. The Austrian research centre ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). ACCORD calls the Isaaq "the primary inhabitants of Somaliland" (p. 13). The places below come from the EUAA, region by region.

| Place | What the EUAA records |
|---|---|
| Hargeisa | Isaaq "make up most of the city's population". The Arap and Ayuub live mostly in Axmed Dhagax. The Garxajis live mostly in Maxamuud Haybe and parts of Gacan Libaax. The Habar Awal live mostly in Ibraahim Koodbuur and 26 June district ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Hargeisa](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/221-overview)). |
| Togdheer | Mainly Habar Yoonis and Habar Jeclo. The Ciidagale live west of Burco ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)). |
| Sanaag | The Habar Yoonis in the west, including Ceerigaabo, where the Habar Jeclo also live ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)). |
| Sool | Caynabo is "predominantly an Isaaq town" ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |

Isaaq communities also live in the [Haud](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) area of Ethiopia's Somali Region and in Djibouti ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq)).

## History on record

- **1750.** The Isaaq Sultanate crowned Guuleed Cabdi as sultan, with Toon and later Hargeisa as its seat. See [sultanates, the coast and customary law](/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/).
- **1827 and 1884.** The Habar Awal made Britain's first agreement on the northern coast in 1827. On 14 July 1884 their elders signed a treaty at Berbera. The Habar Tol Jacle and Garxajis followed. See [colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **1950s.** In British Somaliland, the Somali National League was "mainly associated with the Isaaq clan-family". See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).
- **February 1960.** The SNL and its ally the USP won 32 of 33 northern seats ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).
- **April 1981.** Isaaq exiles in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) founded the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/30.htm)).
- **1987 to 1989.** The army answered the SNM with a campaign against Isaaq civilians. A 1989 US State Department study called it "a widespread, systematic and extremely violent assault". See [the Isaaq genocide](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).
- **18 May 1991.** The SNM and northern elders declared the Republic of Somaliland. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative". Lower down, elders (*oday*) settle disputes and manage shared land and water ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

Somaliland's parliament has a House of Elders as well as a House of Representatives ([ACCORD 2009, p. 5](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). In 2025 the EUAA noted that all three Somaliland parties were "headed by leaders from the Habar Jeclo" ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)). In the federal 4.5 formula, most sources count the Isaaq within the Dir share.

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Examples involving Isaaq groups:

- Habar Jeclo against Habar Yoonis, in Ceerigaabo and [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), with talks under way in March 2025.
- Habar Yoonis against Ciise Muuse, at Ali Sahid village near [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/).
- Habar Jeclo against Habar Awal, in Burco district.
- Soolomadow (Habar Jeclo) against [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) (Darod), at Qorilugud.
- Jibriil Abokor, Sacad Muuse and other Habar Awal against Gadabuursi (Dir), at El Bardaale, Gabiley; dormant.

The EUAA also lists electoral rivalries in Hargeisa between the Garxajis and the Habar Awal that "did not lead to armed violence". In 2023 an armed group at Gacan Libaax was associated with the Habar Yoonis ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Family or Dir branch.** ACCORD writes that the Isaaq say they are a family of their own, "while southern Somalis and the [Majerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/) claim that Isaaq are part of the Dir" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The two World Bank charts show both views.
- **The founder.** Tradition gives an Arabian origin. Some scholars note the family's Cushitic language and roots ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaaq)).
- **Size.** Some writers give the Isaaq a share of all Somalis. No census supports any such figure.

## Read more

- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- Isaaq clans with their own page: [Arap](/en/society/arap/), [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/), [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/), [Abokor Muuse](/en/society/abokor-muuse/), [Habar Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/), [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/), [Sacad Muuse](/en/society/sacad-muuse/), [Habar Jeclo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/) and [Muuse Abokor](/en/society/muuse-abokor/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)


---

# Saints, shrines and siyaaro: tomb visits in Somali Islam

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis have long visited the tombs of holy men to pray and seek blessing (baraka). These visits, called siyaaro, often fall on a saint's yearly anniversary. Well-known shrines include Aw Barkhadle near Hargeisa, Sheikh Isaaq at Maydh, Sheikh Sufi in Mogadishu, Sheikh Uways at Biyooley and Sheikh Cali Maye at Merca. Since the 1970s Salafi teachers have opposed the practice, and from 2008 al-Shabaab destroyed Sufi tombs.

## Baraka and the saints

In Somali belief, God gives some people *baraka*, a blessing and inner spiritual power. The Library of Congress study says baraka belongs to the founders and heads of Sufi orders and "may cling to the tomb of a revered leader, who, upon death, is considered a saint" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

People become saints (*awliyo*) in three ways, the same study says: as leaders of Sufi orders, as men famous for piety even outside an order, and as founders of clans or large lineages. "Northern pastoral nomads are likely to honor lineage founders as saints; sedentary Somalis revere saints for their piety and baraka" ([same source](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

## The visit: siyaaro

Pilgrims go to a saint's tomb to ask for help, for example a cure for illness or for a child. Members of the saint's order visit especially on the anniversaries of his birth and death ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). The visit is called *siyaaro* (from Arabic *ziyara*, "visit"). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis describes it as a local pilgrimage with offerings ([Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, Wikipedia, citing Lewis, Saints and Somalis, 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn)).

Many devout Somalis, the Library of Congress study notes, went to Mecca on Hajj, "but many more would visit the tombs of the local saints" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). A saint's blessing could also be taken home in an object that had touched his tomb ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/48.htm)).

## Well-known shrines

**Aw Barkhadle, near Hargeisa.** The tomb of Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, a scholar remembered for spreading Islam in the north, lies in the ruined town once called Dogor. Lewis records a tradition that Aw Barkhadle, who had no children, told [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq that Isaaq's many descendants would honour him. Every year Isaaq clansmen gather at the shrine to make offerings in his name ([Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn); [Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)). See [Aw Barkhadle](/en/people/aw-barkhadle/).

**Sheikh Isaaq, at [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/).** The forefather of the Isaaq is buried at Maydh on the [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) coast. His *mawlid* is read every Thursday, and his *siyaaro* is held each year in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and among Isaaq abroad, especially in the Middle East ([Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia, citing Lewis and Reese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)). An 1849 report in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society described the burial ground at Maydh as extending "for fully a mile each way", because aged men travelled there to be buried near their forefather ([Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1849, p. 64](https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCBDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA62)).

**Sheikh Sufi, Mogadishu.** After the death of the Qadiri scholar Sheikh Sufi (Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah al-Shashi) in 1904, his tomb became a yearly pilgrimage site for people from across Somalia and East Africa. A cemetery grew around it where ministers, artists and presidents are buried ([Shaykh Sufi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). The Library of Congress study, which names a Qadiri teacher of Mogadishu "Sheikh Abdirahman Abdullah", says his tomb became a pilgrimage centre for the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) area ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/).

**Sheikh Uways, Biyooley.** The Qadiri leader Sheikh Uways al-Barawi, killed in 1909, is buried at Biyooley, about 150 miles north of [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/). His tomb is a place of pilgrimage ([Castagno, Historical Dictionary of Somalia, 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). See [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/).

**Sheikh Cali Maye Durogba, [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/).** The poet who brought the Ahmadiyya order to Somalia; "his tomb became a popular objective among pilgrims" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

## Older customs inside the faith

The Library of Congress study notes rituals older than Islam that live on beside it, such as the yearly feast for the clan ancestor among northern Somalis and the group rain prayer (*roobdoon*) among farmers in the south. It also describes the *wadaad*'s amulets, Qur'an readings for spirit illness, and the women's *saar* ceremony ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/48.htm)).

## The dispute over tombs

Not all Somali Muslims accept tomb visits. The Salihiyya order rejected asking dead saints to intercede (*tawassul*) ([Salihiyya, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihiyya)). Salafi teachers who spread from the 1970s also call the practice wrong. See [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/).

From 2008 al-Shabaab destroyed Sufi tombs in areas it held and killed Sufi clerics ([Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, Wikipedia, citing the Mapping Militants Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a); [BBC, "Somali rage at grave desecration", 2009](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8077725.stm)). The Sufi body Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a took up arms partly to protect the shrines ([Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)). See [Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/) and [heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/).

## Medieval mosques and graves

For the archaeology of medieval mosques and Muslim burials in Somaliland, see [medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/) and [medieval Muslim graves, from cairns to cemeteries](/en/history/medieval-muslim-graves-cairns-to-cemeteries/).

## Read further

- I. M. Lewis, *[Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/): Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society* (Red Sea Press, 1998), readable on the [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/saintssomalispop00lewi).
- Sada Mire, *Divine Fertility: The Continuity in Transformation of an Ideology of Sacred Kinship in Northeast Africa* (Routledge, 2020).
- [The Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).


---

# Somaliland national football team, league and regional games

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somaliland-national-football-team/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's national football team plays outside FIFA and CAF, as a member of ConIFA, the federation for teams from unrecognised states and regions. Its first known match was a 1–2 loss to Ethiopia on 6 November 2002. At the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup in Abkhazia it beat the Chagos Islands 3–2 and finished tenth of twelve. At home, the Somaliland Football Association runs a 12-club league and the Somaliland Regional Games.

## Outside FIFA, inside ConIFA

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) declared itself independent of Somalia in 1991. Its football team is not a member of FIFA or the Confederation of African Football. It is an associate member of ConIFA, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations, set up in 2014 for teams of dependencies, unrecognised states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions outside FIFA ([Somaliland national football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team); [ConIFA, Somaliland](http://www.conifa.org/en/members/somaliland/)).

## First matches

- **6 November 2002:** Somaliland's first known match, a 1–2 defeat by Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team); [RSSSF, 2003 matches](https://www.rsssf.org/intldetails/2003matches.html#oth)).
- **17 May 2014:** what Wikipedia calls its first "proper" international, a 2–2 draw with Sealand in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team)).

## The 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup

ConIFA invited Somaliland to its 2016 World Football Cup, hosted by Abkhazia, the team's first international tournament ([Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty](https://www.rferl.org/a/abkhazia-conifa-world-cup-somaliland/27775266.html); [The Guardian, 3 June 2016](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/03/world-cup-unrecognized-states-football)). Its results:

| Match | Score |
|---|---|
| Group D: Sápmi | lost 0–5 |
| Group D: Panjab | lost 0–5 |
| Placement round 1: Chagos Islands | won 3–2 |
| Placement round 2: Székely Land | lost 3–10 |

Somaliland finished tenth of twelve teams ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team)). Roads and Kingdoms followed the squad to the tournament ([Roads and Kingdoms, 2016](http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/the-unrecognized/)). Saxafi Media has written about what the team means to players and fans ([Saxafi Media](https://saxafimedia.com/for-the-somaliland-national-team-recognition-means-more-than-acclaim/)).

## The Somaliland league

The Somaliland Football Association runs a national league of 12 semi-professional clubs, backed by public bodies and private companies. It also holds an inter-regional tournament every two years: all of Somaliland's regions play group stages around the country, and the four group winners play the semi-finals in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team)).

## Somaliland Regional Games

The Somaliland Regional Games are a multi-sport event between Somaliland's regions. They were first held in 2011 and have been held every two to four years since, under the Ministry of Youth and Sports with the football association supervising ([Somaliland Regional Games, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Regional_Games); [Hiiraan Online, September 2011](https://www.hiiraan.com/news/2011/sept/wararka_maanta18-15047.htm); [Somaliland Post](https://somalilandpost.net/wasaarada-ciyaaraha-oo-iclaamisay-wakhtiga-ay-qabsoomay-ciyaaraha-gobolada/)).

## Stadium

The national team's home is Hargeisa National Stadium, with 12,000 seats ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team); [World Stadiums](http://www.worldstadiums.com/africa/countries/somalia.shtml)).

## Read more

- [Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)
- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)
- [Hargeisa and Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Ashraf Somali (Af-Ashraaf): the speech of Shingaani and Marka

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ashraf-somali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Af-Ashraaf is the speech of the Ashraaf of southern Somalia's coast. It has two branches: Af-Shingaani in the Shingaani quarter of Mogadishu, and the Lower Shabelle branch around Marka, with the Af-Marka, Af-Gendershe and Af-Jilib varieties. Linguists Christopher Green and Evan Jones argue it should be treated as a language variety of its own.

## Who speaks it and where

Af-Ashraaf is spoken along parts of the southern Somali coast by members of the [Ashraaf](/en/society/asharaaf/), according to the Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, whose 1981 survey is summarised by Landinfo ([Landinfo 2011, p. 12](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Lamberti divides it into two branches:

1. **Af-Shingaani**, in the Shingaani district of Mogadishu.
2. **The [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) branch**, in the Marka district, with the varieties **Af-Marka**, **Af-Gendershe** and **Af-Jilib**.

Roger Blench's 2006 reference list of Afroasiatic languages uses the same split into Shingaani and Lower Shabelle ([Ashraf Somali, Wikipedia, citing Blench 2006](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf_Somali)). Lamberti recorded the Af-Shingaani, Af-Merca and Af-Gendershe variants among his 52 dialect samples ([Landinfo 2011, p. 4](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## How it differs from Maxaa-tiri

Lamberti found that Af-Ashraaf has kept many old forms despite strong influence from the [Benadir dialects](/en/society/benadiri-somali/) around it ([Landinfo 2011, p. 13](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). He gives these examples:

- a **t** between vowels that other dialects have lost: "I stand up" is an joogsati in Shingaani, against waan joogsaday in Maxaa-tiri;
- **sh** where other dialects have **y**: "she" is isha in Shingaani, against iyada; "I gave" is an siishi, against waan siiyey.

Of 67 dialect features Lamberti counted, Ashraf shares 14 with Northern Somali and another 14 with Benadir only ([Landinfo 2011, p. 16](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). The [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) dialects, in turn, share more features with Benadir and Ashraf than with Northern Somali.

## A dialect or its own language?

Lamberti knew of only two small research projects on Af-Shingaani at the time of his work ([Landinfo 2011, p. 13](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). One was Roberto Ajello's 1984 study of focus in the Shingaani speech of the Ashraaf ([Ashraf Somali, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf_Somali)).

Newer work comes from the linguists Christopher R. Green and Evan Jones. In a 2019 paper they describe its verb and noun forms ([Green and Jones 2019, Language Science Press](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3367132)). In a 2016 talk they said Marka "may be similar in certain ways to both Northern Somali and Maay" but "boasts a number of unique properties, particularly in its morphology", which in their view merit treating it "as a language variety of its own" ([Ashraf Somali, Wikipedia, quoting Green and Jones 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf_Somali)).

The linguist Mauro Tosco has made the general point that all the Somali varieties are "dialects" in social terms, because speakers accept [Northern-Central Somali](/en/society/northern-somali/) as a common medium, but that their status in strictly linguistic terms has not been tested ([Ashraf Somali, Wikipedia, quoting Tosco 2012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf_Somali)).

## Read more

- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)
- [The Ashraaf](/en/society/asharaaf/)
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


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# Female genital cutting in Somalia: how common it is, what the law says, and what is changing

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/female-genital-cutting/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Almost all Somali women, 99% of those aged 15 to 49, have been cut, according to the 2020 national health survey, and 64% had the most severe, Pharaonic type. Most girls are cut between ages 5 and 14. The 2012 Constitution bans the practice and calls it 'tantamount to torture', and religious leaders in Puntland signed a fatwa against all forms in 2013.

## In short

Female genital cutting, called *gudniin* in Somali, is practised on almost every girl in Somalia. The Constitution prohibits it, and religious scholars in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) have ruled against it. This page sets out the numbers and the law.

## How common it is

The Somali Health and Demographic Survey of 2020 asked women aged 15 to 49 about cutting ([SHDS 2020, chapter 10](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)):

| Finding | Share |
|---|---|
| Women aged 15 to 49 who have been cut | 99% |
| Pharaonic type (the most severe, with stitching) | 64% |
| Intermediate type | 12% |
| "Sunni" type (the least severe) | 22% |
| Women cut between ages 5 and 9 | 71% |
| Daughters aged 10 to 14 already cut | 76% |
| Women who believe it is a religious requirement | 72% |
| Women who want it to continue | 76% |

## The types

The survey used three definitions (SHDS 2020):

- **Sunni:** removal of the clitoral hood, with or without part or all of the clitoris.
- **Intermediate:** removal of the clitoris with partial or total removal of the inner labia.
- **Pharaonic:** removal of part or all of the outer genitals and stitching to narrow the opening.

The survey describes the practice as harmful, because it puts the health and well-being of women and girls at risk (SHDS 2020).

## Belief, schooling and wealth

Most women surveyed see cutting as a religious requirement. Education changes this: 74% of women with no schooling see it as a religious requirement, against 44% of women with higher education. Wealth matters too: 77% of the poorest women hold this belief, against 59% of the richest (SHDS 2020).

## What the law and scholars say

- **The Constitution.** Article 15(4) of the 2012 Provisional Constitution says: "Circumcision of girls is a cruel and degrading customary practice, and is tantamount to torture. The circumcision of girls is prohibited" ([28 Too Many, Somalia: the law and FGM, July 2018](https://www.orchidproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/somalia_law_report_july_2018.pdf)).
- **No criminal law yet.** As of 2018, there was no national law that set out a crime and a punishment for cutting (28 Too Many 2018).
- **Puntland.** In November 2013, 18 leading religious scholars in Puntland signed a fatwa banning all forms of cutting, on health and religious grounds (28 Too Many 2018). In June 2021 Puntland's cabinet approved a bill banning all forms, which UNFPA welcomed ([UNFPA Somalia](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/news/unfpa-somalia-congratulates-puntland-passing-bill-prohibits-female-genital-mutilation-fgm)).

## Voices for change

Somali midwife Edna Adan Ismail, who was cut as a child, has said: "Islam forbids female circumcision" (see [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/)). Health workers abroad meet its effects in pregnancy and birth; see [caring for Somali patients](/en/society/caring-for-somali-patients/).

## Read more

- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/): the national health numbers.
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/): faith and daily life.

## Sources

- [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) and UNFPA (2020). [Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf), chapter 10.
- 28 Too Many (2018). [Somalia: the law and FGM](https://www.orchidproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/somalia_law_report_july_2018.pdf).
- [UNFPA Somalia](/en/institutions/unfpa-somalia/) (2021). [UNFPA Somalia congratulates Puntland for passing a bill that prohibits FGM](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/news/unfpa-somalia-congratulates-puntland-passing-bill-prohibits-female-genital-mutilation-fgm).


---

# Qur'an schools (dugsi) and religious learning in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Almost every Somali child starts school at a Qur'an school (dugsi or malcaamad), usually at age 3 or 4. Somalia's education ministry estimates about 50,000 Qur'an schools teaching more than 4 million children. Children write verses on a wooden board (loox) with a stick pen and charcoal ink. Older students go on to mosque study circles, Islamic institutes (macaahid) and universities abroad such as al-Azhar.

## The first school for almost everyone

A UN Peacebuilding Fund project document says Somalis "almost universally voluntarily attend traditional Quranic schools for at least a few years during their early childhood, usually from the age of 3 or 4 years old". It calls this "a common reference point" that "all Somalis uniquely share", across income, region and clan ([UN Peacebuilding Fund, Building Peace Through Religious Education in Somalia](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)).

Somalia's Ministry of Education estimates about **50,000 Qur'an schools** teaching **over 4 million children**. A December 2024 study by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and UNICEF sampled more than 2,000 schools in towns of Banadir, [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), South West, [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), with more than 150,000 children ([same document](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)). See [schools and learning in numbers](/en/data/schools-and-learning-numbers/).

## How a dugsi works

A writer for Geeska describes the countryside *malcaamad* ([Abdihakim Mohamed, "The Somali Quran school", Geeska, 25 April 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-quran-school)):

- **Where:** under a big tree (*waab*), in a hut of wood and mud (*dergad*) or, more rarely, a tin shack (*jiingad*). No outside aid is needed to start one.
- **The board:** each child writes on a flat wooden board (*loox*), often cut from *kidi* wood, instead of a book.
- **Pen and ink:** a pen carved from an *ergeeg* stick, and ink of ground charcoal and water, thickened with sugar or aloe sap (*sab*).
- **The teacher:** a *macallin*, often a travelling teacher who settles with the community.
- **Steps:** first children learn to spell the Qur'an's words, taught in Somali; then they read and memorise. Finishing each of the 30 parts (*juz*) is marked with a small celebration called *bunayn*.
- **Fees:** a small joining fee (*fadhiisin*) and about one US dollar a month per child. When a student finishes the whole Qur'an, the teacher is traditionally given a grown she-camel (*qaalin*).

The Library of Congress study adds that some teachers walked from place to place with their students, living on what people gave them, and also led prayers, blessed people and herds, settled disputes and performed marriages ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/46.htm)).

## Girls and boys

Both girls and boys attend in the early years, generally from about 3 to 7. The UN document says girls attend at a lower rate than boys, but those who stay often continue until an older age ([UN Peacebuilding Fund](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)). The Geeska writer notes that in the past teachers preferred boys, because women had fewer chances to become scholars ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-quran-school)).

## Through war and drought

The UN document says Qur'an schools have been "the cornerstone of education in Somalia for over 800 years". In the 1960s there were efforts to bring them into the national system; in the 1970s they were set aside; in the 1980s the Arab League tried again. When state schools shut after 1991, "dugsis remained functional", through drought, conflict and displacement ([UN Peacebuilding Fund](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)).

## Beyond the dugsi

Religious learning has three levels in Somalia today ([UN Peacebuilding Fund](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)):

1. **Traditional Qur'an schools (dugsi):** reading, recitation (*tajwiid*) and memorising (*xifdi*).
2. **Integrated Qur'an schools:** early-childhood classes that add Somali, Arabic and maths, under a curriculum from the education ministry, which now has a Department for Quranic Education.
3. **Islamic Sharia institutes (*macaahid*):** formal primary and secondary schools teaching law (*fiqh*), hadith, Arabic and theology alongside normal subjects.

After the early years, a smaller number of children keep studying with the same teacher or with the imam of a local mosque ([UN Peacebuilding Fund](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)). The US State Department notes that private schools are now the main source of primary education and most teach Islam, and that "externally funded madrassahs" give cheap basic education, many teaching Salafi ideas ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

**Abroad.** Since the 1300s Somali students have gone to al-Azhar in Cairo, where students from Zeila had their own hostel, the Riwaq [al-Zayla'i](/en/history/zeila-scholars-at-al-azhar-1300-1500/) ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i); [Abyssinia at al-Azhar, AfricArXiv](https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/8922)). In the 1950s and 1960s many Somali teachers trained in Cairo ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)). See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## Who runs them now

Qur'an schools have been under the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, run by communities and paid for mostly by parents, with some outside funding ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). On 10 December 2025 the ministry began a national count of Qur'an schools to learn how many exist, their condition and what training and money they need. The minister said the schools had no dedicated federal budget ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/quran%20schools/253036/somali-government-launches-nationwide-census-of-quranic-schools)). The government has since announced that Qur'an schools will come under the Ministry of Education for the first time, with a digital register ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/382148/somalia-unveils-sweeping-reforms-for-islamic-education-and-religious-institutions)).

## Concerns the reports raise

The UN document lists problems: no common curriculum or regulation, memorising the Arabic text without learning its meaning, corporal punishment, few female teachers, and the risk that armed groups such as al-Shabaab use religious schooling to reach adolescents. It notes that no systematic study of recruitment in Somali schools has been done ([UN Peacebuilding Fund](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)). The Geeska writer describes caning for mistakes, which parents accepted "on the condition that no bones were broken" ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-quran-school)).

## Read further

- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) and [why almost every Somali is Muslim](/en/society/why-somalis-are-almost-all-muslim/).
- [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/).


---

# Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle clan family)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/rahanweyn/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Rahanweyn (Raxanweyn, or Reewin in Maay), also called the Digil and Mirifle, are one of the five large Somali clan families, with the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye. They trace descent to Saab rather than Samaale and mostly speak Maay. Most are farmers and herders in Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, between the Shabelle and Juba rivers.

## Name and family tree

The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) lists the Rahanweyn as one of five large Somali clan families. The others are the Dir, Isaaq, Darod and Hawiye ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The conflict-data project ACLED uses the same five ([ACLED methodology, 2025](https://acleddata.com/methodology/how-somali-clan-actors-are-coded-acled-data)). The name is Raxanweyn in standard Somali and Reewin in [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/).

The Rahanweyn trace descent to Saab, not to [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/). The EUAA uses "Saab" as a name for the Rahanweyn, or Digil-Mirifle, family ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, glossary](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). A UK Home Office report calls Saab "another alleged descendant of Prophet Mohammed". It notes that the Saab clans speak Maay, "quite distinct" from the Maxaa Somali of the other families ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The anthropologist I. M. Lewis described the Rahanweyn as a "synthesis of old cultivating stock, and more recent and once nomadic immigrants from the other Somali clans" ([Wikipedia, backup, quoting Lewis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahanweyn)). Many lineages from other families have joined them over time (same source).

## How the family is organised

The Austrian research centre ACCORD writes that the Rahanweyn structure is "considerably different" from that of nomadic families. Their clans are made of four to seven *jilib* that pay compensation together. They pay blood money "at a much higher level" in the lineage than pastoral groups do ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

ACCORD adds that "their home state is more important for their identity than the clan". Their elders are "more hierarchical and tightly related to the villages" (p. 13).

## Main branches

The family has two halves, the Digil and the Mirifle. The EASO records that the Mirifle are divided into two main groups, the *Sagaal iyo Sideed*, "the nine and the eight" ([EASO 2021, Bakool](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

The World Bank says "there is no clear agreement on the clan and subclan structures". It printed two charts from Somali research partners to show this ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)).

| Chart | What it shows |
|---|---|
| South-central partner (CRD) | One family, Rahanweyn. Digil: Geledi, Tunni, Garre, Jiiddo, Begedi and Shanta Caleemo. Mirifle: 17 sub-clans. |
| Puntland partner (PDRC) | Rahanweyn and Digil as two separate families |

ACLED's 2025 coding list includes these groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)):

- **Digil:** Begedi, Dabarre, Garre, Geledi, Jambaluul, Jiido, Jilible, Shanta Caleemo and Tunni.
- **Mirifle:** Eelay, Emid, Gabaweyn, Hadame, Harin, Hubeer, Jiron, Leysan, Luwaay, Maalim Weyne and Yantaar.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. The Library of Congress put the Digil and Rahanweyn at about 20 percent of the population ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/37.htm)). ACCORD wrote that they "may constitute at least 25 to 30 per cent" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). The places below come from the EUAA, region by region.

| Region | What the EUAA records |
|---|---|
| Bay | Mainly Rahanweyn, with the Mirifle in the north and the Digil in the south. In Baidoa the Mirifle are "the more powerful clan" ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)). |
| Bakool | "Mainly inhabited by various Rahanweyn groups" ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/221-bakool)). |
| Lower Shabelle | "Large numbers of Digil-Mirifle subclans" ([EUAA 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)). |
| Gedo | The Rahanweyn predominate in rural areas of the east bank ([EUAA 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/211-gedo)). |
| Middle and Lower Juba | Digil and Mirifle clans on the east bank in Saakow and Bu'aale. The Tunni from south of Jamaame to Baraawe ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). |

## History on record

- **1695 to 1900s.** The Geledi Sultanate ruled from [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/). Its sultans were Digil. See [the Geledi Sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).
- **1947 onward.** The Hizbia Digil Mirifle party accepted Somali statehood but wanted a federal system. See [the nationalist era](/en/history/nationalist-era-1943-1960/).
- **1975.** The Library of Congress records that the Digil and Rahanweyn had no members on the 20-member [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)).
- **13 October 1995.** The [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/) was founded after Aidid's forces took Baidoa. It took Baidoa in June 1999.
- **2002 and 2014.** A South West State was declared in 2002. The current [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) was formed in 2014, with Baidoa as its working capital.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). Rahanweyn elders are tied more closely to villages, as ACCORD notes above. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

Under the 4.5 formula, the Rahanweyn hold 61 of the 275 seats in the House of the People. See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Examples involving Rahanweyn groups:

- Gelidle (Mirifle) against Dabarre (Digil), in Diinsoor.
- Leysan (Mirifle) against South West State forces, at Bardaale.
- Garre against Jiido, both Digil, in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/).
- Geledi (Digil), with Wacdaan, against Habar Gidir (Hawiye), in Afgooye.
- Shanta Caleemo (Digil) and Mirifle clans against [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/) (Hawiye), in Wanla Weyn.
- Gababweyn and Maalim Weyne (both Mirifle) on opposite sides in [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), Gedo, and Gelidle against Marehan (Darod) in [Bardhere](/en/regions/baardheere/).

See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **One family or two.** The two World Bank charts disagree on whether the Digil and Mirifle are one family. ACCORD notes that some count the Rahanweyn as identical with the Digil and Mirifle.
- **Status.** The UK Home Office report says the Saab clans are "sometimes" seen as lower than the Samaale, but that "there is no systematic discrimination". The EUAA writes that the Rahanweyn "are not a minority group but have long been treated as second-class citizens". It says they "suffered tremendously" from Hawiye and Darod militias in the 1990s ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It adds that since the mid-1990s they "gained power in south-western Somalia" (same source).
- **Size.** The Library of Congress and ACCORD give different shares, about 20 percent against 25 to 30 percent.

## Read more

- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Dir](/en/society/dir/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Somali language and its dialects](/en/society/the-somali-language/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Begedi (Bagadi), a Digil clan](/en/society/begedi/)
- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/): [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/), [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/), [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/), [Eelay](/en/society/eelay/), [Jiron](/en/society/jiron/), [Luway](/en/society/luway/) and [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/)
- [Digil](/en/society/digil/): [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/), [Garre](/en/society/garre/), [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/) and [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/)
- [Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle (the "pre-Hawiye" group)](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/)


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# Women's football in Somalia: from the first match to the national team

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-womens-football/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali women's football had no national team and no FIFA match for decades. Golden Girls FC of Mogadishu became the first Somali women's team to play abroad, on 8 July 2019. Women's football was first played in Mogadishu under the federation on 8 March 2024, the first national women's tournament followed that autumn, and the women's national team played its first match on 24 October 2025, losing 4–1 to Djibouti.

## No team for decades

For most of its history Somalia had no FIFA-recognised women's team, senior or youth, and played no FIFA-sanctioned women's game. It did not enter the 2010 African Women's Championship or the 2011 All-Africa Games, and in March 2012 it had no FIFA women's ranking ([Women's football in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_football_in_Somalia); [CAF, 2010 results](http://www.cafonline.com/competition/african-women-championship_2010/results)).

## Players in numbers

FIFA figures cited by Wikipedia show 280 registered women and girl players in 2000, 1,435 in 2005, and 220 in 2006. In 2006 there were also 175 registered and 440 unregistered women futsal players. Of 450 adult teams, 8 were open to women in mixed teams and 6 were women only ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_football_in_Somalia); [FIFA women's football factsheet](https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/women/93/77/21/factsheets.pdf)). Girls and boys do not play mixed football in schools.

## Restrictions

Wikipedia, citing [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) Tribune reports, records that armed Islamist groups inside Somalia restricted what women could do, including playing sport, and that a 2006 ban on watching the men's World Cup led to several deaths ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_football_in_Somalia); [Sudan Tribune](http://www.sudantribune.com/Somali-Islamic-militiamen,16576)). On 4 April 2012 the president of the Somali Football Federation, Said Mohamed Nur, and the head of the Somali Olympic Committee were killed in a suicide bombing at the National Theatre in Mogadishu ([BBC News, April 2012](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17609047)).

## Firsts

- **8 July 2019:** Golden Girls FC of Mogadishu became the first Somali women's team to play an international match, losing 3–0 to Queen Lozikeyi Academy of Zimbabwe at the Human Rights Cup ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_football_in_Somalia); [Beyond 90](https://beyond90.com.au/somali-womens-football-makes-history/)).
- **8 March 2024:** women's football was played in Mogadishu under the federation for the first time, a futsal match for International Women's Day ([CECAFA](https://cecafaonline.com/womens-football-finally-played-in-somalia/)).
- **30 October to 10 November 2024:** the first women's football tournament in Somalia, backed by FIFA's Covid-19 relief plan. The federation also set out a women's football strategy with plans for a women's league and regional and youth competitions ([FIFA](https://inside.fifa.com/womens-football/news/somalia-womens-football-1st-tournament-covid-19-relief)).
- **2025:** a Somali girls' under-17 club was entered in CECAFA's first under-17 girls' tournament but withdrew ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_football_in_Somalia); [CECAFA](https://cecafaonline.com/eight-teams-set-to-battle-in-inaugural-caf-u-17-girls-tournament/)).
- **24 October 2025:** the women's national team played its first match, in Djibouti, losing 4–1 to Djibouti's Les Gazelles in a series of friendlies ([Somalia women's national football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_women%27s_national_football_team); [FTL Somalia](https://www.ftlsomalia.com/somali-national-womens-football-teams-depart-for-djibouti-for-friendly-matches/)).

## Djibouti's help

Women in Djibouti, where women's football grew from the late 2000s, worked to help Somali women play ([Hiiraan Online, October 2009](http://www.hiiraan.com/news2/2009/oct/women_football_vastly_growing_in_djibouti.aspx)).

## Read more

- [Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)
- [Somali Football Federation](/en/society/somali-football-federation/)
- [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/)
- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)


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# Christians and Christian missions in Somalia, 1881 to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Christian missions worked among Somalis from 1881, mostly through orphanages, schools and clinics. Most were closed or expelled: the French Catholic mission in the British north in 1910, the Swedish Lutheran mission in the south in 1935, and the Mennonite and Sudan Interior missions in 1976. The US State Department counts about 1,000 Christians in Somalia today. The 2012 constitution bans spreading any religion other than Islam.

## In short

Missions came with colonial rule and stayed small. The record below gives each mission, what it did, and how it ended, with the source for each. Numbers come from very different sources and do not agree; each is given with who counted.

## The north: the French Catholic mission, 1891 to 1910

The French Catholic Mission opened an orphanage at Daymoole, near Berbera, in 1891. According to the Somali Christian writer Aweis A. Ali, citing the historian [Said Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/), meeting children from this orphanage was one of the things that turned [Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) against British rule. The mission was expelled in 1910 and moved to Jigjiga ([Aweis A. Ali, "A Brief History of Christian Missions in Somalia", African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). The same paper dates the first Catholic orphanage among Somalis to 1881.

After that, the British government kept all missions out of the [Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). In 1927 the Colonial Secretary named it as the only colony besides parts of northern Nigeria from which Christian missions were excluded ([Hansard, 29 July 1927](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1927/jul/29/christian-missions)). In 1937 the Colonial Secretary said the government had "for many years" been "obliged... to exclude all missionaries" because of "the specially difficult conditions" of a protectorate "inhabited almost entirely by nomadic Mohammedan tribes". The only exception was two members of the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society helping in a camp for refugees from Ethiopia ([Hansard, 28 April 1937](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1937/apr/28/british-somaliland-abys-sinian-refugees)). In 1947 the government said the policy was "reviewed from time to time" ([Hansard, 30 July 1947](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1947/jul/30/somaliland-christian-missions)).

## The south: Swedish Lutherans, 1896 to 1935

The Swedish Overseas Lutheran Church opened a mission at Kismaayo in 1896 and spread to [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/), [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/) and Mugaambo with schools, clinics and churches. Most converts came from farming communities of the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley. Italy expelled the mission in 1935 ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). A 2023 count by the Somali Bible Society says most Christians in southern Somalia today descend from these converts ([Somali Bible Society, Somali Christian Census 2023](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/census-of-somali-christians-2023.pdf)).

## The south: the Catholic Church under Italy, 1904 to 1991

Catholic work in [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) began officially on 21 January 1904 under the Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir ([Somali Bible Society, 2023](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/census-of-somali-christians-2023.pdf)). Trinitarian Fathers arrived in 1903 and gave schooling and help to the poor and sick; under governor De Vecchi in the 1920s the Consolata missionaries were promoted ([Christianity in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)). By 1939 the Italian government paid the church to run 12 primary schools with 1,776 pupils ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020, citing Touval 1963](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)).

**Mogadishu Cathedral** was built between 1923 and 1928 on the order of governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi, in a Norman style copied from the cathedral of Cefalù in Sicily. It was the largest cathedral in eastern Africa. The historian Claire Dillon argues the design was meant to present Italian rule as a "peaceful conquest" ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia, citing Dillon 2025](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral); [Geeska interview with Claire Dillon, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/claire-dillon-italians-promoted-their-occupation-benefit-colonized)). See [Mogadishu Cathedral](/en/society/mogadishu-cathedral/).

**How many Catholics?**
- 1940: Bishop Francesco Filippini claimed about 40,000 Somali Catholics, mostly in the Jubba and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) farming areas ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020, citing Tripodi 1999](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti has said this figure is too high (same source).
- About 1950: about 8,500 Catholics, at the start of the UN trusteeship ([Christianity in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing the Diocese of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)).
- 2004: about 100 ([same source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)).

## Mennonites and the Sudan Interior Mission, 1953 to 1976

The Mennonite Mission came to southern Somalia in 1953 and the [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) Interior Mission (SIM) in 1954. Both ran schools, clinics and hospitals. In 1962 the Canadian Mennonite teacher Merlin Grove was stabbed to death in Mogadishu. In 1966 Somali Christians in Mogadishu, Buulobarde and Beledweyne joined the Mennonite church. After the government took over mission property, the Catholic cathedral let both missions' members worship there. Both missions were expelled in 1976 ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)). The Bible was first published in full in Somali in 1979 ([Christianity in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)).

## 1989: the killing of Bishop Colombo

Salvatore Colombo, an Italian Franciscan who had worked in Somalia since 1946 and was consecrated Bishop of Mogadishu in 1976, was shot dead in the cathedral on 9 July 1989. [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government blamed Islamists; other accounts blamed the government. Several sheikhs were arrested, and on 14 July 1989 government forces fired on worshippers leaving a mosque in Mogadishu after a sermon criticising the arrests ([Salvatore Colombo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Colombo)). No bishop of Mogadishu has been named since. The Bishop of Djibouti serves as apostolic administrator.

## Since 1991

The cathedral stopped being used after 1991 and was largely destroyed in 2008; plans to rebuild it were announced in 2013 ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)). Foreign Christian aid workers killed in Somali lands since 1991 include Annalena Tonelli, an Italian lay Catholic who ran a tuberculosis hospital in [Boorama](/en/regions/awdal/) and was shot there in October 2003, a few months after winning the UN refugee agency's Nansen Award ([Annalena Tonelli, Wikipedia, citing UNHCR and L'Osservatore Romano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annalena_Tonelli)). Aweis A. Ali also lists Sister Leonella Sgorbati, Verena Karer, Dick and Enid Eyeington and others ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)).

## Christians in Somaliland

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s constitution makes Islam the official religion, forbids Muslims to convert, bars spreading any other religion and requires all laws to follow sharia. It also requires the president, vice-presidential candidates and members of the house of representatives to be Muslim ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

In 2016 Bishop Giorgio Bertin and other Catholics were "rehabilitating a Catholic church in Hargeisa" ([Catholic World Report, 20 March 2016](https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2016/03/20/catholicism-in-somalia-the-brave-few/)). In 2023 the only Catholic church in Somaliland remained closed ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). In 2021 Agenzia Fides reported a "more stable Christian presence" in Somaliland than in the rest of the country, with one priest serving a Catholic community who pray at home or indoors. Caritas works there under the name Caritas Naxariis and ran a school project for 35 displaced children ([Vatican News, 30 April 2021](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2021-04/the-hidden-life-of-somalia-s-christians.html)). The Somali Bible Society's 2023 count found 7,642 Christians in Somaliland (see below).

## Numbers today

- **US State Department, 2023:** a Christian community of about 1,000 ([International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).
- **Somali Bible Society, 2023:** ran its own count from August 2022 to October 2023 across Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, mostly by phone. It counted 171,227 Christians in Somalia (22,123 men, 23,356 women and 125,748 children), 7,642 in Somaliland, and 3,760, 8,917 and 5,649 ethnic Somali Christians in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya (pp. 54–56). Children under 15 were counted if they live with a Christian parent or guardian. It names four limits: areas held by al-Shabaab could not be reached, remote Christians could not be contacted, some refused, and language barriers in the south ([Somali Christian Census 2023](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/census-of-somali-christians-2023.pdf)). It says most professing Somali Christians are Lutheran, Catholic, Nazarene or independent.
- **Open Doors, 2023:** ranked Somalia second on its list of places where Christians face the most pressure ([Christianity in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Open Doors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)).

## The law and society today

The 2012 provisional constitution makes Islam the state religion and bans spreading any other religion. Sharia is read as forbidding conversion from Islam, and the penal code punishes blasphemy and "defamation of Islam" with up to two years in prison. There are no public places of worship for non-Muslims except inside the Mogadishu airport compound, and the only Catholic church in Somaliland stays closed ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). The report says conversion is "seen as a betrayal of family and clan", and that al-Shabaab treats suspected converts as targets.

In Somaliland in 2022, a woman was jailed for five years for blasphemy, apostasy and spreading Christianity; she was released conditionally in August 2023 after declaring a return to Islam ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

## Read further

- Aweis A. Ali, *Understanding the Somali Church* (KENPRO, 2021).
- Helen Miller, *The Hardest Place: The Biography of Warren and Dorothy Modricker* (2006), on the SIM mission.
- Ahmed Ali Haile and David W. Shenk, *Teatime in Mogadishu* (Herald Press, 2011).
- [Why almost every Somali is Muslim](/en/society/why-somalis-are-almost-all-muslim/).


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# Af-Maay (Maay Maay): the language of the inter-river lands

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/maay-language/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Af-Maay is the speech of the Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn) and their neighbours in southern Somalia, from the Ethiopian border to near the coast between Mogadishu and Kismaayo, with Baydhabo at its centre. It lacks the throat sounds c and x of Northern Somali. The 2012 constitution names Maay beside Maxaa-tiri as the Somali language.

## Where it is spoken

Maay is spoken mainly by the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), together called the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/), in southern Somalia. Its area runs from the Ethiopian border in the southwest to near the coast between Mogadishu and Kismaayo, and includes Baydhabo ([Maay Maay, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maay_Maay)). Glottolog lists it as a language of the Somali branch of East Cushitic ([Glottolog, Maay](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/maay1238)).

The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, who surveyed southern Somali speech in 1981, places Maay in the whole of Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), southwest [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), the Jowhar district and eastern Lower Juba ([Landinfo 2011, p. 13](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). In Gedo it shares the land with [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/), Degodiya and [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) dialects. Lamberti also found that Maay is not only spoken by Rahanweyn: in [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/), for example, the Jareer (Oojji) used the local Maay dialect.

## Five dialects

Lamberti found the Maay dialects fairly uniform, with small, gradual differences, and named five ([Landinfo 2011, p. 14](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

1. **Northern Maay**, in northern Gedo and Bakool, with some Northern Somali influence.
2. **Western Maay**, in [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) and Diinsoor.
3. **Eastern Maay**, made up of Af-Eelay and Af-[Begedi](/en/society/begedi/).
4. **The Maay of [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) to Jilib**.
5. **Southern or Lower Juba Maay**, in [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/) and [Afmadow](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## How it differs from Maxaa-tiri

Lamberti lists these Maay features ([Landinfo 2011, p. 14](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

- no throat sounds **c** and **x**;
- a central vowel, like the "e" in English "the", that Somali spelling has no letter for;
- sounds that merge: "you went" is batti in Maay, against baxday in Northern Somali; "we went" is banni;
- plurals that are grammatically masculine;
- many possessives built with **haan-**, as in haankey ("my").

Vowel length changes meaning, as in bur ("flour") and buur ("mountain"), and both subject-verb-object and subject-object-verb word orders are used ([Maay Maay, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maay_Maay)). I. M. Lewis compared the gap between Maay and Northern Somali to that between Spanish and Portuguese ([Saints and Somalis, 1998, p. 74](https://books.google.com/books?id=P5AZyEhMtbkC)). Martin Orwin of SOAS told Landinfo that most people in Maay areas also understand Maxaa-tiri, and that in [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), close to Mogadishu, most speak both fully ([Landinfo 2011, p. 14](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## Legal status

Article 5 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution reads that the official language of the Somali Republic is "Somali (Maay and Maxaa-tiri)", with Arabic as the second language ([Constitute Project, Somalia 2012](https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012)). Maay is not generally used in schools or the media, and Maay speakers often use Standard Somali, learnt through radio, migration and town life, as a common language ([Maay Maay, Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maay_Maay)).

## Maay poetry

Maay has its own oral poetry. The anthropologist Virginia Luling recorded extempore verse at a festival in Afgooye in 1989. There the poet and the reciter, called **laashin**, were the same person, making the poem as they sang ([Luling 1996, "The Law Then Was Not This Law"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/586663)). The laashins Hiraabey, Muuse Cusmaan and Abukar Cali Goitow addressed Suldaan Subuge of the [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/), recalling his Gobroon forebears.

## Read more

- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)
- [Digil languages](/en/society/digil-languages/)
- [Bay region](/en/regions/bay/)


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# Somali Football Federation (SFF): history, leaders and what it runs

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-football-federation/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali Football Federation (Xiriirka Kubadda Cagta Soomaaliyeed) was founded in 1951 and runs Somali football: the national teams, three league divisions and the Somalia Cup. Wikipedia dates its FIFA membership to 1962 and CAF to 1968; RSSSF gives 1963 for both. It also joined the Union of Arab Football Associations in 1974. Its president Said Mohamed Nur was killed in the April 2012 National Theatre bombing.

## Founding and memberships

The Somali Football Federation was founded in 1951, while southern Somalia was a UN trust territory under Italian administration ([Somali Football Federation, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)). Sources differ on when it joined the world and African bodies:

- **FIFA:** 1962 by Wikipedia's count; 1963 according to the RSSSF ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation); [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **Confederation of African Football (CAF):** 1968 by Wikipedia; 1963 by RSSSF.
- **Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA):** 1974 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation); [UAFA](https://www.uafa-ac.com/)).

FIFA and CAF each keep a member page for the federation ([FIFA, Somalia](https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/SOM); [CAF, Somalia](https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/som/)).

## What it runs

The federation organises the first, second and third divisions, the Somalia Cup (the General Da'ud Cup) and the Super Cup, and manages the men's, women's and youth national teams. It also has futsal and beach soccer programmes and a referees' committee ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation); [Football Somalia](https://footballsomalia.so/en/)). It enforces the rules of the game in matches between local clubs.

## Officials killed

- **4 April 2012:** the federation's president, Said Mohamed Nur, and the president of the Somali Olympic Committee, Aden Yabarow Wiish, were among eight people killed when a suicide bomber struck the reopened National Theatre in Mogadishu. The al-Shabaab group said it carried out the attack ([BBC News, 4 April 2012](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17609047)).
- **August 2017:** executive committee member Osman Jama Diraa was killed in Mogadishu. On 19 August 2017 the federation closed its headquarters for seven days of mourning and stopped all football activity. Its then president, Abdiqani Said Arab, said: "We have lost a great friend and brother who dedicated much of his life to developing the game" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)).

## Leaders

Wikipedia lists the federation's current officers as president Ali Abdi Mohamed, vice-president Ahmed Takal and general secretary Hussein Aweis Ahmed, with Murad Abdikadir as technical director ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)). Earlier presidents include Said Mohamed Nur (killed 2012) and Abdiqani Said Arab (in office in 2017).

## Referees

FIFA lists Somali international referees. Wikipedia's list includes Bashir Olad Arab (international since 2004), Wiish Hagi Yabarow (since 2011) and Hassan Mohamed Hagi (since 2014), and assistant referee Salah Omar Abukar (since 2001) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation); [FIFA referees list](https://www.fifa.com/associations/association=som/footballofficials/referees/peoplekind=ref.html)).

## Women's football

In 2024 the federation held Somalia's first women's football tournament, with FIFA funding, and set out a strategy for a women's league and regional and youth competitions ([FIFA](https://inside.fifa.com/womens-football/news/somalia-womens-football-1st-tournament-covid-19-relief)). Its women's national team played its first match in October 2025.

## Read more

- [Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)
- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Women's football in Somalia](/en/society/somali-womens-football/)
- [Somalia Cup and Super Cup](/en/society/somalia-cup/)


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# Somali work songs and children's verse: from the mortar to the watering well

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-work-songs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalis have short song forms for almost every task: pounding grain in the mortar, watering camels (shubaal), churning butter, marching lambs. Children's songs such as 'Maqalay warlay' and 'Waryaa waraabe' use the same short metres. Scholar Maxamed Cabdillaahi Riiraash describes these as the building blocks of the longer forms like the jiifto and geeraar.

## A song for every task

The Djibouti scholar Maxamed Cabdillaahi Riiraash (Rirache), working with Cabdi Migane and Cumar Macallin, set out to identify the small Somali song forms. He wrote that "as an oral society Somalis devised songs for every type of work", and that their short lines and steady rhythm let every herding child learn them young ([Rirache, Somali poetic genres](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)). He found most short forms in children's verse and treated them as the base of the longer forms.

Zainab Mohamed Jama notes that much work poetry was composed by women and has become a folk form with no named author ([Jama 1994, Oral Tradition 9/1, p. 187](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)).

## Work songs Riiraash recorded

Riiraash measured each line by its vowel units, a long vowel counting two, and by how the line splits into two balancing halves ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)):

- **The mortar song (mooyaha)**, sung by women pounding grain. It is the shortest form found: four units, 2 and 2. *Mooyaha / magacii* ("The mortar, what is its name?").
- **The watering song (shubaal)**, sung at the well. Six units in three pairs: *Geelu geel fulay* ... *Haka daba fulo*.
- **The butter-churning song**, sung while shaking milk in the **dhiil** or **khode** vessels: ten units, 4 and 6. *Haantii Buroy ii bax* ("O milk vessel Buro, give me butter").

## Children's verse

- **Maqalay warlay**, sung while driving young lambs: seven units, 4 and 3. The lines run *Maqalay warlay / Ma laguu warramay / Ina Cali la dilay* ("O little lamb that has not heard, were you not told that Cali's son was killed?").
- **Waryaa waraabe**, a rhyme to the hyena: seven units, 3 and 4, with fixed positions. *Waryaa waraabe / Xaggeed ku roori* ("Hey hyena, where are you running to?").
- **Heellada Butiile**, about Buti, a monster from a children's story: eight units, 4 and 4.
- **Maroodi cadhoole**, about an elephant with a skin disease: eight units, 4 and 4, with every position fixed.

All examples are from Riiraash ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)).

## Dance songs

The **marjuuqa**, used at certain points in the **sedexlay** folk dance, has six units split 2 and 4, as in *Naa malayko / May linkayga* ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)). The **hirwo**, also called wiglo or dhaanto, joins two watering-song lines into one: *Sidii cirku hoo / ray meel Cossobloo*.

## How long forms grow from short ones

Riiraash writes that new forms come from adding or dropping vowel units. The four-unit mortar line plus three units gives *Maqalay warlay*; plus five gives the **jiifto**, the metre of most dance songs; plus six gives the butter-churning song. Adding one short vowel to *Maroodi cadhoole* gives a line of the [geeraar](/en/society/geeraar/) ([Rirache](https://archiv2.sfd.at/akademie/2002/klassen/dirie/vorlesung/somalipoetry.pdf)). He concluded that "genre formation is a continuous process in Somali poetry" and that modern poets keep making new metres by joining old ones.

## Read more

- [Somali poetic metre](/en/society/somali-poetic-metre/)
- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)


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# The Digil languages: Tunni, Dabarre, Garre and Jiiddu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/digil-languages/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Digil varieties are the most varied Somali speech forms. Lamberti counts four: Tunni (Diinsoor, Baraawe, Jilib), Dabarre (Diinsoor, Qansax Dheere, the Juba), Garre (Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba, Qoryooley) and Jiiddu (Qoryooley, Diinsoor, Jilib). Jiiddu is the most distinct of all Somali varieties.

## The most varied group

The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, who surveyed southern Somali speech in 1981, called the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) dialects the most heterogeneous of all the Somali dialect groups ([Landinfo 2011, p. 14](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). He found that all who spoke them belonged to the Digil clan family. Diinsoor, [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/), [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and Bur Hakaba districts form the heartland of the Digil dialects; in Diinsoor, Maay speakers were the minority at the time ([Landinfo 2011, p. 13](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

Many linguists now treat these varieties as languages of their own. The linguist Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi wrote that Maay and the related Digil forms "constitute separate Cushitic languages" ([Culture and Customs of Somalia, 2001](https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri)). Glottolog lists [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/) and [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/) as separate languages ([Glottolog, Dabarre](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/daba1260); [Glottolog, Jiiddu](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/jiid1238)).

## Tunni

[Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) is spoken in the Diinsoor, Baraawe and Jilib districts. Of the Digil forms it is the one most influenced by Maay. It has two branches, **Af-Tunni Defaraat** and **Af-Tunni Torre** ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Lamberti noted that Tunni speakers herded cattle, sheep and goats but not camels. Compared with Somali, Tunni turns short "e" into "i" and the throat sound **x** into a glottal stop ([Tunni language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunni_language)). The religious leader [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/) was born among the Tunni in Baraawe in 1847 ([Tosco 2010, Somali writings](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

## Dabarre

Dabarre is spoken mainly in the Diinsoor and Qansax Dheere districts and along the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/); Lamberti linked its presence in Middle Juba to moves in the 1970s and 1980s ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). It has two forms: Af-Dabarre of the Dabarre, and **Af-Iroole** (Oroole) of the Iroole, who are closely tied to the Dabarre. Landinfo notes that some writers count the Dabarre as Rahanweyn and others as Digil. Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, gives about 34,000 speakers ([Dabarre language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabarre_language)).

## Garre

[Garre](/en/society/garre/) in Somalia is spoken in the Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba and Qoryooley districts and is itself very varied. Speakers name two forms, **Tuuf** and **Quranow** ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). See the full page on [the Garre language](/en/society/garre-language/).

## Jiiddu

Jiiddu is spoken in the Qoryooley, Diinsoor and Jilib districts. Lamberti found it unique within the Digil group and among all Somali dialects ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). He also judged it the most distinct dialect and the one least influenced by others ([Landinfo 2011, p. 8](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

Christopher Ehret and Mohamed Nuuh Ali, writing in 1984, went further and grouped Jiiddu with the Bayso language of Ethiopia rather than with Somali ([Somali languages, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1994](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)). Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, puts Jiiddu speakers at about 34,000 in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), Bay and Middle Juba, and records an English-Jiddu-Somali mini-dictionary by the native speaker Salim Ibro (1998) ([Jiiddu language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiiddu_language)). Michael Neterer wrote a 2021 thesis on seventy years of Jiiddu language development, 1951 to 2021, at Dallas International University ([Jiiddu language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiiddu_language)).

## Read more

- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)
- [Af-Maay](/en/society/maay-language/)
- [The Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)


---

# The Islamic calendar in Somalia: months, Ramadan and Eid dates

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/islamic-calendar-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis use the Islamic (Hijri) lunar calendar for religious dates and the Gregorian calendar for daily life. A Hijri year has 12 moon months and about 354 days, so Ramadan and Eid move about 11 days earlier each year. By calculation, Ramadan 1448 begins about 8 February 2027, Eid al-Fitr falls about 9 March 2027 and Eid al-Adha about 16 May 2027. The exact day in Somalia depends on the moon sighting announced by the authorities.

## Two kinds of calendar

The Somali writer Said M-Shidad Hussein explains that Somalis use both a lunar and a solar calendar. "The lunar calendar is used for religious observations as well as social, economic, and legal contracts", while the solar calendar is used for weather, sea travel and the seasons ([Said M-Shidad Hussein, "The Somali Calendar: An Ancient, Accurate Timekeeping System", 2011, via PDRC Somalia](https://pdrcsomalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ammintiris-Somali_calendar_Said.pdf)). The lunar one is the Islamic, or Hijri, calendar. Government and business use the Gregorian calendar.

The Hijri calendar counts years from the Prophet Muhammad's move from Mecca to Medina in 622. Its year of about 354 days is some 11 days shorter than the solar year, so each religious date comes earlier every year ([same source](https://pdrcsomalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ammintiris-Somali_calendar_Said.pdf)).

On 12 November 2026 the Hijri date was 2 Jumada al-Akhira 1448 ([AlAdhan calendar conversion](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/gToH/12-11-2026)).

## The 12 months

Somalis use the Arabic month names, written in Somali spelling. Some months also have a Somali name.

| No. | Month (Somali spelling) | Arabic | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muxarram | Muharram | One of the four sacred months. The 10th is Ashura. |
| 2 | Safar | Safar | |
| 3 | Rabiicul Awal | Rabi' al-Awwal | Mawliid, the Prophet's birthday, on the 12th |
| 4 | Rabiicul Aakhir | Rabi' al-Thani | |
| 5 | Jumaadal Uulaa | Jumada al-Ula | |
| 6 | Jumaadal Aakhira | Jumada al-Akhira | |
| 7 | Rajab | Rajab | Sacred month |
| 8 | Shacbaan | Sha'ban | |
| 9 | Ramadaan | Ramadan | The month of fasting (*soon*) |
| 10 | Shawaal, also called Soonfur | Shawwal | Ciidul Fitri on the 1st |
| 11 | Dul Qacda | Dhu al-Qa'da | Sacred month |
| 12 | Dul Xijja | Dhu al-Hijja | Hajj; Ciidul Adxa on the 10th; sacred month |

The four sacred months are Muxarram, Rajab, Dul Qacda and Dul Xijja ([Kalandarka Islaamka, Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalandarka_Islaamka)). Somali news outlets call Shawwal "Bisha Soonfur", the month that breaks the fast ([Wadani, report on the Soonfur moon sighting](https://wadani.com/dhalashada-bisha-soonfur-oo-caawa-laga-raadinayo-sacuudiga-iyo-saadaasha-ciidul-fitriga)).

## Key dates for 1448 and 1449

These are calculated dates. In Somalia, as across the Muslim world, a month starts when the new moon is seen, so the real day can be one day later than shown.

| Event | Hijri date | Calculated Gregorian date |
|---|---|---|
| Mawliid (Prophet's birthday), 1448 | 12 Rabiicul Awal 1448 | Tuesday 25 August 2026 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/12-03-1448)) |
| First day of Ramadaan 1448 | 1 Ramadaan 1448 | Monday 8 February 2027 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/01-09-1448)) |
| Ciidul Fitri 1448 | 1 Shawaal 1448 | Tuesday 9 March 2027 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/01-10-1448)) |
| Ciidul Adxa 1448 | 10 Dul Xijja 1448 | Sunday 16 May 2027 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/10-12-1448)) |
| Islamic New Year 1449 | 1 Muxarram 1449 | Sunday 6 June 2027 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/01-01-1449)) |
| Ashura 1449 | 10 Muxarram 1449 | Tuesday 15 June 2027 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/10-01-1449)) |
| First day of Ramadaan 1449 | 1 Ramadaan 1449 | Friday 28 January 2028 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/01-09-1449)) |

## Who decides when Eid starts

At the end of Ramadaan, people watch for the new moon of Soonfur on the evening of the 29th day. When it is seen, the government announces Eid. Reports from Somali news outlets describe the moon being sighted in towns such as Jowhar and [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/) before the federal government declared the first day of Shawaal ([Wadani](https://wadani.com/dowladda-somaliya-oo-ku-dhawaaqday-maalinta-koowaad-ee-ciidul-fitriga/)). Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court makes its own call on the same evening, which Somali outlets also report ([Wadani](https://wadani.com/dhalashada-bisha-soonfur-oo-caawa-laga-raadinayo-sacuudiga-iyo-saadaasha-ciidul-fitriga)).

The federal Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs organises Hajj travel; it supported 9,043 pilgrims in 2023 ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

## The Somali solar calendar

Beside the Hijri calendar, Somalis keep an old solar calendar (*Amin-tiris* or *Taqwiim*) of four seasons and 365 days. Its new year, marked by the *Dabshid* fire festival, falls on or around 20 July. Said M-Shidad Hussein writes that Dabshid mixes Islamic prayers with older customs such as a large fire, the slaughter of goats, games and old songs ([Said M-Shidad Hussein, 2011](https://pdrcsomalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ammintiris-Somali_calendar_Said.pdf)). He names the four seasons as *Xagaa*, *Dayr*, *Diraac* and *Gu'*: Xagaa and Diraac are dry, called *[Jiilaal](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/)*, and Dayr and Gu' are the rains, called *Nur* (same source).

## Read further

- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)
- [Religion in Somalia in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/)
- [Ramadan and Eid in Somalia](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/), [Mawlid in Somalia](/en/society/mawlid-in-somalia/) and [Hajj from Somalia](/en/society/hajj-from-somalia/)


---

# Stadiums in Somalia: Mogadishu Stadium, Banadir (Eng. Yariisow) and others

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/stadiums-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's main sports grounds are Mogadishu Stadium, built with Chinese help in 1977 and seating 65,000, and the older Banadir Stadium, built by the Italian Olympic Committee in 1956 and renamed Eng. Yariisow Stadium in 2019. Both were badly damaged in the war and later rebuilt. Other grounds include Mire Aware Stadium in Garowe (30,000) and Hargeisa National Stadium (12,000).

## Banadir Stadium (Eng. Yariisow Stadium)

The first football ground in Mogadishu was the small Stadio Municipale, built in the late 1930s north of the port. On enlarged grounds there, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) built the Coni Stadium as a gift from the Italian government, during the UN trusteeship. It opened in October 1956 with 1,000 covered seats and a 200-metre track, and hosted athletics and cycling as well as football. It was renamed Banadir Stadium in the early 1960s ([Banadir Stadium, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_Stadium)). Abdullahi Hussein Baskuwaale, who played in the first Somali team there, recalled it as one of the finest football grounds in Africa in the late 1950s.

The stadium was destroyed in the civil war. FIFA's "Win in Africa with Africa" programme rebuilt it with artificial turf, and football returned in 2009. In 2010 it was home to [Jeenyo United](/en/society/somali-football-clubs/), Savaana, Heegan, Gaadiidka and Dekedda ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banadir_Stadium); [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-rebuilds-al-qaedas-gone-soccers-back/)). In August 2019 it was renamed after Mogadishu's mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman "Eng. Yariisow", who died after an attack on his office ([Africanews, 9 August 2019](https://www.africanews.com/2019/08/09/somalia-names-stadium-after-slain-mogadishu-mayor/)). It holds about 20,000 people.

## Mogadishu Stadium

Mogadishu Stadium was built in 1977, under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government, with Chinese engineers. The first match, in 1978, was Somalia against a Chinese club. It also hosted presidential speeches and rallies, and in 1987 the singer [Magool](/en/society/somali-music/) gave the concert "Mogadishu and Magool" in its basketball hall ([Mogadishu Stadium, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Stadium)).

During the war the stadium was used as a base by armed factions, then by US and Pakistani troops under [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/), by Ethiopian forces in 2007–2009, and by al-Shabaab, which banned sport. Wikipedia says that when Ethiopian troops left in January 2009, more than half the stadium was destroyed. The [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) took it back in August 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Stadium); [Somsoccer](https://somsoccer.so/english/articles/83/Stadium-Mogadishus-terrifying-and-Jungle-like-appearance)).

Under a September 2013 agreement, China rebuilt it. New artificial turf was laid on 27 March 2020, the stadium hosted the 60th independence anniversary on 1 July 2020, and league football returned on 30 June 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Stadium); [FIFA, July 2020](https://ipt.fifa.com/news/joyous-return-for-stadium-mogadishu-after-16-year-wait)). It holds 65,000, the size of the record crowd for Horseed against Mogadishu City Club in July 2021 ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/tanks-gone-somalis-fill-mogadishu-stadium-with-65000-fans-for-first-time-since-2004/)).

## Mire Aware Stadium, Garowe

Garowe's stadium is named after Mire Aware Jama, Somalia's minister of youth and sports, who died in a car accident on the Garowe–[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) road in 1993. It holds 30,000. On 15 January 2023 it was closed during a dispute over its management between the mayor of Garowe, Geeddi Ahmed Tuurre, and the chairman of the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) Football Federation, Mohamed Irro ([Mire Aware Stadium, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mire_Aware_Stadium); [Puntland Post, January 2023](https://puntlandpost.net/2023/01/28/garoowe-garoonka-kubadda-cagta-mire-awaare-oo-khilaaf-u-xirmay/)).

## Hargeisa and Kismayo

Hargeisa National Stadium, home of the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) team, holds 12,000 ([Somaliland national football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_national_football_team)). FIFA has funded the rebuilding of Waamo Stadium in Kismayo ([FIFA, July 2020](https://ipt.fifa.com/news/joyous-return-for-stadium-mogadishu-after-16-year-wait)).

## Read more

- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)
- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Horseed FC](/en/society/horseed-fc/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# The 1975 family law and the execution of ten religious scholars

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 11 January 1975 President Siad Barre announced a new family law that gave women equal shares with men in inheritance. Religious scholars spoke against it from the pulpit of a Mogadishu mosque on 16 January. A state security court sentenced ten of them to death, and they were executed on 23 January 1975 at the Police Academy in Mogadishu. Others were jailed for 20 to 30 years.

## What happened, in order

- **11 January 1975.** President Mohamed Siad Barre announced the Family Law at a stadium in Mogadishu. Its best-known rule gave sons and daughters equal shares of their parents' estate ([Abdurahman Abdullahi (Baadiyow), "Remembering Scholars of Islam Executed in 1975", WardheerNews, 16 January 2023](https://wardheernews.com/remembering-scholars-of-islam-executed-in-1975)). Baadiyow writes that this contradicted the Qur'an, which gives a son twice a daughter's share ([Qur'an 4:11](https://quran.com/4/11)).
- **16 January 1975.** Scholars criticised the law from the pulpit of the [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulqaadir Mosque in Mogadishu. Baadiyow writes that the protest was begun by Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Mohamed, a jurist from the north ([same source](https://wardheernews.com/remembering-scholars-of-islam-executed-in-1975)). The Library of Congress study says 23 religious leaders "protested inside their mosques" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)).
- **18 and 19 January 1975.** The National Security Court tried them. It sentenced ten to death, six to 30 years in prison and 17 to 20 years. Hundreds of other activists and supporters were detained ([Baadiyow, WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/remembering-scholars-of-islam-executed-in-1975)).
- **23 January 1975.** The ten were executed at the Police Academy in Mogadishu ([same source](https://wardheernews.com/remembering-scholars-of-islam-executed-in-1975); [Hiiraan Online, "Today in history: ten sheikhs executed", January 2023](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2023/Jan/189613/today_in_history_ten_sheikhs_executed_by_siad_barre_gov_t_for_opposing_secular_family_law.aspx)).

## The charges

The Library of Congress study says they were charged with "acting at the instigation of a foreign power and with violating state security" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)).

## Who they were

[Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) lists the ten executed scholars as ([Hiiraan Online, "Today in history: ten sheikhs executed by Siad Barre gov't for opposing secular family law", January 2023](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Jan/189613/today_in_history_ten_sheikhs_executed_by_siad_barre_gov_t_for_opposing_secular_family_law.aspx)):

1. Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Mohamed Haji Osman (Walaaleeye)
2. Sheikh Ahmed Iman
3. Sheikh Hassan Isse Jilibey
4. Sheikh Mohamed Siyad Hirsi
5. Sheikh Ali Jama Hirsi
6. Sheikh Ali Hassan Warsame
7. Sheikh Yasiin Elmi Awil
8. Sheikh Adan Ali Hirsi
9. Sheikh Suleyman Jama Mohamed
10. Sheikh Muse Yusuf

Spellings differ between sources. Wikipedia's article on Islam in Somalia also names a Sheikh Hassan [Absiye](/en/society/cayr/) Derie among those executed, a name not on the [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) list ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

## What the government said

On 26 February 1975, Siad Barre told students at Halane: "The resolution was political in nature and it was passed for the benefit of the people." He said: "We liberated our religion from the strangle hold of the devil", and that "no one who thinks this should expect clemency from us". The speech was printed in 1977 by the Ministry of Information and National Guidance in *My Country and People: Speeches of Jaalle Siyad* ([Somali Archive, Faisal Ali, 15 December 2023](https://somaliarchive77.substack.com/p/siad-barre-tells-students-his-government)). The same post quotes a government official, Colonel Ahmed [Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), telling The New York Times: "They were not sheiks but criminals, and they called for a holy war against the Government."

The Library of Congress study describes the government's wider position: Siad Barre said his "scientific socialism" was compatible with the Qur'an and condemned atheism, but told religious leaders to keep out of politics and economics ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/44.htm); [same study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)).

## Responses

- **Most religious leaders stayed silent,** and the government kept running training courses in scientific socialism for sheikhs ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)).
- **The Islamic movements.** Baadiyow, a historian and a leader of the Islah movement, writes that the executions intensified public shock, made worse because two MiG-17 jets clashed over Mogadishu that day ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/remembering-scholars-of-islam-executed-in-1975)). See [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/) and his PhD thesis ([Abdullahi, The Islamic Movement in Somalia, McGill University, 2011](https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/downloads/qn59q852t)).
- **1990.** About 60 prominent Somalis, writing as "Islamic Call", published a manifesto telling Siad Barre that he had broken the laws of Islam and calling on him to step down ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Massoud, Shari'a, Inshallah, 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

## How it is remembered

Somali outlets such as Hiiraan Online and WardheerNews mark the 23 January anniversary. The Family Law itself is published in Somali by UNHCR's Refworld library ([Sharciga ku saabsan Qoyska, 1975](https://www.refworld.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/sharciga-ku-saabsan-qoyska-1975-1.pdf)). The 2012 constitution says no law may go against the general principles of sharia ([Constitution of Somalia, Article 2](https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)).

See also [the Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/) and [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/).


---

# The Garre language (Af-Garre): from Qoryooley to Mandera

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/garre-language/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Af-Garre is the Cushitic speech of the Garre of southern Somalia. In Somalia it is spoken in the Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba and Qoryooley districts and is counted among the Digil varieties. Many Garre in Mandera, Kenya, and southern Ethiopia speak a Borana Oromo dialect instead. Its closest relative outside Somalia is Aweer.

## Where it is spoken

Af-Garre is spoken by the [Garre](/en/society/garre/) in southern Somalia, Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, who surveyed southern Somali speech in 1981, recorded it in the Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba and [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) districts ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). He took samples from Bur Hakaba, Baydhabo, Yaaq Baraawe, Kanaana and Qoryooley ([Landinfo 2011, p. 4](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). The Historical Dictionary of Somalia by [Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/) describes Garre as readily understood by [Digil](/en/society/digil/) speakers and close to [Af-Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) and Af-Boon ([Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar 2003, p. 28](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre_language)).

The linguist Mauro Tosco, who described the Tuuf variety of [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) in 1989, distinguishes Garre Kofar (in Qoryooley) and Garre Libin (the western Garre of Ethiopia and Kenya) ([Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1989](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre_language)). The Garre of Mandera and around Doolow on the upper [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) speak mostly a Borana Oromo dialect, as I. M. Lewis noted in 1955 ([Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1955, p. 27](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre_language)). Lamberti also recorded an "Af-Garre" among the Oromo-speaking groups of [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and Lower Juba ([Landinfo 2011, p. 9](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## How many speak it

Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, gives about 50,000 speakers in Somalia in 1992, 57,500 in 2006 and 86,000 in 2020 ([Garre language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre_language)). The same source puts all speakers in Kenya and Somalia at 685,600 in 2019, a figure that counts Kenyan Garre who speak an Oromo variety.

## Branches

Speakers themselves name two forms, **Tuuf** and **Quranow** ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Lamberti found that Garre varies from place to place and listed five local forms: Bur Hakaba, Baydhabo, **Af-Aarma** and **Af-Reer Amiir** in Diinsoor, and Qoryooley. He thought Af-Aarma may be related to Orma, an Oromo group. The Garre of Bur Hakaba kept old verb prefixes that Baydhabo Garre has dropped, and Baydhabo Garre uses the plural ending -yaal where others use -te ([Landinfo 2011, p. 15](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## Family

Linguists place Garre in the Sam or Eastern Omo-Tana branch of Lowland East Cushitic. Its nearest relative is Aweer (Boni) of the Kenyan coast, then Rendille ([Somali languages, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)). Ehret and Ali (1984) grouped Garre and Aweer together inside the wider Somali family ([Somali languages, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1994](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages)).

## Sounds

Tosco's description of Tuuf Garre gives 22 consonants ([Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1989](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre_language)). Garre has no throat sound **x**. At the end of a word, **b** and **d** become p and t, and **g** and **q** become a glottal stop, so duq ("elder") sounds like du'. In the Baydhabo area **b** between vowels often becomes **w**, as in hawar for habar ("woman"), the same change found in the local Maay.

## Read more

- [The Digil languages](/en/society/digil-languages/)
- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)
- [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)


---

# Somali women's poetry: buraambur and the poets who broke through

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-womens-poetry/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Buraambur is the classical form of Somali poetry composed and performed by women. Because the professional memorisers who spread poems were all men, women's political poems rarely travelled. Radio, cassettes and live group shows changed that from the 1970s, carrying poets such as Xaliimo Cali Kurtin, Maryan Xaaji Xasan and Xabiiba Xaaji Aadan.

## The women's form

The folklorist Zainab Mohamed Jama, writing in the journal Oral Tradition in 1994, lists four main styles of Somali classical poetry: gabay, geeraar, jiifto and buraambur. Following Andrzejewski and Lewis, gabay, geeraar and jiifto are seen as male forms and **buraambur** as the female one ([Jama 1994, Silent Voices, Oral Tradition 9/1, p. 186](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)). The University of Roma Tre's Somali archive describes buraambur as a genre composed only by Somali women ([Roma Tre archive record](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/handle/2307/4677)).

Jama found the line less fixed in practice. Women from the northwest who took part in the nationalist struggle and the armed opposition of the 1980s composed in gabay and geeraar, while buraambur by a poet named Haynwade from the central regions was recited to her by Aden Artan in 1987 ([Jama 1994, p. 186](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)).

## Why women's poems did not travel

Somali poems spread through memorisers who learned a poem from the poet and recited it elsewhere. Andrzejewski described how a hundred listeners could each pass a poem to a hundred more ([Jama 1994, quoting Andrzejewski 1985, p. 37](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)). Jama wrote that the memoriser was always a man, that male reciters saw reciting a woman's poem as demeaning, and that women's political poetry "tends to die with its author". She added that, after the 1972 script, collectors also wrote down mostly men's poems; women's work songs and lullabies were collected, their political verse was not.

## Radio Mogadishu

From the 1970s Radio Mogadishu broadcast women's poems. Jama names **Xaliimo Cali Kurtin** (Halimo Ali Kurtin), whose long poem on the role of women said they gave everything for the flag yet "were still left in hunger", and **Xaawo Aaje Maxamed**, whose poem praised collective farms ([Jama 1994, pp. 187 to 189](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)). Under the military government, poems on the radio could not criticise the government.

## Opposition radio and cassettes

**Maryan [Xaaji Xasan](/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/)** (Mariam Haji Hassan), a founding member of the SSDF in 1978, sent her first poem in 1979 to Radio Kulmis, the opposition station in Addis Ababa, under the name Araweelo Ararsame ([Jama 1994, p. 190](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)). In one poem she pictures the nation as **Haybad**, a she-camel rich with milk that "fell into the hands of ruthless people". Jama recorded her in Nairobi in August 1991.

**Xabiiba Xaaji Aadan** (Habiba H. Aden) recorded gabay and geeraar poems from 1988 to 1990, during the war in the north. Her cassettes spread through the Gulf states and reached America and Australia, and men listened to them as classical poetry ([Jama 1994, pp. 193 to 194](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)).

## The Allah-Amin group

**Allah-Amin** ("those who trusted Allah") was a women's group working in SNM-held areas of the north in 1988 to 1990. Its members nursed the wounded, cooked and ran schools under trees for displaced families, and kept a cultural troupe. They set new words to old work songs and religious tunes; a solo singer chanted the new lines and the chorus answered with familiar ones, with clapping ([Jama 1994, pp. 195 to 197](https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/9i/9_1_complete.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/)
- [Somali work songs and children's verse](/en/society/somali-work-songs/)


---

# Somalia youth football teams: under-17, under-20 and under-23

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somalia-youth-football-teams/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's under-17 team won the CECAFA under-17 championship in 2022, its first regional title, and qualified for the 2023 under-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria. The under-20 team reached the semi-finals of the 1987 African Youth Championship. The under-23 team has played one recorded match, against Rwanda in 2017 Olympic qualifying.

## Under-17: the 2022 CECAFA title

Somalia's under-17 team played its first match on 2 March 1998, losing 0–1 to Angola in Lubango ([Somalia national under-17 football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_under-17_football_team)). In 2022 it won the CECAFA under-17 championship, the East and Central African tournament, beating South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) in the final. ([CAF, 2022](https://www.cafonline.com/news-center/news/somalia-beat-south-sudan-to-win-cecafa-u-17-title); [Somali Dispatch](https://www.somalidispatch.com/latest-news/somalia-wins-the-east-and-central-africa-under-17-cup/)).

Both finalists qualified for the 2023 under-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria, played from 29 April to 19 May 2023 ([CAF](https://www.cafonline.com/news-center/news/south-sudan-somalia-qualify-for-totalenergies-u-17-afcon-2023)). Somalia played its group matches there, including against Congo ([CAF match centre](https://www.cafonline.com/total-u17-africa-cup-of-nations/2023/matches/2354228/)). The team has not reached a FIFA under-17 World Cup. The under-17 team plays its home matches at Horseed Stadium and other grounds ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_under-17_football_team)).

## Under-20: the 1987 semi-final

The under-20 team was first formed for the 1987 African Youth Championship. It beat Uganda in the first round, lost to Zimbabwe in the next, then went through when Zimbabwe was disqualified for fielding ineligible players, and met Nigeria in the semi-final ([Somalia national under-20 football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_under-20_football_team)).

Later results ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_under-20_football_team)):

- **2001:** disqualified in the preliminary round against Uganda.
- **2003:** lost 6–0 to Nigeria.
- **2019:** CECAFA under-20 Challenge Cup; South Sudan beat Somalia to top Group C ([Kawowo Sports, 25 September 2019](https://kawowo.com/2019/09/25/cecafa-u20-challenge-cup-south-sudan-defeat-somalia-to-top-group-c/)).
- **2020:** CECAFA under-20 championship, a qualifier for the 2021 Africa Cup: lost 2–1 to Djibouti and 8–1 to [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) ([CECAFA](https://cecafaonline.com/afcon-u-20-qualifiers-djibouti-recover-to-defeat-somalia/); [CECAFA](https://cecafaonline.com/afcon-u-20-qualifiers-eight-star-tanzania-book-semi-final-berth/)).
- **2023 and 2025:** Somalia did not enter qualifying for the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

## Under-23

The under-23 side, nicknamed "the star of the oceans", is a recent team. Wikipedia records one match, against Rwanda's under-23s in 2017 qualifying, after which Somalia's coach, Mbabazi, said his side was "too weak for Rwanda U23" ([Somalia national under-23 football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_under-23_football_team); [Soka25East](http://www.soka25east.com/somalia-u23-coach-mbabazi-admits-team-too-weak-for-rwanda-u23/)). Yousef Adam coached the team in 2010.

## Read more

- [Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)
- [Somali Football Federation](/en/society/somali-football-federation/)
- [Women's football in Somalia](/en/society/somali-womens-football/)


---

# Islamic movements in Somalia since 1950: Salafis, Islah, the courts and the Sufis

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From the 1950s, Somalis who studied in Cairo, Mecca and Medina brought new Islamic movements home. Two Salafi groups formed in the late 1960s and merged in about 1984 as al-Itihaad al-Islamiya. Islah, Somalia's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, was founded in 1978. After 1991 these networks ran schools, charities and Sharia courts; some took up arms. The older Sufi orders organised in Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a.

## In short

For centuries Somali Islam was taught through the Sufi orders and local scholars. From the 1950s new movements arrived that wanted a stricter or more political Islam. This page lists each, when it began and what the sources say it did. Armed groups that came out of these networks have their own pages, linked below.

## 1950s and 1960s: Cairo and the Gulf

Many Somalis studied in Cairo in the 1950s and 1960s. The Library of Congress study says Egyptian ideas of "Islamic socialism" under Gamal Abdel Nasser "appealed to a number of Somalis" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)). Others studied in Saudi Arabia and brought back Salafi teaching, which rejects tomb visits and the intercession of saints that the Sufi orders practised ([Abdurahman M. Abdullahi (Baadiyow), The Islamic Movement in Somalia, PhD thesis, McGill University, 2011](https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/downloads/qn59q852t)).

The 1961 constitution declared Somalia an Islamic state while guaranteeing freedom of religion ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)). The Somali historian and Islah leader Baadiyow, whose 2011 McGill thesis is the main study of these movements, divides their history into phases from 1950 to 2000 ([McGill eScholarship](https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/downloads/qn59q852t)).

## Late 1960s: the first Salafi groups

Two Salafi organisations formed in the late 1960s ([Mapping Militants Project, Stanford, "Al Ittihad Al Islamiya", 2019](https://mappingmilitants.org/node/305)):
- **Wahdat al-Shabaab al-Islami** (Union of Islamic Youth), mainly in the north, led by [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Cali Warsame.
- **al-Jamaaca al-Islaamiya** (the Islamic Group), mainly in the south.

Their founders aimed "to combat Western influence and support the creation of an Islamic state in the Horn of Africa" ([same source](https://mappingmilitants.org/node/305)).

## 1969 to 1991: under military rule

After the 1969 coup, the government arrested religious leaders who protested its "scientific socialism" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)). In January 1975 it executed ten scholars who opposed the new Family Law. See [the 1975 family law and the ten scholars](/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/).

- **1978: Islah.** The Islah movement (*Xarakada Islaax*) was founded in 1978 as Somalia's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. A Chatham House summary says it "adopted a modern and moderate approach to Islam, promoting peaceful Islamic reforms during the period of dictatorial rule" ([Chatham House, "Islamism and Politics in Somalia", meeting summary, 12 June 2012](https://opendata.uni-halle.de/bitstream/1981185920/109195/15/719467918.pdf)). Baadiyow, a senior Islah figure, was one of the founders of [Mogadishu University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) in 1997 ([Abdurahman Abdullahi Baadiyow, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdurahman_Abdullahi_Baadiyow)).
- **About 1984: al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI).** The two Salafi groups merged; Sheikh Cali Warsame became leader. Some sources give 1983. AIAI did not announce itself publicly until after 1991 ([Mapping Militants Project](https://mappingmilitants.org/node/305)). See [al-Itihaad al-Islamiya](/en/institutions/al-itihaad-al-islamiya/).
- **Tablighi Jamaat,** a South Asian preaching movement, also spread, and with it a small number of Somalis now follow the Hanafi school instead of the [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

According to the scholar [Afyare Elmi](/en/books/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi/), these groups grew as the state weakened but did not take up arms against the government before it fell ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Elmi, Understanding the Somalia Conflagration, 2010, pp. 58–59](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). In 1990, about 60 prominent Somalis, writing as "Islamic Call", published a manifesto asking [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) to step down ([same article, citing Massoud 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

## 1991 to 2006: courts, charities and armed wings

- **Sharia courts.** Within weeks of the state's fall in January 1991, scholars set up local Sharia courts to stop clan revenge killings and restore order ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Elmi 2010, p. 63](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). By 2000, eleven courts in Mogadishu had joined as the Islamic Courts Council ([same article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). See [the Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).
- **AIAI's armed years.** AIAI's first recorded attack was in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) in January 1992; it then fought alongside the [ONLF](/en/institutions/ogaden-national-liberation-front/) across the Ethiopian border. Ethiopia attacked its bases in 1996, and on 4 January 1997 it announced it would become a political party. Many former members moved into health, education and business ([Mapping Militants Project](https://mappingmilitants.org/node/305); [Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Elmi 2010](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).
- **Islah** took part in the 2000 Arta peace conference that formed the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ([Chatham House, 2012](https://opendata.uni-halle.de/bitstream/1981185920/109195/15/719467918.pdf)).
- **Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a,** a body of Sufi scholars, formed in 1991 to oppose the Salafi groups ([Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)).

## 2006 to today

- **The Islamic Courts Union** held Mogadishu and much of the south in the second half of 2006 until Ethiopian forces entered in December ([Islamic Courts Union, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union)). See [the Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).
- **Al-Shabaab** grew out of the courts' armed wing, in which former AIAI commanders such as [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/) held leading roles ([Mapping Militants Project](https://mappingmilitants.org/node/305)). From 2008 it destroyed Sufi tombs and killed Sufi clerics; Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a then took up arms against it ([Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, Wikipedia, citing the Mapping Militants Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)). See [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), [Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a](/en/institutions/ahlu-sunna-waljamaa/), [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/) and [Islamic State in Somalia](/en/institutions/islamic-state-somalia/).
- **In government.** The 2012 constitution says all power belongs first to God, makes Islam the state religion and bases the constitution on the Qur'an and Sunna. These clauses were approved unanimously by the drafting delegates ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Massoud 2021, p. 202](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).

## Where these movements meet daily life

The US State Department notes that externally funded madrasas give cheap basic education across the country and "many taught Salafist ideology" ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). See [Qur'an schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/).

## Read further

- [Abdurahman M. Abdullahi](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) (Baadiyow), *The Islamic Movement in Somalia: A Study of the Islah Movement, 1950–2000* (Adonis & Abbey, 2015) ([publisher](https://adonis-abbey.com/book_detail.php?bookid=200)).
- Afyare Abdi Elmi, *Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding* (Pluto, 2010).
- Mark Fathi Massoud, *Shari'a, Inshallah: Finding God in Somali Legal Politics* (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
- [The Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).


---

# Abgaal (Abgal, Hawiye clan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/abgaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Abgaal (Abgal) are a Hawiye clan. Abbink places them under Gurgate in the Hawiye line, and other sources under Hiraab and Mudulood. The EUAA calls them the dominant clan in Middle Shabelle and one of the three main Hawiye clans of Mogadishu. Their best-known branches are Harti, Wacbuudhan and Waceysle.

## Name and family tree

The Abgaal are a clan of the Hawiye, one of the five large Somali clan families ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The name is spelled Abgaal in standard Somali and often Abgal in English.

Sources place the Abgaal differently within the Hawiye:

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Bah Girei > Gurgate > Abgal ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 26](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005, south-central chart | Hawiye > Gorgate > Abgal ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Abgal ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EASO 2021 | The "Abgaal Mudulood clan group" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Hawiye > Hiraab > Mudulood > Abgaal ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)) |

Wikipedia says the Mudulood also include the Wacdaan, Moobleen, Hiilibi and [Udeejeen](/en/society/udeejeen/) (same source). Abbink places Mudulood under Hirab, beside [Habr Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/) and [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/) ([Abbink 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

The Italian scholar Enrico Cerulli recorded a tradition on the founder. Abgaal's father was Osman Darandoolle and his mother Faduma Sarjeele, of the Ajuran house of Gareen. Cerulli read the story as a memory of old fights between Abgaal herders and the Ajuran ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup, quoting Cerulli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives three main branches: Harti (the eldest), Wacbuudhan and Waceysle, the youngest ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)).

Abbink lists these Abgal groups ([Abbink 2009, p. 26](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)):

- Sul Harti
- Wa'Aysle
- Eli Omar
- Matan
- Yusuf
- [Warsengeli](/en/society/warsangali/)
- Wa'abudan, with Da'ud
- Se'ile
- Agon-yare
- Mobileen (see [Moobleen](/en/society/moobleen/))

ACLED's 2025 list codes these Abgal groups ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)):

- Abdalla Arone (also Cabdale Caroone), and under Abdalla: Agonyar and Galmaah
- Abukar, Abukar Gabane, Agonyar, Agoonyar [Gaabane](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), Gaabane Mohamed
- Celi (Eli), Cosoble Ali, Daud, Galmaax Yoonis, Galmah, Habar [Nugal](/en/regions/nugaal/)
- Harti Abgal, Hassan Gaab, Kabaale, Matan Abdulle, Reer Matan, Warsangeli
- Mohamed Muse, with Dhiblabe Turyare and Suubiye Turyare
- Wabudhan, with Mataan Muse and Mohamed Muse
- Wacaysle, and Wacaysle Ali Gaaf

The EUAA names Mohamed Muse as part of "Wa'budhan/Abgaal" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). All the groups above are also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Middle Shabelle | "The dominant clan in Middle Shabelle is the Abgal clan" ([EUAA 2025, Middle Shabelle](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)) |
| Mogadishu | "Mogadishu is inhabited largely by Hawiye from the clans Abgaal, Habar Gedir and Murosade" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Mogadishu](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Galgaduud | Abgaal clan militias supported the security forces in Ceel Dheer district in 2023 and 2024 ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)) |
| Hiraan border | Abgal and Hawadle groups share grazing land along the Hiraan and Middle Shabelle border ([EUAA 2025, Middle Shabelle](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)) |
| Lower Shabelle | The EASO lists the Abgal among Hawiye clans in the east of the region ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |

The EASO quotes a source saying the Abgaal see Mogadishu and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) as "the same and one" ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). Wikipedia says Mogadishu is the traditional land of the Reer Mataan sub-clan ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Clan traditions say the Abgaal Darandoolle reached the land behind Mogadishu in the 1500s. Abgaal names then appear in the town's family records ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)).
- **Late 1600s to 1700s.** Wikipedia says the Yaaquub, an Abgaal imam's lineage, came to control Shangaani and most of Mogadishu (same source).
- **1700s onward.** The historian Lee Cassanelli describes a Hiraab imamate, an alliance under the Gorgaarte. The imam came from the Mudulood (same source, quoting Cassanelli). See [medieval and early modern polities](/en/history/medieval-and-early-modern-polities-1300s-1700s/).
- **1991.** The [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/) was "internally divided between the two principal Hawiye clans, the Abgaal and Habar Gidir". Interim president [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) "emerged as the most prominent Abgaal leader" ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)). See [rebuilding, 1991 to 1999](/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/).
- **Since 2000.** Wikipedia names [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) and [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) as Abgaal presidents ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)).
- **November 2020.** Ali Gudlawe, recorded by the EASO as Abgal, was elected president of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). Wikipedia says the Abgaal imam, who is also imam of the Hiraab, comes from the Owbakar sub-clan. It says the ugaas comes from the [Reer Ugaas](/en/society/gadabuursi/) and is ugaas of the Mudulood ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

In January 2021 two Abgaal sub-clans, Abdalla Aroni and Eli Oumar, settled a land dispute. They agreed to pay compensation and release detained people ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). The Abgaal seats in parliament are part of the Hawiye share; see [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Examples involving Abgaal groups:

- Abgaal against Hawadle (Hawiye), in Jalalaqsi district and El Baraf district.
- Abdalle Arone against Agoonyar Gabane and Obakar Gabane (Mohamed Muse), in Adale district.
- Adan Dhiblabe Turyare against Suubiye Dhiblabe Turyare, both Mohamed Muse, in Jowhar district.
- Ili Omar and Reer Mataan, in [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) district.
- [Gaaljeel](/en/society/gaaljecel/) (Hawiye) against Abgal, between [Afgoye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and Wanlaweyne districts.

The EUAA adds that conflict between Abdalle Arone and Mohamed Muse in July 2023 was "reportedly resolved through a peace agreement in August 2024". ACLED recorded 23 incidents in Middle Shabelle involving both Abgal and Hawadle militias ([EUAA 2025, Middle Shabelle](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)). The EASO also recorded tensions between the Abgal and the Shiidle (Bantu) along the river ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the Hawiye tree.** Abbink and the World Bank place the Abgaal directly under Gurgate (Gorgate). The EASO and Wikipedia place them under Mudulood, and Wikipedia adds Hiraab above.
- **Branch names.** Abbink, ACLED and Wikipedia list the branches differently and spell them differently, for example Wa'Aysle, Wacaysle and Waceysle.
- **Early history.** The Mogadishu history comes from clan traditions and manuscripts quoted on Wikipedia, a backup source.
- **Strength.** ACCORD calls the Abgaal "one of the most dominant and strongest clans" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). No count of members exists.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), the family the Abgaal belong to
- [Wacbuudhan](/en/society/wacbuudhan/), one of the three main Abgaal branches
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)
- [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) and [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Caring for Somali patients: a guide for doctors, nurses and carers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/caring-for-somali-patients/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most Somali patients are Muslim and see health as a family matter, so relatives often come to appointments and many patients prefer a doctor or interpreter of the same sex. Fasting in Ramadan, halal medicines and trust around vaccines all shape care. Screening of Somali refugees in Minnesota found high rates of latent TB, anaemia and diabetes.

## In short

Somali patients are as varied as any other group. Still, some patterns come up often in clinics in Somalia and abroad. Ask each patient what they prefer, and do not assume (Minnesota Department of Health, below).

The main US guide is the **Somali Refugee Health Profile**. It was first written by the CDC and has been kept by the Minnesota Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health since March 2024 ([Minnesota Department of Health, Somali Refugee Health Profile](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/coe/profiles/somali.html); [CDC, 2018 edition](https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/61178)).

## Family and faith

- **Family comes first.** "Somali culture is more focused on the family than on the individual." Wives, husbands and children often come to appointments, and elders may be consulted on big decisions (Minnesota Department of Health).
- **Same-sex care.** Many Somali Muslims prefer a doctor, nurse or interpreter of the same sex. Ask early, and book accordingly (Minnesota Department of Health).
- **God's will.** In Islam, the time of death is known only to God. When a patient is dying, it is best not to give a timeframe ([EthnoMed, Somali cultural profile](https://ethnomed.org/culture/somali/)).
- **Bad news goes to the family first.** Families often expect to hear a poor prognosis before the patient, so they can prepare and comfort them. Religious leaders are usually called when a serious illness is found (EthnoMed).
- **Ramadan.** Many adults fast from dawn to dusk for a month. Plan doses before dawn and after sunset where it is safe (Minnesota Department of Health).
- **Halal medicines.** Some patients avoid capsules made with pork gelatin. Offer an alternative when one exists (Minnesota Department of Health).

For the faith itself, see [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Language and interpreters

Use a trained medical interpreter. Ask whether the patient wants an interpreter of the same gender or background (Minnesota Department of Health). Somali has several dialects, and [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) speakers from the south may not follow standard Somali well; see [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## Conditions to screen for

Minnesota screened newly arrived Somali refugees from 1999 to 2016 (Minnesota Department of Health):

| Condition | Finding |
|---|---|
| Latent tuberculosis | 43% of those screened |
| Active tuberculosis | 2% |
| Intestinal parasites | 18% had at least one |
| Hepatitis B (HBsAg) | 7% |
| Anaemia | 19% of women, 7% of men |
| Raised lead in children | about 20% above 5 µg/dL |

One clinic study found diabetes in 12.1% of Somali patients, against 5.3% of other patients (Minnesota Department of Health).

## Vaccines and trust

Some Somali families in Minnesota worried that the MMR vaccine causes autism. This is not true, but coverage among Somali two-year-olds there fell from 91% in 2004 to 54% in 2010 (Minnesota Department of Health).

In spring 2017, Minnesota had a measles outbreak. Of the 65 cases confirmed by 31 May, 55 (85%) were US-born children of Somali descent ([CDC, MMWR, July 2017](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6627a1.htm)). Clinicians are advised to discuss vaccines with cultural humility and to build trust with families and community leaders (Minnesota Department of Health).

## Female genital cutting

Up to 98% of women in Somalia have been cut, by the profile's estimate (Minnesota Department of Health). The profile lists it among the priority conditions for Somali patients, and notes it "remains ingrained in Somali culture" despite laws against it. For figures from Somalia, see [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/); for one Somali leader's campaign against it, see [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/).

## Mental health

Many Somalis have lived through war, flight and camp life. A survey in [Melkadida](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) camp in Ethiopia found depressive symptoms in 38.3% of adults (Minnesota Department of Health). Distress is often described through the body, as headaches, chest pain, forgetfulness, poor sleep and nightmares. Mental health (*caafimaadka maskaxda*) is still a fairly new idea for many Somalis ([EthnoMed, Somali mental health](https://ethnomed.org/resource/somali-mental-health/)). Some believe illness can come from the evil eye but may not say so (EthnoMed). Patients may also see traditional or religious healers (Minnesota Department of Health).

## I want to help

In 2014 Somalia had about one doctor for every 20,000 people, the latest World Bank figure (see [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)). Nurses, midwives and doctors who know Somali patients can do a great deal, at home or abroad. If you are a health worker and want to help, start at [Join](/en/join/).

## Sources

- Minnesota Department of Health, Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health. [Somali Refugee Health Profile](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/coe/profiles/somali.html), updated March 2024.
- CDC (2018). [Somali Refugee Health Profile](https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/61178).
- CDC (2017). [Measles outbreak, Minnesota, April to May 2017](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6627a1.htm). *MMWR* 66(27).
- EthnoMed, University of Washington. [Somali cultural profile](https://ethnomed.org/culture/somali/) and [Somali mental health](https://ethnomed.org/resource/somali-mental-health/).


---

# Feeding Our Future: the Minnesota child-meals fraud and how Somalis responded

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/feeding-our-future/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Feeding Our Future was a Minnesota nonprofit at the centre of a fraud of about $250 million from a federal child-meals programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors charged about 70 people. Its founder, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to 500 months in prison in May 2026. Somali leaders called for full accountability and rejected blame on the whole community.

## What happened

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government paid for free meals for children through a federal child nutrition programme. In Minnesota, nonprofit sponsors signed up meal sites and passed the money on to them ([US Department of Justice, 22 May 2026](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/feeding-our-future-ringleader-sentenced-500-months)).

Feeding Our Future was one of these sponsors. It opened more than 250 sites in Minnesota. Its payouts rose from about $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021 (US Department of Justice).

According to the Justice Department, sites claimed to feed thousands of children a day within days or weeks of opening. Fake meal counts and invented lists of children's names were sent to the state, and the money was then paid out. Dozens of shell companies received and laundered the funds. The money bought luxury cars, houses and commercial property in Minnesota, and travel abroad (US Department of Justice).

## The court record

- **Scale.** Prosecutors allege that 70 defendants stole at least $250 million meant to feed children ([Sahan Journal, sentencing tracker, updated 2 November 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/who-has-been-sentenced-feeding-our-future/)).
- **The founder.** Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, was convicted at trial with a co-defendant in 2025. On 21 May 2026 Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced her to **500 months** (over 41 years). "This was a fraud vortex and you were at the epicenter of it," the judge said (US Department of Justice; [Minnesota Reformer, 21 May 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/05/21/feeding-our-future-mastermind-sentenced-to-over-41-years-in-prison/)).
- **Restitution.** The judge ordered more than $240 million in restitution (Minnesota Reformer).
- **Sentences so far.** By early November 2026, 29 people had been sentenced. Many others pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial (Sahan Journal).

Bock has appealed her conviction and sentence ([Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/news-partners/feeding-our-future-ringleader-aimee-bock-appeals-her-conviction-and-41-year-sentence/)).

## Who was hurt

The money was meant to feed underprivileged children during the pandemic (Sahan Journal).

## How Somalis responded

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is home to about 84,000 people of Somali descent, the largest Somali community in the United States (CNN via KSL, citing the US Census Bureau).

Federal charges were brought against dozens of people, the vast majority of them Somali. The case was followed by threats and harassment against Somali businesses and day cares that had nothing to do with it ([CNN via KSL, 5 January 2026](https://www.ksl.com/article/51427715/somalis-in-minneapolis-say-they-are-facing-harassment-in-the-wake-of-fraud-allegations-video)).

Community voices made two points together:

- **Accountability.** "If someone commits fraud, they should be held accountable, period," said Khalid Omar, a community organiser with the nonprofit ISAIAH (CNN via KSL).
- **No collective blame.** "But to frame a whole community, it's wrong, and it's un-American, because we don't believe in collective punishment," he added (CNN via KSL).

Jaylani Hussein of CAIR Minnesota warned that "trust in public institutions erodes" when whole families live in fear (CNN via KSL).

## Sources

- US Department of Justice (2026). [Feeding Our Future ringleader sentenced to 500 months](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/feeding-our-future-ringleader-sentenced-500-months).
- Minnesota Reformer (2026). [Feeding Our Future 'mastermind' sentenced to over 41 years in prison](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/05/21/feeding-our-future-mastermind-sentenced-to-over-41-years-in-prison/).
- Sahan Journal (2026). [Here's everyone who's been sentenced in the Feeding Our Future fraud](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/who-has-been-sentenced-feeding-our-future/).
- Sahan Journal (2026). [Feeding Our Future ringleader Aimee Bock appeals her conviction and 41-year sentence](https://sahanjournal.com/news-partners/feeding-our-future-ringleader-aimee-bock-appeals-her-conviction-and-41-year-sentence/).
- CNN, republished by KSL (2026). [Somalis in Minneapolis say they are facing harassment in the wake of fraud allegations](https://www.ksl.com/article/51427715/somalis-in-minneapolis-say-they-are-facing-harassment-in-the-wake-of-fraud-allegations-video).


---

# Rain, drought and floods in Somalia: the Gu and Deyr seasons and the great droughts

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has two rainy seasons, the Gu (April to June) and the Deyr (October to December), with two dry seasons between them. When the rains are poor for several seasons in a row, drought follows. The famine of 2010 to 2012 killed about 258,000 people, and the drought of 2022 to 2024 about 71,000. In 2023 floods affected 2.48 million people.

## The four seasons

The Somali year has four seasons, two wet and two dry ([FAO GIEWS, Somalia country brief, 15 September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM&lang=en)):

| Season | Months | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| **Jilaal** | January to March | The long dry season, the hardest time |
| **Gu** | April to June | The main rains; the Gu harvest is about 60% of the year's cereal crop |
| **Xagaa** | July to September | Mostly dry, with showers on the coast |
| **Deyr** | October to December | The second, shorter rains |

When one rainy season is poor, families get by. When several are poor in a row, water and pasture run out, food prices rise and people move to towns and camps. See [how many Somalis are displaced](/en/society/internal-displacement/).

## The great droughts

### 1973 to 1975: Abaartii Dabadheer, "the lingering drought"

Nomads hit by the drought gathered at about 20 relief camps. The government then settled about 100,000 of them in three farming settlements (Dujuma, Sablaale and Kurtunwaarey) and three fishing settlements (Baraawe, Cadale and Ceel). A 1982 survey found that 78 to 87% of settled families had lost all their animals in the drought ([Tsui, Ragsdale and Shirwa, *Genus*, 1991](https://www.cpc.unc.edu/resources/publications/bib/607/)).

### 1992: famine in the war

An estimated 220,000 people died over 12 months in the 1992 famine. A larger share of the population died then than in 2011 ([FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2 May 2013](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-)).

### 2010 to 2012: the famine

Drought, a spike in food prices and blocked aid led to famine in the south. A study for the UN's food security unit and FEWS NET found that about **258,000 people** died between October 2010 and April 2012 because of it. Of these, **133,000 were children under five** ([FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FEWS NET 2013).

- 4.6% of the whole population of southern and central Somalia died, and 10% of young children.
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), Mogadishu and Bay were hit hardest.
- Deaths peaked at about 30,000 a month between May and August 2011.

The study called it "one of the worst famines in the last 25 years" (FSNAU and FEWS NET 2013).

### 2017: famine prevented

In January 2017 the early-warning systems raised a famine alert. Aid scaled up quickly, with large-scale cash transfers. A UK government review found it "reasonable to attribute the absence of famine in part to the speed and scale" of the response ([DFID, Somalia 2017 real-time review](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8566e4e5274a2e87dc3e43/DFID_Somalia_2017_IRF_Real_Time_Review_FINAL.pdf)).

### 2021 to 2024: rainy seasons that brought too little rain

By March 2023, Somalia had gone through five rainy seasons in a row with too little rain, the longest run in recent memory ([UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/) 2023, below). A study by the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London and [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) estimated about **71,000 excess deaths** from January 2022 to June 2024. About 40% were children under five. Most deaths were in Banadir, Bay and Lower Shabelle ([UNICEF Somalia, 21 January 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/71000-drought-related-excess-deaths)). An earlier report in the same series had estimated 43,000 excess deaths in 2022 alone ([UNICEF Somalia, 20 March 2023](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia)).

## The 2023 floods

The drought ended in a flood. In late 2023, El Niño brought very heavy [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains. The government's assessment found the floods affected about **2.48 million people**, drove more than **1.2 million** from their homes and killed **188**. About half of the country's districts were hit, with Beledweyne and Doolow among the worst ([Somali Disaster Management Agency, Rapid Post-Disaster Needs Assessment](https://sodma.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SoDMA-Deyr-Floods-2023.pdf); [ReliefWeb, Somalia floods, October 2023](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2023-000190-som)).

## 2026: dry again

The Gu rains of 2026 were below average and uneven. In mid-June, between 25% and 70% of cropland in Lower and Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and the Bay sorghum belt was under severe drought. About 6 million people, over 30% of the population, were projected to be in crisis or worse in April to June 2026. A risk of famine was flagged for [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/) district in Bay under a worst case. Forecasters expected well-above-average Deyr rains from October 2026, which help crops but raise the risk of floods (FAO GIEWS 2026).

## What changed after 2011

- **Early warning.** The UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and FEWS NET track rain, prices and child nutrition, and sound the alarm early (FSNAU and FEWS NET 2013; DFID review).
- **Cash.** Much aid now comes as cash rather than food, so families buy what they need in local markets. Large-scale cash transfers were central to the 2017 response (DFID review).
- **A national disaster agency.** The [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) (SoDMA) now leads the government's response and published the 2023 flood assessment (SoDMA).

## Sources

- FAO GIEWS (2026). [Somalia country brief](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM&lang=en), 15 September 2026.
- FSNAU and FEWS NET (2013). [Study suggests 258,000 Somalis died due to severe food insecurity and famine](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-).
- UNICEF Somalia (2025). [71,000 drought-related excess deaths may have occurred in Somalia between 2022 and 2024](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/71000-drought-related-excess-deaths).
- UNICEF Somalia (2023). [43,000 excess deaths may have occurred in 2022](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia).
- SoDMA (2024). [Somalia 2023 Deyr floods: Rapid Post-Disaster Needs Assessment](https://sodma.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SoDMA-Deyr-Floods-2023.pdf).
- DFID (2018). [Somalia 2017 drought response: real-time review](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8566e4e5274a2e87dc3e43/DFID_Somalia_2017_IRF_Real_Time_Review_FINAL.pdf).
- Tsui, A. O., Ragsdale, T. A. and Shirwa, A. I. (1991). [The settlement of Somali nomads](https://www.cpc.unc.edu/resources/publications/bib/607/). *Genus* 47(1–2): 131–152.


---

# Religion in Somalia in numbers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> More than 99 percent of Somalia's people are Sunni Muslims, according to the federal religious affairs ministry; Pew Research puts it at 98.5 percent. Christians number about 1,000, says the US State Department. About 50,000 Qur'an schools teach over 4 million children, and the government sent 9,043 pilgrims on Hajj in 2023. Every figure here is an estimate, shown with its source.

## Before you read the numbers

None of the figures below comes from a census question on religion. Each is an estimate from a named source, with its year. Where sources differ, all are shown.

## Share of people who are Muslim

| Source | Year | Muslim share | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, via US State Department | 2023 | more than 99% Sunni | Population taken as 12.7 to 15.7 million ([US State Department, IRF Report 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)) |
| Pew Research Center world table | estimate for 2009 (from a 2005 source) | 98.5%, about 8,995,000 people | Pew has not surveyed inside Somalia ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/chart/interactive-data-table-world-muslim-population-by-country/)) |
| US Library of Congress country study | 1992 | "most Somalis are Sunni Muslims"; under 1% of ethnic Somalis Christian | ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/44.htm)) |

## Somali regions beyond Somalia

Ethiopia and Kenya ask about religion in their national censuses.

| Place | Census | Muslim share | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somali Region, Ethiopia | 1994 (held in the region in 1997) | 99.74% | ([Somali Region, Wikipedia, citing the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Region)) |
| Wajir County, Kenya | 2019 | 98.97% (767,312 people) | ([Wajir County, Wikipedia, citing KNBS 2019 Census Volume IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wajir_County)) |
| Mandera County, Kenya | 2019 | 99.3% | ([Mandera County, Wikipedia, citing KNBS 2019 Census Volume IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandera_County)) |
| Garissa County, Kenya | 2019 | Christians 2.2%; the rest mostly Muslim | ([Garissa County, Wikipedia, citing KNBS 2019 Census Volume IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_County)) |
| Djibouti | Pew estimate | 96.9% | ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/chart/interactive-data-table-world-muslim-population-by-country/)) |

## Branch and school of law

- **Sunni:** the large majority ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).
- **Shafi'i school of law:** the school "represented in Somalia" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). A Hanafi minority has grown with the Tablighi Jamaat ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)).
- **Shia:** "an unknown number" ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). In Pew's 2012 survey of neighbouring Djibouti, Muslims described themselves as 77 percent Sunni, 8 percent "just a Muslim", 2 percent Shia and 13 percent did not answer ([Islam in Djibouti, Wikipedia, citing Pew 2012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Djibouti)).
- **Sufi orders:** the Library of Congress study says most Somalis were members of a Sufi order at least in name ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)).

## Christians and other faiths

| Source | Year | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Bishop Francesco Filippini (Catholic) | 1940 | about 40,000 Somali Catholics in the south, a figure Bishop Giorgio Bertin later called too high ([Aweis A. Ali, 2020](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/a-brief-history.pdf)) |
| Diocese of Mogadishu | about 1950 | about 8,500 Catholics ([Christianity in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)) |
| Diocese of Mogadishu | 2004 | about 100 Catholics ([same source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia)) |
| US State Department | 2023 | about 1,000 Christians; unknown numbers of Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and people with no religion ([IRF Report 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)) |
| Somali Bible Society census (counted by phone and in person; children counted through a Christian parent) | 2022–23 | Somalia 171,227 (22,123 men, 23,356 women, 125,748 children); Somaliland 7,642; ethnic Somalis in Djibouti 3,760, Ethiopia 8,917 and Kenya 5,649 ([Somali Christian Census 2023, pp. 54–56](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/census-of-somali-christians-2023.pdf)) |

The two 2023 figures are far apart: about 1,000 from the US State Department and 171,227 from the Somali Bible Society, a Christian organisation that ran its own count from August 2022 to October 2023. About three in four of the people it counted are children, counted through a Christian parent ([Somali Christian Census 2023](https://www.somalibiblesociety.org/download/census-of-somali-christians-2023.pdf)). The State Department adds that some Somali Bantu in the south keep traditional beliefs alongside Islam. See [Christians and missions in Somalia](/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/).

## Religious learning

| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Qur'an schools | about 50,000 | Ministry of Education estimate ([UN Peacebuilding Fund](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)) |
| Children in Qur'an schools | over 4 million | same |
| Schools in the 2024 ministry and UNICEF study | over 2,000 schools, over 150,000 children, five states | same |
| Usual starting age | 3 or 4 | same |

See [Qur'an schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/).

## Pilgrimage

The federal government supported **9,043 Hajj pilgrims** in 2023 ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

## Sufi farming villages (jamaaco)

In the 1950s there were more than 90 Sufi farming villages in the south, with about 35,000 members, mostly in [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Bay and along the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [the Sufi orders](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## Places of worship for other faiths

There are no public places of worship for non-Muslims in Somalia except inside the Mogadishu international airport compound. The only Catholic church in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) is closed ([US State Department, 2023](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)).

## Read further

- [Why almost every Somali is Muslim](/en/society/why-somalis-are-almost-all-muslim/)
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)


---

# Scholarships for Somali students: study abroad and at home (deeq waxbarasho)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/scholarships/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali students can apply to full scholarships from Türkiye, Hungary, the UK (Chevening), the Islamic Development Bank and the Mastercard Foundation, among others. Each opens once a year online and is free to apply. Never pay an agent: apply only on the official sites listed here.

## Before you start

- **It is free.** Every scholarship below takes applications online at no charge. [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) Scholarships says so on its own site ([Türkiye Bursları](https://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/)). Anyone asking for a fee to "secure" a place is not official.
- **You need:** your Grade 12 certificate and transcript (see [exam results](/en/society/exam-results/)), a passport, a personal statement, and often an English or other language test.
- **Start early.** Most open once a year and close months before study begins.

## Scholarships abroad

**Türkiye Scholarships (Türkiye Bursları)**
- Who: students from any country, for bachelor's, master's and PhD study in Türkiye.
- How: online application system, with an application calendar on the site ([turkiyeburslari.gov.tr](https://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/)).

**Stipendium Hungaricum (Hungary)**
- Who: students from partner countries. Somalia is on the partner list ([Stipendium Hungaricum partners](https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/partners/)).
- How: apply through your country's nominating body and the online system ([stipendiumhungaricum.hu](https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/apply/)).

**Chevening (United Kingdom)**
- Who: graduates with work experience, for a one-year master's degree in the UK. Chevening runs a programme in Somalia ([Chevening in Somalia](https://www.chevening.org/scholarship/somalia/)).
- Note: the 2027–2028 round has closed. There is no UK visa centre or TB test centre in Somalia, so winners travel to another country for both. Some travel costs may be refunded ([same page](https://www.chevening.org/scholarship/somalia/)).

**Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)**
- Who: the ICF Undergraduate Programme, launched in 2019, serves the bank's least developed member countries. It also runs master's (science and technology) and PhD programmes ([IsDB Scholarships](https://www.isdb.org/scholarships)).
- Somalia is an IsDB member country ([IsDB: Somalia](https://www.isdb.org/somalia)).

**Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program**
- Who: young Africans with talent and limited means, at partner universities in Africa and abroad. Its stated aim is "developing Africa's next generation of leaders" ([Mastercard Foundation](https://mastercardfdn.org/en/what-we-do/our-programs/mastercard-foundation-scholars-program/)).
- How: you apply to a partner university, not to the foundation.

**Japan (MEXT)**
- Japan's government scholarship is applied for through Japanese embassies ([MEXT](https://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/highered/title02/detail02/sdetail02/1373897.htm)). For Somalia, ask the Embassy of Japan that covers Somalia.

## Scholarships at home

The Hormuud Salaam Foundation says it has given scholarships to 232 students since its programme began in 2019, for students with strong results ([Dawan, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hormuud-salaam-foundation-has-awarded-232-scholarships-since-2019)). Ask universities in Somalia whether they waive fees for top exam students. See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## Tips that raise your chances

1. Read the eligibility page twice. Most rejections are for missing papers.
2. Write your own statement. Say what you will do for your community when you finish.
3. Get an English score early. See [learn English for free](/en/society/learn-english-free/).
4. Apply to several. Each takes a few hours.
5. Ask a past winner to read your statement.


---

# Somali art: rock painting, carving, weaving, metalwork and building

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-art/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali art is mostly made in pattern rather than pictures: geometric designs, bold colour, carving and architecture, a style Wikipedia links to Islamic aniconism. The oldest Somali art is prehistoric rock painting, such as the decorated cattle of Laas Geel. Mogadishu was a major Indian Ocean textile centre from at least the 13th to the late 19th century, and wood carving (qoris) decorated mosques, homes and nomads' everyday objects.

## Pattern rather than pictures

Somali art covers pottery, music, architecture, wood carving, weaving and metalwork. Wikipedia describes it as largely aniconic, avoiding images of living things, and links this to Muslim belief and older Somali traditions. Images of animals and people do exist, such as golden birds on Mogadishu canopies, the rock paintings of the north and plant decorations on tombs, but they are rare. Intricate patterns, geometric designs, bold colour and monumental building are the norm ([Somali art, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art)).

## Rock art

The oldest art in the Somali lands is prehistoric rock painting. At Laas Geel near Hargeisa, cattle are painted in ceremonial robes, with decorated necks, alongside people, dogs, other canids and a giraffe. Wikipedia calls them some of the best preserved in Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art)). In 2016 The Peninsula reported on the risks the paintings face ([The Peninsula, June 2016](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/27/06/2016/Rocky-future-for-Somalia-s-ancient-cave-art)). Rock paintings are also found at Balho in Djibouti ([Djiboutian art, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutian_art)).

## Carving (qoris)

Carving, *qoris* in Somali, has long been a respected trade. In the medieval period wealthy townspeople hired the best wood and marble carvers for their houses, and the carved mihrabs and pillars of old Somali mosques are among the oldest on the continent, according to Wikipedia. Carving was men's work, while weaving was mainly women's. Among nomads, carving decorated everyday objects such as spoons, combs and bowls, and the parts of the portable house, the *aqal*. In recent decades, workshops with electric machines have largely replaced hand-carved doors, windows and furniture ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art)).

## Textiles

Mogadishu's weaving industry was, from at least the 13th century to the late 19th century, one of the main textile centres of the Indian Ocean. Its cloth competed with Indian and later American cloth in home markets and abroad, including Egypt and Syria ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art)).

## Metalwork

Goldsmiths and blacksmiths in the towns made the jewellery that townswomen wore and the decorated Somali dagger (*toraay*) carried by men. Wikipedia notes that metalworkers were often shunned by the dominant nomadic culture because of their trade ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art)). Occupational groups such as smiths are described on the minority communities page.

## Building

Somali building traditions include stone towns, forts, mosques, tombs, towers and lighthouses. In ancient times, drystone burial cairns called *taalo* were common, and hundreds survive. Under Islam, the Mogadishu sultanate and the Ajuran period are especially known for their architecture, and mosques were often built on the ruins of older buildings ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art)). In Djibouti, Islamic, Ottoman and French influences show in plasterwork, motifs and calligraphy, and much original art is passed on orally through song ([Djiboutian art, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutian_art)).

## Read more

- [Heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/)
- [Somali culture](/en/society/somali-culture/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Somali instruments and dances](/en/society/somali-instruments-and-dances/)


---

# Somali food: canjeero, bariis iskukaris, xawaash and the daily meals

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-food/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Somali day starts with canjeero (a thin, slightly sweet pancake) and spiced tea (shaah), centres on lunch of spiced rice (bariis iskukaris) or pasta (baasto) with meat, and ends with a lighter dinner. The flavour comes from xawaash, a spice blend of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric. Food is always halal.

## The flavour: xawaash

Most Somali cooking is built on *xawaash*, a spice blend of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric. Each family and region mixes its own ([Ifrah F. Ahmed, interview on her cookbook, via inkl](https://www.inkl.com/news/ifrah-f-ahmed-s-debut-cookbook-is-a-love-letter-to-somali-cuisine-history-and-people)).

All meat is halal. Pork is forbidden ([Somali cuisine, Wikipedia, citing Falola and Jean-Jacques 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## Breakfast (quraac)

- **Canjeero or laxoox:** a thin, spongy pancake. It is smaller, thinner and sweeter than Ethiopian injera. It is eaten with ghee and sugar, honey, or sesame oil ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).
- **Shaah:** black tea boiled with sugar, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, often with milk (*shaah cadeeys*) ([Wikipedia, citing Ifrah Ahmed in the Washington Post, 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).
- **Muufo:** a thick maize flatbread baked in a clay oven (*tinaar*), popular in the south ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## Lunch (qado): the main meal

- **Bariis iskukaris:** rice "cooked together" with onion, tomato, xawaash and meat. It is a national staple.
- **Baasto:** pasta, brought during Italian rule in the south and now made the Somali way, with *suugo* (sauce) spiced with xawaash. Cookbook author [Ifrah Ahmed](/en/people/ifrah-ahmed/) calls it "distinctly Somali" ([inkl](https://www.inkl.com/news/ifrah-f-ahmed-s-debut-cookbook-is-a-love-letter-to-somali-cuisine-history-and-people)).
- **"Federation":** rice and pasta together on one plate.
- **Hilib and maraq:** meat (goat, mutton, beef, camel or fish) and stews.
- **Sabaayad:** a layered flatbread, also called *kimis* or *ceesh* in some regions.

Sources: [Somali cuisine, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine).

## Dinner (casho)

A lighter meal, often late. Common dishes are *cambuulo* (slow-cooked beans with sorghum, butter and sugar) and bread with tea. A glass of cardamom milk often ends the day ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## By region

In the farming south, stiff porridges of sorghum or maize (*soor*, *asida*) are everyday food. [Benadiri](/en/society/minority-communities/) cooking in Mogadishu, Marka and [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) has its own sweets, such as *gashaato* (coconut sweets) ([Wikipedia, citing Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi 2001](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## Ramadan and Eid

At sunset during Ramadan (*afur*), tables fill with **sambuus** (triangle pastries), **bur** (fried dough) and **bajiye** (fritters) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

At Eid and weddings, **xalwo** is served. It is a firm, glossy sweet of sugar, cornstarch, ghee, cardamom and nutmeg, once beaten for hours with wooden paddles. Not offering xalwo to a guest is a serious lapse in hospitality ([Asad Hussein, Sahan Journal, 2021](https://sahanjournal.com/food/eid-minneapolis-halwa/)).

## Somali food abroad

Minneapolis is the US centre of xalwo-making. Bakeries on Lake Street ship it to [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) and Utah, and a 40-pound wedding bucket sells for about $200. One shop expected to sell 5,000 to 10,000 pounds for a single Eid ([Sahan Journal, 2021](https://sahanjournal.com/food/eid-minneapolis-halwa/)).


---

# Somali grammars and dictionaries: every major one from 1886 to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-grammars-and-dictionaries/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The first grammar of Somali was published by Gabriel Ferrand in French in 1886, and the first Somali-English dictionary by Father Evangéliste de Larajasse in 1897. After Somali became a written official language in 1972, Somalis wrote their own grammars and dictionaries, starting with the Language Committee's grammar (1973) and Yaasiin Cismaan Keenadiid's Qaamuuska af Soomaaliga (1976).

## The short version

For about 90 years, almost every book about the Somali language was written by Europeans: missionaries, colonial officers and linguists writing in French, English, German and Italian. Somalis took part as teachers and informants, and from the 1950s as authors. After the Latin script became official in October 1972 ([Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)), the national Language Committee and Somali scholars produced grammars and dictionaries written in Somali itself. Today there are dozens of Somali-English dictionaries and specialised dictionaries for medicine, business and science, plus a dictionary of the [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) language of the south.

More on the language itself is on [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## European grammars and dictionaries, 1886 to 1960

- **Gabriel Ferrand, Notes de grammaire çomalie (1886).** French; early notes on Somali grammar by a French diplomat-scholar ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL45478981W)). Ferrand also wrote Les Çomâlis (1903) ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7057054W)).
- **Adolf Walter Schleicher, Die Somali-Sprache (1892).** German grammar ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7692648W)).
- **Evangéliste de Larajasse, Somali-English and English-Somali Dictionary (1897).** A Catholic missionary's dictionary, published in [London](/en/diaspora/london/); free to read ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/cu31924026888820); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15637242W)).
- **Leo Reinisch, Die Somali-Sprache (1900 to 1903).** Three volumes of texts, a dictionary and a grammar from the Austrian Academy's South Arabian expedition; Reinisch also wrote on the Jabarti dialect (1904) ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/diesomalisprache01rein); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL45531509W)).
- **J. W. C. Kirk, Notes on the Somali Language (1903) and A Grammar of the Somali Language (1905).** A British officer's grammar with prose and verse examples ([Notes, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/notesonsomalilan00kirk); [Grammar, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/grammarofsomalil00kirkuoft)).
- **Marcello Orano, Elementi per lo studio della lingua somala (1931).** Italian ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7793069W)).
- **E. Barry, An Elementary Somali Grammar (1937)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL38777981W)).
- **Solomon Warsama, The Principles of Somali (1951).** One of the first grammars by a Somali author ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7476450W)).
- **C. R. V. Bell, The Somali Language (1953).** A course book for British officials ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12547557W)).

## The years around the script decision, 1960 to 1972

- **B. W. Andrzejewski, The Declensions of Somali Nouns (1964)** and later studies of indicator particles (1975) and the case system (1979). Andrzejewski worked closely with [Musa Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3823948W)).
- **R. C. Abraham, Somali-English Dictionary (1964) and English-Somali Dictionary (1967)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL669486W); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL669481W)).
- **H. B. Hoffmann, Grammaire de la langue somalie (1968).** French ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5437437W)).

## Written by Somalis in Somali, from 1972

- **Guddiga Af Soomaaliga (Somali Language Committee), Aasaaska naxwaha af Soomaaliga (1973).** The basic grammar issued by the national committee in the year after the script decision ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6551363W)).
- **Yaasiin Cismaan Keenadiid, Qaamuuska af Soomaaliga (1976).** A dictionary of Somali defined in Somali ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5184748W)). Yaasiin was the son of [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/), who created the Osmanya script ([Yasin Osman Kenadid](/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/)).
- **[Shire Jaamac Axmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/), Naxwaha af Soomaaliga (1976)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6551367W)).
- **Cabdulqaadir F. Bootaan, Qaamuuska af Soomaaliga (1976)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6551357W)).
- **Axmed Faarax Cali "Idaajaa" and Cumar Aw Nuux, The Modern English-Somali Phrase Book (1974)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL42632901W)).

## Linguistics and learners' books, 1979 onward

- **Annarita Puglielli (ed.), Sintassi della lingua somala (1981)** and Francesco Antinucci, The Syntax of Indicator Particles in Somali (1979), from the Italian-Somali language project ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL23029025W); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6066975W)).
- **John Caney, The Modernisation of Somali Vocabulary (1984).** How new words were coined after 1972 ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5289122W)).
- **Marcello Lamberti, Map of Somali Dialects in the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/) (1986)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2240514W)).
- **John I. Saeed, The Syntax of Focus and Topic in Somali (1984) and Somali Reference Grammar (1987)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3268152W)).
- **Jawahir Abdulla Farah, Somali Learner's Dictionary (1992)** ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somalilearnersdi00fara)).
- **R. David Zorc and Madina Osman, Somali-English Dictionary with English Index (1993)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4328528W)).
- **Awil Ali Hashi, Essential English-Somali Dictionary (1993)** ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3057657W)).
- **Martin Orwin, Colloquial Somali (1995).** A course for English speakers ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/colloquialsomali0000orwi)).
- **Cabdalla C. Mansuur and Annarita Puglielli, Barashada naxwaha af Soomaaliga (1999).** A school grammar in Somali ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4028550W)).
- **Georgi Kapchits, Qaamuuska maahmaahyada Soomaaliyeed (2001).** A dictionary of Somali proverbs by a Russian scholar ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/qaamuuskamaahmaa00kapc)).
- **[Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/) and others, English-Maay Dictionary (2007).** For the Maay language of the inter-river regions ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL33052593W)).

## Specialised dictionaries

Somali authors have published dictionaries for particular fields, including medicine (Mohamed Ali Hassan, Qaamuuska caafimaadka, 2005), business (Suldaan Nayruus, Qaamuuska ganacsiga, 2008), science (Cabdiraxmaan Cabdullaahi Barre, WACYI Science Dictionary, 2016, in Somali, English and Arabic) and personal names (Mohammed Sh. Hassan, Qaamuuska magacyada Soomaaliyeed, 2001) ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24129495W); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32345732W); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32445455W); [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/qaamuuskamagacya0000hass)).

## Related pages

- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)
- [Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Somali music: from balwo and heello to Waaberi and the Mogadishu bands

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-music/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Modern Somali music began in the 1940s with balwo love songs, grew through the heello and qaraami songs of Hargeisa's radio and bands in the 1950s, and reached its golden age in Mogadishu in the 1970s and 1980s with Waaberi, Iftin and Dur-Dur. Songs carried the call for independence and are still how Somalis share love, loss and hope.

## The roots

Before radio, Somali song was work song and dance: songs for watering camels, churning milk and grinding grain, and dances such as *dhaanto* ([Somali literature, Wikipedia, citing Ismaaciil Galaal 1970](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)). The words always came from poetry. In Somali music, the poet is as famous as the singer.

## 1940s: balwo

The writer Bashir Goth traces modern Somali song to **[Abdi Sinimo](/en/people/abdi-sinimo/)** (Abdi Deeqsi Warfaa). In 1943, stranded near Jidhi, he beat an empty kerosene tin like a drum and sang. His short love songs, called *balwo*, spread fast. The first Balwo Band formed in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) in 1944 ([Bashir Goth, "Somali music through the ages", Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

Some elders opposed the new music. Young people embraced it ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/radio-hargeisa-and-rise-somali-modern-music)).

## Radio Hargeisa and the heello

Radio Hargeisa began in 1941 as a small 100-watt transmitter. By 1945 it was "Hargeisa, Radio Somali", the first live Somali-language broadcaster. It became the stage for singers and poets ([Fathi Jama, Geeska, 18 October 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/radio-hargeisa-and-rise-somali-modern-music)).

In the mid-1950s **[Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/)** co-founded the [Walaalo Hargeisa](/en/society/somali-bands/) (Hargeisa Brothers) band with Hussein Aw Farah. Qarshe was the first Somali to sing while playing the oud. The band added flute, violin and tambourine, and helped start *qaraami* love songs ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). In 1955 the group Bons Bras staged the first modern Somali play, *Abiido* ([same](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

The *heello* song form carried the call for independence. The scholar John William Johnson called the patriotic song "Jowhara Luul" a kind of anthem for the public ([Music In Africa, citing Johnson](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169); [Johnson, *Heelloy: Modern Poetry and Songs of the Somali*, 1996](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)). Qarshe later composed "Qolobaa Calankeed", today's [national anthem](/en/history/national-anthems/).

## The Mogadishu golden age: 1970s and 1980s

- **Waaberi**, the group of Radio Mogadishu and the National Theatre, gathered the best singers of the day, including **Magool**, **[Saado Cali](/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/)** and **[Xasan Aadan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/)**. Waaberi performed at FESTAC '77 in Lagos ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).
- **Iftin**, first the Education Ministry's band, went private in the early 1980s and played at the Al-Uruba hotel.
- **Dur-Dur Band** and **Shareero** mixed Somali song with funk, jazz, reggae and Arab music in Mogadishu's clubs.

In 2017 the label Ostinato Records released *Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa*, drawn from surviving tapes. It was nominated for a Grammy ([Quartz](https://qz.com/africa/1142624/grammy-nominations-2018-ostinato-records-sweet-as-broken-dates-is-nominated-for-a-grammy); [Afropop Worldwide review, 2017](https://old.afropop.org/articles/sweet-as-broken-dates-lost-somali-tapes-from-the-horn-of-africa)).

## The war years and the keepers

The collapse of the state in 1991 scattered musicians across the world ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). Staff at Radio Hargeisa and Radio Mogadishu hid tapes at great risk. Maryam Omar Ali digitised more than 9,000 songs and plays and gave them to [Amoud University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) in Borama ([same](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). A re-formed Dur-Dur Band Int. now plays for Somali audiences in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Dur-Dur Band Int.](https://dur-durbandint.bandcamp.com)).

## Read more

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)


---

# Somalia at the Olympics: every Games and every athlete since 1972

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somalia-at-the-olympics/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has sent athletes to 11 Summer Olympic Games, from Munich 1972 to Paris 2024, and has not yet won a medal. Its best result is Abdi Bile's sixth place in the 1,500 metres at Atlanta 1996. In all, 23 Somali Olympians have run for the country, and one, the boxer Ramla Ali, has fought for it.

## The short record

Somalia has competed at the Summer Olympics of 1972, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024. It has never taken part in the Winter Games and has not won an Olympic medal ([Olympedia, Somalia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM)).

- **Men and women:** until Tokyo 2020 every Somali Olympian was a track and field athlete: 17 men and 5 women. At Tokyo, Somalia entered a boxer for the first time ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM)).
- **Best result:** Abdi Bile, sixth in the 1,500 metres final at [Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/) 1996 ([Olympedia, 1996](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/24)).
- **Best result by a woman:** the boxer Ramla Ali, equal ninth of 21 in the featherweight division at Tokyo 2020 ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM)).
- **Largest team:** seven athletes, at Los Angeles 1984 ([Olympedia, 1984](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/21)).

## The Olympic committee and the first try

A Somali National Olympic Committee was first formed on 12 December 1959, but the project was abandoned. A new committee was formed in 1971 and was recognised by the International Olympic Committee on 22 August 1972, at the IOC Session in Munich ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM)). Wikipedia names Ali Omar Scego as head of the 1959 committee, with the hope of sending a team to Rome 1960; the effort stopped after he was posted to Brussels as ambassador ([Somalia at the Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_Olympics)).

## The Games Somalia missed

- **1976 Montreal:** Somalia joined the boycott by 28 mostly African countries, after the IOC let [New Zealand](/en/diaspora/new-zealand/) compete despite its rugby tour of apartheid South Africa ([Somalia at the Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_Olympics)).
- **1980 Moscow:** Somalia joined the United States-led boycott over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ([Somalia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_2024_Summer_Olympics)).
- **1992 Barcelona:** Somalia entered but did not compete. Olympedia says this was "probably because of the famine in the country"; Wikipedia notes it still took part in the opening ceremony ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_2024_Summer_Olympics)).

## Every Games, every athlete

Results are as recorded by Olympedia. "Heat" means the athlete went out in the first round unless stated.

| Games | Athletes and events | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 Munich | Mohamed Aboker (800 m, 1,500 m); Abdi Gulet (10,000 m); Jama Awil Aden (marathon); Abdullah Noor Wasughe (high jump) | Aboker 10th in his 1,500 m heat; Gulet did not start; Aden did not finish; Wasughe equal 33rd |
| 1984 Los Angeles | Ibrahim Okash (400 m); Abdi Bile (800 m, 1,500 m); Jama Aden (800 m, 1,500 m); Ali Mohamed Hufane (5,000 m); Mohiddin Mohamed Kulmiye (10,000 m); Ahmed Mohamed Ismail and Abdul Lahij Ahmed (marathon) | Bile reached the 800 m second round; Ismail 47th and Ahmed 73rd in the marathon |
| 1988 Seoul | Ibrahim Okash (800 m); Jama Aden (1,500 m); Aboukar Hassan Adani (5,000 m); Kulmiye and Ismail (marathon) | Okash reached the 800 m third round (semi-final); Kulmiye 91st in the marathon |
| 1996 Atlanta | Ibrahim Mohamed Aden (800 m); Abdi Bile (1,500 m); Aboukar Hassan Adani (5,000 m); Abdi Isak (marathon) | Bile 6th in the final; Isak 110th |
| 2000 Sydney | Ibrahim Mohamed Aden (1,500 m); Safia Abukar Hussein (400 m) | Hussein was Somalia's first woman Olympian |
| 2004 Athens | Abdulla Mohamed Hussein (400 m); Fartun Abukar Omar (100 m) | Heats |
| 2008 Beijing | Abdinasir Ibrahim (5,000 m); Samia Yusuf Omar (200 m) | Heats |
| 2012 London | Mohamed Mohamed (1,500 m); Zamzam Mohamed Farah (400 m) | Heats |
| 2016 Rio | Mohamed Mohamed (5,000 m); Maryan Muse (400 m) | Heats |
| 2020 Tokyo | Ali Idow Hassan (1,500 m); Ramla Ali (boxing, featherweight) | Ali equal 9th |
| 2024 Paris | Ali Idow Hassan (800 m) | 8th in his heat; did not start the repechage |

Sources: [Olympedia 1972](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/18), [1984](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/21), [1988](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/22), [1996](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/24), [2000](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/25), [2004](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/26), [2008](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/53), [2012](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/54), [2016](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/59), [2020](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/61), [2024](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/63).

## Paris 2024

Somalia's team in Paris was one man, [Ali Idow Hassan](/en/people/ali-idow/), on a wild card in the 800 metres. He was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. On 7 August he ran 1:48.72 at the Stade de France, eighth of nine in his heat, then did not start the repechage the next day ([World Athletics results](https://worldathletics.org/results/olympic-games/2024/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/men/800-metres/repechage-round/result); [Olympedia 2024](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/63)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that the Olympic committee left out Abdullahi Jama Mohamed, who had won 5,000 metres silver at the 2023 African Games ([Hiiraan Online, July 2024](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/July/197216/somalia_s_abdullahi_jama_mohamed_excluded_from_paris_2024_olympics_despite_historic_win.aspx)).

## Youth Olympic Games

| Games | Athletes | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 Singapore | Abdulahi Kulow (1,000 m); Hani Abdirahman Muse (400 m) | Kulow 19th; Muse did not finish |
| 2014 Nanjing | Ahmed Hassan (800 m); Maryan Muse (200 m, mixed relay) | Hassan did not start; Muse ran in a mixed international relay team, 59th |
| 2018 Buenos Aires | Yusuf Ali Abdirashid (1,500 m); Jiijo Hassan Mohamed (400 m) | Abdirashid 19th |
| 2026 Dakar | Two male athletes listed by Olympedia | |

Sources: [Olympedia 2010](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/65), [2014](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/67), [2018](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM/editions/69), [Somalia overview](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/SOM).

## Somali-born Olympians for other countries

Many Somali-born runners compete for other nations. Wikipedia lists Mo Farah (Great Britain, four Olympic golds), [Bashir Abdi](/en/people/bashir-abdi/) ([Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/)), [Abdi Nageeye](/en/people/abdi-nageeye/) (the Netherlands), [Mohammed Ahmed](/en/people/mohammed-ahmed/) (Canada), [Abdihakem Abdirahman](/en/people/abdihakem-abdirahman/) and [Hassan Mead](/en/people/hassan-mead/) (United States), [Mustafa Mohamed](/en/people/mustafa-mohamed/) (Sweden) and [Abdi Hakin Ulad](/en/people/abdi-hakin-ulad/) (Denmark) ([Somalia at the Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_at_the_Olympics)). At Paris 2024 Bashir Abdi won marathon silver for Belgium ([Hiiraan Online, August 2024](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197510/somali_athletes_in_paris_2024_bashir_abdi_wins_silver_mohamed_ahmed_sultan_hassan_and_abdihamid_nur_s_olympic_performances.aspx)).

## Read more

- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)
- [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/)
- [Samia Yusuf Omar](/en/people/samia-yusuf-omar/)
- [Ramla Ali](/en/people/ramla-ali/)
- [Zamzam Mohamed Farah](/en/people/zamzam-mohamed-farah/)
- [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/)


---

# Xeer: Somali customary law, how it works and how it is changing

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/xeer-customary-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Xeer is Somali customary law: unwritten agreements between lineage groups, applied by elders to settle disputes from theft to homicide. Compensation (mag or diya) is paid by the whole group, not just the offender. It is still the main way disputes are settled in much of the country, and elders show strong support for reforming it.

## What xeer is

Xeer is a body of agreements between Somali lineage groups. It sets what happens when a member of one group harms a member of another. It is not written down. Elders carry it in memory and in precedent.

The anthropologist I. M. Lewis called northern Somali politics a system of "clanship and contract". Each group was bound to others by explicit xeer, and he counted more than 360 compensation-paying groups in the British Protectorate alone ([Lewis, Africa, 1959](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/clanship-and-contract-in-northern-somaliland1/EDF65B709C7BAD3A63B3F14593F7248C)).

A 2023 study for the Clingendael Institute describes xeer as "the predominant venue for dispute resolution" in much of Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), especially in rural areas. People trust it for its speed and ease. It grew stronger after the state collapsed in 1991 ([Peterson and Zaki, *Reforming Somali Customary Justice*, KPSRL and Clingendael, 2023, pp. 4–5](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2024-02/Reforming%20Somali%20Xeer%20-%20Practices%20and%20Procedures.pdf)).

## How it works

1. **Harm is done.** For example, a theft, an injury or a killing.
2. **Elders meet.** Elders (*odayaal*) of both groups sit together. Each side explains its case.
3. **Precedent is applied.** Elders recall how similar cases were settled between the same two groups.
4. **Compensation is set.** It is called *mag* in Somali and *diya* in Arabic. The usual measure is camels or their cash value.
5. **The group pays.** The offender's whole compensation group shares the cost.

Peterson and Zaki give an example: a homicide settled at 80 camels, worth about US$40,000. The typical offender pays about 20 percent himself, close family another 15 percent, and the wider group the rest ([Peterson and Zaki, 2023](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2024-02/Reforming%20Somali%20Xeer%20-%20Practices%20and%20Procedures.pdf)). Elsewhere a killing has required 100 camels ([same study](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2024-02/Reforming%20Somali%20Xeer%20-%20Practices%20and%20Procedures.pdf)).

Sharia recommends compensation and reconciliation but does not fix the amount, so local custom decides it ([Gundel, *The predicament of the 'Oday'*, Danish Refugee Council and Novib/Oxfam, 2006](https://cdn.logcluster.org/public/documents/Gundel_The%2520role%2520of%2520traditional%2520structures.pdf)).

## Rules of war: biri-ma-geydo

Xeer also limited war. Under *biri-ma-geydo*, "those spared from the spear", women, children, religious figures, elders and prisoners were not to be harmed. Wells and grazing land were off limits, because destroying them meant famine for all. Breaking these rules brought shame on the offender's whole clan ([Ayan Abdirashid Ali, Lieber Institute, West Point, 2026](https://lieber.westpoint.edu/somali-traditions-restraint/)).

## Xeer, sharia and the state

Most areas use three systems side by side: xeer, sharia and the penal code. Federal policy limits xeer to less serious crimes, but practice varies ([US State Department, Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). The Constitution commits governments to dialogue among traditional leaders and to "the protection and development of traditional law" ([Constitution of Somalia, Article 52](https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en)).

## Its limits

The same study records three main concerns:
- **Women are excluded.** Only 6.7 percent of elders said a woman who survived sexual assault could attend her own hearing.
- **Collective payment.** The group pays, so the offender bears little cost, and victims may receive little of the compensation.
- **Power matters.** Smaller clans with fewer men have less weight in negotiation.

Source for all three: [Peterson and Zaki, 2023, pp. 4–5 and 14](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2024-02/Reforming%20Somali%20Xeer%20-%20Practices%20and%20Procedures.pdf).

## How elders earn a living

Elders are usually paid little for settling disputes. In the 2023 survey, 30.6% of elders named pay from their work as an elder as a source of income, and for only 17.4% was it their main income. Farming or raising animals was the most common source ([Peterson and Zaki, 2023](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2024-02/Reforming%20Somali%20Xeer%20-%20Practices%20and%20Procedures.pdf)).

## Elders want change

The study interviewed 400 elders in late 2022 and early 2023. When offered one shared xeer for all clans, with precedents applying to everyone, 65.7 percent strongly supported it and another 15.0 percent somewhat supported it. Between 71.6 and 77.2 percent supported sharing information about cases more openly ([Peterson and Zaki, 2023](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2024-02/Reforming%20Somali%20Xeer%20-%20Practices%20and%20Procedures.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Xeer Ciise, the customary law of the Ciise](/en/society/xeer-ciise/)
- [Clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/)


---

# The Baardheere jamaaca, 1819 to 1843: a religious reform town on the Jubba

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/baardheere-jamaaca-1819-1843/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 1819 Sheikh Ibraahim Xasan Jebro and his companions founded a religious community (jamaaca) at Baardheere on the Jubba river, the first of its kind in Somalia. It banned tobacco and dancing, required women to veil and stopped the ivory trade. By the late 1830s it had almost 20,000 followers and controlled trade at Luuq. In 1843 a coalition led by Sultan Yuusuf Maxamuud of Geledi took Baardheere.

## The first Somali jamaaca

A *jamaaca* is a religious farming settlement built around a sheikh and his students. The Library of Congress country study records that in 1819 "Shaykh Ibrahim Hassan Jebro acquired land on the [Jubba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) and established a religious center in the form of a farming community, the first Somali jamaa" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). Other sources date the founding of the fortified town of [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) to 1819 to 1823 and spell the founder's name Jeberow or Yabarow ([Reconquest of Jubaland, Wikipedia, citing Abdurahman, Eno and Kusow, and Loimeier, Muslim Societies in Africa, 2013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquest_of_Jubaland); [Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)).

## Its rules

The community introduced reforms in the name of Islamic law ([Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)):
- tobacco and popular dancing were banned;
- women were required to wear Islamic dress;
- the ivory trade was banned.

The French naval officer Charles Guillain, who visited the coast in the 1840s, called its leader "an enraged puritan, a great reformer" and wrote that most local people did not accept its rule ([Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale*, 1856, pp. 36–38, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/documentssurlhis22guil)). See [the Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/), which summarises Guillain's account.

## Growth, 1830s

In the mid-1830s the community won many followers among herding families who had moved into the upper Jubba valley from the Ogaden. It took control of farming settlements there, including [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), the main trading stop between Kismaayo and Harar. By the late 1830s it had almost 20,000 followers ([Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). Its sheikhs also led campaigns against Oromo groups in the Jubba lands ([Reconquest of Jubaland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquest_of_Jubaland)).

## War with Geledi, 1840 to 1843

By 1840 the community's fighters reached Baidoa and took [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/), a port of the Geledi sultanate and an old centre of the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) order. The Geledi resented the community's block on long-distance trade through Luuq and the disruption of farming in the Jubba and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valleys ([Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, Wikipedia, citing a JSTOR study](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). People of Barawa sent a delegation and a gift of 200 piastres to Sultan Yuusuf Maxamuud asking for help (Guillain, p. 38, via [the Geledi sultanate page](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/)).

Sultan Yuusuf led a coalition of the clans between the rivers. Wikipedia gives its size as 40,000, mostly [Digil](/en/society/digil/) fighters. In 1843 the coalition besieged Baardheere; accounts say the town was burned and not resettled until the 1860s ([Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). Sources differ on the allies: some name the [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) of Barawa with the Geledi, and say the [Bimaal](/en/society/biyomaal/) of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) sided with Baardheere or stayed out ([same article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)).

## After Baardheere

In 1847 [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Cali Majeerteen landed at Merca with about 150 armed followers, aiming to found an Islamic emirate, in alliance with the Bimaal. Wikipedia, citing a later study, links his ideas to those of the Baardheere community ([Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Mahamud_Ibrahim)). Later in the 1800s, the Sufi orders founded dozens of *jamaaco* along the Jubba and Shabelle; by the 1950s there were more than 90 ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [the Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## Read further

- Lee V. Cassanelli, *The [Shaping of Somali Society](/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli/): Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600–1900* (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982), which covers the Baardheere community and the Geledi wars.
- Charles Guillain, *Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de l'Afrique orientale* (Paris, 1856).


---

# The Somalia famine of 2010 to 2012: what happened and how many died

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/famine-2010-2012/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> From late 2010 to early 2012, drought, poor harvests, high food prices and blocked aid caused famine in southern Somalia. The UN declared famine on 20 July 2011 and declared it over on 3 February 2012. A study for the UN food security unit and FEWS NET estimated 258,000 excess deaths between October 2010 and April 2012, 133,000 of them children under five.

## In short

Between October 2010 and April 2012, severe food insecurity and famine killed an estimated **258,000 people** in southern and central Somalia, above the deaths that would normally have happened. About **133,000** of them were children under five. The range of the estimate is 244,000 to 273,000 ([Checchi and Robinson, *Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia*, FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2 May 2013, pp. 8–10](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf)).

The UN declared famine on 20 July 2011, in southern [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). It was the first famine declared in Somalia since 1991–92 ([UN News, 20 July 2011](https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382072)). The famine was declared over on 3 February 2012 ([FAO, 3 February 2012](https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/Somalia-famine-ends-but-situation-still-dire/en)). The wider story of Somali droughts is on [rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## How it started

- **Rain and harvests.** A long drought gave southern Somalia its poorest harvests since the 1992–93 famine. Food prices rose and aid fell at the same time (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 5).
- **Aid withdrawn.** On 5 January 2010 the World Food Programme said it was suspending its work in parts of southern Somalia because of threats to staff and "unacceptable demands" by armed groups ([PBS NewsHour, 5 January 2010](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-halts-work-in-southern-somalia)).
- **Access.** The study records "the progressive withdrawal of humanitarian agencies from most of southern Somalia" and a halt in funding to those regions by some donors through 2010 and early 2011 (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 18).
- **Warnings.** [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FEWS NET issued repeated warnings from rainfall, market and nutrition data. By July 2011 all of southern Somalia was in IPC phase 4 or 5, which had never happened since the IPC was adopted in Somalia in 2006 (Checchi and Robinson 2013, pp. 18–19).

## The famine declarations

| Date | Areas declared in famine | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 20 July 2011 | Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle | [UN News](https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382072) |
| 3 August 2011 | Balcad and Cadale districts of Middle Shabelle; displaced people's camps in the Afgooye corridor and Mogadishu | [FSNAU, 5 September 2011](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/famine-spreads-bay-region-750000-people-face-imminent-starvation) |
| 5 September 2011 | Bay region, which grows about 80% of Somalia's sorghum | [FSNAU, 5 September 2011](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/famine-spreads-bay-region-750000-people-face-imminent-starvation) |
| 18 November 2011 | Famine kept for Middle Shabelle farm areas and the Afgooye and Mogadishu camps; Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle moved out of famine | [FSNAU, 18 November 2011](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/famine-continues-observed-improvements-contingent-continued-response) |
| 3 February 2012 | Famine declared over | [FAO](https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/Somalia-famine-ends-but-situation-still-dire/en) |

On 20 July 2011 the UN said acute malnutrition among children in the two first regions was above 30%. Deaths among children under five passed six per 10,000 a day in some areas. About 3.7 million Somalis were in crisis, 2.8 million of them in the south ([UN News, 20 July 2011](https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382072)). In September FSNAU said 750,000 people faced death in the next four months without more help ([FSNAU, 5 September 2011](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/famine-spreads-bay-region-750000-people-face-imminent-starvation)).

## Aid and armed control

Much of the famine area was held by al-Shabaab. The BBC reported that the group "denied there was a famine and banned several Western aid agencies" from its territory ([BBC News, 2 May 2013](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352)).

- **28 November 2011.** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) banned 16 aid groups, among them UNHCR, WHO, UNICEF and the Norwegian and Danish Refugee Councils. Armed men entered their offices in towns such as Baidoa and Beledweyne ([Al Jazeera, 28 November 2011](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111128203817843905.html)).
- **January 2012.** The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) suspended food aid to 1.1 million people in southern and central Somalia, citing obstruction by local armed groups ([Al Jazeera, 30 January 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012130175612623648.html)).
- **30 January 2012.** Al-Shabaab banned the ICRC from areas it held. It said the ICRC had handed out outdated food (Al Jazeera, 30 January 2012).

The 2013 study says "there is consensus that the humanitarian response to the famine was mostly late and insufficient". It names limited access and "operating restrictions imposed on several relief agencies" as a major constraint (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 5). Measles, cholera and other epidemics spread in nearly all affected regions (p. 5).

## The dead, region by region

The table gives excess deaths from October 2010 to April 2012, with the share of each region's people who died ([Checchi and Robinson 2013, Table 1, p. 8](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf)).

| Region | Excess deaths, all ages | Children under five | Share of population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Shabelle | 96,200 | 42,900 | 9.0% |
| Banadir (Mogadishu) | 58,000 | 27,200 | 6.2% |
| Middle Shabelle | 22,200 | 12,900 | 3.7% |
| Bay | 20,700 | 20,900 | 6.4% |
| Gedo | 17,800 | 6,400 | 5.0% |
| Middle Juba | 11,900 | 5,900 | 4.5% |
| Bakool | 10,700 | 5,600 | 2.9% |
| Lower Juba | 7,900 | 3,300 | 1.8% |
| Hiiraan | 7,400 | 2,800 | 1.8% |
| Galgaduud | 4,200 | 4,300 | 1.0% |
| Mudug | 300 | 100 | 0.1% |
| **Total** | **257,900** | **132,900** | **4.6%** |

- In [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), 17.6% of children under five died in excess of normal (p. 8).
- By way of life, displaced people lost the largest share: 6.5%, or 68,700 people (p. 8).
- More than 20,000 excess deaths a month happened from May to October 2011 (p. 9).
- Deaths began to rise in October 2010, "well before humanitarian relief began to be mobilised" (p. 9).

A FAO official told the BBC that "about half of the casualties were there before the famine was already declared" ([BBC News, 2 May 2013](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352)).

## Flight to the camps

Large numbers of people moved inside Somalia, to the Afgooye corridor and Mogadishu, or crossed into the camps at Dadaab in Kenya and [Dollo Ado](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) in Ethiopia (Checchi and Robinson 2013, pp. 5, 19). The study could not give one figure for the camps. Its range for excess deaths was −1,000 to 5,700 in Dollo Ado and −1,300 to 8,800 in Dadaab, "probably in the thousands" (p. 9). More on displacement is on [how many Somalis are displaced inside Somalia](/en/society/internal-displacement/).

## How it ended

The October to December 2011 [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains helped farmers grow and buy more food. Farmers in Bay and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) doubled their maize and sorghum crops, their "highest harvest in years", FAO said. On 3 February 2012 FSNAU and FEWS NET said the famine was over. People in need of emergency aid fell from 4 million to 2.34 million, or 31% of the population ([FAO, 3 February 2012](https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/Somalia-famine-ends-but-situation-still-dire/en)).

## Compared with 1992

The 2013 study found the death toll similar to that of the 1992–93 famine. The share of people who died was about half, because more people were affected in 2011 (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 9). The BBC compared the 258,000 with an estimated 220,000 deaths in 1992 ([BBC News, 2 May 2013](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352)).

## Sources

- Checchi, F. and Robinson, W. C. (2013). [Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010–2012](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf). FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET, LSHTM and Johns Hopkins, 2 May 2013.
- UN News (2011). [UN declares famine in two regions of southern Somalia](https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382072), 20 July 2011.
- FSNAU (2011). [Famine spreads into Bay region](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/famine-spreads-bay-region-750000-people-face-imminent-starvation), 5 September 2011.
- FSNAU (2011). [Famine continues; observed improvements contingent on continued response](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/famine-continues-observed-improvements-contingent-continued-response), 18 November 2011.
- FAO (2012). [Somalia famine ends, but situation still dire](https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/Somalia-famine-ends-but-situation-still-dire/en), 3 February 2012.
- PBS NewsHour (2010). [UN halts work in southern Somalia](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-halts-work-in-southern-somalia), 5 January 2010.
- Al Jazeera (2011). [Somali group bans aid organisations](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111128203817843905.html), 28 November 2011.
- Al Jazeera (2012). [Al-Shabab bans Red Cross from Somalia](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012130175612623648.html), 30 January 2012.
- BBC News (2013). [Somalia famine 'killed 260,000 people'](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352), 2 May 2013.


---

# Karanle (Karanle Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/karanle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Karanle are a branch of the Hawiye. Abbink places them under Bah Arbera, the Hawiye line traced through the wife Arbera, with the sub-clans Gidir, Kaariye and Sihawiye. Other sources add the Murusade, or Mursal, as a fourth branch. Wikipedia says most Karanle live in eastern Ethiopia, and the Murusade in central and southern Somalia.

## Name and family tree

The Karanle are a branch of the Hawiye, one of the five large Somali clan families ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)).

The anthropologist Jan Abbink places the Karanle under *Bah Arbera*, a Hawiye line traced through a mother. *Bah* is the Somali word for such a line ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 5 and 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). The other Hawiye line in his chart is *Bah Girei*, which holds the Gurgate clans such as the Abgaal and Habar Gidir (pp. 26-27).

| Source | Where it places the Karanle |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Bah Arbera > Karanle, beside Rarane, Haskul, Wadare and Murosade ([Abbink 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005, south-central chart | Hawiye > Karanle, with Murusade under it ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | "One of the six branches" of the Hawiye ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)) |

Wikipedia says Karanle was the first-born son of Hawiye, by his first wife Arbera. It places Karanle's tomb at Qundhuro in Hararghe, beside that of his father ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)). It adds that the Karanle are counted as maternal ancestors of the Hiraab, the [Bimaal](/en/society/biyomaal/) and some Ogaden sub-clans (same source).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives four branches: Gidir, Kaariye, Sexawle and Mursal (Murusade). It cites a Somali genealogy for the lines below ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)):

- **Gidir:** Aw Bakr (Ahmed Maqi); Warneif, with Taa'uud and Faasi (and Aw Qariib under Faasi); Abshale.
- **Kaariye:** Af Haaj; Laasuge, with Abu Bakr, and under him [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) ad-Diin and Muhammed (with Sultan Muhammed).
- **Mursal (Murusade):** Sabti, with Abu Bakr, Idinle, Abdalla and Ibrahim Sabti; Foorculus, with Muhammed (Hilibi), Ahmed (Daguuro) and Ebakar (Hawar Ceene). See [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/).
- **Sexawle:** Balaw, with Iye (and [Reer Garaad](/en/society/warsangali/) Mahiiqe) and Shurbul; Ba'ad; Bur'aal, with Bade Samatar (and Arabi and Haro) and Farah Samatar.

Abbink lists three sub-clans under Karanle: Gidir, Kaariye and Sihawiye ([Abbink 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). His Sihawiye matches Wikipedia's Sexawle. Abbink draws Murosade as its own group on the same Bah Arbera line, with the lineages [Mohamed Amal](/en/society/duduble/), Nur 'Abdi, Septi, Gabdi and Foo'ulus (same page).

ACLED's 2025 list has no Karanle heading. It codes the Murusade directly under the Hawiye ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)). All these groups are on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. The Austrian research centre ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

Wikipedia says most Karanle live in Ethiopia: in Harar and Hararghe, Bale, Babile, the Somali Region and Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/). Some live in Mandera County in Kenya ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)). In Somalia, the EUAA records the Murusade branch:

| Place | What the EUAA records |
|---|---|
| Mogadishu | "Mogadishu is inhabited largely by Hawiye from the clans Abgaal, Habar Gedir and Murosade" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Mogadishu](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Galgaduud | Among the main clans, "the Murasade (Hawiye) clan" ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)) |
| Middle Shabelle | Among the Hawiye sub-clans of the region ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Lower Shabelle | Among Hawiye clans in the east of the region (same source) |

## History on record

- **1200s and 1300s.** Wikipedia says the geographers Abu al-Fida and Ibn Sa'id mention the Karanle in eastern Ethiopia, working gold and silver ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)).
- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the Karanle "figured prominently as leaders and soldiers" in the Adal wars. It names Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim as a Karanle of the Balaw line (same source). See [Imam Ahmad and Adal](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).
- **About 1930.** Wikipedia carries a photograph captioned "a Karanle chief in 1930" (same source).

For the Murusade branch in Somalia, see [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). Wikipedia says the Karanle *garaads* and *ugaas* have often taken part in crowning new traditional leaders of other clans. It says the Karanle are known for mediation ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA list of clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025 names the Karanle only through the Murusade ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Murusade against Cayr (Habar Gidir), a conflict that "started in the middle of 2024".
- Murusade against Duduble, in villages near Ceel Buur.

See [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Murusade.** The World Bank chart and Wikipedia place the Murusade under the Karanle. Abbink draws them as a separate group on the same Bah Arbera line. ACLED codes them directly under the Hawiye.
- **Number of branches.** Abbink gives three Karanle sub-clans and Wikipedia four. Abbink's Sihawiye and Wikipedia's Sexawle appear to be one name in two spellings.
- **Imam Ahmad.** Wikipedia calls him a Karanle. The Portuguese sources edited by R. S. Whiteway do not give his origin. Whiteway thought him "probably" Somali, but wrote that the evidence "does not appear decisive" ([Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiii](https://archive.org/details/portugueseexpedi00whitrich)).
- **Where most live.** Wikipedia places most Karanle in Ethiopia. The EUAA's Somalia reports name only the Murusade.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), the family the Karanle belong to
- [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/) and [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Somali clans and lineage: how the system works](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/)


---

# Xeer Ciise (Xeer Issa, the customary law of the Ciise)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/xeer-ciise/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Xeer Ciise is the unwritten customary law of the Ciise (Issa), a Dir clan of Djibouti, eastern Ethiopia and Awdal. Ciise elders say it was made by 44 elders on Mount Sitti. Somali Wikipedia says it rests on six kabood (pillars): blood, custom, wealth, women, land and outsiders. The Ciise ugaas comes from the Wardiiq line.

## What it is

*Xeer Ciise* is the customary law of the [Ciise](/en/society/ciise/) (Issa), a clan of the [Dir](/en/society/dir/). It is a form of [xeer](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/), the unwritten law Somali clans use to settle disputes. Somali Wikipedia calls it a social law that settles disputes among the Ciise and with their neighbours ([Somali Wikipedia, Xeer Ciise, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeer_ciise)). It also calls it the xeer with the longest history in the Horn of Africa (same source). No outside source on this page tests that claim.

The Ciise live mainly in Djibouti, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and around Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), and in Awdal ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/) and [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/).

## How it was made

Wikipedia gives the story as told by Ciise elders ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))):

- Several centuries ago, the forefathers of the Ciise moved inland from Zeila.
- Their elders met on Mount Sitti, in today's Aysha district, at a place called Las Harad.
- Forty-four elders held month-long meetings there. Each of the twelve Ciise sub-clans took turns feeding them.
- To sit as an elder, a man needed both parents alive and a son of his own.
- Over time the elders set down 362 unwritten laws, called *heer*.

Wikipedia says the Ciise faced civil strife, famine, raiding and broken trade before this. It calls the result a "traditional constitution" built on sharing power (same source).

## The six kabood

Somali Wikipedia says the xeer rests on fixed parts: 6 *kabood* (pillars), 160 *dhagalay*, 336 *sarood* and 444 *indhal* ([Somali Wikipedia, Xeer Ciise, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeer_ciise)). The six kabood are:

| Kabo | What it covers, as Somali Wikipedia gives it |
|---|---|
| Dhiig (blood) | Killing between two Ciise families, murder, wounds and injuries |
| Dhaqan (custom) | Choosing the *ugaas*, with a body of 44 men and a committee of 12 |
| Dhaqaale (wealth) | No rules for lifeless property; for living property, nine she-camels, the donkey and the dog |
| Dheer (women) | What women receive, and wrongs done to women |
| Dhul (land) | Grazing and wells; the xeer sets no rules for the sea |
| Dhibleh (outsiders) | How the law treats Ciise, other Somalis, other Muslims and non-Muslims |

The details below each kabo are set out in the *dhagalay*, *sarood* and *indhal* (same source).

## Women under the xeer

Somali Wikipedia says women gain property in two ways under the xeer, through *dhaban* and through inheritance ([Somali Wikipedia, Xeer Ciise, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeer_ciise)). It lists thirteen classes of wrong done to women, each named in Somali. They separate, for example, a young girl, a married woman, a widow and an older woman (same source).

Wikipedia says the Ciise regard all people as equals "regardless of gender" in clan matters. It also says it is every *male* member of a lineage who may speak at the *shir* ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))).

## Land and wells

Somali Wikipedia divides land into sea and dry land, and says the xeer sets no rules for the sea. It divides dry land into farms, grazing and wells. It says the xeer agreed at Sitti did not cover farming. It adds that some Ciise made farming rules of their own about 70 years ago ([Somali Wikipedia, Xeer Ciise, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeer_ciise)).

## The ugaas and the courts

Wikipedia says a cloud once hung over the Wardiiq elders at a Sitti meeting. It says this was taken as a sign. Since then, it says, the Ciise *ugaas* has come from the Wardiiq line ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))).

| Body | What Wikipedia says it does |
|---|---|
| *Shir* | A gathering where every man of a lineage may speak; decisions are made by consensus |
| *Reer Gendi* | A court of 44 members from all sections; a court of appeal and a ritual gathering, called only in crises |

Somali Wikipedia gives the *gandi* as 44 men and a committee as 12 men in choosing the *ugaas* ([Somali Wikipedia, Xeer Ciise, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeer_ciise)). The UK Home Office calls the role of senior clan leaders "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

## Where sources differ

- **How many laws.** Wikipedia, from Ciise elders, gives 362 *heer*. Somali Wikipedia gives a structure of 6 kabood, 160 dhagalay, 336 sarood and 444 indhal.
- **When.** Wikipedia says "several centuries ago". No source here gives a date for the Sitti meetings.
- **Sources.** Both Wikipedia pages rest on oral tradition and cite few written works. The main book-length study is Ali Moussa Iyé's *Le Verdict de l'arbre* (1990), in French.

## Read more

- [Ciise](/en/society/ciise/)
- [Xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/)
- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)


---

# Balwo: the short love song that began modern Somali music

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/balwo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Balwo is a short Somali love song form that began in the 1940s with Abdi Deeqsi 'Sinimo', a lorry driver from the Borama area. Accounts agree that it started when his lorry broke down in the bush near Zeila and he sang 'Balwooy, hooy balwooy' ('misfortune'), but differ on the year (1943 to 1945) and the place. Balwo spread fast in spite of opposition from religious leaders and led directly to the heello songs of the 1950s.

## What balwo is

Balwo is a style of short sung poetry from the Somali territories and Djibouti, usually about love and longing ([Balwo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)). The word means "misfortune". Its creator was **Abdi Deeqsi Warfaa**, known as Abdi Sinimo ("cinema"), a nickname he earned as a lively storyteller ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)). Wikipedia names his lineage as the Reer Nuur of the Gadabuursi.

## Abdi Sinimo

Abdi Deeqsi was born at Jarahorato near Borama. Unlike most Somali poets of his time, his family lived in town rather than as nomads. As a young man he trained as a vehicle mechanic in Djibouti, then [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/). Back in Borama around 1941 he drove and repaired lorries for a merchant, Haji Hirsi, on routes between Zeila, Djibouti, Borama, Hargeisa and Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)).

## The first balwo: where and when

All accounts tell of a lorry breaking down, but they differ on the details.

- **Wikipedia**, drawing on several books, says it happened some time between 1943 and 1945. Oral tradition names three places: Habaas, Ban [Balcad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), or Selel on the Geryaad plain, about thirty miles south of Zeila. Unable to fix the lorry, he sang, as the poet Hasan [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Muumin tells it: "Belwooy, belwooy, hooy belwooy… Waha i baleeyay mooyaane" ("I do not know what caused me this suffering") ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)).
- **The writer Bashir Goth** places it in 1943 near Jidhi, with Sinimo beating an empty kerosene tin as a drum ([Bashir Goth, "Somali music through the ages", Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).
- **Another version** of the first lines adds "Waha i balweeyay baabuure", "what caused me this suffering was a lorry" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)).

When the lorry was towed back and Sinimo reached Borama, he recited the song in public. It was an instant success, and other poets began composing in the new form ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)). Bashir Goth dates the first Balwo Band, formed in Borama, to 1944 ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## Opposition

As balwo grew, wealthier families in northern towns held listening parties. Members of religious orders spoke against it. Wikipedia names Shaykh Abdullah Mijirtain and Muhammad Hassan among religious figures who composed poems against balwo, holding that sung love poetry offended Muslim morals ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)). Sinimo went on to form a troupe that performed in many towns.

## From balwo to heello

Balwo was the direct forerunner of the *heello*, the longer song form of the 1950s, which Wikipedia treats as a sub-genre of balwo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)). Abdullahi Qarshe, who first brought the oud (*kaban*) into Somali song, credited Sinimo: "modern music was in the air at the time of Abdi Sinimo, who is widely regarded as the genius who formulated and organized it into the belwo" ([Wikipedia, citing an interview with Qarshe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balwo)). The scholar John William Johnson traced this path in *Heelloy: Modern Poetry and Songs of the Somali* ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/heelloymodernpoe00john/page/31)).

## Read more

- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [Abdi Sinimo](/en/people/abdi-sinimo/)
- [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Borama and Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/)


---

# The Somalia famine of 1991 to 1993 (Caga Barar): causes, deaths and relief

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/famine-1991-1993/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The famine of 1991 to 1993 struck southern Somalia during the civil war, after drought, fighting in the farming areas between the Jubba and Shabelle rivers, and the closure of the ports. A 1994 study put excess deaths at 212,000 to 248,000; the UN estimated in 1992 that perhaps 300,000 had died since November 1991. The worst-hit were farmers in Bay, Bakool, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba, and displaced people in camps.

## In short

The famine of 1991 to 1993 hit the farming areas of southern Somalia in the first years of the civil war. In Somali it is remembered as *Caga Barar*, "swollen feet" ([Somali Wikipedia, *1992 abaartii Soomaaliya (Caga Barar)*](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_abaartii_Soomaaliya_%28Caga_Barar%29)).

A 1994 study by the Refugee Policy Group estimated **212,000 to 248,000 excess deaths**. In Bay region 12 to 25% of the people who lived there before the famine died, and in Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) 6 to 16% (cited in [Checchi and Robinson, FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2013, p. 54](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf)). In late 1992 the UN said "perhaps 300,000 people died since November 1991" ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

## Causes

- **War in the farm belt.** The 2013 [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) study describes the famine as "precipitated by armed conflict", with hyper-inflation, "nearly complete crop failure", livestock losses of 50 to 70% and ports closed to food imports (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 17).
- **Mogadishu.** Full-scale fighting in the capital began on 17 November 1991. Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights estimated 14,000 killed and 27,000 wounded in Mogadishu by 29 February 1992 ([Africa Watch and PHR, *No Mercy in Mogadishu*, 26 March 1992](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/)).
- **The port shut.** The same report said "the strategically located deep water port of Mogadishu has not been in use since before the latest outbreak of fighting in November" (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).
- **Farmers, not herders.** The report found that conditions among herders were "far superior". Child malnutrition among them was less than half that of farmers, for example 27% in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) "in July", in the months before the report (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).
- **Famine foods.** Many people lived on "boiled green mangoes, sugarcane, and wild vegetables" (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).

The report described the famine as "radically different in origin and impact" from earlier droughts, which had mostly struck herders in the centre and north (Africa Watch and PHR 1992). The war years are told in [rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 1999](/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/).

## Baidoa and the camps

US Centers for Disease Control researchers surveyed Baidoa and [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) in November and December 1992 ([Moore and others, *The Lancet* 341: 935–938, 1993](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8096276/)).

- In the displaced people's camps of [Baidoa](/en/regions/bay/), the death rate was **16.8 per 10,000 people a day** over the 232 days before the survey.
- An estimated **74% of children under five** living in those camps died in that period.
- In Afgooye, the death rate was 4.7 per 10,000 a day among displaced and resident people together.
- Measles and diarrhoea were the main causes of death in both towns.

## Relief

- **The Red Cross.** In early 1992 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was spending 20% of its worldwide budget on Somalia. It flew in medical supplies and food for hospital staff six times a week (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).
- **The UN.** In 1992 the UN said almost 4.5 million people, over half the population, were "threatened by severe malnutrition", and at least 1.5 million lives were "at immediate risk". Almost one million Somalis had fled abroad ([UN, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **24 April 1992.** UN Security Council resolution 751 set up the [UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM I)](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/) (UN background).
- **August 1992.** After a UN team visited from 6 to 15 August, the UN Secretary-General called for the airlifts run by WFP, UNICEF and the ICRC to be "enhanced substantially", with priority for central and southern Somalia (UN background).
- **Late 1992.** The UN cited estimates that "as many as 3,000 persons a day were dying of starvation in Somalia, while warehouses remained stocked". It reported that aid was being extorted and aid workers' lives put in danger (UN background).
- **3 December 1992.** Resolution 794 authorised "all necessary means" to make relief work secure. The US-led force that followed is on [the UN and US intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) (UN background).

## How it ended

The 2013 FSNAU study treats 1992–93 as the last famine in Somalia before 2011 (Checchi and Robinson 2013, pp. 5, 17). When the UN declared famine again on 20 July 2011, it called it "the first time since 1991-92" ([UN News, 20 July 2011](https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382072)).

## Compared with 2011

The death toll of 1991–93 was similar in size to that of [the 2010 to 2012 famine](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/), but a larger share of people died. The 1994 estimate "relied mainly on extrapolation of limited existing data" (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 54). The BBC gave 220,000 deaths for 1992 ([BBC News, 2 May 2013](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352)). The wider story of droughts is on [rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## Sources

- Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights (1992). [Somalia: No Mercy in Mogadishu. The human cost of the conflict and the struggle for relief](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/somalia/), 26 March 1992.
- Moore, P. S., Marfin, A. A., Quenemoen, L. E. and others (1993). [Mortality rates in displaced and resident populations of central Somalia during 1992 famine](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8096276/). *The Lancet* 341(8850): 935–938.
- Hansch, S. and others (1994). *Lives Lost, Lives Saved: Excess Mortality and the Impact of Health Interventions in the Somalia Emergency*. Refugee Policy Group, Washington DC. Figures as cited by Checchi and Robinson (2013).
- Checchi, F. and Robinson, W. C. (2013). [Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010–2012](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf). FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET.
- United Nations. [Somalia, UNOSOM I: background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html).
- UN News (2011). [UN declares famine in two regions of southern Somalia](https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/07/382072), 20 July 2011.
- BBC News (2013). [Somalia famine 'killed 260,000 people'](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352), 2 May 2013.
- Somali Wikipedia. [1992 abaartii Soomaaliya (Caga Barar)](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_abaartii_Soomaaliya_%28Caga_Barar%29).


---

# Murusade (Murursade, Mursal, Hawiye clan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/murusade/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Murusade (Murursade, also called Mursal) are a Hawiye clan. The World Bank and Wikipedia place them under the Karanle, Abbink beside the Karanle, and ACLED directly under the Hawiye. The EUAA names them as one of the three main Hawiye clans of Mogadishu and a main clan of Galgaduud, around Ceel Buur.

## Name and family tree

The Murusade are a clan of the Hawiye, one of the five large Somali clan families ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The name is written Murursade in standard Somali, and also Murosade, Murasade or Mursal.

| Source | Where it places the Murusade |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Bah Arbera > Murosade, on the same line as Karanle ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005, south-central chart | Hawiye > Karanle > Murusade ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| World Bank 2005, Puntland chart | Hawiye > Mururusade (same source) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Murusade ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Hawiye > Karanle > Mursal ([Wikipedia, Karanle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanle)) |

Wikipedia records a clan tradition on the founder. Mursal was the youngest son of Karanle and shared a mother with Sexawle. He was also called *Waadere Karanle*, after Adere, a name for Harar, where he was said to be born ([Wikipedia, Murusade, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murusade)). The tradition says he later moved north into central Somalia (same source).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives two main branches ([Wikipedia, Murusade, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murusade)):

- **Sabti:** Abu Bakr Sabti, Abdalla Sabti, Idinle Sabti and Ibrahim Sabti.
- **Foorculus:** Mohamed Foorculus (Hilibi), Ahmed Foorculus (Daguuro) and Ebakar Foorculus (Hawar Ceene).

Abbink lists five Murosade lineages: [Mohamed Amal](/en/society/duduble/), Nur 'Abdi, Septi, Gabdi and Foo'ulus ([Abbink 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). His Septi and Foo'ulus match Wikipedia's Sabti and Foorculus. Wikipedia also names the Muusetuur, a sub-clan found in Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) and Harar ([Wikipedia, Murusade, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murusade)).

ACLED's 2025 list codes the Murusade as one group, with the older names "Murusade-Hawiye" and "Hawiye-Muransade Sub-Clan" ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)). See also [Karanle](/en/society/karanle/) and [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. The Austrian research centre ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Mogadishu | "Mogadishu is inhabited largely by Hawiye from the clans Abgaal, Habar Gedir and Murosade" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Mogadishu](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Galgaduud | Main clans include Habar Gidir sub-clans and "the Murasade (Hawiye) clan" ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)) |
| Galgaduud, Al-Shabaab areas | Areas held or contested by al-Shabaab are mainly home to Duduble, Murasade and Wa'aysle ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Middle Shabelle | Among the Hawiye sub-clans of the region (same source) |
| Lower Shabelle | Among Hawiye clans in the east of the region (same source) |

Wikipedia quotes I. M. Lewis: the Murosade "are found in small groups in the region of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and, in a larger body, below the Shebelle around Afgoi" ([Wikipedia, Murusade, backup, quoting Lewis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murusade)). It names Ceel Buur district as a main Murusade area (same source).

## History on record

- **Before 1900.** Wikipedia says Ceel Buur was a Murusade trading centre. It says the Murusade traded along the Benadir coast, including Mogadishu, Merca and [Barawe](/en/regions/barawa/) ([Wikipedia, Murusade, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murusade)).
- **1896.** Wikipedia says Italian forces attacked "several other villages connected to the [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and Murusade clans" after the Lafoole fight, in which the consul Antonio Cecchi was killed (same source). See [resistance, 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).
- **Early 1900s.** Wikipedia says border groups of the Murusade came into contact with the Dervishes and the Hobyo Sultanate, "allying with the former and opposing the latter" (same source). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **2022 onward.** Murusade fighters were among the clan militias known as [Macawisley](/en/institutions/macawisley/) that fought al-Shabaab. In February 2024 "the Murusade divided over government involvement" (Wikipedia, citing PeaceRep and others).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative". Lower down, elders (*oday*) settle disputes and manage shared land and water ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia records a saying about the old role of Karanle judges: "*Garqaad Gareen Ajuuraan baa leh, Garnaqsi Garfuul Karanlaa leh*". It links it to Garfuul, a Murusade ancestor ([Wikipedia, Murusade, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murusade)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/). The Murusade seats in parliament are part of the Hawiye share; see [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). In [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) it names:

- Murusade against Cayr (Habar Gidir), a conflict that "started in the middle of 2024".
- Murusade against Duduble (Habar Gidir), in villages near Ceel Buur. The EUAA says the fighting was "stopped by [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)".

It also records that on 18 February 2025 a Murusade militia attacked Cayr civilians near Wahbo, Ceel Buur, and two civilians died (same source). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Under Karanle or beside it.** The World Bank's south-central chart and Wikipedia place the Murusade under the Karanle. Abbink draws them beside the Karanle. ACLED and the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) chart put them directly under the Hawiye.
- **Branch names.** Wikipedia gives two branches. Abbink gives five lineages, two of which match Wikipedia's.
- **Early history.** Most of the history above comes from Wikipedia, a backup source, drawing on clan tradition and older writers.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Karanle](/en/society/karanle/)
- [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Swahili in Somalia: Chimwiini of Baraawe and Kibajuni of the Bajuni Islands

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Two Swahili-related languages are native to Somalia. Chimwiini (Chimbalazi) is the language of the old families of Baraawe; Kibajuni (Tikuu) is spoken by the Bajuni of Kismaayo and the Bajuni Islands. Both are Bantu languages close to Swahili. Since 1991 most Chimwiini speakers live abroad, with fewer than 15,000 speakers in all.

## Two Swahili languages on the Somali coast

The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, in his 1981 survey of Somalia's languages, found two Swahili-speaking minorities ([Landinfo 2011, p. 10](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)):

- the oldest families of the town of **Baraawe** ([Brava](/en/regions/barawa/)), whose language Somalis call **Af-Chimwiini**;
- the **Bajuni** of Kismaayo and the islands off its coast, whose language Somalis call **Af-Bajuni** and the Bajuni call **Kibajuni**. Lamberti judged Kibajuni the oldest speech form in Kismaayo.

The prefix **ki-** or **chi-** means "language" in Swahili and related languages ([Landinfo 2011, p. 10](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). The linguists Derek Nurse and Thomas Hinnebusch classify both as northern dialects of Swahili; the Bantu classification of Jouni Maho (2009) treats each as a separate language ([Bravanese dialect, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravanese_dialect); [Bajuni dialect, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_dialect)).

## Chimwiini (Bravanese)

Chimwiini, also called Chimbalazi, Mwiini or Bravanese, is the language of the Bravanese people, the old inhabitants of Baraawe ([Bravanese dialect, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravanese_dialect)). The Chimiini Language Project led by Brent Henderson at the University of Florida says the language differs strongly from standard Swahili in sounds, grammar and words ([Bravanese dialect, Wikipedia, citing the Chimiini Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravanese_dialect)). It has a simpler three-way tense system than neighbouring Bantu languages, which some linguists read as a sign that it once served as a trade language on the coast.

After the civil war began in 1991, most speakers left Baraawe. They now live in [Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/) and [Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/) in the United States, in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and Manchester, and in Mombasa, Kenya. The Chimiini Project puts the total at fewer than 15,000 speakers ([Bravanese dialect, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravanese_dialect)).

Chimwiini was written in Arabic script. [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) [Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/), born in Baraawe in 1847, modelled his Arabic spelling of southern Somali on the one the Amrani families of Baraawe used to write Chimwiini ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1958 and Martin 2003](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)).

## Kibajuni (Bajuni)

Kibajuni, also called Tikuu, is spoken by the Bajuni people of the small [Bajuni Islands](/en/regions/bajuni-islands/), the coast of Kenya and parts of southern Somalia, where they are a minority ([Bajuni dialect, Wikipedia, citing Abdullahi 2001 and Mwakikagile 2007](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_dialect)). Lamberti noted that it has some sound changes of its own but is a Swahili dialect ([Landinfo 2011, p. 10](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Nurse and Hinnebusch record a sound like "ndr", a "d" with an r-like ending, in its consonants ([Bajuni dialect, Wikipedia, citing Nurse and Hinnebusch 1993](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajuni_dialect)).

Landinfo noted in 2011 that the number of speakers of these minority languages still in Somalia was likely low after the civil war ([Landinfo 2011, p. 9](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Mushunguli (Chizigula)](/en/society/mushunguli-language/)


---

# Zakat, sadaqa and waqf: Islamic giving in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/zakat-sadaqa-and-waqf-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zakat (sako) is the yearly alms every Muslim with enough wealth must give, typically 2.5 percent of their wealth. Somalis also give voluntary charity (sadaqa) and endowments (waqf), such as land given 'to God' for mosques and Sufi villages. Somalia has no state zakat fund yet: the religious affairs ministry has worked with Djibouti and a UK charity on how to collect it, while al-Shabaab collects forced 'zakat' in areas it reaches.

## Three kinds of giving

- **Zakat** (Somali *sako* or *zakaat*): one of the five pillars of Islam. The US State Department describes it as "an Islamic annual compulsory contribution of a set amount, typically 2.5 percent of one's wealth, to benefit the poor" ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). The Library of Congress country study lists almsgiving among the pillars and notes that whether a person must give "depend[s] upon one's ability to afford" it ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)).
- **Sadaqa** (*sadaqo*): voluntary charity, given at any time.
- **Waqf**: an endowment. Property is given permanently "to God", and its use or income goes to a mosque, school or the poor.

## Land given to God

The best-documented Somali waqf is land given to Sufi sheikhs. Leaders of religious orders asked lineage elders for land to build mosques and farming villages (*jamaaco*). "A piece of land was usually freely given", the Library of Congress study says, and the giver gained a blessing "since the land was considered given to God". Tenure "was a matter of charity only", so it could become insecure in disputes ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). By the 1950s more than 90 such villages in the south held about 35,000 people (same source). See [the Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## The state and zakat today

Somalia's Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (*Wasaaradda Awqaafta iyo Arrimaha Diinta*) holds the endowments brief. In October 2025 it held a five-day workshop in Djibouti with Djibouti's Ministry of Religious Affairs, Culture and Endowments on "endowment administration and zakat collection and registration" ([SONNA, 23 October 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-djibouti-religious-affairs-workshop-concludes-in-djibouti/)).

In March 2020, NZF Worldwide, an offshoot of the UK's National Zakat Foundation, said it had been engaged through the UN Development Programme to design a national zakat mechanism for Somalia, working with local authorities, Islamic scholars and the Central Bank of Somalia ([Salaam Gateway, 18 March 2020](https://salaamgateway.com/story/uks-national-zakat-foundation-to-work-with-un-on-zakat-mechanism-for-somalia-and-somaliland)). Researchers from Malaysian, Ethiopian and Sudanese universities have also studied how zakat and waqf could fund development in Somalia ([Lex Forensica journal, USIM](https://lexforensica.usim.edu.my/index.php/journal/article/download/18/81/306)).

## Forced "zakat" by al-Shabaab

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) runs a *Zakawaat* office that collects livestock and farm produce, separate from its finance office that collects cash. The Hiraal Institute, a Mogadishu research centre, reported in 2018 that the office's first head was dismissed after a year because he paid the zakat to the poor, and that afterwards only a small share went to the poor ([Hiraal Institute, "The AS Finance System", 16 July 2018](https://hiraalinstitute.org/the-as-finance-system/)).

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime calls it a "forced charitable tax" and says al-Shabaab raises over US$100 million a year, about a third of it in Mogadishu. It reports that the group uses records from notaries, port officials and property brokers to work out what businesses owe ([Global Initiative, 24 April 2025](https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/disrupting-al-shabaabs-hold-on-mogadishus-economy/)). In July 2025 Somalia's intelligence agency warned businesses not to pay money demanded under threat ([AllAfrica, July 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202507210080.html)). See [al-Shabaab's structure and leaders](/en/institutions/al-shabaab-structure-and-leaders/).

## Giving in Ramadan

Imams in Mogadishu urge those who can afford it to give to the poor during Ramadan, and youth groups in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) collect money from businesses and the diaspora to buy food and clothes for poor families ([AP via VOA, 1 April 2023](https://www.voaafrica.com/a/somalis-marks-ramadan-amid-record-drought/7027489.html); [Umayma Good, Andariya, 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)). See [Ramadan and Eid in Somalia](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/).

## Related

- [Islamic finance, microfinance and takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/)
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)


---

# The Somalia drought of 2016 to 2018: famine warned, famine averted

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/drought-2016-2018/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Four poor rainy seasons in a row, from April 2016 to December 2017, brought severe drought to Somalia. By mid-2017 6.2 million people, about half the population, needed aid, and close to one million were displaced. The president declared a national disaster on 28 February 2017. Famine was not declared. A study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated about 45,000 excess deaths in 2017 and 2018.

## In short

From April 2016 to December 2017, Somalia had four poor rainy seasons in a row. By mid-2017, **6.2 million Somalis, half the population, faced acute food insecurity**. Close to **one million people** were displaced between 2016 and 2017, mostly because of the drought ([World Bank, *Somali Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment*, summary of chapter 3: drought impact](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/301631594113228528/pdf/Summary-of-Chapter-3-Drought-Impact.pdf)).

Famine was not declared. A study by the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) estimated that **about 45,000 Somalis died** because of the crisis from January 2017 to December 2018. The authors said "the true number may be considerably higher" ([LSHTM, *Estimates of crisis-attributable mortality in Somalia, 2014–2018*, FAQ, January 2020](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f9841078fa8f543fa8167c8/40141.pdf)).

## Four poor rainy seasons

- **Seasons.** The Gu and [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains of 2016 and the Gu and Deyr rains of 2017 were all below normal. "Each successive failed rainy season between April 2016 and December 2017 exacerbated food insecurity" (World Bank summary, p. 1).
- **Livestock.** Lack of water and pasture caused livestock losses of **25 to 75% of herds** in the first half of 2017 (World Bank summary, p. 2).
- **Prices and wages.** Families sold assets and used up food stocks as food and water prices rose and farm wages fell (World Bank summary, p. 2).

The seasons themselves are explained on [rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## National disaster

- **27 February 2017.** The World Health Organization warned that Somalia was at risk of its third famine in 25 years ([Al Jazeera, 28 February 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/somalia-declares-national-disaster-drought-170228163745581.html)).
- **28 February 2017.** President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) declared the drought a national disaster and appealed for international help. WHO said more than 363,000 acutely malnourished children needed urgent support (Al Jazeera, 28 February 2017).
- **4 March 2017.** Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/)'s office said 110 people had died of hunger and diarrhoea in Bay region in the previous 48 hours. A regional official said most were children and elderly people in villages around Baidoa ([Al Jazeera, 4 March 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/hassan-ali-khaire-famine-kills-110-days-170304183606392.html)).
- **7 March 2017.** UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Mogadishu and Baidoa. He appealed for $825 million to support 5.5 million people for six months ([UNSOM, 7 March 2017](https://unsom.unmissions.org/world-must-act-now-stop-un-chief-guterres-says-visit-drought-hit-somalia)).

## Cholera and measles

Drought cut the water available for drinking and washing. This led to "large-scale outbreaks of water-borne and infectious diseases like cholera and measles" (World Bank summary, p. 2).

- By early March 2017 there had been 7,731 cholera cases and 183 deaths in two months (UNSOM, 7 March 2017).
- Across 2017 there were 77,000 cholera and acute watery diarrhoea cases and 16,000 reported measles cases ([DFID, *Somalia 2017 drought response: real-time review*, 2018, p. 2](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8566e4e5274a2e87dc3e43/DFID_Somalia_2017_IRF_Real_Time_Review_FINAL.pdf)).
- In March 2017 WHO and partners ran Somalia's first national oral cholera vaccination campaign, reaching over 450,000 people. Cholera treatment centres were working in 40 districts by May ([WHO, 11 May 2017](https://www.who.int/news/item/11-05-2017-who-calls-for-immediate-action-to-save-lives-in-somalia)).

## The numbers at the peak

After the August 2017 [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) assessment ([DFID review, p. 2](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8566e4e5274a2e87dc3e43/DFID_Somalia_2017_IRF_Real_Time_Review_FINAL.pdf)):

| Measure | Number |
|---|---|
| People in need of humanitarian aid (IPC 2 to 4) | 6.2 million |
| People in acute food insecurity (IPC 3 and 4) | over 3.1 million |
| Acutely malnourished children needing support | 388,000 |
| Severely malnourished children needing treatment | more than 87,000 |
| People displaced by drought and conflict since November 2016 | over 900,000 |
| Raised against the revised UN appeal of $1.5 billion | over $1.2 billion |

## The response

- **Cash.** By mid-2017 the food security sector reached more than three million people with cash and vouchers. "In contrast to 2011, cash and vouchers were widely accepted" (DFID review, p. 21). The UK pressed for a flat transfer of $60 a month per household (p. 22).
- **Somalis' own help.** The review notes that "remittance flows, as always, are much greater than aid flows". The government, states, private sector, diaspora and civil society "all played important roles" (DFID review, p. 3).
- **Why no famine.** The review found it "reasonable to attribute the absence of famine in part to the speed and scale of the humanitarian response, in conjunction with community's own strategies, remittances and other forms of support" (DFID review, p. iii).
- **UNICEF** said that by the end of 2017, 6.2 million people, including 3.4 million children, still needed aid, and that the response was "massive and early" and "led by the Somali Government" ([UNICEF Somalia, 2017 year in review](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/unicef-helps-avert-famine-somalia-2017)).

## The death toll

The LSHTM team re-analysed 201 household surveys from 2014 to 2018 and modelled death rates by district and month. The study was funded by the UK government and led by Abdihamid Warsame, Séverine Frison, Amy Gimma and Francesco Checchi ([LSHTM FAQ, January 2020, pp. 1–2](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f9841078fa8f543fa8167c8/40141.pdf)).

- About **45,000** excess deaths from January 2017 to December 2018.
- Even in a "conservative scenario", the toll "remains above 19,400" (p. 3).
- Unlike 2011, the death rate was highest "in the northeast and central regions of the country" (p. 2).

## Sources

- World Bank. [Somali Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment: summary of chapter 3, drought impact](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/301631594113228528/pdf/Summary-of-Chapter-3-Drought-Impact.pdf).
- LSHTM (2020). [Estimates of crisis-attributable mortality in Somalia, 2014–2018: FAQ document](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f9841078fa8f543fa8167c8/40141.pdf), January 2020.
- DFID (2018). [Somalia 2017 drought response: real-time review](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8566e4e5274a2e87dc3e43/DFID_Somalia_2017_IRF_Real_Time_Review_FINAL.pdf).
- Al Jazeera (2017). [Somalia declares 'national disaster' over drought](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/somalia-declares-national-disaster-drought-170228163745581.html), 28 February 2017.
- Al Jazeera (2017). [Somalia PM: 110 dead from hunger in 48 hours](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/hassan-ali-khaire-famine-kills-110-days-170304183606392.html), 4 March 2017.
- UNSOM (2017). [World must act now to stop famine, UN chief Guterres says on visit to drought-hit Somalia](https://unsom.unmissions.org/world-must-act-now-stop-un-chief-guterres-says-visit-drought-hit-somalia), 7 March 2017.
- WHO (2017). [WHO calls for immediate action to save lives in Somalia](https://www.who.int/news/item/11-05-2017-who-calls-for-immediate-action-to-save-lives-in-somalia), 11 May 2017.
- [UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/). [2017 year in review: UNICEF helps avert famine in Somalia](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/unicef-helps-avert-famine-somalia-2017).


---

# Mushunguli (Chizigula): the Bantu language of the Juba valley

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mushunguli-language/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Mushunguli, or Chizigula, is a Bantu language spoken by Somali Bantu people in Jamaame, Kismaayo, Mogadishu and the Juba valley. It is a form of Zigua (Zigula), a language of Tanzania, the homeland of many people taken to the Somali coast as slaves in the 1800s. Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, gives about 34,000 speakers.

## Who speaks it and where

Mushunguli, also spelled Mushungulu and called Chizigula or Zigua, is spoken by Somali Bantu people in [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), Kismaayo, Mogadishu and the [Juba River](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley. Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, gives about 34,000 speakers ([Zigula language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigula_language)).

The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti recorded it in 1981 in the Jamaame district along the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Landinfo 2011, p. 10](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). He described the speakers as descendants of people taken as slaves, among other places from [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), 200 to 300 years before his survey. He found their language closest to Shambala of Tanzania.

## Link to Zigua in Tanzania

The language shares strong word and grammar links with the speech of the Zigua people of Tanzania ([Zigula language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigula_language)). A 2002 report by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants on the Somali Bantu noted that many Bantu in Somalia descend from people captured in that part of East Africa during the 1800s ([Refugee Reports, November 2002, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20091111104732/http://www.refugees.org/data/refugee_reports/archives/2002/nov.pdf)). Ethnologue notes that the Mushunguli are known in Tanzania as Wazegua ([Zigula language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigula_language)).

## Speaking Somali and Maay too

Lamberti found in the 1980s that Mushunguli men had much contact with their Somali neighbours and spoke good Somali, while women had less contact and knew less Somali ([Landinfo 2011, p. 10](http://www.landinfo.no/asset/1800/1/1800_1.pdf)). Many Mushunguli men use [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) and Somali as working languages ([Zigula language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigula_language)).

## Sounds and writing

There is no official or traditional way of writing Mushunguli; spellings from related Bantu languages are used. Vowel length does not change meaning, but long sounds go with falling tones, as in chîga ("leg"). The tone system is close to that of Tanzanian Zigua ([Zigula language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigula_language)).

Because thousands of Somali Bantu were resettled in the United States from 2003, much recent research has been done with speakers there ([Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)). Studies include Erin MacSaveny's work on verb tone ([MacSaveny 2009, Verbal tone in Chizigula](https://www.diu.edu/documents/OPAL/No-5-MacSaveny-Verbal-Tone-in-Chizigula.pdf)), Katherine Hout and Eric Bakovic on sound rules (2014), and Michal Temkin Martinez and Haley Boone on nasal sounds (2016) ([Zigula language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigula_language)). A Somali Chizigula dictionary is published online on the Webonary platform ([Webonary, Somali Chizigula](https://www.webonary.org/somali-chizigula/)).

## Read more

- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Swahili in Somalia](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/)
- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)


---

# Somali musical instruments and dances: the kaban, drums, dhaanto and niiko

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-instruments-and-dances/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali song is pentatonic, using five notes to the octave, and its lead instrument is the oud, called kaban, usually with small drums and a reed flute. The riverine and coastal south has many more instruments, from the shareero lyre to the seese one-string fiddle. The Somali word for dance is ciyaar; well-known dances include dhaanto, a chant-dance revived by the Dervishes, and niiko, linked to the Somali Bantu.

## The sound of Somali song

Somali songs are pentatonic: they use five notes to the octave rather than the seven of a major scale. A song is usually the work of three people, the lyricist (*lahamiste*), the songwriter (*abwaan*) and the singer (*odka*, "voice"). The Somali word for dance is *ciyaar* ([Music of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Somalia)).

## The kaban (oud)

The main instrument of modern Somali music is the oud, known in Somali as the *kaban*, often with small drums and a reed flute. Heavy percussion and metal sounds are rare. [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) is credited with bringing the kaban into Somali song in the 1950s, and the *qaraami* love songs of that time were played mostly on it. Leading kaban players of the 1950s included [Ali Feiruz](/en/people/ali-feiruz/) and Mohamed Nahari ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Somalia); [Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## Instruments of the river and coast

The riverine and coastal areas of southern Somalia use many more instruments. Wikipedia, drawing on the Ministry of Information's 1974 *Somali Culture and Folklore*, lists ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Somalia)):

- **Drums:** *nasaro*, *mokhoddon* and *masoondhe* (high and heavy drums); *reeme*, *jabbu* and *yoome* (small drums).
- **Wind:** *malkad* and *siinbaar* (flutes), *sumaari* (double clarinet), *fuugwo* (trumpet), and the horns *buun*, *muufe* and *gees-goodir*.
- **Percussion:** *shagal* (metal clappers), *shanbaal* (wooden clappers), *shunuuf* (rattles worn on the ankle, made from plants) and *tenegyo* (xylophone).
- **Strings:** *shareero* (lyre), *kinaandha* (lute), *madhuube* (thumb piano) and *seese* (one-string fiddle).

The *shareero* belongs to a family of bowl lyres found across East Africa and the Red Sea, called *tanbūra* in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/). The ethnomusicologist Christian Poché recorded the Sudanese-style lyre in Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen, southern Iraq and the Gulf ([Tanbūra, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanb%C5%ABra_(lyre))).

## Dhaanto

*Dhaanto*, roughly "the best of dances", is a traditional chant and folk dance, most common in the Somali region of Ethiopia. Wikipedia says the Dervish movement revived it in the late 19th century to raise the spirits of fighters, who often sang it on horseback, and that it was used again in the Ogaden war of 1977–78. It spread to other Somali areas and is also used in Islamic poetry. Every year Somali groups perform versions of it at the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day in Jigjiga ([Dhaanto, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaanto); [John William Johnson, *Heelloy*](https://archive.org/details/heelloymodernpoe00john/page/31)). Before radio, Somali song was largely work song and dance, including dhaanto ([Somali literature, Wikipedia, citing Ismaaciil Galaal 1970](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_literature)).

## Niiko

*Niiko* is a dance associated with the Somali Bantu, a minority whose ancestors include people brought to Somalia as slaves. Wikipedia describes it as sensual and, for that reason, avoided by many religiously observant Somalis, and quotes a source that calls it a dance taken from minority cultures rather than an original Somali one ([Niiko, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niiko); [Vermont Folklife, Somali Bantu music](https://www.vtfolklife.org/musical-resources/somali-bantu-music)).

## Where to hear it

Music recorded in the 1970s was buried underground in Hargeisa during the war and is now kept by the Red Sea Foundation at the Hargeisa Cultural Centre and at Radio Hargeisa. Wikipedia names Hiddo Dhawr in Hargeisa as a live music venue ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Somalia)).

## Read more

- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [Balwo](/en/society/balwo/)
- [Somali bands](/en/society/somali-bands/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)


---

# Somali Muslim scholars and saints: a guide from the 1200s to 1920

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From Sheikh Isaaq at Maydh, remembered from the 900s or 1000s, to the Dervish leader Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan in 1920, Somali Muslim scholars and saints carried Islam inland, founded towns and farming villages, wrote poetry and led resistance. This guide lists 14 of the best known, in order of their time, each with where they lived, their order and where they are buried.

## How to read this guide

Many of these lives are known from oral tradition and from hagiographies (*manaaqib*), books of praise written by followers. Where the record is tradition rather than a dated document, the entry says so. Each entry links to its source and, where one exists, to its own page.

## Before 1500

**[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq.** By tradition a [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) scholar from Arabia who settled at [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) in the 900s or 1000s; forefather of the Isaaq. His tomb at Maydh is visited every year ([Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)).

**Sheikh Hussein of Bale (1200s).** Born in [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/). Tradition credits him with bringing Islam to peoples of the Bale highlands in today's Ethiopia. A hagiography, *Rabi' al-Qulub*, was printed in Cairo in the 1920s. The town of Sheikh Hussein, where he is buried, draws about 50,000 pilgrims twice a year ([Sheikh Hussein (saint), Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hussein_(saint))). See [Sheikh Hussein of Bale](/en/people/sheikh-hussein-of-bale/).

**Aw [Abadir](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/) Umar al-Rida (1200s).** The legendary founder of Harar, said in the *Fath Madinat Harar* to have come from the Hijaz in 1216 and built the city's main mosque. He is held to be the common ancestor of the [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/) and of the Harari ([Abadir Umar ar-Rida, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abadir_Umar_ar-Rida)).

**Aw Barkhadle (Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn).** A scholar of the Zeila coast, remembered as having come from Arabia to teach Islam and as the creator of Somali names for the Arabic vowel signs. His tomb near Hargeisa is a place of yearly *siyaaro* ([Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_bin_Ahmad_al-Kawneyn); [Horn Heritage, Islamic heritage: Sufism](https://www.hornheritage.org/sufi-shrines/)). See [Aw Barkhadle](/en/people/aw-barkhadle/).

**Fakhr al-Din Uthman al-Zayla'i (died 1342/43).** A Hanafi jurist "from Zeila" who taught in Cairo and wrote *Tabyin al-Haqa'iq* ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)). See [Uthman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/uthman-al-zaylai/).

## 1800s and early 1900s

**Sheikh Ibraahim Xasan Jebro (founded [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) 1819).** Founder of the first Somali religious farming community on the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [the Baardheere jamaaca](/en/society/baardheere-jamaaca-1819-1843/).

**Xaaji Cali Majeerteen (1800s).** Born in the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) valley; studied in Mecca and Baghdad; preached against practices he held to be against sharia and started a school at Xalin. In 1847 he landed at Merca with about 150 armed followers ([Haji Ali Majeerteen, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Ali_Majeerteen)).

**Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i (1820–1882).** Born at Kodle in [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/); spread the Qadiriyya in the interior from his centre at Qolonqol ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/).

**Sheikh Sufi (Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah al-Shashi, 1829–1904).** Qadiri scholar, poet and mediator of Mogadishu, author of *Shajarat al-Yaqin*. His tomb is a yearly pilgrimage site ([Shaykh Sufi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaykh_Sufi)). The Library of Congress study names a Qadiri teacher of Mogadishu, Sheikh Abdirahman Abdullah, who "stressed deep mysticism", whose tomb became a pilgrimage centre for the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) area and whose writings were still read in the 1990s ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)); the name matches Sheikh Sufi's. See [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/).

**Sheikh Uways al-Barawi (1847–1909).** From [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/); studied in Baghdad; led the Uwaysiyya branch of the Qadiriyya and spread it across East Africa; founded Biyooley, where he is buried. His yearly celebration draws people from [Somalia and Kenya](/en/relations/kenya/) ([Horn Heritage](https://www.hornheritage.org/sufi-shrines/); [Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/).

**Sheikh Cali Maye Durogba of Merca.** A poet who joined the Ahmadiyya order on pilgrimage to Mecca and brought it to Somalia. Visions and miracles attributed to him gave him a name for holiness ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). He came from the Al-Bakri family of the Duruqbo of Merca; a yearly festival outside his shrine in Merca ends on 5 Safar ([Duruqbo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duruqbo)). Horn Heritage dates his bringing of the order to the early 1900s ([Horn Heritage](https://www.hornheritage.org/sufi-shrines/)).

**Sheikh Maxamed Guuleed (died 1918).** The most active teacher of the Salihiyya in the south. He settled among the Shidle on the middle Shabelle and founded a *jamaaca* there, another among the Ajuran, and then a third among the Shidle before he died ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm); [Salihiyya, Wikipedia, citing Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salihiyya)).

**Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920).** Salihiyya sheikh and poet who led the Dervish movement against British, Italian and Ethiopian rule from 1899 to 1920 ([Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Abdullah_Hassan)). See [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) and [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

**Sheikh Xasan Barsane (born 1853).** Salihiyya scholar who led resistance in the Shabelle valley and died in an Italian prison ([Sheikh Hassan Barsane, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hassan_Barsane)). See [Sheikh Hassan Barsane](/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/).

## More to read

- [The Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/)
- [Saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/)
- Scott S. Reese, *[Renewers of the Age](/en/books/renewers-of-the-age-reese/): Holy Men and Social Discourse in Colonial Benaadir* (Brill, 2008).


---

# Wacbuudhan (Wa'budhan, Abgaal Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/wacbuudhan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Wacbuudhan (Wa'budhan, Wabudhan) are one of the three main branches of the Abgaal, a Hawiye clan, with Harti and Waceysle. Their sub-clans include Mohamed Muse, Mataan Muse, Daud and Kabaale. The EUAA records Wacbuudhan groups in Middle Shabelle, around Jowhar and Adale.

## Name and family tree

The Wacbuudhan are a branch of the [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/), a clan of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) family ([EUAA Country Guidance, 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/1-general-remarks)). The name is spelled many ways: Wacbuudhan and Wacbudhan in Somali, and Wa'budhan, Wabudhan or Wa'abudan in English sources.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Bah Girei > Gurgate > Abgal > Wa'abudan ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 26](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Abgal > Wabudhan ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Wa'budhan/Abgaal/Hawiye" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | The middle of the three Abgaal branches: "the eldest Harti, the middle Wacbudhan and the youngest Waceysle" ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)) |

The Abgaal in turn sit in the Hiraab and Mudulood line in some sources and directly under Gurgate in others. See [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/) for those placements.

## Main branches

Abbink lists one lineage under Wa'abudan: Da'ud ([Abbink 2009, p. 26](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

ACLED's 2025 list codes these groups ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)):

- Wabudhan > Mataan Muse
- Wabudhan > Mohamed Muse
- Abgal > Mohamed Muse, with Dhiblabe Turyare and Suubiye Turyare
- Abgal > Daud, and Abgal > Kabaale

The EUAA names two sub-clans of the Mohamed Muse: Adan Dhiblabe Turyare and Suubiye Dhiblabe Turyare. It also names the Agoonyar Gabane and Obakar Gabane as Mohamed Muse groups ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The clan tree on Wikipedia's Hawiye page gives a longer list under Wa'budhan. It names Galmaax Yonis (with Yusuf Galmaax, Maxamed Muuse, Cumar Galmaax, [Celi](/en/society/duduble/) Cumar and Reer Mataan), Xuseen Yonis and Adan Yonis. It also names Kabaale Wacbudhan ([Saleeban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) Muse, Xeyle Muse) and Dauud (Isaaq Dauud, Yusuf Dauud and [Reer Ugaas](/en/society/gadabuursi/)) ([Wikipedia, Hawiye, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)).

Every group here is also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. The Austrian research centre ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Jowhar district, Middle Shabelle | Fighting between two Mohamed Muse sub-clans ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Adale district, Middle Shabelle | Fighting between Mohamed Muse groups and the Abdalle Arone (same source) |
| Middle Shabelle | "The dominant clan in Middle Shabelle is the Abgal clan" ([EUAA 2025, Middle Shabelle](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)) |
| Mogadishu | Wikipedia calls Mogadishu the traditional land of the Reer Mataan ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)). Its Hawiye tree places a Reer Mataan under Wa'budhan ([Wikipedia, Hawiye, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)). |

## History on record

The sources used here record the Wacbuudhan mostly through recent conflict and peace talks. The wider Abgaal history, including Mogadishu from the 1500s and the 1991 split of the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/), is on the [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/) page.

- **July 2023.** Fighting between the Abgal sub-clans Abdalle Arone and Mohamed Muse was reported in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([EUAA 2025, Middle Shabelle](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/242-middle-shabelle)).
- **August 2024.** That conflict was "reportedly resolved through a peace agreement" (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says the Abgaal ugaas comes from the Reer Ugaas and is also ugaas of the Mudulood ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)). Its Hawiye tree places the Reer Ugaas under Dauud, in the Wa'budhan line ([Wikipedia, Hawiye, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)). The August 2024 agreement above is one example of a clan dispute settled by talks. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Items naming Wacbuudhan groups:

- Adan Dhiblabe Turyare against Suubiye Dhiblabe Turyare, both sub-clans of the Mohamed Muse "(Wa'budhan/Abgaal/Hawiye)", in Jowhar district.
- Mohamed Muse "(Wa'budhan/Abgaal/Hawiye)" against Abdalle Arone, near Adale district.
- Abdalle Arone against Agoonyar Gabane and Obakar Gabane (Mohamed Muse), in Adale district.
- Ili Omar and Reer Mataan, both Abgaal, in [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) district.

See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **What sits under Wacbuudhan.** Abbink lists only Da'ud. ACLED puts Mataan Muse and Mohamed Muse under Wabudhan, but also lists Mohamed Muse, Daud and Kabaale directly under the Abgal. Wikipedia's Hawiye tree gives a longer line.
- **Reer Mataan.** ACLED lists Reer Matan and Matan Abdulle under the Abgal, and Mataan Muse under Wabudhan. Wikipedia places a Reer Mataan under Wa'budhan.
- **Spelling.** The same branch appears as Wacbuudhan, Wacbudhan, Wa'budhan, Wabudhan and Wa'abudan.

## Read more

- [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/), the clan the Wacbuudhan belong to
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)


---

# The Somalia drought of 2020 to 2023: five poor rainy seasons and a famine projection

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/drought-2020-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> From late 2020, Somalia had five rainy seasons in a row with too little rain. In September 2022 the IPC projected famine in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts of Bay region, the first time it projected famine without one already declared. Famine was not declared. A study for the health ministry, WHO and UNICEF estimated 71,100 excess deaths between January 2022 and June 2024, about 40% of them children under five.

## In short

From late 2020 to early 2023, Somalia had **five rainy seasons in a row with too little rain**. In December 2022 the UN-backed food security analysts said about **8.3 million people** were expected to face crisis-level hunger or worse by mid-2023 ([FSNAU and partners, technical release, 13 December 2022](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Multi-Partner-Technical-Release-on-Updated-IPC-Analysis-for-Somalia-fo-October-2022-to-June-2023-Final-%28English%29-13-Dec-2022.pdf)).

Famine was projected but not declared. A study released by the Federal Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF estimated that **71,100 people** died because of the drought between January 2022 and June 2024. About **40% were children under five** ([UNICEF Somalia, 21 January 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/71000-drought-related-excess-deaths)).

## Five poor seasons

- The December 2022 release named "five consecutive seasons of poor rainfall" and "a likely sixth season of below-average rainfall from March to June 2023" as the main driver ([FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/), 13 December 2022).
- The October to December 2022 [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains were 25 to 55% below average (FSNAU, 13 December 2022).
- Other drivers were "exceptionally high food prices", conflict and disease outbreaks (FSNAU, 13 December 2022).

The rainy seasons are explained on [rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## The famine projections

**5 September 2022.** Analysts projected **famine (IPC Phase 5)** between October and December 2022 for farming and herding families in **Baidoa and [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/)** districts and for displaced people in Baidoa town, unless aid reached them. An independent Famine Review Committee checked the evidence ([FSNAU and partners, technical release, 5 September 2022](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Multi-Partner-Technical-Release-on-Famine-Projection-in-Bay-Region-of-Somalia-5-Sep-2022.pdf)).

- FEWS NET said it was the first time the IPC had projected famine for a future period without a famine already declared ([FEWS NET alert, 5 September 2022](https://fews.net/sites/default/files/documents/reports/Somalia-ALERT-20220905.pdf)).
- The release explained the three famine thresholds: at least 20% of households with an extreme lack of food, at least 30% of children acutely malnourished, and two adults or four children in every 10,000 dying each day (FSNAU, 5 September 2022).

**13 December 2022.** Food aid was then reaching over 5.8 million people a month. Analysts projected famine for April to June 2023 in three areas: farm families in Baidoa and Burhakaba, displaced people in Baidoa town, and displaced people in **Mogadishu**. They named seven more areas at "increased Risk of Famine", including herding areas of central Somalia and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), and displacement camps in Garowe, [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) and Dollow (FSNAU, 13 December 2022).

## The numbers in December 2022

From the [FSNAU technical release of 13 December 2022](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Multi-Partner-Technical-Release-on-Updated-IPC-Analysis-for-Somalia-fo-October-2022-to-June-2023-Final-%28English%29-13-Dec-2022.pdf):

| Measure | Number |
|---|---|
| People in crisis or worse, October to December 2022 | 5.6 million |
| In catastrophe (IPC Phase 5), October to December 2022 | 214,000 |
| Expected in crisis or worse, April to June 2023 | 8.3 million |
| Expected in emergency (IPC Phase 4), April to June 2023 | 2.7 million |
| Expected in catastrophe (IPC Phase 5), April to June 2023 | at least 727,000 |
| Children acutely malnourished, to July 2023 | about 1.8 million |
| Of them, likely severely malnourished | 513,550 |

The analysis was done in November 2022 by 47 experts from 22 government, UN and NGO institutions (FSNAU, 13 December 2022).

## The death toll

A series of five studies by the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London and [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) measured the deaths.

- **First report, 20 March 2023.** About **43,000 excess deaths** in 2022, half of them children under five. The death rate rose from 0.33 to 0.38 per 10,000 people a day during 2022. The highest death rates were around Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and Banadir ([UNICEF Somalia, 20 March 2023](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia)).
- **Forecast.** The same report forecast that 135 people might die each day in early 2023, with 18,100 to 34,200 deaths from January to June 2023 (UNICEF, 20 March 2023).
- **Final report, 21 January 2025.** About **71,100 excess deaths** from January 2022 to June 2024. Most were in Banadir, Bay and [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). The north-east had "relatively low levels of mortality" despite high food insecurity ([UNICEF Somalia, 21 January 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/71000-drought-related-excess-deaths)).

The 2025 release said the 2022 drought "affected 7.9 million people, nearly half the population", and that "famine was narrowly averted" (UNICEF, 21 January 2025).

## Compared with earlier droughts

| Crisis | Estimated excess deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|
| [1991 to 1993 famine](/en/society/famine-1991-1993/) | 212,000 to 248,000 | Refugee Policy Group 1994 |
| [2010 to 2012 famine](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/) | 258,000 | FSNAU and FEWS NET 2013 |
| [2016 to 2018 drought](/en/society/drought-2016-2018/) | about 45,000 | LSHTM 2020 |
| 2022 to mid-2024 drought | 71,100 | UNICEF, WHO and ministry 2025 |

## Sources

- FSNAU, FEWS NET and partners (2022). [Famine (IPC Phase 5) is expected in parts of Bay region unless humanitarian assistance urgently reaches people most in need](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Multi-Partner-Technical-Release-on-Famine-Projection-in-Bay-Region-of-Somalia-5-Sep-2022.pdf), 5 September 2022.
- FEWS NET (2022). [Somalia alert](https://fews.net/sites/default/files/documents/reports/Somalia-ALERT-20220905.pdf), 5 September 2022.
- FSNAU, FEWS NET and partners (2022). [Nearly 8.3 million people across Somalia face Crisis or worse; Famine projected in three areas](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Multi-Partner-Technical-Release-on-Updated-IPC-Analysis-for-Somalia-fo-October-2022-to-June-2023-Final-%28English%29-13-Dec-2022.pdf), 13 December 2022.
- [UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/) (2023). [New study finds that 43,000 excess deaths may have occurred in 2022 from the drought in Somalia](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia), 20 March 2023.
- UNICEF Somalia (2025). [New study estimates that 71,000 drought-related excess deaths may have occurred in Somalia between 2022 and 2024](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/71000-drought-related-excess-deaths), 21 January 2025.


---

# Ramadan and Eid in Somalia: fasting, iftar, moon sighting and the two Eids

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalis fast from dawn to sunset through Ramadaan, then celebrate Ciidul Fitri when the new moon of Shawwal (Soonfur) is seen. Iftar usually opens with dates and water, followed by sambuus, bajiye and canjeero. Prices rise during the month, and imams urge giving to the poor. Ciidul Adxa, at the end of the Hajj, is the peak season for livestock exports to Saudi Arabia. In March 2026 Eid al-Fitr was marked on the same day across the country.

## Fasting and its rules

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Library of Congress country study describes the fast as "going without food, drink, tobacco, and sexual relations from dawn until sunset". People on a journey may be excused but "should compensate at a later time" ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). In Somali the fast is *soon*, and the meal that breaks it at sunset is *afur* ([Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/)).

Ramadan moves about 11 days earlier each year because it follows the moon. By calculation, Ramadan 1448 begins about 8 February 2027. See [the Islamic calendar in Somalia](/en/society/islamic-calendar-in-somalia/) for the dates.

## Before dawn: sareen and suhuur

A writer from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) describes how, a few weeks before Ramadan, women prepare *sareen*: a mix of sorghum and wheat that is soaked, drained, dried in the sun and pounded. It is eaten as porridge with milk or oil at *suhuur*, the meal before dawn. In some neighbourhoods a sheikh or his students walk the streets before dawn to wake people for suhuur ([Umayma Good, "Ramadan in Somaliland", Andariya, 25 April 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)).

## Breaking the fast

The same account says restaurants and cafés close during the day and open at sunset. The fast is opened with dates and water. Men often pray the sunset prayer at the mosque before eating with their families ([Andariya, 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)). Common iftar foods include:

- **Sambuus:** triangular pastries filled with spiced meat, tuna or lentils.
- **Bajiye:** fritters of crushed black-eyed beans, onion, garlic and pepper, served with *shidni*, a spicy green sauce.
- **Canjeero (laxoox):** the soft sourdough pancake, eaten in Ramadan with liver and onions or *suqaar* (diced meat).
- **Qaxwo:** milky coffee spiced with cinnamon and cardamom, drunk after iftar and before the night prayers ([Andariya, 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)).

An Associated Press report from Mogadishu in 2023 describes a typical iftar in better-off homes as samosas and other snacks, juice, tea or coffee, then rice, spaghetti or flatbread with camel, goat, chicken or fish, and a dessert ([AP via Arab News, 29 March 2023](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2277546/world)). See also [Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/).

## The nights

After iftar many families attend a short talk by a sheikh, called *maxadiro*, and then the *taraawiix* night prayers. Afterwards people gather in cafés and tea spots to hear *Nabi Amaan*, songs in praise of the Prophet. In the last ten nights markets stay open late and parents buy new clothes for Eid ([Andariya, 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)).

## Prices and giving

Demand rises in Ramadan and food prices usually go up. In 2023, the AP reported that a kilogram of camel meat in Mogadishu rose from about US$4 before the month to about US$6. That Ramadan fell during the longest drought on record. A displaced mother of six in a camp outside Mogadishu told the AP that her family broke the fast with water, dates and a donated meal. The World Food Programme said the Ramadan spike was "a disadvantage to vulnerable households who depend on local markets" ([AP via VOA, 1 April 2023](https://www.voaafrica.com/a/somalis-marks-ramadan-amid-record-drought/7027489.html)).

Imams in Mogadishu urged those who could afford it to give to the poor. [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdikarim Isse Ali told the AP: "Some people need food to afford to break their fast. Please help them" (same source). In Somaliland, youth groups collect money from businesses and the diaspora to buy food and clothes for poor families, and charities serve daily iftar in mosque yards ([Andariya, 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)). See also [zakat, sadaqa and waqf](/en/society/zakat-sadaqa-and-waqf-in-somalia/).

## Who decides when Eid starts

Eid al-Fitr (*Ciidul Fitri*) begins when the new moon of Shawwal, called *Soonfur* in Somali, is seen. The government then announces the day. On 30 March 2025 the federal government announced Eid for 31 March after the moon was reported sighted in Hargeisa, [Caabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/), [Beledxaawo](/en/regions/gedo/) and Walaweyn ([FTL Somalia, 30 March 2025](https://www.ftlsomalia.com/somalia-announces-march-31-as-eid-al-fitr/)).

In some years different authorities have announced different days. In May 2021, al-Shabaab's courts office said eight people in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), Gedo, Bay and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) had seen the moon and ordered Eid in areas the group held, while the federal government said the moon had not been seen and that 12 May was the last day of Ramadan ([Garowe Online, 12 May 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/al-shabaab-celebrates-eid-al-fitr-in-central-and-southern-somalia)). In March 2026, [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) News reported that Eid was "observed simultaneously across all regions of the country", unlike past years when some areas celebrated a day later ([Goobjoog News, 20 March 2026](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-celebrates-eid-in-unity-as-thousands-throng-streets-of-mogadishu/)).

## The day of Ciidul Fitri

Goobjoog described Mogadishu's main streets, public squares and recreation sites full of people in new clothes, exchanging greetings and spending time with family, with children at games ([Goobjoog News, 2026](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-celebrates-eid-in-unity-as-thousands-throng-streets-of-mogadishu/)). *Xalwo*, the Somali sweet, is served to guests ([Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/)). The Andariya writer describes three days of celebration in Somaliland ([Andariya, 2021](https://andariya.com/post/ramadan-in-somaliland)).

## Ciidul Adxa and the Hajj livestock trade

Eid al-Adha (*Ciidul Adxa*) falls on 10 Dhu al-Hijja, at the end of the Hajj, when families who can afford it sacrifice an animal ([Islamic calendar in Somalia](/en/society/islamic-calendar-in-somalia/)). The federal government supported 9,043 Somali Hajj pilgrims in 2023 ([US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html)). See [Hajj from Somalia](/en/society/hajj-from-somalia/).

The Hajj is also the peak of the Somali livestock trade, because pilgrims in Mecca need animals for the sacrifice. In 2016 the Voice of America reported that the quarantine station at the port of Berbera, in Somaliland, "holds over a million animals at the height of the Hajj", and that one ship can carry between 20,000 and 120,000 animals ([VOA Learning English, 8 September 2016](https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/somaliland-exports-animals-for-the-hajj/3497672.html)). See [trade, exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/) and [ports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Read further

- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)
- [Religion in Somalia in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/)


---

# Reer Aw Xasan (Reer Aw Hassan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Reer Aw Xasan (Reer Aw Hassan) is a name shared by several Somali groups. Somali Wikipedia describes a lineage known for religious scholars and teachers, with two branches, Reer Aw Saacid and Reer Aw Nuur. ACLED codes a Reer Aw Hassan under the Marehan (Darod) and another under the Habar Gidir (Hawiye), and Abbink lists an Aw Hassan under the Sheekhaal. The EUAA records the Marehan group in the Luuq conflict in Gedo.

## Name and family tree

*Reer* means "people" or "family of", and *Aw* is a title of respect for religious scholars and elders. Reer Aw Xasan therefore means "the people of Aw Xasan". The sources use the name for different groups, in different clan families.

| Source | Group it calls Reer Aw Xasan or Aw Hassan |
|---|---|
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | "A clan among the Somali clans", known for religious leadership, learning and community service. It names no clan family ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Aw Xasan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reer_Aw_Xassan)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Marehan > Reer Aw Hassan, and Hawiye > Habar Gidir > Reer Aw Hassan ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Bah Girei > Gurgate > Sheikhaal > Aw Hassan ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Reer Aw Hassan/Marehan (Darood)", in Luuq, Gedo ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| EASO 2021 | "Reer Aw Hassan (Ashraf)" in Hiiraan, and a "Reer Hassan (Ashraf)" among the smaller groups there ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |

See [Asharaaf](/en/society/asharaaf/), [Darod](/en/society/darod/), [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia says the group divides into two main lines ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reer_Aw_Xassan)):

- **Reer Aw Saacid:** Reer Aw Xuuriye, Reer Aw Kheyre, Reer Aw Hilowle and Maxamed Aw Saacid.
- **Reer Aw Nuur:** Reer Aw Mahdi, Reer Aw Cilmi and Reer Udgoone.

ACLED gives the older names "Marehan Reer Aw Hassan" and "Habar Gedir-Reer Aw Hassan" ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)). Abbink lists Aw Hassan among the [Sheikhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/) lineages, with Lobogay, Aw Qudhub, Gandershe, Martile and Reer Fiqi Omar ([Abbink 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. The Austrian research centre ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Group | Places the sources give |
|---|---|
| Reer Aw Saacid (Somali Wikipedia) | Lower Shabelle, especially Qoryooley and Afgooye; north-eastern Kenya, at Mandera and Qalaaliyow ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reer_Aw_Xassan)) |
| Reer Aw Nuur (Somali Wikipedia) | Beledweyne and other parts of Hiiraan; Feerfeer and the Somali Region of Ethiopia; Lower Shabelle, Jubaland, Banadir and Kenya (same source) |
| Reer Aw Hassan/Marehan (EUAA) | Luuq district, Gedo ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |

## History on record

Somali Wikipedia says the group "was historically known for producing religious scholars, teachers and community leaders". It credits them with a part in spreading the faith and building education ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reer_Aw_Xassan)). See [Quran schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/).

For the Marehan group, the EUAA records the Luuq conflict of 2023 to 2025, listed below.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative". Lower down, elders (*oday*) settle disputes and manage shared land and water ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). The title *Aw* in the name itself points to a line of religious teachers. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan conflicts from April 2023 to March 2025, using ACLED data ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Reer Aw Hassan/Marehan (Darod) and Gababweyne (Rahanweyn) against Moalim Weyne (Rahanweyn), in Luuq, Gedo.

The EUAA writes that Luuq district "has recently become the epicentre of clan conflict". It names land ownership, governance and resources as causes. The conflict caused "dozens of deaths" and reportedly displaced more than 40,000 people, "although exact figures are contested" (same source). An earlier EASO report lists a land dispute in Hiiraan between the Hawadle (Hawiye) and the "Reer Aw Hassan (Ashraf)". It says the conflict killed 16 people in June 2020 ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Which group.** Somali Wikipedia names no clan family. ACLED codes the name under two families, Darod (Marehan) and Hawiye (Habar Gidir). Abbink places an Aw Hassan under the Sheekhaal. The EASO calls the Hiiraan group Ashraf.
- **Branches.** The Reer Aw Saacid and Reer Aw Nuur lines come from Somali Wikipedia alone, a backup source.

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/) and [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Asharaaf](/en/society/asharaaf/)
- [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)


---

# Somali Sign Language: how it began in Borama in 1997

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-sign-language/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somali Sign Language is the sign language of deaf people in Somalia and Djibouti. It began in 1997, when a deaf Somali man trained at a deaf school in Wajir, Kenya, opened the first school for deaf children in Borama. It grew from Kenyan Sign Language and spread to schools in Hargeysa and Djibouti.

## How it began

Somali Sign Language started with one deaf teacher. The Enabling Education Network (EENET), a UK charity, published an account of its beginnings written by Doreen E. Woodford. A Somali deaf man who had been educated at a school for the deaf in **Wajir**, Kenya, first proposed a deaf school for Somalis in 1977 ([EENET, The beginning and growth of a new language: Somali Sign Language](https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063235/http://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/somali_sign_language.php)). In 1997 he used his knowledge of English and **Kenyan Sign Language** to open the first school for deaf children in **Borama** in the northwest.

One of the Borama teachers then founded a deaf school in **Djibouti**. Another school was opened in **Hargeysa**, with more difficulty ([EENET](https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063235/http://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/somali_sign_language.php)). In Djibouti the sign language stayed Somali Sign Language but took its own path. Pupils in all these schools used it alongside written Somali and English in the north, and Somali and French in Djibouti; it still shows Kenyan influence.

## What makes it different

The EENET account notes three points ([EENET](https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063235/http://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/somali_sign_language.php)):

- It is built on Somali culture and the Somali language, not on a foreign one. The Anglo-Somali Society's journal made the same point in 2003 ([Anglo-Somali Society journal, 2003, p. 19](https://books.google.com/books?id=sF0wAQAAIAAJ)).
- It was started by a deaf person who already signed. Most early deaf schools in Africa were founded by hearing people.
- The first class to finish at Borama passed with high marks.

The account cites research showing that a national sign language grows faster when deaf signers set up the schools ([EENET](https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063235/http://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/somali_sign_language.php)).

## Schools and associations

The **Somali National Association of the Deaf (SNAD)** and **Deaf Unity** announced in 2013 that they would work together on deaf schools that teach Somali Sign Language, including a planned school in **Bosaaso** ([Deaf Times, 31 August 2013, via Somali Sign Language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Sign_Language)). The sign language is used by deaf Somalis in [Somalia and Djibouti](/en/relations/djibouti/) ([Somali Sign Language, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Sign_Language)).

## Name in Somali

On Somali Wikipedia the language is called **Soomaali luqadda dhegoolaha**, "the Somali language of the deaf" ([Somali Wikipedia](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soomaali_luqadda_dhegoolaha)).

## Read more

- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)
- [Awdal and Borama](/en/regions/awdal/)
- [Schools and learning](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)


---

# Asharaaf (Ashraf, Asharaf)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/asharaaf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Asharaaf (Ashraf, Asharaf) are a Somali group who trace descent to the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima. Their two main lines are Hassan and Hussein. The EUAA places many in and around Mogadishu up to Afgoye, with others in Bay, Bakool and Gedo. Coastal Asharaf are counted among the Benadiri.

## Name and family tree

The name comes from the Arabic *ashraf*, the plural of *sharif*. The EUAA says the word means "honour" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). In Somali the name is written Asharaaf, and a single member is a *shariif*.

ACCORD writes that the Asharaf claim descent "from the daughter of the prophet Muhammad, Fatima" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). Wikipedia names Fatima's sons, Hasan and Husayn, as the two founding ancestors ([Wikipedia, Asharaf, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharaf)).

| Source | Where it places the Asharaf |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Among the Benadiri, with two lines, Hussein and Hassan. A separate Ashraf group is listed at Baraawa ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 37](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EUAA 2025 | One of the Benadiri groups, "with the lineages Hassan and Hussein each divided into various sub-lineages" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "Frequently categorised as a minority". ACCORD writes mainly about the Digil-Mirifle Asharaf, and notes other Asharaf living with other clans ([ACCORD 2009, p. 19](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| EASO 2021 | Asharaf listed among the Rahanweyn groups of Bakool, and among the clans of Bardhere ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |

See [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/), [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/) and [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink gives these lineages ([Abbink 2009, p. 37](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)):

- **Hassan:** Mohamed Sharif, Sharif Ali, Sharif Ahmed and Ashraf Sarman.
- **Hussein:** Reer Sharif Magbul, Sharif Ahmed and Sharif Balaaw.

Wikipedia repeats this list and adds that there are "unnamed others" in each line ([Wikipedia, Asharaf, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharaf)). The EUAA says both lines are "divided into various sub-lineages" but does not name them ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Mogadishu to Afgoye | "Many reside in and around Mogadishu and up to Afgoye" ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Southern coast | Asharaf on the coast "are considered part of the Benadiri conglomerate" (same source) |
| Baidoa, Hudur and Bulo Hawo | Communities in Bay, Bakool and Gedo, "most usually from the Hasan branch" (same source, quoting Adam 2011) |
| Bakool | Listed among the Rahanweyn groups of the region ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Bardhere, Gedo | Listed among the clans "of long-standing residence there" (same source) |
| Hiiraan | A "Reer Hassan (Ashraf)" group is named among the smaller groups of the region (same source) |
| Kenya and Ethiopia | Wikipedia lists both as places where Asharaf live ([Wikipedia, Asharaf, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharaf)) |

The EUAA says the Asharaf/Hassan/Sarman live mainly in the hinterland of southern Somalia, "up to the Bakool region" ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/).

## History on record

The EUAA writes that Asharaf and Sheekhaal "were respected by other clans as 'religious people' or even 'teachers of religion'". Until the civil war they had protection arrangements with the larger clans they lived among. In the 1990s, it says, "they lost clan protection and were exploited and subjugated by clan militias" ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

ACCORD writes that Benadiri Asharaf "have been targeted together with Benadiri people during the early civil war" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

- **2004.** When the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) was formed, the Asharaf placed themselves in the 0.5 minority group. ACCORD says they "encountered difficulties in receiving full representation within the Rahanweyn group" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 19](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). See [the Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).
- **2008 to 2009.** ACCORD names [Sharif Hassan](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/), a minister and ally of President [Sheikh Sharif](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/), as an Asharaf. It calls him "the driving force in the 2008 Djibouti agreement" (same source, p. 20).
- **Recent years.** The EUAA says Asharaf and Sheekhaal "gained some political and economic influence in southern Somalia again". Some run large businesses in Mogadishu ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

Wikipedia lists two mayors of Mogadishu as Asharaf: Shariif Imaankeey (1963 to 1965) and Shariif Caydaruus (1966 to 1970). It also names the [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/) poet and scholar [Dada Masiti](/en/people/dada-masiti/) ([Wikipedia, Asharaf, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharaf)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD writes that the Asharaf "maintain a special religious status" among the people they live with. This holds "as far as they are seen as being related to the Prophet" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

On marriage, the EUAA says intermarriage between majority clans and groups such as the Asharaf, Sheekhaal and most Benadiri "is accepted". Typically the woman comes from the minority group and the man from the majority ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.5](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

- **[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).** ACCORD wrote in 2009 that the Digil-Mirifle Asharaf "may be targeted by the al-Shabaab Islamist group". It gives two reasons: the group does not recognise their religious status, and it opposed Sharif Hassan ([ACCORD 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).
- **[Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/).** The EASO lists a land dispute between the Hawadle (Hawiye) and the "Reer Aw Hassan (Ashraf)". It says the conflict killed 16 people in June 2020 ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [Reer Aw Xasan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/).
- **Discrimination.** The EUAA says members "occasionally face discrimination and human rights abuses due to their non-major-clan origins" ([EUAA 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The UK tribunal case *NM and Others (Lone women – Ashraf)* of 2005 concerned Asharaf women from the south ([UK Home Office, CPIN 2019, 2.4.16](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Which family.** Abbink and the EUAA count the Asharaf among the Benadiri. The EASO lists the Bakool Asharaf among the Rahanweyn groups. ACCORD treats the Digil-Mirifle and Benadiri Asharaf as separate.
- **Minority or not.** ACCORD says they are "frequently categorised as a minority", partly because of their own choice in 2004. It adds they are "not targeted as a minority as such, but may suffer the same problems as their 'host' clans".
- **Skin colour labels.** The EUAA says most are called *gibil cad* (light-skinned), but the Asharaf/Hassan/Sarman are called *gibil madow* (dark-skinned).
- **The descent claim.** Wikipedia, citing the scholar I. M. Lewis, calls this genealogy historically untenable. It says the same of similar claims by other Somali clans ([Wikipedia, Asharaf, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharaf)).

## Read more

- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Reer Aw Xasan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Quran schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/)
- [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/)


---

# Abaartii Dabadheer: the Somali drought of 1973 to 1975

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/drought-1973-1975-dabadheer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Abaartii Dabadheer, "the long-tailed drought", struck the herding regions of northern and central Somalia in 1973 to 1975. The government declared a state of emergency in November 1974 and brought about 250,000 people into some 20 relief camps. Deaths are put at about 18,000. In 1975 the government moved about 100,000 former herders to new farming and fishing settlements in the south.

## In short

*Abaartii Dabadheer* means "the long-tailed drought", the name given by the people it struck. It affected close to one and a half million herders in [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), Togdheer, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/). Togdheer was the worst hit. About 2.5 million livestock were lost ([Hiiraan Online, October 2014](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2014/Oct/56713/the_approaching_risk_of_another_famine_in_somalia.aspx)).

Deaths are estimated at about **18,000**: 11,000 people who reached the relief camps too weak to survive, and 7,000 outside the camps ([Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) 2014, citing earlier studies). The government of the time is described on [the Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Timeline

- **November 1974.** The UN Disaster Relief Office estimated that about 50,000 people needed relief. A British minister told Parliament that drought conditions existed "in the centre of Somalia". The Somali government had declared a state of emergency, set aside about £10 million and asked the Arab League, the European Economic Community (EEC) and the World Food Programme for help ([Hansard, 5 December 1974](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/dec/05/somalia)).
- **November 1974.** A National Drought Relief Committee was formed (Hiiraan Online 2014).
- **December 1974.** Britain sent two charter flights with about 36 tonnes of wheat flour and milk powder, to be handed out by the Somali Red Crescent ([Hansard, 19 December 1974](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/dec/19/somalia)).
- **February 1975.** Britain sent six Land Rovers and four water trailers for the government's relief organisation to carry water in the relief areas ([Hansard, 13 February 1975](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/feb/13/somalia)).
- **End of April 1975.** A British disaster team visited the drought zones ([Hansard, 30 June 1975](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/jun/30/somali-democratic-republic-drought-relief)).
- **June to August 1975.** Resettlement of camp residents to the south was carried out (Hiiraan Online 2014).

## The relief camps

The British team reported in mid-1975 that "some 250,000 people seriously affected by the drought had been brought into well-organised camps to facilitate feeding and medical treatment". It said the government "had established an effective organisational structure for relief measures at central, regional and district levels" ([Hansard, 30 June 1975](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/jun/30/somali-democratic-republic-drought-relief)).

Hiiraan Online gives 260,000 people helped in 20 government camps, and over one million helped outside the camps. It records that the armed forces and the national health service took part in the relief work (Hiiraan Online 2014).

## Foreign aid

- **EEC.** The largest donor. Its grain allocation could reach 12,000 tonnes ([Hansard, 5 December 1974](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/dec/05/somalia)). Britain's share through the EEC budget was about £0.46 million ([Hansard, 30 June 1975](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/jun/30/somali-democratic-republic-drought-relief)).
- **United Kingdom.** £140,000 in direct aid, including a 50-bed field hospital handed over in June 1975 (Hansard, 30 June 1975).
- **UN agencies.** WFP, UNICEF, FAO and WHO gave food, medicine and animal vaccines (Hansard, 5 December 1974 and 30 June 1975).

## Resettlement

After the camps, the government moved many herders who had lost their animals to new settlements in the south ([Hansard, 30 June 1975](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/jun/30/somali-democratic-republic-drought-relief)).

- About **100,000 people** were settled in three farming settlements, **Dujuma, Sablaale and Kurtunwaarey**, and three fishing settlements, **Baraawe, Cadale and Ceel** ([Tsui, Ragsdale and Shirwa, *Genus*, 1991](https://www.cpc.unc.edu/resources/publications/bib/607/)).
- People were moved by air and by truck (Hiiraan Online 2014).
- A 1982 survey found that 78 to 87% of settled families had lost all their animals in the drought (Tsui, Ragsdale and Shirwa 1991).
- Herders outside the camps were encouraged to go back to herding with the animals they still had (Hiiraan Online 2014).

## Related pages

- [Rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/)
- [The Somalia famine of 1991 to 1993](/en/society/famine-1991-1993/)
- [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/)

## Sources

- UK Parliament, Hansard. [Somalia](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/dec/05/somalia), written answer, 5 December 1974 (vol 882 cc623–4W).
- UK Parliament, Hansard. [Somalia](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/dec/19/somalia), written answer, 19 December 1974 (vol 883 c582W).
- UK Parliament, Hansard. [Somalia](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/feb/13/somalia), written answer, 13 February 1975 (vol 886 cc212–3W).
- UK Parliament, Hansard. [Somali Democratic Republic (drought relief)](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/jun/30/somali-democratic-republic-drought-relief), written answer, 30 June 1975 (vol 894 cc284–5W).
- Hiiraan Online (2014). [The approaching risk of another famine in Somalia](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2014/Oct/56713/the_approaching_risk_of_another_famine_in_somalia.aspx), October 2014.
- Tsui, A. O., Ragsdale, T. A. and Shirwa, A. I. (1991). [The settlement of Somali nomads](https://www.cpc.unc.edu/resources/publications/bib/607/). *Genus* 47(1–2): 131–152.


---

# Hajj from Somalia: quota, cost and how pilgrims travel

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hajj-from-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's Hajj quota with Saudi Arabia is 11,500 pilgrims a year, signed again for the 2026 season. The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs sets a fixed package price, US$4,604 in 2025 and capped at US$4,543.50 for 2026, and only licensed companies may sell it. Pilgrims fly direct from Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Garowe and Bosaso. The government supported 9,043 pilgrims in 2023.

## A pillar of the faith

The pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj, Somali *xaj*) is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Library of Congress country study notes that, like almsgiving, it depends "upon one's ability to afford" it. It adds that many devout Somalis went to Mecca, "but many more would visit the tombs of the local saints", the local pilgrimage called *siyaaro* ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). See [saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/).

Somalis have taken this road for centuries. Scholars from Zeila were studying in Cairo by the 1300s ([Al-Zayla'i, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zayla%27i)), and in the 1800s Xaaji Cali Majeerteen of the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) studied in Mecca and Baghdad ([Haji Ali Majeerteen, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Ali_Majeerteen)). [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Cali Maye Durogba of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) joined the Ahmadiyya order while on pilgrimage and brought it home ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [Somali scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/).

## The quota

Saudi Arabia agrees a yearly number of Hajj places with each country. In November 2025 Somalia's Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, [Sheikh Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/) Ali, and the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, signed the 2026 agreement in Jeddah for **11,500** Somali pilgrims ([Goobjoog News, 12 November 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-2026-hajj-quota-agreement-for-11500-pilgrims)).

## Pilgrim numbers

| Year (Hijri) | Pilgrims | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 (1444) | 9,043 supported by the federal government | [US State Department, International Religious Freedom Report 2023, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2111587.html) |
| 2025 (1446) | about 11,500 expected; over 11,000 had reached Medina by 12 May | [SONNA, 12 May 2025](https://sonna.so/en/over-11000-somali-pilgrims-arrive-in-medina-for-hajj-1446) |
| 2026 (1447) | quota of 11,500 | [Goobjoog News, 12 November 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-2026-hajj-quota-agreement-for-11500-pilgrims) |

## What it costs

The ministry sets one package price for all licensed companies.

| Season | Package price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | US$5,500 to 6,000 | [Hajj Reporters, 5 January 2025](https://hajjreporters.com/?p=24110) |
| 2024 | US$4,434 | same source |
| 2025 | US$4,604 | same source |
| 2026 | capped at US$4,543.50 | [Goobjoog News, 18 October 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sets-price-cap-opens-registration-for-2026-hajj-pilgrims) |

The 2025 price covers transport, lodging and logistics in [Somalia and Saudi Arabia](/en/relations/saudi-arabia/). Hajj Reporters noted that the ministry blamed the rise on inflation and higher travel and hotel costs in Saudi Arabia, and that packages in Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti can cost as little as US$1,600. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) criticised companies for inflating prices ([Hajj Reporters, 2025](https://hajjreporters.com/?p=24110)).

## How it is organised

- **Licensed companies.** For 2026 the ministry listed 71 approved Hajj companies on its website and told pilgrims to deal only with them. Companies must sign a service agreement with each pilgrim and register pilgrims through an official electronic system. No payment may be taken before the ministry announces the final fee, and unlicensed operators face legal action ([Goobjoog News, 18 October 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sets-price-cap-opens-registration-for-2026-hajj-pilgrims)).
- **Airports.** Pilgrims leave only from Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Garowe and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) (same source). In 2025 flights ran on a staggered schedule until 31 May ([SONNA, 2025](https://sonna.so/en/over-11000-somali-pilgrims-arrive-in-medina-for-hajj-1446)).
- **Airline.** In 2024 Daallo Airlines won the contract to carry Somali pilgrims, ahead of 10 other airlines ([Hajj Reporters, 2025](https://hajjreporters.com/?p=24110)). See [airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/).
- **Oversight.** A joint Somali-Saudi expert committee, set up in 2023, oversees health and safety, travel and service quality (same source). The ministry works with a Hajj operations committee and the Somali embassy in Saudi Arabia ([SONNA, 2025](https://sonna.so/en/over-11000-somali-pilgrims-arrive-in-medina-for-hajj-1446)). Somalia was ranked among the top four countries for Hajj service quality in 2025 and had its own pavilion at the Hajj Expo in Jeddah ([Goobjoog News, 12 November 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-2026-hajj-quota-agreement-for-11500-pilgrims)).

## The Hajj season at home

The Hajj ends with Eid al-Adha (*Ciidul Adxa*) on 10 Dhu al-Hijja; by calculation it falls about 16 May 2027 ([Islamic calendar in Somalia](/en/society/islamic-calendar-in-somalia/)). The season is also the peak of Somalia's livestock exports to Saudi Arabia, since pilgrims need animals for the sacrifice. See [Ramadan and Eid in Somalia](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/).

## Read further

- [Religion in Somalia in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/)
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)


---

# Ciidagale (Eidagale, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ciidagale/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ciidagale (Eidagale, Idagalle) are an Isaaq clan, descended from Da'ud son of Ismaaciil (Garxajis). With the Habar Yoonis they make up the Garxajis. Their main lines are Maxamed Daa'uud, Abokor Daa'uud and Muuse Daa'uud. The EUAA records them in Woqooyi Galbeed, including Hargeisa, and west of Burco in Togdheer.

## Name and family tree

The Ciidagale are a clan of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) family. The name is spelled Ciidagale or Ciidagalle in Somali, and Eidagale, Eidagalle or Idagalle in English sources.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009, main chart | Isaaq > Habr Magaadleh / Habr Garhaji > Habr Yunis > Da'ud ('Idagalle), drawn in the same column as Sa'ad ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 31](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Abbink 2009, individual example | Isaaq > Habr Magadleh > Isma'il (Garhaji) > Da'ud ('Idagalleh), at the same level as Si'id (Abbink 2009, p. 34) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Cidagale, and Isaaq > Garxajis > Ciidagale ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| World Bank 2005 (PDRC chart) | Iidagale as one of five Isaaq clans, with Habar Yoonis, Habar Awal, Habar Tol Jaalo and Habar Jaalo ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Sheikh Ishaaq > Habar Magaadle > Ismaaciil (Garxajis) > Daa'uud (Eidagalle) ([Wikipedia, Eidagale, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidagale)) |

The EUAA names the "Isaaq/Garhajis (Eidagale and Habar Yonis)" together ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 2.2.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists four lines under Da'ud ('Idagalle) ([Abbink 2009, pp. 31–32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)):

- **'Isa**
- **Bilal**
- **Mohammed:** 'Ali and Urkurag.
- **Musa:** Abokor (Hassan, Adan) and Adarahman (Yuunis, Abdulla).

Wikipedia names three sons of Daa'uud: Maxamed Daa'uud, Abokor Daa'uud and Muuse Daa'uud. It names four sub-clans: Abokor Muuse, Cabdiraxmaan Muuse, Abokor Daa'uud and Maxamed Daa'uud ([Wikipedia, Eidagale, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidagale)). Its tree gives these further lines:

- **Maxamed Daa'uud (Guuyoobe):** Cali Maxamed and Urkurag Maxamed. Under Urkurag are Ismaaciil Cali (Gadhweyn), Fiqi Sacad Cali, Maxamuud Cali and Axmed Cali.
- **Abokor Daa'uud:** Ciise Abokor and Bilaal Abokor.
- **Muuse Daa'uud:** Abokor Muuse and Cabdiraxmaan Muuse. Under Cabdiraxmaan are [Reer Yoonis](/en/society/muuse-abokor/), Ba Deelo, Cabdi Dheere, Reer Iidle and Gaashaanbuur ([Xuseen Abokor](/en/society/sacad-muuse/) Mataan).

The Wikipedia tree traces the sultans' line, Reer Guuleed, down through Gaashaanbuur to Guuleed Cabdi (same source). ACLED codes a "Cidagale Reer Guled" and a "Cidagale Reer Abdi Dheer" ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Woqooyi Galbeed | "The Habar Awal, Habar Yunis, and Idagalle clans make up the majority of the population" ([EUAA 2025, Wogoyi Galbeed](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/282-wogoyi-galbeed)) |
| Hargeisa | The Garxajis (Eidagale and Habar Yoonis) live in Maxamuud Haybe and parts of Gacan Libaax (Gacan Libaah) district, such as New Hargeisa ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 2.2.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Togdheer | "Members of the Idagalle are living in the region west of Burco" ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)) |
| Salaxley, Oodweyne | Wikipedia places them in Salaxley district, and the Guuyoobe in Oodweyne district ([Wikipedia, Eidagale, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidagale)) |
| Somali Region of Ethiopia | Wikipedia names Daroor, Awaare and Misraq Gashamo (same source) |
| Kenya | Wikipedia says they are part of the Isahakia community there (same source) |

See [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/).

## History on record

Most of the history below comes from Wikipedia, a backup source, which cites travellers and scholars such as I. M. Lewis.

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names the Habar Magaadle among the forces of the [Adal Sultanate](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/). Lewis suggests that two leaders called Ahmad Gurey were later merged into one figure ([Wikipedia, Eidagale, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidagale)).
- **1700s.** Wikipedia says the Isaaq Sultanate was founded by Guuleed Cabdi of the Ciidagale, after the battle of Lafaruug (same source). See [sultanates, the coast and customary law](/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/).
- **1800s.** Ciidagale merchants traded in the caravan routes between Berbera and the interior. Wikipedia says they founded inland trade stops, including Hargeisa (same source).
- **1846.** A relic kept at the tomb of Aw Barkhadle was brought to Berbera "in charge of the Haber Gerhajis". Rival Isaaq groups swore peace on it (same source, quoting a 19th-century account).

Wikipedia quotes a writer who called the Ciidagale "the recognized experts in the composition of poetry" (same source). It names the poets Xasan Tarabi and [Cilmi Boodhari](/en/people/elmi-boodhari/). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia calls the Ciidagale "the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate since the 18th century". It lists these sultans ([Wikipedia, Eidagale, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidagale)):

| Sultan | Years |
|---|---|
| Guuleed Cabdi | late 1700s to 1808 |
| Faarax Guuleed | 1808 to 1845 |
| Xasan Faarax | 1845 to 1870 |
| Diiriye Xasan | 1870 to 1939 |
| Cabdillaahi Diiriye | 1939 to 1967 |
| Rashiid Cabdillaahi | 1967 to 1969 |
| Cabdiqaadir Cabdillaahi | 1969 to 1975 |
| Maxamed Cabdiqaadir | 1975 to 2021 |
| Daa'uud Maxamed | from 2021 |

Wikipedia adds that the Habar Yoonis sultanate "broke off from Eidagale tutelage" several decades after Guuleed's rule began (same source). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/) and [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists clan rivalries in Somaliland that "revolve around electoral competitions and did not lead to armed violence" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Two name the Ciidagale:

- Garxajis (Habar Yoonis and Idagale) against Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/), in Hargeisa.
- Sacad Muuse (Habar Awal) against Idagale and Habar Yoonis, in Hargeisa.

See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Where Da'ud sits.** Abbink's main chart draws Da'ud ('Idagalle) under the Habr Yunis. His own individual example places Da'ud beside Si'id, directly under Isma'il (Garhaji). ACLED, the EUAA and Wikipedia treat the Ciidagale and Habar Yoonis as two Garxajis clans.
- **Clan or family level.** The PDRC chart in the World Bank report lists Iidagale as one of five Isaaq clans, without a Garxajis level.
- **Size.** Wikipedia calls them "the largest sub-clan of the Isaaq". No census counts Somalis by clan, so no source can test this.
- **Sub-clans.** Abbink lists four lines under Da'ud. Wikipedia names three sons and four sub-clans, with different groupings.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Abokor Muuse](/en/society/abokor-muuse/), a Ciidagale sub-clan
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Sultanates, the coast and customary law, 1700s to 1880s](/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/)


---

# The 2023 Deyr floods in Somalia: 2.48 million affected, 188 dead

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/floods-2023-deyr/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> From October to December 2023, El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole brought heavy Deyr rains that flooded the Jubba and Shabelle rivers. The government's assessment says the floods affected about 2.48 million people, displaced over 1.2 million and killed 188. In the 16 districts studied, damage and losses came to US$176.1 million, and recovery needs to US$230.6 million. Beledweyne was the hardest-hit town.

## In short

From October to December 2023 the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains were far above average across most of Somalia. The government's assessment links this to "the confluence of strong El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole weather patterns". River floods and flash floods hit about half of the country's districts ([SoDMA, *Somalia 2023 Deyr Floods: Rapid Post-Disaster Needs Assessment*, 2024, p. 1](https://sodma.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SoDMA-Deyr-Floods-2023.pdf)).

| Measure | Number |
|---|---|
| People affected | about 2.48 million |
| People displaced from their homes | over 1.2 million |
| Deaths | 188 |
| Damage in the 16 assessed districts | US$126.6 million |
| Losses in the 16 assessed districts | US$49.5 million |
| Recovery needs | US$230.6 million |

Source: [SoDMA](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/) R-PDNA 2024, pp. 1–3. The assessment calls it the "worst flood ever in Somalia's recent history" (p. 1). It was led by the government with the UN, UNDP, the World Bank and the European Union.

## Why it happened

The rains came after [the 2020 to 2023 drought](/en/society/drought-2020-2023/), with five poor rainy seasons in a row. Before the floods, the UN-backed Somalia Water and Land Information Management project ([SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)) warned of "a flood event of a magnitude statistically likely only once in 100 years". FAO said 1.6 million people could be affected ([AP via PBS NewsHour, 23 November 2023](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/extreme-flooding-has-somalia-in-a-state-of-emergency-destroying-homes-and-forcing-thousands-to-flee)). The seasons are explained on [rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## Beledweyne

[Beledweyne](/en/regions/hiiraan/), in Hiiraan, was the hardest-hit town. The [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) burst its banks and destroyed many homes. Save the Children estimated that 250,000 people, **90% of the town**, were forced out of their homes (AP, 23 November 2023). In the government's assessment Beledweyne had the largest damage of any district (table below).

The federal government declared a state of emergency (AP, 23 November 2023).

## Damage district by district

The assessment covered 16 districts with about 1.7 million people, of whom 521,519 (about 31%) were directly hit ([SoDMA R-PDNA, pp. 1, 3](https://sodma.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SoDMA-Deyr-Floods-2023.pdf)). Figures are in US dollars, rounded to the nearest $0.1 million.

| District | Damage | Losses | Total effects | Recovery needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beledweyne | 27.2m | 10.5m | 37.7m | 47.1m |
| Dolow | 22.8m | 2.6m | 25.3m | 28.5m |
| Baidoa | 11.7m | 10.5m | 22.2m | 21.3m |
| Baardheere | 16.8m | 2.6m | 19.4m | 23.1m |
| Kismayo | 13.6m | 4.1m | 17.6m | 19.1m |
| Jowhar | 8.4m | 5.2m | 13.7m | 20.8m |
| Bu'aale | 6.0m | 4.6m | 10.6m | 10.2m |
| Buuloburde | 6.9m | 2.3m | 9.2m | 15.3m |
| Afmadow | 5.2m | 3.9m | 9.1m | 14.3m |
| Bardaale | 3.6m | 0.8m | 4.4m | 5.7m |
| South Galkacyo | 1.4m | 1.4m | 2.8m | 7.3m |
| Dhoobley | 1.8m | 0.2m | 2.0m | 2.1m |
| Hodan (Mogadishu) | 1.2m | 0.2m | 1.5m | 1.6m |
| Kah Shiikhaal | 0.03m | 0.3m | 0.3m | 0.2m |
| Boondheere (Mogadishu) | 0 | 0.07m | 0.07m | 0.1m |
| Wadajir (Mogadishu) | 0 | 0.07m | 0.07m | 0.1m |
| National level | | | | 13.7m |
| **Total** | **126.6m** | **49.5m** | **176.1m** | **230.6m** |

## Damage by sector

- **Farming and livestock:** US$57 million in damage and losses, 32% of the total. It also has the largest recovery needs, US$60 million (SoDMA R-PDNA, p. 2).
- **Water and sanitation:** US$32.7 million, 19% (p. 2).
- **Transport:** US$29.7 million, 17%. Recovery needs US$37.4 million (p. 2).
- **Housing:** recovery needs US$27.1 million, 12% of the total (p. 2).

Recovery needs are split into short term (US$93.1 million), medium term (US$69.2 million) and long term (US$68.3 million) (p. 2).

## Limits of the figures

The assessment says it was "constrained by the lack of baseline data, scanty damage and loss data across sectors", and that damage and loss estimates "may be subject to underestimation". Areas that could not be visited were estimated from other data (SoDMA R-PDNA, pp. i, 6).

## Sources

- Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) with UN, UNDP, World Bank and EU (2024). [Somalia 2023 Deyr Floods: Rapid Post-Disaster Needs Assessment](https://sodma.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SoDMA-Deyr-Floods-2023.pdf).
- AP via PBS NewsHour (2023). [Extreme flooding has Somalia in a state of emergency, destroying homes and forcing thousands to flee](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/extreme-flooding-has-somalia-in-a-state-of-emergency-destroying-homes-and-forcing-thousands-to-flee), 23 November 2023.


---

# Wadaad, sheekh, macallin and xaaji: religious roles and titles among Somalis

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/wadaad-sheekh-and-xaaji-religious-roles/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> In Somali society a wadaad is anyone who devotes his life to religion. Wadaddo taught, led prayers, wrote documents and judged by religious law. Sheekh (sheikh) is the title for a learned man or the head of a Sufi order. A macallin teaches the Qur'an school, and xaaji is the honoured title of someone who has made the Hajj. Among nomads, the man of religion traditionally stood apart from the warrior and from clan politics.

## The wadaad

The Somali word *wadaad* (plural *wadaaddo*) means a man of religion. The anthropologist I. M. Lewis wrote in 1958: "Anyone who devotes his life to religion is a *wadaad*, however slight his acquaintance with Arabic" ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, quoting Lewis, 1958, p. 135](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)).

The Library of Congress country study describes the wadaaddo as "the oldest stratum of literate people in Somalia". They "functioned as basic teachers and local notaries as well as judges and authorities in religious law". They were rarely theologians. Some belonged to a Sufi order; others belonged to a lineage with a strong religious tradition, and were entitled to lead prayers and perform ritual sacrifices at weddings, holidays and festivals at saints' tombs even without formal training ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/46.htm)).

## Man of religion and man of the spear

The same study notes that among nomads "the exigencies of pastoral life gave greater weight to the warrior's role, and religious leaders were expected to remain aloof from political matters". In parts of the settled south, by contrast, religious leaders "were at one time an integral part of the social and political structure" ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/44.htm)). Wadaaddo also arbitrated disputes ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/46.htm)). The Sufi villages (*jamaaco*), built on land given "to God" and often placed between rival clans, served as a buffer between them ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). See [the Sufi orders](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## The travelling teacher and the macallin

Religious schooling was easiest to find in towns. In the countryside, "some teachers traveled on foot from place to place with their novices, depending on the generosity of others for their living". They preached, led prayers, blessed people and livestock, gave advice, settled disputes and performed marriages ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/46.htm)).

Today the teacher of a Qur'an school is called *macallin*. He is often a travelling teacher who settles with a community, and he is traditionally given a grown she-camel when a pupil finishes the whole Qur'an ([Abdihakim Mohamed, "The Somali Quran school", Geeska, 25 April 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-quran-school)). See [Qur'an schools](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/).

## Sheekh

The Arabic title *shaykh* (Somali *sheekh*) is given to the heads of branches or congregations of the Sufi orders, and is "usually reserved for those learned in Islam and rarely applied to ordinary wadaddo". Members of the orders were called *daraawiish* (dervishes) ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/47.htm)). Many of the best-known Somali religious figures carry the title, from [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq to [Sheikh Uways al-Barawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/) and [Sheikh Sufi](/en/people/sheikh-sufi/). See [Somali scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/).

## Aw

*Aw* is an older Somali honorific for a holy man. The scholar of Zeila remembered as Aw Barkhadle is called by a name meaning "Blessed Father" ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, citing Abdullahi 2001 and Lewis 1958](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)). Somali tradition names other early teachers the same way, among them [Aw Qutub](/en/society/sheekhaal/) and Aw Cismaan ([Islam in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing Mohamed-Abdi 1992](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia)). See [Aw Barkhadle](/en/people/aw-barkhadle/).

## Xaaji

A Somali who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca may be called *xaaji* (from Arabic *hajj*, pilgrim). The Library of Congress study notes that devout Somalis, "and others who valued the title of hajj (pilgrim) for its prestige", made the pilgrimage ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/45.htm)). The title appears in many Somali names, such as the scholar Xaaji Cali Majeerteen ([Haji Ali Majeerteen, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Ali_Majeerteen)). See [Hajj from Somalia](/en/society/hajj-from-somalia/).

## Far wadaad: the wadaad's writing

Before the Latin Somali script was adopted in 1972, wadaaddo wrote Somali in Arabic letters, a practice known as *far wadaad*, "the wadaad's writing". Tradition credits Aw Barkhadle with devising Somali names for the Arabic vowels. In the 1800s Sheikh Uways al-Barawi adapted the Arabic script to write the [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) dialect, and in the 1930s Mahammad 'Abdi Makaahiil tried to standardise the spelling ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)).

## Folk knowledge and healing

The Library of Congress study describes other parts of a wadaad's learning ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/48.htm)):

- a folk astronomy based on the stars and seasons, used to time migrations and some Somali rituals;
- protective amulets that carry a written Qur'an passage;
- Qur'an readings for illnesses believed to come from spirits;
- a curse that is feared, used as a sanction.

## How the roles changed

The study says the role of religious functionaries "began to shrink in the 1950s and 1960s" as some of their legal and teaching duties passed to state officials. After 1969 the military government told religious leaders to keep out of politics ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/44.htm)), and in 1975 it executed ten scholars who opposed the new family law ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/49.htm)). See [the 1975 family law and the ten scholars](/en/society/family-law-1975-and-the-ten-scholars/) and [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/).

## Read further

- I. M. Lewis, *[Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/): Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society* (Red Sea Press, 1998).
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)
- [Saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/)


---

# Abokor Muuse (Abokor Musa, Ciidagale)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/abokor-muuse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Abokor Muuse (Abokor Musa) are a sub-clan of the Ciidagale, an Isaaq clan. Wikipedia lists them among the four Ciidagale sub-clans, and Abbink places an Abokor under Musa, son of Da'ud ('Idagalle). Somali Wikipedia places them in Hargeisa, Salaxley and Toon, and across the border in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.

## Name and family tree

The Abokor Muuse are a sub-clan of the [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/), a clan of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) family. Somali Wikipedia gives the full line as "Abokor Musa Da'ud [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ishaaq". It says the group is also traditionally called *Saleebaan* ([Somali Wikipedia, Abokor Muuse, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abokor_muuse)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Isaaq > Habr Garhaji > Da'ud ('Idagalle) > Musa > Abokor, with two lines under Abokor: Hassan and Adan ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 31–32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Daa'uud (Eidagalle) > Muuse Daa'uud > Abokor Muuse. It names Abokor Muuse as one of four Ciidagale sub-clans ([Wikipedia, Eidagale, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidagale)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | "A large clan that is part of the Eidagalle of the Isaaq" ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abokor_muuse)) |

The ACLED 2025 coding list has no separate entry for the Abokor Muuse. It codes the Ciidagale as one group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)). See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia names four main branches: Maxamed Dhimbil, Axmed Dhimbil, Aadan Abokor and Muuse Dhimbil ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abokor_muuse)). Abbink's two lines under Abokor, Hassan and Adan, match the Xasan Abokor and Aadan Abokor in that list ([Abbink 2009, p. 32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

The Somali Wikipedia tree runs from Daa'uud through Abokor (Saleebaan) down to Xasan Abokor. It gives his sons as Muuse, Laqshe, Basiralle and Dhimbil. Under Dhimbil it gives two large lines (same source):

- **Maxamed Dhimbil:** Reer Mucaawiye, Reer Fatax, Reer Guuleed and Muuse Maxamed.
- **Muuse Dhimbil:** through Cabdalle Muuse to lines including Reer Aadan, Reer Nuur, Reer Beniin, Reer Gallab and Reer Ciye.

Every group here is also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

All the places below come from Somali Wikipedia, a backup source ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abokor_muuse)).

| Area | Places named |
|---|---|
| Hargeisa | The south and west of the city, including Calaamadaha, Masalaha, Jameecada and part of the October district |
| Around Hargeisa | Qoolcaday, Toon, Salaxley town and villages up to Ina-Guxaa on the Ethiopian border |
| Somali Region of Ethiopia | Bisad, Abokor, Egal Addani and Iskoyska, and the Galool-Fadhiidh valley near Awaare |
| Kenya | Part of the Isahakia community, as for the wider Ciidagale |

For the wider Ciidagale, the EUAA records the Garxajis in parts of Hargeisa and the Ciidagale west of [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/). See [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/) and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/).

## History on record

Somali Wikipedia gives this history, mostly without citations ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abokor_muuse)):

- **1500s.** It says the Abokor Muuse took part in the wars of Ahmad Gurey and the [Adal Sultanate](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/) against Abyssinia. It names Basiralle and Dhimbil as *ugaas* of that time and says Basiralle died of wounds near Harar.
- **1800s.** It says Abokor Muuse traders were active on the Hargeisa, Berbera and Harar caravan routes. It describes close ties with Emir Ahmad III bin Abu Bakr of Harar, who ruled from 1856 to 1875.
- **Hargeisa.** It says they took part in founding Hargeisa as a caravan stop built by Ciidagale traders.

English Wikipedia records the wider Ciidagale role in the caravan trade and in Somali poetry. See [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/) and [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia says Abokor Muuse elders were respected for leading oaths and settlements at the shrine of Aw Barkhadle. The shrine lies between Hargeisa and Berbera ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abokor_muuse)). It says the group had its own customary leaders, sultans and *ugaas*, drawn from its branches. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Abokor Muuse separately. It names the wider Ciidagale in two electoral rivalries in Hargeisa that "did not lead to armed violence" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Rank.** Somali Wikipedia calls the Abokor Muuse "a large clan". English Wikipedia lists them as one of four Ciidagale sub-clans. Abbink places Abokor as a lineage under Musa.
- **Branches.** Abbink lists Hassan and Adan under Abokor. Somali Wikipedia names four branches, three of them through Dhimbil son of Xasan.
- **The name Saleebaan.** Somali Wikipedia gives *Saleebaan* as a traditional name for the group. Its own tree also lists a Saleebaan Abokor line.

## Read more

- [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/), the clan the Abokor Muuse belong to
- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Muuse Abokor](/en/society/muuse-abokor/), a different Habar Jeclo group with a similar name
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)


---

# Mawlid in Somalia: celebrating the Prophet's birthday

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mawlid-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Mawlid (Somali Mawliid or Mowliid) marks the birth of the Prophet Muhammad on 12 Rabi' al-Awwal. In Somalia it is led mainly by the Sufi orders, with Qur'an recitation, religious songs, processions and camels slaughtered for communal meals. Al-Shabaab banned public celebrations as an innovation; they returned to Mogadishu after 2011. The government made Mawlid a national holiday in 2015. By calculation the next Mawlid falls about 14 August 2027.

## What Mawlid is

Mawlid (Arabic *mawlid al-nabi*, Somali *Mawliid* or *Mowliid*) celebrates the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. It falls on 12 Rabi' al-Awwal (Somali *Rabiicul Awal*), the third month of the Islamic calendar. In 2026 that day was Tuesday 25 August ([AlAdhan calendar conversion](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/12-03-1448)). By calculation, Mawlid 1449 falls on Saturday 14 August 2027 ([AlAdhan](https://api.aladhan.com/v1/hToG/12-03-1449)). The exact day depends on the moon sighting. See [the Islamic calendar in Somalia](/en/society/islamic-calendar-in-somalia/).

The word *mawlid* is also used for the poems read in praise of the Prophet and of saints. Among the Isaaq, for example, the *mawlid* of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isaaq is read every Thursday ([Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Wikipedia, citing Lewis and Reese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishaaq_bin_Ahmed)).

## How it is celebrated

The Associated Press described Mawlid in Mogadishu in September 2025. Thousands of worshippers filled the streets, many of them young people in white clothes waving green flags. Crowds spilled from mosques into open spaces, clerics recited the Qur'an over loudspeakers, and people chanted, clapped and ululated. Young people filmed the processions and streamed them to relatives abroad. Armed security forces stood at the edges of the crowds ([AP via The Week, 4 September 2025](https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2025/09/04/fes41-somalia-mawlid.html)).

On 25 August 2026, [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa reported thousands marching through Mogadishu, gathering at mosques, public squares and Daljirka Dahsoon, carrying flags with the Prophet's name, reciting the Qur'an and singing religious poetry. It named the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/), Ahmadiyya and Salihiyya orders among those holding large gatherings ([Dawan Africa, 25 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/thousands-mark-prophet-mohameds-birthday-in-mogadishu)). See [the Sufi orders](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).

## Camels for the poor

A feature of Somali Mawlid is the slaughter of camels for communal meals. In August 2026, followers of the Sufi leader Sheikh Mohamed Nur Bukhari drove hundreds of camels to the group's centre; more than 1,500 had been set aside that year, shared between the main centre and other Sufi centres. The group marks the Prophet's birthday throughout the month of Rabi' al-Awwal with chanting, praise gatherings, prayers and shared meals. Followers described giving camels, among the most valued Somali possessions, as "an expression of love for the Prophet Muhammad" ([Dawan Africa, 22 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hundreds-of-camels-driven-to-sufi-center-for-mawlid-celebrations-in-somalia)).

## Ban and return

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) banned Mawlid celebrations as a religious "innovation" (*bid'a*) and treats Sufis as heretics. Sufi communities stopped public processions until the group was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011. Since then the gatherings have returned and grown each year ([AP, 2025](https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2025/09/04/fes41-somalia-mawlid.html)). See [saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/), which describes the destruction of Sufi tombs from 2008.

## A national holiday

In December 2015 the Speaker of the Federal Parliament, [Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari](/en/people/mohamed-osman-jawari/), announced at a Mawlid celebration that the federal government had declared Mawlid al-Nabi a national holiday. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that the crowds were larger than in earlier years ([Garowe Online, 26 December 2015](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-declares-mawlid-alnabi-natl-holiday)). In 2025 the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs declared a public holiday for government and private-sector workers ([AP, 2025](https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2025/09/04/fes41-somalia-mawlid.html)).

## The debate

Not all Somali scholars accept Mawlid ([Dawan Africa, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/thousands-mark-prophet-mohameds-birthday-in-mogadishu)). The AP quoted both sides in 2025 ([AP, 2025](https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2025/09/04/fes41-somalia-mawlid.html)):

- Sheikh Abati Abba Nur, a Sufi scholar: "This is the month in which our prophet was born, and celebrating it does not contradict Islamic teachings."
- Sheikh Abdurahman Diriye, described by the AP as a Wahhabi scholar, said the birthday was not celebrated in the Prophet's lifetime.

The same disagreement runs through the history of the Sufi orders and the Salafi movements since the 1970s. See [Islamic movements since 1950](/en/society/islamic-movements-in-somalia-since-1950/).

## Read further

- [Ramadan and Eid in Somalia](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/)
- [Somali scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/)


---

# Gadabuursi (Gadabursi, Samaroon, Dir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/gadabuursi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Gadabuursi (Gadabursi), also called Samaroon, are a clan of the Dir family. Their two main divisions are the Habar Makadur and the Habar Cafaan. The EUAA says most people in Awdal are Gadabuursi, with Borama at the centre of their land. They also live in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and in Djibouti. Their customary leader holds the title *ugaas*.

## Name and family tree

The Gadabuursi are a clan of the [Dir](/en/society/dir/) family. The EASO notes they are "also known as Samaroon Gadabursi" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021, Awdal](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). Wikipedia says most Gadabuursi descend from [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Samaroon, though Samaroon is strictly one part of the clan ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Dir > Mandaloog > Gadabursi ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 16–17](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Dir > Gadabuursi, with sub-groups such as Makhila, Mohamud Noor and Farah Nur ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Both partner charts list Gadabursi under the Dir ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "The Dir include groups such as Issa, Gadabursi, and Biymaal" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Dir > Gadabuursi, in two divisions, Habar Makadur and Habar Cafaan ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)) |

Wikipedia cites I. M. Lewis on an Arabic chronicle of the clan. It traces the Gadabuursi to Imam Cali Si'id, who died in 1392 and fought for Sa'd ad-Din, ruler of Zeila (same source). See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups under Gadabursi ([Abbink 2009, pp. 16–17](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)):

- **Habr Afan (Samaroon):** 'Isa and Zubeir. Under Zubeir are Mahamed and Musa, and under Musa are [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/), Fin, Adan, (Reer) Hamud and Mahakil.
- **Habr Yusuf, Gobo, Jibrain, Hebjirreh and 'Ali Ganoon.**
- **Mikadore:** Mahakil and Mahad Assa. Under Mahakil are Musa (with Dera), Elli, Abdalla and Egeh. Under Mahad Assa are Adan, Hussein, Musa and Abokor.
- **Reer Ugaas**, linked to the line above with the ancestors in between left out.
- **[Bimaal](/en/society/biyomaal/), Soliman, Yasmin and Sa'ad**, drawn on the same line.

Wikipedia gives the two divisions as follows ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)):

- **Habar Makadur:** Mahad Case (Bahabar Abokor, Bahabar Muuse, Habar Muuse, Bahabar Aadan, Bahabar Celi, Reer Maxamed, Abraahin). Also Makaahiil ([Celi](/en/society/duduble/), Ciye, Bahabar Cabdalle, Bahabar Xasan, Muuse). Under Muuse are Makayl-Dheere, Afgudud, Bah Sanayo and [Reer Yoonis](/en/society/muuse-abokor/). Reer Yoonis includes Cali, Jibriil, Aadan and Reer Nuur.
- **Habar Cafaan:** Jibraahin, Cali Ganuun, Gobe, Habar Yuusuf, Reer Ciise, Hebjire, Reer Zubeer, Dhega Weyne and Makayl. Under Makayl Muuse are Muusafin, Xasan Sacad, Faarole and Reer Xamuud.

Every group here is also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Awdal | "In the port town of Zeylac and throughout the Awdal region, the majority of the population is Gadabursi" ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)) |
| Borama | The regional capital, "at the centre of the Gadabursi territory" ([EASO 2021, Awdal](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Hargeisa | Gadabuursi are among the non-Isaaq Somalis living in the city ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 2.2.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Ethiopia and Djibouti | The UK Home Office places them in Somaliland "and bordering regions of Ethiopia and Djibouti" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)) |
| Somali Region of Ethiopia | Wikipedia names Awbare district in Fafan Zone, Dembel district in Sitti Zone and the Harawa valley. It also names parts of Gursum, Jijiga and Dire Dawa ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)) |
| Awdal towns | Wikipedia lists Borama, Baki, Lughaya, Zeila, Dilla, Jarahorato, Amud, Abasa, Fiqi Aadan, Quljeed, Boon and Harirad (same source) |

See [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/).

## History on record

- **1392.** Wikipedia, citing Lewis, says the clan's chronicle opens with Imam Cali Si'id, who died that year ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)).
- **Late 1500s.** Lewis records Ugaas Cali Makaahiil, born in 1575 at Dobo north of Borama, as winning a battle at Nabadid (same source).
- **11 and 31 December 1884.** The Gadabuursi and the Ciise signed treaties with Britain. See [colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **About 1933.** Sheikh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur created the Borama (Gadabuursi) script. See [how Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).
- **1950s.** In British Somaliland, the United Somali Party drew support from the Gadabuursi and Ciise. See [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).
- **1989 to 1990.** The Gadabuursi formed the [Somali Democratic Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/73.htm)).
- **2002 to 2010.** [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) was president of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). ACCORD notes he is Gadabuursi ([ACCORD 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).
- **September 2023.** Gadabuursi clan chiefs met in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), Canada, and said they wanted Awdal to leave Somaliland ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)).

Wikipedia also records Gadabuursi musicians and artists in early Somali music and film, such as Cali Bucul and Rooble Afdeeb ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Gadabuursi leader is the *ugaas*, from the Reer Ugaas line. Wikipedia lists 18 *ugaas*, from Cali Makaahiil Dheere (1607 to 1639) to Cabdirashiid Ugaas Rooble, in office since 1985 ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)). Wikipedia quotes Renders and Terlinden (2010), who wrote that Gadabuursi institutions survived "the colonial period, Somali statehood and the war in good shape" (same source).

Wikipedia describes a *xeer* custom called "the law of the king and the 100 men" (*Xeerka Boqorka iyo Boqolka Nin*). When a new *ugaas* took office, a hundred elders from all lineages met. They decided which laws to keep and revised compensation rates (same source). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these items from April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Gadabuursi against [Jibriil Abokor](/en/society/sacad-muuse/), Sacad Muuse and Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/) (Isaaq), in El Bardaale, Gabiley; "currently dormant".
- Gadabuursi sub-clans against each other in Borama, an electoral rivalry that "did not lead to armed violence".

The EUAA says Gadabuursi clan militias were involved in three of six security incidents ACLED recorded in Awdal in that period ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)). In 2023, it adds, Gadabuursi fighters were among those on the Somaliland army side around Laascaanood ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)).

The EASO recorded a 2020 land dispute in Borama between the Faarax Nuur and Jibriil Yoonis sub-clans ([EASO 2021, Awdal](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Size.** Wikipedia says the Gadabuursi are the second largest clan in Somaliland and that most live in Ethiopia. No census counts Somalis by clan, so no source can test this.
- **Divisions.** Wikipedia names two divisions, Habar Makadur and Habar Cafaan. Abbink names Habr Afan and Mikadore, with five other groups listed beside them.
- **Biyomaal.** Abbink draws a Bimaal line on the Gadabursi branch. ACCORD, ACLED and the World Bank charts treat the Biyomaal as a separate Dir clan.
- **Isaaq link.** The EUAA writes "Gadabursi (Isaaq-Dir)" in its Awdal entry. Other sources place the Gadabuursi in the Dir without an Isaaq link.

## Read more

- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Maxamed Case (Reer Maxamed, Bahabar Aadan)](/en/society/maxamed-case/)
- [Habar Cafaan](/en/society/habar-cafaan/)
- [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/)
- [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/)


---

# Mosques in Somalia: from Hamar Weyne to the Mosque of Islamic Solidarity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mosques-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's oldest dated mosques stand in Hamar Weyne, Mogadishu, with inscriptions from 1238 and 1269. The old quarter alone has about 25 small mosques. The largest modern mosque is the Mosque of Islamic Solidarity, built in 1987 with Saudi funding for up to 10,000 worshippers, closed in the war and restored from 2006 to 2015. The Ali Jimale Mosque near Mogadishu airport opened in 2022 for up to 5,000.

## In short

This guide lists the best-documented mosques in Somalia by age, with what each source says. The medieval mosques are covered in detail on the history pages linked below; this page points to them and adds the later and modern mosques.

## The medieval mosques

- **Mogadishu, 1238 and 1269.** The minaret of the Jama'a mosque of Hamar Weyne carries an inscription dated 636 AH (1238), and the Fakhr al-Din Mosque an inscription of 1269 naming Sultan Fakhr al-Din. Its marble mihrab came from India ([Fakhr al-Din Mosque, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakhr_al-Din_Mosque); [List of mosques in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mosques_in_Somalia)). The Arba'a Rukun Mosque in Shingani has a mihrab inscription naming its founder, Khusrau ibn Muhammad (same list). See [early Mogadishu and the mosque inscriptions](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/).
- **Zeila.** Local tradition dates the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, the "mosque of the two qiblas", to the 600s, but no reliable date has been established ([List of mosques in Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mosques_in_Somalia)). See [how Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).** A 2023 study by the archaeologists Carolina Cornax-Gómez and Jorge de Torres Rodríguez counts fifteen medieval mosques in the old towns of Somaliland. See [medieval mosques of Somaliland](/en/history/medieval-mosques-of-somaliland/).

## Hamar Weyne's small mosques

The old quarter of Hamar Weyne in Mogadishu has about 25 small mosques ([Awooto Eeday Mosque, Wikipedia, citing Anita Adam, Benadiri People of Somalia, pp. 204–205](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awooto_Eeday_Mosque)). Several are described in published sources.

### Twin Mosques

The Twin Mosques (*Masaajidka Mataanaha*) joined two older mosques, the Aw Mukhtar and the Aw [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Omar. Before they were merged, the two shared one courtyard and one place for ablutions, with two prayer rooms facing each other, two imams and prayers held at the same time ([Twin Mosques, Wikipedia, citing Nuredin Scikei, Exploring the Old Stone Town of Mogadishu, Cambridge Scholars, 2017, p. 62](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Mosques)).

### Awooto Eeday Mosque

The Awooto Eeday Mosque is said to have been paid for by a pious woman known as Awooto ("grandmother") Eeday. A plate above its mihrab bears the date 1223 AH (1808), though the scholar Maria Rosario La Lomia suggests it may mark the renovation of an older mosque. It is the neighbourhood mosque of the Shanshiyo ([Awooto Eeday Mosque, Wikipedia, citing La Lomia, Antiche Moschee di Mogadiscio, 1982, pp. 59–60](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awooto_Eeday_Mosque)).

### Adayga Mosque

The 'Adayga Mosque, also called the Aw Musse or Haji Musse mosque, stands among houses in the narrow lanes of Hamar Weyne. La Lomia suggested it may date from the 13th century, because its minaret resembles the minaret of the Jama'a mosque of Hamar Weyne ([Adayga Mosque, Wikipedia, citing Adam, pp. 204–205, and La Lomia 1982, p. 40](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Adayga_Mosque)).

### Sheikh Rumani Ba Alawi Mosque

The Sheikh Rumani Ba 'Alawi Mosque, locally *Masaajidka Rumaaniga* or *Aw Shukumaan*, can only be reached through long winding lanes. During a renovation two old objects were lost: a piece of wood inscribed with the year 822 AH (about 1419) and an iron ring hanging from an old beam, of the kind used in older houses nearby to hang lanterns ([Sheikh Rumani Ba 'Alawi Mosque, Wikipedia, citing Scikei, Exploring the Old Stone Town of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Rumani_Ba_%27Alawi_Mosque)).

## Shingani: the Sheikh Ahmed Sharif Mosque

The Sheikh Ahmed [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Mosque is a small mosque in Shingani, Mogadishu's other old quarter. The present building dates from 1337 AH (1918–1919). Scikei writes that older mosques stood on the same site one on top of another, and the archaeologist Anders Broberg dates earlier buildings there to about 1730–1740, the 17th century and the 13th century ([Sheikh Ahmed Sharif Mosque, Wikipedia, citing Scikei, p. 63, and Broberg, New Aspects of the Medieval Towns of Benadir, 1995, pp. 118–120](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Ahmed_Sharif_Mosque)).

It was built during a dispute between two Shingani lineages, the Ashraaf and the 'Amuudi, over the *khatiib* (Friday preacher) of the old Friday mosque, who had been chosen by elders of both. The Ashraaf built the new mosque nearby. The dispute ended in 1339 AH (1920–1921) after mediation by Carlo Avolio, a director of the municipality, together with elders of Shingani and Hamar Weyne and religious leaders: the 'Amuudi would pray twelve Fridays in the Sheikh Ahmed Sharif Mosque, the Ashraaf returned to the old Friday mosque, and the 'Amuudi accepted a new khatiib chosen from the Ashraaf ([same article, citing Adam, pp. 128–129, and Sharif 'Aydarus, Bughyat al-amal fi tarikh al-Sumal, 1950, p. 40](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Ahmed_Sharif_Mosque)).

## The Mosque of Islamic Solidarity, 1987

The Mosque of Islamic Solidarity (*Masjidka Isbahaysiga*) overlooks the sea in Mogadishu. It was built in 1987 by [Hamar](/en/regions/mogadishu/) Construction with funding from Saudi Arabia's Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud Foundation, and holds up to 10,000 worshippers, the largest in the Horn of Africa. It was closed after the civil war began, reopened in 2006 by the Islamic Courts Union, renovated from 2012 by a Somali contractor with funding from the [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) Diyanet Foundation, and refurbished by the federal government in 2015 ([Mosque of Islamic Solidarity, Wikipedia, citing Shaul Shay, Somalia between Jihad and Restoration, 2011, p. 100](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque_of_Islamic_Solidarity)). See [the Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).

## The Ali Jimale Mosque, 2022

The Ali Jimale Mosque (*Masjidka Cali Jimcaale*) near Mogadishu airport was built by the businessman Ahmed-Nur [Ali Jimale](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/) and named after his father. Modelled on Turkish mosques, it holds up to 5,000 worshippers. President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) opened it in July 2022 by praying the Eid al-Adha prayer there with Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) and members of parliament ([Ali Jimale Mosque, Wikipedia, citing Goobjooge and Muqdisho Online, 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Mosque)). In 2024 the Hormuud Salaam Foundation held its yearly Ramadan Qur'an recitation competition there ([Shabelle Media, 15 March 2024](https://shabellemedia.com/hormuud-salaam-foundation-hosts-annual-ramadan-quran-competition-at-ali-jimale-mosque-in-mogadishu/)).

## Mosques and the war

Sufi shrines and tombs, many of them beside mosques, were destroyed in areas held by al-Shabaab from 2008 ([Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, Wikipedia, citing the Mapping Militants Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama%27a)). See [saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/) and [heritage sites](/en/society/heritage-sites/).

## Read further

- Nuredin Hagi Scikei, *Exploring the Old Stone Town of Mogadishu* (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017).
- Maria Rosario La Lomia, *Antiche Moschee di Mogadiscio* (1982).
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)


---

# Ciise (Issa, Dir clan)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ciise/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ciise (Issa) are a clan of the Dir family. Abbink places them under the Madoobe division of the Dir. They live in Djibouti, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and around Dire Dawa, and in Awdal in Somaliland. Their leader, the ugaas, comes from the Wardiiq line, and their customary law is known as Xeer Ciise.

## Name and family tree

The Ciise are a clan of the [Dir](/en/society/dir/) family. In English the name is usually written Issa, and also Ise, Esa or Aysa ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))). They are a different group from the [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/), a branch of the Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/) (Isaaq).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Dir > Madoobe > 'Isa. Beside 'Isa under Madoobe, Abbink lists Horone, Wardikh and Urweina ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 15–16](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Dir > Issa, and Dir > Ciise, with sub-groups such as Issa Rati and Ciise Mohamoud ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Both partner charts list Isse or Iise under the Dir ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "The Dir include groups such as Issa, Gadabursi, and Biymaal" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Dir > Issa, in six branches ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))) |

Wikipedia says the tomb of [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ciise lies in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), between Rugay and [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) (same source). See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink gives this line ([Abbink 2009, p. 15](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)):

- **Hawla Gati:** Mekahir, Idleh and Mahamud. Abbink adds "([Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/)?)" beside the name.
- **Dalool?:** Fourlaba (Holleh), with Mahadleh and Saheb, and Walal Doon (Haula Gati), with Mekahir, 'Idleh and Mahamud.
- **Eliye:** Mamasan (Omr, Hassan, Aur, Khaireh, Mohorre) and Musa ([Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/), Bideh, Yunis).

A question mark in Abbink means the name "could not be confirmed from more than one source". The groups he lists beside 'Isa include Horone (Habr Walal and Ohdagub), Wardikh and Urweina (Fiqi and Abdalla) (Abbink 2009, pp. 15–16).

Wikipedia gives six branches, citing *Notes on the social organisation of the Issa Somal* ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))):

| Branch | Two main lines |
|---|---|
| Eleye | Muuse and Mamasan |
| Walaldoon | Idle and Yuusuf |
| Holle | Mahadle and Saaib |
| Horrone | Habar Walaal and Geele Walaal |
| Urweyne | Cabdalle and Siciid |
| Wardiiq | Wakhtishiil and Rumawaaq |

Every group here is also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Awdal | "Awdal region is inhabited by members of the Gadabursi (Isaaq-Dir) and Issa clans" ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)) |
| Hargeisa | The Ise (Issa) are among the non-Isaaq Somalis in the city ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 2.2.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Ethiopia and Djibouti | The UK Home Office places them in Somaliland "and bordering regions of Ethiopia and Djibouti" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)) |
| Djibouti | Wikipedia calls them the largest clan in Djibouti ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))) |
| Ethiopia | Wikipedia places them in the Somali Region, reaching into the Oromia and Afar regions, and in Dire Dawa (same source) |

Wikipedia explains the old names "White Issa" and "Black Issa" as geographic. The White Issa lived nearer the sea and the Black Issa beyond a range of hills west of the Djibouti to Harar road (same source). See [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/).

## History on record

Most of the history below comes from Wikipedia, a backup source ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))).

- **1884.** The Ciise and the Gadabuursi signed treaties with Britain in December. See [colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **1935 to 1936.** Wikipedia says Issa fought on the Italian side in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.
- **13 August 1960.** Wikipedia records the killing of Issa men by Ethiopian troops at Aysha, in Ethiopia.
- **1960.** [Mahmoud Harbi](/en/people/mahamoud-harbi/), an Issa leader of the independence movement in [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), died in a plane crash.
- **1977.** Djibouti became independent. [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/), an Issa, was its first president, from 1977 to 1999.
- **1987.** Wikipedia says Ethiopia created the Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) administrative area in a new division of the country.
- **1991 to 1994.** Wikipedia describes a civil war in Djibouti between the Issa-led government and the Afar rebels of the FRUD.
- **1991.** Wikipedia says some Issa left Zeila after fighting with the SNM and the Gadabuursi. Others moved to a camp at Aysha in Ethiopia.
- **1999.** [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/), also an Issa, became president of Djibouti.

See [the Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia describes the Ciise customary law, *Xeer Ciise*, as told by Ciise elders ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))):

- Forty-four elders met on Mount Sitti, in what is now Aysha district, at a place called Las Harad.
- Over time they set down 362 unwritten laws, called *heer*.
- By tradition the *ugaas* is always chosen from the Wardiiq sub-clan.
- Decisions are made by consensus. Every man of a lineage may speak at the gathering called *shir*.
- A court of 44 members, the *Reer Gendi*, acts as a court of appeal and meets in times of crisis.

See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Dir Ciise as a party ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It does name the "Ise" with the Gadabuursi among the clans on the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) army side around Laascaanood in 2023 ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)).

Wikipedia records conflict with the Gadabuursi in Awdal, and with the Afar to the west. It quotes I. M. Lewis on "an almost constant state of enmity between the 'Ise and the 'Afar" ([Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_(clan))). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Where 'Isa sits.** Abbink lists Horone, Wardikh and Urweina beside 'Isa under Madoobe. Wikipedia counts Horrone, Wardiiq and Urweyne as three of the six Ciise branches.
- **Names with question marks.** Abbink marks "Dalool?" and "Hawla Gati (Abgal?)" with question marks.
- **Ciise Muuse.** The EUAA lists "Issa Muse (Issa)" in a [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) dispute. Other sources place the Ciise Muuse under the Habar Awal (Isaaq), not the Dir Ciise.
- **Size.** Wikipedia calls the Ciise the largest clan in Djibouti. No census counts Somalis by clan, so no source can test this.

## Read more

- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/)
- [Xeer Ciise](/en/society/xeer-ciise/)


---

# Mogadishu Cathedral: the Catholic cathedral of 1928 and its ruins

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mogadishu-cathedral/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Mogadishu Cathedral was a Catholic cathedral built from 1923 to 1928 under the Italian colonial governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi, in a Norman style modelled on the cathedral of Cefalù in Sicily. It was the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Mogadishu, which covers all of Somalia. Bishop Salvatore Colombo was shot dead there in 1989. The building has been unused since January 1991, was largely destroyed in 2008, and has not been rebuilt.

## In short

Mogadishu Cathedral is a ruined Catholic cathedral in central Mogadishu, near the old Governor's Palace. Italian colonial authorities built it between 1923 and 1928. It was the seat of the Catholic bishops of Mogadishu until 1991 ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia, citing Tebaldi, Consolata Missionaries in the World, 2001, p. 127](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)). The wider history of Christians in Somalia is on [Christians and missions in Somalia](/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/).

## Building it, 1923 to 1928

Governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi ordered the cathedral; he promoted the Christianisation of Somalis. The architect Antonio Vandone modelled it on the Norman cathedral of Cefalù in Sicily. Consolata missionaries oversaw the work and looked after the building until the Franciscans (Friars Minor) took over. It was the largest cathedral in eastern Africa ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)).

The facade had two towers, each 37.5 metres high. The plan was a Latin cross with three naves divided by piers and pointed arches ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia, citing the Archivio Luce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)).

The architectural historian Claire Dillon has studied the design. She writes that it pointed back to the Norman conquest of Sicily from Muslim rule in the 11th century, and to the picture of the Normans as tolerant rulers. In her reading, the towers and pointed arches echo North African Islamic buildings, which colonial officials hoped would fit the city, and the whole building was meant to present Italian rule as a "peaceful conquest" ([Dillon, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 84(3), 2025, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral); [Geeska interview with Claire Dillon, 19 October 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/claire-dillon-italians-promoted-their-occupation-benefit-colonized)).

## The killing of Bishop Colombo, 1989

Salvatore Colombo, an Italian Franciscan and Bishop of Mogadishu from 1975, was shot dead in the cathedral on 9 July 1989. The killing has never been solved ([Salvatore Colombo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Colombo); [Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia, citing Avvenire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)). What followed in Mogadishu is told on [Christians and missions in Somalia](/en/society/christians-and-missions-in-somalia/).

## Ruin, 1991 to today

Bishop Giorgio Bertin said the cathedral had been "in a state of abandonment since January 9, 1991" ([ACI Africa, 18 January 2024](https://aciafrica.org/news/10048/suicide-bombing-near-abandoned-catholic-cathedral-in-somalia-kills-three)). Much of it was destroyed in late 2008 ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia, citing Il Giornale, 3 October 2008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)).

A BBC correspondent who visited in 2012 found families displaced by the war living in tents in the grounds and small shops outside. The roof was gone but the walls and stone arches still stood. In April 2013, after an inspection, the diocese announced plans to rebuild it. As of 2023 no rebuilding had started ([Mogadishu Cathedral, Wikipedia, citing the BBC and Agenzia Fides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Cathedral)).

On 16 January 2024 a suicide bomber blew himself up near the cathedral, in front of the Banaadir regional administration building, killing three people. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed the attack ([ACI Africa, 18 January 2024, citing Reuters and Agenzia Fides](https://aciafrica.org/news/10048/suicide-bombing-near-abandoned-catholic-cathedral-in-somalia-kills-three)).

## The Diocese of Mogadishu

The Catholic Diocese of Mogadishu covers all of Somalia and is its only diocese. It began in 1904 as the Apostolic Prefecture of Benadir, entrusted to the Trinitarian order, became the Apostolic Vicariate of Mogadishu in 1927 and a diocese in 1975 ([Diocese of Mogadishu, Wikipedia, citing Catholic Hierarchy and GCatholic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Mogadishu)).

- **Its leaders:** Alessandro dei Santi (1905–1924), Gabriele Perlo (1924–1930), Francesco Lazzati (1931–1932), Francesco Venanzio Filippini (1933–1970), Antonio Silvio Zocchetta (1970–1973) and Bishop Salvatore Colombo (1975–1989) (same source).
- **Since 1989:** the see has had no bishop. The Bishop of Djibouti runs it as apostolic administrator: Giorgio Bertin from 1990, then Jamal Khader Daibes from 13 January 2024 ([Catholic Hierarchy](https://catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bkhader.html)).
- **Numbers:** about 8,500 Catholics in 1950, 0.7 percent of the population, almost all of them Italian; about 100 Catholics and one priest in 2020 ([Catholic Church in Somalia, Wikipedia, citing catholic-hierarchy.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_Somalia)).

## Read further

- Claire Dillon, article on the cathedral in the *Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians* 84, no. 3 (2025), pp. 368–385.
- [Mosques in Somalia](/en/society/mosques-in-somalia/)
- [Religion in Somalia in numbers](/en/society/religion-in-somalia-in-numbers/)


---

# Cayr (Ayr, Habar Gidir, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/cayr/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Cayr (Ayr) are a sub-clan of the Habar Gidir, a Hawiye clan. Abbink lists two Cayr lines, Absiye and Ayanle, and ACLED codes others such as Habar Caji, Yabar Dhowrakace and Yabadhaale. The EUAA and EASO place them mainly in Galgaduud. Recent records list disputes with the Saleebaan, Duduble, Murusade and Mareexaan.

## Name and family tree

The Cayr are a sub-clan of the Habar Gidir, a clan of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) family. The name is written Cayr or Ceyr in Somali and Ayr in English.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Gurgate > Damay > Hirab > Habr Gidir > 'Ayr, with ancestors between Hirab and Habr Gidir left out ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir > Ayr ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Ayr (Habar Gedir/Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Hawiye > Gorgate > Daame > Madarkicis (Habar Gidir) > Maxamed (Cayr), citing Ali Jimale Ahmed's *The Invention of Somalia* ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))) |

Wikipedia's article carries an "original research" warning, so its details below are the weakest source on this page. See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists two lines under 'Ayr: Absiye and Ayanle ([Abbink 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

ACLED's 2025 list codes these Cayr groups ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)):

- Ayanle, Bilaal, Cabsiiye (Cabsiye) and Habar Caji (Habaraji, Habanji)
- Yabadhaalo and Yabar Dhowrakace
- Saruur, coded once as "Ayr-Saruur"

Wikipedia gives a tree from Maxamed (Cayr) through Mucle and Abti-Idig. It names Abti-Idig's four sons as Warwaaq, Xaryanle (Qoorcas), Daa'uud (Sabuuh) and Dhowrakace ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))). It lists ten groups of similar size that pay *diya* (blood money) together:

| Group | Note in Wikipedia |
|---|---|
| Habar Caji | Warwaaq and Xaryanle; called the eldest |
| Ayaanle | Son of Caroole |
| Cabsiiye | Son of Caroole |
| Yabar Dhowrakace | Descendants of Dhowrakace other than Samadoor |
| Yabadhaale | From Wace Maxamed |
| Babaanshe | Son of Caroole |
| Sabuuh | Daa'uud Abti-Idig |
| Xasan Samadoor | Son of Samadoor |
| Caalin Ugaas | The *ugaas* line |
| Suubiye Caroole | Son of Caroole |

Every group here is also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Galgaduud | Main clans are Habar Gidir sub-clans, "Suleiman (or Suliman, Saleban), Ayr, Duduble", with the Murusade and Mareexaan ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)) |
| North Galgaduud | The EASO lists Sacad, Saleebaan and Cayr among the five major clans ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Dhuusamareeb, Cadaado, Balanbale, Ceelbuur | Districts named in conflict records involving Cayr groups ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Hiiraan | A Cayr woman was killed near Beledweyne in February 2025 (same source, section 1.5.2) |
| Six regions | Wikipedia says Cayr live in six of Somalia's 18 regions, mostly in Galgaduud ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))) |

See [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/).

## History on record

- **1500s to 1600s.** Wikipedia says the Cayr were part of the [Ajuran Sultanate](/en/history/ajuran-state/). It says some Cayr sections, such as the Yabadhaale, fought to defend it as it fell ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))).
- **2000 to 2004.** [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) was president of the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). Wikipedia lists him as Cayr (same source).
- **2009.** Abbink described al-Shabaab as "dominated by 'Ayr (Hawiye) sub-clan members". He added that "it includes also other Hawiye, several Digil-Rahanweyn and people from other clans" ([Abbink 2009, p. 41](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). See [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).
- **February 2021.** Cayr and Saleebaan sub-clans agreed a first ceasefire at Hananbure ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says the Cayr *ugaas* line began 400 to 500 years ago with Caalin Caroole. It gives the current *ugaas* as Xasan Ugaas Maxamed [Ugaas Nuur](/en/people/ughaz-nur-ii/) ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))). It retells an oral tradition that their ancestor Abti-Idig named Dhowrakace's line as the one that would lead the Cayr. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) conflicts, active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Cayr against [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/), on the outskirts of Dhuusamareeb district.
- Saleebaan against Cayr, in Hanabuure and Qalanqale villages in Cadaado and Dhuusamareeb districts.
- Cayr against [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) (Darod), in [Balanbale](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) district.
- Ayaanle against Cabsiiye, both Cayr, in Laas-Xaadow. The EUAA says this started in 2018.
- Murusade against Cayr, a conflict that "started in the middle of 2024".

The EUAA also lists incidents in which women were killed (same source, section 1.5.2):

- **11 September 2024.** A Cayr militia killed two civilians, including a Saleebaan woman, near Dhuusamareeb.
- **16 February 2025.** A [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/) militia killed a Cayr woman near Beledweyne.
- **18 February 2025.** A Murusade militia attacked Cayr civilians near Ceelbuur, killing two, including a woman.

Earlier, the EASO listed Ayaanle (Cayr) against Reer Kooshin (Mareexaan) at Balanbale. It also listed Habar Caji (Cayr) against Cali Madaxweyne (Xawaadle) in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Sub-clans.** Abbink lists only Absiye and Ayanle. ACLED codes about eight Cayr groups. Wikipedia gives ten *diya* groups.
- **Saruur.** ACLED codes "Ayr-Saruur" once. Abbink lists Saruur as a separate Habar Gidir line beside 'Ayr, and Wikipedia names Saruur as a related group.
- **Size.** Wikipedia calls the Cayr the largest Habar Gidir sub-clan. No census counts Somalis by clan, so no source can test this.
- **Al-Shabaab.** Abbink's 2009 note links al-Shabaab mainly to Cayr members. It also says the group draws on other Hawiye, Digil-Rahanweyn and other clans.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/)
- [Ayaanle Cayr](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/)
- [Habar Caji](/en/society/habar-caji/)
- [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/)


---

# Cholera in Somalia: every reported outbreak from 1970 to 2021

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/cholera-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia first reported cholera to WHO in 1970. The largest years on record are 2017 (78,701 cases and 1,163 deaths), 2011 (77,636 cases and 1,130 deaths) and 2007 (41,643 cases and 1,182 deaths). The 2017 outbreak began in Hiiraan in January, during the drought, and peaked in May and June. Cholera is endemic, and outbreaks follow both droughts and floods.

## In short

Somalia's cases and deaths from cholera have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1970 ([WHO Global Health Observatory, cholera cases and deaths, Somalia](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/CHOLERA_0000000001?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27)). The three deadliest years on record are 2007, 2011 and 2017, each with more than 1,100 reported deaths.

A WHO review calls cholera "endemic in the country", with outbreaks "during dry and rainy seasons". It names the protracted conflict, limited primary health care, and limited safe water and sanitation for displaced people as the main drivers ([Lubogo and others, *Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal* 29(9), 2023](https://www.emro.who.int/emhj-volume-29-2023/volume-29-issue-9/responding-to-cholera-outbreaks-in-somalia-in-20172019.html)).

## Year by year

Cases and deaths reported to WHO. Years with no entry were not reported.

| Year | Cases | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 43 | 10 |
| 1971 | 89 | 10 |
| 1985 | 10,199 | 1,589 |
| 1986 | 15,980 | 1,945 |
| 1994 | 28,334 | 1,206 |
| 1995 | 9,255 | 191 |
| 1996 | 10,274 | 464 |
| 1997 | 6,814 | 252 |
| 1998 | 4,417 | 196 |
| 1999 | 17,757 | 693 |
| 2000 | 7,496 | 563 |
| 2001 | 2,567 | 93 |
| 2002 | 2,775 | 159 |
| 2003 | 11,020 | 56 |
| 2004 | 4,490 | 26 |
| 2007 | 41,643 | 1,182 |
| 2008 | 1,281 | 16 |
| 2009 | 208 | 3 |
| 2010 | 3,510 | 103 |
| 2011 | 77,636 | 1,130 |
| 2012 | 22,576 | 200 |
| 2013 | 6,864 | 140 |
| 2014 | 2,820 | no figure |
| 2015 | 7,536 | 84 |
| 2016 | 15,619 | 548 |
| 2017 | 78,701 | 1,163 |
| 2018 | 6,448 | 45 |
| 2019 | 3,089 | 4 |

Sources: 1970 to 2016 from the [WHO Global Health Observatory](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/CHOLERA_0000000001?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27) (indicators CHOLERA_0000000001 and CHOLERA_0000000002, downloaded 13 November 2026). 2017 to 2019 from [Lubogo and others 2023](https://www.emro.who.int/emhj-volume-29-2023/volume-29-issue-9/responding-to-cholera-outbreaks-in-somalia-in-20172019.html).

Death rates among those reported sick fell sharply over time. In 1985 about 16% of reported cases died; in 2017 the figure was 1.48%, in 2018 0.70% and in 2019 0.13% (WHO data; Lubogo and others 2023).

## The great outbreaks

- **1985 and 1986.** More than 26,000 cases and 3,500 deaths over the two years (WHO data).
- **1994.** 28,334 cases and 1,206 deaths, in the years after the [1991 to 1993 famine](/en/society/famine-1991-1993/) (WHO data).
- **2007.** 41,643 cases and 1,182 deaths (WHO data).
- **2011.** 77,636 cases and 1,130 deaths, during [the 2010 to 2012 famine](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/). The famine mortality study records cholera and measles epidemics in nearly all affected regions ([Checchi and Robinson, FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2013, p. 5](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf)).
- **2017.** The worst year on record, during [the 2016 to 2018 drought](/en/society/drought-2016-2018/) (below).

## The 2017 to 2019 outbreaks

- **January 2017.** The Federal Ministry of Health confirmed cholera in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) region, *Vibrio cholerae* serotype Ogawa. It spread to most districts and regions and peaked in May and June 2017 (Lubogo and others 2023).
- **Drought.** The drought affected over 60% of the country and caused "Somalia's worst cholera outbreak in a decade" (Lubogo and others 2023).
- **Vaccines.** In March 2017 WHO and partners ran Somalia's first national oral cholera vaccination campaign, reaching over 450,000 people. By May 2017 cholera treatment centres were working in 40 districts ([WHO, 11 May 2017](https://www.who.int/news/item/11-05-2017-who-calls-for-immediate-action-to-save-lives-in-somalia)).
- **Floods.** The [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Juba valleys flood about twice a year, which contaminates water sources (Lubogo and others 2023).

## After 2019

WHO situation reports gave a running total of 20,762 suspected cases and 117 deaths, reported from eight regions, by October 2021 ([WHO EMRO, Somalia situation reports](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/information-resources/situation-reports.html)). ReliefWeb lists the Somalia cholera outbreak as ongoing from 2016 to 2026 under GLIDE number EP-2016-000053-SOM ([ReliefWeb, Somalia: Cholera Outbreak 2016–2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2016-000053-som)).

## Sources

- World Health Organization. [Global Health Observatory: number of reported cases of cholera; number of reported deaths from cholera](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/CHOLERA_0000000001?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27). Data API `ghoapi.azureedge.net`, Somalia (SOM).
- Lubogo, M., Evans, B., Abdinasir, A. and others (2023). [Responding to cholera outbreaks in Somalia in 2017–2019](https://www.emro.who.int/emhj-volume-29-2023/volume-29-issue-9/responding-to-cholera-outbreaks-in-somalia-in-20172019.html). *Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal* 29(9): 734–741. doi:10.26719/emhj.23.096.
- WHO (2017). [WHO calls for immediate action to save lives in Somalia](https://www.who.int/news/item/11-05-2017-who-calls-for-immediate-action-to-save-lives-in-somalia), 11 May 2017.
- WHO EMRO. [Somalia situation reports](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/information-resources/situation-reports.html).
- Checchi, F. and Robinson, W. C. (2013). [Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010–2012](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_Mortality_Estimates_Final_Report_8May2013_upload.pdf).
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Cholera Outbreak 2016–2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2016-000053-som).


---

# Somali family and marriage: households, roles, weddings, polygamy and divorce

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/family-and-marriage/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The average Somali household has 6.2 people, and grandparents, parents and children often live together. Marriage is seen as a religious and social duty: families arrange the match over several meetings, but the bride and groom usually have the final say. Islamic and civil law allow up to four wives in some cases. About one in three young women marry before 18.

## The household

Somali households are large and often span three generations. The average household had **6.2 people** in 2020 ([Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf)). Families pool their money, and relatives abroad often send money home rather than build savings of their own ([The Cultural Atlas, Somali culture: family](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-family)).

Parents and elders are highly respected. The whole family and community share responsibility for raising a child, and old people are usually cared for by their children and grandchildren (The Cultural Atlas). Descent, and so the clan, passes through the father's line; see [clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/).

## Men's and women's roles

By tradition, men hold most of the authority and are responsible for money and safety. Women run the home, food and children, and older women in particular carry great influence in the family (The Cultural Atlas).

This is changing. About **32%** of households are now headed by women, a rise linked to war, drought, rising prices and men moving away for work. Yet only 9% of women aged 15 to 49 had paid work in 2020 (The Cultural Atlas).

## How a marriage is made

Marriage is seen as both a religious and a social duty. Matches are traditionally arranged: the two families meet several times to get to know each other. The bride and groom usually have the final say (The Cultural Atlas).

- **Sooryo.** At the engagement, the groom's side makes a payment that shows its commitment to the marriage.
- **Maher.** The bride's marriage gift (*maher*, Arabic *mahr*) is declared and registered at the engagement ceremony.
- **Moving.** The bride usually moves into her husband's family home.

(The Cultural Atlas.) A woman keeps her own name after marriage; see [Somali names](/en/society/somali-names/).

## Child marriage

In 2020, **35.5%** of women aged 20 to 24 had been married before the age of 18, and **16.8%** before 15 ([SHDS 2020](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)).

## Polygamy

Islamic law allows a man up to four wives. Somalia's Family Code permits a further marriage only in set cases, such as a wife's infertility, long illness or imprisonment, and requires a court's permission. In practice many such marriages take place through religious or customary ceremonies without a court, especially in the countryside. There is no official count. One 2023 study in Mogadishu found 28.3% of women in its sample in polygamous marriages (The Cultural Atlas).

## Divorce

Divorce is fairly rare and treated as a last resort. Either spouse can ask a court to end the marriage (*faskh*), and a man can also divorce outside court unless there is a serious dispute. Mothers usually keep the children, and fathers pay for their support (The Cultural Atlas).

## Read more

- [Xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/): how families and elders settle disputes.
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/): the faith behind family law.

## Sources

- The Cultural Atlas. [Somali culture: family](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-family).
- [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) and UNFPA (2020). [Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).


---

# Horseed FC: the army club and Somalia's most successful cup side

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/horseed-fc/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Horseed FC is a Mogadishu football club founded in 1971 by the Somali Armed Forces Sports Directorate. It won the league seven times in the 1970s and again in 2021, and holds a record nine Somalia Cups. In 1977 it became the first Somali club to reach the final of the CECAFA Club Cup. It stopped playing after 1991 and was revived in 2013.

## Founding

Horseed was founded in 1971 by Lieutenant Colonel [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Alim, who set up the [Somali Armed Forces](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) Sports Directorate and recruited players from the ranks of the army ([Horseed FC, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseed_FC)). The RSSSF, which keeps football records country by country, says the police and military sides had become the strongest teams in Mogadishu, and that because their matches caused tension they were combined to form Horseed ([RSSSF, Somalia champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).

## The 1970s

Horseed won the league in its first three seasons, 1971/72, 1972/73 and 1973/74, and then four more in a row from 1976/77 to 1979/80 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). It also won the first General Da'ud Cup in 1972 and the cup again in 1975 and 1976 ([RSSSF, Somalia cup winners](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)).

In 1977 Horseed became the first Somali club to reach the final of the CECAFA Club Cup, the East and Central African club championship. It lost 2–1 to Luo Union of Kenya. In the next two editions, both held in Somalia, it reached the semi-finals and lost to Simba of [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) in 1978 and to Abaluhya of Kenya in 1979 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseed_FC); [RSSSF, CECAFA Club Cup](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/cecafa.html)).

## The 1980s, the war and the revival

Horseed won further cups in 1982, 1983 and 1987 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)). After the civil war began in 1991 the club stopped playing. In 2013 General Dahir Aden Elmi, commander of the Somali Armed Forces, revived all of Horseed's teams, with football first, and the club returned to the league. Colonel [Ahmed Mohamed Hassan](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-hassan-pilot/) became chairman in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseed_FC); [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-rebuilds-al-qaedas-gone-soccers-back/)).

On 30 June 2020, when Mogadishu Stadium reopened for football, Horseed beat Mogadishu City Club 2–1 in the first match ([FIFA, 1 July 2020](https://ipt.fifa.com/news/joyous-return-for-stadium-mogadishu-after-16-year-wait)).

## The 2021 title

In 2021 Horseed and Mogadishu City Club both finished on 38 points. Horseed was awarded the play-off on 2 August after Mogadishu City Club declined to play, and beat the same opponent 2–0 in the Super Cup on 5 June 2022 ([RSSSF, Somalia 2021](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)). In the 2026 cup final Horseed lost 3–2 to Mogadishu City Club after extra time ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)).

## Honours

- **Somali league:** 8 titles by RSSSF's count (1971/72, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 2021). Wikipedia lists the same years and calls it a "seven-time" champion in its opening line ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseed_FC)).
- **Somalia Cup:** 9 (1972, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1987, 2015, 2019, 2020), the most of any club ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)).
- **Somalia Super Cup:** 2 (2015, 2021).
- **CECAFA Club Cup:** runner-up 1977.

## Read more

- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Somalia Cup and Super Cup](/en/society/somalia-cup/)
- [Mogadishu City Club](/en/society/mogadishu-city-club/)
- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)


---

# Hospitals in Somalia by city: Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Garowe, Kismayo, Baidoa and Galkayo

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hospitals-by-city/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu has the most hospitals in Somalia, about 18 larger ones in early 2025, including the public Banadir, Medina and De Martino hospitals and private ones such as Erdoğan (Digfeer). Hargeisa's main public hospital is Hargeisa Group Hospital, and Garowe's is Garowe General Hospital. Public hospitals are cheaper, but patients often pay for medicines, and private care costs far more.

## In short

Most hospitals in Somalia are in Mogadishu. Public hospitals cost little to enter, but supplies are short, so patients often buy their own medicines and dressings. Private hospitals generally offer better care at a much higher price. Treatments such as dialysis, organ transplants and some cancer care are scarce or unavailable, so serious cases often go to Kenya, the Gulf or India ([EUAA, Somalia Country Focus 2025, Mogadishu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)).

The figures below are from early 2025 unless stated. Hospitals open, close and change quickly, so call before you travel.

## Mogadishu

About 18 larger hospitals operated in Mogadishu in early 2025 (EUAA, Mogadishu):

- **Public:** Banadir, Medina and De Martino. Banadir had about 500 beds in a 2020 Danish study. Medina is used mainly by the police but also serves the public.
- **Private:** [Aden Adde](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), Kalkaal, Somali Sudanese, Ummo, Digfeer (Erdoğan), Yardimeli, Jazeera, Dufle, Fiqi, Dalmar, Forlanini, Habeeb, Liban, Shaafi and Hodon.
- **Turkish-run:** Erdoğan (the rebuilt Digfeer) and Yardimeli are Turkish-owned, on land the government gave for free. Their prices are a little lower than fully private hospitals.
- **Mental health:** Forlanini, Habeeb and Erdoğan have psychiatric wards.

The Red Cross has long backed two Mogadishu hospitals. It has supported the Somali Red Crescent's **Keysaney** hospital since 1992, with the Norwegian Red Cross, and **Medina** since 2000. With Kismayo General, these hospitals treated 19,675 patients in 2025, including 1,674 with weapon wounds ([ICRC, programmes and activities in Somalia, January 2026](https://blogs.icrc.org/app/uploads/sites/99/2026/03/ICRC-programmes-and-activities-in-Somalia-January-2026.pdf)).

**Costs in early 2025.** Public hospitals were officially free, but began asking an admission fee of about $3. Private admission cost $7 to $13. A night in hospital ran from about $20 at Yardimeli to $50 at Erdoğan. A caesarean section cost $250 to $300 (EUAA, Mogadishu).

## Hargeisa

- **Public:** **Hargeisa Group Hospital** is the main public referral hospital. It has six main departments, about 30 units and about 700 staff. It sees around 260 patients a day, including about 20 women giving birth ([EUAA, Somalia Country Focus 2025, Hargeisa](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/223-socioeconomic-indicators)).
- **Mother and child centres:** free state-run centres give basic care and free delivery in many neighbourhoods (EUAA, Hargeisa).
- **Private:** well-known private hospitals include Gaargaar, Manhal, Haldoor, Hussein Deeqle and the Edna Adan hospital (EUAA, Hargeisa). See [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/).

There is no admission fee at public hospitals. Patients pay for some medicines and dressings, and relatives bring food. Private treatment for small problems costs $50 to $100 (EUAA, Hargeisa).

## Garowe

- **Public:** Garowe General Hospital (about 200 beds) and Gol [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) Maternity Hospital (about 15 beds).
- **Private:** Qaran (about 30 beds), Siha (about 45) and Arafat (about 60), among about seven larger private hospitals. Some private clinics are run by doctors who came back from abroad.
- **Costs:** about $10 to be admitted to a public hospital and $15 at a private one. A caesarean costs $100 to $150 in a public hospital and about $300 in a private one.
- **Mental health:** no public or private hospital in Garowe offered specialist mental health care in early 2025.

([EUAA, Somalia Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/23-garowe/233-socioeconomic-indicators).)

## Kismayo

**Kismayo General Hospital** has had permanent Red Cross support since 2013, with medicines, staff pay, equipment and training. The Red Cross also backs a stabilisation centre in Kismayo for very malnourished young children, which treated 1,999 children under five in 2025 (ICRC, January 2026).

## Baidoa

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supports **Bay Regional Hospital** in Baidoa, with emergency obstetric care, newborn care and treatment for malnourished children. In August 2025 MSF opened a 20-bed unit for women with obstetric fistula ([MSF, Somalia](https://msf.or.ke/en/country/somalia)).

## Galkayo

**[Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) Regional Hospital** in Galkayo North is supported by MSF, which runs emergency, maternity and children's services and treats malnutrition and tuberculosis, including drug-resistant TB. MSF also works in Galkayo South (MSF, Somalia).

## Read more

- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/): the national numbers.
- [Caring for Somali patients](/en/society/caring-for-somali-patients/): a guide for health workers.

## Sources

- EUAA (2025). Somalia Country Focus: [Mogadishu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators), [Hargeisa](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/22-hargeisa/223-socioeconomic-indicators) and [Garowe](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/23-garowe/233-socioeconomic-indicators), socioeconomic indicators, health care.
- ICRC (2026). [ICRC programmes and activities in Somalia, January 2026](https://blogs.icrc.org/app/uploads/sites/99/2026/03/ICRC-programmes-and-activities-in-Somalia-January-2026.pdf).
- MSF. [Somalia](https://msf.or.ke/en/country/somalia), 2025 highlights.


---

# Khat (qaad) in Somalia: how much is imported, and what it does to health

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/khat/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Khat, called qaad or jaad in Somali, is a leaf chewed as a stimulant. Somalia imported $450.4 million of khat in 2025, more than the $404.3 million the federal government raised in domestic revenue that year. Most is flown in daily from Kenya, and more comes from Ethiopia. Studies link heavy chewing to sleeplessness, higher blood pressure and, in some users, psychosis.

## What it is

Khat (*Catha edulis*) is a shrub whose fresh leaves are chewed for hours, often in company. Its main active substance, cathinone, works in the body much like a mild amphetamine. People chew it to feel alert, to fight tiredness on journeys, or to study for exams ([Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, WHO, 2007, 13(3): 706–718](https://applications.emro.who.int/emhj/1303/13_3_2007_706_718.pdf)).

The leaves lose strength within days, so khat must be moved fast. Better air transport has spread fresh khat across the region and even to Europe (Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 2007).

## The import bill

- **$450.4 million in 2025.** That is what Somalia spent importing khat, by the National Economic Council's State of the Economy Report 2026, based on Central Bank data ([Dawan, 27 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-spent-dollar4504m-on-khat-imports-in-2025-more-than-domestic-revenue)).
- **More than the government's own revenue.** The federal government collected $404.3 million in domestic revenue that year ([Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/)).
- **Kenya.** Most khat is Kenyan *miraa*, flown in by plane. Kenya says it exports 13 to 17 tonnes a day, and Somalia takes 80 to 90% of Kenya's miraa trade (Dawan).
- **Ethiopia.** Ethiopia also sells khat to Somalia. Its official exports to Somalia fell 35% to 2,580 tonnes in the first quarter of its 2025/26 fiscal year (Dawan).
- **Politics.** Somalia has at times banned or limited khat from one supplier during diplomatic disputes, including Ethiopian khat in 2024 (Dawan).

Khat is also one of the largest single sources of customs duty (Dawan). For the trade itself, see [the khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/).

## Health effects

A WHO journal review of the research found ([Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 2007](https://applications.emro.who.int/emhj/1303/13_3_2007_706_718.pdf)):

- **Sleep.** Sleeplessness is frequent among chewers.
- **Heart.** Chewing raises blood pressure and pulse for some hours.
- **Mind.** Heavy use has been linked to depression and, in some users, to psychosis, including paranoid psychosis.
- **Diabetes.** Chewers with diabetes are less likely to follow dietary advice, and the sweet drinks taken with khat can raise blood sugar.

## How the law treats it

In Somalia khat is imported openly and taxed at customs (Dawan). The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence reviewed khat in 2006 and decided it should not be placed under international control, judging its potential for abuse and dependence to be low ([WHO, 34th report](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241209427); [University of Groningen, Global Health Law blog](https://www.rug.nl/rechten/onderzoek/expertisecentra/gchl/blog/khat-under-international-scrutiny-is-there-a-need-for-the-who-to-reopen-discussions-on-khat)). Some countries ban it or its active substance. In the United States, cathinone is a Schedule I drug, and khat is treated the same way ([US National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2007, archived](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090813042751/http://drugabuse.gov/PDF/Infofacts/khat07.pdf)).

## Read more

- [Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/): what Somalis eat and drink each day.
- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/): the national health numbers.

## Sources

- Dawan (2026). [Somalia spent $450.4m on khat imports in 2025, more than domestic revenue](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-spent-dollar4504m-on-khat-imports-in-2025-more-than-domestic-revenue).
- Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (2007). [Review of the effects of khat chewing on health](https://applications.emro.who.int/emhj/1303/13_3_2007_706_718.pdf), 13(3): 706–718. WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
- WHO (2006). [WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence: thirty-fourth report](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241209427).
- US National Institute on Drug Abuse (2007). [InfoFacts: khat](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090813042751/http://drugabuse.gov/PDF/Infofacts/khat07.pdf), archived.


---

# Learn English for free: free courses for Somali speakers (baro Ingiriisi bilaash)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/learn-english-free/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> You can learn English to a good level for free with BBC Learning English, VOA Learning English, the British Council and USA Learns, and check your level free with the British Council's EnglishScore app. A smartphone and data help most, but some lessons work on radio and slow connections.

## Why English

English is the language of most university teaching in Somalia, of scholarships abroad, of online work and of the international agencies that hire in the country. It opens the door to the [scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/) on this site.

## Free courses, from beginner to advanced

**BBC Learning English**
- Short daily lessons with audio, video and quizzes, from beginner to advanced. Courses run in levels, so you always know what comes next ([BBC Learning English](https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish)).
- Good for: listening and pronunciation (British English).

**VOA Learning English**
- Daily news read slowly in simple words, with the text on screen. It teaches "vocabulary, listening and comprehension lessons through daily news" ([VOA Learning English](https://learningenglish.voanews.com/)).
- Good for: reading and listening every day. Pages are light and load on slow connections.

**USA Learns**
- A free website "to help adults learn English online", with video courses for beginner and intermediate learners ([USA Learns](https://www.usalearns.org/)).
- Good for: adults starting from zero, including parents in the diaspora.

**British Council LearnEnglish**
- Free grammar, vocabulary and listening lessons by level ([British Council LearnEnglish](https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/)).

**Duolingo**
- A free phone app with short daily lessons ([Duolingo](https://www.duolingo.com/)). It does not teach English from Somali yet, so you learn through English or Arabic. Duolingo offers an English course for Arabic speakers ([Arabian Business](https://www.arabianbusiness.com/americas/duolingo-launches-english-for-arabic-speakers-600919)).

## Check your level for free

- **EnglishScore** (British Council): a free test on your phone in under 40 minutes, covering grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening, with your score at once ([British Council](https://www.britishcouncil.pt/en/english/courses-online/englishscore)). A certificate costs extra, from about US$25 ([EnglishScore](https://englishscore.com/)). The British Council says it does not replace IELTS.

## The exams scholarships ask for

Scholarships and foreign universities usually ask for one of these. They are not free.
- **IELTS** ([ielts.org](https://www.ielts.org/))
- **TOEFL** ([ets.org](https://www.ets.org/toefl.html))
- **Duolingo English Test**, taken online at home ([englishtest.duolingo.com](https://englishtest.duolingo.com/))

Check which one your university accepts before you pay.

## A simple plan

1. Take the free EnglishScore test to find your level.
2. Do one BBC or USA Learns lesson a day, at your level.
3. Read one VOA news story a day, out loud.
4. Every month, take the free test again.
5. When you reach upper intermediate, book IELTS, TOEFL or the Duolingo test for your application.

## If you only have a basic phone

Most free courses need a smartphone or a computer. If you have only a basic phone, a shared smartphone or a computer at a school, library or internet café is enough for one lesson a day. VOA's pages are light and load well on slow connections.


---

# Media in Somalia: radio, TV, news sites and the risks journalists face

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/media-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Radio is still how most Somalis get their news, from local FM stations and the Somali services of the BBC (since 1957) and VOA. About 5.7 million Somalis used the internet at the end of 2026, and online news is overtaking print. Somalia ranked 126th of 180 countries for press freedom in 2026, up from 136th.

## Radio first

Radio is the most popular source of news in Somalia, and TV reaches mainly towns ([Reporters Without Borders, Somalia](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)). Radio suits an oral culture: news, poetry, religion and song all travel by voice.

## How Somali radio began

- **1941 to 1945, Hargeisa.** A small transmitter for the British police became "Hargeisa, Radio Somali" by 1945, the first live Somali-language station. It took the name Radio Hargeisa in 1953 ([Fathi Jama, Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/radio-hargeisa-and-rise-somali-modern-music)).
- **1956 to 1957, Cairo and [London](/en/diaspora/london/).** Radio Cairo began Somali broadcasts, and the **[BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/)** went on air on 18 July 1957 ([BBC Somali Service, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service); [Geeska, how Radio Cairo made waves in Somalia](https://www.geeska.com/en/how-radio-cairo-made-waves-somalia)). In 2017 the BBC marked 60 years with a young women's poetry prize, won by Deqa Nuux Yonis at the Hiddo Dhawr centre in Hargeisa ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/bbc-news-somali-seeks-next-generation-of-female-poets/); [Lola Kenya Screen](https://lolakenyascreen.org/bbc-news-somali-young-female-poet-of-the-year-contest-winner-announced/)).
- **Radio Mogadishu** was the national station. In the 1970s its Waaberi group shaped Somali music ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169); see [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)).
- **2007, VOA Somali.** Voice of America launched its Somali service on 12 February 2007 ([Inside VOA](https://www.insidevoa.com/a/a-13-34-2007-12-05-somali-increase-111608189/178119.html)).

## After 1991: a crowded field

After the state collapsed, private radio, TV and websites filled the gap. Private broadcasters such as Radio [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and Universal TV operate in Mogadishu and the member states ([Media Bias/Fact Check, Somalia media profile](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/somalia-government-and-media-profile/)). There are two state TV channels and several private ones, some broadcast by satellite from abroad. London-based Universal TV is the best known ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)).

Many outlets are tied to political or clan interests, so readers often compare several sources ([Media Bias/Fact Check](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/somalia-government-and-media-profile/)).

## Online

- **Internet users:** about 5.72 million at the end of 2026, 27.9 percent of the population ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2027-somalia)).
- **Social media:** about 3.51 million user identities in October 2025 ([DataReportal, Digital 2026](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)).
- **Print** is shrinking in Mogadishu as online media grow ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)).

## The law and press freedom

- **Ranking:** Somalia was 126th of 180 in RSF's 2026 World Press Freedom Index, up from 136th in 2025 ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)).
- **Media law:** the federal government adopted a media law on 9 January 2016 ([Landinfo, 2016](https://landinfo.no/asset/3568/1/3568_1.pdf)). A Media Council oversees the sector. RSF reports that in March 2024 the Minister of Information appointed six of its nine members.
- **Courts:** journalists are often tried under the 1964 Penal Code, and RSF says a promised moratorium on arresting journalists has not been adopted ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)).

## Safety

RSF counts more than 50 media workers killed since 2010 and calls Somalia "one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in Africa" ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)).


---

# Mental health in Somalia and Somaliland: services, numbers and chaining

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mental-health-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> WHO's Mental Health Atlas 2020 counted about 82 mental health workers in Somalia, of whom four were psychiatrists. Al Jazeera in 2011 reported an estimate that one in three Somalis had some form of mental illness. Chaining of patients has been reported in homes, private centres and some hospitals; Human Rights Watch documented it in Somaliland in 2015.

## In short

Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) have very few trained mental health workers. WHO's Mental Health Atlas 2020 counted about 82 mental health professionals in Somalia, and only four were psychiatrists ([UN in Somalia, 24 August 2022, citing WHO Mental Health Atlas 2020](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/53075)). In 2015 Somaliland had two psychiatrists for about 3.5 million people ([Human Rights Watch, 25 October 2015](https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/25/somaliland-people-disabilities-abused-neglected)).

## How common is mental illness?

No national survey has measured it. In 2011 Al Jazeera reported an estimate that one-third of Somalia's then eight million people had some form of mental illness ([Al Jazeera, Mohammed Adow, 7 October 2011](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/10/7/mental-illness-rampant-in-somalia-2)). On World Mental Health Day 2025, Dr Habeeb put the number at about 345,000 people with mental health disorders ([SONNA, 30 November 2025](https://sonna.so/en/twenty-years-of-service-dr-habeeb-and-the-journey-of-mental-health-care-in-somalia/)).

Somaliland keeps no official data on how common mental illness is ([Human Rights Watch, 2015](https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/25/somaliland-people-disabilities-abused-neglected)). The research that exists links high rates to war violence and trauma, few health services and wide khat use (same source).

## Chaining

A WHO study found that chaining patients was widespread in Somalia and was "socially and medically accepted" ([Al Jazeera, 2011](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/10/7/mental-illness-rampant-in-somalia-2)). Some patients had been chained for decades (same source).

Human Rights Watch's 81-page report *"Chained Like Prisoners"* (25 October 2015) covered Hargeisa, Berbera and Gabiley ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/25/somaliland-people-disabilities-abused-neglected)). Researchers interviewed more than 115 people, including 47 who had been placed in institutions. Its main findings:

- Most people were admitted against their will, usually by relatives. Some were held up to five years with no way to challenge it.
- Chaining was common in private centres, on admission and as punishment. It was used less at the Berbera General Hospital ward.
- The [Hargeisa Group Hospital](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/) mental health ward was the only centre found to be chain-free.
- Some residents came from the diaspora.

## Who provides care

**Habeeb centres (Mogadishu).** Dr Abdirahman Ali Awale, known as Dr Habeeb, opened his first clinic in Mogadishu in 2005 ([Al Jazeera, 2011](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/10/7/mental-illness-rampant-in-somalia-2)). Al Jazeera describes him as a psychiatric nurse by training. Habeeb Mental Health and Rehabilitation dates its start to 24 November 2005 and in 2025 ran four main centres in and around Mogadishu with about 600 residents ([SONNA, 2025](https://sonna.so/en/twenty-years-of-service-dr-habeeb-and-the-journey-of-mental-health-care-in-somalia/)). On 16 July 2025, 54 people finished a three-month mental health diploma it ran with the health ministry (same source).

**Private *ilaaj* centres (Somaliland).** Hargeisa has about 20 private mental health centres, called *ilaaj*, often unlicensed; the largest held more than 400 patients ([King's Global Health Partnerships, 10 October 2022](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/reducing-the-gap-in-mental-health-services-in-somaliland)).

**Public wards (Somaliland).** Until recently there were five public mental health units: Berbera, [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/), Gabiley, Hargeisa and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (same source).

## Plans and policy

**Federal Somalia.** The federal government worked with WHO on a mental health strategy for 2019 to 2022 with the ministry then finalising a mental health policy ([UN in Somalia, 24 August 2022](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/53075)).

**Somaliland.** The Ministry of Health Development set up a Department for Mental Health in 2021 and published its first national mental health strategic plan in 2022 ([King's Global Health Partnerships, 2022](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/reducing-the-gap-in-mental-health-services-in-somaliland)). Under it:

- About 450 health workers were trained in mhGAP, WHO's guide for treating mental illness in primary care.
- Two new regional mental hospitals opened in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), each with 25 male and 15 female beds.
- A small tax on khat, introduced in 2022, paid for the two hospitals.

## Read more

- [Health in Somalia: the key numbers](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Khat in Somalia](/en/society/khat/)
- [Caring for Somali patients](/en/society/caring-for-somali-patients/)


---

# National Theatre of Somalia: Mogadishu's stage since 1967

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/national-theatre-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Theatre of Somalia in central Mogadishu was built by Chinese engineers as a gift from Mao Zedong and opened in 1967. It was home to state troupes such as Waaberi. Destroyed in the civil war, it reopened on 19 March 2012; on 4 April 2012 a suicide bombing there killed the heads of Somali football and the Olympic committee. China agreed in 2013 to rebuild it.

## A gift from China

The theatre was built by Chinese engineers as a gift from Mao Zedong and opened in 1967 in central Mogadishu ([National Theatre of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)). After [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) took power in 1969 it became a central institution of the state's cultural programme. Wikipedia notes that Barre said he wanted to overcome clan divisions, and that artists from all clans worked at the theatre and shaped its style.

## The bands

In Somali theatre, music and drama are closely linked, so theatre companies are called "bands". The National Theatre had no single company. Several bands worked there, each belonging to a state body ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)):

- **Waaberi**, formed from the band of Radio Mogadishu and the army's General Da'ud band. Its artists included [Ali Feiruz](/en/people/ali-feiruz/), Abdullahi Qarshe, Magool, [Maryam Mursal](/en/people/maryam-mursal/), [Hassan Sheikh Mumin](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mumin/) and Abdi Ali "Bacalwaan".
- **Horseed**, which existed before independence as Ex-bana Estro.
- **Halgan**, **Onkod** and **Shareero**.
- **Iftin**, the Ministry of Education's band, which also trained school teachers in music.

Waaberi performed at FESTAC '77 in Lagos ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## War and ruin

When the civil war broke out in 1991, the theatre was among the first buildings destroyed. Wikipedia records a show in the ruined building in the first months of the war called "You Destroyed the Roof, So Don't Look Up". Later the ruins were used to store weapons ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)).

## Reopening and the April 2012 bombing

In late 2011 Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle, director of the Centre for Research and Dialogue, brought former artists together to revive the theatre. After basic repairs it reopened on 19 March 2012 before about 1,000 people, with a play written by former band members, *Dardaarwin Walid* ("Parents' advice") ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia); [The Telegraph, March 2012](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9155505/Somalia-national-theatre-reopens-after-20-years.html); [VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalias-national-theater-reopens-after-20-years-of-silence-143486066/179709.html)).

On 4 April 2012, during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Somali National Television's relaunch, a woman suicide bomber attacked the theatre. The BBC, citing police and hospital sources, reported eight dead, including Aden Yabarow Wiish, president of the Somali Olympic Committee, and Said Mohamed Nur, head of the Somali Football Federation. Wikipedia gives ten dead. Prime Minister [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) was unhurt, and al-Shabaab said it carried out the attack ([BBC News, 4 April 2012](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17609047); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)).

## Rebuilding

By 2013 the director, Abdiduh Yusuf Hassan, had started a talent show, *Hirgeli Hamigaaga Faneed* ("Awaken your inner artist"), and supported the opening of a "National Theatre of Somalia in Exile" in Vienna. In September 2013 the Somali and Chinese governments signed a cooperation agreement under which China would rebuild the theatre and other Mogadishu landmarks ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia); [AllAfrica, September 2013](http://allafrica.com/stories/201309100208.html); [Hiiraan Online, July 2013](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2013/July/30256/somalia_singing_in_mogadishu.aspx)).

## Read more

- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/)
- [Magool](/en/people/magool/)
- [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/)
- [Somali bands](/en/society/somali-bands/)


---

# Somali authors and their books: poetry, novels, memoirs and history

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis have written books in Somali, Arabic, English, Italian, French and Dutch. Arabic histories came first; the first Somali-language books in Latin letters appeared in the 1950s and 1960s and grew after the script became official in 1972. Novelists such as Nuruddin Farah and Nadifa Mohamed, poets such as Hadraawi and Warsan Shire, and many memoirists are listed here with links.

## How Somali writing in books began

For centuries Somali poetry was composed and passed on by memory, not on paper ([Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)). Somali scholars wrote in **Arabic**, for example [Abd al-Rahman al-Zayla'i](/en/people/abd-al-rahman-al-zaylai/) and the historian [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Aydarus, whose Bughyat al-amal fi tarikh al-Sumal (1950s) is an Arabic history of Somalia.

The first books in Somali written in Latin letters appeared in the 1950s and 1960s, by writers such as [Musa Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) and [Shire Jaamac Axmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/). After the government made the Latin script official in October 1972 ([Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)), publishing in Somali grew quickly. Faarax M. J. Cawl's Aqoondarro waa u nacab jacayl (1974) was one of the first novels in the new script and was translated into English in 1982 as Ignorance is the Enemy of Love ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ignoranceisenemy0000faar)).

## Writing in other languages

[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/) has written his novels in English since From a Crooked Rib (1970). In the diaspora, Somali writers publish in English ([Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/), [Warsan Shire](/en/people/warsan-shire/)), Italian (Igiaba Scego, [Ubah Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/), Shirin Ramzanali Fazel), French ([Abdourahman Waberi](/en/people/abdourahman-waberi/) of Djibouti) and Dutch ([Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/)). Memoirs by public figures, such as the former prime minister [Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/), record political history from the inside.

Poets' work also reaches print. [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/)'s poems were collected in Hal-karaan (1993), and a bilingual English-Somali edition of his long poem Daalacan appeared as The Poet's Pilgrimage. The play Shabeelnaagood (1968) by [Hassan Sheikh Mumin](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mumin/) was published in English as Leopard Among the Women in 1974 ([Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/leopardamongwome00hass)).

## The books, oldest first

### Bughyat al-amal fi tarikh al-Sumal (1955)

**Sharif Aydarus al-Nadiri** · Arabic

History of Somalia in Arabic from early Islam to the 20th century, published in Mogadishu.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Bughyat+al-amal+fi+tarikh+al-Sumal+Sharif+Aydarus+al-Nadiri)

### Hikmad Soomaali (1956)

**Bernhard W. Andrzejewski & Musa H. I. Galaal** · Somali / English

Somali prose stories and wisdom tales, transcribed in Latin letters.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somalibookshikmadsoomaali) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Hikmad+Soomaali+Bernhard+W.+Andrzejewski)

### Gabayo, maahmaah iyo sheekooyin yaryar (1965)

**Shire Jaamac Axmed** · Somali

Poems, proverbs and short stories, one of the first Somali-language books in Latin letters.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Gabayo%2C+maahmaah+iyo+sheekooyin+yaryar+Shire+Jaamac+Axmed)

### Shabeelnaagood (Leopard Among the Women) (1968 (English 1974))

**Hassan Sheikh Mumin** · Somali / English

Play about a man who exploits women in Mogadishu; translated by B. W. Andrzejewski.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/shabeelnaagood-mumin/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/leopardamongwome00hass) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7052659W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Shabeelnaagood+Hassan+Sheikh+Mumin)

### From a Crooked Rib (1970)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Novel: a young nomad woman, Ebla, escapes a forced marriage.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/fromcrookedrib0000fara) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005213827) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18692W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=From+a+Crooked+Rib+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl (Ignorance is the Enemy of Love) (1974 (English 1982))

**Faarax M. J. Cawl** · Somali / English

Early novel in the new Somali script; a love story set during the Dervish era.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-cawl/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ignoranceisenemy0000faar) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12996668W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Aqoondarro+Waa+U+Nacab+Jacayl+Faarax+M.+J.+Cawl)

### Diiwaanka Gabayadii Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (ed. Jaamac Cumar Ciise) (1974)

**Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan (Sayyid)** · Somali

Collected poems of the Sayyid, gathered by [Jaamac Cumar Ciise](/en/people/jama-omar-issa/).

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Diiwaanka+Gabayadii+Sayid+Maxamed+Cabdulle+Xasan+Mohamed+Abdullahi+Hassan)

### Taariikhdii Daraawiishta iyo Sayid Maxamad Cabdulle Xasan (1976)

**Jaamac Cumar Ciise** · Somali

History of the [Dervishes](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) and the Sayyid, written in Somali from oral sources.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Taariikhdii+Daraawiishta+iyo+Sayid+Maxamad+Cabdulle+Xasan+Jaamac+Cumar+Ciise)

### A Naked Needle (1976)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Second novel, set in Mogadishu after 1969.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/a-naked-needle-farah/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12163504W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Naked+Needle+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Sweet and Sour Milk (1979)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

First novel of the 'Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship' trilogy.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/) · [HathiTrust](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002622032) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18697W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Sweet+and+Sour+Milk+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Maana-faay (1981)

**[Maxamed Daahir Afrax](/en/people/maxamed-daahir-afrax/)** · Somali

Novel in Somali on a woman in Mogadishu.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Maana-faay+Maxamed+Daahir+Afrax)

### Maps (1986)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Novel of a boy, Askar, raised in the Ogaden around the 1977 war.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/maps-farah/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Maps+Nuruddin+Farah)

### The Road to Zero: Somalia's Self-destruction (1992)

**Mohamed Osman Omar** · English

Former diplomat's account of the fall of the state.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Road+to+Zero%3A+Somalia%27s+Self-destruction+Mohamed+Osman+Omar)

### Gifts (1992)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Novel set in Mogadishu; second of the 'Blood in the Sun' trilogy.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/gifts-farah/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/giftsnovel0000fara) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18698W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Gifts+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Hal-karaan (collected poems) (1993)

**Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame 'Hadraawi'** · Somali

Collected poems of Hadraawi.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/hal-karaan) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Hal-karaan+Mohamed+Ibrahim+Warsame+%27Hadraawi%27)

### Lontano da Mogadiscio (1994)

**Shirin Ramzanali Fazel** · Italian

Memoir of growing up in Mogadishu and moving to Italy.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/lontano-da-mogadiscio-fazel/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2372298W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Lontano+da+Mogadiscio+Shirin+Ramzanali+Fazel)

### Le pays sans ombre (1994)

**Abdourahman A. Waberi** · French

Stories of Djibouti and the Somali world.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/le-pays-sans-ombre-waberi/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2901192W) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdourahman_Waberi) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Le+pays+sans+ombre+Abdourahman+A.+Waberi)

### The Cost of Dictatorship: The Somali Experience (1995)

**Jama Mohamed Ghalib** · English

Memoir and analysis by a former minister of the Barre years.

Where to read: [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/costofdictatorsh0000ghal) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Cost+of+Dictatorship%3A+The+Somali+Experience+Jama+Mohamed+Ghalib)

### Desert Flower (1998)

**[Waris Dirie](/en/people/waris-dirie/) & Cathleen Miller** · English

Memoir of a nomad girl who became a model and campaigner against FGM.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/desert-flower-dirie/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Desert+Flower+Waris+Dirie)

### Secrets (1998)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Novel set in Mogadishu on the eve of the civil war.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/secrets-farah/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8858192W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Secrets+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora (2000)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Interviews with Somali refugees and migrants.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/yesterday-tomorrow-farah/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Yesterday%2C+Tomorrow%3A+Voices+from+the+Somali+Diaspora+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Links (2003)

**Nuruddin Farah** · English

Novel of a diaspora Somali returning to Mogadishu.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/links-farah/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Links+Nuruddin+Farah)

### Infidel (2006 (English 2007))

**Ayaan Hirsi Ali** · Dutch / English

Memoir of childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya and life in the Netherlands.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/infidel-hirsi-ali/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel_(book)) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Infidel+Ayaan+Hirsi+Ali)

### Madre piccola (2007)

**Ubah Cristina Ali Farah** · Italian

Novel of Somali women in Rome and the diaspora.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Madre+piccola+Ubah+Cristina+Ali+Farah)

### Black Mamba Boy (2010)

**Nadifa Mohamed** · English

Novel based on her father's journey from Yemen and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) to Britain in the 1930s-40s.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/black-mamba-boy-mohamed/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/blackmambaboy00moha) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Black+Mamba+Boy+Nadifa+Mohamed)

### The Girl with Three Legs (2011)

**[Soraya Mire](/en/people/soraya-mire/)** · English

Memoir of the Somali filmmaker and campaigner against FGM.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-girl-with-three-legs-mire/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15951667W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Girl+with+Three+Legs+Soraya+Mire)

### The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013)

**Nadifa Mohamed** · English

Novel of three women in Hargeisa in 1987-1988.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-orchard-of-lost-souls-mohamed/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/orchardoflostsou0000moha_y1z0) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17427801W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Orchard+of+Lost+Souls+Nadifa+Mohamed)

### The Poet's Pilgrimage (Hadraawi: The Poet and the Man) (2013)

**Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame 'Hadraawi' (trans. W. N. Herbert, Said Jama Hussein, Martin Orwin)** · Somali / English

Bilingual edition of Hadraawi's long poem Daalacan.

Where to read: [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Poet%27s+Pilgrimage+Mohamed+Ibrahim+Warsame+%27Hadraawi%27)

### Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman, 90,000 Lives Changed (2013)

**[Hawa Abdi](/en/people/hawa-abdi/) with Sarah J. Robbins** · English

Memoir of the doctor who ran a hospital and camp outside Mogadishu.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/keeping-hope-alive-abdi/) · [Read free on Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/keepinghopealive0000hawa) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17927431W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Keeping+Hope+Alive+Hawa+Abdi+with+Sarah+J.+Robbins)

### Adua (2015)

**Igiaba Scego** · Italian

Novel linking Italian colonial Somalia and today's Rome.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/adua-scego/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igiaba_Scego) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Adua+Igiaba+Scego)

### My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State: A Political Memoir (2017)

**Abdirazak Haji Hussein** · English

Memoir of the prime minister of 1964-1967.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/my-role-in-the-foundation-of-the-somali-nation-state-hussein/) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=My+Role+in+the+Foundation+of+the+Somali+Nation-State%3A+A+Political+Memoir+Abdirazak+Haji+Hussein)

### This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman (2020)

**[Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/)** · English

Memoir of the US congresswoman, from Mogadishu and Dadaab to Minneapolis.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/this-is-what-america-looks-like-omar/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20785102W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=This+Is+What+America+Looks+Like+Ilhan+Omar)

### The Fortune Men (2021)

**Nadifa Mohamed** · English

Novel about Mahmood Mattan, a Somali seaman wrongly hanged in [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) in 1952; Booker Prize shortlist.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/the-fortune-men-mohamed/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Fortune+Men+Nadifa+Mohamed)

### Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022)

**Warsan Shire** · English

First full poetry collection by the British-Somali poet.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/bless-the-daughter-shire/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Bless+the+Daughter+Raised+by+a+Voice+in+Her+Head+Warsan+Shire)

### America Made Me a Black Man (2022)

**Boyah J. Farah** · English

Memoir of a Somali refugee in the United States.

Where to read: [Full page on this book](/en/books/america-made-me-a-black-man-farah/) · [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24361628W) · [Find in a library (WorldCat)](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=America+Made+Me+a+Black+Man+Boyah+J.+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Somali writing systems: Arabic script, Osmanya, Borama, Kaddare and Latin

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-writing-systems/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somali has been written in Arabic script, in three scripts invented by Somalis (Osmanya about 1920 to 1922, Borama about 1933 and Kaddare in 1952) and in the Latin alphabet, which became official on 21 October 1972. The language commission set up in 1961 looked at 18 different writing systems, 11 of them Somali inventions.

## Five ways of writing one language

Somali has been written in several scripts, and the choice between them was argued over for most of the 20th century. The Turin linguist Mauro Tosco gives the fullest short history in his 2010 paper "Somali writings" ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

| Script | Made by | Date | Where used |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Arabic script (wadaad's writing)](/en/society/wadaad-writing/) | religious scholars, merchants | written Somali from the late 1800s | letters, petitions, qasidas |
| [Osmanya](/en/society/osmanya-script/) | Cusmaan Yuusuf Keenadiid | about 1920 to 1922 | Hobyo, then the Somali Youth League |
| [Borama (Gadabuursi)](/en/society/borama-script/) | Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur | about 1933 | Borama |
| Kaddare | Sheekh Xuseen Axmed Kaddare | 1952 | proposed nationally |
| Latin | the Somali Language Committee, Shire Jaamac Axmed | official 21 October 1972 | everywhere today |

## Arabic script

Arabic was known and respected across the Somali lands, and most Somali writing before the 20th century was in the Arabic language itself ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tosco found no evidence of Somali written consistently in Arabic letters before [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Aweys of Baraawe at the end of the 19th century. Later proposals came from Sheekh Maxamed Cabdi Makaahiil, who published a book on Somali correspondence in Arabic script in Bombay in 1935 to 1936, and from Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal in 1954. See [wadaad's writing](/en/society/wadaad-writing/).

## Scripts invented by Somalis

**Osmanya** was devised between 1920 and 1922 by Cusmaan Yuusuf Keenadiid of the Hobyo ruling family. The Somali Youth League backed it in its statute and taught it from 1945 ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

**The [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) or Gadabuursi script** was devised about 1933 by [Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur](/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/), the qaadi of Borama, and used by a small circle around him ([Tosco 2010, citing Lewis 1958](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

**Kaddare** was devised in 1952 by [Sheekh Xuseen](/en/people/sheikh-hussein-of-bale/) Axmed Kaddare. A 1966 UNESCO report by B. W. Andrzejewski, Stefan Strelcyn and Joseph Tubiana noted that it was "less widespread than Osmania and its history is even shorter" ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tosco notes that it had separate signs for every vowel, unlike Osmanya and Borama, and a cursive form for handwriting. David Laitin reports that the technical commissions judged it a very accurate way to write Somali ([Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought, 1977, p. 87](https://books.google.com/books?id=LR8A4tEYZUAC&pg=PA87)). No books written in Kaddare are known ([Kaddare script, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 2010](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaddare_script)).

## Eighteen proposals and one decision

A Somali Language Committee was set up soon after independence, headed by [Muuse Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) ([Somali alphabets, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_alphabets)); Tosco dates the commission to 1961. The German scholar Thomas Labahn counted 18 writing systems put to it, Arabic-based, Latin-based and Somali-invented; 11 were Somali inventions ([Tosco 2010, citing Labahn 1982, p. 137](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tosco notes that only three of the 11 are known today. In 1966 the UNESCO commission recommended a Latin script ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

The military government that took power on 21 October 1969 announced the Latin alphabet on 21 October 1972, and it took effect on 1 January 1973 ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). In the speech quoted by Labahn, [Maxamed Siyaad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) said a modified Latin script had been chosen "for economic reasons as well as convenience". The Latin alphabet's use of **x** and **c** for the two throat sounds was not yet in the 1966 UNESCO proposal ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). The story of the decision and the literacy campaign is on [How Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## The Latin alphabet today

The Somali Latin alphabet uses all English letters except p, v and z, with three double letters, dh, kh and sh, and the apostrophe for the glottal stop. Tone is not written ([Somali alphabets, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_alphabets)).

## Read more

- [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/)
- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)
- [Somali dialects](/en/society/somali-dialects/)


---

# Somali youth and gangs in Minnesota: the facts and the community response

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/youth-and-gangs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2026, Ramsey County's sheriff said about 300 Somali American youths in the Twin Cities were involved in gang activity, linked to 14 killings and more than 100 shootings over two years. That is a small share of more than 80,000 Somali Minnesotans. Police say most shootings start from social media disputes. Somali leaders, imams and youth groups are working on it, and warn against labelling all Somali youth.

## In short

A small number of young [Somali Minnesotans](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) are caught up in gun violence, and it has cost lives. Experts say the violence mostly turns inward, within the community. Families, imams, Somali police officers and youth groups are working to stop it. They also ask that no one paints all Somali youth with the same brush.

## What the figures say

- **Who.** In July 2026 Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said about 300 Somali youths were involved in gang activity. A gang investigator described 12 Somali youth gangs, the largest based in Minneapolis and others in suburbs such as Burnsville and Eden Prairie ([Sahan Journal, 20 July 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/somali-gangs-youth-ramsey-county-bob-fletcher/)).
- **Harm.** The sheriff's office linked 14 homicides and more than 100 shootings over two years to the groups its investigators identified (Sahan Journal).
- **Ages.** Members are mostly teenagers and young men up to age 25 ([MPR News, 15 October 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/10/15/gang-activity-in-minneapolis-the-twin-cities-explained)).
- **Scale.** Minnesota has more than 80,000 residents of Somali descent. About 300 is well under 1% of them (MPR News).

The FBI warns there is no reliable count of gangs or members in the region, because "the landscape is fluid, and definitions vary" (MPR News).

## What drives it

- **Social media and status.** Police say most of the violence starts from disputes on social media, not drugs or territory. A gang investigator put it down to status and ego rather than profit (MPR News; Sahan Journal).
- **"It's over nothing."** A parent quoted by Omar Jamal of the sheriff's East African engagement unit said the shootings usually start from petty disagreements (Sahan Journal).
- **Guns.** Devices that make pistols fully automatic raise the risk of deaths and of bystanders being hit (MPR News).
- **Exclusion.** Criminologist James Densley says gangs tend to form in immigrant communities that are poor and shut out, and the violence mostly turns inward (MPR News).

## A warning from 2010: labels can be wrong

In 2010 federal prosecutors announced they had broken up a "Somali" child sex-trafficking ring across Minnesota, [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) and [Tennessee](/en/diaspora/nashville/), and charged about 30 people. At trial in 2012 a jury acquitted six of nine defendants, and the judge overturned the other three convictions. In 2016 a federal appeals court found the victims' claims "likely fictitious" and said a St. Paul police officer had lied to the grand jury. Prosecutors then dropped the charges against the remaining 16 people ([AP via KSL, 9 March 2016](https://www.ksl.com/article/38825211/prosecutors-drop-charges-in-somali-sex-trafficking-case)).

## How the community responds

- **Mosques and elders.** "Youth violence has long been one of our highest priorities, and we have been gathering and working on it together," said Imam Hassan Jama (MPR News).
- **Parents.** Omar Jamal's unit has stepped up outreach to parents, including a Somali mother who lost two children to gun violence (Sahan Journal).
- **Sport and youth groups.** Groups such as the Hoops4Unity basketball league have expanded. "We need the facts, and we definitely need to engage all of us together," said activist [Abdirizak Bihi](/en/people/abdirizak-bihi/) (Sahan Journal).
- **Words matter.** Somali leaders criticised the sheriff's public comments as feeding hateful rhetoric. "We need to tone down the language of condemnation and of singling out. It doesn't help anybody," said Ali [Gaashaan](/en/institutions/nisa/) of Volunteers of Somalia (Sahan Journal).

The sheriff says his approach combines prevention, intervention and enforcement, and that he welcomes community input (Sahan Journal).

## Read more

- [Feeding Our Future](/en/society/feeding-our-future/): another hard story from Minnesota, and how Somalis responded.
- [Somalis worldwide](/en/diaspora/): where Somalis live and how communities were built.

## Sources

- Sahan Journal (2026). [Violence among Somali youth worry community members, law enforcement](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/somali-gangs-youth-ramsey-county-bob-fletcher/).
- MPR News (2026). [What does gang activity actually look like in the Twin Cities?](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/10/15/gang-activity-in-minneapolis-the-twin-cities-explained)
- Associated Press via KSL (2016). [Prosecutors: drop charges in Somali sex trafficking case](https://www.ksl.com/article/38825211/prosecutors-drop-charges-in-somali-sex-trafficking-case).


---

# Books in the Somali language: poetry, proverbs, novels and history since 1956

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Books written in Somali began with a few titles in the 1950s and 1960s and grew after the Latin script became official in 1972. Since then Somalis have published collected poems (diiwaan), proverb collections, novels, short stories, histories and works on faith and society, many of them printed in the diaspora or in Hargeysa and Mogadishu.

## The short version

Somali was a spoken language with a large oral literature long before it was a printed one ([Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)). A few books in Somali appeared in the 1950s and 1960s, using different spellings. After the government made the Latin script official in October 1972 ([Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)), schools, newspapers and publishers began using Somali, and books followed ([B. W. Andrzejewski, The Rise of Written Somali Literature, Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3823953W)).

After 1991, much Somali publishing moved abroad, to the diaspora in Europe, North America and Kenya, and later back to Hargeysa, Mogadishu and Garoowe. The Hargeysa International Book Fair, founded by [Jama Musse Jama](/en/people/jama-musse-jama/) in 2008 and held every summer by the Redsea Online Culture Foundation, became one of the main places where new Somali books are launched ([Hargeisa International Book Fair, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_International_Book_Fair)).

The lists below come from library catalogues. Open Library alone lists more than 400 works in the Somali language, including many translated children's books ([Open Library, Somali language search](https://openlibrary.org/search?q=language%3Asom)). This page names the main kinds and a selection of titles in each.

## The first printed Somali, before 1972

- **Hikmad Soomaali (1956)**, Musa Galaal, edited with B. W. Andrzejewski. Somali stories with notes, in a Latin-based spelling, published by Oxford University Press for the School of Oriental and African Studies. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6558851W))
- **Maahmaahaa saddexshub (1974)**, Maxamed Shire Maxamed. Somali proverbs set beside Arabic and English ones. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6436572W))

## Poets' collected works (diiwaan)

- **Diiwaanka gabayadii Sayid Maxamad Cabdille Xasan (2005 edition)**, the poems of [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/). The Sayyid's poems; the first collection was made by [Jaamac Cumar Ciise](/en/people/jama-omar-issa/) in 1974. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15471352W))
- **Ismaaciil Mire (1974)**, Axmed Faarax Cali 'Idaajaa'. Life and poems of the Dervish commander and poet Ismaaciil Mire. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6319910W))
- **Ina Cabdille Xasan e la sua attività letteraria (1984)**, [Yaasiin Cismaan Keenadiid](/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/). Study in Italian of the Sayyid's poetry, with translations. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5184747W))
- **Silsiladda Guba (1999)**, edited by Abdullahi Hassan Roble. The Guba chain of poems of the late 1970s and 1980s, in which many poets answered each other. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL23829705W))
- **Gurmad (2001)**, Mohammed Sh. Hassan. Collected Somali poetry. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18848621W))
- **Aadan-carab (2002)**, Axmed Faarax Cali 'Idaajaa'. Life and poems of the poet Aadan-carab. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32037342W))
- **Maansadii hore ee Soomaalida (2005)**, Jaamac Cumar Ciise. Early Somali poetry collected from oral sources. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24123077W))
- **Diiwaanka maansada Timacadde (2006)**, the poems of [Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed](/en/people/timacadde/) 'Timacadde'. Collected poems of Timacadde (1920s to 1973). ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18620768W))
- **Diiwaanka heesaha Soomaaliyeed (1997)**, Mohammed Sh. Hassan. A collection of Somali songs. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12711592W))

## Proverbs, riddles and folk tales

- **Murtidu waa hodantinnimo (1995)**, Abdurrahman H. H. Aden. Somali proverbs. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2590934W))
- **Wixii la qoraa quruumo hadha (1995), Googgaa cigalle (1997) and Sahan (1997)**, Idil Maxamed Maydhane. Folk literature, riddles and oral tradition. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12951007W))
- **Diiwaanka maahmaahyada (1997)**, Mohammed Sh. Hassan. A collection of proverbs. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10104779W))
- **Hubsiimo hal baa la siistaa (2002)**, Georgi Kapchits. Somali proverbs collected by a Russian scholar of Somali. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL13206391W))
- **1000-ka ugu caansan murtida iyo maahmaahyada Soomaaliyeed (2005)**, Cabdulqadir Nuur Xuseen. A collection of 1,000 Somali proverbs and sayings. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL11737919W))
- **Sheekooyinka dadqalatadii Dhegdheer (2002)**, Mohammed Sh. Hassan. Tales of Dhegdheer, the ogress of Somali folklore. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL44092012W))

## Novels and short stories

- **Aqoondarro waa u nacab jacayl (1974)**, Faarax M. J. Cawl. Early novel in the new script, set in the Dervish era. ([English translation, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ignoranceisenemy0000faar))
- **Ladh (2005) and Roge (2008)**, Cabdillaahi Cawed Cige. Novels; Roge is about HIV and AIDS. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL45030035W))
- **Amran! (2005)**, Hani Hirsi. Novel about a Somali woman and a love triangle. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24131520W))
- **Tahriibkii Hodan (2005)**, Abdirahman Zaylai [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohamed. Novel about a young woman's sea crossing. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL33384274W))
- **Janno, Deynabo, Xusuusqorkii Leyla and other novels (2008)**, Bile M. Hashi. A series of novels on love, family and migration. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15534711W))
- **Singal Maadar (2008)**, Samatar Sooyaan. Novel of Somali family life in Minnesota. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL26297773W))
- **Sheeko iyo shaahid (2009, 2010)**, Jama Musse Jama and Axmed Riiraash (eds.). Anthologies of Somali short stories. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32163848W))
- **Hantaaqo jacayl (2010)**, Muuse Maxamuud Ciise. Love story. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32189728W))

## History, faith and society, written in Somali

- **Hadimadii gumeysiga (2005)**, Cabdulqaadir Cusmaan Maxamuud. The colonial period and its effects. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18656621W))
- **Taangiga Tigreega (2008)**, Cabdulqaadir Cusmaan Maxamuud. The Somali-Ethiopian conflict after 1979. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32334762W))
- **Taariikhda ummadda Soomaaliyeed (2009)**, Cali Jaamac Qalinle. History of the Somali nation. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32742675W))
- **Garta dhaqanka (2009)**, C/Salaan Maxamed Xirsi. Customary law and mediation. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL33372421W))
- **Taariikhda ururada Islaamiyiinta Soomaalida (2010)**, Cali Cabdi Coomay. History of Somali Islamist organisations. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL32419267W))
- **Qaylo-dhaan deegaan (2010)**, Ahmed I. Awale. The environment and land use. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL33002321W))
- **Taariikhda iyo luqadda bulshada Soomaaliyeed (2011)**, Cabdalla C. Mansuur. History and language of Somali society. ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL23120702W))

## Where to find Somali-language books

- **Open Library**: search by language, for example [books in Somali](https://openlibrary.org/search?q=language%3Asom).
- **WorldCat**: shows which libraries hold a title; many Somali books are held by libraries in Minnesota, [London](/en/diaspora/london/), [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) and the Nordic countries.
- **Public libraries in the diaspora** often hold Somali-language and dual-language children's books.

## Related pages

- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)
- [Somali grammars and dictionaries](/en/society/somali-grammars-and-dictionaries/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/)


---

# Dur-Dur Band: Mogadishu's 1980s funk and disco group

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/dur-dur-band/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dur-Dur Band was a Mogadishu group of the 1980s that mixed Somali song with funk, disco and soul. Its singers included Sahra Dawo and Abdinur Daljir. The band broke up when the civil war began in 1991, regrouped in Addis Ababa, and found new audiences when its 1987 tape Volume 5 was reissued in 2013. In September 2025 its song 'Gorof' went viral on TikTok.

## Mogadishu in the 1980s

Dur-Dur ("spring" in Somali) started in the early 1980s. Wikipedia calls it one of the best-known acts on Mogadishu's club scene ([Dur-Dur Band, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band)). Its sound mixed funk and disco with soul, and the members drew on Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Santana and Bollywood music ([Dur-Dur Band, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band)). Recordings made at the National Theatre, Radio Mogadishu and other studios were played in nightclubs at the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), Jazeera Palace and Al-Curuuba hotels.

The band was famous across Somalia by the mid-1980s, and popular in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. Lead singers included Sahra Dawo, Abdinur Aden Daljir, Pastow, Eddi, Shimali and Qomal. The founders were Eise Dahir Qasim, Abdillahi Ujerry and Sahra Dawo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band)). NPR described the band's sound and its political background in 2013 ([NPR, 5 May 2013](https://www.npr.org/2013/05/05/180871371/a-funky-fresh-sound-from-somalia-with-a-political-history)).

## Exile

When civil war broke out in 1991 the band split and several members fled. It regrouped in Addis Ababa, where it recorded several albums, before the musicians moved on to Djibouti, the United States and elsewhere. Wikipedia says the three founders live in [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band)).

## Rediscovery

- **2011:** original bassist Abdillahi Ujeeri and Liban Noah founded Dur Dur Band International in [London](/en/diaspora/london/).
- **March 2013:** the label Awesome Tapes From Africa reissued the 1987 cassette *Volume 5* on LP, CD and tape. Pitchfork and others reviewed it ([Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17612-dur-dur-band-vol-5/); [Afropop Worldwide](https://afropop.org/articles/dur-dur-band-vol-5-awesome-tapes-from-africa)).
- **November 2014:** the band reunited for one show at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, after a residency in the "Midnimo" Somali culture programme.
- **2018:** Analog Africa released *Dur-Dur of Somalia: Volume 1, Volume 2 and Previously Unreleased Tracks* ([Analog Africa](https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/dur-dur-of-somalia-volume-1-volume-2-previously-unreleased-tracks)).
- **2019:** a tribute concert at Berlin's House of World Cultures, released in 2023 as *The Berlin Session* ([Bandcamp Daily](https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/dur-dur-band-international-the-berlin-session-interview)).
- **September 2025:** the song "Gorof (Elixir)" spread worldwide in a viral TikTok trend ([The Tab, 9 September 2025](https://thetab.com/2025/09/09/right-heres-why-the-viral-song-from-tiktoks-rare-aesthetic-trend-actually-comes-from)).

## Recordings

| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | *Rafaad iyo Raaxo* | Somali release |
| 1986 | *Volume 1* | Somali release |
| 1987 | *Volume 2* | Somali release |
| 1987 | *Volume 5* | Somali release |
| 1991 | *Africa* | Somali release |
| 2013 | *Volume 5* (reissue) | Awesome Tapes From Africa |
| 2018 | *Dur-Dur of Somalia* | Analog Africa |
| 2019 | on *Mogadisco: Dancing Mogadishu, Somalia 1972–1991* | Analog Africa |
| 2023 | *The Berlin Session* | Out Here Records |

Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band); [MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9b77d40a-c7cb-4d5f-9da8-9ef1df1cc745).

## Read more

- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [Somali bands](/en/society/somali-bands/)
- [National Theatre of Somalia](/en/society/national-theatre-of-somalia/)


---

# Mogadishu City Club: the capital's municipal club, founded 1963

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mogadishu-city-club/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu City Club is a football club of the Mogadishu municipality, founded in 1963 and known for years as Banadir Sports Club. It is Somalia's most successful league side: RSSSF counts 10 titles under its various names, Wikipedia 11. It won the league in 2019/20 and 2024/25 and the cup in 2026.

## Founding

Mogadishu City Club was set up in 1963 with the support of the mayor of Mogadishu and was nicknamed "Municipio Club". In its early years it ran teams in nine sports: football, basketball, handball, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, swimming, athletics and cycling ([Mogadishu City Club, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_City_Club)). The RSSSF, which keeps football records by country, says the club was earlier called Conis ([RSSSF, Somalia champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).

## Names

The club has played as **Mogadishu Municipality** (Muqdisho), **Banaadir Telecom**, **Banadir Sports Club** (Banaadir SC) and, since 2019, **Mogadishu City Club**. After the civil war began in 1991, the club's ground was kept safe and used by the youth side Banaadir Sports Club. In 2019 the mayor of Mogadishu, Abdirahman Omar Osman (Yarisow), renamed it Mogadishu City Club ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_City_Club)). The same year a Tunisian coach, Mohamed Mistiri Lamjed, was appointed manager ([Kawowo Sports, 11 July 2019](https://kawowo.com/2019/07/11/mogadishu-city-club-confirm-tunisian-as-mbalangus-replacement/)).

## League titles

RSSSF lists these league titles under the club's different names: 1975/76, 1986 and 1989 (Mogadishu Municipality); 1999, 2004–06, 2009/10, 2013/14 and 2015/16 (Banaadir Telecom); and 2019/20 and 2024/25 (Mogadishu City Club), and counts 10 titles in all ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). Wikipedia lists 11 titles, adding 2008/09 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_City_Club)).

## Cups

RSSSF credits the club, under all its names, with six General Da'ud Cups: 1989 and 2001 as Mogadishu Municipality, 2003 as Banaadir Telecom, 2012 and 2018 as Banaadir SC, and 2026 as Mogadishu City Club, when it beat Horseed 3–2 after extra time ([RSSSF, Somalia cup winners](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)). It won the Super Cup in 2016 as Banaadir SC and in 2024, 4–1 against Dekedda ([same](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)).

## Rivalries and big matches

Wikipedia names the match against [Elman FC](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/) the Mogadishu derby ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_City_Club)). Its matches with Horseed draw the biggest crowds: Mogadishu City Club lost 2–1 to Horseed in the first game at the reopened [Mogadishu Stadium](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/) on 30 June 2020 ([FIFA, 1 July 2020](https://ipt.fifa.com/news/joyous-return-for-stadium-mogadishu-after-16-year-wait)), and the two finished level on points in 2021, when the title went to Horseed after Mogadishu City Club declined to play the play-off ([RSSSF, Somalia 2021](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)).

## Read more

- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Somalia Cup and Super Cup](/en/society/somalia-cup/)
- [Horseed FC](/en/society/horseed-fc/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Osmanya (Far Soomaali): the Somali alphabet of Cusmaan Yuusuf Keenadiid

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/osmanya-script/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Osmanya is an alphabet made for Somali between 1920 and 1922 by Cusmaan Yuusuf Keenadiid of the Hobyo ruling family. It is written left to right, with 22 consonant signs and, in its later form, 8 vowel signs, plus its own digits. The Somali Youth League taught it from 1945. It has been in Unicode since 2003 (U+10480 to U+104AF).

## Who made it and when

Osmanya was invented by one man, Cusmaan Yuusuf Keenadiid, in the years 1920 to 1922 ([Tosco 2010, Somali writings](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tosco, following the Italian writer Maino, places his birth in Hobyo around the turn of the 20th century; the Calankii page on [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/) gives 1889 from other sources. He was a younger brother of Suldaan Cali Yuusuf of [Hobyo](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/), learned Arabic in Hobyo and Mogadishu, wrote his family's letters in Arabic and knew some Italian. Tosco stresses that he did not know the Ethiopic script and that it played no part in the alphabet.

The Italian official Marcello Orano, posted to Hobyo, took him as his Somali teacher, and Enrico Cerulli published a first note on the script in 1932 from material given by Yaasiin, whom Tosco calls Cusmaan's nephew in one passage and his son in another ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Calankii has a page on [Yasin Osman Kenadid](/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/).

## How it works

Osmanya is written from left to right. In its developed form it has 22 consonant signs and 8 vowel signs, and every consonant of Northern Somali has a sign ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tone is not written, as in today's Latin spelling. The order of letters follows the Arabic alphabet as closely as possible.

Early Osmanya wrote long vowels with two signs, in the Arabic way: aa as a plus glottal stop, ii and uu with y and w. Later, three new signs were made for **aa**, **ee** and **oo**, the glottal-stop sign fell out of use, and writers began to use taller letters as capitals, Western punctuation and some joined letters ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

Osmanya keeps the parts of a word apart. The article is written separately from the noun: hooyada ("the mother") is written as hooyo da, and hasha ("the she-camel") as hal sha ([Tosco 2010, citing Moreno 1955](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). It has its own digits for 0 to 9; the signs for 7 and 8 mirror each other, as in Arabic numerals.

## The Youth League years

The [Somali Youth Club](/en/history/somali-youth-league/), founded in Mogadishu on 15 May 1943, became the Somali Youth League in 1945. Article 5(d) of its statute backed Somali as the future national language and Osmanya as its script. The League invited Yaasiin to teach in Mogadishu in 1945 and opened schools in other towns and abroad, in Addis Ababa, Kenya, Zanzibar and Yemen ([Tosco 2010, citing Maino 1951 and Ricci 1959](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Many learners were young people, often women. In this period the script came to be called **far Soomaali**, "Somali writing".

About ten years later the League removed Osmanya from its statute. The Somali Language and Literature Society, founded by Yaasiin and others on 5 October 1949, carried on the work and from 1957 published Sahan, a three-page journal in Osmanya edited by Xirsi Magan ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). As late as 1971 the Society published a 72-page primer in Osmanya, Afkeenna iyo fartiisa ("Our language and its script") ([Afkeenna iyo fartiisa, 1971, PDF](https://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/afkeenna-iyo-fartiisa.pdf)).

## Why it was not chosen

The Latin alphabet was made official in October 1972. Tosco names the cost of new type as the first reason Osmanya lost, and adds that many people saw it as tied to one clan ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Cerulli had called it a Majeerteen attempt at an alphabet in 1932. Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi also lists opposition to Somali replacing Arabic, and to any home-made script ([Culture and Customs of Somalia, 2001, p. 73](https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri)).

## Osmanya today

The typesetter Michael Everson used the 1971 primer to propose Osmanya for international encoding. It was added to Unicode 4.0 in April 2003, in the block U+10480 to U+104AF ([Unicode chart, Osmanya](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10480.pdf); [Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tosco wrote in 2010 that interest in Osmanya continues, especially among young Somalis in the diaspora.

## Read more

- [Somali writing systems](/en/society/somali-writing-systems/)
- [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/)
- [How Somali came to be written](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/)


---

# The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Somalia: Hafun and the Puntland coast

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/tsunami-2004-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> On 26 December 2004 the tsunami from the Sumatra earthquake reached Somalia, 5,000 km away, around noon local time. About 300 people died, most on the low-lying Hafun (Xaafuun) peninsula. A UNESCO survey called the Puntland coast "by far the area hardest hit" west of India. Waves ran up 5 to 9 metres on the Puntland coast. About 18,000 households needed urgent help.

## In short

At 00:58 UTC on 26 December 2004 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off Sumatra, Indonesia. About 7.5 to 8 hours later its tsunami reached Somalia, 5,000 km away. It killed **some 300 people** and destroyed shelters, houses, water sources, fishing boats and gear ([Fritz and Borrero, *Earthquake Spectra* 22(S3): S219–S233, 2006](https://tsunami.gatech.edu/publications/som_eqs_v22-iS3_106607eqs.pdf)).

The hardest-hit stretch was **650 km of coast between Garacad ([Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)) and Xaafuun ([Bari](/en/regions/bari/))**, in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). About **18,000 households** were "directly affected and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance" (Fritz and Borrero 2006, pp. S219–S220).

## The waves

A UNESCO survey team visited Eyl, Bandarbeyla, Foar, Xaafuun and [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/) from 2 to 10 March 2005 and measured watermarks and debris lines (Fritz and Borrero 2006, pp. S219–S221).

- **Arrival.** Witnesses put the first waves at about noon local time: 8:30 UTC in Bandarbeyla, 9:00 in Foar and Bargaal, 9:45 in Xaafuun.
- **Number.** At least four waves came in every town. In Xaafuun four "powerful waves" came about 12 minutes apart.
- **Height.** Maximum run-up was typically **5 to 9 metres**. The highest measured was almost 9 metres at Bandarbeyla. A witness at Eyl described an even higher point on a cliff.
- **Duration.** The sea took 3 to 7 hours to return to normal.
- **Tide.** The main waves arrived near low tide. At high tide they could have run up to 2 metres higher (p. S231).

The survey found the run-up heights in Somalia were roughly double those in [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) to the north and Madagascar to the south (p. S222).

## Hafun

The town of Xaafuun (Hafun) sits on a low sand spit joining the Hafun peninsula to the mainland. It "was completely flooded, with depths of up to 2 m". **Nineteen bodies were recovered and 160 people were presumed missing**: "the highest number of casualties in a single African town" (Fritz and Borrero 2006, p. S222).

The World Food Programme said the town's 4,500 people "seem to have lost all their possessions" and were left without shelter, water, food or medicine. Two WFP trucks with 31 tonnes of food were stuck 60 km away because the road had been destroyed ([Mail & Guardian / AFP, 30 December 2004](https://mg.co.za/article/2004-12-30-tsunami-30-000-somalis-in-need-of-aid)). Hafun's history as an ancient port is told on [the ancient port of Opone, Ras Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/).

## The dead and the needy

- **Deaths.** Somali authorities reported nearly 300 deaths. Humanitarian agencies disputed the figure ([Al Jazeera / AFP, 4 March 2005](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/3/4/tsunami-exposes-somalia-toxic-waste)). The UNESCO survey gives "some 300" (Fritz and Borrero 2006).
- **Fishermen.** By 30 December at least 40 fishermen were confirmed dead and more than 60 missing after their dhows capsized (Mail & Guardian, 30 December 2004).
- **People in need.** WFP first estimated 30,000 to 50,000 people "in need of immediate relief" (Mail & Guardian, 30 December 2004).

## Washed-up waste

In March 2005 the UN Environment Programme said there were "indications that hazardous waste, radioactive waste, chemical waste and other substances" dumped on the Somali coast had been damaged by the tsunami. Its spokesman reported villagers' accounts of "mouth bleeds, abdominal haemorrhages, unusual skin disorders and breathing difficulties" ([Al Jazeera / AFP, 4 March 2005](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/3/4/tsunami-exposes-somalia-toxic-waste)).

## Outside Somalia

The same tsunami killed people across the Indian Ocean. The survey team gives a total death toll of about 300,000 (Fritz and Borrero 2006, p. S219). The wider event is described on [Wikipedia, *2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami), including [its effect on Sri Lanka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_the_2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_on_Sri_Lanka) and the [Sri Lanka train wreck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Sri_Lanka_tsunami_train_wreck).

## Sources

- Fritz, H. M. and Borrero, J. C. (2006). [Somalia field survey after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami](https://tsunami.gatech.edu/publications/som_eqs_v22-iS3_106607eqs.pdf). *Earthquake Spectra* 22(S3): S219–S233. doi:10.1193/1.2201972.
- Mail & Guardian / AFP (2004). [Tsunami: 30,000 Somalis in need of aid](https://mg.co.za/article/2004-12-30-tsunami-30-000-somalis-in-need-of-aid), 30 December 2004.
- Al Jazeera / AFP (2005). [Tsunami exposes Somalia toxic waste](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/3/4/tsunami-exposes-somalia-toxic-waste), 4 March 2005.
- Wikipedia. [2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami).


---

# Udeejeen (Udejeen, Ciise Mudulood, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/udeejeen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Udeejeen (Udejeen), also called Ciise Mudulood, are a Hawiye clan in the Mudulood line of the Hiraab. The EUAA lists them among the smaller clans of north-east Hiiraan. Somali Wikipedia places them in Hiiraan, Middle Shabelle, parts of Mogadishu and the Somali Region of Ethiopia, and names Aden Abdulle Osman, Somalia's first president, as Udeejeen.

## Name and family tree

The Udeejeen are a clan of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) family. Somali Wikipedia says they are "also known as Ciise Mudulood" and places them in the Mudulood line of the Hiraab ([Somali Wikipedia, Udeejeen, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udeejeen)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia, Hawiye clan tree (backup) | Hawiye > Gorgaarte > Hiraab > Mudulood > Udejeen ([Wikipedia, Hawiye, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Hawiye > Hiraab > Mudulood > Udeejeen (Ciise) ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udeejeen)) |
| EUAA 2025 | Named among the "smaller clans living in the region's northeast" in Hiiraan, without a lineage ([EUAA 2025, Hiraan](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)) |

Abbink lists Mudulood under Hirab but names no lineages below it ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). The ACLED 2025 coding list has no entry for the Udeejeen ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)).

Somali Wikipedia names their closest Mudulood relatives as the [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/), [Moobleen](/en/society/moobleen/), Wacdaan and Hilibi. See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia says the Udeejeen first divide into four groups: Abaadir Ciise, Aadan Yacquub, Yuusuf Yacquub and Cali Yacquub, the youngest ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udeejeen)). Its tree gives these lines (same source):

- **Aadan Yacquub:** Reer Nuur, Reer Caalim, Cali Yacquub and Maxamed Gaab (with Reer Raage).
- **Yuusuf Yacquub:** Xasan Yuusuf ([Reer Ugaas](/en/society/gadabuursi/)), Ifiyo Yuusuf, Suleymaan Yuusuf and Macalin Maxamuud. Under Macalin Maxamuud are Xirsi, Kheyre, Siyaad, Dudub and Faatax Macalin.
- **Abaadir:** Maxamed Samatar.
- **Abokor.**

The English Wikipedia Hawiye tree names two Udejeen lines, Kheyre Macalin and Adan Yacqub ([Wikipedia, Hawiye, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawiye)). Both appear on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| North-east Hiiraan | "Smaller clans living in the region's northeast include Udeejeen, Faqi Omar and Faqi Muhmed (both Dir), Rer Aw Hassan and Makanne" ([EUAA 2025, Hiraan](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)) |
| Hiiraan districts | Somali Wikipedia names Jawiil, Baarmagoog, Qalqalooc, Matabaan and Beledweyne ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udeejeen)) |
| Middle Shabelle | Qalimow town (same source) |
| Mogadishu | Somali Wikipedia names Cabdicasiis and Shingaani districts (same source) |
| Somali Region of Ethiopia | Mustahil, Ferfer and Shilaabo districts (same source) |

See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/).

## History on record

- **1600s to 1899.** Somali Wikipedia says the Udeejeen were part of the [Hiraab Imamate](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/) of Mogadishu. It dates the Imamate from the early 1600s, after the end of the [Ajuran Sultanate](/en/history/ajuran-state/) ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udeejeen)).
- **1960 to 1967.** [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) was Somalia's first president. Somali Wikipedia lists him as Udeejeen (same source).
- **2010 to 2014.** Mohamed Nur (Tarsan) was mayor of Mogadishu. Somali Wikipedia lists him as Udeejeen (same source).

Somali Wikipedia also names the politicians Osman Mohamud Dufle and Mohamed Hussein Addow. It names the poets Muxyadin Subkane, Rashid Mohamud [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/), Cali Xuud and Mohamed Subkane (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia lists six Udeejeen *ugaas* ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udeejeen)):

1. Cismaan Macalin Nuur
2. Faqa Eebakar
3. Macalin Nuur Aw-Muxummad
4. Cumar Ugaas Daahir
5. Cilmi Ugaas Cumar
6. Cismaan Ugaas Cilmi Ugaas Cumar, the current *ugaas*

The Reer Ugaas line sits under Xasan Yuusuf in its tree (same source). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Udeejeen ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Its Hiiraan entry quotes Horn Observer. That outlet called the region the "epicenter" of the clan militias' fight against al-Shabaab in 2022 to 2024 ([EUAA 2025, Hiraan](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)). See [the offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Rank.** The EUAA calls the Udeejeen one of the smaller clans of Hiiraan. Somali Wikipedia presents them as a full Mudulood clan.
- **Name.** Somali Wikipedia also calls them Ciise Mudulood. They are a different group from the [Ciise](/en/society/ciise/) of the Dir.
- **Branches.** English Wikipedia lists two lines. Somali Wikipedia lists four first branches and a longer tree.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)


---

# The desert locust upsurge in Somalia, 2019 to 2021

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/desert-locusts-2019-2021/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Desert locusts began breeding in Puntland, Somaliland and Galmudug in late 2019, after unusually heavy rain and Cyclone Pawan. FAO called it the worst outbreak in Somalia in over 25 years. By December 2019 about 70,000 hectares were infested. On 2 February 2020 the federal government declared the upsurge a national emergency, and FAO warned that it could push half a million more Somalis into hunger.

## In short

In late 2019 desert locusts began to breed in large numbers in **[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) ([Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)), [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)**. On 18 December 2019 FAO said Somalia faced "the worst Desert Locust outbreak in over 25 years". About **70,000 hectares** were already infested by young hoppers and breeding adults, damaging crops and pasture ([UN Somalia / FAO, 18 December 2019](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/33942)).

On **2 February 2020** the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) declared the upsurge a **national emergency** ([UN Somalia / FAO, 1 May 2020](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/47600)).

## Why it happened

FAO said the outbreak "has been exacerbated by exceptionally high rainfall and cyclone Pawan". [Cyclone Pawan](/en/society/cyclones-in-somalia-2013-2020/) reached Somalia in December 2019 ([ReliefWeb, Tropical Cyclone Pawan, December 2019](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2019-000165-som)). The floods before the locusts had already killed dozens of people and displaced thousands, according to Somali authorities ([Garowe Online, February 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-declares-emergency-after-worst-desert-locusts-invasion)).

## Timeline

- **October 2019.** Locusts began to invade parts of Somalia ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-declares-emergency-after-worst-desert-locusts-invasion)). ReliefWeb lists the regional event as "Horn of Africa: Locust Infestation – Oct 2019" ([ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/2019-000149-eth)).
- **18 December 2019.** FAO's emergency update: breeding in Galmudug, Puntland and Somaliland, so far in rangeland and grassland. FAO said more than 100,000 hectares would need control in the next six months and asked for an extra US$3 million (UN Somalia / FAO, 18 December 2019).
- **2 February 2020.** National emergency declared. The government said it was "concerned about the risks desert locusts pose to the cropping season which starts in April". Agriculture minister Said Hussein said: "If we don't act now, we risk severe food crisis that we cannot afford by any means" ([Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)).
- **April 2020.** A second generation of adults laid eggs, which hatched in the first half of April. FAO's representative, Etienne Peterschmitt, said the outbreak "is of an unprecedented scale" (UN Somalia / FAO, 1 May 2020).
- **2020.** The UK said locust swarms had "grown 20 times larger since March 2020". FAO predicted a 15 to 25% fall in Somalia's Gu harvest ([UK government, 2020](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/somalia-and-somaliland-to-benefit-from-new-uk-support-to-tackle-locusts)).

## The threat to food

- FAO's food security outlook said that by September 2020 the locusts could raise the number of Somalis facing food insecurity or severe hunger "by half a million" (UN Somalia / FAO, 1 May 2020).
- FAO warned that if unchecked the locusts would "likely spread to main crop growing areas in southern Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and northeastern Kenya" (UN Somalia / FAO, 18 December 2019).
- The locust year came on top of the 2019 floods and the [COVID-19 pandemic](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/) (UK government, 2020).

## The response

- **FAO** led surveillance and control with the federal government, member states and Somaliland. Its representative said the fight continued during the COVID-19 lockdowns (UN Somalia / FAO, 1 May 2020).
- **United Kingdom.** In 2020 the UK announced a further £18 million: £17 million for FAO's regional locust appeal covering East Africa including Somalia, Yemen and South West Asia, and £1 million for early warning and forecasting. It followed an earlier £8 million (UK government, 2020).

## Related pages

- [Farming and harvests](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)
- [Rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/)

## Sources

- UN Somalia / FAO (2019). [Somalia gears up for a long fight against Desert Locust](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/33942), 18 December 2019.
- UN Somalia / FAO (2020). [UN continues support to fight desert locust in Somalia amid COVID-19 response](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/47600), 1 May 2020.
- Garowe Online (2020). [Somalia declares emergency after worst desert locusts invasion](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-declares-emergency-after-worst-desert-locusts-invasion), February 2020.
- UK government (2020). [Somalia and Somaliland to benefit from new UK support to tackle locusts](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/somalia-and-somaliland-to-benefit-from-new-uk-support-to-tackle-locusts).
- ReliefWeb. [Horn of Africa: Locust Infestation – Oct 2019](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/2019-000149-eth).


---

# Meheri (Carab Saalax)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/meheri/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Meheri, also called Carab Saalax, are a Somali group that Somali Wikipedia describes as having a long history in trade. It places them across Puntland, with others in Galmudug, Jubaland and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Its listed sub-clans include Cumar Muuse, Xasan Saalax, Maxamuud Saalax, Reer Jidxi, Reer Cantuun and Yaxye Saalax.

## Name and family tree

Somali Wikipedia gives two names for one group: "Carab Saalax ama Meheri", meaning "Carab Saalax or Meheri" ([Somali Wikipedia, Meheri, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meheri)).

| Source | What it records |
|---|---|
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | "A Somali clan with a long history in trade and commerce". Its infobox lists the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) as a related group ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meheri)) |
| Somali Wikipedia, Carab Saalax (backup) | "Meheri, also known as Carab Saalax, is a Somali clan" ([Somali Wikipedia, Carab Saalax, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carab_Saalax)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes an "Arab Salah" under the Isaaq ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

Abbink's genealogy, the EUAA and the EASO reports used on this site do not name the Meheri ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)). See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia lists these sub-clans ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meheri)):

| Sub-clan | Lines it names |
|---|---|
| Cumar Muuse | none given |
| Xasan Saalax | Xildiid, with Samakaab Xildiid and Rooble Xildiid |
| Maxamuud Saalax | Ismaaciil, Cali, Xirsi (Naaleeye), Faahiye, Muuse and Cumar Maxamuud |
| Reer Jidxi | Reer Cawad and Reer Taabid |
| Reer Cantuun | none given |
| Yaxye Saalax Binnimir | none given |

These groups are also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia says the Meheri live across [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). It adds that they also live in [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meheri)). Its list of notable people places many in [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Qardho (same source).

## History on record

Somali Wikipedia says the Meheri have long been traders, linking Somalia with Arab countries and with East and Central Africa. It says they took part in resistance to Italian colonial rule ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meheri)).

It names these people, among many others (same source):

- **[Xaliimo Maxamed Yuusuf](/en/people/halima-godane/) (Xaliimo Godane),** a member of the Somali Youth League. See [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).
- **General Cabdullaahi Cali Cumar,** listed as chief of the Somali armed forces from February 1977.
- **General [Maxamed Axmed Jaamac](/en/people/mohammed-ahamed/) (Shaalle),** a commander in the 1977 war and later a Puntland presidential candidate.
- **Maryam Cabdi Xuseen,** elected to the Norwegian parliament in 2019.
- **Sacdiyo Salaad Xaaji Samatar,** a federal MP and first deputy speaker from 2022.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia lists Meheri traditional leaders, including Suldaan Cabdiqaadir Faarax Shabeel, [Suldaan Xasan](/en/people/suldan-hassan/) Suldaan Carabduur and Amiir Cismaan Salaad-Weyne. It also names many *nabadoon* (peace elders) and an *caaqil* ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meheri)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Meheri or Carab Saalax ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Family.** Somali Wikipedia lists the Isaaq as related and names no clan family. ACLED codes an "Arab Salah" under the Isaaq.
- **Sources.** Almost everything on this page comes from Somali Wikipedia, a backup source with very few citations.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)


---

# Somali bands: Waaberi, Iftin, Shareero, Dur-Dur, Waayaha Cusub and others

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-bands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The big Somali bands of the 1960s to 1980s were mostly state troupes tied to a ministry, the army or a radio station: Waaberi (Radio Mogadishu and the National Theatre), Iftin (Education Ministry), Horseed, Halgan and Onkod. Hargeisa had the Walaalo Hargeisa band from the 1950s. Private bands such as Dur-Dur played Mogadishu's hotels in the 1980s. After 1991, groups like Waayaha Cusub formed in exile.

## Bands as theatre companies

In Somali performing arts, music and drama go together, so a theatre company is called a "band". The big bands of the 1970s and 1980s each belonged to a state body ([National Theatre of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)).

## Walaalo Hargeisa (1950s)

In the mid-1950s Abdullahi Qarshe and Hussein Aw Farah founded the Walaalo Hargeisa (Hargeisa Brothers) band. Qarshe was the first Somali to sing while playing the oud, and the band added flute, violin and tambourine ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). Radio Hargeisa was its stage ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/radio-hargeisa-and-rise-somali-modern-music)).

## Waaberi

Waaberi ("sunrise") grew out of the Radio Artists Association and was backed by the government as part of the National Theatre. Wikipedia says it took the name Waaberi after the 1969 coup, and that it was formed by joining the Radio Mogadishu band with the army's General Da'ud band ([Waaberi, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waaberi); [National Theatre of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)). Its artists included Magool, [Saado Cali](/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/), [Xasan Aadan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/), [Ali Feiruz](/en/people/ali-feiruz/), Abdullahi Qarshe, [Maryam Mursal](/en/people/maryam-mursal/), [Hassan Sheikh Mumin](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mumin/) and Abdi Ali "Bacalwaan". Waaberi toured Egypt, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and China and played FESTAC '77 in Lagos ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). It continued as a private group into the 1990s, played the WOMAD festival in England in 1997, toured North America in 1998, and recorded an album with the Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waaberi); [AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p215468/biography)).

## Other state bands

- **Iftin** belonged to the Ministry of Education and also trained school teachers in music ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)). It went private in the early 1980s and played at the Al-Uruba hotel ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).
- **Horseed** existed before independence as Ex-bana Estro.
- **Halgan**, **Onkod** and **Shareero** also performed at the National Theatre ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Somalia)).

## Mogadishu's club bands

Dur-Dur Band and Shareero mixed Somali song with funk, jazz, reggae and Arab music in the hotels of 1980s Mogadishu ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). Dur-Dur's 1987 tape *Volume 5* was reissued in 2013, and its song "Gorof" went viral in 2025 ([Dur-Dur Band, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band)).

## Tapes saved and reissued

- **2017:** Ostinato Records released *Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa*, which was nominated for a Grammy ([Quartz](https://qz.com/africa/1142624/grammy-nominations-2018-ostinato-records-sweet-as-broken-dates-is-nominated-for-a-grammy)).
- **2019:** Analog Africa released *Mogadisco: Dancing Mogadishu, Somalia 1972–1991* ([Dur-Dur Band, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur-Dur_Band)).

## Waayaha Cusub

Waayaha Cusub ("The New Era") is a collective led by the singer Falis Abdi Mohamud. Its songs spoke against al-Shabaab, and one member, Shine Akhyar, was shot and wounded in Nairobi in 2007 by suspected militants. In 2013 it organised the Reconciliation Music Festival in Mogadishu, the first international music festival in the capital since the civil war began. In October 2014 the band sought asylum in the Netherlands after Kenyan officials took its members' refugee cards as they left Nairobi for a peace concert in Amsterdam ([BBC News, 14 October 2014](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29615157); [Waayaha Cusub, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waayaha_Cusub)).

## Read more

- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)
- [Dur-Dur Band](/en/society/dur-dur-band/)
- [National Theatre of Somalia](/en/society/national-theatre-of-somalia/)
- [Magool](/en/people/magool/)
- [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/)


---

# Somali football clubs: Dekedda, Gaadiidka, Heegan, Jeenyo, Elman and the rest

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-football-clubs/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most of Somalia's football clubs are in Mogadishu, and many began as teams of state bodies: the ports (Dekedda), transport (Gaadiidka), public works (Jeenyo), the police (Heegan) and the printing agency. Dekedda has won more league titles than any other club since the 2016/17 season, with titles in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023/24 and the first Somali entries in the CAF Champions League.

## How the clubs began

The RSSSF, which keeps football records for every country, traces the first Somali clubs to the 1940s. Many grew out of state bodies and their workers: the transport depot Autoparco (now Gaadiidka), the Public Works Department, Lavori Publici (now Jeenyo, from the Italian *genio*), the police and the army ([RSSSF, Somalia champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). The two most successful clubs, Mogadishu City Club and Horseed, have their own pages. Below is every other club with a public record.

## Dekedda (Dekedaha FC)

The club of the Mogadishu ports authority, known as Ports FC until 2013 ([Dekedaha FC, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekedaha_FC)). RSSSF lists six league titles: 1998, 2007, 2016/17, 2018, 2019 and 2023/24 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). It has won the cup in 2002, 2004, 2023 and 2024 and the Super Cup in 2018, 2019 and 2023 ([RSSSF, cup winners](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)). Wikipedia records Dekedda in the CAF Champions League preliminary round in 2020 and again in 2024, and in the second round of the CAF Confederation Cup in 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekedaha_FC)).

## Gaadiidka

The transport club, which as Autoparco won three straight championships from 1954/55 to 1956/57 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). Under the name Gaadiidka it won the league in 1990, 2022 and 2025/26. It played in the 1991 African Cup of Champions Clubs and uses the 20,000-seat [Banadir Stadium](/en/society/stadiums-in-somalia/) ([Gaadiidka FC, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaadiidka_FC)).

## Heegan (formerly Somali Police FC)

Known as Somali Police FC until 2013. Wikipedia says the club was founded in 1950 in the port of [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), during the UN trusteeship ([Heegan FC, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heegan_FC)). As Somali Police it won the first post-independence championship in 1967; as Heegan it won in 2014/15 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). It lost cup finals in 2014 and 2015 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)).

## Jeenyo United (Lavori Publici, LLPP Jeenyo)

The public works club. It won the title in 1952 as SC Genio Officina, in 1959/60, and in 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1980/81 as Lavori Publici, and the cup in 1977, 1980, 2014 and 2016 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html); [RSSSF, cup winners](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html)).

## Elman FC

Elman FC won the league in 2000 to 2003 (RSSSF notes the club's own dates are 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003), and in 2011 and 2012, plus the 2017 cup ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)). It carries the name of [Elman Ali Ahmed](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/).

## Wagad, Hoga and the National Printing Agency

- **Wagad** won four titles in the 1980s: 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 ([Wagad, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagad); [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).
- **Hoga** (Xoogga, the armed forces) won the 1968 title and played in the 1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs ([Hoga, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoga)).
- **National Printing Agency** (Madbacadda Qaranka) won the 1983 league and the 1981 cup ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).

All three now play in the second division at Banadir Stadium, according to Wikipedia.

## Other clubs

- **Sahafi FC**, founded as SITT Daallo, won the 2007 cup, took the name Sahafi in 2012 and played in the 2012–13 Arab Champions League ([Sahafi FC, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahafi_FC)).
- **[Badbaado](/en/society/badbaado-camp/)** lost the 2012 cup final 3–1 to Banaadir SC and was promoted again in 2021 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html); [RSSSF 2021](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)).
- **Gasko FC**, from Karaan district, played in the first division in 2003/04 and dropped to the third division by 2011/12 ([Gasko FC, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasko_FC)).
- **Waxool FC** won the 1984 cup and played in the 2018 first division ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somacuphist.html); [RSSSF 2018](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2018.html)).
- **Raadsan**, **Midnimo** and **[Geeska Afrika](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/)** played in the 2021 first division ([RSSSF 2021](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/soma2021.html)).

## Read more

- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Somalia Cup and Super Cup](/en/society/somalia-cup/)
- [Horseed FC](/en/society/horseed-fc/)
- [Mogadishu City Club](/en/society/mogadishu-city-club/)


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# Wadaad's writing: Somali in Arabic script, from Sheekh Aweys to Muuse Galaal

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/wadaad-writing/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Wadaad's writing (far wadaad) is the use of Arabic letters to write Somali, or Arabic mixed with Somali words. It was used by religious scholars and merchants for letters, petitions and religious poems. Sheekh Aweys of Baraawe wrote Somali poems in it in the late 1800s; Maxamed Cabdi Makaahiil (1930s) and Muuse Galaal (1954) proposed fuller spellings.

## What it is

A **wadaad** is a man devoted to religion, however slight his Arabic. The anthropologist I. M. Lewis, writing in 1958, described "wadaad's writing" as "an ungrammatical Arabic containing some Somali words", used by merchants in business, in letters and petitions, and in writing qasidas ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, quoting Lewis 1958, pp. 135 to 137](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)). The linguist Mauro Tosco calls it broken Arabic with Somali words, used in business, private letters and petitions ([Tosco 2010, Somali writings](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

## The problem with Arabic letters

Somali has five vowels, each short and long, which Arabic script does not fully mark. It also has two consonants Arabic lacks: the **dh** sound and a hard **g** ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Each writer solved these in a different way.

## Sheekh Aweys of Baraawe

Tosco found no record of Somali written consistently in Arabic script before [Sheekh Aweys Maxamed Baraawi](/en/people/uways-al-barawi/) (1847 to 1909), a leader of the Qaadiriyya order born among the [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) in Baraawe ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Enrico Cerulli studied two of his manuscripts, a political song and a book of religious poems, written in a mix of southern Somali dialects. Aweys wrote the hard **g** as Arabic k with three dots, a sign used for "ng" in Ottoman Turkish, Kazakh and Uyghur; **dh** as Arabic ṭ; and **e** and **o** as ay and aw. Lewis noted that he modelled his writing on the Arabic spelling the Amrani families of Baraawe used for their Swahili dialect ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1958](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)).

## Makaahiil's book, 1930s

[Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Maxamed Cabdi Makaahiil published in Bombay in 1935 to 1936 (1354 AH) a book whose Arabic title means "The institution of modern correspondence in the Somali language", with sample letters and proverbs ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). He wrote **dh** as Arabic d with three dots and **g** as k with a line, and spelled Arabic loanwords as Somalis say them. Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1958, says he built on earlier work by Sheekh Ibraahim Cabdallah Mayal and argued against making Arabic the sole official language ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)). Wikipedia, citing a 2015 paper by Tosco, says his spelling remains the best-known final form of Somali in Arabic script ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)).

## Muuse Galaal's script, 1954

In 1954 [Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) published in the Islamic Quarterly the most advanced proposal to write Somali in Arabic letters ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). He invented seven new signs for the vowels, so that short and long vowels could be told apart without marks. Lewis judged it the most accurate Arabic alphabet devised for Somali ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1958](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)). Wikipedia reports that the new letters drew criticism from religious conservatives, who worried they would make it harder to teach the Qur'an. A later proposal by Ibraahim Xaashi Maxamuud used combinations of long-vowel letters and the hamza ([Tosco 2010, citing Labahn 1982](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

## Older roots and the end of the effort

Somali tradition credits the saint Sheekh Yuusuf bin Axmed al-Kawneyn (Aw Barkhadle) with giving Somali names to the Arabic vowel marks so that pupils could learn to read ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, citing Laitin 1977 and Lewis 1958](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)). With the official adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1972, work on a standard Arabic spelling for Somali stopped ([Wadaad's writing, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 2015](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadaad%27s_writing)).

## Read more

- [Somali writing systems](/en/society/somali-writing-systems/)
- [Quran schools and religious learning](/en/society/quran-schools-and-religious-learning/)
- [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/)


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# The Borama (Gadabuursi) script: Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur's alphabet of 1933

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/borama-script/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Borama or Gadabuursi script is an alphabet for Somali devised about 1933 by Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur, the qaadi of Borama. It was written left to right and used by his circle in Borama for poems and letters. I. M. Lewis published its letters and texts in 1958, including two gabay, a geeraar and a qasida.

## Who made it

The Borama script, also called the Gadabuursi script, was devised in about 1933 by [Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur](/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/) of the Gadabuursi ([Tosco 2010, Somali writings, citing Lewis 1958](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). He was the qaadi (Islamic judge) at Borama, near the Ethiopian border. David Laitin also dates it to about 1933 ([Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought, 1977, p. 98](https://books.google.com/books?id=LR8A4tEYZUAC&pg=PA98)).

Almost everything known about it comes from one article by I. M. Lewis, "The Gadabuursi Somali Script", in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1958 ([Lewis 1958, via Scribd](https://www.scribd.com/doc/15957443/The-Gadabursi-Somali-Script); [Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)).

## Who used it

Lewis found the script used only in Borama, among "a small circle of the [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/)'s associates". The Sheikh did not "regard his invention as a contribution to the problem of finding a national orthography for Somali" ([Tosco 2010, quoting Lewis 1958, p. 142](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Wikipedia adds that some merchants trading through Zeylac and Borama and students of the Sheikh learned it ([Gadabuursi script, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi_Somali_Script)).

## How the letters work

The script is written from left to right ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Tosco describes it as elegant, with some letters easy to confuse, such as the sign for a or aa and the sign for d. He compares its look to Georgian, while Osmanya reminds him of Armenian.

Its rules differ from [Osmanya](/en/society/osmanya-script/) in several ways ([Tosco 2010](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)):

- there is no sign for the glottal stop, as in later Osmanya;
- **ii** and **uu** have their own signs, separate from **y** and **w**;
- short **o** and **u** share one sign;
- vowel length is not marked for **a/aa** or **e/ee**.

The letter order roughly follows the Arabic alphabet, with many exceptions.

## Texts written in it

Lewis published, with transcription, translation and notes, several texts in the script: two **gabay**, a **geeraar**, a **qasida** in praise of the Prophet, and two private letters ([Tosco 2010, citing Lewis 1958](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). Wikipedia notes that the script produced a body of literature mainly of qasidas ([Gadabuursi script, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi_Somali_Script)).

## In the script debate

The script was among the 11 Somali-invented writing systems that, according to Thomas Labahn, were put before the 1961 language commission. Labahn's comparative table lists it as number 8, with Osmanya as number 2 and Kaddare as number 9 ([Tosco 2010, citing Labahn 1982](https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2010_3542)). The Latin alphabet was chosen in 1972.

## Read more

- [Somali writing systems](/en/society/somali-writing-systems/)
- [Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nur](/en/people/sheikh-abdurahman-sheikh-nur/)
- [Awdal and Borama](/en/regions/awdal/)


---

# Cyclones that hit Somalia, 2013 to 2020: Puntland 2013, Sagar, Pawan and Gati

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/cyclones-in-somalia-2013-2020/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Four tropical cyclones struck Somalia between 2013 and 2020. The November 2013 cyclone in Puntland killed 162 people and about 1 million livestock. Cyclone Sagar hit Awdal and Woqooyi Galbeed in May 2018. Cyclone Pawan hit Puntland in December 2019. The Red Cross called Cyclone Gati, on 22 November 2020, "the strongest ever storm to hit Somalia"; it brought more than a year's rain to Bari in two days.

## In short

| Cyclone | Date | Areas hit | Deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puntland cyclone | 10 November 2013 | Puntland | 162 | [ReliefWeb, TC-2013-000140-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2013-000140-som) |
| Sagar | 17–20 May 2018 | Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Bari, Sanaag | not totalled | [ReliefWeb, TC-2018-000059-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2018-000059-som) |
| Pawan | 6–8 December 2019 | Nugaal, Bari, Sanaag | 2 in Las Qoray | [ReliefWeb, TC-2019-000165-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2019-000165-som) |
| Gati | 22–25 November 2020 | Bari, Sanaag | at least 8 to 9 | [ReliefWeb, TC-2020-000232-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2020-000232-som) |

Each ReliefWeb record gathers the situation reports of OCHA, the Red Cross (IFRC), FAO and others, with dates. The quotes below come from those reports.

## November 2013: the Puntland cyclone

A tropical cyclone hit [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) on 10 November 2013. With the flash floods that followed, it killed **162 people**, killed about **1 million livestock** and destroyed over 1,000 houses, according to government figures cited by the IFRC ([ReliefWeb, TC-2013-000140-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2013-000140-som); IFRC, 11 December 2013).

- Herders lost **70 to 90%** of their animals. Irrigation farmers lost their crops and pumps. Fishermen lost boats and gear.
- The Puntland government declared a natural disaster on 11 November and asked for international help.
- Aid began to arrive on 14 November. By 24 November over 5,000 households had received food and other supplies from WFP, the ICRC, IOM, the Puntland government, local people and the Somali diaspora.

## May 2018: Cyclone Sagar

Sagar formed in the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) on 16 May 2018 and brought heavy rain to the Puntland coast on 17 May. There were flash floods in [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), damage to the road south from Bosaso, and fishing boats washed away off [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([ReliefWeb, TC-2018-000059-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2018-000059-som); OCHA, 19 May 2018).

- Sagar made landfall in the west. Most deaths were in coastal **[Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) and [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/)**, where houses were destroyed and livestock washed away (OCHA, 20 May 2018).
- Floods slowed aid workers' access (OCHA, 20 May 2018).
- By 20 May the storm was weakening over Ethiopia, Djibouti and north-west [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), about 140 km from Hargeisa (OCHA, 20 May 2018).

## December 2019: Cyclone Pawan

Pawan reached the Puntland coast on 7 December 2019. **Two people died** in floods in Las Qoray, Sanaag, and roads to the town were damaged ([ReliefWeb, TC-2019-000165-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2019-000165-som); ECHO, 10 December 2019).

- The worst-hit areas were Eyl and Dangorayo in [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), Qardho in Karkaar, and [Alula](/en/regions/caluula/), Iskushuban and [Baargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/) in Bari (IFRC, 20 December 2019).
- It damaged camps for displaced people, roads, schools, telecom towers and power lines (IFRC, 20 December 2019).
- FAO said "exceptionally high rainfall and cyclone Pawan" made the [desert locust outbreak](/en/society/desert-locusts-2019-2021/) worse ([UN Somalia / FAO, 18 December 2019](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/33942)).

## November 2020: Cyclone Gati

Gati made landfall at about 22:00 on 22 November 2020 at Ras [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), Bari. The IFRC called it "the strongest ever storm to hit Somalia", with sustained winds of 170 km/h. It "brought more than a year's worth of rain to the region in two days" ([ReliefWeb, TC-2020-000232-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2020-000232-som); IFRC, 3 December 2020).

- **Villages hit.** Thirteen villages in Iskushuban district were hardest hit, including Xaafuun, Dul Xaafuun, Hurdiya, Foocaar and Baarmadowe. About 15,000 people in Xaafuun and Hurdiya moved to higher ground (OCHA, 23 November 2020).
- **People affected.** OCHA put the number affected in Bari at about 180,000, including 38,000 in Bosaso. The IFRC gave 42,000 displaced across Puntland and Somaliland (OCHA, 30 November 2020; IFRC, 3 December 2020).
- **Deaths.** At least eight to nine people were killed. About 30 fishermen at sea before the alert were missing on 23 November (OCHA, 23 and 30 November 2020).
- **Damage.** More than 700 houses destroyed, boats and fishing gear damaged, many livestock lost (FAO, 24 November 2020).
- **Aid.** By 8 December over 78,000 of 101,000 targeted people had received help (OCHA, 9 December 2020).

Hafun was also the town worst hit by [the 2004 tsunami](/en/society/tsunami-2004-somalia/).

## Cyclones that passed close by

These storms hit Yemen, Socotra or [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) rather than mainland Somalia. ReliefWeb lists them among Somalia-related disasters.

- **Chapala**, landfall in Yemen on 3 November 2015 ([ReliefWeb, TC-2015-000149-YEM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2015-000149-yem)).
- **Megh**, over Socotra on 8 November 2015 ([ReliefWeb, TC-2015-000152-YEM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2015-000152-yem)).
- **Mekunu**, landfall in Oman on 26 May 2018 after crossing Socotra ([ReliefWeb, TC-2018-000062-YEM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2018-000062-yem)).
- **Luban**, landfall in Yemen on 14 October 2018 ([ReliefWeb, TC-2018-000163-YEM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2018-000163-yem)).

## Sources

- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Tropical Cyclone – Nov 2013](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2013-000140-som) (IFRC, 11 December 2013).
- ReliefWeb. [Tropical Cyclone Sagar – May 2018](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2018-000059-som) (OCHA, 19 and 20 May 2018).
- ReliefWeb. [Tropical Cyclone Pawan – Dec 2019](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2019-000165-som) (FAO, IFRC, ECHO, December 2019).
- ReliefWeb. [Tropical Cyclone Gati – Nov 2020](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/tc-2020-000232-som) (OCHA, FAO, IFRC, November and December 2020).
- ReliefWeb. Records for Chapala, Megh, Mekunu and Luban, linked above.


---

# Xawaadle (Hawadle, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/xawaadle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Xawaadle (Hawadle) are a Somali clan counted with the Hawiye. Abbink places them in the Mayle line of the 'pre-Hawiye' group. The EASO calls them the most populous clan in Hiiraan, holding the land north-east of the Shabelle river around Beledweyne. Recent records list disputes with the Abgaal, Gugundhabe groups, Cayr, Makane and others.

## Name and family tree

The Xawaadle are a Somali clan written Hawadle in English and Auadleh in older Italian sources ([Wikipedia, Hawadle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawadle)). Most sources count them with the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), but the sources differ on how.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Gardere-Yakabur-Mayle ("pre-Hawiye") > Mayle > Hawadle ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 30](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Hawadle ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Hawadle (Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 (CRD chart) | Listed among "Hawiye Associates: Hawadle, Galje'el, Ajuran, Dagodi" ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Samaale > Meyle > Maxamed > Xawaadle, citing Ali Jimale Ahmed's *The Invention of Somalia* ([Wikipedia, Hawadle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawadle)) |

Abbink writes that it is "not entirely clear" how the "pre-Hawiye" groups relate to the Hawiye. He adds that the Hawadle "are today often presented as one of the major clan-group within the Hawiye" (Abbink 2009, p. 30). See [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists six Hawadle lineages: 'Abdi Yusuf, Farmagge, 'Abdalle, Allagumar, Walahmooge and Abdirahman ([Abbink 2009, p. 30](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

ACLED's 2025 list codes many Xawaadle groups ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)):

- Abdi Yussuf, Abdirahman, Cabdalla and [Reer Ugaas](/en/society/gadabuursi/)
- Agoon and Galible Hassan Agoon
- Ali Madaxweyne, Harun, Hassan Musa and Farax Cagaweyne
- Yaber Madaxweyne, with Adam, Baana, Hussein, Iidle and Mohamed Yaber Madaxweyne
- Aadan Warsame, Yaber Dige and Ibrahim Isse

Wikipedia gives a long tree. Under Xawaadle it names Midigsame, with Alagumar and Lo'doone. Under Lo'doone it names Wacwacaale, whose son Samatalis heads four lines ([Wikipedia, Hawadle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawadle)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Faramage Samatalis (Reer Ugaas) | Dhoore and Dhaga Digane |
| Yuusuf Samatalis (Cabdi Yuusuf) | Garaad Cabdi, Abuubakar Cabdi, Habarwaa Cabdi and Aadan Cabdi |
| Dige Samatalis | Ciise Dige (Yacquub, Ibraahim and Madaxweyne Ciise) and Yabar Dige |
| Cabdalle Samatalis | Maxamed, Saleebaan, Aadan, Idiris and Cumar Cabdalle |

Under Madaxweyne Ciise, Wikipedia names Cabdalle Madaxweyne (Agoon Cabdalle), Yabar Madaxweyne, Cali Madaxweyne, Axmed Madaxweyne and Geedi Madaxweyne (same source). Every group here is also on [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hiiraan | "Hiraan is dominated by the Hawadle clan, which is the most populous and probably the most powerful clan in the region" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| North-east of the Shabelle | The EUAA says the Hawadle dominate "the territory north-east of the Shabelle River" ([EUAA 2025, Hiraan](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)) |
| Middle Shabelle | Records name disputes in El Baraf district (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1) |
| Other areas | Wikipedia adds Mogadishu, Qoryooley in Lower Shabelle, Middle and Lower Juba, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and north-eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia, Hawadle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawadle)) |

See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/).

## History on record

- **2016 to 2020.** [Ali Abdullahi Osoble](/en/people/ali-abdullahi-osoble/) was the first president of Hirshabelle, and [Mohamed Abdi Waare](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-waare/) the second. Wikipedia lists both as Hawadle ([Wikipedia, Hawadle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawadle)).
- **2020 to 2021.** The EASO says the Hawadle in particular asked that Hiiraan be a state of its own, not part of Hirshabelle. General Abukar Haji Warsame (Xuud), a Hawadle, opposed the new Hirshabelle administration "also militarily" ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).
- **June 2023.** Hirshabelle's president removed Hiiraan governor Ali Jeyte Osman. Osman had earlier announced that Hiiraan would leave Hirshabelle, after a tax dispute ([EUAA 2025, Hiraan](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)).
- **September 2023.** President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) "secured the support of the Hawadle community in Mahaas" for the fight against al-Shabaab. He named Ali Jeyte commander of the local *ma'awisley* militia (same source).
- **February 2025.** An agreement between the Hawadle and Hirshabelle was reportedly negotiated (same source).

See [the offensive against al-Shabaab, 2022 to 2025](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia places the Xawaadle Reer Ugaas under Faramage Samatalis ([Wikipedia, Hawadle, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawadle)). ACLED codes a "Hawadle-Reer-Ugaas" group ([ACLED, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these Hirshabelle conflicts, active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Abgaal against Xawaadle, in Jalalaqsi district (Hiiraan) and El Baraf district (Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)).
- Xawaadle against Makane (Bantu) in Beledweyne, including Cali Madaxweyne against Makane.
- Xawaadle against Badi Adde ([Gugundhabe](/en/society/jijeele/)), in Jalalaqsi district.
- Agoon and Cali Madaxweyne against Cayr (Habar Gidir), in Matabaan.
- Faqay Omar (Dir) against Xawaadle, in villages near the Ethiopian border.

Other EUAA records (same source, sections 1.5.2 and 1.10.2):

- **22 April 2023.** A Sacad (Habar Gidir) militia assaulted and raped six Xawaadle women and girls near Dhabad, [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/).
- **10 April and 7 May 2024.** Hawadle militia members shot truck drivers in Beledweyne district over tax disputes, killing one.
- **16 February 2025.** A Xawaadle militia killed a Cayr woman near Beledweyne.

The EASO listed a Xawaadle land dispute with the Reer Aw Hassan ([Ashraf](/en/society/asharaaf/)) that killed 16 people in June 2020 ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/), [Reer Aw Xasan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Hawiye or not.** ACLED and the EUAA write "Hawadle (Hawiye)". Abbink places them in a separate "pre-Hawiye" group, and the World Bank's CRD chart calls them "Hawiye Associates".
- **Ancestor.** Wikipedia traces them to Meyle, son of [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/). Abbink's [Mayle](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/) sits under Gardere-Yakabur-Mayle, a line he says claims descent from 'Imr, not Samaale.
- **Lineages.** Abbink lists six lineages. ACLED and Wikipedia give many more, with different names.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/)
- [The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)


---

# Begedi (Bagadi, Digil, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/begedi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Begedi (Bagadi) are a Somali clan in the Digil branch of the Rahanweyn. The EUAA places them in Lower Shabelle, around Afgoye, as farmers and traders. Somali Wikipedia names Awdheegle district as their main home. Some sources also count them with the Benadiri minority groups.

## Name and family tree

The Begedi are a Somali clan, also written Bagadi. Most sources place them in the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) branch of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| EUAA 2025 | "Begedi and Geledi are part of Rahanweyn/Digil" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "The Bagadi / Iroole are part of Digil / Rahanweyn in Lower Shabelle" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Digil > Bagadi, with older names Begedi and Digil-Bagari ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| World Bank 2005 (CRD chart) | Digil: Geledi, Tunni, Garre, Jiiddo, Begedi and Shanta-Alen ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Abbink 2009 | Lists Irole under Digil ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 11](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Descended from Aw Digil ([Somali Wikipedia, Begedi, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begedi)) |

ACCORD treats Bagadi and Iroole as one name pair. Abbink lists Irole but not Begedi. See [the Rahanweyn and Digil tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia says the Begedi have 12 clans in four lineages ([Somali Wikipedia, Begedi, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begedi)). It adds that some Begedi lineages joined the [Eelay](/en/society/eelay/), [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/), [Garre](/en/society/garre/) and [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) over time (same source).

ACLED codes one Bagadi group without sub-clans (ACLED, September 2025). The EUAA and ACCORD name no Begedi sub-clans.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Lower Shabelle, around Afgoye | "Geledi and Begedi typically reside in Lower Shabelle region, especially in and around Afgoye" (EUAA 2025, section 1.4.3) |
| Lower Shabelle, long-term groups | The EASO lists Bagadi among the long-term indigenous sub-clans of Lower Shabelle, with Tunni, Eelay, Garre, Geledi and Jiddu ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Awdheegle district | Somali Wikipedia calls it their main home ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begedi)) |
| Other towns | Somali Wikipedia adds Buurhakaba, Afgooye, Qoryooley, Marka, Baraawe, Sablaale, Kunturwaarey, Janaale, Baardheere, Jowhar, Mogadishu and Baydhabo (same source) |

The EUAA says they "are usually farmers and/or traders" (EUAA 2025, section 1.4.3). Somali Wikipedia adds herding. See [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/).

## History on record

- **1991 onward.** The EUAA writes about the civil war years. It says "Geledi and Begedi were overrun and exploited especially by Hawiye clan militias who took control of their homeland" (EUAA 2025, section 1.4.3).
- **2000s.** ACCORD writes that the Digil were "suppressed by the Hawiye". It says al-Shabaab moved into [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) "on the basis of supporting the Digil and the Biymaal" (ACCORD 2009, p. 20).
- **Early 2025.** The EUAA says the Rahanweyn "are not considered a minority group anymore". It adds that Begedi and Geledi are still "often considered to be part of the [Benadiri](/en/society/minority-communities/) minority groups" (EUAA 2025, section 1.4.3).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). The sources used here name no Begedi titled elder. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Begedi or Bagadi ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Majority or minority.** The EUAA and ACCORD place the Begedi in the Digil. The EUAA also notes they are often counted with the Benadiri minority groups.
- **Name.** ACCORD pairs Bagadi with Iroole. Abbink lists Irole under Digil but does not name the Begedi.
- **Lineages.** Somali Wikipedia gives 12 clans in four lineages. The other sources here name no sub-clans.

## Read more

- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [The Rahanweyn and Digil tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/)
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


---

# Floods in Somalia, 2007 to 2024: every flood on the UN record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/floods-in-somalia-2007-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Shabelle and Juba rivers flood often, and Beledweyne is flooded more than any other town. The UN record (ReliefWeb) lists Somali floods in almost every year from 2007 to 2024. The largest before 2023 were the 2018 Gu floods (830,000 affected), the 2019 Deyr floods (547,000 affected, 370,000 displaced) and the 2020 Gu floods (919,000 affected, 412,000 displaced, 24 dead).

## In short

Somalia has two rivers, the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and the Juba. Both rise in the Ethiopian highlands, so rain there can flood Somalia even when it is dry locally ([ReliefWeb, Somalia floods, October 2019](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2019-000133-som); FAO, 18 October 2019). Flash floods also hit towns and the camps of displaced people, where shelters stand on low ground ([ReliefWeb, Somalia flash floods, April 2018](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2018-000041-som); OCHA, 2018).

Each entry below comes from the ReliefWeb record for that event, which gathers dated UN, Red Cross and NGO reports. The largest flood on record, in late 2023, has its own page: [the 2023 Deyr floods](/en/society/floods-2023-deyr/). The rainy seasons are explained on [rain, drought and floods in Somalia](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/).

## Year by year

| Season | Main areas | Affected | Displaced | Deaths | ReliefWeb record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug–Nov 2007 | Part of floods across 18 African countries | not given for Somalia | | | [FL-2007-000161-UGA](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2007-000161-uga) |
| Mar–Jun 2010 | Gebiley, Hiiraan, Juba, Shabelle, Puntland coast | | about 3,000 households (May) | | [FL-2010-000041-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2010-000041-som) |
| Oct–Dec 2011 | Southern Somalia, Juba river | | 1,000 households | | [FL-2011-000161-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2011-000161-som) |
| 27–28 Sep 2012 | Beledweyne | | 20,000 | 25 | [FL-2012-000173-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2012-000173-som) |
| Apr 2013 | Wanlaweyn, Xudun, Dharoor valley, Cabudwaaq | thousands | thousands | | [FL-2013-000052-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2013-000052-som) |
| Aug–Nov 2013 | Jowhar and Balcad | | 7,000 to 11,000 households | | [FL-2013-000141-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2013-000141-som) |
| Oct 2014 | Beledweyne, Middle Shabelle, Dolow, Jilib, Jamaame | | about 2,500 in Beledweyne | | [FL-2014-000150-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2014-000150-som) |
| Apr–May 2015 | Lower and Middle Shabelle, Galkacyo | | 16,000 | | [FL-2015-000040-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2015-000040-som) |
| Oct–Dec 2015 | Bakool, Bay, Juba, Middle Shabelle | over 90,000 | about 42,000 | | [FL-2015-000145-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2015-000145-som) |
| May–Jun 2016 | Beledweyne | 70,000 | over 70,000 | | [FL-2016-000046-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2016-000046-som) |
| Apr–May 2018 | Hirshabelle, South West, Jubaland, Banadir | about 830,000 | nearly 290,000 | | [FF-2018-000041-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2018-000041-som) |
| Oct–Dec 2019 | Beledweyne, Juba, Bay, Shabelle | 547,000 | 370,000 | at least 17 | [FL-2019-000133-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2019-000133-som) |
| Apr–May 2020 | 29 districts, worst Beledweyne and Jowhar | about 919,000 | 412,000 | 24 | [FF-2020-000055-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2020-000055-som) |
| Jun–Nov 2020 | Lower and Middle Shabelle, Banadir, Sanaag | over 555,000 | about 363,000 | | [FF-2020-000221-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2020-000221-som) |
| May 2021 | Banadir, Jowhar, Doolow, Puntland | at least 166,000 | | at least 25 | [FL-2021-000051-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2021-000051-som) |
| Mar 2023 | Baardheere, Luuq, Doolow, Bay | nearly 100,000 | | 21 in Baardheere | [FF-2023-000044-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2023-000044-som) |
| Oct–Dec 2023 | About half of all districts | 2.48 million | over 1.2 million | 188 | [the 2023 Deyr floods](/en/society/floods-2023-deyr/) |
| Apr–May 2024 | Jubaland, Hirshabelle, South West, Somaliland | 225,759 | 38,727 | 9 | [FL-2024-000055-SOM](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2024-000055-som) |

Blank cells mean the record gives no figure. Figures are the latest in each record; early counts were often lower.

## Beledweyne

[Beledweyne](/en/regions/hiiraan/), on the Shabelle in Hiiraan, appears in more flood records than any other town.

- **2012.** The Shabelle overflowed at night on 27–28 September, killing 25 people, displacing 20,000 and drowning over 5,000 livestock (OCHA, 8 October 2012).
- **2016.** Over 70,000 people displaced, 36,000 of them to Ceel Jaale (OCHA, 7 June 2016).
- **2019.** About 45,500 households (273,000 people) fled their homes in Beledweyne district (OCHA, 6 November 2019).
- **2020.** The Shabelle burst its banks on 12 May and flooded **85% of the town** and 25 villages. About 240,000 people were displaced between 12 and 18 May (OCHA, 19 May 2020).
- **2023.** About 250,000 people, 90% of the town, were forced out (see [the 2023 Deyr floods](/en/society/floods-2023-deyr/)).

## The big floods in detail

- **2018 Gu.** Above-average April rains came after the 2017 drought. In Baidoa, half of more than 246,000 displaced people were at risk of flash floods. By mid-May about 830,000 people had been affected (OCHA, April and May 2018).
- **2019 [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/).** The rains flooded 207,000 hectares of land along the Shabelle and Juba. On 23 November the UN and government launched a three-month US$72.5 million flood response plan (OCHA, 5 December 2019).
- **2020.** Floods came in both seasons, during [COVID-19](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/) and the [desert locust upsurge](/en/society/desert-locusts-2019-2021/) (OCHA, 24 April and 22 November 2020).
- **2021.** Nine children died when their house flooded in Banadir on 7 May. Drought had been declared on 25 April, so OCHA called it "a double climate disaster" (OCHA, 9 and 17 May 2021).
- **2024 Gu.** Floods destroyed 3,367 shelters, 5,002 latrines, 29 water points and 7 schools by mid-May (OCHA, 19 May 2024).

## Sources

All from ReliefWeb (UN OCHA), each record quoting dated reports from OCHA, FAO [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/), ECHO, ACAPS, IFRC and UNHCR PRMN:

- [East Africa: Floods – Aug 2007](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2007-000161-uga)
- [Somalia: Floods – Mar 2010](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2010-000041-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Oct 2011](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2011-000161-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Sep 2012](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2012-000173-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Apr 2013](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2013-000052-som) and [Nov 2013](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2013-000141-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Oct 2014](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2014-000150-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Apr 2015](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2015-000040-som) and [Oct 2015](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2015-000145-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – May 2016](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2016-000046-som)
- [Somalia: Flash Floods – Apr 2018](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2018-000041-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Oct 2019](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2019-000133-som)
- [Somalia: Flash Floods – Apr 2020](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2020-000055-som) and [Oct 2020](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2020-000221-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – May 2021](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2021-000051-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Mar 2023](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ff-2023-000044-som)
- [Somalia: Floods – Apr 2024](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2024-000055-som)


---

# The 1997 Deyr floods in southern Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/floods-1997-deyr/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> From late October 1997, El Niño rains flooded the Juba and Shabelle valleys. By 17 February 1998 the confirmed death toll was 2,311, and about 1 million people still needed help. Over 227,000 people were displaced, more than 60,000 hectares of crops and farmland were destroyed, and cholera and Rift Valley fever followed. The UN appealed for US$15.3 million.

## In short

The October to December 1997 rains in East Africa came with a strong El Niño. Rainfall in southern Somalia was more than 500 mm above normal, reaching record levels for the season ([NOAA Climate Prediction Center, 1997 assessment](https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/assessments/assess_97/africa.html)). The [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Shabelle rivers burst their banks from late October.

By 17 February 1998 the confirmed death toll stood at **2,311**, and "approximately 1 million people still remain in need of assistance" ([OCHA, Situation Report No. 15, 25 February 1998](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-floods-ocha-situation-report-no-15)). The World Meteorological Organization put deaths at about 2,000 (NOAA, 1997).

## The toll as it was counted

| Date | Deaths confirmed | Displaced | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Nov 1997 | 641 | | [SACB floods update](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/floods-update-14-nov-1997) |
| 21 Nov 1997 | 1,307 | 227,914 | [SACB floods update](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/floods-update-21-nov-1997) |
| 17 Feb 1998 | 2,311 | | OCHA, 25 February 1998 |

SACB is the Somalia Aid Coordination Body, which ran the inter-agency flood response.

## Where it struck

Reports from the ground in November 1997 (SACB updates, 14 and 21 November 1997):

- **Beledweyne.** About half the town's people were moved to an area near the airport. Local authorities said 35 villages in the area were abandoned.
- **[Afmadow](/en/regions/lower-juba/).** The town was "reportedly completely flooded", with water 1.3 to 3 metres deep. More than 10,000 displaced people were stranded without food or shelter.
- **[Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/).** 20 flood deaths and 2,000 newly displaced families (WFP).
- **Tiyeeglow and [Xuddur](/en/regions/bakool/).** WFP reported 32 villages destroyed in Tiyeeglow and 20 people killed in Xuddur.
- **Jowhar.** The Shabelle breached its banks 30 km north and 8 km south of the town.
- **Badhaadhe.** People in Doqosh Doqosh village were rescued by swimmers using boats made from empty drums.

## Food, crops and livestock

- FAO said at least half the cereal crops in southern growing areas suffered serious flood damage. Food prices tripled in the flooded areas, and the need for food aid rose from 32,000 to 60,000 tonnes ([FAO GIEWS special alert, 28 November 1997](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/special-alert-issued-food-supply-somalia)).
- More than 60,000 hectares of crops and farmland were destroyed, along with stores of sorghum kept in underground pits (SACB, 21 November 1997).
- More than 34,000 livestock had died of disease by February 1998 (OCHA, 25 February 1998).

## Disease

OCHA reported outbreaks of "cholera, diarrhoea, malaria, respiratory infections, and haemorrhagic fever". WHO counted 5,983 cholera cases and 243 deaths by 17 February 1998 (OCHA, 25 February 1998). The haemorrhagic fever was Rift Valley fever; see [other disease outbreaks](/en/society/other-disease-outbreaks-in-somalia/) and [cholera in Somalia](/en/society/cholera-in-somalia/).

## The response

- Many roads were cut, so food went in by air. Airlifts and airdrops were "the only means of reaching thousands of flood victims" in early 1998 (OCHA, 25 February 1998).
- Norway gave UNICEF ten boats; France gave US$250,000 for helicopters (SACB, 21 November 1997).
- A flash appeal was issued on 24 December 1997. A revised appeal for **US$15.3 million**, to run to June 1998, was endorsed on 24 February 1998 (OCHA, 25 February 1998).

## Related pages

- [Floods in Somalia, 2007 to 2024](/en/society/floods-in-somalia-2007-2024/)
- [The 2023 Deyr floods](/en/society/floods-2023-deyr/)
- [Disasters in Somalia: a list](/en/society/disasters-in-somalia-list/)

## Sources

- SACB (1997). [Floods update, 14 November 1997](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/floods-update-14-nov-1997) and [21 November 1997](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/floods-update-21-nov-1997), via ReliefWeb.
- FAO (1997). [Special alert issued on food supply in Somalia](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/special-alert-issued-food-supply-somalia), 28 November 1997.
- OCHA (1998). [Somalia floods situation report no. 15](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-floods-ocha-situation-report-no-15), 25 February 1998.
- NOAA Climate Prediction Center (1998). [1997 climate assessment: Africa](https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/assessments/assess_97/africa.html).
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Floods – Nov 1997](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-1997-000265-som).


---

# Mareexaan (Marehan, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mareexaan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Mareexaan (Marehan) are a Darod clan in the Sade line. ACCORD names them one of the three big Darod groups, with the Ogaden and the Harti. The EUAA calls them the most powerful clan in Gedo, holding most land west of the Juba. They also live in Galgaduud and Mudug. Recent records list disputes with Dir, Habar Gidir, Garre and Rahanweyn groups.

## Name and family tree

The Mareexaan are a Somali clan, written Marehan in English. All the sources used here place them in the [Darod](/en/society/darod/) clan family.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Sa'ade > Marehan ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 24](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | The Darod "are commonly divided into three major groups referred to as Ogaden, Marehan, and Harti" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 (CRD chart) | Sade, with Marehan and Facaye ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Marehan ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Parent group Sade, within the Darod ([Wikipedia, Marehan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marehan)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists two main Marehan lines, Mohamed and Hawrarsame (Abbink 2009, pp. 24 to 25):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Mohamed | Nur, Hassan, Siyad, Diini, Talhe, 'Ali Dheere, Isak, Samatar, Islam, Ahmed, 'Ali Hussein, Eli and Habr Yakub |
| Hawrarsame | Yusuf, Aadan and Mahamud |

He also lists Reer Talhe, Reer Hassan, Reer Ahmed, Habr 'Isse and Siyad Hussein. Under Reer Dini he names Guled, Koshin, Shirwa, Nuur, Warfaa, Ugas-Sharmarke and others. Further groups include Reer Soonfure, Reer Uur-Mudug, Wagardhai and Garad (same source).

ACLED's 2025 list codes these Marehan groups (ACLED, September 2025):

- Bahararsame, Hawrarsame and Hororsame
- Reer Dini, Reer Siyad, Reer Ahmed and Siyad Hussein
- Wagardhac, Cili, Dalal, Reer Dalal and Talha
- Muse Fiin, Fuqu Muhumed and Gabawen
- [Reer Aw Hassan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/), Reer Ugas Sharmake, [Reer Garaad](/en/society/warsangali/) and Reer Cafi

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Gedo | "The Marehan (Darood) is the most powerful clan in political and military terms, dominating virtually all of the territory west of the Juba river" ([EUAA 2025, Gedo](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/211-gedo)) |
| Gedo, share of people | The EASO says they "constitute about half or more of the total population" of Gedo ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Galgaduud | One of the five major clans of north Galgaduud, with Sa'ad, Saleebaan, Cayr and Dir groups (EASO 2021) |
| Mudug | Listed among the other clans of Mudug ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| Middle Juba | Records name Marehan herders in Saakow district (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.2) |

The EASO adds that Luuq and [Bardhere](/en/regions/baardheere/) were multi-clan towns "dominated by the Marehan" as of 1999 (EASO 2021). See [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says Marehan fighters took part in the campaigns of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. It names Garad Hirabu Goita Tedros as a Marehan commander ([Wikipedia, Marehan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marehan)).
- **1969 to 1991.** [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) led Somalia. The Library of Congress says his government was informally called "MOD", for Marehan, Ogaden and [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).
- **1990s.** Abbink lists the [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/) (SNF) as a Marehan group, made of "ex-president Siyad Barre's supporters" (Abbink 2009, p. 40).
- **2017 to 2022.** [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) was president. Wikipedia lists him as Marehan (Wikipedia, Marehan, backup).
- **2020 to 2021.** The EASO says the federal-Jubaland rivalry played out in Gedo. It notes a split between *rer guri* (long-resident Marehan) and *rer galti* (Marehan who moved to Gedo in the civil war) (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Abbink names an Ugas-Sharmarke line under Reer Dini. ACLED codes a "Marehan-Reer Ugas Sharmake" group. The EASO says Marehan sub-clans often clash "over power, eldership, and resources" (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these conflicts, active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Reer Aw Hassan (Marehan) and Gababweyne against Moalim Weyne, in Luuq, Gedo.
- Marehan against Gelidle ([Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)), in Bardhere district, Gedo. Listed as dormant.
- Surre (Dir) against Marehan, in [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) and Laandheer, Galgaduud.
- Saleebaan (Habar Gidir) against Marehan, around Balliseenyoole, Cabudwaaq district.
- [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) (Habar Gidir) against Wagardhac (Marehan), in Dhabad and Galinsoor.
- Cayr (Habar Gidir) against Marehan, in [Balanbale](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) district.
- Marehan against Sa'ad in western Galkacyo district, dormant as of February 2025.

The EUAA says ACLED recorded 49 incidents between Marehan and Dir militias in Galgaduud in that period. It recorded 32 between Marehan and Habar Gidir militias ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). On 25 January 2025, a Marehan militia killed two Habar Gidir herders near Cabudwaaq (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.2).

The EASO also records Garre-Marehan disputes over El Waq and Marehan-Rahanweyn tensions in Gedo (EASO 2021). See [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Ancestor.** Abbink and the World Bank chart place the Marehan under Sade (Sa'ade). Wikipedia gives the same parent group.
- **Lineages.** Abbink names two main lines and many groups. ACLED codes 19 groups, with different spellings and some different names.
- **Early history.** The 1500s claims come from Wikipedia, a backup source flagged for missing citations.

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/)
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/)


---

# Measles in Somalia: cases by year and the outbreaks of 2014 to 2022

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/measles-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Measles is endemic in Somalia. The highest yearly counts reported to WHO are 23,039 cases in 2017, 17,361 in 2022 and 17,298 in 2011, all drought years. In 2025 about 61% of one-year-olds had a first measles dose and 31% a second dose (WHO/UNICEF estimates).

## In short

Measles cases in Somalia have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1978. The highest yearly counts are in drought years: **23,039 in 2017**, 17,361 in 2022 and 17,298 in 2011 ([WHO Global Health Observatory, measles reported cases, Somalia](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS3_62?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27)).

OCHA described measles as "endemic" and said numbers rise "as the drought conditions" spread ([ReliefWeb, Somalia: Measles Outbreak 2016–2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2016-000131-som); OCHA, 2021).

## Cases reported to WHO

| Year | Cases | | Year | Cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 79 | | 2010 | 115 |
| 1983 | 622 | | 2011 | 17,298 |
| 1984 | 487 | | 2012 | 9,983 |
| 1985 | 128 | | 2013 | 3,173 |
| 1986 | 70 | | 2014 | 10,229 |
| 1987 | 222 | | 2015 | 7,497 |
| 1988 | 296 | | 2016 | 26 |
| 1989 | 988 | | 2017 | 23,039 |
| 1996 | 1,830 | | 2018 | 9,126 |
| 1998 | 3,075 | | 2019 | 283 |
| 1999 | 5,523 | | 2020 | 2,531 |
| 2000 | 3,965 | | 2021 | 7,191 |
| 2001 | 3,571 | | 2022 | 17,361 |
| 2002 | 9,559 | | 2023 | 3,167 |
| 2003 | 8,257 | | 2024 | 1,529 |
| 2004 | 12,008 | | 2025 | 1,867 |
| 2006 to 2009 | 7; 1,149; 1,081; 13 | | | |

Source: WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator WHS3_62, downloaded 13 November 2026. Years not shown were not reported. The WHO figures are official national reports and can differ from UN field counts of suspected cases. For 2016, WHO lists 26 cases, while OCHA reported 5,657 suspected cases for that year (OCHA, 16 May 2017).

## Vaccine coverage

WHO and UNICEF estimate the share of one-year-olds who received a first measles dose (MCV1) and of children who received a second dose (MCV2) ([WHO GHO, MCV1](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS8_110?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27); [WHO GHO, MCV2](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/MCV2?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27)).

| Year | First dose | Second dose |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 24% | none |
| 2005 | 35% | none |
| 2010 | 46% | none |
| 2015 | 50% | none |
| 2020 | 52% | none |
| 2021 | 58% | 3% |
| 2022 | 69% | 6% |
| 2023 | 63% | 18% |
| 2024 | 64% | 32% |
| 2025 | 61% | 31% |

More figures are on [health numbers, 1990 to 2025](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/).

## The 2014 to 2015 outbreak

- **Start.** Outbreaks were confirmed in several regions from early February 2014 (OCHA, 20 May 2014).
- **Growth.** There were over 1,350 suspected cases in March and April, four times the number in the same months of 2013, and nearly 1,000 in May alone (WHO/UNICEF, 10 June 2014).
- **Response.** On 14 July 2014 the UN Central Emergency Response Fund gave US$1.4 million to vaccinate 520,000 children under 5 in Banadir, Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) (OCHA, 14 July 2014).
- **Totals.** By November 2014 there were about 9,000 cases. In 2015 some 7,500 suspected cases were found, mostly children under 5 in southern and central Somalia.
- **Campaign.** From November 2015 a campaign targeted nearly 4 million children under 10. Over 3.5 million were vaccinated, 90% coverage in accessible districts (OCHA, 23 March 2016).

All from [ReliefWeb, Somalia: Measles Outbreak – May 2014](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2014-000093-som).

## The 2016 to 2018 outbreak

- **Kismayo, late 2016.** Over 704 cases of fever and rash were recorded in Kismayo, most of them children, and most unvaccinated. UNICEF aimed to vaccinate 54,000 children under 10 there (UNICEF, 16 December 2016).
- **2017.** WHO called it Somalia's "worst measles outbreak in 4 years". By the end of 2017, 23,002 suspected cases had been reported, 83% of them in children under 10 (WHO, 15 August 2017; WHO/UNICEF, 7 January 2018).
- **National campaign.** A campaign to vaccinate 4.2 million children aged 6 months to 10 years began in Puntland in November and December 2017. In March 2018, 2,734,941 children were vaccinated in central and southern Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), 102% of the target (UNICEF, 31 March 2018).
- **2018.** Cases fell. The worst-hit districts that year included [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) (709 cases), Huriwaa in Mogadishu (542), Laascaanood (354), Baidoa (369) and [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/) (295) (WHO and government, 2018).

All from [ReliefWeb, Somalia: Measles Outbreak 2016–2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2016-000131-som). The drought of these years is on [the 2016 to 2018 drought](/en/society/drought-2016-2018/).

## 2019 to 2022

- **2019.** 3,616 suspected cases by 9 November (OCHA, 9 December 2019).
- **2020.** Kismayo General Hospital admitted 1,033 children with measles from March to December, 845 of them under 5, despite an October campaign (WHO, 31 December 2020).
- **2021 to 2022.** Health partners reported rising cases in Galmudug, Middle Shabelle and Banadir as [the 2020 to 2023 drought](/en/society/drought-2020-2023/) spread (OCHA, via ReliefWeb). WHO's count for 2022 was 17,361.

## Related pages

- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Cholera in Somalia](/en/society/cholera-in-somalia/)

## Sources

- World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory: [measles reported cases (WHS3_62)](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS3_62?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27), [MCV1 coverage (WHS8_110)](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS8_110?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27) and [MCV2 coverage](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/MCV2?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27), Somalia.
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Measles Outbreak – May 2014](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2014-000093-som) (OCHA, WHO, UNICEF reports, 2014 to 2016).
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Measles Outbreak 2016–2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2016-000131-som) (UNICEF, IOM, WHO, OCHA, Health Cluster reports, 2016 to 2022).


---

# Somali cinema: films made by Somalis, from The Somali Dervish to The Gravedigger's Wife

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-cinema/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali film-making goes back to state productions of the 1970s and 1980s, the largest being The Somali Dervish (1983–85), a 4-hour-40-minute epic on the Dervish movement, thought lost until a copy turned up in India in 2019. Since 2011 a new wave has grown: Lula Ali Ismaïl's Dhalinyaro (2017), Djibouti's first feature; Khadar Ayderus Ahmed's The Gravedigger's Wife (2021), Somalia's first Oscar submission; and Mohammed Sheikh's Barni (2025).

## The state era: The Somali Dervish

*The Somali Dervish* (*Darwiishka Soomaaliyeed*) was directed by [Said Salah](/en/people/said-salah-ahmed/) and Amar Sneh between 1983 and 1985. With a budget of $1.8 million and a running time of 4 hours 40 minutes, it told the life of [Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/), leader of the Dervish movement. The dialogue used seven languages, including Somali, Arabic, Italian and English, and the lead role was played by a descendant of the Sayyid, [Sheikh Osman](/en/history/aw-bare-aiyanle-medieval-border-towns/) Mohamoud Omar ([The Somali Dervish, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Somali_Dervish); [Amar Sneh](https://amarsneh.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/darwiishka-soomaaliyeed/)). The film was long thought lost. In 2019 a reel was found at the National Film Archive of India in Pune, 34 years after it was made ([Hindustan Times](https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/somalian-director-finds-his-lost-film-reel-in-pune-s-nfai-after-34-years/story-gxCkAarY5smOgPRPGkmTCK.html)).

## Abdulkadir Ahmed Said's short films

- ***Geedka nolosha*** (*The Tree of Life*, 1988): a man fells a tree and finds himself alone in a desert, intercut with scenes of deforestation and famine. It won the Prize of the City of Torino for best international short at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema in 1988 ([Geedka nolosha, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geedka_nolosha); [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345320/)).
- ***La Conchiglia*** (*The Conch*, 1992): a painter hears in a conch the voice of a girl whose coastal town was poisoned by toxic waste dumped from a boat ([La Conchiglia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Conchiglia)).

## Documentaries on Somalia

*The Parching Winds of Somalia* (1984), produced by the historian Charles Geshekter with support from the US National Endowment for the Humanities, shows how Somali nomads lived with a harsh climate and colonial rule, using location footage, archive photos, interviews and Somali music. PBS released it on video in 1993 ([The Parching Winds of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parching_Winds_of_Somalia)).

## Lula Ali Ismaïl: Laan and Dhalinyaro

[Lula Ali Ismaïl](/en/people/lula-ali-ismail/), a Djiboutian actor who had worked in Canadian television, made the short ***Laan*** (*Friends*, 2011) about three young women in Djibouti, khat and love ([Laan, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laan_(film)); [Touki Montréal](https://www.toukimontreal.com/2012/04/30/laan-de-lula-ali-ismail/)). Her feature ***Dhalinyaro*** (*Youth*, 2017) follows three young women from different backgrounds. It premiered in July 2017 as the first feature film in Djibouti's history, was filmed entirely in Djibouti in Somali and French, and was co-produced in Canada, Somalia, France and Djibouti with support from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie ([Dhalinyaro, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhalinyaro); [Mail & Guardian, July 2020](https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-07-17-meet-lula-ali-ismail-djiboutis-first-lady-of-film/)).

## The Gravedigger's Wife (2021)

[Khadar Ayderus Ahmed](/en/people/khadar-ayderus-ahmed/), a Somali-Finnish director, made ***The Gravedigger's Wife*** (*Guled & Nasra*), his first feature, inspired by a death in his own family. A gravedigger in Djibouti, Guled (Omar Abdi), struggles to pay for surgery for his wife Nasra (Yasmin Warsame). It was shot in 2019, a French, German and Finnish co-production ([The Gravedigger's Wife, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gravedigger%27s_Wife)).

- Premiered in Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival, 2021 ([Variety](https://variety.com/2021/film/global/the-gravediggers-wife-khadar-ayderus-ahmed-1235065872/)).
- Won an Amplify Voices Award at the [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) International Film Festival, 2021 ([TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/belfast-wins-toronto-film-festivals-peoples-choice-award/)).
- Somalia's first ever submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, at the 94th Oscars ([Variety](https://variety.com/2021/film/awards/international-feature-oscar-2021-submissions-1235066208/)).

## Barni (2025)

***Barni*** is the first feature by Mohammed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/), a Somali Minnesotan who founded Aleel Films in 2018 and made short films about Somalis in the [Twin Cities](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/). Unable to shoot in Minnesota or Somalia, he filmed in Djibouti in January 2024 with a mostly local Somali cast. It premiered in competition at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2025. Screen Daily called it a "showcase for new voices emerging in a resurgent Somali film industry" ([MPR News, September 2025](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/09/16/somali-minnesotan-mohammed-sheikh-makes-international-feature-film-barni); [Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/barni-review-a-missing-girl-leads-to-new-horizons-in-ambitious-sentimental-somali-debut/5211675.article)).

## Read more

- [Films about Somalia](/en/society/films-about-somalia/)
- [Yasmin Warsame](/en/people/yasmin-warsame/)
- [Barkhad Abdi](/en/people/barkhad-abdi/)
- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)


---

# Films about Somalia: Black Hawk Down, Captain Phillips and others

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/films-about-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most films set in Somalia were made abroad, and many are about war or piracy. Black Hawk Down (2001), on the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, won two Oscars. Captain Phillips (2013), on the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, earned six Oscar nominations, including one for the Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi. Other titles include A Hijacking (2012), Asad (2012), Escape from Mogadishu (2021) and Desert Flower (2009), about Waris Dirie.

## Black Hawk Down (2001)

Ridley Scott's war film, from Mark Bowden's 1999 book, follows the US raid of 3 October 1993 in Mogadishu, when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. Released in December 2001 and January 2002, it grossed $173 million on a $92 million budget and won Oscars for film editing and sound. Wikipedia notes that it was praised by critics but also criticised for inaccuracies ([Black Hawk Down, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(film))).

## Captain Phillips (2013)

Paul Greengrass's film tells of the April 2009 hijacking of the container ship *[Maersk Alabama](/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/)* off the Somali coast and the hostage-taking of its captain, Richard Phillips, from his 2010 book. Tom Hanks plays Phillips and **Barkhad Abdi**, a Somali-American from Minneapolis in his first role, plays the pirate leader Abduwali Muse. It grossed $220.6 million on a $55 million budget and received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Abdi ([Captain Phillips, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Phillips_(film))).

## Other piracy films

- ***A Hijacking*** (*Kapringen*, Denmark, 2012), by Tobias Lindholm: pirates in the Indian Ocean seize a Danish cargo ship and the company's CEO negotiates for the crew. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival ([A Hijacking, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hijacking)).
- ***Asad*** (South Africa and US, 2012), a short by Bryan Buckley about a fisher boy in Somalia, cast entirely with Somali refugees in South Africa with no acting experience. It was nominated for the Oscar for best live-action short ([Asad, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asad_(2012_film)); [Academy Awards](http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/85/nominees.html)).
- ***The Pirates of Somalia*** (US, 2017), also by Buckley, from the journalist [Jay Bahadur](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/)'s 2011 book about his reporting in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). Evan Peters, Al Pacino and Barkhad Abdi star; it premiered at Tribeca on 27 April 2017 ([The Pirates of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Somalia_(film))).

## War, flight and diplomacy

- ***Escape from Mogadishu*** (South Korea, 2021), by Ryoo Seung-wan, is based on the escape of North and South Korean diplomats trapped in Mogadishu as [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government fell. It was the highest-grossing Korean film of 2021, at over $29 million, and South Korea's Oscar entry ([Escape from Mogadishu, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Mogadishu)).
- ***Watu Wote: All of Us*** (Kenya and Germany, 2017), by Katja Benrath, is based on the December 2015 al-Shabaab attack on a bus in Mandera, Kenya, where Muslim passengers protected Christians. It won a Student Academy Award and was nominated for the Oscar for live-action short ([Watu Wote, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watu_Wote)).
- ***Dirty Wars*** (US, 2013), a documentary by Richard Rowley with the journalist Jeremy Scahill on covert US military operations, includes filming in Somalia ([Dirty Wars, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Wars)).

## Lives of Somali women

- ***Desert Flower*** (2009), by Sherry Hormann, from the autobiography of the Somali-born model **[Waris Dirie](/en/people/waris-dirie/)**, follows her from a nomadic childhood to modelling and campaigning against female genital mutilation. Liya Kebede plays Dirie ([Desert Flower, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Flower_(film))).
- ***A Girl from Mogadishu*** (Ireland and [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/), 2019), based on the testimony of the activist **[Ifrah Ahmed](/en/people/ifrah-ahmed/)**, who campaigns against FGM. Aja Naomi King plays Ifrah, with Barkhad Abdi and the singer [Maryam Mursal](/en/people/maryam-mursal/). It won the 2020 Cinema for Peace Women's Empowerment Award ([A Girl from Mogadishu, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Girl_from_Mogadishu)).

## The colonial era and Djibouti

- ***The Great Appeal*** (*Il grande appello*, Italy, 1936), by Mario Camerini, is a propaganda film backing Italy's war in Ethiopia, partly set in French Djibouti; Wikipedia lists it among Fascist-era African films such as *Sentinels of Bronze* (1937) ([The Great Appeal, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Appeal)).
- ***Beau Travail*** (France, 1999), by Claire Denis, follows French Foreign Legion soldiers training in the Djibouti desert. In 2022 the Sight and Sound critics' poll ranked it the seventh best film of all time ([Beau Travail, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Travail)).

## Read more

- [Somali cinema](/en/society/somali-cinema/)
- [Battle of Mogadishu, 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/)
- [Barkhad Abdi](/en/people/barkhad-abdi/)
- [Female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/)


---

# Jijeele (Jejele, Gugundhabe, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/jijeele/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Jijeele (Jejele, Jajele) are a Hawiye clan in the Gugundhabe group. Abbink lists them under Gugundabe, with the Jidle, Galja'el and Badi Adde. Somali Wikipedia places them in Hiiraan, Bay, Bakool, Lower Shabelle and Mogadishu. EUAA and EASO records name a farmland dispute with the Makane near Beledweyne.

## Name and family tree

The Jijeele are a Somali clan, also written Jejele or Jajele. All the sources used here count them with the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), in the Gugundhabe group.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Gugundabe > Jajele. Its other clans are Jidle, Jibidle, Galja'el, Molaal, Jilideen, Badi-Adde and Murille ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 28](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 (CRD chart) | Gugun-dhabe (Badi-adde, Jidle, Jejele) under the Hawiye ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Gugundhabe > Jijeele, older names Hawiye-Jijeele and Jejele ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Jijeele (Gugundhabe/Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Gugundhabe > Hawiye ([Somali Wikipedia, Jijeele, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijeele)) |

Somali Wikipedia names the Jidle and Baadicade as close kin (same source). See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia says the Jijeele split into four lines: Maxamed, Xaramage, Dudbiye and Kitshe. It calls Maxamed the eldest. It says the four lines divide into 14 lineages ([Somali Wikipedia, Jijeele, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijeele)).

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Dudbiye | Guudwaay (with Doolow and Maxamed Kheyr), Makaahiil (with Dumaal and Iidsuge) and Yaaquub. Under Iidsuge: Reer Faqay, Habarwadaag and Cabdisuge |
| Xaramage | Shalashame, Reer Wabar, Dharooye and Faranjecle |
| Kitshe | Ciise and Waadsuge |
| Maxamed Jijeele | none given |

The page also names Kulmiye, Cadow and Goblajoog. It lists Rooble and Xalane under Faranjecle (same source). ACLED codes one Jijeele group without sub-clans.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hiiraan | The EASO notes competition between the Hawadle in the east and the "Galjeel/Jajele/Baadi Adde" on the west bank ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Hiiraan towns | Somali Wikipedia names Beledweyne, Caagsibir, Ceel Idaad, Xaajinuur, Maroodile, Baardhuyac, Maxaas, Maqokori, Farlibaax and Ceelcade ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijeele)) |
| Bakool and Bay | Quracjoome, Ceelbarde, Xudur, Diinsoor and Buurhakaba (same source) |
| Lower and Middle Shabelle | Mubaarak near Afgooye, and Basra (same source) |
| Mogadishu | Several districts, including Hodan, Yaqshiid and Dharkenley (same source) |

See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Bay](/en/regions/bay/).

## History on record

- **2011.** Somali Wikipedia says the Jijeele fought al-Shabaab for their land that year. It calls them the first clan to do so ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijeele)).
- **May 2021.** The EASO records clashes over farmland between the Jejele and the Makane outside Beledweyne. Reports gave between two and ten deaths across 5 and 17 May. Police detained several elders suspected of stirring the fighting ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia also names politicians. These include Xareed Faarax, a minister under President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), and MP Yusuf Hussein Ahmed Gam'adiid (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). The sources used here name no Jijeele titled elder. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Makane (Bantu) vs Jijeele (Gugundhabe/Hawiye) in [Beletweyne](/en/states/hirshabelle/) District". It was active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The EASO earlier said the dispute was "over agricultural farmland" (EASO 2021).

See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/), [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Spelling.** Abbink writes Jajele. The World Bank and EASO write Jejele. ACLED and the EUAA write Jijeele.
- **Kin groups.** Abbink lists eight clans under Gugundabe. The World Bank chart names three.
- **Lineages.** Only Somali Wikipedia gives sub-clans. Its page cites few sources.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [The Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/)
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)


---

# Polio in Somalia: the 2005 and 2013 outbreaks and vaccine-derived polio since 2017

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/polio-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The largest polio years reported to WHO are 2013 (195 cases) and 2005 (185 cases). The 2013 to 2014 wild polio outbreak began in Somalia and spread to Kenya and Ethiopia; its last case had paralysis in Somalia in August 2014. Since 2017 Somalia has had outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus types 2 and 3; the type 3 outbreak was declared closed in 2021.

## In short

Polio cases in Somalia have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1983. The two largest years are **2013 (195 cases)** and **2005 (185 cases)** ([WHO Global Health Observatory, poliomyelitis reported cases, Somalia](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS3_49?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27)).

The 2013 outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 began in Somalia and spread to Kenya and Ethiopia. From 2017, a different kind of polio appeared: circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), which can spread where too few children are vaccinated ([ReliefWeb, Horn of Africa: Polio Outbreak – Aug 2018](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2018-000161-som)).

## Cases reported to WHO

| Year | Cases | | Year | Cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 70 | | 2004 | 0 |
| 1984 | 19 | | 2005 | 185 |
| 1985 | 6 | | 2006 | 35 |
| 1986 | 1 | | 2007 | 8 |
| 1987 | 53 | | 2008 | 1 |
| 1988 | 54 | | 2009 | 6 |
| 1989 | 155 | | 2010 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 | | 2011 | 9 |
| 1998 | 12 | | 2012 | 1 |
| 1999 | 19 | | 2013 | 195 |
| 2000 | 96 | | 2014 | 5 |
| 2001 | 7 | | 2015 to 2017 | 0 |
| 2002 | 3 | | 2018 | 12 |
| 2003 | 0 | | | |

Source: WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator WHS3_49, downloaded 13 November 2026. Years not shown were not reported.

## The 2013 to 2014 wild polio outbreak

- **First case.** Confirmed in Somalia on 9 May 2013, in Banadir and Bay. It was "the first outbreak in Somalia since 2007" (Global Polio Eradication Initiative, GPEI, 30 May 2013).
- **Spread.** By 14 August 2013 Somalia had 105 cases, "the worst outbreak in the world in a non-endemic country" according to OCHA (OCHA, 15 August 2013).
- **End of 2013.** The Horn of Africa total stood at 203 cases: 183 in Somalia, 14 in Kenya and 6 in Ethiopia (GPEI, 24 December 2013).
- **2014.** By 18 June 2014 the total was 219: 195 in Somalia, 14 in Kenya, 10 in Ethiopia (GPEI, 18 June 2014).
- **Last case.** The last wild polio case on the African continent at that time had paralysis in Somalia on 11 August 2014 (GPEI, 18 February 2015).

All from [ReliefWeb, Horn of Africa: Polio Outbreak – May 2013](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2013-000064-ken).

## Vaccine-derived polio since 2017

- **2018.** Types 2 and 3 (cVDPV2 and cVDPV3) were confirmed. By October 2018 there were 12 cases, several of them in children from inaccessible areas of Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Middle Shabelle; one five-month-old "had never received polio vaccination" (WHO/UNICEF, 8 and 15 October 2018).
- **Campaigns.** A nationwide campaign in October 2018 targeted about 2.6 million children under five. By November 2018 there had been ten targeted campaigns (WHO/UNICEF, 8 October 2018; Health Cluster, 30 November 2018).
- **2019.** A type 2 case in Laascaanood, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), had paralysis on 15 March 2019. Somalia reported three type 2 cases that year. The same strain caused cases in Ethiopia's Somali region, and the outbreak was declared a regional public health emergency by Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia (WHO/UNICEF, 28 April 2019; WHO, 31 July 2019).
- **2020.** Somalia reported 13 type 2 cases, including in Banadir and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), and 25 or more positive sewage samples. By November 2020 there had been 27 vaccine-derived cases since 2018 (GPEI, 11 November 2020; 13 January 2021).
- **2021.** WHO declared the type 3 outbreak closed, "a full 28 months after this strain of polio was last detected in Somalia". One type 2 case in Salagle, Middle Juba, had paralysis on 12 May 2021 (GPEI, 14 April 2021; WHO, 17 February 2022).

All from [ReliefWeb, Horn of Africa: Polio Outbreak – Aug 2018](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2018-000161-som).

## Related pages

- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Measles in Somalia](/en/society/measles-in-somalia/)
- [Health numbers, 1990 to 2025](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/)

## Sources

- World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory: [poliomyelitis, number of reported cases (WHS3_49)](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS3_49?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27), Somalia.
- ReliefWeb. [Horn of Africa: Polio Outbreak – May 2013](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2013-000064-ken) (GPEI, OCHA, IFRC reports, 2013 to 2015).
- ReliefWeb. [Horn of Africa: Polio Outbreak – Aug 2018](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2018-000161-som) (WHO, UNICEF, OCHA, GPEI reports, 2018 to 2023).


---

# Ayaanle Cayr (Ayanle, Habar Gidir, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ayaanle Cayr (Ayaanle Caroole) are a sub-clan of the Cayr, a Habar Gidir branch of the Hawiye. Abbink lists two Cayr lines, Absiye and Ayanle. Somali Wikipedia gives three Ayaanle lines: Weheliye, Fiqishini and Aybakar. They live in Galgaduud, Mudug and Hiiraan, with some in Sool.

## Name and family tree

The Ayaanle Cayr are a sub-clan of the [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/), a Habar Gidir branch of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/). Somali Wikipedia also calls them Ayaanle Caroole ([Somali Wikipedia, Ayaanle Cayr, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hirab > Habr Gidir > 'Ayr > Ayanle. The other 'Ayr line is Absiye ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir > Ayr > Ayanle ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Ayaanle (Ayr/Habar Gidir/Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Ayaanle, Caroole, Axmed, Cabdalle, Samadoor, Dhowrakace, Abti-Edeg, Mucle (Tolweyne), Cayr Maxamed, Madarkicis, Hiraab ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)) |

Somali Wikipedia says many people think Cayr Maxamed was Ayaanle's father, but several generations separate them. It says Ayaanle's mother, Faadumo Xasan Gaalshireed, was from the Mareexaan Reer Xasan (same source). See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia says Ayaanle had four sons. Three had descendants; Aflax Ayaanle had none ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Weheliye Ayaanle (Cumar Weheliye) | Reer Liibaan (Liibaan Maxamuud), Reer Ciyoow (Ciyoow Maxamuud) and Reer Ilmo Adeero Cumar |
| Fiqi Cumar Ayaanle (Fiqishini) | Xasan Fiqi Cumar (Kuuloow) and Ismaaciil Fiqi Cumar |
| Aybakar Ayaanle | Maxamuud Aybakar (Reer Maxamuud Qurbac), with Jibriil and Samatar; and Weheliye Aybakar (Reer Weheliye Dheere), with Gaban, Sharmaarke and Jalo |

Reer Ilmo Adeero Cumar has ten lineages tracing to Cumar Weheliye. They include Reer Xuseen (Xuseen Gurmo), Reer Guurey and the Gondaweyne lines. Somali Wikipedia says they were joined to share blood money, contributions and defence (same source).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Galgaduud | Somali Wikipedia says Ayaanle was born at Bulacle, east of Dhuusamareeb. The EUAA records an Ayaanle dispute in Laas-Xaadow ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Mudug | Somali Wikipedia says Ayaanle is buried near Xarardheere. It also names El Bur (Ceelbuur) ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)) |
| Galgaduud and Hiiraan | Xasan Fiqi Cumar (Kuuloow) (same source) |
| Sool | Ismaaciil Fiqi Cumar, the larger Fiqishini line. Fiqi Cumar is buried in Xudun district (same source) |

See [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## History on record

- **1700s.** Somali Wikipedia gives oral accounts of Cabdille Guure (Yabadhaale) and Cumar Oreey (Ayaanle). It links them to disputes over land and wells, such as the Gujaale well ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)).
- **Early 1900s.** It says Cigayoon Maxamed, a Fiqishini, was a Dervish and a poet close to Sayid [Mohammed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) (same source). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **1925.** It says 11 Cayr men, mostly Ayaanle, killed the Italian officer at El Bur, whom it names Captain Carolei. It names Cabdulle Ciroobe and Geelle Galaal among them (same source).
- **Colonial era.** It says Ayaanle traders worked with Aden in Yemen. It says the British named Maxamed Daqarre, a Fiqishini, as agent for Somali traders in Aden (same source).

Somali Wikipedia names many people. They include General Maxamed Nuur Galaal and General Cabdulqaadir Cali Diiriye (Subxaanyo) (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia says the Ayaanle came under the Cayr *ugaas*. It says six *nabadoon* were chosen as the group grew ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)):

1. Nabadoon Diini Beereed (Reer Weheliye Dheere)
2. Nabadoon Sheekhdoon Cismaan Qeylo (Reer Qurbac)
3. Nabadoon Coloow Aftaag (Reer Ciyoow)
4. Nabadoon Mataan Axmed Ilkoweyne (Reer Liibaan)
5. Suldaan Kaariye Kheyre Geedi (Reer Ilmo Adeero)
6. Caaqil Maxamed Cabsiiye (Fiqishini)

See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Ayaanle (Ayr/Habar Gidir/Hawiye) versus Absiiye (Ayr/Habar Gidir/Hawiye) in Laas-Xaadow". It was active in April 2023 to March 2025. The EUAA says it started in 2018 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The EASO earlier listed Ayanle (Cayr) against Reer Kooshin (Mareexaan) at [Balanbale](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Rank.** Abbink lists only two Cayr lines, Absiye and Ayanle. ACLED codes about eight Cayr groups, Ayanle among them.
- **Size.** Somali Wikipedia calls the Ayaanle the largest group in the Habar Gidir and Cayr. No other source used here says so.
- **History.** Most history on this page comes from Somali Wikipedia and oral accounts it credits to elders.

## Read more

- [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/)
- [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [The Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/)


---

# The diphtheria outbreak in Somalia, 2023 to 2025

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/diphtheria-2023-2025/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Red Cross dates the outbreak to January 2023, when diphtheria re-emerged in Puntland. WHO counted 838 cases in 2024 and 3,622 in 2025. By mid-November 2025 there had been 3,129 suspected cases and 132 deaths that year, most in Banadir and Puntland. Most cases had never been vaccinated.

## In short

Diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable throat infection. Somalia reported few or no cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) for years: 6 in 2018, none in 2019 and 2020, and 1 in 2023. The count then rose to **838 in 2024** and **3,622 in 2025** ([WHO Global Health Observatory, diphtheria reported cases, Somalia](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS3_41?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27)).

The Red Cross (IFRC) traced the outbreak to "events dating back to January 2023, when [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) first began experiencing a resurgence of diphtheria" ([ReliefWeb, Somalia: Diphtheria Outbreak – Jul 2025](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2025-000142-som); IFRC, 18 August 2025).

## Cases reported to WHO

| Year | Cases |
|---|---|
| 1983 | 206 |
| 1984 | 58 |
| 1985 | 19 |
| 1989 | 24 |
| 2012 | 65 |
| 2013 | 7 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 838 |
| 2025 | 3,622 |

Source: WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator WHS3_41, downloaded 13 November 2026. Years not shown were not reported.

## Puntland, mid-2025

- By epidemiological week 27 of 2025 (early July), there were **482 confirmed cases and 27 deaths** in the Puntland regions of [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) (IFRC, 18 August 2025).
- Schools and camps for displaced people "emerged as major transmission zones due to high population movement, overcrowding, and lack of vaccination coverage" (IFRC).
- 65% of reported cases were unvaccinated and 24% were under five (IFRC).

## The national count, 2025

- **August.** Hussein Abdukar Muhidin, director of the National Institute of Health, gave more than 1,600 cases and 87 deaths for 2025, against 838 cases and 56 deaths in 2024 ([Arab News / Reuters, 19 August 2025](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2612316)).
- **November.** From week 1 to week 46 of 2025, WHO counted **3,129 suspected cases and 132 deaths** (WHO, 30 November 2025, via ReliefWeb).

| Area | Cases | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Banadir | 1,306 | 74 |
| Puntland | 1,136 | 39 |
| South West | 306 | 3 |
| Galmudug | 273 | 8 |

WHO said 61% of cases were over five years old and 73% had no history of vaccination. It called the outbreak "a continuation of the 2023 outbreak, with ongoing transmission in most districts" (WHO, 30 November 2025).

## Vaccines and aid cuts

- **Coverage.** WHO and UNICEF estimate that 72% of one-year-olds had three doses of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTP3) in 2025, up from 33% in 2000 ([WHO GHO, DTP3 coverage](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS4_100?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27)).
- **Shortages.** Health Minister Ali Hajji Adam said the government had trouble buying enough vaccines during a global shortage, and that "mobile vaccination teams that took vaccines to remote areas lost funding and now do not work" (Arab News / Reuters, 19 August 2025).
- **US aid.** US assistance to Somalia was US$149 million in the fiscal year to 30 September 2025, against US$765 million the year before, according to US government figures cited by Reuters. A State Department spokesperson said "The United States continues to provide lifesaving foreign assistance in Somalia" (Arab News / Reuters).

## Related pages

- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)
- [Measles in Somalia](/en/society/measles-in-somalia/)
- [Health numbers, 1990 to 2025](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/)

## Sources

- World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory: [diphtheria reported cases (WHS3_41)](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS3_41?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27) and [DTP3 coverage (WHS4_100)](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHS4_100?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20%27SOM%27), Somalia.
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Diphtheria Outbreak – Jul 2025](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2025-000142-som) (IFRC, 18 August 2025; WHO, 30 November 2025).
- Arab News / Reuters (2025). [Somalia faces diphtheria surge amid vaccine shortages and aid cuts](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2612316), 19 August 2025.


---

# Somalia in video games: from Delta Force to Medal of Honor

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somalia-in-video-games/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia appears in more than a dozen video games, almost all military shooters set during the 1992–95 UN operations or piracy off the coast. The best known is Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (2003), set in Mogadishu and the Jubba Valley. Others include Army of Two (2008), Medal of Honor: Warfighter (2012), Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (2007) and Beyond: Two Souls (2013).

## Why Somalia appears in games

Most games that use Somalia as a setting are military shooters. They draw on two subjects that reached world news: the US and UN operations in Mogadishu in 1992–1995, the subject of the book and film *Black Hawk Down*, and piracy off the Somali coast. The descriptions below come from each game's Wikipedia article, which summarises the game's own story; the wording of the plots, including terms such as "warlord", is the games' and Wikipedia's, not Calankii's.

## The 1990s operations

- ***Delta Force: Black Hawk Down*** (NovaLogic, 2003 on Windows, 2004 on Mac, 2005 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox) is set during the Unified Task Force operation of the early 1990s. Its missions take place mainly in the southern [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) Valley and in Mogadishu ([Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Force:_Black_Hawk_Down)).
- ***Army of Two*** (Electronic Arts, 2008) opens in 1993, when two US Army Rangers and a private military contractor are sent to kill a fictional Somali "warlord", Abdullahi Mo'Alim ([Army of Two, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Two_(video_game))).
- ***Joint Task Force*** (2006), a real-time tactics game for Windows, begins in Somalia, where in the story a fictional armed leader, Akil Farrah, has overthrown the government and declared himself president. Its other scenarios are set in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Colombia and Iraq ([Joint Task Force, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Task_Force_(video_game))).
- ***F-16 Multirole Fighter*** (NovaLogic, 1998), a flight simulator, includes campaigns in Somalia as well as Serbia, Burma, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo ([F-16 Multirole Fighter, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-16_Multirole_Fighter)).

## Piracy

- ***Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow*** (Bend Studio and Sony, 2007, PlayStation Portable; PlayStation 2 in 2010): the hero flies to the Indian Ocean, where a fictional band of Somali pirates has seized a ship ([Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphon_Filter:_Logan%27s_Shadow)).
- ***Medal of Honor: Warfighter*** (Danger Close and EA, 2012): the campaign follows US special forces through Bosnia, [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), the Philippines and Somalia, including a Marine-led raid on Somali pirates and a hostage rescue ([Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor:_Warfighter)).

## Other games

- ***Beyond: Two Souls*** (Quantic Dream and Sony, 2013): on a mission in Somalia, the main character is sent to kill a man described as a warlord, and learns afterwards that he was the country's president ([Beyond: Two Souls, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond:_Two_Souls)).
- Wikidata also links Somalia to *Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* (Nintendo DS, 2007), *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3* (2011), *Insurgency* (2014), the *Project Reality* modification for *Battlefield 2* (2005), *Mega Man X5* (2000) and *TFX* (1993), through settings, maps or locations ([Wikidata, Somalia as narrative location](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1045)).

## Read more

- [Films about Somalia](/en/society/films-about-somalia/)
- [Battle of Mogadishu, 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/)
- [Somali cinema](/en/society/somali-cinema/)


---

# Ciise Muuse (Isa Musa, Habar Awal, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ciise-muuse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ciise Muuse (Isa Musa) are an Isaaq clan in the Habar Awal line. Abbink lists 'Iisa under Muuse, son of Zubeir, with Aadan, Abokor and Mohammed below it. The EUAA says they live in Hargeisa, mainly in Ibraahim Koodbuur and 26 June districts. Wikipedia links them with Berbera and its caravan trade.

## Name and family tree

The Ciise Muuse are a Somali clan, written Isa Musa or Isse Muse in English. All the sources used here place them in the Habar Awal line of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Habr Awal > Zubeir > Muuse > 'Iisa, with Aadan, Abokor and Mohammed below it ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Issa Muse, and Isaaq > Habar Awal > Isa Muse ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "The Isaaq/Habar Awal clans (Sa'ad Muse and Isse Muse)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 2.2.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Isa, son of Musa, son of Zubayr, son of Abdirahman (Habar Awal), son of Sheikh Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Isa Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Musa)) |

Their closest kin in Abbink's tree is the [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/), also under Muuse (Abbink 2009, p. 32). See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia names four main lines: Abokor Ciise, Idiris Ciise, Aadan Ciise and Maxamed Ciise ([Wikipedia, Isa Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Musa)). Somali Wikipedia gives a longer tree ([Somali Wikipedia, Ciise Muuse, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciise_Muuse)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Aadan Ciise | Jibriil Aadan, with Maxamuud, Xasan, Ibraahim and Ismaaciil Jibriil |
| Abokor Ciise | Cumar Abokor (with Xasan and Yuusuf Cumar) and Cismaan Abokor (with Samane and Cali Cismaan) |
| Idiris Ciise | Cabdi Waadhor (with Reer Daahir and Reer Hayaan) and Cali Waadhor |
| Maxamed Ciise | Xasan Maxamed (the eldest), Jibriil Maxamed, Cabdiraxmaan Muuse and Cabdulle Muuse |

Under Muuse Jibriil it names [Cali Muuse](/en/people/ali-musse/), whose lines include Reer Iidle, Reer Sahal, Reer Wacays, Reer Abane, Reer Had and Reer Xildiid. Under Cabdulle Muuse it names Cabdalle Qoyan and Xasan Cabdulle (same source). ACLED also codes an "Issa Muse-Abdalla Qoyan" group.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hargeisa | The Sa'ad Muse and Isse Muse "predominantly populate Ibraahim Koodbuur, as well as the 26th June district and parts of Gacan Libaah" (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 2.2.1) |
| Woqooyi Galbeed | The Habar Awal predominate "from the coast on the Gulf of Aden up to the Ethiopian border" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Berbera | Wikipedia calls Berbera and the coastal plain their traditional area ([Wikipedia, Isa Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Musa)) |
| Other places | Wikipedia adds Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and the diaspora (same source) |

See [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/).

## History on record

- **1855 to 1856.** Wikipedia says British officials in Aden blamed mainly the Isa Musa for an attack on Richard Burton's camp at Berbera. Britain then blockaded Berbera ([Wikipedia, Isa Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Musa)).
- **1800s.** Wikipedia says the Isa Musa took a toll on caravans entering Berbera. It quotes a rate of 4 *anas* per loaded camel (same source).
- **1960 to 1969.** [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) was prime minister of Somalia, and later president of Somaliland from 1993 to 2002. Wikipedia lists him as Isa Musa (same source).
- **1979 to 1990.** Wikipedia says [Abdulrahim Abby Farah](/en/people/abdulrahim-abby-farah/), an Isa Musa, was a UN Under-Secretary-General (same source).

See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia names Sultan Osman Sultan Ali Koshin as the current general sultan of the Isa Musa. It says his family has long held the title ([Wikipedia, Isa Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Musa)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Ciise Muuse. It does list disputes between the wider Habar Awal and other Isaaq groups in [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Hargeisa ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Placement.** ACLED codes them once directly under the Isaaq and once under the Habar Awal.
- **Lineages.** Abbink lists three lines under 'Iisa. Wikipedia and Somali Wikipedia give four, adding Idiris.
- **History.** The Berbera history comes from Wikipedia, a backup source.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [The Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)
- [Sacad Muuse](/en/society/sacad-muuse/)
- [Habar Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/)


---

# The Waaheen market fire in Hargeisa, 1 to 2 April 2022

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hargeisa-waaheen-market-fire-2022/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> On the evening of 1 April 2022, the first night of Ramadan, fire swept through Waaheen, Hargeisa's main market. It burned for about 16 hours. No one died, and 28 people were badly injured. The Somaliland Red Crescent and the government estimated that almost 2,000 shops and stalls were destroyed and over 12,000 people affected. The mayor of Hargeisa put early losses at US$1.5 to 2 billion.

## In short

Fire broke out in Waaheen, the biggest market in Hargeisa, on the evening of **1 April 2022**. [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s fire service brought it under control about 16 hours later, at noon on 2 April, with help from the fire department of Ethiopia's Somali region. The fire service called it "the worst fire experienced in decades" ([ReliefWeb, Somalia: Urban Fire Incident – Apr 2022](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fr-2022-000191-som); IFRC, 7 April 2022).

No one died, because the fire came after the market had closed. It was the first night of Ramadan ([Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/26/i-lost-everything-somaliland-market-fire-upturns-life-economy)).

## The damage

By 3 April the Somaliland Red Crescent Society ([SRCS](/en/institutions/somali-red-crescent-society/)) and the government estimated (IFRC, 7 April 2022):

| Measure | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Shops and stalls completely destroyed | almost 2,000 |
| Buildings destroyed | 100 |
| Buildings with extensive damage | about 50 |
| People rescued | 62 |
| People severely injured | 28 |
| People affected | over 12,000 |
| People who lost their livelihoods | about 10,000 |

Most houses near the market were made of iron sheets and tarpaulins, among some tall concrete buildings (IFRC, 7 April 2022).

## The cost

- **Mayor's estimate.** The mayor of Hargeisa, a member of the national response committee, put the loss at around US$1.5 to 2 billion (IFRC, 7 April 2022; [Africanews, 4 April 2022](https://www.africanews.com/2022/04/04/somaliland-market-fire-losses-between-1-5-billion-2-billion-preliminary-report/)).
- **Share of the economy.** Al Jazeera reported the authorities' estimate of US$2 billion, "or 60% of Somaliland's GDP". It said about 2,000 business owners were affected, and that the true number was higher because many traders were not registered (Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).
- **Traders.** One unregistered trader told Al Jazeera: "I lost almost $2,000. I lost everything." Ayan Mahamoud, Somaliland's former representative in the UK, said: "It was more than a market, it was an entire financial district" (Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).

## The response

- **Government.** Within two weeks the Somaliland government had identified almost 1,000 victims for compensation (Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).
- **Red Crescent.** The SRCS and the IFRC ran a rapid assessment and asked for emergency funds (IFRC, 7 April 2022).
- **Taiwan** pledged US$500,000 (Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).
- **United Kingdom.** Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote: "Your city will rise again and UK will do what we can to support Somaliland's rebuilding effort" (quoted by Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).
- Al Jazeera reported that because Somaliland is not internationally recognised, foreign governments generally gave through NGOs rather than directly (Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).

The fire came during [the 2020 to 2023 drought](/en/society/drought-2020-2023/). The UN estimated that the drought had affected over 800,000 people in Somaliland (Al Jazeera, 26 April 2022).

## Related pages

- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)

## Sources

- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Urban Fire Incident – Apr 2022](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fr-2022-000191-som) (IFRC, 7 April 2022).
- Al Jazeera (2022). [Hargeisa: Huge fire destroys market in Somali breakaway region](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/2/somalia-huge-fire-destroys-hargeisa-market), 2 April 2022.
- Al Jazeera (2022). ['I lost everything': Somaliland market fire upturns life, economy](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/26/i-lost-everything-somaliland-market-fire-upturns-life-economy), 26 April 2022.
- Africanews (2022). [Somaliland market fire losses between 1.5 billion-$2 billion (preliminary report)](https://www.africanews.com/2022/04/04/somaliland-market-fire-losses-between-1-5-billion-2-billion-preliminary-report/), 4 April 2022.


---

# Habar Gidir (Habr Gedir, Hiraab, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/habar-gidir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Gidir are a Hawiye clan in the Hiraab line, descended by tradition from Madarkicis. Their main branches are the Sacad, Saleebaan, Cayr and Saruur, with Sifaadle and Duduble linked to them. ACCORD calls them and the Abgaal the two most important Hawiye sub-divisions. They live mainly in Galgaduud, southern Mudug and Mogadishu.

## Name and family tree

The Habar Gidir are a [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) clan in the Hiraab line. Wikipedia says their ancestor is Madarkicis Hiraab, and that Habar Gidir is the name of their mother, [Gidir Karanle](/en/society/karanle/) ([Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hirab > Madarki'is > Habr Gidir, with Sa'ad, 'Ayr, Saleeban and Saruur ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | The Habar Gidir and the Abgaal are "the two most important and commonly used sub-divisions" of the Hawiye ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 (CRD chart) | Gorgate: Abgaal, Habar Gidir, Sheekhaal, Duduble and Udeejeen ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir, with Ayr, Sacad, Saleban and Duduble ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Madarkicis > Hiraab > Gorgaarte > Hawiye > Irir > Samaale ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)) |

Abbink lists Duduble beside the Habar Gidir under Hirab, not inside it (Abbink 2009, p. 27). See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives five branches: Cayr (Maxamed Madarkicis), Sacad, Saleebaan, Saruur (Ibraahim Madarkicis) and Sifaadle ([Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)). Abbink names these groups (Abbink 2009, p. 27):

| Branch | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Sa'ad | Reer Hiluwe, Reer Jalaf, Reer Nimale and Lugayare |
| 'Ayr (Cayr) | Absiye and Ayanle |
| Saleeban | Farah (with Mahamed Abdi and Heysow) and Dashame (with Gaabane and Abokor) |
| Saruur | none given |

ACLED codes many more groups (ACLED, September 2025):

- Sacad: Reer Nimcaale, Reer Jalaf, Reer Hilowle, Barkhadle, Farale, Indhayar and Sacad Muse
- Ayr: Ayanle, Bilaal, Cabsiiye, Habar Aji, Yabar Dhowrakace, Yabadhaalo and Saruur
- Saleban, Duduble (with Eli and Mohamed Amal), Jalah and [Reer Aw Hassan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/)

Somali Wikipedia says Saruur splits into Wacdaan and Nabadwaa, and Sifaadle into Daangaale and Mariid ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)). See [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/) and [Ayaanle Cayr](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Galgaduud | "Main clans in Galgaduud are Habar Gidir (Hawiye) sub-clans, Suleiman (or Suliman, Saleban), Ayr, Duduble" ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)) |
| Mudug | The Hawiye "(Habar Gidir Sa'ad sub-clan)" are dominant in the south ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| Mogadishu | "Mogadishu is inhabited largely by Hawiye from the clans Abgaal, Habar Gedir and Murosade" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Lower Shabelle | Records name Habar Gidir land claims in Afgoye and Marka districts (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1) |

Wikipedia adds Hobyo and Galkacyo, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)). See [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## History on record

- **Late 1600s to 1889.** Wikipedia says the Habar Gidir were part of the [Hiraab Imamate](/en/history/sultanate-of-mogadishu/), from Banaadir to Mudug ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)).
- **1956 to 1960.** [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/), of the Sacad Reer Nimcaale, led the government of the Trust Territory (same source). See [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).
- **1991.** The United Somali Congress split in two. The Library of Congress names an Abgaal wing under [Ali Mahdi](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) and a Habar Gidir wing under [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/) ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/76.htm)).
- **2000 to 2004.** [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/), a Cayr Absiiye, was president of the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)).
- **2019.** The UK Home Office quotes a report on the SNA Third Brigade, "a Hawiye/HabarGedir dominated force". The report says it was used in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) to advance Habar Gidir farmland claims ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD writes that some Rer [Hamar](/en/regions/mogadishu/) households have ties with strong clans, "especially Hawiye [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/) and Habr Gedir, through marriage". It says this gives them a level of protection (ACCORD 2009, p. 17). Somali Wikipedia says the Cayr *ugaas* line holds ten elders in succession ([Somali Wikipedia, Ayaanle Cayr, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaanle_cayr)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these conflicts, active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and Wacdaan against Habar Gidir, in [Afgoye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) district.
- Biyomaal (Dir) against Habar Gidir, in Marka district.
- Saleebaan against Duduble, and Saleebaan against Cayr, in [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/) and Dhuusamareeb districts.
- Cayr against Duduble, outside Dhuusamareeb.
- Sacad against [Leelkase](/en/society/leelkase/), in Galkacyo and [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) districts, with revenge killings "over the past 40 years".
- Sacad against [Cumar Maxamuud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) (Majeerteen), in Galkacyo and Jiriiban. Dormant as of February 2025.
- Saleebaan, Sacad and Cayr against Mareexaan groups in Galgaduud and Mudug.

The EUAA says ACLED counted 32 incidents between Habar Gidir and Mareexaan militias in Galgaduud ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Duduble.** Abbink and the World Bank list the Duduble beside the Habar Gidir. ACLED codes them under the Habar Gidir.
- **Sifaadle.** Wikipedia counts Sifaadle as a fifth branch. Abbink does not name it.
- **Sacad's line.** Somali Wikipedia includes an uncited account that traces the Sacad through a different ancestor. Other sources here place Sacad under Madarkicis.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/)
- [Saleebaan](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/)
- [Sacad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/)
- [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/)
- [The Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/)
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/)


---

# Other disease outbreaks in Somalia: Rift Valley fever, kala-azar, dengue and mpox

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/other-disease-outbreaks-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Besides cholera, measles, polio and diphtheria, Somalia has had outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (1997–98 and 2006–07, when WHO counted 114 cases and 51 deaths in Somalia), kala-azar in Sanaag (2025) and dengue in Somaliland (declared 24 February 2026). In August 2024 the federal health ministry said no mpox cases had been found in Somalia.

## In short

| Disease | When | Where | Cases and deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rift Valley fever | 1997–98 | Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania | not given for Somalia | WHO Africa |
| Rift Valley fever | Dec 2006 – Feb 2007 | Somalia | 114 cases, 51 deaths | WHO Africa |
| Kala-azar (leishmaniasis) | Jan – Feb 2025 | Erigavo district, Sanaag | 5 cases, 2 deaths | IFRC |
| Dengue | from Feb 2026 | Togdheer, Maroodi Jeex, Sahil | 1,442 cases in one week, 1 death | IFRC |
| Mpox | Aug 2024 | none found | 0 | Ministry of Health |

The large outbreaks have their own pages: [cholera](/en/society/cholera-in-somalia/), [measles](/en/society/measles-in-somalia/), [polio](/en/society/polio-in-somalia/), [diphtheria](/en/society/diphtheria-2023-2025/) and [COVID-19](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/).

## Rift Valley fever

WHO's Africa office says that in 1997–98 "a major outbreak occurred in Kenya, [Somalia and Tanzania](/en/relations/tanzania/) following El Niño event and extensive flooding" ([WHO Regional Office for Africa, Rift Valley fever](https://afro.who.int/fr/node/591)).

It returned in late 2006:

- **30 January 2007.** WHO reported 100 suspected cases, including 48 deaths, in Somalia. Only one was confirmed in a laboratory, by the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the US CDC. Médecins Sans Frontières helped carry samples, and WHO trained Somali medical officers. WHO said "the deteriorating security situation continues to hamper control measures in the affected area" ([WHO Disease Outbreak News, 31 January 2007](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2007DON070)).
- **Final count.** From 19 December 2006 to 20 February 2007, "a total of 114 cases including 51 deaths was reported in Somalia" (WHO Regional Office for Africa).

## Kala-azar in Sanaag, 2025

From 3 January 2025, [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/) Regional Hospital reported five cases of leishmaniasis, "a disease not historically prevalent in those areas of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)". Two people died, from Rugay and Cirshiida in Erigavo district. A case confirmed on 26 February 2025 was of the kala-azar (visceral) type ([ReliefWeb, Somalia: Leishmaniasis Outbreak – Mar 2025](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2025-000182-som); IFRC, 19 March 2025).

The [Somali Red Crescent Society](/en/institutions/somali-red-crescent-society/), with IFRC emergency funds, ran case detection, treatment, vector control and awareness campaigns. The IFRC reported "a noticeable decline in cases across all affected districts" (IFRC, 1 October 2025).

## Dengue in Somaliland, 2026

On **24 February 2026** Somaliland's Ministry of Health Development declared a dengue outbreak. The worst-hit regions were [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Maroodi Jeex](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) and [Sahil](/en/regions/sahil/). In epidemiological week 7 of 2026 alone, 1,442 cases were reported: 50.5% female and 63.5% over five years old. One death was recorded that week ([ReliefWeb, Somalia: Dengue Outbreak – Feb 2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2026-000039-som); IFRC, 13 March 2026).

## Mpox alert, 2024

In August 2024, as mpox spread in East Africa, the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services launched an awareness campaign. It said its surveillance team had not detected or reported any cases in Somalia ([SOOHA, 14 August 2024](https://sooha.org/en/2024/08/14/somalia-launches-awareness-campaign-on-mpox/)).

## Sources

- WHO Regional Office for Africa. [Rift Valley fever](https://afro.who.int/fr/node/591).
- WHO (2007). [Disease Outbreak News: Rift Valley fever in Kenya and Somalia](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2007DON070), 31 January 2007.
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Leishmaniasis Outbreak – Mar 2025](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2025-000182-som) (IFRC, 19 March and 1 October 2025).
- ReliefWeb. [Somalia: Dengue Outbreak – Feb 2026](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2026-000039-som) (IFRC, 13 March 2026).
- SOOHA (2024). [Somalia launches awareness campaign on mpox](https://sooha.org/en/2024/08/14/somalia-launches-awareness-campaign-on-mpox/), 14 August 2024.


---

# Air crashes in Somalia: every major accident from 1981 to 2026

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/air-crashes-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The deadliest air crash in Somalia was Somali Airlines Flight 40, which crashed near Balcad on 20 July 1981 and killed all 50 people on board. Other fatal crashes include a Belarusian Il-76 that crashed after take-off from Mogadishu in March 2007 (11 dead), an Ethiopian Air Force An-12 at Mogadishu in 2013 (4 dead), an aid plane brought down at Bardaale in May 2020 (6 dead), which an African Union report said Ethiopian troops shot down by mistake and a Trident Aviation DHC-5 near Mogadishu in March 2025 (5 dead). In 2016 a bomb exploded on Daallo Airlines Flight 159; only the bomber died.

## In short

| Date | Aircraft and operator | Place | Deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jul 1981 | Fokker F27, Somali Airlines Flight 40 | near Balcad, Middle Shabelle | 50 (all on board) | [UPI, 20 July 1981](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/07/20/Somalia-Airlines-crash-kills-49/6557364449600/) |
| 9 Mar 2007 | Il-76, TransAVIAexport | Mogadishu airport | 0 (hit by a rocket, landed) | Wikipedia |
| 23 Mar 2007 | Il-76, TransAVIAexport | outskirts of Mogadishu | 11 (all crew) | Wikipedia |
| 9 Aug 2013 | An-12, Ethiopian Air Force | Mogadishu airport | 4 of 6 crew | [BBC, 9 August 2013](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23628549) |
| 2 Feb 2016 | Airbus A321, Daallo Airlines Flight 159 | after take-off from Mogadishu | 1 (the bomber) | [BBC, February 2016](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35513348) |
| 4 May 2020 | Embraer EMB 120, African Express Airways | Bardaale, Bay | 6 (all on board) | [Reuters, 5 May 2020](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-crash-idUSKBN22G27T) |
| 14 Jul 2020 | Dash 8-400, Bluebird Aviation | Beledweyne airport | 0 | [Hiiraan Online, July 2020](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2020/July/179089/bluebird_aviation_plane_goes_down_at_beledweyne_airport.aspx) |
| 18 Jan 2024 | Fokker 50, Jetways Airlines | Ceel Barde airstrip, Bakool | 1 (the pilot) | [Garowe Online, 20 January 2024](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/pilot-killed-after-jetways-airlines-fokker-50-crashed-on-landing-at-airstrip-in-somalia) |
| 22 Mar 2025 | DHC-5D Buffalo, Trident Aviation | 24 km south-west of Mogadishu | 5 (all on board) | [Kenyans.co.ke, 23 March 2025](https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/110236-somalia-confirms-kenyan-plane-crash-killed-5-near-mogadishu) |
| 10 Feb 2026 | Fokker 50, StarSky Aviation | shore by Mogadishu airport | 0 (55 on board) | [The Citizen, February 2026](https://thecitizen.co.tz/africa/news/passengers-recount-horror-of-somalia-plane-crash-into-indian-ocean-5355292) |

## 1981: Somali Airlines Flight 40

The Fokker F27 was flying from Mogadishu to Hargeisa on 20 July 1981. It returned to Mogadishu after a fault, took off again, and crashed a few minutes later near [Balcad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/). All 44 passengers and 6 crew died. It "remains the deadliest aviation accident in Somalia". President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) attended a mass funeral and ordered a commission of inquiry two days later ([Wikipedia, *Somali Airlines Flight 40*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines_Flight_40); UPI, 20 July 1981).

The Aviation Safety Network says the plane entered a spiral dive in heavy rain after strong gusts and lost its right wing. In 2021 [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) questioned that account, noting Mogadishu rarely has thunderstorms in July ([Hiiraan Online, 20 July 2021](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2021/July/183286/today_in_history_july_20_1981_somali_airlines_flight_hh40_crashes_after_takeoff_from_mogadishu_kills_all_50_onboard.aspx)).

## 2007: two Il-76 cargo planes

- **9 March 2007.** An Il-76 bringing Ugandan peacekeepers and equipment was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade on approach to Mogadishu and caught fire. It landed safely and all on board were unharmed. Islamist militia claimed the attack; Somali officials said it was a technical failure.
- **23 March 2007.** A second TransAVIAexport Il-76 crashed on the outskirts of Mogadishu after take-off, during the fighting in the city, killing all 11 Belarusian crew. It was carrying equipment to repair the first plane. The BBC reported it had been shot down.

Both from [Wikipedia, *2007 TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 crash*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_TransAVIAexport_Airlines_Ilyushin_Il-76_crash).

## 2013: Ethiopian Air Force An-12

On 9 August 2013 an Ethiopian Air Force An-12 from Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/), carrying weapons and ammunition, crashed beside the runway at Mogadishu. Four of the six crew died and two were rescued by African Union ([AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)) firefighters. A seven-member government committee's preliminary report ruled out foul play (BBC, 9 August 2013; [Wikipedia, *2013 Ethiopian Air Force An-12 crash*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Ethiopian_Air_Force_An-12_crash)).

## 2016: Daallo Airlines Flight 159

On 2 February 2016, about 20 minutes after take-off from Mogadishu for Djibouti, a bomb exploded on board and tore a hole in the fuselage. The plane returned and landed. The bomber was the only person killed; his body fell near Balcad. There were 74 passengers and 7 crew. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed responsibility, and ten people were later convicted in connection with the plot (BBC, February 2016; [Wikipedia, *Daallo Airlines Flight 159*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines_Flight_159)). See [al-Shabaab](/en/society/al-shabaab/).

## 2020: Bardaale and Beledweyne

- **Bardaale, 4 May 2020.** An [African Express Airways](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) Embraer carrying COVID-19 medical supplies and mosquito nets from Baidoa was brought down on approach to Bardaale. All six on board died (Reuters, 5 May 2020). An AMISOM report presented on 9 May said Ethiopian troops at Bardaale had shot it down by mistake, thinking it might be on a suicide mission ([Wikipedia, *2020 African Express Airways Embraer EMB 120 crash*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_African_Express_Airways_Embraer_EMB_120_crash); [New York Times, 10 May 2020](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/africa/coronavirus-aid-plane-crash-somalia.html)). See [COVID-19 in Somalia](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/).
- **Beledweyne, 14 July 2020.** A Bluebird Aviation Dash 8 cargo plane carrying supplies for AMISOM crashed on landing and burned. The two pilots and an engineer survived. Kenyan press reported that the crew tried to avoid a donkey on the runway ([Kenyans.co.ke, July 2020](https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/55306-donkey-blamed-crash-kenyan-plane-somalia); Hiiraan Online).

## 2024 to 2026

- **Ceel Barde, 18 January 2024.** A Jetways Airlines Fokker 50 (5Y-JWG) carrying World Food Programme cargo "veered off the runway" on landing. The UN mission (UNSOM) confirmed "one fatality and two injuries"; the pilot died (Garowe Online, 20 January 2024).
- **Near Mogadishu, 22 March 2025.** A Trident Aviation DHC-5D Buffalo (5Y-RBA) flying from Dhobley to Mogadishu crashed about 24 km south-west of the capital. The [Somali Civil Aviation Authority](/en/institutions/ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation/) said: "All five people on board lost their lives" (Kenyans.co.ke, 23 March 2025).
- **Mogadishu, 10 February 2026.** A StarSky Aviation Fokker 50 bound for [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) developed a fault after take-off, returned, overran the runway and stopped in shallow water. All 50 passengers and 5 crew survived (The Citizen, February 2026).

## Sources

- UPI (1981). [Somalia Airlines crash kills 49](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/07/20/Somalia-Airlines-crash-kills-49/6557364449600/), 20 July 1981.
- Hiiraan Online (2021). [Today in history: Somali Airlines flight HH40](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2021/July/183286/today_in_history_july_20_1981_somali_airlines_flight_hh40_crashes_after_takeoff_from_mogadishu_kills_all_50_onboard.aspx), 20 July 2021.
- BBC (2013). [Ethiopian military plane crashes in Mogadishu](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23628549), 9 August 2013.
- BBC (2016). [Daallo Airlines blast](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35513348), February 2016.
- Reuters (2020). [Plane carrying aid crashes in Somalia](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-crash-idUSKBN22G27T), 5 May 2020.
- New York Times (2020). [Coronavirus aid plane crash, Somalia](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/africa/coronavirus-aid-plane-crash-somalia.html), 10 May 2020.
- Hiiraan Online (2020). [Bluebird Aviation plane goes down at Beledweyne airport](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2020/July/179089/bluebird_aviation_plane_goes_down_at_beledweyne_airport.aspx).
- Kenyans.co.ke (2020). [Donkey blamed for crash of Kenyan plane in Somalia](https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/55306-donkey-blamed-crash-kenyan-plane-somalia).
- Garowe Online (2024). [Pilot killed after Jetways Airlines Fokker 50 crashed on landing](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/pilot-killed-after-jetways-airlines-fokker-50-crashed-on-landing-at-airstrip-in-somalia), 20 January 2024.
- Kenyans.co.ke (2025). [Somalia confirms Kenyan plane crash that killed 5 near Mogadishu](https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/110236-somalia-confirms-kenyan-plane-crash-killed-5-near-mogadishu), 23 March 2025.
- The Citizen (2026). [Passengers recount horror of Somalia plane crash into Indian Ocean](https://thecitizen.co.tz/africa/news/passengers-recount-horror-of-somalia-plane-crash-into-indian-ocean-5355292).
- Wikipedia articles on [Flight 40](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Airlines_Flight_40), [the 2007 Il-76 crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_TransAVIAexport_Airlines_Ilyushin_Il-76_crash), [the 2013 An-12 crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Ethiopian_Air_Force_An-12_crash), [Daallo Flight 159](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daallo_Airlines_Flight_159) and [the 2020 Embraer crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_African_Express_Airways_Embraer_EMB_120_crash).


---

# Clan conflicts in Somalia, 2023 to 2025: where they are and what they cost

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/clan-conflicts/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From April 2023 to March 2025, clan conflicts in Somalia caused more than 472 recorded violent incidents and about 1,214 deaths, by the EU asylum agency's count from ACLED data. Revenge killings were the motive in almost 200 cases. Galmudug saw the most violence, with about 590 deaths. Most disputes are over land, resources, local power and district boundaries.

## The numbers

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) counted clan violence in Somalia from **1 April 2023 to 30 March 2025**, using data from ACLED, a conflict-monitoring project. All figures on this page come from that report ([EUAA, Somalia Country Focus, May 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

- **Across Somalia:** more than 472 incidents and about 1,214 estimated deaths.
- **Revenge killings:** named as the motive in almost 200 cases, with about 641 deaths.
- **Trend:** experts interviewed by the EUAA said clan conflict had grown substantially over the previous two years.

| Area | Incidents | Estimated deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Galmudug (with all of Galkayo district) | almost 220 | at least 590 |
| Hirshabelle | more than 133 | at least 260 |
| Sool, Sanaag and Buuhoodle | almost 90 | at least 161 |
| South West State | 56 | at least 146 |
| Puntland | more than 40 | at least 144 |
| Jubaland | 24 | at least 40 |
| Somaliland | more than 20 | at least 16 |
| Mogadishu | none recorded | none recorded |

The EUAA's lists below are "non-exhaustive", and some conflicts were dormant at the end of the period. Clan affiliations follow the report, with names in standard Somali spelling. For how the clan system works, see [clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/) and [xeer, customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## Jubaland

- [Reer Aw Hassan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/) (Marehan, [Darood](/en/society/darod/)) and Gababweyne (Rahanweyn) against Moalim Weyne (Rahanweyn), in **[Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/)**, Gedo. Luuq became the centre of clan conflict over land, local power and resources. Dozens were killed, and more than 40,000 people were reportedly displaced, though the figure is contested.
- Marehan (Darood) against Gelidle ([Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)), in **[Bardhere](/en/regions/baardheere/)**, Gedo; dormant.
- [Biyamal](/en/society/biyomaal/) (Dir) against Ogaden (Darood), in **[Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/)**, Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), over land and power-sharing; dormant.
- Majeerteen sub-clans against each other in **Kismayo**; dormant.
- Majeerteen (Darood) against the Cawrmale (a minority group) south of **Kismayo**, over land and resources, with armed clashes, deaths and displacement.

## South West State and Lower Shabelle

- Gelidle (Mirifle) against [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/) ([Digil](/en/society/digil/)), in **Dinsoor**, Bay.
- [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/) (Mirifle) against [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) security forces in **Bardaale**, [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/), Bay, over their ambition to lead the state.
- [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/) (Hawiye) against Abgaal (Hawiye), between **[Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)** and **Wanlaweyn**.
- Gaaljecel (Hawiye) against Shantalemod (Digil) and other Mirifle clans in **Wanlaweyn**. The report says the Gaaljecel set up checkpoints at Yaqbariweyne on the Mogadishu to Baidoa road.
- Geledi (Digil) and Wacdaan (Hawiye) against Habar Gidir (Hawiye), in **Afgooye**.
- Biyamal (Dir) against Habar Gidir (Hawiye), in **Marka**, where Biyamal, Digil, Benadiri and Bantu communities claim historical rights.
- Garre against Jiido (both Digil), in **Qoryooley**.

## Hirshabelle

- Abgaal against Hawadle (both Hawiye), around **Jalalaqsi** and **El Baraf**.
- Hawadle (Hawiye) against Makane (Bantu), in **Beledweyne**.
- Moobileen (Hawiye) against Shiidle (Bantu), in **Jowhar**.
- Bantu clans against Badi Ade (Gugundhabe, Hawiye), in **Jalalaqsi**.
- Makane (Bantu) against Jijeele (Gugundhabe, Hawiye), in **Beledweyne**.
- Several Abgaal sub-clan disputes in **Adale**, **Jowhar** and **Warsheikh**.
- Hawadle against Badi Ade in **Jalalaqsi**, and Hawadle sub-clans against Cayr (Habar Gidir) in **Matabaan**.
- Faqay Omar (Dir) against Hawadle (Hawiye), in villages near **Beledweyne** by the Ethiopian border.

## Galmudug

- Cayr against Duduble (both Habar Gidir, Hawiye), outside **Dhusamareb**.
- Loboge (Sheekhaal) against Saleebaan Cabdalle (Surre, Dir), in Towfiiq and Afbarwaaqo, Mudug.
- Surre (Dir) against Marehan (Darood), in **Abudwaq** and Laandheer.
- Surre (Dir) opposing the new Galwaaq region, in **Heraale**.
- Saleebaan (Habar Gidir) against Marehan, near **Abudwaq**; against Duduble near **Adaado**; and against Cayr near Cadaado and Dhusamareb.
- Sacad (Habar Gidir) against Wagardhac (Marehan), around Dhabad and **Galinsoor**.
- Cayr against Marehan, in **Balanbale**.
- Ayaanle against Absiiye (both Cayr), in Laas-Xaadow, since 2018.
- Murusade (Hawiye) against Cayr, from mid-2024, and against Duduble near **Ceelbuur**, where al-Shabaab stopped the fighting.

## Puntland

- Sacad (Habar Gidir, Hawiye) against Leelkase (Darood), in **Galdogob** and Bandiiradley. They have clashed and carried out revenge killings for about 40 years, despite a reconciliation process begun in 2020.
- Dhulbahante (Darood) against Omar Mahmoud (Majeerteen, Darood), around Adadda between Nugaal and Sool, feuding for decades.
- Marehan against Sacad, west of **Galkayo**; dormant in February 2025.
- Ciise Maxamuud (Majeerteen) against Dhulbahante, at Kalabayr, **Burtinle**.
- Omar Mahmoud against Sacad, in Galkayo and Jariiban; dormant in February 2025.
- Surre (Dir) against Sheekhaal, in **Jariiban** and **Hobyo**, with repeated clashes in 2023 and 2024 and mediation under way in February 2025.

## Sool, Sanaag and Buuhoodle

- Dhulbahante (Darood) against Habar Yoonis (Isaaq), in **Erigabo** and **Aynabo**.
- Dhulbahante against Habar Jeclo (Isaaq), in Aynabo and **Buuhoodle**.
- Dhulbahante sub-clans against each other, in **Laascaanood**.
- Habar Jeclo against Habar Yoonis (both Isaaq), in Erigabo and El Afweyn, with talks under way in March 2025.
- Warsangeli sub-clans against each other, in Erigabo and **Lasqoray**.

## Somaliland

- Habar Yoonis (Isaaq) against Ciise Muuse, in Ali Sahid village, **Burco**.
- Dhulbahante against Soolomadow (Habar Jeclo), in **Qorilugud**.
- Habar Jeclo against Habar Awal (both Isaaq), in Burco district.
- Gadabursi (Dir) against Jibriil Abokor, Sacad Muuse and Habar Awal (Isaaq), in El Bardaale, **Gabiley**; dormant.

The EUAA also lists electoral rivalries in **Hargeisa** and **Borama** that did not turn violent.

## Mogadishu

ACLED recorded no clan-conflict incidents in Mogadishu in the period, and local sources confirmed this to the EUAA.

## Sources

- European Union Agency for Asylum (2025). [COI Report Somalia: Country Focus](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf), section 1.5.1, "Mapping of major clan conflicts/feuds", based on ACLED data and expert interviews.
- ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data). [Somalia data](https://acleddata.com/), curated data files, 21 March 2025, as used by the EUAA.


---

# COVID-19 in Somalia, 2020 to 2023: cases, deaths and vaccines

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia confirmed its first COVID-19 case on 16 March 2020 in Mogadishu. By March 2023 WHO recorded 27,334 confirmed cases and 1,361 deaths for Somalia. A satellite study of Mogadishu's graves estimated 3,200 to 11,800 excess deaths in the city from January to September 2020 alone. The first vaccines arrived on 15 March 2021, and by July 2023 about 7.7 million people had completed a vaccine course.

## In short

Somalia confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on **16 March 2020**. The health minister, Fawziya Abikar Nur, said a Somali citizen returning from abroad had tested positive at Mogadishu airport ([VOA, 16 March 2020](https://www.voanews.com/a/science-health_coronavirus-outbreak_somalia-confirms-first-case-coronavirus/6185895.html)).

By 5 March 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) had recorded **27,334 confirmed cases and 1,361 deaths** for Somalia ([WHO COVID-19 global data](https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/)). Counting graves from space suggests many more deaths went unrecorded (see below).

## Timeline

- **16 March 2020.** First confirmed case. The government suspended international flights (VOA, 16 March 2020).
- **8 April 2020.** First death, a 58-year-old man, announced by the health minister ([Al Jazeera, 12 April 2020](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/somali-state-minister-dies-coronavirus-200412144610362.html)).
- **12 April 2020.** Khalif Mumin Tohow, justice minister of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) state, died in Mogadishu's Martini hospital, a day after testing positive in Jowhar. It was the second recorded death (Al Jazeera, 12 April 2020).
- **14 June 2020.** [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) said on its Andalus radio that it had opened a COVID-19 centre in [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/), about 380 km south of Mogadishu ([Al Jazeera, 14 June 2020](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/al-shabab-sets-coronavirus-treatment-centre-somalia-200614053031413.html)).
- **15 March 2021.** The first 300,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine arrived through COVAX, for health workers and older people with chronic illness ([WHO EMRO, March 2021](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/news/one-year-of-covid-19-in-somalia-and-the-arrival-of-first-vaccine-shipment-through-covax.html)). The first injections were given at Martini hospital the next day ([AP, 16 March 2021](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2021/03/16/somalia-starts-first-inoculations-with-astrazeneca-vaccines/)).

## Cases and deaths by year

These are the cases and deaths reported to WHO ([WHO COVID-19 global data](https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/), file `WHO-COVID-19-global-data.csv`, last Somalia entry 5 March 2023):

| Year | New confirmed cases | New deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4,690 | 127 |
| 2021 | 18,842 | 1,206 |
| 2022 | 3,768 | 28 |
| 2023 (to 5 March) | 34 | 0 |
| **Total** | **27,334** | **1,361** |

2021 was the deadliest year in the official count, with 1,206 recorded deaths (WHO data).

## The deaths that were not counted

A team from the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the Somali Disaster Resilience Institute and Catapult Satellite Applications counted new graves in Mogadishu's cemeteries from satellite images taken between January 2017 and September 2020 ([Warsame and others, *International Journal of Infectious Diseases* 113, 2021](https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/4663692)).

- Burials during the pandemic averaged **1.5 times** the pre-pandemic level and peaked at **2.2 times**.
- The team estimated **3,200 to 11,800 excess deaths** in Mogadishu between January and September 2020.
- The official national count for all of 2020 was 127 deaths (WHO data).
- The study's estimates were lower than the burial records of the [Barakaat](/en/businesses/al-barakat/) cemetery committee. The authors concluded there was "considerable underestimation" of COVID-19's health effects in Banadir (Warsame and others 2021).

## Vaccines

| Date | Total doses given | People with at least one dose | People with a full course |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 January 2023 | 8,726,329 | 7,729,842 | 6,529,808 |
| 30 April 2023 | 9,443,849 | 8,370,355 | 7,035,193 |
| 25 July 2023 | 10,555,834 | 8,972,167 | 7,666,835 |

Figures are WHO data as compiled by [Our World in Data, Somalia vaccinations file](https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data/blob/master/public/data/vaccinations/country_data/Somalia.csv). The vaccines used included Oxford–AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer–BioNTech, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sinovac (Our World in Data).

## Related pages

- [Health numbers, 1990 to 2025](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)

## Sources

- VOA (2020). [Somalia confirms first case of coronavirus](https://www.voanews.com/a/science-health_coronavirus-outbreak_somalia-confirms-first-case-coronavirus/6185895.html), 16 March 2020.
- Al Jazeera / Anadolu (2020). [Somali state minister dies from coronavirus](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/somali-state-minister-dies-coronavirus-200412144610362.html), 12 April 2020.
- Al Jazeera / Reuters (2020). [Al-Shabab sets up coronavirus treatment centre in Somalia](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/al-shabab-sets-coronavirus-treatment-centre-somalia-200614053031413.html), 14 June 2020.
- WHO EMRO (2021). [One year of COVID-19 in Somalia and the arrival of first vaccine shipment through COVAX](https://www.emro.who.int/somalia/news/one-year-of-covid-19-in-somalia-and-the-arrival-of-first-vaccine-shipment-through-covax.html).
- AP (2021). [Somalia starts first inoculations with AstraZeneca vaccines](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2021/03/16/somalia-starts-first-inoculations-with-astrazeneca-vaccines/), 16 March 2021.
- WHO. [COVID-19 dashboard and global data file](https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/).
- Warsame, A., Bashiir, F. and others (2021). [Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a geospatial and statistical analysis in Mogadishu, Somalia](https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/4663692). *International Journal of Infectious Diseases* 113. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.09.049.
- Our World in Data. [COVID-19 vaccinations, Somalia](https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data/blob/master/public/data/vaccinations/country_data/Somalia.csv).


---

# Football in Djibouti: the Premier League, clubs and every champion

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/football-in-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Football is Djibouti's most popular sport. Its league has run since 1987, and Djibouti joined FIFA in 1994. AS Ali Sabieh Djibouti Télécom is the most successful club, with 8 titles by RSSSF's count, and in 2009 became the first champion from outside the capital. In November 2007 Djibouti beat Somalia 1–0 for its first World Cup qualifying win.

## The game in Djibouti

Football is the most popular sport in Djibouti. The country's football federation, the Fédération Djiboutienne de Football, joined FIFA in 1994. Djibouti first entered World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying in the mid-2000s. In November 2007 it beat Somalia 1–0 in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, its first World Cup-related win ([Football in Djibouti, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_Djibouti); [FDF](http://www.fdf.dj/)). Somalia has played many of its own "home" internationals in Djibouti, including its first World Cup qualifying win, against Zimbabwe in 2019 ([Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)).

The largest stadium is the El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium (Stade du Ville) in Djibouti city, home of the national team ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_Djibouti)).

## The Premier League

The Djibouti Premier League began in 1987 ([Djibouti Premier League, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_Premier_League)). Since 2017 the top five clubs have played a post-season Super Ligue ([RSSSF, Djibouti champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/djichamp.html)). Ghana's Gabriel Dadzie has been the league's top scorer five times, the most of any player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_Premier_League)).

## Every champion

| Season | Champion |
|---|---|
| 1987 | AS Etablissements Merill |
| 1988 | AS Compagnie Djibouti-Ethiopie (CDE, the railway) |
| 1991 | Aéroport |
| 1994, 1995, 1996 | Force Nationale Sécurité (FNS) |
| 1996/97 | Forces Armées Djiboutiennes (FAD) |
| 1997/98 | CDE |
| 1998/99 | Force Nationale de Police |
| 1999/00 | AS Boreh |
| 2000/01 | Force Nationale de Police |
| 2001/02 | AS Boreh |
| 2002/03, 2003/04 | Gendarmerie Nationale |
| 2004/05 | CDE |
| 2005/06 | FC Société Immobilière de Djibouti |
| 2006/07 | CDE |
| 2007/08 | FC Société Immobilière de Djibouti |
| 2008/09 | AS Ali Sabieh Djibouti Télécom |
| 2009/10 to 2011/12 | AS Port, three in a row |
| 2012/13 to 2017/18 | AS Ali Sabieh Djibouti Télécom, six in a row |
| 2018/19 | AS Port |
| 2019/20 | CF Garde Républicaine/SIAF |
| 2020/21, 2021/22 | AS Arta/Solar7 |
| 2022/23 | CF Garde Républicaine/SIAF |
| 2023/24 | AS Arta/Solar7 |
| 2024/25 | AS Ali Sabieh Djibouti Télécom |
| 2025/26 | AS Port |

Not played: 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993. Source: [RSSSF, updated 14 June 2026](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/djichamp.html).

## Titles by club

- **8:** AS Ali Sabieh Djibouti Télécom
- **5:** Force Nationale de Police (including FNS); AS Port
- **4:** CDE
- **3:** AS Arta/Solar7
- **2:** AS Boreh; Garde Républicaine/SIAF; Gendarmerie Nationale; FC Société Immobilière de Djibouti
- **1:** Aéroport; AS Etablissements Merill; Forces Armées Djiboutiennes

Source: [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/djichamp.html). Wikipedia credits Ali Sabieh with 7 titles. RSSSF notes that AS Port's total is disputed: 7 up to 2013 by one count, 3 in a 2016 report, and 9 by the federation in 2025.

## Cups

The national cup is the Coupe du 27 Juin, named after independence day, and there is also a Super Cup. RSSSF reports that CDE won the Coupe du 27 Juin 7 times and the Super Cup 5 times, and AS Port 8 cups and 7 Super Cups up to 2013 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/djichamp.html)). In 2025 AS Ali Sabieh Djibouti Télécom won the league, Super Ligue and cup treble ([La Nation](http://www.lanationdj.com/coupe-de-djibouti-apres-le-titre-de-champion-et-le-trophee-de-la-super-league-lasasdjibouti-telecom-realise-le-triple/)).

## Women's football

Women's football grew in Djibouti from the late 2000s ([Hiiraan Online, October 2009](http://www.hiiraan.com/news2/2009/oct/women_football_vastly_growing_in_djibouti.aspx)). Djibouti's women's team, Les Gazelles, beat Somalia 4–1 on 24 October 2025 in the Somali women's team's first match ([Somalia women's national football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_women%27s_national_football_team)).

## Read more

- [Djibouti at the Olympics](/en/society/djibouti-at-the-olympics/)
- [Somalia national football team](/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/)
- [Women's football in Somalia](/en/society/somali-womens-football/)


---

# Heritage sites in Somalia: Laas Geel, Hafun, the medieval towns and old mosques

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/heritage-sites/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's best-known heritage sites are the Laas Geel rock paintings near Hargeisa, the ancient port at Ras Hafun, the stone ruins of medieval trade towns in the north, and the old mosques of Mogadishu such as Fakhr al-Din (1269). Somalia joined the World Heritage Convention in 2020, sent its first tentative list in 2024, and has no site on the World Heritage List yet.

## In short

The Somali lands hold rock art thousands of years old, ports that traded with Rome, and stone towns from the age of the Muslim sultanates. Few of these places are protected or well studied. The main sites are listed below, from oldest to newest.

## Laas Geel rock paintings

Laas Geel lies about 50 km from Hargeisa. A French team led by archaeologist Xavier Gutherz found it in 2002. Its rock shelters carry red and white paintings of cattle, antelopes, giraffes and hunters with bows. They show a herding way of life about 5,000 years old or more ([AFP via The Peninsula, 27 June 2016](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/27/06/2016/Rocky-future-for-Somalia-s-ancient-cave-art)).

The French team also dug inside one shelter, number 7. Stone tools there trace people at the site back to the Stone Age ([Gutherz et al., Quaternary International, 2014](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038)).

The site is guarded by only a few people, and about 1,000 visitors a year make the trip. Its manager, Abdisalam Shabelleh, gave a warning in 2016. "If nothing is done now, in 20 years it could all have disappeared." Dust from visitors' feet may add to the fading (AFP 2016).

Gutherz asked for a UNESCO listing, but the request could not go ahead. UNESCO said "only state parties to the World Heritage Convention can nominate sites" (AFP 2016).

## Ras Hafun and the ancient ports

Ras [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/) sits on the tip of the Horn, south of Cape Guardafui. Digs there found two sites full of imported pottery. Hafun West dates from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. Hafun Main dates from the 2nd to the 5th centuries AD. The goods came from the Roman Empire, the Gulf and South Asia ([Fernández Fernández, González-Ruibal and de Torres, Networked spaces, MOM Éditions, 2022](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)).

Hafun is often linked to **Opone**, a port named in the 1st-century Greek sailing guide, the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*. Neville Chittick led a British Institute in Eastern Africa expedition along this coast in 1975 and 1976, with Somali colleagues. He described Hafun as an early port ([Chittick 1979, Early ports in the Horn of Africa](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)).

On the north coast, **[Xiis](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/)** (Heis) in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) is a burial ground of more than 300 stone cairns. It is the only site in that region so far to yield Roman goods from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. Imports make up 99% of the finds. Scholars link it to the port of Mundu in the *Periplus* (Fernández Fernández et al. 2022).

## Medieval trade towns

For what travellers saw in these ports, see [the Somali coast, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

Between the 11th and 16th centuries, Islam spread inland and trade grew. Permanent stone towns rose along the caravan routes. **Zeila** was the main hub, with **Berbera** and **[Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/)** as smaller ports. The sultanates of [Ifat](/en/history/sultanate-of-shewa-and-founding-of-ifat/) (1285 to 1415) and Adal (1415 to 1577) shaped this network ([de Torres et al. 2022, Towns in a sea of nomads](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf)).

**Fardowsa**, near [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) and 60 km south of Berbera, covered about 35 hectares. It served caravans in the 14th to 16th centuries, and its finds include many imported goods. A Portuguese fleet raided Berbera in 1518, one of the attacks that helped end the old trade system. Fardowsa was empty by the end of the 16th century (de Torres et al. 2022).

The ruined medieval towns of the west, around [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), were first studied in the 1930s. At Fardowsa, new building in modern Sheekh has already covered part of the old town and one of its graveyards (de Torres et al. 2022).

## Mogadishu's old mosques

The **Fakhr al-Din mosque** in [Hamar Weyne](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/) carries an inscription dated 1269. It is among the oldest mosques in East Africa ([Fakhr al-Din Mosque, Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakhr_al-Din_Mosque)). For the faith behind these buildings, see [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## UNESCO and protection today

- **2020:** Somalia ratified the World Heritage Convention and the convention on living heritage. Both came into force for Somalia on 23 October 2020. In the same year Mogadishu reopened its National Museum, National Theatre and National Library after almost 30 years ([UNESCO World Heritage Centre](https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2206/)).
- **2024:** Somalia sent its first tentative list, the step before a site can be nominated. It named two natural sites: Bushbushle National Park and the Hobyo grass and shrubland ([UNESCO, Bushbushle National Park](https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6752); [UNESCO, Hobyo grass and shrubland](https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6753)).
- **2025:** The Secondo-Lido lighthouse in Mogadishu was added as the first cultural site on the list ([World Heritage Site, tentative list](https://worldheritagesite.org/tentative/id/6754)).

No Somali site is on the World Heritage List yet. At a 2020 UNESCO meeting, experts named the old coastal towns of the [Benadiri](/en/society/minority-communities/) and Barawani communities as possible future entries (UNESCO 2020).

## Sources

- Gutherz, X. et al. (2014). "The [Hargeisan](/en/history/prehistory-stone-age-somali-lands/) revisited: lithic industries from shelter 7 of Laas Geel." *Quaternary International* 343: 69 to 84. [doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.038)
- de Torres Rodríguez, J. et al. (2022). "Towns in a sea of nomads: territory and trade in Central [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) during the Medieval period." [PDF](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/SomaliaMedieval-Torres2022.pdf)
- Fernández Fernández, A., González-Ruibal, A. and de Torres, J. (2022). "New evidence of long-distance trade in Somaliland in Antiquity." In *Networked spaces*, MOM Éditions. [OpenEdition](https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/16511)
- Chittick, N. (1979). "Early ports in the Horn of Africa." *International Journal of Nautical Archaeology* 8(4). [PDF](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/Somalia-Chittick1979.pdf)
- AFP (2016). "Rocky future for Somalia's ancient cave art." [The Peninsula](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/27/06/2016/Rocky-future-for-Somalia-s-ancient-cave-art)
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre. [Somalia ratification news](https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2206/); tentative lists [6752](https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6752) and [6753](https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6753).


---

# How many Somalis are displaced inside Somalia?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/internal-displacement/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Humanitarian clusters estimated 3,347,408 internally displaced people in Somalia on 30 September 2026. One in three, 1,109,273 people, lived in Banadir (Mogadishu). Drought, conflict and floods each drive new displacement, and forced evictions push many families to move again.

## How many people are displaced inside Somalia?

On 30 September 2026, humanitarian clusters estimated **3,347,408** internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Somalia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)). UNHCR's March 2026 dashboard gives the same total ([UNHCR Somalia, March 2026](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2140006/UNHCR+Somalia+Forcibly+Displaced+Population+March+2026.pdf)). It shows the total near 3.9 million in 2021 and 2022, then falling (same source).

Other counts differ, because they use different methods:
- **CCCM Cluster site list, end of 2024:** 3,822 verified IDP sites holding about 4,029,000 people ([EUAA, May 2026, citing CCCM](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)).
- **UN OCHA, July 2025:** 4,700 verified IDP sites across the country (same source).
- **Somali National Bureau of Statistics, end of 2022:** in camps it surveyed, it counted 51.3% of the people the CCCM Cluster had estimated (same source).
- **SIPRI, 2026:** 3.3 million IDPs, citing UNHCR ([SIPRI fact sheet, Nov 2026](https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-11/climate_peace_and_security_fact_sheet_somalia.pdf)).

## Which regions hold the most displaced people?

Estimated IDPs by region on 30 September 2026, from [UNHCR ODP, Somalia (CCCM Cluster)](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som):
- **Banadir:** 1,109,273 (33.1%)
- **Bay:** 591,660 (17.7%)
- **[Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/):** 304,711 (9.1%)
- **Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/):** 262,111 (7.8%)
- **[Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/):** 131,390 (3.9%)
- **[Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/):** 126,463 (3.8%)
- **[Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/):** 115,582 (3.5%)
- **[Bari](/en/regions/bari/):** 112,829 (3.4%)
- **[Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/):** 95,994
- **[Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/):** 86,083
- **[Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/):** 85,373
- **Middle Shabelle:** 81,368
- **[Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/):** 69,921
- **[Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/):** 58,081
- **[Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/):** 55,552
- **[Sool](/en/regions/sool/):** 36,437
- **[Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/):** 24,580

About 74% of IDP sites are in urban areas, and 85% are informal settlements on private land ([EUAA, 2026, citing the CCCM Cluster](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). About 80% of displaced people are women and children (same source).

## Mogadishu: why are Daynile and Kahda so large?

In July 2025, Mogadishu held 2,493 verified IDP sites with more than 1.1 million people ([EUAA, 2026, citing UN OCHA](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). In November 2025, Daynile had 1,029 verified sites and Kahda 1,241 (same source). A 2025 risk mapping by the Peace Hub Foundation counted 2,565 sites in Banadir (same source).

In 2012, over 60% of Mogadishu's IDP sites were in Hodan, Wadajir and Dharkenley ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). In 2013, the federal government set up a task force to move IDPs to the city's edge, including Daynile and the [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) corridor (same source). Between 2012 and 2016, the number stayed similar, but people moved within the city, mainly because of evictions (same source).

Between 2023 and 2025, about 250,000 new IDPs arrived in Mogadishu ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). In 2021 and 2022, about 500,000 arrived (same source). Only about 8,000 IDPs moved back out of Mogadishu between 2021 and 2025 (same source).

Many plan to stay. About 46% of IDPs in Daynile and 55% in Kahda said they would prefer to remain (same source).

- **Baidoa:** about 740,065 IDPs across 649 sites, most of them informal and without secure land rights ([IMPACT Initiatives, 9 Jan 2026](https://www.impact-initiatives.org/stories/somalia-i-pilot-of-the-global-area-based-assessment-toolkit-to-inform-durable-solutions-planning/)). In a 2025 survey, 89% of IDP households said they planned to stay ([REACH, Baidoa 2025](https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/7ccbab9a/REACH_DSRA-II_Factsheet_Baidoa_Somalia_2025.pdf)).
- **Kismayo:** Lower Juba held 262,111 IDPs in September 2026 ([UNHCR ODP](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)). REACH surveyed 1,547 households there in 2025 ([REACH, Kismayo 2025](https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/89cd7955/REACH_DSRA-II-_Factsheet_-Kismayo_Somalia_2025.pdf)).
- **Galkayo:** Mudug held 131,390 IDPs ([UNHCR ODP](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)). Gaalkacyo was among the main destinations of new displacement in April to June 2026 ([UNHCR PSMN, Q2 2026](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2142864/UNHCR%20Somalia%20PSMN%20report%202026%20Q2.pdf)).
- **Garowe:** Nugaal held 58,081 IDPs ([UNHCR ODP](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)).
- **Hargeisa:** Woqooyi Galbeed held 126,463 IDPs ([UNHCR ODP](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)). In a 2024 survey, 92% of IDP households planned to stay in their settlement ([REACH, Hargeisa 2024](https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/9b0bbe44/DSRA-_Hargeisa_Somaliland_2024-Validated-1.pdf)).

A 2015 profiling counted 70,465 people in 14 Hargeisa settlements ([UNHCR and partners, Internal Displacement Profiling in Hargeisa, Dec 2015](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1065614/1930_1465988258_original-hargeisa-report-web.pdf)). Economic migrants made up 56%, IDPs from Somaliland 19%, and returnees from Ethiopian camps 11% (same source).

In late 2025, leaders of the State House settlement said more than 100 new families had arrived in three months ([Radio Ergo, Nov 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/11/rising-costs-in-hargeisa-force-poor-families-into-idp-camp)). "The city has become too expensive, and there is no job," said Shukri Yusuf, 60 (same source).

## Why do people leave home: conflict, drought or floods?

UNHCR's monitoring network records each new displacement and its main cause. The main cause has changed year by year ([UNHCR Somalia, March 2026](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2140006/UNHCR+Somalia+Forcibly+Displaced+Population+March+2026.pdf)):
- **2023:** floods were the leading cause, at 58%.
- **2024:** conflict led, at 53%.
- **2025:** drought led, at 52%.
- **January to March 2026:** drought caused 92% of displacements.

Displacements caused by conflict and insecurity, per EUAA's analysis of UNHCR data ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)):
- **2023:** 653,000
- **2024:** 290,000
- **2025:** 230,000

For all of 2025, UNHCR recorded 664,000 new displacements, up from 547,000 in 2024 ([UNHCR Annual Results Report 2025, Somalia](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2026-06/unhcr-annual-results-report-2025-somalia.pdf)). Of these, 345,000 were caused by drought, 230,000 by conflict and 46,000 by floods (same source).

## What happened in 2026?

The federal government declared a national drought emergency in November 2025 ([SIPRI, Nov 2026](https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-11/climate_peace_and_security_fact_sheet_somalia.pdf)). By April 2026, IOM counted nearly 62,000 drought displacements in Baidoa, Daynile, Kahda, Diinsoor and Doolow ([IOM, 24 Apr 2026](https://www.iom.int/news/drought-displaces-nearly-62000-somalia-climate-shocks-intensify)).

In July to September 2026, an estimated 5.1 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity ([SIPRI, citing IPC](https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-11/climate_peace_and_security_fact_sheet_somalia.pdf)).

## What were the largest waves before 2023?

- **2007 to 2010, Afgooye corridor:** UNHCR estimated 366,000 IDPs from Mogadishu along this road in September 2009 ([UN News, 1 Oct 2010](https://news.un.org/en/story/2010/10/354572)). By October 2010 the estimate was 410,000 (same source).
- **2011 drought and famine:** Mogadishu received 31,400 IDPs from January to March 2011 and 35,800 from July to September ([UNHCR, Mogadishu IDP influx, 18 Nov 2011](https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/download/31268)). UNHCR linked the 2011 arrivals mainly to drought (same source).
- **2016 to 2017 drought:** UNHCR's network recorded 761,000 people displaced by drought from 1 November 2016 to 23 June 2017 ([UNHCR PRMN, 29 Jun 2017](https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/details/58292)). In April 2017 alone, 278,000 people were displaced by drought (same source).
- **2021 to 2022 drought:** OCHA counted 1,355,797 people displaced by drought from January 2021 to November 2022 ([OCHA, Nov 2022](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-and-famine-displacement-monitoring-dashboard-november-2022)).
- **2023 Deyr floods:** OCHA gave 1.2 million displaced by 24 December 2023 ([ReliefWeb, Somalia floods Oct 2023](https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2023-000190-som)). The government's needs assessment gave over 2 million displaced and 188 deaths ([Somalia 2023 Deyr floods rapid post-disaster needs assessment](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2023-deyr-floods-rapid-post-disaster-needs-assessment-report)).

## How many displaced people are forcibly evicted?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) counts over 2 million people evicted across Somalia from 2017 to 2025 ([EUAA, 2026, citing NRC](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). Over 1 million of them were in Banadir (same source). Many families have been evicted more than once.

Evictions in Mogadishu by year, as reported by EUAA from NRC data ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)):
- **2023:** more than 100,000 people, in 836 incidents.
- **2024:** 68,880 people.
- **2025:** 149,452 people by year end; another source cited by EUAA gives 143,548.
- **January 2026:** 7,134 people.

Of the 143,548 evictions in Mogadishu in 2025, 63,132 people were removed from government properties ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). In the first eight months of 2025, Daynile accounted for 64.7% of the city's evictions (same source). Radio Ergo, citing the UN, reported nearly 142,000 evicted in Mogadishu in 2025, counted as families ([Radio Ergo, 13 Oct 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/cruel-evictions-leave-thousands-of-people-pushed-back-into-poverty-in-mogadishu/)).

## Who carries out evictions, and why?

In a 2021 NRC analysis, 89% of evictions were by private landlords for development, and 11% by the state ([EUAA, 2026, citing NRC](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). Urban land has risen in value with demand, services and relative stability ([InterAction, 2024](https://protection.interaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Disrupting-the-Cycle-of-Forced-Evictions-in-Somalia-1.pdf)). Landowners often give only a few days' notice (same source).

Halimo Mohamed Abdi lost her home in a government clearance in Mogadishu in July 2025. "They entered without informing us," she said ([Radio Ergo, 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/cruel-evictions-leave-thousands-of-people-pushed-back-into-poverty-in-mogadishu/)). About 120 families were forced from that site (same source).

Prevention also works. In 2023, more people avoided eviction (242,776) than were evicted (207,851), per the eviction portal ([HLP Area of Responsibility, Somalia Eviction Monitoring Portal](https://response.reliefweb.int/somalia/hlp)).

## What laws protect displaced people?

In late 2019, the federal government adopted the National Policy on Refugee-Returnees and IDPs ([IDLO, 17 Dec 2019](https://www.idlo.int/news/somalia-launches-first-policy-displaced-persons-refugee-returnees)). It also adopted National Eviction Guidelines and an Interim Protocol on land for housing (same source). EUAA reports that enforcing these rules remains difficult ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)).

## Are minority communities displaced more than others?

Recent studies say most IDPs in Mogadishu belong to minority clans and marginalised groups ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). Many come from Rahanweyn communities (Digil and Mirifle) or from Bantu/Jareer communities (same source).

In the Shabelle and Juba valleys, land pressure from cash crops has pushed Bantu farmers to sell land ([EUAA, 2026](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). In Bay and Bakool, smaller Rahanweyn sub-clans have been affected in the same way (same source).

Many displaced people lack papers. Only 16% of surveyed IDPs nationwide have legally recognised ID ([EUAA, 2026, citing UNHCR](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf)). In an NRC survey, 98% of minority and marginalised IDP households in Mogadishu had no legal identity documents ([NRC, Dec 2024](https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-minority-marginalised-displaced-communities-in-mogadishu)).

Minority Rights Group found that aid does not reach minorities equally ([MRG, Oct 2022](https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MRG_Somalia_EN_Oct22.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)
- [Badbaado camp, Mogadishu](/en/society/badbaado-camp/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Somalia, estimated IDPs by region (CCCM Cluster), 30 Sep 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR Somalia. Refugees and internally displaced people, March 2026, via ecoi.net. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2140006/UNHCR+Somalia+Forcibly+Displaced+Population+March+2026.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR Somalia. Protection and Solutions Monitoring Network quarterly report, Q2 2026, via ecoi.net. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2142864/UNHCR%20Somalia%20PSMN%20report%202026%20Q2.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UNHCR. Annual Results Report 2025: Somalia, Jun 2026. https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2026-06/unhcr-annual-results-report-2025-somalia.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. European Union Agency for Asylum. Somalia: Displacement in Mogadishu, COI report, May 2026. https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2026_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Displacement_in_Mogadishu.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. SIPRI. Climate, peace and security fact sheet: Somalia, Nov 2026. https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-11/climate_peace_and_security_fact_sheet_somalia.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. IOM. Drought displaces nearly 62,000 in Somalia as climate shocks intensify, 24 Apr 2026. https://www.iom.int/news/drought-displaces-nearly-62000-somalia-climate-shocks-intensify. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IMPACT Initiatives. Somalia pilot of the global area-based assessment toolkit, 9 Jan 2026. https://www.impact-initiatives.org/stories/somalia-i-pilot-of-the-global-area-based-assessment-toolkit-to-inform-durable-solutions-planning/. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. REACH. Durable Solutions Readiness Assessment II: Baidoa, 2025. https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/7ccbab9a/REACH_DSRA-II_Factsheet_Baidoa_Somalia_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. REACH. Durable Solutions Readiness Assessment II: Kismayo, 2025. https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/89cd7955/REACH_DSRA-II-_Factsheet_-Kismayo_Somalia_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. REACH. Durable Solutions Readiness Assessment: Hargeisa, 2024. https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/9b0bbe44/DSRA-_Hargeisa_Somaliland_2024-Validated-1.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UNHCR, Protection Cluster and JIPS. Internal Displacement Profiling in Hargeisa, Dec 2015. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1065614/1930_1465988258_original-hargeisa-report-web.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Radio Ergo. Rising costs in Hargeisa force poor families into IDP camp, Nov 2025. https://radioergo.org/en/2025/11/rising-costs-in-hargeisa-force-poor-families-into-idp-camp. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Radio Ergo. Cruel evictions leave thousands of people pushed back into poverty in Mogadishu, 13 Oct 2025. https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/cruel-evictions-leave-thousands-of-people-pushed-back-into-poverty-in-mogadishu/. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. InterAction. Disrupting the cycle of forced evictions in Somalia, 2024. https://protection.interaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Disrupting-the-Cycle-of-Forced-Evictions-in-Somalia-1.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. HLP Area of Responsibility. Somalia Eviction Monitoring Portal. https://response.reliefweb.int/somalia/hlp. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Norwegian Refugee Council. Community-driven consultations on HLP needs among minority, marginalised and displaced communities in Mogadishu, Dec 2024. https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-minority-marginalised-displaced-communities-in-mogadishu. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Minority Rights Group. Minority exclusion in Somalia, Oct 2022. https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MRG_Somalia_EN_Oct22.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. IDLO. Somalia launches first policy on displaced persons, refugee-returnees, 17 Dec 2019. https://www.idlo.int/news/somalia-launches-first-policy-displaced-persons-refugee-returnees. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. UN News. Afgooye corridor IDP estimate, 1 Oct 2010. https://news.un.org/en/story/2010/10/354572. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. UNHCR Somalia. Mogadishu IDP influx, 18 Nov 2011. https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/download/31268. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. UNHCR PRMN. Somalia drought related displacements to 23 June 2017, 29 Jun 2017. https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/details/58292. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. UN OCHA. Somalia drought and famine displacement monitoring dashboard, Nov 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-and-famine-displacement-monitoring-dashboard-november-2022. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. ReliefWeb. Somalia: Floods, Oct 2023. https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2023-000190-som. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Federal Government of Somalia with UN, World Bank and EU. Somalia 2023 Deyr floods rapid post-disaster needs assessment. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2023-deyr-floods-rapid-post-disaster-needs-assessment-report. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Radio Mogadishu (Radio Muqdisho): Somalia's state radio since 1951

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/radio-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Radio Mogadishu is the Somali federal government's radio station. It began in 1951, under the Italian-run UN trusteeship, broadcasting in Somali and Italian. It went off air when the civil war began in 1991, reopened on 23 August 2001, and in 2013 began digitising archives that go back to 1951.

## Founding under the trusteeship

Radio Mogadishu was set up in 1951, when southern Somalia was the [Trust Territory of Somaliland](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/) under Italian administration. It first broadcast news in Somali and Italian ([Radio Mogadishu, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)). In the north, Radio Hargeisa had already been on air since the 1940s ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/radio-hargeisa-and-rise-somali-modern-music)).

## After independence

After independence in 1960 the station was modernised with Soviet help and added a home service in Somali, Amharic and Oromo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)). It became the home of Somali music: the Waaberi group of singers and musicians was the troupe of Radio Mogadishu and the National Theatre, with singers such as Magool, [Saado Cali](/en/people/saado-ali-warsame/) and [Xasan Aadan Samatar](/en/people/hasan-adan-samatar/) ([Music In Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)).

## 1991 to 2001

The station closed when the civil war broke out in 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)). In mid-1993 a radio station in Mogadishu was at the centre of tension between the UN operation [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) and the Somali National Alliance. The 5 June 1993 clash there led to a UN military offensive in the city ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)).

The [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) of President [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) officially reopened Radio Mogadishu on 23 August 2001 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu); [IRIN](http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=25342)).

## Working under threat

Until the capital came under government control in August 2011, the station worked from a walled compound guarded by soldiers. Its staff kept broadcasting news, talk shows and music despite threats ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)). NPR reported in March 2011 that reporters in the city risked their lives to cover the news ([NPR, 2 March 2011](https://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134203284/reporters-in-somali-city-risk-life-to-cover-story)). The New York Times reported on the station in 2010 ([New York Times, 30 March 2010](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/africa/30mogadishu.html)).

## The station today

Radio Mogadishu now broadcasts from central Mogadishu. In the late 2000s it started a website with news in Somali, Arabic and English, and in 2013 it began digitising its archives, which go back to 1951 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu); [Radio Muqdisho](https://radiomuqdisho.so/)). It has expanded its transmitters to reach more cities ([Mareeg](https://mareeg.com/radio-mogadishu-expanded-to-reach-more-cities/)). In January 2022 La Repubblica reported that the station had restarted a programme in Italian ([La Repubblica, 4 January 2022](https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2022/01/04/news/radio_mogadiscio_torna_a_parlare_italiano_ma_non_e_colonialismo_-332673648/)).

Wikipedia lists Abdiaziz M. Guled "Afrika" as director and Abdilahi Qorshe as chief editor; a former director was [Mohamed Abshir Waldo](/en/people/mohamed-abshir-waldo/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mogadishu)).

## Read more

- [State media in Somalia](/en/institutions/state-media/)
- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Somali National Television](/en/society/somali-national-television/)
- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)


---

# Saleebaan (Habar Gidir, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Saleebaan (Suleiman, Saleban) are a Habar Gidir clan of the Hawiye, descended by tradition from Saleebaan Madarkicis. Abbink lists two lines, Farah and Dashame. The EUAA names them among the main clans of Galgaduud. Somali Wikipedia places them from Hobyo to Daanyeer on the Ethiopian border, with Cadaado as the centre of the Ximan iyo Xeeb administration.

## Name and family tree

The Saleebaan are a clan of the [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/), part of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/). English sources write Suleiman, Suliman or Saleban. Several Majeerteen (Darod) groups also carry the name Saleebaan; they are different groups.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hirab > Madarki'is > Habr Gidir > Saleeban ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir > Saleban, older names Suleiman and Suleiman-Habar Gedir ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Habar Gidir (Hawiye) sub-clans, Suleiman (or Suliman, Saleban)" ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Sulaiman (Saleebaan) Madarkicis, one of five Habar Gidir branches ([Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Saleebaan Madar Kicis Hiraab ([Somali Wikipedia, Beesha Reer Xaaji Saleebaan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Reer_Xaaji_Saleebaan)) |

See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Abbink names two Saleeban lines (Abbink 2009, p. 27):

- Farah, with Mahamed Abdi and Heysow
- Dashame, with Gaabane and Abokor

Somali Wikipedia gives a longer tree. It says the clan splits into Dashame and Farax ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Reer_Xaaji_Saleebaan)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Dashame > Obokor > Hugun Guule | Cali Aaden, Reer Ebekar and Ciise Dheere |
| Dashame > Obokor > Arwaaq | Gadaf, Cali Jiis and Cali Gurey |
| Dashame > Gaabane | Cabdi Gaabane, Maxamed Gaabane (with Faarax Rooble, Maxamed Rooble and Reer Ugaas), Habar Rawe Ciganle, Habar Rawe, Cabdi Gaab and Yabaroow |
| Farax | Heesoow and Maxamed Cabdi |

It also lists [Reer Xirsi](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/), Reer Muuse, Reer Caraaye, Reer Warsame, Reer Gaafoow, [Reer Warfaa](/en/society/mohamed-zubeir/) and Bahabgaal (same source). ACLED codes one Saleban group without sub-clans.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Galgaduud | One of the five major clans of north Galgaduud, with Sa'ad, Cayr, Mareexaan and Dir ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Mudug and Galgaduud border | The EASO quotes a source on "the Suleiman territory, at the border between Mudug and Galgaduud" (EASO 2021) |
| Hobyo to Daanyeer | Somali Wikipedia says their land runs from Hobyo to Daanyeer on the Ethiopian border, about 590 km ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Reer_Xaaji_Saleebaan)) |
| Other areas | Somali Wikipedia adds Banaadir, Lower Shabelle and the Somali Region of Ethiopia (same source) |

Somali Wikipedia says many live in the Ximan iyo Xeeb administration, whose centre is [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/) (same source). See [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## History on record

- **April 2020.** The EASO records clashes between the Wagardhac (Mareexaan) and the Saleebaan in Balli-Cad and Foronta-Fora ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).
- **February 2021.** The interior ministry brokered a first ceasefire between the Cayr and Saleebaan in Hananbure. ACLED then recorded a clash near Dhuusamareeb on 26 February that killed one person (EASO 2021).
- **2021.** The EASO quotes a source saying al-Shabaab had "neutralised the Suleiman territory" on the Mudug-Galgaduud border (EASO 2021).

Somali Wikipedia also says Saleebaan journalists founded some of the first independent papers, such as Xog-Ogaal and Ayaamaha ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Reer_Xaaji_Saleebaan)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia names a [Reer Ugaas](/en/society/gadabuursi/) line under Maxamed Gaabane ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Reer_Xaaji_Saleebaan)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these conflicts, active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Saleebaan against Mareexaan, around Balliseenyoole in [Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) district.
- Saleebaan against [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/), in villages near Cadaado.
- Saleebaan against Cayr, in Hananbure and Qalanqale, in Cadaado and Dhuusamareeb districts.

The EUAA also records more than ten deaths in clashes between the Saleebaan and the Wagardhac in September 2024. Five boys were reportedly killed by Saleebaan members near the Ethiopian border in August 2023 ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). On 11 September 2024, a Cayr militia killed two Saleebaan civilians, including a woman (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.2).

See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/), [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Page name.** The Somali Wikipedia page titled "Beesha Reer Xaaji Saleebaan" describes the Saleebaan Madarkicis. This page follows that content.
- **Lineages.** Abbink names Farah and Dashame. Somali Wikipedia agrees on the two lines but adds many more groups.
- **Same name.** Several Majeerteen groups are also called Saleebaan, such as [Cali Saleebaan](/en/society/ali-saleebaan/) and Ugaar Saleebaan.

## Read more

- [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/)
- [Sacad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/)
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/)


---

# Universities in Somalia: the national university, private universities and how to choose

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/universities-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia has about 130 registered universities, almost all private, according to the federal education ministry in August 2026. The public Somali National University, whose roots go back to 1950, closed with the state in 1991 and reopened on 16 August 2014. A national commission is now setting up checks on university quality.

## How many universities?

About **130 universities are registered** in Somalia, Permanent Secretary Hassan Mohamed Ali said in August 2026 ([Dawan, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)). Registered is not the same as checked for quality. The ranking site uniRank lists 35 institutions that meet its own criteria ([uniRank: Somalia](https://www.unirank.org/so/)).

## The Somali National University (SNU)

The national university is the oldest. Its own history gives these milestones ([Somali National University, history](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)):

- **1950:** a Higher Institute of Politics and Administration opens under the UN trusteeship.
- **1956:** a Higher Institute of Economics, Law and Social Sciences follows.
- **1969:** it becomes the national university, with law and economics faculties.
- **1971 to 1984:** faculties of agriculture, education, medicine, engineering, geology, veterinary science, Islamic studies, languages, journalism and political science are added.
- **1991:** the state collapses and the university closes for more than two decades.
- **16 August 2014:** it officially reopens, after the Cabinet approved it on 26 November 2013.

Today SNU teaches law, medicine, engineering, education, agriculture, sharia, languages, economics and veterinary science, among others ([SNU](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)).

## The private universities

After 1991, Somalis built their own universities without a state. [Mogadishu University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) and Amoud University in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) opened in 1999 ([Education in Somalia, State University reference](https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1381/Somalia-HIGHER-EDUCATION.html)). SIMAD began in Mogadishu in 1999 as the Somali Institute of Management and Administration Development and became a full university in 2011 ([SIMAD University, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMAD_University)).

By 2015, about 40 for-profit universities operated in Mogadishu alone ([Chris Havergal, Times Higher Education, 2015](https://timeshighereducation.com/node/130664)). The same report found that few lecturers at many of them held a master's degree or PhD. Many taught in English without teaching English first.

Other well-known universities include the University of Hargeisa, Benadir University and City University in Mogadishu ([uniRank](https://www.unirank.org/so/)).

## Who checks quality

The **[National Higher Education Commission](/en/institutions/national-commission-for-higher-education/)** has drafted national standards with up to 200 criteria. Universities will assess themselves, inspectors will visit, and the results will be published. Its chairman, Mahmoud Ahmed Jimale, said: "What is included in the self-evaluation will become the basis for the assessment" ([Dawan, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)).

The ministry asked a hard question at the launch: can a Somali graduate compete with graduates from other countries for the same job ([same](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards))?

## How to choose a university

1. **Check it is registered** with the federal Ministry of Education ([moe.gov.so](https://moe.gov.so)) or, in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), with the regional ministry.
2. **Ask about teachers.** How many hold a master's or a PhD?
3. **Ask the language of teaching.** If it is English, is there an English course first? See [learn English for free](/en/society/learn-english-free/).
4. **Ask former students** whether graduates found work.
5. **Look for outside accreditation** or partnerships with foreign universities.
6. **Compare fees** and ask about waivers for top exam students. See [exam results](/en/society/exam-results/) and [scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/).


---

# Women in Somali society: work, schooling, family and politics

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/women-in-somali-society/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali women hold families and markets together, and about a third of households are headed by women. Yet in 2020 only 32% of women could read, 48% of girls and women had never been to school, and only 9% of married women had paid work. Women won 20% of seats in the 2022 federal parliament, below the 30% target, down from 24% in 2016.

## In short

Somali women have shaped the nation from the independence struggle to the peace talks of the 2000s. Today they run many households and businesses, but they still have less schooling, less paid work and fewer seats in power than men. The figures below come from the 2020 national health survey and from research on politics.

## School and literacy

- **Literacy:** 32% of women can read (SHDS 2020).
- **Never been to school:** 48% of girls and women aged 6 and over, against 45% of boys and men.
- **Town and country:** 46% of urban women have no education, against 84% of women in nomadic settlements.

([Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).) See [exam results](/en/society/exam-results/) and [scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/).

## Work and money

Only **9%** of married women were in paid work when surveyed, and 18% worked without pay. Of the women in work, 49% were self-employed (SHDS 2020).

About **32%** of households are headed by women, a share linked to war, drought, rising prices and men leaving to find work ([The Cultural Atlas, Somali family](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-family)).

## Marriage and health

- **Early marriage:** 36% of women aged 20 to 24 were married by 18, against 6% of men. The median age at first marriage is 20 for women and 23 for men (SHDS 2020).
- **Health:** most births happen at home, and almost all women have been cut. See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/) and [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

More on family life is on [family and marriage](/en/society/family-and-marriage/).

## Women in politics

Women were active in the independence movement. The Somali Youth League member [Hawo Tako](/en/people/hawo-tako/) died after the January 1948 unrest in Mogadishu and is remembered as a national heroine.

Yet seats came slowly ([Rift Valley Institute and Somali Dialogue Platform, July 2023](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RVI_Womens-participation-report_WEB.pdf)):

| Year | Women in parliament |
|---|---|
| 1979 | the first 6 women legislators |
| 1984 | 25 (14%) |
| 2012 | 14% |
| 2016 | 24% |
| 2022 | 20% |

After the 2000 Arta peace talks, women organised as the **Sixth Clan**, a movement founded in 2002 that pressed for a seat at the table alongside the clans (RVI 2023; see [Asha Haji Elmi](/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/)). In 2012 women's groups won a 20% quota for parliament, later raised to 30%. The quota was never written into law. In the 2022 election women took 54 of the 275 seats in the House of the People ([Inter-Parliamentary Union, Somalia](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/SO)).

## Women who led

- [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/): the first Somali nurse-midwife, and founder of a hospital and university in Hargeisa.
- [Asha Haji Elmi](/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/): peace builder and co-founder of the Sixth Clan.
- [Hawo Tako](/en/people/hawo-tako/): heroine of the independence movement.

## Sources

- [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) and UNFPA (2020). [Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).
- Rift Valley Institute and Somali Dialogue Platform (2023). [Enabling women's representation and participation in political dialogues in Somalia](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RVI_Womens-participation-report_WEB.pdf).
- Inter-Parliamentary Union. [Somalia, parliament data](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/SO).
- The Cultural Atlas. [Somali culture: family](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-family).


---

# Djibouti at the Olympics: Hussein Ahmed Salah's 1988 bronze and every Games

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/djibouti-at-the-olympics/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Djibouti has competed at every Summer Olympics since Los Angeles 1984 except 2004. Its only Olympic medal is the marathon bronze won by Hussein Ahmed Salah at Seoul 1988. Ayanleh Souleiman came close with fourth in the 1,500 metres at Rio 2016. Djibouti also won a bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics.

## Debut and the Olympic committee

Djibouti, known as [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) until 1967 and as the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas until independence on 27 June 1977, could first have gone to the 1980 Moscow Games but joined the boycott over the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Its National Olympic Committee was founded in 1983 and recognised by the IOC on 26 July 1984 at its Los Angeles session, in time for the Games that year ([Olympedia, Djibouti](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/DJI); [Djibouti at the Olympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_Olympics)). Aïcha Garad Ali has led the committee since 2005, re-elected in 2013, 2017 and 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_Olympics)).

## Team sizes

| Games | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 Los Angeles | 3 | 0 |
| 1988 Seoul | 6 | 0 |
| 1992 Barcelona | 8 | 0 |
| 1996 Atlanta | 5 | 0 |
| 2000 Sydney | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 Athens | entered, did not compete | |
| 2008 Beijing | 1 | 1 |
| 2012 London | 2 | 2 |
| 2016 Rio | 6 | 1 |
| 2020 Tokyo | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 Paris | 5 | 2 |

Source: [Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/DJI). In 2004 Djibouti entered athletes in athletics and tennis, but none competed, for reasons Olympedia records as unknown.

## The marathon tradition

At Los Angeles 1984 all three Djiboutians ran the marathon: Djama Robleh finished eighth in 2:11:39, Hussein Ahmed Salah 20th and Omar Abdillahi Charmarke 32nd ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_Olympics)). At Seoul 1988 **Hussein Ahmed Salah** won bronze in the marathon, Djibouti's only Olympic medal so far ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/DJI); [Sports Reference, 1988 marathon](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1988/ATH/mens-marathon.html)). He also became Djibouti's oldest Olympian, running at [Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/) 1996 aged 39 years and 217 days.

At Rio 2016 **Ayanleh Souleiman** finished fourth in the 1,500 metres ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_Olympics)).

## Sports and firsts

- **Sports:** athletics (22 Olympians), judo (4), swimming (5), sailing (2) and table tennis (1) ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/DJI)).
- **First woman:** Roda Ali Wais, at Sydney 2000, aged 16 years and 62 days, also Djibouti's youngest Olympian ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_Olympics)).
- **Largest team:** eight, at Barcelona 1992.

## Youth Olympics

Djibouti sent 4 athletes to Singapore 2010, 5 to Nanjing 2014, 5 to Buenos Aires 2018 and 4 to Dakar 2026, in athletics, judo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and wushu. It won one bronze in athletics, at Nanjing 2014 ([Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/countries/DJI)).

## World Championships and Paralympics

Wikipedia keeps separate articles on Djiboutian teams at the World Athletics Championships of 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 ([for example, 2013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_2013_World_Championships_in_Athletics)), and on Djibouti at the Paralympic Games ([Djibouti at the Paralympics, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti_at_the_Paralympics)).

## Read more

- [Somalia at the Olympics](/en/society/somalia-at-the-olympics/)
- [Football in Djibouti](/en/society/football-in-djibouti/)
- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)


---

# Habar Jeclo (Habr Je'lo, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/habar-jeclo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Jeclo (Habr Je'lo) are an Isaaq clan in the Habar Habuusheed line, descended by tradition from Muuse Sheikh Isaaq. Abbink lists them as (Habr) Tolja'elo. Their best-known sections are the Maxamed Abokor, Muuse Abokor, Samane Abokor, Cumar and Reer Dood. The EUAA says they live mainly in Togdheer, with others in Sanaag and Sool.

## Name and family tree

The Habar Jeclo are a Somali clan, written Habr Je'lo or Habar Jeelo in English. All the sources used here place them in the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/) clan family.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Isaaq > Habr Habuusheed > (Habr) Tolja'elo, with Ahmed, Muuse, Ibrahim (Sambuur) and Mahammed (Ibraan) ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 33](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Habar Jeclo, with about 27 coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Habar Je'lo (also known as Habar Jeclo)" ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Muuse, son of Sheikh Isaaq, in the Habar Habuusheed group ([Wikipedia, Habr Je'lo, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Je%27lo)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | "Muuse Sheekh Isxaaq ibnu Axmad", one of the largest Isaaq clans ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Jeclo, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Jeclo)) |

Wikipedia lists the other Habar Habuusheed lines as Tol-Ja'lo (Ahmed), Sanbuur (Ibraahim) and Ibraan (Maxamed). See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives this tree under Muuse ([Wikipedia, Habr Je'lo, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Je%27lo)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Daauud Muuse (Reer Dood) | Rooble Da'uud and its lines |
| Jibriil Muuse > Cumar Jibriil | Cumar |
| Jibriil Muuse > Abokor Jibriil | Maxamed Abokor, Muuse Abokor and Samane Abokor |
| Maxamed Abokor | Aadan Madoobe, Yeesif (Yuusuf Maxamed) and Nuux Maxamed |
| Nuux > Cabdille Cabdalle | Allamagan, Xuseen, Liibaan, Soolomadow (Abokor, Xasan and Barre), and Faarax, whose lines include Reer Daahir and Axmed Faarax |
| Muuse Abokor | Uduruxmiin, Idiris and Cabdiraxmaan Muuse |
| Samane Abokor | Cabdulle, Muuse and Xirsi Samane |

ACLED codes many groups. They include Ahmed Farah, Ali Bare, Biciide, Imraan, Muse Abokor, Omar, Reer Yoonis, Samane, Soolomadaw, Udur Ximin and Yeesif (ACLED, September 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Togdheer | "Togdheer region is mainly inhabited by Habar Yunis and Habar Je'lo" ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)) |
| Sanaag | Records name Habar Jeclo herders around El Afweyn and Ceerigaabo ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)) |
| Sool | Records name Habar Jeclo around Oog and Aynabo ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)) |
| Other areas | Wikipedia adds eastern Sahil, central Maroodi Jeex, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and Kenya ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Je%27lo)) |

See [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/).

## History on record

- **1800s.** Wikipedia says Habar Jeclo groups held ports from near [Siyara](/en/history/berbera-coast-trade-fairs-1000-1600/) to [Heis](/en/history/heis-xiis-ancient-port-and-cairns/) (Xiis), including Karin. It says they took dues for safe caravan passage at the Buur Dhaab pass ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Je%27lo)).
- **1890s to 1920.** Wikipedia names Habar Jeclo figures in early resistance to British rule, such as Haji Sudi and Deria Arale (same source). See [resistance, 1890s to 1945](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).
- **July 1945.** [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Bashir, of the Yeesif, led an armed rising against British officials in Burco and Ceerigaabo (same source).
- **1959 to 1960.** Wikipedia says the [National United Front](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/), led by Michael Mariano, drew mainly on Habar Jeclo support (same source).
- **1984 to 1990.** [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) led the Somali National Movement. Wikipedia lists him as Habar Jeclo (same source). See [the Isaaq genocide, 1987 to 1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

The poet [Hadraawi](/en/people/hadraawi/) and the linguist [Musa Haji Ismail Galal](/en/people/musa-galaal/) are also listed as Habar Jeclo (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The EUAA cites a report that Habar Jeclo elders endorsed the Waddani candidate before the 2024 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) election ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these conflicts, active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) against Habar Jeclo, in [Aynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) (Sool) and Buuhoodle (Togdheer).
- Dhulbahante against Soolomadow (Habar Jeclo), in Qorilugud, Togdheer.
- Habar Jeclo against [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/), in Ceerigaabo and [El Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/), Sanaag. Talks were ongoing as of March 2025.
- Habar Jeclo against Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/), in Burco district.

The EUAA says the El Afweyn dispute over pasture and water has flared since 2015. ACLED recorded 14 incidents between Habar Jeclo and Habar Yoonis militias ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)). Habar Jeclo and Dhulbahante groups clashed near Oog in November 2023 and in Buuhoodle district in November 2024 ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)).

Earlier, the EASO recorded a clash near Berbera on 3 July 2020. It was between the Reer Yoonis and Axmed Faarax, both Habar Jeclo ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Name.** Abbink writes (Habr) Tolja'elo for the whole group. Wikipedia uses Tol-Ja'lo for the Ahmed line only, and Habar Jeclo for Muuse.
- **Lineages.** Abbink lists four lines. Wikipedia gives a deep tree under Muuse. ACLED codes about 27 groups.
- **History.** Most history here comes from Wikipedia, a backup source.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Muuse Abokor](/en/society/muuse-abokor/)
- [The Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/)
- [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/)


---

# Boat disasters on the Somali migration routes: the Gulf of Aden and the Mediterranean

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/migrant-boat-disasters/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians have died crossing the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. UNHCR counted over 1,400 dead or missing on that crossing in 2007 alone. The largest losses recorded include January 2008 (116 dead when smugglers forced passengers overboard), 18 December 2012 off Bosaso (55 dead) and 10 June 2024 off Yemen (at least 49 dead, 140 missing). In April 2016 up to 500 people, including 200 to 300 Somalis according to Somalia's information minister, were feared dead in the Mediterranean.

## In short

| Date | Route | What happened | Dead or missing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 (whole year) | Gulf of Aden | many crossings | over 1,400 | UNHCR |
| Jan 2008 | Gulf of Aden | smugglers forced 135 overboard; boat capsized | 116 dead | UNHCR |
| Jan 2008 | Gulf of Aden | boat capsized in strong winds | 16 women and children | UNHCR |
| Oct 2008 | Marera (near Bosaso) to Yemen | passengers forced overboard | about 100 missing | UNHCR |
| 18 Dec 2012 | Bosaso to Yemen | boat sank 15 minutes after leaving | 55 | UNHCR, IOM |
| Apr 2016 | Libya to Italy | larger boat capsized during transfer | up to 500 (estimate) | UNHCR |
| 10 Jun 2024 | Bosaso to Yemen | boat capsized off Shabwa | 49 dead, 140 missing | IOM |

The routes themselves are described on [migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## The Gulf of Aden crossing

Boats leave the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) coast near [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) for Yemen. UNHCR said that in 2007 over 29,500 boat people arrived in Yemen, and over 1,400 people died or went missing on the crossing. Arrivals told UNHCR they paid US$150 for the trip ([UN News, 22 January 2008](https://news.un.org/en/story/2008/01/246432)).

- **January 2008.** Smugglers ordered 135 passengers overboard, fearing capture by the Yemeni coast guard. A large wave capsized the boat, killing 114 passengers and two smugglers. The next day a boat with 29 Somalis capsized in strong winds; 10 women and 6 children died. UNHCR counted 157 dead or missing in the first 19 days of 2008. Spokesman William Spindler said many people "are willing to take the risk" because of conditions at home (UN News, 22 January 2008).
- **October 2008.** UNHCR searched for about 100 people forced overboard off Yemen from a boat that left Marera, near Bosaso ([Hiiraan Online, October 2008](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2008/Oct/8229/100_somalis_feared_dead_off_yemen_coast_unhcr.aspx)).
- **18 December 2012.** A boat carrying 60 Ethiopians and Somalis sank about 15 minutes after leaving Bosaso. Five Somali men swam to shore; 55 died. Most were said to be seeking work in Yemen. A survivor told IOM that the crew had beaten passengers to keep them seated. UNHCR said this brought the 2012 total dead or missing in the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) to 150 ([VOA, December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/fifty-five-dead-in-boat-capsize-off-somalia/1568908.html); [Wikipedia, *December 2012 Gulf of Aden migrant boat disaster*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2012_Gulf_of_Aden_migrant_boat_disaster)).
- **10 June 2024.** A boat that left Bosaso at about 3 a.m. on 9 June with 260 people, 115 Somalis and 145 Ethiopians, capsized the next day off Shabwa in southern Yemen. IOM reported at least 49 dead, including 31 women and 6 children, and 140 missing. IOM said rescue was hampered by "a shortage of operational patrol boats" ([The New Arab, 11 June 2024](https://www.newarab.com/news/49-migrants-dead-after-boat-sinks-yemen-coast-iom)).

## The Mediterranean, April 2016

On 16 April 2016 a merchant ship rescued 41 survivors and took them to Kalamata, Greece: 23 Somalis, 11 Ethiopians, 6 Egyptians and 1 Sudanese. They said they had left near Tobruk in Libya in a group of 100 to 200 people. At sea, smugglers tried to move them onto a larger, overcrowded boat, which capsized. UNHCR said that if confirmed, "as many as 500 people may have lost their lives" ([UNHCR, 20 April 2016](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/12892)). Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir told Reuters: "We have no fixed number, but it is between 200 and 300 Somalis." The government then barred ordinary Somalis from travelling to [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), a common transit route ([SBS / Reuters, April 2016](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/at-least-200-drown-as-boat-carrying-somali-migrants-capsizes/lpnxicsch)).

## Sources

- UN News (2008). [Over 130 migrants from Somalia die as boats capsize off Yemen, UN reports](https://news.un.org/en/story/2008/01/246432), 22 January 2008.
- [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) (2008). [100 Somalis feared dead off Yemen coast: UNHCR](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2008/Oct/8229/100_somalis_feared_dead_off_yemen_coast_unhcr.aspx).
- VOA (2012). [Fifty-five dead in boat capsize off Somalia](https://www.voanews.com/a/fifty-five-dead-in-boat-capsize-off-somalia/1568908.html).
- Wikipedia. [December 2012 Gulf of Aden migrant boat disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2012_Gulf_of_Aden_migrant_boat_disaster).
- UNHCR (2016). [Survivors report massive loss of life in latest Mediterranean Sea tragedy](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/12892), 20 April 2016.
- SBS / Reuters (2016). [At least 200 drown as boat carrying Somali migrants capsizes](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/at-least-200-drown-as-boat-carrying-somali-migrants-capsizes/lpnxicsch).
- The New Arab (2024). [49 migrants dead after boat sinks off Yemen coast, IOM says](https://www.newarab.com/news/49-migrants-dead-after-boat-sinks-yemen-coast-iom), 11 June 2024.


---

# Somali National Television (SNTV): from 1983 to today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-national-television/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali National Television (SNTV) is the federal government's TV station. Regular Somali television began on 17 August 1983, funded by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, for two hours a day in Somali and Arabic. It went dark in the civil war and was relaunched on 4 April 2011. It now broadcasts 24 hours a day by land and satellite.

## 1983: the first Somali television

Regular television began in Somalia on 17 August 1983. [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) paid for it. It broadcast in Somali and Arabic for two hours a day, and three hours on Fridays and holidays ([Somali National Television, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television); [World Radio TV Handbook, TV Factbook 1984](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1984-TV-Factbook/TV-Factbook-1984.pdf)). The Ministry of Information and National Guidance planned two transmitters, of 100 and 500 watts.

The channel was first called *Telefishanka J.D. Soomaaliya*, the television of the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/). Reception was limited to Mogadishu and its surroundings, on VHF channel 6. One early programme was the journalist Axmed Siciid's *Todobaadkii Hore iyo Aduunka* ("The past week and around the world") ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)).

## The war years

Broadcasting stopped during the civil war. On 27 April 2002 the facilities were handed by Artan [Ali Warsame](/en/people/ali-haji-warsame/) to the information ministry of the transitional administration ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)).

## 2011 relaunch

The [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)'s information ministry began test broadcasts on 18 March 2011 and officially relaunched the station on 4 April 2011, after a gap of about 20 years. It used the Thaicom satellite, like the private channels Universal TV, Somali Channel and Horn Cable TV ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)). SNTV still counts 1983 as its founding year and marked its 39th anniversary in 2022 ([FTL Somalia](https://www.ftlsomalia.com/sntv-celebrates-39th-anniversary/)).

## SNTV today

- **Reach:** 24 hours a day, inside Somalia and abroad, by terrestrial and satellite signal. It is regulated by the federal Ministry of Information ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)).
- **Training:** in 2021 the Finnish journalists' NGO Vikes helped train staff for new children's programmes ([Vikes](https://vikes.fi/en/uutiset/working-conditions-for-journalists-in-somalia-are-gradually-improving)).
- **SNTV Daljir:** a second channel, SNTV2, started in 2021. On 23 November 2022 it was replaced by SNTV Daljir, which Hiiraan Online described as a channel to counter al-Shabaab's messaging ([Hiiraan Online, November 2022](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Nov/188852/somalia_launches_anti_al_shabab_tv_channel.aspx)).
- **New studios:** opened on 9 February 2025, built with Italian cooperation ([ANSA, 9 February 2025](https://www.ansa.it/english/news/news_from_embassies/2025/02/09/new-studios-at-somali-national-tv-thanks-to-italian-cooperation_f71e1caf-2d5b-46b9-b2c1-a36bdccbf4fe.html)).
- **Satellite teleport:** reception improved after a media satellite teleport opened on 18 July 2025 ([FTL Somalia](https://www.ftlsomalia.com/somalia-launches-first-media-satellite-teleport-in-35-years/)).

## Somaliland

According to reports carried by Garowe Online, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s information minister banned SNTV from being broadcast into homes in Somaliland from June 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)). Somaliland has its own state channel, Somaliland National TV ([Somaliland Ministry of Information](https://mingc.govsomaliland.org/article/somaliland-national-television)).

## Read more

- [State media in Somalia](/en/institutions/state-media/)
- [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/)
- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Somali media companies](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)


---

# Badbaado camp for displaced people, Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/badbaado-camp/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Badbaado is a camp for internally displaced people in Mogadishu's Dharkenley district, set up by the authorities in mid-2011 during the famine. VOA reported 20,000 to 30,000 residents in August 2011, and Radio Ergo about 5,000 families in 2014. Human Rights Watch documented looting, rapes and evictions there.

Badbaado is a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mogadishu. Human Rights Watch describes it as the biggest camp in Dharkenley district, set up by the authorities in mid-2011 ([Human Rights Watch, Hostages of the Gatekeepers, March 2013](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)). Its residents are Somalis displaced inside Somalia, not refugees from abroad. For displacement across the country, see [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/).

## When and why did Badbaado open?

The camp opened during the 2011 famine, as people fled drought and hunger in the south for the capital ([VOA, 4 August 2011](https://voanews.com/a/article-7-killed-in-looting-at-somalia-aid-camp-126834743/158609.html)). VOA reported in early August that the camp had been set up the previous month (same source).

One VOA report described the site as an empty field in a destroyed neighbourhood "a few weeks ago" ([VOA, 10 August 2011](https://www.voanews.com/a/displaced-somalis-face-overcrowding-at-refugee-camps-127539883/143684.html)). A second VOA report that day said hundreds of camps had appeared in and around Mogadishu over three months, by one estimate 200 to 300 ([VOA, 10 August 2011](https://www.voanews.com/a/mogadishu-offers-little-comfort-to-somalis-arriving-from-famine-127555968/143690.html)). The UN had declared famine in five areas of Somalia, including among displaced people in Mogadishu ([VOA, 4 August 2011](https://voanews.com/a/article-7-killed-in-looting-at-somalia-aid-camp-126834743/158609.html)).

The background to the famine is on [The famine of 2010 to 2012](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/).

## Who runs Badbaado?

In 2013 Human Rights Watch said the government's Disaster Management Agency ran the camp ([HRW, 2013](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)). Police posted at the camp had provided security since October 2011 (same source). Before that, a commander reporting to the Dharkenley district commissioner was in charge of security (same source).

Human Rights Watch reported that "militias under the command of the district commissioner and deputy district commissioner are reportedly sometimes present in the camp" ([HRW, 2013](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)). It reported that "these militias are from two different [Abgal](/en/society/abgaal/) sub-clans and have, as described below, clashed on occasion" (same source). It added that "part of the district commissioner's militia is reported to have been integrated into the government forces" (same source).

HRW called Badbaado "one of the few government-run IDP camps in the city" in 2013 ([HRW, 2013](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)). In 2017 it described it as the capital's only government-managed camp ([HRW, 18 April 2017](https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/18/crisis-stricken-somalia-no-safe-haven)).

## How many people have lived in Badbaado?

Counts differ by source and year:
- **4 August 2011:** more than 30,000, according to the government, as reported by VOA ([VOA, 4 August 2011](https://voanews.com/a/article-7-killed-in-looting-at-somalia-aid-camp-126834743/158609.html)).
- **10 August 2011:** about 30,000 in one VOA report ([VOA, 10 August 2011](https://www.voanews.com/a/displaced-somalis-face-overcrowding-at-refugee-camps-127539883/143684.html)), and about 20,000 in another the same day ([VOA, 10 August 2011](https://www.voanews.com/a/mogadishu-offers-little-comfort-to-somalis-arriving-from-famine-127555968/143690.html)).
- **May 2014:** around 5,000 displaced families, in what Radio Ergo called the largest IDP camp in Mogadishu ([Radio Ergo, 20 May 2014](https://radioergo.org/en/2014/05/badbaado-idps-run-out-of-water/)).
- **Third quarter of 2022:** three sites named Badbaado, Badbaado 1 and Badbaado 4 in Mogadishu's Dharkenley district, with 197 households and 1,565 people in all ([CCCM Cluster Somalia, IDP site master list, Q3 2022, via HDX](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/somalia-idp-site-master-list-2nd-quarter-2022)).

The 2022 list gives each site separately (same source):
- **Badbaado:** 58 households, 482 people.
- **Badbaado 1:** 70 households, 600 people.
- **Badbaado 4:** 69 households, 483 people.

The CCCM Cluster's verified list for the fourth quarter of 2024 lists Banadir sites only in Dayniile and Khada districts, and none of them is named Badbaado ([CCCM Cluster Somalia, IDP site master list, Q4 2024, via HDX](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cccm-somalia-idp-site-master-list-q2-2024)). Human Rights Watch refers to Kahda as a district formerly part of Dharkenley ([HRW, 2017](https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/18/crisis-stricken-somalia-no-safe-haven)).

"Badbaado" is also a common name for displacement sites elsewhere in Somalia. The 2024 list includes sites of that name in Baidoa, Kismaayo, [Cadaado](/en/states/galmudug/), [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), Baraawe and Jalalaqsi ([CCCM Cluster, Q4 2024](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cccm-somalia-idp-site-master-list-q2-2024)).

## What happened on 5 August 2011?

Seven people were killed and at least five injured when food trucks were raided at the camp, VOA reported ([VOA, 4 August 2011](https://voanews.com/a/article-7-killed-in-looting-at-somalia-aid-camp-126834743/158609.html)). Some witnesses said the looters wore government soldiers' uniforms, and the government denied that soldiers took part (same source).

Prime Minister [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) visited the camp and promised a committee to investigate, VOA reported (same source). He also announced a new team of soldiers to guard displaced people and aid workers (same source).

Human Rights Watch gives a fuller account ([HRW, 2013](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)):
- **Who looted:** a militia linked to the district's deputy commissioner took WFP food, which led to a clash with the militia guarding it.
- **Deaths:** seven people were killed, including two displaced women.
- **The dispute:** HRW reports that the deputy commissioner had refused to allow the distribution unless 5 of the 13 trucks were handed over.

## What abuses did Human Rights Watch record?

HRW's 2013 report recorded these events in Badbaado ([HRW, 2013](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)):
- **Second half of 2011:** several rapes by armed men in uniform, some identified as government soldiers. Many families then left for other settlements.
- **July 2011:** a displaced man who protested at the mayor's office about conditions in Badbaado was held for four days.
- **2 September 2011:** two camp leaders who had formed a committee were detained for 24 hours on the camp commander's orders.
- **Early September 2011:** militia stopped journalists, including a BBC journalist, from interviewing residents inside the camp.
- **22 October 2012:** militia and nearby residents looted food from dozens of households after a Turkish Red Crescent distribution.

The head of one aid group told HRW that in its early days Badbaado was "a militia market" (same source).

## What water and services does Badbaado have?

In August 2011, residents queued daily for rice or gruel cooked in large pots ([VOA, 10 August 2011](https://www.voanews.com/a/displaced-somalis-face-overcrowding-at-refugee-camps-127539883/143684.html)). The rice was donated by people in Mogadishu, water came from a few communal taps, and health care was scarce (same source). VOA saw many children sick with measles (same source).

In May 2014, the water tanks supplied by the Somali group Hijra stopped, after funds ran out ([Radio Ergo, 20 May 2014](https://radioergo.org/en/2014/05/badbaado-idps-run-out-of-water/)). Families had to buy water from nearby wells at 1,000 Somali shillings for 40 litres, which most could not afford (same source).

## Have people been evicted from Badbaado?

In April 2017, Human Rights Watch reported that families had recently been forced out of Badbaado ([HRW, 18 April 2017](https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/18/crisis-stricken-somalia-no-safe-haven)). Two former residents said a man came with an armed militia and pressured dozens of families to leave (same source). The police took no action, they said, and the families moved to Lafoole, about 20 km outside Mogadishu, without clean water or sanitation (same source).

For evictions across Mogadishu, and the 1,109,273 displaced people the clusters counted in Banadir in September 2026, see [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/) ([UNHCR ODP, Somalia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som)).

## What has been written about Badbaado?

- **Human Rights Watch, *Hostages of the Gatekeepers* (March 2013),** on abuses against displaced people in Mogadishu, with a long section on Badbaado ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia)).
- **Laetitia Bader, "In crisis-stricken Somalia, no safe haven" (HRW, 2017)** ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/18/crisis-stricken-somalia-no-safe-haven)).
- **Voice of America reports from August 2011** on the camp's first weeks ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/mogadishu-offers-little-comfort-to-somalis-arriving-from-famine-127555968/143690.html)).
- **CCCM Cluster site lists** give household counts for sites named Badbaado ([HDX](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/somalia-idp-site-master-list-2nd-quarter-2022)).

## Related pages

- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [The famine of 2010 to 2012](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Measles in Somalia](/en/society/measles-in-somalia/)
- [Disasters in Somalia: a list](/en/society/disasters-in-somalia-list/)

## Sources

1. Human Rights Watch. Hostages of the Gatekeepers: Abuses against Internally Displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia, 28 March 2013. https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Human Rights Watch (Laetitia Bader). In crisis-stricken Somalia, no safe haven, 18 April 2017. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/18/crisis-stricken-somalia-no-safe-haven. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. Voice of America. 7 killed in looting at Somalia aid camp, 4 August 2011. https://voanews.com/a/article-7-killed-in-looting-at-somalia-aid-camp-126834743/158609.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Voice of America. Displaced Somalis face overcrowding at refugee camps, 10 August 2011. https://www.voanews.com/a/displaced-somalis-face-overcrowding-at-refugee-camps-127539883/143684.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Voice of America. Mogadishu offers little comfort to Somalis arriving from famine, 10 August 2011. https://www.voanews.com/a/mogadishu-offers-little-comfort-to-somalis-arriving-from-famine-127555968/143690.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Radio Ergo. Badbaado IDPs run out of water, 20 May 2014. https://radioergo.org/en/2014/05/badbaado-idps-run-out-of-water/. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. CCCM Cluster Somalia. List of IDP sites in Somalia, 3rd quarter 2022, via HDX. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/somalia-idp-site-master-list-2nd-quarter-2022. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. CCCM Cluster Somalia. IDP Site Master List, 4th quarter 2024, via HDX. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cccm-somalia-idp-site-master-list-q2-2024. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Somalia, estimated IDPs by region (CCCM Cluster), 30 September 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som. Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# BBC Somali: the Somali service of the BBC since 1957

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/bbc-somali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> BBC Somali is the BBC World Service's Somali-language service. It began on 18 July 1957 with two 15-minute programmes a week, went daily in 1958, and now runs radio, TV and digital news from London, Hargeisa and Nairobi. Its radio is on FM in Hargeisa, Berbera, Burao, Zeila and Sanaa and on shortwave.

## Beginnings

The BBC Somali Service started on 18 July 1957 with two weekly programmes of 15 minutes each. It went daily in September 1958, and on 1 July 1961 the programme grew to 30 minutes ([BBC Somali Service, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service)). Broadcast time has grown since: the service has run three half-hour programmes and one hour-long programme a day ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service)).

## The one voice for all Somali speakers

During military rule after 1969, the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) media overview on Wikipedia notes, all Somali media was run by the government "except BBC Somali" ([Media of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland)). In 1997 the writer Charles Allen wrote that in a Somalia with "three or four separate ruling factions, each with their own radio services", the BBC was the "one single voice which serves all Somali speakers, and keeps the idea of being Somali alive" ([Wikipedia, citing Allen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service)). Critics have also challenged its reporting, for example a 2010 WardheerNews article on how it covered Somali news ([WardheerNews, March 2010](http://wardheernews.com/Articles_2010/March/Liban/29_how_the_bbc_somali_misinforms_listeners.html)).

## Where it broadcasts

- **Offices:** Broadcasting House in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and Hargeisa, where most radio and digital work is done ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service)).
- **FM:** as of December 2024, Zeila, Berbera, Hargeisa, [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) and Sanaa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service); [BBC, FM stations around the world](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/25lGfHqsvqPgsTVM6z88WGD/bbc-fm-stations-around-the-world)).
- **Shortwave:** from transmitters at Al-Dhabiyya (UAE), Al Ashkharah ([Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/)) and Talata Volonondry (Madagascar), from 90 minutes on weekdays to eight hours on Sundays ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service); [short-wave.info](http://www.short-wave.info/index.php?language=Somali&station=BBC)).
- **Partners:** in August 2010 AllAfrica reported that [Shabelle Media Network](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) had begun relaying some BBC Somali programmes ([AllAfrica, 16 August 2010](http://allafrica.com/stories/201008161420.html)).
- **Online:** BBC News Somali publishes at [bbc.com/somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali).

## Editors

Wikipedia records these heads of the service after the long-serving [Yusuf Garaad](/en/people/yusuf-garaad-omar/): Andres Ilves (acting), Josephine Hazeley (caretaker), then Abdirahman Koronto as output editor, who left in 2016. A joint Swahili and Somali service in Nairobi was led by Caroline Karobia until the two were split in June 2017. Abdullahi Abdi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) was appointed editor in August 2017 and dismissed on 28 October 2019. Muhyadin Roble, formerly of Radio Ergo, became editor on 16 March 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service)).

## Read more

- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/)
- [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/)


---

# COVID-19 in Somaliland, 2020 to 2022

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/covid-19-in-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland announced its first two COVID-19 cases on 31 March 2020. By 6 December 2021 its Ministry of Health Development had recorded 8,342 cases and 586 deaths, about 68% of the deaths in the last few months during the Delta wave. In January 2022 Taiwan donated 150,000 vaccine doses.

## In short

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s health minister announced the first two confirmed cases on **31 March 2020** ([MENAFN, 31 March 2020](https://menafn.com/1099945609/Somaliland-Confirms-2-Covid-19-Cases)). The Ministry of Health Development (MoHD) kept its own counts, separate from the federal government's. The national picture is on [COVID-19 in Somalia](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/).

By 6 December 2021 the MoHD had recorded **8,342 cases and 586 deaths**. Its medical coordinator, Dr Manal Ahmed Gas, wrote that "almost 68% of these deaths have occurred in the past few months due to the Delta variant", and that "due to limited testing capacity, the number of positive cases is likely to be higher" ([King's College London, 15 December 2021](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/reducing-covid-19-transmission-at-hospitals-in-somaliland)).

## Cases and deaths by date

| Date | Cases | Deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 2020 | 2 | 0 | MENAFN |
| 18 May 2020 | 121 | 9 | [OCHA impact update 6](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/COVID%20-19%20Impact%20Update%206%20-%20final.pdf) |
| late May 2020 | 225 | 16 | [OCHA impact update 7](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Impact%20Update%2026%20May%202020%20-%20publish.pdf) |
| mid-Sep 2020 | 934 | 31 | [OCHA impact update 12](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Somalia%20OCHA%20COVID-19%20Update%2012%20-%20final%20eo.pdf) |
| 25 Oct 2020 | 1,077 | 36 | [OCHA impact update 13](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/COVID19%20Impact%20Update%20No.%2013_final.pdf) |
| 8 Feb 2021 | 1,430 | | [Anadolu Agency, 9 February 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/is-somalia-ignoring-coronavirus-pandemic/2138302) |
| 16 Aug 2021 | 4,703 | 319 | MoHD, with 68,206 tests ([archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211230150757/https://twitter.com/SomalilandMoHD)) |
| 6 Dec 2021 | 8,342 | 586 | MoHD, via King's College London |

## Measures in 2020

- **19 March 2020.** Before any case was confirmed, the government closed schools and office-based businesses, banned gatherings and ordered khat establishments closed for one month ([MENAFN, 20 March 2020](https://menafn.com/1099870188/Somaliland-Country-Goes-on-High-Covid-19-Alert-Establishes-Stringent-Virus-Preventive)).
- **Flights.** Entry was banned for flights and travellers from China, Iran, Italy, France, Kenya, Somalia, South Korea and Spain. Flights to and from Ethiopia continued at [Egal International Airport](/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/), Hargeisa ([MENAFN, April 2020](https://menafn.com/1099969180/Somaliland-Why-We-Still-Allow-Flights-by-Ethiopian-Airlines-and-Continued-Khat)).
- **1 April 2020.** A presidential decree released 574 prisoners ([Anadolu Agency, 1 April 2020](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/covid-19-somaliland-releases-574-prisoners-/1788051)).
- **Mosques.** A decision to close mosques for four weeks was reversed after pressure from religious leaders ([LSE Crisis Research Programme, 23 April 2020](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/04/23/somaliland-and-covid-19-emerging-issues-and-economic-impact/)).
- **Markets.** In April 2020 Hargeisa municipality evicted 289 households from Gobanimo Market and 26 June District to enforce distancing ([OCHA, 30 May 2020](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/ocha-somalia-update-5-overview-covid-19-directives-30-may-2020)).
- **Exams.** On 20 May 2020 end-of-year exams for grades 1 to 11 were cancelled; the July secondary final exam went ahead with precautions (OCHA, 30 May 2020).

## Hospitals and vaccines

- **[Hargeisa Group Hospital](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/)**, the largest hospital, set up an infection-control programme with King's College [London](/en/diaspora/london/). Dr Manal Ahmed Gas wrote: "Prior to this project HGH didn't have any programmes regarding infection control" (King's College London, 15 December 2021).
- **Taiwan** donated 150,000 doses of the Medigen (MVC) vaccine, which arrived on 31 January 2022 ([Focus Taiwan, 31 January 2022](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202201310010)).

## Sources

- MENAFN (2020). [Somaliland confirms 2 Covid-19 cases](https://menafn.com/1099945609/Somaliland-Confirms-2-Covid-19-Cases), 31 March 2020; [Somaliland goes on high Covid-19 alert](https://menafn.com/1099870188/Somaliland-Country-Goes-on-High-Covid-19-Alert-Establishes-Stringent-Virus-Preventive), 20 March 2020.
- Anadolu Agency (2020, 2021). [Somaliland releases 574 prisoners](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/covid-19-somaliland-releases-574-prisoners-/1788051); [Is Somalia ignoring coronavirus pandemic?](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/is-somalia-ignoring-coronavirus-pandemic/2138302)
- [OCHA Somalia](/en/institutions/ocha-somalia/). COVID-19 impact updates 6, 7, 12 and 13, and [overview of COVID-19 directives, 30 May 2020](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/ocha-somalia-update-5-overview-covid-19-directives-30-may-2020).
- LSE Crisis Research Programme (2020). [Somaliland and COVID-19: emerging issues and economic impact](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/04/23/somaliland-and-covid-19-emerging-issues-and-economic-impact/), 23 April 2020.
- Gas, M. A. (2021). [Reducing COVID-19 transmission at hospitals in Somaliland](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/reducing-covid-19-transmission-at-hospitals-in-somaliland). King's College London, 15 December 2021.
- Focus Taiwan (2022). [Taiwan-donated vaccines arrive in Somaliland](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202201310010), 31 January 2022.
- Wikipedia. [COVID-19 pandemic in Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Somaliland).


---

# Maxamed Case (Mahad Case, Reer Maxamed, Bahabar Aadan, Gadabuursi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/maxamed-case/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Maxamed Case (Mahad Case, Mahad Assa) are a Gadabuursi lineage in the Habar Makadoor division of the Dir. Abbink lists Adan, Hussein, Musa and Abokor under Mahad Assa. Wikipedia lists seven groups, including Reer Maxamed and Bahabar Aadan. Somali Wikipedia places them in Awdal, Salal around Saylac, Gabiley, Djibouti and the Somali Region of Ethiopia.

## Name and family tree

The Maxamed Case are a lineage of the [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/), a [Dir](/en/society/dir/) clan. English sources write Mahad Case or Mahad Assa.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Gadabursi > Mikadore > Mahad Assa, with Adan, Hussein, Musa and Abokor ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 16 to 17](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Gadabuursi > Habar Makadur > Mahad Case ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)) |
| Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed (backup) | Maxamed Muuse Maxamed, of Samaroon Siciid Daa'uud ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_reer_maxamed_Maxad_case)) |
| Somali Wikipedia, Bahabar Aadan (backup) | Aadan > Maxamed > Maxad Case > Makadoor > Maxamuud > Samaroon ([Somali Wikipedia, Bahabar Aadan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Bahabar_Aadan)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes Gadabuursi groups such as Makhila and Reer Mohamud Noor, but no Maxamed Case group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

The other Habar Makadoor lineage is the Makaahiil. The other Gadabuursi division is the Habar Cafaan (Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup). See [the Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia lists seven Maxamed Case groups ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)):

- Bahabar Abokor, Bahabar Muuse and Habar Muuse
- Bahabar Aadan and Bahabar Celi
- Reer Maxamed and Abraahin

**Reer Maxamed.** Somali Wikipedia places them under Habar Muuse. It names seven lineages: Reer Cabdille, Axmed Cigaal, Galaalweyn, Gadhadhweyn, Dhegood, Reer Aadan and Horkameer ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_reer_maxamed_Maxad_case)).

**Bahabar Aadan.** Somali Wikipedia traces them to Aadan, son of Maxamed Case. It names no further lineages ([Somali Wikipedia, Bahabar Aadan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Bahabar_Aadan)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Group | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Reer Maxamed | Somali Wikipedia names Salal, Awdal and Hargeisa, Djibouti, and parts of Somalia. Its list of places includes Saylac, Lughaya, Baki, Borama, Gabiley, Arabsiyo, Abaarso and Harar ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_reer_maxamed_Maxad_case)) |
| Bahabar Aadan | Somali Wikipedia names Gabiley, Borama in Awdal, Saylac in Salal, Jigjiga in Fafan and Djibouti ([Somali Wikipedia, Bahabar Aadan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Bahabar_Aadan)) |
| Gadabuursi as a whole | "Awdal region is inhabited by members of the Gadabursi (Isaaq-Dir) and Issa clans" ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)) |

Somali Wikipedia says the Reer Maxamed live by herding, farming and some gold digging in the Siimoodi hills. See [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) and [the Somali community in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Somali Wikipedia counts Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi as Gadabuursi, of the Maxamed Case. Other clans also claim him ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_reer_maxamed_Maxad_case)).
- **1877.** It says Abu Bakr Pasha, governor of Saylac under Ottoman-Egyptian rule, is believed to have been Reer Maxamed (same source).
- **1946 to 1957.** It names Djama Ali Moussa, of the Bahabar Celi. It calls him the first Somali head of the Government Council of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/) (same source).
- **1950s to 1960s.** It names Haji Jibril Jilane Farah, of the Reer Maxamed, as a leading opponent of French rule in Djibouti (same source).
- **1967.** It says France expelled more than 25,000 people from Djibouti, mostly Gadabuursi (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia lists Reer Maxamed elders. They include Suldaan [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ibraahim Cabdi Riiraash and Suldaan Xaaji Daahir Awcilmi. It also names *caaqil* such as Cali Bile Suldaan and Faarax Geedi Cali ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_reer_maxamed_Maxad_case)). It says Sultan Mahamed Haji Dideh, of the Bahabar Celi, was sultan of Saylac in the early 1900s (same source). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Maxamed Case or its groups. It lists "Gadabursi (Dir) vs. [Jibril Abokor](/en/society/sacad-muuse/), Sa'ad Muse, Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/) (Isaaq), in El Bardaale, Gabiley", as dormant ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Groups.** Abbink lists four groups under Mahad Assa. Wikipedia lists seven, with different names.
- **Imam Ahmad.** Somali Wikipedia counts him as Gadabuursi. Wikipedia's Marehan page counts him as Marehan. See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/).
- **Sources.** Most detail here comes from Somali Wikipedia pages that cite few sources.

## Read more

- [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/)
- [Habar Cafaan](/en/society/habar-cafaan/)
- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [The Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/)
- [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/)


---

# Habar Cafaan (Habr Afan, Gadabuursi)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/habar-cafaan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Cafaan (Habr Afan) are one of the main divisions of the Gadabuursi, a Dir clan. Abbink lists Habr Afan (Samaroon) with 'Isa and Zubeir under it. Somali Wikipedia says they have twelve groups, including Xeebjire, Jibraacin, Muusafiin, Cali Ganuun and Gobe. They live in Awdal, Gabiley, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and Djibouti.

## Name and family tree

The Habar Cafaan are one of the main divisions of the [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/), a [Dir](/en/society/dir/) clan. English sources write Habr Afan.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Gadabursi > Habr Afan (Samaroon), with 'Isa and Zubeir ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 16 to 17](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Gadabuursi > Habar Cafaan, one of two divisions with the Habar Makadur ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | One of three Gadabuursi pillars, with the Makaahiil and the Maxamed Case ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Cafaan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Habar_Cafaan)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes Gadabuursi groups but no Habar Cafaan group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

Abbink writes "Samaroon" beside Habr Afan. Somali Wikipedia uses Samaroon for the whole Gadabuursi (same sources). See [the Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups (Abbink 2009, pp. 16 to 17):

- Under Habr Afan: 'Isa and Zubeir
- Under Zubeir: Mahamed and Musa
- Under Musa: [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/), Fin, Adan, (Reer) Hamud and Mahakil
- Beside them: Habr Yusuf, Gobo, Jibrain, Hebjirreh and 'Ali Ganoon

Somali Wikipedia says the Habar Cafaan have twelve groups ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Habar_Cafaan)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Bah Xarago | Xeebjire (Reer Sheekh Ismaaciil) and Jibraacin |
| Muuse Aadan Xasan | Muusafiin |
| Subeer | Dhagaweyne, Makayl, Reer Xaamud, Hansasacad (Xasan Sacad) and Faroole |
| Others | Cali Ganuun, Reer Yuusuf, Reer Ciise and Gobe |

Wikipedia gives a similar list. It names Jibraahin, Cali Ganuun, Gobe, Habar Yuusuf, Reer Ciise, Hebjire, Reer Zubeer, Dhega Weyne and Makayl ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Awdal and Gabiley | Somali Wikipedia names Borama, Jirjir, Xaliimad, Baki, Xariirad, Cabdulqaadir, Goronyo Cowl, Xego, Weeraar and Abuqeys ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Habar_Cafaan)) |
| Somali Region of Ethiopia | Lafo-Ciise, Dhoodaan and Jigjiga (same source) |
| Djibouti | Djibouti city (same source) |
| Gadabuursi as a whole | "Awdal region is inhabited by members of the Gadabursi (Isaaq-Dir) and Issa clans" ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)) |

Somali Wikipedia calls them the second-largest Gadabuursi pillar and the one with the most trade (same source). No census confirms this. See [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) and [the Somali community in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## History on record

- **1884.** The Gadabuursi and the Ciise signed treaties with Britain on 11 and 31 December ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)). See [the colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **Djibouti independence movement.** Somali Wikipedia names Omar Sharidi Buuni, a Habar Cafaan, among early young organisers against French rule ([Somali Wikipedia, Reer Maxamed, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_reer_maxamed_Maxad_case)).
- **September 2023.** Gadabuursi clan chiefs met in [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), Canada. They said they wanted Awdal to leave [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([EUAA 2025, Awdal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/281-awdal)).

Somali Wikipedia says the Gadabuursi have long farmed fruit and vegetables around Baki, [Camuud](/en/history/ruined-towns-of-the-somali-interior/) and Dilla, alongside herding ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Cafaan, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesha_Habar_Cafaan)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Gadabuursi as a whole have one *ugaas*. Wikipedia describes a custom where a hundred elders from all lineages meet when a new *ugaas* takes office ([Wikipedia, Gadabuursi, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadabuursi)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Habar Cafaan. It lists a dormant Gadabuursi dispute with Isaaq groups in El Bardaale, Gabiley. It adds that other Somaliland rivalries over elections "did not lead to armed" violence ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Divisions.** Wikipedia gives two Gadabuursi divisions. Somali Wikipedia gives three, splitting Habar Makadur into the Makaahiil and the Maxamed Case.
- **Makaahiil.** Abbink lists a Mahakil under Musa in the Habr Afan, and another Mahakil under Mikadore. Somali Wikipedia lists Makayl under Subeer and the Makaahiil as a separate pillar.
- **Sources.** Most detail here comes from Somali Wikipedia, which cites few sources.

## Read more

- [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/)
- [Maxamed Case](/en/society/maxamed-case/)
- [The Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/)
- [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/)


---

# Horn Cable Television (HCTV): Hargeisa's private news channel

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/horn-cable-television/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Horn Cable Television (HCTV) is a private Somali-language TV channel founded in 2003 and based in Hargeisa, with studios in London and Birmingham. It broadcasts around the clock in Somaliland and by satellite to Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. Wikipedia names its owner as the Hargeisa businessman Farhan Haji Ali.

## What it is

Horn Cable Television is a private, news-led Somali-language channel. It was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in Hargeisa, with studios in [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and [London](/en/diaspora/london/) among other places ([Horn Cable Television, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Cable_Television); [Somali Media Mapping Report, 2014](http://somali-media.so/horn-cable-tv/)). It earns its money from advertising.

## Owner

Wikipedia names the owner as Farhan Haji Ali, a Hargeisa businessman who also owns the company FAACO ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Cable_Television)).

## Reach

HCTV broadcasts 24 hours a day across [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). By satellite its signal reaches other parts of Africa, Europe, Asia and parts of Australia, and it streams live online ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Cable_Television); [HCTV](http://hctv.tv/)). When Somali National Television relaunched in 2011, it used the same Thaicom satellite as Horn Cable TV, Universal TV and Somali Channel ([Somali National Television, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_National_Television)).

## Programmes and staff

Programmes cover news and current affairs, business, politics, drama, music and religion. Wikipedia counts about 90 field reporters across the Horn of Africa, about 60 journalists at the Hargeisa headquarters, and 7 staff in Mogadishu, where Hamdi Hussein heads the branch ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Cable_Television)). The channel is a member of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

## Somaliland National TV and Universal TV

Somaliland's first private TV station, Somaliland Space Channel, opened in 1997. The government channel, Somaliland National Television ([SLNTV](/en/institutions/state-media/)), began on 20 July 2005, before that year's parliamentary election, with a 1.5 kW transmitter in Hargeisa, later reaching [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), Berbera and [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) and then satellite ([Somaliland National TV, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_National_TV); [Somaliland Ministry of Information](https://mingc.govsomaliland.org/article/somaliland-national-television)).

Universal TV, a Somali satellite channel founded in 2005 with studios in Kuala Lumpur and London, had its Hargeisa office raided and closed by Somaliland police on 27 June 2020, accused of covering Somalia's independence anniversary rather than Somaliland's; its crew were jailed, and the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the station to reopen ([CPJ, July 2020](https://cpj.org/2020/07/police-occupy-close-2-television-stations-in-somaliland/)). Somaliland revoked Universal TV's licence on 12 February 2025 ([Somali Magazine](https://somalimagazine.so/somaliland-revokes-universal-tvs-license-tightens-grip-on-media/)).

## Somaliland's other TV channels

Wikipedia's list of television channels in Somaliland includes Somaliland National TV, Horn Cable TV, Ardaa TV, SOMNEWS TV, Eryal TV, Saab TV, Bulsho TV, Baddacas24 TV, Kalsan TV, True Cable TV, Star TV, Rayo TV, Horyaal TV, CBA TV (Codka Bariga Afrika), MM Somali TV and Sahan TV ([Media of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland)).

Somaliland's constitution and media law make defamation a civil matter, not a crime, according to the same overview ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland); [Somaliland Press Law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/press___media__law.htm)).

## Read more

- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Somali media companies](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)
- [Somaliland newspapers](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/)
- [Hargeisa and Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Habar Caji (Habar Eji, Habar Aji, Cayr, Habar Gidir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/habar-caji/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Caji (Habar Eji, Habar Aji) are a sub-clan of the Cayr, a Habar Gidir branch of the Hawiye. Somali Wikipedia calls them the eldest line of Cayr Maxamed. ACLED codes them as Ayr-Habar Aji. Somali Wikipedia places them in Galgaduud, Hiiraan, Banaadir, Lower Shabelle and Middle Juba, and in Ethiopia and north-eastern Kenya.

## Name and family tree

The Habar Caji are a sub-clan of the [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/), part of the [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/) and the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/). The name is also written Habar Eji, Habar Aji and Habaraji.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir > Ayr > Habar Aji, also coded Habaraji Ayr and Ayr-Habanji ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EASO 2021 | "Habar-aji (Ayr, Habar Gidir)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | One of ten Cayr *diya* groups, made up of Warwaaq and Xaryanle, and called the eldest ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | "Habar-Aji waa laf kamid ah Beelweenta Cayr", the eldest of Cayr Maxamed ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Eji, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_eji)) |
| Abbink 2009 | Lists only Absiye and Ayanle under 'Ayr; does not name the Habar Caji ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |

Wikipedia traces Warwaaq and Xaryanle (Qoorcas) to Abti-Idig, son of Mucle, son of Cayr Maxamed (Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup). See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia lists these Habar Caji groups ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Eji, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_eji)):

1. Cabdulle Xasan
2. Gadiid Xasan
3. Aybakar Xasan
4. [Reer Maxamed](/en/society/maxamed-case/)
5. Reer Colow
6. Cigaale
7. Mahad Alle
8. Caalin Axmed
9. Xaryanle

Wikipedia names only the two founding lines, Warwaaq and Xaryanle ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))). ACLED codes one Habar Aji group without sub-clans. See [Ayaanle Cayr](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/) for a sister Cayr group.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Galgaduud, Hiiraan, Banaadir, Lower Shabelle and Middle Juba | Somali Wikipedia names these five regions ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_eji)) |
| Middle Shabelle | Named in a second list on the same page (same source) |
| Ethiopia and Kenya | Somali Wikipedia adds the Somali Region of Ethiopia and north-eastern Kenya (same source) |
| Hiiraan | The EASO records a Habar Caji dispute with the Cali Madaxweyne (Xawaadle) in Hiiraan (EASO 2021) |

Somali Wikipedia lists their ways of living as herding, farming, trade and fishing (same source). See [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/).

## History on record

Somali Wikipedia says the Habar Caji took part in resistance to colonial rule before independence. It gives no dates or places ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_eji)).

It names many people. They include MP Cabdiraxmaan Cabdishakuur Warsame, General Yuusuf Siyaad Indhacadde and General Xaashi Cali Rooble. It also names Maxamed Dhoore, listed as Galmudug's education minister, and Cabdullaahi Maajoor, listed as an MP in 1960 (same source). See [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia names Ugaas Faracadde Faarax and the late Ugaas Ciise Faracadde Faarax. It also lists *nabadoon* such as Cabdullaahi Xiireey Afrax, Nuur Geedi Waheliya and Salaad Kalajaban ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_eji)). Wikipedia lists the Cayr *ugaas* line as a separate group, Caalin Ugaas ([Wikipedia, Ayr clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayr_(clan))). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Habar Caji. It names wider Cayr disputes with the Saleebaan, [Duduble](/en/society/duduble/), Murusade and [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

Earlier, the EASO listed "Habar-aji (Ayr, Habar Gidir) vs Ali Madaxweyne (Hawadle)" in Hiiraan ([EASO 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Rank.** Somali Wikipedia and Wikipedia call the Habar Caji the eldest Cayr line. Abbink does not name them.
- **Lineages.** Wikipedia names Warwaaq and Xaryanle. Somali Wikipedia lists nine groups, with Xaryanle among them.
- **Ugaas.** Somali Wikipedia lists *ugaas* names among Habar Caji people. Wikipedia places the *ugaas* line in a separate group.

## Read more

- [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/)
- [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)
- [Ayaanle Cayr](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/)
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)


---

# Newspapers in Somaliland: Geeska Afrika, Dawan, Ogaal and the Hargeisa press

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hargeisa is home to most of Somaliland's printed press. Dawan, started in 2000, is the government paper. Geeska Afrika, founded in 2006 by Geeska Media Group, became in April 2017 the second Somaliland paper to print in colour, after Dawan. Ogaal, founded in 2005, published in Somali and English six days a week.

## Radio first, then print

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s first broadcaster was Radio Kudu, founded in 1942 under British rule and renamed Radio Hargeisa at independence on 26 June 1960 ([Media of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland)). The same overview says that under military rule from 1969 all media was run by the government, except BBC Somali, which broadcast from abroad ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland)).

## Geeska Afrika

*Geeska Afrika* ("The Horn of Africa") is a Somali-language newspaper published in Hargeisa by the Geeska Media Group. It was founded in 2006 ([Geeska Afrika, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeska_Afrika)). In April 2017, after twelve years in black and white, it became the second Somaliland newspaper to print in colour, after Dawan, as the group marked its 11th anniversary ([Somaliland Sun](http://www.somalilandsun.net/somaliland-geeska-media-group-ushers-11th-anniversary-in-multi-colours)). At its 9th anniversary it received an award for media ethics ([Sayruuq](https://www.sayruuq.com/somaliland-geeska-afrika-receives-ethics-accords-as-it-commemorates-9th-anniversary)), and the group marked the paper's 12th year in 2018 ([Geeska](https://geeska.net/wargeyska-geeska-afrika-oo-12-jirsaday)). The group also runs an English-language news site, [Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/).

## Dawan

*Dawan* is a Somali-language paper published in Hargeisa since 2000. It belongs to the Dawan Media Group, part of Somaliland's Ministry of Information and National Guidance, and serves as the government's main newspaper ([Dawan, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawan_(newspaper)); [Wargeyska Dawan](https://wargeyskadawan.com/)).

## Ogaal

*Ogaal* was an independent newspaper founded in Hargeisa in 2005. It carried domestic news in Somali and English and came out every day except Friday. It belonged to the Ogaal Media Center ([Ogaal Newspaper, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaal_Newspaper)).

## News websites

Wikipedia lists these among Somaliland's news websites: [Oodweyne](/en/regions/togdheer/) News, Somaliland Post, Berbera News, Somaliland Sun, Somaliland Chronicle, Qaran News, Gabiley.net, [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) News, Arabsiyo News, Somtribune, Hargeisa Press, Hayaan News, Araweelo News, Aftahan News and Hadhwanaag News ([Media of Somaliland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland)).

## Media groups and the law

Wikipedia calls the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) the most popular group speaking for journalists. Others are Women in Journalism Association (WIJA) and Female in Media Organization (FIMO) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Somaliland); [SOLJA](https://soljaorg.com/?p=246)). Under Somaliland's constitution and press law, defamation and libel are civil, not criminal, matters ([Somaliland press law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/press___media__law.htm)). A Heinrich Böll Foundation study set out the opportunities and challenges for press freedom there ([Heinrich Böll Stiftung](https://ke.boell.org/sites/default/files/press_freedom-opportunities_and_challenges.pdf)), and Freedom House has reported on press freedom in Somaliland separately from Somalia ([Freedom House, 2015](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/somaliland)).

## Read more

- [Horn Cable Television](/en/society/horn-cable-television/)
- [State media in Somalia](/en/institutions/state-media/)
- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Hargeisa and Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Muuse Abokor (Musa Abokor, Habar Jeclo, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/muuse-abokor/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Muuse Abokor (Musa Abokor) are a sub-clan of the Habar Jeclo, an Isaaq clan. Wikipedia calls them one of the largest Habar Jeclo divisions. They live in Togdheer, Sahil, Sanaag and Sool, and Wikipedia says they dominate Aynabo, Garadag and El Afweyn districts. Their main lines include Reer Yoonis, Biciide, Cali Barre, Bah Majeelo, Uduruxmiin and Idiris.

## Name and family tree

The Muuse Abokor are a sub-clan of the [Habar Jeclo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/), part of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/). They are a different group from the [Abokor Muuse](/en/society/abokor-muuse/), who are [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Habr Habuusheed > (Habr) Tolja'elo > Muuse > Abokor ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 33](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Habar Jeclo > Muse Abokor ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Muuse, son of Abokor, son of Jibriil, son of Abokor, son of Muuse, son of Sheikh Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Musa Abokor, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Abokor)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | The largest Habar Jeclo group, "2/3" of it ([Somali Wikipedia, Muuse Abokor, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muuse_Abokor)) |

Their sister groups are the Maxamed Abokor and Samane Abokor. The Cumar are their cousins through Jibriil ([Wikipedia, Habr Je'lo, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Je%27lo)). See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives this tree ([Wikipedia, Musa Abokor, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Abokor)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Uduruxmiin Muuse | none given |
| Idiris Muuse | none given |
| Cabdiraxmaan Muuse > Bah Majeelo | Cabdille, Cismaan and Isaaq Cabdiraxmaan |
| Cabdiraxmaan Muuse > Reer Yoonis | Maxamed Yoonis and Cismaan Yoonis |
| Cabdiraxmaan Muuse > Barre | Maxamed Barre, Cali Barre and Yoonis Barre |
| Yoonis Barre | Buraale Yoonis and Biciide Yoonis |
| Biciide | Bahsanbuur (Wadhowr and Samatar), Iidle and Faarax. Under Faarax: Axmed Faarax, Reer Iidle, Boho and Bah Farwiyo |

Somali Wikipedia says the Muuse Abokor have 23 *ardaa* (sections). They include Axmed Faarax Biciide, Reer Iidle, Baho, Looge Maxamed, Cali Maxamed and the Baale and Allamagan lines ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muuse_Abokor)). ACLED codes many of these, such as Reer Yoonis, Biciide, Ali Bare, Baho and Udur Ximin.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Sool, Sanaag and Togdheer | Wikipedia says they dominate Aynabo, Garadag and El Afweyn districts, and live in Ceerigaabo and Burco ([Wikipedia, Musa Abokor, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Abokor)) |
| Sahil coast | Somali Wikipedia says they hold coast from Berbera to Xiis and Maydh ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muuse_Abokor)) |
| By section | It places the Maxamed Yoonis and Bah Majeelo in Sahil and Togdheer; Cismaan Yoonis, Cali Barre and Maxamed Barre in Saraar and Sool; and Uduruxmiin, Idiris, Bahsanbuur and Axmed Faarax in Sanaag and Sahil (same source) |
| Kenya | Wikipedia adds Isiolo (Wikipedia, Musa Abokor, backup) |

See [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/).

## History on record

- **1800s.** Wikipedia says the Muuse Abokor and Cumar drew wealth from frankincense groves in the hills behind the coast ([Wikipedia, Musa Abokor, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Abokor)).
- **Early to mid 1800s.** It says they were part of a fighting group called Soocane. Its leader was the poet Kite Fiqi, of the Reer Yoonis (same source).
- **1900s to 1920.** It says the British War Office recorded Muuse Abokor arms supplies to the Dervishes. It says a Dervish force under Ibrahim Boghol besieged Laasqoray (same source). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **Later figures.** Somali Wikipedia lists Haji Sudi and the politician [Michael Mariano](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/) among Muuse Abokor people ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muuse_Abokor)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia names Suldaan [Cali Muuse](/en/people/ali-musse/) as the first Habar Jeclo sultan. It names Suldaan Cabdilaahi Suldaan Cali as general sultan of the Habar Jeclo. It also lists sultans of the Biciide and Bahsanbuur ([Somali Wikipedia, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muuse_Abokor)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists Habar Jeclo disputes active in April 2023 to March 2025. They include disputes with the [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) in [Aynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) and Buuhoodle, and with the [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) in [El Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/) ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Those districts are Muuse Abokor areas, but the EUAA does not name the sub-clan.

Earlier, the EASO recorded a clash near Berbera on 3 July 2020 between the Reer Yoonis and Axmed Faarax. Both are Habar Jeclo, and Wikipedia places both in the Muuse Abokor ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Size.** Somali Wikipedia says the Muuse Abokor are two-thirds of the Habar Jeclo. No census confirms this.
- **Sections.** Wikipedia gives a tree of about 20 groups. Somali Wikipedia lists 23 sections, with some different names.
- **Name.** Muuse Abokor (Habar Jeclo) and Abokor Muuse (Ciidagale) are often confused. Somali Wikipedia flags its two pages for a merge.

## Read more

- [Habar Jeclo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/)
- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [The Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/)
- [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/)


---

# Radio and news in Puntland: Radio Garowe, Radio Gaalkacyo and Puntland Post

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/puntland-radio-and-news/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Puntland's independent media include Radio Garowe (founded 2004, on 89.8 FM, with a Bosaso station since 2013), Radio Gaalkacyo (formerly Radio Free Somalia, broadcasting from Galkayo) and Puntland Post, a news site and weekly paper founded in 2001 by Somalis in Denmark.

## Radio Garowe

## Garowe Online

Garowe Online is a news website in Somali and English founded in 2004 and owned by Garowe News Group, which also owns Radio Garowe. It covers mainly security, politics and humanitarian news on Somalia and the Horn of Africa ([Garowe Online, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Online)). A 2011 BBC Media Action study found it was read every morning by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ministers and officials, and said it gave "particularly good context to stories" compared with other Somali news sources ([BBC Media Action, An analysis of the Somali media environment](https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/mediaaction/pdf/AnAnalysisOfTheSomaliMediaEnvironment.pdf)).

## Radio Gaalkacyo

Radio Gaalkacyo broadcasts from Galkayo in Mudug region. It was formerly called Radio Free Somalia. Wikipedia, citing the station, says it reached about 950,000 FM listeners around Galkayo and Garowe and counted 50,000 daily visitors to its website, which publishes news in Somali and English ([Radio Gaalkacyo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Gaalkacyo); [Radio Gaalkacyo](http://www.radiogaalkacyo.com/)).

## Puntland Post

Puntland Post was founded in 2001 by Somalis living in Denmark. It runs a daily news website in Somali and English and a weekly Somali-language newspaper in Garowe, and launched a monthly English webzine, Puntland Post Monthly ([Puntland Post, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_Post); [Puntland Post](http://puntlandpost.net/)).

## Other stations

Wikipedia's articles on Puntland media also name Radio Daljir, Radio Kulmis and Radio Laascaanood ([Radio Garowe, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Garowe); [Radio Gaalkacyo, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Gaalkacyo)). Puntland also runs state radio and television, described on the state media page.

## The media environment

Somalia as a whole, including Puntland, is ranked among the most dangerous countries in Africa for journalists by Reporters Without Borders ([RSF, Somalia](https://rsf.org/en/country/somalia)).

## Read more

- [State media in Somalia](/en/institutions/state-media/)
- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Somali media companies](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)
- [Garowe and Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/)
- [Galkayo and Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)


---

# Bilan Media: Somalia's first all-women newsroom

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/bilan-media/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bilan Media is a Somali newsroom run entirely by women. It was founded in Mogadishu in April 2022 with the support of the UN Development Programme, with six journalists. Its editor-in-chief is Fathi Mohamed Ahmed and its director Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim. In 2024 it launched Somalia's first women-led current affairs TV show and won the One World Media Press Freedom Award.

## Founding

Bilan Media was set up in April 2022 in Mogadishu with the support of the United Nations Development Programme. It started with a team of six women journalists and is the first newsroom in Somalia run entirely by women ([Bilan Media, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Media); [France 24, 7 July 2022](https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220707-women-only-media-start-up-wants-to-fight-stigma-in-somalia)). *Bilan* means "bright" in Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Media)). Shortly before the launch, one of its journalists survived an attack by al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Media)).

The editor-in-chief since the start has been **Fathi [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/)**, and the director is **Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim** ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Media); [Le Monde, 24 October 2023](https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/10/24/somalie-bilan-le-premier-media-100-feminin-qui-brise-les-tabous_6196202_3212.html)).

## What it covers

Bilan reports mainly on social issues and on women's lives. Wikipedia cites stories on period poverty, interviews with women and girls, and drug use among poor people in Somalia, topics rarely covered in Somali media. Its work goes out on radio, television and online ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Media); [Christian Science Monitor, May 2022](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Points-of-Progress/2022/0516/Fault-justice-and-firsts-in-court-nature-and-the-newsroom)). France Inter and VOA Afrique have profiled the newsroom ([Radio France](https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/les-histoires-du-monde/bilan-media-premiere-redaction-100-feminine-en-somalie-3308731); [VOA Afrique](https://www.voaafrique.com/a/ouverture-du-premier-m%C3%A9dia-exclusivement-f%C3%A9minin-en-somalie/6525876.html)).

## How it works

The Christian Science Monitor, citing The Guardian, reported that Bilan produces news and features for TV, radio and online with a focus on gender-based violence and women in politics and business. It trains and mentors its reporters with established journalists and offers internships to women journalism students. UNDP funded it at first as a one-year pilot. Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim, one of few women senior news producers in Somalia, wrote in The Guardian: "Never before have Somali female journalists been given the freedom, opportunity and power to decide what stories they want to tell and how they want to tell them." The Monitor also reported that sexual harassment is common in Somali media and that women journalists struggle to win promotion ([Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2022](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Points-of-Progress/2022/0516/Fault-justice-and-firsts-in-court-nature-and-the-newsroom)).

## 2024: a TV show and an award

- **January 2024:** The Guardian reported that Somalia would launch its first current affairs TV show led by women, made by Bilan ([The Guardian, 30 January 2024](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/jan/30/somalia-to-launch-its-first-current-affairs-tv-show-led-by-women)).
- **June 2024:** Bilan won the One World Media Press Freedom Award ([RFI, 26 June 2024](https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20240626-somalie-bilan-media-un-m%C3%A9dia-100-f%C3%A9minin-remporte-un-prix-consacr%C3%A9-%C3%A0-la-libert%C3%A9-de-la-presse)).

## The setting

Wikipedia, citing Reporters Without Borders, describes Somalia as the most dangerous country in Africa for journalists ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilan_Media); [RSF, Somalia](https://rsf.org/fr/pays-somalie)). Women journalists in Somalia have faced particular barriers, which France 24 reported Bilan was set up to challenge ([France 24](https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220707-women-only-media-start-up-wants-to-fight-stigma-in-somalia)).

## Read more

- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)
- [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/)
- [Somali media companies](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)


---

# Ogaadeen (Ogaden clan, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ogaadeen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ogaadeen (Ogaden) are a Darod clan. Abbink places them under Absame and lists the Makabul, Mohamed Zubeir, Aulihan, Bah Geri and Talamuge among their lines. They live in Ethiopia's Somali Region, north-eastern Kenya and the Juba regions of Somalia. Human Rights Watch in 2008 called them the largest Darod clan in Ethiopia's Somali Region.

## Name and family tree

The Ogaadeen are a clan of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Ogaden. The same word names the Ogaden area of [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/), which takes its name from the clan.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kumade > Absame > Ogaden ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, pp. 18 to 20](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | One of the "three major groups" of the Darod, with the Marehan and Harti ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Ogaden, with sub-groups such as Absame, Abdalla, Awlyahan, Bartire, Magabul, Mohamed Zubeyr and Talamoge ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | The largest clan of the Darod; it names Jidwaaq and Absame as related groups ([Somali Wikipedia, Ogaadeen, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaadeen_(beel))) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these Ogaden groups (Abbink 2009, pp. 19 to 20):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| First lines | Malingur, Reer Ishak, Reer Dalal, Reer Ugas Elmi, Bah Magan and Reer Ugas Koshin |
| Abdalla | Reer Hassan Aden and Reer Yahya |
| Bahalla > Bah Geri | Geri Jarso and Geri Babuli |
| Bahalla > Aulihan | Reer Afgab and Reer Wafate |
| Bahalla > Mohamed Zubeir | Musa, Reer Abdulle, Reer Isaaq, Reer Amaden, Reer Nasir and Reer Adan Khair |
| Other lines | Moqabul (Makahil and Reer Sa'ad Hassan), Kanti and Talamuge |

ACLED also codes Mohamed Zubeir sub-groups such as Reer Isaq-Ali, Amaadin, Guled Qalaf, Reer Warfa and Reer Abdula. It codes a Bah Geri group under Absame (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia's Somali Region | Human Rights Watch called the Ogaden the largest Darod clan there, perhaps 40 to 50 percent of the Somali population ([HRW, *Collective Punishment*, 2008, p. 13](https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/ethiopia0608_1.pdf)) |
| Lower Juba | The EUAA says "Kismayo town has been dominated by the Ogaden clan, particularly the large Mohamed Zubeir/Ogaden subclan" ([EUAA 2025, Lower Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/213-lower-juba)) |
| Lower Juba coast | The EASO places the Makabul and Talamoge south of Kismayo, mainly in Badhaadhe district, and the Aulihan near Dhobley ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Middle Juba | The EUAA names the Aulihan and Mohamed Zubeir as the two strongest clans ([EUAA 2025, Middle Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)). The EASO places the Aulihan in Saakow and Bu'aale, and the Mohamed Zubeir on the west bank of Jilib (EASO 2021) |
| Gedo | The EASO places the Aulihan along the river near Baardheere and at Fafaduun (EASO 2021) |
| Kenya | Wikipedia places them in the former North Eastern Province ([Wikipedia, Ogaden clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_(clan))). The EASO adds that the Aulihan have interests in Garissa county (EASO 2021) |

See [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## History on record

- **1800s.** Wikipedia says the Ogaden led moves that pushed the Wardey from west of the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river. It says they also displaced the Boorana in parts of today's north-eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia, Ogaden clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_(clan))).
- **Late 1800s to 1920.** It says Somali writing of that time called the Ogaden area *Huwan*. It lists Ogaden figures among the Dervishes and their opponents (same source). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **1977 to 1978.** War between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) was fought over the Ogaden area. See [the Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).
- **2008.** Human Rights Watch wrote that the Ogaden clan "constitutes the backbone of the ONLF" (HRW 2008, p. 4). See [Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)](/en/institutions/ogaden-national-liberation-front/).
- **Since 2012.** The EASO says Kismayo "has been dominated politically, economically, and militarily by the Ogaden clan" (EASO 2021).
- **Later figures.** Wikipedia lists [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/), [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/), [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/) and [Asli Hassan Abade](/en/people/asli-hassan-abade/) among Ogaden people. It also lists [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) (Wikipedia, Ogaden clan, backup).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Abbink's tree names two *ugaas* lines, Reer Ugas Elmi and Reer Ugas Koshin (Abbink 2009, p. 19). Wikipedia shows a photo of Sultan Bihi Momeen of the Ogaden ([Wikipedia, Ogaden clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_(clan))). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists a dormant dispute between the Biyomaal (Dir) and Ogaden in [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), Lower Juba. It says the dispute "revolves around land ownership, governance structure, and power-sharing within the district" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

Earlier, the EASO listed "Ogaden vs Marehan clan competition over control of Kismayo and Jubbaland state". It also listed tensions within the Ogaden, between the Mohamed Zubeir and Aulihan, over jobs in the Jubbaland security forces (EASO 2021). See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Size.** Somali Wikipedia calls the Ogaadeen the largest Darod clan. HRW says this only of Ethiopia's Somali Region. No census confirms either.
- **Place in the tree.** Abbink puts the Ogaden under Absame. ACLED codes Absame as a sub-group of the Ogaden.
- **Bah Geri.** Abbink lists Bah Geri under Bahalla. ACLED codes a Bah Geri group under Absame.

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Mohamed Zubeir](/en/society/mohamed-zubeir/)
- [Aulihan](/en/society/aulihan/)


---

# Harti (Darod clan group)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/harti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Harti are a group of Darod clans that trace their line to Saleh Abdi, called Harti. Their best-known clans are the Majeerteen, Dhulbahante and Warsangali, with smaller ones such as the Dishiishe. They live mainly in Puntland, in Sool and Sanaag, and in Kismayo, with communities in Ethiopia and Kenya.

## Name and family tree

The Harti are a group of clans within the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). Wikipedia traces them to Saleh Abdi Harti ([Wikipedia, Harti, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harti)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kombe-Harti ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | One of the "three major groups" of the Darod, with the Ogaden and Marehan ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| UK Home Office 2019 | "The Harti are a federation of three clans" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Harti sits beside the Ogaden, Marehan, Awrtable and Leelkase under the Darod ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Harti, with Dhulbahante, Garikombe, Janbeel, Kaski Qabe, Leelkayse and Warsangeli coded under it ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists a long set of lines under Kombe-Harti (Abbink 2009, Darod chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Mora Hasse | Tinleh, Dashishe, Kaptanle and Maganlabbe |
| Mahamed Harti | D'ulbahante (Se'ed Harti) and Majerteen (Mohamed Harti) |
| Warsangeli | Omer, Ogeyslabe, Hinjiye, 'Iise, Garad and about twenty more |
| Other lines | Geh, Haile, Jambel, Amlaleh, Jiram, Wabeneya, Abdirahim, Ibrahim, Warlaabe, Gerri, Kaskikabe, Gashanle, Gesagul, Ugastabe and Libangashe |

Wikipedia gives a shorter list from the World Bank and a 2001 UK Home Office report. It names Mohamed Harti (Majeerteen), Mohamoud Harti (Warsangali), Ahmed Harti (Dishiishe), Said Harti (Dhulbahante) and Abdirahman Harti (Kaskiqabe) ([Wikipedia, Harti, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harti)).

See [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/), [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/), [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/) and [Dishiishe](/en/society/dishiishe/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Puntland | ACCORD places the Majeerteen "now are found in Puntland mainly" (ACCORD 2009, p. 12) |
| Sool and Sanaag | The Dhulbahante and Warsangeli "live in the disputed border areas between Puntland and Somaliland" (UK Home Office 2019) |
| Kismayo | The EASO says the Harti control "a pocket of rangeland to the immediate north and west of Kismayo city" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Gedo | The EASO lists Harti among long-settled groups in Baardheere (EASO 2021) |
| Ethiopia and Kenya | Wikipedia places Harti in the Dollo Zone of Ethiopia and in Kenya's former North Eastern Province ([Wikipedia, Harti, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harti)) |

See [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## History on record

- **1700s to 1920s.** The Majeerteen and Warsangali sultanates ruled parts of the north-east coast. See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).
- **1899 to 1920.** Wikipedia says the Dervishes "mostly hailed from the Dhulbahante" ([Wikipedia, Harti, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harti)). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **1998.** Wikipedia says a three-month Harti conference at Garowe founded the Puntland State of Somalia. [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) became its first president (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).
- **2009.** ACCORD wrote that Puntland disputes land held by the Dhulbahante and Warsangeli inside [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Its aim, ACCORD says, is "to make these groups unite with the Harti group in Puntland" (ACCORD 2009, p. 12, note 14).
- **2023.** The EUAA cites Markus Hoehne: fighting at Laas Caanood involved "the Harti clan coalition", most of them Dhulbahante ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)). See [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says traditional elders, called *Issims*, attended the 1998 Garowe conference ([Wikipedia, Harti, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harti)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists disputes between Harti clans and with their neighbours ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Dhulbahante against [Omar Mahamoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) (Majeerteen) in the Adadda area, Nugaal and Sool.
- [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/) (Majeerteen) against Dhulbahante in Burtinle district, Nugaal.
- Dhulbahante against [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) and [Habar Je'lo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/) (Isaaq) in Sool, Sanaag and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/).
- Warsangeli sub-clans against each other in Ceerigaabo and Laasqoray.
- Majeerteen sub-clans against each other in Kismayo, "currently dormant".

See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Members.** ACCORD and the UK Home Office name three clans. Wikipedia adds the Dishiishe and Kaskiqabe. Abbink lists over twenty lines.
- **Leelkase.** ACLED codes Leelkayse under Harti. The World Bank chart puts Leelkase beside Harti, and Abbink places Leelkase under Tanadleh.
- **Founder's name.** Wikipedia names Saleh Abdi. Abbink uses Kombe-Harti for the same branch.

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/)
- [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/)
- [Leelkase](/en/society/leelkase/)


---

# Radio Television of Djibouti (RTD): the state broadcaster in Somali, Afar, Arabic and French

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/radio-television-of-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Radio Television of Djibouti (RTD) is Djibouti's national broadcaster and its only licensed one. It broadcasts in Arabic, French, Afar, Somali and English. Radio began in Djibouti on 18 August 1941, and French state broadcasting opened a TV station there in April 1967. Reporters Without Borders says RTD is used for government propaganda; the opposition station La Voix de Djibouti broadcasts from abroad.

## What it is

RTD (French: Radiodiffusion Télévision de Djibouti) is the national broadcaster of Djibouti, based in Djibouti city. It broadcasts in Arabic, French, Afar, Somali and English, and its in-house band is Groupe RTD ([Radio Television of Djibouti, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Television_of_Djibouti); [RTD](http://www.rtd.dj/)). Its programmes include news, culture, series and entertainment. By the Badr-4 satellite its signal reaches North Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and some programmes stream online.

## Beginnings: 1941 to 1977

- **18 August 1941:** "Radio Djibouti" began on shortwave from the colony of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), then loyal to Vichy France, mainly to protest against the British naval blockade ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Television_of_Djibouti)).
- **April 1967:** the French state broadcaster ORTF set up a regional TV station in Djibouti city, with a 50 kW transmitter on channel 5. It rebroadcast programmes from France, with some local programming in Afar, Somali and Arabic ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Television_of_Djibouti); [Television Factbook 1972–73](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1972-73-TV-Factbook/Television-Factbook-1972-73.pdf)).
- **1974:** first colour broadcast; full colour by 1977.

## After independence

At independence in 1977 the new republic took over broadcasting. Wikipedia says the staff were poorly trained and the equipment outdated. In 1983, with West German help, a transmission centre was built at Doraleh near the capital, with medium wave (1,539 kHz, 20 kW), shortwave (4,780 kHz, 20 kW) and FM across the country. A TV network for the main inland towns followed in 1986, and Japan funded a new production centre when RTD was making only 20 percent of what it aired ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Television_of_Djibouti); [UNESCO, World Communications 1975](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Business/World-Communicatiions-Unesco-1975.pdf)).

RTD's powerful medium wave transmitter also carries the US government's Arabic station Radio Sawa across East Africa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Television_of_Djibouti)).

## Press freedom

Wikipedia records that the government allows no other broadcasters, and that Reporters Without Borders describes RTD as used for government propaganda ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Television_of_Djibouti)). The BBC's Djibouti media guide, last updated in April 2023, says there are no private TV or radio stations, that the government owns the main newspaper and RTD, and quotes RSF: "The repressive [judicial] arsenal deployed against journalists means they live in fear." It also notes local FM relays of the BBC on 99.2 and a powerful medium wave transmitter carrying Voice of America in English, French and Somali to East Africa. Djibouti had 548,000 internet users in December 2021, 54 percent of the population ([BBC News, Djibouti media guide](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13231765)). The opposition station La Voix de Djibouti broadcast online from [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) for ten years and in June 2020 returned to shortwave from a rented transmitter in Bulgaria ([Radio Eins, 2020](https://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2020/la-voix-de-djibouti.html)).

## Read more

- [Radio Mogadishu](/en/society/radio-mogadishu/)
- [BBC Somali](/en/society/bbc-somali/)
- [Football in Djibouti](/en/society/football-in-djibouti/)
- [Media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)


---

# Warsangali (Warsangeli, Harti, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/warsangali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Warsangali (Warsangeli) are a Harti clan of the Darod, also called Mohamoud Harti. They live mainly in eastern Sanaag, with a presence in Ceerigaabo and Bari. Their Gerad (Garaad) line ruled the Warsangali sultanate at Laasqoray. ACLED codes more than a dozen Warsangali sub-groups, such as Dubays, Reer Xaaji, Nuux Cumar and Ogeyslabe.

## Name and family tree

The Warsangali are a clan of the Harti, part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Warsangeli and Warsengeli. Wikipedia also calls them the Mohamoud Harti ([Wikipedia, Warsangali, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Harti > Warsangeli ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 23](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | With the Majeerteen and Dhulbahante, one of the Harti groups of the Darod ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Warsangeli, also coded Harti-Warsangeli ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Mohamoud Harti > Ahmed Mohamoud, called Warsangeli; Mohamed Mohamoud (Hinjiye) is his brother ([Wikipedia, Warsangali, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these Warsangeli groups (Abbink 2009, p. 23):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Omer | Mohamed, Reer Noah and Dubeys |
| 'Iise | Si'id (Jibriil and Adan) and Hussein |
| Degaweyne | Ahmed |
| Garad | Reer Garad |
| Others | Ogeyslabe, Hinjiye, Habr Ahmed, 'Idamoge, 'Olmarabe, Awramale, Nuuh 'Umar, Garweyne, Gobyawuud, Riighaye, Tuure, Mahumud, Awi, Bah Habr 'Ismaan, Bah Habr Hassan and Bah 'Idoor |

Wikipedia gives a longer line. It runs from Mohamoud Ahmed through Koge and Garaad Dhidhin to Ogeyslabe, Dubays and Cumar. Under Cumar it names Nuux Cumar and others, down to the Reer Xaaji and the Bah Ogeyslabe, Bah Idoor and Bah Majeerteen ([Wikipedia, Warsangali, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali)). It says "the structures of the clans and sub clans are not clearly agreed upon" (same source).

ACLED codes sub-groups such as Adan Siciid, Cawramale, Bihi-dor, Dubays, Husen, Muhumud, Nuux Cumar and Ogayslabeh. It also codes Reer Fatax, Reer Garaad, Reer Haji, Reer Salah, Reer Yusuf, Ugas Labe and Garabsare (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Eastern Sanaag | "Eastern Sanaag is primarily inhabited by the Warsangeli, a sub-clan of the Harti-Darod" ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)) |
| Ceerigaabo | The EUAA lists the Warsangeli among the groups living in Ceerigaabo (same source) |
| Sanaag to Bari | Wikipedia says their land runs from west of Ceerigaabo towards Boosaaso ([Wikipedia, Warsangali, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali)) |
| Sanaag towns | The EASO quotes an expert that "most Warsengeli towns side with Puntland", being closer to Boosaaso than to Ceerigaabo ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |

ACCORD says the Warsangeli "mainly live within the borders of Somaliland" (ACCORD 2009, p. 12). Sanaag is claimed by both [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/). See [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Bari](/en/regions/bari/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia quotes the *Futuh al-Habasha* on a Harti force "from the people of [Mait](/en/regions/maydh/)" in the wars of Imam Ahmad ([Wikipedia, Warsangali, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali)). See [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/).
- **1848.** It says the traveller C. J. Cruttenden wrote that Warsangali and Majeerteen lands were the most valuable for trade on that coast (same source).
- **Sultanate.** Their Gerad line ruled from Laasqoray. See [the Warsangali sultanate](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/).
- **1920.** Wikipedia says [Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire](/en/people/mohamoud-ali-shire/) was exiled by the British to the Seychelles (same source). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **1940s and 1950s.** It says Warsangali leaders formed the [United Somali Party](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) (same source).
- **2000s.** It says Maakhir, a regional administration in eastern Sanaag, was mainly Warsangali. It lists Jibril Ali Salad as its president from 2006 to 2009 (same source).
- **Later figures.** Wikipedia lists the writer [Farah Awl](/en/people/farah-awl/), [Fatima Jibrell](/en/people/fatima-jibrell/) and Omar Fateh among Warsangali people (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Warsangali sultan comes from the Gerad line. Wikipedia calls Mohamoud Ali Shire the 24th sultan ([Wikipedia, Warsangali, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsangali)). The EASO quotes an expert that Warsengeli elders "tend to defuse potential conflict spirals" in the area claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists Warsangeli disputes among Warsangeli sub-clans in Ceerigaabo and Laasqoray ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It also records "conflict between the Isaaq and Warsangeli over mining rights". It says that in January 2025, Warsangeli militias had mobilised outside Ceerigaabo ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)).

Earlier, the EASO listed a land dispute between the Dubays and Reer Xaaji. It says this "never developed into a large scale conflict thanks to the mediation of Warsengeli clan elders" (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Where they live.** ACCORD places them mainly inside Somaliland's borders. The EASO notes that most of their towns side with Puntland.
- **Sections.** Abbink lists about 25 groups. Wikipedia gives a different, deeper line and says the tree is not agreed.
- **Sultanate age.** Wikipedia quotes a Seychelles newspaper that the sultanate is six hundred years old. The Wikipedia sultanate page gives 1613 for a central state. British accounts of it begin in the 1840s; see [the Warsangali sultanate](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/).

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [The Warsangali sultanate](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/)
- [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/)


---

# Majeerteen (Majerteen, Harti, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/majeerteen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Majeerteen (Majerteen) are a Harti clan of the Darod, also called Mohamed Harti. They live mainly in Bari, Nugaal and northern Mudug, with a community in Kismayo. Their best-known lines are the Osman Mahamoud, Isse Mahamoud and Omar Mahamoud, together called Mahamoud Saleebaan, and the Ali Saleebaan. The Majeerteen sultanates ruled the north-east coast before Italian rule.

## Name and family tree

The Majeerteen are a clan of the Harti, part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Majerteen, Mijurtin and Majertain. Wikipedia also calls them Mohamed Harti ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kombe-Harti > Mahamed Harti > Majerteen ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | The Harti "are composed of the Majerteen", the Dulbahante and the Warsangeli ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| UK Home Office 2019 | "The Harti are a federation of three clans: the Majerteen are the main clan in Puntland" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Majeerteen, with more than 25 coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

Wikipedia gives a Somali meaning for the name, "much beloved" or "much admired" ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)). See [Harti](/en/society/harti/) and [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists three main Majerteen lines and several smaller ones (Abbink 2009, Darod chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Mahmood | Osman Mahmoud, Isa Mahmoud and Omar Mahmoud (Reer Khalaf, Reer Hersi, Reer Mahad) |
| Saleeban | 'Ali (Awlyahan, Isma'iil, Bi'iidyahan, 'Umar, Sa'id), Se'ed, Ugar, Isma'iil, Aden, Aderahin and Mahmuud |
| Noleys | Muse, Abdalla and Jibrahil ('Ali, Nuh, Siwaqrun) |
| Other lines | Daanwayne, 'Ali Ugar and 'Ali Jibrahil |

Wikipedia says the Osman Mahamoud, [Omar Mahamoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) and Isse Mahamoud together form the Mahamoud Saleebaan. With the [Ali Saleebaan](/en/society/ali-saleebaan/) and Ugaar Saleebaan, these make up the Saleebaan Maxamed ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)).

ACLED codes these Majeerteen groups, among others: Ali Jibril, Ali Saleban (with Bicidyahan and Colyahan), Ismail [Saleban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), Issa Mahmud, Omar Mahmud, Nuh Mohamud and Dashishe. Under Issa Mahmud it codes Ahmed Kheyre, Ali Ibrahim, Hassan Ugaar, Mohamed Ugaar, Reer Muse, Reer Samakaab, Reer Shirwac and [Reer Yoonis](/en/society/muuse-abokor/) (ACLED 2025).

See [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/), [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/) and [Dishiishe](/en/society/dishiishe/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bari | "The region's main clan is the Osman Mahmud sub-clan of the Majerteen clan; the Ali Suleman clan also is very relevant politically" ([EUAA 2025, Bari](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/262-bari)) |
| Nugaal | Puntland's dominant clans are "three sub-clans of the Majeerteen/Mohamoud Saleban, including the Isse Mohamud who live mostly in Nugal region" ([EUAA 2025, Nugal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/261-nugal)) |
| Garowe | The EUAA calls Garowe the clan homeland (*degaan*) of the Isse Mahamoud. It adds that other Majeerteen lines also live there ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Northern Mudug | "Dominant clans are the Darod (Majerteen-Omar Mahmoud sub-clan) in the North" ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| Kismayo | "The largest Harti clan in Kismayo is the Majerteen" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Ethiopia | Wikipedia places some Majeerteen in the Dollo Zone of Ethiopia's Somali Region ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)) |

ACCORD wrote in 2009 that "Puntland almost entirely overlaps with the Majerteen clan family" (ACCORD 2009, p. 12). See [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **1700s.** Wikipedia cites a 1727 English account of a raid on an Indian ship near Ras Filuk. It reads this as possible early Majeerteen sea activity ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)).
- **1808 to 1809.** The traveller Henry Salt wrote of the Majeerteen on the [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/) coast under a Sultan Hassan. He also met the Majeerteen merchant Yunus Buraale on the Red Sea coast (same source).
- **1800s.** Majeerteen sultans ruled the north-east coast from [Aluula](/en/regions/caluula/) and [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/). Yusuf Ali Kenadid, of the Majeerteen, founded the Sultanate of Hobyo. See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/) and [the sultans of Majeerteen and Hobyo](/en/institutions/sultans-of-majeerteen-and-hobyo/).
- **1889 to 1927.** Italy signed protectorate treaties with both sultanates, then took them by force in 1925 to 1927. See [Boqor Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/).
- **1960s.** Wikipedia says Majeerteen lines formed "a powerful business class in Kismayo" ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)).
- **1998.** Puntland declared itself an autonomous state. ACCORD calls it "primarily based on the Majerteen clan" ([ACCORD 2009, section 1.2](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). See [presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Majeerteen paramount title is *Boqor* (king). See [the sultans of Majeerteen and Hobyo](/en/institutions/sultans-of-majeerteen-and-hobyo/) and [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these Majeerteen disputes ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Majeerteen sub-clans against each other in Kismayo, Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), "currently dormant".
- Majeerteen against the Cormale (Cawrmale) south of Kismayo, over land ownership and resources.
- Dhulbahante against Omar Mahamoud in the Adadda area between Nugaal and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), "feuding for decades".
- Isse Mahamoud against Dhulbahante in Burtinle district, Nugaal, around Kalabayr.
- Omar Mahamoud against [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) (Habar Gidir) in Galkayo and Jiriiban districts, dormant as of February 2025.

The EASO also listed Ali Jibrail against Ali Saleban, and Ugaadh Saleban against Ali Saleban, in Bari. It listed Osman Mahamoud against Ugaadh Saleban in Iskushuban district (EASO 2021). The EUAA reports a December 2024 clash between two Majeerteen clans in Xarfo, Mudug, that destroyed a water well ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Name of the main line.** Abbink calls the main line Mahmood under Majerteen. Wikipedia names it Mahamoud Saleebaan under Saleebaan Maxamed.
- **Dishiishe.** Abbink lists the Dashishe beside the Majerteen, under Mora Hasse. ACLED codes Dashishe as a Majeerteen sub-group.
- **Ali Saleebaan.** Abbink puts 'Ali under Saleeban. ACLED codes Ali Saleban directly under Majeerteen.

## Read more

- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/)
- [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/)
- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)


---

# Sacad Muuse (Sa'ad Musa, Habar Awal, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/sacad-muuse/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Sacad Muuse (Sa'ad Musa) are an Isaaq clan in the Habar Awal line, brother line of the Ciise Muuse. Their sections include Jibriil Abokor, Cabdalla Abokor, Xuseen Abokor, Reer Axmed Nuux and Reer Yoonis Nuux. Wikipedia says they are the majority in Hargeisa and Gabiley, and live in Ethiopia's Fafan zone and Djibouti.

## Name and family tree

The Sacad Muuse are a clan of the Habar Awal, part of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/). Their brother line is the [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/). The name is also written Sa'ad Musa and Saad Muse.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Habr Awal > Zubeir > Muuse > Sa'ad ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Habar Awal > Sacad Muse; it also codes Habar Awal-Abdale Abokor ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Jibril Abokor, Sa'ad Muse, Habar Awal (Isaaq)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Sa'ad, son of Musa, son of Zubayr, son of Abd al-Rahman (Awal), son of Sheikh Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Sa'ad Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ad_Musa)) |

Wikipedia says Zubeyr Awal, the shared ancestor of the Sacad Muuse and Ciise Muuse, is buried at Jidali in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) (same source). See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups (Abbink 2009, p. 32):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Sa'ad | Jibriil (Abokor), Reer Dalal and Reer Samatar (Haad) |
| Isaq | Abokor, Yesif, Makahil and 'Abdulla |
| Others listed beside them | Abdurahman, Hassan, Isma'iil, 'Abdulla, Idrais, Afgab and Egalla |

Wikipedia gives a deeper line through Isaaq [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Abokor Isaaq | Ugaadh Abokor (Ugaadhyahan), Cabdalla Abokor and Xuseen Abokor |
| Xuseen Abokor > Jibriil > Ismaaciil > Nuux | Reer Yoonis Nuux (Shirdoon, Hoosh, Gadiid and Maxamed) and Reer Axmed Nuux |
| Xuseen Abokor > Jibriil > Ismaaciil | Saciid Ismaaciil > Cabdalla Saciid (Reer Samatar, Reer Abane and Reer Axmed Cabdalla); also Bah Gobo and Waran'ad |
| Makaahiil | Nuux, Abokor, Cumar, Maxamed and Xasan Makaahiil |

**Cabdalla Abokor.** Wikipedia places Cabdalla Abokor under Abokor Isaaq, beside the Ugaadhyahan and Xuseen Abokor (same source). ACLED codes it as Habar Awal-Abdale Abokor. Wikipedia shows an 1890 photo of Warsame Yunis "of the Reer Geille Abdalla Abukar, Sa'ad Musa" ([Wikipedia, Sa'ad Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ad_Musa)). Its Somali Wikipedia page was not available when this page was written.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hargeisa | The EUAA says "the Isaaq/Habar Awal clans (Sa'ad Muse and Isse Muse) predominantly populate Ibraahim Koodbuur", the 26 June district and parts of Gacan Libaah (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Woqooyi Galbeed | The EASO says the region is "predominantly inhabited by the Habar Awal clan", from the coast to the Ethiopian border ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Gabiley and farm towns | Wikipedia names Gabiley, Wajaale, Arabsiyo, Kalabaydh, Agabar, Ceel Bardaale, Faraweyne and Allaybaday ([Wikipedia, Sa'ad Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ad_Musa)) |
| Sahil coast and Awdal | It places them between Ceel Sheekh and Bulhar, and in north-eastern Awdal (same source) |
| Ethiopia | It names Harshin, Hart Sheik, Aware, Kebri Beyah and Jigjiga in Fafan zone (same source) |
| Djibouti and Kenya | It places them in Quartier 3 of Djibouti, and in Kenya's Isahakia community (same source) |

See [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/) and [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names the Habr Magaadle, including the Habar Awal, in the wars of Imam Ahmad ([Wikipedia, Sa'ad Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ad_Musa)). See [Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/).
- **Before 1839.** It quotes I. M. Lewis that the Ayyal Yunis and Ayyal Ahmed lineages "had held Berbera and jointly managed its trade" (same source).
- **1825 to 1827.** It says Habar Awal men attacked the British ship *Mary Anne* at Berbera. It says this led to a blockade and fighting in 1827 (same source).
- **1800s.** It quotes an Aden record that Somali merchants there "are generally members of the Sa'ad Musa tribe" (same source).
- **1955.** It says Sultan Abdulrahman Deria went to [London](/en/diaspora/london/) to ask for the return of the Haud (same source). See [the Haud transfer](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).
- **Later figures.** Wikipedia lists [Sheikh Madar](/en/people/sheikh-madar/), [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), the poet [Gaarriye](/en/people/gaarriye/) and [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) among Sacad Muuse people (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says the Habar Awal sultan comes from the Axmed Cabdalla line of the Sacad Muuse. It says the title was *garaad* until Sultan Abdulrahman Deria took the title of *suldaan*. It lists eight holders, from Garaad Biniin to Sultan Xasan Sultan Cabdillaahi ([Wikipedia, Sa'ad Musa, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ad_Musa)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists a dormant dispute between the Gadabuursi and the Jibriil Abokor (Sacad Muuse) in Ceel Bardaale, Gabiley. It also lists a Sacad Muuse rivalry with the Ciidagale and [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) in Hargeisa. It says such election rivalries "did not lead to armed violence" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/), [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Size.** Wikipedia calls the Sacad Muuse the majority in Hargeisa. The EUAA and EASO name the Habar Awal as a whole. No census confirms either.
- **Tree.** Abbink lists Abokor under Jibriil and under Isaq. Wikipedia puts Cabdalla Abokor and Xuseen Abokor under Abokor Isaaq.
- **Sources.** Much of the detail on lines and towns comes from Wikipedia, which relies on few modern sources.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/)
- [The Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)
- [Habar Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/)


---

# Dhulbahante (Dulbahante, Harti, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/dhulbahante/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Dhulbahante (Dulbahante) are a Harti clan of the Darod, also called Said Harti. They live mainly in Sool, southern Sanaag and Buuhoodle, with communities in Ethiopia, Kismayo and Kenya. Their traditional leaders hold the title Garaad. Most of the Dervish movement's fighters came from them, and in 2023 their elders formed SSC-Khaatumo, now North Eastern State.

## Name and family tree

The Dhulbahante are a clan of the [Harti](/en/society/harti/), part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). Older English writing spells the name Dulbahanta or Dolbahanta. Wikipedia names the founder as Said Saleh Abdi, buried at Badweyn ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kombe-Harti > D'ulbahante (Se'ed Harti) ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | One of three Harti groups, with the Majerteen and Warsangeli ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 12](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| EASO 2021 | "A Darod sub-clan, which is part of the Harti confederation together with the Majerteen clans of Puntland" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Dhulbahante, with over 35 coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

Wikipedia says tradition gives the founder a mother from the [Arap](/en/society/arap/) clan of the Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)). See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these Dhulbahante lines (Abbink 2009, Darod chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| First lines | Ahmaad, Mahammad and Yuunis |
| Muuse > Habrwa > Shurshere (Garaad) | Ahmed (Nalaye, Nuur, Samakaab, 'Igaal), 'Ali Geri, Aadan, 'Ali, 'Abdi, Mahmuud, Faraah, and the Hassan, Haamud, Husseen and Mahamuud Ugaaz lines |
| Muuse | Yahia |
| Barkad | Mahamud ('Ali, 'Iise, Wiggid), Amar and 'Ali |
| Other lines | Hayaag and Khaalid |

ACLED codes Dhulbahante sub-groups such as Ahmed Garad, Ali Geri, Baharsame, Barkad, Farah Garaad and Hassan Ugas. Others are Jama Siyaad, Kumar Wacays, Mohamoud Ugaadhyahan, Naleeye Ahmed, Qayaad, Reer Hagar, Samokaab Ali and Ugaasyo (ACLED 2025). It also codes the [Fiqishini](/en/society/ayaanle-cayr/) as a Dhulbahante sub-group.

Wikipedia says groups living on the two plateaus are called Reer Hawd and Reer Nugaaled ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Sool | "Most of Sool's population belongs to the Dhulbahante clan" ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)). The EASO calls Laascaanood, Taleex and Xudun "Dhulbahante towns", and Caynabo mainly Isaaq (EASO 2021) |
| Sanaag | The Dhulbahante live "in some southern areas" of the region ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)) |
| Buuhoodle | Wikipedia says the clan "solely lives in the district of Buuhoodle" in Togdheer ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)) |
| Laascaanood district | Wikipedia cites a 2011 survey: 92.5 percent of respondents said they were Dhulbahante (same source) |
| Ethiopia, Kismayo, Kenya | Wikipedia places them in the Dollo Zone, in Kismayo's trading community and in Kenya's North Eastern Province (same source) |

See [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## History on record

- **1840s.** The British officer C. J. Cruttenden wrote that the Dhulbahante "fight chiefly on horseback". He said they had two Garaads at the time ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)).
- **1899 to 1920.** Wikipedia says the four main Dervish divisions were "near exclusively Dhulbahante" ([Wikipedia, Harti, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harti)). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/) and [Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/).
- **1950s.** Wikipedia cites John Drysdale and I. M. Lewis: in the 1950s the clan showed little attachment to Dervish history ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)).
- **6 February 2023.** Elders formed SSC-Khaatumo, "representing the Dhulbahante clan along with the Fiqishine and Madiban clans" ([EUAA 2025, Sool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/271-sool)).
- **February to August 2023.** The EUAA records "intense fighting between [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) forces and Dhulbahante clan militias" around Laascaanood (same source).
- **2025.** SSC-Khaatumo became North Eastern State. See [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Dhulbahante title is *Garaad*. Wikipedia says the clan has 13 active Garaads, and names [Garaad Jaamac Garaad Cali](/en/people/garad-jama-garad-ali/) as the most senior ([Wikipedia, Dhulbahante, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhulbahante)). Abbink's chart marks the Shurshere line as Garaad (Abbink 2009). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these disputes that name the Dhulbahante ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Dhulbahante against [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) (Isaaq) in Ceerigaabo, Sanaag, and [Caynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/), Sool.
- Dhulbahante against [Habar Je'lo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/) (Isaaq) in Caynabo and Buuhoodle.
- Dhulbahante sub-clans against each other in Laascaanood.
- Dhulbahante against Soolomadaw (Habar Je'lo) in Qorilugud, Togdheer.
- Dhulbahante against [Omar Mahamoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) (Majeerteen) in the Adadda area, "feuding for decades".
- [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/) (Majeerteen) against Dhulbahante in Burtinle district, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/).

In August 2024, fighting between Dhulbahante and Isaaq groups in Ceerigaabo and Goof left five dead ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink sets D'ulbahante (Se'ed Harti) beside the Majerteen under a Mahamed Harti heading. Wikipedia lists Said Harti and Mohamed Harti as brothers.
- **Fiqishini.** ACLED codes the Fiqishini as Dhulbahante. The EUAA names the Fiqishine as a separate clan allied with them.
- **[Awrtable](/en/society/awrtable/).** ACLED codes one Awrtable group under Dhulbahante. Abbink places Awrtable under Sa'ade.

## Read more

- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Warsangali](/en/society/warsangali/)
- [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/)


---

# Habar Yoonis (Habr Yunis, Garxajis, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/habar-yoonis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Yoonis (Habr Yunis) are an Isaaq clan of the Garxajis, with the Ciidagale as their brother line. Their two main lines are Cali Siciid and Carre Siciid. The EUAA says they mainly live in Togdheer with the Habar Jeclo, and in western Sanaag including Ceerigaabo. Their sultans come from the Reer Ainanshe.

## Name and family tree

The Habar Yoonis are a clan of the Garxajis (Habar Magaadle), part of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/). Their brother line is the [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/). The name is also written Habr Yunis and Habar Yonis.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Isaaq > Habr Magaadleh / Habr Garhaji > Habr Yunis > Sa'ad ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Habar Yoonis, with many sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "the Habar Yunis clan (Garhajis, Isaaq)" ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Sa'id, son of Isma'il (Garhajis), son of Sheikh Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Habar Yoonis, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Yoonis)) |

See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups (Abbink 2009, p. 32):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Sa'ad Yuunis > 'Ali | Logh, Beleh and Salah |
| Sa'ad Yuunis > 'Arreh | Khalil, Gamba, Dandan, Kul, Isahaq, Isma'il and Musa |
| A second set | Gunbuur, Reer 'Abdi Hirsi, Reer Waid, Reer Sugulle, Kharrab and Muuse (Isma'iil, 'Alle and 'Abdalle) |
| A third set | Isaaq and 'Ali |

Wikipedia gives a deeper tree ([Wikipedia, Habar Yoonis, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Yoonis)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Cali Siciid | Looge Cali, Baale Cali and Xaaji Salaax Cali |
| Carre Siciid > Isxaaq Carre | Khaliil, Qaasim and Cabdalle Isxaaq |
| Carre Siciid > Muuse Carre | Xasan, Ibraahim and Damal Muuse |
| Carre Siciid > Ismaaciil Carre | Sacad Yoonis, Muuse Ismaaciil (Turwa, Urursuge) and Cabdalla Ismaaciil |
| Cabdalla Ismaaciil | Idarays, Muuse Cabdalla and Cumar Cabdalla, down to Xirsi Cismaan and the Reer Mumin |

The Somali Wikipedia page copies this tree in English ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Yoonis, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Yoonis)). ACLED codes sub-groups such as Sacad Yoonis, Muse Ismail, Muse Carre, Cali Siciid and Urursuge. It also codes Muse Turwa, Jibriil Turwa, Reer Wayd, Cabdalle Xamud and Bah [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Togdheer | "Togdheer region is mainly inhabited by Habar Yunis and Habar Je'lo" ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)) |
| Western Sanaag | The EUAA says the west of Sanaag, "including Ceerigaabo, is predominantly home to the Habar Yunis" ([EUAA 2025, Sanaag](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/27-sool-sanaag-and-ssc-khatumo/272-sanaag)) |
| Woqooyi Galbeed | The EUAA names the Habar Awal, Habar Yunis and Idagalle as the majority ([EUAA 2025, Wogoyi Galbeed](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/282-wogoyi-galbeed)) |
| Hargeisa | The EUAA says the Garhajis (Ciidagale and Habar Yonis) populate Mahamuud Haybe and parts of Gacan Libaah district ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Ethiopia and Kenya | Wikipedia places them in the Degehbur and Wardheer zones, and in Kenya's Isahakia community ([Wikipedia, Habar Yoonis, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Yoonis)) |

See [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names the Habar Magaadle in the wars of Imam Ahmad ([Wikipedia, Habar Yoonis, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Yoonis)). See [Imam Ahmad and Adal](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).
- **1700s and 1800s.** It says the Habar Yoonis broke from the Isaaq sultanate and formed their own, under Sugulle son of Ainanshe Hersi. It says Sultan Diiriye Sugulle ruled from Wadhan, near the [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) pass (same source).
- **1841 to 1845.** It says Sharmarke Ali Saleh, of the Muuse Carre, took Zeila and then Berbera (same source).
- **1922.** It says a revolt against a tax at Burao led to the killing of Captain Allan Gibb. It says British planes then bombed Burao (same source).
- **1981 to 1991.** It says Habar Yoonis members twice chaired the Somali National Movement. [Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur](/en/people/abdirahman-ahmed-ali-tuur/) became [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s first president (same source). See [the Isaaq genocide](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).
- **Other figures.** Wikipedia also lists the musician [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/) and Sultan [Nur Ahmed Aman](/en/people/nur-ahmed-aman/) among Habar Yoonis people (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says all Habar Yoonis sultans come from the Reer Sugulle, a branch of the Reer Ainanshe. It lists Sugulle, Diiriye Sugulle, Xirsi Amaan, Nuur Axmed Amaan, Cawad Diiriye, Doolaal Nuur and Madar Xirsi among them ([Wikipedia, Habar Yoonis, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Yoonis)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists Habar Yoonis disputes active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- with the Dhulbahante in Ceerigaabo and [Caynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/)
- with the Habar Jeclo in Ceerigaabo and [Ceel Afweyn](/en/regions/ceel-afweyn/)
- with the [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/) in Cali Saahid village, Burao district
- election rivalries in Hargeisa, which it says "did not lead to armed violence"

The EUAA says the Gacan Libaax militia "is associated with the Habar Yunis clan" and began fighting Somaliland forces in July 2023 ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)). Earlier, the EASO recorded a Muuse Ismaaciil clash with the [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) Nuux Cumar in Laasqoray district in March 2021 ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Tree.** Abbink lists Gunbuur, Reer Cabdi Xirsi, Reer Wayd and Reer Sugulle in an unnamed set beside [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/). Wikipedia places all four under Xirsi Cismaan, inside the Carre Siciid line.
- **Place in Isaaq.** Wikipedia says the Habar Yoonis are part of the Garxajis. ACLED codes one group as "Cidagale Habar Yoonis".
- **Sources.** The Somali Wikipedia page holds only an English-language tree.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/)
- [Habar Jeclo](/en/society/habar-jeclo/)
- [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/)


---

# Habar Awal (Habr Awal, Zubeyr Awal, Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/habar-awal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Habar Awal (Habr Awal) are an Isaaq clan of the Habar Magaadle. Their two largest lines are the Sacad Muuse and the Ciise Muuse. The EASO says they mainly live in Woqooyi Galbeed, from the coast to the Ethiopian border, and they live around Hargeisa, Gabiley and Berbera. Their sultan comes from the Axmed Cabdalla line of the Sacad Muuse.

## Name and family tree

The Habar Awal are a clan of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/). Wikipedia also calls them the Zubeyr Awal, and places them in the Habar Magaadle group ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Isaaq > Habr Awal > Zubeir > Muuse, with Sa'ad and 'Iisa under Muuse ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Habar Awal, with Sacad Muse, Isa Muse and Abdale Abokor ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Zubeyr, son of Abdirahman (Awal), son of Sheikh Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Muuse, son of Subeer, son of Cabdiraxmaan (Awal), son of Sheekh Isxaaq ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Awal, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Awal)) |

See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia lists six sons of Muuse: Afgaab, [Celi](/en/society/duduble/), Cigaale, Cabdalle, Ciise and Sacad Muuse ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Awal, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Awal)). Wikipedia says the Habar Awal have eight sub-clans, of which the Ciise Muuse and Sacad Muuse are the two largest ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)).

| Line | What the sources name under it |
|---|---|
| [Sacad Muuse](/en/society/sacad-muuse/) | Cabdiraxmaan, Cabdalla, Xasan and Isaaq Sacad; under Isaaq Sacad, Makaahiil and Abokor Isaaq (Ugaadhyahan, Cabdalla Abokor and Xuseen Abokor) (Wikipedia) |
| [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/) | Abokor, Aadan, Idarays and Maxamed Ciise (Wikipedia) |
| Other sons of Muuse | Abbink lists Isma'iil, 'Abdulla, Idrais, Afgab and Egalla beside Sa'ad and 'Iisa (Abbink 2009, p. 32) |

Each of the two large lines has its own page, with its full tree.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Woqooyi Galbeed | The EASO says the region "is predominantly inhabited by the Habar Awal clan, in the area that stretches from the coast on the Gulf of Aden up to the Ethiopian border" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Hargeisa | The EUAA says the Sacad Muuse and Ciise Muuse mainly live in Ibraahim Koodbuur, the 26 June district and parts of Gacan Libaah ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Farm towns | Wikipedia names Gabiley, Wajaale, Arabsiyo and Kalabaydh ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)) |
| Sahil coast | It names Berbera, Ceel Sheekh, Bulhar, Sheekh and Daarbuduq, and the north of Burao (same source) |
| Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya | It names Harshin, Hart Sheik and Wajaale in Fafan zone, Quartier 3 in Djibouti, and Kenya's Isahakia community (same source) |

See [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) and [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names the Habar Magaadle, including the Habar Awal, in the wars of Imam Ahmad ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)). See [Imam Ahmad and Adal](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).
- **1800s.** It says Berbera was the chief port of the Habar Awal. It says the Reer Yoonis Nuux and Reer Axmed Nuux of the Sacad Muuse held it (same source).
- **1870s and 1880s.** It says [Sheikh Madar](/en/people/sheikh-madar/) led a Sufi community that settled and farmed at Hargeisa. It says he built a mosque there in 1883 (same source).
- **1949.** It says the Ciise Muuse crowned their own first sultan, Sultan Koshin (same source).
- **1955.** It says Sultan Abdulrahman Deria went to [London](/en/diaspora/london/) to ask for the return of the Haud (same source). See [the Haud transfer](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).
- **1981.** It says the Somali National Movement elected Ahmed Mohamed Gulaid, of the Habar Awal, as its first chairman (same source). See [the Isaaq genocide](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).
- **Later figures.** Wikipedia lists [Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/), [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), [Gaarriye](/en/people/gaarriye/) and [Mo Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) among Habar Awal people (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says the Habar Awal sultan comes from the Axmed Cabdalla line of the Sacad Muuse. It says the title was *garaad* until Abdulrahman Deria took the title of *suldaan*. It describes a case in which the Ciise Muuse refused his ruling on *mag* (blood money). It says this led them to crown their own sultan ([Wikipedia, Habr Awal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habr_Awal)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists Habar Awal disputes active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- with the Habar Jeclo in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) district
- a dormant dispute between the Gadabuursi and the Jibriil Abokor (Sacad Muuse) in Ceel Bardaale, Gabiley
- the Ciise Muuse with the [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/) in Cali Saahid village, Burao district
- election rivalries in Hargeisa with the Habar Yoonis and [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/), which it says "did not lead to armed violence"

The EUAA says a "Jeegaan alliance" of Habar Jeclo and Habar Awal clans was active in Togdheer in 2023 ([EUAA 2025, Togdheer](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/28-somaliland/283-togdheer)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Number of lines.** Somali Wikipedia lists six sons of Muuse. Wikipedia says eight sub-clans. Abbink lists more names beside [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) and 'Iisa.
- **Ayuub.** Abbink lists Ayub and Ahmad beside Zubeir under the Habr Awal. Wikipedia treats Ayuub as a separate Habar Magaadle clan.
- **Size.** Wikipedia calls the Habar Awal one of the largest Isaaq clans. No census confirms this.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [Sacad Muuse](/en/society/sacad-muuse/)
- [Ciise Muuse](/en/society/ciise-muuse/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Leelkase (Lelkase, Laylkase, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/leelkase/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Leelkase (Lelkase, Laylkase) are a Darod clan of the Tanade line. They live mainly around Galdogob and Gaalkacyo in northern Mudug, and across the border in Ethiopia, with groups in Nugaal, Bari and the south. The EUAA records a long feud between the Leelkase and the Sa'ad (Habar Gidir) in Galdogob and Bandiiradley.

## Name and family tree

The Leelkase are a clan of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Lelkase, Laylkase, Leylkase and Leelkayse. Wikipedia says the name is a nickname of the founder, and means "farsighted" or "mindful" ([Wikipedia, Leelkase, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leelkase)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Tanadleh > Leelkase ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Leelkase stands as its own line under the Darod, beside Harti, Ogaden, Marehan and Awrtable ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Laylkase, of the so called Ogadeen-Harti group" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes both Darod > Leelkayse and Darod > Harti > Leelkayse ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists seven Leelkase lines: Suhurre, Mu'umin Aadan, Mahamed Aadan, Mohamud 'Ali, Iman, Korshe and Malasmuge (Abbink 2009, Darod chart). Under the same Tanadleh line he places Absame, with Weyteen and its groups Farah, 'Ali [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/), Legod, Alaye and Jus.

Wikipedia gives a longer list of lines and where they live ([Wikipedia, Leelkase, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leelkase)):

| Line | Where Wikipedia places it |
|---|---|
| Muumin Aadan | Mudug (Galdogob, Gaalkacyo), Lower Juba (Kismayo) and Ethiopia's Somali Region |
| Rooble Hassan | Garowe, Eyl, Boosaaso and Qardho |
| Mohamed Hassan | Dangorayo, Eyl, Taleex and Lower Juba |
| Mahamed Aadan | Garowe and Eyl |
| Fiqi Ismail | Gaalkacyo and Burtinle |
| Maalismogge | Eyl and Gaalkacyo |
| Ismail Ali | Qandala |
| Suhurre | Eyl |
| Mansor, Aamin and Hamud | Xamar Weyne and Buurhakaba |
| Cali Sheikh and Aw-Salaat | Middle and Lower Shabelle |

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Northern Mudug and Ethiopia | The EASO calls the Laylkase "another cross-border clan group, between Ethiopia and North Mudug, centring around the village of Goldogob" (EASO 2021) |
| Mudug | The EUAA lists "the Lelkase (Darod)" among Mudug's other clans ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| Garowe | The EUAA lists "Darood/Leylkase" among groups living in Garowe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Gaalkacyo | Wikipedia says the Leelkase are dominant in Garsoor, a large district of Gaalkacyo ([Wikipedia, Leelkase, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leelkase)) |

See [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **Before 1800.** Wikipedia calls the Tanade "one of the oldest Darod clans" ([Wikipedia, Leelkase, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leelkase)). Abbink places both the Leelkase and Absame under Tanadleh (Abbink 2009).
- **About 1985 to 2025.** The EUAA says both clans "have clashed and practiced revenge killings over the past 40 years" ([EUAA 2025, 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).
- **2020.** A reconciliation process between the two clans began, still "to-be-finalised" in 2025 (same source).
- **2022.** The Puntland Development Research Center published an assessment of the Lelkase and [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) conflict. The EUAA cites it (same source, note 536).
- **2023 to 2024.** Sa'ad and Lelkase groups clashed over grazing land in [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) district. The EUAA records clashes in October 2023, June 2024 and December 2024 ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Puntland Development Research Center's 2022 study covers the elders' peace process between the Leelkase and Sa'ad. The EUAA cites it at pages 15 to 17 and 28 to 29 (EUAA Country Focus 2025, note 536). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Sa'ad ([Habar Gedir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)/Hawiye) versus Leelkase (Darood)" in Galkayo district. The clashes take place "notably in the Galdogob district and the Bandiiradley area" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The EASO earlier described northern Mudug as affected by "long-standing Hawiye/Habr Gidir versus Darood/Majeerteen and Darood/Laylkase contentions". It said these often "spill over to Galkcayo" (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink puts the Leelkase under Tanadleh. ACLED also codes them under Harti, and the EASO groups them with the "Ogadeen-Harti".
- **Branch names.** Abbink and Wikipedia agree on Suhurre, Muumin Aadan and Mahamed Aadan. Wikipedia adds lines Abbink does not show, such as Rooble Hassan and Fiqi Ismail.

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Awrtable](/en/society/awrtable/)
- [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)


---

# Arap (Carab, Arab Isaaq)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/arap/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Arap (Carab, Arab) are an Isaaq clan of the Habar Magaadle. Abbink lists Elli, 'Idman, 'Abdulla and Isma'iil under them. The EUAA says they live in Hargeisa's Ahmed Dhagah district. Wikipedia places them south and west of Hargeisa, around Baligubadle and the Haud, and says Baligubadle was an SNM headquarters.

## Name and family tree

The Arap are a clan of the [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/), in the Habar Magaadle group. In Somali the name is written Carab. Wikipedia notes they are a Somali clan, not the Arab people ([Wikipedia, Arap, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Isaaq > Habr Magaadleh > Arap (Arab) ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 32](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Isaaq > Arab, with Arab Abdalla, Arab Salah and Musa Celi-Barsuug ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "The Isaaq/Arab and Isaaq/Ayub clans populate Ahmed Dhagah" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Muhammad (Arap), one of the eight sons of Sheikh Isaaq ([Wikipedia, Arap, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap)) |

Wikipedia says the Arap and the Garxajis are called "twin clans" in genealogy traditions (same source). See [the Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups (Abbink 2009, p. 32):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Elli (Celi) | Mohamed, with Ahmed, Musa and Zubeir under him |
| 'Idman | none given |
| 'Abdulla (Cabdalle) | none given |
| Isma'iil | Musa, with Gadwein under him |

Wikipedia names three sub-clans: the Cabdalle Carab, the Celi Carab and the Muuse Celi ([Wikipedia, Arap, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap)). ACLED codes an Arab Salah group, and a Barsuug group under Musa [Celi](/en/society/duduble/) (ACLED 2025). No Somali Wikipedia page on the Arap was found when this page was written.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hargeisa | The EUAA places them in Ahmed Dhagah district, with the Ayuub (EUAA Country Focus 2025). Wikipedia places them in the middle and south-west of the city ([Wikipedia, Arap, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap)) |
| Baligubadle and the Haud | Wikipedia says Baligubadle district is Arap land, and that they live widely in the Haud (same source) |
| Ethiopia | It names Faafan, Gursum and Dhagaxle (same source) |
| Togdheer and Sahil | It places the Cabdalle Carab there (same source) |
| Bakool | It places the Muuse Celi in Rabdhure and Ceel Barde districts (same source) |

See [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names the Arap among the Habar Magaadle fighters of Imam Ahmad ([Wikipedia, Arap, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap)). See [Imam Ahmad and Adal](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).
- **1916.** It lists three Arap men named in Geoffrey Archer's list of Dervish leaders (same source). See [the Dervish movement](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).
- **1980s.** It says Baligubadle was the headquarters of the Somali National Movement. It says Sultan Mohamed Sultan Farah was the first sultan to leave for Ethiopia and work with the SNM, in 1983 (same source). See [the Isaaq genocide](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).
- **1990s.** It says the Arap were the first clan to agree to hand in weapons. It describes a ceremony in Hargeisa's football stadium in early 1994 (same source).
- **People.** Wikipedia lists [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/), Hassan Isse Jama and the archaeologist Sada Mire among Arap people. It also lists the [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) leader [Ahmed Abdi Godane](/en/people/ahmed-abdi-godane/) (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says Sultan Mohamed Sultan Farah led the Arap through the 1990s disarmament. It says his son, Sultan Umar Sultan Mohamed, succeeded him in 2003 and led until his death in 2021 ([Wikipedia, Arap, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Arap ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It names the Arap only when describing where clans live in Hargeisa. See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Sub-clans.** Abbink lists Elli, 'Idman, 'Abdulla and Isma'iil. Wikipedia names the Cabdalle Carab, Celi Carab and Muuse Celi.
- **Arab Salah.** ACLED codes an Arab Salah group under the Isaaq, but also lists the name "Darood-Arab Salah". The two may be different groups.
- **Sources.** Wikipedia's Arap article cites few sources for its claims.

## Read more

- [Isaaq](/en/society/isaaq/)
- [The Isaaq tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-isaaq/)
- [Habar Yoonis](/en/society/habar-yoonis/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Awrtable (Ortable, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/awrtable/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Awrtable (Ortable) are a Darod clan that trace their line to Yusuf, a son of Darod. They live mainly in Nugaal and Mudug in Puntland, around Eyl, Burtinle, Garowe and Gaalkacyo, with groups in Ethiopia and Jubaland. Their largest line, Wikipedia says, is Muse Ibraahim. Their elder carries the title Ugaas.

## Name and family tree

The Awrtable are a clan of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Ortable, Aurtable and Owrtable ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Yuusuf > Awrtobleh, and also Darod > Sa'ade > Awrtable > Mur'ase ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Awrtable stands as its own line under the Darod, beside Harti, Ogaden, Marehan and Leelkase ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes Darod > Awrtable, and a separate Darod > Dhulbahante > Awrtable ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Awrtable is Yusuf, the youngest of the sons of Darod ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)) |

Wikipedia says the name joins *awr*, a large male pack camel, and *table*, "he who ties a knot". It tells a tradition that Yusuf, raised by his mother's Dir kin, tied up their camels. In the story, he did this to warn his father and brothers of a plot (same source). See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia gives this Awrtable tree, citing *Généalogie du peuple Somali* and the African Studies Centre ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Ibraahim | Muse Ibraahim, Maxamed Ibraahim, Geedi Ibraahim, Jamac Ibraahim, Guled Ibraahim, Ahmed Ibraahim and Farah Ibraahim |
| Other lines | Fiqi Idiris |

Wikipedia calls the Musa Ibrahim the largest Awrtable line. It also reports a tradition that the [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/) clan of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/) descend from the Awrtable (same source).

Abbink's chart names Mur'ase under Awrtable (Abbink 2009, Darod chart).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Eyl, Nugaal | "Close to the Eyl port town there is another smaller clan, the Awrtable" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Garowe | The EUAA lists "Darood/Awrtable" among groups living in Garowe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Nugaal, Mudug and Bari | Wikipedia names Burtinle, Gaalkacyo, Garowe, Eyl, Godob Jiraan, Bacadweyne and Boosaaso among their towns ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)) |
| Ethiopia and Jubaland | Wikipedia places groups in Ethiopia's Somali Region, at Afdheer and Shilaabo, and in Jubaland at Jamaame (same source) |

See [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/), [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **Before 1960.** Wikipedia says that before 1969, the Awrtable "made up a majority of Darod residents" in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)).
- **1943.** Wikipedia says Abdi Yusuf, of the Awrtable, was the first Somali killed in the Dhagaxtuur uprising against Italian rule (same source).
- **1943.** Wikipedia names Haji Diriye Hirsi, of the Awrtable, as a founding member of the Somali Youth League (same source). See [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia names Ugaas Omar Geele Mohamed as the current Ugaas of the Awrtable ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Awrtable ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The EASO describes Nugaal as a region with "no major clan conflicts on-going" (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink shows Awrtobleh under Yuusuf and Awrtable under Sa'ade. Wikipedia makes Awrtable the same person as Yusuf. ACLED also codes an Awrtable group under the [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/).
- **Dabarre.** Wikipedia reports a tradition linking the Dabarre to the Awrtable. Abbink and ACLED place the Dabarre under the [Digil](/en/society/digil/).

## Read more

- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Leelkase](/en/society/leelkase/)
- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/)


---

# Biyomaal (Biimaal, Bimal, Dir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/biyomaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Biyomaal (Biimaal, Bimal) are a Dir clan of southern Somalia. The EUAA says they live around Marka in Lower Shabelle and mainly in Jamaame in Lower Juba. Wikipedia names their lines as Sacad, Ismiin, Suleymaan and Cabdiraxmaan (Gaadsen), and records their long war against Italian rule in Lower Shabelle.

## Name and family tree

The Biyomaal are a clan of the [Dir](/en/society/dir/). The name is also written Biimaal, Bimaal, Bimal and Biyamal. Somali Wikipedia gives Jamaal as the proper name ([Somali Wikipedia, Biimaal, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biimaal)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Dir > Bimaal, with Da'ud under it, beside Soliman, Yasmin (Boras) and Sa'ad ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 17](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Dir > Biyamal; it codes Dir > Gadsan as a separate group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "the Biyomaal (Dir) clan around Marka" ([EUAA 2025, Lower Shabelle](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | A Dir sub-clan; it names Sacad, Daadow, Ismiin and Gaadsen as lines ([Wikipedia, Bimaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimaal)) |

See [the Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/).

## Main branches

| Source | Lines it names |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Da'ud, Soliman, Yasmin (with Boras) and Sa'ad (p. 17) |
| Wikipedia, overview | Saad, Ismin, Suleyman and Abdirahman ([Wikipedia, Bimaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimaal)) |
| Wikipedia, infobox | Gamaase Ali Geryaham, Sa'ad, Daadow, Ismiin and Abdirahman (Gaadsan) (same source) |

**Gaadsen.** Wikipedia counts the Gaadsen (Cabdiraxmaan Eremage) as a Biyomaal line. It places them mainly in Ethiopia's Somali Region, in Afdheer, Qoraxay and Liban. It adds [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), the two [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) regions and north-eastern Kenya (same source). ACLED codes the Gadsan separately under the Dir (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Lower Shabelle | The EUAA places them around Marka ([EUAA 2025, Lower Shabelle](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)). The EASO quotes an expert who put them at about 10% of the region ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Lower Juba | The EASO says Jamaame "is mainly inhabited by the Biyomaal (Dir) clan", which also holds much of the east-bank grazing (EASO 2021) |
| Kismayo | The EASO lists the Biimaal among smaller groups in the city (EASO 2021) |
| Wider area | Somali Wikipedia also names Qoryooley, Janaale, Sablaale, Baraawe and Buulo Mareer, and areas in Ethiopia and Kenya ([Somali Wikipedia, Biimaal, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biimaal)) |

See [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) and [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/).

## History on record

- **Late 1600s to 1700s.** Wikipedia says a group called the El Amir pushed the Ajuuraan out of Marka. It says the Biyomaal later took Marka from them ([Wikipedia, Bimaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimaal)).
- **1800s.** It says they fought the Geledi sultanate over Marka. It says Sultan Yusuf Mahamud of Geledi was killed in battle near Marka in 1848 (same source). See [the Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).
- **1800s.** It says Biyomaal farms used enslaved Bantu labour. It says slavery was still found there when Italy's governor arrived in 1923 (same source). See [minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).
- **1896 to 1926.** It says the Biyomaal fought Italian rule around Marka for about thirty years. This is called the Bimal revolt (same source).
- **1990s.** Abbink lists the Southern Somali National Movement (SSNM) as a Bimaal and southern Dir front (Abbink 2009, p. 39).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says the Italians renamed elders *capo qabiil* and drew them into colonial government ([Wikipedia, Bimaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimaal)). The EASO says Habar Gidir and Biyomaal elders signed a peace agreement in Marka in March 2018. It says the federal and South West governments and the UN backed it (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists two Biyomaal disputes for April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- with the Habar Gidir in Marka district. It says the Biyamal, [Digil](/en/society/digil/), Benadiri and Bantu "claim historical rights to the region over the Habar-Gedir".
- a dormant dispute with the Ogaden in [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), over "land ownership, governance structure, and power-sharing".

The EASO says the Biyomaal seek "a fairer share of the control over the security apparatus" in Marka (EASO 2021). See [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/), [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Lines.** Abbink names Da'ud, Soliman, Yasmin and [Sa'ad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/). Wikipedia names different sets in two places on the same page.
- **Place in the Dir.** Abbink lists the Bimaal on p. 17 and again as Biyamaal under Maahe > Hassan on p. 18, beside the Bajimal and Quranyow.
- **Gaadsen.** Wikipedia counts the Gaadsen as Biyomaal. ACLED codes them as a separate Dir group.
- **Size.** Somali Wikipedia gives population figures for several countries without a source. The EASO calls them a minority in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/). No census counts Somalis by clan.

## Read more

- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [The Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/)
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Surre](/en/society/surre/)


---

# Jidwaaq (Jidwaq, Absame, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/jidwaaq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Jidwaaq (Jidwaq) are a Darod clan of the Absame line. Their three main branches are the Abaskuul, the Yabarre and the Bartire. They live mainly around Jigjiga in Ethiopia's Somali Region, with groups in Jubaland and Kenya. The 1500s chronicle of Imam Ahmad's wars names their ancestors among the Somali forces of Adal.

## Name and family tree

The Jidwaaq are a clan of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). Wikipedia places them in the Absame branch and says the name means "the path of God" ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kumade > Jid Waaq ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes Darod > Bartire > Jidwaaq ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | A major sub-clan of the Absame Darod, with three branches ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists five groups under Jid Waaq: Abasgul, Bartire, Yabareg, Bah Geri Kombe and Tagal Waaq (Abbink 2009, Darod chart). Under the same Kumade line he also lists Galimeris, Absame, Abaskul, 'Abdi, Yabarre, Bartire, [Balad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) and Weiten.

Wikipedia names three branches today ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))):

| Branch | Other name |
|---|---|
| Rooble Jidwaaq | Abaskuul |
| Shahrudin Jidwaaq | Yabarre |
| Barre Jidwaaq | Bartire |

Wikipedia's Bartire article says the Habr Maqdi were an older union of the Bartire and Yabarre, now part of the Jidwaaq ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)). See [Bartire](/en/society/bartire/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia's Somali Region | Wikipedia places them mainly in the Jigjiga area, in Fafan Zone. It cites the UNHCR: most are agro-pastoralists who farm and keep livestock ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))) |
| Middle Juba | The EASO places "a pocket of the Bartire (Darood) clan" on the river's west bank, in the Hagar area ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Jubaland | Wikipedia places Jidwaaq south of Bu'aale ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))) |
| Kenya | Wikipedia places them in the former North Eastern Province (same source) |

See [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** The *Futuh al-Habasha* chronicle names "the tribe of Girri" with "their chieftain Ahmad Girri" among Imam Ahmad's Somali forces. Wikipedia reads Girri as the Jidwaaq ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))). See [the sultans of Ifat and Adal](/en/institutions/sultans-of-ifat-and-adal/).
- **1854 to 1855.** Richard Burton wrote that the Berteri "are estimated at 3000 shields" and "own allegiance to the Gerad Hirsi" ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)).
- **1800s.** Garaad Xirsi Faarax, called Wiil Waal, led the Bartire from Jigjiga (same source). A bilingual children's book tells his story today.
- **1840s.** A *Royal Geographical Society* journal called the "Burtirrh, and Girrhi" the "two most western branches of the family of Darood" ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Bartire title is *Garaad*. Wikipedia says Jigjiga is traditionally the seat of the Bartire Garaad ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Jidwaaq ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Elsewhere the same report lists an abduction on 25 August 2024. Eight Marehan and Bartire civilians were taken in Saakow after "crossing to the grazing land of the [Auliyan](/en/society/aulihan/) clan" (same source). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Bartire and Jidwaaq.** Abbink and Wikipedia put the Bartire under the Jidwaaq. ACLED codes the Jidwaaq under the Bartire, and also codes a Bartire group under the Ogaden.
- **Absame.** Wikipedia places the Jidwaaq under Absame. Abbink lists Absame and Jid Waaq side by side under Kumade.

## Read more

- [Bartire](/en/society/bartire/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/)
- [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)


---

# Mirifle (Rahanweyn, Sagaal and Sideed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mirifle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Mirifle are one of the two halves of the Rahanweyn (Digil-Mirifle) family, with the Digil. They are divided into two groups, the Sagaal (nine) and Sideed (eight). They live mainly in Bay and Bakool, around Baidoa and Xudur. Their larger clans include the Leysan, Hariin, Hadame, Eelay and Jiron.

## Name and family tree

The Mirifle are one of the two halves of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/), with the [Digil](/en/society/digil/). The name is also written Mirifleh and Mirefle.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Mirifle Siyeed (eight), and Rahanwen > Alemo (Mirifle Sagaal, nine) ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Mirifle are divided into two main clan groups, the 'eight and the nine' (Sagaal iyo Sideed)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 | The south-central chart lists the Mirifle with "17 sub-clans" under the Rahanweyn ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle, with about 20 coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

The UK Home Office notes that the Saab clans, the Digil and Mirifle, speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these Mirifle lines (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Siyeed > Medovo > Boqol Hore | Dissow, Eimid, Komal and Jalalle |
| Siyeed > Medovo > Boqol Daabe | Ma'alim Weyne, Jiron, Reer Dumal, Leisaan Hersi, Leisaan Bari, Harau and Garuwale |
| Siyeed > Medovo > Boqol Dambe | Harien |
| Siyeed > Medovo > Helai (Elay) | Borohad, Nassiye, Gedafade, Da'ud, Jembalul and Gurballabo |
| Siyeed > Leik Au Edda | Barbaro, Yantar, Helleda, Waravane and Gibile |
| Sagaal > Kassanle | Wen, Yer and 'Irde |
| Sagaal > Aysha Omardin | Hubeer, Wakdere, Wakbio, Gasar Gudda, Galluweger, Luwai, Hadama, Jelible, Sarma, Yantaar, Mangiar, Balguri, Wangial, Geledi and Eyle |

ACLED codes these Mirifle groups: Boqol Hore, Elay, Elidhere, Emid, Erdo, Gabaweyn, Hadame, Haraaw, Harin, [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/), [Jiron](/en/society/jiron/), Leeysan, [Luway](/en/society/luway/), Maalim Weyne and Yantar (ACLED 2025).

The EASO names the Laysaan, Harin, Hadama and Eelay as the strongest Mirifle clans (EASO 2021). See [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/), [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/), [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/) and [Eelay](/en/society/eelay/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bakool | The Rahanweyn of Bakool and Bay are "the Mirifle and the Digil, with the Mirifle more prevalent in Bakool" (EASO 2021) |
| Bay | "Mirifle clans tend to populate the northern half of the region, while Digil predominate in the southern portion" (EASO 2021) |
| Baidoa | "Baidoa town is mainly inhabited by the Rahanweyn, of which the Mirifle are the main inhabitants" (EASO 2021) |
| Gedo | The EUAA names the Gelidle (Mirifle) in Baardheere district, and Rahanweyn groups in Luuq ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |

See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **1940s to 1950s.** The EASO says a shared experience of marginalisation in this period bound the Mirifle and Digil together. It calls their political alliance "almost a century old" (EASO 2021).
- **2021.** The EASO says the Mirifle are "dominant over the Digil because larger in number and militarily better organised" (EASO 2021).
- **2018 to 2021.** The EASO says a federal intervention in Baidoa shifted power within the Mirifle "in favour of the Harin clan". Before that, it says, the Laysaan were dominant (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD says Rahanweyn elders are "more hierarchical and tightly related to the villages" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). In Bay, the EASO says political posts "have been carefully allocated to ensure power sharing between the Sagaal and Sideed" (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these disputes that name Mirifle clans ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Marehan (Darod) against Gelidle (Mirifle) in [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) district, Gedo, "currently dormant".
- Gelidle (Mirifle) against [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/) (Digil) in Diinsoor district, Bay.
- Leysan (Mirifle) against South West State forces in Bardaale, Bay.
- [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/) (Hawiye) against Shantalemod (Digil) "and other Mirifle clans" in [Wanlaweyn](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) district.
- [Reer Aw Hassan](/en/society/reer-aw-xasan/) (Marehan) and Gababweyne (Rahanweyn) against Moalim Weyne (Rahanweyn) in Luuq, Gedo.

The EASO earlier listed Gaaljeel (Hawiye) against Gelidle (Mirifle) around Burdhubo, Bakool (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Which half is eight or nine.** Abbink calls the Siyeed (eight) Mirifle and the Alemo line Mirifle Sagaal (nine). The EASO places Hariin and Leysan in the Sideed and Hadame in the Sagaal. Abbink lists Leisaan and Harien under Siyeed, and Hadama under Sagaal, which agrees.
- **[Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).** Abbink lists the Geledi among the Mirifle Sagaal. The World Bank and ACLED place the Geledi in the Digil.
- **Number of clans.** The World Bank chart says 17 sub-clans. Abbink lists over 30 lines.

## Read more

- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Digil](/en/society/digil/)
- [The Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/)
- [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/)
- [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)


---

# Surre (Qubeys and Cabdalle, Dir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/surre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Surre are a Dir clan of central Somalia, made up of the Qubeys and the Cabdalle. Abbink places them under Maahe of the Dir. Wikipedia places them in Mudug and Galgaduud, around Bacadweyne, Gaalkacyo, Towfiiq and Xeraale (Herale), and in Gedo and Ethiopia. The EUAA lists Surre disputes with the Mareexaan and Sheekhaal.

## Name and family tree

The Surre are a clan of the [Dir](/en/society/dir/). Somali Wikipedia says they are also called *Dirta Dhexe* (the central Dir). It says they are known as the Cabdalle and Qubeys ([Somali Wikipedia, Surre, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surre_(beel))).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Dir > Maahe > Suhure, with Qubeys and 'Abdalle under it ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 18](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Dir > Qubeys ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Saleban Abdalle (Surre/Dir)" and "Surre (Dir)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Dir > Mehe > Surre, with Qubeys, Habardeel and Abdalle ([Wikipedia, Surre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surre_(clan))) |

See [the Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups (Abbink 2009, p. 18):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Qubeys | Lafagaab |
| 'Abdalle | 'Abdi, Na'adoor, Suleiman and Goorad |

Wikipedia gives this tree ([Wikipedia, Surre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surre_(clan))):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Qubeys | Tolweyne, Axadoobe (Cabdalle Diidshe and Cismaan Diidshe), Reer Toonle (Fiqi Cumar and Fiqi Yaxye) and Yabadhaale (Midkasse and Wayaagle) |
| Habardeel | none given |
| Cabdalle | Maxamed Cabdalle (Na'door), Yuusuf Cabdalle (Goorod), Cabdi Cabdalle (Fiqi Maxamed and Aadan Faarax) and Saleebaan Cabdalle (Fiqi Khayre and Muuse Faarax) |

Wikipedia's separate Qubeys page gives a longer list of Qubeys sub-groups ([Wikipedia, Qubeys, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubeys)). Both Wikipedia pages carry warnings that they need more sources.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Southern Mudug | The EASO says "a small enclave of Qubeys, of the Dir clan family" lives in the south of the region ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Mudug and Nugaal | Wikipedia places the Saleebaan Cabdalle in Towfiiq district, Gaalkacyo and Godobjiraan, with a presence in Boosaaso. It places the Qubeys around Bacadweyne ([Wikipedia, Surre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surre_(clan))) |
| Galgaduud to Gedo | It places the Fiqi Maxamed from Xeraale (Herale) district to Boholgaras in Gedo, and across the border in Dolo Ado and Chereti (same source) |
| Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle | It names Golweyn and Marka (same source) |
| Sanaag | It places a Surre group, the Cabaas Muuse, in Badhan district (same source) |

See [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/).

## History on record

- **About 1316.** Wikipedia says the Surre moved from what is now [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) to central and southern Somalia around this year. It gives no source for the date ([Wikipedia, Surre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surre_(clan))).
- **Faith.** It says the Surre are linked with spreading Islam and the [Qadiriyya](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) Sufi order in central and southern Somalia (same source). See [Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).
- **Colonial records.** It says Italian and British writers often called them simply "the Dir" of the centre and south (same source).
- **1990s.** It says that in 1996 the Southern Somali National Movement represented the Surre (same source).
- **Later figures.** It lists Mahad Abdalle Awad, a deputy speaker of the federal parliament, and Zakia Hussein, a deputy police commissioner (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The EUAA says mediation was under way in February 2025 in the Surre and Sheekhaal dispute in Mudug ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Wikipedia names many *fiqi* (religious scholar) lines among the Surre ([Wikipedia, Surre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surre_(clan))). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these Surre disputes for April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- the Saleebaan Cabdalle with the Loboge (Sheekhaal) in Towfiiq and Afbarwaaqo districts, Mudug
- with the Mareexaan in [Caabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/) and at Laandheer, Galgaduud
- opposition to the new Galwaq region, in the Xeraale (Herale) area, Galgaduud
- with the Sheekhaal in Jariiban and Hobyo districts, where it says they "clashed repeatedly in the course of 2023-2024"

See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Name.** Abbink writes Suhure. Wikipedia and the EUAA write Surre.
- **Lines.** Abbink names Qubeys and 'Abdalle. Wikipedia adds the Habardeel as a third line.
- **Sources.** Both Wikipedia pages cite few sources. The 1316 date has no source.

## Read more

- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [Biyomaal](/en/society/biyomaal/)
- [The Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/)
- [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)
- [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/)


---

# Digil (Rahanweyn, Digil-Mirifle)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/digil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Digil are one of the two halves of the Rahanweyn (Digil-Mirifle) family, with the Mirifle. They are mostly settled farmers in southern Bay and Lower Shabelle, between the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Their clans include the Geledi, Tunni, Garre, Jiiddu, Begedi, Dabarre and Shanta Caleemo.

## Name and family tree

The Digil are one of the two halves of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/), with the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/). The UK Home Office says the Digil and Mirifle "trace back their ancestry to Saab" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | DIGIL, as its own top heading beside Rahanwen ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | The south-central chart puts the Digil under the Rahanweyn. The Puntland chart lists Rahanweyn and Digil as two families ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | A Saab chart with "Rahanwein/Mirifle" and "Digil" as two branches ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 28](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Digil, with about 15 coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

The Digil speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/), like the Mirifle (UK Home Office 2019). See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these groups under the Digil (Abbink 2009, Digil chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Dabarre | Dirmedo and Ieran |
| Jiddu | Hafow (Gadinale, Gowsitta, Gulle, Seyye), Farre and Gogo (nine lines) |
| Other lines | Dubdere, Irole, Garre, Dagine, Osman and Dube |

Abbink gives the [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/) a separate heading, with five lines.

The World Bank's south-central chart names the Digil as "Geledi, Tunni, Garre, Jiiddo, Begedi, Shanta-Alen" (World Bank 2005). ACLED codes these Digil groups: Bagadi, Dabarre, Duubane-Darbane, Garre, Garre Maqabul, Garwale, Geledle, Heledo, Jambaluul, Jiido, Jiido Safar, Jilible, Shanta Caleemo and Tuni (ACLED 2025).

See [Garre](/en/society/garre/), [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/), [Dabarre](/en/society/dabarre/) and [Begedi](/en/society/begedi/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bay | "Digil predominate in the southern portion, toward the Lower Shabelle region" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Lower Shabelle | Long-settled groups "include many sub-clans of the Digil-Mirifle clan-family, the largest of which include the Tunni, Tunni-Tore, Eelay, Garre, Bagadi, Geledi, and Jiddu" (EASO 2021) |
| Lower Shabelle | An EASO source estimated the region as "Digil 55-60 %, Hawiye 30%, Biyomaal 10%" (EASO 2021) |
| Marka district | The EUAA says the district "is home to Biyamal, Digil (Rahanweyne), 12 Koofi (Benadiri), and Madow (Bantu)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |

See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **1700s to 1900s.** The Geledi, a Digil clan, ruled a sultanate at Afgooye. See [the Geledi Sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and [the sultans of Geledi](/en/institutions/sultans-of-geledi/).
- **1940s to 1950s.** The EASO says a shared marginalisation in this period keeps the Digil and Mirifle "firmly together" (EASO 2021).
- **1991 onward.** ACCORD says Digil groups, "despite not being a minority, were suppressed by the Hawiye" in the war (ACCORD 2009, p. 20).
- **Before 2009.** ACCORD says [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) moved into [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) "on the basis of supporting the Digil and the Biymaal" (ACCORD 2009, p. 20).
- **2021.** The EASO says the Digil feel "under that alliance" with the Mirifle. They claim they are "not getting their fair share" (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" (UK Home Office 2019, quoting EASO 2014).

ACCORD says Digil-Mirifle clans are made of four to seven *jilib* that pay compensation together. Their elders are "more hierarchical and tightly related to the villages" (ACCORD 2009, p. 13). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these disputes that name Digil clans ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Gelidle (Mirifle) against Dabarre (Digil) in Diinsoor district, Bay.
- [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/) (Hawiye) against Shantalemod (Digil) and other Mirifle clans in [Wanlaweyn](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) district.
- Geledi (Digil) and Wacdaan (Hawiye) against Habar Gidir (Hawiye) in Afgooye district.
- Garre (Digil) against Jiido (Digil) in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) district, Lower Shabelle.

The EASO describes "an on-going rivalry between Hawiye and non-Hawiye clans" in Lower Shabelle, "both the Biyomaal and Digil", over farmland (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **One family or two.** The World Bank's south-central chart and ACLED place the Digil inside the Rahanweyn. The [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) chart and Abbink list them apart.
- **Garre.** ACCORD says the Garre are often counted as Digil, "but are sometimes also described as being distinct" (ACCORD 2009, p. 20).
- **Geledi.** The World Bank and ACLED place the Geledi in the Digil. Abbink lists them among the Mirifle Sagaal.

## Read more

- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [The Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/)
- [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/)
- [Garre](/en/society/garre/)
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


---

# Sheekhaal (Sheikhal, Fiqi Cumar)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/sheekhaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Sheekhaal (Sheikhal) are a Somali lineage group with a religious status, tracing descent to Sheikh Fiqi Cumar. ACCORD says most are now linked with the Hiraab of the Hawiye. The EUAA names their main lines as Loobage, Jaziira and Aw Qudub. It says Aw Qudub mainly live in Ethiopia's Somali Region, and Jaziira and Loobage in and around Mogadishu.

## Name and family tree

The Sheekhaal are a Somali lineage group with an inherited religious status. The name is also written Sheikhal and Sheekhaash. They take the name Fiqi Cumar from the ancestor they claim ([Somali Wikipedia, Sheekhaal, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheekhaal)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Sheikhaal under the Hawiye, with Lobogay, Aw Qudhub, Gandershe, Aw Hassan, Martile and Reer Fiqi Omar ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | Lineages that "all trace descent in legendary terms from the same ancestor, Sheikh Faqi Omar", quoting Virginia Luling ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 19](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Sheikhal > Awqudub ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Sheikhal (associated to Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Descent from Sheikh Abadir Umar ar-Rida (Fiqi Umar), traced to the caliph Abu Bakr ([Wikipedia, Sheekhaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheekhaal)) |

See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

The EUAA says the Sheekhaal "are divided in the main lineages Loboge, Jazeera and Aw Qutub" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.4](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

| Source | Lines it names |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Reer Aw Qudub (Qudub Fiqi Cumar), Reer Axmed Loobage, Reer Aw Xasan, Sheekhaal Jaziira (Maxamed Fiqi Cumar) and Sheekhaal Gendershe (Cismaan Fiqi Cumar) ([Wikipedia, Sheekhaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheekhaal)) |
| Somali Wikipedia | Eighteen sons of Fiqi Cumar, among them Loobage, Aw Qudub, Gandarshe, Jaziira, Cali Cafii, Aw Xasan, Guudle and Duduble ([Somali Wikipedia, Sheekhaal, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheekhaal)) |
| Abbink 2009 | Lobogay, Aw Qudhub, Gandershe, Aw Hassan, Martile and Reer Fiqi Omar (Reer Sheikh, Aw Gutub) (p. 27) |

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia's Somali Region | The EUAA says the Aw Qudub "mainly reside in the Somali Region of Ethiopia" (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Mogadishu | It says the Jaziira and Loobage live "mainly in and around Mogadishu" (same source). The EASO lists the Sheekhaal among Hawiye clans with a sizeable presence in the city ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Lower Shabelle, Bay and Hiiraan | The EASO names the Sheekhaal among clans in each region (EASO 2021) |
| Mudug | The EUAA records the Loobage in Towfiiq and Afbarwaaqo districts (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Kenya | Wikipedia adds north-eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia, Sheekhaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheekhaal)) |

See [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/), [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) and [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/).

## History on record

- **Origins.** Wikipedia names their ancestor as [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abadir Umar ar-Rida, whom it calls the patron saint of Harar ([Wikipedia, Sheekhaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheekhaal)). See [Harar, capital of Adal](/en/history/harar-capital-of-adal-1520-1577/).
- **1850s.** It says Richard Burton saw them as the only Somalis whose line did not come from the Dir or Darod (same source).
- **1982 to 1991.** It says General Mohamed Ibrahim Liiqliiqato, a Sheekhaal, was speaker of parliament (same source).
- **After 1991.** ACCORD says the Sheekhaal near Mogadishu built up private education, largely through the Al-Islah movement and the FPENS network. It says they also sought ties with the Hawiye and General Aideed's USC (ACCORD 2009, p. 19).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The EUAA says the Sheekhaal and Asharaaf "were respected by other clans as 'religious people' or even 'teachers of religion'". It says both lost clan protection in the civil war of the 1990s. It adds that members still "occasionally face discrimination" (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.4). See [Asharaaf](/en/society/asharaaf/) and [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists two Sheekhaal disputes for April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- the Loobage with the Saleebaan Cabdalle (Surre) in Towfiiq and Afbarwaaqo districts, Mudug
- with the Surre in Jariiban and Hobyo districts, where mediation was under way in February 2025

See [Surre](/en/society/surre/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Hawiye or not.** Abbink and ACLED list them under the Hawiye. ACCORD and the EUAA say they are "associated" with the Hawiye. Wikipedia says some Sheekhaal, such as the Aw Qudub, reject being called Hawiye.
- **Lines.** The EUAA names three main lines. Wikipedia names five. Somali Wikipedia lists eighteen sons of Fiqi Cumar.
- **Ancestry.** Wikipedia traces them to the caliph Abu Bakr. ACCORD calls the shared descent "legendary".

## Read more

- [Asharaaf](/en/society/asharaaf/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [The Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Garre (Gurreh, Digil and pre-Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/garre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Garre (Gurreh) are a Somali clan placed in different families by different sources: under the Digil of the Rahanweyn, or with the 'pre-Hawiye' Gardere group. They live in Lower Shabelle around Qoryooley, in Gedo around Ceel Waaq, and in north-eastern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, where many also speak Oromo.

## Name and family tree

The Garre are a Somali clan. The name is also written Gurreh, Garreh and Gerra. Sources place them in different families.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Two places: Digil > Garre, and Gardere-Yakabur-Mayle > Mayle > Gerra (Tuf and Kuranyo) ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Under the Digil, with the Geledi, Tunni, Jiiddo, Begedi and Shanta-Alen ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "Often considered as part of the Digil / Rahanweyn group, but are sometimes also described as being distinct as a group of its own" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| EASO 2021 | "Some argue the Garre are distant kin of the Hawiye clan family, others argue the clan is more closely associated with the Digil-Mirifle" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Digil > Garre, and Garre Maqabul ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/) and [Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists two Gerra lines under Mayle: Tuf and Kuranyo (Abbink 2009). Wikipedia tells a tradition that the founder had two sons, Tuff and Qur'an ([Wikipedia, Garre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre)).

Wikipedia also describes three Garre groups by speech. The first speak Oromo, in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The Garre Marre live along the Ganale Doria and [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) rivers. The Garre Konfuur live in south-central Somalia (same source).

ACLED codes a Garre Maqabul group under the Digil (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Lower Shabelle | The EASO lists the Garre among the largest long-settled Digil-Mirifle groups (EASO 2021) |
| Qoryooley | The EUAA records a Garre and Jiido dispute in Qoryooley district ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Gedo | "In El Waq district, the Marehan share the region with the Garre clan, which speaks Oromo as well as Somali" (EASO 2021) |
| Kenya and Ethiopia | Wikipedia places Garre in Kenya's former North Eastern Province and in southern Ethiopia ([Wikipedia, Garre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre)) |

See [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) and [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names Imam Mataan bin Uthmaan at the head of a Somali force. It calls him a Garre leader ([Wikipedia, Garre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre)).
- **1700s.** Wikipedia says the Garre controlled trade from Luuq to Borana country, using Oromo as the trade language (same source).
- **June to July 2024.** The EUAA records "a clash in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) between the Jiido and Garre clans (both part of Digil)". It says the clash "reportedly left at least two people dead" ([EUAA 2025, Lower Shabelle](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says Galgala, on the Dawa river, "is looked on as a tribal headquarter and is the burying place of the chiefs" ([Wikipedia, Garre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Garre (Digil/Rahanweyne) versus Jiido (Digil/Rahanweyne), in the Qoryoole District, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) Region" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Family.** The World Bank, ACLED and ACCORD lean to the Digil. Abbink also lists a Gerra line under the "pre-Hawiye" Mayle. The EASO reports both views.
- **Ancestor.** Wikipedia traces the Garre to [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/) through Gardheere. Saab is the usual ancestor of the Digil (UK Home Office 2019).
- **Old claims.** Wikipedia carries claims about the founding of Baraawe and Kismayo and about genetics. The other sources here do not support them.

## Read more

- [Digil](/en/society/digil/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/)
- [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/)
- [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/)


---

# Sacad (Sa'ad, Habar Gidir, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Sacad (Sa'ad, Saad) are a Habar Gidir clan of the Hawiye. Abbink lists the Reer Hiluwe, Reer Jalaf, Reer Nimale and Lugayare under them. The EUAA says they are the dominant clan of southern Mudug, and the EASO names them among the five main clans of north Galgaduud. Wikipedia says Somalia's first prime minister, Abdullahi Issa, was Sacad.

## Name and family tree

The Sacad are a clan of the [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/), part of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/). The name is also written Sa'ad and Saad. They are a different group from the [Sacad Muuse](/en/society/sacad-muuse/) of the Isaaq.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Hirab > Habr Gidir > Sa'ad ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir > Sacad, with many sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "the Hawiye (Habar Gidir Sa'ad sub-clan)" ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Lists "Sa'ad Madarkicis" as a Habar Gidir branch ([Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)) |

See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists four groups under Sa'ad: Reer Hiluwe, Reer Jalaf, Reer Nimale and Lugayare (Abbink 2009, p. 27).

ACLED codes these Sacad groups (ACLED 2025):

| Group | Other spellings ACLED uses |
|---|---|
| Reer Hilowle | Saad-Reer-Hilowle |
| Reer Jalaf | Jalaaf, Saad-Reer-Jalaf |
| Reer Nimcaale | Nimaale, Saad-Nimcaale |
| Sacad Barkhadle, Sacad Farale, Sacad Indhayar, Sacad Muse | Saad-Barkhadle, Saad-Farale, Saad-Indhayar, Saad-Muse |

The Somali Wikipedia page on the Habar Gidir discusses where the Sacad fit in the tree. That discussion is long and unsourced ([Somali Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)). No separate Wikipedia page on the Sacad was found when this page was written.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Southern Mudug | The EASO says the south of Mudug "is mainly inhabited by the Saad", who are "the dominant clan in the area" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). The EUAA says the same ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| North Galgaduud | The EASO names the Saad among the five major clans there, with the Saleebaan, Cayr, Mareexaan and Dir (EASO 2021) |
| Gaalkacyo | The EASO describes Sacad rivalries in and around the city, which is split between Galmudug and Puntland (EASO 2021) |

See [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/).

## History on record

- **1950s.** Wikipedia says [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/), of the Reer Nimcaale, led the Somali Youth League. It says he became the first prime minister of Somalia under trusteeship ([Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)).
- **1991 to 2021.** The EASO describes the long rivalry in north Mudug between the Habar Gidir and the Majeerteen and [Leelkase](/en/society/leelkase/). It says these rural disputes "often spill over to Galkcayo" (EASO 2021).
- **2021.** The EASO says the Saad were the main clan resisting [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)'s spread in southern Mudug. It adds that "they are overwhelmed, one by one" (EASO 2021).
- **2024 to 2025.** The EUAA says government and allied forces fought Al-Shabaab across southern Mudug. It says they regained "key areas" by February 2025 ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The EASO records that after a Sacad and Leelkase clash near Gaalkacyo in May 2020, the two sides settled. It says this came "with the exchange of compensation and the signing of a cooperation agreement for peaceful coexistence" (EASO 2021). Wikipedia's Habar Gidir page shows a photo of a Sa'ad chief ([Wikipedia, Habar Gidir, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habar_Gidir)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these Sacad disputes for April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- with the Mareexaan in the west of Gaalkacyo district, dormant as of February 2025
- with the [Cumar Maxamuud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) (Majeerteen) in Gaalkacyo and Jiriiban districts, dormant as of February 2025

The EUAA also records Sacad and Leelkase clashes over grazing in [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/) district in October 2023 and in June and December 2024 ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)). Earlier, the EASO listed Sacad disputes with the Wagardhac (Mareexaan) at Gelinsoor and Saaxo, and with Dir groups at Towfiiq (EASO 2021). See [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/), [Surre](/en/society/surre/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Sections.** Abbink names four groups. ACLED codes several more, such as the Sacad Indhayar and Sacad Barkhadle.
- **Place in the tree.** Somali Wikipedia's Habar Gidir page says the Sacad descend through a different line from the other Habar Gidir. It gives no source. No other source here supports or tests this.
- **People.** Wikipedia places Abdullahi Issa in the Sacad. It names General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid as Habar Gidir without naming his sub-clan.

## Read more

- [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)
- [Saleebaan](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/)
- [Cayr](/en/society/cayr/)
- [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)


---

# Duduble (Maxamuud Hiraab, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/duduble/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Duduble, also called Maxamuud Hiraab, are a Hawiye clan of the Hiraab line. Wikipedia names their main lines as Aarsade, Maxamed Camal, Iijecle, Habar Awradeen, Maqlisame, Celi, Bisin, Qadhoob and Da'uud. The EUAA names them among the main clans of Galgaduud, and they also live in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle. Sources differ on whether they sit inside the Habar Gidir.

## Name and family tree

The Duduble are a clan of the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/), in the Hiraab line with the [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/), the [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/) and the [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/). Wikipedia says they are also known as Maxamuud Hiraab. It says the name comes from *dudub*, "strength", a nickname of their founder ([Wikipedia, Duduble, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duduble)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Hirab > Duduble, listed beside Mudulood, Madarki'is and Habr Gidir ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Hawiye > Hiraab > Duduble, beside Habar Gidir, Mudulood and Sheekhaal (Wikipedia, Duduble, backup) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Habar Gedir > Duduble, with Eli and Mohamed Amal ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Duduble (Habar Gedir/Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Lists Duduble in the Gorgate group with Abgaal, Habar Gidir, Sheekhaal and Udeejeen ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |

Wikipedia cites a UNHCR note that the Duduble are "the youngest among the Hiraab family" (Wikipedia, Duduble, backup). See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia lists nine lines (Wikipedia, Duduble, backup):

1. Aarsade
2. Maxamed Camal
3. Iijecle
4. Habar Awradeen
5. Maqlisame
6. Celi
7. Bisin
8. Qadhoob
9. Da'uud

Somali Wikipedia says the Duduble have eight large *lafo* (bones). It lists Maxamed Camal, with Cabdi, Maxamuud (Kuulbayr) and Afrax Maxamed under it. It also lists Maqlisame, with Ugaas Wehliye and Reer Nuur. Further lines it names are Aarsade, Celi, Da'uud, Samadoor, Iijecle, Bisin, Qadhoob, Hantile and Awradeen ([Somali Wikipedia, Duduble, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duduble)). ACLED codes two sub-groups, Eli and Mohamed Amal (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Galgaduud | The EUAA names the Duduble among the main clans of the region ([EUAA 2025, Galgaduud](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/251-galgaduud)). The EASO places them in the south-east, around Ceel Buur and Ceel Dheer ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Ceel Buur area | Somali Wikipedia names Ceel Buur, Dooxa Duduble, Ceel Garas, Xiindheer, Galo and many other villages (Somali Wikipedia, Duduble, backup) |
| Mogadishu | Somali Wikipedia names the Heliwaa and Daarusalaam districts, and parts of Yaaqshiid and Hodan (same source) |
| Lower Shabelle | Wikipedia adds Lower Shabelle. It cites an Italian account of 1909 that placed them between Mogadishu and Merca (Wikipedia, Duduble, backup) |

See [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/).

## History on record

- **1600s to 1700s.** Wikipedia says a chief known as Caaqil Dheryodhoobe led the clan in the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) area. It says drought and conflict later moved parts of the clan south (Wikipedia, Duduble, backup).
- **1921.** Wikipedia cites a former Ceel Buur district governor, Hussein Ali Dualeh. He wrote that the Duduble *ugaas* and other leaders were given rifles near Hobyo to fight Sultan Ali Yusuf Kenadid of Hobyo (same source).
- **1991 to 2000.** It says the Duduble worked mainly within the USC and then the Somali National Alliance. It records a clash with the Cayr in Mogadishu on 12 September 1995, ended by elders (same source).
- **2001.** It says the Duduble joined the Cayr, Murusade and [Mareexaan](/en/society/mareexaan/) groups in forming the [Juba Valley Alliance](/en/history/juba-valley-alliance/) (same source).
- **1990s to 2006.** It says Duduble figures set up Islamic courts in Mogadishu. It says the clan became a core part of the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) (same source).
- **2007 to 2014.** It says the Duduble were a core part of the armed resistance to Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu in 2007. It says elders in Ceel Buur signed an agreement with [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) in December 2011. It also records that a Duduble MP, Abdullahi Isse Abtidon, was killed in April 2009 by suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen (same source). See [the war of 2006 to 2009](/en/history/war-in-somalia-2006-2009/).
- **2020s.** It says the Duduble now take part in the fight against Al-Shabaab (same source).

Wikipedia lists the runner [Abdi Nageeye](/en/people/abdi-nageeye/) and the activist [Elman Ali Ahmed](/en/people/elman-ali-ahmed/) as Duduble. It also names Mohamed Abdulle Halane, a veteran of the [1964 border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/) (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia quotes a Duduble *suldaan*, Farah Foodey, on the 1921 war with Hobyo. It says Duduble courts in the 1990s let a victim's family choose between *diya* and the death penalty (Wikipedia, Duduble, backup). Somali Wikipedia names an Ugaas Wehliye line within the Maqlisame (Somali Wikipedia, Duduble, backup). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these Duduble disputes as active or possibly active in April 2023 to March 2025 ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- with the Cayr, on the outskirts of Dhuusamarreeb district
- with the Saleebaan, in villages near Cadaado district
- with the Murusade, in villages near Ceel Buur. The EUAA says Al-Shabaab, which controls that area, stopped the fighting.

The EUAA also records that on 3 October 2024 a Duduble militia attacked pastoralists from another clan in Gaalo village near Dhuusamarreeb (same source). Earlier, the EASO said the Duduble, Murusade and Waceysle in south-east Galgaduud saw the Habar Gidir of the north as dominant in Galmudug. It quoted a security expert who called Al-Shabaab "a convenient partner" for those groups (EASO 2021). See [Saleebaan](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink and Wikipedia put the Duduble beside the Habar Gidir under Hiraab. ACLED and the EUAA code them under the Habar Gidir.
- **Sections.** Wikipedia lists nine lines. Somali Wikipedia says eight, then names more, including Samadoor and Hantile.
- **Early history.** Somali Wikipedia links the Duduble to ancient [Punt](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/) and the [Macrobians](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/). It gives no source for this, and no other source here makes the claim.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Habar Gidir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)
- [Murusade](/en/society/murusade/)
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/)


---

# Tunni (Digil, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/tunni/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Tunni are a Digil clan of the Rahanweyn. They live between Baraawe and Qoryooley in Lower Shabelle, and east of the Juba around Jamaame. Some farm and keep livestock inland, and others are traders and fishers in Baraawe. Abbink lists five Tunni lines, and Wikipedia records a Tunni sultanate before the Ajuran.

## Name and family tree

The Tunni are a clan of the [Digil](/en/society/digil/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Tuni.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | TUNNI, as its own heading beside the Digil and Rahanwen ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Tunni are part of Rahanweyn/Digil" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "The Tunni are also part of Digil" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Under the Digil, with the Geledi, Garre, Jiiddo, Begedi and Shanta-Alen ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Digil > Tuni ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists five Tunni lines (Abbink 2009, Tunni chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Daffarat | Arweri, Boqolle, Reer Mudun and Geesi |
| Weriille | Mudove, Gafle, Tera (Yare) and Furur |
| Ajiuwa | Hura, Waaqsheyn, Mabagolle and Nijey |
| Daqtira | Min-horaad, Waransille, Bedelamma and Kummurto |
| Goigal | Hamar, Doile, Matangalle and Fadiido |

Wikipedia names the same five: Da'farad, Dakhtira, Goygali, Hajuwa and Waridi ([Wikipedia, Tunni Sultanate, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunni_Sultanate)).

The EUAA describes a third group, the Tunni Torre. It says they are "people of Bantu origin, possibly ex-slaves and/or former clients of other Tunni groups" (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.3).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Inland Lower Shabelle | "Some Tunni live as agriculturalists and pastoralists in the hinterland of the southern Benadir coast" (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Baraawe | Others "are city dwellers and live in Barawa. They are traders and/or fishermen" (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Lower Juba | The Tunni "occupy grazing areas south of Jamaame town to the coast and up to Baraawe" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Lower Juba | The EUAA lists "the Tunni (Digil-Mirifle)" among the region's people ([EUAA 2025, Lower Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/213-lower-juba)) |

See [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## History on record

- **About 900s to 1200s.** Wikipedia describes a Tunni Sultanate with its centre at [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/), and later Baraawe ([Wikipedia, Tunni Sultanate, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunni_Sultanate)).
- **Same period.** It says a Tunni saint, Aw-Al, founded Baraawe. It cites Ibn Sa'id, who called Baraawe "an Islamic island on the Somali coast" (same source). See [Somali coast towns, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).
- **Mid-1200s.** Wikipedia says the Ajuran took over the Tunni lands (same source). See [the Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/).
- **To the early 1990s.** The EUAA says the Rahanweyn, Tunni included, "have been marginalised until the early 1990s" (EUAA Country Focus 2025).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia records a Tunni treaty with the Jiiddu that split the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) banks between them ([Wikipedia, Tunni Sultanate, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunni_Sultanate)). See [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/) and [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Tunni ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It says coastal Tunni "face discrimination based on clan politics" (section 1.4.3). The EUAA reports high clan tension in the Baraawe area in 2024 ([EUAA 2025, Lower Shabelle](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** The EUAA, ACCORD, World Bank and ACLED put the Tunni in the Digil. Abbink gives them a separate heading.
- **Language.** The EUAA says coastal Tunni have "cultural and linguistic ties to the [Benadiri](/en/society/minority-communities/)", and some also speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/). The UK Home Office notes a "Tunni subclan dialect of Af-Maymay" in Baraawe (UK Home Office 2019).

## Read more

- [Digil](/en/society/digil/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Garre](/en/society/garre/)
- [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/)
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


---

# Ajuuraan (Ajuran, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ajuuraan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Ajuuraan (Ajuran) are a Somali clan usually counted with the Hawiye. Abbink places them under Jambelle Hawiye, with the Garen, Gelberis, Yibidalla, Gashe, Dulhata and Waqle lines. Other traditions trace them to Bal'ad on the father's side. They live mainly in north-eastern Kenya and Ethiopia's Somali Region, with smaller groups in Gedo and Middle Juba. The clan is linked to the Ajuran state of the Middle Ages.

## Name and family tree

The Ajuuraan are a Somali clan usually counted with the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/). The name is also written Ajuran and Ajuraan. Wikipedia gives Moorshe as another Somali name ([Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajuran_(clan))).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Jambelle > Ajuraan ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 28](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Ajuran, with no sub-groups coded ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| ACCORD 2009 | "The Ajuraan are often seen as part of the Hawiye" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)) |
| EASO 2021 | "Ajuraan (proto-Hawiye)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Lists the Ajuran among the "Hawiye associates" ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |

Wikipedia records a second tradition. In it the Ajuuraan descend on the father's side from Bal'ad, son of Allama. They link to the Hawiye through their mother Faduma, a daughter of Jambelle. It names I. M. Lewis, [Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/) and Lee Cassanelli as recording this (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup). See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists six lines under Ajuraan (Abbink 2009, p. 28):

1. Garen
2. Gelberis
3. Yibidalla
4. Gashe
5. Dulhata
6. Waqle

Under Jambelle, Abbink also lists Hintere, Garure, Arure and Olagir beside the Ajuraan (same source). Wikipedia repeats Abbink's list. It also names a Wallemugge section in Kenya (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup).

## Where they live

No census in Somalia counts people by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Kenya | Wikipedia says most Ajuuraan live in north-eastern Kenya (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup). Kenya's 2019 census counts the Ajuran as a group of their own. The KNBS ethnic table lists 177,855 people ([KNBS, Ethnic affiliation, 2019 census](https://new.knbs.or.ke/ethnic-affiliation/)) |
| Ethiopia | Wikipedia adds the Somali Region of Ethiopia (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup) |
| Gedo | The EASO places small Ajuraan communities on the east bank of the Jubba, and in Baardheere (EASO 2021) |
| Middle Juba | The EASO places them on the east bank in Bu'aale district (EASO 2021) |
| Mogadishu | Wikipedia says some live in Mogadishu (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup) |

Wikipedia says Ajuuraan in Somalia speak standard Somali, and those by the rivers of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/). It says some in Kenya also speak Borana (same source). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/).

## History on record

- **Middle Ages to about 1700.** Wikipedia says the clan's Garen house ruled the [Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/) and the Mogadishu Sultanate (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup). The Library of Congress dates the state to about 1550 to 1650 ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).
- **Late 1600s to early 1700s.** Wikipedia records conflicts in south-central Somalia. It says these pushed the Ajuuraan out of today's Hawiye land (Wikipedia, Ajuran clan, backup).
- **1930s.** Wikipedia says Olol Dinle was called "Sultan of Sciavelli ([Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)) and Auia (Hawiye)". It says he was accused of working with Italy against Ethiopia, and was killed in 1960 (same source).

Wikipedia names Faduma Sarjelle and the sultan Rasul ibn Ali among Ajuuraan figures (same source). The [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/) founder's mother is traced to the Garen house in one tradition.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

None of the sources used here names a current Ajuuraan *suldaan* or *ugaas*. See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Ajuuraan ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). ACLED codes an Ajuran group for its event data (ACLED 2025). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Father's line.** Abbink places the Ajuuraan under Jambelle Hawiye. Lewis, Mukhtar and Cassanelli, as cited by Wikipedia, record descent from Bal'ad with a Hawiye mother.
- **Label.** ACCORD and ACLED count them as Hawiye. The EASO calls them "proto-Hawiye", and the World Bank chart calls them "Hawiye associates".
- **Kenya figure.** Other copies of the 2019 census tables give a slightly different Ajuran total. The KNBS figure is used here.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [The Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/)
- [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/)
- [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)


---

# Jiiddu (Jiddu, Jiido, Digil)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/jiiddu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Jiiddu (Jiddu, Jiido) are a Digil clan of the Rahanweyn with their own language, Af-Jiiddu. They live in Lower Shabelle, Bay and Middle Juba, around Qoryooley. Abbink lists three Jiiddu lines: Hafow, Farre and Gogo. The EUAA records a Garre and Jiiddu dispute in Qoryooley that turned deadly in 2024.

## Name and family tree

The Jiiddu are a clan of the [Digil](/en/society/digil/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Jiddu and Jiido.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Digil > Jiddu ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Under the Digil, as "Jiiddo" ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Jiido (Digil/Rahanweyne)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Digil > Jiido, and Jiido Safar ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists three Jiddu lines (Abbink 2009, Digil chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Hafow | Gadinale, Gowsitta, Gulle and Seyye |
| Farre | No sub-lines given |
| Gogo | Wa'ayse, Qorowa', Odleh, Mahammad, Maddow, Masulle, Surow and Yokor |

ACLED codes one Jiiddu sub-group, Jiido Safar (ACLED 2025).

## Language

The Jiiddu speak their own language. Wikipedia gives about 34,000 speakers in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), Bay and Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Wikipedia, Jiiddu language, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiido)). It says the language is usually grouped with the Digil languages, but has "a different phonology and sentence structure from Somali" (same source). A native speaker, Dr. Salim Ibro, wrote a Jiiddu dictionary (same source). See [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Lower Shabelle | The EASO lists the Jiddu among the largest long-settled Digil-Mirifle groups ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Qoryooley | The EUAA places the Garre and Jiido dispute in Qoryooley district (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Shabelle east bank | Wikipedia says a treaty gave the Tunni the west bank of the Shabelle and the Jiiddu the east bank ([Wikipedia, Tunni Sultanate, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunni_Sultanate)) |

See [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/).

## History on record

- **Before 1000.** Wikipedia says the Tunni drove the Jiiddu inland, then made a treaty with them. It says both agreed "to resist foreign penetration" ([Wikipedia, Tunni Sultanate, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunni_Sultanate)). See [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/).
- **1951 to 2021.** A 2021 thesis traces seventy years of work on writing Jiiddu (Neterer, 2021, cited by Wikipedia).
- **June to July 2024.** The EUAA records "a clash in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) between the Jiido and Garre clans". It "reportedly left at least two people dead" ([EUAA 2025, Lower Shabelle](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/223-lower-shabelle)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Garre (Digil/Rahanweyne) versus Jiido (Digil/Rahanweyne), in the Qoryoole District, Lower Shabelle Region" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Garre](/en/society/garre/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Family.** Abbink, the World Bank, the EUAA and ACLED put the Jiiddu in the Digil. Wikipedia's language article calls them "the Jiiddu sub-clan of the Dir".
- **Spelling.** Abbink writes Jiddu, the World Bank Jiiddo, and the EUAA and ACLED Jiido.

## Read more

- [Digil](/en/society/digil/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Tunni](/en/society/tunni/)
- [Garre](/en/society/garre/)
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


---

# Dabarre (Digil, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/dabarre/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Dabarre are a Digil clan of the Rahanweyn with their own language, Af-Dabarre, shared with the Iroole. They live in Bay, around Diinsoor, and on the east bank of the Juba in Bu'aale district. Abbink lists two Dabarre lines, Dirmedo and Ieran. The EUAA records a dispute between the Gelidle and Dabarre in Diinsoor.

## Name and family tree

The Dabarre are a clan of the [Digil](/en/society/digil/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Dabare.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Digil > Dabarre ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "Dabarre (Digil-Mirifle)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Dabarre (Digil)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Digil > Dabarre ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists two Dabarre lines, Dirmedo and Ieran (Abbink 2009, Digil chart). Beside the Dabarre under the Digil he lists the Dubdere, Irole, [Garre](/en/society/garre/), Dagine, Osman, Dube and Jiddu.

ACLED codes no sub-groups under the Dabarre (ACLED 2025).

## Language

Wikipedia says Af-Dabarre "is a Somali language spoken by the Dabarre and Ciroole, both sub-clans of the Digil" ([Wikipedia, Dabarre language, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabarre_language)). It gives about 34,000 speakers. Its dialects are Dabarre and Iroole (same source). See [the Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Diinsoor, Bay | The EUAA places the Gelidle and Dabarre dispute in Diinsoor district (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| Bu'aale, Middle Juba | "In Buaale district, east bank residents include the Digil-Mirifle, Ajuran (proto-Hawiye), and Dabarre (Digil-Mirifle) clans" (EASO 2021) |
| Southern Bay | The EASO says the Digil "predominate in the southern portion" of Bay (EASO 2021) |

See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **Tradition.** Wikipedia's Awrtable article reports a tradition that the Dabarre "are originally descended from the Awrtable" ([Wikipedia, Awrtable, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awrtable)). See [Awrtable](/en/society/awrtable/).
- **To the early 1990s.** The EUAA says the Rahanweyn "have been marginalised until the early 1990s" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.4.3](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).
- **2023 to 2025.** The EUAA lists the Gelidle and Dabarre dispute as active or potentially active (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD says Digil-Mirifle clans are made of four to seven *jilib* that pay compensation together ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Gelidle (Mirifle) vs Dabarre (Digil) clans, in Dinsoor district, Bay region" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Origin.** Abbink, the EASO, the EUAA and ACLED place the Dabarre in the Digil. A tradition reported by Wikipedia links them to the Awrtable of the Darod.
- **Iroole.** Wikipedia calls the Iroole a Dabarre-speaking Digil sub-clan. Abbink lists Irole as a separate Digil line. ACCORD pairs "Bagadi / Iroole" (ACCORD 2009, p. 20).

## Read more

- [Digil](/en/society/digil/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Jiiddu](/en/society/jiiddu/)
- [Begedi](/en/society/begedi/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)


---

# Gaaljecel (Gaalje'el, Galjeel, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/gaaljecel/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Gaaljecel (Gaalje'el, Galjeel) are a Somali clan of Hiiraan, Middle and Lower Shabelle and the Jubba valley. Abbink and ACLED place them in the Hawiye, under Gugundhabe in Abbink. Other sources call them proto-Hawiye, or trace them to Saransoor. The EUAA says they and the Badi Adde dominate Hiiraan south-west of the Shabelle River.

## Name and family tree

The Gaaljecel are a Somali clan usually counted with the [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/). The name is also written Gaalje'el, Galjeel and Gaaljaal. Wikipedia gives the Italian form Galgial and another name, Habar Tigaalle ([Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaalje%27el)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Gugundabe > Galja'el ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 28](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Gaaljecel, with Caafi, Caloofi, Hadame, Sogow and Wasuge ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Gaaljecel (or Gaalje'el)", a Hawiye sub-clan ([EUAA 2025, Hiraan](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/24-hirshabelle/241-hiraan)) |
| EASO 2021 | Calls them "Gaaljaal (proto-Hawiye)" in the Jubba valley ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Lists the Gaaljecel among the "Hawiye associates" ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Samaale > Gardheere > Saransoor > Gaalje'el. It says they are "often incorrectly associated with the Hawiye" (Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Gives both lines: Gugundhabe Hawiye, and Gardheere Samaale beside Degoodi, Masarre and Ciise ([Somali Wikipedia, Gaaljecel, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaaljecel)) |

See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/) and [Jijeele](/en/society/jijeele/), another Gugundhabe group in Abbink.

## Main branches

Abbink lists these lines under Galja'el (Abbink 2009, p. 28):

1. Doqondiide
2. Aloofi
3. Barsame
4. 'Aafi
5. Sugow
6. D'eemoow
7. Nooloow
8. Makahiil Weynaha
9. Oda 'Ad
10. Abtisame
11. Dirsame

ACLED codes five sub-groups: Caafi, Caloofi, Hadame, Sogow and Wasuge (ACLED 2025). Its Hadame is a different group from the [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/) of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/). Wikipedia says the Barsame hold a right of precedence at shared wells, as the eldest line (Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hiiraan | The EUAA says the Gaaljecel and Badi Adde dominate the land south-west of the Shabelle River (EUAA 2025, Hiraan). The EASO ranks them second in the region after the Xawaadle (EASO 2021) |
| Middle Shabelle | The EASO lists them among the main Hawiye groups of the region (EASO 2021) |
| Lower Shabelle | The EUAA records Gaaljecel in Wanlaweyn district, on the Mogadishu to Baidoa road ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Jubba valley | The EASO places them between Kismayo and Afmadow, and in Jilib district (EASO 2021) |
| Bakool | The EASO says they have "a small presence" in Bakool (EASO 2021) |
| Mogadishu and Kenya | The EASO names them among Hawiye groups with a sizeable presence in Mogadishu (EASO 2021). Wikipedia adds north-eastern Kenya (Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup) |

See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/).

## History on record

- **Early 1900s.** Wikipedia records local accounts of Gaaljecel fighting against Ethiopian forces along the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). It says these accounts still need checking against archives (Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup).
- **1920s.** Wikipedia says [Sheikh Hassan Barsane](/en/people/sheikh-hassan-barsane/), of the Barsame line, led a Shabelle valley rising after refusing Italian orders to disarm. It says he was captured in 1924 and died in custody in 1928 (same source).
- **1 April 1924.** It says about 60 Gaaljecel men attacked an Italian-Somali farm company site near Mahaday (same source). See [resistance to colonial rule](/en/history/resistance-1890s-1945/).
- **1990s.** Abbink lists "Galjaal sub-clans" in the USC/SNA, with the Habar Gidir and Xawaadle ([Abbink 2009, p. 39](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).
- **2020 to 2021.** The EASO says a Gaaljecel militia backed the Hiraan Salvation Council against the new [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) administration (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia describes Gaaljecel rules on wells. Some wells belong to one line and some to all. Owners water first, and on shared wells the first to arrive waters first (Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these Gaaljecel disputes as active or possibly active in April 2023 to March 2025 (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1):

- with the Abgaal, between Afgooye and [Wanlaweyn](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) districts
- with the Shanta Aleemod ([Digil](/en/society/digil/)) and other Mirifle groups in Wanlaweyn district. The EUAA says Gaaljecel set up checkpoints at Yaqbariweyne on the Mogadishu to Baidoa road. It says they clashed there with Digil-Mirifle groups and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) forces.

Earlier, the EASO listed a Hiiraan rivalry between the Gaaljecel, Jijeele and Badi Adde on the west bank and the Xawaadle on the east bank. It also listed Gaaljecel disputes with the Geledle (Mirifle) around Burdho, in [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), over pasture and wells (EASO 2021). See [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/), [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Clan family.** Abbink, ACLED and the EUAA place the Gaaljecel in the Hawiye. The EASO calls them "proto-Hawiye", and the World Bank chart calls them "Hawiye associates". Wikipedia traces them to [Saransoor](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/) and Gardheere instead.
- **Name.** Wikipedia gives two origins for the name. One reads it as [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) for "camel-loving". The other links it to the Ja'alin of [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) (Wikipedia, Gaalje'el, backup).
- **Source quality.** Parts of the Wikipedia page carry a June 2026 warning that they may be machine-written. Claims about camel numbers there are marked as unsourced and are not used here.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Jijeele](/en/society/jijeele/)
- [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/)
- [Degoodi](/en/society/degoodi/)
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)


---

# Degoodi (Degodia, Dagodia)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/degoodi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Degoodi (Degodia) are a Somali clan of north-eastern Kenya, Ethiopia's Liban zone and southern Somalia. Abbink places them under Gugundhabe in the Hawiye. Wikipedia and Somali Wikipedia trace them instead to Saransoor and Gardheere, with the Gaaljecel, Masarre and Ciise. Kenya's 2019 census counts 515,948 Degodia, and Wikipedia calls them the largest Somali clan in Wajir.

## Name and family tree

The Degoodi are a Somali clan living across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. The name is also written Degodia, Dagodia and Degodiye. Sources disagree on their clan family, as the table shows.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Gugundabe > Degodiye ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Lists the Degoodi among the "Hawiye associates" ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Samaale > Gardheere > Garjante > Adow > Saransoor > Degodia, citing a 2004 Max Planck Institute study ([Wikipedia, Degodia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degoodi)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Gardheere Samaale > Saransoor, with Gaaljecel, Masarre and Ciise as brother lines ([Somali Wikipedia, Dagoodi, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degoodi)) |
| Kenya census 2019 | Counts the Degodia as a group of their own, among Kenyan Somalis ([KNBS, Ethnic affiliation, 2019 census](https://new.knbs.or.ke/ethnic-affiliation/)) |

ACLED's 2025 clan list does not code a Degoodi group. See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/) and [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/), whom both lines place close to the Degoodi.

## Main branches

Abbink lists these lines under Degodiye (Abbink 2009, p. 29):

1. Masare
2. Fardanow
3. Midhimaal
4. Gelible
5. Dumaal
6. Jibrail
7. Fau
8. Reer Mohamud
9. Mau
10. Samatar

Wikipedia and Somali Wikipedia instead treat Masarre as a brother line of the Degoodi, not a section of it. Neither gives a list of Degoodi sections.

## Where they live

No census in Somalia counts people by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Kenya | The KNBS table of Kenya's 2019 census lists 515,948 Degodia (KNBS 2019). Wikipedia calls them the largest Somali clan in north-eastern Kenya and the majority in Wajir County. It also names Mandera North (Wikipedia, Degodia, backup) |
| Ethiopia | Wikipedia says they have a very large presence in the Liban zone of the Somali Region (same source) |
| Somalia | Wikipedia places them in the south near the Kenyan and Ethiopian borders, including Gedo and Jubaland, and in Mogadishu and Kismayo (same source) |

Wikipedia's shares for Wajir, Mandera and Liban come from "community estimates", not a census. See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/).

## History on record

- **Early 1800s.** Wikipedia says the Degoodi moved to the right bank of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). It says they settled on Rahanweyn land as tenants, paying tribute for about a century (Wikipedia, Degodia, backup).
- **1895.** It says a war with the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/) over tribute ended through the Italian officer Vittorio Bottego. It says the Degoodi then signed a treaty declaring themselves Italian subjects (same source).
- **1895.** It says the traveller Arthur Donaldson Smith found them beside the Afgab. It says their land reached east to the Weyib and [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) rivers (same source).
- **February 1984.** Kenyan security forces held Degodia men at the Wagalla airstrip near Wajir ([Al Jazeera, 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)). See [Wagalla, 1984](/en/history/wagalla-massacre-1984/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Degoodi title is *wabar*. Wikipedia lists twelve *wabar*, from Wabar Cuudow to Wabar Abdille, whom it calls the current holder (Wikipedia, Degodia, backup). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for Somalia in April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Degoodi ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Most Degoodi live in Kenya and Ethiopia, outside that report's scope. See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Clan family.** Abbink places the Degoodi under [Gugundhabe](/en/society/jijeele/) in the Hawiye. The World Bank chart calls them "Hawiye associates". Wikipedia and Somali Wikipedia trace them to [Saransoor](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/) and Gardheere.
- **Masarre.** Abbink lists Masare as a Degodiye section. Wikipedia lists Masarre as a brother line.
- **Numbers.** Kenya's census gives a national count. The regional shares on Wikipedia are community estimates.

## Read more

- [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Wagalla, 1984](/en/history/wagalla-massacre-1984/)
- [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)


---

# Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle (the 'pre-Hawiye' group)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle are three lines that Abbink groups as 'pre-Hawiye'. They claim descent from a brother of Irir, son of Samaale, so they sit beside the Hawiye, not inside it. Abbink places the Hawaadle and a Garre line under Mayle. Wikipedia says the Italian scholar Colucci coined the term 'pre-Hawiya'.

## Name and family tree

Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle are three lines that Abbink lists together under one heading. He calls them a "pre-Hawiya" group with "claimed descent from 'Imr, same level as [Samaale](/en/history/where-the-somalis-come-from/)" ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)).

Wikipedia says the "pre-Hawiye" trace descent "from an ancestor collateral to Irir", and so are "genealogically anterior to the Hawiya". It says the Italian scholar Colucci "coined the term 'Pre-Hawiya'" ([Wikipedia, Garre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre)).

Wikipedia's Garre article also names the group "Gardhere, Saransoor, Yahabur and Mayle" (same source). See [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) and [the Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists these lines (Abbink 2009, Gardere-Yakabur-Mayle chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Gardere | Gilale, Ormale and Hon |
| Yakabur | Daule and Hober |
| Mayle > Hawadle | 'Abdi Yusuf, Farmagge, 'Abdalle, Allagumar, Walahmooge and Abdirahman |
| Mayle > Gerra | Tuf and Kuranyo |

See [Xawaadle (Hawaadle)](/en/society/xawaadle/) and [Garre](/en/society/garre/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

The lines in this group live far apart today:

| Group | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Hawaadle | The EUAA places Hawadle in Beledweyne and Jalalaqsi, Hiiraan ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Garre | The EASO places Garre in Ceel Waaq, Gedo, and in Lower Shabelle ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Hubeer | Wikipedia says the Hubeer descend from Yahabur, and live in Bay, Lower Shabelle, Gedo and Lower Juba ([Wikipedia, Hubeer, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubeer)) |

See [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/).

## History on record

- **Before the Hawiye expansion.** Wikipedia says their traditions "show them to have preceded the Hawiya" in the move south ([Wikipedia, Garre, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garre)).
- **2009.** Abbink set these three lines apart from the Hawiye in his total genealogy (Abbink 2009).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists disputes involving the Hawadle in Hiiraan, such as Abgaal against Hawadle around Jalalaqsi ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It also lists Garre against [Jiido](/en/society/jiiddu/) in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) (same source). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Hawiye or apart.** Abbink places the Hawadle under Mayle, outside the Hawiye. ACLED and the EUAA code the Hawadle as Hawiye.
- **Garre.** Abbink lists a Gerra line under Mayle, and a Garre line under the [Digil](/en/society/digil/). See [Garre](/en/society/garre/).
- **Members.** Wikipedia adds Saransoor to the group. Abbink does not use that name.

## Read more

- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Xawaadle (Hawaadle)](/en/society/xawaadle/)
- [Garre](/en/society/garre/)
- [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/)
- [The Somali clan tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree/)


---

# Moobleen (Mobileen, Mudulood, Hawiye)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/moobleen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Moobleen (Mobileen) are a Hawiye group of the Mudulood line. Abbink lists them among the Abgaal sections, while Somali Wikipedia calls them Moobleen Cismaan, a brother line of the Abgaal. Somali Wikipedia places them in Middle Shabelle and Banaadir, with Qalimoow as their main centre. The EUAA lists a Moobleen dispute with the Shiidle in Jowhar district.

## Name and family tree

The Moobleen are a [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/) group of the Mudulood line, with the [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/) and the [Udeejeen](/en/society/udeejeen/). The name is also written Mobileen and Mobleen.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Gorgate > Abgal > Mobileen, as one of the Abgaal sections ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 27](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Hawiye > Mobleen, coded as its own group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Moobileen (Mudulod/Hawiye)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Names the Moobleen among the Mudulood, with the Wacdaan, Hiilibi and Udeejeen ([Wikipedia, Abgaal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgaal)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Moobleen Cismaan, son of Cismaan, son of Dalandoole, in the Mudulood Hiraab ([Somali Wikipedia, Moobleen, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moobleen)) |

The English Wikipedia title "Moobleen" redirects to its Hawiye page, and there is no separate English article. See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/).

## Main branches

Somali Wikipedia names two founding lines, Magacle and Abidig (Somali Wikipedia, Moobleen, backup):

| Line | Groups it names |
|---|---|
| Magacle Moobleen | Yabar, Xayaale and Cool |
| Abidig Moobleen | Tolweyne, Yabadhaale and Maqalsame |

It also uses the name Reer Xaaji Cumar for the clan (same source). Abbink gives no sections under Mobileen (Abbink 2009, p. 27).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Middle Shabelle | Somali Wikipedia says they live in more than 54 places, with Qalimoow as the main centre. It names Saarsaare, Cadayga, Jadda, Raaxooy and Buulo Caano among them (Somali Wikipedia, Moobleen, backup) |
| Jowhar district | The EUAA records them there, in a dispute with the Shiidle (EUAA 2025) |
| Banaadir | Somali Wikipedia names Banaadir as well (same source) |
| Abroad | It names Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and England (same source) |

See [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) and [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/).

## History on record

- **1905.** Somali Wikipedia describes a Moobleen war with Ethiopian forces that it dates to 1905. It gives no source, and its casualty figure is not found in any other source here (Somali Wikipedia, Moobleen, backup).
- **1960 to 1991.** It says the Moobleen had MPs, politicians and senior officers in the governments before the collapse of the state (same source).
- **After 1991.** It says the Moobleen lost political ground during the civil war and later regained it (same source).

Somali Wikipedia lists many politicians and officers, including Abdirahman Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali and Prof. Maxamed Xasan Nuur (Jeesto) (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia names Ugaas Cabdullaahi Ugaas Saalax Ugaas Cali as the clan's general *ugaas*. It calls him the 18th to hold the title (Somali Wikipedia, Moobleen, backup). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists a Moobleen dispute with the Shiidle, a Bantu group, in Jowhar district of Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). It was active or possibly active in April 2023 to March 2025 (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1). Earlier, the EASO said the Abgaal Mudulood dominate Middle Shabelle, with the Shiidle on the west bank around Jowhar ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink lists Mobileen as an Abgaal section. Somali Wikipedia, ACLED and the EUAA treat the Moobleen as a Mudulood group of their own.
- **Sources.** Most of the detail here comes from Somali Wikipedia, which cites almost nothing on this page.

## Read more

- [Abgaal](/en/society/abgaal/)
- [Udeejeen](/en/society/udeejeen/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)


---

# National Library of Somalia (Maktabadda Qaranka Soomaaliyeed)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/national-library-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The National Library of Somalia in Mogadishu was set up in 1975 and held about 7,000 books by 1983. It closed during the civil war in the 1990s. A rebuilding project began in 2013, and since then shipments of books have come from the United States, Qatar and Egypt, with Qatar Charity signing a support agreement in February 2024.

## In short

The National Library of Somalia is the country's national library, in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)). It opened to the public in 1975. It closed in the 1990s during the civil war, and a rebuilding project has run since 2013 (same source).

## When it started

The library was established in 1975 and was open to the general public ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)). By 1983 it held about 7,000 books, with little historical or cultural archive material (same source).

## Closure in the 1990s

The library closed during the civil war of the 1990s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)). In August 2016, President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) said the library had "fallen into ruin" about 25 years earlier ([infoDOCKET, reporting Goobjoog News, 20 August 2016](https://www.infodocket.com/2016/08/20/report-somalia-to-reopen-national-library-soon-the-president/)).

## The rebuilding project from 2013

- **June 2013:** the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, a Mogadishu think tank, organised a shipment of 22,000 books from the United States to restock the library ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)).
- **December 2013:** the federal authorities launched a project to rebuild the library. Zainab Hassan was named director. The plan was a $1 million, government-funded library complex, to be built within six months ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)). A further 60,000 books were expected from Arab League states ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)).
- **August 2016:** at the close of the three-day Mogadishu Book Fair, the president said the library grounds had been fenced with iron sheets for renovation. "[Soon](/en/society/ramadan-and-eid-in-somalia/) it will be completed," he said ([infoDOCKET, 20 August 2016](https://www.infodocket.com/2016/08/20/report-somalia-to-reopen-national-library-soon-the-president/)).

## Book donations since 2021

- **20 June 2021:** [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) National Library gave more than 4,000 books across many fields. Qatar's ambassador and the library's director, Dr [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Sheil, signed the handover ([The Peninsula, 20 June 2021](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/20/06/2021/QNL-donates-more-than-4,000-books-to-Somali-National-Library); [Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://www.mofa.gov.qa/en/all-mofa-news/details/1442/11/10/qnl-donates-more-than-4-000-books-to-somali-national-library)).
- **Egypt:** the Bibliotheca Alexandrina announced a first batch of Arabic publications for the national library and the [Mogadishu University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) library, as part of a joint Egyptian and Arab campaign ([Egypt Independent](https://www.egyptindependent.com/?p=1479586)).
- **4 February 2024:** Qatar Charity and the library signed an agreement to supply scientific, literary and cultural books and textbooks, train library staff and help rehabilitate the library ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/qatar-charity-signs-deal-to-enhance-public-libraries-performance-in-somalia/)). Dr Mohamed Ahmed Sheil signed for the library. Nura Mustafa Mukhtar, state minister of education, attended (same source).

## Who runs it

The library falls under the federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education, whose ministers attended the 2021 and 2024 handovers ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/qatar-charity-signs-deal-to-enhance-public-libraries-performance-in-somalia/)). Dr Mohamed Ahmed Sheil has been named as director since at least 2021 ([The Peninsula](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/20/06/2021/QNL-donates-more-than-4,000-books-to-Somali-National-Library)).

## Other libraries

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own [National Library of Somaliland](/en/society/public-libraries-in-somaliland/) in Hargeisa and public libraries in Berbera, Gabiley and [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) ([Wikipedia, National Library of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somaliland)). For universities, see [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).

## Sources

- [National Library of Somalia, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somalia)
- [infoDOCKET, Somalia to reopen national library soon, 20 August 2016](https://www.infodocket.com/2016/08/20/report-somalia-to-reopen-national-library-soon-the-president/)
- [The Peninsula, QNL donates more than 4,000 books, 20 June 2021](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/20/06/2021/QNL-donates-more-than-4,000-books-to-Somali-National-Library)
- [Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2021](https://www.mofa.gov.qa/en/all-mofa-news/details/1442/11/10/qnl-donates-more-than-4-000-books-to-somali-national-library)
- [SONNA, Qatar Charity signs deal, February 2024](https://sonna.so/en/qatar-charity-signs-deal-to-enhance-public-libraries-performance-in-somalia/)
- [Egypt Independent, Bibliotheca Alexandrina books for Somalia](https://www.egyptindependent.com/?p=1479586)


---

# Gurgure (Gurgura, Gorgorah, Dir)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/gurgure/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Gurgure (Gurgura, Gorgorah) are a Dir clan of the Madaxweyne branch. They live mainly around Dire Dawa, Erer and Afdem in Ethiopia, and also in Harar, Somaliland and Djibouti. The Futuh al-Habasha names the Gorgorah among the Somali fighters of Imam Ahmad in the 1500s. Wikipedia lists seven main lines, with the ugaas chosen from the Gufaatile.

## Name and family tree

The Gurgure are a clan of the [Dir](/en/society/dir/). The name is also written Gurgura, and the Futuh al-Habasha writes it Gorgorah. Wikipedia gives Mohamed as the founder's given name, with Gurgure as a nickname ([Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurgura)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Dir > Mahdaweyn > Gurgura, with Akisho, Gariir, Layiile, Guure, Reer Awsad and Cali (Warday) under it ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 17](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Dir > Madaxweyne > Gurgure (Mohamed) (Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup) |
| UK Home Office 2001 | Lists the Gurgure as a Dir group, quoted by Wikipedia ([Wikipedia, Akisho, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akisho)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Lists the Gurgure in the Madaxweyne Dir with Akisho, Layiile, Gurre, Gariire, Jaarso, Jiido and Wardey (same source) |

ACLED's 2025 clan list does not code a Gurgure group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)). See [the Dir tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-dir/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia lists seven main lines, with Kundhuble as the eldest (Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Kundhuble (Habar Daar) | Cabdulle and Cali |
| Gufaatile (Dudub > Libaan) | Ismaaciil, Sabti and Awbare |
| Sanjeele (Dudub > Libaan) | none given |
| Sanaye (Dudub > Libaan) | Walasame and Walahashiir |
| Nabidoor (Dudub > Quwaxade) | Aw Bare |
| Biciide (Dudub > Quwaxade) | Foodnabi and Axmed Meel Gooble |
| Gacalwaaq (Dudub > Quwaxade) | Cassa and Jibriil |

Abbink gives a different set of six groups under Gurgura, listed in the table above (Abbink 2009, p. 17).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Dire Dawa | Wikipedia says the Gurgure live in 24 of the city's 38 *kebele* and share others with Oromo and Ciise (Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup) |
| Sitti zone, Ethiopia | It says they are the majority in Afdem and Erer districts (same source) |
| Harar, Oromia and Afar | It says they also live in Harar, the Afar Region and eastern Hararghe (same source) |
| Somaliland and Djibouti | It names Sheikh in Somaliland, and Ceerigaabo and Xiis in Sanaag for the Nabidoor and Biciide. It also names Djibouti (same source) |

Wikipedia says some Gurgure near Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) now speak Oromo as a first language. It says Oromo and Somali leaders disagree over whether these communities are Oromo or Somali (same source). See [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** The *Futuh al-Habasha* names "the tribe of Gorgorah" among Imam Ahmad's forces. It says they came "with Garad Abdi their chieftan, and 30 horses and 1,000 men" (quoted by Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup). See [the Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/) and [Imam Ahmad](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/).
- **1500s, as read by Gilkes.** The writer Patrick Gilkes says Somalis from many clans fought in Imam Ahmad's armies. He names "particularly the Gorgora, a clan that probably originated around Zelia" (quoted by Wikipedia, same source).
- **1905.** The traveller Arnold Henry Savage Landor described meeting Gurgure herders between Dire Dawa and Harar (same source).
- **1977 to 1991.** Wikipedia says the Gurgure joined the Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front (IGLF). It says the Derg government seized Gurgure farms at Hurso and homes in Dire Dawa after the [1977 war](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) (same source).
- **1990s.** It says a separate Gurgura Liberation Front split from the IGLF. It says both later helped found the Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party (same source).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says the Gurgure *ugaas* is chosen from the Gufaatile line. It names Ugaas Buux Gadiid as the 52nd and Ugaas Gadiid Abdullahi Ugaas Buux as the 53rd. It names Ugaas Siyad Daud Cumar as the 54th and current holder (Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for Somalia in April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Gurgure ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Most Gurgure live in Ethiopia, outside that report's scope. Wikipedia records past clashes between Gurgure and Ciise fronts and the Oromo Liberation Front over Dire Dawa (Wikipedia, Gurgura, backup). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Akisho.** Abbink lists the Akisho under the Gurgura. Wikipedia and the World Bank list them beside the Gurgure in the Madaxweyne Dir.
- **Lines.** Abbink and Wikipedia give different sets of groups under the Gurgure.
- **Age.** Wikipedia calls the Gurgure "the eldest Dir". No other source here ranks the Dir lines by age.
- **Name.** Wikipedia gives several origins for the name, including *gorgortan*, "bargaining", and *guur guur*, "moving often".

## Read more

- [Dir](/en/society/dir/)
- [Gadabuursi](/en/society/gadabuursi/)
- [Ciise](/en/society/ciise/)
- [The Futuh al-Habasha](/en/history/futuh-al-habasha/)


---

# Public libraries in Somaliland: Hargeisa, Berbera, Gabiley and Sheikh

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/public-libraries-in-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland's national library, the Silanyo National Library in Hargeisa, opened in December 2017. Berbera Public Library opened on 22 April 2018 with more than 15,000 books, Gabiley National Library and Community Centre opened in April 2021, and Sheikh Public Library opened in January 2023.

## In short

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has opened four public libraries since 2017: a national library in Hargeisa and public libraries in Berbera, Gabiley and [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/) (Sheikh) ([Wikipedia, National Library of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somaliland)). For the national library in Mogadishu, see [National Library of Somalia](/en/society/national-library-of-somalia/).

## National Library of Somaliland, Hargeisa (2017)

The National Library of Somaliland, also called the Silanyo National Library, is in Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Somaliland)). It was founded in December 2017 and is named after former president Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Silanyo), who opened it (same source). It is the first and largest national library in Somaliland (same source).

## Berbera Public Library (2018)

*Maktabadda Dadweynaha ee Berbera* is the main public library in central Berbera ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Public_Library)). Its story (same source):

- **29 February 2011:** the idea was announced at a meeting of the Berbera Reader Club, a group of local scholars, elders and businessmen.
- **2013:** the government cleared a site and moved the people living there. President Silanyo laid the first stone.
- **2014:** Mayor Abdishakuur Mahmoud Hassan (Ciddin) set up a five-member community committee. A first library opened that year, and building began in late 2014.
- **December 2015 to December 2017:** the rest of the building was finished, mostly paid for by the local government.
- **22 April 2018:** grand opening. It holds more than 15,000 books.
- **2022:** the Taiwan Representative Office and the US charity SimplyHelp Foundation gave computers.

## Gabiley National Library and Community Centre (2021)

The library in Gabiley, Maroodi Jeex, was founded in 2019 and opened in April 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabiley_National_Library)). It has reading rooms on three floors, a reader registration system, children's areas, and study space where teachers prepare lessons and set exams (same source). It runs workshops on reading, health, social issues, technology and study skills for children and adults (same source).

## Sheikh Public Library (2023)

Sheikh Public Library opened in January 2023 and is the only public library in Sheekh, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Public_Library)).

## Read more

- [National Library of Somalia](/en/society/national-library-of-somalia/)
- [Books in the Somali language](/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed and Hargeysa](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Dishiishe (Dashiishe, Harti, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/dishiishe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Dishiishe (Dashiishe) are a small Harti clan of the Darod. Abbink places them under Mora Hasse, beside the Tinleh, Kaptanle and Maganlabbe. They live mainly south and south-east of Boosaaso in Bari, with groups in Sanaag and Kismayo. Wikipedia also records Dishiishe communities in Oman's Dhofar and in Yemen.

## Name and family tree

The Dishiishe are a clan of the [Harti](/en/society/harti/), part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Dishishe, Dashiishe and Dashishe ([Wikipedia, Dishishe, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishishe)).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kombe-Harti > Mora Hasse > Dashishe ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Majeerteen > Dashishe ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | A sub-clan of Ahmed Harti (Mora'ase), with the Gabtaanle, Tiinle and Maganlabe as brother clans ([Wikipedia, Dishishe, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishishe)) |

Wikipedia names the founder as Mohamud [Ismail Ahmed](/en/businesses/worldremit/) Harti (same source). See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists ten Dashishe lines (Abbink 2009, Darod chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Dashishe | Mugdi, Saleeban, Reer Sakariye, Reer Boqor, Reer Muse, Reer Gobdoon, Reer Isaaq, Reer Fahiye, Reer Mahamed 'Iise and Reer Ma'awiye |

Under the same Mora Hasse line, Abbink places the Tinleh (Reer Ugas, Reer Aw and Hussein Abdalle), the Kaptanle and the Maganlabbe (Abbink 2009). See [Harti](/en/society/harti/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bari | "A number of smaller sub-clans, such as Ali Jibrail, Dashishe, Kaptanle, and others, inhabit the area south and south-east of Bosasso" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Bari and Sanaag | Wikipedia places them mainly in Puntland, in the Bari and Sanaag regions ([Wikipedia, Dishishe, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishishe)) |
| Kismayo | Wikipedia records a Dishiishe presence in Kismayo (same source). Wikipedia's Majeerteen article says Harti groups, including the Dishiishe, moved there from the 1800s ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)) |
| Oman and Yemen | Wikipedia records Dishiishe communities in Oman's Dhofar Governorate and in Yemen ([Wikipedia, Dishishe, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishishe)) |

See [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) and [Somalis in Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/).

## History on record

- **About 1940 to 2000.** Wikipedia names Ugaas Yasin Ugaas Abdurahman as the Ugaas of the Dishiishe in Boosaaso for this period ([Wikipedia, Dishishe, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishishe)).
- **1959 to 1963.** Wikipedia names Barkhad Ali Salah, of the Dishiishe, as the first mayor of Boosaaso (same source).
- **1998 to 2008.** Wikipedia names Sainab Ugaas Yasin, of the Dishiishe, as the first woman in Puntland's parliament (same source). See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia names Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Yasin as the current senior elder of the Dishiishe ([Wikipedia, Dishishe, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishishe)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EASO describes a land dispute in Bari involving the Dishiishe and the Ismail [Saleban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) (Majeerteen). Elders from the Majeerteen, Dashishe and [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) met at Arma to mediate. The outcome: the Ismail Saleban could build villages there, "while Dishishe were required to stop their provocations" (EASO 2021).

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Dishiishe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink places the Dashishe under Mora Hasse, a Harti line beside the Majerteen. ACLED codes them under the Majeerteen.
- **Founder.** Wikipedia names Ahmed Harti as the ancestor. Abbink uses the name Mora Hasse for that line.

## Read more

- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Bari](/en/regions/bari/)


---

# Isse Mahamoud (Ciise Maxamuud, Majeerteen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/isse-mahamoud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Isse Mahamoud (Ciise Maxamuud) are a Majeerteen line of the Harti and Darod, one of the three Mahamoud Saleebaan lines. Garowe is their clan homeland, and they are the main clan of Nugaal region. Wikipedia lists three main branches: Muuse Ciise, Maxamed Ciise and Abokor Ciise.

## Name and family tree

The Isse Mahamoud are a line of the [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/), part of the [Harti](/en/society/harti/) and [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Issa Mahmud, Ise Mahamoud and, in Somali, Ciise Maxamuud.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kombe-Harti > Majerteen > Mahmood > Isa Mahmoud ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Majeerteen > Issa Mahmud, with about 15 coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EUAA 2025 | One of "three sub-clans of the Majeerteen/Mohamoud Saleban" ([EUAA 2025, Nugal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/261-nugal)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | A sub-clan of the Majeerteen, with a line traced through Saleebaan, Nolays and Harti back to Darod ([Wikipedia, Isse Mohamoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isse_Mohamoud)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia names three sons of Ciise, each heading a *jifo* line: Muuse Ciise, Maxamed Ciise and Abokor Ciise ([Wikipedia, Isse Mohamoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isse_Mohamoud)).

ACLED codes these Issa Mahmud sub-groups (ACLED 2025):

| Group | Notes |
|---|---|
| Ahmed Kheyre, Ali Ibrahim, Cabdi Cise, Hasan Idris | Coded under Issa Mahmud |
| Hassan Ugaar and Mohamed Ugaar | Coded under Issa Mahmud |
| Muse Issa, Nuh Muse and Reer Muse | Coded under Issa Mahmud |
| Reer Samakaab, Reer Shirwac, Reer Yoonis and Reer Hassan | Coded under Issa Mahmud |
| Issa Mahmud Xiddo | Coded as a separate Majeerteen group |

Abbink places Isa Mahmoud beside Osman Mahmoud and [Omar Mahmoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) under the Mahmood line (Abbink 2009). See [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Garowe | "Garowe is the clan-homeland (degan in Somali) of Darood/Harti/Majeerteen/Ise Mahamoud. Most buildings and land are owned by Majeerteen/Ise Mahamoud" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Nugaal | The EASO calls Nugaal "almost completely dominated by the Issa Mahmud" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Nugaal | The EUAA says the Isse Mohamud "live mostly in Nugal region" ([EUAA 2025, Nugal](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/261-nugal)) |

Garowe's population is mixed. The EUAA lists other Majeerteen lines, Dhulbahante, [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) and Deshishe living there (EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe). See [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **1944 to 1950.** Wikipedia says John Hunt's *A general survey of the [Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/)* gives a tree of the clan ([Wikipedia, Isse Mohamoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isse_Mohamoud)).
- **1998.** Garowe became the capital of Puntland. See [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/).
- **2021.** The EASO said there were "no major clan conflicts on-going" in Nugaal. It noted small frictions near Garowe between Dhulbahante and Issa Mahmud camel herders (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia names two Isse Mahamoud *Issim* lines. One is Islaan Ciise Islaan Maxamed, for the Muuse Ciise. The other is Suldaan Saciid Maxamed Garaase, for the Abokor Ciise ([Wikipedia, Isse Mohamoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isse_Mohamoud)). The EUAA calls elders "an important institution for effective conflict resolution in Garowe" (EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Issa Mohamud (Majerteen/Darood) versus Dulbahante" in Burtinle district, Nugaal. It says "the two clans have intermittently clashed in the past few years in the Kalabayr area" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Name of the parent line.** Abbink calls it Mahmood. The EUAA and Wikipedia call it Mohamoud Saleebaan.
- **Branches.** Wikipedia lists three *jifo*. ACLED codes about fifteen groups, and does not use the *jifo* names for all of them.

## Read more

- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/)
- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/)


---

# Osman Mahamoud (Cismaan Maxamuud, Majeerteen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/osman-mahamoud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Osman Mahamoud (Cismaan Maxamuud) are a Majeerteen line of the Harti and Darod, one of the three Mahamoud Saleebaan lines. They are the main clan of Bari region, around Boosaaso and Qardho. The Majeerteen Sultanate of Boqor Osman Mahamud and the Hobyo Sultanate of Yusuf Ali Kenadid both came from this line.

## Name and family tree

The Osman Mahamoud are a line of the [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/), part of the [Harti](/en/society/harti/) and [Darod](/en/society/darod/). In Somali the name is Cismaan Maxamuud.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kombe-Harti > Majerteen > Mahmood > Osman Mahmoud ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Osman Mahmud, still of the Majeerteen macro clan, of the Darood-Harti clan group" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes an Osman Mahmud Bahdhulbahante group under the Majeerteen ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | A sub-clan of the Majeerteen, linked to the Majeerteen Sultanate and the Sultanate of Hobyo ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahmoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(clan))) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink places Osman Mahmoud beside Isa Mahmoud and [Omar Mahmoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) under the Mahmood line of the Majerteen (Abbink 2009). Wikipedia says these three together form the Mahamoud Saleebaan ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)).

ACLED codes an "Osman Mahmud Bahdhulbahante" group under the Majeerteen (ACLED 2025). ACLED also codes a separate Osman Mohamoud group under the Dhulbahante. Wikipedia names Bah-Gareen as one Osman Mahamoud line ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahmoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(clan))).

See [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/) and [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bari | "The region's main clan is the Osman Mahmud sub-clan of the Majerteen clan" ([EUAA 2025, Bari](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/262-bari)) |
| Bari | "The dominant clan in the Bari region is the Osman Mahmud" (EASO 2021) |
| Boosaaso and Qardho | Wikipedia calls both cities "heavily populated by Osman Mahamud" ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahmoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(clan))) |
| Garowe | The EUAA lists Osman Mahamoud among Majeerteen lines living in Garowe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Gulf states | Wikipedia records communities in Oman, Yemen and other Gulf countries ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahmoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(clan))) |

See [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **Before the 1800s.** Wikipedia says Boosaaso was first settled by the Dishiishe. It says the Osman Mahamoud later took the town after disputes with them ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahmoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(clan))). See [Dishiishe](/en/society/dishiishe/).
- **1800s.** Boqor Osman Mahamud ruled the Majeerteen Sultanate from [Aluula](/en/regions/caluula/) and [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/). See [Boqor Osman Mahamud](/en/people/boqor-osman-mahamud/) and [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).
- **1878.** Yusuf Ali Kenadid, of the same line, founded the Sultanate of Hobyo (same Wikipedia source). See [the sultans of Majeerteen and Hobyo](/en/institutions/sultans-of-majeerteen-and-hobyo/).
- **1888 to 1889.** Both rulers signed protectorate treaties with Italy (same Wikipedia source).
- **1920s.** Osman Yusuf Kenadid, a son of the Hobyo sultan, created the Osmanya script for Somali. See [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia says this *Boqor* line "has traditionally served as a nominal leadership line within the broader Darod clan" ([Wikipedia, Osman Mahmoud, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_Mohamoud_(clan))). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EASO lists "the Osman Mohamud (Majeerteen) vs Ugaadh [Saleban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) (Majeerteen)" in Bari. It says "these two clans dispute historically over land issues and access to pastural land in the Iskushuban district" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)).

The EUAA's 2025 list does not name the Osman Mahamoud separately. It does list Majeerteen sub-clans against each other in Kismayo, "currently dormant" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Founding of Boosaaso.** Wikipedia gives a story of the Dishiishe settling first. Other sources used here do not cover it.
- **Hobyo founder's name.** Wikipedia's Osman Mahmoud article names him Ali Yusuf Kenadid in one place. Other sources and our history pages name him Yusuf Ali Kenadid.

## Read more

- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/)
- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [Bari](/en/regions/bari/)


---

# Bartire (Barre Jidwaaq, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/bartire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Bartire (Bartirre) are a Jidwaaq clan of the Absame and Darod, also called Barre Jidwaaq. They live mainly near Jigjiga, the lower Fafan and upper Jarar in Ethiopia's Somali Region, with groups near Bu'aale and in the Hagar area of Jubaland. Their 19th-century Garaad, Xirsi Faarax 'Wiil Waal', ruled from Jigjiga.

## Name and family tree

The Bartire are a clan of the [Jidwaaq](/en/society/jidwaaq/), part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). Wikipedia also calls them Barre Jidwaaq ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)). Older English writing spells the name Berteri or Burtirrh.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kumade > Jid Waaq > Bartire. Abbink also lists a Bartire directly under Kumade ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes Darod > Bartire, Darod > Bartire > Jidwaaq and Darod > Ogaden > Bartire ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Bartire (Darood) clan" in Middle Juba ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Part of the Jidwaaq of the Absame branch ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Wikipedia says the Habr Maqdi were a union of the Bartire and Yabarre. It quotes the French writer Amelia Checkroun: "the Bartirri which united the Habr Maqdi and the Gawätir" ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)).

Abbink places the Bartire beside the Abasgul, Yabareg, Bah Geri Kombe and Tagal Waaq under Jid Waaq (Abbink 2009, Darod chart). Wikipedia names the Bartire with the Abaskuul and Yabarre as the three Jidwaaq branches ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia's Somali Region | Wikipedia places them near Jigjiga, stretching to the lower Fafan and upper Jarar ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)) |
| Middle Juba | "A pocket of the Bartire (Darood) clan also resides on the pastoral west bank of the river, in between the Aulihan and Mohamed Zubir, in the Hagar area" (EASO 2021) |
| Jubaland | Wikipedia places them in Bu'aale and in Xagar near Kismayo ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)) |

Wikipedia says their neighbours in Ethiopia are the Ogaden and the Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/) of the Isaaq (same source). See [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## History on record

- **1500s.** Wikipedia says the *Futuh al-Habasha* names "Bar Tarri", part of the Habr Maqdi, among Imam Ahmad's forces. It says a Garaad Dhaweyd led the Bartire then ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)).
- **1840s.** A British account said "the Emirs of Hurrur have for many years intermarried with the Burtirrhi". It said they planted coffee on hills south-east of Harar ([Wikipedia, Jidwaq, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidwaq_(clan))).
- **1854 to 1855.** Richard Burton wrote that the Berteri "are estimated at 3000 shields" and "own allegiance to the Gerad Hirsi" ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)).
- **1800s.** Wikipedia says the Bartire controlled the caravan route between Harar and Berbera (same source).
- **25 August 2024.** The EUAA lists the abduction of "eight civilians from Marehan and Bartire clans in Saakow (Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/))" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Bartire leader is the *Garaad*. Wikipedia says "traditionally Jigjiga is the seat of the Bartire Garad". Garaad Xirsi Faarax Xirsi, called Wiil Waal, held the title in the 1800s ([Wikipedia, Bartire, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartire)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Bartire ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Place in the tree.** Abbink and Wikipedia put the Bartire under the Jidwaaq. ACLED codes the Jidwaaq under the Bartire, and also a Bartire group under the Ogaden.
- **Garaad Wiil Waal.** Wikipedia reports differing accounts of him: some call him cruel, others "a godly (man) and a prayerful person".

## Read more

- [Jidwaaq](/en/society/jidwaaq/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [The Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/)
- [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/)
- [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)


---

# Omar Mahamoud (Cumar Maxamuud, Majeerteen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/omar-mahamoud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Omar Mahamoud (Cumar Maxamuud) are a Majeerteen line of the Harti and Darod, one of the three Mahamoud Saleebaan lines. They are the main clan of northern Mudug, around Gaalkacyo, and of southern Nugaal. Abbink lists the Reer Khalaf, Reer Hersi and Reer Mahad as their lines.

## Name and family tree

The Omar Mahamoud are a line of the [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/), part of the [Harti](/en/society/harti/) and [Darod](/en/society/darod/). In Somali the name is Cumar Maxamuud.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kombe-Harti > Majerteen > Mahmood > Omar Mahmoud ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Omar Mohamoud (or Omar Mahmud), a Majerteen (Darod) sub-clan" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Majerteen-Omar Mahmoud sub-clan" ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Codes Darod > Majeerteen > Omar Mahmud, and also Darod > Omar Mahmud ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

Wikipedia says the Omar Mahamoud, Osman Mahamoud and Isse Mahamoud together form the Mahamoud Saleebaan ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)). See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists three Omar Mahmoud lines: Reer Khalaf, Reer Hersi and Reer Mahad (Abbink 2009, Darod chart).

ACLED codes these Omar Mahmud groups (ACLED 2025):

| Group | How ACLED codes it |
|---|---|
| Khalaf | Majeerteen > Omar Mahmud > Khalaf |
| Reer Xirsi | Majeerteen > Omar Mahmud > Reer-Xirsi |
| Reer Mahad | Majeerteen > Omar Mahmud Reer-Mahad Mohamed-Muse |
| Bah Yucqub | Majeerteen > Omar Mahmud > Bah Yucqub |
| Reer Abdulle | Majeerteen > Reer Abdulle-Omar Mahmud |

ACLED also codes an "Ali Mohamed-Omar Mahmud" path under the Majeerteen (ACLED 2025). Abbink and ACLED agree on the Khalaf, Xirsi and Mahad lines.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Northern Mudug | "The north Mudug is mainly inhabited by the Omar Mohamoud ... which is the dominant clan in the area" (EASO 2021) |
| Mudug | "Dominant clans are the Darod (Majerteen-Omar Mahmoud sub-clan) in the North" ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)) |
| Southern Nugaal | The EASO calls the Omar Mahmud dominant "in north Mudug and in the southern part of Nugal" (EASO 2021) |
| Garowe | The EUAA lists Omar Mahamoud among Majeerteen lines living in Garowe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |

See [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **Since 1991.** The EUAA describes Mudug as "divided between Galmudug (Southern Mudug) and Puntland (Northern Mudug)" ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)). See [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/).
- **2021.** The EASO listed "[Saad](/en/society/sacad-habar-gidir/) ([Habar Gedir](/en/society/habar-gidir/)) vs Omar Mahamud (Majeerten) in Galkcayo" among northern Mudug rivalries (EASO 2021).
- **December 2024.** Two Majeerteen clans clashed in Xarfo, Mudug. The fighting destroyed a "vital" water well and closed schools ([EUAA 2025, Mudug](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/25-galmudug/252-mudug)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists these disputes that name the Omar Mahamoud ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)):

- Dhulbahante against Omar Mahamoud, in the Adadda area between Nugaal and [Sool](/en/regions/sool/). The two clans "have been feuding for decades".
- Omar Mahmood against Sa'ad (Habar Gidir) in Galkayo and Jiriiban districts. The EUAA calls it "dormant as of February 2025".

See [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Cross-border.** The EASO's Mudug section has a passage on a clan "found mainly inside the Ethiopian region". Its wording does not make clear whether this means the Omar Mahamoud or another group.
- **Name of the parent line.** Abbink calls it Mahmood. The EUAA and Wikipedia call it Mohamoud Saleebaan.

## Read more

- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/)
- [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/)
- [Harti](/en/society/harti/)
- [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/)


---

# Ali Saleebaan (Cali Saleebaan, Majeerteen)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/ali-saleebaan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Ali Saleebaan (Cali Saleebaan) are a Majeerteen line of the Harti and Darod. They live mainly in north-eastern Bari, where the EUAA calls them very relevant politically, and in Arma. ACLED codes their Bicidyahan and Colyahan groups. The EASO records land disputes between them and other Majeerteen lines in Bari.

## Name and family tree

The Ali Saleebaan are a line of the [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/), part of the [Harti](/en/society/harti/) and [Darod](/en/society/darod/). The name is also written Ali Saleban, Ali Suleman and, in Somali, Cali Saleebaan.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kombe-Harti > Majerteen > Saleeban > 'Ali ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Majeerteen > Ali Saleban ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Ali Suleman clan, in the north-eastern part of the Bari region" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | With the Mahamoud Saleebaan and Ugaar Saleebaan, part of the Saleebaan Maxamed ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists five lines under 'Ali [Saleeban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/): Awlyahan, Isma'iil, Bi'iidyahan, 'Umar and Sa'id (Abbink 2009, Darod chart).

Under the same Saleeban line, Abbink also lists Se'ed, Ugar, Isma'iil, Aden, Aderahin and Mahmuud. Mahmuud is the parent of the Isa, 'Ismaan and 'Omr lines, better known as [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/), [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/) and [Omar Mahamoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/) (Abbink 2009).

ACLED codes two Ali Saleban groups: Bicidyahan and Colyahan. It also codes Bicidyahan directly under the Majeerteen (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| North-eastern Bari | "The Ali Suleman clan, in the north-eastern part of the Bari region, is also politically extremely relevant in the region" (EASO 2021) |
| Bari | "The Ali Suleman clan also is very relevant politically in the region" ([EUAA 2025, Bari](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/26-puntland/262-bari)) |
| Arma, Bari | The EASO calls Arma a village "predominantly inhabited by Ali Saleban" (EASO 2021) |
| Garowe | The EUAA lists Ali Salebaan among Majeerteen lines living in Garowe ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, Garowe](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| Kismayo | Wikipedia says Ali Saleebaan were part of "a powerful business class in Kismayo" in the 1960s ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)) |

See [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## History on record

- **1960s.** Wikipedia says Majeerteen lines including the Ali Saleebaan "formed a powerful business class in Kismayo" ([Wikipedia, Majeerteen, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majeerteen)).
- **1969 to 1991.** Wikipedia says the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) "exploited a rivalry between the Cali Saleebaan and Cumar Maxamuud" (same source). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).
- **About 2011 to 2021.** The EASO says the Ali Jibrail and Ali Saleban clashed often. They fought "on various occasions in the last 10 years or so" (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The EASO records elders from the Majeerteen, [Dashishe](/en/society/dishiishe/) and [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) meeting at Arma, an Ali Saleban village, to settle a land dispute (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EASO lists these Bari disputes that name the Ali Saleban (EASO 2021):

- Ali Jibrail (Majeerteen) against Ali Saleban (Majeerteen).
- Ugaadh Saleban (Majeerteen) against Ali Saleban (Majeerteen). The EASO says "each clan accused the other to expand its borders and hence its access to pastoral land".

The EUAA's 2025 list does not name the Ali Saleebaan separately. It lists Majeerteen sub-clans against each other in Kismayo, "currently dormant" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Parent line.** Abbink places 'Ali under Saleeban, beside Mahmuud. Wikipedia places Ali Saleebaan beside Mahamoud Saleebaan under Saleebaan Maxamed. ACLED codes Ali Saleban directly under the Majeerteen.
- **Branch names.** Abbink lists Awlyahan, Isma'iil, Bi'iidyahan, 'Umar and Sa'id. ACLED lists only Bicidyahan and Colyahan.

## Read more

- [Majeerteen](/en/society/majeerteen/)
- [Omar Mahamoud](/en/society/omar-mahamoud/)
- [Isse Mahamoud](/en/society/isse-mahamoud/)
- [Osman Mahamoud](/en/society/osman-mahamoud/)
- [Bari](/en/regions/bari/)


---

# Leysan (Laysaan, Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/leysan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Leysan (Laysaan) are a Mirifle clan of the Rahanweyn, in the Sideed (eight) group. They live in Bay and Bakool, and are the majority in Baidoa's Berdale neighbourhood. The EASO says they were the dominant Mirifle clan before 2018. The EUAA records clashes in 2024 between Leysan fighters and South West State forces in Bardaale.

## Name and family tree

The Leysan are a clan of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Laysaan, Leysaan, Leeysan and Lisan.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Mirifle Siyeed > Medovo > Boqol Daabe > Leisaan Hersi and Leisaan Bari ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Leysan (Mirifle/Sideed)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "Leysan (Mirifle/Rahaweyn)" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Leeysan, with Leeysan Banaani and Leeysan Bari ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists two Leysan lines, Leisaan Hersi and Leisaan [Bari](/en/regions/bari/). He places them under Boqol Daabe with the Ma'alim Weyne, Jiron, Reer Dumal, Harau and Garuwale (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart).

ACLED codes two Leysan groups, Leeysan Banaani and Leeysan Bari (ACLED 2025). Both sources name a Bari line.

See [Jiron](/en/society/jiron/) for a sister line under Boqol Daabe.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Baidoa | "The Leysan (Mirifle/Sideed) are the majority inhabitants of Berdale" neighbourhood (EASO 2021) |
| Bakool | The EASO lists "Lisan (Laysaan)" among the Rahanweyn groups of Bakool (EASO 2021) |
| Bardaale, Bay | The EUAA places Leysan fighters in Bardaale town, Burhakaba district (EUAA Country Focus 2025) |
| South West State | Wikipedia calls the Leysan "particularly well represented in the South West State" ([Wikipedia, Mukhtar Robow, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)) |

See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **Before 2018.** The EASO says "previously the dominant clan was the Laysaan" within the Mirifle (EASO 2021).
- **2018.** Wikipedia says [Mukhtar Robow](/en/people/mukhtar-robow/), a Leysan, was arrested while running for South West State president. It says a federal minister from the same Leysan line resigned in protest ([Wikipedia, Mukhtar Robow, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Robow)).
- **2018 to 2021.** The EASO says a federal intervention in Baidoa shifted power "in favour of the Harin clan" (EASO 2021). See [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/).
- **2024 to 2025.** The EUAA says the Leysan clashed with Bardaale police and state forces. It gives the cause as "their ambitions to lead the SWS" (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

In Bay, the EASO says political posts are "carefully allocated to ensure power sharing between the Sagaal and Sideed". The Leysan sit in the Sideed (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA lists "Leysan (Mirifle/Rahaweyn) versus SWS security forces" in Bardaale town, Burhakaba district, Bay ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The EUAA cites ACLED data for Bay from April 2023 to March 2025. Five incidents "involved both Leysaan Clan Militia and Southwest Special Police Forces" ([EUAA 2025, Bay](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)).

The EASO found "no major disputes (or long-running clan conflicts)" in Bay in its 2021 reference period (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Branch names.** Abbink names Leisaan Hersi and Leisaan Bari. ACLED names Leeysan Banaani and Leeysan Bari.
- **Spelling.** The EASO uses Laysaan, Leysan and Lisan in the same report.

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/)
- [Jiron](/en/society/jiron/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)


---

# Hariin (Harin, Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hariin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Hariin (Harin) are a Mirifle clan of the Rahanweyn, in the Sideed (eight) group. They are the majority in Baidoa's Adada and Mursal neighbourhoods. The EASO calls the Hariin the power base of South West State president Abdiaziz Laftagareen, and says power within the Mirifle shifted toward them after 2018.

## Name and family tree

The Hariin are a clan of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Harin and Harien.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Mirifle Siyeed > Medovo > Boqol Dambe > Harien ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Hariin (Mirifle/Sideed)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Harin, with a Harin Aw-Yare group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | A Mirifle clan of the eight (*Sideed*) ([Wikipedia Soomaali, Hariin, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariin)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists Harien as the only line under Boqol Dambe, one of the three Boqol lines of the Medovo (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart). The others are Boqol Hore and Boqol Daabe.

Somali Wikipedia says the Hariin divide into two lines, Hoon and Waraasile ([Wikipedia Soomaali, Hariin, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariin)). Abbink lists a Warasilay line under [Gedafade](/en/society/eelay/), in the Helai (Eelay) group (Abbink 2009).

ACLED codes a Harin Aw-Yare group under the Mirifle (ACLED 2025).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Baidoa | "The Hariin (Mirifle/Sideed) are the majority in Adada and Mursal neighbourhoods" (EASO 2021) |
| Bay | The EASO says Mirifle clans "tend to populate the northern half of the region" (EASO 2021) |

The EASO adds that returnees from Kenya are "changing the sub-clan demographics" of Baidoa (EASO 2021). See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **2018 to 2021.** The EASO says a federal intervention in Baidoa installed "Lafta Gareen" as South West State president. It says this "shifted the power balance within the Mirifle group in favour of the Harin clan" (EASO 2021). It calls the Hariin "'Lafta Gareen' power base".
- **2018.** [Abdiaziz Laftagareen](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/) became president of South West State. See [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).
- **Before 2018.** The EASO says the Laysaan were the dominant Mirifle clan (EASO 2021). See [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/).

Somali Wikipedia lists Hariin elders, traders and members of parliament, including Laftagareen ([Wikipedia Soomaali, Hariin, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariin)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Somali Wikipedia names Cabdiwali Macalin Cali as the Hariin *Ugaas* ([Wikipedia Soomaali, Hariin, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariin)). In Bay, posts are shared "between the Sagaal and Sideed" (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Hariin ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). It does list the Leysan against South West State forces in Bardaale, "due to their ambitions to lead the SWS" (same source). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Branches.** Somali Wikipedia names Hoon and Waraasile as Hariin lines. Abbink places Warasilay under Eelay, not Hariin.
- **Spelling.** The EASO uses both Hariin and Harin. Abbink writes Harien.

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/)
- [Abdiaziz Laftagareen](/en/people/abdiaziz-laftagareen/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)


---

# Hadame (Hadama, Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hadame/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Hadame (Hadama) are a Mirifle clan of the Rahanweyn, in the Sagaal (nine) group. The EASO names them among the strongest Mirifle clans. They live in Bakool and Bay, and are the majority in Baidoa's Buulo Hadame neighbourhood. ACLED also codes a separate Hadame group under the Gaaljecel (Hawiye).

## Name and family tree

The Hadame are a clan of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Hadama and Hadami.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Alemo (Mirifle Sagaal) > Aysha Omardin > Hadama ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Hadami (Mirifle/Sagaal)" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Hadame ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink places the Hadama in the Aysha Omardin line of the Mirifle Sagaal. Its other groups are the Hubeer, Wakdere, Wakbio, Gasar Gudda, Galluweger, Luwai, Jelible, Sarma, Yantaar, Mangiar, Balguri, Wangial, [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and Eyle (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart). He does not list sub-lines under the Hadama.

ACLED codes no sub-groups under the Mirifle Hadame. It codes a separate "Hadame" under the [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/) of the Hawiye (ACLED 2025). See [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/) and [Luway](/en/society/luway/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bakool | The EASO lists the Hadama first among the "various Rahanweyn groups" of Bakool (EASO 2021) |
| Baidoa | "The Hadami (Mirifle/Sagaal) are the majority in Buulo Hadame" (EASO 2021) |
| Bay | Mirifle clans "tend to populate the northern half of the region" (EASO 2021) |

See [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **2021.** The EASO says "other super clans of the group are Hadama and Eelay", after the Hariin and [Laysaan](/en/society/leysan/) (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD says Rahanweyn clans are made of four to seven *jilib* that pay compensation together ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). In Bay, posts are shared "between the Sagaal and Sideed" (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Hadame ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The EASO's 2021 Bakool list names the Gelidle, not the Hadame (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Two Hadame groups.** ACLED codes one Hadame under the Mirifle and another under the Gaaljecel (Hawiye). The other sources here name only the Mirifle group.
- **Spelling.** Abbink and the EASO write Hadama; the EASO also writes Hadami. ACLED writes Hadame.

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Eelay](/en/society/eelay/)
- [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/)
- [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/)


---

# Eelay (Elay, Helai, Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/eelay/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Eelay (Elay, Helai) are a Mirifle clan of the Rahanweyn. Abbink lists six Eelay lines, among them Borohad, Nassiye and Gedafade. The EASO names them among the strongest Mirifle clans and among the long-settled groups of Lower Shabelle. ACLED data show fighting between Eelay groups in Bay in 2023 to 2025.

## Name and family tree

The Eelay are a clan of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Elay, Eelaay and Helai.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Mirifle Siyeed > Medovo > Helai (Elay) ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | Named among the "super clans" of the Mirifle ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Elay, and a separate Elidhere group ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

Abbink also lists a "Helai" among groups outside the clan framework (Abbink 2009, section 4). See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists six Eelay lines (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart):

| Line | Groups named under it |
|---|---|
| Borohad | Barre and Lelle |
| Nassiye | Alemo and Madweyne |
| Gedafade | Reer Weyne, Warasilay, Yarre and Rawallan |
| Other lines | Da'ud, Jembalul and Gurballabo |

ACLED codes Elay and Elidhere under the Mirifle. It codes a Jambaluul group under the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) (ACLED 2025). Abbink's Jembalul sits under Eelay.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Lower Shabelle | The EASO lists Eelay among "the largest" Digil-Mirifle groups of the region's long-settled population (EASO 2021) |
| Bay | ACLED data cited by the EUAA record incidents "between members of Rahanweyn-Elay Sub-Clan Militia" in Bay ([EUAA 2025, Bay](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)) |
| Bay and Bakool | The EASO says the Mirifle live mainly in Bakool and northern Bay (EASO 2021) |

See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **Before 1900.** The EASO counts the Eelay among [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/)'s "long-term indigenous populations (clans inhabiting the region in pre-colonial era)" (EASO 2021).
- **2021.** The EASO says "other super clans of the group are Hadama and Eelay", after the [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/) and Laysaan (EASO 2021).
- **April 2023 to March 2025.** The EUAA cites three ACLED incidents between Eelay groups in Bay ([EUAA 2025, Bay](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD says Rahanweyn elders are "more hierarchical and tightly related to the villages" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Eelay ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Its Bay section notes "three incidents" between members of Eelay groups ([EUAA 2025, Bay](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/222-bay)). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Mirifle or Digil.** Abbink and ACLED place the Eelay in the Mirifle. The EASO lists them with Digil-Mirifle groups of Lower Shabelle, without saying which half.
- **Jembalul.** Abbink puts Jembalul under Eelay. ACLED codes Jambaluul under the Digil.

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/)
- [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)


---

# Hubeer (Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/hubeer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Hubeer are a clan counted with the Rahanweyn (Digil-Mirifle). Abbink and ACLED place them in the Mirifle. Wikipedia says they live in Bay, around Qansax Dheere and Baidoa, and in Lower Shabelle, Gedo and Lower Juba. It also reports that they trace descent to Yahabur, outside the Saab line.

## Name and family tree

The Hubeer are a clan counted with the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/). The name is also written Xubeer in standard Somali.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Alemo (Mirifle Sagaal) > Aysha Omardin > Hubeer ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Hubeer ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | "Associated politically with Digil and Mirifle clans", but descended "from Yahabur Samaale" ([Wikipedia, Hubeer, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubeer)) |

See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists the Hubeer first in the Aysha Omardin line of the Mirifle Sagaal. The same line holds the Wakdere, Wakbio, Gasar Gudda, Galluweger, Luwai, Hadama, Jelible, Sarma, Yantaar, Mangiar, Balguri, Wangial, [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and Eyle (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart). He lists no sub-lines under the Hubeer.

ACLED codes no Hubeer sub-groups (ACLED 2025). See [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/) and [Luway](/en/society/luway/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

Wikipedia places the Hubeer in these districts ([Wikipedia, Hubeer, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubeer)):

| Region | Districts named |
|---|---|
| Bay | Qansax Dheere and Baidoa |
| Lower Shabelle | Wanla Weyn |
| Gedo | Baardheere |
| Lower Juba | Kismayo and Afmadow |

The EASO says the Mirifle live mainly in [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and northern Bay ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)). See [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## History on record

Wikipedia names these Hubeer public figures ([Wikipedia, Hubeer, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubeer)):

- **Before 1991.** Dr. Abdirahman [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/), Attorney General.
- **Education.** Prof. Mohamed Ali Nur "Dhakalow", whom Wikipedia calls the father of science teaching in Somali schools. See [universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/).
- **2017.** Abbas Abdullahi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Siraji, Minister of Public Works, who was killed in Mogadishu in May 2017 ([Wikipedia, Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Abdullahi_Sheikh_Siraji)).
- **Other figures.** Prof. Hussein Iman, an agronomist, and several members of parliament and state ministers.

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

Wikipedia names Malaaq Hassan Shurre Mohamud, of the Hubeer, as a former chairman of the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and Mirifle traditional leaders ([Wikipedia, Hubeer, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubeer)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Hubeer ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The EASO's 2021 Bay section found "no major disputes" in that region (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Descent.** Abbink and ACLED place the Hubeer in the Mirifle. Wikipedia says they descend from Yahabur, a line Abbink sets beside Gardere and Mayle in the "pre-Hawiye" group.
- **Political tie.** Wikipedia says the Hubeer are tied to the Digil and Mirifle "politically", not by descent.

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Gardere, Yakabur and Mayle](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/)
- [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/)
- [Bay](/en/regions/bay/)


---

# Jiron (Jeron, Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/jiron/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Jiron (Jeron) are a Mirifle clan of the Rahanweyn, in the Sideed (eight) group. Abbink places them under Boqol Daabe, beside the Leysan and Ma'alim Weyne. The EASO lists them among the Rahanweyn groups of Bakool. ACLED codes them under two spellings, Jiron and Jeron.

## Name and family tree

The Jiron are a clan of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Mirifle Siyeed > Medovo > Boqol Daabe > Jiron ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | Listed among the "various Rahanweyn groups" of Bakool ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Jiron, and also Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Jeron ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

The UK Home Office notes that the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and Mirifle speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink places the Jiron in the Boqol Daabe line of the Medovo, Mirifle Siyeed. Its other groups are the Ma'alim Weyne, Reer Dumal, Leisaan Hersi, Leisaan [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), Harau and Garuwale (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart). He lists no sub-lines under the Jiron.

ACLED codes the clan twice, as Jiron and as Jeron, with no sub-groups (ACLED 2025). See [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/) for a sister line under Boqol Daabe.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bakool | The EASO lists "Hadama, Jiron, Lisan (Laysaan), Garwale, Luwai, Jelible, Gelidle, Reer Dumal, Ashraf" as Bakool's Rahanweyn groups ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Bakool and Bay | The EASO says the Mirifle are "more prevalent in Bakool", and live in the northern half of Bay (EASO 2021) |

See [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **Before 1991.** The EASO says the Rahanweyn shared a "marginalisation experience" in the 1940s and 1950s (EASO 2021).
- **2021.** The EASO names the [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/), Laysaan, Hadama and [Eelay](/en/society/eelay/) as the strongest Mirifle clans. It does not name the Jiron among them (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD says Rahanweyn clans are made of four to seven *jilib* that pay compensation together. Their elders are "more hierarchical and tightly related to the villages" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Jiron ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The EASO's 2021 Bakool list names the Gelidle, not the Jiron (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Spelling.** ACLED codes Jiron and Jeron as two entries. Abbink and the EASO write Jiron.
- **Strength.** The EASO lists the Jiron among Bakool's groups but not among the Mirifle "super clans".

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Leysan](/en/society/leysan/)
- [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/)
- [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/)


---

# Luway (Luwai, Mirifle, Rahanweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/luway/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Luway (Luwai) are a Mirifle clan of the Rahanweyn, in the Sagaal (nine) group. Abbink places them in the Aysha Omardin line, beside the Hubeer and Hadama. The EASO lists them among the Rahanweyn groups of Bakool, and ACLED codes them as a Mirifle group.

## Name and family tree

The Luway are a clan of the [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/), part of the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/).

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Rahanwen > Alemo (Mirifle Sagaal) > Aysha Omardin > Luwai ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | Listed among the "various Rahanweyn groups" of Bakool ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Rahanweyn > Mirifle > Luway ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

The UK Home Office notes that the [Digil](/en/society/digil/) and Mirifle speak [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [the Rahanweyn tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-rahanweyn/).

## Main branches

Abbink places the Luwai in the Aysha Omardin line of the Mirifle Sagaal. Its other groups are the Hubeer, Wakdere, Wakbio, Gasar Gudda, Galluweger, Hadama, Jelible, Sarma, Yantaar, Mangiar, Balguri, Wangial, [Geledi](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/) and Eyle (Abbink 2009, Rahanwen chart). He lists no sub-lines under the Luwai.

ACLED codes the Luway with no sub-groups (ACLED 2025). See [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/) and [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/).

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Bakool | The EASO lists "Hadama, Jiron, Lisan (Laysaan), Garwale, Luwai, Jelible, Gelidle, Reer Dumal, Ashraf" as Bakool's Rahanweyn groups ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| Bakool and Bay | The EASO says the Mirifle are "more prevalent in Bakool", and live in the northern half of Bay (EASO 2021) |

See [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).

## History on record

- **Before 1991.** The EASO says the Rahanweyn shared a "marginalisation experience" in the 1940s and 1950s (EASO 2021).
- **2021.** The EASO names the [Hariin](/en/society/hariin/), [Laysaan](/en/society/leysan/), Hadama and [Eelay](/en/society/eelay/) as the strongest Mirifle clans. It does not name the Luway among them (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

ACCORD says Rahanweyn clans are made of four to seven *jilib* that pay compensation together. Their elders are "more hierarchical and tightly related to the villages" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 13](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Luway ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The EASO's 2021 Bakool list names the Gelidle, not the Luway (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Spelling.** Abbink and the EASO write Luwai. ACLED writes Luway. The Somali spelling Luwaay is also used.
- **Group.** Abbink puts the Luwai in the Sagaal (nine). The other sources here do not say which half.

## Read more

- [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/)
- [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/)
- [Hubeer](/en/society/hubeer/)
- [Hadame](/en/society/hadame/)
- [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/)


---

# Mohamed Zubeir (Maxamed Subeer, Ogaden, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/mohamed-zubeir/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Mohamed Zubeir (Maxamed Subeer) are an Ogaden line of the Darod. They hold the west-bank rangelands of the Juba, from the river through Afmadow district into Kenya, and are the main clan of west-bank Jilib. The EUAA says Kismayo has been dominated by the Ogaden, 'particularly the large Mohamed Zubeir' line.

## Name and family tree

The Mohamed Zubeir are a line of the [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/), part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). In Somali the name is Maxamed Subeer.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kumade > Ogaden > Bahalla > Mohamed Zubeir ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Mohamed Zubier/Ogaden (Darood) clan" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "The large Mohamed Zubeir/Ogaden subclan" ([EUAA 2025, Lower Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/213-lower-juba)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Darod > Ogaden > Mohamed Zubeyr, with five coded sub-groups ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists six Mohamed Zubeir lines: Musa, Reer 'Abdulle, Reer Isaaq, Reer Amaden, Reer 'Ali Nasir and Reer Adan Khair (Abbink 2009, Darod chart). He places them under Bahalla, beside the Bah Geri and Aulihan.

ACLED codes five Mohamed Zubeyr groups (ACLED 2025):

| ACLED group | Matching Abbink line |
|---|---|
| Reer-Abdula | Reer 'Abdulle |
| Reer Isaq-Ali | Reer Isaaq |
| Amaadin | Reer Amaden |
| Reer-Warfa | Not in Abbink |
| Guled Qalaf | Not in Abbink |

See [Aulihan](/en/society/aulihan/), a sister line under Bahalla.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Lower Juba west bank | The clan "controls territory from the Jubba river to through Afmadow district and into Kenya" (EASO 2021) |
| Jilib, Middle Juba | "The Mohamed Zubier are the main clan on the west bank of Jilib district, including the town of Marereey" (EASO 2021) |
| Middle Juba | One of "the two strongest clans both in political and military terms", with the Aulihan ([EUAA 2025, Middle Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)) |
| Kismayo | "Kismayo town has been dominated by the Ogaden clan, particularly the large Mohamed Zubeir/Ogaden subclan" (EUAA 2025, Lower Juba) |

See [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/).

## History on record

- **Before 1991.** The EASO says the Mohamed Zubeir "populated much of the interior rangeland" and "gradually settled into neighbourhoods in Kismayo" (EASO 2021).
- **1969 to 1991.** The EASO says the Marehan presence in Kismayo grew under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) (EASO 2021). See [the Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).
- **2012.** The EASO says [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) came to power "as leader of the Ogaden clan militia". With Kenyan support, it "captured Kismayo from [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)" (EASO 2021).
- **Since 2012.** "Kismayo has been dominated politically, economically, and militarily by the Ogaden clan, especially the large Mohamed Zubier sub-clan" (EASO 2021).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The EASO says the Jubbaland parliament has "representation of all clans in Jubbaland (though often not at the level they feel they merit)" (EASO 2021). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list does not name the Mohamed Zubeir. It lists the Biyomaal (Dir) against the Ogaden in [Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/), "currently dormant" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

The EASO says Ahmed Madobe "continues to have tight control" over the Ogaden militia that took Kismayo. It is "now expanded and reinvented as Jubbaland security forces" (EASO 2021). See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Sub-groups.** Abbink and ACLED share three lines. ACLED adds Reer Warfa and Guled Qalaf; Abbink adds Musa, Reer 'Ali Nasir and Reer Adan Khair.
- **Spelling.** The EASO writes Zubier and Zubeir in the same report. ACLED writes Zubeyr.

## Read more

- [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/)
- [Aulihan](/en/society/aulihan/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)


---

# Aulihan (Awlyahan, Ogaden, Darod)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/society/aulihan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Aulihan are an Ogaden line of the Darod. They hold pasture and wells around Fafaduun and Baardheere, live on the west bank of Middle Juba, and on both sides of the Ethiopia border in Bakool. The EUAA calls them one of the two strongest clans in Middle Juba, with the Mohamed Zubeir.

## Name and family tree

The Aulihan are a line of the [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/), part of the [Darod](/en/society/darod/). In Somali the name is Cawlyahan.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Darod > Kablalah > Kumade > Ogaden > Bahalla > Aulihan ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| EASO 2021 | "The Aulihan (Ogaden/Darood) clan" ([EASO, *Somalia: Security situation*, 2021](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2021_09_EASO_COI_Report_Somalia_Security_situation.pdf)) |
| EUAA 2025 | "The Aulihan (Darood)" ([EUAA 2025, Middle Juba](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/21-jubbaland/212-middle-juba)) |
| ACLED 2025 | Two codes: Darod-Auliyan, and Darod > Ogaden > Awlyahan ([ACLED clan actor list, September 2025](https://acleddata.com/system/files/2025-10/Somalia-clan-actor-old-to-new-list_16-September-2025.xlsx)) |

See [the Darod tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-darod/).

## Main branches

Abbink lists two Aulihan lines, Reer Afgab and Reer Wafate (Abbink 2009, Darod chart). He places the Aulihan under Bahalla, beside the Bah Geri and the Mohamed Zubeir.

Abbink also lists an Awlyahan line under 'Ali of the [Saleeban](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/), a different place in the Darod tree (Abbink 2009, Darod chart). See [Mohamed Zubeir](/en/society/mohamed-zubeir/), a sister line under Bahalla.

## Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Fafaduun and Baardheere | The Aulihan "historically resided and controlled pasture and wells" there (EASO 2021) |
| Middle Juba | One of "the two strongest clans both in political and military terms", with the Mohamed Zubeir (EUAA 2025, Middle Juba) |
| Bakool | The clan "resides along both sides of the border with Ethiopia" ([EUAA 2025, Bakool](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/security-situation/22-south-west/221-bakool)) |
| Dhobley, Lower Juba | The EASO notes an Aulihan "presence in Dobley, near the Kenya border" (EASO 2021) |
| Kenya | The EASO says the Aulihan "have more important interests in Garissa county, Kenya (especially Dadaab refugee camp)" (EASO 2021) |

See [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## History on record

- **Before 1991.** The EASO lists the Aulihan among clans "of long-standing residence" in [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) (EASO 2021).
- **Since 2012.** The EASO says their interests in Kismayo are smaller than in Garissa county (EASO 2021). See [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/).
- **August 2024.** On 25 August 2024, eight Marehan and Bartire civilians were abducted in Saakow. The EUAA says this came "after crossing to the grazing land of the Auliyan clan" ([EUAA Country Focus 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA's 2025 list of major clan conflicts does not name the Aulihan ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). The Saakow abduction of August 2024 is listed in the same report under abductions (EUAA Country Focus 2025).

The EASO says the Aulihan and Mohamed Zubeir both live on the west bank of Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). It places a Bartire pocket "in between the Aulihan and Mohamed Zubir, in the Hagar area" (EASO 2021). See [Marehan](/en/society/mareexaan/), [Bartire](/en/society/bartire/) and [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Two codes.** ACLED codes Auliyan directly under the Darod, and Awlyahan under the Ogaden.
- **Two places in Abbink.** Abbink lists Aulihan under Bahalla of the Ogaden, and Awlyahan under the Saleeban.
- **Spelling.** The EASO and EUAA write Aulihan; the EUAA Country Focus writes Auliyan.

## Read more

- [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/)
- [Mohamed Zubeir](/en/society/mohamed-zubeir/)
- [Darod](/en/society/darod/)
- [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/)
- [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/)


---

# Australia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/australia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 2021 Census counted 18,401 people of Somali ancestry in Australia, and 8,101 people born in Somalia. More than half live in Victoria, mostly in Melbourne, and most came as refugees from the 1990s onward.

The 2021 Census counted 18,401 people of Somali ancestry in Australia, and 8,101 people born in Somalia ([ABS QuickStats 2021](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). More than half live in Victoria, mostly in Melbourne, and most came as refugees from the 1990s onward ([Victorian Government, Somali community profile](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)).

## How many Somalis live in Australia?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) counted 18,401 people who reported Somali ancestry in 2021 ([ABS QuickStats 2021](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). Of the 8,101 born in Somalia, 6,781 reported Somali ancestry ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). The ancestry count includes children born in Australia and people born in Kenya, Ethiopia and other countries.

UN DESA estimated 9,578 Somalia-born people in Australia in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). UNHCR counted 412 refugees and 99 asylum seekers from Somalia in Australia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where do they live?

Victoria has the largest community: 10,019 people with Somali ancestry, 4,291 of them born in Somalia ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)). Greater Melbourne had 4,229 people born in Somalia ([ABS, Greater Melbourne](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_2GMEL)).

Within Victoria, the largest Somali-born populations were in these council areas ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)):

- Wyndham: 1,555
- Hume: 1,326
- Banyule: 1,033
- Melbourne: 989
- Whittlesea: 916

Other cities have smaller communities. In 2021, 1,267 people born in Somalia lived in Greater Brisbane and 1,260 in Greater Perth ([ABS, Brisbane](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_3GBRI); [ABS, Perth](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_5GPER)). Greater Sydney had 822 ([ABS, Sydney](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_1GSYD)).

## Who are they?

Of the 8,101 born in Somalia, 53% are women and the median age is 38 ([ABS QuickStats 2021](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). Australian citizens make up 68.6%, and 95.3% are Muslim ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

The wider community is young. In Victoria, 34.5% of people with Somali ancestry are under 15, and 24.2% are aged 15 to 24 ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)). Of the Somalia-born, 3,740 families were counted, 1,246 of them one-parent families ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

English is widely spoken. 73.9% speak another language and English well or very well, while 17.6% speak English not well or not at all ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). In Victoria, 3,647 Somalia-born people speak Somali at home ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)).

## How did Somalis come to Australia?

The Somali community in Victoria dates to 1988, but most arrived in the early 1990s after the war began ([Museums Victoria, Origins](https://origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/somalia/)). About 80% came under Australia's Refugee and Special Humanitarian Program ([Museums Victoria](https://origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/somalia/)). The 1991 census counted only 242 Somalis in Victoria, and by 1996 there were 2,061 Somalia-born people in Australia ([Museums Victoria](https://origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/somalia/)).

The census shows the waves. Of those born in Somalia, 212 arrived in 1981 to 1990 and 2,670 in 1991 to 2000 ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). Another 2,310 came in 2001 to 2010, 1,752 in 2011 to 2015 and 835 in 2016 to 2021 ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

Some came from camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, and some were born there ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)). Many early arrivals were processed through Nairobi ([Museums Victoria](https://origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/somalia/)). More recent migration has been for family reunion, education and work ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)).

## Work and money

At the 2021 Census, 57.7% of Somalia-born adults were in the labour force ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). Of those, 39.3% worked full-time, 32.2% part-time and 20.0% were unemployed ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

The main jobs were community and personal service work (26.7%), machinery operators and drivers (23.7%) and professionals (14.7%) ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). The top industries were taxi and road transport (11.3%) and child care (11.3%) ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

Median personal income was $516 a week, against $805 for all Australians ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). 81.7% of households rented their home ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). Bachelor degrees or higher were held by 17.6% of adults, while 11.9% had no formal schooling ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

Sending money home was disrupted in 2014–15. Westpac, the last major Australian bank serving money-transfer firms, closed their accounts in March 2015 ([Oxfam Australia](https://www.oxfam.org.au/media-releases/archive/westpacs-closure-of-vital-lifeline-could-be-catastrophic-for-somalia-oxfam/)). Somali Australians said the cuts hit families hard ([SBS News](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/somalis-hit-hard-by-money-transfer-cuts/rkzodz2l7)). In 2025, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Somali Community of Victoria was set up in 1988, and the Somali Cultural Association in 1995 ([Museums Victoria](https://origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/somalia/)). The Victorian Government publishes its own Somali community profile, updated in November 2026 ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)).

Voluntary work is common: 10.7% of Somalia-born adults volunteered, and 39.0% cared for children without pay ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

## What do they face now?

**Jobs and income.** At the 2021 Census, unemployment was 20% and incomes were well below the national median ([ABS](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)).

**The 2020 tower lockdown.** On 4 July 2020, about 3,000 residents of nine inner-Melbourne public housing towers were detained in a hard lockdown ([Victorian Ombudsman](https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/news/public-housing-tower-lockdown)). The Ombudsman found the lockdown breached human rights law and recommended an apology ([Victorian Ombudsman](https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/news/public-housing-tower-lockdown)). A summary of the report was published in Somali, among other languages ([Victorian Ombudsman](https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/news/public-housing-tower-lockdown)).

## How is Australia tied to home?

From December 1992 to May 1993, the Australian 1RAR battalion group served in the Baidoa Humanitarian Relief Sector in Somalia ([Australian War Memorial](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C268729)). In April 2025, the battalion received a Meritorious Unit Citation for that operation ([Department of Defence, 16 April 2025](https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2025-04-16/regiment-recognised-somalia-operation)).

Victoria lists 26 June, independence day for the northern regions, among significant Somali dates ([Victorian Government](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile)).

## Related pages

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [New Zealand (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/new-zealand/)

## Sources

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. "People in Australia who were born in Somalia," 2021 Census QuickStats. [abs.gov.au](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2021 Census QuickStats, Somalia-born in Greater Melbourne, Greater Brisbane, Greater Perth and Greater Sydney. [Melbourne](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_2GMEL) · [Brisbane](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_3GBRI) · [Perth](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_5GPER) · [Sydney](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_1GSYD). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Victorian Government (Multicultural Affairs). "Somali community profile." Updated 2 November 2026. [multicultural.vic.gov.au](https://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/somali-community-profile). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024" (origin and destination table). 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Museums Victoria. "Origins: Somalia." [museumsvictoria.com.au](https://origins.museumsvictoria.com.au/countries/somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Oxfam Australia. "Westpac's closure of vital lifeline could be catastrophic for Somalia." [oxfam.org.au](https://www.oxfam.org.au/media-releases/archive/westpacs-closure-of-vital-lifeline-could-be-catastrophic-for-somalia-oxfam/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. SBS News. "Somalis hit hard by money transfer cuts." [sbs.com.au](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/somalis-hit-hard-by-money-transfer-cuts/rkzodz2l7). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Victorian Ombudsman. "Tower lockdown breached human rights, Ombudsman finds." 17 December 2020. [ombudsman.vic.gov.au](https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/news/public-housing-tower-lockdown). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Australian War Memorial. "1 RAR, [Operation Solace](/en/relations/australia/), Somalia." [awm.gov.au](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C268729). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Department of Defence. "Regiment recognised for Somalia operation." 16 April 2025. [defence.gov.au](https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2025-04-16/regiment-recognised-somalia-operation). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Birmingham (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/birmingham/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Birmingham has the largest Somali community in Britain outside London. In Census 2021, 16,971 residents wrote Somali as their Black African ethnic group (1.5% of the city), and 10,812 were born in Somalia. Most arrived from 2001, many after first settling elsewhere in Europe.

Birmingham holds 11.3% of everyone in England and Wales who identified as Somali in Census 2021, the largest share outside London ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). The city council counts 16,971 residents of Somali ethnicity and 10,812 born in Somalia ([Birmingham City Council, Census 2021 update](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Birmingham?

Counts differ by which census answers are added together:

- **Somali, Black African write-in:** 16,971, or 1.5% of residents ([Birmingham City Council, 2021 census update](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).
- **All "Somali" and "Somalilander" write-ins:** 21,584, of whom 2,508 wrote "Somalilander" ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).
- **ONS share:** 11.3% of 176,645 people, about 20,000, counting ethnic group or national identity ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Born in Somalia:** 10,812 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)).

The council says the real number is likely higher, because 2021 was the first census with a write-in box for Black African groups and some Somalis did not use it ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)). Its Public Health team also notes that local Somali data remain limited ([Birmingham City Council, Somali community health profile](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50305/community_health_profiles/2780/somali_community_health_profile)).

## Where in Birmingham do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, "Somali" and "Somalilander" answers together ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Newtown:** 1,882
- **Nechells:** 1,866
- **Alum Rock:** 1,493
- **Small Heath:** 1,437
- **Bordesley Green:** 1,425
- **Bordesley and Highgate:** 1,400
- **Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East:** 1,201

It is a young community. Only 5% of Birmingham residents with a Somali identity were 65 or over in 2021, against 19% nationally ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)). In 2011, 8,139 Birmingham residents gave Somali as their main language ([Birmingham City Council, Somali Community Health Profile 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to Birmingham?

The first [Somalis in Britain](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/) were seamen in port cities, and some later moved inland to heavy-industry cities such as Birmingham ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). Large refugee arrivals in Britain began after war in Somalia from 1988; see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

Birmingham's main wave came later than London's. Census 2011 counted 3,943 West Midlands residents from Somalia who arrived in 2001 to 2003, against 1,519 in 1991 to 2000 ([Birmingham City Council, 2022, from Census 2011 table CT0562](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). In England and Wales as a whole, the peak decade was 1991 to 2000 ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)).

More women than men arrived in the West Midlands, which the council reads as a sign of asylum seekers, mostly women and children ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). Since 2000 the UK has also drawn Somalis from across Europe ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). Nationally, 14% of people born in Somalia held a passport from an EU country in 2021 ([Birmingham City Council, 2021 census update](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).

For the routes people took and the papers they hold, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Do Somalis in Birmingham have work?

The council's 2021 figures cover people born in Somalia across England and Wales. 55% were economically active, and 26% of Somali women were inactive because they looked after home or family, against 5% of all women ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)). Among those in work, 23% had elementary jobs, 23% caring and service jobs and 12% professional jobs ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).

In 2011, only 9% of working-age Somalia-born residents of the West Midlands had full-time jobs, and 13% part-time ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). In 2021, 33% of the Somalia-born had no qualifications, and 24% held a degree-level qualification ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).

Homes are crowded. 72% of Somalia-born households rent social housing, only 4% own their home, and 49% are overcrowded ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)). A government report from 2010 found that more than 8 in 10 Somali pupils lived in poor households ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Birmingham?

Somali-led charities give advice and support:

- **Ileys Community Association** (charity 1124725), registered in 2008, works in Birmingham and Sandwell on jobs, health, schooling and integration ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4035506/full-print)). Its income was £209,210 in the year to March 2025 ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4035506/full-print)).
- **Central England Somali Organisation** (charity 1106388), in Small Heath, gives advice and helps people use public services ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4011039/full-print)).
- **Arrahma Islamic Centre** in Small Heath is one of the few UK mosques run by Somalis ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)).

London's Kayd Somali Arts and Culture works with community groups in Birmingham ([Greater London Authority](https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/city-hall-blog/kayd-somali-arts-and-culture)). In 2024, a Birmingham clinician who grew up as a Somali refugee wrote that Somalis are the city's largest African diaspora, yet few hold leadership roles ([The King's Fund, 21 February 2024](https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/experiences-somali-community-birmingham)).

## What do Somalis in Birmingham face now?

- **Health differences:** from 2012 to 2014, mothers born in Somalia had 2.37% of the city's births but 3.10% of stillbirths ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)).
- **Trust in services:** the 2024 King's Fund piece described a collective lack of trust in health professionals ([The King's Fund, 2024](https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/experiences-somali-community-birmingham)).
- **English:** 21% of people with a Somali national identity could not speak English well or at all in 2021 ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).
- **Papers:** 48% of people with a Somali identity held a UK passport in 2021, and 23% held no passport ([Birmingham City Council](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf)).

## How are Birmingham Somalis tied to home?

Ileys lists Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya among the places it works, as well as Birmingham ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4035506/full-print)). In 2025, people abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

UN DESA counts 119,728 Somalia-born people across the UK in 2024 ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,697 refugees and 1,590 asylum seekers from Somalia in the UK ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [London (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/london/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Bristol (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/bristol/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Birmingham City Council. "Census 2021 update: Somali community health profile" (infographic). [birmingham.gov.uk](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/27469/somali_2021_census_update_infographic.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Birmingham City Council. "Somali Community Health Profile 2022." [birmingham.gov.uk](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Birmingham City Council. "Somali community health profile" web page, updated 8 April 2024. [birmingham.gov.uk](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50305/community_health_profiles/2780/somali_community_health_profile). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth (detailed), Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Ileys Community Association, charity 1124725. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4035506/full-print). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Central England Somali Organisation, charity 1106388. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4011039/full-print). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Greater London Authority. "Kayd Somali Arts and Culture." City Hall blog, 3 November 2021. [london.gov.uk](https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/city-hall-blog/kayd-somali-arts-and-culture). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. The King's Fund. "A community in the shadows: experiences of a Somali community in Birmingham." Guest blog, 21 February 2024. [kingsfund.org.uk](https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/experiences-somali-community-birmingham). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Bristol (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/bristol/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the 2021 Census, 9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander, 1.9% of the city and its largest minority ethnic group. It is the fourth-largest Somali population of any council area in England and Wales. In 2026 Bristol chose its first Lord Mayor of Somali heritage.

## How many Somalis live in Bristol?

Census 2021 counted 9,167 people in Bristol who identified as Somali or Somalilander in the ethnic group question, 1.9% of the city ([Bristol City Council, Somali population profile, December 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)). That made them Bristol's largest minority ethnic group ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).

The council gives several counts, depending on the question used ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)):

- **Somali, by ethnic group:** 7,324
- **Somalilander, by ethnic group:** 1,843
- **Somali by ethnic group, national identity or both:** 7,820, used for the detailed figures below

Both identities live side by side here, in the same streets and families. Bristol has the fourth-largest Somali population of any council area in England and Wales, after [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/), Brent and Ealing ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)). It holds 4.4% of all Somalis in England and Wales ([ONS, Somali populations, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## Where in Bristol do Somalis live?

More than half live in two inner-city wards: Lawrence Hill (40%) and Ashley (14%) ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)). Somalis make up 19% of everyone in Lawrence Hill ward.

By local area, the largest shares live in Barton Hill (23%), Upper Easton (11%), St Pauls (10%) and Temple Meads (10%) ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).

## How young is Bristol's Somali community?

Very young. In 2021, 52% of Bristol's Somalis were under 20 and 40% were under 15, against 23% and 17% citywide ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)). Only 10% were 50 or older. Women and girls were 53.5% of the community ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).

Health is good, partly because the community is young. 69% reported very good health, against 51% of all Bristol residents, and 7.6% were disabled, against 17.2% ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).

## How did Somalis come to Bristol?

Most [Somalis in Britain](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/) came as refugees after the war began in 1991, and their families followed. Across England and Wales in 2021, 43.1% of Somalis were born in Somalia and 43.5% in England ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Many also came from other European countries after becoming citizens there. A peer-reviewed study of Dutch Somalis who moved to the UK found most left because of discrimination in their previous home ([Ahrens, Kelly and van Liempt, Population, Space and Place, 2016](https://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/58949/)). See [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/), [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Do Somalis in Bristol have work and homes?

The city profile has no job figures for Bristol alone. Across England and Wales, 34.1% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 were employees and 8.5% were self-employed in 2021 ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Unemployment was 10.3%, against 4.4% for everyone, and 21.7% were students ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

In Bristol, a third (33%) of Somalis aged 16 and over had no qualifications, against 15% citywide ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)). 17% held a degree-level qualification, against 42% of all Bristol adults.

Housing is the hardest part ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)):

- **Social renting:** 85%, against 19% citywide.
- **Home ownership:** 2%, against 54% citywide.
- **Flats:** 56%, against 27%.
- **Overcrowding:** 63%, more than six times the city rate of 10%.

## What languages do Bristol Somalis speak?

English is the main language of 66% of Bristol Somalis aged 4 and over ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)). 3,135 Bristol residents gave Somali as their main language. Among Somalis whose main language was not English, 75% spoke English well or very well and 22% did not speak it well ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Bristol?

Councillor Yassin Mohamud, born in Mogadishu, is Lord Mayor of Bristol for 2026 to 2027, the first person of Somali heritage in the role ([Bristol City Council, current Lord Mayor](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor)). He has represented Lawrence Hill ward since 2021 ([Bristol City Council](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor)), for the Green Party ([Bristol Green Party](https://bristolgreenparty.org.uk/green-councillor-yassin-mohamud-to-be-next-lord-mayor-of-bristol/)).

Hibaq Jama was an earlier Labour councillor for Lawrence Hill, described as the city's first Somali councillor ([Bristol24/7, 2015](https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/somali-cllr-attacks-ukip-in-rousing-speech/)).

The Bristol Somali Resource Centre, at 43 Ducie Road in Barton Hill, gives free advice on welfare, housing, immigration, schools and work ([Turn2us Advice Finder](https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/Home/Details/11421)). It is a registered charity, number 1128721 ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4044605)). The council chose it as preferred bidder to build 13 social homes and community space in Barton Hill ([Bristol24/7](https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/plans-for-social-housing-community-space-and-cafe-in-barton-hill/)).

## What do Somalis in Bristol face now?

- **Crowded homes:** 63% overcrowded, against 10% citywide ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).
- **Qualifications:** a third of adults have none ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).
- **A very young population:** four in ten are under 15 and will need school places, skills and jobs ([Bristol City Council, 2023](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file)).

## How are Bristol Somalis tied to home?

Families send money home and follow news from every Somali region. The UK has 119,728 Somalia-born residents by the UN's count, the largest group outside Africa and the Middle East ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Bristol City Council. "Census 2021 Population Profile: Somali Population." December 2023. [bristol.gov.uk](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/7020-population-profile-somali-population/file). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Bristol City Council. "Current Lord Mayor." [bristol.gov.uk](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Bristol Green Party. "Green councillor Yassin Mohamud to be next Lord Mayor of Bristol." 2026. [bristolgreenparty.org.uk](https://bristolgreenparty.org.uk/green-councillor-yassin-mohamud-to-be-next-lord-mayor-of-bristol/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Bristol24/7. "Somali cllr attacks UKIP in rousing speech." 2015. [bristol247.com](https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/somali-cllr-attacks-ukip-in-rousing-speech/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Turn2us Advice Finder. "Bristol Somali Resource Centre." [advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk](https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/Home/Details/11421). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Charity Commission for England and Wales. "Bristol Somali Resource Centre (BSRC)," charity 1128721. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4044605). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Bristol24/7. "Plans for social housing, community space and cafe in Barton Hill." [bristol247.com](https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/plans-for-social-housing-community-space-and-cafe-in-barton-hill/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Ahrens, J., Kelly, M. and van Liempt, I. "Free movement? The onward migration of EU citizens born in Somalia, Iran and Nigeria." Population, Space and Place, 2016. [sro.sussex.ac.uk](https://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/58949/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/calgary/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 2021 Census counted 2,845 people of Somali origin in the Calgary metropolitan area, with 890 more in nearby Brooks. Local reporting has put the community nearer 5,000, many of whom moved west from Ontario and Quebec for work after 2000.

The 2021 Census counted 2,845 people of Somali origin in the Calgary metropolitan area, with 890 more in nearby Brooks ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Local reporting has put the community nearer 5,000, many of whom moved west from Ontario and Quebec after 2000 ([Global News, 2015](https://globalnews.ca/news/1767563/in-wake-of-shootings-calgary-police-chief-meets-with-somali-community/)).

## How many Somalis live in Calgary?

Statistics Canada counted 2,845 people of Somali origin in the Calgary census metropolitan area in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Of them, 2,490 gave Somali as their only origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Alberta as a whole had 16,310, and Edmonton had 11,610 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

Southern Alberta has other Somali families. The census counted 890 in Brooks, a meat-packing town east of Calgary, and 70 in Lethbridge ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, had 565 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

Sources differ on size. Local reporting in 2015 put Calgary's Somali community at about 5,000 ([Global News, 2015](https://globalnews.ca/news/1767563/in-wake-of-shootings-calgary-police-chief-meets-with-somali-community/)). The census counts what people write on the form, so it can miss people.

## Who are they?

Calgary's Somali community is very young. In 2021, 885 of the 2,845 were under 15, nearly a third ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Another 460 were aged 15 to 24, and only 95 were 65 or older ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

By place of birth, 1,615 people in Calgary were born in Somalia ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Of these, 1,140 were Canadian citizens ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Men slightly outnumbered women, 1,485 to 1,360, among those of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

## How did Somalis come to Calgary?

Most Somalis first reached Canada as refugee claimants in the late 1980s and 1990s, mainly in Toronto and Ottawa ([Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)). Somalia was Canada's largest source of refugee claimants in 1991 and 1993 ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)).

Calgary grew later and more slowly. Of its Somalia-born immigrants in 2021, 65 came in 1980 to 1990, 435 in 1991 to 2000, and 420 in 2001 to 2010 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). The largest group, 655, came in 2011 to 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

Many moved within Canada. Local reporting described families moving from Ontario or Quebec after 2000 ([Global News, 2015](https://globalnews.ca/news/1767563/in-wake-of-shootings-calgary-police-chief-meets-with-somali-community/)). A York University study looked at young [Somali Canadians](/en/diaspora/canada/) who went to Alberta for work, which it called "Cashberta" ([York University, YorkSpace](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/fd1eed14-928b-4381-9bd3-76cf480b8d33)).

## Work and money

Two of Canada's main beef plants are in southern Alberta, at High River and Brooks ([York University, Centre for Refugee Studies](https://euc.yorku.ca/research-project/covid-19-among-meatpacking-workers-documenting-migration-status-and-employment-conditions-in-southern-alberta/)). That research studied migrant and refugee workers in these plants during COVID-19 ([York University](https://euc.yorku.ca/research-project/covid-19-among-meatpacking-workers-documenting-migration-status-and-employment-conditions-in-southern-alberta/)).

Money sent home is a large part of Somalia's economy. Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). In 2018, Edmonton's two remaining Somali money-transfer firms were told their bank accounts would close ([Hiiraan Online, April 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Apr/157623/somali_edmontonians_fear_lives_in_danger_as_rbc_cuts_ties_with_money_transfer_companies.aspx)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Somali Canadian Society of Calgary is a registered charity founded in 2002 ([CanadaHelps](https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/somali-canadian-society-of-calgary)). It works with newcomers, women and young people on settlement, education, health and housing ([Calgary Foundation](https://ckc.calgaryfoundation.org/organizations/somali-canadian-society-of-calgary/)). The Somali Youth League Society, founded in 2010, serves Somali and other African youth and families ([Calgary Foundation](https://ckc.calgaryfoundation.org/organizations/somali-youth-league-syl-society/)).

Calgary Police list the African community, including Somalis, in their diversity resources and have an Africa advisory board ([Calgary Police Service](https://calgary.ca/cps/community-programs-and-resources/diversity-resources/africa-community.html)). In 2016, community groups formed the Council of Somali Canadian People of Alberta to speak province-wide ([Hiiraan Online, August 2016](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Aug/116871/new_council_unites_alberta_s_somali_community.aspx)).

In 2023, Sharif Haji of Edmonton-Decore became the first Somali-Canadian elected to Alberta's legislature ([Hiiraan Online, May 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)). His main rival in that seat was also of Somali descent ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)).

## What does the community face now?

**Loss of young men.** In 2010, the Canadian Somali Congress said 29 Somali Canadians had been killed in Alberta over four years ([CBC via Hiiraan Online, February 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Feb/13811/alta_homicides_worry_somali_canadians.aspx)). It said most had moved from the Toronto area for oil and gas jobs ([Hiiraan Online, 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Feb/13811/alta_homicides_worry_somali_canadians.aspx)). Since 2000, more than 50 young Somali men have been killed in Ontario and Alberta ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)).

**Community response.** After two young Somali men were shot dead in early 2015, Calgary's police chief met the community ([Global News, 2015](https://globalnews.ca/news/1767563/in-wake-of-shootings-calgary-police-chief-meets-with-somali-community/)). Leaders called the killings "senseless" and asked for answers ([Global News](https://globalnews.ca/news/1767563/in-wake-of-shootings-calgary-police-chief-meets-with-somali-community/)).

**Telling their own story.** In 2023, more than 20 East African community leaders, Somalis among them, joined a CBC Calgary storytelling project ([CBC News, November 2023](https://amp.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/sharing-knowledge-november-event-cbc-1.7020917)).

## How is Calgary tied to home?

Canada gave Somalia $78 million in international assistance in 2022–23 and began a bilateral programme there in 2018 ([Global Affairs Canada, November 2024](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html)). At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,097 refugees and 460 asylum seekers from Somalia in Canada ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Related pages

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) · [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) · [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Canada. "Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age" (Table 98-10-0356-01), 2021 Census. 26 October 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Canada. "Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth and citizenship" (Table 98-10-0302-01), 2021 Census. 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Global News. "In wake of shootings, Calgary police chief meets with Somali community." January 2015. [globalnews.ca](https://globalnews.ca/news/1767563/in-wake-of-shootings-calgary-police-chief-meets-with-somali-community/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Jan Raska, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. "Un/Wanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees." Updated 19 October 2020. [pier21.ca](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. York University, YorkSpace. "'Cashberta': Migration Experiences of Somali-Canadian Second Generation Youth in Canada." [yorkspace.library.yorku.ca](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/fd1eed14-928b-4381-9bd3-76cf480b8d33). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. York University. "COVID-19 among meatpacking workers: documenting migration status and employment conditions in Southern Alberta." [yorku.ca](https://euc.yorku.ca/research-project/covid-19-among-meatpacking-workers-documenting-migration-status-and-employment-conditions-in-southern-alberta/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Somali Edmontonians fear lives in danger as RBC cuts ties with money transfer companies." 16 April 2018. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Apr/157623/somali_edmontonians_fear_lives_in_danger_as_rbc_cuts_ties_with_money_transfer_companies.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. CanadaHelps. "Somali Canadian Society of Calgary." [canadahelps.org](https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/somali-canadian-society-of-calgary). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Calgary Foundation. "Somali Canadian Society of Calgary" and "Somali Youth League (SYL) Society." [calgaryfoundation.org](https://ckc.calgaryfoundation.org/organizations/somali-canadian-society-of-calgary/) · [calgaryfoundation.org](https://ckc.calgaryfoundation.org/organizations/somali-youth-league-syl-society/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Calgary Police Service. "Africa community." [calgary.ca](https://calgary.ca/cps/community-programs-and-resources/diversity-resources/africa-community.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Hiiraan Online. "New council unites Alberta's Somali community." 5 August 2016. [hiiraan.com](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Aug/116871/new_council_unites_alberta_s_somali_community.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Hiiraan Online. "Sharif Haji becomes first Somali-Canadian elected to Alberta's parliament." 30 May 2023. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Hiiraan Online (CBC report). "Alta. homicides worry Somali Canadians." February 2010. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Feb/13811/alta_homicides_worry_somali_canadians.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Shanifa Nasser, CBC News. "Another day, another janazah." 2018. [cbc.ca](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. CBC News. "Calgary's East African communities kick-start a new storytelling project with a sea of colour." November 2023. [cbc.ca](https://amp.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/sharing-knowledge-november-event-cbc-1.7020917). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Global Affairs Canada. "Minister Hussen announces more than $35 million for international assistance projects in Africa." November 2024. [canada.ca](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Denmark (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/denmark/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 1 October 2026, 21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark: 11,012 immigrants and 10,873 born in Denmark. Copenhagen and Aarhus have the most. From 2017 Denmark reviewed Somali refugees' permits, and about 1,000 to 1,350 lost them before appeals.

## How many Somalis live in Denmark?

Statistics Denmark counted 21,885 people of Somali origin on 1 October 2026 ([Statistics Denmark, StatBank FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)). Of these, 11,012 were immigrants and 10,873 were descendants born in Denmark ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)). The Denmark-born generation is now almost as large as the generation that came.

Other counts use other methods:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 10,486 Somalia-born migrants in Denmark ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2024:** 2,729 refugees and 44 asylum seekers from Somalia held that status in Denmark ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).
- **Citizenship, 2017:** 8,852 people held Somali citizenship ([Somalis in Denmark, Wikipedia, citing Statistics Denmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Denmark)).

## Where in Denmark do Somalis live?

The four biggest cities hold most of the community. Counts for 1 October 2026, immigrants and descendants together ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)):

- Copenhagen: 5,602
- Aarhus: 5,112
- Odense: 2,269
- Aalborg: 1,353

By region, the Capital Region has 8,365, Central Jutland 6,796 and Southern Denmark 4,031 ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)). Aarhus has almost as many Somali residents as Copenhagen, though it is less than half the size.

## How did Somalis come to Denmark?

Most came as refugees after the war began in 1991, and many more joined them through family reunification. For the journeys, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/) and [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

The size of the community has changed little since 2008, but its make-up has ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)):

- **2008:** 10,357 immigrants and 6,193 descendants, 16,550 in all.
- **2017:** 11,920 immigrants and 9,130 descendants, 21,050 in all.
- **2026:** 11,012 immigrants and 10,873 descendants, 21,885 in all.

Some Danish Somalis moved on to the United Kingdom in the 2000s. A European research project on onward movement among Somali refugees included a pilot study of Danish Somalis ([European Commission, CORDIS project 219485](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485)).

## Do Somalis in Denmark have work?

Many do, but fewer than in most groups. In the second quarter of 2024, 48% of men of Somali origin aged 18 to 64 were in paid employment as wage earners ([Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration, 20 November 2024](https://integrationsbarometer.dk/tal-og-analyser/filer-tal-og-analyser/arkiv/Oversigt_over_status_og_udvikling_paa_integrationsomadet.pdf)). For men of Pakistani origin the same figure was 67% ([Ministry, 2024](https://integrationsbarometer.dk/tal-og-analyser/filer-tal-og-analyser/arkiv/Oversigt_over_status_og_udvikling_paa_integrationsomadet.pdf)).

Across all immigrants from non-Western countries, Statistics Denmark reported employment rates of 71% for men and 61% for women in 2024 ([Statistics Denmark, December 2025](https://www.dst.dk/da/presse/Pressemeddelelser/2025/2025-12-15-beskaeftigelsen-stiger-fortsat-blandt-indvandrere-fra-ikke-vestlige-lande)). The same release shows employment rising steadily among these groups since 2015 ([Statistics Denmark](https://www.dst.dk/da/presse/Pressemeddelelser/2025/2025-12-15-beskaeftigelsen-stiger-fortsat-blandt-indvandrere-fra-ikke-vestlige-lande)).

Older figures from Statistics Denmark ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Denmark)):

- **Income, 2016:** Somalia-born men aged 20 to 59 earned about DKK 200,000 a year before tax, mostly from work.
- **Pensioners, 2015:** Somalia-born pensioners had an average income below DKK 125,000.
- **Housing, 2016:** about 66% of Somalia-born men and 79% of women aged 30 to 59 lived in public (almene) housing.

## Why did Denmark review Somali refugees' permits?

From early 2017 Denmark reviewed Somali refugees' residence permits, on the view that parts of Somalia had become safer ([Danish Refugee Council, March 2018](https://refugees.dk/en/news/2018/march/status-on-the-somali-cases)). The UN refugee agency disagreed and asked states not to return Somalis by force ([Danish Refugee Council](https://refugees.dk/en/news/2018/march/status-on-the-somali-cases)).

By late 2018 about 1,350 Somali refugees and family members had lost their permits ([Refugees Welcome](https://refugeeswelcome.dk/en/information/news/the-refugee-appeals-board-overrules-immigration-service-decisions/)). The Refugee Appeals Board overturned or sent back more than half of the decisions it heard ([Refugees Welcome](https://refugeeswelcome.dk/en/information/news/the-refugee-appeals-board-overrules-immigration-service-decisions/)).

Sources give different totals, from about 1,000 to 1,350 lost permits, depending on the date and on whether family members are counted. For how protection status works, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Denmark?

The Folketing and the government set the rules. The Danish Immigration Service issues and reviews residence permits, and the Refugee Appeals Board hears appeals. Municipalities run job centres, housing and schools.

The Danish Refugee Council has followed the Somali permit cases closely and published their status ([Danish Refugee Council](https://refugees.dk/en/news/2018/march/status-on-the-somali-cases)). The volunteer group Refugees Welcome has tracked appeal results ([Refugees Welcome](https://refugeeswelcome.dk/en/information/news/the-refugee-appeals-board-overrules-immigration-service-decisions/)).

## What do Somalis in Denmark face now?

- **Status:** permit reviews since 2017 have left some families unsure of their future ([Danish Refugee Council](https://refugees.dk/en/news/2018/march/status-on-the-somali-cases)).
- **Work:** fewer than half of Somali-origin men aged 18 to 64 held a wage job in 2024 ([Ministry, 2024](https://integrationsbarometer.dk/tal-og-analyser/filer-tal-og-analyser/arkiv/Oversigt_over_status_og_udvikling_paa_integrationsomadet.pdf)).
- **Re-education trips:** in June 2025 the Danish Immigration Service reported on *dhaqan celis*, trips that send Somali-background children to Somalia, Kenya or elsewhere ([Danish Immigration Service, 17 June 2025](https://us.dk/publikationer/2025/juni/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth/)). It found that parents often see the trips as a way to restore Somali and Islamic values, while authorities warn of serious risks ([Danish Immigration Service](https://us.dk/publikationer/2025/juni/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth/)).

## How are Danish Somalis tied to home?

Families send money and visit, and some send children for time with relatives. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy, from all countries together ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Figures from Wikipedia, citing Statistics Denmark:** male Somalia-born immigrants aged 20-59 had an annual pre-tax income of about DKK 200,000 (2016); Somalia-born pensioners had an average retirement income under DKK 125,000 (2015); and about 66% of men and 79% of women lived in public housing (2016) ([Wikipedia: "Somalis in Denmark"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Denmark)).
- **Permits withdrawn:** citing DR, Wikipedia says nearly 1,000 Somalis lost their residence permits after the Danish Immigration Service began a review in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Denmark)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Norway (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Denmark. StatBank table FOLK1C: Population on the first day of the quarter by region, ancestry and country of origin, 2008 to 2026. [statbank.dk](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration. "Oversigt over status og udvikling på integrationsområdet." 20 November 2024. [integrationsbarometer.dk](https://integrationsbarometer.dk/tal-og-analyser/filer-tal-og-analyser/arkiv/Oversigt_over_status_og_udvikling_paa_integrationsomadet.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistics Denmark. "Beskæftigelsen stiger fortsat blandt indvandrere fra ikke-vestlige lande." 15 December 2025. [dst.dk](https://www.dst.dk/da/presse/Pressemeddelelser/2025/2025-12-15-beskaeftigelsen-stiger-fortsat-blandt-indvandrere-fra-ikke-vestlige-lande). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Danish Refugee Council. "Status on the Somali cases." March 2018. [refugees.dk](https://refugees.dk/en/news/2018/march/status-on-the-somali-cases). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Refugees Welcome. "The Refugee Appeals Board overrules Immigration Service decisions." [refugeeswelcome.dk](https://refugeeswelcome.dk/en/information/news/the-refugee-appeals-board-overrules-immigration-service-decisions/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Danish Immigration Service. "Re-education trips of Somali children and youth." 17 June 2025. [us.dk](https://us.dk/publikationer/2025/juni/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. European Commission CORDIS. Project 219485, secondary movement of Somali refugees. [cordis.europa.eu](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Denmark." Citing Statistics Denmark. [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Denmark). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Denmark". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Denmark. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Djibouti

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Djibouti hosted 13,905 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia on 31 August 2026, 39.5% of all its refugees, most in the Ali Addeh and Holl-Holl settlements. Djiboutians are citizens of their own state and Somalia's neighbours; this page covers people from Somalia living in Djibouti.

## Who are the Somalis in Djibouti?

Djibouti is its own country, and its citizens are Djiboutian, many of them ethnic Somalis. Calankii makes no claim on them and treats them as neighbours and friends. This page is about people from Somalia who live in Djibouti as refugees, asylum seekers, workers and migrants.

## How many people from Somalia live in Djibouti?

On 31 August 2026, Djibouti hosted 35,168 refugees and asylum seekers, and 13,905 of them (39.5%) came from Somalia ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Djibouti](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/dji)). The Somali share was 43% in January 2025 (same source).

Other counts measure different things:
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 13,853 refugees and 208 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR population API, Somalia to Djibouti](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=DJB)).
- **UN DESA, 2024:** 99,940 people born in Somalia living in Djibouti, refugees or not ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

The gap is large because most people born in Somalia who live in Djibouti are not registered as refugees.

## Where do they live?

Counting all nationalities on 31 August 2026, 25,502 refugees lived in Ali Sabieh region, 6,924 in Djibouti city and 2,730 in Obock ([UNHCR ODP, Djibouti](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/dji)). Ali Sabieh holds the Ali Addeh and Holl-Holl settlements, and Obock holds Markazi camp, used for Yemeni nationals ([IFRC DREF, Jun 2025](https://go-api.ifrc.org/api/downloadfile/91359/MDRDJ007do)).

Camp history, size and schools are on [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## How did they get there?

The first large wave came before the state collapsed. UNHCR counted 76,180 refugees from Somalia in Djibouti in 1990 and 84,628 in 1991 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=DJB)).

The count fell to 20,000 in 1992 and stayed near 21,000 until 2003 (same source). It dropped to 5,980 in 2007 after returns, then rose again to 19,426 in 2011, the year of famine in the south (same source).

Ali Addeh opened in 1991 for Somali refugees, designed for fewer than 7,000 people ([UNHCR ODP news, 2012](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9813)). Holl-Holl closed in the mid-2000s and reopened on 4 June 2012 (same source).

## What rights do refugees have in Djibouti?

Djibouti's refugee law and two 2017 decrees came into force in December 2017 ([UNHCR, Dec 2017](https://www.unhcr.org/au/node/17363)). They cover refugees' access to work, education and health (same source).

In 2012, Ali Addeh held 17,060 refugees, 16,396 of them Somali, with about 5 litres of water per person a day ([UNHCR ODP news, 2012](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9813)). For refugee travel documents, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How do they earn a living?

Camp life still depends heavily on aid. Families in the greatest need get monthly cash help after an assessment ([UNHCR via ReliefWeb, Mar 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/djibouti/djibouti-operational-update-20-march-2025)).

In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Government of Djibouti:** its national refugee office, ONARS, registers refugees with UNHCR ([UNHCR via ReliefWeb, Mar 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/djibouti/djibouti-operational-update-20-march-2025)).
- **Partners:** the rural water department repairs camp water systems, and partners include UNFD and CIAUD Canada (same source). In March 2025, the Holl-Holl borehole was repaired and births, deaths and marriages were recorded (same source).
- **Djibouti Red Crescent:** in May 2025 it was the only aid group allowed into the Nagad transit centre during the return campaign ([IFRC DREF, Djibouti Population Movement, Jun 2025](https://go-api.ifrc.org/api/downloadfile/91359/MDRDJ007do)).

## What happened in the 2025 return campaign?

On 3 April 2025, Djibouti's Interior Ministry gave migrants without legal status one month to leave voluntarily ([IFRC DREF, Jun 2025](https://go-api.ifrc.org/api/downloadfile/91359/MDRDJ007do)). Daily return operations began on 9 May 2025 (same source).

People were processed at the Nagad transit centre, then taken to border points: Galilé for Ethiopians, Loyada for Somalis and Markazi for Yemenis ([IFRC](https://go-api.ifrc.org/api/downloadfile/91359/MDRDJ007do)). By mid-May, over 2,095 people had been formally returned, and about 5,000 more had reportedly left on their own (same source).

The IFRC said those affected were mostly Ethiopians, Somalis and Yemenis, many living in Djibouti for a long time ([IFRC](https://go-api.ifrc.org/api/downloadfile/91359/MDRDJ007do)). No count of Somalis alone was published. The ministry's order was aimed at the "irregular migrant population" (same source).

An earlier operation came in April 2023, when the Interior Minister said 220,000 people had entered irregularly in 2022 ([Global Detention Project, 27 Sep 2023](https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/djiboutis-crackdown-against-irregular-migrants)). Media reported about 3,000 arrests in Djibouti city then (same source).

## What do they face now?

- **New arrivals:** small numbers keep coming, for example eight Somali families in one week of March 2025 ([UNHCR via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/djibouti/djibouti-operational-update-20-march-2025)).
- **Fragile water:** the Holl-Holl borehole leaked in March 2025 (same source).
- **A crossing point:** Djibouti is a main departure point for migrants heading to Yemen ([AFP via Khaleej Times, 2 Dec 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2)). See [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## How is Djibouti tied to Somalia's rebuilding?

Djibouti hosted the Arta conference in 2000, about 40 km from Djibouti city ([Arab News, 26 Oct 2025](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346)). About 4,000 Somali participants attended, and they formed a 225-member Transitional National Parliament with 25 seats for women (same source).

The conference chose [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) as president of the [Transitional National Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) ([Arab News](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346)). In October 2025, Presidents [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) and [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) marked its 25th anniversary in Arta ([Somali Guardian, 30 Oct 2025](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalia-and-djibouti-mark-25-years-since-arta-peace-conference/)).

## Related pages

- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/) · [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Djibouti, 31 Aug 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/dji. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee population statistics API, Somalia to Djibouti, 1990–2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=DJB. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal news: Ali Addeh and Holl-Holl, 2012. https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9813. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR. Djibouti's new refugee law, Dec 2017. https://www.unhcr.org/au/node/17363. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UNHCR, via ReliefWeb. Djibouti operational update, 20 Mar 2025. https://reliefweb.int/report/djibouti/djibouti-operational-update-20-march-2025. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IFRC. DREF Operation MDRDJ007: Djibouti Population Movement, Jun 2025. https://go-api.ifrc.org/api/downloadfile/91359/MDRDJ007do. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Global Detention Project. Djibouti's crackdown against irregular migrants, 27 Sep 2023. https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/djiboutis-crackdown-against-irregular-migrants. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. AFP, via Khaleej Times. No work, no money: Somali migrants in Yemen long to return home, 2 Dec 2025. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Arab News. When Arta embraced the dream of Somali reconciliation, 26 Oct 2025. https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Somali Guardian. [Somalia and Djibouti](/en/relations/djibouti/) mark 25 years since Arta peace conference, 30 Oct 2025. https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalia-and-djibouti-mark-25-years-since-arta-peace-conference/. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/edmonton/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 2021 Census counted 11,610 people of Somali origin in the Edmonton metropolitan area, Canada's second-largest Somali community after Toronto. A third of them are children, and in 2023 an Edmonton seat elected Alberta's first Somali-Canadian member of the legislature.

The 2021 Census counted 11,610 people of Somali origin in the Edmonton metropolitan area, Canada's second-largest Somali community after Toronto ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). A third are children, and in 2023 Edmonton-Decore elected Alberta's first Somali-Canadian legislator ([Hiiraan Online, May 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)).

## How many Somalis live in Edmonton?

Statistics Canada counted 11,610 people of Somali origin in the Edmonton census metropolitan area in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Of them, 10,305 gave Somali as their only origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). That is 71% of Alberta's 16,310 people of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

A community site gives a similar 11,615 for Edmonton ([CTSomali](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/)). Census origin counts depend on what people write, so community leaders often give higher figures.

By place of birth, 6,030 people in the Edmonton area were born in Somalia ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Of these, 4,025 were Canadian citizens and 135 were non-permanent residents ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

## Who are they?

Edmonton has the youngest large Somali community in Canada. In 2021, 3,850 of the 11,610 were under 15, a third of the total ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Another 1,995 were aged 15 to 24, and only 235 were 65 or older ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

There were 5,930 women and 5,685 men of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). In 2016, the community celebrated its latest group of high school graduates at a public event ([Postmedia via Hiiraan Online, July 2016](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/July/106346/edmonton_s_somali_community_celebrate_latest_group_high_school_graduates.aspx)).

## How did Somalis come to Edmonton?

Somalis first reached Canada in large numbers as refugee claimants after 1988 ([Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)). Somalia was Canada's largest source of refugee claimants in 1991 and 1993 ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)).

Edmonton grew in steady waves. Of its Somalia-born immigrants in 2021, 175 came in 1980 to 1990, 1,520 in 1991 to 2000, and 1,430 in 2001 to 2010 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). The biggest wave, 2,700, came in 2011 to 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). That is nearly as many as the 2,905 who came to the much larger Toronto community in the same years ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

Many families also moved west within Canada for work. In 2010 the Canadian Somali Congress said many young men had moved from Toronto to northern Alberta for oil jobs ([CBC via Hiiraan Online, February 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Feb/13811/alta_homicides_worry_somali_canadians.aspx)). A York University study of second-generation [Somali Canadians](/en/diaspora/canada/) called this move "Cashberta" ([York University, YorkSpace](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/fd1eed14-928b-4381-9bd3-76cf480b8d33)).

## Work and money

Sending money home has been hard at times. In April 2018, Edmonton's two remaining Somali money-transfer firms, IFTIN Edmonton Express and AMAL Express, were told RBC would close their accounts ([Hiiraan Online, April 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Apr/157623/somali_edmontonians_fear_lives_in_danger_as_rbc_cuts_ties_with_money_transfer_companies.aspx)). Families said relatives abroad depended on these transfers ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Apr/157623/somali_edmontonians_fear_lives_in_danger_as_rbc_cuts_ties_with_money_transfer_companies.aspx)).

Across all countries, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Sharif Haji won Edmonton-Decore for the NDP in May 2023 and became the first Somali-Canadian in Alberta's legislature ([Hiiraan Online, May 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)). His main opponent, a Conservative, was also of Somali descent ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)). The Legislative Assembly lists him as a co-founder of the Federation of African Canadian Economics ([Legislative Assembly of Alberta](https://www.assembly.ab.ca/members/members-of-the-legislative-assembly/member-information?mid=0963)).

The Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton began as a non-profit in 1991 and was incorporated in March 2001 ([SCCSE](https://somaliedmonton.com/)). Its mission covers the Somali and wider African community in Edmonton ([SCCSE](https://somaliedmonton.com/)). A federal crime-prevention record lists its earlier youth programme to keep young people out of gangs and drugs ([Public Safety Canada](https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crm-prvntn/nvntr/dtls-en.aspx?i=10106)).

In 2010, the Alberta Somali Community Centre's president told a Commons committee about young men killed in Edmonton ([openparliament.ca, 29 March 2010](https://openparliament.ca/committees/justice/40-3/7/?page=8)). In 2016, Alberta's Somali groups formed the Council of Somali Canadian People of Alberta ([Hiiraan Online, August 2016](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Aug/116871/new_council_unites_alberta_s_somali_community.aspx)).

## What does the community face now?

**Long-running grief.** In February 2010 the Canadian Somali Congress said 29 Somali Canadians had been killed in Alberta in four years ([CBC via Hiiraan Online, 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Feb/13811/alta_homicides_worry_somali_canadians.aspx)). Since 2000, more than 50 young Somali men have been killed in Ontario and Alberta, and many cases are unsolved ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)). Families and leaders have asked police and governments for answers again and again ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)).

**Children and youth.** With a third of the community under 15, schools and youth groups carry much of the load ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Community leaders discussed youth struggles at public meetings in 2014 ([Hiiraan Online, August 2014](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Aug/55920/edmonton_somali_youth_struggles_discussed.aspx)).

## How is Edmonton tied to home?

Canada gave Somalia $78 million in international assistance in 2022–23, and began a bilateral programme there in 2018 ([Global Affairs Canada, November 2024](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html)). At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,097 refugees and 460 asylum seekers from Somalia in Canada ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Count of young men killed:** a Red Deer Advocate report in 2012 described one death as the 30th young Somali-Canadian man killed in Alberta since 2005 ([Red Deer Advocate, 2012](https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/uncategorized/man-found-dead-in-fort-mcmurray/)). An SBS Somali podcast is titled "70 dhalinyaro ah ayaa lagu dilay Edmonton" (70 young people were killed in Edmonton) ([SBS Somali](https://www.sbs.com.au/language/somali/so/podcast-episode/jibril-ibrahim-70-dhalinyaro-ah-ayaa-lagu-dilay-edmonton/jokp4v2un)).

## Related pages

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/) · [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) · [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Canada. "Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age" (Table 98-10-0356-01), 2021 Census. 26 October 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Canada. "Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth and citizenship" (Table 98-10-0302-01), 2021 Census. 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Sharif Haji becomes first Somali-Canadian elected to Alberta's parliament." 30 May 2023. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. CTSomali. "Somali population in Canada." [ctsomali.ca](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Postmedia via Hiiraan Online. "Edmonton's Somali community celebrate latest group of high school graduates." July 2016. [hiiraan.com](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/July/106346/edmonton_s_somali_community_celebrate_latest_group_high_school_graduates.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Jan Raska, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. "Un/Wanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees." Updated 19 October 2020. [pier21.ca](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Hiiraan Online (CBC report). "Alta. homicides worry Somali Canadians." February 2010. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Feb/13811/alta_homicides_worry_somali_canadians.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. York University, YorkSpace. "'Cashberta': Migration Experiences of Somali-Canadian Second Generation Youth in Canada." [yorkspace.library.yorku.ca](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/fd1eed14-928b-4381-9bd3-76cf480b8d33). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Hiiraan Online. "Somali Edmontonians fear lives in danger as RBC cuts ties with money transfer companies." 16 April 2018. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Apr/157623/somali_edmontonians_fear_lives_in_danger_as_rbc_cuts_ties_with_money_transfer_companies.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Legislative Assembly of Alberta. "Member information: Sharif Haji." [assembly.ab.ca](https://www.assembly.ab.ca/members/members-of-the-legislative-assembly/member-information?mid=0963). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton. "Who we are." [somaliedmonton.com](https://somaliedmonton.com/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Public Safety Canada. "Keeping Somali Youth Out of Street Gangs and Drugs" (crime prevention inventory). [publicsafety.gc.ca](https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crm-prvntn/nvntr/dtls-en.aspx?i=10106). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, meeting 7 (40th Parliament, 3rd session). 29 March 2010. [openparliament.ca](https://openparliament.ca/committees/justice/40-3/7/?page=8). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Hiiraan Online. "New council unites Alberta's Somali community." 5 August 2016. [hiiraan.com](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Aug/116871/new_council_unites_alberta_s_somali_community.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Shanifa Nasser, CBC News. "Another day, another janazah." 2018. [cbc.ca](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Hiiraan Online. "Edmonton Somali youth struggles discussed." August 2014. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Aug/55920/edmonton_somali_youth_struggles_discussed.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Global Affairs Canada. "Minister Hussen announces more than $35 million for international assistance projects in Africa." November 2024. [canada.ca](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Red Deer Advocate. "Man found dead in Fort McMurray". 2012. https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/uncategorized/man-found-dead-in-fort-mcmurray/. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. SBS Somali. "Jibril Ibrahim: 70 dhalinyaro ah ayaa lagu dilay Edmonton" (podcast, in Somali). https://www.sbs.com.au/language/somali/so/podcast-episode/jibril-ibrahim-70-dhalinyaro-ah-ayaa-lagu-dilay-edmonton/jokp4v2un. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Ethiopia (Somali refugees and the Somali Region)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/ethiopia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ethiopia hosted 368,165 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia on 31 October 2026, almost all in camps in its Somali Region, with smaller numbers in Addis Ababa. The people of Ethiopia's Somali Region are Ethiopian citizens and neighbours; this page covers people from Somalia living there.

## Who are the Somalis in Ethiopia?

Ethiopia's Somali Region is home to millions of Ethiopian citizens who are ethnic Somalis, governed by their own regional state. Calankii makes no claim on them and treats them as neighbours and friends. This page is about people from Somalia who live in Ethiopia as refugees, asylum seekers and residents.

## How many people from Somalia live in Ethiopia?

On 31 October 2026, Ethiopia hosted 368,165 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Ethiopia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth)). On the same date, the Somali Region hosted 367,369 refugees of all nationalities, and Addis Ababa 41,415 (same source).

Other counts measure different things:
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 317,879 refugees and 43,993 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR population API, Somalia to Ethiopia](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ETH)).
- **UN DESA, 2024:** 389,246 people born in Somalia living in Ethiopia ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **Somalia's National Strategy on Migration, May 2024:** 411,152 ([Federal Republic of Somalia, via UN ESCWA](https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf)).

## Where do they live?

Most live in three camp areas of the Somali Region: Dollo Ado (Melkadida) near the [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) border, Jijiga in the east, and Bokh in Doolo zone ([UNHCR ODP, Ethiopia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth)). Camp by camp numbers, opening dates and schools are on [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

On 31 August 2026, Dollo Ado held 218,087 refugees from Somalia, Jijiga 51,885 and Addis Ababa 802 ([UNHCR data portal, Horn situation](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/160)). The camp figures add up to less than the national total, and UNHCR does not explain the gap.

## How did they get there?

Refugees from Somalia have crossed into Ethiopia in four main waves:
- **1988 to early 1990s:** after the destruction of Hargeisa in 1988, people fled to Hartisheikh and other camps near Jijiga ([ODI and DRC, Oct 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)). UNHCR counted 386,000 Somali refugees in Ethiopia in 1990 and 513,950 in 1991 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ETH)).
- **1997 to 2005:** most went home on UNHCR convoys, and the last Hartisheikh convoy left on 30 June 2004 ([UN News, 1 Jul 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)). UNHCR's count fell to 15,901 by 2005 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ETH)).
- **2009 to 2011:** drought and fighting in southern Somalia filled the Dollo Ado camps. The count rose from 33,625 in 2008 to 185,466 in 2011 (same source).
- **From February 2023:** people fleeing fighting in Laascaanood crossed into Doolo zone, and a new settlement opened at Mirqaan in Bokh district ([UN News, Apr 2023](https://news.un.org/en/node/1135507)). More than 50,000 people crossed from Somalia in 2026, seeking water and help ([MSF, May 2026](https://www.msf.org/drought-and-displacement-push-millions-brink-somalia-and-ethiopia)).

The full story of the routes is on [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## What is Bole Michael?

Bole Michael is a district of Addis Ababa often called "Little Mogadishu" ([Geeska, 23 Aug 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/bole-michael-addis-ababas-little-mogadishu)). Refugees from across the Horn have settled there alongside Ethiopian Somalis for nearly 25 years, and some arrived in the early 1990s (same source).

It has restaurants, guesthouses, teashops, taxis and halal butchers, and shops sell sweets and cosmetics imported from Somali cities ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/bole-michael-addis-ababas-little-mogadishu)). An Urban Refugee Resource Centre is based in the area (same source).

## How do refugees in Ethiopia earn a living?

- **The law:** Refugee Proclamation No. 1110/2019 gives refugees a right to work on the same footing as foreigners ([Abyssinia Law](https://abyssinialaw.com/blog/refugee-proclamation-no-1110-2019-the-right-to-work-of-refugees-is-it-possible-to-implement)). Many jobs are reserved for nationals, which limits that right in practice (same source).
- **Permits:** guidelines now allow refugees to get work permits and business licences, which had been almost impossible before ([Migration Policy Institute](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/journal/feature/ethiopia-crafts-roadmap-refugee-inclusion-amid-global-aid-cuts)).
- **Money from relatives:** many residents of Bole Michael depend on money from relatives at home and abroad ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/bole-michael-addis-ababas-little-mogadishu)).
- **Border trade:** cross-border trade between the Somali Region and its neighbours is largely informal, and practice varies from one crossing to another ([Rift Valley Institute, 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf)).

In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Government of Ethiopia:** the Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) runs the refugee response with UNHCR. Its Director General, Teyiba Hassen, warned in December 2025 that "our resources are stretched to the limit" ([Xinhua via The Star Malaysia, 20 Dec 2025](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2025/12/20/un-agencies-warn-ethiopia039s-refugee-response-nears-collapse)).
- **Somali Regional State:** its president, Mustafa Muhumed Omer, was sworn in for a new term in Jigjiga on 1 October 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-region-president-mustafa-muhumed-omer-sworn-in-for-new-term)). The regional health bureau leads drought health checks ([MSF, May 2026](https://www.msf.org/drought-and-displacement-push-millions-brink-somalia-and-ethiopia)).
- **Aid agencies:** UNHCR, WFP and MSF, which works in Barey in Afder zone ([MSF](https://www.msf.org/drought-and-displacement-push-millions-brink-somalia-and-ethiopia)).

## What do they face now?

- **Aid cuts (2025):** funding shortfalls cut emergency relief supplies by 70% in 2025 ([Xinhua via The Star Malaysia, 20 Dec 2025](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2025/12/20/un-agencies-warn-ethiopia039s-refugee-response-nears-collapse)). In October 2025, WFP cut rations for 780,000 refugees to 40% of the standard amount (same source).
- **Hunger:** malnutrition passed 15% in refugee camps, and deaths among babies under one rose to 4.7% in 2025 ([Xinhua via The Star Malaysia](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2025/12/20/un-agencies-warn-ethiopia039s-refugee-response-nears-collapse)).
- **Drought (May 2026):** in Barey people walked an hour or more to rivers, and in Kelafo fuel shortages stopped water treatment ([MSF](https://www.msf.org/drought-and-displacement-push-millions-brink-somalia-and-ethiopia)).
- **Fuel prices** have risen with conflict in the Middle East (same source).

## How are they tied to home?

Relations between the two governments shape life for refugees. On 1 January 2024, Ethiopia announced a memorandum of understanding with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on sea access, which Somalia opposed ([The National, 12 Dec 2024](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/12/12/ethiopia-and-somalia-sign-landmark-turkish-brokered-deal/)).

On 12 December 2024, the two leaders signed the Ankara Declaration, brokered by [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/12/12/ethiopia-and-somalia-sign-landmark-turkish-brokered-deal/)). They reaffirmed respect for "one another's sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity" (same source).

Most Dollo Ado refugees come from Gedo, Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and Banadir ([UNHCR, Dollo Ado infographic, May 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/download/32074)). Many have family on both sides of the border.

## What else has been reported?

- **Addis Ababa:** an Oxford Refugee Economies report of 2019 reportedly put Somali refugees in Addis Ababa at about 5,000, far above the 802 on UNHCR's portal in August 2026 ([Refugee Economies Programme, Oxford, 2019](https://www.refugee-economies.org/assets/downloads/Report_Refugee_Economies_in_Addis_Ababa.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) · [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Ethiopia, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Horn of Africa situation, Ethiopia, 31 Aug 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/160. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee population statistics API, Somalia to Ethiopia, 1990–2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ETH. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Federal Republic of Somalia. National Strategy for Migration, May 2024, via UN ESCWA. https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Carver, F., Gedi, A. A. and Naish, D. Somali regional report 2018–2019. ODI and DRC, Oct 2020. https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UN News. Once world's largest refugee camp in Ethiopia now closed, 1 Jul 2004. https://news.un.org/en/node/108122. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UN News. New settlement opens for latest Somali refugees in Ethiopia, Apr 2023. https://news.un.org/en/node/1135507. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. MSF. Drought and displacement push millions to the brink in [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/), May 2026. https://www.msf.org/drought-and-displacement-push-millions-brink-somalia-and-ethiopia. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Osman, I. Bole Michael: Addis Ababa's "little Mogadishu". Geeska, 23 Aug 2025. https://www.geeska.com/en/bole-michael-addis-ababas-little-mogadishu. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Abyssinia Law. Refugee Proclamation No. 1110/2019: the right to work of refugees. https://abyssinialaw.com/blog/refugee-proclamation-no-1110-2019-the-right-to-work-of-refugees-is-it-possible-to-implement. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Migration Policy Institute. Ethiopia crafts roadmap for refugee inclusion amid global aid cuts. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/journal/feature/ethiopia-crafts-roadmap-refugee-inclusion-amid-global-aid-cuts. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Rift Valley Institute. Regularly irregular: cross-border trade, Oct 2021, via ecoi.net. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061762/RVI+2021.10.03+Regularly+Irregular.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Xinhua, via The Star (Malaysia). UN agencies warn Ethiopia's refugee response nears collapse, 20 Dec 2025. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2025/12/20/un-agencies-warn-ethiopia039s-refugee-response-nears-collapse. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. Somali Region president Mustafa Muhumed Omer sworn in for new term, Oct 2026. https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-region-president-mustafa-muhumed-omer-sworn-in-for-new-term. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. The National. Ethiopia and Somalia sign landmark Turkish-brokered deal, 12 Dec 2024. https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/12/12/ethiopia-and-somalia-sign-landmark-turkish-brokered-deal/. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR Ethiopia. Dollo Ado refugee camps population, 31 May 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/download/32074. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Refugee Economies Programme, University of Oxford. "Refugee Economies in Addis Ababa". 2019. https://www.refugee-economies.org/assets/downloads/Report_Refugee_Economies_in_Addis_Ababa.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Finland (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/finland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2025, 28,167 people in Finland spoke Somali as their first language, and 16,115 of them lived in Helsinki. Only 15,362 were born in Somalia, and 10,632 Finnish citizens also held Somali citizenship.

## How many Somalis live in Finland?

Statistics Finland counts people by first language, country of birth, origin and citizenship. Each gives a different number for 31 December 2025:

- **Somali speakers:** 28,167 people registered Somali as their first language ([Statistics Finland, table 11rm](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/)).
- **Somali origin:** 27,999 people had Somalia as their background country ([Statistics Finland, table 11rv](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rv.px/)).
- **Born in Somalia:** 15,362 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rq](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rq.px/)).
- **Somali citizens only:** 6,934 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rh](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rh.px/)).
- **Finnish citizens who also hold Somali citizenship:** 10,632 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rk](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rk.px/)).

So almost half of Finland's Somalis were born in Finland, and most are Finnish citizens. Statistics Finland counts a person's first language as it is registered, so Somali speakers include children born in Finland whose families registered Somali. UN DESA counted 14,208 Somalia-born migrants in Finland in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). UNHCR counted 2,602 refugees and 657 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where in Finland do Somalis live?

Most live in the Helsinki capital region. Somali speakers at the end of 2025 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rm](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/)):

- Helsinki: 16,115, or 57% of all Somali speakers in Finland
- Espoo: 3,472
- Vantaa: 3,249
- Turku: 1,885

Helsinki's Somali-speaking population more than doubled from 6,513 in 2010 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rm](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/)). Finnish Somali families averaged four children in a 2013 University of Helsinki study ([University of Helsinki, 21 November 2013](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/culture/somalis-helsinki-appreciate-their-home-town)).

## How did Somalis come to Finland?

Finland had almost no Somalis before the war. Statistics Finland counted 44 Somali citizens in 1990 and 1,505 a year later ([Statistics Finland, table 11rh](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rh.px/)). Somali citizens reached 4,044 by 1995 ([Statistics Finland](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rh.px/)).

The first Somalis reached the Nordic countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and more came as the war deepened ([Euronews, 20 June 2022](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)). Many later arrivals came through family reunification. For the journeys, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/) and [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

Somali speakers grew steadily ([Statistics Finland, table 11rm](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/)):

- 2000: 6,454
- 2010: 12,985
- 2020: 22,794
- 2025: 28,167

## Do Somalis in Finland have work?

Finding work has been hard. The first arrivals came during Finland's deep recession of the early 1990s ([Somalis in Finland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)). A 2013 study named language barriers, dress and years at home caring for large families as obstacles to work ([University of Helsinki, 2013](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/culture/somalis-helsinki-appreciate-their-home-town)).

The same research, published by the Open Society Foundations, found that weak employment and discrimination reduced Somalis' sense of belonging ([Open Society Foundations, Somalis in Helsinki, 2013](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/somali-life-helsinki)). In one later survey, 90% of Somali speakers said they had faced discrimination at work ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)).

Many now work in public services. At the end of 2023, Somali speakers were a much larger share of the City of Helsinki's foreign-background staff than of the working-age population ([City of Helsinki, 1 April 2026](https://www.hel.fi/fi/uutiset/ulkomaalaistaustaisten-osuus-kaupungin-henkilostosta-on-kasvanut-merkittavasti)). One in four Somali-speaking city staff was born in Finland ([City of Helsinki](https://www.hel.fi/fi/uutiset/ulkomaalaistaustaisten-osuus-kaupungin-henkilostosta-on-kasvanut-merkittavasti)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Finland?

[Suldaan Said Ahmed](/en/people/suldaan-said-ahmed/) of the Left Alliance became Finland's first MP with a Somali background in 2021 ([Al Jazeera, 6 July 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/6/from-child-refugee-to-politician-finlands-first-somali-born-mp)). He came to Finland as a teenager to join his brother and had sat on Helsinki City Council since 2017 ([Euronews, 2022](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)). He entered parliament from the party list, replacing another Left Alliance member ([Euronews, 2022](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)).

A Somali-born member sat on Helsinki City Council from 1997 to 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)). Somalis had the highest turnout, 39%, of any group of non-Finnish background in the 2017 municipal elections ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)).

The Eduskunta and the government set the rules. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties run social and health care, and Kela pays benefits.

## What do Somalis in Finland face now?

- **Discrimination at work:** reported by nine in ten Somali speakers in one survey ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)).
- **Belonging:** researchers found Somalis in Finland less ready than Somalis in Sweden to call themselves both Somali and Finnish ([University of Helsinki, 2013](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/culture/somalis-helsinki-appreciate-their-home-town)).
- **Higher education:** only a small number of Somalis were in higher education in 2013 ([University of Helsinki, 2013](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/culture/somalis-helsinki-appreciate-their-home-town)).

Most people in the 2013 study felt safe in Helsinki and were satisfied with housing and health care ([University of Helsinki, 2013](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/culture/somalis-helsinki-appreciate-their-home-town)).

## How are Finnish Somalis tied to home?

Dual citizenship is the clearest tie. Finnish citizens who also hold Somali citizenship rose from 341 in 2010 to 3,592 in 2015, 7,469 in 2020 and 10,632 in 2025 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rk](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rk.px/)). Families also send money home. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, from all countries together ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Peace envoy:** Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto named Suldaan Said Ahmed his special representative for peace mediation in the Horn of Africa in July 2022 ([Finnish Government, 2022](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)). Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen made him her special envoy on the same subject in 2024 ([Finnish Government, 2024](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)).
- **Figures from Wikipedia:** 90% of Somali speakers faced discrimination at work, citing a study by Pitkänen, Saukkonen and Westinen; 39% of Somalis voted in the 2017 municipal elections, citing Talouselämä; [Zahra Abdulla](/en/people/zahra-abdulla/) (Green League) sat on Helsinki City Council from 1997 to 2017; and in 1990, 44 Somali students from Soviet universities moved to Finland ([Wikipedia: "Somalis in Finland"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Norway (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/norway/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Finland. Table 11rm: Language according to sex by municipality, 1990 to 2025. [pxdata.stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Finland. Table 11rv: Origin and background country by municipality, 1990 to 2025. [pxdata.stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rv.px/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Finland. Table 11rq: Country of birth by municipality, 1990 to 2025. [pxdata.stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rq.px/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Finland. Table 11rh: Citizenship by municipality, 1990 to 2025. [pxdata.stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rh.px/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistics Finland. Table 11rk: Finnish citizens with dual nationality, 2000 to 2025. [pxdata.stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rk.px/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. University of Helsinki. "The Somalis of Helsinki appreciate their home town." 21 November 2013. [helsinki.fi](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/culture/somalis-helsinki-appreciate-their-home-town). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Open Society Foundations. "Somali life in Helsinki." 2013. [opensocietyfoundations.org](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/somali-life-helsinki). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. City of Helsinki. "Ulkomaalaistaustaisten osuus kaupungin henkilöstöstä on kasvanut merkittävästi." 1 April 2026. [hel.fi](https://www.hel.fi/fi/uutiset/ulkomaalaistaustaisten-osuus-kaupungin-henkilostosta-on-kasvanut-merkittavasti). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Al Jazeera. "From child refugee to politician: Finland's first Somali-born MP." 6 July 2021. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/6/from-child-refugee-to-politician-finlands-first-somali-born-mp). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Euronews. "World Refugee Day: meet the Somali politicians breaking through in the Nordics." 20 June 2022. [euronews.com](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Finland." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Finnish Government. "Suldaan Said Ahmed appointed as Foreign Minister's Special Representative on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa". Jul 2022. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Finnish Government. "Suldaan Said Ahmed appointed as Foreign Minister's Special Envoy on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa". 2024. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Finland". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Germany (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/germany/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 60,900 Somali nationals who arrived since 2014 lived in Germany at the end of 2025, by Destatis figures. Most came as asylum seekers, and about 21,400 held refugee protection in mid-2025. In October 2025, 18,438 Somali nationals had jobs with social insurance.

## How many Somalis live in Germany?

Germany counts foreign nationals, not ethnic origin. At the end of 2025, Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) recorded these Somali nationals by year of first arrival ([Destatis, protection seekers by year of first entry, 12 May 2026](https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Tabellen/schutzsuchende-ersteinreisejahr-schutzstatus.html)):

- **Arrived 2014 to 2016:** 17,770
- **Arrived 2017 to 2024:** 38,285
- **Arrived 2025:** 4,835

That is about 60,900 Somali nationals who came in 2014 or later. Destatis also shows how far each group's claims have gone ([Destatis](https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Tabellen/schutzsuchende-ersteinreisejahr-schutzstatus.html)):

- **Arrived 2014 to 2016:** 13,860 protection seekers, of whom 12,840 were recognised, 840 refused and 175 still open.
- **Arrived 2017 to 2024:** 27,340 protection seekers, of whom 21,365 were recognised, 2,490 refused and 3,490 still open.
- **Arrived 2025:** 2,525 protection seekers, of whom 345 were recognised and 1,985 still open.

Destatis does not list Somalia separately among those who arrived before 2014 ([Destatis](https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Tabellen/schutzsuchende-ersteinreisejahr-schutzstatus.html)). Somalis who became German citizens are not in these counts.

Older and other counts:

- **Born in Somalia, 2020:** 47,495 residents ([Somalis in Germany, Wikipedia, citing Destatis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Germany)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2024:** 38,179 refugees and 9,220 asylum seekers from Somalia, the largest Somali refugee population in Europe ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).
- **UN DESA 2024:** its origin and destination table gives no Somalia-born figure for Germany ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

## What papers do Somalis in Germany hold?

The federal government gave Parliament these counts of Somali nationals in mid-2025 ([Bundestag, printed paper 21/1640, 15 September 2025](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/016/2101640.pdf)):

- **Refugee protection:** 21,378
- **National ban on deportation:** 7,466
- **Subsidiary protection:** 6,890
- **Asylum still being decided:** 6,528
- **Tolerated stay (Duldung):** 3,413
- **Asylum entitlement under the Basic Law:** 759

The asylum office (BAMF) also had 1,408 pending reviews of whether Somalis' protection should be withdrawn, as of 30 June 2025 ([Bundestag, 21/1640](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/016/2101640.pdf)). Of Somali nationals who arrived from 2017 to 2024, 21,365 had been recognised as needing protection by the end of 2025 ([Destatis](https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Tabellen/schutzsuchende-ersteinreisejahr-schutzstatus.html)). In 2025 BAMF granted protection to 5,992 Somali applicants, 59.5% of all its decisions on Somalis ([Bundestag, printed paper 21/4448, 2 March 2026](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/044/2104448.pdf)). Leaving out formal decisions that did not judge the claim, the rate was 83.7%, against 37.5% for all nationalities ([Bundestag, 21/4448](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/044/2104448.pdf)). For how these statuses work, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How did Somalis come to Germany?

Germany had a small Somali community before 2014, and most of today's community came after it. Destatis records 17,770 current Somali nationals who first arrived from 2014 to 2016 ([Destatis](https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Tabellen/schutzsuchende-ersteinreisejahr-schutzstatus.html)). Most crossed the Sahara and the Mediterranean; see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

Some came through resettlement. In 2019 Germany worked with IOM to resettle 500 refugees living in Ethiopia ([IOM, 2019](https://www.iom.int/news/first-iom-international-charter-flight-ethiopia-brings-154-refugees-new-homes-germany)). The first charter flight, in October 2019, brought 154 Somali refugees from Addis Ababa ([IOM](https://www.iom.int/news/first-iom-international-charter-flight-ethiopia-brings-154-refugees-new-homes-germany)).

## Where in Germany do Somalis live?

Asylum seekers are spread across all 16 states by a quota system, so the community is scattered. Kassel has a Somali cultural association, and there are communities in Berlin and Frankfurt ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Germany)).

## Do Somalis in Germany have work?

More each year. Somali nationals in jobs with social insurance rose from 17,372 in October 2024 to 18,438 in October 2025 ([Bundestag, printed paper 21/6247, 1 June 2026](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/062/2106247.pdf)). Of those in 2025, 12,661 worked in helper-level jobs and 5,402 in skilled jobs ([Bundestag, 21/6247](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/062/2106247.pdf)).

A further 193 worked as specialists and 153 as experts, the two highest skill levels ([Bundestag, 21/6247](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/062/2106247.pdf)). In mid-2025, 278 Somali asylum seekers held a 2025 permit to work while their claims were decided ([Bundestag, 21/1640](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/016/2101640.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Germany?

The federal government and the Bundestag set the rules. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) decides asylum claims, and courts review its decisions. The states and towns run housing, schools and job centres.

## What do Somalis in Germany face now?

- **Protection reviews:** 1,408 Somalis' protection was under review in mid-2025 ([Bundestag, 21/1640](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/016/2101640.pdf)).
- **Border returns:** in June 2025 a Berlin court ruled that police acted unlawfully in turning back three Somali asylum seekers at the Polish border in May. The court said Germany must examine their claims ([Al Jazeera, 2 June 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/2/german-court-rules-asylum-seekers-unlawfully-expelled-at-polish-border)).
- **Unclear futures:** 3,413 Somalis had only a tolerated stay in mid-2025, meaning removal is suspended but they have no residence permit ([Bundestag, 21/1640](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/016/2101640.pdf)).

## How are Somalis in Germany tied to home?

Most are recent arrivals with close family in Somalia, Ethiopia or Kenya, and many send money home. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy, from all countries together ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **All Somali nationals:** the federal government told the Bundestag that almost 67,000 Somali nationals were registered in the Central Register of Foreigners at the end of May 2025 ([Bundestag, hib 303/2025, 15 July 2025](https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/kurzmeldungen-1101740)). This counts all arrival years, unlike the Destatis figure above.
- **Figures from Wikipedia:** 47,495 Somalia-born people (2020), citing Destatis; Kassel has the highest share of Somali migrants and a Somali cultural association; and in December 2025 a group of 143 people from Somalia, Congo, Ethiopia and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) was admitted after two Somali families won court cases backed by Pro Asyl, citing taz ([Wikipedia: "Somalis in Germany"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Germany)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)

## Sources

1. Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). "Schutzsuchende nach Ersteinreisejahr und Schutzstatus." 12 May 2026, data for 31 December 2025. [destatis.de](https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Tabellen/schutzsuchende-ersteinreisejahr-schutzstatus.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Deutscher Bundestag. Printed paper 21/1640: federal government answer on refugees living in Germany, mid-2025. 15 September 2025. [dserver.bundestag.de](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/016/2101640.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Deutscher Bundestag. Printed paper 21/4448: federal government answer with supplementary asylum statistics for 2025. 2 March 2026. [dserver.bundestag.de](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/044/2104448.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Deutscher Bundestag. Printed paper 21/6247: federal government answer on employment by nationality since 2024. 1 June 2026. [dserver.bundestag.de](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/062/2106247.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. IOM. "First IOM international charter flight from Ethiopia brings 154 refugees to new homes in Germany." October 2019. [iom.int](https://www.iom.int/news/first-iom-international-charter-flight-ethiopia-brings-154-refugees-new-homes-germany). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Al Jazeera. "German court rules asylum seekers unlawfully expelled at Polish border." 2 June 2025. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/2/german-court-rules-asylum-seekers-unlawfully-expelled-at-polish-border). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Germany." Citing Destatis. [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Germany). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Deutscher Bundestag. hib 303/2025, answer on foreign nationals in the Central Register of Foreigners. 15 Jul 2025. https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/kurzmeldungen-1101740. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Germany". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Germany. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Kenya (Eastleigh, Dadaab, North Eastern Kenya)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/kenya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kenya hosted 491,369 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia on 31 October 2026, most in the Dadaab camps and about 25,000 in Nairobi. Kenya's own Somali citizens are Kenyans, and this page treats them as neighbours; it covers people from Somalia living in Kenya.

## Who are the Somalis in Kenya?

Many Kenyans are ethnic Somalis, especially in the former [North Eastern Province](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/) and in Nairobi. They are Kenyan citizens, and Calankii makes no claim on them. This page is about people from Somalia who live in Kenya as refugees, asylum seekers, traders and students.

## How many people from Somalia live in Kenya?

On 31 October 2026, Kenya hosted 334,733 refugees and 156,636 asylum seekers from Somalia, 491,369 in all ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Kenya](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken)). Somalis were 51.5% of all refugees in Kenya (same source).

Other counts differ because they measure different things:
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 319,471 refugees and 139,660 asylum seekers ([UNHCR population API, Somalia to Kenya](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KEN)).
- **Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Economic Survey 2026:** 459,131 registered Somali refugees in 2025, down from 468,507 in 2024 ([The Star, 3 May 2026](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-05-03-kenyas-refugee-population-grows-by-300000-in-five-years)). KNBS says the fall came from a data cleaning exercise that removed Kenyans who had registered as refugees in Dadaab (same source).
- **UN DESA, 2024:** 401,953 people born in Somalia living in Kenya, refugees or not ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **Somalia's National Strategy on Migration, May 2024:** 425,284 ([Federal Republic of Somalia, via UN ESCWA](https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf)).

## Where do they live?

Most live in the Dadaab camps in Garissa County. Another 41,080 Somalis lived in Turkana County, home of Kakuma, on 31 October 2026 ([UNHCR ODP, Turkana](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796)). Camp by camp numbers, schools and history are on [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

In Nairobi, 25,281 refugees and asylum seekers came from Somalia, 21.3% of the city's 118,910 ([UNHCR ODP, Nairobi, 31 Oct 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/187)). Congolese were the largest group in Nairobi (same source).

## How did they get there?

Very few Somali refugees were in Kenya before the war. UNHCR counted 330 in 1990, 95,887 in 1991 and 285,619 in 1992 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KEN)). From late 1991, people crossed at the border town of Liboi or arrived by boat on the coast ([UNHCR evaluation, via CORE](https://core.ac.uk/download/46721357.pdf)).

The second great wave came with the 2011 drought and famine. UNHCR's count reached 517,666 Somali refugees in Kenya that year, the highest on record ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KEN)). It fell to 252,498 in 2018, after assisted returns, then rose again from 2023 (same source).

The full story of the routes is on [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## What is Eastleigh?

Eastleigh is a Nairobi estate known as "Little Mogadishu". Somali communities have lived there since Nairobi's earliest years, and Asian land speculators helped shape it in the early 1900s ([Constance Smith, review of Neil Carrier's *Little Mogadishu*, LSE, 15 Sep 2017](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2017/09/15/book-review-little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub-by-neil-carrier)).

In the 1990s, refugees with trading experience from Mogadishu began turning the estate into a place of commerce ([Carrier, University of Bristol research record](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub/)). Its malls hold hundreds of small stalls run by individual shopkeepers ([LSE review, 2017](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2017/09/15/book-review-little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub-by-neil-carrier)).

Eastleigh has more than 130,000 residents and about 200,000 visitors a day ([People Daily](https://peopledaily.digital/business/the-reinvention-and-rise-of-nairobis-little-mogadishu/amp)). Its Business Bay Square mall covers 130,000 m², and buyers come from [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia (same source).

## How do Somalis in Kenya earn a living?

- **Trade:** many goods sold in Eastleigh are made in China, some supplied by Somali wholesalers in the Pearl River area ([LSE review, 2017](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2017/09/15/book-review-little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub-by-neil-carrier)). Money from relatives abroad is often used as start-up capital (same source).
- **The law:** Kenya's Refugees Act 2021 took effect on 21 February 2022 ([Refugees Act 2021, Judy Legal](https://www.judy.legal/legislation/akn/ke/act/2021/10)). Section 28(5) gives refugees the right to work, run a business or practise a profession ([HIAS analysis](https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf)).
- **Camps:** the same Act keeps "designated areas" where refugees must live, and permits are needed to leave the camps ([HIAS](https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf)). WFP cut rations to 28% by mid-2025 and ended cash aid in Dadaab ([Al Jazeera Liberties, 2026](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)).

Money also flows home. In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). That report gives no share for money sent from Kenya.

## What papers do refugees in Kenya need?

Asylum seekers register with the Department of Refugee Services and receive an asylum seeker pass ([Eastleigh Voice, on the Refugees (General) Regulations 2024](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/shirika%20plan-shirika%20plan%20for%20refugees%20in%20kenya/34749/new-refugee-regulations-spell-out-restrictions-freedoms-under-shirika-plan)). The Commissioner for Refugee Affairs must decide a claim within 90 days (same source).

In October 2024, the Interior Ministry ordered refugees and asylum seekers to surrender passports from their home countries ([Horn Observer, 12 Oct 2024](https://hornobserver.com/articles/3003/Kenya-Issues-Deadline-for-Somali-Refugees-to-Surrender-Passports-or-Face-Consequences)). Refugees who want to travel apply instead for a refugee travel document (same source). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What is the Shirika Plan?

The Shirika Plan was launched in March 2025 as an eleven-year plan, with an estimated budget of $943 million ([Al Jazeera Liberties, 2026](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)). It aims to turn Dadaab and Kakuma into towns shared by refugees and Kenyan hosts (same source). It promises access to IDs, business permits and banking ([AllAfrica, Jul 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202507080002.html)).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Government of Kenya:** the Department of Refugee Services, led by the Commissioner for Refugee Affairs, registers refugees and decides claims ([Eastleigh Voice, 2024](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/shirika%20plan-shirika%20plan%20for%20refugees%20in%20kenya/34749/new-refugee-regulations-spell-out-restrictions-freedoms-under-shirika-plan)).
- **Somalia's embassy in Nairobi:** in April 2014, Somalia's ambassador confirmed that 82 deported Somalis were flown to Mogadishu ([Human Rights Watch, 11 Apr 2014](https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/11/kenya-halt-crackdown-somalis)).
- **Courts and rights groups:** the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Kituo Cha Sheria brought the 2017 High Court case that blocked closing Dadaab ([Amnesty International, 9 Feb 2017](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/02/kenya-historic-ruling-blocks-closure-of-dadaab-refugee-camp-2/)).
- **Neighbourhood:** Nyumba Kumi neighbourhood elders work in Eastleigh ([People Daily](https://peopledaily.digital/business/the-reinvention-and-rise-of-nairobis-little-mogadishu/amp)).

## What have Somalis in Kenya faced?

- **April 2014, Operation Usalama Watch:** police began a security sweep in Eastleigh on 2 April, after attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa killed 12 people ([HRW, 11 Apr 2014](https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/11/kenya-halt-crackdown-somalis)). Nearly 4,000 people were arrested, many held at Kasarani stadium (same source).
- **9 April 2014:** 82 undocumented Somali nationals were deported to Mogadishu ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/11/kenya-halt-crackdown-somalis)). Kenya's police oversight body, IPOA, later found the operation was not conducted in line with the law ([The Standard](https://standardmedia.co.ke/amp/article/2000128162/ipoa-faults-crackdown-on-refugees-in-eastleigh)).
- **2016 and 2021:** Kenya twice announced it would close the camps; the High Court blocked both moves ([Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)).

## What do they face now?

- **Visas (July 2025):** Kenya scrapped visa requirements for most African and Caribbean visitors, but not for [Somalia and Libya](/en/relations/libya/), citing security ([The Star, 14 Jul 2025](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-07-14-kenya-scraps-visa-fees-for-african-caribbean-travellers)).
- **East African Community:** Somalia became the bloc's eighth member on 4 March 2024, when it deposited its ratification in Arusha ([Capital FM, Mar 2024](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2024/03/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).
- **Aid cuts (2025):** water in Dadaab fell from 20 to 10 litres per person a day, and acute malnutrition passed 13% ([Al Jazeera Liberties](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)).
- **Drought (March 2026):** IPC Phase 5 acute malnutrition was confirmed in Mandera, and 3.3 million Kenyans faced high food insecurity ([CARE via ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/drought-tightens-its-grip-northern-kenya-new-ipc-report-confirms-crisis-getting-significantly-worse)).

## How are they tied to home?

Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement for voluntary return in November 2013 ([UNHCR, 5 Aug 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10067)). Assisted returns began in December 2014 (same source). Trade, family money and flights between Nairobi and Mogadishu keep the two cities close.

## What else has been reported?

- **Usalama Watch deportations, 2014:** Amnesty International said Somalis were scapegoated in the 2014 security operation, with thousands arbitrarily arrested and some expelled ([Amnesty International, May 2014](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr52/003/2014/en/)). The Daily Nation reported Amnesty's count of 359 people deported to Somalia ([Daily Nation, 2014](https://www.nation.co.ke/news/-/1056/2337894/-/14vj832/-/index.html)); Human Rights Watch counted 261 deported by air up to 3 May 2014 ([HRW, 12 May 2014](https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/12/kenya-end-abusive-round-ups)).
- **Garissa Lodge:** Garissa Lodge in Eastleigh, a travellers' lodging whose rooms were turned into stalls, is described as the area's first shopping mall, about 1995 ([Abacus](https://abacus.co.ke/eastleigh-and-the-rise-of-somali-diaspora-capital/)); it burned in 2000 and was rebuilt as a series of malls ([The Standard](https://standardmedia.co.ke/business/home-away/article/2000038469/garissa-lodge-business-hive-with-nine-lives)). Accounts of its start date differ (1987 to 1991).

## Related pages

- [Eastleigh: the Somali trading hub of Nairobi](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/)
- [Hass Petroleum: the Somali-Kenyan fuel company](/en/businesses/hass-petroleum/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/) · [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)
- [Somali Bantu (Jareer) resettlement from Kenya to the United States](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Tanzania (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Kenya, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Nairobi, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/187. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Turkana, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UNHCR. Refugee population statistics API, Somalia to Kenya, 1990–2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KEN. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. The Star (Kenya). Kenya's refugee population grows by 300,000 in five years (KNBS Economic Survey 2026), 3 May 2026. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-05-03-kenyas-refugee-population-grows-by-300000-in-five-years. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Federal Republic of Somalia. National Strategy for Migration, May 2024, via UN ESCWA. https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR. Review of UNHCR's programme in Kenya, via CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/46721357.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Smith, C. Book review: Little Mogadishu by Neil Carrier. Africa at LSE, 15 Sep 2017. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2017/09/15/book-review-little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub-by-neil-carrier. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. University of [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/). Little Mogadishu: Eastleigh, Nairobi's global Somali hub (research record). https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub/. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. People Daily. The reinvention and rise of Nairobi's Little Mogadishu. https://peopledaily.digital/business/the-reinvention-and-rise-of-nairobis-little-mogadishu/amp. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Republic of Kenya. Refugees Act 2021, Judy Legal. https://www.judy.legal/legislation/akn/ke/act/2021/10. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. HIAS. Kenya's Refugee Act 2021: opportunities for refugee livelihoods and self-reliance. https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Al Jazeera Liberties. A city born of crisis: Dadaab, 2026. https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Eastleigh Voice. New refugee regulations spell out restrictions, freedoms under Shirika Plan. https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/shirika%20plan-shirika%20plan%20for%20refugees%20in%20kenya/34749/new-refugee-regulations-spell-out-restrictions-freedoms-under-shirika-plan. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Horn Observer. Kenya issues deadline for Somali refugees to surrender passports, 12 Oct 2024. https://hornobserver.com/articles/3003/Kenya-Issues-Deadline-for-Somali-Refugees-to-Surrender-Passports-or-Face-Consequences. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. AllAfrica. Shirika Plan, Jul 2025. https://allafrica.com/stories/202507080002.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Human Rights Watch. Kenya: Halt crackdown on Somalis, 11 Apr 2014. https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/11/kenya-halt-crackdown-somalis. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. The Standard. IPOA faults crackdown on refugees in Eastleigh, 2014. https://standardmedia.co.ke/amp/article/2000128162/ipoa-faults-crackdown-on-refugees-in-eastleigh. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Amnesty International. Kenya: Historic ruling blocks closure of Dadaab refugee camp, 9 Feb 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/02/kenya-historic-ruling-blocks-closure-of-dadaab-refugee-camp-2/. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. The Star (Kenya). Kenya scraps visa fees for African, Caribbean travellers, 14 Jul 2025. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-07-14-kenya-scraps-visa-fees-for-african-caribbean-travellers. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Capital FM. Somalia deposits ratification instrument with EAC Secretary General, Mar 2024. https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2024/03/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. CARE via ReliefWeb. Drought tightens its grip on northern Kenya, Mar 2026. https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/drought-tightens-its-grip-northern-kenya-new-ipc-report-confirms-crisis-getting-significantly-worse. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. UNHCR. Return of Somali refugees from Kenya, 5 Aug 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10067. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Amnesty International. "Somalis are scapegoats in Kenya's counter-terror crackdown" (AFR 52/003/2014). May 2014. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr52/003/2014/en/. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. Daily Nation. "Amnesty says 359 deported to Somalia". 2014. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/-/1056/2337894/-/14vj832/-/index.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. Human Rights Watch. "Kenya: End Abusive Round-Ups". 12 May 2014. https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/12/kenya-end-abusive-round-ups. Checked 2026-11-12.
29. Abacus. "Eastleigh and the Rise of Somali Diaspora Capital". https://abacus.co.ke/eastleigh-and-the-rise-of-somali-diaspora-capital/. Checked 2026-11-12.
30. Allan Olingo. "Garissa Lodge: business hive with nine lives". The Standard. https://standardmedia.co.ke/business/home-away/article/2000038469/garissa-lodge-business-hive-with-nine-lives. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# London (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/london/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> London is home to the largest Somali community in Britain: 62.4% of the 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali in Census 2021, about 110,000 people. Somali seamen lived near the East End docks before the First World War, and most families arrived as refugees from 1988 onwards.

London holds 62.4% of the 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali in Census 2021, about 110,000 people ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Somali dockers lived in the East End before 1914, and the largest wave came as refugees in the 1990s ([Tower Hamlets Council, Somali Task Force](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in London?

The Office for National Statistics counts people who gave Somali as their ethnic group, their national identity, or both. Of the 176,645 in England and Wales, 62.4% lived in London ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Seven of the ten local areas with the largest share were London boroughs ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

The detailed ethnic group table counts each borough. Across London's 33 boroughs, 106,289 people wrote "Somali" and 15,627 wrote "Somalilander" ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). The ONS article does not say how it treated "Somalilander" answers, so both counts are shown.

By country of birth, 66,286 Londoners were born in Somalia in 2021, out of 108,918 in England and Wales ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)).

## Which London boroughs have the most Somalis?

Census 2021 counts by borough, "Somali" and "Somalilander" answers together ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Brent:** 12,610 (3.7% of residents)
- **Ealing:** 10,927
- **Enfield:** 8,089
- **Newham:** 7,174
- **Hillingdon:** 6,735
- **Tower Hamlets:** 6,180, of whom 2,213 wrote "Somalilander"
- **Hounslow:** 5,881
- **Islington:** 5,734
- **Camden:** 5,398
- **Wandsworth, Haringey, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, Greenwich and Barnet:** about 4,000 to 5,100 each

The London ward with the most Somali residents is Stonebridge in Brent, with 2,509 ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) Green and Ponders End in Enfield, and Harlesden and Kensal Green in Brent, each have more than 1,250 ([Nomis](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

It is a young community. Nationally, 48.2% of Somalis were under 21 in 2021, double the England and Wales share ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). People born in England (43.5%) now slightly outnumber those born in Somalia (43.1%) ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## When did Somalis first come to London?

Somali men worked as stokers and firemen on British and other European steamships from the 1880s ([Krozewski, International Journal of African Historical Studies](https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757)). By the end of the 19th century there were small Somali communities in London and [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) ([Our Migration Story](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail)). Many were recorded as "Arabs" because they joined ships at Aden or in Egypt ([Our Migration Story](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail)).

In Tower Hamlets, the council records a Somali community of dockers from before the First World War ([Tower Hamlets Council, Somali Task Force](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)). Some of these men were later joined by their families ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)). A second wave in the 1950s came for work in steel and coal ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).

## How did the refugees of 1988 to the 1990s arrive?

War in the north of Somalia from 1988, then the collapse of the state in 1991, brought the largest arrivals; see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/). Somali nationals made 6,195 asylum applications in the UK from January 1989 to April 1992 ([Hansard, 22 May 1992](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers)).

Of 2,430 decisions in that period, 1,145 people received asylum and 1,110 exceptional leave to remain ([Hansard, 1992](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers)). Somali nationals were given leave to enter on 4,330 journeys in 1990 and 5,500 in 1992 ([Hansard, 5 November 1993](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1993/nov/05/immigration-somalia)). For what these statuses mean, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

Census 2011 shows the scale. Of Somali arrivals then living in London, 27,779 came in 1991 to 2000, against 4,788 in 1981 to 1990 ([Birmingham City Council, Somali Community Health Profile 2022, from Census 2011 table CT0562](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). Another 14,309 came in 2001 to 2003, when the UK also drew Somalis from across Europe ([Birmingham City Council, 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)).

## Do Somali Londoners have work?

The ONS publishes work figures for Somalis in England and Wales as a whole. In 2021, 34.1% of those aged 16 to 64 were employees and 8.5% were self-employed ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Another 47.1% were economically inactive, and 21.7% were students ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Housing is the hardest problem. 72.0% rent from a council or housing association, and 58.8% of households are overcrowded, against 8.4% overall ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). In Tower Hamlets, the Somali economic activity rate was 47%, against 67% for all residents ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).

Schools tell a stronger story. In Tower Hamlets, 64.2% of Somali pupils got five good GCSEs including English and maths in 2014, above the borough's 59.4% ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in London?

Somali Londoners hold civic office in several boroughs:

- **Tower Hamlets:** Cllr Ahmed Omer, son of a merchant seaman, served as the borough's civic mayor and was described as Britain's first Somali mayor ([East London Advertiser](https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/captured-historic-moment-uk-s-first-somali-mayor-takes-office-3397920)).
- **Islington:** Cllr Rakhia Ismail, a Holloway councillor since 2012 who came as a refugee in the 1980s, was Mayor of Islington in 2019 to 2020 ([Islington Tribune, May 2019](https://islingtontribune.co.uk/article/mayor-a-role-model-for-somali-women)).
- **Brent:** Cllr Abdi Aden, Stonebridge councillor since 2018, was Mayor of Brent for 2022 to 2023 ([Brent Council minutes, 18 May 2022](https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=60774)). He settled in Brent in 1990 ([Brent Council](https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=60774)).
- **Ealing:** Cllr Faduma Mohamed, Southall West councillor, became Mayor of Ealing on 26 May 2026 ([Ealing News](https://www.ealing.news/?p=28421)). She came to Southall aged 11 after fleeing war ([Ealing News](https://www.ealing.news/?p=28421)).

Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, founded in 2009, runs the yearly Somali Week Festival in October ([Greater London Authority, City Hall blog](https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/city-hall-blog/kayd-somali-arts-and-culture)). Tower Hamlets Council set up a task force with Somali residents and shared its draft plan with them in 2016 ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).

## What do Somali Londoners face now?

- **Crowded homes:** more than half of Somali households in England and Wales were overcrowded in 2021 ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Language:** 21.8% of Somalis whose main language is not English could not speak it well, and women scored lower than men ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Thin community funding:** the Tower Hamlets task force found that grants to Somali-led groups had fallen by 65% ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).
- **Asylum cases still open:** at the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,697 refugees and 1,590 asylum seekers from Somalia in the UK ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## How are Somali Londoners tied to home?

London is a hub for sending money to Somalia. [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), re-established in London in 1994, handled most UK transfers to Somalia, the High Court found in 2013 ([Dahabshiil v Barclays, 5 November 2013](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2013/3379)). The judgment cited an estimate that about US$500 million a year reached Somalia from the UK ([High Court, 2013](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2013/3379)).

When Barclays moved to close money-transfer accounts in 2013, the court ordered it to keep serving Dahabshiil until trial ([High Court, 2013](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2013/3379)). In 2025, people abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

UN DESA counts 119,728 Somalia-born people across the UK in 2024, the fourth-largest group of Somalia-born people anywhere ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## Related pages

- [WorldRemit and Zepz](/en/businesses/worldremit/)
- [Birmingham (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/birmingham/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Bristol (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/bristol/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)

## Sources

1. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth (detailed), Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. London Borough of Tower Hamlets. "Somali Task Force" report. [towerhamlets.gov.uk](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Krozewski, G. "Hidden Seamen from East Africa: Somali Firemen, European Steamers, and Global Labor Markets, 1880s–1930s." International Journal of African Historical Studies. [bu.edu](https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Mohamud, A. and Whitburn, R. "Somali seafarer Ibrahim Ismaa'il: from Cardiff to the Cotswolds." Our Migration Story. [ourmigrationstory.org.uk](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Asylum seekers," HC Deb 22 May 1992 vol 208. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Immigration (Somalia)," HC Deb 5 November 1993 vol 231. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1993/nov/05/immigration-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Birmingham City Council. "Somali Community Health Profile 2022" (with Census 2011 table CT0562). [birmingham.gov.uk](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. East London Advertiser. "Captured: historic moment UK's first Somali mayor takes office." [eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk](https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/captured-historic-moment-uk-s-first-somali-mayor-takes-office-3397920). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Islington Tribune. "Islington Mayor 'a role model for women'." 24 May 2019. [islingtontribune.co.uk](https://islingtontribune.co.uk/article/mayor-a-role-model-for-somali-women). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. London Borough of Brent. Annual Council Meeting minutes, 18 May 2022. [democracy.brent.gov.uk](https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=60774). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Ealing News. "New Mayor of Ealing pledges borough-wide unity." May 2026. [ealing.news](https://www.ealing.news/?p=28421). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Greater London Authority. "Kayd Somali Arts and Culture." City Hall blog, 3 November 2021. [london.gov.uk](https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/city-hall-blog/kayd-somali-arts-and-culture). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. High Court of England and Wales. Dahabshiil Transfer Services Ltd v Barclays Bank Plc [2013] EWHC 3379 (Ch), 5 November 2013. [caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2013/3379). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Minneapolis–St Paul (Twin Cities), Minnesota, USA

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the United States: about 108,500 people in 2024, out of about 260,000 nationwide, by the Census Bureau's survey. Refugees began arriving in 1992, and Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis became the community's heart.

The US Census Bureau's survey counted about 108,536 people of Somali origin in Minnesota in 2024, out of 259,694 in the United States ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year, table B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53)). Somali refugees began arriving in Minnesota in 1992, and most settled in the Twin Cities ([MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

## How many Somalis live in Minnesota and the Twin Cities?

Counts depend on the question asked. These are Census Bureau estimates, each with a margin of error ([ACS via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53)):

- **Somali by race and origin, 2024:** Minnesota 108,536 (plus or minus 12,721); United States 259,694.
- **Somali ancestry, 2024:** Minnesota 76,320; United States 193,061 ([ACS, table B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53)).
- **Born in Somalia, 2024:** Minnesota 41,748; United States 98,079 ([ACS, table B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53)).

Pooled 2020 to 2024 figures give local detail. The Minneapolis–St Paul metro area had 67,579 people of Somali origin ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/latest?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53,16000US2743000,16000US2758000,16000US5363000,05000US27053,05000US27123,05000US53033,31000US33460,31000US42660)). Minneapolis city had 25,928, St Paul 8,852, Hennepin County 36,359 and Ramsey County 10,556 ([ACS 2020–2024](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/latest?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53,16000US2743000,16000US2758000,16000US5363000,05000US27053,05000US27123,05000US53033,31000US33460,31000US42660)).

Minnesota Compass, using the same survey, counts 111,722 Somali Minnesotans in 2024 ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)). Of these, 52.2% were born abroad, so nearly half were born in the United States ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)). About 78% of Somali Minnesotans live in the Twin Cities ([NPR via Michigan Public, 3 December 2025](https://www.michiganpublic.org/2025-12-03/how-minnesota-became-a-hub-for-somali-immigrants-in-the-u-s)).

## How did Somalis come to Minnesota?

The first Somalis in Minnesota were students and scholars ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). The United States began issuing visas to Somali refugees in 1992, and the first families reached Minnesota that year ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Somalia was designated for Temporary Protected Status on 16 September 1991 ([Federal Register, 14 January 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm)).

Resettlement agencies placed families: the International Institute of Minnesota, World Relief, Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Many others moved from other states. In summer 1992, Somali men came from Sioux Falls and [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/) to a turkey plant in Marshall ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

Word of jobs spread, and families followed into the Twin Cities ([NPR via Michigan Public, 2025](https://www.michiganpublic.org/2025-12-03/how-minnesota-became-a-hub-for-somali-immigrants-in-the-u-s)). Communities outside the Twin Cities include [St. Cloud](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/), with about 7,700, and [Rochester](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/), with about 3,300 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2756896,16000US2754880)). For the journeys and camps before resettlement, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## Why is Cedar-Riverside the centre?

Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis has the largest concentration of Somalis in Minnesota ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Thousands live in the Riverside Plaza towers ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). The Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota was founded there in 1994, and Dar Al-Hijrah, the state's first Somali mosque, in 1998 ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

Karmel Mall opened in 2005 with more than 100 businesses, and the Somali Museum of Minnesota in 2013 ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

## Do Somali Minnesotans have work?

In 2020 to 2024, 69.6% of Somali Minnesotans aged 18 to 64 had jobs ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)). Median household income was $49,554, and 30.9% lived below the poverty line ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)). Only 15.6% of households owned their home ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)).

Early jobs were in farming and meat processing, which needed little English ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Later work spread to hotels and taxi driving ([NPR via Michigan Public](https://www.michiganpublic.org/2025-12-03/how-minnesota-became-a-hub-for-somali-immigrants-in-the-u-s)). Islamic rules on interest make ordinary mortgages hard, so the African Development Center offers interest-free loans ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Minnesota?

Somali Americans in public office, by role:

- **US House:** [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/), Minnesota's 5th District, the first Somali American in Congress (elected 2018), won a fifth term in November 2026 ([NPR via Michigan Public](https://www.michiganpublic.org/2025-12-03/how-minnesota-became-a-hub-for-somali-immigrants-in-the-u-s); [Dawan, 5 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats)). She was earlier the first Somali American in the Minnesota Legislature ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).
- **State Senate:** Omar Fateh, District 62 since 2021, the first Somali American in the Minnesota Senate ([Minnesota Legislative Reference Library](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15559)). [Zaynab Mohamed](/en/people/zaynab-mohamed/), District 63 since 2023 ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15588)).
- **State House:** Samakab Hussein, District 65A, the first Somali American to represent St Paul ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15573)). Anquam Mahamoud, District 62B since 2025 ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15639)). Mohamud Noor, District 60B, and Abdi Daisane, District 14A in St Cloud, both won in November 2026 ([Dawan, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats); [MPR News, 4 November 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway)).
- **Minneapolis City Council:** [Jamal Osman](/en/people/jamal-osman/), Ward 6, re-elected on 4 November 2025 with 58.8% of first choices ([City of Minneapolis](https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results-data/election-results/2025/council-ward-6)). Abdi Warsame was the first Somali American on the council, from 2013 ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).
- **Mayoral race, 2025:** Omar Fateh won 44.37% in the final round against the sitting mayor ([City of Minneapolis](https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results-data/election-results/2025/mayor)).

[Hussein Samatar](/en/people/hussein-samatar/), elected to the Minneapolis School Board in 2010, is described as the first Somali American elected to public office in the United States ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Community groups include the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, Somali Family Services and the Brian Coyle Neighborhood Center ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota); [Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/12/28/cedar-riverside-ice-raids/)).

## What hard stories are on the court record, and how did the community respond?

**Recruitment, 2007 to 2016.** About two dozen young men left Minnesota for Somalia from 2007, recruited by al-Shabaab ([MPR News, 8 November 2011](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/11/08/young-minnesota-somalis-decry-extremism)). In 2016, nine young Twin Cities men were sentenced for conspiring to support ISIS, after guilty pleas or a jury trial ([US Department of Justice](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-minnesota-men-sentenced-providing-material-support-isil); [MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

Young Somalis answered. Ka Joog, whose name means "stay away", ran panels and mentoring to counter recruiters ([MPR News, 2011](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/11/08/young-minnesota-somalis-decry-extremism)). A Young Somali-American Advisory Council met the US Attorney to explain the legal system to peers and elders ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/11/08/young-minnesota-somalis-decry-extremism)).

**Feeding Our Future, 2022 to 2026.** Prosecutors charged that a Minnesota nonprofit and its sites took over $240 million meant to feed children during Covid-19 ([US Attorney, District of Minnesota, 20 September 2022, via IRS](https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-in-250-million-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme)). By May 2026, 66 of 78 defendants had pleaded guilty or been convicted ([Sahan Journal, May 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/aimee-bock-feeding-our-future-sentencing-fraud-2/)). The nonprofit's founder, the scheme's leader, received about 42 years in prison ([Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/aimee-bock-feeding-our-future-sentencing-fraud-2/)).

The crimes belong to those convicted. Sahan Journal, a newsroom founded by a Somali American journalist, reported the case from 2022 despite pressure ([Sahan Journal, 21 February 2022](https://sahanjournal.com/inside-sahan-journal/why-sahan-journal-is-reporting-about-feeding-our-future-alleged-fraud/)). Somali leaders and officials also spoke out against blaming the whole community ([Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/somalis-reaction-to-president-trump-threat/601532904)).

## What do Somali Minnesotans face now?

- **Federal surge, December 2025 to February 2026:** the President blamed Minnesota's Somali community, most of them citizens, while launching Operation Metro Surge ([AP via News4JAX, 12 February 2026](https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2026/02/12/federal-authorities-announce-an-end-to-the-immigration-crackdown-in-minnesota/)). Officials reported more than 4,000 arrests, and federal officers shot dead two US citizens ([AP](https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2026/02/12/federal-authorities-announce-an-end-to-the-immigration-crackdown-in-minnesota/)).
- **Cedar-Riverside:** shops lost customers, and residents patrolled streets and guarded mosques ([Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 28 December 2025](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/12/28/cedar-riverside-ice-raids/)).
- **TPS ended:** Somalia's Temporary Protected Status, held by 1,082 people, ended on 14 August 2026 after a Supreme Court ruling in a similar case ([Federal Register](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm); [USCIS notice, 14 August 2026, via AILA](https://assets.aila.org/files/9c1c39d3-2bc4-4608-a9ae-cfeb8be78bc2/26081709.pdf)).
- **Money transfers watched:** banks and money transmitters in Hennepin and Ramsey counties must report international transfers of $3,000 or more until 6 February 2027 ([FinCEN, 7 August 2026](https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-08/Minnesota-GTO-Order-FAQs.pdf)).

## How are Somali Minnesotans tied to home?

Families send money home. After 2001, Twin Cities money-wiring businesses were closed over suspected terrorist links, cutting families off ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US federal tax applies to transfers paid in cash or money orders ([RSM, 2025](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances)). In 2025, people abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Citizenship:** a Sahan Journal reporter told NPR that only about 4,200 of the more than 80,000 Somalis in Minnesota are not US citizens, and many of those hold green cards ([NPR, 4 December 2025](https://npr.org/2025/12/04/nx-s1-5632687/minnesota-responds-to-trump-rhetoric-on-somali-immigrants)).
- **Birthplace:** the Star Tribune reported about 108,000 Somali people in Minnesota, nearly half born outside the US ([Star Tribune, 3 December 2025](https://www.startribune.com/why-minnesota-has-largest-somali-population-refugee-resettlement-economic-opportunity/601538629)); PBS NewsHour, from Census data, put the US-born share at almost 58% ([PBS NewsHour](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/5-things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-minnesota-after-trumps-attacks)).
- **Money sent home:** the Minnesota Reformer, citing The Interpreter, reported that the Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023; this is a worldwide figure, not Minnesota's ([Minnesota Reformer, 10 March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).
- **Operation Metro Surge:** the Minnesota Reformer describes about 3,000 federal immigration agents sent to Minnesota ([Minnesota Reformer, 20 February 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge/)). Federal officials said about 4,000 people were arrested ([KATV, 2026](https://katv.com/news/nation-world/white-house-cheers-4000-arrests-in-minnesota-operation-metro-surge-as-deportations-loom-tom-homan-greg-bovino)); Sahan Journal reported that about three-quarters of Minnesotans arrested had no criminal record ([Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/news-partners/three-quarters-minnesotan-ice-arrestees-had-no-criminal-record/)).

## Related pages

- [Somali businesses in Minnesota](/en/economy/somali-businesses-in-minnesota/)
- [St. Cloud, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/)
- [Rochester, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/)
- [Seattle and South King County](/en/diaspora/seattle/)
- [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [United States (other cities)](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2024 1-year and 2020–2024 5-year, tables B02025, B04006, B05006, via Census Reporter. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Minnesota Compass (Wilder Research). "Somali population" cultural community profile, 2020–2024. [mncompass.org](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Wilhide, A. "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. [mnhs.org](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. NPR via Michigan Public. "How Minnesota became a hub for Somali immigrants in the U.S." 3 December 2025. [michiganpublic.org](https://www.michiganpublic.org/2025-12-03/how-minnesota-became-a-hub-for-somali-immigrants-in-the-u-s). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. US Department of Homeland Security. "Termination of the Designation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status." Federal Register 91 FR 1547, 14 January 2026. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. USCIS. "Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalia." 14 August 2026, AILA Doc. 26081709. [aila.org](https://assets.aila.org/files/9c1c39d3-2bc4-4608-a9ae-cfeb8be78bc2/26081709.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Omar Fateh. [lrl.mn.gov](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15559). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Zaynab Mohamed. [lrl.mn.gov](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15588). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Samakab Hussein. [lrl.mn.gov](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15573). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Anquam Mahamoud. [lrl.mn.gov](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15639). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "Ilhan Omar wins fifth term as Somali Americans win state seats." 5 November 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. MPR News. "Abdi Daisane, St. Cloud's first Somali American state lawmaker, defeats Mike Conway." 4 November 2026. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. City of Minneapolis. 2025 City Council Ward 6 election results. [vote.minneapolismn.gov](https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results-data/election-results/2025/council-ward-6). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. City of Minneapolis. 2025 Mayor election results. [vote.minneapolismn.gov](https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results-data/election-results/2025/mayor). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. MPR News. "Years after Somali men left Minn., youth decry extremism." 8 November 2011. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/11/08/young-minnesota-somalis-decry-extremism). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. US Department of Justice. "Nine Minnesota Men Sentenced for Providing Material Support to ISIL." November 2016. [justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-minnesota-men-sentenced-providing-material-support-isil). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. US Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, via IRS Criminal Investigation. "U.S. Attorney announces federal charges against 47 defendants in $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme." 20 September 2022. [irs.gov](https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-in-250-million-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Sahan Journal. Feeding Our Future sentencing report. May 2026. [sahanjournal.com](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/aimee-bock-feeding-our-future-sentencing-fraud-2/). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Sahan Journal. "Why Sahan Journal is reporting about Feeding Our Future alleged fraud." 21 February 2022. [sahanjournal.com](https://sahanjournal.com/inside-sahan-journal/why-sahan-journal-is-reporting-about-feeding-our-future-alleged-fraud/). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Star Tribune. "Minnesota Somali community grapples with fraud cases while pushing back against stereotypes." [startribune.com](https://www.startribune.com/somalis-reaction-to-president-trump-threat/601532904). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Associated Press, via News4JAX. "Federal authorities announce an end to the immigration crackdown in Minnesota." 12 February 2026. [news4jax.com](https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2026/02/12/federal-authorities-announce-an-end-to-the-immigration-crackdown-in-minnesota/). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Cedar-Riverside and ICE raids. 28 December 2025. [spokesman-recorder.com](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/12/28/cedar-riverside-ice-raids/). Checked 2026-11-12.
23. FinCEN. "Minnesota GTO Order FAQs." Reissued 7 August 2026. [fincen.gov](https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-08/Minnesota-GTO-Order-FAQs.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
24. RSM US. "Excise tax on cross-border remittances." 2025. [rsmus.com](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances). Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
26. NPR. "Minnesota responds to Trump rhetoric on Somali immigrants". 4 Dec 2025. https://npr.org/2025/12/04/nx-s1-5632687/minnesota-responds-to-trump-rhetoric-on-somali-immigrants. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. Star Tribune. "Minnesota hosts the nation's largest Somali population. What brought them here?" 3 Dec 2025. https://www.startribune.com/why-minnesota-has-largest-somali-population-refugee-resettlement-economic-opportunity/601538629. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. PBS NewsHour. "5 things to know about the Somali community in Minnesota". Dec 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/5-things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-minnesota-after-trumps-attacks. Checked 2026-11-12.
29. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family". 10 Mar 2026. https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/. Checked 2026-11-12.
30. Minnesota Reformer. "A timeline of Operation Metro Surge". 20 Feb 2026. https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge/. Checked 2026-11-12.
31. KATV. "White House cheers 4,000 arrests in Minnesota Operation Metro Surge". 2026. https://katv.com/news/nation-world/white-house-cheers-4000-arrests-in-minnesota-operation-metro-surge-as-deportations-loom-tom-homan-greg-bovino. Checked 2026-11-12.
32. Sahan Journal. "Three-quarters of Minnesotan ICE arrestees had no criminal record". 2026. https://sahanjournal.com/news-partners/three-quarters-minnesotan-ice-arrestees-had-no-criminal-record/. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Netherlands (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/netherlands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 1 January 2026, 49,453 people of Somali origin lived in the Netherlands: 30,647 born abroad and 18,806 born in the Netherlands. Work has improved since 2017: 53% of Somali Dutch aged 15 to 75 were in paid work in 2024, against 72% nationally.

## How many Somalis live in the Netherlands?

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) counted 49,453 people with Somalia as their country of origin on 1 January 2026 ([CBS StatLine, table 85384NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)). Of these, 30,647 were born abroad and 18,806 were born in the Netherlands ([CBS, 85384NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)). The group has grown every year since 2022, when it was 41,072 ([CBS](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)).

Almost all have two parents born abroad: 47,644 of the 49,453 ([CBS, 85384NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)). Another 1,800 have one parent born in the Netherlands and one born abroad ([CBS](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)). The Netherlands-born share has stayed near 38% since 2022 ([CBS](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)).

Other counts use other methods:

- **SCP, 2017:** 39,500 Somali Dutch, nearly 70% of them with Dutch nationality ([Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Gevlucht met weinig bagage, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).
- **UN DESA 2024:** 25,826 Somalia-born migrants ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2024:** 3,968 refugees and 2,416 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where in the Netherlands do Somalis live?

They are spread more widely than in most countries, because asylum housing rules placed families across many towns ([Somalis in the Netherlands, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_the_Netherlands)). Provinces with the most people of Somali origin in 2026 ([CBS StatLine, table 85458NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85458NED/table)):

- South [Holland](/en/relations/netherlands/): 13,615
- North Brabant: 10,193
- North Holland: 7,491
- Gelderland: 4,939
- Utrecht: 3,967
- Limburg: 2,312

The largest city communities are Rotterdam (3,300), The Hague (2,526), Amsterdam (2,273) and Tilburg (2,141) ([CBS, 85458NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85458NED/table)). Many women raise children alone ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to the Netherlands?

They came in two main waves of asylum seekers and their families. CBS records arrivals from Somalia by year ([CBS StatLine, table 60032](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/60032/table)):

- **First wave:** 2,699 in 1995 and 3,114 in 1996, falling to 331 by 2003.
- **Second wave:** 2,077 in 2008 and a peak of 4,136 in 2009, then 3,238 in 2010.
- **Recent years:** between 187 and 558 a year from 2017 to 2022.

For the routes people took, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Why did many Somali Dutch move to the UK?

From 2000 to 2005, up to 20,000 Somali Dutch moved on to the United Kingdom, by one unofficial estimate ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_the_Netherlands)). Many went to Leicester, [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and [London](/en/diaspora/london/).

A peer-reviewed study of Dutch [Somalis in the UK](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/) found that most left mainly because of discrimination and racism in their previous home ([Ahrens, Kelly and van Liempt, Population, Space and Place, 2016](https://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/58949/)). A European research project also studied this onward movement from the Netherlands to the UK ([European Commission, CORDIS project 219485](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485)). As Dutch citizens, they could move under EU free movement rules.

## Do Somali Dutch have work?

More do than a decade ago. In 2024, 53% of people of Somali origin aged 15 to 75 were in paid work, against 72% of everyone ([CBS StatLine, table 84729NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84729NED/table)). That was up from 48% in 2021 ([CBS, 84729NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84729NED/table)).

The gaps by sex and generation are wide ([CBS, 84729NED, 2024](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84729NED/table)):

- **Men:** 61% in work. **Women:** 45%.
- **Born abroad:** 50%. **Born in the Netherlands:** 66%.
- **Self-employed:** 12% of those in work, against 17% nationally.

In 2017 the picture was harder. SCP found about a quarter in paid work, 52% on social assistance and 68% below the poverty line ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)). Average income was €12,200 a year, against €26,300 for native Dutch people ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).

Schooling was the main barrier. In 2017, 68% of adults who had left school had at most primary education, and 8% held a higher-education diploma ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in the Netherlands?

The government and the Tweede Kamer set the rules. Municipalities run social assistance, the integration programme (inburgering), housing and schools. UWV handles employment insurance, and IND handles immigration. SCP and CBS publish the main data on the community ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).

## What do Somali Dutch face now?

- **Child poverty:** in 2017, 82% of Somali Dutch children lived in poor households ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).
- **Women and work:** fewer than half of Somali Dutch women were in paid work in 2024 ([CBS, 84729NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84729NED/table)).
- **Split families:** many families live across the Netherlands, the UK and Somalia ([Ahrens, Kelly and van Liempt, 2016](https://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/58949/)).
- **New arrivals:** 2,416 Somali asylum seekers were waiting for decisions at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). For how status works, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How are Somali Dutch tied to home?

Families send money home and keep close ties with relatives in Somalia and in the UK. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy, from all countries together ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Bristol (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/bristol/)
- [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/)
- [Denmark (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/denmark/)
- [Belgium (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/belgium/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). StatLine table 85384NED: Population by sex, age, country of origin and country of birth (parents), 1 January 2022 to 2026. [opendata.cbs.nl](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). StatLine table 85458NED: Population by country of origin, country of birth, age and region, 1 January. [opendata.cbs.nl](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85458NED/table). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). StatLine table 84729NED: Labour participation, detailed countries of origin, 2021 to 2024. Modified 9 December 2025. [opendata.cbs.nl](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84729NED/table). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). StatLine table 60032: Migration by country of origin or settlement, 1995 to 2022. [opendata.cbs.nl](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/60032/table). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP). "Gevlucht met weinig bagage." 1 December 2017. [scp.nl](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Ahrens, J., Kelly, M. and van Liempt, I. "Free movement? The onward migration of EU citizens born in Somalia, Iran and Nigeria." Population, Space and Place, 2016. [sro.sussex.ac.uk](https://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/58949/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. European Commission CORDIS. Project 219485, secondary movement of Somali refugees from the Netherlands to the UK. [cordis.europa.eu](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Wikipedia. "Somalis in the Netherlands." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_the_Netherlands). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Norway (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/norway/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 1 January 2026, 44,744 people of Somali background lived in Norway: 27,769 born in Somalia and 16,975 born in Norway to Somali-born parents. Four in ten live in Oslo. In 2023, 54% of Somalia-born adults aged 25 to 39 were in work.

## How many Somalis live in Norway?

Statistics Norway (SSB) counted 44,744 people of Somali background on 1 January 2026 ([SSB, table 05183](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05183/)). Of these, 27,769 were born in Somalia and 16,975 were born in Norway to two Somali-born parents ([SSB, tables 05183 and 05184](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05184/)). Somalis are one of the largest groups with African background in Norway.

Other counts use other methods:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 32,285 Somalia-born migrants in Norway ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2024:** 1,724 refugees and 43 asylum seekers from Somalia still held that status ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). Most others have permanent residence or Norwegian citizenship.

## Where in Norway do Somalis live?

Oslo has 18,009 people of Somali background, about 40% of the whole community ([SSB, table 09817, 2026](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/09817/)). The next largest counties are Akershus (5,304), Østfold (4,198), Vestland (2,699) and Rogaland (2,537) ([SSB, table 09817](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/09817/)).

The largest towns after Oslo are ([SSB, table 09817, 2026](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/09817/)):

- Bergen: 2,063
- Fredrikstad: 1,820
- Stavanger: 1,499
- Drammen: 1,315
- Bærum: 1,001
- Trondheim: 962
- Moss: 865
- Skien: 863
- Kristiansand: 827

SSB has noted that most Somalis in Norway live in Oslo, with smaller groups spread across many towns ([SSB](https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/artikler-og-publikasjoner/de-fleste-somaliere-bor-i-oslo)).

## How did Somalis come to Norway?

Very few Somalis lived in Norway before the war. SSB counted 1,391 people of Somali background in 1990 ([SSB, table 05183](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05183/)). The first Somalis reached the Nordic countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and more came as the war deepened ([Euronews, 20 June 2022](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)).

The community then grew quickly ([SSB, table 05183](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05183/)):

- 1990: 1,391
- 2000: 8,386
- 2010: 25,496
- 2020: 43,273
- 2026: 44,744

Most adults came as refugees or to join family. The number born in Somalia has stayed near 28,000 since 2020, while the Norway-born generation keeps growing ([SSB, tables 05183 and 05184](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05184/)). For the journeys, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Do Somalis in Norway have work?

More do than a decade ago, but the gap is still wide. In late 2023, 54% of Somalia-born immigrants aged 25 to 39 were in work, against 65% of all immigrants that age ([SSB, 16 September 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)). In 2016, only about 32.4% of Somalia-born people aged 15 to 74 were employed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway)).

SSB found that 16.6% of Somalia-born workers aged 25 to 39 had higher education, and over 60% had only primary school ([SSB, 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)). Just under 40% worked in health and social services, and 21% in transport and storage ([SSB, 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)).

Norway-born young adults with Somali parents had an employment rate of 65% in the same SSB article, the lowest of the groups it compared ([SSB, 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)). The Norway-born average was 79%, and 39% of Norway-born workers with Somali parents worked in sales and service jobs ([SSB, 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)).

## How do Somalis in Norway live?

Homes are crowded. In 2018, 38% of Somali-background households were crowded, the highest of any group, against 20% of all immigrants and 5% of everyone else ([SSB, 2018](https://www.ssb.no/bygg-bolig-og-eiendom/artikler-og-publikasjoner/innvandrere-fra-somalia-bor-trangest)).

## How do Somalis in Norway send money home?

Most money goes through licensed payment firms and hawala networks. Norway's Country of Origin Information Centre (Landinfo) reported in 2021 that [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) Norway requires the receiver in Somalia to show ID to collect money ([Landinfo, Respons Somalia: hawala, 7 July 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2056248/Respons-Somalia-Hawala-og-pengeoverforinger-07072021.pdf)). The receiver gets an SMS, and the sender gets an SMS once the money is paid out ([Landinfo, 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2056248/Respons-Somalia-Hawala-og-pengeoverforinger-07072021.pdf)).

Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority reviewed the payment firms that send money abroad. They sent about NOK 1 billion abroad in 2019 and NOK 800 million in 2020, to all countries together ([Finanstilsynet, thematic review](https://www.finanstilsynet.no/contentassets/35833c2b748547d7864626d043334f6c/tematilsyn---revisjon-av-betalingsforetak-som-yter-pengeoverforingstjenester-til-utlandet.pdf)). One estimate puts Somali transfers from Norway at about US$177 million in the first half of 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway)).

Across the world, individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Norway?

Marian Hussein of the Socialist Left Party was elected to the Storting for Oslo in 2021 ([CS Monitor, 6 October 2021](https://csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2021/1006/Once-sidelined-Norway-s-migrant-minorities-earn-a-voice-in-parliament)). She was described as the first elected MP with a Somali background and the first person of African descent in the Storting ([Euronews, 2022](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)). She was re-elected in 2025 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-minister-of-family-affairs-and-human-rights-celebrates-re-election-of-mp-maryan-abdi-hussein-to-norwegian-parliament/)).

Public bodies that serve the community are the Storting and government, municipalities led by Oslo, NAV for work and welfare, and UDI for immigration.

## What do Somalis in Norway face now?

- **Crowded homes:** the highest crowding of any group in SSB's 2018 study ([SSB, 2018](https://www.ssb.no/bygg-bolig-og-eiendom/artikler-og-publikasjoner/innvandrere-fra-somalia-bor-trangest)).
- **Work:** a gap of 11 points in employment against all immigrants aged 25 to 39 ([SSB, 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)).
- **Long stays abroad:** a 2014 study looked at children of Somali and Pakistani background who spend long periods abroad. It covered schooling in Kenya, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Institute for Social Research, Transnasjonal oppvekst, 2014](https://samfunnsforskning.brage.unit.no/samfunnsforskning-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2440455/Web_R_2014_5.pdf)).
- **Citizenship checks:** in 2015 and 2016 some people lost Norwegian citizenship after authorities found they were not from Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway)).

## How are Norwegian Somalis tied to home?

Families send money, children spend time with relatives in the Horn of Africa, and leaders on both sides follow each other's politics. Somalia's Minister of Family Affairs publicly welcomed Marian Hussein's 2025 re-election ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-minister-of-family-affairs-and-human-rights-celebrates-re-election-of-mp-maryan-abdi-hussein-to-norwegian-parliament/)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Citizenship revoked:** citing ABC Nyheter (May 2016), Wikipedia says 2015 investigations found some people who had claimed refugee status from Somalia had lived in neighbouring countries, and several of them and their children lost Norwegian citizenship ([Wikipedia: "Somalis in Norway"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway)).
- **DNA tests, 2010:** citing Aftenposten, Wikipedia says that when the immigration directorate began DNA-testing childless Somali couples applying for family reunification in 2010, 40% of pairs were found to be siblings, later falling to 25% ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Denmark (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/denmark/)
- [Finland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/finland/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Norway (SSB). Table 05183: Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by country background, 1970 to 2026. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05183/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Norway (SSB). Table 05184: Immigrants, by country background. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05184/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Norway (SSB). Table 09817: Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by region and country background. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/09817/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Norway (SSB). "De fleste somaliere bor i Oslo." [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/artikler-og-publikasjoner/de-fleste-somaliere-bor-i-oslo). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistics Norway (SSB). "Nesten 8 av 10 av norskfødte med innvandrerforeldre er sysselsatt." 16 September 2024. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Statistics Norway (SSB). "Innvandrere fra Somalia bor trangest." 2018. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/bygg-bolig-og-eiendom/artikler-og-publikasjoner/innvandrere-fra-somalia-bor-trangest). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Landinfo. "Respons Somalia: Hawala og pengeoverføringer fra diasporaen til Somalia." 7 July 2021. Via ecoi.net. [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2056248/Respons-Somalia-Hawala-og-pengeoverforinger-07072021.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Finanstilsynet. "Tematilsyn: revisjon av betalingsforetak som yter pengeoverføringstjenester til utlandet." [finanstilsynet.no](https://www.finanstilsynet.no/contentassets/35833c2b748547d7864626d043334f6c/tematilsyn---revisjon-av-betalingsforetak-som-yter-pengeoverforingstjenester-til-utlandet.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Christian Science Monitor. "Once sidelined, Norway's migrant minorities earn a voice in parliament." 6 October 2021. [csmonitor.com](https://csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2021/1006/Once-sidelined-Norway-s-migrant-minorities-earn-a-voice-in-parliament). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Euronews. "World Refugee Day: meet the Somali politicians breaking through in the Nordics." 20 June 2022. [euronews.com](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Somali National News Agency ([SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/)). Minister welcomes re-election of MP Maryan Abdi Hussein. 2025. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somali-minister-of-family-affairs-and-human-rights-celebrates-re-election-of-mp-maryan-abdi-hussein-to-norwegian-parliament/). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Lidén, H., Bredal, A. and Reisel, L. "Transnasjonal oppvekst." Institute for Social Research, report 2014:5. [samfunnsforskning.brage.unit.no](https://samfunnsforskning.brage.unit.no/samfunnsforskning-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2440455/Web_R_2014_5.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Norway." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Norway". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Norway. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/ottawa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 2021 Census counted 11,070 people of Somali origin in the Ottawa–Gatineau metropolitan area, one of Canada's three largest Somali communities. Most of the first families came as refugees in the 1990s, and a Somali family-services centre has served the city since 1991.

The 2021 Census counted 11,070 people of Somali origin in the Ottawa–Gatineau metropolitan area, one of Canada's three largest Somali communities ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Most of the first families came as refugees in the 1990s, and a Somali family-services centre has served the city since 1991 ([David McKie](https://www.davidmckie.com/somali-centre-moves-to-provide-services-for-syrian-refugees/)).

## How many Somalis live in Ottawa?

Statistics Canada counted 11,070 people of Somali origin in Ottawa–Gatineau in 2021: 10,505 on the Ontario side and 565 on the Quebec side ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Of the 11,070, 9,775 gave Somali as their only origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Only Toronto (24,760) and Edmonton (11,610) have more ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

Ontario as a whole had 41,640 people of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Census origin counts rely on what people write, so community estimates are often higher.

By place of birth, 4,865 people in Ottawa–Gatineau were born in Somalia ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Of these, 3,915 were Canadian citizens and 95 were non-permanent residents ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

## Who are they?

Ottawa's Somali community is young and has more women than men. In 2021, 2,835 were under 15 and 2,525 were aged 15 to 24 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Only 565 were 65 or older ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

There were 6,030 women and 5,045 men of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). The gap is wider among the Somalia-born: 2,895 women and 1,970 men ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

A 1998 city report said the Somali family centre focused on families in south and southeast Ottawa ([Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, 1998](https://app06.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/archives/rmoc/Community_Services/03Sep98/somfamb1.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to Ottawa?

Somalia was Canada's largest source of refugee claimants in 1991 and 1993 ([Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)). In 1989, Canada accepted 95% of Somali refugee claims ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)).

The census shows the main wave. Of Ottawa–Gatineau's Somalia-born immigrants, 255 arrived in 1980 to 1990 and 2,550 in 1991 to 2000 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Another 885 came in 2001 to 2010, and 1,010 in 2011 to 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

A co-founder of the Somali centre recalled that "every given month, we had a few hundred Somalis coming into town" in the early 1990s ([David McKie](https://www.davidmckie.com/somali-centre-moves-to-provide-services-for-syrian-refugees/)). Many waited years for permanent residence because they lacked identity papers Canada would accept ([Canadian Council for Refugees](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue)). From 1997, a special class made recognised refugees from Somalia and Afghanistan wait before they could apply ([Canadian Council for Refugees](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue)).

## Work and money

Families send money home to relatives. Somalis abroad sent US$3,134 million home in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Somali Centre for Family Services was founded in 1991 in response to a "large influx of Somali newcomers" ([David McKie](https://www.davidmckie.com/somali-centre-moves-to-provide-services-for-syrian-refugees/)). It began as the Somali Canadian Cultural Association and changed its name within four years ([David McKie](https://www.davidmckie.com/somali-centre-moves-to-provide-services-for-syrian-refugees/)). In 1998 it offered crisis help and family counselling ([Ottawa-Carleton, 1998](https://app06.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/archives/rmoc/Community_Services/03Sep98/somfamb1.pdf)).

The centre later served newcomers from many countries, including Syrian refugees ([David McKie](https://www.davidmckie.com/somali-centre-moves-to-provide-services-for-syrian-refugees/)). In 2021 its founders said a federal fund for Black Canadian communities had turned them down as "not Black enough" ([CBC News, 2021](https://amp.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/somali-centre-family-services-ottawa-rejection-black-funding-1.5879506)).

The Justice for Abdirahman coalition formed after a death in police custody in 2016 ([CTV News Ottawa](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/hope-was-diminished-after-officer-s-acquittal-in-abdi-death-justice-for-abdirahman-coalition-1.5155263)). Ottawa's public school board marks Ontario's Somali Heritage Week ([Ottawa-Carleton District School Board](https://www.ocdsb.ca/news/somali_heritage_week)). The week runs from 25 June to 1 July under the Somali Heritage Week Act, 2020 ([Ontario, S.O. 2020, c. 22](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/20s22)).

## What does the community face now?

**A court case that marked the city.** Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man, died after his arrest by Ottawa police on 24 July 2016 ([Global News, October 2020](https://globalnews.ca/news/7407392/verdict-ottawa-police-constable-daniel-montsion-trial)). On 20 October 2020, Constable Daniel Montsion was found not guilty of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon ([Global News](https://globalnews.ca/news/7407392/verdict-ottawa-police-constable-daniel-montsion-trial)). Justice Robert Kelly found reasonable doubt on whether the officer's acts caused the death ([Global News](https://globalnews.ca/news/7407392/verdict-ottawa-police-constable-daniel-montsion-trial)).

Hundreds of people marched in Ottawa after the verdict ([CTV News Ottawa](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-gather-in-downtown-ottawa-to-remember-abdi-protest-not-guilty-verdict-1.5159505)). The family's lawyer said the family would continue its civil lawsuit ([Global News](https://globalnews.ca/news/7407392/verdict-ottawa-police-constable-daniel-montsion-trial)).

**Fear after US remarks.** On 6 December 2025, [Somali Canadians](/en/diaspora/canada/) in Ottawa spoke of fear after the US president's remarks about Somali immigrants ([CBC Ottawa via Unpublished](https://unpublished.ca/news-feed-item/2025-12-06/%E2%80%98holding-my-breath%E2%80%99-fear-in-ottawa-after-trump-tirade-against-somali)). Residents described "holding my breath" and worry for relatives in the United States ([CBC Ottawa via Unpublished](https://unpublished.ca/news-feed-item/2025-12-06/%E2%80%98holding-my-breath%E2%80%99-fear-in-ottawa-after-trump-tirade-against-somali)).

**Loss of young men.** Since 2000, more than 50 young Somali men have been killed in Ontario and Alberta ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)).

## How is Ottawa tied to home?

Ottawa is Canada's capital, where aid to Somalia is decided. Canada gave Somalia $78 million in international assistance in 2022–23, and began a bilateral programme there in 2018 ([Global Affairs Canada, November 2024](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html)). At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,097 refugees and 460 asylum seekers from Somalia in Canada ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

The Somali Heritage Week dates follow 26 June and 1 July 1960, the two independence days ([Ontario NDP, October 2020](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/historic-ndp-bill-recognizing-somali-heritage-week-ontario-passes)).

## Related pages

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) · [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) · [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Canada. "Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age" (Table 98-10-0356-01), 2021 Census. 26 October 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Canada. "Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth and citizenship" (Table 98-10-0302-01), 2021 Census. 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. David McKie. "Somali Centre moves to provide services for Syrian refugees." [davidmckie.com](https://www.davidmckie.com/somali-centre-moves-to-provide-services-for-syrian-refugees/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, Community Services Committee. Report on the Somali Centre for Family Services. September 1998. [ottawa.ca](https://app06.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/archives/rmoc/Community_Services/03Sep98/somfamb1.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Jan Raska, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. "Un/Wanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees." Updated 19 October 2020. [pier21.ca](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Canadian Council for Refugees. "Refugees in limbo: a human rights issue." [ccrweb.ca](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. CBC News. "Feds deny Ottawa Somali centre funding, claiming it's not Black enough." 2021. [cbc.ca](https://amp.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/somali-centre-family-services-ottawa-rejection-black-funding-1.5879506). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. CTV News Ottawa. "Hope was diminished after officer's acquittal in Abdi death: Justice for Abdirahman coalition." October 2020. [ctvnews.ca](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/hope-was-diminished-after-officer-s-acquittal-in-abdi-death-justice-for-abdirahman-coalition-1.5155263). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. "Somali Heritage Week." [ocdsb.ca](https://www.ocdsb.ca/news/somali_heritage_week). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Government of Ontario. "Somali Heritage Week Act, 2020, S.O. 2020, c. 22." [ontario.ca](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/20s22). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Global News. "Verdict in Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsion trial." 20 October 2020. [globalnews.ca](https://globalnews.ca/news/7407392/verdict-ottawa-police-constable-daniel-montsion-trial). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. CTV News Ottawa. "Hundreds gather in downtown Ottawa to remember Abdi, protest not guilty verdict." October 2020. [ctvnews.ca](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-gather-in-downtown-ottawa-to-remember-abdi-protest-not-guilty-verdict-1.5159505). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. CBC Ottawa via Unpublished. "'Holding my breath': fear in Ottawa after Trump tirade against Somalis." 6 December 2025. [unpublished.ca](https://unpublished.ca/news-feed-item/2025-12-06/%E2%80%98holding-my-breath%E2%80%99-fear-in-ottawa-after-trump-tirade-against-somali). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Shanifa Nasser, CBC News. "Another day, another janazah." 2018. [cbc.ca](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Global Affairs Canada. "Minister Hussen announces more than $35 million for international assistance projects in Africa." November 2024. [canada.ca](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Ontario NDP. "Historic NDP bill recognizing Somali Heritage Week in Ontario passes." 1 October 2020. [ontariondp.ca](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/historic-ndp-bill-recognizing-somali-heritage-week-ontario-passes). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Saudi Arabia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UN DESA estimated 48,099 people born in Somalia living in Saudi Arabia in 2024, though Saudi Arabia publishes no count of Somalis. Somalis have worked there since the 1970s, and from 2013 to 2014 Saudi Arabia deported tens of thousands of Somalis to Mogadishu.

## How many Somalis live in Saudi Arabia?

UN DESA estimated that 48,099 people born in Somalia lived in Saudi Arabia in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

Saudi Arabia publishes no count of Somalis, and Gulf host states rarely count Somalis as a separate group ([Clingendael, 2019](https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/)). DESA counts people by country of birth, so children born in Saudi Arabia to Somali parents are not included.

UNHCR recorded only 16 refugees and 9 asylum seekers from Somalia in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR population API, Somalia to Saudi Arabia](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). The number is small because Saudi Arabia has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no asylum system ([Human Rights Watch, 18 Feb 2014](https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled)).

## How did they get there?

The first large wave came as workers in the oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s ([Clingendael, 2019](https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/)).

Many now arrive without papers along the Eastern Route through Yemen ([ADHRB, Jan 2025](https://www.adhrb.org/2025/01/the-systematic-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-saudi-arabia-the-plight-of-east-african-migrants-in-saudi-arabia/)). The route is on [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/).

The Saudi–Yemeni border is dangerous. Human Rights Watch reported that Saudi border guards killed at least hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers between March 2022 and June 2023 ([HRW, 21 Aug 2023](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/21/saudi-arabia-mass-killings-migrants-yemen-border)). The victims HRW documented were mostly Ethiopian (same source).

## What are the labour rules?

Most foreign workers live under the kafala, or sponsorship, system, where the employer controls legal status, job changes and travel ([ADHRB, Jan 2025](https://www.adhrb.org/2025/01/the-systematic-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-saudi-arabia-the-plight-of-east-african-migrants-in-saudi-arabia/)). East African migrants work mostly in construction, hospitality and domestic work (same source).

On 4 November 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources announced a Labor Reform Initiative that took effect on 14 March 2021 ([HRSD](https://www.hrsd.gov.sa/en/news/ministry-human-resources-and-social-development-launches-labor-reforms-private-sector-workers)). It covers private-sector workers and has three parts (same source):
- **Job mobility:** a worker may move to a new employer when the contract ends, without the old employer's consent.
- **Exit and re-entry:** a worker may travel abroad without employer approval; the employer is told electronically.
- **Final exit:** a worker may leave the country at the end of the contract without employer approval.

Rights groups say the reforms left out domestic workers, drivers, farm workers, guards and shepherds ([ADHRB](https://www.adhrb.org/2025/01/the-systematic-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-saudi-arabia-the-plight-of-east-african-migrants-in-saudi-arabia/)). There is no minimum wage for domestic workers (same source).

## What happened in the 2013–2014 deportations?

In April 2013, Saudi Arabia began a campaign against undocumented foreign workers, paused it, then resumed it in November 2013 ([HRW, 18 Feb 2014](https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled)). By 21 January 2014, the Interior Ministry said more than 250,000 people of all nationalities had been deported since November (same source).

Counts for Somalis differ by source and period:
- **UNHCR:** at least 12,000 Somalis deported in 2013, and thousands in 2012 ([HRW, 2014](https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled)).
- **Somalia's immigration department:** 12,332 Somalis deported to Mogadishu from 1 January to 3 February 2014 (same source).
- **IOM:** 23,692 returnees from Saudi Arabia reached Mogadishu between December 2013 and 13 February 2014 ([IOM Somalia, situation report 3, 24 Feb 2014](https://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/Country/docs/20140224-IOM-Somalia-KSA-Returns-Situation-Report-3-final.pdf)).
- **IOM, cited by Norway's Landinfo:** 40,779 people deported by plane from Saudi Arabia to Mogadishu from December 2013 to 17 August 2014 ([Landinfo, 2015](https://landinfo.no/asset/3521/1/3521_1.pdf)).

Deportees described overcrowded detention, heat and little medical care, and some children were held with unrelated adults ([HRW, 2014](https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled)). No refugee claims were heard before people were returned (same source).

## Are Somalis still being returned?

Yes. Somalia's National Bureau of Statistics counted 3,945 migrant returnees from Saudi Arabia in 2020 to 2023, more than from any other country ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). The figures come from the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Migration, Returns and Children's Rights (same source).

Detention sites such as Al-Shumaisi have held women and children awaiting removal ([ADHRB, Jan 2025](https://www.adhrb.org/2025/01/the-systematic-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-saudi-arabia-the-plight-of-east-african-migrants-in-saudi-arabia/)).

## What about children and schools?

In August 2022, Saudi Arabia allowed children of residents whose papers had lapsed to enrol in state schools ([The National, 24 Aug 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/saudi-arabia/2022/08/24/saudi-arabia-to-allow-children-of-visa-overstayers-to-enrol-in-schools)). This matters for Somali families whose residency, or iqama, has expired. Papers from home are covered on [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What is the law on collecting money?

Collecting donations without a licence is a crime. The penalty is a fine of up to SAR 500,000 and up to two years in prison ([Gulf News, Aug 2024](https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/unauthorised-fundraisers-will-be-jailed-and-deported-in-saudi-arabia-1.1723541995531)). Foreigners are deported afterwards and barred from returning, except for Hajj and Umrah (same source).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Government of Saudi Arabia:** the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development sets labour rules ([HRSD](https://www.hrsd.gov.sa/en/news/ministry-human-resources-and-social-development-launches-labor-reforms-private-sector-workers)).
- **Government of Somalia:** the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Migration, Returns and Children's Rights records returnees ([NBS, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).
- **[IOM Somalia](/en/institutions/iom-somalia/):** receives returnees at Mogadishu airport ([IOM, 2014](https://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/Country/docs/20140224-IOM-Somalia-KSA-Returns-Situation-Report-3-final.pdf)).
- **Rights groups:** Human Rights Watch and ADHRB document abuses ([HRW, 2023](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/21/saudi-arabia-mass-killings-migrants-yemen-border)).

## How are they tied to home?

Saudi Arabia is one of Somalia's key trading partners. In 2025, the UAE, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and Saudi Arabia were Somalia's principal export destinations ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Livestock, the largest export, peaks with demand for the Hajj and Eid al-Adha; it earned US$922.9 million in 2025 (same source).

In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The bank does not publish a breakdown by sending country.

## What else has been reported?

- **2010 deportations:** Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia deported an estimated 2,000 Somalis to Mogadishu in June and July 2010, citing UNHCR, and at least 150, many of them children, from Jeddah on 17 December 2010, citing press reports ([HRW, 22 December 2010](https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/22/saudi-arabia-stop-deporting-somalis-mogadishu)).

## Related pages

- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [UAE and Dubai](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Kuwait (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/kuwait/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Clingendael. Transnational capital in Somalia: the Somali transnational community, 2019. https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee population statistics API, Somalia to all hosts, 2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia: 12,000 Somalis expelled, 18 Feb 2014. https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. ADHRB. The systematic exploitation of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia: the plight of East African migrants, Jan 2025. https://www.adhrb.org/2025/01/the-systematic-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-in-saudi-arabia-the-plight-of-east-african-migrants-in-saudi-arabia/. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia: Mass killings of migrants at Yemen border, 21 Aug 2023. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/21/saudi-arabia-mass-killings-migrants-yemen-border. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, Saudi Arabia. Labor reform initiative for private sector workers, 4 Nov 2020. https://www.hrsd.gov.sa/en/news/ministry-human-resources-and-social-development-launches-labor-reforms-private-sector-workers. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IOM Somalia. KSA returns situation report 3, 24 Feb 2014. https://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/Country/docs/20140224-IOM-Somalia-KSA-Returns-Situation-Report-3-final.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Landinfo (Norway). Query response on returns from Saudi Arabia to Somalia, 2015. https://landinfo.no/asset/3521/1/3521_1.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. Migration Statistics Report, first edition, 2024. https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. The National. Saudi Arabia to allow children of visa overstayers to enrol in schools, 24 Aug 2022. https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/saudi-arabia/2022/08/24/saudi-arabia-to-allow-children-of-visa-overstayers-to-enrol-in-schools. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Gulf News. Unauthorised fundraisers will be jailed and deported in Saudi Arabia, Aug 2024. https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/unauthorised-fundraisers-will-be-jailed-and-deported-in-saudi-arabia-1.1723541995531. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Human Rights Watch. "Saudi Arabia: Stop Deporting Somalis to Mogadishu". 22 Dec 2010. https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/22/saudi-arabia-stop-deporting-somalis-mogadishu. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Seattle and South King County, Washington, USA

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/seattle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 20,700 people of Somali origin lived in Washington State in 2024, by the Census Bureau's survey, most of them in King County around Seattle, Tukwila, SeaTac and Kent. Refugees began arriving after 1991, and many now work as drivers and child care providers.

The US Census Bureau's survey counted about 20,685 people of Somali origin in Washington State in 2024 ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53)). Most live in King County, where pooled 2020 to 2024 data show 17,099 ([ACS 2020–2024](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/latest?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53,16000US2743000,16000US2758000,16000US5363000,05000US27053,05000US27123,05000US53033,31000US33460,31000US42660)).

## How many Somalis live in the Seattle area?

Census Bureau estimates differ by question, and each has a margin of error. For Washington in 2024 ([ACS 2024 1-year via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53)):

- **Somali by race and origin:** 20,685 (plus or minus 7,365)
- **Somali ancestry:** 15,502 ([ACS, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53))
- **Born in Somalia:** 10,845 ([ACS, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53))

Pooled 2020 to 2024 figures by place ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/latest?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53,16000US2743000,16000US2758000,16000US5363000,05000US27053,05000US27123,05000US53033,31000US33460,31000US42660)):

- **Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metro area:** 17,431
- **King County:** 17,099
- **Seattle city:** 5,391
- **Kent:** 3,515 ([ACS 2020–2024, Kent](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US5335415))
- **Tukwila:** 1,303 ([ACS 2020–2024, Tukwila](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US5372625))
- **SeaTac:** 931 ([ACS 2020–2024, SeaTac](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US5362288))

Local reports speak of "tens of thousands" of Somali immigrants in Washington, one of the largest Somali communities on the West Coast ([KUOW, 30 December 2025](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)). Minnesota's community is about five times larger; see [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## How did Somalis come to Seattle?

Before the early 1990s, most Somalis in the United States came as students and professionals ([South Seattle Emerald, 16 August 2021](https://southseattleemerald.org/feature/2021/08/16/for-27-years-scs-has-been-a-catch-all-for-seattles-somali-community)). The war that began in 1991 sent a new wave of refugees ([South Seattle Emerald](https://southseattleemerald.org/feature/2021/08/16/for-27-years-scs-has-been-a-catch-all-for-seattles-somali-community)). For why and how they left, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

Early families settled in Seattle's Rainier Valley. As housing costs rose after the 1990s tech boom, resettlement agencies began placing refugees in nearby Tukwila ([Bloomberg Businessweek, 2016](https://prod.cm.bloomberg.com/features/2016-america-divided/tukwila-refugees)). Tukwila was more than 80% white in 1990 and about two-thirds minority by 2014 ([Bloomberg Businessweek](https://prod.cm.bloomberg.com/features/2016-america-divided/tukwila-refugees)).

Arrivals continued. Between October 2015 and July 2016, 324 of Washington's 2,944 refugee and special immigrant arrivals came from Somalia ([Washington DSHS, Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance](https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OIRA/RefugeeStats-WA-201606.pdf)). For camps and papers, see [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) and [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What work do Seattle-area Somalis do?

Many Somali men drive for Uber and Lyft, and the Drivers Union, linked to Teamsters Local 117, represents many of them ([KUOW, 2025](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)). Many Somali women run licensed home child care businesses ([KUOW](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)).

Small shops matter too. For about ten years, dozens of small businesses traded in the indoor market at SeaTac Center near the airport, a hub for the Somali community ([Seattle Weekly via The Daily Herald, 14 February 2019](https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/somali-community-faces-seatac-displacement)). SeaTac sold the building in December 2018 for $15.5 million for a housing project, and tenants said they had no relocation help ([The Daily Herald](https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/somali-community-faces-seatac-displacement)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in the Seattle area?

Somali Americans in public office, by role:

- **Tukwila City Council:** Zak Idan, sworn in in January 2018, described as the first Somali refugee elected to office in Washington ([KUOW, 25 January 2018](https://kuow.org/stories/people-feel-you-dont-belong-here-city-council)). His family came to Tukwila in the late 1990s ([KUOW](https://kuow.org/stories/people-feel-you-dont-belong-here-city-council)).
- **Port of Seattle Commission:** Hamdi Mohamed, elected in 2021, the first Black woman on the commission and the first Somali American woman elected in Washington ([The Seattle Medium, 15 December 2021](https://seattlemedium.com/hamdi-mohamed-eager-to-get-to-work-as-first-black-woman-elected-to-the-seattle-port-commission)). She came to the United States as a refugee baby ([The Seattle Medium](https://seattlemedium.com/hamdi-mohamed-eager-to-get-to-work-as-first-black-woman-elected-to-the-seattle-port-commission)).
- **City of Seattle:** in December 2025 she led the city's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs ([KUOW, 2025](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)).

Somali Community Services of Seattle, now in Renton, began as a mutual aid network and was registered in 1995 ([South Seattle Emerald, 2021](https://southseattleemerald.org/feature/2021/08/16/for-27-years-scs-has-been-a-catch-all-for-seattles-somali-community)). It runs an elders' lunch programme started in 2002, youth tutoring, and English and citizenship classes ([South Seattle Emerald](https://southseattleemerald.org/feature/2021/08/16/for-27-years-scs-has-been-a-catch-all-for-seattles-somali-community)). Our Hope in West Seattle also serves immigrants and refugees ([KUOW, 2025](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)).

## What do Seattle-area Somalis face now?

- **December 2025, child care:** Somali providers had their licence details posted online after unverified claims about Minnesota daycares ([KUOW, 30 December 2025](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)). Seattle's immigrant affairs office knew of at least ten cases of strangers at providers' doors in a few days ([KUOW](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)).
- **29 December 2025:** the Governor met community members at Seattle City Hall. They described drivers arrested while waiting at Sea-Tac airport, lost income and too few lawyers ([KUOW](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)).
- **14 August 2026:** Temporary Protected Status for Somalia ended, and TPS work permits stopped being valid ([USCIS notice via AILA](https://assets.aila.org/files/9c1c39d3-2bc4-4608-a9ae-cfeb8be78bc2/26081709.pdf)). DHS had counted 1,082 Somali TPS holders nationwide ([Federal Register, 14 January 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm)).
- **Housing:** rising costs have pushed immigrant and refugee families across South King County out of older homes and markets ([The Daily Herald, 2019](https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/somali-community-faces-seatac-displacement)).

## How are Seattle-area Somalis tied to home?

Families send money home through money transfer firms. Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US federal tax applies to transfers paid in cash or money orders ([RSM, 2025](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances)). In 2025, people abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia in the United States ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## Related pages

- [Minneapolis–St Paul (Twin Cities)](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [United States (other cities)](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2024 1-year, tables B02025, B04006, B05006, via Census Reporter. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B02025, metro, county and city, via Census Reporter. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/latest?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US,04000US27,04000US53,16000US2743000,16000US2758000,16000US5363000,05000US27053,05000US27123,05000US53033,31000US33460,31000US42660). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Census Bureau. ACS 2020–2024 5-year, B02025, Kent, Tukwila and SeaTac, via Census Reporter. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US5372625). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. KUOW. "Seattle-area Somalis seek officials' help with daycare doxxing, immigration crackdown." 30 December 2025. [kuow.org](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. KUOW. "'People feel you don't belong here.' To city council." 25 January 2018. [kuow.org](https://kuow.org/stories/people-feel-you-dont-belong-here-city-council). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. South Seattle Emerald. "For 27 years, SCS has been a catch-all for Seattle's Somali community." 16 August 2021. [southseattleemerald.org](https://southseattleemerald.org/feature/2021/08/16/for-27-years-scs-has-been-a-catch-all-for-seattles-somali-community). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Bloomberg Businessweek. "America Divided: Tukwila refugees." 2016. [bloomberg.com](https://prod.cm.bloomberg.com/features/2016-america-divided/tukwila-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Washington State DSHS, Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance. "Refugee and special immigrant arrivals," FFY 2016, published by Seattle OIRA. [seattle.gov](https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OIRA/RefugeeStats-WA-201606.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Seattle Weekly, via The Daily Herald. "Somali community faces SeaTac displacement." 14 February 2019. [heraldnet.com](https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/somali-community-faces-seatac-displacement). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. The Seattle Medium. "Hamdi Mohamed eager to get to work as first Black woman elected to the Seattle Port Commission." 15 December 2021. [seattlemedium.com](https://seattlemedium.com/hamdi-mohamed-eager-to-get-to-work-as-first-black-woman-elected-to-the-seattle-port-commission). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. USCIS. "Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalia." 14 August 2026, AILA Doc. 26081709. [aila.org](https://assets.aila.org/files/9c1c39d3-2bc4-4608-a9ae-cfeb8be78bc2/26081709.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Department of Homeland Security. "Termination of the Designation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status." 91 FR 1547, 14 January 2026. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. RSM US. "Excise tax on cross-border remittances." 2025. [rsmus.com](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# South Africa (Western Cape and elsewhere)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/south-africa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UNHCR counted 17,931 refugees and 3,905 asylum seekers from Somalia in South Africa at the end of 2025, and the UN estimates 42,516 Somalia-born residents. Many run small township shops, and since 2006 Somali shopkeepers have faced killings, looting, extortion and waves of anti-foreigner violence.

## How many Somalis live in South Africa?

At the end of 2025, UNHCR counted 17,931 refugees and 3,905 asylum seekers from Somalia in South Africa ([UNHCR population API, Somalia to South Africa](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RSA)). UN DESA estimated 42,516 people born in Somalia living there in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

Neither count includes South African-born children, Somalis who have become citizens or people without papers.

The main centres are Bellville in Cape Town and Mayfair in Johannesburg ([GroundUp, Nov 2025](https://groundup.org.za/article/extortion-gangs-terrorise-immigrant-shop-owners/)). Shopkeepers have spread into townships such as Khayelitsha, Philippi and Mfuleni (same source).

## How did they get there?

UNHCR's first count of Somali refugees in South Africa is for 1994, the year apartheid ended. It counted 96 Somali refugees in South Africa in 1994, 4,810 in 2000 and 15,186 in 2010 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RSA)). The routes south are on [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

The count peaked at 41,458 refugees in 2015, then fell to 20,742 in 2023 (same source). Asylum seekers numbered between 2,505 and 5,054 a year from 2015 to 2023 (same source).

## How do Somalis in South Africa earn a living?

Small township grocery shops, called spaza shops, are the heart of the trade. In a 2012 study of Delft South in Cape Town, 80% of the foreign shopkeepers were Somali ([Charman and Piper, *South African Review of Sociology*, 2012](https://core.ac.uk/download/62633424.pdf)). Most local customers preferred their lower prices (same source).

The right to trade was won in court. Police in Limpopo ran Operation Hardstick, closing about 600 businesses run by foreigners ([Herbert Smith Freehills, Nov 2014](https://www.hlc.com/en/publications/refugees-and-spaza-shops)). The Somali Association of South Africa and others challenged it ([SAFLII, [2014] ZASCA 143](https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2014/143.html)).

On 26 September 2014, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that refugees and asylum seekers may be self-employed and trade in the informal sector ([Herbert Smith Freehills](https://www.hlc.com/en/publications/refugees-and-spaza-shops)). Judge Navsa spoke of the "very enlightened rights culture proclaimed by our Constitution" (same source).

Money also goes home. In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What papers do Somalis in South Africa need?

The Refugees Amendment Act of 2017 came into force on 1 January 2020 ([ProBono.Org refugee manual, 2023](https://probono.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRINT-version-ProBono.Org-Refugee-Manual.pdf)). Asylum seekers no longer have an automatic right to work and must apply for a permit endorsed by the Standing Committee (same source).

The amended law treated an asylum claim as abandoned if a visa was not renewed within 30 days of expiry ([ProBono.Org, 2023](https://probono.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRINT-version-ProBono.Org-Refugee-Manual.pdf)). The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town challenged this, and the High Court ruled it invalid on 13 February 2023 (same source).

On 12 December 2023, the Constitutional Court struck those sections down, back to 1 January 2020 ([Constitutional Court, CCT 51/23](https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judgement/543-scalabrini-centre-of-cape-town-v-minister-of-home-affairs-and-others-cct-51-23)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## When were Somalis attacked in South Africa?

Each date below comes from a named source. Where numbers differ, each source's figure is given.

- **August 2006, Western Cape:** a mob looted and destroyed Somali-owned shops in Masiphumelele; only 3 of 27 remained ([Mail & Guardian, 3 Oct 2006](https://mg.co.za/article/2006-10-03-somalis-live-in-fear-south-africa)). Media reports then counted over 30 Somalis killed in South Africa in 2006 (same source).
- **October 2006:** community leaders said more than 40 Somali shopkeepers were killed in the Western Cape in three months. Police said they knew of 20 killings in ten months ([Irish Times, 21 Oct 2006](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/somali-shopkeepers-fearful-after-over-40-murders-in-south-africa-1.1018621)).
- **11 to 26 May 2008, nationwide:** foreign nationals were attacked in at least 135 places; at least 62 people died and over 100,000 were displaced ([Xenowatch, Wits University](https://www.xenowatch.ac.za/?p=3890)).
- **Late August to September 2019:** violence and looting hit Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg; police said at least 12 people were killed ([Human Rights Watch, 13 Sep 2019](https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/13/south-africa-punish-xenophobic-violence)). HRW said those behind earlier waves "have rarely faced any penalties" (same source).
- **November 2024:** after 23 deaths, mostly children, linked to spaza food, President Ramaphosa ordered all spaza shops to re-register within 21 working days ([Daily Maverick, 18 Dec 2024](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-12-18-spaza-shop-registration-extended-but-owners-still-worried-about-february-deadline/)). The group Operation Dudula turned foreign owners away from registration points in Soweto (same source).
- **November 2025, Cape Town:** a Somali shopkeeper was killed in Endlovini, Khayelitsha, and two were shot in Harare ([GroundUp, Nov 2025](https://groundup.org.za/article/extortion-gangs-terrorise-immigrant-shop-owners/)).

Researchers disagree on causes. A 2012 study found violent crime against foreign shopkeepers in Delft was not much higher than against South African ones. It called much of the violence "violent entrepreneurship" ([Charman and Piper, 2012](https://core.ac.uk/download/62633424.pdf)).

## What do they face now?

- **Extortion:** gangs charge each shop R1,500 to R3,500 a month, with up to four gangs in one area ([GroundUp, Nov 2025](https://groundup.org.za/article/extortion-gangs-terrorise-immigrant-shop-owners/)). Newer groups demand R4,500 to R5,000 (same source).
- **Policing:** the Harare Community Policing Forum says immigrant shops outnumber local police officers (same source).
- **2026 threats:** the activist group March and March set a 30 June "deadline" for undocumented foreigners to leave ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 13 Jul 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607130506.html)). Door-to-door intimidation followed, and some countries evacuated their citizens by bus and plane (same source).
- **Spaza registration:** by 17 December 2024, officials had approved 19,386 of 42,915 applications and closed 1,041 shops ([Daily Maverick](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-12-18-spaza-shop-registration-extended-but-owners-still-worried-about-february-deadline/)). The deadline was extended to 28 February 2025 (same source).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Somali Association of South Africa:** lead applicant in the 2014 trading rights case ([SAFLII, [2014] ZASCA 143](https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2014/143.html)).
- **African Diaspora Forum:** a coalition said to represent about 70,000 migrants ([AllAfrica, Jul 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607130506.html)). Its chairperson said in July 2026 that many Somalis would rather stay than return (same source).
- **Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town:** brought the asylum abandonment case ([ProBono.Org, 2023](https://probono.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRINT-version-ProBono.Org-Refugee-Manual.pdf)).
- **The state:** the Department of Home Affairs runs asylum, and the South African Police Service and community policing forums handle safety ([GroundUp](https://groundup.org.za/article/extortion-gangs-terrorise-immigrant-shop-owners/)).

## How are they tied to home?

The ADF chairperson said Somali shop owners close on days when marches pass through areas such as Mayfair ([AllAfrica, Jul 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607130506.html)). Many shopkeepers work to support families in Somalia, and those killed are remembered by their families, who choose whether to share their names.

## Related pages

- [Somali shops in South Africa](/en/economy/somali-shops-in-south-africa/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Refugee population statistics API, Somalia to South Africa, 1990–2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RSA. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. GroundUp. Extortion gangs terrorise immigrant shop owners, Nov 2025. https://groundup.org.za/article/extortion-gangs-terrorise-immigrant-shop-owners/. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Charman, A. and Piper, L. Xenophobia, criminality and violent entrepreneurship: violence against Somali shopkeepers in Delft South, Cape Town. South African Review of Sociology 43(3), 2012. https://core.ac.uk/download/62633424.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Herbert Smith Freehills. Refugees and spaza shops, Nov 2014. https://www.hlc.com/en/publications/refugees-and-spaza-shops. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa. Somali Association of South Africa v Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, [2014] ZASCA 143, 26 Sep 2014. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2014/143.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. ProBono.Org. Refugee manual, Oct 2023. https://probono.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRINT-version-ProBono.Org-Refugee-Manual.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Constitutional Court of South Africa. Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town v Minister of Home Affairs, CCT 51/23, [2023] ZACC 45, 12 Dec 2023. https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judgement/543-scalabrini-centre-of-cape-town-v-minister-of-home-affairs-and-others-cct-51-23. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Mail & Guardian. Somalis live in fear in South Africa, 3 Oct 2006. https://mg.co.za/article/2006-10-03-somalis-live-in-fear-south-africa. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. The Irish Times. Somali shopkeepers fearful after over 40 murders in South Africa, 21 Oct 2006. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/somali-shopkeepers-fearful-after-over-40-murders-in-south-africa-1.1018621. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Xenowatch, University of the Witwatersrand. May 2008 violence against foreign nationals in South Africa. https://www.xenowatch.ac.za/?p=3890. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Human Rights Watch. South Africa: Punish xenophobic violence, 13 Sep 2019. https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/13/south-africa-punish-xenophobic-violence. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Daily Maverick. Spaza shop registration extended but owners still worried about February deadline, 18 Dec 2024. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-12-18-spaza-shop-registration-extended-but-owners-still-worried-about-february-deadline/. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. [Shabelle Media Network](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), via AllAfrica. Somali migrants prefer staying in South Africa amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment, 13 Jul 2026. https://allafrica.com/stories/202607130506.html. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Sweden (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/sweden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2025, 65,960 people born in Somalia lived in Sweden, and 30,849 more were born in Sweden to two Somalia-born parents. Gothenburg and Stockholm have the most. Most are now Swedish citizens: only 13,915 people held Somali citizenship in 2024.

## How many Somalis live in Sweden?

Statistics Sweden (SCB) counted 65,960 people born in Somalia living in Sweden on 31 December 2025 ([SCB Statistical Database, population by country of birth 2025](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/)). Another 30,849 were born in Sweden to two parents born in Somalia ([SCB, foreign-born and children of foreign-born parents, 2025](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101Q/FolkmForUrspCKMv2/)). Together that is about 96,800 people, before counting children with one Somali parent.

SCB also counts Swedish-born children of mixed foreign-born couples. 4,494 have a Somalia-born mother, and 2,963 have a Somalia-born father ([SCB, 2025](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101Q/FolkmForUrspCKMv2/)). A 2021 report by the Global Village foundation, using SCB data, put all Swedish Somalis at about 110,000 ([The Global Village, Svensksomalierna, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)).

Other counts differ by method:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 74,146 Somalia-born migrants in Sweden, the seventh-largest group of Somalia-born people anywhere ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2024:** 7,281 refugees and 172 asylum seekers from Somalia still held that status in Sweden ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). Most others have since become permanent residents or citizens.

## Where in Sweden do Somalis live?

Gothenburg has the most people born in Somalia, 10,212 in 2025, followed by Stockholm with 8,746 ([SCB, 2025](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/)). Then come Malmö (2,507), Linköping (2,342), Örebro (2,210), Västerås (2,040), Borlänge (1,899) and Borås (1,860) ([SCB, 2025](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/)).

By county, Västra Götaland has 16,584 and Stockholm county 13,549 ([SCB, 2025](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/)). In Stockholm, the Rinkeby-Kista district had 2,878 Somalia-born residents in an earlier count ([Somalis in Sweden, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden)). In Gothenburg most live in Biskopsgården, Bergsjön, Angered, Hjällbo and Hammarkullen ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden)).

It is a young community. In the Global Village report, 62% of Swedish Somalis were under 25 and only 12% were 45 or older ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to Sweden?

Somali refugees began arriving in the early 1960s, and arrivals grew in the 1980s ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)). SCB counted only 28 Somali citizens in Sweden in 1973 and 551 in 1989 ([SCB, foreign citizens by citizenship, 1973 to 2024](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101F/UtlmedbR/)).

The war that began in 1991 changed that. Somali citizens in Sweden rose from 1,410 in 1990 to 11,332 in 1995 ([SCB](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101F/UtlmedbR/)). For the routes people took, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

A second, larger wave came from 2007 to 2014. The Somalia-born population grew from 18,342 in 2006 to 57,906 in 2014 ([SCB, population by country of birth 2000 to 2024](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandK/)). It peaked at 70,184 in 2020 and has fallen a little each year since ([SCB](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandK/)).

Many became Swedish citizens. Somali citizens peaked at 47,056 in 2014 and fell to 13,915 in 2024, while the Somalia-born population stayed near 67,000 ([SCB, foreign citizens](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101F/UtlmedbR/)). For refugee papers and status, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

Some Swedish Somalis later moved on, mostly to the United Kingdom. A Stockholm University study found a sharp rise in onward moves from Sweden, especially among Somalis ([Haandrikman and Hassanen, Stockholm University](https://su.figshare.com/articles/preprint/Onward_Migration_of_African_Europeans_Comparing_Attitudes_to_Migration_Motives/14438993/1)).

## Do Somalis in Sweden have work?

Fewer than half of adults did in the late 2010s. The Global Village found 48% of Swedish Somalis aged 20 to 64 in work, against nearly 80% of everyone that age ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)). About 600 Swedish Somalis ran their own firms in the same report ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)).

An older study found that only 21% of Somalia-born residents of Malmö were in work in 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden)). In 2010, 44% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 had little formal schooling ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden)).

Housing is tight. In the Global Village report, 94% of Swedish Somalis rented their home, against 30% of all people in Sweden ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)).

## How do Swedish Somalis send money home?

Many send money through hawala firms such as [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), which move funds through Swedish banks ([Sveriges Radio](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6110939)). After a 2017 anti-money-laundering law, Swedish banks closed a growing number of hawala firms' accounts ([Radio Sweden via Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/closure-of-hawala-accounts-puts-swedish-somali-community-in-a-bind)).

The Somali National Association in Sweden asked the banks to stop, saying three big banks were closing accounts "one after the other" ([Radio Sweden via Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/closure-of-hawala-accounts-puts-swedish-somali-community-in-a-bind)). Worldwide, individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Sweden?

Leila Ali Elmi, of Somali origin, has sat in the Riksdag for the Green Party since 2018, for the City of Gothenburg ([Riksdag, member page](https://www.riksdagen.se/en/members-and-parties/member/leila-ali-elmi_5997ba96-4f01-46f4-8bd8-e1411a9d503b/)). She won her seat in 2018 with 1,467 personal votes ([SVT](https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/leila-ali-elmi-ar-i-riksdagen)). In 2026 she became deputy chair of the Riksdag's Committee on Cultural Affairs ([Riksdag](https://www.riksdagen.se/en/members-and-parties/member/leila-ali-elmi_5997ba96-4f01-46f4-8bd8-e1411a9d503b/)).

The Global Village foundation, founded by a Somalia-born Swede, runs the yearly Järva Week political forum in Stockholm ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)). About 100 Somali associations existed in 2016, including the national federation Somaliska riksförbundet i Sverige ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden)).

Swedish Somalis vote. In the 2018 election, 79% of eligible Swedish Somalis voted, against 87% nationally, and women voted more than men ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)).

## What do Somalis in Sweden face now?

- **Return grant:** since 1 January 2026, refugees who settle abroad for good can get up to SEK 350,000 per adult and SEK 25,000 per child ([Swedish Migration Agency, 19 January 2026](https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/about-the-swedish-migration-agency/the-swedish-migration-agency-answers/2026/2026-01-19-voluntary-repatriation-and-repatriation-grants---what-are-they.html)). Only four people received the old, smaller grant in 2024 ([Swedish Migration Agency](https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/about-the-swedish-migration-agency/the-swedish-migration-agency-answers/2026/2026-01-19-voluntary-repatriation-and-repatriation-grants---what-are-they.html)). Experts warned the grant could push people back to unsafe places such as Somalia ([South China Morning Post, 2024](https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3278317/sweden-pay-immigrants-us34000-go-back-home-country)).
- **Citizenship:** from 6 June 2026, most applicants need eight years in Sweden instead of five, plus an income test ([Swedish Migration Agency](https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/newsarchive/newrulesforswedishcitizenshipfrom6june2026.5.4d7d222919d2a911cf7a6f.html)).
- **Money home:** bank account closures have made legal transfers harder ([Radio Sweden via Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/closure-of-hawala-accounts-puts-swedish-somali-community-in-a-bind)).

## How are Swedish Somalis tied to home?

Families send money home through hawala firms, and the national total from all Somalis abroad is larger than many aid budgets ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Sweden holds one of the largest Somalia-born communities outside Africa and the Middle East ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). For the full picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Associations:** citing Sida, Wikipedia says Sweden had about 100 civil society organisations with Somali ties in 2016, and that the national federation Somaliska riksförbundet i Sverige received Inheritance Fund money in 2015-16 for a project against violent extremism ([Wikipedia: "Somalis in Sweden"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Norway (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [Finland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/finland/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Sweden (SCB). "Population by region, country of birth and sex. Year 2025." Statistical Database, updated 24 February 2026. [statistikdatabasen.scb.se](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Sweden (SCB). "Population by region, country of birth and sex. Year 2000 to 2024." [statistikdatabasen.scb.se](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandK/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Sweden (SCB). "Foreign-born persons and persons with at least one foreign-born parent, 2018 to 2025." [statistikdatabasen.scb.se](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101Q/FolkmForUrspCKMv2/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Sweden (SCB). "Foreign citizens by country of citizenship, 1973 to 2024." [statistikdatabasen.scb.se](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101F/UtlmedbR/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Stiftelsen The Global Village. "Fakta för förändring: Svensksomalierna." 2021, with SCB data. [jarvaveckan.se](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Haandrikman, K. and Hassanen, S. "Onward Migration of African Europeans." Stockholm University preprint. [su.figshare.com](https://su.figshare.com/articles/preprint/Onward_Migration_of_African_Europeans_Comparing_Attitudes_to_Migration_Motives/14438993/1). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Radio Sweden, republished by [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Standard. "Closure of hawala accounts puts Swedish-Somali community in a bind." [somalilandstandard.com](https://somalilandstandard.com/closure-of-hawala-accounts-puts-swedish-somali-community-in-a-bind). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Sveriges Radio. "Bankregler stoppar Örebrobistånd." [sverigesradio.se](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6110939). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Sveriges riksdag. "Leila Ali Elmi (MP)." Member page. [riksdagen.se](https://www.riksdagen.se/en/members-and-parties/member/leila-ali-elmi_5997ba96-4f01-46f4-8bd8-e1411a9d503b/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. SVT. "Leila Ali Elmi är i riksdagen." 2018. [svt.se](https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/leila-ali-elmi-ar-i-riksdagen). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Swedish Migration Agency. "Voluntary repatriation and repatriation grants: what are they?" 19 January 2026. [migrationsverket.se](https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/about-the-swedish-migration-agency/the-swedish-migration-agency-answers/2026/2026-01-19-voluntary-repatriation-and-repatriation-grants---what-are-they.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Swedish Migration Agency. "New rules for Swedish citizenship from 6 June 2026." [migrationsverket.se](https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/newsarchive/newrulesforswedishcitizenshipfrom6june2026.5.4d7d222919d2a911cf7a6f.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. South China Morning Post. "Sweden to pay immigrants US$34,000 to go back to home country." September 2024. [scmp.com](https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3278317/sweden-pay-immigrants-us34000-go-back-home-country). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Sweden." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Wikipedia. "Somalis in Sweden". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Sweden. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Toronto (and the Greater Toronto Area), Ontario, Canada

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/toronto/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 2021 Census counted 24,760 people of Somali origin in the Toronto metropolitan area, the largest Somali community in Canada. Most of the first families arrived as refugees in the 1990s, and in March 2025 Canada committed $20 million to a Somali culture and recreation centre in the city.

The 2021 Census counted 24,760 people of Somali origin in the Toronto metropolitan area, the largest Somali community in Canada ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Most came as refugees in the 1990s, and in 2025 Canada pledged $20 million for a Somali community centre ([Government of Canada, March 2025](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html)).

## How many Somalis live in Toronto?

Statistics Canada counted 24,760 people who gave Somali as an ethnic or cultural origin in the Toronto census metropolitan area in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Of these, 21,930 gave Somali as their only origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). The metro area includes Mississauga, Brampton and other cities around Toronto.

A community site gives 19,810 for the City of Toronto alone, out of 41,640 in Ontario and 65,555 in Canada ([CTSomali](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/)). The Ontario and Canada totals match the official table ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Census counts of origin depend on what people write, so community leaders often give higher figures.

Counted by place of birth, 13,230 people in the Toronto metro area were born in Somalia ([Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). The rest of the community was born in Canada or in other countries.

## Who are they?

It is a young community. In 2021, 5,355 of the Toronto area's Somali-origin people were under 15, and 5,865 were aged 15 to 24 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Only 1,035 were 65 or older ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

Women outnumber men: 13,040 women and 11,720 men gave Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Among the Somalia-born, 10,260 were Canadian citizens and 710 were non-permanent residents, such as refugee claimants ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

About half of Toronto's Somalis live in Etobicoke, notably in the Dixon Road towers ([CTSomali](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/)). Others live in North York, York, Scarborough and Malton in Mississauga ([CTSomali](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/)).

## How did Somalis come to Toronto?

Somalia was the largest source of refugee claimants in Canada in 1991 and 1993, and the third largest in 1992 ([Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)). In 1989, Canada accepted 95% of Somali refugee claims ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)). Most came on their own and claimed asylum, not through a government resettlement programme ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)).

The census shows these waves in the Toronto area. Of the Somalia-born immigrants there in 2021, 635 arrived between 1980 and 1990 and 6,550 between 1991 and 2000 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Another 2,275 came in 2001 to 2010, and 2,905 in 2011 to 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

Papers were a long struggle. Many Somali refugees had no identity documents Canada would accept, so they could not become permanent residents ([Canadian Council for Refugees](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue)). From 1997, a special class let recognised refugees from Somalia and Afghanistan apply only after a waiting period ([Canadian Council for Refugees](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue)). By the mid-1990s, Somali migration to Canada had reached the family reunification stage ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)).

## Work, school and money

A federal minister called the community "young and dynamic" when the centre was announced ([Government of Canada, March 2025](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html)).

Schools have tracked results for Somali-speaking students. A Toronto District School Board task force on the success of students of Somali descent reported in 2013 and called for more student support ([Hiiraan Online, 2013](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Sept/40986/toronto_tdsb_s_somali_task_force_recommends_better_student_support.aspx)). Some parents said in 2014 that a board action plan could stigmatise their children ([Global News, 2014](https://globalnews.ca/news/1289062/somali-community-fear-stigtimization-with-new-tdsb-action-plan/)). The board marks October as Somali Heritage Month ([Toronto District School Board](https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Media/News/ArtMID/2750/ArticleID/1358/October-is-Somali-Heritage-Month)).

Money sent home matters to families in Somalia. Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Ahmed Hussen won York South–Weston in 2015, becoming the first Somali-Canadian in the House of Commons ([Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). He became Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in January 2017, the first cabinet minister born in Somalia ([Yahoo News Canada](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/with-cabinet-shuffle-ahmed-hussen-becomes-first-somali-canadian-minister-193528601.html)). He was Minister of International Development in March 2025 ([Government of Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html)).

At Queen's Park, Faisal Hassan, then MPP for York South–Weston, brought a bill to recognise Somali Heritage Week ([Ontario NDP, March 2020](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/ndp-mpp-announces-bill-recognize-somali-heritage-week-ontario)). The Somali Heritage Week Act, 2020 marks 25 June to 1 July each year ([Ontario, S.O. 2020, c. 22](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/20s22)).

Community groups include the Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation, which is building Wadnaha Dhexe, and the Somali-Canadian Association of Etobicoke ([CTSomali](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/)). Youth Leaps, a Toronto non-profit, built a database of Somali homicide victims in the city ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)).

## What does the community face now?

**A centre of its own.** On 1 March 2025 Canada committed $20 million to Wadnaha Dhexe ("the heart in the middle"), a centre over 100,000 square feet ([Government of Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html)). The release said the community had worked towards it for about 40 years ([Government of Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html)).

**Long-running grief.** Since 2000, more than 50 young Somali men have been killed in Ontario and Alberta ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)). In Toronto, 45% of these cases from 2004 to 2014 were unsolved, against about 30% for all homicides ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)). Families and researchers asked for answers, and community groups worked with police and mosques ([CBC News](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/)).

**New arrivals.** The census counted 1,775 Somalia-born people in the Toronto area who came between 2016 and 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Across Canada, UNHCR counted 2,097 refugees and 460 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## How is Toronto tied to home?

Canada's international assistance to Somalia was $78 million in 2022–23, and its bilateral programme for Somalia began in 2018 ([Global Affairs Canada, November 2024](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html)). Ontario's Somali Heritage Week is timed to 26 June and 1 July 1960, the two independence days ([Ontario NDP, October 2020](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/historic-ndp-bill-recognizing-somali-heritage-week-ontario-passes)).

Toronto families also carry losses at home. [Hodan Nalayeh](/en/people/hodan-nalayeh/), a Somali-Canadian journalist who founded Integration TV, was killed in the July 2019 attack on the Asasey hotel in Kismaayo ([AllAfrica, July 2019](https://allafrica.com/stories/201907130073.html)). Friends and community members later gathered to celebrate her work ([CBC News, 2019](https://amp.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.5219072)).

## Related pages

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) · [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) · [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/) · [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Canada. "Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age: Canada, provinces and territories, CMAs and CAs" (Table 98-10-0356-01), 2021 Census. 26 October 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Canada. "Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth and citizenship" (Table 98-10-0302-01), 2021 Census. 2022. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Government of Canada (Housing, Infrastructure and Communities). "Wadnaha Dhexe: Government of Canada commits to new culture and recreation centre for the Somali community in Toronto." March 2025. [canada.ca](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. CTSomali. "Somali population in Canada." [ctsomali.ca](https://ctsomali.ca/somali-population-in-canada/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Jan Raska, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. "Un/Wanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees." Updated 19 October 2020. [pier21.ca](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Canadian Council for Refugees. "Refugees in limbo: a human rights issue." [ccrweb.ca](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Toronto: TDSB's Somali task force recommends better student support." September 2013. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Sept/40986/toronto_tdsb_s_somali_task_force_recommends_better_student_support.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Global News. "Somali community fear stigmatization with new TDSB action plan." 2014. [globalnews.ca](https://globalnews.ca/news/1289062/somali-community-fear-stigtimization-with-new-tdsb-action-plan/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Toronto District School Board. "October is Somali Heritage Month." [tdsb.on.ca](https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Media/News/ArtMID/2750/ArticleID/1358/October-is-Somali-Heritage-Month). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Office of Ahmed Hussen, MP. "About." [ahmedhussen.libparl.ca](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Yahoo News Canada. "With cabinet shuffle, Ahmed Hussen becomes first Somali-Canadian minister." January 2017. [yahoo.com](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/with-cabinet-shuffle-ahmed-hussen-becomes-first-somali-canadian-minister-193528601.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Ontario NDP. "NDP MPP announces bill to recognize Somali Heritage Week in Ontario" (10 March 2020) and "Historic NDP bill recognizing Somali Heritage Week in Ontario passes" (1 October 2020). [ontariondp.ca](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/ndp-mpp-announces-bill-recognize-somali-heritage-week-ontario) · [ontariondp.ca](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/historic-ndp-bill-recognizing-somali-heritage-week-ontario-passes). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Government of Ontario. "Somali Heritage Week Act, 2020, S.O. 2020, c. 22." [ontario.ca](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/20s22). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Shanifa Nasser, CBC News. "Another day, another janazah." 2018. [cbc.ca](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/another-day-another-janazah/). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Global Affairs Canada. "Minister Hussen announces more than $35 million for international assistance projects in Africa." November 2024. [canada.ca](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. AllAfrica. "Somalia: Journalist Hodan Nalayeh Among Those Killed in Kismayo Hotel Blast." 13 July 2019. [allafrica.com](https://allafrica.com/stories/201907130073.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. CBC News. "Friends, community gather to celebrate legacy of Hodan Nalayeh." 2019. [cbc.ca](https://amp.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.5219072). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Türkiye

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/turkiye/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN counted 27,594 people born in Somalia living in Türkiye in 2024, up from 3,382 in 2015, the fastest growth of any large host country. Students lead the community: 2,126 Somalis graduated from Turkish universities from 2013 to 2023.

## How many Somalis live in Türkiye?

UN DESA counted 27,594 people born in Somalia living in [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). That was up from 3,382 in 2015, the fastest growth among the large host countries in the UN table ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

UNHCR's 2024 refugee data lists no Somali refugees or asylum seekers in Türkiye ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). Most Somalis in Türkiye hold student or other residence permits rather than refugee status. Most live in Ankara and Istanbul, where the main universities and the embassy are.

The UN figure counts people born in Somalia, whatever their passport ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

## How many Somali students are in Türkiye?

Students are the heart of the community. In 2022 an alumni leader estimated that about 5,000 Somali students were studying in Türkiye ([Daily Sabah, 11 February 2022](https://dailysabah.com/turkey/education/turkiye-scholarships-see-widespread-popularity-in-somalia)). More than 9,000 Somalis had gone there to study on full scholarships, partial scholarships or their own money ([Daily Sabah, 2022](https://dailysabah.com/turkey/education/turkiye-scholarships-see-widespread-popularity-in-somalia)).

Graduates by the numbers:

- **2013 to 2023:** 2,126 Somali students graduated from Turkish universities, 11.4% of all African graduates ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-300-somali-students-graduate-from-ankara-universities-in-202526)).
- **2025 to 2026:** more than 300 Somali students graduated from universities in Ankara alone ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-300-somali-students-graduate-from-ankara-universities-in-202526)).

Anadolu Agency describes Somalia as one of the top African countries sending students to Türkiye for higher education ([Anadolu Agency, 2022](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/education/somali-graduates-of-turkish-scholarship-program-give-back-to-their-country/2499620)).

## How did Somalis come to Türkiye?

The tie began with the 2011 famine. On 19 August 2011, Türkiye's then prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Mogadishu ([Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). Türkiye opened an embassy in the heart of Mogadishu in November 2011, when most countries ran their Somalia missions from Kenya ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).

Scholarships followed. In 2011 a Turkish official announced that 500 Somali students would study at Turkish universities ([Memurlar.net, 2011](https://www.memurlar.net/haber/204308/500-somali-li-ogrenci-turkiye-deki-universitelerde-okutulacak.html?amp=1)). In October 2012 Türkiye gave scholarships to 300 Somali students: 140 for first degrees, 150 for master's degrees and 10 for doctorates ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-300-somali-students-graduate-from-ankara-universities-in-202526)).

Thousands of Somali teenagers received scholarships in the years after 2011 ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). Direct flights made travel easier. On 5 March 2012 Turkish Airlines became the first international carrier in years to fly direct to Mogadishu ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).

## What work do Somali graduates of Türkiye do?

Many return home to lead. The rector of Somali National University studied engineering at Fırat University from 2012 to 2015 ([Daily Sabah, 18 September 2025](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/alumni-of-turkish-universities-shape-somalias-governance-academia/news)). The rector of [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) earned a doctorate in business administration in Türkiye between 2019 and 2023 ([Daily Sabah, 2025](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/alumni-of-turkish-universities-shape-somalias-governance-academia/news)).

Somalia's defence minister in 2022, [Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/), was a former Turkish scholarship holder ([Daily Sabah, 2022](https://dailysabah.com/turkey/education/turkiye-scholarships-see-widespread-popularity-in-somalia)). Anadolu Agency reports graduates going home to put their training to work for Somalia ([Anadolu Agency, 2022](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/education/somali-graduates-of-turkish-scholarship-program-give-back-to-their-country/2499620)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Türkiye?

Somalia's embassy in Ankara is the main voice. In October 2025 Ambassador Fathudin Ali Mohamed met Türkiye's interior minister about simplifying residence rules for Somalis ([Garowe Online, 25 October 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-moves-to-protect-citizens-in-turkey)). "Our priority is to ensure that Somalis abroad are treated fairly and in accordance with Turkish law," he said ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-moves-to-protect-citizens-in-turkey)).

The Somali Türkiye Graduates Association was founded in 2016 to help returning graduates find jobs ([Daily Sabah, 2025](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/alumni-of-turkish-universities-shape-somalias-governance-academia/news)). On the Turkish side, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) runs the Türkiye Scholarships and works with Somali ministers ([YTB](https://www.ytb.gov.tr/en/news/somalias-minister-of-justice-and-constitutional-affairs-sheikhali-visits-ytb)). Embassy officials and a Somali MP attended the July 2025 graduation in Ankara ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-300-somali-students-graduate-from-ankara-universities-in-202526)).

## What do Somalis in Türkiye face now?

- **Residence permits:** in 2025 there were growing reports of Somali nationals facing deportation or legal uncertainty under tighter residence rules ([Garowe Online, October 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-moves-to-protect-citizens-in-turkey)). The embassy said it was working to resolve these cases ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/top-english-news/295733/somali-ambassad-or-in-ankara-holds-key-talks-with-turk-ish-iinterior-minister-on-residency-issues-affecting-somali-community)).
- **Jobs at home:** hundreds of new graduates each year hold Turkish degrees and look for work in Somalia ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-300-somali-students-graduate-from-ankara-universities-in-202526)).

## How are Somalis in Türkiye tied to home?

Türkiye is now one of Somalia's closest partners. By 2015 it ran three hospitals and ten schools in Somalia, including two schools in Hargeisa and one in [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). In September 2017 it opened its largest overseas military base in Mogadishu, reported to cost US$50 million and to train 10,000 Somali troops ([Al Jazeera, 1 October 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/1/turkey-sets-up-largest-overseas-army-base-in-somalia)).

Türkiye also funded a radio station and engineering labs at Mogadishu University, and runs a youth hackathon with its embassy ([Daily Sabah, 2025](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/alumni-of-turkish-universities-shape-somalias-governance-academia/news)). It trains Somalia's [Gorgor](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) troops ([Garowe Online, 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-moves-to-protect-citizens-in-turkey)).

Students carry these ties both ways. Many Somali graduates of Turkish universities now teach and lead at Mogadishu University, SIMAD and Somali National University ([Daily Sabah, 2025](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/alumni-of-turkish-universities-shape-somalias-governance-academia/news)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [UAE and Dubai](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)

## Sources

1. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "More than 300 Somali students graduate from Ankara universities in 2025/26." [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/more-than-300-somali-students-graduate-from-ankara-universities-in-202526). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Daily Sabah. "Türkiye scholarships see widespread popularity in Somalia." 11 February 2022. [dailysabah.com](https://dailysabah.com/turkey/education/turkiye-scholarships-see-widespread-popularity-in-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Daily Sabah with Anadolu Agency. "Alumni of Turkish universities shape Somalia's governance, academia." 18 September 2025. [dailysabah.com](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/alumni-of-turkish-universities-shape-somalias-governance-academia/news). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Anadolu Agency. "Somali graduates of Turkish scholarship program give back to their country." 2022. [aa.com.tr](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/education/somali-graduates-of-turkish-scholarship-program-give-back-to-their-country/2499620). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Wasuge, M. "Turkey's Assistance Model in Somalia: Achieving Much With Little." Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, 2016. [heritageinstitute.org](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Memurlar.net. "500 Somalili öğrenci Türkiye'deki üniversitelerde okutulacak." 2011. [memurlar.net](https://www.memurlar.net/haber/204308/500-somali-li-ogrenci-turkiye-deki-universitelerde-okutulacak.html?amp=1). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Somalia moves to protect citizens in Turkey." 25 October 2025. [garoweonline.com](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-moves-to-protect-citizens-in-turkey). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Radio Dalsan. "Somali ambassador in Ankara holds key talks with Turkish interior minister on residency issues affecting Somali community." October 2025. [radiodalsan.com](https://radiodalsan.com/top-english-news/295733/somali-ambassad-or-in-ankara-holds-key-talks-with-turk-ish-iinterior-minister-on-residency-issues-affecting-somali-community). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. YTB (Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities). "Somalia's Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Sheikhali visits YTB." [ytb.gov.tr](https://www.ytb.gov.tr/en/news/somalias-minister-of-justice-and-constitutional-affairs-sheikhali-visits-ytb). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Al Jazeera. "Turkey sets up largest overseas army base in Somalia." 1 October 2017. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/1/turkey-sets-up-largest-overseas-army-base-in-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# UAE (Dubai)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Estimates of Somalis in the UAE range from 9,109 Somalia-born residents (UN DESA, 2024) to more than 50,000 Somalis (The National, 2022), clustered in Dubai's Deira and Abu Dhabi's Musaffah. Dubai has been the main trade and finance hub for Somali business since the 1990s.

## How many Somalis live in the UAE?

Counts differ widely:
- **UN DESA, 2024:** 9,109 people born in Somalia living in the UAE ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **The National, 2022:** "more than 50,000 Somalis call the UAE home", some since before the federation formed in 1972 ([The National, 1 Jul 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)).
- **Somalia's consul-general, 2003:** 20,000 to 25,000 ([Khaleej Times, 2 Aug 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)).

DESA counts only people born in Somalia, so UAE-born children of Somali parents are not in its figure. Gulf states rarely count Somalis as a separate group ([Clingendael, 2019](https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/)).

## Where do they live?

Many live near each other around Dubai's Gold Souq in Deira and in Abu Dhabi's Musaffah ([The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)). In 2003, community leaders said most lived in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)).

Many Somalis born in the UAE speak Gulf Arabic, learned at school and from friends ([The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)). Children attend Quran classes at community mosques, and 1 July is marked with parties and traditional dances (same source).

## How did they get there?

Somali traders and workers reached the [Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) before 1972 ([The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)). Before the oil boom, livestock and leather were imported from Mogadishu ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)).

After the civil war began in 1991, Dubai became "Somalia's lifeline" for goods and money ([Clingendael, 2019](https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/)). Many women who opened shops in Dubai had been affected by the war ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)). The wider story is on [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## How do Somalis in the UAE earn a living?

- **Trade:** in 2003, Somali businessmen used the UAE as their main base for exports to Somalia, from rice and sugar to building materials and electronics ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)). Six Somali cargo aircraft then flew between Dubai and Mogadishu 12 to 14 times a week (same source).
- **Shops:** in 2003, most gold, textile and cloth shops in the Somali souq at Murshed Bazaar were run by women ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)). By 2022, Dubai had more than 100 Somali businesses in gold, textiles, hotels, money exchange and cargo ([The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)).
- **Finance:** the money-transfer firm [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) has its headquarters in Dubai, and many younger Somalis work in health, retail and media ([Clingendael, 2019](https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/)).

## How big is UAE trade with Somalia?

In 2025, the UAE was among Somalia's key trading partners ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia were Somalia's main export markets, and China, India and the UAE its largest sources of imports (same source).

In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The bank does not publish how much came from the UAE.

## What are the residency and labour rules?

Residency permits must be renewed, and protection is weak even for people who have lived there for decades ([Clingendael, 2019](https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/)).

From 1 September to 31 December 2024, the UAE ran an amnesty for people who had overstayed ([The National, 1 Nov 2024](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/11/01/uae-visa-amnesty-extension/)). Overstayers who left had fees waived, and those who found work could change status and stay (same source). Fines were applied automatically from 1 January 2025 (same source).

In September 2025, media reported that the UAE had stopped new tourist visas and work permits for citizens of nine countries, including Somalia ([Business Today, 23 Sep 2025](https://www.businesstoday.in/nri/visa/story/uae-suspends-tourist-and-work-visas-for-these-nine-countries-amid-2026-visa-strategy-495247-2025-09-23)). The report said existing visa holders were not affected, and no official UAE statement was cited (same source).

## What is the law on collecting money?

Federal Law No. 3 of 2021 bans individuals from collecting donations, except through approved bodies such as the Emirates Red Crescent ([Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/legal/new-uae-law-on-charity-and-donations-fines-whats-banned-and-whats-allowed)). Online fundraising needs a permit, and fines reach Dh500,000, plus prison (same source).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Somali Business Council (Dubai):** in 2003, its chairman said it gave members market news, supplier contacts and a forum on Somalia ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)).
- **Somalia's consulate:** in 2003, the consul-general called the UAE "a second homeland" for Somalis (same source).
- **UAE authorities:** the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security runs residency and the 2024 amnesty ([The National, 2024](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/11/01/uae-visa-amnesty-extension/)).

## How have relations between the two governments changed?

- **April 2018:** Somali security forces seized about $9.6 million in cash from a Royal Jet plane from Abu Dhabi at Mogadishu airport ([Al Jazeera, 9 Apr 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-seizes-96m-uae-plane-mogadishu-180409050734664.html)).
- **May 2022:** Somalia returned the money, after Prime Minister [Mohamed Hussein Roble](/en/people/mohamed-hussein-roble/) apologised in April 2022 ([VOA, 19 May 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-releases-nearly-10m-seized-from-uae-plane-four-years-ago/6580817.html)).
- **12 January 2026:** Somalia's Council of Ministers revoked all agreements with the UAE, including deals on the ports of Berbera, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Kismayo ([Africanews, 13 Jan 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/)). The government cited actions undermining "the country's sovereignty and unity" (same source).

## What do they face now?

- **Visas:** reported limits on new UAE visit and work visas for Somali citizens since September 2025 ([Business Today](https://www.businesstoday.in/nri/visa/story/uae-suspends-tourist-and-work-visas-for-these-nine-countries-amid-2026-visa-strategy-495247-2025-09-23)).
- **Government ties:** the January 2026 break in agreements ([Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/)).
- **Residency:** permits must be renewed, with fines for overstaying since January 2025 ([The National, 2024](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/11/01/uae-visa-amnesty-extension/)).

## Related pages

- [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Qatar (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/qatar/)
- [Oman (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/oman/)

## Sources

1. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. The National. Things to know about the Somali community in the UAE, 1 Jul 2022. https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Khaleej Times. Somalis make their mark in the UAE, 2 Aug 2003. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Clingendael. Transnational capital in Somalia: the Somali transnational community, 2019. https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2019/transnational-capital-in-somalia/2-the-somali-transnational-community/. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. The National. UAE visa amnesty extended to December 31, 1 Nov 2024. https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/11/01/uae-visa-amnesty-extension/. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Business Today. UAE suspends tourist and work visas for nine countries, 23 Sep 2025. https://www.businesstoday.in/nri/visa/story/uae-suspends-tourist-and-work-visas-for-these-nine-countries-amid-2026-visa-strategy-495247-2025-09-23. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Khaleej Times. New UAE law on charity and donations. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/legal/new-uae-law-on-charity-and-donations-fines-whats-banned-and-whats-allowed. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Al Jazeera. Somalia seizes $9.6m from UAE plane in Mogadishu, 9 Apr 2018. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-seizes-96m-uae-plane-mogadishu-180409050734664.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. VOA. Somalia releases nearly $10M seized from UAE plane four years ago, 19 May 2022. https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-releases-nearly-10m-seized-from-uae-plane-four-years-ago/6580817.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Africanews. Somalia cancels all agreements with United Arab Emirates, 13 Jan 2026. https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Other UK cities: Cardiff, Manchester, Leicester, Sheffield and Liverpool (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Outside London and Birmingham, the largest Somali communities in Census 2021 were in Bristol, Manchester (7,653), Leicester (6,849), Sheffield (4,696), Cardiff (2,847) and Liverpool (1,877). Cardiff's community, like London's, was founded by seamen from the 1890s.

Census 2021 counted 7,653 people who wrote "Somali" or "Somalilander" in Manchester, 6,849 in Leicester, 4,696 in Sheffield, 2,847 in Cardiff and 1,877 in Liverpool ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Cardiff's community began with seamen in the 1890s, and most others grew from refugees after 1988 ([Hyphen, 30 October 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).

Five of these cities now have their own pages: [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/), [Manchester](/en/diaspora/manchester/), [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/), [Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/) and [Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/). London, Birmingham and Bristol (9,167) do too: [London](/en/diaspora/london/), [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/), [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/). This page compares them and covers smaller towns such as Newport, Bolton and Slough.

## How many Somalis live in each city?

The Office for National Statistics gives each city's share of the 176,645 Somalis in England and Wales: Manchester 4.0%, Leicester 3.8% and Cardiff 1.0% ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). The detailed census tables give these counts ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100); [Nomis, TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)):

- **[Manchester](/en/diaspora/manchester/):** 7,653 Somali or Somalilander; 4,272 born in Somalia
- **[Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/):** 6,849; 3,394 born in Somalia
- **[Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/):** 4,696, of whom 1,800 wrote "Somalilander"; 2,575 born in Somalia
- **[Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/):** 2,847, of whom 1,475 wrote "Somalilander"; 1,624 born in Somalia
- **[Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/):** 1,877, of whom 690 wrote "Somalilander"; 1,072 born in Somalia
- **Slough:** 2,385; **Bolton:** 2,077; **Milton Keynes:** 1,675; **Coventry:** 1,638
- **Newport:** 408; 300 born in Somalia

Local estimates are often higher. A 2024 Cardiff report put the number identifying as Somali at about 10,000 ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). Leicester's community was estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 in 2014 ([Open Society Foundations, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).

## Which neighbourhoods are they in?

Moss Side in Manchester has 2,797 Somali residents, the most of any ward in England and Wales ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Other large wards are Wycliffe in Leicester (1,540), Burngreave in Sheffield (1,520) and Princes Park in Liverpool (1,169) ([Nomis](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Rumworth in Bolton has 921 ([Nomis](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

In Cardiff, the community centres on Butetown, the old docks district once called Tiger Bay ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).

## How did Somalis come to these cities?

**Seamen, from the 1890s.** Somali men worked as stokers and firemen on British tramp steamers from the 1880s ([Krozewski, International Journal of African Historical Studies](https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757)). By the end of the century there were small Somali communities in Cardiff and London ([Our Migration Story](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail)). Butetown's boarding houses, the 1919 attacks and the 1947 mosque are on the [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) and [seamen](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/) pages.

**Steel and industry, 1940s to 1960s.** From the 1940s, steel jobs drew Somalis to Sheffield and South Yorkshire ([Birmingham City Council, Somali Community Health Profile 2022](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf)). See [Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/). A Newport councillor recalls that his father came from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) to the Pill docks in 1961 ([WardheerNews, November 2013](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067)). He said Newport's Somali community was larger than Cardiff's in the 1950s and 1960s ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067)).

**Refugees, from 1988.** War in Somalia brought families, many of them women and children, in the late 1980s and 1990s ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). Somali nationals made 6,195 UK asylum claims from January 1989 to April 1992 ([Hansard, 22 May 1992](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers)). See [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/) and [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

**Onward moves from Europe, 2000s.** In a Leicester study sample, nearly half had come from the Netherlands, mostly arriving in 2000 to 2005 ([Open Society Foundations, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)). The full story, including moves from Denmark and Sweden, is on the [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/) page.

## Do they have work?

Across England and Wales in 2021, 34.1% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 were employees and 8.5% self-employed ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Unemployment was 10.3%, against 4.4% overall ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). 72.0% rented social housing ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Leicester schools show progress: Somali pupils getting five good GCSEs rose from 26.6% in 2008 to 45.3% in 2012 ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)). Work, business and school details for each city are on the city pages linked above.

## Who speaks for these communities?

Somali-heritage people hold or have held public office:

- **Sheffield:** [Magid Magid](/en/people/magid-magid/), who came to Sheffield as a refugee aged five, was Lord Mayor in 2018 to 2019, the city's first Somali-born mayor ([The New Arab, 19 May 2018](https://www.newarab.com/features/meet-sheffields-first-somali-lord-mayor-magid-magid)). He then sat in the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber ([New Statesman, 2019](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2019/05/who-are-future-authors-britain-former-somali-child-refugee-heading-europe)). Councillor Safiya Saeed became Lord Mayor in May 2025 ([Sheffield City Council, 2025](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/welcoming-safiya-saeed-new-right-worshipful-lord-mayor-sheffield)).
- **Manchester:** Councillor Mahadi Hussein Sharif Mahamed has represented Moss Side since 2019 ([Manchester City Council](https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=236)).
- **Liverpool:** Cllr Rahima Farah won Toxteth in May 2023, the first Somali Muslim woman on Liverpool City Council ([About Islam, 2023](https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/meet-first-somali-female-muslim-councilor-elected-in-liverpool/)).
- **Newport:** Cllr Omar Ali won a 2013 by-election in Pill ward, thought to be Wales' first councillor of Somali background ([WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067)).
- **Leicester:** in 2014 the city had no Somali councillors, and many eligible Somalis were not registered to vote ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).

Named organisations include:

- **Greater Manchester Somali Community Association** (charity 1170841), registered in 2016 and based in Moss Side, acts as an umbrella for Somali groups ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1170841)).
- **Cardiff:** the Somaliland Mental Health Support Organisation (founded 2011), Hayaat Women Trust and Cardiff Bay Warriors football club (founded 2005) ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).
- **Leicester:** six Somali mosques were counted in 2014 ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).

## What do they face now?

- **Cardiff, October 2024:** new flats in Butetown are replacing community spaces, and older volunteers lack successors ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).
- **Manchester, 2026:** the umbrella association filed its latest return 48 days late, on 17 June 2026 ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1170841)).
- **Leicester, 2014 (latest found):** housing conditions were the most urgent concern raised ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).
- **Everywhere:** 58.8% of Somali households in England and Wales were overcrowded in 2021 ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## How are they tied to home?

Cardiff Bay Warriors won the Somali Week Cup in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) in August 2024 ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). The Cardiff mental health group first worked in East Africa before it worked locally ([Hyphen](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).

UN DESA counts 119,728 Somalia-born people in the UK in 2024 ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). In 2025, people abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## What about smaller towns?

**Newport.** Census 2021 counted 408 Somali or Somalilander residents in Newport, 300 of them born in Somalia ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). A Newport councillor told WardheerNews his father came from Somaliland to the Pill docks in 1961, and that the town's Somali community was larger than Cardiff's in the 1950s and 1960s ([WardheerNews, November 2013](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067)).

**Bolton.** Bolton had 2,077 Somali or Somalilander residents in 2021, 921 of them in Rumworth ward ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). The Bolton Solidarity Community Association, registered as a charity on 21 January 2004, was formerly called the New Bolton Somali Community Association ([Charity Commission, via OpenCharities, no. 1101649](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1101649)). The Crompton Somali Association works with Somali residents of Crompton and Halliwell wards ([Bolton CVS](https://boltoncvs.org.uk/services/group-details/150540)).

**Slough.** Slough had 2,385 Somali or Somalilander residents in 2021 ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Slough Integration Services, a charity registered in March 2017 as the Somali Sisters Support Group, works there ([OpenCharities, no. 1172271](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1172271)). The Berkshire Somali Community received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £45,400 for a Somali storytelling project in Chalvey ([Heritage Fund](https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/culture-story-telling-somali)).

**Milton Keynes.** Milton Keynes had 1,675 Somali or Somalilander residents in 2021 ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). The Somali Outreach Project, a charity whose objects date from 2014, works to link disadvantaged Somalis in the town with service providers ([OpenCharities, no. 1159399](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1159399)). [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) reported in 2012 that a Milton Keynes Somali Community Association, described as the first of its kind in the town, held its first meeting with the local MP ([Hiiraan, February 2012](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Feb/22785/uk_city_mp_awarded_by_mk_somali_association.aspx)).

**Coventry.** Coventry had 1,638 Somali or Somalilander residents in 2021 ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Registered Somali charities include the Somali Cultural Resource Centre ([Charity Commission, no. 1120160](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4028622)) and the Coventry Somali Muslim Community Trust, registered in 2018, which runs a place of worship ([OpenCharities, no. 1180647](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1180647)). Foleshill Library has run sessions for Somali families ([GOV.UK case study](https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/foleshill-library-serving-a-diverse-community)).

**South Shields and the Tyne.** Somali seamen sailed from the Tyne between the wars. In 1930 an agreement between the Shipping Federation and the National Union of Seamen set new registration rules for "Arab and Somali" seamen, and the riot at Mill Dam in South Shields followed on 2 August 1930 ([Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick](https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/studying/docs/racism/ports)). On 29 April 1930, 13 Somalis brought from South Shields to sign on as firemen in North Shields were attacked by white seamen, according to BBC local history pages ([BBC Tyne, 2003](http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/roots/2003/10/arabontyne.shtml)). The House of Lords debated the employment of "coloured seamen" on 2 June 1930 ([Hansard, HL Deb 2 June 1930](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1930/jun/02/employment-of-coloured-seamen)). Census 2021 counted only one Somali resident in South Tyneside ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). See [Somali seamen and early migrants](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/).

**Glasgow.** The ONS says a UK-wide Somali figure depends on Scotland's data ([ONS, FOI/2022/4706](https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/somaliindividualsinenglandwalesandtheuk)). An ethnography of Somali voices in the city says Somali people have lived continuously in Glasgow since the early 2000s (["Somali voices in Glasgow city", via CORE](https://core.ac.uk/works/8795694)).

## Related pages

- [Cardiff (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/cardiff/)
- [Manchester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/manchester/)
- [Leicester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/leicester/)
- [Sheffield (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sheffield/)
- [Liverpool (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/liverpool/)
- [London (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/london/)
- [Birmingham (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/birmingham/)
- [Bristol (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/bristol/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth (detailed), Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Hyphen. "In focus: the roots of Cardiff's thriving Somali community." 30 October 2024. [hyphenonline.com](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Open Society Foundations. "Somalis in Leicester" (summary). 2014. [opensocietyfoundations.org](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Krozewski, G. "Hidden Seamen from East Africa: Somali Firemen, European Steamers, and Global Labor Markets, 1880s–1930s." International Journal of African Historical Studies. [bu.edu](https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Mohamud, A. and Whitburn, R. "Somali seafarer Ibrahim Ismaa'il: from Cardiff to the Cotswolds." Our Migration Story. [ourmigrationstory.org.uk](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Birmingham City Council. "Somali Community Health Profile 2022." [birmingham.gov.uk](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24053/somali_community_health_profile_report.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. WardheerNews. "Newport elects Wales' first British-Somali councillor." 21 November 2013. [wardheernews.com](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Asylum seekers," HC Deb 22 May 1992 vol 208. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. The New Arab. "'Anything is possible': Meet Sheffield's first [Somali Lord Mayor](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/) Magid Magid." 19 May 2018. [newarab.com](https://www.newarab.com/features/meet-sheffields-first-somali-lord-mayor-magid-magid). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. New Statesman. "Former Somali child refugee heading to Europe." May 2019. [newstatesman.com](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2019/05/who-are-future-authors-britain-former-somali-child-refugee-heading-europe). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. About Islam. "Meet first Somali female Muslim councilor elected in Liverpool." 2023. [aboutislam.net](https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/meet-first-somali-female-muslim-councilor-elected-in-liverpool/). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. OpenCharities. Greater Manchester Somali Community Association, charity 1170841. [opencharities.uk](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1170841). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Sheffield City Council. "Welcoming Safiya Saeed, the new Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Sheffield." 19 May 2025. [sheffield.gov.uk](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/welcoming-safiya-saeed-new-right-worshipful-lord-mayor-sheffield). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Manchester City Council. "Councillor Mahadi Hussein Sharif Mahamed." [democracy.manchester.gov.uk](https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=236). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Charity Commission, via OpenCharities. Bolton Solidarity Community Association (formerly The New Bolton Somali Community Association), no. 1101649. https://opencharities.uk/ew/1101649. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Bolton CVS. Crompton Somali Association. https://boltoncvs.org.uk/services/group-details/150540. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. OpenCharities. Slough Integration Services (formerly Somali Sisters Support Group), no. 1172271. https://opencharities.uk/ew/1172271. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. National Lottery Heritage Fund. "The Culture of Story Telling in Somali". https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/culture-story-telling-somali. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. OpenCharities. Somali Outreach Project, no. 1159399. https://opencharities.uk/ew/1159399. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "UK city MP awarded by MK Somali association". Feb 2012. https://hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Feb/22785/uk_city_mp_awarded_by_mk_somali_association.aspx. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Charity Commission. Somali Cultural Resource Centre, no. 1120160. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4028622. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. OpenCharities. Coventry Somali Muslim Community Trust, no. 1180647. https://opencharities.uk/ew/1180647. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. GOV.UK. "Foleshill library: serving a diverse community". https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/foleshill-library-serving-a-diverse-community. Checked 2026-11-12.
29. Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. "Racism and the ports". https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/studying/docs/racism/ports. Checked 2026-11-12.
30. BBC Tyne. "Arabs on Tyne". 2003. http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/roots/2003/10/arabontyne.shtml. Checked 2026-11-12.
31. Hansard. HL Deb 2 June 1930 vol 77 cc1313-8, "Employment of coloured seamen". https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1930/jun/02/employment-of-coloured-seamen. Checked 2026-11-12.
32. Office for National Statistics. FOI/2022/4706, Somali individuals in England, Wales and the UK. https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/somaliindividualsinenglandwalesandtheuk. Checked 2026-11-12.
33. "Somali voices in Glasgow city: Who speaks? Who listens? An ethnography". Via CORE. https://core.ac.uk/works/8795694. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Other US Somali communities

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/us-other/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau counted 259,694 Somali people in the United States in 2024, including 108,536 in Minnesota. Outside Minnesota and Ohio, the largest communities are around Seattle, Washington DC, Atlanta, San Diego and Lewiston in Maine, and in 2026 they face the end of Temporary Protected Status and a new tax on money sent abroad.

The US Census Bureau counted 259,694 Somali people in the United States in 2024, including 108,536 in Minnesota ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2024, B02025](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B02025)). Beyond Minnesota and Ohio, the largest communities are around Seattle, Washington DC, Atlanta, San Diego and Lewiston, Maine ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)).

## How many Somalis live in the United States?

US figures differ by question. The 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) counted 259,694 people who named Somali as a detailed race group, alone or with another ([US Census Bureau, B02025](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B02025)). The same 2024 survey counted 193,061 who named Somali as an ancestry ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2024, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B04006)). The 2020–2024 five-year survey counted 166,157 by ancestry ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)).

By birth, 93,405 people in the United States were born in Somalia, by the 2020–2024 survey ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B05006)). Most Somali people in America are US citizens ([News From The States](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/most-somali-people-america-and-minnesota-are-citizens)).

Minnesota and Ohio hold the largest communities. [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) has its own page. By ancestry in 2020–2024, the next largest states were ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)):

- Washington: 13,896
- California: 5,022
- Georgia: 4,161
- Virginia: 3,990
- Texas: 3,883
- Wisconsin: 3,429
- Maine: 2,617
- Missouri: 2,505
- Arizona: 2,294
- Tennessee: 2,205

These are survey estimates with margins of error, so small numbers can move a lot from year to year ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)).

## Where are the main communities outside Minnesota and Ohio?

By metro area in 2020–2024, the survey counted 13,639 people of Somali ancestry around Seattle and 4,269 around Washington DC ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)). It counted 3,990 around Atlanta, 3,222 around San Diego and 2,380 around Dallas–Fort Worth ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)). Nashville (1,847), Phoenix (1,808) and Salt Lake City (1,797) followed ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)).

The largest of these communities now have their own pages:

- [Seattle and South King County](/en/diaspora/seattle/)
- [Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/): about 6,100 by race, most in Fairfax County, Virginia, and home to Somalia's embassy
- [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/): about 6,500 by race in the metro area, centred on Clarkston and DeKalb County
- [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/): about 3,300 by race, centred on City Heights; local estimates run to 10,000 or more
- [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/): about 3,750 by race, many of them Somali Bantu families in Tarrant County
- [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/): about 3,050 by race; Arizona has resettled more than 7,000 Somali refugees since 1992
- [Nashville](/en/diaspora/nashville/): about 2,650 by race, with a history of taxi and poultry-plant organising
- [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/): about 3,100 by race statewide, with Maine's first Somali American lawmakers
- [St. Cloud, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/): about 7,700 by race in the city and 9,700 in the metro area; elected its first Somali American state lawmaker in 2026
- [Rochester, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/): 3,945 in the 2020 Census; the city council reaffirmed its support for Somali residents in January 2026
- [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/): about 3,250 by race in the metro area, centred on the Historic Northeast; arrivals since 1992
- [Denver and Colorado](/en/diaspora/denver/): about 3,500 by race statewide, in Aurora, Denver, Greeley and Fort Morgan

Those race counts come from the same 2020–2024 survey, which gives higher numbers than the ancestry question ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=310|01000US)).

**San Diego.** A large wave of Somali refugees reached San Diego in the 1990s, and most settled in City Heights ([KPBS, 2010](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un); [Voice of San Diego, 2013](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/)). The full record is on the [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/) page.

**Lewiston, Maine.** Somali families began settling in Lewiston in 2001, mostly moving from other US cities ([Portland Public Library, Down East](https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/news_downeast/3458)). The survey counts 1,205 people of Somali ancestry in Lewiston, while local reporting gives about 3,000 ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006); [WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)). The full record is on the [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/) page.

**Michigan.** The 2020–2024 survey counted 2,231 people of Somali race in Michigan (margin of error ±718), 1,034 by ancestry and 883 born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US26,31000US29620,31000US19820,31000US24340); [B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=04000US26,31000US29620); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=04000US26,31000US29620)). Lansing–East Lansing is the largest centre, with 910 by race and 592 born in Somalia, against 287 by race around Detroit and 209 around Grand Rapids. The margins of error are wide, so these are rough counts.

In August 2004 the State News profiled a Somali Bantu refugee who had been in Lansing for about three months, resettled through St. Vincent Home's refugee services ([The State News, August 2004](https://statenews.com/article/2004/08/a_moving_experience)). By 2013 the Lansing Somali Bantu Organization ran a stand at the Allen Street Farmers Market during the city's refugee week ([The State News, June 2013](https://statenews.com/article/2013/06/lansing-charity-hosts-week-to-honor-refugees)). Michigan Public profiled a Somali refugee who reached Grand Rapids by way of Ethiopia, Russia and Ukraine and later worked as an interpreter ([Michigan Public, 25 May 2017](https://www.michiganpublic.org/families-community/2017-05-25/from-somalia-to-grand-rapids-how-one-refugee-fled-to-u-s-escaped-terrorism)). Michigan received 41 Somali refugees in fiscal 2025 ([Refugee Processing Center, FY 2025](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to the United States?

Only about 2,500 Somalis lived in the United States in 1990 ([Pew Research Center, 2016](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)). By 2015 there were an estimated 140,000 to 150,000 ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)).

Most came as refugees. The US admitted more than 90,000 Somali refugees between fiscal years 2001 and 2015, nearly 9,000 of them in 2015 ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)). Families followed: in 2014, 1,645 Somalis received green cards sponsored by US-citizen relatives ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)).

Many refugees moved again after first resettlement. Lewiston's community grew mainly through such second moves, many of them from the Atlanta area ([Bangor Daily News, December 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). Local advocates say about half of Somali refugees placed in Arizona later moved on, often to Minnesota ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)).

## Work and money

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure, and a typical US sender sends $450 to $500 a month ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Lewiston's Lisbon Street has Somali-run halal markets and shops ([WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)).

Remittances are Somalia's largest steady inflow. Individual remittances reached US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). From 1 January 2026, a 1% federal tax applies to cash sent abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

In December 2021, South Portland, Maine, chose Deqa Dhalac as mayor, believed to be the first Somali American mayor in the US ([CNN via KTVZ, 7 December 2021](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)). She had joined the city council in 2018 ([CNN via KTVZ](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)).

In San Diego, the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) and CAIR San Diego support the community ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation)). In Maine, Ifka Community Services and the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project work with Somali families ([WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)). PANA and African Communities Together were plaintiffs in the national TPS case ([NAACP Legal Defense Fund, August 2026](https://www.naacpldf.org/news/federal-court-allows-termination-of-somalias-temporary-protected-status-to-move-forward/)).

## What do they face now?

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia was designated for TPS on 16 September 1991 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). The termination notice was published on 14 January 2026 and took effect on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). A federal judge in Massachusetts lifted her stay after a June 2026 Supreme Court ruling, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

About 700 Somalis held TPS, a small share of the community ([MPR News](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)). In San Diego, families described rising anxiety when the end was announced ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation)).

**Raids in Maine.** From 20 to 24 January 2026, immigration operations in Maine led to more than 200 arrests ([WBUR](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)). Many of those held had asylum cases pending and no criminal record, and Lisbon Street went quiet ([WBUR](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)).

**Asylum cases.** At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 1,355 recognised refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia in the United States ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## How are they tied to home?

In 2013, after the US recognised Somalia's government for the first time since 1991, some Somalis raised in City Heights considered moving back ([KPBS, February 2013](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/18/somalis-raised-city-heights-consider-returning-the)). Money sent home, US$1.73 billion from the whole diaspora in 2023, keeps many families in Somalia going ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Related pages

- [Columbus, Ohio (Somali community)](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/)
- [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
- [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/)
- [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/)
- [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/)
- [Nashville](/en/diaspora/nashville/)
- [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/)
- [St. Cloud, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/)
- [Rochester, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/)
- [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/)
- [Denver and Colorado](/en/diaspora/denver/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, Table B02025 (Somali, alone or in any combination). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B02025). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, Table B04006 "People Reporting Ancestry" (Somali). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B04006). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B04006 "People Reporting Ancestry" (Somali). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B05006 (born in Somalia). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B05006). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. News From The States. "Most Somali people in America and Minnesota are citizens." [newsfromthestates.com](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/most-somali-people-america-and-minnesota-are-citizens). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. KPBS. Somali refugees in San Diego, first in a three-part series. 28 September 2010. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Voice of San Diego. "San Diego's Somali population, explained." 22 February 2013. [voiceofsandiego.org](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Portland Public Library Digital Commons (Down East). "Since 2001, 3,000 Somalis have settled in Lewiston." [portlandlibrary.com](https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/news_downeast/3458). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. WBUR. Report on the immigration enforcement surge in Maine and Lewiston's Somali community. 30 January 2026. [wbur.org](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Pew Research Center. "5 facts about the global Somali diaspora." 1 June 2016. [pewresearch.org](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. CNN via KTVZ. "A Maine city that's 90% White now has a Somali mayor." 7 December 2021. [ktvz.com](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. KPBS. "Anxiety rises in San Diego's Somali community over TPS revocation." 14 January 2026. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "Federal court allows termination of Somalia's Temporary Protected Status to move forward." 14 August 2026. [naacpldf.org](https://www.naacpldf.org/news/federal-court-allows-termination-of-somalias-temporary-protected-status-to-move-forward/). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. KPBS. "Somalis raised in City Heights consider returning to their homeland." 18 February 2013. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/18/somalis-raised-city-heights-consider-returning-the). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02025 (Somali), metro areas. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=310|01000US). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Bangor Daily News. "Struggle and progress: 10 years of Somalis in Lewiston." 18 December 2011. [bangordailynews.com](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Sanhareb Nano, Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix (Arizona State University). "From the Somali Highlands to Phoenix's New Frontier." April 2018. [visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market). Checked 2026-11-12.
23. US Census Bureau. ACS 2020–2024 5-year, B02025, B04006 and B05006, Michigan and metro areas, via Census Reporter. https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US26,31000US29620,31000US19820,31000US24340. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. The State News (Michigan State University). "A moving experience". Aug 2004. https://statenews.com/article/2004/08/a_moving_experience. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. The State News. "Lansing charity hosts week to honor refugees". Jun 2013. https://statenews.com/article/2013/06/lansing-charity-hosts-week-to-honor-refugees. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Michigan Public. "From Somalia to Grand Rapids: How one refugee fled to U.S.". 25 May 2017. https://www.michiganpublic.org/families-community/2017-05-25/from-somalia-to-grand-rapids-how-one-refugee-fled-to-u-s-escaped-terrorism. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "Refugee Arrivals by State and Nationality, FY 2025, as of 30 Sep 2025". https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Yemen (Somali refugees)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/yemen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yemen hosted 41,171 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia on 31 August 2026, 63% of all its refugees, most of them in cities such as Aden and Sana'a. The number peaked at about 253,000 in 2015, and since 2017 thousands have returned home by boat to Berbera and by air to Mogadishu.

## How many people from Somalia live in Yemen?

On 31 August 2026, Yemen hosted 65,308 refugees and asylum seekers, and 41,171 of them (63.0%) came from Somalia ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Yemen](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem)). Somalis are the largest group (same source).

Other counts measure different things:
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 40,335 refugees and 202 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR population API, Somalia to Yemen](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=YEM)).
- **UN DESA, 2024:** 285,211 people born in Somalia living in Yemen, refugees or not ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **Somalia's National Strategy on Migration, May 2024:** 280,940 ([Federal Republic of Somalia, via UN ESCWA](https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf)).

The gap between UNHCR and DESA has not been explained by either body.

## Where do they live?

UNHCR lists refugees of all nationalities by governorate. On 31 August 2026 there were 22,757 in Aden and 18,914 in Amanat Al Asimah (Sana'a city). Lahj had 10,680, Hadramaut 6,935 and Al Maharah 3,607 ([UNHCR ODP, Yemen](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem)).

Kharaz, in Lahj, opened in 2001 and is Yemen's only refugee camp ([UNHCR Yemen, 2024](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/109072)).

Most of Yemen's Somalis live in cities such as Aden and Sana'a ([UNHCR ODP, Yemen](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem)). UNHCR runs help desks in Aden's Basateen and Khor Maksar districts ([UNHCR Yemen, Oct 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf)). Thousands live in makeshift homes in Aden's "Little Mogadishu" ([AFP via Khaleej Times, 2 Dec 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2)).

Camp details are on [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## How did they get there?

Most came by boat across the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/). UNHCR counted 1,770 Somali refugees in Yemen in 1990, 26,738 in 1991 and 56,204 in 1992 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=YEM)).

UNHCR's count kept rising for two decades:
- **2005:** 78,582 (same source).
- **2008:** 132,275.
- **2011:** 204,685, the year of famine in southern Somalia.
- **2015:** 253,215, the highest on record.

In March 2013, UNHCR counted 227,294 Somalis among Yemen's 237,717 refugees ([UNHCR submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review, 2013](https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014-03/unhcr_upr18_yem_e_main.pdf)). About 46,575 refugees then lived in Aden and 29,287 in Sana'a (same source).

During the war in Yemen, UNHCR's count fell to 151,155 in 2020 and 38,231 in 2024 ([UNHCR population API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=YEM)). The routes are on [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## What legal status do Somalis have in Yemen?

Yemen is the only country on the Arabian Peninsula that is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention ([UNHCR UPR submission, 2013](https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014-03/unhcr_upr18_yem_e_main.pdf)). It has no national refugee law; entry and residence fall under Republican Decree No. 47 of 1991 (same source).

The government grants prima facie refugee status to Somalis arriving since 1990 ([UNHCR UPR submission](https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014-03/unhcr_upr18_yem_e_main.pdf)). This means Somalis are recognised as a group, while other nationalities go through individual checks by UNHCR (same source).

New Somali arrivals got temporary papers valid for three months, against 20 days for other nationalities, to allow registration ([UNHCR UPR submission](https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014-03/unhcr_upr18_yem_e_main.pdf)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How do they earn a living?

Men take odd jobs on Aden's roads, such as washing cars for a few dollars a day ([AFP via Khaleej Times, Dec 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2)). Work is scarce for Yemenis too (same source).

UNHCR gave cash to 9,049 refugees in 2025, and trained women in Aden and Taiz in sewing and leatherwork ([UNHCR Yemen, Oct 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf)). In 2025, individuals abroad sent US$3.13 billion to Somalia ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Government of Yemen:** the Ministry of Foreign Affairs leads refugee protection, supported by the Bureau of Refugee Affairs ([UNHCR UPR submission](https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014-03/unhcr_upr18_yem_e_main.pdf)).
- **UNHCR:** runs help desks and mobile visits in Basateen and Khor Maksar ([UNHCR Yemen, Oct 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf)).
- **Somalia's government:** Somalia's refugee agency (NCRI) recorded 1,858 refugee returnees from Yemen in 2020 to 2023, more than from any other country ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).

## What have Somalis in Yemen faced?

- **March 2017:** a helicopter attacked a boat carrying about 145 Somali refugees off Hodeidah, bound for [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Africanews, 17 Mar 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/03/17/air-strike-kills-42-somali-refugees-off-yemen-coast-unhcr/)). Reports gave 33 to 42 dead; about 80 survivors were taken to Hodeidah (same source). Who attacked was never established (same source).
- **August 2025:** a boat carrying 154 migrants sank off Abyan province; IOM reported at least 68 dead and 74 missing ([Al Jazeera, 3 Aug 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/3/more-than-50-refugees-and-migrants-die-in-boat-sinking-off-yemeni-coast)). Most of those aboard were Ethiopian, and 12 survived (same source).
- **Floods** hit refugee areas in August and September 2025 ([UNHCR Yemen, Oct 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf)).

## What do they face now?

- **Funding:** UNHCR's 2025 appeal for Yemen, $305 million, was only 17% funded at the end of October ([UNHCR Yemen, Oct 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf)).
- **A country in need:** Yemen has 19.5 million people in need of aid and 4.8 million displaced ([AFP via Khaleej Times](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2)).
- **New arrivals:** about 17,000 Africans arrived in October 2025 alone, mostly through Djibouti and Somalia (same source).

## How are they tied to home?

UNHCR's Assisted Spontaneous Return programme began in September 2017. By 10 September 2023, it had helped 6,273 Somali refugees go home, mostly by boat from Aden to Berbera ([UNHCR, Sep 2023](https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/details/103875)).

Returns continue, and sources count them differently:
- **UNHCR:** 365 Somalis returned from January to October 2025, by boat to Berbera and by air to Mogadishu, and 1,591 were counselled ([UNHCR Yemen, Oct 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf)).
- **AFP:** more than 500 returns in 2025, with about 450 more planned on three year-end flights ([Khaleej Times, 2 Dec 2025](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2)).

In a UNHCR survey, 56% of returnees said lack of income in Yemen was their main reason (same source). Somalia's NBS also counted 2,591 migrant returnees from Yemen in 2020 to 2023 ([NBS, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/) · [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Yemen, 31 Aug 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee population statistics API, Somalia to Yemen, 1990–2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=YEM. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Federal Republic of Somalia. National Strategy for Migration, May 2024, via UN ESCWA. https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR Yemen. Kharaz refugee camp, 2024. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/109072. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UNHCR. Yemen operational update, October 2025. https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Yemen%20Operational%20Update%20-%20October%202025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. AFP, via Khaleej Times. No work, no money: Somali migrants in Yemen long to return home, 2 Dec 2025. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/no-work-no-money-somali-migrants-in-yemen-long-to-return-home-2. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR. Submission for the Universal Periodic Review: Republic of Yemen, 2013 (published Mar 2014). https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014-03/unhcr_upr18_yem_e_main.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Central Bank of Somalia. Annual Report 2025, Aug 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. Migration Statistics Report, first edition, 2024. https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Africanews. Air strike kills 42 Somali refugees off Yemen coast: UNHCR, 17 Mar 2017. https://www.africanews.com/2017/03/17/air-strike-kills-42-somali-refugees-off-yemen-coast-unhcr/. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Al Jazeera. At least 68 refugees and migrants die in boat sinking off Yemeni coast, 3 Aug 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/3/more-than-50-refugees-and-migrants-die-in-boat-sinking-off-yemeni-coast. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UNHCR. Over 6,200 Somali refugees voluntarily returned home from Yemen since 2017, Sep 2023. https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/details/103875. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somalia and the outside powers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/the-horn/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The countries and bodies with the biggest stake in Somalia today, from the neighbours to the Gulf, Turkey, the US, the EU, the AU and the UN, and what each wants.

- **[Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/).** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** Brokered the Ankara Declaration (Dec 2024). Base and training (TURKSOM since 2017). F-16s, drones. Manages the airport and port. TRT Somalia. Offered mediation in 2026. **Stance on Somali unity:** Rejects [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) recognition Source: [7](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/6/2/somalia-needs-a-political-settlement-before-it-is-too-late)[10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[12](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)[25](https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ankara-declaration-t-rkiye-s-diplomatic-win-in-africa)[34](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/foreign-forces-take-a-bigger-role-in-somalias-war/)
- **UAE.** **Main Somali partners:** [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), Somaliland (Berbera) **Role and achievements:** Air support for Hilaac. Port investments. Agreements revoked by FGS on 12 Jan 2026. Reported role in Israel's recognition (analysts). **Stance on Somali unity:** Ambiguous. Works with FMS and Somaliland. Source: [12](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)[18](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalia-revokes-all-agreements-uae)[20](https://hiraalinstitute.org/somalia-security-situation-2020-2025/)[21](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)
- **Egypt.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** Strategic partnership (Jan 2025). 1,091 AUSSOM troops. Arms and training. Rivalry with Ethiopia over GERD. **Stance on Somali unity:** Strongly pro-territorial integrity Source: [10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[12](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)[21](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)[43](https://hornreview.org/2026/04/02/egypts-somalia-strategy-and-the-rising-pressure-on-ethiopia/)
- **Ethiopia.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS (post-Ankara), some FMS **Role and achievements:** 2024 Somaliland MoU, then Ankara Declaration. 2,500 AUSSOM plus about 5,000 bilateral troops. Troops in South West. **Stance on Somali unity:** Affirmed Somalia's sovereignty in Ankara Source: [25](https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ankara-declaration-t-rkiye-s-diplomatic-win-in-africa)[34](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/foreign-forces-take-a-bigger-role-in-somalias-war/)[43](https://hornreview.org/2026/04/02/egypts-somalia-strategy-and-the-rising-pressure-on-ethiopia/)
- **Kenya.** **Main Somali partners:** Jubaland (historically) **Role and achievements:** Co-brokered Jubaland (2013). 1,410 AUSSOM troops. Hosted the Nairobi opposition front (Oct 2025). Laftagareen went to Kenya. Affected by al-Shabaab attacks. **Stance on Somali unity:** Supports Somali unity Source: [5](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)[12](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)[13](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Somalias-2026-Mandate-Test.pdf)[21](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)[29](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/al-shabab-is-greatest-threat-to-peace-in-somalia-and-the-region-un-experts-say)
- **Eritrea.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** Asmara meeting with Egypt and Somalia, 10 Oct 2024 **Stance on Somali unity:** Pro-FGS Source: [25](https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ankara-declaration-t-rkiye-s-diplomatic-win-in-africa)
- **Djibouti.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** 1,520 AUSSOM troops **Stance on Somali unity:** Condemned the recognition Source: [10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[21](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)
- **Saudi Arabia.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** Military cooperation agreement (9 Feb 2026). Saudi-UAE rivalry in the Horn. **Stance on Somali unity:** GCC and OIC condemned the recognition Source: [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia)[18](https://www.geeska.com/en/somalia-revokes-all-agreements-uae)[42](https://english.aawsat.com/world/5223723-somalia%E2%80%99s-al-shabaab-vows-fight-any-israeli-use-somaliland)
- **[Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/).** **Main Somali partners:** — **Role and achievements:** No specific opened source. GCC condemnation applies. **Stance on Somali unity:** Rejects the recognition (as GCC member) Source: [42](https://english.aawsat.com/world/5223723-somalia%E2%80%99s-al-shabaab-vows-fight-any-israeli-use-somaliland)
- **United States.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS (counter-terrorism), Puntland **Role and achievements:** AFRICOM strikes (88 in 2026). Aid to FGS suspended Jan 2026. Ending UNSOS support after 2026. Co-mediated the May 2026 talks. Delegation to Garowe. Treasury designations. **Stance on Somali unity:** Says Somalia policy is unchanged. Defended Israel's right to recognise. Declined a recognition deal in 2025. Source: [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia)[9](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php)[10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[28](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/report-al-shabaab-rakes-100-million-annually-supports-groups-outside-somalia)[31](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/somaliland-us-recognition-iran-war/)[34](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/foreign-forces-take-a-bigger-role-in-somalias-war/)[41](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/8/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid)
- **United Kingdom.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS and opposition (mediator) **Role and achievements:** Co-mediated May 2026. Funds RVI's Somali Dialogue Platform. **Stance on Somali unity:** Urged Mogadishu-Hargeisa cooperation Source: [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia)[8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Future_Council)[10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[27](https://riftvalley.net/?p=6063)
- **EU.** **Main Somali partners:** AU, FGS **Role and achievements:** €600m for AU peace operations (2022). Backed AU mediation in 2021. **Stance on Somali unity:** Supports unity (France and Denmark at the UNSC) Source: [10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[22](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2021/05/20/back-brink-somalias-political-crisis-explained)[23](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2022-05/somalia-25.php)
- **China.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** — **Stance on Somali unity:** "Somaliland is an integral part of Somali territory" Source: [10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)
- **Israel.** **Main Somali partners:** Somaliland **Role and achievements:** Recognition (26 Dec 2025). FM visit (Jan 2026). Reported security partnership. **Stance on Somali unity:** Recognises Somaliland's independence Source: [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia)[10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[31](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/somaliland-us-recognition-iran-war/)
- **African Union.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS, all **Role and achievements:** [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) → [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) (Apr 2022) → AUSSOM (Jan 2025, about 11,900 personnel). Kampala summit plans a phased exit. Condemned the 2021 extension. **Stance on Somali unity:** Rejects recognition Source: [9](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php)[21](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)[22](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2021/05/20/back-brink-somalias-political-crisis-explained)[23](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2022-05/somalia-25.php)[10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)
- **Uganda.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** About 4,500 AUSSOM troops plus bilateral forces **Stance on Somali unity:** — Source: [21](https://ctc.westpoint.edu/somalia-at-a-crossroads-resurgent-insurgents-fragmented-politics-and-the-uncertain-future-of-aussom/)[34](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/foreign-forces-take-a-bigger-role-in-somalias-war/)
- **United Nations.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS, all **Role and achievements:** UNSOM → UNTMIS (res. 2753), which ended Oct 2026. 2713 sanctions regime. Panel of Experts. **Stance on Somali unity:** Supports territorial integrity Source: [9](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-11/somalia-44.php)[29](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/al-shabab-is-greatest-threat-to-peace-in-somalia-and-the-region-un-experts-say)
- **Arab League / IGAD / OIC.** **Main Somali partners:** FGS **Role and achievements:** Statements **Stance on Somali unity:** Rejected the recognition Source: [10](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)[12](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/State-of-Somalia-Report-2025-1-1.pdf)[42](https://english.aawsat.com/world/5223723-somalia%E2%80%99s-al-shabaab-vows-fight-any-israeli-use-somaliland)

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# Somali refugees by the numbers, 1975 to 2025

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2025, UNHCR counted 892,037 refugees and 236,271 asylum seekers from Somalia, plus 3,347,408 people displaced inside the country. The refugee count peaked at 1,136,709 in 2012. About 1.9 million people born in Somalia lived abroad in 2024.

## How many refugees from Somalia are there now?

At the end of 2025, UNHCR counted **892,037 refugees** and **236,271 asylum seekers** whose country of origin is Somalia ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder, API query, origin Somalia, 1975 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1960&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM)). In the same year it counted **3,347,408 people displaced inside Somalia** (same source). So more than four million Somalis were living away from home because of conflict, drought or floods.

These are refugee numbers, not the size of the diaspora. A Somali who became a British, Swedish or American citizen is no longer counted as a refugee. That is why the UK, where many thousands of Somali-born people live, shows only 2,697 Somali refugees in 2024 ([UNHCR, hosts of refugees from Somalia, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## How has the number changed since 1975?

UNHCR's series starts with a few dozen refugees from Somalia in the 1970s. The big rises follow the wars and droughts of the late 1980s, 1991, 2006 to 2009 and 2011 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1960&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM)). Refugees counted at the end of each year:

- **1975:** 110
- **1986:** 3,142
- **1987:** 60,162
- **1988:** 351,993 (the year of the war in the north; almost all went to Ethiopia)
- **1990:** 470,174
- **1991:** 732,596 (the central state collapsed in January 1991)
- **1992:** 812,196 (the 1992 famine year; the highest count of the 1990s)
- **1995:** 638,695
- **2000:** 475,644
- **2005:** 395,544 (the lowest point since 1989)
- **2008:** 561,145
- **2010:** 770,141
- **2011:** 1,077,038 (the 2011 famine year)
- **2012:** 1,136,709 (the highest count ever recorded)
- **2015:** 1,123,144
- **2018:** 949,637
- **2020:** 812,356
- **2022:** 786,794
- **2024:** 894,120
- **2025:** 892,037

Asylum seekers, people whose claim is not yet decided, are counted separately. Their number rose from 11,971 in 2000 to 56,664 in 2015, then jumped to 179,224 in 2023 and 237,183 in 2024 (same source). Most of the jump is in Kenya, where 144,011 Somalis were asylum seekers in 2024 ([UNHCR 2024 hosts](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Which countries host refugees from Somalia?

In 2024 the largest hosts were neighbours. Refugees, then asylum seekers, by country ([UNHCR 2024 hosts](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)):

- **Kenya:** 324,496 refugees and 144,011 asylum seekers
- **Ethiopia:** 317,973 and 43,961
- **Uganda:** 49,122 and 1,710
- **Yemen:** 38,231 and 141
- **Germany:** 38,179 and 9,220
- **South Africa:** 22,141 and 5,153
- **France:** 15,287 and 1,214
- **Djibouti:** 13,560 and 101
- **Austria:** 10,930 and 1,853
- **Italy:** 7,608 and 743
- **Sweden:** 7,281 and 172
- **Egypt:** 3,986 and 3,909
- **Zambia:** 4,545 and 485
- **Switzerland:** 4,167 and 420
- **Netherlands:** 3,968 and 2,416
- **United States:** 1,355 and 3,945

The map of hosts has moved over time. In **1988**, Ethiopia held 350,067 of the 351,993 refugees from Somalia ([UNHCR, 1988 hosts](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1988&yearTo=1988&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). In **1992**, Ethiopia held 406,147, Kenya 285,619, Yemen 56,204 and Djibouti 20,000 ([UNHCR, 1992 hosts](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1992&yearTo=1992&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). In **2011**, Kenya held 517,666, Yemen 204,685 and Ethiopia 185,466, with the UK at 19,668, Sweden at 17,602 and the Netherlands at 15,715 ([UNHCR, 2011 hosts](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2011&yearTo=2011&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## How many people born in Somalia live abroad?

The UN's International Migrant Stock counts everyone living outside the country they were born in, refugee or not. Its 2024 edition counts **1,935,594** people born in Somalia living abroad, up from 599,233 in 1990 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024, origin and destination table](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). Somalia's National Strategy on Migration (May 2024) says the latest migrant stock data show "more than two million Somalis who left the country". It says over half went to three countries: Kenya (425,284), Ethiopia (411,152) and Yemen (280,940) ([Federal Republic of Somalia, National Strategy for Migration, May 2024, via UN ESCWA](https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf)).

This count leaves out children born abroad to Somali parents. In Sweden alone, Statistics Sweden counts about 31,761 people born in Sweden with both parents from Somalia (see the [Sweden page](/en/diaspora/sweden/)).

## How many people have come home?

Return is far smaller than departure in every year on record.

- **Refugees returning (UNHCR count):** the largest year was 1993, with 66,608 returns. Between 2000 and 2002 there were 32,000 to 51,000 a year. In 2024 the count was 1,959 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1960&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM)).
- **Refugee returnees recorded by Somalia's own refugee agency (NCRI):** 351 in 2020, 145 in 2021, 795 in 2022 and 1,225 in 2023. Most came from Yemen (1,858 over four years), then Kenya (427), Libya (188) and India (31) ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report, first edition 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).
- **Migrant returnees** (people coming back from work or travel abroad, voluntarily or not): 1,287 in 2020, 1,127 in 2021, 3,616 in 2022 and 1,901 in 2023. The largest numbers came from Saudi Arabia (3,945 over four years) and Yemen (2,591), then Libya (410), Ethiopia (381), [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) (149) and Germany (85) (same NBS report, citing the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Migration, Returns and Children's Rights).
- **Where migrant returnees settled, 2020 to 2023:** Banadir 2,323, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) 3,040, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) 1,631, [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) 454, [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) 211, [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) 225 and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) 47 (same report, Table 4.5).
- **Internally displaced people going home:** UNHCR counted 288,966 returned [IDPs](/en/society/internal-displacement/) in 2020, 544,249 in 2021, 607,256 in 2022 and 290,750 in 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1960&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM)).

## Who lives in Somalia as a refugee?

Somalia also hosts refugees. In 2025 UNHCR counted 20,967 refugees and 25,702 asylum seekers inside Somalia ([UNHCR, hosted in Somalia, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=10&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM)). Ethiopians are the largest group: 4,177 refugees in 2023, by the NBS count ([NBS Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).

## How to read these numbers

- **UNHCR revises past years** when governments send new data, so a figure may change slightly from one download to the next. The numbers on this page were downloaded on 12 November 2026.
- **Internal displacement figures jump** when the method changes. UNHCR's count went from 2,967,500 in 2022 to 3,860,099 in 2023, partly because of new drought and flood displacement and partly because of new surveys.
- **The diaspora is bigger than the refugee count.** Citizens, workers, students and children born abroad are not refugees. For the size of each community, see the country pages below.

## Related pages

- [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Which routes did Somalis take to leave?](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Where are the Somali refugee camps?](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/), [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/), [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder, population API, origin Somalia, 1975 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1960&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM). Downloaded 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder, hosts of people from Somalia, 1988, 1992, 2011 and 2024. [1988](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1988&yearTo=1988&coo=SOM&coa_all=true) · [1992](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1992&yearTo=1992&coo=SOM&coa_all=true) · [2011](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2011&yearTo=2011&coo=SOM&coa_all=true) · [2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Downloaded 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder, people hosted in Somalia, 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=10&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM). Downloaded 12 November 2026.
4. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. Migration Statistics Report, first edition, November 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Federal Republic of Somalia. National Strategy for Migration, May 2024 (hosted by UN ESCWA). [unescwa.org](https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/national-strategy-migration-somalia-english.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. UN DESA Population Division. International Migrant Stock 2024. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Somalis in India and Pakistan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis in India and Pakistan are mostly students, patients and a small number of refugees. UNHCR counted 486 Somali refugees and 912 asylum seekers in India at the end of 2025, and Somalia's ambassador put Somali students in Pakistan at over 700 in April 2025.

Somalis in India and Pakistan are mostly students, patients and a small group of refugees. UNHCR counted 486 Somali refugees and 912 Somali asylum seekers in India at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IND)).

In Pakistan, Somalia's ambassador said in April 2025 that "over 700 Somali students are currently studying in various universities across Pakistan" ([The University of Faisalabad, 30 Apr 2025](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).

## How many Somalis live in India?

UN DESA estimated 892 people born in Somalia living in India in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). Its earlier figures were 319 in 1995, 838 in 2010 and 827 in 2020 (same source).

UNHCR's count of Somali refugees in India has moved like this ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IND)):

- **1995:** 286 refugees
- **2005:** 104 refugees and 101 asylum seekers
- **2011:** 766 refugees and 30 asylum seekers
- **2020:** 514 refugees and 288 asylum seekers
- **2025:** 486 refugees and 912 asylum seekers

Students and patients on visas are not in these refugee counts. India's mission in Nairobi issued 5,252 visas to Somali nationals in 2024 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi, Oct 2025](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). An earlier brief gave 4,228 visas in 2019 and 1,328 in 2020 ([Assistant High Commission of India, Mombasa, Aug 2021](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).

## What is life like for Somali refugees in India?

India has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, and refugees there fall under its foreigners laws of 1939, 1946 and 1948 ([WRC, July 2011](https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bright_lights_big_city-urban__refugees_struggle_to_make_a_living_in_new_delhi.pdf)). The Women's Refugee Commission found 833 Somalis among more than 21,000 people of concern to UNHCR in New Delhi in early 2011 ([WRC, July 2011](https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bright_lights_big_city-urban__refugees_struggle_to_make_a_living_in_new_delhi.pdf)).

The same study said most lived in New Delhi, with a smaller group in Hyderabad (same source). It reported that Somalis did not receive residence permits and faced "pervasive discrimination" (same source). Many were "highly educated", some worked as interpreters, and some lived on money from relatives resettled in the West (same source).

## How many Somali students study in India?

India's government gives Somalia 15 ICCR scholarship places and 15 ITEC training places a year ([High Commission of India, Nairobi, Oct 2025](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). ITEC places rose to 30 for 2025, and 71 Somalis have taken e-ITEC online courses (same source).

The mission reports 364 Somali students enrolled in Indian online degrees through the e-VBAB project (same source). The scheme offers undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and certificate courses taught in English ([High Commission of India, Nairobi, e-VBAB notice](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_listview/ODA1)). India offered ICCR scholarships to 17 Somali students for 2021-22 ([AHCI Mombasa, 2021](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).

## Why do Somalis go to India for medical treatment?

Research presented at a Mogadishu health conference estimated that about 11,500 Somalis travelled to India for treatment in 2025 ([Dawan Africa, 20 Oct 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/11500-somalis-sought-treatment-in-india-in-2025-spending-dollar219m-abroad)). It put Somali spending on treatment abroad at about US$219 million, with Egypt, [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) and Ethiopia also common destinations (same source).

The chair of the Somali Medical Association said not everyone who goes abroad does so because care is missing at home (same source). In April 2023 Somalia's health minister said in Delhi: "A large number of Somali people come to India for medical purposes" ([ThePrint, 28 Apr 2023](https://theprint.in/india/india-somalia-have-historical-relations-we-want-to-strengthen-our-collaboration-somalia-health-minister/1543263/)). India's mission calls India "a preferred destination" for Somali medical care ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## How many Somalis are in Pakistan?

Most are students. Ambassador Khadija Mohamed Almakhzoumi said around 1,200 Somali students were in Pakistani universities in October 2020 ([Pakistan Observer, 25 Oct 2020](https://pakobserver.net/pak-somalia-relations-continue-to-make-new-strides-khadija-colourful-graduation-ceremony-of-somali-students-held/)). Her successor, Sheikhnur Mohamed Hassan, gave "over 700" in April 2025 ([TUF, 2025](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).

UNHCR counted 170 Somali refugees and 35 asylum seekers in Pakistan at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=PAK)). The figure was 972 refugees in 1995 and 537 in 2010 (same source).

## What scholarships bring Somalis to Pakistan?

In September 2017 the Somali ambassador said many students came under a Pakistan Technical Assistance programme or paid their own way ([The News, 11 Sep 2017](https://thenews.com.pk/print/229034-Somalia-keen-to-cement-ties-with-Pakistan-in-all-fields-Ambassador-Khadija)). In 2019, 29 Somali students graduated from universities in Faisalabad, Lahore and Islamabad ([Daily Dayspring, 6 Sep 2019](https://thedayspring.com.pk/29-somali-students-graduate-from-pakistani-universities-abdi-kafi-abdullah-a-top-student-tells-about-his-studies)).

Recent offers, each from the body named:

- **The University of Faisalabad:** 100 scholarships with free tuition and hostel places, announced in April 2025 ([TUF](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).
- **Higher Education Commission:** pledged support for Somali students when Somalia's education minister visited in January 2025 ([HEC, 13 Jan 2025](https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/Somali-Delegation.aspx)).
- **OIC-Comstech:** 25 fully funded research and training fellowships for Somali nationals, launched in 2026 ([Dawn, 1 Aug 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/2019881)).

## Do Somalis come back from India and Pakistan?

Somalia's statistics office recorded 48 refugee returnees from India and 6 from Pakistan between 2020 and 2024 ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). Returns in general are on [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/).

## How old are the links between Somalia and South Asia?

Around 1518, Duarte Barbosa recorded ships from Cambay in Gujarat trading cloth and spices at Mogadishu and Berbera ([*The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, 1918](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)). In 1848 a British officer described Banian traders from Porbandar, Mandvi and Bombay at the Berbera fair ([Cruttenden, in Burton, 1856](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6886/pg6886.html)).

India's mission records that about 200 Indian families once lived in Somalia, mostly dyeing textiles in Mogadishu and [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). It says about 150 Indian nationals work in Somalia today and about 500 people of Indian origin live there (same source).

Diplomatic ties began in 1960, and India's embassy in Mogadishu closed in 1991 (same source). Pakistan and Somalia date their relations to 1 July 1960 ([The News, 2017](https://thenews.com.pk/print/229034-Somalia-keen-to-cement-ties-with-Pakistan-in-all-fields-Ambassador-Khadija)). India-Somalia trade was US$800.86 million in 2024-25, almost all Indian exports ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## Related pages

- [Malaysia](/en/diaspora/malaysia/)
- [Who moved to Somalia: refugees, migrants and settlers](/en/diaspora/immigration-to-somalia/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. "Refugee Data Finder: Somali refugees and asylum seekers in India, 1995-2025." [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IND). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. "Refugee Data Finder: Somali refugees and asylum seekers in Pakistan, 1995-2025." [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=PAK). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. High Commission of India, Nairobi. "India-Somalia bilateral relations." October 2025. [hcinairobi.gov.in](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. High Commission of India, Nairobi. "Scholarship Programme for Somali nationals under e-VBAB Network Project." 2022. [hcinairobi.gov.in](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_listview/ODA1). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Assistant High Commission of India, Mombasa. "India-Somalia Bilateral Relations." August 2021. [ahcimombasa.gov.in](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Women's Refugee Commission. "Bright Lights, Big City: Urban Refugees Struggle to Make a Living in New Delhi." July 2011. [womensrefugeecommission.org](https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bright_lights_big_city-urban__refugees_struggle_to_make_a_living_in_new_delhi.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "11,500 Somalis sought treatment in India in 2025." 20 October 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/11500-somalis-sought-treatment-in-india-in-2025-spending-dollar219m-abroad). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. ThePrint (ANI). "India, Somalia have historical relations: Somalia health minister." 28 April 2023. [theprint.in](https://theprint.in/india/india-somalia-have-historical-relations-we-want-to-strengthen-our-collaboration-somalia-health-minister/1543263/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. The University of Faisalabad. "Ambassador of Somalia visits TUF." 30 April 2025. [tuf.edu.pk](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Pakistan Observer. "Pak-Somalia relations continue to make new strides: Khadija." 25 October 2020. [pakobserver.net](https://pakobserver.net/pak-somalia-relations-continue-to-make-new-strides-khadija-colourful-graduation-ceremony-of-somali-students-held/). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. The News. "Somalia keen to cement ties with Pakistan in all fields: Ambassador Khadija." 11 September 2017. [thenews.com.pk](https://thenews.com.pk/print/229034-Somalia-keen-to-cement-ties-with-Pakistan-in-all-fields-Ambassador-Khadija). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Daily Dayspring. "29 Somali students graduate from Pakistani universities." 6 September 2019. [thedayspring.com.pk](https://thedayspring.com.pk/29-somali-students-graduate-from-pakistani-universities-abdi-kafi-abdullah-a-top-student-tells-about-his-studies). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Higher Education Commission Pakistan. "Somali Delegation." 13 January 2025. [hec.gov.pk](https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/Somali-Delegation.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Dawn. "Comstech launches second phase of fellowship programme for Somali scholars." 1 August 2026. [dawn.com](https://www.dawn.com/news/2019881). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," 2nd edition. 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Duarte Barbosa. *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, vol. 1. Hakluyt Society, 1918. [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Richard F. Burton. *[First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)*. 1856. [gutenberg.org](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6886/pg6886.html). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Why did Somalis leave, and when?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis left in waves: seamen from the 1880s, students and Gulf workers after 1960, then refugees from the 1988 and 1991 wars and from famines and droughts since. UNHCR counted 805,917 refugees from Somalia in five host countries of the region in October 2026, and about 3.5 million people displaced inside Somalia.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</a></li><li><a href="#era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</a></li><li><a href="#era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</a></li><li><a href="#era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</a></li><li><a href="#era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
Somalis left in waves, each with its own cause. Seamen came first, then students and Gulf workers, then refugees from war, famine and drought.

UNHCR counted 805,917 refugees from Somalia in its five main host countries in the region on 31 October 2026 ([UNHCR Horn of Africa data portal, 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)). About 3.5 million more were displaced inside Somalia ([UNHCR Somalia dashboard, Nov 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf)).

## What are the waves at a glance?


<h2 id="era-1500-to-1884">1500 to 1884</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1880s to 1950s:</h3><p class="tl__body">seamen and traders on British, French and German steamships (<a href="https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757">Krozewski, IJAHS</a>).</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1960-to-1969">1960 to 1969</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1960s to 1970s:</h3><p class="tl__body">students on scholarships to the Soviet Union, Italy and the United States (<a href="https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota">MNopedia</a>).</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1969-to-1991">1969 to 1991</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1970s to 1980s:</h3><p class="tl__body">workers to the Gulf oil states (<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf">Ahmed, Disasters, 2000</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1977 to 1983:</h3><p class="tl__body">Somalis and Oromo from Ethiopia flee into Somalia after the Ogaden war (<a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf">Africa Watch, Evil Days, 1991</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1988 to 1991:</h3><p class="tl__body">war in the north sends nearly half a million people abroad, mostly to Ethiopia (<a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm">HRW World Report 1990</a>).</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">1991 to 1992:</h3><p class="tl__body">the central state collapses and famine follows (<a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm">HRW World Report 1993</a>).</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2000-to-2012">2000 to 2012</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2007 to 2009:</h3><p class="tl__body">fighting in Mogadishu (<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2007/05/217812">UN News, May 2007</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2010 to 2012:</h3><p class="tl__body">famine kills about 258,000 people (<a href="https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-">FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2013</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2016 to 2017 and 2021 to 2023:</h3><p class="tl__body">droughts displace well over a million people (<a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-and-famine-displacement-monitoring-dashboard-november-2022">OCHA via ReliefWeb, Nov 2022</a>).</p></li></ol>

## When did the first Somalis go abroad?

The first large group were seamen. Somali men worked in the engine rooms of British, French and German steamships from the 1880s to the Second World War ([Krozewski, IJAHS](https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757)). They were linked above all with stoking work on British tramp ships, the same source says.

The Suez Canal opened in 1869, and in 1888 Britain set up a protectorate to guard the Aden route ([Mohamud and Whitburn, Our Migration Story](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail)). Many seamen signed on in Aden or Egypt and were often recorded as "Arabs" ([Our Migration Story](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail)). Small Somali communities lived in Cardiff and London by the late 19th century, the same historians write.

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Cardiff:</h3><p class="tl__body">Somali men defended a Millicent Street boarding house during the 1919 riots, in the account of seaman Ibrahim Ismaa'il (<a href="https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail">Our Migration Story</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Britain overall:</h3><p class="tl__body">the first Somali seafarers in the Merchant Navy settled more than a century ago (<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf">Ahmed, 2000</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">New York:</h3><p class="tl__body">the first Somalis in the United States were sailors who settled there in the 1920s (<a href="https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota">MNopedia</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Marseille:</h3><p class="tl__body">an association of people from the French Somali Coast existed there from 1948 to 1953 (<a href="https://reaf2018.sciencesconf.org/197108/197108.pdf">Cayla-Giraudeau, REAF 2018</a>).</p></li></ol>

How many seamen there were is hard to say. The number arriving in the early 1900s "is difficult to determine" ([Our Migration Story](https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail)).

## Who left to study after independence in 1960?

Students left on scholarships. Somali students began arriving in the Soviet Union in 1961, under a new Soviet scholarship scheme ([Ivanova, Kunstkamera, 2019](https://journal.kunstkamera.ru/files/journal_kunstkamera/2019_04/ivanova_kk_4_6-stranicy-185-192.pdf)).

Between 1956 and 1969, groups of Somali students began degrees in Mogadishu and completed them in Padua, Italy ([Urbano, Firenze University Press](https://books.fupress.com/doi/capitoli/979-12-215-0389-0_5)). Somali students also began coming to the United States in the 1960s ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)).

## Why did so many go to the Gulf in the 1970s and 1980s?

The oil boom created jobs. Remittances have mattered to the north-west's economy "since the oil boom in the Gulf in 1970s" ([Ahmed, 2000](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf)).

A 1987 study by Green and Jamal put Somali migrant workers abroad at no fewer than 375,000 ([cited in Ahmed, 2000](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf)). It estimated their yearly remittances at US$478 million to US$540 million. Most Gulf migrants came from the north-west because it lies close to the Gulf, Ahmed adds.

## What happened after the Ogaden war of 1977-78?

People fled into Somalia, not out of it. After Somalia's defeat, Ethiopian forces fought insurgents in the Ogaden and attacked villages and herds ([Africa Watch, Evil Days, 1991](https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf)). Many of those who fled were Oromo, not ethnic Somali, the same report says.

Africa Watch gives this rise in camp numbers inside Somalia ([Evil Days, 1991](https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf)):

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-1978:</h3><p class="tl__body">80,000 to 85,000.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Mid-1979:</h3><p class="tl__body">220,000.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">End of 1979:</h3><p class="tl__body">440,000 to 470,000.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">End of 1980:</h3><p class="tl__body">about 800,000.</p></li></ol>

In July 1980, 725,000 registered refugees lived in 26 camps, mainly in Gedo, Hiiraan and the north-west ([Christian Science Monitor, 1980](https://csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)). Over 90 percent were women and children, the paper reported.

The totals were disputed. By 1983 the government claimed 1.3 million refugees, while donors put the true number at 700,000 to 800,000 ([Evil Days, 1991](https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf)). In 1980 officials claimed over 2 million, against one UN official's estimate of 1.5 million ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)).

## What happened from 1988 to 1991?

War broke out in the north in May 1988, and Human Rights Watch said "nearly half a million" people fled the country, most to Ethiopia ([HRW World Report 1990](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)). The central state collapsed in January 1991, and famine followed ([HRW World Report 1993](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)). The full record, including the 1987-89 killings of civilians, Hartisheikh camp and minority communities, is on [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/).

## What happened from 1992 to now?

Famine in 2011 killed about 258,000 people ([FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2013](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-)). UNHCR counted 805,917 refugees from Somalia in the region in October 2026 ([UNHCR Horn of Africa data portal, 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)). The 1992 famine, the 2007 fighting in Mogadishu, the droughts and returns are on [Famines, fighting and drought: Somalis who left from 1992 to now](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1992-2026/).

## What else has been reported about these waves?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Gulf workers, 1980:</h3><p class="tl__body">economist Vali Jamal estimated that 150,000 to 175,000 Somalis worked in the Gulf in 1980, earning five to six times the average Somali wage (<a href="https://ideas.repec.org/h/pal/palchp/978-1-349-12558-6_9.html">Jamal, "Somalia: The Gulf Link and Adjustment", 1992, abstract via RePEc</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">An 1894 law:</h3><p class="tl__body">Wikipedia states that a law of 1894 limited Somalis in Britain to shipping work until the 1950s (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_the_United_Kingdom">Wikipedia: "Somalis in the United Kingdom"</a>).</p></li></ol>

## Related pages

- [Which routes did Somalis take to leave?](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Collapse, 1991-2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/)
- [The Siad Barre era, 1969-1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Famines, fighting and drought: Somalis who left from 1992 to now](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1992-2026/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. "Refugees from Somalia", Horn of Africa situation data portal. UNHCR, data to 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR Somalia. "Population Dashboard, November 2025". UNHCR, via ecoi.net, 2025. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Gerold Krozewski. "Hidden Seamen from East Africa: Somali Firemen, European Steamers, and Global Labor Markets, 1880s-1930s". International Journal of African Historical Studies. https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Abdul Mohamud and Robin Whitburn. "Somali seafarer Ibrahim Ismaa'il: from Cardiff to the Cotswolds". Our Migration Story, 2016. https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/the-travels-of-somali-seaman-ibrahim-ismaail. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Ismail I. Ahmed. "Remittances and Their Economic Impact in Post-war Somaliland". Disasters 24(4), 2000. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Minnesota Historical Society. "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota". MNopedia. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Clément Cayla-Giraudeau. Paper on the Amicale of natives of the French Somali Coast in Marseille, 1948-1953. REAF 2018. https://reaf2018.sciencesconf.org/197108/197108.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Ivanova. Article on Somali students in the USSR. Kunstkamera journal, 2019 no. 4. https://journal.kunstkamera.ru/files/journal_kunstkamera/2019_04/ivanova_kk_4_6-stranicy-185-192.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Urbano. Chapter on Somali students at Padua, 1956-1969. Firenze University Press. https://books.fupress.com/doi/capitoli/979-12-215-0389-0_5. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Africa Watch. "Evil Days: Thirty Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia", chapter on the Ogaden. Human Rights Watch, 1991. https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Edward Girardet. "Desert war refugees inundate Somalia". Christian Science Monitor, 2 Jul 1980. https://csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Human Rights Watch. "World Report 1990: Somalia". HRW, 1991. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Human Rights Watch. "World Report 1993: Somalia". HRW, 1993. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. UN News. Report on displacement from Mogadishu. United Nations, 4 May 2007. https://news.un.org/en/story/2007/05/217812. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. FSNAU (FAO) and FEWS NET. "Study suggests 258,000 Somalis died due to severe food insecurity and famine". FSNAU, 2 May 2013. https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. OCHA. "Somalia: Drought and famine displacement monitoring dashboard, November 2022". ReliefWeb, 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-and-famine-displacement-monitoring-dashboard-november-2022. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Vali Jamal. "Somalia: The Gulf Link and Adjustment". In Raffer and Salih (eds), The Least Developed and the Oil-Rich Arab Countries, Palgrave, 1992. Abstract via RePEc. https://ideas.repec.org/h/pal/palchp/978-1-349-12558-6_9.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Wikipedia. "Somalis in the United Kingdom". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_the_United_Kingdom. Checked 2026-11-12.

</div>


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# The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse: who fled and where

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> War in the north from May 1988 sent nearly half a million people abroad, most to Ethiopia, by Human Rights Watch's count. After the central state collapsed in January 1991, about one million Somalis were in exile by October 1992, UNHCR said.

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
From May 1988 to 1992, war in the north and then the collapse of the central state drove the largest Somali exodus. This page holds the detail; the overview of every wave is at [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Why did people flee the north in 1988?

War broke out in May 1988 between the government and the Somali National Movement (SNM) ([HRW World Report 1990](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)). Human Rights Watch said the army drew no line between civilians and fighters, and destroyed livestock and water reservoirs.

By early 1990, an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people had been killed in the north ([HRW World Report 1990](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)). "Nearly half a million" had fled the country, most to Ethiopia, others to Djibouti and Yemen. Sizeable groups reached England and Wales.

The US Government Accountability Office studied why refugees fled to Ethiopia and how much of Hargeisa was destroyed ([GAO, NSIAD-89-159, May 1989](https://www.gao.gov/products/nsiad-89-159)). A Mogadishu research institute writes that the bombing drove more than 600,000 Somalis to Ethiopia ([Heritage Institute, 2018, in Somali](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). The two figures differ, and both are given here.

The 1988 war forced "almost the entire population of the north" to seek refuge abroad or in the south ([Ahmed, 2000](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf)). Many joined the older Somali community in Britain, Ahmed notes.

## What is recorded about the killings of civilians in the north, 1987-89?

Investigators, courts and researchers have documented killings of unarmed civilians in the north, mostly members of the Isaaq clan, during the government's war with the SNM. Their figures differ widely, and each is given here with its source.

**US State Department study, 1989.** Robert Gersony interviewed refugees and displaced people for the State Department's Bureau for Refugee Programs; his report "Why Somalis Flee" is dated August 1989 ([Yale Genocide Studies Program](https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/somalia-isaaq-genocide)). The State Department's 1989 human rights report, drawing on it, said "at least 5,000 unarmed civilians were purposefully murdered" by the armed forces between May 1988 and March 1989 ([US State Department, Country Report 1989, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/240775)). The same report said about 90 percent of Isaaq homes, businesses and property in Hargeisa were destroyed or severely damaged.

The Gersony report wrote that "the appearance that victims were selected for … killings principally because of their ethnic identity is unmistakable", as quoted by Yale ([Yale Genocide Studies Program](https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/somalia-isaaq-genocide)). The State Department describes 300 interviews; Yale-linked summaries give 252.

**Africa Watch, January 1990.** Africa Watch, part of Human Rights Watch, published "Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People" in January 1990 ([University of Halle open-data record](https://opendata.uni-halle.de/handle/1981185920/108544)). Human Rights Watch put the dead in the north at an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 between May 1988 and early 1990 ([HRW World Report 1990](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).

**UN-requested forensic work, 1997.** At the request of the UN Independent Expert on Somalia, Physicians for Human Rights examined more than 100 known or alleged grave sites around Hargeisa on 11 April 1997 ([Center for Justice and Accountability](https://cja.org/what-we-do/transitional-justice-initiatives/somaliland/)). It identified two mass graves, at Malko Durduro elementary school and at Badhka, with remains apparently bound with rope or cloth, the same source says.

**UN-commissioned investigation, 2001.** A 2001 UN report on the attacks concluded that "the crime of genocide was conceived, planned and perpetrated by the Somalia Government against the Isaaq people", as quoted by The Nation ([The Nation, 22 October 2018](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/in-the-valley-of-death-somalilands-forgotten-genocide/)). The report was commissioned jointly by the UN human rights office and the UN coordination unit for Somalia.

**Higher estimates.** Somaliland officials and its War Crimes Investigation Commission say as many as 200,000 people were killed and buried in mass graves, and the commission lists 226 known mass graves ([Al Jazeera, 6 February 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/02/06/investigating-genocide-in-somaliland/)). A forensic expert working there told Al Jazeera that estimates range from 60,000 to 200,000 and that "nobody really knows". The Nation reports more than 40,000 killed in the bombing and ground attacks on Hargeisa ([The Nation, 2018](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/in-the-valley-of-death-somalilands-forgotten-genocide/)).

**Court records.** In May 2019 a US federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found former army colonel Yusuf Abdi Ali liable for torturing a young herder in the north in 1987 ([Center for Justice and Accountability](https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/warfaa-v-ali-col-tukeh/); [VOA, May 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html)). It awarded US$400,000 in compensatory and US$100,000 in punitive damages, and rejected an attempted-killing claim; an appeals court upheld the judgment in 2021. Former defence minister and prime minister Mohamed Ali Samantar accepted a default judgment in a related US civil case on the eve of trial ([Center for Justice and Accountability](https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/warfaa-v-ali-col-tukeh/)).

Scholars and the Yale Genocide Studies Program use the word genocide for these events ([Yale Genocide Studies Program](https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/somalia-isaaq-genocide)). No international tribunal has been set up ([Al Jazeera, 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/02/06/investigating-genocide-in-somaliland/)).

## What was Hartisheikh?

Hartisheikh was a camp in eastern Ethiopia that held more than 250,000 Somali refugees at its height ([UN News, July 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)). Most came from Gabiley and Hargeisa. UNHCR closed it in 2004 when the last 719 residents went home; more than 230,000 had returned since April 1997.

## Why did people leave when the central state collapsed in 1991?

Fighting and hunger. Fighting in Mogadishu from November 1991 to February 1992 killed about 14,000 people and injured 27,000 ([HRW World Report 1993](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)). Famine and disease caused up to 300,000 deaths by mid-1992, the same report says.

People went in every direction:

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Kenya:</h3><p class="tl__body">UNHCR built the first three Dadaab camps between October 1991 and June 1992, for up to 90,000 people (<a href="https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/unhcr-fn-s-flykting-kommissarie/news/dadaab-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-20-years-old-36270">UNHCR, 2012</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Ethiopia:</h3><p class="tl__body">a camp at Hartisheikh, near the border, had taken in people from the north since 1988 (<a href="https://news.un.org/en/node/108122">UN News, 2004</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Yemen:</h3><p class="tl__body">about 60,000 Somali refugees were there by August 1992 (<a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm">HRW World Report 1993</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">United States:</h3><p class="tl__body">visas for Somali refugees began in 1992 (<a href="https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota">MNopedia</a>).</p></li></ol>

## What happened to minority communities?

Minority communities fled too, often with no armed group to protect them.

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Somali Bantu (Jareer):</h3><p class="tl__body">in 1991 one family walked from their farm to Kismayo, then 14 nights along the coast to Kenya (<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/">Smithsonian, 2004</a>). From 1992 they lived in Marafa camp near Malindi, then Kakuma.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Somali Bantu resettlement:</h3><p class="tl__body">the United States planned to resettle up to 12,000 Somali Bantu, and the first families arrived in May 2003 (<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/">Smithsonian, 2004</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Somali Bantu in Tanzania:</h3><p class="tl__body">about 3,000 refugees of Zigua ancestry were settled at Chogo and later naturalised (<a href="https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land">UNHCR</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Benadiri (Reer Xamar):</h3><p class="tl__body">many were merchants who had no militia for protection, and most fled to Kenya (<a href="https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2018/64976">Minority Rights Group, 2018</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Benadiri in Yemen:</h3><p class="tl__body">500 Benadir families from the southern coast had lived in Yemen since 1992 (<a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/node/236528">The New Humanitarian</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Bajuni:</h3><p class="tl__body">islanders from near Kismayo fled in 1991 to Jomvu camp near Mombasa, closed in late 1997 (<a href="https://mun.ca/faculty/dnurse/Refugees/Review_2000_JFFM_Report.pdf">Nurse, review of 2000 fact-finding report</a>).</p></li></ol>

## What else has been reported?


<h2 id="era-1991-to-2000">1991 to 2000</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Exile in 1992:</h3><p class="tl__body">UNHCR head Sadako Ogata told a Geneva conference on 12 October 1992 that about one million Somalis, almost 20% of the population, had fled to neighbouring countries, and that UNHCR assisted close to 700,000 of them (<a href="https://www.refworld.org/policy/statements/unhcr/1992/en/68646">UNHCR statement, via Refworld</a>).</p></li></ol>

## Related pages

- [Why did Somalis leave, and when? (overview)](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Famines, fighting and drought: Somalis who left from 1992 to now](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1992-2026/)
- [Which routes did Somalis take to leave?](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Collapse, 1991-2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/)
- [The Siad Barre era, 1969-1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)

## Sources

1. Ismail I. Ahmed. "Remittances and Their Economic Impact in Post-war Somaliland". Disasters 24(4), 2000. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn1/crmuploads/new_publication_3/%7B8EC8ADE9-7250-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70%7D.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Minnesota Historical Society. "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota". MNopedia. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Human Rights Watch. "World Report 1990: Somalia". HRW, 1991. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US General Accounting Office. "Somalia: Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and Resulting Conditions" (NSIAD-89-159). GAO, 4 May 1989. https://www.gao.gov/products/nsiad-89-159. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Mahad Wasuge. "Tahriibka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliya" (in Somali). Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, Mogadishu, 2018. https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UN News. "Once world's largest refugee camp in Ethiopia now closed". United Nations, 1 Jul 2004. https://news.un.org/en/node/108122. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Human Rights Watch. "World Report 1993: Somalia". HRW, 1993. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR. "Dadaab, world's biggest refugee camp, 20 years old". UNHCR press release, 2012. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/unhcr-fn-s-flykting-kommissarie/news/dadaab-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-20-years-old-36270. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Smithsonian Magazine. "Coming to America". Smithsonian, Jan 2004. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UNHCR. "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land". UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Minority Rights Group International. "World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Somalia, Benadiri". MRG, 2018. https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2018/64976. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. The New Humanitarian (IRIN). Report on Benadir families in Yemen. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/node/236528. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Derek Nurse. Review of the 2000 Joint Fact-Finding Mission report on the Bajuni. Memorial University. https://mun.ca/faculty/dnurse/Refugees/Review_2000_JFFM_Report.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. US Department of State. "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1989: Somalia". Via ecoi.net, 1990. https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/240775. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Genocide Studies Program, Yale University. "Somalia: Isaaq genocide". https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/somalia-isaaq-genocide. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Africa Watch. "Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People", January 1990. University of Halle open-data record. https://opendata.uni-halle.de/handle/1981185920/108544. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Center for Justice and Accountability. "Somaliland: transitional justice". https://cja.org/what-we-do/transitional-justice-initiatives/somaliland/. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Ismail Einashe and Matt Kennard. "In the Valley of Death: Somaliland's Forgotten Genocide". The Nation, 22 Oct 2018. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/in-the-valley-of-death-somalilands-forgotten-genocide/. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Al Jazeera. "Investigating genocide in Somaliland". 6 Feb 2014. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/02/06/investigating-genocide-in-somaliland/. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Center for Justice and Accountability. "Warfaa v. Ali" case page. https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/warfaa-v-ali-col-tukeh/. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Voice of America. "US jury: former Somali colonel responsible for torture". May 2019. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Sadako Ogata. Statement to the International Conference on Somalia, Geneva, 12 Oct 1992. UNHCR via Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/policy/statements/unhcr/1992/en/68646. Checked 2026-11-12.

</div>


---

# The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders, 1880s to 1960

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The first Somalis to settle abroad were seamen, traders and colonial workers who left through Aden from the 1880s. Aden had 10,611 Somali residents by 1955, Cardiff police registered 108 Somalis in 1938, and a 2026 study estimates 3,000 to 5,000 Somalis and their children in Britain and 600 to 1,000 in the United States before 1960.

The first Somalis abroad were men who worked ships and caravans for colonial empires. From the 1880s they left mostly through Aden. They settled in port towns from [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) to New York, and in the trading towns of East Africa.

Somali men worked the engine rooms of British, French and German steamships from the 1880s to the 1930s ([Krozewski, International Journal of African Historical Studies](https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757)). They became linked with stoking coal on British tramp ships, the same study says. For the wider story of later waves, see [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Why was Aden the gateway?

Aden was the coaling port where ships hired crews for the Suez route. Its Somali population grew from 477 in 1839 to 3,896 in 1856 ([Hirsi, University of Minnesota, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content), citing Alpers and Ewald). By the 1870s more than 700 Somalis held government licences for the port's small boats, the same study records.

Aden's 1955 census counted 10,611 Somalis ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). In 1962 the British government estimated 15,000 Somalis among Aden's 221,000 people ([Hansard, 17 Jul 1962](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1962/jul/17/population)).

## How many Somalis lived in Britain before 1960?

No count was ever made. In 1938 Cardiff police registered 230 Arabs and 108 Somalis, and 300 to 500 more held papers as British subjects ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content), citing Glamorgan Archives DCONC/7/5/1-3). Adding Liverpool, South Shields, Sheffield, London, [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and Glasgow, Hirsi estimates 3,000 to 5,000 Somalis and their children.

Hard times are on file. In June 1921 Cardiff boarding-house keepers resolved to refuse bed and food to about 1,500 unemployed "coloured" seamen ([National Archives, CO 323/879/22](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9387820)). The file is titled "Destitute Somali seamen".

The settlements were in the docklands:
- **Cardiff (Butetown, or Tiger Bay):** Somali-run lodging houses and cafés grew up there, Hirsi writes ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)).
- **London's East End:** Tower Hamlets records a community of Somali dockers from before the First World War ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)).
- **South Shields:** Yemeni seamen settled in the coal port from the late 19th century "along with the Somalis" ([National Archives catalogue, CPA/226](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/5a4e9f83-5f4d-443d-8a17-1c7d240b13e3)).
- **Liverpool:** the Minister of Labour confirmed rising unemployment among Somali seamen there in 1956 ([Hansard, 19 Apr 1956](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen)).

## Were Somali seamen British subjects?

Most were not, and this shaped their lives. Men from [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) were "British protected persons", not British subjects, the Home Secretary told Parliament in 1926 ([Hansard, 15 Mar 1926](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1926/mar/15/coloured-british-seamen)). Proof of birth in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) therefore did not exempt a seaman from registering.

In 1938 the Home Office confirmed that Somalis visiting Britain had to register as aliens under the Aliens Order 1920 ([Hansard, 14 Apr 1938](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1938/apr/14/british-somalis)). The Special Restriction (Coloured Alien Seamen) Order of 1925 also applied to seamen, making registration with the police compulsory for those who could not prove citizenship ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)).

Somali seamen pushed back in writing. Colonial Office files hold their letters:
- **1931-32:** a translated letter of complaint signed by unemployed Somali seamen, on status and jobs on British ships ([National Archives, CO 535/94/26](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8941591)).
- **1934-35:** their treatment under the Aliens Order, with letters from the president of the Islamic Society ([National Archives, CO 535/105/6](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8946732)).
- **1935:** a further file on the status of Somali seamen in the UK ([National Archives, CO 535/111/7](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8951492)).

## Were seamen sent home?

Some were, when work ran out. A 1931 file covers the repatriation of destitute Somali sailors, with a list of men, their clans and their discharge ships ([National Archives, CO 535/93/13](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8940603)). The India Office handled "Repatriation of Somalis" in 1921-22 ([British Library India Office Records, IOR/L/E/7/1103](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/831815fb-05e5-49d1-93c8-d0d71967a736)).

A shipping file of 1949-50 covers solicitors' letters on repatriating Somali seamen from Britain ([National Archives, MT 9/5282](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5116798)).

## What did Somali seamen do in the two world wars?

They kept ships moving. Britain's wartime labour shortage drew colonial seamen, Somalis among them, into the merchant fleet during the First World War ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). Medal cards in the shipping registers list men born in Somaliland or Aden, the same study notes.

The Second World War left its own records:
- **Casualties:** a pensions file titled "Mercantile marine casualties: Somali seamen", 1944-50 ([National Archives, PIN 15/3694](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C208410)).
- **Pensions:** "Arab and Somali seamen", 1940-62 ([National Archives, PIN 15/3225](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C207941)).
- **Memory:** a Welsh Somali museum curator recalls Butetown elders describing ships torpedoed in that war ([Oral History Society, 25 Oct 2021](https://ohs.org.uk/regions/wales/black-history-is-welsh-history/)).

After 1945 the Royal Navy added Somali seamen and stokers to its East Indies Station ([National Archives, ADM 1/25262, 1953-54](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4846374)). A 1951-52 Colonial Office file deals with Somali seamen's savings deposits ([National Archives, CO 876/178](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3768186)).

## What changed in the 1950s?

Men moved ashore. A second wave came to Britain in the 1950s for work in steel and coal ([Tower Hamlets Council](https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf)). In 1956 James Callaghan MP told Parliament of "considerable growth of unemployment" among Somali seamen in Cardiff ([Hansard, 19 Apr 1956](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen)).

Butetown's mosque history is told two ways. Hirsi dates the first stand-alone mosque, Noor El-Islam, to the late 1930s ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). A 2024 account dates its founding by Somali and Yemeni seamen to 1947 ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).

## Who were the first Somalis in the United States?

Sailors who left their ships. A 1920s US government document put Somali and Adeni migrants at about 2,000 ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). Hirsi estimates that 600 to 1,000 Somalis lived in the US between 1900 and 1960.

[Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/), a prominent Somali official who lived in New York, estimated about 300 Somalis in New York in the early 1950s (cited in [Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). Most had worked as firemen and trimmers, then took factory jobs in Buffalo, Philadelphia, Youngstown and Detroit. Many settled in Harlem.

In May 1949, Somali Youth League envoys met supporters at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). New York Somalis helped fund their stay while they pressed the UN for independence. See [The Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).

## Did Somalis organise in France?

Yes. Seamen from the French Somali Coast (now Djibouti) founded the Amicale des Originaires de la Côte française des Somalis in Marseille in 1948 ([Cayla-Giraudeau, REAF 2018](https://reaf2018.sciencesconf.org/197108/197108.pdf)). It began as a union for its members' working conditions.

French intelligence watched it closely, suspecting it of seeking to rally all Somalis in France and North Africa (same source). Its contacts with committees of the Somali Youth League were recorded by the security services. The study covers its life from 1948 to 1953.

## Who were the first Somalis in Kenya and East Africa?

Traders, guards and colonial staff. Nairobi's early Somalis were mainly Isaaq and Harti, who came down the coast from Aden ([Whittaker, Brunel University](https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/11836/1/FullText.doc)). They worked as clerks, interpreters, soldiers, gun-bearers and livestock and ivory traders.

They were present when the railway reached Nairobi in 1899, and numbered about 300 by 1914 ([Whittaker](https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/11836/1/FullText.doc)). Four Somali villages stood in central Nairobi, with a mosque and a school. In 1916 the government ordered them moved out; after years of dispute they were resettled at Pumwani in 1921.

The Isahakia of Kenya trace their arrival to the 1890s, as porters, guards and gun-bearers for Lord Delamere ([The Standard, 25 Aug 2010, via CRAI](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/en/kenya-isahakia-from-somaliland-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-and-sufferance/)). They number over 10,000 in their third and fourth generations, the same report says.

Isaaq and Harti traders in Kenya campaigned for "Asiatic" status, through petitions, lawyers and organised associations ([Turton, Journal of African History, 1972](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-resistance-to-colonial-rule-and-the-development-of-somali-political-activity-in-kenya-18931960/4C145E9BBE5B153DC4CB2EBA52B82F09)). They kept contacts in British Somaliland and England. Ethnic Somali Kenyans of the north-east are citizens of Kenya with their own long history; see [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

In Tanganyika, colonial police listed Somalis with Asians, Arabs and Chinese in a 1958-59 "Asian Who's Who" ([National Archives, FCO 141/17862](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14088059)).

## Where are their stories kept?

In archives and in community memory. Cardiff's Butetown History and Arts Centre recorded oral histories from about 1982 to 2014, including a Somali Elders project ([Heritage and Cultural Exchange archive](https://www.hcearchive.org.uk/collections/show/1)). Its catalogue lists 567 items and a Seafarers Group on the Second World War.

Pupils from Mount Stuart Primary School interviewed elders at Red Sea House, a Cardiff retirement home for Somali seamen ([Butetown Memories](https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/groups/butetown-memories)). Hirsi's 2026 study adds new oral histories from Cardiff and Harlem ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Aden, 1931:** the 1931 census of Aden counted 3,935 Somalis in a total population of 46,638, according to the colony's administration report for 1933-34 ([Administration Report of Aden, year ending 31 March 1934, Qatar Digital Library](https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100151780576.0x00000d)).

## Related pages

- [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [London](/en/diaspora/london/)
- [Somalis in other UK cities](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [France](/en/diaspora/france/)
- [Other US cities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [The Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/)
- [Colonial treaties, 1884-1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)

## Sources

1. Gerold Krozewski. "Hidden Seamen from East Africa: Somali Firemen, European Steamers, and Global Labor Markets, 1880s-1930s". International Journal of African Historical Studies. https://www.bu.edu/phpbin/ijahs/publications/?pid=757. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Ibrahim Hirsi. "The First Somali Diaspora: A Transnational History of Migration, Race, and Colonialism". PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, July 2026. https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UK Parliament. HC Deb 17 Jul 1962 vol 663 cc216-7, "Population" (Aden). Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1962/jul/17/population. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UK Parliament. HC Deb 15 Mar 1926 vol 193 cc40-2, "Coloured British seamen". Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1926/mar/15/coloured-british-seamen. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UK Parliament. HC Deb 14 Apr 1938 vol 334 cc1288-9, "British Somalis". Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1938/apr/14/british-somalis. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UK Parliament. HC Deb 19 Apr 1956 vol 551 cc1149-50, "Somali seamen". Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. The National Archives. CO 323/879/22, "Destitute Somali seamen", June 1921. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9387820. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. The National Archives. CO 535/93/13, "Repatriation of destitute Somali sailors", 1931-32. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8940603. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. The National Archives. CO 535/94/26, status of British protected persons and employment of Somali seamen, 1931-32. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8941591. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. The National Archives. CO 535/105/6, "Status of Somali seamen in the United Kingdom and their treatment under the Aliens Order", 1934-35. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8946732. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. The National Archives. CO 535/111/7, "Status of Somali seamen in the UK", 1935. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8951492. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. British Library. IOR/L/E/7/1103, File 8230, "Repatriation of destitute seamen ... Repatriation of Somalis", 1921-22. Via National Archives Discovery. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/831815fb-05e5-49d1-93c8-d0d71967a736. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. The National Archives. MT 9/5282, repatriation of Somali seamen from the UK, 1949-50. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5116798. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. The National Archives. PIN 15/3694, "Mercantile marine casualties: Somali seamen", 1944-50. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C208410. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. The National Archives. PIN 15/3225, "Arab and Somali seamen", 1940-62. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C207941. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. The National Archives. ADM 1/25262, "East Indies Station: addition to complement of Somali seamen and stokers", 1953-54. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4846374. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. The National Archives. CO 876/178, "Saving deposits of Somali seamen", 1951-52. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3768186. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. The National Archives. FCO 141/17862, Tanganyika "Asian Who's Who (including Arabs, Somalis and Chinese)", 1958-59. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14088059. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Catalogue entry CPA/226, "Yemeni seamen settled in the coal port of South Shields ... along with the Somalis", Coalfield Stories commission, 2000-2006. Via National Archives Discovery. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/5a4e9f83-5f4d-443d-8a17-1c7d240b13e3. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Tower Hamlets Council. "Somali Task Force" report. https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Community-safety-and-emergencies/TH_Somali_Task_Force.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Clément Cayla-Giraudeau. "L'Amicale des originaires de la Côte française des Somalis, une proto-diaspora djiboutienne à Marseille (1948-1953)". REAF 2018. https://reaf2018.sciencesconf.org/197108/197108.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Hannah Whittaker. "A new model village?: Nairobi development and the Somali question in Kenya, c. 1915-1917". Brunel University London repository. https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/11836/1/FullText.doc. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. E. R. Turton. "Somali Resistance to Colonial Rule and the Development of Somali Political Activity in Kenya 1893-1960". Journal of African History 13(1), 1972, 119-143. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-resistance-to-colonial-rule-and-the-development-of-somali-political-activity-in-kenya-18931960/4C145E9BBE5B153DC4CB2EBA52B82F09. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. Antony Gitonga. "Kenya: One hundred years of solitude and sufferance". The Standard, 25 Aug 2010, via Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative. https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/en/kenya-isahakia-from-somaliland-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-and-sufferance/. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Beth Thomas. "Black history is Welsh history". Oral History Society, 25 Oct 2021. https://ohs.org.uk/regions/wales/black-history-is-welsh-history/. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. The Heritage and Cultural Exchange. "Oral history interviews" (Butetown History and Arts Centre collection). https://www.hcearchive.org.uk/collections/show/1. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. Britain from Above. "Butetown Memories" group. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/groups/butetown-memories. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. Hyphen. "In focus: the roots of Cardiff's thriving Somali community", 30 Oct 2024. https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/. Checked 2026-11-12.
29. Government of Aden. "Administration Report of Aden for the year ending 31 March 1934". British Library, via [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Digital Library. https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100151780576.0x00000d. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Famines, fighting and drought: Somalis who left from 1992 to now

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1992-2026/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Since 1992, famine, fighting in Mogadishu and repeated droughts have driven Somalis from their homes. Famine in 2011 killed about 258,000 people, and UNHCR counted 805,917 refugees from Somalia in the region in October 2026.

<nav aria-label="Jump to era"><ul class="era-jump"><li><a href="#era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</a></li><li><a href="#era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</a></li></ul></nav>

<div class="tl-wrap">
<label class="tl-toggle"><input type="checkbox"> Show who took part and what each event meant for unity</label>
Since 1992, famine, fighting and drought have kept Somalis moving, inside the country and across borders. The overview of every wave is at [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## How bad was the 1992 famine?

Human Rights Watch reported up to 300,000 deaths from famine and disease by mid-1992 ([HRW World Report 1993](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm)). The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine cites an estimated 220,000 deaths over 12 months ([LSHTM, 2013](https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2013/somalia_famine.html)).

Displaced people in Baidoa camps had an average daily death rate of 16.8 per 10,000 people ([CDC, MMWR](https://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00018099.htm)). Researchers called this one of the highest rates recorded for civilians over a long period.

## Why did people leave Mogadishu in 2007?

Fighting broke out between the transitional government, backed by Ethiopian troops, and insurgents. About 394,000 people fled Mogadishu between early February and early May 2007, over a third of the city ([UN News, 4 May 2007](https://news.un.org/en/story/2007/05/217812)). Afgooye took 43,000, Baidoa almost 17,000 and Galkacyo almost 10,000.

Kenya closed its border with Somalia on 3 January 2007, after Ethiopian troops entered Somalia ([HRW, From Horror to Hopelessness, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis)). People still came: about 60,000 Somali asylum seekers entered Kenya in 2008. By February 2009, Dadaab held about 255,000 people in camps built for 90,000.

Sea crossings to Yemen also rose, to a record 50,000 arrivals in 2008 ([HRW, Hostile Shores, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9)).

## How many died in the 2011 famine, and where did people go?

About 258,000 people died of famine and severe hunger in southern and central Somalia, October 2010 to April 2012 ([FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2013](https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-)). About 133,000 were children under five.

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Peak:</h3><p class="tl__body">about 30,000 excess deaths a month from May to August 2011 (<a href="https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-">FSNAU</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Share:</h3><p class="tl__body">4.6 percent of the population and 10 percent of children under five in the south and centre died.</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Hardest hit:</h3><p class="tl__body">child deaths were highest in Lower Shabelle, Mogadishu and Bay.</p></li></ol>

Arrivals at Dadaab often topped 1,000 a day: about 30,000 in June, 40,000 in July and 38,000 in August 2011 ([UNHCR, 2012](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/unhcr-fn-s-flykting-kommissarie/news/dadaab-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-20-years-old-36270)). A third of the region's roughly one million Somali refugees left Somalia in 2011, UNHCR said.

By October 2011, Ethiopia's Dollo Ado area had five camps: Bokolmanyo, Melkadida, Kobe, Hilaweyn and Buramino ([UNHCR Dollo Ado update, 9 Oct 2011](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/31151)). Ground for Buramino was broken on 7 October 2011, and 2,985 people arrived in the first eight days of that month. By August 2012, Somali refugees in the region passed one million, and 1.3 million more were displaced inside Somalia ([UNHCR, Aug 2012](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9802)).

## What did the 2017 and 2021-23 droughts do?

They pushed people from farms and herds into towns and camps, mostly inside Somalia.


<h2 id="era-2012-to-2020">2012 to 2020</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2016-17:</h3><p class="tl__body">UNHCR's monitoring network recorded 761,000 drought displacements from 1 November 2016 to 23 June 2017 (<a href="https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/details/58292">UNHCR PRMN, 2017</a>).</p></li></ol>

<h2 id="era-2020-to-now">2020 to now</h2>

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2021-22:</h3><p class="tl__body">1,355,797 people were displaced by drought from January 2021 to the end of November 2022 (<a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-and-famine-displacement-monitoring-dashboard-november-2022">OCHA via ReliefWeb</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2022 deaths:</h3><p class="tl__body">about 43,000 excess deaths, half of them children under five (<a href="https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia">WHO and UNICEF, March 2023</a>).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2022 to mid-2024:</h3><p class="tl__body">a later study put drought-linked excess deaths at 71,000 or more (<a href="https://citizen.digital/news/drought-led-to-71000-excess-deaths-in-somalia-report-shows-n356481">Citizen Digital</a>).</p></li></ol>

In 2022 the highest excess deaths were in Bay, Bakool and Banadir ([UNICEF, 2023](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia)).

## Where are Somali refugees now?

UNHCR counted these refugees from Somalia on its regional data portal ([UNHCR, 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)):

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Ethiopia:</h3><p class="tl__body">368,165 (31 October 2026).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Kenya:</h3><p class="tl__body">334,733 (31 October 2026).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Uganda:</h3><p class="tl__body">48,340 (31 October 2026).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Yemen:</h3><p class="tl__body">40,982 (31 August 2026).</p></li><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">Djibouti:</h3><p class="tl__body">13,697 (31 August 2026).</p></li></ol>

That totals 805,917. Kenya's figure was 468,507 at the end of 2024 by an earlier UNHCR count ([UNHCR infographic, Dec 2024](https://data.unhcr.org/es/documents/download/114055)).

## Are people still being displaced inside Somalia?

Yes. UNHCR's monitoring network recorded 553,000 internal displacements in 2024 ([UNHCR Somalia dashboard, Jan 2025](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/114871)). In November 2025 alone it recorded about 146,000, 71 percent caused by drought ([UNHCR dashboard, Nov 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf)).

That month, Sanaag in the north saw the most displacement, including 50,600 arrivals in Ceerigaabo ([UNHCR, Nov 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf)). The full record of displacement inside the country is on the internal displacement page.

## Do people come back?

Some do. Since December 2014, 141,673 refugees have returned to Somalia, and UNHCR helped 97,293 of them ([UNHCR dashboard, Nov 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf)). The largest groups came from Kenya (85,904) and Yemen (53,515).

## What else has been reported?

<ol class="timeline"><li><span class="tl__marker" aria-hidden="true"></span><h3 class="tl__year">2016-17 drought:</h3><p class="tl__body">UNHCR's monitoring network counted about 893,000 drought-related displacements from 1 November 2016 to 31 August 2017, 804,000 of them in 2017 (<a href="https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/60042">UNHCR Somalia fact sheet, August 2017</a>). This is higher than the June 2017 figure given in the drought section because it runs two months longer.</p></li></ol>

## Related pages

- [Why did Somalis leave, and when? (overview)](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Which routes did Somalis take to leave?](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Collapse, 1991-2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/)
- [The Siad Barre era, 1969-1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. "Refugees from Somalia", Horn of Africa situation data portal. UNHCR, data to 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR Somalia. "Population Dashboard, November 2025". UNHCR, via ecoi.net, 2025. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR Somalia. "Population Dashboard, January 2025". UNHCR, 2025. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/114871. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Human Rights Watch. "World Report 1993: Somalia". HRW, 1993. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-08.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR. "Dadaab, world's biggest refugee camp, 20 years old". UNHCR press release, 2012. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/unhcr-fn-s-flykting-kommissarie/news/dadaab-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-20-years-old-36270. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Somalia famine worst in past 25 years". LSHTM, May 2013. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2013/somalia_famine.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. US Centers for Disease Control. Mortality survey of displaced persons in Baidoa, 1992. MMWR. https://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00018099.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UN News. Report on displacement from Mogadishu. United Nations, 4 May 2007. https://news.un.org/en/story/2007/05/217812. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Human Rights Watch. "From Horror to Hopelessness". HRW, 30 Mar 2009. https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Human Rights Watch. "Hostile Shores: Abuse and Refoulement of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Yemen". HRW, 20 Dec 2009. https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. FSNAU (FAO) and FEWS NET. "Study suggests 258,000 Somalis died due to severe food insecurity and famine". FSNAU, 2 May 2013. https://fsnau.org/in-focus/technical-release-study-suggests-258000-somalis-died-due-severe-food-insecurity-and-famine-. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UNHCR Ethiopia. "Dollo Ado Bi-Weekly Update". UNHCR, 9 Oct 2011. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/31151. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UNHCR. "Somali refugee population in Horn of Africa passes one million, but exodus slows". UNHCR, 31 Aug 2012. https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9802. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. UNHCR Protection and Return Monitoring Network. "Somalia drought related displacements to 23 June 2017". UNHCR, 2017. https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/details/58292. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. OCHA. "Somalia: Drought and famine displacement monitoring dashboard, November 2022". ReliefWeb, 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-and-famine-displacement-monitoring-dashboard-november-2022. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. UNICEF and WHO. "New study finds that 43,000 excess deaths may have occurred in 2022 from the drought in Somalia". UNICEF Somalia, 20 Mar 2023. https://www.unicef.org/somalia/press-releases/new-study-finds-43000-excess-deaths-may-have-occurred-2022-drought-somalia. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Citizen Digital. "Drought led to 71,000 excess deaths in Somalia, report shows". https://citizen.digital/news/drought-led-to-71000-excess-deaths-in-somalia-report-shows-n356481. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR. Somali refugees by country of asylum, infographic, 31 Dec 2024. https://data.unhcr.org/es/documents/download/114055. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. UNHCR Somalia. "Fact Sheet, 1-31 August 2017". https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/60042. Checked 2026-11-12.

</div>


---

# When Somalia hosted refugees: the camps of 1978 to 1990

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/refugees-in-somalia-1978-1990/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After the 1977-78 Ogaden war, Somalia hosted one of the world's largest refugee populations, mostly Somalis and Oromo from Ethiopia, in more than 30 camps. UNHCR's own series puts the number at 600,000 in 1978, a peak of 2 million in 1980 (the government's count), and 700,000 to 840,000 for most of the 1980s.

Somalia hosted refugees before Somalis became refugees abroad. After the Ogaden war of 1977-78, hundreds of thousands of people from Ethiopia lived in UN camps across Somalia. Most were ethnic Somalis and Oromo, and some stayed thirteen years.

UNHCR's own statistics record 600,000 refugees from Ethiopia in Somalia in 1978, 2,000,000 in 1980 and 460,000 in 1990 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=1995&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)). How many people really lived in the camps was disputed for the whole decade.

## Why did people flee from Ethiopia into Somalia?

War and drought drove them. The Ogaden war ended with Somalia's defeat in March 1978; see [The Ogaden war of 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/). Ethiopian forces then fought insurgents in the Ogaden and attacked villages and herds ([Africa Watch, Evil Days, 1991](https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf)).

In 1977-78 relief agencies counted more than 1,000 arrivals a day, mostly women and children ([Library of Congress Country Study, Ethiopia](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/46.htm)). In March 1981 UNHCR reported about 4,000 crossings a day, up from 2,000 in October 1980 ([Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar 1981](https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0325/032556.html)). About 112,000 people arrived in January 1981 alone, the same report said.

The 1984-85 famine in Ethiopia sent about 100,000 more people into Somalia ([Library of Congress Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/46.htm)).

## Who were the refugees?

Most were ethnic Somalis from Ethiopia's Ogaden region ([Christian Science Monitor, 2 Jul 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)). About 30 percent of refugees in the southern camps were Oromo from Bale, Sidamo and Arussi, the same report said.

A 1981 survey also listed Eritrean, Tigrayan and Afar refugees ([Waldron, Cultural Survival Quarterly, 1981](https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/somali-emergency-2000000-refugees)). Ninety percent of camp residents were women and children, and the whereabouts of most men and herds were unknown (same source).

In a 1989 US State Department study, refugees in the northern camps named their clans or peoples ([Gersony, Why Somalis Flee, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)):
- **Ogaden:** 29 percent of those interviewed.
- **Oromo:** 26 percent.
- **Gadabuursi:** 19 percent.
- **Others:** Geri, [Sheekhaal](/en/society/sheekhaal/), Hawiye, Abaskul, Akisha, [Bartire](/en/society/bartire/) and Dir, 26 percent together.

Nearly all came from the Degeh Bur and Harar areas of eastern Ethiopia, and 92 percent had no schooling ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)).

## How many refugees were there?

Each source gave a different figure. All are given here, with who said them.

- **Somali government, 1980:** "more than 2 million," said the Information Minister ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)).
- **A UN official, 1980:** about 1.5 million inside and outside camps (same source).
- **Camp registration, 1980:** about 725,000 in 26 camps (same source).
- **Registration, 1 March 1981:** 1,316,845 in more than 30 camps, plus 500,000 to 700,000 outside them ([Cultural Survival, 1981](https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/somali-emergency-2000000-refugees)).
- **UK government, March 1981:** about 800,000 in camps and up to 600,000 outside ([Hansard, House of Lords, 25 Mar 1981](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1981/mar/25/somalia-and-ethiopia-refugee-problem)).
- **Donors, 1983:** 700,000 to 800,000, against a government claim of 1.3 million ([Africa Watch, 1991](https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf)).
- **Late 1980s:** a UN survey gave 450,000 to 620,000, and US Catholic Relief Services about 430,000 ([Library of Congress Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/46.htm)).

Aid was planned on a figure of 700,000, while aid officials privately estimated fewer than 400,000, wrote a UNHCR officer ([Ambroso, UNHCR, 2002](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/4150/1/Clanship_%20conflict%20and%20refugees_An%20introduction%20to%20Somalis%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.pdf)). He explained the difference by many herders quietly going home.

UNHCR's yearly series shows the same planning number ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=1995&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)):
- **1977:** 500,000. **1978:** 600,000. **1979:** 1,175,000.
- **1980:** 2,000,000. **1981 to 1983:** 700,000 each year.
- **1985:** 812,000. **1987:** 840,100. **1988:** 834,000.
- **1989:** 769,630. **1990:** 460,000.

## Where were the camps?

Most camps stood along rivers in Gedo, Hiiraan and the north-west ([CS Monitor, 13 Aug 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0813/081344.html)). The US study counted 41 UN camps in Somalia, twelve of them in the north ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)).

Camps named in the record include:
- **North-west:** Agabar, Las Dhure, Sabaad, Dam, Tug Wajale, Arapsio (Arabsiyo), Adiades, Bixin, Biyoley, Darimaan and Dawaale ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)).
- **South:** Ali Matan, Ban Mandule, Bur Dhubo, Dorialey, Halba, Malka Hidday and Suriye (same source).
- **Gedo:** the border town of Luuq (Lugh Ganane) was a crossing point in 1981 ([CS Monitor, 1981](https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0325/032556.html)).

Agabar, near Hargeisa, held 94,000 people in August 1980 ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0813/081344.html)). Las Dhure, about eight miles away, held more than 25,000, the same report said.

## How did people live in the camps?

Poorly at first. Adults received about 1,300 calories a day, mostly maize or wheat flour, and water was often trucked in ([Cultural Survival, 1981](https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/somali-emergency-2000000-refugees)). Up to 60 percent of children tested positive for tuberculosis (same source).

At Agabar in 1980, deaths fell from about 20 a day to about 4 after child feeding began in May ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0813/081344.html)). Women walked up to ten miles for firewood. Shelters were huts of wood, reed, cardboard and tarpaulin.

Newer camps were better laid out. Las Dhure had sections of 400 families, each with a health centre and an elected camp committee ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0813/081344.html)). By 1988, refugees in the north lived mainly on UNHCR rations, plus day labour and selling firewood ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)).

Somali families also took in refugees at their own cost ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)). Refugees of Somali clans could choose aid in the camps or settling as Somali nationals ([Ambroso, 2002](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/4150/1/Clanship_%20conflict%20and%20refugees_An%20introduction%20to%20Somalis%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.pdf)).

## Who paid for the camps?

UNHCR appealed on 4 March 1980 for over US$120 million for 750,000 camp refugees ([CS Monitor, 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)). Two-thirds was for about 160,000 tonnes of food. Twenty-seven voluntary agencies from thirteen countries ran camps with the government ([Cultural Survival, 1981](https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/somali-emergency-2000000-refugees)).

Britain's record shows its share:
- **1978:** £60,000 of relief supplies, then £750,000 for UNHCR in Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti ([Hansard, 22 Nov 1978](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1978/nov/22/ogaden-war-refugees)).
- **1980-81:** £1 million, including 5,000 tonnes of food ([Hansard, Lords, 25 Mar 1981](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1981/mar/25/somalia-and-ethiopia-refugee-problem)).
- **1980 to 1983:** cash grants to UNHCR of £500,000, £1,000,000 and £500,000 ([Hansard, 21 Feb 1983](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1983/feb/21/somalia)).

Food did not always reach the camps. Relief sources said 30 to 60 percent of stocks were lost before arrival ([CS Monitor, 1981](https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0325/032556.html)). A 1986 US audit found only 12 percent of 1984 emergency food reached the hungry ([Askin, MERIP, 1987](https://www.merip.org/1987/03/food-aid-diversion.md)).

## Were refugees drafted into the army?

Yes, according to the US State Department study. Of 30 refugees who had lived in southern camps, 24 saw the army take refugees by force ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)). They reported 35 such round-ups from before 1982 to March 1989.

This broke the rules that protect refugees, and UNHCR protested "vigorously", the study says ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)). Of 48 men interviewed in the north, 11 said they had fought with the [WSLF](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) or OLF in Ethiopia.

## What happened to the camps when war came in 1988?

They were caught in the war between the government and the Somali National Movement (SNM). The US study attributed dozens of attacks on northern camps to the SNM from late May 1988 ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)). It estimated at least 400 unarmed refugees were killed.

The same study found that the army killed at least 5,000 unarmed Isaaq civilians from May 1988 to March 1989 ([Gersony, 1989](https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf)). It found both sides violated the camps' protected status. The government armed some camp residents and drew several hundred or more into militia operations.

Africa Watch reported in 1990 that armed refugees from Sabaad camp killed more than 60 Isaaq herders in August 1990 ([Africa Watch, 12 Sep 1990](https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/s/somalia/somalia909.pdf)). It blamed the government's policy of arming refugees. These acts belong to the armed forces and groups each study names, not to any whole community.

## What happened to the refugees after 1990?

Most went back to Ethiopia. In 1989-90 UNHCR still assisted about 460,000 Ethiopian refugees in Somalia, while a March 1990 appeal for a lasting solution waited for funds ([UNHCR annual report 1991, Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/unhcr/1992/en/42173)).

When the central state collapsed in 1991, the return became "self-repatriation under duress" ([Ambroso, UNHCR, 2002](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/4150/1/Clanship_%20conflict%20and%20refugees_An%20introduction%20to%20Somalis%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.pdf)). Between 600,000 and 800,000 people went back from 1991 to 1993. About 550,000 received a UNHCR cash grant and six months of food on arrival.

UNHCR's count of refugees from Ethiopia in Somalia fell to 480 by 1992 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=1995&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)). Ethiopia let returnees regain identity papers easily ([Ambroso, 2002](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/4150/1/Clanship_%20conflict%20and%20refugees_An%20introduction%20to%20Somalis%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.pdf)). The same years saw Somalis themselves flee to camps in Ethiopia; see [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Camps named in studies:** a medical study examined children in the Jalalaqsi refugee camps in late 1980 ([Prehospital and Disaster Medicine](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/prehospital-and-disaster-medicine/article/nutritional-state-of-children-in-jalalaksi-refugee-camps-somalia/2C16949D7470FDF308DD26267385DD2B)), and another describes Italian medical teams in three camps in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) district, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) ([Prehospital and Disaster Medicine](https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/prehospital-and-disaster-medicine/article/italian-aid-in-qorioley-refugee-camps-somalia/0CBF782FBA825BE9DC949B592AFAB346)). In July 1980 the Christian Science Monitor counted about 725,000 registered refugees in 26 camps, mostly in Gedo, Hiiraan and the northwest, almost all along rivers ([CSM, 2 July 1980](https://csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html)).

## Related pages

- [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Somali refugee camps today](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [The Ogaden war of 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [The Siad Barre era, 1969-1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Collapse, 1991-2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/)
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)
- [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, refugees in Somalia by country of origin, 1975-1995. UNHCR. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=1995&coa=SOM&coo_all=true. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Robert Gersony. "[Why Somalis Flee](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/): Synthesis of Accounts of Conflict Experience in Northern Somalia". US Department of State, Bureau for Refugee Programs, August 1989. https://cja.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gersony-Why-Somalis-Flee-Aug-1989.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Africa Watch. "Evil Days: Thirty Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia", Ogaden chapter. Human Rights Watch, 1991. https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c5ogaden.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Africa Watch. "Somalia: Evading Reality". News from Africa Watch, 12 Sep 1990. https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/s/somalia/somalia909.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Edward Girardet. "Desert war refugees inundate Somalia". Christian Science Monitor, 2 Jul 1980. https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0702/070243.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Edward Girardet. "Refugees eke out marginal existence in dry Somalia". Christian Science Monitor, 13 Aug 1980. https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0813/081344.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Edward Girardet. "Somalia: 4,000 refugees daily". Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar 1981. https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0325/032556.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Sidney R. Waldron. "Somali Emergency: 2,000,000 Refugees". Cultural Survival Quarterly 5(2), Summer 1981. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/somali-emergency-2000000-refugees. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UK Parliament. HL Deb 25 Mar 1981 vol 418 cc1159-60, "[Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/): refugee problem". Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1981/mar/25/somalia-and-ethiopia-refugee-problem. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UK Parliament. HC written answer, 22 Nov 1978, "Ogaden war refugees". Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1978/nov/22/ogaden-war-refugees. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. UK Parliament. HC Deb 21 Feb 1983, "Somalia". Hansard. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1983/feb/21/somalia. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Guido Ambroso. "Clanship, Conflict and Refugees: An Introduction to Somalis in the Horn of Africa". UNHCR, March 2002. https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/4150/1/Clanship_%20conflict%20and%20refugees_An%20introduction%20to%20Somalis%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Library of Congress Federal Research Division. "Ethiopia: Refugees, Drought, and Famine". Country Study, via countrystudies.us. https://countrystudies.us/ethiopia/46.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. UNHCR. "Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1991". Via Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/unhcr/1992/en/42173. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Steve Askin. "Food Aid Diversion". MERIP, 11 Mar 1987. https://www.merip.org/1987/03/food-aid-diversion.md. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. "Nutritional state of children in Jalalaksi refugee camps, Somalia". Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/prehospital-and-disaster-medicine/article/nutritional-state-of-children-in-jalalaksi-refugee-camps-somalia/2C16949D7470FDF308DD26267385DD2B. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. "Italian aid in Qorioley refugee camps, Somalia". Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/prehospital-and-disaster-medicine/article/italian-aid-in-qorioley-refugee-camps-somalia/0CBF782FBA825BE9DC949B592AFAB346. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Who moved to Somalia: refugees, migrants and settlers in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/immigration-to-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia hosts refugees and migrants as well as sending them. UNHCR counted 20,967 refugees and 25,702 asylum seekers in Somalia at the end of 2025, mostly from Yemen and Ethiopia, and tens of thousands of Ethiopians cross Somalia each year towards Yemen. Arab, Persian, Indian and Italian settlers came in earlier centuries.

Somalia is a place people come to, not only a place people leave. UNHCR counted 20,967 refugees and 25,702 asylum seekers living in Somalia at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)).

Somalia's National Bureau of Statistics describes the country as "a country of origin, transit, and destination" ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). This page covers the refugees, migrants, workers and settlers who came to Somalia, from medieval traders to today.

## How many refugees live in Somalia now?

UNHCR's yearly figures for refugees and asylum seekers in Somalia are ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)):

- **2010:** 1,934 refugees and 24,111 asylum seekers
- **2014:** 2,732 refugees and 9,262 asylum seekers
- **2015:** 8,081 refugees and 10,115 asylum seekers
- **2019:** 17,882 refugees and 17,789 asylum seekers
- **2020:** 11,220 refugees and 13,229 asylum seekers
- **2024:** 19,503 refugees and 22,260 asylum seekers
- **2025:** 20,967 refugees and 25,702 asylum seekers

In 1990 the same series counted 460,000 refugees from Ethiopia, the last year of the camps described on [When Somalia hosted refugees: the camps of 1978 to 1990](/en/diaspora/refugees-in-somalia-1978-1990/) ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)). By 1992 the count had fallen to 480 (same source).

Somalia's own statistics differ a little. The NBS counted 18,963 refugees and 21,237 asylum seekers in 2024, using records of the National Commission for Refugees and [IDPs](/en/society/internal-displacement/) ([NBS 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). A Mixed Migration Centre page cites UNHCR at 32,710 refugees and asylum seekers in May 2026 ([MMC and UNHCR](https://mixedmigration.org/resources/somalia-refugees-migrants-route-yemen-gulf/)).

## Where do the refugees in Somalia come from?

Yemen and Ethiopia are the two largest groups. At the end of 2025 UNHCR listed ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)):

- **Yemen:** 13,496 refugees
- **Ethiopia:** 5,338 refugees and 24,952 asylum seekers
- **Syria:** 1,709 refugees and 399 asylum seekers
- **[Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/):** 339 refugees and 108 asylum seekers
- **Eritrea:** 50 refugees and 63 asylum seekers
- **[Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/):** 145 asylum seekers

The NBS gives the 2024 refugee total by nationality as Yemen 11,631, Ethiopia 5,435, Syria 1,629, Sudan 166 and Eritrea 63 ([NBS 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). Of 21,237 asylum seekers that year, 19,724 were from Ethiopia (same source).

UN DESA, which counts people by country of birth, estimated 77,972 foreign-born people in Somalia in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). It lists 28,964 born in Ethiopia and 17,680 born in Yemen, up from 20,097 foreign-born in 2000 (same source).

## When did Yemenis come to Somalia?

Most came after the war in Yemen widened in March 2015. By 31 December 2015, 30,180 people had arrived from Yemen since 27 March ([UNHCR, Somalia Task Force on Yemen Situation, Update #50](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/32190)).

UNHCR's count of Yemeni refugees in Somalia rose from 5 in 2014 to 5,183 in 2015 and 13,496 in 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM&coo_all=true)). A Rift Valley Institute study reported "a marked and parallel growth" of Yemeni refugees and migrants to northern Somali towns after 2015 ([Majid and Abdirahman, RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). Somalis in Yemen are covered on [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/).

## Who crosses Somalia on the way to Yemen?

Mostly young Ethiopians heading for Saudi Arabia on what IOM calls the Eastern Route. In 2019 about 92% of people crossing to Yemen were Ethiopian, and 62% had left from Somalia ([IOM, 14 Feb 2020](https://www.iom.int/news/journey-africa-yemen-remains-worlds-busiest-maritime-migration-route)). IOM counted over 138,000 arrivals in Yemen that year (same source).

Recent figures, each from the agency named:

- **Ethiopia exits on the route:** 173,000 in January to September 2024, up from 135,000 a year earlier ([IOM DTM, Sep 2024](https://dtm.iom.int/es/node/45381)).
- **Arrivals in Yemen, 2024:** "more than 60,000", said IOM's Yemen chief ([The National, 11 Aug 2025](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/08/11/africa-yemen-migration-crisis-requires-new-approach-iom-warns)).
- **Arrivals in Yemen, 2025:** 110,144, 97% of them Ethiopian ([IOM DTM Yemen, Annual Report 2025](https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/ioms-dtm-yemen-flow-monitoring-annual-report-2025)).
- **Deaths and disappearances, 2025:** 922 per IOM ([Africanews, 25 Mar 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/03/25/un-migration-agency-says-2025-was-deadliest-year-on-red-sea-migrant-route/)); 992 per the MMC page, against 558 in 2024 ([MMC and UNHCR](https://mixedmigration.org/resources/somalia-refugees-migrants-route-yemen-gulf/)).

IOM runs seven flow monitoring points on Somalia's borders with Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti and on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) coast ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). IOM's 2023 flow data showed 32% of some 335,000 people moving in the Horn aiming to reach Somalia itself ([MMC, Sep 2024](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/347_Mixed-Movements-in-Somalia.pdf)).

## How many foreign workers are in Somalia?

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs registered 4,534 foreign workers in 2024, up from 3,730 in 2023 ([NBS 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). Of the 2024 total, 2,425 were new permits and 2,109 renewals (same source). Men held 4,142 of the permits and women 392 (same source).

In 2023 the largest groups came from Uganda (1,335) and Kenya (947) ([NBS 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). The top ten also included India, South Africa, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Britain, the Philippines, Pakistan and Russia (same source). The NBS says they work mainly in construction, hospitality, education and services in towns ([NBS 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).

## Who settled on the Somali coast before colonial rule?

Arab and Persian merchants settled in the Banadir ports in the Middle Ages. Britannica describes Mogadishu receiving migrants from the Persian Gulf and southern Arabia, the best known called Shirazi ([Britannica, "Shirazi"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shirazi)). The historian Neville Chittick argued that the "Shirazi" of the Swahili coast came south from the Banadir coast ([Chittick, Journal of African History](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/shirazi-colonization-of-east-africa/8D17F7DB2C4A6291F0D34501949706BF)).

Around 1518, Duarte Barbosa recorded ships from Cambay in India and from Aden trading at Mogadishu and Berbera ([*The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, 1918](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans)). The towns themselves are on [Somali coast towns, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/).

In 1848 a British naval officer described the Berbera fair drawing boats from Yemen, Muscat, Bahrain and Basra. He also named Banian traders from Porbandar, Mandvi and Bombay ([Cruttenden, quoted in Burton, *First Footsteps in East Africa*, 1856](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6886/pg6886.html)).

## What about Yemeni and Indian communities?

India's High Commission records about 200 Indian families who once lived in Somalia, mostly in textile dyeing in Mogadishu and [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) ([High Commission of India, Nairobi, Oct 2025](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). An earlier Indian brief says Italians recruited Indians for plantations around [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) in the 1940s and 1950s ([Assistant High Commission of India, Mombasa, Aug 2021](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)). Most left after 1991, many for Mombasa (same source).

The 1931 Italian census counted 30,275 people in one group: "Arabs, Indians, Bajuni, [Bravanese](/en/society/swahili-in-somalia/), [Ashraf](/en/society/asharaaf/)" and the Reer [Hamar](/en/regions/mogadishu/) of Mogadishu ([ISTAT, 1931 census of the colonies](https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/censpop1931/Le_popolazioni_delle_Colonie_e_dei_Possedimenti+OCRottimizz.pdf)). The census recorded 346 people of Indian religions (same source).

## How many Italians lived in Somalia?

Italy's 1931 census counted 1,668 Italians and other foreigners in Italian Somalia, 1,631 of them Italian citizens ([ISTAT, 1931](https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/censpop1931/Le_popolazioni_delle_Colonie_e_dei_Possedimenti+OCRottimizz.pdf)). Mogadishu held 787 of them, in a colony of 1,021,572 people (same source). There were 317 Italian men for every 100 Italian women (same source).

Italy's census of 4 November 1953, during the UN trusteeship, counted 5,286 Italian and foreign residents ([ISTAT, 1953 census of the Italian and foreign population of Somalia](https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/censpop1951/SBL0488246CenspopitalstranSomalia4Nov1953.pdf)). It left out Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Eritreans and Ethiopians, and counted 123 non-Italian foreigners (same source). Mogadishu had 3,808 of the residents (same source).

That census named farming settlements of Europeans at Vittorio d'Africa, Genale, Goluin, Dolo and Ionte ([ISTAT, 1953](https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/censpop1951/SBL0488246CenspopitalstranSomalia4Nov1953.pdf)). The colonial period is covered on [Fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/) and [UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## Related pages

- [When Somalia hosted refugees: the camps of 1978 to 1990](/en/diaspora/refugees-in-somalia-1978-1990/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/)
- [Somalis in India and Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. "Refugee Data Finder: population in Somalia by country of origin, 1990-2025." API. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coa=SOM&coo_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," 2nd edition. 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," 1st edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2024. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR. "Somalia Task Force on Yemen Situation, Weekly Inter-agency Update #50, 8-31 December 2015." [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/32190). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Mixed Migration Centre and UNHCR. "Somalia: refugee and migrant journeys to Yemen and the Gulf." 2026. [mixedmigration.org](https://mixedmigration.org/resources/somalia-refugees-migrants-route-yemen-gulf/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Mixed Migration Centre. "Mixed Movements in Somalia," 4Mi infographic. September 2024. [mixedmigration.org](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/347_Mixed-Movements-in-Somalia.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IOM DTM. "Migration Along the Eastern Route (September 2024)." 31 October 2024. [dtm.iom.int](https://dtm.iom.int/es/node/45381). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. IOM. "Journey from Africa to Yemen remains world's busiest maritime migration route." 14 February 2020. [iom.int](https://www.iom.int/news/journey-africa-yemen-remains-worlds-busiest-maritime-migration-route). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. IOM DTM Yemen. "Flow Monitoring Annual Report 2025." [reliefweb.int](https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/ioms-dtm-yemen-flow-monitoring-annual-report-2025). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. The National. "Africa-Yemen migration crisis requires new approach, IOM warns." 11 August 2025. [thenationalnews.com](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/08/11/africa-yemen-migration-crisis-requires-new-approach-iom-warns). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Africanews. "UN migration agency says 2025 was deadliest year on Red Sea migrant route." 25 March 2026. [africanews.com](https://www.africanews.com/2026/03/25/un-migration-agency-says-2025-was-deadliest-year-on-red-sea-migrant-route/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Nisar Majid and Khalif Abdirahman. "Mobility, Trust and Exchange: Somalia and Yemen's Cross-Border Economy." Rift Valley Institute. 2019. [riftvalley.net](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. ISTAT. "Le popolazioni delle Colonie e dei Possedimenti italiani secondo il censimento del 1931." 1934. [ebiblio.istat.it](https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/censpop1931/Le_popolazioni_delle_Colonie_e_dei_Possedimenti+OCRottimizz.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. ISTAT. "Censimento della popolazione italiana e straniera della Somalia, 4 novembre 1953." 1958. [ebiblio.istat.it](https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/censpop1951/SBL0488246CenspopitalstranSomalia4Nov1953.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Duarte Barbosa. *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, vol. 1, trans. M. L. Dames. Hakluyt Society, 1918. [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/bookofduartebarb0001mans). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Richard F. Burton. *[First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1500-1884/)*. 1856 (quoting C. J. Cruttenden, 1848). [gutenberg.org](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6886/pg6886.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Shirazi." [britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shirazi). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Neville Chittick. "The 'Shirazi' colonization of East Africa." *Journal of African History*. [cambridge.org](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/shirazi-colonization-of-east-africa/8D17F7DB2C4A6291F0D34501949706BF). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. High Commission of India, Nairobi. "India-Somalia bilateral relations." October 2025. [hcinairobi.gov.in](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Assistant High Commission of India, Mombasa. "India-Somalia Bilateral Relations." August 2021. [ahcimombasa.gov.in](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Which routes did Somalis take to leave?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/migration-routes/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most Somalis who left went overland to Kenya and Ethiopia, which together host over 700,000 Somali refugees. Others crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, went south to South Africa, or took the tahriib route through Libya to Europe, which can cost US$10,000 to US$20,000.

Somalis left by five main routes: overland to Kenya and Ethiopia, by boat to Yemen, via Libya to Europe, and south to South Africa. A smaller number flew out on visas or through family reunification.

Kenya and Ethiopia hold most Somali refugees today: 334,733 and 368,165 on 31 October 2026 ([UNHCR data portal, 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)).

## Which routes are there, in short?

- **Overland to Kenya:** across the border near Liboi or Mandera to the Dadaab camps ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis)).
- **Overland to Ethiopia:** to Hartisheikh and Jijiga in the north, and [Dollo Ado](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) in the south ([UN News, 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)).
- **Djibouti:** for people from the north since 1988 ([HRW World Report 1990](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)).
- **By sea to Yemen:** from beaches near [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) across the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) ([HRW, Hostile Shores, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9)).
- **Tahriib to Europe:** through Ethiopia, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and Libya, then across the Mediterranean ([UNICEF and Rift Valley Institute, 2016](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/reports/going-tahriib)).
- **South to South Africa:** through Kenya, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe ([ENACT, 2018](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants)).
- **By air:** refugee resettlement, family reunification, study visas.

## How did people get to Kenya?

Mostly on foot or by truck, across the land border in the south. Some went by boat down the coast.

UNHCR built the first three Dadaab camps between October 1991 and June 1992 ([UNHCR, 2012](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/unhcr-fn-s-flykting-kommissarie/news/dadaab-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-20-years-old-36270)). They were meant for 90,000 people. By 2012 they held more than 463,000, including about 10,000 third-generation refugees born there.

Kenya closed its border with Somalia on 3 January 2007 ([HRW, From Horror to Hopelessness, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis)). UNHCR had to shut its transit centre at Liboi, where new arrivals were registered and checked. People kept crossing: about 60,000 Somali asylum seekers entered Kenya in 2008, roughly 165 a day.

- **Smugglers' fees:** smugglers charged to carry people from the border to Dadaab; one refugee paid US$500 ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis)).
- **Police:** police demanded bribes from new arrivals, detained some and beat some, the same report found.
- **Entry points now:** Somalis usually enter Kenya at Mandera or Liboi, then go to Dadaab and Garissa, IOM says ([Eastleigh Voice, on IOM report](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/international%20organisation%20for%20migration/159759/more-ethiopians-than-somalis-migrating-irregularly-to-kenya-iom-report-reveals)).

Some came by sea. Bajuni islanders from near Kismayo fled in 1991 to Jomvu camp near Mombasa, closed in late 1997 ([Nurse, review of 2000 report](https://mun.ca/faculty/dnurse/Refugees/Review_2000_JFFM_Report.pdf)). One Somali Bantu family walked 14 nights along the coast from Kismayo to the Kenyan border ([Smithsonian, 2004](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)).

## How did people get to Ethiopia?

Across the long land border, in the north and in the south.

- **North, from 1988:** most refugees at Hartisheikh came from Gabiley and Hargeisa; the camp held over 250,000 at its height ([UN News, 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)).
- **Jijiga area:** in February 2020, Kebribeyah held 14,951 people, [Aw Barre](/en/diaspora/aw-barre-camp/) 12,120 and Sheder 11,994 ([UNHCR Ethiopia update, Feb 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686)).
- **South, Dollo Ado:** five camps by October 2011: Bokolmanyo, Melkadida, Kobe, Hilaweyn and Buramino ([UNHCR Dollo Ado update, Oct 2011](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/31151)).

In early October 2011, 2,985 people reached Dollo Ado in eight days ([UNHCR, 9 Oct 2011](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/31151)). In February 2020 the five Dollo Ado camps sheltered 159,342 Somali refugees ([UNHCR Ethiopia update, Feb 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686)). Ethiopia now hosts the largest number of Somali refugees of any country ([UNHCR, 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)).

## Did Somalis go to Djibouti?

Yes, mainly from the north. Refugees from the north fled to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen as the 1988 war went on ([HRW World Report 1990](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm)). Djibouti hosted 13,697 Somali refugees on 31 August 2026 ([UNHCR, 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)).

## How does the sea crossing to Yemen work?

Boats leave from beaches around Bosaso and cross the Gulf of Aden in one to three days ([HRW, Hostile Shores, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9)). A Somali study names two main departure points, Mareero near Bosaso and Ceelaayo in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Heritage Institute, 2018, in Somali](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)).

Human Rights Watch described these conditions in 2009 ([Hostile Shores](https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9)):

- **Price:** US$50 to US$80 on the cheapest boats, US$100 to US$150 or more on faster ones.
- **Crowding:** boats built for 70 to 80 people often carry 150, some up to 250.
- **Landing:** smugglers often force passengers into deep water hundreds of metres from shore; hundreds have drowned within sight of the beach.
- **Deaths:** more than 1,000 people died on the crossings from the start of 2008 to late 2009.

Yemen has recognised Somalis as refugees on a group basis, without individual interviews ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9)). UNHCR had registered about 150,000 Somalis in Yemen by 2009, the report said.

## Who uses the Yemen route now?

Mostly Ethiopians, with Somalis a smaller share. In 2019, over 138,000 people crossed to Yemen, and about 92 percent were Ethiopian ([IOM, Feb 2020](https://www.iom.int/news/journey-africa-yemen-remains-worlds-busiest-maritime-migration-route)). That year 62 percent left from Somalia and 38 percent from Djibouti. Nearly 90 percent meant to go on to Saudi Arabia.

Arrivals in Yemen rose from about 27,000 in 2021 to more than 90,000 in 2023 ([Al Jazeera, June 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/11/dozens-dead-missing-in-migrant-boat-sin-king-off-yemen-un)).

In a Somali survey, people in Baidoa called the trip to Saudi Arabia "cheap, low risk and quick" ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). One person put its cost at about US$500. In Baidoa, 32 percent said family members had gone to Saudi Arabia, against 22 percent in Mogadishu and 19 percent in Beledweyne.

## How many have died on the Yemen route?

IOM's Missing Migrants Project has recorded 1,860 deaths and disappearances on the Eastern Route since 2014, including 480 drownings ([IOM, 11 June 2024](https://www.iom.int/news/49-migrants-dead-140-missing-shipwreck-yemen-coast)).

On 10 June 2024, a boat from Bosaso with 115 Somalis and 145 Ethiopians sank off Shabwah in Yemen ([IOM, 2024](https://www.iom.int/news/49-migrants-dead-140-missing-shipwreck-yemen-coast)). At least 49 people died, including 31 women and six children, and 140 were missing.

## What is tahriib?

Tahriib is an Arabic word now common in Somali. It means the dangerous journey to Europe across the Sahara and the Mediterranean ([Rift Valley Institute, 2018](https://riftvalley.net/news/horn-of-africa/peer-pressure-drives-somalis-risk-europe-odyssey/)). A Somali study defines it as a long, risky and irregular journey through many countries ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)).

A 2016 UNICEF study found youth in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) regularly leaving for Europe via Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya ([Nimo-Ilhan Ali, Going on Tahriib, 2016](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/reports/going-tahriib)). Smugglers offered deferred-payment schemes that encouraged them to leave, it found.

## Which way does the tahriib route go?

The Heritage Institute surveyed 2,685 people in Kismayo, Baidoa, Mogadishu, [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), Beledweyne, Bosaso and [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). It describes these routes:

- **Ethiopia, Sudan, Libya, Italy:** one of the earliest routes, easiest for people from Somaliland, Puntland and the central regions.
- **Kenya to Sudan:** used mostly by people from Kismayo and Mogadishu heading for Europe.
- **Through Yemen to Sudan:** used when Ethiopia tightened its borders; from Sudan, one road leads to Libya and another to Egypt.
- **Turkey, then Greece:** since 2014, a costlier, less dangerous route, often with travel documents.

Mixed Migration Centre interviews in Libya found 20 of 21 Somalis had come through Sudan ([MMC 4Mi snapshot, Feb 2020](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/091_snapshot_NA.pdf)). Of those 20, 13 passed through Khartoum, 7 through El Fasher and 5 through Dongola.

A newer route runs from Dadaab to Kampala, then South Sudan, then Libya ([ISS Today, Sept 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/young-somali-refugees-targeted-by-libyan-based-traffickers)). Recruiters reach young refugees on WhatsApp and TikTok, the same report says.

## How much does tahriib cost, and what is magafe?

Most people in the Heritage survey put the cost of reaching Europe at US$10,000 to US$20,000 ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). Networks that take migrants to Libya and then demand ransom from parents are called *magafe*. Their ransoms are not negotiable, the study says.

Families pay by selling what they own:

- **Burao, 2017-18:** a mother sold her land to pay an US$8,000 ransom for her 17-year-old daughter in Libya ([Radio Ergo, Nov 2018](https://radioergo.org/en/2018/11/20/stripped-of-the-last-coin-by-smugglers-affected-families-in-somaliland-now-reduced-to-beggars/)).
- **Burao, 2017-18:** a father sold his house to help pay an US$8,500 ransom for his son, then faced a new US$4,000 demand.
- **Survey account:** one father was asked for US$3,000, and later US$5,000, while his son was beaten ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)).
- **Kenya, 2025:** a family paid US$10,000 for a young man, and he was still not freed, a police official said ([ISS Today, 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/young-somali-refugees-targeted-by-libyan-based-traffickers)).

The Magafe group in Libya has been active since 2017, according to the Institute for Security Studies ([ISS Today, 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/young-somali-refugees-targeted-by-libyan-based-traffickers)).

## Who runs the smuggling networks?

Sources describe networks with several roles rather than one organisation. Each description below is the source's own.

- **Brokers at home who pay first:** networks pay the cost of the trip until the traveller reaches Sudan or Libya, then demand the money back from the family, and often hold travellers for ransom until it is paid, the Heritage Institute reports ([Heritage Institute, 2018, in Somali](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). The study says weak border control and phone links to networks abroad helped them grow.
- **Deferred payment:** UNICEF's 2016 study found smugglers offering "go now, pay later" schemes to young people in Puntland and Somaliland ([Nimo-Ilhan Ali, Going on Tahriib, 2016](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/reports/going-tahriib)).
- **Ransom holders in Libya:** the network called *magafe*, active since 2017 by the Institute for Security Studies' account, holds migrants in Libya and recruits young refugees in Kenya through WhatsApp and TikTok ([ISS Today, Sept 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/young-somali-refugees-targeted-by-libyan-based-traffickers)).
- **Document brokers in Nairobi:** a 2011 UN Monitoring Group report described *mukalas*, immigration brokers in [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/) who sold passports, forged documents and visas to Somalis heading for Europe ([UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, S/2011/433, July 2011](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/708002/files/S_2011_433-EN.pdf)). It said one broker took a US$19,000 deposit held by a money-transfer business, paid out on arrival in Europe, and that brokers' agents negotiated with immigration officials at the Busia border post.
- **Boat crews on the Gulf of Aden:** in 2012 the UN Independent Expert on Somalia said smugglers on one boat to Yemen reportedly threw 22 passengers overboard after the engine broke down ([UN News, 14 February 2012](https://news.un.org/en/story/2012/02/403262)).

**Convictions.** In October 2017 a court of assizes in Milan gave Osman Matammud, a Somali national aged 22, a life sentence for murders, kidnapping for ransom and sexual violence against migrants at a camp in Bani Walid, Libya ([Libyan Express, 10 October 2017](https://www.libyanexpress.com/italian-court-sentences-to-life-somalian-human-trafficking-lord/)). Seventeen witnesses testified against him. In April 2015 a court in Sicily convicted 20 Somalis for a ring that brought migrants from Kenya and Somalia into Italy and on to northern Europe, mainly Sweden ([Maritime Executive, 30 April 2015](https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/20-somalis-convicted-for-human-trafficking)).

## Where did tahriib travellers end up?

In the Heritage survey, 54 percent of people whose relatives had left said those relatives went to Europe ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). Another 19 percent went to Saudi Arabia, 15 percent to South Africa and 7 percent to the United States.

Italy recorded 6,698 Somali sea arrivals from January to October 2016, down from 11,020 in the same months of 2015 ([IOM, Nov 2016](https://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-reach-345440-deaths-sea-4655)). IOM counted 4,655 deaths in the Mediterranean in 2016 up to 20 November, for all nationalities.

## Does Somalia bring people back from Libya?

Yes, with EU funding and IOM. In September 2025, 184 Somalis stranded in Libya were flown home: 152 to Mogadishu and 32 to Hargeisa ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-evacuates-184-citizens-stranded-in-libya-amid-difficult-conditions/)).

On 2 July 2026, another 129 came home, 19 of them to Hargeisa ([Dawan Africa, July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-repatriates-129-citizens-from-libya)). That brought the total for 2026 to nearly 500. One returnee said he spent five months in several detention centres.

## How does the southern route to South Africa work?

People travel overland, or by sea to Mozambique and then by road. Ethiopian and Somali migrants pass through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe ([ENACT, May 2018](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants)).

- **Numbers:** an estimated 13,400 to 14,050 Ethiopians and Somalis made the trip in 2017 ([ENACT, 2018](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants)).
- **Cost:** smugglers charged about US$2,500 to US$5,000 a journey, by the same report.
- **Smugglers:** 97 percent of Ethiopians and Somalis interviewed in South Africa in 2014-16 had used them.
- **Deaths:** in December 2017, the bodies of 13 Somali migrants who had likely suffocated in a container truck were found in Mozambique.

Many young people from Kismayo go to Angola, South Africa and Mozambique, and some move on to the United States or Europe ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)). The same survey put the cost of reaching South Africa at US$2,000 to US$3,000. Cities close to Kenya, like Kismayo, send more people south.

## Who left by air?

People with visas, scholarships or a refugee resettlement place. The United States began issuing visas to Somali refugees in 1992 ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). Others later joined relatives through family sponsorship, the same source says.

- **Somali Bantu:** the first families flew from Kenya to the United States in May 2003; up to 12,000 were planned ([Smithsonian, 2004](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)).
- **Mid-2000s:** the United States admitted about 10,000 Somalis a year, many through its family reunification programme, known as P-3 ([PBS Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)).
- **Turkey:** Turkish scholarships became a path to Europe for some, the Heritage study reports ([Heritage Institute, 2018](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf)).

## What happened to family reunification after 2008?

In early 2008 the US State Department ran DNA tests on 476 family reunification applicants in Nairobi ([PBS Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)). Only 16 percent matched every relative listed; 39 percent did not match at least one; 45 percent refused or did not appear.

Officials suspended the programme for more than four years. It reopened in 2012 with DNA tests required for parent-child links ([Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)). Critics said one false result could mark a whole family, and that refusal did not prove fraud.

## Who has been sent back?

- **Saudi Arabia, 2014:** Saudi authorities deported 12,332 Somalis to Mogadishu between 1 January and 3 February 2014 ([HRW, 18 Feb 2014](https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled)). None could claim asylum, and deportees described beatings in detention.
- **United States:** about 275 Somalis were deported in 2017, and 84 more arrived on two flights in June 2018 ([VOA, 29 June 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-deports-somalis-to-home-country/4460771.html)).
- **Kenya, 2007-09:** Human Rights Watch believed hundreds and possibly thousands were sent back after the border closed ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis)).

## How many have returned on their own?

Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR signed an agreement on voluntary return on 10 November 2013 ([The Star, Kenya, 2019](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018-11-23-300000-somali-refugees-repatriated-from-kenya-since-2014-ruto/)). The counts differ:

- **Kenya's government:** about 300,000 Somalis had returned from Kenya since December 2014, said Deputy President William Ruto ([The Star](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018-11-23-300000-somali-refugees-repatriated-from-kenya-since-2014-ruto/)).
- **UNHCR:** 85,904 returnees from Kenya, and 141,673 refugee returnees in total since December 2014 ([UNHCR dashboard, Nov 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf)).

From Ethiopia, more than 230,000 people returned to the north-west between April 1997 and July 2004 ([UN News, 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)). From Yemen, 53,515 have returned since December 2014 ([UNHCR, Nov 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Why did Somalis leave, and when?](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)
- [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/)
- [Türkiye](/en/diaspora/turkiye/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)

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2. Human Rights Watch. "From Horror to Hopelessness". HRW, 30 Mar 2009. https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/30/horror-hopelessness/kenyas-forgotten-somali-refugee-crisis. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UN News. "Once world's largest refugee camp in Ethiopia now closed". United Nations, 1 Jul 2004. https://news.un.org/en/node/108122. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Human Rights Watch. "World Report 1990: Somalia". HRW, 1991. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-09.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Human Rights Watch. "Hostile Shores: Abuse and Refoulement of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Yemen". HRW, 20 Dec 2009. https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87224/section/9. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Nimo-Ilhan Ali (Rift Valley Institute). "Going on Tahriib: The causes and consequences of Somali youth migration to Europe". [UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/), June 2016. https://www.unicef.org/somalia/reports/going-tahriib. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Ciara Aucoin and Edwin Hlase. "Africa's southern-bound migrants". ENACT, Institute for Security Studies, 31 May 2018. https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR. "Dadaab, world's biggest refugee camp, 20 years old". UNHCR press release, 2012. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/unhcr-fn-s-flykting-kommissarie/news/dadaab-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-20-years-old-36270. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Eastleigh Voice. "More Ethiopians than Somalis migrating irregularly to Kenya, IOM report reveals". https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/international%20organisation%20for%20migration/159759/more-ethiopians-than-somalis-migrating-irregularly-to-kenya-iom-report-reveals. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Derek Nurse. Review of the 2000 Joint Fact-Finding Mission report on the Bajuni. Memorial University. https://mun.ca/faculty/dnurse/Refugees/Review_2000_JFFM_Report.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Smithsonian Magazine. "Coming to America". Smithsonian, Jan 2004. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UNHCR Ethiopia. "Somali Refugees in Ethiopia: Melkadida and Jijiga, Situational Update". UNHCR, Feb 2020. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UNHCR Ethiopia. "Dollo Ado Bi-Weekly Update". UNHCR, 9 Oct 2011. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/31151. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Mahad [Wasuge](/en/society/gaaljecel/). "Tahriibka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliya" (in Somali). Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, Mogadishu, 2018. https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Tahriibka-Dhalinyarada-Soomaaliya.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. IOM. "Journey from Africa to Yemen remains world's busiest maritime migration route". IOM, 14 Feb 2020. https://www.iom.int/news/journey-africa-yemen-remains-worlds-busiest-maritime-migration-route. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Al Jazeera. "At least 49 dead, 140 missing in migrant boat sinking off Yemen: UN". Al Jazeera, 11 Jun 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/11/dozens-dead-missing-in-migrant-boat-sin-king-off-yemen-un. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. IOM. "49 migrants dead, 140 missing in shipwreck off Yemen coast". IOM, 11 Jun 2024. https://www.iom.int/news/49-migrants-dead-140-missing-shipwreck-yemen-coast. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Rift Valley Institute. "Peer pressure drives Somalis to risk Europe odyssey". RVI, 21 Jun 2018. https://riftvalley.net/news/horn-of-africa/peer-pressure-drives-somalis-risk-europe-odyssey/. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Mixed Migration Centre. "The Role of Smugglers in East Africans' Mixed Migration to Libya via Sudan", 4Mi snapshot. MMC, Feb 2020. https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/091_snapshot_NA.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Valtino Omolo and Willis Okumu. "Young Somali refugees targeted by Libyan-based traffickers". ISS Today, 3 Sep 2025. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/young-somali-refugees-targeted-by-libyan-based-traffickers. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Radio Ergo. "Stripped of the last coin by smugglers, affected families in Somaliland now reduced to beggars". Radio Ergo, 20 Nov 2018. https://radioergo.org/en/2018/11/20/stripped-of-the-last-coin-by-smugglers-affected-families-in-somaliland-now-reduced-to-beggars/. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. IOM. "Mediterranean migrant arrivals reach 345,440; deaths at sea: 4,655". IOM, 22 Nov 2016. https://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-reach-345440-deaths-sea-4655. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Federal Republic of Somalia. "Somalia evacuates 184 citizens stranded in Libya amid difficult conditions". MFA, 2025. https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-evacuates-184-citizens-stranded-in-libya-amid-difficult-conditions/. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "Somalia repatriates 129 citizens from Libya". Dawan, 2 Jul 2026. https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-repatriates-129-citizens-from-libya. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Minnesota Historical Society. "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota". MNopedia. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Katie Worth. "For some refugees, safe haven now depends on a DNA test". PBS Frontline, 19 Oct 2015. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. Human Rights Watch. "Saudi Arabia: 12,000 Somalis Expelled". HRW, 18 Feb 2014. https://hrw.org/news/2014/02/18/saudi-arabia-12000-somalis-expelled. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. Voice of America. "US Deports 84 Somalis to Home Country". VOA, 29 Jun 2018. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-deports-somalis-to-home-country/4460771.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
29. The Star (Kenya). "300,000 Somali refugees repatriated from Kenya since 2014, Ruto". The Star, 2019. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018-11-23-300000-somali-refugees-repatriated-from-kenya-since-2014-ruto/. Checked 2026-11-12.
30. UNHCR Somalia. "Population Dashboard, November 2025". UNHCR, via ecoi.net, 2025. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2135144/UNHCR+Somalia+Population+Dashboard+-+Nov+2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
31. UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea. Report S/2011/433, 18 Jul 2011. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/708002/files/S_2011_433-EN.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
32. UN News. "Smuggling and trafficking of Somalis must stop, UN human rights expert says". 14 Feb 2012. https://news.un.org/en/story/2012/02/403262. Checked 2026-11-12.
33. Libyan Express. "Italian court sentences to life Somalian human trafficking lord". 10 Oct 2017. https://www.libyanexpress.com/italian-court-sentences-to-life-somalian-human-trafficking-lord/. Checked 2026-11-12.
34. Maritime Executive. "20 Somalis Convicted for Human Trafficking". 30 Apr 2015. https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/20-somalis-convicted-for-human-trafficking. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somali refugee camps: where they are and what life is like

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 438,964 people lived in Kenya's Dadaab camps on 31 October 2026, and 96.8% of them came from Somalia. Ethiopia's Somali region held another 367,369 refugees in nine camps and sites, and smaller camps stand in Djibouti, Yemen and Uganda. Some camps are over 35 years old, and their children and grandchildren were born there.

## Where are the Somali refugee camps today?

Most Somali refugees in camps live in Kenya and Ethiopia. Kenya's Dadaab complex held 438,964 people on 31 October 2026, and 425,008 of them came from Somalia ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Garissa, 31 Oct 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/794)). Ethiopia's Somali region held 367,369 refugees on the same date ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Ethiopia, 31 Oct 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth)).

Smaller groups live in camps or towns in Djibouti, Yemen and Uganda. Djibouti counted 13,905 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia on 31 August 2026 ([UNHCR ODP, Djibouti](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/dji)). Yemen counted 41,171 ([UNHCR ODP, Yemen, 31 Aug 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem)), and Uganda 55,048 ([UNHCR ODP, Uganda, 31 Oct 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/uga)).

## Kenya's camps: Dadaab and Kakuma

Kenya holds the largest Somali camp population. The Dadaab complex near the Somali border opened in 1991 and held 438,964 people on 31 October 2026 ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Garissa, 31 Oct 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/794)). Kakuma, in the north-west, holds a smaller Somali group ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Turkana, 31 Oct 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796)). The history of each camp, the coastal camps of the early 1990s, schooling, work rules, the Shirika Plan and the court cases on closure are on [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/).

## What was Hartisheikh?

Hartisheikh lay in eastern Ethiopia, near Kebribeyah ([ODI and DRC, Oct 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)). Refugees arrived in 1988, after the destruction of Hargeisa (same source).

Its size is reported differently:
- **ODI, citing Van Brabant (1994):** 400,000 people in 1988, for a time the world's largest refugee camp ([ODI, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).
- **UN News, 2004:** more than 250,000 Somali refugees at its peak ([UN News, 1 Jul 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)).

Most came from the Gabiley and Hargeisa areas ([UN News, 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)). Over 230,000 went home on UNHCR convoys from April 1997 (same source).

The last convoy left on 30 June 2004 with 719 people ([UN News, 2004](https://news.un.org/en/node/108122)). UNHCR handed its dam, schools and health centres to the local district (same source).

## Ethiopia's Dollo Ado camps: when did they open?

The Melkadida area, in Ethiopia's Somali region, has five camps for refugees from southern Somalia ([UNHCR, Melkadida and Jijiga update, 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686)). The largest influx came in 2011, during severe drought and insecurity (same source).

Population on 31 October 2026, from [UNHCR ODP, Ethiopia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth):
- **Bokolmanyo:** 33,636. Opened in early 2009 ([Refugee Economies, Oxford](https://www.refugee-economies.org/assets/downloads/Report_Refugee_Economies_in_Dollo_Ado.pdf)).
- **Melkadida:** 44,688. Opened in 2010 (same source).
- **Kobe:** 37,163. Opened in 2011 (same source).
- **Hilaweyn:** 53,160. Opened in 2011 (same source).
- **Buramino:** 50,004. Opened in 2011 (same source).

The five camps held 206,300 refugees on 31 May 2015 ([UNHCR Dollo Ado infographic, 31 May 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/download/32074)). Most came from [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/) and Banadir (same source).

In 2019, 23,638 children attended primary school in Melkadida and 2,878 students secondary school ([UNHCR, 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686)). The average gross enrolment rate was 59% in June 2019 (same source).

## What is Bokh, the newest site?

From 6 February 2023, refugees fleeing fighting in Laascaanood crossed into Ethiopia's Doolo zone ([UN News, Apr 2023](https://news.un.org/en/node/1135507)). Ethiopia's Refugees and Returnees Service and UNHCR opened Mirqaan settlement in Bokh district (same source). On 31 October 2026, Bokh held 91,448 refugees ([UNHCR ODP, Ethiopia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth)).

## Ethiopia's Jijiga camps: Kebribeyah, Sheder and Aw Barre

Over 600,000 refugees from Somalia arrived in the Jijiga area in 1989 and the early 1990s ([UNHCR, 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686)). By the early 1990s, there were nine camps there ([ODI, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).

Population on 31 October 2026, from [UNHCR ODP, Ethiopia](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth):
- **Kebribeyah:** 22,814. It is the only one of the nine early camps still open ([ODI, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).
- **Aw Barre:** 18,569. It stands where Teferi Ber camp stood until 2001 (same source).
- **Sheder:** 15,887. ODI describes it as the most rural of the three (same source).

## Can refugees in Ethiopia work?

Ethiopia's Refugee Proclamation No. 1110/2019 gives refugees a right to work on the same footing as foreigners ([Abyssinia Law](https://abyssinialaw.com/blog/refugee-proclamation-no-1110-2019-the-right-to-work-of-refugees-is-it-possible-to-implement)). Many jobs are reserved for nationals, which limits that right in practice (same source).

## Djibouti: Ali Addeh and Holl-Holl

Ali Addeh opened in 1991 for Somali refugees and was designed for fewer than 7,000 people ([UNHCR ODP news, 2012](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9813)). In 2012 it held 17,060 refugees, 16,396 of them Somali (same source). Water supply was about 5 litres per person a day (same source).

In 1999, about 11,000 refugees lived in Ali Addeh and 10,000 in Holl-Holl ([UNHCR Global Appeal 1999, Djibouti](https://www.unhcr.org/node/2103)). Holl-Holl closed in the mid-2000s and reopened on 4 June 2012 ([UNHCR ODP news, 2012](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9813)). Its first school year began on 11 September 2012 with about 310 pupils (same source).

Djibouti's refugee law and two 2017 decrees came into force in December 2017 ([UNHCR, Dec 2017](https://www.unhcr.org/au/node/17363)). They cover work, education and health. On 31 August 2026, Ali Sabieh region, where Holl-Holl lies, hosted 25,502 refugees and asylum seekers ([UNHCR ODP, Djibouti](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/dji)).

## Yemen: Kharaz camp

Kharaz opened in 2001 in Lahj governorate and is Yemen's only refugee camp ([UNHCR Yemen, Kharaz, 2024](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/109072)). It held almost 10,000 people from [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) in 2024 (same source). In August 2010 it held around 14,000 ([IRIN via GlobalSecurity, Sep 2010](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2010/09/mil-100921-irin02.htm)).

On 31 August 2026, Lahj governorate hosted 10,680 refugees and asylum seekers ([UNHCR ODP, Yemen](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem)). Most of Yemen's 41,171 Somalis lived in cities such as Aden and Sana'a (same source).

## Uganda: Nakivale and Kampala

Uganda does not keep refugees in closed camps. Its 2006 Refugees Act gives freedom of movement, the right to work and land plots in settlements ([UNHCR Uganda briefing kit, Aug 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/124868)).

Nakivale opened in 1958 and is Africa's oldest refugee settlement ([Omata, Forced Migration Review](https://www.fmreview.org/sites/default/files/FMRdownloads/en/omata.pdf)). Most Somali refugees in Uganda live in [Kisenyi](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/), Kampala, known as "Little Mogadishu" (same source). Somali business owners in Nakivale import goods from Somali-Ugandan traders in Kampala (same source).

In an Oxford survey, 29% of Somalis in Nakivale said they had left the settlement in the past year ([Refugee Economies brief, Uganda](https://www.refugee-economies.org/assets/downloads/Brief_Uganda_Self_Reliance.pdf)).

## What have scholars written about camp life?

- **Cindy Horst,** *[Transnational Nomads](/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/)* (Berghahn, 2006), on how Somalis in Dadaab use networks, money transfers and the hope of resettlement ([PRIO](https://www.prio.org/publications/324)).
- **Ben Rawlence,** *[City of Thorns](/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence/)* (Picador, 2016), following nine Dadaab residents ([Kirkus](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-rawlence/city-of-thorns/)).
- **Jennifer Hyndman,** *Managing Displacement* (University of Minnesota Press, 2000), from work with agencies in Kenya and Somalia ([York University](https://jhyndman.info.yorku.ca/managing-displacement-refugees-and-the-politics-of-humanitarianism/)).
- **Catherine-Lune Grayson,** *Children of the Camp* (Berghahn, 2017), on Somali youth raised in Kakuma ([Berghahn](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/GraysonChildren)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Hartisheikh's size:** VOA reported in October 2003 that Hartisheikh had once housed 600,000 Somalis ([VOA, 24 October 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-10-24-19-unhcr-66834857/374964.html)). UNHCR material says about 600,000 Somalis reached Ethiopia in all, about 220,000 of them settling in Hartisheikh ([UNHCR Refugees Magazine 105](https://www.unhcr.org/node/1938)), and a UNHCR closure release gave a peak of over 250,000. The figures are given side by side.

## Related pages

- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [Aw Barre (Aw-barre) refugee camp](/en/diaspora/aw-barre-camp/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Garissa (Dadaab), 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/794. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Kenya, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Turkana (Kakuma, Kalobeyei), 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Ethiopia, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Djibouti, 31 Aug 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/dji. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Yemen, 31 Aug 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/yem. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Uganda, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/uga. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR Ethiopia. Somali refugees in Ethiopia: Melkadida and Jijiga situational update, 2020. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/74686. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UNHCR Ethiopia. Dollo Ado refugee camps population, 31 May 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/fr/documents/download/32074. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Carver, F., Gedi, A. A. and Naish, D. Somali regional report 2018–2019. ODI and DRC, Oct 2020. https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. UN News. Once world's largest refugee camp in Ethiopia now closed, 1 Jul 2004. https://news.un.org/en/node/108122. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UN News. New settlement opens for latest Somali refugees in Ethiopia, Apr 2023. https://news.un.org/en/node/1135507. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Betts, A. et al. Refugee Economies in Dollo Ado. University of Oxford. https://www.refugee-economies.org/assets/downloads/Report_Refugee_Economies_in_Dollo_Ado.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Abyssinia Law. Refugee Proclamation No. 1110/2019: the right to work of refugees. https://abyssinialaw.com/blog/refugee-proclamation-no-1110-2019-the-right-to-work-of-refugees-is-it-possible-to-implement. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. UNHCR. Holl-Holl: a new camp intended for Somali refugees, 2012. https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9813. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. UNHCR. Global Appeal 1999: Djibouti. https://www.unhcr.org/node/2103. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. UNHCR. UNHCR welcomes Djibouti's new refugee laws, Dec 2017. https://www.unhcr.org/au/node/17363. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR Yemen. Kharaz refugee camp, 2 Jun 2024. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/109072. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. IRIN, via GlobalSecurity. Yemen: Kharaz camp, Sep 2010. https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2010/09/mil-100921-irin02.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. UNHCR Uganda. Uganda Refugee Response inter-agency coordination briefing kit, Aug 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/124868. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Omata, N. Forced Migration Review article on Somali refugees in Uganda. https://www.fmreview.org/sites/default/files/FMRdownloads/en/omata.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Refugee Economies Programme. Uganda self-reliance brief. University of Oxford. https://www.refugee-economies.org/assets/downloads/Brief_Uganda_Self_Reliance.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Horst, C. Transnational Nomads. Berghahn, 2006. PRIO record. https://www.prio.org/publications/324. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. Rawlence, B. City of Thorns. Picador, 2016. Kirkus review. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-rawlence/city-of-thorns/. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Hyndman, J. Managing Displacement. University of Minnesota Press, 2000. https://jhyndman.info.yorku.ca/managing-displacement-refugees-and-the-politics-of-humanitarianism/. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Grayson, C.-L. Children of the Camp. Berghahn, 2017. https://berghahnbooks.com/title/GraysonChildren. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. Voice of America. UNHCR to close Hartisheikh camp. 24 Oct 2003. https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-10-24-19-unhcr-66834857/374964.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. UNHCR. Refugees Magazine issue 105, "A camp is born". https://www.unhcr.org/node/1938. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kenya's Dadaab camps held 438,964 people on 31 October 2026, and 425,008 of them came from Somalia. Dadaab opened in 1991 and is one of the oldest refugee camps in the world; many residents were born there. Kenya also hosts Somalis in Kakuma and in Nairobi.

## How many Somalis live in Kenya's camps and cities?

On 31 October 2026, Kenya hosted 334,733 refugees and 156,636 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR ODP, Kenya](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken)). Somalis were 51.5% of all refugees in Kenya and 65.9% of all asylum seekers (same source).

Most live in Dadaab, in Garissa County. Another 41,080 Somalis lived in Turkana County, home of Kakuma ([UNHCR ODP, Turkana](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796)). In Nairobi, 25,281 refugees and asylum seekers came from Somalia ([UNHCR ODP, Nairobi](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/187)).

## Dadaab: when did it open and how big did it get?

Dadaab sits about 100 km from the Somali border ([UNFPA, 4 Oct 2011](https://unfpa.org/news/no-direction-home-generation-shaped-life-dadaab)). It was set up in 1991 for people fleeing the war in Somalia ([Al Jazeera Liberties, 18 May 2026](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)). Ben Rawlence's book dates its continuous population from 1992 ([Kirkus review of City of Thorns, 2016](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-rawlence/city-of-thorns/)).

Dadaab was designed for 90,000 people ([Ikanda, bpb, 10 Nov 2020](https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/english-version-country-profiles/318374/the-snake-s-head-mistrust-of-somali-refugees-and-the-encampment-policy-in-kenya)). In 2011, about 130,000 people arrived, fleeing drought and famine ([Al Jazeera Liberties, 2026](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)).

The peak is reported differently:
- **UNFPA, October 2011:** over 470,000 people, the largest refugee camp in the world ([UNFPA](https://unfpa.org/news/no-direction-home-generation-shaped-life-dadaab)).
- **Al Jazeera, 2026:** more than 500,000 in 2011 ([Al Jazeera Liberties](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)).
- **Ikanda, 2020:** about 450,000 in the mid-2010s ([bpb](https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/english-version-country-profiles/318374/the-snake-s-head-mistrust-of-somali-refugees-and-the-encampment-policy-in-kenya)).

The lowest recent point came after voluntary returns. At the end of March 2020, Dadaab held 217,511 refugees ([bpb, 2020](https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/english-version-country-profiles/318374/the-snake-s-head-mistrust-of-somali-refugees-and-the-encampment-policy-in-kenya)).

## What are the Dadaab camps, one by one?

Population on 31 October 2026, from [UNHCR ODP, Garissa](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/794):
- **Hagadera:** 145,449 people (33.1% of Dadaab).
- **Dagahaley:** 109,154 people (24.9%).
- **Ifo:** 95,398 people (21.7%).
- **Ifo 2:** 88,963 people (20.3%).
- **Kambioos:** no separate figure is published on the portal.

Ifo 2 and Kambioos were set up in 2011 to absorb new arrivals ([The Star, 10 Jan 2023](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-01-10-cs-kindiki-designates-two-more-refugee-camps-in-garissa)). Kambioos closed in 2017 and Ifo 2 in 2018 ([bpb, 2020](https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/english-version-country-profiles/318374/the-snake-s-head-mistrust-of-somali-refugees-and-the-encampment-policy-in-kenya)). UNHCR handed both empty camps to the Kenyan government in June 2019 ([VOA, 21 Jun 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_kenya-retakes-control-two-emptied-refugee-camps/6170429.html)).

In January 2023, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki designated Ifo 2 and Kambioos as refugee camps again ([The Star, 10 Jan 2023](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-01-10-cs-kindiki-designates-two-more-refugee-camps-in-garissa)). The reason given was about 24,000 new arrivals from Somalia living in makeshift shelters (same source).

## How many people were born and grew up in Dadaab?

Of 425,008 Somalis in Dadaab on 31 October 2026, 244,119 were children under 18 ([UNHCR ODP, Garissa, demographic breakdown](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/794)).

Of those children, 70,354 were under five years old (same source). In 2011, UNFPA reported that about 60% of Dadaab's people were young ([UNFPA, 2011](https://unfpa.org/news/no-direction-home-generation-shaped-life-dadaab)).

Reports on the third generation differ:
- **Nation (Kenya), citing UNHCR:** more than 100,000 second-generation refugees, and about 15,000 third-generation ([Daily Nation](https://nation.africa/kenya/life-and-style/dn2/i-m-not-really-a-somali-yet-i-m-not-kenyan-either-i-think-i-am-more-of-a-dadaabian-1028402)).
- **Devex, 2011:** about 10,000 third-generation refugees whose parents were also born in the camps ([Devex](https://www.devex.com/news/dadaab-turns-20-77563)).

A young woman born in Dagahaley told MSF in 2021, "All my life, I have only known Dagahaley." Her three children were also born in the camp ([MSF, 18 Jun 2021](https://www.msf.org.za/news-and-resources/latest-news/return-not-solution-say-refugees-dadaab-after-camp-closure)).

A young man born in Ifo in about 1991 told UNFPA that at 20 he still had no Kenyan ID card. "At times I ask myself if I am a Somali, or if I'm Kenyan citizen since I was born here," he said ([UNFPA, 2011](https://unfpa.org/news/no-direction-home-generation-shaped-life-dadaab)).

## Can children go to school in Dadaab?

In February 2024, UNHCR supported 45,651 students in Dadaab, 20,042 of them girls ([UNHCR Kenya Operational Update, Feb 2024](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/UNHCR%20Kenya%20Operational%20Update%20February%202024.pdf)). They studied in 23 primary schools and six secondary schools (same source).

In 2011, about 48% of children were enrolled, and Dadaab had only one secondary school ([UNFPA, 2011](https://unfpa.org/news/no-direction-home-generation-shaped-life-dadaab)). UNHCR estimates about half of school-age refugees in Kenya are still out of school ([UNHCR Kenya, education](https://www.unhcr.org/ke/what-we-do/education)).

## Can refugees in Kenya work or leave the camps?

Refugees need special permits to leave the camps, and jobs are scarce ([Al Jazeera Liberties, 2026](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)). Food aid fell to 28% of a full ration by mid-2025, and cash assistance ended (same source).

Kenya's Refugees Act 2021 was signed on 17 November 2021 and took effect on 21 February 2022 ([Refugees Act 2021, Judy Legal](https://www.judy.legal/legislation/akn/ke/act/2021/10)). Section 28(5) gives refugees the right to work, run a business or practise a profession ([HIAS analysis](https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf)).

The same Act keeps "designated areas" where refugees must live ([Refugees Act 2021, sections 30 to 33](https://www.judy.legal/legislation/akn/ke/act/2021/10)). HIAS notes the Act is silent on freedom of movement and continues the camp policy ([HIAS](https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf)).

## What is Kenya's Shirika Plan?

The Shirika Plan was launched in March 2025 as an eleven-year plan ([Al Jazeera Liberties, 2026](https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/)). It aims to turn Dadaab and Kakuma into municipalities shared by refugees and Kenyan hosts (same source). Its estimated budget is $943 million (same source).

The plan promises refugees access to IDs, business permits, banking and services ([AllAfrica, Jul 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202507080002.html)). Refugees who do not join can choose voluntary return or, if vulnerable, resettlement (same source).

## When did Kenya try to close the camps, and what did courts say?

- **6 May 2016:** Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said Kenya would stop hosting refugees and disband its Department of Refugee Affairs ([Human Rights Watch, 6 May 2016](https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/06/kenya-ending-refugee-hosting-closing-camps)). Kenya then hosted over 463,000 Somali refugees (same source).
- **9 February 2017:** High Court Justice John Mativo ruled the closure order null and void ([Amnesty International, 9 Feb 2017](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/02/kenya-historic-ruling-blocks-closure-of-dadaab-refugee-camp-2/)). The case was brought by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Kituo Cha Sheria (same source).
- **March 2021:** Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i gave UNHCR two weeks to produce a closure plan ([Al Jazeera, 29 Apr 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/4/29/kenya-says-dadaab-kakuma-refugee-camps-to-close-next-year)).
- **April 2021:** The High Court issued a temporary 30-day order blocking the faster closure (same source).
- **29 April 2021:** Kenya said both Dadaab and Kakuma would close by 30 June 2022 (same source). They did not close by that date ([Al Jazeera opinion, 28 May 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2022/5/28/refugees-in-kenyas-kakuma-and-dadaab-camps-are-still-in-limbo)).

## What were Kenya's coastal camps in the early 1990s?

In the early 1990s, Kenya set up 17 refugee camps; most closed by the mid-1990s ([bpb, 2020](https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/english-version-country-profiles/318374/the-snake-s-head-mistrust-of-somali-refugees-and-the-encampment-policy-in-kenya)). In May 1994, UNHCR listed 13 camps, including Utange, Marafa, Jomvu, Hatimy and Swaleh Nguru ([IRB Canada via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/194780)).

- **Swaleh Nguru ("Benadir camp"), Mombasa:** 4,542 [Benadiri](/en/society/minority-communities/) refugees in May 1994 (same source). It still ran in 1997, after the 1995 closures brought other Somali groups (same source).
- **Utange and Marafa:** closed in 1995, per UNHCR (same source).
- **Jomvu and Hatimy:** named in Kenya's June 1994 request to close the coastal camps (same source).

In June 1994, UNHCR reportedly moved 7,394 refugees from the coast to Kakuma and 1,483 to Dadaab (same source). In March 1997, it began moving 16,704 Somali refugees to Kakuma and Dadaab (AFP, cited in same source).

## What was Liboi?

Liboi is a Kenyan border town. From late 1991, refugees crossed there or arrived by boat on the coast ([UNHCR evaluation, via CORE](https://core.ac.uk/download/46721357.pdf)). People crossing at Liboi were screened on arrival, then moved on to the Dadaab camps (same source).

## Kakuma: how many Somalis live there?

Kakuma, in Turkana County, opened in 1992 after the arrival of the "Lost Boys of [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)" ([UNHCR Kenya, Kakuma](https://www.unhcr.org/ke/node/296)). Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement was added in 2016 (same source).

On 31 October 2026, Kakuma held 240,551 people and Kalobeyei 89,101 ([UNHCR ODP, Turkana](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796)). Of the county's camp population, 41,080 came from Somalia, 12.5% of the total (same source).

Anthropologist Catherine-Lune Grayson studied Somali young people raised there ([Berghahn Books, Children of the Camp, 2017](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/GraysonChildren)).

## Related pages

- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Eastleigh: the Somali trading hub of Nairobi](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Ifo and Ifo 2 refugee camps](/en/diaspora/ifo-camp/)
- [Hagadera refugee camp](/en/diaspora/hagadera-camp/)
- [Dagahaley refugee camp](/en/diaspora/dagahaley-camp/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Garissa (Dadaab), 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/794. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Kenya, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Turkana (Kakuma, Kalobeyei), 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Nairobi, 31 Oct 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/187. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. The "Benadir" refugee camp, via ecoi.net. https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/194780. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Ikanda, F. N. The Snake's Head? Mistrust of Somali Refugees and the Encampment Policy in Kenya. bpb, 10 Nov 2020. https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/english-version-country-profiles/318374/the-snake-s-head-mistrust-of-somali-refugees-and-the-encampment-policy-in-kenya. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UNHCR. Review of UNHCR's programme in Kenya, via CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/46721357.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Amnesty International. Kenya: Historic ruling blocks closure of Dadaab refugee camp, 9 Feb 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/02/kenya-historic-ruling-blocks-closure-of-dadaab-refugee-camp-2/. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Human Rights Watch. Kenya: Ending refugee hosting, closing camps, 6 May 2016. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/06/kenya-ending-refugee-hosting-closing-camps. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Al Jazeera. Kenya says Dadaab, Kakuma refugee camps to close next year, 29 Apr 2021. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/4/29/kenya-says-dadaab-kakuma-refugee-camps-to-close-next-year. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Al Jazeera. Refugees in Kenya's Kakuma and Dadaab camps are still in limbo, 28 May 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2022/5/28/refugees-in-kenyas-kakuma-and-dadaab-camps-are-still-in-limbo. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. MSF. Return not a solution, say refugees in Dadaab after camp closure announcement, 18 Jun 2021. https://www.msf.org.za/news-and-resources/latest-news/return-not-solution-say-refugees-dadaab-after-camp-closure. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. VOA. Kenya retakes control of two emptied refugee camps, 21 Jun 2019. https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_kenya-retakes-control-two-emptied-refugee-camps/6170429.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. The Star (Kenya). CS Kindiki designates two more refugee camps in Garissa, 10 Jan 2023. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-01-10-cs-kindiki-designates-two-more-refugee-camps-in-garissa. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Republic of Kenya. Refugees Act, 2021 (No. 10 of 2021), via Judy Legal. https://www.judy.legal/legislation/akn/ke/act/2021/10. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. HIAS. Kenya's Refugee Act 2021: opportunities for refugee livelihoods and self-reliance. https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Al Jazeera Liberties. A city born of crisis: Dadaab, 18 May 2026. https://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/a-city-born-of-crisis-how-dadaab-one-of-the-largest-and-oldest-refugee-settlements-on-earth-faces-an-uncertain-future-amid-funding-collapse-political-ambition-and-fragile-hope/. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. AllAfrica. Kenya's Shirika Plan: a new dawn for refugee rights and integration, Jul 2025. https://allafrica.com/stories/202507080002.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Odiwuor, K. No direction home: a generation shaped by life in Dadaab. UNFPA, 4 Oct 2011. https://unfpa.org/news/no-direction-home-generation-shaped-life-dadaab. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Daily Nation. "I'm not really a Somali, yet I'm not Kenyan either." https://nation.africa/kenya/life-and-style/dn2/i-m-not-really-a-somali-yet-i-m-not-kenyan-either-i-think-i-am-more-of-a-dadaabian-1028402. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Devex. Dadaab turns 20, 2011. https://www.devex.com/news/dadaab-turns-20-77563. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. UNHCR Kenya. Operational Update, February 2024. https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/UNHCR%20Kenya%20Operational%20Update%20February%202024.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. UNHCR Kenya. Education. https://www.unhcr.org/ke/what-we-do/education. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. UNHCR Kenya. Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement. https://www.unhcr.org/ke/node/296. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Rawlence, B. [City of Thorns](/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence/). Picador, 2016. Kirkus review. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-rawlence/city-of-thorns/. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Grayson, C.-L. Children of the Camp. Berghahn, 2017. https://berghahnbooks.com/title/GraysonChildren. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somali Bantu (Jareer) resettlement from Kenya to the United States

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali Bantu farmers from the Jubba valley fled to Kenya's camps from late 1992. After efforts to resettle them in Tanzania and Mozambique, the United States accepted them as a group in 1999, and the first families arrived in May 2003. Sources put the total at about 12,000 to 13,000 people; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram counted about 13,000 resettled from 2004 through 2008.

From October 1992, thousands of Somali Bantu farmers fled the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley for refugee camps in Kenya. A decade later the United States began resettling about 12,000 to 13,000 of them, by different sources' counts. A 2003 profile for the US State Department said no group this large from a single African minority had come to the United States before ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). This page sets out how that happened, with each claim attributed.

## Who are the Somali Bantu?

The Somali Bantu, also called Jareer, are farming communities of southern Somalia who live mostly along the Jubba and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) rivers ([Van Lehman and Eno, The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). This 2003 profile, written for the US State Department's refugee bureau, estimated the whole Bantu population of southern Somalia at about 600,000.

The profile describes three groups. Some are indigenous to Somalia. Others descend from people brought to Somalia as slaves and absorbed into Somali society. A third group, descended from enslaved people who kept their east African languages and identity, was the one resettled (same source).

Many in that group trace their ancestry to present-day Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi, including the Zigua, Zaramo, Makua, Yao, Ngindo and Nyasa peoples ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). The profile says 25,000 to 50,000 enslaved people were brought into Somalia's river areas from 1800 to 1890. A 2019 law journal article puts the number enslaved by the Sultanate of Zanzibar at about 50,000 ([Van Lehman and McKee, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)).

For minority communities in Somalia in general, see [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## What happened to them before 1991?

The 2003 profile gives this account ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)):

- **1840s:** people escaping slavery in the Shabelle valley began settling in the forested Jubba valley, later called Goshaland.
- **Early 1900s:** an estimated 35,000 former slaves lived in Jubba valley villages, often grouped by their east African people of origin.
- **Early 20th century:** the Italian colonial authority abolished slavery in southern Somalia, though some inland groups stayed enslaved until the 1930s.
- **Mid-1930s:** the Italian administration brought in forced labour on its river-valley plantations.
- **1972:** the government made Af Maxaa the official written Somali language. The profile says this cut off speakers of [Af Maay](/en/society/the-somali-language/), the main language of the south.

The Georgetown article dates the language decision to 1973, and says the plantation labour scheme, known as *kolonyo*, began in 1935 ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)). Both sources describe exclusion of the Bantu from government posts, schooling and land title. These are the authors' accounts, drawing on scholars such as Lee Cassanelli, Catherine Besteman and Ken Menkhaus.

## Why did Somali Bantu flee to Kenya?

When the central state collapsed in 1991, the Bantu farms of the Jubba valley held food stocks as famine spread ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). The profile says armed groups raided these farms, robbing, raping and killing farmers. It says the Bantu had no clan protection to call on.

In October 1992, by the profile's account, Bantu began to flee in large numbers to camps near the Kenyan border (same source). By January 1994 an estimated 10,000 Bantu lived in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi and Hagadera camps. Several thousand more went by sea, to Marafa camp near Malindi in Kenya and Mkuyu camp near Handeni in Tanzania.

For the camps themselves, see [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/) and [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## What was life like for Bantu refugees in the camps?

The profile says Bantu families were placed in blocks at the outer edges of the camps ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). It gives two reasons: when they arrived, and discrimination from other Somali refugees. On the edges, it says, they were more exposed to night-time attacks, and they built fenced compounds with guards.

The profile reports that in the camps' first years Bantu suffered violent attacks out of proportion to their numbers (same source). It also records that women of every group faced rape while gathering firewood, until a US-funded firewood programme began. Accusations ran in both directions between Bantu and other Somali refugees, it says, and fighting sometimes followed.

Bantu refugees farmed small plots, ran a tree nursery in one camp and worked for aid agencies as builders and labourers (same source).

## Why Tanzania and Mozambique first?

Resettlement in Africa was tried first. The 2003 profile says Bantu refugees sought resettlement to Tanzania in 1993 and 1994, and to Mozambique in 1997 and 1998 ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). In January 1994, by its estimate, 75% of the Bantu in the Kenyan camps wanted to go to Tanzania and not back to Somalia.

These plans rested on proving ties to an east African people. The profile says this led some Bantu refugees to identify as Mushunguli, the name for the Zigua, and to use Swahili, even where they had lost their ancestral language (same source).

Tanzania did take in Bantu refugees of Zigua ancestry who reached it directly. UNHCR reported that about 3,000 were settled at Chogo and later given Tanzanian citizenship ([UNHCR, "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land"](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land)). See [Tanzania (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/tanzania/).

## How did the United States resettlement work?

The United States considered the Somali Bantu for resettlement in 1999, according to the 2003 profile ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). They were admitted under Priority 2 of the US Refugee Admissions Program, as a group of "special humanitarian concern" ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)).

The main steps, as reported:

- **2002:** over 12,000 Somali Bantu were moved from Dadaab to the Kakuma camp in north-west Kenya, to be interviewed by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).
- **After September 2001:** processing of refugees for the United States slowed sharply after the 11 September attacks, Voice of America reported in June 2003 ([VOA, June 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html)).
- **Before departure:** families took cultural orientation classes sponsored by the State Department, covering city life, money and US law, including that forced sex within marriage is a crime in the United States ([IPS, 14 November 2006](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).
- **May 2003:** more than 70 Somali Bantu refugees arrived in US cities, the first of nearly 12,000 to be resettled over the following three years, NPR reported ([NPR, 23 May 2003](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s)).

Before this, an estimated 300 Somali Bantu already lived in the United States, about 120 of them in Clarkston, Georgia ([VOA, June 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html); [Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).

## How many Somali Bantu were resettled?

Sources give different totals:

- **NPR, 2003:** "nearly 12,000" planned ([NPR, 2003](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s)).
- **Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, 2019:** "12,000" ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)).
- **IPS, 2006:** "13,000 Somali Bantu have finally been allowed" to come ([IPS, 2006](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).
- **Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2013:** about 13,000 resettled from 2004 through 2008, in states including Texas, Kansas, Maine and Missouri ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

UNHCR's yearly data does not separate Bantu from other Somalis. It shows Somali refugee resettlement to the United States rising from 1,993 in 2003 to 13,331 in 2004, then 10,405 in 2005 and 10,356 in 2006 ([UNHCR solutions API, Somalia to the United States](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=USA)). It fell to 6,969 in 2007 and 2,523 in 2008 (same source).

## Where in the United States did they settle?

Families were spread across many states. Local reports on this site include:

- **Phoenix:** one of the first families arrived on 22 May 2003; see [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/).
- **Atlanta and Clarkston:** an existing Bantu community helped receive new arrivals; see [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/).
- **Kansas City, San Diego, Denver and Dallas–Fort Worth:** arrivals from 2004 onward; see [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/), [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/), [Denver](/en/diaspora/denver/) and [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/).
- **Lewiston, Maine:** Bantu families moved on there as "secondary migrants" after first settling elsewhere. Anthropologist Catherine Besteman's 2016 book follows them from the Jubba valley through the Kenyan camps to Lewiston ([Duke University Press, Making Refuge](https://www.dukeupress.edu/making-refuge)). See [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/).

A 2006 documentary, *Rain in a Dry Land*, followed two Bantu families from a Kenyan camp to Springfield, Massachusetts and Atlanta ([IPS, 2006](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).

## What happened after resettlement?

The 2003 profile listed challenges the families would face: little schooling, no English, no jobs in a modern economy, and discrimination ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). It advised resettling extended families together. It also cautioned agencies not to assume trust between Bantu and other Somalis in the United States.

Some were later removed. The Georgetown article says that since 2016 "dozens" of Somali Bantu men have been removed from the United States to Somalia ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf)). The 20 removed men in its survey had all arrived as refugees from 2003 to 2006 and were removed from 2016 to 2018. Most were born in Kenya's camps or arrived there as infants, it says. For removals in general, see [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Kenya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Tanzania (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)
- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/)

## Sources

1. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. "The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture." Culture Profile No. 16. Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics, funded by the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. February 2003. [ERIC ED482784](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Van Lehman, D. J. and McKee, E. M. "Removals to Somalia in Light of the Convention against Torture: Recent Evidence from Somali Bantu Deportees." Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 33(3), 2019. [law.georgetown.edu](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/08/GT-GILJ190032.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land." [unhcr.org](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Voice of America. "Somali Bantus in Georgia." Broadcast 2 June 2003. [voanews.com](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Inter Press Service (Rollo Romig). "FILM: Somali Bantu Find Strange New Life in Urban U.S." 14 November 2006. [ipsnews.net](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. NPR (Jennifer Ludden). "Somali Refugees Begin Relocation to U.S." Morning Edition, 23 May 2003. [npr.org](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Diane Smith, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, via WardheerNews. "Bantu refugees in Fort Worth still searching for sanctuary." 7 July 2013. [wardheernews.com](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (resettlement), Somalia to the United States, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=USA). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Besteman, C. "Making Refuge: Somali Bantu Refugees and Lewiston, Maine." Duke University Press, February 2016. [dukeupress.edu](https://www.dukeupress.edu/making-refuge). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Ifo and Ifo 2 refugee camps, Dadaab, Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/ifo-camp/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ifo, opened in 1991, is the oldest of the Dadaab camps in Kenya. On 31 October 2026 it held 95,398 people, and its neighbour Ifo 2 held 88,963, by UNHCR's count. Ifo 2 opened in July 2011, was emptied in 2018 and was filled again from 2023.

Ifo is one of the camps of the Dadaab complex in Garissa County, Kenya. UNHCR calls it the oldest camp in Dadaab, set up in 1991 ([UNHCR Ifo camp profile, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)). Ifo 2, a separate camp next to it, opened in 2011. This page covers both camps; the Dadaab complex as a whole is on [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/).

## When and why did Ifo open?

Refugees from southern Somalia first crossed into Kenya at the border town of Liboi ([Van Lehman and Eno, The Somali Bantu, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). When Liboi grew past 40,000 people, UNHCR set up more camps near Dadaab: first Ifo, then Dagahaley, and last Hagadera (same source).

UN News, citing UNHCR, says the three original camps were set up between October 1991 and June 1992, for up to 90,000 people ([UN News, 21 February 2012](https://news.un.org/en/node/404012)). UNHCR's camp profiles give 1991 for Ifo ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)).

By January 1994, an estimated 10,000 Somali Bantu refugees lived in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi and Hagadera camps ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). By 1996 Ifo was also home to several hundred Christian Ethiopians, and the same profile records a church built by Bantu refugees in Ifo (same source).

## How many people have lived in Ifo?

Counts from UNHCR and from Human Rights Watch, which quoted UNHCR figures:
- **28 February 2009:** 86,732 ([Human Rights Watch, From Horror to Hopelessness, March 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **August 2012:** 108,422, the highest monthly figure in UNHCR's online series ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Ifo](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182)).
- **December 2012:** 90,005 (same source).
- **28 February 2014:** 87,703, in 22,448 households ([UNHCR Ifo camp profile, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864)).
- **1 August 2015:** 84,181, of whom 76,100 came from Somalia and 7,502 from Ethiopia ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)).
- **July to August 2016:** the portal's figure fell from 75,810 to 63,802 ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182)).
- **April 2017:** 60,856, the lowest figure in the series (same source).
- **December 2020:** 70,149; **December 2023:** 82,378; **December 2024:** 92,692; **December 2025:** 90,046 (same source).
- **31 October 2026:** 95,398 people in 18,187 households (same source).

The 2014 profile said Ifo's population had grown by 35% since 2010, as people fled war and famine in Somalia ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864)).

## Who lives in Ifo now?

On 31 October 2026, 90,116 of Ifo's residents came from Somalia ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182)). Others came from Ethiopia (4,362), South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) (552), DR Congo (195), Uganda (79), Burundi (52) and Sudan (28) (same source).

Children under 18 made up 48,467 people, or 50.8% of the camp, and 12,669 were under five ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo, demographic breakdown](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182)).

## What schools, health care and water does Ifo have?

UNHCR's 2014 and 2015 profiles describe these services ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864); [UNHCR, March 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32024); [UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)):
- **Schools:** eight primary schools, two secondary schools, an adult literacy centre and a youth vocational centre.
- **Enrolment:** 37% at primary level (63% of pupils boys) and 23.4% at secondary level (76.6% boys).
- **Vocational training:** the Norwegian Refugee Council ran a Youth Education Pack centre open to refugee and host youth.
- **Health:** six primary health posts and one level-four hospital run by Islamic Relief, with surgery. IOM built a tuberculosis ward at the hospital.
- **Births:** 78% of deliveries were attended by skilled staff in the 2014 profile, and 62% in the 2015 profiles.
- **Water:** seven boreholes gave 21.2 litres per person per day in 2014 and 22.0 litres in 2015.

The profiles differ on latrines. The 2014 profile counts 21,704, about six people per latrine, while the 2015 profiles count 12,930, about seven ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864); [UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)).

## How is Ifo laid out and run?

Ifo covers 12.3 square km, and each household plot measures 12 by 15 metres ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)). The 2014 profile counts eight sections and the 2015 profiles nine (same source; [UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864)).

In 2015 refugees elected two camp chairpersons, 18 section leaders and 212 block leaders, men and women ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)). The profile also lists 27 registered youth groups (same source).

The profile says shelters in the flood-prone half of the camp had not been replaced since 1991 ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113)). It adds that the Kenyan government did not allow agencies to build permanent shelters (same source).

## What floods and other events has Ifo seen?

- **November 2006:** floods displaced more than 100,000 of Dadaab's 160,000 Somali refugees, AFP reported. Dagahaley and Ifo were the worst hit ([AFP via Terra Daily, 21 November 2006](https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/)).
- **November 2006:** UNHCR moved the most affected people from Ifo to Hagadera. About 2,000 refugees and 32 donkey carts covered the 20 km route in the first days (same source).
- **31 May 2008:** Ifo and Hagadera were declared full, and new arrivals were registered only in Dagahaley ([Human Rights Watch, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **October 2011:** the Kenyan authorities suspended registration of new arrivals. Ifo had been the central registration point for all of Dadaab ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864)).
- **2012:** drainage canals were dug to carry floodwater out of the camp. UNHCR says half the camp is flood-prone (same source).
- **September 2012 and January 2013:** arrests of people described as al-Shabaab suspects took place in Ifo, the profiles record (same source).
- **April to June 2014:** a window for registering new arrivals was opened ([UNHCR, March 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32024)).

## When did Ifo 2 open?

UNHCR received permission to extend Dadaab in December 2009, according to both Oxfam and MSF ([Oxfam, 11 July 2011](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/9506); [MSF, 20 January 2011](https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable)). Oxfam says the work was finished in late 2010, but the government did not let people move in ([Oxfam, 2011](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/9506)).

The sources give different capacities:
- **MSF, January 2011:** an extension for 80,000 refugees, with a 45-bed hospital under construction ([MSF, 2011](https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable)).
- **IRIN, July 2011:** about 80,000 people, with schools, health facilities and mud-brick houses ([IRIN via ecoi.net, 28 July 2011](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/199315)).
- **Oxfam, July 2011:** about 40,000 refugees ([Oxfam, 2011](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/9506)).

Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced on 14 July 2011 that the camp would open ([IRIN via ecoi.net, 2011](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/199315)). A UNOSAT satellite map records an "Ifo extension" approved by the Kenyan authorities that day ([UNOSAT, 9 August 2011](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/30899)). From 25 July, UNHCR moved nearly 2,000 refugees to an extension area beside Ifo ([IRIN via ecoi.net, 2011](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/199315)).

UNHCR's profiles say Ifo 2 opened in July 2011 to take pressure off Ifo and Dagahaley ([UNHCR Ifo 2 profile, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32112)). It is split into Ifo 2 East and Ifo 2 West, with 18 sections over 10 square km (same source).

## What was Ifo 2 like from 2011 to 2018?

UNHCR's 2014 and 2015 profiles give these details ([UNHCR Ifo 2 profile, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31863); [UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32112)):
- **Population:** 54,189 in February 2014 and 51,436 in August 2015, of whom 49,961 came from Somalia.
- **Shelter:** 16,000 tents were issued from July to October 2011. In July 2013 the government stopped brick shelters as "permanent structures", and more than 4,500 timber and plastic shelters were built instead.
- **Schools:** ten primary schools and one secondary school. 28,410 children were in early-years and primary classes, but only 3% of secondary-age young people were enrolled.
- **Health:** a level-five hospital run by the Kenya Red Cross opened in June 2013, with a maternity hospital and three health posts.
- **Water:** seven boreholes, six of them solar-diesel hybrids, gave 24.6 litres per person per day.
- **Leaders:** on 26 August 2013 residents elected a chairman, a chairlady, 34 section leaders and 236 block leaders, half of them women.

The profiles record attacks on aid workers ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31863)). In October 2011 two MSF staff were kidnapped in Ifo 2 and released in 2013. On 29 June 2012 an NRC staff member was killed and four international staff were kidnapped; Kenyan authorities rescued them inside Somalia three days later (same source).

## How did Ifo 2 close and reopen?

Radio Ergo reported in April 2018 that UNHCR would close Ifo 2 by the end of April, citing reduced funding ([Radio Ergo, 12 April 2018](https://radioergo.org/en/2018/04/somali-famine-refugees-in-dadaab-suffer-cold-nights-awaiting-imminent-closure-of-their-camp/)). It said about 18,000 families remained, and about 2,000 had moved to Ifo and Dagahaley (same source).

In May 2018 Radio Ergo reported that the camp's ten primary schools, its secondary school, seven health centres and hospital had closed ([Radio Ergo, 9 May 2018](https://radioergo.org/en/2018/05/dadaab-refugees-want-to-stay-in-kenya-to-educate-their-children/)). It put the families still there at almost 20,000 (same source). UNHCR handed the empty camp to the Kenyan government on 21 June 2019 ([VOA, 21 June 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_kenya-retakes-control-two-emptied-refugee-camps/6170429.html)).

In January 2023 MSF reported that UNHCR was seeking donor money to reopen Ifo 2 for up to 80,000 refugees ([MSF Kenya, 24 January 2023](https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/latest-news/record-admissions-msf-hospital-dagahaley-humanitarian-situation)). UNHCR's portal shows 6,155 people in Ifo 2 in March 2023 and 70,965 in January 2024 ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo 2](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/183)).

## Who lives in Ifo 2 now?

On 31 October 2026, Ifo 2 held 88,963 people in 13,884 households ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo 2](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/183)). Of these, 84,881 came from Somalia, 2,135 from South Sudan and 1,715 from Ethiopia (same source).

Of the four Dadaab camps on the portal, Ifo 2 has the highest share of children. Children under 18 made up 62,941 people, or 70.7%, and 20,579 were under five ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo 2, demographic breakdown](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/183)).

## What has been written about Ifo?

- **UNHCR camp profiles (2014 and 2015)** and the **Operational Data Portal** give the camp-level figures used on this page ([UNHCR ODP, Ifo](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182)).
- **Daniel Van Lehman and Omar Eno, *The Somali Bantu* (2003),** describes the founding order of the camps and Bantu life in Ifo ([ERIC](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).
- **Human Rights Watch, *From Horror to Hopelessness* (2009),** records arrivals, registration and conditions in Ifo in 2008 ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)
- [Hagadera camp](/en/diaspora/hagadera-camp/)
- [Dagahaley camp](/en/diaspora/dagahaley-camp/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [The famine of 2010 to 2012](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Ifo Ref. Camp, monthly population 2012 to 2026 and demographics, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Ifo 2 Ref. Camp, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/183. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Ifo Camp Profile, Dadaab, Kenya, 1 August 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. UNHCR. Ifo Camp Profile, Dadaab Refugee Camps, 1 March 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32024. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. UNHCR. Camp profile Ifo, 28 February 2014. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. UNHCR. Ifo 2 Camp Profile, Dadaab, Kenya, 1 August 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32112. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. UNHCR. Camp profile Ifo 2, 28 February 2014. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31863. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. UNITAR/UNOSAT. Emergency assessment of Ifo refugee camp, 9 August 2011. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/30899. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture. Center for Applied Linguistics, 2003. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
10. UN News. UN-run camps for Somalia refugees in Kenya enter 20th year of existence, 21 February 2012. https://news.un.org/en/node/404012. Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Human Rights Watch. From Horror to Hopelessness: Kenya's Forgotten Somali Refugee Crisis, March 2009. https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
12. AFP, via Terra Daily. Somali refugees trudge to higher ground in flood-hit Kenya, 21 November 2006. https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/. Checked 12 November 2026.
13. Oxfam. New camp stands idle and closed as Somali refugees pour into Kenya, 11 July 2011. https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/9506. Checked 12 November 2026.
14. MSF. Ifo II refugee camp in Kenya lies empty while tens of thousands of Somali refugees live in unacceptable conditions, 20 January 2011. https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable. Checked 12 November 2026.
15. IRIN, via ecoi.net. Fourth Dadaab camp yet to open despite government pledge, 28 July 2011. https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/199315. Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Radio Ergo. Somali famine refugees in Dadaab suffer cold nights awaiting imminent closure of their camp, 12 April 2018. https://radioergo.org/en/2018/04/somali-famine-refugees-in-dadaab-suffer-cold-nights-awaiting-imminent-closure-of-their-camp/. Checked 12 November 2026.
17. Radio Ergo. Dadaab refugees want to stay in Kenya to educate their children, 9 May 2018. https://radioergo.org/en/2018/05/dadaab-refugees-want-to-stay-in-kenya-to-educate-their-children/. Checked 12 November 2026.
18. Voice of America. Kenya retakes control of two emptied refugee camps, 21 June 2019. https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_kenya-retakes-control-two-emptied-refugee-camps/6170429.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
19. MSF Kenya. Record admissions at MSF hospital in Dagahaley as humanitarian situation worsens, 24 January 2023. https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/latest-news/record-admissions-msf-hospital-dagahaley-humanitarian-situation. Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Hagadera refugee camp, Dadaab, Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/hagadera-camp/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hagadera, opened in 1992, is the largest of the Dadaab camps in Kenya. On 31 October 2026 it held 145,449 people, 143,754 of them from Somalia, by UNHCR's count. Its count rose from 86,550 in December 2023 to 146,693 in November 2025.

Hagadera is the largest camp in the Dadaab complex in Garissa County, Kenya ([UNHCR Hagadera camp profile, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). It lies in Fafi constituency, while Ifo and Dagahaley lie in Lagdera ([Human Rights Watch, March 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)). The Dadaab complex as a whole is on [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/).

## When did Hagadera open?

UNHCR's profiles say Hagadera was set up in 1992, as the third oldest camp in Dadaab ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). A 2003 profile of the Somali Bantu says UNHCR opened Ifo first, then Dagahaley, and Hagadera last, after the Liboi reception camp grew past 40,000 ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).

UN News, citing UNHCR, dates the three original camps to October 1991 to June 1992, for up to 90,000 people in all ([UN News, 21 February 2012](https://news.un.org/en/node/404012)). By January 1994, an estimated 10,000 Somali Bantu lived in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi and Hagadera camps ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).

In 2014 UNHCR managed Hagadera from its field office at Alinjugur ([UNHCR Hagadera profile, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)).

## How many people have lived in Hagadera?

Counts from UNHCR and from Human Rights Watch, which quoted UNHCR figures:
- **28 February 2009:** 91,982 ([Human Rights Watch, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **August 2012:** 136,746 ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Hagadera](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/181)).
- **November 2013:** 111,490, after a verification exercise (same source).
- **28 February 2014:** 107,666, in 28,107 households ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)).
- **1 August 2015:** 106,765, of whom 103,759 came from Somalia and 2,996 from Ethiopia ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)).
- **July to August 2016:** the portal's figure fell from 102,100 to 82,922 ([UNHCR ODP, Hagadera](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/181)).
- **September 2018:** 72,568, the lowest figure in the series (same source).
- **December 2023:** 86,550 (same source).
- **January to March 2024:** the figure rose from 93,599 to 126,219 (same source).
- **November 2025:** 146,693, the highest in the series (same source).
- **31 October 2026:** 145,449 people in 27,737 households (same source).

UNHCR's profiles say the camp lost over 45,000 people from its count in one verification exercise ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)). Over the same years, registered asylum seekers in Dadaab as a whole grew from 1,428 in UNHCR's 2022 figure to 138,309 in its 2024 figure ([UNHCR Kenya statistics, October 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/124859)).

## Who lives in Hagadera now?

On 31 October 2026, 143,754 of Hagadera's residents came from Somalia and 1,611 from Ethiopia ([UNHCR ODP, Hagadera](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/181)). Small groups came from DR Congo (31), South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) (24), Burundi (20) and Uganda (7) (same source).

Children under 18 made up 81,409 people, or 56.0% of the camp, and 22,361 were under five ([UNHCR ODP, Hagadera, demographic breakdown](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/181)).

## What is the "Hagadera Outskirts"?

UNHCR's profiles say most new arrivals in Hagadera stayed with relatives ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). About 20,000 had settled outside the official camp area, in what UNHCR calls the "Hagadera Outskirts" (same source).

To ease crowding, relocations in 2011, 2012 and 2014 moved about 2,000 families, around 10,000 people, to Kambioos camp ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). In 2008, residents of the host area near Hagadera had asked that 30,000 refugees be moved from Hagadera to a planned fourth camp, Human Rights Watch reported ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).

## What is the Hagadera market?

UNHCR's profiles say Hagadera has "one of the biggest markets in the region and a dynamic economy" ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)). In 2015 livelihood training covered tailoring, shoe making, soap making, weaving, sewing and tie-dye ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)).

## What schools does Hagadera have?

In February 2014 Hagadera had six working primary schools, with a seventh due to open that year ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)). By August 2015 it had seven primary schools, two secondary schools, an adult literacy centre, a vocational centre and an ICT training centre ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)).

Classrooms held 100 to 120 pupils, against a standard of 40, the profile says (same source). Primary enrolment was 37% and secondary enrolment 14.8% (same source).

## What health care and water does Hagadera have?

In 2015 four clinics and one hospital served an average of 454 patients a day ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). That was over 28,000 people per clinic, against a standard of one clinic per 10,000 (same source). The profile reports many home births, and notes several recent deaths from complications (same source).

A civil registrar from Garissa visited the camp each quarter to issue birth certificates to children born in Kenya ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)).

In December 2022 the International Rescue Committee said it was the only provider of medical care in Hagadera ([IRC, 22 December 2022](https://www.rescue.org/eu/press-release/55-fold-increase-cholera-cases-and-outbreak-measles-kenyas-refugee-camps-strain)). It ran a 140-bed hospital and two health posts (same source).

Water in 2015, from the profile ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)):
- **Boreholes:** seven, giving 23 litres per person per day.
- **Taps:** an average of 132 people per tap, against a standard of 80.
- **Latrines:** about 13 people per latrine.
- **Food:** WFP rations, distributed by World Vision twice a month through a biometric check, for 2,100 kilocalories per person per day.

## What fires, outbreaks and floods has Hagadera seen?

- **November 2006:** after floods hit Ifo and Dagahaley, UNHCR moved the most affected refugees from Ifo to Hagadera, AFP reported ([AFP via Terra Daily, 21 November 2006](https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/)).
- **31 May 2008:** Ifo and Hagadera were declared full ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **From 2010:** UNHCR recorded "rampant fire outbreaks" in the camp ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)). No shelters were allocated to Hagadera between 2010 and 2014 ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)).
- **September 2011:** the first kidnapping of Dadaab aid workers took place in Hagadera ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862)). Roadside bombs later killed and injured police escorting UN and NGO vehicles (same source).
- **April 2014:** a UN vehicle was attacked and attackers tried to kidnap a UNHCR staff member ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). The camp then had three police posts with 75 officers (same source).
- **December 2022:** a cholera outbreak in Hagadera killed at least three refugees, and 504 were treated for acute dehydration, the IRC reported ([IRC, 2022](https://www.rescue.org/eu/press-release/55-fold-increase-cholera-cases-and-outbreak-measles-kenyas-refugee-camps-strain)).
- **October to December 2023:** floods affected nearly 25,000 people in the Dadaab camps and displaced about 2,700 households, a cash-aid baseline survey reported ([Kenya Cash Consortium and IMPACT, February 2024](https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/81085faa/IMPACT_KEN_Dadaab-Baseline_Factsheet_Feb-2023.pdf)). The survey sampled 90 households in Hagadera (same source).

## How are Hagadera's residents represented?

Each block and section elects two leaders, one man and one woman ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)). In 2015 there were 28 section leaders and 260 block leaders, plus an elected chairman and chairlady (same source). The last election before that profile was held in August 2013, and minority groups also elected their own leaders (same source).

From December 2014, a joint desk run by Kenya's Department of Refugee Affairs, NRC and UNHCR registered people who wanted to return to Somalia ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114)).

## What has been written about Hagadera?

- **UNHCR camp profiles (2014 and 2015)** and the **Operational Data Portal** give the camp-level figures on this page ([UNHCR ODP, Hagadera](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/181)).
- **Human Rights Watch, *From Horror to Hopelessness* (2009),** includes interviews in Hagadera in October 2008 on registration and police conduct at the border ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **IRC press releases (2022)** describe health and nutrition work in Hagadera during the drought arrivals ([IRC, 8 November 2022](https://www.rescue.org/eu/press-release/humanitarian-needs-mount-almost-60000-refugees-somalia-arrive-dadaab-camp-due-impact)).

## Related pages

- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)
- [Ifo and Ifo 2 camps](/en/diaspora/ifo-camp/)
- [Dagahaley camp](/en/diaspora/dagahaley-camp/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [The 2020 to 2023 drought](/en/society/drought-2020-2023/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Hagadera Ref. Camp, monthly population 2012 to 2026 and demographics, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/181. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Hagadera Camp Profile, Dadaab, Kenya, 1 August 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32114. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Camp profile Hagadera, 28 February 2014. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31862. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. UNHCR Kenya. Kenya Statistics Infographics, October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/124859. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture. Center for Applied Linguistics, 2003. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. UN News. UN-run camps for Somalia refugees in Kenya enter 20th year of existence, 21 February 2012. https://news.un.org/en/node/404012. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Human Rights Watch. From Horror to Hopelessness: Kenya's Forgotten Somali Refugee Crisis, March 2009. https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. AFP, via Terra Daily. Somali refugees trudge to higher ground in flood-hit Kenya, 21 November 2006. https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. International Rescue Committee. 55-fold increase in cholera cases and an outbreak of measles in Kenya's refugee camps strain health resources, 22 December 2022. https://www.rescue.org/eu/press-release/55-fold-increase-cholera-cases-and-outbreak-measles-kenyas-refugee-camps-strain. Checked 12 November 2026.
10. International Rescue Committee. Humanitarian needs mount as almost 60,000 refugees from Somalia arrive in Dadaab camp, 8 November 2022. https://www.rescue.org/eu/press-release/humanitarian-needs-mount-almost-60000-refugees-somalia-arrive-dadaab-camp-due-impact. Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Kenya Cash Consortium and IMPACT Initiatives. Multi-purpose cash response to flood-affected refugees in Dadaab: baseline factsheet, February 2024. https://repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/impact/81085faa/IMPACT_KEN_Dadaab-Baseline_Factsheet_Feb-2023.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Dagahaley refugee camp, Dadaab, Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/dagahaley-camp/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dagahaley, opened in March 1992, is one of the four Dadaab camps in Kenya. On 31 October 2026 it held 109,154 people, 106,257 of them from Somalia, by UNHCR's count. MSF has run its main hospital since 2009.

Dagahaley is one of the camps of the Dadaab complex in Garissa County, Kenya ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Dagahaley](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/180)). Human Rights Watch put the return journey from Dagahaley at 20 km to Ifo and 56 km to Hagadera ([HRW, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)). The complex as a whole is on [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/).

## When did Dagahaley open?

UNHCR's 2015 profile says Dagahaley was set up in March 1992 ([UNHCR Dagahaley camp profile, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). A 2003 profile of the Somali Bantu says UNHCR opened Ifo first, then Dagahaley, then Hagadera, after the Liboi reception camp grew past 40,000 ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)).

One of that profile's authors, Daniel Van Lehman, was a UNHCR field officer in Dagahaley from 1992 to 1994 ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). By January 1994, by the profile's estimate, about 10,000 Somali Bantu lived in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi and Hagadera camps (same source).

For 14 years the camp held about 30,000 people, UNHCR says ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). New refugees came in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011, and settled on the camp's outskirts ([UNHCR Dagahaley profile, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31861)).

## How many people have lived in Dagahaley?

Counts from UNHCR and from Human Rights Watch, which quoted UNHCR figures:
- **28 February 2009:** 77,036 ([Human Rights Watch, From Horror to Hopelessness, March 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **December 2012:** 119,233, the highest figure in UNHCR's online series ([UNHCR ODP, Dagahaley](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/180)).
- **28 February 2014:** 91,947, in 22,247 households ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31861)).
- **1 August 2015:** 87,170, of whom 83,155 came from Somalia and 3,845 from Ethiopia ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)).
- **July to August 2016:** the portal's figure fell from 83,020 to 67,634 ([UNHCR ODP, Dagahaley](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/180)).
- **September 2018:** 67,170, the lowest figure in the series (same source).
- **December 2020:** 74,506; **December 2023:** 84,594; **December 2024:** 104,051; **December 2025:** 102,048 (same source).
- **31 October 2026:** 109,154 people in 20,698 households (same source).

A biometric check that began in October 2013 cut the number of people collecting food from 105,156 to 92,439, UNHCR reported ([UNHCR, 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31861)).

## Who lives in Dagahaley now?

On 31 October 2026, 106,257 of Dagahaley's residents came from Somalia and 2,688 from Ethiopia ([UNHCR ODP, Dagahaley](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/180)). Others came from South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) (166), Burundi (16), DR Congo (15) and Sudan (3) (same source).

Children under 18 made up 58,626 people, or 53.7% of the camp, and 16,386 were under five ([UNHCR ODP, Dagahaley, demographic breakdown](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/180)).

## What happened on the outskirts in 2008 to 2011?

On 31 May 2008, Ifo and Hagadera were declared full and new arrivals were registered only in Dagahaley ([Human Rights Watch, 2009](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)). On 28 August 2008 Dagahaley was also declared full (same source). Human Rights Watch found hundreds of new arrivals camped behind UNHCR's compound in Dagahaley (same source).

In January 2011 MSF said thousands of new refugees were living in poor conditions on Dagahaley's outskirts ([MSF, 20 January 2011](https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable)). In 2011 most of them moved to the new Ifo 2 camp ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). About 1,000 households were still on the outskirts in 2015 (same source).

From 31 July to 10 August 2011, MSF surveyed Bulo Bacte, a self-settled area around Dagahaley ([Polonsky et al., Conflict and Health, 2013](https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-7-1)). Its findings:
- **Population:** 26,583 people, 24.4% of them under five (same source).
- **Deaths:** 360 in the 177 days before the survey, 186 of them children under five (same source).
- **Death rate:** 0.8 per 10,000 people a day, and 1.8 for children under five (same source).
- **Measles:** an outbreak from June to October 2011 caused a reported 17% of deaths (same source).
- **Malnutrition:** 13.4% global acute malnutrition and 3.0% severe acute malnutrition among young children (same source).

## What health care does Dagahaley have?

MSF began work in Dagahaley in March 2009 ([MSF, 20 January 2011](https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable)). In 2011 it ran a 110-bed hospital with surgery and maternity care, and four health centres doing about 10,000 consultations a month (same source).

MSF has given later bed counts:
- **May 2023:** a 92-bed hospital and two health posts ([MSF, 30 May 2023](https://www.msf.org/looming-health-catastrophe-kenya%E2%80%99s-dadaab-refugee-camps)).
- **2025:** a 90-bed hospital and three health posts ([MSF Dagahaley factsheet, 2025](https://www.msf.or.ke/sites/default/files/2026-05/Digital%20Dagahaley%20Factsheet%202025.pdf)).

MSF's 2025 figures for the project (same source):
- 183,567 consultations and 13,176 admissions.
- 3,861 deliveries and 1,102 surgeries.
- 1,378 children admitted for malnutrition.
- 58,860 measles vaccinations.

In May 2015, MSF moved 42 staff to Nairobi because of insecurity ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). It closed two of its four health posts and suspended antenatal care at the hospital (same source).

## What schools and water does Dagahaley have?

UNHCR's 2015 profile lists seven primary schools, two secondary schools and an adult literacy centre ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). Primary enrolment was 33.9%, with one teacher for 53 pupils (same source). In secondary school, 79% of students were boys and 21% girls (same source).

Kenya's education ministry installed solar power in five primary schools, the profile says (same source). NRC ran a vocational training centre, and the camp had 96 youth groups (same source).

Water in 2015 came from seven boreholes in the camp, with two more outside it for the host community ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). Six elevated steel tanks fed 7.63 km of pipes, and UNHCR described the borehole equipment as ageing (same source).

## How is Dagahaley laid out?

Dagahaley covers 8.2 square km, in ten sections of about ten blocks each ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)). Plots measure 12 by 15 metres, but the profile reports three families sharing plots meant for one (same source).

## What fires, outbreaks and floods has Dagahaley seen?

- **November 2006:** floods displaced more than 100,000 of Dadaab's 160,000 refugees, and Dagahaley and Ifo were the worst hit, AFP reported ([AFP via Terra Daily, 21 November 2006](https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/)).
- **July 2012:** a fire destroyed Dagahaley's central market. UNHCR blamed the unplanned way the market had grown ([UNHCR, August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111)).
- **8 December 2014:** the first assisted return convoy to Somalia, with 91 people, left Dagahaley (same source).
- **2022:** MSF treated a record 12,007 patients in its paediatric ward and feeding centre, 33% more than in 2021 ([MSF Kenya, 24 January 2023](https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/latest-news/record-admissions-msf-hospital-dagahaley-humanitarian-situation)). Acute malnutrition among screened children reached 8% in December 2022 (same source).
- **November 2022 to May 2023:** MSF counted more than 1,120 cholera cases and two deaths in Dagahaley ([MSF, 30 May 2023](https://www.msf.org/looming-health-catastrophe-kenya%E2%80%99s-dadaab-refugee-camps)). MSF linked the outbreak to cuts in water and sanitation work (same source).
- **January 2023:** MSF opened two medical outposts and built 50 latrines for about 800 newly arrived families on the outskirts ([MSF Kenya, 2023](https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/latest-news/record-admissions-msf-hospital-dagahaley-humanitarian-situation)).
- **November 2023:** heavy rain from 8 November flooded the camp, and more than 2,700 people sheltered in five schools ([MSF Kenya, 21 November 2023](https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/news/kenya-flood-hit-refugees-dadaab-urgent-need-aid)).

## What has been written about Dagahaley?

- **Polonsky and others, "High levels of mortality, malnutrition, and measles…", *Conflict and Health* (2013),** on the Bulo Bacte survey of 2011 ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-7-1)).
- **Fred Nyongesa Ikanda, "The Role of Somali Kinship in Sustaining Bureaucratic Governance around Dagahaley Camp in Kenya", *Ethnos* (2020)** ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2020.1773894)).
- **Human Rights Watch, *From Horror to Hopelessness* (2009),** with interviews in Dagahaley in October 2008 ([HRW](https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf)).
- **MSF factsheets and press releases (2011 to 2025)** on the hospital and outbreaks ([MSF Kenya](https://www.msf.or.ke/sites/default/files/2026-05/Digital%20Dagahaley%20Factsheet%202025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)
- [Ifo and Ifo 2 camps](/en/diaspora/ifo-camp/)
- [Hagadera camp](/en/diaspora/hagadera-camp/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [The famine of 2010 to 2012](/en/society/famine-2010-2012/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Dagahaley Ref. Camp, monthly population 2012 to 2026 and demographics, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/180. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Dagahaley Camp Profile, Dadaab, Kenya, 1 August 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32111. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Camp profile Dagahaley, 28 February 2014. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31861. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture. Center for Applied Linguistics, 2003. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Human Rights Watch. From Horror to Hopelessness: Kenya's Forgotten Somali Refugee Crisis, March 2009. https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. MSF. Ifo II refugee camp in Kenya lies empty while tens of thousands of Somali refugees live in unacceptable conditions, 20 January 2011. https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Polonsky, J. A. et al. High levels of mortality, malnutrition, and measles, among recently-displaced Somali refugees in Dagahaley camp, Dadaab refugee camp complex, Kenya, 2011. Conflict and Health 7:1, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-7-1. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. MSF. Looming health catastrophe in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camps, 30 May 2023. https://www.msf.org/looming-health-catastrophe-kenya%E2%80%99s-dadaab-refugee-camps. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. MSF Kenya. Record admissions at MSF hospital in Dagahaley as humanitarian situation worsens, 24 January 2023. https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/latest-news/record-admissions-msf-hospital-dagahaley-humanitarian-situation. Checked 12 November 2026.
10. MSF Kenya. Kenya: flood-hit refugees in Dadaab in urgent need of aid, 21 November 2023. https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/news/kenya-flood-hit-refugees-dadaab-urgent-need-aid. Checked 12 November 2026.
11. MSF Kenya. Dagahaley camp: medical care for refugees and host communities, factsheet, 2025. https://www.msf.or.ke/sites/default/files/2026-05/Digital%20Dagahaley%20Factsheet%202025.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
12. AFP, via Terra Daily. Somali refugees trudge to higher ground in flood-hit Kenya, 21 November 2006. https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/. Checked 12 November 2026.
13. Ikanda, F. N. The Role of Somali Kinship in Sustaining Bureaucratic Governance around Dagahaley Camp in Kenya. Ethnos, 11 June 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2020.1773894. Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Aw Barre (Aw-barre) refugee camp, Somali Region of Ethiopia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/aw-barre-camp/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aw Barre camp opened in July 2007 near Jijiga in Ethiopia's Somali Region, for Somali refugees who arrived from late 2006. It held 18,569 refugees on 31 October 2026, all but three from Somalia, by UNHCR's count. It stands where the earlier Teferi Ber camp closed in 2001.

Aw Barre is one of three refugee camps run from UNHCR's sub-office in Jijiga, in Ethiopia's Somali Region ([UNHCR, Melkadida and Jijiga update, March 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686)). The other two are Kebribeyah and Sheder (same source). ODI places the camps in Fafan zone ([ODI and DRC, October 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)). For all Somali refugee camps in the region, see [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## What camps stood near Jijiga before Aw Barre?

Over 600,000 refugees from Somalia reached the Jijiga area in 1989 and the early 1990s, UNHCR says ([UNHCR, March 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686)). By the early 1990s there were nine camps there ([ODI and DRC, October 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).

In 1994, Ethiopia's refugee agency ARRA, backed by the army, held a one-day count in all nine camps ([ODI and DRC, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)). The official camp population fell 70%, from 628,000 to 184,900, ODI reports, citing a 2002 UNHCR study (same source).

After repatriation from 1997 to 2005, only Kebribeyah camp stayed open, with over 16,000 refugees ([UNHCR Jijiga factsheet, February 2013](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31751)). Today's Aw Barre camp stands on the site of the former Teferi Ber camp, which closed in 2001 ([ODI and DRC, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).

## When and why did Aw Barre open?

In December 2006, after new fighting in Somalia, 833 refugee families sought asylum at Hartisheikh ([UNHCR Jijiga factsheet, 2013](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31751)). A new site was found at Aw Barre to house them (same source). UNHCR's January 2018 camp profile says the camp opened in July 2007 ([UNHCR Aw-barre camp profile, January 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)).

ODI says the new arrivals came mainly from the south of Somalia, travelling to Jijiga by way of Gode ([ODI and DRC, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)). They were housed in Kebribeyah until Aw Barre opened in 2007 and Sheder in 2008 (same source).

Aw Barre was full by early 2008 ([UNHCR, 2013](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31751)). From March 2008, asylum seekers were sent to the Lafaissa transit centre, and Sheder camp opened in May 2008 (same source). ODI says later arrivals were settled near Dollo Ado, in the south of the region, instead ([ODI and DRC, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).

## How many people have lived in Aw Barre?

- **Start of 2009:** about 40,390 in the three Jijiga camps together, ODI reports, citing UNHCR ([ODI and DRC, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).
- **28 February 2013:** 13,419 in Aw Barre ([UNHCR Jijiga factsheet, 2013](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31751)).
- **January 2018:** 12,031, of whom 56.1% were children ([UNHCR camp profile, January 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)).
- **29 February 2020:** 12,120 ([UNHCR, March 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686)).
- **July 2020:** 12,136 ([UNHCR Jijiga update, July 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/78155)).
- **June 2022:** 12,903 ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Aw-barre](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth/173)).
- **December 2023:** 13,536; **December 2024:** 12,717; **December 2025:** 13,348 (same source).
- **August 2026:** 14,118 (same source).
- **31 October 2026:** 18,569 people in 2,770 households (same source).

The portal shows a rise of 4,451 people between August and October 2026 ([UNHCR ODP, Aw-barre](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth/173)). The portal gives no reason for the change.

## Who lives in Aw Barre now?

On 31 October 2026, 18,566 of Aw Barre's refugees came from Somalia, and 3 came from other countries ([UNHCR ODP, Aw-barre](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth/173)). Children under 18 numbered 8,166, or 44.0%, and 2,535 were under five (same source). There were 477 people aged 60 or over (same source).

UNHCR's 2018 profile says many refugees had family members living with them who were not registered ([UNHCR, January 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)).

## What schools and health care does Aw Barre have?

UNHCR's January 2018 profile lists ([UNHCR, January 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)):
- **Schools:** one primary school, three early-years centres, a government secondary school, two alternative basic education centres, a vocational centre and a youth centre.
- **School meals:** school feeding for primary pupils, and biscuits for early-years children.
- **Health:** a health centre that serves both refugees and the host community, with maternity care, vaccination and HIV services.
- **Partners:** ARRA ran camp management, primary health care, nutrition and primary schools. DICAC ran pre-school and secondary education.

UNHCR reported in March 2020 that a delay in replacing the camp's doctor was affecting primary health care ([UNHCR, March 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686)). In 2020, a COVID-19 isolation centre was set up inside the Aw Barre health centre ([UNHCR, July 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/78155)).

UNHCR's 2026 material names Ethiopia's government refugee agency as the Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) ([UNHCR Ethiopia map, May 2026](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/122997)). On 6 March 2024, RRS, the National ID Program and UNHCR began issuing digital identity documents to refugees (same source).

## What do nutrition surveys show?

- **December 2017:** acute malnutrition among young children was 5.4% in Aw Barre ([UNHCR SENS survey, 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/63529)).
- **2019 to 2020:** acute malnutrition stood at 10.7% and severe acute malnutrition at 3.7%, above the 2% public health threshold ([UNHCR, March 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686)).

## What about water, shelter and food?

UNHCR gives these figures for Aw Barre:
- **Water, 2018:** 18.5 litres per person per day, with 1,674 household latrines and 1,538 family showers ([UNHCR, January 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)).
- **Water, 2020:** over 20 litres per person per day, from two boreholes and a backup ([UNHCR, March 2020](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686)).
- **Shelter, 2018:** 312 durable shelters built, while 1,541 families still lived in traditional or emergency shelters ([UNHCR, January 2018](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)).
- **Layout:** three zones of 108 blocks, each block holding 16 households (same source).
- **Food:** cash replaced cereal rations from October 2017. In January 2018, 2,394,104 birr was paid out to 11,852 recipients (same source).
- **Cooking fuel:** the group GAIA supplied ethanol for household cooking (same source).

In June 2022, a broken borehole pump cut water in Aw Barre and led to tension with the host community, UNHCR reported ([UNHCR Ethiopia operational update, June 2022](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/94534)). UNHCR and its partner IMC trucked at least 80,000 litres a day to host communities (same source).

## How does the camp affect Aw Barre town?

ODI and the Danish Refugee Council studied the Jijiga camps and their hosts in 2018 and 2019 ([ODI and DRC, 2020](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)). Their findings on Aw Barre:
- **Water:** the Aw Barre water bureau estimated the town got 10% of the shared supply, not the planned 25%. The Lutheran World Federation disputed this.
- **Revenue:** ARRA and its partners added about 600,000 birr a year to Aw Barre's local revenue.
- **Planning:** officials discussed moving management of the water systems for both camps in the woreda to the local government.

The same study says the region's water bureau gave Aw Barre and Kebribeyah lower priority for funding because of the camps (same source).

## What has been written about Aw Barre?

- **Carver, Gedi and Naish, *Somali regional report 2018–2019* (ODI and DRC, 2020),** on the camps and their host towns ([ODI](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf)).
- **UNHCR camp profile (2018), factsheets (2013, 2020) and nutrition surveys** give the camp-level data on this page ([UNHCR](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691)).
- **UNHCR camp map (2010)** shows the camp's schools, health centre, mosque and registration centre ([UNHCR, Awbare Refugee Camp map](https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31482)).

## Related pages

- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Somalis leave, 1992 to 2026](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1992-2026/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Aw-barre Refugee Camp, monthly population 2022 to 2026 and demographics, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/eth/173. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR Ethiopia. Aw-barre Refugee Camp: camp profile, January 2018. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/62691. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR Sub-Office Jijiga. Factsheet with population statistics as of 28 February 2013. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31751. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. UNHCR Ethiopia. Somali refugees in Ethiopia: Melkadida and Jijiga situational update, March 2020. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/74686. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. UNHCR Ethiopia. Somali refugees in Ethiopia: Jijiga region situational update, July 2020. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/78155. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. UNHCR Ethiopia. Operational update, June 2022. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/94534. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. UNHCR, WFP and ARRA. Standardised Expanded Nutrition Survey (SENS): Awbarre, Kebribeyah and Sheder camps, December 2017 (report May 2018). https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/63529. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. UNHCR Ethiopia. Refugees and asylum-seekers map, 31 May 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/122997. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Carver, F., Gedi, A. A. and Naish, D. Somali regional report 2018–2019: refugee and host community context analysis. ODI and DRC, October 2020. https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/somali_regional_report_2018-2019_refugee_and_host_community_context_analysis.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
10. UNHCR Ethiopia. Awbare Refugee Camp map, as of 10 June 2010. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31482. Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# British Somalis in public life

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sagal Abdi-Wali became the first MP of Somali heritage when she won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October 2026 with 12,292 votes. British Somalis have also been an MEP, Lord Mayors of Sheffield and Bristol, mayors of four London boroughs and councillors in several cities.

## Who are the British Somalis in public office?

Since 2009, British Somalis have served as borough mayors, Lord Mayors, councillors, a council leader, a Member of the European Parliament and, from October 2026, a Member of Parliament. This page lists them by office, then public figures by role. Background on the community is on the [United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/) page.

## Is there a British Somali MP?

**Sagal Abdi-Wali** (Labour) won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October 2026 ([Camden Council, by-election results](https://www.camden.gov.uk/holborn-and-st-pancras-by-election-2026-results)). The seat had been held by Keir Starmer ([UK Parliament, by-election record](https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4105/election/560); [ITV News, 9 October 2026](https://www.itv.com/news/2026-10-09/labour-wins-holborn-and-st-pancras-by-election-for-keir-starmers-seat)).

- **Result:** she won 12,292 votes, about 45%; Green Party leader Zack Polanski came second with 8,928, about 33% ([Dawan, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-born-sagal-abdi-wali-wins-uk-parliamentary-by-election)). Camden Council gave turnout as 38.76% ([Camden Council](https://www.camden.gov.uk/holborn-and-st-pancras-by-election-2026-results)).
- **Sworn in:** she took her seat in the House of Commons in October 2026 ([Africanews, 13 October 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/10/13/somali-born-sagal-abdi-wali-sworn-in-as-londons-newest-mp/)). She is described as the first person of Somali origin and the first woman to represent the seat ([Muslim Network TV, 2026](https://www.muslimnetwork.tv/somali-refugee-sagal-abdi-wali-sworn-in-as-mp-taking-seat-keir-starmer-left-behind/)).
- **Background:** born in Somalia, she came to Camden as a child refugee; "Camden has been my home for 35 years," she said in May 2026 ([Camden Council, May 2026](https://news.camden.gov.uk/new-leader-and-cabinet-announced/)).
- **Council leader:** first elected a Camden councillor in 2022, she became leader of Camden Council on 20 May 2026, the borough's first Black woman leader (same source). One report called her the UK's first Somali council leader ([Muslim Network TV](https://www.muslimnetwork.tv/somali-refugee-sagal-abdi-wali-sworn-in-as-mp-taking-seat-keir-starmer-left-behind/)).
- **In her words:** "I want young people to know that their background does not determine the size of their dreams" ([Dawan, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-born-sagal-abdi-wali-wins-uk-parliamentary-by-election)).

## Has a British Somali sat in the European Parliament?

**[Magid Magid](/en/people/magid-magid/)** (Green) was elected an MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber in May 2019 ([New Statesman, May 2019](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2019/05/who-are-future-authors-britain-former-somali-child-refugee-heading-europe); [Horn Diplomat, 27 May 2019](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2019/05/27/magid-magid-becomes-first-somali-elected-to-european-parliament/)). He sat until the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magid_Magid)).

He said he was asked to leave the Parliament building on his first day in July 2019 ([The National, July 2019](https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/magid-magid-muslim-mep-asked-to-leave-european-parliament-on-first-day-1.882308)). The Parliament said no member of its staff was involved ([Hiiraan Online, July 2019](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2019/July/164559/new_mep_magid_magid_asked_to_leave_european_parliament_building.aspx)).

## Which British Somalis have been mayors or Lord Mayors?

Borough and city mayors in England are chosen each year by fellow councillors; it is a civic, not executive, role.

| Name | Office | Year | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Omer | Mayor of Tower Hamlets | 2009–10 | Described as Britain's first Somali mayor ([East London Advertiser](https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/captured-historic-moment-uk-s-first-somali-mayor-takes-office-3397920)) |
| Magid Magid | Lord Mayor of Sheffield | 2018–19 | Sheffield's first Somali-born and youngest Lord Mayor ([The New Arab, 19 May 2018](https://www.newarab.com/features/meet-sheffields-first-somali-lord-mayor-magid-magid)) |
| Rakhia Ismail | Mayor of Islington | 2019–20 | Holloway councillor since 2012 ([Islington Tribune, May 2019](https://islingtontribune.co.uk/article/mayor-a-role-model-for-somali-women)) |
| Abdi Aden | Mayor of Brent | 2022–23 | Stonebridge councillor since 2018 ([Brent Council, 18 May 2022](https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=60774)) |
| Safiya Saeed | Lord Mayor of Sheffield | 2025–26 | The city's 128th Lord Mayor ([Sheffield City Council, 2025](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/welcoming-safiya-saeed-new-right-worshipful-lord-mayor-sheffield)) |
| Faduma Mohamed | Mayor of Ealing | from 26 May 2026 | Southall West councillor ([Ealing News](https://www.ealing.news/news/new-mayor-of-ealing-pledges-borough-wide-unity/)) |
| Yassin Mohamud | Lord Mayor of Bristol | 2026–27 | Born in Mogadishu; first of Somali heritage in the role ([Bristol City Council](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor)) |

- **Ahmed Omer** was the son of a merchant seaman ([East London Advertiser](https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/captured-historic-moment-uk-s-first-somali-mayor-takes-office-3397920)). The year comes from a list of the borough's mayors ([London Wiki](https://london.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Mayors_of_Tower_Hamlets)).
- **Magid Magid** came to Sheffield aged five after months in a refugee camp in Ethiopia ([The New Arab](https://www.newarab.com/features/meet-sheffields-first-somali-lord-mayor-magid-magid)).
- **Rakhia Ismail** came to Britain as a refugee in the 1980s ([Islington Tribune](https://islingtontribune.co.uk/article/mayor-a-role-model-for-somali-women)).
- **Safiya Saeed** (Labour, Burngreave) came to Sheffield in 1985 and is the city's second Lord Mayor of Somali heritage ([Hyphen, 3 June 2025](https://hyphenonline.com/2025/06/03/safiya-saeed-first-black-muslim-woman-lord-mayor-sheffield/)).
- **Faduma Mohamed** came to Southall aged 11 after fleeing war ([Ealing News](https://www.ealing.news/news/new-mayor-of-ealing-pledges-borough-wide-unity/)).
- **Yassin Mohamud** (Green) has represented Lawrence Hill ward since 2021 ([Bristol City Council](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor); [Bristol Green Party](https://bristolgreenparty.org.uk/green-councillor-yassin-mohamud-to-be-next-lord-mayor-of-bristol/)).

## Which British Somalis sit on local councils?

Besides the mayors above, councillors of Somali heritage named in published sources include:

- **Bristol:** Hibaq Jama (Labour, Lawrence Hill), described as the city's first Somali councillor ([Bristol24/7, 2015](https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/somali-cllr-attacks-ukip-in-rousing-speech/)).
- **Newport:** Omar Ali won a 2013 by-election in Pill ward, thought to be the first councillor of Somali background in Wales ([WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067)).
- **Manchester:** Mahadi Hussein [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Mahamed (Labour) has represented Moss Side since May 2019 ([Manchester City Council](https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=236)). The Big Issue describes him as the city's first Somali councillor ([Big Issue, 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)).
- **Liverpool:** Rahima Farah (Labour) won Toxteth in May 2023, the first Somali Muslim woman on the city council ([About Islam, 2023](https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/meet-first-somali-female-muslim-councilor-elected-in-liverpool/)). She won a national Community Champion award in November 2024 ([Liverpool Express, 21 November 2024](https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/council-leader-and-toxteth-councillor-both-scoop-national-awards/)).
- **Leicester:** in 2014 the city had no Somali councillors ([Open Society Foundations, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).

## Who has held public appointments?

**Nimco Ali** was appointed Independent Government Adviser on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls on 9 October 2020 ([GOV.UK, October 2020](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fgm-campaigner-nimco-ali-appointed-as-tackling-violence-against-women-and-girls-adviser)). She held the post until 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimco_Ali)). She said in 2022 that she "wouldn't feel comfortable" working under the new Home Secretary ([Yahoo News, 2022](https://news.yahoo.com/government-adviser-set-resign-saying-214133812.html)).

## Who are British Somalis in public life outside office?

**Campaigners**

- **Nimco Ali** co-founded Daughters of Eve in 2010 and The Five Foundation in 2019, both working to end female genital mutilation (FGM) ([The Five Foundation](https://thefivefoundation.org/nimco-ali-obe/)). See her [people page](/en/people/nimco-ali/).
- **[Leyla Hussein](/en/people/leyla-hussein/)** was appointed OBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours, with Nimco Ali, for work against FGM ([NPR via KCUR, 12 June 2019](https://www.kcur.org/2019-06-12/the-queen-honors-two-women-who-seek-to-end-female-genital-mutilation)). She said she thought hard about accepting because of Britain's colonial history (same source).

**Sport**

- **Sir Mo Farah**, born in Somalia, was knighted for services to athletics in the 2017 New Year Honours ([GOV.UK, New Year Honours 2017](https://gov.uk/government/news/new-years-honours-2017)). He won the 5,000 m and 10,000 m at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics ([St Mary's University, January 2017](https://stmarys.ac.uk/news/2017/01/honours-st-marys-alumni)). See his [people page](/en/people/mo-farah/).

**Journalism**

- **[Rageh Omaar](/en/people/rageh-omaar/)**, born in Mogadishu, was a BBC world affairs correspondent and later ITV News' international affairs editor ([RUSI](https://www.rusi.org/people/omaar); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)).

**Writing**

- **Warsan Shire** was London's first Young Poet Laureate ([Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire)). See her [people page](/en/people/warsan-shire/).
- **Nadifa Mohamed**'s novel The Fortune Men was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize ([Booker Prizes, 2021](https://thebookerprizes.com/media-centre/press-releases/the-2021-booker-prize-for-fiction-shortlist)). See her [people page](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/).

**Business**

- **Abdirashid Duale** is chief executive of [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), the money transfer company founded by his father ([African Arguments, 2012](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/making-money-in-somaliland-meeting-abdirashid-duale-ceo-dahabshiil-by-magnus-taylor/)). See his [people page](/en/people/abdirashid-duale/).

## Related pages

- [United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [London](/en/diaspora/london/), [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/), [Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/), [Manchester](/en/diaspora/manchester/), [Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/), [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/), [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/), [other UK cities](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/)
- [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/)
- [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/)


---

# Somali Americans in public office

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Since Hussein Samatar won a Minneapolis school board seat in 2010, Somali Americans have been elected to Congress, three state legislatures, city councils, mayors' offices and school boards. After the November 2026 elections they held six seats in the Minnesota Legislature, two in Ohio's and three in Maine's, and Ilhan Omar won a fifth term in Congress.

## Who are the Somali Americans in public office?

Somali Americans hold or have held office at every level from school boards to the US House of Representatives. Most are in Minnesota, with others in Ohio, Maine, Washington state, Georgia and Wisconsin. This page lists every one found in published sources, grouped by level of office. Background on the community is on the [United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/) page.

The first is usually given as [Hussein Samatar](/en/people/hussein-samatar/), elected to the Minneapolis school board in November 2010 ([MPR News, 3 November 2010](https://www.mprnews.org/2010/11/03/hussein-samatar-first-somali-american-to-hold-public-office-in-minnesota)). Reports at the time called him the first Somali immigrant elected to public office in Minnesota and possibly in the country ([MinnPost, November 2010](https://www.minnpost.com/political-agenda/2010/11/hussein-samatar-becomes-first-somali-american-elected-office/)).

## Who represents Somali Americans in Congress?

**Ilhan Omar** (Democrat) has represented Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis, since January 2019 ([Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar](https://omar.house.gov/about)). Her office lists her as the first African refugee in Congress and one of the first two Muslim American women elected to it ([omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about)). A fuller profile is on her [people page](/en/people/ilhan-omar/).

- **Early life:** Born in Somalia, her family fled the civil war when she was eight and spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya ([omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about)). She settled in Minneapolis in 1997 ([omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about)).
- **Before Congress:** She worked as a community educator at the University of Minnesota and as a senior policy aide at Minneapolis City Council ([omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about)). In November 2016 she won a Minnesota House seat, reported as the first Somali American state lawmaker in the country ([Christian Science Monitor, 9 November 2016](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/1109/Meet-the-nation-s-first-Somali-American-lawmaker)).
- **Committees and caucuses:** Her office lists the House Budget Committee and the Education and Workforce Committee ([omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about)). She is deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (same source).

**Public controversies, as recorded:**

- **March 2019:** After comments by Omar that critics called antisemitic, the House passed H.Res.183 by 407 to 23 ([House Clerk, Roll Call 108](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2019108?BillNum=H.Res.183); [NPR, 7 March 2019](https://www.npr.org/2019/03/07/701074291/house-votes-to-condemn-anti-semitism-after-rep-omars-comments)). The final text condemned antisemitism, anti-Muslim discrimination and other bigotry, and did not name her ([Roll Call, 7 March 2019](https://rollcall.com/2019/03/07/house-passes-anti-hate-resolution-after-days-of-debate-over-response-to-omar-comments/)).
- **February 2023:** The Republican-led House removed her from the Foreign Affairs Committee, 218 to 211, citing six of her statements ([Congressional Record, 2 February 2023](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2023-02-02/html/CREC-2023-02-02-pt1-PgH643.htm); [H.Res.76 text](https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres76/BILLS-118hres76eh.htm)). The chair of the Progressive Caucus called the resolution an attack on her ([Congressional Progressive Caucus, February 2023](https://progressives.house.gov/2023/2/congressional-progressive-caucus-chair-on-republican-resolutions-to-attack-rep-omar-and-allies-across-the-globe)).
- **September 2025:** A resolution to censure her over remarks after the killing of Charlie Kirk was tabled, 214 to 213 ([Congressional Record, 17 September 2025](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2025-09-17/html/CREC-2025-09-17-pt1-PgH4395-2.htm)). Its sponsor said members "chose to protect Ilhan Omar"; Omar wrote "Finally some sanity in the House" ([ABC News, 17 September 2025](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/nancy-mace-censure-ilhan-omar-charlie-kirk-comment-125663772)).
- **October 2026:** Homeland Security agents searched her Washington home in what the Justice Department called a criminal investigation ([MPR News, 3 November 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/03/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-federal-investigation-continues)). Some officials linked it to unproven claims about her immigration history; she denied wrongdoing and called it intimidation (same source).

She won a fifth term on 3 November 2026, defeating Republican John Nagel ([MPR News, 3 November 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/03/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-federal-investigation-continues); [Dawan, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats)).

## Which Somali Americans sit in state legislatures?

After the 2026 election, Somali Americans held six seats in the Minnesota Legislature, all for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) ([Dawan, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats)). Ohio and Maine first elected Somali American lawmakers in 2022.

**Minnesota**

| Name | Seat | Years | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ilhan Omar | House 60B | 2017–2019 | Left for Congress ([CS Monitor, 2016](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/1109/Meet-the-nation-s-first-Somali-American-lawmaker)) |
| Mohamud Noor | House 60B | 2019–present | Chaired Human Services Finance, 2023–24 ([Legislative Reference Library](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15528)) |
| Hodan Hassan | House 62A, then 62B | 2019–2025 | Assistant Majority Leader, 2019–20; did not run in 2024 ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15530)) |
| Omar Fateh | Senate 62 | 2021–present | First Somali American in the Minnesota Senate ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15559)) |
| Zaynab Mohamed | Senate 63 | 2023–present | Among the first Black women in the Minnesota Senate ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15588); [MPR News, January 2023](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/01/04/meet-the-new-gen-z-state-senator-aiming-to-reshape-minnesota-politics)) |
| Samakab Hussein | House 65A | 2023–present | First Somali American to represent St Paul ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15573)) |
| Anquam Mahamoud | House 62B | 2025–present | Succeeded Hodan Hassan ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15639)) |
| Abdi Daisane | House 14A (St Cloud) | elected 2026 | Won 9,164 votes (51.6%) ([Dawan, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats); [MPR News, 4 November 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway)) |

Noor came to Minnesota in 1999 after seeking asylum in Kenya, and once led the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15528); [Mshale, December 2018](https://mshale.com/2018/12/28/speaker-designate-hortman-taps-hodan-hassan-and-mohamud-noor-for-committee-assignments/)). Hassan and Noor were founding members of the United Black Legislative Caucus ([LRL](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15530)).

In 2022 a federal jury convicted a volunteer on Fateh's 2020 campaign, his brother-in-law, of lying to a grand jury about delivering three absentee ballots ([Minnesota Reformer, 10 May 2022](https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/05/10/fateh-volunteer-convicted-of-lying-to-grand-jury-about-his-handling-of-absentee-ballots/)). Fateh said he was "troubled by this conviction," and a Senate ethics complaint against him was later dropped ([MPR News, 10 May 2022](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/05/10/jury-convicts-dfl-campaign-volunteer-of-lying-in-ballot-fraud-investigation); [Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/policing-justice/muse-mohamed-sentencing-perjury-federal-court-absentee-ballots/)).

**Ohio**

- **Ismail Mohamed** (Democrat), House District 3, since January 2023 ([Ohio House](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/biography)). He came to Central Ohio from Somalia as a child and was the first Somali American attorney to practise in Ohio (same source).
- **Munira Yasin Abdullahi** (Democrat), House District 9, since January 2023 ([Ohio House](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/munira-abdullahi/biography)). The Ohio Statehouse museum lists her and Mohamed as the first Somali Americans in the legislature ([Ohio Statehouse](https://www.ohiostatehouse.org/museum/ladies-gallery/munira-yasin-abdullahi)).
- Both kept their seats in November 2026 ([Dawan, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/ilhan-omar-wins-fifth-term-as-somali-americans-win-state-seats)). Both condemned the US president's remarks about Somalis in December 2025 ([Ohio House, 4 December 2025](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/news/rep-ismail-mohamed-condemns-recent-comments-by-president-trump-targeting-somali-communities-140006)).

**Maine**

- **Mana Abdi** (Democrat), House District 95, Lewiston, elected November 2022 as the first Somali American in the Maine Legislature ([Bangor Daily News, 8 November 2022](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2022/11/08/politics/mana-abdi-election/)).
- **Deqa Dhalac** (Democrat), House District 120, South Portland, elected 2022 ([Bangor Daily News, 9 November 2022](https://bangordailynews.com/2022/11/09/politics/somali-americans-elected-to-maine-legislature/)).
- **Yusuf Yusuf** (Democrat), Portland, elected 2024 ([Maine House Democrats](https://www.maine.gov/housedems/news/reps-abdi-dhalac-and-yusuf-respond-president-trumps-attacks-somali-americans)).
- The three issued a joint statement against the president's remarks about Somali Americans (same source).

## Which Somali Americans have been mayors?

| Name | City | Years | How chosen | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deqa Dhalac | South Portland, Maine | from December 2021 | Chosen by fellow councillors | [CNN via KTVZ, 7 December 2021](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/) |
| Nadia Mohamed | St Louis Park, Minnesota | from January 2024 | Elected by voters, November 2023 | [Minnesota Reformer, 8 November 2023](https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/11/08/nadia-mohamed-is-minnesotas-first-somali-american-mayor/); [PBS NewsHour, 2023](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/minnesota-city-is-believed-to-be-the-first-in-the-u-s-to-elect-a-somali-american-as-mayor) |
| Mohamed Egal | SeaTac, Washington | reappointed 13 January 2026 | Chosen by fellow councillors, 6 votes to 1 | [SeaTac Blog, 14 January 2026](https://seatacblog.com/?p=155480) |

Dhalac was believed to be the first Somali American mayor in the United States ([CNN via KTVZ](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)). Mohamed is described as the first elected directly by voters, as Dhalac was chosen by the council ([PBS NewsHour, 2023](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/minnesota-city-is-believed-to-be-the-first-in-the-u-s-to-elect-a-somali-american-as-mayor)). Mohamed came to the US as a refugee at 10 and first won a council seat in 2019 at 23 ([VOA, November 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_2-somali-americans-elected-city-councils-us/6178940.html)).

In the 2025 Minneapolis mayoral race, State Senator Omar Fateh won 44.37% in the final round and lost to the sitting mayor, Jacob Frey ([City of Minneapolis](https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results-data/election-results/2025/mayor); [Sahan Journal, November 2025](https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/minneapolis-mayoral-race-election-results-jacob-frey-omar-fateh/)).

## Which Somali Americans sit on city councils?

| Name | Council | Since | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Hassan | Clarkston, Georgia | 2013 | Born in Somalia ([City of Clarkston](https://www.clarkstonga.gov/node/838)) |
| Abdi Warsame | Minneapolis, Ward 6 | elected 2013; left March 2020 | First Somali American on the council ([MPR News, November 2013](https://origin-www.mprnews.org/story/2013/11/07/warsame-election-will-transform-the-way-somalis-see-politics)) |
| Zak Idan | Tukwila, Washington | sworn in January 2018 | Described as the first Somali refugee elected in Washington ([KUOW, January 2018](https://kuow.org/stories/people-feel-you-dont-belong-here-city-council)) |
| Deqa Dhalac | South Portland, Maine | 2018 | Later mayor ([CNN via KTVZ](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)) |
| Nadia Mohamed | St Louis Park, at-large | November 2019 | Won over 63% ([VOA, 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_2-somali-americans-elected-city-councils-us/6178940.html)) |
| Safiya Khalid | Lewiston, Ward 1 | November 2019 | Won 69.6% at age 23 ([Bangor Daily News, November 2019](https://bangordailynews.com/2019/11/05/politics/safiya-khalid-becomes-first-somali-american-elected-to-lewiston-city-council/)) |
| Jamal Osman | Minneapolis, Ward 6 | 2020 | Re-elected November 2025 with 58.8% of first choices ([City of Minneapolis](https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/results-data/election-results/2025/council-ward-6)) |
| Mohamed Abdi | Tukwila, Washington | November 2021 | Youngest member ever elected there, at 24 ([Seattle Medium](https://seattlemedium.com/tukwila-city-council-could-see-its-youngest-elected-somali-official-in-candidate-mohamed-abdi/)) |
| Mohamed Egal | SeaTac, Washington | sworn in December 2021 | Later mayor ([SeaTac Blog, 28 December 2021](https://seatacblog.com/2021/12/28/simpson-egal-and-guzman-sworn-in-as-new-members-of-seatac-city-council/)) |
| Isaak Mohamed | Barron, Wisconsin | April 2022 | First Somali-born member of that council ([WPR](https://wpr.org/candidates-color-mark-election-firsts-local-races-around-wisconsin)) |
| Hudda Ibrahim | St Cloud, Ward 3 | December 2024 | Appointed unanimously by the council ([MPR News, 3 December 2024](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/03/hudda-ibrahim-st-cloud-city-council)) |

Isaak Mohamed says he believes he is Wisconsin's first Somali American elected official ([Hiiraan Online, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185767/new_barron_councilman_believed_to_be_wisconsin_s_first_somali_elected_official.aspx)). He came to the US in 2013 after living in a refugee camp in Uganda (same source).

## Which Somali Americans have served on school boards?

- **Hussein Samatar**, Minneapolis Board of Education, elected 2010; he died in August 2013 ([MPR News, 2010](https://www.mprnews.org/2010/11/03/hussein-samatar-first-somali-american-to-hold-public-office-in-minnesota); [Star Tribune, 2013](https://www.startribune.com/mohamud-noor-wins-minneapolis-school-board-position/231678951/)).
- **Mohamud Noor**, Minneapolis Board of Education, appointed in 2013 to Samatar's District 3 seat ([Star Tribune, 2013](https://www.startribune.com/mohamud-noor-wins-minneapolis-school-board-position/231678951/)).
- **ZamZam Mohamud**, Lewiston School Committee, elected 2014 ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)).
- **Ibrahim Mohamed**, Shakopee school board, elected 2020, its first member of colour ([MPR News, 11 November 2020](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/11/11/somali-american-educator-becomes-first-black-school-board-member-in-shakopee)).
- **Suad "Sue" Said**, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District 191, won a 2021 special election with 72% ([Sahan Journal, 10 November 2021](https://sahanjournal.com/education/minnesota-school-boards-elect-somali-americans-burnsville-st-louis-park-eagan-apple-valley)).
- **Abdihakim Arabow Ibrahim**, St Louis Park Public Schools, elected unopposed in 2021 (same source).
- **Sakawdin Mohamed**, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan District 196, topped a field of 16 in 2021 (same source).
- **Awale Farah**, Kent School Board, Washington, position 4 ([Hiiraan Online, November 2021](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2021/Nov/184594/somali_community_celebrates_historic_election_wins_in_washington_state.aspx)).

## Who holds other elected posts?

**Hamdi Mohamed** won a seat on the Port of Seattle Commission in 2021 ([The Seattle Medium, 15 December 2021](https://seattlemedium.com/hamdi-mohamed-eager-to-get-to-work-as-first-black-woman-elected-to-the-seattle-port-commission)). She was described as the first Black woman on the commission and came to the US as a refugee baby (same source). In December 2025 she led Seattle's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs ([KUOW, 30 December 2025](https://www.kuow.org/immigration/2025-12-30/seattle-area-somalis-seek-officials-help-with-daycare-doxxing-immigration-crackdown)).

## Who holds senior appointed posts?

- **Hamse Warfa** became deputy commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development in April 2019 ([Mshale, April 2019](https://mshale.com/2019/04/03/hamse-warfa-appointed-assistant-commissioner-at-minnesota-deed/print)). In January 2022 he joined the US State Department as a senior adviser ([Minnesota Reformer, 10 January 2022](https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/01/10/minnesota-official-hamse-warfa-appointed-to-biden-administration-position/); [CBS Minnesota](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/hamse-warfa-appointed-to-state-department)).
- ABC News reported that other Somali Americans served in earlier administrations, including Hani Garabyare under President Obama ([ABC News via Good Morning America](https://beta.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/somali-american-hamse-warfa-joins-biden-administration-in-prominent-role-82229576)).
- **Abdi Warsame** left the city council to become executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority on 31 March 2020 ([Minnesota Reformer, 2020](https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/abdi-warsame-wins-city-council-approval-to-lead-housing-authority-starts-march-31/)). In June 2026 the Minneapolis NAACP called for his removal over conditions at Heritage Park Apartments ([Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 29 June 2026](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2026/06/29/minneapolis-naacp-heritage-park-mpha-ouster/)).
- **Sharmarke Issa** became the first Somali American immigrant to chair the board of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority in 2019 ([Star Tribune, 2019](https://www.startribune.com/first-somali-american-immigrant-to-lead-minneapolis-public-housing-board/510076092)).
- **Ibrahim Mohamed** was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton as the first Somali American on the Metropolitan Airports Commission ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/?p=28733)).
- **Sakawdin Mohamed** was reappointed to the Minnesota Commission on National and Community Service in 2014 ([Hiiraan Online, January 2014](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Jan/52968/somali_native_is_reappointed_for_minnesota_commission_on_national_and_community_service.aspx)).

## Where are there none yet?

Earlier research for the city pages found no Somali American elected officials in North Texas, Arizona, Nashville, or Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. See [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/), [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/), [Nashville](/en/diaspora/nashville/) and the [Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/).

## Related pages

- [United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/), [St Cloud](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/), [Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/), [Seattle](/en/diaspora/seattle/), [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/), [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
- [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/)
- [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/)
- [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/)
- [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)


---

# Somalis in public office in Europe

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali Europeans have sat in the national parliaments of Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands, and in the European Parliament for Italy. Sweden's 2026 election sent five MPs of Somali origin to the Riksdag, Norway's Marian Hussein won a second term in 2025, and others serve on city councils in Finland, Denmark and Belgium.

## Who are the Somali Europeans in public office?

People of Somali heritage hold or have held seats in four national parliaments in mainland Europe and once in the European Parliament. Most sit for parties of the left or the Greens, and most are in the Nordic countries. This page lists them by country, newest national office first. For the United Kingdom, see [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/).

## Who sits in Sweden's Riksdag?

Five people of Somali origin won Riksdag seats in the September 2026 election ([Dawan, 21 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/five-swedish-lawmakers-of-somali-origin-elected-to-parliament)).

| Name | Party | Constituency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leila Ali Elmi | Green | City of Gothenburg | MP since 2018; re-elected 2022 and 2026 |
| Ilyas Hassan | Left | Stockholm Municipality | New in 2026 |
| Mohamed Abdukani | Green | Södermanland County | Moved up the list with 484 personal votes |
| Mursal Isa | Green | Dalarna County | New in 2026 |
| Mohamed Abdukardir Ali | Left | Dalarna County | Moved from ninth to first with 648 personal votes |

All rows: [Dawan, 21 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/five-swedish-lawmakers-of-somali-origin-elected-to-parliament).

- **Leila Ali Elmi** won 1,467 personal votes in 2018 ([SVT](https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/leila-ali-elmi-ar-i-riksdagen)). In 2026 she became deputy chair of the Riksdag's Committee on Cultural Affairs ([Riksdag, member page](https://www.riksdagen.se/en/members-and-parties/member/leila-ali-elmi_5997ba96-4f01-46f4-8bd8-e1411a9d503b/)).
- **Mohamed Abdukardir Ali:** police opened an inquiry into suspected election fraud linked to his personal-vote campaign in Dalarna ([SVT, 2026](https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/kriminell-pekas-ut-i-valfuskutredning)). Prosecutors said no one had been named a suspect, and Ali denies involvement ([EFN, 23 September 2026](https://efn.se/ingen-delgiven-misstanke-om-brott-i-valfuskarendet)). The Left Party said he would take a "time out" at the start of the term ([TV4](https://www.tv4.se/artikel/7jMel5wVh88NkRTVx0GNfJ/mohamed-abdukardir-ali-tar-time-out)).

**Abdirizak Waberi** (Moderate Party), born in Somalia in 1966, sat for Gothenburg from 2010 to 2014 ([Riksdag, member page](https://www.riksdagen.se/en/members-and-parties/member/abdirizak-waberi_3f63ab38-ac68-46d4-b790-8a16c8c6694b/)). He was the first Somali-born member, before Elmi ([Hiiraan Online, September 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/sept/160137/leila_ali_makes_history_as_first_somali_swede_elected_to_swedish_parliament.aspx)).

- A Swedish court later convicted him of aggravated embezzlement and bookkeeping offences linked to a Gothenburg school he had run ([TV4](https://www.tv4.se/artikel/3fpN7IQLdukrgzsogiHTnx/fyra-ars-faengelse-foer-roemosseskolans-foerre-rektor)). Prosecutors said about SEK 13 million meant for pupils went to projects in Somalia; he denied the charges ([TV4](https://www.tv4.se/artikel/DApqRpVY4QMqq6pHGTfM9/skolmiljoner-skickades-till-somalia-nu-faller-hovraettsdomen)).
- The appeal court upheld the verdict (same source). Reports give the sentence as four or four and a half years in prison.

More on the community is on the [Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/) page.

## Who sits in Norway's Storting?

**[Marian Abdi Hussein](/en/people/marian-abdi-hussein/)** (Socialist Left Party) has represented Oslo since 2021, after serving as a deputy member from 2017 ([Storting, member page](https://www.stortinget.no/en/In-English/Members-of-the-Storting/current-members-of-parliament/representative/?perid=MAAH)). She was described as the first elected MP with a Somali background ([Euronews, June 2022](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)).

- **Re-elected:** she won a second term in September 2025, for 2025 to 2029 ([Storting](https://www.stortinget.no/en/In-English/Members-of-the-Storting/current-members-of-parliament/representative/?perid=MAAH); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-minister-of-family-affairs-and-human-rights-celebrates-re-election-of-mp-maryan-abdi-hussein-to-norwegian-parliament/)).
- **Committees:** she sat on the Health and Care Services Committee from 2021 to 2025 ([Storting](https://www.stortinget.no/en/In-English/Members-of-the-Storting/current-members-of-parliament/representative/?perid=MAAH)). Oslo SV's 2025 report says she now chairs the Labour and Social Affairs Committee ([Oslo SV, 2026](https://oslo.sv.no/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/sak-4_3-stortingsgruppas-beretning-2025.pdf)).
- **Party role:** she became one of SV's deputy leaders in March 2023 ([Hiiraan Online, March 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Mar/190381/somali_norwegian_political_trailblazer_vying_for_deputy_leader_in_norway_s_socialist_left_party.aspx)).
- **Background:** her family moved to Norway from Saudi Arabia when she was 10, and she worked as a social worker ([Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)).

More is on the [Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/) page.

## Who has sat in Finland's Eduskunta?

**[Suldaan Said Ahmed](/en/people/suldaan-said-ahmed/)** (Left Alliance) sat for Helsinki from 9 September 2021 to 4 April 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suldaan_Said_Ahmed)). He was Finland's first MP with a Somali background, entering from the party list to replace another member ([Al Jazeera, 6 July 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/6/from-child-refugee-to-politician-finlands-first-somali-born-mp); [Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)).

- He has sat on Helsinki City Council since 2017 ([Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/20/world-refugee-day-meet-the-somali-politicians-breaking-through-in-the-nordics)).
- **Envoy:** on 23 January 2024 the Foreign Minister appointed him her Special Envoy on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa ([Finnish Government, January 2024](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)). He had held the same role in 2022 to 2023 ([Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland](https://um.fi/current-affairs/-/asset_publisher/gc654PySnjTX/content/suldaan-said-ahmed-ulkoministerin-rauhanvalityksen-erityisedustajaksi-afrikan-sarven-alueelle-1)). He has visited Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia in the role ([Finnish Government](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa-suldaan-said-ahmed-visited-ethiopia-djibouti-and-somalia)).

**[Zahra Abdulla](/en/people/zahra-abdulla/)**, a former midwife, was elected to Helsinki City Council for the Green League in 1997 ([UNHCR](https://www.unhcr.org/ie/node/12810)). Sources give her council service as 1997 to 2017; she later joined the Left Alliance ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahra_Abdulla); [Left Alliance](https://vasemmisto.fi/nomineeposts/zahra-abdulla-in-english/)).

**Fadumo Dayib**, a Finnish public health expert, ran for president of Somalia in 2016 ([Harvard Kennedy School](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student-life/student-stories/fadumo-dayib-shifting-dream-action)). See her [people page](/en/people/fadumo-dayib/) and the [Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/) page.

## Who has sat in the Dutch parliament?

**[Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/)**, born in Somalia, sat in the Tweede Kamer for the VVD from January 2003 to May 2006 ([Al Jazeera, 16 May 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/5/16/dutch-mp-quits-over-asylum-lies)). She was known for her criticism of Islam ([Irish Times, 2006](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/vocal-critic-of-islam-to-quit-parliament-and-netherlands-1.1004092)).

- **2006:** she resigned after the immigration minister said she would lose her Dutch citizenship over false details in her asylum claim ([Al Jazeera, 16 May 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/5/16/dutch-mp-quits-over-asylum-lies)). She had admitted the false details publicly before standing in 2003 (same source).
- In June 2006 the government said she could keep her citizenship ([Al Jazeera, 27 June 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/6/27/hirsi-ali-keeps-dutch-citizenship)). The row over her case led D66 to leave the coalition, and the government stepped down ([Reuters archive, 2006](https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/216436)).

More is on the [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/) page.

## Who has represented Italy in Europe?

**Dacia Valent**, born in Mogadishu in 1963 to an Italian father and a Somali mother, was elected to the European Parliament in 1989 ([Il Fatto Quotidiano, 26 January 2015](https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/01/26/morta-dacia-valent-fu-eurodeputata-pci-sua-lotta-antirazzista-denuncio-ex-colleghi/1371495/)). She sat from 1989 to 1994, first with the Italian Communist Party and then Communist Refoundation ([Parltrack](https://parltrack.eu/mep/Dacia%20VALENT)). She died in Rome in January 2015 ([Il Fatto Quotidiano](https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/01/26/morta-dacia-valent-fu-eurodeputata-pci-sua-lotta-antirazzista-denuncio-ex-colleghi/1371495/)).

Writers [Igiaba Scego](/en/books/adua-scego/) and [Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/) are among Italy's public voices of Somali heritage ([Somali people in Italy, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people_in_Italy)). More is on the [Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/) page.

## Who holds local office elsewhere in Europe?

- **Denmark:** Nuuradiin S. Hussein (Social Democrats) was Aalborg's deputy mayor for jobs and welfare ([Altinget](https://www.altinget.dk/social/artikel/raadmand-glaeder-sig-over-lavere-socialudgifter-vi-har-grebet-det-helt-anderledes-an)). He arrived in Denmark at 18 and worked eight years as a social worker in East Aalborg ([Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/somali-dane-brings-personal-touch-to-stem-departures-to-syria/388563641)). In January 2026 he chaired the board of the Port of Aalborg ([Altinget, January 2026](https://www.altinget.dk/kommunal/artikel/aalborg-havns-bestyrelse-henter-tidligere-forsvarsminister)).
- **[Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/):** Sarah (Sahra) Mohamed Khalif (Flemish socialists) won a Leuven city council seat in October 2018, aged 21, with about 772 votes ([Hiiraan Online, October 2018](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Oct/160671/first_somali_woman_elected_as_belgium_city_council_member.aspx)). VRT reports she becomes Leuven's alderman for care, welfare and cemeteries on 1 January 2027 ([VRT, 23 June 2026](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/06/23/leuven-schepen-verlinden-sarah-khalif-vooruit/)).
- **Germany and Ireland:** see [Germany](/en/diaspora/germany/) and [Ireland](/en/diaspora/ireland/).

## How do Somali Swedes vote?

In Sweden's 2018 election, 79% of eligible Swedish Somalis voted, against 87% nationally, and women voted more than men ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)). In Finland's 2017 municipal elections, Somalis had the highest turnout, 39%, of any group of non-Finnish background ([Somalis in Finland, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)).

## Related pages

- [Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/), [Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/), [Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/), [Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/), [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/), [Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/), [Germany](/en/diaspora/germany/), [Ireland](/en/diaspora/ireland/)
- [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/)
- [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/)
- [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/)
- [Fadumo Dayib](/en/people/fadumo-dayib/)


---

# Why do so many Somalis have 1 January as their birthday?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Few Somali births were ever registered: in 2020 only 3% of children under five had a registered birth. When a refugee or migrant knew only the year, officials in the US, Australia, Norway and elsewhere recorded 1 January (sometimes 1 July) as the date.

## Why do so many Somalis share 1 January as a birthday?

Few Somali births were ever registered, so many people knew only a year or a season. When they fled and met immigration officers, the missing day and month were filled with 1 January ([MPR News, 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/2009/12/29/january-1-birthdays/)). In MPR News's words, people "chose or were assigned Jan. 1 as their birthday" on refugee and resettlement forms ([MPR News, 2025](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/01/02/why-so-many-somali-americans-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-new-years-day)).

A US immigration spokeswoman told MPR News in 2009: "The Jan. 1 birth date is the common birth date we assign" ([MPR News, 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/2009/12/29/january-1-birthdays/)). Each New Year's Day, Somali radio in Minneapolis plays birthday songs for the whole community ([MPR News, 2025](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/01/02/why-so-many-somali-americans-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-new-years-day)).

## How many Somali births were ever registered?

Very few. The 2020 Somalia Demographic and Health Survey found that 3% of children under five had their births registered, and only 0.3% had a birth certificate ([UNICEF Somalia, 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity)). A 2021 UNICEF country programme gave a similar figure of 3.5% ([UNICEF Executive Board, 2021](https://www.unicef.org/executiveboard/media/2911/file/2021-PL3-Somalia_CPD-EN-ODS.pdf)).

Even in towns, registration ran at only 3% to 7% ([UNICEF Somalia, 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity)). Somalia has an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 births a year, so most children still start life without a paper record (same source).

A digital civil registration system began as a pilot in 19 districts and reached 48 districts in 2025 ([UNICEF Somalia, 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity)). About 70% of recent registrants were over five years old, which shows a large backlog (same source). Inside Somalia, the National Identification and Registration Authority now issues national ID numbers ([NIRA](https://nira.gov.so)). The full story of Somali birth records is on the [birth records guide](/en/states/birth-records/).

## Did Somalia record dates of birth before 1991?

Partly. Mahamed Cali, director of Minneapolis Somali radio station KALY 101.7, said official papers from 1969 to 1991 usually recorded only the year ([MPR News, 2025](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/01/02/why-so-many-somali-americans-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-new-years-day)). He said families marked a child's birth with relatives and neighbours, not with a yearly birthday party (same source).

The civil registry stopped working when the central state collapsed in 1991 ([Garowe Online, 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-set-to-introduce-national-id-cards-after-over-three-decades)). In 2004 the UK Home Office said pre-1991 records had been destroyed and no central authority kept population records ([IRB Canada via ecoi.net, 2004](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1214116.html)).

## How did Somalis remember when they were born?

Many families counted time by seasons and by big events. Somalia has two rainy seasons, Gu (April to June) and [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) (October to December), and two dry seasons, Jilaal (January to March) and Xagaa or Hagaa (July to September) ([FSNAU](https://fsnau.org/analytical-approach/methodology/climate); [FAO GIEWS](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM&lang=en)).

Droughts were given names. The 1974 to 1975 drought in the north is remembered as Abaartii Dabadheer, "the long-tailed drought" ([Hiiraan Online, 2016](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2016/july/106343/from_drought_to_floods.aspx)). The ICRC has described how Somali droughts are named for how long and how hard they hit ([ICRC](https://icrc.org/en/document/somalia-conflict-drought-so-severe-it-has-names)).

So a person might know they were born "in the Gu after Dabadheer". That gives a year and a season, but no day an immigration form will accept.

## Who assigned 1 January in the United States?

US immigration officers did. The Social Security Administration's own manual states that "INS arbitrarily assigns January 1 as the month and day of birth to a person who knows only his/her year of birth" ([SSA POMS GN 00302.960](https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.NSF/lnx/0200302960)). The same rule tells SSA staff to disregard that 1 January when judging a person's real age (same source).

The State Department and Homeland Security told MPR News in 2009 that they had no data on how often this happens ([MPR News, 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/2009/12/29/january-1-birthdays/)). One refugee told MPR that her interviewer in Kenya asked her to write 1/1 because it was easy to remember (same source).

Refugee case files begin on Form I-590, which asks for a full date of birth in month, day and year ([USCIS Form I-590](https://USCIS.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-590.pdf)). Officers must later reconcile any differences in birth details when a refugee applies for a green card ([USCIS Policy Manual, archived](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218071712/https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-l-chapter-5)).

## Did UNHCR assign 1 January in the camps?

News reports say aid workers in camps often gave new birth dates, usually 1 January ([KUOW, 2016](https://kuow.org/stories/why-so-many-refugees-have-jan-1-birthday); [Star Tribune, 2020](https://www.startribune.com/for-many-somali-americans-happy-new-year-means-happy-birthday/566639041)). UNHCR's registration guidance lists date of birth as a core field in its proGres database ([UNHCR Registration Guidance](https://www.unhcr.org/registration-guidance/chapter8/continuous-registration-in-unhcr-operations/)).

UNHCR says a birth registered in proGres does not replace a state birth record ([UNHCR Registration Guidance](https://www.unhcr.org/registration-guidance/chapter8/continuous-registration-in-unhcr-operations/)).

## What did Australia, Canada and the Nordic countries do?

- **Australia:** Before 5 April 2004, people who could not prove a birth date were recorded as born on 1/1 of their year. Since then, unaccompanied humanitarian minors get 31 December instead ([DSS Social Security Guide 2.2.2](https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/2/2/2)). The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne says a child with a 1/1 date "is almost certainly younger" ([RCH](https://www.rch.org.au/immigranthealth/clinical/Birth_date_issues/)).
- **Canada:** Officers once estimated the year and used the interview date as day and month. Since 16 January 2015, they mark unknown parts of the date with an asterisk ([Globe and Mail, 2016](https://arc-dev.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/hold-the-cake-for-refugees-a-january-1-birthday-is-no-reason-to-celebrate/article33452885)).
- **Norway:** Until the mid-1970s, officials used 1 January for immigrants without a proper birth certificate ([Dagbladet, 2007](https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/yifeng-matte-bli-yngre/66306942)). Today the population register uses the date set by the immigration authorities ([Skatteetaten, Folkeregisterhåndboken § 3-3](https://www.skatteetaten.no/rettskilder/type/handboker/folkeregisterhandboken/gjeldende/kapittel3-hvilke-opplysninger-som-registreres/ID-3-3.001/)).
- **Sweden:** A government bill says some countries recorded fictitious dates, often 1 January or 1 July. Since 1996, immigrants giving these dates must prove them with a home-country passport ([Prop. 2008/09:111](https://lagen.nu/prop/2008/09:111)).

## Why did some people get a different date from the rest of their family?

Norway and Sweden ran out of personal identity numbers on 1 January. Sweden's shortage hit 1 January and 1 July in some years of the 1950s and 1960s ([Prop. 2008/09:111](https://lagen.nu/prop/2008/09:111)).

In Norway, people born on a full date are given the day they registered instead. A woman born on 1 January 1971 was recorded as born on 22 December ([Dagbladet, 2007](https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/yifeng-matte-bli-yngre/66306942)). Banks and phone companies then questioned her identity (same source).

## Is this only a Somali story?

No. Syrian, Iraqi, Sudanese, Ethiopian and Vietnamese refugees were also given 1 January ([MPR News, 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/2009/12/29/january-1-birthdays/); [KUOW, 2016](https://kuow.org/stories/why-so-many-refugees-have-jan-1-birthday)). In Afghanistan, millions mark 1 January because few births were recorded ([Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-so-many-afghanis-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-january-1-180948233/); [The Diplomat, 2015](https://thediplomat.com/2015/01/afghanistan-birthdays-and-war)).

## How common is a 1 January birthday among Somalis abroad?

No official count exists. MPR News cites a 2013 Minnesota Law Review report that more than 200,000 immigrants and refugees in the US have 1 January as their birth date ([MPR News, 2025](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/01/02/why-so-many-somali-americans-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-new-years-day)). That report is [Pearson, "What's My Age Again?", 98 Minn. L. Rev. 745 (2013)](https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/296).

Canada's immigration department does not track how many people have a 1 January date ([Globe and Mail, 2016](https://arc-dev.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/hold-the-cake-for-refugees-a-january-1-birthday-is-no-reason-to-celebrate/article33452885)). Settlement workers there estimate thousands (same source).

## What problems does a guessed birth date cause?

- **School:** A wrong date can put a child in the wrong class and skew development tests ([RCH](https://www.rch.org.au/immigranthealth/clinical/Birth_date_issues/)).
- **Child or adult:** Unaccompanied young people need a date of birth to get services for minors. Most arrive in the UK with no papers to prove it ([UK Home Office AESAC report](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1127181/14.169_HO_AESAC_report_V6_FINAL_WEB.pdf)). The Home Office publishes rules on assessing age ([Home Office, "Assessing age", 2025](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3e74a74c7605ab56723bd8/Assessing_age.pdf)).
- **Medical age tests are rough:** Bone-age X-rays have a margin of error of about 3 to 4 years ([RCH](https://www.rch.org.au/immigranthealth/clinical/Birth_date_issues/)).
- **Pensions:** SSA tells staff not to rely on an assigned 1 January for age-based benefits without other evidence ([SSA POMS GN 00302.960](https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.NSF/lnx/0200302960)).
- **Courts:** Uncertain ages affect whether a person is tried as a juvenile or an adult ([Pearson, Minn. L. Rev., 2013](https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/296)).
- **Identity checks:** Common Somali names plus a shared birth date can cause mix-ups in background checks ([MPR News, 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/2009/12/29/january-1-birthdays/)).
- **Sport:** Youth sport uses birth dates to set age groups, and unverifiable records feed age-fraud suspicions in African football ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_fraud_in_association_football)).

## Can a Somali correct a 1 January birth date?

Sometimes, and it is hard. Each country has its own route:

- **United States:** USCIS will not change the date on a naturalization certificate unless USCIS made a clerical error ([8 CFR 338.5, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/8/338.5); [USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 12 Part K Ch. 4](https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-k-chapter-4)). A federal court ordered one correction in 2024 on clear and convincing evidence ([Mangriotis v. USCIS, M.D. Ala. 2024](https://syfert.com/caselaw/case.php?id=9522098)).
- **Canada:** Newcomers with valid identification proving an error can ask IRCC to correct their record online ([Globe and Mail, 2016](https://arc-dev.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/hold-the-cake-for-refugees-a-january-1-birthday-is-no-reason-to-celebrate/article33452885)).
- **Australia:** Only the Department of Home Affairs can change the official date. Since 2022, humanitarian entrants use an online Request to Amend Personal Details and must prove the record wrong ([RCH](https://www.rch.org.au/immigranthealth/clinical/Birth_date_issues/)). Birth certificates issued years later carry little weight (same source).
- **Norway:** A date set for a permit holder can only be changed on notice from the immigration authorities ([Skatteetaten, Folkeregisterhåndboken](https://www.skatteetaten.no/rettskilder/type/handboker/folkeregisterhandboken/gjeldende/kapittel3-hvilke-opplysninger-som-registreres/ID-3-3.001/)).
- **Sweden:** Since 1996, a 1 January or 1 July date must be backed by a home-country passport ([Prop. 2008/09:111](https://lagen.nu/prop/2008/09:111)). Swedish Radio reported that Somali passports were not accepted by the Migration Board, which made this harder ([Sveriges Radio](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/3830441)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Share in 2009:** an Associated Press report of 1 January 2009 said about 15% of recent Somali refugees to the US shared a 1 January birthday ([AP, via Newser, January 2009](https://www.newser.com/story/46788/for-refugees-new-year-means-new-way-of-life.html)).

## Related pages

- [What papers do Somali refugees and migrants need?](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [Somali national ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- [The Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)
- [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Somalis in Australia](/en/diaspora/australia/)

## Sources

1. [UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/), "Giving Every Child a Legal Identity", 10 Aug 2025, https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNICEF Executive Board, Somalia Country Programme Document, 2021, https://www.unicef.org/executiveboard/media/2911/file/2021-PL3-Somalia_CPD-EN-ODS.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Social Security Administration, POMS GN 00302.960, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.NSF/lnx/0200302960. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. USCIS, Form I-590 Registration for Classification as Refugee, https://USCIS.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-590.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 7 Part L Ch. 5 (archived 2020), https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218071712/https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-l-chapter-5. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 12 Part K Ch. 4, https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-k-chapter-4. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. 8 CFR 338.5, Cornell Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/8/338.5. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Mangriotis v. USCIS (M.D. Ala. 2024), https://syfert.com/caselaw/case.php?id=9522098. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Annie Baxter, "Jan. 1 a common birth date for many immigrants", MPR News, 29 Dec 2009, https://www.mprnews.org/2009/12/29/january-1-birthdays/. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. MPR News, "Why so many Somali Americans celebrate their birthdays on New Year's Day", 2 Jan 2025, https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/01/02/why-so-many-somali-americans-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-new-years-day. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Star Tribune, "For many Somali-Americans, Happy New Year means happy birthday", 1 Jan 2020, https://www.startribune.com/for-many-somali-americans-happy-new-year-means-happy-birthday/566639041. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Liz Jones, "Why so many refugees have a Jan. 1 birthday", KUOW, 30 Dec 2016, https://kuow.org/stories/why-so-many-refugees-have-jan-1-birthday. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Dakshana Bascaramurty, "Hold the cake: for refugees, a January 1 birthday is no reason to celebrate", Globe and Mail, 29 Dec 2016, https://arc-dev.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/hold-the-cake-for-refugees-a-january-1-birthday-is-no-reason-to-celebrate/article33452885. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Ross Pearson, "What's My Age Again? The Immigrant Age Problem in the Criminal Justice System", 98 Minnesota Law Review 745, 2013, https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/296. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. UNHCR, Registration Guidance, Chapter 8, https://www.unhcr.org/registration-guidance/chapter8/continuous-registration-in-unhcr-operations/. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Australian Government DSS, Social Security Guide 2.2.2 "Verifying personal details", https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/2/2/2. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, "Birth date issues", https://www.rch.org.au/immigranthealth/clinical/Birth_date_issues/. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Cornelia Wilberg, "Yifeng måtte bli yngre", Dagbladet, 12 Feb 2007, https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/yifeng-matte-bli-yngre/66306942. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Skatteetaten, Folkeregisterhåndboken § 3-3, https://www.skatteetaten.no/rettskilder/type/handboker/folkeregisterhandboken/gjeldende/kapittel3-hvilke-opplysninger-som-registreres/ID-3-3.001/. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Swedish Government, Prop. 2008/09:111, https://lagen.nu/prop/2008/09:111. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Sveriges Radio, "Tough Rules for Somali Refugee Families", https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/3830441. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. UK Home Office, Interim Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee report, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1127181/14.169_HO_AESAC_report_V6_FINAL_WEB.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. UK Home Office, "Assessing age", 2025, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3e74a74c7605ab56723bd8/Assessing_age.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/), "Climate", https://fsnau.org/analytical-approach/methodology/climate. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. FAO GIEWS, Somalia country brief, https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=SOM&lang=en. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), "From drought to floods", July 2016, https://hiiraan.com/op4/2016/july/106343/from_drought_to_floods.aspx. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. ICRC, "Somalia: a drought so severe it has names", https://icrc.org/en/document/somalia-conflict-drought-so-severe-it-has-names. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. Garowe Online, "Somalia set to introduce National ID cards after over three decades", 2023, https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-set-to-introduce-national-id-cards-after-over-three-decades. Checked 2026-11-12.
29. IRB Canada, "Somalia: Identity documents and travel documents (January 2000 - June 2004)", via ecoi.net, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1214116.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
30. Smithsonian, "Why So Many Afghanis Celebrate Their Birthdays on January 1", https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-so-many-afghanis-celebrate-their-birthdays-on-january-1-180948233/. Checked 2026-11-12.
31. The Diplomat, "Afghanistan: Birthdays and War", Jan 2015, https://thediplomat.com/2015/01/afghanistan-birthdays-and-war. Checked 2026-11-12.
32. Wikipedia, "Age fraud in association football", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_fraud_in_association_football. Checked 2026-11-12.
33. Associated Press, via Newser. "For refugees, New Year means new way of life". Jan 2009. https://www.newser.com/story/46788/for-refugees-new-year-means-new-way-of-life.html. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somali Canadians in public life

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ahmed Hussen became the first Somali-Canadian MP in 2015 and served as a federal Cabinet minister from 2017 to 2025. Three Somali Canadians have sat in provincial legislatures, in Ontario and Alberta, and Sharmarke Dubow was the first elected to a Canadian city council, in Victoria in 2018.

## Who are the Somali Canadians in public office?

One Somali Canadian sits in the House of Commons, one in the Ontario legislature and one in Alberta's. Another served a term on Victoria's city council. This page lists them by level of office, then public figures by role. Background on the community is on the [Canada](/en/diaspora/canada/) page.

## Who represents Somali Canadians in Parliament?

**Ahmed Hussen** (Liberal) was elected for York South—Weston in Toronto on 19 October 2015 ([House of Commons, roles](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)). CBC News reported him as the first Somali-Canadian elected to Parliament ([CBC News, October 2015](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-s-ahmed-hussen-1st-somali-canadian-elected-to-parliament-1.3281260)). He was re-elected in 2019, 2021 and, for the renamed York South—Weston—Etobicoke, on 28 April 2025 ([House of Commons](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)). A fuller profile is on his [people page](/en/people/ahmed-hussen/).

His Cabinet posts, as listed by the House of Commons ([House of Commons, roles](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)):

| Post | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship | 10 January 2017 | 20 November 2019 |
| Minister of Families, Children and Social Development | 20 November 2019 | 26 October 2021 |
| Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion | 26 October 2021 | 26 July 2023 |
| Minister of International Development | 26 July 2023 | 14 March 2025 |

- **First Somali-born minister:** his 2017 appointment made him Canada's first Cabinet minister born in Somalia ([Yahoo News Canada, January 2017](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/with-cabinet-shuffle-ahmed-hussen-becomes-first-somali-canadian-minister-193528601.html)).
- **Since 2025:** he has chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development since 17 June 2025 ([House of Commons](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)).
- **Background:** he came to Canada as a refugee at 16, finished high school in Hamilton and settled in Toronto in 1997 ([Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). He studied at York University and the University of Ottawa law school, and practised criminal defence, immigration and human rights law (same source).
- **Community roles:** he co-founded and led the Regent Park Community Council and was national president of the Canadian Somali Congress ([Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)).
- **A public act:** as Minister of International Development he spoke at the March 2025 announcement of up to $20 million in federal money for Wadnaha Dhexe, a Somali community centre in Toronto ([Government of Canada, 1 March 2025](https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrastructure-communities/news/2025/03/wadnaha-dhexe-government-of-canada-commits-to-new-culture-and-recreation-centre-for-the-somali-community-in-toronto.html)). "The Canadian-Somali community is young and dynamic," he said (same source).

## Who sits in provincial legislatures?

**Ontario**

- **Faisal Hassan** (NDP) was MPP for York South—Weston from June 2018 to 2022 ([Global News, 2018](https://globalnews.ca/news/4192021/ontario-election-2018-york-south-weston-riding); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Hassan)). He came to Canada in 1990, first to Winnipeg ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Hassan)).
- In March 2020 he brought a bill to recognise Somali Heritage Week ([Ontario NDP, March 2020](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/ndp-mpp-announces-bill-recognize-somali-heritage-week-ontario)). The Somali Heritage Week Act, 2020 marks 25 June to 1 July each year ([Ontario, S.O. 2020, c. 22](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/20s22)).
- He sat in Ontario's first Black Caucus, with four NDP colleagues ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Hassan)).
- **Mohamed Firin** (Progressive Conservative) won York South—Weston in the 27 February 2025 Ontario election ([Legislative Assembly of Ontario](https://www.ola.org/en/members/all/mohamed-firin)). Since 22 October 2026 he has been Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General (same source).
- Firin is described as Canadian-born, of Somali descent, and a former provincial Advocate for Community Opportunities and Special Advisor to the Premier ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Firin)). An election-results site gives his 2025 margin as 202 votes over the Liberal candidate ([Stephen Taylor results map](https://www.stephentaylor.ca/data/political/canada/provincial/election/on/2025/122/)).

**Alberta**

- **[Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Haji** (NDP) was elected for Edmonton-Decore on 29 May 2023 ([Legislative Assembly of Alberta](https://www.assembly.ab.ca/members/members-of-the-legislative-assembly/member-information?mid=0963)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported him as the first Somali Canadian elected to Alberta's legislature ([Hiiraan Online, May 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)).
- His main opponent, a Conservative, was also of Somali descent ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191566/sharif_haji_becomes_first_somali_canadian_elected_to_alberta_s_parliament.aspx)).
- The Assembly lists him as born in Somalia, a former executive director of the Africa Centre (2019 to 2023), and a former manager of the provincial affordable housing strategy ([Legislative Assembly of Alberta](https://www.assembly.ab.ca/members/members-of-the-legislative-assembly/member-information?mid=0963)).
- In opposition he has been critic for immigration (2023 to 2024), for affordability and utilities (2024 to 2025), and since 22 October 2025 for primary and preventative health (same source).

## Who has sat on a city council?

**Sharmarke Dubow** was elected to Victoria city council, British Columbia, on 20 October 2018 ([UNHCR Canada, 17 June 2019](https://www.unhcr.ca/news/victoria-city-councillor-inspired-refugee-past-serve-community/)). UNHCR described him as the first Somali Canadian on a Canadian city council and Victoria's first Black councillor in 152 years (same source).

- He fled Somalia by boat in 1992, aged eight, and lived as a refugee in Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt ([UNHCR Canada](https://www.unhcr.ca/news/victoria-city-councillor-inspired-refugee-past-serve-community/)).
- He reached Canada in 2012, became a citizen on 1 July 2017, and cast his first vote in the election he won (same source; [CBC News, 2018](https://amp.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sharmarke-dubow-elected-victoria-city-council-1.4873530)).
- In April 2022 he said he would not seek a second term ([Hiiraan Online, April 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Apr/185902/canada_dubow_won_t_seek_re_election_as_victoria_councillor.aspx)).

Edmonton's Somali Canadian Cultural Society said in 2021 that it had hoped for more diversity on the city's school board ([CBC News, 2021](https://www.cbc.ca/1.6222321)).

## Who are Somali Canadians in public life outside elected office?

**Journalism and media**

- **Hodan Nalayeh** (1976 to 2019) founded Integration TV, an online channel of stories about Somalis ([CBC News, July 2019](https://amp.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hodan-nalayeh-somalia-bombing-obit-1.5211154)). She and her husband were killed in the attack on the Asasey Hotel in Kismaayo on 12 July 2019 ([Al Jazeera, 15 July 2019](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/15/brave-inspiring-somali-canadian-journalist-killed-in-kismayo)). See her [people page](/en/people/hodan-nalayeh/).
- A podcast she began with Windsor writer Fartumo Kusow was finished after her death with help from a CBC Windsor journalist ([CBC News, 2020](https://amp.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.5566247)).
- **Hassan Ghedi Santur**, a Toronto writer, has worked as a CBC Radio journalist, and his print work has appeared in The Walrus and the New York Times ([Rungh](https://rungh.org/?p=5136)).

**Music and the arts**

- **K'naan** (Keinan Abdi Warsame), born in Mogadishu in 1978, grew up in Toronto ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/KNaan)). His song "Wavin' Flag" was Coca-Cola's anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (same source). See his [people page](/en/people/knaan/).

**Community bodies**

- The Canadian Somali Congress is a national body; Hussen was its national president before entering politics ([Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)).
- Local centres and their leaders are listed on the [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/), [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) and [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/) pages.

## Related pages

- [Canada](/en/diaspora/canada/)
- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/), [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/), [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/)
- [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/)
- [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/)
- [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/)
- [Ahmed Hussen](/en/people/ahmed-hussen/), [Hodan Nalayeh](/en/people/hodan-nalayeh/), [K'naan](/en/people/knaan/)


---

# US travel bans and Somalis

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/us-travel-ban-and-somalis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> US entry bans covered Somali nationals from January 2017 to January 2021 and again from 9 June 2025. Proclamation 10998 has continued a full suspension of Somali immigrant and visitor visas since 1 January 2026. Somali refugee arrivals fell from 9,020 in FY2016 to 149 in FY2020, and to zero in FY2026.

## What did the first order of January 2017 do?

Executive Order 13769 was signed on 27 January 2017 ([Executive Order 13769, 82 FR 8977, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-02-01/html/2017-02281.htm)). It suspended entry from seven countries, Somalia among them, for 90 days (same source). It also suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days and set the FY2017 refugee cap at 50,000 (same source).

A federal court in Washington State blocked the order, and the Ninth Circuit refused to restore it in *Washington v. Trump*, 847 F.3d 1151 ([Trump v. Hawaii, opinion of the Court, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965)).

## What changed in the March 2017 order?

Executive Order 13780 was signed on 6 March 2017 and replaced the first order ([Executive Order 13780, 82 FR 13209, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-03-09/html/2017-04837.htm)). It covered six countries for 90 days, including Somalia (same source).

The order said "portions of Somalia have been terrorist safe havens" ([EO 13780, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-03-09/html/2017-04837.htm)). It also said most countries do not recognise Somali identity documents (same source).

Courts in Maryland and Hawaii blocked the order, and two appeals courts upheld those injunctions ([Trump v. Hawaii, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965)). In June 2017 the Supreme Court let the order apply to people without a "bona fide relationship" with a US person or entity (same source). The order expired, and the Court vacated those cases as moot (same source).

## What did Proclamation 9645 say about Somalia?

Proclamation 9645 was signed on 24 September 2017 and covered eight countries ([Proclamation 9645, 82 FR 45161, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-09-27/html/2017-20899.htm)). In its section on Somalia, it said the country met the information-sharing baseline (same source). It added that Somalia had "significant identity-management deficiencies" (same source).

For Somali nationals, the proclamation suspended entry as immigrants ([Proclamation 9645, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-09-27/html/2017-20899.htm)). Visitor and other nonimmigrant visa applications were to receive "additional scrutiny" (same source).

The Supreme Court let the proclamation take full effect on 4 December 2017, a State Department letter to a senator noted ([State Department letter, 22 February 2018, via AILA](https://aila.org/aila-files/6ADB2C91-197F-4901-94D1-4D0DC2E3C281/18030735.pdf)).

## What did the Supreme Court decide in Trump v. Hawaii?

The Court decided *Trump v. Hawaii*, 585 U.S. 667, on 26 June 2018, by five votes to four ([Trump v. Hawaii, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965)). Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the President had lawfully used his power under 8 U.S.C. §1182(f) (same source). The majority held that the challengers had not shown a likely Establishment Clause violation (same source).

Justice Breyer, joined by Justice Kagan, dissented and questioned how the waiver system worked ([Trump v. Hawaii, Breyer dissent, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965)). Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, wrote a separate dissent (same source).

## How were Somali visas affected?

Justice Breyer's dissent cited State Department data on Somalis ([Breyer dissent, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965)). It said no student visas went to Somali nationals from January to March 2018 (same source). It said only 40 nonimmigrant visas went to Somalis in that period, 65% fewer than in 2016 (same source).

Immigrant visas to Somalis fell from 1,797 in FY2016 to 546 in FY2018, a drop of 70% ([Forbes, Stuart Anderson, 11 March 2019](https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2019/03/11/muslim-travel-ban-less-immigration-and-few-waivers/)). The figures came from the National Foundation for American Policy's analysis of State Department data (same source).

## How many waivers were granted?

From 8 December 2017 to 8 January 2018, 8,406 people from all eight countries applied, the State Department told a senator ([State Department letter, via AILA](https://aila.org/aila-files/6ADB2C91-197F-4901-94D1-4D0DC2E3C281/18030735.pdf)). It said 6,282 did not meet the waiver criteria and 271 were being considered (same source). Two waivers had been approved by 15 February 2018 (same source).

The State Department's September 2019 report said 55,135 applicants had been considered for a waiver ([State Department, Proclamation 9645 report, September 2019](https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/presidentialproclamation/Presidential%20Proclamation%209645%20Report%20%E2%80%93%20September%202019.pdf)). It said 9,473 visas had been issued under waivers (same source).

## How did refugee arrivals from Somalia change?

In October 2017, Executive Order 13815 set extra review for refugees ([Executive Order 13815, 82 FR 50055, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-10-27/html/2017-23630.htm)). Reuters reported a 90-day review for eleven countries, including Somalia, and a pause on follow-to-join cases ([CNBC, from Reuters, 24 October 2017](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/24/us-resumes-refugee-admissions-11-countries-excluded.html)). Reuters said the eleven made up 44% of about 54,000 refugees in FY2017 (same source).

Somali refugee arrivals by fiscal year, from the State Department's Refugee Processing Center ([RPC, FY2016 arrivals by nationality](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202016%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xls)):

- **FY2016:** 9,020 ([RPC FY2016](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202016%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xls)).
- **FY2017:** 6,130 ([RPC FY2017](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202017%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xls)).
- **FY2018:** 257 ([RPC FY2018](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202018%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xls)).
- **FY2019:** 231 ([RPC FY2019](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202019%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xlsx)).
- **FY2020:** 149 ([RPC FY2020](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202020%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xlsx)).

Justice Breyer's dissent said 122 Somali refugees had been admitted from January 2018 ([Breyer dissent, Cornell LII](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965)). For arrivals in every year since 1990, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## How were the bans expanded in 2020 and repealed in 2021?

Proclamation 9983 of 31 January 2020 added six countries: Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) ([Proclamation 9983, 85 FR 6699, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-02-05/html/2020-02422.htm)).

On 20 January 2021, Proclamation 10141 revoked EO 13780 and Proclamations 9645, 9723 and 9983 ([Proclamation 10141, 86 FR 7005, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-01-25/html/2021-01749.htm)). It told the State Department to resume visa processing for the countries concerned (same source). It asked for a report within 45 days on reconsidering immigrant visa applications refused under Proclamations 9645 and 9983 (same source).

Somali refugee arrivals were about 200 in 2021, 490 in 2022, 1,410 in 2023 and 4,790 in 2024, by DHS's rounded count ([DHS Yearbook 2024, table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)).

## What restrictions apply from 2025?

Executive Order 14163 of 20 January 2025 suspended refugee admissions, the Congressional Research Service said ([CRS, IF13277, July 2026](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13277.html)). RPC data record 2,496 Somali arrivals in FY2025 ([RPC FY2025, as of 30 September 2025](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

Proclamation 10949 was signed on 4 June 2025 and took effect on 9 June ([Proclamation 10949, 90 FR 24497, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-06-10/html/2025-10669.htm)). It fully suspended entry of Somali immigrants and nonimmigrants (same source). It said Somalia "lacks a competent or cooperative central authority" and had "historically refused to accept back its removable nationals" (same source).

Somalia's ambassador in Washington, Dahir Hassan Abdi, said Somalia was ready for constructive dialogue ([Goobjoog News, June 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-urges-dialogue-after-u-s-travel-ban-targets-its-citizens)). Proclamation 10949 had exceptions for immediate-family immigrant visas with clear evidence such as DNA ([Proclamation 10949, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-06-10/html/2025-10669.htm)).

## What has applied since 1 January 2026?

Proclamation 10998 was signed on 16 December 2025 and took effect on 1 January 2026 ([Proclamation 10998, 90 FR 59717, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-19/html/2025-23570.htm)). It kept the full suspension for twelve countries, Somalia among them (same source). Its new exceptions list does not include the immediate-family visa exception (same source).

USCIS put a hold on pending benefit requests from people born in or citizens of the listed countries ([USCIS PM-602-0194, 1 January 2026, via AILA](https://assets.aila.org/files/dbed5cde-2ec8-4119-b256-c76ce5067761/26010531.pdf)). It ordered a re-review of approvals made on or after 20 January 2021 (same source). A footnote leaves [Somalia and Yemen](/en/relations/yemen/) out of the exception for certificates of citizenship (same source).

A March 2026 USCIS update said the two proclamations restrict 39 countries in all ([USCIS update, 30 March 2026, via AILA](https://assets.aila.org/files/e7d8b3af-90b1-4627-b7db-36086d61a52d/26033163.pdf)). It described Operation PARRIS, a re-review of refugee claims (same source).

## What other limits apply in 2026?

From 21 January 2026 the State Department paused immigrant visas for 75 countries, Somalia among them, CBS reported ([CBS News, 14 January 2026](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-to-suspend-immigrant-visas-for-nationals-of-75-countries)). On 22 August 2026 a federal judge in New York vacated that pause ([PBS NewsHour, from AP, 22 August 2026](https://pbs.org/newshour/politics/federal-judge-vacates-trump-policy-that-suspended-processing-of-immigration-visas-from-75-countries)). Proclamation 10998 still applies to Somali nationals ([Proclamation 10998, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-19/html/2025-23570.htm)).

The FY2026 refugee ceiling was 7,500, mainly for Afrikaners from South Africa ([Presidential determination, FY2026, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-10-31/html/2025-19752.htm)). An emergency determination raised it to 17,500 ([Emergency determination, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-05-27/html/2026-10598.htm)). The FY2027 ceiling is also 17,500, again mainly for Afrikaners ([Presidential determination, FY2027, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-02/html/2026-20318.htm)).

RPC data record no Somali refugee arrivals in FY2026 ([RPC FY2026, as of 30 September 2026](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202026%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202026.pdf)). Of 16,292 arrivals that year, 16,287 came from South Africa and 5 from Afghanistan (same source).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Family reunification and DNA tests](/en/diaspora/family-reunification-and-dna-tests/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/)

## Sources

1. Executive Order 13769, 82 FR 8977, 1 February 2017. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-02-01/html/2017-02281.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Executive Order 13780, 82 FR 13209, 9 March 2017. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-03-09/html/2017-04837.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. Proclamation 9645, 82 FR 45161, 27 September 2017. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-09-27/html/2017-20899.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Executive Order 13815, 82 FR 50055, 27 October 2017. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-10-27/html/2017-23630.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Supreme Court of the United States. *Trump v. Hawaii*, 585 U.S. 667 (2018), opinion and dissents. [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-965). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. US Department of State, letter to a US senator on Proclamation 9645 waivers, 22 February 2018, via AILA. [aila.org](https://aila.org/aila-files/6ADB2C91-197F-4901-94D1-4D0DC2E3C281/18030735.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. US Department of State. "Presidential Proclamation 9645 Report", September 2019. [travel.state.gov](https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/presidentialproclamation/Presidential%20Proclamation%209645%20Report%20%E2%80%93%20September%202019.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Forbes, Stuart Anderson. "Muslim Travel Ban: Less Immigration And Few Waivers." 11 March 2019. [forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2019/03/11/muslim-travel-ban-less-immigration-and-few-waivers/). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. CNBC, from Reuters. "US resumes refugee admissions, 11 countries excluded." 24 October 2017. [cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/24/us-resumes-refugee-admissions-11-countries-excluded.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Refugee Processing Center (US Department of State). Arrivals by state and nationality, FY2016 to FY2020. [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Archives/FY%202016%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality.xls). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Refugee Processing Center. Arrivals by state and nationality, FY2025 and FY2026, as of 30 September. [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202026%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202026.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. US Department of Homeland Security. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 12 November 2026.
13. Proclamation 9983, 85 FR 6699, 5 February 2020. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-02-05/html/2020-02422.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
14. Proclamation 10141, "Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States", 86 FR 7005, 25 January 2021. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-01-25/html/2021-01749.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
15. Congressional Research Service. "U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in FY2025 and FY2026." IF13277, July 2026. [everycrsreport.com](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13277.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Proclamation 10949, 90 FR 24497, 10 June 2025. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-06-10/html/2025-10669.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
17. [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) News. "Somalia urges dialogue after U.S. travel ban targets its citizens." June 2025. [goobjoog.com](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-urges-dialogue-after-u-s-travel-ban-targets-its-citizens). Checked 12 November 2026.
18. Proclamation 10998, 90 FR 59717, 19 December 2025. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-19/html/2025-23570.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
19. USCIS. Policy Memorandum PM-602-0194, 1 January 2026, via AILA. [aila.org](https://assets.aila.org/files/dbed5cde-2ec8-4119-b256-c76ce5067761/26010531.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
20. USCIS. Update on the policy memoranda, 30 March 2026, via AILA. [aila.org](https://assets.aila.org/files/e7d8b3af-90b1-4627-b7db-36086d61a52d/26033163.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
21. CBS News. "Trump administration to suspend immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries." 14 January 2026. [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-to-suspend-immigrant-visas-for-nationals-of-75-countries). Checked 12 November 2026.
22. PBS NewsHour, from AP. "Federal judge vacates Trump policy that suspended processing of immigration visas from 75 countries." 22 August 2026. [pbs.org](https://pbs.org/newshour/politics/federal-judge-vacates-trump-policy-that-suspended-processing-of-immigration-visas-from-75-countries). Checked 12 November 2026.
23. Presidential determinations on refugee admissions: FY2026 (31 October 2025), emergency determination (27 May 2026) and FY2027 (2 October 2026). [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-02/html/2026-20318.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# What papers do Somali refugees and migrants need, and why are they hard to get?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Somali who flees needs proof of refugee status from a host state or UNHCR, then travel, residence and family papers. About 805,900 Somali refugees lived in neighbouring countries in late 2026, and many lack records that other states accept.

## What papers does a Somali refugee need?

A Somali who flees needs, in order: refugee registration, proof of refugee status, a travel document, and later residence or citizenship papers in the new country. Each step depends on proving identity, which is hard when birth records and state registries were lost after 1991 ([IRB Canada via ecoi.net, 2004](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1214116.html)).

UNHCR counted 805,917 refugees from Somalia in the region at 31 October 2026 ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)):

- Ethiopia: 368,165
- Kenya: 334,733
- Uganda: 48,340
- Yemen: 40,982 (31 August 2026)
- Djibouti: 13,697 (31 August 2026)

## Which laws make a Somali a refugee?

Two treaties set the rules. The 1951 Refugee Convention covers people with a well-founded fear of persecution for race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion ([1951 Convention, Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/legal/agreements/unga/1951/en/39821?lang=so)).

The 1969 OAU Convention adds people who flee "external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order" ([OAU Convention 1969, AfricanLII](https://africanlii.org/en/akn/aa-au/act/convention/1969/specific-aspects-of-refugee-problems-in-africa/eng@1969-09-10/publication)). This wider definition fits many people fleeing fighting in Somalia.

Somalia itself has been a party to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol since 1978 ([UNHCR RIMAP, Somalia](https://rimap.unhcr.org/countries/somalia); [UN Treaty Series vol. 1108](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201108/volume-1108-A-8791-English_French.pdf)). A University of Minnesota record shows no ratification information for the OAU Convention ([UMN Human Rights Library](https://hrlibrary.umn.edu/research/ratification-somalia.html)).

## What is prima facie refugee status?

It means a whole group is recognised as refugees without a separate interview for each person. It is used when large numbers flee at once.

- **Kenya:** The Refugees Act 2021 took effect on 22 February 2022 and repealed the 2006 Act ([UNHCR RIMAP, Kenya](https://rimap.unhcr.org/node/348)). The Cabinet Secretary may declare a class of persons prima facie refugees after advice from a committee (same source). The Act uses both the 1951 and OAU definitions (same source).
- **Kenya ID:** Section 15 of the Act requires refugees to be given an identity card ([HIAS, 2022](https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/kenyas_refugee_act_2021-_opportunities_for_refugee_livelihoods_and_self-reliance_-final_draft31.pdf)).
- **Ethiopia:** Refugees Proclamation No. 1110/2019 lets the government recognise groups as refugees ([FAOLEX, Proclamation 1110/2019](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/eth216792.pdf)). Ethiopia's Refugees and Returnees Service decides asylum claims, and UNHCR observes ([UNHCR Help Ethiopia](https://help.unhcr.org/ethiopia/asylum/rsd-processs/)).

## What is a UNHCR "mandate refugee"?

Where a state does not decide refugee claims, UNHCR may decide them itself under its Statute. People recognised this way are called mandate refugees ([UNHCR Resettlement Handbook 1.2](https://www.unhcr.org/resettlement-handbook/1-refugee-status-and-resettlement/1-2-determining-refugee-status-under-unhcrs-mandate/)). UNHCR always tests the 1951 Convention definition first, then its broader mandate (same source).

## What does UNHCR registration give a refugee?

Registration creates a record in UNHCR's proGres database with name, sex, date of birth, country of origin and nationality ([UNHCR Registration Guidance](https://www.unhcr.org/registration-guidance/chapter8/continuous-registration-in-unhcr-operations/)). Staff must make a reasonable effort to confirm identity before creating a record (same source). Many Somalis' dates of birth were filled in at this stage; see [why so many Somalis have 1 January birthdays](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/).

## What is a Convention travel document?

Article 28 of the 1951 Convention requires states to give refugees lawfully on their territory a travel document. Its form is set out in a Schedule and specimen annexed to the Convention ([UNHCR, Refugee travel documents](https://www.unhcr.org/complementary-pathways-guidance/7-travel-documents/)).

UNHCR and the International Civil Aviation Organization publish a joint guide on making these documents machine-readable ([UNHCR and ICAO Guide, Refworld](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20151216213518if_/http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/52b166a34.pdf)). With it, a refugee can travel without using a Somali passport.

## How did the United States resettle the Somali Bantu?

The Somali Bantu are a minority group who lived for years in Kenya's camps. The first groups left Kenya for the US in May 2003 ([NPR, 2003](https://www.npr.org/2003/05/23/1272465/somali-refugees-begin-relocation-to-u-s)).

The plan was to resettle about 12,000 people ([Van Lehman and McKee, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/in-print/volume-33-number-3-spring-2019/removals-to-somalia-in-light-of-the-convention-against-torture-recent-evidence-from-somali-bantu-deportees/)). A 2006 IPS report put the group at about 13,000 ([IPS](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=21748)).

The same journal article says dozens of Somali Bantu men were removed back to Somalia after 2016 ([Van Lehman and McKee, 2019](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/immigration-law-journal/in-print/volume-33-number-3-spring-2019/removals-to-somalia-in-light-of-the-convention-against-torture-recent-evidence-from-somali-bantu-deportees/)).

## What was US Temporary Protected Status for Somalia?

TPS let Somalis already in the US stay and work while return was unsafe. The US first designated Somalia on 16 September 1991 ([Federal Register, 14 Jan 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm)).

It was extended or redesignated many times: nine extensions from 1992 to 2001, a redesignation in 2001, another in 2012, and three more rounds from 2021 ([Federal Register, 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm)). The 2024 notice ran it to 17 March 2026 ([Federal Register, 22 Jul 2024](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/22/2024-15829/extension-and-redesignation-of-somalia-for-temporary-protected-status)).

## How did Somalia's TPS end?

On 14 January 2026, DHS announced termination effective 17 March 2026 ([Federal Register, 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-14/html/2026-00596.htm)). DHS counted 1,082 approved beneficiaries and 1,383 pending applications as of 8 December 2025 (same source).

- **Court stay:** Four Somalis and two groups sued. A federal judge in Boston paused the termination in March 2026 ([NAACP LDF](https://naacpldf.org/press-release/federal-court-grants-temporary-emergency-stay-of-tps-termination-for-somalia/); [Muslim Advocates, May 2026](https://muslimadvocates.org/2026/05/court-extends-pause-on-tps-for-somalia/)).
- **Supreme Court:** In June 2026, the Supreme Court limited judges' power to review TPS terminations by a 6 to 3 vote ([GV Wire/Reuters, 14 Aug 2026](https://gvwire.com/2026/08/14/us-judge-clears-way-for-trump-to-end-somalis-deportation-protections/)).
- **End:** On 14 August 2026, Judge Allison Burroughs lifted her block, affecting nearly 1,100 Somalis ([GV Wire/Reuters, 2026](https://gvwire.com/2026/08/14/us-judge-clears-way-for-trump-to-end-somalis-deportation-protections/)). The legal challenge itself continued.

## What other US rules affect Somali papers now?

Proclamation 10949 suspended entry for Somali nationals from 9 June 2025 ([White House fact sheet, June 2025](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restricts-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals); [Proclamation text, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202500658/html/DCPD-202500658.htm)). Somalia stayed on the full list in the December 2025 proclamation effective 1 January 2026 ([Stony Brook University](https://stonybrook.edu/__admin-units/visa/resources/news-and-events/immigration-policy-updates/presidential-proclamation-expanding-us-entry-restrictions-12-16-2025.html)).

In December 2025, USCIS memo PM-602-0192 placed holds on green card, travel document and other applications from nationals of the listed countries ([Jackson Walker](https://www.jw.com/news/insights-uscis-pauses-asylum-hold-benefits-high-risk-countries/)). It also ordered re-review of benefits approved since 20 January 2021 for people who entered from then on ([EIG Law](https://eiglaw.com/uscis-issues-policy-to-hold-and-review-pending-applications-from-high-risk-countries/)).

## Why did the US stop family reunification and start DNA tests?

The US P-3 programme let refugees bring parents, spouses and children. In early 2008, the State Department tested 476 applicants in Nairobi, mostly Somali and Ethiopian ([PBS Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)).

- 16% matched every relative they listed.
- 39% did not match at least one relative.
- 45% refused or did not attend (same source).

Processing stopped in Kenya and Ethiopia in March 2008 and elsewhere in May ([US State Department, archived Q&A](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090506232108/http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/115891.htm)). Critics said one false result could mark a whole family as fraudulent ([PBS Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test); [American Immigration Council](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/underrepresented-african-refugees-and-potential-problems-with-dna-testing/)).

P-3 reopened in 2012 only with DNA or adoption proof for each parent and child. Fewer than 100 people a year came through it after that ([PBS Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)).

## How do Norway and other countries test family ties?

Norway's immigration directorate (UDI) may summon applicants from Africa south of the Sahara, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen for DNA tests ([UDI](https://www.udi.no/en/have-applied/family-immigration/who-can-be-summoned-for-a-dna-test-/)). The test is free, but applicants pay travel, and refusing without good reason will probably lead to rejection (same source).

A 2000 letter in the Norwegian medical journal discussed DNA tests of Somali families ([Tidsskriftet, 2000](https://tidsskriftet.no/2000/01/korrespondanser/dna-test-somaliere-og-norske-adoptivfamilier)). A 2012 Norwegian report for the European Migration Network says DNA is offered when papers are judged inadequate ([UDI/EMN](https://www.udi.no/globalassets/global/forskning-fou_i/arbeid-og-opphold/misuse-of-the-right-to-family-reunification.pdf)).

## Why have Somali passports been hard to use abroad?

After 1991, Somali passports were sold in markets and could not be checked. In July 2003 the UK stopped accepting them, and most EU states did the same ([IRB Canada via ecoi.net, 2004](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1214116.html)). In 2025 the president said over 10 million people held Somali passports, many issued without proper checks ([Garowe Online, Sep 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-president-vows-to-overhaul-passport-system-after-10-million-issued-without-clear-records)). The full history is in our [Somali passport guide](/en/states/somali-passport/).

## How does Somalia issue identity papers now?

Somalia's Identification and Registration Act (Law No. 9 of March 2023) created the National Identification and Registration Authority, NIRA ([NIRA](https://nira.gov.so/)). About 500,000 people had registered by September 2025, and a national ID became required for passport applications ([Garowe Online, Sep 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-president-vows-to-overhaul-passport-system-after-10-million-issued-without-clear-records)). See our [national ID guide](/en/states/national-id-nira/) and [birth records guide](/en/states/birth-records/).

## Can a Somali refugee lose all nationality?

The risk exists. Somalia's citizenship law is Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 ([Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1963/en/123382)). Its Article 2 gives citizenship by law to a person whose father is a Somali citizen. The 1962 law did not allow dual nationality, though the 2012 Provisional Constitution does ([Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/law-no-28-of-22-december-1962-on-somali-citizenship/)).

Somalia has not signed the 1954 or 1961 statelessness conventions ([UMN Human Rights Library](https://hrlibrary.umn.edu/research/ratification-somalia.html)). Children born in camps to parents without papers may struggle to prove Somali nationality, since few births are registered ([UNICEF Somalia, 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity)).

## Who is sent back to Somalia, and how?

- **United States:** ICE removed 229 Somali citizens in 2018, according to FOIA data analysed by the Center for Immigration Studies ([CIS](https://cis.org/Vaughan/ICE-Resists-Politicization-Deportations-Returns-Planeload-Somali-Citizens)). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported 4,090 Somalis marked for removal ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/world/u-s-intensifies-deportation-drive-somalia-tops-african-deportation-list)).
- **United Kingdom:** A Home Office programme run by IRARA in Mogadishu helps Somalis returned from the UK. They must ask within 3 months, and help lasts up to 12 months ([GOV.UK, 15 Sep 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/returning-to-somalia/returning-to-somalia-english-accessible)).
- **Norway:** In 2016, Norway and Somalia prepared a return deal that could affect about 500 Somalis refused residence ([PRIO, 2016](https://www.prio.org/comments/218)). Norway's immigration directorate reported 163 forced returns to Somalia since 2018 ([Full Fact](https://fullfact.org/online/norway-somalia-refugee-deportations/)). Norwegian police publish monthly figures ([Politiet](https://www.politiet.no/globalassets/tall-og-fakta/uttransporteringer/engelsk/2026/june-2026-forced-returns-from-norway.pdf)).
- **Sweden:** Swedish Radio reported a confidential December 2023 deal linked to aid funds; both governments deny any such agreement ([Hiiraan Online, Dec 2025](https://hiiraan.org/politics4/2025/Dec/203952/somali_president_meets_swedish_minister_as_deportations_face_scrutiny.aspx); [AllAfrica, Dec 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202512150145.html); [Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-government-denies-reports-of-secret-deal-with-sweden)). Sweden's migration minister said it worked only through IOM ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somali%20immigrants/222567/somalia-denies-secret-deportation-deal-with-sweden)).

## Related pages

- [Why do so many Somalis have 1 January birthdays?](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/)
- [The Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)
- [Somali national ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- [Somali birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Family reunification and DNA tests](/en/diaspora/family-reunification-and-dna-tests/)

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49. [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/) Voice, "Somalia denies secret deportation deal with Sweden", https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somali%20immigrants/222567/somalia-denies-secret-deportation-deal-with-sweden. Checked 2026-11-12.


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# Family reunification and DNA tests for Somali refugees

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/family-reunification-and-dna-tests/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Because Somali civil documents have not been accepted abroad since 1991, the US, UK, Nordic countries and the Netherlands have used DNA tests to check Somali family ties. The US suspended its P-3 family programme in 2008 after DNA tests in Nairobi confirmed every claimed relationship in fewer than 20% of family units, and resumed it on 15 October 2012 with DNA required.

Somalis who won protection abroad have often had to prove, with DNA, that the relatives they asked to bring are their own. This page sets out what governments, courts and researchers have recorded about those tests since the 1990s. The basic papers a refugee needs are on [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Why are Somali families asked for DNA tests?

Somali passports and other identity documents have not been accepted since 1991, Sweden's Migration Court of Appeal noted in 2019 ([MIG 2019:18, 31 October 2019](https://lagen.nu/dom/mig/2019:18)). A 2013 study for five European embassies in Addis Ababa found all of them struggling to establish Somali applicants' identity for the same reason ([Feasibility Study Shared Facility Centre Addis Ababa, 2013](https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/blg-308977.pdf)).

That study counted 12,200 Somali family reunification cases at those embassies in 2012 (same source). Over all locations, Sweden handled 11,344 Somali cases in 2010, Finland 3,986, the Netherlands 3,200, Norway 1,993 and Austria 50 (same source).

UNHCR issued guidance in June 2008 on DNA testing to establish family relationships in the refugee context ([UNHCR Note on DNA Testing, June 2008](https://www.refworld.org/node/59326)).

## What was the US P-3 programme?

Priority 3 (P-3) offered refugee processing to spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents of people admitted as refugees or granted asylum in the US ([US State Department, Report to Congress FY2014](https://www.wrapsnet.org/documents/Report+to+Congress+for+FY+2014+USRAP.pdf)). The relative in the US filed an Affidavit of Relationship, and Somalia was on the list of eligible nationalities (same source).

In recent years more than 95% of P-3 applications had come from Africans, mainly Somalis, Ethiopians and Liberians, the State Department said in December 2008 ([State Department fact sheet, 4 December 2008, via Scoop](https://m.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0812/S00130/fraud-in-the-refugee-family-reunification-program.htm)). About 36,000 people had arrived from Africa under P-3 since 1 October 2003 (same source).

## Why did the US stop P-3 in 2008?

The State Department ran a DNA pilot on about 500 refugees in Nairobi, mostly Somali and Ethiopian ([fact sheet, 2008](https://m.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0812/S00130/fraud-in-the-refugee-family-reunification-program.htm)). It said every claimed biological relationship was confirmed in fewer than 20% of family units. In the rest, at least one test was negative or people refused testing (same source).

- **Wider testing:** about 3,000 people were then tested, mostly from Somalia, Ethiopia and Liberia (same source).
- **Suspension:** processing stopped in Kenya and Ethiopia in March 2008 and in Uganda in May 2008 (same source).
- **All nationalities:** from 22 October 2008 no new P-3 applications were accepted (same source).

PBS Frontline in 2015 gave a different breakdown of the pilot: 476 people tested, 16% matching every relative, 39% failing one match, 45% refusing or absent ([PBS Frontline, 19 October 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)).

## How did P-3 restart?

P-3 resumed on 15 October 2012 with a new form, DS-7656, that warns of penalties for fraud ([Report to Congress FY2014](https://www.wrapsnet.org/documents/Report+to+Congress+for+FY+2014+USRAP.pdf)). Filers are told that DNA evidence of certain parent-child relationships is required before a USCIS interview (same source).

By 30 June 2013 more than 1,000 affidavits had been filed, mostly in East Africa (same source). None of those families were expected to arrive before 2014 (same source). PBS later reported fewer than 100 arrivals a year through P-3 ([PBS Frontline, 2015](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test)).

## Where does US family reunion stand now?

The whole US refugee programme has been suspended since late January 2025 ([Congressional Research Service, IF13277, July 2026](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13277.html)). Proclamation 10949 of June 2025 exempted immediate-family immigrant visas backed by "clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship (e.g., DNA)" ([Proclamation 10949, 90 FR 24497](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-06-10/html/2025-10669.htm)).

Proclamation 10998, effective 1 January 2026, replaced that list of exceptions with a shorter one that leaves out immediate-family visas ([Proclamation 10998, 90 FR 59717](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-19/html/2025-23570.htm)). Details are on [US travel bans and Somalis](/en/diaspora/us-travel-ban-and-somalis/).

## How has the UK used DNA tests?

In 1994 a minister told Parliament that Somalis applying to join relatives in the UK could have DNA tests like other nationals ([Hansard, HC Deb 23 June 1994, vol 245, col 261W](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1994/jun/23/somalia)). Tests were free for first-time applicants when the entry clearance officer doubted the relationship. In 1993, 19 tests were done in Addis Ababa and 7 in Nairobi (same source).

In 1997 the government gave figures for Somali applicants tested at Addis Ababa ([Hansard, HC Deb 12 June 1997, vol 295](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1997/jun/12/somalia)):

- **1994:** 44 tested, 14 not related as claimed.
- **1995:** 37 tested, 13 not related as claimed.
- **1996:** 64 tested, 17 not related as claimed.
- **1997 to June:** 42 tested, 1 not related as claimed.

The Home Office's current DNA guidance says it cannot require DNA evidence and that giving it is voluntary ([Home Office, DNA policy guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dna-policy)). A 2025 King's College [London](/en/diaspora/london/) workshop report said decision-makers do not always understand the probabilistic nature of DNA results ([KCL Refugee Family Reunion Project, 2025](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/law/assets/250206-refugee-family-reunion-project-workshop-report.pdf)).

## What was the UK "Human Provenance" pilot?

From September 2009 the UK Border Agency tested some asylum seekers' DNA and the isotopes in their hair and nails ([Nature news blog, 17 June 2011](https://blogs.nature.com/blog/uk_immigration_cancels_dna_scr_1/)). The aim was to tell Somali claimants apart from people from other countries such as Kenya (same source).

Geneticists objected. "Genes don't respect national borders," Imperial College geneticist David Balding said ([The Scientist, 2011](https://www.the-scientist.com/uk-scraps-nationality-dna-testing-42324)). The agency dropped the pilot after spending about £190,000, saying it did "not plan to take forward DNA/Isotope testing for country of origin identification purposes" ([Nature, 2011](https://blogs.nature.com/blog/uk_immigration_cancels_dna_scr_1/)).

## What changed in the Netherlands?

In July 2011 the Dutch immigration minister reported on measures against what he called fraud and abuse in Somali family reunion ([Kamerstuk 19637 nr. 1439, 6 July 2011](https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-19637-1439.pdf)). He said about 80% of Somali visa applications for family reunion were made in Addis Ababa, where the immigration service had posted staff (same source).

The share of these applications granted fell, by the minister's figures (same source):

- **2007 and 2008:** more than half.
- **2009:** about 30%, or more than 1,400 grants.
- **2010:** under 25%, or more than 2,300 grants.
- **First half of 2011:** under 10%, about 30 people a month.

The measures included more evidence, extra identity questions at embassies, and refusing relatives not named during the sponsor's asylum case (same source). The 2013 Addis study said the Netherlands tested only members of the nuclear family ([Addis study, 2013](https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/blg-308977.pdf)). See [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## How do Norway, Sweden and Finland test families?

- **Norway:** when tests began around 2000 for Somali applications, about half gave false information about parenthood, Norway's report to the European Migration Network said ([Norwegian EMN Contact Point, April 2012](https://www.udi.no/globalassets/global/forskning-fou_i/arbeid-og-opphold/misuse-of-the-right-to-family-reunification.pdf)). In later years it was 2 to 3%. Norway also tested Somali spouses without children to check they were not siblings (same source).
- **Sweden:** in MIG 2012:1 the Migration Court of Appeal granted residence to a mother and daughter without papers after DNA showed 99.999% probability of parentage ([MIG 2012:1, 18 January 2012](https://lagen.nu/dom/mig/2012:1)). Sveriges Radio reported that Somalis welcomed the ruling ([Sveriges Radio, 2012](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/4990897)).
- **Finland:** DNA tests rose from 150 in 2006 to 500 in 2007, most of them for Somalis, the Finnish Immigration Service said ([Migri, 2008](https://migri.fi/en/-/dna-testing-has-united-a-record-number-of-immigrant-families)). In 2010 its director-general said applications for Somali foster children grew once DNA tests were in use ([Hiiraan Online, reprinting Helsingin Sanomat, August 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Aug/15758/finnish_immigration_officials_overwhelmed_by_somali_family_unification_requests.aspx)).

Anthropologists Anna-Maria Tapaninen and Ilpo Helén argue that in Finland DNA results become proof of a "true" family and a test of the applicant's credibility ([Tapaninen and Helén, BioSocieties, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41292-019-00148-6)).

## How are age and identity checked?

The 2013 Addis study said the lack of recognised Somali documents made suspected age fraud hard to detect ([Addis study, 2013](https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/blg-308977.pdf)). At that time, by its account (same source):

- **Norway:** medical age tests sometimes used.
- **Austria:** medical age tests and age assessments used.
- **Netherlands:** age assessment without medical tests.
- **Finland:** medical tests seldom; language analysis sometimes, recorded in Addis Ababa.
- **Sweden:** no medical age tests or language tests.

Many Somalis' recorded birth dates were set at registration; see [Why do so many Somalis have 1 January birthdays?](/en/diaspora/why-1-january-birthdays/).

## Related pages

- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [US travel bans and Somalis](/en/diaspora/us-travel-ban-and-somalis/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Norway (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Finland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/finland/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Ethiopia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [The Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)

## Sources

1. Migration Court of Appeal, Sweden. MIG 2019:18 (UM 4433-19), 31 October 2019. [lagen.nu](https://lagen.nu/dom/mig/2019:18). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. "Report Feasibility Study Shared Facility Centre Addis Ababa: Towards an Effective Somali Family Reunification Process", for Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Austria, 2013. Dutch parliamentary attachment blg-308977. [officielebekendmakingen.nl](https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/blg-308977.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. "UNHCR Note on DNA Testing to Establish Family Relationships in the Refugee Context." June 2008. [refworld.org](https://www.refworld.org/node/59326). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. "Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2014: Report to the Congress." 2013. [wrapsnet.org](https://www.wrapsnet.org/documents/Report+to+Congress+for+FY+2014+USRAP.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. US Department of State, PRM. "Fraud in the Refugee Family Reunification (Priority Three) Program." Fact sheet, 4 December 2008, reproduced by Scoop. [scoop.co.nz](https://m.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0812/S00130/fraud-in-the-refugee-family-reunification-program.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Katie Worth. "For Some Refugees, Safe Haven Now Depends on a DNA Test." PBS Frontline, 19 October 2015. [pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-some-refugees-safe-haven-now-depends-on-a-dna-test). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Congressional Research Service. "U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in FY2025 and FY2026." IF13277, July 2026. [everycrsreport.com](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13277.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Proclamation 10949, "Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats." 4 June 2025, 90 FR 24497. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-06-10/html/2025-10669.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Proclamation 10998, "Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the Security of the United States." 16 December 2025, 90 FR 59717. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-19/html/2025-23570.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. UK House of Commons. Written answer on DNA examinations in Somalia, HC Deb 23 June 1994, vol 245, col 261W. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1994/jun/23/somalia). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. UK House of Commons. Written answer on DNA tests of Somali family reunion applicants, HC Deb 12 June 1997, vol 295, cc543-4W. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1997/jun/12/somalia). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. UK Home Office. "DNA policy guidance." [gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dna-policy). Checked 12 November 2026.
13. King's College London, Refugee Family Reunion Project. Workshop report, February 2025. [kcl.ac.uk](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/law/assets/250206-refugee-family-reunion-project-workshop-report.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
14. Geoffrey Brumfiel. "UK immigration cancels DNA screening programme." Nature news blog, 17 June 2011. [blogs.nature.com](https://blogs.nature.com/blog/uk_immigration_cancels_dna_scr_1/). Checked 12 November 2026.
15. The Scientist. "UK scraps nationality DNA testing." 2011. [the-scientist.com](https://www.the-scientist.com/uk-scraps-nationality-dna-testing-42324). Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Minister for Immigration and Asylum, Netherlands. Letter on results against fraud in asylum and family reunion by Somali asylum seekers. Kamerstuk 19637 nr. 1439, 6 July 2011. [officielebekendmakingen.nl](https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-19637-1439.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
17. Norwegian Contact Point to the European Migration Network. "Misuse of the Right to Family Reunification: marriages of convenience and false declarations of parenthood." April 2012. [udi.no](https://www.udi.no/globalassets/global/forskning-fou_i/arbeid-og-opphold/misuse-of-the-right-to-family-reunification.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
18. Migration Court of Appeal, Sweden. MIG 2012:1 (UM 10897-10), 18 January 2012. [lagen.nu](https://lagen.nu/dom/mig/2012:1). Checked 12 November 2026.
19. Sveriges Radio. "Ny dom välkomnas av somalier." 2012. [sverigesradio.se](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/4990897). Checked 12 November 2026.
20. Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). "DNA testing has united a record number of immigrant families." 2008. [migri.fi](https://migri.fi/en/-/dna-testing-has-united-a-record-number-of-immigrant-families). Checked 12 November 2026.
21. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), reprinting Helsingin Sanomat. "Finnish immigration officials overwhelmed by Somali family unification requests." August 2010. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2010/Aug/15758/finnish_immigration_officials_overwhelmed_by_somali_family_unification_requests.aspx). Checked 12 November 2026.
22. Tapaninen, A.-M. and Helén, I. "Making up families: how DNA analysis does/does not verify relatedness in family reunification in Finland." BioSocieties, 2019. [doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41292-019-00148-6). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Who is sent back to Somalia, and how many?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's statistics office recorded 9,621 migrant returnees and 4,681 refugee returnees from 2020 to 2024, most from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Forced removals from Western countries are far smaller: the US removed about 520 Somalis in 2017 and 20 in 2023, the UK 13 in 2025, and Germany 46 in 2025.

People come back to Somalia in two ways: forced removal, or return that is called voluntary. Most returns in recent years come from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Libya, not from Europe or North America.

Somalia's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recorded 9,621 migrant returnees from 2020 to 2024 ([NBS Migration Statistics Report, 2nd edition, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). It also recorded 4,681 refugee returnees in the same five years (same source). The rules on refugee papers and removal are on [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What is the difference between a deportee and a returnee?

A migrant returnee goes back to their home country after time abroad, "whether voluntary or forced, assisted or spontaneous" ([NBS Migration Statistics Report, 1st edition, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). NBS uses the European Migration Network's definition. A refugee returnee is someone who held refugee status abroad and came home, often through UNHCR.

Forced returns are recorded by Somalia's Immigration and Citizenship Agency, but NBS could not get that data for its first report ([NBS, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). So Somalia's own tables count mostly people who were helped home.

## How many come back each year, by Somalia's own count?

Migrant returnees, counted by the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Migration, Returns and Children's Rights ([NBS, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)):
- **2020:** 1,287.
- **2021:** 1,127.
- **2022:** 3,616.
- **2023:** 1,901.
- **2024:** 1,690.

Refugee returnees, counted by the National Commission for Refugees and IDPs ([NBS, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)):
- **2020:** 351. **2021:** 145. **2022:** 795.
- **2023:** 1,225. **2024:** 2,165.

Men of working age dominate both groups. In 2024, 1,288 of 1,690 migrant returnees were male (same source).

## Which countries send the most people back?

Migrant returnees from 2020 to 2024, by country ([NBS, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)):
- **Saudi Arabia:** 4,708.
- **Yemen:** 2,752.
- **Libya:** 906.
- **Ethiopia:** 390.
- **[Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/):** 239.
- **Germany:** 88. **[Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) and [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/):** 42 each. **Switzerland:** 34. **Netherlands:** 27. **Finland:** 21.

Refugee returnees came mainly from Yemen (3,793), Kenya (427) and Libya (389) in the same years (same source). The NBS tables list no returns from the United States, the United Kingdom or South Africa for 2020 to 2024.

## How many Somalis has the United States removed?

The US Department of Homeland Security rounds its figures to the nearest ten ([DHS Yearbook 2023, Table 42](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2023/table42)):
- **2014:** 60. **2015:** 120. **2016:** 200.
- **2017:** 520. **2018:** 230. **2019:** 150.
- **2020:** 110. **2021:** 50. **2022:** 10. **2023:** 20.

Removal to Somalia was tested in court. In *Jama v. ICE* (2005), the Supreme Court ruled the US could remove people to Somalia without the advance consent of its government ([CaseMine commentary](https://www.casemine.com/commentary/us/removal-of-aliens-without-advance-government-consent-under-8-u.s.c.-§1231(b)(2):-comprehensive-analysis-of-jama-v.-ice/view)). ICE said the first attempted flight cost US$197,680, and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) authorities refused to accept the man ([MPR News, 23 Jun 2006](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/06/23/jamaflight)).

On 7 December 2017, a flight carrying 92 Somalis turned back after a long stop in Dakar ([ACLU, Ibrahim v. Acosta](https://aclu.org/cases/ibrahim-v-acosta)). Detainees said they were shackled for the whole 48-hour episode, and a class action was filed in Florida.

In 2025 the US government marked 4,090 Somalis for removal ([Al Jazeera, 12 Mar 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/12/somalia-is-dangerous-former-us-deportees-struggle-with-fear-uncertainty)). In September 2026, eight Somali men were flown to Mogadishu after about a month held at Guantánamo Bay ([MPR News, 25 Sep 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/09/25/adam-abdullah-is-among-8-deported-to-somalia-from-guantanamo-bay)). The end of Temporary Protected Status is covered on [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How many does the United Kingdom return to Somalia?

Few. Home Office returns to Somalia as destination ([Home Office returns dataset, year ending June 2026](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c4f754bcee010d514572/returns-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)):
- **2014:** 35 enforced, 1 voluntary.
- **2018:** 41 enforced, 16 voluntary.
- **2019:** 43 enforced, 6 voluntary.
- **2022:** 6 enforced, 7 voluntary.
- **2024:** 12 enforced, 1 voluntary.
- **2025:** 13 enforced, 3 voluntary.

More Somali nationals now leave the UK for EU countries than for Somalia. In the first half of 2026, 58 were removed to EU member states and 7 to Somalia (same dataset).

UK courts have set the limits. In *Sufi and Elmi v. United Kingdom* (28 June 2011), the European Court of Human Rights ruled that returning two men to Mogadishu would breach Article 3 ([EIN summary](https://www.ein.org.uk/node/262284)). It found conditions in the [Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) corridor camps and in Dadaab reached that threshold.

Later UK guidance changed course. *MOJ* (2014) held that an ordinary civilian returning to Mogadishu generally faces no real risk, and *OA* (2022) kept that finding ([Upper Tribunal, OA (Somalia) CG [2022] UKUT 33](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/iac/2022/33)). *OA* found that only people with no clan or family support, no remittances and no livelihood face conditions below the legal standard.

## What about Germany and the Netherlands?

Germany removed 19 people to Somalia in 2023, 12 in 2024 and 46 in 2025 ([Bundestag, Drucksache 21/8469, 8 Oct 2026](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/084/2108469.pdf)). Flights go through Nairobi, where German police hand people to airline escorts for the last leg ([Bundestag, Drucksache 21/4496](https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/044/2104496.pdf)).

The German government listed four charter flights and their costs (same source):
- **15 October 2024:** €137,585.
- **6 March 2025:** €293,855.
- **10 July 2025:** €387,280.
- **8 December 2025:** €356,800.

The Netherlands was the first government to end its pause on returns to Somalia, in December 2012 ([Amnesty International, 23 Oct 2014](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/10/netherlands-forced-returns-somalis-al-shabaab-areas-can-amount-death-sente/)). In November 2013 it returned a 26-year-old man to Mogadishu, who was wounded in a suicide attack three days later (same source).

## What about the Nordic countries?

Returns are small and often handled through confidential deals. Denmark has an undisclosed agreement with Somalia, reported to allow up to 12 returns a year ([The Local Denmark, 14 Jun 2018](https://www.thelocal.dk/20180614/mps-call-for-explanation-over-confidential-denmark-somalia-deal-after-extortion-allegation)). The ministry said it was confidential "at the request of Somalia".

Norway's and Sweden's returns are set out on [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/). Somalia's own tables record 21 migrant returnees from Finland and 2 from Norway in 2020 to 2024 ([NBS, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).

## How many has Saudi Arabia deported?

Far more than any Western country. From December 2013 to August 2014, Saudi authorities carried out mass deportations to Mogadishu, after holding people in deportation centres ([Landinfo, 1 Sep 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2060174/Saudi-Arabia-Somalia-respons-Somaliske-borgeres-adgang-til-opphold-i-Saudi-Arabia-og-deportasjoner-til-Somalia-01092021.pdf)). The US State Department put the total since 2013 at about 85,000 by 2016, Landinfo reports.

Norway's embassy in Nairobi told Landinfo the pace was about 4,000 a year from 2016 to 2019, and about 2,000 in 2020 ([Landinfo, 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2060174/Saudi-Arabia-Somalia-respons-Somaliske-borgeres-adgang-til-opphold-i-Saudi-Arabia-og-deportasjoner-til-Somalia-01092021.pdf)). Deportees go by charter to Mogadishu, wherever in Somalia they come from. The early 2014 wave is on [Which routes did Somalis take to leave?](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## How did returns from Kenya work?

Through a voluntary return agreement that Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR signed on 10 November 2013 ([The Star, Kenya](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018-11-23-300000-somali-refugees-repatriated-from-kenya-since-2014-ruto/)). Returns began in December 2014, the same report says. UNHCR's yearly count of refugees returned to Somalia from all countries shows the peak ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM)):
- **2015:** 32,343. **2016:** 36,136. **2017:** 41,476.
- **2018:** 13,081. **2019:** 6,241. **2020:** 1,560.
- **2023:** 1,876. **2024:** 1,959. **2025:** 1,187.

Returnees first received US$80 each, or US$100 with special needs, and went to [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/), Baidoa and Kismayo ([UNHCR, pilot returns story](https://unhcr.org/node/16755)).

Rights groups questioned how voluntary it was. Human Rights Watch said in 2016 that Kenya gave Dadaab refugees no real choice ([Africanews, 15 Sep 2016](https://www.africanews.com/2016/09/15/kenya-accused-of-intimidating-somali-refugees-to-repatriate-voluntarily)). Amnesty found in 2017 that returnees in Baidoa faced costly unsafe water, hunger and new displacement ([Amnesty International, 21 Dec 2017](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2017/12/somalia-refugees-pressured-to-leave-dadaab-return-to-insecurity-drought-and-hunger/)).

## What about Yemen, Djibouti and South Africa?

- **Yemen:** 1,935 refugees returned from Yemen in 2024 alone, the most from any country ([NBS, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).
- **Djibouti:** in 2003 the government ordered undocumented foreigners out by 15 September; an estimated 100,000, mostly Somalis, Ethiopians and Yemenis, left ([USCR World Refugee Survey 2004, Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/node/27008)).
- **South Africa:** Somalia's tables record no returnees from South Africa for 2020 to 2024 ([NBS, 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). See [South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/).

## What do people find when they arrive?

Somalia's envoy office and IOM give reception support. In 2022 they gave reception help to 3,616 people and onward transport to 3,627 ([NBS, 1st edition, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Fewer got deeper help: 246 received reintegration assistance and 68 business training that year.

Where migrant returnees settled, 2020 to 2023 (same source):
- **Banadir (Mogadishu):** 2,323.
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** 3,040.
- **Puntland:** 1,631.
- **[Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/):** 454. **[Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/):** 225. **South-West State:** 211. **[Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/):** 47.

US deportees interviewed in Mogadishu described losing their Somali, few jobs, stigma and no relatives to go to ([Al Jazeera, 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/12/somalia-is-dangerous-former-us-deportees-struggle-with-fear-uncertainty)). A UK tribunal found that hotel rooms cost about US$25 a night and rooms about US$40 to US$150 a month ([OA (Somalia) [2022] UKUT 33](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/iac/2022/33)).

## What else has been reported?

- **US court orders, 2026:** a Star Tribune analysis of immigration court data found more than 500 Somalis in Minnesota ordered deported in 2026, and about 1,000 Somali asylum seekers given removal orders since February, as reported by the Gateway Pundit ([Gateway Pundit, October 2026, citing the Star Tribune](https://thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/trump-immigration-crackdown-drives-tenfold-surge-somali-deportation)). NPR reported in February 2026 that immigration courts had moved Somali asylum hearings onto a faster docket ([NPR, 9 February 2026](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/09/nx-s1-5707217/somali-asylum-cases-rescheduled)).
- **Final orders, 2017:** ICE reported 4,801 Somali nationals with final orders of removal as of 1 April 2017, according to reporting at the time ([Horn Diplomat, April 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2017/04/18/nearly-4000-somalis-set-to-be-deported-from-us/)).

## Related pages

- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Which routes did Somalis take to leave?](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somali refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Germany](/en/diaspora/germany/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [Carried the banner since 1895](/en/history/carried-the-banner-since-1895/)

## Sources

1. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report, Second Edition 2025". NBS, 2026. https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report, First Edition 2024" (tables 4.1 to 4.6). NBS, November 2024. https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. "Yearbook 2023, Table 42: Removals by country of nationality, FY2014-2023". https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2023/table42. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. CaseMine. "Removal of Aliens Without Advance Government Consent under 8 U.S.C. §1231(b)(2): Comprehensive Analysis of Jama v. ICE". https://www.casemine.com/commentary/us/removal-of-aliens-without-advance-government-consent-under-8-u.s.c.-§1231(b)(2):-comprehensive-analysis-of-jama-v.-ice/view. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. MPR News. "U.S. Immigration spent $200K on Keyse Jama deportation", 23 Jun 2006. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/06/23/jamaflight. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. The Star (Kenya). "300,000 Somali refugees repatriated from Kenya since 2014 - Ruto", 23 Nov 2018. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018-11-23-300000-somali-refugees-repatriated-from-kenya-since-2014-ruto/. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. ACLU. "Ibrahim v. Acosta". https://aclu.org/cases/ibrahim-v-acosta. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Mohamed Gabobe. "'Somalia is dangerous': Former US deportees struggle with fear, uncertainty". Al Jazeera, 12 Mar 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/12/somalia-is-dangerous-former-us-deportees-struggle-with-fear-uncertainty. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. MPR News. "8 deported to Somalia from Guantanamo Bay", 25 Sep 2026. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/09/25/adam-abdullah-is-among-8-deported-to-somalia-from-guantanamo-bay. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UK Home Office. "Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026: Returns detailed datasets" (Ret_D01, Ret_D02). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c4f754bcee010d514572/returns-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Electronic Immigration Network. Summary of Sufi and Elmi v. United Kingdom (ECtHR, 8319/07 and 11449/07), 28 Jun 2011. https://www.ein.org.uk/node/262284. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). OA (Somalia) Country Guidance [2022] UKUT 33 (IAC). https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/iac/2022/33. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Deutscher Bundestag. Drucksache 21/4496, answer on deportations to Somalia. https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/044/2104496.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Deutscher Bundestag. Drucksache 21/8469, "Abschiebungen nach Somalia im bisherigen Jahr 2026", 8 Oct 2026. https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/084/2108469.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Amnesty International. "Netherlands: Forced returns of Somalis to al-Shabaab areas can amount to 'death sentences'", 23 Oct 2014. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/10/netherlands-forced-returns-somalis-al-shabaab-areas-can-amount-death-sente/. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. The Local Denmark. "MPs call for explanation over confidential Denmark-Somalia deal", 14 Jun 2018. https://www.thelocal.dk/20180614/mps-call-for-explanation-over-confidential-denmark-somalia-deal-after-extortion-allegation. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Landinfo (Norway). "Saudi-Arabia/Somalia: Somaliske borgeres adgang til opphold i Saudi-Arabia og deportasjoner til Somalia", 1 Sep 2021. Via ecoi.net. https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2060174/Saudi-Arabia-Somalia-respons-Somaliske-borgeres-adgang-til-opphold-i-Saudi-Arabia-og-deportasjoner-til-Somalia-01092021.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, refugees and returned refugees of Somali origin, 1990-2025. https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. UNHCR. Story on the first returns from Kenya under the pilot project. https://unhcr.org/node/16755. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Africanews. "Kenya accused of intimidating Somali refugees to repatriate voluntarily", 15 Sep 2016. https://www.africanews.com/2016/09/15/kenya-accused-of-intimidating-somali-refugees-to-repatriate-voluntarily. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Amnesty International. "Somalia: Refugees pressured to leave Dadaab return to insecurity, drought and hunger", 21 Dec 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2017/12/somalia-refugees-pressured-to-leave-dadaab-return-to-insecurity-drought-and-hunger/. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. US Committee for Refugees. "World Refugee Survey 2004 - Djibouti". Via Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/node/27008. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. The Gateway Pundit. "Trump immigration crackdown drives tenfold surge in Somali deportation orders in Minnesota". Oct 2026. https://thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/trump-immigration-crackdown-drives-tenfold-surge-somali-deportation. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. NPR. "Somali asylum cases rescheduled". 9 Feb 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/09/nx-s1-5707217/somali-asylum-cases-rescheduled. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Horn Diplomat. "Nearly 4,000 Somalis set to be deported from US". 18 Apr 2017. https://www.horndiplomat.com/2017/04/18/nearly-4000-somalis-set-to-be-deported-from-us/. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/what-somalis-left-behind/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> People who fled from 1991 left homes, farms, savings, papers and graves, and many found strangers living in their houses when they came back. In 2014 about 80% of cases in Mogadishu's Supreme Court were about land, and there is still no national law for giving property back.

People who fled from 1991 left homes, farms, savings, papers and graves, and many found strangers living in their houses when they came back. In 2014 about 80% of cases in Mogadishu's Supreme Court were about land, and there is still no national law for giving property back ([RVI and HIPS, Land Matters in Mogadishu, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/publication/land-matters-mogadishu/); [HIPS, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).

This page sets out what was left, what happened to it, and what has come back. It names no one to blame. It gives each source's own words and numbers.

## How fast did people have to leave?

Fighting reached Mogadishu in the last days of 1990, and families packed what they could carry and fled ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 54](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). Title deeds were often left behind or lost on the road, the same study says ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). Some owners left houses with relatives or friends to look after them ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

The study says the flight of early 1991 "affected all clans" and that millions of Somalis left their homes ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 42](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). It says Mogadishu saw the largest exodus, with the heaviest impact on the [Darood](/en/society/darod/) clan family, the Reer Hamar and other minority groups ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). People arriving from the countryside then moved into empty government buildings and homes, the study records ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

For the routes, camps and waves of leaving, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## What happened to the homes people left?

Many homes were taken over by new occupants, and some occupants later sold them on ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 54](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). When owners return, the person living there usually challenges the claim, and a long, costly process follows ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). The study notes that Somali law has no precedent for squatters' rights, though occupants often claim them ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 55](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

Occupants give several reasons, the study records. Some say they have lived there for 25 years without challenge ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). Others say their repairs cost more than the house was worth ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

Some owners agreed deals from the mid-1990s. With elders, they paid occupants a fee for "protecting and maintaining the property" in return for getting it back ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 52](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). The study says this worked only for a minority, and many who regained homes then sold them ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

## How many property disputes are there?

An estimated 80% of cases heard in Mogadishu's Supreme Court during 2014 were about land ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). A Benadir land disputes committee registered about 200 new disputes in its first three months, then stopped taking cases to clear its backlog ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 71](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). Scholar Kenneth Menkhaus told Reuters in 2017 there were "tens of thousands" of land disputes, some dating to the 1970s ([Reuters via Arab News, 12 October 2017](https://www.arabnews.com/world/back-to-the-land-friction-as-somali-exiles-return-home-1176641)).

A 2019 IIED study lists four drivers of Mogadishu land prices, which it says rose perhaps tenfold since 2012 ([IIED, 2019](https://iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10869IIED.pdf)):

- unclear ownership and rules;
- private capture of public land;
- displaced families arriving;
- returnees, including diaspora Somalis, reclaiming property.

The same study says customary law favours majority clans, making it hard for minority clans and ethnic groups to assert rights ([IIED, 2019](https://iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10869IIED.pdf)).

## What happened to the property papers?

From the 1960s until 1991, Mogadishu had a land registry covering up to 70% of the city's land ([IIED, 2019](https://iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10869IIED.pdf)). When the city fell into conflict, former Land Department staff took the registers and maps with them ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 59](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). The main register is now held by a Somali living in Sweden, who verifies deeds for a fee through an office in Mogadishu ([IIED, 2019](https://iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10869IIED.pdf); [RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

Forged deeds are common. A section of [Bakaara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) Market known as Abdalla Shideye produced forged documents, including title deeds, until the regional administration banned them in 2016 ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 59](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). The Benadir Regional Court has heard cases of people abroad selling copies of one deed to several buyers ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

Later governments added new layers. Deeds issued in Hodan district in 2001, known as "Arta deeds", were contested when an owner with older deeds returned ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 60](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). Elders settled it, with residents paying the owner a sum close to the original price ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

## What other records were lost?

Somalia's civil registration system "collapsed in 1991", leading to "widespread destruction of records", says the national ID authority ([NIRA, ID4Africa 2026](https://id4africa.com/2026/files/T1-3-3-Somalia-FINAL.pdf)). Today only 3% of children under five have had their births registered, UNICEF reports ([UNICEF Somalia, 10 August 2025](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity)). See [National ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/) and [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/).

Historian Dr Safia Aidid speaks of "the deterioration, loss, and looting of Somalia's archives and artefacts" ([Geeska, 5 August 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/why-we-need-collect-and-archive-somali-history)). Archivist Abdimalik [Ali Warsame](/en/people/ali-haji-warsame/) calls the destruction of the national archives a "bibliocaust" ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/why-we-need-collect-and-archive-somali-history)).

- **National Museum:** closed for close to 30 years; most older items were "destroyed or looted"; it reopened in July 2020 ([UNSOM, 31 October 2023](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/53226)). It held about 3,500 objects when it moved building in 1985 ([UNSOM, 2023](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/53226)).
- **Somali National University:** closed by the war; the cabinet approved reopening on 26 November 2013, and it reopened on 16 August 2014 ([Somali National University](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/)). The main campus was used as an [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) base and handed back in 2017 ([Africanews, 12 July 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/07/12/somalia-gets-back-university-used-as-amisom-military-base-for-10-years/)).

## What happened to savings and money?

The Central Bank of Somalia has not issued currency since 1991, and the country became "a de facto dollarized economy" ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2024](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBS-Annual-Report_2024_-28-July-2025-1.pdf)). Most shilling notes in use were printed after 1991, with no single issuer, the Somali Bankers Association said in 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 15 April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-bankers-most-shilling-printed-after-1991-collapse-no-central-issuer)).

The state lost assets too. The Central Bank says it still owns land and buildings it has not regained since 1991 ([Central Bank of Somalia, 2024](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBS-Annual-Report_2024_-28-July-2025-1.pdf)). With the World Bank's Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, it recovered US$6,984,451 held at Intesa Sanpaolo since before 1991 ([Central Bank of Somalia, 2024](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBS-Annual-Report_2024_-28-July-2025-1.pdf)).

**The state bank.** The Commercial and Savings Bank of Somalia was formed in 1975 by merging the Somali Commercial Bank and the Somali Savings and Credit Bank, and was then the country's only commercial bank ([Wikipedia: "Central Bank of Somalia"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia)). A former Director General of the Central Bank, Mohamed Dalmar, writes that by 1989 the banking system "either collapsed or was on the verge of collapsing", and that the Commercial and Savings Bank "was declared bankrupt" ([Dalmar, WardheerNews, 2 January 2015](https://wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Somalia-Monetary-policy-By-Dalmar.pdf)).

Dalmar says the bank made unsecured and fraudulent loans of about 60 billion shillings, and that in 1989 money supply rose by 96 billion shillings, inflation reached 110% and the shilling lost 278%, citing IMF statistics ([Dalmar, 2015](https://wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Somalia-Monetary-policy-By-Dalmar.pdf)). After the state fell in 1991, the cash and valuables of the Central Bank and the other state banks were looted, their buildings vandalised and their records destroyed, he writes.

**Counterfeit notes.** In 2017 the IMF's head for Somalia said up to 98% of shilling notes in circulation were counterfeit, the rest being worn notes printed in 1990-91 ([Africanews, 9 March 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/03/09/somali-to-print-new-bank-notes-buoyed-by-imf)).

## What about farms in the river valleys?

The 1975 Land Law made all land state land and required registration, which was most active in the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valleys ([IGAD Land Governance Portal](https://land.igad.int/index.php/countries/39-countries/somalia/40-somalia-profile?start=2)). Anthropologist Catherine Besteman found titles were "disproportionately issued to newcomers" rather than settled farmers ([HIPS, 2023, citing Besteman 1994](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)). By 1988 only 0.6% of Somalia's land was registered ([HIPS, 2023, citing UN-Habitat 2008](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).

The Norwegian Refugee Council reports conflicting claims and land grabbing along the Jubba and Shabelle rivers, often tied to missing documents ([NRC, minority access to land](https://nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/access-to-land-and-tenure-documents-a-situational-analysis-of-minority-groups-in-southwest-jubaland-and-puntland-states-somalia/minority-access-to-land-and-tenure-documents-in-puntland-jubaland-and-southwest-states-somalia.pdf)). Farming minority groups, including Somali Bantu, were among those who moved to Mogadishu after the 1991 to 1992 famine ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 43](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

## What happened to graves?

In 2024 officials ordered graves exhumed at the police academy cemetery in Hamar Jajab for a planned navy and coast guard headquarters, Geeska reported ([Geeska, 6 November 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)). Families paid US$20 to 25 for exhumation permits, the same report says ([Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)). The Heritage Institute also records that "the dead were exhumed from cemeteries" during land sales ([HIPS, September 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Preventing-Chaos-in-Mogadishu-Why-Dialogue-Must-Replace-Force.pdf)).

## Who is losing homes now?

Evictions continue, mostly of displaced families. The Norwegian Refugee Council counted over 2 million people evicted across Somalia from 2017 to 2025, over 1 million of them in Mogadishu ([EUAA, June 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)). In 2025, 143,548 evictions were registered in Mogadishu, 63,132 of them from government properties ([EUAA, June 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/23-recent-instances-evictions-mogadishu)).

In a 2024 NRC survey, 89% of minority and marginalised households had been evicted or faced eviction risk ([EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)). In July 2025, 120 families were cleared from the [Danyar](/en/society/internal-displacement/) camp area without notice, they told Radio Ergo ([Radio Ergo, 13 October 2025](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/cruel-evictions-leave-thousands-of-people-pushed-back-into-poverty-in-mogadishu/)).

Public buildings are being cleared and sold. The Heritage Institute says assets "reportedly sold" since 2024 include the National University campus, the Fire Brigade station and the National TV compound ([HIPS, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Preventing-Chaos-in-Mogadishu-Why-Dialogue-Must-Replace-Force.pdf)). More than 90 MPs condemned the process, and three former presidents said legal and financial safeguards were ignored, the institute records ([HIPS, 2025](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Preventing-Chaos-in-Mogadishu-Why-Dialogue-Must-Replace-Force.pdf)). In February 2026 the education minister ordered residents off university land for a campus rebuild ([SONNA, 9 February 2026](https://sonna.so/en/education-minister-orders-evacuation-of-somali-national-university-land-for-redevelopment/)).

## What rules exist for getting property back?

Several peace deals named the problem. The 2004 [Transitional Federal Charter](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) told the government to restore private property "to the rightful owners" and to set up a property recovery commission ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 49](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)). The study says these commitments were not carried out ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

- **2012 Provisional Constitution:** Article 43 says the federal government will develop a national land policy ([IIED, 2019](https://iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10869IIED.pdf)). The Heritage Institute says no national land policy or land reform has been made since 1991 ([HIPS, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).
- **2013 Benadir framework:** A framework signed in September 2013 gives the Benadir Regional Administration a role in land disputes and registration ([RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 69](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).
- **2019 national policy:** In 2019 the government adopted a policy on returnees and IDPs, eviction guidelines, and an interim protocol on land for housing ([IDLO, 17 December 2019](https://www.idlo.int/news/somalia-launches-first-policy-displaced-persons-refugee-returnees)). The EUAA says enforcing them "remains challenging" ([EUAA, 2026](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/21-policy-framework)).
- **State laws:** South West's 2022 urban land law accepts tax records as proof of ownership, because so many land records were lost ([HIPS, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)). [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) passed an urban land law in February 2022, and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) has a land dispute tribunal ([HIPS, 2023](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).

## How do families who left keep links home?

In a 2012 survey in Puntland and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), 48% of households had relatives or friends abroad ([FSNAU and FAO, Family Ties, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)). Of those in touch with senders, 96% used the telephone ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)). Ninety percent said they felt obliged to help relatives, citing religion, family bonds and family honour ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)).

For money sent home and life abroad, see [What happened to Somalis after they left?](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [What happened to Somalis after they left?](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) · [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) · [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/)
- [National ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/) · [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)

## Sources

1. Mahad [Wasuge](/en/society/gaaljecel/) and others. "Land Matters in Mogadishu: Settlement, ownership and displacement in a contested city." Rift Valley Institute and Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, 2017. [riftvalley.net](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf) · [publication page](https://riftvalley.net/publication/land-matters-mogadishu/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Surer Qassim Mohamed. "Land Governance Review." Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, December 2023. [heritageinstitute.org](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Heritage Institute. "Why Dialogue Must Replace Force" (Mogadishu evictions and politics brief). September 2025. [heritageinstitute.org](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Preventing-Chaos-in-Mogadishu-Why-Dialogue-Must-Replace-Force.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Christine Kamau, Charlotte Bonnet, Mohamed A. Mohamoud, Erik Bryld. "Accessing land and shelter in Mogadishu." IIED and Tana, January 2019. [iied.org](https://iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10869IIED.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. EUAA. "Somalia: Displacement in Mogadishu", section 2.1 Policy framework. June 2026. [euaa.europa.eu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/21-policy-framework). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. EUAA. Same report, section 2.2 Evictions, drivers and latest trends. June 2026. [euaa.europa.eu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. EUAA. Same report, section 2.3 Recent instances of evictions in Mogadishu. June 2026. [euaa.europa.eu](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/23-recent-instances-evictions-mogadishu). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IDLO. "Somalia launches first policy on displaced persons, refugee-returnees." 17 December 2019. [idlo.int](https://www.idlo.int/news/somalia-launches-first-policy-displaced-persons-refugee-returnees). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Reuters (Thomson Reuters Foundation), via Arab News. "Back to the land: Friction as Somali exiles return home." 12 October 2017. [arabnews.com](https://www.arabnews.com/world/back-to-the-land-friction-as-somali-exiles-return-home-1176641). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Radio Ergo. "Cruel evictions leave thousands of people pushed back into poverty in Mogadishu." 13 October 2025. [radioergo.org](https://radioergo.org/en/2025/10/cruel-evictions-leave-thousands-of-people-pushed-back-into-poverty-in-mogadishu/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Ahmed Mahmoud Geesood. "Mogadishu's land reclamation drive exposes a deep corruption scandal." Geeska, 6 November 2025. [geeska.com](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Mahad Weli. "Why we need to collect and archive Somali history." Geeska, 5 August 2025. [geeska.com](https://www.geeska.com/en/why-we-need-collect-and-archive-somali-history). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UNSOM. "National Museum: Preserving Somali heritage against all odds." 31 October 2023. [unsom.unmissions.org](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/53226). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Somali National University. "History." Undated. [snu.edu.so](https://snu.edu.so/about/history/). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Africanews. "Somalia gets back university used as AMISOM military base for 10 years." 12 July 2017. [africanews.com](https://www.africanews.com/2017/07/12/somalia-gets-back-university-used-as-amisom-military-base-for-10-years/). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/). "Education minister orders evacuation of Somali National University land for redevelopment." 9 February 2026. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/education-minister-orders-evacuation-of-somali-national-university-land-for-redevelopment/). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and partners. "Somali Digital Identity Playbook." ID4Africa 2026. [id4africa.com](https://id4africa.com/2026/files/T1-3-3-Somalia-FINAL.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. [UNICEF Somalia](/en/institutions/unicef-somalia/). "Giving Every Child a Legal Identity." 10 August 2025. [unicef.org](https://www.unicef.org/somalia/stories/legal-identity). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2024." July 2025. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBS-Annual-Report_2024_-28-July-2025-1.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "Somali bankers: most shilling printed after 1991 collapse, no central issuer." 15 April 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-bankers-most-shilling-printed-after-1991-collapse-no-central-issuer). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. IGAD Land Governance Portal. "Somalia profile." Undated. [land.igad.int](https://land.igad.int/index.php/countries/39-countries/somalia/40-somalia-profile?start=2). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Norwegian Refugee Council. "Access to land and tenure documents: a situational analysis of minority groups in South West, Jubaland and Puntland states." Undated. [nrc.no](https://nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/access-to-land-and-tenure-documents-a-situational-analysis-of-minority-groups-in-southwest-jubaland-and-puntland-states-somalia/minority-access-to-land-and-tenure-documents-in-puntland-jubaland-and-southwest-states-somalia.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Laura Hammond and others. "Family Ties: Remittances and Livelihoods Support in Puntland and Somaliland." FSNAU and FAO, 5 June 2013. [fsnau.org](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
24. Mohamed Dalmar. "Somalia: The long road to currency reform". WardheerNews, 2 Jan 2015. https://wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Somalia-Monetary-policy-By-Dalmar.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Wikipedia. "Central Bank of Somalia". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Somalia. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Africanews. "Somalia to print new bank notes buoyed by IMF". 9 Mar 2017. https://www.africanews.com/2017/03/09/somali-to-print-new-bank-notes-buoyed-by-imf. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# What happened to Somalis after they left?

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The UN counted 1,935,594 people born in Somalia living abroad in 2024, and most other estimates say about 2 million. Most live in nearby countries, others built communities from Minneapolis to London, and in 2025 individuals sent home US$3.13 billion, about 24% of Somalia's economy.

The UN counted 1,935,594 people born in Somalia living abroad in 2024, and most other estimates say about 2 million ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock); [Rift Valley Institute, 2022](https://riftvalley.net/publication/current-trends-and-future-scenarios-somali-diaspora-engagement/)). Most live in nearby countries, and in 2025 individuals abroad sent home US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live abroad?

UN DESA counts people by country of birth. Its 2024 figure for the Somalia-born abroad is 1,935,594, up from 599,233 in 1990 ([UN DESA, 2024 origin and destination table](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). That 2024 table gives no Somalia-born figure for the United States or Germany, so the true total is higher ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

Other counts, each with its own method:

- **Pew Research Center (2016):** about 2 million Somalia-born people abroad in 2015, up from about 850,000 in 1990 ([Pew, 1 June 2016](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)).
- **Rift Valley Institute (2022):** "two million people" living outside the Somali regions of the Horn ([RVI, 2022](https://riftvalley.net/publication/current-trends-and-future-scenarios-somali-diaspora-engagement/)).
- **IOM and DEMAC:** "an estimated 2 million people worldwide" ([DEMAC, January 2024](https://www.demac.org/community-news/2024/01/filling-key-gaps-in-emergency-response-strengths-and-challenges-of-somali-diaspora)).

These counts leave out children born abroad to Somali parents. Counts by ancestry or ethnic group are higher than counts by birthplace in the same country (see the UK and US below).

## Where do they live?

Most Somalia-born migrants live in Africa and the Middle East. UN DESA's 2024 figures for the largest host countries are ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)):

- Kenya: 401,953
- Ethiopia: 389,246
- Yemen: 285,211
- United Kingdom: 119,728
- Libya: 117,956
- Djibouti: 99,940
- Sweden: 74,146
- Uganda: 65,070
- Egypt: 50,036
- Saudi Arabia: 48,099
- South Africa: 42,516
- Canada: 34,668
- Norway: 32,285
- [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/): 27,594
- Netherlands: 25,826

Smaller communities in the same table include Finland (14,208), [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) (12,989), Italy (12,642), Denmark (10,486), Austria (9,719), Australia (9,578) and the UAE (9,109) ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). Türkiye grew fastest among these, from 3,382 in 2015 to 27,594 in 2024 ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

Counts outside the UN table:

- **United States:** 193,061 people reported Somali ancestry in 2024, 76,320 of them in Minnesota, Bloomberg reported from Census data ([Bloomberg, 29 January 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-01-29/the-somali-immigration-crackdown-was-bogus-from-the-start)). Minnesota Compass counts 79,449 [Somali Minnesotans](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) for 2019 to 2023 ([MN Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/cultural-communities)). Its 2020 to 2024 count is 85,533 ([MN Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/cultural-communities)).
- **Germany:** almost 67,000 Somali nationals were on the Central Register of Foreigners at the end of May 2025 ([German Bundestag, hib 303/2025](https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/kurzmeldungen-1101740)).
- **England and Wales:** 176,645 people identified as Somali in the 2021 census ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## How many are still refugees?

UNHCR counts 805,917 refugees from Somalia in the region at the end of October 2026 ([UNHCR Somalia situation](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn)):

- Ethiopia: 368,165
- Kenya: 334,733
- Uganda: 48,340
- Yemen: 40,982 (August 2026)
- Djibouti: 13,697 (August 2026)

In Kenya, 276,986 Somali refugees are in Garissa county, home to the Dadaab camps ([UNHCR, Kenya](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/9922)). Pew found refugees made up about 55% of the Somali diaspora in both 1990 and 2015 ([Pew, 2016](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)). For refugee papers, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What is the second generation like?

In England and Wales, 43.5% of people who identified as Somali in 2021 were born in England, and 43.1% in Somalia ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Almost half (48.2%) were under 21, against 24.2% of all residents ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). English was the main language for 67.8%, and Somali for 28.6% ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

In Sweden, Somali was among the ten largest languages taught as a mother tongue in 2017/18. It had the highest take-up of the ten, with almost four in five eligible pupils taking part ([Swedish Government Official Reports, SOU 2019:18](https://lagen.nu/sou/2019:18)).

Some families send young people back to relatives or to centres in Somalia or Kenya, a practice called *dhaqan celis*. A 2025 Danish government report found abuse in some centres, while some youth reported good experiences with relatives ([Danish Immigration Service, June 2025](https://us.dk/publikationer/2025/juni/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth/)).

## How do Somalis abroad do in school and work?

The fullest official data is from the 2021 census of England and Wales ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)):

- **Work:** 34.1% employed (all residents: 59.6%); 10.3% unemployed (4.4%); 47.1% economically inactive (24.7%), of whom 21.7% were students.
- **Qualifications:** 23.9% held a degree-level (Level 4) qualification (33.8%); 26.9% had none (18.2%).
- **Housing:** 72.0% lived in social rented homes (16.6%), and 58.8% in overcrowded homes (8.4%).
- **Place:** 62.4% lived in [London](/en/diaspora/london/).

Somali Americans entered public office. [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/) became the first Somali American elected to a US state legislature in 2016, and to the US Congress in 2018 ([Star Tribune, November 2018](https://www.startribune.com/ilhan-omar-becomes-first-somali-american-elected-u-s-house/499708271)).

## How much money do Somalis abroad send home?

The Central Bank of Somalia's figures ([Annual Report 2024](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBS-Annual-Report_2024_-28-July-2025-1.pdf); [Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)):

- **Individual remittances:** US$1,339.3 million in 2019; US$2,719.1 million in 2024 (22% of GDP); US$3,134 million in 2025 (24% of GDP).
- **All inward transfers:** US$6,786 million in 2025, including business, NGO and other transfers. The 2024 total was first reported as US$6,230 million, then as US$6,434 million in the 2025 report.
- **Channels:** money transfer businesses handled US$3,077 million in 2025, of which US$2,141 million was individual remittances.

Older estimates were lower. A 2013 FAO study estimated at least US$1.2 billion a year ([FSNAU and FAO, Family Ties, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)). The Atlantic Council cited US$1.3 billion a year in 2015 ([Atlantic Council, 11 February 2015](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/anti-terror-financing-rules-choke-somali-remittances/)).

The money mostly pays for food, rent, school fees and medicine, the FAO study found ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)). Of households receiving it, more than 80% relied on just one relative abroad ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)). For the trend, see [Record money coming home](/en/forces/record-money-coming-home/).

## What is xawaalad, and why did banks close its accounts?

Xawaalad (also spelled xawilaad or hawala) is the Somali money transfer system. Researcher Anna Lindley calls it "a sophisticated infrastructure" that carries economic activity where there is no domestic banking system ([Lindley, SOAS](https://soas-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/414191)). A Rift Valley Institute briefing says the system runs on trust, so payouts happen within hours ([RVI, March 2014](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)).

Western banks began closing transfer firms' accounts, citing money laundering and terror financing rules:

- **Barclays, UK, 2013:** it moved to close money transfer accounts, including [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/)'s. The High Court granted Dahabshiil an interim injunction on 5 November 2013 ([Dahabshiil v Barclays, [2013] EWHC 3379 (Ch)](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2013/3379)).
- **Merchants Bank of California, 2015:** it stopped Somali transfers on 6 February 2015, after handling up to 80% of money sent from the US to Somalia ([Atlantic Council, 2015](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/anti-terror-financing-rules-choke-somali-remittances/)).

## How many have returned?

Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement in November 2013 for voluntary return from Kenya ([UNHCR, 5 August 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10067)). Assisted returns began in December 2014, and 2,969 refugees had returned by early August 2015 ([UNHCR, 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10067)). The 2015 plan foresaw about 425,000 returns over five years ([UNHCR, 2015](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10067)).

By May 2025, UNHCR had helped 96,625 Somali refugees return since December 2014, from all countries ([UNHCR Somalia returnees dashboard, May 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2126469/UNHCR%20Somalia%20Refugee%20Returnees%20Dashboard%20-%20May%202025.pdf)). Another 44,324 were recorded returning on their own, for 140,949 in all ([UNHCR, May 2025](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2126469/UNHCR%20Somalia%20Refugee%20Returnees%20Dashboard%20-%20May%202025.pdf)).

Diaspora Somalis also return, often from the West. Data on how many is lacking, the Heritage Institute says ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Its study of returnees in Mogadishu, Garowe and Hargeisa found return is "rarely permanent but often circular" ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)).

- **Who can return:** mainly people with Western citizenship, money and professional networks in Somalia, the same study says ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)).
- **Offices for them:** [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) each set up a diaspora office in 2010. The federal foreign ministry opened a Department of Diaspora Affairs in October 2013 ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)).
- **Business:** in 2013, diaspora Somalis registered 35% of 260 new companies in Mogadishu over four months ([RVI and HIPS, 2017](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf)).

Many returnees try to reclaim homes they left. See [What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?](/en/diaspora/what-somalis-left-behind/).

## How do Somalis abroad keep ties with home?

- **Phone calls:** in a Puntland and Somaliland survey, 76% kept regular contact with relatives abroad, and 96% of them by telephone ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)).
- **Duty to help:** 90% said they felt obliged to support relatives, for reasons of religion, family bonds and honour ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)).
- **Weddings and emergencies:** money from abroad also pays for weddings, family emergencies and community projects ([FSNAU, 2013](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf)).
- **Language:** Somali is taught as a mother tongue in Swedish schools, with high take-up ([SOU 2019:18](https://lagen.nu/sou/2019:18)).
- **Media:** the [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/) has broadcast since 18 July 1957 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service)).

## Related pages

Country and city pages: [Australia](/en/diaspora/australia/) · [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/) · [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/) · [Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/) · [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/) · [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) · [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/) · [Finland](/en/diaspora/finland/) · [Germany](/en/diaspora/germany/) · [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) · [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/) · [Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/) · [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/) · [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/) · [South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/) · [Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/) · [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) · [Türkiye](/en/diaspora/turkiye/) · [UAE and Dubai](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/) · [United States](/en/diaspora/us-other/) · [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/)

Across the section:

- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?](/en/diaspora/what-somalis-left-behind/)
- [Record money coming home](/en/forces/record-money-coming-home/)

## Sources

1. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024" (origin and destination table). 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx) · [overview](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Phillip Connor and Jens Manuel Krogstad. "5 facts about the global Somali diaspora." Pew Research Center, 1 June 2016. [pewresearch.org](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Rift Valley Institute. "Current trends and future scenarios of Somali diaspora engagement." 2022. [riftvalley.net](https://riftvalley.net/publication/current-trends-and-future-scenarios-somali-diaspora-engagement/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. DEMAC. "Filling key gaps in emergency response: strengths and challenges of Somali diaspora." January 2024. [demac.org](https://www.demac.org/community-news/2024/01/filling-key-gaps-in-emergency-response-strengths-and-challenges-of-somali-diaspora). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Justin Fox. "The Somali immigration crackdown was bogus from the start." Bloomberg Opinion, 29 January 2026. [bloomberg.com](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-01-29/the-somali-immigration-crackdown-was-bogus-from-the-start). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Minnesota Compass. "Cultural communities." Undated. [mncompass.org](https://www.mncompass.org/cultural-communities). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. German Bundestag. "hib 303/2025: Inneres, Antwort." 15 July 2025. [bundestag.de](https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/kurzmeldungen-1101740). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UNHCR. "Horn of Africa Somalia situation" data portal. Updated 31 October 2026. [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UNHCR. Same portal, Kenya view. Updated 31 October 2026. [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/9922). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Statens offentliga utredningar (Swedish Government Official Reports). "SOU 2019:18." 2019. [lagen.nu](https://lagen.nu/sou/2019:18). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Danish Immigration Service. "Re-education Trips of Somali Children and Youth." June 2025. [us.dk](https://us.dk/publikationer/2025/juni/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Star Tribune. "Ilhan Omar again makes history, becoming 1st Somali-American elected to U.S. House." November 2018. [startribune.com](https://www.startribune.com/ilhan-omar-becomes-first-somali-american-elected-u-s-house/499708271). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2024." July 2025. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBS-Annual-Report_2024_-28-July-2025-1.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Laura Hammond and others. "Family Ties: Remittances and Livelihoods Support in Puntland and Somaliland." [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FAO, 5 June 2013. [fsnau.org](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Remittances-and-Livelihoods-Support-in-Puntland-and-Somaliland.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Kelsey Lilley. "Anti-terror financing rules choke Somali remittances." Atlantic Council, 11 February 2015. [atlanticcouncil.org](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/anti-terror-financing-rules-choke-somali-remittances/). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Anna Lindley. Research on the Somali money transfer system. SOAS Research Online. [soas-repository.worktribe.com](https://soas-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/414191). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Rift Valley Institute. "Challenges for the Somali Money Transfer Sector." March 2014. [riftvalley.net](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. High Court of England and Wales. Dahabshiil Transfer Services Ltd v Barclays Bank plc, [2013] EWHC 3379 (Ch). 5 November 2013. [caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2013/3379). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. UNHCR. "116 Somali refugees return from Dadaab camps to Mogadishu, spearheading new phase of voluntary repatriation." 5 August 2015. [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10067). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. UNHCR. "Somalia Refugee Returnees Dashboard, May 2025." Via ecoi.net. [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2126469/UNHCR%20Somalia%20Refugee%20Returnees%20Dashboard%20-%20May%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Heritage Institute for Policy Studies. "Diaspora Return to Somalia: Perceptions and Implications." Policy Brief 07, June 2014. [heritageinstitute.org](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
24. Mahad [Wasuge](/en/society/gaaljecel/) and others. "Land Matters in Mogadishu." Rift Valley Institute and HIPS, 2017. [riftvalley.net](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Land-Matters-in-Mogadishu-RVI-Rift-Valley-Forum-and-HIPS-2017.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
25. Wikipedia. "BBC Somali Service." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Somali_Service). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Young Somalis abroad: how many, school, work and ties to home

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/young-somalis-abroad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali communities abroad are very young: in England and Wales 48.2% of people who identify as Somali were under 21 in 2021. Official counts show more than 180,000 people of Somali heritage born in the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway and Denmark alone, and in Minnesota 27,518 pupils speak Somali at home.

Somali communities abroad are very young: in England and Wales, 48.2% of people who identify as Somali were under 21 in 2021 ([ONS, Somali populations, Census 2021](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Official counts show more than 180,000 people of Somali heritage born in six host countries alone, and most of them are children or young adults.

**Is this you?**
- You were born in [London](/en/diaspora/london/), Oslo or [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/), and your parents came from Somalia. This page is about your generation.
- You grew up in Minneapolis and speak Somali at home. See [Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).
- You want the full picture of Somalis abroad. Start with [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## How many young Somalis live abroad?

No one counts the whole generation in one place. National statistics offices count people in different ways: by ethnic group, by parents' country of birth, or by language. The latest official counts of people of Somali heritage born in their new country are:

- **England:** 43.5% of the 176,645 people who identified as Somali in 2021 were born in England, about 77,000 people, and 43.1% in Somalia ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Sweden:** 30,849 people born in Sweden to two Somalia-born parents in 2025 ([SCB, FolkmForUrspCKMv2](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101Q/FolkmForUrspCKMv2/)).
- **Canada:** 26,930 second-generation people of Somali origin in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0338](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810033801)).
- **Netherlands:** 18,806 people of Somali origin born in the Netherlands on 1 January 2026 ([CBS, table 85384NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)).
- **Norway:** 16,975 people born in Norway to Somali-born parents on 1 January 2026 ([SSB, table 09817](https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/table/09817)).
- **Denmark:** 10,873 descendants of Somali origin in late 2026 ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)).

Together that is more than 180,000 people. It leaves out the United States. There, 166,157 people reported Somali ancestry and 93,405 were born in Somalia ([US Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006,B05006&geo_ids=01000US)).

## How young are they?

Very young, in every country with an age table. Age profiles from official data:

- **England and Wales:** 21.3% of Somali identifiers were under 11 and 48.2% under 21, against 12.6% and 24.2% of everyone ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Canada:** of 65,555 people of Somali origin, 17,805 were under 15 and 14,135 were aged 15 to 24 ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0356](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). That is almost half under 25.
- **Netherlands:** 18,698 of 49,453 people of Somali origin were under 20 in 2026 ([CBS, 85384NED](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table)).
- **Denmark:** 10,181 of the 10,873 Denmark-born descendants were under 30 ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)).
- **Finland:** 12,057 of 28,167 Somali speakers were under 20 at the end of 2025 ([Statistics Finland, table 11rl](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rl.px/)).

The Denmark-born generation has nearly caught up with the generation that came. In 2026 there were 11,012 Somali immigrants and 10,873 descendants ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)).

## How do Somali pupils do at school?

Most countries do not publish school results for Somali pupils on their own. England's national figures fold them into "Black African". Lambeth council's research unit published national and local figures by Somali background in January 2024 ([Lambeth, Achievement of Somali Pupils 2023](https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Somali_Report_Empirical_Evidence_2023.pdf)).

- **Attainment 8, England, 2023:** Somali pupils scored 45.4 nationally, close to White British pupils (44.8) and below Black African pupils (48.6) ([Lambeth, 2024](https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Somali_Report_Empirical_Evidence_2023.pdf)).
- **Progress 8, England, 2023:** Somali pupils scored +0.25, so they made more progress than pupils with the same starting point ([Lambeth, 2024](https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Somali_Report_Empirical_Evidence_2023.pdf)).
- **Lambeth, 2023:** 67% of Somali pupils passed English and maths at grade 4, above 61% nationally ([Lambeth, 2024](https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Somali_Report_Empirical_Evidence_2023.pdf)).

Many of these pupils grow up with little money. In Lambeth, 46% of Somali GCSE pupils were eligible for free school meals in 2023 ([Lambeth, 2024](https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Somali_Report_Empirical_Evidence_2023.pdf)).

In Minnesota, Somali students rose from 0.7% of high school graduates in 2006 to 4% in 2022 ([Minnesota DEED, March 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)). Of 26,344 Somali students who left high school from 2006 to 2022, 97.2% came from low-income families ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)).

## How many go to university?

The numbers differ by country and by how they are measured. In Minnesota, 27% of Somali high school leavers completed a college credential, against 42% of white peers ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)). Fifteen percent earned a bachelor's degree, and health care made up 30% of their credentials ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)).

In England and Wales, 21.7% of Somali identifiers were students outside the labour market, against 7.3% of everyone ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Among Somali adults, 23.9% held a degree-level qualification, against 33.8% of everyone ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## Do young Somalis abroad have work?

Young Somalis work hard, but often in less secure jobs. In Minnesota, 85% of Somali high school leavers were working in the state 8 to 11 years later, more than white peers at 80% ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)). Yet they worked full time 50% of the time, against 65%, and changed jobs almost twice as often ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)).

They reached a living wage at 27 on average; white peers reached it before 25 ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)). In 2023 to 2025, 30% worked in health care, 21% in social assistance and 9% in transport ([DEED, 2026](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp)).

In Norway, 65% of Norway-born people aged 25 to 39 with Somali parents were in work in late 2023 ([SSB, 16 September 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)). The rate for all Norway-born children of immigrants was 79%, and 85% for the majority ([SSB, 2024](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt)). About 40% of Norway-born people with Somali parents live in the lowest fifth of household incomes ([SSB, Monitor 2024](https://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/innvandrere/artikler/monitor-for-norwegian-born-with-immigrant-parents)).

## Do they still speak Somali?

Many do, but the language is slipping in the second generation. In England and Wales, 28.6% of Somali identifiers gave Somali as their main language and 67.8% gave English ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). In Canada, 44,935 people reported Somali as their mother tongue in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 2024](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2024005-eng.htm)).

In Minnesota, 27,518 school students had Somali as their main home language in 2024-25 ([Minnesota Department of Education, English Learners report 2024-25](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2026/other/261381.pdf)). Somali is the state's second home language after Spanish, and 16,212 of those students were learning English ([MDE, 2025](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2026/other/261381.pdf)).

## Where do children learn Somali and the Qur'an?

Most learn at home, at the mosque and in dugsi, the Qur'an school held after school or at weekends. In Norway, about a third of Muslims have attended a mosque weekend school, research at Volda University College reports ([Science Norway, 8 March 2026](https://www.sciencenorway.no/children-and-adolescents-islam-religion/what-do-kids-actually-learn-in-quran-schools/2629434)). Lessons there cover Arabic letters, the Qur'an and Islamic history, mostly taught in Norwegian ([Science Norway, 2026](https://www.sciencenorway.no/children-and-adolescents-islam-religion/what-do-kids-actually-learn-in-quran-schools/2629434)).

Public schools have started teaching Somali too. Minneapolis Public Schools opened a Somali Heritage Language Program in 2021 for its roughly 4,000 Somali students ([MPR News, 2021](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/05/21/minneapolis-schools-are-launching-a-somali-heritage-language-program)). By 2024 it had about 162 pupils, and [St. Cloud](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/) schools and the University of Minnesota also teach Somali ([Sahan Journal, 19 February 2024](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/somali-culture-programs-address-second-generation-language-loss/)).

## What do young Somalis abroad face now?

Official and peer-reviewed sources name three main challenges:

- **Unemployment:** in England and Wales in 2021, 10.3% of Somali identifiers aged 16 to 64 were unemployed, against 4.4% of everyone ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Policing:** a 2020 study in three US and Canadian Somali communities found people perceived "harsher and more frequent policing" as Black Muslim immigrants ([Ellis et al., Race and Justice, 2020](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/we-all-have-stories-black-muslim-immigrants-experience-with-the-p/)).
- **Mental health:** a study of 135 Somali adolescents aged 11 to 20 in the US found discrimination was common and linked to worse mental health ([Ellis et al., American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2010](https://resolvenet.org/research/publications/discrimination-and-mental-health-among-somali-refugee-adolescents-role)). Girls with stronger Somali identity fared better ([Ellis et al., 2010](https://resolvenet.org/research/publications/discrimination-and-mental-health-among-somali-refugee-adolescents-role)).

Some children are sent abroad by their families for "dhaqan celis", a return to culture. In 2024, Norway registered 100 cases of Somalis held abroad against their will, the Danish Immigration Service reports ([Danish Immigration Service, June 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/denmark/PLib/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth.pdf)). Norwegian officials say cases appear to be falling after awareness work before the summer holidays ([DIS, 2025](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/denmark/PLib/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth.pdf)).

## Who speaks for young Somalis abroad?

Young people built many of their own organisations. Ka Joog in Minneapolis was founded in 2007 by young Somali Americans, and in 2012 it served about 2,500 young people ([MPR News, 2 November 2012](https://www.mprnews.org/2012/11/02/ka-joog-building-bridges/?refid=0)). Its name means "stay away from", and it uses arts, mentoring and tutoring ([MPR News, 2012](https://www.mprnews.org/2012/11/02/ka-joog-building-bridges/?refid=0)).

In the UK, Somali Youth for Integrity (SYFI), founded in 2015, worked with university Somali Societies to raise over £50,000 in February 2017 ([Amaliah, 19 March 2018](https://www.amaliah.com/post/42807/somali-youth-in-the-uk-raised-59000-this-is-what-unity-can-achieve)). Its next appeal, with African Relief Fund, raised over £59,000 to build a school in Somalia ([Amaliah, 2018](https://www.amaliah.com/post/42807/somali-youth-in-the-uk-raised-59000-this-is-what-unity-can-achieve)).

## How are young Somalis abroad tied to home?

Mostly through their parents, by phone calls, money and visits. A study of second-generation [Somali Canadians](/en/diaspora/canada/) found these family practices kept the tie alive ([Tiilikainen, Migration Letters, 2017](https://ideas.repec.org/a/mig/journl/v14y2017i1p63-74.html)). Few identified with relatives in Somalia beyond these practices, but they combined belonging in "dynamic and complex" ways ([Tiilikainen, 2017](https://ideas.repec.org/a/mig/journl/v14y2017i1p63-74.html)).

Young people also give. The UK school appeal above is one example of a generation born abroad building something at home ([Amaliah, 2018](https://www.amaliah.com/post/42807/somali-youth-in-the-uk-raised-59000-this-is-what-unity-can-achieve)). For the money all Somalis abroad send home, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [The Somali language](/en/society/the-somali-language/)

## Sources

1. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023 (corrected 4 November 2023). [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Sweden (SCB). "Foreign-born persons and persons with at least one foreign-born parent by country of birth," table FolkmForUrspCKMv2, 2025. [statistikdatabasen.scb.se](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101Q/FolkmForUrspCKMv2/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0338-01, generation status by ethnic or cultural origin, Census 2021. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810033801). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0356-01, ethnic or cultural origin by age and gender, Census 2021. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistics Canada. "The Diversity of the Black Populations in Canada, 2021: A Sociodemographic Portrait." 89-657-X2024005, October 2024. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2024005-eng.htm). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Table 85384NED, population by sex, age, origin and parents' country of birth, 1 January 2026. [opendata.cbs.nl](https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/85384NED/table). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Statistics Norway (SSB). Table 09817, immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by country background, 2026. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/table/09817). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Statistics Norway (SSB). "Nesten 8 av 10 av norskfødte med innvandrerforeldre er sysselsatt." 16 September 2024. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/nesten-8-av-10-av-norskfodte-med-innvandrerforeldre-er-sysselsatt). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Statistics Norway (SSB). "Monitor for Norwegian-born with immigrant parents." Reports 2024/43, 3 December 2024. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/innvandrere/artikler/monitor-for-norwegian-born-with-immigrant-parents). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Statistics Denmark. StatBank table FOLK1C, population by origin and country of origin, 2026 Q4. [statbank.dk](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Statistics Finland. Table 11rl, language by age and sex, 2025. [stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rl.px/). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year, tables B04006 and B05006, via Census Reporter. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006,B05006&geo_ids=01000US). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Lambeth Research and Statistics Unit. "The Achievement of Somali Pupils in Lambeth Schools: Empirical Evidence 2023." RS 342/24, January 2024. [lambeth.gov.uk](https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Somali_Report_Empirical_Evidence_2023.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. "The Experience of Somali Youth in Minnesota: Educational Attainment, Workforce Outcomes, and Economic Opportunity." Economic Trends, March 2026. [mn.gov](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/march-2026/somali.jsp). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Minnesota Department of Education. "English Learners in Minnesota Report 2024-25." 2026. [lrl.mn.gov](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2026/other/261381.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Science Norway. "What do kids actually learn in Quran schools?" 8 March 2026. [sciencenorway.no](https://www.sciencenorway.no/children-and-adolescents-islam-religion/what-do-kids-actually-learn-in-quran-schools/2629434). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. MPR News. "Minneapolis schools are launching a Somali Heritage Language Program." 2021. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/05/21/minneapolis-schools-are-launching-a-somali-heritage-language-program). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Sahan Journal. "Growth in Somali culture programs aims to address second-generation language loss." 19 February 2024. [sahanjournal.com](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/somali-culture-programs-address-second-generation-language-loss/). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Ellis, B. H. et al. "'We All Have Stories': Black Muslim Immigrants' Experience With the Police." Race and Justice 10(3), 2020. [experts.umn.edu](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/we-all-have-stories-black-muslim-immigrants-experience-with-the-p/). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Ellis, B. H. et al. "Discrimination and mental health among Somali refugee adolescents: The role of acculturation and gender." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 80(4), 2010. [resolvenet.org](https://resolvenet.org/research/publications/discrimination-and-mental-health-among-somali-refugee-adolescents-role). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Danish Immigration Service. "Re-education Trips of Somali Children and Youth." June 2025. Via EUAA COI portal. [coi.euaa.europa.eu](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/denmark/PLib/re-education-trips-of-somali-children-and-youth.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. MPR News. "Minn. Somali youth group Ka Joog builds bridges." 2 November 2012. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/2012/11/02/ka-joog-building-bridges/?refid=0). Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Amaliah. "Somali youth in the UK raised £59,000: this is what unity can achieve." 19 March 2018. [amaliah.com](https://www.amaliah.com/post/42807/somali-youth-in-the-uk-raised-59000-this-is-what-unity-can-achieve). Checked 2026-11-12.
24. Tiilikainen, M. "'Whenever mom hands over the phone, then we talk': Transnational ties to the country of descent among Canadian Somali youth." Migration Letters 14(1), 2017. [ideas.repec.org](https://ideas.repec.org/a/mig/journl/v14y2017i1p63-74.html). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somalis who came home from abroad: who they are and what they built

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/diaspora-who-came-home/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> No official count of returned diaspora Somalis exists, and researchers say most return is circular rather than permanent. What is counted: IOM's MIDA programme brought back over 400 Somali professionals from 17 countries in 20 years, and in 2017 105 of 275 federal MPs held a second citizenship.

No official count exists of diaspora Somalis who have come home to live or work. Data on the scale of return "is lacking", the Heritage Institute says ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). What is counted: IOM's MIDA programme brought back over 400 Somali professionals from 17 countries in 20 years ([UN News, 15 Aug 2025](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165666)).

This page is about Somalis who lived abroad, often as citizens of other countries, and came back by choice. People sent back against their will are on [Who is sent back to Somalia, and how many?](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/). Refugees returning from camps are counted on [What happened to Somalis after they left?](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## How many diaspora Somalis have come home?

No government or UN body publishes a total. The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS) found return "rarely permanent but often circular" in its study of Mogadishu, Garowe and Hargeisa ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). That study rested on 29 returnee interviews and three focus groups with people who stayed (same source).

What the studies do measure:

- **Hargeisa:** in a 2010 survey of 40 private investors in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), 53% said they were returnees from abroad ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)). Of local NGOs, 33% had staff from the diaspora (same source).
- **Minneapolis to Mogadishu:** a University of Minnesota study of 80 returnee interviews found most [Twin Cities Somalis](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) stayed less than a year ([University of Minnesota via EurekAlert, 4 Mar 2015](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/603855)).

Hansen named this pattern "revolving returnees" in his 2007 study of Somaliland ([Hansen, University of Copenhagen, 2007](https://research.diis.dk/en/publications/revolving-returnees-meanings-and-practices-of-transnational-retur/)). Hammond calls them the "part-time diaspora" ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)).

## When did they come back?

Returns came in waves, starting in the north.

- **Late 1990s, Hargeisa and [Burco](/en/regions/togdheer/):** returns from Europe and North America began to grow, first as short visits to check property ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)). One Hargeisa district became known as "Half [London](/en/diaspora/london/)" for its UK returnees (same source).
- **From 2011, Mogadishu:** diaspora members came back to open hospitals, schools, hotels and restaurants as al-Shabaab was pushed back ([VOA, 29 Apr 2015](https://voanews.com/a/somali-hotel-chain-owner-strives-to-make-a-difference/2741899.html)). The government declared Mogadishu "open for business" in 2012 ([The National, 4 Sep 2014](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/back-to-the-future-the-challenges-facing-somalias-returning-diaspora-1.237191)).
- **After 2012:** returns became "increasingly visible", HIPS reported in 2014 ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). By 2015, daily Turkish Airlines flights to Mogadishu were one sign of rising returns ([PRIO, 18 Jun 2015](https://www.prio.org/comments/328)).

Western citizenship made return possible, HIPS found, because it allows travel back and forth and evacuation in a crisis ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Return was realistic mainly for people with money and professional networks in Somalia (same source).

## Which programmes brought doctors, teachers and civil servants home?

Most programmes pay diaspora experts for short placements in public bodies, so they can train local staff.

- **QUESTS-MIDA (IOM and UNDP):** placed diaspora experts in public institutions; 126 had been placed by February 2013 ([IOM via ReliefWeb, 22 Feb 2013](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/iom-somalia-quests-mida-expert-presents-guidelines-%E2%80%98new-deal-process%E2%80%99-aid)). Placements ran from a few months to 18 months ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)). Backers included the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)).
- **MIDA FINNSOM (IOM, funded by Finland):** the first phase, July 2008 to December 2009, made 22 health assignments in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Somaliland ([IOM, 7 Jul 2011](https://www.iom.int/news/somali-diaspora-finland-helps-revitalize-northern-somalias-health-sector)). By January 2019, 159 Somali experts from Finland had worked in Somalia and about 4,000 local workers had been trained ([Finnish Somali League, 24 Jan 2019](https://somaliliitto.fi/en/2019/01/24/finland-and-iom-are-celebrating-their-co-operation-in-health-care-in-somalia/)).
- **MIDA FINNSOM Health and Education, phase 3 (2023 to 2025):** planned 40 diaspora experts and training for at least 40 local professionals and 40 graduates ([EU Global Diaspora Facility](https://diasporafordevelopment.eu/?p=20711)).
- **Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D), IOM Netherlands:** 87 assignments in Somalia since 2016, in ministries, Somali National University and Benadir Regional Administration ([CD4D](https://connectingdiaspora.org/countries-cd4d2/somalia/)).
- **All MIDA work in Somalia:** over 400 Somalis from 17 countries in 20 years, in schools, hospitals and ministries ([UN News, 15 Aug 2025](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165666)). IOM also lists MIDA projects funded through Italy, JICA, Sida and the African Development Bank ([IOM Somalia](https://somalia.iom.int/mida-projects)).

In 2015 the World Bank wrote that the means for using diaspora skills in government were "still weak", noting mainly QUESTS-MIDA ([World Bank, Project Appraisal Document 97861-SO, 2015](https://cip.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PROJECT-APPRAISAL-DOCUMENT-PAD-JUL-2015.pdf)).

## What did the work achieve in hospitals?

The Finnish programme's hospital results were reported by city in 2019 ([Finnish Somali League, 24 Jan 2019](https://somaliliitto.fi/en/2019/01/24/finland-and-iom-are-celebrating-their-co-operation-in-health-care-in-somalia/)):

- **Hargeisa:** newborn deaths at Hargeisa Central Hospital fell from 24% to 5%. Dialysis, intensive care and dental units were set up.
- **Garowe:** a newborn unit at [Garowe General Hospital](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/) cut monthly newborn deaths from 70 to 3 by late 2016.
- **Mogadishu:** patients at Yardimel Hospital rose from 800 to 4,000 in 2017 to 2018.

## What businesses and institutions did returnees build?

In Somaliland, returnees own most of the larger hotels and restaurants, a 2015 study found ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)). They are major shareholders in money transfer and telephone companies, and one opened a Coca-Cola franchise (same source).

Documented examples, by organisation:

- **The Village restaurants, Mogadishu:** opened by a chef who returned from London; by 2015 the chain employed over 100 people in Mogadishu ([VOA, 29 Apr 2015](https://voanews.com/a/somali-hotel-chain-owner-strives-to-make-a-difference/2741899.html)).
- **First Somali Bank, Mogadishu:** opened in May 2012 with about US$2 million by a businessman back from 24 years in the US ([How We Made It In Africa, 18 Jun 2012](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/p/opening-a-bank-in-somalia-not-a-crazy-idea-says-businessman)). Bank details are on [Banks](/en/economy/banks/).
- **Hargeisa International Book Fair:** held every year since 2008 by organisers based abroad, with dozens of diaspora volunteers ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)).
- **[Edna Adan University Hospital](/en/institutions/edna-adan-hospital/), Hargeisa:** opened in 1998 by Somaliland's first trained midwife; it hosts diaspora volunteer and trainee health workers (same source).
- **Iftiin Foundation, Mogadishu:** founded in 2012 by returnees to teach young people leadership and link entrepreneurs to funders ([The National, 4 Sep 2014](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/back-to-the-future-the-challenges-facing-somalias-returning-diaspora-1.237191)).

Smaller ventures in Mogadishu included taxi firms, gyms, estate agents, florists and dry cleaners ([PRIO, 18 Jun 2015](https://www.prio.org/comments/328)). Most returnees, though, work in government and non-profit groups, HIPS found ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Wider investment rules are on [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/).

## How many returnees serve in government?

- **Federal parliament:** 105 of 275 MPs in the 10th Parliament held a second citizenship, down from 198 in the 9th ([Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative, 19 Jan 2017](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/somalia-number-of-mps-with-dual-citizenship-falls-from-198-to-105/)). The largest groups were British (29), American (22) and Kenyan (10), by the Wakiil database count (same source).
- **Senate:** 20 of 54 senators are returned diaspora, a 2026 analysis reports ([African Arguments, 11 Aug 2026](https://africanarguments.org/?p=48185)).
- **Prime ministers:** every prime minister from 2000 to 2022 reportedly held Western dual citizenship (same source).
- **Somaliland:** in 2011, people in Hargeisa estimated that 20% to 30% of MPs came from the diaspora ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)). Half of the first cabinet formed after the 2010 election were returnees (same source).

The federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a Department of Diaspora Affairs in October 2013 ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Somaliland's Diaspora Agency and Puntland's Diaspora Department both date from 2010 (same source). The federal department now offers investment help and support for return migrants ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/diaspora-overview/)).

## Can a Somali keep a second citizenship?

Yes, under the 2012 Provisional Constitution. Article 8(3) says a Somali citizen "cannot be deprived of Somali citizenship, even if they become a citizen of another country" ([Provisional Constitution, 2012](https://hrlibrary.law.umn.edu/research/Somalia-Constitution2012.pdf)).

The constitution approved on 4 March 2026 bars the president, prime minister, speaker and chief justice from holding another citizenship ([Anadolu Agency, 4 Mar 2026](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-parliament-approves-new-constitution/3850086)). Ordinary MPs may still hold two ([African Arguments, 11 Aug 2026](https://africanarguments.org/?p=48185)). In July 2026 the President told ministers to give up foreign passports or resign, the same analysis reports.

In Somaliland, Citizenship Law No. 22 of 2002 lets a citizen by birth take another nationality without losing Somaliland citizenship ([Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/somaliland-citizenship-law-2002/)). Passport rules are on [The Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/).

## How do returnees and those who stayed get along?

People who stayed often welcome returnees and value years of money sent home, HIPS found ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). It named three sources of tension: a perceived sense of superiority, job advantages, and living apart in safer areas (same source).

- **Jobs and pay:** Hargeisa students told a researcher in 2012 that returnees "take our jobs" and push up rents ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)). The same students said returnees bring skills and investment (same source).
- **Prices:** return has pushed up prices and salaries, and some businesses serve mainly diaspora customers ([PRIO, 18 Jun 2015](https://www.prio.org/comments/328)). A US$10 to US$15 meal is out of reach for most residents ([The National, 4 Sep 2014](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/back-to-the-future-the-challenges-facing-somalias-returning-diaspora-1.237191)).
- **Commitment:** people who stayed read circular return as a lack of commitment ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Returnees, in turn, said local people did not value their efforts ([World Bank, 2015](https://cip.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PROJECT-APPRAISAL-DOCUMENT-PAD-JUL-2015.pdf)).

Returnees often come to be called "locals" within months, HIPS noted ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Teenagers sent back by diaspora parents to learn the culture are called *dhaqan ceelis* ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)).

## What risks do returnees face?

[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) issued specific threats against diaspora returnees, HIPS reported in 2014 ([HIPS, 2014](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf)). Diaspora businesses such as the Village restaurant were deliberately targeted ([PRIO, 18 Jun 2015](https://www.prio.org/comments/328)).

- **Mogadishu, September 2012:** a bombing at the Village restaurant killed 15, including three journalists; many diaspora returnees were among the dead and wounded ([Al Jazeera, 21 Sep 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2012/9/21/blast-cripples-somalias-lively-spot)).
- **Kismayo, 12 July 2019:** an al-Shabaab attack on the Asasey Hotel killed 26, among them a Somali-Canadian journalist and two Americans ([PBS NewsHour/AP, 13 Jul 2019](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/world/somali-forces-end-extremist-siege-of-kismayo-hotel-26-dead)).

Other risks are weak legal protection, little bank lending and almost no insurance ([PRIO, 18 Jun 2015](https://www.prio.org/comments/328)). Many programme experts left after placements because they could not move their families back ([Hammond, 2015](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf)).

## What else has been reported?

- **IOM placements:** [IOM Somalia](/en/institutions/iom-somalia/)'s projects page says 186 diaspora advisors have been placed in 31 Somali institutions, for 3 to 18 months each; the page is undated ([IOM Somalia, projects](https://somalia.iom.int/projects)). A 2016 IOM outreach report gave 415 diaspora experts in more than 80 public institutions across Puntland, Somaliland and south-central Somalia ([Hiiraan Online, October 2016](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Oct/118359/iom_reaches_out_to_somali_diaspora_through_outreach_program.aspx)).
- **National Diaspora Policy:** an EU diaspora-for-development factsheet says Somalia ratified its National Diaspora Policy in 2023 ([EUDiF, Somalia factsheet, 2024](https://diasporafordevelopment.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CF_Somalia-v.1.pdf)). The state news agency later reported the foreign ministry still finalising consultations before taking the policy to the Council of Ministers ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/state-minister-for-foreign-affairs-gives-directions-on-finalizing-the-national-diaspora-policy-consultation)). The two accounts conflict.

## Related pages

- [What happened to Somalis after they left?](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Who is sent back to Somalia, and how many?](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/)
- [What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?](/en/diaspora/what-somalis-left-behind/)
- [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/)
- [Investing in Somalia](/en/economy/investing-in-somalia/)
- [Banks](/en/economy/banks/)
- [The Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)

## Sources

1. Heritage Institute for Policy Studies. "Diaspora Return to Somalia: Perceptions and Implications." Policy Brief 07, June 2014. [heritageinstitute.org](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HIPS_Policy_Brief_007-2014_ENGLISH.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Laura Hammond. "Diaspora returnees to Somaliland: heroes of development or job-stealing scoundrels?" In *Africa's Return Migrants*, Zed Books, 2015. [ceris.be](https://www.ceris.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Diaspora-returnees-to-Somaliland-LauraHammond-2015.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Peter Hansen. "Revolving Returnees: Meanings and Practices of Transnational Return among Somalilanders." PhD thesis, University of Copenhagen, 2007. [research.diis.dk](https://research.diis.dk/en/publications/revolving-returnees-meanings-and-practices-of-transnational-retur/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UN News. "A two-way street: Reversing brain drain in Somalia." 15 August 2025. [news.un.org](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165666). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. IOM via ReliefWeb. "IOM Somalia QUESTS-MIDA Expert presents Guidelines on 'New Deal Process' for aid effectiveness." 22 February 2013. [reliefweb.int](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/iom-somalia-quests-mida-expert-presents-guidelines-%E2%80%98new-deal-process%E2%80%99-aid). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. IOM. "Somali diaspora in Finland helps revitalize northern Somalia's health sector." 7 July 2011. [iom.int](https://www.iom.int/news/somali-diaspora-finland-helps-revitalize-northern-somalias-health-sector). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Finnish Somali League. "Finland and IOM are celebrating their co-operation in health care in Somalia." 24 January 2019. [somaliliitto.fi](https://somaliliitto.fi/en/2019/01/24/finland-and-iom-are-celebrating-their-co-operation-in-health-care-in-somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. EU Global Diaspora Facility. "MIDA FINNSOM Health and Education Project, Phase 3." [diasporafordevelopment.eu](https://diasporafordevelopment.eu/?p=20711). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Connecting Diaspora for Development (IOM Netherlands). "Somalia." [connectingdiaspora.org](https://connectingdiaspora.org/countries-cd4d2/somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. IOM Somalia. "MIDA projects." [somalia.iom.int](https://somalia.iom.int/mida-projects). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. World Bank. "Project Appraisal Document: Somalia Capacity Injection Project." Report No. 97861-SO, 2015. [cip.gov.so](https://cip.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PROJECT-APPRAISAL-DOCUMENT-PAD-JUL-2015.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. University of Minnesota via EurekAlert. "U of M researchers call for US government to expand role in helping rebuild Somalia." 4 March 2015. [eurekalert.org](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/603855). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Cindy Horst. "Back in Business? Diaspora Return to Somalia." PRIO, 18 June 2015. [prio.org](https://www.prio.org/comments/328). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Samira Shackle. "Back to the future: the challenges facing Somalia's returning diaspora." The National, 4 September 2014. [thenationalnews.com](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/back-to-the-future-the-challenges-facing-somalias-returning-diaspora-1.237191). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. VOA. "Somali Hotel Chain Owner Strives to Make a Difference." 29 April 2015. [voanews.com](https://voanews.com/a/somali-hotel-chain-owner-strives-to-make-a-difference/2741899.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. How We Made It In Africa. "Opening a bank in Somalia not a crazy idea, says businessman." 18 June 2012. [howwemadeitinafrica.com](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/p/opening-a-bank-in-somalia-not-a-crazy-idea-says-businessman). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative (from Radio [Dalsan](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) and Wakiil). "Somalia: Number of MPs with dual citizenship falls from 198 to 105." 19 January 2017. [citizenshiprightsafrica.org](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/somalia-number-of-mps-with-dual-citizenship-falls-from-198-to-105/). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Ismail Abukar. "Somalia: A Government With One Foot Out the Door." African Arguments, 11 August 2026. [africanarguments.org](https://africanarguments.org/?p=48185). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Federal Republic of Somalia. "Provisional Constitution," adopted 1 August 2012. Via University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. [hrlibrary.law.umn.edu](https://hrlibrary.law.umn.edu/research/Somalia-Constitution2012.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Anadolu Agency. "Somali parliament approves new constitution." 4 March 2026. [aa.com.tr](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somali-parliament-approves-new-constitution/3850086). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative. "Somaliland Citizenship Law No 22 of 2002." [citizenshiprightsafrica.org](https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/somaliland-citizenship-law-2002/). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Department of Diaspora Affairs: overview." [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/diaspora-overview/). Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Al Jazeera. "Blast cripples Somalia's lively spot." 21 September 2012. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2012/9/21/blast-cripples-somalias-lively-spot). Checked 2026-11-12.
24. PBS NewsHour / Associated Press. "Somali forces end extremist siege of Kismayo hotel; 26 dead." 13 July 2019. [pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/world/somali-forces-end-extremist-siege-of-kismayo-hotel-26-dead). Checked 2026-11-12.
25. IOM Somalia. Projects page. https://somalia.iom.int/projects. Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Hiiraan Online. "IOM reaches out to Somali diaspora through outreach program". Oct 2016. https://hiiraan.com/news4/2016/Oct/118359/iom_reaches_out_to_somali_diaspora_through_outreach_program.aspx. Checked 2026-11-12.
27. EU Global Diaspora Facility (EUDiF). Somalia diaspora engagement factsheet. 2024. https://diasporafordevelopment.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CF_Somalia-v.1.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
28. Somali National News Agency ([SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/)). "State Minister for Foreign Affairs gives directions on finalizing the National Diaspora Policy consultation". https://sonna.so/en/state-minister-for-foreign-affairs-gives-directions-on-finalizing-the-national-diaspora-policy-consultation. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Atlanta and Clarkston, Georgia (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 6,500 Somali people in metro Atlanta, most in DeKalb County around Clarkston, and 6,768 in all of Georgia, the fourth-largest state count. A local community centre estimates 5,000 to 7,000 in the Atlanta area, and Somalis have lived there since the 1980s.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 6,490 Somali people in metro Atlanta and 6,768 in Georgia, the fourth-largest count of any state ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US12060); [ACS by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)). Most live in DeKalb County, around the small refugee city of Clarkston ([ACS 2020–2024, DeKalb County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US13089)).

## How many Somalis live in metro Atlanta?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 6,768 people in Georgia who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Georgia](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US13)). The margin of error is 2,074, so the true number may be well above or below ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US13)). By ancestry Georgia had 4,161, and 1,940 people were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=04000US13); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=04000US13)).

Within metro Atlanta, DeKalb County counted 4,478 by race and Gwinnett County 1,203 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, DeKalb](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US13089); [Gwinnett](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US13135)). The city of Clarkston itself counted about 1,000, with a very wide margin of error ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Clarkston](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US1316544)).

Community estimates are close to the survey. In 2021, the director of the Somali American Community Center estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Somalis in the Atlanta area, mostly in DeKalb and Gwinnett ([285 South, September 2021](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). In 2017 the centre said it worked with about 7,000 Somali refugees and immigrants ([ThinkProgress, July 2017](https://thinkprogress.org/clarkston-refugees-267e02a75307/)).

## How did Somalis come to Atlanta?

A few Somalis came to Atlanta as students before the war; the centre's founder left Mogadishu in 1984 to study at Georgia Tech ([285 South, 2021](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). The large arrival came in the early 1990s, and he estimated about 20,000 Somalis in Georgia at that time ([285 South](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)).

Clarkston became a resettlement site in the 1980s, chosen for its transit links and cheap apartments near Atlanta ([Atlanta Magazine, January 2017](https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/ellis-island-south-welcome-diverse-square-mile-america/)). About 40,000 refugees came through Georgia over three decades, most of them first to Clarkston ([KCUR, February 2020](https://www.kcur.org/post/georgia-town-has-welcomed-thousands-refugees-hear-what-residents-have-say)). From 2015 to 2019, Clarkston ranked first in the country for refugees resettled per head of population ([KCUR](https://www.kcur.org/post/georgia-town-has-welcomed-thousands-refugees-hear-what-residents-have-say)).

**Somali Bantu arrivals.** The US designated Somali Bantu refugees in Kenya as a persecuted group in 1999 ([Voice of America, June 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html)). In 2003, about 120 Somali Bantu already lived in Clarkston, as nearly 12,000 more prepared to come to the US over two years ([VOA, 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html)).

**Many moved on.** Many Somalis later left Georgia for Minnesota, Ohio and Maine ([285 South, 2021](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). Many of the families who built Lewiston's community in Maine after 2001 came from the Atlanta area ([Bangor Daily News, December 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). In the 2025 fiscal year, 74 refugees from Somalia were placed in Georgia ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

Somali Plaza, a strip mall in Clarkston, holds Somali-owned shops and the community centre's office ([285 South, 2021](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). Clarkston as a whole has halal restaurants, immigrant grocers and African craft shops ([ThinkProgress, 2017](https://thinkprogress.org/clarkston-refugees-267e02a75307/)).

In 2017 Clarkston's mayor said 89% of recently arrived refugee families were self-sufficient ([Atlanta Magazine, 2017](https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/ellis-island-south-welcome-diverse-square-mile-america/)). Unemployment in the city was then under 6% ([Atlanta Magazine](https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/ellis-island-south-welcome-diverse-square-mile-america/)).

Money sent home links Atlanta families with relatives in Somalia. The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Ahmed Hassan, born in Somalia, was elected to Clarkston's city council in 2013 ([City of Clarkston](https://www.clarkstonga.gov/node/838)). In 2017 the six-member council had two members from the immigrant community ([Atlanta Magazine, 2017](https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/ellis-island-south-welcome-diverse-square-mile-america/)).

The Somali American Community Center was founded in Clarkston in 2009 ([285 South, 2021](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). In a normal year it helped about 1,000 families, not only Somalis ([285 South](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). Its director has spoken for Somali families in local news on detentions and on the end of TPS ([WSB-TV, January 2026](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/somali-immigrants-metro-atlanta-worried-protection-status-coming-an-end/QB34Q35GZJGRLMPKJUCQJXUBRI)).

## What does the community face now?

**Detentions.** In April 2017, ICE detained ten Somali men in the Clarkston area who lacked papers ([ThinkProgress, 2017](https://thinkprogress.org/clarkston-refugees-267e02a75307/)). Clarkston's mayor said they had come legally but fell out of status. The city council then made Clarkston the first Georgia city with a "non-detainer" policy ([ThinkProgress](https://thinkprogress.org/clarkston-refugees-267e02a75307/)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** In January 2026, Somali families in Clarkston told WSB-TV they feared more immigration enforcement after TPS for Somalia was ended ([WSB-TV, January 2026](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/somali-immigrants-metro-atlanta-worried-protection-status-coming-an-end/QB34Q35GZJGRLMPKJUCQJXUBRI)). The termination took effect on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 Somalis held TPS nationally, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

**Fewer new arrivals.** Refugee admissions to the United States fell sharply after 2017, and Georgia's governor has not publicly backed resettlement ([KCUR, 2020](https://www.kcur.org/post/georgia-town-has-welcomed-thousands-refugees-hear-what-residents-have-say)). Somali refugee arrivals nationwide dropped from 9,030 in 2016 to 260 in 2018 ([DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)).

## How is Atlanta tied to home?

Many of Atlanta's Somali families passed through camps in Kenya before resettlement, including the Somali Bantu who arrived after 2003 ([VOA, 2003](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html)). Atlanta also served as a first home for families who then built Somali communities in other states ([285 South, 2021](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Somali Bantu plans, 2004:** the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in March 2004 that the federal government had discussed resettling about 800 Somali Bantu in Georgia, in and near Decatur, Lawrenceville and Stone Mountain, though the number was uncertain ([AJC, 31 March 2004, reprinted by a photographer's archive](https://refugees.davidredd.com/?p=357)). Another AJC report put the expected number at up to 635 over two years in Clarkston, Decatur and Stone Mountain ([AJC, via Free Republic repost](https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/853758/posts)).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/)
- [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Georgia, Atlanta metro, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, Clarkston and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US12060). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Sophia Qureshi, 285 South. "Omar Shekhey is a lifeline for Somali families." 17 September 2021. [285south.substack.com](https://285south.substack.com/p/omar-shekhey-is-a-lifeline-for-somali-21-09-17). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Kira Lerner, ThinkProgress. "As United States cracks down on refugee resettlement, the 'Ellis Island of the South' keeps open arms." 27 July 2017. [thinkprogress.org](https://thinkprogress.org/clarkston-refugees-267e02a75307/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Matthew Shaer, Atlanta Magazine. "Ellis Island South: Welcome to the most diverse square mile in America." 19 January 2017. [atlantamagazine.com](https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/ellis-island-south-welcome-diverse-square-mile-america/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Andrea Tudhope, KCUR. "This Georgia town has welcomed thousands of refugees. Hear what residents have to say." 24 February 2020. [kcur.org](https://www.kcur.org/post/georgia-town-has-welcomed-thousands-refugees-hear-what-residents-have-say). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Voice of America. Feature on Somali Bantu refugees in Clarkston, Georgia. June 2003. [voanews.com](https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-06-06-44-1-66855167/259193.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Bangor Daily News. "Struggle and progress: 10 years of Somalis in Lewiston." 18 December 2011. [bangordailynews.com](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. City of Clarkston, Georgia. Councilman Ahmed Hassan. [clarkstonga.gov](https://www.clarkstonga.gov/node/838). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Candace McCowan, WSB-TV. "Somali immigrants in metro Atlanta worried as protection status comes to an end." 14 January 2026. [wsbtv.com](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/somali-immigrants-metro-atlanta-worried-protection-status-coming-an-end/QB34Q35GZJGRLMPKJUCQJXUBRI). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14 (refugee arrivals by nationality). [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Mark Bixler. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 31 Mar 2004, reprinted at refugees.davidredd.com. https://refugees.davidredd.com/?p=357. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2004, reposted on Free Republic. https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/853758/posts. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Austria (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/austria/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 1 January 2023, 9,651 Somali citizens lived in Austria, the largest African group in the country, by Statistik Austria's count. The UN counted 9,719 people born in Somalia there in 2024. Most came after 2010, and 43% live in Vienna.

## How many Somalis live in Austria?

On 1 January 2023, 9,651 Somali citizens lived in Austria, and 7,899 people living there had been born in Somalia ([ÖIF, Somalische Bevölkerung in Österreich, from Statistik Austria data, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). Somalis were the largest group of Africans living in Austria ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). In 2002 there had been only 104 Somali citizens ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

Other counts differ by method:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 9,719 people born in Somalia lived in Austria ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 11,270 refugees and 1,110 asylum seekers from Somalia were in Austria ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Austria, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=AUS)).

The UNHCR count is higher because it includes Austrian-born children who share their parents' refugee status. It does not include the few who have become Austrian citizens.

## Who are the Somalis in Austria?

It is a young community. In 2023, 73% of Somali citizens in Austria were under 29, against about a third of all residents ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). Only 86 people, under 1%, were 60 or older ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

Men outnumber women: 62% were male and 38% female ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). In 2022, 315 babies were born in Austria to Somali mothers ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

## Where in Austria do Somalis live?

Vienna had 4,118 Somali citizens in 2023, or 43% ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). Next came Tyrol (1,291), Vorarlberg (1,148), Salzburg (1,056) and Upper Austria (996) ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). Burgenland had the fewest, with 82 ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to Austria?

Almost all came as asylum seekers after 2010. UNHCR counted 43 Somali refugees in Austria in 1998 and 1,093 in 2010 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=AUS)). The count passed 5,000 in 2017 and 10,000 in 2024 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=AUS)).

Somali asylum applications peaked at 2,073 in 2015 ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). That year 1,902 Somali citizens moved to Austria and 239 left ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). In 2022 there were 1,836 applications, among the ten largest groups ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

For the routes, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## How many get protection now?

In 2025 Somalis made 1,004 asylum applications in Austria, the third-largest group after Afghans and Syrians ([BFA, Detailstatistik 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)). Austria received 16,668 applications in all ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)).

The asylum office made 950 positive first decisions for Somalis in 2025 ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)). Of these, 582 gave asylum, 363 gave subsidiary protection and 5 gave a residence title on other grounds ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/) for what each status means.

Few have become Austrian citizens so far. In 2022, 82 former Somali citizens were naturalised, the highest number yet ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). Before 2015 it was under 20 a year ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

## Do Somalis in Austria have work?

Many are still looking. In 2022 the unemployment rate for Somali citizens was 25.0%, against 6.3% for everyone and 9.1% for all foreign citizens ([ÖIF, from labour ministry data, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)). It was 39.0% for Somali women and 21.1% for Somali men ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf)).

Language is part of it. In a 2025 Statistik Austria survey, 21.2% of immigrants from Somalia spoke mainly German at home and 46.0% spoke German and another language ([Statistik Austria, Jahrbuch Migration und Integration 2025](https://www.statistik.at/fileadmin/pages/2118/Statistik_Austria_Jahrbuch_Migration_und_Integration_2025.pdf)). With friends, 42.7% spoke mainly German ([Statistik Austria, 2025](https://www.statistik.at/fileadmin/pages/2118/Statistik_Austria_Jahrbuch_Migration_und_Integration_2025.pdf)).

## Do Somalis feel at home in Austria?

Most do. In the same 2025 survey, 78.3% of immigrants from Somalia said they felt they belonged to Austria ([Statistik Austria, 2025](https://www.statistik.at/fileadmin/pages/2118/Statistik_Austria_Jahrbuch_Migration_und_Integration_2025.pdf)). Fewer, 52.2%, said they felt they belonged to their country of origin ([Statistik Austria, 2025](https://www.statistik.at/fileadmin/pages/2118/Statistik_Austria_Jahrbuch_Migration_und_Integration_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Austria?

Public bodies publish most of what is known. The Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) and Statistik Austria publish yearly data on Somali residents ([ÖIF, 2023](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf); [Statistik Austria, 2025](https://www.statistik.at/fileadmin/pages/2118/Statistik_Austria_Jahrbuch_Migration_und_Integration_2025.pdf)). The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) decides asylum claims ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)).

## What do Somalis in Austria face now?

- **Family reunification paused:** Austria's government decided on 12 March 2025 to halt family reunification for people with protection ([EUAA, 2025](https://dip.euaa.europa.eu/node/1779)). A July 2025 law lets a minister suspend it six months at a time ([IRAP, 27 April 2026](https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/civil-society-coalition-submits-complaint-with-eu-commission-over-austrias-suspension-of-family-reunification-for-refugees)).
- **Families waiting abroad:** in 2025, relatives of Somalis made 309 requests for entry visas, the third-largest group ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)).
- **Status reviews:** the asylum office opened 347 cases in 2025 to review or withdraw protection from Somalis ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)).
- **Age checks:** Somalis made up the largest group in age examinations of young applicants in 2025, with 165 ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)).
- **A legal challenge:** civil society groups asked the European Commission in April 2026 to act against the suspension ([IRAP, 2026](https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/civil-society-coalition-submits-complaint-with-eu-commission-over-austrias-suspension-of-family-reunification-for-refugees)).

## How are Somalis in Austria tied to home?

Families are split between Austria and the Horn of Africa, which is why reunification matters so much ([BFA, 2025](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf)). Somalia's own records show 13 migrants returning from Austria between 2020 and 2023 ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Family reunification, 2025:** Falter reported in June 2025 that Afghanistan and Somalia accounted for most of the remaining family-reunification applications after the Interior Ministry stopped admitting relatives of refugees ([Falter, 3 June 2025](https://www.falter.at/zeitung/20250603/yosif-und-roslin-duerfen-nicht-zu-papa)). The ministry has said family reunification has been suspended since early July 2025, except in hardship cases, according to a parliamentary answer.

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/)
- [Switzerland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/switzerland/)

## Sources

1. Österreichischer Integrationsfonds (ÖIF). "Somalische Bevölkerung in Österreich" (Integration in Zahlen), with Statistik Austria, BMI and labour market data. 2023. [integrationsfonds.at](https://www.integrationsfonds.at/fileadmin/content/AT/monitor/Laender_Factsheet_Somalia.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Austria, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=AUS). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl (BFA). "Detail-Statistik Kennzahlen BFA 2025, 1.-4. Quartal." March 2026. [bfa.gv.at](https://www.bfa.gv.at/403/files/detailstatistik_bfa_kennzahlen_jahr_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistik Austria. "Jahrbuch Migration und Integration 2025" (Migrationserhebung 2025). [statistik.at](https://www.statistik.at/fileadmin/pages/2118/Statistik_Austria_Jahrbuch_Migration_und_Integration_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). "Council of Ministers suspends family reunification." March 2025. [dip.euaa.europa.eu](https://dip.euaa.europa.eu/node/1779). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). "Civil society coalition submits complaint with EU Commission over Austria's suspension of family reunification for refugees." 27 April 2026. [refugeerights.org](https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/civil-society-coalition-submits-complaint-with-eu-commission-over-austrias-suspension-of-family-reunification-for-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Falter. "Yosif und Roslin dürfen nicht zu Papa". 3 Jun 2025. https://www.falter.at/zeitung/20250603/yosif-und-roslin-duerfen-nicht-zu-papa. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Belgium (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/belgium/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 1 January 2025, 12,040 people born in Somalia lived in Belgium, and 7,788 residents held Somali citizenship, by Eurostat's count from Belgian registers. Most arrived after 2008. UNHCR counted 2,325 Somali refugees and 1,090 Somali asylum seekers in Belgium at the end of 2025.

## How many Somalis live in Belgium?

Eurostat counted 12,040 people born in Somalia living in Belgium on 1 January 2025 ([Eurostat, migr_pop3ctb](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en)). On the same date 7,788 residents held Somali citizenship ([Eurostat, migr_pop1ctz](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop1ctz/default/table?lang=en)).

The two counts measure different things. The first counts everyone born in Somalia, whatever passport they now hold. The second counts Somali citizens, including children born in Belgium, but not people who became Belgian.

Other counts use other methods:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 12,989 Somalia-born migrants in Belgium ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 2,325 refugees and 1,090 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Belgium](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL)). By that combined figure Belgium was the 20th-largest host of Somali refugees and asylum seekers in 2025 ([UNHCR API, all hosts 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

UNHCR counts only people who still hold refugee or asylum-seeker status, so people who became Belgian or came on family visas fall outside it.

## When did Somalis come to Belgium?

Somali arrivals before 2008 were few. Eurostat's Belgian series counts 419 people born in Somalia in 2001 and 1,399 in 2008 ([Eurostat, migr_pop3ctb](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en)). UNHCR recorded 151 Somali refugees in Belgium in 1996 and 263 in 2000 ([UNHCR API, Belgium](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL)).

The community grew in two steps after that, by Eurostat's count of people born in Somalia ([Eurostat, migr_pop3ctb](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en)):

- **2008 to 2015:** from 1,399 to 3,319.
- **2015 to 2016:** from 3,319 to 5,310, the largest one-year rise.
- **2016 to 2025:** a steady climb, to 8,449 in 2020 and 12,040 in 2025.

The jump in 2016 follows the asylum peak of 2015, when 2,010 Somalis applied for asylum in Belgium for the first time ([Eurostat, migr_asyappctza](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asyappctza/default/table?lang=en)). For the routes people took to Europe, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## How many Somalis ask for asylum in Belgium?

First-time Somali asylum applicants in Belgium, by Eurostat's yearly count ([Eurostat, migr_asyappctza](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asyappctza/default/table?lang=en)):

- 2008: 135
- 2011: 425
- 2015: 2,010
- 2016: 725
- 2019: 765
- 2021: 935
- 2024: 735
- 2025: 475

Somalia was not among the top countries of origin in 2025. Belgium's asylum office, the CGRS, named Afghanistan, Palestine, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Turkey as the main ones, out of 34,439 applicants ([CGRS, Asylum statistics: overview 2025](https://www.cgrs.be/en/news/asylum-statistics-overview-2025)).

## How many Somali asylum claims are accepted?

The CGRS took 1,155 first-instance decisions on Somali applicants in 2024, according to Eurostat ([Eurostat, migr_asydcfsta](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asydcfsta/default/table?lang=en)). Of these, 460 gave refugee status, 10 gave subsidiary protection and 685 were negative. That is a protection rate of about 41%.

In 2025 there were 1,025 decisions: 375 refugee status, 10 subsidiary protection and 635 negative, or about 38% positive ([Eurostat, migr_asydcfsta](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asydcfsta/default/table?lang=en)). The highest number of positive decisions was 975, in 2016 (same source).

New EU asylum rules took effect in Belgium on 12 June 2026, with recorded interviews and wider use of the accelerated procedure, the CGRS says ([CGRS, asylum statistics September 2026](https://www.cgrs.be/en/news/asylum-statistics-september-2026)). For how refugee status works, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How do Somalis get papers to stay in Belgium?

Belgium issued 826 first residence permits to Somali citizens in 2025, by Eurostat's count ([Eurostat, migr_resfirst](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_resfirst/default/table?lang=en)). The peak was 1,200, in 2016.

Family reunion is a large share. Family reasons accounted for 376 of the 2025 permits and 421 of the 994 issued in 2024 (same source). In 2019, 670 of 963 first permits were for family reasons.

Resettlement from camps abroad is small. UNHCR records 10 Somali refugees resettled to Belgium in 2018, 5 in 2021 and 8 in 2024 ([UNHCR solutions API, Belgium](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL)).

## How many Somalis have become Belgian?

Eurostat records 5,823 Somali citizens who acquired Belgian citizenship from 2002 to 2024 ([Eurostat, migr_acq](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_acq/default/table?lang=en)). Of these, 4,472 did so from 2015 onward. Yearly totals passed 600 for the first time in 2021, with 616, then 911 in 2022, 893 in 2023 and 894 in 2024.

Over the same years the number of Somali citizens stayed near 7,800, from 7,847 in 2022 to 7,788 in 2025, while the Somalia-born population rose from 10,019 to 12,040 ([Eurostat, migr_pop1ctz](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop1ctz/default/table?lang=en); [Eurostat, migr_pop3ctb](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Belgium?

- **Local office:** Sarah (Sahra) Mohamed Khalif won a seat on Leuven city council in October 2018, aged 21, for the Flemish socialists, with about 772 votes ([Hiiraan Online, October 2018](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Oct/160671/first_somali_woman_elected_as_belgium_city_council_member.aspx)). She was re-elected in 2024 and becomes Leuven's alderman for care, welfare and cemeteries on 1 January 2027, VRT reports ([VRT, 23 June 2026](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/06/23/leuven-schepen-verlinden-sarah-khalif-vooruit/)).
- **Other officials:** for Somali-heritage officials across Europe, see [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/).

## How are Somalis in Belgium tied to home?

Somalia's National Bureau of Statistics recorded 42 migrant returns from Belgium to Somalia from 2020 to 2024, the joint fourth-highest from Europe and nearby countries ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). For returns from all countries, see [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/).

Money also flows home. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy, by the central bank's count ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The bank does not break this down by sending country.

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [France (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/france/)
- [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/)
- [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Eurostat. "Population on 1 January by age group, sex and country of birth" (migr_pop3ctb), Belgium, Somalia, 2001 to 2025. [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Eurostat. "Population on 1 January by age group, sex and citizenship" (migr_pop1ctz), Belgium, Somalia, 2001 to 2025. [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop1ctz/default/table?lang=en). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Belgium, 1985 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to all hosts, 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (resettlement and naturalisation), Somalia to Belgium. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Eurostat. "Asylum applicants by type of applicant, citizenship, age and sex, annual aggregated data" (migr_asyappctza), first-time applicants. [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asyappctza/default/table?lang=en). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Eurostat. "First instance decisions on applications by type of decision, citizenship, age and sex, annual aggregated data" (migr_asydcfsta). [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asydcfsta/default/table?lang=en). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Eurostat. "First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship" (migr_resfirst). [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_resfirst/default/table?lang=en). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Eurostat. "Acquisition of citizenship by age group, sex and former citizenship" (migr_acq). [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_acq/default/table?lang=en). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS). "Asylum statistics: overview 2025." [cgrs.be](https://www.cgrs.be/en/news/asylum-statistics-overview-2025). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. CGRS. "Asylum statistics September 2026." 15 October 2026. [cgrs.be](https://www.cgrs.be/en/news/asylum-statistics-september-2026). Checked 12 November 2026.
13. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "First Somali woman elected as Belgium city council member." October 2018. [hiiraan.com](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Oct/160671/first_somali_woman_elected_as_belgium_city_council_member.aspx). Checked 12 November 2026.
14. VRT NWS. "Schepenwissel in Leuven: Sarah M. Khalif vervangt Bieke Verlinden als schepen van Zorg, Welzijn en Begraafplaatsen." 23 June 2026. [vrt.be](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/06/23/leuven-schepen-verlinden-sarah-khalif-vooruit/). Checked 12 November 2026.
15. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," second edition. 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Canada (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/canada/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Canada's 2021 Census counted 65,555 people of Somali origin, 41,640 of them in Ontario and 16,310 in Alberta. Of the Somalia-born immigrants admitted since 1980, 78% came as refugees, and Canada admitted another 31,000 Somali citizens as permanent residents from 2015 to 2025.

## How many Somalis live in Canada?

Statistics Canada counted 65,555 people who gave Somali as an ethnic or cultural origin in the 2021 Census ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Of these, 57,435 gave Somali as their only origin and 8,120 gave it with another ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

By place of birth, 34,120 people in Canada were born in Somalia ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Somali was the mother tongue of 44,935 people ([Statistics Canada, The Diversity of the Black Populations in Canada, 2021, October 2024](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2024005-eng.htm)).

At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,097 refugees and 460 asylum seekers from Somalia in Canada ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Which provinces and cities have the most Somalis?

People of Somali origin by province, 2021 Census ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)):

- **Ontario:** 41,640
- **Alberta:** 16,310
- **British Columbia:** 2,665
- **Quebec:** 2,090
- **Manitoba:** 1,490
- **Saskatchewan:** 870
- **Nova Scotia:** 200; **New Brunswick:** 135; **Prince Edward Island** and the **Northwest Territories:** 60 each

By metropolitan area, the largest communities were ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)):

- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/): 24,760
- [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/): 11,610
- [Ottawa–Gatineau](/en/diaspora/ottawa/): 11,070
- [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/): 2,845, plus 890 in nearby Brooks
- Vancouver: 2,315
- Hamilton: 1,895, and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo: 1,790
- Montréal: 1,390, and Winnipeg: 1,370
- Windsor: 1,125

Toronto, Edmonton and Ottawa together hold 47,440 people, or 72% of the national total ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

## When did Somalis come to Canada?

The largest wave came in the 1990s. Somalia was the largest source of refugee claimants in Canada in 1991 and 1993, and the third largest in 1992 ([Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)). For the reasons people left, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

Somalia-born immigrants living in Canada in 2021, by when they arrived ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)):

- Before 1980: 85
- 1980 to 1990: 1,365
- 1991 to 2000: 12,920
- 2001 to 2010: 6,705
- 2011 to 2015: 5,105
- 2016 to 2021: 6,315

Another 1,235 Somalia-born people were non-permanent residents in 2021, such as refugee claimants waiting for a decision ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

## Did they come as refugees or as family?

Mostly as refugees. Of 32,415 Somalia-born immigrants admitted since 1980 and living in Canada in 2021, 25,305 came as refugees ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0317-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810031701)). Another 5,795 were sponsored by family, and 895 came as economic immigrants ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0317-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810031701)).

Family sponsorship was strongest in the 1990s: 2,735 of that decade's arrivals came that way ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0317-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810031701)). By the mid-1990s, Somali migration to Canada had reached the family reunification stage ([Pier 21](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees)).

Papers slowed many families. From 1993, refugees needed identity documents that Somalia could not issue ([Canadian Council for Refugees, 1999](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue)). In 1997, Canada created a special class letting Somali and Afghan refugees apply for permanent residence five years after being recognised ([Canadian Council for Refugees](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How many Somalis has Canada admitted recently?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) publishes new permanent residents by citizenship. Somali citizens admitted each year, rounded ([IRCC, permanent residents by country of citizenship and immigration category](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx)):

- **2015–2019:** 1,160 · 1,315 · 1,390 · 2,145 · 3,275
- **2020–2024:** 1,010 · 2,075 · 2,940 · 5,170 · 5,805
- **2025:** 4,845
- **January to August 2026:** 2,005

Most were resettled refugees. In 2024, 3,255 came through private sponsorship and 1,690 as government-assisted refugees ([IRCC](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx)). Another 180 were protected persons recognised inside Canada, and 600 were sponsored family, mostly spouses ([IRCC](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx)).

IRCC updates these figures every month ([IRCC open data](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/f7e5498e-0ad8-4417-85c9-9b8aff9b9eda)). For the camps many resettled refugees leave from, see [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## How many are citizens, and how young are they?

Of the 34,120 people born in Somalia, 24,055 (70.5%) were Canadian citizens in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)). Most of the 10,070 non-citizens had arrived since 2011 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).

The community is young. Of the 65,555 people of Somali origin, 17,805 (27%) were under 15 and 14,135 were aged 15 to 24 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). Only 2,260 (3.4%) were 65 or older ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

A Canadian-born generation is growing. In 2021, 38,055 people of Somali origin were first generation and 26,930 were second generation, born in Canada to an immigrant parent ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0338-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810033801)). Of the 65,555, 62,625 were Muslim ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0341-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810034101)).

## What schooling and work do they have?

National job and schooling figures for Somali Canadians have not been published in Statistics Canada's standard 2021 Census tables. City pages give what is known locally. Calgary's page covers work in the meat plants of southern Alberta, and Toronto's covers the school board's work with Somali students ([Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/); [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/)).

Most new arrivals are refugees, not skilled-worker immigrants. Only 60 of the 5,805 Somali citizens admitted in 2024 came through economic programmes ([IRCC](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Ahmed Hussen, Member of Parliament since 2015, was Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship from January 2017 ([Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). He came to Canada as a refugee aged 16 and was national president of the Canadian Somali Congress ([Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)). Provincial lawmakers, councillors and community centres are listed on the [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/), [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/), [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/) and [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/) pages. MPs, provincial legislators, councillors and public figures are listed on [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/).

## What do they face now?

- **Waiting for papers:** 1,235 Somalia-born people were non-permanent residents in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0302-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201)).
- **Fewer admissions:** Somali permanent residents fell from 5,805 in 2024 to 4,845 in 2025 ([IRCC](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx)).
- **A young population:** almost half (49%) of people of Somali origin were under 25 in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

## How are they tied to home?

Language is one tie: 44,935 people in Canada reported Somali as their mother tongue in 2021 ([Statistics Canada, 2024](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2024005-eng.htm)). Money is another. Individual remittances to Somalia reached about US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of GDP ([The EastAfrican, 2026](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440); [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

Family sponsorship keeps the link open: 4,260 Somali citizens joined family in Canada as sponsored relatives from 2015 to 2025 ([IRCC](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx)). For the wider picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Jobs, 2011:** Wikipedia gives a labour force participation rate of 53.5%, an employment rate of 42% and unemployment of 21% for Somali Canadians, from the 2011 National Household Survey; the sentence carries a "citation needed" tag ([Wikipedia: "Somali Canadians"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Canadians)).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/)
- [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/)
- [Edmonton](/en/diaspora/edmonton/)
- [Calgary](/en/diaspora/calgary/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)

## Sources

1. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0356-01, "Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age," 2021 Census. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0302-01, "Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth and citizenship," 2021 Census. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810030201). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0317-01, "Period of immigration by admission category and place of birth," 2021 Census. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810031701). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0338-01, "Ethnic or cultural origin by generation status," 2021 Census. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810033801). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0341-01, "Religion by ethnic or cultural origins," 2021 Census. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810034101). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Statistics Canada. "The Diversity of the Black Populations in Canada, 2021: A Sociodemographic Portrait." 89-657-X2024005, 25 October 2024. [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2024005-eng.htm). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. "Canada – Admissions of Permanent Residents by Country of Citizenship and Immigration Category, January 2015 – August 2026." Open data. [ircc.canada.ca](https://www.ircc.canada.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/EN_ODP-PR-CitzImmCat.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Government of Canada, Open Government Portal. "Permanent Residents – Monthly IRCC Updates." [open.canada.ca](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/f7e5498e-0ad8-4417-85c9-9b8aff9b9eda). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Raska, J. "Unwanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees." Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, updated 19 October 2020. [pier21.ca](https://pier21.ca/blog/jan-raska-phd/unwanted-canada-and-the-resettlement-of-chilean-indochinese-and-somali-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Canadian Council for Refugees. "Refugees in limbo: a human rights issue." October 1999. [ccrweb.ca](https://ccrweb.ca/en/refugees-limbo-human-rights-issue). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Ahmed Hussen, MP. "About." [ahmedhussen.libparl.ca](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. The EastAfrican. "How diaspora steady Mogadishu economy in times of turmoil." 2026. [theeastafrican.co.ke](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Wikipedia. "Somali Canadians". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Canadians. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Cardiff (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/cardiff/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Cardiff has the oldest Somali community in Britain, founded by seamen in Butetown (Tiger Bay) from the 1890s. Census 2021 counted 2,847 residents who wrote Somali or Somalilander, and 1,624 born in Somalia; local estimates run to about 10,000.

Cardiff's Somali community is the oldest in Britain, begun by seamen who settled in the Butetown docks in the 1890s ([Hyphen, 30 October 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). Census 2021 counted 2,847 people who wrote "Somali" or "Somalilander" ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

The wider story of the first seamen is told in [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/). This page covers Cardiff itself.

## How many Somalis live in Cardiff?

Counts differ by which census answer is used:

- **Somali or Somalilander write-ins:** 2,847, or 0.8% of 362,298 residents ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Of these, 1,475 wrote "Somalilander", just over half, the highest share of any large Somali community in England and Wales (same table).
- **ONS share:** Cardiff holds 1.0% of the 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Born in Somalia:** 1,624 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)).
- **Main language Somali:** 790 residents aged 3 and over ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=W06000015&measures=20100)).

A 2024 community report puts the number who identify as Somali at about 10,000 ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). Across Wales, 55.5% of Somali residents were born in Somalia and 32.8% in Wales ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## Where in Cardiff do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, Somali and Somalilander together ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=W06000015TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Grangetown:** 779
- **Butetown:** 741
- **Adamsdown:** 271
- **Splott:** 210
- **Riverside:** 190

Butetown, the old docks district once called Tiger Bay, remains the heart of the community ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).

## How did Somalis come to Cardiff?

**Seamen, from the 1890s.** The Suez Canal opened in 1869, and the coal trade drew sailors to Cardiff ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). Somali, Yemeni, African and Caribbean seafarers settled in Tiger Bay in the 1800s ([Black Cultural Archives](https://blackculturalarchives.org/the-history-cardiff)).

**Boarding houses, 1920s and 1930s.** Somali men who left the ships opened lodging houses, restaurants and cafés in Butetown ([Hirsi, University of Minnesota, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). Police files from 1929 record houses kept by Isaaq, Warsangeli and Dhulbahante seamen, Hirsi writes, citing Glamorgan Archives. In 1938 police registered 108 Somalis and 230 Arabs in the city (same study).

**Under watch.** In 1929 an MP asked the Home Secretary about a Cardiff police report on "coloured seamen" in the docks ([Hansard, HC Deb 28 January 1929](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1929/jan/28/coloured-seamen-cardiff)). He declined to set up an inquiry (same answer). For the 1919 attacks on Tiger Bay and the 1921 hardship, see [the seamen page](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/).

**Mosque and families, 1940s to 1970s.** Somali and Yemeni seamen founded Masjid Noor El-Islam in 1947, described as the first purpose-built mosque in Wales ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). In 1956 Cardiff's MP told Parliament of "considerable growth of unemployment" among Somali seamen there ([Hansard, 19 April 1956](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen)). The minister replied that only Liverpool showed a rise (same debate).

**Refugees, from the late 1980s.** War brought families, many of them women and children, in the late 1980s and 1990s ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). Census 2021 shows when Cardiff's Somalia-born residents arrived ([ONS Census 2021, country of birth by year of arrival, Cardiff](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,W06000015&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk)):

- Before 1981: 49
- 1981 to 1990: 253
- 1991 to 2000: 373
- 2001 to 2010: 729
- 2011 to 2021: 218

One in six arrived in the 1980s, three times the share in England and Wales as a whole. For the national picture, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Do Somalis in Cardiff have work?

No Cardiff-only employment rate for Somalis has been published. A 2022 study of 120 Somali survey respondents found many unemployed or underemployed despite their skills ([Connecting during Covid, QMUL and SOAS, 2022](https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/media/geography/images/research/connecting-during-covid/Cardiff-Research-Brief-23-3-final.pdf)). During the pandemic, 41% saw their own earnings fall and 45% their household income (same brief).

Many worked freelance or self-employed and could not get income support, and 46% struggled to cover food, housing and school costs ([QMUL and SOAS, 2022](https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/media/geography/images/research/connecting-during-covid/Cardiff-Research-Brief-23-3-final.pdf)). Across England and Wales in 2021, 10.3% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 were unemployed, against 4.4% overall ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Papers are settled for most. In 2021, 1,392 of Cardiff's 1,624 Somalia-born residents held a UK passport ([ONS Census 2021, passports held, Cardiff](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,W06000015&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Cardiff?

Registered charities and community groups include:

- **Somali Progressive Association** (charity 1057081), registered in 1996, gives advice and advocacy to Somalis in Cardiff and the Vale ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1057081/full-print)).
- **Hayaat Women Trust** (charity 1155727), based at Butetown Community Centre, works for women's well-being in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Africa ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1155727)).
- **Somaliland Mental Health** (charity 1152137) in Loudoun Square, Butetown ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1152137)). It began by helping people in East Africa and now serves Cardiff too ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).
- **Grangetown Educational Centre** co-led the 2022 Covid study ([QMUL and SOAS, 2022](https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/media/geography/images/research/connecting-during-covid/Cardiff-Research-Brief-23-3-final.pdf)).
- **Taageero Cymru** runs a Somali supplementary school with over 40 pupils ([Nation.Cymru, 17 February 2024](https://nation.cymru/news/calls-for-new-language-gcse-to-be-introduced-in-wales)).
- **Cardiff Bay Warriors**, a football club founded in 2005 ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).

In 2015 the Horn Development Association received £46,300 for "The Heritage of Somalis in Wales" ([National Lottery Heritage Fund](https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects/heritage-somalis-wales)). In nearby Newport, a councillor of Somali background won Pill ward in 2013 ([WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067)).

## What do Somalis in Cardiff face now?

- **2022, Covid:** the study found that government support did little to ease hardship, while community groups stepped in with little funding ([QMUL and SOAS, 2022](https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/media/geography/images/research/connecting-during-covid/Cardiff-Research-Brief-23-3-final.pdf)).
- **2024, language:** community groups asked the Welsh Government for a Somali-language GCSE ([Nation.Cymru, 2024](https://nation.cymru/news/calls-for-new-language-gcse-to-be-introduced-in-wales)).
- **2024, housing:** new flats in Butetown are replacing old community spaces ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)).
- **2026, Senedd election:** a community manifesto asked for job pathways, culturally fitting health care and more voice in public bodies ([Nation.Cymru, 6 May 2026](https://nation.cymru/news/welsh-somalilanders-seek-greater-prosperity-from-post-election-government/)).

## How is Cardiff tied to home?

Most early seamen came from the north, from what is now Somaliland ([QMUL and SOAS, 2022](https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/media/geography/images/research/connecting-during-covid/Cardiff-Research-Brief-23-3-final.pdf)). During the pandemic, families in Somaliland and Somalia pressed Cardiff relatives for more money even as their own incomes fell (same brief). On 26 March 2015 Cardiff Council passed a motion asking the UK government to recognise Somaliland ([Cardiff Council minutes, 26 March 2015](https://cardiff.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s3825/Minutes%20-%2026%20March%202015.pdf?LLL=1)).

A councillor said at the time that the council had no power to recognise Somaliland itself ([The Cardiffian, 27 March 2015](https://cardiffjournalism.co.uk/thecardiffian/2015/03/27/somaliland-recognised-by-second-council-in-the-uk-cardiff-council/)). Cardiff Bay Warriors won the Somali Week Cup in [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/) in August 2024 ([Hyphen, 2024](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/)). For money sent home, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/)
- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [London (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/london/)
- [Liverpool (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/liverpool/)
- [Sheffield (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sheffield/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)

## Sources

1. Hyphen. "In focus: the roots of Cardiff's thriving Somali community." 30 October 2024. [hyphenonline.com](https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/30/in-focus-the-roots-of-cardiffs-thriving-somali-community/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities and Cardiff wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100) · [wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=W06000015TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth: Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS024, Main language (detailed), Cardiff. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=W06000015&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. ONS. Census 2021 custom datasets: Somalia-born residents of Cardiff by year of arrival and by passports held. [Year of arrival](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,W06000015&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk) · [Passports](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,W06000015&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Hirsi, I. "The First Somali Diaspora: A Transnational History of Migration, Race, and Colonialism." PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, 2026. [conservancy.umn.edu](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Black Cultural Archives. "Cardiff: Migration and Employment." [blackculturalarchives.org](https://blackculturalarchives.org/the-history-cardiff). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Coloured Seamen, Cardiff," HC Deb 28 January 1929 vol 224 c609W. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1929/jan/28/coloured-seamen-cardiff). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UK Parliament, Hansard. "Somali Seamen," HC Deb 19 April 1956 vol 551 cc1149-50. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Connecting during Covid (Queen Mary University of London, SOAS and Grangetown Educational Centre). "The experiences of the Somali community in Cardiff during the COVID-19 pandemic." Policy brief, 2022. [qmul.ac.uk](https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/media/geography/images/research/connecting-during-covid/Cardiff-Research-Brief-23-3-final.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Somali Progressive Association, charity 1057081. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1057081/full-print). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. OpenCharities. Hayaat Women Trust (1155727) and Somaliland Mental Health (1152137). [opencharities.uk](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1155727) · [opencharities.uk](https://opencharities.uk/ew/1152137). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Nation.Cymru. "Calls for new language GCSE to be introduced in Wales," 17 February 2024 · "Welsh Somalilanders seek greater prosperity from post-election government," 6 May 2026. [nation.cymru](https://nation.cymru/news/calls-for-new-language-gcse-to-be-introduced-in-wales) · [nation.cymru](https://nation.cymru/news/welsh-somalilanders-seek-greater-prosperity-from-post-election-government/). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. National Lottery Heritage Fund. "The Heritage of Somalis in Wales," awarded 23 January 2015. [heritagefund.org.uk](https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects/heritage-somalis-wales). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Cardiff Council. Council minutes, 26 March 2015; The Cardiffian, "Somaliland recognised by second council in the UK, Cardiff Council," 27 March 2015; WardheerNews, "Newport elects Wales' first British-Somali councillor," November 2013. [cardiff.moderngov.co.uk](https://cardiff.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s3825/Minutes%20-%2026%20March%202015.pdf?LLL=1) · [cardiffjournalism.co.uk](https://cardiffjournalism.co.uk/thecardiffian/2015/03/27/somaliland-recognised-by-second-council-in-the-uk-cardiff-council/) · [wardheernews.com](https://wardheernews.com/?p=14067). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Columbus, Ohio (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/columbus/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 25,200 people of Somali ancestry in the city of Columbus and 27,700 in the metro area, the second-largest Somali community in the United States. Local leaders estimate 60,000 to 70,000, and in 2022 Columbus voters sent Ohio's first two Somali American lawmakers to the Statehouse.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 25,200 people of Somali ancestry in the city of Columbus and 27,700 in its metro area ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)). It is the second-largest Somali community in the United States, and local estimates run to 70,000 ([WOSU, December 2025](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-05/city-council-president-hardin-rebukes-trumps-racist-comments-against-somali-community)).

## How many Somalis live in Columbus?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 25,156 people of Somali ancestry in the city of Columbus, with a margin of error of about 2,970 ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)). It counted 26,915 in Franklin County, 27,700 in the Columbus metro area and 28,515 in all of Ohio ([US Census Bureau, B04006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006)). Nearly all of Ohio's Somali community lives in and around Columbus.

By place of birth, 13,032 people in the Columbus metro area were born in Somalia ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B05006)). The rest were born in the United States or in other countries. In 2024, the Census Bureau's detailed race count found 30,996 Somali people in Ohio ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2024, B02025](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B02025)).

Local estimates are much higher. WOSU reported an estimated 70,000 in December 2025, without naming a source ([WOSU](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-05/city-council-president-hardin-rebukes-trumps-racist-comments-against-somali-community)). The city's visitor bureau put the figure at "some 60,000" in 2018 ([Experience Columbus](https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/articles/post/massive-somali-community-opens-surprising-experiences-to-columbus-visitors/)).

The gap is old. In 2009, census data put Columbus's Somali population at about 7,000, while local leaders said it was "far higher" ([MPR News, October 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/10/07/somali-president-continues-tour-of-us-in-ohio)). Surveys count people who answer them and name Somali ancestry; community groups count the families they serve.

## How did Somalis come to Columbus?

Very few Somalis lived in the United States before the war: about 2,500 in 1990 ([Pew Research Center, 2016](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)). The US admitted more than 90,000 Somali refugees between 2001 and 2015 ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)).

Columbus's community grew quickly in the mid-to-late 1990s, according to the Somali Community Association of Ohio ([WOSU, August 2003](https://www.wosu.org/news/2003-08-26/somali-population-grows-adapts-to-central-ohio)). By 2003, local estimates already put it at 20,000 or more ([WOSU, 2003](https://www.wosu.org/news/2003-08-26/somali-population-grows-adapts-to-central-ohio)).

The first Somali shops in the International Mall off Cleveland Avenue opened in 2000 ([WOSU, June 2007](https://www.wosu.org/news/2007-06-27/somali-refugees-help-revitalize-north-linden-area)). In 2007, Somali buyers paid $1.3 million for the building, which had about 50 kiosks for rent ([WOSU, 2007](https://www.wosu.org/news/2007-06-27/somali-refugees-help-revitalize-north-linden-area)).

## Work and business

Somali businesses helped revive the Northland area after Northland Mall closed in 2002 ([Voice of America, September 2017](https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-and-refugees-revive-depressed-neighborhood-in-columbus-ohio/4028841.html)). A group of Somali refugees opened the Global Mall five blocks from the old mall, and the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) Value Center holds more small Somali shops ([VOA, 2017](https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-and-refugees-revive-depressed-neighborhood-in-columbus-ohio/4028841.html)). A Somali travel agent on Morse Road said his business fell sharply after the June 2017 US travel order ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-and-refugees-revive-depressed-neighborhood-in-columbus-ohio/4028841.html)).

From 2007 to 2012, immigrant business ownership in Columbus rose 41.5%, while native-born ownership fell 1.2% ([VOA, 2017](https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-and-refugees-revive-depressed-neighborhood-in-columbus-ohio/4028841.html)). A city official said refugees of all origins had opened more than 900 businesses employing over 23,000 people ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-and-refugees-revive-depressed-neighborhood-in-columbus-ohio/4028841.html)).

In 2018 the visitor bureau counted more than 500 independent Somali-owned businesses and over 15 Somali restaurants ([Experience Columbus](https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/articles/post/massive-somali-community-opens-surprising-experiences-to-columbus-visitors/)). Somali owners also run home health care, child care and transport businesses across Central Ohio ([WOSU, July 2026](https://www.wvxu.org/2026-07-27/somali-business-owners-say-they-are-still-being-harassed-months-after-viral-medicaid-fraud-claims)).

Money sent home is a lifeline for families. Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). From 1 January 2026, a 1% US federal tax applies to cash sent abroad ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Ismail Mohamed (House District 3) and Munira Abdullahi joined the 135th General Assembly in 2023 as the first Somali Americans in Ohio's legislature ([Ohio House](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/biography)). Mohamed came to Central Ohio from Somalia as a child, went to Northland High School and Ohio State, and was the first Somali American attorney to practise in Ohio ([Ohio House](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/biography)). Both ran in 2022 among a group of Somali American candidates for the Statehouse ([Spectrum News 1, September 2022](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2022/09/13/somali-american-candidates)).

Both issued statements in December 2025 condemning the US president's remarks about Somalis ([Ohio House, 4 December 2025](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/news/rep-ismail-mohamed-condemns-recent-comments-by-president-trump-targeting-somali-communities-140006); [Ohio House, 5 December 2025](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/munira-abdullahi/news/rep-munira-condemns-recent-comments-by-donald-trump-targeting-the-somali-community-140097)). Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin also publicly rejected the remarks ([WOSU, December 2025](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-05/city-council-president-hardin-rebukes-trumps-racist-comments-against-somali-community)).

Community groups at a City Hall gathering on 6 December 2025 included the Greater Somali Community and United Somali Roots ([Spectrum News 1, December 2025](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/12/06/columbus-leaders--community-stand-with-somali-residents)). The Somali Community Association of Ohio on Cleveland Avenue has served elders with daily meals and Somali-language news ([WOSU, 2003](https://www.wosu.org/news/2003-08-26/somali-population-grows-adapts-to-central-ohio)). Our Helpers, a Columbus non-profit, hosted the Somali Culture Festival in 2018 ([Experience Columbus](https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/articles/post/massive-somali-community-opens-surprising-experiences-to-columbus-visitors/)).

## What does the community face now?

**Harsh words, and a city's reply.** In early December 2025, the US president called Somali immigrants "garbage" at a cabinet meeting ([Spectrum News 1](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/12/06/columbus-leaders--community-stand-with-somali-residents)). Somali families in Columbus said children were repeating those words to Somali classmates ([Spectrum News 1](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/12/06/columbus-leaders--community-stand-with-somali-residents)). City leaders urged residents to support Somali businesses and report harassment ([Spectrum News 1](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/12/06/columbus-leaders--community-stand-with-somali-residents)).

**Fraud claims and harassment.** In 2026, online influencers made unproven claims of "rampant fraud" at Somali-owned businesses in Columbus ([WOSU, July 2026](https://www.wvxu.org/2026-07-27/somali-business-owners-say-they-are-still-being-harassed-months-after-viral-medicaid-fraud-claims)). Owners said harassment continued months later, and Governor Mike DeWine pushed back on the claims ([WOSU](https://www.wvxu.org/2026-07-27/somali-business-owners-say-they-are-still-being-harassed-months-after-viral-medicaid-fraud-claims)). By July 2026, 14 people in Ohio had been charged with Medicaid fraud in the federal campaign, totalling about $50 million ([WOSU](https://www.wvxu.org/2026-07-27/somali-business-owners-say-they-are-still-being-harassed-months-after-viral-medicaid-fraud-claims)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia was first designated for TPS on 16 September 1991, and the termination notice was published on 14 January 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). After court delays, the termination took effect on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 Somalis nationwide held TPS, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)). A state legislator told WOSU that most Somali residents are naturalised citizens ([WOSU, December 2025](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-05/city-council-president-hardin-rebukes-trumps-racist-comments-against-somali-community)).

## How is Columbus tied to home?

In October 2009, President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) visited Columbus and met Ohio's governor ([MPR News, 2009](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/10/07/somali-president-continues-tour-of-us-in-ohio)). About 1,000 people filled a banquet hall for his evening forum, and at least 100 more could not get in ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/10/07/somali-president-continues-tour-of-us-in-ohio)).

In 2013, the Somali Community Association said 54 people from Columbus had returned to Mogadishu to help rebuild ([WOSU, June 2013](https://www.wosu.org/news/2013-06-10/mogadishu-calls-for-some-somalis-in-columbus)). One returnee worked with the new federal government ([WOSU, 2013](https://www.wosu.org/news/2013-06-10/mogadishu-calls-for-some-somalis-in-columbus)). A Columbus community radio station broadcasts Somali-language programmes heard in other US cities ([WOSU, 2013](https://www.wosu.org/news/2013-06-10/mogadishu-calls-for-some-somalis-in-columbus)).

Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). For other US cities, see [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Community estimate:** the Somali Community Access Network (SomaliCAN) puts the number of Somali Americans in Central Ohio at more than 45,000 ([Ohio immigration policy brief citing SomaliCAN](https://immigrationpolicy.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Somali_Community_in_Ohio.20374400.pdf)). Columbus Public Health also cites an estimated 45,000 Somalis in the area ([City of Columbus, Minority Health](https://www.columbus.gov/publichealth/programs/Minority-Health/Minority-Health-Publications/)), and WOSU reported the same figure in 2016 ([WOSU, 2016](https://wosu.org/news/2016-02-22/new-american-voices-a-somali-immigrant-makes-columbus-his-home)). None gives a method, and the figure is well above the census count.

## Related pages

- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B04006 "People Reporting Ancestry" (Somali). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B04006). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B05006 "Place of Birth for the Foreign-Born Population" (Somalia). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B05006). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, Table B02025 (Somali, alone or in any combination). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B02025). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Katie Geniusz, WOSU Public Media. "City Council President Hardin rebukes Trump's racist comments against Somali community." 5 December 2025. [wosu.org](https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-05/city-council-president-hardin-rebukes-trumps-racist-comments-against-somali-community). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Experience Columbus. "Massive Somali community opens surprising experiences to Columbus visitors." October 2018. [experiencecolumbus.com](https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/articles/post/massive-somali-community-opens-surprising-experiences-to-columbus-visitors/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. MPR News. "Somali president continues tour of US in Ohio." 7 October 2009. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/10/07/somali-president-continues-tour-of-us-in-ohio). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Pew Research Center. "5 facts about the global Somali diaspora." 1 June 2016. [pewresearch.org](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. WOSU Public Media. "Somali population grows, adapts to Central Ohio." 26 August 2003. [wosu.org](https://www.wosu.org/news/2003-08-26/somali-population-grows-adapts-to-central-ohio). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. WOSU Public Media. "Somali refugees help revitalize North Linden area." 27 June 2007. [wosu.org](https://www.wosu.org/news/2007-06-27/somali-refugees-help-revitalize-north-linden-area). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. June Soh, Voice of America. "Immigrants and refugees revive depressed neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio." 14 September 2017. [voanews.com](https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-and-refugees-revive-depressed-neighborhood-in-columbus-ohio/4028841.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Katie Geniusz, WOSU Public Media (via WVXU). "Somali business owners say they are still being harassed months after viral Medicaid fraud claims." 27 July 2026. [wvxu.org](https://www.wvxu.org/2026-07-27/somali-business-owners-say-they-are-still-being-harassed-months-after-viral-medicaid-fraud-claims). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Ohio House of Representatives. "Representative Ismail Mohamed: biography." [ohiohouse.gov](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/biography). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Spectrum News 1 (Columbus). "Somali-American candidates." 13 September 2022. [spectrumnews1.com](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2022/09/13/somali-american-candidates). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Ohio House of Representatives. "Rep. Ismail Mohamed condemns recent comments by President Trump targeting Somali communities" (4 December 2025) and "Rep. Munira condemns recent comments by Donald Trump targeting the Somali community" (5 December 2025). [ohiohouse.gov](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/ismail-mohamed/news/rep-ismail-mohamed-condemns-recent-comments-by-president-trump-targeting-somali-communities-140006) · [ohiohouse.gov](https://ohiohouse.gov/members/munira-abdullahi/news/rep-munira-condemns-recent-comments-by-donald-trump-targeting-the-somali-community-140097). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Saima Khan, Spectrum News 1. "Columbus leaders, community stand with Somali residents." 7 December 2025. [spectrumnews1.com](https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/12/06/columbus-leaders--community-stand-with-somali-residents). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. WOSU Public Media. "Mogadishu calls for some Somalis in Columbus." 10 June 2013. [wosu.org](https://www.wosu.org/news/2013-06-10/mogadishu-calls-for-some-somalis-in-columbus). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Immigration policy brief. "Somali Community in Ohio". https://immigrationpolicy.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Somali_Community_in_Ohio.20374400.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. City of Columbus Public Health. Minority Health publications. https://www.columbus.gov/publichealth/programs/Minority-Health/Minority-Health-Publications/. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. WOSU. "New American Voices: a Somali immigrant makes Columbus his home". 22 Feb 2016. https://wosu.org/news/2016-02-22/new-american-voices-a-somali-immigrant-makes-columbus-his-home. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,750 Somali people in the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area and 6,436 in Texas, the fifth-largest state count. Many are Somali Bantu families resettled in Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas from the mid-2000s, and many men found work at DFW Airport.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,745 Somali people in the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area and 6,436 in Texas ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US19100); [Texas](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US48)). Many are Somali Bantu families resettled in Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas from the mid-2000s ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, July 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

## How many Somalis live in Dallas–Fort Worth?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 3,745 people in the metro area who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US19100)). By ancestry it counted 2,380, and 1,656 people were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US19100); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=31000US19100)).

More live on the Fort Worth side than in Dallas. By race, Tarrant County counted 2,041 and Dallas County 1,419 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Tarrant County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US48439); [Dallas County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US48113)). Tarrant County also had 1,115 people born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B05006, Tarrant County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=05000US48439)).

Among cities, the survey counted 1,213 in Arlington, 531 in Fort Worth, 382 in Dallas and 323 in Irving ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Arlington](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4804000); [Fort Worth](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4827000); [Dallas](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4819000); [Irving](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4837000)). These small counts carry margins of error close to their size ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4804000)).

Texas as a whole ranks fifth among US states by the race count ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)).

## How did Somalis come to Dallas–Fort Worth?

Fort Worth became a large resettlement area for Muslim refugees with the Bosnian arrivals from 1995 ([Fort Worth Weekly, June 2013](https://www.fwweekly.com/2013/06/26/touching-lives/2/)). About a decade later, the war in Somalia brought another group ([Fort Worth Weekly](https://www.fwweekly.com/2013/06/26/touching-lives/2/)). From 1983 to 2004, about a third of the 34,000 refugees who came to Fort Worth were Muslims, by federal figures ([Fort Worth Weekly](https://www.fwweekly.com/2013/06/26/touching-lives/2/)).

**Somali Bantu families.** About 13,000 Somali Bantu refugees were resettled in several states from 2004 to 2008, Texas among them ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)). In Fort Worth, about 70 families lived in or near one apartment complex in the southeast of the city by 2013 ([Star-Telegram](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)). Communities also formed in Arlington and Dallas, and a group in Amarillo kept ties with Fort Worth ([Star-Telegram](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

World Relief, Refugee Services of Texas and Catholic Charities resettled and assisted many of these families ([Star-Telegram](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

Arrivals continue at a small scale. In the 2025 fiscal year, 74 refugees from Somalia were placed in Texas ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

In 2013, most Somali Bantu men in Fort Worth worked at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)). They drove buses, cleaned aircraft or worked as custodians ([Star-Telegram](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)). Refugee agencies in Fort Worth help new arrivals with jobs, housing and English classes ([Fort Worth Weekly, 2013](https://www.fwweekly.com/2013/06/26/touching-lives/2/)).

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Tarrant County Somali Bantu Association of Texas spoke for Fort Worth's Somali Bantu families in 2013 ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)). Catholic Charities Fort Worth and local churches have supported the families ([Star-Telegram](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

Fort Worth's Muslim Community Center runs the Al-Shifa free clinic, open to refugees of all origins ([Fort Worth Weekly, 2013](https://www.fwweekly.com/2013/06/26/touching-lives/2/)). No Somali American has yet been found among elected officials in North Texas.

## What does the community face now?

**Safety and belonging.** In 2013, Somali Bantu families in Fort Worth reported girls targeted for wearing hijabs and stones thrown at their apartments ([Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)). Many elders were wary of calling police, a fear learned in Somalia ([Star-Telegram](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary)).

**A proposed pause on Somali immigration.** In February 2026, US Representative Brandon Gill, who represents Texas's 26th District, said he would introduce a bill pausing Somali immigration for 25 years ([Dallas Express via Yahoo News, February 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/exclusive-u-rep-brandon-gill-130033922.html)). He said it would not affect Somalis already in the US with legal status ([Dallas Express via Yahoo News](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/exclusive-u-rep-brandon-gill-130033922.html)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

## How is Dallas–Fort Worth tied to home?

Somali refugee arrivals nationwide fell from 9,030 in 2016 to 260 in 2018, then rose to 4,790 in 2024 ([DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)). Those numbers decide how quickly families in camps can join relatives in Texas. For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Fort Worth, 2013:** a five-year-old boy from a Somali Bantu refugee family was beaten to death in Fort Worth, and a 13-year-old boy from the neighbourhood was arrested on a capital murder warrant ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary); [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-boy-13-arrested-in-fatal-beating-of-5-year-old)). About 70 Somali Bantu families lived in or near the same apartment complex, and the president of the Tarrant County Somali Bantu association told WardheerNews "we understand that here is not safe". The juvenile case outcome is not public.

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/)
- [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Dallas–Fort Worth metro, Tarrant and Dallas counties, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Irving, Texas and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US19100). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Diane Smith, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via WardheerNews). "Bantu refugees in Fort Worth still searching for sanctuary." 7 July 2013. [wardheernews.com](https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Annabelle Massey Malloy, Fort Worth Weekly. "Touching lives." 26 June 2013. [fwweekly.com](https://www.fwweekly.com/2013/06/26/touching-lives/2/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Logan Washburn, The Dallas Express (via Yahoo News). "U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill says Islamic migration is 'transforming' DFW." 4 February 2026. [yahoo.com](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/exclusive-u-rep-brandon-gill-130033922.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. WardheerNews. "Bantu refugees in Fort Worth still searching for sanctuary". 2013. https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. CBS News. "Texas boy, 13, arrested in fatal beating of 5-year-old". 2013. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-boy-13-arrested-in-fatal-beating-of-5-year-old. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Denver and Colorado (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/denver/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,500 Somali people in Colorado, most in Aurora and Denver, with more in the meatpacking towns of Greeley and Fort Morgan. Somalis have settled in Colorado since the early 1990s, Somali Bantu families arrived in the mid-2000s, and two federal job-discrimination cases for Somali Muslim workers ended in settlements.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,467 Somali people in Colorado, most of them in Aurora and Denver ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US08,16000US0804000,16000US0820000,31000US19740,05000US08005,05000US08001,16000US0832155)). Meat plants also drew Somali workers to Greeley and Fort Morgan from the mid-2000s ([Weld County, County 150](https://history.weld.gov/County-150/Your-Stories/East-African-Community); [The Gazette, March 2016](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)).

## How many Somalis live in Denver and Colorado?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted these people of Somali race or origin, each with a wide margin of error ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US08,16000US0804000,16000US0820000,31000US19740,05000US08005,05000US08001,16000US0832155)):

- Colorado: 3,467 (plus or minus 1,172)
- Aurora: 1,676
- Denver: 823
- Arapahoe County: 1,116; Adams County: 753
- Greeley: 503

The Denver–Aurora metro area had 2,585 people of Somali ancestry and 1,058 born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US19740); [ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=31000US19740)). Small samples mean these figures can move a lot between surveys.

Local estimates differ. In Fort Morgan, about 1,200 Somali immigrants made up roughly one in ten residents in 2016 ([The Gazette, 2016](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)). A former US ambassador estimated about 540 Somali Bantu in Denver in 2014 ([David Shinn blog, February 2014](https://davidshinn.blogspot.com/2014/02/somali-communities-in-colorado.html?m=1)). A 2025 Sentinel Colorado column said "several thousand" Somalis live in or near Aurora, without a source ([Sentinel Colorado, December 2025](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527)).

## How did Somalis come to Colorado?

In 1998, leaders of Denver's Somali community formed the Somali American Community Center ([Chinook Fund](https://chinookfund.org/grantee/somali-american-community-center-6500/)). More than 9,500 African refugees and asylum seekers settled in Colorado in federal fiscal years 1980 to 2014 ([The Gazette, 2016](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)).

Somali Bantu families were arriving in Denver by early 2005 ([Denver Public Library, April 2024](https://history.denverlibrary.org/gallery/somalis-colorado)). The library's photo archive shows them at job and English classes in March 2005, and at the African Community Center ([Denver Public Library](https://history.denverlibrary.org/gallery/somalis-colorado)).

Meat plants pulled others north and east. After a December 2006 immigration raid detained about 270 Hispanic workers at the Greeley beef plant, many Somalis took jobs there ([Associated Press via GV Wire, June 2021](https://gvwire.com/2021/06/09/meatpacker-settles-muslim-discrimination-lawsuit-for-5-5-million)). Weld County's history office says more than 1,000 Somali refugees came to the county in 2006 ([Weld County, County 150](https://history.weld.gov/County-150/Your-Stories/East-African-Community)).

In Fort Morgan, the first small Somali group arrived in 2005, mainly for jobs at the Cargill plant ([David Shinn blog, 2014](https://davidshinn.blogspot.com/2014/02/somali-communities-in-colorado.html?m=1)). In federal fiscal year 2025, Colorado received 47 Somali refugees ([US Refugee Processing Center, FY2025](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

Many Somali Bantu families had farmed in Somalia. One woman photographed in 2005 had a plot at Denver's Fairview Garden ([Denver Public Library](https://history.denverlibrary.org/gallery/somalis-colorado)). In spring 2013, Somali Bantu farmers planted first crops at a new farm in Denver's Westwood area, helped by a $5,000 Denver Foundation gift ([Confluence Denver, May 2013](https://confluence-denver.com/features/bantufarm_051513.aspx)).

Meatpacking became a major employer. In 2016, about a third of the 2,100 workers at Cargill's Fort Morgan plant were East African ([The Gazette, 2016](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)). In the Denver area, Somalis drive for ride-share and shuttle firms, work at Denver International Airport and run restaurants and groceries ([Sentinel Colorado, 2025](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527)).

Mango House on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora has served refugees since 2012, and its food court includes a Somali bakery café ([CBS Colorado, June 2019](https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/aurora-mango-house-refugees-colfax)). Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## What did the federal job cases find?

**Greeley.** In 2010, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued JBS Swift over its Greeley beef plant, case 10-cv-2103 in Denver federal court ([US EEOC, June 2021](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/jbs-swift-pay-55-million-settle-eeoc-race-and-religious-discrimination-claim-greeley-plant)). The EEOC alleged Muslim workers were denied prayer, and water fountains were shut off during Ramadan 2008 ([US EEOC, 2021](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/jbs-swift-pay-55-million-settle-eeoc-race-and-religious-discrimination-claim-greeley-plant)).

In 2021, JBS agreed to pay up to $5.5 million to about 300 workers and to provide clean prayer spaces outside bathrooms ([US EEOC, 2021](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/jbs-swift-pay-55-million-settle-eeoc-race-and-religious-discrimination-claim-greeley-plant)). The company did not admit liability ([AP via GV Wire, 2021](https://gvwire.com/2021/06/09/meatpacker-settles-muslim-discrimination-lawsuit-for-5-5-million)). The EEOC also published the announcement in Somali ([US EEOC, Somali version](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/somali-version-warshada-jbs-swift-waxey-bixin-doontaa-ilaa-55-milyan-si-loo-xaliyo-kiiskii)).

**Fort Morgan.** The Gazette reported in 2016 that about 150 East African workers left the Cargill line over prayer time and were fired ([The Gazette, 2016](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)). In 2018, after finding reasonable cause of harassment and denied prayer breaks, the EEOC announced a $1.5 million settlement ([US EEOC, September 2018](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/cargill-meat-resolves-eeoc-discrimination-class-finding)). Cargill did not accept the findings ([US EEOC, 2018](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/cargill-meat-resolves-eeoc-discrimination-class-finding)).

## Who speaks for the community?

- **Somali American Community Center of Colorado**, formed in 1998, offers job help, education and cultural events across metro Denver ([Chinook Fund](https://chinookfund.org/grantee/somali-american-community-center-6500/)).
- **East African Community of Colorado**, formed by Somali elders in Greeley in 2008, began English classes in January 2009 ([Weld County, County 150](https://history.weld.gov/County-150/Your-Stories/East-African-Community)).
- **African Community Center of Denver** helped resettle Somali Bantu families in the 2000s ([Denver Public Library](https://history.denverlibrary.org/gallery/somalis-colorado)).

In December 2025, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said the city would stand behind its Somali residents ([Sentinel Colorado, 2025](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527)). State Representative Naquetta Ricks of Aurora, who heads the Colorado African Chamber of Commerce, called the national rhetoric dangerous ([Sentinel Colorado](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527)).

## What does the community face now?

On 2 December 2025, the US president said at a cabinet meeting that Somalis "contribute nothing" and were not wanted in the country ([Sentinel Colorado, 2025](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527)). Aurora's mayor and a state lawmaker answered publicly, as above ([Sentinel Colorado](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527)).

In Fort Morgan in 2016, Somali residents still prayed in two rented rooms because they could not buy land for a mosque ([The Gazette, 2016](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)). That year, 800 of the county's 6,000 pupils were learning English as a second language ([The Gazette](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/)).

Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## How is Colorado tied to home?

In 2007, the African Community Center held a Somali Bantu dance at Washington Park to welcome new arrivals ([Denver Public Library](https://history.denverlibrary.org/gallery/somalis-colorado)). Somali Bantu farmers in Denver combine the farming methods they used in Somalia with techniques suited to Colorado's climate ([David Shinn blog, 2014](https://davidshinn.blogspot.com/2014/02/somali-communities-in-colorado.html?m=1)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Greeley walkout, 2008:** on 5 September 2008, about 220 workers at the JBS Swift beef plant in Greeley walked out over prayer breaks during Ramadan, by the company's estimate ([NPR, 1 October 2008](https://www.npr.org/2008/10/01/95254631/fired-muslims-to-sue-over-prayer-break-dispute); [Manufacturing.net, AP, 2008](https://www.manufacturing.net/labor/news/13064399/somali-workers-fight-plant-over-prayer)). Swift said it fired 101; the UFCW Local 7 union put the number closer to 150. The company said the firings were for refusing to return to work, not religion.

## Related pages

- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/)
- [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Colorado, Aurora, Denver, Greeley, Arapahoe and Adams counties and Denver metro, via Census Reporter. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US08,16000US0804000,16000US0820000,31000US19740,05000US08005,05000US08001,16000US0832155). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. US Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "JBS Swift to pay up to $5.5 million to settle EEOC race and religious discrimination claim at Greeley plant." 9 June 2021 (and Somali version). [eeoc.gov](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/jbs-swift-pay-55-million-settle-eeoc-race-and-religious-discrimination-claim-greeley-plant) · [eeoc.gov (Somali)](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/somali-version-warshada-jbs-swift-waxey-bixin-doontaa-ilaa-55-milyan-si-loo-xaliyo-kiiskii). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "Cargill Meat resolves EEOC discrimination class finding." 14 September 2018. [eeoc.gov](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/cargill-meat-resolves-eeoc-discrimination-class-finding). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Weld County. "East African Community" (County 150 history). [weld.gov](https://history.weld.gov/County-150/Your-Stories/East-African-Community). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Alejandro Hernández, Denver Public Library Special Collections. "Somalis in Colorado" (photo gallery). 23 April 2024. [denverlibrary.org](https://history.denverlibrary.org/gallery/somalis-colorado). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Chinook Fund. "Somali American Community Center" (grantee profile). [chinookfund.org](https://chinookfund.org/grantee/somali-american-community-center-6500/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. James Anderson, The Gazette (Colorado Springs). "Assimilation is a long process for Somalis in Colorado farm town." 19 March 2016. [gazette.com](https://gazette.com/2016/03/19/assimilation-is-a-long-process-for-somalis-in-colorado-farm-town-08c9ca3d-216c-559e-abc6-88513d9930e2/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. David H. Shinn (former US ambassador). "Somali communities in Colorado." 12 February 2014. [blogspot.com](https://davidshinn.blogspot.com/2014/02/somali-communities-in-colorado.html?m=1). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Associated Press (via GV Wire). "Meatpacker settles Muslim discrimination lawsuit for $5.5 million." 9 June 2021. [gvwire.com](https://gvwire.com/2021/06/09/meatpacker-settles-muslim-discrimination-lawsuit-for-5-5-million). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Chris Meehan, Confluence Denver. "Bantu urban farm marries Somali tradition with sustainable farming in Denver." 15 May 2013. [confluence-denver.com](https://confluence-denver.com/features/bantufarm_051513.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. CBS Colorado. "New food court in Aurora gives refugees new beginning." 7 June 2019. [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/aurora-mango-house-refugees-colfax). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Dave Perry, Sentinel Colorado (opinion). "Aurora worries as Trump crosses a line with racist rant about Somali immigrants." 6 December 2025. [sentinelcolorado.com](https://sentinelcolorado.com/?p=904527). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. NPR. "Fired Muslims to sue over prayer break dispute". 1 Oct 2008. https://www.npr.org/2008/10/01/95254631/fired-muslims-to-sue-over-prayer-break-dispute. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Associated Press, via Manufacturing.net. "Somali workers fight plant over prayer". Sep 2008. https://www.manufacturing.net/labor/news/13064399/somali-workers-fight-plant-over-prayer. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Egypt (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/egypt/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2025, UNHCR counted 3,960 Somali refugees and 8,837 Somali asylum seekers in Egypt. The UN put the Somalia-born population there at 50,036 in 2024. Most live in Cairo, around Nasr City, and Egypt's new asylum law is now changing how they are registered.

## How many Somalis live in Egypt?

At the end of 2025, UNHCR recorded 3,960 Somali refugees and 8,837 Somali asylum seekers in Egypt ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Egypt, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ARE)). The number of asylum seekers more than doubled from 3,909 a year earlier ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ARE)).

The UN's birthplace count is much higher. UN DESA estimated 50,036 people born in Somalia living in Egypt in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). That estimate includes students, workers and families who are not registered as refugees.

Somalis are a small group among Egypt's refugees. More than 1.1 million refugees and asylum seekers of all nationalities were registered with UNHCR in Egypt by May 2026, most from Sudan ([Human Rights Watch, 7 July 2026](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/egypt-refugees-asylum-seekers-arrested-deported)).

## How long have Somalis been in Egypt?

A small number of Somalis lived in Cairo before the war, including students and diplomats with their families ([Swiss Forum for Migration Studies (SFM), 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). UNHCR counted 996 Somali refugees in Egypt in 1990 and 6,066 in 1993 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ARE)).

By the mid-2000s Somalis were Egypt's third-largest refugee group, after Palestinians and Sudanese, with about 4,000 registered ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). Most of them had arrived after 1999 ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). The count stayed near 6,000 from 2009 to 2014 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ARE)).

## How did Somalis come to Egypt?

Many came after living somewhere else first. In the 2006 study, the most common earlier homes were Saudi Arabia and Kenya, then Ethiopia, Yemen and Libya ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). People from Saudi Arabia cited lack of legal status and schooling for their children, while people from Libya cited abuse by employers ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)).

Entry to Egypt needed a visa and passport, often arranged through middlemen or relatives already there ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). A newer trend was Somali families with Western citizenship moving to Cairo, about 200 of them, to raise children in a familiar culture ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)).

For the wider routes, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Libya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/libya/).

## Where in Cairo do Somalis live?

Most live in Nasr City and Ard el-Lewa ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). In Nasr City the main cluster is in Hay el Ashr, near the airport, around Swissry A and B streets ([Miranda, Refugees in Towns, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)). Somalis first settled there for lower rents ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).

Housing is crowded. Somalis often share bedrooms, sometimes three people to a room ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).

## What work do Somalis in Egypt do?

Refugees in Egypt need a work permit, which is costly and hard to get, so most work informally ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). Their main income comes from remittances, small businesses and help from the community ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)).

Some Somalis work for hawala money transfer companies or as waiters in cafés ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)). Educated Somalis tutor children of families who returned from the United States, Europe and Canada ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).

The Hay el Ashr cluster had five Somali cafés, three tailors, a grocery, a barber and a community centre in 2017 ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)). A community observer said these were paid for with hawala earnings, not aid ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).

## Can Somali children go to school in Egypt?

A 2000 government decree allowed Somali refugee children free places in public schools, but it was not applied regularly ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). Many children went to schools run by Al-Azhar, which teach religious and secular subjects to non-Egyptian Muslims ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)).

Schools often ask for a letter from the Somali embassy, which needs three Somali passport holders to confirm a child's identity ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)). The community centre in Hay el Ashr runs Somali language classes for young children ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Egypt?

- **The Somali community centre in Hay el Ashr** is the main named community body ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).
- **The Embassy of Somalia in Cairo** issues the identity letters that schools and offices ask for ([Miranda, 2018](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo)).
- **Researchers:** a UNHCR working paper by Mulki Al-Sharmani studied how Somali refugees in Cairo make a living and keep family and community ties ([Al-Sharmani, UNHCR, via ALNAP](https://alnap.org/help-library/resources/livelihood-and-diasporic-identity-constructions-of-somali-refugees-in-cairo/)).

## What do Somalis in Egypt face now?

- **A new asylum law:** Law No. 164 of 2024, signed in December 2024, moves refugee status decisions from UNHCR, which had made them since 1954, to a government committee ([HRW, 2026](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/egypt-refugees-asylum-seekers-arrested-deported)). Its bylaws were published on 21 May 2026 and take effect three months later ([HRW, 2026](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/egypt-refugees-asylum-seekers-arrested-deported)).
- **Arrests:** from late 2025, Egyptian authorities arrested and deported refugees, many over expired residency permits, mostly people from Sudan and South Sudan ([HRW, 2026](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/egypt-refugees-asylum-seekers-arrested-deported)).
- **Residency queues:** permits must be renewed every year, and some appointments are set as late as 2028 ([HRW, 2026](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/egypt-refugees-asylum-seekers-arrested-deported)).
- **No path to citizenship:** refugees are not eligible to become Egyptian citizens ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)).

For refugee documents, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How are Somalis in Egypt tied to home?

Many families in Cairo live on money sent by relatives elsewhere ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). Somalia's records show 55 migrants returning from Egypt between 2020 and 2023 ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Libya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/libya/)
- [Sudan (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sudan/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Egypt, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ARE). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Human Rights Watch. "Egypt: Refugees, Asylum Seekers Arrested, Deported." 7 July 2026. [hrw.org](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/egypt-refugees-asylum-seekers-arrested-deported). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Moret, J., Baglioni, S. and Efionayi-Mäder, D. "The Path of Somali Refugees into Exile," with the Egypt case study by M. Al-Sharmani. SFM Studies 46, 2006. [unine.ch](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Miranda, P. "Getting by on the Margins: Sudanese and Somali Refugees. Cairo, Egypt." Refugees in Towns, Tufts University, 2018. [refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com](https://refugees-in-towns.squarespace.com/cairo). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Al-Sharmani, M. "Livelihood and diasporic identity constructions of Somali refugees in Cairo." UNHCR working paper. [alnap.org](https://alnap.org/help-library/resources/livelihood-and-diasporic-identity-constructions-of-somali-refugees-in-cairo/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# France (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/france/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2024, 15,287 people from Somalia held protection in France, by the count of OFPRA, the French refugee office. The number has grown fast, from about 1,000 refugees in 2010. Somalis also seek asylum in Mayotte, the French island in the Indian Ocean.

## How many Somalis live in France?

At the end of 2024, 15,287 people from Somalia were under the protection of OFPRA, France's office for refugees and stateless people ([OFPRA, Rapport d'activité 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Of these, 5,752 held refugee status and 9,535 held subsidiary protection ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Women were 46.1% of the refugees and 32.2% of those with subsidiary protection ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).

UNHCR uses the same base. It counted 15,287 Somali refugees in France at the end of 2024, and 17,014 refugees plus 1,783 asylum seekers at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, France, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)).

These counts leave out Somalis who became French citizens, came by other routes, or were born in France. The 2006 French census counted 1,373 people born in Somalia ([France–Somalia relations, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## How did Somalis come to France?

France was not a main destination in the 1990s. UNHCR counted 530 Somali refugees in France in 1995 and 587 in 2005 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)). The number passed 1,000 in 2010 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)).

Growth then sped up. Somali refugees in France rose from 2,007 in 2015 to 5,774 in 2020 and 13,663 in 2023 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)). Most arrived overland or by sea through other European countries; see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## Who applies for asylum, and why?

In 2024, 2,036 people from Somalia made a first asylum application in France, 5.8% more than in 2023 ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Somalia was the 17th-largest nationality among applicants ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Women were 36.1% of applicants and minors 25%, and the average age was 30.8 ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).

Most applicants said they came from south-central Somalia, mainly Mogadishu, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) and [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Most gave refusal to work with or submit to [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) as their reason for leaving ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Others cited local conflicts, persecution as members of minority groups, or refusal to join forces fighting Al-Shabaab after 2022 ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).

Women often described refusing forced marriage, or refusing female genital cutting for their daughters ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). For the wider reasons people leave, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## How many get protection?

In 2024 OFPRA made 2,227 decisions on Somali applications and granted protection in 53.3% of them ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). It gave refugee status to 424 people and subsidiary protection to 760 ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). The asylum appeals court (CNDA) granted protection to another 492, for 1,676 in all ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).

Refugee status and subsidiary protection carry different papers and residence permits. See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Why do Somalis go to Mayotte?

Mayotte is a French department in the Indian Ocean, and asylum there is French asylum. In 2024 Somalis made 15% of first asylum applications in Mayotte, after people from Congo and the Comoros ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). Mayotte received 2,622 applications that year, 97% of all in France's Indian Ocean territories ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).

The sea route is dangerous. In November 2024 about 70 Somalis left Mombasa, Kenya, in fishing boats bound for Mayotte, more than 997 km away ([AP via Africanews, 26 December 2024](https://www.africanews.com/2024/12/26/somali-migrant-survives-sea-tragedy-vows-to-try-again-for-europe/)). The engines broke down, and 25 people died at sea off Madagascar before 48 were rescued ([AP via Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/2024/12/26/somali-migrant-survives-sea-tragedy-vows-to-try-again-for-europe/)).

Survivors said each paid smugglers US$6,500, after flying from Mogadishu to Nairobi and taking a bus to Mombasa ([AP via Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/2024/12/26/somali-migrant-survives-sea-tragedy-vows-to-try-again-for-europe/)). They were flown home in early December 2024 ([AP via Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/2024/12/26/somali-migrant-survives-sea-tragedy-vows-to-try-again-for-europe/)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in France?

French public bodies decide on protection and publish the numbers. OFPRA decides asylum claims and protects recognised refugees, and the CNDA hears appeals ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). OFPRA also sent officers to Mayotte in 2024 to interview applicants, including Somalis ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).

France and Somalia established relations soon after Somalia's independence, and Somalia has had an embassy in Paris ([France–Somalia relations, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## What do Somalis in France face now?

- **A young community:** a quarter of Somali applicants in 2024 were minors ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)). OFPRA also recorded 22 unaccompanied Somali children ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).
- **Mostly subsidiary protection:** nearly two of every three protected Somalis held subsidiary protection rather than refugee status at the end of 2024 ([OFPRA, 2024](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf)).
- **Waiting:** 1,783 Somali asylum seekers were waiting for a decision at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)).

## How are Somalis in France tied to home?

Most Somali refugees in France were recognised after 2015, when there were only 2,007 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For the full picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Italy (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/italy/)
- [Switzerland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/switzerland/)
- [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/)

## Sources

1. OFPRA (Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides). "Rapport d'activité 2024." June 2025. [ofpra.gouv.fr](https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2025-06/OFPRA_RA_2024_BD_PaP.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to France, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Associated Press, via Africanews. "Somali migrant survives sea tragedy, vows to try again for Europe." 26 December 2024. [africanews.com](https://www.africanews.com/2024/12/26/somali-migrant-survives-sea-tragedy-vows-to-try-again-for-europe/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Wikipedia. "France–Somalia relations." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Ireland (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/ireland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Ireland's 2022 census counted 2,419 people born in Somalia, 842 of them Irish citizens, and 2,150 people who spoke Somali at home. Numbers are rising fast: in 2025 Somalis made more asylum applications in Ireland than any other nationality, 2,021 of 13,162.

## How many Somalis live in Ireland?

Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) counted 2,419 people born in Somalia in the April 2022 census ([CSO, Census 2022, table F5014](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5014/CSV/1.0/en)). Of these, 842 were Irish citizens ([CSO, F5014](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5014/CSV/1.0/en)). The census also counted 1,185 people holding Somali citizenship ([CSO, Census 2022, table F5006](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5006/CSV/1.0/en)).

Language gives a wider view. 2,150 people spoke Somali at home in 2022, and 1,106 of them were Irish citizens ([CSO, Census 2022, table F5004](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5004/CSV/1.0/en)). That number grew from 1,192 in 2011 and 1,495 in 2016 ([CSO, table F5029](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5029/CSV/1.0/en)).

UNHCR counts by protection status. At the end of 2025 it recorded 3,281 Somali refugees and 2,264 Somali asylum seekers in Ireland ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Ireland, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE)). Many of them arrived after the 2022 census.

## Where in Ireland do Somalis live?

Most live in and around Dublin. In 2022, Dublin City had 347 Somali citizens, Fingal 183 and South Dublin 147 ([CSO, Census 2022, table F5001](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5001/CSV/1.0/en)). Outside Dublin, Cork City had 70 and Louth 68 ([CSO, F5001](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5001/CSV/1.0/en)).

Somali citizens in Ireland are young. In 2022, 641 of 1,185, or 54%, were aged 20 to 34 ([CSO, F5006](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5006/CSV/1.0/en)). Men outnumbered women, 672 to 513 ([CSO, F5006](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5006/CSV/1.0/en)).

## How did Somalis come to Ireland?

The first Somali refugees arrived in the early 1990s. UNHCR Ireland recorded a Somali teacher who arrived in 1991, stayed in a Red Cross hostel in Dublin and found no other Somalis in the country ([UNHCR Ireland, World Refugee Day archive](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20161003090824mp_/http://www.unhcr.ie/world-refugee-day/1990s-abdullah-dirir-hersi-from-somalia)). UNHCR counted 141 Somali refugees in Ireland in 1999 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE)).

Numbers stayed small for two decades. The count was 672 in 2007 and fell to 205 in 2018 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE)).

Ireland also resettled Somali families. Six Somali families came to Arklow, County Wicklow, under the state's refugee resettlement programme in 2013 ([Co. Wicklow Citizens Information Service and partners, Summary Report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)). Twenty more family members joined them through family reunification, most of them under 22 ([Wicklow report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)).

For the routes people took, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Why have numbers risen since 2022?

New asylum claims rose sharply. Somali refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland grew from 674 refugees and 1,637 asylum seekers in 2022 to 3,281 and 2,264 in 2025 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE)).

In 2025 Somalia was the top nationality for international protection applications in Ireland, with 2,021 of 13,162, or 15.4% ([IrishCentral, 15 January 2026, citing the International Protection Office](https://www.irishcentral.com/news/ireland-asylum-applications-2025)). Total applications fell by 29.1% from 2024, while the Somali share grew ([IrishCentral, 2026](https://www.irishcentral.com/news/ireland-asylum-applications-2025)).

For what each protection status means, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How do Somalis in Ireland get on with English and work?

Most Somali speakers in Ireland speak English well. In 2022, 849 of 2,150 Somali speakers said they spoke English very well and 623 well ([CSO, F5004](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5004/CSV/1.0/en)). 428 said not well and 118 not at all ([CSO, F5004](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5004/CSV/1.0/en)).

The Arklow study found that young people aged 12 to 24 struggled most to adapt to the Irish school system ([Wicklow report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)). Mothers worried about helping younger children with an unfamiliar curriculum ([Wicklow report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Ireland?

- **The [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Community of Ireland** was co-founded in 1997 as a network for people from Somaliland ([UNHCR Ireland, World Refugee Day archive](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20161003090824mp_/http://www.unhcr.ie/world-refugee-day/1990s-abdullah-dirir-hersi-from-somalia)).
- **County Wicklow services:** the Citizens Information Service in Arklow has worked closely with the town's Somali community since about 2014 ([Wicklow report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)).
- **Research:** a Trinity College Dublin study, "From Catastrophe to Marginalisation," examined the needs of Somali refugees in Ireland ([Moreo and Lentin, Trinity College Dublin](https://www.tara.tcd.ie/items/d18be9df-e0d2-4e0e-8ec1-7a2fda0bf3e9)).

## What do Somalis in Ireland face now?

- **Waiting for decisions:** 2,264 Somali asylum seekers were waiting at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE)).
- **Integration support:** the Arklow study found resettled families still needed significant support five years after arrival ([Wicklow report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)).
- **Language:** 546 Somali speakers in 2022 spoke English not well or not at all ([CSO, F5004](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5004/CSV/1.0/en)).

## How are Somalis in Ireland tied to home?

Family reunification brought relatives from the Horn of Africa to join resettled families ([Wicklow report, 2018](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For the full picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Applications, 2023:** Somalis made 1,098 international protection applications in Ireland in 2023, fourth by nationality, out of 13,277 in total ([Government of Ireland, International Protection in Numbers](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/collections/international-protection-in-numbers/)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [London (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/london/)
- [Somalis elsewhere in the UK](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)

## Sources

1. Central Statistics Office (CSO). Census of Population 2022, tables F5001, F5004, F5006, F5014 and F5029, via the PxStat API. [ws.cso.ie](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5014/CSV/1.0/en). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Ireland, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. IrishCentral (O'Shea, K.). "Ireland asylum applications 2025," citing the International Protection Office. 15 January 2026. [irishcentral.com](https://www.irishcentral.com/news/ireland-asylum-applications-2025). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Co. Wicklow Citizens Information Service, Wicklow LCDC and Wicklow CYPSC (Daly, S.). "Summary Report" on Somali refugee resettlement in Arklow. 2018. [wicklow.ie](https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Community/Social-Inclusion/WICKLOW%20COUNCIL%20SOMALIAN%20%20SUMMARY%20REPORT.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UNHCR Ireland. World Refugee Day, "1990s: Somalia." Archived page. [webarchive.archive.unhcr.org](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20161003090824mp_/http://www.unhcr.ie/world-refugee-day/1990s-abdullah-dirir-hersi-from-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Moreo, E. and Lentin, R. "From Catastrophe to Marginalisation: The Experiences of Somali Refugees in Ireland." Trinity College Dublin. [tara.tcd.ie](https://www.tara.tcd.ie/items/d18be9df-e0d2-4e0e-8ec1-7a2fda0bf3e9). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Government of Ireland. "International Protection in Numbers". https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/collections/international-protection-in-numbers/. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Italy (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/italy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 1 January 2025, 9,262 Somali citizens lived in Italy, most of them in Lazio and Sicily, by ISTAT's count. The UN counted 12,642 people born in Somalia there in 2024. The tie is old: Italy ruled southern Somalia and ran the UN trusteeship until 1960.

## How many Somalis live in Italy?

On 1 January 2025, 9,262 Somali citizens were resident in Italy, according to ISTAT data published by Tuttitalia ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT data, 2025](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)). Of these, 7,173 were men and 2,089 were women ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)). The number was 8,515 in 2020 and 9,406 in 2024 ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)).

Other counts differ by method:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 12,642 people born in Somalia lived in Italy ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). This includes Somalia-born people who are now Italian citizens.
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 6,486 refugees and 925 asylum seekers from Somalia were in Italy ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Italy, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ITA)).

Neither count includes Italian-born children of Somali parents who hold Italian citizenship.

## Where in Italy do Somalis live?

Lazio, the region around Rome, had the most Somali citizens in 2025, with 2,132 ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)). Sicily followed with 1,471, then Piedmont (1,116), Lombardy (1,042) and Emilia-Romagna (703) ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)).

Earlier counts by city put Rome first, then Turin and Florence ([Somali people in Italy, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people_in_Italy)). Sicily's high number reflects its role as a landing place for sea arrivals.

## Why is Italy tied to Somalia?

Italy ruled southern Somalia as a colony before the Second World War ([Fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/)). In 1950 a UN agreement returned the territory to Italian administration as a trust territory, with ten years to prepare for independence ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm); [UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV), 1949](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/289(IV))). On 1 July 1960 it joined former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)).

See [The UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/) for the full record.

## How did Somalis come to Italy?

The first wave was mostly women. In the 1960s and 1970s, women from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia looked to Italy because of the colonial past, and most worked as domestic workers ([Gissi, Modern Italy, 2024](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/D5C1D0E3F326FE2B8A79315807AB88FA/core-reader)). A 1979 to 1980 survey in Rome found these communities almost entirely female ([Gissi, 2024](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/D5C1D0E3F326FE2B8A79315807AB88FA/core-reader)).

A European Union agency also lists Somalia among the first countries that sent women domestic workers to Italy in the 1970s ([Eurofound, 2010](https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/resources/article/2010/migrant-women-workers-receive-less-pay-men)).

The war changed the numbers. UNHCR counted 716 Somali refugees in Italy in 1992 and 10,718 in 1993 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ITA)). The count stayed near 10,000 until 1997 and then fell sharply, as many moved on or changed status ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ITA)).

The Somali embassy on Via dei Villini in Rome closed in 1991 ([UNHCR](https://www.unhcr.org/node/12045)). From about 2000, new arrivals began sleeping in the empty building, and by 2004 UNHCR was asking Rome for other shelter for them ([UNHCR](https://www.unhcr.org/node/12045)).

## How do Somalis reach Italy by sea?

From 2008 the sea route grew. Somali refugees in Italy rose from 1,701 in 2007 to 5,251 in 2008, and peaked at 15,641 in 2017 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ITA)). Most crossed from Libya; see [Libya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/libya/) and [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

The crossings rose again in 2025. IOM data showed 5,435 Somalis reaching Europe from January to August 2025, three times the same months of 2024 ([Kaab TV, citing IOM DTM, 28 October 2025](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=15965)). Most went to Italy, leaving mainly from Libya and Tunisia ([Kaab TV, citing IOM DTM](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=15965)).

In 2026 Somalis were the second-largest group landing in Italy. By 7 September 2026, 2,457 of 20,622 sea arrivals, or 11.9%, said they were Somali ([UIL, citing the Interior Ministry dashboard, 7 September 2026](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf)). Only Bangladesh had more ([UIL, 2026](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf)).

## Do Somalis stay in Italy?

Many move on. A 2006 Swiss study found that Somali refugees saw Italy mainly as a transit point and rarely as a place to settle ([Swiss Forum for Migration Studies, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). Many travelled on by car or train to Switzerland and further north ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

Housing has been hard for those who stay. In 2017 Selam Palace, an occupied building in Rome, held 600 to 800 people, mostly Eritreans, Somalis and Ethiopians with international protection ([Open Migration, 13 December 2017](https://openmigration.org/en/analyses/where-is-my-home-a-journey-through-refugees-housing-occupations-in-rome/)). For protection status, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Italy?

Italian writers of Somali heritage are among the best-known public voices. They include the writers [Igiaba Scego](/en/books/adua-scego/) and [Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/) ([Somali people in Italy, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people_in_Italy)). Others include the singer [Saba Anglana](/en/people/saba-anglana/) and the former politician Dacia Valent ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people_in_Italy)).

## What do Somalis in Italy face now?

- **Fewer arrivals overall:** total sea arrivals to Italy by 7 September 2026 were less than half those of 2025, but Somali arrivals were a larger share ([UIL, 2026](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf)).
- **Deaths at sea:** deaths and missing persons in the Mediterranean rose in 2026 even as crossings fell ([UIL, 2026](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf)).
- **A mostly male community:** men outnumbered women more than three to one among Somali citizens in 2025 ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)).

## How are Somalis in Italy tied to home?

Language and history tie the two countries. Southern Somalia held its first territory-wide elections in 1956, under the Italian-run trusteeship ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Libya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/libya/)
- [Switzerland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/switzerland/)

## Sources

1. Tuttitalia. "Cittadini stranieri: Somalia," from ISTAT data at 1 January 2025. [tuttitalia.it](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Italy, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ITA). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Library of Congress. "Somalia: Trusteeship and Protectorate: The Road to Independence." Somalia: A Country Study. [countrystudies.us](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/14.htm). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UN General Assembly. Resolution 289 (IV), 21 November 1949. [undocs.org](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/289(IV)). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Gissi, A. "'Entirely white'? Female immigrants and domestic work in Italy (1960s–1970s)." Modern Italy 29(2), 2024. [cambridge.org](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/D5C1D0E3F326FE2B8A79315807AB88FA/core-reader). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Eurofound. "Migrant women workers receive less pay than men." 2010. [eurofound.europa.eu](https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/resources/article/2010/migrant-women-workers-receive-less-pay-men). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UNHCR. Report on the former Somali embassy in Rome. [unhcr.org](https://www.unhcr.org/node/12045). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Kaab TV. "Sharp Rise in Somali Migration to Europe, DTM Report Reveals." 28 October 2025. [en.kaabtv.com](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=15965). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UIL. "Sbarchi di migranti: il calo è europeo," citing the Interior Ministry's daily dashboard. 7 September 2026. [uil.it](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Moret, J., Baglioni, S. and Efionayi-Mäder, D. "The Path of Somali Refugees into Exile" and "Somali Refugees in Switzerland." SFM Studies 46 and 47, 2006. [unine.ch](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Open Migration (Camilli, E.). "Where is my home? A journey through refugees' housing occupations in Rome." 13 December 2017. [openmigration.org](https://openmigration.org/en/analyses/where-is-my-home-a-journey-through-refugees-housing-occupations-in-rome/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Wikipedia. "Somali people in Italy." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people_in_Italy). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Kansas City (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/kansas-city/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,200 Somali people in the Kansas City metro area, most in Kansas City, Missouri, while local estimates have run from 3,000 to 6,000. Somali refugees began arriving in 1992 and settled mainly in the city's Historic Northeast, and Missouri received the fourth-most Somali refugees of any state in 2025.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,249 Somali people in the Kansas City metro area, including 2,781 in Kansas City, Missouri ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2938000,05000US29095,16000US2036000,31000US28140,04000US29,04000US20)). Local estimates have ranged from 3,000 in 2003 to about 6,000 ([The Pitch, August 2003](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/); [Visit KC](https://visitkc.com/visitors/things-do/trip-ideas-tools/discover/diversity/african-community-kansas-city)).

## How many Somalis live in Kansas City?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 2,781 people of Somali race or origin in Kansas City, Missouri, plus or minus 1,079 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2938000,05000US29095,16000US2036000,31000US28140,04000US29,04000US20)). It counted 180 in Kansas City, Kansas, and 3,249 in the whole metro area ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2938000,05000US29095,16000US2036000,31000US28140,04000US29,04000US20)).

Statewide, the survey counted 4,237 Somali people in Missouri and 1,266 in Kansas ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2938000,05000US29095,16000US2036000,31000US28140,04000US29,04000US20)). In the metro area, 1,628 people gave Somali ancestry and 884 were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US28140); [ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=31000US28140)).

Local counts are higher and older. In 2003, the community's elected chairman said he served about 3,000 Somalis in Kansas City ([The Pitch, 2003](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)). The Kansas City Star put the figure at about 5,000 in 2008 ([Kansas City Star via Hiiraan Online, September 2008](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2008/Sept/7832/east_africa_refugees_find_welcoming_home_in_kc.aspx)). The city's visitor bureau now gives about 6,000 ([Visit KC](https://visitkc.com/visitors/things-do/trip-ideas-tools/discover/diversity/african-community-kansas-city)).

## How did Somalis come to Kansas City?

Somali refugees began arriving in Kansas City in 1992, after Somalia's government collapsed in January 1991 ([The Pitch, 2003](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)). Most had waited first in camps in Kenya and Ethiopia ([The Pitch](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)). The Don Bosco Nationalities Center housed early arrivals, enrolled them in support programmes and taught basic English ([The Pitch](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)).

By 2008, about 700 Somali families lived in Northeast Kansas City ([KCUR, June 2008](https://www.kcur.org/2008-06-23/somalis-adapt-to-life-in-kansas-city)). Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) resettled 842 Somali refugees in the ten years to 2008, including 112 in 2007 ([Kansas City Star via Hiiraan Online, 2008](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2008/Sept/7832/east_africa_refugees_find_welcoming_home_in_kc.aspx)).

A large group of Somali Bantu families came in the mid-2000s. JVS resettled about 330 refugees in one year, including many Somali Bantu, who had spent 10 to 15 years in camps ([Voice of America, 2005](https://voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-05-04-voa87-66384147/547997.html)). Many had no formal schooling in any language, which made learning English harder ([VOA](https://voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-05-04-voa87-66384147/547997.html)).

Arrivals continue. In federal fiscal year 2025, Missouri received 102 Somali refugees, the fourth-most of any state, and Kansas received 47 ([US Refugee Processing Center, FY2025](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)). In February 2017, a Somali family of nine landed at Kansas City International Airport a week late, held back by the travel order ([KCUR, February 2017](https://www.kcur.org/community/2017-02-09/somali-refugees-arrive-in-kansas-city-to-warm-welcome)). Dozens of residents met them with cheers and signs ([KCUR](https://www.kcur.org/community/2017-02-09/somali-refugees-arrive-in-kansas-city-to-warm-welcome)).

## Work and business

Early jobs were in airport car rental, warehouses, office cleaning and casinos ([The Pitch, 2003](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)). By 2003, Somali restaurants and halal markets clustered near Lexington and Brooklyn avenues ([The Pitch](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)). One shop owner there had run a store in Mogadishu before the war ([The Pitch](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)).

Today Somali restaurants and halal markets line Lexington and Independence avenues in the Historic Northeast ([Visit KC](https://visitkc.com/visitors/things-do/trip-ideas-tools/discover/diversity/african-community-kansas-city)). The Kansas City Star, citing RefugeKC and CDC data, reported that Somali is the city's third most spoken language ([Kansas City Star via Horseed Media, 2022](https://horseedmedia.net/?p=362534)).

Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Community voice in Kansas City comes mainly through mosques, associations and the agencies that resettle refugees.

- **Masjid Al-Huda Center**, 141 S Van Brunt Blvd, opened in 1994 and serves a mainly Somali congregation ([Visit KC, Muslim life](https://www.visitkc.com/articles/muslim-life-culture-in-kansas-city/)). The Star called it the city's largest and oldest Somali-majority community centre ([Kansas City Star via Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/?p=362534)).
- **Masjidu Nuur Islamic Community Center**, East 11th Street, hosts a mainly Somali Sufi congregation ([Visit KC, Muslim life](https://www.visitkc.com/articles/muslim-life-culture-in-kansas-city/)).
- **The Somali Foundation** was founded in 1999 to give social services to East African refugees ([KCUR, 2008](https://www.kcur.org/2008-06-23/somalis-adapt-to-life-in-kansas-city)).
- **The Somali Bantu Community Association of Greater Kansas City** is a registered non-profit ([ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/851343599)).
- **Della Lamb Community Services** and **JVS** resettle refugees and run English classes ([The Pitch, 2003](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/); [KCUR, March 2025](https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-03-21/kansas-city-refugee-resettlement-agencies-donations-federal-funding-cuts)).

Researchers and Somali Bantu women in Kansas City ran 42 health-education sessions together, with JVS interpreters ([Mulcahy et al., BMC Research Notes, 2019](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6757397)).

## What does the community face now?

**Resettlement cuts.** After federal refugee funding froze in early 2025, JVS laid off 12 staff and Della Lamb laid off 19 ([KCUR and The Beacon, March 2025](https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-03-21/kansas-city-refugee-resettlement-agencies-donations-federal-funding-cuts)). Both agencies said the government owed them close to $1 million each ([KCUR](https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-03-21/kansas-city-refugee-resettlement-agencies-donations-federal-funding-cuts)).

**A court case in western Kansas.** In April 2018, a federal jury convicted three men of plotting to bomb a Garden City apartment complex. More than 100 Somali Muslim immigrants lived there ([HPPR, January 2019](https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2019-01-25/kansas-men-sentenced-to-prison-in-garden-city-bomb-plot)). In January 2019 they were sentenced to 25 to 30 years ([HPPR](https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2019-01-25/kansas-men-sentenced-to-prison-in-garden-city-bomb-plot)).

Somali residents gave videotaped statements to the court about lasting fear, and Garden City's police chief asked for the strictest sentences ([HPPR](https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2019-01-25/kansas-men-sentenced-to-prison-in-garden-city-bomb-plot)). Close to 200 Somalis had left nearby Liberal, Kansas, many for Garden City ([KCUR, March 2018](https://www.kcur.org/2018-03-19/somali-immigrants-have-abandoned-kansas-town-after-bomb-plot)).

**Papers.** Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How is Kansas City tied to home?

In 2003, a Somali store near Lexington Avenue sold prepaid phone cards and cassettes alongside carpets and household goods ([The Pitch, 2003](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/)). Missouri ranks seventh among states for resettled Somali refugees, according to CDC and RefugeKC figures reported by the Star ([Kansas City Star via Horseed Media, 2022](https://horseedmedia.net/?p=362534)).

## What else has been reported?

- **Gun deaths:** Horseed Media reported that shootings killed at least 75 people between 2011 and 2019 in the neighbourhoods where the city's Somali community lives, citing the Kansas City Star ([Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/?p=362534)). The count covers all residents of those areas, not only Somalis.
- **December 2014:** a 15-year-old was struck and killed by a vehicle outside the Somali Center after leading evening prayers, and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation into a possible hate crime ([KCUR, 5 December 2014](https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-12-05/fbi-investigating-death-of-kansas-city-teenager-as-possible-hate-crime)).

## Related pages

- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Denver and Colorado](/en/diaspora/denver/)
- [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Kansas City MO and KS, Jackson County, Kansas City metro, Missouri and Kansas, via Census Reporter. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2938000,05000US29095,16000US2036000,31000US28140,04000US29,04000US20). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. US Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Kendrick Blackwood, The Pitch. "Out of Africa." 28 August 2003. [thepitchkc.com](https://www.thepitchkc.com/out-of-africa-2/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Susan Wilson, KCUR. "Somalis adapt to life in Kansas City." 23 June 2008. [kcur.org](https://www.kcur.org/2008-06-23/somalis-adapt-to-life-in-kansas-city). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Kansas City Star (republished by [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/)). "East Africa refugees find welcoming home in KC." September 2008. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2008/Sept/7832/east_africa_refugees_find_welcoming_home_in_kc.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Voice of America. Report on Somali Bantu refugees resettled by Jewish Vocational Service in Kansas City. 2005. [voanews.com](https://voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-05-04-voa87-66384147/547997.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Visit KC. "African community in Kansas City." [visitkc.com](https://visitkc.com/visitors/things-do/trip-ideas-tools/discover/diversity/african-community-kansas-city). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Farooq Ahmed, Visit KC. "Muslim life and culture in Kansas City." [visitkc.com](https://www.visitkc.com/articles/muslim-life-culture-in-kansas-city/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Kansas City Star (republished by Horseed Media). Report on Kansas City's Somali community. Posted 28 February 2022. [horseedmedia.net](https://horseedmedia.net/?p=362534). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. KCUR. "Somali refugees arrive in Kansas City to warm welcome." 9 February 2017. [kcur.org](https://www.kcur.org/community/2017-02-09/somali-refugees-arrive-in-kansas-city-to-warm-welcome). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Suzanne King, The Beacon (via KCUR). "Kansas City's struggling refugee resettlement agencies turn to the public for help after federal cuts." 21 March 2025. [kcur.org](https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-03-21/kansas-city-refugee-resettlement-agencies-donations-federal-funding-cuts). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. "Somali Bantu Community Association of Greater KC." [propublica.org](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/851343599). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Mulcahy ER, Buchheit C, Max E, Hawley SR, James AS. "Collaborative health education for Somali Bantu refugee women in Kansas City." BMC Research Notes 12:616, 2019. [PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6757397). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. High Plains Public Radio. "Kansas men sentenced to prison in Garden City bomb plot." 25 January 2019. [hppr.org](https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2019-01-25/kansas-men-sentenced-to-prison-in-garden-city-bomb-plot). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Frank Morris, KCUR/NPR. "Somali immigrants have abandoned Kansas town after bomb plot." 19 March 2018. [kcur.org](https://www.kcur.org/2018-03-19/somali-immigrants-have-abandoned-kansas-town-after-bomb-plot). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Horseed Media. Report on Kansas City Somali community. https://horseedmedia.net/?p=362534. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. KCUR. "FBI investigating death of Kansas City teenager as possible hate crime". 5 Dec 2014. https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-12-05/fbi-investigating-death-of-kansas-city-teenager-as-possible-hate-crime. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Kuwait (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/kuwait/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kuwait does not publish a count of Somali residents; its civil register groups them among 39,015 Africans counted at the end of 2021. UNHCR counted 115 Somali refugees and 332 Somali asylum seekers in Kuwait at the end of 2025, down from about 2,000 refugees recorded in 1993 and 1994.

## How many Somalis live in Kuwait?

Kuwait's Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) publishes residents by broad nationality group, not by country. At the end of 2021 it counted 39,015 Africans, of whom 73.8% were women, as compiled by the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration programme ([GLMM, from PACI, 2021](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/kuwait-population-by-nationality-group-and-sex-2021/)). Somalis are counted inside that group (same source).

UNHCR counts only refugees and asylum seekers. At the end of 2025 it recorded 115 Somali refugees and 332 Somali asylum seekers in Kuwait ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Kuwait](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)).

Kuwait is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to the UN treaty register ([UN Treaty Collection](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en)).

## How has the UNHCR count changed since the 1980s?

UNHCR's yearly figures for Somalis in Kuwait ([UNHCR API, Somalia to Kuwait, 1975 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)):

- **1984 and 1985:** 100 and 150 refugees.
- **1993 and 1994:** 2,000 refugees each year.
- **1995 and 1996:** 68 and 65 refugees.
- **1997 to 2005:** between 69 and 162 refugees a year, plus 2,000 people listed as "others of concern".
- **2007 and 2008:** 2,000 refugees each year.
- **2014:** 94 refugees and 557 asylum seekers, the highest asylum-seeker figure.
- **2016:** 421 refugees, the highest refugee figure since 2008.
- **2025:** 115 refugees and 332 asylum seekers.

UNHCR also recorded 66 Somali refugees returning home from Kuwait in 1994 to 1996 ([UNHCR solutions API, Kuwait](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)).

## How long have Somalis lived in Kuwait?

In a February 2013 interview, Somalia's long-serving ambassador called Somalis one of the oldest expatriate communities in Kuwait ([Times Kuwait, 17 February 2013](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future)). He said some had lived there for over fifty years, and that a once sizeable community had dwindled (same source). He added that Somali children could enrol in Kuwaiti schools and colleges.

For the wider history of work migration to the Gulf, see [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/) and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/).

## What happened to Somalis in the 1990–91 Gulf war?

Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. After Iraqi forces left in February 1991, Kuwaiti forces and armed civilians arrested people they suspected of collaborating with Iraq, according to Amnesty International ([Amnesty International, MDE 17/002/1992, 1 October 1992](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE17/002/1992/en/)). Amnesty said the victims were mainly non-Kuwaitis, and listed Somalis among them with Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Sudanese, Yemenis and stateless Bidun (same source).

Martial law ran until 26 June 1991, Amnesty reported (same source). Middle East Watch estimated that more than 6,000 people were detained between 27 February and the end of November 1991 ([Human Rights Watch World Report 1992, Kuwait](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2.htm)). It said more than 1,500 residents were deported from March to August, and thousands more after that (same source).

Neither report gives a separate figure for Somalis. UNHCR's count of 2,000 Somali refugees in Kuwait appears in 1993 and 1994 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)). For what was happening in Somalia at the same time, see [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/).

## How has Kuwait funded projects in Somalia?

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has worked in Somalia since 1975, the Somali ambassador said in 2013 ([Times Kuwait, 2013](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future)).

- **Before 1991:** four loans worth KD 28.8 million (US$98.1 million) for electricity and farming, plus two technical loans, said the Kuwait News Agency ([Hiiraan Online, citing KUNA, October 2013](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Oct/41525/kuwait_to_give_usd_10_mln_in_loans_to_somalia.aspx)).
- **October 2013:** new loans of US$10 million for Garowe airport and [Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) University (same source).
- **2011:** Kuwait airlifted food aid during the drought and famine, the ambassador said ([Times Kuwait, 2013](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future)).
- **April 2022:** the Fund and Somalia's federal government signed a debt-relief agreement under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative ([Kuwait Times, 26 April 2022](https://kuwaittimes.com/kfaed-inks-deal-with-somalia-relating-to-debt-burdened-countries)). The paper said it restored relations disrupted for close to thirty years (same source).

## Who represents Somalia in Kuwait?

Somalia keeps an embassy in Kuwait City. On 9 October 2024 Ambassador Dr. Abdullahi Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdullahi presented his credentials to the Amir, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, at Bayan Palace ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 October 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-kuwait-presents-credentials-to-the-emir-of-kuwait/)).

Kuwait does not appear among the 45 countries from which Somali migrant returnees came in 2020 to 2024, in the national statistics bureau's list ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).

Money also flows home from the Gulf. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, by the central bank's count, which does not break the total down by country ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [Qatar (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/qatar/)
- [UAE (Dubai)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Oman (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/oman/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Gulf Labour Markets and Migration (GLMM). "Kuwait: Population by nationality group and sex (2021)", from PACI. [gulfmigration.grc.net](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/kuwait-population-by-nationality-group-and-sex-2021/). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Kuwait, 1975 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (returns), Somalia from Kuwait, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. United Nations Treaty Collection. "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees", status of participants. [treaties.un.org](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Times Kuwait. "Somalia – Optimistic about the future" (interview with the Somali ambassador). 17 February 2013. [timeskuwait.com](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Amnesty International. "Kuwait: Cases of 'disappearance', incommunicado detention, torture and extrajudicial execution under Martial Law." MDE 17/002/1992, 1 October 1992. [amnesty.org](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE17/002/1992/en/). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Human Rights Watch (Middle East Watch). World Report 1992, Kuwait chapter. [hrw.org](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), citing Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). "Kuwait to give USD 10 mln in loans to Somalia." October 2013. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Oct/41525/kuwait_to_give_usd_10_mln_in_loans_to_somalia.aspx). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Kuwait Times. "KFAED inks deal with Somalia relating to debt-burdened countries." 26 April 2022. [kuwaittimes.com](https://kuwaittimes.com/kfaed-inks-deal-with-somalia-relating-to-debt-burdened-countries). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Somalia's new ambassador to Kuwait presents credentials to the Emir of Kuwait." 9 October 2024. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-kuwait-presents-credentials-to-the-emir-of-kuwait/). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report", second edition, 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Leicester (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/leicester/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Leicester's Somali community grew mostly after 2000, when thousands of Somalis with Dutch, Danish and Swedish citizenship moved on to the city. Census 2021 counted 6,849 residents who wrote Somali or Somalilander, 1.9% of the city, and 3,394 born in Somalia.

Leicester's Somali community is mostly twice-migrant: people who found refuge in mainland Europe, became citizens, then moved to Leicester after 2000 ([Open Society Foundations, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)). Census 2021 counted 6,849 residents who wrote "Somali" or "Somalilander" ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

## How many Somalis live in Leicester?

The census gives several counts:

- **Somali or Somalilander write-ins:** 6,849, or 1.9% of 368,557 residents ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Only 329 wrote "Somalilander" (same table).
- **ONS share:** Leicester holds 3.8% of the 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Born in Somalia:** 3,394 in 2021 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)), up from 872 in 2001 and 3,209 in 2011 ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)).
- **Main language Somali:** 2,408 in 2021 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E06000016&measures=20100)), against 3,331 in 2011 ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)).

The country-of-birth count misses people born in the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden. Local estimates have long been higher: 10,000 to 15,000 in 2014 ([OSF summary, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).

## Where in Leicester do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, Somali and Somalilander together ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E06000016TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Wycliffe** (St Matthew's and Highfields): 1,540
- **Beaumont Leys:** 809
- **Saffron:** 638
- **Stoneygate:** 611
- **North Evington:** 479
- **Abbey:** 438

In 2011, two small areas near St Matthew's were 18.6% and 16.7% Somali by main language ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)). Growth from 2001 to 2011 was fastest in Charnwood (373%) and Beaumont Leys (310%) (same report).

## How did Somalis come to Leicester?

**From mainland Europe, after 2000.** Most Somalis in Denmark arrived as refugees in the early 1990s. After 10 to 12 years, many became Danish citizens ([Nielsen, Sussex Migration Working Paper 22, 2004](https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/sussex-centre-for-migration-research/documents/mwp22.pdf)). As EU citizens they could then live in any member state (same paper). In the 2000s, people from [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/) built a community around St Matthew's, with shops and places of worship ([Story of Leicester, Leicester City Council](https://storyofleicester.info/city-stories/a-city-of-diversity)). See [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/), [Denmark](/en/diaspora/denmark/) and [Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

**How many moved.** No official count exists, because they arrived as Dutch, Danish or Swedish citizens ([Nielsen, 2004](https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/sussex-centre-for-migration-research/documents/mwp22.pdf)). Estimates differ:

- **Netherlands to the UK:** about 10,000, one third of Dutch Somalis, according to an EU-funded study ([CORDIS, Secondary Movements of Somalis within Europe, 2010](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting)). Dutch officials put it at 10,000 to 20,000 ([Lindley and Van Hear, COMPAS, 2007](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/WP-2007-057-Lindley-VanHear_Onward_Migration_Refugees_EU.pdf)).
- **Denmark to the UK:** an Aarhus adviser estimated 300 to 400 from that city in one to two years ([Nielsen, 2004](https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/sussex-centre-for-migration-research/documents/mwp22.pdf)).
- **Into Leicester:** in 2001 to 2004, about 10,000 Dutch Somalis moved to Leicester, the city council told Parliament, as cited by [COMPAS, 2007](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/WP-2007-057-Lindley-VanHear_Onward_Migration_Refugees_EU.pdf).

In 2013, 127 people took part in Leicester focus groups. Of them, 56 had lived in the Netherlands, 7 in Denmark, 6 in Finland, 5 in Sweden and 4 in Norway ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)). Only 13 came directly from Somalia, and most arrived in 2000 to 2005 (same report).

**Why they moved.** A 2011 study drew on 33 interviews with Dutch [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/) and Leicester ([Van Liempt, Population, Space and Place, 2011](https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.605)). People cited easier work and business, open higher education, English, a large Somali community and family already in Britain ([CORDIS, 2010](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting)). Some felt Dutch policy had shifted from integration to assimilation (same study). Some say Dutch Somalis tended to choose Leicester and Scandinavian Somalis Birmingham ([COMPAS, 2007](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/WP-2007-057-Lindley-VanHear_Onward_Migration_Refugees_EU.pdf)).

**How the UK responded.** In July 2002 Leicester's MP asked about Dutch Somalis settling in the UK ([Hansard, HC Deb 1 July 2002](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2002/jul/01/dutch-somalians)). The minister said rising numbers were seeking council support, and the asylum bill was amended to limit it (same answer). Leicester City Council ran a "New Arrivals Strategy" ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)).

## Do Somalis in Leicester have work?

No city-level Somali employment rate has been published. Focus groups named unrecognised qualifications, language and discrimination as barriers ([OSF summary, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)). Self-employment appeared high (same report).

Somali businesses grew fast: 36 opened in the two years to 2004 ([COMPAS, 2007](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/WP-2007-057-Lindley-VanHear_Onward_Migration_Refugees_EU.pdf)). By 2014 they included restaurants, clothing, internet cafés, furniture stores, remittance offices and groceries ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)). The report also noted many small businesses run by Somali women (same report).

Schools show the clearest gains. Somali pupils getting five good GCSEs rose from 26.6% in 2008 to 45.3% in 2012, near the city's 51.8% ([OSF summary, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)). There were 2,076 Somali pupils in city schools in 2013 (same report).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Leicester?

- **Somali Community Parents Association (SOCOPA)** (charity 1152565) runs study support, English classes and a job club ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5037812/full-print)). Its income was £167,469 in the year to March 2025 (same record).
- **Somali Development Services** gives advice on education, housing, work and benefits ([OSF, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf)). It has hosted Dutch, Danish and Swedish delegations (same report).
- **Mosques:** six Somali mosques in 2014, four in St Matthew's and two in Highfields ([OSF summary, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).

In 2014 the city had no Somali councillors, and many eligible Somalis were not registered to vote ([OSF summary, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)). Turnout among Somalis rose in the 2011 council election after community voter drives (same report).

## What do Somalis in Leicester face now?

- **Housing (2014, latest found):** the most urgent concern, with small, crowded homes and slow repairs ([OSF summary, 2014](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf)).
- **Health:** focus groups reported language barriers and poor experiences with GP services; some said care was better in other EU countries (same report).
- **Everywhere in England and Wales, 2021:** 58.8% of Somali households were overcrowded, against 8.4% overall ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## How is Leicester tied to home?

Ties run in a triangle: to Somalia, to the European country people left, and to Leicester ([CORDIS, 2010](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting)). Somalis moving on from mainland Europe often linked better UK earnings to supporting relatives in Somalia ([COMPAS, 2007](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/WP-2007-057-Lindley-VanHear_Onward_Migration_Refugees_EU.pdf)). For money sent home, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Council estimates:** a Leicester City Council cabinet paper estimated 6,000 to 10,000 Somalis in the city, "from a position of none in 1999" ([Leicester City Council, "The city's case for proper funding for its population"](https://cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/documents/s11018/THE%20CITYS%20CASE%20FOR%20PROPER%20FUNDING%20FOR%20ITS%20POPULATION.pdf)). Separately, a study of Dutch Somalis in London and Leicester estimates that 10,000 to 20,000 Somalis left the Netherlands for the UK after 2000 ([CORDIS, Secondary movements of Somalis within Europe](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting)).
- **Aarhus:** the Washington Times reported in January 2005 on Somalis moving from Denmark to Britain; a figure of 4,000 from Aarhus is attributed to it ([Washington Times, 5 January 2005](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jan/5/20050105-094454-3064r/)).

## Related pages

- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Denmark (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/denmark/)
- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Birmingham (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/birmingham/)
- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)

## Sources

1. Open Society Foundations. "Somalis in Leicester." At Home in Europe, 17 September 2014. [Full report](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-20140917_0.pdf) · [Summary](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/somalis-leicester-summary-20140917_0.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities and Leicester wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100) · [wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E06000016TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth: Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS024, Main language (detailed), Leicester. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E06000016&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Nielsen, K. B. "Next Stop Britain: The Influence of Transnational Networks on the Secondary Movement of Danish Somalis." Sussex Migration Working Paper 22, University of Sussex, March 2004. [sussex.ac.uk](https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/sussex-centre-for-migration-research/documents/mwp22.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Lindley, A. and Van Hear, N. "New Europeans on the Move: A preliminary review of the onward migration of refugees within the European Union." COMPAS Working Paper 57, University of Oxford, 2007. [compas.ox.ac.uk](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/WP-2007-057-Lindley-VanHear_Onward_Migration_Refugees_EU.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. European Commission, CORDIS. "Secondary movements of Somalis within Europe" (FP7 project 219485), final report summary, 2010. [cordis.europa.eu](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Van Liempt, I. "'And then one day they all moved to Leicester': the relocation of Somalis from the Netherlands to the UK explained." Population, Space and Place 17(3), 2011. [doi.org/10.1002/psp.605](https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.605). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Dutch Somalians," HC Deb 1 July 2002 vol 388 c184W. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2002/jul/01/dutch-somalians). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Somali Community Parents Association (SOCOPA), charity 1152565. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5037812/full-print). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Story of Leicester (Leicester City Council). "A city of diversity." [storyofleicester.info](https://storyofleicester.info/city-stories/a-city-of-diversity). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Leicester City Council. "The city's case for proper funding for its population". c. 2007. https://cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/documents/s11018/THE%20CITYS%20CASE%20FOR%20PROPER%20FUNDING%20FOR%20ITS%20POPULATION.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. CORDIS (European Commission). "Secondary movements of Somalis within Europe", final report summary. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Washington Times. 5 Jan 2005. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jan/5/20050105-094454-3064r/. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Lewiston and Portland, Maine (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,100 Somali people in Maine, most in Lewiston and around Portland. Local estimates are higher, and Somalis began arriving in Lewiston in 2001; in 2022 Lewiston and South Portland voters sent Maine's first Somali American lawmakers to the State House.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,111 Somali people in Maine, mostly in Lewiston and the Portland area ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US23)). Somali families began settling in Lewiston in 2001, and local estimates of the community run from 3,000 to 6,000 ([Press Herald, March 2026](https://www.pressherald.com/?p=7613335); [CNN via KTVZ, 2021](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)).

## How many Somalis live in Maine?

By the 2020–2024 American Community Survey (ACS), Maine had 3,111 people who named Somali as a race group, 2,617 by Somali ancestry and 1,420 born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US23); [B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=04000US23); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=04000US23)). Maine ranks 14th among US states by the race count ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)).

The city of Lewiston had 1,742 by race and 1,205 by ancestry ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Lewiston](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2338740); [B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=16000US2338740)). Cumberland County, which holds Portland and South Portland, had 1,168 by race and 985 people born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Cumberland County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US23005); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=05000US23005)). These small counts carry wide margins of error ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2338740)).

Local estimates are higher. In 2011, Lewiston officials estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Somalis, and a community leader estimated about 6,000 ([Bangor Daily News, December 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). In 2021, CNN reported about 6,000 Somalis in all of Maine ([CNN via KTVZ](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)). WBUR put Lewiston's community at about 3,000 in 2026 ([WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)).

## How did Somalis come to Maine?

Somali refugees first reached Portland in the 1990s ([Press Herald, March 2026](https://www.pressherald.com/?p=7613335)). By 2000 Portland faced a housing shortage, and the two cities worked to move 30 to 40 families from Portland's shelters and hotels to Lewiston ([Press Herald](https://www.pressherald.com/?p=7613335)).

The first wave reached Lewiston in February 2001 ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, January 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)). The community grew from about 400 at the end of 2001 to about 1,000 by June 2002 ([Press Herald, 2026](https://www.pressherald.com/?p=7613335); [Bangor Daily News, 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)).

Almost all were second movers. They came from about 100 cities in 35 states, many from the Atlanta area ([Bangor Daily News, 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). Families said they chose Lewiston for quieter streets, less crime and lower costs ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)).

**The 2002 letter and the reply.** In October 2002, Lewiston's mayor wrote an open letter asking Somalis to discourage relatives from moving to the city ([Bangor Daily News, 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). A white-supremacist rally drew about 40 people ([Bangor Daily News](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). The "Many and One" counter-rally at Bates College drew more than 4,000 people, by one count, and about 5,000 inside with 1,700 more outside, by another ([Bangor Daily News](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/); [Press Herald, 2026](https://www.pressherald.com/?p=7613335)).

Arrivals continue at a small scale. In the 2025 fiscal year, 50 refugees from Somalia were placed in Maine ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

By late 2002, about half of Somali adults in Lewiston had jobs, a rate that stayed fairly steady over the decade ([Bangor Daily News, 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). Employers that often hired Somalis included L.L.Bean, local hospitals, Goodwill and a Walmart distribution centre ([Bangor Daily News](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)).

By 2011, Somali-owned shops filled a block of Lisbon Street, Lewiston's old downtown ([Bangor Daily News](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). One shop there grew to offer interpreting, tax preparation and a hawala money-transfer service ([Bangor Daily News](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). Lisbon Street is still the city's immigrant shopping street, with halal markets and shops ([WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)).

Schools changed too. Students learning English rose from a handful in 2001 to 28.4% of Lewiston's pupils in 2017 ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)). Lewiston High School's soccer team, with many Somali players, had won two state titles by 2018 ([Sun Journal via Press Herald](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Mana Abdi won Lewiston's House District 95 in November 2022, the first Somali American elected to the Maine Legislature ([Bangor Daily News, November 2022](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2022/11/08/politics/mana-abdi-election/)). Deqa Dhalac of South Portland and Yusuf Yusuf of Portland also serve in the Maine House ([Maine Morning Star via Yahoo News, December 2025](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/maine-somali-legislators-speak-trump-142647588.html)).

Dhalac joined South Portland's city council in 2018 and became mayor in December 2021 ([CNN via KTVZ, December 2021](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)). She was believed to be the first Somali American mayor in the United States ([CNN via KTVZ](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/)). In December 2025 she said she would not seek re-election, citing harassment ([Maine Morning Star via Yahoo News](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/maine-somali-legislators-speak-trump-142647588.html)).

In Lewiston, ZamZam Mohamud won a school committee seat in 2014 ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)). Safiya Khalid won the Ward 1 city council seat in November 2019, at 23, with 69.6% of the vote ([Bangor Daily News, November 2019](https://bangordailynews.com/2019/11/05/politics/safiya-khalid-becomes-first-somali-american-elected-to-lewiston-city-council/)).

Community groups include the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, which began as United Somali Women of Maine ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)). Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services began as the Somali Bantu Association of Maine ([Sun Journal via Press Herald](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)). Ifka Community Services and the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project in Portland work with families today ([WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)).

## What does the community face now?

**Harsh words and a reply.** On 4 December 2025, Maine's three Somali American lawmakers wrote an open letter calling the president's remarks about Somalis "dehumanizing" ([Maine Morning Star via Yahoo News](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/maine-somali-legislators-speak-trump-142647588.html)). Governor Janet Mills said the president was "demeaning the very idea and spirit of America" ([Maine Morning Star via Yahoo News](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/maine-somali-legislators-speak-trump-142647588.html)).

**Raids in Maine.** Federal immigration agents arrested more than 200 people in Maine in an operation that ICE dated 20 to 24 January 2026 ([WBUR, January 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)). Lawyers and families said many of those held were asylum seekers without criminal records ([WBUR](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)). Lisbon Street went quiet, while neighbours drove children to school and delivered groceries; more than 1,000 people rallied ([WBUR](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

## How is Maine tied to home?

Lewiston's hawala counters connect families in Maine with relatives in Somalia ([Bangor Daily News, 2011](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/)). The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

Many of Lewiston's families came through camps in Kenya before reaching the United States ([Sun Journal via Press Herald, 2018](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Maine, Lewiston, Cumberland County and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US23). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Joe Charpentier, Jamie Shelton and Josie Rothman, Portland Press Herald. "25 years later, Lewiston's Somali residents help shape the city's identity." 26 March 2026. [pressherald.com](https://www.pressherald.com/?p=7613335). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. CNN via KTVZ. "A Maine city that's 90% White now has a Somali mayor." 7 December 2021. [ktvz.com](https://ktvz.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/12/07/a-maine-city-thats-90-white-now-has-a-somali-mayor/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Bangor Daily News. "Struggle and progress: 10 years of Somalis in Lewiston." 18 December 2011. [bangordailynews.com](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/18/news/struggle-and-progess-10-years-of-somalis-in-lewiston/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. WBUR. Report on the immigration enforcement surge in Maine and Lewiston's Somali community. 30 January 2026. [wbur.org](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/30/ice-surge-maine-immigration-somali-community-lewiston-fear). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Bonnie Washuk, Sun Journal (via Portland Press Herald). "Lewiston makes strides towards embracing its immigrant population." 14 January 2018. [pressherald.com](https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/14/lewiston-embraces-its-immigrant-population/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Bangor Daily News. Mana Abdi elected to Maine House District 95. 8 November 2022. [bangordailynews.com](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2022/11/08/politics/mana-abdi-election/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Lauren McCauley, Maine Morning Star (via Yahoo News). "Maine's Somali legislators speak out after Trump's latest attacks." 5 December 2025. [yahoo.com](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/maine-somali-legislators-speak-trump-142647588.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Bangor Daily News. "Safiya Khalid becomes first Somali American elected to Lewiston City Council." 5 November 2019. [bangordailynews.com](https://bangordailynews.com/2019/11/05/politics/safiya-khalid-becomes-first-somali-american-elected-to-lewiston-city-council/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Libya (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/libya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Libya is mainly a transit country for Somalis heading to Europe, not a place to settle. IOM counted more than 1,400 Somali migrants stranded there in April 2025, and UNHCR had 778 Somali asylum seekers registered at the end of 2025. The UN's 2024 birthplace estimate is far higher, at 117,956.

## How many Somalis are in Libya?

Nobody has a firm count, and the main sources differ widely. Each measures something different:

- **IOM, April 2025:** more than 1,400 Somali migrants were stranded in Libya, according to IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix ([Dawan, November 2025, citing IOM](https://dawan.africa/news/over-100-somali-migrants-repatriated-from-libya)). An EU release cited more than 1,500 in July 2024 ([EU Delegation to Somalia, citing IOM DTM](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/somalia/over-160-somali-migrants-assisted-return-home-libya_en)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 778 asylum seekers from Somalia were registered, and no recognised refugees ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Libya, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=LBY)).
- **UN DESA, 2024:** 117,956 people born in Somalia lived in Libya, the fifth-largest figure in its table ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).

The UN DESA figure is a model estimate, not a headcount. The IOM and UNHCR numbers count only people they have reached or registered. For how these counts work, see [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

All migrants together are many more. IOM identified 928,839 migrants of all nationalities in Libya from August to October 2025, mostly from [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Egypt, Niger and Chad ([Libya Herald, January 2026, citing IOM DTM Round 59](https://www.libyaherald.com/2026/01/iom-reports-928839-migrants-identified-across-libya-in-2025)).

## How long have Somalis been in Libya?

Somalis have been in Libya since the early years of the war. UNHCR counted 804 Somali refugees there in 1993 and 3,350 in 1996 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=LBY)). The number stayed near 2,900 until 2005, then fell to 488 in 2006 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=LBY)).

Even then, many did not stay. A 2006 study found Somalis who had lived in Libya reporting little UNHCR protection, abuse by employers and public racism ([Swiss Forum for Migration Studies, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)). Many moved on to Egypt in search of protection and resettlement ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf)).

## Why do Somalis go through Libya?

Libya is the main launch point for the Central Mediterranean crossing to Italy. From January to August 2025, IOM recorded 5,435 Somalis reaching Europe, three times as many as a year earlier ([Kaab TV, 28 October 2025, citing IOM DTM](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=15965)). Most went to Italy, leaving mainly from Libya and Tunisia ([Kaab TV, citing IOM DTM](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=15965)).

By 7 September 2026, Somalis were the second-largest group landing in Italy, with 2,457 arrivals ([UIL, citing Italy's Interior Ministry, 7 September 2026](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf)). For the full route, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Italy (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## What protection exists in Libya?

Very little. Libya is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no national law on refugee protection ([UNHCR, Libya Annual Results Report 2024](https://www.unhcr.org/us/sites/en-us/files/2025-06/Libya%20ARR%202024_48.pdf)). It is a party to the 1969 African refugee convention ([UNHCR, 2024](https://www.unhcr.org/us/sites/en-us/files/2025-06/Libya%20ARR%202024_48.pdf)).

UNHCR can register people from only nine nationalities in Libya, and Somalis are one of them ([UNHCR, Libya country page](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/lby)). In 2025 it worked without a formal agreement with Libya, so registered refugees had no formal protection from arbitrary detention ([UNHCR, Libya Annual Results Report 2025](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2026-06/unhcr-annual-results-report-2025-libya.pdf)).

For what refugee papers mean in each country, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What happens to Somalis held in Libya?

Many Somalis have been held by smuggling and trafficking groups. In 2018, Somalis flown home from Libya described the town of Kufra as a place where smugglers held people for years ([VOA, 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-migrants-returning-libya-tell-abuse-horror/4259510.html)). That year more than 100 East African migrants escaped a camp at Bani Walid, where MSF said kidnapping for ransom was a thriving business ([Garowe Online, 2018](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/world/africa/somali-migrants-escape-from-libya-trafficking-camp)).

Human Rights Watch recorded a Somali refugee's account of forced labour and confinement after being held near Bani Walid ([HRW, 21 December 2019](https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/21/lost-libya-refugees-story-captivity-and-escape)). In October 2024 a Somali activist reported that at least three Somali migrants had died in traffickers' sites in Libya since September ([AllAfrica, 23 October 2024](https://allafrica.com/stories/202410230351.html)). No court has yet ruled on these deaths.

## Who brings Somalis home from Libya?

Somalia's government and IOM run return flights. About 557 Somali migrants had been helped to return from Libya in 2025 by late November ([Dawan, citing IOM, November 2025](https://dawan.africa/news/over-100-somali-migrants-repatriated-from-libya)).

Somalia's own records show 410 migrants returning from Libya between 2020 and 2023, the third-largest number after Saudi Arabia and Yemen ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Another 188 returned as refugees in the same years, 102 of them in 2022 ([Somalia NBS, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).

The returnee data come from the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Migration, Returns and Children's Rights ([Somalia NBS, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).

## Can Somalis leave Libya safely another way?

A few can. Since September 2019, Rwanda, UNHCR and the African Union have run an Emergency Transit Mechanism for refugees evacuated from Libya ([KT Press, September 2026](https://www.ktpress.rw/2026/09/rwanda-has-received-more-than-3000-asylum-seekers-evacuated-from-libya-since-2019/)). More than 3,000 people had been flown to Rwanda by September 2026 ([KT Press, 2026](https://www.ktpress.rw/2026/09/rwanda-has-received-more-than-3000-asylum-seekers-evacuated-from-libya-since-2019/)).

The evacuees are mainly Eritrean, Somali, Sudanese, Ethiopian and South Sudanese ([Monitor](https://monitor.co.ug/africa/news/rwanda-african-union-and-unhcr-to-help-libyan-asylum-seekers-4760586)).

## What do Somalis in Libya face now?

- **No legal status:** without a refugee law, most Somalis in Libya are treated as irregular migrants ([UNHCR, 2024](https://www.unhcr.org/us/sites/en-us/files/2025-06/Libya%20ARR%202024_48.pdf)).
- **Detention:** IOM has reported about 5,000 migrants of all nationalities in official detention centres ([AllAfrica, 2024](https://allafrica.com/stories/202410230351.html)).
- **The sea:** deaths and missing persons in the Mediterranean rose in 2026, even as crossings to Italy fell ([UIL, 2026](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf)).

## How are Somalis in Libya tied to home?

Families at home are drawn in too. In 2024, families of Somali migrants held in Libya were contacted by kidnapping groups based in Bani Walid ([AllAfrica, 2024](https://allafrica.com/stories/202410230351.html)). For why young people take this road, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/) and [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Italy (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/italy/)
- [Egypt (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/egypt/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)

## Sources

1. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "Over 100 Somali migrants repatriated from Libya," citing IOM. November 2025. [dawan.africa](https://dawan.africa/news/over-100-somali-migrants-repatriated-from-libya). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. EU Delegation to Somalia. "Over 160 Somali migrants assisted to return home from Libya," citing IOM DTM. 2024. [eeas.europa.eu](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/somalia/over-160-somali-migrants-assisted-return-home-libya_en). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Libya, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=LBY). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Libya Herald. "IOM reports 928,839 migrants identified across Libya in 2025." January 2026. [libyaherald.com](https://www.libyaherald.com/2026/01/iom-reports-928839-migrants-identified-across-libya-in-2025). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Moret, J., Baglioni, S. and Efionayi-Mäder, D. "The Path of Somali Refugees into Exile." SFM Studies 46, 2006. [unine.ch](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-46.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Kaab TV. "Sharp Rise in Somali Migration to Europe, DTM Report Reveals." 28 October 2025. [en.kaabtv.com](https://en.kaabtv.com/?p=15965). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. UIL. "Sbarchi di migranti: il calo è europeo," citing the Interior Ministry dashboard. 7 September 2026. [uil.it](https://www.uil.it/documents/Sbarchi_migranti07092026.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UNHCR. "Libya Annual Results Report 2024." 2025. [unhcr.org](https://www.unhcr.org/us/sites/en-us/files/2025-06/Libya%20ARR%202024_48.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UNHCR. "Libya" country page, Operational Data Portal. [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/lby). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. UNHCR. "Libya Annual Results Report 2025." 2026. [unhcr.org](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2026-06/unhcr-annual-results-report-2025-libya.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. VOA. "Somali migrants returning from Libya tell of abuse, horror." 2018. [voanews.com](https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-migrants-returning-libya-tell-abuse-horror/4259510.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Somali migrants escape from Libya trafficking camp." 2018. [garoweonline.com](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/world/africa/somali-migrants-escape-from-libya-trafficking-camp). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Human Rights Watch. "Lost in Libya: A Refugee's Story of Captivity and Escape." 21 December 2019. [hrw.org](https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/21/lost-libya-refugees-story-captivity-and-escape). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. AllAfrica. "Three Somali Migrants Tortured to Death By Human Traffickers in Libya, Activist Reveals." 23 October 2024. [allafrica.com](https://allafrica.com/stories/202410230351.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. KT Press. "Rwanda has received more than 3,000 asylum seekers evacuated from Libya since 2019." September 2026. [ktpress.rw](https://www.ktpress.rw/2026/09/rwanda-has-received-more-than-3000-asylum-seekers-evacuated-from-libya-since-2019/). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Daily Monitor. "Rwanda, African Union and UNHCR to help Libyan asylum seekers." [monitor.co.ug](https://monitor.co.ug/africa/news/rwanda-african-union-and-unhcr-to-help-libyan-asylum-seekers-4760586). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Liverpool (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/liverpool/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Liverpool's Somali community began with seamen in the docks and grew with refugees from the late 1980s. Census 2021 counted 1,877 residents who wrote Somali or Somalilander and 1,072 born in Somalia, most of them in Princes Park and Toxteth (Liverpool 8).

Liverpool's Somali community began with seamen who settled near the docks before 1960 ([Hirsi, University of Minnesota, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). Its main community charity registered in 1989, as refugees began to arrive ([OpenCharities, charity 702142](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142)). Census 2021 counted 1,877 people who wrote "Somali" or "Somalilander" ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

The wider seamen story is told in [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/).

## How many Somalis live in Liverpool?

The census gives several counts:

- **Somali or Somalilander write-ins:** 1,877, or 0.4% of 486,095 residents ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Of these, 690 wrote "Somalilander", 37%, one of the highest shares in England (same table).
- **Born in Somalia:** 1,072 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)).
- **Main language Somali:** 542 residents aged 3 and over ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000012&measures=20100)).

For arrivals by decade and passports across England and Wales, see [United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## Where in Liverpool do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, Somali and Somalilander together ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000012TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Princes Park:** 1,169
- **Picton:** 232
- **Riverside:** 80
- **Kensington and Fairfield:** 71

So six in ten live in one ward, Princes Park, in Liverpool 8. The Liverpool Somali Community Centre stands on Granby Street, L8 ([OpenCharities, charity 702142](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142)).

## How did Somalis come to Liverpool?

**Seamen, 1920s to 1950s.** Somalis settled in dockside districts across Britain, including Liverpool, Newport, Sheffield and South Shields ([Hirsi, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). One fireman from [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) reached Liverpool in 1937, where elders gave him a coat and a bed (same study). He brought his wife from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in the early 1950s, and the family later moved to Cardiff (same study).

Liverpool's dock district then housed people from Somalia, Sierra Leone and Yemen, Hirsi writes. In 1956 the Minister of Labour told Parliament that Somali seamen's unemployment had risen in Liverpool, unlike other ports ([Hansard, HC Deb 19 April 1956](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen)).

**The Somali Club.** Clubs in Liverpool 8 were often set up by immigrant seamen ([Nerve, Summer 2009](https://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/archive/issues/nerve14/l8_club_scene.php)). The Somali Club stood on Parliament Street, and a photograph marks its end in 1983 (same article). It also appears in a list of Liverpool 8's African clubs ([Writing on the Wall, 2025](https://writingonthewall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Introduction_SmallTalk_StephenSmall-revised.pdf)).

**Refugees, from the late 1980s.** The Liverpool Somali Community registered as a charity in November 1989 ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142)). In 2004 a Home Office minister named a Toxteth project serving refugees from the Somali and Yemeni communities ([Hansard, Westminster Hall, 11 February 2004](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/westminster-hall/2004/feb/11/somali-community-in-the-uk)). For why people left, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## Do Somalis in Liverpool have work?

No Liverpool-only Somali employment rate has been published. Across England and Wales in 2021, 10.3% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 were unemployed, against 4.4% overall ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). 72.0% rented social housing (same article).

The community centre gives advice on benefits, housing, jobs and schooling ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142)). Its income was £30,416 in the year to March 2025 (same record).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Liverpool?

**Elected office.** Councillor Rahima Farah (Labour) won Toxteth ward in May 2023, the first Somali Muslim woman on Liverpool City Council ([About Islam, 2023](https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/meet-first-somali-female-muslim-councilor-elected-in-liverpool/)). In November 2024 she won the Community Champion award at the national LGIU and CCLA Cllr Awards ([Liverpool Express, 21 November 2024](https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/council-leader-and-toxteth-councillor-both-scoop-national-awards/)).

**Community groups.**

- **Liverpool Somali Community** (charity 702142), registered 1989, runs elders' meals, dementia support and youth work ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142)).
- **Granby Somali Women's Group**, founded in 1994 ([National Lottery Heritage Fund](https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/celebrating-somali-community-roots-liverpool)).
- **Liverpool Somali Cultural and Heritage Association**, funded in 2003 for cultural work in Toxteth ([National Lottery Heritage Fund](https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects/group-aims-promote-initiate-and-co-ordinate-cultural-activities-somali-community-liverpool)).
- **Somali History Project**, funded in 2004 to keep a record of people from the Horn of Africa in Liverpool ([National Lottery Heritage Fund](https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/group-provides-record-people-horn-africa-living-liverpool-and-collects-and-disseminates)).

## What do Somalis in Liverpool face now?

- **Small and concentrated:** six in ten live in Princes Park ward ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000012TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).
- **Elders' care:** the community centre's main listed work is meals and dementia support for elders ([OpenCharities](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142)).
- **Housing, 2021:** 58.8% of Somali households in England and Wales were overcrowded, against 8.4% overall ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Health, 2024:** Councillor Farah's award cited her work on health inequality and opportunities for young people ([Liverpool Express, 2024](https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/council-leader-and-toxteth-councillor-both-scoop-national-awards/)).

## How is Liverpool tied to home?

In 2009 the Granby Somali Women's Group received £49,800 to record oral histories of the links between Britain and Somaliland ([National Lottery Heritage Fund](https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/celebrating-somali-community-roots-liverpool)). The project produced a booklet in Somali for older people, video blogs and a website (same record). For money sent home, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## What else has been reported?

- **The Somali Club:** a photo caption in Nerve magazine dates "the end of the Somali Club" on Parliament Street to 1983 ([Nerve 14, Summer 2009](https://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/archive/issues/nerve14/l8_club_scene.php)). Who founded and ran it is not recorded in sources found.

## Related pages

- [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/)
- [Cardiff (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/cardiff/)
- [Manchester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/manchester/)
- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)

## Sources

1. Hirsi, I. "The First Somali Diaspora: A Transnational History of Migration, Race, and Colonialism." PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, 2026. [conservancy.umn.edu](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities and Liverpool wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100) · [wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000012TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth: Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS024, Main language (detailed), Liverpool. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000012&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. UK Parliament, Hansard. "Somali Seamen," HC Deb 19 April 1956 vol 551 cc1149-50; "Somali Community in the UK," Westminster Hall, HC Deb 11 February 2004 vol 417 cc420-8WH. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/apr/19/somali-seamen) · [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/westminster-hall/2004/feb/11/somali-community-in-the-uk). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Palmer, D. "The Changing Club Scene of Liverpool 8." Nerve 14, Summer 2009. [catalystmedia.org.uk](https://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/archive/issues/nerve14/l8_club_scene.php). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Writing on the Wall. "Small Talk" (introduction, Stephen Small), 2025. [writingonthewall.org.uk](https://writingonthewall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Introduction_SmallTalk_StephenSmall-revised.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. OpenCharities. Liverpool Somali Community, charity 702142. [opencharities.uk](https://opencharities.uk/ew/702142). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. About Islam. "Meet first Somali female Muslim councilor elected in Liverpool." 2023. [aboutislam.net](https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/meet-first-somali-female-muslim-councilor-elected-in-liverpool/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Liverpool Express (Liverpool City Council). "Council leader and Toxteth councillor both scoop national awards." 21 November 2024. [liverpoolexpress.co.uk](https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/council-leader-and-toxteth-councillor-both-scoop-national-awards/). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. National Lottery Heritage Fund. Project records: "Celebrating Somali community roots in Liverpool" (2009); Liverpool Somali Cultural and Heritage Association (2003); Somali History Project (2004). [heritagefund.org.uk](https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/celebrating-somali-community-roots-liverpool) · [heritagefund.org.uk](https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects/group-aims-promote-initiate-and-co-ordinate-cultural-activities-somali-community-liverpool) · [heritagefund.org.uk](https://heritagefund.org.uk/projects/group-provides-record-people-horn-africa-living-liverpool-and-collects-and-disseminates). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Nerve magazine, issue 14. "The Changing Club Scene of Liverpool 8". Summer 2009. https://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/archive/issues/nerve14/l8_club_scene.php. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Malaysia (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/malaysia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 2,945 Somalis were registered with UNHCR in Malaysia at the end of February 2026, out of some 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers. Others came as university students. Malaysia has not signed the Refugee Convention, so refugees there have no legal right to work.

## How many Somalis live in Malaysia?

UNHCR's Malaysia office listed about 2,945 Somalis among the refugees and asylum seekers it had registered at the end of February 2026 ([UNHCR Malaysia, Figures at a glance](https://unhcr.org/my/what-we-do/figures-glance-malaysia)). The total was some 215,600, most of them from Myanmar ([UNHCR Malaysia](https://unhcr.org/my/what-we-do/figures-glance-malaysia)). Earlier editions of the same page gave 3,010 Somalis in May 2023 and 2,860 in May 2024 ([UNHCR Malaysia](https://unhcr.org/my/what-we-do/figures-glance-malaysia)).

UNHCR's global data give a similar picture. At the end of 2025 it counted 2,172 Somali refugees and 742 Somali asylum seekers in Malaysia ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Malaysia, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=MLS)).

Malaysia's government gave its own figure in Parliament. In September 2024, about 1,918 of 191,832 registered refugees and asylum seekers, or 1%, were from Somalia ([The Star, 18 December 2024, citing a written parliamentary answer](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/12/18/191832-refugees-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-as-of-september)).

These counts leave out Somali students and workers who hold visas. A community leader estimated in 2019 that more than 3,000 Somalis had sought refuge in Malaysia ([Free Malaysia Today, 14 August 2019](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead)).

## How did Somalis come to Malaysia?

Malaysia became a destination late. UNHCR counted fewer than 100 Somali refugees there each year until 2007 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=MLS)). The number rose to 647 in 2009 and passed 2,000 in 2021 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=MLS)).

Students came too. A 2011 report counted about 1,500 Somali students in Malaysia, mostly at public universities ([Hiiraan Online, 21 February 2011](https://hiiraan.com/news2_rss/2011/Feb/malaysia_most_somali_students_are_driven_to_get_an_education.aspx)). For the wider routes, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## What does Malaysian law allow refugees?

Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol ([Malay Mail, 23 June 2026](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190)). Under Malaysian law, refugees are treated the same as undocumented migrants ([Al Jazeera, 7 February 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/7/in-legal-no-mans-land-refugees-in-malaysia-struggle-to-eat-pay-rent)).

A UNHCR card gives some access to health care and serves as a document, but it gives no legal residence or right to work ([Malay Mail, 2026](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190)). The government says it does not deport people who hold valid UNHCR cards ([Malay Mail, 2026](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190)).

In June 2023 the Prime Minister signed a revised National Security Council directive on managing refugees, including a future government registration system ([The Star, 2024](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/12/18/191832-refugees-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-as-of-september)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/) for how refugee papers differ by country.

## What work do Somalis in Malaysia do?

Without work rights, most refugees take informal jobs ([Malay Mail, 2026](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190)). Refugees in Malaysia mostly work in restaurants, shops, other services, farming and construction, often without contracts ([Al Jazeera, 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/7/in-legal-no-mans-land-refugees-in-malaysia-struggle-to-eat-pay-rent)).

Many are paid less than the national minimum wage of 1,500 ringgit a month ([Al Jazeera, 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/7/in-legal-no-mans-land-refugees-in-malaysia-struggle-to-eat-pay-rent)). Somali refugees told reporters in 2019 that finding jobs was one of their hardest problems ([Free Malaysia Today, 2019](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead)).

## Can Somali children go to school in Malaysia?

Many Somali refugee children study in community schools. A Somali refugee community school in Gombak, near Kuala Lumpur, taught about 100 children in 2019 ([Free Malaysia Today, 2019](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead)). Its leaders said nearly 200 more Somali children had no school place ([Free Malaysia Today, 2019](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead)).

Higher education is a different story. In 2011 Universiti Utara Malaysia alone had 180 Somali students in business and IT degrees ([Hiiraan Online, 2011](https://hiiraan.com/news2_rss/2011/Feb/malaysia_most_somali_students_are_driven_to_get_an_education.aspx)). In July 2026 Hormuud University in Mogadishu sent its first students on a one-month exchange to Universiti Malaysia Perlis ([Dawan, 27 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-students-to-depart-for-malaysia-under-new-academic-exchange-programme)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Malaysia?

- **Somalia's embassy:** the Somali Ambassador to Malaysia met a committee of Somali students in Kuala Lumpur with Somalia's Minister of Education in June ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).
- **Community leaders:** Somali refugee leaders in Kuala Lumpur run education and youth activities for the community ([Free Malaysia Today, 2019](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead)).

## What do Somalis in Malaysia face now?

- **No legal status:** refugees without UNHCR cards risk arrest, detention and deportation under the Immigration Act ([Malay Mail, 2026](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190)).
- **Stalled resettlement:** resettlement of refugees from Malaysia to third countries has largely stalled ([Malay Mail, 2026](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190)).
- **Language:** Somali refugee leaders named language as one of the community's biggest struggles ([Free Malaysia Today, 2019](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead)).

## How are Somalis in Malaysia tied to home?

Somalia's government keeps close education ties with Malaysia, through student exchanges and ministerial visits ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)). Somalia's records show 9 migrants returning from Malaysia between 2020 and 2023 ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). For the full picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Australia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/australia/)
- [Türkiye (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/turkiye/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR Malaysia. "Figures at a glance in Malaysia." Editions to February 2026. [unhcr.org](https://unhcr.org/my/what-we-do/figures-glance-malaysia). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Malaysia, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=MLS). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. The Star (Bernama). "191,832 refugees, asylum seekers in Malaysia as of September." 18 December 2024. [thestar.com.my](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/12/18/191832-refugees-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-as-of-september). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Free Malaysia Today. "Somali refugee leader hopes for brighter days ahead." 14 August 2019. [freemalaysiatoday.com](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/14/somali-refugee-leader-hopes-for-brighter-days-ahead). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Malaysia: Most Somali students are driven to get an education." 21 February 2011. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news2_rss/2011/Feb/malaysia_most_somali_students_are_driven_to_get_an_education.aspx). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Malay Mail. "Why refugees like the Rohingya and other asylum seekers find themselves in a legal limbo in Malaysia." 23 June 2026. [malaymail.com](https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/23/why-refugees-like-the-rohingya-and-other-asylum-seekers-find-themselves-in-a-legal-limbo-in-malaysia/224190). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Al Jazeera. "In legal no-man's land, refugees in Malaysia struggle to eat, pay rent." 7 February 2024. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/7/in-legal-no-mans-land-refugees-in-malaysia-struggle-to-eat-pay-rent). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "Somali students to depart for Malaysia under new academic exchange programme." 27 July 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-students-to-depart-for-malaysia-under-new-academic-exchange-programme). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Federal Republic of Somalia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Delegation meets Somali students in Kuala Lumpur. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Manchester (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/manchester/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Manchester has one of the largest Somali communities outside London, centred on Moss Side. Census 2021 counted 7,653 residents who wrote Somali or Somalilander and 4,272 born in Somalia; Moss Side ward, with 2,797, has more Somali residents than any other ward in England and Wales.

Manchester's Somali community is centred on Moss Side, and most of it arrived as refugees from the 1990s onward ([Big Issue, 6 September 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)). Census 2021 counted 7,653 people who wrote "Somali" or "Somalilander", 1.4% of the city ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

## How many Somalis live in Manchester?

The census gives several counts:

- **Somali or Somalilander write-ins:** 7,653 of 551,929 residents, of whom 836 wrote "Somalilander" ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).
- **ONS share:** Manchester holds 4.0% of the 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Born in Somalia:** 4,272 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)).
- **Main language Somali:** 2,415 residents aged 3 and over ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000003&measures=20100)).

Nearby towns add more. Bolton counted 2,077 Somali or Somalilander residents, with 921 in Rumworth ward ([Nomis, TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100); [Nomis, wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

## Where in Manchester do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, Somali and Somalilander together ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000003TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Moss Side:** 2,797, the most of any ward in England and Wales
- **Ardwick:** 753
- **Hulme:** 710
- **Whalley Range:** 661
- **Fallowfield:** 470
- **Cheetham:** 369
- **Longsight:** 321

Claremont Road is Moss Side's main shopping street ([VICE, 7 January 2019](https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-manchesters-somali-community-helped-to-transform-moss-side)). Shops on Claremont and Princess Roads sell prayer rugs and money transfers, and advertise flights to Nairobi, Hargeisa and Mogadishu ([Hyphen, 15 December 2022](https://hyphenonline.com/2022/12/15/moss-side-from-no-go-zone-to-culinary-hotspot/)).

## How did Somalis come to Manchester?

**Before 1991.** Somali seamen settled in British ports from the 19th century, and some moved inland when shipping work declined; see [The first Somalis abroad](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/). Plaza Cafe on Upper Brook Street, Longsight, ran from the 1970s to 1990 and was one of Manchester's first Somali-owned businesses ([Hyphen, 2022](https://hyphenonline.com/2022/12/15/moss-side-from-no-go-zone-to-culinary-hotspot/)).

**Refugees, 1990s.** After war began in Somalia, about 6,000 Somali refugees settled in Manchester, many in Moss Side ([Big Issue, 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)). In the early 1990s, eight refugee community groups, one of them Somali, founded the Manchester Refugee Support Network ([Archives Hub](https://archiveshub.ac.uk/search/archives/bbff0fed-75da-3ca3-b97c-08f830e49f3b)).

**Onward from Europe, 2000s.** Over half of Manchester's Somalia-born residents arrived in 2001 to 2010 ([ONS Census 2021, year of arrival, Manchester](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000003&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk)):

- Before 1981: 24
- 1981 to 1990: 146
- 1991 to 2000: 1,086
- 2001 to 2010: 2,266
- 2011 to 2021: 752

Some came after years in mainland Europe. One Moss Side musician's family fled to Denmark during the war, and he came to the UK in 2001 ([VICE, 2019](https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-manchesters-somali-community-helped-to-transform-moss-side)). In 2021, 426 of Manchester's Somalia-born residents held a passport from a smaller EU country ([ONS Census 2021, passports held, Manchester](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000003&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a)). See [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/) for this onward move.

## Do Somalis in Manchester have work?

No Manchester-only Somali employment rate has been published. Across England and Wales in 2021, 10.3% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 were unemployed, against 4.4% overall ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Business is visible. Two people behind a 2019 Somali heritage exhibition estimated that about 70% of Claremont Road businesses were Somali-owned ([VICE, 2019](https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-manchesters-somali-community-helped-to-transform-moss-side)). Somali cafés and restaurants have helped turn Moss Side into a food destination ([Hyphen, 2022](https://hyphenonline.com/2022/12/15/moss-side-from-no-go-zone-to-culinary-hotspot/)).

Papers are mostly settled. In 2021, 3,350 of 4,272 Somalia-born residents held a UK passport, and 300 held none ([ONS Census 2021, passports held, Manchester](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000003&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a)). See [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Manchester?

**Elected office.** Councillor Mahadi Hussein Sharif Mahamed (Labour) has represented Moss Side since May 2019, with a term to May 2027 ([Manchester City Council](https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=236)). The Big Issue describes him as Manchester's first Somali councillor ([Big Issue, 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)).

**Charities.**

- **Somali Adult Social Care Agency (SASCA)** (charity 1143949), on Princess Road, Moss Side, supports Somali elders with welfare advice, interpreting and hospital visits ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5009956/full-print)). Founded in 2007, it sees 350 to 400 people a week, its trustees told the Big Issue ([Big Issue, 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)).
- **Greater Manchester Somali Community Association** (charity 1170841) acts as an umbrella for Somali groups and plans a Somali youth centre ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5087424/full-print)).

**Culture.** "See My Dunya", a 2019 film and photography exhibition on Manchester's Somali community, showed at HOME and Central Library ([VICE, 2019](https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-manchesters-somali-community-helped-to-transform-moss-side)).

## What do Somalis in Manchester face now?

- **2024, funding:** SASCA faced closure after the city council cut its core funding, then won a £217,000 National Lottery grant for three years ([Big Issue, 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)).
- **2024, calm:** the Big Issue credited strong community organising, begun when Somali refugees arrived in the 1990s, for Moss Side's calm during unrest that summer ([Big Issue, 2024](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192)).
- **2025 to 2026, small groups:** the umbrella association reported income of £5,594 for the year to June 2025 and filed late ([Charity Commission](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5087424/full-print)).
- **Housing, 2021:** 58.8% of Somali households in England and Wales were overcrowded, and 72.0% rented social housing ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## How is Manchester tied to home?

Moss Side shops sell flights to Hargeisa and Mogadishu and offer money-transfer services ([Hyphen, 2022](https://hyphenonline.com/2022/12/15/moss-side-from-no-go-zone-to-culinary-hotspot/)). Somali was the main language of 2,415 residents in 2021 ([Nomis, TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000003&measures=20100)). For money sent home, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Leicester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/leicester/)
- [Sheffield (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sheffield/)
- [Liverpool (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/liverpool/)
- [Birmingham (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/birmingham/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)

## Sources

1. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities, all wards and Manchester wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100) · [all wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100) · [Manchester wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000003TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth: Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS024, Main language (detailed), Manchester. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000003&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS. Census 2021 custom datasets: Somalia-born residents of Manchester by year of arrival and by passports held. [Year of arrival](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000003&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk) · [Passports](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000003&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Big Issue. "Riots are not inevitable – just ask the people of Manchester's Moss Side." 6 September 2024. [bigissue.com](https://bigissue.com/?p=237192). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. VICE. "How Manchester's Somali community helped to transform Moss Side." 7 January 2019. [vice.com](https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-manchesters-somali-community-helped-to-transform-moss-side). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Hyphen. "Moss Side — from no-go zone to culinary hotspot." 15 December 2022. [hyphenonline.com](https://hyphenonline.com/2022/12/15/moss-side-from-no-go-zone-to-culinary-hotspot/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Archives Hub. "Manchester Refugee Support Network archive" (catalogue description). [archiveshub.ac.uk](https://archiveshub.ac.uk/search/archives/bbff0fed-75da-3ca3-b97c-08f830e49f3b). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Manchester City Council. "Councillor Mahadi Hussein Sharif Mahamed" (member profile). [democracy.manchester.gov.uk](https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=236). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Somali Adult Social Care Agency, charity 1143949. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5009956/full-print). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Greater Manchester Somali Community Association, charity 1170841. [register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5087424/full-print). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Nashville, Tennessee (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/nashville/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 2,650 Somali people in the Nashville metro area, nearly all in Nashville-Davidson County, and 3,117 in Tennessee. Somali refugees began settling in Nashville in the 1990s, and Somali drivers and workers have led labour organising in Middle Tennessee.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 2,648 Somali people in the Nashville metro area and 3,117 in Tennessee ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US34980); [Tennessee](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US47)). Somali refugees began settling in Nashville in the 1990s ([Cornfield, Vanderbilt University, 2014](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Nashville?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 2,623 people in Nashville-Davidson who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Nashville-Davidson](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4752006)). That is almost the whole metro count. The margin of error is about 1,028, so the true figure is uncertain ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US4752006)).

By ancestry, the survey counted 1,822 in Nashville-Davidson, and 1,190 people there were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=16000US4752006); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=16000US4752006)). Tennessee ranks 13th among US states by the race count ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)).

Older local figures were higher. In 2009, the Associated Press reported an estimated 3,500 Somalis and Sudanese together in Nashville ([AP via Dawn, February 2009](https://dawn.com/news/342479/population-of-refugees-grows-in-music-city)).

## How did Somalis come to Nashville?

Nashville's faith-based resettlement agencies and 1990s job growth drew refugees from many countries, including Somalia ([Cornfield, 2014](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)). The foreign-born share of Nashville residents rose from 2.5% in 1990 to 10.1% in 2001 ([Cornfield](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)).

Many families came after years in Kenyan camps. One Somali family that runs a Nashville cafe fled in 1993 and spent three years in camps before arriving in 1996 ([WPLN, December 2023](https://wpln.org/post/at-the-horn-nashvilles-immigrant-communities-find-connection-and-belonging/)). Nearly 3,100 refugees of all origins resettled in Nashville from 2002 to early 2009 ([AP via Dawn, 2009](https://dawn.com/news/342479/population-of-refugees-grows-in-music-city)).

An agency leader said in 2009 that services, affordable housing and factory jobs made Middle Tennessee a point of entry ([AP via Dawn](https://dawn.com/news/342479/population-of-refugees-grows-in-music-city)). In the 2000s, Nashville agencies also helped Tyson Foods recruit Somali refugees for its poultry plant in Shelbyville, 55 miles south ([Cornfield, 2014](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)).

New arrivals are now few. In the 2025 fiscal year, 38 refugees from Somalia were placed in Tennessee ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

**Taxi drivers.** Somalis were the largest single ethnic group among Nashville's roughly 600 licensed taxi drivers ([Cornfield, 2014](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)). A 2008 survey of 300 drivers found average net pay under $12,000 a year, for seven 14-hour days a week ([Cornfield](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)). Drivers formed the Nashville Metro Taxi Drivers Alliance in 2007, and a Somali driver-owned company, Tenn-Cab, won approval in 2013 ([Cornfield](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)).

**Poultry workers.** About 250 of 1,200 workers at Tyson's Shelbyville plant were Somali ([Cornfield, 2014](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)). In 2007, their union contract named Eid al-Fitr a paid holiday, which the union called a first in the US ([Cornfield](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)). After a local backlash, Labor Day was restored and Eid became an optional paid personal day ([Cornfield](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)).

**Shops and cafes.** The Horn, a Somali family's coffee shop on Murfreesboro Pike, opened in 2014 after the family's sambusa business began in 2009 ([WPLN, 2023](https://wpln.org/post/at-the-horn-nashvilles-immigrant-communities-find-connection-and-belonging/)). It serves Somali chai and has become a meeting place for many communities in South Nashville ([WPLN](https://wpln.org/post/at-the-horn-nashvilles-immigrant-communities-find-connection-and-belonging/)).

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Somali Community Center of Nashville later became the Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee ([AP via Dawn, 2009](https://dawn.com/news/342479/population-of-refugees-grows-in-music-city)). The centre ran education programmes in Shelbyville to improve relations between Somali newcomers and local residents ([Cornfield, 2014](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)).

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, founded in 2001, took part in the taxi drivers' founding meeting and in the Shelbyville programmes ([TIRRC](https://tnimmigrant.org/press/release-tennessee-leaders-condemn-the-trump-administrations-escalating-anti-immigrant-and-racist-discriminatory-policies-and-rhetoric); [Cornfield](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf)). In December 2025, it and faith leaders condemned national attacks on Somali Americans as anti-Muslim and anti-Black ([TIRRC, December 2025](https://tnimmigrant.org/press/release-tennessee-leaders-condemn-the-trump-administrations-escalating-anti-immigrant-and-racist-discriminatory-policies-and-rhetoric)).

In 2003, a mosque on Fourth Avenue near the state fairgrounds was described as "frequented largely by Somalis" ([Nashville Scene, November 2003](https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/true-believers/article_a02fdc1a-9518-5671-b44a-e895ec551fdb.html)). No Somali American has yet been found among Nashville's elected officials.

## What does the community face now?

**Vandalism and a neighbourly answer.** In February 2010, someone spray-painted crosses and "Muslims Go Home" on the Al-Farooq mosque, whose members were mainly recent Somali immigrants ([Not In Our Town, February 2010](https://www.niot.org/node/789)). Neighbours and volunteers painted over the graffiti in about an hour, and Belmont University offered to pay for supplies ([Not In Our Town](https://www.niot.org/node/789)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

**Fewer new arrivals.** Somali refugee arrivals nationwide fell from 9,030 in 2016 to 260 in 2018 ([DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)). That slowed growth in smaller communities such as Nashville's.

## How is Nashville tied to home?

Food and talk tie the community to home: at The Horn, Somali chai and sambusas are a daily habit ([WPLN, 2023](https://wpln.org/post/at-the-horn-nashvilles-immigrant-communities-find-connection-and-belonging/)). Many older residents arrived from camps in Kenya, while their children grew up in Tennessee ([WPLN](https://wpln.org/post/at-the-horn-nashvilles-immigrant-communities-find-connection-and-belonging/); [AP via Dawn, 2009](https://dawn.com/news/342479/population-of-refugees-grows-in-music-city)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
- [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Nashville metro, Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US34980). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Daniel B. Cornfield, Vanderbilt University. "Union roles in Muslim immigrant worker incorporation: the case of Somali workers in Middle Tennessee." 4 March 2014, for Mobilizing against Inequality (ILR Press, 2014). [ilr.cornell.edu](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tennessee-Taxi-and-Poultry-Workers-Case-Study.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Associated Press via Dawn. "Population of refugees grows in Music City." 9 February 2009. [dawn.com](https://dawn.com/news/342479/population-of-refugees-grows-in-music-city). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Char Daston, WPLN News. "At The Horn, Nashville's immigrant communities find connection and belonging." 19 December 2023. [wpln.org](https://wpln.org/post/at-the-horn-nashvilles-immigrant-communities-find-connection-and-belonging/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. "Tennessee leaders condemn the Trump administration's escalating anti-immigrant and racist, discriminatory policies and rhetoric." 23 December 2025. [tnimmigrant.org](https://tnimmigrant.org/press/release-tennessee-leaders-condemn-the-trump-administrations-escalating-anti-immigrant-and-racist-discriminatory-policies-and-rhetoric). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Joseph Sweat, Nashville Scene. "True believers." 20 November 2003. [nashvillescene.com](https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/true-believers/article_a02fdc1a-9518-5671-b44a-e895ec551fdb.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Not In Our Town. Report on vandalism at Al-Farooq mosque, Nashville. 18 February 2010. [niot.org](https://www.niot.org/node/789). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# New Zealand (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/new-zealand/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> New Zealand's 2023 census counted 2,376 people of Somali ethnicity, up from 1,614 in 2013. Most came through the refugee quota from 1993, or are their New Zealand-born children. They live mainly in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.

## How many Somalis live in New Zealand?

Stats NZ counted 2,376 people of Somali ethnicity in the 2023 census ([Stats NZ, Somali ethnic group summary](https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/somali)). The count was 1,614 in 2013 and 1,701 in 2018 (same source). People can name more than one ethnic group, and 93.8% of the Somali group named only one in 2023.

Of the 2,376, 924 (39.2%) were born in New Zealand and 1,344 (57.1%) in the Middle East and Africa ([Stats NZ](https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/somali)). The summary groups birthplaces by region, so it does not give a separate figure for Somalia.

UNHCR counted 8 refugees from Somalia in New Zealand at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, New Zealand](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=NZL)). That count covers only people who still hold refugee status.

## Where in New Zealand do Somalis live?

The 2023 census placed people of Somali ethnicity in four regions ([Stats NZ](https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/somali)):

- **Auckland:** 777 (32.7%). The largest group, 282, lived in the Puketāpapa local board area.
- **Waikato:** 702 (29.5%), centred on Hamilton.
- **Wellington:** 510 (21.5%).
- **Canterbury:** 330 (13.9%), centred on Christchurch.

Few lived anywhere else. No other region had more than 15.

## How did Somalis come to New Zealand?

Most came through New Zealand's refugee quota, which resettles refugees chosen with UNHCR. UNHCR records 1,464 Somali refugees resettled to New Zealand from 1993 to 2002, and 2,096 from 1993 to 2025 ([UNHCR solutions API, New Zealand](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=NZL)). The largest years were 1994 (309) and 1996 (299).

The first group reached Hamilton in July 1993. The Waikato Muslim Association records that 36 Somali refugees arrived then, brought by the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Muslim Association and the Hamilton Refugee Migrant Service ([Waikato Muslim Association, Brief History](https://www.waikatomuslims.org.nz/site_files/24835/upload_files/BriefHistoryofWaikatoMuslimAssociation.pdf?dl=1)). By its account about 100 lived in Hamilton by 1995, 115 more came in 1997, and over 800 lived there by 2001.

Those 800 were about a third of the region's Muslims, and their arrival led the association to plan a larger mosque from 1996 (same source). When the unfinished building was vandalised in 1997, young Somali men guarded it at night, the history records.

Arrivals slowed after 2003, to 5 to 42 a year until 2015 ([UNHCR solutions API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=NZL)). Total quota arrivals of all nationalities rose from 1,017 in 2016-17 to 1,507 in 2022-23, and Somali arrivals rose with them ([INZ, September 2026](https://www.immigration.govt.nz/assets/inz/documents/statistics/INZ-refugee-statistics-pack-for-September-2026.pdf)).

## How many Somalis arrive under the quota now?

Immigration New Zealand counts quota arrivals by financial year, July to June. Somali arrivals were ([INZ, Refugee and Protection Statistics Pack, September 2026](https://www.immigration.govt.nz/assets/inz/documents/statistics/INZ-refugee-statistics-pack-for-September-2026.pdf)):

- 2016-17: 12
- 2019-20: 13
- 2021-22: 60
- 2022-23: 123
- 2023-24: 93
- 2024-25: 47
- 2025-26: 27
- 2026-27, to 30 September: 11

INZ lists Somalia as the second-largest nationality settled in Christchurch over the last five financial years, after Afghanistan (same source). Another 300 Somalis arrived from 2016-17 to September 2026 through the Refugee Family Support Category, which lets refugees already in New Zealand sponsor relatives (same source).

## Do Somalis in New Zealand have work?

Fewer than half of adults were in paid work at the 2023 census. Of people aged 15 and over, 24.2% worked full-time, 12.0% part-time and 10.8% were unemployed ([Stats NZ](https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/somali)). The other 52.7% were not in the labour force, which includes students, carers and retired people.

Other 2023 census figures for the Somali group, against all New Zealanders ([Stats NZ](https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/somali)):

- **Median adult income:** $16,700, against $41,500.
- **Post-school qualification:** 34.9% of adults, against 54%.
- **Own their home:** 4.6% of adults, against 51.3%.
- **Median age:** 21.5 years, against 38.1. 38% were under 15.

Faith and language are shared. In 2023, 92.4% of the Somali group gave their religion as Islam, 80.8% spoke English, and 46.2% spoke more than one language (same source).

## What happened to Somalis in the 2019 Christchurch attacks?

A gunman attacked the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch on 15 March 2019. Somalia's foreign minister told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that the attack killed 50 people, and that 5 Somali New Zealanders were among them, including a 5-year-old child ([Garowe Online, 23 March 2019](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-fm-describes-new-zealand-pm-as-exceptional-leader)).

Afterwards, Immigration New Zealand issued 216 emergency visitor visas to overseas relatives of people directly affected, Stuff reported ([Stuff via Hiiraan Online, 2 August 2020](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2020/Aug/179353/somali_mosque_attack_victims_helpless_to_get_family_to_nz_before_sentencing.aspx)). Five injured or bereaved Somali survivors said they had spent 16 months trying to bring relatives over. A major obstacle, they said, was that New Zealand did not recognise Somali passports (same source).

## How is the community organised?

The early community grew around mosques. In Hamilton, a Somali refugee later led the Waikato Muslim Association as president for many years, until 2015 ([Waikato Muslim Association](https://www.waikatomuslims.org.nz/site_files/24835/upload_files/BriefHistoryofWaikatoMuslimAssociation.pdf?dl=1)).

A 1999 Victoria University of Wellington study by a Somali researcher looked at how cultural identity affected the adaptation and well-being of Somali refugees in New Zealand ([Bihi, Victoria University of Wellington, 1999](https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/handle/123456789/23550)). It describes itself as filling a research gap on Somali refugees in the country.

## How are Somalis in New Zealand tied to home?

Family links shape new arrivals: the 300 Somali family-support arrivals since 2016-17 were sponsored by relatives already in New Zealand ([INZ, September 2026](https://www.immigration.govt.nz/assets/inz/documents/statistics/INZ-refugee-statistics-pack-for-September-2026.pdf)). Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy, by the central bank's count ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

For the wider picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Australia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/australia/)
- [Malaysia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/malaysia/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Stats NZ. "Somali ethnic group summary," 2013, 2018 and 2023 Censuses. [stats.govt.nz](https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/somali). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to New Zealand, 1985 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=NZL). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (resettlement), Somalia to New Zealand, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=NZL). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Immigration New Zealand. "Refugee and Protection Statistics Pack," current to 30 September 2026. [immigration.govt.nz](https://www.immigration.govt.nz/assets/inz/documents/statistics/INZ-refugee-statistics-pack-for-September-2026.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Waikato Muslim Association. "Brief History of Waikato Muslim Association." [waikatomuslims.org.nz](https://www.waikatomuslims.org.nz/site_files/24835/upload_files/BriefHistoryofWaikatoMuslimAssociation.pdf?dl=1). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Bihi, A. "Cultural identity, adaptation and well-being of Somali refugees in New Zealand." Victoria University of Wellington, 1999. [ir.wgtn.ac.nz](https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/handle/123456789/23550). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Somalia: FM describes New Zealand PM as exceptional leader." 23 March 2019. [garoweonline.com](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-fm-describes-new-zealand-pm-as-exceptional-leader). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Cate Broughton, Stuff, republished by Hiiraan Online. "Somali mosque attack victims 'helpless' to get family to NZ before sentencing." 2 August 2020. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2020/Aug/179353/somali_mosque_attack_victims_helpless_to_get_family_to_nz_before_sentencing.aspx). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Oman (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/oman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> No official count of Somalis in Oman is published: UNHCR's database lists no Somali refugees or asylum seekers there for any year from 1975 to 2025. A 2006 US embassy cable put Somalis in southern Oman in the low hundreds, and in September 2026 SalamAir opened the first direct Muscat–Mogadishu flights.

## How many Somalis live in Oman?

No source publishes a count. UNHCR's database returns no Somali refugees or asylum seekers in Oman for any year from 1975 to 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Oman](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=OMN)). For 2025 it lists only people from Iraq, [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and Syria in Oman ([UNHCR API, all origins in Oman, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coa=OMN&coo_all=true)).

Oman is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to the UN treaty register ([UN Treaty Collection, Convention relating to the Status of Refugees](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en)). Somalia has been a party since 10 October 1978 (same source).

Oman's statistics centre (NCSI) lists foreign workers only for the nine largest nationalities each year. Somalia is not among them in any year from 2013 to 2022, as compiled by the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration programme ([GLMM, from NCSI Monthly Statistical Bulletin](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/oman-employed-foreign-workers-by-country-of-citizenship-all-sectors-selected-nationalities-2013-2022/)). Somali workers fall under "other countries" in that table (same source).

## What older ties link Oman and the Somali coast?

In the 19th century the Benadir coast, including Mogadishu, was drawn into the orbit of the Omani sultanate based in Zanzibar. Historian Edward Alpers traces this to Indian merchant capital based at Zanzibar, while Mogadishu stayed on the empire's edge ([Alpers, Journal of African History, 1983](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/muqdisho-in-the-nineteenth-century-a-regional-perspective1/ED3A80F65314FD83363260ED2614BD81)). He concludes that the town remained distinctly Somali (same source).

A US embassy cable from Muscat in May 2006 described Oman–Somalia ties as long-standing, linked to Oman's past in East Africa ([US Embassy Muscat, cable 06MUSCAT687, 2 May 2006, via WikiLeaks](https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06MUSCAT687_a.html)). It said Somalis had held prominent posts in Oman, including a past deputy governor of Dhofar and the then general manager of Bank Dhofar (same source).

For the history of the Somali coast, see [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/).

## What happened to Somalis in Dhofar in the 2000s?

The same 2006 cable said most Somalis in Dhofar lived quietly, harvesting frankincense or fishing ([cable 06MUSCAT687](https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06MUSCAT687_a.html)). From 2003 a more visible group appeared in Salalah, which the cable said came largely from Somali refugee camps in Yemen. It estimated Somalis in southern Oman in the "low hundreds, at most" (same source).

- **2004:** Royal Oman Police set up identity checkpoints in Dhofar, after which the Somali presence in Salalah fell sharply, the cable reported (same source).
- **Spring 2006:** a Somali embassy representative said about 200 Somalis were held in Salalah awaiting travel documents for return (same source).
- **May 2006:** a second cable reported that Oman's army had launched a campaign against migrants crossing from Yemen, mainly Somalis and some Eritreans ([US Embassy Muscat, cable 06MUSCAT792, 17 May 2006, via WikiLeaks](https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06MUSCAT792_a.html)). Estimates of their number ranged from about 300 to nearly 4,000, and about 1,000 had been detained, with no breakdown by citizenship (same source).

The US State Department's human rights report for 2014 said Omani authorities detained and deported hundreds of presumed economic migrants in the south ([Global Detention Project, citing US State Department 2014](https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/middle-east/oman)). They came from Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia and Eritrea and tried to enter by land and sea (same source). They were held in Salalah or Sohar for about a month on average before return, the report said (same source).

## How do Somalis travel toward Oman now?

Most irregular travel to the Gulf runs through Yemen. The Mixed Migration Centre counted about 53,000 refugees and migrants leaving the [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) coast in 2025 ([MMC, Somalia: journeys to Yemen and the Gulf, 2026](https://mixedmigration.org/resources/somalia-refugees-migrants-route-yemen-gulf/)). In its follow-up survey of 339 people, nine had moved on to the Gulf, and they reported very high exposure to abuse (same source).

Oman does not appear among the 45 countries from which Somali migrant returnees came in 2020 to 2024, in the national statistics bureau's list ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). For the sea route, see [Yemen](/en/diaspora/yemen/) and [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## Who represents Somalia in Oman?

Somalia has an embassy in Muscat. In 2026 Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali visited it, met Ambassador Bashir Hassan Haji and ordered better service to Somali citizens ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/advancing-reforms-across-somalias-diplomatic-missions/)).

On 25 April 2026 the minister met Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi in Muscat ([SONNA, 25 April 2026](https://sonna.so/en/article/somalia-and-oman-strengthen-bilateral-ties-during-high-level-talks-in-muscat)). Oman restated its support for Somalia's unity and territorial integrity, [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) reported. The report did not mention the Somali community in Oman (same source).

In November 2026 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) received the credentials of Oman's new ambassador to Somalia ([Dawan Africa, November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-president-receives-credentials-of-new-omani-ambassador)).

## How are Oman and Somalia linked by travel and trade?

SalamAir, an Omani airline, launched direct Muscat–Mogadishu flights twice a week in September 2026 ([Oman Observer, 3 September 2026](https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1195556/oman/transport/salamair-launches-direct-flights-to-mogadishu)). The paper said the route was expected to support business and family travel (same source).

In 2025 the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia were Somalia's main export markets ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). An October 2026 opinion piece in the Oman Observer cited UN Comtrade figures for 2024: Omani exports to Somalia of US$304 million, and imports of US$217 million ([Oman Observer, 12 October 2026](https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1197661/opinion/business/two-shores-one-sea-the-case-for-oman-and-somalia)). The author said about 97% of Oman's imports from Somalia were live animals (same source).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [UAE (Dubai)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Qatar (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/qatar/)
- [Kuwait (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/kuwait/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Oman, 1975 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=OMN). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, all origins in Oman, 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coa=OMN&coo_all=true). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. United Nations Treaty Collection. "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees", status of participants. [treaties.un.org](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Gulf Labour Markets and Migration (GLMM). "Oman: Employed foreign workers by country of citizenship (selected nationalities) (2013-2022)", from NCSI. [gulfmigration.grc.net](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/oman-employed-foreign-workers-by-country-of-citizenship-all-sectors-selected-nationalities-2013-2022/). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Alpers, E. A. "Muqdisho in the Nineteenth Century: A Regional Perspective." Journal of African History 24(4), 1983, pp. 441–459. [cambridge.org](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/muqdisho-in-the-nineteenth-century-a-regional-perspective1/ED3A80F65314FD83363260ED2614BD81). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. US Embassy Muscat. "Somali migrants: small problem, but increasing irritant." Cable 06MUSCAT687, 2 May 2006, published by WikiLeaks. [wikileaks.org](https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06MUSCAT687_a.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. US Embassy Muscat. "Military launches campaign against Somali infiltrators." Cable 06MUSCAT792, 17 May 2006, published by WikiLeaks. [wikileaks.org](https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06MUSCAT792_a.html). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Global Detention Project. "Oman" country profile, citing US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2014. [globaldetentionproject.org](https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/middle-east/oman). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Mixed Migration Centre. "Somalia: refugee and migrant journeys to Yemen and the Gulf." 2026. [mixedmigration.org](https://mixedmigration.org/resources/somalia-refugees-migrants-route-yemen-gulf/). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report", second edition, 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Advancing reforms across Somalia's diplomatic missions." 2026. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/advancing-reforms-across-somalias-diplomatic-missions/). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. Somali National News Agency (SONNA). "[Somalia and Oman](/en/relations/oman/) strengthen bilateral ties during high-level talks in Muscat." 25 April 2026. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/article/somalia-and-oman-strengthen-bilateral-ties-during-high-level-talks-in-muscat). Checked 12 November 2026.
13. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa. "Somalia's president receives credentials of new Omani ambassador." November 2026. [dawan.africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-president-receives-credentials-of-new-omani-ambassador). Checked 12 November 2026.
14. Oman Observer. "SalamAir launches direct flights to Mogadishu." 3 September 2026. [omanobserver.om](https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1195556/oman/transport/salamair-launches-direct-flights-to-mogadishu). Checked 12 November 2026.
15. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Yousuf bin Hamed al Balushi. "Two shores, one sea: the case for Oman and Somalia." Oman Observer, opinion, 12 October 2026. [omanobserver.om](https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1197661/opinion/business/two-shores-one-sea-the-case-for-oman-and-somalia). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Phoenix, Arizona (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/phoenix/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,050 Somali people in metro Phoenix and 3,582 in Arizona. Arizona has resettled more than 7,000 Somali refugees since the 1990s, including Somali Bantu families from 2003, but local advocates say many later moved on to Minnesota.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,056 Somali people in metro Phoenix and 3,582 in Arizona ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US38060); [Arizona](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US04)). Arizona has received more than 7,000 Somali refugees since 1992, by state resettlement figures reported locally ([Cronkite News, November 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)).

## How many Somalis live in Phoenix?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 3,056 people in the Phoenix metro area who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US38060)). By ancestry it counted 1,808, and 925 people were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US38060); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=31000US38060)).

The city of Phoenix had 2,063 by race and Tempe 838, both with wide margins of error ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Phoenix](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US0455000); [Tempe](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US0473000)). Arizona ranks 11th among US states by the race count ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)).

Arrival totals are much higher than the survey count. Cronkite News reported 7,446 Somali refugees arriving in Arizona since 1992, the most from any African country ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). An Arizona State University project cited 7,097 from the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, April 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). The gap is explained in part by people moving to other states.

## How did Somalis come to Phoenix?

Most came through refugee resettlement after the war began in 1991 ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). The state has been a large resettlement site: Arizona took 3,600 refugees of all origins in 2013 alone, by state figures ([The State Press, June 2014](https://www.statepress.com/article/2014/06/arizona-offers-a-safe-haven-for-newly-displaced-refugees)).

**Somali Bantu arrivals.** One of the first Somali Bantu families resettled in the US reached Phoenix on 22 May 2003 ([Smithsonian, January 2004](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)). The family had fled southern Somalia in 1991 and spent years in the Marafa and Kakuma camps in Kenya ([Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)). Lutheran Social Ministry of the Southwest handled their resettlement ([Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)).

**Moving on.** Local advocates have said about half of Somali refugees resettled in Arizona later leave, often for Minnesota, after struggling to find work ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). A Phoenix shop owner told researchers that services for refugees were better in Minnesota ([ASU](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)).

**Still arriving.** In the 2025 fiscal year, 98 refugees from Somalia were placed in Arizona, the fifth-highest of any state ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

Somali refugees in Phoenix often start in low-wage work, and some open small businesses ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). Isra Market, near 32nd Street and McDowell Road, sells halal meat, East African staples and women's clothing ([ASU](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). A cafe in a strip mall near 50th Street and McDowell Road serves as a community meeting point ([KJZZ, May 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful)).

The first Somali Bantu father in Phoenix described by Smithsonian worked first as a cleaner, then collecting luggage carts at the airport ([Smithsonian, 2004](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)).

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Somali American United Council of Arizona, in Phoenix, works with Somali families, including tutoring for school pupils ([Cronkite School Humphrey Fellows blog, October 2016](https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2016/10/somali-community-phoenix-language-barriers-education)). The Somali Association of Arizona has helped families with groceries and medical visits ([Phoenix New Times, 2017](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/many-somali-refugees-end-up-leaving-arizona-advocates-say-9237535/)).

Walalaha FC, a soccer team founded in 2008 by a Somali refugee, gives young African refugees a team and a community ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). Walalaha means "brothers" in Somali, and the team travels to play other refugee teams, including in Minnesota ([Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)).

A Somali community leader sat on the Phoenix Police Department's refugee advisory board until 2018 ([KJZZ, May 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful)). No Somali American has yet been found among Arizona's elected officials.

## What does the community face now?

**Schools and language.** A 2016 account described Somali pupils in Phoenix schools struggling under state limits on teaching in a pupil's first language ([Cronkite School Humphrey Fellows blog](https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2016/10/somali-community-phoenix-language-barriers-education)).

**Policing and trust.** In 2022, Phoenix police shot and killed a Somali former refugee who was throwing rocks at officers ([KJZZ, May 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful)). The county attorney filed no charges, and in November 2023 the city settled the family's federal lawsuit for $5.5 million ([KJZZ, November 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million)). A community leader said the man had a mental health problem and needed help, and pressed for independent police oversight ([KJZZ](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

## How is Phoenix tied to home?

Many young Somalis in Phoenix were born or raised in Kenyan camps, and many players on Walalaha FC have family still in Africa ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). Somali refugee arrivals nationwide fell from 9,030 in 2016 to 260 in 2018, which slowed family reunions ([DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Police shooting, 2022:** in September 2022 Phoenix police shot and killed a 34-year-old former Somali refugee who had been throwing rocks at officers near 19th and Glendale avenues; friends and family said he had mental health problems ([KJZZ, November 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million)). The Maricopa County Attorney's Office did not file charges. In 2023 the city agreed to pay the family US$5.5 million, and the police chief later fired the officer, finding the shooting out of policy ([KJZZ](https://kjzz.org/content/1876725/phoenix-police-chief-fires-officer-who-shot-ali-osman)).
- **Somali Bantu, 2003:** Phoenix was scheduled to receive 660 Somali Bantu refugees in the first resettlement round ([Gospel Herald, June 2003](https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/3050/20030605/first-somali-bantu-refugee-families-arrive-in-u-s.htm)).
- **Tucson:** the Somali Bantu Association of Tucson says community surveys count about 1,500 Somali Bantu in the city ([Idealist, SBATA profile](https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/71ecc4bc9e7142b1a397e9953eda17ce-somali-bantu-association-of-tucson-arizona-sbata-tucson)); an older Arizona Daily Star report gave about 800 ([Arizona Daily Star](https://tucson.com/news/local/article_5449b3c7-2f3e-5d20-b787-e85bdaac645a.html)).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Phoenix metro, Phoenix, Tempe, Arizona and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US38060). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Kyle Dowd, Cronkite News. Somali refugee soccer team Walalaha FC, Phoenix. 20 November 2019. [cronkitenews.azpbs.org](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Sanhareb Nano, Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix (Arizona State University). "From the Somali Highlands to Phoenix's New Frontier." April 2018. [visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Maggie Spear, The State Press. "Arizona offers a safe haven for newly displaced refugees." 26 June 2014. [statepress.com](https://www.statepress.com/article/2014/06/arizona-offers-a-safe-haven-for-newly-displaced-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Gregory Jaynes, Smithsonian. "Coming to America." January 2004. [smithsonianmag.com](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Matthew Casey, KJZZ. "Independent oversight of Phoenix police has been slow. But this ex-Somali refugee is still hopeful." 24 May 2023. [kjzz.org](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Bailey Netsch, Humphrey Fellows blog, Cronkite School (ASU). "The Somali community in Phoenix: language barriers in education." 2 October 2016. [cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu](https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2016/10/somali-community-phoenix-language-barriers-education). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Phoenix New Times. "Many Somali refugees end up leaving Arizona, advocates say." 2017. [phoenixnewtimes.com](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/many-somali-refugees-end-up-leaving-arizona-advocates-say-9237535/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Matthew Casey, KJZZ. "Phoenix settles lawsuit by family of former Somali refugee fatally shot by police for $5.5 million." 1 November 2023. [kjzz.org](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. KJZZ. "Phoenix settles lawsuit with family of former Somali refugee fatally shot by police for $5.5 million". Nov 2023. https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. KJZZ. Phoenix police chief fires officer over 2022 shooting. 2024. https://kjzz.org/content/1876725/phoenix-police-chief-fires-officer-who-shot-ali-osman. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Gospel Herald. "First Somali Bantu refugee families arrive in U.S.". 5 Jun 2003. https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/3050/20030605/first-somali-bantu-refugee-families-arrive-in-u-s.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Idealist. Somali Bantu Association of Tucson Arizona (SBATA). https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/71ecc4bc9e7142b1a397e9953eda17ce-somali-bantu-association-of-tucson-arizona-sbata-tucson. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Arizona Daily Star. Article on Tucson's Somali Bantu. https://tucson.com/news/local/article_5449b3c7-2f3e-5d20-b787-e85bdaac645a.html. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Qatar (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/qatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali officials describe a large, long-settled community in Qatar, but few are refugees: UNHCR counted only 8 Somali refugees there at the end of 2025. A Somalia–Qatar labour agreement has governed the hiring of Somali workers since 1983, and in 2025 the two governments agreed a plan to employ more than 10,000 young Somalis in Qatar.

## How many Somalis live in Qatar?

UNHCR counted 8 refugees from Somalia in Qatar at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Qatar](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=QAT)). The number has stayed at 5 to 15 since 2000, with up to 12 asylum seekers a year from 2003 to 2007 (same source).

A 2017 consultancy estimate of foreign residents by citizenship, collected by the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration programme, lists selected nationalities and does not include Somalis ([GLMM, foreign residents by citizenship, c. 2015-2016](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/qatar-estimates-foreign-residents-qatar-country-citizenship-selected-countries-c-2015-2016/)).

Somali officials describe a large, settled community. In a 2023 Doha News interview reported by Somalia's state news agency, Deputy Prime Minister Salah Jama said: "We have a very strong Somali community in Qatar" ([SONNA, 27 May 2023](https://sonna.so/en/qatar-can-play-significant-role-in-our-pursuit-of-peace-and-stability-somali-deputy-pm/)). The same report says many Somali families have lived in Qatar for generations.

## How did Somalis come to Qatar?

Most came to work. [Somalia and Qatar](/en/relations/qatar/) signed a labour agreement on 30 March 1983 to "regulate the recruitment of Somali workers in Qatar", according to the International Labour Organization's record of it ([ILO, Somalia–Qatar Agreement](https://www.ilo.org/resource/somalia-qatar-agreement)). The ILO lists a joint committee as its follow-up mechanism (same source).

Somali officials trace the links back further. Jama said in May 2023 that official relations between Qatar and Somalia span more than 100 years ([The Peninsula, 20 May 2023](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/20/05/2023/presidents-visit-to-qatar-was-successful-somali-deputy-pm)).

UNHCR's records show few Somalis sought refuge in Qatar after the central state collapsed in 1991 ([UNHCR API, Qatar](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=QAT)). For where most people went, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/) and [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## What do the labour agreements say?

- **1983:** Qatari employers' job offers go through the two labour ministries, and each worker signs an individual contract on a model attached to the agreement, under Qatari labour law ([Agreement text, Arabic, via ILO](https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40ed_protect/%40protrav/%40migrant/documents/legaldocument/wcms_382403.pdf)). The employer pays the worker's travel to Qatar and home again. Article 10 lets workers transfer their savings to Somalia under Qatar's financial rules. A joint committee of up to three members from each side meets at least every two years, and the agreement renews itself every four years (same source).
- **2019:** the 1983 agreement was "re-enacted" in late September 2019, [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) News reported ([Goobjoog, 13 November 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/ministry-of-labour-sign-agreement-with-qatar)). Each labour ministry named a six-member committee to carry it out, and the two sides agreed to build a database of Somali workers (same source).
- **2025:** in May 2025 a Somali delegation led by Labour Minister [Yusuf Mohamed](/en/people/yusuf-mahamud-ibrahim/) Aden met Qatar's labour ministry in Doha ([SONNA, 9 May 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-and-qatar-agree-on-plan-to-create-over-10000-jobs-for-somali-youth)). The talks produced a project to employ more than 10,000 young Somalis in Qatar, skilled and unskilled, [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) reported.

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Standard, reporting the same 2025 deal, said officials described it as a way to ease wide unemployment in Somalia while Qatar lacks foreign workers ([Somaliland Standard, 9 May 2025](https://somalilandstandard.com/somalia-qatar-sign-labor-pact-which-will-send-10-000-somali-youths-to-the-gulf-state)).

## How is the Somali community in Qatar organised?

In April 2017 Weyak, a Doha-based mental health organisation, held "Shida", the Fourth Annual Forum of the Somali Community in Qatar, with the Hersare Foundation ([The Peninsula, 13 May 2017](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/13/05/2017/Focus-on-mental-health-of-Somali-diaspora)). The paper reported that a large number of Qatar's Somali residents and their families attended, along with Somalia's deputy health minister. The 2017 event was the fourth in a yearly series.

From 22 to 24 July 2024 Doha hosted the Somali Diaspora Conference, opened by Somalia's Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) and Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs ([Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 July 2024](https://mofa.gov.qa/en/qatar/latest-articles/latest-news/details/2024/07/22/minister-of-state-for-foreign-affairs--somali-diaspora-conference-is-opportunity-to-discuss-ways-to-build-somalia--strengthen-its-economy)). Qatar's ministry said it was the first such conference held in an Arab country.

Somalia's foreign ministry said about 250 representatives of Somali communities attended, from Europe, the Americas and the Gulf ([Somali MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-concludes-diaspora-conference-urges-enhanced-economic-ties-with-qatar/); [Somali MFA, opening](https://web.mfa.gov.so/prime-minister-hamza-abdi-barre-inaugurates-somali-diaspora-conference-in-doha/)). The final statement called for regular diaspora meetings and one umbrella body for Somalis abroad ([The Peninsula, 26 July 2024](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/26/07/2024/somali-diaspora-conference-calls-for-strengthening-qatar-somalia-ties)).

## How did the 2017 Gulf crisis affect Somalis?

On 5 June 2017 Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar. Somalia declared itself neutral. "Somalia has taken a neutral position," a Somali embassy spokesman told Anadolu Agency, adding it would not end ties with Saudi Arabia or Qatar ([Anadolu Agency, 12 June 2017](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/senior-diplomat-somalia-will-not-sever-ties-with-qatar/839677)).

In July 2018 the European Parliament said Saudi Arabia and the UAE had stopped regular budget support to Somalia in retaliation for that neutrality ([Al Jazeera, 5 July 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/7/5/eu-slams-uae-retaliatory-acts-against-somalia-over-gulf-crisis)).

## How are Somalis in Qatar tied to home?

The 1983 agreement itself protects workers' right to send savings home ([Agreement text, via ILO](https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40ed_protect/%40protrav/%40migrant/documents/legaldocument/wcms_382403.pdf)). Ties also run through the state. Qatar's foreign ministry lists road projects it funded in Somalia, including Mogadishu–[Afgooye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) and Mogadishu–Jowhar, and the rebuilding of the Mogadishu municipality building ([Qatar MOFA, 22 July 2024](https://mofa.gov.qa/en/qatar/latest-articles/latest-news/details/2024/07/22/minister-of-state-for-foreign-affairs--somali-diaspora-conference-is-opportunity-to-discuss-ways-to-build-somalia--strengthen-its-economy)). Qatar News Agency says Qatari projects also helped educate about 300,000 students in Somalia ([QNA, 22 January 2024](https://qna.org.qa/en/News-Area/Special-News/2024-1/22/0054-report-qatar,-somalia-strategic-partnerships-for-a-prosperous-future)).

Families send money home. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of the economy, by the central bank's count ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The bank does not break this down by sending country.

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [UAE (Dubai)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Qatar, 1985 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=QAT). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Gulf Labour Markets and Migration (GLMM). "Qatar: Some estimates of foreign residents in Qatar by country of citizenship (selected countries, c. 2015-2016)." [gulfmigration.grc.net](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/qatar-estimates-foreign-residents-qatar-country-citizenship-selected-countries-c-2015-2016/). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. Somali National News Agency (SONNA). "'Qatar can play significant role in our pursuit of peace and stability': Somali Deputy PM." 27 May 2023. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/qatar-can-play-significant-role-in-our-pursuit-of-peace-and-stability-somali-deputy-pm/). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. International Labour Organization. "Somalia–Qatar Agreement," signed 30 March 1983. [ilo.org](https://www.ilo.org/resource/somalia-qatar-agreement). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Governments of Qatar and the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/). Agreement on regulating the recruitment of Somali workers to work in Qatar (Arabic text, from Qatar's Al Meezan legal portal), via ILO. [ilo.org](https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40ed_protect/%40protrav/%40migrant/documents/legaldocument/wcms_382403.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. The Peninsula (QNA). "President's visit to Qatar was successful: Somali Deputy PM." 20 May 2023. [thepeninsulaqatar.com](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/20/05/2023/presidents-visit-to-qatar-was-successful-somali-deputy-pm). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Goobjoog News. "Ministry of labour sign agreement with Qatar." 13 November 2019. [en.goobjoog.com](https://en.goobjoog.com/ministry-of-labour-sign-agreement-with-qatar). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. SONNA. "Somalia and Qatar Agree on Plan to Create Over 10,000 Jobs for Somali Youth." 9 May 2025. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-and-qatar-agree-on-plan-to-create-over-10000-jobs-for-somali-youth). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Somaliland Standard. "Somalia, Qatar sign labor pact which will send 10,000 Somali youths to the Gulf State." 9 May 2025. [somalilandstandard.com](https://somalilandstandard.com/somalia-qatar-sign-labor-pact-which-will-send-10-000-somali-youths-to-the-gulf-state). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. The Peninsula. "Focus on mental health of Somali diaspora." 13 May 2017. [thepeninsulaqatar.com](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/13/05/2017/Focus-on-mental-health-of-Somali-diaspora). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Qatar. "Minister of State for Foreign Affairs: Somali Diaspora Conference is Opportunity to Discuss Ways to Build Somalia, Strengthen Its Economy." 22 July 2024. [mofa.gov.qa](https://mofa.gov.qa/en/qatar/latest-articles/latest-news/details/2024/07/22/minister-of-state-for-foreign-affairs--somali-diaspora-conference-is-opportunity-to-discuss-ways-to-build-somalia--strengthen-its-economy). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Somali FM Concludes Diaspora Conference, Urges Enhanced Economic Ties with Qatar." July 2024. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-concludes-diaspora-conference-urges-enhanced-economic-ties-with-qatar/). Checked 12 November 2026.
13. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre Inaugurates Somali Diaspora Conference in Doha." July 2024. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/prime-minister-hamza-abdi-barre-inaugurates-somali-diaspora-conference-in-doha/). Checked 12 November 2026.
14. The Peninsula (QNA). "Somali Diaspora Conference calls for strengthening Qatar-Somalia ties." 26 July 2024. [thepeninsulaqatar.com](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/26/07/2024/somali-diaspora-conference-calls-for-strengthening-qatar-somalia-ties). Checked 12 November 2026.
15. Anadolu Agency. "Senior diplomat: Somalia will not sever ties with Qatar." 12 June 2017. [aa.com.tr](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/senior-diplomat-somalia-will-not-sever-ties-with-qatar/839677). Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Al Jazeera. "EU slams UAE retaliatory acts against Somalia over Gulf crisis." 5 July 2018. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/7/5/eu-slams-uae-retaliatory-acts-against-somalia-over-gulf-crisis). Checked 12 November 2026.
17. Qatar News Agency. "Report: Qatar, Somalia... Strategic Partnerships for a Prosperous Future." 22 January 2024. [qna.org.qa](https://qna.org.qa/en/News-Area/Special-News/2024-1/22/0054-report-qatar,-somalia-strategic-partnerships-for-a-prosperous-future). Checked 12 November 2026.
18. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Rochester, Minnesota (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The 2020 Census counted 3,945 Somali residents in Rochester, Minnesota, and the 2020–2024 survey about 3,300. Somali families began arriving in the 1990s, the community was already about 2,800 strong by a city estimate in 2002, and in January 2026 the city council voted 5–1 to reaffirm its support for Somali residents.

The 2020 Census counted 3,945 Somali residents in Rochester, Minnesota, the city of Mayo Clinic ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/)). The 2020–2024 survey estimated 3,306, and the community dates from the 1990s ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340); [Post Bulletin, September 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)).

## How many Somalis live in Rochester?

The 2020–2024 American Community Survey (ACS) counted 3,306 Rochester residents of Somali race or origin, plus or minus 849 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340)). Olmsted County had 3,360 and the Rochester metro area 3,375 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340)). Nearly every Somali resident of the county lives in the city.

The same survey counted 2,110 people of Somali ancestry and 1,320 born in Somalia in Rochester ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340); [ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340)). The state demographer put Rochester's Somali population at about 4,000 in 2020 ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/)).

Counts were already disputed twenty years ago. The 2000 Census found 1,131 Somalis in Rochester ([Post Bulletin, 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)). The city's planning director estimated about 1,800 in 1999 and up to 2,800 in 2002, using 758 pupils who spoke Somali at home ([Post Bulletin, 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)).

## How did Somalis come to Rochester?

Rochester's population doubled after 1980, mainly because of Mayo Clinic's growth ([MPR News, May 2019](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/30/in-rochester-helping-single-moms-rebound-from-tough-times)). Somali families followed Bosnian refugees to the city in the 1990s ([MinnPost, April 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)). The Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association (IMAA) estimated about 2,500 Somalis in Rochester as early as 1999 ([Post Bulletin, 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)).

Many came after first settling elsewhere in the United States. IMAA, founded about 1984, says a growing share of its clients are secondary migrants ([MinnPost, 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)). Food processing, hospitality and health care draw new arrivals to the area ([MinnPost, 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)).

Arrivals continue on a small scale. In 2025, Olmsted County received 12 of Minnesota's 545 new primary refugee arrivals ([Minnesota Department of Health, Refugee Health Report 2025](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf)). Somalia was the second-largest source country statewide that year, with 133 arrivals ([MDH, 2025](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf)).

The Minnesota Historical Society's Somali oral history project, recorded from 2013 to 2016, includes interviews in Rochester ([MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). For the journeys before resettlement, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## Work, health and money

In 2003, the African Development Center, which supports African-owned businesses, opened an office in Rochester ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/), a Somali restaurant on Marion Road SE, opened around 2015 and serves dishes such as suqaar with sabaayad and sambuusa ([Post Bulletin, July 2017](https://www.postbulletin.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/brava-gives-rochester-a-taste-of-somalia)).

Rochester's Somali community is the subject of long-running health research. Since 2004, the Rochester Healthy Community Partnership, a community and academic partnership, has run health research with Somali and other immigrant families ([Hanza et al., Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2016](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5665561)).

A 2018 survey by that partnership reached 646 Somali adults in Olmsted County ([Mohamed et al., Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235)). Some 93% were born outside the United States, 90% had health insurance, and 92% had family income under $50,000 ([Mohamed et al., 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235)). Respondents named diabetes and high blood pressure as the community's top health concerns ([Mohamed et al., 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235)).

Since 2014, the Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam has given emergency cash and small loans to single mothers, with a focus on Muslim families ([MPR News, 2019](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/30/in-rochester-helping-single-moms-rebound-from-tough-times)). Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Rochester Somali Community Center launched as a non-profit in November 2023 and plans a building for youth sport and homework help ([KTTC, November 2023](https://www.kttc.com/2023/11/13/new-local-somali-nonprofit-organization-celebrates-its-launch/)). It held a Somali Independence Day festival in July 2024, with music, dance and an eight-team football tournament ([KTTC, July 2024](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/)).

The Somali American Social Service Association organised an information event in December 2025 with immigration, education, health and business speakers ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/20/somali-community-rochester-holds-informational-event-amid-uncertainty/)). Somali Community Resettlement Services, which has a Rochester office, used a 2020–2021 state grant to teach Somali language and dance to 102 students ([Minnesota Legacy Amendment](https://www.legacy.mn.gov/projects/somali-community-resettlement-services)).

IMAA employs Somali-speaking staff, and in 2019 had 31 full-time workers speaking about 15 languages ([MinnPost, 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)). In 2015, Rochester Somali leaders publicly dismissed an al-Shabaab video threatening US shopping malls as a "desperate threat" ([Med City Beat, February 2015](https://www.medcitybeat.com/news-blog/2015/2/24/somali-leaders-in-rochester-call-terror-groups-video-a-desperate-threat)).

## What does the community face now?

**National remarks, and a city's reply.** In early December 2025, the US president announced more immigration enforcement aimed at Somalis in Minnesota ([KTTC, 2 December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/03/rochester-somali-community-leader-responds-federal-immigration-crackdown-expected-twin-cities/?outputType=amp)). He had repeatedly called Somalis "garbage" ([KTTC, 8 December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp)). Mayor Kim Norton said she stood with Somali residents and that blaming a whole community for fraud was wrong ([KTTC, 3 December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/)). She said local police would not assist federal immigration detentions ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/)).

**A rally.** On 7 December 2025, residents met at 125 Live under the banner "We are home and here to stay" ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp)). The Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH hosted, and the mayor and the NAACP Rochester Branch president spoke ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp)).

**Council and county votes.** In January 2026, the city council voted 5–1 to reaffirm its support for the Somali community ([Post Bulletin, January 2026](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far)). The one objection was to sending the statement to lawmakers, not to its content ([Post Bulletin](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far)). Olmsted County commissioners unanimously signed a similar statement on 16 December 2025 ([Post Bulletin](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far)).

Nationwide, 705 Somalis held Temporary Protected Status, by an August 2025 congressional report ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/)). About 87% of foreign-born Somali Minnesotans are naturalised US citizens ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/)).

## How is Rochester tied to home?

The July 2024 festival marked 64 years since independence on 1 July 1960 ([KTTC, 2024](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/)). Organisers said it was meant to connect American-born children with their heritage ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/)).

Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). For the state's main community, see [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Related pages

- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [St. Cloud, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Rochester city, Olmsted County and Rochester metro, via Census Reporter. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Minnesota Department of Health. "Minnesota Refugee Health Report 2025." 2026. [health.state.mn.us](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Minnesota Historical Society. Anduin Wilhide, "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota," MNopedia. 2018, updated 2026. [mnhs.org](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Post Bulletin. "Census counts 11,100 Somalis." 17 September 2002. [postbulletin.com](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. KTTC. "By the numbers: Minnesota's Somali population, according to Census data." 4 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. KTTC. "Rochester mayor denounces president's comments and pledges support for local Somali residents." 3 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Andy Steiner, MinnPost. "'We live together': how a group dedicated to helping Rochester's immigrants and refugees has evolved." 29 April 2019. [minnpost.com](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. MPR News. "In Rochester, helping single moms rebound from tough times." 30 May 2019. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/30/in-rochester-helping-single-moms-rebound-from-tough-times). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Hanza MM, et al. "Lessons learned from community-led recruitment of immigrants and refugee participants for a randomized, community-based participatory research study." Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 18(5), 2016. [PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5665561). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Mohamed AA, et al. "An assessment of health priorities among a community sample of Somali adults." Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 24(2), 2022 (online 2021). [PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Kayley Gamm, Post Bulletin. "Brava gives Rochester a taste of Somalia." 13 July 2017. [postbulletin.com](https://www.postbulletin.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/brava-gives-rochester-a-taste-of-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. KTTC. "New local Somali nonprofit organization celebrates its launch." 12 November 2023. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2023/11/13/new-local-somali-nonprofit-organization-celebrates-its-launch/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Matt Rineer, KTTC. "Somali Independence Day celebrated in Rochester." 6 July 2024. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. KTTC. "Rochester Somali community gathers for informational event amid uncertainty." 19 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/20/somali-community-rochester-holds-informational-event-amid-uncertainty/). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission, Legacy Amendment. "Somali Community Resettlement Services" (Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, FY2020). [legacy.mn.gov](https://www.legacy.mn.gov/projects/somali-community-resettlement-services). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Med City Beat. "Somali leaders in Rochester call terror group's video a 'desperate threat'." 24 February 2015. [medcitybeat.com](https://www.medcitybeat.com/news-blog/2015/2/24/somali-leaders-in-rochester-call-terror-groups-video-a-desperate-threat). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. KTTC. "Rochester Somali community leader responds to federal immigration crackdown expected in Twin Cities." 2 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/03/rochester-somali-community-leader-responds-federal-immigration-crackdown-expected-twin-cities/?outputType=amp). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Grant Jones, KTTC. "Rochester rallies around Somali community amid federal immigration concerns." 8 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Post Bulletin. "Rochester City Council reaffirms support for Somali community; one member worries resolution goes a step too far." 6 January 2026. [postbulletin.com](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# San Diego (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/san-diego/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,300 Somali people in San Diego County, most in the City Heights area of San Diego. Local leaders and reporters give much higher estimates, from 10,000 to 20,000, and the community dates mainly from refugee resettlement in the 1990s.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 3,300 Somali people in San Diego County, most of them in the city of San Diego ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US06073)). Local estimates run from 10,000 to 20,000, centred on City Heights ([Voice of San Diego, 2013](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/); [KPBS, 2010](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un)).

## How many Somalis live in San Diego?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 3,304 people in San Diego County who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another (margin of error 935) ([US Census Bureau, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US06073)). It counted 3,222 by Somali ancestry and 1,338 people born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=05000US06073); [ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=05000US06073)).

Inside the city of San Diego, the same survey counted 2,840 by race and 2,585 by ancestry ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, city of San Diego](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US0666000); [B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=16000US0666000)). California as a whole had 5,916 by race ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, California](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US06)).

Local figures are much higher. KPBS reported "nearly 20,000" Somalis in 2010 ([KPBS, September 2010](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un)). Voice of San Diego put the community above 10,000 in 2013, without naming a source ([Voice of San Diego, February 2013](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/)). KPBS still describes San Diego as having the second-largest Somali refugee population in the country, after Minnesota ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation)). The survey does not support that ranking today: Ohio, Washington and several other states count more ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)).

## How did Somalis come to San Diego?

San Diego's resettlement network began in 1975, when the International Rescue Committee (IRC) helped Vietnamese refugees housed at Camp Pendleton ([Voice of San Diego, 2013](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/)). In the early 1980s the city received refugees from Ethiopia, many of them ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden ([Voice of San Diego](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/)).

A small group of Somali military personnel trained with US forces at Camp Pendleton and stayed after the war began in 1991 ([Voice of San Diego](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/)). A large wave of Somali refugees followed in the 1990s ([KPBS, 2010](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un)). The IRC's local director said family ties counted for more than the cost of living in placement decisions ([Voice of San Diego](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/)).

About 400 Somali Bantu refugees came to San Diego from 2004 onwards, as part of a large US resettlement ([Voice of San Diego, June 2009](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2009/06/04/building-a-farm-and-saving-a-culture/)). With the IRC, their community organisation secured land in 2007 for New Roots Community Farm, a two-acre plot on 54th Street ([Voice of San Diego, 2009](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2009/06/04/building-a-farm-and-saving-a-culture/)).

New arrivals are now few. In the 2025 fiscal year, 16 refugees from Somalia were placed in all of California ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)). San Diego County as a whole received more than 9,600 refugees of all origins from 2020 to 2023 ([Voice of San Diego, August 2025](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/08/21/can-san-diego-remain-a-hub-for-refugees/)).

## Work and business

In 2010, a community director estimated Somali unemployment in San Diego at 40 to 50% ([KPBS, 2010](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un)). Common jobs then included hotel work, housekeeping, cleaning and security, often part-time ([KPBS](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un)). Many families had also bought homes and businesses, many in City Heights ([KPBS](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un)).

The community's shops and mosques cluster in City Heights, in an area locals call "Little Mogadishu" ([Voice of San Diego, 2025](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/08/21/can-san-diego-remain-a-hub-for-refugees/)). Somali women also run home child care centres in the city ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/01/08/somali-child-care-providers-in-san-diego-said-strangers-are-surveilling-their-centers)).

Money sent home matters to families in Somalia. The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). From 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to transfers paid in cash or money orders ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Somali Family Service of San Diego began in 2000 with a youth programme set up as gang violence rose ([KPBS, November 2025](https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2025/11/19/san-diego-nonprofit-combats-hate-crimes-with-education-and-community-programs)). It now serves at least 10,000 people a year, in more than 15 languages ([KPBS, 2025](https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2025/11/19/san-diego-nonprofit-combats-hate-crimes-with-education-and-community-programs)).

The Horn of Africa community centre has served East African refugees since at least 2010 ([KPBS, February 2013](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/18/somalis-raised-city-heights-consider-returning-the)). The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), based in City Heights, and CAIR San Diego spoke for families when TPS was ended ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation)).

Among elected officials, City Council member Sean Elo-Rivera said in January 2026 that treating every Somali as a fraud suspect "is racist" ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/01/08/somali-child-care-providers-in-san-diego-said-strangers-are-surveilling-their-centers)). He pledged to work with police on reports of harassment ([KPBS](https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/01/08/somali-child-care-providers-in-san-diego-said-strangers-are-surveilling-their-centers)).

## What does the community face now?

**Harassment of child care providers.** In January 2026, a care workers' union counted at least seven incidents of strangers filming or following Somali providers within a week ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/01/08/somali-child-care-providers-in-san-diego-said-strangers-are-surveilling-their-centers)). The union urged providers to report them to police as hate incidents ([KPBS](https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/01/08/somali-child-care-providers-in-san-diego-said-strangers-are-surveilling-their-centers)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia was designated for TPS on 16 September 1991, and the termination took effect on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 Somalis held TPS nationally, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)). KPBS reported that only a small number live in San Diego ([KPBS, January 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation)).

**A court case remembered.** In 2013 a federal jury in San Diego convicted four local men of sending, or conspiring to send, $10,900 to al-Shabaab ([US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, United States v. Moalin, 2020](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/13-50572/13-50572-2020-09-02.html)). In 2020 the appeals court upheld the convictions but held that the NSA's bulk phone-records programme had violated federal law ([Ninth Circuit](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/13-50572/13-50572-2020-09-02.html)). The case shocked many in the community, and many there had themselves fled al-Shabaab ([KPBS, November 2013](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/11/18/three-local-somalis-get-prison-terms-sending-money)).

## How is San Diego tied to home?

After the US recognised Somalia's government in January 2013, some young people raised in City Heights planned to work there ([KPBS, February 2013](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/18/somalis-raised-city-heights-consider-returning-the)). A student group from San Diego State University surveyed rural schools in Somalia that winter ([KPBS](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/18/somalis-raised-city-heights-consider-returning-the)).

Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Local estimate, 2025:** local Somali leaders estimated about 15,000 people of Somali descent in San Diego, the Union-Tribune reported ([San Diego Union-Tribune, 2025, via ArcaMax](https://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/s-3959094)). East County Magazine has given 15,000 to 20,000 ([East County Magazine](https://eastcountymagazine.org/?p=10540)). The census counts about 3,300.

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), San Diego County, city of San Diego, California and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US06073). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Megan Burks, Voice of San Diego. "San Diego's Somali population, explained." 22 February 2013. [voiceofsandiego.org](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/02/22/san-diegos-somali-population-explained/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Amita Sharma, KPBS. "Somalis adjust to US life, but integration and jobs still problems." 28 September 2010. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/28/somali-refugees-adjust-life-us-assimilation-and-un). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. John Carroll, KPBS. "Anxiety rises in San Diego's Somali community over TPS revocation." 14 January 2026. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/01/14/anxiety-rises-in-san-diegos-somali-community-over-tps-revocation). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Voice of San Diego. "Building a farm and saving a culture." 4 June 2009. [voiceofsandiego.org](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2009/06/04/building-a-farm-and-saving-a-culture/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Voice of San Diego. "Can San Diego remain a hub for refugees?" 21 August 2025. [voiceofsandiego.org](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/08/21/can-san-diego-remain-a-hub-for-refugees/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Katie Hyson, KPBS. "Somali child care providers in San Diego say strangers are surveilling their centers." 8 January 2026. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/01/08/somali-child-care-providers-in-san-diego-said-strangers-are-surveilling-their-centers). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Audy McAfee, KPBS. "San Diego nonprofit combats hate crimes with education and community programs." 19 November 2025. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2025/11/19/san-diego-nonprofit-combats-hate-crimes-with-education-and-community-programs). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Megan Burks, KPBS. "Somalis raised in City Heights consider returning to their homeland." 18 February 2013. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/18/somalis-raised-city-heights-consider-returning-the). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. United States v. Moalin, No. 13-50572, opinion of 2 September 2020. [law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/13-50572/13-50572-2020-09-02.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Amita Sharma, KPBS. "Three local Somalis get prison terms for sending money to terrorists." 18 November 2013. [kpbs.org](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/11/18/three-local-somalis-get-prison-terms-sending-money). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. San Diego Union-Tribune, 2025, syndicated via ArcaMax. https://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/s-3959094. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. East County Magazine. Article on San Diego's East African community. https://eastcountymagazine.org/?p=10540. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Sheffield (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/sheffield/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sheffield's Somali community dates from the 1930s and grew when Somalis came to work in the steel industry from the 1940s to the 1960s. Census 2021 counted 4,696 residents who wrote Somali or Somalilander, mostly in Burngreave, and 2,575 born in Somalia.

Sheffield's Somali community is one of the oldest inland communities in Britain. The first Somalis settled in the 1930s. More came to work in steel in the 1950s and 1960s ([Sheffield City Council, Somali community study guide, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Sheffield?

The census gives several counts:

- **Somali or Somalilander write-ins:** 4,696, or 0.8% of 556,516 residents ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). Of these, 1,800 wrote "Somalilander", 38% (same table).
- **Born in Somalia:** 2,575 in 2021 ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)), up from 1,333 in 2001 ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)).
- **Main language Somali:** 1,384 residents aged 3 and over ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000019&measures=20100)).

Earlier estimates varied widely. The council's archive guide records 2,000 Somalis in 1995, between 1,400 and 10,000 in 2003, and 2,372 in 2011 ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). A 2021 local report gave about 5,000 ([Sheffield Tribune, 25 September 2021](https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/we-came-here-and-we-started-our-lives/)).

## Where in Sheffield do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, Somali and Somalilander together ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000019TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)):

- **Burngreave:** 1,520
- **Darnall:** 624
- **Broomhill and Sharrow Vale:** 484
- **Firth Park:** 397
- **Walkley:** 371
- **Nether Edge and Sharrow:** 279

In 2001, most Somalia-born residents lived in Broomhall ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). The council names Broomhall, Burngreave, Darnall and Firth Park as the main community centres (same guide).

## How did Somalis come to Sheffield?

**Seamen and the 1930s.** There is evidence that some Somalis settled in Burngreave in the 1930s ([Sheffield Museums, Burngreave Voices](https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/burngreave-voices/immigration.html)). Somali seamen had settled in Sheffield as well as port towns before 1960 ([Hirsi, University of Minnesota, 2026](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content)). See [The first Somalis abroad](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/).

**Steel, 1940s to 1960s.** Labour shortages after the Second World War drew Somalis to Sheffield, often to work in steel ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). After the Merchant Navy declined in the 1960s, many seamen moved north to the steel city ([Sheffield Tribune, 2021](https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/we-came-here-and-we-started-our-lives/)). On 30 June 1961, a celebration of the first anniversary of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) was held at the Azena Ballroom, Gleadless ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)).

**Family reunion and refugees, from 1988.** When war broke out in 1988, UK family reunion rules let relatives of Sheffield Somali families join them ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). Many 1990s refugees chose Sheffield because a community already existed there (same guide). In 1991 a local trust worked to reunite Sheffield families with relatives fleeing the war (same guide).

Census 2021 shows when Sheffield's Somalia-born residents arrived ([ONS Census 2021, year of arrival, Sheffield](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000019&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk)):

- Before 1981: 18
- 1981 to 1990: 188
- 1991 to 2000: 637
- 2001 to 2010: 1,253
- 2011 to 2021: 480

The 2000s wave included people moving on from mainland Europe. In 2021, 271 Somalia-born residents held a passport from a smaller EU country ([ONS Census 2021, passports held, Sheffield](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000019&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a)). See [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/).

## Do Somalis in Sheffield have work?

A significant share of the community worked in the steel industry, the council's archive guide says ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). No Sheffield-only Somali employment rate has been published. Across England and Wales in 2021, 10.3% of Somalis aged 16 to 64 were unemployed, against 4.4% overall ([ONS, 4 October 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Local studies have followed this closely. The guide lists a 2000 report on Somali education, training and job needs, and 2006 community research ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). In 2021, 1,904 of 2,575 Somalia-born residents held a UK passport ([ONS Census 2021, passports held, Sheffield](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000019&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Sheffield?

**Lord Mayors.** [Magid Magid](/en/people/magid-magid/) (Green) became Lord Mayor in May 2018, the city's first Somali-born mayor and its youngest ([The New Arab, 19 May 2018](https://www.newarab.com/features/meet-sheffields-first-somali-lord-mayor-magid-magid)). He came to Sheffield aged five after months in an Ethiopian refugee camp (same article).

Councillor Safiya Saeed (Labour, Burngreave) became the city's 128th Lord Mayor on 19 May 2025 ([Sheffield City Council, 2025](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/welcoming-safiya-saeed-new-right-worshipful-lord-mayor-sheffield)). She came to Sheffield in 1985 and is the second Lord Mayor of Somali heritage ([Hyphen, 3 June 2025](https://hyphenonline.com/2025/06/03/safiya-saeed-first-black-muslim-woman-lord-mayor-sheffield/)).

**Organisations.** The council's archive guide dates these groups ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)):

- **1981:** Somali Community and Cultural Association (Israac)
- **1987:** Somali Community Association
- **1994:** Somali Women's Association and Welfare Group
- **2000:** Somali-Tec, a South Yorkshire umbrella for Somali trainers
- **2007:** Somali Community and Cultural School began Somali classes at King Edward VII school

For 2025 to 2026, the Lord Mayor chose Israac as her charity ([Sheffield City Council, Lord Mayor](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/lord-mayor)).

## What do Somalis in Sheffield face now?

- **Housing, 2021:** 58.8% of Somali households in England and Wales were overcrowded, against 8.4% overall ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Language:** 1,384 residents gave Somali as their main language in 2021 ([Nomis, TS024](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000019&measures=20100)).
- **Health:** local studies on Somali mental health (1998) and TB (2010) are held in the city archives ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)).

## How is Sheffield tied to home?

Sheffield Somalis held Independence Day celebrations at the Town Hall in June 1986 ([Sheffield City Council, 2015](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf)). On 2 April 2014 the city council passed a motion calling on the UK government to recognise [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([UNPO, 2014](https://unpo.org/article/17010)). A petition from Sheffield's Somaliland community backed it (same report).

Burngreave residents pool money for weddings, travel and funerals, a 2021 report found ([Sheffield Tribune, 2021](https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/we-came-here-and-we-started-our-lives/)). For money sent home, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/).

## Related pages

- [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/)
- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [Cardiff (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/cardiff/)
- [Manchester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/manchester/)
- [Leicester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/leicester/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)

## Sources

1. Sheffield City Council, Libraries Archives and Information. "Sources for the Study of Sheffield's Somali Community." v1.2, September 2015. [sheffield.gov.uk](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Somali%20%20Community%20Study%20Guide%20v1-2.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities and Sheffield wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100) · [wards](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000019TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth: Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS024, Main language (detailed), Sheffield. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2043_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=E08000019&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. ONS. Census 2021 custom datasets: Somalia-born residents of Sheffield by year of arrival and by passports held. [Year of arrival](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000019&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk) · [Passports](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=ltla,E08000019&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_27a). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Sheffield Tribune. "'We came here and we started our lives anew'." 25 September 2021. [sheffieldtribune.co.uk](https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/we-came-here-and-we-started-our-lives/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Sheffield Museums. "Burngreave Voices: Immigration." [sheffieldmuseums.org.uk](https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/burngreave-voices/immigration.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Hirsi, I. "The First Somali Diaspora: A Transnational History of Migration, Race, and Colonialism." PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, 2026. [conservancy.umn.edu](https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e55f591b-f183-4b83-aaef-5e9433da9155/content). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. The New Arab. "'Anything is possible': Meet Sheffield's first [Somali Lord Mayor](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/) Magid Magid." 19 May 2018. [newarab.com](https://www.newarab.com/features/meet-sheffields-first-somali-lord-mayor-magid-magid). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Sheffield City Council. "Welcoming Safiya Saeed, the new Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Sheffield," 19 May 2025 · "Lord Mayor." [sheffield.gov.uk](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/welcoming-safiya-saeed-new-right-worshipful-lord-mayor-sheffield) · [sheffield.gov.uk](https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/lord-mayor). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Hyphen. "Sheffield's first Black Muslim woman lord mayor tells of pride in her new role." 3 June 2025. [hyphenonline.com](https://hyphenonline.com/2025/06/03/safiya-saeed-first-black-muslim-woman-lord-mayor-sheffield/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). "Somaliland: Sheffield Recognizes Independent Somaliland." April 2014. [unpo.org](https://unpo.org/article/17010). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# St. Cloud, Minnesota (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/st-cloud/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 7,700 Somali people in the city of St. Cloud and 9,700 in its metro area, the largest Somali community in Minnesota outside the Twin Cities. Most families came from the early 2000s for factory and meat-plant jobs, and in November 2026 St. Cloud elected its first Somali American state lawmaker.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 7,659 Somali people in the city of St. Cloud and 9,721 in its metro area ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2756896,05000US27145,31000US41060)). It is Minnesota's largest Somali community outside the Twin Cities, and it grew mainly from the early 2000s ([Sahan Journal, October 2020](https://sahanjournal.com/changing-the-narrative/farhiya-iman-st-cloud-minnesota-somali-refugees/)).

## How many Somalis live in St. Cloud?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 7,659 people in St. Cloud who named Somali as a race group, with a margin of error of 1,101 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2756896,05000US27145,31000US41060)). Stearns County had 9,051 and the St. Cloud metro area 9,721 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2756896,05000US27145,31000US41060)).

Other questions give lower counts. The same survey found 3,560 people of Somali ancestry in the city and 2,305 people born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=16000US2756896,05000US27145,31000US41060); [ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=16000US2756896,05000US27145,31000US41060)). The gap means many Somali residents were born in the United States or answer the ancestry question another way.

Schools show the same growth. In 2010, Somali students were about 10% of the St. Cloud Area School District's roughly 10,000 students ([MPR News, March 2010](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/03/15/st-cloud-tensions)). By 2022, about 40% of the district's kindergartners spoke a language other than English at home ([MPR News, November 2022](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/11/27/st-cloud-schools-to-offer-states-first-somali-language-immersion-program)).

## How did Somalis come to St. Cloud?

Around 2003, only about 20 Somali families lived in St. Cloud, and they prayed in a converted house ([Sahan Journal, 2020](https://sahanjournal.com/changing-the-narrative/farhiya-iman-st-cloud-minnesota-somali-refugees/)). Some came as refugees straight from East Africa, but many moved from other US cities for meatpacking and factory jobs ([Star Tribune, 2018](https://www.startribune.com/immigration-and-the-heartland-minnesota-s-smaller-cities-are-on-balance-congenial/503927222/)).

Resettlement then added steady numbers. Minnesota Department of Health figures show nearly 1,400 refugees placed in Stearns County from 2009 to 2018, over 90% from Somalia ([Sahan Journal, 2020](https://sahanjournal.com/changing-the-narrative/farhiya-iman-st-cloud-minnesota-somali-refugees/)). Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota was the main resettlement agency ([MPR News, November 2017](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/07/st-cloud-rejects-moratorium-refugee-resettlement)).

St. Cloud still draws families who move from other states. In 2025, Stearns County received 44 new primary refugee arrivals and 57 secondary arrivals, the most of any Minnesota county ([Minnesota Department of Health, Refugee Health Report 2025](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf)). Of the 223 secondary refugees reported statewide that year, 165 were from Somalia ([MDH, 2025](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf)).

The Minnesota Historical Society's Somali oral history project, recorded from 2013 to 2016, includes interviews in St. Cloud ([MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). For the journeys before resettlement, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## Work and money

Early jobs were on factory and processing lines. In 2003, a federal charge on behalf of 165 Somali Muslim workers at the Electrolux freezer plant in St. Cloud concerned sunset prayer breaks ([US EEOC, September 2003](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-and-electrolux-reach-voluntary-resolution-class-religious-accommodation-case)). Electrolux agreed to allow the prayer, provide Somali translation and donate to the Islamic Center in St. Cloud ([US EEOC, 2003](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-and-electrolux-reach-voluntary-resolution-class-religious-accommodation-case)).

In 2008, the EEOC settled religious discrimination suits for Somali Muslim workers at the Gold'n Plump poultry plant in Cold Spring, near St. Cloud ([US EEOC, November 2008](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/goldn-plump-and-work-connection-settle-suits-eeoc-religious-discrimination)). The company and a staffing agency paid $365,000 and added a paid prayer break to each shift ([US EEOC, 2008](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/goldn-plump-and-work-connection-settle-suits-eeoc-religious-discrimination)).

Somali workers later organised at the Pilgrim's Pride plant in Cold Spring and the Jennie-O plant in Melrose ([Sahan Journal, August 2019](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/in-fight-for-better-working-conditions-somalis-find-their-voice/)). The Greater Minnesota Worker Center, founded in St. Cloud in 2013, helps low-wage workers learn their rights ([Sahan Journal, 2019](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/in-fight-for-better-working-conditions-somalis-find-their-voice/)).

Today Somali residents also run shops, cafés and day cares; Waamo Café is a well-known meeting place ([Sahan Journal and MPR News, October 2024](https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/st-cloud-somali-community-political-influence/)). In late December 2025, foundations led by the Initiative Foundation gave rapid-response grants to Somali and East African businesses in central Minnesota ([St. Cloud Times via Yahoo News, March 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-operations-leave-st-clouds-083030671.html)).

Money sent home matters to families here as everywhere. Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

In December 2024, the city council unanimously appointed Hudda Ibrahim to the Ward 3 seat, making her the first Somali American on the council ([MPR News, December 2024](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/03/hudda-ibrahim-st-cloud-city-council)). She was born in Somalia, teaches at St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and wrote a 2017 book on Somali Minnesotans ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/03/hudda-ibrahim-st-cloud-city-council)).

In November 2026, Abdi Daisane won House District 14A with about 52% of the vote ([MPR News, 4 November 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway)). He is a small business owner and St. Cloud's first Somali American state lawmaker ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway)). He had lost the same race in 2024 ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway)).

Political views in the community vary. Local organisers told Sahan Journal and MPR News that many Somali residents hold conservative social views, and both parties have courted their votes ([Sahan Journal and MPR News, 2024](https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/st-cloud-somali-community-political-influence/)). The Somali American Rights Coalition held its first press conference in February 2026, and St. Cloud Somali Community Radio covered it ([St. Cloud Times via Yahoo News, 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-operations-leave-st-clouds-083030671.html)).

## What does the community face now?

**Council votes on refugees.** In 2017, a council member proposed a pause on refugee resettlement until the resettlement agency proved it met federal rules ([MPR News, 2017](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/07/st-cloud-rejects-moratorium-refugee-resettlement)). The council rejected it 6–1 on 6 November 2017, after declaring St. Cloud a "just and welcoming community" two weeks earlier ([MPR News, 2017](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/07/st-cloud-rejects-moratorium-refugee-resettlement); [MPR News, November 2018](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/11/12/stcloud-minnesota-somali-refugees-election-division)).

**Immigration enforcement, 2025–2026.** Federal immigration agents surged into Minnesota in late 2025, and St. Cloud may have been their biggest focus outside the Twin Cities ([St. Cloud Times via Yahoo News, 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-operations-leave-st-clouds-083030671.html)). Somali residents were detained, and a strip mall of Somali-owned shops drew wide attention after an encounter with agents ([St. Cloud Times via Yahoo News](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-operations-leave-st-clouds-083030671.html)).

**A city's answer.** On 26 January 2026, about 200 people filled the council chamber, and the council passed Council Member Ibrahim's welcoming resolution 6–1 ([MPR News, January 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/27/st-cloud-city-council-punts-resolution-supporting-law-enforcement)). Mayor Jake Anderson told residents he shared their concerns and urged them to file formal complaints ([MPR News, 2026](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/27/st-cloud-city-council-punts-resolution-supporting-law-enforcement)).

**Schools.** In 2010, Somali students reported being taunted at Technical High School, and critics asked for stronger anti-bias teaching ([MPR News, 2010](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/03/15/st-cloud-tensions)). In 2022 the district announced what is believed to be Minnesota's first Somali-language immersion programme, for kindergartners from fall 2023 ([MPR News, 2022](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/11/27/st-cloud-schools-to-offer-states-first-somali-language-immersion-program)).

**The 2016 mall attack.** On the night of 17 September 2016, a man stabbed 10 people at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud before an off-duty police officer shot him dead ([MPR News, 28 September 2016](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/28/st-cloud-somali-community-seeks-answers-in-mall-stabbing)). He was a 20-year-old Somali American, according to news reports. The FBI took the lead in the investigation ([MPR News, 2016](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/28/st-cloud-somali-community-seeks-answers-in-mall-stabbing)). FBI Director James Comey told Congress the attacker appeared "at least in part" motivated by "inspiration from radical Islamic groups", and said an ISIS claim of responsibility was not decisive ([FOX 9, 28 September 2016](https://fox9.com/news/fbi-st-cloud-mall-attack-in-part-motivated-by-extremist-groups)). No one else was charged, and there is no court record of the attack.

Somali community leaders condemned the stabbings and said they feared a backlash ([Star Tribune, 2016](https://www.startribune.com/after-mall-stabbing-a-show-of-unity-in-st-cloud/394187551)). Students and residents held unity rallies, and community members asked the authorities to release the security video ([MPR News, 2016](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/28/st-cloud-somali-community-seeks-answers-in-mall-stabbing)).

**Other reported figures.** English learners made up about 21.7% of the school district's pupils in September 2025, the district reported, and Sahan Journal reports that about three-quarters of the district's multilingual learners speak Somali ([Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/?p=12932)).

## How is St. Cloud tied to home?

Somali-language news is produced locally for St. Cloud listeners ([Sahan Journal and MPR News, 2024](https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/st-cloud-somali-community-political-influence/)). The school district began a Somali course for native speakers in 2020, and about 40 students took it in 2021 ([MPR News, 2022](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/11/27/st-cloud-schools-to-offer-states-first-somali-language-immersion-program)).

Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). For the state's main community, see [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Related pages

- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Rochester, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), St. Cloud city, Stearns County and St. Cloud metro, via Census Reporter. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2756896,05000US27145,31000US41060). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Minnesota Department of Health. "Minnesota Refugee Health Report 2025." 2026. [health.state.mn.us](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Minnesota Historical Society. Anduin Wilhide, "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota," MNopedia. 2018, updated 2026. [mnhs.org](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "EEOC and Electrolux reach voluntary resolution in class religious accommodation case." 24 September 2003. [eeoc.gov](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-and-electrolux-reach-voluntary-resolution-class-religious-accommodation-case). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "Gold'n Plump and The Work Connection settle suits by EEOC for religious discrimination." 12 November 2008. [eeoc.gov](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/goldn-plump-and-work-connection-settle-suits-eeoc-religious-discrimination). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Mike Moen, Sahan Journal. "Nativists in St. Cloud have told refugees they're not welcome…" 27 October 2020. [sahanjournal.com](https://sahanjournal.com/changing-the-narrative/farhiya-iman-st-cloud-minnesota-somali-refugees/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Star Tribune. "Immigration and the heartland: Minnesota's smaller cities are, on balance, congenial." 2018. [startribune.com](https://www.startribune.com/immigration-and-the-heartland-minnesota-s-smaller-cities-are-on-balance-congenial/503927222/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Ibrahim Hirsi, Sahan Journal. "In fight for better working conditions, Somalis find their voice." 23 August 2019. [sahanjournal.com](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/in-fight-for-better-working-conditions-somalis-find-their-voice/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Kirsti Marohn, MPR News with Sahan Journal. "St. Cloud Somali community seeks political influence, but not all share same views." 1 October 2024. [sahanjournal.com](https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/st-cloud-somali-community-political-influence/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. MPR News. "St. Cloud appoints first Somali American to city council." 3 December 2024. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/03/hudda-ibrahim-st-cloud-city-council). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Kirsti Marohn, MPR News. "Abdi Daisane, St. Cloud's first Somali American state lawmaker, defeats Mike Conway." 4 November 2026. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/11/04/abdi-daisane-st-clouds-first-somali-american-state-lawmaker-defeats-mike-conway). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. MPR News / Associated Press. "St. Cloud council rejects moratorium on refugee resettlement." 7 November 2017. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/07/st-cloud-rejects-moratorium-refugee-resettlement). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. MPR News. "Election exposes deep divide in St. Cloud over refugees." 12 November 2018. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/11/12/stcloud-minnesota-somali-refugees-election-division). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. MPR News. "St. Cloud City Council punts resolution supporting law enforcement." 27 January 2026. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/27/st-cloud-city-council-punts-resolution-supporting-law-enforcement). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Brian Arola, St. Cloud Times (via Yahoo News). "ICE operations leave St. Cloud's Somali community in fear." 1 March 2026. [yahoo.com](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-operations-leave-st-clouds-083030671.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Ambar Espinoza, MPR News. "Somali population, cultural tension rising in St. Cloud." 15 March 2010. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/03/15/st-cloud-tensions). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Kirsti Marohn, MPR News. "St. Cloud schools to offer state's first Somali language immersion program." 27 November 2022. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/11/27/st-cloud-schools-to-offer-states-first-somali-language-immersion-program). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. MPR News. "St. Cloud Somali community seeks answers in mall stabbing". 28 Sep 2016. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/28/st-cloud-somali-community-seeks-answers-in-mall-stabbing. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. FOX 9. "FBI: St. Cloud mall attack 'in part' motivated by extremist groups". 28 Sep 2016. https://fox9.com/news/fbi-st-cloud-mall-attack-in-part-motivated-by-extremist-groups. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Star Tribune. "After mall stabbing, a show of unity in St. Cloud". Sep 2016. https://www.startribune.com/after-mall-stabbing-a-show-of-unity-in-st-cloud/394187551. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Sahan Journal. Article on St. Cloud schools' multilingual learners. https://sahanjournal.com/?p=12932. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Sudan (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/sudan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 7,000 Somalis lived in Sudan when war broke out in April 2023, most of them university students, according to an IOM estimate. Somalia's government evacuated at least 242 of them through Ethiopia by 10 May 2023, and UNHCR counted 234 Somali refugees and 163 Somali asylum seekers in Sudan at the end of 2025.

## How many Somalis lived in Sudan?

About 7,000 Somali nationals were in Sudan before the fighting of April 2023, most of them university students, said an official of IOM, the UN migration agency ([Africanews, citing AP, 1 May 2023](https://www.africanews.com/2023/05/01/official-148-somalis-evacuated-from-sudan-via-ethiopia/)). Others were business people and migrants hoping to reach Europe (same source). Somalia's foreign ministry said most Somalis in Sudan were students and families ([Horn Observer, 10 May 2023](https://hornobserver.com/articles/2165/Somalia-evacuates-73-of-its-citizens-stranded-in-Sudan-on-a-fourth-flight)).

UNHCR counts only refugees and asylum seekers. Its yearly figures for Somalis in Sudan ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Sudan](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SUD)):

- **1992 to 1994:** 300 refugees each year.
- **2007:** 559 refugees and 279 asylum seekers.
- **2013:** 753 refugees, the highest count.
- **2023:** 422 refugees and 216 asylum seekers.
- **2025:** 234 refugees and 163 asylum seekers.

Sudan has been a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention since 22 February 1974 ([UN Treaty Collection](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en)).

## Why did Somali students go to Sudan?

After Somalia's central government collapsed in 1991, Sudan became a main destination for Somali scholars and students, TRT Afrika reported in December 2025 ([TRT Afrika, December 2025](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/ec1456135fed)). It said thousands found education in Khartoum, and named former President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) as an alumnus of Sudanese universities (same source).

The same report said Sudanese teachers and aid workers worked in Somalia for decades (same source). Somalia's education minister, Farah [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulkadir, recalled that Sudan once hosted thousands of Somali students (same source).

## What happened to Somalis when the war began in April 2023?

Fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces began on 15 April 2023 ([Anadolu Agency, 24 April 2023](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/african-countries-begin-evacuating-diplomats-citizens-from-sudan/2880366)). On 19 April [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported Somali students trapped in Khartoum and Omdurman, some without power and water for days ([Garowe Online, 19 April 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-students-trapped-in-sudan-conflict)).

Officials said there were no planes for an immediate evacuation, and spoke of buses to Ethiopia and South Sudan (same source). President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) urged both sides to negotiate. "Our painful experience in Somalia is that conflicts are easy to start but prove very difficult to end," he said (same source).

## How were Somalis evacuated?

Most went overland to Ethiopia, then flew home:

- **Late April 2023:** the first group, 27 Somalis including four women, crossed into Ethiopia at Metema ([Anadolu Agency, 24 April 2023](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/african-countries-begin-evacuating-diplomats-citizens-from-sudan/2880366)). Somalia's disaster agency, [SoDMA](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/), opened 24-hour hotlines for Somalis in Sudan (same source).
- **30 April 2023:** 148 Somalis, mostly students, landed in Mogadishu, and 45 of them went on to Garowe ([Africanews, citing AP, 1 May 2023](https://www.africanews.com/2023/05/01/official-148-somalis-evacuated-from-sudan-via-ethiopia/)). Foreign ministry official Abdurahman Nur Mohamed Diinaari credited IOM's help (same source).
- **9 May 2023:** a fourth flight carried 73 people, bringing the total to 242, officials said ([Horn Observer, 10 May 2023](https://hornobserver.com/articles/2165/Somalia-evacuates-73-of-its-citizens-stranded-in-Sudan-on-a-fourth-flight)).

The crossing at Metema was crowded with many nationalities. By mid-May 2023 more than 20,400 people of 66 nationalities had arrived there, IOM reported ([IOM Sudan situation update, 16 May 2023](https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/situation_reports/file/iom-sudan-situation-update_16-may-2023.pdf)). IOM gave 1,696 third-country nationals transport to Addis Ababa, including 412 helped to return home, without a breakdown by nationality (same source).

Evacuations continued later. In a release without a date, Somalia's foreign ministry said IOM helped bring home 14 Somalis from Sudan, seven to Mogadishu and seven to Hargeisa ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-evacuates-14-nationals-from-sudan/)). See also [Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/).

## How many Somalis have returned from Sudan?

Sudan was the fifth-largest source of Somali migrant returnees in 2020 to 2024, with 239 people, after Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya and Ethiopia ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). The bureau's first edition counted 149 from Sudan in 2020 to 2023 ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)).

UNHCR recorded 339 Somali refugees returning home from Sudan between 2001 and 2025, including 130 in 2013 ([UNHCR solutions API, Sudan](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SUD)).

## Why is Sudan on the route to Libya and Europe?

Many young Somalis bound for Europe have crossed Sudan. Of 21 Somalis the Mixed Migration Centre interviewed in Libya, 20 had come through Sudan, 13 of them through Khartoum ([MMC 4Mi snapshot, February 2020](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/091_snapshot_NA.pdf)). The full route is on [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Libya](/en/diaspora/libya/).

## Do Sudanese now come to Somalia?

Yes, in small numbers. In 2024 Somalia hosted 166 Sudanese refugees and 228 Sudanese asylum seekers, by the count of its refugee agency NCRI ([NBS, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).

In December 2025 Somalia's government welcomed the first Sudanese students on full scholarships at Somali National University ([TRT Afrika, December 2025](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/ec1456135fed)). An earlier TRT Afrika report said the plan included 30 paid bachelor's degree places ([TRT Afrika](https://trtafrika.com/africa/somalia-offers-university-scholarships-to-sudan-students-18220966)). See [Immigration to Somalia](/en/diaspora/immigration-to-somalia/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Ethiopia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [Egypt (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/egypt/)
- [Libya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/libya/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Deportations and returns](/en/diaspora/deportations-and-returns/)
- [Immigration to Somalia](/en/diaspora/immigration-to-somalia/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Africanews, citing the Associated Press. "Official: 148 Somalis evacuated from Sudan via Ethiopia." 1 May 2023. [africanews.com](https://www.africanews.com/2023/05/01/official-148-somalis-evacuated-from-sudan-via-ethiopia/). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Horn Observer. "Somalia evacuates 73 of its citizens stranded in Sudan on a fourth flight." 10 May 2023. [hornobserver.com](https://hornobserver.com/articles/2165/Somalia-evacuates-73-of-its-citizens-stranded-in-Sudan-on-a-fourth-flight). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Sudan, 1975 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SUD). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. United Nations Treaty Collection. "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees", status of participants. [treaties.un.org](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. TRT Afrika. "Somalia awards scholarships to war-affected Sudanese students." December 2025. [trtafrika.com](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/ec1456135fed). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Anadolu Agency. "African countries begin evacuating diplomats, citizens from Sudan." 24 April 2023. [aa.com.tr](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/african-countries-begin-evacuating-diplomats-citizens-from-sudan/2880366). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Garowe Online. "Somali students trapped in Sudan conflict." 19 April 2023. [garoweonline.com](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-students-trapped-in-sudan-conflict). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. International Organization for Migration. "IOM Sudan Situation Update", 16 May 2023. [iom.int](https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/situation_reports/file/iom-sudan-situation-update_16-may-2023.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Somalia evacuates 14 nationals from Sudan." Undated. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-evacuates-14-nationals-from-sudan/). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report", second edition, 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report", first edition, November 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (returns), Somalia from Sudan, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SUD). Checked 12 November 2026.
13. Mixed Migration Centre. "The role of smugglers in East Africans' mixed migration to Libya via Sudan." 4Mi snapshot, February 2020. [mixedmigration.org](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/091_snapshot_NA.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
14. TRT Afrika. "Somalia offers university scholarships to Sudan students." [trtafrika.com](https://trtafrika.com/africa/somalia-offers-university-scholarships-to-sudan-students-18220966). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Switzerland (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/switzerland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> At the end of 2025, 9,472 Somali citizens were permanent residents of Switzerland, by the Federal Statistical Office's count, plus 1,317 short-term residents, most of them asylum seekers. Zurich, Bern and Vaud have the most. About a quarter still hold provisional admission, the F permit.

## How many Somalis live in Switzerland?

At the end of 2025, 9,472 Somali citizens belonged to Switzerland's permanent resident population ([Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS), STATPOP table px-x-0103010000_101](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). Another 1,317 were counted as non-permanent residents, of whom 920 were asylum seekers ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)).

The permanent group has grown steadily. It was 5,864 in 2010, 6,907 in 2015, 8,281 in 2020 and 9,130 in 2024 ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). These figures count Somali citizens only, so Somalis who became Swiss are not included.

UNHCR counts by protection status. At the end of 2025 it recorded 4,565 refugees and 1,099 asylum seekers from Somalia in Switzerland ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Switzerland, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SWI)).

## Which permits do Somalis hold?

Somalis in Switzerland hold a mix of residence papers. In 2025, the permanent residents held these permits ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)):

- **Residence permit (B):** 4,692
- **Settlement permit (C):** 2,291
- **Provisional admission (F):** 2,285
- **Asylum seeker (N):** 180

The balance has shifted over time. In 2010, 3,525 Somalis held F permits and only 352 held the settlement permit ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). By 2025 more held C permits than F permits ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). For what each status means, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## Where in Switzerland do Somalis live?

The canton of Zurich had the most Somali permanent residents in 2025, with 2,143 ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). Bern followed with 1,365, then Vaud (1,025), Geneva (731) and St. Gallen (719) ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). Lucerne, Aargau and Solothurn each had between 360 and 500 ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)).

## How did Somalis come to Switzerland?

Almost all came as refugees after 1991. UNHCR counted 109 Somali refugees in Switzerland in 1994 and 4,337 in 1997 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SWI)). A 2006 study put the whole Somali population at about 5,000 ([Swiss Forum for Migration Studies (SFM), 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

Most of those who came in the 1990s had first lived in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti or Yemen ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). Most reached Europe by plane, often through the UAE or Saudi Arabia ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). A minority crossed the Mediterranean and came on from Italy by car or train ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

Switzerland took a small number by resettlement. Between 1992 and 1999 it resettled 176 Somalis, and none in the following years up to the study ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). For the wider story, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/) and [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## Why did so many hold the F permit?

Swiss law then limited refugee status to people persecuted by a state. Because Somalia had no recognised government after 1991, most Somalis could not qualify ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). Instead most received provisional admission, the F permit ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

In 2003, 67% of Somalis in Switzerland held this status, 16% an annual permit, 9% a settlement permit and 8% were asylum seekers ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). The study noted that no Somalis had been forcibly returned to Somalia ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

## Do Somalis in Switzerland have work?

The F permit made work hard to find. In 2006, F holders faced limits on the labour market, and employers had to give priority to people with other permits ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). Diplomas and earlier work experience were often not recognised, leaving many in low-paid jobs ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

Young people with F permits also faced tight rules for apprenticeships and higher education ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). The rise in B and C permits since then suggests many have moved to more secure status ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Switzerland?

Somali associations exist in several parts of the country, and their leaders helped organise the 2006 SFM study ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). The federal migration office commissioned a 2010 study of the Somali and Eritrean diasporas in Switzerland ([Eyer and Schweizer, Bundesamt für Migration, 2010](https://edudoc.ch/record/49991?ln=en)).

## What do Somalis in Switzerland face now?

- **New arrivals:** the number of Somali asylum seekers counted as non-permanent residents rose from 254 in 2024 to 920 in 2025 ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)). UNHCR also recorded a rise, from 420 to 1,099 asylum seekers ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SWI)).
- **Family separation:** in 2006, F permit holders could not bring spouses and children and could not get travel documents ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). About 2,285 Somalis still held F permits in 2025 ([BFS, STATPOP](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px)).
- **Moving on:** the 2006 study found many Somalis saw Switzerland as a long transit stop, with the UK as the most hoped-for destination ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)).

## How are Somalis in Switzerland tied to home?

Many have family spread across several countries, which is why travel papers matter ([SFM, 2006](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf)). Somalia's records show 32 migrants returning from Switzerland between 2020 and 2023 ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Italy (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/italy/)
- [Austria (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/austria/)
- [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/)

## Sources

1. Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS). STATPOP, "Permanent and non permanent resident population by year, canton, population type, residence permit, sex, age class and citizenship" (px-x-0103010000_101), 2010 to 2025. [pxweb.bfs.admin.ch](https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/api/v1/en/px-x-0103010000_101/px-x-0103010000_101.px). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Switzerland, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SWI). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Moret, J., Baglioni, S. and Efionayi-Mäder, D. "Somali Refugees in Switzerland: Strategies of Exile and Policy Responses." SFM Studies 47, University of Neuchâtel, 2006. [unine.ch](https://www.unine.ch/sfm/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/SFM-Studies-47.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Eyer, P. and Schweizer, R. "Die somalische und die eritreische Diaspora in der Schweiz." Bundesamt für Migration, 2010. [edudoc.ch](https://edudoc.ch/record/49991?ln=en). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Tanzania (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/tanzania/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Tanzania's 2022 census counted 657 Somali citizens, most in towns. UNHCR counted 151 Somali refugees there at the end of 2025, down from 4,829 in 1996, after Tanzania naturalised about 2,700 Somali refugees, most of them Somali Bantu of Tanzanian descent. Tanzania is also a transit country on the southern route to South Africa.

## How many Somalis live in Tanzania?

Tanzania's 2022 Population and Housing Census counted 657 Somali citizens: 341 men and 316 women ([NBS Tanzania, Migration and Urbanization in Tanzania, table 3.7](https://www.nbs.go.tz/uploads/statistics/documents/en-1769966854-Migration%20and%20Urbanization%20in%20Tanzania.pdf)). Of these, 454 lived in urban areas and 203 in rural areas. By territory, 633 lived on the mainland and 24 in Zanzibar (same report, table 5.5).

The same census counted 428 non-Tanzanians born in Somalia, 364 of them in towns (table 3.11). It also counted 558 immigrants whose previous country of residence was Somalia (table 3.12). All non-Tanzanians together numbered 283,267, about half of them in Kigoma region (same report).

These counts leave out Somalis who have become Tanzanian citizens. UNHCR counted 151 Somali refugees and no Somali asylum seekers in Tanzania at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Tanzania](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)).

## What papers do Somalis in Tanzania hold?

The census asked non-citizens which documents they held. Of the 657 Somali citizens, 235 had a travel passport, 85 a national ID and 36 both a passport and a Tanzanian NIDA identity number ([NBS Tanzania, table 3.17](https://www.nbs.go.tz/uploads/statistics/documents/en-1769966854-Migration%20and%20Urbanization%20in%20Tanzania.pdf)).

On that basis the bureau classed 284 Somalis (43.2%) as of "potential regular status" and 373 (56.8%) as of "potential irregular status" (same table). For all non-citizens the shares were 12.0% and 88.0%.

## How did Somali refugees come to Tanzania?

UNHCR's refugee count for Somalis in Tanzania rose quickly after the central state collapsed in 1991 ([UNHCR API, Tanzania](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)):

- 1991: 1,000
- 1993: 2,513
- 1996: 4,829, the highest
- 1998 to 2003: between 2,991 and 4,200
- 2013: 2,136
- 2014: 150

Many were Somali Bantu farmers from the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley. A 2003 profile for the US State Department says several thousand Bantu fled Somalia directly by sea to the Mkuyu refugee camp near Handeni in northern Tanzania ([Van Lehman and Eno, The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture, CAL, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). Others reached camps in Kenya.

## Why did Somali Bantu refugees look to Tanzania?

Many Somali Bantu trace their ancestry to peoples of present-day Tanzania. The 2003 profile names the Zigua and Zaramo of north-east Tanzania, and the Makua, Yao, Ngindo and Nyasa of the south ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). It says their ancestors were taken to Somalia in the 19th century through the slave trade of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, some by sea from Bagamoyo.

The profile says Bantu refugees sought resettlement to Tanzania in 1993 and 1994 ([Van Lehman and Eno, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). In January 1994, by its account, 75% of an estimated 10,000 Bantu in Kenya's camps wanted to resettle in Tanzania and not return to Somalia. The profile says they then sought resettlement to Mozambique in 1997 and 1998, before the United States considered them in 1999 (same source). See [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/).

## How did Somali refugees become Tanzanian?

Tanzania settled Somali Bantu refugees of Zigua ancestry at Chogo and later granted them citizenship. UNHCR reported that about 3,000 such refugees were settled at Chogo and naturalised ([UNHCR, "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land"](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land)).

UNHCR's yearly records count Somali refugees naturalised in Tanzania as 732 in 2007, 490 in 2008 and 1,514 in 2014, or 2,736 in all ([UNHCR solutions API, Tanzania](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)). The 2014 step matches the fall in Somali refugees counted in Tanzania, from 2,136 in 2013 to 150 in 2014 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)).

Some went home instead. UNHCR records 400 Somali refugees returning from Tanzania in 1992 ([UNHCR solutions API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)).

## How do Somali migrants cross Tanzania?

Tanzania lies on the southern route from the Horn of Africa to South Africa. In 2009 an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 people a year from Ethiopia and Somalia took this route, about 5,000 to 6,000 of them Somalis, according to a 2017 paper by the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat ([RMMS, Smuggled South, March 2017](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/016_smuggled_south.pdf)).

From Nairobi, the paper says, people head south to the Tanzanian border, or east to Mombasa and then down the coast into Tanzania (same source). In 2012 smugglers in Tanzania were estimated to charge US$100 to US$250 per migrant to move people through the country. In early 2015, 49% of migrants interviewed went from Tanzania straight into Zambia, 29% to Mozambique and 22% through Malawi.

Some Somalis now skip Tanzania. In 2014, 11% of migrants from the Horn did not pass through Kenya or Tanzania, mostly flying or sailing to Mozambique, against 1.6% before 2013 ([RMMS, 2017](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/016_smuggled_south.pdf)). The Institute for Security Studies put 2017 numbers on the whole route at 13,400 to 14,050 Ethiopians and Somalis ([ENACT, ISS, 2018](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants)).

## What risks do migrants face in Tanzania?

RMMS reported that in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia large numbers of migrants are held in prisons and long-stay detention centres ([RMMS, 2017](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/016_smuggled_south.pdf)). In its 2015 interviews, 68% of migrants said they or someone in their group had been detained or jailed by police on the way south (same source).

The route can be deadly. In December 2017 the bodies of 13 Somali migrants, believed to have suffocated in a container truck, were found in bush in Mozambique, the ISS reported ([ENACT, ISS, 2018](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants)). For the full route, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [South Africa (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/south-africa/).

## How is Tanzania tied to Somalia today?

People move both ways. Somalia's National Bureau of Statistics counted Tanzanian asylum seekers in Somalia at 118 in 2020, 219 in 2022 and 140 in 2023 ([NBS Somalia, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Its 2025 report put the figure at 278 in 2024 ([NBS Somalia, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).

The same 2025 report recorded 17 Somali migrant returns from Tanzania to Somalia from 2020 to 2024 (same source). For other movements into Somalia, see [Immigration to Somalia](/en/diaspora/immigration-to-somalia/).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Kenya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Uganda (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uganda/)
- [South Africa (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/south-africa/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/)

## Sources

1. National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania. "Migration and Urbanization in Tanzania," 2022 Population and Housing Census, tables 3.7, 3.11, 3.12, 3.17 and 5.5. [nbs.go.tz](https://www.nbs.go.tz/uploads/statistics/documents/en-1769966854-Migration%20and%20Urbanization%20in%20Tanzania.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Tanzania, 1985 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (returns and naturalisation), Somalia to Tanzania. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. "The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture." Culture Profile No. 16. Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics, for the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. February 2003. [ERIC ED482784](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. UNHCR. "Somali Bantus gain Tanzanian citizenship in their ancestral land." [unhcr.org](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Frouws, B. and Horwood, C. "Smuggled South." RMMS Briefing Paper 3. Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, March 2017. [mixedmigration.org](https://mixedmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/016_smuggled_south.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Aucoin, C. and Hlase, E. "Africa's southern-bound migrants." ENACT, Institute for Security Studies, 2018. [issafrica.org](https://issafrica.org/enactafrica/research/trend-reports/africas-southern-bound-migrants). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," second edition. 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.


---

# Uganda (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/uganda/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Uganda hosted 48,340 Somali refugees at the end of October 2026, by the count of Uganda's Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR. The UN counted 65,070 people born in Somalia living there in 2024. Most live in Kampala, around Kisenyi, or in the Nakivale settlement.

## How many Somalis live in Uganda?

Uganda hosted 48,340 Somali refugees on 31 October 2026, according to Uganda's Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR ([UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Somalia situation, Uganda](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/220)). Uganda as a whole hosted 2,061,006 refugees and asylum seekers on the same date ([UNHCR, Uganda country page](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/uga)). Somalis are a small share of that total.

Other counts use other methods:

- **UN DESA 2024:** 65,070 people born in Somalia lived in Uganda, the eighth-largest Somalia-born group in that table ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)).
- **UNHCR, end of 2025:** 48,253 refugees and 1,679 asylum seekers from Somalia ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Uganda, 1990 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=UGA)).
- **Community estimate, 2023:** a leader of the Somali Community Association in Uganda put the number of Somali refugees at about 60,000 ([The Observer, 5 September 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).

The UN figure counts everyone born in Somalia, including people who are not refugees. The refugee counts leave out Somalis who came as traders, students or on visas.

## Where in Uganda do Somalis live?

Most live in Kampala or in the Nakivale settlement in the south-west. [Kisenyi](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/), about one kilometre from Kampala's business district, is the hub of the city's Somali community and is called "Little Mogadishu" ([IIED, 22 March 2017](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice)).

Estimates for Kisenyi vary. A 2007 New Vision report put about 10,000 Somali refugees and nationals there ([New Vision](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1218656/kisenyi-haven-somali-tranquility-scams)). In 2014 Somalia's chargé d'affaires in Kampala estimated that about 85% of Kisenyi's people were Somali ([IPS, 31 March 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)).

By 2023 Somali families had spread to Kabuusu, Nalukolongo, Nateete, Lungujja and Kawempe ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).

Nakivale, Uganda's oldest refugee settlement, opened in 1958 and hosted more than 130,000 refugees in 2020 ([UN-Habitat, Nakivale settlement profile, 2020](https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/08/200720_nakivale_settlement_profile_web.pdf)). Somalis made up about 11% of its refugees, after Congolese and Burundians ([UN-Habitat, 2020](https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/08/200720_nakivale_settlement_profile_web.pdf)). Somali refugees first arrived there in the early 1990s and settled close to the base camp ([UN-Habitat, 2020](https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/08/200720_nakivale_settlement_profile_web.pdf)).

## How did Somalis come to Uganda?

Very few Somalis were refugees in Uganda before the war. UNHCR counted 200 Somali refugees there in 1991 and 2,300 in 1993 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=UGA)). Kisenyi has been the community's centre since the 1990s, and its Somali businesses began to grow in 2002 ([IPS, 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)).

The big growth came after 2006. Somali refugees in Uganda rose from 3,752 in 2006 to 11,151 in 2010 and 27,720 in 2015 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=UGA)). The count peaked at 51,192 in 2022 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=UGA)).

The road from Mogadishu to Kampala runs about 1,835 km through Kenya, via Busia and Malaba ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)). For the wider routes, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/) and [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## What does Uganda's law allow?

Uganda's Refugees Act 2006 gives refugees the right to live, work and start businesses in towns and cities ([IIED, 2017](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice); [Refugees Act 2006, text](https://media.ulii.org/media/legislation/17969/source_file/c9f5e779db73bedb/2006-21.pdf)). Researchers have called it a model, but city refugees are expected to support themselves ([IIED, 2017](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice)).

Community leaders say Somalis can open bank accounts, move freely and put their children in public or private schools ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)). They cannot buy land outright but can take leases of up to 99 years ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)). For refugee status and documents, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## What work do Somalis in Uganda do?

Most work in trade and services. Kisenyi has Somali-owned travel agencies, hotels, restaurants, petrol stations and supermarkets ([IPS, 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)). By 2023 Somalis also ran pharmacies, forex bureaus and salons, and many drove three-wheel taxis ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).

Family and community ties give Somali refugees access to business networks, which helps them find work and start firms ([IIED, 2017](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice)). In 2017 a Somali cosmetics seller in Kisenyi earned about USh 400,000 a month, about £90 ([IIED, 2017](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice)). Much of the start-up money comes from relatives in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).

Many young Somalis study in Kampala. Universities on Ggaba Road, including Kampala International University, draw students from the Horn of Africa ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).

## Who speaks for Somalis in Uganda?

- **The Somali Community Association in Uganda** speaks for the community in Kampala ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).
- **Elders** settle civil disputes and minor offences inside the community, and serious crimes go to the police ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).
- **The Embassy of Somalia in Kampala** held its first meeting with the local diaspora in January 2014 ([IPS, 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)).
- **Somali Youth Action for Change**, a youth group, works to connect Somalis with other communities in Uganda ([IPS, 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)).

## What do Somalis in Uganda face now?

- **Language:** some Somalis say the language barrier makes it hard to report crimes to the police ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).
- **Self-reliance:** city refugees get little aid and must support themselves ([IIED, 2017](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice)).
- **Crowding:** Uganda's refugee population passed 2 million in 2026, which stretches services for everyone ([UNHCR, Uganda](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/uga)).
- **Visas:** new arrivals need a host in Uganda, an invitation letter and security screening before a visa is issued ([The Observer, 2023](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa)).

**The July 2010 bombings.** On 11 July 2010, suicide bombs at the Kyadondo Rugby Club and an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala killed 76 people watching the World Cup final ([VOA, 26 May 2016](https://www.voanews.com/a/uganda-convicts-mastermind-in-2010-bombing/3347317.html)). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) planned the attack in Somalia to punish Uganda for its troops in [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), according to the court case reported by VOA. Of about 60 people arrested in Uganda, Kenya and [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), 13 were tried; in May 2016 Judge Alphonse Owiny-Dollo of the High Court convicted seven, naming Isa Ahmed Luyima as the mastermind ([VOA, 2016](https://www.voanews.com/a/uganda-convicts-mastermind-in-2010-bombing/3347317.html)). Other reports counted eight convicted and five acquitted ([New Vision, 2016](https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1425430/bomb-verdict-convicted-acquitted)).

In the days after, Somalis in Kisenyi feared reprisals and stayed indoors; Ugandan officials rejected blanket accusations and appealed for calm ([Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2010](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0713/Uganda-bombings-Somalis-in-Uganda-s-capital-now-fear-reprisal-attacks)). Police chief Kale Kayihura said "this is not a matter of nationality", and community leaders urged members to cooperate with security agencies, the Monitor reported. "We are victims as well," one Somali resident said. The community also tried to reassure bereaved families ([Al Jazeera, 16 July 2010](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/16/somalis-in-uganda-fear-backlash)).

**Registered refugees in Kampala.** UNHCR's portal, using Office of the Prime Minister data, listed 29,784 Somali refugees in Kampala on 31 March 2024 and 36,920 on 30 September 2024 ([UNHCR, Somalia situation: Uganda](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/220)). The Somali Community Association estimates about 64,400 Somalis around Kampala, the Daily Monitor reports ([Daily Monitor](https://monitor.co.ug/uganda/special-reports/uganda-s-open-door-refugee-policy-comes-home-to-roost-4772088)).

## How are Somalis in Uganda tied to home?

The two countries are closely linked. Uganda was the first country to send African Union troops to Somalia, in 2007 ([IPS, 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)). Direct flights between Entebbe and Mogadishu began in 2013 ([IPS, 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)).

Trade runs both ways. In August 2022 Kampala held the first Uganda-Somalia investment and business summit, attended by [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), Somtel and e-Dahab ([Capital FM, 9 August 2022](https://capitalfm.africa/boost-for-uganda-somali-business-as-inaugural-summit-opens-in-kampala/)). Dahabshiil already sends money through Uganda ([Capital FM, 2022](https://capitalfm.africa/boost-for-uganda-somali-business-as-inaugural-summit-opens-in-kampala/)).

People also move the other way. Uganda was the largest source of foreign workers in Somalia in 2023, with 1,335 ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Worldwide, Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of the economy ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Kenya (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Ethiopia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)

## Sources

1. UNHCR Operational Data Portal. "Somalia situation: Uganda." Data to 31 October 2026. [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/220). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UNHCR Operational Data Portal. "Uganda." Updated 31 October 2026. [data.unhcr.org](https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/uga). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Uganda, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=UGA). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. UN DESA Population Division. "International Migrant Stock 2024." 2025. [un.org](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. The Observer (Uganda). "Lubaga, Kisenyi, Kabalagala, Ggaba now 'Little Horn of Africa'." 5 September 2023. [observer.ug](https://observer.ug/lifestyle/79025-lubaga-kisenyi-kabalagala-ggaba-now-little-horn-of-africa). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Inter Press Service. "Somali Diaspora Not Ready to Buy One-Way Tickets Home Yet." 31 March 2014. [ipsnews.net](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. IIED (Monteith, W.). "Refugee livelihoods in Ugandan cities: mind the gap between policy and practice." 22 March 2017. [iied.org](https://www.iied.org/refugee-livelihoods-ugandan-cities-mind-gap-between-policy-practice). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. New Vision. "Kisenyi: a haven for Somali tranquility or scams?" 2007. [newvision.co.ug](https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1218656/kisenyi-haven-somali-tranquility-scams). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Republic of Uganda. "The Refugees Act, 2006" (Act 21 of 2006). [media.ulii.org](https://media.ulii.org/media/legislation/17969/source_file/c9f5e779db73bedb/2006-21.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UN-Habitat. "Nakivale Settlement Profile." 2020. [unhabitat.org](https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/08/200720_nakivale_settlement_profile_web.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Capital FM. "Boost for Uganda-Somali business as inaugural summit opens in Kampala." 9 August 2022. [capitalfm.africa](https://capitalfm.africa/boost-for-uganda-somali-business-as-inaugural-summit-opens-in-kampala/). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report," first edition. 2024. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Voice of America. "Uganda convicts mastermind in 2010 bombing". 26 May 2016. https://www.voanews.com/a/uganda-convicts-mastermind-in-2010-bombing/3347317.html. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. New Vision. "Bomb verdict: 8 convicted, 5 acquitted". May 2016. https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1425430/bomb-verdict-convicted-acquitted. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Christian Science Monitor. "Uganda bombings: Somalis in Uganda's capital now fear reprisal attacks". 13 Jul 2010. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0713/Uganda-bombings-Somalis-in-Uganda-s-capital-now-fear-reprisal-attacks. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Al Jazeera. "Somalis in Uganda fear backlash". 16 Jul 2010. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/7/16/somalis-in-uganda-fear-backlash. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNHCR. Horn of Africa situation portal, Uganda location page. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/horn/location/220. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Daily Monitor. "Uganda's open-door refugee policy comes home to roost". https://monitor.co.ug/uganda/special-reports/uganda-s-open-door-refugee-policy-comes-home-to-roost-4772088. Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Census 2021 counted 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali, and 108,918 born in Somalia. Most of the Somalia-born arrived between 1991 and 2010, first as refugees and then from elsewhere in Europe, and about three in four now hold a British passport.

## How many Somalis live in the United Kingdom?

In 2021, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) counted 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali ([ONS, 2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). That is 0.3% of residents, up 78.5% from 98,937 in 2011 ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Most people were counted through the ethnic group question: 150,090 by ethnic group alone, 19,195 by both and 7,360 by national identity only ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). In the detailed ethnic table, 168,351 people wrote "Somali" and 27,282 wrote "Somalilander" ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS022](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)). The ONS article does not say how it treated "Somalilander" answers, so both counts are given here.

By country of birth, 108,918 people in England and Wales were born in Somalia ([Nomis, Census 2021 TS012](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100)). At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 2,697 refugees and 1,590 asylum seekers from Somalia in the UK ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland do they live?

**England** holds almost everyone: 174,410 people, against 2,235 in **Wales** ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). London has 62.4% of the total, and Brent has the highest local share, at 6.6% ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Outside London, the ONS gives these shares of all Somalis in England and Wales ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)):

- [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/): 11.3%
- [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/): 4.4%
- [Manchester](/en/diaspora/manchester/): 4.0%
- [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/): 3.8%
- [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/): 1.0%, and Newport 0.2%, the two main Welsh communities

[Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/) and [Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/) also have their own pages; smaller towns are on [Other UK cities](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/).

In Wales, 55.5% of Somali residents were born in Somalia and 32.8% in Wales ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). The wards with the most Somali and Somalilander residents are Moss Side in Manchester (2,797) and Stonebridge in Brent (2,509) ([Nomis, TS022 by ward](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100)).

**Northern Ireland** counted at least 632 people born in Somalia in 2021, of whom 600 lived in Belfast ([NISRA, table CT0094, 2024](https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-commissioned-table-ct0094.xlsx)). Fermanagh and Omagh had 18, and most other districts fewer than five ([NISRA](https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/ct0094-country-birth-somalia)).

**Scotland** held its census a year later, in 2022, and printed census guidance in Somali ([National Records of Scotland](https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/media/xhhpdvak/census-2022-campaign-summary-somali.pdf)).

## When did they arrive?

The early story of Somali seamen is told on the [seamen](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/), [London](/en/diaspora/london/), [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) and [Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/) pages. Census 2021 shows when today's Somalia-born residents of England and Wales arrived ([ONS Census 2021, year of arrival by country of birth](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=nat&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk)):

- Before 1981: 833
- 1981 to 1990: 5,814
- 1991 to 2000: 32,716
- 2001 to 2010: 50,684
- 2011 to 2021: 18,875

The 2000s wave was the largest. Many came onward from elsewhere in Europe, above all to [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/). In 2021, Somalia-born residents held 13,822 passports from smaller EU states, 581 Italian and 346 German ([ONS Census 2021, passports held](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=nat&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_52a)). For why people left, see [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/).

## How many Somalis received asylum each year?

Home Office figures count main applicants only before 2001 and include dependants after. Early answers in Parliament give these decisions on Somali claims:

- **January 1989 to April 1992:** 6,195 claims; 1,145 granted asylum and 1,110 exceptional leave to remain ([Hansard, 22 May 1992](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers)).
- **1995 to 1997:** most decisions gave exceptional leave, not refugee status: 2,205 in 1995 and 3,580 in 1996 ([Hansard, 14 February 2000](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2000/feb/14/somalia)).
- **1998:** 4,685 claims; 2,330 recognised as refugees ([Hansard, 15 September 2003](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2003/sep/15/asylum-seekers)).
- **2000:** 5,310 recognised as refugees and 3,575 given exceptional leave, the peak year ([Hansard, 2003](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2003/sep/15/asylum-seekers)).

From 2001, the Home Office dataset gives decisions on people, including dependants ([Home Office, asylum claims and initial decisions, year ending June 2026](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c2d7c9205b515d421eeb/asylum-claims-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)):

- **2002:** 3,674 granted protection, 1,906 other leave, 4,032 refused
- **2005:** 847 granted protection, 1,236 refused
- **2010:** 466 granted protection, 488 refused
- **2015:** 223 granted protection, 322 refused
- **2020:** 106 granted protection, 50 refused
- **2023:** 517 granted protection, 325 refused
- **2025:** 1,218 granted protection, 2,096 refused

Claims fell to 258 main applicants in 2020, then rose to 4,382 in 2025, the most since 2003 ([Home Office](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c2d7c9205b515d421eeb/asylum-claims-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)). Of 4,783 people claiming in 2025, 4,565 had arrived without a visa or other permission ([Home Office](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c2d7c9205b515d421eeb/asylum-claims-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)).

A smaller number came through resettlement from camps abroad. The UK resettled 2,366 Somalis from 2010 to June 2026, most through the Gateway Protection Programme ([Home Office, resettlement datasets](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c4ddc9205b515d421eef/resettlement-scheme-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)). For what these statuses mean, see [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/).

## How many have become British citizens?

The Home Office granted British citizenship to 87,408 Somali nationals from 2005 to June 2026 ([Home Office, citizenship datasets](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c3293d82f78d5c51454d/citizenship-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)). Grants peaked at 9,029 in 2006, fell to 2,106 in 2014, and were 1,700 in 2025 ([Home Office](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c3293d82f78d5c51454d/citizenship-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)).

The census confirms this. In 2021, 82,219 of the 108,918 Somalia-born residents held a UK passport, and 6,183 held no passport ([ONS Census 2021, passports held](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=nat&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_52a)). Only 1,727 held a Somali passport; see [the Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/).

## How young is the community?

Very young. In 2021, 48.2% of Somalis in England and Wales were under 21, double the national 24.2% ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Children under 11 made up 21.3% ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

More Somalis were born in England (43.5%) than in Somalia (43.1%) ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Of those born in England, 83.8% were aged 0 to 19, while 58.0% of the Somalia-born were 30 to 54 ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## What schooling and work do they have?

The generation gap shows in schooling. Among Somalis aged 16 to 29, 27.6% held a degree-level (Level 4) qualification, close to the national 30.3% ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Among those 30 and over, 40.7% had no qualifications, double the national rate ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

Of Somalis aged 16 to 64, 10.3% were unemployed, against 4.4% nationally, and 21.7% were students ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Among women, 20.3% were out of work to look after home or family ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

The most common jobs were in caring and service work (22.1%) and elementary jobs (22.1%) ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Professionals made up 13.3%, and 28.2% of working men were process, plant and machine operatives ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).

## Who speaks for the community?

Somali Britons hold civic office in many towns. In 2026, Bristol chose Councillor Yassin Mohamud, born in Mogadishu, as its first Lord Mayor of Somali heritage ([Bristol City Council](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor)). Mayors, councillors and charities in each city are listed on the [London](/en/diaspora/london/), [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/), [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/), [Manchester](/en/diaspora/manchester/), [Leicester](/en/diaspora/leicester/), [Sheffield](/en/diaspora/sheffield/), [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/), [Liverpool](/en/diaspora/liverpool/) and [other UK cities](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/) pages. The first Somali-heritage MP, mayors, councillors and public figures are listed on [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/).

## What do they face now?

- **Crowded homes:** 58.8% of Somali households were overcrowded in 2021, against 8.4% overall ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Few homeowners:** 72.0% rented from a council or housing association, and 3.8% owned their home ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **Older people's health:** 22.4% of Somalis aged 60 and over were in bad health, against 12.0% nationally ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)).
- **More refusals:** in 2025, 2,096 Somali asylum decisions were refusals, against 1,218 grants ([Home Office](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c2d7c9205b515d421eeb/asylum-claims-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx)).

## How are they tied to home?

Language is one tie: 61,830 people in England and Wales gave Somali as their main language in 2021 ([ONS](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). Money is another. Individual remittances to Somalia reached about US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of GDP ([The EastAfrican, 2026](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440); [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

London's role in money transfer, and the court case that kept it open, is on the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) page. For the global picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## Related pages

- [WorldRemit and Zepz](/en/businesses/worldremit/)
- [London (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/london/)
- [Birmingham (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/birmingham/)
- [Bristol (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/bristol/)
- [Manchester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/manchester/)
- [Leicester (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/leicester/)
- [Sheffield (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sheffield/)
- [Cardiff (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/cardiff/)
- [Liverpool (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/liverpool/)
- [Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uk-other-cities/)
- [The first Somalis abroad: seamen and traders](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)

## Sources

1. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. [ons.gov.uk](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_ethnic_288=0,63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), wards. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2095_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE153&c2021_ethnic_288=63,64,85,276,277&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth (detailed): Somalia. [nomisweb.co.uk](https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_2032_1.data.csv?date=latest&geography=TYPE154&c2021_cob_58=26&measures=20100). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. ONS. Census 2021 custom dataset API: country of birth by year of arrival in the UK. [api.beta.ons.gov.uk](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=nat&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,year_arrival_uk). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. ONS. Census 2021 custom dataset API: country of birth by passports held. [api.beta.ons.gov.uk](https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/population-types/UR/census-observations?area-type=nat&dimensions=country_of_birth_60a,passports_all_52a). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. "Census 2021 commissioned table CT0094: Country of birth: Somalia." 29 March 2024. [nisra.gov.uk](https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/ct0094-country-birth-somalia) · [data file](https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-commissioned-table-ct0094.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. National Records of Scotland. "Census 2022 campaign summary (Somali)." [scotlandscensus.gov.uk](https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/media/xhhpdvak/census-2022-campaign-summary-somali.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Home Office. "Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026: Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets." 27 August 2026. [gov.uk](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c2d7c9205b515d421eeb/asylum-claims-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Home Office. "Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026: Citizenship datasets." 27 August 2026. [gov.uk](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c3293d82f78d5c51454d/citizenship-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Home Office. "Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026: Resettlement scheme datasets." 27 August 2026. [gov.uk](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c4ddc9205b515d421eef/resettlement-scheme-datasets-jun-2026.xlsx). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Asylum seekers," HC Deb 22 May 1992. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1992/may/22/asylum-seekers). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Somalia," HC Deb 14 February 2000. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2000/feb/14/somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Asylum seekers," HC Deb 15 September 2003. [api.parliament.uk](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2003/sep/15/asylum-seekers). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Bristol City Council. "Current Lord Mayor." [bristol.gov.uk](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-the-lord-mayor/lord-mayor-of-bristol/current-lord-mayor). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. The EastAfrican. "How diaspora steady Mogadishu economy in times of turmoil." 2026. [theeastafrican.co.ke](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.


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# United States (Somali diaspora)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/united-states/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2024 survey counted 259,694 Somali people in the United States, and the 2020 Census counted 221,043. The country admitted about 151,000 Somali refugees from 1990 to 2024, and Minnesota, Ohio and Washington hold the largest communities.

## How many Somalis live in the United States?

US counts differ by the question asked. The 2020 Census counted 221,043 people who named Somali as a detailed race group, alone or with another ([US Census Bureau, 21 September 2023](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/2020-census-detailed-dhc-file-a.html)). The 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) put the figure at 259,694 ([ACS 2024 1-year, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US)).

The five-year survey for 2020 to 2024 gives 223,725 by race and 166,157 by ancestry ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US); [ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=01000US)). It counts 93,405 people born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=01000US)). So more than half of the people counted as Somali were not born in Somalia.

## Which states have the most Somalis?

By the 2020–2024 survey, counting Somali as a race group ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)):

1. Minnesota: 88,796; see [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/), [St. Cloud](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/) and [Rochester](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/)
2. Ohio: 31,237; see [Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
3. Washington: 17,733; see [Seattle and South King County](/en/diaspora/seattle/)
4. Georgia: 6,768; see [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
5. Texas: 6,436; see [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/)
6. New York: 6,400
7. California: 5,916; see [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/)
8. Virginia: 5,807; see [Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/)
9. Wisconsin: 4,642
10. Missouri: 4,237; see [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/)
11. Arizona: 3,582; see [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/)
12. Colorado: 3,467; see [Denver and Colorado](/en/diaspora/denver/)
13. Tennessee: 3,117; see [Nashville](/en/diaspora/nashville/)
14. Maine: 3,111; see [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/)

These are survey estimates. Georgia's figure, for example, has a margin of error of 2,074, so states from fourth place down may swap order ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)). Smaller communities in other states are on the [other US communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/) page.

## How many Somali refugees has the US admitted each year?

Somali refugee arrivals by fiscal year, from the government's immigration yearbooks ([INS Statistical Yearbook 1996, table 25](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ins_yearbook_immigration_statistics_1996.pdf); [INS Statistical Yearbook 1999, table 24](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/Yearbook_Immigration_Statistics_1999.pdf); [DHS Yearbook 2009, table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2009.pdf); [DHS Yearbook 2011, table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2011.pdf); [DHS Yearbook 2014, table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2014/table14); [DHS Yearbook 2024, table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)):

- **1990–1994:** 25 · 192 · 1,570 · 2,753 · 3,555
- **1995–1999:** 2,506 · 6,436 · 4,974 · 2,951 · 4,320
- **2000–2004:** 6,026 · 4,951 · 237 · 1,994 · 13,331
- **2005–2009:** 10,405 · 10,357 · 6,969 · 2,523 · 4,189
- **2010–2014:** 4,884 · 3,161 · 4,911 · 7,608 · 9,000
- **2015–2019:** 8,850 · 9,030 · 6,120 · 260 · 230
- **2020–2024:** 150 · 200 · 490 · 1,410 · 4,790

Figures from 2015 are rounded to the nearest 10 ([DHS](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)). Together they add up to about 151,400 people. In fiscal 2024, Somalis were 4,790 of 100,060 refugees admitted ([DHS](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)).

In fiscal 2025, the State Department recorded 2,496 Somali refugee arrivals, all in October 2024 to January 2025 ([Refugee Processing Center, FY 2025 arrivals by state and nationality](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)). Minnesota received 670 of them, Ohio 245 and New York 211 ([RPC](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)). The programme has been suspended since late January 2025 ([Congressional Research Service, July 2026](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13277.html)).

## How did others come, and how many became citizens?

Some Somalis won asylum inside the US. Affirmative asylum grants to Somalis rose from 119 in 1993 to 2,368 in 1999 ([INS Statistical Yearbook 1999, table 26](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/Yearbook_Immigration_Statistics_1999.pdf)). By 2011 they had fallen to 30 ([DHS Yearbook 2011](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2011.pdf)).

Green cards (permanent residence) for people born in Somalia peaked at 13,390 in 2009 ([DHS Yearbook 2009, table 3](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2009.pdf)). They were 2,030 in 2024: 1,170 spouses, children or parents of US citizens, 390 refugees and asylees, and 380 diversity lottery winners ([DHS Yearbook 2024, table 3](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table3); [table 10](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table10)).

Naturalisation followed. People born in Somalia became US citizens in these numbers ([DHS Yearbook 2011](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2011.pdf); [DHS Yearbook 2024, table 22](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table22)):

- **2002:** 1,789
- **2011:** 7,971
- **2019:** 6,920
- **2022:** 7,700, the highest year shown
- **2024:** 2,440

## What was TPS, and what happened to it?

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) let Somalis already in the US stay and work while Somalia was unsafe ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). The US designated Somalia for TPS on 16 September 1991 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). A termination notice was published on 14 January 2026, and the designation ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)).

What the change means for people's papers is on [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/). At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 1,355 recognised refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia in the US ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## What schooling and work do they have?

Minnesota, home to about two in five Somali Americans, is the best measured ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)). In 2020 to 2024, 47.8% of Somali Minnesotans were born in the US ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)).

Among Somali Minnesotans aged 25 and over, 63.9% had finished high school and 17.2% held a bachelor's degree or higher ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)). One in three (33.6%) spoke English less than "very well" ([Minnesota Compass](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali)). Jobs, income and homeownership in Minnesota are on the [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) page.

## Who speaks for the community?

[Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/) has represented Minnesota's 5th Congressional District since January 2019 ([US House of Representatives, Rep. Omar](https://omar.house.gov/about)). Born in Somalia, she spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before her family came to the US in the 1990s ([omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about)). State lawmakers, city officials and community groups are listed on each city page: [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/), [Columbus](/en/diaspora/columbus/), [Seattle](/en/diaspora/seattle/), [Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/), [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/), [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/), [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/), [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/), [Nashville](/en/diaspora/nashville/), [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/) and [other US communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/). Every Somali American found in elected or senior appointed office is listed on [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/).

## What do they face now?

- **Fewer new arrivals:** total US refugee admissions fell from 100,034 in fiscal 2024 to 38,102 in fiscal 2025 ([Pew Research Center, August 2026](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/08/17/refugee-admissions-to-the-us-are-dropping-sharply-in-trumps-second-term/)).
- **The end of TPS:** in force since 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)).
- **A tax on cash transfers:** a 1% federal excise tax applies to money sent abroad and paid for in cash, from 1 January 2026 ([Bloomberg Tax](https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/irs-issues-proposed-regulations-on-1-percent-excise-tax-on-certain-remittance-transfers)).

## How are they tied to home?

Money sent home ties families together. Individual remittances to Somalia reached about US$3.13 billion in 2025, about 24% of GDP ([The EastAfrican, 2026](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440); [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The US share of that total is discussed on [other US communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/).

Family reunion keeps the link alive too: most green cards for Somalia-born people in 2024 went to relatives of US citizens ([DHS Yearbook 2024, table 10](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table10)). For the wider picture, see [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## What else has been reported?

- **TPS holders:** the Congressional Research Service counted 705 Somali TPS holders out of nearly 1.3 million TPS holders nationally, as reported by Sahan Journal and NPR in late 2025 ([NPR, 4 December 2025](https://npr.org/2025/12/04/nx-s1-5632687/minnesota-responds-to-trump-rhetoric-on-somali-immigrants)). Reuters later reported nearly 1,100 Somalis held TPS when a court let the termination go ahead ([Citizen Digital, citing Reuters](https://citizen.digital/article/us-judge-clears-way-for-trump-to-end-somalis-deportation-protections-n388381)).

## Related pages

- [Canada (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/canada/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Columbus, Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/)
- [Seattle and South King County](/en/diaspora/seattle/)
- [Washington DC area](/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/)
- [Atlanta and Clarkston](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/)
- [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/)
- [Dallas–Fort Worth](/en/diaspora/dallas-fort-worth/)
- [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/)
- [Nashville](/en/diaspora/nashville/)
- [Lewiston and Portland, Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/)
- [St. Cloud, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/)
- [Rochester, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/)
- [Kansas City](/en/diaspora/kansas-city/)
- [Denver and Colorado](/en/diaspora/denver/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [US travel bans and Somalis](/en/diaspora/us-travel-ban-and-somalis/)
- [Somali Bantu (Jareer) resettlement from Kenya to the United States](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. "2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A." Press release, 21 September 2023. [census.gov](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/2020-census-detailed-dhc-file-a.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, table B02025, via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B02025 (states), via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year, table B04006 (ancestry). [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=01000US). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year, table B05006 (place of birth). [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=01000US). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "1996 Statistical Yearbook," table 25. October 1997. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ins_yearbook_immigration_statistics_1996.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "1999 Statistical Yearbook," tables 24 and 26. March 2002. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/Yearbook_Immigration_Statistics_1999.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. DHS Office of Immigration Statistics. "2009 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics," tables 3 and 14. August 2010. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2009.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. DHS Office of Immigration Statistics. "2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics." September 2012. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2011.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. DHS. "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2014," table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2014/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics. "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024," tables 3, 10, 14 and 22. 2025. [table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14) · [table 3](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table3) · [table 10](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table10) · [table 22](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table22). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "Refugee Arrivals by State and Nationality, FY 2025, as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Congressional Research Service. "U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in FY2025 and FY2026." IF13277, July 2026. [everycrsreport.com](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13277.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Minnesota Compass (Wilder Research). "Somali" cultural community profile, ACS 2020–2024. [mncompass.org](https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/cultural-communities/somali). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. US House of Representatives. "About Ilhan." Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar. [omar.house.gov](https://omar.house.gov/about). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Pew Research Center. "Refugee admissions to the U.S. are dropping sharply in Trump's second term." 17 August 2026. [pewresearch.org](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/08/17/refugee-admissions-to-the-us-are-dropping-sharply-in-trumps-second-term/). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Bloomberg Tax. "IRS Issues Proposed Regulations on 1 Percent Excise Tax on Certain Remittance Transfers." 2026. [bloombergtax.com](https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/irs-issues-proposed-regulations-on-1-percent-excise-tax-on-certain-remittance-transfers). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. The EastAfrican. "How diaspora steady Mogadishu economy in times of turmoil." 2026. [theeastafrican.co.ke](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. NPR. "Minnesota responds to Trump rhetoric on Somali immigrants". 4 Dec 2025. https://npr.org/2025/12/04/nx-s1-5632687/minnesota-responds-to-trump-rhetoric-on-somali-immigrants. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Citizen Digital, citing Reuters. "US judge clears way for Trump to end Somalis' deportation protections". 2026. https://citizen.digital/article/us-judge-clears-way-for-trump-to-end-somalis-deportation-protections-n388381. Checked 2026-11-12.


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# Washington DC area (Somali community)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/washington-dc-area/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted about 6,100 Somali people in the Washington DC metro area, most of them in Northern Virginia, led by Fairfax County with about 3,100. The city is also home to Somalia's embassy, which reopened in 2015 after about 24 years closed.

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 6,080 Somali people in the Washington DC metro area, most of them in Northern Virginia ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US47900)). Fairfax County alone counted 3,064 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Fairfax County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US51059)).

## How many Somalis live in the Washington DC area?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 6,080 people in the metro area who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another (margin of error 1,164) ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US47900)). By ancestry it counted 4,269, and 2,600 people were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US47900); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=31000US47900)). By ancestry, that makes it the second-largest Somali metro outside Minnesota and [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/), after Seattle ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006, Seattle metro](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US42660)).

Most live in Virginia. By race, the survey counted ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US51059,05000US51153,05000US51107,05000US24031,16000US5101000,05000US51013,05000US24033,04000US11)):

- Fairfax County, Virginia: 3,064
- Prince William County, Virginia: 1,314
- Loudoun County, Virginia: 569
- Montgomery County, Maryland: 335
- Alexandria, Virginia: 246
- Prince George's County, Maryland: 182
- Arlington County, Virginia: 153
- District of Columbia: 76

Virginia as a whole counted 5,807, the eighth-largest state count, while Maryland counted 838 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)). Fairfax County had 1,289 people born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B05006, Fairfax County](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=05000US51059)). County figures under 1,500 carry wide margins of error ([Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=05000US51153)).

## How did Somalis come to the Washington area?

Somalia's link to Washington began with independence: its embassy there was established in 1960 ([Embassy of Somalia in Washington, Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/about/)). The embassy closed during the war and stayed closed for about 24 years ([Voice of America, November 2015](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-us-embassy-reopens-after-24-years/3065136.html)).

Nationally, only about 2,500 Somalis lived in the United States in 1990 ([Pew Research Center, June 2016](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/)). The US then admitted about 151,000 Somali refugees from 1990 to 2024, with the largest yearly intake, 13,331, in 2004 ([DHS Yearbook 2009, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2009.pdf); [DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)).

Few Somali refugees are placed directly in the capital region today. In the 2025 fiscal year, 8 were placed in Virginia, 19 in Maryland and 1 in the District of Columbia ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

Bailey's Crossroads, in Fairfax County, is a centre of East African business in the region ([Washingtonian, September 2023](https://washingtonian.com/2023/09/07/experience-ethiopian-cuisine-at-these-local-restaurants-and-markets/)). Build America Plaza there, a mainly Ethiopian pair of strip malls, includes a Somali takeout counter ([Washingtonian](https://washingtonian.com/2023/09/07/experience-ethiopian-cuisine-at-these-local-restaurants-and-markets/)).

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia, at 1609 22nd Street NW, is the Somali state's office in the United States ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/about/)). At its reopening ceremony in November 2015, Somalia's foreign minister said "we are out of the dark, we are part of the world" ([VOA, 2015](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-us-embassy-reopens-after-24-years/3065136.html)). US Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield attended ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-us-embassy-reopens-after-24-years/3065136.html)).

The embassy's own page dates the resumption of full operations to November 2016 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/about/)).

## What does the community face now?

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

**Asylum cases.** At the end of 2024, UNHCR counted 1,355 recognised refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia in the United States ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). How many live in the Washington area is not published.

## How is the Washington area tied to home?

The embassy handles Somali passports, national ID (NIRA) registration and powers of attorney (wakaalad) for Somalis across the United States ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/about/)). It also points visitors to Somalia's e-visa system ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/about/)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Seattle and South King County](/en/diaspora/seattle/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Washington metro, counties and cities of Northern Virginia and Maryland, District of Columbia and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US47900). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia in Washington DC: about. [usa.mfa.gov.so](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/about/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Voice of America. "Somalia's US embassy reopens after 24 years." 19 November 2015. [voanews.com](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-us-embassy-reopens-after-24-years/3065136.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Pew Research Center. "5 facts about the global Somali diaspora." 1 June 2016. [pewresearch.org](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. US Department of Homeland Security. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2009, Table 14 (refugee arrivals by nationality). [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/ois_yb_2009.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Ike Allen, Washingtonian. "Experience Ethiopian cuisine at these local restaurants and markets." 7 September 2023. [washingtonian.com](https://washingtonian.com/2023/09/07/experience-ethiopian-cuisine-at-these-local-restaurants-and-markets/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somalia's GDP 2018 to 2024: the national accounts tables

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/gdp-national-accounts-2018-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> By the Somali National Bureau of Statistics, Somalia's economy (GDP) grew from $7.9 billion in 2018 to $12.0 billion in 2024, or $737 per person. Measured at constant prices it grew 4.1 percent in 2024. Families spend about one third more than the country produces, because money from relatives abroad and aid fill the gap.

## Where the numbers come from

Somalia's official GDP is published by the Somali National Bureau of Statistics ([SNBS](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/)) in Mogadishu. It measures GDP by **spending**: what families, government and businesses spend, plus exports, minus imports. The tables here are from the bureau's yearbook, Somalia Facts and Figures, 7th edition, October 2024, Tables 2.15 to 2.18 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). The full table is in the data file `somalia-gdp-2018-2024.csv` on this page.

Figures are revised as new data arrive. The Central Bank's 2025 annual report, which uses revised series and 2025 prices, puts GDP at about $13.2 billion in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Somalia's economy at a glance](/en/economy/economy-at-a-glance/) for the latest year.

## GDP and growth, year by year

GDP at current prices, GDP per person, and real growth at constant prices ([SNBS, Tables 2.15 and 2.18](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

| Year | GDP ($ million) | Per person ($) | Real growth |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| 2018 | 7,873 | 572 | 2.1% |
| 2019 | 8,655 | 612 | 2.8% |
| 2020 | 8,628 | 594 | -2.8% |
| 2021 | 9,484 | 635 | 3.4% |
| 2022 | 10,203 | 664 | 2.7% |
| 2023 | 10,957 | 694 | 4.2% |
| 2024 | 11,966 | 737 | 4.1% |

The 2020 fall is the only year of decline in the series.

## What the economy spends on, 2024

At current prices, in millions of US dollars ([SNBS, Tables 2.15 and 2.16](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- **Household spending:** 15,961, equal to 133 percent of GDP.
- **Government spending on services:** 931, about 8 percent of GDP.
- **Investment** (buildings, machines, equipment): 3,201, about 27 percent of GDP. It was 16 percent in 2018.
- **Exports of goods and services:** 3,735, about 31 percent of GDP, up from 1,119 in 2018.
- **Imports of goods and services:** 11,861, about 99 percent of GDP.

Household spending is larger than GDP because Somalia's families receive far more from abroad than the country earns from exports. Gross national disposable income, which counts money received from abroad, was $18.2 billion in 2024, about $6.3 billion more than GDP (same source).

## Growth by part of the economy, 2024

Change at constant prices from 2023 ([SNBS, Table 2.18](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- Household spending: +8.8 percent
- Government spending: +16.0 percent
- Investment: +21.1 percent
- Exports: +42.3 percent
- Imports: +28.5 percent

## The longer view

The World Bank's series of GDP per person, adjusted for prices in each country (in 2021 international dollars), rises from about $663 in 1996 to about $1,528 in 2017, and has stayed near $1,400 since 2020 ([World Bank, NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-worldbank?country=~SOM)). This measure is higher than the SNBS dollar figure because it allows for lower prices in Somalia.

## Debt and the balance with the world

From the bureau's balance of payments table ([SNBS, Table 2.14](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- **External public debt** fell from $5.2 billion in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2024, after debt relief in December 2023. See [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).
- **Money received from abroad** (secondary income credit, mostly family transfers and aid) was $7.4 billion in 2024, up from $2.6 billion in 2018.
- **Foreign direct investment** into Somalia rose from $408 million in 2020 to $718 million in 2024.

## Things to keep in mind

The SNBS tables are new, and some lines are revised from year to year. In the 2021 column of the balance of payments, services show a negative export figure, which points to a data error. The 2024 GDP is $11,966 million in Table 2.15 but $11,699 million in Table 2.14. Use the trend, check the date of each figure, and compare with the Central Bank and IMF.


---

# How many Somalis have a phone and use the internet? The numbers since 2000

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/phones-and-internet-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2022, 85 percent of people aged 15 and over in Somalia owned a mobile phone, and 82 percent of phone owners had used it to send or receive money in the past three months. Only 27.6 percent of people aged 10 and over had used the internet in the past three months, almost all of them on a phone.

## The two main sources

1. **The household survey.** The Somalia Integrated Household Budget Survey (SIHBS) of 2022 asked 7,212 households in 17 regions, in towns, villages, nomadic areas and camps for displaced people, about phones, the internet and money. It was run by the Somali National Bureau of Statistics ([SNBS, SIHBS 2022 report](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). It is the best count of people, not SIM cards.
2. **The yearly series.** The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) publishes mobile subscriptions and internet users for every country each year. We took Somalia's series from the World Bank's World Development Indicators, as republished by Our World in Data ([World Bank, IT.NET.USER.ZS](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=SO); [Our World in Data, internet users](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-individuals-using-the-internet?country=~SOM); [Our World in Data, mobile subscriptions](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/mobile-cellular-subscriptions-per-100-people?country=~SOM)).

The full yearly table is in the data file `somalia-phones-internet-2000-2024.csv` on this page.

## Phones, 2022 survey

Share of people aged 15 and over who own a mobile phone ([SIHBS 2022, Table 10.4](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)):

- **Everyone:** 85.0 percent. Another 3.5 percent do not own one but can use someone else's.
- **Men:** 85.6 percent. **Women:** 84.5 percent.
- **Towns:** 85.5 percent. **Villages:** 86.2 percent. **Nomadic families:** 79.9 percent.
- **By schooling:** 84.0 percent with no formal schooling, 80.4 percent with primary, 90.7 percent with secondary and 96.2 percent with university.

Phones are also how most Somalis move money. Of phone owners, 81.8 percent had used the phone for a money transaction in the past three months. That rises to 95.3 percent of those with a university education (same source). See [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## Internet, 2022 survey

Share of people aged 10 and over who used the internet in the past three months ([SIHBS 2022, Table 10.5](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)):

- **Everyone:** 27.6 percent.
- **Men:** 30.8 percent. **Women:** 24.7 percent.
- **Towns:** 34.9 percent. **Villages:** 19.6 percent.
- **By schooling:** 14.2 percent with no formal schooling, 71.0 percent with secondary and 87.1 percent with university.

**Where people go online:** 89.6 percent use a mobile phone and 8.9 percent use a home connection. Workplaces, internet cafes and community centres are hardly used. In nomadic areas, every internet user went online by phone (same source).

## Mobile subscriptions since 2000

Mobile subscriptions per 100 people, ITU ([World Bank, IT.CEL.SETS.P2](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?locations=SO)):

- 2000: 0.9
- 2005: 4.7
- 2010: 5.3
- 2012: 18.5
- 2013: 40.3
- 2015: 42.3
- 2020: 53.1
- 2023: 54.0

The line jumps between 2011 and 2013. The ITU subscription count is lower than the survey's phone ownership. Subscriptions are reported by operators and divided by the whole population, children included, while the survey counts adults who own a phone.

## Internet users since 2000

Share of people using the internet, ITU estimates ([World Bank, IT.NET.USER.ZS](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=SO)):

- 2000: under 0.1 percent
- 2005: 1.1 percent
- 2015: 1.8 percent
- 2019: 2.7 percent
- 2020: 15.0 percent
- 2022: 27.6 percent
- 2024: 27.9 percent

The jump from 2.7 percent in 2019 to 15.0 percent in 2020 is a break in the series, not one year of growth. The 2022 figure of 27.6 percent is the same as the SIHBS survey result, so from 2022 the ITU line rests on that survey.

## What the numbers show

Somalia's phone networks reached almost every adult within about 20 years, built by private Somali companies (see [Telecoms and internet in Somalia](/en/economy/telecoms/)). Phones are used more for money than for the internet. The gap between phone ownership (85 percent) and internet use (28 percent) is where most young Somalis still wait to come online, and it is widest for women, rural families and people without schooling.


---

# Rainfall and temperature in Somalia since 1901: the climate in numbers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia gets about 278 mm of rain a year on average (1991 to 2020), most of it in two seasons: Gu, from April to June, and Deyr, from October to November. The average temperature is about 27°C. The years 1991 to 2020 were about 0.3°C warmer than 1901 to 1930, and the wettest and driest years differ by more than double.

## Where these numbers come from

The yearly rainfall and temperature figures are from the CRU TS 4.08 dataset of the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit. It builds a grid of the world's climate from weather station records back to 1901. We took Somalia's national averages from the World Bank's Climate Change Knowledge Portal, which publishes CRU data for every country ([World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal, Somalia](https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/somalia/climate-data-historical); [CRU TS, University of East Anglia](https://crudata.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/hrg/)). The full yearly table is in the data file `somalia-rainfall-temperature-1901-2023.csv` on this page.

**One national number hides a lot.** Somalia stretches from the dry north-east to the farming land between the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Shabelle rivers, and rainfall differs widely between them. Weather stations were few before 1960 and after 1991, so early and recent years rest on fewer readings. A year can look normal in total while a whole season fails in one region.

## The year in four seasons

Average rain and temperature by month, 1991 to 2020 ([World Bank CCKP, CRU TS 4.08 climatology](https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/somalia/climate-data-historical)):

- **Jiilaal, the dry season (January to March):** 3 mm in January, 3 mm in February, 13 mm in March. 25 to 28°C.
- **Gu, the main rains (April to June):** 56 mm in April, 56 mm in May, 18 mm in June. April is the hottest month, at 28.3°C.
- **Xagaa, the second dry season (July to September):** 11 to 14 mm a month.
- **[Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/), the short rains (October to December):** 45 mm in October, 38 mm in November, 11 mm in December. December is the coolest month, at 25.2°C.

The Gu and Deyr months (April to June and October to December) together bring about 80 percent of the year's rain. Farmers and herders plan around them, and the UN and FEWS NET judge each season to forecast hunger ([FEWS NET, Somalia](https://fews.net/east-africa/somalia)).

## Rainfall over 120 years

Average yearly rainfall for each 30-year period (same source):

- 1901 to 1930: 273 mm
- 1931 to 1960: 235 mm
- 1961 to 1990: 283 mm
- 1991 to 2020: 278 mm
- 2014 to 2023: 299 mm

**Wettest years:** 1967 (419 mm), 1968 (406 mm), 1951 (394 mm), 1923 (383 mm), 1961 (372 mm).

**Driest years:** 1955 (162 mm), 1939 (170 mm), 1949 (172 mm), 1943 (173 mm), 1980 (193 mm).

**Recent years:** 2017 had 349 mm, 2019 had 327 mm and 2022 had 330 mm. Yet 2022 was a drought year across much of Somalia. Late 2020 to 2022 brought a run of failed rainy seasons across the Horn of Africa; by August 2022 the World Meteorological Organization warned of a fifth failed season in a row ([WMO, August 2022](https://wmo.int/media/news/greater-horn-of-africa-faces-5th-failed-rainy-season)). This station-based yearly total does not show it. Somalia has had few working stations since 1991, so recent CRU values are filled in from distant stations. For single seasons and recent droughts, use the ERA5 figures on [the Gu and Deyr rains, 1950 to 2023](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/), which show the Gu of 2022 at 44 percent of normal.

## Temperature over 120 years

Average yearly temperature for each 30-year period (same source):

- 1901 to 1930: 26.6°C
- 1931 to 1960: 26.8°C
- 1961 to 1990: 26.6°C
- 1991 to 2020: 26.9°C
- 2014 to 2023: 27.1°C

The 2014 to 2023 average was about 0.5°C warmer than 1901 to 1930. The warmest recent years were 2015 and 2016 (27.2 and 27.3°C). The single warmest year in the series is 1924 (27.6°C), from a time when very few stations reported. Hot years dry out pasture and crops faster, so the same rain goes less far.

## Context

See [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/) and [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/).


---

# Schools in Somalia in numbers: enrolment, attendance and literacy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/schools-and-learning-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About 54 percent of Somalis aged 15 and over can read and write, and 70 percent of those aged 15 to 24, by the 2022 national household survey. Only a quarter of children of primary school age were in primary school. In 2024/25 the federal Ministry of Education counted about 645,000 primary pupils and 202,000 secondary pupils in the regions it covers, 46 and 42 percent of them girls.

## Where the numbers come from

- **The household survey (SIHBS 2022):** 7,212 households in 17 regions, run by the Somali National Bureau of Statistics. It asks families who can read and who goes to school, so it counts children who are not in school too ([SNBS, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).
- **School counts:** the federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education counts pupils in the schools it reaches, published in the bureau's yearly Facts and Figures ([SNBS, Somalia Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). These counts do not include [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) or [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), which run their own school systems and yearbooks.
- **International series:** the UNESCO Institute for Statistics publishes literacy, completion and enrolment figures from these and older sources, back to the 1970s ([UNESCO UIS data, Somalia](https://uis.unesco.org/en/country/so)).

## Who can read and write

Share of people aged 15 and over who can read and write, 2022 ([SIHBS 2022, Table 3.1](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)):

- **Everyone 15 and over:** 53.7 percent.
- **Men:** 63.6 percent. **Women:** 45.3 percent.
- **Young people 15 to 24:** 70.3 percent. Ages 15 to 19: 75.1 percent of young men and 69.9 percent of young women.
- **Towns:** 60.9 percent. **Villages:** 49.1 percent. **Nomadic families:** 20.5 percent.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics puts youth literacy in 2022 at 76.2 percent for young men and 65.1 percent for young women, up from 23.8 percent for young women in 2006 ([UNESCO UIS, LR.AG15T24](https://uis.unesco.org/en/country/so)).

Nearly two in three Somalis (65.5 percent) have no formal schooling, and 4 percent have higher education. Among nomadic families, 92.5 percent have no formal schooling ([SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

## Who is in school

From the 2022 survey ([SIHBS 2022, Table 3.3](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)):

- **Primary (ages 6 to 13):** 25.0 percent of children of this age attend primary school. In nomadic families it is 5.2 percent.
- **Secondary:** 14.6 percent of children of secondary age attend secondary school.
- **Older pupils:** counting pupils of any age, attendance is 39.0 percent for primary and 28.5 percent for secondary. Many children start late or repeat years.
- **Getting there:** 92.2 percent of primary pupils and 85.1 percent of secondary pupils walk to school.

UNESCO estimates that 49.8 percent of young people completed primary school in 2023, up from 31.9 percent in 2006. For lower secondary it was 47.9 percent, up from 22.7 percent ([UNESCO UIS, CR.1 and CR.2](https://uis.unesco.org/en/country/so)).

## Pupils counted in schools, 2024/25

Primary pupils by region, federal ministry count ([SNBS Facts and Figures 2024, Table 1.1](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- Banadir: 240,373
- [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/): 61,341
- [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/): 58,475
- [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/): 50,133
- Bay: 48,124
- Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/): 44,091
- [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/): 40,752
- Middle Shabelle: 34,923
- [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/): 24,104
- [Sool](/en/regions/sool/): 23,307
- [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/): 13,493
- Cayn: 5,617
- **Total: 644,904, of whom 45.8 percent are girls.**

Secondary pupils numbered 201,697, of whom 42.3 percent are girls. Banadir alone has 116,271 secondary pupils, more than half the total (same source, Table 1.5).

**Private and public:** about half of primary pupils are in private schools (50.6 percent in 2025), down from 56.3 percent in 2020. In Banadir 85 percent of primary pupils are in private schools; in Bakool, Gedo and Cayn more than 90 percent are in public schools (same source, Tables 1.2 and 1.4).

**Growth:** the ministry's primary count rose from 317,604 in 2020 to 566,069 in 2025 (same source, Table 1.4).

The bureau's tables do not all agree. Table 1.1 gives 644,904 primary pupils and Table 1.2 gives 566,069 for the same year; the teacher table jumps from 19,570 in 2022 to 160,625 in 2023. We show each figure with its table so readers can check.

## The long view

UNESCO's records show primary enrolment, counting pupils of any age against the primary-age population, rising from 6.9 percent in 1971 to 31.8 percent in 1977, during the years after Somali was first written in 1972 and the literacy campaigns of 1973 to 1975. It fell to 13.8 percent by 1986 ([UNESCO UIS, GER.1](https://uis.unesco.org/en/country/so)). See [The Somali language is written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## Related

- [Exam results](/en/society/exam-results/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/)


---

# Businesses in Somalia: the 2024 business establishment census

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/business-establishments-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somalia Integrated Business Establishment Census (SIBEC 2024) counted 174,149 business establishments in 16 towns. Of these, 47,934 were formal, 43,207 informal and 83,008 were micro-establishments, or kabars. Wholesale and retail trade made up 78.5 percent. Mogadishu had 48,387 establishments, Hargeisa 29,560 and Bosaso 19,308. The census counted 275,439 workers, 46 percent of them women, and women were 70 percent of workers in micro-establishments.

## Where these numbers come from

The Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS) carried out the Somalia Integrated Business Establishment Census (SIBEC) in 2024 and published the report in December 2024 ([SNBS, SIBEC 2024 report](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Business-Establishment-Census-Report-SIBEC-2024-29-12-2024.pdf); [SNBS, census page](https://nbs.gov.so/somalia-integrated-business-establishment-censussibec-2024/)). The main tables are repeated in *Somalia Facts and Figures 2024*, tables 2.9 to 2.11 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)).

- **Where:** 16 towns, one or two in each of 14 regions, counted in three phases, starting with Banadir.
- **What counts:** businesses with a fixed place of work. The report sorts them into three types:
  - formal establishments, which hold a licence such as a municipality licence;
  - informal establishments, which have a fixed place but no licence;
  - micro-establishments, called kabars, which are small stalls and kiosks.
- **What is left out:** farming (except micro-establishments), public administration, household activities and mobile hawkers.

Every figure below is in the data file `somalia-business-establishments-2024.csv`, with the SNBS table number. See also [National Bureau of Statistics](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/) and [GDP and national accounts, 2018 to 2024](/en/data/gdp-national-accounts-2018-2024/).

## Establishments by type

| Type | Establishments | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| Formal | 47,934 | 27.5% |
| Informal | 43,207 | 24.8% |
| Micro-establishment (kabar) | 83,008 | 47.7% |
| **All** | **174,149** | **100%** |

Source: SIBEC 2024, table 2.1.

## Establishments by activity

| Activity | Establishments | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| Wholesale and retail trade, and motor vehicle repair | 136,626 | 78.5% |
| Accommodation and food service | 16,894 | 9.7% |
| Other service activities | 8,470 | 4.9% |
| Manufacturing | 5,821 | 3.3% |
| Education | 1,655 | 1.0% |
| Human health and social work | 1,205 | 0.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (micro only) | 1,124 | 0.6% |
| Administrative and support services | 841 | 0.5% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 504 | 0.3% |
| Information and communication | 492 | 0.3% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 311 | 0.2% |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning | 128 | 0.1% |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | 41 | under 0.1% |
| Real estate | 37 | under 0.1% |

Source: SIBEC 2024, table 2.2. Among micro-establishments alone, trade is 82.7 percent (68,657) and accommodation and food 9.8 percent (8,132) (table 4.1).

## Establishments by town

| Region | Town | All | Formal | Informal | Micro |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Banadir | Mogadishu | 48,387 | 15,069 | 13,621 | 19,697 |
| Waqooyi Galbeed | Hargeisa | 29,560 | 7,696 | 7,734 | 14,130 |
| Bari | Bosaso | 19,308 | 5,561 | 4,806 | 8,941 |
| Mudug | Galkayo | 18,176 | 3,930 | 1,685 | 12,561 |
| Togdheer | Burao | 11,785 | 2,356 | 2,326 | 7,103 |
| Bay | Baidoa | 10,687 | 1,668 | 3,584 | 5,435 |
| Jubbada Hoose | Kismayo | 9,151 | 2,084 | 3,361 | 3,706 |
| Hiiraan | Beledweyne | 7,830 | 2,279 | 1,362 | 4,189 |
| Nugaal | Garowe | 7,399 | 3,479 | 1,374 | 2,546 |
| Gedo | Beletxawo | 2,353 | 1,287 | 942 | 124 |
| Waqooyi Galbeed | Berbera | 1,931 | 220 | 773 | 938 |
| Galgaduud | Adado | 1,841 | 631 | 170 | 633 |
| Galgaduud | Dhusamareeb | 1,744 | 643 | 468 | 1,040 |
| Shabeellaha Hoose | Barawe | 1,504 | 457 | 346 | 701 |
| Bakool | Hudur | 1,285 | 227 | 263 | 795 |
| Shabeellaha Dhexe | Jowhar | 1,208 | 347 | 392 | 469 |

Source: SIBEC 2024, tables 2.3, 3.4 and 4.2. Mogadishu has 27.8 percent of all establishments, Hargeisa 17.0 percent and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) 11.1 percent.

## Legal status and size

These two tables cover the 91,141 formal and informal establishments. The census does not give legal status or size for micro-establishments.

| Legal status | Establishments | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| Sole proprietorship | 82,842 | 90.9% |
| Partnership | 5,414 | 5.9% |
| NGO or other non-profit | 2,270 | 2.5% |
| Private limited company | 461 | 0.5% |
| Cooperative | 106 | 0.1% |
| Corporation or public enterprise | 48 | under 0.1% |

| Size | Establishments | Formal | Informal |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| 1 to 9 workers | 89,815 | 46,665 | 43,150 |
| 10 to 49 workers | 1,231 | 1,175 | 56 |
| 50 to 249 workers | 85 | 84 | 1 |
| 250 or more workers | 10 | 10 | 0 |

Source: SIBEC 2024, tables 3.2 and 3.5. The report's text gives slightly different counts for small and medium firms (1,215 and 101) than its table 3.5. The table figures are used here.

## Who owns them

For the 81,584 formal and informal establishments with a single owner:

- **Age:** owners aged 35 to 55 hold 48,650 (59.6 percent), 26 to 34 hold 25,116 (30.8 percent), 56 and over hold 5,776 (7.1 percent) and under 26 hold 1,806 (2.2 percent) (table 3.7).
- **Nationality:** Somali owners hold 81,325, or 99.7 percent. Owners from elsewhere in eastern Africa hold 148, other African countries 40, the Middle East 32, Asia 26 and Europe 3 (table 3.6).

## Workers by region and sex

| Region | Formal: women | Formal: men | Informal: women | Informal: men | Micro: women | Micro: men |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Banadir | 9,879 | 34,311 | 7,979 | 12,855 | 13,408 | 8,410 |
| Waqooyi Galbeed | 6,463 | 16,302 | 5,473 | 8,187 | 10,470 | 7,380 |
| Bari | 4,185 | 9,125 | 3,669 | 4,044 | 6,651 | 2,759 |
| Mudug | 2,903 | 4,697 | 1,489 | 809 | 10,968 | 1,864 |
| Togdheer | 1,919 | 4,558 | 1,475 | 2,598 | 5,337 | 2,689 |
| Nugaal | 3,025 | 5,849 | 1,055 | 988 | 1,949 | 680 |
| Bay | 886 | 2,491 | 2,235 | 2,581 | 4,457 | 1,134 |
| Jubbada Hoose | 1,362 | 2,804 | 2,999 | 1,347 | 3,259 | 662 |
| Hiiraan | 1,307 | 2,212 | 1,129 | 523 | 3,730 | 534 |
| Galgaduud | 962 | 1,391 | 583 | 242 | 1,568 | 147 |
| Gedo | 898 | 891 | 768 | 405 | 119 | 37 |
| Shabeellaha Hoose | 134 | 833 | 172 | 297 | 536 | 177 |
| Bakool | 177 | 167 | 214 | 177 | 709 | 93 |
| Shabeellaha Dhexe | 148 | 596 | 218 | 234 | 353 | 139 |
| **All** | **34,248** | **86,227** | **29,458** | **35,287** | **63,514** | **26,705** |

Source: SIBEC 2024, tables 3.8 and 4.3.

- **All workers:** 275,439, of whom 127,220 (46 percent) are women.
- **By type:** women are 28 percent of workers in formal establishments, 45 percent in informal ones and 70 percent in micro-establishments.

## Workers by activity

In formal and informal establishments together, trade employs 110,865 people, or 59.9 percent of the 185,220 workers. Accommodation and food employs 23,617, manufacturing 11,897 and education 11,564. Women are 62 percent of the workers in informal accommodation and food businesses and 47 percent in informal trade. They are 12 percent in formal manufacturing (SIBEC 2024, table 3.9). The full table by sex is in the data file.

## How to use it

- **Download the data:** the CSV has one row per item and measure, with the SIBEC table number.
- **Check the originals:** the report and an analysis booklet ([SNBS, Business Establishment Analysis Booklet](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Somalia-Business-Establishment-Analysis-Bookle.pdf)) are free on nbs.gov.so.
- **Compare with care:** the census covers 16 towns only, so it is not a count of every business in the country.
- **Other uses:** the World Bank drew the firms for its 2025 Enterprise Survey of Somalia from SIBEC-2024 ([World Bank Microdata Library, Somalia Enterprise Survey 2025](https://microdata.worldbank.org/catalog/8119)).


---

# The Gu and Deyr rains, 1950 to 2023: every rainy season in numbers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's two rainy seasons, Gu (April to June) and Deyr (October to December), each bring about 125 mm of rain in an average year. The worst seasons since 1950 were the Deyr of 2010, at 11 percent of normal, the Deyr of 2021 (31 percent) and the Gu of 2022 (44 percent). Each was followed by severe hunger.

## Where these numbers come from

These figures are from **ERA5**, the climate reanalysis of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. A reanalysis combines weather stations, satellites and a weather model to rebuild the rain for every month since 1950, even where there are no stations. We took Somalia's national monthly averages from the World Bank's Climate Change Knowledge Portal and added up the months of each season ([World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal, ERA5](https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/somalia/era5-historical); [ECMWF, ERA5](https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/dataset/ecmwf-reanalysis-v5)). "Normal" here means the 1991 to 2020 average. The full table for every year is in the data file `somalia-gu-deyr-rainfall-1950-2023.csv` on this page.

**Why ERA5 and not station data.** Somalia has had few working weather stations since 1991. The station-based CRU dataset, which the [yearly rainfall page](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/) uses for the long view back to 1901, shows the Gu of 2022 as wet. ERA5 shows it as the driest Gu since 1950, which matches what farmers, herders and the World Meteorological Organization reported ([WMO, August 2022](https://wmo.int/media/news/greater-horn-of-africa-faces-5th-failed-rainy-season)). This site uses ERA5 for single seasons for that reason.

## A normal year

Average rain by month, 1991 to 2020, ERA5 (same source):

- Jiilaal: January 6 mm, February 3 mm, March 12 mm
- **Gu:** April 64 mm, May 51 mm, June 8 mm. Season total about 123 mm.
- Xagaa: July 7 mm, August 7 mm, September 10 mm
- **[Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/):** October 58 mm, November 54 mm, December 17 mm. Season total about 130 mm.

The year totals about 297 mm, and the two seasons bring more than four fifths of it.

## The driest seasons since 1950

Rain as a share of the normal season (same source):

- **Deyr 2010: 11 percent.** It was followed by a poor Gu in 2011 (84 percent). The UN declared famine in parts of southern Somalia in July 2011 ([2011 East Africa drought, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_East_Africa_drought)).
- **Deyr 2021: 31 percent**, then **Gu 2022: 44 percent** and **Deyr 2022: 47 percent**. Three failed seasons in a row, in the Horn of Africa's worst drought in more than 40 years ([WMO, August 2022](https://wmo.int/media/news/greater-horn-of-africa-faces-5th-failed-rainy-season)).
- **Deyr 1974: 34 percent** and **Deyr 1975: 38 percent.** This was the drought Somalis call **Abaartii Dabadheer**, "the long-tailed drought". The government declared a state of emergency in November 1974 ([Hiiraan Online, 2014](https://hiiraan.com/op4/2014/Oct/56713/the_approaching_risk_of_another_famine_in_somalia.aspx); [Yeheb](https://www.yeheb.org/drought-context-vulnerability-solutions-muna-ismail/)).
- **Deyr 2016: 44 percent**, followed by a below-normal Gu in 2017 (78 percent).
- Other dry Gu seasons: 1969 (59 percent), 1999 (61 percent), 1992 (68 percent), 2004 (68 percent) and 2014 (70 percent).

## The wettest seasons

- **Deyr 1997: 318 percent of normal**, the wettest season in the record.
- **Deyr 2023: 199 percent**, in an El Niño year, straight after the long drought.
- Deyr 1951 (201 percent), Deyr 2004 (181 percent) and Deyr 2019 (181 percent).
- Gu 1953 (234 percent), Gu 1951 (213 percent) and Gu 2018 (166 percent).

## What the record shows

- **The Deyr swings more than the Gu.** Since 1950 the Deyr has ranged from 11 to 318 percent of normal; the Gu from 44 to 234 percent.
- **Bad Deyr seasons come before most hunger crises.** The Deyr of 1974, 2010, 2016 and 2021 were each followed by a hard year. The Deyr rain feeds the pasture and water that herders depend on through the Jiilaal dry season, and the Gu harvest comes months later.
- **Wet can follow dry.** In 2023 the wettest Deyr since 1997 came straight after three seasons in a row with well below normal rain.

A national average hides big differences between regions. The farming regions between the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Shabelle rivers depend most on the Gu harvest; the pastoral north depends on both seasons for pasture. For seasonal outlooks and hunger warnings by region, see FEWS NET and [FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) ([FEWS NET, Somalia](https://fews.net/east-africa/somalia); [FAO FSNAU](https://fsnau.org/)).

## Related

- [Rain by region, 1991 to 2023](/en/data/rain-by-region-1991-2023/)
- [Rainfall and temperature in Somalia since 1901](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/)
- [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/)
- [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/)


---

# Somalia health numbers since 1990: child deaths, mothers, vaccines, water and life expectancy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Child deaths in Somalia have almost halved since 1990: 101 of every 1,000 children died before age five in 2024, against 180 in 1990. Maternal deaths fell from about 1,358 to 563 per 100,000 births, and the share of people with at least basic drinking water rose from 27 percent in 2000 to 75 percent in 2024. These are UN and WHO estimates.

## Where these numbers come from

Every number on this page was taken on 12 November 2026 from the World Health Organization's Global Health Observatory, which publishes the raw figures through an open data service ([WHO Global Health Observatory](https://www.who.int/data/gho)). The child death figures are made by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation ([UN IGME, childmortality.org](https://childmortality.org/all-cause-mortality/data?refArea=SOM)). The water and sanitation figures come from the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme ([JMP, washdata.org](https://washdata.org/data/household#!/som)).

Somalia has had no census with full published results since the 1970s, and few national surveys, so most of these are **modelled estimates**. The UN builds them from the surveys that exist, such as the Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020, and from patterns in similar countries. Treat any one year as a best guess, and the trend as more reliable than the level. For the 2020 survey results, see [Health in Somalia: the key numbers](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).

The full table is in the data file `somalia-health-1990-2025.csv` on this page.

## Children

Deaths before age five, per 1,000 live births ([UN IGME via WHO GHO](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/under-five-mortality-rate-(probability-of-dying-by-age-5-per-1000-live-births))):

- 1990: 180
- 2000: 173
- 2010: 187
- 2015: 134
- 2020: 115
- 2024: 101

The UN counts deaths from famine and war in the years they happened. That is why the series jumps to about 367 in 1991, 377 in 1992, 363 in 2011, 156 in 2017 and 143 in 2022, the years of the 1991 to 1992 famine, the 2011 famine and the 2017 and 2022 droughts ([UN IGME](https://childmortality.org/all-cause-mortality/data?refArea=SOM)).

- **Infant deaths** (before age one) fell from 106 per 1,000 in 1990 to 65 in 2024.
- **Newborn deaths** (first 28 days) fell from 46 per 1,000 in 1990 to 34 in 2024. Newborn deaths have fallen more slowly than other child deaths, so they are now about a third of all deaths under five.
- **Rich and poor:** in 2024, children in the poorest fifth of households died before age five at about 120 per 1,000, against 71 in the richest fifth ([WHO GHO, under-five mortality by wealth quintile](https://www.who.int/data/gho)).
- **Stunting** (too short for their age) fell from 34 percent of children under five in 2000 to 24 percent in 2024 ([WHO GHO, JME estimates](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-jme-stunting-prevalence)).

## Vaccines

Share of one-year-olds vaccinated, WHO and UNICEF estimates ([WHO GHO, immunization](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/immunization)):

- **DTP3** (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, three doses): 33 percent in 2000, 48 percent in 2015, 72 percent in 2025.
- **Measles, first dose:** 24 percent in 2000, 50 percent in 2015, 61 percent in 2025.
- **Measles, second dose:** first given in national schedules in recent years; 32 percent in 2024 and 31 percent in 2025.

## Mothers

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births ([WHO and UN MMEIG via WHO GHO](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/maternal-mortality-ratio-(per-100-000-live-births))):

- 1990: 1,358
- 2000: 1,150
- 2010: 1,063
- 2015: 784
- 2020: 655
- 2023: 563

Births with a skilled health worker present rose from 9 percent in 2006 to 32 percent in 2019 to 2020, by household surveys (same source).

## Water, toilets and disease

- **At least basic drinking water** (an improved source within a 30-minute round trip): 27 percent of people in 2000, 54 percent in 2015, 75 percent in 2024 ([JMP](https://washdata.org/data/household#!/som)).
- **At least basic sanitation** (an improved toilet not shared with other households): 20 percent in 2000, 35 percent in 2015, 44 percent in 2024 (same source).
- **Tuberculosis:** new cases fell from 266 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 149 in 2025 ([WHO Global TB Programme via GHO](https://www.who.int/data/gho)).

## Life, doctors and money for health

- **Life expectancy at birth:** 49 years in 2000, 54 in 2020 and 56 in 2023 ([WHO GHO, life expectancy](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-life-expectancy-and-healthy-life-expectancy)). A person who reaches 60 can expect about 13 more years.
- **Doctors:** 0.27 per 10,000 people in 2006, 0.48 in 2014 and 0.65 in 2024. **Nurses and midwives:** 0.88, 2.61 and 3.16 per 10,000 in the same years ([WHO National Health Workforce Accounts via GHO](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/health-workforce)). The WHO uses 44.5 doctors, nurses and midwives per 10,000 people as a benchmark for basic coverage.
- **Health service coverage index:** 14 out of 100 in 2000, 30 in 2023 ([WHO GHO, UHC index](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage)).
- **Health spending:** about 3.7 percent of GDP in 2023, from all sources (same source).


---

# Travel and road safety in Somalia: border crossings and road accidents in numbers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/travel-and-road-safety-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2024, 296,078 people arrived in Somalia through the borders that the Immigration and Citizenship Agency counts, and 316,890 left. Almost all of them travelled by air. In Mogadishu the police recorded 1,126 road accident victims in 2024, including 84 deaths, the highest number of victims since records began in 2013. The WHO estimates Somalia's road death rate at 15.1 per 100,000 people in 2023, down from about 29 in 2016 to 2019.

## Where these numbers come from

- **Border crossings:** the Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) counts people crossing at the borders it staffs.
- **Road accidents:** the Somali Police Force's Road Safety Unit counts road accidents in Mogadishu.
- **Where both are published:** the Somali National Bureau of Statistics publishes both counts in its yearly *Somalia Facts and Figures*. The 2024 edition gives arrivals and departures for 2020 to 2024 and road accidents for 2013 to 2024 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, tables 1.16 to 1.19](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)).
- **National road deaths:** for the whole country, the World Health Organization models an estimate each year ([WHO Global Health Observatory, road traffic deaths](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/estimated-road-traffic-death-rate-(per-100-000-population))).

Every figure is in the data file `somalia-travel-and-road-safety-2013-2024.csv` on this page. See also [Immigration and Citizenship Agency](/en/institutions/immigration-and-citizenship-agency/), [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) and [National Bureau of Statistics](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/).

## Arrivals and departures, 2020 to 2024

| Year | Arrivals by air | by sea | by land | **All arrivals** | Departures by air | by sea | by land | **All departures** |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 2020 | 132,787 | 16,771 | 26,418 | **175,976** | 133,183 | 14,475 | 22,692 | **170,350** |
| 2021 | 148,115 | none given | 18,522 | **166,637** | 171,454 | none given | 15,954 | **187,408** |
| 2022 | 26,672 | 222 | 63,820 | **90,714** | 112,332 | 222 | 6,776 | **119,330** |
| 2023 | 276,601 | 3,406 | 12,231 | **292,238** | 302,041 | 2,052 | 16,359 | **320,452** |
| 2024 | 291,648 | 4,430 | none given | **296,078** | 312,530 | 4,360 | none given | **316,890** |

Source: SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, tables 1.16 and 1.17, from ICA records.

- **The SNBS figures as published:** the 2022 air arrivals (26,672) are far below the 2022 air departures (112,332). Land crossings are blank for 2024, and sea crossings for 2021. The figures are given here as published, so a change from year to year may reflect what was counted rather than how many people travelled.

## Road accidents in Mogadishu, 2013 to 2024

| Year | All victims | Minor injury | Serious injury | Deaths | Vehicles involved | Cars | Rickshaws (bajaj) | Army vehicles | Motorcycles |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 2013 | 561 | 279 | 203 | 79 | 2,388 | 2,051 | 146 | 191 | not counted |
| 2014 | 761 | 371 | 268 | 122 | 2,740 | 2,407 | 217 | 116 | not counted |
| 2015 | 742 | 420 | 257 | 65 | 2,778 | 2,286 | 377 | 115 | not counted |
| 2016 | 881 | 470 | 328 | 83 | 2,870 | 2,291 | 468 | 111 | not counted |
| 2017 | 1,060 | 477 | 497 | 86 | 3,279 | 2,459 | 706 | 114 | not counted |
| 2018 | 1,036 | 533 | 426 | 77 | 3,036 | 2,124 | 803 | 109 | not counted |
| 2019 | 945 | 491 | 360 | 94 | 2,860 | 1,945 | 844 | 71 | not counted |
| 2020 | 849 | 454 | 327 | 68 | 2,236 | 1,511 | 691 | 34 | not counted |
| 2021 | 1,078 | 522 | 470 | 86 | 2,741 | 1,711 | 979 | 51 | not counted |
| 2022 | 1,033 | 563 | 401 | 69 | 2,646 | 1,578 | 1,028 | 40 | not counted |
| 2023 | 1,002 | 502 | 419 | 81 | 2,041 | 1,178 | 804 | 59 | 85 |
| 2024 | 1,126 | 715 | 327 | 84 | 2,532 | 1,672 | 808 | 52 | 263 |

Source: SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, tables 1.18 and 1.19, from the Somali Police Force Road Safety Unit.

- **Deaths:** these ranged from 65 (2015) to 122 (2014).
- **Rickshaws:** bajaj rickshaws in accidents rose from 146 in 2013 to over 1,000 in 2022.
- **Motorcycles:** these have been counted only since 2023.
- **What is counted:** the figures cover accidents reported to the police in Mogadishu only.

## Road deaths across Somalia: WHO estimates

| Year | Estimated deaths per 100,000 people |
|---|---:|
| 2000 | 31.0 |
| 2016 | 28.1 |
| 2019 | 28.9 |
| 2020 | 20.2 |
| 2021 | 20.2 |
| 2022 | 17.4 |
| 2023 | 15.1 |

Source: [WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator RS_198](https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/RS_198). For 2021 the WHO estimates 3,440 road deaths in Somalia, with a range of 2,811 to 4,068 (indicator RS_196). These are model estimates, and the range for 2023 is wide, from 6.4 to 27 per 100,000. The full series from 2000 is in the data file.

## How to use it

- **Download the data:** the CSV has one row per measure and year, with its source.
- **Check the originals:** the SNBS publishes *Facts and Figures* each year on nbs.gov.so, and the WHO data is open through its Global Health Observatory.


---

# What Somalia's public clinics see: health facility records 2020 to 2024

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/health-facility-records-2020-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Public health facilities reported 464,273 cases of watery diarrhoea, 344,283 of sexually transmitted infections other than HIV, 203,064 of pneumonia and 190,681 of high blood pressure in 2024. About 793,000 pregnant women made a first antenatal visit, but only 246,000 made a fourth. These are counts from the Ministry of Health's records.

## Where these numbers come from

Public clinics and hospitals report every patient they see to the federal Ministry of Health's health information system. The Somali National Bureau of Statistics publishes the yearly totals in its Facts and Figures book ([SNBS, Somalia Facts and Figures 2024, Tables 1.9 to 1.13](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)).

These are **counts of cases seen**, not rates of disease in the whole population. They go up when more clinics report and down when fewer do. Private clinics, which treat many Somalis, are not included. Several lines have gaps or sudden jumps, which usually mean a change in what was reported, not a real change in illness. For rates in the population, see [Somalia health numbers since 1990](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/) and [Health in Somalia: the key numbers](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).

## The illnesses clinics treat most, 2024

Outpatient cases reported by public facilities in 2024, largest first ([SNBS, Table 1.9](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- Watery diarrhoea: 464,273
- Sexually transmitted infections other than HIV: 344,283
- Pneumonia: 203,064
- High blood pressure: 190,681
- Burns and injuries: 181,239
- Diabetes: 56,272
- Skin diseases: 36,551
- Genital ulcers: 32,796
- Ear diseases: 20,617
- Bloody diarrhoea: 17,395

**What changed:** cases of watery diarrhoea rose from 367,465 in 2020 to 464,273 in 2024. Recorded high blood pressure rose from 52,820 in 2020 to 190,681 in 2024, and diabetes from 39,685 to 56,272. (same source). Counts can rise because more people are tested, not only because more people are ill.

## Hospital stays, 2024

Inpatient cases reported in 2024 ([SNBS, Table 1.10](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- Watery diarrhoea: 19,146
- Malnutrition: 17,095
- Pneumonia: 16,603
- Injuries: 7,984
- Heart and blood vessel disease: 3,300
- Severe malaria: 734

## Care in pregnancy

The WHO recommends at least eight antenatal contacts in a pregnancy ([WHO, antenatal care recommendations, 2016](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549912)). Visits reported by public facilities ([SNBS, Table 1.11](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- First visit: 777,095 in 2020 and 792,706 in 2024
- Second visit: 479,172 in 2024
- Third visit: 329,548 in 2024
- Fourth visit: 246,235 in 2024

So for every 100 women who came once in 2024, about 31 came a fourth time. In 2024, 293,061 pregnant women at these visits had haemoglobin below 10, a sign of anaemia, and 271,295 were tested for HIV, of whom 21 tested positive (same source).

## Births in public facilities

Public facilities reported 211,319 live births in 2020, 321,272 in 2021 and 235,468 in 2022, of which 6,111 were by caesarean section in 2022 ([SNBS, Table 1.12](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). The 2023 and 2024 columns of this table are misaligned in the published book, so we do not repeat them here. Most Somali babies are born at home: 79 percent in the 2020 national health survey ([Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)).

## Vaccine doses given

Doses given at public facilities ([SNBS, Table 1.13](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)):

- BCG (tuberculosis), at birth: 499,667 in 2020 and 528,530 in 2023
- Pentavalent, first dose: 513,465 in 2020 and 566,758 in 2023
- Pentavalent, third dose: 450,048 in 2020 and 494,750 in 2023
- Polio (oral), third dose: 451,615 in 2020 and 504,906 in 2023
- Measles: 433,022 in 2020 and 537,997 in 2023

The book repeats the 2023 numbers in the 2024 column, so 2024 is not yet reported. About 87 of every 100 children who got a first pentavalent dose in 2023 also got the third. For the share of all children vaccinated, see the WHO and UNICEF estimates in [Somalia health numbers since 1990](/en/data/health-numbers-1990-2025/), which put third-dose coverage at 70 percent in 2024 ([WHO GHO, immunization](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/immunization)).


---

# What Somalia buys and sells: imports and exports by product, 2022 to 2024

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/imports-and-exports-by-product-2022-2024/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 2024 Somalia's recorded imports were worth $9.18 billion and its exports $1.56 billion, according to Central Bank figures published by the national statistics bureau. Food was the largest import at $2.52 billion, followed by medical products at $1.43 billion and construction goods at $1.19 billion. Khat imports were $400 million. Live animals made up $970 million of exports, or 62 percent, and crops and vegetable oil $344 million.

## Where these numbers come from

The Central Bank of Somalia compiles the value of goods coming into and leaving the country by product group, quarter by quarter. The Somali National Bureau of Statistics ([SNBS](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/)) publishes these tables in its yearly *Somalia Facts and Figures* ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, tables 2.12 to 2.14](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf); [SNBS reports page](https://nbs.gov.so/category/reports/)). This page brings together the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions. All values are in millions of US dollars.

Every figure is in the data file `somalia-imports-exports-by-product-2022-2024.csv`, with each quarter and the edition it comes from. For the wider picture, see [Somalia's trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/), [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/), [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/) and [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/).

## Imports by product group

| Product group | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Share of 2024 |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Food | 2,162.7 | 2,002.5 | 2,517.7 | 27.4% |
| Medical products | 479.3 | 797.9 | 1,433.2 | 15.6% |
| Construction | 1,171.3 | 1,340.2 | 1,192.3 | 13.0% |
| Clothes and footwear | 570.5 | 460.3 | 907.9 | 9.9% |
| Oil and gas | 624.4 | 560.0 | 658.5 | 7.2% |
| Cars and spare parts | 431.2 | 467.4 | 643.1 | 7.0% |
| Personal care | 145.0 | 202.5 | 340.0 | 3.7% |
| Electronics and electric machines | 121.8 | 158.7 | 212.3 | 2.3% |
| Furniture and utensils | 56.5 | 143.7 | 174.4 | 1.9% |
| Beverages and tobacco | 87.4 | 105.5 | 162.8 | 1.8% |
| Cosmetics | 138.0 | 106.3 | 146.6 | 1.6% |
| Government agents | not listed | not listed | 132.4 | 1.4% |
| Plant industries | 34.5 | 62.2 | 115.6 | 1.3% |
| Stationery | 35.3 | 31.0 | 55.9 | 0.6% |
| Private sector | not listed | not listed | 4.6 | 0.1% |
| Others | 321.6 | 517.1 | 482.5 | 5.3% |
| *of which khat* | *100.8* | *454.5* | *400.1* | *4.4%* |
| **All imports** | **6,379.5** | **6,955.5** | **9,179.7** | **100%** |

Sources: SNBS, Facts and Figures 2022 and 2023, table 2.7, and 2024, table 2.12, from the Central Bank of Somalia. Khat is counted inside "Others".

- **Growth:** recorded imports rose 44 percent from 2022 to 2024.
- **Medical products:** these nearly tripled, from $479 million to $1.43 billion.
- **Food:** this was the largest group in every year, between 27 and 34 percent of the total.
- **Quarters:** the busiest quarter in 2024 was the fourth, at $2,594.9 million. The fourth quarter also had the most clothes and footwear ($335.7 million) and construction goods ($342.6 million).

## Exports by product group

| Product group | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Share of 2024 |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Livestock | 558.4 | 860.9 | 969.9 | 62.3% |
| Crops and vegetable oil | 46.0 | 63.5 | 343.7 | 22.1% |
| Fishery exports | 51.3 | 15.0 | 76.8 | 4.9% |
| Forest products | 12.2 | 11.3 | 58.9 | 3.8% |
| Animal skins | 7.0 | 7.3 | 48.0 | 3.1% |
| Livestock products (meat) | 16.1 | 16.0 | 15.5 | 1.0% |
| Others | 13.0 | 35.5 | 43.1 | 2.8% |
| **All exports** | **704.0** | **1,009.5** | **1,556.0** | **100%** |

Sources: SNBS, Facts and Figures 2022 and 2023, table 2.8, and 2024, table 2.13, from the Central Bank of Somalia.

- **Livestock by quarter:** livestock exports peak in the second quarter. The Central Bank links the seasonal pattern to demand around the Hajj and Eid al-Adha (Annual Report 2025, below). In 2023 the second quarter brought $453.6 million, more than half the year's livestock exports.
- **Gulf markets:** the Central Bank names the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and Saudi Arabia as the main buyers of Somali exports. It names China, India and the United Arab Emirates as the largest sources of imports ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).
- **Sources differ on livestock in 2024:** the Central Bank's 2025 annual report gives livestock exports in 2024 as $950.9 million, against $969.9 million in the SNBS table (same source).

## Goods trade in the balance of payments

| Year | Exports of goods (FOB) | Imports of goods (FOB) | Goods balance |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| 2018 | 571 | 3,144 | -2,573 |
| 2019 | 662 | 3,437 | -2,775 |
| 2020 | 549 | 3,412 | -2,863 |
| 2021 | 717 | 4,216 | -3,499 |
| 2022 | 704 | 5,614 | -4,910 |
| 2023 | 1,009 | 6,121 | -5,112 |
| 2024 | 1,556 | 7,718 | -6,162 |

Source: SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, table 2.14. The goods balance is exports minus imports. The table's own "Goods" line differs from this for most years, and both are in the data file. The export totals match the product tables above. The import totals in the balance of payments, which values goods free on board (FOB), are lower than the totals of the product tables.

## How to read the tables

- **As published:** the column headings in the source tables carry other years in places. The 2022 tables are headed "2020Q1" to "2020Q4", and the 2024 export table "2023Q1" to "2023Q4". The titles and totals show which year each covers.
- **New groups in 2024:** "Government agents" and "Private sector" appear only in the 2024 import table.
- **Khat:** the khat line rose from $100.8 million in 2022 to $454.5 million in 2023, as published.
- **Download the data:** the CSV has one row per flow, product, year and quarter.


---

# Justice, crime and government in Somalia: the official numbers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/justice-and-governance-numbers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Somali National Bureau of Statistics reports 2,645 cases brought to the federal Attorney General's office. Of these, 28 percent were resolved by the office, 35 percent by the courts and 37 percent were pending. Somaliland's Attorney General recorded 28,563 cases and Puntland's 4,440. Women hold 14 of 54 Upper House seats, 54 of 275 House of the People seats and 2 of 25 federal ministries. The federal government has 5,751 permanent civil servants, 26 percent of them women.

## Where these numbers come from

All the figures come from *Somalia Facts and Figures*, published by the Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS), 7th edition, October 2024 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, tables 2.19 to 2.25](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). The 2022 edition adds the yearly count of federal civil servants ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/)).

The SNBS gathers these numbers from the Attorney General's offices, parliament, the civil service commissions and the police of each government. It does not always give the year each table covers. Every figure is in the data file `somalia-justice-and-governance-2024.csv` on this page. For the bodies themselves, see [Attorney General](/en/institutions/attorney-general/), [Somalia's courts](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/) and [National Bureau of Statistics](/en/institutions/national-bureau-of-statistics/).

## Cases at the federal Attorney General's office

| Type of case | Cases | Resolved by the office | Resolved by courts | Pending |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Property and assets | 860 | 290 | 310 | 260 |
| Homicide and assault | 570 | 235 | 160 | 175 |
| Substance abuse | 333 | 69 | 135 | 129 |
| Gender-based violence | 297 | 55 | 145 | 97 |
| Road traffic | 253 | 80 | 98 | 75 |
| Financial crimes | 212 | 7 | 20 | 185 |
| Human trafficking | 79 | 9 | 24 | 46 |
| Maritime crimes | 41 | 0 | 36 | 5 |
| **All cases** | **2,645** | **28%** | **35%** | **37%** |

Source: SNBS, table 2.19. The SNBS also reports that 63.4 percent of disputes brought to the federal justice system had been completed and 36.6 percent were pending.

## Cases at the state Attorney General's offices

| State | Cases | Completed | Pending | Share completed |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Somaliland | 28,563 | 27,310 | 1,253 | 97% |
| Puntland | 4,440 | 3,991 | 449 | 90% |
| South West | 967 | 765 | 202 | 79% |
| Galmudug | 410 | 345 | 65 | 84% |
| Jubaland | 183 | 136 | 47 | 74% |
| Hirshabelle | 63 | 42 | 21 | 67% |

Source: SNBS, table 2.20. The SNBS does not say which years these cases cover.

## Reported crimes and homicides by state

| State | Share of homicides | Share of reported crimes |
|---|---:|---:|
| Puntland | 25% | 12% |
| Somaliland | 14% | 77% |
| Galmudug | 12% | 1.2% |
| South West | 10% | 2.6% |
| Hirshabelle | 2% | 0.2% |
| Jubaland | 1% | 0.5% |

Source: SNBS, table 2.24. The SNBS gives shares only, not the number of crimes. The homicide shares add up to 64 percent, so the rest are not assigned to these six states in the table.

## Women in parliament and the cabinet

| Body | Seats | Women | Share |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Upper House | 54 | 14 | 26% |
| House of the People | 275 | 54 | 20% |
| Federal ministers | 25 | 2 | 8% |

Source: SNBS, tables 2.21 and 2.22. The agreed target for women in parliament is 30 percent ([UN Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/172528)). See [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/).

## Civil servants by government and sex

| Government | Men | Women | All | Share women |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Federal Government | 4,263 | 1,488 | 5,751 | 26% |
| Puntland | 2,973 | 1,157 | 4,130 | 28% |
| Jubaland | 575 | 124 | 699 | 18% |
| Galmudug | 132 | 43 | 175 | 25% |
| South West | 143 | 23 | 166 | 14% |
| Hirshabelle | 124 | 28 | 152 | 18% |

Source: SNBS, table 2.23. The 2022 edition lists the federal permanent civil servants by year from 2006 to 2022, with the largest number, 1,386, in 2013. It also counts 1,508 temporary staff, 935 federal school teachers and 222 female medical staff. These yearly figures are in the data file.

## Violations against journalists

| Type | Share of recorded cases |
|---|---:|
| Detentions | 71.4% |
| Killings | 10.7% |
| Attacks on media outlets | 7.1% |
| Torture | 3.6% |
| Kidnappings | 3.6% |
| Forced relocations | 3.6% |

Source: SNBS, table 2.25. Reporters Without Borders ranked Somalia 126th of 180 in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/somalia)). See [Ministry of Information](/en/institutions/ministry-of-information/).

## How to use it

- **Download the data:** the CSV has one row per item and measure, with the SNBS table number.
- **Check the originals:** the *Facts and Figures* reports are free on nbs.gov.so.


---

# Rain by region in Somalia, 1991 to 2023: the Gu and Deyr in 18 towns

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/rain-by-region-1991-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Rain differs widely across Somalia. Near Bosaso a normal year brings about 50 mm; near Marka, Kismayo, Jowhar and Mogadishu more than 400 mm. In the north most rain falls in the Gu; in Bay, Bakool, Gedo, the Jubas and Middle Shabelle the Deyr brings more. The Deyr of 2010 brought only 1 to 27 percent of normal rain everywhere.

## Where these numbers come from

The figures are from **ERA5**, the climate reanalysis of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which rebuilds daily rain everywhere on Earth from stations, satellites and a weather model ([ECMWF, ERA5](https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/dataset/ecmwf-reanalysis-v5)). We downloaded daily ERA5 rain for the main town of each region through the Open-Meteo historical weather service and added up the months of each season ([Open-Meteo, Historical Weather API](https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api)). "Normal" means the 1991 to 2020 average for that town. Every year for every town is in the data file `somalia-rain-by-region-1991-2023.csv` on this page.

**What each figure covers.** Each figure is for one ERA5 grid square of about 25 to 30 km around the town, not the whole region and not a rain gauge. The exact millimetres can differ from what a gauge in the town would record. For the national picture back to 1950, see [the Gu and Deyr rains, 1950 to 2023](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/).

## A normal year, town by town

Average rain, 1991 to 2020, in mm (same source):

| Region | Town | Gu (Apr–Jun) | Deyr (Oct–Dec) | Whole year |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Awdal | Borama | 98 | 42 | 268 |
| Woqooyi Galbeed | Hargeisa | 92 | 44 | 208 |
| Togdheer | Burao | 71 | 37 | 130 |
| Sanaag | Erigavo | 239 | 128 | 456 |
| Sool | Las Anod | 90 | 60 | 160 |
| Bari | Bosaso | 16 | 31 | 52 |
| Nugaal | Garowe | 72 | 48 | 127 |
| Mudug | Galkayo | 91 | 77 | 175 |
| Galgaduud | Dhusamareb | 100 | 89 | 196 |
| Hiiraan | Beledweyne | 113 | 109 | 232 |
| Middle Shabelle | Jowhar | 161 | 210 | 418 |
| Banadir | Mogadishu | 174 | 134 | 417 |
| Lower Shabelle | Marka | 182 | 140 | 430 |
| Bay | Baidoa | 164 | 204 | 402 |
| Bakool | Xudur | 148 | 169 | 332 |
| Gedo | Garbahaarey | 114 | 155 | 290 |
| Middle Juba | Bu'aale | 158 | 189 | 398 |
| Lower Juba | Kismayo | 196 | 143 | 423 |

Three patterns stand out. The **north-west and centre** get much more rain in the Gu than in the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/). **Bay, [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and Middle Shabelle** get more in the Deyr. The **[Bari](/en/regions/bari/) coast** is the driest place in the table, and the [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/) highlands in Sanaag among the wettest; the Erigavo square includes high ground, which catches more rain.

## The driest seasons, region by region

Rain as a share of each town's normal (same source):

- **Deyr 2010:** between 1 and 27 percent of normal in all 18 towns, and the driest Deyr since 1991 in 15 of them. Famine was declared in parts of the south in July 2011 ([2011 East Africa drought, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_East_Africa_drought)).
- **Deyr 2021:** 34 percent or less in 14 of the 18 towns, and under 10 percent in Garowe, Galkayo and Las Anod. Only the far south did better: [Bu'aale](/en/regions/middle-juba/) and Kismayo had 72 percent, Mogadishu 66 percent.
- **Gu 2022:** the driest Gu since 1991 in Hargeisa, [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), Erigavo, Las Anod, Garowe, Galkayo and Beledweyne. Las Anod had 3 percent of normal. Near the southern coast it was close to normal (Mogadishu 97 percent, Marka 93 percent). This is the drought the World Meteorological Organization called a run of failed seasons across the Horn of Africa ([WMO, August 2022](https://wmo.int/media/news/greater-horn-of-africa-faces-5th-failed-rainy-season)).
- **Deyr 2016:** under half of normal in 13 towns, with Burao, Garowe, Galkayo, Dhusamareb and Las Anod under 20 percent.

## Very wet seasons

- **Deyr 1997:** above normal in every town, up to 450 percent in Garbahaarey and 427 percent in Burao.
- **Deyr 2019:** above normal in every town, more than three times normal in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) and Bosaso.
- **Deyr 2023:** above normal in 17 of 18 towns, about three times normal in Galkayo, Dhusamareb and Garbahaarey, straight after the drought. Only Erigavo (44 percent) was dry.

## How to use this

Compare a town with its own normal, not with other towns: 50 mm is a normal Deyr in Bosaso but a failed one in Baidoa. For forecasts and current conditions by district, see FEWS NET and FAO's [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FSNAU units ([FEWS NET, Somalia](https://fews.net/east-africa/somalia); [FAO SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)).

## Related

- [The Gu and Deyr rains, 1950 to 2023](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/)
- [Rainfall and temperature in Somalia since 1901](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/)
- [Rain, drought and floods](/en/society/rain-drought-and-floods/)


---

# Temperature by region in Somalia, 1991 to 2023: 18 towns

Source: https://calankii.com/en/data/temperature-by-region-1991-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Average temperatures in Somalia's regional towns range from about 21°C in the northern highlands (Erigavo and Hargeisa) to 29°C in Garbahaarey in Gedo. In 16 of the 18 towns, 2014 to 2023 was between 0.3°C and 0.8°C warmer than 1991 to 2000. Across the 18 towns, 2019 was the warmest year of the period and 1993 the coolest. The highest single readings, above 43°C, were in Gedo and Middle Juba.

## Where these numbers come from

The figures come from **NASA POWER**, NASA's free service for weather and climate data, which draws its temperatures from the MERRA-2 reanalysis ([NASA POWER](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/); [NASA GMAO, MERRA-2](https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/)). Monthly air temperature at 2 metres was downloaded for the main town of each region, at the same points used on [Rain by region, 1991 to 2023](/en/data/rain-by-region-1991-2023/). "Normal" means the 1991 to 2020 average for that town. Every year for every town is in the data file `somalia-temperature-by-region-1991-2023.csv` on this page.

**What each figure covers.**

- **Grid squares:** each figure is for one MERRA-2 grid square, about 50 by 70 km. It is not a thermometer reading in the town.
- **Mogadishu and Marka:** they fall in the same grid square, so their figures are identical.
- **Highest and lowest:** these are the single highest and lowest readings in each year.

For the national average back to 1901, see [Rainfall and temperature, 1901 to 2023](/en/data/rainfall-and-temperature-1901-2023/).

## Average temperature by town

| Town | Region | Average 1991 to 2020 (°C) | 2014 to 2023 vs 1991 to 2000 (°C) | Highest reading (°C) | Lowest reading (°C) |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Borama | Awdal | 22.3 | +0.8 | 37.7 | 4.9 |
| Hargeisa | Woqooyi Galbeed | 21.4 | +0.6 | 36.5 | 4.3 |
| Burao | Togdheer | 24.2 | +0.6 | 37.9 | 7.3 |
| Erigavo | Sanaag | 20.9 | +0.8 | 35.4 | 3.1 |
| Las Anod | Sool | 26.1 | +0.6 | 38.7 | 8.5 |
| Bosaso | Bari | 27.8 | +0.5 | 36.1 | 18.9 |
| Garowe | Nugaal | 26.6 | +0.7 | 39.8 | 10.3 |
| Galkayo | Mudug | 27.6 | +0.6 | 40.3 | 13.4 |
| Dhusamareb | Galgaduud | 28.1 | +0.5 | 40.4 | 15.0 |
| Beledweyne | Hiiraan | 28.3 | +0.3 | 41.3 | 15.2 |
| Jowhar | Middle Shabelle | 27.6 | +0.4 | 40.9 | 17.9 |
| Mogadishu | Banadir | 27.3 | +0.4 | 37.5 | 20.3 |
| Marka | Lower Shabelle | 27.3 | +0.4 | 37.5 | 20.3 |
| Baidoa | Bay | 26.8 | +0.3 | 41.1 | 15.7 |
| Xudur | Bakool | 26.3 | +0.2 | 40.7 | 14.3 |
| Garbahaarey | Gedo | 29.1 | 0.0 | 43.3 | 14.9 |
| Bu'aale | Middle Juba | 28.5 | +0.5 | 43.0 | 17.7 |
| Kismayo | Lower Juba | 27.8 | +0.6 | 38.6 | 21.5 |

The highest and lowest readings are the extremes for 1991 to 2023. Source: calculated from NASA POWER monthly data.

## The hottest and coolest months

- **North ([Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/), [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), [Bari](/en/regions/bari/), [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/)):** the hottest month is May or June, and the coolest is December or January. In Bosaso the June average is 31.6°C and the January average 23.6°C.
- **[Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/):** the hottest month is September.
- **South (from [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) to Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/)):** March, at the end of the dry Jilaal season, is the hottest month. July or August, in the cool, windy Xagaa season, is the coolest. In [Garbahaarey](/en/regions/gedo/) the March average is 32.1°C.

For the seasons, see [Gu and Deyr rains](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/).

## Warm and cool years

These figures are the average across the 18 towns, compared with each town's own normal:

| Year | Difference from 1991 to 2020 (°C) |
|---|---:|
| 2019 | +0.7 |
| 2017 | +0.5 |
| 2009 | +0.5 |
| 2002 | +0.4 |
| 1996 | -0.5 |
| 1994 | -0.7 |
| 1993 | -0.8 |

In 2019, all 18 towns were warmer than normal, by 0.5 to 1.0°C. It was the warmest year of the period in 9 of the 18 towns. The 2019 [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) rains were also above normal in all 18 towns, at 112 to 341 percent of normal; see [Rain by region](/en/data/rain-by-region-1991-2023/).

## How these figures compare

- **NASA POWER and ERA5:** they are both reanalyses, which rebuild past weather from satellites, stations and a weather model. Their figures for the same town can differ, so compare like with like.
- **Station records:** Somalia's weather station records have long gaps since 1991. The FAO's Somalia Water and Land Information Management project ([SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)) holds and publishes station and climate data ([FAO SWALIM](https://www.faoswalim.org/)).

## How to use it

- **Download the data:** the file has one row per town and year.
- **Compare with rainfall:** match each row to the same town and year on the rain page.
- **Check the source:** NASA POWER lets anyone download the same data for any point.


---

# Black Hawk Down (1999) by Mark Bowden: the book on the 1993 battle of Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/black-hawk-down-bowden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War is a 1999 book by the American journalist Mark Bowden about the battle in Mogadishu on 3 and 4 October 1993, when US forces trying to capture aides of Mohamed Farrah Aidid lost two Black Hawk helicopters. It grew out of a 29-part newspaper series, was a finalist for the US National Book Award and became a 2001 film.

## The book

**Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War** was written by the American journalist **Mark Bowden** and published in the United States in February 1999 ([Black Hawk Down (book), Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))). It grew out of a 29-part series Bowden wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer, which began on 16 November 1997 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))).

## What it covers

The book tells the story of a raid in central Mogadishu on 3 October 1993 by US [Task Force Ranger](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/), part of the operation to capture the leaders of [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/en/people/mohamed-farrah-aidid/)'s faction. Two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and the fighting to reach the crash sites lasted through the night into 4 October ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))).

It gives the background of the fall of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government in 1991, the UN intervention and the June 1993 ambush in which 24 Pakistani UN soldiers were killed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))). It ends with the aftermath: the hunt for Aidid was called off, US forces left Somalia, and the UN mission followed some months later. The wider story is on [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## How it was researched

Bowden used US Army records, interviews with participants on both sides, including Somali residents and fighters, video from observation aircraft and recordings of radio traffic ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))). Much of the material on the US Delta Force came from Paul R. Howe, who was later criticised for allowing his real name to be used ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))).

## How it was received

The book was a finalist for the 1999 National Book Award for Nonfiction ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))). A New York Times review called it "a minute-by-minute account" of the battle and noted that it conveyed the siege felt by both civilians and soldiers, and the common view in the city that the Rangers caused most of the casualties ([Wikipedia, citing the New York Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))). Reviewers credited it with explaining how a humanitarian mission turned into armed conflict, a shift later called the "Mogadishu line" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))).

A CNN documentary based on it later won an Emmy, and in 2001 Ridley Scott directed the film Black Hawk Down, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book))).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/blackhawkdownsto00bowd_1)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Black+Hawk+Down+Bowden)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)
- [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)


---

# From a Crooked Rib (1970): Nuruddin Farah's first novel

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From a Crooked Rib is the first novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, published by Heinemann in 1970. It follows Ebla, a young nomad woman from the Ogaden who runs away from a marriage arranged for camels and makes her way to Mogadishu. The Somali government banned it in 1972. It was translated into Somali as Feedh Qalloocan in 2016.

## The book

**From a Crooked Rib** is the first novel by [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/). It was published in November 1970 by Heinemann as number 80 in its African Writers Series ([From a Crooked Rib, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)). Farah wrote it in about six weeks in 1968 while he was a student in India; it was accepted in August 1969 and he rewrote much of it at proof stage ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)).

## The story

**Ebla**, a young woman in a nomad family in the Ogaden, runs away when her grandfather promises her to an old man in return for camels. She stays with a cousin in a town, who plans to marry her to a broker, so she runs again, to Mogadishu, with a young man named Awill. When she learns Awill is unfaithful, she takes a second husband, who treats her as a paid woman. She comes to the view that women are treated like cattle in the countryside and in the city alike, and decides to act for herself. The novel ends with Ebla pregnant and unsure who the father is ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)).

## How it has been read

Farah described the novel as being about "male oppression of women and women's struggle against this domination" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)). Critics have also read Ebla's story as an allegory of Somalia's colonial history and its nationalist politics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)).

Reception has been mixed. Some critics called Farah a "rarity in African literature" for his portrayal of women; the Nigerian novelist Buchi Emecheta questioned whether a man could write a woman's view so convincingly; and Elsa Dixler, in the New York Times in 2006, called it "a young writer's novel" with an "intermittently shaky point of view" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)).

## Ban and translations

In 1972 the Somali government banned the book after a dispute with the censorship board, and the ban lasted many years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)). It has been translated into Slovene (1978), French (Née de la côte d'Adam, 1987), German (1994), Swedish (2009) and Somali, as **Feedh Qalloocan**, translated by Abdisalam Hereri (2016) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_a_Crooked_Rib)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/fromcrookedrib0000fara)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=From+a+Crooked+Rib+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# City of Thorns (2016) by Ben Rawlence: nine lives in the Dadaab camps

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp is a 2016 book by the British writer Ben Rawlence about Dadaab in north-east Kenya, set up in 1992 for Somalis fleeing the civil war. It follows nine residents, among them Guled from Mogadishu, Nisho, born in 1991 as his parents fled, and Muna, a student. It argues that the typical refugee experience is being stuck rather than moving.

## The book

**City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp** is a non-fiction book by the British writer and former researcher **Ben Rawlence**, published by Picador in the UK in 2016 ([City of Thorns, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)).

## The place

The book is about **Dadaab**, a group of refugee camps in north-east Kenya near the Somali border. Dadaab was set up in 1992 for about 90,000 refugees from the Somali civil war; the book describes a population of hundreds of thousands, though the exact number has always been disputed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)). Life in the camps is covered on [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/).

## The people it follows

Rawlence tells the story of the camp through nine residents. Among them ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)):

- **Guled**, who grew up in Mogadishu during the war, was taken by al-Shabaab and escaped.
- **Nisho**, born in 1991 as his parents fled Somalia, who grew up in the camp.
- **Muna**, a student who used the camp's free schools and pushed against the limits set for her.

## Its argument

The book's main claim is that "the quintessential refugee experience is not so much of movement as [of] being stuck": most refugees spend years or decades in camps near home rather than travelling on to Europe ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)).

## How it was received

- The Guardian called it a "timely reminder that the vast majority of the world's refugee population will never see European shores" ([Wikipedia, citing The Guardian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)).
- In the New York Times, Caroline Moorehead described it as "a deeply disturbing and depressing portrait of the violence, destitution, fear, sense of hopelessness and neglect" in the camps ([Wikipedia, citing the New York Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)).
- The Foreign Policy Association chose it for its 2019 "Great Decisions" programme on refugees and migration ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Thorns)).

Other books on Dadaab include Cindy Horst's study [Transnational Nomads](/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/) (2006), listed on [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/cityofthornsnine0000rawl_e5z4)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=City+of+Thorns+Rawlence)

## Related pages

- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


---

# The Fortune Men (2021) by Nadifa Mohamed: the story of Mahmood Mattan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-fortune-men-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Fortune Men is a 2021 novel by the Somali-British writer Nadifa Mohamed about Mahmood Hussein Mattan, a Somali seaman wrongly convicted of a 1952 murder in Cardiff and hanged; his conviction was quashed in 1998. It was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize and won Wales Book of the Year in 2022.

## The book

**The Fortune Men** is the third novel by [Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/), published by Viking (Penguin) in the UK on 27 May 2021 ([The Fortune Men, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)).

## The true story behind it

The novel is based on the case of **[Mahmood Hussein Mattan](/en/people/mahmood-hussein-mattan/)**, a Somali former merchant seaman living in Butetown (Tiger Bay), Cardiff. He was convicted of the murder of the shopkeeper Lily Volpert on 6 March 1952 and hanged; he was the last person hanged at Cardiff prison. In 1998 the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction after it was shown that evidence had been falsified and manipulated ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)). In the novel the victim is renamed Violet Volacki.

Nadifa Mohamed's father, also from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), had met Mattan when both lived in Hull ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)). The history of Somali seamen in Wales is on [Somali seamen and early migrants](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/) and [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/).

## How it was received

- Shortlisted for the **2021 Booker Prize** ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)).
- Won the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award, the People's Choice Award and the overall **Wales Book of the Year** in 2022 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)).
- In The Guardian, Ashish Ghadiali wrote that it "confirms her as a literary star of her generation", and Michael Donkor praised it for "humanising" Mattan and for writing about his faith in "delicate and perspicacious prose" ([Wikipedia, citing The Guardian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)).
- In the Financial Times, Catherine Taylor called it "a novel on fire, a restitution of justice in prose" ([Wikipedia, citing the Financial Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Fortune+Men+Nadifa+Mohamed)
- Audiobook read by Hugh Quarshie, from Penguin ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Men))

## Related pages

- [Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/)
- [Black Mamba Boy (2010)](/en/books/black-mamba-boy-mohamed/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Black Mamba Boy (2010) by Nadifa Mohamed: a Somali boy's journey, 1935 to 1947

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/black-mamba-boy-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Black Mamba Boy is the first novel by Nadifa Mohamed, published by HarperCollins in 2010. Based on her father's life, it follows Jama, a boy who leaves Aden in 1935 after his mother dies and travels through Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and the Mediterranean to Wales by 1947. It won the Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.

## The book

**Black Mamba Boy** is the first novel by [Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/). It was published by HarperCollins in the UK in 2010 and by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the United States ([Black Mamba Boy, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)). It is a historical novel based on the life of the author's father in the 1930s and 1940s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)).

## The story

The main character, **Jama**, is a boy living in Aden, in Yemen, in 1935. When his mother Ambaro dies, he sets out to find his father. His journey takes him through [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Egypt and Palestine, across the Mediterranean, and ends at Port Talbot in Wales in 1947, and he settles in Britain ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)).

## The title

The title comes from a family story the author has told: her grandmother, while pregnant, was separated from her caravan, and a black mamba crept over her belly and slid away without harming her. She took it as a sign that the child was protected ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)).

## How it was received

- Won the **2010 Betty Trask Award** for a first novel ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)).
- Shortlisted for the 2010 Guardian First Book Award, the 2010 Dylan Thomas Prize and the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and longlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)).
- Reviewed in The Independent by Arifa Akbar in 2010 ([Wikipedia, references](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy)).

Her next novel, The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013), is set in Hargeysa in 1987 to 1988, and her third, [The Fortune Men](/en/books/the-fortune-men-mohamed/) (2021), in [Cardiff](/en/diaspora/cardiff/) in 1952.

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/blackmambaboy00moha)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Black+Mamba+Boy+Nadifa+Mohamed)

## Related pages

- [Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/)
- [Somali seamen and early migrants](/en/diaspora/somali-seamen-and-early-migrants/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Maps (1986) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of the Ogaden war

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/maps-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Maps is a 1986 novel by Nuruddin Farah, the first of his Blood in the Sun trilogy. It follows Askar, an orphan born in the Ogaden and raised by a woman named Misra, against the background of the 1977 to 1978 war between Somalia and Ethiopia. It is told in the first, second and third person and is often called Farah's best-known novel.

## The book

**Maps** is a novel by [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/), published in 1986. It is the first part of his **Blood in the Sun** trilogy, followed by Gifts and Secrets (1998) ([Encyclopedia.com, Nuruddin Farah](https://encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945); [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/maps/)). The Encyclopedia.com entry calls Maps his "most famous novel", the book that "cemented" his reputation ([Encyclopedia.com](https://encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945)).

## The story

The main character, **Askar**, is an orphan born in the Ogaden, the region contested between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/)). His father died in prison months before his birth and his mother died giving birth alone; he was found and raised by **Misra**, a servant who becomes a mother to him and whose own national identity is a recurring question in the book ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/)). Askar sees the Ogaden war from Kelafo, then moves to Mogadishu to live with his uncle Hilaal and Hilaal's wife Salaado, where he studies maps of the region and Somali history. Refugees from the war reach Mogadishu, Misra among them, and her arrival drives the last part of the book. At the end Askar must choose between going to university and joining the liberation fighters ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/)). The war itself is on [The Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

## How it is told

The narrative shifts between the first, second and third person, each voice telling part of Askar's story ([Hilarie Kelly, Ufahamu, eScholarship](https://journalpub.escholarship.org/ufahamu/article/55806/galley/42193/download)). Kelly's study describes it as a novel that demands patience, with a strong psychological side ([Ufahamu](https://journalpub.escholarship.org/ufahamu/article/55806/galley/42193/download)).

## How it has been read

Critics read Maps as a novel about identity and belonging: who counts as Somali, how borders and maps define people, and how a person's body and history relate to a nation's claims ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/); [Cambridge, The Disorder of Things](https://cambridge.org/core/books/disorder-of-things/from-the-carceral-to-the-biopolitical-the-dialectical-turn-inwards-in-maps/9E7A1CB26D616D38DBDCCBEE55340941)). It has been translated into German ([Suhrkamp, German edition extract](https://res.cloudinary.com/suhrkamp/images/v1742121586/55532/maps_9783518456309_leseprobe.pdf)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Maps+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)
- [From a Crooked Rib (1970)](/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Desert Flower (1998) by Waris Dirie: from nomad girl to model and campaigner

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/desert-flower-dirie/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Desert Flower is the 1998 memoir of the Somali model and campaigner Waris Dirie, written with Cathleen Miller and published by William Morrow. It tells of her childhood in a nomad family, her escape from an arranged marriage, her years in London, her modelling career and her decision to speak publicly about female genital cutting. A film of the same name followed in 2009.

## The book

**Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad** is the memoir of [Waris Dirie](/en/people/waris-dirie/), written with the American writer Cathleen Miller. It was first published in hardcover by William Morrow in New York in 1998, with 224 pages ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780688158231)).

## What it covers

The book tells Dirie's life in her own voice:

- **Childhood.** She was born in 1965 in the [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/) area, one of twelve children in a nomad family ([Waris Dirie, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)), and grew up in the desert "without shoes", as Publishers Weekly summed up the book ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780688158231)).
- **Cutting.** She describes undergoing female genital cutting as a young girl, an experience that became the centre of her later work. The practice in Somalia is covered on [Female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).
- **Escape.** At about 13 she ran away across the desert to Mogadishu to avoid an arranged marriage to a man of about 60 ([Waris Dirie, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)).
- **[London](/en/diaspora/london/).** Her uncle, Somalia's ambassador to the UK, took her to London as a maid ([Waris Dirie, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)); the book describes her struggle to start a modelling career while avoiding the immigration authorities ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780688158231)).
- **Modelling and campaigning.** The photographer Mike Goss discovered her at 18; she became an international fashion model, and in 1997 spoke publicly about her own cutting in Marie Claire and became a UN special ambassador against the practice, a role she held until 2003 ([Waris Dirie, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)).

## How it was received

Before publication, foreign rights had been sold in 10 countries, according to Publishers Weekly's review ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780688158231)). It was later translated into many more languages; publisher and bookseller listings give figures between 11 and 14 languages for the early editions ([LibraryThing](https://www.librarything.com/work/565396); [Abbey's Bookshop](https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/desert-flower-the-extraordinary-life-of-a-desert-nomad.do)). Wikipedia states that it has sold over 11 million copies worldwide, including 3 million in Germany ([Waris Dirie, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie)).

It was followed by further books, including Desert Dawn (2002), Desert Children (2005) and Letter to My Mother (2007); Desert Children was written with Corinna Milborn on cutting in Europe ([Waris Dirie, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waris_Dirie); [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/waris-dirie/desert-children/)).

## The film

**Desert Flower**, a German film directed by Sherry Hormann with Liya Kebede as Waris Dirie, premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 5 September 2009 ([Desert Flower (film), Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Flower_(film))).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL9845705M); [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Desert+Flower+Waris+Dirie)

## Related pages

- [Waris Dirie](/en/people/waris-dirie/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Infidel (2006) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the memoir, its story and its reception

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/infidel-hirsi-ali/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Infidel is the autobiography of the Somali-born Dutch politician and writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali, published in Dutch as Mijn Vrijheid in 2006 and in English in 2007. It covers her childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, her asylum in the Netherlands, her time in the Dutch parliament and the 2004 murder of Theo van Gogh. It was a bestseller and drew both strong praise and strong criticism.

## The book

**Infidel** (Dutch title **Mijn Vrijheid**, "My Freedom") is the autobiography of [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/). It appeared in Dutch in 2006 and in English in 2007, published by Free Press in the United States ([Infidel: My Life, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel:_My_Life)).

## What it covers

The book follows her life in order ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel:_My_Life)):

- Her childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
- Her flight to the Netherlands and her application for asylum.
- Her studies at Leiden University.
- Her work for the Dutch Labour Party, her move to the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and her election to parliament.
- The 2004 murder of the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, with whom she had made the short film Submission.
- The controversy over her asylum application and Dutch citizenship, with which the book ends.

## Sales and reception

The first Dutch print run sold out in two days, and the German edition entered the top 20 of Der Spiegel's bestseller list ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel:_My_Life)).

Many reviewers in Europe and North America praised it. The New York Times called it a "brave, inspiring and beautifully written memoir"; Anne Applebaum in the Washington Post called it "a unique book"; Christopher Hitchens in the Sunday Times called it "remarkable" and wrote the foreword to the 2008 paperback ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel:_My_Life)).

The book and its author have also been the subject of controversy, and death threats were made against her in the 2000s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel:_My_Life)). Her views and the debate around them are set out on her page, [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/).

## Before and after

It followed The Caged Virgin (2004) and was followed by Nomad: From Islam to America (2010), Heretic (2015) and other books ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel:_My_Life)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Infidel+Ayaan+Hirsi+Ali)

## Related pages

- [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/)
- [Netherlands](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013) by Nadifa Mohamed: three women in Hargeysa, 1987

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-orchard-of-lost-souls-mohamed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Orchard of Lost Souls is the second novel by the Somali-British writer Nadifa Mohamed, published in 2013. It follows three women in Hargeysa in 1987 and 1988, as the war in the north begins: Deqo, a nine-year-old girl from a refugee camp; Kawsar, a widow; and Filsan, a young woman soldier. Their lives cross at the 21 October celebration of the 1969 coup.

## The book

**The Orchard of Lost Souls** is the second novel by [Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/), published in 2013 ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780374209148); [BookBrowse](https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3009)). In the same year the literary magazine Granta named her one of the Best of Young British Novelists ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/general/the-orchard-of-lost-souls-review-1.1252288)).

## The story

The novel opens in Hargeysa in 1987, on 21 October, the yearly celebration of the 1969 coup that brought the military government to power ([Maclean's](https://macleans.ca/culture/books/a-lead-up-to-somalias-civil-war)). Three women's lives cross that day ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/general/the-orchard-of-lost-souls-review-1.1252288)):

- **Deqo**, a nine-year-old girl from a refugee camp.
- **Kawsar**, a widow who tries to save Deqo from a beating and is herself badly beaten.
- **Filsan**, a young woman soldier in the government army.

The book follows the three through the months before the war of 1988 in the north. The country's ruler appears in the novel as a fictional figure ([Maclean's](https://macleans.ca/culture/books/a-lead-up-to-somalias-civil-war)). The history behind it is on [The Isaaq genocide, 1987 to 1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/) and [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## How it was received

Reviews were mixed. Publishers Weekly and Booklist gave it starred reviews, and one praised its "vibrant, evocative language and imagery"; the Financial Times wrote that the women were "lost" to the story's odd pace and its "many, many revelations" ([BookBrowse, summary of reviews](https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3009); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780374209148)). Somali readers and newspapers also reviewed it, including [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Current ([Somaliland Current](https://somalilandcurrent.com/somalilandthe-orchard-lost-souls-nadifa-mohamed-review)).

It sits between her first novel, [Black Mamba Boy](/en/books/black-mamba-boy-mohamed/) (2010), and [The Fortune Men](/en/books/the-fortune-men-mohamed/) (2021).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/orchardoflostsou0000moha)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Orchard+of+Lost+Souls+Nadifa+Mohamed)

## Related pages

- [Nadifa Mohamed](/en/people/nadifa-mohamed/)
- [Hargeysa and Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)


---

# Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012) by Mary Harper: faith, war and hope in a shattered state

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State is a 2012 book by the BBC Africa editor Mary Harper, published by Zed Books in the African Arguments series. It argues that the 'failed state' label hides how Somalis kept businesses, telecoms and local politics working without a central government, and that seeing Somalia mainly through the lens of terrorism risks making things worse.

## The book

**Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State** is a book by **Mary Harper**, a BBC journalist and Africa editor, published by Zed Books in 2012 in the African Arguments series ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/getting-somalia-wrong-9781842779330); [African Union Library](https://library.au.int/node/260570)). It is not a chronological history but a set of chapters on themes that explain Somalia at the time ([African Arguments, Magnus Taylor](https://africanarguments.org/2012/01/getting-somalia-wrong-faith-war-and-hope-in-a-shattered-state-a-review-by-magnus-taylor/)).

## Its argument

- **Beyond the "failed state".** Harper argues that the label "failed state" misses what happens on the ground: without a central government, Somali businesses and local politics found ways to work and even grow ([How We Made It in Africa](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/challenging-perceptions-about-somalia/19612/)).
- **Telecoms and trade.** She points to the telecoms sector, where Somalia became an early adopter of mobile phones ([How We Made It in Africa](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/challenging-perceptions-about-somalia/19612/)). See also [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).** Reviewers highlight her account of clan reconciliation and elected institutions in Somaliland ([African Arguments, Keith Somerville](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/getting-somalia-wrong-signs-of-hope-in-a-shattered-state-a-realistic-but-empathetic-analysis-review-by-keith-somerville/)).
- **Security lens.** The publisher's description says she argues that viewing Somalia mainly through the prism of al-Qaeda risks further destabilising Somalia and the Horn of Africa ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/getting-somalia-wrong-9781842779330)).
- **Intervention.** She treats the US and UN intervention of the 1990s as a central example of trying to build a state with foreign soldiers ([Peace News](https://peacenews.info/node/7076)).

## How it was received

Keith Somerville, reviewing for African Arguments, called it "a realistic but empathetic analysis" ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2012/02/getting-somalia-wrong-signs-of-hope-in-a-shattered-state-a-realistic-but-empathetic-analysis-review-by-keith-somerville/)). A review in Peace News said that Harper does not discuss earlier US support for the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government in the 1980s ([Peace News](https://peacenews.info/node/7076)). Harper discussed the book on NPR in 2012 ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/166162936)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/gettingsomaliawr0000harp)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Getting+Somalia+Wrong+Harper)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)
- [Rebuilding, 2007 to 2012](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/)


---

# Becoming Somaliland (2008) by Mark Bradbury: how Somaliland built a state after 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/becoming-somaliland-bradbury/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Becoming Somaliland is a 2008 book by Mark Bradbury, published by James Currey and Progressio in the African Issues series. It asks why Somaliland, unlike southern Somalia, did not fall into lasting state collapse after 1991, how its institutions and elections were built, and why it remains without international recognition.

## The book

**Becoming Somaliland** is a book by **Mark Bradbury**, a researcher who worked on Somali affairs for many years. It was published in 2008 by James Currey (Oxford) with Progressio ([London](/en/diaspora/london/)) in the African Issues series, with a US edition from Indiana University Press ([Boydell and Brewer](https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847013101); [Bulletin of SOAS review record](https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/mark-bradbury-becoming-somaliland-xvi-271-pp-london-progressiojames-currey-2008-1295-isbn-978-1-84701-310-1/39E996B448C7B1A9EA824E4220D9837E)).

## What it covers

The book asks why Somaliland, unlike the rest of Somalia, did not slide into lasting state collapse after 1991, and why it still lacks international recognition ([Boydell and Brewer](https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847013101)). Its chapters move from the Somali people and culture and the rise and fall of the Somali state, to the political foundations of Somaliland, the new Somaliland, state building and a long transition, and end with a chapter on the future and appendices on lineages and clan families ([Readings](https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781847013101/becoming-somaliland--mark-bradbury--2008--9781847013101)). Reviewers describe the first two chapters as background and the remaining eight as a detailed account of events in Somaliland ([LUCAS, University of Leeds](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)).

The publisher highlights Somaliland's relatively free elections of the 2000s and how they challenge the usual image of war and disaster in the region ([Boydell and Brewer](https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847013101)). Somaliland itself is covered on [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## How it was received

- It was reviewed in the Journal of Modern African Studies by Markus Hoehne ([Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/becoming-somaliland-by-mark-bradbury-oxford-james-currey-2008-pp-244-1295-pb/B3E92B38EF04EFA15C32722E39877D81)) and in the Bulletin of SOAS ([Cambridge](https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/mark-bradbury-becoming-somaliland-xvi-271-pp-london-progressiojames-currey-2008-1295-isbn-978-1-84701-310-1/39E996B448C7B1A9EA824E4220D9837E)).
- Lionel Cliffe, at the University of Leeds, wrote that Bradbury does not romanticise Somaliland or assume its stability will last on its own ([LUCAS](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)).
- Some reviewers describe the author as sympathetic to Somaliland's case for independence; a reader review in Somaliland Current disputed parts of the book ([Somaliland Current](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/book-review-becoming-somaliland)). A reader review on Somaliaonline noted that the fieldwork seemed to end around 2006 ([Somaliaonline](https://www.somaliaonline.com/community/topic/11301-book-review-becoming-somaliland)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/becomingsomalila0000brad)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Becoming+Somaliland+Bradbury)

## Related pages

- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Rebuilding, 1991 to 1999](/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/)


---

# The Pirates of Somalia (2011) by Jay Bahadur: inside the pirate world of Puntland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World is a 2011 book by the Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur, who spent several months in Puntland around 2009 interviewing pirates, their backers and officials. Much of it centres on Boyah, a pirate leader from Eyl. Reviewers praised its access and some criticised its errors.

## The book

**[The Pirates of Somalia](/en/society/films-about-somalia/): Inside Their Hidden World** is a book by the Canadian journalist **Jay Bahadur**, published in 2011. A UK edition appeared as **Deadly Waters: Inside the Hidden World of Somalia's Pirates** ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/deadly-waters-meet-somalia-s-pirates-1.475580); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/search?q=Deadly+Waters+Bahadur)).

## What it covers

Bahadur spent several months living in **Puntland**, the north-eastern Somali state, where many of the pirate groups of the late 2000s were based ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/138514116); [The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/a-close-up-look-at-somalia-s-pirate-class-1.426005)). He interviewed pirates, financiers, officials and people in coastal towns about how hijackings were organised, paid for and ended with ransoms ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/138514116)).

The book's main figure is **Boyah**, a pirate leader from the coastal town of **Eyl**, who told Bahadur he had turned away from piracy; at the time of a 2011 NPR interview Boyah was in prison ([The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/article/94939/jay-bahadur-the-pirates-of-somalia); [NPR](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/138514116)). Bahadur reported that Eyl was poor and had none of the "pirate mansions" that some reports described ([Going Sub-Saharan, review](https://goingsubsaharan.blogspot.com/2014/08/book-review-pirates-of-somalia.html)). Puntland is covered on [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/).

## How it was received

- Joshua Hammer, in the New York Times Book Review, wrote that Bahadur debunks myths about the roots and practices of Somali pirates ([Barnes and Noble, quoting the review](https://valsec.barnesandnoble.com/w/pirates-of-somalia/jay-bahadur/1100401877)).
- The New Republic called it engaging but flawed, and pointed to factual errors, including a wrong date for the civil war ([The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/article/94939/jay-bahadur-the-pirates-of-somalia)).
- The National (Abu Dhabi) wrote that, although Bahadur got inside the pirates' world, he did not give a vivid picture of what was happening there ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/deadly-waters-meet-somalia-s-pirates-1.475580)).

Later academic books on Somali piracy include Jatin Dua's Captured at Sea (2019) and Awet Weldemichael's [Piracy in Somalia](/en/books/piracy-in-somalia-weldemichael/) (2019), listed on [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Pirates+of+Somalia+Bahadur)

## Related pages

- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


---

# Inside Al-Shabaab (2018) by Harun Maruf and Dan Joseph: the history of the movement

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/inside-al-shabaab-maruf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al-Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally is a 2018 book by Harun Maruf, a senior editor at the Voice of America Somali Service, and Dan Joseph, head of VOA's Africa desk, published by Indiana University Press. It traces al-Shabaab's rise, decline and return, using US diplomatic cables, letters found at Osama bin Laden's compound, US court files and interviews.

## The book

**Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al-Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally** was published by Indiana University Press in October 2018 ([Abbey's](https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/inside-al-shabaab-the-secret-history-of-al-qaedas-most-powerful-ally.do); [QBD](https://www.qbd.com.au/inside-al-shabaab/dan-joseph/9780253037497)). Its authors are **[Harun Maruf](/en/people/harun-maruf/)**, a Somali journalist and senior editor at the Voice of America (VOA) Somali Service, and **Dan Joseph**, head of VOA's Africa desk ([Abbey's](https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/inside-al-shabaab-the-secret-history-of-al-qaedas-most-powerful-ally.do)).

## About the authors

Harun Maruf was born in Somalia and reported from there for the Associated Press and the [BBC Somali Service](/en/society/bbc-somali/) before joining VOA, where he became a senior editor of the Somali Service ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Maruf)). He holds a master's degree in international journalism from City, University of [London](/en/diaspora/london/). In 2020 Somalia's [National Intelligence and Security Agency](/en/institutions/nisa/) publicly accused him of security links; Amnesty International and the US Embassy in Somalia criticised the agency's statement ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Maruf); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalias-spy-agency-nisa-targets-voa-reporter-terms-him-danger-to-national-security)).

## What it covers

The book traces al-Shabaab from its beginnings through its rise, decline and resurgence, and examines its links with al-Qaeda ([Abbey's](https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/inside-al-shabaab-the-secret-history-of-al-qaedas-most-powerful-ally.do)). It covers the 2006 Ethiopian intervention in Somalia, which was backed by the United States ([Akademika](https://www.akademika.no/inside-al-shabaab/9780253037510)). The movement's own history is on [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and the events of 2006 on [The Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).

## Its sources

The authors draw on US diplomatic cables, letters taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, prosecution files from cases against Americans who joined the group, and interviews with officials and former fighters ([Everand, publisher description](https://www.everand.com/book/390453533/Inside-Al-Shabaab-The-Secret-History-of-Al-Qaeda-s-Most-Powerful-Ally)).

## How it was received

- Markus Hoehne, in the journal Africa Spectrum (2018), called it an insightful and very readable account that places al-Shabaab within the wider history of political Islam in Somalia, and wrote that more engagement with existing academic literature would have given it more scholarly weight ([Africa Spectrum, via SSOAR](https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/61198/ssoar-afrspe-2018-3-rez-hohne.pdf?sequence=1)).
- A review in African Affairs called it very informative and partly thrilling, with details new even to Somalia specialists ([Abbey's, quoting African Affairs](https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/inside-al-shabaab-the-secret-history-of-al-qaedas-most-powerful-ally.do)).
- Kenneth Christie, in International Dialogue, described the authors as first-rate journalists ([World of Books, quoting the review](https://www.wob.com/en-us/books/dan-joseph/inside-al-shabaab/9780253037497)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Inside+Al-Shabaab+Maruf)

## Related pages

- [Al-Shabaab in Somalia (2013), Stig Jarle Hansen](/en/books/al-shabaab-in-somalia-hansen/)
- [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)


---

# Al-Shabaab in Somalia (2013) by Stig Jarle Hansen: history and ideology, 2005 to 2012

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/al-shabaab-in-somalia-hansen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group, 2005 to 2012 is a book by the Norwegian scholar Stig Jarle Hansen, published by Hurst in 2013 and updated in 2016. It argues that al-Shabaab is a hybrid organisation combining Somali nationalism with the language of international jihadism, and traces it from its origins through its phases to 2012.

## The book

**Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group, 2005 to 2012** is by **Stig Jarle Hansen**, a Norwegian scholar of international relations who had worked in Somalia since 2005, in Mogadishu and other regions ([CRASC review](https://arb.crasc.dz/index.php/ar/الأرقام/243-from-a-small-to-a-long-war-somalia-coping-with-al-shabaab)). It was published by Hurst in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 2013 (195 pages), with a paperback edition in 2016 also sold by Oxford University Press ([Bokus](https://www.bokus.com/bok/9781849042505/al-shabaab-in-somalia); [Schweitzer](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Hansen/Al-Shabaab-Somalia/9780190264826/A30004501/)).

## What it covers

The book runs from al-Shabaab's origins through the phases of its history between 2005 and 2012, including the period of the Islamic Courts and the years when the group controlled much of southern Somalia ([AUT library, table of contents](https://librarysearch.aut.ac.nz/vufind/Record/1335868/TOC)). Its central argument is that al-Shabaab is a **hybrid** organisation that combines a strong strand of Somali nationalism with the rhetoric and obligations of international jihadism ([London Review Bookshop](https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/al-shabaab-in-somalia-the-history-and-ideology-of-a-militant-islamist-group-stig-jarle-hansen)). The movement's history is also on [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).

## About the author

Hansen is based at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, where he led Norway's master's programme in international relations from 2010 to 2016. He later widened the comparison in **Horn, Sahel and Rift: Fault-lines of the African Jihad** (Hurst, 2019), which sets al-Shabaab beside groups such as Boko Haram and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and argues that these movements form through the meeting of local and global forces ([Hurst](https://hurstpublishers.com/?p=8798); [Agenda Bookshop](https://agendabookshop.com/products/horn-sahel-and-rift-fault-lines-of-the-african-jihad)).

## How it was received

- The Economist described it as a "succinct and definitive history", according to the publisher's material ([Better Read](https://betterread.com.au/book/al-shabaab-in-somalia-the-history-and-ideology-of-a-militant-islamist-group-2005-2012.do)).
- A review published by the Algerian research centre CRASC credited Hansen's long time in the field and the way his work differs from security-focused writing, and noted weaknesses, such as limited treatment of how Salafi Islam became rooted in Somali society ([CRASC](https://arb.crasc.dz/index.php/ar/الأرقام/243-from-a-small-to-a-long-war-somalia-coping-with-al-shabaab)).
- It was reviewed at the University of [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and, for the 2016 edition, in Political Studies Review ([University of Birmingham](https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/book-review-stig-jarle-hansen-al-shabaab-in-somalia-the-history-a/)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Al-Shabaab+in+Somalia+Hansen)

## Related pages

- [Inside Al-Shabaab (2018), Harun Maruf and Dan Joseph](/en/books/inside-al-shabaab-maruf/)
- [Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/)


---

# The Invention of Somalia (1995), edited by Ali Jimale Ahmed: essays that question the standard story

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-invention-of-somalia-ahmed/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Invention of Somalia is a 1995 collection of essays edited by the Somali poet and scholar Ali Jimale Ahmed and published by the Red Sea Press. Its contributors question the long-held picture of Somalia as one people with one language, one faith and one culture, and look at how class, region, gender and the writing of history shaped the country that collapsed in 1991.

## The book

**The Invention of Somalia** is a collection of essays edited by **[Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/)**, a Somali poet, short-story writer and scholar who teaches comparative literature at Queens College, City University of New York ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). It was published by the Red Sea Press in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, in 1995, and is also sold by its sister imprint Africa World Press ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/the-invention-of-somalia-edited-by-ali-jimale-ahmed)). The title echoes an earlier book, *The Invention of Ethiopia* by Bonnie Holcomb and Sisai Ibssa.

The book appeared four years after the fall of the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) in 1991, when Somali and foreign scholars were asking how a country long described as unusually united had broken apart. The background is on [The collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## What it argues

For much of the twentieth century, writing about Somalia described it as one of the few African states whose people shared a single ethnicity, language and religion. The contributors to this volume question that picture. They argue that it left out real differences of class, region, status and gender, and that both colonial and post-independence writers had helped to build it ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/the-invention-of-somalia-edited-by-ali-jimale-ahmed)).

## Selected essays

- **Ahmed Qassim Ali, "The Predicament of the Somali Studies"**, on how the field of Somali studies was formed and the assumptions it carried.
- **Christine Choi Ahmed, "Finely Etched Chattel: The Invention of a Somali Woman"**, on how the image of the Somali woman was constructed.
- **[Mohamed Haji Mukhtar](/en/people/mohamed-haji-mukhtar/), "Islam in Somali History: Fact and Fiction"**, on how the coming of Islam to the Somali coast and interior has been told. The wider story is on [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).
- A commentary by the political scientist **Irving Leonard Markovitz** closes the volume.

The essay list is taken from the publisher's description and library records ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/the-invention-of-somalia-edited-by-ali-jimale-ahmed); [Roma Tre University repository](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/handle/2307/2757)).

## How it has been read

The volume was one of the first books after 1991 in which Somali scholars themselves questioned the "one nation" description of their country, and it appeared in the same years as other work asking that question. Catherine Besteman's *Unraveling Somalia* (1999) takes up a similar question through the farming communities of the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley. Its editor went on to publish poetry, fiction and criticism in Somali and English, and to edit further collections on Somali literature and society ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Invention+of+Somalia+Ali+Jimale+Ahmed)
- From the publisher: [Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/the-invention-of-somalia-edited-by-ali-jimale-ahmed)

## Related pages

- [Unraveling Somalia (1999), Catherine Besteman](/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Unraveling Somalia (1999) by Catherine Besteman: race, class and the Jubba valley

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Unraveling Somalia: Race, Violence, and the Legacy of Slavery is a 1999 book by the American anthropologist Catherine Besteman, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Based on fieldwork among farming communities of the Jubba valley before the state collapsed, it argues that the collapse of the Somali state cannot be understood through clan alone, and that differences of race, status, class, region and language also shaped who was attacked in 1991 and 1992.

## The book

**Unraveling Somalia: Race, Violence, and the Legacy of Slavery** is by **Catherine Besteman**, an anthropologist who is a professor at Colby College in [Maine](/en/diaspora/lewiston-portland-maine/) ([Penn Press](https://www.pennpress.org/9780812216882/unraveling-somalia/)). It was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 1999 in its series on the ethnography of political violence ([Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28629)). Later printings carry the subtitle *Race, Class, and the Legacy of Slavery*.

## Where the research was done

Besteman carried out her fieldwork among farming communities in the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley of southern Somalia before the civil war. Her subjects were the **[Gosha](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)**, the people of the river villages, many of them descended from East Africans brought to the Somali coast as slaves in the nineteenth century. The book's chapters trace "Slavery and the Jubba Valley Frontier" and "The Settlement of the Upper Gosha, 1895 to 1988", and include a chapter on her own fieldwork and how it changed her questions ([Project MUSE, contents](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28629)). The communities of the river valleys are described on [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

## What it argues

The book's main argument is that the breakdown of the Somali state cannot be explained by clan rivalry alone. Besteman argues that, over the previous century and a half, a social order had formed in Somalia that was stratified by race, social status, class, region and language. Somalia had often been described as the only true nation-state in Africa, but in her account the pattern of violence after 1991 does not fit that picture: it fell most heavily on rural southerners, including the farming people of the river valleys. The publisher's summary notes that a politically created famine caused about half a million deaths and drove a million people to flee ([Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28629)). The events are covered on [The collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## How it was received

- A trade review quoted by booksellers described it as an example of how careful scholarship can show the realities behind widely held beliefs ([Akademika](https://www.akademika.no/unraveling-somalia/besteman-catherine/9780812216882)).
- A review on Project MUSE called the book an achievement for its account of the Jubba valley, and doubted that Somalia's problems in the 1990s could be traced to lasting racial stratification, noting that the Gosha had not organised or sustained the conflicts of that decade ([Project MUSE review](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/2985/pdf)).
- The book is often read alongside *The Invention of Somalia* (1995), edited by [Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/), as part of the 1990s scholarship that questioned the description of Somalis as one people without internal divisions.

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/unravelingsomali0000best)
- Online for subscribing libraries: [Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28629)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Unraveling+Somalia+Besteman)

## Related pages

- [The Invention of Somalia (1995), edited by Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/books/the-invention-of-somalia-ahmed/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)


---

# Keeping Hope Alive (2013) by Hawa Abdi: a doctor's memoir of the war years

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/keeping-hope-alive-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman, 90,000 Lives Changed is a 2013 memoir by the Somali doctor Hawa Abdi, written with the journalist Sarah J. Robbins and published by Grand Central Publishing in New York. It tells how she trained as a doctor, opened a clinic on her family's land outside Mogadishu in 1983, and kept it running through the civil war as it grew into a hospital and a camp for tens of thousands of displaced people.

## The book

**Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman, 90,000 Lives Changed** was published by Grand Central Publishing in New York on 2 April 2013 ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hawa-abdi/keeping-hope-alive)). It is the memoir of **[Hawa Abdi](/en/people/hawa-abdi/)** (1947 to 2020), a Somali physician and lawyer, written with the American journalist **Sarah J. Robbins**.

## About the author

Hawa Abdi was born in Mogadishu in 1947. In 1964 she won a scholarship to study medicine in the Soviet Union, and graduated from the Kiev Medical Institute in 1971. Back in Somalia she also studied law at the Somali National University, finishing in 1979 while practising medicine in the mornings. In 1983 she opened a one-room clinic for women on her family's land in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/), which later grew into a hospital of about 400 beds. She died at her home in Mogadishu in 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)).

## What it covers

- **Childhood and training.** The book begins with her childhood around independence in 1960, when she was 13, and follows her scholarship abroad. She returned as one of about 60 doctors in the country ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hawa-abdi/keeping-hope-alive)).
- **The clinic and the camp.** It describes the clinic for mothers and children on the family farm outside Mogadishu, and how the farm became a source of food and a refuge for people displaced by the war after 1991. During the 2011 drought, the camp on about 1,300 acres held some 90,000 people ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)). Displacement in Somalia is covered on [Internal displacement](/en/society/internal-displacement/).
- **The 2010 attack.** In 2010 armed insurgents overran the compound and tried to force it to close. She refused, and they left within a week under pressure from local people, the UN and advocacy groups ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi); [Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hawa-abdi/keeping-hope-alive)).
- **Her daughters.** Her daughters Deqo and Amina, both doctors, worked with her and later ran the foundation that carries her name ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)).

## How it was received

- Kirkus Reviews called it "a poignant account of personal bravery, love, and loss and a chronicle of the tragedy of our times" ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hawa-abdi/keeping-hope-alive)).
- BookPage gave it a starred review ([BookPage](https://bookpage.com/?p=106902)).
- The book appeared a year after Hawa Abdi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. In 2010 Glamour had named her and her two daughters Women of the Year ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Abdi)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/keepinghopealive0000hawa)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Keeping+Hope+Alive+Hawa+Abdi)

## Related pages

- [Hawa Abdi](/en/people/hawa-abdi/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)
- [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/)


---

# Sweet and Sour Milk (1979) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of Mogadishu under dictatorship

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sweet and Sour Milk is a 1979 novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, published in London by Allison & Busby. Set in and around Mogadishu in 1975, it follows Loyaan as he searches for the reasons behind the death of his twin brother Soyaan. It is the first novel of Farah's trilogy Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship and won the English-Speaking Union Literary Award in 1980.

## The book

**Sweet and Sour Milk** is a novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, who was born in Baidoa in 1945 and won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)). It was first published in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) by Allison & Busby in November 1979, and was later reissued in the United States by Graywolf Press ([Fantastic Fiction](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/nuruddin-farah/sweet-and-sour-milk.htm); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781555971595)). It was his third novel, after *From a Crooked Rib* (1970) and *[A Naked Needle](/en/books/a-naked-needle-farah/)* (1976).

## The story

The novel is set in and around Mogadishu in 1975, during the military government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). Soyaan, a government employee, falls ill and dies in the first chapter. His twin brother **Loyaan**, a dentist, realises how little he knew of his brother's life and sets out to find why he died. The family refuses a post-mortem, and Loyaan learns that Soyaan had secretly written against the government. After his death the government publicly praises Soyaan, names a street after him and says his last words were "Labour is Honour", while Loyaan learns that his brother's final words were his own name, repeated three times. Their father, **Keynaan**, who had lost his post in the security services, appears to use his son's death to win it back ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/?p=6007); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781555971595)). The history of the period is on [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The trilogy

*Sweet and Sour Milk* is the first novel of Farah's trilogy **Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship**. The other two are *Sardines* (1981) and *Close Sesame* (1983). The three novels are linked by setting and by the political group to which Soyaan belonged ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)). Farah wrote all three in exile. He had been warned not to return to Somalia after *A Naked Needle* was published in 1976, and he did not go back until 1996 ([Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/farah-nuruddin)).

## How it was received

- The novel won the **English-Speaking Union Literary Award** in 1980 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah); [AbeBooks](https://www-origin.abebooks.com/9781555971595/Sweet-Sour-Milk-Farah-Nuruddin-1555971598/plp)).
- Publishers Weekly, reviewing the Graywolf edition, called it "the elegantly crafted tale of a man's investigation of his revolutionary twin's mysterious death" ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781555971595)).

## Where to read it

- Editions: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18697W)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Sweet+and+Sour+Milk+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Maps (1986), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/maps-farah/)
- [From a Crooked Rib (1970), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# A Pastoral Democracy (1961) by I. M. Lewis: politics among the northern Somali

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/a-pastoral-democracy-lewis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa is a 1961 book by the British anthropologist I. M. Lewis, published by Oxford University Press for the International African Institute. Based on fieldwork in the British Somaliland Protectorate from 1955 to 1957, it describes how political life among the herders of the north was organised through lineage, clan and the diya-paying group, a contract between kin to share compensation for injury and death.

## The book

**A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa** is by **Ioan M. Lewis** (1930 to 2014), a British social anthropologist who spent most of his career at the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Economics. It was published in London by Oxford University Press for the International African Institute in 1961, with 320 pages, plates and maps ([Journal of African History review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/pastoralism-and-politics-among-the-somali-a-pastoral-democracy-and-study-of-pastoralism-and-politics-among-the-northern-somali-of-the-horn-of-africa-by-i-m-lewis-london-oxford-university-press-for-the-international-african-institute-1961-pp-xii-320-illus-maps-45s/9CE3DE5B6299E6C64E19DA2483D8D69B)). Lewis began his research in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) at the age of 25 ([British Academy memoir](https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/938/Memoirs_18-09-Lewis.pdf)).

## Where the research was done

Lewis did his fieldwork from 1955 to 1957, mainly in the British Somaliland Protectorate, the area that became the north-west of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) in 1960 and today forms [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). He chose the north because livestock herding was more central to life there than in the south, where grain was also farmed. The book covers the period from about 1930 to 1955, and also looks at earlier conditions ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/018)).

## What it describes

- **Lineage and clan.** Lewis describes political life among the herders as shaped mainly by membership of lineages and clans, traced through the father's line. The subject is covered on [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/).
- **The diya-paying group.** The central unit in the book is the **diya-paying group**, a group of closely related men who agree by contract to pay and receive compensation (diya, Somali *mag*) together when one of their members kills or injures someone, or is killed or injured. Lewis treats this contract, part of Somali customary law, as the most important political unit in daily life ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/018)). See [Xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).
- **Political parties.** The political parties of the 1950s were built on these groupings, though they stressed national unity in their programmes.
- **The Sufi orders.** The Muslim religious orders (tariqas) in principle stood above lineage and clan, in favour of a wider brotherhood of believers, though Lewis found that this did not fully work in practice ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/018)). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## How it was received

- The book was reviewed on publication by the Somali language scholar B. W. Andrzejewski in the Journal of African History, and in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies ([Cambridge Core](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/lewisi-m-a-pastoral-democracy-a-study-of-pastoralism-and-politics-among-the-northern-somali-of-the-horn-of-africa-xiii-320-pp-front-9-plates-london-etc-oxford-university-press-for-the-international-african-institute-1961-45s-lewisi-m-marriage-and-the-family-in-northern-somaliland-east-african-studies-no-15-viii51-pp2plates-kampala-east-african-instituteof-social-research-1962-10s-distributed-outside-e-africa-by-kegan-paul/BDF8F0A96AFEA7164F46765FD45FDD2B)).
- It was reissued in 1998 by LIT Verlag in a series of classics in African anthropology, with an introduction by the Somali historian [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/) and an afterword by Lewis ([LIT Verlag](https://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-8258-3084-5)).
- Later works, such as Catherine Besteman's *Unraveling Somalia* (1999), argued that Somali politics could not be explained by clan and lineage alone, and pointed to divisions of race, status, class and region, especially in the farming south ([Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28629)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/pastoraldemocrac0000imle)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Pastoral+Democracy+Lewis)

## Related pages

- [The Invention of Somalia (1995), edited by Ali Jimale Ahmed](/en/books/the-invention-of-somalia-ahmed/)
- [A Modern History of the Somali](/en/history/a-modern-history-of-the-somali/)
- [Unraveling Somalia (1999), Catherine Besteman](/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)


---

# Links (2003) by Nuruddin Farah: a return to Mogadishu in the years of conflict

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/links-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Links is a novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, first published in South Africa by Kwela Books in 2003 and in the United States by Riverhead in 2004. It follows Jeebleh, a Somali academic living in New York, who returns to Mogadishu after the fall of the military government and the US and UN intervention of the early 1990s, to visit his mother's grave and to find the missing niece of his old friend Bile. It is the first novel of Farah's Past Imperfect trilogy.

## The book

**Links** is a novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, the Somali writer born in Baidoa in 1945 who won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998. It was first published in Cape Town by Kwela Books in 2003, and in the United States by Riverhead on 1 April 2004, with 352 pages ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah); [Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/links)).

## The story

The novel is set in Mogadishu after the fall of the military government in 1991 and after the US and UN intervention of the early 1990s, when the city was divided between rival armed factions. **Jeebleh**, a Somali academic who had once been a political prisoner and now lives in New York with his American wife, returns to the city to visit his mother's grave and settle her affairs ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/links)).

He goes to find his old friend **Bile**, a former fellow prisoner who now runs a refuge for children who have lost their families. When Bile's niece **Raasta** and her friend **Makka** disappear, Jeebleh suspects Bile's half-brother **Caloosha**, who had been their jailer under the old government. Moving through a city where young gunmen shoot at people near the airport, Jeebleh tries to learn the truth about his mother's death and decides that he must act against those pursuing him ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/links); [Rain Taxi](https://raintaxi.com/links-farah/)). The history behind the setting is on [The collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/) and [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

Many chapters open with quotations from Dante's *Divine Comedy*, which frame Jeebleh's journey through the city as a descent ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/links)).

## The trilogy

*Links* is the first novel of Farah's **Past Imperfect** trilogy, followed by *Knots* (2007) and *Crossbones* (2011). The three novels follow Somalis who return from the diaspora to a country changed by war ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)).

## How it was received

- Kirkus Reviews called it "a masterful tale" and "a searing portrait" of the city, written by "one of her most distinguished writers", meaning Africa's ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/links)).
- BookPage gave it a starred review ([BookPage](https://bookpage.com/?p=111282)).
- A review in Rain Taxi described it as a slow book that relies more on revelation than on plot, and well worth the effort ([Rain Taxi](https://raintaxi.com/links-farah/)).
- NPR discussed the novel with Farah on its release in 2004 ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/2004/04/20/1844730/links-tells-somalias-tales)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/links00fara)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Links+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/)
- [Maps (1986), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/maps-farah/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


---

# Madre piccola (2007) by Ubah Cristina Ali Farah: Little Mother, a novel of the Somali diaspora in Italy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Madre piccola is a 2007 Italian novel by the Italian-Somali writer Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, published by Frassinelli. It was translated into English as Little Mother and published by Indiana University Press in 2011. It follows two cousins, Domenica Axad and Barni, who are separated when war reaches Mogadishu in 1991 and meet again in Italy years later. The title translates a Somali word for a maternal aunt.

## The book

**Madre piccola** ("Little Mother") is the first novel of **[Ubah Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/)**, who was born in Verona in 1973 to a Somali father and an Italian mother and grew up in Mogadishu until the war of 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). It was published in Italian by Frassinelli in 2007. The English translation, **Little Mother**, by Giovanna Bellesia Contuzzi and Victoria Offredi Poletto, with an introduction by Alessandra Di Maio, was published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington in 2011 ([WardheerNews, Lidwien Kapteijns review](https://wardheernews.com/little-mother-a-book-review/)).

The title is a calque of a Somali word for a maternal aunt, a younger "little mother" ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/little-mother-9780253222961)).

## The story

When the civil war reaches Mogadishu in 1991, the cousins **Domenica Axad** and **[Barni](/en/society/somali-cinema/)** are separated and forced to flee. Domenica Axad, the daughter of a Somali father and an Italian mother, tries to build an identity that is fully both Somali and Italian. Barni makes a living in Rome as a midwife. After about ten years the two women meet again, and when Domenica gives birth to a son, Barni is at her side; the novel ends with the cousins deciding to raise the boy together ([Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/little-mother-9780253222961); [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/little-mother-a-book-review/)).

The novel has nine chapters, told as spoken monologues by three narrators: Domenica Axad, Barni and **Taageere**, a man who after his divorce marries Domenica, through whom the novel looks at Somali men trying to find a role in exile. It moves between Mogadishu in 1991 and the present, over more than fifteen years. Many Somali words are kept in the English edition and explained in a glossary ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/little-mother-a-book-review/); [World Literature Today](https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2011/july/little-mother-cristina-ali-farah)).

## Its themes

The historian Lidwien Kapteijns lists the novel's subjects as the life of Somali refugees in Italy in the first fifteen years after 1991, mixed Somali-Italian identity and statelessness, violence between clans and the blame it placed on whole groups, and changing roles of women and men in exile ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/little-mother-a-book-review/)). Somalis in Italy are covered on [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## How it was received

- Lidwien Kapteijns, in the Canadian Journal of African Studies (2012), praised its structure and called Ali Farah "one of its most subtle thinkers and greatest writers", referring to the Somali diaspora. She also said the translators and the press "have done an excellent job" ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/little-mother-a-book-review/)).
- David Shook, in World Literature Today, called it a complicated but worthwhile book ([World Literature Today](https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2011/july/little-mother-cristina-ali-farah)).
- Ali Farah has received the Lingua Madre and Vittorini prizes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Little+Mother+Cristina+Ali+Farah)
- English edition: [Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/little-mother-9780253222961)

## Related pages

- [Adua (2015), Igiaba Scego](/en/books/adua-scego/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Adua (2015) by Igiaba Scego: a father, a daughter and Italy's colonial past

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/adua-scego/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Adua is a 2015 Italian novel by the Rome-born Somali writer Igiaba Scego, published by Giunti and translated into English by Jamie Richards for New Vessel Press in 2017. It moves between Adua, a Somali woman who came to Rome in the 1970s hoping to act in films, and her father Zoppe, who worked as a translator for the Italians in the 1930s, linking Italian colonial rule in Somalia with migration to Italy today.

## The book

**Adua** is a novel by **Igiaba Scego**, who was born in Rome in 1974 to Somali parents who had left Somalia after the 1969 coup; her father, Ali Omar Scego, was a Somali politician ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igiaba_Scego)). It was published in Italian by Giunti in 2015, and in English, translated by Jamie Richards, by New Vessel Press in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igiaba_Scego); [Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/-9781939931450)).

## The story

**Adua** is a Somali woman living in Rome. As a girl in Somalia she had imagined Italy, through the films she loved, as a place of freedom, and in the 1970s she went there hoping to become a film star. Instead she was exploited by the producers of a sexually explicit film that relied on stereotypes of African women. Decades later, older and still unsure where she belongs, she sits by Bernini's elephant statue in Rome and speaks to it ([The Literary Review](https://theliteraryreview.org/book-review/a-review-of-adua-by-igiaba-scego/)).

Her father, **Zoppe**, is a harsh and distant figure. As a young man in the 1930s, in Mussolini's Italy, he worked as a translator for the colonial power. He was beaten by soldiers because he was black, and he refuses to speak about that past ([The Literary Review](https://theliteraryreview.org/book-review/a-review-of-adua-by-igiaba-scego/)). The history behind his part of the story is on [Fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).

In the present day Adua meets a young refugee, Ahmed. He gives her a video camera and urges her to tell her own story ([The Literary Review](https://theliteraryreview.org/book-review/a-review-of-adua-by-igiaba-scego/)).

## Its structure

The novel moves between three voices: Adua's own, sections titled "Talking To" in which Zoppe addresses his daughter, and Zoppe's first-person account of the 1930s. Scego has said the book covers three historical moments: Italian colonialism, Somalia in the 1970s and the present ([Cleaver Magazine](https://cleavermagazine.com/adua-a-novel-by-igiaba-scego-reviewed-by-jodi-monster)). It mixes African fable, family stories and references to literature and cinema ([The Literary Review](https://theliteraryreview.org/book-review/a-review-of-adua-by-igiaba-scego/)).

## How it was received

- A reviewer in The Literary Review called it a "lyrical" novel and praised Jamie Richards's translation ([The Literary Review](https://theliteraryreview.org/book-review/a-review-of-adua-by-igiaba-scego/)).
- Reviewers in the United States read it as a portrait of Italy's colonial history across several generations ([CounterPunch](https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/07/07/review-igiaba-scegos-adua/); [Foreword Reviews](https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/adua)).
- Scego had earlier won the Premio Mondello in 2011 for her family memoir *La mia casa è dove sono* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igiaba_Scego)).

## Where to read it

- English edition: [Powell's](https://www.powells.com/book/-9781939931450)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Adua+Igiaba+Scego)

## Related pages

- [Madre piccola (2007), Ubah Cristina Ali Farah](/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/)
- [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Saints and Somalis (1998) by I. M. Lewis: popular Islam in a clan-based society

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society is a 1998 collection of essays by the British anthropologist I. M. Lewis, published in London by Haan Associates and in the United States by the Red Sea Press. Drawing on field research over many years, it looks at how Somalis venerate saints and holy men, at the Sufi orders and their critics, and at spirit possession practices on the edges of orthodox religion.

## The book

**Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society** is by **Ioan M. Lewis** (1930 to 2014), the British social anthropologist whose study *A Pastoral Democracy* (1961) was based on fieldwork in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). It was published in 1998 in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) by Haan Associates (174 pages) and in the United States by the Red Sea Press ([BSOAS review listing](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/africa-i-m-lewis-saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clanbased-society-xvii-174-pp-london-haan-associates-1998-1295-paper/8AD14C2E39D237C6BD54754C7DB468F7); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL135972W)).

The book is a collection of essays written over several decades and based on Lewis's own field research ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)).

## What it covers

- **Mystical and ritual Islam.** The essays look at the tension between mystical understandings of a person's relation to God, as in Sufism, and more legal and ritual readings of the faith, including critics of Sufi practice ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)). The Sufi brotherhoods are covered on [Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).
- **Saints and holy men.** Lewis describes the range of figures Somalis venerate: clan ancestors honoured as saints, local men known for their piety, and figures known across the Muslim world. He discusses their reputation for spiritual power and the ways a person comes to be venerated ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)). Visits to saints' tombs are described on [Saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/), and individual scholars on [Somali Sufi scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/).
- **Spirit possession.** The book also covers practices on the edges of orthodox religion, such as spirit possession rituals practised mainly by women ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)).

## Its argument

In the introductory essay Lewis argues against theories that explain the cult of saints by a single cause. Because some of the saints Somalis honour are the founding ancestors of clans, the book treats religious veneration and clan descent together, which is the "clan-based society" of its subtitle ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis); [Goodreads, publisher description](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1022350)).

## How it was received

The book was reviewed in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies in 2000 (volume 63, issue 2) ([Cambridge Core](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/africa-i-m-lewis-saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clanbased-society-xvii-174-pp-london-haan-associates-1998-1295-paper/8AD14C2E39D237C6BD54754C7DB468F7)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/saintssomalispop00lewi)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Saints+and+Somalis+Lewis)

## Related pages

- [A Pastoral Democracy (1961), I. M. Lewis](/en/books/a-pastoral-democracy-lewis/)
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)
- [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/)


---

# Secrets (1998) by Nuruddin Farah: a family mystery on the eve of the civil war

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/secrets-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Secrets is a 1998 novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, published by Arcade in New York. Set in Mogadishu in the days before the civil war, it follows Kalaman, a 33-year-old businessman, whose life is unsettled when Sholoongo, a woman from his childhood, returns from America and asks him to give her a child. It is the third novel of Farah's Blood in the Sun trilogy, after Maps and Gifts, and appeared the year he won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

## The book

**Secrets** is a novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, the Somali writer born in Baidoa in 1945. It was published by Arcade in New York on 1 May 1998 ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/secrets-4/)). The same year Farah received the Neustadt International Prize for Literature ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)).

## The story

The novel is set in Mogadishu in the week before the outbreak of the civil war, and opens with scenes from about twenty-five years earlier in a village ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/secrets-4/); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781559704854)).

Its central character is **Kalaman**, who at 33 owns a computer company and is reluctant to marry his girlfriend and start a family. He was raised with close care by his grandfather, **Nonno**, while his widowed mother, **Damac**, urges him to marry. His life is unsettled when **Sholoongo**, an older girl who was his companion and tormentor in childhood, returns from America, where she has become known as a "shape-shifter" with magical powers, and asks Kalaman to father her child ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/secrets-4/)).

Her return brings long-hidden family secrets to the surface, among them a stolen birth certificate and a secret marriage, which are revealed in later chapters narrated by Nonno, Damac and Sholoongo. Kalaman is forced to see how closely private and political life are bound together. The novel includes animal fables, riddles and parables ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/secrets-4/)). One publisher description calls it a portrait of a family breaking apart like its country, its ties dissolved by exposed lies ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781559704854)). The background is on [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The trilogy

*Secrets* is the third novel of Farah's **Blood in the Sun** trilogy, following *Maps* (1986) and *Gifts* (1992). ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/)).

## How it was received

- Kirkus Reviews called it "an enthralling psychodrama" and "a genuine—and genuinely disturbing—mystery" ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/secrets-4/)).
- On NPR, the critic Alan Cheuse described its characters as well drawn and the novel as a witty comedy of manners ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/1998/06/24/1034724/secrets)).

## Where to read it

- Editions: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8858192W)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Secrets+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Maps (1986), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/maps-farah/)
- [Links (2003), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/links-farah/)
- [Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/)


---

# The Shaping of Somali Society (1982) by Lee V. Cassanelli: Somali history from 1600 to 1900

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900 is a 1982 book by the American historian Lee V. Cassanelli, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Based on fieldwork in southern Somalia in 1970-71 and 1977 and on Somali oral traditions, it reconstructs three centuries of Somali history before colonial rule, looking at pastoral power, Islam, trade and the response to colonial occupation.

## The book

**The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900** is by **Lee V. Cassanelli**, an American historian of Africa. It was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in Philadelphia in 1982, with 311 pages, in a series on ethnohistory ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/033); [Africa review listing](https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/africa/article/lee-v-cassanelli-the-shaping-of-somali-society-reconstructing-the-history-of-a-pastoral-people-16001900-ethnohistory-series-editors-anthony-f-c-wallace-and-lee-v-cassanelli-philadelphia-university-of-pennsylvania-press-1982-328-pp-2500/F6AD2A72D914780E411BF1E8E31FDF50)). The publisher describes it as the first book-length study of Somalia's history before colonial rule ([Bokus, publisher description](https://www.bokus.com/bok/9780812278323/shaping-of-somali-society)).

## Its sources

Cassanelli carried out fieldwork in Somalia from December 1970 to November 1971 and again from September to December 1977 ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/033)). Few written records survive for the Somali interior in this period, and the book draws on Somali historical traditions as well as written sources; its chapter on the Ajuran, for example, compares what is known of them in history with how they are remembered in tradition.

## What it covers

The book first describes Somali society as it stood at the start of the twentieth century: differences between regions, ways of making a living, and how society and politics were organised. It then reviews how Somali history had been written in the twentieth century and the debates that shaped it. The rest of the book follows the processes that shaped Somali society ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/033)):

- **Pastoral power.** A chapter titled "Pastoral Power: The [Ajuraan](/en/society/ajuuraan/) in History and Tradition" studies the Ajuran, the dynasty that controlled much of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) valley and the southern coast for several centuries. See [The Ajuran state](/en/history/ajuran-state/).
- **Islam in history.** The role of Sufi saints and religious leaders in Somali society. See [Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).
- **Commerce and the economy.** Regional sultanates and the long-distance caravan trade that linked the interior with the Benadir ports ([Bokus](https://www.bokus.com/bok/9780812278323/shaping-of-somali-society)). See [The Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/).
- **Colonial occupation.** How Somali communities responded to the arrival of European colonial rule at the end of the nineteenth century ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/033)).

Cassanelli explains change mainly through the resources within the region that different groups could draw on ([HRAF World Cultures](https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/mo04/documents/033)).

## How it was received

The book was reviewed in 1984 by the historian Edward A. Alpers in the Journal of African History, together with [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/)'s *[Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism](/en/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-samatar/)* ([Journal of African History](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-history-and-poetry-the-shaping-of-somali-society-reconstructing-the-history-of-a-pastoral-people-16001900-by-lee-v-cassanelli-philadelphia-university-of-pennsylvania-press-1982-pp-xvi-311-no-price-stated-oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-the-case-of-sayyid-mohammad-abdille-hasan-by-said-s-samatar-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-1982-pp-xii-232-1950/0C9164C6539004C2F3D251A0E29E1C0F)), and by the anthropologist Herbert S. Lewis in the journal Africa ([Africa](https://core-prod.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/africa/article/lee-v-cassanelli-the-shaping-of-somali-society-reconstructing-the-history-of-a-pastoral-people-16001900-ethnohistory-series-editors-anthony-f-c-wallace-and-lee-v-cassanelli-philadelphia-university-of-pennsylvania-press-1982-328-pp-2500/F6AD2A72D914780E411BF1E8E31FDF50)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/shapingofsomalis0000cass)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Shaping+of+Somali+Society+Cassanelli)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/)
- [Sultanates, the coast and customary law, 1700s to 1880s](/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/)


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# A House in the Sky (2013) by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett: a memoir of captivity in Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/a-house-in-the-sky-lindhout/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A House in the Sky is a 2013 memoir by the Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, written with the journalist Sara Corbett and published by Scribner. It tells of her early travels and of the 460 days she and the Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were held captive after being kidnapped near Mogadishu in August 2008, until a ransom was paid and they were freed in November 2009. It was a New York Times bestseller.

## The book

**A House in the Sky** was published by Scribner in New York in 2013. It is the memoir of **Amanda Lindhout**, a Canadian freelance journalist born in 1981, written with the American journalist **Sara Corbett** ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).

## What it covers

- **Early life and travels.** The book begins with Lindhout's childhood in Alberta and her travels as a young adult, before she began working as a freelance journalist in Afghanistan in 2007 and Iraq in 2008 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).
- **The kidnapping.** On 23 August 2008, two days after arriving in Mogadishu, Lindhout and the Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were kidnapped together with their Somali translator and drivers. Their captors were insurgents linked to the armed group Hizbul Islam ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)). The group is described on [Hizbul Islam](/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/).
- **Captivity.** The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 2.5 million US dollars in October 2008, later lowered. The Somali translator and drivers were released in January 2009. Lindhout was separated from Brennan, and in the book she describes being abused and tortured. She and Brennan were freed on 25 November 2009, after 460 days, when their families paid a ransom through a private negotiator ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).
- **Faith in captivity.** Lindhout writes that she and Brennan converted to Islam during their captivity in the hope of easing their situation ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).

## How it was received

- The book was a New York Times bestseller, and won the CBC Bookie Award for Best Canadian Nonfiction in 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).
- Eliza Griswold, reviewing it for the New York Times, praised its storytelling, and Chris Selley of the National Post called it "bloody good journalism" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).
- Some journalists criticised the book, and parts of its account differ from Nigel Brennan's own memoir, *The Price of Life* (2011) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).
- In 2014 Annapurna Pictures took an option to make a film of the book ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).

## After the book

In 2010 Lindhout founded the Global Enrichment Foundation, which funds university scholarships for women in Somalia, and she has worked on projects in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)). In 2015 Canadian police arrested a Somali man accused of acting as the kidnappers' negotiator; he was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 15 years in prison ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lindhout)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/houseinskymemoir0000lind)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+House+in+the+Sky+Lindhout)

## Related pages

- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)
- [The Pirates of Somalia (2011), Jay Bahadur](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/)


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# Gifts (1992) by Nuruddin Farah: a Mogadishu nurse, a foundling and the politics of aid

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/gifts-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Gifts is a novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, first published in 1992 and the second novel of his Blood in the Sun trilogy. It follows Duniya, a widowed nurse at a maternity hospital in Mogadishu who is raising three children, as she is drawn into a relationship with Bosaaso, a widower, and as her family takes in a foundling baby. Around their story the novel sets newspaper reports on drought, famine and foreign relief aid.

## The book

**Gifts** is a novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, the Somali writer born in Baidoa in 1945. It was first published in 1992; the British edition was published by Serif in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1993, and the American edition by Arcade in 1999 ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)). It has been translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese ([RCW Literary Agency](https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/gifts)).

## The story

**Duniya** is a nurse at a maternity hospital in Mogadishu. Nearly 35, widowed and raising three children, she is pitied by other nurses as a woman whose youth is behind her. When she was young, her dying father asked his friend **Zubair**, an old blind man, to marry her; she could not refuse, and the marriage produced twins before he died ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/9781559704847)).

Her settled life is unbalanced when she accepts a lift from **Bosaaso**, a widower and family friend whom she meets at the hospital, and when her daughter brings home a foundling baby. Bosaaso becomes a loyal friend, and their relationship helps her through a series of misfortunes ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/9781559704847); [RCW Literary Agency](https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/gifts)).

Around this private story the novel shows a hospital strained by war, drought, disease and famine, and tensions around foreign relief aid. It mixes dreams, memories, family stories, folktales and newspaper reports ([RCW Literary Agency](https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/gifts)). Aid to Somalia is covered on [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## The trilogy

*Gifts* is the second novel of the **Blood in the Sun** trilogy, between *Maps* (1986) and *Secrets* (1998) ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/)).

## How it was received

- It won the Best Novel Award in Zimbabwe in 1993, and its French edition won the award of the St Malo literature festival in 1998 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)).
- Kirkus Reviews called Duniya "a lovely character" and the book "the most immediately accessible panel" of the trilogy ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/)).
- Publishers Weekly praised Duniya's "strength and courage" and called the novel a "remarkable portrait of unquenchable humanity in a beleaguered people" ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/9781559704847)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/giftsnovel0000fara)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Gifts+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Maps (1986), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/maps-farah/)
- [Secrets (1998), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/secrets-farah/)
- [Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/)


---

# This Is What America Looks Like (2020) by Ilhan Omar: from refugee to Congress

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/this-is-what-america-looks-like-omar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman is a 2020 memoir by Ilhan Omar, the Mogadishu-born member of the US House of Representatives for Minnesota, written with Rebecca Paley and published by Dey Street Books. It follows her from childhood in Mogadishu through the civil war, four years in refugee camps in Kenya, growing up in the United States and her first year in Congress.

## The book

**This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman** is the memoir of **[Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/)**, written with the American writer **Rebecca Paley**. It was published in hardback by Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, in 2020, with 288 pages ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-295421-3)). Omar was born in Mogadishu in 1982 and in 2019 became the first Somali American elected to the US Congress.

## What it covers

- **Childhood in Mogadishu.** The book opens in Mogadishu, where Omar grew up with her father, her six siblings, her grandfather, whom she calls Baba, and other relatives. Her mother died when she was two ([Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-06-24-review-america-through-ilhan-omars-eyes); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-295421-3)).
- **War and flight.** She describes the outbreak of the civil war, the breakdown of order and violence against neighbours and friends. The family fled to Kenya, and spent four years in refugee camps, including Utange near Mombasa, before obtaining visas for the United States ([Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-06-24-review-america-through-ilhan-omars-eyes); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-295421-3)). See [Dadaab and the Kenya camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/).
- **Starting over in the US.** She writes about her shock at seeing homelessness in New York, the fights that kept her in detention for much of her first year of middle school, high school, college in North Dakota, and family life ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-295421-3); [Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-06-24-review-america-through-ilhan-omars-eyes)).
- **Politics.** She traces her political views to her work as a nutrition educator in poorer communities in Minneapolis, and follows her campaigns and first year in Congress. She also apologises for using an antisemitic trope while criticising US policy on Israel ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-295421-3)). Somalis in the city are covered on [Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## How it was received

Reviews were mixed.

- Publishers Weekly called it "brisk and forthright" and "polished and frequently poignant" ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-295421-3)).
- Ifrah Udgoon, a Somali-American reviewer in South Africa's Mail & Guardian, called it "brutally honest and definitively relatable", and wrote that she shared Omar's sense of being "not Somali enough and not American enough" ([Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-06-24-review-america-through-ilhan-omars-eyes)).
- The left-wing magazine Jacobin reviewed it favourably ([Jacobin](https://jacobin.com/2020/06/ilhan-omar-memoir-this-is-what-america-looks-like-review)).
- Conservative publications were critical: the Washington Free Beacon published a strongly negative review, and The Spectator questioned how far parts of her account could be relied on ([Free Beacon](https://freebeacon.com/politics/ilhan-omar-book-review/); [The Spectator](https://thespectator.com/?p=4265)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=This+Is+What+America+Looks+Like+Ilhan+Omar)

## Related pages

- [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/)
- [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl (1974) by Faarax M. J. Cawl: Ignorance is the Enemy of Love

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-cawl/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl (Ignorance is the Enemy of Love) is a Somali novel by Faarax Maxamed Jaamac Cawl, published in 1974 by the Somali Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, two years after Somali was first officially written. Often described as the first full-length novel published in Somali, it tells the love story of Calimaax, a fighter with the Dervishes, and the poet Cawrala in the early twentieth century. It was translated into English by B. W. Andrzejewski and published by Zed Press in 1982.

## The book

**Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl** ("Ignorance is the enemy of love") is a novel by **[Faarax Maxamed Jaamac Cawl](/en/people/farah-awl/)**. It was first published in Somali in 1974 and was soon taken over by the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/?p=6000); [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-a-book-review)). It appeared soon after the government adopted the Latin script for Somali in October 1972, and is often described as the first full-length novel published in the language ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-a-book-review); [Britannica](https://britannica.com/topic/Agoondarro-waa-u-nacab-jacayl)). The background is on [The Somali language is written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

The English translation, **Ignorance is the Enemy of Love**, by the Somali language scholar B. W. Andrzejewski, who also wrote its introduction, was published by Zed Press in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1982 (104 pages). A second English edition appeared in 2012 ([Internet Archive record](https://archive.org/details/ignoranceisenemy0000faar); [WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-a-book-review)).

## The story

The novel is set at the start of the twentieth century and is based on a true story handed down orally. **Calimaax** and **Cawrala**, both gifted poets, meet on a ship bound for Aden. When the ship runs into a storm, Calimaax saves Cawrala and they fall in love ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/?p=6000)).

Calimaax is committed to driving the British and Italian colonial forces out of the country, and joins the Dervishes. The novel also shows how Somalis saw the Europeans, including a comic episode about the explorer Richard Burton. In a Dervish raid against the British in 1916, Calimaax is badly wounded and left for dead. Believing him dead, Cawrala's father marries her to another man. Calimaax recovers, but by the time he hurries to her it is too late ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/?p=6000)). The history behind the story is on [The Dervish movement, 1899 to 1920](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

Poetry runs through the book, especially Cawrala's, showing its roots in oral tradition. See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Reception

- About ten thousand copies sold quickly in Mogadishu, and the ministry took over its publication because of its value to the national literacy campaign ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-a-book-review)).
- Reviewing the English edition in 2013, Ismail Ali Ismail called its text "lucid, beautifully composed and easily readable" ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-a-book-review)).

## The author

Faarax Cawl studied at the Trade School in Hargeisa and, from 1959 to 1962, at Chelsea College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering in London on a government scholarship. He served as a colonel in the Somali Police, leading its transport department, and from 1979 was general manager of the National Transport Agency. He wrote two further novels, including *Dhibbanaha aan dhalan*. He died in Mogadishu in 1991, at the start of the civil war ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-a-book-review)).

## Where to read it

- English edition, lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ignoranceisenemy0000faar)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Aqoondarro+Waa+U+Nacab+Jacayl+Faarax+Cawl)

## Related pages

- [Books in the Somali language](/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/)
- [Shabeelnaagood, Hassan Sheikh Mumin](/en/books/shabeelnaagood-mumin/)


---

# Shabeelnaagood by Hassan Sheikh Mumin: Leopard Among the Women, a Somali play

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/shabeelnaagood-mumin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Shabeelnaagood (Leopard Among the Women) is a Somali play by the poet and playwright Hassan Sheikh Mumin, written in the 1960s, about a man who deceives women in the city. It deals with the position of women, life in the growing towns, changing customs and the value of education. It was published in an English translation by B. W. Andrzejewski by Oxford University Press in 1974, and is taught in Somali schools.

## The play

**Shabeelnaagood** ("Leopard among the women") is a play by **[Hassan Sheikh Mumin](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mumin/)** (1931 to 2008), a Somali poet, playwright, broadcaster and composer born in Zeila who grew up in [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). Wikipedia dates the play to 1965, the year he joined Radio Mogadishu as its resident poet, playwright and lecturer. Mumin wrote both the play's text and its music ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)).

Somali had no official written form until 1972, several years after the play was written; see [The Somali language is written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## The story and its themes

The "leopard" of the title is a man who preys on women. The heroine, **Shallaayo**, complains that he has tricked her into a false marriage ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). Through her story the play looks at the social position of women, life in the growing towns, changing traditional practices and the importance of education in the years around independence ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). The writer [Ubah Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/) has written an academic study of how the play treats the role of women in Somali society, with an Italian translation of an extract ([Roma Tre University repository](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/handle/2307/5733?locale=so)). See [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/).

## The 1974 edition

**Leopard Among the Women: Shabeelnaagood, a Somali Play** was published by Oxford University Press in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and New York in 1974, with 230 pages. The translation and introduction are by B. W. Andrzejewski, the scholar of the Somali language at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London ([Internet Archive record](https://archive.org/details/leopardamongwome00hass); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)).

## Its place in Somali literature

The play is regarded as one of the mainstays of Somali literature and is regularly taught in school curricula ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)). After the 1969 coup Mumin's poetry was banned and he moved to Djibouti, later settling in Borama. In 1997 he wrote and composed "Samo Ku Waar", which became the national anthem of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). He died in Oslo in 2008 and was buried in Borama; Djibouti later gave him its highest cultural award ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Sheikh_Mumin)).

## Where to read it

- 1974 Oxford edition, lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/leopardamongwome00hass)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Shabeelnaagood+Hassan+Sheikh+Mumin)

## Related pages

- [Aqoondarro Waa U Nacab Jacayl (1974), Faarax M. J. Cawl](/en/books/ignorance-is-the-enemy-of-love-cawl/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Books in the Somali language](/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/)


---

# Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022) by Warsan Shire: poems

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/bless-the-daughter-shire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head is the first full-length poetry collection by the Kenyan-born Somali-British poet Warsan Shire, published by Random House on 1 March 2022 and in Britain by Chatto & Windus. Its poems deal with girlhood, family, mothers and daughters, migration, trauma and survival, and use Somali words such as hooyo (mother). It was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize.

## The book

**Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head** is the first full-length collection by **[Warsan Shire](/en/people/warsan-shire/)**, a poet born in Kenya in 1988 to Somali parents, who moved to Britain as a baby ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). It was published by Random House in New York on 1 March 2022, as a 96-page paperback, and in the United Kingdom by Chatto & Windus ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780593134351); [PN Review](https://www.pnreview.co.uk/archive/on-warsan-shire/11384)).

Before it, Shire had published two shorter pamphlets: *Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth* (2011) and *Her Blue Body* (2015) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)).

## What it contains

The collection opens with the poem "Extreme Girlhood". Other poems include "Lullaby for Father", "My Father, the Astronaut", "Home", "Assimilation", "Bless This House", "Hooyo Isn't Home", "The Abubakr Girls Are Different", "Bless the Qumayo" and "Hooyo Full of Grace" ([PRISM international](https://prismmagazine.ca/2022/07/07/ill-rewrite-this-whole-life-a-review-of-warsan-shires-bless-the-daughter-raised-by-a-voice-in-her-head/)).

Reviewers describe its main subjects as:

- **Girlhood and shame.** Poems about shame passed between fathers, daughters and girls, and about sexual violence.
- **Mothers and daughters.** A relationship shown as layered with both understanding and anger; the Somali word *hooyo* (mother) recurs through the book.
- **Migration and home.** Poems about refugees and immigrants, home as a dangerous place, and phone calls to family abroad.
- **Mental health and survival.** Trauma, illness and the ways people endure ([PRISM international](https://prismmagazine.ca/2022/07/07/ill-rewrite-this-whole-life-a-review-of-warsan-shires-bless-the-daughter-raised-by-a-voice-in-her-head/)).

Shire's earlier poem "Home", with the lines "no one leaves home unless / home is the mouth of a shark", has been widely quoted by refugees and their supporters ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). [Somalis in Britain](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/) are covered on [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## How it was received

- The collection was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection in 2022 and the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2023, and longlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)).
- Stella Cali, in PRISM international, called it "brilliantly crafted and fiercely vital" and "a stunning debut" ([PRISM international](https://prismmagazine.ca/2022/07/07/ill-rewrite-this-whole-life-a-review-of-warsan-shires-bless-the-daughter-raised-by-a-voice-in-her-head/)).
- BookPage described it as a reclamation of female identity ([BookPage](https://bookpage.com/?p=155695)).

## About the poet

In 2013 Shire won the first Brunel University African Poetry Prize and became the first Young Poet Laureate for London. Her poetry was used in Beyoncé's visual albums *Lemonade* (2016) and *Black Is King* (2020), and in 2018 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Bless+the+Daughter+Raised+by+a+Voice+in+Her+Head)

## Related pages

- [Warsan Shire](/en/people/warsan-shire/)
- [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# A Man of Good Hope (2015) by Jonny Steinberg: one Somali refugee's journey to South Africa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/a-man-of-good-hope-steinberg/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Man of Good Hope is a 2015 book by the South African writer Jonny Steinberg, published by Jonathan Cape in London and Knopf in New York. It tells the life of Asad Abdullahi, who at eight fled Mogadishu after his mother was killed in 1991, grew up moving between Kenya and Ethiopia, and travelled overland to South Africa, where he ran small township shops amid violence against foreign traders. It was shortlisted for the Alan Paton Award.

## The book

**A Man of Good Hope** is by **Jonny Steinberg**, a South African writer and scholar who has written several books on South African society. It was published in January 2015 by Jonathan Cape in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and by Knopf in New York, with a paperback from Vintage later that year ([Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/236876/a-man-of-good-hope-by-jonny-steinberg/9780385352734); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Steinberg)).

## The story

The book follows **Asad Abdullahi**, a Somali man whom Steinberg met in South Africa. In 1991, when [Asad](/en/society/films-about-somalia/) was eight, his mother was shot dead in Mogadishu during the civil war, and he fled the city. He was passed between relatives and others who could not protect him, and grew up in several East African cities, including a period as a street hustler in Addis Ababa ([Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/236876/a-man-of-good-hope-by-jonny-steinberg/9780385352734)).

He made his way through Kenya and Ethiopia to South Africa, relying on his wits and on Somali clan networks in the diaspora. In South Africa he built a small business as a shopkeeper in a township, but local violence against Somali and other foreign traders put it at risk ([Irish Examiner](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20307215.html)). Somalis in the country are covered on [Somalis in South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/), and the journey through the region on [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/) and [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## How it was written

Steinberg built the book from hundreds of hours of interviews with Asad, and travelled to the places where Asad had lived. He paid Asad for his life story, and the book discusses that arrangement openly ([Irish Examiner](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20307215.html)). Steinberg also argues that the hostility to foreigners Asad met in South Africa is "a product of citizenship, the claiming of a new birthright" ([Irish Examiner](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20307215.html)).

## How it was received

- It was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award and the Johannesburg Book Prize in 2015 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Steinberg)).
- The Guardian called it "a powerful testament to the resilience of humanity", and The Economist called it "compelling" ([Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/236876/a-man-of-good-hope-by-jonny-steinberg/9780385352734)).
- Dan Brotzel, in the Irish Examiner, called it "painstaking and humane" and praised its "forensic compassion", while noting it leaves readers with "a certain despair" ([Irish Examiner](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20307215.html)).
- Richard Dowden, reviewing it for African Arguments, observed that as a novel the story might seem unconvincing, because fate works against Asad so often ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/2015/01/a-man-of-good-hope-review-by-richard-dowden/)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=A+Man+of+Good+Hope+Steinberg)

## Related pages

- [City of Thorns (2016), Ben Rawlence](/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


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# The Girl with Three Legs (2011) by Soraya Miré: a memoir against female genital cutting

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-girl-with-three-legs-mire/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Girl with Three Legs is a 2011 memoir by the Somali filmmaker and activist Soraya Miré, published by Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press. It tells how she grew up in a well-connected family in Somalia, was subjected to female genital cutting as a teenager and later to an arranged marriage with an abusive cousin, left for Europe and the United States, and made the 1994 documentary Fire Eyes about the practice.

## The book

**The Girl with Three Legs: A Memoir** is by **[Soraya Miré](/en/people/soraya-mire/)**, a Somali writer, filmmaker and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), born in Beledweyne in 1961 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9)). It was published in October 2011 by Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press, with 384 pages ([Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php); [Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-1-56976-713-9)).

The book opens with the lines: "I have known two kinds of pain. The first, a stabbing between my legs, the second, reliving it to tell my story" ([Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)).

## What it covers

- **Childhood.** Miré grew up in a traditional Somali family that moved in the country's elite circles; her father was a general under the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)).
- **Cutting.** At thirteen she underwent infibulation, the most severe form of female genital cutting ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9)). She describes the practice as child abuse handed down from mother to daughter and defended as "culture" ([Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)). The subject is covered on [Female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).
- **Marriage.** She was married to a relative in a wedding arranged, in her words, "with the blessings of my family and without my knowledge or agreement", and describes the abuse she suffered in that marriage ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-1-56976-713-9)).
- **Leaving.** The book follows her journey from Somalia to the United States by way of Italy, Germany, Switzerland and France ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-1-56976-713-9)).
- **Fire Eyes.** It describes the making of her documentary *Fire Eyes: Female Circumcision* (1994), which opens with her own account and has been shown at the Sundance festival and at the United Nations in Geneva ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_Mir%C3%A9); [Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)).

## How it was received

- Publishers Weekly found it most powerful in its account of the procedure and in its "personal, passionate, and persuasive rejection" of cultural defences of FGM, calling it "compelling reading". The same review found the travel and film-making sections long and the dialogue flat ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-1-56976-713-9); [Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)).
- Booklist wrote that readers "will be caught by the urgency of the contemporary cause, rooted in the anguish of one brave woman" ([Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)).
- A review in The Urban News compared her work with that of [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/people/ayaan-hirsi-ali/), who also made a film on related issues ([The Urban News](https://theurbannews.com/?p=1723)).

Miré received a United Nations humanitarian award for her campaigning, and lives in Los Angeles ([Chicago Review Press](https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-girl-with-three-legs-products-9781569767139.php)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+Girl+with+Three+Legs+Soraya+Mire)

## Related pages

- [Desert Flower (1998), Waris Dirie](/en/books/desert-flower-dirie/)
- [Infidel (2007), Ayaan Hirsi Ali](/en/books/infidel-hirsi-ali/)
- [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/)


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# The World's Most Dangerous Place (2013) by James Fergusson: reporting from Somalia and its diaspora

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place-fergusson/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia is a 2013 book by the British journalist James Fergusson, published in London and, by Da Capo, in the United States. Based on his reporting in Mogadishu, Puntland and the Somali communities of Minneapolis and London, it covers the war between the African Union force and al-Shabaab, the 2011 famine, piracy and the diaspora. It was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2014.

## The book

**The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia** is by **James Fergusson**, a British journalist. It was published in Britain in 2013, and in the United States by Da Capo on 28 May 2013, with 432 pages ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-0-306-82117-2); [Hachette Book Group](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-fergusson/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place/9780306821172)).

## Where he reported

Fergusson reported from Mogadishu, from [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), where he spent an extended period with its government, and from the Somali communities of Minneapolis in the United States and London in Britain. He was unable to reach Kismayo because of insecurity ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).

## What it covers

- **Mogadishu.** The fight between the African Union mission ([AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)) and al-Shabaab for the capital, which Fergusson compares to Stalingrad, and the foreign security contractors drawn to the conflict ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)). See [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).
- **Al-Shabaab.** Young recruits and deserters, and the group's response to the 2011 famine, when it denied the scale of the crisis ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).
- **Puntland and piracy.** Piracy off the coast, the release of hostages, ransoms and insurance payments ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)). See [The Pirates of Somalia](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/).
- **The diaspora.** Recruitment of young Somali Americans in Minneapolis, which he describes as passing from peer to peer, and questions of integration and youth violence among Somalis in London ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)). See [Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) and [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).
- **Women.** Fergusson criticises the treatment of women and the practice of female genital cutting ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).

## How it was received

- The British edition was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2014, and Publishers Weekly gave the American edition a starred review ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/978-0-306-82117-2)).
- Magnus Taylor, in African Arguments, called it "a good book with a bad title": he found it the most enjoyable non-fiction about Somalia he knew, but argued that how dangerous Somalia is "really depends in which part of it you are standing" ([African Arguments](https://africanarguments.org/?p=13103)).
- Michael Maren, in Reason, described it as an exhaustively reported chronicle ([Reason](https://reason.com/?p=195109)).
- A review in American Diplomacy recommended it for readers who want to understand Somalia at the time, including how African Union forces pushed al-Shabaab out of most of the country's cities ([American Diplomacy](https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2013/11/the-worlds-most-dangerous-place/)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/worldsmostdanger0000ferg_z9a1)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=The+World%27s+Most+Dangerous+Place+Fergusson)

## Related pages

- [Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012), Mary Harper](/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


---

# Me Against My Brother (2000) by Scott Peterson: a reporter in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/me-against-my-brother-peterson/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda is a 2000 book by the American journalist Scott Peterson, published by Routledge. It draws on his reporting from the three countries in the 1990s, including Somalia during the UN intervention, when he was injured by a crowd in Mogadishu on 12 July 1993 after a US helicopter attack on a house where Somali elders had gathered. It examines the wars, the aid operations and US policy.

## The book

**Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), and Rwanda** is by **Scott Peterson**, an American journalist who reported on Africa's wars in the 1990s and later became a correspondent and bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor. It was published by Routledge in New York and [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in May 2000 (357 pages) ([Christian Science Monitor review](https://csmonitor.com/2000/0504/p17s2.html); [Routledge](https://www.routledge.com/Me-Against-My-Brother-At-War-in-Somalia-Sudan-and-Rwanda/Peterson/p/book/9780415930635); [Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scott-peterson/me-against-my-brother)).

## The Somalia section

Peterson was in Mogadishu during the US-led and UN interventions of 1992 to 1995. On 12 July 1993, during the UN hunt for General [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid, US helicopters attacked a house in Mogadishu where, according to Peterson and Somali accounts, a group of elders had gathered to discuss how to make peace ([Wikipedia, Abdi House raid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_House_raid)). When journalists went to the scene afterwards, an angry crowd attacked them. Four journalists working for international news agencies were killed, among them the photographer Dan Eldon ([Committee to Protect Journalists](https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/cpj/1994/en/81165); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdi_House_raid)). Peterson was injured: "The mob surrounded me and a machete smashed into my head," he writes ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scott-peterson/me-against-my-brother); [author's excerpt](https://s-peterson.com/excerpt-death-in-mogadishu)).

The background is on [UNOSOM I, 1992 to 1993](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/), [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) and [The Battle of Mogadishu, 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/).

## Its wider argument

The book covers Somalia, the war in southern Sudan and the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Peterson examines what reviewers called the "aid game" between governments, the UN and aid agencies, including how relief in Sudan sometimes fed the war, and argues that US policy towards Africa swung between neglect, overreaction and abandonment ([Christian Science Monitor review](https://csmonitor.com/2000/0504/p17s2.html); [Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scott-peterson/me-against-my-brother)). He writes about the tense relationship between the military and the press, and about humanitarian missions that came to take sides ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scott-peterson/me-against-my-brother)).

## How it was received

- Peter I. Rose, a sociologist at Smith College, wrote in the Christian Science Monitor: "This is not a pretty book. But it is a terribly important one" ([Christian Science Monitor](https://csmonitor.com/2000/0504/p17s2.html)).
- Kirkus Reviews praised its "agile and alert" prose ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scott-peterson/me-against-my-brother)).
- The Washington Post and the Irish Times also reviewed it ([Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/anarchy-agony-africa-1.280902)).

## Where to read it

- Editions: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1981834W)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Me+Against+My+Brother+Peterson)

## Related pages

- [Black Hawk Down (1999), Mark Bowden](/en/books/black-hawk-down-bowden/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)


---

# Yesterday, Tomorrow (2000) by Nuruddin Farah: voices from the Somali diaspora

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/yesterday-tomorrow-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora is a 2000 non-fiction book by the Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah, published by Cassell in London. Drawing on interviews he carried out with Somali refugees in Africa and Europe between 1991 and 1998, it looks at how refugees see themselves, how host countries treat them, and how they adapt to new lives. It was his first book of non-fiction.

## The book

**Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora** is a book of non-fiction by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, the Somali novelist born in Baidoa in 1945 and winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998. It was published by Cassell in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in February 2000, with about 200 pages, and was his first non-fiction book ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Farah/Yesterday-Tomorrow/9780304707027/A28040245/); [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/825071)). It has been published in French as *Hier, demain* and in German by Suhrkamp ([Critiques Libres](https://www.critiqueslibres.com/i.php/vcrit/31041/?alt=print); [Suhrkamp extract](https://res.cloudinary.com/suhrkamp/images/v1742117943/144084/yesterday-tomorrow_9783518123201_leseprobe.pdf)).

## What it contains

The book is built from interviews Farah carried out between 1991 and 1998 with Somalis who had fled the collapse of the state, in Africa and in Europe, including communities in Italy, Britain, Sweden and Switzerland ([Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/825071)). The publisher describes it as a study of refugees created by political repression in post-colonial Somalia, which explores:

- how refugees see themselves;
- how host countries perceive and treat them;
- how they adapt, or fail to adapt, as politics and economics break apart and rebuild their lives ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Farah/Yesterday-Tomorrow/9780304707027/A28040245/)).

Although it is about one people, the publisher presents it as speaking to mass migration more widely. Farah had himself lived in exile from 1976 until 1996, when he was first able to visit Somalia again ([Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/farah-nuruddin)). The movement of Somalis abroad is covered on [Somalis leave, 1988 to 1991](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## How it has been read

- The book was reviewed in the French journal Études littéraires africaines in 2000 ([Érudit](https://erudit.org/fr/revue/ela/2000/v/n10/1041946ar.pdf)).
- The Providence [Phoenix](/en/diaspora/phoenix/) described its narratives as "wrenching" ([Providence Phoenix](https://providencephoenix.com/archive/books/00/03/23/FARAH.html)).
- One literary study reads it as a turning point in Farah's work, from nostalgia for Somalia towards openly expressed concern for Somali refugees ([Tydskrif vir Letterkunde](https://letterkunde.africa/article/view/8077/9964)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Yesterday+Tomorrow+Voices+from+the+Somali+Diaspora)

## Related pages

- [Links (2003), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/links-farah/)
- [Little Mother (Madre piccola), Ubah Cristina Ali Farah](/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)


---

# Clan Cleansing in Somalia (2013) by Lidwien Kapteijns: the violence of 1991 and its legacy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/clan-cleansing-in-somalia-kapteijns/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991 is a 2013 book by the historian Lidwien Kapteijns, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in its series on human rights. It argues that the communal violence of 1991 and 1992 in Mogadishu marked a new turn in how clan labels were used to divide friend from foe, holds political leaders rather than whole clans responsible, and calls for honest public remembrance as a basis for reconciliation. It drew sharply divided reactions among Somalis.

## The book

**Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991** is by **Lidwien Kapteijns**, a historian of Africa and the Middle East at Wellesley College in the United States, who has written widely on Somali history, literature and women. It was published in hardback by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2013, in its Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights series, with about 308 pages; a paperback followed in 2014 ([MIT Press Bookstore](https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780812223194); [WardheerNews, Faisal A. Roble review](https://wardheernews.com/book-review-clan-cleansing-somalia-ruinous-legacy-1991)).

## How it is built

According to the reviewer Faisal A. Roble, the book has four chapters ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/book-review-clan-cleansing-somalia-ruinous-legacy-1991)):

1. How Somali poets, singers and playwrights interpreted the violence of 1991.
2. The political grievances of the 1970s and 1980s under the military government.
3. The violence in Mogadishu in 1991.
4. The need for genuine reconciliation.

More than sixty pages of notes, bibliography, a timeline and a glossary follow. Its sources include Somali poetry and songs, survivor accounts, and reports by journalists, aid workers and diplomats who were in Mogadishu ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/book-review-clan-cleansing-somalia-ruinous-legacy-1991); [Africa Review of Books, Lee Cassanelli](https://journals.codesria.org/index.php/arb/article/download/5003/5303/7688)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Its argument

Kapteijns argues that the scale and character of the communal violence of 1991 and 1992 marked a "key shift" in the use of clan labels to separate friends from enemies ([Project MUSE review](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/536452)). She writes that mass violence had already been used by the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), and on a smaller scale by armed opposition fronts. In her account, the decisive change came in Mogadishu in 1991, when forces of the United Somali Congress attacked civilians identified with the Darod clan family as outsiders to the city ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/book-review-clan-cleansing-somalia-ruinous-legacy-1991)). See [The collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/) and [The United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/).

She places responsibility on "political leaders who mobilized and organized ordinary people to commit violence in the name of clan", rather than on clans as a whole. She uses the term "clan cleansing" because, in her view, the events fit neither the legal definition of genocide nor that of ethnic cleansing, since Somalis share one ethnicity ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/book-review-clan-cleansing-somalia-ruinous-legacy-1991)). Lee Cassanelli notes that by setting Somalia beside the wider literature on mass violence, the book asks specialists to reconsider the idea that Somalia is a special case ([Africa Review of Books](https://journals.codesria.org/index.php/arb/article/download/5003/5303/7688)).

## How it was received

- Faisal A. Roble called it authoritative and meticulously referenced, argued it should be translated into Somali, and wished it had compared Somalia with Ethiopia after 1991 ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/book-review-clan-cleansing-somalia-ruinous-legacy-1991)).
- The writer [Ubah Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/) reported that the book aroused deeply contrasting reactions among Somalis ([Warscapes](https://www.warscapes.com/node/1860)).
- The historian Mohamed Haji Ingiriis published a critical review that treated the events as clan hostilities on more than one side; other writers replied that treating clan families as single actors was itself part of the problem the book describes ([Africa Review of Books](https://journals.codesria.org/index.php/arb/article/download/5003/5303/7688)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/clancleansingins0000kapt)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Clan+Cleansing+in+Somalia+Kapteijns)
- Online for subscribing libraries: [Project MUSE review](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/536452)

## Related pages

- [Unraveling Somalia (1999), Catherine Besteman](/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/)
- [Clan conflicts](/en/society/clan-conflicts/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


---

# Somalia: Economy Without State (2003) by Peter D. Little: trade and livestock after 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/somalia-economy-without-state-little/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia: Economy Without State is a 2003 book by the American anthropologist Peter D. Little, published by James Currey in Oxford and Indiana University Press in Bloomington. Focused on the Lower Jubba region, it shows how livestock trade and cross-border commerce kept working after the collapse of the state in 1991, and asks whether the absence of a state necessarily means anarchy.

## The book

**Somalia: Economy Without State** is by **Peter D. Little**, an American anthropologist. It was published in 2003 by James Currey in Oxford (xviii and 206 pages) and by Indiana University Press in Bloomington, in the African Issues series ([African Studies Review listing](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/peter-d-little-somalia-economy-without-state-oxford-james-curreybloomington-indiana-university-press-2003-xviii-206-pp-photographs-bibliography-index-5495-cloth-2295-paper/710588D76D4286B55FEE6FE11363F0CC); [Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Little/Somalia/9780253216489/A1358355/)).

## What it argues

Little looks at how Somalia's economy kept working after the government collapsed in 1991. He describes a "second" or informal economy based on trade across borders and smuggling, centred on markets for livestock and farm produce, and argues that Somalis adapted to the absence of a state with great resourcefulness. He asks whether statelessness necessarily means anarchy, and whether trade, money and investment can continue without a government ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Little/Somalia/9780253216489/A1358355/)).

The reviewer Tobias Hagmann, in African Affairs, wrote that Little brings together historical, ecological, social and political events in his account of the pastoral economy of the Lower Jubba region ([World of Books, quoting African Affairs](https://wob.com/en-us/books/peter-d-little-person/somalia/9780852558652)). The region is described on [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/).

## Chapters

1. Introduction to a Stateless Economy
2. Land of Livestock
3. The Destruction of Rural-Urban Relations
4. Tough Choices
5. Boom Times in a Bust State
6. Life Goes On
7. Conclusions: Somalia in a Wider Context
- Epilogue: In the Aftermath of September 11th

The epilogue places Somalia's economy in the context of the campaign against international terrorism after September 2001 ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Little/Somalia/9780253216489/A1358355/)). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/) and [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).

## How it was received

- Choice called it thorough, clearly written and well organised, and "highly recommended", and named it an Outstanding Academic Title ([Awesome Books, quoting Choice](https://wholesale.awesomebooks.com/book/9780253216489/somalia-economy-without-state-african-issues)).
- It was reviewed by Anna Lindley in the Journal of Refugee Studies in 2004, and in African Studies Review ([Journal of Refugee Studies](https://dbpia.nl.go.kr/jrs/article/17/4/484/1512607)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/somaliaeconomywi0000litt)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Somalia+Economy+Without+State+Little)

## Related pages

- [Getting Somalia Wrong? (2012), Mary Harper](/en/books/getting-somalia-wrong-harper/)
- [Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1991-2005/)


---

# Understanding the Somalia Conflagration (2010) by Afyare Abdi Elmi: identity, political Islam and peacebuilding

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding is a 2010 book by the Somali political scientist Afyare Abdi Elmi, published by Pluto Press. It argues that clan is not in itself the root of the conflict but is mobilised by politicians for power and resources, examines the rise of political Islam and the role of neighbouring states and the United States, and proposes ways to build peace, including education for a shared national identity.

## The book

**Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding** is by **Afyare Abdi Elmi**, a Somali political scientist. It was published by Pluto Press in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 2010, with about 200 pages ([African Studies Review listing](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/afyare-abdi-elmi-understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-identity-political-islam-and-peacebuildingoxford-pluto-press-2010-xvii-193-pp-notes-bibliography-index-9000-cloth-3500-paper-markus-hoehne-and-virginia-luling-eds-milk-and-peace-drought-and-war-somali-culture-society-and-politics-essays-in-honour-of-i-m-lewisnew-york-columbia-university-press-2010-xi-437-pp-notes-bibliography-index-5500-cloth/2761F1B6EC00E90BDA9B1B700FE0DE2F); [Kenny's](https://kennys.ie/politics/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi-afyare-abdi-9780745329758)). The publisher presents it as an explanation of the many dimensions of the conflict, arguing that peace can begin only by addressing the absence of a state ([Kenny's](https://kennys.ie/politics/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-elmi-afyare-abdi-9780745329758)).

## Its main arguments

The reviewer Abdirahman A. Issa summarises the book's arguments as follows ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-identity-political-islam-and-peacebuilding-a-book-review)):

- **Clan identity.** Clan is not the root problem in itself; politicians mobilise it to gain resources and power. Because ignoring clan has not worked, it has to be addressed openly. Elmi proposes sharing parliamentary seats by clan while filling cabinet and civil service posts on merit. See [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/).
- **Political Islam.** Islam and clan have been the two competing sources of identity since 1991. Islamist movements gained ground after the collapse of the state, and the Islamic Courts Union briefly brought order to much of the south in 2006. See [The Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).
- **Federalism and neighbours.** Elmi argues that the federal system was introduced without a national debate or referendum, and that Ethiopia and, to a lesser degree, Kenya undermined reconciliation conferences.
- **United States policy.** He criticises US policy, from support for the military government to the period after September 2001 and backing for Ethiopia's intervention in 2006.
- **Peacebuilding.** He proposes education to build a shared national identity, including an inclusive curriculum and peace education, the use of poets and other informal means, and, in the short term, an international force.

## How it was received

- Abdirahman A. Issa called it "well written and well researched" and a "synoptic and concise introduction" suitable for students. He argued that it overlooked genuine local demand for federalism in parts of the country, including [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), said little about [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Puntland, and did not examine the mistakes of the Islamist leadership ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/understanding-the-somalia-conflagration-identity-political-islam-and-peacebuilding-a-book-review)).
- The Egyptian economist Samir Amin, in the Africa Review of Books, praised its documentation of the actors in the conflict and disagreed with how it described the different periods of the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government ([Africa Review of Books](https://journals.codesria.org/index.php/arb/article/download/4943/5244)).
- Terrence Lyons of George Mason University reviewed it in African Studies Review.

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/understandingsom0000elmi)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Understanding+the+Somalia+Conflagration+Elmi)

## Related pages

- [Al-Shabaab in Somalia (2013), Stig Jarle Hansen](/en/books/al-shabaab-in-somalia-hansen/)
- [Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/islamist-movements-and-transitional-governments-2000-2012/)


---

# Women's Voices in a Man's World (1999) by Lidwien Kapteijns: women in northern Somali oral literature

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/womens-voices-in-a-mans-world-kapteijns/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Women's Voices in a Man's World: Women and the Pastoral Tradition in Northern Somali Orature, c. 1899-1980 is a 1999 book by the historian Lidwien Kapteijns, written with Maryan Omar Ali and published by Heinemann. Drawing on a century of oral poetry and popular songs from northern Somalia, it asks what these texts reveal about women and relations between men and women, and how they present 'tradition', first in the colonial period and then in modern love songs.

## The book

**Women's Voices in a Man's World: Women and the Pastoral Tradition in Northern Somali Orature, c. 1899-1980** is by **Lidwien Kapteijns**, professor of history at Wellesley College, written with **Maryan Omar Ali**. It was published by Heinemann in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in September 1999, with xiv and 224 pages, in hardback and paperback ([Harvard Book Store](https://www.harvard.com/book/9780325001364); [Journal of African History review listing](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-women-womens-voices-in-a-mans-world-women-and-the-pastoral-tradition-in-northern-somali-orature-c-18991980-by-lidwien-kapteijns-with-maryan-omar-ali-portsmouth-nh-heinemann-1999-pp-x-224-43955995-isbn-0325001367-195024-paperback-isbn-0325001332/2178CA2066CAE44A959E5446EF0A9487)).

## What it studies

The book is a study of Somali society through its oral literature, which it calls orature: poems, sayings and songs composed and passed on by voice. It asks two questions ([Harvard Book Store](https://www.harvard.com/book/9780325001364)):

- What do Somali oral texts reveal about women and about relations between women and men?
- How do these texts present "tradition" and cultural authenticity, especially where they affect women?

Within the large body of Somali orature, Kapteijns picks out texts voiced by women across about a century, from the start of the Dervish period to 1980 ([Research in African Literatures review](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/29679)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Its two parts

1. **The colonial period.** The first part uses oral texts from the colonial era to build a critical picture of women's lives and of gender in northern Somali pastoral society.
2. **Modern love songs.** The second part treats the popular love songs of the decades after independence as places where Somalis argued about women and about "tradition" ([Harvard Book Store](https://www.harvard.com/book/9780325001364)). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

The publisher wrote that the book would introduce readers unfamiliar with Somali culture to its "wit and spirit", and that Somali readers would find it useful for reassessing received views of their own past and traditions ([Harvard Book Store](https://www.harvard.com/book/9780325001364)). The wider subject is on [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/).

## How it was received

The book was reviewed in the Journal of African History, in Research in African Literatures (2002), and by the anthropologist Dorothy L. Hodgson in the International Journal of African Historical Studies (1999) ([Journal of African History](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/somali-women-womens-voices-in-a-mans-world-women-and-the-pastoral-tradition-in-northern-somali-orature-c-18991980-by-lidwien-kapteijns-with-maryan-omar-ali-portsmouth-nh-heinemann-1999-pp-x-224-43955995-isbn-0325001367-195024-paperback-isbn-0325001332/2178CA2066CAE44A959E5446EF0A9487); [Research in African Literatures](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/29679); [Brandeis ScholarWorks](https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/bookReview/Kapteijns-Womens-Voices-In-A-Mans/9924032278801921)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/womensvoicesinma00kapt)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Women%27s+Voices+in+a+Man%27s+World+Kapteijns)

## Related pages

- [Clan Cleansing in Somalia (2013), Lidwien Kapteijns](/en/books/clan-cleansing-in-somalia-kapteijns/)
- [A Tree for Poverty](/en/history/a-tree-for-poverty/)


---

# Between Somaliland and Puntland (2015) by Markus Virgil Hoehne: the contested borderlands of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/between-somaliland-and-puntland-hoehne/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Between Somaliland and Puntland: Marginalization, Militarization and Conflicting Political Visions is a 2015 book by the social anthropologist Markus Virgil Hoehne, published by the Rift Valley Institute and free to download. Based on fieldwork from 2002 to 2013, it traces how the regions claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland became militarised, and how communities there pursued their own political projects, from the SSC movement to Khaatumo and the conflict in the Golis Mountains.

## The book

**Between Somaliland and Puntland: Marginalization, Militarization and Conflicting Political Visions** is by **Markus Virgil Hoehne**, a social anthropologist who lectures at the University of Leipzig and carried out the research while at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. It was published in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and Nairobi in 2015 by the Rift Valley Institute in its Contested Borderlands series, with about 180 pages. The text and maps are published under a Creative Commons licence and can be downloaded free ([Rift Valley Institute, full text](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Between-Somaliland-and-Puntland-by-Markus-Hoehne-RVI-Contested-Borderlands-2015.pdf)).

## How it was researched

Hoehne did eighteen months of fieldwork between 2002 and 2004, followed by shorter stays between 2008 and 2013. His main field sites were Hargeysa, Laascaanood and Ceerigaabo, and he also spent long periods in Garoowe, [Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/), [Buuhoodle](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/) and Ceelbuuh ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Between-Somaliland-and-Puntland-by-Markus-Hoehne-RVI-Contested-Borderlands-2015.pdf)).

In his preface he states his own position openly. He writes that over the years he came to identify, and to be identified, with the [Dhulbahante](/en/society/dhulbahante/) communities among whom he lived, and that he was once arrested as a suspected spy in both Garoowe and Hargeysa in 2004. He presents the book as an alternative perspective to what he sees as the dominant "Hargeysa point of view" in writing on northern Somalia since 1991, to be read alongside other accounts, and says he admires what people in Somaliland and Puntland have achieved ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Between-Somaliland-and-Puntland-by-Markus-Hoehne-RVI-Contested-Borderlands-2015.pdf)).

## Chapters

1. Introduction
2. Political geography of the borderlands
3. The making of a contested borderland
4. Militarization of the Dhulbahante territories (2002 to 2009)
5. Dhulbahante autonomy: from the SSC to Khaatumo (2009 to 2014)
6. [Warsangeli](/en/society/warsangali/) Sonderweg: resource conflict and militant Islamism in the Golis Mountains (2006 to 2014)
7. Conclusion: disentangling the contested borderlands
8. Policy considerations

The book includes maps of clan areas and of the conflict zones, genealogical diagrams, a list of principal figures and a glossary ([Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Between-Somaliland-and-Puntland-by-Markus-Hoehne-RVI-Contested-Borderlands-2015.pdf)).

## Its argument

Hoehne describes the efforts of people living between the two administrations to set up their own autonomous political orders, and argues that the borderlands are where the future political order of the Somali north will be shaped ([WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/976483444); [Rift Valley Institute](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Between-Somaliland-and-Puntland-by-Markus-Hoehne-RVI-Contested-Borderlands-2015.pdf)). According to one review, he finds that Somaliland and Puntland both set up parallel administrations in Sool and eastern Sanaag in the early 2000s without being able to enforce their claims, and that fighting in Laascaanood ended the stalemate and began the open militarisation of the region ([WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/between-somaliland-and-puntland-marginalization-militarization-and-conflicting-political-vision-a-book-review)).

The regions are described on [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) and [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). Later events are on [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/), [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Where to read it

- Free full text: [Rift Valley Institute (PDF)](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Between-Somaliland-and-Puntland-by-Markus-Hoehne-RVI-Contested-Borderlands-2015.pdf)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/976483444)

## Related pages

- [Becoming Somaliland (2008), Mark Bradbury](/en/books/becoming-somaliland-bradbury/)
- [Books about Somalis since 2006](/en/history/books-about-somalis-since-2006/)


---

# Transnational Nomads (2006) by Cindy Horst: how Somalis cope with life in the Dadaab camps

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Transnational Nomads: How Somalis Cope with Refugee Life in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya is a 2006 book by the anthropologist Cindy Horst, published by Berghahn Books. Based on fieldwork among Somalis in Kenyan camps and towns from 1995 to 2001, it challenges the image of refugees as helpless victims and shows how Somalis drew on a nomadic heritage of mobility and wide social networks, including money sent by relatives abroad, to cope with life in the camps.

## The book

**Transnational Nomads: How Somalis Cope with Refugee Life in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya** is by **Cindy Horst**, an anthropologist who studied at the Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford, worked for an organisation assisting refugees, and became a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). It was published by Berghahn Books as volume 19 of its Forced Migration series, in hardback in May 2006 and paperback in December 2007, with 252 pages ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational); [PRIO](https://www.prio.org/publications/324)).

## How it was researched

Horst carried out fieldwork among Somalis in the Dadaab refugee camps and in Kenyan towns between 1995 and 2001, and among Somalis in Europe ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)). The camps are described on [Dadaab and the Kenya camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/).

## Its argument

The book starts from the common tendency to see all refugees as "vulnerable victims", an image reinforced by pictures of people in harsh conditions. Horst challenges this by looking at the personal and social histories refugees bring with them. She shows how Somalis in Dadaab drew on a nomadic heritage of mobility and wide social networks, reaching as far as Europe and the United States, to manage the insecurity of camp life ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)).

## Chapters

1. At a Distance? An Introduction
2. A Nomadic Heritage: Past Ways of Coping With Insecurity Amongst the Somali
3. Refugee Life in the Camps: Providing Security or Sustaining Dependency?
4. Transnational Livelihoods: The Role of Taar and Xawilaad
5. Buufis: Imagining or Realising Migration to the West
6. Historical and Transnational Approaches to Refugee Studies

Chapter 4 looks at *taar* (messages sent by radio and telephone) and *xawilaad* (money transfers through the hawala system), by which relatives abroad supported people in the camps. Chapter 5 is about *buufis*, the Somali word for the longing to migrate to the West ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)). See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) and [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/).

## How it was received

- Jeff Crisp of the UN refugee agency UNHCR called it "by far the best account of what has become known as a 'protracted refugee situation'" ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)).
- A review in African Affairs said it "should be read by anybody who wants to work with or is currently working with refugees" ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)).
- Laura Hammond, in the Journal of Refugee Studies, praised the open way Horst discusses her research methods ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)).
- The Forced Migration Current Awareness blog named it a "Book of the Decade" ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/HorstTransnational)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Transnational+Nomads+Horst)

## Related pages

- [City of Thorns (2016), Ben Rawlence](/en/books/city-of-thorns-rawlence/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)


---

# We Do Not Have Borders (2017) by Keren Weitzberg: Somalis and belonging in Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/we-do-not-have-borders-weitzberg/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> We Do Not Have Borders: Greater Somalia and the Predicaments of Belonging in Kenya is a 2017 history by Keren Weitzberg, published by Ohio University Press in its New African Histories series. It asks why Somalis who have lived in Kenya for generations, in many cases since before Kenya existed, have so often been treated as foreigners, and traces how colonial rule, Kenyan nationalism and the idea of a Greater Somalia shaped Kenyan Somali identity.

## The book

**We Do Not Have Borders: Greater Somalia and the Predicaments of Belonging in Kenya** is a history by **Keren Weitzberg**, published by [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) University Press in July 2017 as part of its New African Histories series. It appeared in hardback (ISBN 9780821422588) and paperback (ISBN 9780821422595), with about 274 pages of main text plus front matter ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Weitzberg/We-not-Have-Borders/9780821422588/A38540849/); [Journal of Modern African Studies](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/we-do-not-have-borders-greater-somalia-and-the-predicaments-of-belonging-in-kenya-by-keren-weitzberg-athens-oh-ohio-university-press-2017-pp-290-26-pbk-64-hbk/617B25A469AAA4D899E52B7C3CED9857)). At the time of publication Weitzberg was a visiting assistant professor in Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

## The question it asks

Somalis have lived in what is now Kenya for generations, many of their families since long before the Kenyan state was founded. Yet they have often been treated as outsiders. The book asks how that came about, and what it has meant for Somalis to be both Kenyan citizens and part of a people spread across several states ([New Books Network](https://newbooksnetwork.com/keren-weitzberg-we-do-not-have-borders-greater-somalia-and-the-predicaments-of-belonging-in-kenya-ohio-up-2017)). The wider story of Somalis in the country is on [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Sources and method

Weitzberg combined archival research with oral history and fieldwork among Kenyan Somalis, tracing how ideas of Somali identity shifted from one generation to the next. In his review essay in African Studies Quarterly, Mukerrem Miftah singled out this mix of archival and field sources, and the author's self-reflexivity, as the book's main strengths ([African Studies Quarterly, 2019](https://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v18/v18i2a7.pdf)).

## Its argument

The book sets two forces against each other. On one side are what Weitzberg calls "exclusionary nationalism" and "settler colonialism": British rule and, later, independent Kenya worked with a split between "natives" and "aliens". British officials saw Somalis as physically and culturally different, including in religion, and some Somalis themselves stressed claimed Arab origins to win a better legal status. On the other side are the Somalis' own social organisation and their networks across borders, linking Kenya with Djibouti, Ethiopia, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), Somalia and the diaspora ([African Studies Quarterly, 2019](https://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v18/v18i2a7.pdf)).

Weitzberg shows how political activists drew on pastoral life, Islamic ties of brotherhood, shared descent and other non-territorial loyalties to build the territorial project of a Greater Somalia, which aimed to join all Somali-inhabited lands into one state. The book also traces how neighbouring governments, including Ethiopia, saw that project as a threat. The period when Somalis of the Northern Frontier District sought to join the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) is covered on [Northern Frontier District 1962 to 1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/), and the founding of that republic on [Independence and union, 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).

## How it was received

Reviews appeared in the Journal of African History, the Journal of Modern African Studies, African Studies Review and African Studies Quarterly. The Journal of Modern African Studies called it an indispensable contribution to work on citizenship, nationalism and Kenyan Somali identity. Miftah described it as an important and original contribution to the study of north-east Africa, and noted that its density of information means it takes time to read; he added that almost a third of the book is material for further reading and research ([African Studies Quarterly, 2019](https://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v18/v18i2a7.pdf)). The author also discussed the book in a New Books Network interview ([New Books Network](https://newbooksnetwork.com/keren-weitzberg-we-do-not-have-borders-greater-somalia-and-the-predicaments-of-belonging-in-kenya-ohio-up-2017)).

## Where to read it

The book is sold in paperback and as an ebook by Ohio University Press and is held by many university libraries. Related reading on this site includes [Transnational Nomads](/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/), Cindy Horst's study of Somali refugees in Kenya's Dadaab camps.


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# Captured at Sea (2019) by Jatin Dua: piracy and protection in the Indian Ocean

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/captured-at-sea-dua/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean is a 2019 ethnography by the anthropologist Jatin Dua, published by University of California Press. Drawing on fieldwork in Somali coastal communities, on board merchant ships and in London insurance offices, it treats the wave of piracy off Somalia from about 2007 to 2012 as one chapter in a long history of competing systems of maritime protection. It won the 2020 Elliott P. Skinner Book Prize.

## The book

**Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean** is by **Jatin Dua**, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. University of California Press published it in December 2019 in its Atelier series on ethnographic inquiry. It has 264 pages with photographs, maps and illustrations ([University of California Press](https://www.ucpress.edu/books/captured-at-sea/paper)).

## How it was researched

The book follows how six men seized a Liberian-flagged oil tanker and negotiated a large ransom. To tell that story Dua worked in several places: among Somali coastal communities connected with piracy, aboard multinational container ships, and in the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) offices where maritime insurance is arranged ([University of California Press](https://www.ucpress.edu/books/captured-at-sea/paper)). The background to the piracy years is on [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## What is in it

After an introduction titled "An Anthropology of Protection", the chapters are:

- **Protectors of the Sea**, on the rise of piracy off the Somali coast
- **Anchoring Pirates**, on how a "protection economy" was rooted on land
- **Regulating the Ocean**, on the international governance of counter-piracy
- **Markets of Negotiation**, on how a ransom is made
- **Captivity at Sea**, on pirates and the sailors of wooden dhows

An epilogue is titled "The Gifts of the Sea" ([University of California Press](https://www.ucpress.edu/books/captured-at-sea/paper)).

## Its argument

Dua argues that the seas are places of regulation, connection and trade that do not fit a simple split between legal and illegal. He treats piracy from about 2007 to 2012 as one phase in a long history of "parallel and competing systems" of protection in the western Indian Ocean. In her review in Society and Space, Nidhi Mahajan described how the book links capture at sea to claims over a "pastoral commons" on land, to kin groups that pay compensation, and to the economy of khat, and how it reads captivity as a form of living together that could include shared meals and prayer ([Society and Space](https://www.societyandspace.org/articles/captured-at-sea-review)). Laleh Khalili of SOAS wrote that it shows how insurers, shipping firms and naval forces are also part of the political economy of protection ([University of California Press](https://www.ucpress.edu/books/captured-at-sea/paper)). The trade itself is described on [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/), and coastal livelihoods on [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/).

## How it was received

The book won the 2020 Elliott P. Skinner Book Prize of the Association for Africanist Anthropology ([University of Michigan](https://prod.lsa.umich.edu/content/ii-directory/asc/en/news-events/news/search-news/dua-skinner-prize.html)) and an honourable mention for the Monsoon Book Prize in Political Economy in 2024. Society and Space ran a review forum on it in 2021, in which one reviewer called it theoretically rigorous and ethnographically sensitive ([Society and Space forum](https://www.societyandspace.org/book-review-forums/captured-at-sea-review)). The anthropologist James Ferguson described it as based on "extraordinary fieldwork".

## Where to read it

It is sold in hardback, paperback and as an ebook by University of California Press and is held by university libraries. A journalist's account of the same years is [The Pirates of Somalia](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/) by Jay Bahadur.


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# The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963) by Margaret Laurence: a Canadian writer in British Somaliland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-prophets-camel-bell-laurence/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Prophet's Camel Bell is a 1963 memoir by the Canadian novelist Margaret Laurence about the year and a half she spent in the British Somaliland Protectorate, from early 1951 to mid-1952, while her husband built rainwater reservoirs in the interior. Published in the United States in 1964 as New Wind in a Dry Land, it describes drought and rain, the Somali people she worked among, Somali poetry, and her growing awareness of her own place in the colonial order.

## The book

**The Prophet's Camel Bell** is a memoir by **Margaret Laurence** (1926 to 1987), later known as one of Canada's leading novelists. It was published in 1963 and appeared in the United States in 1964 from Alfred A. Knopf under the title **New Wind in a Dry Land: An Account of a Sojourn Among the Nomads of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)** ([ECU Libraries](https://lib.ecu.edu/catalog-preview/catalog/497219); [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/margaret-laurence-2/new-wind-in-a-dry-land)). It has stayed in print in Canada, later with an afterword by the critic Clara Thomas ([Penguin Random House Canada](https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/98381/the-prophets-camel-bell-by-margaret-laurence-afterword-by-clara-thomas-afterword-by-clara-thomas/9780771046292)).

## Where it comes from

Laurence lived in the British Somaliland Protectorate from early 1951 to mid-1952. Her husband Jack Laurence, a Canadian engineer, had been hired by the colonial government to build reservoirs in the desert to catch rainwater runoff, and she travelled with him to the work camps. For a short time she also worked as secretary to the colonial administrator. In the same period she worked on English versions of Somali poems and stories, which were printed in 1954 as [A Tree for Poverty](/en/history/a-tree-for-poverty/). She wrote the memoir about ten years later, after the couple had lived in the Gold Coast, now Ghana ([Wendy Roy, Canadian Literature, 2001](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/download/193132/189592/223644)). The colony is described on [British Somaliland, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).

## What it covers

The book describes the land, customs, language, poetry and wildlife of the protectorate ([Border Crossings, 1977](https://bordercrossingsmag.com/article/laurence-of-somali)). Kirkus Reviews summarised its account of a region that had gone a year without rain, with people and animals struggling towards water, and the violent return of the rains; a tense encounter with armed men; the relationships among the Somalis she met; and the ruined towns, shifting empires and expatriates she observed beyond the camp ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/margaret-laurence-2/new-wind-in-a-dry-land)). Several chapters are character sketches of Somali men who worked with the couple, including their driver. A chapter on Somali oral literature is taken almost directly from A Tree for Poverty, with references to God replaced by the word Allah ([Wendy Roy](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/download/193132/189592/223644)). See also [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

Laurence also wrote about the lives of Somali women as she saw them from the outside: marriage and bride-price, polygyny, and childrearing. Because she spent most of her time in camps of working men, she met relatively few women ([Wendy Roy](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/download/193132/189592/223644)).

## An answer to Burton

The critic Wendy Roy argues that one aim of the book was to answer earlier writing such as Richard Burton's 1856 [First Footsteps in East Africa](/en/history/first-footsteps-in-east-africa/). Laurence follows Burton's route, shows that a complex society had flourished long before his visit, and notes that at a mosque where Burton boasted of having preached, "No one here had ever heard of Burton" ([Wendy Roy](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/download/193132/189592/223644)).

## How it has been read

Kirkus called it "creative, informative and a lesson in understanding". Joy Kuropatwa, writing in Border Crossings in 1977, saw it as more than a travel book and linked its themes to Laurence's later novels. Later scholars have been more mixed. Wendy Roy credits Laurence with recognising that she had arrived "in righteous disapproval of the empire-builders" only to find that "I, too, had been of that company", but notes that the book still describes Somalis with words such as "inscrutable", and that it leans on Octave Mannoni's theory of colonial "dependence", which Frantz Fanon and others rejected ([Wendy Roy](https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/download/193132/189592/223644)).


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# Warriors (1971) by Gerald Hanley: a British officer among Somali herders in the Second World War

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/warriors-hanley/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Warriors, first published in 1971 as Warriors and Strangers and later reissued by Eland as Warriors: Life and Death Among the Somalis, is a memoir by the Irish novelist Gerald Hanley. It recalls his service during the Second World War as one of a small group of British officers posted to remote parts of Somalia to keep the peace between clans, and his return about thirty years later, when he wrote with hope about the young Somali Republic.

## The book

**Warriors** is a memoir by **Gerald Hanley** (1916 to 1992), an Irish novelist best known for *The Consul at Sunset*, *The Year of the Lion* and *Gilligan's Last Elephant*. It was first published in 1971 as **Warriors and Strangers**. The travel publisher Eland later reissued it as **Warriors: Life and Death Among the Somalis** (ISBN 9780907871835), the title under which it is usually read today ([Irish Catholic, 2013](https://irishcatholic.com/a-critque-of-imperialism)).

## The war years it recalls

During the Second World War Hanley served with the British Army in Somalia, after the British took the Italian colony in 1941. He was one of a small group of officers sent to remote districts of the interior to stop fighting between clans over water and grazing. In the memoir he describes the heat and isolation of these postings, the struggle to find money and food to keep his locally recruited soldiers paid and fed, and the strain on the officers themselves: he records that seven of his fellow officers took their own lives ([Frontline Club](https://www.frontlineclub.com/?p=3839); [Irish Catholic](https://irishcatholic.com/a-critque-of-imperialism)). The period is described on [British Military Administration, 1941 to 1950](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/), and the war that led to it on [Fascist rule and the war, 1923 to 1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).

Much of the book is about the Somali herders he came to know and their attitudes to life and death. Hanley writes as a soldier who made friends among nomads, not as a missionary or an aid worker ([Frontline Club](https://www.frontlineclub.com/?p=3839)). Background on herding life is on [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/) and [Xeer customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## The return

The memoir also describes Hanley's return to Somalia about thirty years after the war, when he found Mogadishu with Italian-style restaurants and a cathedral where he attended Mass. He wrote with optimism about a new national feeling he saw among Somalis, a sense of being Somali first, and said there could not be "anywhere in Africa such ready and hungry people, with such swift minds" ([Frontline Club](https://www.frontlineclub.com/?p=3839)). The national movement of those years is described on [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) and the young state on [Independence and union, 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/).

## How it has been read

The historian and travel writer Justin Marozzi has called it Hanley's finest work and praised its prose ([Justin Marozzi](https://www.justinmarozzi.com/?p=281)). A review for the Frontline Club called it "utterly readable", praised it for showing affection for the land and people without romanticising them, and added that the hopes Hanley expressed about the country's future were not met in the decades after he wrote ([Frontline Club](https://www.frontlineclub.com/?p=3839)). Peter Costello, in the Irish Catholic in 2013, described it as "a devastating critique of imperialism", and noted that Hanley respected the warriors he lived among and their outlook on life and death ([Irish Catholic](https://irishcatholic.com/a-critque-of-imperialism)). Some readers have pointed out that its picture of Somali men is drawn from a British army officer's point of view.

## Where to read it

The Eland paperback is in print and widely held by libraries. Related reading from the same colonial period includes [The Prophet's Camel Bell](/en/books/the-prophets-camel-bell-laurence/) by Margaret Laurence, who lived in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) in 1951 and 1952.


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# Africa's First Democrats (2016) by Abdi Ismail Samatar: Aden Abdulle Osman and Abdirizak Haji Hussein

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/africas-first-democrats-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Africa's First Democrats: Somalia's Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen is a 2016 political biography and history by the geographer Abdi Ismail Samatar, published by Indiana University Press. It argues that Somalia's first president and his second prime minister built democratic institutions and accepted defeat at the ballot box in the 1960s, at a time when many African states were moving towards one-party rule. Reviewers have disagreed sharply about it.

## The book

**Africa's First Democrats: Somalia's Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen** is by **[Abdi Ismail Samatar](/en/people/abdi-samatar/)**, a professor of geography at the University of Minnesota who has written widely on the Somali state. Indiana University Press published it in 2016, with about 300 pages ([Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/49081)). It is a political biography of two men: [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), president of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) from 1960 to 1967, and [Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/), his prime minister from 1964 to 1967.

## What is in it

After an opening chapter on leadership in Africa, the book follows the two men's early lives: Osman "from orphan to nationalist leader" and Abdirizak "from camel boy to freedom fighter". It then covers the [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/) and the nationalist project from 1943 to 1960, the "First Republic" from 1960 to 1964, the "Second Republic" from 1964 to 1967, and what Samatar calls "the march toward dictatorship" from 1967 to 1974 ([Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/49081)). The decade is described on [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/), and what followed on [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Its argument

Many African states began independence under authoritarian rulers, and scholars have often treated this as normal. Samatar argues that Somalia had a genuinely democratic leadership in its first years, which built democratic institutions after the years of Italian fascist rule. Although this period did not last, he sees its legacy as a possible model of good government ([Project MUSE](https://muse.jhu.edu/book/49081)).

The book shifts attention from clan identity, which much writing uses to explain Somali politics, to leadership and institutions. Samatar contrasts statesmen who build institutions with autocrats ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=5975)). Examples he gives, as summarised by the reviewer Bashir Goth, include:

- After an attempted coup by army officers in 1961, Osman's government let the case go to an ordinary court, the officers were allowed foreign lawyers, and they were freed when the court dismissed the case.
- In 1967 Osman lost a close presidential vote in parliament to [Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/), accepted the result and handed over power.
- As prime minister, Abdirizak pushed for appointments based on merit in the civil service and challenged officials who used public office for private gain.

## How it was received

Reviewers disagreed. Bashir Goth, in Horn Diplomat in 2017, called it "well argued, well documented, well written", while noting that the memoir of the politician Abdullah Qablan accuses the same government of corruption and nepotism ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=5975)). A review in Pambazuka argued that the book contains errors and inconsistencies, that its subtitle is misleading because it is not mainly about the two men, that it overlooks much earlier scholarship, and that leaders in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) and the Trust Territory had handed over power earlier ([Pambazuka](https://pambazuka.org/node/96915)).

## Where to read it

It is sold in hardback, paperback and ebook by Indiana University Press and is available on Project MUSE through subscribing libraries. Abdirizak Haji Hussein's own memoir, [My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State](/en/books/my-role-in-the-foundation-of-the-somali-nation-state-hussein/), appeared in 2017.


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# My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State (2017): the memoir of Abdirizak Haji Hussein

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/my-role-in-the-foundation-of-the-somali-nation-state-hussein/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Abdirazak Haji Hussein: My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State, A Political Memoir is the autobiography of Abdirizak Haji Hussein, prime minister of Somalia from 1964 to 1967. Edited by Abdisalam Issa-Salwe and published in 2017 by The Red Sea Press, three years after his death, it runs to about 412 pages and follows his life from a herding childhood through the independence movement, the civilian governments of the 1960s, his imprisonment after the 1969 coup, and his years at the United Nations and in exile.

## The book

**Abdirazak Haji Hussein: My Role in the Foundation of the Somali Nation-State, A Political Memoir** is the life story of **[Abdirizak Haji Hussein](/en/people/abdirizak-haji-hussein/)**, who served in the first governments of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) and was prime minister from 1964 to 1967 under President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/). He died on 31 January 2014 and was buried in Somalia beside Aden Abdulle Osman, as he had asked. The memoir was edited, with a preface, by the scholar Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, and published in 2017 by The Red Sea Press; library and distributor records also list it under Africa World Press of Trenton, New Jersey. It has about 412 pages ([WardheerNews, 2017](https://wardheernews.com/?p=49805); [Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/abdirazak-haji-hussein-my-role-in-the-foundation-of-the-somali-nation-state-a-political-memoir-by-abdirazak-haji-hussein-edited-by-abdisalam-issa-salwe)).

## What it covers

According to the summary published with the book's release, the chapters follow his life in order ([WardheerNews, 2017](https://wardheernews.com/?p=49805)):

- his childhood in a herding community and the solidarity of its small settlements
- the 1940s, and the 1950s under Italian trusteeship, including the question of Somali-inhabited lands left outside the new state
- independence in 1960 and the first government, in which he was minister of the interior from 1960 to 1962 and minister of public works and communications from 1962 to 1964
- the March 1964 elections and his time as prime minister
- foreign policy towards Africa, the East and the West, shaped by the border question
- the change of president in 1967 and his move into opposition
- the coup of 21 October 1969 and his imprisonment until April 1973
- his later life, including his years as Somalia's ambassador to the United Nations, his resignation in 1979, and his life after receiving asylum in the United States, where he took ordinary jobs, including work as a security guard in New York

The background is on [UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/), [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/) and [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The government he led

As prime minister he is best remembered for a reform drive known as *Karti iyo Hufnaan* (competence and integrity), which removed large numbers of civil servants who had been appointed through patronage. The analyst Hassan M. Abukar, writing after the memoir appeared, described him as "an incorruptible politician and a reformist", while recording that others, such as the former official Ismail Ali Ismail, saw in him "a streak of authoritarianism". Abukar also records that he refused to endorse the 1969 military takeover, was imprisoned, and later resigned from his United Nations post over disagreements with the government ([WardheerNews, 2017](https://wardheernews.com/abdirizak-h-hussein-a-reflection)).

## How it was received

The historian Lidwien Kapteijns of Wellesley College described it as an unparalleled chronicle of modern Somali history, in a statement quoted by the publisher ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/abdirazak-haji-hussein-my-role-in-the-foundation-of-the-somali-nation-state-a-political-memoir-by-abdirazak-haji-hussein-edited-by-abdisalam-issa-salwe)). Hassan M. Abukar called it and [Abdi Ismail Samatar](/en/people/abdi-samatar/)'s book [Africa's First Democrats](/en/books/africas-first-democrats-samatar/), published the year before, "important additions to Somali studies", since both cover his early life and his years as prime minister ([WardheerNews, 2017](https://wardheernews.com/abdirizak-h-hussein-a-reflection)).

## Where to read it

It is sold in paperback by Africa World Press and The Red Sea Press and is held by research libraries ([WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/980302551)).


---

# Elusive Jannah (2015) by Cawo M. Abdi: Somalis in Dubai, South Africa and the United States

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/elusive-jannah-abdi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Elusive Jannah: The Somali Diaspora and a Borderless Muslim Identity is a 2015 book by the sociologist Cawo M. Abdi, published by University of Minnesota Press. Based on fieldwork among Somalis in the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the United States, it argues that displacement leaves a lasting mark: wherever Somalis settle, the search for cultural, religious and social belonging continues alongside the search for legal, economic and physical security.

## The book

**Elusive Jannah: The Somali Diaspora and a Borderless Muslim Identity** is by **Cawo M. Abdi**, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press published it in 2015 in hardback (ISBN 9780816697380) and paperback (ISBN 9780816697397), with about 290 pages ([Africa, 2017](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972017000808)). *Jannah* is the Arabic and Somali word for paradise, closely tied to Islam.

## Its question

The book asks how life in the diaspora shapes Somalis around the world. Abdi argues that displacement leaves a permanent mark, because people in the diaspora remain in search of a home, and that "place matters": what Somalis worry about differs sharply depending on where they live. In every place, however, the search for cultural, religious and social belonging continues, often together with a search for legal, economic and physical security ([Africa, 2017](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972017000808)).

## What is in it

An introduction places the author in her research and explains her methods, noting that people's life stories and reasons for moving are more complex than legal categories such as "refugee" allow. The first chapter gives an overview of present-day Somali migration, its causes and its routes over time. Three chapters then describe three countries ([Africa, 2017](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972017000808)):

- **The [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/)**, where Abdi spent the least time and faced the most limits on research. She describes a life of partial belonging and temporary visas, where a shared religion does not bring full belonging without rights, and shows the gap between Somalis who arrived before the war, returnees and business people with a foothold in the West, and newer unskilled workers and domestic workers. See [Somalis in the UAE and Dubai](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/).
- **South Africa**, based on several periods of fieldwork between 2007 and 2013. She describes insecurity in a highly segregated society, how Somalis and other Muslims pool money and give charity so that many more people survive, and the shops and businesses that support them, set against xenophobia and violent attacks. See [Somalis in South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/).
- **The United States**, where many Somalis in the Emirates and South Africa hope to go. Abdi calls it a "slippery Jannah" because of the challenges American life poses, especially around relations between men and women and around poverty. Some people leave once they have citizenship; others keep close ties to home and dream of return. See [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/) and [Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## How it was received

Reviewing it in the journal Africa, the anthropologist Cindy Horst, author of [Transnational Nomads](/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/), called it "well-written" and "a powerful ethnography". She praised its rich detail, its many quotations from the people Abdi met, and the way it shows them as resourceful even in very constrained conditions. Her main criticism was that it could have done more with theory, such as the idea of refugees living "in perpetual passage", and with writing on citizenship and uncertainty ([Africa, 2017](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972017000808)). Reviews also appeared in the Journal of African History and the refugee studies journal Refuge.

## Where to read it

It is sold in paperback and as an ebook by University of Minnesota Press and is held by many university libraries. Related reading on the many places Somalis now live is on [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).


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# Somali, Muslim, British (2017) by Giulia Liberatore: Somali women in London

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/somali-muslim-british-liberatore/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali, Muslim, British: Striving in Securitized Britain is a 2017 ethnography by the anthropologist Giulia Liberatore, published by Bloomsbury Academic. Based on eighteen months of fieldwork with Somali families in London, it follows two generations of women, mothers who came as refugees and daughters raised in Britain, and shows how they work out their faith, culture, dress, marriage and careers at a time when Muslims in Britain face intense official and public scrutiny.

## The book

**Somali, Muslim, British: Striving in Securitized Britain** is by **Giulia Liberatore**, a social anthropologist at the University of Edinburgh ([University of Edinburgh](https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/giulialiberatore)). It was published in London by Bloomsbury Academic in 2017 as volume 81 of the series Monographs on Social Anthropology, with about 305 pages ([relbib](https://relbib.de/Record/888019149); [Anthropology Matters](https://www.anthropologymatters.com/index.php/anth_matters/article/download/530/652/2132)).

## How it was researched

The book rests on eighteen months of fieldwork in London. According to the publisher, it draws on research with 21 Somali households ([Routledge](https://www.routledge.com/Somali-Muslim-British-Striving-in-Securitized-Britain/Liberatore/p/book/9781350094628)). A chapter on method describes how the author travelled across the city, built relationships with the women she studied, and gave up being vegetarian for a year ([Anthropology Matters](https://www.anthropologymatters.com/index.php/anth_matters/article/download/530/652/2132)). Somali life in the city is described on [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

## What it covers

The starting point is the way [Somalis in Britain](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/) have been labelled "segregated, underachieving and a threat to cohesion and security", in a period shaped by security policy after 2001 and the 2005 London bombings. Liberatore proposes the idea of "aspiration", or striving, to describe how women pursue a meaningful life in these conditions ([Anthropology Matters](https://www.anthropologymatters.com/index.php/anth_matters/article/download/530/652/2132)).

- **Chapters 2 to 4** are about the first generation. They link life histories to Somali history: independence, the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government, the civil war and settlement in Britain. Many women lost status and skills that had been valued at home, and religious practice became more important to them. Wearing the hijab became a sign of identity. Some mothers felt a tension between wanting their daughters to succeed at school and university and wanting to raise them as devout Somali Muslims.
- **Chapters 5 to 8** are about daughters raised in Britain. Many of them see Somali culture as something to change or leave behind, including practices such as [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/), while some put religion ahead of "Somaliness". Some go "mosque hopping" in search of religious knowledge, influenced by revival movements that aim to separate Islam from local custom. Daughters often describe their own veiling as a free choice, in contrast to what they see as social pressure on their mothers. One chapter follows a young woman who mixes styles of dress and rejects the idea that not wearing the hijab means abandoning her faith.
- **The conclusion** turns to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and the Prevent duty, which requires frontline workers to report people seen as possible threats, and to the risk that research itself can feed this kind of scrutiny.

Throughout, romance, fashion, marriage and work are treated as being as important as religion ([Anthropology Matters](https://www.anthropologymatters.com/index.php/anth_matters/article/download/530/652/2132)). See also [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/) and [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## How it was received

Qudra Goodall of the University of East Anglia, reviewing it in Anthropology Matters, called it a "timely response" to the scrutiny of Muslim women in Britain and "an excellent resource" for students of anthropology, politics and gender, with "important implications for both policy and public discussions". She noted a tension between describing the many ways people find meaning and the ways they resist, and that the book deliberately does not engage head-on with debates about Prevent ([Anthropology Matters](https://www.anthropologymatters.com/index.php/anth_matters/article/download/530/652/2132)).

## Where to read it

It is available in hardback, paperback and ebook from Bloomsbury and is held by university libraries.


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# A Naked Needle (1976) by Nuruddin Farah: one day in revolutionary Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/a-naked-needle-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A Naked Needle is the second English-language novel by Nuruddin Farah, published by Heinemann in 1976 as number 184 in its African Writers Series. Set over a single day in Mogadishu after the 1969 coup, it follows Koschin, a university teacher and committed supporter of the revolution, as he waits for a woman he met in London who has agreed to marry him. Its doubts about the revolution led to warnings that Farah would be arrested if he returned, and he stayed in exile until 1996.

## The book

**A Naked Needle** is the second English-language novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, after [From a Crooked Rib](/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/). It was published by Heinemann in July 1976 as number 184 of the African Writers Series, at a launch at the Africa Centre in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Naked_Needle)). It is the only one of his novels that he wrote while living in Somalia.

## How it was written

Farah came back to Somalia in 1969 from India, where he had studied philosophy and literature at Panjab University. The coup of October 1969 brought [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) to power at the head of a military government that declared itself socialist. Farah at first supported it, but by 1971 he was questioning whether the revolution was working. James Currey accepted the manuscript for the African Writers Series in 1972. The publisher's readers found the first draft too obscure, and it went through several rewrites over three years ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Naked_Needle)). The period is described on [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The story

The novel takes place over a single day in Mogadishu. Koschin, a teacher who studied in England and a passionate believer in the 1969 revolution, is waiting for the arrival of Nancy, a woman he met in London who has agreed to marry him. His superiors at the university do not share his faith in the revolution, and rather than compromise he resigns. Through conversations with friends who have already married foreign wives, he wonders how Nancy will fit into Somali society. He wanders the city, and the book names and describes many of its districts and streets ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Naked_Needle)). Koschin tries to keep himself free of social, political and personal obligations ([Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945)). See [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/).

## Themes and critics

Farah wrote it, according to accounts of its making, as a response to the misuse of power he saw around him and to the need for national unity. Farah questions the revolution without denouncing it: Koschin weighs its good and bad sides and takes a "wait and see" stance, which sets the book apart from Farah's later novels that oppose the Barre government more directly. Critics have compared Koschin to Stephen Dedalus, the hero of James Joyce's early novel, because of his long intellectual debates; Farah had written a thesis on Joyce ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Naked_Needle)).

The literary scholar Simon Gikandi reads Koschin's loneliness and detachment as a kind of opposition. He points to Koschin's refuge in books and art, the novel's references to the Ghanaian novelist Ayi Kwei Armah, and stories within the book of state violence told by its victims ([Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945)). In The Guardian in July 1976, Jonty Driver called it "a witty, wordy, hilarious celebration of a modern African dilemma". Farah said in a 2019 interview that the novel preserves the Mogadishu of its time, so readers can see which streets had which names and what they looked like ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Naked_Needle)).

## What it meant for its author

By 1976 Farah was studying theatre in Britain. When he telephoned his brother from Rome on his way home, he was told it was not safe to return because of the novel. He was warned he would be jailed, and he remained outside Somalia until 1996 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Naked_Needle); [Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945)). His next novel, [Sweet and Sour Milk](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/), was written in exile.


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# America Made Me a Black Man (2022) by Boyah J. Farah: a Somali refugee's memoir of race in the United States

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/america-made-me-a-black-man-farah/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> America Made Me a Black Man is a 2022 memoir by Boyah J. Farah, published by Harper in the United States and by Scribner in Britain in 2023. Farah left Somalia during the civil war, passed through a refugee camp in Kenya and arrived near Boston as a teenager. The book describes how his early love for America gave way to experiences of racism at school, at work and with the police. It was named an NPR best book of 2022, and reviewers were divided about it.

## The book

**America Made Me a Black Man: A Memoir** is the first book by **Boyah J. Farah**. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, published it in the United States in September 2022, and Scribner published a British edition in May 2023 ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/boyah-j-farah/america-made-me-a-black-man); [Simon & Schuster UK](https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/America-Made-Me-a-Black-Man/Boyah-J-Farah/9781398504844)). It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and named one of NPR's best books of 2022 ([Harper](https://www.harperlibrarybookclub.com/9780063073357/america-made-me-a-black-man)).

## His journey

Farah spent his early childhood in Somalia, where he remembers feeling free. When war came, his mother walked her children to a refugee camp in Kenya, and from there the family moved to a suburb outside Boston ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2022/09/30/boyah-j-farah-on-how-america-made-him-a-black-man)). According to Publishers Weekly he was about fifteen when he arrived, in the early 1990s, and came with a strong love for America ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780063073357)). He arrived without a birth certificate and without knowing his birthday for certain, but carrying a detailed family history in his head ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/boyah-j-farah/america-made-me-a-black-man)). See [Somalis leave, 1988 to 1991](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/), [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/) and [Somalis in the United States](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## What it describes

The memoir's argument is in its title: Farah writes that he did not understand what it meant to be a Black man until he became an American ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2022/09/30/boyah-j-farah-on-how-america-made-him-a-black-man)). He describes a high school guidance counsellor who steered him towards manual work despite his grades, while his brother was told to learn to drive a truck and his sister to become a mother. He went to college anyway, then spent more than ten years in a clerical job, watching colleagues he saw as less qualified promoted above him. After he called a supervisor racist he was suspended and then dismissed, and a legal settlement followed. He also describes encounters with police, a traffic stop and a false complaint, and an officer who suggested sending his younger brother back to Somalia ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/boyah-j-farah/america-made-me-a-black-man); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780063073357)).

## How it was received

Reviews were divided. Kirkus Reviews called it "an eye-opening, upsetting catalog of indignities that no one should have to suffer in a supposedly free country" ([Kirkus Reviews](https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/boyah-j-farah/america-made-me-a-black-man)). Publishers Weekly called it a "vitriolic memoir", found the prose at times overblown, and noted that the author uses composite characters, compressed timelines and reconstructed dialogue; it concluded that the book was "less a realistic account of racial divisions than a vivid portrait of the paranoia they inspire" ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780063073357)). Farah discussed the book on Minnesota Public Radio in 2022, where he spoke of both loving and being frustrated by his adopted country ([MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2022/09/30/boyah-j-farah-on-how-america-made-him-a-black-man)).

## Where to read it

It is available in hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook. Other memoirs of Somali lives in the diaspora on this site include [This Is What America Looks Like](/en/books/this-is-what-america-looks-like-omar/) by [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/) and [A Man of Good Hope](/en/books/a-man-of-good-hope-steinberg/) by Jonny Steinberg.


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# Lontano da Mogadiscio (1994) by Shirin Ramzanali Fazel: Far from Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/lontano-da-mogadiscio-fazel/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Lontano da Mogadiscio (Far from Mogadishu) is an autobiographical book in Italian by Shirin Ramzanali Fazel, a writer born in Mogadishu in 1953. First published in Rome in 1994, it recalls her Italian-language schooling in Somalia, her life as a Black woman in northern Italy from the 1970s, and her grief at the destruction of Mogadishu in the civil war. Scholars count it among the first works to tell Italy's colonial history from the side of the colonised.

## The book

**Lontano da Mogadiscio** (Italian for "Far from Mogadishu") is an autobiographical book by **Shirin Ramzanali Fazel**. It was first published in Rome by the small press Datanews in 1994 and reprinted in 1999. In 2013 the Milan publisher Laurana issued an expanded, revised edition in Italian and English, with an introduction by the scholar Simone Brioni, and an English edition, *Far from Mogadishu*, followed in 2016 ([Simone Brioni, 2013](https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5708/1/Brioni_-_Forword_%28Italian%29.pdf); [Geeska, 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/xamar-was-different-world-shirin-ramzanali-exile-memory-and-writing)).

## The author

Fazel was born in Mogadishu in 1953 to a Somali mother and a Pakistani father, during the years when Italy ran Somalia as a United Nations trust territory. She went to middle and secondary schools run directly from Rome by the Italian education ministry, and Italian was the first language she studied at school. She married an Italian in 1970 and moved to Novara in northern Italy in 1971. Brioni notes that after the 1969 coup the new government ordered people without Somali passports to leave, and that Fazel, as the child of a Pakistani father, did not hold one. She later ran a restaurant in Kenya from 1996 to 2004 and moved to [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) in Britain in 2010, where she began writing in English ([Simone Brioni](https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5708/1/Brioni_-_Forword_%28Italian%29.pdf); [Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/xamar-was-different-world-shirin-ramzanali-exile-memory-and-writing)). The trusteeship years are described on [UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## What it recalls

The book remembers a Mogadishu of many cultures living side by side. Fazel recalls learning about Garibaldi and Mazzini at school, and growing up with Italian films, songs, food and literature. It describes her life as a Black woman in small towns in northern Italy, Novara from 1971 to 1976 and later the area around Vicenza, before large-scale African migration to those places. It ends in grief: Fazel was in Italy when war broke out in 1991, and she wrote that seeing her city bombed and reduced to rubble felt like having her identity taken away ([Simone Brioni](https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5708/1/Brioni_-_Forword_%28Italian%29.pdf)). Fazel has said she wrote it partly because she could not accept how the war was being shown in the media, and wanted to record the city's earlier life ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/xamar-was-different-world-shirin-ramzanali-exile-memory-and-writing)). See [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) and [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Its place in Italian writing

Brioni counts it, together with two works of 1992 and 1993 by women of Eritrean and Ethiopian origin, among the first books to present Italian colonial history from the perspective of the colonised, and among the first Italian-language migration narratives written without an Italian co-author. He describes its "fundamental role" in decolonising the way Italians imagine their past. Later Italian writers took up the same history, among them [Cristina Ali Farah](/en/people/cristina-ali-farah/) and Igiaba Scego, who called Fazel an example that inspired a new generation of migrant writers ([Simone Brioni](https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5708/1/Brioni_-_Forword_%28Italian%29.pdf)). Novels by both are on this site: [Madre piccola](/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/) and [Adua](/en/books/adua-scego/).

Nuruddin Farah paid tribute to the book in his novel [Links](/en/books/links-farah/), where the main character, Jeebleh, reads it and calls Fazel the first to write a book about the civil war from a Somali point of view ([Simone Brioni](https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5708/1/Brioni_-_Forword_%28Italian%29.pdf); [Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/xamar-was-different-world-shirin-ramzanali-exile-memory-and-writing)).


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# Le pays sans ombre (1994) by Abdourahman Waberi: The Land Without Shadows

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/le-pays-sans-ombre-waberi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Le pays sans ombre (The Land Without Shadows) is a 1994 collection of seventeen short stories in French by the Djiboutian writer Abdourahman A. Waberi, published in Paris by Le Serpent à Plumes. Moving between the precolonial past, French colonial rule and the years after Djibouti's independence in 1977, it is described by its English publisher as one of the first literary works to show Djiboutians from their own point of view. An English translation by Jeanne Garane, with a foreword by Nuruddin Farah, appeared in 2005.

## The book

**Le pays sans ombre** (French for "The Land Without Shadows") is a collection of stories by **[Abdourahman A. Waberi](/en/people/abdourahman-waberi/)**, a writer born in Djibouti who writes in French. It was published in Paris in 1994 by Le Serpent à Plumes in its Motifs series, with 177 pages ([Talking About Books, 2023](https://talking-about-books.com/2023/10/28/le-pays-sans-ombre-abdourahman-a-waberi/)). An English translation by Jeanne Garane, with a foreword by Nuruddin Farah, was published by the University of Virginia Press in November 2005 in its CARAF series of Caribbean and African literature translated from French ([University of Virginia Press](https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2917)).

The French word *ombre* means both "shade" and "shadow". Garane chose "shadow" because, she explained, it better conveys the lack of shelter from the sun and the struggle to exist in a dry land ([Talking About Books](https://talking-about-books.com/2023/10/28/le-pays-sans-ombre-abdourahman-a-waberi/)).

## What is in it

The book holds seventeen short stories in two parts, "Pages torn from the novel of the imagination" and "Pages torn from the land without shadows". They move between the precolonial and colonial past and the present after independence, and their characters include poets, colonists, refugees, nomads and people living in Balbala, the settlement on the edge of Djibouti city ([University of Virginia Press](https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2917)). Djibouti and its Somali population are described on [Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

Among the stories are ([Talking About Books](https://talking-about-books.com/2023/10/28/le-pays-sans-ombre-abdourahman-a-waberi/)):

- **"The Primal Ogress"**, a tale of origins that links the country's name to a defeated ogress
- **"A Ferrous Tale"**, about the building of the 784-kilometre railway, written with repetition and rhythm that echo the train
- **"A Woman and a Half"**, in which a young woman named Marwo flees a marriage her father has arranged with an old man and takes refuge with her uncle
- **"The Seascape Painter and the Wind Drinker"**, about three unemployed friends living in their own world while war goes on around them
- **"The Gallery of the Insane"** and two other stories about people who chew khat, which, the reviewer notes, slows city life every afternoon

The use of khat is described on [Khat](/en/society/khat/).

## Style and sources

Waberi draws on Somali and Djiboutian oral traditions, including legends, proverbs and poetry, and refers to writers from elsewhere such as Wole Soyinka, Léopold Sédar Senghor and Shakespeare ([University of Virginia Press](https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2917)). Readers have described the result as a mix of oral tradition, irony and plain realism, and some have noted that the pieces read more like short sketches than conventional stories. One reviewer singled out the railway story as the most beautifully written and noted that Waberi is harsh in his portrait of khat users ([Talking About Books](https://talking-about-books.com/2023/10/28/le-pays-sans-ombre-abdourahman-a-waberi/)).

## Where to read it

The English translation is in print in paperback from the University of Virginia Press. Related reading on Somali poetry and oral literature is on [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).


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# Piracy in Somalia (2019) by Awet Tewelde Weldemichael: illegal fishing, ransom and counter-piracy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/piracy-in-somalia-weldemichael/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Piracy in Somalia: Violence and Development in the Horn of Africa is a 2019 history by Awet Tewelde Weldemichael, published by Cambridge University Press. Based on six years of research and more than 100 interviews, it argues that the collapse of the Somali state was a secondary cause of piracy, and that the first causes were foreign illegal fishing and waste dumping in Somali waters, poverty among young men, the ease of collecting ransoms and the absence of Somali law enforcement at sea.

## The book

**Piracy in Somalia: Violence and Development in the Horn of Africa** is by **Awet Tewelde Weldemichael**, a historian at Queen's University in Ontario who also holds a degree in international law and describes himself as a former refugee goatherd. Cambridge University Press published it in January 2019, with about 256 pages ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Weldemichael/Piracy-Somalia/9781108739283/A46516936/)).

## How it was researched

The book draws on more than 100 interviews, ten focus groups, observation and written sources gathered over six years ([African Studies Review, 2020](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/4C53BE500E319C1878C58A735DDAF3CA/core-reader)). The publisher describes it as centring the voices of people in coastal communities affected by illegal fishing, piracy and counter-piracy, as well as the networks of middlemen, negotiators and foreign fishing fleets involved ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Weldemichael/Piracy-Somalia/9781108739283/A46516936/)).

## What is in it

After an introduction on how Somali piracy has been located "in space and discourse", the chapters are ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Weldemichael/Piracy-Somalia/9781108739283/A46516936/)):

1. Global root causes and local circumstances of early piracy in Somalia
2. From the troubles of Somali fisheries to the onset of predatory piracy
3. The spiralling of ransom piracy
4. Local consequences of and responses to piracy
5. International counter-piracy as a means and an end

The conclusion is titled "IUU fishing is back! When will piracy?", referring to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

## Its argument

A common view held that the collapse of the Somali state caused piracy, and that rebuilding the state would end it. Weldemichael argues that the collapse of the state was a "second order" cause. If it had been the main cause, he reasons, piracy would have surged in the 1990s. Instead, after 1991 foreign illegal fishing and waste dumping grew in waters no Somali authority protected, with the help of at least a few Somali officials. Falling fish stocks and the poor treatment of Somali crew on foreign boats led some fishermen to form what he calls vigilante groups, which fined or attacked foreign vessels. Over time this turned into robbery and kidnapping for ransom ([African Studies Review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/4C53BE500E319C1878C58A735DDAF3CA/core-reader); [Journal of African History](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/piracy-in-somalia-piracy-in-somalia-violence-and-development-in-the-horn-of-africa-by-awet-tewelde-weldemichael-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-2019-pp-xix-238-2999-paperback-isbn-9781108739283-8999-hardcover-isbn-9781108496964-2400-ebook-isbn-9781108759069/C25D186CFBB2A6CF6CA4750B61A18F6C)).

He finds that much ransom money left Somalia or went into legitimate business, including property in the [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/) district of Nairobi. He finds little evidence of close ties between pirates and al-Shabaab beyond a "marriage of convenience" in which the group taxed pirates in areas it controlled, as it taxed others. He argues that the mainly naval international response left local fishermen caught in the crossfire without addressing the causes, and he calls for action against foreign illegal fishing and dumping, protection of marine resources and new jobs on the coast ([African Studies Review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/4C53BE500E319C1878C58A735DDAF3CA/core-reader)). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/), [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/) and [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/).

## How it was received

Kris Inman, in African Studies Review, called it "a valuable contribution", but criticised it for not explaining how interviewees were chosen, what they were asked or how the material was analysed, which makes its conclusions harder to check ([African Studies Review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/4C53BE500E319C1878C58A735DDAF3CA/core-reader)). It was also reviewed in the Journal of African History ([Journal of African History](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/piracy-in-somalia-piracy-in-somalia-violence-and-development-in-the-horn-of-africa-by-awet-tewelde-weldemichael-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-2019-pp-xix-238-2999-paperback-isbn-9781108739283-8999-hardcover-isbn-9781108496964-2400-ebook-isbn-9781108759069/C25D186CFBB2A6CF6CA4750B61A18F6C)).

## Where to read it

It is sold in hardback, paperback and ebook by Cambridge University Press. Other books on this site about the same years are [Captured at Sea](/en/books/captured-at-sea-dua/) by Jatin Dua and [The Pirates of Somalia](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/) by Jay Bahadur.


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# Understanding Somalia and Somaliland (2008) by I. M. Lewis: a short introduction to culture, history and society

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland-lewis/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society is a 2008 book by the anthropologist I. M. Lewis, published in London by Hurst. In about 140 pages it introduces the Somali people, their clans, faith, poetry and ways of making a living, traces their history from colonial partition to the collapse of the state in 1991, and covers Somaliland, Puntland, the transitional governments and the Islamic Courts of 2006.

## The book

**Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society** is by **Ioan M. Lewis** (1930 to 2014), emeritus professor of anthropology at the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) School of Economics and a Fellow of the British Academy, who studied Somali society for more than five decades. Hurst published it in London in August 2008. The paperback has 176 pages in all, with about 139 pages of main text ([Hurst](https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland); [Leeds African Studies Bulletin](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)). His earlier books on this site are [A Pastoral Democracy](/en/books/a-pastoral-democracy-lewis/) and [Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/).

## What is in it

The book is in three parts ([Schweitzer Fachinformationen](https://www.schweitzer-online.de/en/buch/Lewis/Understanding-Somalia-Somaliland/9781850658986/A16134362/)):

- **Culture**: where Somalis live, migration and the coming of Islam, the traditional clan divisions, family and marriage, religion, the oral heritage of poetry, and how Somalis see themselves as a nation. See [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/), [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/) and [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).
- **History**: from colonial partition through independence and the campaign to unite all Somali-inhabited lands, to the military and socialist government and its Soviet ties. See [Partition, 1884 to 1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/) and [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).
- **Society and economy**: rural institutions, settlement, the livestock trade, and farming communities in the north and south. See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

Later chapters cover the rebirth of Somaliland, international intervention, the transitional governments formed at Arta in 2000 and Mbagathi in 2004, the rise of the Islamic courts in Mogadishu, democracy in Somaliland, and Puntland. The book ends with the Islamist movement that, in Lewis's words, brought "a brief but astonishing period of stability" to much of southern Somalia in late 2006 ([Hurst](https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland)). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Islamic Courts Union, 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/).

## Its view of Somaliland

Lewis gives special attention to Somaliland. He describes the settling of conflicts there by clan elders as "a truly remarkable achievement", and argues that this home-grown process worked better than the peace process led from outside in the south ([Leeds African Studies Bulletin](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)). Some reviewers noted that his position had moved towards strong support for Somaliland's state-building, and that some scholars think his approach makes kinship look more decisive in daily life than it is ([Cambridge Core, BSOAS](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/ioan-lewis-understanding-somalia-and-somaliland-culture-history-society-xii-139-pp-london-hurst-company-2008-1699-isbn-978-1-85065-898-6/4336BAAE8A313D37D5DB0CC13C38FA05)).

## How it was received

The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies called it "a concise, authoritative, opinionated and very readable introduction to an enormously complex subject". The Journal of Modern African Studies wrote that Lewis "continues to challenge his academic opponents to come up with an equally readable and sound counter-analysis" ([Hurst](https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland)). Lionel Cliffe, in the Leeds African Studies Bulletin, called it a "small handbook" giving "useful background for outsiders" ([Leeds African Studies Bulletin](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)).

## Where to read it

The paperback is in print from Hurst and widely held by libraries. A longer account of the same territory is Mark Bradbury's [Becoming Somaliland](/en/books/becoming-somaliland-bradbury/), which Cliffe reviewed alongside it.


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# Politics, Language, and Thought (1977) by David Laitin: the Somali script and how language shapes politics

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/politics-language-and-thought-laitin/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience is a 1977 book by the political scientist David D. Laitin, published by the University of Chicago Press. Its first part asks why Somalia's elected governments could not agree on a script for the Somali language after independence, and what that long indecision cost. Its second part reports experiments with bilingual Somali students which suggested that people answer political questions differently in Somali and in English.

## The book

**Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience** is by **David D. Laitin**, an American political scientist who later taught at the University of Chicago and Stanford University. The University of Chicago Press published it in 1977, with 268 pages ([Swarthmore College](https://works.swarthmore.edu/alum-books/1339); [American Political Science Review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/politics-language-and-thought-the-somali-experience-by-laitin-david-d-chicago-university-of-chicago-press-1977-pp-xii-268-1900/EA885011959E609FCBF2DFDB88314B0F)). Laitin served in the Peace Corps in Somalia in the 1960s, and those years shaped both his doctoral thesis and this book; the papers he collected there, now at the Hoover Institution, were a main source for it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D._Laitin); [Hoover Institution](https://www.hoover.org/node/90723)).

## Part one: the script question

When Somalia became independent in 1960, Somali was a spoken language with a large body of oral poetry but no agreed way of writing it. The government chose three foreign languages for official use, and rival proposals for a Somali script, in Latin letters, in Arabic letters or in a new alphabet, divided opinion. The first part of the book tries to explain why the elected parliamentary governments of the 1960s could not decide, and weighs the social and political effects of years without a decision. It ends with the military government, which in 1972 made Somali the official language, written in Latin letters ([Language Log](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=968)). The story is told on [Somali written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/) and the decade on [The civilian era, 1960 to 1969](/en/history/civilian-era-1960-1969/).

## Part two: does language change political thinking?

The second part links language to political thought. Laitin wrote that during his Peace Corps service he noticed a different "social dynamic" when people spoke English rather than Somali, and wondered whether a language could act as a social institution with effects of its own. In 1972 he tested this in schools in Waajeer (Wajir), a Somali-speaking area of north-eastern Kenya. Sixty-four secondary students took part in interviews and role-playing, half in English and half in Somali, and younger pupils filled in sentences in one language or the other ([Language Log](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=968)). Somali life in that region is described on [Northern Frontier District 1962 to 1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/).

Some results differed sharply by language. Asked in English whether they preferred home or school, 68 percent chose home; asked in Somali, 75 percent chose school. Laitin offered several explanations, including the history of the Somali word *dugsi* (school), which once meant a Quran school, and the fact that students sat about three to a desk and may have agreed answers among themselves ([Language Log](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=968)). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## How it was received

It was reviewed in the American Political Science Review and, by the Somali scholar [Abdi Sheik-Abdi](/en/people/abdi-sheik-abdi/), in the Journal of Modern African Studies ([Journal of Modern African Studies](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-languages-and-thought-the-somali-experience-by-laitindavid-dthe-university-of-chicago-press-1977-pp-268-1900/8ACF9555617E0255926C4BF2EF69E251); [American Political Science Review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/politics-language-and-thought-the-somali-experience-by-laitin-david-d-chicago-university-of-chicago-press-1977-pp-xii-268-1900/EA885011959E609FCBF2DFDB88314B0F)). Decades later the linguist Mark Liberman described its language-choice findings as a large, understudied effect that comes from the cultural and emotional associations of each language rather than from grammar, and recent studies of language and politics still cite the experiment as an early one of its kind ([Language Log](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=968)).

## Where to read it

The book is out of print but held by many university libraries. Laitin later wrote Somalia: Nation in Search of a State (1987) with the historian [Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/); both books are listed on [Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990](/en/history/books-about-somalis-1960-1990/).


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# Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (1982) by Said S. Samatar: the poetry of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-samatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism: The Case of Sayyid Mahammad 'Abdille Hasan is a 1982 study by the Somali historian Said S. Samatar, published by Cambridge University Press. It explains how Somali herders used speech and poetry in public life, then reconstructs the Dervish resistance of 1899 to 1920 largely through the political poems of its leader, Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, showing how both sides used verse to win Somali loyalty.

## The book

**Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism: The Case of Sayyid Mahammad 'Abdille Hasan** is by **[Said S. Samatar](/en/people/said-samatar/)** (1943 to 2015), a Somali historian born into a herding family in the Ogaden who taught African history at Rutgers University in Newark from 1981. Cambridge University Press published it in November 1982 as number 32 in its African Studies Series, with xii and 232 pages, and reissued it in paperback in 2009 ([Rutgers University–Newark](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia); [Bulletin of SOAS](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/said-s-samatar-oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-the-case-of-sayyid-mahammad-abdille-hasan-african-studies-series-32-xii-232-pp-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-1982-1950/1EDD09D2515499D10329E02F8E965A44)).

## What is in it

After an introduction, the chapters are ([Cambridge Core](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism/poetic-oratory-and-the-dervish-movement/F19C40175E2CF92DC78C8C7F227B05C9)):

1. Elements of Somali pastoral oratory: prose
2. Elements of Somali pastoral oratory: poetry
3. Occupation and resistance: the rise of the Somali Dervishes
4. Poetic oratory and the Dervish movement
5. Myth and the Mullah

The first two chapters describe how prose speech and poetry worked in the public life of Somali herders. The third tells the story of the Dervish rising against British, Italian and Ethiopian rule. The last looks at the legends that grew up around the Sayid, whom British writers called the "Mad Mullah". See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/) and [The Dervish movement, 1899 to 1920](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/).

## The poet and the war

The fourth chapter is the heart of the book. It treats [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/), whose poetry from the twenty-year Dervish struggle has led many to regard him as the greatest Somali poet. Samatar notes a puzzle: the Sayid was an oral poet, yet no political poem of his is recorded until he was well into his forties. Somali sources date his first poems to 1904, about six years after the movement began, and place many of his major poems between 1905 and 1909, when the Dervishes were based on the eastern coast between the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates. Samatar argues that from the early years of the conflict, political poetry was a main weapon of persuasion, used by both the Dervishes and their Somali opponents to win people's loyalty ([Cambridge Core](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism/poetic-oratory-and-the-dervish-movement/F19C40175E2CF92DC78C8C7F227B05C9)). The coastal sultanates are described on [Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## How it was received

It was reviewed in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1983, and in the Journal of African History together with Lee Cassanelli's [The Shaping of Somali Society](/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli/), published the same year ([Bulletin of SOAS](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/said-s-samatar-oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-the-case-of-sayyid-mahammad-abdille-hasan-african-studies-series-32-xii-232-pp-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-1982-1950/1EDD09D2515499D10329E02F8E965A44); [Journal of African History](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/somali-history-and-poetry-the-shaping-of-somali-society-reconstructing-the-history-of-a-pastoral-people-16001900-by-lee-v-cassanelli-philadelphia-university-of-pennsylvania-press-1982-pp-xvi-311-no-price-stated-oral-poetry-and-somali-nationalism-the-case-of-sayyid-mohammad-abdille-hasan-by-said-s-samatar-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-1982-pp-xii-232-1950/0C9164C6539004C2F3D251A0E29E1C0F)). Rutgers University's tribute after his death in 2015 listed it among his main works ([Rutgers University–Newark](https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-mourns-loss-dr-said-samatar-longtime-history-professor-scholar-authority-somalia)).

## Where to read it

The paperback is in print from Cambridge University Press, and the book is available online through Cambridge Core in subscribing libraries. The Sayid's poems in Somali were collected by [Jaamac Cumar Ciise](/en/people/jama-omar-issa/) in his Diiwaanka Gabayadii Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (1974). Related reading on this site is [A Tree for Poverty](/en/history/a-tree-for-poverty/), an early English collection of Somali verse.


---

# Renewers of the Age (2008) by Scott S. Reese: Sufi scholars of the Benaadir coast

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/renewers-of-the-age-reese/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Renewers of the Age: Holy Men and Social Discourse in Colonial Benaadir is a 2008 study by the historian Scott S. Reese, published by Brill in its Islam in Africa series. Using Arabic writings by the religious scholars of the Benaadir coast, from just north of Mogadishu to south of Baraawe, between about 1800 and 1920, it shows how these scholars acted as local intellectuals who guided their towns through famine, disease, colonial conquest and social change, and why Sufi brotherhoods became popular institutions in the late nineteenth century.

## The book

**Renewers of the Age: Holy Men and Social Discourse in Colonial Benaadir** is by **Scott S. Reese**, a historian of Islam in Africa who took his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996 and taught Islamic history at Northern [Arizona](/en/diaspora/phoenix/) University. Brill published it in Leiden and Boston in 2008 as volume 9 of its Islam in Africa series, with 246 pages ([Tabsir, 2008](https://tabsir.net/?p=630); [relbib](https://relbib.de/Record/1655556304)).

## Sources

The book rests on Arabic writings by the religious scholars (*ulama*) of the Benaadir, the coast of southern Somalia from just north of Mogadishu to south of Baraawe, between about 1800 and 1920. Reese uses locally compiled lives of saints, religious poetry, Sufi manuals, scholarly genealogies and traditions about the origins of the coastal towns. Many of these accounts were written down only during Italian colonial rule ([Tabsir](https://tabsir.net/?p=630); [Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2008](https://law-journals-books.vlex.com/vid/renewers-discourse-colonial-benaadir-67411419)). See [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/) and [Somali Sufi scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/).

## Chapters

1. Introduction: the ulama as "local intellectuals"
2. Religious history as social history
3. Saints, scholars and the acquisition of discursive authority
4. Urban woes and pious remedies: Sufis, townspeople and managing social crises in the nineteenth century
5. Sufi leadership, religious authority and questions of social inequality
6. Sufi poetry, theological writing and the popularity of the Qadiriyya in the early twentieth century

([Tabsir](https://tabsir.net/?p=630))

## Its argument

Reese treats religious writing as a form of social commentary. The scholars of the coast knew the work of major thinkers elsewhere in the Muslim world and held the authority to lead moral debate at home. Faced with hard times, they called for greater piety and urged believers to examine their lives so that society would come closer to their idea of a proper Islamic community ([Tabsir](https://tabsir.net/?p=630)).

He argues that Sufi brotherhoods became organised, popular social institutions in Somalia, and in East Africa generally, only in the late nineteenth century. He links this to famine, drought and the cattle disease rinderpest, to the spread of Zanzibari and European power, and to the growing influence of Arab traders and Indian merchants and moneylenders. In the second chapter he sets the history of 1800 to 1850 as competition between groups such as the [Geledi sultanate](/en/history/geledi-sultanate/), the town of [Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/), traders and farming communities, while the Arabic texts judge the same events by religious merit, a view Reese insists should be taken seriously ([Journal of the American Oriental Society](https://law-journals-books.vlex.com/vid/renewers-discourse-colonial-benaadir-67411419)). See also [Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/) and [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## How it was received

The historian Lidwien Kapteijns reviewed it in the Journal of the American Oriental Society in 2008. She described how Reese places his work within recent writing on Sufism, agreeing with scholars who see what has been called "Neo-Sufism" as not very new, except perhaps in its concern with moral and social reform. She criticised the book for not explaining how its sources were chosen, which she said "makes it harder to evaluate his findings", and asked why the second chapter did not analyse what the religious judgement of events implied ([Journal of the American Oriental Society](https://law-journals-books.vlex.com/vid/renewers-discourse-colonial-benaadir-67411419)).

## Where to read it

It is available in hardback and as an ebook from Brill and in research libraries. For the wider story of how Islam spread among Somalis, see [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/) and [Saints and Somalis](/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/) by I. M. Lewis.


---

# Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) by Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi: a guide to Somali daily life

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Culture and Customs of Somalia is a 2001 reference book by the Somali-Canadian linguist Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, published by Greenwood Press in its Culture and Customs of Africa series. In about 200 pages it describes Somali religion and thought, literature and media, art and housing, food and dress, marriage and family, social customs, and music and dance, with a short history of the Somali people.

## The book

**Culture and Customs of Somalia** is by **Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi** (Maxamed Diriye Cabdullaahi, born 1958), a Somali-Canadian linguist who worked as a journalist in Somalia before moving to Canada, took a doctorate in linguistics at the Université de Montréal, and has taught there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). Greenwood Press published it in 2001 as part of its Culture and Customs of Africa series, a set of introductions to African countries for students and general readers. The main text runs to about 200 pages, with a glossary, bibliography and index ([University of Southern Indiana library](https://library.usi.edu/record/309628/export/btex)).

His other books include *Fiasco in Somalia: US-UN Intervention* (1995), the French course *Parlons somali* (1996) and his thesis on Somali dialects and history, *Le somali, dialectes et histoire* (2010) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)).

## What is in it

After an introduction to the land, people and history of the Somalis, the book has seven chapters ([Library Supply](https://librarysupply.co.nz/shop/history-and-archaeology/history/african-history/culture-and-customs-of-somalia_441305)):

1. **Religion and thought**. See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).
2. **Literature, drama and media**. See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/) and [Books in the Somali language](/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/).
3. **Art, architecture and housing**.
4. **Cuisine and traditional dress**. See [Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/).
5. **Gender roles, marriage and family**. See [Family and marriage](/en/society/family-and-marriage/) and [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/).
6. **Social customs and lifestyle**. See [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/) and [Xeer customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).
7. **Music and dance**. See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

The publisher's description highlights its treatment of handcrafts, architecture and nomad housing, camel culture, food and eating customs, rites of passage, leisure and economic life, education and Somali musical genres ([Library Supply](https://librarysupply.co.nz/shop/history-and-archaeology/history/african-history/culture-and-customs-of-somalia_441305)). The introduction also discusses the much-debated question of where the Somali people came from ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)).

## How it was received

A review in the International Journal of African Historical Studies found the book "refreshingly original" in its description of Somali culture, but "surprisingly parochial" in its survey of Somali political history ([Library Supply](https://librarysupply.co.nz/shop/history-and-archaeology/history/african-history/culture-and-customs-of-somalia_441305)).

## Where to read it

It is available in hardback and as an ebook from Greenwood, now part of Bloomsbury, and is held by many libraries. A longer scholarly survey of the same ground is I. M. Lewis's [Understanding Somalia and Somaliland](/en/books/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland-lewis/).


---

# Mobile Urbanity (2019), edited by Neil Carrier and Tabea Scharrer: Somalis in the cities of East Africa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/mobile-urbanity-carrier-scharrer/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mobile Urbanity: Somali Presence in Urban East Africa is a 2019 collection of studies edited by the anthropologists Neil Carrier and Tabea Scharrer, published by Berghahn Books and free to read online. Its chapters trace the long history of Somalis in Kenyan towns, the growth of Nairobi's Eastleigh district into a regional trading hub, Somali shopping centres, women's businesses, the pressures on refugees, and new Somali neighbourhoods in Uganda.

## The book

**Mobile Urbanity: Somali Presence in Urban East Africa** is a volume edited by **Neil Carrier**, an anthropologist at the University of [Bristol](/en/diaspora/bristol/) who has written an ethnography of Nairobi's [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/) district, and **Tabea Scharrer**, who studies Somali migrants in Kenyan and European cities at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. It was published by Berghahn Books in July 2019 as volume 20 of the Integration and Conflict Studies series, with 264 pages and an afterword by the anthropologist Günther Schlee. A paperback followed in 2022. With support from the Max Planck Institute, it is published open access under a Creative Commons licence ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/CarrierMobile); [Max Planck Institute](https://www.eth.mpg.de/5375671/book_304)).

## Its subject

In recent decades a growing Somali presence has changed towns and cities across East Africa, a change that, in the editors' words, "has met with ambivalence and suspicion, especially within Kenya". The book sets out the history of Somali residence and movement in these cities, and the social, cultural and political forces behind Somali-led urban change. It presents this as a case study of how forced migration can transform cities, and of how living in cities and moving between them are bound together ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/CarrierMobile)). See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) and [Somalis in Uganda](/en/diaspora/uganda/).

## What is in it

After an introduction by the editors and a personal piece by Yusuf Hassan on "being and becoming mobile", the chapters are ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/CarrierMobile)):

- **Urbanity**: Hannah Whittaker on the history of Somalis in urban Kenya; Nereida Ripero-Muñiz on how Somali women in Nairobi and Johannesburg describe their identity; Neil Carrier and Hassan H. Kochore on Oromo residents of Nairobi's "Little Mogadishu".
- **Economic networks**: Neil Carrier and Hannah Elliott on the transformation of Eastleigh told through the goods traded there; John Mwangi Githigaro and Kenneth Omeje on how Somali refugee businesses in Eastleigh raise capital; Holly A. Ritchie on women's enterprise in Somali migrant communities in Nairobi; Tabea Scharrer on "Somali" shopping centres in Kenya.
- **The politics of Somali mobility**: Lucy Lowe and Mark Yarnell on Somali refugees "perpetually in transit" amid growing hostility; Joseph Wandera and Halkano Abdi Wario on how Muslim and secular newspapers in Kenya reported Operation Usalama Watch, the 2014 security sweep in Nairobi; Gianluca Iazzolino on whether a new "Little Mogadishu" is forming in Uganda.

The trade networks behind these districts connect with [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) and [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/).

## How it was received

The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute found "significant ethnographic insights" into how migrants and cities remake each other and called it "a must-read for regionally focused urbanists". A review in Ethnic and Racial Studies described it as "well written and presented in a readable, scholarly, and entertaining style". The anthropologist Peter D. Little of Emory University wrote that it "corrects a misperception that Somalis are mainly pastoralists" by showing a long tradition of town life and trade ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/CarrierMobile)).

## Where to read it

The full text is free to read and download from Berghahn Books under its open access programme ([Berghahn Books](https://berghahnbooks.com/title/CarrierMobile)), and a paperback is in print. Related reading on Somali refugees in Kenya is [Transnational Nomads](/en/books/transnational-nomads-horst/) by Cindy Horst and [We Do Not Have Borders](/en/books/we-do-not-have-borders-weitzberg/) by Keren Weitzberg.


---

# The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia (1996), edited by Catherine Besteman and Lee Cassanelli: the war behind the war

Source: https://calankii.com/en/books/the-struggle-for-land-in-southern-somalia-besteman-cassanelli/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia: The War Behind the War is a 1996 collection edited by the anthropologist Catherine Besteman and the historian Lee V. Cassanelli, published by Westview Press and HAAN Publishing. Its nine contributors, drawing on field research, argue that disputes over farmland, water and other resources in the south, going back several decades, were a key part of the politics that led to the civil war, alongside the personalities, clan rivalries and Cold War competition usually stressed.

## The book

**The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia: The War Behind the War** is a collection of studies edited by **Catherine Besteman**, an anthropologist who did fieldwork in the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) valley, and **Lee V. Cassanelli**, a historian of southern Somalia. It was published in 1996 by Westview Press in the United States and by HAAN Publishing in [London](/en/diaspora/london/), with about 222 pages; HAAN reissued it in 2000, 2003 and 2004 ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18985199W)). Besteman's own study of the Jubba valley is [Unraveling Somalia](/en/books/unraveling-somalia-besteman/), and Cassanelli's history of the south is [The Shaping of Somali Society](/en/books/the-shaping-of-somali-society-cassanelli/).

## Its question

The publishers' description begins with the scale of the collapse after 1991: the end of the central government, the death or displacement of at least two million people, and a war that destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. It then asks why a country whose people shared a language, a religion and a culture broke apart so deeply. Most explanations, it notes, stressed personalities, clan loyalties or Cold War rivalry. This book instead looks at land and resources as key ingredients in the politics of modern Somalia and in the events that led to the war ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18985199W)).

## What is in it

The nine contributors draw on their own field research. Using evidence of disputes over land rights and natural resources stretching back several decades, they show how land shaped political factions and regional and ethnic rivalries in the south. Local case studies bring out the tensions between village politics and state policy, and between local and national ways of using land. Together they give detailed information on rural life, relations between communities and struggles over resources in the farming areas between the Shabelle and Jubba rivers ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18985199W)). The background is on [Land law and land ownership](/en/economy/land-law-and-land-ownership/), [Farming and harvests](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) and [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

The regions concerned are described on [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/), [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/) and [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), and the war itself on [Collapse, 1991 to 2000](/en/history/collapse-1991-2000/).

## How it was received

Writing in the Times Literary Supplement, the anthropologist I. M. Lewis called it "essential reading for anyone interested in understanding problems in Somalia" ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18985199W)). A 2023 land governance review by the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies cites Cassanelli's chapter in it, "Explaining the Somali Crisis", and his later study for the Rift Valley Institute, which traced how in the 1970s the struggle for land moved "from the local to the national arena" as land laws placed all land under state authority ([Heritage Institute](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Land-Governance-Review-.pdf)).

## Where to read it

The book is held by research libraries and copies of the HAAN editions are sold second-hand. Later studies on this site that follow similar themes include [Somalia: Economy Without State](/en/books/somalia-economy-without-state-little/) by Peter D. Little.


---

# AI brainpower got cheap

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/ai-brainpower-got-cheap/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Running artificial intelligence (AI) at the level of an older top model became about 280 times cheaper in two years, from about $20 to about 7 cents per million tokens between November 2022 and October 2024. That means a very small team can now do work that once needed hundreds of people.

## The force

AI is computer software that can read, write, answer questions and translate. Using it is priced by the "token", a small piece of a word. The Stanford AI Index 2025 found that the cost of running a model as good as an earlier top model fell about 280 times, from about $20 to about 7 cents per million tokens, between November 2022 and October 2024 ([Stanford AI Index 2025](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2025-ai-index-report)).

At the same time, free "open" models caught up with the best paid ones. The gap between them fell from 15.2% in May 2023 to about 3.4% in March 2026 ([Stanford AI Index 2026](https://hai.stanford.edu/assets/files/ai_index_report_2026_chapter_2_technical.pdf)). So the price fell and the choice of suppliers grew.

## How fast it is moving

Some 2026 reports say prices kept halving every few months, citing the AI Index 2026 ([DEV Community](https://dev.to/yanoai/llm-inference-costs-halved-every-two-months-in-2026-what-the-stanford-ai-index-and-hierarchos-mean-1ge3)).

## Inside the country

Somali-language AI already exists, though it is thin. Hormuud's Caaqil answers questions in Somali by SMS: users dial *1000# with no internet or smartphone needed ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hormuud-s-caaqil-ai-breaks-barriers-smart-knowledge-without-smartphones-or-internet)). Shaqodoon's NaMaqal turns spoken Somali into text for UN agencies and aid groups ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2025/11/18/namaqal-somali-speech-to-text/)). Somali National University opened a national AI centre in July 2026 ([Intelligent CIO](https://www.intelligentcio.com/africa/2026/07/21/somali-national-university-launches-countrys-first-national-ai-centre/)).

## Outside the country

Cheap AI is already serving people on basic phones elsewhere. In Zambia, Viamo's voice line let about 36,000 people ask 614,000 questions by calling a short number, and 95% got an answer ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GSMA_Viamo_Voice-First-Generative-AI-for-Impact_2025.pdf)).

## What it does not solve

AI can be wrong in ways that sound right, and it is not clear who is responsible when it is. A court held Air Canada responsible for false answers given by its chatbot ([CEPA](https://cepa.org/article/should-ai-chatbots-provide-government-services/)). Any service built on AI needs people checking it.


---

# Free open AI models caught up

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/free-open-ai-models-caught-up/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Free "open" AI models, which anyone can download and run, are now almost as good as the best paid ones. The gap between the top paid and top open model fell from 15.2% in May 2023 to about 3.4% in March 2026, and Google's free Gemma 3 supports more than 140 languages.

## The force

There are two kinds of AI model. "Closed" models are run by a company and rented by the use. "Open" models can be downloaded, changed and run on your own computers. Open models used to be far behind. They are not any more.

The Stanford AI Index 2026 measured the gap using the public Arena rankings. It shrank from 174 points (15.2%) in May 2023 to 7 points (0.5%) in August 2024. In March 2026 it was 49 points, which the report gives as 3.4% in one place and 3.3% in another ([Stanford AI Index 2026](https://hai.stanford.edu/assets/files/ai_index_report_2026_chapter_2_technical.pdf)).

## What is available

- **Gemma 3**, released by Google on 12 March 2025, comes in four sizes. It was pre-trained on more than 140 languages, and the Gemma family had passed 100 million downloads ([Google](https://blog.google/technology/developers/gemma-3/)). Google says the largest version runs on one machine; its own chart suggests more hardware, so check before relying on it.
- **Meta MMS** (2023) does speech recognition and text-to-speech for more than 1,100 languages, but its licence does not allow commercial use ([InfoQ](https://www.infoq.com/news/2023/06/meta-mms-speech-ai/)).
- **Google WAXAL** (March 2026) released about 1,846 hours of transcribed speech in African languages under an open licence ([Google Research](https://research.google/blog/waxal-a-large-scale-open-resource-for-african-language-speech-technology/)).

## Inside the country

Somali builders are already using open models. SOMA-S1 is a small Somali language model trained from scratch and released under an open licence ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/boore1/SOMA-S1)). [Jamhuriya University](/en/institutions/jamhuriya-university/)'s SAIL lab released a Somali language model in March 2024 ([SAIL](https://www.sail.just.edu.so/news/sail-launches-somali-llm)) and in April 2026 launched a Somali model that detects false news ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/jamhuriya-university-launches-somalias-first-somali-language-ai-lab-to-tackle-misinformation)). Open Somali speech models are published too ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/Ogaal-Labs/Ogaal-ASR)).


---

# AI now works on basic phones

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/ai-now-works-on-basic-phones/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> AI no longer needs a smartphone or internet: people can call a short number or send an SMS and get answers by voice or text on any basic phone. In Zambia, Viamo's voice AI line answered 614,000 questions from about 36,000 people, and Somalia's Hormuud already runs a Somali AI service by SMS.

## The force

Most Somalis are not online. About 5.47 million people, 27.6% of the population, used the internet in late 2025 ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)). But 11.5 million mobile connections exist ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)). AI that works through a voice call or an SMS reaches people who have only a basic phone.

## Outside the country

- **Viamo, Zambia.** Its "Ask Viamo Anything" service started as a pilot in May 2023 and opened to all users of its 667 line in November 2024. By January 2025 about 36,000 people, 59% of them women, had asked about 614,000 questions, and 95% got an answer. Messages per user rose from 9 to 40 and calls per user from 5 to 25 ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GSMA_Viamo_Voice-First-Generative-AI-for-Impact_2025.pdf)).
- **Viamo overall** works in 25 countries and had 24.7 million active users in 2024 ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GSMA_Viamo_Voice-First-Generative-AI-for-Impact_2025.pdf)). It runs free voice lines on any phone, with no internet needed ([Viamo](https://viamo.io/our-2025-impact/)).
- **KrosAI** launched a call-in AI assistant in Nigeria in July 2025 ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/?p=167028)).

## Inside the country

Hormuud Telecom's **Caaqil** answers questions in Somali by SMS on health, farming, school, money and general knowledge. Users dial *1000# and send their question to 1000. No app, smartphone or internet is needed ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hormuud-s-caaqil-ai-breaks-barriers-smart-knowledge-without-smartphones-or-internet)). Hormuud has not published how many people use it.

Somali speech technology is also growing. NaMaqal turns spoken Somali into text. Its accuracy on [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) is about 40%, while its Maxaa-tiri coverage is described as strong ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2025/11/18/namaqal-somali-speech-to-text/)). That gap matters, because Maay is one of Somalia's two official forms of Somali.

## Why voice fits Somalis

Somali was not written officially until the 1970s, and Somalis are often called a nation of poets ([Media Landscapes](https://medialandscapes.org/country/somalia/traditional-communication/overview)). In 2014 about a third of BBC radio listeners in Somalia listened on their phones ([Radio Today](https://radiotoday.co.uk/2015/04/bbc-radio-gets-large-following-in-somalia/)). Information already moves by voice.


---

# Somali language tech exists

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/somali-language-tech-exists/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Technology that understands and speaks Somali already exists and is growing. Jamhuriya University released an open Somali language model in March 2024, Shaqodoon's NaMaqal turns spoken Somali into text for UN agencies, and Hormuud's Caaqil answers questions in Somali by SMS.

## The force

For years, computers barely understood Somali. That is changing quickly, because AI tools got cheaper and Somali universities and companies started building their own.

## What exists now

- **Caaqil (Hormuud Telecom).** An AI question-and-answer service in Somali on health, farming, school, money and general knowledge. It works by SMS: dial *1000# and send a question to 1000. No internet or smartphone is needed ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hormuud-s-caaqil-ai-breaks-barriers-smart-knowledge-without-smartphones-or-internet)). User numbers are not published.
- **NaMaqal (Shaqodoon).** Somali speech-to-text used by UN agencies, the Danish Refugee Council and World Vision. The platform it grew from received 1,500 to 3,000 calls a day. Its accuracy on [Maay](/en/society/maay-language/) is about 40% ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2025/11/18/namaqal-somali-speech-to-text/)).
- **SAIL lab ([Jamhuriya University](/en/institutions/jamhuriya-university/)).** Released a Somali language model in March 2024 ([SAIL](https://www.sail.just.edu.so/news/sail-launches-somali-llm)) and in April 2026 a Somali model that detects false news, reported at 98% accuracy ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/jamhuriya-university-launches-somalias-first-somali-language-ai-lab-to-tackle-misinformation)).
- **[SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/)** launched OGAAL, a Somali and English assistant for student services, in September 2026 ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/simad-university-launches-ai-assistant-to-provide-campus-information)).
- **SOMA-S1.** A small Somali language model trained from scratch and released under an open licence ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/boore1/SOMA-S1)).
- **Open speech models** for Somali are published online ([Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/Ogaal-Labs/Ogaal-ASR)).
- **A national AI centre** opened at Somali National University in July 2026 ([Intelligent CIO](https://www.intelligentcio.com/africa/2026/07/21/somali-national-university-launches-countrys-first-national-ai-centre/)).

## Outside the country

World tools are adding African languages too. Meta's MMS covers speech for more than 1,100 languages, though its licence bars commercial use ([InfoQ](https://www.infoq.com/news/2023/06/meta-mms-speech-ai/)). Google's free Gemma 3 model was trained on more than 140 languages ([Google](https://blog.google/technology/developers/gemma-3/)). These give Somali builders a base to start from instead of building everything alone.

## Policy

The National Communications Authority held its second AI Summit in June 2026, with Somali-language AI on the agenda; no policy was announced ([NCA](https://mail.nca.gov.so/news/national-communications-authority-holds-the-second-ai-summit-somalia-2026)).

## The gaps

Live Somali AI is real but thin. None of these products publishes user numbers. Maay, one of Somalia's two official forms of Somali, is much less covered than Maxaa-tiri.


---

# Mobile money is the road to everyone

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/mobile-money-is-the-road-to-everyone/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mobile money is how almost every Somali pays and gets paid: more than 89% use it as their main financial tool, while fewer than 1 in 10 have a bank account. Hormuud's EVC Plus alone is reported to handle about 155 million payments worth $2.7 billion a month.

## The force

In Somalia people pay for food, rent, school fees and taxis from their phones. They receive wages, help from family abroad and aid the same way. This habit is older and deeper than in most of Africa.

- In 2016, 73% of people aged 16 and over used mobile money ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/a-game-changer-the-prospects-and-pitfalls-of-mobile-money-in-somalia)).
- By 2023 more than 89% used it as their main financial tool, while only 8.8% had formal bank access ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).
- In 2025, 85% of adults owned a mobile phone and 82% used it for money ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)).

## How big it is

EVC Plus, run by Hormuud, handles about 155 million transactions worth about $2.7 billion a month ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)). It is used by more than 145 aid groups to pay people, and one agency can send up to $1 million in one go.

## Sources differ

TechCabal gives the 155 million figure for EVC Plus alone. TechAfricaNews gives the same figure for the whole national market, citing the World Bank ([TechAfricaNews](https://techafricanews.com/2025/08/20/somalias-hormuud-telecom-secures-gsma-mobile-money-re-certification/)). The launch year of EVC Plus is also given as 2009 in some sources and 2011 in others.

## Rules and trust

The Central Bank's Mobile Money Regulation dates from 2019 ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mobile-Money-Regulation-2019.pdf)), and the first licence went to EVC Plus in 2021 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-issues-its-first-mobile-money-licence-to-hormuud-telecom/)). EVC Plus was re-certified by the GSMA, the global mobile industry body, in August 2025 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-hormuud-telecom-re-certified-by-gsma-for-secure-mobile-money-services)). In [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and eDahab play the same role.

## Outside the country

Worldwide, mobile money passed $2 trillion of transactions in 2025, twice the 2021 level ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-money-accounted-for-2-trillion-in-transactions-in-2025-doubling-since-2021-as-active-accounts-continue-to-grow/)).


---

# Telcos open their pipes to builders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/telcos-open-their-pipes-to-builders/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's biggest telecom company, Hormuud, lets outside businesses plug into its payment, SMS, USSD and voice-call systems. That means a new service can reach millions of phone users without building its own network; the online shop SOOMAR, for example, is built on Hormuud's EVC Plus payment link.

## The force

An "API" is a door that lets one company's software use another company's system. Hormuud offers businesses APIs for EVC Plus payments, SMS, USSD menus and interactive voice calls (IVR) ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/featured/business-n/somalia-s-largest-telco-firm-now-invests-in-api-technology-to-drive-economic-growth)). It also runs a business SMS portal ([Hormuud](https://mysms.hormuud.com/)).

## How big the network is

- EVC Plus is reported to handle about 155 million transactions worth about $2.7 billion a month ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).
- Hormuud's 4G network covers more than 70% of the population (same source).
- Somalia had 11.5 million mobile connections in late 2025 ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)).

## Who is building on it

- **SOOMAR**, an online shop, uses the EVC Plus API to take payments ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/featured/business-n/somalia-s-largest-telco-firm-now-invests-in-api-technology-to-drive-economic-growth)).
- **Caaqil**, Hormuud's own Somali AI service, runs over SMS on *1000#, showing what the same channels can carry ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hormuud-s-caaqil-ai-breaks-barriers-smart-knowledge-without-smartphones-or-internet)).
- **Aid groups.** More than 145 aid organisations pay people through EVC Plus ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).

## The wider network

- **Price.** Mobile data costs about $0.40 per gigabyte, cheaper than Kenya's $0.82 ([Broadband.co.uk](https://www.broadband.co.uk/mobile-data-price-league)).
- **Partners.** Hormuud and Germany's development agency, GIZ, signed an agreement in March 2026 on cross-border payments and AI ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)** has its own networks and wallets, Telesom's [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and eDahab.

## Outside the country

M-Shwari, a savings and loans service, reached 7.2 million customers in about two years by building on top of Kenya's M-Pesa instead of building its own network ([FSD Africa](https://fsdafrica.org/the-growth-of-m-shwari-in-kenya-a-market-development-story/)).

## What to watch

When one company runs the pipes, prices and access depend on it. Clear rules from the regulator matter.


---

# One national payment system

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/one-national-payment-system/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia now has one national instant payment system, SIPS, with a single QR code standard, SOMQR, that went live in 2025 with 7 banks. It plans to link 14 banks and 8 mobile wallets, and Somalia joined the Pan-African payment system, PAPSS, in 2026.

## The force

For years Somalia's mobile wallets and banks did not easily talk to each other. A national payment system changes that: money can move instantly between any bank or wallet, using one shared QR code.

## Inside the country

- **SIPS went live in January 2025** and was announced on 24 March 2025. It runs 24 hours a day and includes the national QR code standard SOMQR, PIN and one-time-password checks and fraud controls. Seven banks were live at launch ([BPC](https://www.bpcbt.com/en/press/somalia-launches-first-nationwide-instant-payment-system-powered-by-bpc)).
- **Who runs it.** Somalia Payment Switch, set up by the Central Bank of Somalia and 13 banks ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/383521/somalia-to-expand-instant-payment-system-with-banks-mobile-money-and-regional-networks)).
- **What comes next.** The plan covers 14 commercial banks and 8 mobile money and e-wallet providers. Payments between people and to shops work now; payments from businesses to people, to government and to other businesses are being built ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/383521/somalia-to-expand-instant-payment-system-with-banks-mobile-money-and-regional-networks)).
- **An earlier system** set up in 2021 processed more than $1 billion in its first year ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)).

## Beyond the border

Somalia joined PAPSS, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, which lets African countries pay each other in their own currencies. The Somali Bankers Association announced it on 18 April 2026 ([SBA](https://sba.so/somalia-joins-papss.php)); TechCabal dates the formal joining to March 2026 ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).

## The wider money system

The Central Bank has licensed 15 commercial banks ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-of-somalia-licenses-15-banks-strengthens-financial-oversight)) and approved the first 7 microfinance licences in November 2025 ([Central Bank Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). An IFC project is building a credit information system and collateral registry with the Central Bank ([IFC project record](https://ewsdata.rightsindevelopment.org/projects/IFC-607334/)). In [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), the central bank has started its own national payment programme.

## Outside the country

India's UPI shows what one shared system can do: 21.7 billion phone payments between any banks in January 2026 alone ([Government of India, PIB](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/mar/doc202636812701.pdf)).


---

# Digital ID and eKYC

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/digital-id-and-ekyc/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia now has a national ID system and a shared identity check that every commercial bank uses. At least 1 million national IDs had been issued by November 2025, with a target of 15 million by 2029, and the Hubiye check serves 1.2 million people across 25 services.

## The force

A country runs on knowing who people are: to open a bank account, get a loan, receive aid or sign a contract. Somalia is building that base now.

## Inside the country

- **National ID.** The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) had enrolled at least 1 million citizens by November 2025, and more than 24 public and private services were linked to it. The target is 15 million IDs by 2029, and a digital ID card is planned for 2026 ([Biometric Update](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202511/somalia-to-integrate-more-govt-services-with-national-id-as-issuance-reaches-1m)).
- **Hubiye identity check (eKYC).** "eKYC" means checking who a customer is electronically. Hubiye serves 1.2 million people across 25 linked services, including the whole commercial banking sector. Somalia passed its first eKYC law in December 2024. Women make up 47.3% of those enrolled ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/stories/driving-digital-transformation-somalia-2025-highlights)).
- **Reaching displaced people.** Mobile registration teams enrolled 38,026 displaced people in one month, at under $1 each ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/stories/driving-digital-transformation-somalia-2025-highlights)).
- **Costs and gaps.** UNDP estimates the system saves $4.2 million a year, and it has a $14 million funding gap for 2026 ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/stories/driving-digital-transformation-somalia-2025-highlights)).

## Outside the country

Other countries show how far this base can carry. India has issued more than 1.44 billion Aadhaar IDs and pays benefits straight into accounts; cutting fake beneficiaries saved more than ₹4.31 lakh crore between 2015 and 2024 ([Government of India, PIB](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/mar/doc202636812701.pdf)). Estonia's X-Road links government databases so people give their information only once, and it runs more than 3,800 e-services ([e-Estonia](https://e-estonia.com/solutions/interoperability-services/x-road/)).

## What sources say

Combined with mobile money, which more than 89% of Somalis already use ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)), it lets services reach people across the whole country.

## What to watch


---

# Phones getting cheaper

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/phones-getting-cheaper/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Smartphones are becoming affordable for low-income families through pay-as-you-go financing. Hormuud plans to finance 100,000 smartphones in Somalia by the end of 2026 with a $19 deposit, and in its pilot fewer than 4% of buyers failed to pay.

## The force

Most Somalis with a phone have a basic one. In late 2025 there were 11.5 million mobile connections, and 75.7% of them were on 3G, 4G or 5G networks ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)). But only 27.6% of people used the internet. A big reason is the cost of the handset.

Across low- and middle-income Africa south of the Sahara, an entry-level internet phone costs about 24% of a month's income on average, and up to 80% for the poorest ([GSMA Mobile Economy Africa 2026](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-economy/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Mobile-Economy-Africa-2026.pdf)). Paying a little each day, instead of all at once, is changing that.

## Inside the country

Hormuud plans to finance 100,000 smartphones for low-income users by the end of 2026. Buyers pay a $19 deposit and need no credit history. In the pilot, fewer than 4% fell behind on payments ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)). Hormuud's 4G network covers more than 70% of the population ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)), and mobile data costs about $0.40 per gigabyte ([Broadband.co.uk](https://www.broadband.co.uk/mobile-data-price-league)).

## Outside the country

- **M-KOPA**, which sells phones on daily payments in Africa, is reported to have reached 10 million customers ([Launch Base Africa](https://launchbaseafrica.com/2026/07/22/1m-users-in-8-years-9m-in-6-the-smartphone-pivot-driving-m-kopas-hypergrowth/)). That report says it took eight years to reach its first million and six more to reach ten, after it moved into smartphones. Its network has about 35,000 agents ([Launch Base Africa](https://launchbaseafrica.com/2025/09/22/the-flywheel-effect-how-m-kopas-35000-agents-are-powering-its-push-to-3m-users/)).
- **Ethiopia.** Ethio Telecom sells devices from about $17 and finances up to 2 million a year ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-economy/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Mobile-Economy-Africa-2026.pdf)).
- **Kenya.** Smartphones rose from 44% to 50% of Safaricom's connections by May 2025 ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-economy/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Mobile-Economy-Africa-2026.pdf)).
- **Smart feature phones**, which cost less than smartphones but can run apps and payments, are being supplied to small traders through a Smart Africa and KaiOS partnership ([Smart Africa](https://smartafrica.org/smart-africa-and-kaios-technologies-partner-to-provide-affordable-smart-feature-phone-devices-to-drive-digital-payment-acceptance-across-africas-informal-economy/)). Shipment numbers were not published.

## The wider gap

Across Africa, 63% of people live where mobile internet is available but do not use it ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-economy/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Mobile-Economy-Africa-2026.pdf)). The network is there; the phone and the data cost are the barrier.


---

# Record money coming home

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/record-money-coming-home/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Money sent into Somalia from abroad reached a record $6.78 billion in 2025, up 5%, according to Central Bank of Somalia data. Of that, money sent by individuals to families was about 46%, roughly $3.1 billion.

## The force

Somalis abroad send money home every month: for food, rent, school fees and medicine, and to start businesses. It is one of the largest flows of money into the country.

- **Total inflows** reached a record $6.78 billion in 2025, up from $6.43 billion in 2024. Individual remittances were about 46% of this, roughly $3.1 billion ([The EastAfrican](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/diaspora-steady-mogadishu-economy-in-times-of-turmoil-5558440)).
- **Bigger than the economy alone.** In 2025 national disposable income was $17.3 billion against GDP of $13.2 billion, about 30% higher, mostly because of money from abroad ([NBS, GDP 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Somalia-GDP-2025.pdf)).
- **Bigger than aid.** In 2023, remittances were more than all development and humanitarian aid combined ([Hiiraan](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)).
- **Start-up money.** Diaspora money supplies up to 80% of the capital used to start small businesses ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/18220295)).

## Sources differ

The $6.78 billion counts all private transfers, including business and aid-group flows. World Bank figures for personal remittances only are lower: about $1.73 billion in 2023 ([Hiiraan](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)) to about $2 billion ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)). The national statistics office gives $2.72 billion for 2024, 22.7% of GDP ([NBS Migration Statistics 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). We show all of them.

## How it is changing

- **Cost.** Sending money cost 6.6% on average in late 2024, against a UN target of 3% ([Hiiraan](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)).
- **A push to digital.** Since 1 January 2026 the US charges a 1% tax on transfers paid in cash, money orders or cashier's cheques. Transfers paid from a bank account or a US card are exempt ([RSM](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances)).

## Who rode it fast

- **LemFi**, a remittance app for migrants, processes about $1 billion a month, and its users and revenue doubled in two years ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2025/01/14/lemfi-series-b/)).
- **Wave** charged a flat 1% fee and has more than 20 million monthly users ([Launch Base Africa](https://launchbaseafrica.com/2025/06/30/fintech-unicorn-wave-secures-137-million-in-debt-funding-to-power-pan-african-growth/)).


---

# A stock exchange and Islamic finance

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/a-stock-exchange-and-islamic-finance/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia opened its first stock exchange, the National Securities Exchange of Somalia, on 19 June 2025, and it plans to list both shares and sukuk (Islamic bonds). At the same time, Islamic finance worldwide holds about $6.5 trillion and is heading past $10.5 trillion by 2030.

## The force

Two things are moving together. Somalia now has a stock exchange, and the global pool of money that follows Islamic rules is large and growing fast.

The [National Securities Exchange of Somalia](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) (NSES) was inaugurated in Mogadishu on 19 June 2025, with trading expected from early 2026 ([MFW4A](https://www.mfw4a.org/news/somalia-launches-its-first-stock-exchange-mogadishu)). It plans to list company shares and sukuk, including government sukuk for roads, ports and power. Telecoms, banks, real estate and energy firms are expected to list first. It is a member of the East African Securities Exchanges Association ([MFW4A](https://www.mfw4a.org/news/somalia-launches-its-first-stock-exchange-mogadishu)). One report says the exchange hopes to draw $2 billion of diaspora money ([Zawya](https://www.zawya.com/en/economy/africa/somalias-new-bourse-eyes-2bln-diaspora-funds-ipos-in-2026-f2blmxlj)), in the headline of its report.

## Outside the country

Islamic finance assets reached about $6.5 trillion in 2025, up 9% in a year, and are projected to pass $10.5 trillion by 2030 ([LSEG and ICD, IFDI 2026](https://www.lseg.com/en/insights/data-analytics/ifdr-2026-islamic-finance-assets-to-reach-us-10-point-5-trillion-dollars-by-2030)). 2025 was a record year for sukuk. Fitch has said African sukuk issuers should tap the large pool of money in the Gulf ([International Finance](https://internationalfinance.com/islamic-finance/african-sukuk-issuers-should-tap-into-high-gcc-liquidity-says-fitch-ratings/)).

## Inside the country

Almost every Somali is Muslim, so products that follow Islamic rules fit what people already want. Members of parliament debating the new Central Bank bill in October 2026 pushed for Islamic-banking consistency and a higher Sharia board ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-parliament-advances-central-bank-bill-amid-debate-over-islamic-finance-and-currency)). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) engaged AlHuda CIBE to write Islamic banking rules ([Salaam Gateway](https://salaamgateway.com/story/somaliland-engages-alhuda-cibe-to-develop-islamic-banking-regulations)).

## Who rode it fast

- **Wahed**, a halal investing app, passed $2 billion under management in May 2026. It took eight years to reach $1 billion and about one more year to double ([Wahed](https://www.wahed.com/mme/crossing-2-billion-in-aum-what-this-milestone-means-for-wahed-and-the-future-of-islamic-finance)).
- **LaunchGood**, a Muslim giving platform, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for causes since 2013, from donors in 5,000 cities ([The National](https://thenationalnews.com/news/us/2024/08/30/muslim-run-crowdfunding-site-has-raised-more-than-520m-for-good-causes-around-the-world)). Sources give different totals, from more than $520 million to about $650 million.

## What is not known yet

The date of the first trades on the exchange and its first listings were not confirmed in our research. No Somalia-specific digital zakat or waqf platform with published numbers was found.


---

# African startup money rebounding

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/african-startup-money-rebounding/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Money for African tech start-ups grew again in 2025, to about $4.1 billion, up 25%, and Kenya, Somalia's East African neighbour, led every country. Somalia's own start-up scene is still small: fewer than 500 start-ups, of which 53 have raised a combined $47.8 million.

## The force

After two hard years, investors are putting money into African start-ups again. Partech counted $4.1 billion raised by African tech companies in 2025, up 25%. Equity was $2.4 billion, and loans to start-ups hit a record $1.6 billion, 41% of all capital ([Partech](https://partechpartners.com/news/2025-partech-africa-tech-vc-report-african-tech-funding-rebounds-to-us41b-driven-by-record-debt-activity-and-disciplined-equity-growth)). Kenya ranked first, with $1.04 billion, up 72%. Fintech (money apps) was the biggest sector, at $769 million ([Partech](https://partechpartners.com/news/2025-partech-africa-tech-vc-report-african-tech-funding-rebounds-to-us41b-driven-by-record-debt-activity-and-disciplined-equity-growth)).

Briter, another tracker, counted $3.6 billion across 635 deals, also up 25%. It found that local African investors now supply nearly 40% of the money, up from 25% ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/01/26/local-investors-tech-investment/)).

## Sources differ

The two trackers count differently, so 2025 is "$3.6 billion to $4.1 billion". Figures for the first half of 2026 range from $1.44 billion to $3.3 billion, mostly because some count loans and others don't ([TechCabal Insights](https://insights.techcabal.com/?p=1736); [Africa.com](https://africa.com/business/africas-startup-spring-3-3-billion-raised-as-investors-bet-big-on-fewer-winners)).

## Inside the country

Somalia has fewer than 500 start-ups. 53 have raised $47.8 million across 49 rounds. Of 131 companies founded in the last five years, 95 have closed, 5 were bought and 8 were founded by women ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2025/11/18/namaqal-somali-speech-to-text/)). Dealroom lists only a handful of Somali companies at venture stage ([Dealroom](https://dealroom.co/countries/somalia/)).

Support is growing. In August 2026, iRise Hub in Mogadishu, SIMAD iLab and HarHub in Hargeisa launched a national start-up network under an EU-funded, UNIDO-run project. It received more than 3,600 applications, trained about 500 founders and incubated more than 200 start-ups ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)). In 2023 Caafisom, a Hargeisa health start-up, raised a $110,000 seed round, described as [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s first funded start-up ([African Business](https://african.business/2023/07/trade-investment/first-ever-funded-startup-sparks-somaliland-investment-hopes)).

## Why the region matters

Somalia joined the East African Community as its eighth member on 4 March 2024 ([EAC](https://eac.int/press-releases/3049-somalia-finally-joins-eac-as-the-bloc-s-8th-partner-state)). That puts it inside the region that led African start-up funding in 2025.


---

# Debt relief opened the doors

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/debt-relief-opened-the-doors/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In December 2023 the IMF and World Bank approved $4.5 billion of debt relief for Somalia, and its foreign debt fell from 64% of the economy in 2018 to under 6%. That opened the door to new grants, lending and investment: foreign investment reached $880 million in 2025, up 15%.

## The force

For decades Somalia owed old debts it could not pay, so most lenders could not work with it. In December 2023 Somalia reached the "completion point" of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries scheme, bringing $4.5 billion in debt relief ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)). External debt fell from 64% of GDP in 2018 to under 6% at the end of 2023. The Paris Club of lender countries cancelled its claims in March 2024 ([World Bank](https://shorthand.worldbankgroup.org/reforms-and-relief-how-somalia-turned-a-page-amid-a-global-debt-crisis/)).

## Who backs it

- **The IMF** followed with a new three-year credit programme of about $100 million ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23437-imf-concludes-the-sixth-review-of-the-extended-credit-facility-for-somalia)).
- **The World Bank** holds a Somalia portfolio of $2.34 billion, mostly grants, including $523 million in regional projects ([World Bank](https://www.worldbank.org/so)). In August 2025 it approved a $125 million grant for revenue, private business, renewable power, microfinance, drought insurance, seafood exports and broadband ([World Bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/08/08/world-bank-renews-support-for-reforms-to-boost-economic-resilience-in-the-federal-republic-of-somalia)).
- Its cash-transfer programme, Baxnaano, reaches more than 3.7 million people ([World Bank](https://shorthand.worldbankgroup.org/reforms-and-relief-how-somalia-turned-a-page-amid-a-global-debt-crisis/)).

## How fast it is moving

Foreign direct investment reached $880 million in 2025, up 15% from $765 million ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The World Bank says the share of its Somalia money actually paid out rose to 29.4% in 2026, from 24% a year earlier, which it ranks "top tier" in the region ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/exclusive-world-bank-says-somalias-development-financing-ranked-top-tier-clarifying-the-dispute-over-the-state-of-the-economy)).

## What holds it back

Growth is slowing because of drought and aid cuts. The World Bank expects 2.8% growth in 2026 and the IMF 2.3% ([World Bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/05/13/somalia-growth-continues-but-shocks-and-aid-cuts-intensify-risks-to-jobs-and-livelihoods); [IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/10/05/pr26319-somalia-imf-staff-concludes-2026-article-iv-consultation-mission)). The IMF also says Somalia needs stronger checks on money laundering to attract foreign banks.

## Outside the country

Debt relief came alongside other signs of return: a UN Security Council seat for 2025 and 2026, Somalia's first since 1971 ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/48065/somalia-elected-non-permanent-member-of-un-security-council)).


---

# The youngest country

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/the-youngest-country/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia is one of the youngest countries in the world: half its 19.8 million people are under 15.6 years old. The population grows by about 645,000 people a year, so each year a new generation larger than a city like Kismayo comes of age.

## The force

A young country is a country of first-time workers, first-time buyers and first-time builders.

- **Population:** 19.8 million in October 2025 ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)).
- **Growth:** about 645,000 people a year, 3.4% ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)).
- **Median age:** 15.6 years, so half of all Somalis are younger than that ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)).
- **Under 30:** about 75%, according to the UN in Somalia ([UN Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/31543)). We have not been able to re-check this figure against the UN's own data.

## The need

There is not yet enough work for them. The 2019 labour force survey, published in 2021, found ([NBS Labour Force Survey](https://goaltracker.nbs.gov.so/content/platform/somalia/1651239734-lfs-report_2021.pdf)):

- Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 24): 37.4%.
- Young people neither working nor studying: 44.2%; 50.2% for young women and 37.7% for young men.
- Overall unemployment: 21.4%.

About 500,000 young Somalis enter the job market each year, against about 80,000 new jobs ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)).

## Each generation knows more

Literacy among young people aged 15 to 24 was 70.3% in 2022, against 53.7% for all adults ([NBS Facts and Figures 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Somalia-Facts-Figures-2022.pdf)). About 50,000 Quranic schools teach more than 4 million children, a network that reaches almost every neighbourhood ([UN MPTF](https://mptf.undp.org/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/building_peace_through_religious_education_gw.pdf)). More than 126 universities and colleges graduate thousands each year ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-universities-are-expanding-but-research-infrastructure-is-not)).

## Young people are online

TikTok reaches 37.7% of adults, and LinkedIn is the fastest-growing platform ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)). Young Somalis use phones first.

## Abroad too

Young Somalis born abroad are a growing share of the diaspora. In Minnesota, the US-born share of Somalis rose from 19% in 2001 to nearly 39% in 2023 ([News From The States](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/most-somali-people-america-and-minnesota-are-citizens)).

## Sources differ

Modelled youth unemployment figures from the International Labour Organization differ from the 2019 survey. The survey is the most recent national count.


---

# Cities growing

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/cities-booming/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> About half of all Somalis now live in towns and cities: 49.3% in 2025, up from about 42% in 2014. The UN puts Mogadishu's urban area at about 4.5 million people and Hargeisa's at about 1.6 million, though other counts are lower.

## The force

Somalis are moving to towns. DataReportal puts the urban share at 49.3% in late 2025 ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)). The 2014 population estimate counted 5.2 million of 12.3 million people in towns, about 42% ([NBS Facts and Figures 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Somalia-Facts-Figures-2022.pdf)).

## The biggest cities

UN estimates for 2026 ([Worldometer, UN data](https://www.worldometers.info/population/largest-cities-in-somalia/)):

- Mogadishu (Muqdisho): about 4,518,627
- Hargeisa (Hargeysa): about 1,634,283
- Kismayo (Kismaayo): about 471,113
- [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) (Burco): about 440,659
- Baidoa (Baydhabo): about 426,911
- [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) (Boorama): about 374,543
- [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) (Boosaaso): about 235,813
- Galkayo ([Gaalkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/)): about 182,291
- Berbera: about 173,042

## Sources differ

AP described Mogadishu in January 2026 as a city of "just under 3 million people" ([AP via News4Jax](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/01/08/somalias-fight-against-extremist-militants-shows-signs-of-success-on-the-streets-of-mogadishu/)). The UN figure is for the whole urban area and is a model, not a count. We show both.

## Why cities are growing

Two forces push people into towns. Many come because of drought and conflict: Banadir (Mogadishu) held about 1,111,500 of Somalia's 3,427,500 displaced people in 2024, about a third ([NBS Migration Statistics 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)). Others come for work and building. The state news agency described a construction boom in Mogadishu in December 2025, with cranes, new apartment blocks and diaspora families returning ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/mogadishus-skyline-undergoes-rapid-transformation-as-improved-security-fuels-an-unprecedented-construction-boom-in-one-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-cities/)).

## What sources say

Mobile money already works in every town: about 155 million transactions a month pass through EVC Plus ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).

## What city life looks like now

City life is changing in visible ways. AP reported new cafés, ice-cream shops and lit streets in Mogadishu in January 2026, with residents saying security "has really improved now" ([AP via News4Jax](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/01/08/somalias-fight-against-extremist-militants-shows-signs-of-success-on-the-streets-of-mogadishu/)). Attacks still happen, and safety differs from city to city. Smaller state capitals such as Garowe do not appear in the UN's list of the 15 largest towns, which means they have fewer than about 148,000 people ([Worldometer, UN data](https://www.worldometers.info/population/largest-cities-in-somalia/)).


---

# Social media and LinkedIn growing fast

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/social-media-and-linkedin-growing-fast/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis are joining social media fast: 3.51 million social media accounts in late 2025, up 14.1% in a year. TikTok reaches 37.7% of adults, and LinkedIn, with 420,000 Somali members, is the fastest-growing platform, up 23.5%.

## The force

More Somalis use social media every year, and the platforms that grow fastest are video and professional networks.

## The numbers (late 2025)

All figures are from DataReportal's Digital 2026 report for Somalia ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)):

- **Social media accounts:** 3.51 million, 17.7% of the population, up 435,000 (14.1%).
- **TikTok:** reaches 3.51 million adults, 37.7% of adults, up 14.1%.
- **Facebook:** reaches 2.70 million people, up 8.0%.
- **LinkedIn:** 420,000 members, 2.1% of the population, up 80,000 (23.5%).
- **Instagram:** reaches 511,000 people, down 2.1%.
- **Internet users:** 5.47 million, 27.6%, up only 3.4%.

DataReportal warns that "reach" figures count advertising audiences, not daily active users.

## What the numbers show

Internet users are growing slowly, but social media accounts are growing fast. So most of the growth comes from people already online using more platforms, rather than new people coming online.

TikTok reaches more Somali adults than Facebook does. Somali-language learning channels are among the top YouTube channels in the country: Guux Media has 97,700 subscribers and 17.1 million views, and waxkabaro Academy has 73,700 subscribers ([vidIQ](https://vidiq.com/youtube-stats/top/country/so/)). A deaf runner from [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) passed 100 million TikTok views in March 2026 ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202603050202.html)).

## LinkedIn and work

LinkedIn is where graduates look for work and employers look for staff. Somalia has more than 126 universities and colleges ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-universities-are-expanding-but-research-infrastructure-is-not)), and youth unemployment was 37.4% in the 2019 labour survey ([NBS](https://goaltracker.nbs.gov.so/content/platform/somalia/1651239734-lfs-report_2021.pdf)). In Ethiopia, LinkedIn grew from 870,000 members in 2023 to 1.4 million in early 2025, driven by young graduates ([Addis Insight](https://addisinsight.net/2025/09/03/1-4-million-ethiopians-on-linkedin-whats-driving-the-trend/)).


---

# Radio and the spoken word

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/radio-and-the-spoken-word/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalis trust the spoken word: radio, poetry, voice notes and respected speakers carry news and ideas faster than print. In a 2014 survey almost every second adult in Somalia listened to BBC radio, and about a third of listeners tuned in on their mobile phones.

## The force

Somali was not officially written until the 1970s ([Media Landscapes](https://medialandscapes.org/country/somalia/traditional-communication/overview)). For centuries, history, law, news and argument travelled as poetry and speech. Somalis are often called a nation of poets. That habit is still strong, and phones have made it stronger.

## Inside the country

- **Radio reach.** A survey from May to July 2014 found that almost every second adult listened to BBC radio, about 1.7 million listeners, making it the most-listened international service and one of the most trusted ([Radio Today](https://radiotoday.co.uk/2015/04/bbc-radio-gets-large-following-in-somalia/)).
- **How people listen.** About 70% listened on FM, about a third through mobile phones, and more than half of [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/)'s web traffic came from phones (same source).
- **What people want.** In a 2013 survey, 95.7% of audiences wanted religious content, 94.8% health, 83% arts and culture and 81.6% education ([Media Landscapes](https://medialandscapes.org/country/somalia/traditional-communication/overview)).
- **Trusted voices.** The same source says traditional religious leaders "remain highly credible".
- **Video now.** TikTok reaches 37.7% of adults, more than Facebook ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)). Somali-language education channels, such as waxkabaro Academy and Elmi Online Academy, are among the top YouTube channels in the country ([vidIQ](https://vidiq.com/youtube-stats/top/country/so/)).
- **Listening back.** Radio Ergo, a humanitarian station, sends weekly reports built from listeners' phone feedback ([Radio Ergo](https://radioergo.org/en/about-radio-ergo/)).

## Who rode it fast

Kenya's farming TV show Shamba Shape Up reached about 8 million viewers. It fed an SMS and call-centre service, iShamba, with 500,000 subscribers, and 428,000 households took up a farming practice it showed ([Mediae](https://mediae.org/documents/32/Mediae_impact-highlights_doc_copy.pdf)).

## What sources say

Adult literacy was 53.7% in 2022, and only 20.5% among nomadic families ([NBS Facts and Figures 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Somalia-Facts-Figures-2022.pdf)).


---

# Online work worldwide

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/online-work-worldwide/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Up to 435 million people worldwide earn money from online work, and demand is growing fastest in Africa. On one large platform, job posts grew 130% in sub-Saharan Africa between 2016 and 2020, against 14% in North America.

## The force

Work no longer has to be done where the employer is. Writing, design, data entry, translation, customer support and coding can be done from anywhere with a phone or laptop and a connection.

A World Bank study in September 2023 estimated that up to 435 million people do online gig work, up to 12% of the world's workforce. On one large platform, job posts in sub-Saharan Africa grew 130% from 2016 to 2020, against 14% in North America ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/promise-and-peril-online-gig-work-developing-countries)).

## Inside the country

Somalia has the people this kind of work needs and too few local jobs for them.

- About 500,000 young Somalis enter the job market each year, against about 80,000 new jobs ([MENA Startup Digest](https://menastartupdigest.com/somalia-launches-national-startup-network-with-three-innovation-hubs/)).
- Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 24) was 37.4% in the 2019 labour survey ([NBS Labour Force Survey](https://goaltracker.nbs.gov.so/content/platform/somalia/1651239734-lfs-report_2021.pdf)).
- Somalia has more than 126 universities and colleges, and thousands graduate each year ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-universities-are-expanding-but-research-infrastructure-is-not)).
- LinkedIn has 420,000 Somali members, up 23.5% in a year, the fastest-growing platform in the country ([DataReportal](https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-somalia)).
- Mobile data costs about $0.40 per gigabyte, cheaper than Kenya's $0.82 ([Broadband.co.uk, Mobile Data Price League 2026](https://www.broadband.co.uk/mobile-data-price-league)).

## Who rode it fast

Shaqodoon sent job alerts by SMS on short code 777 in Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). About 6,000 people found work within three months of its December 2013 launch ([Red Herring](https://www.redherring.com/internet/somalias-vulnerable-youth-find-work-online)).

## Ties abroad

About 2 million Somalis live abroad, in the UK, US, Canada, the Nordic countries and the Gulf ([UN News](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165666)). Somali-owned firms there can hire Somalis at home, and many graduates speak English or Arabic.

## What holds it back

Online work can be unstable and low-paid, and the World Bank study warns of weak protections for workers ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/promise-and-peril-online-gig-work-developing-countries)). Being paid from abroad also depends on payment links, which are still growing.


---

# Cities getting safer and reconnecting

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/cities-getting-safer-and-reconnecting/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Mogadishu's streets are busier and better lit, visitors are rising, and new airlines are flying in. Tourist numbers rose about 50% in 2024, an eVisa started in September 2025, and SalamAir opened the first direct Muscat to Mogadishu flights in September 2026.

## The force

After decades when few flew in, Somalia's cities are reconnecting with the world. This page uses civilian signs only: street life, visitors, visas and flights.

## Street life

AP reported in January 2026 that Mogadishu has new cafés and ice-cream shops and neon-lit main streets, and that residents say security "has really improved now" ([AP via News4Jax](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/01/08/somalias-fight-against-extremist-militants-shows-signs-of-success-on-the-streets-of-mogadishu/)). The same report recalls the August 2024 attack on Lido beach. Attacks still happen, and safety differs from city to city.

Hargeisa has a long record of relative calm ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510010090.html)).

## Visitors

Somalia's Department of Tourism counted about 10,000 tourists in 2024, up about 50% on 2023. One tour company ran 13 group trips to Mogadishu in 2025, against 2 in 2023 ([KRDO](https://krdo.com/news/2025/11/17/if-somalia-is-dangerous-why-is-it-experiencing-a-surge-in-tourism/)). An eVisa for arrivals in Mogadishu started on 1 September 2025; [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) do not use it ([KRDO](https://krdo.com/news/2025/11/17/if-somalia-is-dangerous-why-is-it-experiencing-a-surge-in-tourism/)).

## Flights

- On 26 January 2023 Somalia took back management of its own airspace after about 30 years ([ch-aviation](https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/160023-somali-airlines-poised-to-resume-flights-by-ye25)).
- EgyptAir resumed Mogadishu flights on 12 July 2024 and added a third weekly flight on 7 July 2026 ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/egyptair-launches-third-weekly-flight-between-cairo-and-mogadishu)).
- SalamAir, a low-cost airline, started the first-ever direct Muscat to Mogadishu flights, twice a week, on 3 September 2026 ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/salamair-launches-direct-flights-between-oman-and-somalia)).
- [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/) bought two Airbus A320s in July 2025, and its restart has been tied to a planned new airport ([ch-aviation](https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/160023-somali-airlines-poised-to-resume-flights-by-ye25)).

## Building

The state news agency described a construction boom in Mogadishu in December 2025, with diaspora families returning ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/mogadishus-skyline-undergoes-rapid-transformation-as-improved-security-fuels-an-unprecedented-construction-boom-in-one-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-cities/)).


---

# The moment

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/the-moment/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia is at a turning point. On 5 November 2026 the Supreme Court ruled that the terms of parliament and the president had expired and that extending them was unlawful, while the federal government and several member states disagree over which constitution applies.

## The force

Moments when the old arrangement no longer holds are rare. They open space for people to come together around something new. This page sets out the facts of the moment as of November 2026.

## What the court ruled

On 5 November 2026 the Supreme Court ruled on a case brought by former president [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/). It found that parliament's term ended on 14 April 2026 and the president's on 15 May 2026. Acts after those dates are void, and the government may act only as a caretaker. The court ordered leaders to agree a framework within 30 days and to act on it within 90 days. It did not strike down the 2026 constitutional amendments themselves, only their use to extend current terms ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-supreme-court-rules-president-parliament-terms-expired-orders-elections-within-90-days); [aNews](https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2026/11/05/somalia-president-term-extension-unlawful-supreme-court)).

The Attorney General rejected the ruling and disputed the court's authority, and the president swore in a new chief justice ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-court-rejects-presidents-term-extension-deepening-constitutional-crisis)).

## Two constitutions

The federal government uses a revised constitution passed on 4 March 2026 and signed on 8 March 2026. The opposition, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) recognise only the 2012 Provisional Constitution ([Somali Public Agenda](https://somalipublicagenda.org/contested-rules-contested-legitimacy-somalias-constitutional-and-electoral-conundrum/); [LSE](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)).

## States and the centre

Puntland withdrew recognition of the federal government on 31 March 2024. Jubaland suspended cooperation on 10 November 2024. [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) cut ties on 17 March 2026 ([Constitutional crisis in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_crisis_in_Somalia)). [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and Banadir remain aligned with the federal government ([Horn Review](https://hornreview.org/2026/04/21/analysis-of-somalias-constitution-crisis/)).

## The world still backs one Somalia

After Israel recognised [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on 26 December 2025, most states and bodies, including the African Union, the Arab League, China, [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/), Egypt, Djibouti and the Gulf states, reaffirmed Somalia's territorial unity at the UN ([UN Press](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)).

## What is empty

Each side has its own text, its own allies and its own account of what is lawful. What is missing is a place that belongs to no side, where every Somali community can see the whole country and its story as one.


---

# Digital tools other states use

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/proven-tools-from-successful-states/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Several states serve millions of people cheaply with digital tools that are published and free to copy. India's UPI handled 21.7 billion phone payments in January 2026, Estonia's X-Road runs more than 3,800 e-services, and Rwanda's health workers report by text message.

## The force

A new state no longer has to invent its systems. Other countries have built them, tested them on millions of people and, in several cases, released them for anyone to use.

## The tools

- **India, UPI (instant payments).** Any bank account can pay any other by phone, instantly. It handled 21.7 billion transactions in January 2026 ([Government of India, PIB](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/mar/doc202636812701.pdf)).
- **India, Aadhaar (ID) and direct payments.** More than 1.44 billion IDs had been issued by March 2026. Benefits go straight into people's accounts, and removing fake names saved more than ₹4.31 lakh crore from 2015 to 2024 ([PIB](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/mar/doc202636812701.pdf)).
- **India, DigiLocker.** Official documents kept on the phone: 676 million users and more than 9.5 billion documents ([PIB](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/mar/doc202636812701.pdf)).
- **Estonia, X-Road.** Free software that links government databases so people give their information only once. It runs more than 3,800 e-services and about 2.2 billion transactions a year, and other countries use it too ([e-Estonia](https://e-estonia.com/solutions/interoperability-services/x-road/)).
- **Rwanda, health data by SMS.** Community health workers report by text message into one national database. They had sent more than 9.3 million messages by 2018, and more than 700 health facilities were linked in one system ([Exemplars in Global Health](https://www.exemplars.health/topics/primary-health-care/rwanda/pathway-2-how-did-rwanda-foster-a-culture-of-accountability-and-information-use)).
- **Rwanda, performance contracts.** From 2006, officials signed public targets and were measured against them (same source).

## Inside the country

Somalia already has the base these tools need. About 73% of adults use mobile money ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024001.pdf.md)). A national instant payment system with one QR standard went live in 2025 ([BPC](https://www.bpcbt.com/en/press/somalia-launches-first-nationwide-instant-payment-system-powered-by-bpc)). National ID registration began in August 2025, aiming at 15 million people by 2029, and the Hubiye identity check links every commercial bank ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/federal-republic-of-somalia-launches-mass-registration-drive-for-its-digital-id)).

## What to watch

Researchers warn that when AI is used in government, it can be unclear who is accountable when it gets something wrong ([CEPA](https://cepa.org/article/should-ai-chatbots-provide-government-services/)).


---

# How fast startups reached people on basic phones

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/how-startups-reached-people-on-basic-phones/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The start-ups that grew fastest in markets with few smartphones did four things: they rode a network people already used, worked on basic phones by SMS, USSD or voice, put agents on the ground, and charged very little. M-Pesa in Kenya reached 2.7 million users in its first year this way.

## The pattern

The cases below come from Kenya, Senegal, Zambia and Somalia itself. They show the same pattern again and again.

## 1. Ride a network people already use

- **M-Pesa (Kenya)** launched in March 2007 on Safaricom's mobile network, which people already trusted. It reached 2.7 million users by the end of 2007, 6.5 million by the end of 2008 and 14 million by the end of 2011 ([Development Informatics](https://developmentinformatics.org/case-studies/m-pesa-kenya-case-study/)). Its own plan had aimed for 350,000 customers in year one ([Vodafone](https://www.vodafone.com/news/digital-society/m-pesa-created)).
- **M-Shwari**, a savings and loans service built on top of M-Pesa, reached 7.2 million customers in about two years ([FSD Africa](https://fsdafrica.org/the-growth-of-m-shwari-in-kenya-a-market-development-story/)).

## 2. Work on the phone people have

- **Somalia** shows this at home. In 2016, 88% of people aged 16 and over owned a SIM, and 83% of them used mobile money, mostly on basic phones through USSD menus ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/a-game-changer-the-prospects-and-pitfalls-of-mobile-money-in-somalia)).
- **Viamo** runs free voice lines that work on any phone. In Zambia it offers 10 free calls a month; about 3 million people made 26.6 million calls from 2015 to 2024, and 66.2% of users were women ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GSMA_Viamo_Voice-First-Generative-AI-for-Impact_2025.pdf)).
- **Shaqodoon (Somalia and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/))** sent job alerts by SMS on short code 777. About 6,000 people found work within three months of its December 2013 launch ([Red Herring](https://www.redherring.com/internet/somalias-vulnerable-youth-find-work-online)).

## 3. Put agents on the ground

M-Pesa paid shopkeepers, chemists and petrol stations to sign people up and handle cash, and had more than 17,000 agents by the end of 2009 ([Development Informatics](https://developmentinformatics.org/case-studies/m-pesa-kenya-case-study/)). Wave in Senegal built a dense network of 25,000 agents ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2021/10/18/coura-sene-reflects-on-waves-rapid-growth/)).

## 4. Charge very little

Wave charged fees about 70% lower than rivals, and more than half of Senegal's adults were using it within about four years ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2021/10/18/coura-sene-reflects-on-waves-rapid-growth/)). Eneza Education's SMS lessons cost a few cents a day and reached millions of learners ([Pioneers Post](https://pioneerspost.com/news-views/20210104/the-largest-classroom-africa-how-text-messages-mean-millions-of-children-can)).

## 5. Use radio or TV to feed the phone

Kenya's farming show Shamba Shape Up reached 8 million viewers and fed an SMS service, iShamba, with 500,000 subscribers ([Mediae](https://mediae.org/documents/32/Mediae_impact-highlights_doc_copy.pdf)).


---

# Proof from those who built first

Source: https://calankii.com/en/forces/proof-from-those-who-built-first/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Several nations built working institutions before they held power, and those institutions became the state on day one. Ireland ran its own courts and sold a public bond that raised almost 50% more than its target; Israel formed a 13-member cabinet a month before independence.

## The pattern

The countries below did not wait for power to start serving people. They built first, and the building gave them trust and skills. Each case has its own page in our "How nations started strong" section.

## Ireland, 1919 to 1922

While still under British rule, Ireland's independence movement ran a parallel government.

- **A public bond, the Dáil loan,** was approved on 4 April 1919 for £250,000 and raised £371,849, almost 50% over target. It was sold to ordinary people, not banks, and every subscription got an official receipt. A separate loan in the United States raised £1.1 million ([Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/a-century-on-the-dail-loan-that-set-the-state-on-road-to-financial-sovereignty-1.3849383)).
- **Its own courts,** set up on 29 June 1920: about 900 parish courts and 77 district courts. Women could be judges ([Dáil Courts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A1il_Courts)).
- In 1924 the new state repaid the bond in full with interest.

## Israel, 1948

Elected community bodies ran schools, welfare and local services for decades before 1948 ([Yishuv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yishuv)). On 12 April 1948, a month early, a People's Administration of 13 ministers was formed. On 14 May it became the provisional government ([Provisional government of Israel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_government_of_Israel)).

## Finland, 1917

Finland had its own senate from 1809, its own currency from 1860 and a parliament elected by all adults, including women, from 1906. When it declared independence on 6 December 1917, these were already working ([Grand Duchy of Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Finland)).

## Meiji Japan, 1868

Japan hired 2,000 to 3,000 foreign experts on two- to three-year contracts, then replaced them step by step with its own graduates. The scheme ended in 1899 ([Foreign advisors in Meiji Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_government_advisors_in_Meiji_Japan)).

## Rwanda, after 1994

From 2006, district mayors signed performance contracts (imihigo) with targets and measures, and within a few years every level of government did. Community health workers report by text message into one national system ([Exemplars in Global Health](https://www.exemplars.health/topics/primary-health-care/rwanda/pathway-2-how-did-rwanda-foster-a-culture-of-accountability-and-information-use)).

## Movements that served first

- **Solidarity, Poland,** grew into a movement of about 10 million members and helped form a government in 1989 ([Solidarity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_%28Polish_trade_union%29)).
- **BRAC, Bangladesh,** began as relief work after the 1971 war and grew into one of the world's largest development organisations ([BRAC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAC_%28organisation%29)).

## What they share

Each one earned trust by serving before it held office. Each one was paid for, at least partly, by its own people and its diaspora.


---

# Singapore (1965): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/singapore/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Singapore (1965) built a system with no predecessor and became prosperous by riding a wave the world already backed. Here is the wave, what was new, how it united people, and the result.

- **The wave:** Western manufacturers moving factories offshore.
- **What was new:** a state built to win foreign factories (Economic Development Board), compulsory savings (CPF), and public housing on state-owned land.
- **How it united people:** English as the shared working language; mixed public housing for every community.
- **Result:** GDP per person went from about $516 in 1965 to about $107,760 in 2026.

- [Wikipedia: Economy of Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore)


## How it stood up government on day one

Singapore was pushed out of Malaysia and had to become a country overnight. It had no army, no hinterland and 10 to 12% unemployment. It focused on jobs, homes and defence first. [History of the Republic of Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Republic_of_Singapore)

- **Day one:** independence on 9 August 1965.
- **Foreign affairs:** joined the UN on 21 September 1965, six weeks later, with help from Malaysia, the [Republic of China](/en/relations/taiwan/) and India. Joined the Commonwealth in October 1965.
- **Defence:** national service from 1967. Men at 18 train full time for about two and a half years, then serve as reservists. Singapore used advisers from Israel and West Germany. British forces left in September 1971.
- **Jobs:** the Economic Development Board, set up in 1961 before independence, built industrial estates at Jurong and gave investors 5 to 10 year tax holidays. Unemployment fell to about 3% in the 1980s.
- **Housing:** the Housing Development Board built 25,000 flats in its first two years. Within a decade most people lived in its flats. From 1968 people could use their pension savings (CPF) to buy them.
- **Language:** English became the language of all schools, to serve foreign employers and partners.
- **Results:** real growth averaged about 8% a year from the 1980s to 1999.


---

# UAE federation (1971): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/uae-federation/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> UAE federation (1971) built a system with no predecessor and became prosperous by riding a wave the world already backed. Here is the wave, what was new, how it united people, and the result.

- **The wave:** the Gulf oil boom, plus Britain's decision to leave.
- **What was new:** seven sheikhdoms in one federation under a council of rulers; whatever isn't federal stays with each emirate.
- **How it united people:** Abu Dhabi and Dubai agreed first, then the others joined, each keeping its own powers.
- **Result:** the most diversified economy in the Gulf.

- [Wikipedia: United Arab Emirates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates)


## How it stood up government on day one

Seven separate sheikhdoms, each with its own ruler, joined as one federation in under four years. Each kept control of its own land and resources. [History of the UAE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Arab_Emirates)

- **16 Jan 1968.** **Step:** Britain announces it will end its treaties with the Gulf sheikhdoms
- **18 Feb 1968.** **Step:** Rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai agree in principle to a union
- **27 Feb 1968.** **Step:** Nine-member federation announced, including Bahrain and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/)
- **Oct 1969.** **Step:** [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Zayed elected first president. Qatar withdraws and the nine-member plan ends
- **2 Dec 1971.** **Step:** Six emirates declare the UAE
- **10 Feb 1972.** **Step:** Ras Al Khaimah joins, making seven
- **Feb 1972.** **Step:** First federal budget, for housing, electricity, roads and communications

- **Federal design:** a provisional constitution set up five federal bodies: a Supreme Council of the rulers, a president, a cabinet, a Federal National Council and federal courts.
- **What stayed local:** each emirate kept sovereignty over its own territory and waters outside federal powers. Oil income stayed with each emirate. Abu Dhabi's oil money paid for schools, housing, hospitals and roads.
- **Qatar:** joined the 1968 to 1969 talks, then went on alone as its own state.


---

# Dubai (1985 to 2004): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/dubai/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 1985 Dubai built something new: free zones with their own rules, where foreign companies could own 100% of their business, pay little or no tax and, from 2004, use English-language common-law courts. The Jebel Ali Free Zone opened with 19 companies in 1985 and now hosts about 11,000.

## The starting point

Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), formed in 1971. Its own oil was small compared with Abu Dhabi's, so it needed another way to grow ([History of the UAE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Arab_Emirates)).

## The wave it rode

World trade and finance were looking for a hub between Europe, Asia and Africa.

## What was new

- **Free zones.** The Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) opened in 1985 with 19 founding companies next to the Jebel Ali port. Companies inside could be fully foreign-owned and pay little or no tax, without the whole country's law having to change first ([Arabian Business](https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/transport/jafza-at-40-how-massive-dubai-free-zone-went-from-19-companies-to-over-11000-to-become-trade-powerhouse)).
- **Its own courts.** The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), set up in 2004, runs English-language courts based on common law, separate from the rest of the legal system ([Carnegie](https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2017/05/dubais-alternative-judiciary)).

## How it brought people together

Investors chose to come; nobody was forced. Each zone offered clear rules, and people and companies moved there for them.

## How fast it grew

- Jafza grew from 19 companies in 1985 to about 11,000 businesses from 157 countries by 2025 ([Dubai Media Office](https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2025/may/05-05/hamdan-bin-mohammed-highlights-jafzas-significant-contribution-to-dubais-economy-over-4-decades)).
- The DIFC hosts more than 4,500 registered companies (same search, figure to be checked against the DIFC's own report).

## The result

The Dubai Media Office says Jafza and Jebel Ali port together account for about 36% of Dubai's economy ([Dubai Media Office](https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2025/may/05-05/hamdan-bin-mohammed-highlights-jafzas-significant-contribution-to-dubais-economy-over-4-decades)). Other estimates for the zone alone range from about 21% to 30% ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/uae/z-for-zones-drivers-of-development-1.1937862)).

## Sources differ

Older figures give the zone's share of Dubai's economy as 21% to 24%; the 36% figure combines the zone and the port.

## What critics record

The UAE has no elected national institutions and has been rated "Not Free" by Freedom House every year since 1999. The kafala sponsorship system ties migrant workers to their employers ([United Arab Emirates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates)). The DIFC courts create a two-tier legal system ([Carnegie](https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2017/05/dubais-alternative-judiciary)).


---

# Rwanda (1994): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/rwanda/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Rwanda (1994) built a system with no predecessor and became prosperous by riding a wave the world already backed. Here is the wave, what was new, how it united people, and the result.

- **The wave:** world support and donor money after the genocide; the global push for business reform.
- **What was new:** "Home Grown Solutions": monthly community work (Umuganda), signed performance contracts for officials (Imihigo), community courts (Gacaca), and an annual national dialogue.
- **How it united people:** one national identity over ethnic identity, carried by Rwandan traditions.
- **Result:** GDP per person (PPP) went from $416 in 1994 to about $4,100 in 2025.

- [Wikipedia: Economy of Rwanda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Rwanda)
- [Rwanda Governance Board: Home Grown Solutions](https://www.rgb.rw/1/home-grown-solutions)


## How it stood up government on day one

Rwanda rebuilt from genocide with home-grown institutions: community courts, performance contracts for officials, and a new tax authority. Growth has mostly run at 6 to 9% a year since 2006. [Economy of Rwanda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Rwanda)

- **Treasury:** the Rwanda Revenue Authority was created by law in 1997 and opened in 1998 with 200 staff. By 2017 it had 168,346 taxpayers and expected to collect over RWF 1 trillion (about $1.2 billion) for the first time. [RRA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda_Revenue_Authority)
- **Investment:** a one-stop investment centre and a new investment code in early 1998. Rwanda ranked 38th in the World Bank's Doing Business index in 2020, second in Africa.
- **Justice:** regular courts could not handle about 130,000 genocide suspects. Gacaca community courts were set up by law in 2001 and began trials in 2002. More than 12,103 courts, with nine-person panels of local judges, heard over 1.2 million cases. [Gacaca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacaca_court)
- **Criticism of gacaca from the source:** no right to a lawyer or presumption of innocence, unpaid judges with bribery claims, ruling-party crimes excluded from 2004, and risks to witnesses.
- **Performance contracts (imihigo):** from 2006, district mayors set targets with action plans and measures. Within a few years every level of government signed them. [Exemplars in Global Health](https://www.exemplars.health/topics/primary-health-care/rwanda/pathway-2-how-did-rwanda-foster-a-culture-of-accountability-and-information-use)
- **Health, with data:** paying clinics for results began as a pilot in 2002. Births in health facilities rose from 30% (2005) to 69% (2010). A single web-based health data system linked more than 700 facilities in 2012. Community health workers report by text message, with over 9.3 million messages by 2018.
- **Results:** income per person at purchasing-power parity rose from $416 in 1994 to $3,893 in 2024. Poverty fell from 57% to 45% between 2006 and 2011. [Economy of Rwanda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Rwanda)


---

# Estonia (1991): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/estonia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After independence in 1991, Estonia built a government that runs almost entirely online: one digital ID for every person and one secure link, X-Road, that lets government databases share information. X-Road now runs more than 3,800 e-services, and Estonia says 99% of public services are online around the clock.

## The starting point

Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 with 1.3 million people, few resources and old Soviet systems ([E-Estonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Estonia)).

## The wave it rode

The internet was spreading in the 1990s. Estonia chose to build its new state on it instead of copying paper systems.

## What was new

- **X-Road (2001).** Free software that links public and private databases, so people give their information to government only once. Planning began in 1998 and the system went live in 2001 ([e-Estonia](https://e-estonia.com/solutions/interoperability-services/x-road/)).
- **One digital ID for everyone.** A compulsory national ID card that works online to sign documents and use services. Sources date it to 2001 or 2002 ([E-Estonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Estonia)).
- **e-Residency (2014).** Estonia became the first country to offer a digital identity to people from abroad, so they can run an Estonian company online. It gives digital access, not citizenship ([OECD OPSI](https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/e-residency-programme/)).

## How it brought people together

Everyone got the same ID and the same services, with no queues and no middlemen. A citizen in a village and one in the capital deal with government the same way.

## How fast it grew

X-Road runs more than 3,800 e-services and about 2.2 billion transactions a year, and other countries now use it too ([e-Estonia](https://e-estonia.com/solutions/interoperability-services/x-road/)).

## The result

Estonia says 99% of public services can be used online, 24 hours a day ([E-Estonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Estonia)). We have not found a primary government figure for the 99%, so treat it as Estonia's own claim.

## What critics record

In 2017 a flaw in the chip on ID cards forced Estonia to lock cards temporarily until they were updated ([E-Estonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Estonia)). A digital state is only as safe as its security.


---

# Botswana (1966): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/botswana/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Botswana (1966) built a system with no predecessor and became prosperous by riding a wave the world already backed. Here is the wave, what was new, how it united people, and the result.

- **The wave:** world demand for diamonds.
- **What was new:** a 50/50 partnership with De Beers instead of seizing the mines or giving them away.
- **How it united people:** stable institutions and low corruption from day one.
- **Result:** from one of the poorest countries at independence to upper-middle income.

- [Wikipedia: Economy of Botswana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Botswana)


## How it stood up government on day one

Botswana started as one of the poorest countries on earth, with almost nothing built. It became upper-middle income by spending diamond money carefully and mixing a modern parliament with traditional chiefs.

- **Day one:** about 12 km of paved road, 22 university graduates and about 100 secondary-school graduates. [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/10/1/botswana-at-60-challenges-the-story-of-postcolonial-african-failure)
- **New capital:** the seat of government moved from Mahikeng in South Africa to a newly built Gaborone in 1965. [Botswana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana)
- **Hybrid design:** a Westminster-style parliament, plus an advisory House of Chiefs. Parliament is the only law-making body. Seretse Khama, the independence leader, was first president.
- **Defence:** Botswana had no army at independence. The Botswana Defence Force was formed only in 1977, after neighbouring armies raided its territory.
- **Treasury:** diamond production started at Orapa in 1972. The state owns 50% of the mining company (Debswana) with De Beers. Diamonds give about 50% of government revenue. The government has mostly run budget surpluses and holds large reserves. [Economy of Botswana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Botswana)
- **Savings fund:** the Pula Fund keeps part of diamond wealth for future generations and cushions price shocks. [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/10/1/botswana-at-60-challenges-the-story-of-postcolonial-african-failure)
- **Results:** GDP grew about 13.9% a year from 1965 to 1980. In 1994 Botswana was the first country to leave the UN least-developed list. Income per person is about $7,800 (2025). Poverty fell from 30.6% (2002/03) to about 14.5% (2022). Roads reached almost 35,000 km by 2024.


---

# Shenzhen (1980): a new system that brought prosperity

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/shenzhen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> On 26 August 1980 China made Shenzhen, a farming area next to Hong Kong, its first Special Economic Zone, allowed to write its own market rules inside a socialist country. Its population grew from about 330,000 in 1980 to about 17.8 million in 2023, and its economy grew more than a thousand-fold.

## The starting point

Shenzhen in 1980 was farmland, with a small market town of barely 30,000 people across the border from Hong Kong ([Hinrich Foundation](https://hinrichfoundation.com/research/article/fdi/reform-opening-up-china/)).

## The wave it rode

Factories were leaving Hong Kong for cheaper land and labour as China opened up to the world.

## What was new

A zone allowed to make its own market laws, welcome foreign investment and set its own land and labour rules, while the rest of China kept the old system ([Shenzhen Special Economic Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen_Special_Economic_Zone)). The zone first covered 327 square kilometres, later 396 ([Hinrich Foundation](https://hinrichfoundation.com/research/article/fdi/reform-opening-up-china/)).

## How it brought people together

It was opt-in. People and companies moved there because of its rules. Deng Xiaoping visited in 1984 and again on his "Southern Tour" in 1992, which confirmed the reforms and sped them up across China ([Hinrich Foundation](https://hinrichfoundation.com/research/article/fdi/reform-opening-up-china/)).

## How fast it grew

From 1981 to 1993 Shenzhen's economy grew by an average of about 40% a year. Growth slowed to about 16% a year in 2001 to 2005 ([Hinrich Foundation](https://hinrichfoundation.com/research/article/fdi/reform-opening-up-china/)).

## The result

China's state broadcaster reports that Shenzhen's GDP rose from 2.7 billion yuan in 1980 to 3,460.6 billion yuan in 2023, and its population from 332,900 to 17.79 million ([CGTN](https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-08-22/Shenzhen-How-China-turned-a-fishing-village-into-a-global-tech-hub-1whpjII8bDy/p.html)). It is now one of the world's main technology centres.

## Sources differ

The 1980 starting figures vary widely. Some give 1980 GDP as about 270 million yuan rather than 2.7 billion, and population counts for 1980 range from about 30,000 in the town to about 330,000 in the wider area.

## What critics record

Shenzhen's growth came with harsh conditions for migrant workers and heavy pollution ([Shenzhen Special Economic Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen_Special_Economic_Zone)).


---

# Medina under the Prophet (peace be upon him), 622

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/medina-under-the-prophet-622/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Soon after the Hijrah in 622, the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned Medina, a city of rival clans, into one community under one written agreement. Each clan kept its own duties, but all signers defended the city together and took their disputes to one judge.

## The starting point

Medina, then called Yathrib, had no single ruler. Its Arab clans had fought each other for years, and Jewish groups lived alongside them. The Muslims who came from Mecca (the Muhajirun) had left their homes and property behind ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Constitution-of-Medina)).

## Day one

A written pact, often called the [Constitution of Medina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina). It runs to roughly 47 clauses. The parties were the Muhajirun, the eight Ansar clans of Medina, Jewish groups and others in the city.

- **One community:** all signers form one political unit (umma), distinct from other peoples.
- **Defence:** all signers help if an outside force attacks. Each group pays its own costs, and no one makes a separate peace.
- **Justice:** each clan pays its blood money as a group and ransoms its own prisoners. Disputes go to God and the Prophet (peace be upon him).
- **Territory:** the valley of Yathrib is declared a sanctuary (haram) for the signers.
- **Minorities:** Jews who join get equal rights and protection from oppression.

## What was new

Loyalty moved from the clan to one community bound by a written text. The clans were not abolished. They kept their own internal duties, such as blood money, inside a shared frame.

## The treasury

There was no permanent treasury yet. Money was shared out as soon as it came in. The last recorded receipt in his lifetime, 800,000 dirhams from Bahrain, was shared out in one sitting. A standing treasury came later, under Umar ([Bayt al-mal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayt_al-mal)).

## What scholars note

The text survives only in later works, by Ibn Hishām and Abū ʿUbayd. Scholars disagree on whether it was one document or up to eight, and on its exact date ([Constitution of Medina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina)).


---

# Umar ibn al-Khattab, 634 to 644

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/umar-ibn-al-khattab-634-to-644/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> How Umar ibn al-Khattab, 634 to 644 stood up working government on day one: what was in place and what was new.

Umar turned a fast-growing conquest into a paid, registered and audited state. Most of his tools were new to Arabia. Some were borrowed from Byzantium and Persia.

- **Treasury:** Umar set up a central treasury (bayt al-mal) in Medina after consulting his council. Abdullah bin Arqam ran it. Provincial treasuries paid local costs and sent the surplus to Medina. A separate accounts office, modelled on Byzantine practice, recorded all spending. [Bayt al-mal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayt_al-mal)
- **Defence:** in 637 the army became a state department. A register listed every adult man liable to fight, with a fixed pay scale. Pay came at the start of Muharram. Troops posted far away got leave after four months. [Reforms of Umar's era](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reforms_of_Umar%27s_era)
- **Soldiers paid in cash, not land:** land grants were minor. Soldiers lived on state salaries. [Reforms of Umar's era](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reforms_of_Umar%27s_era)
- **Provinces:** each conquered area got a governor (amir) and a separate finance officer (amil). Local government was otherwise left largely in place. [Rashidun Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
- **Garrison cities:** Basra, Kufa and Fustat were founded or expanded as provincial capitals.
- **Anti-corruption:** a department led by Muhammad ibn Maslama investigated complaints against officials. Officials' assets were recorded before appointment and checked every year. Guilty officials were removed. [Reforms of Umar's era](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reforms_of_Umar%27s_era)
- **Welfare:** zakat and jizya funded the poor, elderly, orphans, widows and disabled. In the famine of 638 the poor got cash and flour. Each orphan got 100 dirhams a year. [Bayt al-mal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayt_al-mal)
- **ID and data:** a census of all Muslim lands and the army register.
- **Foreign affairs:** the surrender terms for Jerusalem promised Christians protection, freedom of worship, no conversion of churches, and a lighter tax than under Byzantium. [Rashidun Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
- **Justice:** he began codifying Islamic law. He set up the Hijri calendar, dated from 622.
- **Succession:** a six-man committee chose the next caliph.


---

# Mu'awiya, Umayyad state from 661

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/mu-awiya-umayyad-state-from-661/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From 661 Mu'awiya ran a fast-growing state from Damascus by keeping the skilled officials who already ran Syria and putting them to work for the new state. He added a chancellery and a courier service, and governed by consulting councils of Arab notables.

## The starting point

Mu'awiya had governed Syria for about twenty years before he became caliph. Syria had been run by Rome and then Byzantium for centuries, and it had trained clerks, tax records and a large Christian population ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muawiyah-I)).

## Day one

- **Civil service:** he kept the administrative methods that already worked. Christians from families that had served Byzantium held senior posts, and Greek stayed in use in the tax offices for decades ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muawiyah-I)).
- **New offices:** he is credited with two bureaus (diwans). One was a chancellery (diwan al-khatam), which sealed and copied official letters so they could not be forged. The other was a postal and courier service (barid) to speed news across the state ([Barid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barid)).
- **Consultation:** he kept the old Arab councils. The shura was a council of notables. The wufud were delegations from the Arab communities that kept the caliph informed and carried his word home.

## What was new

He did not tear down a working system to start again. He kept the people who knew how to run things and made them serve a new state. Speed of communication, through the barid, held a large territory together.

## How it held people together

Tolerance of Christian officials was part of his policy in a land with a large Christian population. Community leaders were heard through the shura and the wufud.

## The result

The Umayyad state lasted until 750 and grew into one of the largest states the world had then seen. Arabic became its language of government under his successors ([Umayyad Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate)).

## What critics record

His rule followed the first civil war (fitna) among Muslims, and many Muslims, Shia Muslims above all, view his part in it critically. He secured allegiance for his son Yazid, which began hereditary rule. Many scholars since have criticised that break with choosing the caliph by consultation ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muawiyah-I)).


---

# Mehmet II, Ottoman state after 1453

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/mehmet-ii-ottoman-state-after-1453/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> After taking Constantinople in 1453, Mehmet II rebuilt it as Istanbul and turned a frontier state into a central government run by salaried officials loyal to the state, not to families. He wrote the rules down in a law code and let religious communities run their own affairs.

## The starting point

The Ottoman state was already old, but power was shared with great families whose loyalty was split. The city he took had lost much of its population ([Mehmed II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_II)).

## What he built

- **Central government:** an imperial council (divan) of loyal officials. His first two grand viziers came from palace-trained recruits, not noble families.
- **Written rules:** a law code (kanunname) of 1477 to 1481 listed the chief officials, their roles, salaries, ranks and penalties.
- **Scholars on salary:** madrasa scholars became paid state employees.
- **Justice:** Islamic law (sharia) covered family matters and much public law. The sultan could add secular law (kanun) if it did not conflict with sharia ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire/Classical-Ottoman-society-and-administration)).
- **Local government:** the local judge (kadi) also ran local administration and taxes in his district ([Kadi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kad%C4%B1)).
- **Revenue, three ways:** timar (revenue granted in place of salary), emanet (a salaried trustee sends in all proceeds, used for customs and markets) and iltizam (tax farming) ([Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire/Classical-Ottoman-society-and-administration)).

## How it held people together

In January 1454 he restored the Orthodox Patriarchate under Gennadios and named a grand rabbi. Religious communities ran their own marriage, education and justice and answered to the sultan for taxes and security. People who had fled Galata could return to their houses.

## The result

Orders moved 5,000 households to Istanbul. By 1478 the city had about 80,000 people and 3,927 shops. The Fatih complex had eight madrasas that were the top schools for nearly a century, and a hospital. He asked his viziers to fund public trusts (waqf) too ([Mehmed II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_II)).

## What critics record

The palace recruits came through the devshirme, which took Christian boys from their families by force ([Devshirme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devshirme)). Mehmet also made royal fratricide a written rule of succession.


---

# Dutch Republic, 1579 to 1648

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/dutch-republic-1579-to-1648/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In 1579 seven provinces in the Low Countries joined in the Union of Utrecht, then declared independence from Spain in 1581. Each province kept most of its own power in a light federation, and by the 1600s it was the richest trading state in Europe.

## The starting point

The provinces were ruled by Philip II of Spain. They had their own assemblies, towns and trade, but no shared government of their own ([Dutch Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republic)).

## Founding steps

- **1579:** in the [Union of Utrecht](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Utrecht) the provinces promised to defend each other and agreed to act as one in foreign affairs.
- **1581:** the [Act of Abjuration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Abjuration) declared they no longer recognised Philip II as their ruler.
- **1588:** they could not agree on a new prince, so they ran the state as a republic.

## How the federation worked

- **Federal assembly:** a small States General sat in The Hague with members from all seven provinces. Each province had one vote, whatever its size.
- **Provinces:** each had its own assembly and its own chief executive.
- **Defence:** a stadtholder led the forces. In practice the Princes of Orange held the post, which caused lasting tension with the provinces.
- **Treasury:** each province paid a fixed share (quota) to the federal level. [Holland](/en/relations/netherlands/) paid over half, and Amsterdam was its biggest payer.

## What was new

In 1602 the [Dutch East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company) (VOC) merged rival trading ventures. Its shares traded in Amsterdam, which is often called the first modern stock exchange.

## How it held people together

The Union of Utrecht guaranteed personal freedom of belief. One church was privileged, and public office required belonging to it, but people of other faiths could live and trade freely. Many refugees came for that reason.

## The result

Spain formally recognised the republic in the [Peace of Münster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_M%C3%BCnster) in 1648. Amsterdam became the trading and banking centre of Europe.

## What critics record

The VOC used force and slavery in Asia and the Dutch took part in the Atlantic slave trade ([Dutch East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company)).


---

# United States, 1789

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/united-states-1789/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> How United States, 1789 stood up working government on day one: what was in place and what was new.

The new government started with three departments and one lawyer, and paid for itself almost entirely with import duties. This is the model in your original sketch.

**Timeline of the first year**

- **4 Mar 1789.** **Step:** New government begins ([GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/usa/history/04-07.htm))
- **30 Apr 1789.** **Step:** Washington sworn in
- **1 Aug 1789.** **Step:** First Tariff Act in force, setting import duties ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/gaspar))
- **7 Aug 1789.** **Step:** War Department created. Knox kept on from the old Congress for continuity ([US House](https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/The-establishment-of-the-Department-of-War/))
- **2 Sep 1789.** **Step:** Treasury created. Hamilton sworn in on 11 Sep ([Treasury](https://home.treasury.gov/about/history/history-overview/history-of-the-treasury))
- **24 Sep 1789.** **Step:** Judiciary Act: Supreme Court, 3 circuit courts, 13 district courts, an Attorney General, and a federal attorney in each district ([FJC](https://www.fjc.gov/history/administration/executive-legal-officers))
- **Jan 1790.** **Step:** Hamilton's first report on public credit
- **Jul 1790.** **Step:** Federal government takes over state war debts
- **Dec 1790.** **Step:** Hamilton's national bank report

**By function**

- **Foreign affairs:** a Department of Foreign Affairs was debated first, then became the Department of State under Jefferson. Its secretary could be removed by the President. By 1824 it had only 13 staff in Washington. [Brookings](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/the-early-federal-workforce-by-p-kastor.pdf)
- **Defence:** the War Secretary answered to the President, who could remove him. A House vote of 24 to 22 put that in the law. By 1824 War had 32 staff at headquarters. [US House](https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/The-establishment-of-the-Department-of-War/)
- **Treasury:** the biggest office, with 152 staff by 1824. Tariffs gave about 90% of federal money. Hundreds of customs officials worked at the ports. A Revenue Cutter Service chased smugglers. [IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/gaspar), [Brookings](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/the-early-federal-workforce-by-p-kastor.pdf)
- **Debt:** in 1790 public debt was $79 million, about 40% of GDP. Debt payments alone were more than tax income. Hamilton swapped old notes for new ones at face value and cut the interest rate from 6% to 4%. Federal bonds traded above face value by 1791. Taking over state debts was won in a deal to move the capital to the Potomac. [IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/gaspar)
- **Justice:** the Attorney General argued the government's cases at the Supreme Court and advised the President and cabinet. He had no department and no staff. Early holders wrote by hand or paid for help themselves. A full Department of Justice came only in 1870. [FJC](https://www.fjc.gov/history/administration/executive-legal-officers)
- **Size:** about 3,905 federal civilian employees in 1802, and 10,415 by 1826. [Brookings](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/the-early-federal-workforce-by-p-kastor.pdf)

**New system:** a written federal constitution replaced the weak Articles of Confederation, and the debt deal gave the new state credit from day one.


---

# Meiji Japan, 1868

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/meiji-japan-1868/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> How Meiji Japan, 1868 stood up working government on day one: what was in place and what was new.

Japan was not colonised, but it scrapped its whole feudal system and built a new state in about 20 years. It did this by sending its leaders to study abroad and renting foreign experts on short contracts. [Meiji Restoration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration)

- **Day one:** the Charter Oath of 6 April 1868 set the goals: drop the old administration, enrich the country, adopt Western technology.
- **Regions to one state:** 302 feudal domains became 72 prefectures under central control by January 1872.
- **Treasury:** the 1873 land tax reform replaced crop payments with a 3% cash tax on assessed land value. Landowners paid, not farmers. Land titles were issued and private ownership was recognised for the first time. The goal was steady income. [Land Tax Reform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Tax_Reform_%28Japan_1873%29)
- **Old elite bought out:** samurai stipends became government bonds, by choice in 1874 and compulsorily in 1876.
- **Defence:** from 1873, conscription of every man at 21 for four years active service and three in reserve. This replaced the hereditary samurai class.
- **Foreign affairs and learning:** the Iwakura Mission of 1871 to 1873 sent about 100 people, including senior leaders, to the US, Britain and nine European states for nearly two years. It sought recognition and treaty changes, and studied Western government, industry, military and schools. Treaty revision failed. [Iwakura Mission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwakura_Mission)
- **Rented expertise:** Japan hired 2,000 to 3,000 foreign advisors (oyatoi) on two- to three-year contracts. In 1874 the 520 foreign staff cost 33.7% of the national budget. They were replaced step by step with Japanese graduates, and the scheme ended in 1899. French and German experts shaped the law and army, and British experts the railways and navy. [Foreign advisors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_government_advisors_in_Meiji_Japan)
- **Public services:** a national system of free schools.
- **Justice and constitution:** the Meiji Constitution of 1889 lasted until 1945.


---

# Finland 1917 and Ireland 1922

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/finland-1917-and-ireland-1922/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> How Finland 1917 and Ireland 1922 stood up working government on day one: what was in place and what was new.

Both states ran parts of a government before they were independent. Finland had a century of home institutions. Ireland built a parallel government, with its own courts and a public bond, while still under British rule.

## Finland

- **Built before independence:** a Finnish-run Senate from 1809, its own currency (the markka) from 1860, Finnish as an official language from 1863, its own army around 1869 (dissolved by Russia in 1901), and a one-chamber parliament elected by universal suffrage, including women, in 1906. [Grand Duchy of Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Finland)
- **Day one:** Parliament approved the Declaration of Independence on 6 December 1917, with these institutions already working.

## Ireland

**Parallel government, 1919 to 1922**

- **Public bond (the Dáil loan):** approved 4 April 1919 for £250,000. It raised £371,849, almost 50% over target. A separate loan in the US raised £1.1 million, but only about half reached Ireland. Banks were excluded, and it was sold to ordinary people. The campaign used 2 million leaflets, 500,000 prospectuses, 50,000 letters to wealthy people, newspaper ads and a film. Every subscription got an official receipt. Accounts were coded and kept in trusted friends' names because of raids. [Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/a-century-on-the-dail-loan-that-set-the-state-on-road-to-financial-sovereignty-1.3849383)
- **Bond terms:** 20 years at 5% interest, payable six months after international recognition. In 1924 the new state approved repayment in full with interest.
- **What the money paid for:** a small secretariat (seven staff by June 1919), new departments, ministers' pay, offices, diplomats abroad, the court system and defence.
- **Parallel courts (Dáil Courts):** set up by decree on 29 June 1920. About 900 parish courts and 77 district courts, plus four circuits and a supreme court. They applied the law as it stood on 21 January 1919 plus new Dáil decrees. Women could be judges. Republican police enforced them. [Dáil Courts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A1il_Courts)
- **Hand-over:** the parallel courts were wound up from 1922, pending cases were cleared by commissioners over two years, and the Courts of Justice Act 1924 created the court system that still largely exists.

**After independence** [Irish Free State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Free_State)

- **Day one:** the treaty was ratified on 7 January 1922 and a Provisional Government was formed under Michael Collins. The Free State was established on 6 December 1922.
- **Foreign affairs:** joined the League of Nations on 10 September 1923.
- **Defence:** after the civil war, the military budget was cut by 82% from 1924 to 1929, and active forces fell from 28,000 to 7,000.
- **Treasury:** the Currency Act 1927 created its own pound, pegged one-to-one with sterling. New coins came out in December 1928.


---

# Israel, 1948

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/israel-1948/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Israel's government existed before the state did. Elected pre-state bodies, backed by Jews abroad, ran schools, welfare and defence for decades, and on 14 May 1948 a shadow cabinet formed a month earlier became the government.

## The starting point

From the 1920s, Jewish communities in British-ruled Palestine (the Yishuv) built their own institutions under British rule ([Yishuv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yishuv)).

## Built before independence

- **Elected assembly:** from 19 April 1920, an Assembly of Representatives met once a year. It elected the executive and voted its budgets.
- **Executive (Va'ad Leumi):** ran education, local government, welfare and health services.
- **Diaspora body:** the Jewish Agency (1929 to 1948) handled immigration and outside relations.
- **Money:** the community relied on money from Jews abroad, including large donors.
- **Universities:** Hebrew high schools and the Technion opened before the First World War.

## Day one

- **Shadow cabinet first:** on 12 April 1948, a month early, a People's Administration of 13 ministers was formed, with Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Health, Labour, Transport and Welfare among its posts ([Provisional government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_government_of_Israel)).
- **Switch-over:** on 14 May 1948 it became the provisional government, and the People's Council became the provisional parliament.
- **Justice:** the first law kept existing law in force unless changed, which avoided a legal vacuum ([NYU GlobaLex](https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Israel1.html)).
- **One army:** an order of 28 May 1948 created one national army and banned all other armed groups. Other groups were merged or disbanded by November 1948 ([Jewish Virtual Library](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/foundidf.html)).

## What was new

Nothing had to be invented on day one. Ministries, budgets and staff already existed, so the new state started with a working government.

## The result

Elections followed in January 1949 and the first elected cabinet in March 1949.

## What critics record

The war of 1948 drove about 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes. Palestinians call it the Nakba (catastrophe). Most were never allowed to return, and the dispute is unresolved today ([1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_expulsion_and_flight)).


---

# South Korea 1948 and Taiwan 1949

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/south-korea-1948-and-taiwan-1949/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> South Korea (1948) and Taiwan (1949) both started poor and damaged by war. Both gave farmland to the people who farmed it, put children in school, then built small planning offices that pushed firms to export, and both grew rich within one lifetime.

## The starting point

Both had come out of Japanese colonial rule and war. Most people were poor tenant farmers. (Taiwan's statehood is disputed internationally. It is here for how it built institutions.)

## South Korea

- **Land first:** a land reform law redistributed most farmland to the people who farmed it by 1951. Land was bought from landlords and sold on to farmers ([Economic history of South Korea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_South_Korea)).
- **Schools:** elementary school became compulsory in 1949. The state had little money, so many schools were set up and funded privately by communities.
- **Planning:** an Economic Planning Board was created in 1961. Firms that met export targets got support. Textiles were 41% of exports by 1965.
- **Result:** income per person went from $87 in 1962 to $4,830 in 1989. Savings rose from 3.3% to 35.8% of national income.

## Taiwan

- **Step 1 (1949):** farm rents were capped at 37.5% of the harvest ([Land reform in Taiwan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_Taiwan)).
- **Step 2 (1951):** public land was sold to tenant farmers.
- **Step 3 (1953):** large holdings were broken up and sold to tenants ("land to the tiller"). Some landlords were paid in shares of state firms.
- **Result:** Taiwan moved from sharecropping to owner-farmers, and farm income funded the first factories.

## What was new

Both did the slow, basic things first: fair land and schools for every child. Growth came after, not before.

## How it held people together

Owning land and seeing children in school gave millions of families a stake in the new state.

## What critics record

South Korea's planning board was created by a military government after the 1961 coup, and the country had no fully free elections until 1987. Taiwan was under martial law from 1949 to 1987 ([Martial law in Taiwan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law_in_Taiwan)).


---

# Malaysia, 1957

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/malaysia-1957/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Malaya became independent on 31 August 1957 as a federation of states that kept their traditional rulers. The rulers choose one of themselves as King for five years, in turn, so no single state holds the crown, and the federation had already run for nine years before independence.

## The starting point

The Malay states were under British rule, with mixed Malay, Chinese and Indian populations ([Malaysia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia)).

## Built before independence

The [Federation of Malaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Malaya) was set up on 1 February 1948. It restored the rulers' place in their own states and gave the country a working federal government nine years before independence.

## Day one

- **Independence:** 31 August 1957, as a member of the Commonwealth.
- **Federal design:** nine Malay states keep hereditary rulers. Together they form the [Conference of Rulers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_of_Rulers).
- **Head of state:** the rulers elect one of themselves as King (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) for a five-year term. The post has rotated between the states by informal agreement ever since ([Yang di-Pertuan Agong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong)).

## What was new

Old leaders were not pushed aside. Each kept their role at home and took a turn at the top. This joined respect for tradition to a modern federal state.

## How it held people together

Every ruler had a fair chance at the highest office. The independence deal was negotiated between the main communities' parties before 1957.

## How it grew

- **1963:** Malaysia formed on 16 September with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Singapore left in August 1965.
- **After 1969:** following riots on 13 May 1969, a New Economic Policy aimed to cut poverty and raise the Malay share of the economy. Fast industrial growth followed in the 1980s.

## The result

Income per person is about $15,981 (2026 estimate), or $47,453 at purchasing-power parity ([Malaysia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia)).

## What critics record

An insurgency, the Malayan Emergency, ran from 1948 to 1960. The New Economic Policy's preferences by ethnic group are still criticised as unfair to non-Malays ([Malaysian New Economic Policy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_New_Economic_Policy)).


---

# Somalia today

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/somalia-today/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Where Somalia stands today on the building blocks of a state: the constitution, the treasury, justice and ID.

Somalia today has two rival constitutions, a federal government that half the member states do not recognise, a treasury that collects about 3% of GDP, and over 80% of court cases handled outside the state courts.

## Constitution and politics [Horn Review, Apr 2026](https://hornreview.org/2026/04/21/analysis-of-somalias-constitution-crisis/)

- **2012:** a Provisional Federal Constitution was adopted on 1 August 2012. It left shared and residual federal and state powers to be negotiated later.
- **March 2024:** Parliament amended chapters 1 to 4. It moved towards one person, one vote. It let the President appoint the Prime Minister without parliament's approval. It extended terms from four to five years and limited political parties.
- **March 2026:** Parliament approved chapters 5 to 15 on 4 March 2026. The President signed it as the "Official Constitution" on 8 March. There was no referendum.
- **Two texts:** the federal government backs the 2026 text. Dissenting states back the 2012 text.
- **States:** [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) withdrew recognition on 30 March 2024. [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) suspended ties in late 2024. [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) withdrew in March 2026. That makes three of six. [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and Mogadishu remain aligned.
- **Terms:** Parliament's term expired on 14 April 2026 without elections.

## Treasury [IMF, 2024](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024001.pdf.md)

- **Debt:** debt relief under the HIPC scheme was completed in December 2023, cancelling $4.5 billion. External debt fell from 64% of GDP (2018) to 6% (2023).
- **Revenue:** $329 million collected in 2023. The 2024 target was $357 million, about 3.4% of GDP. Grants were about 64% of revenue plus grants in 2024. Trade and customs taxes are a key source.
- **Money:** the central bank has not issued currency since 1991. The economy runs on US dollars. About 73% of Somalis aged 16 and over use mobile money. Old shillings in circulation are mostly counterfeit.
- **Revenue sharing:** in 2023 the federal government, four of five member states and Mogadishu agreed who collects what. Talks with Puntland continued.

## Justice and security [EU Asylum Agency](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/51-state)

- **Three legal systems:** state courts, customary law (xeer) and sharia courts run side by side. Over 80% of civil and criminal cases are handled outside the formal system.
- **Courts:** independent on paper, but the source reports political interference, clan influence, corruption, underfunding and weak enforcement.
- **Security:** the national army is described as poorly trained and equipped and infiltrated by [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/). Special units backed by foreign partners do most counter-terror work. Some state paramilitary forces sit outside the constitutional framework. African Union forces (AUSSOM) remain.
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** controls its own territory and runs statutory, customary and sharia courts under its own constitution.

## ID [World Bank, Sep 2025](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/federal-republic-of-somalia-launches-mass-registration-drive-for-its-digital-id)

- **Baseline:** fewer than 16% of Somalis had a government ID in 2022.
- **Rollout:** the national ID agency (NIRA) began mass registration in August 2025, aiming at all 3.5 million Mogadishu residents and 15 million people nationwide by the end of 2029. IDs come as a card, a phone wallet (eAqoonsi) or a QR certificate.
- **Uses:** opening bank accounts, social protection and online identity checks through the Hubiye platform. Hubiye serves 1.2 million people across 25 services, including every commercial bank. An identity-check (eKYC) law came in December 2024. [UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/stories/driving-digital-transformation-somalia-2025-highlights)
- **Gap:** NIRA estimates a $14 million funding gap for 2026. Mobile registration of displaced people cost under $1 each.


---

# Tailwinds: digital ID, mobile money, data exchange and AI

Source: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/digital-id-mobile-money-and-ai/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Digital ID, phone payments, linked government databases and AI let a small team do work that once needed thousands of clerks. None of the older cases had these tools. This page sets out how India, Estonia and Rwanda use them, and what Somalia has in place: mobile money and a digital ID that is rolling out.

## What these tools are

- **Digital ID:** one trusted record per person, checked by phone or fingerprint.
- **Phone payments:** money sent straight to a person's phone or account, with no cash and no middleman.
- **Data exchange:** government databases linked, so people give their details once.
- **AI:** software that reads, sorts and answers questions in plain language.

## What they have done elsewhere

- **India, Aadhaar ID and direct payments:** over 1.44 billion IDs had been issued by March 2026. Paying benefits straight to bank accounts and cutting fake beneficiaries saved over ₹4.31 lakh crore from 2015 to 2024 ([PIB](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/mar/doc202636812701.pdf)).
- **India, UPI:** instant phone payments between any banks, with 21.7 billion transactions in January 2026.
- **India, DigiLocker:** official documents kept on the phone, with 676 million users.
- **Estonia, X-Road:** free software that links government databases. It runs over 3,800 e-services and about 2.2 billion transactions a year, and other countries use it too ([e-Estonia](https://e-estonia.com/solutions/interoperability-services/x-road/)).
- **Rwanda, health by text message:** community health workers report by SMS, on basic phones, into one national database. They had sent over 9.3 million messages by 2018 ([Exemplars](https://www.exemplars.health/topics/primary-health-care/rwanda/pathway-2-how-did-rwanda-foster-a-culture-of-accountability-and-information-use)).
- **Albania, Diella:** an AI system named "minister" for public procurement in September 2025. The opposition calls it unconstitutional ([Global Government Forum](https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/albania-introduces-ai-powered-minister-to-end-corruption-in-public-procurement/)).

## What Somalia already has

- **Mobile money:** about 73% of Somalis aged 16 and over use it ([IMF](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024001.pdf.md)).
- **Digital ID:** fewer than 16% had a government ID in 2022. Mass registration began in August 2025, aiming at 15 million people by 2029, as a card, a phone wallet (eAqoonsi) or a QR certificate ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/federal-republic-of-somalia-launches-mass-registration-drive-for-its-digital-id)).
- **ID checks:** the Hubiye platform links every commercial bank and serves 1.2 million people across 25 services ([UNDP](https://www.undp.org/somalia/stories/driving-digital-transformation-somalia-2025-highlights)).

## Risks on record

Researchers warn that no one is clearly accountable when AI gets it wrong, that AI cannot always explain its reasoning, and that chatbots can give wrong answers that sound right. A court held Air Canada responsible for its chatbot's false answer ([CEPA](https://cepa.org/article/should-ai-chatbots-provide-government-services/)). A single ID also raises privacy questions.


---

# Aden Adde International Airport, Mogadishu (MGQ)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Aden Adde International Airport (IATA MGQ, ICAO HCMM) is Mogadishu's airport and the busiest in Somalia. It opened in 1928 as the Italian Petrella airfield, was renamed in 2007 after Aden Abdulle Osman, Somalia's first president, and has one asphalt runway of 3,184 metres right on the coast.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA MGQ, ICAO HCMM ([OurAirports, HCMM](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMM/)).
- **Runway:** one asphalt runway, 05/23, 10,446 feet (about 3,184 metres) long; the field sits about 29 feet (9 metres) above sea level ([OurAirports, HCMM](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMM/)).
- **Named after:** [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), Somalia's first president. The [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) announced the new name on 8 June 2007, the day he died ([Wikipedia, Aden Adde International Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)).
- **Regulator:** the Somali Civil Aviation Authority ([SCAA](https://www.scaa.gov.so/)) under the [Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation](/en/institutions/ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation/).

## Italian beginnings, 1928 to 1960

The airport was set up in 1928 as **Aeroporto di Mogadiscio-Petrella**, a military field for [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). Civilian flights began in the mid-1930s. In 1935 Ala Littoria opened an Asmara–Assab–Mogadishu route flown by a Caproni 133 carrying up to 18 passengers, and in 1936 a four-day service ran Mogadishu–Asmara–Khartoum–Tripoli–Rome (same source, citing [Il Postalista](https://web.archive.org/web/20140309172221/http://www.ilpostalista.it/unico2004pag55.htm)).

## The Republic, 1960 to 1991

After independence the airport was enlarged in the mid-1960s, and the state carrier [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/), founded in 1964, flew from it to the main Somali cities. By 1969 it could take small jets and DC-6B aircraft ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). In the 1970s Soviet engineers expanded it for both civil and military use, and the Somali Air Corps kept an airlift wing and its academy there; see [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/). In the 1980s the United States Navy helped lengthen and modernise the field, and the Somali Civil Aviation Authority signed a contract worth about 17 billion lire (about $8.5 million) with the Italian firm Selenia for a second terminal, a new control tower and air traffic equipment (same source). Work stopped when the government fell in January 1991.

## War years, 1991 to 2011

During the civil war the airport was closed or disrupted for long periods and damaged ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). On 3 August 2006 African Express Airways became the first international airline to resume regular flights to it (same source). From 2007, with fighting in the city, most civilian aircraft used the [K50 airstrip](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) about 50 km away in Lower Shabelle instead. In late 2010 the Transitional Federal Government gave the Dubai firm SKA Air and Logistics a ten-year contract to run screening, passenger security and the terminals ([Arabian Business](http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai-s-ska-signs-deal-manage-mogadishu-airport-370050.html)).

## Since 2012

On 20 August 2012 many members of the new Federal Parliament were sworn in at the airport ([AllAfrica, August 2012](https://web.archive.org/web/20121014234626/http://allafrica.com/stories/201208220474.html)). In 2013 the International Civil Aviation Organization took the airport off its "Zone 5" list of high-risk airports ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)).

SKA's first work, worth about $6 million, brought new equipment, 200 trained local staff, steady electricity, rebuilt baggage halls and lounges, electronic check-in and internet links for civil aviation, immigration, customs and police offices; by January 2013 it ran shuttle buses to the terminal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). In January 2013 a new immigration building, paid for by Japan through the International Organization for Migration, opened; IOM trained 84 officers and installed its Personal Registration and Identification System at the airport and the seaport (same source).

Turkey announced plans to modernise the airport in December 2011. The Turkish company **[Favori LLC](/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/)** began operating there in September 2013 with a $10 million plan to raise aircraft parking from 15 to 60 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). In April 2014 Prime Minister [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/) laid the foundation stone of a national Aviation Training Academy at the airport ([RaxanReeb, April 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140425055500/http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/04/somaliah-e-prime-minister-abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed-lays-foundation-stone-for-the-aviation-training-academy-at-aden-adde-airport/)). In January 2015 Presidents [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened a new terminal built by the Turkish firm Kozuva, sized for 60 daily flights and 1,000 passengers an hour ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)).

## Traffic and airlines

Daily flights rose from about 3 in 2011 to more than 40 by November 2014, and Favori counted 439,879 domestic and international passengers in 2014, up 319,925 on 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). In mid-2014 the largest users were Daallo Airlines, Jubba Airways, African Express Airways, United Nations charters and Turkish Airlines (same source); Ethiopian Airlines added Mogadishu in November 2018 ([Routes Online](https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/281086/ethiopian-airlines-adds-somalia-service-from-nov-2018/)). Somali carriers listed on [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) fly from it to other Somali cities such as Baidoa, Galkayo, Berbera and Hargeisa, and abroad to Djibouti, Jeddah and Istanbul.

## Full and moving on

The airport sits inside the city with no room to grow. In June 2025 President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud laid the foundation stone for a second airport about 30 to 36 km north-east of the capital; see [New Mogadishu International Airport](/en/infrastructure/new-mogadishu-international-airport/). UNOPS says Aden Adde "reaches its operational limits" ([UNOPS press release, 3 February 2026](https://content.unops.org/documents/libraries/press-releases/2026/en/Press-release-Somalia-Kick-off-meeting-for-the-new-Mogadishu-International-Airport-design.pdf)).

## Related

- [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Somali airlines and transport companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/airlines-and-transport-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 14 Somali airlines and transport companies, from Somali Airlines, founded in 1964, to carriers founded since 2020, with the year founded and a source for each. Most rows come from Wikipedia's list of airlines of Somalia.

## About this list

Somalia's national carrier, Somali Airlines, was founded in 1964 and stopped flying after 1991 ([Wikipedia, List of airlines of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia)). Since then private airlines, most of them owned by Somali business groups and many registered abroad, have carried passengers and goods between Somali cities and to Nairobi, Djibouti, Dubai and Jeddah ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). Many firms on the list have stopped flying; the founding year is the year given by the source.

## Airlines

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [African Express Airways](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 1986 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Air Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2001 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Daallo Airlines](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 1991 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Freedom Airline Express](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2008 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Halla Airlines](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2024 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Jubba Airways](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 1998 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Maandeeq Air](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2015 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Ocean Airlines](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2025 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Premier Airlines](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2020 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Rayaan Air](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2026 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Salaam Air Express](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2022 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/) | Airline | 1964 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |
| [Starsky Aviation](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) | Airline | 2013 |  |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Somalia) |

## Taxis and road transport

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hargeisa Taxi | Taxis | 2012 | Hargeisa |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Taxi) |

For the history of air travel, see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) and [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/). For ports and shipping, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).


---

# Somali banks, insurers and microfinance firms: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/banks-insurers-and-microfinance-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 55 Somali banks, microfinance institutions, takaful (Islamic insurance) companies and stock exchanges, with the year founded, head office and a source for each. Most rows come from the Central Bank of Somalia's licence registers of November 2026, which list 15 banks, 24 microfinance institutions and 8 takaful operators.

## About this list

The Central Bank of Somalia publishes registers of the banks, microfinance institutions and takaful (Islamic insurance) operators it licenses ([licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/); [microfinance](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/); [takaful](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/)). In November 2026 the registers listed **15 banks**, **24 microfinance institutions** and **8 takaful operators**. The Central Bank's Annual Report 2025 counted 13 domestic banks and one foreign bank branch at the end of 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Banks in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) are licensed by the [Central Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/) and appear here when a source names them. Almost all Somali banks are Islamic banks, which share profit and risk instead of charging interest.

## Banks

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agro Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| [Amal Bank](/en/businesses/amal-group/) | Bank |  | Garowe and Mogadishu | Amal Group; Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Amana Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Banca per l'Africa Orientale | Bank (colonial) |  | Mogadishu | Historic | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banca_per_l%27Africa_Orientale) |
| Bank of Somaliland | Bank | 1994 | Hargeisa | Somaliland central bank | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Somaliland) |
| Bulsho Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Bushra Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| [Dahabshil Bank International](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) | Bank | 2014 | Hargeisa | Dahabshiil group; Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Dara-Salaam Bank | Bank | 2010 | Hargeisa | formerly Salaam Financial Services | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara-Salaam_Bank) |
| Daryeel Bank | Bank |  | Bosaso | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| [First Somali Bank](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/) | Bank | 2012 | Mogadishu | Liban Abdi Egal; Defunct 2016 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Somali_Bank) |
| GIB Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Idman Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| [International Bank of Somalia (IBS)](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) | Bank | 2014 | Mogadishu | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| My Bank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| [Premier Bank](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) | Bank | 2013 (opened 2015) | Mogadishu | Jibril Hassan Mohamud, chairman; Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Salaam Bank (Puntland) | Bank | 2011 | Bosaso |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| [Salaam Somali Bank](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) | Bank | 2009 | Mogadishu | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| Sombank | Bank |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |
| State Bank of Puntland | Bank |  | Garowe | Puntland state | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bank_of_Puntland) |
| Ziraat Katilim (branch) | Bank |  | Mogadishu | Ziraat Katilim, Turkey; Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/) |

## Microfinance institutions

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access MFI | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Amana MFI | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Asal MFI | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Bulaal Finance | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Bushra MFI | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Dahab MFI (MicroDahab) | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Future Finance House | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Haldoor | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Himilo, Garowe | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Hogaan, Baidoa | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Horseed | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Idman MFI | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Kaafi | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| [KIMS (Kaah International Microfinance Services), Hargeisa](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/) | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Kobciye | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Maal | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Midnimo | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| OSOB | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| RAAS | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| SICOF | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Somali Microfinance (SOM) | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Tijaaro | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| Wadaag Microfinance, Hargeisa | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |
| WE-INVEST, Hargeisa | Microfinance |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/) |

## Takaful and insurance

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Amanah Insurance](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) |
| [Baraka Takaful](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) |
| [FISO Insurance (First Somali Takaful; Islamic Insurance Company)](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) | December 2014 | Mogadishu | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Insurance_Company) |
| [Kobciye Insurance](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) |
| [Salmastar Insurance](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) |
| [Takaaful Africa (Takaful Insurance of Africa)](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) | 2011 in Kenya; Somalia mid-2013 |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/); [How We Made It in Africa, 2016](https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/p/insurance-ceo-discusses-somalia-s-misunderstood-business-environment) |
| [Tamini Insurance](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) |
| [Wadaag Insurance, Hargeisa](/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/) | Insurance (takaful) |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/) |

## Stock exchanges

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [National Securities Exchange of Somalia (NSES)](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) | Stock exchange | 2025 | Mogadishu | Yasin M. Ibar (CEO) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Securities_Exchange_of_Somalia) |
| [Somali Stock Exchange](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/) | Stock exchange | 2011 (trading 2015) | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Stock_Exchange) |

For how the banking system works, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/) and [Islamic finance, microfinance and takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/). For the newer banks one by one, see [Somalia's newer banks](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/). The full list is also available as a [CSV file](/data/economy/somali-companies-directory.csv).


---

# Somali construction, cement and property companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/construction-and-property-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 11 Somali construction, cement, building-materials and property companies, from Red Sea Cement, which took over the old Berbera cement plant in 2017, to builders in Hargeisa and Mogadishu, with the year founded, head office and a source for each. Building has grown fast in Somali cities since about 2011, much of it paid for by Somalis abroad.

## About this list

A 2019 Clingendael study found that dozens of small and medium construction companies work alongside larger ones in Somali cities, and that returns from Somalis abroad have pushed up demand for building and the price of plots ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, p. 46](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). In Mogadishu, Al Jazeera reported in 2022 that new apartment blocks were going up across the city and that a 50 kg bag of cement had risen from $6 to $9.50 in two years ([Al Jazeera, 12 July 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/mogadishu-residents-real-estate-boom-making-city-unaffordable)). In 2017 [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) handed the old, idle state cement plant at Berbera to a new private company, Red Sea Cement ([Horn Diplomat, 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=10129)). See [Somali cement companies](/en/businesses/somali-cement-companies/). Several rows come from the profiles of firms financed through Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

## Cement and building materials

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Red Sea Cement](/en/businesses/somali-cement-companies/) | Cement | 2017 | Berbera | joint company of the Dahabshiil Group, Berbera Group and Kuwait's Kipco; given the old Berbera cement plant by the Somaliland government in June 2017 | [Horn Diplomat, 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=10129) |
| [Barwaaqo Cement Company](/en/businesses/somali-cement-companies/) | Cement import and distribution | 2015 | Mogadishu | set up by Oman's Raysut Cement to supply Somalia; exclusive distributor of Raysut cement, about $45m a year, to September 2026 | [World Cement, 11 August 2015](https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/11082015/Raysut-Cement-eyes-African-expansion-306); [Global Cement, 2025](https://globalcement.com/news/20100-raysut-cement-signs-exclusive-distribution-deal-with-barwaaqo-cement) |
| [Horn Holding Group (MSG Group)](/en/businesses/somali-cement-companies/) | Cement plant project | | Berbera | Dubai-registered subsidiary of MSG Group; signed with Bedeschi in 2022 to build the first phase of a cement plant | [Bulk Materials International, 1 July 2022](https://bulkmaterialsinternational.com/handling-equipment-systems/2022/07/cement-plant-deal-in-berbera-somaliland) |
| Adeeg Metal Workshop | Fuel and water tanks, metal work | 1998 | Hargeisa | private company | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/adeeg-metal-workshop/) |
| Horizon Aluminum, Furniture and Decoration Company | Aluminium doors, windows and fittings | 2013 | Garowe | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/horizon-aluminum-furniture-and-decoration-company/) |

## Builders and property

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asal Builders Ltd | Construction and engineering | 2012 | Somaliland | youth-owned, run by engineers | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/asal-builders-ltd/) |
| Hill Development and Construction Company | Commercial buildings and housing | 2018 | Hargeisa | more than 30 buildings in Hargeisa by January 2022 | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/hill-development-and-construction-company/) |
| Bile Home Repairs and Construction Services | Construction | | Mogadishu | breaking ground on at least seven properties a month in 2022, mostly for clients abroad | [Al Jazeera, 12 July 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/mogadishu-residents-real-estate-boom-making-city-unaffordable) |
| Kiro Sheeg | Estate agency | about 2020 | Mogadishu | several offices in the city | [Al Jazeera, 12 July 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/mogadishu-residents-real-estate-boom-making-city-unaffordable) |
| Horyaal | Construction | 2008 | Bosaso | | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| Kaafi Enterprise for Environmental Protection and Sanitation (KEEPS) | Waste collection, earthworks and water works | 2012 | Hargeisa | over half of permanent jobs held by women | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/keeps/) |

For the business groups behind many firms, see [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/).


---

# Somali electricity, solar and water companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/electricity-companies-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 8 Somali electricity companies, 6 solar firms and 4 water companies, including Benadir Electric Company (BECO) in Mogadishu, the main power firms in Hargeisa, Berbera and Baidoa, and piped and bottled water firms, with head office and a source for each. Almost all electricity and much piped water in Somalia is supplied by private companies.

## About this list

After 1991 the state power company stopped working, and private firms took over generating and selling electricity, mostly from diesel generators and more recently from solar ([Wikipedia, Electric power companies of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Electric_power_companies_of_Somalia)). Clingendael's 2019 study links several power companies to the large Somali business groups ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## Electricity companies

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Benadir Electric Company (BECO)](/en/economy/electricity/) | Electricity | 2014 | Mogadishu | merger of private generator firms | [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Nov/87171/mogadishu_residents_bemoan_electricity_service_costs.aspx) |
| [Kaah Electric Power and Lighting (KEPLC)](/en/economy/electricity/) | Electricity | 1997 | Hargeisa |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAAH_Electric) |
| Baidoa Electric Company | Electricity | 2012 | Baidoa | merger of five local firms; about 13,000 customers | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/baidoa-electricity-company/) |
| Somali Energy Company | Electricity |  | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Energy_Company) |
| [Sompower](/en/economy/electricity/) | Electricity | 2016 | Hargeisa | merger of 39 local firms; Dahabshiil entity per Clingendael | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sompower) |
| Tayo Energy (Berbera Electricity Company) | Electricity |  | Berbera | Dahabshiil entity per Clingendael | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| [NECSOM](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Electricity, wind | | Puntland | 3.5 MW wind plant since 2016 | [trade.gov](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity) |
| Trans-National Industrial Electricity and Gas Company | Electricity | 2010 | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-National_Industrial_Electricity_and_Gas_Company) |

## Solar companies

For solar and wind power, see [Somali solar and wind power companies](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/).

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Kaah Electrical General Trading](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Solar panels, pumps and installation | 2003 | Puntland | works in Bosaso, Garowe, Galkayo and Qardho | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/kaah-electrical-general-trading-llc/) |
| [Burao Solar Systems](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Solar installation, solar pumps for wells | 2010 | Burao | pay-as-you-go service for rural customers | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/burao-solar-systems/) |
| [Solargen Technologies](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Solar water pumps and mini-grids | 2012 | | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/solargen-technologies/) |
| [Tamarso Energy](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Solar installation, financing and mini-grids | | | 134 systems, 3.5 MW by 2024 | [ruralelec.org](https://ruralelec.org/?p=14465) |
| [Blue Sky](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Off-grid solar | | | | [trade.gov](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity) |
| [Delta](/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/) | Off-grid solar | | | | [trade.gov](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity) |

## Water companies

For how water is sold in Mogadishu and the 2026 registration of wells, see [Somali water companies](/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/).

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Al Siha Enterprises](/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/) | Bottled water, ice and fish | 1997 | Bosaso | family company | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-siha/) |
| [Afi Water Factory](/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/) | Bottled water | 2000 | | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/afi-water-supply/) |
| [Ijaabo Water](/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/) | Piped and bottled water, ice | 2004 | Mogadishu | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/ijaabo-water/) |
| [Somali Water Development Union Company (SWDUC)](/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/) | Piped water from boreholes | 2017 | | merger of borehole owners; 24 boreholes in three districts | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/somali-water-development-union/) |

For prices, supply and regulation, see [Electricity in Somalia](/en/economy/electricity/).


---

# Somalia and Ethiopia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/ethiopia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Ethiopia restored full diplomatic ties in January 2025 after a year-long rupture over Ethiopia's 1 January 2024 port memorandum with Somaliland, ended by the Ankara Declaration of 11 December 2024. Ethiopia reported US$142 million of exports to Somalia in 2023, mostly vegetables including khat. Ethiopia also hosts about 318,000 refugees from Somalia and keeps troops in the AU mission.

## How do Somalia and Ethiopia relate today?

Relations are open again after a sharp rupture in 2024. On 1 January 2024 Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Somaliland on sea access at Berbera ([Al Jazeera, 1 January 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/1/ethiopia-signs-agreement-to-use-somalilands-red-sea-port)). Somalia's cabinet declared the MoU "null and void" and recalled its ambassador the next day ([SONNA, 2 January 2024](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-recalls-its-ambassador-to-ethiopia-says-mou-with-somaliland-to-be-null-and-void)).

Turkey brokered the Ankara Declaration, agreed on 11 December 2024 by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ([Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://mfa.gov.tr/etiyopya-federal-demokratik-cumhuriyeti-ve-somali-federal-cumhuriyeti-nin-ankara-bildirisi.en.mfa)). In January 2025 the two governments agreed to restore "full diplomatic representation" in each other's capitals ([Garowe Online, 13 January 2025](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-ethiopia-restore-diplomatic-ties-after-addis-ababa-talks)).

Ethiopia's new ambassador, [Suleiman](/en/society/saleebaan-habar-gidir/) Dedefo, presented his credentials in Mogadishu on 5 August 2025 ([Africanews, 6 August 2025](https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/06/ethiopia-appoints-new-envoy-to-somalia-as-ties-improve/)). The two leaders met for the fourth time in six months when Hassan Sheikh visited Addis Ababa, ending on 29 June 2026 ([RFI via AllAfrica, 30 June 2026](https://fr.allafrica.com/stories/202606300172.html)). They met again in Addis Ababa on 29 September 2026 ([Garowe Online, 11 November 2026](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-and-abiy-meet-as-somalia-ethiopia-relations-face-regional-challenges)). On 5 October 2026 Hassan Sheikh congratulated Abiy on his new term and said he would work "to strengthen Somalia-Ethiopia relations" ([Dawan Africa, 5 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-president-vows-closer-ties-with-ethiopia-after-abiy-re-election)). On 11 November 2026 the two met in Antalya, Turkey, before the COP31 climate summit, to discuss security in Somalia and the region ([Garowe Online, 11 November 2026](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-and-abiy-meet-as-somalia-ethiopia-relations-face-regional-challenges)).

## When did contact begin?

The two peoples have lived side by side for centuries, and the Ethiopian–Somali frontier was drawn in the colonial era. For that story see [Partition 1884–1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/) and the [Haud transfer of 1954–1955](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/).

Trouble began soon after Somalia's independence in July 1960. Clashes between Ethiopian border guards and Somali herders led both sides to reinforce the frontier ([MIT CASCON case study](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)). In January 1964 fighting broke out, and Somalia declared a state of emergency ([MIT CASCON](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)).

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Council of Ministers passed a resolution on the dispute on 29 February 1964 ([OAU CM/Res.16 (II), AfricanLII](https://AGP.AfricanLii.org/akn/aa-au/doc/resolution/au-ec/1964/16/eng@1964-02-29)). Talks in Khartoum, with [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)'s President Ibrahim Abboud mediating, produced a ceasefire from 1 April 1964 and a joint border commission ([US Office of the Historian, FRUS 1964–68, vol. XXIV](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289); [MIT CASCON](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)).

The Ogaden war ran from July 1977 to March 1978 ([ICRC, 2018](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-ethiopia-war-memory-prisoners)). See [The Ogaden war of 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) and [The 1982 border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/).

On 3 April 1988 the two states signed an agreement that normalised relations and provided for the return of all prisoners ([ICRC, 2018](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-ethiopia-war-memory-prisoners)). Nearly 4,000 prisoners of war and interned civilians, held since the Ogaden war, were then released ([ICRC, 2018](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-ethiopia-war-memory-prisoners)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

**Ethiopia to Somalia**

- **Seyoum Mesfin**, Ethiopia's foreign minister, opened Ethiopia's embassy in Mogadishu, near the presidential palace, in May 2007 ([Al Jazeera, 28 May 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)).
- **Abdiaziz Ahmed Aden**, ambassador until 2017 ([Garowe Online, 9 March 2017](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-ethiopia-appoints-new-ambassador-to-somalia)).
- **Jamaludin Mustafa Omar**, formerly deputy ambassador, named ambassador in March 2017 ([Garowe Online, 9 March 2017](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-ethiopia-appoints-new-ambassador-to-somalia)).
- **Muktar Mohamed Ware**, ambassador until Somalia gave him 72 hours to leave on 4 April 2024 ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).
- **Suleiman Dedefo Woshe**, ambassador since 5 August 2025 ([Africanews, 6 August 2025](https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/06/ethiopia-appoints-new-envoy-to-somalia-as-ties-improve/)).

**Somalia to Ethiopia**

- **Abdullahi Mohamed Warfa**, ambassador in Addis Ababa, recalled for consultation on 2 January 2024 ([SONNA, 2 January 2024](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-recalls-its-ambassador-to-ethiopia-says-mou-with-somaliland-to-be-null-and-void)).

**Missions:** Ethiopia has an embassy in Mogadishu. It also ran consulates general in Hargeisa and Garowe, which Somalia ordered closed in April 2024 ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)). Somalia has an embassy in Addis Ababa, where the African Union is also based. In October 2026 [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)'s acting president met Ethiopia's consul ([AllAfrica, 12 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610120060.html)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Ibrahim Abboud**, President of Sudan, mediated the 1964 ceasefire ([US Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289)).
- **Siad Barre and Mengistu Haile Mariam** signed the 3 April 1988 normalisation accord ([ICRC, 2018](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-ethiopia-war-memory-prisoners)).
- **Seyoum Mesfin**, foreign minister, reopened Ethiopia's Mogadishu embassy in May 2007 and met more than 60 political, religious and clan leaders ([Al Jazeera, 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)).
- **Mohamed [Ali Gedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/)**, interim prime minister in 2007, called Ethiopia "the number one friend of this country" at the opening ([Al Jazeera, 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)).
- **Abiy Ahmed and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo** agreed in Mogadishu on 16 June 2018 to invest jointly in four seaports ([Arab News, 16 June 2018](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1322551)).
- **Isaias Afwerki**, President of Eritrea, signed the three-way cooperation declaration with Abiy and Farmaajo in Asmara on 5 September 2018 ([PA-X Peace Agreements Database](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/2099)).
- **Tewolde GebreMariam**, Ethiopian Airlines chief executive, announced the airline's return to Mogadishu in November 2018 ([Africanews, 11 November 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/11/11/ethiopian-touches-down-in-somalia-first-time-in-4-decades/)).
- **Muse Bihi Abdi**, then President of Somaliland, signed the January 2024 MoU with Abiy ([Al Jazeera, 1 January 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/1/ethiopia-signs-agreement-to-use-somalilands-red-sea-port)).
- **Redwan Hussien**, Ethiopia's national security adviser in 2024, said the MoU would allow commercial marine operations ([Al Jazeera, 1 January 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/1/ethiopia-signs-agreement-to-use-somalilands-red-sea-port)). As head of Ethiopia's intelligence service he joined the February 2025 military talks in Mogadishu ([Fana, 22 February 2025](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).
- **Farhan Jimale**, Somali government spokesperson, announced the January 2024 recall of the ambassador ([SONNA, 2 January 2024](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-recalls-its-ambassador-to-ethiopia-says-mou-with-somaliland-to-be-null-and-void)).
- **Ali Omar**, Somali state minister for foreign affairs, announced the expulsion of Ethiopia's ambassador on 4 April 2024 ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).
- **Abdirahman Dahir Adan**, Somaliland foreign minister under President [Abdirahman Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/), opened a review of the MoU in January 2025 ([Garowe Online, 7 January 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somaliland-reassesses-ethiopia-sea-access-deal-for-recognition)).
- **Recep Tayyip Erdoğan**, President of Turkey, hosted the two leaders and facilitated the Ankara Declaration ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/etiyopya-federal-demokratik-cumhuriyeti-ve-somali-federal-cumhuriyeti-nin-ankara-bildirisi.en.mfa)).
- **Field Marshal Birhanu Jula** (Ethiopia) and **Major General Odawa Yusuf Rage** (Somalia), chiefs of defence, agreed the Ethiopian place in the new AU mission on 22 February 2025 ([Fana, 22 February 2025](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).
- **Abdullahi Mohamed Ali**, director of Somalia's [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/) intelligence agency, took part in the same talks ([Fana, 22 February 2025](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Khartoum ceasefire, March–April 1964:** troop withdrawal and a joint border commission ([MIT CASCON](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)).
- **Normalisation accord, 3 April 1988:** normal relations and repatriation of prisoners ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-ethiopia-war-memory-prisoners)).
- **Joint statement, 16 June 2018:** joint investment in four seaports, plus roads, logistics and visas ([Arab News, 16 June 2018](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1322551)).
- **Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation, 5 September 2018:** Ethiopia, [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/) pledged close political, economic, social, cultural and security ties ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/2099)).
- **Defence Cooperation MoU, December 2023:** referred to in the February 2025 chiefs' communiqué ([Fana, 2025](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).
- **Ankara Declaration, 11 December 2024:** mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; Ethiopian sea access through commercial deals "under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia"; technical talks by the end of February 2025 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/etiyopya-federal-demokratik-cumhuriyeti-ve-somali-federal-cumhuriyeti-nin-ankara-bildirisi.en.mfa)).
- **Restoration of full diplomatic representation, January 2025** ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-ethiopia-restore-diplomatic-ties-after-addis-ababa-talks)).
- **Joint communiqué, 27 February 2025:** diplomatic, economic and security cooperation ([Horn Review, 27 February 2025](https://hornreview.org/2025/02/27/somalia-and-ethiopia-reaffirm-strong-bilateral-ties-in-joint-communique/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **May 2007:** Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin in Mogadishu ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)).
- **16 June 2018:** Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Mogadishu, the first Ethiopian leader to visit in more than 40 years, according to Reuters reporting ([Arab News](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1322551)).
- **5 September 2018:** Farmaajo and Abiy in Asmara for the tripartite summit ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/2099)).
- **11 December 2024:** Hassan Sheikh and Abiy in Ankara ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/etiyopya-federal-demokratik-cumhuriyeti-ve-somali-federal-cumhuriyeti-nin-ankara-bildirisi.en.mfa)).
- **January 2025:** Hassan Sheikh in Addis Ababa ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-ethiopia-restore-diplomatic-ties-after-addis-ababa-talks)).
- **14–16 February 2025:** Hassan Sheikh in Addis Ababa for talks with Abiy ([Fana](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).
- **22 February 2025:** Ethiopian defence chief Birhanu Jula in Mogadishu ([Fana](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).
- **27 February 2025:** Abiy on a one-day working visit to Mogadishu ([Horn Review](https://hornreview.org/2025/02/27/somalia-and-ethiopia-reaffirm-strong-bilateral-ties-in-joint-communique/)).
- **28–29 June 2026:** Hassan Sheikh in Addis Ababa for two days ([RFI via AllAfrica](https://fr.allafrica.com/stories/202606300172.html)).
- **29 September 2026:** Hassan Sheikh and Abiy in Addis Ababa ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-and-abiy-meet-as-somalia-ethiopia-relations-face-regional-challenges)).
- **11 November 2026:** Hassan Sheikh and Abiy in Antalya, Turkey ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-and-abiy-meet-as-somalia-ethiopia-relations-face-regional-challenges)).

## How much do they trade?

Somalia does not report trade data to the UN, so Ethiopia's own customs figures are the main record. Ethiopia reported these exports to Somalia ([UN Comtrade, Ethiopia reporter, 2021](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=231&period=2021&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=231&period=2022&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=231&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)):

- **2019:** US$272.4 million
- **2021:** US$360.8 million
- **2022:** US$264.9 million
- **2023:** US$142.2 million

Imports from Somalia were small, about US$1.1 million in 2023 ([UN Comtrade, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=231&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)). In 2023, US$133.1 million of exports were in HS chapter 07, edible vegetables ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=231&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

Khat is the best-known good. Ethiopian khat is most popular in Somaliland and enters Somalia mainly over land ([Rift Valley Institute, 2020](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Khat-and-COVID-19-by-Sahra-Ahmed-Koshin-RVI-X-border-Project-2020.pdf)). Somaliland halted khat imports on 23 April 2020 during COVID-19 and lifted the ban in May 2020 ([Hiiraan Online, May 2020](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2020/may/178188/somaliland_puntland_lift_khat_import_ban_relax_covid_19_restrictions.aspx)). See [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/).

Livestock from Somali herders also crosses the border both ways, and the Berbera–Wajaale road is a main corridor for Ethiopian goods. See [Ethiopia–Somaliland border trade](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/).

**Companies:**

- **Ethiopian Airlines** flight ET 377 landed in Mogadishu on 9 November 2018, its first flight there in about 40 years ([Africanews, 11 November 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/11/11/ethiopian-touches-down-in-somalia-first-time-in-4-decades/)).
- **DP World Berbera:** in March 2018 Ethiopia acquired a 19% stake in Berbera port, with DP World at 51% and Somaliland at 30%; DP World planned to invest US$442 million there ([Arab News, 14 March 2018](https://www.arabnews.com/node/1265896)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Ethiopia is a neighbour that receives aid rather than a large donor. Its main contributions have been troops, hosting refugees and air links. Its largest public cost has been its forces in Somalia since 2006 (see below).

## What about security?

Ethiopian forces entered Somalia in 2006 at the request of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) and completed their withdrawal in January 2009 ([Al Jazeera, 26 January 2009](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/1/26/ethiopia-completes-somali-pullout)). Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia again in November 2011, and on 22 January 2014 about 4,000 of them, in three battalions, formally joined the AU mission [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) ([Arab News, 22 January 2014](https://www.arabnews.com/node/513386)). On 22 February 2025 the two defence chiefs agreed Ethiopia's role in the new mission AUSSOM and a Status of Forces Agreement for all Ethiopian forces in Somalia ([Fana, 22 February 2025](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)). For bases, numbers and operations see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Ethiopia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

**Somaliland**

- Ethiopia ran a consulate general in Hargeisa until Somalia ordered it closed in April 2024 ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).
- In March 2018 Somalia's lower house voted, with 168 of 170 members against the deal, to declare the DP World–Somaliland–Ethiopia Berbera deal "null and void" ([Arab News, March 2018](https://www.arabnews.com/node/1265896)).
- The January 2024 MoU covered access to Berbera and a leased military base on the Red Sea, with a stake in Ethiopian Airlines for Somaliland ([Al Jazeera, 1 January 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/1/ethiopia-signs-agreement-to-use-somalilands-red-sea-port)). Al Jazeera later reported it as a 50-year lease of 20 km of coast ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).
- Muse Bihi said Ethiopia would recognise Somaliland "in due course" ([Al Jazeera, 1 January 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/1/ethiopia-signs-agreement-to-use-somalilands-red-sea-port)). VOA reported that it was unclear when the pact would take effect ([VOA Africa, 1 January 2024](https://www.voaafrica.com/a/ethiopia-signs-pact-to-use-somaliland-s-red-sea-port-/7420627.html)).
- On 7 January 2025 Somaliland's new foreign minister, Abdirahman Dahir Adan, said the new government had not seen the MoU and would review it; he said Ethiopia had at no point "explicitly committed to recognizing Somaliland" ([Garowe Online, 7 January 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somaliland-reassesses-ethiopia-sea-access-deal-for-recognition)).
- Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025 ([Al Jazeera, 26 December 2025](https://aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/26/israel-becomes-first-country-to-recognise-somaliland)). Ethiopia's ambassador to Somalia said Ethiopia was watching the decision closely and had not taken a formal position ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=52791)).
- In August 2026 Somaliland and Ethiopia's Somali Region met in Hargeisa for a third dialogue on the Berbera corridor ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-ethiopias-somali-region-seek-stronger-trade-along-berbera-corridor)).

**Puntland**

- Ethiopia ran a consulate general in Garowe, also ordered closed in April 2024 ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).
- In April 2024 Ethiopia and Puntland agreed to deepen ties during a visit by a Puntland delegation led by its finance minister ([Fana](https://www.fanabc.com/english/?p=58916)).
- In July 2025 Puntland President [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) prepared an official visit to Ethiopia to sign cooperation agreements ([AllAfrica, 15 July 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202507150393.html)).

**[Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)**

- Ethiopian troops serving outside the AU mission blocked Jubaland's first deputy president, Mohamud Sayid Adan, from entering [Beled Hawo](/en/regions/gedo/) in Gedo ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-jubaland-deputy-president-blocked-by-ethiopian-troops-in-gedo-as-madobe-demands-for-withdrawal)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **1964 border war:** fighting from January 1964 until the April ceasefire ([MIT CASCON](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)).
- **1977–1978 Ogaden war** ([ICRC](https://www.icrc.org/en/document/somalia-ethiopia-war-memory-prisoners)).
- **2006–2009 intervention:** Ethiopian troops entered at the request of Somalia's UN-backed government and faced attacks by al-Shabaab ([Al Jazeera, 2009](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/1/26/ethiopia-completes-somali-pullout)).
- **2024 MoU dispute:** Somalia called it "naked aggression" ([SONNA, 2 January 2024](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-recalls-its-ambassador-to-ethiopia-says-mou-with-somaliland-to-be-null-and-void)). Ethiopia said the deal was commercial and vital to its economy ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)). Hassan Sheikh said: "We want Ethiopia to have access to the sea... But grabbing a piece of land, we are not ready for that" ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).
- **Ethiopian talks with Puntland** in 2024 added to tension with Mogadishu ([Al Jazeera, 4 April 2024](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/somalia-expels-ethiopian-ambassador-amid-somaliland-port-deal)).

## How many Somalis live in Ethiopia?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 317,879 refugees and 43,993 asylum seekers from Somalia in Ethiopia ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2020&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ETH)). See [Ethiopia (Somali refugees and the Somali Region)](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/).

## Where does Ethiopia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Ethiopia is a troop contributor to the AU missions: AMISOM from January 2014 and AUSSOM from 2025 ([Arab News, 2014](https://www.arabnews.com/node/513386); [Fana, 2025](https://www.fanamc.com/english/defense-chiefs-of-staff-of-ethiopia-somalia-agree-on-force-disposition-of-endf-in-the-aussom)).
- Both are members of IGAD, the African Union and the UN. IGAD welcomed the Ankara Declaration ([Addis Standard](https://addisstandard.com/igad-hails-ethiopia-somalia-ankara-agreement-as-diplomatic-milestone)).
- In 1964 Somalia sought emergency sessions of the UN Security Council and the OAU over the border fighting, without success ([MIT CASCON](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)).

## Related pages

- [Ethiopia (Somali refugees and the Somali Region)](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)
- [The Ogaden war of 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/)
- [Haud transfer 1954–1955](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/)
- [Islamic Courts Union 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/)
- [Ethiopia–Somaliland border trade](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/)
- [Somaliland 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)
- [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/)


---

# Somali farming, livestock and fishing companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 25 Somali farming, livestock and fishing companies, past and present: colonial plantation firms such as SAIS at Jowhar (1920) and the Royal Banana Monopoly (1935), livestock trading houses, commercial farms in Puntland and Somaliland, poultry farms, and fishing firms in Bosaso, Allula, Berbera and Mogadishu. Each row has the year founded where known, the head office and a source.

## About this list

Livestock is Somalia's largest export. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), citing official figures, reported in January 2025 that livestock brings in about $1.07 billion a year and, in normal years, about 80% of export earnings, with Saudi Arabia as the main buyer ([Hiiraan Online, January 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Jan/199738/somalia_s_livestock_monopoly_controversy_sparks_push_for_accountability.aspx)). Most herds belong to families rather than companies. A 2019 Clingendael study found the livestock trade more open to competition than telecoms or money transfer, with some old trading houses, such as the Indha-Dheero and Omar groups, holding strong positions ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, p. 46 and note 126](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). Commercial farms grow fruit and vegetables for city markets, and fishing firms sell to Somali cities and to buyers in the Gulf. Many rows come from the profiles of firms financed through Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

## Colonial-era firms

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Società Agricola Italo-Somala (SAIS) | Plantations and sugar | 1920 | Jowhar (Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi); head office Genoa | founded by the Duke of the Abruzzi; sugar output 11,000 tons by 1957 | [Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/57.htm) |
| [Royal Banana Monopoly](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/) (Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane) | Banana shipping and sales | 1935 | Mogadishu | Italian state; closed 1946, restarted 1950 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Banana_Monopoly) |

## Livestock trading and cooperatives

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobciye Cooperative | Member-owned investment cooperative buying livestock, fish and farm produce | June 2016 | Mogadishu | owned equally by members, who pay $0.50 a day; Amal Bank pledged in 2026 to lend to cooperatives that supply it | [Dawan Africa, 4 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/amal-bank-pledges-to-finance-small-cooperatives-supplying-kobciye) |
| [Saudi Emirate Veterinary Quarantine Management Company](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/) | Livestock quarantine station | | Berbera | room for 300,000 animals at a time in 2014 | [National Geographic, 2014](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/robin-hammond-the-largest-trade-on-the-hoof) |
| [Berbera National Health Quarantine](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/) | Livestock quarantine station | | Berbera | room for 120,000 animals in 2014 | [National Geographic, 2014](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/robin-hammond-the-largest-trade-on-the-hoof) |
| [Saudi International Livestock Quarantine Center (SILQC)](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/) | Livestock quarantine station | 2025 | Berbera | private, regulated by Somaliland's livestock ministry | [SILQC](https://www.saliqc.com/) |
| Indhadeero Group | Livestock trade, construction | | | named among the old livestock trading houses | [Clingendael 2019, note 126](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| Omar Group | Livestock trade | | | named among the old livestock trading houses | [Clingendael 2019, note 126](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |

## Farms and dairies

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Raaho Farm](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Fruit and vegetables | 2000 | Jibagal, near Garowe | about 8 hectares | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/raaho-farm/) |
| [Al Nur Mixed Farming](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Fruit, vegetables and dairy | | Jibgale valley, Puntland | 10 hectares; more than 30 cows and camels | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-nur-mixed-farm/) |
| [Al Baraka Mixed Farm](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Vegetables, fruit and camel milk | | Garowe | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-baraka-mixed-farm/) |
| [Barisamaad Farm](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Crops | 2014 | Bursalax, Mudug | supplies restaurants, hotels and homes in Mudug | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/barisamaad-farm/) |
| [Masno Farm](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Fruit and vegetables | 2017 | Hora-haadlay, 28 km north of Hargeisa | about 56 hectares, 4 cultivated | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/masno-farm/) |
| [Dalsan Farms Company](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Fruit, vegetables and milk | 2018 | Burao | 100 hectares | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/dalsan-farm/) |
| [Evergreen Farm](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Fruit and vegetables | | Arabsiyo | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/evergreen-farm/) |
| [Horn Gardens](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Greenhouses, seeds and farm supplies; own farm | 2016 | Hargeisa | Somaliland agent of Amiran; hundreds of greenhouses installed by 2019 | [The Star, 16 March 2019](https://www.the-star.co.ke/siasa/2019-03-16-somaliland-turns-to-greenhouse-farming-technology-to-feed-itself) |
| [Gobsoor Farm](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/) | Greenhouse vegetables | 2015 | Arabsiyo | 32.5 hectares, 15 greenhouses, 14 staff in 2024 | [Shuraako, 2024](https://shuraako.org/?p=2669) |
| Soma Chicken Farm | Poultry, eggs | | Garowe | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/soma-chicken-farm/) |
| Maandeeq Poultry Company | Eggs and poultry | 2015 | Hargeisa | described as the only large-scale poultry farm in Somaliland | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/horizon-aluminum-furniture-maandeeq-poultry-companyand-decoration-company-cloned/) |

## Fishing

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Hafun Fishing Company](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/) | Fishing and property | 1992 | Bosaso | | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafun_Fishing_Company) |
| [Al Siha Enterprises](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/) | Fish, water, ice and laundry | 1997 | Bosaso | family company; sells fish to buyers in Djibouti, Yemen and Egypt | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-siha/) |
| [Ardo Fishing Company](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/) | Fishing, lobster | 1997 | | 2 large and 6 small boats in 2022 | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/ardo-fishing/) |
| [Somali National Fishing Company (SNFC)](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/) | Fish processing and export | 2002 | | exports about 80% of output; works with 21 fishing cooperatives | [Shuraako, 2025](https://shuraako.org/?p=2661) |
| [Badmaal Fishing Company](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/) | Fishing | 2012 | Allula | sells in Bosaso and abroad | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/badmaal-fishing/) |
| [Sun Fishing](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/) | Fishing | | Berbera | branch in Hargeisa | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/sun-fishing/) |

For the trades around these firms, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/), [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/) and [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/). For the fishing firms in more detail, see [Somali fishing companies](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/).

## Related

- [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/)
- [Land law and land ownership](/en/economy/land-law-and-land-ownership/)


---

# Somali hotels, private hospitals and service companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/hotels-health-and-services-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists Somali hotels, private hospitals and clinics, restaurants and other service companies, such as the Gacayte Hotel in Bosaso, opened in 1966, the Hargeisa Canadian Medical Center, founded in 1999, and hotels in Mogadishu and Hargeisa, with the year founded, head office and a source for each.

## About this list

Since 1991 most hotels, clinics, pharmacies and many schools in Somali cities have been run by private owners. In February 2015 The Somalia Investor magazine counted more than 52 private hospitals in Mogadishu, owned by companies or individuals ([The Somalia Investor, 15 February 2015](https://somaliainvestor.so/private-investments-boost-health-sector-in-mogadishu/)). Hotels in Mogadishu often double as meeting places for officials, and several have been attacked ([Wikipedia, Muna Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_Hotel)). A 2019 Clingendael study notes that the large Somali business groups fund or run some hospitals and universities as part of their community programmes ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, p. 37](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). Some rows come from the profiles of firms financed through Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

## Hotels and restaurants

For hotel numbers by region and more on these firms, see [Somali hotels and restaurants](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/).

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Gacayte Hotel (formerly The Grand Hotel)](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel, 413 rooms | 1966 | Bosaso | closed after 1991; renovated 2014, reopened March 2015 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacayte_Hotel) |
| Muna Hotel | Hotel and conference venue | | Mogadishu | near Villa Somalia; attacked in August 2010 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_Hotel) |
| Makka al-Mukarama Hotel | Hotel | | Mogadishu (Makka al-Mukarama road) | attacked by al-Shabaab on 27 March 2015; reopened 8 May 2015 | [Wikipedia, 2015 Makka al-Mukarama hotel attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Makka_al-Mukarama_hotel_attack) |
| Hayat Hotel | Hotel | | Mogadishu | attacked by al-Shabaab on 19 to 21 August 2022 | [Wikipedia, Hayat Hotel attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Hotel_attack) |
| Villa Rossa Hotel | Hotel and restaurant | | Mogadishu, near Villa Somalia | used by officials; attacked by al-Shabaab on 27 to 28 November 2022 | [Wikipedia, Siege of the Villa Rossa Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_the_Villa_Rossa_Hotel) |
| [Jazeera Palace Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel, 95 rooms | 2012 | Mogadishu, near the airport | attacked 26 July 2015 | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 61](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Peace Business Group](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Three hotels and security services | 2005 | Mogadishu | managing director Bashir Osman | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 74](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Airport Hotel and Conference](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel, 62 rooms | 2017 | Mogadishu airport zone | | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 70](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Sahafi Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel | | Mogadishu | attacked 2015 and 2018; reopened August 2020 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahafi_Hotel_attacks) |
| [Karmel Restaurants](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Restaurant chain | 1999 (Minneapolis); 2013 (Mogadishu) | Mogadishu | two Mogadishu branches, about 200 staff | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 82](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Martisoor Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel, 75 rooms | 2019 | Garowe | | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 58](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Beder Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel chain, three hotels | 1999 | Dhusamareb | | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 60](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Horyaal Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel, 46 rooms | | Baidoa | | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 66](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| [Maamuus Garden Hotel](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Hotel, 30 rooms | 2009 | Kismayo | | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 65](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |
| Green Paradise Hotel | Hotel | 2011 | Mogadishu | woman-owned; in the airport Green Zone | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/green-paradise-hotel/) |
| Crown Hotel | Hotel and events venue | | Hargeisa | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/crown-hotel/) |
| Art Café | Restaurant | | Hargeisa | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/art-cafe/) |

## Private hospitals and clinics

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalkaal Hospital | Private hospital | | Mogadishu | contract to treat Mogadishu port workers from September 2026 | [Dawan Africa, 12 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/mogadishu-port-authority-kalkaal-hospital-sign-healthcare-deal) |
| Dr. Sumait Hospital | Hospital | | Mogadishu | linked to SIMAD University; building Somalia's first genomics laboratory from November 2026 | [Dawan Africa, 4 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-to-get-first-genomics-lab-as-dr-sumait-hospital-expands) |
| Hargeisa Canadian Medical Center | Clinic, diagnostic centre, laboratory and pharmacy | 1999 | Hargeisa | | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Canadian_Medical_Center) |
| Gargaar Multispeciality Hospital | Private hospital | 2009 | Hargeisa | | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargaar_Multispeciality_Hospital) |

For hospitals of all kinds, public and private, see [Hospitals by city](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/) and [Health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/).


---

# Mammals of Somalia: all 191 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF, the global open database of species records, holds records of 191 wild mammal species from Somalia. Rodents (45 species) and bats (44) are the largest groups, followed by hoofed mammals (34) and carnivores (28). Of the 191, the IUCN Red List places 2 in Critically Endangered, 6 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable.

## In short

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international open database that pools species records from museums, herbaria, scientists and members of the public. On 12 November 2026 it held records of 191 mammal species with Somalia as the country ([GBIF occurrence search, mammals, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=359)).

By order, the species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Rodents (Rodentia): 45
- Bats (Chiroptera): 44
- Even-toed hoofed mammals (Artiodactyla), such as antelopes, gazelles, giraffes and wild pigs: 34
- Carnivores (Carnivora), such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals and mongooses: 28
- Primates (Primates): 10
- Whales and dolphins (Cetacea): 7
- Shrews (Soricomorpha): 7
- Odd-toed hoofed mammals (Perissodactyla), the wild ass, zebras and rhinoceros: 4
- Hedgehogs (Erinaceomorpha): 3
- Elephant shrews or sengis (Macroscelidea): 3
- Hyraxes (Hyracoidea): 2
- Hares (Lagomorpha): 2
- Golden moles (Afrosoricida): 1, the [Somali golden mole](/en/nature/somali-golden-mole/)
- Elephants (Proboscidea): 1, the African elephant

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these Somali-recorded mammals in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: African wild ass ([Somali wild ass](/en/nature/somali-wild-ass/)) and black rhinoceros.
- Endangered: African elephant, African wild dog, Grevy's zebra, East African oryx, Speke's gazelle and slender-horned gazelle.
- Vulnerable: lion, leopard, cheetah, hippopotamus, sperm whale, Soemmerring's gazelle, Clark's gazelle (dibatag), beira, dorcas gazelle, Arabian gazelle and the Seychelles free-tailed bat.

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen from the 1890s, a sighting shared through eBird or iNaturalist, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old, and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Of the 191 species, 35 have only one record.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 2
- Endangered (EN): 6
- Vulnerable (VU): 11
- Near Threatened (NT): 5
- Least Concern (LC): 140
- Data Deficient (DD): 13
- Not Evaluated (NE): 14

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Muridae: 34 species
- Bovidae: 30 species
- Vespertilionidae: 13 species
- Herpestidae: 7 species
- Soricidae: 7 species
- Canidae: 6 species
- Felidae: 6 species
- Cercopithecidae: 6 species
- Delphinidae: 5 species
- Hipposideridae: 5 species

## Full list (191 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia-2/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [naked mole rat](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/) | *Heterocephalus glaber* | Bathyergidae | LC | 25 |
| [hartebeest](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220185) | *Alcelaphus buselaphus* | Bovidae | LC | 39 |
| [Clark's gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441128) | *Ammodorcas clarkei* | Bovidae | VU | 29 |
| [domestic goat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441056) | *Capra hircus* | Bovidae | NE | 11 |
| [Natal Red Duiker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441168) | *Cephalophus natalensis* | Bovidae | LC | 1 |
| [topi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7261430) | *Damaliscus korrigum* | Bovidae | NE | 2 |
| [Beira](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441197) | *Dorcatragus megalotis* | Bovidae | VU | 19 |
| [Thomson's gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/7261427) | *Eudorcas thomsonii* | Bovidae | LC | 1 |
| [Arabian gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220158) | *Gazella arabica* | Bovidae | VU | 9 |
| [Dorcas gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220149) | *Gazella dorcas* | Bovidae | VU | 53 |
| [Slender-horned Gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220150) | *Gazella leptoceros* | Bovidae | EN | 3 |
| [Speke's Gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220157) | *Gazella spekei* | Bovidae | EN | 59 |
| [waterbuck](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220160) | *Kobus ellipsiprymnus* | Bovidae | LC | 8 |
| [Gerenuk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441093) | *Litocranius walleri* | Bovidae | NT | 102 |
| [Gunther's dik-dik](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441003) | *Madoqua guentheri* | Bovidae | LC | 9 |
| [Kirk's dik-dik](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441001) | *Madoqua kirkii* | Bovidae | LC | 7 |
| [Phillips's Dik-dik](https://www.gbif.org/species/8622468) | *Madoqua phillipsi* | Bovidae | NE | 24 |
| [Piacentini's Dikdik](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441000) | *Madoqua piacentinii* | Bovidae | DD | 3 |
| [Salt's Dik-dik](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441002) | *Madoqua saltiana* | Bovidae | LC | 64 |
| [Grant's gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/7261447) | *Nanger granti* | Bovidae | LC | 3 |
| [Soemmerring's gazelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/7261449) | *Nanger soemmerringii* | Bovidae | VU | 88 |
| [klipspringer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441044) | *Oreotragus oreotragus* | Bovidae | LC | 11 |
| [East African oryx](https://www.gbif.org/species/5706393) | *Oryx beisa* | Bovidae | EN | 58 |
| [gemsbok](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220166) | *Oryx gazella* | Bovidae | LC | 2 |
| [oribi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441135) | *Ourebia ourebi* | Bovidae | LC | 3 |
| [domestic sheep](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441110) | *Ovis aries* | Bovidae | NE | 11 |
| [bohor reedbuck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441038) | *Redunca redunca* | Bovidae | LC | 1 |
| [common duiker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441187) | *Sylvicapra grimmia* | Bovidae | LC | 3 |
| [lesser kudu](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220177) | *Tragelaphus imberbis* | Bovidae | NT | 42 |
| [bushbuck](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220182) | *Tragelaphus scriptus* | Bovidae | LC | 1 |
| [greater kudu](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220183) | *Tragelaphus strepsiceros* | Bovidae | LC | 33 |
| [Arabian Camel](https://www.gbif.org/species/9055455) | *Camelus dromedarius* | Camelidae | NE | 5 |
| [golden jackal](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219219) | *Canis aureus* | Canidae | LC | 4 |
| [African Golden Wolf](https://www.gbif.org/species/8702600) | *Canis lupaster* | Canidae | LC | 8 |
| [black-backed jackal](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219216) | *Canis mesomelas* | Canidae | LC | 10 |
| [African wild dog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219317) | *Lycaon pictus* | Canidae | EN | 5 |
| [bat-eared fox](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434349) | *Otocyon megalotis* | Canidae | LC | 4 |
| [sand fox](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219297) | *Vulpes rueppellii* | Canidae | LC | 1 |
| [blue monkey](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219578) | *Cercopithecus mitis* | Cercopithecidae | LC | 10 |
| [vervet monkey](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436566) | *Chlorocebus aethiops* | Cercopithecidae | LC | 3 |
| [vervet monkey](https://www.gbif.org/species/7262034) | *Chlorocebus pygerythrus* | Cercopithecidae | LC | 3 |
| [mantled guereza](https://www.gbif.org/species/5963045) | *Colobus guereza* | Cercopithecidae | LC | 3 |
| [yellow baboon](https://www.gbif.org/species/7262027) | *Papio cynocephalus* | Cercopithecidae | LC | 11 |
| [Hamadryas baboon](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219586) | *Papio hamadryas* | Cercopithecidae | LC | 27 |
| [Somali Golden Mole](/en/nature/somali-golden-mole/) | *Calcochloris tytonis* | Chrysochloridae | DD | 3 |
| [Crested Rat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219729) | *Lophiomys imhausi* | Cricetidae | LC | 2 |
| [Speke's gundi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2439825) | *Pectinator spekei* | Ctenodactylidae | LC | 22 |
| [short-beaked common dolphin](https://www.gbif.org/species/8324617) | *Delphinus delphis* | Delphinidae | LC | 19 |
| [Risso's dolphin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220027) | *Grampus griseus* | Delphinidae | LC | 1 |
| [pantropical spotted dolphin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220050) | *Stenella attenuata* | Delphinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spinner Dolphin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220060) | *Stenella longirostris* | Delphinidae | LC | 5 |
| [common bottlenose dolphin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2440447) | *Tursiops truncatus* | Delphinidae | LC | 1 |
| [lesser Egyptian jerboa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219895) | *Jaculus jaculus* | Dipodidae | LC | 2 |
| [African elephant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435350) | *Loxodonta africana* | Elephantidae | EN | 1 |
| [African Sheath-tailed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433088) | *Coleura afra* | Emballonuridae | LC | 218 |
| [Mauritian Tomb Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218741) | *Taphozous mauritianus* | Emballonuridae | LC | 7 |
| [Naked-rumped Tomb Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218737) | *Taphozous nudiventris* | Emballonuridae | LC | 2 |
| [African wild ass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5787168) | *Equus africanus* | Equidae | CR | 11 |
| [donkey](https://www.gbif.org/species/2440891) | *Equus asinus* | Equidae | NE | 3 |
| [Grevy's zebra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2440894) | *Equus grevyi* | Equidae | EN | 8 |
| [Four-toed Hedgehog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437140) | *Atelerix albiventris* | Erinaceidae | LC | 3 |
| [North African Hedgehog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437136) | *Atelerix algirus* | Erinaceidae | LC | 2 |
| [Somali Hedgehog](/en/nature/somali-hedgehog/) | *Atelerix sclateri* | Erinaceidae | LC | 5 |
| [cheetah](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435270) | *Acinonyx jubatus* | Felidae | VU | 15 |
| [caracal](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435010) | *Caracal caracal* | Felidae | LC | 1 |
| [cat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435035) | *Felis catus* | Felidae | NE | 1 |
| [wildcat](https://www.gbif.org/species/7964291) | *Felis silvestris* | Felidae | LC | 4 |
| [lion](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219404) | *Panthera leo* | Felidae | VU | 7 |
| [leopard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219436) | *Panthera pardus* | Felidae | VU | 16 |
| [Somali Bushbaby](/en/nature/somali-bushbaby/) | *Galago gallarum* | Galagidae | LC | 3 |
| [Senegal bushbaby](https://www.gbif.org/species/9198359) | *Galago senegalensis* | Galagidae | LC | 5 |
| [Brown Greater Galago](https://www.gbif.org/species/8978926) | *Otolemur crassicaudatus* | Galagidae | LC | 2 |
| [Garnett's Greater Galago](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436511) | *Otolemur garnettii* | Galagidae | LC | 1 |
| [Reticulated Giraffe](https://www.gbif.org/species/8888736) | *Giraffa reticulata* | Giraffidae | NE | 1 |
| [Kellen's African Dormouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219905) | *Graphiurus kelleni* | Gliridae | LC | 5 |
| [Lorrain Dormouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219910) | *Graphiurus lorraineus* | Gliridae | LC | 2 |
| [marsh mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434188) | *Atilax paludinosus* | Herpestidae | LC | 1 |
| [slender mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219098) | *Galerella sanguinea* | Herpestidae | LC | 2 |
| [Ethiopian dwarf mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434159) | *Helogale hirtula* | Herpestidae | LC | 1 |
| [common dwarf mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434165) | *Helogale parvula* | Herpestidae | LC | 6 |
| [Egyptian mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434255) | *Herpestes ichneumon* | Herpestidae | LC | 6 |
| [white-tailed mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434150) | *Ichneumia albicauda* | Herpestidae | LC | 14 |
| [banded mongoose](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219080) | *Mungos mungo* | Herpestidae | LC | 4 |
| [hippo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441247) | *Hippopotamus amphibius* | Hippopotamidae | VU | 1 |
| [Trident leaf-nosed bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432602) | *Asellia tridens* | Hipposideridae | LC | 7 |
| [Sundevall's Roundleaf Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218575) | *Hipposideros caffer* | Hipposideridae | LC | 15 |
| [Noack's Roundleaf Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218556) | *Hipposideros ruber* | Hipposideridae | LC | 1 |
| [Commerson's Leaf-nosed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/10810698) | *Macronycteris commersonii* | Hipposideridae | NT | 18 |
| [Striped Leaf-nosed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/10838777) | *Macronycteris vittatus* | Hipposideridae | NT | 1 |
| [spotted hyaena](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218781) | *Crocuta crocuta* | Hyaenidae | LC | 8 |
| [Hyaena dubbah](https://www.gbif.org/species/11219111) | *Hyaena dubbah* | Hyaenidae | NE | 3 |
| [striped hyaena](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218777) | *Hyaena hyaena* | Hyaenidae | NT | 4 |
| [aardwolf](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433502) | *Proteles cristata* | Hyaenidae | LC | 2 |
| [tropical bottlenose whale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2440391) | *Indopacetus pacificus* | Hyperoodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [crested porcupine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219888) | *Hystrix cristata* | Hystricidae | LC | 6 |
| [cape hare](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436736) | *Lepus capensis* | Leporidae | LC | 5 |
| [Abyssinian Hare](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436719) | *Lepus habessinicus* | Leporidae | LC | 4 |
| [Somali elephant shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2440845) | *Elephantulus revoili* | Macroscelididae | DD | 11 |
| [Somali Elephant-shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/11483515) | *Elephantulus revoulii* | Macroscelididae | NE | 1 |
| [Rufous elephant shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2440848) | *Elephantulus rufescens* | Macroscelididae | LC | 3 |
| [Heart-nosed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433356) | *Cardioderma cor* | Megadermatidae | LC | 32 |
| [Yellow-winged Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433354) | *Lavia frons* | Megadermatidae | LC | 13 |
| [African Long-fingered Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/4266204) | *Miniopterus africanus* | Miniopteridae | DD | 2 |
| [Greater Long-fingered Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432507) | *Miniopterus inflatus* | Miniopteridae | LC | 2 |
| [Little Free-tailed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5707216) | *Chaerephon pumilus* | Molossidae | LC | 21 |
| [Seychelles Free-tailed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5787333) | *Chaerephon pusillus* | Molossidae | VU | 1 |
| [Angolan free-tailed bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433075) | *Mops condylurus* | Molossidae | LC | 59 |
| [Midas Free-tailed Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433076) | *Mops midas* | Molossidae | LC | 13 |
| [Eastern Spiny Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264830) | *Acomys dimidiatus* | Muridae | LC | 7 |
| [Fiery Spiny Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438263) | *Acomys ignitus* | Muridae | LC | 16 |
| [Louise's Spiny Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438260) | *Acomys louisae* | Muridae | LC | 47 |
| [Mullah Spiny Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438256) | *Acomys mullah* | Muridae | LC | 7 |
| [Cape Spiny Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438258) | *Acomys subspinosus* | Muridae | LC | 1 |
| [Wilson's Spiny mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438262) | *Acomys wilsoni* | Muridae | LC | 120 |
| [Ammodile](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438331) | *Ammodillus imbellis* | Muridae | DD | 13 |
| [Large Japanese Field Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219745) | *Apodemus speciosus* | Muridae | LC | 1 |
| [Neumann's Arvicanthis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438917) | *Arvicanthis neumanni* | Muridae | LC | 35 |
| [African Arvicanthis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9733997) | *Arvicanthis niloticus* | Muridae | LC | 6 |
| [Somalian Dipodil](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264984) | *Dipodillus somalicus* | Muridae | DD | 36 |
| [Black-tailed Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264945) | *Gerbilliscus nigricaudus* | Muridae | LC | 1 |
| [Phillip's Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264941) | *Gerbilliscus phillipsi* | Muridae | LC | 13 |
| [Fringe-tailed Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264947) | *Gerbilliscus robustus* | Muridae | LC | 30 |
| [Berbera Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437783) | *Gerbillus acticola* | Muridae | DD | 15 |
| [Brockman's Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437790) | *Gerbillus brockmani* | Muridae | DD | 5 |
| [Dunn's Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437824) | *Gerbillus dunni* | Muridae | LC | 7 |
| [Least Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437822) | *Gerbillus pusillus* | Muridae | LC | 11 |
| [Waters's Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437818) | *Gerbillus watersi* | Muridae | LC | 3 |
| [Gray-headed Grammomys](https://www.gbif.org/species/2439203) | *Grammomys caniceps* | Muridae | DD | 9 |
| [Barbary Lemniscomys](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438207) | *Lemniscomys barbarus* | Muridae | LC | 4 |
| [Reddish-white Mastomys](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438912) | *Mastomys erythroleucus* | Muridae | LC | 9 |
| [Hubert's Mastomys](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264823) | *Mastomys huberti* | Muridae | LC | 13 |
| [Coucha Rat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438911) | *Mastomys natalensis* | Muridae | LC | 55 |
| [Somali Pygmy Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437725) | *Microdillus peeli* | Muridae | DD | 21 |
| [Southern African Pygmy Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438796) | *Mus minutoides* | Muridae | LC | 2 |
| [Temminck's mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438786) | *Mus musculoides* | Muridae | LC | 2 |
| [house mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/7429082) | *Mus musculus* | Muridae | LC | 11 |
| [Delicate Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438782) | *Mus tenellus* | Muridae | LC | 2 |
| [Brockman's Myomyscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4264892) | *Myomyscus brockmani* | Muridae | LC | 21 |
| [black rat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2439270) | *Rattus rattus* | Muridae | LC | 25 |
| [Emin's Tateril](https://www.gbif.org/species/2439216) | *Taterillus emini* | Muridae | LC | 8 |
| [Harrington's Gerbil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2439218) | *Taterillus harringtoni* | Muridae | LC | 1 |
| [Acacia Thallomys](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437942) | *Thallomys paedulcus* | Muridae | LC | 6 |
| [honey badger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2433695) | *Mellivora capensis* | Mustelidae | LC | 2 |
| [East African Pouched Mouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438949) | *Saccostomus mearnsi* | Nesomyidae | LC | 29 |
| [Hairy Slit-faced Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218608) | *Nycteris hispida* | Nycteridae | LC | 17 |
| [Large-eared Slit-faced Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218609) | *Nycteris macrotis* | Nycteridae | LC | 3 |
| [Parisi's Slit-faced Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/7261939) | *Nycteris parisii* | Nycteridae | DD | 3 |
| [Egyptian Slit-faced Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218614) | *Nycteris thebaica* | Nycteridae | LC | 17 |
| [Wood's Slit-faced Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218615) | *Nycteris woodi* | Nycteridae | LC | 1 |
| [sperm whale](https://www.gbif.org/species/8123917) | *Physeter macrocephalus* | Physeteridae | VU | 50 |
| [rock hyrax](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437073) | *Heterohyrax brucei* | Procaviidae | LC | 7 |
| [Cape hyrax](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219598) | *Procavia capensis* | Procaviidae | LC | 10 |
| [Ethiopian Epauletted Fruit Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432791) | *Epomophorus labiatus* | Pteropodidae | LC | 3 |
| [Minor Epauletted Fruit Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/4265716) | *Epomophorus minor* | Pteropodidae | LC | 195 |


This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia-2/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somali money transfer companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/money-transfer-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 30 Somali money transfer companies (hawala firms), with the year founded, head office and a source for each. Rows come from the Central Bank of Somalia's register, the Central Bank of Kenya's register of remittance providers, and a 2013 study of the UK–Somalia corridor that counted about 17 firms serving it.

## About this list

Somali money transfer companies, built on the older hawala system of trusted agents, carry most of the money that Somalis abroad send home. The Central Bank of Somalia licenses money transfer businesses and publishes their names ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed money transfer](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/)). It counted 14 at the end of 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Several of the same firms are licensed in Kenya ([Central Bank of Kenya, 30 September 2026](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf)). A 2013 study for the UK government counted about 17 companies serving the UK–Somalia corridor ([Beechwood International, 2013, p. 35](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)). The same firm may appear under slightly different names on different registers.

## The list

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Al-Barakat (Barakaat Group)](/en/businesses/al-barakat/) | Money transfer and telecoms | 1987 | Dubai | Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale; Shut 2001; delisted 2012 to 2020; relaunched | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Barakat) |
| [Amaana Express](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| [Amal Express](/en/businesses/amal-group/) | Money transfer |  | Garowe; group in Dubai | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Amana Express | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Amoud Express](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| Asal Express | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Bakaal Express | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Bakaal Worldwide Limited](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) | Money transfer | 1970s | Dubai; founded Burao | Mohamed Said Duale (founder); Abdirashid Duale (CEO); Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Fundaza | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Hibo | Money transfer |  | Bosaso | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Hodan | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Hodan Global Limited](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| [Horn Express Ltd (formerly Qaran Express)](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | Censured by the UK FCA in April 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| [Iftin Express](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/) | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Juba Express](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/) | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Kaah Express](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/) | Money transfer |  | Eastleigh, Nairobi (Kenya licence 2014) | Licensed by Central Bank of Kenya | [Central Bank of Kenya](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf) |
| [Ladan Express](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| [Medina Money Transfer](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| Naafic | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Oloompic Money Transfer](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| Quick | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Rcash | Money transfer |  | Garowe | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| Sahan | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Taaj Money Transfer](/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/) | Money transfer |  | Eastleigh, Nairobi (Kenya licence 2 October 2015) | Licensed by Central Bank of Kenya in 2016 and 2020 registers; not on the September 2026 register | [Central Bank of Kenya, 2016](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers.pdf); [September 2026](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf) |
| [Tawakal Express](/en/businesses/tawakal-express/) | Money transfer |  | Garowe | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| TAYO | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |
| [Towfiiq Express](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/) | Money transfer |  | United Kingdom | UK small payment institution in 2013 | [Beechwood 2013](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF) |
| [WorldRemit / Zepz](/en/businesses/worldremit/) | Money transfer (online) | 2010 | London | Ismail Ahmed (founder); Active | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldRemit) |
| Yiksi | Money transfer |  |  | Licensed by Central Bank of Somalia, Nov 2026 | [Central Bank of Somalia register](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/) |

For how hawala works, see [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/). For the size of the flows, see [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/). For firms based in the UK, see [Somali businesses in the UK](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/).


---

# Plants of Somalia: how many, which are found nowhere else, and every list

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia has about 3,000 species of flowering plants and ferns, and about a quarter of them are found nowhere else, according to the country's 2016 national biodiversity plan. GBIF holds records of 3,898 plant species from Somalia, including seaweeds and mosses. Frankincense, myrrh and the yeheb nut all come from Somali plants.

## In short

Somalia's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), prepared for the Federal Republic of Somalia by the FAO's [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) project and published in 2016, gives two counts for the country's higher plants. One table, from the UN Environment Programme's *Africa Environment Outlook 2* (2006), gives 3,028 species with 500 endemic, meaning found nowhere else. A second table, based on *Flora of Somalia* volume 3 and Conservation International, gives 3,165 species with 800 endemic, or 25% ([Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, Ullah and Gadain, 2016, p. 26](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). The plan notes that figures from different sources do not match, because data are missing (same source, p. 26).

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) held records of 3,898 plant species with Somalia as the country: 3,065 broad-leaved flowering plants, 702 monocots such as grasses and aloes, and 131 others, among them seaweeds, ferns, mosses and conifers ([GBIF occurrence search, plants, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=6)). The GBIF count is higher than the national counts partly because it includes seaweeds and mosses and partly because names that scientists now treat as one species can appear more than once.

## Part of a desert hotspot

Somalia lies in the Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot, one of only two hotspots in the world that are entirely dry; the other is the Succulent Karoo of southwestern Africa. The hotspot holds an estimated 5,000 vascular plant species, more than half of them endemic ([NBSAP 2016, pp. 17 to 18](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). Hundreds of new species have been found in Somalia in the last 20 years (same source).

## Plants with a long history

The main vegetation is *Acacia–Commiphora* bushland. For thousands of years it supplied frankincense, from *[Boswellia](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/) sacra* and *Boswellia frereana*, and myrrh, from *Commiphora myrrha* and *Commiphora guidottii*, to Africa and the Middle East as far as Egypt ([NBSAP 2016, p. 18](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). The plan records that frankincense was once Somalia's fourth-largest source of foreign currency ([NBSAP 2016, p. 24](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

Somalia is home to the yeheb nut (*Cordeauxia edulis*), an evergreen shrub with yellow flowers and edible, very nourishing seeds ([NBSAP 2016, p. 18](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). The IUCN Red List lists it as Endangered ([GBIF, *Cordeauxia edulis*](https://www.gbif.org/species/2981417)).

The Somali cyclamen (*Cyclamen somalense*) is known only from a small area in northern Somalia. Its discovery surprised botanists, because every other cyclamen grows in the Mediterranean region ([NBSAP 2016, p. 18](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). It is listed as Critically Endangered ([GBIF, *Cyclamen somalense*](https://www.gbif.org/species/4007715)).

## Largest plant families on record

By number of species with a GBIF record from Somalia, the largest plant families are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Legumes, the pea family, including acacias (Fabaceae): 434
- Grasses (Poaceae): 367
- Daisies (Asteraceae): 234
- Spurges, including the cactus-like euphorbias (Euphorbiaceae): 203
- Acanthus family (Acanthaceae): 182
- Mallow family (Malvaceae): 178
- Dogbane family, including desert roses (Apocynaceae): 136
- Mint family (Lamiaceae): 127
- Morning glory family (Convolvulaceae): 115
- Sedges (Cyperaceae): 108

## Who collected the records

GBIF holds 47,690 plant records from Somalia, and 41,296 of them are herbarium specimens: dried, pressed plants kept in collections. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, holds the largest share (26,081), followed by Uppsala University (4,373), home of the *Flora of Somalia* project, and the Missouri Botanical Garden (2,410). The [University of Hargeisa](/en/institutions/main-universities/) has shared 935 records ([GBIF occurrence search, plants, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=6)).

## Red List

Of the 3,898 plant species on record, the IUCN Red List has assessed 973. It places 10 in Critically Endangered, 66 in Endangered and 64 in Vulnerable; 2,925 have not been assessed ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Every plant list

- [Legumes of Somalia](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/)
- [Grasses and sedges of Somalia](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/)
- [Aloes, dragon trees, palms and other monocots](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia/)
- [Flowering plants, Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/)
- [Flowering plants, Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/)
- [Flowering plants, Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/)
- [Flowering plants, Malvaceae to Santalaceae](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/)
- [Flowering plants, Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae/)
- [Ferns, conifers, mosses and seaweeds](/en/nature/ferns-conifers-mosses-and-seaweeds-of-somalia/)
- All species in one file: [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv)

## Related pages

- [Somali montane xeric woodlands](/en/nature/somali-montane-xeric-woodlands/)

## Sources

- [Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2016](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)
- [GBIF occurrence search, plants, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=6)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)


---

# Port of Mogadishu (Dekadda Muqdisho)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/port-of-mogadishu/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Port of Mogadishu is Somalia's largest harbour and the main sea gate for the south and centre. Italy built the modern port in the late 1920s, adding a breakwater in 1930. After war damage, the Turkish company Albayrak took over management in September 2014 under a deal giving the government 55% of revenue and Albayrak 45%, with an $80 million modernisation plan.

## At a glance

- **What:** Somalia's largest harbour, classed as a major port ([Wikipedia, Port of Mogadishu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Mogadishu)).
- **Code:** UN/LOCODE SO MGQ ([UNECE, Somalia locations](https://service.unece.org/trade/locode/so.htm)).
- **Operator:** the Turkish company **Albayrak**, since September 2014 ([Diplomat.so, September 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20141001054403/http://diplomat.so/2014/09/21/somalia-hands-over-mogadishu-seaport-to-turkish-company/)).
- **Website:** [portofmogadishu.com](http://www.portofmogadishu.com/).
- For the country's other ports and the 2026 dispute over UAE port deals, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## From Sarapion to the Italian port

Greek and Roman writers record a trading place called **Sarapion** on this coast; see [Greek and Roman writers on the Somali coast](/en/history/greek-and-roman-writers-on-the-somali-coast/). Wikipedia states that the medieval harbour was small, and that the first works toward a modern port came after the Italians arrived in 1890 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Mogadishu)).

The Italian colonial government built the modern **Porto di Mogadiscio**, with warehouses and docks, in the late 1920s. In 1930 a protective dike with breakwaters was built in front of the enlarged harbour, which was linked inland by rail and by an "imperial road" toward Addis Ababa (same source; [Il Corno d'Africa](http://www.ilcornodafrica.it/st-porti.htm)). In 1934 the port exported 43,467 tonnes of farm produce, mainly bananas, to Italy and Europe, carried by the refrigerated "RAMB" ships of the Royal Banana Monopoly. From 1936 Lloyd Triestino and Italian Line ran a weekly passenger service to Massawa and Genoa. British bombing damaged the port in 1941 (same Wikipedia article). See [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/) and [Railways in Somalia](/en/infrastructure/railways-in-somalia/).

## The Republic

In the 1960s the port was improved following studies by the US Army Corps of Engineers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Mogadishu)). The port was damaged during the civil war that began in 1991 (same source).

## Rebuilding since 2013

- **June 2013:** under the federal Mogadishu Port Rehabilitation Project, the director of the Port of Djibouti and Chinese reconstruction officials visited the port; port manager Abdullahi Ali Nur said they were briefed for the planning stage ([Sabahi, June 2013](https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011402/http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/newsbriefs/2013/06/13/newsbrief-04)).
- **2013:** the port management reportedly agreed with the Dubai firm Simatech Shipping to run a Mogadishu Port Container Terminal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Mogadishu)).
- **October 2013:** the federal cabinet approved a five-year agreement for Albayrak to manage, rebuild and modernise the port. In April 2014 the Federal Parliament postponed approval until a new foreign investment law passed, and asked that port workers' interests be protected ([Garowe Online, April 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140407093710/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia-Federal-Parliament-postpones-vote-on-Seaport-Management-Deal_printer.shtml)).
- **September 2014:** the government handed management to Albayrak. Albayrak's head, Ahmed Salim, said **55%** of port revenue would go to the government and **45%** to the company; transport minister Yussuf Maolim Amin said the deal should double government income from the port. The modernisation was costed at **$80 million**, and in its first month the port earned $2.7 million in service revenue ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Mogadishu); [Diplomat.so](https://web.archive.org/web/20141001054403/http://diplomat.so/2014/09/21/somalia-hands-over-mogadishu-seaport-to-turkish-company/)).
- **November 2014:** transport minister Said Jama Mohamed launched a reform of road haulage from the port with the transport unions ([Goobjoog](https://web.archive.org/web/20141205005322/http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=6685)).
- **2015:** African Shipping Line registered as a ship and container agent at the port, offering feeder services to Mogadishu, Kismayo, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Berbera ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Mogadishu)).

Anadolu Agency reported in September 2025 that Albayrak still runs and modernises the port ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkish-firm-modernizes-and-runs-somalia-s-gateway/3700103)). The Auditor General's figures for the operator's payments are on [Foreign companies in Somalia](/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/).

## Related

- [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/), beside the port
- [Mogadishu's economy](/en/economy/mogadishu-economy/)
- [Somalia and Turkey](/en/relations/turkey/)


---

# Somali supermarkets, shopping centres and shops: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/shops-food-and-markets-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists Somali supermarkets, shopping centres and larger shops, such as Hayat Market, which opened in Mogadishu in April 2020 and had five branches by March 2025, Midnimo supermarket, and Mogadishu Mall and Mogadishu City Mall, with the year opened, city and a source for each. Most Somali trade still happens in open markets and small family shops, which this list does not name one by one.

## About this list

Most goods in Somali towns are sold in open markets such as Bakaara in Mogadishu and in small shops beside the road. A 2021 article in [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/)'s Somali Business Review says that supermarkets and shopping malls opened in Mogadishu over the previous ten years, mostly for families who had come back from abroad, and that high electricity prices raise the cost of keeping food cold ([Somali Business Review, 23 November 2021](https://sbr.simad.edu.so/?p=1121)). Somali shopping centres abroad, such as those in [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/), Nairobi, are listed under [Somali businesses abroad](/en/businesses/somali-businesses-abroad-directory/).

## The list

| Company | Type | Founded | City | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Hayat Market](/en/businesses/hayat-market/) | Supermarket chain | April 2020 | Mogadishu | Safa International (UAE); fifth branch opened March 2025 | [Food Business Middle East and Africa, 5 March 2025](https://www.foodbusinessmea.com/safa-international-expands-hayat-market-chain-with-fifth-branch-in-mogadishu/) |
| Midnimo | Supermarket | | Mogadishu | at the Zoobe junction | [Somali Business Review, 2021](https://sbr.simad.edu.so/?p=1121) |
| Mogadishu Mall | Shopping centre | | Mogadishu (Hamar Weyne) | | [Somali Business Review, 2021](https://sbr.simad.edu.so/?p=1121) |
| Mogadishu City Mall | Shopping centre with clinics, media and finance offices | | Mogadishu | | [Somali Business Review, 2021](https://sbr.simad.edu.so/?p=1121) |
| Three K Company (Ashley Furniture Somalia) | Furniture shop | May 2026 | Mogadishu (Hodan) | first Ashley showroom in Somalia, about 10 staff | [Home News Now, 4 June 2026](https://homenewsnow.com/?p=71054) |

For Mogadishu's main open market, see [Bakaara Market](/en/economy/bakaara-market/).


---

# Somali businesses abroad: directory by country

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-businesses-abroad-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists Somali-founded companies and Somali shopping centres outside Somalia, by country: fuel, transport and property firms in Uganda and Kenya, the malls of Eastleigh in Nairobi and of Minneapolis, money transfer firms registered in the UK, and companies founded by Somalis in Australia and Djibouti. Each row has a source, and each country section links to our page on Somali business there.

## About this list

Somalis abroad run large numbers of shops, transport firms and trading companies, often in shopping centres where many Somali traders rent stalls. This list gives the companies and centres that a published source names. It does not list sole traders or small family shops. Firms that send money home are listed under [money transfer companies](/en/businesses/money-transfer-companies/), and those registered in the UK also appear in the UK section here.

## Kenya

| Name | Type | Founded | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garissa Lodge | Lodging house turned shopping centre, the first Eastleigh mall | early 1990s | Eastleigh, Nairobi | [Carrier, *Little Mogadishu*, 2017](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/little-mogadishu-eastleigh-nairobis-global-somali-hub/) |
| Amal Shopping Plaza | Shopping centre, more than 500 shops | | Eastleigh, Nairobi | [Bloomsbury, Global Sociology student resources](https://bloomsburyonlineresources.com/global-sociology-3e/student-zone) |
| Business Bay Square | Shopping centre, about 130,000 square metres | | Eastleigh, Nairobi | [People Daily](https://peopledaily.digital/business/the-reinvention-and-rise-of-nairobis-little-mogadishu/amp) |
| [Hass Petroleum](/en/businesses/hass-petroleum/) | Fuel importer and distributor | 1997 | Nairobi | [Hass Petroleum, our history](https://hasspetroleum.com/our-history/) |

Read more: [Eastleigh: Somali business in Nairobi](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/).

## Uganda

| Name | Type | Founded | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Oil | Fuel stations | 1980s, as Mandela Auto Spares | Kampala | [Hiiraan Online, 2009](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx) |
| Hashi Empex | Fuel | | Kampala | [Hiiraan Online, 2009](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx) |
| Hared | Fuel | | Kampala | [Hiiraan Online, 2009](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx) |
| Gateway | Bus company, more than 100 buses | 1983 | Uganda | [Hussein Shire](/en/people/hussein-shire/) |
| Horyal Investments Holding | Property, sugar and hardware; head Amina Moghe Hersi | | Kampala | [Wikipedia, Amina Moghe Hersi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Moghe_Hersi) |

Read more: [Somali business in Uganda](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/).

## United Kingdom

| Name | Type | Incorporated | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dahabshiil Transfer Services Ltd | Money transfer | 31 March 1998 | London | [Companies House, 03538207](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03538207) |
| Iftin Express Limited | Money transfer | 28 June 2006 | London | [Companies House, 05860963](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05860963) |
| Amal UK Express Limited | Money transfer | 29 November 2006 | London | [Companies House, 06013583](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06013583) |
| Juba Express Limited | Money transfer | 20 October 2009 | London | [Companies House, 07049593](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07049593) |
| [WorldRemit](/en/businesses/worldremit/) | Online money transfer | 22 December 2009 | London | [Companies House, 07110878](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07110878) |
| Universal TV | Television | 2005 | London | [Wikipedia, Universal Television (Somalia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Television_(Somalia)) |

Read more: [Somali businesses in the UK](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/).

## United States

| Name | Type | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karmel Mall | Shopping centre of Somali-run shops, about 650 businesses | Minneapolis | [Sahan Journal, 25 June 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/minnesota-somali-businesses-struggle-after-immigration-crackdown/) |
| Madina Mall | Shopping centre, about 40 shops | Minneapolis | [Sahan Journal, 25 June 2026](https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/minnesota-somali-businesses-struggle-after-immigration-crackdown/) |
| [Karmel Restaurants](/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/) | Restaurant chain founded in 1999, later in Dubai, Nairobi and, from 2013, Mogadishu | Minneapolis | [SOMINVEST 2023, p. 82](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf) |

Read more: [Somali businesses in Minnesota](/en/economy/somali-businesses-in-minnesota/).

## South Africa

Somali traders in South Africa mostly run small shops in townships, which this list does not name one by one. Read more: [Somali shops in South Africa](/en/economy/somali-shops-in-south-africa/).

## United Arab Emirates

Dubai has more than 100 Somali businesses, including gold and textile shops, hotels, money exchanges and cargo firms shipping to Somalia, many around the Gold Souq in Deira, according to a 2022 account by a Somali resident ([The National, 1 July 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)). Read more: [Somalis in the UAE](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/).

## Sweden

A 2021 report counted about 600 Swedish Somalis running their own firms ([The Global Village, 2021](https://jarvaveckan.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Svensksomalierna.pdf)). Read more: [Somalis in Sweden](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Djibouti and Australia

| Name | Type | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSK Group / OGF Group | Shipping, logistics and construction; the group of the founder of [Somaliland Beverage Industries](/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/) | Djibouti | [Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| Lumachain | Food supply-chain software, founded 2018 by Jamila Gordon | Sydney | [Jamila Gordon](/en/people/jamila-gordon/); [Wikipedia, Jamila Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_Gordon) |


---

# Somali tech start-ups: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/tech-start-ups-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists Somali tech start-ups that a published source names, such as the delivery and ride app Gulivery (2017), the online shop ZIQQI (2017), the Hargeisa taxi app Dhaweye (2019) and the marriage app Guurdoon (2022), with the year founded, city and a source for each. Phone companies' mobile money services are listed under telecoms.

## About this list

Most Somali apps are built on mobile money, which lets customers pay by phone without a bank card. Delivery, taxi and online shopping firms started in Hargeisa and Mogadishu from about 2017 ([Disrupt Africa, 8 March 2019](https://disrupt-africa.com/2019/03/somali-delivery-startup-gulivery-adds-e-hailing-services/)). The largest digital services are run by the phone companies, such as Hormuud's [WAAFI](/en/businesses/waafi/) app; these are listed in the [telecoms directory](/en/businesses/telecoms-internet-and-media-directory/). Many start-ups close or change name within a few years, so a row gives the year the source reports.

## The list

| Company | Type | Founded | City | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Gulivery](/en/businesses/somali-delivery-taxi-and-shopping-apps/) | Delivery app, later motorbike taxis | 2017 | Hargeisa, then Mogadishu | founded by a couple who returned from London; added e-hailing in 2019 | [Disrupt Africa, 8 March 2019](https://disrupt-africa.com/2019/03/somali-delivery-startup-gulivery-adds-e-hailing-services/) |
| [ZIQQI](/en/businesses/somali-delivery-taxi-and-shopping-apps/) | Online shop | late 2017 | Hargeisa | first city Hargeisa, February 2019; also Somalia, Rwanda and Mali by June 2019 | [Hiiraan Online, June 2019](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Jun/164393/ziqqi_taking_africa_by_storm.aspx) |
| [Dhaweye](/en/businesses/somali-delivery-taxi-and-shopping-apps/) | Taxi app | March 2019 | Hargeisa | 2,080 drivers signed up by September 2019 | [Radio Ergo, 16 September 2019](https://radioergo.org/en/2019/09/popular-online-taxi-firm-employing-more-than-2000-in-hargeisa/) |
| [Guurdoon](/en/businesses/somali-delivery-taxi-and-shopping-apps/) | Marriage app | October 2022 | Mogadishu | launched by the Guryosamo family development centre; $1 sign-up fee | [AFP via The Star, 22 June 2023](https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2023/06/22/somalis-search-for-love-online-but-dont-call-it-dating) |

For how start-ups reach people without smartphones, see [How start-ups reached people on basic phones](/en/forces/how-startups-reached-people-on-basic-phones/).


---

# Somali telecoms, internet and media companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/telecoms-internet-and-media-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 26 Somali telecoms, internet and media companies, with the year founded, head office and a source for each. Phone networks such as Hormuud, Telesom, Golis and Somtel run the mobile money services most Somalis use. The media rows cover the main television, radio and online outlets.

## About this list

Somalia's phone market is run by private companies. A 2019 Clingendael study found that Hormuud, its [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) counterpart Telesom and Golis in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) together held about 81 percent of SIM cards, and [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/)'s Somtel about 16 percent ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, box 7](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). The National Communications Authority licenses operators ([NCA licence register](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses)). Media rows come mainly from Wikipedia's lists of Somali media companies ([Wikipedia, Mass media companies of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mass_media_companies_of_Somalia)).

## Telecoms and internet

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Amtel](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) | Telecoms and internet |  |  |  | [mail.nca.gov.so](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses) |
| Global Internet Company | Telecoms and internet |  | Mogadishu | Hormuud, NationLink and Telcom | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia) |
| [Golis Telecom](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/) | Telecoms and internet | 2002 | Bosaso | Abdiaziz Guureeye Karshe (chairman) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia) |
| [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/) | Telecoms and internet | 2002 | Mogadishu | Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf (chairman and CEO) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom) |
| [NationLink Telecom](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) | Telecoms and internet | 1997 | Mogadishu | Abdirizak Ido (founder) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NationLink_Telecom) |
| [Netco](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) | Telecoms and internet | 1993 | Bosaso | Ismael Haji Abdi (owner) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netco_(Somalia)) |
| [Somafone](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) | Telecoms and internet | 2003 | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somafone) |
| [Somali Telecom Group (STG)](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) | Telecoms and internet | 1993 | Dubai |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Telecom_Group) |
| [SomCable](/en/businesses/somcable/) | Telecoms and internet | 2010 | Hargeisa | Mohamed Said Guedi (founder) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SomCable) |
| [Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/) | Telecoms and internet | 2009 | Hargeisa | Dahabshiil group (95%) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel) |
| [Telcom](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) | Telecoms and internet | 1997 | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telcom_(Somalia)) |
| [Telesom](/en/businesses/telesom/) | Telecoms and internet | 2002 | Hargeisa | Abdikarim Mohamed Eid (CEO) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesom) |

## Media companies

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Capital Voice](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media |  | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Voice) |
| [Eastern Television Network](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2005 | Bosaso |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2004 | Garowe | Garowe News Group | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Online) |
| [Goobjoog Media](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2012 | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Somalia) |
| [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 1999 | Ottawa | Ahmed Gure (founder) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiiraan_Online) |
| [Horn Cable Television](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2003 | Hargeisa | Farhan Haji Ali (owner) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Cable_Television) |
| [HornAfrik](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 1999 | Mogadishu | Ahmed Abdisalam, Mohamed Elmi, Ali Iman Sharmarke (founders); closed 2010 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HornAfrik) |
| [Puntland Post](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2001 | Garowe |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| [Radio Dalsan](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2012 | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Somalia) |
| [Radio Gaalkacyo](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 1993 | Galkayo |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| [Shabelle Media Network](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2002 | Mogadishu | Abdimaalik Yusuf Banna (owner) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabelle_Media_Network) |
| [Somali Broadcasting Corporation](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2001 | Bosaso |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| [Somali Cable TV](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2015 | Mogadishu |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Somalia) |
| [Universal TV](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) | Media | 2005 | London | Licence withdrawn in Somaliland 2025 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Television_(Somalia)) |

For the sector as a whole, see [Telecoms](/en/economy/telecoms/), [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) and [Somali media companies](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). For the mobile money services, see [EVC Plus](/en/businesses/evc-plus/), [Zaad](/en/businesses/zaad/), [Sahal](/en/businesses/sahal/) and [eDahab](/en/businesses/edahab/).


---

# Somali trading, import and manufacturing companies: directory

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/trade-import-and-manufacturing-directory/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> This directory lists 28 Somali trading, import and manufacturing companies, from Coca-Cola bottlers in Hargeisa and Mogadishu to the food importers of the Bosaso corridor such as Tawfiq, with head office and a source for each.

## About this list

Most goods sold in Somalia are imported, mainly by a small number of large trading companies. A 2021 Rift Valley Institute study names Tawfiq, Alfadl, Red Sea, Mustaqbal, Mansur and Maruf as the main [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) importers of rice, sugar, flour, pasta and cooking oil ([RVI, Contested Commerce, 2021, p. 20](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf)). Factories are few; the best known are drinks bottlers such as [Somaliland Beverage Industries](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/) ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Beverage Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries)). Several rows come from the Clingendael Institute's map of firms tied to the large business groups ([Clingendael, 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## The list

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Buruuj | Trading |  |  |  | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| [Alfadl](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/) | Trade (food and building materials import) |  | Puntland |  | [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf) |
| Bosaso Tannery | Leather |  | Bosaso |  | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Somalia) |
| FAACO Company | Trading |  |  |  | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| [Mansur](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/) | Trade (food and building materials import) |  | Puntland |  | [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf) |
| [Maruf](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/) | Trade (food and building materials import) |  | Puntland |  | [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf) |
| Mogadishu Coca-Cola Company | Drinks (Coca-Cola bottler) | 2004 reopening | Mogadishu | 339 Somali shareholders | [strategypage.com](https://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20040705.aspx) |
| [MSG Trading Est.](/en/businesses/somcable/) | Trading |  |  | Mohamed Said Guedi | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| [Mustaqbal](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/) | Trade (food and building materials import) |  | Puntland |  | [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf) |
| Nura Tiles | Building materials |  |  |  | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| Ominco Group | Trading |  |  |  | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| Red Sea Cement | Cement |  | Berbera |  | [Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf) |
| [Sagal](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/) | Trade (food and building materials import) |  |  |  | [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf) |
| [Somalia Petroleum Corporation](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/) | Oil and gas (state) | 2007 | Mogadishu | Federal Government | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_Petroleum_Corporation) |
| [Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI)](/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/) | Drinks (Coca-Cola bottler) | 2010 | Hargeisa | Ahmed Osman Guelleh (founder) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries) |
| [Tawfiq](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/) | Trade (food and building materials import) |  | Bosaso and Salalah (Oman) | Earlier led by Said Abdullahi Deni | [ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2064876/RVI+2021.11.23+Contested+Commerce_0.pdf) |

## Local manufacturers

For these firms in more detail, see [Somali manufacturers](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/).

Several rows here come from the profiles of firms financed through Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

| Company | Type | Founded | Head office | Owner or head, and status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Hadiid Industries Group](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Steel doors, windows, furniture and steel-frame houses | 2013 | Mogadishu | four branches, more than 100 staff in 2026 | [Dawan Africa, 1 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/from-4-workers-to-100-how-hadiid-built-a-steel-housing-business-in-mogadishu) |
| [Somplastic Factory](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Plastic household goods and furniture | 2014 | Mogadishu | about 150 permanent workers; sells in Ethiopia and Kenya | [Shuraako, 2025](https://shuraako.org/somplastic-factory-keeping-it-local/) |
| [Irman Dairy](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Milk processing | 2017 | Mogadishu | first milk plant in the city in 25 years; 3,000 to 3,500 litres a day in 2018 | [Radio Ergo, 29 October 2018](https://radioergo.org/en/2018/10/first-dairy-plant-in-mogadishu-introduces-somalis-to-packaged-milk/) |
| [Wara Fragrance](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Perfume | 2023 | | sold in more than 1,000 shops in four countries; factory planned in Somalia for 2027 | [Capital FM, 18 September 2026](https://capitalfm.africa/somali-fragrance-maker-wara-expands-east-africa-footprint/) |
| [Tabaarak Company](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Mattresses, pillows and cushions | 1997 | Puntland | second factory 700 km from the first | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/tabaarak-company/) |
| [ILO Tango](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Powdered drinks | 2002 | Somaliland | sells to shops, supermarkets, restaurants and fuel stations | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/ilo-tango/) |
| [AADCO Paper Factory](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Printing paper and exercise books | 2013 | Hargeisa | 52 staff in 2017; 90% of sales in Somaliland | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/aadco-paper-factory/) |
| Tayo Uniforms and Embroidery | School and work uniforms | 2014 | Hargeisa | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/tayo-uniforms-and-embroidery/) |
| Daryeel Modern Industry | Wood and metal furniture | 2016 | | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/daryeel-modern-industry/) |
| [Tayo Household Plastic Factory Ltd](/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/) | Plastic household goods, chairs and buckets | 2017 | Hargeisa | | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/tayo-household-plastic-factory-ltd/) |
| Al-Hayaat Personal Care | Shampoo and detergent | | Somaliland | founded by a returnee from Canada | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-hayaat-personal-care/) |
| Puntland Petroleum | Fuel and cooking gas distribution | | Bosaso, Galkayo and Garowe | 19 fuel sites in 2021; described as the largest fuel distributor in Puntland | [Shuraako](https://shuraako.org/clients/puntland-petroleum-company/) |

For how goods move, see [Somalia's trade](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/) and [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/). For the groups behind many firms, see [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/).

## Related

- [Soma Oil and Gas](/en/economy/soma-oil-and-gas/)
- [Ogaden Basin oil and gas](/en/economy/ogaden-basin-oil-and-gas/)


---

# Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 709 bird species from Somalia. Of these, the IUCN Red List places 6 in Critically Endangered, 10 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable; 635 are Least Concern. Several, such as the Somali pigeon, Somali thrush and Somali lark, live nowhere else in the world.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) held records of 709 bird species with Somalia as the country ([GBIF occurrence search, birds, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=212)). GBIF holds 22,984 bird records from Somalia. Of these, 14,536 are sightings by people, 13,570 of them shared through eBird, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Another 8,055 are museum specimens, held mostly by the American Museum of Natural History (2,625), the Senckenberg museum in Frankfurt (1,609) and the Field Museum in Chicago (1,261) (same source).

## Birds found only in Somalia

Several birds on this list are endemic to Somalia, meaning they are found nowhere else. Among them are the [Somali pigeon](/en/nature/somali-pigeon/), the [Somali thrush](/en/nature/somali-thrush/) and the [Somali lark](/en/nature/somali-lark/) ([IUCN Red List, *Columba oliviae*](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22690092A238753952.en); [IUCN Red List, *Mirafra somalica*](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22717043A94519133.en)). The Somali pigeon, the Somali thrush and the Warsangli linnet are endemic to the mountains of the north, which BirdLife International treats as the [North Somali Mountains](/en/nature/somali-montane-xeric-woodlands/) Endemic Bird Area ([Wikipedia, Somali montane xeric woodlands, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)).

## Names that carry "Somali"

Many birds of the region carry Somali in their English names, including the [Somali crow](/en/nature/somali-crow/), [Somali fiscal](/en/nature/somali-fiscal/), [Somali sparrow](/en/nature/somali-sparrow/), [Somali bee-eater](/en/nature/somali-bee-eater/), [Somali courser](/en/nature/somali-courser/), [Somali starling](/en/nature/somali-starling/), [Somali crombec](/en/nature/somali-crombec/) and the [Somali ostrich](/en/nature/somali-ostrich/), one of only two ostrich species in the world. The [Juba weaver](/en/nature/juba-weaver/) is named after the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) river (pages linked).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. Migrant birds that pass through or spend the northern winter in Somalia are included. Records range from museum specimens more than a century old to sightings made this year, and a few may be misidentified, so the list is a list of records, not of what is present today.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 6
- Endangered (EN): 10
- Vulnerable (VU): 11
- Near Threatened (NT): 24
- Least Concern (LC): 635
- Data Deficient (DD): 2
- Not Evaluated (NE): 21

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Accipitridae: 45 species
- Muscicapidae: 36 species
- Alaudidae: 30 species
- Ploceidae: 27 species
- Scolopacidae: 24 species
- Laridae: 22 species
- Cisticolidae: 22 species
- Charadriidae: 17 species
- Columbidae: 17 species
- Motacillidae: 17 species

## Full list (709 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Shikra](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) | *Accipiter badius* | Accipitridae | LC | 23 |
| [Black Goshawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480631) | *Accipiter melanoleucus* | Accipitridae | LC | 1 |
| [Little Sparrowhawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480594) | *Accipiter minullus* | Accipitridae | LC | 3 |
| [Steppe Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480513) | *Aquila nipalensis* | Accipitridae | EN | 11 |
| [Tawny Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480514) | *Aquila rapax* | Accipitridae | VU | 40 |
| [African Hawk-Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/6066199) | *Aquila spilogaster* | Accipitridae | LC | 13 |
| [Verreaux's Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229184) | *Aquila verreauxii* | Accipitridae | LC | 15 |
| [African Cuckoo-Hawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480705) | *Aviceda cuculoides* | Accipitridae | LC | 1 |
| [Grasshopper Buzzard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480480) | *Butastur rufipennis* | Accipitridae | LC | 12 |
| [Augur Buzzard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480540) | *Buteo augur* | Accipitridae | LC | 20 |
| [Common Buzzard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480537) | *Buteo buteo* | Accipitridae | LC | 1 |
| [Long-legged Buzzard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480564) | *Buteo rufinus* | Accipitridae | LC | 1 |
| [Jackal Buzzard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480554) | *Buteo rufofuscus* | Accipitridae | LC | 16 |
| [Scissor-tailed Kite](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480364) | *Chelictinia riocourii* | Accipitridae | VU | 7 |
| [Brown Snake-Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480665) | *Circaetus cinereus* | Accipitridae | LC | 4 |
| [Fasciated Snake-Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480663) | *Circaetus fasciolatus* | Accipitridae | NT | 1 |
| [Short-toed Snake-Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480666) | *Circaetus gallicus* | Accipitridae | LC | 15 |
| [Black-breasted Snake-Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480662) | *Circaetus pectoralis* | Accipitridae | LC | 12 |
| [Pallid Harrier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480491) | *Circus macrourus* | Accipitridae | NT | 12 |
| [Montagu's Harrier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480495) | *Circus pygargus* | Accipitridae | LC | 13 |
| [Black-shouldered Kite](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480372) | *Elanus caeruleus* | Accipitridae | LC | 19 |
| [Bearded Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480649) | *Gypaetus barbatus* | Accipitridae | NT | 1 |
| [White-backed Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/9487001) | *Gyps africanus* | Accipitridae | CR | 14 |
| [Eurasian Griffon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480389) | *Gyps fulvus* | Accipitridae | LC | 3 |
| [Rüppell's Griffon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480384) | *Gyps rueppellii* | Accipitridae | CR | 7 |
| [African Fish-Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480454) | *Haliaeetus vocifer* | Accipitridae | LC | 10 |
| [Booted Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480685) | *Hieraaetus pennatus* | Accipitridae | LC | 9 |
| [Wahlberg's Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5844448) | *Hieraaetus wahlbergi* | Accipitridae | LC | 4 |
| [Lizard Buzzard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480440) | *Kaupifalco monogrammicus* | Accipitridae | LC | 9 |
| [Long-crested Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480475) | *Lophaetus occipitalis* | Accipitridae | LC | 1 |
| [Bat Hawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480379) | *Macheiramphus alcinus* | Accipitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pale Chanting-Goshawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480730) | *Melierax canorus* | Accipitridae | LC | 12 |
| [Dark Chanting-Goshawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480733) | *Melierax metabates* | Accipitridae | LC | 1 |
| [Eastern Chanting-Goshawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480731) | *Melierax poliopterus* | Accipitridae | LC | 73 |
| [Gabar Goshawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788495) | *Micronisus gabar* | Accipitridae | LC | 39 |
| [yellow-billed kite](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788522) | *Milvus aegyptius* | Accipitridae | LC | 9 |
| [Black Kite](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229167) | *Milvus migrans* | Accipitridae | LC | 130 |
| [Hooded Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480715) | *Necrosyrtes monachus* | Accipitridae | CR | 135 |
| [Egyptian Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480696) | *Neophron percnopterus* | Accipitridae | EN | 20 |
| [Martial Eagle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480426) | *Polemaetus bellicosus* | Accipitridae | EN | 6 |
| [African Harrier-Hawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480659) | *Polyboroides typus* | Accipitridae | LC | 4 |
| [Bateleur](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480377) | *Terathopius ecaudatus* | Accipitridae | EN | 20 |
| [Lappet-faced Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788496) | *Torgos tracheliotos* | Accipitridae | EN | 10 |
| [Lappet-Faced Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480362) | *Torgos tracheliotus* | Accipitridae | EN | 5 |
| [White-headed Vulture](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480408) | *Trigonoceps occipitalis* | Accipitridae | CR | 11 |
| [Great Reed Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493128) | *Acrocephalus arundinaceus* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Reed Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231319) | *Acrocephalus baeticatus* | Acrocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lesser Swamp Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231329) | *Acrocephalus gracilirostris* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 13 |
| [Marsh Warbler/Eurasian Reed Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493136) | *Acrocephalus palustris* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Sedge Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493129) | *Acrocephalus schoenobaenus* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 30 |
| [Eurasian Reed Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493118) | *Acrocephalus scirpaceus* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 6 |
| [Clamorous Reed Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231333) | *Acrocephalus stentoreus* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Upcher's Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493217) | *Hippolais languida* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 15 |
| [Eastern Olivaceous Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5739361) | *Iduna pallida* | Acrocephalidae | LC | 24 |
| [Greater Hoopoe-Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490659) | *Alaemon alaudipes* | Alaudidae | LC | 36 |
| [Lesser Hoopoe-Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490660) | *Alaemon hamertoni* | Alaudidae | LC | 90 |
| [Desert Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490641) | *Ammomanes deserti* | Alaudidae | LC | 108 |
| [Blanford's Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230990) | *Calandrella blanfordi* | Alaudidae | LC | 37 |
| [Greater Short-toed Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490681) | *Calandrella brachydactyla* | Alaudidae | LC | 7 |
| [Red-capped Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230989) | *Calandrella cinerea* | Alaudidae | LC | 2 |
| [lesser short-toed lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490682) | *Calandrella rufescens* | Alaudidae | NE | 16 |
| [Somali Short-toed Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230987) | *Calandrella somalica* | Alaudidae | LC | 49 |
| [Fawn-colored Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340946) | *Calendulauda africanoides* | Alaudidae | LC | 15 |
| [Foxy Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340939) | *Calendulauda alopex* | Alaudidae | LC | 13 |
| [Pink-breasted Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/6089205) | *Calendulauda poecilosterna* | Alaudidae | LC | 20 |
| [Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490692) | *Eremopterix leucotis* | Alaudidae | LC | 48 |
| [Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490694) | *Eremopterix nigriceps* | Alaudidae | LC | 56 |
| [Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340819) | *Eremopterix signatus* | Alaudidae | LC | 52 |
| [Crested Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490669) | *Galerida cristata* | Alaudidae | LC | 35 |
| [Malabar Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490672) | *Galerida malabarica* | Alaudidae | LC | 2 |
| [Thekla's Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/9330514) | *Galerida theklae* | Alaudidae | LC | 226 |
| [Liben Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490704) | *Heteromirafra archeri* | Alaudidae | CR | 14 |
| [Rufous-naped Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/9389539) | *Mirafra africana* | Alaudidae | LC | 5 |
| [Ash's Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490589) | *Mirafra ashi* | Alaudidae | LC | 6 |
| [Singing Bushlark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490599) | *Mirafra cantillans* | Alaudidae | LC | 2 |
| [Collared Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490582) | *Mirafra collaris* | Alaudidae | LC | 10 |
| [Gillett's Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490584) | *Mirafra gilletti* | Alaudidae | LC | 67 |
| [Red-winged Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490593) | *Mirafra hypermetra* | Alaudidae | LC | 44 |
| [Australasian Bushlark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490585) | *Mirafra javanica* | Alaudidae | LC | 7 |
| [Flappet Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490596) | *Mirafra rufocinnamomea* | Alaudidae | LC | 9 |
| [Somali Long-billed Lark](/en/nature/somali-lark/) | *Mirafra somalica* | Alaudidae | LC | 22 |
| [Short-tailed Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490665) | *Pseudalaemon fremantlii* | Alaudidae | LC | 48 |
| [Obbia Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490647) | *Spizocorys obbiensis* | Alaudidae | LC | 5 |
| [Masked Lark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490645) | *Spizocorys personata* | Alaudidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pied Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475679) | *Ceryle rudis* | Alcedinidae | LC | 59 |
| [Malachite Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/6095338) | *Corythornis cristatus* | Alcedinidae | LC | 7 |
| [Brown-hooded Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228322) | *Halcyon albiventris* | Alcedinidae | LC | 9 |
| [Striped Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228300) | *Halcyon chelicuti* | Alcedinidae | LC | 15 |
| [Gray-headed Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228304) | *Halcyon leucocephala* | Alcedinidae | LC | 52 |
| [Woodland Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228340) | *Halcyon senegalensis* | Alcedinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Mangrove Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228303) | *Halcyon senegaloides* | Alcedinidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Pygmy-Kingfisher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475821) | *Ispidina picta* | Alcedinidae | LC | 13 |
| [Egyptian Goose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498252) | *Alopochen aegyptiaca* | Anatidae | LC | 24 |
| [Yellow-billed Duck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498156) | *Anas undulata* | Anatidae | LC | 2 |
| [Tufted Duck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498261) | *Aythya fuligula* | Anatidae | LC | 1 |
| [Fulvous Whistling-Duck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498402) | *Dendrocygna bicolor* | Anatidae | LC | 2 |
| [White-faced Whistling-Duck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498396) | *Dendrocygna viduata* | Anatidae | LC | 10 |
| [Eurasian Wigeon](https://www.gbif.org/species/8000602) | *Mareca penelope* | Anatidae | LC | 2 |
| [Gadwall](https://www.gbif.org/species/9362027) | *Mareca strepera* | Anatidae | LC | 1 |
| [Southern Pochard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498177) | *Netta erythrophthalma* | Anatidae | LC | 2 |
| [African Pygmy-Goose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498313) | *Nettapus auritus* | Anatidae | LC | 3 |
| [Comb Duck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498001) | *Sarkidiornis melanotos* | Anatidae | LC | 2 |
| [Northern Shoveler](https://www.gbif.org/species/8332393) | *Spatula clypeata* | Anatidae | LC | 3 |
| [Garganey](https://www.gbif.org/species/9274012) | *Spatula querquedula* | Anatidae | LC | 5 |
| [White-backed Duck](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498229) | *Thalassornis leuconotus* | Anatidae | LC | 2 |
| [African Darter](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482080) | *Anhinga rufa* | Anhingidae | LC | 6 |
| [Little Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228662) | *Apus affinis* | Apodidae | LC | 215 |
| [Common Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228676) | *Apus apus* | Apodidae | LC | 3 |
| [Forbes-Watson's Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228699) | *Apus berliozi* | Apodidae | LC | 12 |
| [White-rumped Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228644) | *Apus caffer* | Apodidae | LC | 8 |
| [Horus Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228640) | *Apus horus* | Apodidae | LC | 1 |
| [Nyanza Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228645) | *Apus niansae* | Apodidae | LC | 15 |
| [Pallid Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228695) | *Apus pallidus* | Apodidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Palm-Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/2477093) | *Cypsiurus parvus* | Apodidae | LC | 12 |
| [Alpine Swift](https://www.gbif.org/species/2477411) | *Tachymarptis melba* | Apodidae | LC | 25 |
| [Great Egret](https://www.gbif.org/species/9752617) | *Ardea alba* | Ardeidae | LC | 7 |
| [Gray/Purple Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/9797180) | *Ardea cinerea* | Ardeidae | LC | 20 |
| [Goliath Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480927) | *Ardea goliath* | Ardeidae | LC | 8 |
| [Black-headed Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480923) | *Ardea melanocephala* | Ardeidae | LC | 66 |
| [Purple Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480934) | *Ardea purpurea* | Ardeidae | LC | 3 |
| [Madagascar Pond-Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480903) | *Ardeola idae* | Ardeidae | EN | 1 |
| [Squacco Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480906) | *Ardeola ralloides* | Ardeidae | LC | 4 |
| [Cattle Egret](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480830) | *Bubulcus ibis* | Ardeidae | LC | 28 |
| [Striated Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480824) | *Butorides striata* | Ardeidae | LC | 9 |
| [Black Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480878) | *Egretta ardesiaca* | Ardeidae | LC | 9 |
| [Little Egret/Western Reef-Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480876) | *Egretta garzetta* | Ardeidae | LC | 20 |
| [Western Reef-Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480898) | *Egretta gularis* | Ardeidae | LC | 37 |
| [intermediate egret](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480880) | *Egretta intermedia* | Ardeidae | NE | 10 |
| [Little Bittern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480850) | *Ixobrychus minutus* | Ardeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-crowned Night-Heron](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480863) | *Nycticorax nycticorax* | Ardeidae | LC | 7 |
| [Crowned Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/7983173) | *Lophoceros alboterminatus* | Bucerotidae | LC | 11 |
| [Hemprich's Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/8258263) | *Lophoceros hemprichii* | Bucerotidae | LC | 29 |
| [African Gray Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/8101752) | *Lophoceros nasutus* | Bucerotidae | LC | 23 |
| [Von der Decken's Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475971) | *Tockus deckeni* | Bucerotidae | LC | 25 |
| [Northern Red-billed Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475965) | *Tockus erythrorhynchus* | Bucerotidae | LC | 86 |
| [Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475979) | *Tockus flavirostris* | Bucerotidae | LC | 111 |
| [Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2476042) | *Bucorvus abyssinicus* | Bucorvidae | VU | 9 |
| [Red-billed Oxpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489052) | *Buphagus erythrorhynchus* | Buphagidae | LC | 44 |
| [Spotted Thick-knee](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482097) | *Burhinus capensis* | Burhinidae | LC | 78 |
| [Eurasian Thick-knee](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482100) | *Burhinus oedicnemus* | Burhinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Senegal Thick-knee](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482099) | *Burhinus senegalensis* | Burhinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Water Thick-knee](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482095) | *Burhinus vermiculatus* | Burhinidae | LC | 14 |
| [Black Cuckooshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486745) | *Campephaga flava* | Campephagidae | LC | 1 |
| [Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486741) | *Campephaga phoenicea* | Campephagidae | LC | 6 |
| [Slender-tailed Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496937) | *Caprimulgus clarus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 15 |
| [Long-tailed Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496964) | *Caprimulgus climacurus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 4 |
| [Donaldson-Smith's Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496936) | *Caprimulgus donaldsoni* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 42 |
| [Eurasian Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/8109681) | *Caprimulgus europaeus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 9 |
| [Square-tailed Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496905) | *Caprimulgus fossii* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 6 |


This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somalia and Djibouti

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Djibouti hosted the Arta conference that elected Abdiqasim Salad Hassan president on 25 August 2000 and the Djibouti peace process that elected Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on 31 January 2009. It has had troops in the AU mission since 20 December 2011. Djibouti reported US$54 million of exports to Somalia and US$84.2 million of imports from it in 2023, and it hosted 13,853 refugees from Somalia at the end of 2025.

## How do Somalia and Djibouti relate today?

The two governments are close partners. On 30 September 2026 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) held talks with President [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) in Djibouti City on security, economic and political cooperation ([AllAfrica, 1 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610010069.html)). Hassan Sheikh had also attended Djibouti's Independence Day on 27 June 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 26 June 2026](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-president-in-djibouti-for-independence-day-celebrations-and-talks)).

On 12 November 2026 the two countries' diplomatic training institutes signed a memorandum of understanding in Mogadishu on training, research and joint seminars ([Dawan Africa, 12 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-djibouti-diplomatic-institutes-sign-cooperation-deal)). On 8 November 2026 the foreign ministers of Somalia, Djibouti and Egypt held talks in Tripoli on Red Sea security ([Garowe Online, November 2026](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/egypt-somalia-djibouti-hold-talks-on-red-sea-security-horn-of-africa-stability)).

Djibouti has troops in the AU mission, hosts about 13,900 refugees from Somalia, and recorded US$138 million of trade with Somalia in 2023 (see below).

## When did contact begin?

The people of Djibouti and Somalia share language, religion and long trade links along the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/). For early history see [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/) and [Handoga, a medieval town in Djibouti](/en/history/handoga-medieval-town-djibouti/).

Djibouti became independent from France on 27 June 1977, with [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) as its first president ([US Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/countries/djibouti); [Horn Review, 7 April 2025](https://hornreview.org/2025/04/07/a-gift-unreturned-siad-barres-legacy-and-the-fractured-narrative-of-djiboutis-birth/)). Somalia's government under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) had lobbied the OAU and other forums on Djibouti's independence ([Horn Review, 2025](https://hornreview.org/2025/04/07/a-gift-unreturned-siad-barres-legacy-and-the-fractured-narrative-of-djiboutis-birth/)). During the Ogaden war of 1977–1978, Djibouti aligned with Ethiopia, according to the same account.

After Somalia's state fell apart in 1991, Djibouti's old embassy in Mogadishu was destroyed. For about a decade its ambassador worked from [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/), the presidential palace ([Garowe Online, 2017](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-guelleh-lays-foundation-stone-for-djibouti-embassy-in-mogadishu)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

**Djibouti to Somalia**

- **[Dayib](/en/nature/ferns-conifers-mosses-and-seaweeds-of-somalia/) Dubbad Roble**, ambassador, opened a new embassy building in Mogadishu on 14 December 2010 ([Hiiraan Online, 14 December 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2010/Dec/djibouti_government_opens_its_embassy_in_mogadishu.aspx)).
- **Mohamed Ibrahim Youssouf**, welcomed as the new ambassador by Speaker [Sheikh Aden Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/) during the second phase of the offensive against al-Shabaab; Somalia's foreign minister held a farewell meeting with him on 5 May 2026 ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/djibouti-pledges-to-support-somalia-in-al-shabaab-war); [AllAfrica, 6 May 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202605060104.html)).
- **Osman Doubad**, ambassador in November 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 12 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-djibouti-diplomatic-institutes-sign-cooperation-deal)). He formerly commanded the Djiboutian contingent in the AU mission's Sector 4 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-foreign-minister-receives-diplomatic-credentials-from-djiboutis-new-ambassador)).

**Missions:** Djibouti has an embassy in Mogadishu. Presidents Guelleh and Farmaajo laid the foundation stone of a new embassy building on the day of Farmaajo's inauguration in 2017 ([Garowe Online, 2017](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-guelleh-lays-foundation-stone-for-djibouti-embassy-in-mogadishu)). Somalia has an embassy in Djibouti. Somaliland keeps a representative in Djibouti; it recalled him, Abdifatah Said Ahmed, for consultations in December 2025 ([The Standard, 31 December 2025](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/amp/africa/article/2001537550/somaliland-recalls-its-envoy-to-djibouti)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Ismail Omar Guelleh**, President of Djibouti since 1999, launched and hosted the Arta conference of 2000 ([Arab News, 26 October 2025](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346)). He also mediated Somalia–Somaliland talks in June 2020 and December 2023 ([Garowe Online, 18 June 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/major-breakthrough-in-somalia-somaliland-talks-in-djibouti-after-hours-of-standoff); [eNCA, 30 December 2023](https://www.enca.com/news/somalia-and-breakaway-somaliland-agree-resume-dialogue)).
- **Abdiqasim Salad Hassan** was elected President of Somalia by the transitional assembly at Arta on 25 August 2000 ([Al Bawaba/AFP, 31 August 2000](https://www.albawaba.net/news/sanaa-urges-somali-warlords-cooperate-elected-president)).
- **Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah**, UN Special Representative, witnessed the 2008 agreements between the Transitional Federal Government and the opposition ARS in Djibouti ([PA-X, 21 September 2008](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/740/)).
- **Hamud A. Suldan**, Djibouti's Minister of Islamic Affairs, witnessed a TFG–ARS joint statement on 21 September 2008 ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/740/)).
- **Sharif Sheikh Ahmed** was elected President of Somalia by the enlarged parliament meeting in Djibouti on 31 January 2009 ([Al Jazeera, 31 January 2009](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/1/31/somali-mps-elect-new-president)).
- **Mahmoud Ali Youssouf**, then Djibouti's foreign minister, announced the breakthrough in the June 2020 Somalia–Somaliland talks ([Garowe Online, 18 June 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/major-breakthrough-in-somalia-somaliland-talks-in-djibouti-after-hours-of-standoff)).
- **Abdoulkader Houssein Omar**, Djibouti's foreign minister, joined Egypt, [Somalia and Turkey](/en/relations/turkey/) in rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland in December 2025 ([The Standard, 31 December 2025](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/amp/africa/article/2001537550/somaliland-recalls-its-envoy-to-djibouti)).
- **Yasin Mohamud Ibar** and **Youssouf Moussa Dawaleh**, heads of the Somali and Djiboutian chambers of commerce, met in Djibouti on 15 September 2026 on trade and feeder shipping ([Dawan Africa, 16 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-to-resume-vegetable-exports-to-djibouti)).
- **Mohamed Gure** (Somalia) and **Hassan [Omar Mohamed](/en/people/omar-abdullahi-mohamed/)** (Djibouti), directors of the diplomatic institutes, signed the November 2026 training MoU ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-djibouti-diplomatic-institutes-sign-cooperation-deal)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Arta, 2000:** the conference opened on 2 May 2000, set up a 225-member Transitional National Parliament and a Transitional National Charter for three years ([Arab News, 2025](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346); [SONNA, 29 October 2025](https://sonna.so/en/president-ismail-omar-guelleh-the-djiboutian-leader-who-helped-rebuild-somalias-third-republic/)).
- **Djibouti Agreement, 2008:** signed by the TFG and the ARS; the UN Security Council welcomed the accord dated 19 August 2008 in Djibouti ([UN Security Council, SC/9440](https://press.un.org/en/2008/sc9440.doc.htm)).
- **Joint statement on emergency and drought relief, 21 September 2008**, Djibouti ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/740/)).
- **Somalia–Somaliland communiqué, 29 December 2023**, signed in Djibouti under Guelleh's mediation (see below).
- **Diplomatic training MoU, 12 November 2026** ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-djibouti-diplomatic-institutes-sign-cooperation-deal)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **2 May – August 2000:** about 4,000 Somali delegates at Arta ([Arab News, 2025](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346)).
- **January 2009:** Somalia's parliament met in Djibouti to elect a president ([Al Jazeera, 31 January 2009](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/1/31/somali-mps-elect-new-president)).
- **2017:** Guelleh in Mogadishu for President Farmaajo's inauguration ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-guelleh-lays-foundation-stone-for-djibouti-embassy-in-mogadishu)).
- **August 2019:** Farmaajo in Djibouti, about two weeks before Somaliland's president ([Garowe Online, 3 September 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somalia-djibouti-rolls-out-red-carpet-for-somaliland-president)).
- **June 2020:** Farmaajo, Abiy Ahmed and [Muse Bihi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) in Djibouti for talks ([Garowe Online, 18 June 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/major-breakthrough-in-somalia-somaliland-talks-in-djibouti-after-hours-of-standoff)).
- **28–29 December 2023:** Hassan Sheikh and Muse Bihi in Djibouti ([eNCA, 2023](https://www.enca.com/news/somalia-and-breakaway-somaliland-agree-resume-dialogue)).
- **26–27 June 2026 and 30 September 2026:** Hassan Sheikh in Djibouti ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-president-in-djibouti-for-independence-day-celebrations-and-talks); [AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610010069.html)).

## How much do they trade?

Djibouti reports its trade with Somalia to the UN; Somalia does not. Djibouti's figures ([UN Comtrade, Djibouti reporter, 2021–2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=262&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)):

- **2021:** exports to Somalia US$27.4 million; imports US$7.7 million
- **2022:** exports US$54.1 million; imports US$25.7 million
- **2023:** exports US$54.0 million; imports US$84.2 million

In 2023 Djibouti's largest exports to Somalia were fats and oils (US$16.3 million), electrical goods (US$12.5 million) and vehicles (US$6.9 million). US$81.7 million of its recorded imports were in HS chapter 49, printed matter ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=262&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=M)).

In September 2026 Somali traders asked Djibouti to resume imports of Somali bananas, papayas and watermelons, and the two chambers discussed feeder ships from Djibouti port to Somali ports ([Dawan Africa, 16 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-to-resume-vegetable-exports-to-djibouti)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Djibouti is not a large donor. Its main contributions have been hosting peace conferences, troops and refugees. Djiboutian families hosted Somali delegates for the four months of the Arta conference ([Arab News, 2025](https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620346)).

## What about security?

An advance party of 100 Djiboutian soldiers landed in Mogadishu on 20 December 2011, the first of about 900, making Djibouti the third AU troop contributor after Uganda and Burundi ([AFP via Terra Daily, 20 December 2011](https://www.terradaily.com/reports/First_Djibouti_troops_join_AU_Somalia_force_999.html)). Its contingent later served around Beledweyne and Bulo Burde in [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), and in March 2026 its 13th battalion took over there under AUSSOM ([AUSSOM, 16 March 2026](https://au-ssom.org/djiboutis-battalion-13-deploys-to-somalia-under-aussom/)). See [Djibouti's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/djibouti-military-in-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Djibouti deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- Djibouti does not recognise Somaliland, but the two keep informal relations and have exchanged representatives ([The Standard, 31 December 2025](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/amp/africa/article/2001537550/somaliland-recalls-its-envoy-to-djibouti)).
- Muse Bihi made his first trip as Somaliland president to Djibouti; in September 2019 Guelleh received him with full honours to discuss economic, media and trade ties ([Garowe Online, 3 September 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somalia-djibouti-rolls-out-red-carpet-for-somaliland-president)).
- After Somaliland's January 2024 port deal with Ethiopia, relations cooled. A delegation led by Ali Hamud Jibril, Second Deputy Speaker of Somaliland's House of Representatives, visited Djibouti in early December 2024 to mend ties ([Hiiraan Online, 4 December 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Dec/199195/somaliland_delegation_visits_djibouti_to_mend_strained_ties.aspx)).
- In May 2025 Somaliland's new president, [Abdirahman Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/), visited Djibouti at Djibouti's invitation for talks with Guelleh ([Eastleigh Voice, May 2025](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/regional/153756/somalilands-president-abdirahman-mohamed-abdillahi-visits-djibouti-amid-regional-tensions-horn-of-africa-realignment?amp=1)).
- The African Development Bank is funding a 30 km road from Lowyaddo on the Djibouti border to Zeila, phase one of the Negad–Lowyaddo–[Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) road, at about US$44 million ([African Review, 27 August 2025](https://africanreview.com/construction/somaliland-djibouti-highway-inches-closer)).
- On a visit to Djibouti, Hassan Sheikh asked Guelleh for humanitarian help for drought-hit Awdal ([Villa Somalia](https://villasomalia.gov.so/president-hassan-sheikh-holds-bilateral-talks-with-president-ismail-omar-guelleh-of-djibouti/)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Somaliland and Israel, December 2025:** Djibouti's foreign minister joined a call with Egypt, Somalia and Turkey rejecting Israel's 26 December 2025 recognition of Somaliland; Somaliland then recalled its envoy from Djibouti and called the move routine ([The Standard, 31 December 2025](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/amp/africa/article/2001537550/somaliland-recalls-its-envoy-to-djibouti)).
- **Ports:** Djibouti handles about 95% of Ethiopia's sea trade, and Berbera in Somaliland is promoted as a rival route ([Eastleigh Voice, May 2025](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/regional/153756/somalilands-president-abdirahman-mohamed-abdillahi-visits-djibouti-amid-regional-tensions-horn-of-africa-realignment?amp=1)).

## How many Somalis live in Djibouti?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 13,853 refugees and 208 asylum seekers from Somalia in Djibouti, down from 84,628 refugees in 1991 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=DJB)). See [Djibouti (Somali refugees)](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Where does Djibouti stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Djibouti is a troop contributor to AMISOM since 2011 and to AUSSOM ([AUSSOM, 2026](https://au-ssom.org/djiboutis-battalion-13-deploys-to-somalia-under-aussom/)).
- Djibouti has largely aligned with Somalia on key diplomatic issues, including votes at the United Nations ([The Standard, 2025](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/amp/africa/article/2001537550/somaliland-recalls-its-envoy-to-djibouti)).
- Both are members of IGAD, the African Union and the Arab League. UN Security Council resolution 1907 of 23 December 2009 called the Djibouti Agreement "the basis for a resolution of the conflict in Somalia" ([UN, S/RES/1907 (2009)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1907(2009)&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Djibouti (Somali refugees)](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)
- [Djibouti's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/djibouti-military-in-somalia/)
- [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)
- [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/)
- [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/)
- [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)
- [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somaliland 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Early Zeila before 1300](/en/history/early-zeila-before-1300/)


---

# Hayat Market: supermarket chain in Mogadishu

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/hayat-market/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hayat Market is a supermarket chain in Mogadishu, owned by Safa International, a trading group based in the UAE and founded in 1989. Its first branch opened in April 2020 and its fifth, in the Ali Kamin area, in early 2025. Its shops sell mainly imported goods, with food on the ground floor and electronics, clothing and household goods on the floors above. It also runs an online shop, adeeg.com.

## The short version

Hayat Market is a chain of large supermarkets in Mogadishu. It was set up by Safa International, a trading company based in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/), which was founded in 1989 and works in ten countries, mostly in East Africa and the Middle East ([Food Business Middle East and Africa, 5 March 2025](https://www.foodbusinessmea.com/safa-international-expands-hayat-market-chain-with-fifth-branch-in-mogadishu/)). The first branch opened in April 2020 (same source).

## Branches

By 2025 Hayat had branches in several districts of Mogadishu, including KM4 (Taleex) and KM5 (Zoobe) ([Wikipedia, Hayat Market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Market)). Its fifth branch, in the Ali Kamin neighbourhood, opened in early 2025 ([African Marketing Confederation, 28 February 2025](https://africanmarketingconfederation.org/uae-group-is-opening-fifth-supermarket-in-somali-capital-mogadishu/)). A 2021 article in [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/)'s Somali Business Review named Hayat and Midnimo, both at the Zoobe junction, as the most popular supermarkets in the city ([Somali Business Review, 23 November 2021](https://sbr.simad.edu.so/?p=1121)).

## What it sells

The emerging-markets consultancy Trendtype, quoted by the African Marketing Confederation, described Hayat's shops as small malls on several floors: food on the ground floor, and electronics, clothing, toys, furniture and household goods above ([African Marketing Confederation, 28 February 2025](https://africanmarketingconfederation.org/uae-group-is-opening-fifth-supermarket-in-somali-capital-mogadishu/)). The chain stocks mainly imported products. Safa International says it handles more than 35 brands and more than 300 product lines, mostly brought in through the UAE. Hayat also runs an online shop, adeeg.com ([Food Business Middle East and Africa, 5 March 2025](https://www.foodbusinessmea.com/safa-international-expands-hayat-market-chain-with-fifth-branch-in-mogadishu/)).

## Setting and awards

The Somali Business Review article says supermarkets in Mogadishu opened mainly in the ten years to 2021, many serving families who had returned from abroad and were used to shopping that way, and that high electricity prices make it costly to keep food cold ([Somali Business Review, 2021](https://sbr.simad.edu.so/?p=1121)). Hayat was named Best Supermarket Chain of the Year at the East Africa Somali Awards in 2024 and Best Supermarket of the Year at the Somali Business Awards in 2025 ([Wikipedia, Hayat Market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Market)).

## Related

- [Somali supermarkets, shopping centres and shops: directory](/en/businesses/shops-food-and-markets-directory/)
- [Bakaara Market](/en/economy/bakaara-market/)


---

# Somalia and Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/kenya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Kenya and Somalia share a land border, a large Somali population in Kenya and troops in the AU mission, and since March 2024 both are members of the East African Community. Kenya reported US$129.8 million of exports to Somalia in 2024. The International Court of Justice drew their sea boundary on 12 October 2021, a ruling Kenya does not accept.

## How do Somalia and Kenya relate today?

Kenya and Somalia are neighbours with deep links through trade, refugees and security. Somalia became a member of the East African Community (EAC), to which Kenya belongs, when it deposited its ratification in Arusha on 4 March 2024 ([Capital FM, March 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)). Kenyan troops serve in the AU mission in Somalia, which al-Shabaab cites as its reason for attacks in Kenya ([Dawan Africa, 12 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-condemns-mandera-attack-that-killed-8-kenyans-urges-joint-fight)).

On 10 November 2026 suspected al-Shabaab fighters killed eight Kenyans on the Mandera–Arabia–Lafey road ([Dawan Africa, 12 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-condemns-mandera-attack-that-killed-8-kenyans-urges-joint-fight)). Somalia's Ministry of Information condemned the attack and called for militants to be fought jointly ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-condemns-mandera-attack-that-killed-8-kenyans-urges-joint-fight)).

The sea boundary remains a dispute. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave judgment on 12 October 2021 ([ICJ, case 161](https://www.icj-cij.org/case/161)), and Kenya's foreign ministry said it did not recognise the ruling ([Wikipedia, Somalia v. Kenya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_v._Kenya)).

## When did contact begin?

Somali herders and traders lived across what became the Kenya–Somalia border long before colonial rule. Britain created the Northern Frontier District (NFD) in 1925 from part of Jubaland, after ceding the northern part of Jubaland to Italy ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). See [Partition 1884–1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/).

Before Kenya's independence, a commission led by Major-General Bogert of Canada and Mr Onyiuke of Nigeria surveyed opinion in the NFD and reported on 7 December 1962 ([UK Parliament, Hansard, House of Lords, 3 April 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)). It found people in the eastern areas, including Mandera, Wajir and Garissa, "almost unanimously favoured the secession" from Kenya to join the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Hansard, 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)).

On 8 March 1963 Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys announced instead that the Somali areas would become a seventh region of Kenya ([Hansard, 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)). The Somali Republic broke off diplomatic relations with Britain about a week later ([Hansard, 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)).

Kenya became independent in December 1963 and declared a state of emergency 13 days later ([MIT CASCON case study](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)). The armed conflict that followed in the north-east is known as the Shifta war; see [The Northern Frontier District 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/).

On 28 October 1967 President Jomo Kenyatta and Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal signed a memorandum of understanding at Arusha, after mediation by Zambia's President Kenneth Kaunda ([Reuters archive record](https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/293856)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Jamal Mohamed Hassan** was named Somalia's ambassador to Kenya in April 2015 ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- In February 2019 Kenya recalled its ambassador from Mogadishu and asked Somalia's ambassador to go home for consultations, after Somalia offered disputed oil and gas blocks ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- On 30 June 2019 Somalia summoned Kenya's ambassador and handed him a protest note over a Kenyan tweet on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Arab News, 1 July 2019](http://www.arabnews.com/node/1519026/world)).
- In December 2020 Somalia gave Kenyan diplomats seven days to leave Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

Kenya has an embassy in Mogadishu, and Somalia has an embassy in Nairobi. The names of recent ambassadors on both sides could not be sourced for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Major-General Bogert and Mr Onyiuke** led the 1962 NFD Commission ([Hansard, 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)).
- **Duncan Sandys**, British Colonial Secretary, announced the March 1963 decision to keep the NFD in Kenya ([Hansard, 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya)).
- **Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal and Jomo Kenyatta** signed the 1967 Arusha memorandum; **Kenneth Kaunda** mediated, with **Julius Nyerere** and **Milton Obote** as observers ([Reuters archive record](https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/293856)).
- **Moses Wetangula**, Kenya's foreign minister, and **Mohamed Yusuf Haji**, defence minister, were the Kenyan leads during Operation Linda Nchi in 2011 ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi)).
- **Ahmed Madobe**, leader of the [Raskamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/) movement and later President of Jubaland, fought alongside Kenyan forces in 2011–2012 ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi)).
- **Fred Matiang'i**, Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary, gave UNHCR 14 days in March 2021 to plan the closure of Dadaab and Kakuma ([Garowe Online, 24 March 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/world/africa/kenya-to-shut-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-amid-strained-ties-with-somalia)).
- **William Ruto and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud** discussed airline commissions on the khat trade in 2022 ([Al Jazeera, 31 March 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/3/31/kenyan-khat-farmers-seek-govt-help-to-boom-again-after-covid-19)).
- **Kimathi Munjuri**, chairman of the Kenyan khat traders' group NYAMITA, spoke for growers on the reopened trade ([Al Jazeera, 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/3/31/kenyan-khat-farmers-seek-govt-help-to-boom-again-after-covid-19)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud** launched Somalia's EAC bid at the EAC headquarters in July 2022 and signed the accession treaty in Entebbe in December 2023 ([Capital FM](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).
- **Peter Mathuki**, EAC Secretary General, received Somalia's instrument of ratification on 4 March 2024 ([Capital FM](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Arusha memorandum of understanding, 28 October 1967:** peaceful border, end of hostile propaganda, and a review of economic and trade links ([Reuters archive record](https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/293856)).
- **Joint communiqué, 31 October 2011:** issued after talks in Nairobi on the Kenyan operation in southern Somalia ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi)).
- **MoU on continental shelf submissions, 7 April 2009:** signed by Kenya and the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/); Somalia's parliament rejected it in October 2009 ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Tripartite agreement with UNHCR, 2013:** on voluntary return of Somali refugees from Dadaab ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Treaty of Accession to the EAC:** signed 16 December 2023, ratification deposited 4 March 2024 ([Capital FM](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **28 October 1967:** Kenyatta and Egal met in Arusha, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) ([Reuters archive record](https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/293856)).
- **October 2011:** Kenyan and Somali leaders met in Nairobi and issued a joint communiqué on 31 October ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi)).
- **2022:** Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and William Ruto met on trade, including khat ([Al Jazeera, 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/3/31/kenyan-khat-farmers-seek-govt-help-to-boom-again-after-covid-19)).

A fuller dated list of presidential visits between Nairobi and Mogadishu could not be sourced for this edition.

## How much do they trade?

Kenya reported these exports to Somalia ([UN Comtrade, Kenya reporter, 2021](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=404&period=2021&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=404&period=2022&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=404&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=404&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)):

- **2016:** US$176.7 million
- **2019:** US$116.0 million
- **2021:** US$122.5 million
- **2022:** US$129.9 million
- **2023:** US$154.3 million
- **2024:** US$129.8 million

Kenya's imports from Somalia were US$4.2 million in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=404&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)). In 2024 the largest export groups were tobacco (US$49.5 million), medicines (US$15.8 million), food preparations (US$9.0 million) and fuels (US$8.8 million) ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=404&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

**Miraa (khat).** Somalia was Kenyan khat's biggest overseas customer ([Al Jazeera, 31 March 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/3/31/kenyan-khat-farmers-seek-govt-help-to-boom-again-after-covid-19)). In March 2020 Somalia stopped international flights except humanitarian ones, which cut off khat from Kenya ([Al Jazeera, 31 March 2020](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/3/31/khat-traders-farmers-take-a-hit-amid-coronavirus-pandemic)). Black-market prices in Mogadishu rose to about US$100 a kilogram from about US$9 to US$10 ([Al Jazeera, 2020](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/3/31/khat-traders-farmers-take-a-hit-amid-coronavirus-pandemic)). The trade reopened in 2022, mostly on private charter flights ([Al Jazeera, 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/3/31/kenyan-khat-farmers-seek-govt-help-to-boom-again-after-covid-19)). See [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/).

**Airlines.** Kenya Airways resumed Nairobi–Mogadishu flights from 14 February 2024, three times a week (flights KQ362 and KQ363); it had last served Mogadishu regularly until 2020 ([Aeroroutes, 22 November 2023](https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231123-kqfeb24mgq)). In 2019 Kenya required flights from Mogadishu to stop in Wajir for security screening ([Arab News, 1 July 2019](http://www.arabnews.com/node/1519026/world)).

**Business.** Nairobi's Eastleigh district is a major hub of Somali trade and capital. See [Eastleigh Somali business](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Kenya is not a large aid donor to Somalia. Its largest contributions are hosting refugees and troops. Kenya has pointed to its humanitarian support for refugees, military protection for the Somali government, and hosting that government in Nairobi ([Anadolu Agency, 19 March 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)).

## What about security?

Kenyan forces crossed into southern Somalia on 16 October 2011 in Operation Linda Nchi and were integrated into [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) in June 2012 ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi)). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) attacks continue in Kenya's border counties, including six police killed in Garissa County on 23 March 2025 ([Al Jazeera, 23 March 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/23/six-personnel-killed-in-attack-on-somali-border-kenyan-police)). For bases, numbers and battles, see [Kenya's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Kenya deal with Somaliland and the member states?

**Somaliland**

- In June 2019 Kenya's foreign ministry tweeted about talks with Somaliland officials on "issues of mutual interest to both countries" ([Arab News, 1 July 2019](http://www.arabnews.com/node/1519026/world)). Somalia called this an "affront to Somalia's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity" ([Arab News](http://www.arabnews.com/node/1519026/world)).
- In December 2020, around a visit to Nairobi by Somaliland's president, Somalia accused Kenya of interfering in its affairs and cut diplomatic ties ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

**Jubaland**

- Kenya's ties with Jubaland under Ahmed Madobe deepened in economic and military cooperation ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- Fighting between federal and Jubaland forces in [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) has centred on Beled Hawo, a commercial gateway to Kenya ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/gedo-on-the-brink-somali-government-and-jubaland-battle-for-control)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **NFD and the Shifta war, 1963–1967:** see above ([Hansard](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1963/apr/03/northern-frontier-district-of-kenya); [MIT CASCON](https://web.mit.edu/cascon/cases/case_sek.html)).
- **Sea boundary:** Somalia filed its case at the ICJ on 28 August 2014; the court rejected Kenya's preliminary objections on 2 February 2017 and ruled on the merits on 12 October 2021 ([ICJ, case 161](https://www.icj-cij.org/case/161)). On 19 March 2021 Kenya said it would not take part in the hearings, arguing that Somalia had rejected a boundary it accepted for more than 35 years ([Anadolu Agency, 19 March 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)). The area in dispute was about 160,580 square kilometres ([Anadolu Agency](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)).
- **Oil blocks, February 2019:** Kenya recalled its ambassador after Somalia offered blocks in the disputed area ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Diplomatic break, December 2020 to May 2021:** relations were restored in May 2021 with Qatari mediation ([Wikipedia, Kenya–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Refugee camps:** in March 2021 Kenya gave UNHCR an ultimatum to close Dadaab and Kakuma ([Garowe Online, 24 March 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/world/africa/kenya-to-shut-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-amid-strained-ties-with-somalia)).
- **Visas:** Kenya's 2025 visa fee waiver for African travellers excluded [Somalia and Libya](/en/relations/libya/), citing security concerns ([The Star, 14 July 2025](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-07-14-kenya-scraps-visa-fees-for-african-caribbean-travellers)).

## How many Somalis live in Kenya?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 319,471 refugees and 139,660 asylum seekers from Somalia in Kenya ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2020&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KEN)). Kenya also has its own large Somali-Kenyan citizen population. See [Kenya (Eastleigh, Dadaab, North Eastern Kenya)](/en/diaspora/kenya/).

## Where does Kenya stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Kenya is a troop contributor to the AU missions in Somalia ([Wikipedia, Operation Linda Nchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Linda_Nchi)).
- Kenya was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2021 ([Garowe Online, 24 March 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/world/africa/kenya-to-shut-world-s-biggest-refugee-camp-amid-strained-ties-with-somalia)).
- Both are members of IGAD, the African Union and, since 2024, the EAC ([Capital FM](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).

## Related pages

- [Kenya (Eastleigh, Dadaab, North Eastern Kenya)](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [The Northern Frontier District 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/)
- [Kenya's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/kenya-military-in-somalia/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Eastleigh Somali business](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/)
- [The khat trade](/en/economy/khat-trade/)
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)
- [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/)
- [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)


---

# New Mogadishu International Airport (planned)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/new-mogadishu-international-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> New Mogadishu International Airport is a second airport for the capital, planned on about 20 square kilometres near Maaxaay (El Maan), 30 to 36 km north-east of the city. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud laid its foundation stone on 29 June 2025. Phase I plans two 4,000-metre runways for 5 million passengers a year, with costs reported at $643 million to $800 million.

## Why a second airport

[Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) sits inside Mogadishu with no room left to grow, and traffic rose sharply in the early 2020s as airlines added routes and more Somalis abroad travelled home ([Wikipedia, New Mogadishu International Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mogadishu_International_Airport)). The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) says the new airport will meet growing passenger and cargo demand "as Aden Adde International Airport reaches its operational limits" ([UNOPS, 3 February 2026](https://content.unops.org/documents/libraries/press-releases/2026/en/Press-release-Somalia-Kick-off-meeting-for-the-new-Mogadishu-International-Airport-design.pdf)).

## The site

The airport is planned on a site of about **20 square kilometres** in the Maaxaay area, which UNOPS puts about 30 km north of Mogadishu and which the federal government has allocated and protected ([UNOPS](https://content.unops.org/documents/libraries/press-releases/2026/en/Press-release-Somalia-Kick-off-meeting-for-the-new-Mogadishu-International-Airport-design.pdf)). Wikipedia places it near the coastal village of Haawaay, also known as El Maan, about 36 km north-east of the city, in [Warsheekh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) district of [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mogadishu_International_Airport)).

## What is planned

- **Phase I:** two parallel runways, each 4,000 metres long and 60 metres wide, able to take wide-body aircraft, with room for a third and fourth later ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mogadishu_International_Airport)).
- **Capacity in Phase I:** 5 million passengers, 130,000 aircraft movements and 100,000 tonnes of cargo a year (same source).
- **Jobs:** officials have said up to 10,000 young Somalis could work in airport and aviation roles (same source).
- **Cost:** reported at about **$643 million** ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/somalia-bids-for-the-future-with-new-usd643-million-airport-4868758); [Somali Guardian](https://somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalias-govt-to-build-new-airport-in-mogadishu-to-ease-congestion/)) and by [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) at about **$800 million** ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-launches-construction-of-new-800-million-airport-near-capital)).
- **Who builds it:** Wikipedia names the New Mogadishu Development Corporation working in a public-private partnership with Turkish firms ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mogadishu_International_Airport); [NMDC project page](https://www.nmdcinvest.com/projects/airport/)). It is linked to a planned "Gateway Complex" for cargo and port access ([Mogadishu24](https://mogadishu24.com/somali-president-breaks-ground-on-gateway-complex-marking-a-new-era-for-mogadishu/)).

## Timeline

- **June 2024:** the federal government announced it would build a new airport for the capital ([Hiiraan Online, June 2024](http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/jun/196709/somali_government_announces_construction_of_new_airport_in_mogadishu.aspx)).
- **29 June 2025:** President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) laid the foundation stone at the site in Warsheekh district ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/president-hassan-lays-foundation-for-major-infrastructure-projects-in-middle-shabelle/); [Hiiraan Online, June 2025](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Jun/202037/somali_president_lays_foundation_for_new_mogadishu_international_airport_in_middle_shabelle_region.aspx)).
- **3 February 2026:** the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation held the kick-off meeting for the master plan, feasibility study, preliminary engineering design and environmental and social impact assessment. The work is funded by the World Bank's **Somalia–Horn of Africa Infrastructure Integration Project (SHIIP)**, with UNOPS as project manager and technical compliance partner ([UNOPS](https://content.unops.org/documents/libraries/press-releases/2026/en/Press-release-Somalia-Kick-off-meeting-for-the-new-Mogadishu-International-Airport-design.pdf)).
- **2029:** the date Wikipedia gives for completing Phase I ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mogadishu_International_Airport)).

## Related

- [Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation](/en/institutions/ministry-of-transport-and-civil-aviation/)
- [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) and [Somali Airlines](/en/economy/somali-airlines/)
- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/)


---

# Port of Berbera (Dekedda Berbera)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/port-of-berbera/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Port of Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, is Somaliland's main seaport. It served as a Soviet and later US naval base in the 1960s to 1980s. In 2016 DP World of Dubai signed a $442 million, 30-year deal to run and expand it, and a new container terminal with a 400-metre berth and capacity of 500,000 containers a year opened in 2021.

## At a glance

- **Where:** [Berbera](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Wikipedia classes it as a major port in Somalia ([Wikipedia, Port of Berbera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Berbera)).
- **Owner:** the **Berbera Port Authority (BPA)**, a parastatal body that the World Bank in 2019 described as falling directly under the presidency of Somaliland ([World Bank, Country and Port Fact Sheets, 2019](http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/963231561663013431/pdf/Country-and-Port-Fact-Sheets-and-Projections.pdf)).
- **Operator:** **DP World** of Dubai, under a 30-year concession signed in 2016 ([Wall Street Journal, May 2016](https://www.wsj.com/articles/dubais-dp-world-agrees-to-manage-port-in-somaliland-for-30-years-1464549937)).
- **Model:** the World Bank describes Berbera as a "landlord port": BPA manages the port, while DP World runs the cargo handling and equipment (World Bank, 2019).
- **Website:** [dpworldberbera.com](http://www.dpworldberbera.com/dp-world-berbera).
- For the other Somali ports and the 2026 dispute over UAE agreements, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Earlier history

Berbera was a trading harbour long before the modern port; see [Early Berbera before 1300](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/) and [British Somaliland 1884 to 1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/).

After a 1962 agreement between the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) and the Soviet Union, the port's facilities were upgraded and used by the Soviets, and it served as a naval and missile base for the Somali government. When Somalia turned toward the United States, the port was expanded for US military use ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Berbera); [The Rise and Fall of Détente](https://books.google.com/books?id=eatUQ0Cxo7UC)).

## Cement terminal, 2013

In July 2013 Raysut Cement of [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) announced a cement terminal at Berbera, built as a joint venture with Somali partners, with three silos of 4,000 tonnes each for storing, packing and distributing cement ([Global Cement](http://www.globalcement.com/news/item/1766-raysut-making-moves-in-somalia-yemen-and-uae)).

## The DP World concession

- **May 2016:** DP World signed a **$442 million** agreement with the government of Somaliland to run a regional trade and logistics hub at Berbera for 30 years, to be built in phases and to include a free zone ([Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/articles/dubais-dp-world-agrees-to-manage-port-in-somaliland-for-30-years-1464549937); [The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/somaliland-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world-1.195002)).
- The World Bank wrote in 2019 that DP World would set up a joint venture with **65%** control together with the Somaliland government, and that the main terms of the agreement were not made public (World Bank, 2019).
- **1 March 2018:** DP World announced that Ethiopia had acquired a **19%** stake, leaving DP World with **51%** and Somaliland with **30%**. Ethiopia was to invest in the [Berbera Corridor](/en/economy/port-of-berbera/) as a trade route for the inland country ([DP World, March 2018](http://web.dpworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018_03_01-Ethiopia-acquires-stake-in-DP-World-Berbera.pdf)).
- **April 2018:** Somalia's foreign minister said DP World should rethink its port deals in Somalia ([Reuters via New York Times, April 2018](https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/04/20/business/20reuters-somalia-emirates.html)). Wikipedia records that the Somaliland opposition party Waddani also questioned the agreement.
- **2022:** Wikipedia reports that Somaliland officials said Ethiopia had lost its 19% stake for not meeting the conditions, leaving DP World with 51% and Somaliland with 49% ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Berbera)).

## The 2021 container terminal

DP World and Somaliland opened the new container terminal in June 2021. It has a **400-metre** berth and three ship-to-shore gantry cranes, with capacity for **500,000 TEU** (twenty-foot containers) a year ([Dubai Media Office, 24 June 2021](https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2021/June/24-06/DP-World-and-Somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-Berbera-Port); [AJOT](https://ajot.com/news/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port); [VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_modern-terminal-opens-somalilands-berbera-port/6207468.html)). Wikipedia's page on the new port gives the inauguration as 24 July 2021, attended by President [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and an Ethiopian delegation ([Wikipedia, DP World Berbera New Port](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DP_World_Berbera_New_Port)).

## Cargo figures, 2012 to 2016

The World Bank fact sheet (2019) gives these figures for the port before the new terminal:

| Year | Containers (TEU) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 35,906 |
| 2013 | 37,740 |
| 2014 | 52,520 |
| 2015 | 73,038 |
| 2016 | 91,572 |

- **2016 capacity:** 130,000 TEU of containers; 3,000,000 tonnes of multipurpose cargo, against 1,859,056 tonnes handled; 217,759 tonnes of liquid bulk through the oil terminal, a single-point mooring with 8.5 m draught.
- **Quay:** a 650 m multipurpose quay with 9.8 m draught.
- **Transit:** in 2016 all cargo was for Somaliland, with no Ethiopian transit.
- **Forecast:** total cargo was projected to rise from 3.0 million tonnes in 2016 to 18.1 million tonnes in 2050, with dry bulk the largest share, then containers, and livestock the main export (all from [World Bank, 2019](http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/963231561663013431/pdf/Country-and-Port-Fact-Sheets-and-Projections.pdf)).

## Dry ports and the Berbera Corridor

The **Berbera Corridor** road links the port to Hargeisa, then to Tog Wajaale on the Ethiopian border. Container yards (dry ports) operate on the Hargeisa bypass road, 22 km from the city centre, and at Tog Wajaale ([Wikipedia, DP World Berbera New Port](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DP_World_Berbera_New_Port); [Cambridge University Press, The Berbera Corridor Development](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/land-investment-and-politics/berbera-corridor-development-somalilands-political-economy/1193617AC545EDE6369B00A0ED806EBD)). See [Ethiopia–Somaliland border trade](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/).

## Related

- [Berbera Airport](/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/)
- [Port of Djibouti](/en/infrastructure/port-of-djibouti/), the main competing route for Ethiopian cargo
- [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/)
- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [UAE military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uae-military-in-somalia/)


---

# Somali cement companies: Red Sea Cement, Barwaaqo and the Berbera plants

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-cement-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Cement in Somalia is sold by importers such as Barwaaqo in Mogadishu, and several companies have set out to make it at Berbera in Somaliland. In June 2017 Somaliland handed the old state cement plant at Berbera to Red Sea Cement, a company of the Dahabshiil Group, Berbera Group and Kuwait's Kipco. In 2019 Oman's Raysut Cement and MSG Group agreed a $40 million, 1 million tonne grinding plant at Berbera, and in 2022 MSG signed to build a full plant there. In 2025 Barwaaqo became the exclusive Somali distributor of Oman's Raysut cement.

## The short version

Building in Mogadishu has grown fast since August 2011, when al-Shabaab left the city, and a 50 kg bag of cement rose from $6 to $9.50 between 2020 and 2022, according to a builder interviewed by Al Jazeera ([Al Jazeera, 12 July 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/mogadishu-residents-real-estate-boom-making-city-unaffordable)). Several companies have tried to make cement locally, all of them at Berbera, where there are limestone deposits.

## The Berbera cement plant and Red Sea Cement

In June 2017 the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) government gave the old, idle state cement plant at Berbera to Red Sea Cement, a new company set up by the Dahabshiil Group, the Berbera Group and the Kuwaiti investment company Kipco ([Horn Diplomat, 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=10129)). Speaking for Red Sea Cement, [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/)'s founder [Mohamed Said Duale](/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/) said work to bring the plant back into use would start soon. The report said forming the company ended a long dispute over shares between local and foreign investors (same source).

A 2019 Clingendael study describes the cement plant, with the Sompower and Tayo Energy electricity firms, as part of Dahabshiil's move into other markets in Somaliland. It says the company had to bring in more shareholders after objections from people with influence in nearby areas ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, p. 44](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## The Raysut–MSG grinding plant

In July 2019 Raysut Cement, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/)'s largest cement maker, told the Muscat stock market it would build a cement grinding plant at Berbera with MSG Group. The plant was to make 1 million tonnes a year and cost about $40 million. Raysut would own 55% and MSG 45% ([Somaliland Standard, 14 July 2019](https://somalilandstandard.com/raysut-cement-to-invest-40mn-in-somaliland); [Oman Observer, 6 July 2019](https://www.omanobserver.om/ampArticle/29066)). Raysut said then that it expected to finish the plant in early 2020. The Somaliland Standard described MSG as a group based in the UAE and Djibouti with firms in manufacturing, telecoms, fuel, trade and logistics; the Oman Observer described it as based in Somaliland (same sources).

## MSG's own Berbera plant

In July 2022 MSG Group, through its Dubai-registered subsidiary Horn Holding Group, signed an agreement with the Italian firm Bedeschi to build the first phase of a full cement plant at Berbera ([Bulk Materials International, 1 July 2022](https://bulkmaterialsinternational.com/handling-equipment-systems/2022/07/cement-plant-deal-in-berbera-somaliland)).

## Barwaaqo Cement in Mogadishu

In August 2015 Raysut said it would set up a subsidiary in Somalia, reported as Barqaaqo Cement Company, to supply the Somali market ([World Cement, 11 August 2015](https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/11082015/Raysut-Cement-eyes-African-expansion-306)). In 2025 Raysut signed an exclusive deal for Mogadishu-based Barwaaqo Cement to distribute its cement in Somalia, worth about $45 million a year, until 14 September 2026 ([Global Cement, 2025](https://globalcement.com/news/20100-raysut-cement-signs-exclusive-distribution-deal-with-barwaaqo-cement)).

## Related

- [Somali construction, cement and property companies: directory](/en/businesses/construction-and-property-directory/)
- [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/)
- [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/)


---

# Somali delivery, taxi and shopping apps: Gulivery, ZIQQI, Dhaweye and Guurdoon

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-delivery-taxi-and-shopping-apps/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> From about 2017 young Somalis, some of them back from abroad, started app businesses in Hargeisa and Mogadishu. Gulivery (2017) delivered meals and groceries and added motorbike taxis in Mogadishu in 2019. ZIQQI (late 2017) sold goods online from Hargeisa. Dhaweye, a Hargeisa taxi app launched in March 2019, had 2,080 drivers within six months. Guurdoon, a marriage app, launched in Mogadishu in October 2022. Several take payment by phone.

## The short version

From about 2017 small firms in Hargeisa and Mogadishu began selling delivery, taxi rides and goods through phone apps, taking payment by phone ([Disrupt Africa, 8 March 2019](https://disrupt-africa.com/2019/03/somali-delivery-startup-gulivery-adds-e-hailing-services/)). Some were started by Somalis who had come back from abroad.

## Gulivery

Gulivery was started in 2017 by a husband and wife who had moved back to Hargeisa from [London](/en/diaspora/london/). Its app let people order meals and groceries from restaurants and supermarkets and have them delivered. It soon opened in Mogadishu, and in March 2019 it added motorbike taxis there: riders order a moto-taxi in the app, pay by phone, and get a helmet, and every ride is insured ([Disrupt Africa, 8 March 2019](https://disrupt-africa.com/2019/03/somali-delivery-startup-gulivery-adds-e-hailing-services/)).

## ZIQQI

ZIQQI is an online shop founded in late 2017 by three partners. It opened in Hargeisa in February 2019, and by June that year said it had delivered more than 2,000 parcels there and was also working in Somalia, Rwanda and Mali. In June 2019 it launched a US site so that Somalis abroad could buy goods for relatives at home, paying by card ([Hiiraan Online, June 2019](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Jun/164393/ziqqi_taking_africa_by_storm.aspx)).

## Dhaweye

Dhaweye launched a taxi app in Hargeisa in March 2019. By September 2019 it had signed up 2,080 drivers and said it served up to 10,000 customers a day, at a fixed fare of $0.50 per kilometre. Drivers using one of the company's cars paid it $10 a day. A spokesperson said the firm was founded by young people from Hargeisa and from the diaspora to reduce unemployment ([Radio Ergo, 16 September 2019](https://radioergo.org/en/2019/09/popular-online-taxi-firm-employing-more-than-2000-in-hargeisa/)).

## Guurdoon

Guurdoon ("seeking marriage") was launched in Mogadishu in October 2022 by the Guryosamo family development centre as a marriage app based on Islamic values, not a dating app. Users pay a $1 fee to start. Its founders told AFP in June 2023 that tens of thousands of people, including Somalis abroad, had signed up ([AFP via The Star, 22 June 2023](https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2023/06/22/somalis-search-for-love-online-but-dont-call-it-dating)).

## Related

- [Somali tech start-ups: directory](/en/businesses/tech-start-ups-directory/)
- [WAAFI](/en/businesses/waafi/) and [EVC Plus](/en/businesses/evc-plus/), the mobile money services these apps rely on
- [How start-ups reached people on basic phones](/en/forces/how-startups-reached-people-on-basic-phones/)


---

# Somali fishing companies: Hafun, SNFC, Al Siha and the Puntland fleets

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somali fishing companies catch and buy fish and lobster from small boats, freeze or dry it, and sell it in Somali towns and to the Gulf, Yemen, Djibouti and Egypt. The oldest firm on this page, Hafun Fishing Company, was set up in Bosaso in July 1992. The Somali National Fishing Company (2002) exports about 80% of its output and buys from 21 fishing cooperatives. Al Siha (Bosaso, 1997), Badmaal (Allula, 2012) and Sun Fishing (Berbera) work with fleets of small skiffs.

## The short version

Somali fishing companies run their own boats or buy the catch of small skiffs, keep it cold, process it, and sell it in Somali towns or abroad. Several of the firms below were financed through Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation, which publishes a profile of each ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

## Hafun Fishing Company

The Hafun Fishing Company was set up in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) in July 1992 and named after the port town of [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), where it also had an office. It sold lobster, frozen fish, dried shark meat and shrimp, mainly to Yemen, the UAE and [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/), with some sales to Kenya and Uganda, and had a property development arm in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Wikipedia, Hafun Fishing Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafun_Fishing_Company)).

## Somali National Fishing Company (SNFC)

The Somali National Fishing Company was founded in 2002; Shuraako describes it as one of the largest fish exporters in the country. It has a processing centre and a shop with freezers for households ([Shuraako, SNFC](https://shuraako.org/clients/somali-national-fishing-company/)). In 2020 a $300,000 investment from the Nordic Horn of Africa Opportunities Fund paid to rebuild its factory and buy two 10.5-metre boats, land and cold-storage containers. Shuraako reported that its permanent staff rose from 30 to 50, plus about 50 seasonal workers, that it works with 21 fishing cooperatives running up to 30 boats each, and that it exports about 80% of its products ([Shuraako, 2025](https://shuraako.org/?p=2661)).

## Al Siha Enterprises

Al Siha was founded in Bosaso in 1997 as a bottled-water business and later added ice, laundry and fish. It has eight motor skiffs of its own, buys from more than 40 other skiffs, and has a 225-tonne cold store and four refrigerated vehicles. It sells frozen fish to supermarkets, restaurants and market traders at home, and through agents in Djibouti, Yemen and Egypt abroad ([Shuraako, Al Siha](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-siha/)).

## Other firms

- **Ardo Fishing Company** began in 1997 as a small shop reselling fish and lobster, bought its first boat in 2001, and by 2022 had 2 large and 6 small boats, 20 permanent and 29 temporary staff ([Shuraako, Ardo Fishing](https://shuraako.org/clients/ardo-fishing/)).
- **Badmaal Fishing Company** started in Allula in 2012 with one small boat catching 70 to 100 kg a day, and from 2014 sold in Bosaso and abroad ([Shuraako, Badmaal Fishing](https://shuraako.org/clients/badmaal-fishing/)).
- **Sun Fishing** is based in Berbera with a branch in Hargeisa ([Shuraako, Sun Fishing](https://shuraako.org/clients/sun-fishing/)).
- The Sea-Ex seafood trade directory lists Somali exporters including Agfish, which it says had 20 years of experience and more than 50 staff ([Sea-Ex, Somalia](https://www.sea-ex.com/countryinfo/somalia.htm)).

## Related

- [Somali farming, livestock and fishing companies: directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/)
- [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/)
- [Somalia's exclusive economic zone](/en/economy/somalias-exclusive-economic-zone/)
- [Ships hijacked off Somalia](/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/)


---

# Somali hotels and restaurants: Jazeera Palace, Peace Hotels, Sahafi, Karmel and others

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-hotels-and-restaurants/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> A 2023 government investment report counted about 497 hotels with 14,910 rooms across Somalia and Somaliland, 120 of them in Banadir (Mogadishu), plus 856 stand-alone restaurants. Most were owned by small groups of local investors and built without bank loans. Jazeera Palace (2012) was described as Mogadishu's first purpose-built hotel after the war; the Peace hotel group (incorporated 2005) runs three hotels and a security business; and Karmel, founded in Minneapolis in 1999, opened in Mogadishu in 2013. Several hotels, including Sahafi and Jazeera Palace, have been attacked by al-Shabaab.

## The short version

In May 2023 SOMINVEST, the investment promotion office of Somalia's Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development, published a report on hotels and tourism. It said the tourism institutions shut down after the civil war began in the early 1990s, and that from the 2000s local businesspeople and returning diaspora Somalis opened new hotels and guest houses "at a remarkable pace" ([SOMINVEST, Investment opportunities in the Somalia tourism and hospitality sector, May 2023, p. 9](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).

## How many hotels

The report's figures, gathered from regional ministries and chambers of commerce, counted about 497 hotels with 14,910 rooms and 12,214 hotel staff ([SOMINVEST 2023, p. 49](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)):

| Area | Hotels | Rooms |
|---|---|---|
| Banadir (Mogadishu) | 120 | 4,100 |
| Somaliland | 130 | 4,550 |
| Puntland | 88 | 2,900 |
| South West | 63 | 1,575 |
| Galmudug | 37 | 655 |
| Hirshabelle | 32 | 620 |
| Jubaland | 27 | 510 |

It also counted 856 stand-alone restaurants (same source, p. 50). In its interviews, about 70% of hotels were owned by a small group of local investors as a partnership, 20% by a family and 10% by one person. Almost all owners said they had started without bank loans, using their own or their family's money (same source, p. 51).

## Mogadishu

- **Jazeera Palace Hotel** opened in August 2012 after three years of building, 300 metres from [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/). The report calls it the first purpose-built hotel in Mogadishu at a time when other hotels were converted houses. It has 95 rooms for 170 guests, seven conference rooms and more than 150 staff ([SOMINVEST 2023, p. 61](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)). On 26 July 2015 a truck bomb claimed by al-Shabaab exploded outside the hotel; the Chinese embassy, which had offices in the hotel, was damaged ([Wikipedia, Jazeera Palace Hotel bombing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazeera_Palace_Hotel_bombing)).
- **Peace Business Group** was incorporated in 2005 and runs three hotels in Mogadishu: Peace One near the airport (opened 2009, 50 rooms and 10 suites), Peace Two in Waberi next to Hormuud Tower (2011, 35 rooms) and Peace Three near [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) (2013, 16 rooms). It also provides security services to about ten international aid agencies. The report names its managing director as Bashir Osman and says foreign journalists, including from the BBC and the New York Times, have stayed there ([SOMINVEST 2023, pp. 74 to 75](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).
- **Airport Hotel and Conference**, in the airport zone, opened in 2017 with 62 rooms ([SOMINVEST 2023, p. 70](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).
- **Sahafi Hotel** was attacked by al-Shabaab on 1 November 2015 and again on 9 November 2018, when 52 people were killed; the hotel's owner was among those killed in both attacks ([Wikipedia, Sahafi Hotel attacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahafi_Hotel_attacks)). It reopened in August 2020 after rebuilding ([Garowe Online, 10 August 2020](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/popular-hotel-opens-doors-in-mogadishu-years-after-al-shabaab-raid)).
- **Karmel** restaurants began in Minneapolis in 1999, later opened in Dubai and Nairobi, and opened in Mogadishu in 2013. By 2023 its two Mogadishu branches had about 200 staff and 500 seats, and in February 2020 the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism named it the best restaurant in Mogadishu ([SOMINVEST 2023, pp. 82 to 83](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).

## Other cities

- **Martisoor Hotel**, Garowe, built in 2019 with 75 rooms and halls for up to 300 people, was financed by diaspora Somalis together with local business partners ([SOMINVEST 2023, pp. 58 to 59](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).
- **Beder Hotel** began as one branch in Dhusamareb in 1999 and had become a chain of three hotels, including one in Guri'el with 46 rooms and 72 staff, and one in Mogadishu ([SOMINVEST 2023, p. 60](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).
- **Horyaal Hotel**, Baidoa, has 46 rooms and six conference halls and is used for meetings of aid agencies ([SOMINVEST 2023, pp. 66 to 67](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).
- **Maamuus Garden Hotel**, Kismayo, opened in 2009 in a former youth centre; it has 30 rooms and 64 staff ([SOMINVEST 2023, pp. 64 to 65](https://vanilla-islands.org/download/1827/somalia/65983/somalia-2023-hospitality_report_final.pdf)).
- **Gacayte Hotel** in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) opened in 1966 as The Grand Hotel, closed after 1991 and reopened in March 2015 ([Wikipedia, Gacayte Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacayte_Hotel)).

## Related

- [Somali hotels, private hospitals and service companies: directory](/en/businesses/hotels-health-and-services-directory/)
- [Somali businesses abroad: directory](/en/businesses/somali-businesses-abroad-directory/)


---

# Somali manufacturers: steel, plastics, dairy, paper and drinks

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-manufacturers/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somalia's government said in 2026 it had registered more than 200 factories, making water, steel, edible oil, fish, dairy, farm goods and salt, and that 75 were producing regularly. Among them, Hadiid Industries (2013) makes steel-frame houses in Mogadishu, Somplastic (2014) employs about 150 people making plastic goods, and Irman Dairy (2017) was the city's first milk plant in 25 years. In Somaliland, AADCO makes paper, ILO Tango powdered drinks and Tayo plastic goods. In September 2026 the government launched a 'Made in Somalia' mark.

## The short version

Before 1991 Somalia had factories for sugar, milk, textiles, leather, cement, fish and drinks, and decades of conflict largely dismantled them; small plants, workshops and bottling firms have since been opening again ([TRT Afrika, 23 June 2026](https://trtafrika.com/english/article/8d5239ac47eb)). In June 2026 the Minister of Commerce and Industry said more than 200 factories had been registered across Somalia, making water, steel, edible oils, fish and dairy products, farm goods and salt (same source). In September 2026 officials said 75 factories were producing regularly, and the government launched a "Made in Somalia" mark for goods that meet its rules on local origin. The ministry said Somalia imported about $9 billion of goods in 2024 ([Dawan Africa, 22 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-made-in-somalia-mark-for-locally-produced-goods)).

## Mogadishu

- **Hadiid Industries Group** started in April 2013 with four workers in a metal workshop, moved to [Bakara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) Market three months later, and opened branches in Hodan in 2015 and at Kilometre 4 in 2016. It makes doors, windows, railings and furniture, and since 2016 has built houses of up to four storeys with steel frames. By October 2026 it had four branches and more than 100 staff. All its steel is imported ([Dawan Africa, 1 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/from-4-workers-to-100-how-hadiid-built-a-steel-housing-business-in-mogadishu)).
- **Somplastic Factory** was set up in 2014 to make plastic household goods and furniture. After a $700,223 investment arranged by Shuraako it grew from 6 machines and about 40 workers to 38 to 40 machines and about 150 permanent workers on round-the-clock shifts. It uses 15 to 20 containers of raw material a month, mixes in recycled plastic collected in Mogadishu, and sells in Ethiopia and Kenya as well as Somalia ([Shuraako, 2025](https://shuraako.org/somplastic-factory-keeping-it-local/)).
- **Irman Dairy** opened in southern Mogadishu in March 2017, set up by a returnee who had worked at a dairy in Leicester. It was the first milk-processing plant in the city in 25 years ([Radio Ergo, 29 October 2018](https://radioergo.org/en/2018/10/first-dairy-plant-in-mogadishu-introduces-somalis-to-packaged-milk/); [AFP via Gulf News, 5 August 2018](https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/business%2Frefusing-to-be-cowed-former-refugee-from-somalia-opens-countrys-first-dairy-1.2261877)). It started at 250 litres a day against a capacity of 10,000. By late 2018 it processed 3,000 to 3,500 litres a day from 295 cows, had 22 workers and sold to 230 shops and supermarkets ([Radio Ergo, 2018](https://radioergo.org/en/2018/10/first-dairy-plant-in-mogadishu-introduces-somalis-to-packaged-milk/)).
- **Wara Fragrance**, founded in 2023, sells perfume in more than 1,000 shops in four East African countries and said in September 2026 that it planned to open a factory in Somalia in 2027 ([Capital FM, 18 September 2026](https://capitalfm.africa/somali-fragrance-maker-wara-expands-east-africa-footprint/)).

## Somaliland and Puntland

- **AADCO Paper Factory**, Hargeisa, founded 2013, makes A4 paper and exercise books; it had 52 staff in 2017 and sells 90% of its output in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Shuraako, AADCO](https://shuraako.org/clients/aadco-paper-factory/)).
- **ILO Tango**, founded 2002, makes powdered fruit drinks and sells to shops, supermarkets, restaurants and fuel stations ([Shuraako, ILO Tango](https://shuraako.org/clients/ilo-tango/)).
- **Tayo Household Plastic Factory**, Hargeisa, founded 2017, makes more than 25 sizes of plastic goods, including chairs and buckets that used to be imported ([Shuraako, Tayo](https://shuraako.org/clients/tayo-household-plastic-factory-ltd/)).
- **Tabaarak Company**, founded 1997 in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), makes mattresses, pillows and cushions and opened a second factory 700 km from its first ([Shuraako, Tabaarak](https://shuraako.org/clients/tabaarak-company/)).
- **[Somaliland Beverage Industries](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/)**, the Coca-Cola bottler in Hargeisa, has [its own page](/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/).

## Related

- [Somali trading, import and manufacturing companies: directory](/en/businesses/trade-import-and-manufacturing-directory/)
- [Somali cement companies](/en/businesses/somali-cement-companies/)


---

# Somali water companies: wells, piped water and bottled water

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> In Mogadishu, private companies drill wells and sell water through pipes, kiosks, trucks and bottles. In September 2026 the Banaadir administration said there were hundreds of water companies and wells in the city and began registering them and testing their water. Ijaabo Water (2004) pipes, bottles and makes ice in Mogadishu; Afi Water (2000) bottles water; the Somali Water Development Union Company (2017), formed by borehole owners, runs 24 boreholes; and Al Siha in Bosaso began as a bottled-water firm in 1997.

## The short version

In Mogadishu, water is drawn from wells and sold by private companies. A 2025 report by the EU Agency for Asylum found that houses in the better-off, more secure districts often have piped water, used for cooking and washing, while people who can afford it buy bottled water or have large bottles delivered. In poorer and outer districts people rely on shallow wells, water kiosks, water trucks or donkey carts. Near the coast, wells are too salty to use ([EUAA, Somalia country focus, 2025](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/coi/somalia/2025/country-focus/21-mogadishu/213-socioeconomic-indicators)).

## Registration in Mogadishu

In September 2026 the Banaadir regional administration said there were "hundreds of companies and wells" in Mogadishu and that all had to be registered. Registered wells and firms receive certificates; their locations are mapped and their water is tested for physical, chemical and biological quality. Only firms that meet the rules may sell water. The official in charge said companies would no longer be able to set their own prices outside the procedures, and that some facilities accused of selling unsafe water had already been closed ([Dawan Africa, 29 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/banaadir-steps-up-registration-of-mogadishu-wells-water-companies)).

## Companies

Several water firms borrowed through Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation, which publishes a profile of each ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

- **Ijaabo Water**, founded in 2004 in Mogadishu, pipes water to homes and businesses and also purifies, bottles and makes ice. It runs on three diesel generators and 26.5 kW of solar power. A Shuraako-arranged loan paid for land, an 800 cubic metre tank and solar panels, which raised its storage by 380% ([Shuraako, Ijaabo Water](https://shuraako.org/clients/ijaabo-water/)).
- **Afi Water Factory**, founded in 2000, sells purified water, first in large bottles and later in small ones. A $413,547 investment paid for a bottle-making machine and 5.65 million bottle blanks and caps ([Shuraako, Afi Water](https://shuraako.org/clients/afi-water-supply/)).
- **Somali Water Development Union Company (SWDUC)** was formed in 2017 when individual borehole owners merged. It pipes water to homes and businesses in three districts from 24 boreholes, and in 2020 borrowed to switch them from diesel to solar to bring prices down ([Shuraako, SWDUC](https://shuraako.org/clients/somali-water-development-union/)).
- **[Al Siha Enterprises](/en/businesses/somali-fishing-companies/)** was set up in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) in 1997 to make purified water, and later added ice, laundry and fish ([Shuraako, Al Siha](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-siha/)).

## Hargeisa

In Hargeisa many neighbourhoods were connected to the city's expanded municipal piped network in April 2026. Radio Ergo reported in July 2026 that donkey-cart water sellers lost most of their customers, and that a private water point which had supplied nearly 100 cart vendors was down to fewer than 10 ([Radio Ergo, 16 July 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/07/hargeisa-piped-water-expansion-puts-humble-donkey-cart-vendors-out-of-work/)).

## Related

- [Somali electricity, solar and water companies: directory](/en/businesses/electricity-companies-directory/)
- [Electricity in Somalia](/en/economy/electricity/)


---

# Berbera's livestock quarantine companies

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Most live sheep, goats, camels and cattle exported from Somaliland to Saudi Arabia pass through private quarantine stations at Berbera, where they are tagged, vaccinated and tested before shipping. In 2011 two Saudi-run stations at Berbera could hold 2 to 2.5 million animals between them. National Geographic reported in 2014 that one, the Saudi Emirate Veterinary Quarantine Management Company, could hold 300,000 at a time. In February 2025 Somaliland revoked the licence of one of its three quarantine centres, and a new one, SILQC, opened in 2025.

## The short version

Live animals make up about 80% of Somalia's export earnings in normal years, and Saudi Arabia is the main buyer ([Hiiraan Online, January 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Jan/199738/somalia_s_livestock_monopoly_controversy_sparks_push_for_accountability.aspx)). Before animals can be shipped they spend time in a quarantine station, where they are ear-tagged, vaccinated against Rift Valley fever and blood-tested for brucellosis; animals that test positive are kept back ([National Geographic, 16 June 2014](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/robin-hammond-the-largest-trade-on-the-hoof)). At Berbera these stations are run by private companies, several of them owned by Saudi livestock importers.

## The stations

In April 2011 The Cattle Site reported that Saudi livestock importers ran one quarantine station at Djibouti, two at Berbera and one at [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/). The two Berbera stations could hold 2 to 2.5 million animals between them, and a third, costing $2 million, was being built by a Saudi livestock trader ([The Cattle Site, 4 April 2011](https://www.thecattlesite.com/news/34125/horn-of-africa-to-double-livestock-exports-to-saudi)). Saudi Arabia had eased an eleven-year ban on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) livestock in October 2009 and said in 2011 it would double imports from the Horn of Africa (same source).

National Geographic's 2014 photo report from Berbera named the Saudi Emirate Veterinary Quarantine Management Company, which could hold 300,000 animals at a time, and the Berbera National Health Quarantine, which could hold 120,000. It said Somaliland shipped about 1.3 million sheep and goats in the weeks before the Hajj, and quoted an FAO estimate that $250 million worth of animals left Berbera and Bosaso in the seven weeks before it. One ship it photographed, bound for Jeddah, could carry almost 85,000 animals ([National Geographic, 2014](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/robin-hammond-the-largest-trade-on-the-hoof)).

## The 2025 licence dispute

In January 2025 traders and nearly 100 members of Somalia's federal parliament objected to reports that the federal government had given one foreign businessman sole rights to export livestock to Saudi Arabia; Somaliland traders said exports from Berbera stopped for two weeks and about 80,000 animals were left waiting at the port ([Hiiraan Online, January 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Jan/199738/somalia_s_livestock_monopoly_controversy_sparks_push_for_accountability.aspx)). In February 2025 Somaliland's livestock minister said the government had revoked the licence of the Berbera inspection centre run by the same businessman, one of three quarantine centres in Somaliland, because he had signed the deal with the federal government ([Hiiraan Online, February 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Feb/200062/somaliland_shuts_down_key_livestock_facility_over_export_deal_with_somalia.aspx)).

## SILQC

The Saudi International Livestock Quarantine Center (SILQC) says it was founded in 2025, covers 2 square kilometres at Berbera, and is the largest quarantine site in Somaliland. It describes itself as privately built and regulated by Somaliland's Ministry of Livestock and Rural Development ([SILQC](https://www.saliqc.com/)).

## Related

- [Somali farming, livestock and fishing companies: directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/)
- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/)
- [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/)
- [The Somali goat](/en/economy/somali-goat/)


---

# Egal International Airport, Hargeisa (HGA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Egal International Airport (IATA HGA, ICAO HCMH) is the airport of Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland. The British RAF opened it in 1954. It sits 1,348 metres above sea level and has a 3,700-metre asphalt runway, extended with Kuwaiti funding and reopened on 17 August 2013. In 2002 it handled 85,800 passengers.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA HGA, ICAO HCMH ([OurAirports, HCMH](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMH/)).
- **Runway:** one asphalt runway, 06/24, 12,139 feet (about 3,700 metres) long, with no instrument landing system ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMH/); [Wikipedia, Hargeisa Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport)).
- **Height:** about 4,423 to 4,471 feet (1,348 to 1,363 metres) above sea level (same sources).
- **Owner:** the Somaliland Civil Aviation and Airports Authority ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport)).
- **Named after:** [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/), Prime Minister of Somalia in the 1960s and later the second president of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).
- **City:** Hargeisa, in [Maroodi Jeex (Woqooyi Galbeed)](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/).

## From an RAF field to a national airport

The British Royal Air Force opened the airport in 1954, in the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) protectorate. An expansion followed, and by 1958 it had a taxiway, a parking area and a terminal building ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport), citing a [European Commission Berbera corridor pre-feasibility study](http://www.eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/somalia/documents/more_info/berbera_corridor_pre_feasibilitystudy_executivesummary_en.pdf)). In the 1980s the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government modernised it for larger aircraft and more destinations (Economist Intelligence Unit, *Country report: Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti*, 1986, p. 43, cited by Wikipedia). The airport was badly damaged during the events leading up to and during the civil war of the early 1990s and was rebuilt gradually over the following years (same Wikipedia article). For that period see [The Isaaq genocide, 1987 to 1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

## Traffic

In 2002 the airport handled **85,800 passengers** and **4,300 tonnes of cargo** across **6,120 landings**, according to the European Commission's Berbera corridor study ([European Commission](http://www.eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/somalia/documents/more_info/berbera_corridor_pre_feasibilitystudy_executivesummary_en.pdf)).

## The 2012–2013 rebuild and wind power

In 2012 flights were suspended while the runway was rebuilt and extended, with money from the Somaliland government, the **[Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) Fund** and **USAID**. The airport reopened on **17 August 2013** with larger arrival and departure halls and five new wind turbines ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport); [Somaliland Live, "President Silanyo opens Kuwaiti-funded Egal Airport runway extension"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150530001653/http://somalilandlive.com/articles/20216/SOMALILAND-President-Silanyo-Opens-Kuwaiti-Funded-Egal-Airport-Runway-Extension)). The president at the time was [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Silanyo)](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/).

In June 2014 the Somaliland government and USAID opened a wind energy project at the airport, managed by Somaliland's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources through a public-private partnership. It formed part of USAID's Partnership for Economic Growth, which put more than $14 million into Somaliland's energy, livestock and farming sectors and private business ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport)). For the wider power picture see [Solar and wind power](/en/economy/solar-and-wind-power/) and [Electricity](/en/economy/electricity/).

## Airlines and cargo

Wikipedia's destination list, which it marks as disputed, names Air Djibouti (Djibouti), African Express Airways, Daallo Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa), flydubai (Dubai), Freedom Airline Express (Mogadishu) and Jubba Airways ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport)). flydubai announced Hargeisa as a new route in December 2014 ([flydubai, December 2014](http://www.flydubai.com/en/news/article/flydubai-announces-three-new-routes/)). Ethiopian Cargo, [Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) SkyCargo and Astral Aviation are listed as scheduled cargo carriers (same Wikipedia article). See [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/).

## New terminals

Wikipedia states that Somaliland paid $70 million to the UAE-based Maharat investment company to redevelop the airport with two new terminals, two-storey buildings and a new control tower ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargeisa_Airport)).

## Related

- [Berbera International Airport](/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/), Somaliland's other long-runway airport
- [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/)


---

# Somalia and Eritrea

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/eritrea/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Eritrea agreed to establish diplomatic relations in Asmara on 30 July 2018, after about 15 years without ties, and the UN lifted its 2009 sanctions on Eritrea on 14 November 2018. From 2019 about 5,000 Somali recruits trained in Eritrea. Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Isaias Afwerki signed the El Alamein Joint Declaration with Egypt and Sudan on 4 October 2026.

## How do Somalia and Eritrea relate today?

Eritrea is one of the Somali federal government's closest partners in the region. On 4 October 2026 Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Isaias Afwerki joined Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)'s General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in issuing the El Alamein Joint Declaration in New Alamein City, Egypt ([Al Jazeera, 5 October 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/four-african-leaders-issue-joint-declaration-as-ethiopia-war-escalates)).

The declaration backed "the unity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia" and rejected any recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It said governance of the Red Sea "is the exclusive responsibility of the littoral states" ([SUNA via AllAfrica, 5 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)). Ethiopia had accused Eritrea of backing an armed alliance in Ethiopia; Eritrea denied it ([Al Jazeera, 5 October 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/four-african-leaders-issue-joint-declaration-as-ethiopia-war-escalates)).

Somalia has had a resident ambassador in Asmara since November 2023 ([Goobjoog, 19 November 2023](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-dispatches-first-ever-ambassador-to-eritrea)). No trade between the two is reported to the UN.

## When did contact begin?

Under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/), Somalia's government backed Eritrea's long fight for independence from Ethiopia, which Eritrea won in 1993 ([VOA, 30 July 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-eritrea-mend-ties-change-sweeps-horn-of-africa/4505695.html)). In May 1999 IRIN reported a Somali newspaper's claim that Asmara was opening an embassy in Mogadishu ([The New Humanitarian, 25 May 1999](https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/1999/05/25/asmara-opening-mogadishu-embassy-somali-paper-claims)).

From about 2006 Somalia became the scene of what observers called a proxy war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia backed the interim government in Mogadishu, and Eritrea was accused of backing the Islamist fighters against it, which it denied ([VOA, 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-eritrea-mend-ties-change-sweeps-horn-of-africa/4505695.html)). Somalia broke off relations in 2008 over claims that Asmara funded al-Shabaab ([Goobjoog, 2023](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-dispatches-first-ever-ambassador-to-eritrea)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

**Somalia to Eritrea**

- **Omar Idris**, formerly Somalia's ambassador to [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), presented his credentials to Isaias on 17 November 2023 as the first Somali ambassador to Eritrea ([Garowe Online, November 2023](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-appoints-first-ever-envoy-to-eritrea); [Goobjoog, 19 November 2023](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-dispatches-first-ever-ambassador-to-eritrea)).

**Eritrea to Somalia**

- An Eritrean delegation visited Mogadishu in mid-August 2018 to follow up the declaration ([Africanews, 14 August 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/08/14/eritrea-delegation-in-somalia-to-deepen-bilateral-relations)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Isaias Afwerki**, President of Eritrea since 1993, signed the 2018 declarations and hosted Somali leaders in Asmara many times ([Al Jazeera, 30 July 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/30/eritrea-and-somalia-agree-to-restore-diplomatic-relations/)).
- **Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo**, President of Somalia, made a three-day visit to Asmara and signed the 30 July 2018 declaration; he then called for UN sanctions on Eritrea to be lifted ([Al Jazeera, 30 July 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/30/eritrea-and-somalia-agree-to-restore-diplomatic-relations/)).
- **Abiy Ahmed**, Ethiopia's prime minister, signed the three-way cooperation declaration with Farmaajo and Isaias on 5 September 2018 ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/2099)).
- **Yemane Gebremeskel**, Eritrea's information minister, published the 2018 joint statement and announced Somali presidential visits ([Al Jazeera, 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/30/eritrea-and-somalia-agree-to-restore-diplomatic-relations/); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/eritrea-instrumental-in-rebuilding-of-somali-army-says-president)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, President of Somalia from 2022, visited the Somali soldiers in Eritrea about a month after his election and returned several times ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-sheikh-makes-his-second-trip-to-eritrea)).
- **[Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/)**, Somalia's defence minister, received the first returning trainees on 21 December 2022 ([VOA, 21 December 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/first-batch-of-somali-troops-trained-in-eritrea-arrives-home-/6885944.html)).
- **Abdel Fattah el-Sisi**, President of Egypt, joined the Asmara summit of October 2024 and hosted the El Alamein summit of October 2026 ([Villa Somalia, 10 October 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-of-the-tripartite-summit-between-somalia-eritrea-and-egypt/); [Al Jazeera, 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/four-african-leaders-issue-joint-declaration-as-ethiopia-war-escalates)).
- **Omar Idris**, first Somali ambassador in Asmara from November 2023 ([Goobjoog, 2023](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-dispatches-first-ever-ambassador-to-eritrea)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Joint Declaration on Brotherly Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation, 30 July 2018, Asmara:** "The two countries will establish diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors" ([VOA, 30 July 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-eritrea-mend-ties-change-sweeps-horn-of-africa/4505695.html); [PA-X](https://pax.peaceagreements.org/agreements/2100)). It also covered trade, investment, and educational and cultural exchanges.
- **Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation between Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea, 5 September 2018, Asmara:** close political, economic, social, cultural and security ties and a Joint High-Level Committee ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/2099)).
- **Tripartite communiqué with Egypt, 10 October 2024, Asmara:** support for Somalia's army to protect its land and sea borders, and a joint committee of the three foreign ministers ([Villa Somalia, 10 October 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-of-the-tripartite-summit-between-somalia-eritrea-and-egypt/)).
- **El Alamein Joint Declaration, 4 October 2026,** with Egypt and Sudan ([SUNA via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **28–30 July 2018:** Farmaajo in Asmara ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/30/eritrea-and-somalia-agree-to-restore-diplomatic-relations/)).
- **5 September 2018:** Farmaajo and Abiy in Asmara for the tripartite summit ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/2099)).
- **13 December 2018:** Isaias in Mogadishu, his first visit to Somalia, welcomed at the airport by Farmaajo ([Al Jazeera, 14 December 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2018/12/eritrean-leader-seeks-closer-ties-visit-somalia-181214145314079.html)).
- **2022:** Hassan Sheikh in Asmara about a month after his May 2022 election, and again four months later for a four-day official visit ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-sheikh-makes-his-second-trip-to-eritrea)); a third visit within eight months followed ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-s-president-on-3rd-visit-to-eritrea-since-mid-2022)).
- **9–10 October 2024:** Hassan Sheikh and Sisi in Asmara for the tripartite summit ([Villa Somalia](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-of-the-tripartite-summit-between-somalia-eritrea-and-egypt/)).
- **December 2024:** Hassan Sheikh on a working visit to Asmara ([African Business/APO, December 2024](https://african.business/2024/12/apo-newsfeed/eritrea-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-arrives-in-asmara)).
- **4 October 2026:** Hassan Sheikh and Isaias at El Alamein, Egypt ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/four-african-leaders-issue-joint-declaration-as-ethiopia-war-escalates)).

## How much do they trade?

Neither country reports bilateral trade to UN Comtrade, and no other trade figures were found. The 2018 declaration committed both to "promote bilateral trade and investment" ([PA-X](https://pax.peaceagreements.org/agreements/2100)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Eritrea is not an aid donor to Somalia. Its main support has been military training (below). On one visit Hassan Sheikh saw Somali army members training at the Eritrean Air Force headquarters in Asmara and "applauded" Eritrea's help in rebuilding the army ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/eritrea-instrumental-in-rebuilding-of-somali-army-says-president)).

## What about security?

The UN Security Council placed an arms embargo, travel bans and asset freezes on Eritrea in resolution 1907 of 23 December 2009, citing Monitoring Group findings that Eritrea had supported armed groups in Somalia ([UN, S/RES/1907 (2009)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1907(2009)&l=en&t=pdf)). In 2017 the monitors said that for a fourth mandate they had "not found conclusive evidence" of Eritrean support to al-Shabaab ([UN, S/2017/925](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/925&l=en&t=pdf)). Resolution 2444 of 14 November 2018 ended the sanctions on Eritrea and welcomed the 5 September 2018 tripartite declaration ([UN, S/RES/2444 (2018)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/2444(2018)&l=en&t=pdf)). From 2019 about 5,000 Somali recruits were taken to Eritrea for training, the first in secret; the first group came home on 21 December 2022, and [VOA Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) found no evidence they had been sent to Ethiopia's Tigray war ([VOA, 21 December 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/first-batch-of-somali-troops-trained-in-eritrea-arrives-home-/6885944.html)). See [Eritrea and Somalia: sanctions and the recruits](/en/institutions/eritrea-and-somalia-military/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Eritrea deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- Eritrea signed the El Alamein declaration, which rejected any recognition of or support for Somaliland as an infringement of Somalia's sovereignty ([SUNA via AllAfrica, 5 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)).
- Eritrea condemned Israel's December 2025 recognition of Somaliland and called for a UN Security Council response ([Ethiopia Observer](https://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/?p=18821)).
- No Eritrean offices or agreements with Somaliland or the federal member states were found.

## Have there been disputes?

- **2006–2018:** Eritrea was accused of backing Islamist fighters against Somalia's interim government, a charge it denied. Somalia cut ties in 2008 ([VOA, 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-eritrea-mend-ties-change-sweeps-horn-of-africa/4505695.html); [Goobjoog, 2023](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-dispatches-first-ever-ambassador-to-eritrea)).
- **Recruits, 2021:** families in Somalia protested over sons sent to Eritrea; a UN human rights report alleged some were in Tigray, which Somalia denied ([VOA, 2022](https://www.voanews.com/a/first-batch-of-somali-troops-trained-in-eritrea-arrives-home-/6885944.html)). See [the military page](/en/institutions/eritrea-and-somalia-military/).

## How many Somalis live in Eritrea?

UNHCR counted 2,758 refugees from Somalia in Eritrea in 2014 and 80 in 2020; it listed none in 2021 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ERT)). In 2025 Somalia hosted 50 refugees and 63 asylum seekers from Eritrea ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=ERT&coa=SOM)).

## Where does Eritrea stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Eritrea was itself under UN sanctions linked to Somalia from 2009 to 2018 ([S/RES/2444 (2018)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/2444(2018)&l=en&t=pdf)).
- Eritrea does not send troops to the AU mission in Somalia.
- In the 2024 Asmara communiqué Eritrea welcomed Egypt's offer to contribute peacekeeping forces in Somalia ([Villa Somalia, 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-of-the-tripartite-summit-between-somalia-eritrea-and-egypt/)).

## Related pages

- [Eritrea and Somalia: sanctions, the 2018 thaw and the recruits](/en/institutions/eritrea-and-somalia-military/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/)
- [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/)
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Islamic Courts Union 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/)
- [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)


---

# Mammals of Somalia: all 191 species on record (part 2 of 2)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF, the global open database of species records, holds records of 191 wild mammal species from Somalia. Rodents (45 species) and bats (44) are the largest groups, followed by hoofed mammals (34) and carnivores (28). Of the 191, the IUCN Red List places 2 in Critically Endangered, 6 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable.

Part 2 of 2 of [Mammals of Somalia: all 191 species on record](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/) · **2**

## Full list (191 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432787) | *Epomophorus wahlbergi* | Pteropodidae | LC | 145 |
| [black rhinoceros](https://www.gbif.org/species/5220111) | *Diceros bicornis* | Rhinocerotidae | CR | 7 |
| [Blasius's Horseshoe Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432666) | *Rhinolophus blasii* | Rhinolophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Rhinolophus brockmani](https://www.gbif.org/species/10825974) | *Rhinolophus brockmani* | Rhinolophidae | NE | 1 |
| [Geoffroy's Horseshoe Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432669) | *Rhinolophus clivosus* | Rhinolophidae | LC | 2 |
| [Rüppell's Horseshoe Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432645) | *Rhinolophus fumigatus* | Rhinolophidae | LC | 6 |
| [Lesser Horseshoe Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432614) | *Rhinolophus hipposideros* | Rhinolophidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Trident Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/8094400) | *Triaenops afer* | Rhinonycteridae | LC | 16 |
| [Persian Trident Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432682) | *Triaenops persicus* | Rhinonycteridae | LC | 2 |
| [Ochre Bush Squirrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437345) | *Paraxerus ochraceus* | Sciuridae | LC | 10 |
| [Unstriped Ground Squirrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437455) | *Xerus rutilus* | Sciuridae | LC | 53 |
| [Greenwood's Shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435539) | *Crocidura greenwoodi* | Soricidae | LC | 35 |
| [Lesser Red Musk Shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435710) | *Crocidura hirta* | Soricidae | LC | 1 |
| [MacArthur's Shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435535) | *Crocidura macarthuri* | Soricidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dwarf White-toothed Shrew](/en/nature/somali-dwarf-shrew/) | *Crocidura nana* | Soricidae | DD | 5 |
| [Desert Musk Shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435757) | *Crocidura smithii* | Soricidae | LC | 2 |
| [Somali Shrew](/en/nature/somali-shrew/) | *Crocidura somalica* | Soricidae | LC | 5 |
| [Yankari Shrew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435531) | *Crocidura yankariensis* | Soricidae | LC | 6 |
| [Northeast african mole rat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2438337) | *Tachyoryctes splendens* | Spalacidae | LC | 1 |
| [desert warthog](/en/nature/desert-warthog/) | *Phacochoerus aethiopicus* | Suidae | LC | 22 |
| [Heller's Serotine](https://www.gbif.org/species/11169748) | *Afronycteris helios* | Vespertilionidae | DD | 8 |
| [Butterfly Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/4266156) | *Glauconycteris variegata* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 8 |
| [Rufous Mouse-eared Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/7261886) | *Myotis bocagii* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 1 |
| [Somali Serotine](/en/nature/somali-serotine/) | *Neoromicia somalica* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 4 |
| [Eisentraut's Pipistrelle](https://www.gbif.org/species/11178284) | *Nycticeinops eisentrauti* | Vespertilionidae | NE | 6 |
| [Schlieffen's Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/7765800) | *Nycticeinops schlieffenii* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 45 |
| [Rendall's Serotine](https://www.gbif.org/species/11198964) | *Pseudoromicia rendalli* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 13 |
| [White-bellied Lesser House Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/4266072) | *Scotoecus albigula* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dark-winged Lesser House Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432335) | *Scotoecus hirundo* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 16 |
| [Eritrean House Bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/11159251) | *Scotophilus colias* | Vespertilionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Yellow-bellied house bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218529) | *Scotophilus dinganii* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 111 |
| [White-bellied house bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218536) | *Scotophilus leucogaster* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 3 |
| [Giant house bat](https://www.gbif.org/species/5218532) | *Scotophilus nigrita* | Vespertilionidae | LC | 1 |
| [civet cat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2434634) | *Civettictis civetta* | Viverridae | LC | 2 |
| [common genet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219362) | *Genetta genetta* | Viverridae | LC | 5 |
| [Rusty-spotted genet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219355) | *Genetta maculata* | Viverridae | NE | 9 |
| [Cape genet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5219356) | *Genetta tigrina* | Viverridae | LC | 5 |


This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/) · **2**


---

# Port of Bosaso (Dekedda Boosaaso)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/port-of-bosaso/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Port of Bosaso, on the Gulf of Aden, is Puntland's main seaport. The modern port was built in the mid-1980s for livestock exports to the Middle East. In 2017 P&O Ports of Dubai took a 30-year, $336 million concession to run and develop it, and in December 2022 DP World and Puntland signed a deal to build a new 150-metre quay and repair the existing 215-metre quay.

## At a glance

- **Where:** [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), the commercial city of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/). Wikipedia classes it as a major port ([Wikipedia, Port of Bosaso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Bosaso)).
- **Operator:** **P&O Ports**, part of DP World of Dubai, under a 30-year concession signed in April 2017 ([WAM, April 2017](https://www.wam.ae/en/article/hszr5a66-po-ports-wins-usd-336m-30-year-concession-for-port)).
- **Hinterland:** the World Bank wrote in 2019 that the Port of Bosaso handled the cargo demand of Puntland, and that the smaller ports of Bosaso and Kismayo are run by local port authorities ([World Bank, Country and Port Fact Sheets, 2019](http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/963231561663013431/pdf/Country-and-Port-Fact-Sheets-and-Projections.pdf)).
- **Main trade:** livestock and seafood exports and imports of food, fuel and building goods, as for Somali ports in general (World Bank, 2019).
- For the other Somali ports and the 2026 dispute over UAE agreements, see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Building the port

Bosaso has long been a trading harbour on the northern coast; see [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/). The modern port was built in the mid-1980s by the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government for yearly livestock shipments to the Middle East ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Bosaso); [Istanbul conference on Somalia, 2010, transport paper](http://www.somalitalk.com/2010/may/istambul/transport.pdf)). The Garowe–Bosaso highway, about 450 km long, was built in the same period and finished with tarmac in 1990, linking the port to the south (Wikipedia).

## Renovation, 2012

## The P&O Ports concession, 2017

- **6 April 2017:** in Dubai, Puntland President [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/) "Gaas" signed a 30-year concession with P&O Ports to manage and develop a multipurpose port. The investment was put at **$336 million**. The plan was a **450-metre** quay, a 5-hectare back-up area, dredging to **12 metres**, land reclamation with the dredged sand, a terminal operating system, mobile harbour cranes and container equipment ([WAM](https://www.wam.ae/en/article/hszr5a66-po-ports-wins-usd-336m-30-year-concession-for-port); [Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/uae/transport/po-ports-wins-336m-concession-in-somalia-1.2007253)).
- **12 October 2017:** Puntland handed the port over to P&O Ports at a ceremony in Bosaso. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that local traders had complained that sand building up on the shore was blocking large container ships from the port's narrow access lanes ([Garowe Online, October 2017](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)).

## The 2019 attack

On 4 February 2019 the head of P&O Ports' operations in Bosaso, a Maltese citizen, was shot dead by gunmen on his way to work, and port guards were wounded. [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) claimed the attack ([BBC News, February 2019](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47114779); [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/world/africa/somalia-port-attack-dubai-paul-anthony-formosa.html)).

## The DP World expansion deal, 2022

On 8 December 2022 in Dubai, Puntland's Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport, Ahmed Yaasiin Saalah, and DP World signed an agreement to expand the port. The plan, to start in early 2023 and take 12 months, is:

- a new **150-metre** quay, and repairs to the existing **215-metre** quay;
- a 3,000 m² container yard and a 4,000 m² container stripping yard;
- an upgraded port gate.

The stated aim was to let container ships, especially feeder services from Dubai and other regional hubs, call directly at Bosaso ([Maritim Africa, December 2022](https://maritimafrica.com/en/dp-world-and-puntland-government-sign-construction-agreement-to-upgrade-port-of-bosaso/); [inforMARE, December 2022](https://www.informare.it/news/gennews/2022/20221810-DP-World-si-impegna-potenziare-porto-somalo-Bosasouk.asp)).

## Undersea cables

The PEACE, DARE1 and G2A submarine cables land at Bosaso, according to the National Communications Authority ([NCA](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)). See [Telecoms and internet](/en/economy/telecoms/).

## Related

- [Bosaso Airport](/en/infrastructure/bosaso-airport/)
- [Port of Berbera](/en/infrastructure/port-of-berbera/)
- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [Puntland institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/)


---

# Reptiles of Somalia: all 224 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 224 reptile species from Somalia: lizards, snakes, tortoises, sea turtles and the Nile crocodile. The IUCN Red List places the hawksbill turtle in Critically Endangered; 175 species are Least Concern and 26 Data Deficient.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 224 reptile species with Somalia as the country, in 27 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Gekkonidae: 35
- Colubridae: 24
- Scincidae: 24
- Lacertidae: 23
- Agamidae: 18
- Psammophiidae: 13
- Lamprophiidae: 12
- Typhlopidae: 12
- Atractaspididae: 8
- Chamaeleonidae: 6

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are loggerhead sea turtle (999), Angled Worm Lizard (210), Cross-marked Semaphore Gecko (181), Savage's Least Gecko (127), Common House Gecko (105), Hildebrandt's Skink (87) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

40 of the 224 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

12 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Agama somalica*, *Ancylocranium somalicum*, *Eryx somalicus*, *Hemidactylus somalicus*, *Lygodactylus somalicus*, *Tropiocolotes somalicus*, *Prosymna somalica*, *Mochlus somalicus*, *Pristurus somalicus*, *Letheobia jubana*, *Letheobia somalica*, *Pelomedusa somalica* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: hawksbill turtle ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Endangered: Savigny's Fringe-fingered Lizard, African spurred tortoise ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Egyptian Fringe-fingered Lizard, loggerhead sea turtle, Natal hinge-back tortoise ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 1
- Endangered (EN): 2
- Vulnerable (VU): 3
- Near Threatened (NT): 3
- Least Concern (LC): 175
- Data Deficient (DD): 26
- Not Evaluated (NE): 14

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Gekkonidae: 35 species
- Colubridae: 24 species
- Scincidae: 24 species
- Lacertidae: 23 species
- Agamidae: 18 species
- Psammophiidae: 13 species
- Lamprophiidae: 12 species
- Typhlopidae: 12 species
- Atractaspididae: 8 species
- Chamaeleonidae: 6 species

## Full list (224 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia-2/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Eritrean Ridgeback Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/7587005) | *Acanthocercus annectans* | Agamidae | LC | 10 |
| [Eritrean Ridgeback Agama](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia/) | *Acanthocercus annectens* | Agamidae | NE | 6 |
| [Black-necked Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225997) | *Acanthocercus atricollis* | Agamidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-necked Tree Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225983) | *Acanthocercus cyanogaster* | Agamidae | LC | 16 |
| [Philipps' Ridgeback Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225994) | *Acanthocercus phillipsii* | Agamidae | LC | 70 |
| [Common agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226308) | *Agama agama* | Agamidae | LC | 12 |
| [Benoue Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226245) | *Agama doriae* | Agamidae | LC | 1 |
| [Hartmann's Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226244) | *Agama hartmanni* | Agamidae | LC | 2 |
| [Lanza's Spiny Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/8826367) | *Agama lanzai* | Agamidae | LC | 5 |
| [Painted Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226292) | *Agama persimilis* | Agamidae | LC | 3 |
| [Robecchi's Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226333) | *Agama robecchii* | Agamidae | LC | 7 |
| [Rüppell's Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226237) | *Agama rueppelli* | Agamidae | LC | 46 |
| [Las Geel Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/9224237) | *Agama somalica* | Agamidae | LC | 17 |
| [Gray's Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226272) | *Agama spinosa* | Agamidae | LC | 24 |
| [Somali mastigure](https://www.gbif.org/species/2466145) | *Uromastyx macfadyeni* | Agamidae | LC | 11 |
| [Princely mastigure](https://www.gbif.org/species/2466128) | *Uromastyx princeps* | Agamidae | LC | 75 |
| [Dwarf Turnip Tail Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/2465932) | *Xenagama batillifera* | Agamidae | LC | 6 |
| [Taylor's Strange Agama](https://www.gbif.org/species/2465930) | *Xenagama taylori* | Agamidae | LC | 46 |
| [Somali Sharp-snouted Worm Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473136) | *Ancylocranium somalicum* | Amphisbaenidae | DD | 3 |
| [Common Purple-glossed Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472615) | *Amblyodipsas polylepis* | Atractaspididae | LC | 2 |
| [Plumbeous Centipede Eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472659) | *Aparallactus lunulatus* | Atractaspididae | LC | 12 |
| [Mole Viper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472523) | *Atractaspis engdahli* | Atractaspididae | LC | 2 |
| [Ogaden Burrowing Asp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472547) | *Atractaspis leucomelas* | Atractaspididae | DD | 1 |
| [Small-Scaled Burrowing Asp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472552) | *Atractaspis microlepidota* | Atractaspididae | LC | 6 |
| [Somali Burrowing Asp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472567) | *Atractaspis scorteccii* | Atractaspididae | DD | 4 |
| [Revoil's Short Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472738) | *Brachyophis revoili* | Atractaspididae | DD | 13 |
| [Black-headed Micrelaps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2472626) | *Micrelaps vaillanti* | Atractaspididae | LC | 7 |
| [East African Sand Boa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225647) | *Eryx colubrinus* | Boidae | LC | 12 |
| [European Sandboa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9595248) | *Eryx jaculus* | Boidae | LC | 1 |
| [Somali Sand Boa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225728) | *Eryx somalicus* | Boidae | DD | 3 |
| [Awash Chameleon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2448961) | *Chamaeleo calcaricarens* | Chamaeleonidae | LC | 15 |
| [Cone-headed Chameleon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2449133) | *Chamaeleo calyptratus* | Chamaeleonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Flapneck chameleon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2449077) | *Chamaeleo dilepis* | Chamaeleonidae | LC | 13 |
| [Graceful Chameleon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2448992) | *Chamaeleo gracilis* | Chamaeleonidae | LC | 19 |
| [Kenya Stumptail Chameleon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2449299) | *Rieppeleon kerstenii* | Chamaeleonidae | LC | 27 |
| [Ruppell's Desert Chameleon](https://www.gbif.org/species/8037521) | *Trioceros affinis* | Chamaeleonidae | LC | 2 |
| [loggerhead sea turtle](https://www.gbif.org/species/8894817) | *Caretta caretta* | Cheloniidae | VU | 999 |
| [green turtle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2442225) | *Chelonia mydas* | Cheloniidae | LC | 19 |
| [hawksbill turtle](https://www.gbif.org/species/8841716) | *Eretmochelys imbricata* | Cheloniidae | CR | 1 |
| [Somali Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2452088) | *Aeluroglena cucullata* | Colubridae | DD | 3 |
| [Braestrup's Water Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2455324) | *Crotaphopeltis braestrupi* | Colubridae | LC | 35 |
| [Red-lipped Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9176658) | *Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia* | Colubridae | LC | 11 |
| [East African Egg Eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2456050) | *Dasypeltis medici* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [Common Egg Eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2456029) | *Dasypeltis scabra* | Colubridae | LC | 6 |
| [Taylor's Egg-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/9703554) | *Dasypeltis taylori* | Colubridae | NE | 6 |
| [Northern Marbled Nocturnal Tree Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2456706) | *Dipsadoboa flavida* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [Boomslang](https://www.gbif.org/species/2452959) | *Dispholidus typus* | Colubridae | LC | 5 |
| [Black-headed Smooth Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2452632) | *Meizodon plumbiceps* | Colubridae | LC | 3 |
| [Semiornate Smooth Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2452620) | *Meizodon semiornatus* | Colubridae | LC | 7 |
| [Olive Marsh Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2456663) | *Natriciteres olivacea* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [European Grass Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/6161347) | *Natrix natrix* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [Battersby's Green Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2453171) | *Philothamnus battersbyi* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [Spotted Green Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2453169) | *Philothamnus punctatus* | Colubridae | LC | 10 |
| [Spotted Bush Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2453195) | *Philothamnus semivariegatus* | Colubridae | LC | 6 |
| [Short Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/7690293) | *Platyceps brevis* | Colubridae | LC | 7 |
| [Flowered Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/5223131) | *Platyceps florulentus* | Colubridae | LC | 4 |
| [Common Cliff Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/5223134) | *Platyceps rhodorachis* | Colubridae | LC | 6 |
| [Taylor's Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/10190403) | *Platyceps taylori* | Colubridae | LC | 3 |
| [Arabian Cat Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457437) | *Telescopus dhara* | Colubridae | LC | 25 |
| [Egyptian Cat Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457445) | *Telescopus obtusus* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [Beautiful Cat Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457479) | *Telescopus pulcher* | Colubridae | DD | 2 |
| [Bird Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/8966116) | *Thelotornis kirtlandii* | Colubridae | LC | 1 |
| [Thrasops aethiopissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/11839067) | *Thrasops aethiopissa* | Colubridae | NE | 1 |
| [Nile crocodile](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441341) | *Crocodylus niloticus* | Crocodylidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black Mamba](https://www.gbif.org/species/8054654) | *Dendroaspis polylepis* | Elapidae | LC | 8 |
| [Arabian Cobra](https://www.gbif.org/species/8057256) | *Naja arabica* | Elapidae | LC | 10 |
| [Ashe's Spitting Cobra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2470364) | *Naja ashei* | Elapidae | LC | 2 |
| [Mozambique Spitting Cobra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2470421) | *Naja mossambica* | Elapidae | LC | 13 |
| [Black-necked Spitting Cobra](https://www.gbif.org/species/7580657) | *Naja nigricollis* | Elapidae | LC | 2 |
| [African Cobra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2470341) | *Naja pallida* | Elapidae | LC | 9 |
| [Taylor's fat-tail gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2445008) | *Hemitheconyx taylori* | Eublepharidae | LC | 14 |
| [African Whole-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2448221) | *Holodactylus africanus* | Eublepharidae | LC | 21 |
| [East African Clawed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2448224) | *Holodactylus cornii* | Eublepharidae | DD | 2 |
| [White Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959939) | *Hemidactylus albopunctatus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 13 |
| [Tawi Atair Half-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/7669590) | *Hemidactylus alkiyumii* | Gekkonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arnold's Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960057) | *Hemidactylus arnoldi* | Gekkonidae | DD | 2 |
| [Abyssinian Half-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960033) | *Hemidactylus barodanus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 13 |
| [Brook's gekko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960063) | *Hemidactylus brookii* | Gekkonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Speedy Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960037) | *Hemidactylus citernii* | Gekkonidae | LC | 35 |
| [Northern Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959891) | *Hemidactylus curlei* | Gekkonidae | DD | 4 |
| [Common House Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960045) | *Hemidactylus flaviviridis* | Gekkonidae | LC | 9 |
| [Common House Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/9537238) | *Hemidactylus frenatus* | Gekkonidae | NE | 105 |
| [Granchi'sLeaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960034) | *Hemidactylus granchii* | Gekkonidae | DD | 5 |
| [Scaly Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960038) | *Hemidactylus isolepis* | Gekkonidae | LC | 7 |
| [Common Half-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959902) | *Hemidactylus laevis* | Gekkonidae | DD | 4 |
| [Cosmopolitan House Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959942) | *Hemidactylus mabouia* | Gekkonidae | LC | 85 |
| [Boulenger’s gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959922) | *Hemidactylus macropholis* | Gekkonidae | LC | 55 |
| [Parker's Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959965) | *Hemidactylus megalops* | Gekkonidae | DD | 3 |
| [Lanza's Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959973) | *Hemidactylus ophiolepoides* | Gekkonidae | DD | 5 |
| [Galgala Half-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/11151139) | *Hemidactylus pauciporosus* | Gekkonidae | NE | 6 |
| [Baobab Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959946) | *Hemidactylus platycephalus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 40 |
| [Somali Plain Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221527) | *Hemidactylus puccionii* | Gekkonidae | DD | 2 |
| [Heyden’s gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5816080) | *Hemidactylus robustus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 38 |
| [Farm Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960035) | *Hemidactylus ruspolii* | Gekkonidae | LC | 13 |
| [Red Sea gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959966) | *Hemidactylus sinaitus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Smith's Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959934) | *Hemidactylus smithi* | Gekkonidae | LC | 18 |
| [Northern Somali Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959900) | *Hemidactylus somalicus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 7 |
| [Nyika Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960081) | *Hemidactylus squamulatus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Taylor's Half-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959904) | *Hemidactylus taylori* | Gekkonidae | DD | 9 |
| [Mocquard's Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960056) | *Hemidactylus tropidolepis* | Gekkonidae | LC | 10 |
| [Turkish Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221528) | *Hemidactylus turcicus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 28 |
| [Yerburi’s Leaf-toed Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/8356445) | *Hemidactylus yerburii* | Gekkonidae | LC | 5 |
| [Banded Velvet Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221413) | *Homopholis fasciata* | Gekkonidae | LC | 5 |
| [Kenya Dwarf Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2446697) | *Lygodactylus keniensis* | Gekkonidae | LC | 12 |
| [Painted Dwarf Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/9751482) | *Lygodactylus picturatus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 21 |
| [Scortecci's Dwarf Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2446655) | *Lygodactylus scorteccii* | Gekkonidae | DD | 33 |
| [Somali Dwarf Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2446634) | *Lygodactylus somalicus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 33 |
| [Parker’s Pigmy Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/8376567) | *Tropiocolotes somalicus* | Gekkonidae | LC | 4 |
| [Rough-scaled Plated Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/9299909) | *Broadleysaurus major* | Gerrhosauridae | LC | 8 |
| [Egyptian Fringe-fingered Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226709) | *Acanthodactylus pardalis* | Lacertidae | VU | 4 |
| [Savigny's Fringe-fingered Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5226765) | *Acanthodactylus savignyi* | Lacertidae | EN | 1 |
| [Speke's Sand Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/9224013) | *Heliobolus spekii* | Lacertidae | LC | 28 |
| [Bosca's Long-tailed Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960633) | *Latastia boscai* | Lacertidae | LC | 18 |
| [Parker's Long-tailed Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/7570441) | *Latastia caeruleopunctata* | Lacertidae | LC | 1 |
| [Latastia cherchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960641) | *Latastia cherchii* | Lacertidae | LC | 1 |
| [Doria's Long-tailed Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960632) | *Latastia doriai* | Lacertidae | LC | 8 |
| [Common Long-tailed Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960643) | *Latastia longicaudata* | Lacertidae | LC | 55 |
| [Peters' Longtail Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/7604794) | *Latastia petersiana* | Lacertidae | DD | 2 |
| [Taylor's Longtail Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5960642) | *Latastia taylori* | Lacertidae | LC | 6 |
| [Martin's Desert Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2469308) | *Mesalina martini* | Lacertidae | LC | 5 |
| [Hardegger's Orangetail Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468727) | *Philochortus hardeggeri* | Lacertidae | LC | 35 |
| [Boulenger's Shield-backed Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468723) | *Philochortus intermedius* | Lacertidae | LC | 16 |
| [Philipps' Shield-backed Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468717) | *Philochortus phillipsi* | Lacertidae | LC | 1 |
| [Eritrea Orangetail Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468719) | *Philochortus spinalis* | Lacertidae | LC | 2 |
| [Lebanon Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789554) | *Phoenicolacerta laevis* | Lacertidae | LC | 1 |
| [Brenner's Racerunner](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468580) | *Pseuderemias brenneri* | Lacertidae | LC | 15 |
| [Boulenger's Racerunner](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468570) | *Pseuderemias erythrosticta* | Lacertidae | LC | 1 |
| [Blanford's Sand Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468572) | *Pseuderemias mucronata* | Lacertidae | LC | 31 |
| [Savage's Least Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468577) | *Pseuderemias savagei* | Lacertidae | LC | 127 |
| [Pseuderemias septemstriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468566) | *Pseuderemias septemstriata* | Lacertidae | LC | 6 |
| [Smith's Racerunner](https://www.gbif.org/species/2468575) | *Pseuderemias smithii* | Lacertidae | LC | 18 |
| [Peters' Sand Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/9217144) | *Pseuderemias striatus* | Lacertidae | LC | 12 |
| [African House Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2455885) | *Boaedon fuliginosus* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 12 |
| [Striped House Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/7772778) | *Boaedon lineatus* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Dotted House Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2455857) | *Boaedon maculatus* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Boaedon mendesi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11116805) | *Boaedon mendesi* | Lamprophiidae | NE | 17 |
| [Black File Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/10902138) | *Gracililima nyassae* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lamprophis erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2455848) | *Lamprophis erlangeri* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Common File Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/11111314) | *Limaformosa capensis* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Chanler's File Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/11138783) | *Limaformosa chanleri* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cape Wolf Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457770) | *Lycophidion capense* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Flat-snouted Wolf Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457797) | *Lycophidion depressirostre* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 3 |


This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia-2/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somali solar and wind power companies

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-solar-and-wind-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Private companies produce almost all of Somalia's electricity, about 128 MW in total by a 2024 US government estimate, mostly from diesel but increasingly from solar. Benadir Electric Company (BECO) built a 10 MW solar farm outside Mogadishu, and NECSOM in Puntland has run a wind plant since 2016. Smaller firms such as Tamarso Energy, Solargen (2012), Burao Solar Systems (2010) and Kaah Electrical General Trading (2003) sell, install and finance solar systems and mini-grids.

## The short version

Somalia has no national power grid. Electricity is generated and sold by private companies through local networks, mainly from diesel generators. A 2024 US government guide estimated that private Somali companies generate about 128 MW and that tariffs ranged from 50 to 125 US cents per kWh ([US International Trade Administration, Somalia energy and electricity, 22 January 2024](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity)). The same guide named BECO in Mogadishu and the south, NECSOM in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Sompower in Hargeisa as the main producers, and said private power companies had begun adding small and medium solar systems linked to their diesel plants (same source).

## Solar at the large power companies

The US guide said BECO, which it called Somalia's largest electric utility, had built a 10 MW solar farm outside Mogadishu connected to its generation and transmission network ([trade.gov, 2024](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity)). BECO has [its own section on the electricity page](/en/economy/electricity/).

## Wind: NECSOM

NECSOM, a Puntland electricity company, runs a wind plant connected to mini-grids. The US guide said it had been operating since 2016, produced 3.5 MW and was due to add 450 kW more. The plant was built by the Italian company Elvi and commissioned by the Italian and French group Electro Power ([trade.gov, 2024](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity)).

## Solar companies

- **Tamarso Energy** sells and installs solar systems, mainly for commercial and industrial customers. By October 2024 it had installed 134 systems with a total capacity of 3.5 MW, offered financing so customers need not pay up front, and ran two solar mini-grids in rural coastal areas, where it also sells solar fish cooling ([Alliance for Rural Electrification, member profile, 4 October 2024](https://ruralelec.org/?p=14465)). In February 2026 it signed an agreement with [SIMAD University](/en/institutions/main-universities/)'s Institute of Climate and Environment in Mogadishu on training and research, with the university's campuses to be used for testing its smart metering and battery storage ([Alliance for Renewable Electrification, 17 February 2026](https://renewelec.org/?p=18283)).
- **Solargen Technologies**, founded in 2012, makes solar water-pumping systems, rooftop solar and mini-grids, and received a Greater Good Award in 2019 for its mini-grid work. A loan from the Nordic Horn of Africa Opportunities Fund paid for new showrooms in cities with many customers ([Shuraako, Solargen](https://shuraako.org/clients/solargen-technologies/)).
- **Burao Solar Systems**, founded in 2010, installs solar systems for offices, warehouses and homes, and provides phone charging, cold storage and solar pumps for wells and boreholes in rural villages. A loan paid for panels, batteries and inverters and for a pay-as-you-go service for rural customers ([Shuraako, Burao Solar Systems](https://shuraako.org/clients/burao-solar-systems/)).
- **Kaah Electrical General Trading**, founded in 2003, sells and installs solar panels, inverters, water pumps, off-grid systems and street lights in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), Garowe, Galkayo and Qardho ([Shuraako, Kaah Electrical](https://shuraako.org/clients/kaah-electrical-general-trading-llc/)).
- The US guide also named **Blue Sky** and **Delta** among the firms selling off-grid solar ([trade.gov, 2024](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-energy-and-electricity)).

## Related

- [Somali electricity, solar and water companies: directory](/en/businesses/electricity-companies-directory/)
- [Electricity in Somalia](/en/economy/electricity/)
- [Somali water companies](/en/businesses/somali-water-companies/)


---

# Amphibians of Somalia: all 46 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/amphibians-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 46 amphibian species from Somalia, all of them frogs and toads. The IUCN Red List places 44 in Least Concern; none is listed as threatened.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 46 amphibian species with Somalia as the country, in 12 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Hyperoliidae: 11
- Bufonidae: 9
- Ptychadenidae: 8
- Pyxicephalidae: 6
- Phrynobatrachidae: 3
- Rhacophoridae: 3
- Arthroleptidae: 1
- Dendrobatidae: 1
- Hemisotidae: 1
- Hylidae: 1

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Subdesert Toad (170), Benguella Grassland Frog (162), [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) Grassland Frog (157), Sclerophrys dodsoni (66), Somali Running Frog (66), Steindachner's Toad (47) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

6 of the 46 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

2 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Kassina somalica*, *Phrynomantis somalicus* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 0
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 44
- Data Deficient (DD): 0
- Not Evaluated (NE): 2

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Hyperoliidae: 11 species
- Bufonidae: 9 species
- Ptychadenidae: 8 species
- Pyxicephalidae: 6 species
- Phrynobatrachidae: 3 species
- Rhacophoridae: 3 species
- Arthroleptidae: 1 species
- Dendrobatidae: 1 species
- Hemisotidae: 1 species
- Hylidae: 1 species

## Full list (46 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Witu Forest Treefrog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2429686) | *Leptopelis concolor* | Arthroleptidae | LC | 2 |
| [Bufo spec](/en/nature/amphibians-of-somalia/) | *Bufo spec* | Bufonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lugh Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/2422463) | *Poyntonophrynus lughensis* | Bufonidae | LC | 18 |
| [Asmara Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/10884826) | *Sclerophrys asmarae* | Bufonidae | LC | 4 |
| [Blanford's Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/10817750) | *Sclerophrys blanfordii* | Bufonidae | LC | 27 |
| [Sclerophrys dodsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/10005242) | *Sclerophrys dodsoni* | Bufonidae | LC | 66 |
| [Eastern Olive Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/10737210) | *Sclerophrys garmani* | Bufonidae | LC | 22 |
| [African Common Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/10698146) | *Sclerophrys regularis* | Bufonidae | LC | 11 |
| [Steindachner's Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/10839179) | *Sclerophrys steindachneri* | Bufonidae | LC | 47 |
| [Subdesert Toad](https://www.gbif.org/species/10807592) | *Sclerophrys xeros* | Bufonidae | LC | 170 |
| [Emerald Poison Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2429011) | *Ameerega petersi* | Dendrobatidae | LC | 1 |
| [Shovel-nosed Burrowing Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2423960) | *Hemisus marmoratus* | Hemisotidae | LC | 6 |
| [ornate chorus frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428148) | *Pseudacris ornata* | Hylidae | LC | 2 |
| [Golden Leaf-folding Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2426582) | *Afrixalus brachycnemis* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 2 |
| [Delicate Leaf-folding Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2426573) | *Afrixalus delicatus* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 45 |
| [Golden Spotted Reed Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217725) | *Hyperolius argus* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 12 |
| [Maria's Reed Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217680) | *Hyperolius mariae* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 14 |
| [Sharp-and-blunt-snouted Sedge Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217737) | *Hyperolius nasutus* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dwarf Reed Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217625) | *Hyperolius pusillus* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 43 |
| [Smith's Reed Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217700) | *Hyperolius tuberilinguis* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 11 |
| [Plain Reed Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217681) | *Hyperolius viridiflavus* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 1 |
| [Senegal Land Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217753) | *Kassina senegalensis* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 7 |
| [Somali Running Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217764) | *Kassina somalica* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 66 |
| [Ethiopia Striped Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2426540) | *Paracassina obscura* | Hyperoliidae | LC | 2 |
| [Somali Snake-necked Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2421593) | *Phrynomantis somalicus* | Microhylidae | LC | 3 |
| [Cope's Toad-frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2430139) | *Phrynobatrachus acridoides* | Phrynobatrachidae | LC | 38 |
| [Mababi Puddle Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2430133) | *Phrynobatrachus mababiensis* | Phrynobatrachidae | LC | 2 |
| [Natal Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2430162) | *Phrynobatrachus natalensis* | Phrynobatrachidae | LC | 2 |
| [Lanza's Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428935) | *Lanzarana largeni* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 6 |
| [Benguella Grassland Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428904) | *Ptychadena anchietae* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 162 |
| [Grassland Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428895) | *Ptychadena gansi* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 9 |
| [Broad-banded Ridged Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428925) | *Ptychadena mascareniensis* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 5 |
| [Mozambique Ridged Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428909) | *Ptychadena mossambica* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Neumann's Grassland Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428893) | *Ptychadena neumanni* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 2 |
| [Sharp-nosed Ridged Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428920) | *Ptychadena oxyrhynchus* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 8 |
| [Sudan Grassland Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2428906) | *Ptychadena schillukorum* | Ptychadenidae | LC | 157 |
| [Common River Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/9311531) | *Amietia delalandii* | Pyxicephalidae | LC | 27 |
| [Peter's Bullfrog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2429964) | *Pyxicephalus edulis* | Pyxicephalidae | LC | 3 |
| [Tremolo Sand Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2429913) | *Tomopterna cryptotis* | Pyxicephalidae | LC | 43 |
| [Delalande's Burrowing Bullfrog](https://www.gbif.org/species/2429918) | *Tomopterna delalandii* | Pyxicephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Elegant Sand Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/10755977) | *Tomopterna elegans* | Pyxicephalidae | LC | 7 |
| [Kachowski's Sand Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/8866788) | *Tomopterna kachowskii* | Pyxicephalidae | LC | 17 |
| [Amnirana galamensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2426874) | *Amnirana galamensis* | Ranidae | LC | 24 |
| [Keller's Foam-nest Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217196) | *Chiromantis kelleri* | Rhacophoridae | NE | 29 |
| [Chiromantis kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/11030520) | *Chiromantis kelleri* | Rhacophoridae | LC | 1 |
| [Central Foam-nest Tree Frog](https://www.gbif.org/species/5217209) | *Chiromantis petersii* | Rhacophoridae | LC | 35 |

## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Berbera International Airport (BBO)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Berbera International Airport (IATA BBO, ICAO HCMI) on Somaliland's Gulf of Aden coast has one of the longest runways in Africa, about 4,140 metres. The Soviet Union built it in the mid-1970s, NASA later rented it as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle, and after a UAE-funded rebuild it reopened to international flights on 20 November 2021.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA BBO, ICAO HCMI ([OurAirports, HCMI](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMI/)).
- **Runway:** one asphalt runway, 05/23. OurAirports lists it at 13,582 feet (about 4,140 metres); the field is about 30 feet above sea level ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMI/)). Wikipedia calls it one of the longest runways on the continent ([Wikipedia, Berbera Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)).
- **Where:** beside the port city of [Berbera](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). The town's seaport is on [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).
- **Website:** [berbera-airport.com](https://www.berbera-airport.com/).

## A Cold War runway

The Soviet Union built the runway in the mid-1970s, when Somalia was its ally, as part of a wider military presence at Berbera ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). After Somalia broke with Moscow in 1977 and turned to the United States, the US space agency **NASA** rented the airport, reportedly for $40 million a year, as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle, from 1980 until the Somali government fell in 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)).

## The 2015 terminal

In 2012 Somaliland's Ministry of Civil Aviation hired the Ethiopian builder Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction (TACON), in a joint venture with Afro-Tsion Contracting and Investment, to build a new terminal and a perimeter fence. The project cost 83 million Ethiopian birr ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). President [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) (Silanyo) opened the terminal in March 2015, with officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen present ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). The terminal stands on a 3,200 square metre plot, and the fence runs for 12 km (same source).

## The UAE rebuild and 2021 reopening

In 2019, after a six-day visit to the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) by Somaliland's president [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), the UAE announced it would restore the airport. The Dubai-based Transport Infrastructure Services Limited (TISL) carried out the work, and the airport reopened to international passengers on **20 November 2021** ([Hawilti, November 2021](https://hawilti.com/infrastructure/aviation/berbera-international-airport-officially-opens-after-successful-renovation-by-the-uae/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). The rebuild came alongside DP World's expansion of Berbera port and the Berbera corridor road to Ethiopia; see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).

## Airlines

As of November 2021 Ethiopian Airlines had scheduled flights to Berbera. African Express Airways and Daallo Airlines earlier flew domestic and some regional routes from it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera_Airport)). In 2024 Somaliland set up a state-funded carrier, Somaliland Airlines, starting with light aircraft to train pilots (same source). For other carriers see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/).

## Related

- [Hargeisa's Egal International Airport](/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/)
- [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/)
- [Ethiopia–Somaliland border trade](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/)


---

# Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record (part 2 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 709 bird species from Somalia. Of these, the IUCN Red List places 6 in Critically Endangered, 10 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable; 635 are Least Concern. Several, such as the Somali pigeon, Somali thrush and Somali lark, live nowhere else in the world.

Part 2 of 5 of [Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)

## Full list (709 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Sombre Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496969) | *Caprimulgus fraenatus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 21 |
| [Plain Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496848) | *Caprimulgus inornatus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 31 |
| [Standard-winged Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/7431467) | *Caprimulgus longipennis* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 1 |
| [Large-tailed Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496890) | *Caprimulgus macrurus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 1 |
| [Nubian Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496975) | *Caprimulgus nubicus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 49 |
| [Fiery-necked Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496865) | *Caprimulgus pectoralis* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 1 |
| [Rufous-cheeked Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496941) | *Caprimulgus rufigena* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 1 |
| [Star-spotted Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496980) | *Caprimulgus stellatus* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 2 |
| [Pennant-winged Nightjar](https://www.gbif.org/species/7675358) | *Caprimulgus vexillarius* | Caprimulgidae | LC | 1 |
| [Kentish Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480311) | *Charadrius alexandrinus* | Charadriidae | LC | 19 |
| [Caspian Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480308) | *Charadrius asiaticus* | Charadriidae | LC | 6 |
| [Tibetan Sand Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/11705322) | *Charadrius atrifrons* | Charadriidae | LC | 7 |
| [Little Ringed Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/7937336) | *Charadrius dubius* | Charadriidae | LC | 11 |
| [Common Ringed Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/9566659) | *Charadrius hiaticula* | Charadriidae | LC | 36 |
| [Greater Sand-Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480297) | *Charadrius leschenaultii* | Charadriidae | LC | 24 |
| [White-fronted Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480288) | *Charadrius marginatus* | Charadriidae | LC | 5 |
| [Kittlitz's Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480317) | *Charadrius pecuarius* | Charadriidae | LC | 4 |
| [Three-banded Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480325) | *Charadrius tricollaris* | Charadriidae | LC | 12 |
| [Pacific Golden-Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480331) | *Pluvialis fulva* | Charadriidae | LC | 5 |
| [Black-bellied Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480327) | *Pluvialis squatarola* | Charadriidae | VU | 86 |
| [Crowned Lapwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229137) | *Vanellus coronatus* | Charadriidae | LC | 108 |
| [Sociable Lapwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229138) | *Vanellus gregarius* | Charadriidae | CR | 1 |
| [Senegal Lapwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229139) | *Vanellus lugubris* | Charadriidae | LC | 4 |
| [Wattled Lapwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229150) | *Vanellus senegallus* | Charadriidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spur-winged Lapwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229142) | *Vanellus spinosus* | Charadriidae | LC | 94 |
| [Black-headed Lapwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229143) | *Vanellus tectus* | Charadriidae | LC | 21 |
| [African Openbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229411) | *Anastomus lamelligerus* | Ciconiidae | LC | 15 |
| [Abdim's Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481915) | *Ciconia abdimii* | Ciconiidae | LC | 91 |
| [White Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481912) | *Ciconia ciconia* | Ciconiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Woolly-necked Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481918) | *Ciconia episcopus* | Ciconiidae | NT | 3 |
| [African woollyneck](https://www.gbif.org/species/10891903) | *Ciconia microscelis* | Ciconiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Black Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481909) | *Ciconia nigra* | Ciconiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Saddle-billed Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481904) | *Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis* | Ciconiidae | NT | 3 |
| [Marabou Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/9772663) | *Leptoptilos crumenifer* | Ciconiidae | LC | 32 |
| [Marabou Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481946) | *Leptoptilos crumeniferus* | Ciconiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Yellow-billed Stork](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481936) | *Mycteria ibis* | Ciconiidae | LC | 10 |
| [Yellow-breasted Apalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492725) | *Apalis flavida* | Cisticolidae | LC | 50 |
| [Black-headed Apalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492702) | *Apalis melanocephala* | Cisticolidae | LC | 9 |
| [Gray Wren-Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492742) | *Calamonastes simplex* | Cisticolidae | LC | 67 |
| [Green-backed Camaroptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231296) | *Camaroptera brachyura* | Cisticolidae | LC | 36 |
| [Grey-backed Camaroptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231298) | *Camaroptera brevicaudata* | Cisticolidae | NE | 12 |
| [Desert Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492800) | *Cisticola aridulus* | Cisticolidae | LC | 45 |
| [Siffling Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492819) | *Cisticola brachypterus* | Cisticolidae | LC | 4 |
| [Pectoral-patch Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492811) | *Cisticola brunnescens* | Cisticolidae | LC | 5 |
| [Rattling Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340518) | *Cisticola chiniana* | Cisticolidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ashy Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492790) | *Cisticola cinereolus* | Cisticolidae | LC | 24 |
| [Winding Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492804) | *Cisticola galactotes* | Cisticolidae | LC | 16 |
| [Coastal Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100909) | *Cisticola haematocephalus* | Cisticolidae | LC | 3 |
| [Zitting Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492822) | *Cisticola juncidis* | Cisticolidae | LC | 5 |
| [Tiny Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/6086478) | *Cisticola nana* | Cisticolidae | LC | 2 |
| [Croaking Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492810) | *Cisticola natalensis* | Cisticolidae | LC | 7 |
| [Rufous Cisticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492832) | *Cisticola rufus* | Cisticolidae | LC | 3 |
| [Yellow-vented Eremomela](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492973) | *Eremomela flavicrissalis* | Cisticolidae | LC | 19 |
| [Yellow-bellied Eremomela](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492977) | *Eremomela icteropygialis* | Cisticolidae | LC | 56 |
| [Graceful Prinia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492748) | *Prinia gracilis* | Cisticolidae | LC | 17 |
| [Pale Prinia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492745) | *Prinia somalica* | Cisticolidae | LC | 50 |
| [Tawny-flanked Prinia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492762) | *Prinia subflava* | Cisticolidae | LC | 15 |
| [Red-fronted Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340671) | *Urorhipis rufifrons* | Cisticolidae | NE | 118 |
| [White-headed Mousebird](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229463) | *Colius leucocephalus* | Coliidae | LC | 15 |
| [Speckled Mousebird](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229467) | *Colius striatus* | Coliidae | LC | 61 |
| [Blue-naped Mousebird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482321) | *Urocolius macrourus* | Coliidae | LC | 163 |
| [White-collared Pigeon](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231834) | *Columba albitorques* | Columbidae | LC | 2 |
| [Rameron Pigeon](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231873) | *Columba arquatrix* | Columbidae | LC | 27 |
| [Speckled Pigeon](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231817) | *Columba guinea* | Columbidae | LC | 391 |
| [Rock Pigeon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495414) | *Columba livia* | Columbidae | LC | 33 |
| [Somali Pigeon](/en/nature/somali-pigeon/) | *Columba oliviae* | Columbidae | LC | 35 |
| [Namaqua Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495342) | *Oena capensis* | Columbidae | LC | 245 |
| [Laughing Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/6101223) | *Spilopelia senegalensis* | Columbidae | LC | 357 |
| [Ring-necked Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495667) | *Streptopelia capicola* | Columbidae | LC | 227 |
| [Mourning Collared-Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495674) | *Streptopelia decipiens* | Columbidae | LC | 202 |
| [Dusky Turtle-Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495699) | *Streptopelia lugens* | Columbidae | LC | 7 |
| [White-winged Collared-Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495658) | *Streptopelia reichenowi* | Columbidae | LC | 14 |
| [African Collared-Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495688) | *Streptopelia roseogrisea* | Columbidae | LC | 178 |
| [Red-eyed Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495707) | *Streptopelia semitorquata* | Columbidae | LC | 122 |
| [European Turtle-Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495708) | *Streptopelia turtur* | Columbidae | VU | 1 |
| [Bruce's Green-Pigeon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495756) | *Treron waalia* | Columbidae | LC | 31 |
| [Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231793) | *Turtur chalcospilos* | Columbidae | LC | 47 |
| [Tambourine Dove](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231790) | *Turtur tympanistria* | Columbidae | LC | 12 |
| [Abyssinian Roller](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475373) | *Coracias abyssinicus* | Coraciidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lilac-breasted Roller](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475360) | *Coracias caudatus* | Coraciidae | LC | 116 |
| [European Roller](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475365) | *Coracias garrulus* | Coraciidae | LC | 17 |
| [Rufous-crowned Roller](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475375) | *Coracias naevius* | Coraciidae | LC | 82 |
| [Broad-billed Roller](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228294) | *Eurystomus glaucurus* | Coraciidae | LC | 12 |
| [Pied Crow](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482519) | *Corvus albus* | Corvidae | LC | 156 |
| [Cape Crow](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482521) | *Corvus capensis* | Corvidae | LC | 30 |
| [Common Raven](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482492) | *Corvus corax* | Corvidae | LC | 10 |
| [Thick-billed Raven](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482503) | *Corvus crassirostris* | Corvidae | LC | 10 |
| [Somali Crow](/en/nature/somali-crow/) | *Corvus edithae* | Corvidae | LC | 188 |
| [Fan-tailed Raven](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482497) | *Corvus rhipidurus* | Corvidae | LC | 47 |
| [Brown-necked Raven](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482479) | *Corvus ruficollis* | Corvidae | LC | 25 |
| [House Crow](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482499) | *Corvus splendens* | Corvidae | LC | 127 |
| [White-browed Coucal](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231960) | *Centropus superciliosus* | Cuculidae | LC | 42 |
| [Blue Malkoha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496449) | *Ceuthmochares aereus* | Cuculidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dideric Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496333) | *Chrysococcyx caprius* | Cuculidae | LC | 20 |
| [African Emerald Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496324) | *Chrysococcyx cupreus* | Cuculidae | LC | 1 |
| [Klaas's Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496316) | *Chrysococcyx klaas* | Cuculidae | LC | 11 |
| [Great Spotted Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496464) | *Clamator glandarius* | Cuculidae | LC | 14 |
| [Pied Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496468) | *Clamator jacobinus* | Cuculidae | LC | 14 |
| [Common Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231918) | *Cuculus canorus* | Cuculidae | LC | 13 |
| [African Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231916) | *Cuculus gularis* | Cuculidae | LC | 2 |
| [Red-chested Cuckoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231903) | *Cuculus solitarius* | Cuculidae | LC | 1 |
| [Fork-tailed Drongo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493963) | *Dicrurus adsimilis* | Dicruridae | LC | 160 |
| [Square-tailed Drongo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493983) | *Dicrurus ludwigii* | Dicruridae | LC | 22 |
| [Crab-Plover](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229199) | *Dromas ardeola* | Dromadidae | LC | 81 |
| [Ortolan Bunting](https://www.gbif.org/species/2491482) | *Emberiza hortulana* | Emberizidae | LC | 7 |
| [Somali Bunting](https://www.gbif.org/species/2491576) | *Emberiza poliopleura* | Emberizidae | LC | 92 |
| [Striolated Bunting](https://www.gbif.org/species/2491585) | *Emberiza striolata* | Emberizidae | LC | 15 |
| [Cinnamon-breasted Bunting](https://www.gbif.org/species/2491491) | *Emberiza tahapisi* | Emberizidae | LC | 17 |
| [Yellow Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486663) | *Erythrocercus holochlorus* | Erythrocercidae | LC | 7 |
| [Cut-throat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493707) | *Amadina fasciata* | Estrildidae | LC | 48 |
| [Common Waxbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493660) | *Estrilda astrild* | Estrildidae | LC | 14 |
| [Black-cheeked Waxbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493663) | *Estrilda charmosyna* | Estrildidae | LC | 15 |
| [Crimson-rumped Waxbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493654) | *Estrilda rhodopyga* | Estrildidae | LC | 10 |
| [African Silverbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340335) | *Euodice cantans* | Estrildidae | LC | 22 |
| [Indian Silverbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789082) | *Euodice malabarica* | Estrildidae | LC | 1 |
| [Peters's Twinspot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493646) | *Hypargos niveoguttatus* | Estrildidae | LC | 2 |
| [Red-billed Firefinch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493680) | *Lagonosticta senegala* | Estrildidae | LC | 198 |
| [Black-and-white Mannikin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493613) | *Lonchura bicolor* | Estrildidae | LC | 8 |
| [Orange-winged Pytilia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493718) | *Pytilia afra* | Estrildidae | LC | 2 |
| [Green-winged Pytilia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493716) | *Pytilia melba* | Estrildidae | LC | 81 |
| [Red-cheeked Cordonbleu](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493723) | *Uraeginthus bengalus* | Estrildidae | LC | 10 |
| [Blue-capped Cordonbleu](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493725) | *Uraeginthus cyanocephalus* | Estrildidae | LC | 11 |
| [Purple Grenadier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493724) | *Uraeginthus ianthinogaster* | Estrildidae | LC | 50 |
| [Amur Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480998) | *Falco amurensis* | Falconidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lanner Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/8014966) | *Falco biarmicus* | Falconidae | LC | 49 |
| [Saker Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481034) | *Falco cherrug* | Falconidae | EN | 1 |
| [Sooty Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481061) | *Falco concolor* | Falconidae | VU | 4 |
| [African Hobby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481045) | *Falco cuvierii* | Falconidae | LC | 1 |
| [Eleonora's Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481037) | *Falco eleonorae* | Falconidae | LC | 4 |
| [Lesser Kestrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/9584698) | *Falco naumanni* | Falconidae | LC | 9 |
| [Peregrine Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481047) | *Falco peregrinus* | Falconidae | LC | 23 |
| [Greater Kestrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481010) | *Falco rupicoloides* | Falconidae | LC | 33 |
| [Eurasian Hobby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481035) | *Falco subbuteo* | Falconidae | LC | 14 |
| [Eurasian Kestrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/9616058) | *Falco tinnunculus* | Falconidae | LC | 96 |
| [Pygmy Falcon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481096) | *Polihierax semitorquatus* | Falconidae | LC | 60 |
| [Lesser Frigatebird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480186) | *Fregata ariel* | Fregatidae | LC | 2 |
| [Great Frigatebird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480187) | *Fregata minor* | Fregatidae | LC | 3 |
| [Northern Grosbeak-Canary](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100983) | *Crithagra donaldsoni* | Fringillidae | LC | 19 |
| [White-bellied Canary](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100984) | *Crithagra dorsostriata* | Fringillidae | LC | 157 |
| [Yellow Canary](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100997) | *Crithagra flaviventris* | Fringillidae | LC | 15 |
| [Reichenow's Seedeater](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100992) | *Crithagra reichenowi* | Fringillidae | LC | 12 |
| [Streaky Seedeater](https://www.gbif.org/species/6101002) | *Crithagra striolata* | Fringillidae | LC | 1 |
| [Brimstone Canary](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100973) | *Crithagra sulphurata* | Fringillidae | LC | 5 |
| [Brown-rumped Seedeater](https://www.gbif.org/species/6101000) | *Crithagra tristriata* | Fringillidae | LC | 72 |
| [Warsangli Linnet](https://www.gbif.org/species/8026134) | *Linaria johannis* | Fringillidae | NT | 27 |
| [Somali Grosbeak](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788919) | *Rhynchostruthus louisae* | Fringillidae | NT | 50 |
| [Golden-winged Grosbeak](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494340) | *Rhynchostruthus socotranus* | Fringillidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cream-colored Courser](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480740) | *Cursorius cursor* | Glareolidae | LC | 32 |
| [Somali Courser](/en/nature/somali-courser/) | *Cursorius somalensis* | Glareolidae | LC | 56 |
| [Temminck's Courser](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480745) | *Cursorius temminckii* | Glareolidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-winged Pratincole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480758) | *Glareola nordmanni* | Glareolidae | NT | 2 |
| [Madagascar Pratincole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480754) | *Glareola ocularis* | Glareolidae | NT | 3 |
| [Collared Pratincole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480757) | *Glareola pratincola* | Glareolidae | LC | 14 |
| [Double-banded Courser](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480738) | *Rhinoptilus africanus* | Glareolidae | LC | 73 |
| [Bronze-winged Courser](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480735) | *Rhinoptilus chalcopterus* | Glareolidae | LC | 1 |
| [Three-banded Courser](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480737) | *Rhinoptilus cinctus* | Glareolidae | LC | 45 |
| [Common Crane](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474950) | *Grus grus* | Gruidae | LC | 1 |
| [Eurasian Oystercatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/7788295) | *Haematopus ostralegus* | Haematopodidae | NT | 13 |
| [African Finfoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474345) | *Podica senegalensis* | Heliornithidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lesser Striped-Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/6095032) | *Cecropis abyssinica* | Hirundinidae | LC | 8 |
| [Eastern Red-rumped Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/9717283) | *Cecropis daurica* | Hirundinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Common House-Martin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489214) | *Delichon urbicum* | Hirundinidae | LC | 3 |
| [Ethiopian Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230790) | *Hirundo aethiopica* | Hirundinidae | LC | 265 |
| [White-throated Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230776) | *Hirundo albigularis* | Hirundinidae | LC | 6 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)


---

# Somali commercial farms: greenhouses and irrigated farms in Somaliland and Puntland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Commercial farms in Somaliland and Puntland grow vegetables, fruit and milk for city markets, on irrigated land near Hargeisa, Burao and Garowe. Horn Gardens, set up in Hargeisa in 2016, sells greenhouses and had installed hundreds by 2019. Gobsoor Farm near Arabsiyo grew from 14 to 32.5 hectares with 15 greenhouses. In Puntland, farms in the Jibagal valley near Garowe grow fruit and vegetables and keep dairy cows and camels. Many were financed by lenders such as Shuraako.

## The short version

In [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), farming families use both rain-fed and irrigated land; crops and livestock together make up about 42.9% of GDP by government figures, and farmers around Hargeisa supply its 1.3 million people ([Pharo Foundation, Somaliland Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Programme](https://www.pharofoundation.org/somaliland-agriculture-productivity-enhancement-programme)). Some farms are run as companies and grow vegetables, fruit and milk for city markets. Several of them borrowed from Shuraako, a lending programme of the One Earth Future foundation, which publishes a profile of each ([Shuraako, clients](https://shuraako.org/wp-sitemap-posts-avada_portfolio-1.xml)).

## Somaliland

- **Horn Gardens** set up in Hargeisa in 2016 as the Somaliland agent of the greenhouse supplier Amiran. By 2019 it had installed hundreds of greenhouses. A greenhouse with seeds, fertiliser, drip irrigation and one season of support from an agronomist cost about $6,000. Its own farm began with six greenhouses at Cara-yaambo, 32 km west of Hargeisa, staffed by six Kenyan agronomists ([The Star, Kenya, 16 March 2019](https://www.the-star.co.ke/siasa/2019-03-16-somaliland-turns-to-greenhouse-farming-technology-to-feed-itself)).
- **Gobsoor Farm**, founded in 2015 at Arabsiyo just outside Hargeisa, grew from 14 to 32.5 hectares with a Shuraako loan, and grows tomatoes year-round in 15 greenhouses. It had 14 staff in 2024 ([Shuraako, 14 November 2024](https://shuraako.org/?p=2669)).
- **Masno Farm**, founded in 2017 by a returnee from Canada at Hora-haadlay, 28 km north of Hargeisa, has about 56 hectares, 4 of them farmed, growing vegetables, melons, avocado, soursop and papaya ([Shuraako, Masno Farm](https://shuraako.org/clients/masno-farm/)).
- **[Dalsan](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) Farms**, set up in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in 2018, has 100 hectares with 640 fruit trees, grows onions and peppers, and sells fresh milk in Burao ([Shuraako, Dalsan Farms](https://shuraako.org/clients/dalsan-farm/)).
- **Evergreen Farm** at Arabsiyo used its loan for a tractor, a delivery truck, 3,000 seedlings, solar pumps and drip irrigation ([Shuraako, Evergreen Farm](https://shuraako.org/clients/evergreen-farm/)).

In 2019 Radio Ergo reported that a local group, Somaliland Agriculture Technology, had trained 2,000 farmers in drip irrigation, and that about 10,000 farms across six regions were using it ([Radio Ergo, 13 March 2019](https://radioergo.org/en/2019/03/new-drip-irrigation-system-makes-farmers-in-hargeisa-happy/)).

## Puntland

- **Raaho Farm**, founded in 2000 at Jibagal, north-east of Garowe, farms about 8 hectares of onions, carrots, watermelons, guava, maize and other crops, and also trucks other farmers' goods to market ([Shuraako, Raaho Farm](https://shuraako.org/clients/raaho-farm/)).
- **Al Nur Mixed Farming** has 10 hectares in the Jibgale valley, grows fruit and vegetables all year, and keeps more than 30 cows and camels for milk ([Shuraako, Al Nur](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-nur-mixed-farm/)).
- **Al Baraka Mixed Farm** outside Garowe grows vegetables and fruit and sells camel milk to traders in Garowe; in 2021 it borrowed to drill a borehole and install solar-powered irrigation ([Shuraako, Al Baraka](https://shuraako.org/clients/al-baraka-mixed-farm/)).
- **Barisamaad Farm**, founded in 2014 at Bursalax in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), sells produce to restaurants, hotels and households in the region ([Shuraako, Barisamaad](https://shuraako.org/clients/barisamaad-farm/)).

## Related

- [Somali farming, livestock and fishing companies: directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/)
- [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/)
- [Land law and land ownership](/en/economy/land-law-and-land-ownership/)


---

# Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record (part 3 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 709 bird species from Somalia. Of these, the IUCN Red List places 6 in Critically Endangered, 10 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable; 635 are Least Concern. Several, such as the Somali pigeon, Somali thrush and Somali lark, live nowhere else in the world.

Part 3 of 5 of [Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)

## Full list (709 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Barn Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/9515886) | *Hirundo rustica* | Hirundinidae | LC | 86 |
| [Wire-tailed Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230801) | *Hirundo smithii* | Hirundinidae | LC | 35 |
| [Rock Martin](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340285) | *Ptyonoprogne fuligula* | Hirundinidae | LC | 3 |
| [Pale Crag Martin](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100820) | *Ptyonoprogne obsoleta* | Hirundinidae | LC | 25 |
| [Banded Martin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230747) | *Riparia cincta* | Hirundinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bank Swallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489160) | *Riparia riparia* | Hirundinidae | LC | 3 |
| [Wilson's Storm-Petrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229419) | *Oceanites oceanicus* | Hydrobatidae | LC | 3 |
| [Least Honeyguide](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228981) | *Indicator exilis* | Indicatoridae | LC | 1 |
| [Greater Honeyguide](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228976) | *Indicator indicator* | Indicatoridae | LC | 13 |
| [Lesser Honeyguide](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228985) | *Indicator minor* | Indicatoridae | LC | 3 |
| [Scaly-throated Honeyguide](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228977) | *Indicator variegatus* | Indicatoridae | LC | 1 |
| [African Jacana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481853) | *Actophilornis africanus* | Jacanidae | LC | 5 |
| [White-crowned Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492843) | *Eurocephalus anguitimens* | Laniidae | LC | 2 |
| [White-rumped Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100756) | *Eurocephalus ruppelli* | Laniidae | LC | 71 |
| [Long-tailed Fiscal](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492869) | *Lanius cabanisi* | Laniidae | LC | 13 |
| [Red-backed Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/7745240) | *Lanius collurio* | Laniidae | LC | 45 |
| [Taita Fiscal](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492864) | *Lanius dorsalis* | Laniidae | LC | 22 |
| [Great Gray Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/9444556) | *Lanius excubitor* | Laniidae | LC | 23 |
| [Gray-backed Fiscal](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492853) | *Lanius excubitoroides* | Laniidae | LC | 2 |
| [Northern Fiscal](https://www.gbif.org/species/9409884) | *Lanius humeralis* | Laniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Isabelline Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492865) | *Lanius isabellinus* | Laniidae | LC | 17 |
| [Lesser Gray Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492854) | *Lanius minor* | Laniidae | LC | 22 |
| [Masked Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492855) | *Lanius nubicus* | Laniidae | LC | 7 |
| [Red-tailed Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/4408670) | *Lanius phoenicuroides* | Laniidae | LC | 22 |
| [Woodchat Shrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492867) | *Lanius senator* | Laniidae | NT | 6 |
| [Somali Fiscal](/en/nature/somali-fiscal/) | *Lanius somalicus* | Laniidae | LC | 160 |
| [Brown Noddy](https://www.gbif.org/species/9512459) | *Anous stolidus* | Laridae | LC | 9 |
| [Lesser Noddy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481112) | *Anous tenuirostris* | Laridae | LC | 3 |
| [Whiskered Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481121) | *Chlidonias hybrida* | Laridae | LC | 1 |
| [White-winged Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481120) | *Chlidonias leucopterus* | Laridae | LC | 3 |
| [Black-headed Gull](https://www.gbif.org/species/6065824) | *Chroicocephalus ridibundus* | Laridae | NE | 5 |
| [Gull-billed Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481263) | *Gelochelidon nilotica* | Laridae | LC | 41 |
| [Caspian Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481236) | *Hydroprogne caspia* | Laridae | LC | 9 |
| [Sooty Gull](https://www.gbif.org/species/8303453) | *Ichthyaetus hemprichii* | Laridae | NE | 59 |
| [White-eyed Gull](https://www.gbif.org/species/7785213) | *Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus* | Laridae | NE | 20 |
| [Herring Gull](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481139) | *Larus argentatus* | Laridae | LC | 1 |
| [Caspian Gull](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481181) | *Larus cachinnans* | Laridae | LC | 2 |
| [Lesser Black-backed Gull](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481174) | *Larus fuscus* | Laridae | LC | 27 |
| [Bridled Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789286) | *Onychoprion anaethetus* | Laridae | LC | 11 |
| [Sooty Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789284) | *Onychoprion fuscatus* | Laridae | LC | 5 |
| [Roseate Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229249) | *Sterna dougallii* | Laridae | LC | 7 |
| [Common Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/9367409) | *Sterna hirundo* | Laridae | LC | 6 |
| [Arctic Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229230) | *Sterna paradisaea* | Laridae | LC | 3 |
| [White-cheeked Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229267) | *Sterna repressa* | Laridae | LC | 13 |
| [Little Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789279) | *Sternula albifrons* | Laridae | LC | 10 |
| [Saunders's Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/6065768) | *Sternula saundersi* | Laridae | LC | 4 |
| [Lesser Crested Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/6065833) | *Thalasseus bengalensis* | Laridae | LC | 20 |
| [Great Crested Tern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789283) | *Thalasseus bergii* | Laridae | LC | 24 |
| [Scaly Chatterer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493306) | *Turdoides aylmeri* | Leiothrichidae | LC | 19 |
| [White-rumped Babbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340497) | *Turdoides leucopygia* | Leiothrichidae | LC | 19 |
| [Rufous Chatterer](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340552) | *Turdoides rubiginosa* | Leiothrichidae | LC | 21 |
| [Scaly Babbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340508) | *Turdoides squamulata* | Leiothrichidae | LC | 19 |
| [Brown-breasted Barbet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2479026) | *Lybius melanopterus* | Lybiidae | LC | 18 |
| [Red-fronted Tinkerbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478928) | *Pogoniulus pusillus* | Lybiidae | LC | 25 |
| [D'Arnaud's Barbet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478893) | *Trachyphonus darnaudii* | Lybiidae | LC | 49 |
| [Red-and-yellow Barbet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478902) | *Trachyphonus erythrocephalus* | Lybiidae | LC | 59 |
| [Yellow-breasted Barbet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478890) | *Trachyphonus margaritatus* | Lybiidae | LC | 62 |
| [Black-throated Barbet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478883) | *Tricholaema melanocephala* | Lybiidae | LC | 64 |
| [Northern Crombec](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493538) | *Sylvietta brachyura* | Macrosphenidae | LC | 67 |
| [Somali Crombec](/en/nature/somali-crombec/) | *Sylvietta isabellina* | Macrosphenidae | LC | 39 |
| [Short-billed Crombec](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493542) | *Sylvietta philippae* | Macrosphenidae | DD | 22 |
| [Red-faced Crombec](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493539) | *Sylvietta whytii* | Macrosphenidae | LC | 2 |
| [Orange-breasted Bushshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/5845131) | *Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus* | Malaconotidae | LC | 2 |
| [Black-backed Puffback](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484832) | *Dryoscopus cubla* | Malaconotidae | LC | 9 |
| [Northern Puffback](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484830) | *Dryoscopus gambensis* | Malaconotidae | LC | 3 |
| [Pringle's Puffback](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484833) | *Dryoscopus pringlii* | Malaconotidae | LC | 12 |
| [Ethiopian Boubou](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484868) | *Laniarius aethiopicus* | Malaconotidae | LC | 20 |
| [Southern Boubou](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484860) | *Laniarius ferrugineus* | Malaconotidae | LC | 24 |
| [Slate-colored Boubou](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484861) | *Laniarius funebris* | Malaconotidae | LC | 81 |
| [Coastal Boubou](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100953) | *Laniarius nigerrimus* | Malaconotidae | LC | 8 |
| [Red-naped Bushshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484867) | *Laniarius ruficeps* | Malaconotidae | LC | 53 |
| [Zanzibar Boubou](https://www.gbif.org/species/5845139) | *Laniarius sublacteus* | Malaconotidae | LC | 2 |
| [Gray-headed Bushshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484814) | *Malaconotus blanchoti* | Malaconotidae | LC | 37 |
| [Brubru](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484835) | *Nilaus afer* | Malaconotidae | LC | 85 |
| [Three-streaked Tchagra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484824) | *Tchagra jamesi* | Malaconotidae | LC | 52 |
| [Black-crowned Tchagra](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340799) | *Tchagra senegalus* | Malaconotidae | LC | 47 |
| [Rosy-patched Bushshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100952) | *Telophorus cruentus* | Malaconotidae | NE | 103 |
| [White-throated Bee-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475448) | *Merops albicollis* | Meropidae | LC | 40 |
| [European Bee-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475443) | *Merops apiaster* | Meropidae | LC | 11 |
| [Northern Carmine Bee-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475396) | *Merops nubicus* | Meropidae | LC | 92 |
| [Blue-cheeked/Blue-tailed Bee-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475419) | *Merops persicus* | Meropidae | LC | 24 |
| [Little Bee-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475403) | *Merops pusillus* | Meropidae | LC | 109 |
| [Somali Bee-eater](/en/nature/somali-bee-eater/) | *Merops revoilii* | Meropidae | LC | 129 |
| [Madagascar Bee-eater](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475440) | *Merops superciliosus* | Meropidae | LC | 162 |
| [African Paradise-Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486688) | *Terpsiphone viridis* | Monarchidae | LC | 68 |
| [African Crested-Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486673) | *Trochocercus cyanomelas* | Monarchidae | LC | 13 |
| [Tawny Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490274) | *Anthus campestris* | Motacillidae | LC | 28 |
| [Red-throated Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490283) | *Anthus cervinus* | Motacillidae | LC | 10 |
| [African Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490276) | *Anthus cinnamomeus* | Motacillidae | LC | 18 |
| [Plain-backed Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490245) | *Anthus leucophrys* | Motacillidae | LC | 11 |
| [Malindi Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490286) | *Anthus melindae* | Motacillidae | LC | 29 |
| [Nicholson's Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/9009666) | *Anthus nicholsoni* | Motacillidae | NE | 21 |
| [Australasian Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490273) | *Anthus novaeseelandiae* | Motacillidae | LC | 6 |
| [Richard's/Blyth's Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/9465111) | *Anthus richardi* | Motacillidae | LC | 18 |
| [Long-billed Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490292) | *Anthus similis* | Motacillidae | LC | 39 |
| [Tree Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490246) | *Anthus trivialis* | Motacillidae | LC | 16 |
| [Buffy Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490265) | *Anthus vaalensis* | Motacillidae | LC | 4 |
| [Pangani Longclaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230849) | *Macronyx aurantiigula* | Motacillidae | LC | 7 |
| [African Pied Wagtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/7405711) | *Motacilla aguimp* | Motacillidae | NE | 21 |
| [White Wagtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/9687165) | *Motacilla alba* | Motacillidae | LC | 35 |
| [Gray Wagtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490310) | *Motacilla cinerea* | Motacillidae | LC | 12 |
| [Western Yellow Wagtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/9701857) | *Motacilla flava* | Motacillidae | LC | 62 |
| [Golden Pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490294) | *Tmetothylacus tenellus* | Motacillidae | LC | 68 |
| [Grayish Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/9476359) | *Bradornis microrhynchus* | Muscicapidae | LC | 83 |
| [Pale Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492639) | *Bradornis pallidus* | Muscicapidae | LC | 44 |
| [Black Scrub-Robin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492476) | *Cercotrichas podobe* | Muscicapidae | LC | 23 |
| [Spotted Morning-Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492647) | *Cichladusa guttata* | Muscicapidae | LC | 17 |
| [White-browed Robin-Chat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492592) | *Cossypha heuglini* | Muscicapidae | LC | 12 |
| [Red-capped Robin-Chat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492593) | *Cossypha natalensis* | Muscicapidae | LC | 10 |
| [Rüppell's Robin-Chat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492595) | *Cossypha semirufa* | Muscicapidae | LC | 1 |
| [Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788860) | *Erythropygia galactotes* | Muscicapidae | LC | 56 |
| [White-browed Scrub Robin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788858) | *Erythropygia leucophrys* | Muscicapidae | LC | 99 |
| [Bearded Scrub Robin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788862) | *Erythropygia quadrivirgata* | Muscicapidae | LC | 9 |
| [White-throated Robin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492700) | *Irania gutturalis* | Muscicapidae | LC | 11 |
| [Thrush Nightingale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492542) | *Luscinia luscinia* | Muscicapidae | LC | 3 |
| [Common Nightingale](https://www.gbif.org/species/7660710) | *Luscinia megarhynchos* | Muscicapidae | LC | 3 |
| [Southern Black-Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492656) | *Melaenornis pammelaina* | Muscicapidae | LC | 3 |
| [Little Rock-Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231008) | *Monticola rufocinereus* | Muscicapidae | LC | 60 |
| [Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490956) | *Monticola saxatilis* | Muscicapidae | LC | 50 |
| [Blue Rock-Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490955) | *Monticola solitarius* | Muscicapidae | LC | 17 |
| [Ashy Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492562) | *Muscicapa caerulescens* | Muscicapidae | LC | 11 |
| [Gambaga Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492572) | *Muscicapa gambagae* | Muscicapidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spotted Flycatcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492576) | *Muscicapa striata* | Muscicapidae | LC | 24 |
| [Desert Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231244) | *Oenanthe deserti* | Muscicapidae | LC | 48 |
| [Sombre Rock Chat](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100846) | *Oenanthe dubia* | Muscicapidae | DD | 2 |
| [Isabelline Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231245) | *Oenanthe isabellina* | Muscicapidae | LC | 137 |
| [Mourning Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231246) | *Oenanthe lugens* | Muscicapidae | LC | 12 |
| [Abyssinian Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231237) | *Oenanthe lugubris* | Muscicapidae | LC | 45 |
| [Blackstart](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100847) | *Oenanthe melanura* | Muscicapidae | LC | 130 |
| [Northern Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231240) | *Oenanthe oenanthe* | Muscicapidae | LC | 55 |
| [Somali Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231256) | *Oenanthe phillipsi* | Muscicapidae | LC | 130 |
| [Capped Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231249) | *Oenanthe pileata* | Muscicapidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pied Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231233) | *Oenanthe pleschanka* | Muscicapidae | LC | 127 |
| [Brown-tailed Rock Chat](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100848) | *Oenanthe scotocerca* | Muscicapidae | LC | 13 |
| [Red-tailed Wheatear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231239) | *Oenanthe xanthoprymna* | Muscicapidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black Redstart](https://www.gbif.org/species/5739315) | *Phoenicurus ochruros* | Muscicapidae | LC | 23 |
| [Common Redstart](https://www.gbif.org/species/5739317) | *Phoenicurus phoenicurus* | Muscicapidae | LC | 25 |
| [Whinchat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492521) | *Saxicola rubetra* | Muscicapidae | LC | 4 |
| [African Stonechat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492526) | *Saxicola torquatus* | Muscicapidae | LC | 3 |
| [White-bellied Go-away-bird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475264) | *Corythaixoides leucogaster* | Musophagidae | LC | 168 |
| [Knysna Turaco](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475250) | *Tauraco corythaix* | Musophagidae | LC | 2 |
| [Fischer's Turaco](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475247) | *Tauraco fischeri* | Musophagidae | NT | 4 |
| [White-cheeked Turaco](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475235) | *Tauraco leucotis* | Musophagidae | LC | 4 |
| [Western Violet-backed Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484638) | *Anthreptes longuemarei* | Nectariniidae | LC | 12 |
| [Kenya Violet-backed Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484633) | *Anthreptes orientalis* | Nectariniidae | LC | 93 |
| [Amethyst Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340881) | *Chalcomitra amethystina* | Nectariniidae | LC | 45 |
| [Hunter's Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340862) | *Chalcomitra hunteri* | Nectariniidae | LC | 70 |
| [Scarlet-chested Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340870) | *Chalcomitra senegalensis* | Nectariniidae | LC | 40 |
| [Purple-banded Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/6087859) | *Cinnyris bifasciatus* | Nectariniidae | LC | 43 |
| [Violet-breasted Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/6087848) | *Cinnyris chalcomelas* | Nectariniidae | LC | 40 |
| [Shining Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340666) | *Cinnyris habessinicus* | Nectariniidae | LC | 228 |
| [Mariqua Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340700) | *Cinnyris mariquensis* | Nectariniidae | LC | 118 |
| [Black-bellied Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340688) | *Cinnyris nectarinioides* | Nectariniidae | LC | 6 |
| [Variable Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340636) | *Cinnyris venustus* | Nectariniidae | LC | 166 |
| [Olive Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/6088979) | *Cyanomitra olivacea* | Nectariniidae | LC | 14 |
| [Mouse-colored Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/6088910) | *Cyanomitra veroxii* | Nectariniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Collared Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340984) | *Hedydipna collaris* | Nectariniidae | LC | 43 |
| [Nile Valley Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/6089269) | *Hedydipna metallica* | Nectariniidae | LC | 35 |
| [Pygmy Sunbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/6089275) | *Hedydipna platura* | Nectariniidae | LC | 22 |
| [Eastern Nicator](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486229) | *Nicator gularis* | Nicatoridae | LC | 1 |
| [Vulturine Guineafowl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473339) | *Acryllium vulturinum* | Numididae | LC | 25 |
| [Crested Guineafowl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473325) | *Guttera pucherani* | Numididae | LC | 7 |
| [Helmeted Guineafowl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473341) | *Numida meleagris* | Numididae | LC | 32 |
| [African Golden Oriole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2488960) | *Oriolus auratus* | Oriolidae | LC | 1 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)


---

# Bosaso Airport (Bender Qassim International, BSA)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/bosaso-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Bosaso Airport (IATA BSA, ICAO HCMF), also called Bender Qassim International Airport, serves Puntland's port city of Boosaaso on the Gulf of Aden. It began in the 1980s as a laterite strip. After an Italian-funded rebuild by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation it reopened on 8 January 2016 with a paved runway of about 2,650 metres. A 2025 Africa Intelligence report named it a UAE logistics hub for the war in Sudan.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA BSA, ICAO HCMF ([OurAirports, HCMF](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMF/)).
- **Where:** on the edge of [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), Puntland's commercial capital in the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region, at 11°16′ N 49°09′ E ([Wikipedia, Bosaso Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). Wikipedia calls it the second largest airport in Somalia after Mogadishu's.

## From a laterite strip, 1980s to 2012

The airport was set up in the 1980s with a basic laterite runway ([Horseed Media, January 2016](https://horseedmedia.net/somalia-bosaso-airport-paves-way-for-booming-regional-trade/223031/)). Building of a larger international airport began in 2007 with money from financiers based in the United Arab Emirates ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). In 2008 the [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) government signed agreements with Dubai's **Lootah Group** worth 170 million dirhams in a first phase, to set up companies to build and run Bosaso's free trade zone, seaport and airport, including a new 3.4 km runway (same source, citing AME Info). After the 2008 Puntland election the work stopped as attention moved to the capital, [Garowe](/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/).

## The 2012–2016 rebuild

- **2012:** a production-sharing agreement between Puntland and the Australian oil company Range Resources set aside $5 million for a runway; a brick-laying ceremony followed in November 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). See [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/).
- **September 2013:** a tender drew more than 24 firms. Italy funded the project through UNOPS, to extend the gravel runway from 1,800 to 2,650 metres and widen it from 30 to 45 metres (same source).

## Reported UAE logistics hub

Africa Intelligence reported in 2025 that the United Arab Emirates uses the airport as a logistics hub to supply arms to the Rapid Support Forces in [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)'s civil war, and that "no one has any say in Emirati activities within the airport complex" ([Africa Intelligence, 2025](https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-horn/2025/07/01/behind-bosaso-airport-the-uae-s-key-hub-for-supplying-arms-to-sudan,110471327-eve)). Wikipedia repeats that weapons and fighters transit through the airport ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosaso_Airport)). In January 2026 the federal government cancelled its agreements with the UAE, which Puntland rejected; see [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/) and [Somalia and the UAE](/en/relations/uae/).

## Related

- [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/)
- [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/)


---

# Fish of Somalia: 296 perch-like species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 296 species of perch-like fish (order Perciformes) from Somalia, the largest order of fish in its seas: groupers, snappers, emperors, tunas, mackerels, jacks, damselfish and gobies among them.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 296 perch-like fish species with Somalia as the country, in 60 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Serranidae: 24
- Lutjanidae: 21
- Apogonidae: 18
- Blenniidae: 15
- Gobiidae: 15
- Labridae: 14
- Pomacentridae: 14
- Mullidae: 12
- Carangidae: 11
- Sparidae: 11

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Yellow-fin Tunny (63), Skipjack tuna, Oceanic Bonito (48), Bluelined Snapper, Common bluestripe snapper (45), Bigeye tuna (27), Common dolphinfish, Dolphinfish (20), Wahoo (20) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

115 of the 296 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

2 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Parapercis somaliensis*, *Trichonotus somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: Sky emperor ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Arabian scad, Indo-Pacific sailfish, Bigeye tuna ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

The other fish on record, including sharks and rays, are on [Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and all other fish](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 1
- Vulnerable (VU): 3
- Near Threatened (NT): 2
- Least Concern (LC): 237
- Data Deficient (DD): 6
- Not Evaluated (NE): 47

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Serranidae: 24 species
- Lutjanidae: 21 species
- Apogonidae: 18 species
- Blenniidae: 15 species
- Gobiidae: 15 species
- Labridae: 14 species
- Pomacentridae: 14 species
- Mullidae: 12 species
- Carangidae: 11 species
- Sparidae: 11 species

## Full list (296 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like-2/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Eyestripe surgeonfish](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/) | *Acanthurus dussumieri* | Acanthuridae | LC | 1 |
| [Elongate surgeonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209204) | *Acanthurus mata* | Acanthuridae | LC | 3 |
| [Convict surgeonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209217) | *Acanthurus triostegus* | Acanthuridae | LC | 1 |
| [Striated surgeonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2379621) | *Ctenochaetus striatus* | Acanthuridae | LC | 15 |
| [Black Unicornfish, Sleek unicornfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209121) | *Naso hexacanthus* | Acanthuridae | LC | 1 |
| [glowbelly](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209531) | *Acropoma japonicum* | Acropomatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aden splitfin](https://www.gbif.org/species/8738146) | *Parascombrops pellucidus* | Acropomatidae | NE | 4 |
| [Sharp-toothed Sea-bass](https://www.gbif.org/species/9562857) | *Parascombrops philippinensis* | Acropomatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blackmouth splitfin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2381529) | *Synagrops japonicus* | Acropomatidae | LC | 6 |
| [Longspine glassy, Commerson's glassy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2387295) | *Ambassis ambassis* | Ambassidae | LC | 1 |
| [bluespot cardinal](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211849) | *Apogon nitidus* | Apogonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Threeband Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211792) | *Apogon semiornatus* | Apogonidae | LC | 4 |
| [Bullseye Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397165) | *Apogonichthyoides nigripinnis* | Apogonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Twobelt cardinal](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397043) | *Apogonichthyoides taeniatus* | Apogonidae | LC | 3 |
| [Holapogon maximus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397422) | *Holapogon maximus* | Apogonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Smith's Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397095) | *Jaydia smithi* | Apogonidae | LC | 5 |
| [multistripe cardin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397241) | *Lepidamia multitaeniata* | Apogonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Striped Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397343) | *Ostorhinchus angustatus* | Apogonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Goldbelly Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5962027) | *Ostorhinchus apogonoides* | Apogonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Bryx Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/8161868) | *Ostorhinchus bryx* | Apogonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Broadbanded cardinalfish, Twostripe cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7193045) | *Ostorhinchus fasciatus* | Apogonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Bullseye cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397257) | *Ostorhinchus fleurieu* | Apogonidae | LC | 7 |
| [Moluccan Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397293) | *Ostorhinchus moluccensis* | Apogonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bargill Cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7193049) | *Ostorhinchus sealei* | Apogonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ostorhinchus spilurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7902120) | *Ostorhinchus spilurus* | Apogonidae | NE | 11 |
| [Bridleed Cardinalfish, Spurcheek cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397003) | *Pristiapogon fraenatus* | Apogonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Luminous cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397636) | *Rhabdamia gracilis* | Apogonidae | LC | 5 |
| [Orangelined cardinalfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7614042) | *Taeniamia fucata* | Apogonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Indian driftfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2399426) | *Ariomma indicum* | Ariommatidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bathyclupea hoskynii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392022) | *Bathyclupea hoskynii* | Bathyclupeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arabian Blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395141) | *Antennablennius hypenetes* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Orangedotted Blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395144) | *Antennablennius variopunctatus* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lined Blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396063) | *Ecsenius lineatus* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Krauss' blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395518) | *Enchelyurus kraussii* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Imspringer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395233) | *Istiblennius bellus* | Blenniidae | LC | 8 |
| [Rippled Blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395208) | *Istiblennius edentulus* | Blenniidae | LC | 6 |
| [Scarface Rockskipper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395274) | *Istiblennius pox* | Blenniidae | LC | 2 |
| [olive blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395271) | *Istiblennius unicolor* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Arab blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396151) | *Omobranchus fasciolatus* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ringneck blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395292) | *Parablennius pilicornis* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Arabian Fangblenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395422) | *Petroscirtes ancylodon* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Highfinned Blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395424) | *Petroscirtes mitratus* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bluestriped Fangblenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395981) | *Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Jewelled blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396090) | *Salarias fasciatus* | Blenniidae | LC | 1 |
| [Snake Blenny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395302) | *Xiphasia setifer* | Blenniidae | LC | 2 |
| [Prickly fanfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2369578) | *Pterycombus petersii* | Bramidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lunar fusilier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374772) | *Caesio lunaris* | Caesionidae | LC | 1 |
| [Striated fusilier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374786) | *Caesio striata* | Caesionidae | LC | 2 |
| [Suez fusilier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374777) | *Caesio suevica* | Caesionidae | LC | 3 |
| [Mottled fusilier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374804) | *Dipterygonotus balteatus* | Caesionidae | LC | 2 |
| [Callionymus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2386824) | *Callionymus africanus* | Callionymidae | NE | 2 |
| [Indian deepwater dragonet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2386813) | *Callionymus carebares* | Callionymidae | NE | 6 |
| [Blotchfin Dragonet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2386919) | *Callionymus filamentosus* | Callionymidae | NE | 2 |
| [longtail dragonet](https://www.gbif.org/species/7784184) | *Callionymus gardineri* | Callionymidae | NE | 3 |
| [Margaret's dragonet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2386935) | *Callionymus margaretae* | Callionymidae | NE | 6 |
| [Highfin bigeye dragonet](https://www.gbif.org/species/7887809) | *Synchiropus altivelis* | Callionymidae | NE | 1 |
| [Seychelles Dragonet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2386659) | *Synchiropus sechellensis* | Callionymidae | LC | 1 |
| [Indo-Pacific boarfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389684) | *Antigonia rubescens* | Caproidae | NE | 3 |
| [African Pompano](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390537) | *Alectis ciliaris* | Carangidae | LC | 1 |
| [Shrimp scad](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390581) | *Alepes djedaba* | Carangidae | LC | 1 |
| [whitefinned crevalle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210540) | *Carangoides equula* | Carangidae | LC | 7 |
| [Blacktip trevally](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390842) | *Caranx heberi* | Carangidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bigeye Jack, Bigeye trevally](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390776) | *Caranx sexfasciatus* | Carangidae | LC | 2 |
| [Indian scad](https://www.gbif.org/species/2391050) | *Decapterus russelli* | Carangidae | LC | 7 |
| [Rainbow Runner](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210446) | *Elagatis bipinnulata* | Carangidae | LC | 15 |
| [Pilotfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2391379) | *Naucrates ductor* | Carangidae | LC | 7 |
| [Needlescaled queenfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390855) | *Scomberoides tol* | Carangidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pompano, Small spotted dart, Smallspotted dart](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210663) | *Trachinotus baillonii* | Carangidae | LC | 1 |
| [Arabian scad](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210485) | *Trachurus indicus* | Carangidae | VU | 1 |
| [Psenopsis cyanea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398102) | *Psenopsis cyanea* | Centrolophidae | NE | 9 |
| [Threadfin Butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385390) | *Chaetodon auriga* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [African butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385355) | *Chaetodon dolosus* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Gardiner's Butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385555) | *Chaetodon gardineri* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Whitespotted Butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385458) | *Chaetodon kleinii* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 4 |
| [Somali butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385312) | *Chaetodon leucopleura* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 9 |
| [Lined Butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/9619603) | *Chaetodon lineolatus* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 8 |
| [Chevroned Butterflyfish, Chevron butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385428) | *Chaetodon trifascialis* | Chaetodontidae | NT | 14 |
| [Zanzibar butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385360) | *Chaetodon zanzibarensis* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Longfin Bannerfish, Pennant coralfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385730) | *Heniochus acuminatus* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 5 |
| [Indian Golden-barred Butterflyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385635) | *Roa jayakari* | Chaetodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Champsodon omanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2387159) | *Champsodon omanensis* | Champsodontidae | NE | 2 |
| [Japanese Linebelly Swallower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394657) | *Pseudoscopelus sagamianus* | Chiasmodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Nile tilapia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4285694) | *Oreochromis niloticus* | Cichlidae | LC | 1 |
| [Sabaki Tilapia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4285686) | *Oreochromis spilurus* | Cichlidae | LC | 12 |
| [Spottedtail Hawkfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375170) | *Cirrhitichthys calliurus* | Cirrhitidae | LC | 12 |
| [Somali Hawkfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375169) | *Cirrhitichthys randalli* | Cirrhitidae | NE | 4 |
| [Swallowtail hawkfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375184) | *Cyprinocirrhites polyactis* | Cirrhitidae | LC | 2 |
| [Pompano dolphinfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2381960) | *Coryphaena equiselis* | Coryphaenidae | LC | 3 |
| [Common dolphinfish, Dolphinfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2381939) | *Coryphaena hippurus* | Coryphaenidae | LC | 20 |
| [Suckerfish, Live sharksucker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375300) | *Echeneis naucrates* | Echeneidae | LC | 2 |
| [Slender Suckerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375258) | *Phtheirichthys lineatus* | Echeneidae | LC | 2 |
| [Cape bonnetmouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/4284547) | *Emmelichthys nitidus* | Emmelichthyidae | LC | 7 |
| [Erythrocles acarina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390470) | *Erythrocles acarina* | Emmelichthyidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spadefish, Orbicular batfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394300) | *Platax orbicularis* | Ephippidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dusky batfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394307) | *Platax pinnatus* | Ephippidae | LC | 2 |
| [John dory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394338) | *Tripterodon orbis* | Ephippidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pencil cardinal](https://www.gbif.org/species/2395056) | *Epigonus denticulatus* | Epigonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Epigonus marisrubri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5961754) | *Epigonus marisrubri* | Epigonidae | NE | 3 |
| [Snake Mackerel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397775) | *Gempylus serpens* | Gempylidae | LC | 4 |
| [Black Snake Mackerel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397769) | *Nealotus tripes* | Gempylidae | LC | 4 |
| [Sackfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397765) | *Neoepinnula orientalis* | Gempylidae | NE | 3 |
| [Black gemfish, Johnson's Scabbardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397789) | *Nesiarchus nasutus* | Gempylidae | LC | 3 |
| [Roudi escolar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2397743) | *Promethichthys prometheus* | Gempylidae | LC | 4 |
| [Whipfin silver-biddy, Whipfin silverbiddy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2369436) | *Gerres filamentosus* | Gerreidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Freshwater Goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/5208785) | *Awaous aeneofuscus* | Gobiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Cyclops Frillgoby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2377057) | *Bathygobius cyclopterus* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dusky frillgoby, Frill goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2377024) | *Bathygobius fuscus* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Large whip goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375634) | *Bryaninops amplus* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Anomolous Goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2376805) | *Coryogalops anomolus* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Side-spot Shrimp-goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209040) | *Cryptocentrus strigilliceps* | Gobiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Gangetic tank goby, Tank goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2378087) | *Glossogobius giuris* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Gobius scorteccii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2376539) | *Gobius scorteccii* | Gobiidae | NE | 15 |
| [Dwarf Slippery Goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2376052) | *Larsonella pumila* | Gobiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Obliquogobius cometes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2377316) | *Obliquogobius cometes* | Gobiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Turkay’s Oblique Goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2377314) | *Obliquogobius turkayi* | Gobiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Redhead Coralgoby, Redhead goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2378093) | *Paragobiodon echinocephalus* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Kalolo mudskipper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2376991) | *Periophthalmus kalolo* | Gobiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Scalynape Goby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375660) | *Pleurosicya annandalei* | Gobiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Boldingh’s Ghostgoby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375658) | *Pleurosicya boldinghi* | Gobiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Painted sweetlips](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209594) | *Diagramma pictum* | Haemulidae | NE | 7 |
| [Lemon sweetlip, Lemonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382732) | *Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus* | Haemulidae | LC | 4 |
| [black sweetlips](https://www.gbif.org/species/9815299) | *Plectorhinchus gibbosus* | Haemulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Whitebarred rubberlip](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382722) | *Plectorhinchus playfairi* | Haemulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Minstrel sweetlip, Minstrel sweetlips](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382663) | *Plectorhinchus schotaf* | Haemulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Sordid rubberlip, Sordid sweetlip](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382682) | *Plectorhinchus sordidus* | Haemulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Saddle grunt](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382925) | *Pomadasys maculatus* | Haemulidae | LC | 1 |
| [olive grunter](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382825) | *Pomadasys olivaceus* | Haemulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Indo-Pacific sailfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211984) | *Istiophorus platypterus* | Istiophoridae | VU | 1 |
| [Barred Flagtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5208693) | *Kuhlia mugil* | Kuhliidae | LC | 1 |
| [Highfin Chub, Blue sea chub, Blue seachub](https://www.gbif.org/species/2381309) | *Kyphosus cinerascens* | Kyphosidae | LC | 3 |
| [giant hogfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209718) | *Bodianus macrognathos* | Labridae | LC | 10 |
| [threeline hogfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209700) | *Bodianus trilineatus* | Labridae | LC | 8 |
| [Tripletail wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2383305) | *Cheilinus trilobatus* | Labridae | LC | 1 |
| [Cigar wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2383605) | *Cheilio inermis* | Labridae | LC | 4 |
| [Robust tuskfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2382957) | *Choerodon robustus* | Labridae | LC | 6 |
| [Choerodon skaiopygmaeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9298328) | *Choerodon skaiopygmaeus* | Labridae | NE | 5 |
| [Queen coris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5209768) | *Coris formosa* | Labridae | LC | 8 |
| [Checkerboard wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384141) | *Halichoeres hortulanus* | Labridae | LC | 12 |
| [Ceylon wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384078) | *Halichoeres zeylonicus* | Labridae | LC | 5 |
| [Peacock Razorfish, Peacock wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2383333) | *Iniistius pavo* | Labridae | LC | 2 |
| [Masked Razorfish, Rockmover wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2383280) | *Novaculichthys taeniourus* | Labridae | LC | 1 |
| [Twospot Wrasse, Two-spot wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384363) | *Oxycheilinus bimaculatus* | Labridae | LC | 2 |
| [Cutribbon wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2383427) | *Stethojulis interrupta* | Labridae | LC | 1 |


This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like-2/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Political parties laws of Somalia, 2016 and 2024

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/political-parties-law-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Federal Somalia has had two political parties laws. The first was passed by the House of the People on 6 June 2016 by 145 votes to 3 and signed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 4 September 2016. The second, the Political Parties and Organisations Law, was approved by both houses on 21 November 2024 by 177 votes with 1 abstention, alongside a new National Electoral Law and a law on the electoral commission. Parties register with the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

## Which laws govern political parties in federal Somalia?

Two federal laws have set the rules for parties since the Provisional Constitution of 2012:

1. the **Political Parties Law of 2016**; and
2. the **Political Parties and Organisations law of 2024**, passed with the new election laws.

The Provisional Constitution also sets terms for registering parties, and registration is handled by the electoral commission ([NIEC, Political parties](https://niec.so/en/parties)).

## The 2016 Political Parties Law

The House of the People passed the Political Parties Bill on **6 June 2016** by **145 votes to 3**, with 1 abstention ([Goobjoog, 6 June 2016](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-parliament-passes-political-parties-law)). Ahmed Mo'alim Fiqi, then secretary general of the Daljir Party, told [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/): "This is good step by the parliament although it came late" (same source).

The electoral commission states that the law was ratified by Parliament and signed by the President on **4 September 2016** ([NIEC](https://niec.so/en/parties)). Goobjoog reported on 5 September 2016 that President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) "on Sunday assented to the Political Parties bill" ([Goobjoog, 5 September 2016](https://en.goobjoog.com/president-signs-into-law-political-parties-bill)). The commission registers parties through a written application, which it assesses against its Political Party Registration Manual and checklist ([NIEC](https://niec.so/en/parties)).

## The 2024 law

On **21 November 2024**, members of both houses of the Federal Parliament approved the law on political parties and organisations. Speaker Adan Mohamed Nur (Madobe) announced **177 votes in favour, 1 abstention and no votes against**. Mahdi Mohamed Guled, chair of the interim committee drafting the election rules, presented the amendments, and Interior Minister Ali Yusuf (Ali Hoosh) welcomed the vote ([SONNA, 21 November 2024](https://sonna.so/en/parliament-approves-political-parties-and-unions-federal-government-of-somalia-act/)).

It was one of three laws approved that month to put the 2024 amendments to Chapter 4 of the Constitution into practice. The other two were the National Electoral Law and the law establishing the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ([ConstitutionNet](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)).

## How many parties may compete?

ConstitutionNet reports how the question changed ([ConstitutionNet](https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/provisional-permanent-constitution-assessing-end-somalias-constitutional-review-process)):

- An early draft would have let only the two parties with the most local council votes compete in federal and state elections.
- Members of Parliament changed this to allow at least three national parties.
- The constitutional amendments as adopted contain "no restriction on the number of political parties allowed to contest in national elections".
- A compromise with part of the opposition National Salvation Forum proposed a threshold, under which only parties winning at least 10 percent of the vote would gain seats in the House of the People.

The adoption of the November 2024 laws "triggered immediate and severe political backlash", in ConstitutionNet's words (same source).

## Party registration for the 2027 elections

On 31 October 2026 the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced that party registration would be open from **1 to 22 November 2026**. Its timetable sets parliamentary elections for 15 April 2027 and a presidential election for 15 May 2027 ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-opens-registration-for-political-parties-ahead-of-2027-polls)).

## Related pages

- [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/)
- [Justice and Solidarity Party](/en/government/justice-and-solidarity-party/)
- [Tayo Party](/en/government/tayo-party/)
- [Union for Peace and Development Party](/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/)


---

# Reptiles of Somalia: all 224 species on record (part 2 of 2)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 224 reptile species from Somalia: lizards, snakes, tortoises, sea turtles and the Nile crocodile. The IUCN Red List places the hawksbill turtle in Critically Endangered; 175 species are Least Concern and 26 Data Deficient.

Part 2 of 2 of [Reptiles of Somalia: all 224 species on record](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia/) · **2**

## Full list (224 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Western Jackson's Wolf Snake [occidentale]](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457787) | *Lycophidion jacksoni* | Lamprophiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cape Wolf Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/7639911) | *Lycophidion multimaculatum* | Lamprophiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Reticulate Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/8314814) | *Epacrophis reticulatus* | Leptotyphlopidae | DD | 2 |
| [Leptotyphlops tanae](https://www.gbif.org/species/11871831) | *Leptotyphlops tanae* | Leptotyphlopidae | NE | 4 |
| [Scortecci's Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/8279805) | *Myriopholis braccianii* | Leptotyphlopidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cairo Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/7750317) | *Myriopholis cairi* | Leptotyphlopidae | LC | 2 |
| [Nurse's Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/7763605) | *Myriopholis nursii* | Leptotyphlopidae | LC | 5 |
| [Somalian Helmeted Turtle](https://www.gbif.org/species/9560150) | *Pelomedusa somalica* | Pelomedusidae | NE | 9 |
| [African Helmeted Terrapin](https://www.gbif.org/species/10545407) | *Pelomedusa subrufa* | Pelomedusidae | NE | 17 |
| [Serrated hinged terrapin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2442335) | *Pelusios sinuatus* | Pelomedusidae | NE | 3 |
| [Common fan-footed gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/8705240) | *Ptyodactylus hasselquistii* | Phyllodactylidae | LC | 6 |
| [Ringed Wall Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/2445042) | *Tarentola annularis* | Phyllodactylidae | LC | 18 |
| [Northern Somali Shovelsnout Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2454411) | *Prosymna somalica* | Prosymnidae | LC | 8 |
| [Kenyan Bark Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2459077) | *Hemirhagerrhis hildebrandtii* | Psammophiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Keller's Bark Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2459061) | *Hemirhagerrhis kelleri* | Psammophiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Eastern Bark Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2459066) | *Hemirhagerrhis nototaenia* | Psammophiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Link-marked Sand Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959463) | *Psammophis biseriatus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 23 |
| [Olive Grass Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959515) | *Psammophis phillipsii* | Psammophiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Speckled Sand Racer](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959473) | *Psammophis punctulatus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 21 |
| [Forskal Sand Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959488) | *Psammophis schokari* | Psammophiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Hissing Sand Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959474) | *Psammophis sibilans* | Psammophiidae | LC | 14 |
| [Tanganyika Sand Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959494) | *Psammophis tanganicus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 19 |
| [Striped Skaapsteker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2456966) | *Psammophylax tritaeniatus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Western beaked snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457383) | *Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Rufous Beaked Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457386) | *Rhamphiophis rostratus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Red Beaked Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2457379) | *Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus* | Psammophiidae | LC | 5 |
| [rock python](https://www.gbif.org/species/2465346) | *Python sebae* | Pythonidae | NT | 3 |
| [Ocellated Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225164) | *Chalcides bottegi* | Scincidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ocellated Bronze Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225137) | *Chalcides ocellatus* | Scincidae | LC | 30 |
| [Ragazzi's Bronze Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225141) | *Chalcides ragazzii* | Scincidae | LC | 15 |
| [Cape Verde Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/2464817) | *Chioninia delalandii* | Scincidae | LC | 1 |
| [Solomon Island skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/2462499) | *Corucia zebrata* | Scincidae | NT | 1 |
| [African Coral Rag Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/2463585) | *Cryptoblepharus africanus* | Scincidae | LC | 30 |
| [Snake-eyed Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/9534165) | *Cryptoblepharus boutonii* | Scincidae | NT | 3 |
| [Lanza's Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/8186421) | *Mochlus grandisonianus* | Scincidae | DD | 1 |
| [Common Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/11116488) | *Mochlus laeviceps* | Scincidae | DD | 14 |
| [Mabuya-like Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/11140992) | *Mochlus mabuiiformis* | Scincidae | DD | 3 |
| [Boulenger's Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/7716853) | *Mochlus productus* | Scincidae | LC | 3 |
| [Somali Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/7827336) | *Mochlus somalicus* | Scincidae | LC | 2 |
| [Peters' Eyelid Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225268) | *Mochlus sundevallii* | Scincidae | LC | 39 |
| [Loveridge's Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/7959061) | *Mochlus tanae* | Scincidae | LC | 9 |
| [Vinciguerra's Writhing Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/8032449) | *Mochlus vinciguerrae* | Scincidae | LC | 13 |
| [Angolan Snake-eyed Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/2463221) | *Panaspis wahlbergii* | Scincidae | LC | 5 |
| [Short-necked Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225374) | *Trachylepis brevicollis* | Scincidae | LC | 44 |
| [Somali Mabuya](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225404) | *Trachylepis hemmingi* | Scincidae | LC | 6 |
| [Hildebrandt's Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225350) | *Trachylepis hildebrandtii* | Scincidae | LC | 87 |
| [Tree Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225379) | *Trachylepis planifrons* | Scincidae | LC | 9 |
| [African Five-lined Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225411) | *Trachylepis quinquetaeniata* | Scincidae | LC | 2 |
| [Kalahari Tree Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225400) | *Trachylepis spilogaster* | Scincidae | LC | 2 |
| [African Striped Mabuya](https://www.gbif.org/species/5225433) | *Trachylepis striata* | Scincidae | LC | 43 |
| [Wahlberg's Striped Skink](https://www.gbif.org/species/11194422) | *Trachylepis wahlbergii* | Scincidae | LC | 45 |
| [Cross-marked Semaphore Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221669) | *Pristurus crucifer* | Sphaerodactylidae | LC | 181 |
| [Middle Eastern Rock Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221662) | *Pristurus flavipunctatus* | Sphaerodactylidae | LC | 31 |
| [Somai Rock Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221654) | *Pristurus phillipsii* | Sphaerodactylidae | LC | 13 |
| [Blandford's Semaphore Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221684) | *Pristurus rupestris* | Sphaerodactylidae | LC | 8 |
| [Coastal Rock Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221689) | *Pristurus simonettai* | Sphaerodactylidae | LC | 10 |
| [Somali Semaphore Gecko](https://www.gbif.org/species/5221653) | *Pristurus somalicus* | Sphaerodactylidae | LC | 44 |
| [African spurred tortoise](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441533) | *Centrochelys sulcata* | Testudinidae | EN | 1 |
| [Bells hinge-back tortoise](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441686) | *Kinixys belliana* | Testudinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Natal hinge-back tortoise](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441683) | *Kinixys natalensis* | Testudinidae | VU | 3 |
| [Leopard tortoise](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441757) | *Stigmochelys pardalis* | Testudinidae | LC | 47 |
| [Angled Worm Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2450995) | *Agamodon anguliceps* | Trogonophidae | LC | 210 |
| [Flat Worm Lizard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2450993) | *Agamodon compressus* | Trogonophidae | DD | 6 |
| [Somali Giant Blind-snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9301728) | *Afrotyphlops brevis* | Typhlopidae | LC | 2 |
| [Calabresi's Blind-snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9379422) | *Afrotyphlops calabresii* | Typhlopidae | LC | 10 |
| [Wedge-snouted Blind-snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9601584) | *Afrotyphlops cuneirostris* | Typhlopidae | DD | 11 |
| [Zambezi Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9348431) | *Afrotyphlops mucruso* | Typhlopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Schlegel's Beaked Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9244253) | *Afrotyphlops schlegelii* | Typhlopidae | LC | 5 |
| [Braminy Bling Snake, Flower Pot Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/9357542) | *Indotyphlops braminus* | Typhlopidae | LC | 1 |
| [Juba Gracile Blind-snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2471119) | *Letheobia jubana* | Typhlopidae | DD | 5 |
| [Ethiopian Blind Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2471129) | *Letheobia somalica* | Typhlopidae | LC | 1 |
| [Somali Blind-snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5227268) | *Rhinotyphlops ataeniatus* | Typhlopidae | LC | 6 |
| [White-headed Beaked Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5227304) | *Rhinotyphlops leucocephalus* | Typhlopidae | DD | 1 |
| [Scortecci's Blind-snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5227280) | *Rhinotyphlops scortecci* | Typhlopidae | LC | 10 |
| [Kenya Beaked Snake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5227282) | *Rhinotyphlops unitaeniatus* | Typhlopidae | LC | 6 |
| [White-throated monitor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2470802) | *Varanus albigularis* | Varanidae | LC | 14 |
| [savannah monitor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2470729) | *Varanus exanthematicus* | Varanidae | LC | 5 |
| [Nile monitor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2470656) | *Varanus niloticus* | Varanidae | LC | 2 |
| [Puff Adder](https://www.gbif.org/species/8901465) | *Bitis arietans* | Viperidae | LC | 20 |
| [Green Night Adder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2443900) | *Causus resimus* | Viperidae | LC | 18 |
| [Phoorsa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2443876) | *Echis carinatus* | Viperidae | LC | 9 |
| [Egyptian Saw-scaled Viper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2443858) | *Echis pyramidum* | Viperidae | LC | 5 |


This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia/) · **2**


---

# Somalia and Yemen

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/yemen/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Yemen face each other across the Gulf of Aden and have traded and moved people across it for centuries. Yemen hosted 40,335 refugees from Somalia at the end of 2025, down from 255,894 in 2017, while Somalia hosted 13,496 Yemeni refugees. Yemen reported US$13.5 million of exports to Somalia and US$10.6 million of imports, mostly live animals, in 2024. Both governments have embassies, and Somalia backs Yemen's internationally recognised government against the Houthis.

## How do Somalia and Yemen relate today?

Both governments keep embassies and meet regularly. Yemen's ambassador in Mogadishu, Fadl al-Hanaq, met Somalia's foreign minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali on 7 May 2025 and passed on congratulations from Yemen's foreign minister, Shaya Zindani ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 7 May 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/32376/)). Somalia's ambassador to Yemen, Abdul Hakim Mohammed, met Yemen's deputy foreign minister Mansour Bajash in Aden on 21 August 2025 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 21 August 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/33684/)).

Somalia supports Yemen's internationally recognised government. In January 2023 Somalia's foreign minister condemned Houthi attacks on oil facilities and threats to shipping ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 18 January 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)).

People still cross the Gulf of Aden both ways. Yemen hosted about 40,000 refugees from Somalia at the end of 2025, and Somalia hosted about 13,500 from Yemen (see below).

## When did contact begin?

The two coasts have traded since ancient times; see [The ancient frankincense and myrrh trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/) and [Rasulid Yemen and the Somali ports, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/).

A 2019 Rift Valley Institute study describes north-east Somalia, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and southern Yemen as having been "in many respects, extensions of each other", sharing religion and culture ([Rift Valley Institute, Majid and Abdirahman, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). It names two main sea corridors: Berbera–Aden and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)–Mukalla. It also names the Hadrami of Yemen and the Harti of north-eastern Somalia as the two main migrant groups between them.

Somalis were a significant presence in Aden by the late nineteenth century and used it as a market for livestock ([RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). One person interviewed for the study said: "The Hadramis were coming to Somalia for centuries. They are mainly merchants."

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

**Yemen to Somalia**

- Yemen reopened its embassy in Mogadishu in January 2007, before any other country after the Islamic Courts were driven out ([Al Jazeera, 28 May 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)).
- **Ahmed Omar**, Yemeni ambassador, attended the opening of Djibouti's embassy in Mogadishu on 14 December 2010 ([Hiiraan Online, 14 December 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2010/Dec/djibouti_government_opens_its_embassy_in_mogadishu.aspx)).
- **Fadl Ali Ahmed al-Hanaq**, ambassador in 2024 and 2025 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 22 May 2024](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/27751/); [7 May 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/32376/)).

**Somalia to Yemen**

- **Abdul Hakim Mohammed**, ambassador, with an embassy in Aden, Yemen's interim capital, in 2025 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 21 August 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/33684/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Ali Abdullah Saleh**, then President of Yemen, attended the investiture of [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) on 27 August 2000. He then hosted Hussein Mohamed Aidid, [Osman Hassan Ali](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) "Atto" and other faction leaders in Sanaa and urged them to join the Arta process ([Al Bawaba/AFP, 31 August 2000](https://www.albawaba.net/news/sanaa-urges-somali-warlords-cooperate-elected-president)).
- **Saleh** also hosted the talks that produced the Aden Declaration of 5 January 2006 ([PA-X, Aden Declaration](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/)).
- **Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed**, President of Somalia, and **Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden**, Speaker of Parliament, signed the Aden Declaration ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/); [Al Jazeera, 5 January 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2006/01/2008491255536924.html)).
- **Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak**, Yemen's foreign minister, visited Mogadishu in January 2023 and met his counterpart **Abshir Omar**. They discussed reviving the joint committee for economic, scientific and technical cooperation set up in 2013 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 18 January 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, as Somalia's foreign minister, met Ambassador al-Hanaq on 22 May 2024 and backed Yemen's stability ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 22 May 2024](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/27751/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Joint committee for economic, scientific and technical cooperation, 2013** ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)).
- **Aden Declaration, 5 January 2006:** a Somali agreement brokered by Yemen to end the dispute between the president and the speaker and reconvene parliament ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/)). A Yemeni official said the leaders agreed in principle that the government would move first to Baidoa and then to Mogadishu ([Al Jazeera, 5 January 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2006/01/2008491255536924.html)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **27 August 2000:** President Saleh at Abdiqasim's investiture in Arta, Djibouti ([Al Bawaba/AFP](https://www.albawaba.net/news/sanaa-urges-somali-warlords-cooperate-elected-president)).
- **2–5 January 2006:** President Abdullahi Yusuf and Speaker Sharif Hassan in Aden ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/)).
- **January 2023:** Foreign Minister bin Mubarak in Mogadishu ([Yemen MOFA/Saba](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)).

## How much do they trade?

Yemen reported this trade with Somalia ([UN Comtrade, Yemen reporter, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2019&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)):

- **2019:** imports from Somalia US$16.6 million
- **2023:** exports US$12.4 million; imports US$5.1 million
- **2024:** exports US$13.5 million; imports US$10.6 million

In 2024, US$10.4 million of Yemen's imports from Somalia were live animals. Its main exports were cereal preparations, dairy products and plastics ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X,M)).

After Somalia's state collapsed, Yemen became a re-export hub for Somali livestock when Saudi Arabia banned direct imports from Berbera and Bosaso. Somali fish later followed the same route ([RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). Somali fishers and traders work between Bosaso and Mukalla, about 140 miles apart, and some hold dual nationality (same source). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Neither country is a donor to the other. Their main exchange of support has been hosting each other's refugees.

## What about security?

The UN Security Council has expressed concern about "illegal flows of weapons and ammunition supplies from Yemen to Somalia" ([UN, S/RES/2444 (2018)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/2444(2018)&l=en&t=pdf)). In October 2025 the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen reported that Houthi engineers had travelled to [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/) to train al-Shabaab in explosives and drones, and that a facilitator arranged travel for nearly 400 Somalis to Houthi areas for training ([Arab News, 30 September 2026](https://www.arabnews.pk/middle-east/analysis-houthi-and-al-shabab-ties-raise-alarm-over-widening-threat-to-red-sea-shipping-3002763)). Matt Bryden, a former head of the UN Somalia panel, has warned that Yemeni-origin weapons alone do not prove Houthi–al-Shabaab cooperation (same source). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Yemen deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- Most boats from Yemen land at Bosaso in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Berbera in Somaliland. In 2015, 30,202 people crossed from Yemen to Somalia, 95% of them ethnic Somalis returning ([UNHCR, Somalia snapshot, 31 March 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1322431/4765_1461161615_somalia-yemen-snapshot31march2016.pdf)).
- In Somaliland and Puntland, clan elders verify the nationality of people arriving (same source).
- Bosaso and Mukalla are linked by fishing and trade networks that work largely without documents ([RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)).

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found. Yemen's government and Somalia share a position against the Houthis. Yemen's foreign minister told Somalia in 2023 that the Houthis rejected calls for peace, and Somalia condemned their attacks on shipping ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 18 January 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)).

## How many Somalis live in Yemen?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 40,335 refugees and 202 asylum seekers from Somalia in Yemen, down from 255,894 refugees in 2017 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=YEM)). In the other direction, Somalia hosted 13,496 refugees from Yemen, up from 5 in 2014 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=YEM&coa=SOM)). See [Yemen (Somali refugees)](/en/diaspora/yemen/).

## Where does Yemen stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Both are members of the Arab League and the OIC. Their foreign ministers also meet on the sidelines of Arab League councils ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/tag/somalia-and-yemen/)).
- Yemen hosted Somali reconciliation talks in 2000 and 2006 (above).
- Yemen does not send troops to the AU mission.

## Related pages

- [Yemen (Somali refugees)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [Rasulid Yemen and the Somali ports, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/)
- [Saad ad-Din's death at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/)
- [The ancient frankincense and myrrh trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/)
- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/)
- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/)
- [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/)


---

# Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record (part 4 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 709 bird species from Somalia. Of these, the IUCN Red List places 6 in Critically Endangered, 10 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable; 635 are Least Concern. Several, such as the Somali pigeon, Somali thrush and Somali lark, live nowhere else in the world.

Part 4 of 5 of [Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)

## Full list (709 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [African Black-headed Oriole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2488966) | *Oriolus larvatus* | Oriolidae | LC | 28 |
| [Ethiopian Black-headed Oriole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2488967) | *Oriolus monacha* | Oriolidae | LC | 1 |
| [Eurasian Golden Oriole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2488949) | *Oriolus oriolus* | Oriolidae | LC | 17 |
| [Arabian Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474904) | *Ardeotis arabs* | Otididae | NT | 3 |
| [Kori Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474909) | *Ardeotis kori* | Otididae | NT | 21 |
| [Little Brown Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474897) | *Eupodotis humilis* | Otididae | NT | 78 |
| [White-bellied Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474890) | *Eupodotis senegalensis* | Otididae | LC | 42 |
| [Hartlaub's Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474848) | *Lissotis hartlaubii* | Otididae | LC | 13 |
| [Black-bellied Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474850) | *Lissotis melanogaster* | Otididae | LC | 3 |
| [Buff-crested Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474880) | *Lophotis gindiana* | Otididae | LC | 47 |
| [Red-crested Korhaan](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474882) | *Lophotis ruficrista* | Otididae | LC | 20 |
| [Denham's Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474874) | *Neotis denhami* | Otididae | NT | 1 |
| [Heuglin's Bustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474873) | *Neotis heuglinii* | Otididae | LC | 24 |
| [Osprey](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480726) | *Pandion haliaetus* | Pandionidae | LC | 32 |
| [Grey Tit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2487931) | *Parus afer* | Paridae | LC | 36 |
| [Acacia Tit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2487927) | *Parus thruppi* | Paridae | LC | 38 |
| [Yellow-spotted Bush Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100970) | *Gymnoris pyrgita* | Passeridae | LC | 70 |
| [Yellow-throated Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100968) | *Gymnoris xanthocollis* | Passeridae | LC | 34 |
| [Somali Sparrow](/en/nature/somali-sparrow/) | *Passer castanopterus* | Passeridae | LC | 109 |
| [House Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231190) | *Passer domesticus* | Passeridae | LC | 47 |
| [Chestnut Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231200) | *Passer eminibey* | Passeridae | LC | 3 |
| [Arabian Golden Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231207) | *Passer euchlorus* | Passeridae | LC | 11 |
| [Parrot-billed Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231208) | *Passer gongonensis* | Passeridae | LC | 132 |
| [Northern Gray-headed Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231193) | *Passer griseus* | Passeridae | LC | 29 |
| [Abd al Kuri Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789137) | *Passer hemileucus* | Passeridae | VU | 1 |
| [Sudan Golden Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231210) | *Passer luteus* | Passeridae | LC | 4 |
| [Russet Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231197) | *Passer rutilans* | Passeridae | NE | 25 |
| [Shelley's Rufous Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789138) | *Passer shelleyi* | Passeridae | LC | 6 |
| [Swainson's Sparrow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231212) | *Passer swainsonii* | Passeridae | LC | 265 |
| [Donaldson-Smith's Sparrow-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492360) | *Plocepasser donaldsoni* | Passeridae | LC | 3 |
| [White-browed Sparrow-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492362) | *Plocepasser mahali* | Passeridae | LC | 36 |
| [Gray-headed Social-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492353) | *Pseudonigrita arnaudi* | Passeridae | LC | 6 |
| [Black-capped Social-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492352) | *Pseudonigrita cabanisi* | Passeridae | LC | 11 |
| [Great White Pelican](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480350) | *Pelecanus onocrotalus* | Pelecanidae | LC | 4 |
| [Pink-backed Pelican](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480352) | *Pelecanus rufescens* | Pelecanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Red-billed/Red-tailed Tropicbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/9743996) | *Phaethon aethereus* | Phaethontidae | LC | 6 |
| [White-tailed Tropicbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481364) | *Phaethon lepturus* | Phaethontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Long-tailed Cormorant](https://www.gbif.org/species/6066519) | *Microcarbo africanus* | Phalacrocoracidae | LC | 20 |
| [Great Cormorant/European Shag](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481890) | *Phalacrocorax carbo* | Phalacrocoracidae | LC | 5 |
| [Socotra Cormorant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481894) | *Phalacrocorax nigrogularis* | Phalacrocoracidae | VU | 1 |
| [Common Quail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474156) | *Coturnix coturnix* | Phasianidae | LC | 4 |
| [Harlequin Quail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474141) | *Coturnix delegorguei* | Phasianidae | LC | 10 |
| [Red Junglefowl](https://www.gbif.org/species/9326020) | *Gallus gallus* | Phasianidae | LC | 1 |
| [Crested Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/11366957) | *Ortygornis sephaena* | Phasianidae | LC | 116 |
| [Red-necked Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473787) | *Pternistis afer* | Phasianidae | LC | 1 |
| [Chestnut-naped Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473907) | *Pternistis castaneicollis* | Phasianidae | LC | 14 |
| [Erckel's Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473861) | *Pternistis erckelii* | Phasianidae | LC | 2 |
| [Yellow-necked Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2473849) | *Pternistis leucoscepus* | Phasianidae | LC | 81 |
| [Gray-winged Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/6101190) | *Scleroptila afra* | Phasianidae | LC | 9 |
| [Orange River Francolin](https://www.gbif.org/species/8048849) | *Scleroptila gutturalis* | Phasianidae | LC | 2 |
| [Lesser Flamingo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481104) | *Phoeniconaias minor* | Phoenicopteridae | NT | 2 |
| [Greater Flamingo](https://www.gbif.org/species/4352332) | *Phoenicopterus roseus* | Phoenicopteridae | LC | 15 |
| [Green Woodhoopoe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498452) | *Phoeniculus purpureus* | Phoeniculidae | LC | 32 |
| [Black-billed Woodhoopoe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498438) | *Phoeniculus somaliensis* | Phoeniculidae | LC | 35 |
| [Black Scimitarbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498432) | *Rhinopomastus aterrimus* | Phoeniculidae | LC | 1 |
| [Common Scimitarbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498426) | *Rhinopomastus cyanomelas* | Phoeniculidae | LC | 12 |
| [Abyssinian Scimitarbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498429) | *Rhinopomastus minor* | Phoeniculidae | LC | 108 |
| [Common Chiffchaff](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493091) | *Phylloscopus collybita* | Phylloscopidae | LC | 11 |
| [Wood Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/8128385) | *Phylloscopus sibillatrix* | Phylloscopidae | LC | 3 |
| [Willow Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493052) | *Phylloscopus trochilus* | Phylloscopidae | LC | 24 |
| [Brown Woodland-Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493049) | *Phylloscopus umbrovirens* | Phylloscopidae | LC | 29 |
| [Golden-tailed Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478174) | *Campethera abingoni* | Picidae | LC | 9 |
| [Green-backed Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478189) | *Campethera cailliautii* | Picidae | LC | 5 |
| [Little Green Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478202) | *Campethera maculosa* | Picidae | LC | 3 |
| [Mombasa Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478194) | *Campethera mombassica* | Picidae | LC | 2 |
| [Nubian Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478195) | *Campethera nubica* | Picidae | LC | 90 |
| [Bearded Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/8818908) | *Chloropicus namaquus* | Picidae | NE | 25 |
| [Cardinal Woodpecker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2478399) | *Dendropicos fuscescens* | Picidae | LC | 76 |
| [Eurasian Wryneck](https://www.gbif.org/species/8012314) | *Jynx torquilla* | Picidae | LC | 1 |
| [Western Black-headed Batis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789257) | *Batis erlangeri* | Platysteiridae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-headed Batis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231180) | *Batis minor* | Platysteiridae | LC | 14 |
| [Gray-headed Batis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231181) | *Batis orientalis* | Platysteiridae | LC | 104 |
| [Pygmy Batis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231187) | *Batis perkeo* | Platysteiridae | LC | 17 |
| [Black-throated Wattle-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492312) | *Platysteira peltata* | Platysteiridae | LC | 18 |
| [Grosbeak Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494005) | *Amblyospiza albifrons* | Ploceidae | LC | 12 |
| [Red Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/10705539) | *Anaplectes jubaensis* | Ploceidae | LC | 4 |
| [Red-headed Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494106) | *Anaplectes rubriceps* | Ploceidae | LC | 13 |
| [White-billed Buffalo-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494074) | *Bubalornis albirostris* | Ploceidae | LC | 25 |
| [Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494073) | *Bubalornis niger* | Ploceidae | LC | 36 |
| [White-headed Buffalo-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493991) | *Dinemellia dinemelli* | Ploceidae | LC | 165 |
| [Yellow-crowned Bishop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494097) | *Euplectes afer* | Ploceidae | LC | 1 |
| [Fan-tailed Widowbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494092) | *Euplectes axillaris* | Ploceidae | LC | 8 |
| [Fire-fronted Bishop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494093) | *Euplectes diadematus* | Ploceidae | LC | 9 |
| [Northern Red Bishop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494086) | *Euplectes franciscanus* | Ploceidae | LC | 35 |
| [Black-winged Bishop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494101) | *Euplectes hordeaceus* | Ploceidae | LC | 1 |
| [Southern Red Bishop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494088) | *Euplectes orix* | Ploceidae | LC | 7 |
| [Forest Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494065) | *Ploceus bicolor* | Ploceidae | LC | 3 |
| [Golden Palm Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494054) | *Ploceus bojeri* | Ploceidae | LC | 44 |
| [Village Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494058) | *Ploceus cucullatus* | Ploceidae | LC | 84 |
| [Salvadori's Weaver](/en/nature/juba-weaver/) | *Ploceus dichrocephalus* | Ploceidae | LC | 27 |
| [Rüppell's Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494029) | *Ploceus galbula* | Ploceidae | LC | 243 |
| [Lesser Masked-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494014) | *Ploceus intermedius* | Ploceidae | LC | 84 |
| [Golden-backed Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494066) | *Ploceus jacksoni* | Ploceidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-necked/Spectacled Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494053) | *Ploceus nigricollis* | Ploceidae | LC | 5 |
| [Chestnut Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494071) | *Ploceus rubiginosus* | Ploceidae | LC | 211 |
| [Speke's Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494030) | *Ploceus spekei* | Ploceidae | LC | 102 |
| [African Golden-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494012) | *Ploceus subaureus* | Ploceidae | LC | 4 |
| [Northern Masked-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494043) | *Ploceus taeniopterus* | Ploceidae | LC | 3 |
| [Southern Masked-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494015) | *Ploceus velatus* | Ploceidae | LC | 7 |
| [Vitelline Masked-Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2494057) | *Ploceus vitellinus* | Ploceidae | LC | 54 |
| [Red-billed Quelea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493987) | *Quelea quelea* | Ploceidae | LC | 282 |
| [Little Grebe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482048) | *Tachybaptus ruficollis* | Podicipedidae | LC | 10 |
| [White Helmetshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484841) | *Prionops plumatus* | Prionopidae | LC | 27 |
| [Retz's Helmetshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484843) | *Prionops retzii* | Prionopidae | LC | 1 |
| [Chestnut-fronted Helmetshrike](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484837) | *Prionops scopifrons* | Prionopidae | LC | 2 |
| [Kerguelen Petrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481439) | *Aphrodroma brevirostris* | Procellariidae | LC | 1 |
| [Jouanin's Petrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481605) | *Bulweria fallax* | Procellariidae | NT | 3 |
| [Antarctic Prion](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229327) | *Pachyptila desolata* | Procellariidae | LC | 4 |
| [Barau's Petrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481475) | *Pterodroma baraui* | Procellariidae | EN | 1 |
| [Audubon's Shearwater](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229361) | *Puffinus lherminieri* | Procellariidae | LC | 1 |
| [wedge-tailed shearwater](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229344) | *Puffinus pacificus* | Procellariidae | LC | 2 |
| [Persian Shearwater](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229371) | *Puffinus persicus* | Procellariidae | LC | 4 |
| [Yellow-fronted Parrot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2479975) | *Poicephalus flavifrons* | Psittacidae | LC | 5 |
| [Red-bellied Parrot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2479948) | *Poicephalus rufiventris* | Psittacidae | LC | 102 |
| [Black-faced Sandgrouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480196) | *Pterocles decoratus* | Pteroclididae | LC | 21 |
| [Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/9522580) | *Pterocles exustus* | Pteroclididae | LC | 79 |
| [Yellow-throated Sandgrouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480201) | *Pterocles gutturalis* | Pteroclididae | LC | 1 |
| [Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480198) | *Pterocles lichtensteinii* | Pteroclididae | LC | 26 |
| [Spotted Sandgrouse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480194) | *Pterocles senegallus* | Pteroclididae | LC | 13 |
| [Sombre Greenbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486162) | *Andropadus importunus* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 1 |
| [Yellow-bellied Greenbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486173) | *Chlorocichla flaviventris* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 16 |
| [Fischer's Greenbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486097) | *Phyllastrephus fischeri* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 6 |
| [Northern Brownbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486084) | *Phyllastrephus strepitans* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 52 |
| [Terrestrial Brownbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486094) | *Phyllastrephus terrestris* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 3 |
| [Common Bulbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486147) | *Pycnonotus barbatus* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 464 |
| [Cape Bulbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486138) | *Pycnonotus capensis* | Pycnonotidae | LC | 5 |
| [Dodson's Bulbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486140) | *Pycnonotus dodsoni* | Pycnonotidae | NE | 1 |
| [Somali Bulbul](https://www.gbif.org/species/2486139) | *Pycnonotus somaliensis* | Pycnonotidae | NE | 5 |
| [Black Crake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474736) | *Amaurornis flavirostra* | Rallidae | LC | 3 |
| [Corn Crake](https://www.gbif.org/species/4408498) | *Crex crex* | Rallidae | LC | 2 |
| [Red-knobbed Coot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474381) | *Fulica cristata* | Rallidae | LC | 3 |
| [Lesser Moorhen](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228198) | *Gallinula angulata* | Rallidae | LC | 3 |
| [Eurasian Moorhen](https://www.gbif.org/species/5228199) | *Gallinula chloropus* | Rallidae | LC | 2 |
| [little crake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474627) | *Porzana parva* | Rallidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spotted Crake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474621) | *Porzana porzana* | Rallidae | LC | 1 |
| [Baillon's crake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2474628) | *Porzana pusilla* | Rallidae | LC | 2 |
| [Black-winged Stilt](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229126) | *Himantopus himantopus* | Recurvirostridae | LC | 14 |
| [Pied Avocet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480259) | *Recurvirostra avosetta* | Recurvirostridae | LC | 2 |
| [Mouse-colored Penduline-Tit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2487388) | *Anthoscopus musculus* | Remizidae | LC | 18 |
| [Greater Painted-Snipe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2482029) | *Rostratula benghalensis* | Rostratulidae | LC | 9 |
| [Secretarybird](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229409) | *Sagittarius serpentarius* | Sagittariidae | EN | 8 |
| [Common Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481800) | *Actitis hypoleucos* | Scolopacidae | LC | 96 |
| [Ruddy Turnstone](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481776) | *Arenaria interpres* | Scolopacidae | NT | 58 |
| [Sanderling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481748) | *Calidris alba* | Scolopacidae | LC | 22 |
| [Dunlin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481759) | *Calidris alpina* | Scolopacidae | NT | 12 |
| [Red Knot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481765) | *Calidris canutus* | Scolopacidae | NT | 1 |
| [Broad-billed Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/7537888) | *Calidris falcinellus* | Scolopacidae | VU | 1 |
| [Curlew Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481741) | *Calidris ferruginea* | Scolopacidae | VU | 17 |
| [Little Stint](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481749) | *Calidris minuta* | Scolopacidae | LC | 15 |
| [Ruff](https://www.gbif.org/species/8250742) | *Calidris pugnax* | Scolopacidae | LC | 6 |
| [Temminck's Stint](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481740) | *Calidris temminckii* | Scolopacidae | LC | 6 |
| [Common Snipe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481819) | *Gallinago gallinago* | Scolopacidae | LC | 3 |
| [Pin-tailed Snipe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481828) | *Gallinago stenura* | Scolopacidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bar-tailed Godwit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481681) | *Limosa lapponica* | Scolopacidae | NT | 19 |
| [Black-tailed Godwit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481685) | *Limosa limosa* | Scolopacidae | NT | 1 |
| [Eurasian Curlew](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481792) | *Numenius arquata* | Scolopacidae | NT | 20 |
| [Whimbrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481784) | *Numenius phaeopus* | Scolopacidae | LC | 85 |
| [Red-necked Phalarope](https://www.gbif.org/species/5739290) | *Phalaropus lobatus* | Scolopacidae | LC | 2 |
| [Wood Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481713) | *Tringa glareola* | Scolopacidae | LC | 19 |
| [Common Greenshank](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481726) | *Tringa nebularia* | Scolopacidae | LC | 46 |
| [Green Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481728) | *Tringa ochropus* | Scolopacidae | LC | 7 |
| [Tringa ocrophus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8345560) | *Tringa ocrophus* | Scolopacidae | NE | 2 |
| [Marsh Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481719) | *Tringa stagnatilis* | Scolopacidae | LC | 5 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/)


---

# Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 523 fish species from Somalia outside the perch-like order: sharks, rays, eels, flatfish, anglerfish, lanternfish and other deep-sea fish, and freshwater fish of the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Seven are Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, among them the scalloped hammerhead and the smalltooth sawfish.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 523 fish (excluding the perch-like order) species with Somalia as the country, in 43 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Scorpaeniformes: 58
- Myctophiformes: 57
- Stomiiformes: 49
- Tetraodontiformes: 37
- Anguilliformes: 29
- Lophiiformes: 28
- Aulopiformes: 27
- Pleuronectiformes: 27
- Beloniformes: 20
- Clupeiformes: 20

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Barbopsis devecchii (45), Lampanyctus macropterus (43), Blue Notho (36), Nannobrachium indicum (29), Spotted Triggerfish, Ocean triggerfish, Rough triggerfish, Spotted oceanic triggerfish (29), Tropical two-wing flyingfish (28) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

233 of the 523 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

2 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Cociella somaliensis*, *Parailia somalensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: Tana Labeo, Scalloped Hammerhead, Common eagle ray, Eagle Ray, Halavi ray, Clubnose guitarfish, Smalltooth sawfish, Dwarf Gulper Shark ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Endangered: pricklebelly blaasop, snaggletooth shark, blackspotted catshark, Shortfin mako, Zebra shark, Dumb gulper shark ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Somalian Cavefish, *Phreatichthys andruzzii*, Barred Nothobranch, Small Scaled Nothobranch, Palmqvist's nothobranch, Uegitglanis zammaranoi, pigeye shark, Silky Shark, Milk Shark, speckled catshark, Lesser Guitarfish, Marbled torpedo, Marbled Electric Ray, Spotted torpedo ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

The perch-like fish are on [Fish of Somalia: perch-like species](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 7
- Endangered (EN): 6
- Vulnerable (VU): 12
- Near Threatened (NT): 5
- Least Concern (LC): 370
- Data Deficient (DD): 70
- Not Evaluated (NE): 53

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Myctophidae: 55 species
- Stomiidae: 22 species
- Scorpaenidae: 20 species
- Macrouridae: 15 species
- Exocoetidae: 14 species
- Cyprinidae: 14 species
- Gonostomatidae: 13 species
- Synodontidae: 12 species
- Ophidiidae: 12 species
- Platycephalidae: 12 species

## Full list (523 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/) · [3](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/) · [4](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Naked sole](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) | *Gymnachirus nudus* | Achiridae | LC | 4 |
| [Smallscale Bonefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5204119) | *Albula oligolepis* | Albulidae | DD | 1 |
| [Bicolor Slickhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214391) | *Alepocephalus bicolor* | Alepocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown Slickhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410707) | *Bajacalifornia calcarata* | Alepocephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [black warrior](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410795) | *Bathylaco nigricans* | Alepocephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bathytroctes oligolepis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214346) | *Bathytroctes oligolepis* | Alepocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Loosescale Slickhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410696) | *Einara macrolepis* | Alepocephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Starry smooth-head](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410700) | *Photostylus pycnopterus* | Alepocephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Rouleina livida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214362) | *Rouleina livida* | Alepocephalidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bluntsnout Smooth-head](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410638) | *Xenodermichthys copei* | Alepocephalidae | LC | 3 |
| [Redfin Robber](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356298) | *Brycinus affinis* | Alestidae | LC | 14 |
| [Characin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356374) | *Brycinus macrolepidotus* | Alestidae | LC | 1 |
| [Characin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356317) | *Brycinus nurse* | Alestidae | LC | 1 |
| [Mirror Robber](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356378) | *Brycinus rhodopleura* | Alestidae | LC | 1 |
| [Indonesian Shortfin eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/5712355) | *Anguilla bicolor* | Anguillidae | NT | 1 |
| [Indian frogfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214794) | *Antennarius indicus* | Antennariidae | LC | 2 |
| [Striated frogfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214795) | *Antennarius striatus* | Antennariidae | LC | 1 |
| [Sargassumfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214666) | *Histrio histrio* | Antennariidae | LC | 1 |
| [Barathronus diaphanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345528) | *Barathronus diaphanus* | Aphyonidae | LC | 1 |
| [ocellated waspfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5201409) | *Apistus carinatus* | Apistidae | LC | 6 |
| [Glossanodon mildredae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2411211) | *Glossanodon mildredae* | Argentinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arius brunellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345292) | *Arius brunellii* | Ariidae | NE | 1 |
| [hardyhead silverside](https://www.gbif.org/species/2411793) | *Atherinomorus lacunosus* | Atherinidae | LC | 2 |
| [Samoan silverside](https://www.gbif.org/species/2411900) | *Hypoatherina temminckii* | Atherinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Flat-tailed Trigger-fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407216) | *Abalistes stellatus* | Balistidae | LC | 4 |
| [Titan triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407133) | *Balistoides viridescens* | Balistidae | LC | 1 |
| [Large-scale Triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407063) | *Canthidermis macrolepis* | Balistidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spotted Triggerfish, Ocean triggerfish, Rough triggerfish, Spotted oceanic triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407067) | *Canthidermis maculata* | Balistidae | LC | 29 |
| [Redtooth Triggerfish, Red-toothed triggerfish, Redtoothed triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407210) | *Odonus niger* | Balistidae | LC | 9 |
| [Yellow-spotted triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407175) | *Pseudobalistes fuscus* | Balistidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bridled triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407185) | *Sufflamen fraenatum* | Balistidae | LC | 5 |
| [Striped triggerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407039) | *Xanthichthys lineopunctatus* | Balistidae | LC | 1 |
| [Grey's deepsea smelt](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410982) | *Bathylagichthys greyae* | Bathylagidae | LC | 1 |
| [Blackchin Deepsea Smelt](https://www.gbif.org/species/4283998) | *Bathylagoides nigrigenys* | Bathylagidae | NE | 8 |
| [Bigscale deepsea smelt](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410934) | *Melanolagus bericoides* | Bathylagidae | LC | 3 |
| [Somalian Toadfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7395470) | *Barchatus indicus* | Batrachoididae | DD | 2 |
| [Flat Toadfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2350920) | *Colletteichthys dussumieri* | Batrachoididae | LC | 1 |
| [Flat needlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2369165) | *Ablennes hians* | Belonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Hound needlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/4286150) | *Tylosurus crocodilus* | Belonidae | LC | 1 |
| [Splendid alfonsino, Lowe's Beryx](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356612) | *Beryx splendens* | Berycidae | LC | 5 |
| [Cape flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408512) | *Arnoglossus capensis* | Bothidae | LC | 1 |
| [East coast flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408549) | *Arnoglossus dalgleishi* | Bothidae | DD | 1 |
| [Oval flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213839) | *Bothus myriaster* | Bothidae | LC | 4 |
| [Panther Flounder, Leopard flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213813) | *Bothus pantherinus* | Bothidae | LC | 6 |
| [Bothus ypsigrammus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9099183) | *Bothus ypsigrammus* | Bothidae | DD | 4 |
| [Chascanopsetta kenyaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408355) | *Chascanopsetta kenyaensis* | Bothidae | DD | 1 |
| [Pelican flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/8332879) | *Chascanopsetta lugubris* | Bothidae | LC | 7 |
| [Bluespotted Flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408317) | *Crossorhombus azureus* | Bothidae | LC | 4 |
| [Largescale Dwarf Flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408417) | *Engyprosopon macrolepis* | Bothidae | LC | 1 |
| [Laeops macrophthalmus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408499) | *Laeops macrophthalmus* | Bothidae | LC | 1 |
| [longarm flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408496) | *Laeops pectoralis* | Bothidae | DD | 1 |
| [Unicorn cod](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417311) | *Bregmaceros mcclellandi* | Bregmacerotidae | NE | 3 |
| [Echiodon coheni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346508) | *Echiodon coheni* | Carapidae | DD | 1 |
| [Dogtooth Pearlfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346489) | *Pyramodon ventralis* | Carapidae | LC | 1 |
| [pigeye shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418028) | *Carcharhinus amboinensis* | Carcharhinidae | VU | 2 |
| [Silky Shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418095) | *Carcharhinus falciformis* | Carcharhinidae | VU | 20 |
| [Tiger shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418234) | *Galeocerdo cuvier* | Carcharhinidae | NT | 1 |
| [Milk Shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417866) | *Rhizoprionodon acutus* | Carcharhinidae | VU | 1 |
| [fanfin angler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415232) | *Caulophryne jordani* | Caulophrynidae | LC | 1 |
| [Fanfin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415234) | *Caulophryne pelagica* | Caulophrynidae | DD | 1 |
| [Canif](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333562) | *Aeoliscus strigatus* | Centriscidae | DD | 1 |
| [Grooved razor-fish, Grooved shrimpfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333532) | *Centriscus scutatus* | Centriscidae | LC | 22 |
| [Dwarf Gulper Shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5216416) | *Centrophorus atromarginatus* | Centrophoridae | CR | 1 |
| [Dumb gulper shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5216418) | *Centrophorus harrissoni* | Centrophoridae | EN | 2 |
| [Kroyer's deep-sea angler fish, Deep-sea Angler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214853) | *Ceratias holboelli* | Ceratiidae | LC | 2 |
| [stargazing seadevil](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214852) | *Ceratias uranoscopus* | Ceratiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Triplewart Seadevil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415154) | *Cryptopsaras couesii* | Ceratiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Parataeniophorus gulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2351709) | *Parataeniophorus gulosus* | Cetomimidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pink frogmouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415205) | *Chaunax pictus* | Chaunacidae | LC | 2 |
| [Dorab wolf-herring](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413687) | *Chirocentrus dorab* | Chirocentridae | LC | 2 |
| [Catherine's False Moray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405425) | *Robinsia catherinae* | Chlopsidae | LC | 1 |
| [Shortnose greeneye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401401) | *Chlorophthalmus agassizi* | Chlorophthalmidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spinyjaw Greeneye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401392) | *Chlorophthalmus corniger* | Chlorophthalmidae | LC | 11 |
| [African Catfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5202793) | *Clarias gariepinus* | Clariidae | LC | 12 |
| [Uegitglanis zammaranoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2342414) | *Uegitglanis zammaranoi* | Clariidae | VU | 25 |
| [Clarotes bidorsalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2337323) | *Clarotes bidorsalis* | Claroteidae | NE | 4 |
| [Spotted sardinella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413207) | *Amblygaster sirm* | Clupeidae | LC | 2 |
| [Gulf herring](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413064) | *Herklotsichthys lossei* | Clupeidae | LC | 3 |
| [Herklotsichthys ovalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413088) | *Herklotsichthys ovalis* | Clupeidae | DD | 3 |
| [Bluestripe herring](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413096) | *Herklotsichthys quadrimaculatus* | Clupeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Arabian gizzard shad](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413000) | *Nematalosa arabica* | Clupeidae | DD | 1 |
| [Bloch's gizzard shad](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413001) | *Nematalosa nasus* | Clupeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Round sardinella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2412864) | *Sardinella aurita* | Clupeidae | LC | 3 |
| [Mauritian sardinella](https://www.gbif.org/species/9753910) | *Sardinella jussieu* | Clupeidae | DD | 1 |
| [Indian oil sardine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2412881) | *Sardinella longiceps* | Clupeidae | LC | 8 |
| [Blacktip sardinella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2412833) | *Sardinella melanura* | Clupeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Froghead Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2404421) | *Coloconger raniceps* | Colocongridae | LC | 2 |
| [Bandtooth conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403180) | *Ariosoma balearicum* | Congridae | LC | 8 |
| [Tropical conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403225) | *Ariosoma scheelei* | Congridae | LC | 4 |
| [Ariosoma sokotranum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403248) | *Ariosoma sokotranum* | Congridae | LC | 4 |
| [Lined Conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403376) | *Bathycongrus guttulatus* | Congridae | LC | 1 |
| [Large-toothed conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403456) | *Bathyuroconger vicinus* | Congridae | LC | 1 |
| [European conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403490) | *Conger conger* | Congridae | LC | 2 |
| [Head-band Conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403416) | *Diploconger polystigmatus* | Congridae | LC | 9 |
| [Gnathophis heterolinea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403335) | *Gnathophis heterolinea* | Congridae | DD | 1 |
| [Gorgasia inferomaculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403057) | *Gorgasia inferomaculata* | Congridae | DD | 2 |
| [Longtail Conger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403255) | *Uroconger lepturus* | Congridae | LC | 1 |
| [deepwater eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415360) | *Cyema atrum* | Cyematidae | LC | 1 |
| [Natal tonguefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409604) | *Cynoglossus acaudatus* | Cynoglossidae | DD | 1 |
| [Lachner's tonguesole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409766) | *Cynoglossus lachneri* | Cynoglossidae | LC | 1 |
| [shoulderspot tonguesole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409764) | *Cynoglossus lida* | Cynoglossidae | LC | 1 |
| [Symphurus fuscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409526) | *Symphurus fuscus* | Cynoglossidae | DD | 1 |
| [Symphurus gilesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409500) | *Symphurus gilesii* | Cynoglossidae | DD | 1 |
| [Barbopsis devecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2361472) | *Barbopsis devecchii* | Cyprinidae | DD | 45 |
| [Lake Turkana sardine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2366041) | *Chelaethiops bibie* | Cyprinidae | LC | 7 |
| [Zanzibar Barb](https://www.gbif.org/species/9620145) | *Enteromius zanzibaricus* | Cyprinidae | LC | 3 |
| [Somalian Cavefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/11744478) | *Garra andruzzii* | Cyprinidae | VU | 4 |
| [Labeo bottegi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206051) | *Labeo bottegi* | Cyprinidae | DD | 8 |
| [African Carp](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206092) | *Labeo coubie* | Cyprinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Labeo forskalii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206101) | *Labeo forskalii* | Cyprinidae | LC | 3 |
| [Gregori's Labeo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206040) | *Labeo gregorii* | Cyprinidae | LC | 5 |
| [Assuan Labeo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206030) | *Labeo horie* | Cyprinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Tana Labeo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206085) | *Labeo mesops* | Cyprinidae | CR | 5 |
| [Nile Carp](https://www.gbif.org/species/9803534) | *Labeo niloticus* | Cyprinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Labeo pellegrini](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206028) | *Labeo pellegrini* | Cyprinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neobola bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2367597) | *Neobola bottegoi* | Cyprinidae | DD | 7 |
| [Phreatichthys andruzzii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2367770) | *Phreatichthys andruzzii* | Cyprinidae | VU | 23 |
| [Arabian Toothcarp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2348092) | *Aphanius dispar* | Cyprinodontidae | LC | 16 |
| [Flathead Helmet Gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333581) | *Dactyloptena gilberti* | Dactylopteridae | LC | 7 |
| [Helmet Gurnard, Oriental flying gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333592) | *Dactyloptena orientalis* | Dactylopteridae | LC | 2 |
| [Starry flying gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333587) | *Dactyloptena peterseni* | Dactylopteridae | LC | 1 |
| [Bluespotted Maskray](https://www.gbif.org/species/9612495) | *Neotrygon caeruleopunctata* | Dasyatidae | LC | 1 |
| [Blue spotted stingray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2419592) | *Neotrygon kuhlii* | Dasyatidae | DD | 3 |
| [Spotfin Burrfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406485) | *Chilomycterus reticulatus* | Diodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Birdbeak burrfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406514) | *Cyclichthys orbicularis* | Diodontidae | LC | 19 |
| [Long-spine porcupinefish, Longspined porcupinefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213361) | *Diodon holocanthus* | Diodontidae | LC | 14 |
| [Porcupine Fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213374) | *Diodon hystrix* | Diodontidae | LC | 4 |
| [Slender rainbow sardine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2412966) | *Dussumieria elopsoides* | Dussumieriidae | LC | 2 |
| [East-coast Roundherring](https://www.gbif.org/species/7965435) | *Etrumeus wongratanai* | Dussumieriidae | DD | 4 |
| [Shorthead anchovy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413765) | *Encrasicholina heteroloba* | Engraulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Largehead Anchovy](https://www.gbif.org/species/8588140) | *Encrasicholina macrocephala* | Engraulidae | DD | 1 |
| [southern African anchovy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413996) | *Engraulis capensis* | Engraulidae | LC | 1 |
| [European anchovy, Anchovy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414031) | *Engraulis encrasicolus* | Engraulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Japanese anchovy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2413997) | *Engraulis japonicus* | Engraulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Baelama anchovy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414136) | *Thryssa baelama* | Engraulidae | LC | 2 |
| [New Guinea thryssa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414123) | *Thryssa setirostris* | Engraulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Sargus serratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11169621) | *Sargus serratus* | Eotrigonodontidae | NE | 1 |
| [Smooth lanternshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2421031) | *Etmopterus pusillus* | Etmopteridae | LC | 4 |
| [Black Sabertooth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401077) | *Coccorella atrata* | Evermannellidae | LC | 2 |
| [Indian Sabretooth](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212605) | *Evermannella indica* | Evermannellidae | LC | 1 |
| [Glider flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5207993) | *Cheilopogon atrisignis* | Exocoetidae | LC | 2 |
| [Spotfin flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5207977) | *Cheilopogon furcatus* | Exocoetidae | LC | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/) · [3](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/) · [4](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Kismayo Airport (KMU)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/kismayo-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Kismayo Airport (IATA KMU, ICAO HCMK) serves Kismaayo, the capital of Lower Juba and seat of Jubaland. Its 3,688-metre asphalt runway was being built in 1973 to replace a 1930s Italian dirt field. Since August 2013 the Jubaland administration runs it, and it holds a large Somali and African Union base and a UN compound.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA KMU, ICAO HCMK ([OurAirports, HCMK](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMK/)).
- **Runway:** one asphalt runway, numbered 05/23 by Wikipedia and 4/22 by OurAirports, 12,139 feet long and 147 feet wide, which is about 3,700 by 45 metres; Wikipedia gives 3,688 metres ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMK/); [Wikipedia, Kismayo Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_Airport)).
- **Height:** 49 feet (15 metres) above sea level, just inland from the Indian Ocean coast at 0.38° S, south of the equator (same sources).
- **City:** [Kismaayo (Kismayo) and Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/), seat of [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/).

## Building the runway

[Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) had a natural-surface airfield at Kismayo in the 1930s. The CIA, watching Soviet-backed works across Somalia, recorded the new airport under construction in 1973 to replace the old field ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_Airport), citing a [CIA photographic report](https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78T05162A000300010075-6.pdf)). The long runway, like those at [Berbera](/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/) and [Baidoa](/en/infrastructure/baidoa-airport/), was built to military length.

## Who runs it

Kismayo changed hands many times during the civil war; for the city's story see [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/). In August 2013, under the agreement signed in Addis Ababa between the federal government and the [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Interim Administration, the airport was put under the Jubaland administration. The deal said management would pass to the federal government after six months and that airport revenues would pay for Jubaland's services, security and institutions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_Airport), citing [Garowe Online, August 2013](https://web.archive.org/web/20131012043444/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Jubaland_gains_recognition_after_intense_bilateral_talks_in_Ethiopia_printer.shtml)). Control of the airport has been part of later disputes between Kismayo and Mogadishu; see [Presidents of Jubaland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-jubaland/) and [Jubaland security forces](/en/institutions/jubaland-security-forces/).

## Bases and the UN compound

The airport holds **Camp Kismayo**, a base for the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and African Union troops (now [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)), and a large United Nations compound ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo_Airport)). US Air Force transport aircraft of the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron have flown cargo into the airport to supply the [Danab](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) brigade and US special forces in the region ([DVIDS](https://www.dvidshub.net/image/5964217/75th-eas-transport-cargo-somalia)).

## Flights and aid

For carriers serving the city see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/). The UN Logistics Cluster, which coordinates aid flights, publishes a specification sheet for the airfield so humanitarian operators can plan landings ([Logistics Cluster](https://web.archive.org/web/20131103074747/http://www.logcluster.org/ops/som/air-transport/airfield-specifications/KISMAYO%20without%20FC.pdf)). Kismayo's seaport is covered on [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/).


---

# Somalia and Sudan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/sudan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Sudan has been a mediator and a place of study for Somalis since the 1960s: President Ibrahim Abboud brokered the 1964 Ethiopia–Somalia ceasefire, Khartoum hosted government–Islamic Courts talks in 2006, and thousands of Somalis studied at Sudanese universities. When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, Somalia evacuated its students. On 4 October 2026 the two leaders signed the El Alamein Joint Declaration, which backed both countries' unity.

## How do Somalia and Sudan relate today?

Somalia backs [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)'s army-led government in its war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On 13 August 2026 Somalia's new ambassador, Ahmed Jama Omar, presented his credentials to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Khartoum and said Somalia supported Sudan's "security, sovereignty and territorial integrity" ([Dawan Africa, 13 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-new-ambassador-to-sudan-presents-credentials-to-burhan)).

On 4 October 2026 Burhan and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed the El Alamein Joint Declaration with Egypt and Eritrea. It backed Sudan's unity and rejected "parallel entities" there, and it backed Somalia's unity and rejected recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([SUNA via AllAfrica, 5 October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)).

Security ties are close. Sudan's intelligence chief, General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, visited Mogadishu in 2025 and again in August 2026 ([Hiiraan Online, August 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Aug/202693/somali_president_meets_sudan_intelligence_chief_to_boost_security_cooperation.aspx); [Dawan Africa, 13 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-new-ambassador-to-sudan-presents-credentials-to-burhan)).

## When did contact begin?

Sudan's first big role in Somali affairs came in 1964. Talks in Khartoum, mediated by President Ibrahim Abboud, produced a ceasefire in the Ethiopia–Somalia border war from 1 April 1964 ([US Office of the Historian, FRUS 1964–68, vol. XXIV](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289)). See [The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/).

Sudan and Libya were the only countries to keep a continued, if intermittent, diplomatic presence in Somalia through the years of war after 1991 ([Al Jazeera, 28 May 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

**Sudan to Somalia**

- **Fadil Aljsuli**, Sudan's ambassador, attended the opening of Djibouti's embassy in Mogadishu on 14 December 2010 ([Hiiraan Online, 14 December 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2010/Dec/djibouti_government_opens_its_embassy_in_mogadishu.aspx)).

**Somalia to Sudan**

- **Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Isak**, ambassador in Khartoum when the war began in April 2023 ([Garowe Online, April 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-to-evacuate-citizens-from-sudan-as-war-intensifies)).
- **Ahmed Jama Omar**, ambassador since 13 August 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 13 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-new-ambassador-to-sudan-presents-credentials-to-burhan)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Ibrahim Abboud**, President of Sudan, mediated the 1964 Ethiopia–Somalia ceasefire ([FRUS](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289)).
- **Amr Moussa**, Arab League secretary-general, mediated the first face-to-face talks between Somalia's transitional government and the Islamic Courts in Khartoum on 22 June 2006 ([Al Jazeera/AFP, 23 June 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2006/6/23/somali-factions-forge-peace-deal)).
- **Ali Mohammed Ibrahim**, a Muslim scholar, led the Islamic Courts delegation at Khartoum ([Al Jazeera/AFP, 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2006/6/23/somali-factions-forge-peace-deal)).
- **Omar al-Bashir**, President of Sudan, hosted Hassan Sheikh on a state visit to Khartoum during his first term. They agreed a ministerial strategic cooperation council ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-sudan-agree-to-boost-ties)).
- **Abdel Fattah al-Burhan**, head of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council, sent messages to Hassan Sheikh through his intelligence chief and signed the El Alamein declaration ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Aug/202693/somali_president_meets_sudan_intelligence_chief_to_boost_security_cooperation.aspx); [SUNA via AllAfrica, 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)).
- **Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mufaddal**, Sudan's intelligence director, met Hassan Sheikh and Somalia's intelligence chief **Mahad Mohamed Salad** in Mogadishu in 2025 ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Aug/202693/somali_president_meets_sudan_intelligence_chief_to_boost_security_cooperation.aspx)).
- **Mohamed Sheikh Isak**, Somali ambassador, planned the 2023 evacuation of Somali students ([Garowe Online, 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-to-evacuate-citizens-from-sudan-as-war-intensifies)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Khartoum ceasefire, March–April 1964** (Ethiopia–Somalia, Sudanese mediation) ([FRUS](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289)).
- **Khartoum agreement, 22 June 2006:** Somalia's transitional government and the Islamic Courts recognised each other ([Al Jazeera/AFP](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2006/6/23/somali-factions-forge-peace-deal)).
- **Second-round communiqué, 2–4 September 2006, Khartoum:** to rebuild a national army and police joining government, Islamic Courts and other forces ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/379/)).
- **Cooperation pact during Hassan Sheikh's state visit, first term:** economy, trade, security, culture, education and governance ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-sudan-agree-to-boost-ties)).
- **El Alamein Joint Declaration, 4 October 2026** ([SUNA via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **1964:** Somali and Ethiopian delegations in Khartoum for Abboud's mediation ([FRUS](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d289)).
- **June and September 2006:** Somali government and Islamic Courts delegations in Khartoum ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/379/)).
- **2012–2017:** Hassan Sheikh on a state visit to Khartoum ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-sudan-agree-to-boost-ties)).
- **2025 and August 2026:** Sudan's intelligence chief in Mogadishu ([Geeska, 18 September 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/sudan-and-uae-jockey-influence-mogadishu-0); [Dawan Africa, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-new-ambassador-to-sudan-presents-credentials-to-burhan)).
- **4 October 2026:** Burhan and Hassan Sheikh at El Alamein, Egypt ([Al Jazeera, 5 October 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5/four-african-leaders-issue-joint-declaration-as-ethiopia-war-escalates)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is small. In 2018 Sudan reported US$1.31 million of exports to Somalia, almost all cereals (US$1.26 million), and US$0.17 million of imports ([UN Comtrade, Sudan reporter, 2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=729&period=2018&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [by chapter](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=729&period=2018&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)). No later year is reported.

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Sudan's main gift has been education. Sudan has offered hundreds of scholarships to Somali students ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-sudan-agree-to-boost-ties)). In April 2023 estimates of Somalis in Sudan ranged from 3,000 to 7,000, many of them students; one, Hayat Aden, studied at Khartoum's International University of Africa ([Garowe Online, April 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-to-evacuate-citizens-from-sudan-as-war-intensifies)). See [Main universities](/en/institutions/main-universities/).

The flow later reversed. Somalia's Ministry of Education gave scholarships to Sudanese students whose studies were cut short by the war, to study in Somali universities ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-offers-scholarships-to-students-from-conflict-hit-sudan)).

## What about security?

Sudan does not send troops to the AU mission. In August 2021 its foreign ministry welcomed the extension of [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)'s mandate and called for training to build Somali security forces ([Xinhua via The Independent, 21 August 2021](https://www.independent.co.ug/sudan-vows-to-support-peace-efforts-in-somalia-as-amisom-mandate-extended/)). Since 2025 the two intelligence services have met to strengthen cooperation ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Aug/202693/somali_president_meets_sudan_intelligence_chief_to_boost_security_cooperation.aspx)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Sudan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **[Puntland](/en/states/puntland/):** Middle East Eye reported on 31 October 2025 that cargo was offloaded at [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) airport and flown on to the RSF. On 5 November 2025 Somalia's defence minister, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, told the Senate that "planes have flown from Bosaso, Somalia, to Chad, Niger, and even western Sudan" ([Middle East Eye, 5 November 2025](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/somali-defence-minister-confirms-mee-report-planes-flying-bosaso-sudan)). Puntland denied involvement in Sudan's conflict ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-denies-involvement-in-sudan-conflict)).
- Sudan's intelligence chief carried a letter asking Mogadishu to stop transfers it linked to the UAE through Bosaso ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/sudan/205614/sudan-accuses-uae-of-using-puntland-as-arms-pipeline-for-rsf-fighters)).
- **Somaliland:** Sudan signed the El Alamein declaration rejecting any recognition of Somaliland ([SUNA via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610050188.html)).

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found. The Bosaso flights have been raised by Sudan with Mogadishu as a matter concerning Puntland and the UAE, which has denied supplying the RSF ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/sudan/205614/sudan-accuses-uae-of-using-puntland-as-arms-pipeline-for-rsf-fighters)).

## How many Somalis live in Sudan?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 234 refugees and 163 asylum seekers from Somalia in Sudan ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SUD)). Somalia hosted 339 refugees and 108 asylum seekers from Sudan in 2025, up from none in 2022 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=SUD&coa=SOM)). In April and May 2023 Somalia evacuated students through Ethiopia; 148 Somalis, mostly students, landed in Mogadishu around 30 April ([Africanews, 1 May 2023](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2023/05/01/official-148-somalis-evacuated-from-sudan-via-ethiopia/)). Others were flown from Paloch to [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) by Somali businesspeople in South Sudan ([Eye Radio, 27 April 2023](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=101725)).

## Where does Sudan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Both are members of the Arab League, which ran the 2006 Khartoum talks ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/379/)).
- Sudan welcomed the 2021 extension of AMISOM ([Xinhua via The Independent](https://www.independent.co.ug/sudan-vows-to-support-peace-efforts-in-somalia-as-amisom-mandate-extended/)).

## Related pages

- [The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1964/)
- [Islamic Courts Union 2006](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/)
- [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)
- [Main universities](/en/institutions/main-universities/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/)


---

# Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record (part 5 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-5/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 709 bird species from Somalia. Of these, the IUCN Red List places 6 in Critically Endangered, 10 in Endangered and 11 in Vulnerable; 635 are Least Concern. Several, such as the Somali pigeon, Somali thrush and Somali lark, live nowhere else in the world.

Part 5 of 5 of [Birds of Somalia: all 709 species on record](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · **5**

## Full list (709 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Common Redshank](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481714) | *Tringa totanus* | Scolopacidae | LC | 13 |
| [Terek Sandpiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481703) | *Xenus cinereus* | Scolopacidae | LC | 21 |
| [Hamerkop](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229154) | *Scopus umbretta* | Scopidae | LC | 25 |
| [Brown Skua](https://www.gbif.org/species/2481622) | *Stercorarius antarcticus* | Stercorariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Marsh Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497288) | *Asio capensis* | Strigidae | LC | 3 |
| [Short-eared Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497295) | *Asio flammeus* | Strigidae | LC | 1 |
| [Little Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497266) | *Athene noctua* | Strigidae | LC | 60 |
| [Spotted Eagle-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959111) | *Bubo africanus* | Strigidae | LC | 19 |
| [Grayish Eagle-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959117) | *Bubo cinerascens* | Strigidae | LC | 11 |
| [Verreaux's Eagle-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/5959139) | *Bubo lacteus* | Strigidae | LC | 21 |
| [African Barred Owlet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5232102) | *Glaucidium capense* | Strigidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pearl-spotted Owlet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5232086) | *Glaucidium perlatum* | Strigidae | LC | 22 |
| [Arabian Scops-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/7597831) | *Otus pamelae* | Strigidae | LC | 3 |
| [European Scops-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497701) | *Otus scops* | Strigidae | LC | 3 |
| [African Scops-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/5232311) | *Otus senegalensis* | Strigidae | LC | 13 |
| [Northern White-faced Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/5232239) | *Ptilopsis leucotis* | Strigidae | LC | 7 |
| [Pel's Fishing-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497870) | *Scotopelia peli* | Strigidae | LC | 2 |
| [African Wood-Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497530) | *Strix woodfordii* | Strigidae | LC | 1 |
| [Common Ostrich](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495150) | *Struthio camelus* | Struthionidae | LC | 6 |
| [Somali Ostrich](/en/nature/somali-ostrich/) | *Struthio molybdophanes* | Struthionidae | VU | 5 |
| [Violet-backed Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489057) | *Cinnyricinclus leucogaster* | Sturnidae | LC | 20 |
| [Wattled Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489016) | *Creatophora cinerea* | Sturnidae | LC | 138 |
| [White-crowned Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100942) | *Lamprotornis albicapillus* | Sturnidae | LC | 120 |
| [Greater Blue-eared Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489071) | *Lamprotornis chalybaeus* | Sturnidae | LC | 48 |
| [Fischer's Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/5845379) | *Lamprotornis fischeri* | Sturnidae | LC | 14 |
| [Rüppell's Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/7341507) | *Lamprotornis purpuroptera* | Sturnidae | LC | 28 |
| [Golden-breasted Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/5845381) | *Lamprotornis regius* | Sturnidae | LC | 102 |
| [Shelley's Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489081) | *Lamprotornis shelleyi* | Sturnidae | LC | 23 |
| [Superb Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489075) | *Lamprotornis superbus* | Sturnidae | LC | 233 |
| [Black-bellied Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/6100936) | *Notopholia corrusca* | Sturnidae | LC | 22 |
| [Somali Starling](/en/nature/somali-starling/) | *Onychognathus blythii* | Sturnidae | LC | 104 |
| [Red-winged Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230739) | *Onychognathus morio* | Sturnidae | LC | 4 |
| [Bristle-crowned Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230741) | *Onychognathus salvadorii* | Sturnidae | LC | 7 |
| [Magpie Starling](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489091) | *Speculipastor bicolor* | Sturnidae | LC | 44 |
| [Masked/Nazca Booby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480967) | *Sula dactylatra* | Sulidae | LC | 8 |
| [Brown Booby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480975) | *Sula leucogaster* | Sulidae | LC | 11 |
| [Red-footed Booby](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480972) | *Sula sula* | Sulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Eurasian Blackcap](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492956) | *Sylvia atricapilla* | Sylviidae | LC | 8 |
| [Banded Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231305) | *Sylvia boehmi* | Sylviidae | LC | 56 |
| [Greater Whitethroat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492943) | *Sylvia communis* | Sylviidae | LC | 13 |
| [Lesser Whitethroat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492960) | *Sylvia curruca* | Sylviidae | LC | 4 |
| [African Desert Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/6093943) | *Sylvia deserti* | Sylviidae | LC | 2 |
| [Western Orphean Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492944) | *Sylvia hortensis* | Sylviidae | LC | 1 |
| [Arabian Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231306) | *Sylvia leucomelaena* | Sylviidae | LC | 22 |
| [Menetries's Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492954) | *Sylvia mystacea* | Sylviidae | LC | 14 |
| [Asian Desert Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492963) | *Sylvia nana* | Sylviidae | LC | 7 |
| [Barred Warbler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492955) | *Sylvia nisoria* | Sylviidae | LC | 2 |
| [Hadada Ibis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5229203) | *Bostrychia hagedash* | Threskiornithidae | LC | 25 |
| [African Spoonbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480800) | *Platalea alba* | Threskiornithidae | LC | 8 |
| [Eurasian Spoonbill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480801) | *Platalea leucorodia* | Threskiornithidae | LC | 3 |
| [Glossy Ibis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480773) | *Plegadis falcinellus* | Threskiornithidae | LC | 10 |
| [Sacred Ibis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2480764) | *Threskiornis aethiopicus* | Threskiornithidae | LC | 157 |
| [Narina Trogon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2496625) | *Apaloderma narina* | Trogonidae | LC | 18 |
| [Groundscraper Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789049) | *Psophocichla litsitsirupa* | Turdidae | LC | 1 |
| [Somali Thrush](/en/nature/somali-thrush/) | *Turdus ludoviciae* | Turdidae | LC | 69 |
| [Olive Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/9363452) | *Turdus olivaceus* | Turdidae | LC | 4 |
| [African Bare-eyed Thrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490734) | *Turdus tephronotus* | Turdidae | LC | 18 |
| [Small Buttonquail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475001) | *Turnix sylvaticus* | Turnicidae | LC | 15 |
| [Barn Owl](https://www.gbif.org/species/2497921) | *Tyto alba* | Tytonidae | LC | 2 |
| [Eurasian Hoopoe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498415) | *Upupa epops* | Upupidae | LC | 148 |
| [Village Indigobird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484613) | *Vidua chalybeata* | Viduidae | LC | 12 |
| [Straw-tailed Whydah](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484623) | *Vidua fischeri* | Viduidae | LC | 37 |
| [Steel-blue Whydah](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484619) | *Vidua hypocherina* | Viduidae | LC | 22 |
| [Pin-tailed Whydah](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484628) | *Vidua macroura* | Viduidae | LC | 89 |
| [Eastern Paradise-Whydah](https://www.gbif.org/species/2484626) | *Vidua paradisaea* | Viduidae | LC | 35 |
| [White-breasted White-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/9565230) | *Zosterops abyssinicus* | Zosteropidae | LC | 51 |
| [Pale White-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/7783565) | *Zosterops flavilateralis* | Zosteropidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Yellow White-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2489344) | *Zosterops senegalensis* | Zosteropidae | LC | 6 |
| [Socotra White-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/10714688) | *Zosterops socotranus* | Zosteropidae | NE | 16 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia-4/) · **5**


---

# Fish of Somalia: 296 perch-like species on record (part 2 of 2)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 296 species of perch-like fish (order Perciformes) from Somalia, the largest order of fish in its seas: groupers, snappers, emperors, tunas, mackerels, jacks, damselfish and gobies among them.

Part 2 of 2 of [Fish of Somalia: 296 perch-like species on record](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/) · **2**

## Full list (296 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Japanese Rainbow Wrasse](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384290) | *Suezichthys notatus* | Labridae | LC | 1 |
| [Elongate Ponyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396355) | *Equulites elongatus* | Leiognathidae | LC | 2 |
| [Berber ponyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211426) | *Leiognathus berbis* | Leiognathidae | LC | 1 |
| [Forktail large-eye bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374996) | *Gymnocranius elongatus* | Lethrinidae | LC | 4 |
| [grey barenose](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374861) | *Gymnocranius griseus* | Lethrinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Snubnose emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374912) | *Lethrinus borbonicus* | Lethrinidae | LC | 8 |
| [Yellowtail emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374867) | *Lethrinus crocineus* | Lethrinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Sky emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374845) | *Lethrinus mahsena* | Lethrinidae | EN | 1 |
| [Smalltooth emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374870) | *Lethrinus microdon* | Lethrinidae | LC | 4 |
| [Spangled emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374885) | *Lethrinus nebulosus* | Lethrinidae | LC | 2 |
| [Slender emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374876) | *Lethrinus variegatus* | Lethrinidae | LC | 2 |
| [Tripletail, Atlantic tripletail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2379457) | *Lobotes surinamensis* | Lobotidae | LC | 10 |
| [Grey Jobfish, Green jobfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385226) | *Aprion virescens* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [Deepwater longtail red snapper, Flame Snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385135) | *Etelis coruscans* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Mangrove red snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385069) | *Lutjanus argentimaculatus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bengal snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384951) | *Lutjanus bengalensis* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [blueline snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385115) | *Lutjanus coeruleolineatus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Blackspot snapper, Ehrenberg's snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385008) | *Lutjanus ehrenbergii* | Lutjanidae | LC | 8 |
| [Blackspot snapper, Dory snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384777) | *Lutjanus fulviflamma* | Lutjanidae | LC | 5 |
| [Yellow-margined Snapper, Blacktail snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385096) | *Lutjanus fulvus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 12 |
| [Paddletail Snapper, Humpback red snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385035) | *Lutjanus gibbus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [John's snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384936) | *Lutjanus johnii* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bluelined Snapper, Common bluestripe snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385129) | *Lutjanus kasmira* | Lutjanidae | LC | 45 |
| [Indian snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384965) | *Lutjanus madras* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Maori Snapper, Blubberlip snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384813) | *Lutjanus rivulatus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [Humphead snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384831) | *Lutjanus sanguineus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 2 |
| [Arabian blue-striped snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/7386986) | *Lutjanus sapphirolineatus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [Emperor red snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384899) | *Lutjanus sebae* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [Brownstripe red snapper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2384771) | *Lutjanus vitta* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Crimson jobfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385153) | *Pristipomoides filamentosus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 3 |
| [Goldbanded jobfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385170) | *Pristipomoides multidens* | Lutjanidae | LC | 2 |
| [Lavender jobfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385181) | *Pristipomoides sieboldii* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Sharptooth jobfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2385162) | *Pristipomoides typus* | Lutjanidae | LC | 1 |
| [Silver moonfish, Silver moony](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211117) | *Monodactylus argenteus* | Monodactylidae | LC | 1 |
| [Yellowstripe Goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396835) | *Mulloidichthys flavolineatus* | Mullidae | LC | 1 |
| [Yellowfin Goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396852) | *Mulloidichthys vanicolensis* | Mullidae | LC | 1 |
| [Whitelined Goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396716) | *Parupeneus ciliatus* | Mullidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cinnabar goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396606) | *Parupeneus heptacanthus* | Mullidae | LC | 12 |
| [Indian goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396727) | *Parupeneus indicus* | Mullidae | LC | 5 |
| [Long-barbel goatfish, Longbarbel goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396631) | *Parupeneus macronemus* | Mullidae | LC | 1 |
| [Nansen Goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396692) | *Parupeneus nansen* | Mullidae | LC | 1 |
| [Rosy goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396639) | *Parupeneus rubescens* | Mullidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bar-tailed Goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396781) | *Upeneus guttatus* | Mullidae | LC | 8 |
| [Margaretha's Goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5961978) | *Upeneus margarethae* | Mullidae | LC | 4 |
| [Sulphur goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396798) | *Upeneus sulphureus* | Mullidae | LC | 4 |
| [Freckled goatfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396757) | *Upeneus tragula* | Mullidae | LC | 5 |
| [Delagoa threadfin bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380036) | *Nemipterus bipunctatus* | Nemipteridae | LC | 6 |
| [Notchedfin threadfin bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2379994) | *Nemipterus peronii* | Nemipteridae | LC | 1 |
| [Slender threadfin bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2379958) | *Nemipterus zysron* | Nemipteridae | LC | 4 |
| [rosy dwarf monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380148) | *Parascolopsis eriomma* | Nemipteridae | LC | 3 |
| [scaly dwarf monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380150) | *Parascolopsis townsendi* | Nemipteridae | LC | 3 |
| [yellowstripe monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380141) | *Scolopsis aurata* | Nemipteridae | LC | 4 |
| [Thumbprint monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/5962162) | *Scolopsis bimaculata* | Nemipteridae | LC | 9 |
| [Arabian monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380131) | *Scolopsis ghanam* | Nemipteridae | LC | 7 |
| [black-streaked monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/5962161) | *Scolopsis taeniata* | Nemipteridae | LC | 3 |
| [Whitecheek monocle bream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380093) | *Scolopsis vosmeri* | Nemipteridae | LC | 1 |
| [Guenther's Sweeper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374423) | *Parapriacanthus guentheri* | Pempheridae | NE | 2 |
| [Glassfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374418) | *Parapriacanthus ransonneti* | Pempheridae | LC | 7 |
| [Sailfin armourhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375218) | *Histiopterus typus* | Pentacerotidae | NE | 1 |
| [opal fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389170) | *Bembrops caudimacula* | Percophidae | NE | 10 |
| [Pteropsaron heemstrai](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389193) | *Pteropsaron heemstrai* | Percophidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pteropsaron natalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389191) | *Pteropsaron natalensis* | Percophidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blue-nosed Grubfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210052) | *Parapercis alboguttata* | Pinguipedidae | NE | 5 |
| [Barfaced sandsmelt, Smallscale grubfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210033) | *Parapercis robinsoni* | Pinguipedidae | NE | 4 |
| [Parapercis simulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210050) | *Parapercis simulata* | Pinguipedidae | NE | 4 |
| [Somali Grubfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210005) | *Parapercis somaliensis* | Pinguipedidae | LC | 3 |
| [Red Sea angelfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396566) | *Apolemichthys xanthotis* | Pomacanthidae | LC | 14 |
| [Emperor angelfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2396426) | *Pomacanthus imperator* | Pomacanthidae | LC | 3 |
| [Blackspot sergeant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398682) | *Abudefduf sordidus* | Pomacentridae | LC | 3 |
| [Indo-Pacific sergeant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398634) | *Abudefduf vaigiensis* | Pomacentridae | LC | 17 |
| [Twoband anemonefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212077) | *Amphiprion bicinctus* | Pomacentridae | LC | 4 |
| [grey chromis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212185) | *Chromis axillaris* | Pomacentridae | LC | 8 |
| [bluespotted damsel](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212135) | *Chromis dasygenys* | Pomacentridae | LC | 1 |
| [Spiny chromis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212183) | *Chromis woodsi* | Pomacentridae | NE | 15 |
| [Onespot demoiselle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2399211) | *Chrysiptera unimaculata* | Pomacentridae | LC | 1 |
| [grey humbug](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212036) | *Dascyllus marginatus* | Pomacentridae | LC | 1 |
| [Three-spot Dascyllus, Threespot dascyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212031) | *Dascyllus trimaculatus* | Pomacentridae | LC | 6 |
| [Regal demoiselle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398535) | *Neopomacentrus cyanomos* | Pomacentridae | LC | 6 |
| [Arabian Damselfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398557) | *Neopomacentrus miryae* | Pomacentridae | LC | 2 |
| [Slender Damsel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398298) | *Pomacentrus leptus* | Pomacentridae | NE | 1 |
| [Gulf damselfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398914) | *Pristotis obtusirostris* | Pomacentridae | LC | 2 |
| [Jordan's damsel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2398978) | *Teixeirichthys jordani* | Pomacentridae | LC | 6 |
| [Longfinned bullseye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375059) | *Cookeolus japonicus* | Priacanthidae | LC | 2 |
| [Crescent-tail Bigeye, Moontail bullseye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375011) | *Priacanthus hamrur* | Priacanthidae | LC | 2 |
| [Elongate Bulleye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2375041) | *Priacanthus prolixus* | Priacanthidae | LC | 9 |
| [False Olive Dottyback](https://www.gbif.org/species/2381697) | *Pseudochromis linda* | Pseudochromidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-back Dottyback](https://www.gbif.org/species/2381599) | *Pseudochromis punctatus* | Pseudochromidae | LC | 5 |
| [Cobia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2391729) | *Rachycentron canadum* | Rachycentridae | LC | 1 |
| [Largehead croaker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2400397) | *Atrobucca alcocki* | Sciaenidae | LC | 2 |
| [Fusca drum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2399658) | *Umbrina ronchus* | Sciaenidae | DD | 1 |
| [Wahoo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374069) | *Acanthocybium solandri* | Scombridae | LC | 20 |
| [Bullet tuna](https://www.gbif.org/species/4286088) | *Auxis rochei* | Scombridae | LC | 1 |
| [Frigate tuna](https://www.gbif.org/species/4286082) | *Auxis thazard* | Scombridae | LC | 19 |
| [Skipjack tuna, Oceanic Bonito](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374191) | *Katsuwonus pelamis* | Scombridae | LC | 48 |
| [Indian mackerel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374317) | *Rastrelliger kanagurta* | Scombridae | LC | 1 |
| [Japanese mackerel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374156) | *Scomber australasicus* | Scombridae | LC | 20 |
| [Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374255) | *Scomberomorus commerson* | Scombridae | NT | 1 |
| [Yellow-fin Tunny](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374013) | *Thunnus albacares* | Scombridae | LC | 63 |
| [Bigeye tuna](https://www.gbif.org/species/2373996) | *Thunnus obesus* | Scombridae | VU | 27 |
| [Bigeye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2380384) | *Scombrops boops* | Scombropidae | NE | 1 |
| [Redmouth grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388085) | *Aethaloperca rogaa* | Serranidae | LC | 1 |
| [Anthias altus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4353671) | *Anthias altus* | Serranidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blue-spotted Grouper, Peacock hind](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388891) | *Cephalopholis argus* | Serranidae | LC | 12 |
| [Golden Grouper, Golden hind](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388858) | *Cephalopholis aurantia* | Serranidae | LC | 1 |
| [Tomato hind](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388927) | *Cephalopholis sonnerati* | Serranidae | LC | 1 |
| [Chelidoperca hirundinacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388100) | *Chelidoperca hirundinacea* | Serranidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chelidoperca maculicauda](https://www.gbif.org/species/7671180) | *Chelidoperca maculicauda* | Serranidae | DD | 4 |
| [Areolate grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388152) | *Epinephelus areolatus* | Serranidae | LC | 3 |
| [Brownspotted grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388167) | *Epinephelus chlorostigma* | Serranidae | LC | 6 |
| [Blacktip Grouper, Redbanded grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388344) | *Epinephelus fasciatus* | Serranidae | LC | 2 |
| [Blue and yellow grouper, Blue-and-yellow grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388221) | *Epinephelus flavocaeruleus* | Serranidae | LC | 2 |
| [multispotted grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388131) | *Epinephelus gabriellae* | Serranidae | LC | 3 |
| [Somali grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388557) | *Epinephelus indistinctus* | Serranidae | DD | 1 |
| [smallscaled grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388420) | *Epinephelus polylepis* | Serranidae | LC | 1 |
| [Halfmoon grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388492) | *Epinephelus rivulatus* | Serranidae | LC | 2 |
| [Greasy Grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388137) | *Epinephelus tauvina* | Serranidae | DD | 1 |
| [wavy-lined grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/9709595) | *Epinephelus undulosus* | Serranidae | LC | 2 |
| [Eightbar grouper](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788217) | *Hyporthodus octofasciatus* | Serranidae | LC | 3 |
| [Perumal's swallowtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/11173699) | *Odontanthias perumali* | Serranidae | NE | 1 |
| [Conspicuous Anthias](https://www.gbif.org/species/2387546) | *Pseudanthias conspicuus* | Serranidae | LC | 2 |
| [Cooper's fairy basslet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2387552) | *Pseudanthias cooperi* | Serranidae | LC | 2 |
| [Lunate Goldie](https://www.gbif.org/species/2387574) | *Pseudanthias lunulatus* | Serranidae | LC | 4 |
| [Townsend's Anthias](https://www.gbif.org/species/2387609) | *Pseudanthias townsendi* | Serranidae | LC | 1 |
| [Barred rockcod](https://www.gbif.org/species/2388749) | *Serranus novemcinctus* | Serranidae | LC | 1 |
| [Mottled spinefoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390191) | *Siganus fuscescens* | Siganidae | LC | 1 |
| [Brown-spotted spinefoot, Brownspotted spinefoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390297) | *Siganus stellatus* | Siganidae | LC | 2 |
| [Shoemaker spinefoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2390260) | *Siganus sutor* | Siganidae | LC | 2 |
| [Silver sillago](https://www.gbif.org/species/2391929) | *Sillago sihama* | Sillaginidae | LC | 2 |
| [Goldsilk seabream, Mylio berda, Picnic seabream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392290) | *Acanthopagrus berda* | Sparidae | LC | 1 |
| [Twobar seabream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392311) | *Acanthopagrus bifasciatus* | Sparidae | LC | 1 |
| [Soldierbream](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211031) | *Argyrops filamentosus* | Sparidae | LC | 4 |
| [King soldier bream, King soldierbream, Longspine seabream](https://www.gbif.org/species/5211027) | *Argyrops spinifer* | Sparidae | LC | 6 |
| [Bogue](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210955) | *Boops boops* | Sparidae | LC | 1 |
| [Striped Boga](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210953) | *Boops lineatus* | Sparidae | DD | 2 |
| [Santer seabream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392418) | *Cheimerius nufar* | Sparidae | LC | 5 |
| [Arabian pandora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392550) | *Pagellus affinis* | Sparidae | LC | 10 |
| [Natal pandora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392551) | *Pagellus natalensis* | Sparidae | LC | 4 |
| [Blueskin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392492) | *Polysteganus coeruleopunctatus* | Sparidae | DD | 1 |
| [Goldlined seabream](https://www.gbif.org/species/2392320) | *Rhabdosargus sarba* | Sparidae | LC | 1 |
| [Great barracuda](https://www.gbif.org/species/9784990) | *Sphyraena barracuda* | Sphyraenidae | LC | 9 |
| [Yellowtail barracuda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394248) | *Sphyraena flavicauda* | Sphyraenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bigeye barracuda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394213) | *Sphyraena forsteri* | Sphyraenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pickhandle barracuda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394208) | *Sphyraena jello* | Sphyraenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Jarbua terapon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374521) | *Terapon jarbua* | Terapontidae | LC | 2 |
| [sparse-rayed frostfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389349) | *Benthodesmus oligoradiatus* | Trichiuridae | NE | 5 |
| [Vityaz' frostfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389342) | *Benthodesmus vityazi* | Trichiuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Largehead hairtail, Hairtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2389407) | *Trichiurus lepturus* | Trichiuridae | LC | 2 |
| [Trichonotus nikii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5210850) | *Trichonotus nikii* | Trichonotidae | LC | 3 |
| [Somalian Sand diver](https://www.gbif.org/species/7563261) | *Trichonotus somaliensis* | Trichonotidae | NE | 1 |
| [Uranoscopus crassiceps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394384) | *Uranoscopus crassiceps* | Uranoscopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Uranoscopus marisrubri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394378) | *Uranoscopus marisrubri* | Uranoscopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Uranoscopus marmoratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2394358) | *Uranoscopus marmoratus* | Uranoscopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Moorish idol](https://www.gbif.org/species/2374663) | *Zanclus cornutus* | Zanclidae | LC | 7 |


This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/) · **2**


---

# Garowe Airport (General Mohamed Abshir International, GGR)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> General Mohamed Abshir International Airport (IATA GGR, ICAO HCGR) serves Garowe, Puntland's capital, about 12 km from the city centre. It opened in 2010 after seven years of building in a public-private partnership, and the Kuwait Fund later paid $6 million for a new 2,200-metre runway, terminal and tower. It is named after Mohamed Abshir Muse, the first chief of the Somali police.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA GGR, ICAO HCGR; OurAirports also keeps the older identifier HCMW ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMW/)).
- **Where:** about 12 km from the centre of Garowe, the capital of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) in the [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) region, at 8.46° N, 48.57° E and about 1,465 feet (447 metres) above sea level ([Wikipedia, Garowe Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Airport); [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMW/)).
- **Run by:** Puntland's Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports (same Wikipedia article).

## Built by Garowe, opened in 2010

The airport opened officially in 2010 under Puntland's Ministry for Civil Aviation and Airports. Its first phase took seven years to build through a public-private partnership, with the Garowe-based Mubarak construction company doing much of the work ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Airport)). Puntland's president at the time was [Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/); a Cosob Air flight was among the first to land on opening day ([Somalia Online forum report](http://www.somaliaonline.com/community/showthread.php/39120-Garowe-International-Airport-opened-today-by-President-Farole-Cosob-Air-lands-today)).

## The Kuwait Fund project

Puntland's representative to [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), Faisal Hawar, signed an agreement in Dubai with a Kuwaiti company to develop the airport and [Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) University, worth $10 million and financed by the **Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development** (KFAED) ([Garowe Online](https://web.archive.org/web/20140416090203/http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia-Kuwaiti-Company-to-construct-Airport-University-in-Puntland.shtml)). In October 2013 Puntland's finance minister [Farah Ali Jama](/en/people/farah-ali-jama/) and KFAED deputy director Hamad Al-Omar signed the grant in Kuwait: $6 million for the airport and the rest for the university ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Airport)).

The airport project covers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Airport)):

- a new paved runway about 2,200 metres long and 45 metres wide;
- a two-floor passenger terminal of about 1,000 square metres for 120 passengers;
- a 25-metre control tower, a 50-metre-wide taxiway and a 100 by 200 metre apron;
- runway lighting, drainage, a fire station, a 2.5-metre fence and safety equipment, with design and supervision services.

## The name

After its inauguration the airport was renamed for Major General **[Mohamed Abshir Muse](/en/people/mohamed-abshir-muse/)**, the first commander of the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/), who came from Garowe ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-garowe-airport-named-after-first-police-force-commander)).

## Flights and incidents

Ethiopian Airlines added Garowe from mid-July 2019 ([Routes Online](https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/285182/ethiopian-airlines-adds-garowe-service-from-mid-july-2019/)), and AeroRoutes reported a Garowe–Dubai service planned from August 2024 ([AeroRoutes, July 2024](https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240731-d3aug24ggrdxb)). Freedom Airline Express lists Garowe among its destinations ([Freedom Air Express](https://freedomairexpress.so/destinations/)). On 2 December 2020 an Air Djibouti Boeing 737-500 had its main landing gear collapse on landing at Garowe ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_Airport); [Aviation Safety Network](https://aviation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=GGR)).

Nearby: [Galkayo's Abdullahi Yusuf Airport](/en/infrastructure/abdullahi-yusuf-airport-galkayo/) to the south.


---

# Somalia and South Sudan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/south-sudan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia recognised South Sudan on 10 July 2011, the day after independence, and President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed attended the celebrations in Juba. Both are now members of the East African Community: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, as EAC chair, witnessed Somalia sign its accession treaty on 16 December 2023. Somalia has an embassy in Juba, and Somali traders run businesses across South Sudan.

## How do Somalia and South Sudan relate today?

The two governments are partners in the East African Community (EAC) and IGAD. Somalia's ambassador in [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/), Jama Hassan Khalif, met Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel on 12 November 2025. They agreed to work towards a formal trade framework ([Eye Radio, 12 November 2025](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=157556)).

On 1 July 2026 Somalia's embassy in Juba marked Somalia's 66th national day. Adut Salva Kiir, South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)'s Senior Presidential Envoy on Special Programmes, said relations were built on "mutual support, growing economic alignment through the East African Community, and joint regional security cooperation" ([Eye Radio, 2 July 2026](https://www.eyeradio.org/somali-community-played-key-role-in-south-sudans-liberation-struggle-says-adut/)).

No bilateral trade is reported to UN Comtrade by either country.

## When did contact begin?

Ties began before South Sudan's independence. Adut Kiir said the relationship "began in Nairobi, particularly in the vibrant Eastleigh market". She said Somali businessmen "came to the frontlines with the SPLA" and supplied food and fuel during the liberation struggle ([Eye Radio, 2 July 2026](https://www.eyeradio.org/somali-community-played-key-role-in-south-sudans-liberation-struggle-says-adut/)). See [Eastleigh and Somali business](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/).

South Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011. A delegation led by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed attended the celebrations in Juba. On 10 July state radio in Mogadishu said Somalia was "pleased to be one of the first states to recognize the new state of South Sudan" ([Hiiraan Online, 10 July 2011](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2011/July/somalia_recognizes_independence_of_south_sudan.aspx)). The government said it would deepen diplomatic and trade ties with a country "where a large Somali community have established businesses" (same source).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

**Somalia to South Sudan**

- **Jama (Jamal) Hassan Khalif**, ambassador in Juba in 2025 and 2026 ([Eye Radio, 12 November 2025](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=157556); [Eye Radio, 2 July 2026](https://www.eyeradio.org/somali-community-played-key-role-in-south-sudans-liberation-struggle-says-adut/)).

**South Sudan to Somalia**

- No resident South Sudanese ambassador in Mogadishu was found in the sources.

## Who built the tie?

- **Sharif Sheikh Ahmed**, President of Somalia, led the delegation to South Sudan's independence day in July 2011 ([Hiiraan Online, 2011](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2011/July/somalia_recognizes_independence_of_south_sudan.aspx)).
- **Salva Kiir Mayardit**, President of South Sudan and EAC chair, attended Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's signing of the EAC accession treaty at State House Entebbe on 16 December 2023 ([Capital FM, 4 March 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)). He invited President Farmaajo to Juba in October 2020 ([SONNA, 3 October 2020](https://sonna.so/en/president-farmajo-is-in-south-sudan-to-witness-peace-deal-between-sudanese-govt-armed-groups/)).
- **Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo**, President of Somalia, witnessed the signing of Sudan's peace deal with armed groups in Juba on 3 October 2020 ([SONNA, 2020](https://sonna.so/en/president-farmajo-is-in-south-sudan-to-witness-peace-deal-between-sudanese-govt-armed-groups/)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, President of Somalia, took Somalia into the EAC and in March 2025 phoned Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar to urge dialogue ([Eye Radio, 10 March 2025](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=144040)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali** and **Monday Semaya Kumba**, foreign ministers, spoke by phone on 27 December 2025 after Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Eye Radio, 28 December 2025](https://eyeradio.org/somalia-south-sudan-confer-after-israel-recognizes-somaliland)).
- **Abdallah Hassan**, chief executive of the Somali business community in South Sudan, arranged flights in April 2023 for about 75 people, mostly Somali students, stranded at Paloch after fleeing the war in Sudan ([Eye Radio, 27 April 2023](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=101725)).
- **Adut Salva Kiir**, Senior Presidential Envoy, spoke for the presidency at Somalia's national day in Juba in 2026 ([Eye Radio, 2026](https://www.eyeradio.org/somali-community-played-key-role-in-south-sudans-liberation-struggle-says-adut/)).
- **Benjamin Bol Mel**, Vice President, urged Somali investors in November 2025 to move "beyond mere trading" to building local capacity ([Eye Radio, 2025](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=157556)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty was found. Both are bound by the EAC Treaty: Somalia signed the accession treaty on 16 December 2023 and deposited its ratification in Arusha on 4 March 2024 ([Capital FM, 4 March 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)). In November 2025 the two sides agreed to work towards a formal trade framework ([Eye Radio, 2025](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=157556)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **9 July 2011:** President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Juba ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2011/July/somalia_recognizes_independence_of_south_sudan.aspx)).
- **3 October 2020:** President Farmaajo in Juba, welcomed by Kiir at the airport ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/president-farmajo-is-in-south-sudan-to-witness-peace-deal-between-sudanese-govt-armed-groups/)).
- **16 December 2023:** Hassan Sheikh and Kiir together in Entebbe, Uganda ([Capital FM](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).

## How much do they trade?

No official trade figures exist. Somali businesses are found "all over South Sudan", according to Adut Kiir ([Eye Radio, 2026](https://www.eyeradio.org/somali-community-played-key-role-in-south-sudans-liberation-struggle-says-adut/)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

No aid flows between the two were found.

## What about security?

South Sudan does not send troops to the AU mission in Somalia, and Somalia has no forces in South Sudan. Their security contact is political: in March 2025 Hassan Sheikh said South Sudan's stability was "integral to the peace and security of the wider region" ([Eye Radio, 10 March 2025](https://www.eyeradio.org/?p=144040)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does South Sudan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- In the 27 December 2025 call, South Sudan's foreign minister expressed "unequivocal rejection of any actions that undermine" Somalia's territorial integrity ([Eye Radio, 28 December 2025](https://eyeradio.org/somalia-south-sudan-confer-after-israel-recognizes-somaliland)).
- On 16 January 2026 South Sudan's foreign ministry backed the AU and IGAD positions on Somalia's "sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity" ([Sudans Post, 16 January 2026](https://www.sudanspost.com/south-sudan-backs-au-igad-stance-on-somalias-sovereignty/)).
- No offices or agreements between South Sudan and Somaliland or the member states were found.

## Have there been disputes?

No disputes between the two governments were found.

## How many Somalis live in South Sudan?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 36 refugees and 127 asylum seekers from Somalia in South Sudan ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SSD)). These figures leave out the traders and workers who are not refugees.

## Where does South Sudan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- South Sudan chaired the EAC when Somalia joined ([Capital FM, 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).
- It supports the AU and IGAD positions on Somalia's unity ([Sudans Post, 2026](https://www.sudanspost.com/south-sudan-backs-au-igad-stance-on-somalias-sovereignty/)).

## Related pages

- [Eastleigh and Somali business](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/)
- [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Abdullahi Yusuf Airport, Galkayo (GLK)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/abdullahi-yusuf-airport-galkayo/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Abdullahi Yusuf Airport (IATA GLK, ICAO HCMR) serves Gaalkacyo (Galkayo) in Mudug. Puntland runs it, and its fees are split equally between Puntland and Galmudug, the two administrations that share the divided city. It was renamed on 25 March 2012 after former president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who was born in Galkayo.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA GLK, ICAO HCMR ([OurAirports, HCMR](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/)).
- **Runways:** OurAirports lists two parallel strips, 05L/23R asphalt and 05R/23L turf, each 9,859 feet (about 3,005 metres) long; the field sits 975 feet above sea level ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/)).
- **Name:** renamed on 25 March 2012 in memory of Colonel [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/), former President of Somalia, who was born in Galkayo ([AllAfrica, March 2012](http://allafrica.com/stories/201203260082.html); [Wikipedia, Abdullahi Yusuf Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport)).
- **City:** Gaalkacyo (Galkayo), in [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/). For the city's trade role see [Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor](/en/economy/galkayo-and-the-bosaso-trade-corridor/).

## Shared by a divided city

Galkayo is split between a northern part run by [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and a southern part run by [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/). The airport is administered by Puntland, like most of the city, and Wikipedia records that it has served as a buffer zone between the two parts. Taxes collected by the airport authority are split equally between the Puntland and Galmudug administrations, an arrangement that has helped relations between them ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport), citing [Africa Review, "Galkayo: a peaceful island in Somalia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120310111111/http://www.africareview.com/Special+Reports/-/979182/1137760/-/10umx61z/-/index.html)).

## The 1982 air raid

During the 1982 Ethiopian incursion into Somalia, waves of Ethiopian Air Force jets bombed the airport and its anti-aircraft defences with bombs and rockets. Wikipedia records that they missed, and that the runway, which was then being lengthened, was not damaged ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport)).

## Security incidents

- **7 April 2014:** two United Nations staff, a British man and a French man, were shot dead in their car at the airport by a man in police uniform. The UN Secretary-General and Security Council condemned the killing ([Reuters, April 2014](https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA361X320140407)).
- **2 October 2017:** the airport's chief of security, Colonel Abdisalan Sanyare Owke, and his bodyguard were shot dead by a policeman ([Goobjoog](https://goobjooge.net/police-chief-airport-somalias-puntland-shot-dead/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Airport)).

## Flights

For the Somali carriers that serve the city see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/). OurAirports marks the airport as having scheduled service ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/)). Nearby fields: [Garowe](/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/) to the north and [Mogadishu](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) to the south.


---

# Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders (part 2 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 523 fish species from Somalia outside the perch-like order: sharks, rays, eels, flatfish, anglerfish, lanternfish and other deep-sea fish, and freshwater fish of the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Seven are Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, among them the scalloped hammerhead and the smalltooth sawfish.

Part 2 of 4 of [Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/) · [4](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/)

## Full list (523 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Indonesian Flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5207942) | *Cheilopogon katoptron* | Exocoetidae | NE | 1 |
| [African flyingfish, Blacksail flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5207981) | *Cheilopogon nigricans* | Exocoetidae | LC | 2 |
| [Bennett's flyingfish, Smallhead flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5712301) | *Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus* | Exocoetidae | LC | 2 |
| [Narrowhead flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5207920) | *Cypselurus angusticeps* | Exocoetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Yellow-wing flyingfish, Yellowing flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5207932) | *Cypselurus poecilopterus* | Exocoetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Barbel flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368663) | *Exocoetus monocirrhus* | Exocoetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tropical two-wing flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368648) | *Exocoetus volitans* | Exocoetidae | LC | 28 |
| [Coromandel Flying Fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368698) | *Hirundichthys coromandelensis* | Exocoetidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bony Flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368686) | *Hirundichthys oxycephalus* | Exocoetidae | NE | 28 |
| [Mirrorwing flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368689) | *Hirundichthys speculiger* | Exocoetidae | LC | 2 |
| [Shortfin flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368627) | *Prognichthys brevipinnis* | Exocoetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sailor flyingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368620) | *Prognichthys sealei* | Exocoetidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cornetfish, Bluespotted cornetfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200938) | *Fistularia commersonii* | Fistulariidae | LC | 3 |
| [Pacific Cornetfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200931) | *Fistularia petimba* | Fistulariidae | LC | 5 |
| [Chun's Telescopefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401650) | *Gigantura chuni* | Giganturidae | LC | 2 |
| [Telescopefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401641) | *Gigantura indica* | Giganturidae | LC | 2 |
| [Halavi ray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418919) | *Glaucostegus halavi* | Glaucostegidae | CR | 1 |
| [Clubnose guitarfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7193836) | *Glaucostegus thouin* | Glaucostegidae | CR | 1 |
| [Red Velvetfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333571) | *Gnathanacanthus goetzeei* | Gnathanacanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Longray Fangjaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203367) | *Bonapartia pedaliota* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 1 |
| [Benttooth bristlemouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347458) | *Cyclothone acclinidens* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 18 |
| [Boca Cerdosa Blanca](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347461) | *Cyclothone alba* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 18 |
| [Small-Toothed Bristlemouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347448) | *Cyclothone microdon* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 2 |
| [Hidden Bristlemouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347446) | *Cyclothone obscura* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 4 |
| [Tan bristlemouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347450) | *Cyclothone pallida* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 16 |
| [Slender bristlemouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347465) | *Cyclothone pseudopallida* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 5 |
| [Pacific portholefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347474) | *Diplophos taenia* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 1 |
| [Atlantic fangjaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203360) | *Gonostoma atlanticum* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 8 |
| [Manducus greyae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347437) | *Manducus greyae* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 3 |
| [Bighead Lightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347480) | *Margrethia obtusirostra* | Gonostomatidae | DD | 1 |
| [Elongated bristlemouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347408) | *Sigmops elongatus* | Gonostomatidae | NE | 15 |
| [Triplophos hemingi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347412) | *Triplophos hemingi* | Gonostomatidae | LC | 1 |
| [snaggletooth shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215649) | *Hemipristis elongata* | Hemigaleidae | EN | 1 |
| [Ribbon halfbeak](https://www.gbif.org/species/2368735) | *Euleptorhamphus viridis* | Hemiramphidae | NE | 1 |
| [Halfbeak](https://www.gbif.org/species/5961088) | *Hemiramphus convexus* | Hemiramphidae | NE | 4 |
| [Atlantic smallwing flyingfish, Bigwing halfbeak](https://www.gbif.org/species/4286186) | *Oxyporhamphus micropterus* | Hemiramphidae | NE | 14 |
| [heterodontus zebra](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215681) | *Heterodontus ramalheira* | Heterodontidae | DD | 2 |
| [Sharpnose sevengill shark, Seven-gill Shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2420586) | *Heptranchias perlo* | Hexanchidae | NT | 2 |
| [Himantolophus brevirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415106) | *Himantolophus brevirostris* | Himantolophidae | DD | 1 |
| [Himantolophus rostratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9408143) | *Himantolophus rostratus* | Himantolophidae | DD | 1 |
| [Berndt's Soldierfish, Blotcheye soldierfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2357002) | *Myripristis berndti* | Holocentridae | LC | 1 |
| [Crown squirrelfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356867) | *Sargocentron diadema* | Holocentridae | LC | 1 |
| [spiny flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335079) | *Hoplichthys acanthopleurus* | Hoplichthyidae | DD | 1 |
| [attenuated spider fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401372) | *Bathypterois atricolor* | Ipnopidae | LC | 1 |
| [Shortfin mako](https://www.gbif.org/species/5216248) | *Isurus oxyrinchus* | Lamnidae | EN | 1 |
| [Vaillant's Smooth-head](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410925) | *Leptochilichthys pinguis* | Leptochilichthyidae | LC | 2 |
| [Smooth angler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415030) | *Lophiodes mutilus* | Lophiidae | LC | 10 |
| [Baudroie bouché noire, Blackmouth angler](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415061) | *Lophiomus setigerus* | Lophiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Vaillant’s grenadier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416416) | *Bathygadus melanobranchus* | Macrouridae | LC | 1 |
| [Coelorinchus flabellispinnis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416244) | *Coelorinchus flabellispinnis* | Macrouridae | NE | 3 |
| [Coelorinchus tricristiger](https://www.gbif.org/species/11493905) | *Coelorinchus tricristiger* | Macrouridae | NE | 6 |
| [Coelorinchus zinjianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/12264886) | *Coelorinchus zinjianus* | Macrouridae | NE | 1 |
| [Coryphaenoides macrolophus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215254) | *Coryphaenoides macrolophus* | Macrouridae | NE | 3 |
| [Threadfin Grenadier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416781) | *Gadomus longifilis* | Macrouridae | LC | 2 |
| [Gadomus multifilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416778) | *Gadomus multifilis* | Macrouridae | NE | 1 |
| [Glasshead grenadier](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215127) | *Hymenocephalus italicus* | Macrouridae | LC | 2 |
| [Hymenocephalus punt](https://www.gbif.org/species/8319356) | *Hymenocephalus punt* | Macrouridae | NE | 1 |
| [Softhead grenadier, Softhead Rat-tail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215092) | *Malacocephalus laevis* | Macrouridae | LC | 6 |
| [Nezumia brevirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416860) | *Nezumia brevirostris* | Macrouridae | NE | 2 |
| [Nezumia investigatoris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416950) | *Nezumia investigatoris* | Macrouridae | NE | 5 |
| [Miller's grenadier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416972) | *Nezumia milleri* | Macrouridae | LC | 2 |
| [Nezumia semiquincunciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2416952) | *Nezumia semiquincunciata* | Macrouridae | NE | 2 |
| [Peterson's grenadier](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417010) | *Ventrifossa petersonii* | Macrouridae | NE | 3 |
| [blind spiny eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2351745) | *Mastacembelus brichardi* | Mastacembelidae | LC | 2 |
| [Melamphaes eulepis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410378) | *Melamphaes eulepis* | Melamphaidae | LC | 1 |
| [Crested bigscale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410296) | *Poromitra crassiceps* | Melamphaidae | LC | 2 |
| [Largeye bigscale, Bigscale, Ridgehead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410313) | *Poromitra megalops* | Melamphaidae | DD | 20 |
| [Longjaw bigscale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410334) | *Scopeloberyx robustus* | Melamphaidae | DD | 3 |
| [Bigscale](https://www.gbif.org/species/4284347) | *Scopelogadus mizolepis* | Melamphaidae | LC | 15 |
| [Johnson's black anglerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414318) | *Melanocetus johnsonii* | Melanocetidae | LC | 5 |
| [Arrowtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415413) | *Melanonus zugmayeri* | Melanonidae | LC | 15 |
| [Nansenia obscura](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214217) | *Nansenia obscura* | Microstomatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sudan squeaker](https://www.gbif.org/species/2344411) | *Synodontis frontosus* | Mochokidae | LC | 1 |
| [Synodontis geledensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2344298) | *Synodontis geledensis* | Mochokidae | LC | 3 |
| [Synodontis punctulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2344508) | *Synodontis punctulatus* | Mochokidae | DD | 5 |
| [wahrindi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2344327) | *Synodontis schall* | Mochokidae | LC | 4 |
| [Scribbled Filefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406721) | *Aluterus scriptus* | Monacanthidae | LC | 5 |
| [Faintstripe Filefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213406) | *Paramonacanthus pusillus* | Monacanthidae | LC | 3 |
| [Porky](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213452) | *Stephanolepis auratus* | Monacanthidae | LC | 2 |
| [Reticulated Leatherjacket](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213449) | *Stephanolepis diaspros* | Monacanthidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pineconefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356699) | *Monocentris japonica* | Monocentridae | LC | 2 |
| [Monognathus berteli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415393) | *Monognathus berteli* | Monognathidae | DD | 2 |
| [Gadella edelmanni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417081) | *Gadella edelmanni* | Moridae | NE | 3 |
| [Physiculus normani](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417203) | *Physiculus normani* | Moridae | NE | 2 |
| [Petrocephalus gliroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2402398) | *Petrocephalus gliroides* | Mormyridae | DD | 5 |
| [Longfinned Mullet](https://www.gbif.org/species/9465525) | *Osteomugil perusii* | Mugilidae | LC | 1 |
| [Large scale mullet, Large-scale mullet, Largescale mullet](https://www.gbif.org/species/9250702) | *Planiliza macrolepis* | Mugilidae | LC | 1 |
| [Hornlip mullet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2400928) | *Plicomugil labiosus* | Mugilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gavialiceps taeniola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405353) | *Gavialiceps taeniola* | Muraenesocidae | LC | 3 |
| [Yellow-edged moray, Yellow Margin Moray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2404084) | *Gymnothorax flavimarginatus* | Muraenidae | LC | 2 |
| [Whitespotted moray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2404036) | *Gymnothorax johnsoni* | Muraenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Peppered Moray, Speckled sidereal moray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403789) | *Gymnothorax pictus* | Muraenidae | LC | 3 |
| [Undulated Moray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403755) | *Gymnothorax undulatus* | Muraenidae | LC | 3 |
| [Spinycheek lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406087) | *Benthosema fibulatum* | Myctophidae | LC | 14 |
| [Opaline Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406082) | *Benthosema pterotum* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Smallfin Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406071) | *Benthosema suborbitale* | Myctophidae | LC | 2 |
| [Popeye Lampfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405787) | *Bolinichthys longipes* | Myctophidae | LC | 8 |
| [Nikolay’s Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405809) | *Bolinichthys nikolayi* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Fiery Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405812) | *Bolinichthys pyrsobolus* | Myctophidae | LC | 2 |
| [Andre's Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405828) | *Centrobranchus andreae* | Myctophidae | LC | 14 |
| [dogtooth lampfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406036) | *Ceratoscopelus townsendi* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Warming’s lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406033) | *Ceratoscopelus warmingii* | Myctophidae | LC | 11 |
| [Diaphus arabicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406294) | *Diaphus arabicus* | Myctophidae | LC | 9 |
| [Short-headed lantern fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406285) | *Diaphus brachycephalus* | Myctophidae | LC | 2 |
| [Blue Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406226) | *Diaphus coeruleus* | Myctophidae | LC | 3 |
| [Diaphus diademophilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406233) | *Diaphus diademophilus* | Myctophidae | LC | 12 |
| [Garman’s lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406303) | *Diaphus garmani* | Myctophidae | LC | 11 |
| [Diaphus lobatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406315) | *Diaphus lobatus* | Myctophidae | LC | 7 |
| [Diaphus lucidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406331) | *Diaphus lucidus* | Myctophidae | LC | 3 |
| [Luetken's Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406178) | *Diaphus luetkeni* | Myctophidae | LC | 16 |
| [Diaphus nielseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406200) | *Diaphus nielseni* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Diaphus pallidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406337) | *Diaphus pallidus* | Myctophidae | DD | 2 |
| [Parr's Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406317) | *Diaphus parri* | Myctophidae | LC | 13 |
| [Flatface lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406273) | *Diaphus perspicillatus* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Regan's lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406269) | *Diaphus regani* | Myctophidae | LC | 10 |
| [Sealed headlightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406286) | *Diaphus signatus* | Myctophidae | LC | 3 |
| [horned lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406262) | *Diaphus splendidus* | Myctophidae | LC | 2 |
| [Diaphus suborbitalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406291) | *Diaphus suborbitalis* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Watase's Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406313) | *Diaphus watasei* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Diogenichthys panurgus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406021) | *Diogenichthys panurgus* | Myctophidae | LC | 18 |
| [Electric lanternfish, Chubby flashlightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405933) | *Electrona risso* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Benoit's lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/9795756) | *Hygophum benoiti* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [large-finned lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213293) | *Hygophum macrochir* | Myctophidae | LC | 2 |
| [Firefly lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213295) | *Hygophum proximum* | Myctophidae | LC | 25 |
| [Anomalous lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405911) | *Lampadena anomala* | Myctophidae | DD | 2 |
| [Luminous lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405913) | *Lampadena luminosa* | Myctophidae | LC | 11 |
| [Nightlight Fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7791680) | *Lampanyctus alatus* | Myctophidae | LC | 5 |
| [Lampanyctus macropterus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405958) | *Lampanyctus macropterus* | Myctophidae | LC | 43 |
| [Noble lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405957) | *Lampanyctus nobilis* | Myctophidae | LC | 11 |
| [Slender lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405991) | *Lampanyctus tenuiformis* | Myctophidae | LC | 8 |
| [Nacreous lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405970) | *Lampanyctus vadulus* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lepidophanes guentheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405710) | *Lepidophanes guentheri* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Gemellar’s lanternfish, Cocco's lantern fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405684) | *Lobianchia gemellarii* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Prickly lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405879) | *Myctophum asperum* | Myctophidae | LC | 6 |
| [Golden Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405895) | *Myctophum aurolaternatum* | Myctophidae | LC | 12 |
| [Myctophum brachygnathum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405867) | *Myctophum brachygnathum* | Myctophidae | NE | 2 |
| [Myctophum fissunovi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405901) | *Myctophum fissunovi* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Nightlight Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405892) | *Myctophum lychnobium* | Myctophidae | LC | 19 |
| [Pearly lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405852) | *Myctophum nitidulum* | Myctophidae | LC | 20 |
| [Bluntsnout lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405866) | *Myctophum obtusirostre* | Myctophidae | LC | 8 |
| [spotted lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405855) | *Myctophum punctatum* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spinose Lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405888) | *Myctophum spinosum* | Myctophidae | LC | 4 |
| [Nannobrachium indicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405611) | *Nannobrachium indicum* | Myctophidae | LC | 29 |
| [Topside lanternfish, Topside lampfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405778) | *Notolychnus valdiviae* | Myctophidae | LC | 27 |
| [Mediterranean lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406096) | *Notoscopelus elongatus* | Myctophidae | LC | 1 |
| [Evermann's lantern fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406166) | *Symbolophorus evermanni* | Myctophidae | LC | 16 |
| [Rufous lanternfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2406150) | *Symbolophorus rufinus* | Myctophidae | LC | 10 |
| [Highseas lampfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405672) | *Triphoturus nigrescens* | Myctophidae | LC | 21 |
| [Common eagle ray, Eagle Ray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2419310) | *Myliobatis aquila* | Myliobatidae | CR | 1 |
| [Bigeye Electric Ray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417775) | *Narcine oculifera* | Narcinidae | DD | 1 |
| [Mozambique Numbfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417776) | *Narcine rierai* | Narcinidae | DD | 2 |
| [Eilat Sleeper Ray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2419745) | *Heteronarce bentuviai* | Narkidae | DD | 2 |
| [Lloyd's Electric Ray](https://www.gbif.org/species/2419739) | *Heteronarce mollis* | Narkidae | DD | 1 |
| [Avocet Snipe-eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213060) | *Avocettina infans* | Nemichthyidae | LC | 6 |
| [Slender snipe eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403686) | *Nemichthys scolopaceus* | Nemichthyidae | LC | 21 |
| [Large-scaled lantern fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213276) | *Neoscopelus macrolepidotus* | Neoscopelidae | LC | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/) · [4](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/)


---

# Baidoa Airport (Shatigadud International, BIB)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/baidoa-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Baidoa Airport (IATA BIB, ICAO HCMB), also called Shatigadud International Airport, serves Baidoa, capital of Bay and seat of South West State. Built in the 1960s, its runway was paved and lengthened to 9,600 feet with Soviet help in 1974, and by 1975 it based Somali Air Force MiG-21 fighters. Today it has a 2,940-metre asphalt runway and a large military compound built in 2014.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA BIB, ICAO HCMB ([OurAirports, HCMB](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMB/)).
- **Runway:** one asphalt runway, 04/22, 2,940 by 40 metres (9,646 by 131 feet) ([Wikipedia, Baidoa Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport), citing the [Logistics Cluster specification sheet](https://web.archive.org/web/20131103074644/http://www.logcluster.org/ops/som/air-transport/airfield-specifications/Baidoa%20without%20FC.pdf)).
- **Height:** Wikipedia gives 1,505 feet (459 metres) above sea level and OurAirports 1,820 feet ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport); [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMB/)).
- **City:** Baydhabo (Baidoa), capital of the [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) region and seat of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/).
- **Name:** Wikipedia gives its name as Shatigadud International Airport ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport)), the name of [Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigadud](/en/people/hassan-mohamed-nur-shatigadud/), first president of South West State.

## A military airfield, 1960s to 1991

The airport was built in the 1960s with a runway 8,800 feet long and 150 feet wide. In 1974, with Soviet support, it was resurfaced with asphalt and lengthened to 9,600 feet ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport)). CIA photo-interpretation reports of the time tracked the work, and by June 1975 the base held at least six Somali Air Force MiG-21 fighters and two Il-28 bombers (same source, citing [CIA reading room](https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78T05162A000400010097-1.pdf)). For the air force's history see [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/).

## The runway in three sizes

The same strip has been rebuilt at least twice, and the published lengths show it ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport); [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMB/)):

- **1960s:** 8,800 feet long and 150 feet wide, unpaved.
- **1974:** asphalt, 9,600 feet long.
- **Today:** asphalt, 9,646 feet (2,940 metres) long and 131 feet (40 metres) wide.

## Since 1991

For Baidoa's history in the war and famine years see [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/) and the [Rahanweyn Resistance Army](/en/institutions/rahanweyn-resistance-army/). A large military compound was built at the airport in 2014 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport)); the forces based in the town include the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and African Union troops, now [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/).

## Flights and aid

The airport has been used by both civil and military aircraft ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidoa_Airport)). The UN Logistics Cluster, which coordinates humanitarian transport, publishes a specification sheet so aid operators can plan landings ([Logistics Cluster](https://web.archive.org/web/20131103074644/http://www.logcluster.org/ops/som/air-transport/airfield-specifications/Baidoa%20without%20FC.pdf)). For the Somali carriers that serve the city see [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/).


---

# Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders (part 3 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 523 fish species from Somalia outside the perch-like order: sharks, rays, eels, flatfish, anglerfish, lanternfish and other deep-sea fish, and freshwater fish of the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Seven are Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, among them the scalloped hammerhead and the smalltooth sawfish.

Part 3 of 4 of [Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/)

## Full list (523 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Pacific blackchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2405562) | *Scopelengys tristis* | Neoscopelidae | LC | 15 |
| [Slender Sorcerer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2402980) | *Saurenchelys cancrivora* | Nettastomatidae | DD | 1 |
| [Saurenchelys lateromaculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2402992) | *Saurenchelys lateromaculatus* | Nettastomatidae | DD | 1 |
| [Barred Nothobranch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2348694) | *Nothobranchius fasciatus* | Nothobranchiidae | VU | 8 |
| [Nothobranchius jubbi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2348634) | *Nothobranchius jubbi* | Nothobranchiidae | LC | 26 |
| [Small Scaled Nothobranch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2348646) | *Nothobranchius microlepis* | Nothobranchiidae | VU | 15 |
| [Palmqvist's nothobranch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2348701) | *Nothobranchius palmqvisti* | Nothobranchiidae | VU | 3 |
| [Blue Notho](https://www.gbif.org/species/2348641) | *Nothobranchius patrizii* | Nothobranchiidae | LC | 36 |
| [Halicmetus ruber](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415004) | *Halicmetus ruber* | Ogcocephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [circular seabat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414943) | *Halieutaea fitzsimonsi* | Ogcocephalidae | LC | 3 |
| [Smoky Seabat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414946) | *Halieutaea fumosa* | Ogcocephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Indian Seabat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414962) | *Halieutaea indica* | Ogcocephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ring Triangular Batfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414877) | *Malthopsis annulifera* | Ogcocephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Reticulate Triangular Fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414872) | *Malthopsis retifera* | Ogcocephalidae | DD | 1 |
| [hammerjaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401039) | *Omosudis lowii* | Omosudidae | LC | 1 |
| [Smooth dreamer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414731) | *Chaenophryne draco* | Oneirodidae | LC | 3 |
| [Chaenophryne ramifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414737) | *Chaenophryne ramifera* | Oneirodidae | LC | 1 |
| [short-rod anglerfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414760) | *Microlophichthys microlophus* | Oneirodidae | LC | 1 |
| [Oneirodes dicromischus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414825) | *Oneirodes dicromischus* | Oneirodidae | DD | 1 |
| [Bulbous dreamer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414771) | *Oneirodes eschrichtii* | Oneirodidae | LC | 4 |
| [Krefft's Dreamer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414835) | *Oneirodes kreffti* | Oneirodidae | LC | 1 |
| [Oneirodes thysanema](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414831) | *Oneirodes thysanema* | Oneirodidae | LC | 2 |
| [Phyllorhinichthys micractis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2414842) | *Phyllorhinichthys micractis* | Oneirodidae | LC | 1 |
| [Myrophis lepturus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2404571) | *Myrophis lepturus* | Ophichthidae | DD | 1 |
| [Bluntnose Snake Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/9607136) | *Ophichthus apicalis* | Ophichthidae | LC | 2 |
| [Ophichthus ishiyamorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5961035) | *Ophichthus ishiyamorum* | Ophichthidae | DD | 2 |
| [Speckled Snake Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2404451) | *Xyrias multiserialis* | Ophichthidae | DD | 3 |
| [Glowing Assfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345886) | *Bassozetus glutinosus* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bearded Brotula, Goatsbeard brotula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345670) | *Brotula multibarbata* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dicrolene nigricaudis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346043) | *Dicrolene nigricaudis* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Glyptophidium macropus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345771) | *Glyptophidium macropus* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lamprogrammus brunswigi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346007) | *Lamprogrammus brunswigi* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black Cusk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346011) | *Lamprogrammus niger* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Blackfin Cusk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345986) | *Monomitopus nigripinnis* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Barred Cusk Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/9813474) | *Neobythites steatiticus* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dark Fin Cusk Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2345742) | *Neobythites stefanovi* | Ophidiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Ravenous Cusk](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203041) | *Ophidion genyopus* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Porogadus dracocephalus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11909437) | *Porogadus dracocephalus* | Ophidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spottobrotula mossambica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8349195) | *Spottobrotula mossambica* | Ophidiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Barrel-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2411158) | *Opisthoproctus soleatus* | Opisthoproctidae | LC | 1 |
| [Longhorn cowfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408107) | *Lactoria cornuta* | Ostraciidae | LC | 2 |
| [Yellow boxfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5213766) | *Ostracion cubicus* | Ostraciidae | LC | 3 |
| [Spotted Boxfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/8262148) | *Ostracion meleagris* | Ostraciidae | LC | 1 |
| [Triangular boxfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408172) | *Tetrosomus concatenatus* | Ostraciidae | NE | 3 |
| [Humpback turretfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408161) | *Tetrosomus gibbosus* | Ostraciidae | LC | 5 |
| [False cusk-eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346413) | *Parabrotula plagiophthalma* | Parabrotulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Japanese Eyespot Barracudina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401537) | *Lestrolepis japonica* | Paralepididae | LC | 1 |
| [Eye-light Eyespot Barracudina](https://www.gbif.org/species/10763898) | *Lestrolepis luxiocula* | Paralepididae | DD | 1 |
| [Rothschild's Barracudina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401629) | *Stemonosudis rothschildi* | Paralepididae | LC | 1 |
| [Hideous Barracudina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212765) | *Sudis atrox* | Paralepididae | LC | 3 |
| [Largetooth flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408813) | *Pseudorhombus arsius* | Paralichthyidae | LC | 1 |
| [Deep flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408829) | *Pseudorhombus elevatus* | Paralichthyidae | LC | 4 |
| [smalltooth flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408819) | *Pseudorhombus jenynsii* | Paralichthyidae | LC | 1 |
| [Paraulopus maculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401293) | *Paraulopus maculatus* | Paraulopidae | DD | 4 |
| [Rosy dory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415284) | *Cyttopsis rosea* | Parazenidae | LC | 4 |
| [Short dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2356594) | *Eurypegasus draconis* | Pegasidae | LC | 1 |
| [crocodilefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334960) | *Peristedion weberi* | Peristediidae | LC | 2 |
| [Satyrichthys laticeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/8267815) | *Satyrichthys laticeps* | Peristediidae | LC | 3 |
| [Spotted Armour Gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335037) | *Satyrichthys rieffeli* | Peristediidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346808) | *Ichthyococcus ovatus* | Phosichthyidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ichthyococcus parini](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346813) | *Ichthyococcus parini* | Phosichthyidae | LC | 14 |
| [Plume lightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346772) | *Polymetme corythaeola* | Phosichthyidae | LC | 17 |
| [Oceanic Lightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346841) | *Vinciguerria nimbaria* | Phosichthyidae | LC | 22 |
| [Cociella somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335827) | *Cociella somaliensis* | Platycephalidae | LC | 9 |
| [Spotfin Flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335788) | *Grammoplites suppositus* | Platycephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Onigocia grandisquama](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335751) | *Onigocia grandisquama* | Platycephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bartail flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/5201390) | *Platycephalus indicus* | Platycephalidae | DD | 1 |
| [Olive-tail Flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335674) | *Rogadius asper* | Platycephalidae | LC | 4 |
| [Rogadius fehlmanni](https://www.gbif.org/species/7868305) | *Rogadius fehlmanni* | Platycephalidae | DD | 4 |
| [Thorny flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335676) | *Rogadius pristiger* | Platycephalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Serrated flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335685) | *Rogadius serratus* | Platycephalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Sorsogona humerosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5962221) | *Sorsogona humerosa* | Platycephalidae | DD | 1 |
| [Sorsogona nigripinna](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335683) | *Sorsogona nigripinna* | Platycephalidae | DD | 15 |
| [halfspined flathead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335798) | *Sorsogona prionota* | Platycephalidae | LC | 8 |
| [Thysanophrys rarita](https://www.gbif.org/species/8048408) | *Thysanophrys rarita* | Platycephalidae | DD | 1 |
| [Platytroctes mirus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2411054) | *Platytroctes mirus* | Platytroctidae | NE | 8 |
| [Bicolor Righteye Flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409379) | *Marleyella bicolorata* | Pleuronectidae | DD | 1 |
| [Striped eel catfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/7965247) | *Plotosus lineatus* | Plotosidae | LC | 8 |
| [Japanese Beardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410401) | *Polymixia japonica* | Polymixiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Smalltooth sawfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5216292) | *Pristis pectinata* | Pristidae | CR | 1 |
| [harlequin catshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418851) | *Ctenacis fehlmanni* | Proscylliidae | LC | 3 |
| [pygmy ribbontail catshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418845) | *Eridacnis radcliffei* | Proscylliidae | LC | 7 |
| [marbled lungfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/4287144) | *Protopterus aethiopicus* | Protopteridae | LC | 1 |
| [Gilled lungfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441253) | *Protopterus amphibius* | Protopteridae | LC | 7 |
| [Indian halibut](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409818) | *Psettodes erumei* | Psettodidae | DD | 3 |
| [Lesser Guitarfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/8502641) | *Acroteriobatus annulatus* | Rhinobatidae | VU | 2 |
| [Socotra blue-spotted guitarfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/11207295) | *Acroteriobatus stehmanni* | Rhinobatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arabian Sicklefin Chimaera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417438) | *Neoharriotta pumila* | Rhinochimaeridae | LC | 6 |
| [Redmouth whalefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5204042) | *Rondeletia loricata* | Rondeletiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cockatoo righteye flounder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408990) | *Samaris cristatus* | Samaridae | LC | 5 |
| [Irvineia orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2341678) | *Irvineia orientalis* | Schilbeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Somalia Glass Catfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2341595) | *Parailia somalensis* | Schilbeidae | DD | 1 |
| [Butter Catfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2341731) | *Schilbe intermedius* | Schilbeidae | LC | 2 |
| [African Butter Catfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2341732) | *Schilbe mystus* | Schilbeidae | LC | 10 |
| [Atlantic saury, Skipper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2369272) | *Scomberesox saurus* | Scomberesocidae | LC | 1 |
| [Staring Pearleye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401435) | *Scopelarchus guentheri* | Scopelarchidae | LC | 3 |
| [bigfin pearleye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401444) | *Scopelarchus michaelsarsi* | Scopelarchidae | LC | 1 |
| [Shortfin turkeyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334536) | *Dendrochirus brachypterus* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 3 |
| [Falcate Lionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334516) | *Ebosia falcata* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 5 |
| [Round Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/8130193) | *Neomerinthe erostris* | Scorpaenidae | NE | 3 |
| [Parapterois macrura](https://www.gbif.org/species/4286395) | *Parapterois macrura* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Toothed No-line Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334506) | *Phenacoscorpius adenensis* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Blacklash Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334695) | *Pontinus nigerimum* | Scorpaenidae | DD | 1 |
| [Spotfin Firefish, Broadbarred firefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334443) | *Pterois antennata* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 3 |
| [Pterois ellioti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8831912) | *Pterois ellioti* | Scorpaenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Miles' Firefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334433) | *Pterois miles* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 5 |
| [Frillfin turkeyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334454) | *Pterois mombasae* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 2 |
| [planetail firefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334447) | *Pterois russelii* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lionfish, Red lionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334438) | *Pterois volitans* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 2 |
| [Popeyed Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334465) | *Rhinopias frondosa* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 2 |
| [Red scorpionfish, Largescaled scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334574) | *Scorpaena scrofa* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Scorpaenodes tribulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334364) | *Scorpaenodes tribulosus* | Scorpaenidae | DD | 1 |
| [blotchfin scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334388) | *Scorpaenodes varipinnis* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 4 |
| [Bearded scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334728) | *Scorpaenopsis barbata* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 4 |
| [hairy stingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334749) | *Scorpaenopsis cirrosa* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Gilchrist's Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334737) | *Scorpaenopsis gilchristi* | Scorpaenidae | DD | 2 |
| [Raggy scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2334730) | *Scorpaenopsis venosa* | Scorpaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [smallbelly cat shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418447) | *Apristurus indicus* | Scyliorhinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Brown Catshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418397) | *Bythaelurus lutarius* | Scyliorhinidae | DD | 1 |
| [balloon shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418626) | *Cephaloscyllium sufflans* | Scyliorhinidae | NT | 1 |
| [speckled catshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418530) | *Halaelurus boesemani* | Scyliorhinidae | VU | 9 |
| [blackspotted catshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418524) | *Halaelurus buergeri* | Scyliorhinidae | EN | 2 |
| [quagga catshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418518) | *Halaelurus quagga* | Scyliorhinidae | DD | 3 |
| [Black Saw-toothed Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403670) | *Serrivomer lanceolatoides* | Serrivomeridae | LC | 1 |
| [Black serrivomerid eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2403661) | *Stemonidium hypomelas* | Serrivomeridae | LC | 1 |
| [Channeled rockfish, Deepwater scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336894) | *Setarches guentheri* | Setarchidae | LC | 1 |
| [Piebald Sole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410271) | *Pardachirus balius* | Soleidae | DD | 3 |
| [Moses sole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2410167) | *Pardachirus marmoratus* | Soleidae | LC | 1 |
| [elongate sole](https://www.gbif.org/species/5214144) | *Solea elongata* | Soleidae | LC | 1 |
| [Indian Zebra Sole](https://www.gbif.org/species/2409878) | *Zebrias synapturoides* | Soleidae | LC | 1 |
| [Scalloped Hammerhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418789) | *Sphyrna lewini* | Sphyrnidae | CR | 1 |
| [Zebra shark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2417450) | *Stegostoma fasciatum* | Stegostomatidae | EN | 2 |
| [Pacific hatchet fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347596) | *Argyropelecus affinis* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 23 |
| [Half-naked hatchetfish, Hatchet-fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347567) | *Argyropelecus hemigymnus* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 1 |
| [Silver hatchetfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347591) | *Argyropelecus olfersii* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 1 |
| [Sladen's hatchet fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347588) | *Argyropelecus sladeni* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 18 |
| [bigeye lightfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347606) | *Danaphos oculatus* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 1 |
| [Polyipnus asper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347540) | *Polyipnus asper* | Sternoptychidae | DD | 1 |
| [Polyipnus limatulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347519) | *Polyipnus limatulus* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 11 |
| [Dark hatchetfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347559) | *Sternoptyx obscura* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 5 |
| [Hatchetfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347556) | *Sternoptyx pseudobscura* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 8 |
| [Constellationfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347601) | *Valenciennellus tripunctulatus* | Sternoptychidae | LC | 2 |
| [Manyray Loosejaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203195) | *Aristostomias polydactylus* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black snaggletooth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347053) | *Astronesthes indicus* | Stomiidae | LC | 10 |
| [Indo-Pacific snaggletooth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347040) | *Astronesthes indopacificus* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Astronesthes lamellosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347071) | *Astronesthes lamellosus* | Stomiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Astronesthes martensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347021) | *Astronesthes martensii* | Stomiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Splendid Snaggletooth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347044) | *Astronesthes splendidus* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Astronesthes tchuvasovi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347017) | *Astronesthes tchuvasovi* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Scaleless dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203171) | *Bathophilus nigerrimus* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pawnee Dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203167) | *Bathophilus pawneei* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Chauliodus pammelas](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203206) | *Chauliodus pammelas* | Stomiidae | LC | 24 |
| [Sloane's viperfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203203) | *Chauliodus sloani* | Stomiidae | LC | 11 |
| [Twinthread Dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203305) | *Eustomias bifilis* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Simplebulb Dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203286) | *Eustomias simplex* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ribbon sawtail fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5203181) | *Idiacanthus fasciola* | Stomiidae | LC | 11 |
| [Southern Stoplight Loosejaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347377) | *Malacosteus australis* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spotlight loosejaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347378) | *Malacosteus niger* | Stomiidae | LC | 3 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/)


---

# Butterflies and moths of Somalia: all 372 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 372 butterfly and moth species (order Lepidoptera) from Somalia, the largest insect group on record there.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 372 butterfly and moth species with Somalia as the country, in 26 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Noctuidae: 103
- Erebidae: 56
- Geometridae: 47
- Sphingidae: 29
- Pieridae: 23
- Nymphalidae: 17
- Crambidae: 13
- Lasiocampidae: 12
- Lycaenidae: 11
- Saturniidae: 9

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are *Campimoptilum smithii* (24), African Emigrant (18), Banded Scarlet Tip (17), *Hippotion pentagramma* (16), Cesa waggae (11), Dancing Acraea (11) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

170 of the 372 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

11 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Prionapteryx somala*, *Anereuthina somaliensis*, *Galtara somaliensis*, *Laelia somalica*, *Metoponrhis somaliana*, *Thiacidas somaliensis*, *Chiasmia somalica*, *Acontarache somaliensis*, *Somalibrya minuta*, *Pseudoclanis somaliae*, *Eucosma somalica* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 0
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 39
- Data Deficient (DD): 0
- Not Evaluated (NE): 333

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Noctuidae: 103 species
- Erebidae: 56 species
- Geometridae: 47 species
- Sphingidae: 29 species
- Pieridae: 23 species
- Nymphalidae: 17 species
- Crambidae: 13 species
- Lasiocampidae: 12 species
- Lycaenidae: 11 species
- Saturniidae: 9 species

## Full list (372 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-3/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Achthina ctenodes](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/) | *Achthina ctenodes* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aethalopteryx elf](https://www.gbif.org/species/9189720) | *Aethalopteryx elf* | Cossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aethalopteryx politzari](https://www.gbif.org/species/9092772) | *Aethalopteryx politzari* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aethalopteryx simillima](https://www.gbif.org/species/9129419) | *Aethalopteryx simillima* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aethalopteryx steniptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8762891) | *Aethalopteryx steniptera* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aethalopteryx tristis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6122540) | *Aethalopteryx tristis* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Camellocossus osmanya](https://www.gbif.org/species/9082570) | *Camellocossus osmanya* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nomima prophanes](https://www.gbif.org/species/1731405) | *Nomima prophanes* | Cossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Calamoschoena ascriptalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1883697) | *Calamoschoena ascriptalis* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Calamotropha janusella](https://www.gbif.org/species/1890193) | *Calamotropha janusella* | Crambidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cornifrons albidiscalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1878990) | *Cornifrons albidiscalis* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Crambicybalomia similis](https://www.gbif.org/species/12243557) | *Crambicybalomia similis* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ground-moss Grey](https://www.gbif.org/species/1879630) | *Eudonia truncicolella* | Crambidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mimudea melanostictalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1885299) | *Mimudea melanostictalis* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mimudea rubritinctalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1885377) | *Mimudea rubritinctalis* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Noctuelia globuliferalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1886798) | *Noctuelia globuliferalis* | Crambidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prionapteryx banaadirensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9004998) | *Prionapteryx banaadirensis* | Crambidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prionapteryx somala](https://www.gbif.org/species/8857038) | *Prionapteryx somala* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pyrausta conistrotalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1890680) | *Pyrausta conistrotalis* | Crambidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pyrausta sthenialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1890994) | *Pyrausta sthenialis* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Thesaurica ocellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1888841) | *Thesaurica ocellata* | Crambidae | NE | 2 |
| [Alpenus diversata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1805836) | *Alpenus diversata* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Amata romeii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1808529) | *Amata romeii* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Amsacta paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1810397) | *Amsacta paolii* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anereuthina somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11878279) | *Anereuthina somaliensis* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Anoba trigonosema](https://www.gbif.org/species/5112607) | *Anoba trigonosema* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Greyling](https://www.gbif.org/species/1812693) | *Apisa canescens* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Asplenia melanodonta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1772396) | *Asplenia melanodonta* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Auchenisa cerurodes](https://www.gbif.org/species/1761338) | *Auchenisa cerurodes* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Audea melanoptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8882846) | *Audea melanoptera* | Erebidae | NE | 3 |
| [Authadistis camptogramma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1772329) | *Authadistis camptogramma* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Beihania hyatti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1779289) | *Beihania hyatti* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bertula grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/11787511) | *Bertula grisea* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Two-spot Crescent](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116272) | *Brevipecten cornuta* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brevipecten discolora](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116264) | *Brevipecten discolora* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Brevipecten mirifica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9088993) | *Brevipecten mirifica* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brevipecten tessenei](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116259) | *Brevipecten tessenei* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerocala albimacula](https://www.gbif.org/species/6117015) | *Cerocala albimacula* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerocala grandirena](https://www.gbif.org/species/1780891) | *Cerocala grandirena* | Erebidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cerocala illustrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1780893) | *Cerocala illustrata* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerocala munda](https://www.gbif.org/species/1780899) | *Cerocala munda* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerocala oppia](https://www.gbif.org/species/1780876) | *Cerocala oppia* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cropera confalonierii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1819550) | *Cropera confalonierii* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Croperoides negrottoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1820202) | *Croperoides negrottoi* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Marginal Drab](https://www.gbif.org/species/1771456) | *Ctenusa varians* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyana squalida](https://www.gbif.org/species/8838521) | *Cyana squalida* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Drasteria yerburii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5110307) | *Drasteria yerburii* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Drasteriodes eurytaenia](https://www.gbif.org/species/1770610) | *Drasteriodes eurytaenia* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Epharmottomena gorgonula](https://www.gbif.org/species/1791689) | *Epharmottomena gorgonula* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Estigmene griseata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1813399) | *Estigmene griseata* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Galtara somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1813473) | *Galtara somaliensis* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grammodes monodonta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1786961) | *Grammodes monodonta* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heteropalpia robusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116979) | *Heteropalpia robusta* | Erebidae | NE | 4 |
| [Hypotacha bubo](https://www.gbif.org/species/1778323) | *Hypotacha bubo* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Laelia somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5118162) | *Laelia somalica* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lymantria finitorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/1820354) | *Lymantria finitorum* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lyncestis diascota](https://www.gbif.org/species/1776150) | *Lyncestis diascota* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Metoponrhis somaliana](https://www.gbif.org/species/11432353) | *Metoponrhis somaliana* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Micralarctia toulgoeti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1811412) | *Micralarctia toulgoeti* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Myana sopora](https://www.gbif.org/species/6115863) | *Myana sopora* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Naarda nigripalpis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116604) | *Naarda nigripalpis* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paralacydes fiorii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1803588) | *Paralacydes fiorii* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paralacydes minorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1803585) | *Paralacydes minorata* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plecoptera polymorpha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5110485) | *Plecoptera polymorpha* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polydesma smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1789810) | *Polydesma smithii* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Porthesaroa nicotrai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1820706) | *Porthesaroa nicotrai* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhabdophera rosacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/8860298) | *Rhabdophera rosacea* | Erebidae | NE | 5 |
| [Rhynchina albiscripta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1786142) | *Rhynchina albiscripta* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhynchina perangulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1786184) | *Rhynchina perangulata* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhypopteryx inconspicua](https://www.gbif.org/species/1818900) | *Rhypopteryx inconspicua* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sundowner moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1772352) | *Sphingomorpha chlorea* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Teracotona rhodophaea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1807924) | *Teracotona rhodophaea* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thiacidas somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6117350) | *Thiacidas somaliensis* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trisulana acronictoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/1774766) | *Trisulana acronictoides* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tytroca leucoptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784259) | *Tytroca leucoptera* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cream Lichen Underwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1780094) | *Ulotrichopus tinctipennis* | Erebidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zekelita endoleuca](https://www.gbif.org/species/1785269) | *Zekelita endoleuca* | Erebidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hoplojana politzari](https://www.gbif.org/species/9092491) | *Hoplojana politzari* | Eupterotidae | NE | 2 |
| [Phiala punctulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5125150) | *Phiala punctulata* | Eupterotidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eutelia grisescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1777526) | *Eutelia grisescens* | Euteliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Streaked Twirler](https://www.gbif.org/species/1850184) | *Symmetrischema striatella* | Gelechiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acidaliastis subbrunnescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1958194) | *Acidaliastis subbrunnescens* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Aetheometra iconoclasis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1969612) | *Aetheometra iconoclasis* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Antharmostes papilio](https://www.gbif.org/species/1987053) | *Antharmostes papilio* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Chiasmia assimilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5880699) | *Chiasmia assimilis* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Variable Peacock](https://www.gbif.org/species/6119475) | *Chiasmia brongusaria* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Chiasmia butaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/6119283) | *Chiasmia butaria* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Chiasmia calvifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/6119254) | *Chiasmia calvifrons* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Chiasmia puerilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6119384) | *Chiasmia puerilis* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Chiasmia somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9036506) | *Chiasmia somalica* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Green Vestal](https://www.gbif.org/species/1978017) | *Chlorerythra rubriplaga* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Coenina collenettei](https://www.gbif.org/species/5143859) | *Coenina collenettei* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Coenina tergimacula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5143855) | *Coenina tergimacula* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Pale Dusty Brindle](https://www.gbif.org/species/1976833) | *Colocleora proximaria* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyclophora imperialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6119132) | *Cyclophora imperialis* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ectropis oleitincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1980829) | *Ectropis oleitincta* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Epigynopteryx lioloma](https://www.gbif.org/species/5143895) | *Epigynopteryx lioloma* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Eucrostes astigmatica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1968847) | *Eucrostes astigmatica* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Eupithecia profuga](https://www.gbif.org/species/1983221) | *Eupithecia profuga* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Scopula disparata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1985752) | *Glossotrophia disparata* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Double-striped Pug](https://www.gbif.org/species/1992066) | *Gymnoscelis rufifasciata* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Hierochthonia featheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1960795) | *Hierochthonia featheri* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Idaea aperta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5146924) | *Idaea aperta* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Idaea subtorrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5146613) | *Idaea subtorrida* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Isturgia netta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6118524) | *Isturgia netta* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Isturgia prionogyna](https://www.gbif.org/species/6118510) | *Isturgia prionogyna* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Neromia manderensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1987173) | *Neromia manderensis* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Oospila ciliaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/1973672) | *Oospila ciliaria* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Tan Wave](https://www.gbif.org/species/1968942) | *Pleuroprucha insulsaria* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Prasinocyma ocyptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1955202) | *Prasinocyma ocyptera* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Prasinocyma perpulverata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1955056) | *Prasinocyma perpulverata* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Psilocerea hypermetra](https://www.gbif.org/species/1961286) | *Psilocerea hypermetra* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Scopula africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5145124) | *Scopula africana* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Scopula horiochroea](https://www.gbif.org/species/8928159) | *Scopula horiochroea* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Scopula minoa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5145513) | *Scopula minoa* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Scopula nepheloperas](https://www.gbif.org/species/5144813) | *Scopula nepheloperas* | Geometridae | NE | 4 |
| [Scopula nephotropa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5144790) | *Scopula nephotropa* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Scopula pyrrhochra](https://www.gbif.org/species/5145613) | *Scopula pyrrhochra* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Scopula timia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5144708) | *Scopula timia* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Sesquialtera audens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1955759) | *Sesquialtera audens* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Small Wisp Wing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1955757) | *Sesquialtera ridicula* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Tricentroscelis protrusifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/1976050) | *Tricentroscelis protrusifrons* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Victoria sematoperas](https://www.gbif.org/species/5144013) | *Victoria sematoperas* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Zamarada melasma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1962014) | *Zamarada melasma* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Zamarada mesotaenia](https://www.gbif.org/species/1961969) | *Zamarada mesotaenia* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Zeuctoboarmia syntropha](https://www.gbif.org/species/6119632) | *Zeuctoboarmia syntropha* | Geometridae | NE | 3 |
| [Scopula tornisecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1977809) | *Zygophyxia tornisecta* | Geometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Zygophyxia transmeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1977801) | *Zygophyxia transmeata* | Geometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Coeliades ernesti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1947123) | *Coeliades ernesti* | Hesperiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Netted Sylph](https://www.gbif.org/species/5142151) | *Metisella willemi* | Hesperiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Orange Elfin](https://www.gbif.org/species/1942790) | *Sarangesa phidyle* | Hesperiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Desert Grizzled Skipper](https://www.gbif.org/species/1945611) | *Spialia doris* | Hesperiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mafa Sandman](https://www.gbif.org/species/1945535) | *Spialia mafa* | Hesperiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spialia mangana](https://www.gbif.org/species/1945554) | *Spialia mangana* | Hesperiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mountain Sandman](https://www.gbif.org/species/1945571) | *Spialia spio* | Hesperiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Anadiasa colenettei](https://www.gbif.org/species/1735048) | *Anadiasa colenettei* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anadiasa nicotrai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1735045) | *Anadiasa nicotrai* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anadiasa simplex](https://www.gbif.org/species/1735047) | *Anadiasa simplex* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Beralade fulvostriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1732999) | *Beralade fulvostriata* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Beralade sabrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/9131115) | *Beralade sabrina* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bufoidia hyatti](https://www.gbif.org/species/11894631) | *Bufoidia hyatti* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chionopsyche grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1732920) | *Chionopsyche grisea* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gonometa negrottoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1732954) | *Gonometa negrottoi* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 2 |
| [Odontocheilopteryx politzari](https://www.gbif.org/species/6114080) | *Odontocheilopteryx politzari* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 2 |
| [Stoermeriana collenettei](https://www.gbif.org/species/6113994) | *Stoermeriana collenettei* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 2 |
| [Streblote acaciae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1733673) | *Streblote acaciae* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 1 |
| [Streblote finitorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/1733777) | *Streblote finitorum* | Lasiocampidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coenobasis chloronoton](https://www.gbif.org/species/1753621) | *Coenobasis chloronoton* | Limacodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Featheria obvia](https://www.gbif.org/species/1753618) | *Featheria obvia* | Limacodidae | NE | 3 |


This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-3/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somalia and China

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/china/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> China and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 14 December 1960, and the two governments raised them to a strategic partnership in September 2024. China says two-way trade reached US$1.027 billion in 2025. China built more than 80 projects in Somalia between 1960 and 1991, including the National Theatre and Benadir Hospital, and it recognises the Federal Government as the only legitimate government of all Somalia, Somaliland included.

## How do Somalia and China relate today?

China and Somalia have full diplomatic relations, and in September 2024 they raised them to a strategic partnership ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, June 2026](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)). China's ambassador in Mogadishu is Wang Yu, and Somalia's embassy in Beijing is at 2 Sanlitun Road ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).

Key facts in 2026:

- **Trade:** two-way trade was US$1.027 billion in 2025, according to China ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).
- **Taiwan and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** in September 2026 China's embassy condemned remarks on Taiwan made by Somaliland's president in the United States ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 16 September 2026](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202609/t20260916_12023117.htm)).
- **Recent contacts:** Ambassador Wang Yu met Somalia's defence minister, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, in November 2026 ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202611/t20261111_12057138.htm)).

## When did contact begin?

Chinese ties with the Somali coast go back about 600 years. China's ambassador Qin Jian said in 2020 that the admiral Zheng He's fleets visited Mogadishu, which Chinese records called "Mugudushu" ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 7 December 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202012/t20201207_7082252.htm)). For the older records, see [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/).

The People's [Republic of China](/en/relations/taiwan/) and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 14 December 1960 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)). China describes Somalia as the first East African country to establish relations with it ([Chinese Embassy, Xi–Farmaajo meeting, 31 August 2018](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/201808/t20180831_7085498.htm)).

Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice-Premier Chen Yi visited Somalia in February 1964 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)). In 1971 Somalia was one of the countries that sponsored the UN resolution restoring the People's Republic's seat ([Chinese Embassy, 31 August 2018](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/201808/t20180831_7085498.htm)).

China closed its embassy during the civil war and reopened it on 12 October 2014 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)). Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming attended the reopening ceremony ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Chinese ambassadors to Somalia, from the embassy's own list ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, past ambassadors](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/dsxx/lrds/)):

- **Zhang Yue:** May 1961 to July 1964.
- **Yang Shouzheng:** September 1964 to March 1970.
- **Fan Zuokai:** September 1970 to January 1975.
- **Zhang Shijie:** March 1975 to April 1979.
- **Li Yuchi:** October 1979 to February 1983.
- **Wang Shikun:** September 1983 to October 1985.
- **Shi Chengxun:** January 1986 to March 1990.
- **Xu Yingjie:** April 1990 to April 1992.
- **Wei Hongtian:** August 2014 to February 2017.
- **Qin Jian:** March 2017 to June 2021.
- **Fei Shengchao:** August 2021 to April 2024.
- **Wang Yu:** from August 2024. He arrived on 6 August 2024 and presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 21 August 2024 ([Chinese Embassy, 22 August 2024](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202408/t20240822_11478185.htm)).

Between ambassadors, Chargé d'Affaires Chen Wendi led the embassy in April to June 2024 ([Chinese Embassy, 19 April 2024](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202404/t20240419_11284511.htm)). Liu Yuxi, China's special representative for African affairs, met Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) in Mogadishu on 6 December 2022 ([Chinese Embassy, 8 December 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202212/t20221209_10987579.htm)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Zhou Enlai**, premier, visited Somalia in February 1964; Radio Mogadishu still keeps a recording of his speech ([Chinese Embassy, 18 July 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202207/t20220718_10722623.htm)).
- **Li Xiannian**, China's president, visited in March 1986 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).
- **Wei Hongtian**, ambassador, signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement with Foreign Minister [Abdisalam Omer](/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/) on 1 April 2015 ([Chinese Embassy, 2 April 2015](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/201504/t20150402_7078475.htm)).
- **Xi Jinping**, president, met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Johannesburg on 4 December 2015, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo in Beijing on 31 August 2018, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud again in Beijing on 6 September 2024 ([Chinese Embassy, 7 December 2015](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/201512/t20151207_7079182.htm); [31 August 2018](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/201808/t20180831_7085498.htm); [MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).
- **Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo**, president, signed the Belt and Road memorandum during his 2018 Beijing visit ([Chinese Embassy, 31 August 2018](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/201808/t20180831_7085498.htm)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, president, agreed the strategic partnership with Xi Jinping at the September 2024 China–Africa summit ([Chinese Embassy, Wang Yi–Fiqi meeting, 20 February 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202502/t20250220_11559092.htm)).
- **Wang Yi**, foreign minister, met Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in New York on 18 February 2025 ([Chinese Embassy, 20 February 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202502/t20250220_11559092.htm)).
- **Fei Shengchao**, ambassador, handed over military vehicles to Defence Minister Nur and army chief General Rageh on 18 March 2022 ([Chinese Embassy, 19 March 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202203/t20220319_10653452.htm)).
- **Qin Jian**, ambassador, visited Chinese companies in Somaliland on 1–8 August 2020 ([Chinese Embassy, 10 August 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202008/t20200810_7087384.htm)).
- **Zhang Nan**, a Chinese armed police guard, was killed defending the embassy in 2015; the embassy holds a yearly memorial ([Chinese Embassy, 27 July 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202507/t20250727_11677952.htm)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **14 December 1960:** establishment of diplomatic relations ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).
- **1 April 2015:** agreement on economic and technical cooperation, giving a grant for projects agreed by both governments ([Chinese Embassy, 2 April 2015](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/201504/t20150402_7078475.htm)).
- **September 2018:** memorandum on jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).
- **20 June 2022:** exchange of letters on emergency food aid for the drought, signed by Ambassador Fei and the humanitarian affairs minister ([Chinese Embassy, 21 June 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202206/t20220621_10707142.htm)).
- **September 2024:** upgrade to a strategic partnership ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

Chinese leaders in Somalia ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)):

- **February 1964:** Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Chen Yi.
- **July 1978:** Vice-Premier Chen Muhua.
- **November 1978:** Vice-Premier Geng Biao.
- **October 1984:** Yang Jingren, vice-chairman of the national political advisory body.
- **March 1986:** President Li Xiannian.
- **12 October 2014:** Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming, for the embassy reopening.

Somali leaders in China ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)):

- **September 2018:** President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, China–Africa summit in Beijing.
- **June 2019:** Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled, China–Africa trade expo; Foreign Minister [Ahmed Isse Awad](/en/people/ahmed-isse-awad/), summit follow-up meeting.
- **May 2024:** Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, China–Arab States forum.
- **September 2024:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, China–Africa summit in Beijing.
- **June 2025:** Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali, summit follow-up meeting.
- **August 2025:** Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, China–Arab States Expo.

## How much do they trade?

China gives two-way trade as US$1.027 billion in 2025 ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)). China mainly exports chemical fibres, telecoms equipment and construction machinery to Somalia. It mainly imports gums, gemstones and leather ([MFA China](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/fz_677316/1206_678550/sbgx_678554/)).

China's foreign minister invited Somalia in February 2025 to use China's zero-tariff policy for the least developed African countries ([Chinese Embassy, 20 February 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202502/t20250220_11559092.htm)). In August 2020 Chinese firms in Somaliland included a stone-mining company, a steel structure plant and a drinks factory ([Chinese Embassy, 10 August 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202008/t20200810_7087384.htm)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Between 1960 and 1991, China says it carried out more than 80 projects in Somalia ([Chinese Embassy, 7 December 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202012/t20201207_7082252.htm)). These included roads, a reservoir, a stadium, the National Theatre, Benadir Hospital and the Hargeisa water supply ([Chinese Embassy, 7 December 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202012/t20201207_7082252.htm)).

The main named projects:

- **National Theatre, Mogadishu:** built with Chinese aid in 1967 ([Chinese Embassy, 16 July 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202507/t20250716_11671594.htm)); repaired with Chinese funds, with work completed in July 2022 together with Radio Mogadishu ([Chinese Embassy, 18 July 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202207/t20220718_10722623.htm)).
- **Benadir Hospital, Mogadishu:** built by China in 1976; in 2017 it had 550 beds and 393 staff ([Chinese Embassy, 10 August 2017](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/201708/t20170810_7081177.htm)). Its operating theatres were renovated with Chinese help in April 2022 ([Chinese Embassy, 20 April 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202204/t20220420_10669994.htm)).
- **Medical teams:** China sent 13 medical teams to Somalia between 1960 and 1991. One embassy text gives 393 people and another 397 ([Chinese Embassy, 2 July 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202007/t20200702_7082168.htm); [7 December 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202012/t20201207_7082252.htm)).

Recent aid:

- **Scholarships:** more than 50 Chinese government scholarships a year in 2018–2020 ([Chinese Embassy, 2 July 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202007/t20200702_7082168.htm)). A "China–Somalia Friendship Scholarship" at the Somali National University began in 2024 ([Chinese Embassy, 19 November 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202511/t20251119_11755705.htm)).
- **Vaccines:** 500,000 Sinopharm doses arrived in Mogadishu on 5 December 2021 ([Chinese Embassy, 6 December 2021](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202112/t20211206_10462701.htm)).
- **Humanitarian funding** recorded by the UN: US$16 million in 2011, US$13 million in 2017 and US$7.5 million in 2018 ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011&groupby=organization); [2017](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2017&groupby=organization); [2018](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2018&groupby=organization)).
- **Police and army:** police uniforms on 26 September 2024 and military vehicles and equipment on 18 March 2022 ([Chinese Embassy, 27 September 2024](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202412/t20241220_11508638.htm); [19 March 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202203/t20220319_10653452.htm)).

## What about security?

China gave military vehicles and equipment to the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) in March 2022 ([Chinese Embassy, 19 March 2022](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202203/t20220319_10653452.htm)). In 2015 Xi Jinping said China would help build Somalia's defence capacity and support the African Union mission ([Chinese Embassy, 7 December 2015](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/201512/t20151207_7079182.htm)). In January 2025 the crew of a Chinese fishing vessel seized by gunmen off [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) was freed, with Chinese, federal and Puntland officials in contact ([Chinese Embassy, 13 January 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202501/t20250113_11532451.htm)).

See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## How does China deal with Somaliland and the member states?

China states that it recognises the Federal Government as "the sole legitimate government" of all Somalia, including Somaliland ([Chinese Embassy, 24 May 2024](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202405/t20240530_11348986.htm)). Key events:

- **1 July 2020:** Taiwan announced ties with Somaliland, covering fisheries, agriculture, energy, mining, health and education; China's foreign ministry said it "firmly opposes" official exchanges between them ([VOA, 6 July 2020](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_taiwan-china-diplomatic-competition-comes-somaliland/6192311.html)).
- **2020:** Taiwan and Somaliland opened representative offices in each other's capitals ([Al Jazeera, 30 April 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/30/somalia-bans-entry-of-taiwanese-citizens-says-taipei)).
- **August 2020:** Ambassador Qin Jian visited Chinese businesses in Somaliland ([Chinese Embassy](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202008/t20200810_7087384.htm)).
- **May 2024:** China's embassy objected to a Somaliland delegation attending the 20 May inauguration in Taiwan ([Chinese Embassy, 24 May 2024](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202405/t20240530_11348986.htm)).
- **September 2026:** the embassy condemned President Abdirahman Irro's Taiwan remarks in the United States and the Taiwan office in Hargeisa's statements on UN resolution 2758 ([Chinese Embassy, 16 September 2026](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202609/t20260916_12023117.htm); [19 September 2026](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202609/t20260919_12026310.htm)).

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources used. Both oppose Somaliland's ties with Taiwan. On 14 January 2024 Somalia's government restated its one-China policy after Taiwan's election ([Chinese Embassy, 16 January 2024](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/smlxw/202401/t20240116_11224544.htm)). From 30 April 2025 Somalia barred holders of Taiwanese passports from entry and transit, citing resolution 2758; Taiwan asked Mogadishu to revoke the ban ([Al Jazeera, 30 April 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/30/somalia-bans-entry-of-taiwanese-citizens-says-taipei)).

## How many Somalis live in China?

No official count of Somalis in China was found. Most are students: China gave more than 50 government scholarships a year in 2018–2020 ([Chinese Embassy, 2 July 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202007/t20200702_7082168.htm)), and about 100 officials, students and alumni attended the embassy's August 2025 reception for scholarship students ([Chinese Embassy, 19 August 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202508/t20250819_11692345.htm)).

## Where does China stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

China says it has spoken for Somalia's interests in the UN Security Council since 1991 ([Chinese Embassy, 7 December 2020](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202012/t20201207_7082252.htm)). China congratulated Somalia on its 2025–2026 Security Council seat, and Somalia praised China's February 2025 Council presidency ([Chinese Embassy, 20 February 2025](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/202502/t20250220_11559092.htm)). Both work together in the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation and the China–Arab States Cooperation Forum ([Chinese Embassy, 31 August 2018](http://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/zsgx/201808/t20180831_7085498.htm)).

## Related pages

- [Chinese records of the Somali coast](/en/history/chinese-records-of-the-somali-coast/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Trade, exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/)
- [Foreign companies in Somalia](/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/)
- [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/)


---

# Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders (part 4 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 523 fish species from Somalia outside the perch-like order: sharks, rays, eels, flatfish, anglerfish, lanternfish and other deep-sea fish, and freshwater fish of the Juba and Shabelle rivers. Seven are Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, among them the scalloped hammerhead and the smalltooth sawfish.

Part 4 of 4 of [Fish of Somalia: sharks, rays and 30 other orders](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/) · [3](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/) · **4**

## Full list (523 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2347160) | *Melanostomias melanops* | Stomiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Photonectes waitti](https://www.gbif.org/species/7580641) | *Photonectes waitti* | Stomiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Photostomias atrox](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346948) | *Photostomias atrox* | Stomiidae | LC | 3 |
| [Günther's boafish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346861) | *Stomias affinis* | Stomiidae | LC | 19 |
| [Boa dragonfish, Scaly dragonfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346868) | *Stomias boa* | Stomiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Alcock's boafish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2346858) | *Stomias nebulosus* | Stomiidae | LC | 13 |
| [Tube-eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/2400459) | *Stylephorus chordatus* | Stylephoridae | LC | 2 |
| [orangebanded goblinfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333701) | *Choridactylus multibarbus* | Synanceiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Choridactylus striatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333706) | *Choridactylus striatus* | Synanceiidae | DD | 4 |
| [Minous andriashevi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333665) | *Minous andriashevi* | Synanceiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Alcock's Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333682) | *Minous inermis* | Synanceiidae | LC | 2 |
| [Grey stingfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333668) | *Minous monodactylus* | Synanceiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dwarf Scorpionfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5201178) | *Synanceia nana* | Synanceiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Shortdorsal Cutthroat Eel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2402852) | *Synaphobranchus brevidorsalis* | Synaphobranchidae | LC | 1 |
| [bluespeckled pipefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333084) | *Hippichthys cyanospilos* | Syngnathidae | LC | 1 |
| [thorntailed pipefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2333171) | *Micrognathus brevirostris* | Syngnathidae | LC | 3 |
| [elegant pipefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2332680) | *Nannocampus elegans* | Syngnathidae | LC | 1 |
| [Slender Lizardfish, Gracile lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5962529) | *Saurida gracilis* | Synodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Greater lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401145) | *Saurida tumbil* | Synodontidae | LC | 5 |
| [Brushtooth lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2401167) | *Saurida undosquamis* | Synodontidae | LC | 14 |
| [Indian lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212634) | *Synodus indicus* | Synodontidae | LC | 14 |
| [Blackblotch Lizardfish, Lighthouse lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212684) | *Synodus jaculum* | Synodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Largehead Lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5206268) | *Synodus macrocephalus* | Synodontidae | LC | 8 |
| [Bluntnose lizardfish, Snakefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212618) | *Synodus myops* | Synodontidae | NE | 14 |
| [Largeeye Lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212665) | *Synodus oculeus* | Synodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Randall's Lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212667) | *Synodus randalli* | Synodontidae | LC | 2 |
| [Variegated Lizardfish, Engleman's lizardfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5212639) | *Synodus variegatus* | Synodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Synodus vityazi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5962530) | *Synodus vityazi* | Synodontidae | DD | 1 |
| [Trachinocephalus atrisignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10735788) | *Trachinocephalus atrisignis* | Synodontidae | DD | 1 |
| [Immaculate puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407364) | *Arothron immaculatus* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 2 |
| [Starry Puffer, Stellate puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407362) | *Arothron stellatus* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Crowned Pufferfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407727) | *Canthigaster coronata* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Brown-lined puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407667) | *Canthigaster rivulata* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 10 |
| [Black-saddled Toby, Valentin's sharpnose puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407698) | *Canthigaster valentini* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 6 |
| [Milkspotted puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407317) | *Chelonodon patoca* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [pricklebelly blaasop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407311) | *Chelonodon pleurospilus* | Tetraodontidae | EN | 1 |
| [Smooth Golden Puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407778) | *Lagocephalus inermis* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 2 |
| [Silver-cheeked toadfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407758) | *Lagocephalus sceleratus* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [Suez Puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407780) | *Lagocephalus suezensis* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 1 |
| [Flavimaculosus Puffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2407271) | *Torquigener flavimaculosus* | Tetraodontidae | LC | 3 |
| [redskinfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335195) | *Ablabys binotatus* | Tetrarogidae | DD | 4 |
| [Whiteface waspfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335242) | *Richardsonichthys leucogaster* | Tetrarogidae | LC | 1 |
| [Snyderina guentheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2335148) | *Snyderina guentheri* | Tetrarogidae | LC | 1 |
| [Marbled torpedo, Marbled Electric Ray, Spotted torpedo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215518) | *Torpedo marmorata* | Torpedinidae | VU | 1 |
| [Marbled electric eel, Marbled electric ray, Variable torpedo ray](https://www.gbif.org/species/5215548) | *Torpedo sinuspersici* | Torpedinidae | DD | 2 |
| [Aulotrachichthys sajademalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2357108) | *Aulotrachichthys sajademalensis* | Trachichthyidae | LC | 2 |
| [Mediterranean slimehead, Silver Roughy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2357118) | *Hoplostethus mediterraneus* | Trachichthyidae | LC | 10 |
| [Blackfin Roughy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2357117) | *Hoplostethus melanopus* | Trachichthyidae | LC | 1 |
| [Alcock's Spikefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408052) | *Halimochirurgus alcocki* | Triacanthodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Largegill Trumpetsnout](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408081) | *Macrorhamphosodes platycheilus* | Triacanthodidae | NE | 4 |
| [Mephisto fraserbrunneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408062) | *Mephisto fraserbrunneri* | Triacanthodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Banded Spikefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2408068) | *Paratriacanthodes herrei* | Triacanthodidae | LC | 1 |
| [bigeye houndshark](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418281) | *Iago omanensis* | Triakidae | LC | 2 |
| [Arabian smooth-hound](https://www.gbif.org/species/2418367) | *Mustelus mosis* | Triakidae | NT | 1 |
| [bluefin searobin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336668) | *Chelidonichthys kumu* | Triglidae | LC | 1 |
| [Twohorn gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336665) | *Lepidotrigla bentuviai* | Triglidae | DD | 10 |
| [scalybreast gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336688) | *Lepidotrigla faurei* | Triglidae | LC | 2 |
| [Indian Ocean spiny gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336676) | *Lepidotrigla multispinosa* | Triglidae | LC | 1 |
| [Oman Gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336730) | *Lepidotrigla omanensis* | Triglidae | LC | 3 |
| [Red-fringed Gurnard](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336667) | *Lepidotrigla spiloptera* | Triglidae | LC | 2 |
| [Pterygotrigla arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2336621) | *Pterygotrigla arabica* | Triglidae | LC | 1 |
| [High-finned Veilfin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2400592) | *Velifer hypselopterus* | Veliferidae | LC | 1 |
| [Silvery John dory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415247) | *Zenopsis conchifer* | Zeidae | LC | 1 |
| [John Dory](https://www.gbif.org/species/7744449) | *Zeus faber* | Zeidae | DD | 2 |
| [False Dory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415329) | *Cyttomimus affinis* | Zeniontidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyttomimus stelgis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415328) | *Cyttomimus stelgis* | Zeniontidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dwarf Dory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2415317) | *Zenion hololepis* | Zeniontidae | LC | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/) · [2](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-2/) · [3](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others-3/) · **4**


---

# Somalia and Norway

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/norway/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Norway runs its Somalia work from its embassy in Nairobi and keeps a special envoy for Somalia. In March 2020 it lent Somalia US$365.9 million for a few hours so Somalia could clear its World Bank arrears, the step that opened the way to debt relief. Norway gave about NOK 2.7 billion in aid in 2012 to 2018 and plans NOK 102 million in humanitarian aid for 2026.

## How do Somalia and Norway relate today?

Norway has no embassy in Mogadishu. Its embassy in Nairobi covers Somalia, and aid is managed from Nairobi and Oslo ([Norad Evaluation Department, Report 7/2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). Norway also has a special envoy for Somalia, a post created in 2012 ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).

Somalia has been a Norwegian focus country for aid since 2014 ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). Norway's biggest single act was a US$365.9 million bridge loan in March 2020 that cleared Somalia's arrears to the World Bank ([World Bank, 5 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/05/somalia-clears-arrears-to-world-bank-group)).

In 2026 Norwegian humanitarian aid to Somalia is set at NOK 102 million, including NOK 15 million of emergency aid for the World Food Programme ([Norad, 27 April 2026](https://www.norad.no/en/news/news/2026/hunger-in-somalia/)). Trade is small: Norway exported goods worth US$118,308 to Somalia in 2024 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)).

## When did contact begin?

Norway paid little attention to Somalia in its first decade of independence, according to a 2022 University of Oslo history thesis by Svein-Olav Gjeitanger Kaurin ([Kaurin, University of Oslo, 2022](https://duo.uio.no/handle/10852/95131)). From 1972 to 1993 Norway turned down Somali requests for direct bilateral development aid ([Kaurin, 2022](https://duo.uio.no/handle/10852/95131)). Somalia was among the countries that asked to become a Norwegian aid partner in the 1970s and were not chosen ([Kaurin, 2022](https://duo.uio.no/handle/10852/95131)).

The thesis also finds that Norway gave humanitarian aid to Somalia earlier than was commonly thought ([Kaurin, 2022](https://duo.uio.no/handle/10852/95131)). Norway's political role grew during its 2001 to 2002 seat on the UN Security Council, when it led the Council's work on Somalia ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).

From 2006 Norway co-chaired the International Contact Group on Somalia with the United States, and it hosted the group in Oslo on 30 April 2008 ([ReliefWeb, 2008](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/norway-host-international-contact-group-somalia-meeting-30-april)). Formal development ties began on 30 June 2013 with a cooperation agreement signed in Mogadishu ([Government of Norway, 30 June 2013](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/somalia_cooperation/id731971/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Norway's ambassador to Somalia lives in Nairobi. Somalia's ambassador in Stockholm covers Norway.

- **Jens Mjaugedal**, Norwegian special envoy for Somalia, 2012 to 2015. He came from the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Nordic International Support Foundation ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).
- **Victor Conrad Rønneberg**, ambassador, based in Kenya. He presented credentials in Mogadishu on 18 March 2015, the first Norwegian ambassador to Somalia in 25 years ([Garowe Online, 18 March 2015](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-norway-ambassador-appointed)). President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud received him ([Goobjoog, 18 March 2015](https://en.goobjoog.com/president-hassan-receives-credentials-from-norway-ambassador-2)).
- **Special envoy from 2018**: a former minister counsellor at the Nairobi embassy (2014 to 2018), named only by title in Norad's evaluation ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).
- **Heidi Elburgi Johansen**, special envoy for Somalia from November 2020 ([Nordic Women Mediators](https://nordicwomenmediators.org/members-heidi-elburgi-johansen)). In March 2024 her title was special representative for peace and reconciliation in Somalia ([Halqabsi, March 2024](https://halqabsi.com/2024/03/un-envoy-meets-with-norwegian-ambassador)).
- **Gunnar Andreas Holm**, ambassador to Somalia, led a foreign ministry delegation to Mogadishu in April 2023 ([Hiiraan Online, 20 April 2023](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Apr/190935/somali_foreign_minister_meets_with_delegation_from_the_norwegian_ministry_of_foreign_affairs.aspx)).
- **Erling Hess**, head of the embassy for Kenya and Somalia, and **Carsten Carlsen** of the Norwegian embassy met Somalia's Auditor General on 16 January 2024 ([SONNA, 16 January 2024](https://sonna.so/en/auditor-general-receives-officials-from-the-norwegian-embassy)).
- **Vebjørn Heines**, special envoy to Somalia, met UAE minister Anwar Gargash in August 2024 ([Garowe Online, August 2024](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/world/gargash-meets-norwegian-special-envoy-to-somalia)).
- **Einar Rystad**, Norway's envoy to Somalia, led a delegation to Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi on 17 November 2024 ([SONNA, 17 November 2024](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-foreign-minister-ahmed-moalim-fiqi-engages-norwegian-delegation-to-deepen-bilateral-cooperation)). [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/)'s foreign ministry also met him as Norway's envoy in March 2025 ([Qatar MFA, 19 March 2025](https://mofa.gov.qa/en/qatar/latest-articles/latest-news/details/2025/03/19/special-envoy-of-minister-of-foreign-affairs-meets-norway's-envoy-to-somalia)).
- **Siv Cathrine Moe**, newly appointed ambassador, gave a copy of her credentials to Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Mogadishu in December 2025 ([Somalia MFA, December 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-foreign-minister-receives-copy-of-credentials-from-norways-newly-appointed-ambassador/)).
- **Abdi Karim Ahmed Mohamed**, Somalia's ambassador to the Nordic countries, presented credentials to King Harald V in Oslo on 13 February 2026 ([SONNA, 13 February 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-nordic-countries-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v-of-norway/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Jens Mjaugedal**, special envoy from 2012, started the Special Financing Facility, Norway's direct budget channel to the new federal government ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).
- **Heikki Holmås**, Minister of International Development, agreed the facility with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in 2012 ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). He signed the June 2013 cooperation agreement in Mogadishu ([Government of Norway, 30 June 2013](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/somalia_cooperation/id731971/)).
- **Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Aadan**, Somalia's foreign minister, signed that 2013 agreement for Somalia, with the president as witness ([Hiiraan Online, June 2013](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Jun/30069/norway_restores_diplomatic_relations_with_somalia.aspx)).
- **Hans Wilhelm Longva**, Norwegian ambassador, drafted the 2009 Kenya–Somalia memorandum on the continental shelf as part of Norwegian technical help ([International Court of Justice, judgment of 2 February 2017](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20170202-JUD-01-01-EN.pdf)).
- **Børge Brende** made the first visit by a Norwegian foreign minister to Somalia on 29 June 2017 ([Government of Norway, 29 June 2017](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2563790/)).
- **Ine Eriksen Søreide**, foreign minister, visited Mogadishu on 10 June 2019 ([Garowe Online, 10 June 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/norwegian-foreign-minister-arrives-in-somalia-for-one-day-visit)). She spoke for Norway when the 2020 bridge loan cleared Somalia's World Bank arrears ([World Bank, 5 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/05/somalia-clears-arrears-to-world-bank-group)).
- **Dag-Inge Ulstein**, Minister of International Development, presented the bridge loan plan in October 2019 ([Government of Norway, October 2019](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2673476)).
- **Abdirahman Duale Beileh**, Somalia's finance minister, led Somalia's side of the arrears clearance ([World Bank, 5 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/05/somalia-clears-arrears-to-world-bank-group)).
- **Anne Beathe Tvinnereim**, Minister of International Development, visited Somalia in December 2022 and announced more aid and a World Bank agreement ([Government of Norway, 5 December 2022](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/aid_boost/id2949489/)).
- **Jonas Gahr Støre**, Prime Minister, met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Oslo on 11 June 2024 ([Villa Somalia, 11 June 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-held-talks-with-norways-prime-minister-jonas-gahr-store/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **7 April 2009**: Kenya–Somalia memorandum of understanding on the continental shelf, drafted by Norwegian ambassador Hans Wilhelm Longva. Norway was not a party ([ICJ, 2 February 2017](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20170202-JUD-01-01-EN.pdf)).
- **2012**: agreement between Heikki Holmås and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to set up the Special Financing Facility ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).
- **30 June 2013**: development cooperation agreement, signed in Mogadishu ([Government of Norway, 30 June 2013](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/somalia_cooperation/id731971/)).
- **March 2020**: bridge loan of US$365.9 million to clear arrears to the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) ([World Bank, 5 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/05/somalia-clears-arrears-to-world-bank-group)).
- **2020**: bilateral debt agreement under the Paris Club deal of 31 March 2020, cancelling NOK 16.2 million owed to Norway ([Government of Norway](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/gjeld_somalia/id2813315/); [Paris Club, 31 March 2020](https://clubdeparis.org/en/sites/clubdeparis/accueil/pays-accords-signes/recherche-accords-signes/fiches/s/somalie-31-mars-2020.html)).
- **December 2022**: agreement with the World Bank on governance, climate adaptation and food security in Somalia ([Government of Norway, 5 December 2022](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/aid_boost/id2949489/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **30 April 2008**: Oslo hosts the International Contact Group on Somalia ([ReliefWeb, 2008](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/norway-host-international-contact-group-somalia-meeting-30-april)).
- **June 2013**: Development minister Heikki Holmås in Mogadishu ([Government of Norway, 30 June 2013](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/somalia_cooperation/id731971/)).
- **29 June 2017**: Foreign minister Børge Brende in Mogadishu, meeting President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) ([Government of Norway, 29 June 2017](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2563790/)).
- **10 June 2019**: Foreign minister Ine Eriksen Søreide in Mogadishu, met by Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled ([Garowe Online, 10 June 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/norwegian-foreign-minister-arrives-in-somalia-for-one-day-visit)).
- **May 2019**: Somalia co-hosts with Norway, Iraq and the UAE an Oslo conference on ending sexual and gender-based violence in crises ([Government of Norway, 2019](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/foreign-affairs/humanitarian-efforts/sgbv_statement/id2666966)).
- **December 2022**: Development minister Anne Beathe Tvinnereim in Somalia ([Government of Norway, 5 December 2022](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/aid_boost/id2949489/)).
- **10 to 12 June 2024**: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Oslo for the Oslo Forum mediation retreat. He met Prime Minister Støre on 11 June ([Villa Somalia, 11 June 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-held-talks-with-norways-prime-minister-jonas-gahr-store/); [Garowe Online, June 2024](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-arrives-in-oslo-norway-amid-surge-in-al-shabaab-attacks)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is very small. UN Comtrade records Norwegian exports to Somalia of:

- US$344,552 in 2015 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2015&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- US$243,243 in 2020, with imports of US$5,410 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- US$306,404 in 2023 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- US$118,308 in 2024, with imports of US$9,996 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

In 2024 the largest export groups were vehicles, carpets, furniture and machinery ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

Norwegian firms have been active in oil and gas surveys. In September 2015 Somalia signed a deal with Norway's Spectrum ASA for a 2D seismic survey of about 28,000 square kilometres offshore ([The Citizen, 7 September 2015](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/africa/somalia-signs-oil-contract-with-norway-s-spectrum-2531762)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

From 2012 to 2018 Norway disbursed NOK 2.7 billion to Somalia in its own aid statistics ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). Counting its core funding to UN agencies, the total was NOK 3.2 to 3.3 billion ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). Yearly spending more than doubled over the period ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).

The main channels in 2012 to 2018 were ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)):

- **World Bank Multi-Partner Fund**: NOK 377 million.
- **UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund**: NOK 187 million.
- **Special Financing Facility**: NOK 102 million, folded into the World Bank fund from 2015.
- **Norwegian Refugee Council**: NOK 332 million.
- **Norwegian Red Cross**: NOK 197 million; **Norwegian Church Aid**: NOK 192 million; **Save the Children Norway**: NOK 110 million.
- **Nordic International Support Foundation**: about NOK 185 million.
- **Somalia Stability Fund**: NOK 142 million since 2012.
- **Humanitarian aid**: NOK 752 million in total.

The Special Financing Facility, launched in 2013, helped the new federal government pay salaries and run basic finances ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). It paved the way for the World Bank to work with the government ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). Proposed in December 2012, it made its first salary payments in August 2013 and covered ten months of salaries up to June 2014 ([g7+, New Deal case study](https://www.g7plus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/new-deal-innovations-case-study-4-3.pdf)). A World Bank facility then took over salary payments from July 2014, using the system the facility had set up ([g7+](https://www.g7plus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/new-deal-innovations-case-study-4-3.pdf)). Norway then backed the Somalia Development and Reconstruction Facility, set up in 2014 to coordinate donors under the New Deal Compact ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).

**Debt.** In October 2019 Norway proposed a short-term bridging loan of NOK 3.135 billion ([Government of Norway, October 2019](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2673476)). On 5 March 2020 it lent US$365.9 million, which Somalia used to pay its IDA arrears ([World Bank, 5 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/05/somalia-clears-arrears-to-world-bank-group)). A same-size IDA grant then repaid Norway, within hours ([Government of Norway, 2020](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2692771)).

This cleared one of three arrears blocks. Italy bridged the IMF arrears and the United Kingdom, with an EU contribution, bridged the African Development Bank arrears ([IMF, 25 March 2020](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2020/03/25/pr20104-somalia-somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). Somalia then reached the HIPC Decision Point on 25 March 2020 ([IMF, 25 March 2020](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2020/03/25/pr20104-somalia-somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).

Norway cancelled NOK 16.2 million of Somalia's own debt to Norway. NOK 10.85 million went at signing and NOK 5.35 million at the HIPC Completion Point ([Government of Norway](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/gjeld_somalia/id2813315/)).

**OECD figures.** Norway's bilateral aid disbursements to Somalia, in current US dollars, were US$84.2 million in 2011, US$66.8 million in 2018, US$71.6 million in 2023 and US$47.0 million in 2024 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)).

**Recent aid.** In 2022 Norway gave almost NOK 200 million in humanitarian aid before adding NOK 25 million in December ([Government of Norway, 5 December 2022](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/aid_boost/id2949489/)). Norway put US$30 million into the World Bank's [Somalia Multi-Partner Fund](/en/relations/world-bank/) in December 2022 ([Hiiraan Online, 4 December 2022](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Dec/188975/norway_contributes_30m_to_somali_mpf.aspx)). It plans NOK 102 million of humanitarian aid in 2026 ([Norad, 27 April 2026](https://www.norad.no/en/news/news/2026/hunger-in-somalia/)).

## What about security?

Norway's Somalia strategy for 2012 to 2015 included support for areas newly taken from [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and for the African Union and UN ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). It funded stabilisation through the Somalia Stability Fund ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). Norway's envoys have discussed Somalia's post-ATMIS security plans with the federal government ([SONNA, 17 November 2024](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-foreign-minister-ahmed-moalim-fiqi-engages-norwegian-delegation-to-deepen-bilateral-cooperation)). For foreign military roles, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Norway deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Norway works with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) through its development programmes. It funded the Somaliland Development Fund with NOK 30 million in 2013 and 2015 ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). The UK also lists Norway among the fund's donors, with Denmark and the Netherlands ([UK Government, Development support to Somaliland](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/development-support-to-somaliland)).

Norway's diplomats joined a group visit by international partners to Hargeisa on 2 and 3 April 2019 ([UK Government, April 2019](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/high-level-visit-by-international-partners-to-hargeisa-somaliiand)). In the first years after 2012 Norway funded the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance in Somaliland and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).

Norway's evaluators visited Mogadishu, Baidoa, Hargeisa and Garowe for their 2020 review ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)).

## Have there been disputes?

In July 2013 the UN Monitoring Group on [Somalia and Eritrea](/en/relations/eritrea/) suggested that Norway's aid could serve as cover for commercial oil interests ([UN Security Council, S/2013/436](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/753516/files/S_2013_436-EN.pdf)). The report linked this to Norwegian help on Somalia's continental shelf claim ([Government of Norway, July 2013](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/development-efforts-somalia/id732864)).

Norway rejected the claims. Its letter to the Security Council of 22 July 2013 called them erroneous, including those about the oil firm DNO and Statoil ([UN Security Council, S/2013/436](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/753516/files/S_2013_436-EN.pdf)). Minister Heikki Holmås denied any link between the continental shelf help and oil interests ([Government of Norway, July 2013](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/development-efforts-somalia/id732864)).

The 2009 Kenya–Somalia memorandum drafted by a Norwegian ambassador later became part of the maritime case Somalia brought against Kenya. The International Court of Justice ruled on 2 February 2017 that the memorandum was a valid treaty and did not stop the Court hearing the case ([ICJ, 2 February 2017](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20170202-JUD-01-01-EN.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Norway?

On 1 January 2026, 44,744 people of Somali background lived in Norway: 27,769 born in Somalia and 16,975 born in Norway to Somali-born parents ([Statistics Norway, table 05183](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05183/)). See [Norway (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Where does Norway stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Norway led the Security Council's work on Somalia during its 2001 to 2002 term ([Norad, 2020](https://www.norad.no/contentassets/9878abb020484298a345d1944ba2dcc1/main-report-evaluation-of-norways-engagement-in-somalia-2012-2018)). From 2006 it co-chaired the International Contact Group on Somalia with the United States ([ReliefWeb, 2008](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/norway-host-international-contact-group-somalia-meeting-30-april)).

Norway hosts the yearly Oslo Forum on mediation. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud spoke there in June 2024 ([Garowe Online, June 2024](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-arrives-in-oslo-norway-amid-surge-in-al-shabaab-attacks)). Norway is a Paris Club creditor and took part in Somalia's 2020 Paris Club debt deal ([Paris Club, 31 March 2020](https://clubdeparis.org/en/sites/clubdeparis/accueil/pays-accords-signes/recherche-accords-signes/fiches/s/somalie-31-mars-2020.html)).

## Related pages

- [Norway (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/norway/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)
- [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/)

## Sources

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2. Kaurin, S.-O. G. "Norwegian-Somali Relations." Master's thesis, University of Oslo, 2022. [duo.uio.no](https://duo.uio.no/handle/10852/95131). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Government of Norway. "Norway enters into agreement on development cooperation with Somalia." 30 June 2013. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/somalia_cooperation/id731971/).
4. Government of Norway. "Norway regrets claims by a UN report linking Norwegian development efforts to commercial interests in Somalia." July 2013. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/development-efforts-somalia/id732864).
5. UN Security Council. Letter from Norway, S/2013/436. [digitallibrary.un.org](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/753516/files/S_2013_436-EN.pdf).
6. International Court of Justice. [Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean](/en/government/somalia-v-kenya-icj-maritime-case/) (Somalia v. Kenya), Preliminary Objections, Judgment, 2 February 2017. [icj-cij.org](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20170202-JUD-01-01-EN.pdf).
7. World Bank. "Somalia Clears Arrears to World Bank Group." 5 March 2020. [worldbank.org](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/05/somalia-clears-arrears-to-world-bank-group). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IMF. Press Release 20/104. 25 March 2020. [imf.org](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2020/03/25/pr20104-somalia-somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative).
9. Government of Norway. "Norway to provide bridging loan to Somalia." October 2019. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2673476).
10. Government of Norway. "Norway assists Somalia en route to debt relief." 2020. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2692771).
11. Government of Norway. "Norway grants debt relief to Somalia." [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/gjeld_somalia/id2813315/).
12. Paris Club. Somalia, 31 March 2020. [clubdeparis.org](https://clubdeparis.org/en/sites/clubdeparis/accueil/pays-accords-signes/recherche-accords-signes/fiches/s/somalie-31-mars-2020.html).
13. Government of Norway. "Norway to provide large boost in aid to Somalia." 5 December 2022. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/aid_boost/id2949489/).
14. Government of Norway. Brende visit to Somalia, 29 June 2017. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/pm_somalia/id2563790/).
15. Government of Norway. Oslo conference on sexual and gender-based violence, co-hosts' statement, 2019. [regjeringen.no](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/foreign-affairs/humanitarian-efforts/sgbv_statement/id2666966).
16. Norad. "Hunger in Somalia." 27 April 2026. [norad.no](https://www.norad.no/en/news/news/2026/hunger-in-somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. ReliefWeb. "Norway to host International Contact Group on Somalia meeting 30 April." 2008. [reliefweb.int](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/norway-host-international-contact-group-somalia-meeting-30-april).
18. [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/). "Somalia: New Norway Ambassador appointed." 18 March 2015. [garoweonline.com](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-norway-ambassador-appointed). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Goobjoog. "President Hassan receives credentials from Norway ambassador." 18 March 2015. [goobjoog.com](https://en.goobjoog.com/president-hassan-receives-credentials-from-norway-ambassador-2). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Garowe Online. "Norwegian Foreign Minister arrives in Somalia for one-day visit." 10 June 2019. [garoweonline.com](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/norwegian-foreign-minister-arrives-in-somalia-for-one-day-visit). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/). Talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. 11 June 2024. [villasomalia.gov.so](https://villasomalia.gov.so/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-held-talks-with-norways-prime-minister-jonas-gahr-store/). Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Garowe Online. "Somalia president arrives in Oslo, Norway." June 2024. [garoweonline.com](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-arrives-in-oslo-norway-amid-surge-in-al-shabaab-attacks).
23. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/). Foreign Minister Fiqi meets Norwegian delegation. 17 November 2024. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somalias-foreign-minister-ahmed-moalim-fiqi-engages-norwegian-delegation-to-deepen-bilateral-cooperation). Checked 2026-11-12.
24. SONNA. Auditor General receives officials from the Norwegian embassy. 16 January 2024. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/auditor-general-receives-officials-from-the-norwegian-embassy). Checked 2026-11-12.
25. SONNA. Somali ambassador to Nordic countries presents credentials to King Harald V. 13 February 2026. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-nordic-countries-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v-of-norway/). Checked 2026-11-12.
26. Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Copy of credentials from Norway's new ambassador. December 2025. [mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-foreign-minister-receives-copy-of-credentials-from-norways-newly-appointed-ambassador/). Checked 2026-11-12.
27. Hiiraan Online. Foreign minister meets Norwegian delegation. 20 April 2023. [hiiraan.com](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Apr/190935/somali_foreign_minister_meets_with_delegation_from_the_norwegian_ministry_of_foreign_affairs.aspx).
28. Hiiraan Online. "Norway restores diplomatic relations with Somalia." June 2013. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Jun/30069/norway_restores_diplomatic_relations_with_somalia.aspx).
29. Hiiraan Online. "Norway contributes $30m to Somali MPF." December 2022. [hiiraan.com](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Dec/188975/norway_contributes_30m_to_somali_mpf.aspx).
30. Halqabsi. "UN envoy meets with Norwegian ambassador." March 2024. [halqabsi.com](https://halqabsi.com/2024/03/un-envoy-meets-with-norwegian-ambassador).
31. Nordic Women Mediators. Heidi Elburgi Johansen. [nordicwomenmediators.org](https://nordicwomenmediators.org/members-heidi-elburgi-johansen). Checked 2026-11-12.
32. Garowe Online. "Gargash meets Norwegian special envoy to Somalia." August 2024. [garoweonline.com](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/world/gargash-meets-norwegian-special-envoy-to-somalia).
33. Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Special envoy meets Norway's envoy to Somalia. 19 March 2025. [mofa.gov.qa](https://mofa.gov.qa/en/qatar/latest-articles/latest-news/details/2025/03/19/special-envoy-of-minister-of-foreign-affairs-meets-norway's-envoy-to-somalia).
34. The Citizen. "Somalia signs oil contract with Norway's Spectrum." 7 September 2015. [thecitizen.co.tz](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/africa/somalia-signs-oil-contract-with-norway-s-spectrum-2531762). Checked 2026-11-12.
35. UK Government. "Development support to Somaliland." [gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/development-support-to-somaliland).
36. UK Government. "High-level visit by international partners to Hargeisa." April 2019. [gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/high-level-visit-by-international-partners-to-hargeisa-somaliiand).
37. UN Comtrade. Norway–Somalia trade, 2015 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=579&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-12.
38. Statistics Norway. Table 05183. [ssb.no](https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05183/).
39. g7+. "New Deal innovations case study: the Special Financing Facility in Somalia." [g7plus.org](https://www.g7plus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/new-deal-innovations-case-study-4-3.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
40. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor, current prices. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somali montane xeric woodlands: the northern mountains ecoregion

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-montane-xeric-woodlands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali montane xeric woodlands are the dry mountain woodlands and scrub of northern Somalia, from the Golis range in Togdheer and Woqooyi Galbeed east through the Cal Madow of Sanaag and Bari to Cape Guardafui and south to Eyl. They rise to 2,416 m at Shimbiris. Juniper forest on the high slopes is home to birds found nowhere else, such as the Somali thrush and the Warsangli linnet.

## In short

The Somali montane xeric woodlands are an ecoregion: a large area with its own mix of plants and animals, as mapped by the conservation group WWF (ecoregion code AT1319) ([Wikipedia, Somali montane xeric woodlands, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)). "Xeric" means dry. The ecoregion covers the mountains that run parallel to Somalia's northern coast on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/), from central Togdheer east to Cape Guardafui, and then down the coast south to Eyl (same source).

Somalia's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan of 2016 calls the same area the "*Juniperus excelsa* forest in the mountainous belt of Golis". It stretches through [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), from Shimbiris mountain to Raas Caseyr at the tip of the Horn ([Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (Ullah and Gadain, FAO SWALIM), 2016, p. 33](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

## Land and climate

The western part is formed by the Golis and Ga'an Libah mountains; further east are the Cal Madow mountains of eastern Sanaag and northern Bari. A narrow coastal strip separates the mountains from the sea. The land rises from sea level to 2,416 m at Shimbiris, the highest point in Somalia. The higher mountains include outcrops of limestone and gypsum ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands); [NBSAP 2016, p. 33](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

The climate is tropical and dry to semi-dry. Average temperatures range from 21 to 30°C in the lowlands and 9 to 21°C in the mountains. The lowlands get less than 200 mm of rain a year. The escarpment slopes near [Maydh](/en/regions/maydh/) get about 700 mm a year, the highest rainfall in Somalia ([NBSAP 2016, p. 33](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf); [Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)).

## Plants

Plant cover changes with height, rain and soil. The hot coastal plains have little or no vegetation. The foothills carry open scrub of *Acacia*, *Commiphora* and *[Boswellia](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/)*. The escarpment slopes carry evergreen and semi-evergreen shrubs and small trees, among them *Dracaena schizantha*, *Barbeya oleoides*, *Mimusops laurifolia*, *Buxus hildebrandtii* and *Pistacia aethiopica*. The highest slopes carry remnant juniper woodland and forest of *Juniperus procera* and wild olive, *Olea europaea* ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)).

The 2016 national plan records more than ten plant species found only here, including the genus *Renschia*, which has a single species, four species of *Helianthemum* and one of *Thamnosma*. It notes that WWF and IUCN treat the area as a centre of plant endemism ([NBSAP 2016, p. 34](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). The shrub *Boswellia frereana*, found only in this region, grows from near the coast up to about 750 m and produces frankincense resin ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)).

## Animals

The national plan lists the beira (*Dorcatragus megalotis*), Speke's gazelle, Salt's dik-dik and Soemmerring's gazelle. It records that they suffer from over-hunting and from competition with livestock for grazing. Near-endemic small mammals include the [Somali hedgehog](/en/nature/somali-hedgehog/), Louise's spiny mouse and the Somali elephant shrew ([NBSAP 2016, p. 34](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

Three birds are endemic to the area: the [Somali pigeon](/en/nature/somali-pigeon/), the [Somali thrush](/en/nature/somali-thrush/) and the Warsangli linnet. The thrush and the linnet live only or mainly in the high juniper forests (same source). BirdLife International treats the ecoregion as the North Somali Mountains Endemic Bird Area ([Wikipedia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)). Endemic reptiles include the snakes *Spalerosophis josephscorteccii* and *Leptotyphlops reticulatus* and the lizard *Pseuderemias savagei* ([NBSAP 2016, p. 34](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

## Threats recorded in 2016

Consultation workshops in Puntland and Somaliland for the national plan named the main threats as the cutting of juniper trees for timber and firewood, heavy grazing by goats and other livestock, and the poaching of larger mammals. The plan states that the forests have been degraded and that much of the information on the area is old, because it was hard to reach for decades ([NBSAP 2016, p. 34](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

## Protected areas

The national plan names forest reserves as the only protected areas in the ecoregion, for example the Daallo (Daloh) forest reserve of montane juniper, with other patches on the Surud and Cal Madow highlands ([NBSAP 2016, p. 34](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)). The World Database on Protected Areas lists Daallo Forest, Ga'an Libah and Ras [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/) among the protected areas of the ecoregion ([Protected Planet, Somalia](https://www.protectedplanet.net/country/SOM)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)
- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)
- [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/)
- [Bari](/en/regions/bari/)
- [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/)

## Sources

- [Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2016](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)
- [Protected Planet, World Database on Protected Areas, Somalia](https://www.protectedplanet.net/country/SOM)
- [Wikipedia, Somali montane xeric woodlands (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_montane_xeric_woodlands)


---

# Somali wild ass (Equus africanus somaliensis)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-wild-ass/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali wild ass is a wild donkey of the Horn of Africa, with zebra-like stripes on its legs. The IUCN Red List lists the African wild ass as Critically Endangered. San Diego Zoo puts the wild population at about 600 animals, and about 200 more live in zoos.

## In short

The Somali wild ass (*Equus africanus somaliensis*) is a subspecies of the African wild ass, the wild ancestor group of the donkey. It was first described scientifically by Theodor Noack in 1884 ([Wikipedia, Somali wild ass, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_wild_ass)). Its legs carry dark stripes like a zebra's ([San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Somali wild ass](https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/somali-wild-ass)).

The IUCN Red List assesses the African wild ass species as Critically Endangered, the highest risk class before extinction in the wild ([IUCN Red List, *Equus africanus*, 2015 assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T7949A45170994.en)).

## How many are left and where

[San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/) Zoo Wildlife Alliance estimates about 600 Somali wild asses in the wild ([San Diego Zoo, "Somali Wild Ass: A Vanishing Breed Holds On"](https://adminblogs.sandiegozoo.org/zoonooz/somali-wild-ass/)). Zoo Basel, which runs the main breeding programme, gives its range as Somalia (including [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)), the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea and the Afar Region of Ethiopia, with about 200 more animals in zoos ([Zoo Basel](https://www.zoobasel.ch/de/aktuelles/news/413/seltene-schoenheit-somali-wildeselfohlen-bezaubert-das-zolli-publikum/); [Zoo Basel](https://www.zoobasel.ch/en/aktuelles/news/1369/nachwuchs-bei-den-somali-wildeseln/)).

A field project supported by Zoo Basel counted 47 Somali wild asses before 2014 in the mountains between the Buri Peninsula and the Dallol Depression in Eritrea, near the Ethiopian border ([Report to Basel Zoo, African wild ass in Eritrea, 2014](https://www.zoobasel.ch/cgi-bin/wissen/files/Report%20to%20Basel%20Zoo_for%20the%20website_2014.pdf)).

## Records from Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 10 records of this subspecies from Somalia. All 10 are museum specimens, collected between 1896 and 1936, and 6 of them are from Woqooyi Galbeed ([GBIF occurrence search, *Equus africanus somaliensis*, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=8612957)). GBIF holds no record of the animal in Somalia after 1936. That is a gap in the record, not proof of absence; GBIF only holds what scientists and museums have shared.

## How it lives

Food and water are scarce in its range, so the Somali wild ass lives in a loose "fission and fusion" society. Most adults live alone. Females and young sometimes form small herds, and in wetter areas animals join larger groups for a time. Stallions hold territories of up to about nine square miles and mark them with dung piles ([San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Somali wild ass](https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/story-hub/zoonooz/somali-wild-ass)).

Foals are born after a pregnancy of about a year, usually in spring. A foal stands within hours, nibbles grass at about five days and is weaned at 12 to 14 months ([San Diego Zoo, "A Vanishing Breed Holds On"](https://adminblogs.sandiegozoo.org/zoonooz/somali-wild-ass/)).

## The zoo breeding programme

Zoo Basel in Switzerland began keeping Somali wild asses in 1970 and had its first birth in 1972. It keeps the European studbook, runs the European Endangered Species Programme for the animal, and has led the global species committee since 2004 ([Husbandry and breeding of Somali wild ass at Basel Zoo, *International Zoo Yearbook*, 2008](https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1090.2008.00072.x)).

San Diego Zoo Safari Park received its first herd from Basel in 1981; its first foal was born in 1986 and 49 foals had been born there by 2018 ([San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance](https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/story-hub/zoonooz/somali-wild-ass)). Births have since been reported at Dallas, Saint Louis, [Denver](/en/diaspora/denver/), Zoo Miami, White Oak, Dvůr Králové, Africa Alive, Knowsley and Woburn, among others ([Saint Louis Zoo](https://stlzoo.org/news/somali-wild-ass-foal-born-july-30-2019-close); [BBC News, Knowsley foal, 2024](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ydg588jnpo); [Denver Zoo](https://denverzoo.org/zootales/dzca-welcomes-first-somali-wild-ass-foal/)).

## Donkeys in Italy

Researchers found that some domestic donkeys in Italy descend from the Somali wild ass, going back to Roman times; a "horse" found at Pompeii was identified as a donkey ([University of Cambridge, "Identity of Pompeii's mystery horse revealed"](https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/identity-of-pompeiis-mystery-horse-revealed)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)
- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List, *Equus africanus*, 2015](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T7949A45170994.en)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=8612957)
- [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance](https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/somali-wild-ass)
- [Zoo Basel, Report on the African wild ass in Eritrea, 2014](https://www.zoobasel.ch/cgi-bin/wissen/files/Report%20to%20Basel%20Zoo_for%20the%20website_2014.pdf)
- [Wikipedia, Somali wild ass (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_wild_ass)


---

# Somalia and Turkey

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/turkey/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Turkey is one of Somalia's closest partners. It reopened its Mogadishu embassy on 1 November 2011 after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's famine visit of 19 August 2011, and says its aid has passed US$1 billion. Turkish firms run Mogadishu's port and airport, Turkey sold Somalia about US$425 million of goods in 2023, and since April 2026 a Turkish ship has drilled Somalia's first deep-sea oil well.

## How do Somalia and Turkey relate today?

Turkey has an embassy in Mogadishu and a consulate general in Hargeisa. Somalia has an embassy in Ankara ([Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)). Ferhat Alkan became Turkey's ambassador on 21 September 2026 ([Turkish Embassy Mogadishu, heads of mission](https://mogadishu-emb.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/MissionChiefHistory)).

Turkey says its humanitarian and development aid to Somalia has passed US$1 billion ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)). Turkish companies run Mogadishu's seaport and airport ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)). Turkey exported goods worth US$424.9 million to Somalia in 2023 ([WITS, World Bank](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

The two governments signed a defence and economic framework agreement on 8 February 2024 ([The East African, 2024](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-signs-defence-economic-cooperation-deals-with-turkey-4533226)). On 19 July 2024 Turkey's state oil company and the Somali Petroleum Authority signed a deal on three offshore blocks ([Garowe Online, 23 April 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/turkey-to-secure-up-to-90-of-somalia-s-oil-and-gas-revenue-document-reveals)). The Turkish drillship Çağrı Bey reached Somalia on 9 April 2026 to drill the Curad-1 well ([Turkish Ministry of Energy, 9 April 2026](https://enerji.gov.tr/news-detail?id=31797)).

## When did contact begin?

Contact goes back to the 16th century. In the wars of Imam Ahmad of Adal in the 1530s and 1540s, Adal's army included matchlock men, many of them Turks from Zabid in Yemen; see [Imam Ahmad and Adal](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/). A Heritage Institute study notes Ottoman-era buildings still standing in coastal towns such as Berbera ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).

In 1585 the Ottoman captain Mir Ali Bey sailed to Mogadishu to challenge Portugal on the East African coast. The Portuguese captured him at Mombasa in 1589 ([Önalan, Kadim, 2025](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/kadim/article/1697957)).

By the middle of the 16th century Zeila (Saylac) and Berbera were dependencies of the sharifs of Mocha. In the 17th century they passed to the Ottoman Turks, who ruled them through locally recruited Somali governors ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/4.htm)).

From the mid-1700s the northern coast passed under the sharifs of Mukha, who held a loose authority for the Ottomans and took a small yearly tribute ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm)).

Modern relations date from Somalia's independence. Turkey opened its embassy in Mogadishu in 1979 and closed it in 1991 when the civil war began ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)). The embassy's own site marks 60 years of diplomatic relations but does not give the starting year ([Turkish Embassy Mogadishu](https://mogadishu-emb.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/Message)).

Turkey's renewed role began before 2011. It hosted the Istanbul Conference on Somalia on 21 to 23 May 2010 ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). On 17 August 2011 Turkey called an emergency meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Istanbul on the famine ([Turkish MFA, press release 248, 1 November 2011](https://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-248_-1-november-2011_-press-release-regarding-the-re-opening-of-the-turkish-embassy-in-mogadishu.en.mfa)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Turkish ambassadors to Somalia, as listed by the Turkish embassy ([Turkish Embassy Mogadishu, heads of mission](https://mogadishu-emb.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/MissionChiefHistory)):

- **Mehmet Sıtkı Coşkun:** 1981 to 1984.
- **Nejat Taylan:** 1984 to 1987.
- **Hikmet Şengeç:** 1988 to 1992.
- **Cemalettin Kani Torun:** arrived in Mogadishu on 31 October 2011 and reopened the embassy on 1 November 2011 ([Turkish MFA, press release 248](https://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-248_-1-november-2011_-press-release-regarding-the-re-opening-of-the-turkish-embassy-in-mogadishu.en.mfa)); the embassy list dates his term from June 2012 to September 2014.
- **Olgan Bekar:** September 2014 to December 2018. He also served as the foreign minister's special envoy for the Somalia–Somaliland talks ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **Mehmet Yılmaz:** ambassador from December 2018; recalled in January 2023 ([Hiiraan Online, January 2023](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2023/Jan/189312/erdogan_appoints_new_ambassador_to_somalia_amid_diplomatic_shakeup.aspx)).
- **Ibrahim Mete Yağlı:** named in January 2023 to replace Yılmaz ([Hiiraan Online, January 2023](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2023/Jan/189312/erdogan_appoints_new_ambassador_to_somalia_amid_diplomatic_shakeup.aspx)).
- **Alper Aktaş:** 15 March 2024 to 14 September 2026.
- **Ferhat Alkan:** from 21 September 2026.

Somali ambassadors to Turkey:

- **Abdullahi Mohamed Ali "Sanbaloolshe":** nominated on 3 June 2015; a former ambassador to the UK and former head of [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/) ([Radio Dalsan, 3 June 2015](https://radiodalsan.com/2015/06/03/somali-president-appoints-new-ambassadors-to-us-and-turkey/)).
- **Jama Abdullahi Mohamed:** appointed in May 2017 ([Embassy of Somalia in Ankara](https://ankara.mfa.gov.so/?p=11845)).
- **Fathudin Ali Mohamed:** presented credentials to President Erdoğan in May 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, May 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/May/196413/turkish_president_recep_tayyip_erdoğan_receives_credentials_from_new_somali_ambassador.aspx)).

Missions: the Turkish embassy in Mogadishu, opened in its new building on 3 June 2016 ([Anadolu Agency, 3 June 2016](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/erdogan-opens-turkeys-new-embassy-complex-in-somalia/583793)); the Turkish Consulate General in Hargeisa, open since 1 June 2014 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)); and the Somali embassy in Çankaya, Ankara ([Embassy of Somalia in Ankara](https://ankara.mfa.gov.so)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Recep Tayyip Erdoğan**, Turkish prime minister then president: visited Mogadishu on 19 August 2011 with ministers and his family, and again in January 2015 and June 2016 ([Turkish MFA, press release 248](https://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-248_-1-november-2011_-press-release-regarding-the-re-opening-of-the-turkish-embassy-in-mogadishu.en.mfa); [Turkish Directorate of Communications, 6 July 2022](https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/our-aid-to-somalia-over-the-last-decade-totals-more-than-a-billion-dollars)).
- **Cemalettin Kani Torun**, ambassador from 2011: a doctor who had run the charity Doctors Worldwide; the first Turkish ambassador in Mogadishu since 1991. He was elected to Turkey's parliament for Bursa in 2015 ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Olgan Bekar**, ambassador 2014 to 2018: led the Somalia–Somaliland talks as special envoy and announced the new embassy on 29 October 2015 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa); [HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Ahmet Davutoğlu**, foreign minister: mediated the Ankara meeting of the Somali and Somaliland presidents on 13 April 2013 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/foreign-minister-davutoglu-we-will-take-the-necessary-steps-to-strengthen-the-brotherhood-between-somalia-and-somaliland.en.mfa)).
- **Bekir Bozdağ**, deputy prime minister: flew on the first Turkish Airlines flight to Mogadishu on 6 March 2012 ([Capital FM, March 2012](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/03/international-airline-lands-in-mogadishu-after-20-year-break/)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)**, Somali president: signed the 2013 Ankara communiqué, opened the airport terminal and hospital with Erdoğan in 2015, and signed the Ankara Declaration in December 2024 ([Garowe Online, January 2015](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-turkey-s-erdogan-on-second-visit-to-mogadishu); [Anadolu Agency, 12 December 2024](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-ethiopia-affirm-each-others-sovereignty-unity-ankara-declaration/3422125)).
- **[Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/)**, Somali president: made a state visit to Turkey on 26 April 2017 and a working visit on 23 November 2018 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **[Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur](/en/people/abdulkadir-mohamed-nur/)**, Somali defence minister: signed the defence and economic framework agreement with Yaşar Güler in Ankara on 8 February 2024 ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-signs-defence-economic-cooperation-deals-with-turkey-4533226)).
- **Yaşar Güler**, Turkish defence minister: co-signed the February 2024 framework agreement ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-signs-defence-economic-cooperation-deals-with-turkey-4533226)).
- **[Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/)**, Somali prime minister: took the defence agreement through cabinet on 21 February 2024 ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agareement-with-turkey-/7496758.html)).
- **Alparslan Bayraktar**, Turkish energy minister, and **Dahir Shire Mohamed**, Somali petroleum minister: led the Çağrı Bey drilling mission in April 2026 ([Turkish Ministry of Energy](https://enerji.gov.tr/news-detail?id=31797)).
- **Mehmet Fatih Kacır**, Turkish industry minister: announced that building of a spaceport in Somalia had begun ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/turkiye/turkiye-has-completed-feasibility-design-work-for-space-port-in-somalia-minister/3785508)).
- **Hulusi Akar**, Turkish chief of general staff: opened Camp TURKSOM with Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) on 30 September 2017 ([VOA, 30 September 2017](https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-opens-largest-foreign-military-base-in-mogadishu/4051001.html)).
- **Çetin Group and [Kozuva](/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/)**, Turkish builders: formed Favori LLC, which built the new terminal and took over [Aden Adde](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) airport ([The African Aviation Tribune, September 2013](https://www.theafricanaviationtribune.com/2013/09/somalia-turkeys-favori-llc-to-assume.html)).
- **Albayrak Group**: took over Mogadishu port in 2014 ([Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-company-to-manage-port-of-mogadishu-159099)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **13 April 2013, Ankara Communiqué:** between the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) and Somaliland, mediated by Turkey ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/ankara-communique-_-between-somali-and-somaliland_-13-april-2013.en.mfa)).
- **2013, Digfer hospital:** agreement to rebuild and run Mogadishu's Digfer hospital ([Garowe Online, January 2015](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-turkey-s-erdogan-on-second-visit-to-mogadishu)).
- **2013, Aden Adde airport:** 20-year management contract to Favori ([The African Aviation Tribune, September 2013](https://www.theafricanaviationtribune.com/2013/09/somalia-turkeys-favori-llc-to-assume.html)); amended and restated on 16 May 2019 ([World Bank PPP](https://ppp.worldbank.org/node/6808)).
- **2014, Mogadishu port:** 20-year concession to Albayrak ([Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-company-to-manage-port-of-mogadishu-159099)); replaced in October 2020 by a revised 14-year concession ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-turkish-firm-ink-revised-14-year-port-concession)).
- **8 February 2024, Framework Agreement on Defence and Economic Cooperation:** ten years; Turkey to build, train and equip a Somali navy. Somalia's parliament approved it ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-signs-defence-economic-cooperation-deals-with-turkey-4533226); [VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agareement-with-turkey-/7496758.html)).
- **Early 2024, hydrocarbons memorandums:** gave the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) licences for three offshore areas of about 5,000 square km each ([Hürriyet Daily News, 27 October 2024](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/tpao-signs-deal-for-onshore-oil-gas-exploration-in-somalia-201973)).
- **19 July 2024, offshore production agreement:** TPAO and the Somali Petroleum Authority, three blocks covering 15,000 square km ([Garowe Online, 23 April 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/turkey-to-secure-up-to-90-of-somalia-s-oil-and-gas-revenue-document-reveals)).
- **October 2024, onshore exploration agreement:** TPAO and the Somali Petroleum Authority, announced when the Oruç Reis reached Mogadishu ([Hürriyet Daily News, 27 October 2024](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/tpao-signs-deal-for-onshore-oil-gas-exploration-in-somalia-201973)). Daily Sabah reported an onshore exploration and production agreement in April 2025 ([Daily Sabah, April 2025](https://dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkiye-somalia-sign-deal-for-onshore-hydrocarbon-exploration)).
- **11 December 2024, Ankara Declaration:** between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/), under Turkish facilitation ([Somali MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/communique-ankara-declaration-11-december-2024/)).
- **30 December 2025, Istanbul agreements:** signed during President Hassan Sheikh's visit, including plans for a spaceport ([AllAfrica, 31 December 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202512310083.html); [Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/turkiye/turkiye-has-completed-feasibility-design-work-for-space-port-in-somalia-minister/3785508)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **19 August 2011:** Prime Minister Erdoğan in Mogadishu, with ministers; he visited a camp for displaced people and a hospital ([Daily Sabah, 20 August 2011](https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2011/08/20/erdogan-visits-somalia-to-highlight-famine)).
- **6 March 2012:** Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on the first Turkish Airlines flight ([Capital FM](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/03/international-airline-lands-in-mogadishu-after-20-year-break/)).
- **13 April 2013:** Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ahmed Silanyo of Somaliland in Ankara ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/historic-somalia-summit-in-ankara-presidents-of-somalia-and-somaliland-met-in-ankara.en.mfa)).
- **25 January 2015:** President Erdoğan in Mogadishu; opened the airport terminal and the hospital ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-turkey-s-erdogan-on-second-visit-to-mogadishu)).
- **3 June 2016:** President Erdoğan in Mogadishu; opened the embassy complex ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/erdogan-opens-turkeys-new-embassy-complex-in-somalia/583793)).
- **26 April 2017:** President Farmaajo, state visit to Turkey ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **12 to 13 December 2017, 9 July 2018, 23 November 2018:** President Farmaajo at the OIC summit in Istanbul, Erdoğan's swearing-in and a working visit ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **26 to 27 November 2019:** Somalia's foreign minister, official visit ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **6 July 2022:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Ankara ([Turkish Directorate of Communications](https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/our-aid-to-somalia-over-the-last-decade-totals-more-than-a-billion-dollars)).
- **11 to 12 December 2024:** President Hassan Sheikh in Ankara for the Ankara Declaration ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-ethiopia-affirm-each-others-sovereignty-unity-ankara-declaration/3422125)).
- **March 2025 and July 2025:** President Hassan Sheikh in Ankara ([Hiiraan Online, March 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Mar/200888/somali_turkish_presidents_reaffirm_strategic_partnership_during_ankara_meeting.aspx); [Africanews, 12 July 2025](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2025/07/12/somalia-ethiopia-tensions-escalate-as-port-deal-talks-stall/)).
- **30 December 2025:** President Hassan Sheikh in Istanbul, days after Israel recognised Somaliland ([Hürriyet Daily News](https://hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-hosts-somali-leader-days-after-israels-somaliland-move-217328)).
- **April 2026:** talks in Istanbul on energy and trade ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/turkiye-somalia-strengthen-energy-and-trade-ties-after-istanbul-talks)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade grew from almost nothing. Erdoğan said trade was US$2 million in 2003 and US$363 million in 2021 ([Turkish Directorate of Communications, 6 July 2022](https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/our-aid-to-somalia-over-the-last-decade-totals-more-than-a-billion-dollars)).

Turkish exports to Somalia, from World Bank WITS data:

- **2010:** US$4.8 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2015:** US$72.6 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2019:** US$256.5 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2019/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2022:** US$386.3 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2022/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2023:** US$424.9 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

Turkish imports from Somalia are small: US$1.0 million in 2023 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUR/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)). Turkey says Turkish investment in Somalia had reached US$100 million ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).

Main Turkish companies in Somalia:

- **Turkish Airlines:** first flight Istanbul to Mogadishu on 6 March 2012, the first major international airline in Mogadishu in about 20 years ([Capital FM](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/03/international-airline-lands-in-mogadishu-after-20-year-break/)).
- **Favori LLC:** took over [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) from Dubai-based SKA on 14 September 2013 ([The African Aviation Tribune](https://www.theafricanaviationtribune.com/2013/09/somalia-turkeys-favori-llc-to-assume.html)). Its new terminal was ready for Erdoğan's January 2015 visit ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Albayrak:** took over Mogadishu port in October 2014, offering 55% of gross monthly income to the government. From October 2014 to April 2015 it paid about US$9.4 million into the Central Bank ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). The revised 2020 deal required US$50 million of investment over five years ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-turkish-firm-ink-revised-14-year-port-concession)).
- **TPAO:** the Turkish state oil company. The Oruç Reis survey ship began seismic work off Somalia in October 2024 ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/turkey-sends-deep-sea-drilling-ship-somalia)). The Çağrı Bey began drilling Curad-1, about 372 km off Mogadishu, in April 2026, with a planned depth of 7,500 metres ([Turkish Ministry of Energy](https://enerji.gov.tr/news-detail?id=31797)). On 29 October 2026 the Somali Petroleum Authority said drilling had reached the layers where signs of oil may appear ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-first-offshore-oil-well-hits-critical-zone-petroleum-authority-says)).

Somalia's auditor general reported that the government is entitled to 62.17% of the gross revenue of the Albayrak port company, and received US$38 million in 2025 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-auditor-general-reports-usdollar422-million-in-2025-port-and-airport-concession-revenue)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **2011 appeal:** Turkish government and NGOs raised US$350 million in three to four months after Erdoğan's visit ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Total:** more than US$1 billion in humanitarian and development aid over the decade to 2022 ([Turkish Directorate of Communications](https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/our-aid-to-somalia-over-the-last-decade-totals-more-than-a-billion-dollars)).
- **Hospital:** the Digfer hospital, built in the 1960s, was rebuilt and renamed the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Training and Research Hospital; Erdoğan opened it on 25 January 2015 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-turkey-s-erdogan-on-second-visit-to-mogadishu)).
- **Schools and services:** by 2015 there were three Turkish hospitals and ten Turkish schools in Somalia, including two in Hargeisa and one in [Galkacyo](/en/regions/mudug/). Turkey had rebuilt 23 km of Mogadishu roads ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Turkish Red Crescent:** in Somalia since 2011; it ran Jazeera camp for more than 28,000 displaced people ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **TIKA:** 450 students had graduated from its farming training centre by December 2014 ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Scholarships:** 1,092 Somalis received Turkish government university scholarships from 1992; 98 places were set for 2019–2020 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **Debt relief:** in November 2020 Turkey paid about 2.4 million SDR (about US$3.4 million) towards Somalia's IMF arrears ([Anadolu Agency](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkey-helping-pay-down-somalias-imf-debt/2034992)).

## What about security?

Turkey opened Camp TURKSOM in Mogadishu on 30 September 2017. It cost a reported US$50 million and trains Somali soldiers ([Al Jazeera, 1 October 2017](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/1/turkey-sets-up-largest-overseas-army-base-in-somalia)). By 2022 Turkey had trained 5,000 Somali soldiers and 1,000 special police ([Turkish Directorate of Communications](https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/haberler/detay/our-aid-to-somalia-over-the-last-decade-totals-more-than-a-billion-dollars)). The February 2024 agreement gives Turkey a ten-year role in building the Somali navy ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-approves-defense-agareement-with-turkey-/7496758.html)). For details see [Turkey's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Turkey deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Consulate:** Turkey opened a consulate general in Hargeisa on 1 June 2014 ([Turkish MFA](https://mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-somalia.en.mfa)).
- **Talks:** Turkey hosted Somalia–Somaliland talks from 2013, taking over from the United Kingdom ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). The two sides agreed to share air space management. In December 2015 Somaliland said it preferred another mediator ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).
- **Israel's recognition:** on 26 December 2025 the Turkish foreign ministry called Israel's recognition of Somaliland unlawful and an interference in Somalia's internal affairs ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/turkiye-condemns-israels-illegal-recognition-of-somaliland)).
- **Member states:** TIKA has run projects in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Somaliland ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). Somalia's petroleum minister said the Curad-1 well lies offshore [Galmudug State](/en/states/galmudug/) ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-petroleum-minister-curad-1-oil-well-to-be-drilled-offshore-galmudug-state)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Airport contract, 2013:** the hand-over of the airport to Favori led to a court case and a debate in parliament ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)). In 2025 the Somali government said it was not satisfied with the airport's management ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-government-expresses-dissatisfaction-over-management-of-mogadishu-airport)).
- **Oil terms:** in April 2025 [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) published the July 2024 agreement. Under Article 4.7, Turkey can take up to 90% of yearly output to recover costs, and Somalia receives 5% of total revenue. Somali lawmakers who approved the deal said they had not seen the document ([Garowe Online, 23 April 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/turkey-to-secure-up-to-90-of-somalia-s-oil-and-gas-revenue-document-reveals)).
- **Attacks on Turkish staff:** in July 2013 [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) attacked a building housing Turkish embassy staff ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Turkey?

The UN counted 27,594 people born in Somalia living in Turkey in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). See [Türkiye (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/turkiye/).

## Where does Turkey stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- **Conferences:** Turkey hosted the Istanbul Conference on Somalia in May 2010 ([HIPS, 2016](https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Turkeys-Assistance-Model-in-Somalia-Achieving-Much-With-Little1-1.pdf)) and called the OIC emergency meeting on the famine on 17 August 2011 ([Turkish MFA, press release 248](https://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-248_-1-november-2011_-press-release-regarding-the-re-opening-of-the-turkish-embassy-in-mogadishu.en.mfa)).
- **[London](/en/diaspora/london/) 2013:** the Somalia Conference in London welcomed the Ankara dialogue between Somalia and Somaliland ([UK government, 7 May 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/somalia-conference-2013-communique)).
- **Security Council, 2025:** Turkey's UN envoy Ahmet Yıldız rejected Israel's Somaliland decision at the Security Council ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/world/africa/turkiye-voices-strong-opposition-to-israels-somaliland-move-at-un/amp)).
- **Ethiopia dispute:** Turkey hosted two rounds of Somalia–Ethiopia talks in July and August 2024 before the Ankara Declaration ([Addis Standard](https://addisstandard.com/breaking-ethiopia-somalia-commit-to-cooperation-in-historic-ankara-declaration)).

## Related pages

- [Turkey's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/turkey-military-in-somalia/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Türkiye (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/turkiye/)
- [Imam Ahmad and Adal](/en/history/imam-ahmad-and-adal-1527-1543/)
- [Ports](/en/economy/ports/)
- [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Somaliland 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)


---

# Somalia and the United Nations

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/un/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia joined the UN on 20 September 1960 and sat on the Security Council in 2025 and 2026, its first seat since 1971 to 1972. UN political missions worked in Somalia from 1992 until the last one, UNTMIS, closed on 31 October 2026. UN agencies stay, and the 2026 humanitarian plan asked for US$852 million.

## How do Somalia and the UN relate today?

Somalia is a full member of the United Nations and holds a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for 2025 and 2026. It won the seat on 6 June 2024 with 179 votes in the General Assembly ([UN General Assembly, record A/78/PV.86, 6 June 2024](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4071289/files/A_78_PV.86-EN.pdf); [UN News, 6 June 2024](https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150726)).

The UN's last political mission in Somalia, the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS), stopped work on 31 October 2026 ([Al Jazeera, 31 October 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/31/un-closes-somalia-mission-ending-three-decades-of-political-engagement)). UN agencies, funds and programmes remain in the country ([Citizen Digital, 27 October 2026](https://citizen.digital/article/un-mission-in-somalia-ends-october-31-after-successful-two-year-transition-n392798)).

The UN also pays for logistics to the African Union mission, AUSSOM, through its support office UNSOS. The Security Council renewed AUSSOM to 31 December 2026 in resolution 2809, adopted 15 votes to none on 23 December 2025 ([UN Project, S/RES/2809 (2025)](https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/S-RES-2809(2025)/); [Security Council Report, S/RES/2809](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/document/s-res-2809.php)).

The 2026 humanitarian plan, launched on 26 January 2026 by the government, the UN and partners, asked for US$852 million to reach 2.4 million people ([UN Somalia, January 2026](https://somalia.un.org/en/308876-humanitarian-partners-seek-us852-million-assist-24-million-people-2026)). The 2025 plan had asked for US$1.4 billion and was 27% funded ([Africanews, 27 January 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/27/un-launches-852-million-aid-plan-for-somalia-amid-deepening-crisis/)).

## When did Somalia join the UN?

The UN governed the former [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) as a trust territory from 1950 to 1960, with Italy as administrator. See [The UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

After independence and union in July 1960, the Security Council recommended Somalia for membership on 5 July 1960 in resolution 141, by 11 votes to none ([UN Digital Library, S/RES/141 (1960)](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/280597)). The General Assembly admitted the Republic of Somalia on 20 September 1960, without a vote, in resolution 1479 (XV) ([UN Digital Library, A/RES/1479 (XV)](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/663476?ln=ar); [Security Council Report, A/RES/1479 (XV)](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/document/unmembers-ares1479-xv.php)).

## What does Somalia pay and receive?

Somalia has often been behind on its UN dues. Under Article 19 of the Charter a member that owes two full years of dues can lose its General Assembly vote ([UN press release GA/AB/4356, 2020](https://press.un.org/en/2020/gaab4356.doc.htm)).

The General Assembly has repeatedly let Somalia keep its vote, finding that its arrears were "due to conditions beyond its control" ([UN General Assembly, A/RES/73/4, 2018](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1648575/files/A_RES_73_4-EN.pdf); [Hiiraan Online, October 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Oct/188164/somalia_retains_un_vote_despite_falling_behind_on_member_dues.aspx)). In 2022 the Secretary-General put the minimum payment Somalia needed to avoid losing its vote at US$1,443,640 ([Hiiraan Online, October 2022](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2022/Oct/188164/somalia_retains_un_vote_despite_falling_behind_on_member_dues.aspx)).

On the receiving side, UN agencies run most of the humanitarian response. See [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/) for yearly totals.

## Who represented Somalia at the UN?

- **[Abdulrahim Abby Farah](/en/people/abdulrahim-abby-farah/):** Somalia's Permanent Representative in New York from 1965 to 1972. He chaired the UN Special Committee against Apartheid from 1969 to 1972 and later served as a senior UN official from 1979 ([Hiiraan Online, obituary, June 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Jun/158605/abdulrahim_abby_farah_obituary.aspx); [Goobjoog News, 2018](https://en.goobjoog.com/former-somalia-envoy-to-un-abdulrahim-farah-passes-on-at-99)).
- **Abukar Dahir Osman:** Permanent Representative since 2017, when he presented his credentials to Secretary-General António Guterres. Before that he was chief of staff in the Office of the President from 2014 to 2017 ([UN press release BIO/4988, 2017](https://press.un.org/en/2017/bio4988.doc.htm); [Permanent Mission of Somalia, staff](https://www.un.int/somalia/staff)).
- **Osman as Council president:** He presided over the Security Council in January 2026 and set out its work programme on 2 January 2026 ([UN press conference, 2 January 2026](https://press.un.org/en/2026/260102_sc.doc.htm); [Anadolu Agency, January 2026](https://aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-assumes-un-security-council-presidency-for-january/3788115)).
- **Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf:** a Somali judge of the International Court of Justice, the UN's main court. His fellow judges elected him President of the Court on 6 February 2018 for three years ([Africanews, 6 February 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/02/06/somali-judge-is-elected-president-of-international-court-of-justice/)). He left the bench on 30 September 2025 ([AllAfrica, June 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202506120120.html)). See [Abdulqawi Yusuf](/en/people/abdulqawi-yusuf/).

## Who led the UN's work on Somalia?

The Secretary-General's special representatives (SRSGs) led the UN political presence. In order:

- **[Mohamed Sahnoun](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/) (Algeria):** appointed Special Representative on 28 April 1992; left for Somalia on 1 May 1992 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **Ismat Kittani (Iraq):** appointed on 3 November 1992 to replace Sahnoun ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **Admiral Jonathan Howe (United States):** appointed from 9 March 1993 to lead UNOSOM II; he served for about a year ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **Lansana Kouyaté (Guinea):** deputy, then acting Special Representative from February 1994 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **James Victor Gbeho (Ghana):** Special Representative from 1 July 1994 until UNOSOM II ended ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **François Lonseny Fall (Guinea):** named Special Representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia, based in Nairobi, in May 2005 ([UN Digital Library, May 2005](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1291098); [UN press release SG/A/919, 2005](https://press.un.org/en/2005/sga919.doc.htm)).
- **Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah (Mauritania):** Special Representative from September 2007 ([UNPOS](https://unpos.unmissions.org/en/node/5261)).
- **Augustine Mahiga ([Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)):** appointed on 9 June 2010; he led UNPOS through the end of the transition in 2012 ([UNPOS](https://unpos.unmissions.org/en/node/5261)).
- **Nicholas Kay (United Kingdom):** appointed in April 2013 as the first head of UNSOM ([UNSOM](https://unsom.unmissions.org/leadership)).
- **Michael Keating (United Kingdom):** appointed on 23 November 2015 ([UNSOM](https://unsom.unmissions.org/leadership)).
- **Nicholas Haysom (South Africa):** appointed in September 2018; the government declared him persona non grata on 1 January 2019 ([The EastAfrican, January 2019](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/un-council-regrets-somalia-s-decision-to-expel-envoy-1409924)).
- **James Swan (United States):** appointed in May 2019 ([UN Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/en/node/24608)) and served to 2022 ([Hiiraan Online, 15 May 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/May/196293/former_unsom_envoy_james_swan_returns_as_acting_special_representative_for_somalia.aspx)). He returned as acting Special Representative in May 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, 15 May 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/May/196293/former_unsom_envoy_james_swan_returns_as_acting_special_representative_for_somalia.aspx); [UN press release SG/A/2289, 2024](https://press.un.org/en/2024/sga2289.doc.htm)).
- **Catriona Laing (United Kingdom):** appointed on 3 May 2023, succeeding Swan; she left in May 2024 ([UN press release SG/A/2199, 2023](https://press.un.org/en/2023/sga2199.doc.htm); [SONNA, 2023](https://sonna.so/en/catriona-laing-appointed-as-new-un-special-representative-for-somalia)).
- **Raisedon Zenenga (Zimbabwe):** Deputy Special Representative and officer-in-charge of UNTMIS at its close ([UNTMIS, leadership](https://untmis.unmissions.org/en/node/60)). He led the closing ceremony in Mogadishu on 26 October 2026 with Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Ahmed Jama ([Dawan Africa, October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/un-political-mission-in-somalia-ends-after-30-years)).
- **George Conway:** Deputy Special Representative, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, who now leads the UN agencies ([UNTMIS, leadership](https://untmis.unmissions.org/en/node/60)).

The first UN peacekeeping force commander with combat troops, under UNOSOM II, was Lieutenant-General Çevik Bir of Turkey ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

## Which UN missions has Somalia hosted?

- **UNOSOM I, 1992 to 1993:** created by resolution 751 on 24 April 1992 to watch a ceasefire in Mogadishu, starting with 50 unarmed observers ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **UNITAF, December 1992 to May 1993:** a US-led force authorised by resolution 794 on 3 December 1992; it had about 37,000 troops by March 1993 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **UNOSOM II, 1993 to 1995:** created by resolution 814 on 26 March 1993 under Chapter VII. It had 18,761 troops in August 1994; its rearguard left on 2 March 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **UNPOS, 1995 to 2013:** the UN Political Office for Somalia, set up on 15 April 1995 ([UNPOS](https://unpos.unmissions.org/en/node/5261)).
- **UNSOM, 2013 to 2024:** created by resolution 2102 on 2 May 2013 and deployed from 3 June 2013 ([Security Council Report, Somalia chronology](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/chronology/somalia.php)).
- **UNSOS, from 2015:** the UN Support Office in Somalia, set up by resolution 2245 on 9 November 2015 to supply the AU mission ([Security Council Report, Somalia chronology](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/chronology/somalia.php)).
- **UNTMIS, 2024 to 2026:** created by resolution 2753 on 30 October 2024 for a two-year handover ([UN Security Council, S/RES/2753 (2024)](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/323/40/pdf/n2432340.pdf)).

UNSOM had offices in Mogadishu, Kismaayo, Hargeisa, Garowe, Baidoa and Beledweyne ([UNSOM, offices](https://unsom.unmissions.org/unsom-offices)). For the agencies that remain, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/). For the 1992 to 1995 operations in detail, see [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## What has the Security Council decided on Somalia?

- **23 January 1992, resolution 733:** urged a ceasefire and imposed an arms embargo on Somalia ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html); [UN press release SC/9314, 2008](https://press.un.org/en/2008/sc9314.doc.htm)).
- **24 April 1992, resolution 751:** created UNOSOM and a committee to oversee the embargo ([UN Digital Library, S/RES/751](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/141599/files/S_RES_751%281992%29-EN.pdf)).
- **3 December 1992, resolution 794:** authorised "all necessary means" for a secure environment for relief ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **26 March 1993, resolution 814:** expanded UNOSOM into UNOSOM II ([UN Digital Library, S/RES/814](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/164678/files/S_RES_814%281993%29-EN.pdf)).
- **6 June 1993, resolution 837:** adopted after 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed on 5 June 1993 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **4 November 1994, resolution 954:** extended UNOSOM II for a final period to 31 March 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).
- **22 February 2012, resolution 2036:** raised the AU force ceiling from 12,000 to 17,731 ([Security Council Report, chronology](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/chronology/somalia.php)).
- **6 March 2013, resolution 2093:** partly lifted the arms embargo for the government for 12 months ([Security Council Report, chronology](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/chronology/somalia.php)).
- **14 November 2018, resolution 2444:** lifted sanctions on Eritrea and kept the Somalia regime ([Security Council Report, chronology](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/chronology/somalia.php)).
- **1 December 2023, resolution 2714:** lifted the 1992 arms embargo on the Somali government, unanimously. Resolution 2713, the same day, kept sanctions and an arms embargo on [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), with France abstaining ([Security Council Report, S/RES/2713](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/document/s-res-2713.php); [UN Project, S/RES/2714](https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/S-RES-2714(2023)/)).
- **December 2023, resolution 2719:** allowed up to 75% of AU-led missions to be paid from UN assessed contributions, case by case ([ISS Africa](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/two-years-on-unscr-2719-on-peace-operations-remains-at-a-crossroads)). In May 2025 the Council could not agree to apply it to AUSSOM ([Security Council Report, May 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/05/somalia-closed-consultations-on-the-au-support-and-stabilization-mission-in-somalia-aussom.php)).
- **30 October 2024, resolution 2753:** replaced UNSOM with UNTMIS from 1 November 2024 ([UN Security Council, S/RES/2753](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/323/40/pdf/n2432340.pdf)).
- **27 December 2024, resolution 2767:** endorsed AUSSOM from 1 January 2025; the United States abstained ([Stimson Center, 2025](https://www.stimson.org/2025/partnership-in-peace-operations-implementing-resolution-2719/)).
- **23 December 2025, resolution 2809:** renewed AUSSOM to 31 December 2026 with up to 11,826 uniformed personnel, and set UNTMIS to close on 31 October 2026 ([UN Project, S/RES/2809](https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/S-RES-2809(2025)/)).

For the arms embargo history, see [The UN arms embargo, 1992 to 2023](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/). For the sanctions experts, see [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/).

The Council also authorised foreign navies to act against piracy off Somalia each year from 2008 to 2021. Its last renewal, resolution 2608 of 3 December 2021, ran for three months ([Security Council Report, chronology](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/chronology/somalia.php)). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## How did the last mission end?

In May 2024 the foreign minister wrote to the Security Council asking it to end UNSOM when its mandate expired in October 2024 ([The EastAfrican, May 2024](https://theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/in-surprise-move-somalia-asks-un-to-end-political-mission-4618110)). The government later proposed a two-year transition instead, an idea put forward by President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) ([TRT Afrika, October 2024](https://trtafrika.com/africa/un-votes-to-end-mission-in-somalia-after-decade-18226446)).

The Council agreed and created UNTMIS ([UN Security Council, S/RES/2753](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/323/40/pdf/n2432340.pdf)). Its tasks passed to Somali institutions and UN agencies under a roadmap agreed with the government ([Citizen Digital, 27 October 2026](https://citizen.digital/article/un-mission-in-somalia-ends-october-31-after-successful-two-year-transition-n392798)).

## What about security?

Since UNOSOM II left in 1995, the UN's security role has been to authorise the African Union missions, supply them through UNSOS and run the sanctions regime. See [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/), [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does the UN deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** the UN treats Somaliland as part of Somalia. UN missions kept an office in Hargeisa ([UNSOM, offices](https://unsom.unmissions.org/unsom-offices)).
- **Israel's recognition:** after Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025, the Security Council met on 29 December 2025 at Somalia's request ([UN press release SC/16270, 29 December 2025](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sc16270.doc.htm)). Somalia called the recognition an unlawful attack on its sovereignty; 14 of 15 members criticised it; the United States said its own Somalia policy was unchanged ([Al Jazeera, 30 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)). No resolution was adopted ([UN Project, S/PV.10084](https://un-project.org/meeting/S-PV-10084/)).
- **Member states:** UNSOM worked in the state capitals through its offices in Garowe, Kismaayo, Baidoa and Beledweyne ([UNSOM, offices](https://unsom.unmissions.org/unsom-offices)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **UNOSOM II and the Mogadishu fighting, 1993:** 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed on 5 June 1993 and 18 US soldiers on 3 October 1993 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). See [The Battle of Mogadishu, 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/).
- **Haysom's expulsion, 2019:** Haysom had questioned the arrest of Mukhtar Robow in December 2018. The foreign ministry said he "is not required and cannot work in this country" ([The EastAfrican, January 2019](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/un-council-regrets-somalia-s-decision-to-expel-envoy-1409924)). The Security Council said it regretted the decision ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/un-council-regrets-somalia-s-decision-to-expel-envoy-1409924)). Secretary-General Guterres said he had "full confidence" in Haysom ([UN News, January 2019](https://news.un.org/en/node/1029842)).
- **Funding the AU mission:** Somalia and the AU asked for UN assessed funding for AUSSOM under resolution 2719; the Council did not agree in 2025 ([Security Council Report, May 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/05/somalia-closed-consultations-on-the-au-support-and-stabilization-mission-in-somalia-aussom.php)).

## Related pages

- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)
- [The UN trusteeship, 1950 to 1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/)
- [The UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [The UN arms embargo, 1992 to 2023](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/)
- [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/)
- [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)
- [Somalia and the African Union](/en/relations/african-union/)


---

# Somalia and the United Kingdom

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/united-kingdom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The United Kingdom ruled British Somaliland from the 1884–1886 treaties until 26 June 1960, and has had an embassy in Mogadishu since 25 April 2013. Britain hosted the London Somalia conferences of 2012, 2013 and 2017, signed a strategic partnership with Somalia on 21 November 2023, and holds the pen on Somalia at the UN Security Council. Two-way trade was £56 million in the year to June 2026, and the UK planned a £71 million country budget for 2026/27.

## How do Somalia and the United Kingdom relate today?

Both countries have embassies in each other's capitals. The UK reopened its embassy in Mogadishu on 25 April 2013, 22 years after evacuating it ([GOV.UK, 25 April 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-opens-new-british-embassy-in-mogadishu)). Somalia reopened its embassy in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in February 2023 ([The Star, 12 February 2023](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-02-12-somalia-reopens-uk-embassy-after-32-years)).

The two governments signed a UK–Somalia Strategic Partnership in London on 21 November 2023 ([GOV.UK, communiqué](https://gov.uk/government/publications/somalia-uk-strategic-partnership-communique)). It covers state-building, security, counter-terrorism, economic development, human development and climate change ([GOV.UK](https://gov.uk/government/publications/somalia-uk-strategic-partnership-communique)). It also set annual strategic dialogues and progress reviews twice a year ([SONNA, 22 November 2023](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-and-uk-strengthen-ties-with-strategic-partnership-focused-on-governance-security-and-economic-growth)).

Key numbers today:

- **Trade:** £56 million in goods and services in the year to June 2026, with UK exports of £27 million and imports of £29 million ([UK Department for Business and Trade, factsheet, 6 November 2026](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab2536afceb6fb3a6500f8a/somalia-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2026-09-24.pdf)).
- **Aid:** a country budget of £71.06 million for 2026/27, across 15 active programmes ([FCDO DevTracker, Somalia](https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/SO)).
- **UN:** the UK is the "penholder" on Somalia, so it drafts the Security Council's Somalia resolutions ([Security Council Report, December 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php?print=true)).

## When did contact begin?

British ships traded at Berbera and Zeila from the early 1800s, supplying the British base at Aden. In February 1884 Major A. Hunter came to Berbera to sign treaties of friendship and protection with Somali clans, and set up British vice-consuls at Berbera, Bulhar and Zeila ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). The texts and dates of those agreements are on our page [The colonial treaties, 1884–1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).

Britain then ran the north as the British Somaliland Protectorate until 1960; see [British Somaliland, 1884–1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). In the south, Kismayo came under Britain through its protectorate over Zanzibar, and was handed to Italy in 1925 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). From 1941 to 1950 Britain also ran former [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) under military administration, before the [UN trusteeship, 1950–1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

British Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 and joined the south on 1 July 1960 to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)). T. E. Bromley presented his credentials as Britain's first ambassador to the Republic on 1 July 1960 ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)). About 1,500 Somalis then living in Britain became foreign nationals on independence ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)).

## Why did Somalia break relations with Britain in 1963?

On 18 March 1963 the Somali Prime Minister handed the British ambassador a note breaking diplomatic relations ([HC Deb 25 March 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/25/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)). The cause was Britain's decision to make the eastern part of Kenya's Northern Frontier District a separate Seventh Region inside Kenya ([HC Deb 25 March 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/25/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)). Edward Heath, the Lord Privy Seal, told Parliament the UK regretted the break ([HC Deb 25 March 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/25/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)).

In 1965 the UK said it was ready to resume relations without preconditions ([HC Deb 10 May 1965](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1965/may/10/somalia-diplomatic-relations)). Relations resumed on 5 January 1968, under the government of Prime Minister [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/) ([HC Deb 22 January 1968](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/jan/22/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)). Until ambassadors arrived, the former protecting powers handled each side's affairs ([HC Deb 22 January 1968](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/jan/22/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)). See [The Northern Frontier District, 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/).

After 1968 Britain ran a technical assistance programme costing up to £200,000 a year, and paid £60,000 a year towards pensions of former Somaliland Protectorate officials ([HC Deb 1 April 1969](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1969/apr/01/somali-republic)).

The British embassy in Mogadishu was evacuated on 6 January 1991, as the government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) fell. For the next 21 years the UK dealt with Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi ([GOV.UK, 25 April 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-opens-new-british-embassy-in-mogadishu)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

British ambassadors to Somalia:

- **T. E. Bromley**, first ambassador, credentials 1 July 1960 ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)).
- **No relations**, 18 March 1963 to 5 January 1968 ([HC Deb 25 March 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/25/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations); [HC Deb 22 January 1968](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/jan/22/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)).
- **Matt Baugh**, 2012–2013, the first since 1991; he presented credentials during William Hague's visit on 2 February 2012 and worked from Nairobi ([The World, 2 February 2012](https://theworld.org/stories/2012-02-02/somalia-british-foreign-secretary-william-hague-visits-mogadishu)).
- **Neil Wigan**, from June 2013, succeeding Baugh ([GOV.UK, 6 June 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia)).
- **Harriet Mathews**, to January 2017 ([GOV.UK, 17 November 2016](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia--3)).
- **David Concar**, January 2017 to February 2019 ([GOV.UK, 17 November 2016](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia--3)).
- **Ben Fender**, from February 2019 ([GOV.UK, 30 January 2019](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia-february-2019)).
- **Kate Foster**, until May 2023 ([GOV.UK, 17 April 2023](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-his-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia-michael-nithavrianakis)).
- **Michael Nithavrianakis**, May 2023 to May 2025 ([GOV.UK, 17 April 2023](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-his-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia-michael-nithavrianakis)).
- **Charles King**, from May 2025; earlier UK Special Representative for Syria ([GOV.UK, 19 February 2025](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-his-majestys-ambassador-to-somalia-charles-king)).

Somali ambassadors to the UK:

- **Abdulkadir Ahmed Kheyr**, ambassador when the London embassy reopened in February 2023 ([The Star, 12 February 2023](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-02-12-somalia-reopens-uk-embassy-after-32-years)).
- **Abdulkadir Abdi Hashi**, from January 2025, also Somalia's permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization ([Diplomat Magazine](https://features.diplomatmagazine.com/ambassador-of-somalia/)).

Missions: the British Embassy in Mogadishu sits on a site leased from the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) at the international airport ([GOV.UK, 25 April 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-opens-new-british-embassy-in-mogadishu)). The UK also has an office in Hargeisa ([Dawan Africa, November 2025](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-president-meets-uk-and-eu-ambassadors)). The Somali embassy is in London.

## Who built the tie?

- **Major A. Hunter**: British officer who signed the first friendship and protection treaties at Berbera in 1884 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **T. E. Bromley**: first British ambassador, 1 July 1960 ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)).
- **Edward Heath**: Lord Privy Seal who answered for the government on the 1963 break ([HC Deb 25 March 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/25/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)).
- **Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal**: Somali Prime Minister when relations resumed on 5 January 1968 ([HC Deb 22 January 1968](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/jan/22/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)).
- **George Brown**: Foreign Secretary who announced the resumption to Parliament ([HC Deb 22 January 1968](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/jan/22/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)).
- **William Hague**: Foreign Secretary; first visit by a Foreign Secretary since 1992 on 2 February 2012, and opened the new embassy on 25 April 2013 ([GOV.UK, 25 April 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-opens-new-british-embassy-in-mogadishu); [Al Jazeera, 2 February 2012](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/2/2/british-fm-in-surprise-visit-to-mogadishu)).
- **David Cameron**: Prime Minister who hosted the 2012 conference and co-hosted the 2013 conference with [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) ([GOV.UK, 25 April 2013](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-opens-new-british-embassy-in-mogadishu)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**: Somali President who co-hosted the 2013 conference and was in London for the 2023 partnership ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/eastleigh/3838/uk-commits-over-100-million-in-investment-for-somalia)).
- **Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Michael Fallon**: Prime Minister and ministers at the 11 May 2017 conference ([GOV.UK, 11 May 2017](https://gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-the-london-somalia-conference)).
- **Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo"**: Somali President at the 2017 conference ([GOV.UK](https://gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-the-london-somalia-conference)).
- **Andrew Mitchell**: Minister for Development and Africa, who launched the 2023 partnership with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([EMPHNET](https://epinews.emphnet.net/en/news/uk-unicef-and-federal-government-of-somalia-launch-flagship-programme-to-improve-health-and-nutrition-for-somali-women-and-children)).
- **Kirsty McNeill**: Minister for Development and Africa; first visit to Mogadishu on 26 August 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/uk-minister-ties-future-support-for-somalia-to-dialogue-and-security-transition)).
- **James Kariuki**: UK chargé d'affaires at the UN, who stated the UK's [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) position on 29 December 2025 ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-united-kingdom-reaffirms-its-support-for-the-sovereignty-territorial-integrity-political-independence-and-unity-of-somalia-uk-statement-at-the--2)).
- **Mo Farah**: British-Somali Olympic champion, present at the reopening of the Somali embassy in London in 2023 ([The Star](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-02-12-somalia-reopens-uk-embassy-after-32-years)).

## What agreements and conferences have shaped the tie?

- **1884–1886:** treaties of friendship and protection with northern clans; see [colonial treaties](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/).
- **26 June 1960:** independence of the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) ([HC Deb 25 July 1960](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1960/jul/25/somaliland-independence)).
- **23 February 2012, London Conference on Somalia:** 55 delegations met at Lancaster House ([GOV.UK, communiqué](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/london-conference-on-somalia-communique--2)). It backed an end to the transition, action on piracy and pressure on [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) ([AP via Washington Times, 23 February 2012](https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/23/nations-pledge-help-demand-progress-somalia/)).
- **7 May 2013, Somalia Conference:** co-hosted by the UK and Somalia at Lancaster House with 54 partners ([GOV.UK, communiqué](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/somalia-conference-2013-communique)). Partners committed over $300 million for security, justice and public finance plans ([GOV.UK, key outcomes](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/somalia-conference-7-may-2013-key-outcomes)).
- **11 May 2017, London Somalia Conference:** adopted a Security Pact and a New Partnership for Somalia ([GOV.UK](https://gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-the-london-somalia-conference)). The Security Pact states that it is not a binding agreement under international law ([Security Pact text](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/613720/london-somalia-conference-2017-security-pact.pdf)).
- **21 November 2023, UK–Somalia Strategic Partnership,** signed in London ([GOV.UK](https://gov.uk/government/publications/somalia-uk-strategic-partnership-communique)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **2 February 2012:** Foreign Secretary William Hague met President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) in Mogadishu ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/british-foreign-secretary-visits-mogadishu-138575199/151471.html)).
- **25 April 2013:** Hague returned to open the embassy with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-opens-new-british-embassy-in-mogadishu)).
- **May 2013:** Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in London for the Somalia Conference ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/donors-pledge-millions-at-london-somalia-conference/1656791.html)).
- **May 2017:** President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) in London for the conference ([GOV.UK](https://gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-the-london-somalia-conference)).
- **November 2023:** Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in London for the Global Food Security Summit and the partnership signing ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-president-and-uk-prime-minister-to-co-host-global-food-security-summit-in-london)).
- **February 2026:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud received a senior UK delegation in Mogadishu ([AllAfrica, 13 February 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602130065.html)).
- **26 August 2026:** Minister Kirsty McNeill met the President in Mogadishu ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/uk-minister-ties-future-support-for-somalia-to-dialogue-and-security-transition)).

## How much do they trade?

UK trade with Somalia is small. Total trade was £56 million in the year to June 2026, down 16.4% on a year earlier, making Somalia the UK's 172nd trading partner ([DBT factsheet, 6 November 2026](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab2536afceb6fb3a6500f8a/somalia-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2026-09-24.pdf)). Almost all UK imports from Somalia were services ([DBT factsheet](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab2536afceb6fb3a6500f8a/somalia-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2026-09-24.pdf)).

Yearly totals in £ million, from the same factsheet ([DBT factsheet](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab2536afceb6fb3a6500f8a/somalia-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2026-09-24.pdf)):

- 2016: 80 (exports 52, imports 28)
- 2017: 114 (73, 41)
- 2019: 79 (49, 30)
- 2021: 114 (41, 73)
- 2023: 46 (27, 19)
- 2024: 47 (38, 9)
- 2025: 70 (47, 23)

The top UK goods exports in the year to June 2026 were medicines (£6.6 million), miscellaneous foods (£1.6 million) and plumbing and lighting fixtures (£1 million) ([DBT factsheet](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab2536afceb6fb3a6500f8a/somalia-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2026-09-24.pdf)). UK direct investment in Somalia stood at £1 million at the end of 2024 ([DBT factsheet](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab2536afceb6fb3a6500f8a/somalia-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2026-09-24.pdf)). The larger UK state investment is at Berbera port, covered below.

## How much aid and money has gone in?

UK aid to Somalia was £232 million in 2020 and £101 million in 2021, by UK aid statistics cited by Bond ([Bond, May 2023](https://www.bond.org.uk/press-releases/2023/05/the-pledges-fall-incredibly-short-of-what-is-needed-uk-pledges-143m-for-east-africa-bond-reacts/)). The FCDO's bilateral spend was £76.4 million in 2022/23 and its budget £90.1 million for 2023/24 ([FCDO, Development Partnership Summary, 17 July 2023](https://gov.uk/government/publications/uk-somalia-development-partnership-summary/7676600e-d2af-45a6-af7b-16e8f36d84da)). It set an indicative £135 million for 2024/25 ([FCDO](https://gov.uk/government/publications/uk-somalia-development-partnership-summary/7676600e-d2af-45a6-af7b-16e8f36d84da)).

Humanitarian aid made up 69% of 2022/23 spending ([FCDO](https://gov.uk/government/publications/uk-somalia-development-partnership-summary/7676600e-d2af-45a6-af7b-16e8f36d84da)). Bond reported a 27% cut for Somalia in 2025/26 ([Bond, July 2025](https://www.bond.org.uk/news/2025/07/fcdo-annual-report-2025-paints-a-bleak-picture-for-the-communities-who-need-the-most-help/)). DevTracker shows a £71.06 million budget for 2026/27 ([DevTracker](https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/SO)).

The UK said it reached more than 950,000 people with humanitarian and climate-resilience support in 2025 ([Dawan Africa, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/uk-minister-ties-future-support-for-somalia-to-dialogue-and-security-transition)). DevTracker lists earlier results such as food or cash help for 3.67 million people and nutrition support for 1.1 million children and women ([DevTracker](https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/SO)).

## What about security?

The UK funded a [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) training centre in Baidoa, opened in 2019, which can train 120 soldiers at a time ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-opens-new-training-centre-for-the-somali-national-army-in-baidoa)). In 2017 about 70 UK armed forces personnel were supporting the Somali army ([GOV.UK, 11 May 2017](https://gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-the-london-somalia-conference)). In August 2026 the UK offered more non-lethal support through the UN Support Office in Somalia, including food rations, tents and casualty evacuation ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/uk-minister-ties-future-support-for-somalia-to-dialogue-and-security-transition)). For the full picture see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does the UK deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The UK does not recognise Somaliland's independence and says any change in status must come from mutual agreement between Mogadishu and Hargeisa ([GOV.UK, 29 December 2025](https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-united-kingdom-reaffirms-its-support-for-the-sovereignty-territorial-integrity-political-independence-and-unity-of-somalia-uk-statement-at-the--2)). It repeated this after Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025 ([NTV Kenya](https://ntvkenya.co.ke/news/uk-refuses-to-recognise-somaliland-as-independent-state/)). A 2022 written answer said the UK position was "consistent with the entire international community" ([Parallel Parliament, 18 January 2022](https://parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2022-01-18/commons/commons-chamber/uk-government-recognition-of-somaliland/ministerial-extracts)).

The UK still works closely with Hargeisa. In 2023 the FCDO said the UK was the only Western country with a permanent presence in Somaliland, and cited the Somaliland Development Fund and the [Berbera Corridor](/en/economy/port-of-berbera/) ([FCDO, 2023](https://gov.uk/government/publications/uk-somalia-development-partnership-summary/7676600e-d2af-45a6-af7b-16e8f36d84da)). Ambassador Charles King met President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi "Irro" in Hargeisa in November 2025 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-president-meets-uk-and-eu-ambassadors)).

British International Investment, owned by the FCDO, is a minority owner of Berbera port with DP World and the Somaliland government ([Middle East Eye, 9 January 2026](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-government-co-owns-somaliland-port-spotlight-over-horn-africa-crisis)). It joined in early 2022 through the Africa Gateway partnership with DP World, committing $320 million at first across ports in Berbera, Sokhna and Dakar ([Middle East Eye](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-government-co-owns-somaliland-port-spotlight-over-horn-africa-crisis)). An FCDO-commissioned study found almost 2,500 jobs created and $45 million added to Somaliland's economy ([Middle East Eye](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-government-co-owns-somaliland-port-spotlight-over-horn-africa-crisis)).

In [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), King visited Garowe in July 2025 and met President Said Abdullahi Deni, discussing operations against ISIS in the Al-Miskaad mountains ([Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/british-ambassador-visits-garowe-to-strengthen-somalia-uk-ties/408565/); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/puntland-president-and-uk-ambassador-discuss-security-cooperation-against-isis)). An earlier ambassador, Harriet Mathews, led an embassy team to Baidoa, Kismayo and Garowe ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-ambassador-to-somalia-meets-key-regional-stakeholders)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **1963–1968:** Somalia broke relations over the Northern Frontier District. Britain said the Seventh Region decision was not final; Somalia treated it as final ([HC Deb 25 March 1963](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/25/somali-republic-diplomatic-relations)).
- **2026:** the UK tied future support to progress in political dialogue and a Somali-led security transition ([Dawan Africa, 26 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/uk-minister-ties-future-support-for-somalia-to-dialogue-and-security-transition)). After federal talks ended without agreement in February 2026, the UK embassy urged compromise ([AllAfrica, 24 February 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602240597.html)).

## How many Somalis live in the United Kingdom?

The 2021 census counted 108,921 people born in Somalia in England and Wales, and 176,645 who identified as Somali ([ONS, Somali populations, Census 2021](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/somalipopulationsenglandandwales/census2021)). See [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## Where does the UK stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

As penholder, the UK drafted Resolution 2809 of 23 December 2025, which renewed the African Union mission AUSSOM to 31 December 2026 ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php?print=true)). It also drafted Resolution 2806 of 12 December 2025, renewing the Al-Shabaab sanctions regime ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/al-shabaab-sanctions-vote-on-a-draft-resolution-renewing-the-sanctions-regime.php)). The UK does not send troops to the AU mission, but funds non-lethal support through the UN Support Office ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/uk-minister-ties-future-support-for-somalia-to-dialogue-and-security-transition)).

## Related pages

- [British Somaliland, 1884–1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/)
- [The colonial treaties, 1884–1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/)
- [Partition of Somali lands, 1884–1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/)
- [Independence and union, 26 June–1 July 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/)
- [The Northern Frontier District, 1962–1967](/en/history/northern-frontier-district-1962-1967/)
- [Haud transfer, 1954–1955](/en/history/haud-transfer-1954-1955/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/)
- [British Somalis in public life](/en/diaspora/british-somalis-in-public-life/)


---

# Somalia and the United States

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/united-states/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The United States recognised Somalia on 1 July 1960, closed its Mogadishu embassy on 5 January 1991, recognised the Federal Government on 17 January 2013 and reopened a permanent mission in December 2018. US aid obligations peaked at about US$1.18 billion in 2023 and fell to about US$212 million in 2025. In 2026 Washington still recognises Somalia's 1960 borders, including Somaliland, while Congress debates that policy.

## How do Somalia and the United States relate today?

The two countries have full diplomatic relations. The US embassy sits inside the Mogadishu international airport complex ([Congressional Research Service, IF10155, 21 July 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)). Somalia's embassy is at 1609 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC ([Embassy of Somalia in the US](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/?p=11590)).

The post of US ambassador has been empty since Richard H. Riley was recalled in December 2025 ([Mogadishu Times, 23 December 2025](https://mogtimes.com/articles/65428/US-Ambassador-to-Somalia-among-career-diplomats-recalled-in-Trump-shake-up)). Justin Davis has led the embassy as chargé d'affaires since January 2026 ([Streamline Feed, 15 September 2026](https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/trump-nominates-career-diplomat-devin-kennington-as-somalia-ambassador)). On 14 September 2026 the White House sent the nomination of Devin Kennington as ambassador to the Senate ([Horn Diplomat via AllAfrica, 15 September 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609160061.html)).

The relationship in 2026 has three main parts:

- **Security:** the United States carried out more than 130 air strikes in Somalia in 2025 and nearly 70 in the first half of 2026 ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).
- **Aid:** US obligations for Somalia fell from US$1,181 million in fiscal year 2023 to US$212 million in 2025 ([ForeignAssistance.gov country data](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.explorer.devtechlab.com/us_foreign_aid_country.csv)).
- **Migration:** Somali nationals have been barred from entry since 9 June 2025, and Temporary Protected Status for Somalia ended on 14 August 2026 ([Holland & Knight, 5 June 2025](https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2025/06/president-trump-issues-new-travel-ban-19-countries-face-restrictions); [Dawan Africa, 19 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/us-court-clears-way-to-end-tps-for-somalia-affecting-nearly-1100-people)).

## When did contact begin?

A US Consulate General was working in Mogadishu before independence. On 1 July 1960 it was raised to an embassy, with Andrew G. Lynch as chargé d'affaires ([Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/countries/somalia)). The same day, President Dwight Eisenhower sent a message of congratulations to President [Aden Abdulla Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/), which recognised the new [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) ([Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/countries/somalia)).

US aid began before independence. Obligations were US$0.7 million in 1954 and US$15.1 million in 1962 ([ForeignAssistance.gov country data](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.explorer.devtechlab.com/us_foreign_aid_country.csv)). After the 1969 coup, Somalia aligned with the Soviet Union ([Embassy of Somalia in the US](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/?p=11590)).

Ties warmed again in 1977, when the Soviet Union backed Ethiopia in the [Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) ([Library of Congress Country Study, via country-studies.com](https://country-studies.com/somalia/relations-with-the-united-states.html)). A 1980 access agreement gave US forces use of ports and airfields at Berbera, Kismaayo and Mogadishu in exchange for military and economic aid ([Country Study](https://country-studies.com/somalia/relations-with-the-united-states.html)). Contemporary reports put the package at US$42 million over two years ([Christian Science Monitor, 3 September 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1980/0903/090349.html)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

US chiefs of mission in Somalia, from the State Department's own list ([Office of the Historian, chiefs of mission](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/chiefsofmission/somalia)):

- **Andrew G. Lynch:** chargé d'affaires from 1 July 1960, ambassador 11 July 1960 to 7 May 1962.
- **Horace G. Torbert Jr.:** 31 January 1963 to 29 August 1965.
- **Raymond L. Thurston:** 23 November 1965 to 15 December 1968.
- **Fred L. Hadsel:** 28 June 1969 to 18 July 1971.
- **Matthew J. Looram Jr.:** 13 March 1972 to 5 July 1973.
- **Roger Kirk:** 8 October 1973 to 20 February 1975.
- **John L. Loughran:** 13 August 1975 to 5 November 1978.
- **Donald K. Petterson:** 8 December 1978 to 30 December 1982.
- **Robert B. Oakley:** 26 January 1983 to 12 August 1984.
- **Peter S. Bridges:** 19 December 1984 to 14 May 1986.
- **Trusten F. Crigler:** 3 June 1987 to 1 April 1990.
- **James K. Bishop:** 19 September 1990 to 5 January 1991, when the embassy closed.
- **Katherine S. Dhanani:** nominated 25 February 2015; nomination withdrawn 11 May 2015.
- **Stephen M. Schwartz:** 9 August 2016 to 21 July 2017, the first ambassador since 1991.
- **Martin Dale:** chargé d'affaires, 21 July 2017 to 13 November 2018.
- **Donald Y. Yamamoto:** from 17 November 2018.

Later ambassadors:

- **Larry André Jr.:** arrived in January 2022 ([Garowe Online, 30 March 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/us-president-joe-biden-appoints-new-ambassador-to-somalia)).
- **Richard H. Riley IV:** presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, reported on 22 June 2024 ([Villa Somalia, 22 June 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/president-hassan-sheikh-receives-new-u-s-ambassador-to-somalia/)); recalled in December 2025 and left in January 2026 ([Horn Diplomat via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609160061.html)).
- **Justin Davis:** chargé d'affaires from January 2026 ([Streamline Feed](https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/trump-nominates-career-diplomat-devin-kennington-as-somalia-ambassador)).
- **Devin Kennington:** nominated 14 September 2026; he was acting deputy chief of mission in Mogadishu in 2023–24 ([Horn Diplomat via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609160061.html)).

Somali ambassadors in Washington since 2014:

- **Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke:** ambassador before becoming prime minister; the first Somali ambassador to the US in more than two decades ([Garowe Online, 18 September 2015](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/new-somalia-ambassador-presents-credentials-to-obama)).
- **[Ahmed Isse Awad](/en/people/ahmed-isse-awad/):** presented credentials to President Barack Obama in September 2015 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/new-somalia-ambassador-presents-credentials-to-obama)).
- **Ali [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) Ahmed:** presented credentials to President Donald Trump on 16 September 2019 ([Hiiraan Online, 17 September 2019](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2019/Sept/165541/ambassador_ali_sharif_ahmed_presented_his_credentials_to_president_donald_trump.aspx)).
- **Dahir Hassan Abdi:** nominated 19 May 2024, presented credentials to President Joe Biden on 18 September 2024 ([Embassy of Somalia](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/?p=8980)). In June 2026 he also became non-resident ambassador to Canada ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 25 June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606250354.html)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Dwight Eisenhower**, US president, recognised the Somali Republic by message on 1 July 1960 ([Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/countries/somalia)).
- **Abdirashid Ali Shermarke**, prime minister, was a presidential guest in Washington on 27–29 November 1962 ([Office of the Historian, visits](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/somalia)).
- **Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal**, prime minister, made an official visit on 14–16 March 1968 ([Office of the Historian, visits](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/somalia)).
- **Mohamed Siad Barre**, president, made an official working visit on 9–14 March 1982, two years after the access agreement ([Office of the Historian, visits](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/somalia)).
- **Hillary Clinton**, Secretary of State, announced US recognition of the Somali government on 17 January 2013 with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([VOA via GlobalSecurity, 17 January 2013](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2013/01/mil-130117-voa13.htm)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, president, received recognition in 2013 and attended the US–Africa summits of 2014 and 2022 ([Office of the Historian, visits](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/somalia)).
- **John Kerry**, Secretary of State, made the first visit by a serving secretary to Somalia on 5 May 2015 ([Office of the Historian, travels](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/secretary/somalia)).
- **Donald Yamamoto**, ambassador, opened the permanent mission in Mogadishu in December 2018 ([Al Jazeera, 5 December 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/reopens-permanent-diplomatic-mission-somalia-181205084151621.html)).
- **Richard Riley**, ambassador, and **Bihi Egeh**, finance minister, signed the cancellation of US$1.14 billion of Somali debt on 5 November 2024 ([AFP via EWN, 5 November 2024](https://ewn.co.za/2024/11/05/us-writes-off-over-1-billion-of-somalia-debt)).
- **Ted Cruz**, senator and chair of the Senate Africa subcommittee, asked President Trump on 14 August 2025 to recognise [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Office of Senator Cruz, 14 August 2025](https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-calls-for-us-recognition-of-somaliland)).
- **Scott Perry**, congressman, introduced the Republic of Somaliland Independence Act (H.R. 3992) on 12 June 2025 ([Congress.gov, bill text](https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr3992/BILLS-119hr3992ih.htm)).
- **Ali [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) [Balcad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)**, Somalia's state minister for foreign affairs, offered in February 2026 to renew the 1980 access agreement ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 24 February 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602240595.html)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1980:** military access agreement for ports and airfields at Berbera, Kismaayo and Mogadishu ([Country Study](https://country-studies.com/somalia/relations-with-the-united-states.html)). Its text is classified ([Christian Science Monitor, 3 September 1980](https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1980/0903/090349.html)).
- **17 January 2013:** exchange of diplomatic notes on recognition of the Federal Government ([Al Jazeera, 17 January 2013](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/1/17/us-to-recognise-somali-government)).
- **5 November 2024:** bilateral agreement cancelling US$1.14 billion of debt ([AFP via EWN](https://ewn.co.za/2024/11/05/us-writes-off-over-1-billion-of-somalia-debt)).

The United States and Somalia have no trade agreement ([Office of the US Trade Representative](https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/east-africa/somalia)).

## Which leaders have visited?

Somali leaders in the United States ([Office of the Historian, visits](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/somalia)):

- **27–29 November 1962:** Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, presidential guest.
- **14–16 March 1968:** Prime Minister Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal, official visit; private visit on 6 October 1969.
- **11 October 1974:** President Mohamed Siad Barre, private visit.
- **9–14 March 1982:** President Siad Barre, official working visit.
- **17 January 2013:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, at the State Department and White House ([VOA via GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2013/01/mil-130117-voa13.htm)).
- **5–6 August 2014 and 13–15 December 2022:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, US–Africa Leaders Summits.
- **September 2025:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, UN General Assembly and meetings with US officials in New York ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 29 September 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202509290046.html)).

US leaders in Somalia:

- **31 December 1992 to 2 January 1993:** President George H. W. Bush visited Mogadishu, Baidoa and [Baledogle](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) ([Office of the Historian, presidential travels](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/somalia)).
- **5–6 May 2015:** Secretary of State John Kerry met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke and regional leaders in Mogadishu ([Office of the Historian, travels](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/secretary/somalia)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is small. In 2025 US goods exports to Somalia were US$49.7 million and imports were US$0.7 million ([USTR](https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/east-africa/somalia)). Services trade was US$120 million in 2025 ([USTR](https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/east-africa/somalia)).

US exports include legumes, grain, baked goods and machinery; imports are mainly precious stones ([Embassy of Somalia in the US](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/?p=11590)). Somalia is not eligible for trade preferences under AGOA ([USTR](https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/east-africa/somalia)).

### What about remittances and banking?

- **7 November 2001:** the US Treasury blocked the al-Barakaat money transfer network under Executive Order 13224 ([Federal Register, 19 March 2002](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2002-03-19/pdf/02-3291.pdf)). Two [Barakaat](/en/businesses/al-barakat/) entities and one person were removed from the list on 3 November 2009 ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/us-lifts-sanctions-on-somali-group-of-companies-1436786)).
- **2011:** Sunrise Community Banks in Minnesota closed Somali-American remittance accounts ([MinnPost, February 2015](https://www.minnpost.com/community-sketchbook/2015/02/banks-decision-end-wire-transfers-leaves-twin-cities-immigrant-communit/)).
- **6 February 2015:** Merchants Bank of California, which handled an estimated 60 to 80 percent of money sent to Somalia, ended its accounts with Somali transfer companies ([VOA Learning English, 2015](https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/somalis-unable-to-send-money-home-from-united-states/2643069.html)).
- **9 January 2026:** the Treasury issued a Geographic Targeting Order requiring banks and money transmitters in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, Minnesota, to report transfers over US$3,000 to people abroad ([Fox 9, January 2026](https://www.fox9.com/news/treasury-department-foreign-transactions-hennepin-ramsey-counties-jan-9)). It was reissued on 7 August 2026 to run to 6 February 2027 ([FinCEN order, August 2026](https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-08/Minnesota-GTO-Order.pdf)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

US aid obligations to Somalia by fiscal year, in current US dollars ([ForeignAssistance.gov country data](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.explorer.devtechlab.com/us_foreign_aid_country.csv)):

- **1960s:** US$3.0 million (1960), US$15.1 million (1962), US$16.4 million (1967).
- **1980s:** US$87.3 million (1980), US$116.7 million (1985), US$21.3 million (1989).
- **1990s:** US$5.8 million (1990), US$55.6 million (1992), US$108.0 million (1993), US$14.8 million (1995).
- **2000s:** US$13.9 million (2000), US$103.4 million (2006), US$448.8 million (2009).
- **2010s:** US$469.5 million (2012), US$252.6 million (2015), US$742.2 million (2018), US$762.7 million (2019).
- **2020s:** US$825.1 million (2020), US$1,137.1 million (2022), US$1,181.0 million (2023), US$765.2 million (2024), US$212.0 million (2025).

US humanitarian funding recorded by the UN's Financial Tracking Service was US$1.28 billion in 2022, US$433 million in 2024 and US$53.6 million in 2025 ([OCHA FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2022&groupby=organization); [2024](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2024&groupby=organization); [2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025&groupby=organization)). The United States was Somalia's largest humanitarian donor until 2025 ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).

Other money flows:

- **Debt:** Somalia owed the United States US$1.14 billion, cancelled on 5 November 2024 ([AFP via EWN](https://ewn.co.za/2024/11/05/us-writes-off-over-1-billion-of-somalia-debt)). In 2019 Congress approved up to US$35 million for the first phase of cancelling this debt ([CRS, 17 January 2020](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.14.pdf)).
- **African Union mission:** the United States has given nearly US$1.6 billion to troop-contributing countries and almost US$2 billion to the UN Support Office in Somalia ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).
- **Cuts:** in 1989 the George H. W. Bush administration ended military aid, and in 1990 Somalia became ineligible for aid after defaulting on loans ([Country Study](https://country-studies.com/somalia/relations-with-the-united-states.html)). In 2025–26 most US programmes in Somalia were terminated or allowed to expire ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).

## What about security?

In 1992 the United States led UNITAF, about 37,000 troops from 24 countries, under Security Council resolution 794 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). On 3 October 1993, 18 US soldiers were killed in Mogadishu, and US forces were withdrawn by 31 March 1994 ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). Since 2007 the United States has trained and equipped African Union and Somali forces, including the Danab special forces, and it has carried out air strikes since 2003 ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).

See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/), [US air strikes in Somalia](/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/) and [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## How does the United States deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The United States did not recognise Somaliland's 1991 declaration ([Country Study](https://country-studies.com/somalia/relations-with-the-united-states.html)). The State Department told Congress in 2026 that it recognises "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, which includes the region of Somaliland" ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).

Main events:

- **14 March 2022:** Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi began a visit to Washington and met members of Congress and officials ([The EastAfrican](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somaliland-leader-muse-bihi-in-us-3747684)).
- **17 March 2022:** senators Jim Risch, Chris Van Hollen and Mike Rounds introduced the Somaliland Partnership Act ([US Senate Foreign Relations Committee](https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/risch-van-hollen-rounds-applaud-committee-passage-of-somaliland-legislation)).
- **12 June 2025:** H.R. 3992 proposed recognising Somaliland; it was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee ([Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr3992/BILLS-119hr3992ih.htm)).
- **August 2025:** the House Appropriations Committee asked the State Department for a report within 120 days on wider engagement with Somaliland ([Horn Diplomat, 1 August 2025](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=51460)).
- **Late December 2025:** after Israel's recognition on 26 December, President Trump answered "No" when asked if the United States would follow ([Al-Ahram](https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/559424.aspx)).
- **February 2026:** a Somaliland official offered Washington access to bases and minerals; Somalia's government said such deals must go through federal institutions ([Shabelle via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202602240595.html)).
- **September 2026:** President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" made his first US visit, arriving in early September ([Dawan Africa, 6 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-president-arrives-in-us-for-first-visit-since-taking-office)). On 29 October President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the United States had not changed its position on Somalia's unity ([Dawan Africa, 30 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hassan-says-us-still-backs-somalia-unity-after-irro-visit)).

In [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), US air strikes have supported operations against the Islamic State cell since 2024 ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Embassy closure, 1991:** the embassy closed on 5 January 1991, but relations were never cut ([Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/countries/somalia)).
- **Travel bans:** Somalia was one of seven countries in the 2017 visa ban ([CRS, 2020](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.14.pdf)). A proclamation of 4 June 2025 fully suspended entry of Somali nationals from 9 June 2025, citing weak government control and refusal to take back nationals ([Holland & Knight](https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2025/06/president-trump-issues-new-travel-ban-19-countries-face-restrictions)). Ambassador Dahir Hassan Abdi said Somalia was ready for dialogue ([Horn Observer](https://hornobserver.com/articles/3354/We-Dont-Want-Them-Trump-Imposes-Full-Travel-Ban-on-Somalia-and-11-Other-Countries)).
- **Remarks on Somalis, December 2025:** on 2 December 2025 President Trump said of Somalis, "I don't want them in our country" ([Al Jazeera, 4 December 2025](https://aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/4/from-mogadishu-to-minneapolis-somalis-reject-trumps-bigoted-remarks)). Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) said it was "better to ignore" the words ([Al Jazeera](https://aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/4/from-mogadishu-to-minneapolis-somalis-reject-trumps-bigoted-remarks)).
- **Temporary Protected Status:** the Department of Homeland Security ended TPS for Somalia; a Boston court let the decision take effect on 14 August 2026, affecting nearly 1,100 people ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/us-court-clears-way-to-end-tps-for-somalia-affecting-nearly-1100-people)).

## How many Somalis live in the United States?

The US Census Bureau's 2024 survey counted 259,694 people of Somali ancestry ([ACS 2024 1-year, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_1yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=01000US)). See [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## Where does the United States stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

The United States voted for resolution 794 in December 1992 and led the force it created ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) has been listed by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 2008 ([Federal Register, 18 March 2008](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2008-03-18/pdf/E8-5444.pdf)). Executive Order 13536 of 12 April 2010 set up US sanctions on people who threaten Somalia's peace ([OFAC, 13 April 2010](https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20100413)). In 2026 the administration planned to end funding for the UN Support Office in Somalia ([CRS, 2026](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10155/IF10155.19.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Somali Americans in public office](/en/diaspora/somali-americans-in-public-office/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [US air strikes in Somalia](/en/history/us-air-strikes-in-somalia/)
- [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Battle of Mogadishu 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/)
- [Al-Barakat](/en/economy/al-barakat/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Remittances in numbers](/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)
- [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/)
- [Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal](/en/people/mohamed-haji-ibrahim-egal/)
- [Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/)
- [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/)
- [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/)


---

# Waddani (Somaliland National Party)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/waddani-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Waddani is a political party in Somaliland, founded in 2012 by Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi 'Irro'. It won the most seats in the 2021 parliamentary election (31 of 82), and its leader Irro won the presidency on 13 November 2024 with 63.92 percent of the vote. In the 2024 party contest it came first, keeping national party status for ten years.

## What is Waddani?

Waddani is one of the three national political parties of Somaliland. Its full Somali name is *Xisbiga Waddani ee Somaliland*, which Wikipedia translates as "Patriotic Party of Somaliland" ([Wikipedia, Somaliland National Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddani)). Its headquarters are in Hargeisa (same source).

Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as "Irro", founded the party in 2012, before that year's local elections ([Xisbiga Waddani, About Waddani, archived 2020](https://web.archive.org/web/20200621175429/https://waddani-party.org/about-waddani/)). Irro had been Speaker of the House of Representatives before that. See [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/).

## Why are there only three parties?

Somaliland's constitution allows only three national parties at a time. The Academy for Peace and Development says the rule was written to avoid the many clan-based parties of the 1960s ([APD, A Vote for Change, May 2021](https://apd-ipp.com/apd-somaliland/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Somaliland-2021-Special-Pre-Election-Report-FINAL-UPDATED-3.pdf)). New associations compete for the three places every ten years ([University of Tartu, De Facto States Research Unit, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).

Waddani won one of the three places in 2012. It replaced the United Peoples' Democratic Party (UDUB), the party of former President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) ([Institute for Security Studies, October 2017](https://media.africaportal.org/documents/eastern_africa_report15.pdf)).

## What does the party say it stands for?

The party's 2017 programme proposed public health care, more spending on schools and a 30 percent share of parliament seats for women ([Xisbiga Waddani, Barnaamijka Xisbiga, archived 2020](https://web.archive.org/web/20200623051138/https://waddani-party.org/barnaamijka-xisbiga/)). Europe Elects described it in 2021 as leaning centre-left on the economy, with a strong place for Islamic values and support for more decentralisation ([Europe Elects, 31 May 2021](https://web.archive.org/web/20210602231811/https://europeelects.eu/2021/05/31/somaliland-parliamentary-elections-peace-and-democracy/)). A University of Tartu review of 2021 called Waddani "populist" ([Kristel Vits, University of Tartu, 24 Jan 2022](https://sisu.ut.ee/defactostates/overview-2021-elections-strife-and-suspense/)).

## Who leads it?

- **Founder and 2017 and 2024 candidate:** Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" (sources above).
- **Chair from 16 November 2021:** Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, elected at the party's second general convention ([BBC Somali, 16 Nov 2021](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-59308522); [MENAFN, 15 Nov 2021](https://menafn.com/1103177217/Somaliland-Waddani-Opposition-Party-Holds-2nd-General-Convention)).
- **Vice President of Somaliland from December 2024:** [Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi](/en/people/mohamed-aw-ali-abdi/), Irro's running mate ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddani)).

## How has Waddani done in elections?

**Local elections**
- **2012:** 244,795 votes, 30.19 percent, 68 of 323 council seats, second place ([Wikipedia, Waddani, election tables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddani)).
- **2021:** 260,841 votes, 37.83 percent, 79 of 220 council seats, second place (same source).

**President**
- **13 November 2017:** Irro won 226,092 votes (40.73 percent). [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) of Kulmiye won with 305,909 (55.10 percent). Turnout was 80.32 percent of 704,198 registered voters ([Somaliland NEC, final polling-station results, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180516215507/http://www.slnec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Final-PollingStation-Results.pdf)).
- **13 November 2024:** Irro won 407,908 votes (63.92 percent) against 225,519 (34.81 percent) for Muse Bihi Abdi. Bihi conceded and Irro took office in December 2024 ([Scott Pegg, University of Tartu, 9 Dec 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)). See [the 2024 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2024/).

**Parliament**
- **31 May 2021:** in the first parliamentary vote since 2005, Waddani won 31 of 82 seats, the most of any party ([Reuters, 6 Jun 2021](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/somaliland-opposition-win-majority-first-parliamentary-vote-since-2005-2021-06-06/)). It then joined UCID in a coalition holding 52 seats, against 30 for Kulmiye ([AFP via VOA, 10 Jun 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somaliland-opposition-joins-forces-grab-control-parliament/6206719.html)).

**Party status**
- **13 November 2024:** in the contest for the three national party places, Waddani came first with 216,284 votes, ahead of Kaah (131,507) and Kulmiye (108,100). The three keep party status for ten years ([Somaliland NEC, interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)).

## How Waddani worked with Kaah in 2024

Before the 2024 vote, the new Kaah association backed Irro for president. Somaliland Chronicle reported the alliance in August 2024 ([Somaliland Chronicle, 5 Aug 2024](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2024/08/05/wadani-kaah-coalition-restructuring-somaliland-political-landscape/)). See [Kaah](/en/government/kaah-party/).

## Related pages

- [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/)
- [Kulmiye](/en/government/kulmiye-party/)
- [UCID, the Justice and Welfare Party](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/)
- [Presidents of Somaliland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-somaliland/)
- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)


---

# Beetles of Somalia: all 236 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 236 beetle species (order Coleoptera) from Somalia, among them scarabs, ground beetles, darkling beetles and weevils.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 236 beetle species with Somalia as the country, in 20 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Cerambycidae: 60
- Scarabaeidae: 57
- Carabidae: 33
- Tenebrionidae: 21
- Buprestidae: 18
- Curculionidae: 15
- Staphylinidae: 6
- Brentidae: 4
- Coccinellidae: 4
- Dytiscidae: 4

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are *Systates angulithorax* (46), Idactus cristulatus (36), Sternotomis fairmairei (26), *Dereodus marginellus* (21), *Myriochila melancholica* (18), *Idactus spinipennis* (14) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

154 of the 236 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

3 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Olenecamptus somalius*, *Dichecephala somalina*, *Zyras somalianus* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Vulnerable: Great Capricorn Beetle, Violet Click Beetle ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 2
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 1
- Data Deficient (DD): 2
- Not Evaluated (NE): 231

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Cerambycidae: 60 species
- Scarabaeidae: 57 species
- Carabidae: 33 species
- Tenebrionidae: 21 species
- Buprestidae: 18 species
- Curculionidae: 15 species
- Staphylinidae: 6 species
- Brentidae: 4 species
- Coccinellidae: 4 species
- Dytiscidae: 4 species

## Full list (236 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia-2/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Clada denticornis](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia/) | *Clada denticornis* | Anobiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amorphocephala imitator](https://www.gbif.org/species/7414663) | *Amorphocephala imitator* | Brentidae | NE | 2 |
| [Amorphocephala senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8345027) | *Amorphocephala senegalensis* | Brentidae | NE | 2 |
| [Perisymmorphocerus compactus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7695760) | *Perisymmorphocerus compactus* | Brentidae | NE | 1 |
| [Perisymmorphocerus tenuis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7802788) | *Perisymmorphocerus tenuis* | Brentidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acmaeodera cupreosuturata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9268819) | *Acmaeodera cupreosuturata* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acmaeodera elevata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9259458) | *Acmaeodera elevata* | Buprestidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acmaeodera foudrasii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9487453) | *Acmaeodera foudrasii* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acmaeodera illustris](https://www.gbif.org/species/9628199) | *Acmaeodera illustris* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acmaeodera prorugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9146265) | *Acmaeodera prorugosa* | Buprestidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acmaeodera virgo](https://www.gbif.org/species/9498886) | *Acmaeodera virgo* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Agelia lordi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9518584) | *Agelia lordi* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Evides pubiventris](https://www.gbif.org/species/9312658) | *Evides pubiventris* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Julodis gariepina](https://www.gbif.org/species/9562201) | *Julodis gariepina* | Buprestidae | NE | 4 |
| [Lampetis placida](https://www.gbif.org/species/9457604) | *Lampetis placida* | Buprestidae | NE | 2 |
| [Neojulodis laticollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9303069) | *Neojulodis laticollis* | Buprestidae | NE | 2 |
| [Neojulodis myrmido](https://www.gbif.org/species/9292880) | *Neojulodis myrmido* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phlocteis quadricornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9280733) | *Phlocteis quadricornis* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Steraspis fastuosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9373682) | *Steraspis fastuosa* | Buprestidae | NE | 4 |
| [Sternocera cariosicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9576335) | *Sternocera cariosicollis* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sternocera discedens](https://www.gbif.org/species/9376117) | *Sternocera discedens* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sternocera hildebrandti](https://www.gbif.org/species/9285239) | *Sternocera hildebrandti* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sternocera syriaca](https://www.gbif.org/species/9613453) | *Sternocera syriaca* | Buprestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Abacetus nitidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7360909) | *Abacetus nitidus* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amorphomerus raffrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7923798) | *Amorphomerus raffrayi* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anthia hexasticta](https://www.gbif.org/species/8385661) | *Anthia hexasticta* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anthia revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/7962171) | *Anthia revoili* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anthia sulcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8260279) | *Anthia sulcata* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brachinus explodens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4474922) | *Brachinus explodens* | Carabidae | NE | 2 |
| [Calosoma imbricatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7569466) | *Calosoma imbricatum* | Carabidae | NE | 2 |
| [Calosoma raffrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9573361) | *Calosoma raffrayi* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Royal Tiger Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/7903706) | *Chaetodera regalis* | Carabidae | NE | 8 |
| [Chlaenius bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8289530) | *Chlaenius bottegoi* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cicindela alboguttata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7398641) | *Cicindela alboguttata* | Carabidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cicindela aulica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4480444) | *Cicindela aulica* | Carabidae | NE | 6 |
| [Cicindela viridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8044043) | *Cicindela viridis* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cylindera rectangularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8424291) | *Cylindera rectangularis* | Carabidae | NE | 4 |
| [Cypholoba apicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7451628) | *Cypholoba apicata* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cypholoba intermedia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7764392) | *Cypholoba intermedia* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cypholoba piaggiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8326940) | *Cypholoba piaggiae* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cypholoba tetrastigma](https://www.gbif.org/species/7396791) | *Cypholoba tetrastigma* | Carabidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hypaetha singularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8406032) | *Hypaetha singularis* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lebiomorphica ochreorufa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7740044) | *Lebiomorphica ochreorufa* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lophyra latelimbata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7500772) | *Lophyra latelimbata* | Carabidae | NE | 3 |
| [Myriochila melancholica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5757327) | *Myriochila melancholica* | Carabidae | NE | 18 |
| [Omophron multiguttatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8045671) | *Omophron multiguttatum* | Carabidae | NE | 2 |
| [Paraglycia obscuripennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8069146) | *Paraglycia obscuripennis* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paussus centurio](https://www.gbif.org/species/7661407) | *Paussus centurio* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paussus crenaticornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7896359) | *Paussus crenaticornis* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paussus planicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7417262) | *Paussus planicollis* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paussus verticalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7717400) | *Paussus verticalis* | Carabidae | NE | 3 |
| [Platytarus tessellatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7840638) | *Platytarus tessellatus* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prothyma bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8104867) | *Prothyma bottegoi* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prothyma methneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7520601) | *Prothyma methneri* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Psecadius eustalactus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7409489) | *Psecadius eustalactus* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scarites bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8257679) | *Scarites bottegoi* | Carabidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acartus biplagiatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1156842) | *Acartus biplagiatus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Anthracocentrus beringei](https://www.gbif.org/species/1105794) | *Anthracocentrus beringei* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Baliesthes alboguttatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1130816) | *Baliesthes alboguttatus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 4 |
| [Cantharoctenus antennatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8373295) | *Cantharoctenus antennatus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cantharoctenus burchellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7806230) | *Cantharoctenus burchellii* | Cerambycidae | NE | 3 |
| [Great Capricorn Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5820507) | *Cerambyx cerdo* | Cerambycidae | VU | 1 |
| [Ceroplesis revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/4739099) | *Ceroplesis revoili* | Cerambycidae | NE | 4 |
| [Cnemolia lateralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1126358) | *Cnemolia lateralis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 3 |
| [Coelodon servum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5003672) | *Coelodon servum* | Cerambycidae | NE | 9 |
| [Cordylomera annulicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1141727) | *Cordylomera annulicornis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 3 |
| [Crossotus plumicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1153519) | *Crossotus plumicornis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cymatura mucorea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1156988) | *Cymatura mucorea* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Derolus brunneipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1105876) | *Derolus brunneipennis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Derolus sulcatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1105846) | *Derolus sulcatus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dissaporus cylindricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1127346) | *Dissaporus cylindricus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunidia meleagris](https://www.gbif.org/species/1148348) | *Eunidia meleagris* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunidia nebulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4739600) | *Eunidia nebulosa* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunidia subtessellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6266239) | *Eunidia subtessellata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunidia thomseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/1148493) | *Eunidia thomseni* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Helymaeus tricolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1098888) | *Helymaeus tricolor* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Idactus bettoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/1097272) | *Idactus bettoni* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Idactus coquereli](https://www.gbif.org/species/1097239) | *Idactus coquereli* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Idactus cristulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1097259) | *Idactus cristulatus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 36 |
| [Idactus ellioti](https://www.gbif.org/species/4886840) | *Idactus ellioti* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Idactus spinipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1097250) | *Idactus spinipennis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 14 |
| [Kerochariesthes fulvoplagiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1111004) | *Kerochariesthes fulvoplagiata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 3 |
| [Listrocerum aspericorne](https://www.gbif.org/species/1111147) | *Listrocerum aspericorne* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macrotoma palmata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8182492) | *Macrotoma palmata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 4 |
| [Mallodon downesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1112380) | *Mallodon downesii* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neoplocaederus bennigseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/1141566) | *Neoplocaederus bennigseni* | Cerambycidae | NE | 10 |
| [Notophysis folchinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1153966) | *Notophysis folchinii* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Olenecamptus patrizii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1105280) | *Olenecamptus patrizii* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Olenecamptus somalius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1105380) | *Olenecamptus somalius* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ossibia fuscata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1110161) | *Ossibia fuscata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Oxilus elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/1107828) | *Oxilus elegans* | Cerambycidae | NE | 12 |
| [Paracolobizus mourgliai](https://www.gbif.org/species/6265717) | *Paracolobizus mourgliai* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllocnema semijanthina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1112119) | *Phyllocnema semijanthina* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera alluaudi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103512) | *Prosopocera alluaudi* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103730) | *Prosopocera inermis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera lactator](https://www.gbif.org/species/4895343) | *Prosopocera lactator* | Cerambycidae | NE | 3 |
| [Prosopocera marmorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103232) | *Prosopocera marmorata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera nivosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103450) | *Prosopocera nivosa* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera peeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/8384791) | *Prosopocera peeli* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Prosopocera robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103549) | *Prosopocera robecchii* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera unicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103688) | *Prosopocera unicolor* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prosopocera wahlbergi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1103493) | *Prosopocera wahlbergi* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sophronica intricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1125601) | *Sophronica intricata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spodotaenia basicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1136167) | *Spodotaenia basicornis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 5 |
| [Sternotomis bohemani](https://www.gbif.org/species/4738452) | *Sternotomis bohemani* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sternotomis fairmairei](https://www.gbif.org/species/1152440) | *Sternotomis fairmairei* | Cerambycidae | NE | 26 |
| [Tapinolachnus cinereus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4738269) | *Tapinolachnus cinereus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Taurotagus griseus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1114000) | *Taurotagus griseus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Taurotagus klugii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1113990) | *Taurotagus klugii* | Cerambycidae | NE | 5 |
| [Tithoes confinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1134574) | *Tithoes confinis* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tithoes maculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4738944) | *Tithoes maculatus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Titoceres jaspideus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1134912) | *Titoceres jaspideus* | Cerambycidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tragocephala modesta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5005706) | *Tragocephala modesta* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Xanthospila flavoplagiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5004348) | *Xanthospila flavoplagiata* | Cerambycidae | NE | 4 |
| [Xystrocera interrupta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1128098) | *Xystrocera interrupta* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zoodes liturifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1127265) | *Zoodes liturifer* | Cerambycidae | NE | 1 |
| [Necrobia rufipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/11342266) | *Necrobia rufipes* | Cleridae | NE | 1 |
| [Lunate Lady Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/6993524) | *Cheilomenes lunata* | Coccinellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cheilomenes propinqua](https://www.gbif.org/species/10352494) | *Cheilomenes propinqua* | Coccinellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Adonis' Ladybird](https://www.gbif.org/species/1043082) | *Hippodamia variegata* | Coccinellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Flashlight Shield Lady Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/8666127) | *Parexochomus nigromaculatus* | Coccinellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cathormiocerus horrens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1229594) | *Cathormiocerus horrens* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cleonus dealbatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1189833) | *Cleonus dealbatus* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryphalus indicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1212244) | *Cryphalus indicus* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dereodus marginellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1231729) | *Dereodus marginellus* | Curculionidae | NE | 21 |
| [Lixus nubilosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1224175) | *Lixus nubilosus* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neocleonus sannio](https://www.gbif.org/species/9344136) | *Neocleonus sannio* | Curculionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Neocryptorrhynchus maculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1238204) | *Neocryptorrhynchus maculatus* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Raspberry Weevil](https://www.gbif.org/species/1194979) | *Otiorhynchus singularis* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polyclaeis albidopictus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1240257) | *Polyclaeis albidopictus* | Curculionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Polyclaeis octoplagiatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1240234) | *Polyclaeis octoplagiatus* | Curculionidae | NE | 3 |
| [Systates angulithorax](https://www.gbif.org/species/1235351) | *Systates angulithorax* | Curculionidae | NE | 46 |
| [Tanymecus fausti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1177179) | *Tanymecus fausti* | Curculionidae | NE | 6 |
| [Thamnurgus senecionis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1209021) | *Thamnurgus senecionis* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Xyleborus confusus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5020740) | *Xyleborus confusus* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Xyloctonus punctipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1184297) | *Xyloctonus punctipennis* | Curculionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hide Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/1095863) | *Dermestes maculatus* | Dermestidae | NE | 1 |
| [rice weevil](https://www.gbif.org/species/9915023) | *Sitophilus oryzae* | Dryophthoridae | NE | 2 |
| [Three-punctured Diving Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4470304) | *Cybister tripunctatus* | Dytiscidae | NE | 10 |
| [Laccophilus continentalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5874097) | *Laccophilus continentalis* | Dytiscidae | NE | 1 |
| [Laccophilus pictipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6000069) | *Laccophilus pictipennis* | Dytiscidae | NE | 6 |
| [Yolina insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6000886) | *Yolina insignis* | Dytiscidae | NE | 1 |
| [Red-brown click beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4428495) | *Athous haemorrhoidalis* | Elateridae | NE | 1 |
| [Violet Click Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4428477) | *Limoniscus violaceus* | Elateridae | VU | 1 |


This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia-2/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# EVC Plus: Hormuud's mobile money service

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/evc-plus/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> EVC Plus (Electronic Voucher Card) is the mobile money service of Hormuud Telecom, the largest in Somalia. It began about 2011, works by typing short codes on any phone, and is free to use for transfers. In February 2021 it received Somalia's first mobile money licence, when it had about 3 million users. The GSMA certified it in 2022 and again in 2025, and Hormuud says more than 145 aid groups use it to pay cash aid.

## The short version

**EVC Plus**, short for Electronic Voucher Card, is the mobile money service run by [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/). People use it to send money, pay shops and bills, and receive salaries and aid, by typing short codes on any phone ([VOA, 27 February 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). It is the largest such service in Somalia and covers the south and centre of the country ([Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/)). VOA described it as free to use (same source).

## When it started

VOA wrote in 2021 that mobile money in Somalia had "emerged 10 years ago", which puts its start at about 2011 ([VOA, 27 February 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). Sources differ on the exact year: some give 2009, others 2011 or 2012 ([Wikipedia, Hormuud Telecom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)). TechAfrica News calls it Somalia's first mobile money platform ([TechAfrica News, 20 August 2025](https://techafricanews.com/2025/08/20/somalias-hormuud-telecom-secures-gsma-mobile-money-re-certification/)).

## The first licence, 2021

On **27 February 2021** the Central Bank of Somalia's governor, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, gave Hormuud the country's **first mobile money licence**, for EVC Plus ([VOA, 27 February 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). Until then mobile money had run without regulation. At the time EVC Plus had about **3 million** users among Hormuud's **3.6 million** subscribers (same source). The licence followed the Central Bank's Mobile Money Regulations of 2019 ([Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/)).

## Size

- The World Bank reported about **155 million** mobile money transactions a month in Somalia in 2018, worth about **$2.7 billion** ([VOA, 2021, citing the World Bank](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)). This figure covers the whole market. Some later reports give it for EVC Plus alone ([Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/)).
- In 2025 Hormuud said EVC Plus had more than **4.5 million** users and was used by more than **145 aid organisations** to pay cash aid ([TechAfrica News, 20 August 2025](https://techafricanews.com/2025/08/20/somalias-hormuud-telecom-secures-gsma-mobile-money-re-certification/)).

## Certification

The **GSMA**, the mobile operators' industry body, first certified EVC Plus under its Mobile Money Certification programme in **2022** and renewed the certification in **August 2025**. The programme checks services against eight principles and nearly 300 criteria, including fraud prevention, customer data protection and resilience. TechAfrica News reported that EVC Plus was one of about ten services worldwide holding it, alongside Safaricom's and Vodacom's M-Pesa and MTN MoMo ([TechAfrica News, 20 August 2025](https://techafricanews.com/2025/08/20/somalias-hormuud-telecom-secures-gsma-mobile-money-re-certification/); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-hormuud-telecom-re-certified-by-gsma-for-secure-mobile-money-services)).

## Links to banks and apps

- **Banks:** Salaam Somali Bank's DEEQTOON mobile banking was built on Hormuud's technology in 2010 ([Salaam Somali Bank](/en/businesses/salaam-somali-bank/)). In October 2024 Hormuud connected EVC Plus to accounts at [MyBank](/en/businesses/mybank-somalia/) and [Agro Bank](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/) ([TechAfrica News, 21 October 2024](https://techafricanews.com/2024/10/21/hormuud-partners-with-mybank-and-agrobank-to-enhance-digital-banking/)).
- **Waafi:** the Waafi smartphone app, launched in April 2021, moves money between EVC Plus wallets and bank accounts ([Waafi](/en/businesses/waafi/)).

For the other services, see [Zaad](/en/businesses/zaad/), [Sahal](/en/businesses/sahal/) and [eDahab](/en/businesses/edahab/).


---

# Kulmiye (Peace, Unity and Development Party)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/kulmiye-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Kulmiye is a political party in Somaliland, founded on 12 May 2002 by Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud 'Silanyo'. It held the presidency from 2010 to 2024, under Silanyo and then Muse Bihi Abdi. In the 2024 party contest it came third with 108,100 votes, which keeps it as one of Somaliland's three national parties for ten years.

## What is Kulmiye?

Kulmiye is one of the three national political parties of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Its full name is *Xisbiga Kulmiye Nabad, Midnimo iyo Horumarka*, the Peace, Unity and Development Party. *Kulmiye* means "solidarity" or "the one that brings together" ([Wikipedia, Kulmiye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulmiye_Peace,_Unity,_and_Development_Party)). Its headquarters are in Hargeisa (same source).

Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" founded the party on 12 May 2002, before the first local elections of December 2002 ([Kulmiye Party, Brief History, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulmiye_Peace,_Unity,_and_Development_Party)). Silanyo had chaired the Somali National Movement in the 1980s. See [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/).

## Who has led it?

- **Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo":** chair from 12 May 2002 to 31 December 2010. He was President of Somaliland from 27 July 2010 to 13 December 2017 ([Wikipedia, party chairmen table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulmiye_Peace,_Unity,_and_Development_Party)).
- **Muse Bihi Abdi:** chair from 31 December 2010 to 21 August 2023. He was President from 13 December 2017 to 12 December 2024 (same source). See [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/).
- **Mohamed Kahin Ahmed:** chair from 21 August 2023. He was Minister of Interior from 2017 to 2024. The same party convention named Bihi again as its presidential candidate ([Horseed Media, 21 Aug 2023](https://horseedmedia.net/burco-xiabiga-kulmiye-oo-mar-kale-musharax-madaxweyne-u-doortey-biixi-381809)).
- **Speaker of the House:** Yasin Haji Mohamoud "Faratoon" of Kulmiye was elected Speaker in July 2023 ([Horn Diplomat, 23 Jul 2023](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2023/07/23/somaliland-parliament-elects-yasin-faratoon-as-new-speaker/)).

## Where does its support come from?

A 2017 opinion article in [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), titled "Political parties or clan parties?", wrote that Kulmiye drew most support from the Habar Jeclo and Habar [Awal](/en/society/habar-awal/), both Isaaq sub-clans ([Hiiraan Online, 1 Jan 2017](https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2017/jan/139620/somaliland_political_parties_or_clan_parties.aspx)). Africa Elects places the party in the centre ([Africa Elects, Somaliland](https://africaelects.com/somaliland/)). The party was listed as an observer of the Africa Liberal Network (same source).

## How has Kulmiye done in elections?

**President**
- **14 April 2003:** Silanyo won 205,515 votes, 42.07 percent. [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) of UDUB won with 42.08 percent, a gap of about 80 votes ([Wikipedia, Elections in Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland)).
- **26 June 2010:** Silanyo won with 266,906 votes, 49.59 percent, ahead of Riyale's 33.23 percent (same source).
- **13 November 2017:** Muse Bihi Abdi won with 305,909 votes, 55.10 percent ([Somaliland NEC, final results, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180516215507/http://www.slnec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Final-PollingStation-Results.pdf)).
- **13 November 2024:** Bihi won 225,519 votes, 34.81 percent, and lost to Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" of Waddani. Bihi conceded ([Scott Pegg, University of Tartu, 9 Dec 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).

**Parliament**
- **29 September 2005:** 228,328 votes, 34.06 percent, 28 of 82 seats, second place ([Wikipedia, Kulmiye election tables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulmiye_Peace,_Unity,_and_Development_Party)).
- **31 May 2021:** 257,020 votes, 36.92 percent, 30 of 82 seats. Waddani and UCID then formed a 52-seat coalition ([AFP via VOA, 10 Jun 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somaliland-opposition-joins-forces-grab-control-parliament/6206719.html)).

**Local councils**
- **2002:** 83,158 votes, 18.90 percent, 71 of 379 seats ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulmiye_Peace,_Unity,_and_Development_Party)).
- **2012:** 99 of 323 seats, first place ([Wikipedia, Elections in Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Somaliland)).
- **2021:** 93 of 220 seats, first place (same source).

**Party status**
- **13 November 2024:** 108,100 votes, third of ten. Waddani, Kaah and Kulmiye hold national party status for ten years ([Somaliland NEC, interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)).

## Related pages

- [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/)
- [Waddani](/en/government/waddani-party/)
- [Kaah](/en/government/kaah-party/)
- [UCID, the Justice and Welfare Party](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/)
- [The 2017 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2017/)
- [The 2010 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2010/)


---

# Somalia and Sweden

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/sweden/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Sweden recognised Somalia on independence in 1960 and has never had a resident ambassador in Mogadishu; its ambassador to Somalia works from a Somalia Section in Nairobi. Sweden is one of Somalia's largest European donors: its 2018 to 2022 strategy was worth SEK 3,072 million, it gave SEK 392.3 million in 2025, and its 2026 to 2028 strategy plans about SEK 200 million a year, including work on returns and migration.

## How do Somalia and Sweden relate today?

Sweden has no embassy in Somalia. Its Somalia Section sits in the Swedish embassy in Nairobi, travels to Somalia regularly and is led by Sweden's ambassador to Somalia ([Embassy of Sweden, Somalia Section](https://www.swedenabroad.se/sv/utlandsmyndigheter/kenya-nairobi/om-oss/somaliasektionen/)). The ambassador since autumn 2025 is Hans Henric Lundquist ([Government of Sweden, 7 August 2025](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2025/08/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)).

Aid is the core of the tie. Sweden gave Somalia SEK 392.3 million in 2025: SEK 243.4 million in development cooperation and SEK 148.9 million in humanitarian aid ([Sida, Somalia page, April 2026](https://www.sida.se/en/sidas-international-work/countries-and-regions/somalia)). A new strategy for 2026 to 2028 lets Sida spend about SEK 200 million a year ([Government of Sweden, strategy 2026–2028](https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/c1ed2ca2cd9d42d993103ead6860ea7b/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2026-2028.pdf)).

Migration now shapes the tie. The 2026 strategy adds a goal of countering irregular migration and helping more people return ([Government of Sweden, strategy 2026–2028](https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/c1ed2ca2cd9d42d993103ead6860ea7b/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2026-2028.pdf)). From 23 June 2026 the EU restricted visas for Somali nationals over readmission, and Sweden's embassy published the rules ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## When did contact begin?

Sweden recognised the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) at independence on 1 July 1960. Acting Foreign Minister Herman Kling sent a telegram of recognition to Prime Minister [Abdullahi Issa](/en/people/abdullahi-issa/) ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors of Sweden to Somalia, citing Svenska Dagbladet, 2 July 1960](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)). Sweden's envoy in Addis Ababa, Åke Sjölin, represented Sweden at the celebrations in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, citing Svenska Dagbladet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).

Sweden's embassy says its engagement in Somalia has run since the early 1960s ([Embassy of Sweden, Somalia Section](https://www.swedenabroad.se/sv/utlandsmyndigheter/kenya-nairobi/om-oss/somaliasektionen/)). Sweden never had a resident ambassador in Mogadishu. Its ambassadors were based in Addis Ababa (1961 to 1964), Cairo (1964 to 1970 and 1980 to 1981), Dar es Salaam (1971 to 1979) and then Stockholm ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).

After the Somali state collapsed in 1991, the post stayed empty from 1992 ([Riksdag, interpellation 2012/13:146](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)). In December 2012 the government told parliament it would soon seek approval for a new ambassador ([Riksdag, 2012](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Swedish ambassadors to Somalia:

- **Åke Sjölin**, 1961 to 1964, resident in Addis Ababa. He presented credentials in Mogadishu on 6 December 1961 ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **Tord Hagen**, 1967 to 1969, resident in Cairo ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **Krister Göranson**, ambassador during 1992 ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **No accredited ambassador**, 1992 to 2013 ([Riksdag, 2012](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)).
- **Mikael Lindvall**, April 2013 to July 2017, resident in Nairobi ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **Andreas von Uexküll**, from 1 September 2017 ([Government of Sweden, 6 July 2017](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2017/07/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)).
- **Staffan Tillander**, from 1 September 2019. He had served with the UN mission in Mogadishu, UNSOM ([Government of Sweden, 25 July 2019](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2019/07/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)).
- **Per Lindgärde**, from autumn 2021. He had been deputy special envoy for Somalia to the UN Secretary-General ([Government of Sweden, 15 April 2021](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2021/04/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)).
- **Joachim Waern**, from August 2023, after heading Sweden's office in [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Government of Sweden, 20 April 2023](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/04/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)).
- **Hans Henric Lundquist**, from autumn 2025, previously ambassador in Addis Ababa and Khartoum ([Government of Sweden, 7 August 2025](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2025/08/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)). The embassy lists him as Ambassador to Somalia and Head of the Somalia Section ([Embassy of Sweden, staff](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/about-us/embassy-staff/)).

Somalia's ambassador in Stockholm covers Sweden and Norway. In 2026 this was Abdikarim Ahmed Mohamed, ambassador to Sweden and non-resident ambassador to Norway ([SONNA, 16 February 2026](https://sonna.so/en/article/somalias-ambassador-to-sweden-non-resident-ambassador-to-norway-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Herman Kling**, acting foreign minister, recognised Somalia by telegram in July 1960 ([Wikipedia, citing Svenska Dagbladet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **Åke Sjölin**, first Swedish envoy accredited to Mogadishu, from July 1961 ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **Carina Hägg**, Social Democratic MP, pressed the government in November 2012 to name an ambassador and use the diaspora in rebuilding ([Riksdag, 2012](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)).
- **Gunilla Carlsson**, Minister for International Development Cooperation, answered in December 2012 that an ambassador would follow and a strategy would be adopted in spring 2013 ([Riksdag, 2012](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)).
- **Mikael Lindvall**, first Swedish ambassador to Somalia in two decades, 2013 to 2017 ([Wikipedia, List of ambassadors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia)).
- **Per Lindgärde**, a former UN deputy envoy for Somalia, ambassador from 2021 ([Government of Sweden, 15 April 2021](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2021/04/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/)).
- **Hans Henric Lundquist**, ambassador from 2025, heads the Somalia Section that runs the 2026 to 2028 strategy ([Embassy of Sweden, staff](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/about-us/embassy-staff/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

Sweden's main instruments are its own aid strategies, not bilateral treaties:

- **Spring 2013**: first results strategy for Somalia, planned after the 2012 interpellation ([Riksdag, 2012](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)).
- **4 October 2018**: strategy for 2018 to 2022, worth SEK 3,072 million: SEK 3,000 million for Sida and SEK 72 million for the Folke Bernadotte Academy. It was extended to 30 June 2025, with SEK 310 million for 2025 ([Government of Sweden, UD2018/10786/AF](https://www.regeringen.se/strategier-for-internationellt-bistand/2018/10/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2018-2022/)).
- **13 April 2026**: strategy for 2026 to 2028, about SEK 200 million a year ([Government of Sweden, 13 April 2026](https://www.regeringen.se/strategier-for-internationellt-bistand/2026/04/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-20262028/)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is small but growing. UN Comtrade records Swedish exports to Somalia and imports from Somalia:

- 2020: exports US$423,981; imports US$28,989 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=752&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2023: exports US$1,671,982; imports US$66,446 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=752&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2024: exports US$1,559,005; imports US$133,615 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=752&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

In 2024 the largest export groups were chemical products, textile articles, instruments and furniture ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=752&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)). The 2026 strategy says the Swedish-Somali diaspora and trade open the way to ties beyond aid ([Government of Sweden, strategy 2026–2028](https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/c1ed2ca2cd9d42d993103ead6860ea7b/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2026-2028.pdf)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Sweden's bilateral aid disbursements to Somalia, in current US dollars, were ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)):

- US$25.9 million in 2010 and US$63.5 million in 2011
- US$82.8 million in 2014
- US$107.1 million in 2018
- US$109.8 million in 2021, the highest in the series
- US$73.8 million in 2023 and US$65.9 million in 2024

In 2025 Sida's main partners included the UN Somalia Joint Fund, whose steering committee Sweden chairs ([Sida, April 2026](https://www.sida.se/en/sidas-international-work/countries-and-regions/somalia)). Others were the World Bank for public finance and tax, Mercy Corps for livestock, Save the Children for reproductive health, FAO for irrigation and the BRCiS resilience consortium ([Sida, April 2026](https://www.sida.se/en/sidas-international-work/countries-and-regions/somalia)). Sweden earlier funded media work through International Media Support, Fojo and BBC Media Action ([Sida, April 2026](https://www.sida.se/en/sidas-international-work/countries-and-regions/somalia)).

The 2026 to 2028 strategy has six goals ([Government of Sweden, strategy 2026–2028](https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/c1ed2ca2cd9d42d993103ead6860ea7b/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2026-2028.pdf)):

- stronger institutions for state-building, democracy and the rule of law
- respect for human rights
- resilience to crises, disasters and climate change
- capacity to counter irregular migration, and more returns and reintegration
- sexual and reproductive health and rights
- jobs, business, trade and education

## What about security?

In 2012 Sweden supported the EU training mission for Somali soldiers, the EU naval operation Atalanta, the [EUCAP Nestor](/en/relations/european-union/) mission and the AU force [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) ([Riksdag, 2012](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/)). The Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden's agency for peace and security, received SEK 72 million under the 2018 to 2022 strategy ([Government of Sweden](https://www.regeringen.se/strategier-for-internationellt-bistand/2018/10/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2018-2022/)). For foreign military roles, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Sweden deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Sweden's strategies and embassy pages cover Somalia as one country and do not set out a separate [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) programme ([Government of Sweden, strategy 2026–2028](https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/c1ed2ca2cd9d42d993103ead6860ea7b/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2026-2028.pdf)). No Swedish office in Hargeisa or a member state capital appears in the embassy's description of its Somalia work ([Embassy of Sweden, Somalia Section](https://www.swedenabroad.se/sv/utlandsmyndigheter/kenya-nairobi/om-oss/somaliasektionen/)).

## Have there been disputes?

The main friction is over returns. The EU found Somalia's cooperation on taking back nationals staying irregularly in the EU insufficient ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)). From 23 June 2026 Somali applicants face 45-day processing, full documents, single-entry visas only and fees on diplomatic passports ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## How many Somalis live in Sweden?

At the start of 2025, 65,960 people born in Somalia lived in Sweden ([Statistics Sweden](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/)). See [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/).

## Where does Sweden stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Sweden chairs the steering committee of the UN Somalia Joint Fund ([Sida, April 2026](https://www.sida.se/en/sidas-international-work/countries-and-regions/somalia)). As an EU member it takes part in the EU's Somalia missions, and EU rule-of-law mission staff sit in its Nairobi embassy ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, about us](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/about-us/)).

## Related pages

- [Sweden (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/sweden/)
- [Somalia and Norway](/en/relations/norway/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)

## Sources

1. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. "Somaliasektionen." Updated 5 April 2023. [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/sv/utlandsmyndigheter/kenya-nairobi/om-oss/somaliasektionen/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. "Embassy staff." [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/about-us/embassy-staff/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. "About us." [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/about-us/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. "The Council of the European Union restricts visa provision for Somali nationals." 8 July 2026. [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Sida. "Somalia." Updated 27 April 2026. [sida.se](https://www.sida.se/en/sidas-international-work/countries-and-regions/somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Government of Sweden. "Strategi för Sveriges utvecklingssamarbete med Somalia 2026–2028." 13 April 2026. [regeringen.se](https://www.regeringen.se/strategier-for-internationellt-bistand/2026/04/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-20262028/) and [PDF](https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/c1ed2ca2cd9d42d993103ead6860ea7b/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2026-2028.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Government of Sweden. "Strategi för Sveriges utvecklingssamarbete med Somalia 2018–2022." 4 October 2018. [regeringen.se](https://www.regeringen.se/strategier-for-internationellt-bistand/2018/10/strategi-for-sveriges-utvecklingssamarbete-med-somalia-2018-2022/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Government of Sweden. "Ny ambassadör i Somalia." 6 July 2017; 25 July 2019; 15 April 2021; 20 April 2023; 7 August 2025. [2017](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2017/07/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/), [2019](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2019/07/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/), [2021](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2021/04/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/), [2023](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/04/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/), [2025](https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2025/08/ny-ambassador-i-somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Sveriges riksdag. Interpellation 2012/13:146, "Situationen i Somalia," Carina Hägg, answered 18 December 2012. [riksdagen.se](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/interpellation/situationen-i-somalia_h010146/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Wikipedia. "List of ambassadors of Sweden to Somalia" (used for pre-1992 envoys, citing Svenska Dagbladet archives). [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_Sweden_to_Somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/). Somalia's ambassador to Sweden presents credentials in Norway. 16 February 2026. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/article/somalias-ambassador-to-sweden-non-resident-ambassador-to-norway-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor, current prices. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UN Comtrade. Sweden–Somalia trade, 2020 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=752&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Statistics Sweden. Population by country of birth, 2025. [scb.se](https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/FolkmRegFlandKCKM/).


---

# Somalia and the UAE

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/uae/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The United Arab Emirates is Somalia's largest trading partner and the home of the port operator DP World, which runs Berbera in Somaliland and, through P&O Ports, Bosaso in Puntland. The UAE sold Somalia US$1.5 billion of goods in 2023. On 12 January 2026 Somalia's cabinet cancelled all agreements with the UAE, including the Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo port deals and security cooperation.

## How do Somalia and the UAE relate today?

The UAE is Somalia's largest source of imports. It exported goods worth US$1.53 billion to Somalia in 2023 and bought US$360 million of Somali goods ([WITS, World Bank, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

Formal ties are in dispute. On 12 January 2026 Somalia's Council of Ministers cancelled all agreements with the UAE, covering port operations, security and defence ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)). The decision named the ports of Berbera, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Kismayo and was to apply to regional administrations too ([Africanews, 13 January 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/)).

The UAE company DP World still runs Berbera port in Somaliland under a 2016 agreement with Somaliland ([The National, 28 May 2016](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/somaliland-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world-1.195002)). Somaliland called the UAE a trusted friend and rejected Mogadishu's decision ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)).

## When did contact begin?

Trade across the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and the Arabian Sea is ancient. Before the oil boom, the Emirates imported livestock and leather from Mogadishu, and some Somalis settled there before the Emirates united ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae); [The National, 1 July 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)).

In the 1980s Somalia depended more and more on aid from the UAE, [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) and Saudi Arabia ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, Relations with Arab Countries](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). By the end of the 1970s it owed Abu Dhabi US$67.0 million ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)). The UAE was an important buyer of Somali goods in 1990 ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/64.htm)).

After 1991, Dubai became the main hub for Somali goods and money. Most gold, textile and cloth shops in the Somali market at Murshed Bazaar were run by Somali women in 2003 ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)). That year six Somali cargo aircraft flew between Dubai and Mogadishu 12 to 14 times a week ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)). See [UAE and Dubai (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/).

The UAE welcomed the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) in August 2012 and backed its territorial integrity ([UN Secretary-General statement, August 2012](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sg2187.doc.htm)). In late March 2013 the two foreign ministers signed a memorandum re-establishing formal ties, and the UAE said it would reopen its embassy in Mogadishu ([Warlalis, 2 April 2013, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130821223522/http://warlalis.com/2013/04/02/somalia-uae-and-somalia-foreign-ministers-sign-mou-on-bilateral-cooperation/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Mohamed Al Osmani:** UAE ambassador to Somalia; met Puntland's president in Bosaso on 28 March 2014 ([Horseed Media, 28 March 2014](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/28/somalia-uae-pledges-continued-support-puntland-marine-forces/)).
- **[Mohammed Ahmed](/en/people/mohammed-ahmed/) Othman Al Hammadi:** UAE ambassador; met Prime Minister [Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) in Mogadishu in January 2015 ([Goobjoog, via Wikipedia's source list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia–United_Arab_Emirates_relations)).
- **AbdulKadir Sheikhey Al-Hatimi:** Somali ambassador in Abu Dhabi ([Embassy of Somalia, UAE, archived 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140429202601/http://somaliembassy-ae.gov.so/)).
- **Mohammed Yarow Abu Bakar Mayow:** Somali consul-general in the UAE in 2003. He said about 60% of Somalis there ran their own businesses ([Khaleej Times, 2 August 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)).
- **Bashe Omar:** head of the Somaliland trade office in Dubai in 2016 ([The National, 28 May 2016](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/somaliland-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world-1.195002)).

Missions: the UAE embassy in Mogadishu; Somalia's embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulate general in Dubai ([Khaleej Times, 2003](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/somalis-make-their-mark-in-the-uae)); the Somaliland office in Dubai.

## Who built the tie?

- **Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan**, UAE foreign minister: signed the March 2013 memorandum with [Fawzia Yusuf Adam](/en/people/fawzia-yusuf-adam/), Somalia's foreign minister ([Warlalis, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130821223522/http://warlalis.com/2013/04/02/somalia-uae-and-somalia-foreign-ministers-sign-mou-on-bilateral-cooperation/)).
- **Ahmad Humaid Al Mazroui**, chairman of the UAE Red Crescent: led a delegation to President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) in Mogadishu during the 2011 famine, outlining plans for health, education, energy and water ([Gulf News/WAM, 11 September 2011](http://gulfnews.com/news/region/somalia/somali-president-hails-uae-president-s-humanitarian-efforts-1.864794)).
- **Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem**, DP World chairman: signed the Berbera deal in 2016 and opened the new terminal on 24 June 2021 with President [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) ([The National, 2016](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/somaliland-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world-1.195002); [DP World, 24 June 2021](https://www.dpworld.com/news/releases/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone/)).
- **Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo**, Somaliland president, and **[Saad Ali Shire](/en/people/saad-ali-shire/)**, Somaliland foreign minister: Somaliland's side of the 2016 Berbera deal ([The National, 2016](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/somaliland-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world-1.195002)).
- **Muse Bihi Abdi**, Somaliland president: made a six-day UAE visit in 2019, after which the UAE announced the restoration of Berbera airport ([Hawilti, 23 November 2021](https://hawilti.com/infrastructure/aviation/berbera-international-airport-officially-opens-after-successful-renovation-by-the-uae/)).
- **[Abdiweli Gaas](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/)**, Puntland president: signed the Bosaso port concession with P&O Ports in Dubai in April 2017 ([Garowe Online, 12 October 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)).
- **[Abdirahman Farole](/en/people/abdirahman-farole/)**, Puntland president: oversaw the UAE-funded [Puntland Maritime Police Force](/en/institutions/puntland-security-forces/), formed in 2010 ([Horseed Media, 2014](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/28/somalia-uae-pledges-continued-support-puntland-marine-forces/)).
- **[Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/)** (Ahmed Mohamed Islam), Jubaland president: described by Ido Levy as having close ties with Abu Dhabi ([Washington Institute, 18 March 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)**, Somali president: training of federal cadets by the UAE resumed after his return in 2022 ([Washington Institute, 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)).
- **Anwar Gargash**, UAE minister of state for foreign affairs: publicly criticised the Somali government in April 2018 ([Daily Sabah, 16 April 2018](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)).
- **Mohamed [Mursal](/en/society/murusade/) Abdirahman**, Somali defence minister: announced on 11 April 2018 that Somalia would pay and train the UAE-funded soldiers itself ([Al Jazeera, 11 April 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-disbands-uae-programme-pay-train-soldiers-180411190249670.html)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, Somali defence minister: defended the January 2026 cancellation ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Late March 2013:** memorandum on bilateral cooperation, re-establishing formal ties ([Warlalis, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130821223522/http://warlalis.com/2013/04/02/somalia-uae-and-somalia-foreign-ministers-sign-mou-on-bilateral-cooperation/)).
- **November 2014:** memorandum on military cooperation ([KUNA, via Wikipedia's source list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia–United_Arab_Emirates_relations)).
- **May 2016, Berbera (with Somaliland, not the federal government):** DP World agreed US$442 million to develop Berbera port and a free zone. Phase one was US$230 million ([The National, 28 May 2016](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/somaliland-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world-1.195002)).
- **6 April 2017, Bosaso (with Puntland):** P&O Ports won a 30-year concession worth US$336 million ([Garowe Online, 12 October 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)).
- **1 March 2018, Berbera shares:** Ethiopia took 19%, with DP World at 51% and Somaliland at 30% ([en.wikipedia.org, DP World Berbera New Port](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DP_World_Berbera_New_Port)).
- **12 January 2026:** Somalia's cabinet revoked all agreements with the UAE ([Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **During the 2011 famine:** a UAE Red Crescent delegation met President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Mogadishu ([Gulf News/WAM, 11 September 2011](http://gulfnews.com/news/region/somalia/somali-president-hails-uae-president-s-humanitarian-efforts-1.864794)).
- **March 2014:** Prime Minister [Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/abdiweli-sheikh-ahmed/) made a three-day visit to the UAE; the UAE pledged help with rebuilding and institutions ([RaxanReeb, March 2014, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140305182831/http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/03/somalia-prime-minister-of-somalia-meets-with-uaes-deputy-pm-discuss-increased-support-to-somalia/)).
- **March 2015:** Foreign Minister [Abdisalam Omer Hadliye](/en/people/abdisalam-omer-hadliye/) met Abdullah bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi ([en.wikipedia.org, Somalia–UAE relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia–United_Arab_Emirates_relations)).
- **2019:** Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, six days in the UAE ([Hawilti](https://hawilti.com/infrastructure/aviation/berbera-international-airport-officially-opens-after-successful-renovation-by-the-uae/)).
- **24 June 2021:** DP World chairman Sultan bin Sulayem in Berbera, with Ethiopia's finance and transport ministers ([DP World](https://www.dpworld.com/news/releases/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone/)).

## How much do they trade?

UAE exports to Somalia, from World Bank WITS data:

- **2010:** US$288 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2015:** US$546 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2019:** US$1.16 billion ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2019/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2022:** US$1.89 billion ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2022/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2023:** US$1.53 billion ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

UAE imports from Somalia were US$81 million in 2010, US$196 million in 2019 and US$360 million in 2023 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/ARE/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

Companies:

- **DP World Berbera:** the new terminal opened on 24 June 2021 with a 400 m quay, three cranes and capacity of 500,000 containers (TEU) a year, up from 150,000. A second phase is planned to reach 2 million TEU. The [Berbera Economic Zone](/en/economy/port-of-berbera/) is modelled on Jebel Ali ([DP World, 24 June 2021](https://www.dpworld.com/news/releases/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone/)).
- **P&O Ports Bosaso:** took over Bosaso port at a handover on 12 October 2017. Plans include a 450 m quay and dredging to 12 m ([Garowe Online, 12 October 2017](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)).
- **Berbera airport:** renovated by the Dubai firm Transport Infrastructure Services Limited and reopened to international passengers on 20 November 2021 ([Hawilti](https://hawilti.com/infrastructure/aviation/berbera-international-airport-officially-opens-after-successful-renovation-by-the-uae/)).
- **Somali firms in Dubai:** by 2022 Dubai had more than 100 Somali businesses in gold, textiles, hotels, money exchange and cargo ([The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **Famine relief:** the UAE Red Crescent ran relief in Somalia during the 2011 famine ([Gulf News/WAM, 11 September 2011](http://gulfnews.com/news/region/somalia/somali-president-hails-uae-president-s-humanitarian-efforts-1.864794)).
- **Soldiers' pay:** from 2014 the UAE paid the wages of 2,407 Somali soldiers and built training centres and a hospital ([Daily Sabah, 16 April 2018](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)). After 2022 it paid about US$9 million a month to new brigades ([Washington Institute, 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)).
- **Debt:** the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development was Somalia's largest single creditor at the end of 2025, owed US$267.81 million. On 11 February 2025 the two sides signed a rescheduling over 40 years, with 16 years' grace and no interest until the end of 2028 ([Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).
- **Humanitarian funding reported to the UN:** the UAE government reported US$19.8 million in 2011, US$20.0 million in 2022 and US$7.1 million in 2024 ([FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization); [FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2022&groupby=organization); [FTS, 2024](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2024&groupby=organization)).
- **Roads:** the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development co-funds the Berbera–[Wajaale](/en/economy/ethiopia-somaliland-border-trade/) road with the UK ([DP World, 2021](https://www.dpworld.com/news/releases/dp-world-and-somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-berbera-port-announce-second-phase-expansion-and-break-ground-for-economic-zone/)).

## What about security?

The UAE funded the Puntland Maritime Police Force from 2010 and trained federal troops from 2014 ([Horseed Media, 2014](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/28/somalia-uae-pledges-continued-support-puntland-marine-forces/); [Defense News/AP, 17 April 2018](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/04/17/uae-stops-training-somalias-military-after-cash-seizure/)). On 8 April 2018 Somali security forces took US$9.6 million in cash from a Royal Jet plane at Mogadishu airport. The UAE said the money was soldiers' pay; Somalia said it was undeclared, and the UAE ended its training mission on 15 April ([Al Jazeera, 11 April 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-disbands-uae-programme-pay-train-soldiers-180411190249670.html); [Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)). Training resumed after 2022 ([Washington Institute, 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)). See [The UAE's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uae-military-in-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

Charcoal: the UN bans Somali charcoal exports. In 2018 the UN Monitoring Group said networks based in Dubai and Kismayo used false certificates of origin to sell Somali charcoal, worth an estimated US$150 million a year wholesale in markets such as the UAE. It said UAE seizures helped deter the trade, but the UAE did not answer its questions on charcoal shipped through Iran to Hamriyah port ([UN Security Council, S/2018/1002, 9 November 2018](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2018/1002&l=en&t=pdf)).

## How does the UAE deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Somaliland:** the Berbera port deal is part of a government-to-government memorandum between the UAE and Somaliland ([en.wikipedia.org, Port of Berbera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Berbera)). The UAE agreed to train Somaliland's security forces and was building a base at Berbera in 2018 ([Al Jazeera, 11 April 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-disbands-uae-programme-pay-train-soldiers-180411190249670.html)).
- **Puntland:** the UAE backed the maritime police and, on 28 March 2014, agreed to keep supporting it ([Horseed Media](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/28/somalia-uae-pledges-continued-support-puntland-marine-forces/)). P&O Ports runs Bosaso ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/puntland/somalia-puntland-hands-over-bosaso-port-to-po-ports)).
- **Jubaland:** since at least mid-2023 the UAE has given vehicles and training to Jubaland forces ([Washington Institute, 2024](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/emirati-military-support-making-difference-somalia)).
- **Gulf split, 2017–2018:** Somalia's federal government stayed neutral in the Gulf crisis with Qatar, while some federal member states sided with the UAE ([Daily Sabah, 2018](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)).
- **2026:** Al Jazeera reported it was unclear whether Puntland and Jubaland would follow the federal cancellation ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Berbera stake, March 2018:** after Ethiopia took 19% of Berbera, Somali lawmakers passed a resolution accusing DP World of violating Somalia's sovereignty ([Daily Sabah, 2018](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)). Somalia's UN ambassador Abukar Osman called the UAE–Somaliland base deal a violation of international law ([Al Jazeera, 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-disbands-uae-programme-pay-train-soldiers-180411190249670.html)).
- **Cash seizure, April 2018:** the UAE called it a breach of diplomatic norms; Somalia's security ministry said it handed the bags to the relevant departments ([Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)).
- **Election money claim:** a November 2017 UN Security Council report alleged the UAE paid cash to influence Somalia's 2017 presidential election ([Defense News/AP, 2018](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/04/17/uae-stops-training-somalias-military-after-cash-seizure/)).
- **January 2026:** Somalia cited "strong evidence" of actions against its sovereignty. Mogadishu also opened an inquiry into the reported transit of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi through Berbera on 8 January 2026 ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)). The UAE did not sign a December 2025 Arab-Islamic statement condemning Israel's recognition of Somaliland, but on 7 January 2026 it issued a joint statement with the African Union backing Somalia's territorial integrity ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)).

## How many Somalis live in the UAE?

The UN counted 9,109 people born in Somalia in the UAE in 2024, while The National reported more than 50,000 Somalis in 2022 ([UN DESA, 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx); [The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)). See [UAE and Dubai (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/).

## Where does the UAE stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- **2012:** welcomed the new federal government and its territorial integrity ([UN, 2012](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sg2187.doc.htm)).
- **Arms embargo:** UN monitors said UAE support to the Puntland maritime police breached the arms embargo, and Puntland ended the trainer Sterling Corporate Services' contract ([en.wikipedia.org, Puntland Maritime Police Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland_Maritime_Police_Force)).
- **2025–2026:** after Israel's recognition of Somaliland, the UAE joined the African Union in a 7 January 2026 statement backing Somalia's sovereignty ([Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/12/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-uae-over-alleged-sovereignty-violations)).

## Related pages

- [The UAE's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uae-military-in-somalia/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [UAE and Dubai (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Ports](/en/economy/ports/)
- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)
- [Somaliland 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)


---

# Butterflies and moths of Somalia: all 372 species on record (part 2 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 372 butterfly and moth species (order Lepidoptera) from Somalia, the largest insect group on record there.

Part 2 of 3 of [Butterflies and moths of Somalia: all 372 species on record](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-3/)

## Full list (372 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Gavara caprai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1753773) | *Gavara caprai* | Limacodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gavara leucomera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1753775) | *Gavara leucomera* | Limacodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scotinochroa minor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1752423) | *Scotinochroa minor* | Limacodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Black-striped Hairtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/1925609) | *Anthene amarah* | Lycaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Anthene opalina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1925669) | *Anthene opalina* | Lycaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Axiocerses argenteomaculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1922695) | *Axiocerses argenteomaculata* | Lycaenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Axiocerses jacksoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/1922711) | *Axiocerses jacksoni* | Lycaenidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cesa waggae](https://www.gbif.org/species/10382111) | *Cesa waggae* | Lycaenidae | NE | 11 |
| [Chrysozephyrus desgodinsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1929126) | *Chrysozephyrus desgodinsi* | Lycaenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Smoky Blue](https://www.gbif.org/species/1932332) | *Euchrysops malathana* | Lycaenidae | LC | 3 |
| [Brown Grass Jewel](https://www.gbif.org/species/5139040) | *Freyeria trochylus* | Lycaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Common Hairstreak](https://www.gbif.org/species/1932302) | *Hypolycaena philippus* | Lycaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Long-tailed Blue](https://www.gbif.org/species/1924713) | *Lampides boeticus* | Lycaenidae | LC | 1 |
| [Paraphnaeus hutchinsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1927915) | *Paraphnaeus hutchinsonii* | Lycaenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metarbela diodonta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1731150) | *Metarbela diodonta* | Metarbelidae | NE | 2 |
| [Metarbela perstriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1731149) | *Metarbela perstriata* | Metarbelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Salagena eustrigata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1731784) | *Salagena eustrigata* | Metarbelidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acontarache somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1777768) | *Acontarache somaliensis* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acontia albovittata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9045517) | *Acontia albovittata* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acontia berioi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6115656) | *Acontia berioi* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acontia caeruleopicta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6115747) | *Acontia caeruleopicta* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acontia chiaromontei](https://www.gbif.org/species/6115612) | *Acontia chiaromontei* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acontia frici](https://www.gbif.org/species/12250466) | *Acontia frici* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acontia mesoleuca](https://www.gbif.org/species/5109328) | *Acontia mesoleuca* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acontia miogona](https://www.gbif.org/species/5109266) | *Acontia miogona* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acontia pergratiosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6115742) | *Acontia pergratiosa* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aconzarba goateri](https://www.gbif.org/species/11594510) | *Aconzarba goateri* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acrapex albertorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/11588501) | *Acrapex albertorum* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acrobyla aulombardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8810399) | *Acrobyla aulombardi* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acroriesis ignifusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1796203) | *Acroriesis ignifusa* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aedia actinalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8900022) | *Aedia actinalis* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aedia cretacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/9183241) | *Aedia cretacea* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aedia eurymelas](https://www.gbif.org/species/9151689) | *Aedia eurymelas* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aedia pericyma](https://www.gbif.org/species/9063866) | *Aedia pericyma* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aedia poliochroa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8749822) | *Aedia poliochroa* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aedia pyramidalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8905425) | *Aedia pyramidalis* | Noctuidae | NE | 4 |
| [Aegleoides paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1785438) | *Aegleoides paolii* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Agrotis bialbifasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116846) | *Agrotis bialbifasciata* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Heart and Dart](https://www.gbif.org/species/1771214) | *Agrotis exclamationis* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dark Sword-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/1771245) | *Agrotis ipsilon* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Agrotis negrottoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1771091) | *Agrotis negrottoi* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Agrotis nicotrai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1771064) | *Agrotis nicotrai* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Agrotis pictifascia](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116856) | *Agrotis pictifascia* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Agrotis pictivaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116843) | *Agrotis pictivaria* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Athetis discopuncta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1787164) | *Athetis discopuncta* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Callhyccoda albiviridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1793365) | *Callhyccoda albiviridis* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Callhyccoda viriditrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1793364) | *Callhyccoda viriditrina* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Caradrina ectomelaena](https://www.gbif.org/species/9215425) | *Caradrina ectomelaena* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chalenata mesonephele](https://www.gbif.org/species/1782153) | *Chalenata mesonephele* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chionoxantha leucophaea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1786700) | *Chionoxantha leucophaea* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Constantiodes pyralina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1794337) | *Constantiodes pyralina* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ctenoplusia fracta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1785369) | *Ctenoplusia fracta* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Deltote extranea](https://www.gbif.org/species/11775051) | *Deltote extranea* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Deltote incognita](https://www.gbif.org/species/9850855) | *Deltote incognita* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ecthymia lemonia](https://www.gbif.org/species/1792740) | *Ecthymia lemonia* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Emmelia homonyma](https://www.gbif.org/species/12214219) | *Emmelia homonyma* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Emmelia karachiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/12180778) | *Emmelia karachiensis* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Emmelia lanzai](https://www.gbif.org/species/12232958) | *Emmelia lanzai* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Emmelia mascheriniae](https://www.gbif.org/species/12266232) | *Emmelia mascheriniae* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Emmelia rigatoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/12247387) | *Emmelia rigatoi* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Enispa flavipars](https://www.gbif.org/species/5110274) | *Enispa flavipars* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ethiopica ignecolora](https://www.gbif.org/species/1789036) | *Ethiopica ignecolora* | Noctuidae | NE | 4 |
| [Ethiopica phaeocausta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1789027) | *Ethiopica phaeocausta* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eublemma arenostrota](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797815) | *Eublemma arenostrota* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eublemma daphoenoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797880) | *Eublemma daphoenoides* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eublemma eremochroa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797771) | *Eublemma eremochroa* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eublemma galacteoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797826) | *Eublemma galacteoides* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eublemma nigrifascia](https://www.gbif.org/species/11461174) | *Eublemma nigrifascia* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eublemma ochricosta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797821) | *Eublemma ochricosta* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eublemma olmii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797772) | *Eublemma olmii* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eulocastra argyrostrota](https://www.gbif.org/species/1761584) | *Eulocastra argyrostrota* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eulocastra tamsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1761578) | *Eulocastra tamsi* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euterpiodes bleptoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9106138) | *Euterpiodes bleptoides* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euterpiodes croceisticta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1768246) | *Euterpiodes croceisticta* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Euterpiodes pictimargo](https://www.gbif.org/species/1768245) | *Euterpiodes pictimargo* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Giubicolanta orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1775699) | *Giubicolanta orientalis* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hadjina plumbeogrisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/6116681) | *Hadjina plumbeogrisea* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Heliocheilus albivenata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4688331) | *Heliocheilus albivenata* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heliocheilus perstriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11839336) | *Heliocheilus perstriata* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemituerta nana](https://www.gbif.org/species/1783927) | *Hemituerta nana* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Heraclia thruppi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1768020) | *Heraclia thruppi* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hoplotarache nubila](https://www.gbif.org/species/1790512) | *Hoplotarache nubila* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Leucania patrizii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6115033) | *Leucania patrizii* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Matopo heterochroa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1777374) | *Matopo heterochroa* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Microraphe fiorii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1763636) | *Microraphe fiorii* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mimasura pseudopyralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1792263) | *Mimasura pseudopyralis* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mythimna negrottoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8855785) | *Mythimna negrottoi* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Odontoretha featheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1795442) | *Odontoretha featheri* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oediconia negrottoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1762815) | *Oediconia negrottoi* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba albomediovittata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784638) | *Ozarba albomediovittata* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba aloisiisabaudiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784611) | *Ozarba aloisiisabaudiae* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba deficiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784533) | *Ozarba deficiens* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba duosigna](https://www.gbif.org/species/11760976) | *Ozarba duosigna* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba endoplaga](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784424) | *Ozarba endoplaga* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba endoscota](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784414) | *Ozarba endoscota* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba exolivacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784586) | *Ozarba exolivacea* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba hampsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/11706202) | *Ozarba hampsoni* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba hemileuca](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784583) | *Ozarba hemileuca* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba hemipyra](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784537) | *Ozarba hemipyra* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba hemisarca](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784525) | *Ozarba hemisarca* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba melanographa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8793540) | *Ozarba melanographa* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba mesozonata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784530) | *Ozarba mesozonata* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba negrottoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784602) | *Ozarba negrottoi* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ozarba nicotrai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784584) | *Ozarba nicotrai* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ozarba pallescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/9031250) | *Ozarba pallescens* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba parvula](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784447) | *Ozarba parvula* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba pluristriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784581) | *Ozarba pluristriata* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba scorpio](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784588) | *Ozarba scorpio* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozarba semiluctuosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784579) | *Ozarba semiluctuosa* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba semitorrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/1784521) | *Ozarba semitorrida* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ozarba stephaniae](https://www.gbif.org/species/11518936) | *Ozarba stephaniae* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ozarba strigipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9170956) | *Ozarba strigipennis* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachycoa olivacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1764704) | *Pachycoa olivacea* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scotogramma quercii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1781887) | *Scotogramma quercii* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sesamia cretica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1762358) | *Sesamia cretica* | Noctuidae | NE | 3 |
| [Somalibrya minuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1796494) | *Somalibrya minuta* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Teucocranon microcallia](https://www.gbif.org/species/1791086) | *Teucocranon microcallia* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Thalatha melanostrota](https://www.gbif.org/species/1765892) | *Thalatha melanostrota* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Toana nigrilineata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1797679) | *Toana nigrilineata* | Noctuidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tuerta pastocyana](https://www.gbif.org/species/1791068) | *Tuerta pastocyana* | Noctuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cattle Eye Moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1800975) | *Arcyophora longivalvis* | Nolidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cream Drab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5114409) | *Xanthodes albago* | Nolidae | NE | 1 |
| [Antheua grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1824947) | *Antheua grisea* | Notodontidae | NE | 1 |
| [Parasimesia menelik](https://www.gbif.org/species/10390108) | *Parasimesia menelik* | Notodontidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scrancia discomma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1824491) | *Scrancia discomma* | Notodontidae | NE | 1 |
| [Simesia olmii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1824157) | *Simesia olmii* | Notodontidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acraea chilo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5135786) | *Acraea chilo* | Nymphalidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dancing Acraea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5136306) | *Acraea neobule* | Nymphalidae | LC | 11 |
| [African Joker](https://www.gbif.org/species/1892554) | *Byblia anvatara* | Nymphalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Joker](https://www.gbif.org/species/1892555) | *Byblia ilithyia* | Nymphalidae | LC | 3 |
| [White Barred Charaxes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5128597) | *Charaxes brutus* | Nymphalidae | LC | 3 |
| [Cream-banded Charaxes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5129020) | *Charaxes hansalii* | Nymphalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Pearl Charaxes](https://www.gbif.org/species/9087922) | *Charaxes varanes* | Nymphalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Club-tailed Charaxes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5128696) | *Charaxes zoolina* | Nymphalidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Monarch](https://www.gbif.org/species/7642610) | *Danaus chrysippus* | Nymphalidae | LC | 10 |
| [Mimic](https://www.gbif.org/species/1910628) | *Hypolimnas misippus* | Nymphalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Yellow Pansy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5130542) | *Junonia hierta* | Nymphalidae | LC | 2 |
| [Blue-spot Pansy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5130392) | *Junonia oenone* | Nymphalidae | LC | 4 |
| [Blue Argus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5130464) | *Junonia orithya* | Nymphalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Neocoenyra duplex](https://www.gbif.org/species/1913449) | *Neocoenyra duplex* | Nymphalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polka Dot](https://www.gbif.org/species/1915499) | *Pardopsis punctatissima* | Nymphalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Dancing Acraea](https://www.gbif.org/species/11375508) | *Telchinia serena* | Nymphalidae | LC | 5 |
| [African Ringlet](https://www.gbif.org/species/4535754) | *Ypthima asterope* | Nymphalidae | LC | 1 |
| [Angola White Lady](https://www.gbif.org/species/5141250) | *Graphium angolanus* | Papilionidae | LC | 3 |
| [Flying Handkerchief](https://www.gbif.org/species/1937667) | *Papilio dardanus* | Papilionidae | LC | 5 |
| [Christmas Butterfly](https://www.gbif.org/species/1938125) | *Papilio demodocus* | Papilionidae | LC | 3 |
| [Papilio microps](https://www.gbif.org/species/1938072) | *Papilio microps* | Papilionidae | NE | 1 |
| [African Caper White](https://www.gbif.org/species/1919181) | *Belenois aurota* | Pieridae | LC | 1 |
| [African Emigrant](https://www.gbif.org/species/1919346) | *Catopsilia florella* | Pieridae | LC | 18 |
| [Small Salmon Arab](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920374) | *Colotis amata* | Pieridae | NE | 8 |
| [Large Orange Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920401) | *Colotis antevippe* | Pieridae | LC | 2 |
| [Plain Orange-tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920356) | *Colotis aurora* | Pieridae | NE | 7 |
| [Lilac Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920379) | *Colotis celimene* | Pieridae | LC | 1 |
| [Golden Arab](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920359) | *Colotis chrysonome* | Pieridae | NE | 2 |
| [Black-marked Orange Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920382) | *Colotis daira* | Pieridae | NE | 11 |
| [Banded Scarlet Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920362) | *Colotis danae* | Pieridae | NE | 17 |
| [Banded Gold Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920348) | *Colotis eris* | Pieridae | LC | 2 |
| [Round Winged Orange Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920370) | *Colotis euippe* | Pieridae | LC | 2 |
| [Desert Orange Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920395) | *Colotis evagore* | Pieridae | LC | 8 |
| [Colotis evarne](https://www.gbif.org/species/7701686) | *Colotis evarne* | Pieridae | NE | 4 |
| [Dappled White](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920360) | *Colotis halimede* | Pieridae | NE | 3 |
| [Bushveld Purple Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920363) | *Colotis ione* | Pieridae | LC | 10 |
| [Bushveld Orange Tip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920390) | *Colotis pallene* | Pieridae | LC | 1 |
| [Blue Spotted Arab](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920369) | *Colotis phisadia* | Pieridae | NE | 2 |
| [Orange Patch White](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920350) | *Colotis pleione* | Pieridae | NE | 2 |
| [Yellow Splendor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920393) | *Colotis protomedia* | Pieridae | LC | 11 |
| [Veined Golden Arab](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920381) | *Colotis vesta* | Pieridae | LC | 8 |
| [White Arab](https://www.gbif.org/species/1920361) | *Colotis vestalis* | Pieridae | NE | 2 |
| [Buquet's Vagrant](https://www.gbif.org/species/1919663) | *Nepheronia buquetii* | Pieridae | LC | 6 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-3/)


---

# Somalia and Denmark

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/denmark/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Denmark's partnership with Somalia spans four decades and is now one of Denmark's largest bilateral aid programmes. Its 2024 to 2028 framework is worth DKK 1.1 billion, run from Nairobi with offices in Mogadishu and, since August 2012, Hargeisa. Denmark keeps a strong focus on Somaliland, while stating that this is separate from Somaliland's aim of independence.

## How do Somalia and Denmark relate today?

Denmark covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi and has two offices inside the country. Its Mogadishu office sits in the European Union diplomatic compound, and its Hargeisa programme office has run since August 2012 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, About us](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/)). Steen Sonne is the Danish ambassador who represents Denmark in Somalia ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/)).

Aid is the centre of the tie. Denmark's Somalia Country Strategic Framework for 2024 to 2028 is worth DKK 1.1 billion across eight projects and a reserve ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/the-somalia-country-strategic-framework-2024-2028/)). The framework calls Somalia one of Denmark's largest bilateral development portfolios worldwide ([Danish Strategic Framework for Somalia 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

Denmark gave US$54.9 million in bilateral aid in 2024 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)). Its exports to Somalia were worth US$3.4 million that year ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)).

## When did contact begin?

Diplomatic relations were established on 9 July 1960, days after independence, according to Somalia's foreign ministry list ([Wikipedia, Denmark–Somalia relations, citing the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). Denmark's government says its partnership with Somalia spans four decades ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

Early Danish work focused on the sea: first on building Somalia's fishing industry, later on maritime security and counter-piracy ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)). On 24 March 1981 the two governments signed in Stockholm an interest-free Danish loan of DKK 45 million for Danish capital goods and services ([UN Treaty Series, vol. 1259, No. 20676](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201259/volume-1259-I-20676-English.pdf)).

The loan text speaks of the two countries' "traditional co-operation and cordial relations" ([UN Treaty Series, No. 20676](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201259/volume-1259-I-20676-English.pdf)). Repayment was set in 79 half-yearly instalments of DKK 560,000 from 1 April 1991 to 2030 ([UN Treaty Series, No. 20676](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201259/volume-1259-I-20676-English.pdf)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Geert Aagaard Andersen**, appointed in December 2013 as the first Danish ambassador to Somalia in twenty years. He presented credentials to President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Denmark–Somalia relations, citing SomaliCurrent, 17 December 2013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Steen Sonne**, Danish ambassador representing Denmark in Somalia in 2026 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/)).
- **Somali side**: Somalia covers Denmark from Stockholm. In 2026 Abdikarim Ahmed Mohamed was Somalia's ambassador to the Nordic countries ([SONNA, 13 February 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-nordic-countries-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v-of-norway/)).

Offices: the Danish embassy in Nairobi, the Mogadishu office in the EU compound, and the Hargeisa programme office, which serves the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and south-central portfolio ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **H. Hjorth-Nielsen** signed the 1981 loan for Denmark and **A. Issa** signed for Somalia, in Stockholm on 24 March 1981 ([UN Treaty Series, No. 20676](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201259/volume-1259-I-20676-English.pdf)).
- **Geert Aagaard Andersen** restored ambassador-level ties in December 2013 ([Wikipedia, citing SomaliCurrent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Christian Friis Bach**, Danish minister and co-chair of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding, spoke for the New Deal process at the Brussels conference of 16 September 2013, where the Somali Compact was endorsed ([EEAS, Somalia New Deal Conference](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/)).
- **Jeppe Kofod**, foreign minister, visited Mogadishu on 6 November 2019. He met Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) and Foreign Minister [Ahmed Isse Awad](/en/people/ahmed-isse-awad/) at the airport and announced a permanent Danish representation ([DR, 6 November 2019](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/jeppe-kofod-naaede-ikke-laengere-end-lufthavnen-paa-hemmeligt-visit-i-somalia)).
- **Ahmed Isse Awad**, Somalia's foreign minister, raised the return of Somalis from Denmark in the same 2019 talks ([DR, 6 November 2019](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/jeppe-kofod-naaede-ikke-laengere-end-lufthavnen-paa-hemmeligt-visit-i-somalia)).
- **Steen Sonne**, ambassador, heads Denmark's representation during the 2024 to 2028 framework ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **24 March 1981**: Danish Government loan of DKK 45 million, signed in Stockholm, registered with the UN on 7 January 1982 ([UN Treaty Series, No. 20676](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201259/volume-1259-I-20676-English.pdf)).
- **Country programmes**: 2011 to 2014, 2015 to 2018 and 2019 to 2023 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/the-somalia-country-strategic-framework-2024-2028/)).
- **September 2023**: Somalia Country Strategic Framework 2024 to 2028, DKK 1.1 billion ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/the-somalia-country-strategic-framework-2024-2028/)).
- **2023 to 2026**: fourth phase of the Horn of Africa Peace and Stabilisation Programme, first launched in 2011 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/peace-and-stabilisation-4/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **6 November 2019**: Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod in Mogadishu. Security limits kept the meetings at the airport ([DR, 6 November 2019](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/jeppe-kofod-naaede-ikke-laengere-end-lufthavnen-paa-hemmeligt-visit-i-somalia)).
- **December 2013**: Ambassador Geert Aagaard Andersen presents credentials in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, citing SomaliCurrent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Danish exports to Somalia of:

- US$2.98 million in 2015 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2015&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- US$3.78 million in 2020 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- US$8.02 million in 2023, with imports of US$2,601 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- US$3.43 million in 2024, with imports of US$12,906 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

In 2024 the largest export groups were electrical equipment, machinery, vehicles and leather goods ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Danish bilateral aid disbursements to Somalia, in current US dollars ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)):

- US$17.5 million in 2010 and US$40.5 million in 2012
- US$15.0 million in 2015
- US$60.0 million in 2019, the highest in the series
- US$36.9 million in 2022
- US$51.4 million in 2023 and US$54.9 million in 2024

In November 2019 Kofod announced DKK 1 billion for Somalia over four years ([DR, 6 November 2019](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/jeppe-kofod-naaede-ikke-laengere-end-lufthavnen-paa-hemmeligt-visit-i-somalia)). The 2024 to 2028 bilateral budget is DKK 1.1 billion, with commitments of DKK 345 million (2024), 385 million (2025), 200 million (2026) and 170 million (2027) ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

The framework has three goals ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/the-somalia-country-strategic-framework-2024-2028/)):

- climate adaptation, fair access to resources and green growth
- stability, security, inclusive state-building and human rights
- resilience, displacement and migration

Through the multi-donor Somaliland Development Fund, Denmark says it helped 1.4 million people get access to over 11 million litres of water a day and built over 150 km of roads ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

## What about security?

Denmark's Peace and Stabilisation Fund, set up in 2010, joins aid and non-aid money from the foreign, defence and justice ministries ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/peace-and-stabilisation-4/)). Its Horn of Africa programme, now in its fourth phase for 2023 to 2026, targets violent extremism, maritime insecurity, crime, climate-linked conflict and irregular migration ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/peace-and-stabilisation-4/)). In [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/), [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) it supports early recovery and the reintegration of former [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) fighters ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)). For foreign military roles, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Denmark deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Denmark has had a programme office in Hargeisa since August 2012 ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/)). Its 2024 to 2028 framework says Denmark will keep a strong focus on Somaliland, citing its location and relative stability ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

The same framework states Denmark's position on status. It says Denmark's strong presence in Somaliland is separate from Somaliland's ambition of independence ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)). It says Somaliland's legal status should be settled through dialogue between the Somali parties, with support from regional institutions ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

The bilateral programme focuses partly on Puntland and Somaliland. The stabilisation programme focuses on South West State, Hirshabelle, Galmudug and Jubaland ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

## Have there been disputes?

The return of Somalis from Denmark has been a standing topic. In 2019 Somalia's foreign minister said returns were being discussed with the Danish ambassador, while Kofod said the matter was not his ministry's area ([DR, 6 November 2019](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/jeppe-kofod-naaede-ikke-laengere-end-lufthavnen-paa-hemmeligt-visit-i-somalia)). The 2024 to 2028 framework links Danish support to curbing irregular migration, including towards Europe ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Denmark?

On 1 October 2026, 21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark ([Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C)). See [Denmark (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/denmark/).

## Where does Denmark stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Denmark works on Somalia both bilaterally and through the EU, under the EU–Somalia Joint Operational Roadmap ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)). The framework says Denmark would use a UN Security Council seat to draw on its experience in conflict-affected countries such as Somalia ([Danish Strategic Framework 2024–2028](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Denmark (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/denmark/)
- [Somalia and Norway](/en/relations/norway/)
- [Somalia and Sweden](/en/relations/sweden/)
- [Somaliland institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)

## Sources

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. "About us," Somalia. [um.dk](https://um.dk/somalia/en/about-us/). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. "The Somalia Country Strategic Framework 2024–2028." [um.dk](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/the-somalia-country-strategic-framework-2024-2028/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. "Danmarks strategiske ramme for Somalia 2024–2028." June 2024. [um.dk PDF](https://um.dk/media/ekyfzaia/um_somalia_strategiskramme_dk-1026623-27062024.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. "Peace and Stabilisation." [um.dk](https://um.dk/somalia/en/danida-en/peace-and-stabilisation-4/). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 1259, No. 20676. Agreement on a Danish Government loan to the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), Stockholm, 24 March 1981. [treaties.un.org](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201259/volume-1259-I-20676-English.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. DR. "Jeppe Kofod nåede ikke længere end lufthavnen på hemmeligt visit i Somalia." 6 November 2019. [dr.dk](https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/jeppe-kofod-naaede-ikke-laengere-end-lufthavnen-paa-hemmeligt-visit-i-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Wikipedia. "Denmark–Somalia relations" (used only for the 1960 date and the 2013 ambassador, whose underlying sources are offline). [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Somalia_relations). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/). Somali ambassador to Nordic countries presents credentials to King Harald V. 13 February 2026. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-nordic-countries-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v-of-norway/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UN Comtrade. Denmark–Somalia trade, 2015 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=208&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Statistics Denmark. StatBank FOLK1C. [statbank.dk](https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1C).
12. European External Action Service. "Somalia New Deal Conference," Brussels, 16 September 2013. [eeas.europa.eu](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 513 insect species from Somalia outside the butterflies, moths and beetles: true bugs, bees, wasps and ants, lice, flies, grasshoppers and locusts, dragonflies, termites and mantises.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 513 insect (other than butterflies, moths and beetles) species with Somalia as the country, in 13 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Hemiptera: 165
- Hymenoptera: 125
- Psocodea: 68
- Diptera: 54
- Orthoptera: 41
- Odonata: 28
- Blattodea: 11
- Mantodea: 10
- Thysanoptera: 5
- Phasmida: 3

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are yellow fever mosquito (120), *Sergentomyia schwetzi* (87), Sergentomyia magnidentata (38), Brown‐spotted Locust (31), Red-veined Dropwing (14), *Morphacris fasciata* (13) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

289 of the 513 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

20 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Phlebotomus somaliensis*, *Allygus somalianus*, *Gannia somalica*, *Eumecurus somaliensis*, *Afronersia somaliana*, *Carphotoma ogadensis*, *Pasites somalicus*, *Camponotus somalinus*, *Lepisiota somalica*, *Coelioxys somalicus*, *Megastigmus somaliensis*, *Azuragrion somalicum*, *Acrotylus somaliensis*, *Eurynotacris somalica*, *Melinocatantops somalicus*, *Odontomelus somalicus*, *Weidnerius benderi*, *Lophothericles somali*, *Urrutia somalica*, *Synosternus somalicus* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: Desert Basker ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 1
- Vulnerable (VU): 0
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 29
- Data Deficient (DD): 1
- Not Evaluated (NE): 482

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Cicadellidae: 51 species
- Formicidae: 47 species
- Philopteridae: 41 species
- Acrididae: 23 species
- Apidae: 21 species
- Libellulidae: 18 species
- Megachilidae: 16 species
- Aphididae: 14 species
- Diaspididae: 13 species
- Psychodidae: 12 species

## Full list (513 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Akotropis fulgens](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) | *Akotropis fulgens* | Achilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Myconus collaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2064453) | *Myconus collaris* | Achilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acrostegastes glaber](https://www.gbif.org/species/1705304) | *Acrostegastes glaber* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Digging Grasshopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/5099079) | *Acrotylus insubricus* | Acrididae | NE | 7 |
| [Acrotylus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5099054) | *Acrotylus somaliensis* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Grasshopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/1702139) | *Anacridium melanorhodon* | Acrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Cataloipus oberthuri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1701254) | *Cataloipus oberthuri* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptocatantops allessandricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1707606) | *Cryptocatantops allessandricus* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown‐spotted Locust](https://www.gbif.org/species/1705507) | *Cyrtacanthacris tatarica* | Acrididae | NE | 31 |
| [Eurynotacris somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1705378) | *Eurynotacris somalica* | Acrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Lamenting Grasshopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/1701064) | *Eyprepocnemis plorans* | Acrididae | NE | 6 |
| [Heteracris coerulescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1701631) | *Heteracris coerulescens* | Acrididae | NE | 3 |
| [Melinocatantops somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1714089) | *Melinocatantops somalicus* | Acrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Morphacris fasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1701125) | *Morphacris fasciata* | Acrididae | NE | 13 |
| [Odontomelus somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1713263) | *Odontomelus somalicus* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Oedaleus flavus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1714130) | *Oedaleus flavus* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Senegalese Grasshopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/1714146) | *Oedaleus senegalensis* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Tricolor Grasshopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/1713120) | *Paracinema tricolor* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Sauracris lacerta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1708056) | *Sauracris lacerta* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Vagrant Grasshopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/1707345) | *Schistocerca nitens* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Scintharista notabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1713079) | *Scintharista notabilis* | Acrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Taramassus zavattarii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1701332) | *Taramassus zavattarii* | Acrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Trilophidia conturbata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1704447) | *Trilophidia conturbata* | Acrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Truxalis nasuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1706755) | *Truxalis nasuta* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Vosseleriana schulthessi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11911896) | *Vosseleriana schulthessi* | Acrididae | NE | 1 |
| [vagrant emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/5791733) | *Anax ephippiger* | Aeshnidae | LC | 2 |
| [emperor dragonfly](https://www.gbif.org/species/5051775) | *Anax imperator* | Aeshnidae | LC | 1 |
| [lesser emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/5051752) | *Anax parthenope* | Aeshnidae | LC | 1 |
| [Orange Emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/5051781) | *Anax speratus* | Aeshnidae | LC | 1 |
| [Melanagromyza azawii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1554265) | *Melanagromyza azawii* | Agromyzidae | NE | 1 |
| [Melanagromyza vignalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1554487) | *Melanagromyza vignalis* | Agromyzidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cotton whitefly, Sweet potato whitefly, Tobacco Whitefly](https://www.gbif.org/species/2012126) | *Bemisia tabaci* | Aleyrodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Stonefly Mantis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1403590) | *Perlamantis alliberti* | Amorphoscelidae | DD | 1 |
| [Actornithophilus ardeolae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6935652) | *Actornithophilus ardeolae* | Ancistronidae | NE | 4 |
| [Actornithophilus umbrinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032785) | *Actornithophilus umbrinus* | Ancistronidae | NE | 3 |
| [Austromenopon cursorium](https://www.gbif.org/species/6935946) | *Austromenopon cursorium* | Ancistronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Meromenopon incisum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422508) | *Meromenopon incisum* | Ancistronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aloe aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2077000) | *Aloephagus myersi* | Aphididae | NE | 5 |
| [Camelia Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/4485136) | *Aphis aurantii* | Aphididae | NE | 2 |
| [Groundnut Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2072061) | *Aphis craccivora* | Aphididae | NE | 1 |
| [Broom aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2072677) | *Aphis cytisorum* | Aphididae | NE | 5 |
| [Cotton aphid, Melon aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/9083295) | *Aphis gossypii* | Aphididae | NE | 6 |
| [Cabbage Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2074893) | *Brevicoryne brassicae* | Aphididae | NE | 1 |
| [Geoica lucifuga](https://www.gbif.org/species/2078157) | *Geoica lucifuga* | Aphididae | NE | 4 |
| [Turnip Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2077143) | *Lipaphis erysimi* | Aphididae | NE | 1 |
| [Sorghum Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/4385709) | *Melanaphis sorghi* | Aphididae | NE | 1 |
| [Paoliella hystrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/5159695) | *Paoliella hystrix* | Aphididae | NE | 10 |
| [Banana Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2074692) | *Pentalonia nigronervosa* | Aphididae | NE | 3 |
| [Maize Aphid, Corn Leaf Aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2069572) | *Rhopalosiphum maidis* | Aphididae | NE | 4 |
| [Bean root aphid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2077096) | *Smynthurodes betae* | Aphididae | NE | 1 |
| [Uroleucon compositae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2070639) | *Uroleucon compositae* | Aphididae | NE | 6 |
| [Clovia callifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2016478) | *Clovia callifera* | Aphrophoridae | NE | 2 |
| [Poophilus costalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2015529) | *Poophilus costalis* | Aphrophoridae | NE | 2 |
| [Poophilus montium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2015523) | *Poophilus montium* | Aphrophoridae | NE | 2 |
| [Ptyelus caffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2015709) | *Ptyelus caffer* | Aphrophoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Amegilla cymatilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1339910) | *Amegilla cymatilis* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Big White Banded Digger Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1340031) | *Amegilla nubica* | Apidae | NE | 7 |
| [western honey bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1341976) | *Apis mellifera* | Apidae | NE | 6 |
| [Ceratina citriphila](https://www.gbif.org/species/5040079) | *Ceratina citriphila* | Apidae | NE | 9 |
| [Ceratina lineola](https://www.gbif.org/species/5039720) | *Ceratina lineola* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceratina penicilligera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5040078) | *Ceratina penicilligera* | Apidae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceratina tanganyicensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5039857) | *Ceratina tanganyicensis* | Apidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceratina viridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5039883) | *Ceratina viridis* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Giant-Reed bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1339660) | *Macrogalea candida* | Apidae | NE | 5 |
| [Pasites somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5039573) | *Pasites somalicus* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [White-faced Large Carpenter Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342086) | *Xylocopa albifrons* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Banded Large Carpenter Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342482) | *Xylocopa caffra* | Apidae | NE | 7 |
| [Glowing Carpenter](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342461) | *Xylocopa calens* | Apidae | NE | 2 |
| [Big Red Large Carpenter Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342244) | *Xylocopa flavorufa* | Apidae | NE | 4 |
| [Xylocopa gribodoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342058) | *Xylocopa gribodoi* | Apidae | NE | 3 |
| [Xylocopa luteola](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342490) | *Xylocopa luteola* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pubescent Carpenter Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342075) | *Xylocopa pubescens* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Reed Large Carpenter Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342314) | *Xylocopa scioensis* | Apidae | NE | 2 |
| [Senior Carpenter](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342291) | *Xylocopa senior* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Xylocopa torrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342372) | *Xylocopa torrida* | Apidae | NE | 2 |
| [Xylocopa vittata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1342089) | *Xylocopa vittata* | Apidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hoplistomerus serripes](https://www.gbif.org/species/1663686) | *Hoplistomerus serripes* | Asilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lamyra greatheadi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5090131) | *Lamyra greatheadi* | Asilidae | NE | 8 |
| [Burria longelaminata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1411730) | *Burria longelaminata* | Bacillidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clonaria obocensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1410569) | *Clonaria obocensis* | Bacillidae | NE | 4 |
| [African Giant Water Bug](https://www.gbif.org/species/10523181) | *Lethocerus cordofanus* | Belostomatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyrtotria graniger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5150453) | *Cyrtotria graniger* | Blaberidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jagrehnia gestroiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/1995033) | *Jagrehnia gestroiana* | Blaberidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jagrehnia paolina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1995037) | *Jagrehnia paolina* | Blaberidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cartoblatta unicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1999842) | *Cartoblatta unicolor* | Blattidae | NE | 2 |
| [American Cockroach](https://www.gbif.org/species/2000152) | *Periplaneta americana* | Blattidae | NE | 3 |
| [Anthrax pithecius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1666930) | *Anthrax pithecius* | Bombyliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/4804402) | *Heterodoxus spiniger* | Boopiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Gnamptodon bini](https://www.gbif.org/species/1265963) | *Gnamptodon bini* | Braconidae | NE | 2 |
| [Blow Fly](https://www.gbif.org/species/5063973) | *Lucilia sericata* | Calliphoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudorhyncomyia aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8641612) | *Pseudorhyncomyia aethiopica* | Calliphoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Aphanogmus sigras](https://www.gbif.org/species/1309454) | *Aphanogmus sigras* | Ceraphronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Culicoides arenarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1631992) | *Culicoides arenarius* | Ceratopogonidae | NE | 3 |
| [Culicoides imicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/1632059) | *Culicoides imicola* | Ceratopogonidae | NE | 12 |
| [Culicoides leucostictus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1632392) | *Culicoides leucostictus* | Ceratopogonidae | NE | 3 |
| [Culicoides similis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1631586) | *Culicoides similis* | Ceratopogonidae | NE | 3 |
| [Zooty Red Spittlebug](https://www.gbif.org/species/2017897) | *Locris areata* | Cercopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fly](https://www.gbif.org/species/1491093) | *Semaranga dorsocentralis* | Chloropidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chrysis jousseaumei](https://www.gbif.org/species/10851327) | *Chrysis jousseaumei* | Chrysididae | NE | 1 |
| [Chrysis stilboides](https://www.gbif.org/species/8310894) | *Chrysis stilboides* | Chrysididae | NE | 1 |
| [Parnopes fischeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9500267) | *Parnopes fischeri* | Chrysididae | NE | 1 |
| [Emerald Cuckoo Wasp](https://www.gbif.org/species/4493349) | *Stilbum cyanurum* | Chrysididae | NE | 1 |
| [Abimwa ramulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038597) | *Abimwa ramulosa* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Abimwa rhomboideus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038595) | *Abimwa rhomboidea* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acacioiassus serena](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038297) | *Acacioiassus serenus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acopsis viridicans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2042885) | *Acopsis viridicans* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Adama bipunctula](https://www.gbif.org/species/11171770) | *Adama bipunctula* | Cicadellidae | NE | 4 |
| [Adama calliger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2035436) | *Adama calliger* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Adama chloroticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2035447) | *Adama chlorotica* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Adama circulifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2035456) | *Adama circulifer* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Adama maculithorax](https://www.gbif.org/species/2035444) | *Adama maculithorax* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Adama solida](https://www.gbif.org/species/11186887) | *Adama solida* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Afralebra superba](https://www.gbif.org/species/7877097) | *Afralebra superba* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aletta africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2030559) | *Aletta africana* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aletta conjuncta](https://www.gbif.org/species/11162520) | *Aletta conjuncta* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Allygus somalianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2030002) | *Allygus somalianus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bardera fasciolatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2042157) | *Bardera fasciolata* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Batracomorphus akhmenes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2040848) | *Batracomorphus akhmenes* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Batracomorphus guierae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2040876) | *Batracomorphus guierae* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bumka varia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2026566) | *Bumka varia* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cicadula clypeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5984742) | *Cicadula clypeata* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cofana albida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2035482) | *Cofana albida* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coloborrhis corticina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2047166) | *Coloborrhis corticina* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dryadomorpha pallida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2032470) | *Dryadomorpha pallida* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Epistagma albomarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/12186729) | *Epistagma albomarginata* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eutettix quadripunctatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2025595) | *Eutettix quadripunctatus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Exitianus capicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2048896) | *Exitianus capicola* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gannia somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2044548) | *Gannia somalica* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Glossocratus afzelii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7357542) | *Glossocratus afzelii* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Grammacephalus acuticeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2042399) | *Grammacephalus acuticeps* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grammacephalus niveimarginatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2042389) | *Grammacephalus niveimarginatus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hecalus dubius](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038499) | *Hecalus dubius* | Cicadellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Hecalus eximius](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038484) | *Hecalus eximius* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hecalus paykulli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038472) | *Hecalus paykulli* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Iassomorphus drakensteini](https://www.gbif.org/species/2033988) | *Iassomorphus drakensteini* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Igerna bimaculicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2032480) | *Igerna bimaculicollis* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jacobiasca libyca](https://www.gbif.org/species/2032409) | *Jacobiasca libyca* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cotton-jassid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2032777) | *Jacobiella facialis* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Loka grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2042409) | *Loka grisea* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macropsis fusca](https://www.gbif.org/species/2039959) | *Macropsis fusca* | Cicadellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Maichewia borama](https://www.gbif.org/species/2039006) | *Maichewia borama* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Maiestas coronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11462193) | *Maiestas coronata* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Matsumurasca dolichi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11123077) | *Matsumurasca dolichi* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nataretus tricolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2024930) | *Nataretus tricolor* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neodartus vinulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2047648) | *Neodartus vinulus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Neolimnus ageratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2047068) | *Neolimnus ageratus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neolimnus egyptiacus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2047066) | *Neolimnus egyptiacus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somalia and Qatar

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/qatar/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Qatar and Somalia have embassies in each other's capitals and signed a defence cooperation agreement in Doha on 19 January 2026. Qatar's aid shows mostly through the Qatar Fund for Development and Qatar Charity, which together reported US$45.5 million of humanitarian funding to Somalia in 2025. Goods trade is small: Qatar sold Somalia US$7.6 million of goods in 2023.

## How do Somalia and Qatar relate today?

Somalia has an embassy in Doha and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) has an embassy in Mogadishu ([Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, archived 2016, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)). On 19 January 2026 the two countries signed a defence cooperation agreement in Doha, covering military training, exchange of expertise and defence capabilities ([SONNA, 19 January 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-qatar-sign-defence-cooperation-agreement-in-doha/)).

Qatar's money reaches Somalia mainly through aid. In 2025 the Qatar Fund for Development reported US$24.2 million and Qatar Charity US$21.3 million of humanitarian funding to Somalia ([UN OCHA Financial Tracking Service, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2025&groupby=organization)). Goods trade is small ([WITS, World Bank](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/QAT/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Wikipedia gives 1970 as the year formal relations were set up, without a source ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)). In 1983 the two governments signed a labour agreement on recruiting Somali workers for Qatar ([Qatar MOFA, archived, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)).

In the 1980s Somalia depended more and more on aid from Qatar, [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), Saudi Arabia and the UAE. After Somalia joined the US-led coalition against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Qatar cancelled all further repayments on its outstanding loans to Somalia ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, Relations with Arab Countries](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Abdirizak Farah Ali:** Somali ambassador in Doha, as listed by Qatar's foreign ministry in 2016 ([Qatar MOFA, archived, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)).
- **Hasan bin Hamza [Asad](/en/society/films-about-somalia/) Mohammed:** Qatari ambassador in Mogadishu, same listing ([Qatar MOFA, archived, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)).

No full list of ambassadors was found for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **[Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/)**, Somali prime minister: met Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani in Doha on 18 to 19 March 2015, where education and civil aviation agreements were signed ([Horseed Media, 18 March 2015, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150320120715/http://horseedmedia.net/2015/03/18/somalia-and-qatar-sign-education-and-civil-aviation-agreements/)).
- **Jassim bin Saif Al-Sulaiti**, Qatari transport minister: launched the Hobyo port project in Mogadishu on 19 August 2019 ([Middle East Monitor, 20 August 2019](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).
- **Maryan Aweys Jama**, Somali ports minister: Somalia's side of the Hobyo launch ([Middle East Monitor](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).
- **Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani**, Qatari foreign minister, and **[Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/)**, Somali prime minister: attended the Hobyo launch ([Middle East Monitor](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, Somali defence minister, and **[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani**, Qatar's deputy prime minister for defence: signed the January 2026 defence agreement ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-qatar-sign-defence-cooperation-agreement-in-doha/); [The National, 20 January 2026](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/01/20/somalia-and-qatar-deepen-defence-ties-with-new-co-operation-agreement/)).
- **Fahad Yasin**: a former Al Jazeera Arabic journalist in Mogadishu and researcher at the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, later chief of staff at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) (2017–2018) and head of NISA (2019–2021) ([Al Jazeera Centre for Studies](https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/profile/fahad-yasiin); [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahad_Yasin)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1983:** labour agreement on recruiting Somali workers ([Qatar MOFA, archived, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)).
- **March 2015:** agreements on education and civil aviation ([Horseed Media, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150320120715/http://horseedmedia.net/2015/03/18/somalia-and-qatar-sign-education-and-civil-aviation-agreements/)).
- **December 2018:** development agreements signed in Doha, including one to rebuild Hobyo port ([Middle East Monitor](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).
- **19 January 2026:** defence cooperation agreement, signed at the DIMDEX exhibition in Doha ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-qatar-sign-defence-cooperation-agreement-in-doha/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **18 to 19 March 2015:** Prime Minister Sharmarke in Doha ([Horseed Media, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150320120715/http://horseedmedia.net/2015/03/18/somalia-and-qatar-sign-education-and-civil-aviation-agreements/)).
- **19 August 2019:** Qatar's foreign and transport ministers in Mogadishu, with [Ahmed Duale Gelle](/en/people/ahmed-duale-gelle/), named in the report as the [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) regional president ([Middle East Monitor](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).
- **19 January 2026:** Defence Minister Fiqi in Doha; Qatar's chief of staff Lt Gen Jassim Al Mannai attended the signing ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/01/20/somalia-and-qatar-deepen-defence-ties-with-new-co-operation-agreement/)).

## How much do they trade?

From World Bank WITS data:

- **Qatar's exports to Somalia:** US$2.1 million in 2019 and US$7.6 million in 2023 ([WITS, 2019](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/QAT/year/2019/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, 2023](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/QAT/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **Qatar's imports from Somalia:** US$5.6 million in 2019 and US$13.2 million in 2023 ([WITS, 2019](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/QAT/year/2019/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, 2023](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/QAT/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

The 2015 civil aviation agreement was to be followed by Qatar Airways flights to Mogadishu ([Horseed Media, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150320120715/http://horseedmedia.net/2015/03/18/somalia-and-qatar-sign-education-and-civil-aviation-agreements/)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Humanitarian funding reported to the UN Financial Tracking Service (FTS):

- **2011:** Qatar government US$5.7 million; Qatar Charity US$2.9 million ([FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)).
- **2017:** Qatar Charity US$4.3 million; Qatar government US$0.8 million ([FTS, 2017](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2017&groupby=organization)).
- **2022:** Qatar Charity US$21.6 million; Qatar Fund for Development US$19.9 million; Qatar government US$3.2 million ([FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2022&groupby=organization)).
- **2023:** Qatar Fund for Development US$14.5 million; Qatar Charity US$5.9 million ([FTS, 2023](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2023&groupby=organization)).
- **2025:** Qatar Fund for Development US$24.2 million; Qatar Charity US$21.3 million; Qatar Red Crescent US$2.1 million ([FTS, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

FTS counts only humanitarian funding that donors or agencies report. Development projects such as Hobyo port are not included.

## What about security?

The January 2026 agreement covers military training and security coordination ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-qatar-sign-defence-cooperation-agreement-in-doha/)). For foreign military roles, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Qatar deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Galmudug:** Qatar's Hobyo port project is in Mudug region, in Galmudug State ([Middle East Monitor](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190820-qatar-launches-construction-work-in-central-somalia-port/)).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/):** Qatar condemned Israel's December 2025 recognition of Somaliland at a special UN Security Council session ([The National, 20 January 2026](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/01/20/somalia-and-qatar-deepen-defence-ties-with-new-co-operation-agreement/)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Gulf crisis, 2017:** when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar in June 2017, Somalia's federal government did not take sides. Some federal member states sided with the UAE ([Daily Sabah, 16 April 2018](https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/04/16/uae-ends-military-training-program-in-somalia-after-cash-seizure-crisis)). Somalia refused Emirati and Saudi pressure to cut ties with Qatar ([Al Jazeera, 11 April 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-disbands-uae-programme-pay-train-soldiers-180411190249670.html)).
- **Kenya, 2021:** Somalia restored relations with Kenya in May 2021 with Qatari mediation ([Reuters, 6 May 2021, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya–Somalia_relations)).

## How many Somalis live in Qatar?

No reliable recent count was found. The 1983 labour agreement covered the recruitment of Somali workers ([Qatar MOFA, archived, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)).

## Where does Qatar stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Qatar backed the Somali reconciliation conferences in Djibouti (2000) and Khartoum ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar–Somalia_relations)). In December 2025 it joined most Security Council members in condemning Israel's recognition of Somaliland ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/01/20/somalia-and-qatar-deepen-defence-ties-with-new-co-operation-agreement/)).

## Related pages

- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/)
- [Ports](/en/economy/ports/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)
- [NISA](/en/institutions/nisa/)


---

# UCID (Justice and Welfare Party)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> UCID, the Justice and Welfare Party, was Somaliland's oldest political party. Faysal Ali Warabe founded it in 2001 and stood for president four times, from 2003 to 2024. It won 21 of 82 seats in both the 2005 and 2021 parliamentary elections. It lost national party status on 13 November 2024, when it came seventh of ten with 10,105 votes.

## What was UCID?

UCID stands for *Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka*, the Justice and Welfare Party. It is also translated as "For Justice and Development" ([Wikipedia, Justice and Welfare Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_and_Welfare_Party)). It was the oldest of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s parties and was based in Hargeisa (same source).

Faysal Ali Warabe, an engineer, founded it in 2001 and chaired it throughout ([Africa Confidential, Faisal Ali Warabe](http://www.africa-confidential.com/whos-who-profile/id/3065/)). He had lived in Finland. A 2013 University of Jyväskylä study says the party's programme was inspired by the Finnish Social Democratic Party ([University of Jyväskylä, 2013](https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/42626)).

## What did it stand for?

UCID called itself social democratic. It was an observer member of the Socialist International ([Socialist International, member parties](http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticlePageID=931)). African Arguments wrote in 2017 that it was the only national party with a clear political ideology ([African Arguments, 6 Nov 2017](https://africanarguments.org/2017/11/somaliland-election-will-the-self-declared-state-show-east-africa-how-its-done/)).

The Academy for Peace and Development and Interpeace wrote in 2015 that UCID's support came largely from the [Ciidagale](/en/society/ciidagale/) and [Garxajis](/en/society/isaaq/), with some other Isaaq sub-clans ([APD and Interpeace, August 2015](http://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015_08_01_Somalilands_Progress_Towards_Peace.pdf)).

## How did UCID do in elections?

**President** (candidate in every race: Faysal Ali Warabe)
- **2003:** 77,433 votes, 15.85 percent, third ([Wikipedia, election tables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_and_Welfare_Party); [Africa Confidential](http://www.africa-confidential.com/whos-who-profile/id/3065/)).
- **2010:** 92,459 votes, 17.18 percent, third ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_and_Welfare_Party)).
- **2017:** 23,141 votes, 4.17 percent, third ([Somaliland NEC, final results, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180516215507/http://www.slnec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Final-PollingStation-Results.pdf)).
- **2024:** 4,699 votes, third ([Somaliland NEC, interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)).

**Parliament**
- **29 September 2005:** 180,545 votes, 26.93 percent, 21 of 82 seats ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_and_Welfare_Party)).
- **31 May 2021:** 21 of 82 seats again. UCID formed a coalition with Waddani that held 52 seats, giving the opposition control of the House ([AFP via VOA, 10 Jun 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somaliland-opposition-joins-forces-grab-control-parliament/6206719.html)).

**Local councils**
- **2002:** 49,444 votes, 11.24 percent, 43 seats.
- **2012:** 105,105 votes, 12.96 percent, 40 of 323 seats.
- **2021:** 159,801 votes, 23.18 percent, 48 of 220 seats (all three from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_and_Welfare_Party)).

## How did UCID lose its party status?

Somaliland's constitution allows only three national parties. Every ten years, parties and new associations compete for the three places ([University of Tartu, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)). UCID held a place after the contests of 2002 and 2012.

On 13 November 2024, UCID won 10,105 votes and came seventh of ten. Waddani, Kaah and Kulmiye took the three places ([Somaliland NEC, interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)). Kaah replaced UCID as a national party.

## Related pages

- [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/)
- [Waddani](/en/government/waddani-party/)
- [Kulmiye](/en/government/kulmiye-party/)
- [Kaah](/en/government/kaah-party/)


---

# WAAFI: the Somali mobile money app and card

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/waafi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> WAAFI is a smartphone app for mobile money that Hormuud Telecom launched in Somalia in April 2021. It connects users' EVC Plus wallets with their bank accounts, sends money to and from Somalis abroad, and makes calls. Reports describe it as developed by Salaam Somali Bank with Hormuud, Telesom and Golis. In July 2024 Salaam Bank began issuing a Waafi Mastercard prepaid card through the app.

## The short version

**WAAFI** is a mobile money app for smartphones. [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/) announced it in **April 2021** as Somalia's first home-grown mobile money app ([Ventureburn, April 2021](https://ventureburn.com/2021/04/somalias-first-innovative-fintech-app-launches/)). Two months earlier, in February 2021, the Central Bank of Somalia had given Hormuud's [EVC Plus](/en/economy/mobile-money/) the country's first mobile money licence. At that time Hormuud reported **3.6 million** subscribers in Somalia, of whom **3 million** used EVC Plus ([Developing Telecoms, 2021](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/financial-services/11013-hormuud-telecom-launches-somalia-s-first-mobile-money-application.html)).

## What the app does

The launch reports listed these features ([Ventureburn, April 2021](https://ventureburn.com/2021/04/somalias-first-innovative-fintech-app-launches/)):

- moving money between a bank account and an EVC Plus wallet, and checking balances
- bank-to-bank transfers inside Somalia, which reports called a first for the country
- linking debit and credit cards to load money into the wallet
- receiving money sent by relatives abroad straight to a phone, and sending money abroad from Somalia
- phone calls to Somalia from abroad, and chat between users
- QR codes that shops can show so customers pay them directly

Before WAAFI, Somali mobile money ran mainly on USSD, the short codes typed on any phone. Hormuud gave USSD mobile money use as high as **80 percent** in towns and **55 percent** in rural areas ([Developing Telecoms, 2021](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/financial-services/11013-hormuud-telecom-launches-somalia-s-first-mobile-money-application.html)). Hormuud's chairman and chief executive at the launch was Ahmed Mohammed Yuusuf (same source).

## Who is behind it

Later reports describe Waafi as developed jointly by **Salaam Somali Bank**, **Hormuud**, **Telesom** and **Golis** ([Hiiraan Online, August 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197338/mastercard_and_salaam_somali_bank_unveil_the_waafi_card_for_digital_payments.aspx); [Developing Telecoms, 2024](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/financial-services/17119-salaam-bank-and-paymentology-target-somalia-s-waafi-mobile-app-users.html)). Telesom runs the [Zaad](/en/economy/mobile-money/) service in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Golis runs Sahal in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), so the app links the three biggest phone networks. A 2019 Clingendael study describes Telesom and Golis as entities aligned with Hormuud, together holding about 81 percent of SIM cards ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, boxes 6 and 7](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)); see [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/).

## The Waafi card

- In **July 2024** Salaam Somali Bank began issuing the **Waafi Card**, a prepaid Mastercard in several currencies. Customers apply in the app, and issuing started on 16 July 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, August 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197338/mastercard_and_salaam_somali_bank_unveil_the_waafi_card_for_digital_payments.aspx)).
- The card works at shop payment terminals, cash machines and online, inside Somalia and abroad. It can be added to a phone for contactless payment (same source).
- The card is issued and processed by **Paymentology**, with a digital card and a physical card. The companies called it the first such card in the Horn of Africa ([TechAfrica News, 2 August 2024](https://techafricanews.com/2024/08/02/paymentology-and-salaam-bank-launch-waafi-digital-card-in-horn-of-africa/)).
- The same report says more than two-thirds of all payments in Somalia are made by mobile money (same source).

## Related pages

For how mobile money works and who licenses it, see [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/). For the bank, see [Somalia's main banks](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/). For the phone company, see [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/).


---

# Beetles of Somalia: all 236 species on record (part 2 of 2)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 236 beetle species (order Coleoptera) from Somalia, among them scarabs, ground beetles, darkling beetles and weevils.

Part 2 of 2 of [Beetles of Somalia: all 236 species on record](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia/) · **2**

## Full list (236 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Tetralobus rotundifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/6985518) | *Tetralobus rotundifrons* | Elateridae | NE | 1 |
| [Augyles cribratellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10800035) | *Augyles cribratellus* | Heteroceridae | NE | 1 |
| [Heterocerus ornatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10689983) | *Heterocerus ornatus* | Heteroceridae | NE | 1 |
| [Saprinus splendens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4769651) | *Saprinus splendens* | Histeridae | NE | 1 |
| [Tribalus fastigiatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5994831) | *Tribalus fastigiatus* | Histeridae | NE | 1 |
| [Atractocerus brevicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1034647) | *Atractocerus brevicornis* | Lymexylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hycleus ruficrus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11532232) | *Hycleus ruficrus* | Meloidae | NE | 1 |
| [Adoretus bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5991560) | *Adoretus bottegoi* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anomala canisia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5989009) | *Anomala canisia* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anomala pallidula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5988510) | *Anomala pallidula* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tiger Flower Chafer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1083324) | *Atrichelaphinis tigrina* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Campsiura scutellaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081055) | *Campsiura scutellaris* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chalconotus revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/6281279) | *Chalconotus revoili* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cinacanthus penetrans](https://www.gbif.org/species/1067297) | *Cinacanthus penetrans* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Compsocephalus horsfieldianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1083036) | *Compsocephalus horsfieldianus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Copris harrisi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4997538) | *Copris harrisi* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyphonistes latiusculus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1074738) | *Cyphonistes latiusculus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dichecephala somalina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1058619) | *Dichecephala somalina* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euoniticellus pallens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1094502) | *Euoniticellus pallens* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gymnopleurus sericeifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/1088606) | *Gymnopleurus sericeifrons* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hamonthophagus bituberculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9297483) | *Hamonthophagus bituberculatus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heliocopris hamadryas](https://www.gbif.org/species/1088906) | *Heliocopris hamadryas* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Kadlecia trifoliata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1050165) | *Kadlecia trifoliata* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Kheper asceticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4756245) | *Kheper asceticus* | Scarabaeidae | DD | 1 |
| [Amethyst Small Fruit Chafer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1079522) | *Leucocelis amethystina* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leucocelis ruficauda](https://www.gbif.org/species/1079426) | *Leucocelis ruficauda* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Liatongus raffrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1094261) | *Liatongus raffrayi* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macroretrus confusus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1067283) | *Macroretrus confusus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mendidaphodius armatulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1069277) | *Mendidaphodius armatulus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mendidaphodius rutilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1069302) | *Mendidaphodius rutilus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Metacatharsius gardoensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1087114) | *Metacatharsius gardoensis* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metacatharsius lomii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1087106) | *Metacatharsius lomii* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metacatharsius minutus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1087154) | *Metacatharsius minutus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metacatharsius rochai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1087142) | *Metacatharsius rochai* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metacatharsius tuberifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/1087089) | *Metacatharsius tuberifrons* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Omaloplia irideomicans](https://www.gbif.org/species/1061111) | *Omaloplia irideomicans* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Onthophagus aethiopicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1090527) | *Onthophagus aethiopicus* | Scarabaeidae | LC | 5 |
| [Onthophagus corniculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1089687) | *Onthophagus corniculatus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Onthophagus diversus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1091384) | *Onthophagus diversus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Onthophagus filicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1090600) | *Onthophagus filicornis* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Onthophagus lituratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1089448) | *Onthophagus lituratus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Onthophagus rugulipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1090287) | *Onthophagus rugulipennis* | Scarabaeidae | DD | 1 |
| [Onthophagus secundarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1089971) | *Onthophagus secundarius* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Onthophagus tessulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1091099) | *Onthophagus tessulatus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachnoda abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081598) | *Pachnoda abyssinica* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachnoda cordata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081726) | *Pachnoda cordata* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachnoda interrupta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081732) | *Pachnoda interrupta* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachnoda iskuulka](https://www.gbif.org/species/9967267) | *Pachnoda iskuulka* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 10 |
| [Pachnoda massajae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081590) | *Pachnoda massajae* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pachnoda savignyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081633) | *Pachnoda savignyi* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown-and-yellow Fruit Chafer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081568) | *Pachnoda sinuata* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachnoda stehelini](https://www.gbif.org/species/1081657) | *Pachnoda stehelini* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Paratrichaphodius sericeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7922180) | *Paratrichaphodius sericeus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllognathus sabatinellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4995605) | *Phyllognathus sabatinellii* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Proagoderus worsissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4756814) | *Proagoderus worsissa* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhabdotis sobrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1082363) | *Rhabdotis sobrina* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scarabaeolus laevifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/4759782) | *Scarabaeolus laevifrons* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scarabaeolus scholtzi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4759790) | *Scarabaeolus scholtzi* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scarabaeus isidis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4997041) | *Scarabaeus isidis* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scarabaeus nitidicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4996947) | *Scarabaeus nitidicollis* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Theotimius patrizii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1088029) | *Theotimius patrizii* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tiaronthophagus rufobasalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10767016) | *Tiaronthophagus rufobasalis* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Trichaphodioides calcaratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1068287) | *Trichaphodioides calcaratus* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eastern Rhinoceros Beetle](https://www.gbif.org/species/1073638) | *Xyloryctes jamaicensis* | Scarabaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Centrophthalmus armatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10432138) | *Centrophthalmus armatus* | Staphylinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clavigeropsis formicarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/9223857) | *Clavigeropsis formicarius* | Staphylinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mimocete balaena](https://www.gbif.org/species/10022396) | *Mimocete balaena* | Staphylinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Termitobia paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10396963) | *Termitobia paolii* | Staphylinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thanatophilus micans](https://www.gbif.org/species/10435758) | *Thanatophilus micans* | Staphylinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zyras somalianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10590641) | *Zyras somalianus* | Staphylinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brachyphrynus spissicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10698868) | *Brachyphrynus spissicornis* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cossyphodes raffrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8623211) | *Cossyphodes raffrayi* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dimoniacis lavranosi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10728733) | *Dimoniacis lavranosi* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gonocephalum dermestoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9404642) | *Gonocephalum dermestoides* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hymatismus villosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4455524) | *Hymatismus villosus* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Melanolophus picteti](https://www.gbif.org/species/10761677) | *Melanolophus picteti* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 5 |
| [Phrynocolus subfrondosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10689117) | *Phrynocolus subfrondosus* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pimelia baetica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4455924) | *Pimelia baetica* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Psammophanes acuticosta](https://www.gbif.org/species/10688586) | *Psammophanes acuticosta* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sepidiostenus compressus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10821410) | *Sepidiostenus compressus* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Sepidiostenus erinaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10761047) | *Sepidiostenus erinaceus* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Sepidium crassicaudatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10696321) | *Sepidium crassicaudatum* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sepidium cylindrigerum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10866605) | *Sepidium cylindrigerum* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sepidium kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/10808504) | *Sepidium kelleri* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sepidium ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10872738) | *Sepidium ruspolii* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vieta longehirta](https://www.gbif.org/species/10801182) | *Vieta longehirta* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Vietomorpha crassipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/10779154) | *Vietomorpha crassipes* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vietomorpha foveipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10844807) | *Vietomorpha foveipennis* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vietomorpha tuberosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/10846267) | *Vietomorpha tuberosa* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zidalus insularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9516244) | *Zidalus insularis* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zophosis picipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/9336625) | *Zophosis picipes* | Tenebrionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Omorgus gemmatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5811932) | *Omorgus gemmatus* | Trogidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia/) · **2**


---

# Butterflies and moths of Somalia: all 372 species on record (part 3 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 372 butterfly and moth species (order Lepidoptera) from Somalia, the largest insect group on record there.

Part 3 of 3 of [Butterflies and moths of Somalia: all 372 species on record](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-2/) · **3**

## Full list (372 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Desert Bath White](https://www.gbif.org/species/5137790) | *Pontia glauconome* | Pieridae | NE | 1 |
| [Typhonia psephota](https://www.gbif.org/species/8920302) | *Typhonia psephota* | Psychidae | NE | 3 |
| [Typhonia recondita](https://www.gbif.org/species/8743223) | *Typhonia recondita* | Psychidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bostra pyrochroalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10902261) | *Bostra pyrochroalis* | Pyralidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dattinia peratalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1876759) | *Dattinia peratalis* | Pyralidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dattinia perstrigata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1876771) | *Dattinia perstrigata* | Pyralidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mediterranean Flour Moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1878490) | *Ephestia kuehniella* | Pyralidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hypotia costinotalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8888512) | *Hypotia costinotalis* | Pyralidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macalla purpureopicta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1874584) | *Macalla purpureopicta* | Pyralidae | NE | 1 |
| [Campimoptilum smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9146015) | *Campimoptilum smithii* | Saturniidae | NE | 24 |
| [White Ringed Atlas](https://www.gbif.org/species/5124813) | *Epiphora mythimnia* | Saturniidae | NE | 4 |
| [Speckled Emperor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1868014) | *Gynanisa maja* | Saturniidae | NE | 4 |
| [Gynanisa maja](https://www.gbif.org/species/6113304) | *Gynanisa maja* | Saturniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Leucopteryx mollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5124799) | *Leucopteryx mollis* | Saturniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ludia arguta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5124632) | *Ludia arguta* | Saturniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ludia jordani](https://www.gbif.org/species/5124622) | *Ludia jordani* | Saturniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudobunaea irius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1867964) | *Pseudobunaea irius* | Saturniidae | NE | 3 |
| [Usta angulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1866422) | *Usta angulata* | Saturniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eretmocera fasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5120259) | *Eretmocera fasciata* | Scythrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Convolvulus Hawk-moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1861644) | *Agrius convolvuli* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Callosphingia circe](https://www.gbif.org/species/1861970) | *Callosphingia circe* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ellenbeckia monospila](https://www.gbif.org/species/1864257) | *Ellenbeckia monospila* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cramer's Sphinx](https://www.gbif.org/species/1864329) | *Erinnyis crameri* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Falcatula falcatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5123618) | *Falcatula falcatus* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Silver-Striped Hawk-moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862293) | *Hippotion celerio* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hippotion moorei](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862383) | *Hippotion moorei* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hippotion pentagramma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862341) | *Hippotion pentagramma* | Sphingidae | NE | 16 |
| [Hippotion rebeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862390) | *Hippotion rebeli* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grey Hawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862310) | *Hippotion rosae* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Elegant Bomber](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862294) | *Hippotion roseipennis* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hippotion socotrensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862300) | *Hippotion socotrensis* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hippotion stigma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862387) | *Hippotion stigma* | Sphingidae | NE | 7 |
| [Striped Hawk-moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1862765) | *Hyles livornica* | Sphingidae | NE | 3 |
| [Likoma crenata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1863288) | *Likoma crenata* | Sphingidae | NE | 5 |
| [Lophostethus morettoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10125747) | *Lophostethus morettoi* | Sphingidae | NE | 5 |
| [Macropoliana cadioui](https://www.gbif.org/species/6120715) | *Macropoliana cadioui* | Sphingidae | NE | 3 |
| [Microclanis erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1863935) | *Microclanis erlangeri* | Sphingidae | NE | 6 |
| [Nephele xylina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5124108) | *Nephele xylina* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Poliana micra](https://www.gbif.org/species/1863951) | *Poliana micra* | Sphingidae | NE | 7 |
| [Poliana wintgensi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1863949) | *Poliana wintgensi* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Poliodes roseicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5123667) | *Poliodes roseicornis* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Polyptychoides niloticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1863964) | *Polyptychoides niloticus* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoclanis molitor](https://www.gbif.org/species/1864574) | *Pseudoclanis molitor* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mulberry Hawkmoth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1864576) | *Pseudoclanis postica* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoclanis somaliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8938922) | *Pseudoclanis somaliae* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rufoclanis erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1861593) | *Rufoclanis erlangeri* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Rufoclanis haxairei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9996780) | *Rufoclanis haxairei* | Sphingidae | NE | 1 |
| [Wavy Polyptychus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1861584) | *Rufoclanis numosae* | Sphingidae | NE | 2 |
| [Kuja hamatipex](https://www.gbif.org/species/6120413) | *Kuja hamatipex* | Thyrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Phthoropoea halogramma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1858586) | *Phthoropoea halogramma* | Tineidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ancylis spinicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/5103160) | *Ancylis spinicola* | Tortricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tortricid moth](https://www.gbif.org/species/1736623) | *Crocidosema plebejana* | Tortricidae | NE | 5 |
| [Eccopsis wahlbergiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/1740993) | *Eccopsis wahlbergiana* | Tortricidae | NE | 10 |
| [Eucosma somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5103845) | *Eucosma somalica* | Tortricidae | NE | 3 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia-2/) · **3**


---

# Somalia and Finland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/finland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Finland and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 12 March 1971. Finland's tie rests on aid, worth US$15.1 million in 2024, on peace mediation, and on a Somali-speaking community of 28,167 people. Since 2022 the Somali-born MP Suldaan Said Ahmed has been the Finnish foreign minister's envoy for peace mediation in the Horn of Africa.

## How do Somalia and Finland relate today?

Finland's ties with Somalia rest on aid, peace mediation and a large Somali community. Finland gave Somalia US$15.1 million in bilateral aid in 2024 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)). Its exports to Somalia that year were worth US$314,334 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)).

Since July 2022 Finland has had a special representative, later special envoy, for peace mediation in the Horn of Africa: [Suldaan Said Ahmed](/en/people/suldaan-said-ahmed/), an MP born in Mogadishu ([Finnish Government, July 2022](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa); [Al Jazeera, 6 July 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/6/from-child-refugee-to-politician-finlands-first-somali-born-mp)).

As a Schengen member, Finland applies the EU's visa restrictions on Somali nationals in force since 23 June 2026 ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, on the EU Council decision, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## When did contact begin?

Finland and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 12 March 1971, according to Finland's foreign ministry country list ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia, citing the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). The first Somalis to settle in Finland came around 1990, including students moving from the Soviet Union ([Wikipedia, Somalis in Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_Finland)).

Finnish peace work in Somalia grew after 2008. Finn Church Aid, a Finnish organisation, began peace work in Somalia that year ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)). From 2012 it supported the rebuilding of federal state structures and the national reconciliation process ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Suldaan Said Ahmed**, Finnish foreign minister's special representative on peace mediation in the Horn of Africa from July 2022, appointed under Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto ([Finnish Government, July 2022](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)).
- **Suldaan Said Ahmed**, special envoy on the same subject for Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen from January 2024 ([Finnish Government, 2024](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)).
- **Somali side**: Somalia's ambassador to the Nordic countries is based in Stockholm. In 2026 this was Abdikarim Ahmed Mohamed ([SONNA, 13 February 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-nordic-countries-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v-of-norway/)).
## Who built the tie?

- **Suldaan Said Ahmed**, born in Mogadishu, came to Finland in 2008 aged 15. He sat on Helsinki City Council from 2017 and became Finland's first Somali-born MP in 2021 ([Al Jazeera, 6 July 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/6/from-child-refugee-to-politician-finlands-first-somali-born-mp)). He has served as the foreign minister's peace mediation envoy for the Horn of Africa since 2022 ([Finnish Government, 2022](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)).
- **Pekka Haavisto**, foreign minister, appointed him in July 2022 ([Finnish Government, 2022](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)). Haavisto also visited Somalia as foreign minister ([Finnish Government, "Utrikesminister Haavisto besökte Somalia"](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/sv/-/utrikesminister-haavisto-besokte-somalia)).
- **Elina Valtonen**, foreign minister, renewed the role as special envoy in 2024 ([Finnish Government, 2024](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)).
- **Finn Church Aid** worked with the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and 1,104 local influencers on a national reconciliation framework in 2019. Somalia's Council of Ministers ratified it ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

The main documented instrument is the 2019 national reconciliation framework, drafted with Finnish support and ratified by Somalia's Council of Ministers ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto** visited Somalia ([Finnish Government](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/sv/-/utrikesminister-haavisto-besokte-somalia)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Finnish trade with Somalia of:

- 2015: exports US$412,348; imports US$106 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2015&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2020: exports US$319,785; imports US$700 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2023: exports US$453,124 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2024: exports US$314,334; imports US$5,358 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

In 2024 the largest export groups were wood products, toys and sports goods, machinery and instruments ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Finnish bilateral aid disbursements to Somalia, in current US dollars ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)):

- US$9.2 million in 2010
- US$27.5 million in 2014
- US$15.4 million in 2019
- US$28.8 million in 2020
- US$33.1 million in 2022, the highest in the series
- US$19.2 million in 2023 and US$15.1 million in 2024

Finn Church Aid runs education for displaced people in Baidoa and helped found the BAYWAN women's network in [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)). It also works in Jowhar and with digital entrepreneurs in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)).

## What about security?

Finland's role is mainly in mediation rather than military support. Its envoy's mandate covers peace mediation across the Horn of Africa ([Finnish Government, 2024](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)). For foreign military roles, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Finland deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Finnish-funded civil society work reaches several regions. Finn Church Aid works in South West State, Jowhar in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), Mogadishu and Somaliland ([Finn Church Aid](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/)).
## Have there been disputes?

Returns of Somali nationals are an EU-wide issue. The EU restricted visas for Somali nationals from 23 June 2026, citing insufficient cooperation on readmission ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## How many Somalis live in Finland?

At the end of 2025, 28,167 people in Finland spoke Somali as their first language ([Statistics Finland, table 11rm](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/)). See [Finland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/finland/).

## Where does Finland stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Finland acts on Somalia mainly through the EU and through its peace mediation work in the Horn of Africa ([Finnish Government, 2024](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa)). As an EU member it is bound by the 2026 Council decision on Somali visas ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## Related pages

- [Finland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/finland/)
- [Somalia and Sweden](/en/relations/sweden/)
- [Somalia and Norway](/en/relations/norway/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)

## Sources

1. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. UN Comtrade. Finland–Somalia trade, 2015 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=246&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Finnish Government. "Suldaan Said Ahmed appointed as Foreign Minister's Special Representative on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa." July 2022. [valtioneuvosto.fi](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-representative-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa).
4. Finnish Government. "Suldaan Said Ahmed appointed as Foreign Minister's Special Envoy on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa." 2024. [valtioneuvosto.fi](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/suldaan-said-ahmed-appointed-as-foreign-minister-s-special-envoy-on-peace-mediation-in-the-horn-of-africa).
5. Finnish Government. "Utrikesminister Haavisto besökte Somalia." [valtioneuvosto.fi](https://valtioneuvosto.fi/sv/-/utrikesminister-haavisto-besokte-somalia).
6. Al Jazeera. "From child refugee to politician: Finland's first Somali-born MP." 6 July 2021. [aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/6/from-child-refugee-to-politician-finlands-first-somali-born-mp). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Finn Church Aid. "Somalia." [kirkonulkomaanapu.fi](https://www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi/en/where-we-work/somalia/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. "The Council of the European Union restricts visa provision for Somali nationals." 8 July 2026. [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/). Somali ambassador to Nordic countries presents credentials. 13 February 2026. [sonna.so](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-nordic-countries-presents-credentials-to-king-harald-v-of-norway/). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Wikipedia. "Foreign relations of Somalia" (for the 1971 date, citing Finland's foreign ministry) and "Somalis in Finland." [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Statistics Finland. Table 11rm. [stat.fi](https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/).


---

# Kaah (Kaah Alliance for Equality and Development)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/kaah-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Kaah is a political party in Somaliland, founded in July 2022 by Mohamoud Hashi Abdi as a political association. On 13 November 2024 it came second of ten in the contest for national party status, with 131,507 votes, and replaced UCID as one of Somaliland's three national parties. It backed Waddani's Abdirahman Irro for president in 2024, and by 2026 it was criticising the Waddani government's foreign policy.

## What is Kaah?

Kaah is one of the three national political parties of Somaliland. Its full Somali name is *Isbahaysiga Sinnaanta iyo Horumarka Kaah*, the Kaah Alliance for Equality and Development ([Wikipedia, Kaah Alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaah_Alliance_for_Equality_and_Development)). *Kaah* means "dawn" or "first light". Its headquarters are in Hargeisa.

It is not the same as the money transfer company [Kaah Express](/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/).

## Who founded it?

Mohamoud Hashi Abdi founded Kaah as a political association on 21 July 2022 in Hargeisa ([Horn Diplomat, 21 Jul 2022](https://www.horndiplomat.com/2022/07/21/somaliland-kaah-political-association-the-first-political-association-of-its-scope-established-in-hargeisa/)). He had served as Minister of the Presidency under President [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/), of the Kulmiye party ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/ex-presidential-affairs-minister-establishes-kaah-political-organization)). Wikipedia records Kaah as a split from Kulmiye ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaah_Alliance_for_Equality_and_Development)).

Horn Diplomat reported a large turnout at Kaah's rallies as it campaigned for party status ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=46646)).

## How did Kaah become a national party?

Somaliland's constitution allows only three national parties. Every ten years, parties and new associations compete for the three places in a public vote ([University of Tartu, De Facto States Research Unit, 9 Dec 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).

On 13 November 2024, ten parties and associations stood. The National Electoral Commission's interim results were ([Somaliland NEC](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)):

- **Waddani:** 216,284 votes
- **Kaah:** 131,507 votes
- **Kulmiye:** 108,100 votes
- **Horseed:** 87,218
- **Hilaac:** 59,569
- **Barwaaqo:** 16,852
- **UCID:** 10,105
- **Talowadaag:** 6,080
- **Rejo:** 2,083
- **Shacabka:** 2,014

The top three hold national party status for ten years (same source). Kaah's place was formally confirmed on 9 January 2025 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaah_Alliance_for_Equality_and_Development)). It replaced [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/), the oldest party.

## Its 2024 alliance with Waddani

Kaah did not field a presidential candidate in 2024. It signed a pre-election agreement with [Waddani](/en/government/waddani-party/). Mohamoud Hashi Abdi signed it with Waddani's candidate, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro", and Waddani's chair, Hersi Ali Haji Hassan ([Somaliland Chronicle, 5 Aug 2024](https://www.somalilandchronicle.com/2024/08/05/wadani-kaah-coalition-restructuring-somaliland-political-landscape)). Irro won the presidency with 63.92 percent ([University of Tartu, 2024](https://defactostates.ut.ee/the-system-worked-somalilands-2024-presidential-and-political-party-elections/)).

## What has Kaah said since 2025?

- **Eastern [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), October 2025:** Kaah warned of rising tension and outside interference in eastern Sool ([AllAfrica, 1 Oct 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510010096.html)).
- **Foreign policy, July 2026:** Mohamoud Hashi Abdi accused the Waddani government of a foreign policy of "insults and public condemnation" toward countries including Djibouti, Saudi Arabia and [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/). He called Djibouti "a brotherly country" to engage by dialogue ([Dawan Africa, 2 Jul 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/kaah-party-accuses-somaliland-government-of-pursuing-hostile-diplomacy)).
- **Recognition:** in the same speech he said, "We believe the recognition we received is not full recognition." He argued full recognition needs UN member states and a seat in international bodies (same source). Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025.
- **Embassy in Jerusalem:** Kaah opposed the government's plan to open an embassy in Jerusalem (same source).

## Related pages

- [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/)
- [Kulmiye](/en/government/kulmiye-party/)
- [The 2024 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2024/)
- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)


---

# Somalia and Saudi Arabia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/saudi-arabia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Saudi Arabia is one of Somalia's main export markets, buying US$283 million of Somali goods in 2023, mostly live animals. It is also the largest Gulf humanitarian donor to Somalia in UN records, with US$34.8 million in 2025. The two countries signed a military cooperation memorandum in Riyadh on 9 February 2026.

## How do Somalia and Saudi Arabia relate today?

Saudi Arabia is one of Somalia's three main export markets, with the UAE and [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/). Live animals are the main export, and sales peak before the Hajj and Eid al-Adha ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). Saudi Arabia bought Somali goods worth US$282.6 million in 2023 ([WITS, World Bank](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

On 9 February 2026 Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman signed a memorandum on military cooperation in Riyadh ([Al Jazeera, 10 February 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).

The Saudi government reported US$34.8 million of humanitarian funding to Somalia in 2025, the most of any Gulf government ([UN OCHA Financial Tracking Service, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

## When did contact begin?

Somalia's foreign ministry listed 17 December 1960 as the date relations were established with Saudi Arabia ([en.wikipedia.org, Foreign relations of Somalia, citing the Somali MFA list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). Somalia joined the Arab League in 1974 ([The National, 1 July 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)).

After its defeat in the [Ogaden War](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) of 1977–1978, the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government aligned its policies more closely with Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In the 1980s Somalia depended more and more on aid from [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), Saudi Arabia and the UAE ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, Relations with Arab Countries](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). Saudi Arabia supplied much of Somalia's oil as a donor ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/63.htm)).

In 1990 Somalia sided with the US-led coalition after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Saudi Arabia then offered a US$70 million grant and oil below market prices ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, Relations with Arab Countries](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

Somali workers went to Saudi Arabia in large numbers during the oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s; see [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/).

After the central government fell in 1991, Saudi Arabia had no diplomats in Somalia, though relations were never cut ([en.wikipedia.org, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Mohamed Abdi-kani Al-Khayat:** presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 18 January 2017 as Saudi Arabia's first ambassador to Somalia since the 1990s ([Goobjoog, 18 January 2017, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

No fuller list of ambassadors in either direction was found for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Prince Khalid bin Salman**, Saudi defence minister: signed the February 2026 memorandum and announced it on X ([Al Jazeera, 10 February 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, Somali defence minister: signed the same memorandum ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)**, Somali president: received the first Saudi ambassador since the 1990s in January 2017 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **9 February 2026:** memorandum of understanding on defence and military cooperation, Riyadh. Neither side published the text ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **January 2017:** Saudi ambassador Al-Khayat presented credentials in Mogadishu.
- **9 February 2026:** Defence Minister Fiqi in Riyadh ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)).

## How much do they trade?

Saudi imports from Somalia, from World Bank WITS data:

- **2010:** US$135.0 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2015:** US$319.0 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2020:** US$40.0 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2020/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2022:** US$131.2 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2022/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2023:** US$282.6 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

Saudi Arabia was long Somalia's main buyer. In June 1983 it stopped importing Somali cattle, citing rinderpest, and soon extended the ban to sheep and goats; the loss of earnings opened a large budget deficit ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/61.htm)). In 1990 Italy narrowly replaced Saudi Arabia as the leading buyer of Somali goods ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/64.htm)).

Saudi exports to Somalia are smaller: US$58.1 million in 2019 and US$38.7 million in 2023 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SAU/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

Somalia's live animal exports earned US$922.9 million in 2025, most of it from Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). For the history of the trade, including Saudi import bans, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Saudi government humanitarian funding to Somalia reported to the UN Financial Tracking Service:

- **2011:** US$95.2 million, during the famine ([FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)).
- **2012:** US$93.4 million ([FTS, 2012](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2012&groupby=organization)).
- **2017:** US$16.2 million ([FTS, 2017](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2017&groupby=organization)).
- **2019:** US$11.6 million ([FTS, 2019](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2019&groupby=organization)).
- **2022:** US$22.4 million ([FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2022&groupby=organization)).
- **2023:** US$41.2 million ([FTS, 2023](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2023&groupby=organization)).
- **2024:** US$37.2 million ([FTS, 2024](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2024&groupby=organization)).
- **2025:** US$34.8 million ([FTS, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

- **Loans:** by the end of the 1970s Somalia owed Saudi Arabia US$81.9 million ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)). At the end of 2025 Somalia owed the Saudi Fund for Development US$117.31 million and paid it US$3.11 million in interest that year ([Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

In January 2016 Somalia received a Saudi aid pledge of US$50 million on the same day it cut ties with Iran. The Somali government denied any link ([Reuters, 17 January 2016, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## What about security?

The February 2026 memorandum covers defence and military ties; no details were released ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/10/somalia-saudi-arabia-sign-agreement-on-military-cooperation)). For foreign military roles, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Saudi Arabia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Livestock ports:** for the ports in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) that ship animals to Saudi Arabia, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).
- **Berbera and Yemen, 2026:** the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council, left Yemen through Berbera in January 2026. Mogadishu then called it unauthorised use of Somali airspace and airports ([Africanews, 13 January 2026](https://www.africanews.com/2026/01/13/somalia-cancels-all-agreements-with-united-arab-emirates/)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Deportations:** Saudi Arabia began a campaign against undocumented workers on 4 November 2013. The IOM said Saudi authorities deported 40,779 Somalis to Mogadishu between December 2013 and August 2014 ([Human Rights Watch, 10 May 2015](https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/05/10/detained-beaten-deported/saudi-abuses-against-migrants-during-mass-expulsions)).
- **Gulf crisis, 2017–2018:** Somalia refused Saudi and Emirati pressure to cut ties with Qatar ([Al Jazeera, 11 April 2018](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/somalia-disbands-uae-programme-pay-train-soldiers-180411190249670.html)).

## How many Somalis live in Saudi Arabia?

UN DESA estimated 48,099 people born in Somalia living in Saudi Arabia in 2024 ([UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024](https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2024_ims_stock_by_sex_destination_and_origin.xlsx)). See [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/).

## Where does Saudi Arabia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- **Arab League:** Somalia and Saudi Arabia are both members; Somalia joined in 1974 ([The National, 2022](https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/07/01/things-to-know-about-the-somali-community-in-the-uae)).
- **Iran, 2016:** Somalia cut ties with Iran in January 2016, the same day it received the Saudi aid pledge ([Reuters, 17 January 2016, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## Related pages

- [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)


---

# Zaad: Telesom's mobile money service in Somaliland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/zaad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Zaad is the mobile money service of Telesom, Somaliland's largest phone company. It launched in June 2009 as Somaliland's first mobile money service, is free to use and works in US dollars. By June 2012 almost 40 percent of Telesom's subscribers used it, and in 2013 the GSMA found active users made more than 30 transactions a month, against a world average of 8.5. The GSMA certified Zaad in 2024.

## The short version

**Zaad** is the mobile money service of [Telesom](/en/businesses/telesom/), the leading phone company in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Telesom launched it in **June 2009** as Somaliland's first mobile money service ([GSMA, Innovative Inclusion: How Telesom ZAAD Brought Mobile Money to Somaliland, 2013, p. 1](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). It is free for customers and holds money in **US dollars** ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)).

## How it was built

- **The company:** in 2013 Telesom had close to **1 million** mobile connections, about 85 percent of the Somaliland market. It was founded in 2002 and owned by about **1,500 shareholders**, all Somalilanders living at home or abroad ([GSMA 2013, p. 2](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)).
- **The investment:** Telesom put about **$1 million** into the service in its first year. A quarter of that went into building its own platform with its own programmers (same source, p. 3).
- **Free to use:** the company made the service free from the start, so that it would keep customers on its phone network (same source, pp. 2–3).
- **Own shops as agents:** instead of signing up outside agents, Telesom used the shops it already owned and staffed, because Somaliland had no banking network or suitable chain of stores (same source, p. 3).

## Merchants and salaries

Telesom's aim was to keep money inside the system, not to have people cash out every transfer. When Zaad launched in June 2009, **170 merchants** had already agreed to take payments through it ([GSMA 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). The company also persuaded employers to pay salaries into Zaad wallets. In one example from the study, 300 of the 450 staff at [Amoud University](/en/institutions/main-universities/) received their full salary through Zaad (same source). Customers had to show an identity document, such as a passport or driving licence, at a Telesom shop to register (same source).

## Usage

- **One year after launch**, more than **70 percent** of Zaad subscribers were actively using the service. The active rate never fell below 70 percent up to the 2013 study ([GSMA 2013, section 3](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)).
- By **June 2012** almost **40 percent** of Telesom's phone subscribers were active Zaad users (same source, p. 1).
- Active users made **more than 30 transactions a month** on average, against a world average of 8.5 (same source, p. 1).
- The World Bank's Findex survey found that 26 percent of people in Somalia used a phone to pay bills, then the highest rate in the world. The GSMA study said most of this activity came from Zaad (same source, p. 1).

## Currency exchange

Most Zaad money is held in dollars, but Somaliland shillings are used for small purchases, so money changers are a key part of the system ([GSMA 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). Telesom later added an exchange service inside Zaad, which the GSMA describes as a way to drive more mobile money use ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/uncategorized/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)).

## Certification

In September 2024 Telesom announced that the GSMA had certified Zaad under its Mobile Money Certification programme. The programme, introduced in 2018, checks services against more than 300 criteria ([The Standard, 18 September 2024](https://standardmedia.co.ke/business/amp/nairobi/article/2001502936/somaliland-mobile-money-service-gets-gsma-certification)).

For the other services, see [EVC Plus](/en/businesses/evc-plus/), [Sahal](/en/businesses/sahal/) and [eDahab](/en/businesses/edahab/). For the wider picture, see [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/) and [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).


---

# Somalia and Oman

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/oman/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Oman is one of Somalia's three main export markets, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It bought US$180 million of Somali goods in 2023 and sold Somalia US$257 million. Omani rulers held a loose authority over the Banaadir coast from 1728 to the 1880s, and the two states signed an air services agreement in Muscat in 1983.

## How do Somalia and Oman relate today?

[Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) is one of Somalia's three main export destinations, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Live animals are the main export ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

In 2023 Oman bought Somali goods worth US$180.5 million and sold Somalia goods worth US$256.6 million ([WITS, World Bank, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

Somalia has an embassy in Muscat. Wikipedia says Oman is due to reopen its embassy in Mogadishu, without a date ([en.wikipedia.org, Oman–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman–Somalia_relations)).

## When did contact begin?

In 1728 the Portuguese lost their last foothold on the East African coast, Fort Jesus in Mombasa. From then until the European scramble for Africa in the 1880s, the Omanis held a loose authority over the Banaadir coast ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm)).

Omani rule meant mostly a small yearly tribute, a resident qadi (Muslim judge) and a few askaris (police). Over time the Banaadir coast was drawn into the orbit of the sultans of Zanzibar ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/7.htm)). Italy later took the Banaadir coast, which had long been under loose Zanzibari authority, to form [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/) ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).

Modern diplomatic relations date from 1980, according to a RAND list of states with which Oman has relations ([Kechichian, Oman and the World, RAND, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

No list of ambassadors in either direction was found for this page. Somalia keeps an embassy in Muscat ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman–Somalia_relations)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Sultan Qaboos bin Said**: ratified the Somali–Omani air services agreement by Royal Decree 74/84 on 22 July 1984 ([Royal Decree 74/84, decree.om](https://decree.om/1984/rd19840074/)).
- **Oman's minister of transport**: authorised by Royal Decree 109/81 to sign the air services agreement ([Royal Decree 74/84](https://decree.om/1984/rd19840074/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **19 March 1983:** air services agreement between Oman and the [Somali Democratic Republic](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), signed in Muscat, covering services between and beyond their territories. Ratified by Royal Decree 74/84 of 22 July 1984 and published in Official Gazette 293 on 1 August 1984 ([decree.om](https://decree.om/1984/rd19840074/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

No dated state visits were found for this page.

## How much do they trade?

From World Bank WITS data, Oman's trade with Somalia:

- **2010:** exports US$69.9 million; imports US$71.7 million ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2015:** exports US$184.2 million; imports US$143.5 million ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2019:** exports US$232.5 million; imports US$165.2 million ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2019/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2019/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2021:** exports US$263.6 million; imports US$186.9 million ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2021/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2021/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2023:** exports US$256.6 million; imports US$180.5 million ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/OMN/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

Somalia's live animal exports earned US$922.9 million in 2025, going mostly to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

No Omani government humanitarian funding to Somalia appears in the UN Financial Tracking Service for the years checked here (2011, 2012, 2017, 2019 and 2022 to 2025) ([FTS, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2025&groupby=organization); [FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)). Oman does not appear among Somalia's creditors in the Ministry of Finance's 2025 debt report ([Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

## What about security?

No Omani military role in Somalia was found. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

Oman has acted against illegal Somali charcoal. The UN Monitoring Group named Duqm and Shinas in Oman among the ports receiving Somali charcoal in 2017–2018 and said seizures by Oman and the UAE helped deter the trade. It added that Oman could have answered the Group's letters sooner ([UN Security Council, S/2018/1002, 9 November 2018](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2018/1002&l=en&t=pdf)).

## How does Oman deal with Somaliland and the member states?

No sourced Omani agreements with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states were found.

## Have there been disputes?

None were found in the sources checked.

## How many Somalis live in Oman?

No reliable count was found for this page.

## Where does Oman stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Oman and Somalia are both members of the Arab League, which Somalia joined in 1974 as its first non-Arab member ([Library of Congress, Relations with Arab Countries](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Related pages

- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/)
- [Sultanates, the coast and customary law, 1700s to 1880s](/en/history/sultanates-the-coast-and-customary-law-1700s-1880s/)
- [Banadir](/en/states/banadir/)


---

# Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more (part 2 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 513 insect species from Somalia outside the butterflies, moths and beetles: true bugs, bees, wasps and ants, lice, flies, grasshoppers and locusts, dragonflies, termites and mantises.

Part 2 of 4 of [Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/)

## Full list (513 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Leafhopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/4290058) | *Nephotettix apicalis* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Opsius glaucovirens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2038158) | *Opsius glaucovirens* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paradorydium famelicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2033858) | *Paradorydium famelicum* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paraphrodes flavigera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2031205) | *Paraphrodes flavigera* | Cicadellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scaphoideus strigulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2031279) | *Scaphoideus strigulatus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 5 |
| [Theronopus aethiopicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11131461) | *Theronopus aethiopicus* | Cicadellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Abricta brunnea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7430741) | *Abricta brunnea* | Cicadidae | NE | 2 |
| [Dyticopycna beccarii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11158012) | *Dyticopycna beccarii* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Esada esa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7810830) | *Esada esa* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ioba veligera](https://www.gbif.org/species/7394152) | *Ioba veligera* | Cicadidae | NE | 2 |
| [Munza revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/7678991) | *Munza revoili* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oxypleura clara](https://www.gbif.org/species/7923702) | *Oxypleura clara* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Platypleura carlinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7672310) | *Platypleura carlinii* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Taipinga nigricans](https://www.gbif.org/species/7636972) | *Taipinga nigricans* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ringed Pygmy Bladder Cicada](https://www.gbif.org/species/7720219) | *Xosopsaltria annulata* | Cicadidae | NE | 1 |
| [tropical bed bug](https://www.gbif.org/species/5866510) | *Cimex hemipterus* | Cimicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Duilius seticulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4489917) | *Duilius seticulosus* | Cixiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eumecurus frontalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5983179) | *Eumecurus frontalis* | Cixiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eumecurus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9265593) | *Eumecurus somaliensis* | Cixiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mnemosyne hirta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2058325) | *Mnemosyne hirta* | Cixiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oliarus patrizii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2058583) | *Oliarus patrizii* | Cixiidae | NE | 2 |
| [date palm soft scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2092486) | *Ceroplastes actiniformis* | Coccidae | NE | 1 |
| [Coccus celatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5163383) | *Coccus celatus* | Coccidae | NE | 1 |
| [The Coccus of the greenhouses](https://www.gbif.org/species/5712981) | *Coccus hesperidum* | Coccidae | NE | 3 |
| [long brown scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/8202676) | *Coccus longulus* | Coccidae | NE | 1 |
| [Black scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/8198400) | *Parasaissetia nigra* | Coccidae | NE | 8 |
| [Pulvinaria tomentosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5163710) | *Pulvinaria tomentosa* | Coccidae | NE | 1 |
| [Somali Azuret](https://www.gbif.org/species/1422595) | *Azuragrion somalicum* | Coenagrionidae | LC | 8 |
| [Plain Waxtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/1423277) | *Ceriagrion suave* | Coenagrionidae | LC | 1 |
| [African Bluetail](https://www.gbif.org/species/1423286) | *Ischnura senegalensis* | Coenagrionidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pseudagrion lindicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/1422869) | *Pseudagrion lindicum* | Coenagrionidae | LC | 8 |
| [Cherry-eye Sprite](https://www.gbif.org/species/1422831) | *Pseudagrion sublacteum* | Coenagrionidae | LC | 1 |
| [Colpocephalum fregili](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032763) | *Colpocephalum fregili* | Colpocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Colpocephalum heterosoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422635) | *Colpocephalum heterosoma* | Colpocephalidae | NE | 3 |
| [Colpocephalum salimalii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422632) | *Colpocephalum salimalii* | Colpocephalidae | NE | 2 |
| [Colpocephalum subzerafae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032761) | *Colpocephalum subzerafae* | Colpocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032764) | *Colpocephalum turbinatum* | Colpocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Kurodaia panjabensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8535002) | *Kurodaia panjabensis* | Colpocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemelytroblatta fulvopicta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2001119) | *Hemelytroblatta fulvopicta* | Corydiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemelytroblatta fuscipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2001117) | *Hemelytroblatta fuscipennis* | Corydiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemelytroblatta pilosella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2001113) | *Hemelytroblatta pilosella* | Corydiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemelytroblatta rugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2001096) | *Hemelytroblatta rugosa* | Corydiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Egyptian cockroach](https://www.gbif.org/species/2000796) | *Polyphaga aegyptiaca* | Corydiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bembecinus gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7999463) | *Bembecinus gracilis* | Crabronidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bembix alacris](https://www.gbif.org/species/7817933) | *Bembix alacris* | Crabronidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bembix dahlbomii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7698110) | *Bembix dahlbomii* | Crabronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerceris multipicta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7945627) | *Cerceris multipicta* | Crabronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerceris nenitroidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/10479246) | *Cerceris nenitroidea* | Crabronidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerceris podagrosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8020689) | *Cerceris podagrosa* | Crabronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerceris tricolorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8127081) | *Cerceris tricolorata* | Crabronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gastrosericus baobabicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7808552) | *Gastrosericus baobabicus* | Crabronidae | NE | 1 |
| [Miscophus chrysis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7665809) | *Miscophus chrysis* | Crabronidae | NE | 1 |
| [yellow fever mosquito](https://www.gbif.org/species/1651891) | *Aedes aegypti* | Culicidae | NE | 120 |
| [Anopheles arabiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1650772) | *Anopheles arabiensis* | Culicidae | NE | 5 |
| [Anopheles merus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1650398) | *Anopheles merus* | Culicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anopheles salbaii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1650808) | *Anopheles salbaii* | Culicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Anopheles stephensi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1650441) | *Anopheles stephensi* | Culicidae | NE | 6 |
| [Culex sitiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1653782) | *Culex sitiens* | Culicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Macroscytus brunneus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4486089) | *Macroscytus brunneus* | Cydnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Perkinsiella vastatrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/5156503) | *Perkinsiella vastatrix* | Delphacidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metaphenice stellulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5983641) | *Metaphenice stellulata* | Derbidae | NE | 1 |
| [Danuria thunbergi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1405095) | *Danuria thunbergi* | Deroplatyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bactrododema phillipsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1410444) | *Bactrododema phillipsi* | Diapheromeridae | NE | 1 |
| [Oriental yellow scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2083015) | *Aonidiella orientalis* | Diaspididae | NE | 4 |
| [Dentachionaspis berlesei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2086464) | *Dentachionaspis berlesei* | Diaspididae | NE | 1 |
| [Dentachionaspis pseudonivea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2086475) | *Dentachionaspis pseudonivea* | Diaspididae | NE | 4 |
| [Duplachionaspis paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2082892) | *Duplachionaspis paolii* | Diaspididae | NE | 1 |
| [Ledaspis reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2086948) | *Ledaspis reticulata* | Diaspididae | NE | 7 |
| [Purple Scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2089006) | *Lepidosaphes beckii* | Diaspididae | NE | 1 |
| [Lindingaspis opima](https://www.gbif.org/species/2088305) | *Lindingaspis opima* | Diaspididae | NE | 7 |
| [Lindingaspis picea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2088287) | *Lindingaspis picea* | Diaspididae | NE | 11 |
| [Armoured scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/7825135) | *Odonaspis saccharicaulis* | Diaspididae | NE | 1 |
| [Mediterranean Scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/8416592) | *Parlatoria ziziphi* | Diaspididae | NE | 2 |
| [Hibiscus Snow Scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/7663030) | *Pinnaspis strachani* | Diaspididae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudotargionia glandulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2088576) | *Pseudotargionia glandulosa* | Diaspididae | NE | 1 |
| [Spinaspidiotus fissidens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8237697) | *Spinaspidiotus fissidens* | Diaspididae | NE | 3 |
| [Afronersia somaliana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8088626) | *Afronersia somaliana* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aselgeia ramulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2052787) | *Aselgeia ramulifera* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 2 |
| [Carphotoma ogadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5983930) | *Carphotoma ogadensis* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hasta ufudensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5156315) | *Hasta ufudensis* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paranagnia afra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2053210) | *Paranagnia afra* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paranagnia pseudoafra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2053217) | *Paranagnia pseudoafra* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phaenodictyon elliptica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2053193) | *Phaenodictyon ellipticum* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 2 |
| [Philotheria antigone](https://www.gbif.org/species/2053321) | *Philotheria antigone* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Philotheria apicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2053356) | *Philotheria apicata* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 2 |
| [Philotheria jacobii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2053337) | *Philotheria jacobii* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Philotheria rochetii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7970695) | *Philotheria rochetii* | Dictyopharidae | NE | 1 |
| [Argyrochlamys cavicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/1609459) | *Argyrochlamys cavicola* | Dolichopodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bocchus bini](https://www.gbif.org/species/10239838) | *Bocchus bini* | Dryinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Echthrodelphax migratorius](https://www.gbif.org/species/10018019) | *Echthrodelphax migratorius* | Dryinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blepharodes cornutus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1406779) | *Blepharodes cornutus* | Empusidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blepharodes sudanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1406778) | *Blepharodes sudanensis* | Empusidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anterhynchium fallax](https://www.gbif.org/species/1328169) | *Anterhynchium fallax* | Eumenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anterhynchium synagroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/6247733) | *Anterhynchium synagroides* | Eumenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Belonogaster juncea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1310245) | *Belonogaster juncea* | Eumenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pareumenes mochii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1329385) | *Pareumenes mochii* | Eumenidae | NE | 2 |
| [Polistes badius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1310712) | *Polistes badius* | Eumenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polistes fastidiosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1310724) | *Polistes fastidiosus* | Eumenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Proepipona lateralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1334143) | *Proepipona lateralis* | Eumenidae | NE | 2 |
| [Balcha cylindrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1389677) | *Balcha cylindrica* | Eupelmidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neoplatybrachys orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2051785) | *Neoplatybrachys orientalis* | Eurybrachidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paropioxys gloriosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2051816) | *Paropioxys gloriosus* | Eurybrachidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paropioxys viridifasciatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2051796) | *Paropioxys viridifasciatus* | Eurybrachidae | NE | 3 |
| [Atracis mendax](https://www.gbif.org/species/2067925) | *Atracis mendax* | Flatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendrona gestroi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2068470) | *Dendrona gestroi* | Flatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ormenis biskrensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5158284) | *Ormenis biskrensis* | Flatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phylliana lineata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2067132) | *Phylliana lineata* | Flatidae | NE | 3 |
| [Rhinophantia fatua](https://www.gbif.org/species/2068956) | *Rhinophantia fatua* | Flatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Seliza squamula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2069261) | *Seliza squamula* | Flatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stenocyarda salsolae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2066431) | *Stenocyarda salsolae* | Flatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Uysanus lestagei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2066601) | *Uysanus lestagei* | Flatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acantholepis capensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7897509) | *Acantholepis capensis* | Formicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Aenictus fuscovarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1317582) | *Aenictus fuscovarius* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anochetus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1319520) | *Anochetus africanus* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anochetus rothschildi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1319463) | *Anochetus rothschildi* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Large Pugnacious Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/1317417) | *Anoplolepis custodiens* | Formicidae | NE | 6 |
| [Camponotus bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5033753) | *Camponotus bottegoi* | Formicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dr Brauns's Sugar Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5033700) | *Camponotus braunsi* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Banded Sugar Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5033679) | *Camponotus consobrinus* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Camponotus flavomarginatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5034718) | *Camponotus flavomarginatus* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Camponotus grandidieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5033914) | *Camponotus grandidieri* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Japanese Carpenter Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5034161) | *Camponotus japonicus* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Camponotus mus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5033518) | *Camponotus mus* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Red Bristly Sugar ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5034139) | *Camponotus robecchii* | Formicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Camponotus sacchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5033721) | *Camponotus sacchii* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eastern Sugar Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5034676) | *Camponotus sexpunctatus* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Camponotus somalinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5034254) | *Camponotus somalinus* | Formicidae | NE | 4 |
| [Carebara patrizii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5035455) | *Carebara patrizii* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cremastogaster ferruginea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7925186) | *Cremastogaster ferruginea* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Crematogaster acaciae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1324912) | *Crematogaster acaciae* | Formicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Crematogaster aloysiisabaudiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1324638) | *Crematogaster aloysiisabaudiae* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Crematogaster castanea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1324326) | *Crematogaster castanea* | Formicidae | NE | 4 |
| [Crematogaster chiarinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1325180) | *Crematogaster chiarinii* | Formicidae | NE | 12 |
| [Crematogaster paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1324561) | *Crematogaster paolii* | Formicidae | NE | 6 |
| [Crematogaster rivai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1324702) | *Crematogaster rivai* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Crematogaster ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1324453) | *Crematogaster ruspolii* | Formicidae | NE | 4 |
| [Dorylus fulvus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1317802) | *Dorylus fulvus* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Small Black Sugar Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/1320876) | *Lepisiota capensis* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lepisiota carbonaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/1320960) | *Lepisiota carbonaria* | Formicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lepisiota somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1320978) | *Lepisiota somalica* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leptogenys pavesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1321312) | *Leptogenys pavesii* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hissing Ant](https://www.gbif.org/species/10702843) | *Megaponera analis* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Messor ferreri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1316358) | *Messor ferreri* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Messor galla](https://www.gbif.org/species/1316478) | *Messor galla* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ocymyrmex nitidulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1316314) | *Ocymyrmex nitidulus* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ocymyrmex robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1316331) | *Ocymyrmex robecchii* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ocymyrmex weitzeckeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1316335) | *Ocymyrmex weitzeckeri* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [African Stink Ants](https://www.gbif.org/species/8136566) | *Paltothyreus tarsatus* | Formicidae | NE | 9 |
| [Pheidole variolosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1321833) | *Pheidole variolosa* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plagiolepis custodiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8308167) | *Plagiolepis custodiens* | Formicidae | NE | 3 |
| [Platythyrea cribrinodis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1326319) | *Platythyrea cribrinodis* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polyrhachis omissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9060745) | *Polyrhachis omissa* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polyrhachis phalerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1318358) | *Polyrhachis phalerata* | Formicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Polyrhachis revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/1318557) | *Polyrhachis revoili* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stenamma barbarum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7396431) | *Stenamma barbarum* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Terataner bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1317364) | *Terataner bottegoi* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tetraponera continua](https://www.gbif.org/species/11782349) | *Tetraponera continua* | Formicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trichomyrmex robustior](https://www.gbif.org/species/9183418) | *Trichomyrmex robustior* | Formicidae | NE | 7 |
| [Eddara euchroma](https://www.gbif.org/species/5157909) | *Eddara euchroma* | Fulgoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Omalocephala cincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5158153) | *Omalocephala cincta* | Fulgoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Zanna clavaticeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2065418) | *Zanna clavaticeps* | Fulgoridae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/)


---

# Sahal: Golis Telecom's mobile money service in Puntland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/sahal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Sahal is the mobile money service of Golis Telecom, the main phone company in Puntland. Golis says it launched Sahal in 2009. Golis customers can open an account free at any Golis centre and use it to send money, pay bills and shops, and buy airtime. Sahal is used to pay local taxes in Garowe and four other Puntland districts. Golis received GSMA mobile money certification in 2023 and ISO certifications in 2024.

## The short version

**Sahal** is the brand name of [Golis Telecom](/en/businesses/golis-telecom/)'s mobile money service. Golis says it launched Sahal in **2009** ([Golis Telecom, Sahal FAQ](https://golistelecom.com/?p=26)). Golis, founded in 2002, is the leading phone network in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([The Standard, 25 July 2024](https://standardmedia.co.ke/sports/amp/africa/article/2001499614/how-golis-telco-is-changing-puntlands-story)). A 2019 Clingendael study counts Sahal, with Zaad and EVC Plus, among the mobile money platforms of the Hormuud-aligned companies ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, box 6](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## How it works

Golis lists these services and rules ([Golis Telecom, Sahal FAQ](https://golistelecom.com/?p=26)):

- **Registration:** a customer first needs a Golis number, then opens a Sahal account free at any Golis centre. Golis sends an SMS and a four-digit start key to activate the account. Some account types have levels with different identity requirements.
- **Sending money:** free transfers to anyone in Somalia.
- **Paying:** utility bills through a merchant paybill number, and shopping by paying the shop's account number.
- **Airtime:** top-ups from $0.25 to $100, for the customer's own phone or another Golis number.
- **Cash:** deposits and withdrawals at Golis centres and shops. When a shop pays out cash, the customer signs a log book that records Sahal transactions at that shop.

## How customer money is held

Under Golis's customer terms, the e-money in a Sahal account stands for an equal amount of cash held by a **trustee** on the customer's behalf. The service is open to all Golis subscribers who register, and customers on other networks may have fewer features ([Golis Telecom, Sahal terms and conditions](https://golistelecom.com/?p=2145)).

## Paying local taxes by phone

From 2021 local governments in Puntland have used mobile money to collect taxes. **Garowe** district piloted a phone-based tax payment system with support from UN-Habitat. The district recorded a **threefold rise** in local revenue, mainly from property, business and public transport taxes. With the Puntland Ministry of Interior and Golis, the system was then extended to **[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), Burtinle, Galkayo and Qardho** ([UN-Habitat, August 2021](https://unhabitat.org/news/16-aug-2021/mobile-taxation-expanded-to-four-districts-of-somalia-after-a-successful-pilot)).

## Certifications

- Golis and Hormuud became GSMA certified mobile money providers, the mobile industry body's standard for consumer protection and secure systems ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hormuud-and-golis-telecom-achieve-gsma-certification-as-mobile-money-providers)).
- In July 2024 Golis received three ISO certifications in Garowe, covering quality management, mobile money and information security. A Mastercard service was launched at the same event, which Puntland's vice president attended ([The Standard, 25 July 2024](https://standardmedia.co.ke/sports/amp/africa/article/2001499614/how-golis-telco-is-changing-puntlands-story)).

For the other services, see [EVC Plus](/en/businesses/evc-plus/), [Zaad](/en/businesses/zaad/) and [eDahab](/en/businesses/edahab/). For the wider picture, see [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).


---

# Somalia and Spain

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/spain/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Spain has no embassy in Somalia; its ambassador in Nairobi has been accredited to Somalia since late 2012. Spain's tie runs mostly through the sea: it hosts the headquarters of the EU's Atalanta anti-piracy operation at Rota since 29 March 2019, and the 2009 hijacking of the Basque tuna boat Alakrana led to direct talks with Somalia's government. Spain's exports to Somalia reached US$20.2 million in 2024.

## How do Somalia and Spain relate today?

Spain has no embassy in Somalia, and Somalia has none in Spain ([Wikipedia, Somalia–Spain relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations)). In December 2012 Spain began accrediting its ambassador in Kenya to Somalia's new government ([eldiario.es/EFE, 3 December 2012](https://www.eldiario.es/politica/espana-proceso-representante-autoridades-somalia_1_5516699.html)).

The sea is the core of the tie. Spain hosts the Operation Headquarters of the EU's naval operation Atalanta at Rota, in Cádiz, and the operation commander is a Spanish admiral ([EU Naval Force, Chain of command](https://eunavfor.eu/chain-of-command)). Atalanta's mandate runs to February 2027 ([EU Naval Force, Mission](https://eunavfor.eu/mission)).

Trade is growing. Spain exported goods worth US$20.2 million to Somalia in 2024, mostly food products, vehicles and oils ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)).

## When did contact begin?

Somalia and Spain established diplomatic relations on 27 June 1968, according to Somalia's foreign relations list ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). After the Somali state collapsed in 1991, contact was limited until piracy brought Spanish fishing boats and warships to Somali waters in 2008 and 2009.

When Somali pirates seized the Basque tuna boat Alakrana in October 2009, Spain had no extradition treaty with Somalia ([TIME, 11 November 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)). Its ambassador to Kenya met Somalia's prime minister to seek a solution ([TIME, 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Spanish ambassador to Kenya**, accredited to Somalia from late 2012 after a decision announced by Secretary of State Gonzalo de Benito ([eldiario.es/EFE, 3 December 2012](https://www.eldiario.es/politica/espana-proceso-representante-autoridades-somalia_1_5516699.html)).
- **Nicolás Martín**, Spain's ambassador to Kenya, met Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke in Nairobi during the Alakrana case in 2009 ([Wikipedia, Somalia–Spain relations, citing Reuters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations); [TIME, 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Gonzalo de Benito**, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, told the EU's Horn of Africa envoy Alexander Rondos on 3 December 2012 that Spain would accredit its Nairobi ambassador to Somalia ([eldiario.es/EFE, 2012](https://www.eldiario.es/politica/espana-proceso-representante-autoridades-somalia_1_5516699.html)).
- **Carme Chacón**, Minister of Defence, received the Somali parliament speaker in Madrid on 25 March 2010 and pledged EU help for Somali security institutions ([Spanish Ministry of Defence, 25 March 2010](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html)).
- **[Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohamed Adan Nur (Aden Madobe)**, speaker of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/), led that 2010 visit and backed the EU training mission ([Spanish Ministry of Defence, 2010](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html)).
- **Colonel Ricardo González Elul**, Spanish head of the new EU Training Mission in Somalia, attended the 2010 meeting ([Spanish Ministry of Defence, 2010](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html)).
- **Francisco Caamaño**, Justice Minister, said in November 2009 that the two Somalis held over the Alakrana had to be tried ([TIME, 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)).
- **Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke**, Prime Minister of Somalia, negotiated with Spain's ambassador over the Alakrana in 2009 ([TIME, 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)).
- **Vice Admiral Antonio Martorell Lacave** became Atalanta's operation commander when the headquarters moved to Rota on 29 March 2019 ([Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1083](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2018/1083/oj)).
- **Abdirahman Duale Beyle**, Somalia's foreign minister, made the first visit by a Somali foreign minister to Spain in July 2014, meeting José Manuel García-Margallo ([Wikipedia, Somalia–Spain relations, citing AllAfrica, July 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations)).

## What agreements have they signed?

Spain's main framework with Somalia is EU law on Atalanta: Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP and, for the Rota move, Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1083 of 30 July 2018 ([EU Naval Force](https://eunavfor.eu/mission); [EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2018/1083/oj)). The current mandate is Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/3186 ([EU Naval Force](https://eunavfor.eu/mission)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **25 March 2010**: Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Mohamed Adan Nur in Madrid, at the Ministry of Defence ([Spanish Ministry of Defence](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html)).
- **July 2014**: Foreign Minister Abdirahman Duale Beyle in Madrid ([Wikipedia, citing AllAfrica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Spain's trade with Somalia:

- 2015: exports US$6.9 million; imports US$1.2 million ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2015&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2020: exports US$13.4 million; imports US$2.5 million ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2023: exports US$16.7 million; imports US$140,267 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2024: exports US$20.2 million; imports US$554,839 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

In 2024 the largest export groups were food preparations (US$10.2 million), vehicles (US$2.9 million), fats and oils (US$2.4 million) and textile articles ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Spanish bilateral aid to Somalia is small. In current US dollars it was US$16.1 million in the 2011 famine year, then mostly under US$2 million: US$1.3 million in 2020, US$1.6 million in 2023 and US$0.5 million in 2024 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)).

In June 2016 Spain gave about 5,000 items of kit, including boots and berets, to Somali soldiers training at the General Dhagabadan centre, formerly the Jazeera Training Camp ([Infodefensa, 11 June 2016](https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/3080277/espana-entrega-material-militar-ejercito-somalia)).

## What about security?

Spain has been a lead nation in the EU's Somalia missions and, with France, promoted the Atalanta anti-piracy operation launched in late 2008 ([Spanish Ministry of Defence, 2010](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html); [EU Naval Force](https://eunavfor.eu/mission)). Since 29 March 2019 Atalanta's headquarters has been at Rota, Spain, and by November 2026 the operation had handed 177 suspected pirates to courts ([Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1083](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2018/1083/oj); [EU Naval Force, Key facts](https://eunavfor.eu/key-facts-and-figures)). Spanish officers also trained Somali soldiers through the EU training mission and wrote the army's first counter-IED manual in 2021 ([Infodefensa, 13 June 2021](https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/2964153/video-somalia-recibe-primer-manual-c-ied-elaborado-militares-espanoles)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## Have there been disputes?

The Alakrana case was the main friction. On 2 October 2009 pirates seized the Basque tuna boat with 36 crew, and a Spanish frigate arrested two suspects the next day ([TIME, 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)).

Spain tried the two arrested Somalis rather than handing them back, while the pirates made their return a condition of releasing the crew ([TIME, 2009](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/)). Somalia's government discussed an extradition with Spain's ambassador, but the two men stayed in Spain ([Wikipedia, Somalia–Spain relations, citing Spanish press](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations)).

The crew were freed on 17 November 2009, and in 2011 a Spanish court sentenced the two Somalis to 439 years each ([Wikipedia, Somalia–Spain relations, citing Reuters and The Guardian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations)). Since 23 June 2026 the EU, including Spain, has restricted visas for Somali nationals over readmission ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, on the EU Council decision, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## How many Somalis live in Spain?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 2,543 Somali refugees and 1,100 Somali asylum seekers in Spain, up from 1,588 and 230 a year earlier ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=50&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SPA)). There is no Spain page in the diaspora section yet.

## Where does Spain stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

In 2012 Spain was the second-largest contributor to Atalanta and also took part in NATO's Ocean Shield and the EU training missions ([eldiario.es/EFE, 2012](https://www.eldiario.es/politica/espana-proceso-representante-autoridades-somalia_1_5516699.html)). During its 2010 EU Presidency it backed the Djibouti peace process facilitated by the UN ([Spanish Ministry of Defence, 2010](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html)).

## Related pages

- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Aden Madobe](/en/people/aden-madobe/)
- [Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/)
- [Abdirahman Duale Beyle](/en/people/abdirahman-duale-beyle/)

## Sources

1. eldiario.es / EFE. "España inicia el proceso para acreditar a su representante ante las autoridades de Somalia." 3 December 2012. [eldiario.es](https://www.eldiario.es/politica/espana-proceso-representante-autoridades-somalia_1_5516699.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Spanish Ministry of Defence. Visit of the President of the Somali Parliament. 25 March 2010. [defensa.gob.es](https://www.defensa.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa/2010/03/DGC_100325_Visita_Presidente_Parlamento_Somalia.html). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. TIME. "Pirate Capture Complicates Hostage Issue." 11 November 2009. [time.com](https://time.com/archive/6948558/pirate-capture-complicates-hostage-issue/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. EUR-Lex. Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1083 of 30 July 2018. [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2018/1083/oj). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. EU Naval Force Operation Atalanta. "Mission," "Chain of command" and "Key facts and figures." [eunavfor.eu](https://eunavfor.eu/mission). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Infodefensa. Spain hands military material to the Somali army. 11 June 2016. [infodefensa.com](https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/3080277/espana-entrega-material-militar-ejercito-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Infodefensa. Somalia receives first counter-IED manual written by Spanish military. 13 June 2021. [infodefensa.com](https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/2964153/video-somalia-recibe-primer-manual-c-ied-elaborado-militares-espanoles). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UN Comtrade. Spain–Somalia trade, 2015 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=724&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. EU Council visa restrictions for Somali nationals. 8 July 2026. [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Wikipedia. "Somalia–Spain relations" and "Foreign relations of Somalia" (used where the underlying Spanish press and Reuters pages could not be opened). [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia%E2%80%93Spain_relations). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Spain, 2024 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=50&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SPA). Checked 2026-11-12.


---

# Somalia and Belgium

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/belgium/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Belgium and Somalia established relations on 5 July 1960, four days after independence. Belgium covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, while Brussels matters to Somalia mainly as the seat of the EU, which co-hosted the 2013 New Deal conference there. Belgian troops served in the UN operations of 1992 to 1993, and Belgian exports to Somalia reached US$13.0 million in 2023.

## How do Somalia and Belgium relate today?

Belgium has no embassy in Somalia. Its embassy in Nairobi has jurisdiction over Kenya, Eritrea, Madagascar, Seychelles and Somalia, and the ambassador in 2026 is Tom Neijens ([Embassy of Belgium in Kenya](https://kenya.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-honorary-consulates/embassy-nairobi/whos-who-and-jurisdiction)).

For Somalia, Brussels matters mostly as the seat of the European Union. Somalia's ambassador to the EU, Dr Khadija Osoble Ali, presented credentials to European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels on 26 November 2024 ([Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 26 November 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-the-eu-presents-credentials/)).

Trade is small but uneven. Belgian exports to Somalia were US$13.0 million in 2023 and US$3.6 million in 2024 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)). Belgian bilateral aid has been close to zero since 2020 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)).

## When did contact begin?

Belgium and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 5 July 1960, according to Somalia's foreign ministry list ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia, citing the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). That makes Belgium one of the first states to set up relations with the new republic.

The closest contact came in 1992 and 1993. Belgium sent elite battalions to the UN operations in Somalia, UNOSOM I and II ([Providing for Peacekeeping, Belgium profile, 2014](http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-belgium)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Tom Neijens**, Belgian ambassador in Nairobi, with jurisdiction over Somalia, 2026 ([Embassy of Belgium in Kenya](https://kenya.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-honorary-consulates/embassy-nairobi/whos-who-and-jurisdiction)).
- **Kris Lapiere**, deputy head of mission at the same embassy ([Embassy of Belgium in Kenya](https://kenya.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-honorary-consulates/embassy-nairobi/whos-who-and-jurisdiction)).
- **Colonel Lut Ruys**, Belgian defence attaché for the region, based in Addis Ababa ([Embassy of Belgium in Kenya](https://kenya.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-honorary-consulates/embassy-nairobi/whos-who-and-jurisdiction)).
- **Dr Khadija Osoble Ali**, Somalia's ambassador to the EU in Brussels from November 2024 ([Somalia MFA, 26 November 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-the-eu-presents-credentials/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Belgian peacekeepers** in Kismayo pushed back an attack by Somali National Alliance forces on 7 May 1993, three days after UNOSOM II took over the town ([Wikipedia, UNOSOM II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_II)).
- **Dr Khadija Osoble Ali** represents Somalia in Brussels to the EU ([Somalia MFA, 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-the-eu-presents-credentials/)).
- **The 2013 New Deal conference** in Brussels, co-hosted by the EU and Somalia on 16 September 2013, endorsed the Somali Compact ([EEAS, Somalia New Deal Conference](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

The main framework agreed in Brussels was multilateral: the Somali Compact, endorsed at the EU–Somalia conference of 16 September 2013 ([EEAS](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **16 September 2013**: President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)'s government co-hosted the New Deal conference in Brussels with the EU ([EEAS](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/)).
- **26 November 2024**: Ambassador Khadija Osoble Ali presented credentials to the European Council in Brussels ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-the-eu-presents-credentials/)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Belgium's trade with Somalia:

- 2015: exports US$692,644; imports US$191 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2015&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2020: exports US$6.87 million ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2023: exports US$12.97 million; imports US$138,671 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2024: exports US$3.57 million; imports US$132,299 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

In 2024 the largest export groups were preserved vegetables and fruit, textile articles, electrical equipment and plastics ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Belgian bilateral aid to Somalia, in current US dollars, was US$5.7 million in 2010 and US$7.5 million in 2011 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)). It was US$4.7 million in 2017 and US$2.3 million in 2019, then fell to US$0.05 million in 2021 and nearly zero in 2022 and 2023 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)). Belgium also funds Somalia through its EU contributions.

## What about security?

Belgium contributed elite battalions to UNOSOM I and II ([Providing for Peacekeeping, 2014](http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-belgium)). Belgian troops held Kismayo in 1993 and one Belgian soldier died in UNOSOM II ([Wikipedia, UNOSOM II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_II)). Belgian officers later cited their experience in Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda when questioning UN command structures ([Providing for Peacekeeping, 2014](http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-belgium)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Belgium deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Belgium's Kismayo deployment in 1993 placed Belgian troops in today's [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) ([Wikipedia, UNOSOM II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_II)). Its current embassy jurisdiction names Somalia as one country ([Embassy of Belgium in Kenya](https://kenya.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-honorary-consulates/embassy-nairobi/whos-who-and-jurisdiction)).

## Have there been disputes?

Somali forces disputed the Belgian role in Kismayo in 1993. The Somali National Alliance saw the town's fall to General Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan, with Belgian peacekeepers present, as a breach of UN neutrality ([Wikipedia, UNOSOM II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_II)).

In April 1997 the Brussels daily *Het Laatste Nieuws* published photographs of Belgian paratroopers abusing Somali civilians in 1993. Two paratroopers were charged with assault and battery, and Defence Minister Jean-Pol Poncelet promised prosecution ([*The Irish Times*, 17 April 1997](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/belgian-atrocities-exposed-1.63206)). On 30 June 1997 a military court acquitted the two, calling the fire incident a "playful game" ([*Spokesman-Review*, AP, 1 July 1997](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jul/01/court-troops-playing-not-torturing-boy/)). Since 23 June 2026 the EU, including Belgium, has restricted visas for Somali nationals over readmission ([Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi, on the EU Council decision, 8 July 2026](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/)).

## How many Somalis live in Belgium?

Eurostat counted 12,040 people born in Somalia living in Belgium on 1 January 2025 ([Eurostat, migr_pop3ctb](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en)). At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 2,325 Somali refugees and 1,090 Somali asylum seekers there ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=50&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL)). See [Somalis in Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/).

## Where does Belgium stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Belgium took part in the UN operations of 1992 to 1993 ([Providing for Peacekeeping, 2014](http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-belgium)). As host of the EU institutions, Brussels saw the 2013 conference that endorsed the Somali Compact and hosts Somalia's mission to the EU ([EEAS](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/); [Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-the-eu-presents-credentials/)).

## Related pages

- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Belgian and Italian troops in Somalia, 1993](/en/history/belgian-italian-troops-somalia-1993/)
- [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Somalis in Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)
- [Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan](/en/people/mohamed-said-hersi-morgan/)
- [Somali National Alliance](/en/institutions/somali-national-alliance/)

## Sources

1. Embassy of Belgium in Kenya. "Who's who and jurisdiction." [diplomatie.belgium.be](https://kenya.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-honorary-consulates/embassy-nairobi/whos-who-and-jurisdiction). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Somalia's new ambassador to the EU presents credentials." 26 November 2024. [mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-the-eu-presents-credentials/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. European External Action Service. "Somalia New Deal Conference," 16 September 2013. [eeas.europa.eu](https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/new-deal-for-somalia-conference/). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Providing for Peacekeeping. "Contributor profile: Belgium." 2014. [providingforpeacekeeping.org](http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-belgium). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Wikipedia. "United Nations Operation in Somalia II" and "Foreign relations of Somalia" (used where underlying sources are offline). [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_II). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. UN Comtrade. Belgium–Somalia trade, 2015 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=56&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi. EU Council visa restrictions for Somali nationals. 8 July 2026. [swedenabroad.se](https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/kenya-nairobi/current/news/the-council-of-the-european-union-restricts-visa-provision-for-somali-nationals/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Belgium, 2024 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=50&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BEL). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Eurostat. Population by country of birth, migr_pop3ctb. [ec.europa.eu](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. *The Irish Times*. "Belgian atrocities exposed." 17 April 1997. [irishtimes.com](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/belgian-atrocities-exposed-1.63206). Checked 2026-11-13.
12. *Spokesman-Review* (AP). "Court: troops playing, not torturing boy." 1 July 1997. [spokesman.com](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jul/01/court-troops-playing-not-torturing-boy/). Checked 2026-11-13.


---

# eDahab: the Dahabshiil group's mobile money service

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/edahab/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> eDahab is the mobile money service of Somtel, the phone company of the Dahabshiil group. It started in Somaliland in the mid-2010s and works through Somtel SIM cards and Dahabshiil's money transfer network. In March 2018 it agreed to follow a Somaliland rule that payments under $100 be made in Somaliland shillings. In November 2018 Somtel brought eDahab and its 3G and 4G network to Mogadishu.

## The short version

**eDahab** is the mobile money service of [Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/), a phone company headquartered in Hargeisa and largely owned by the [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) group ([Wikipedia, Somtel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel)). It lets customers put money onto their phones, pay for goods, and send money to people at home and abroad through Somtel ([Capital FM, 14 March 2018](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2018/03/edahab-complies-somaliland-govt-regulations-money-transfer/)). [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Press reported the launch of eDahab in Somaliland in an article archived in April 2015 ([Somaliland Press, archived 2 April 2015](https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144805/http://www.somalilandpress.com/somalilandsomtel-launches-e-dahab-mobile-money-services/)).

## Place in the market

A 2019 Clingendael study found that the Hormuud-aligned companies (Hormuud, Telesom and Golis) held about **81 percent** of SIM cards across Somalia and Somaliland. [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), through Somtel, held about **16 percent** ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, 2019, box 7](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). In Somaliland, eDahab competes with Telesom's [Zaad](/en/businesses/zaad/).

## The 2018 shilling rule

In March 2018 the Somaliland government ruled that all mobile payments **under $100** be made in **Somaliland shillings** ([Capital FM, 14 March 2018](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2018/03/edahab-complies-somaliland-govt-regulations-money-transfer/)). It also barred mobile money firms from offering currency exchange. The aim was to steady the shilling's exchange rate, reduce the use of dollars in daily trade and slow price rises. The [Central Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/) confirmed the rule ([Capital FM, 14 March 2018](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2018/03/edahab-complies-somaliland-govt-regulations-money-transfer/)).

eDahab said it would comply. Customers could still deposit and hold dollar amounts above $100. Dahabshiil's chief executive, [Abdirashid Duale](/en/people/abdirashid-duale/), said eDahab would not offer exchange services and would keep supporting independent money changers (same source).

## Launch in Mogadishu, 2018

In early November 2018 Somtel launched its **3G and 4G** network in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia, together with **eDahab**. It also said it would offer shares in the company to the public ([Hiiraan Online, 5 November 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Nov/161007/excitement_as_mogadishu_gets_4g_mobile_network.aspx); [Somaliland Standard, 6 November 2018](https://somalilandstandard.com/somtel-expands-services-to-mogadishu)). At the launch, the group's founder and chairman, [Mohamed Said Duale](/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/), said eDahab and Dahabshil Bank would give customers more banking and financial services. Somalia's deputy prime minister and former president [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) attended (same sources).

## Links with banks

- eDahab works alongside [Dahabshil Bank International](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/), the group's Islamic bank ([Hiiraan Online, 5 November 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Nov/161007/excitement_as_mogadishu_gets_4g_mobile_network.aspx)).
- Somaliland's Wadaag Bank wallet connects to both Zaad and eDahab ([Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/)).

For the other services, see [EVC Plus](/en/businesses/evc-plus/), [Zaad](/en/businesses/zaad/) and [Sahal](/en/businesses/sahal/). For the wider picture, see [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).


---

# Somalia and Kuwait

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/kuwait/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Kuwait and Somalia have had relations since 1964. Kuwait's tie is mostly money: the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development was owed US$123.9 million at the end of 2025, and 19% of Somalia's foreign debt is in Kuwaiti dinars. Somalia backed the coalition that reversed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

## How do Somalia and Kuwait relate today?

[Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) is one of Somalia's main remaining creditors. At the end of 2025 Somalia owed the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) US$123.88 million, and 19% of all its foreign debt was in Kuwaiti dinars ([Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

Somalia paid the Kuwait Fund US$2.66 million in interest in 2025. The ministry pays only lenders that have already given debt relief ([Ministry of Finance, 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

Goods trade is small. Kuwait bought US$4.8 million of Somali goods in 2023 ([WITS, World Bank](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/KWT/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Diplomatic relations date from 29 July 1964, according to a CIA broadcast digest of that year cited by Wikipedia ([en.wikipedia.org, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

In the 1970s Kuwait lent to Somalia. By the end of that decade Somalia owed Kuwait US$27.1 million, part of the third of its debt owed to oil-exporting states ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)).

In the 1980s Somalia depended more and more on aid from Kuwait, [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This was a key reason the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government sided with the US-led coalition after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 ([Library of Congress, Relations with Arab Countries](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

No list of ambassadors in either direction was found for this page.

## Who built the tie?

No named individuals behind Kuwait–Somalia agreements were found in the sources checked. The main institution is the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development ([Ministry of Finance, 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **Loan agreements with the Kuwait Fund:** the stock of US$123.88 million at the end of 2025 is the remainder of these loans ([Ministry of Finance, 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).
- **April 2025, in Kuwait City:** Somalia signed a US$306.5 million debt relief deal with the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund ([Reuters, 10 April 2025, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia–United_Arab_Emirates_relations)). The ministry describes it as a 20-year rescheduling with zero interest, concluded on 9 April 2025 ([Ministry of Finance, 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

## Which leaders have visited?

No dated state visits were found for this page.

## How much do they trade?

From World Bank WITS data:

- **Kuwait's imports from Somalia:** US$13.3 million in 2010, US$0.4 million in 2015, US$5.7 million in 2021 and US$4.8 million in 2023 ([WITS, 2010](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/KWT/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, 2023](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/KWT/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **Kuwait's exports to Somalia:** under US$0.5 million a year from 2019 to 2023; US$0.27 million in 2023 ([WITS, 2023](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/KWT/year/2023/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Humanitarian funding reported to the UN Financial Tracking Service:

- **2011:** Kuwait government US$11.9 million, during the famine ([FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)).
- **2017:** Kuwait government US$2.5 million ([FTS, 2017](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2017&groupby=organization)).
- **2022:** Kuwait government US$2.1 million ([FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2022&groupby=organization)).
- **2023:** Kuwait government US$1.8 million; Kuwaiti Horizons Charity Society US$0.4 million; Kuwait Red Crescent US$0.2 million ([FTS, 2023](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2023&groupby=organization)).
- **2025:** Kuwait Fund US$2.5 million; Kuwait government US$1.25 million ([FTS, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

See [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/) for Somalia's wider debt deal.

## What about security?

No sourced Kuwaiti military role in Somalia was found. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Kuwait deal with Somaliland and the member states?

No sourced Kuwaiti agreements with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states were found.

## Have there been disputes?

None were found in the sources checked.

## How many Somalis live in Kuwait?

No reliable count was found for this page.

## Where does Kuwait stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Both are members of the Arab League, which Somalia joined in 1974 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). In the 1990–1991 Gulf crisis Somalia sided with the coalition that opposed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Related pages

- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)
- [Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)


---

# Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more (part 3 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 513 insect species from Somalia outside the butterflies, moths and beetles: true bugs, bees, wasps and ants, lice, flies, grasshoppers and locusts, dragonflies, termites and mantises.

Part 3 of 4 of [Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/)

## Full list (513 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Geocoris danalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9153896) | *Geocoris danalicus* | Geocoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Limnogonus cereiventris](https://www.gbif.org/species/9412743) | *Limnogonus cereiventris* | Gerridae | NE | 1 |
| [Elaea gestroi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1404704) | *Elaea gestroi* | Gonypetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Field Cricket](https://www.gbif.org/species/1716462) | *Gryllus campestris* | Gryllidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gryllus chappuisi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1716767) | *Gryllus chappuisi* | Gryllidae | NE | 3 |
| [Gryllus meruensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1716834) | *Gryllus meruensis* | Gryllidae | NE | 2 |
| [Oecanthus burmeisteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1720932) | *Oecanthus burmeisteri* | Gryllidae | NE | 2 |
| [horse sucking louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032496) | *Haematopinus asini* | Haematopinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Buffalo Louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032504) | *Haematopinus tuberculatus* | Haematopinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Ceylalictus muiri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1352675) | *Ceylalictus muiri* | Halictidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pleasing Metallic-Furrow bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1353302) | *Halictus jucundus* | Halictidae | NE | 2 |
| [Perloma atrifasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8346280) | *Perloma atrifasciata* | Kinnaridae | NE | 2 |
| [Laemobothrion chloropodis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8633713) | *Laemobothrion chloropodis* | Laemobothriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Laemobothrion tinnunculi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032928) | *Laemobothrion tinnunculi* | Laemobothriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Laemobothrion vulturis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4423019) | *Laemobothrion vulturis* | Laemobothriidae | NE | 1 |
| [silverfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/1421091) | *Lepisma saccharinum* | Lepismatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pallid Spreadwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5051663) | *Lestes pallidus* | Lestidae | LC | 1 |
| [Banded Groundling](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428570) | *Brachythemis leucosticta* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Scarlet Dragonfly](https://www.gbif.org/species/1427721) | *Crocothemis erythraea* | Libellulidae | LC | 3 |
| [Black Ground Skimmer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428418) | *Diplacodes lefebvrii* | Libellulidae | LC | 3 |
| [Barbet](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428431) | *Diplacodes luminans* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Black-tailed Skimmer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428910) | *Nesciothemis farinosa* | Libellulidae | LC | 3 |
| [Orthetrum brevistylum](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428609) | *Orthetrum brevistylum* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Epaulet Skimmer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428673) | *Orthetrum chrysostigma* | Libellulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Guinea Skimmer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428593) | *Orthetrum guineense* | Libellulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Green Marsh Hawk](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428645) | *Orthetrum sabina* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bold Skimmer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428615) | *Orthetrum stemmale* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Globe Skimmer](https://www.gbif.org/species/1427855) | *Pantala flavescens* | Libellulidae | LC | 6 |
| [Violet Dropwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428835) | *Trithemis annulata* | Libellulidae | LC | 2 |
| [Red-veined Dropwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428848) | *Trithemis arteriosa* | Libellulidae | LC | 14 |
| [Dark Dropwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428882) | *Trithemis furva* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Orange-winged dropwing, Scarlet rock glider, Kirby's dropwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428861) | *Trithemis kirbyi* | Libellulidae | LC | 4 |
| [Trithemis spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/12164883) | *Trithemis spec* | Libellulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jaunty Dropwing](https://www.gbif.org/species/1428829) | *Trithemis stictica* | Libellulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Desert Basker](https://www.gbif.org/species/5052224) | *Urothemis thomasi* | Libellulidae | EN | 1 |
| [Louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032902) | *Linognathus africanus* | Linognathidae | NE | 3 |
| [Elasmoscelis cimicoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2064949) | *Elasmoscelis cimicoides* | Lophopidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hormopleurus modesta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9817351) | *Hormopleurus modesta* | Lygaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [praying mantis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6258028) | *Mantis religiosa* | Mantidae | LC | 2 |
| [Sphodromantis baccettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1404880) | *Sphodromantis baccettii* | Mantidae | NE | 1 |
| [African mantis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1404864) | *Sphodromantis viridis* | Mantidae | LC | 1 |
| [Stick Mantis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1405581) | *Tenodera superstitiosa* | Mantidae | NE | 1 |
| [Egyptian Icerya](https://www.gbif.org/species/2080604) | *Icerya aegyptiaca* | Margarodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Anigrus lobulifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2061441) | *Anigrus lobulifer* | Meenoplidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nisia nervosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9745211) | *Nisia nervosa* | Meenoplidae | NE | 1 |
| [Coelioxys echinatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1338442) | *Coelioxys echinatus* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Coelioxys somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1338413) | *Coelioxys somalicus* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cleft Dauber Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/6138593) | *Gronoceras felinum* | Megachilidae | NE | 2 |
| [Haetosmia ethiopiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9587629) | *Haetosmia ethiopiensis* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile abessinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335946) | *Megachile abessinica* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile colorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1336244) | *Megachile colorata* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile crenulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335555) | *Megachile crenulata* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile gratiosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1336186) | *Megachile gratiosa* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile ianthoptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335129) | *Megachile ianthoptera* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile leucospila](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335884) | *Megachile leucospila* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile meneliki](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335825) | *Megachile meneliki* | Megachilidae | NE | 2 |
| [Megachile opaculina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335165) | *Megachile opaculina* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile silverlocki](https://www.gbif.org/species/1336021) | *Megachile silverlocki* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile sinuata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1335819) | *Megachile sinuata* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megachile venusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1336188) | *Megachile venusta* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachyanthidium semiluteum](https://www.gbif.org/species/1334306) | *Pachyanthidium semiluteum* | Megachilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendrocerus perlucidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1308935) | *Dendrocerus perlucidus* | Megaspilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hairy Legged Mining Bee](https://www.gbif.org/species/1345858) | *Dasypoda hirtipes* | Melittidae | NE | 1 |
| [Centruchus fuscipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2024564) | *Centruchus fuscipennis* | Membracidae | NE | 2 |
| [Leptocentrus peracatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2022018) | *Leptocentrus peracatus* | Membracidae | NE | 3 |
| [Oxyrhachis gibbula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5154400) | *Oxyrhachis gibbula* | Membracidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chapinia lophocerus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6936049) | *Chapinia lophocerus* | Menoponidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dennyus vonarxi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422651) | *Dennyus vonarxi* | Menoponidae | NE | 3 |
| [Louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032840) | *Menacanthus eurysternus* | Menoponidae | NE | 1 |
| [Myrsidea eurocephali](https://www.gbif.org/species/6935335) | *Myrsidea eurocephali* | Menoponidae | NE | 1 |
| [Myrsidea obovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6935577) | *Myrsidea obovata* | Menoponidae | NE | 2 |
| [Psittacomenopon impar](https://www.gbif.org/species/6934837) | *Psittacomenopon impar* | Menoponidae | NE | 2 |
| [Psallomimus lateralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8818030) | *Psallomimus lateralis* | Miridae | NE | 3 |
| [Volumnus ruficornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8242096) | *Volumnus ruficornis* | Miridae | NE | 1 |
| [House-fly](https://www.gbif.org/species/1524843) | *Musca domestica* | Muscidae | NE | 3 |
| [Afromydas guichardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1591516) | *Afromydas guichardi* | Mydidae | NE | 4 |
| [Myrmeleon immaculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2100571) | *Myrmeleon immaculatus* | Myrmeleontidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trichopsidea costata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1479612) | *Trichopsidea costata* | Nemestrinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ochterus caffer](https://www.gbif.org/species/9399257) | *Ochterus caffer* | Ochteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Cephalopina titillator](https://www.gbif.org/species/1587260) | *Cephalopina titillator* | Oestridae | NE | 1 |
| [Green Stink Bug](https://www.gbif.org/species/10671194) | *Chinavia hilaris* | Pentatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Marmorated brown stink bug, Yellow-brown stink bug](https://www.gbif.org/species/4485843) | *Halyomorpha halys* | Pentatomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aegypoecus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939907) | *Aegypoecus africanus* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Aegypoecus clayae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939908) | *Aegypoecus clayae* | Philopteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Anaticola phoenicopteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4421909) | *Anaticola phoenicopteri* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Aquanirmus bahli](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938727) | *Aquanirmus bahli* | Philopteridae | NE | 7 |
| [Ardeicola fissomaculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939440) | *Ardeicola fissomaculatus* | Philopteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Brueelia aguilarae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9264118) | *Brueelia aguilarae* | Philopteridae | NE | 4 |
| [Brueelia gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6937777) | *Brueelia gracilis* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Brueelia imponderabilica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6937452) | *Brueelia imponderabilica* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Brueelia tkachi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8451466) | *Brueelia tkachi* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Buceroemersonia brelihi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938631) | *Buceroemersonia brelihi* | Philopteridae | NE | 6 |
| [Colilipeurus colius](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939363) | *Colilipeurus colius* | Philopteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Coloceras savoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940258) | *Coloceras savoi* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Columbicola carrikeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6936915) | *Columbicola carrikeri* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Cuclotogaster meinertzhageni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939977) | *Cuclotogaster meinertzhageni* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Cuclotogaster sephaenae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940010) | *Cuclotogaster sephaenae* | Philopteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Degeeriella discocephalus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939892) | *Degeeriella discocephalus* | Philopteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Degeeriella nisus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939870) | *Degeeriella nisus* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinophilopterus buphthalmus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939915) | *Echinophilopterus buphthalmus* | Philopteridae | NE | 11 |
| [Falcolipeurus lineatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6936681) | *Falcolipeurus lineatus* | Philopteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Goniocotes clayae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938047) | *Goniocotes clayae* | Philopteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Goniocotes gregarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938059) | *Goniocotes gregarius* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Goniocotes maculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422393) | *Goniocotes maculatus* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Goniodes antennatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6937319) | *Goniodes antennatus* | Philopteridae | NE | 4 |
| [Louse](https://www.gbif.org/species/5815252) | *Goniodes gigas* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Goniodes isogenos](https://www.gbif.org/species/6937214) | *Goniodes isogenos* | Philopteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Ibidoecus plataleae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032153) | *Ibidoecus plataleae* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Meropoecus debeauxi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938400) | *Meropoecus debeauxi* | Philopteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Neopsittaconirmus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938567) | *Neopsittaconirmus africanus* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Neopsittaconirmus gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422378) | *Neopsittaconirmus gracilis* | Philopteridae | NE | 6 |
| [Quadraceps princeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/6939664) | *Quadraceps princeps* | Philopteridae | NE | 5 |
| [Quadraceps sellatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1031980) | *Quadraceps sellatus* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Saemundssonia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4804835) | *Saemundssonia africana* | Philopteridae | NE | 7 |
| [Splendoroffula theresae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6938010) | *Splendoroffula theresae* | Philopteridae | NE | 10 |
| [Strigiphilus cursitans](https://www.gbif.org/species/1032217) | *Strigiphilus cursitans* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Strigiphilus garylarsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940208) | *Strigiphilus garylarsoni* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Strigiphilus tuleskovi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4421703) | *Strigiphilus tuleskovi* | Philopteridae | NE | 4 |
| [Sturnidoecus clayae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940094) | *Sturnidoecus clayae* | Philopteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Sturnidoecus senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940115) | *Sturnidoecus senegalensis* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Sturnidoecus theresae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940133) | *Sturnidoecus theresae* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Teinomordeus entelosetus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9449952) | *Teinomordeus entelosetus* | Philopteridae | NE | 4 |
| [Upupicola upupae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422382) | *Upupicola upupae* | Philopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemipepsis vestitipennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7917410) | *Hemipepsis vestitipennis* | Pompilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grass-Root Antonina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8082584) | *Antonina graminis* | Pseudococcidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mealybug](https://www.gbif.org/species/5164047) | *Ferrisia malvastra* | Pseudococcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Striped Mealy Bug](https://www.gbif.org/species/2093900) | *Ferrisia virgata* | Pseudococcidae | NE | 6 |
| [Pink hibiscus mealybug, Grape mealybug, Hibiscus mealybug, Pink mealybug, Hirsutus mealybug](https://www.gbif.org/species/2094191) | *Maconellicoccus hirsutus* | Pseudococcidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pink sugarcane mealybug](https://www.gbif.org/species/2093000) | *Saccharicoccus sacchari* | Pseudococcidae | NE | 5 |
| [Phlebotomus bergeroti](https://www.gbif.org/species/5981261) | *Phlebotomus bergeroti* | Psychodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Phlebotomus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11946007) | *Phlebotomus somaliensis* | Psychodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Psychoda cinerea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1640035) | *Psychoda cinerea* | Psychodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sergentomyia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/1641169) | *Sergentomyia africana* | Psychodidae | NE | 10 |
| [Sergentomyia antennata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1641143) | *Sergentomyia antennata* | Psychodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sergentomyia choumarai](https://www.gbif.org/species/1640796) | *Sergentomyia choumarai* | Psychodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sergentomyia clydei](https://www.gbif.org/species/1641231) | *Sergentomyia clydei* | Psychodidae | NE | 4 |
| [Sergentomyia dreyfussi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1640867) | *Sergentomyia dreyfussi* | Psychodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sergentomyia magna](https://www.gbif.org/species/11739212) | *Sergentomyia magna* | Psychodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sergentomyia magnidentata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1640834) | *Sergentomyia magnidentata* | Psychodidae | NE | 38 |
| [Sergentomyia schwetzi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11236939) | *Sergentomyia schwetzi* | Psychodidae | NE | 87 |
| [Sergentomyia yusafi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1641125) | *Sergentomyia yusafi* | Psychodidae | NE | 5 |
| [Callocleonymus pulcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/1397073) | *Callocleonymus pulcher* | Pteromalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Synosternus somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/12228817) | *Synosternus somalicus* | Pulicidae | NE | 8 |
| [Chrotogonus homalodemus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1727563) | *Chrotogonus homalodemus* | Pyrgomorphidae | NE | 3 |
| [Phymateus aegrotus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1728315) | *Phymateus aegrotus* | Pyrgomorphidae | NE | 1 |
| [Poekilocerus bufonius](https://www.gbif.org/species/1727754) | *Poekilocerus bufonius* | Pyrgomorphidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tenuitarsus angustus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1728673) | *Tenuitarsus angustus* | Pyrgomorphidae | NE | 1 |
| [Masked hunter](https://www.gbif.org/species/2008516) | *Reduvius personatus* | Reduviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pochazoides asperata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2057534) | *Pochazoides asperata* | Ricaniidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ricania erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2057238) | *Ricania erlangeri* | Ricaniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ricania morula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2057181) | *Ricania morula* | Ricaniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ricinus meinertzhageni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940535) | *Ricinus meinertzhageni* | Ricinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Ricinus serratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6940543) | *Ricinus serratus* | Ricinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Wohlfahrtia indigens](https://www.gbif.org/species/1480595) | *Wohlfahrtia indigens* | Sarcophagidae | NE | 6 |
| [Wohlfahrtia nuba](https://www.gbif.org/species/1480611) | *Wohlfahrtia nuba* | Sarcophagidae | NE | 1 |
| [Wohlfahrtia smarti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1480602) | *Wohlfahrtia smarti* | Sarcophagidae | NE | 3 |
| [Psix abnormis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8597870) | *Psix abnormis* | Scelionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Campsomeriella caelebs](https://www.gbif.org/species/9333374) | *Campsomeriella caelebs* | Scoliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amyrsidea francolinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9104000) | *Amyrsidea francolinus* | Somaphantidae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/)


---

# Dahabshiil: the largest Somali money transfer company

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/dahabshiil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dahabshiil is the largest Somali money transfer company, started by Mohamed Said Duale in Burao and now run from Dubai with Abdirashid Duale as chief executive. It says it has about 50 years in the business and works in more than 100 countries, and it has been estimated to carry 40 to 60 percent of money sent to Somalia.

## How it began

Dahabshiil was started by **[Mohamed Said Duale](/en/people/mohamed-said-duale/)**, a trader in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia, Dahabshiil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)). The company says it has about **50 years** of experience in money transfer ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)). Its history is usually dated from 1970, though some company records give 2004 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)).

Its first [London](/en/diaspora/london/) office opened in Whitechapel in 1989, run by [Abdirashid Duale](/en/people/abdirashid-duale/), who later became chief executive (same source). The company is now headquartered in Dubai (same source).

## How big it is

- **Market share:** in 2014 the Rift Valley Institute estimated Dahabshiil carried **40 to 60 percent** of the Somali money transfer market, as the largest and longest-established company ([Rift Valley Institute, March 2014](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/RVI-Challenges-for-the-Somali-Money-Transfer-Sector-March-2014.pdf)).
- **Reach:** more than 100 countries, according to the company ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)), with more than 24,000 agent and branch locations and more than 2,000 staff according to other reports ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)).

## Beyond money transfer

- **Somtel:** Dahabshiil took a majority stake in the telecom company [Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/) in 2008 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)). Somtel runs eDahab mobile money and co-owns the DARE1 undersea cable ([National Communications Authority](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)).
- **Dahabshil Bank International:** an Islamic bank opened in Djibouti in 2009 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)). [Dahabshil International Bank](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/) is one of the largest banks licensed in Somalia ([US International Trade Administration](https://trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/somalia-banking-services-and-financial-services)).
- **Digital transfers:** since 2015 the company's online service has been run with TalkRemit ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)).

## Regulation

Dahabshiil says it is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority, and registered with Canada's FINTRAC ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)). In 2010 it was the first international payments firm authorised by the UK regulator under the Payment Services Regulations ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)).

## The Barclays case, 2013

In May 2013 Barclays said it would close the accounts of most UK money transfer companies, including Dahabshiil, then the last Somali company with an account at a major UK bank. In November 2013 the High Court granted Dahabshiil an interim injunction keeping its account open until a full trial ([Africa Research Institute](https://africaresearchinstitute.org/blog/10-things-to-know-about-somali-remittances/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)). Somali campaigners in the UK, supported by Oxfam, pressed to keep the channel open ([Oxfam](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/7954)). The dispute was later settled ([Wikipedia, citing the Wall Street Journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)).

## Giving

The company says it puts money into community projects in the Horn of Africa in health and education ([Dahabshiil](https://www.dahabshiil.com/dahabshiil-story)). Reports say it gives 5 percent of annual profits to community projects ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshiil)).

See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) and [How to send money to Somalia](/en/economy/how-to-send-money-to-somalia/).


---

# Somalia and Iran

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/iran/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in January 2016, expelling Iranian diplomats and closing the Imam Khomeini Foundation in Mogadishu. Formal relations had begun in 1972. Trade continued: Iran sold Somalia US$36.9 million of goods in 2022, and UN monitors found in 2018 that Somali charcoal under a UN ban was being shipped through Iranian free zones.

## How do Somalia and Iran relate today?

Somalia has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since January 2016. It expelled Iranian diplomats and closed the Imam Khomeini Foundation in Mogadishu, saying the foundation had acted beyond its mandate ([Goobjoog, 7 January 2016, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). Wikipedia lists the relationship as suspended ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

Trade carries on. Iran exported goods worth US$36.9 million to Somalia in 2022 ([WITS, World Bank](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2022/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Persian and Arab traders were trading from enclaves along the Red Sea and Indian Ocean coasts between the 8th and 10th centuries ([Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/4.htm)). Mogadishu dates back at least to the 9th century, when Persian and Arabian immigrants mixed with Somalis. Some explain the city's name as a Somali form of the Arabic "maqad shah", "seat of the shah", hinting at a Persian role in its founding ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/6.htm)).

Modern relations were set up in 1972, and an Iranian embassy opened in Mogadishu in February 1973 under a chargé d'affaires ([Steele, Pahlavi Iran's Relations with Africa, Cambridge University Press, 2024, p. 284](https://books.google.com/books?id=oboJEQAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA284&hl=en)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **1973:** the first Iranian embassy in Mogadishu was headed by a chargé d'affaires ([Steele, 2024, p. 284](https://books.google.com/books?id=oboJEQAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA284&hl=en)).

No fuller list was found. There have been no embassies since January 2016.

## Who built the tie?

- **Mohammad Reza Pahlavi**, Shah of Iran, and **[Siad Barre](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)**, Somali president: their governments set up relations in 1972 ([Steele, 2024](https://books.google.com/books?id=oboJEQAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA284&hl=en)).

No named connectors after 1979 were found in the sources checked.

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral agreements were found in the sources checked.

## Which leaders have visited?

No dated visits were found in the sources checked.

## How much do they trade?

Iran's exports to Somalia, from World Bank WITS data:

- **2010:** US$1.9 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2010/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2015:** US$21.8 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2018:** US$20.9 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2018/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2020:** US$25.0 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2020/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).
- **2022:** US$36.9 million ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2022/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

Iran's recorded imports from Somalia were US$0.8 million in 2015 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRN/year/2015/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

The UN Financial Tracking Service lists the Iranian government as a source for Somalia in 2011 but with no amount recorded ([FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)). Iran is not among Somalia's creditors in the 2025 debt report ([Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025](https://archive.mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20%28ADMR%29%20Report%20No.2_mq%20%281%29.pdf)).

## What about security?

The UN Monitoring Group found that from March 2018 the main first destinations for Somali charcoal, banned for export by the UN, were the Kish and Qeshm free zones in Iran. The charcoal was rebagged as "Product of Iran", loaded onto Iranian-flagged dhows and shipped to Hamriyah port in Dubai ([UN Security Council, S/2018/1002, 9 November 2018](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2018/1002&l=en&t=pdf)). The Group called Iran "a weak link in implementation" of the ban; Iran replied to its letters only on 17 September 2018, in one page ([S/2018/1002](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2018/1002&l=en&t=pdf)).

On 29 October 2026 Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian fishing boat with 20 crew, who were later rescued by the Indian navy ([AP, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Somalia)). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Iran deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The UN Monitoring Group traced the charcoal trade to networks based in Dubai and Kismayo, and said the [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) administration did not implement the charcoal export ban ([S/2018/1002](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2018/1002&l=en&t=pdf)). No Iranian agreements with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states were found.

## Have there been disputes?

- **January 2016 break:** Somalia cut ties and closed the Imam Khomeini Foundation. On the same day it received a Saudi aid pledge of US$50 million; the Somali government denied any link ([Reuters, 17 January 2016, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).
- **Charcoal, 2018:** see the security section above.

## How many Somalis live in Iran?

No reliable count was found for this page.

## Where does Iran stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Iran did not cooperate with the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia during its 2017–2018 mandate, the Group reported to the Security Council ([S/2018/1002](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2018/1002&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [UN Monitoring Group on Somalia](/en/institutions/un-monitoring-group-somalia/)
- [Early Mogadishu and the Benadir coast before 1300](/en/history/early-mogadishu-and-the-benadir-coast-before-1300/)
- [Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)


---

# Somalia and Ireland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/ireland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Ireland covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, and its ambassador presented credentials to President Farmaajo on 1 August 2017. Irish troops ran a transport company in Baidoa in 1993 and 1994, and Irish bilateral aid to Somalia was US$10.7 million in 2024. Concern Worldwide and Trócaire, both Irish, have worked in Somalia since the 1980s and 1992.

## How do Somalia and Ireland relate today?

Ireland has no embassy in Somalia and covers it from its embassy in Kenya. Its ambassador in Nairobi presented credentials to President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo on 1 August 2017 ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia, citing the Embassy of Ireland in Kenya, 1 August 2017](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

Aid is the core of the tie. Irish bilateral aid to Somalia was US$17.4 million in 2022 and US$10.7 million in 2024 ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)). Much of it goes through two Irish charities, Concern Worldwide and Trócaire ([Concern Worldwide, Somalia](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia); [Trócaire, Somalia](https://www.trocaire.org/countries/somalia/)).

The Somali community in Ireland is growing. UNHCR counted 3,281 Somali refugees and 2,264 Somali asylum seekers in Ireland at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=50&yearFrom=2015&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE)).

## When did contact begin?

The first large Irish presence came through aid agencies. Trócaire began working in Somalia in 1992, during the famine, and has worked in [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) ever since ([Trócaire, Somalia](https://www.trocaire.org/countries/somalia/)). Concern Worldwide marks its 40th year in Somalia in 2026 ([Concern Worldwide, Somalia](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

President Mary Robinson travelled to Somalia in 1992, during the famine, and then reported her findings at the UN ([Wikipedia, Mary Robinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Robinson)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Ambassador O'Neill**, Irish ambassador in Nairobi, presented credentials to President Farmaajo in Somalia on 1 August 2017 ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia, citing the Embassy of Ireland in Kenya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Mary Robinson**, President of Ireland, visited Somalia in 1992 and reported to the UN ([Wikipedia, Mary Robinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Robinson)).
- **Lieutenant Colonel Dorcha Lee**, Irish officer, stayed on as UNOSOM's senior coordination staff officer until the mission ended in February 1995 ([Defence Forces Ireland, past missions](https://www.military.ie/en/overseas-deployments/past-missions/)).
- **Trócaire**, the Irish Catholic agency, has run health and resilience work in Gedo since 1992 ([Trócaire, Somalia](https://www.trocaire.org/countries/somalia/)).
- **Concern Worldwide**, the Irish agency, works across seven Somali regions with Irish Aid among its funders ([Concern Worldwide, Somalia](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **1992**: President Mary Robinson visited Somalia during the famine ([Wikipedia, Mary Robinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Robinson)).
- **1 August 2017**: the Irish ambassador in Nairobi presented credentials to President Farmaajo in Somalia ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Ireland's trade with Somalia:

- 2015: exports US$3.08 million; imports US$24,762 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2015&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2020: exports US$8.72 million; imports US$2,111 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2023: exports US$274,683; imports US$167,881 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))
- 2024: exports US$867,255; imports US$18,129 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M))

Machinery made up US$6.45 million of the 2020 exports ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2020](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2020&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)). In 2023 the largest groups were pharmaceuticals and machinery ([UN Comtrade, HS chapters, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2023&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Irish bilateral aid to Somalia, in current US dollars, has been steady ([OECD DAC2A](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels)):

- 2010: US$6.6 million
- 2011: US$11.2 million
- 2015: US$7.2 million
- 2020: US$7.7 million
- 2022: US$17.4 million
- 2023: US$10.3 million
- 2024: US$10.7 million

Irish Aid funds Trócaire's farmer training and a resilience programme focused on women in Gedo ([Trócaire, Somalia](https://www.trocaire.org/countries/somalia/)). It also funds Concern's emergency preparedness and response programme in Somalia ([Concern Worldwide, Somalia](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)). In 2025 Concern reached over 372,000 people directly in Somalia ([Concern Worldwide, Somalia](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia)).

## What about security?

The Irish Defence Forces sent 1 Transport Company to UNOSOM II in September 1993, with more than 40 vehicles at Camp Shannon in Baidoa. The Irish contingent withdrew in September 1994 ([Defence Forces Ireland, past missions](https://www.military.ie/en/overseas-deployments/past-missions/)). Ten Irish personnel served with EUTM Somalia in Uganda from April 2010 to April 2014 ([Defence Forces Ireland, past missions](https://www.military.ie/en/overseas-deployments/past-missions/)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Ireland deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Irish work has centred on the south. Irish troops were based in Baidoa, now in South West State, in 1993 and 1994 ([Defence Forces Ireland, past missions](https://www.military.ie/en/overseas-deployments/past-missions/)). Trócaire's health facilities are in Gedo, in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), including Dollow and Luuq hospitals ([Trócaire, Somalia](https://www.trocaire.org/countries/somalia/)).

## How many Somalis live in Ireland?

The 2022 census counted 2,419 people born in Somalia living in Ireland, 842 of them Irish citizens ([CSO Ireland, Census 2022, F5014](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5014/CSV/1.0/en)). See [Somalis in Ireland](/en/diaspora/ireland/).

## Where does Ireland stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Ireland served in the UN operation of 1993 to 1995 and in the EU training mission from 2010 to 2014 ([Defence Forces Ireland, past missions](https://www.military.ie/en/overseas-deployments/past-missions/)). Its president took the 1992 famine to the UN ([Wikipedia, Mary Robinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Robinson)).

## Related pages

- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Somalis in Ireland](/en/diaspora/ireland/)
- [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/)
- [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)

## Sources

1. Defence Forces Ireland. "Past missions" (UNOSOM II; EUTM Somalia). [military.ie](https://www.military.ie/en/overseas-deployments/past-missions/). Checked 2026-11-13.
2. Trócaire. "Somalia." [trocaire.org](https://www.trocaire.org/countries/somalia/). Checked 2026-11-13.
3. Concern Worldwide. "Somalia." [concern.net](https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/somalia). Checked 2026-11-13.
4. OECD. DAC2A, ODA disbursements to Somalia by donor. [sdmx.oecd.org](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/NOR+SWE+DNK+FIN+BEL+ESP+IRL.SOM.206..V?startPeriod=2010&dimensionAtObservation=AllDimensions&format=csvfilewithlabels). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. UN Comtrade. Ireland–Somalia trade, 2015 to 2024. [comtradeapi.un.org](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=372&partnerCode=706&period=2024&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M). Checked 2026-11-13.
6. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Ireland, 2015 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=50&yearFrom=2015&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IRE). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Central Statistics Office Ireland. Census 2022, table F5014. [cso.ie](https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/F5014/CSV/1.0/en). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Wikipedia. "Foreign relations of Somalia" (citing the Embassy of Ireland in Kenya, 1 August 2017) and "Mary Robinson" (used where the underlying sources could not be opened). [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia). Checked 2026-11-13.


---

# Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more (part 4 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 513 insect species from Somalia outside the butterflies, moths and beetles: true bugs, bees, wasps and ants, lice, flies, grasshoppers and locusts, dragonflies, termites and mantises.

Part 4 of 4 of [Other insects of Somalia: 513 species of bugs, bees, ants, flies, grasshoppers and more](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/) · **4**

## Full list (513 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Rachispoda spuleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/10015212) | *Rachispoda spuleri* | Sphaeroceridae | NE | 3 |
| [Prionyx crudelis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1346594) | *Prionyx crudelis* | Sphecidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sphex feijeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/11956581) | *Sphex feijeni* | Sphecidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sphex pruinosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1347666) | *Sphex pruinosus* | Sphecidae | NE | 1 |
| [Black Soldier Fly](https://www.gbif.org/species/1577153) | *Hermetia illucens* | Stratiomyidae | NE | 3 |
| [Adersia guichardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1501261) | *Adersia guichardi* | Tabanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Haematopota albihirta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1495525) | *Haematopota albihirta* | Tabanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Haematopota coronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1495592) | *Haematopota coronata* | Tabanidae | NE | 3 |
| [Haematopota distincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1495398) | *Haematopota distincta* | Tabanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Haematopota maculosifacies](https://www.gbif.org/species/1495521) | *Haematopota maculosifacies* | Tabanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Philoliche beckeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1496696) | *Philoliche beckeri* | Tabanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Philoliche elongata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1496593) | *Philoliche elongata* | Tabanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tabanus leucostomus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1499418) | *Tabanus leucostomus* | Tabanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tabanus mordax](https://www.gbif.org/species/1499577) | *Tabanus mordax* | Tabanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tabanus morsitans](https://www.gbif.org/species/1499716) | *Tabanus morsitans* | Tabanidae | NE | 3 |
| [lesser pumpkin fly](https://www.gbif.org/species/1625561) | *Dacus ciliatus* | Tephritidae | NE | 5 |
| [Dacus ficicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/1625867) | *Dacus ficicola* | Tephritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dacus longistylus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1625629) | *Dacus longistylus* | Tephritidae | NE | 5 |
| [Dacus vertebratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1625829) | *Dacus vertebratus* | Tephritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macrotermes falciger](https://www.gbif.org/species/9689975) | *Macrotermes falciger* | Termitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nototettigometra paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10163436) | *Nototettigometra paolii* | Tettigometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Groundnut Hopper](https://www.gbif.org/species/9880727) | *Nototettigometra patruelis* | Tettigometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Anepisceptus revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/1691115) | *Anepisceptus revoili* | Tettigoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bradyopisthius paradoxurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1684865) | *Bradyopisthius paradoxurus* | Tettigoniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eugasteroides loricatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1688920) | *Eugasteroides loricatus* | Tettigoniidae | NE | 4 |
| [Hexacentrus japonicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1688451) | *Hexacentrus japonicus* | Tettigoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mediterranean Katydid](https://www.gbif.org/species/1686202) | *Phaneroptera nana* | Tettigoniidae | LC | 2 |
| [Weidnerius benderi](https://www.gbif.org/species/1689033) | *Weidnerius benderi* | Tettigoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Weidnerius longespinosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1689031) | *Weidnerius longespinosus* | Tettigoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lophothericles somali](https://www.gbif.org/species/1695863) | *Lophothericles somali* | Thericleidae | NE | 3 |
| [Urrutia somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/1695706) | *Urrutia somalica* | Thericleidae | NE | 1 |
| [Caliothrips impurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10104311) | *Caliothrips impurus* | Thripidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hydatothrips adolfifriderici](https://www.gbif.org/species/5865928) | *Hydatothrips adolfifriderici* | Thripidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megalurothrips sjostedti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1420595) | *Megalurothrips sjostedti* | Thripidae | NE | 2 |
| [Common thrip](https://www.gbif.org/species/1420877) | *Retithrips syriacus* | Thripidae | NE | 1 |
| [Onion thrips, Potato thrips, Tobacco thrips, Cotton seedling thrips](https://www.gbif.org/species/1420961) | *Thrips tabaci* | Thripidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megastigmus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1370841) | *Megastigmus somaliensis* | Torymidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oxyothespis longicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1406148) | *Oxyothespis longicollis* | Toxoderidae | NE | 1 |
| [Felicola inaequalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4422443) | *Felicola inaequalis* | Trichodectidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gabusibius litoreus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11376519) | *Gabusibius litoreus* | Trigonidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heinsenia cribrifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/5157459) | *Heinsenia cribrifrons* | Tropiduchidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trienopa longifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/2050678) | *Trienopa longifrons* | Tropiduchidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eumenes maxillosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5036971) | *Eumenes maxillosus* | Vespidae | NE | 1 |
| [Odynerus cyanopterus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1329611) | *Odynerus cyanopterus* | Vespidae | NE | 2 |
| [Odynerus marginellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1329803) | *Odynerus marginellus* | Vespidae | NE | 2 |
| [Odynerus ventralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1329620) | *Odynerus ventralis* | Vespidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia-3/) · **4**


---

# Al-Barakat (Al-Barakaat): the Somali money and phone company shut in 2001

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/al-barakat/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Al-Barakat was a Somali money transfer and telecoms group set up in 1987 and run from Dubai by Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale. By 2001 it had outlets in 40 countries, handled about $140 million a year for Somalis abroad and was Somalia's largest private employer. The United States listed it as a terrorist financier in November 2001 and closed it; investigators later found no evidence for the claim, and the UN and US removed the group and its owner from their lists between 2009 and 2020.

## The short version

Al-Barakat ("blessings" in Arabic) began in **1987** as a Somali money transfer business, a modern form of hawala. After the state collapsed in 1991 it became one of the main ways Somalis abroad sent money home, and it added phone and internet services. By 2001 it had outlets in **40 countries**, handled about **$140 million a year**, and was Somalia's **largest private employer** ([BBC, 28 August 2006](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5292750.stm)). The group was run from Dubai. Its owner and chief executive was **Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale** ([UN Security Council press release SC/10549, 17 February 2012](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sc10549.doc.htm)).

On 7 November 2001 the United States named Al-Barakat a financier of terrorism, froze its assets and closed its US offices. The UN Security Council's al-Qaida sanctions committee added the group and its owner to its list. Many Somali families lost the money they were waiting for, because funds in the system were frozen ([Wall Street Journal, 4 December 2001](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1007426664516663320)).

## What the investigators found

The US 9/11 Commission's staff report on terrorist financing examined the Al-Barakat case in detail. It said that an FBI-led team that went through the company's records in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) found no "smoking gun" evidence, either in documents or from witnesses, that Al-Barakat funded al-Qaida or the Somali group al-Itihaad al-Islaami. The two main early claims, that Osama bin Laden had invested in the company and that it moved part of its money to armed groups, could not be shown, and some early intelligence claims proved wrong ([9/11 Commission, Monograph on Terrorist Financing, chapter 5](http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/911_TerrFin_Ch5.pdf)). By early 2003 only four criminal cases had been filed against people linked to the network in the United States, and none charged them with aiding terrorists (same source).

## The delistings

- **2006:** the US removed several Al-Barakat-linked people and entities from its blacklist ([BBC, 28 August 2006](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5292750.stm)).
- **October 2009:** the UN removed the group's Swedish branch ([Stockholm News, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110716145703/http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=4209)).
- **17 February 2012:** the UN al-Qaida sanctions committee removed Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale and all 17 remaining listed Al-Barakat entities, among them Barakat Bank of Somalia, Al-Barakat Exchange and Barakat Telecommunications Company ([UN press release SC/10549](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sc10549.doc.htm)).
- **30 June 2016:** the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale from its list ([OFAC, recent actions, 30 June 2016](https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20160630.aspx)).
- **12 February 2020:** OFAC removed the remaining Barakaat companies and the last listed executive, Abdullahi Hussein Kahie ([OFAC, recent actions, 12 February 2020](https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20200212.aspx)).

## What came after

A 2019 study by the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands says Hormuud Telecom was "established in 2002, largely on the legacy of the MTO Al Barakat", and that both companies are owned by Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale, citing the newsletter Africa Intelligence ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019, box 6](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). Hormuud describes itself as founded by Somali shareholders; see [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/). A ceremony to relaunch Al-Barakat was held in 2014, and the group says it restarted work in Somalia in 2024 in retail, health care and property ([Wikipedia, Al-Barakat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Barakat)).

## Sources disagree

- **Founding year.** Most sources give 1987; Wikipedia's category places it in 1986, and one book dates the founding by Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale and the engineer Ahmed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ali Samatar to the early 1990s ([Wikipedia, Al-Barakat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Barakat)).
- **Who owns Hormuud.** Clingendael (2019) names Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale as owner; Hormuud's own accounts describe thousands of Somali shareholders ([Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/featured/business-n/hormuud-telecom-bridging-the-telecommunication-gap-in-the-state-of-somalia-despite-hard-times)).

For how hawala works and the other money firms, see [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/).


---

# WorldRemit and Zepz: the money app founded by Ismail Ahmed

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/worldremit/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> WorldRemit is a London-based online money transfer company founded in 2010 by Ismail Ahmed, who was born in Hargeisa and came to Britain as a refugee, with Catherine Wines and Richard Igoe. Somaliland was its first market. It bought Sendwave in 2021 for about $500 million and now sits inside the group Zepz, sending money to more than 130 countries.

## The founder

**Ismail Ahmed** was born and raised in **Hargeisa** ([Financial Times, Start-up stories: WorldRemit breaks down borders](https://www.ft.com/content/6907e478-ba13-11e5-b151-8e15c9a029fb)). Before the civil war he won a World Bank scholarship to study economics in the UK; after war broke out he left [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and reached the UK as a refugee ([London Business School, Changemakers: Ismail Ahmed](https://www.london.edu/think/changemakers-ismail-ahmed); [Wired UK](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/worldremit-ismail-ahmed-profile)). He holds a PhD in economics from the University of [London](/en/diaspora/london/) and an MBA from London Business School ([Inclusive Boards, archived 2022](https://web.archive.org/web/20220525163949/https://www.inclusiveboards.co.uk/ib100/ismail-ahmed)).

As a student he sent money home to his family and found it slow and costly ([CNN Money, 15 August 2018](https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/15/technology/worldremit-refugee-ceo-ismail-ahmed/index.html)). He later worked on a World Bank project in Hargeisa and then for the UN Development Programme on a money transfer project. He reported fraud in its Somalia programme, lost his job, and was later found to have been unfairly treated and awarded compensation ([The Guardian, 20 January 2017](https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/jan/20/worldremit-founder-lost-job-fraud-money-transfers)).

## The company

Ahmed founded **WorldRemit in 2010** with **Catherine Wines** and **Richard Igoe** ([BBC, The man changing the world of remittances](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30192220)). The service moved money transfers onto phones, paying out to bank accounts, mobile wallets, airtime and cash pick-up ([WorldRemit, About us](https://www.worldremit.com/en/about-us)). Somaliland was its first market, and it connects to Telesom's ZAAD wallet as well as M-Pesa in Kenya and bKash in Bangladesh ([Africanews, 15 April 2021](https://www.africanews.com/2021/04/15/somaliland-s-worldremit-tycoon-gives-back-business-africa); [Wikipedia, WorldRemit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldRemit)).

## Funding and growth

- **2014:** first outside investment, $40 million from Accel ([TechCrunch, 11 March 2014](https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/11/money-transfer-startup-worldremit-collects-its-first-investment-40m-from-accel/)).
- **February 2015:** $100 million round led by TCV ([Forbes, 19 February 2015](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2015/02/19/somali-entrepreneur-raises-100-million-for-money-transfer-startup-worldremit/)).
- **December 2017:** $40 million led by LeapFrog Investments, at a $670 million valuation ([TechCrunch, 6 December 2017](https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/06/worldremit-nabs-40m-at-a-670m-valuation-to-boost-its-money-transfer-business/)).
- **2019:** $175 million round ([WorldRemit, Series D](https://www.worldremit.com/en/news/worldremit-raises-175m-in-series-d-funding)).
- **2020 to 2021:** agreed to buy the US app Sendwave for about $500 million ([Bloomberg, 25 August 2020, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20251007190348/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-25/worldremit-agrees-to-buy-sendwave-in-500-million-payments-deal)); the group renamed itself **Zepz** and raised $292 million ([FinTech Futures](https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/worldremit-group-rebrands-as-zepz-raises-292m-series-e-funding)).

## Regulators' findings

- In **October 2023** the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered the operator of Sendwave to pay $1.5 million in refunds and a $1.5 million penalty over misleading claims about transfer speed and cost ([CFPB, 17 October 2023](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-operator-of-sendwave-app-for-illegally-cheating-people-on-international-money-transfers/)).
- In **November 2025** Australia's financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, found WorldRemit's monitoring of suspicious payments the weakest of 15 platforms checked and ordered an external audit ([ABC News, 19 November 2025](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-19/child-sexual-exploitation-crackdown-online-payments-austrac/106018652)).

See also [How to send money to Somalia](/en/economy/how-to-send-money-to-somalia/) and [Somali business pioneers](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/).


---

# Somalia and the African Union

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/african-union/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia has been a member of the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union since 25 May 1963. The African Union has kept a mission in Somalia since 2007, now AUSSOM, renewed by the AU to the end of 2026 and short of money. On 6 January 2026 the AU Peace and Security Council condemned Israel's recognition of Somaliland and called for its revocation.

## How do Somalia and the African Union relate today?

Somalia is a member of the African Union (AU), listed in the Eastern Africa region ([African Union, member state profiles](https://au.int/en/member_states/countryprofiles2)). The AU's third mission in the country, the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), began on 1 January 2025 ([AUSSOM, background](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-background/)).

On 15 December 2025 the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) renewed AUSSOM's deployment and mandate for 12 months from 1 January 2026. It asked the UN Security Council to endorse the decision ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317, 15 December 2025](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)). The UN did so on 23 December 2025, to 31 December 2026 ([AUSSOM, UN Security Council resolutions](https://au-ssom.org/un-security-council-resolutions/)).

Funding is the main open question. The PSC voiced "deep concern over the persistent financial gaps" and noted that the AU Commission had allocated US$20 million from interest on the AU Peace Fund to AUSSOM's 2025 budget ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)).

## When did Somalia join?

Somalia joined the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the AU's predecessor, on 25 May 1963 ([African Union, member state profiles](https://au.int/en/member_states/countryprofiles2)).

In July 1964 the OAU's first Cairo summit adopted resolution AHG/Res. 16(I), by which members pledged to respect the borders inherited at independence. The AU still cites this rule on Somalia today ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324, 6 January 2026](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).

## Who represents Somalia at the AU, and who leads the AU's work on Somalia?

- **Abdullahi Warfa:** Somalia's Permanent Representative to the AU; he spoke for Somalia at the PSC on 15 December 2025 ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali:** Somalia's foreign minister; he addressed the ministerial PSC meeting on 6 January 2026 ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).
- **Mahmoud Ali Youssouf:** Chairperson of the AU Commission. On 26 December 2025 he rejected any move to recognise [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) as an independent entity ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).
- **Bankole Adeoye:** AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; he introduced the December 2025 Somalia debate ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)).
- **El Hadji Ibrahima Diene:** Special Representative of the AU Commission Chairperson for Somalia (SRCC) and head of AUSSOM ([AUSSOM, leadership](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-leadership/)).
- **Mouktar Osman Karie:** deputy SRCC and deputy head of AUSSOM ([AUSSOM, leadership](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-leadership/)).
- **Lieutenant General Sam Kavuma:** AUSSOM force commander ([AUSSOM, leadership](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-leadership/)).
- **[Hillary Sao Kanu](/en/relations/sierra-leone/):** AUSSOM police commissioner ([AUSSOM, leadership](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-leadership/)).
- **General Cheick Dembele:** head of the AU's Peace Support Operations Division; he led the joint AU-UN team that visited Somalia from 24 September 2024 to plan AUSSOM ([AUSSOM, background](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-background/)).

For the commanders and envoys of the earlier missions, see [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/) and [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/).

## Which missions has the AU run in Somalia?

- **AMISOM, 2007 to 2022:** first authorised by the PSC in 2007 and later mandated by the UN Security Council ([AUSSOM, background](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-background/)). See [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/).
- **ATMIS, 2022 to 2024:** the transition mission from 1 April 2022, whose mandate ended on 31 December 2024 ([AUSSOM, background](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-background/)). See [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/).
- **AUSSOM, from 2025:** endorsed by the PSC on 1 August 2024 and by the UN Security Council in resolution 2767 on 27 December 2024 ([AUSSOM, background](https://au-ssom.org/aussom-background/)). Its goal is to hand security to Somali forces by 2029 (same source). See [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/).

On 25 February 2025 Somalia and the AU agreed AUSSOM troop numbers: Uganda 4,500, Ethiopia 2,500, Djibouti 1,520, Kenya 1,410 and Egypt 1,091 ([VOA, 25 February 2025](https://www.voanews.com/a/au-somalia-agree-on-troop-numbers-for-new-mission/7987913.html)). In December 2025 the PSC welcomed Egypt's readiness to finish deploying, and thanked Burundi and Ghana for keeping personnel in Somalia past 31 December 2025 ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)).

For all foreign troops, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/). For the AU and other bodies inside Somalia, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## What has the Peace and Security Council decided on Somalia?

AUSSOM lists these recent PSC decisions ([AUSSOM, PSC communiqués](https://au-ssom.org/aupsc-communiques/)):

- **1 August 2024, 1225th meeting:** adopted the concept of operations for the AU-led mission after ATMIS.
- **19 December 2024, 1253rd meeting (ministerial):** post-ATMIS security arrangements.
- **29 April 2025, 1276th meeting:** update on AUSSOM operations.
- **3 July 2025, 1287th meeting (ministerial):** update on Somalia and AUSSOM.
- **15 December 2025, 1317th meeting:** renewed AUSSOM for 2026 and asked the AU Commission to keep pressing the UN Security Council to apply resolution 2719 to AUSSOM ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)).
- **6 January 2026, 1324th meeting (ministerial):** on Somalia's sovereignty after Israel's recognition of Somaliland ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).

## Who pays for the AU mission?

Resolution 2719 of the UN Security Council, adopted in December 2023, allows up to 75% of an AU-led mission's costs to come from UN assessed contributions ([ISS Africa](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/two-years-on-unscr-2719-on-peace-operations-remains-at-a-crossroads)). In May 2025 the Council could not agree to apply it to AUSSOM ([Security Council Report, May 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/05/somalia-closed-consultations-on-the-au-support-and-stabilization-mission-in-somalia-aussom.php)).

In December 2025 the PSC asked partners to support multiyear financing for AUSSOM and to contribute directly ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)). For the UN side, see [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/).

## How does the AU deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Israel's recognition of Somaliland:** at its 1324th meeting on 6 January 2026 the PSC "strongly condemns and rejects" the recognition and "calls for its immediate revocation" ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)). It said that "no actor has the authority or standing to alter the territorial configuration of an AU Member State" (same source). The communiqué refers to Somaliland as the "northern region of Somalia" (same source).
- **Partners:** on 6 January 2026 the AU Commission Chairperson and the UAE's Minister of State, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, "reaffirmed their support for Somalia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability" ([UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 6 January 2026](https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/mediahub/news/2026/1/6/UAE-African-Union-Commission)).
- **Member states:** the PSC encouraged "dialogue, within Somalia, as the only acceptable and viable path" to settle differences between the federal government and the federal member states. It asked the AU Commission to work with IGAD and the EAC to support an inclusive political dialogue ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).
- **Elections:** in December 2025 the PSC commended Somalia's stated commitment to one-person-one-vote elections ([AU PSC, communiqué 1317](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1317.comm-en.pdf)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Ethiopia's place in AUSSOM, 2024:** on 22 October 2024 Somalia's foreign ministry said that Ethiopia's "illegal agreement with Somalia's northern region" violated Somalia's sovereignty. It said Somalia "holds the authority to decide which Troop Partner Nation (TPNs) will contribute troops" ([Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 October 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-stance-on-sovereignty-and-ethiopias-role-in-the-african-union-stabilization-mission-aussom/)). In February 2025 Ethiopia was given 2,500 places in AUSSOM after talks in Mogadishu ([VOA, 25 February 2025](https://www.voanews.com/a/au-somalia-agree-on-troop-numbers-for-new-mission/7987913.html)).
- **Funding:** the AU and Somalia have asked for UN assessed funding under resolution 2719; the UN Security Council has not agreed ([Security Council Report, May 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/05/somalia-closed-consultations-on-the-au-support-and-stabilization-mission-in-somalia-aussom.php)).

## Related pages

- [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)
- [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/)
- [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/)
- [Somalia and IGAD](/en/relations/igad/)


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# Amal group: Amal Express, Amal Bank and the 2020 to 2021 audit

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/amal-group/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Amal is a Somali financial group based in Dubai whose main firms are the money transfer company Amal Express, headquartered in Garowe, and Amal Bank in Garowe and Mogadishu. Both hold Central Bank of Somalia licences. In 2020 a Geneva research group alleged Somali hawala firms, Amal among them, carried payments linked to arms trading; Amal denied it, and in 2021 said a Central Bank of Somalia audit had cleared it.

## The short version

The Amal group is a Somali business group based in **Dubai**, working in money transfer, banking in the Somali regions, foreign exchange and property. A Wikipedia article on Amal Express, preserved in mirrors, says the parent company was set up in the **late 1990s** by **seven Somali entrepreneurs** through a merger of several money transfer operators, and that the group is organised as a holding company with many wholly owned subsidiaries ([Wikipedia, Amal Express, mirror](https://bafybeiemxf5abjwjbikoz4mc3a3dla6ual3jsgpdr4cjr3oz3evfyavhwq.ipfs.4everland.io/wiki/Amal_Express.html)). A Winnipeg business listing for an Amal Express branch gives the founding year as **1997** ([Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Amal Express](https://downtownwinnipegbiz.com/business/amal-express/)).

The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study of Somali business groups lists Amal Bank, Amal Capital, Amal Express and Amal Group among the company sources it examined, and a 2013 Amal Group profile was presented at a remittance roundtable ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## The companies

- **Amal Express**, headquartered in **Garowe**, is on the Central Bank of Somalia's list of licensed money transfer businesses ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed money transfer](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/)). It works in most East African countries; its chief executive in 2020 was **Guleid Jama** ([Daily Nation, via WardheerNews, 2020](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-remittance-firm-fights-money-laundering-claims/)).
- **Amal Bank**, based in Garowe and Mogadishu, is on the Central Bank's list of licensed banks ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)) and on the [Bank of Somaliland](/en/institutions/bank-of-somaliland/)'s list ([Bank of Somaliland, licensed banks](https://bankofsomaliland.net/banks/)). Its SWIFT code is AALLSOSG ([Wise, SWIFT codes, Amal Bank](https://wise.com/no/swift-codes/countries/somalia/amal-bank-ltd)). It has pledged finance for small cooperatives that supply the Kobciye company ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/amal-bank-pledges-to-finance-small-cooperatives-supplying-kobciye)). See [Somalia's main banks](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/).

## The 2020 report and the audit

In **September 2020** the Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) published *Following the Money*, by [Jay Bahadur](/en/books/the-pirates-of-somalia-bahadur/), a former member of the UN panel of experts on Somalia. It said Somali hawala firms had carried about **$3.7 million** of payments linked to weapons traders between 2014 and 2020, most of it starting in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/), and that Amal had handled money for a man in Yemen under US sanctions ([Daily Nation, via WardheerNews](https://wardheernews.com/somalia-remittance-firm-fights-money-laundering-claims/)).

Amal rejected the claim, said the receipt in the report was "not authentic", invited the Central Bank of Somalia to audit its systems, and said it uses the World-Check screening system (same source). In **April 2021** Amal said the Central Bank's investigation had found no transfers from the named sender to the sanctioned man and that the receipts did not match its own records. It asked GI-TOC for an "unconditional apology" and a retraction ([Hiiraan Online, April 2021](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2021/Apr/182169/amal_express_demands_apology_from_geneva_watchdog_following_central_bank_clearance.aspx); [Daily Nation, 2021](https://nation.africa/kenya/news/africa/somalia-absolves-money-transfer-firms-fingered-for-laundering-3346964)).

## Sources disagree

- **The 2020 allegations.** GI-TOC's report says the payments went through Amal; Amal and, by its account, the Central Bank audit say the named transfers did not happen (sources above).
- **Founding.** The Wikipedia article says the late 1990s; the Winnipeg listing says 1997 (sources above).

For how hawala works, see [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/). For all licensed firms, see the [Somali businesses](/en/businesses/).


---

# Somalia and Canada

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/canada/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Canada and Somalia established relations in 1968, suspended them in 1991 and restored them in 2013. Canada covers Somalia from its High Commission in Nairobi and gave CAD 78 million in assistance in 2022–23, while two-way goods trade was CAD 3.6 million in 2023. About 65,555 people of Somali origin lived in Canada in 2021.

## How do Somalia and Canada relate today?

Canada has no embassy in Somalia. It covers the country from its High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya ([Global Affairs Canada, Canada–Somalia relations](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)). Somalia's ambassador in Washington, Dahir Hassan Abdi, presented his credentials as non-resident ambassador to Canada at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in June 2026 ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 25 June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606250354.html)).

The main facts today:

- **Aid:** Canadian international assistance to Somalia was CAD 78 million in 2022–23, through all channels ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **Trade:** two-way merchandise trade was CAD 3.6 million in 2023 ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **People:** Canada's 2021 Census counted 65,555 people of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0356-01](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)).

## When did contact begin?

Canada and Somalia established diplomatic relations in 1968 ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)). Relations were suspended after the Somali government collapsed in 1991 ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).

Canada re-established relations in 2013, after the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) was formed in 2012 ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Canada:** relations are handled through the High Commission in Nairobi, and Canada has no resident mission in Somalia ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **Somalia:** Dahir Hassan Abdi, ambassador to the United States since 2024, became non-resident ambassador to Canada in June 2026 ([Shabelle via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606250354.html); [Embassy of Somalia in the US](https://usa.mfa.gov.so/?p=8980)).

The names of earlier Canadian heads of mission accredited to Somalia were not found in public records for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **The Canadian Airborne Regiment** sent about 1,400 soldiers to Belet Huen (Beledweyne) from December 1992, under the US-led UNITAF ([The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2019](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)).
- **Ahmed Hussen**, born in Mogadishu, came to Canada as a refugee at 16 and was national president of the Canadian Somali Congress ([Office of Ahmed Hussen, MP](https://ahmedhussen.libparl.ca/about/)).
- He was Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship from 10 January 2017 to 20 November 2019 ([House of Commons, roles](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)).
- He was Minister of International Development from 26 July 2023 to 14 March 2025, the minister in charge of Canada's aid to Somalia ([House of Commons](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)).
- Since 17 June 2025 he has chaired the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development ([House of Commons](https://www.noscommunes.ca/MEMBERS/en/ahmed-hussen(89020)/roles)).
- **Somali Canadians in Somalia:** Global Affairs Canada notes that some Somali Canadians have returned to hold senior posts in Somalia's federal and regional governments ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **Dahir Hassan Abdi**, Somalia's ambassador, presented credentials in Ottawa in June 2026 ([Shabelle via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606250354.html)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty between Canada and Somalia was found in public treaty records for this page. Canada's cooperation runs through programmes rather than treaties:

- **2018:** Canada launched a dedicated bilateral development programme for Somalia ([Global Affairs Canada, 12 November 2024](https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/11/minister-hussen-announces-more-than-35-million-for-international-assistance-projects-in-africa.html)).
- **Early 2019:** enhanced bilateral cooperation began in education, health, gender equality and inclusive governance ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **IMF:** Canada supports Somalia's economic institutions through the IMF's Somalia Trust Fund ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).

## Which leaders have visited?

No visit by a Canadian prime minister or foreign minister to Somalia, or by a Somali president to Ottawa, was found in public records for this page. The highest-level contact on record is the June 2026 presentation of credentials at Rideau Hall ([Shabelle via AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606250354.html)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is small. In 2023 ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)):

- **Canadian exports to Somalia:** CAD 3.2 million, mainly machinery and parts, and protein concentrates.
- **Canadian imports from Somalia:** CAD 390,400, mainly essential oils, sea cucumbers and construction equipment.

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **2022–23:** CAD 78 million in international assistance through all channels ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **2023:** CAD 41 million in humanitarian assistance to UN, Red Cross and Red Crescent, and NGO partners ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **2024–25:** bilateral development aid was expected to reach CAD 9 million ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).
- **Counter-terrorism:** since 2019 Canada has spent more than CAD 11.7 million on counter-terrorism programmes across East Africa, including Somalia ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).

Canadian humanitarian funding to Somalia recorded by the UN's Financial Tracking Service, in US dollars:

- **2011:** US$34.4 million ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011&groupby=organization)).
- **2017:** US$31.2 million ([OCHA FTS, 2017](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2017&groupby=organization)).
- **2022:** US$36.2 million ([OCHA FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2022&groupby=organization)).
- **2024:** US$18.8 million ([OCHA FTS, 2024](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2024&groupby=organization)).
- **2025:** US$19.0 million ([OCHA FTS, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

## What about security?

Canada's largest deployment was in 1992–93. About 1,400 soldiers, mostly from the Canadian Airborne Regiment, served at Belet Huen, and the supply ship HMCS Preserver worked off the coast ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)). The troops rebuilt roads and bridges, cleared mines, reopened hospitals and guarded aid convoys ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)).

See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## How does Canada deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Canada's official relations are with the Federal Government of Somalia ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)). No Canadian office, agreement or statement on recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) was found in Canadian government records for this page.

Canada's main presence in a region was at Belet Huen, now in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) state, in 1992–93 ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)).

## Have there been disputes?

The main dispute was inside Canada, over its own soldiers' conduct:

- **March 1993:** Canadian soldiers shot and killed a Somali man who was trying to enter their camp ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)).
- **16 March 1993:** Canadian troops detained, tortured and killed [Shidane Arone](/en/history/somalia-affair-canada-1993/), a 16-year-old Somali ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)).
- **Afterwards:** the whole Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)).
- **1997:** a federal commission published "Dishonoured Legacy: The Lessons of the Somalia Affair," in five volumes ([Government of Canada Publications](https://www.publications.gc.ca/site/eng/479844/publication.html)).

## How many Somalis live in Canada?

Canada's 2021 Census counted 65,555 people of Somali origin ([Statistics Canada](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601)). See [Canada (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/canada/).

## Where does Canada stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Canada took part in UNITAF in 1992–93 ([The Canadian Encyclopedia](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-peacekeepers-in-somalia)). Canada and Somalia work together in the UN, the International Civil Aviation Organization and UNESCO ([Global Affairs Canada](https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/somalia-somalie/relations.aspx?lang=eng)).

## Related pages

- [Canada (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/canada/)
- [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/)
- [Toronto](/en/diaspora/toronto/)
- [Ottawa](/en/diaspora/ottawa/)
- [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and the United States](/en/relations/united-states/)
- [Ahmed Hussen](/en/people/ahmed-hussen/)


---

# Constitution of Puntland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/constitution-of-puntland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Puntland's constitution was adopted on 18 April 2012, when 472 of 480 delegates voted for it. It replaced a provisional charter of 1998 and a transitional constitution of 2001. It sets up a parliamentary system with a 66-member House of Representatives that elects the president, sets out rights and the state's economic rules, and must be harmonised with the federal constitution. Parliament amended it on 25 July 2023 to move to direct elections, by 54 votes to 6.

## What is it?

The Constitution of Puntland is the highest law of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), a federal member state of Somalia in the north-east. It sets out how the state government is chosen, what powers it has and which rights people hold. It is subject only to the federal constitution ([Wikipedia, Constitution of Puntland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Puntland)). An English translation of an earlier text is kept by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ([FAOLEX, Constitution of Puntland](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)).

## How was it made?

**1998: the Garowe charter.** Delegates began arriving in Garowe in early May 1998. The constitutional conference opened on 15 May. More than 460 delegates from the area's communities took part. They adopted a provisional charter in July and elected a president and vice-president, founding the Puntland State of Somalia ([Interpeace and PDRC, The Puntland Experience](http://www.radiodaljir.com/audio/docs/ipThePuntlandExperience.pdf)).

**2001: a transitional constitution.** Puntland's House of Representatives adopted a transitional constitution. It allowed for a future federal Somalia and set up a commission to draft a permanent text ([UNDP Somalia, Transitional Constitution of Puntland](http://www.so.undp.org/docs/Puntland%202001%20English.pdf)). Its principles included Islamic law, shared decision-making, separation of powers, decentralisation, a multi-party system, private property and individual rights (same source).

**2012: the permanent constitution.** On 18 April 2012 a constituent assembly approved the current text. Of 480 delegates, 472 voted in favour ([AllAfrica, 18 Apr 2012](http://allafrica.com/stories/201204181369.html)). A first draft had been published in 2007 ([Garowe Online, draft constitution, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121130162817/http://files.garoweonline.com/dastuurpl.pdf)).

## What does the 2012 constitution contain?

It has six parts ([Wikipedia, outline of the text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Puntland)):

1. **The state and its principles:** name, rule of law, system of government, census, land and borders, language, religion, capital (Garowe), flag and anthem.
2. **Rights:** individual rights and when they can be suspended, family rights, citizenship and voting.
3. **The economy:** free enterprise, natural resources, the environment, the state's role, joint ventures and public property.
4. **The structure of government:** a parliamentary system with three branches. It also sets up the Attorney General, an office for human rights, the Auditor General, the electoral authority, and regional and district administrations.
5. **Administration:** the civil service and public finance.
6. **Supremacy and reform:** the constitution's rank, how to amend it, and harmonisation with the federal constitution (Article 135).

The House of Representatives has 66 members, chosen through clan elders and delegates, and elects the president. The 2012 text limited the number of political parties to three ([Elections in Puntland](/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/), citing [FAOLEX](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/som197962.pdf)).

## The 2023 amendments

In 2023 the government proposed to change two articles ([Goobjoog News, 26 Jul 2023](https://en.goobjoog.com/explainer-controversial-law-review-in-puntland-and-oppositions-grievances)):

- **Article 44:** the president, vice-president, MPs and district councils would be "elected directly by the people", instead of MPs being chosen by clan caucuses.
- **Article 46:** any party that won a district council seat would be registered. From 2028 a party would need at least 5 percent of council seats to qualify.

While parliament debated the changes in late June 2023, government and opposition forces clashed in Garowe. At least 30 people were killed ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/explainer-controversial-law-review-in-puntland-and-oppositions-grievances); [Al Jazeera, 20 Jun 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/20/fight-erupts-in-somalias-puntland-region-after-parliament-debate)). A ceasefire was agreed on 21 June ([Al Jazeera, 21 Jun 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/6/21/armed-factions-in-somalias-puntland-agree-ceasefire-after-clash)).

Parliament passed the amendments with 54 votes for and 6 against, of 60 MPs present ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/explainer-controversial-law-review-in-puntland-and-oppositions-grievances)). Critics said President [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/) wanted more time in office. Guled Salah Barre and the Mideeye political organisation petitioned the Constitutional Court (same source).

The direct presidential vote was later dropped. On 8 January 2024 parliament re-elected Deni by 45 votes to 21 ([Elections in Puntland](/en/institutions/elections-in-puntland/)).

## Puntland and the federal constitution

Puntland withdrew recognition of the federal government in March 2024, after the federal parliament amended four chapters of the federal constitution ([Eastleigh Voice, 2024](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/puntland%20somalia/29920/puntland-withdraws-recognition-of-somalia-govt-after-constitutional-changes)). It also rejects the federal amendments of March 2026 ([Africa at LSE, 13 May 2026](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2026/05/13/somalia-is-about-to-enter-a-constitutional-crisis/)). See [Constitution of Somalia](/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/).

## Related pages

- [Puntland institutions](/en/institutions/puntland-institutions/)
- [Presidents of Puntland](/en/institutions/presidents-of-puntland/)


---

# Courts and judiciary of Somaliland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/courts-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland's courts have five levels: the Supreme Court, the regional appeal courts, the regional courts, the district courts and the courts of the armed forces. Judges apply a mix of Sharia, laws from the British and pre-1969 Somali eras, and xeer customary law. The Supreme Court is the final appeal court and also sits as the constitutional court. Adan Haji Ali has been Chief Justice since 3 June 2015.

## How are Somaliland's courts organised?

The Constitution of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) sets up five levels of courts ([Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland, via Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4bc581222.pdf)):

1. **The Supreme Court**, the highest court.
2. **The Appeal Courts of the Regions.**
3. **The Regional Courts.**
4. **The District Courts.**
5. **The Courts of the National Armed Forces**, which hear criminal cases against members of the armed forces in peace or war.

The regional, appeal and district courts handle all civil and criminal cases. They are overseen by the **Judicial Commission**, also called the High Judicial Council (same source; [Horizon Institute, Functional Review of the High Judicial Council](https://www.thehorizoninstitute.org/usr/library/documents/main/report-of-the-functional-review-of-the-high-judicial-council-by-horizon-institute.pdf)). The judiciary also includes the Attorney General and his deputies ([Wikipedia, Judiciary of Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somaliland)).

## What does the Supreme Court do?

The Supreme Court has a Chief Justice and at least four other judges ([Constitution, via Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4bc581222.pdf)). It has three roles ([Somalilandlaw.com, Somaliland Supreme Court](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_supreme_court.html)):

- **Final court of appeal** for all criminal and civil cases. In this role it also rules on disputes over the validity of national elections.
- **Constitutional court:** it interprets the constitution and can strike down a law that breaks it.
- **High Court of Justice:** in impeachment cases against ministers, five Supreme Court judges sit with four members chosen by parliament, two from each house. Impeachment of the President or Vice-President is handled by parliament, with the Chief Justice presiding ([Constitution, via Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4bc581222.pdf)).

**Chief Justice:** Adan Haji Ali, in office since 3 June 2015. He was appointed by President [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) "Silanyo" ([Wikipedia, Adan Haji Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adan_Haji_Ali); [Somtribune, 30 Aug 2016](https://www.somtribune.com/2016/08/30/somaliland-challenges-chief-justice)). The Chief Justice is appointed by the President. The court swears in new officials, such as ministers and members of parliament ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-supreme-court-presides-over-the-swearing-in-of-haji-abdi-warabes-replacement)), and has sat in the regions, including [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) and Gabiley ([Somaliland Standard](https://somalilandstandard.com/somaliland-the-supreme-court-sits-awdal-and-gabiley)).

## Which laws do the courts apply?

The constitution makes Islamic Sharia the basis of the legal system ([Constitution, via Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4bc581222.pdf)). There are no separate Sharia courts; the state courts apply it ([DW, 2016](https://www.dw.com/en/somalilands-quest-to-enforce-rule-of-law/a-19279817)).

In practice judges draw on three traditions, as described by a UN report and a 2019 access-to-justice study ([United Nations, Reforming Somaliland's Judiciary](https://www.un.org/webcast/pdfs/unia991.pdf); [Knowledge Platform Security and Rule of Law, 2019](https://www.kpsrl.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/Report-Improving-access-to-justice-in-Somaliland-25012019-2.pdf)):

- **Sharia**, especially in family and inheritance cases;
- **statute law**, including laws from the British era and Somali laws from before 1969; and
- **xeer**, the customary law applied by clan elders. See [Xeer customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## How did the legal system develop?

From the Academy for Peace and Development's study of the judiciary ([APD, The Judicial System in Somaliland, 2014](https://apd-somaliland.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JUDICIARY-REPORT-FINAL.pdf)):

- **Before colonial rule:** elders applied xeer, and Islamic scholars applied Sharia.
- **British rule from 1884:** Britain brought a common-law system modelled on the one it used in India.
- **1960 to 1991:** after union with the south, there was no separate northern legal system, though lower courts in the north still used British-era law until 1977.
- **1991 onward:** after Somaliland's 1991 declaration, the Borama conference charter of 1993 set up a judiciary using pre-1969 laws. The 1997 interim constitution and the 2001 constitution confirmed the current structure ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somaliland)).

## Related pages

- [Somaliland institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)
- [Somaliland citizenship law](/en/government/somaliland-citizenship-law/)
- [Somalia's courts and judiciary](/en/institutions/courts-and-judiciary/)


---

# Somalia and Egypt

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/egypt/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Egypt and Somalia signed a military cooperation protocol on 14 August 2024 and a joint declaration of strategic partnership on 23 January 2025. Egypt reopened an embassy building in Mogadishu in August 2024, EgyptAir began flying to Mogadishu in July 2024, and trade reached $127.7 million in 2024, almost all Egyptian exports. Contact goes back to the ancient Egyptian voyages to Punt.

## How do Somalia and Egypt relate today?

Relations are at their closest in decades. On 14 August 2024 the two presidents, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, witnessed the signing of a military cooperation protocol in Cairo ([Ahram Online, 14 August 2024](https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/1/530159/Egypt/Egypt-and-Somalia-presidents-witness-signing-milit.aspx)). On 23 January 2025 they signed a joint political declaration that raised ties to a strategic partnership ([Egyptian Presidency, 23 January 2025](https://www.presidency.eg/EN/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news-2312025-2/)).

The partnership sets annual presidential consultations and foreign minister meetings twice a year ([Zawya, January 2025](https://www.zawya.com/en/economy/north-africa/egypt-pledges-continued-support-for-somalia-in-new-strategic-partnership-hi3ec31e)). Egypt opened a newly built embassy in Mogadishu in August 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, August 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197533/egypt_reopens_new_embassy_in_mogadishu.aspx)). Its old embassy had closed in the early 1990s after the central government collapsed ([Garowe Online, July 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-egypt-agree-to-boost-security-and-trade-ties-plan-embassy-reopening)).

Trade reached $127.7 million in 2024, up from $58.2 million in 2023 ([Amwal Al Ghad, citing CAPMAS](https://en.amwalalghad.com/?p=208210)). EgyptAir began flights from Cairo to Mogadishu, via Djibouti, in July 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, July 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/July/197020/egyptair_to_launch_cairo_mogadishu_flights_on_friday.aspx)).

## When did contact begin?

### Punt and the ancient world

Egyptian records describe trading voyages to a land called Punt. The best known is Queen Hatshepsut's expedition of about 1470 BCE, shown in reliefs at her temple at Deir el-Bahari ([World History Encyclopedia, "Punt"](https://www.worldhistory.org/Punt/)). Scholars place Punt in the Horn of Africa, and some point to the Somali coast, but there is no agreed location ([World History Encyclopedia](https://www.worldhistory.org/Punt/)). See [Punt and the Somali coast](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/).

### Al-Azhar and the road to independence

Somali students went to Cairo for religious study long before independence. Haji Mohamed Hussein, a founder of the Somali Youth League (SYL), left Mogadishu for al-Azhar on 2 November 1952 ([Antonio M. Morone, Geeska, 28 November 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).

After 1950, Egypt sat on the UN Advisory Council for the Italian-run Trust Territory of Somaliland, with Colombia and the Philippines ([UN Repertory of Practice, Article 81](https://legal.un.org/repertory/art81/english/rep_orig_vol4_art81.pdf)). The General Assembly approved the trusteeship agreement on 2 December 1950 by resolution 442 (V) ([UN Trusteeship Council record](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1617304/files/T_SR.349-EN.pdf)). See [UN trusteeship 1950–1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

On 2 November 1956, during the Suez crisis, the Somali Legislative Assembly passed a resolution of solidarity with Egypt ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).

### The killing of Kamal al-Din Salah, 1957

Kamal al-Din Salah, an Egyptian jurist, arrived in Mogadishu in November 1954 to fill Egypt's seat on the Advisory Council ([Alex White, Geeska, 31 August 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)). He gave scholarships to Cairo universities, spoke at mosques and worked closely with the SYL ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)).

He was stabbed to death in central Mogadishu on 16 April 1957 ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)). The Italian administration named the killer as Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdurahman, a former Cairo student ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)). He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and two Hizbia [Digil](/en/society/digil/) [Mirifle](/en/society/mirifle/) deputies tried with him were acquitted ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)).

The official account gave a refused scholarship as the motive, which Egypt rejected as a political cover ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)). Muhammad Hassan al-Zayyat replaced him on the council ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)).

### Nasser's Egypt and the Somali Republic

In July 1957 the SYL re-elected Haji Mohamed Hussein as president while he still lived in Cairo ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)). He was expelled from the party in May 1958 and founded the Greater Somali League on 24 July 1958 ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).

Egypt backed the Pan-Somali National Movement, which held its founding conference in Mogadishu on 30 August 1959 ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)). When fighting broke out with Ethiopia in 1963–1964, Gamal Abdel Nasser urged both sides to stop ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).

### Arab League and the Ogaden war

Somalia joined the Arab League on 14 February 1974 ([Somali Archive, Siad Barre's accession speech](https://somaliarchive77.substack.com/p/the-arabs-and-somalis-need-each-other)). After the Ogaden war, [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)'s government moved closer to Egypt and Saudi Arabia ([Library of Congress Country Study, "Relations with Arab Countries"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

During the 1977–1978 war, Anwar Sadat's Egypt supplied Somalia with about $30 million in arms, according to a 1978 study ([Heritage Foundation, "War in the Horn of Africa", 1978](https://www.heritage.org/node/22963)). See [Ogaden war 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

### War years and the Cairo talks

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egypt's minister of state for foreign affairs from 1977 to 1991, became UN Secretary-General on 1 January 1992 ([UN Press, 1996](https://press.un.org/en/1996/19960423.sg2015.r6.html); [UN Photo, "Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt) Term of Office: 1992-1996"](https://media.un.org/photo/en/collections/leadership/boutros-boutros-ghali-egypt-term-office-1992-1996)). He led the UN through its operations in Somalia. See [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

Egypt hosted Somali faction talks in Cairo from 12 November to 22 December 1997 ([Letter from Egypt to the UN Security Council, S/1998/43](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/249052/files/S_1998_43-EN.pdf)). They produced the Cairo Declaration on Somalia, signed on 22 December 1997 ([PA-X Peace Agreements Database](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/317/)). It was signed by [Ali Mahdi](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/)'s [National Salvation Council](/en/institutions/rival-heads-of-somalia-1991-to-2012/) and [Hussein Aidid](/en/people/hussein-farrah-aidid/)'s Somali National Alliance, among others ([Refworld, IRB Canada, 1998](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20221023042202mp_/https://www.refworld.org/country,,,,SOM,,3ae6ab53c,0.html)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

### Egypt's envoys to Somalia

- **Kamal al-Din Salah**: Egyptian member of the UN Advisory Council, November 1954 to April 1957 ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)).
- **Muhammad Hassan al-Zayyat**: his successor on the Advisory Council from 1957 ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).
- **Ahmad Fu'ad Abu Sabba**: Egyptian vice-consul in Mogadishu in 1958 ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).
- **Mohamed El-Said Ahmed Al-Baz**: presented credentials to President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo in December 2021 ([SONNA, December 2021](https://sonna.so/en/president-farmajo-credentials-from-the-newly-appointed-ambassadors-of-egypt-and-norway/)).
- **Mohamed Salah Hassan Keshtah (Khashta)**: presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in December 2025 ([Hiiraan Online, December 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/Dec/203816/somali_president_receives_credentials_of_eight_new_ambassadors.aspx); [Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-foreign-minister-receives-copy-of-credentials-from-newly-appointed-egyptian-ambassador/)).

### Somalia's envoys to Egypt

Somalia's ambassador in Cairo is also its permanent representative to the Arab League.

- **Ilyas Sheikh Omar Abubakar**: presented credentials to President el-Sisi in February 2021 ([Hiiraan Online, February 2021](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2021/Feb/181596/new_somalia_ambassador_to_egypt_presents_credentials_in_cairo.aspx)).
- **Ali Abdi Aware**: presented credentials to el-Sisi in July 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, July 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/July/197089/somali_ambassador_presents_credentials_to_president_abdel_fattah_el_sisi_in_cairo.aspx)). In June 2026 he chaired a meeting of African ambassadors in Cairo ([Dawan Africa, 29 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-arab-league-envoy-chairs-african-ambassadors-meeting)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Haji Mohamed Hussein**: SYL leader who studied at al-Azhar from 1952 and led the party from Cairo in 1957–1958 ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).
- **Kamal al-Din Salah**: Egyptian UN Advisory Council member who handed out Cairo scholarships and backed the SYL, 1954–1957 ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)).
- **Gamal Abdel Nasser**: Egyptian president who backed the Pan-Somali National Movement in 1959 and urged a ceasefire with Ethiopia in 1964 ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)).
- **Anwar Sadat**: Egyptian president who sent arms during the Ogaden war ([Heritage Foundation, 1978](https://www.heritage.org/node/22963)).
- **Abdel Fattah el-Sisi**: Egyptian president who signed the 2024 protocol and the 2025 strategic partnership ([Egyptian Presidency, 23 January 2025](https://www.presidency.eg/EN/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news-2312025-2/)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**: Somali president who made the August 2024, January 2025, July 2025 and February 2026 visits to Egypt ([Anadolu, February 2026](https://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/egyptian-somali-presidents-discuss-bilateral-ties-security-cooperation-in-cairo/3824023)).
- **Badr Abdelatty**: Egyptian foreign minister who flew in on the first EgyptAir flight to Mogadishu in July 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, July 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/July/197054/egyptian_foreign_minister_arrives_in_mogadishu_for_egypt_air_s_inaugural_flight.aspx)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**: Somali foreign minister who met Abdelatty in Mogadishu in July 2024 and signed the January 2025 agreements ([Garowe Online, January 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/egypt-somalia-activate-2024-military-pact-elevate-ties-amid-ethiopia-tensions)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**: Somali foreign minister who received the new Egyptian ambassador's credentials copy in late 2025 ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-foreign-minister-receives-copy-of-credentials-from-newly-appointed-egyptian-ambassador/)).
- **Hamdi Loza**: Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs who visited Hargeisa in 2019 ([Garowe Online, 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somalia-egypts-deputy-foreign-minister-visits-somaliland)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **22 December 1997**: Cairo Declaration on Somalia, signed by Somali factions at talks hosted by Egypt ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/317/)).
- **14 August 2024**: military cooperation protocol, signed in Cairo before both presidents ([Ahram Online, 14 August 2024](https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/1/530159/Egypt/Egypt-and-Somalia-presidents-witness-signing-milit.aspx)). The Somali parliament had approved the pact in July 2024 ([Africanews, 15 August 2024](https://www.africanews.com/2024/08/15/egypts-el-sissi-hosts-visiting-somali-president-announces-new-defense-agreement/)).
- **10 October 2024**: joint statement of the Egypt–Eritrea–Somalia summit in Asmara, setting up a committee of the three foreign ministers ([Villa Somalia, 10 October 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-of-the-tripartite-summit-between-somalia-eritrea-and-egypt/)).
- **23 January 2025**: joint political declaration on a strategic partnership, with agreements signed by the foreign ministers ([Egyptian Presidency](https://www.presidency.eg/EN/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news-2312025-2/); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/egypt-somalia-activate-2024-military-pact-elevate-ties-amid-ethiopia-tensions)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **July 2024**: Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Mogadishu, on EgyptAir's first flight ([Hiiraan Online, July 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/July/197054/egyptian_foreign_minister_arrives_in_mogadishu_for_egypt_air_s_inaugural_flight.aspx)).
- **13–14 August 2024**: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo; defence protocol signed ([The National, 14 August 2024](https://thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/08/14/egypt-and-somalia-sign-military-co-operation-protocol-in-cairo)).
- **10 October 2024**: el-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh met President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara ([Egyptian Presidency, 10 October 2024](https://www.presidency.eg/en/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news-10102024-4/)).
- **23 January 2025**: Hassan Sheikh in Cairo; strategic partnership signed ([Egyptian Presidency](https://www.presidency.eg/EN/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news-2312025-2/)).
- **7 July 2025**: Hassan Sheikh met el-Sisi at El Alamein; el-Sisi announced the embassy would return to Mogadishu ([SONNA, July 2025](https://sonna.so/en/president-hassan-sheikh-holds-bilateral-talks-with-egyptian-counterpart); [Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-egypt-agree-to-boost-security-and-trade-ties-plan-embassy-reopening)).
- **8 February 2026**: Hassan Sheikh in Cairo for a two-day visit and joint press conference ([Egyptian Presidency, 8 February 2026](https://www.presidency.eg/EN/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news822026-1/)).
- **April 2026**: Abdelatty met Hassan Sheikh at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/) ([Ahram Online](https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/566188.aspx)).

## How much do they trade?

Egypt's statistics agency CAPMAS puts 2024 trade at $127.7 million ([Amwal Al Ghad, citing CAPMAS](https://en.amwalalghad.com/?p=208210)). Egyptian exports to Somalia were $122.9 million, up from $55.8 million in 2023 ([Amwal Al Ghad](https://en.amwalalghad.com/?p=208210)). Imports from Somalia were $4.8 million, up from $2.4 million ([Amwal Al Ghad](https://en.amwalalghad.com/?p=208210)).

Trade was $56.3 million in 2022 ([Business Today Egypt, citing CAPMAS](https://www.businesstodayegypt.com/Article/1/3953/Volume-of-trade-exchange-between-Egypt-Somalia-hits-56-3M)). In the first half of 2024 it rose by 88% on a year earlier ([Egypt Today](https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/3/134161/Egypt-Somalia-trade-exchange-rise-by-88-in-first-half)).

Main Egyptian exports in 2024 ([Amwal Al Ghad, citing CAPMAS](https://en.amwalalghad.com/?p=208210)):

- milling products (flour), $60 million
- sugar and confectionery, $29 million
- tobacco, $6 million, and medicines, $6 million
- prepared vegetables and fruit, $3 million

Somalia's main exports to Egypt were live animals, $4 million, and gums and plant extracts, $800,000 ([Amwal Al Ghad](https://en.amwalalghad.com/?p=208210)).

EgyptAir's route was the first scheduled Egyptian flight to Somalia in about 30 years ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/egypt-resumes-direct-flights-to-somalia-after-30-years)). It began with flights twice a week via Djibouti ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/egyptair/48965/egyptair-to-launch-direct-flights-from-cairo-to-mogadishu)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Egypt's support has been mainly training, scholarships and security help rather than large cash grants. Under the January 2025 partnership, the two sides listed political, military, cultural and economic cooperation ([Egyptian Presidency, 23 January 2025](https://www.presidency.eg/en/قسم-الأخبار/أخبار-رئاسية/news2312025-1/)). Egyptian scholarships for Somalis date back to the 1950s, when Kamal al-Din Salah handed them out ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)). No reliable yearly total of Egyptian aid to Somalia was found.

## What about security?

Egypt and Somalia signed a military cooperation protocol on 14 August 2024 ([Ahram Online](https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/1/530159/Egypt/Egypt-and-Somalia-presidents-witness-signing-milit.aspx)). Egypt sent arms and military equipment to Somalia from late August 2024 ([Library of Congress, Global Legal Monitor, 25 September 2024](https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2024-09-25/egypt-somalia-military-cooperation-agreement-signed/)). It was allocated about 1,091 troops in the AU mission AUSSOM, and on 11 February 2026 Hassan Sheikh attended a parade of Egyptian troops for the mission in Cairo ([AllAfrica, October 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202610270081.html); [Ahram Online, February 2026](https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/1237/562209/Egypt/Defence/Somali-president,-Egypt-defence-minister-attend-li.aspx)). In September 2026 Somalia said funding problems were delaying the deployment ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-says-funding-hurdles-delay-egyptian-troops-deployment-to-aussom)). For the full military picture, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Egypt deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Egypt had working contacts with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) before 2024. Somaliland's deputy foreign minister, Liban Yusuf Osman, visited Cairo in March 2019 ([Garowe Online, 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somalia-egypts-deputy-foreign-minister-visits-somaliland)). Egypt's deputy foreign minister Hamdi Loza then visited Hargeisa ([Garowe Online, 2019](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somaliland/somalia-egypts-deputy-foreign-minister-visits-somaliland)).

In July 2020 an Egyptian government delegation met President [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) in Hargeisa ([Somaliland Chronicle, 14 July 2020](https://www.somalilandchronicle.com/2020/07/14/breaking-egyptian-government-delegation-visits-somaliland/)). Ethiopia lodged a protest with Somaliland and sent its finance minister, Ahmed Shide, to Hargeisa ([Garowe Online, 2020](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/ethiopias-finance-minister-visits-somalia-as-egypt-eyes-military-base-in-the-region)).

Since the Ethiopia–Somaliland memorandum of January 2024, Egypt has backed Somalia's position. When Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025, Egypt, Somalia, Türkiye and Djibouti issued a joint condemnation ([Ahram Online, December 2025](https://english.ahram.org.eg/UI/Front/Inner.aspx?NewsContentID=559382)). In January 2026 Egypt joined 21 other states condemning Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's visit to Hargeisa ([Ahram Online, January 2026](https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/1234/560174/Egypt/Foreign-Affairs/Egypt,--ArabIslamicAfrican-nations-condemn-Israeli.aspx)).

## Have there been disputes?

The 1957 killing of Kamal al-Din Salah caused a political crisis. Egypt rejected the Italian administration's account that a refused scholarship was the motive ([Morone, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/somali-independence-and-its-political-connections-nassers-egypt)). Italian forces patrolled Mogadishu with armoured cars in July 1957 ([White, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/mysterious-killing-kamal-al-din-salah-mogadishu)).

There is no recorded dispute between the Egyptian and Somali governments in recent years. The main friction runs through Ethiopia. Ethiopia objected to Egypt's arms deliveries and troop plans in Somalia ([Library of Congress, 2024](https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2024-09-25/egypt-somalia-military-cooperation-agreement-signed/)). Egypt and Ethiopia are in a long dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile ([Eastleigh Voice, 2025](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/regional/175689/somali,-egyptian-leaders-meet-in-cairo-amid-tensions-over-ethiopia%E2%80%99s-dam)). Hassan Sheikh said in January 2025 that the agreements with Egypt were not aimed at harming other countries ([Eastleigh Voice](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/egypt%20economy/107927/egypt-and-somalia-sign-strategic-partnership-agreement)).

## How many Somalis live in Egypt?

At the end of 2025, UNHCR counted 3,960 Somali refugees and 8,837 Somali asylum seekers in Egypt ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=ARE)). See [Somalis in Egypt](/en/diaspora/egypt/).

## Where does Egypt stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Egypt sat on the UN Advisory Council for Somalia from 1950 to independence in 1960 ([UN Repertory, Article 81](https://legal.un.org/repertory/art81/english/rep_orig_vol4_art81.pdf)). It reported its 1997 Cairo talks to the Security Council ([S/1998/43](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/249052/files/S_1998_43-EN.pdf)).

In August 2024 el-Sisi said Somalia, as an Arab League member, had a right to collective defence under the League's charter ([The New Arab, 14 August 2024](https://www.newarab.com/news/egypt-somalia-sign-defence-pact-amid-tensions-ethiopia)). Egypt raised Israel's Somaliland recognition at the OIC foreign ministers' meeting in Jeddah on 10 January 2026 ([Ahram Online](https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/1234/560174/Egypt/Foreign-Affairs/Egypt,--ArabIslamicAfrican-nations-condemn-Israeli.aspx)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in Egypt](/en/diaspora/egypt/)
- [Punt and the Somali coast](/en/history/punt-and-the-somali-coast/)
- [UN trusteeship 1950–1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/)
- [Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/)
- [Ogaden war 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)


---

# Somalia and Italy

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/italy/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Italy ruled southern Somalia from the 1889 protectorates until 1941, then ran it as a UN trust territory from 1950 to 1 July 1960. It reopened its embassy in Mogadishu in 2014 and says it is the only EU embassy working in the city. Italy commands the EU training mission for the Somali army, trains Somali police through the Carabinieri, and sold about US$30.6 million of goods to Somalia in 2024.

## How do Somalia and Italy relate today?

Italy has an embassy in Mogadishu, inside the international campus at [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) ([Embassy of Italy in Mogadishu, Chi siamo](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/chi-siamo/)). It reopened in 2014, and Italy describes it as the only embassy of an EU member state operating in the Somali capital ([Embassy of Italy, Italia e Somalia](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)).

Italy's work in Somalia today runs on three tracks ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)):

- **Security:** Italy commands, and sends the most troops to, the EU Training Mission (EUTM) for the Somali army; the Carabinieri train Somali police under a programme called MIADIT.
- **Development:** multi-year projects funded through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), on infrastructure, institutions, farming, fishing, livestock and the private sector ([Embassy of Italy, Cooperazione](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/cooperazione-allo-sviluppo/)).
- **People:** many Somali leaders studied in Italy or at the Somali National University, which grew from an Italian project, and Italian is still spoken among the political class ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)).

Italy exported goods worth US$30.6 million to Somalia in 2024 and imported US$0.1 million, by Italy's own customs figures ([UN Comtrade, Italy–Somalia 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## When did contact begin?

Italy's first footholds came through the sultans of the north-east. In 1888 Sultan Yusuf Ali Keenadiid of Hobyo accepted Italian "protection", and in 1889 he and Sultan Ismaan Mahamuud of the Majeerteen both placed their lands under Italy ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). In 1888 the Italian agent Vincenzo Filonardi pressed the Majeerteen sultan for the same arrangement Hobyo had made ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). Italy then took the Banaadir coast, which had been under the Sultan of Zanzibar, and formed the colony of Italian Somaliland ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).

Kismayo and the land beyond the [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) passed from Britain to Italy in 1925 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)). The texts of the treaties are on [The colonial treaties, 1884–1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/), and Fascist rule is covered in [Fascist rule and the war, 1923–1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/).

After British military rule from 1941, the UN placed southern Somalia under Italian administration (AFIS) in 1950. It was the only UN trusteeship given to a country defeated in the Second World War, and Italy ended it six months early ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)). See [The UN trusteeship, 1950–1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/).

## What happened between 1960 and 1991?

Relations stayed close after independence on 1 July 1960 ([Library of Congress, Foreign Relations 1960–69](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)). Key facts from the 1960s ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)):

- About 3,000 Italians still lived in Somalia in 1965 and dominated many businesses.
- Italian economic aid was more than a quarter of all non-military foreign aid Somalia received.
- Italy was a main market, especially for crops from Italian-owned farms in the river valleys.
- Italian sponsorship made Somalia an associate of the European Economic Community, with more aid and preferential access for Somali exports.
- Italy shared police training with West Germany and the United States.

Many Somali military officers trained at Italian military academies ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)). In 1969 a coup after the killing of President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) brought [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) to power ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)). The Somali embassy on Via dei Villini in Rome closed in 1991 ([UNHCR](https://www.unhcr.org/node/12045)).

## What did Italy do during the 1990s crisis?

Italy sent troops to the UN-backed operations. The Ibis I mission ran from 23 December 1992 to 7 April 1993, and Ibis II from May 1993 to March 1994 ([Italian Wikipedia, Operazione Ibis](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operazione_Ibis)). Italy was one of 34 countries that sent military or police personnel to UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)).

By early September 1993 more than 2,600 Italian soldiers were in Somalia, under General Bruno Loi and then General Carmine Fiore ([Italian Wikipedia, Missione Ibis II](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)). On 2 July 1993, at the "Checkpoint Pasta" in Mogadishu, three Italian soldiers were killed in a clash with Somali militia ([Italian Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)). Italy withdrew the Ibis II contingent on 21 March 1994 ([Italian Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)).

In 1995 Italy sent 2,106 personnel, five ships and 21 aircraft to help cover the final UN withdrawal, Operation United Shield ([Italian Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)). See [UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Italy's ambassador in Mogadishu** took up the post on 4 December 2023; he was earlier Italy's head of mission in Lusaka (from 2012) and First Counsellor at the embassy to the Holy See (from 2019) ([Embassy of Italy, ambassador's biography](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/chi-siamo/lambasciatore/biografia-dellambasciatore/)).
- **Carlo Campanile** is named as an earlier Italian ambassador in Mogadishu ([Wikipedia, Italy–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Abdirahman [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Issa** is named as Somalia's ambassador in Rome ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Vincenzo Filonardi:** Italian agent who in 1888 pressed the Majeerteen sultan to accept Italian protection ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **Sultan Yusuf Ali Keenadiid** of Hobyo and **Sultan Ismaan Mahamuud** of the Majeerteen: signed Italian protection in 1889 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **Generals Bruno Loi and Carmine Fiore:** commanded the Italian contingent in Somalia in 1993 ([Italian Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)).
- **Giorgia Meloni:** Prime Minister who hosted the Italy–Africa Summit in Rome on 28–29 January 2024 ([Government of Italy](https://www.governo.it/en/articolo/italia-africa-bridge-common-growth/24853)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/):** Somali President, who attended that summit ([Government of Italy, participants list](https://www.governo.it/sites/governo.it/files/Tabella_partecipanti.pdf)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1888–1889:** protection agreements with Hobyo and the Majeerteen ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/9.htm)).
- **1950:** UN trusteeship agreement; Italy as administering authority ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)).
- **2013:** a defence and security treaty signed in Rome; **2015:** a technical arrangement between the Carabinieri and the [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **28–29 January 2024:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the Italy–Africa Summit in Rome ([Government of Italy](https://www.governo.it/sites/governo.it/files/Tabella_partecipanti.pdf)).

## How much do they trade?

Italy's exports to Somalia, in US dollars, from Italian customs data reported to the UN ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)):

- 2015: 24.8 million ([UN Comtrade 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2015&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2019: 37.1 million ([UN Comtrade 2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2019&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2022: 29.0 million ([UN Comtrade 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2023: 37.4 million ([UN Comtrade 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2024: 30.6 million

Imports from Somalia were small: US$0.73 million in 2023 and US$0.10 million in 2024, mostly oil seeds such as sesame ([UN Comtrade, by product, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2)). The top exports in 2024 were electrical equipment, wood, vehicles and machinery ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=380&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Italian cooperation funding rose from €9 million in 2014 to €18.5 million in 2017, across 24 multi-year projects ([Wikipedia, citing the Italian embassy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). Because of insecurity, Italy has worked mostly through UN agencies, development banks and Italian NGOs and universities ([Embassy of Italy, Cooperazione](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/cooperazione-allo-sviluppo/)). It says Somalia's entry into the HIPC debt relief process opens room for more direct cooperation ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/cooperazione-allo-sviluppo/)).

In October 2026 AICS published a call for proposals for an emergency response to the humanitarian and environmental crisis in Somalia ([Embassy of Italy, 28 October 2026](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/news/dall_ambasciata/2026/10/aics-pubblicazione-della-call-for-proposals-iniziativa-di-emergenza-in-risposta-alla-crisi-umanitaria-e-ambientale-in-somalia-aid-013591-01-0/)). Italy was Somalia's second-largest bilateral creditor in the Paris Club, after the United States ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).

Italy also backed Somalia's 2012 and 2016 elections and its constitutional review ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## What about security?

Italy commands the EU Training Mission in Somalia and is its largest troop contributor ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)). The Carabinieri's MIADIT programme, started in 2013, had trained about 1,400 Somali police by the count on Wikipedia's page ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). For the full picture see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Italy deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Italy's embassy notes [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s 1991 declaration of independence and says constitutional reform is still under way, with tensions involving [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)). Its development priorities include stabilisation support for newly recovered areas, in direct support of the federal government ([Embassy of Italy, Cooperazione](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/cooperazione-allo-sviluppo/)).

## Have there been disputes?

The deadliest clash for Italy was the 2 July 1993 fight at Checkpoint Pasta in Mogadishu, where three Italian soldiers died ([Italian Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)). Two Italian paratroopers, Rossano Visioli and Giorgio Righetti, were killed in an ambush near the port on 15 September 1993 ([Italian Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missione_Ibis_II)).

## How many Somalis live in Italy?

On 1 January 2025, 9,262 Somali citizens were resident in Italy ([Tuttitalia, from ISTAT data](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)). Lazio had the most, 2,132, followed by Sicily with 1,471 ([Tuttitalia](https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/somalia/)). See [Italy (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Where does Italy stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Italy was the UN-appointed administering authority for the trust territory from 1950 to 1960 ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)). It sent personnel to UNOSOM II in 1993–1994 ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). Today it works mainly through the EU, leading EUTM Somalia ([Embassy of Italy](https://ambmogadiscio.esteri.it/it/italia-e-somalia/)).

## Related pages

- [The colonial treaties, 1884–1897](/en/history/colonial-treaties-1884-1897/)
- [The Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/)
- [Fascist rule and the war, 1923–1941](/en/history/fascist-rule-and-the-war-1923-1941/)
- [The UN trusteeship, 1950–1960](/en/history/un-trusteeship-1950-1960/)
- [UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Italy (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/italy/)


---

# Somalia and Japan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/japan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Japan works with Somalia mainly as an aid donor, through JICA and UN agencies, and covers the country from its embassy in Nairobi. Japan's humanitarian funding for Somalia peaked at US$51.4 million in 2013, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged US$40 million when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Tokyo in March 2014. Since 2009 Japan has also sent ships and aircraft against piracy off Somalia, based in Djibouti.

## How do Somalia and Japan relate today?

Japan's ties with Somalia are mostly about aid. JICA says it supports Somalia's government capacity, poverty reduction and people's livelihoods, working with neighbouring countries and international organisations ([JICA, Somalia](https://www.jica.go.jp/english/overseas/somalia/index.html)). JICA files its Somalia news under its Kenya office ([JICA, Somalia (Japanese)](https://www.jica.go.jp/overseas/somalia/index.html)).

Japan's humanitarian funding recorded by the UN was US$19.1 million in 2024 and US$5.4 million in 2025 ([OCHA FTS, 2024](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2024&groupby=organization); [2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

## When did contact begin?

Japan and Somalia had diplomatic relations before the Somali state collapsed. Somalia opened an embassy in Tokyo in 1982 and closed it in 1990 ([Wikipedia, Japan–Somalia relations, citing Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

After the Federal Government was formed in 2012, Japan resumed direct assistance ([JICA, Somalia](https://www.jica.go.jp/english/overseas/somalia/index.html)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Japan's ambassador to Somalia has been based in Nairobi. Tatsushi Terada succeeded Atoshisa Takata and presented his credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu in January 2014 ([Wikipedia, Japan–Somalia relations, citing Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). Fuller lists of Japanese and Somali envoys were not found in records that could be opened for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Shinzo Abe**, prime minister, met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Tokyo in March 2014 and announced a US$40 million package for humanitarian needs, rebuilding the police and creating jobs ([Horseed Media, 13 March 2014](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/13/japan-pledges-40m-humanitarian-assistance-somalia/)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, president, asked Japan in the same visit for help with vocational training, fisheries and farm infrastructure, ICT and maritime training ([Horseed Media](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/13/japan-pledges-40m-humanitarian-assistance-somalia/)).
- **Tatsushi Terada**, ambassador, presented credentials in Mogadishu in January 2014 ([Wikipedia, citing Somali Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **JICA** in March 2022 invited senior Somali officials to northern Uganda to learn from that region's recovery ([JICA, Somalia (Japanese)](https://www.jica.go.jp/overseas/somalia/index.html)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty was found in records that could be opened for this page. Japan's aid is given through project agreements with JICA and through UN agencies ([JICA, Somalia](https://www.jica.go.jp/english/overseas/somalia/index.html)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **March 2014:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made an official visit to Tokyo and held talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ([Horseed Media](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/13/japan-pledges-40m-humanitarian-assistance-somalia/)).

No visit by a Japanese prime minister or foreign minister to Somalia was found.

## How much do they trade?

No reliable bilateral trade figures were found in sources that could be opened for this page.

## How much aid and money has gone in?

By March 2014 Japan had given about US$300 million to Somalia since 2007, of which US$60 million was for security ([Horseed Media, 13 March 2014](http://horseedmedia.net/2014/03/13/japan-pledges-40m-humanitarian-assistance-somalia/)).

JICA's own figures ([JICA, country data, Somalia](https://www.jica.go.jp/overseas/n_files/somalia.pdf)):

- **Technical cooperation in fiscal 2023:** ¥161 million.
- **Technical cooperation since 1954:** ¥2.036 billion in total.
- **Trainees:** 58 new in 2023, and 370 in all.
- **Japanese experts:** 57 in all.

JICA projects include training to help young people and vulnerable groups find jobs and start businesses ([JICA, Somalia (Japanese)](https://www.jica.go.jp/overseas/somalia/index.html)).

Japan's humanitarian funding to Somalia recorded by the UN's Financial Tracking Service:

- **2008:** US$12.7 million ([OCHA FTS, 2008](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2008&groupby=organization)).
- **2011:** US$39.7 million ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011&groupby=organization)).
- **2013:** US$51.4 million, the highest year ([OCHA FTS, 2013](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2013&groupby=organization)).
- **2017:** US$29.8 million ([OCHA FTS, 2017](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2017&groupby=organization)).
- **2022:** US$27.1 million ([OCHA FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2022&groupby=organization)).
- **2024:** US$19.1 million ([OCHA FTS, 2024](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2024&groupby=organization)).
- **2025:** US$5.4 million ([OCHA FTS, 2025](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025&groupby=organization)).

## What about security?

Japan's security role is at sea. In June 2009 it sent a unit of about 150 personnel with two P-3C patrol aircraft to Djibouti for anti-piracy work off Somalia ([Akahata, 3 November 2010](https://www.japan-press.co.jp/2010/2694/politics1.html)). Japan then built its first overseas Self-Defense Force facility next to Djibouti airport, on 12 hectares, at a cost of ¥4.7 billion, with completion planned for March 2011 ([Akahata](https://www.japan-press.co.jp/2010/2694/politics1.html)).

See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Japan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

No Japanese office, agreement or statement on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states was found in sources that could be opened for this page. Japan's aid is channelled through the federal government, UN agencies and JICA ([JICA, Somalia](https://www.jica.go.jp/english/overseas/somalia/index.html)).

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources used. In Japan, a Communist Party councillor argued in 2010 that the Djibouti base breached Japan's constitution ([Akahata, 3 November 2010](https://www.japan-press.co.jp/2010/2694/politics1.html)).

## How many Somalis live in Japan?

No official count of Somalis in Japan was found.

## Where does Japan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Japan works with the UN and other donors on Somalia; much of its aid is given through international organisations ([JICA, Somalia](https://www.jica.go.jp/english/overseas/somalia/index.html)). Its naval and air patrols are part of the international anti-piracy effort in the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) ([Akahata, 2010](https://www.japan-press.co.jp/2010/2694/politics1.html)).

## Related pages

- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Somalia and China](/en/relations/china/)


---

# Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/justice-and-solidarity-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) is the party of Somalia's President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. He launched it in Mogadishu on 13 May 2025, ahead of the planned move to one-person-one-vote elections. By April 2026 it reported more than one million online registrations and about 197,000 active members. It won the most seats in every direct local and state vote held in 2025 and 2026.

## What is the JSP?

The [Justice and Solidarity Party](/en/institutions/politics-of-somalia/) is Somalia's ruling party. Its Somali name is *Xisbiga Cadaaladda iyo Wadajirka*. Some outlets translate it as the "Justice and Unity Party" ([AllAfrica, 14 May 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202505140443.html)).

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched it in Mogadishu on 13 May 2025. He became party leader and its candidate for the next presidential election ([Garowe Online, May 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/analysis-power-consolidation-somalia-s-hassan-sheikh-launches-party-before-2026-vote)). It is his third party, after the Peace and Development Party of 2011 and the Union for Peace and Development of 2018. See [Union for Peace and Development](/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/).

## Who is in it?

At the launch, the party set up a leadership council with a leader, four deputy leaders and a secretary general ([Goobjoog News](https://en.goobjoog.com/fgs-fms-political-heavyweights-take-key-posts-as-president-mohamud-unveils-news-party)). Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) attended and became deputy chairman (same source). [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that federal and state leaders took key posts.

Garowe Online described the party as a merger of political groups allied to the leaders of South West, [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) and [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/). Teams from [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) were not part of it ([Garowe Online, May 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/analysis-power-consolidation-somalia-s-hassan-sheikh-launches-party-before-2026-vote)).

**Leadership changes in 2026**
- **March 2026:** Secretary-General Odawaa resigned, citing a "deepening breakdown in leadership" ([Dawan Africa, 26 Apr 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/leadership-reshuffle-in-somalias-ruling-justice-and-solidarity-party)).
- **April 2026:** Hussein [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Mohamud, a former senator and the President's adviser on constitutional affairs, became Secretary-General. MP Hussein Mohamed Noor "Dhagaweyne" became Deputy Secretary-General (same source).

## How many members does it have?

The party began signing up members in December 2024, before its formal launch ([Dawan Africa, 26 Apr 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-ruling-party-targets-2-million-members)). In April 2026 its Secretary-General gave these figures (same source):

- **Online registrations:** 1,032,727.
- **Active members:** more than 197,000.
- **By region:** South West had the most sign-ups, then Banadir, Hirshabelle and Galmudug. Puntland and Jubaland had small numbers.
- **Target:** two million members.

He said: "This shows we have strong public support and trust, and that we can lead one-person, one-vote elections" (same source).

## How has it done in elections?

Parties must register with the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission under the Political Parties law of November 2024 ([SONNA, Nov 2024](https://sonna.so/en/parliament-approves-political-parties-and-unions-federal-government-of-somalia-act/)). The JSP won the most seats in each direct vote held in 2025 and 2026:

- **Mogadishu (Banadir) district councils, 25 December 2025:** 177 of 390 seats, ahead of Towfiiq (49) and Ramaas (42). Twenty parties stood ([Dawan Africa, Apr 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-banadir-region-swears-in-390-local-councillors)). Key opposition parties boycotted the vote ([Hornreview, 25 Dec 2025](https://hornreview.org/2025/12/25/somalias-elections-first-direct-vote-in-decades-sparks-tension-hope/)).
- **South West local councils, May 2026:** 148 of 297 seats ([Dawan Africa, 14 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/hassan-sheikhs-party-wins-majority-seats-in-south-west-state-council-elections)).
- **Galmudug assembly rerun, 30 September 2026:** 67 of 89 seats ([Dawan Africa, 2 Oct 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/justice-and-solidarity-party-wins-big-in-galmudug-re-run-election)). The Supreme Court had annulled the first vote of 30 July on 24 August 2026 ([Dawan Africa, Aug 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-supreme-court-annuls-galmudug-elections)), and the party said it would accept the rerun ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-ruling-jsp-to-accept-galmudug-vote-rerun-after-supreme-court-annulment)).
- **Hirshabelle assembly, 30 September 2026:** 78 of 99 seats, and 158 of 222 local council seats ([Dawan Africa, 3 Oct 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/justice-and-solidarity-party-wins-78-seats-in-hirshabelle-assembly-election)).

See [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/) for every vote.

## What have critics said?

- **Puntland:** its President, [Said Abdullahi Deni](/en/people/said-abdullahi-deni/), called the party a "power grab" and a threat to the federal system ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/puntland-calls-somali-president-s-new-political-party-a-power-grab-and-a-threat-to-federal-system)).
- **Opposition:** opposition leaders said the party undermined unity and federalism ([Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/english-news/289197/somali-opposition-accuses-president-hassan-sheikh-of-undermining-unity-federalism-through-new-political-party)).
- **Centralisation:** critics quoted by Horseed Media said it could concentrate power in Mogadishu ([Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/somalia-president-mohamuds-new-party-could-centralise-power-critics-warn/405410/)).
- **Supporters:** a federal minister called the launch "a milestone for democracy" ([Halqabsi, May 2025](https://halqabsi.com/2025/05/minister-daud-hails-launch-of-justice-and-solidarity-party-as-milestone-for-democracy)).

## Related pages

- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/)
- [Tayo](/en/government/tayo-party/)


---

# K50 airstrip, Lower Shabelle

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> K50 is a sand airstrip about 50 km south-west of Mogadishu, named after the kilometre post on the main road. From 2007 to about 2011, while Mogadishu's airport was unsafe, it was the capital's main airport, used by Daallo Airlines and others. It has one 1,850-metre compacted-sand runway.

## Where and what

K50 lies in the [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) region beside the main road that runs south-west from Mogadishu. Its name comes from its place on that road, at about kilometre 50 from the capital ([Wikipedia, K50 Airstrip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K50_Airstrip)). OurAirports places it at 2.005° N, 44.987° E, about 100 feet (30 metres) above sea level, and lists it under the local identifier SO-0001 ([OurAirports, SO-0001](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0001/)).

## The runway

The airstrip has one runway, 04/22, with a compacted sand surface 1,850 metres long and 20 metres wide (6,070 by 66 feet) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K50_Airstrip), citing the [Logistics Cluster airfield specification sheet](https://web.archive.org/web/20131103072955/http://www.logcluster.org/ops/som/air-transport/airfield-specifications/K50%20without%20FC.pdf)). That length suits turboprops and small jets on a dry surface; it has no paved surface and no lighting listed in these sources.

## Mogadishu's airport in wartime

During the 2006 to 2009 war, and the fighting in Mogadishu that followed, [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) in the city was closed or too risky for many flights. Wikipedia's article on that airport records that from 2008 most civilian aircraft chose to land at and depart from K50 instead, until the security situation in the capital improved in late 2010 and 2011 ([Wikipedia, Aden Adde International Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Adde_International_Airport)). The Somali-owned, Dubai-based [Daallo Airlines](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) flew to and from K50 in that period ([Wikipedia, K50 Airstrip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K50_Airstrip)). Passengers and goods then travelled the 50 km into the city by road.

The strip is also used for aid flights. The United Nations Logistics Cluster, which coordinates humanitarian transport, published its specification sheet so that aid operators could plan landings ([Logistics Cluster](https://web.archive.org/web/20131103072955/http://www.logcluster.org/ops/som/air-transport/airfield-specifications/K50%20without%20FC.pdf)). A 2015 United Nations Security Council report also refers to the airstrip ([UN Digital Library, S/2015/801](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/808014/files/S_2015_801-AR.pdf)).

## Nearby fields

- [Baledogle airfield](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/), the large military base about 90 km north-west of Mogadishu.
- [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/), Mogadishu's main airport since the 1920s.
- [New Mogadishu International Airport](/en/infrastructure/new-mogadishu-international-airport/), planned north-east of the city.


---

# Railways in Somalia: the Mogadishu–Jowhar line and the Italian decauvilles

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/railways-in-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's only main railway ran 114 km from Mogadishu through Afgooye to Villabruzzi (Jowhar), built by Italy between 1914 and 1928 on 950 mm track. In 1930 it carried 19,359 passengers and 43,467 tonnes of goods, mostly bananas, cotton and coffee. Small 600 mm lines ran to Genale and toward the Ethiopian border. British troops dismantled the system in 1941, and Somalia has had no railway since.

## The main line: Mogadishu to Jowhar

The **Ferrovia Mogadiscio-Villabruzzi** was built by the colonial government of [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/). The first stretch, around Mogadishu, dates from 1914; it reached **Afgooye** in 1924. Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, then had it extended to the farming villages he was developing on the Shabelle river, and the 114 km line reached **Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi**, "Villabruzzi", today's **Jowhar**, in 1927–28 ([Wikipedia, Mogadishu–Villabruzzi Railway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu–Villabruzzi_Railway); [Wikipedia, Rail transport in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Somalia)). An earlier plan to run the line to [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) was dropped for lack of money after the First World War (same sources).

- **Track:** single line, 950 mm narrow gauge, the gauge set by an Italian law of 1879 for minor railways.
- **Operator:** Ferrovie Somale, a government company.
- **Engines:** Breda 0-4-0 shunting tank engines built 1927–1937, Ansaldo Mallet engines of 1915 and 1938, and Fiat TIBB diesel railcars; small carriages were built in Mogadishu in 1930 with a top speed of 70 km/h (same sources; [TrainWeb, TIBB diesels](http://www.trainweb.org/eritrean/scrapbook/what/motive_power/tibb-diesels.html)).
- **Stations:** apart from Mogadishu, stations were simple, often wooden, with no passenger buildings. Wikidata records stations at Mogadishu and Afgooye ([Wikidata, Afgoi station](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q136709673); [Wikidata, Mogadishu station](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108079714)).

## What it carried

In 1930 the line carried **19,359 passengers**, tourists among them, and **43,467 tonnes** of goods, earning 1,591,527 Somali lire. Most freight was bananas, cotton and coffee from the Jowhar plantations, shipped abroad through the [Port of Mogadishu](/en/infrastructure/port-of-mogadishu/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu–Villabruzzi_Railway)). A 1935 film shows Jowhar cotton moving by rail ([YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO51TZYBCkA)). See [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/) and [Farming and harvests](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).

## The small lines

- **Genale–Afgooye:** a 46 km, 600 mm "decauville" line built in 1924 by the Società Agricola Italo Somala (SAIS) to carry sugar cane from its Genale plantations to the main line ([Wikipedia, Rail transport in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Somalia)).
- **Toward Ethiopia:** a 600 mm line from Bivio Adalei on the main line, built in sections from 1928 to 1936 as far as Buulobarde (130 km), then extended about 150 km by the Italian army in 1940 to Ferfer near the Ethiopian border. Somali troops of the colonial army's First and Second Somali divisions helped build it. It carried supplies for the 1935–36 invasion of Ethiopia and later served farms (same source).
- **[Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/):** a small decauville served the Dante salt works at Xaafuun in the north-east (same source).

In 1939 Mussolini planned a railway from Mogadishu to Addis Ababa, but only the road, the "Strada Imperiale", was built before Italy lost its empire ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu–Villabruzzi_Railway)).

## Dismantled in 1941

British forces occupying Italian East Africa took up the railway in 1941. Apart from a few tracks inside Mogadishu harbour it never ran again. In 1942 some diesel locomotives were moved to Eritrea for the Massawa–Asmara line, and parts of Mogadishu station were sent to India ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu–Villabruzzi_Railway); [Wikipedia, Rail transport in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Somalia)). In the 1980s President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) proposed bringing the line back, but the plan ended when his government fell in 1991 (same source).

## Related

- [Ethiopia–Djibouti railways](/en/infrastructure/ethiopia-djibouti-railways/), the railways nearest to Somalia today
- [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) and [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/)


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia, from land snails to sea shells such as cowries and cone snails. This page lists the 509 in families whose names begin with A to L.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 509 snail (families A to L) species with Somalia as the country, in 59 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Conidae: 110
- Cypraeidae: 76
- Cymatiidae: 26
- Fasciolariidae: 25
- Cerithiidae: 24
- Cerastidae: 22
- Cassidae: 18
- Atlantidae: 15
- Achatinidae: 15
- Bursidae: 14

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Naria marginalis (95), *Pila speciosa* (25), *Conasprella bozzettii* (22), *Zebrinops revoili* (20), Red Sea cowrie (18), *[Atlanta](/en/diaspora/atlanta-clarkston/) frontieri* (16) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

222 of the 509 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

8 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Atlanta gaudichaudi*, *Jubaia excentrica*, *Kanamarua somalica*, *Zafrona somalica*, *Conasprella somalica*, *Fusinus somaliensis*, *Cerastus somaliensis*, *Granopupa somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Vulnerable: *Conus ardisiaceus* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

Families M to Z are on [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families M to Z](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 1
- Near Threatened (NT): 1
- Least Concern (LC): 104
- Data Deficient (DD): 10
- Not Evaluated (NE): 393

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Conidae: 110 species
- Cypraeidae: 76 species
- Cymatiidae: 26 species
- Fasciolariidae: 25 species
- Cerithiidae: 24 species
- Cerastidae: 22 species
- Cassidae: 18 species
- Atlantidae: 15 species
- Achatinidae: 15 species
- Bursidae: 14 species

## Full list (509 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/) · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/) · [4](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Brownisca stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10224103) | *Brownisca stefaninii* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Homorus erlangeri](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) | *Homorus erlangeri* | Achatinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Homorus garamulatae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8963205) | *Homorus garamulatae* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Limicolaria erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9039431) | *Limicolaria erlangeri* | Achatinidae | NE | 8 |
| [Limicolaria kambeul](https://www.gbif.org/species/10017933) | *Limicolaria kambeul* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Limicolaria martensiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9214446) | *Limicolaria martensiana* | Achatinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Limicolaria perelongata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9995988) | *Limicolaria perelongata* | Achatinidae | NE | 7 |
| [Limicolariopsis donaldsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/10540540) | *Limicolariopsis donaldsoni* | Achatinidae | NE | 12 |
| [Giant African snail, East African Land Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/8790531) | *Lissachatina fulica* | Achatinidae | NE | 15 |
| [Lissachatina johnstoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/11092657) | *Lissachatina johnstoni* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lissachatina lactea](https://www.gbif.org/species/10849765) | *Lissachatina lactea* | Achatinidae | NE | 7 |
| [Lissachatina reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10715627) | *Lissachatina reticulata* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Decollate Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2294129) | *Rumina decollata* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Subulina perlucida](https://www.gbif.org/species/11183578) | *Subulina perlucida* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zootecus insularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8718771) | *Zootecus insularis* | Achatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lanistes boltenianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7439344) | *Lanistes boltenianus* | Ampullariidae | NE | 14 |
| [Lanistes ovum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9612497) | *Lanistes ovum* | Ampullariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lanistes purpureus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5783789) | *Lanistes purpureus* | Ampullariidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pila ovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5783760) | *Pila ovata* | Ampullariidae | LC | 3 |
| [Pila speciosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5783764) | *Pila speciosa* | Ampullariidae | DD | 25 |
| [large African apple snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5783751) | *Pila wernei* | Ampullariidae | LC | 2 |
| [Ampullina coxi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9266764) | *Ampullina coxi* | Ampullinidae | NE | 5 |
| [Nerita hemisphaerica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9455104) | *Nerita hemisphaerica* | Ampullinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phasianella oweni](https://www.gbif.org/species/9626595) | *Phasianella oweni* | Ampullinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Ancilla acuminata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727871) | *Ancilla acuminata* | Ancillariidae | NE | 2 |
| [chestnut ancilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727872) | *Ancilla castanea* | Ancillariidae | NE | 2 |
| [cinnamon ancilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727868) | *Ancilla cinnamomea* | Ancillariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ancilla djiboutina](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502046) | *Ancilla djiboutina* | Ancillariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ancilla exigua](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502047) | *Ancilla exigua* | Ancillariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ancilla ovalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502022) | *Ancilla ovalis* | Ancillariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ancilla sarda](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502042) | *Ancilla sarda* | Ancillariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ancilla ventricosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727876) | *Ancilla ventricosa* | Ancillariidae | NE | 13 |
| [Anolacia aperta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502110) | *Anolacia aperta* | Ancillariidae | NE | 6 |
| [Anolacia bozzettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502109) | *Anolacia bozzettii* | Ancillariidae | NE | 8 |
| [Anolacia mauritiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502107) | *Anolacia mauritiana* | Ancillariidae | NE | 8 |
| [Actaeonina striata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9555573) | *Actaeonina striata* | Aplustridae | NE | 2 |
| [Candy stripe bubble snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/6516419) | *Bullina oblonga* | Aplustridae | NE | 1 |
| [Aplysia parvula](https://www.gbif.org/species/8614709) | *Aplysia parvula* | Aplysiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anvil Sea Hare](https://www.gbif.org/species/4359297) | *Dolabella auricularia* | Aplysiidae | NE | 1 |
| [longtail seacat](https://www.gbif.org/species/2297318) | *Stylocheilus longicauda* | Aplysiidae | NE | 1 |
| [smooth sundial](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358654) | *Architectonica laevigata* | Architectonicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clear Sundial Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/2298137) | *Architectonica perspectiva* | Architectonicidae | NE | 7 |
| [Heliacus areola](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358652) | *Heliacus areola* | Architectonicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heliacus implexus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358638) | *Heliacus implexus* | Architectonicidae | NE | 1 |
| [channeled sundial](https://www.gbif.org/species/2298098) | *Heliacus infundibuliformis* | Architectonicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heliacus trochoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4611767) | *Heliacus trochoides* | Architectonicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Psilaxis radiatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4611716) | *Psilaxis radiatus* | Architectonicidae | NE | 8 |
| [Eussoia aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5784083) | *Eussoia aethiopica* | Assimineidae | DD | 4 |
| [Atlanta brunnea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301374) | *Atlanta brunnea* | Atlantidae | NE | 2 |
| [Atlanta echinogyra](https://www.gbif.org/species/6490128) | *Atlanta echinogyra* | Atlantidae | NE | 9 |
| [Atlanta frontieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6490131) | *Atlanta frontieri* | Atlantidae | NE | 16 |
| [Atlanta gaudichaudi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7589019) | *Atlanta gaudichaudi* | Atlantidae | NE | 3 |
| [Atlanta gibbosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6490134) | *Atlanta gibbosa* | Atlantidae | NE | 11 |
| [Atlanta helicinoidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301378) | *Atlanta helicinoidea* | Atlantidae | NE | 5 |
| [Inclined Atlanta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301383) | *Atlanta inclinata* | Atlantidae | NE | 10 |
| [Atlanta inflata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8387489) | *Atlanta inflata* | Atlantidae | NE | 5 |
| [Atlanta lesueurii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301369) | *Atlanta lesueurii* | Atlantidae | NE | 12 |
| [Atlanta meteori](https://www.gbif.org/species/6490132) | *Atlanta meteori* | Atlantidae | NE | 7 |
| [Atlanta oligogyra](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361182) | *Atlanta oligogyra* | Atlantidae | NE | 7 |
| [Peron's Atlanta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301372) | *Atlanta peronii* | Atlantidae | NE | 1 |
| [Atlanta plana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6490130) | *Atlanta plana* | Atlantidae | NE | 6 |
| [Atlanta selvagensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361184) | *Atlanta selvagensis* | Atlantidae | NE | 2 |
| [Atlanta turriculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301376) | *Atlanta turriculata* | Atlantidae | NE | 7 |
| [Spiral Babylon Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4601537) | *Babylonia spirata* | Babyloniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Babylonia valentiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125762) | *Babylonia valentiana* | Babyloniidae | NE | 16 |
| [Batillaria sordida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857753) | *Batillaria sordida* | Batillariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gabbiella parvipila](https://www.gbif.org/species/5784148) | *Gabbiella parvipila* | Bithyniidae | LC | 5 |
| [Jubaia excentrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5784161) | *Jubaia excentrica* | Bithyniidae | DD | 7 |
| [Bathytoma fissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511699) | *Bathytoma fissa* | Borsoniidae | NE | 5 |
| [Bathytoma oldhami](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511682) | *Bathytoma oldhami* | Borsoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Borsonia ochracea](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511783) | *Borsonia ochracea* | Borsoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Drilliola reevii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11534836) | *Drilliola reevii* | Borsoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bulinus abyssinicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6874872) | *Bulinus abyssinicus* | Bulinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bulinus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6874846) | *Bulinus africanus* | Bulinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bulinus (Pyrgophysa) forskalii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724433) | *Bulinus forskalii* | Bulinidae | LC | 2 |
| [Bulinus truncatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7695428) | *Bulinus truncatus* | Bulinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Bottle Bulla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5189990) | *Bulla ampulla* | Bullidae | NE | 5 |
| [Bulla macfadyeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8546775) | *Bulla macfadyeni* | Bullidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bufonaria foliata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796828) | *Bufonaria foliata* | Bursidae | NE | 7 |
| [Bursa bufonia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5192162) | *Bursa bufonia* | Bursidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bursa davidboschi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488326) | *Bursa davidboschi* | Bursidae | NE | 6 |
| [Bursa humilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796812) | *Bursa humilis* | Bursidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bursa rosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724869) | *Bursa rosa* | Bursidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bursa tuberosissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126448) | *Bursa tuberosissima* | Bursidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bursina fernandesi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488316) | *Bursina fernandesi* | Bursidae | NE | 16 |
| [Granular Frog Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/11155573) | *Dulcerana granularis* | Bursidae | NE | 3 |
| [Korrigania awatii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11115844) | *Korrigania awatii* | Bursidae | NE | 13 |
| [Wine-mouth Frog shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/11114460) | *Lampasopsis rhodostoma* | Bursidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fine-Sculpted Frogsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/11193468) | *Tritonoranella ranelloides* | Bursidae | NE | 3 |
| [Tutufa bardeyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488389) | *Tutufa bardeyi* | Bursidae | NE | 3 |
| [giant frogsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2299283) | *Tutufa bubo* | Bursidae | NE | 7 |
| [Tutufa bufo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2299282) | *Tutufa bufo* | Bursidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bythinella pupoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4560996) | *Bythinella pupoides* | Bythinellidae | LC | 1 |
| [Calliostoma chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6515310) | *Calliostoma chuni* | Calliostomatidae | NE | 3 |
| [Calliostoma scotti](https://www.gbif.org/species/6515270) | *Calliostoma scotti* | Calliostomatidae | NE | 3 |
| [Calliostoma sublaeve](https://www.gbif.org/species/6515178) | *Calliostoma sublaeve* | Calliostomatidae | NE | 5 |
| [Maurea delli](https://www.gbif.org/species/9128237) | *Maurea delli* | Calliostomatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calliotropis patula](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514154) | *Calliotropis patula* | Calliotropidae | NE | 1 |
| [Walsh's White Slipper Limpet](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126173) | *Ergaea walshi* | Calyptraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cancellicula aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857326) | *Cancellicula aethiopica* | Cancellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mericella bozzettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498232) | *Mericella bozzettii* | Cancellariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Nipponaphera quasilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/6497990) | *Nipponaphera quasilla* | Cancellariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scalptia hystrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498087) | *Scalptia hystrix* | Cancellariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Scalptia nassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498090) | *Scalptia nassa* | Cancellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scalptia scalarina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4960523) | *Scalptia scalarina* | Cancellariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trigonaphera dekkeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/10262659) | *Trigonaphera dekkeri* | Cancellariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Casmaria beui](https://www.gbif.org/species/7863088) | *Casmaria beui* | Cassidae | NE | 15 |
| [Casmaria erinaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360472) | *Casmaria erinaceus* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cassidaria desori](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963188) | *Cassidaria desori* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cassis aegyptiaca](https://www.gbif.org/species/9394086) | *Cassis aegyptiaca* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cassis mamillaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5935438) | *Cassis mamillaris* | Cassidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cassis retusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5935441) | *Cassis retusa* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [bull mouth helmet](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360476) | *Cypraecassis rufa* | Cassidae | NE | 7 |
| [Valdivia bonnet snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963162) | *Echinophoria bituberculosa* | Cassidae | NE | 13 |
| [Alcock's false tun](https://www.gbif.org/species/6487979) | *Galeodea alcocki* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Galeodea keyteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6487990) | *Galeodea keyteri* | Cassidae | NE | 9 |
| [Checkerboard Bonnet Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4613541) | *Phalium areola* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grey Bonnet Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360463) | *Phalium glaucum* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Semicassis bisulcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4613505) | *Semicassis bisulcata* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Semicassis faurotis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488056) | *Semicassis faurotis* | Cassidae | NE | 9 |
| [Semicassis fernandesi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9287678) | *Semicassis fernandesi* | Cassidae | NE | 5 |
| [Semicassis glabrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488052) | *Semicassis glabrata* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [grooved helmet](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488062) | *Semicassis granulata* | Cassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Semicassis microstoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488058) | *Semicassis microstoma* | Cassidae | NE | 7 |
| [Cerastus achatinoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/8906268) | *Cerastus achatinoides* | Cerastidae | NE | 5 |
| [Cerastus boothi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8977732) | *Cerastus boothi* | Cerastidae | NE | 7 |
| [Cerastus ellerbecki](https://www.gbif.org/species/8735003) | *Cerastus ellerbecki* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerastus featheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/10778326) | *Cerastus featheri* | Cerastidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerastus putealis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8862073) | *Cerastus putealis* | Cerastidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerastus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11220334) | *Cerastus somaliensis* | Cerastidae | NE | 10 |
| [Euryptyxis candida](https://www.gbif.org/species/10863692) | *Euryptyxis candida* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euryptyxis labiosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/10780835) | *Euryptyxis labiosa* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euryptyxis maunoiriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/11172192) | *Euryptyxis maunoiriana* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euryptyxis pauli](https://www.gbif.org/species/11147622) | *Euryptyxis pauli* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euryptyxis revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/11194273) | *Euryptyxis revoili* | Cerastidae | NE | 7 |
| [Conicial Barksnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/9769812) | *Gittenedouardia conulus* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rachis pachistoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/10226239) | *Rachis pachistoma* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rachis punctata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9791662) | *Rachis punctata* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rachis venusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7541756) | *Rachis venusta* | Cerastidae | NE | 3 |
| [Rhachistia erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/11189855) | *Rhachistia erlangeri* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhachistia ganalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11128123) | *Rhachistia ganalensis* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhachistia rorkorensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11170037) | *Rhachistia rorkorensis* | Cerastidae | NE | 2 |
| [Zebrinops albata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10793446) | *Zebrinops albata* | Cerastidae | NE | 2 |
| [Zebrinops maunoiriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/11164127) | *Zebrinops maunoiriana* | Cerastidae | NE | 2 |
| [Zebrinops rabaudi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11112092) | *Zebrinops rabaudi* | Cerastidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zebrinops revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/10751818) | *Zebrinops revoili* | Cerastidae | NE | 20 |
| [Bittium elegantissimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4609052) | *Bittium elegantissimum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bittium glareosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362823) | *Bittium glareosum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium adansonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4609176) | *Cerithium adansonii* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/) · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/) · [4](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somali takaful companies: FISO, Takaful Africa and the licensed insurers

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somali-takaful-companies/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Takaful is Islamic insurance, in which members pool money to cover each other's losses. Somalia had no working insurance company for more than 20 years after 1991. Takaful Africa, founded in Kenya, opened in Somalia in mid-2013, and First Somali Takaful (FISO) opened in Mogadishu in December 2014. In November 2026 the Central Bank of Somalia listed 8 licensed takaful operators, and FISO's chairman said in May 2026 that Somalia's insurance law was signed in 2025.

## The short version

Takaful is a form of insurance that follows Islamic rules: members pay into a shared fund, which pays out when one of them has a loss, instead of buying a policy from a company. After 1991 Somalia had no working insurance company for more than twenty years ([Wikipedia, Islamic Insurance Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Insurance_Company)). Since 2013 a small number of takaful companies have opened, and the Central Bank of Somalia now licenses them.

## Takaful Africa

## FISO (First Somali Takaful)

First Somali Takaful Insurance, known as FISO and listed on Wikipedia as the Islamic Insurance Company, opened in Mogadishu in December 2014 as the first full-service insurer in Somalia in more than 20 years. It offers life, vehicle and property cover ([Wikipedia, Islamic Insurance Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Insurance_Company)). In a May 2026 interview its chairman and founder, Mohamed Abdi, known as M. Takaful, said many people first thought insurance would not work in Somalia. He said FISO now covers motor, travel, marine and cargo, engineering, health and farming risks, that seven insurers were working in Somalia and had formed an association, and that the country's insurance law, drafted from 2018, was signed in 2025 ([Dawan Africa, 16 May 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/fiso-chairman-reflects-on-reviving-insurance-in-somalia)).

## Licensed takaful operators

In November 2026 the Central Bank of Somalia's register listed 8 takaful operators: Amanah Insurance, Baraka Takaful, FISO Insurance, Kobciye Insurance, Salmastar Insurance, Takaaful Africa, Tamini Insurance and Wadaag Insurance of Hargeisa ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed takaful operators](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-takaful-operators/)).

## Related

- [Somali banks, insurers and microfinance firms: directory](/en/businesses/banks-insurers-and-microfinance-directory/)
- [Islamic finance, microfinance and takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/)


---

# Somaliland's election laws, 2001 to 2020

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/somaliland-elections-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland's elections are run under the Elections and Voter Registration Law, Law No. 19/2020, which came into force when it was gazetted on 19 October 2020. It replaced four earlier laws: the Presidential and Local Councils Elections Law (No. 20/2001), the House of Representatives Election Law (No. 20-2/2005), the Voter Registration Law (No. 37/2007) and their amendments. The first vote under the 2020 law was the joint parliamentary and local election of 31 May 2021.

## Which law governs elections in Somaliland today?

The **Elections and Voter Registration Law**, Law No. 19/2020, in Somali *Xeerka Doorashooyinka iyo Diiwaangelinta Cod-bixiyaasha*. It came into force when it was gazetted on **19 October 2020** ([Somalilandlaw.com, Electoral Laws](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)). It covers, in one text:

- elections of the President and Vice-President;
- elections of the 82-member House of Representatives;
- elections of district councils across the country; and
- voter registration.

The first vote under it was the combined House of Representatives and local council election of **31 May 2021** (same source). The National Electoral Commission issued codes of conduct for parties (No. 04/2021) and for the media under it (same source). For the results, see [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

The House of Elders ([Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)) is not elected under this law. Its members are chosen by other means, and bills on Guurti selection have been debated for years ([Somalilandlaw.com](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)).

## Which laws did it replace?

Three laws were repealed in October 2020 (same source):

1. **Presidential and Local Councils Elections Law, No. 20/2001.** It ran the 2002 and 2012 local elections and the 2003, 2010 and 2017 presidential elections. It was amended in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and a sixth amendment schedule was gazetted on 4 February 2017. The government published a consolidated text in Supplement 1 of the Official Gazette on 1 April 2017.
2. **House of Representatives Election Law, No. 20-2/2005.** It governed the direct election of the 82 MPs in September 2005.
3. **Voter Registration Law, No. 37/2007,** with amendments in 2008 and later, and its regulations.

## What changed along the way?

From the notes kept by Somalilandlaw.com ([Electoral Laws](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)):

- **December 2011:** a presidential decree of 13 December 2011 brought in **open lists** for local council elections, in place of closed party lists. The same change lowered the minimum age for district council candidates **from 35 to 25**.
- **2012:** a bill on reserved seats for women and for minority groups excluded by birth or descent was put to the House.
- **2017:** on 20 June 2017 the President set polling day for 13 November 2017 by decree, after the Commission confirmed the date. The vote had been delayed by more than two years, the last delay because of drought.

## How were the 2017 results confirmed?

Under the 2001 law the Commission announced provisional results on 21 November 2017: Kulmiye 305,909 (55.1 percent), Waddani 226,092 (40.73 percent) and [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) 23,141. The Supreme Court received no complaints and confirmed the results on 28 November 2017. Results were annulled at 5 of the 1,642 polling stations, and no vote took place at 4 stations in the far east ([Somalilandlaw.com](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)).

An international observer mission of 60 observers from 27 countries visited 355 polling stations, 22 percent of the total. It reported "a largely peaceful and well-organised polling day", with irregularities "not of sufficient scale to have impacted the final result" (same source, quoting the mission report of 14 March 2018).

## What about political parties?

The number of parties is set by the constitution, at three. Parties and new political associations are regulated by the Regulation of Political Parties and Associations Law, No. 14/2011, signed on 23 August 2011 ([Somalilandlaw.com, Somaliland Legislation](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)). See [Waddani](/en/government/waddani-party/), [Kulmiye](/en/government/kulmiye-party/) and [Kaah](/en/government/kaah-party/).

## Related pages

- [Laws of Somaliland](/en/government/laws-of-somaliland/)
- [The 2024 Somaliland presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2024/)


---

# Somaliland passport

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/somaliland-passport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland has issued its own passport since 1996, and a biometric version since 2014. It is issued only to Somaliland citizens, defined by a 2002 law as people living in the territory before 26 June 1960 and their descendants through the father. In 2021 a Norwegian government report listed about eight countries that accepted it; in August 2026 Somaliland Chronicle listed about a dozen, including Israel since December 2025. Many Somalilanders also hold a Somali passport.

## What is the Somaliland passport?

It is the travel document issued by the government in Hargeisa to citizens of Somaliland. The first passports were issued in 1996, and a biometric e-passport followed in 2014 ([BBC Somali, 6 Sep 2014](https://www.bbc.com/somali/maqal_iyo_muuqaal/2014/09/140914_somaliland_e_pasport); [Wikipedia, Somaliland passport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_passport)).

The cover is black and carries the Somaliland emblem, with "Republic of Somaliland" and "Passport" in Somali, Arabic and English. The country code printed in it is RSL. That code is not on the international ISO list of country codes, which limits where machines can read it (same source).

The issuing body is Somaliland Immigration and Border Control, under the Ministry of Interior ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Immigration and Border Control](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Immigration_and_Border_Control)).

## Who can get one?

Only Somaliland citizens. Article 2 of Somaliland's Citizenship Law of 2002 defines citizens as people who lived in the territory before 26 June 1960, the day [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) became independent, and their descendants through the father ([Landinfo, Norway, 30 Sep 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061777/Respons-Somalia-Soknad-om-pass-i-Somaliland-30092021.pdf)). Landinfo notes that this makes citizenship geographic, not based on ethnicity. The same law allows dual citizenship (same source).

## What types are there?

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_passport))

- **Ordinary passport:** black cover, for citizens.
- **Service passport:** green cover, for members of parliament and government.
- **Diplomatic passport:** red cover, for diplomats and senior officials and their families.

## How do you apply and what does it cost?

An online Somaliland services portal (elqnt.ai) lists these steps for a new passport or renewal ([Somaliland services portal, passport application](https://somaliland.elqnt.ai/services/passport-application)):

1. Fill in the application form.
2. Bring your Somaliland national ID, birth certificate, passport photos and, for a renewal, your old passport.
3. Give your biometrics.
4. Pay the fee: **SLSh 500,000**.
5. Processing takes about **21 days**.

## Where is it accepted?

Because few states recognise Somaliland, the passport works for entry to a limited number of countries.

- **2021, Landinfo (Norway):** Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, [Türkiye](/en/relations/turkey/), the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) and Taiwan. The United Kingdom accepted it for people who hold UK residence and can show a UK residence card ([Landinfo, 30 Sep 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061777/Respons-Somalia-Soknad-om-pass-i-Somaliland-30092021.pdf), citing Somaliland Standard, Horn Diplomat and Somali Dispatch).
- **2026, Somaliland Chronicle:** about a dozen countries, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), Rwanda, South Africa, the UAE, Taiwan and, since December 2025, Israel ([Somaliland Chronicle, 22 Aug 2026](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2026/08/22/somaliland-fights-the-world-for-recognition-a-somali-passport-pipeline-in-hargeisa-undercuts-it/)).
- **UAE:** the UAE's e-visa system has accepted Somaliland passports for years. In 2026 it restricted Somali passports while still serving Somaliland ones ([The Media Line, 2026](https://themedialine.org/?p=172917); [Almanassa, Jan 2026](https://almanassa.com/en/news/29572)).

## Why do many Somalilanders also hold a Somali passport?

Landinfo reports that Somalilanders often get a Somali passport when they need wider travel. Somalia treats all ethnic Somalis as potential citizens ([Landinfo, 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061777/Respons-Somalia-Soknad-om-pass-i-Somaliland-30092021.pdf)).

- **Where:** Somali passport applications are taken in Hargeisa, [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/), Buuhoodle and [Balanbale](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/), and earlier also [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/). Somaliland calls these offices "travel agencies", because it does not accept federal institutions on its territory (same source).
- **How:** the offices register applications and send them to the immigration headquarters in Mogadishu, which decides. The passport shows Mogadishu, not the town where you applied, as the place of issue (same source).
- **Cost:** a local source told Landinfo the fee in Somaliland is higher than elsewhere. Somaliland Chronicle reported in 2026 that applicants paid US$300 to US$400, against an official fee of US$180 ([Somaliland Chronicle, 22 Aug 2026](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2026/08/22/somaliland-fights-the-world-for-recognition-a-somali-passport-pipeline-in-hargeisa-undercuts-it/)).
- **Rejection of Somali papers at the border:** in November 2025 Somaliland said it would not accept some Somalia-issued travel documents for entry ([AllAfrica, 11 Nov 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202511110022.html)).

See [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/) for the federal passport.

## Related pages

- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Somaliland institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)
- [Somali national ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)


---

# Baledogle airfield (Wanlaweyn)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Baledogle, near Wanlaweyn about 90 km north-west of Mogadishu, is Somalia's largest military airfield. Built with Soviet help in the 1970s, with a runway paved and lengthened to 10,500 feet in 1975, it has changed hands many times since 1991. Since 2014 it has been the base of the Danab brigade, and in October 2026 US troops left it.

## Where and what

[Baledogle](/en/institutions/us-military-in-somalia/) airfield, also called the Wanlaweyn airstrip, lies in [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/) about 90 km north-west of Mogadishu and is described as the largest military air base in Somalia ([Wikipedia, Baledogle Airfield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baledogle_Airfield)). OurAirports places it at 2.671° N, 44.793° E, at 297 feet above sea level, with the code HC01 ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0002/)). The UN Logistics Cluster publishes a specification sheet for aid flights ([Logistics Cluster](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/logcluster-production-files/public/documents/Baledogle%2520without%2520FC.pdf)).

## The Republic's air base

Known then as Beledal Amin, it was built in part by the Soviet Union for the Somali Air Force, and in 1975 its runway was paved and lengthened to 10,500 feet ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baledogle_Airfield)). A parachute school opened there in the early 1970s when Somalia's first paratrooper unit was formed (same source). See [Somali Air Force](/en/institutions/somali-air-force/).

## Changing hands, 1991 to 2012

Wikipedia, drawing on US Army, UN and press records, lists the holders after 1991 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baledogle_Airfield)):

- **January 1991:** the Somali Patriotic Movement, allied to the [United Somali Congress](/en/institutions/united-somali-congress/), seized it days before [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) left Mogadishu. Barre's forces, regrouped as the [Somali National Front](/en/institutions/somali-national-front/), took it back in April 1992.
- **13 December 1992:** 450 soldiers of the US 10th Mountain Division and 230 Marines secured it by air assault during the UN-backed intervention ([US Army chronology](https://history.army.mil/reference/Somalia/Chronology.htm)). Heavy transport landings broke up the runway, which had been built for fighters, and C-141B flights stopped in mid-January 1993.
- **1995 to 2002:** after UN forces left it was held by [Mohamed Farah](/en/people/mo-farah/) Aidid's Somali National Alliance, which lost it to a rival alliance on 25 July 1996 and retook it three days later. On 14 February 2001 [Air Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/) landed a 160-seat airliner there.
- **2002 to 2006:** held by local armed factions, with about nine aircraft a month and an estimated $319,200 a year in landing and cargo fees. In October 2003 President [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) was the target of an assassination attempt at the airfield.
- **2006 to 2012:** the Islamic Courts Union, then the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/), then al-Shabaab, which used it as a training centre by 2009. A UN report said eyewitnesses saw child soldiers being recruited and trained there in 2008.

## Since 2012

African Union troops from Uganda captured the airfield in October 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baledogle_Airfield)). US forces then operated from it, and from 2014 the Somali commando **Danab** brigade was trained by the US military and headquartered there ([Stars and Stripes](https://www.stripes.com/news/us-helps-somali-commando-force-grow-from-battalion-to-brigade-1.573794)). In 2018 the US Department of Defense awarded an emergency runway repair contract of more than $12 million ([Air Force Times, October 2018](https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/10/04/secret-us-base-in-somalia-is-getting-some-emergency-runway-repairs/)). On 30 September 2019 al-Shabaab attacked the base with car bombs and gunmen; US officials said the attackers did not breach the perimeter ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49879607); [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-attacks-idUSKBN1WF0ZD)). A Ugandan aviation unit of 140 personnel and 4 helicopters deployed to the base by December 2020 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baledogle_Airfield)).

In October 2026 US troops were reported to have left. AFRICOM's deputy commander, Lt. Gen. John Brennan, said the runway surface "was declining to the point where it was becoming dangerous to land aircraft there" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baledogle_Airfield)). Turkish military officials visited on 30 October 2026; the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) and Ugandan troops under the African Union mission hold the airfield (same source). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).


---

# Kaah Express and KIMS: the money transfer firm and its microfinance arm

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/kaah-express-and-kims/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Kaah Express is a Somali money transfer company licensed in Kenya since October 2014, with an office in its own building in Nairobi's Eastleigh. In June 2014 it launched Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS) in Hargeisa with Silatech and the American Refugee Committee, described as Somalia's first commercial microfinance institution. KIMS is now licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia and won the $100,000 Ethical Finance Innovation award in 2017.

## Kaah Express

Kaah Express is a Somali money transfer business. The Central Bank of Kenya licensed it on **22 October 2014**, at an address in the Kaah Building in Eastleigh, Nairobi ([Central Bank of Kenya, directory of licensed money remittance providers, 2016](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers.pdf)). The research site MicroCapital described it as a US-based international remittances company ([MicroCapital](https://www.microcapital.org/?p=22850)). A [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) press report described Kaah Express as working on enterprise training for young people ([Somaliland Sun](https://somalilandsun.com/somaliland-kaah-express-to-facilitate-enterprise-development-solutions-for-youth)). See [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/).

## KIMS: the 2014 launch

In **June 2014** Kaah Express, the Qatar-based youth employment initiative **Silatech** and the **American Refugee Committee** launched **Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS)**, presented as "Somalia's first commercial microfinance institution". The formal launch was held in Hargeisa on 11 June 2014, after pilots in Somaliland and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) earlier that year supported by the FAO-run SEED II programme and the African Enterprise Challenge Fund ([Zawya press release, 15 June 2014](https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/silatech-partners-launch-somalias-first-commercial-microfinance-institution-ymsdg5g9)).

The partners' 2014 market study found that **less than 5 percent** of demand for microfinance in the Somali regions was being met, and estimated a potential market of **over two million** small business clients. KIMS planned to reach them through Kaah Express's branches and hundreds of agents, offering Islamic (sharia-compliant) loans and savings with business training, with a focus on low-income women and young people (same source).

## KIMS today

- **Licence:** KIMS, based in Hargeisa, is on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed microfinance institutions ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed microfinance institutions](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-microfinance-institutions/)).
- **Branches and reach:** the African Enterprise Challenge Fund says KIMS works through **13 branches** across Somaliland, Puntland and southern and central Somalia, and that its AECF-funded programme reached **79,960** people, aimed at women-headed households ([AECF, Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services](https://aecfafrica.org/stories/kaah-islamic-microfinance-services)).
- **Award:** in November 2017 KIMS won the **$100,000** Ethical Finance Innovation Challenge and Awards (EFICA), co-organised by Thomson Reuters and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Its board chairman, Mustafa Ali, is based in Dubai ([Salaam Gateway](https://salaamgateway.com/story/for-small-businesses-in-somalia-this-firm-could-be-an-ethical-boon)).
- **Goals:** when it joined the UN-backed Business Call to Action in 2021, KIMS committed to reach **70,000 people, 35,000 of them women**, and to lend **$70 million by 2026**. It said rural clients made up 10 percent of its portfolio, half of them women and 80 percent young people ([Business Call to Action, KIMS](https://www.businesscalltoaction.org/member/kaah-international-microfinance-services)).

## Not the same as Kaah Electric

**Kaah Electric Power and Lighting Company** in Hargeisa, founded in 1997 as City Light Electric Company and renamed in 2006, is owned mainly by former generator companies and private shareholders ([Wikipedia, KAAH Electric](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAAH_Electric)). The sources here do not describe a shared owner with Kaah Express.

## Sources disagree

- **Where Kaah Express is based.** MicroCapital calls it US-based; Kenya's register gives a Nairobi address; Zawya calls it a "leading Somali money transfer business" (sources above).
- **Name of KIMS.** The 2014 launch used "Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services"; later documents use "Kaah International Microfinance Services" (sources above).

See also [Islamic finance, microfinance and takaful](/en/economy/islamic-finance-microfinance-and-takaful/) and the [Somali businesses](/en/businesses/).


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families M to Z (468 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia. This page lists the 468 in families whose names begin with M to Z, among them murex shells and sea slugs.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 468 snail (families M to Z) species with Somalia as the country, in 61 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Muricidae: 78
- Mitridae: 44
- Strombidae: 28
- Terebridae: 28
- Nassariidae: 20
- Marginellidae: 18
- Naticidae: 16
- Trochidae: 16
- Turridae: 15
- Pomatiidae: 14

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Rochebrunia perrieri (56), Old's conch (37), Rochebrunia guillaini (35), festive lyria (28), inflated olive (23), Red-rimmed Melania (15) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

247 of the 468 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

12 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Nerinea somaliensis*, *Tiberia somaliensis*, *Distorsio somalica*, *Volvarina somalica*, *Murex somalicus*, *Crassispira somalica*, *Euthria somalica*, *Turridrupa bijubata*, *Gulella somaliensis*, *Ptychotrema somaliense*, *Tayloria somaliensis*, *Bolma somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: Cleopatra rugosa, *Paludomus ajanensis* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

Families A to L are on [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 2
- Vulnerable (VU): 0
- Near Threatened (NT): 1
- Least Concern (LC): 4
- Data Deficient (DD): 2
- Not Evaluated (NE): 459

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Muricidae: 78 species
- Mitridae: 44 species
- Strombidae: 28 species
- Terebridae: 28 species
- Nassariidae: 20 species
- Marginellidae: 18 species
- Naticidae: 16 species
- Trochidae: 16 species
- Turridae: 15 species
- Pomatiidae: 14 species

## Full list (468 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-2/) · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-3/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Eucithara coronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4603493) | *Eucithara coronata* | Mangeliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gingicithara lyrica](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/) | *Gingicithara lyrica* | Mangeliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mangelia hafisi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8892304) | *Mangelia hafisi* | Mangeliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Parviterebra paucivolvis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505966) | *Parviterebra paucivolvis* | Mangeliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alaginella pemphix](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500580) | *Alaginella pemphix* | Marginellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Closia princeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500578) | *Closia princeps* | Marginellidae | NE | 5 |
| [Closia sarda](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500574) | *Closia sarda* | Marginellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cryptospira grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500240) | *Cryptospira grisea* | Marginellidae | NE | 6 |
| [Eratoidea boyeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500760) | *Eratoidea boyeri* | Marginellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Glabella mirabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6501096) | *Glabella mirabilis* | Marginellidae | NE | 14 |
| [Glabella obtusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6501123) | *Glabella obtusa* | Marginellidae | NE | 14 |
| [Glabella rotunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/7586156) | *Glabella rotunda* | Marginellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Marginella caterinae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500853) | *Marginella caterinae* | Marginellidae | NE | 8 |
| [Marginella emmae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500919) | *Marginella emmae* | Marginellidae | NE | 8 |
| [Marginella sultana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8844756) | *Marginella sultana* | Marginellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Serrata brianoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500617) | *Serrata brianoi* | Marginellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Volvarina dinisioi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7495883) | *Volvarina dinisioi* | Marginellidae | NE | 4 |
| [Volvarina fortunata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6501198) | *Volvarina fortunata* | Marginellidae | NE | 11 |
| [Volvarina monilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8257967) | *Volvarina monilis* | Marginellidae | NE | 12 |
| [Volvarina obscura](https://www.gbif.org/species/6500487) | *Volvarina obscura* | Marginellidae | NE | 4 |
| [Volvarina pergrandis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6501183) | *Volvarina pergrandis* | Marginellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Volvarina somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7531032) | *Volvarina somalica* | Marginellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Volema nodosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/11464366) | *Volema nodosa* | Melongenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Volema pyrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727879) | *Volema pyrum* | Melongenidae | NE | 6 |
| [Domiporta carnicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795305) | *Domiporta carnicolor* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Domiporta granatina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795306) | *Domiporta granatina* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Gemmulimitra avenacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/9795300) | *Gemmulimitra avenacea* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Imbricaria bacillum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9796274) | *Imbricaria bacillum* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [episcopal miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727351) | *Mitra mitra* | Mitridae | NE | 3 |
| [papal miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727406) | *Mitra papalis* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [pontifical miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727310) | *Mitra stictica* | Mitridae | NE | 4 |
| [Mitra turgida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727428) | *Mitra turgida* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Nebularia chrysostoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125315) | *Nebularia chrysostoma* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Nebularia edentula](https://www.gbif.org/species/9742436) | *Nebularia edentula* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Nebularia fastigium](https://www.gbif.org/species/9699065) | *Nebularia fastigium* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Rusty Miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125293) | *Nebularia ferruginea* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Nebularia incompta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9702064) | *Nebularia incompta* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Nebularia pellisserpentis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9655216) | *Nebularia pellisserpentis* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Neocancilla clathrus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367225) | *Neocancilla clathrus* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Neocancilla hemmenae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367229) | *Neocancilla hemmenae* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Neocancilla waikikiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6501555) | *Neocancilla waikikiensis* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudonebularia chrysalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9706003) | *Pseudonebularia chrysalis* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Cucumber Mitre](https://www.gbif.org/species/9726333) | *Pseudonebularia cucumerina* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Pseudonebularia fraga](https://www.gbif.org/species/9815198) | *Pseudonebularia fraga* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudonebularia tabanula](https://www.gbif.org/species/9657302) | *Pseudonebularia tabanula* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pterygia crenulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727433) | *Pterygia crenulata* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [nut miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727431) | *Pterygia nucea* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Quasimitra albocarnea](https://www.gbif.org/species/9738491) | *Quasimitra albocarnea* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Quasimitra bovei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9657390) | *Quasimitra bovei* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Quasimitra punctostriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9717752) | *Quasimitra punctostriata* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Quasimitra rinaldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9674971) | *Quasimitra rinaldii* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Quasimitra roselineae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9772038) | *Quasimitra roselineae* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Quasimitra sanguinolenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9758190) | *Quasimitra sanguinolenta* | Mitridae | NE | 4 |
| [Roseomitra incarnata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9704695) | *Roseomitra incarnata* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Strigatella amaura](https://www.gbif.org/species/9818016) | *Strigatella amaura* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Strigatella ambigua](https://www.gbif.org/species/9664250) | *Strigatella ambigua* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Related Miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125280) | *Strigatella assimilis* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Orange Mitre](https://www.gbif.org/species/9649985) | *Strigatella aurantia* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Strigatella coronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9745083) | *Strigatella coronata* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Strigatella imperialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9801869) | *Strigatella imperialis* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Lettered Mitre](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367142) | *Strigatella litterata* | Mitridae | NE | 3 |
| [Strigatella luctuosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9730122) | *Strigatella luctuosa* | Mitridae | NE | 2 |
| [Strigatella paupercula](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367171) | *Strigatella paupercula* | Mitridae | NE | 5 |
| [Strigatella scutulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367145) | *Strigatella scutulata* | Mitridae | NE | 4 |
| [Strigatella telescopium](https://www.gbif.org/species/9459904) | *Strigatella telescopium* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Strigatella ticaonica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367134) | *Strigatella ticaonica* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Subcancilla foveolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2302699) | *Subcancilla foveolata* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Swainsonia ocellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9237019) | *Swainsonia ocellata* | Mitridae | NE | 1 |
| [Indomodulus tectum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7777864) | *Indomodulus tectum* | Modulidae | NE | 6 |
| [Aspella producta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366184) | *Aspella producta* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Attiliosa bozzettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365809) | *Attiliosa bozzettii* | Muricidae | NE | 7 |
| [Babelomurex indicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6499234) | *Babelomurex indicus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Babelomurex microspinosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6499220) | *Babelomurex microspinosus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calotrophon hemmenorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6499776) | *Calotrophon hemmenorum* | Muricidae | NE | 7 |
| [adusta murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365641) | *Chicoreus brunneus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chicoreus dovi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365603) | *Chicoreus dovi* | Muricidae | NE | 5 |
| [Chicoreus elisae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365695) | *Chicoreus elisae* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Chicoreus laqueatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365722) | *Chicoreus laqueatus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chicoreus maurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365653) | *Chicoreus maurus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chicoreus microphyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365613) | *Chicoreus microphyllus* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [branched murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365732) | *Chicoreus ramosus* | Muricidae | NE | 8 |
| [virgin murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365757) | *Chicoreus virgineus* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coralliophila costularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363335) | *Coralliophila costularis* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coralliophila rashafunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10212724) | *Coralliophila rashafunensis* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [purple coral snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363361) | *Coralliophila violacea* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cytharomorula springsteeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/4364096) | *Cytharomorula springsteeni* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Drupa albolabris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795596) | *Drupa albolabris* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [mulberry drupe](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725752) | *Drupa morum* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [castor bean drupe](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725738) | *Drupa ricinus* | Muricidae | NE | 7 |
| [porcupine castor bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725747) | *Drupa rubusidaeus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [horn drupe](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363670) | *Drupella cornus* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Oyster Drill](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857216) | *Drupella margariticola* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [lobate drupe](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795581) | *Drupina lobata* | Muricidae | NE | 4 |
| [Ergalatax contracta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363935) | *Ergalatax contracta* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Favartia brevicula](https://www.gbif.org/species/9792235) | *Favartia brevicula* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Favartia cecalupoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365528) | *Favartia cecalupoi* | Muricidae | NE | 9 |
| [Favartia maculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365425) | *Favartia maculata* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Galeropsis monodonta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796036) | *Galeropsis monodonta* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Haustellum franchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366419) | *Haustellum franchii* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Snipe's Bill](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366423) | *Haustellum haustellum* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hexaplex bozzadamii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366433) | *Hexaplex bozzadamii* | Muricidae | NE | 9 |
| [Hexaplex kuesterianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9615148) | *Hexaplex kuesterianus* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [banded dye-murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366460) | *Hexaplex trunculus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pele's murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365995) | *Homalocantha anatomica* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Homalocantha dovpeledi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365983) | *Homalocantha dovpeledi* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [scorpion murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365991) | *Homalocantha scorpio* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Homalocantha secunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366001) | *Homalocantha secunda* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mawe's latiaxis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4605474) | *Latiaxis mawae* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Maculotriton serriale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2304370) | *Maculotriton serriale* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Magilus latens](https://www.gbif.org/species/6499191) | *Magilus latens* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pimpled Thaid](https://www.gbif.org/species/6101258) | *Mancinella alouina* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mancinella armigera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363574) | *Mancinella armigera* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lamarck's spiny rock shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125805) | *Mancinella echinulata* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [The Magpie Purpura](https://www.gbif.org/species/7913586) | *Menathais tuberosa* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mipus basicostatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8089957) | *Mipus basicostatus* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Morula uva](https://www.gbif.org/species/4364034) | *Morula uva* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [brevispined murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726780) | *Murex brevispina* | Muricidae | NE | 4 |
| [Murex carbonnieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726819) | *Murex carbonnieri* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [woodcock murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726747) | *Murex scolopax* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Murex somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726810) | *Murex somalicus* | Muricidae | NE | 14 |
| [Murex surinamensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726822) | *Murex surinamensis* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [caltrop murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726825) | *Murex tribulus* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Murichorda fiscellum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10217513) | *Murichorda fiscellum* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Muricodrupa fenestrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4364174) | *Muricodrupa fenestrata* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Muricopsis chiarae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4365349) | *Muricopsis chiarae* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [three-angled murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366014) | *Naquetia triqueter* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Nassa francolina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725845) | *Nassa francolina* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Garland Thaid](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725841) | *Nassa serta* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [The Cavernous Ricinula](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363913) | *Pascula ochrostoma* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pinaxia versicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363659) | *Pinaxia versicolor* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pterynotus albobrunneus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366092) | *Pterynotus albobrunneus* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pterynotus bipinnatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4602177) | *Pterynotus bipinnatus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [club murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366120) | *Pterynotus elongatus* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pterynotus martinetana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366114) | *Pterynotus martinetanus* | Muricidae | NE | 3 |
| [pellucid murex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4366112) | *Pterynotus pellucidus* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [toad purple](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726043) | *Purpura bufo* | Muricidae | NE | 5 |
| [Rudolph's purpura](https://www.gbif.org/species/5726048) | *Purpura panama* | Muricidae | NE | 8 |
| [bubble turnip](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725710) | *Rapa rapa* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [cantaloupe](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363579) | *Rapana rapiformis* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Semiricinula konkanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363889) | *Semiricinula konkanensis* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Semiricinula squamosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363882) | *Semiricinula squamosa* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Florida Rocksnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2304357) | *Stramonita haemastoma* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [granular drupe](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857231) | *Tenguella granulata* | Muricidae | NE | 4 |
| [Thais scalaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/10348420) | *Thais scalaris* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tylothais aculeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9571700) | *Tylothais aculeata* | Muricidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tylothais savignyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9388547) | *Tylothais savignyi* | Muricidae | NE | 2 |
| [Vexillum Rock Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363697) | *Vexilla vexillum* | Muricidae | NE | 4 |
| [Mauritian bullia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368243) | *Bullia mauritiana* | Nassariidae | NE | 11 |
| [Bullia semiplicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6503422) | *Bullia semiplicata* | Nassariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bullia smytheae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8262917) | *Bullia smytheae* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-2/) · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-3/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somali citizenship law: who is a Somali citizen

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/somali-citizenship-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somali citizenship is governed by the Somali Citizenship Law, Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962, and the 2012 Provisional Constitution. A child born anywhere to a Somali father is Somali. Foreigners can apply after seven years of residence. The 1962 law bans dual citizenship, but the 2012 constitution, which overrides it, allows it. A 2016 draft bill to let mothers pass on citizenship equally had not become law by the time of the main reports.

## Which laws decide who is Somali?

Three sources of law decide it ([Bronwen Manby, Citizenship Law in Africa, 3rd ed., 2016, pp. 36, 134](https://web.archive.org/web/20210626151025/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/d5d1d086-1a0d-4088-b679-003e09e9c125/citizenship-law-africa-third-edition-20160129.pdf)):

- **The Somali Citizenship Law**, Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962, published in the Official Bulletin ([Bollettino Ufficiale, 22 Dec 1962, English from p. 9, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211227204149/https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/1503/1/Disegno%20di%20legge.%20Schema%20di%20decreto_lavorato.pdf); [text on Refworld](https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/3ae6b50630.pdf)).
- **The Provisional Constitution of 2012**, which overrides other laws.
- **International treaties** Somalia has joined, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (2015).

The 1962 law replaced two earlier laws: Law No. 9 of 12 February 1960 for the former [Italian Somaliland](/en/relations/italy/), and Ordinance No. 15 of 25 June 1960 for the former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) ([Bollettino Ufficiale, 1962, p. 14](https://web.archive.org/web/20211227204149/https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/1503/1/Disegno%20di%20legge.%20Schema%20di%20decreto_lavorato.pdf)).

## Who is Somali by birth?

- **Through the father.** A child born anywhere is Somali if the father is Somali. The law defines a Somali as a person who "by language, origin or tradition" belongs to the Somali nation ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 9 Mar 2018](https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html); [Manby 2016, pp. 52, 56](https://web.archive.org/web/20210626151025/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/d5d1d086-1a0d-4088-b679-003e09e9c125/citizenship-law-africa-third-edition-20160129.pdf)).
- **Through the mother.** Only if the father is stateless (Article 14). Such a child may give up Somali citizenship as an adult ([UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2019, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_nationality_law)).
- **Foundlings.** A child of unknown parents found in Somalia is presumed to have a Somali father (Article 15) ([Bollettino Ufficiale, 1962, p. 13](https://web.archive.org/web/20211227204149/https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/1503/1/Disegno%20di%20legge.%20Schema%20di%20decreto_lavorato.pdf)).

## Can a foreigner become Somali?

Yes, by a grant of citizenship ([Manby 2016, pp. 81–94](https://web.archive.org/web/20210626151025/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/d5d1d086-1a0d-4088-b679-003e09e9c125/citizenship-law-africa-third-edition-20160129.pdf)):

- **Residence:** at least seven years, with good character and conduct.
- **Somali mother:** a person whose mother is Somali can apply after two years of residence (Cotran 1963, cited in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_nationality_law)).
- **Marriage:** a foreign woman who marries a Somali man becomes Somali automatically. The law has no equal rule for foreign husbands of Somali women ([IRB Canada, 2018](https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html)).
- **Honorary citizenship:** the President may grant it for exceptional service (Manby 2016, p. 94).
- **Adopted children:** the law has no rule for them. When Somalia joined the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2015, it did not accept Article 20 on adoption (Manby 2016, p. 57).

## Can you lose Somali citizenship?

- **By giving it up,** with the state's permission (Manby 2016, p. 112).
- **Naturalised citizens** can lose it for crimes against the state or for fraud in the application (Manby 2016, p. 111). Citizens by origin cannot be stripped of it (p. 104).
- **Under the 1962 text,** citizenship could be lost by taking another nationality, serving a foreign government or army, or, for a woman, marrying a foreigner and taking his nationality ([IRB Canada, 2018](https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html)).
- **Getting it back:** a former citizen can reapply after three years of residence (Manby 2016, p. 115).

## Is dual citizenship allowed?

The 1962 law forbids it (Article 10). The 2012 Provisional Constitution allows it, and the constitution overrides the law ([Manby 2016, p. 75](https://web.archive.org/web/20210626151025/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/d5d1d086-1a0d-4088-b679-003e09e9c125/citizenship-law-africa-third-edition-20160129.pdf); [IRB Canada, 2018](https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html)). Norway's country-information unit notes that many recent Somali leaders have held other citizenships too ([Landinfo, 30 Sep 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061777/Respons-Somalia-Soknad-om-pass-i-Somaliland-30092021.pdf)).

## The 2016 reform bill

A 2016 draft bill to amend the Citizenship Law would have:

- let women and men pass citizenship equally to children and spouses;
- stopped women losing citizenship by marrying a non-Somali;
- given citizenship to children born in Somalia who would otherwise be stateless, and to abandoned and adopted children;
- brought the law into line with the 2012 constitution on dual citizenship.

([Somalia, Universal Periodic Review national report, 2021](https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=8598&file=EnglishTranslation); [Wikipedia, Somali nationality law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_nationality_law)).

## What about Somaliland?

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) has its own Citizenship Law of 2002. It counts as citizens people who lived in the territory before 26 June 1960 and their descendants through the father ([Landinfo, 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061777/Respons-Somalia-Soknad-om-pass-i-Somaliland-30092021.pdf)). Somalia treats people from Somaliland, and ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden, as entitled to Somali citizenship ([IRB Canada, 2018](https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html)). See [Somaliland passport](/en/government/somaliland-passport/).

## Related pages

- [Somali passport](/en/states/somali-passport/)
- [Somali national ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- [Immigration and Citizenship Agency](/en/institutions/immigration-and-citizenship-agency/)
- [Constitution of Somalia](/en/institutions/constitution-of-somalia/)


---

# Tayo Political Party

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/tayo-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Tayo is a Somali political party founded in early 2012 by former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed 'Farmaajo' and members of his 2010 to 2011 cabinet. Tayo means 'quality'. It became the de facto ruling party when parliament elected Farmaajo President on 8 February 2017, and went into opposition when he lost to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 15 May 2022, by 110 votes to 214.

## What is Tayo?

Tayo is a political party in Somalia. Its full Somali name is *Xisbiga Siyaasadda ee Tayo*, the Tayo Political Party. *Tayo* means "quality" ([Wikipedia, Tayo Political Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayo_Political_Party)).

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo" founded it in early 2012 with members of his former cabinet. He had been Prime Minister from November 2010 to June 2011. SomaliaReport wrote that the name was chosen to reflect the good public view of that short premiership ([SomaliaReport, 2012, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayo_Political_Party)). See [Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/).

Wikipedia describes the party as liberal (same source). In May 2015 the party publicly objected to how the government had appointed the members of a new electoral commission ([Ceegaag Online, 21 May 2015](https://www.ceegaag.com/warsaxafadeed-xisbiga-tayo-party-oo-walac-ka-qaba-dhismaha-gudiga-doorashada-ee-ay-xukuumadda-somalia-magacowday/)).

## How did Tayo's leader do in presidential votes?

From 2012 to 2022 the President was elected by members of parliament, who were themselves chosen by clan delegates. Parties could not stand as parties. See [Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/).

- **10 September 2012:** Farmaajo stood and came seventh in the first round ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayo_Political_Party)). [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) won.
- **8 February 2017:** Farmaajo won. In the second round he had 184 votes, against 97 for the sitting President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and 46 for [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/). Hassan Sheikh conceded ([UNSOM, 8 Feb 2017](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/51627)). See [the 2017 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2017/).
- **15 May 2022:** Farmaajo lost in the third round, 110 votes to 214, to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and conceded ([Garowe Online, 15 May 2022](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-defeats-farmajo-in-somalia-s-titanic-presidential-race); [Al Jazeera, 15 May 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president)). See [the 2022 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2022/).

## Tayo in government, 2017 to 2022

After the 2017 vote, Tayo became the de facto ruling party. Several members took posts in government. The party's chair, Maryam Qaasim, became Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayo_Political_Party)).

Farmaajo's term ended in February 2021 without an election ([Al Jazeera, 15 May 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president)). On 12 April 2021 the House of the People extended the terms of parliament and President by two years. Fighting broke out in Mogadishu, and the extension was reversed on 1 May 2021 ([UN Security Council, S/2021/485](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/485&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Tayo since 2022

Under the November 2024 Political Parties law, parties must register with the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ([SONNA, Nov 2024](https://sonna.so/en/parliament-approves-political-parties-and-unions-federal-government-of-somalia-act/)). The commission had certified 61 parties by September 2025 ([Dawan Africa, 2025](https://dawan.africa/news/somalias-electoral-commission-registers-18-new-political-parties)).

Opposition leaders met in Nairobi in May 2025 over the dispute about the electoral model ([AllAfrica, 21 May 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202505210064.html)). The opposition later split. Some members of the Somali Salvation Forum signed an August 2025 deal with the government, others rejected it, and four figures resigned from the forum ([Somali Guardian, Aug 2025](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalias-opposition-suffers-setback-as-key-figures-quit-amid-election-row/); [AllAfrica, 25 Aug 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202508250072.html)).

## Related pages

- [Justice and Solidarity Party](/en/government/justice-and-solidarity-party/)
- [Union for Peace and Development](/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/)
- [Presidents of Somalia](/en/people/presidents-of-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and Uganda

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/uganda/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Uganda sent the first African Union troops to Somalia on 6 March 2007 and kept the largest contingent for almost twenty years. In late October 2026 it began a phased withdrawal of its about 4,500 AU troops, due to end in August 2027, while about 2,000 stay under a bilateral deal. The two governments hold a Joint Permanent Commission, whose mid-term review in Mogadishu ended with the Mogadishu Declaration on 22 October 2026.

## How do Somalia and Uganda relate today?

Uganda is Somalia's longest-serving security partner. Its troops were the first African Union (AU) peacekeepers to land in Mogadishu, on 6 March 2007 ([Al Jazeera, 8 March 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/3/8/au-troops-under-attack-in-mogadishu)). In late October 2026 Uganda began withdrawing its about 4,500 AU troops in phases to August 2027, while about 2,000 troops under a bilateral arrangement stay ([BBC via Graphic Online, 2 November 2026](https://www.graphic.com.gh/international/international-news/uganda-begins-withdrawing-troops-from-somalia-after-20-years.html)).

On 26 October 2026 President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe ([State House Uganda via APO, 27 October 2026](https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/president-museveni-urges-somalia-to-unite-against-alshabaab-boost-coffee-trade-with-uganda?lang=en)). Hassan Sheikh asked for Ugandan troops to stay longer, and Museveni welcomed Somalia's permission for a Ugandan coffee warehouse in Somalia (same source).

Both countries run embassies in each other's capitals. Uganda opened a new embassy chancery in Mogadishu on 9 October 2023 ([Nexus Media, October 2023](https://nexusmedia.ug/?p=5422)). Somalia's ambassador told the October 2026 meeting that about 8,000 Somalis run businesses in Uganda and about 15,000 study at Ugandan universities ([State House Uganda via APO, 2026](https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/president-museveni-urges-somalia-to-unite-against-alshabaab-boost-coffee-trade-with-uganda?lang=en)).

## When did contact begin?

Somalis lived in Uganda in colonial times. Many came as "Somali Scouts" with the British army, stayed, took Ugandan citizenship and worked in the meat trade ([The Observer, September 2009, via Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx)). Thousands left under Idi Amin and returned after 1986 (same source).

In September 1972 exiles backed by [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) invaded Uganda, and the two neighbours came close to war. Somalia's president, Siad Barre, mediated, and the two sides signed the Mogadishu Agreement in October 1972 ([Daily Monitor, "Somalia saves Uganda and Tanzania from going to war"](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/somalia-saves-uganda-and-tanzania-from-going-to-war-1680344)). Amin later named a Kampala road Siad Barre Avenue ([Daily Monitor, "Somalia's Siad Barre saves Amin from Tanzanians"](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/somalia-s-siad-barre-saves-amin-from-tanzanians-1726760)).

Siad Barre chaired the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) after hosting its 1974 summit in Mogadishu ([Geeska, "Disunited continent: Mogadishu '74 revisited"](https://www.geeska.com/en/disunited-continent-mogadishu-74-revisited)). Amin took the chair from him at the Kampala summit of 28 July to 1 August 1975 ([Daily Monitor, "AU: What has changed since 1975?"](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/au-what-has-changed-since-1975--1475550)). See [Siad Barre era 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

### Uganda's envoys to Somalia

- **Prof. Sam Tulya-Muhika**: presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) in May 2016 ([Radio Dalsan, 26 May 2016](https://radiodalsan.com/?p=35267)). He was still ambassador in October 2026 ([State House Uganda via APO, 2026](https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/president-museveni-urges-somalia-to-unite-against-alshabaab-boost-coffee-trade-with-uganda?lang=en)).
- **Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Nathan K. Mugisha**: deputy ambassador in Mogadishu in July 2025 ([UPDF, 3 July 2025](https://www.updf.go.ug/?p=71641)).
- **Brig. Gen. Francis Chemonges**: Uganda's defence attaché to Somalia in July 2025 ([UPDF, 3 July 2025](https://www.updf.go.ug/?p=71641)).

### Somalia's envoys to Uganda

- **Ali Mohamed Mohamud**: Somalia's ambassador in Kampala during the August 2022 state visit ([Diplomatic Times, 10 August 2022](https://diplomatictimes.net/2022/08/10/somalia-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-visits-uganda-leader-museveni/)).
- **Fardowsa Mohamed Qanyare**: gave a copy of her credentials to State Minister Henry Oryem Okello in Kampala on 28 November 2024 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 28 November 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-ambassador-to-uganda-presents-credentials-to-ugandas-minister-of-state-for-foreign-affairs/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Siad Barre**: Somali president who mediated the 1972 Mogadishu Agreement between Uganda and Tanzania ([Daily Monitor](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/somalia-saves-uganda-and-tanzania-from-going-to-war-1680344)).
- **Yoweri Museveni**: Ugandan president who sent troops in 2007 and hosted Hassan Sheikh in 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026 ([Garowe Online, 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-president-arrives-in-uganda-for-talks-on-security-economic-ties)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**: Somali president who made at least five visits to Uganda from 2022 to 2026 ([State House Uganda via APO, 2026](https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/president-museveni-urges-somalia-to-unite-against-alshabaab-boost-coffee-trade-with-uganda?lang=en)).
- **Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur and Vincent Ssempijja**: Somali and Ugandan defence ministers who adopted the defence cooperation memorandum on 5 August 2022 ([UPDF, 5 August 2022](https://www.updf.go.ug/bilateral-relations/uganda-and-somalia-adopt-memorandum-of-understanding-on-defence-cooperation/amp/)).
- **Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu and Brig. Gen. Odowaa Yusuf Rageh**: army officers who exchanged the signed draft of that memorandum (same source).
- **John Mulimba and Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir**: led the Ugandan and Somali sides at the second Joint Permanent Commission in Kampala, 7–8 October 2025 ([Nexus Media, October 2025](https://nexusmedia.ug/?p=24577)).
- **Henry Tumukunde and Abdisalam Abdi Ali**: signed the Mogadishu Declaration on 22 October 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 22 October 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=9242)).
- **Richard Kabonero and Anne Babinaga**: Ugandan foreign ministry officials who led the 35-member delegation to Mogadishu in October 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 20 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-welcomes-35-member-uganda-delegation-ahead-of-trade-talks)).
- **Muhoozi Kainerugaba**: Ugandan army chief who announced the troop withdrawal in October 2026 ([BBC via Graphic Online](https://www.graphic.com.gh/international/international-news/uganda-begins-withdrawing-troops-from-somalia-after-20-years.html)).
- **Amina Moghe Hersi**: Somali-Kenyan businesswoman in Kampala, a leading cement and hardware distributor and Woman Investor of the Year in 2008 ([The Observer, 2009, via Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/sept/devastated_at_home_somali_businesses_thrive_in_uganda.aspx)). See [Amina Moghe Hersi](/en/people/amina-moghe-hersi/).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **October 1972**: Mogadishu Agreement between Uganda and Tanzania, brokered by Somalia ([Daily Monitor](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/somalia-saves-uganda-and-tanzania-from-going-to-war-1680344)).
- **5 August 2022**: memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation, adopted by the two defence ministers at Munyonyo ([UPDF](https://www.updf.go.ug/bilateral-relations/uganda-and-somalia-adopt-memorandum-of-understanding-on-defence-cooperation/amp/)).
- **August 2022**: joint communiqué of the first Joint Permanent Commission, signed before both presidents ([Diplomatic Times, 10 August 2022](https://diplomatictimes.net/2022/08/10/somalia-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-visits-uganda-leader-museveni/)). Five memoranda came out of it, on diplomatic consultations, defence, trade and investment promotion ([Nexus Media, 2025](https://nexusmedia.ug/?p=24577)).
- **7–8 October 2025**: three memoranda on immigration, education and sports, and security, and a new Joint Permanent Investment and Business Council ([Nexus Media, 2025](https://nexusmedia.ug/?p=24577)).
- **22 October 2026**: Mogadishu Declaration on trade and investment, after labour and civil aviation agreements ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=9242)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **8–9 August 2022**: Hassan Sheikh in Kampala; he spoke at the Somalia–Uganda Investment and Business Summit ([Diplomatic Times](https://diplomatictimes.net/2022/08/10/somalia-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-visits-uganda-leader-museveni/)).
- **19 October 2024**: Hassan Sheikh met Museveni at State Lodge Nakasero ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-president-arrives-in-uganda-for-talks-on-security-economic-ties)).
- **January 2025**: Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi visited the Somali embassy in Kampala during an AU summit ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 8 January 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=4830)).
- **5 April 2025**: Hassan Sheikh met Museveni in Kampala ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 5 April 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=6005)).
- **8 October 2025**: Internal Security Minister Abdullahi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ismail [Fartaag](/en/institutions/ministry-of-internal-security/) met Uganda's security minister Jim Muhwezi in Kampala ([Radio Dalsan via AllAfrica, 8 October 2025](https://allafrica.com/stories/202510090062.html)).
- **31 July 2026**: Hassan Sheikh at the AUSSOM troop contributors' summit in Kampala ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)).
- **21–22 October 2026**: Uganda's labour minister Henry Tumukunde in Mogadishu for the commission review ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=9233)).
- **26 October 2026**: Hassan Sheikh at State House Entebbe ([State House Uganda via APO](https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/president-museveni-urges-somalia-to-unite-against-alshabaab-boost-coffee-trade-with-uganda?lang=en)).

## How much do they trade?

Recorded trade is small. Uganda reported exports to Somalia of $6.78 million in 2024, up from $2.75 million in 2023 ([UN Comtrade, Uganda–Somalia, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=800&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). It recorded imports from Somalia of about $3,000 in 2024 and $180,000 in 2023 (same source; [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=800&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

The main Ugandan exports to Somalia in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, by chapter](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=800&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)):

- tobacco, $2.55 million
- aircraft and parts, $1.20 million
- wood, $0.53 million
- machinery and electrical goods, $0.86 million

Somali firms [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/), Somtel and eDahab took part in the first Uganda–Somalia business summit in Kampala, 9–10 August 2022 ([The Star, 9 August 2022](https://www.the-star.co.ke/business/2022-08-09-somali-uganda-hold-first-ever-business-summit-together)). Uganda was the largest source of foreign workers in Somalia in 2023, with 1,335 ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Migration-Statistics-Report-2024.pdf)). Direct flights between Entebbe and Mogadishu began in 2013 ([IPS, 31 March 2014](https://www.ipsnews.net/?p=133323)).

For Somali firms in Uganda, see [Somali business in Uganda](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Uganda's main contribution has been troops, not cash aid. UN OCHA's Financial Tracking Service lists no humanitarian grants from the Ugandan government to Somalia for the years checked, 2006 to 2025 ([OCHA FTS, Somalia, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)). Uganda trains Somali students at its universities, about 15,000 in 2026 ([State House Uganda via APO](https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/president-museveni-urges-somalia-to-unite-against-alshabaab-boost-coffee-trade-with-uganda?lang=en)).

## What about security?

Ugandan troops landed in Mogadishu on 6 March 2007 under mortar fire ([Al Jazeera, 8 March 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/3/8/au-troops-under-attack-in-mogadishu)). [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), listed as a terrorist group by the United States since 2008 ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)), bombed two sites in Kampala on 11 July 2010 and killed 76 people, to punish Uganda for its troops in Somalia ([VOA, 26 May 2016](https://www.voanews.com/a/uganda-convicts-mastermind-in-2010-bombing/3347317.html)). Uganda was allotted 4,500 troops in AUSSOM, the most of any country, and lost 54 soldiers at Buulo Mareer in May 2023, by its president's count ([Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). Full detail: [Uganda's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Uganda deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Uganda treats [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) as part of Somalia. On 23 September 2023 Museveni met Somaliland's envoy, [Jama Musse Jama](/en/people/jama-musse-jama/), in Entebbe and said he would act as "peace facilitator" between Somalia and Somaliland ([Reuters via The Star Malaysia, 24 September 2023](https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2023/09/24/uganda-says-it-will-mediate-between-somalia-and-breakaway-somaliland)). Somaliland's government replied that it had "no plans for dialogue to discuss unity with Somalia" ([Al Jazeera, 25 September 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/25/somaliland-rejects-talk-of-unification-with-somalia-after-museveni-comment)).

There have been working contacts. Somaliland's foreign minister, Yasin Hagi Mohamoud, met Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga in Kampala in March 2020 ([Horn Diplomat, March 2020](https://www.horndiplomat.com/?p=31547)). A Ugandan health ministry team with the ECSA Health Community worked in Somaliland from 22 March to 2 April 2026 ([Somaliland Ministry of Health Development, April 2026](https://somalilandmohd.com/?p=6389)).

Ugandan troops have served in the member states, including [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) in [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/). See [Uganda's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Golweyn, 2021**: AMISOM admitted that Ugandan troops unlawfully killed seven civilians on 10 August 2021. A Ugandan court martial in Mogadishu convicted five soldiers, and Somalia's justice minister announced the verdict ([VOA, 13 November 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/two-ugandan-soldiers-sentenced-to-death-in-somalia/6311893.html)).
- **Kampala summit, July 2026**: Hassan Sheikh objected to draft communiqué language on Somalia's internal politics. "Political matters of Somalia is very internal," he said ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)).

## How many Somalis live in Uganda?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 48,253 Somali refugees and 1,679 asylum seekers in Uganda ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=UGA)). See [Somalis in Uganda](/en/diaspora/uganda/).

## Where does Uganda stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Uganda kept the largest AU contingent from 2007 ([CFR, Al-Shabaab backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). On 31 July 2026 it hosted the AUSSOM troop contributors' summit, which backed an 18-to-24-month transition and a donors' conference ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)). The summit met after the United States told the AU on 1 July 2026 that it would not support renewing the mission's mandate ([Daily Monitor, 2026](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/museveni-vows-africa-will-not-abandon-somalia-if-international-partners-pull-out-5543288)).

"Somalia will not be abandoned," Museveni told that summit ([Daily Monitor, 2026](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/museveni-vows-africa-will-not-abandon-somalia-if-international-partners-pull-out-5543288)). Uganda's foreign minister Sam Kutesa attended the IGAD summit on Somalia in Sirte, Libya, on 30 June 2009 ([IGAD communiqué, 2009](https://osesgy.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/090630%20Communique%20of%20IGAD%2014th%20extra-ordinary%20session%20%28Sirte%2C%20Libya%29.pdf)). In November 2024 Kenya and Uganda were named to mediate between Ethiopia and Somalia ([Sowetan, 30 November 2024](https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/africa/2024-11-30-kenya-and-uganda-to-mediate-ethiopia-somalia-dispute/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in Uganda](/en/diaspora/uganda/)
- [Somali business in Uganda](/en/economy/somali-business-in-uganda/)
- [Uganda's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/uganda-military-in-somalia/)
- [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/), [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and Tanzania](/en/relations/tanzania/)
- [Somalia and the EAC](/en/relations/eac/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)


---

# Clams, octopus, squid and other molluscs of Somalia: 339 species

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 339 mollusc species from Somalia other than snails: clams, oysters and other bivalves, octopus, squid and cuttlefish, and chitons.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 339 mollusc (other than snails) species with Somalia as the country, in 4 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Bivalvia: 288
- Cephalopoda: 37
- Polyplacophora: 13
- Caudofoveata: 1

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Mirapecten cranmerorum (36), *Kuphus polythalamius* (18), noble scallop (16), *Nanogyra nana* (12), Bractechlamys nodulifera (11), *Grammatodon egertonianus* (10) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

192 of the 339 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

8 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Somalidacna lamellosa*, *Pholadomya somaliensis*, *Protocardia somaliensis*, *Ceromyopsis somaliensis*, *Mytilus somaliensis*, *Posidonia somaliensis*, *Trigonia somaliensis*, *Nautilus somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: eastern pearlshell ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Bear Paw ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 1
- Vulnerable (VU): 1
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 14
- Data Deficient (DD): 7
- Not Evaluated (NE): 316

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Pectinidae: 36 species
- Cardiidae: 22 species
- Veneridae: 20 species
- Mytilidae: 13 species
- Hercoglossidae: 12 species
- Limidae: 11 species
- Malleidae: 11 species
- Ostreidae: 11 species
- Arcidae: 10 species
- Pholadomyidae: 9 species

## Full list (339 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-3/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Perampliata aulihan](https://www.gbif.org/species/8453880) | *Perampliata aulihan* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudisocardia macfadyeni](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/) | *Pseudisocardia macfadyeni* |  | NE | 2 |
| [Somalidacna lamellosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951096) | *Somalidacna lamellosa* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Craspedochiton tetricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6487707) | *Craspedochiton tetricus* | Acanthochitonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Peruvian jingle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5188925) | *Anomia peruviana* | Anomiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Golden Oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794736) | *Anomia trigonopsis* | Anomiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Placunopsis parvula](https://www.gbif.org/species/8646116) | *Placunopsis parvula* | Anomiidae | NE | 1 |
| [antique ark](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729468) | *Anadara antiquata* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anadara scapha](https://www.gbif.org/species/9813354) | *Anadara scapha* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Indo-Pacific Ark](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373191) | *Arca navicularis* | Arcidae | NE | 3 |
| [Arca spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9704538) | *Arca spec* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [burnt-almond ark](https://www.gbif.org/species/4593956) | *Barbatia amygdalumtostum* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [oblique ark shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373230) | *Barbatia obliquata* | Arcidae | NE | 3 |
| [Barbatia trapezina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373229) | *Barbatia trapezina* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bathyarca coccus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6530056) | *Bathyarca coccus* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bentharca asperula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2286203) | *Bentharca asperula* | Arcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Truncated Ark](https://www.gbif.org/species/11626045) | *Lamarcka ventricosa* | Arcidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyprina cordiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8574069) | *Cyprina cordiformis* | Arcticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Venilicardia hunti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8593049) | *Venilicardia hunti* | Arcticidae | NE | 2 |
| [Astarte altissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/8583817) | *Astarte altissima* | Astartidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astarte huralensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8487666) | *Astarte huralensis* | Astartidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astarte minima](https://www.gbif.org/species/8517029) | *Astarte minima* | Astartidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astarte sowerbyana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9253033) | *Astarte sowerbyana* | Astartidae | NE | 4 |
| [Astarte spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/11821494) | *Astarte spec* | Astartidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gonilia calliglypta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4371383) | *Gonilia calliglypta* | Astartidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aulacomyella farquharsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8496156) | *Aulacomyella farquharsoni* | Aulacomyellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bathyspinula filatovae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6532976) | *Bathyspinula filatovae* | Bathyspinulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Abyssal Squid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2289885) | *Bathyteuthis abyssicola* | Bathyteuthidae | LC | 1 |
| [Belemnites tanganensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8570418) | *Belemnites tanganensis* | Belemnitidae | NE | 5 |
| [Callochiton vanninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306762) | *Callochiton vanninii* | Callochitonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Attenuated Cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372424) | *Acrosterigma attenuatum* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Double-Rayed Cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372371) | *Acrosterigma biradiatum* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acrosterigma maculosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372323) | *Acrosterigma maculosum* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acrosterigma simplex](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372360) | *Acrosterigma simplex* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cardium bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8679828) | *Cardium bottegoi* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cardium sindiense](https://www.gbif.org/species/5932290) | *Cardium sindiense* | Cardiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fulvia fragilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729175) | *Fulvia fragilis* | Cardiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eggcockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729185) | *Fulvia laevigata* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bear Paw](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729353) | *Hippopus hippopus* | Cardiidae | VU | 1 |
| [Lyrate Cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372214) | *Lyrocardium lyratum* | Cardiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Maoricardium pseudolima](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372476) | *Maoricardium pseudolima* | Cardiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Protocardia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8683068) | *Protocardia somaliensis* | Cardiidae | NE | 7 |
| [boring clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372638) | *Tridacna crocea* | Cardiidae | LC | 1 |
| [elongate clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372625) | *Tridacna maxima* | Cardiidae | LC | 2 |
| [fluted clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372624) | *Tridacna squamosa* | Cardiidae | LC | 4 |
| [Vasticardium assimile](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372434) | *Vasticardium assimile* | Cardiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Fan-Shaped Cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372452) | *Vasticardium flavum* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vasticardium insulare](https://www.gbif.org/species/6526879) | *Vasticardium insulare* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vasticardium luteomarginatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372430) | *Vasticardium luteomarginatum* | Cardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [fan-shaped cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372417) | *Vasticardium pectiniforme* | Cardiidae | NE | 2 |
| [reddish cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372425) | *Vasticardium rubicundum* | Cardiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Vepricardium burnupi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372602) | *Vepricardium burnupi* | Cardiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Australian Cardita](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373038) | *Cardita crassicosta* | Carditidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cardita rovereti](https://www.gbif.org/species/9249431) | *Cardita rovereti* | Carditidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cardita spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9654283) | *Cardita spec* | Carditidae | NE | 2 |
| [rectangular false cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373047) | *Cardita variegata* | Carditidae | NE | 1 |
| [Two-toned Cardita](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794399) | *Cardites bicolor* | Carditidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cardium telluris](https://www.gbif.org/species/9590531) | *Cardium telluris* | Ceratomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceratomya excentrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8554937) | *Ceratomya excentrica* | Ceratomyidae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceratomya obtusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8478726) | *Ceratomya obtusa* | Ceratomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceromya pittieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9324412) | *Ceromya pittieri* | Ceratomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceromya wimmisensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9515515) | *Ceromya wimmisensis* | Ceratomyidae | NE | 3 |
| [Gresslya peregrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8486420) | *Gresslya peregrina* | Ceratomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceromyopsis arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9362875) | *Ceromyopsis arabica* | Ceratomyopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceromyopsis helvetica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7363844) | *Ceromyopsis helvetica* | Ceratomyopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceromyopsis somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9631089) | *Ceromyopsis somaliensis* | Ceratomyopsidae | NE | 6 |
| [Dinoplax chelazziana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4370533) | *Dinoplax chelazziana* | Chaetopleuridae | NE | 9 |
| [cabbage jewel box](https://www.gbif.org/species/8067099) | *Chama brassica* | Chamidae | NE | 2 |
| [Snowball Chama](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372048) | *Chama limbula* | Chamidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mollusca](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372070) | *Chama pacifica* | Chamidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chama spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9805237) | *Chama spec* | Chamidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chiroteuthis picteti](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290579) | *Chiroteuthis picteti* | Chiroteuthidae | LC | 6 |
| [Chiroteuthis spoeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290578) | *Chiroteuthis spoeli* | Chiroteuthidae | LC | 2 |
| [Jewelled Chiton](https://www.gbif.org/species/5193729) | *Acanthopleura gemmata* | Chitonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Acanthopleura testudo](https://www.gbif.org/species/11670041) | *Acanthopleura testudo* | Chitonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Long Back](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306173) | *Chiton marmoratus* | Chitonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucilina sueziensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306093) | *Lucilina sueziensis* | Chitonidae | NE | 1 |
| [black chiton](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306217) | *Onithochiton literatus* | Chitonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhyssoplax affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10551095) | *Rhyssoplax affinis* | Chitonidae | NE | 8 |
| [Python Chiton](https://www.gbif.org/species/10750977) | *Rhyssoplax salihafui* | Chitonidae | NE | 6 |
| [Rhyssoplax venusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4370561) | *Rhyssoplax venusta* | Chitonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Corbula daghaniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8449577) | *Corbula daghaniensis* | Corbulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Corbula islipensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8483905) | *Corbula islipensis* | Corbulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Corbula taitensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4948665) | *Corbula taitensis* | Corbulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptoplax sykesi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306259) | *Cryptoplax sykesi* | Cryptoplacidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Cowl Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/2286189) | *Cucullaea labiata* | Cucullaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cornucardia hornigii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8455613) | *Cornucardia hornigii* | Dicerocardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dimya lima](https://www.gbif.org/species/6530648) | *Dimya lima* | Dimyidae | NE | 3 |
| [Donax faba](https://www.gbif.org/species/4371765) | *Donax faba* | Donacidae | NE | 3 |
| [half-striated donax](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729042) | *Donax semistriatus* | Donacidae | NE | 1 |
| [Donax variegatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5189100) | *Donax variegatus* | Donacidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ridged Wedge-Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/12266465) | *Latona madagascariensis* | Donacidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cardium verioti](https://www.gbif.org/species/9423408) | *Cardium verioti* | Edmondiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mactromya aequalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8549956) | *Mactromya aequalis* | Edmondiidae | NE | 6 |
| [Mactromya concentrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/11621354) | *Mactromya concentrica* | Edmondiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mactromya crassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8520028) | *Mactromya crassa* | Edmondiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mactromya daghaniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8682536) | *Mactromya daghaniensis* | Edmondiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Abralia fasciolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290256) | *Abralia fasciolata* | Enoploteuthidae | DD | 2 |
| [Abraliopsis chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290232) | *Abraliopsis chuni* | Enoploteuthidae | DD | 3 |
| [Entolium corneolum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8576213) | *Entolium corneolum* | Entoliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Entolium disciforme](https://www.gbif.org/species/8453414) | *Entolium disciforme* | Entoliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euciroa crassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4370781) | *Euciroa crassa* | Euciroidae | NE | 1 |
| [Liostrea arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8543420) | *Liostrea arabica* | Flemingostreidae | NE | 1 |
| [Praeexogyra dubiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8723953) | *Praeexogyra dubiensis* | Flemingostreidae | NE | 4 |
| [Meiocardia sanguineomaculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6526159) | *Meiocardia sanguineomaculata* | Glossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Glycymeris rotunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/5855376) | *Glycymeris rotunda* | Glycymerididae | NE | 1 |
| [wavy bittersweet](https://www.gbif.org/species/8075748) | *Glycymeris undata* | Glycymerididae | NE | 1 |
| [Exogyra davidsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8445675) | *Exogyra davidsoni* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Exogyra miotaurinensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951130) | *Exogyra miotaurinensis* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Exogyra wetzleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8532050) | *Exogyra wetzleri* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gryphaea costellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8452154) | *Gryphaea costellata* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 8 |
| [Honeycomb Oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373393) | *Hyotissa hyotis* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 8 |
| [Liogryphaea balli](https://www.gbif.org/species/9609808) | *Liogryphaea balli* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Nanogyra nana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8643074) | *Nanogyra nana* | Gryphaeidae | NE | 12 |
| [Cimomia buccinaeformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946483) | *Cimomia buccinaeformis* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cimomia hunti](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946491) | *Cimomia hunti* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cimomia karkarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946485) | *Cimomia karkarensis* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cimomia macfadyeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946486) | *Cimomia macfadyeni* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cimomia pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946494) | *Cimomia pusilla* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cimomia septemcastrensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946500) | *Cimomia septemcastrensis* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 6 |
| [Deltoidonautilus biyogorensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946504) | *Deltoidonautilus biyogorensis* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 5 |
| [Deltoidonautilus singularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946503) | *Deltoidonautilus singularis* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Deltoidonautilus spathi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4946502) | *Deltoidonautilus spathi* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nautilus molli](https://www.gbif.org/species/9053107) | *Nautilus molli* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nautilus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9558185) | *Nautilus somaliensis* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nautilus wylliei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9481774) | *Nautilus wylliei* | Hercoglossidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bouleiceras rectum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8764736) | *Bouleiceras rectum* | Hildoceratidae | NE | 1 |
| [Harpoceras kisslingi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8552495) | *Harpoceras kisslingi* | Hildoceratidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hildaites serpentiniformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8536729) | *Hildaites serpentiniformis* | Hildoceratidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hippurites cornucopiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5932792) | *Hippurites cornucopiae* | Hippuritidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hippurites lapeirousii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9567264) | *Hippurites lapeirousii* | Hippuritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chambardia petersi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5782166) | *Chambardia petersi* | Iridinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Wahlberg's River Mussel](https://www.gbif.org/species/7342656) | *Chambardia wahlbergi* | Iridinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ischnochiton yerburyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306527) | *Ischnochiton yerburyi* | Ischnochitonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Isognomon nucleus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374561) | *Isognomon nucleus* | Isognomonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Myoconcha weiri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8642072) | *Myoconcha weiri* | Kalenteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Lima aequilatera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8454510) | *Lima aequilatera* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lima astartina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8461563) | *Lima astartina* | Limidae | NE | 4 |
| [Lima consobrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8465017) | *Lima consobrina* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lima harronis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9247221) | *Lima harronis* | Limidae | NE | 6 |
| [Lima notata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8554971) | *Lima notata* | Limidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lima paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8478764) | *Lima paolii* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lima rugosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9282668) | *Lima rugosum* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lima schardti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8613467) | *Lima schardti* | Limidae | NE | 2 |
| [Limea strigilata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4594453) | *Limea strigilata* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plagiostoma anonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9299306) | *Plagiostoma anonii* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudolimea duplicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8493099) | *Pseudolimea duplicata* | Limidae | NE | 1 |
| [Limopsis tenella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2286176) | *Limopsis tenella* | Limopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Indian Squid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290315) | *Uroteuthis duvaucelii* | Loliginidae | DD | 2 |
| [Long Barrel Squid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290308) | *Uroteuthis singhalensis* | Loliginidae | DD | 7 |


This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-3/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species) (part 2 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia, from land snails to sea shells such as cowries and cone snails. This page lists the 509 in families whose names begin with A to L.

Part 2 of 4 of [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species)](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/) · [4](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/)

## Full list (509 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Cerithium caeruleum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362855) | *Cerithium caeruleum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 14 |
| [Cerithium citrinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362835) | *Cerithium citrinum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium columna](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362859) | *Cerithium columna* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerithium dialeucum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362873) | *Cerithium dialeucum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Prickly Horn Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362875) | *Cerithium echinatum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 11 |
| [Cerithium egenum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362898) | *Cerithium egenum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium nesioticum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362872) | *Cerithium nesioticum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 6 |
| [Nadelschnecke giant knobbed cerith](https://www.gbif.org/species/7831843) | *Cerithium nodulosum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Channeled Cerith](https://www.gbif.org/species/4609264) | *Cerithium punctatum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium rostratum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362876) | *Cerithium rostratum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerithium rostratum](https://www.gbif.org/species/11371211) | *Cerithium rostratum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium scabridum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362895) | *Cerithium scabridum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium sindiense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4956741) | *Cerithium sindiense* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cerithium zebrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126166) | *Cerithium zebrum* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clypeomorus bifasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4609086) | *Clypeomorus bifasciata* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Colina arifi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6497499) | *Colina arifi* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Colina pinguis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796790) | *Colina pinguis* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [elongated shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362906) | *Rhinoclavis articulata* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [rough horn](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362911) | *Rhinoclavis aspera* | Cerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhinoclavis kochi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362907) | *Rhinoclavis kochi* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [knobbled horn shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362900) | *Rhinoclavis sinensis* | Cerithiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Euchelus circulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7518978) | *Euchelus circulatus* | Chilodontaidae | NE | 2 |
| [Herpetopoma pauperculum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6513810) | *Herpetopoma pauperculum* | Chilodontaidae | NE | 1 |
| [Granopupa somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11193319) | *Granopupa somaliensis* | Chondrinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chromodoris lineolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8378511) | *Chromodoris lineolata* | Chromodorididae | NE | 1 |
| [Eveline's Sea Goddess](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360087) | *Tyrinna evelinae* | Chromodorididae | NE | 1 |
| [Etrema spurca](https://www.gbif.org/species/4602987) | *Etrema spurca* | Clathurellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clavatula tripartita](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728113) | *Clavatula tripartita* | Clavatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clionella kraussii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369049) | *Clionella kraussii* | Clavatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turricula catena](https://www.gbif.org/species/6882611) | *Turricula catena* | Clavatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Colubraria buitendijki](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502177) | *Colubraria buitendijki* | Colubrariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Colubraria ceylonensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4601035) | *Colubraria ceylonensis* | Colubrariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Colubraria cumingi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125847) | *Colubraria cumingi* | Colubrariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Colubraria maculosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368627) | *Colubraria maculosa* | Colubrariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Shiny Dwarf Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368626) | *Colubraria nitidula* | Colubrariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Obscure Dwarf Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/2304944) | *Colubraria obscura* | Colubrariidae | NE | 1 |
| [twisted dwarf triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/4601029) | *Colubraria tortuosa* | Colubrariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Kanamarua boswellae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502190) | *Kanamarua boswellae* | Colubrariidae | NE | 11 |
| [Kanamarua somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502181) | *Kanamarua somalica* | Colubrariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Metula bozzettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504294) | *Metula bozzettii* | Colubrariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Metula metulina](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504286) | *Metula metulina* | Colubrariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Euplica ionida](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125880) | *Euplica ionida* | Columbellidae | NE | 1 |
| [turtle dove shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125879) | *Euplica turturina* | Columbellidae | NE | 4 |
| [Euplica varians](https://www.gbif.org/species/2305526) | *Euplica varians* | Columbellidae | NE | 6 |
| [Tortoise Dove Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/6506184) | *Pardalinops testudinaria* | Columbellidae | NE | 1 |
| [yellow dovesnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368945) | *Pyrene flava* | Columbellidae | NE | 3 |
| [punctate dovesnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4600703) | *Pyrene punctata* | Columbellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zafrona somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6506253) | *Zafrona somalica* | Columbellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Conasprella bozzettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6509853) | *Conasprella bozzettii* | Conidae | LC | 22 |
| [Conasprella coromandelica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7404899) | *Conasprella coromandelica* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conasprella eucoronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511051) | *Conasprella eucoronata* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Conasprella eugrammata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511018) | *Conasprella eugrammata* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conasprella lizarum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7565964) | *Conasprella lizarum* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Bermuda Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/8262405) | *Conasprella mindana* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conasprella pusio](https://www.gbif.org/species/7797896) | *Conasprella pusio* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conasprella ramalhoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10186480) | *Conasprella ramalhoi* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conasprella somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7459630) | *Conasprella somalica* | Conidae | NE | 1 |
| [Conus abbreviatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857095) | *Conus abbreviatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus achatinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728184) | *Conus achatinus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Conus adenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6509767) | *Conus adenensis* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Amadis cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728206) | *Conus amadis* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus anemone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795773) | *Conus anemone* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus angioiorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6510659) | *Conus angioiorum* | Conidae | DD | 1 |
| [Conus antiquus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7518174) | *Conus antiquus* | Conidae | NE | 1 |
| [Conus archiepiscopus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728375) | *Conus archiepiscopus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Conus ardisiaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6509890) | *Conus ardisiaceus* | Conidae | VU | 1 |
| [sand-dusted cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/8045637) | *Conus arenatus* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [clay cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795839) | *Conus argillaceus* | Conidae | NE | 6 |
| [Conus aristophanes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795684) | *Conus aristophanes* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [augur cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/6509637) | *Conus augur* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Princely cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728303) | *Conus aulicus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Conus balteatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728377) | *Conus balteatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [birch cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728353) | *Conus betulinus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Conus bondarevi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6510140) | *Conus bondarevi* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [bubble cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728321) | *Conus bullatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [captain cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728264) | *Conus capitaneus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Characteristic Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795688) | *Conus caracteristicus* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Conus carcarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5935235) | *Conus carcarensis* | Conidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cat cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728352) | *Conus catus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [astrologer's cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795748) | *Conus chaldaeus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Conus chaldeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728223) | *Conus chaldeus* | Conidae | NE | 2 |
| [Conus circumactus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795885) | *Conus circumactus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus classiarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728254) | *Conus classiarius* | Conidae | NE | 1 |
| [coronated cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728294) | *Conus coronatus* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [Conus cuvieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795683) | *Conus cuvieri* | Conidae | NT | 3 |
| [cylindrical cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728270) | *Conus cylindraceus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus distans](https://www.gbif.org/species/9151168) | *Conus distans* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Hebrew cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728138) | *Conus ebraeus* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Conus echo](https://www.gbif.org/species/7446384) | *Conus echo* | Conidae | DD | 4 |
| [Conus episcopatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728205) | *Conus episcopatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [episcopal cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/8234552) | *Conus episcopus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Red Sea cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728369) | *Conus erythraeensis* | Conidae | DD | 5 |
| [fig cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728324) | *Conus figulinus* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Golden-Yellow Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728341) | *Conus flavidus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Smoky Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728241) | *Conus fumigatus* | Conidae | LC | 7 |
| [general cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728318) | *Conus generalis* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Geography cone, Geographer cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728277) | *Conus geographus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Conus glans](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728370) | *Conus glans* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Imperial cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/8138979) | *Conus imperialis* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [engraved cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728300) | *Conus inscriptus* | Conidae | LC | 7 |
| [Jickeli’s Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/6510257) | *Conus jickelii* | Conidae | LC | 8 |
| [Conus lemniscatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6509786) | *Conus lemniscatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [leopard cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/10019437) | *Conus leopardus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Conus lischkeanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795878) | *Conus lischkeanus* | Conidae | LC | 8 |
| [lithograph cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728193) | *Conus litoglyphus* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Lettered cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728295) | *Conus litteratus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Livid cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/9034548) | *Conus lividus* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [vice admiral cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795865) | *Conus locumtenens* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [magical cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728208) | *Conus magus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Maldive cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728394) | *Conus maldivus* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [Conus martensi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511413) | *Conus martensi* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Mile Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728222) | *Conus miles* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [Conus miliaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728231) | *Conus miliaris* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [glory-of-India cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728192) | *Conus milneedwardsi* | Conidae | LC | 6 |
| [Conus mitratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728349) | *Conus mitratus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Conus moluccensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7682703) | *Conus moluccensis* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Supreme Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728185) | *Conus monachus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus mucronatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728273) | *Conus mucronatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [music cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728149) | *Conus musicus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [weasel cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728306) | *Conus mustelinus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [namocanus cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728255) | *Conus namocanus* | Conidae | LC | 9 |
| [Conus nimbosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795691) | *Conus nimbosus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Nussatella cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728157) | *Conus nussatella* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Obscure cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728252) | *Conus obscurus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Omaria cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728287) | *Conus omaria* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus parvatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8392196) | *Conus parvatus* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [feathered cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/7593351) | *Conus pennaceus* | Conidae | DD | 5 |
| [Conus planorbis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728260) | *Conus planorbis* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Flea-bitten cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/7550459) | *Conus pulicarius* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Oak cone, Yellow cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728374) | *Conus quercinus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [rat cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728171) | *Conus rattus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [netted cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728146) | *Conus retifer* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Conus salzmanni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6510699) | *Conus salzmanni* | Conidae | DD | 1 |
| [Conus splendidulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511004) | *Conus splendidulus* | Conidae | NE | 8 |
| [Clay Cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/10936715) | *Conus splendidulus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [marriage cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5193243) | *Conus sponsalis* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [Conus striatellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728350) | *Conus striatellus* | Conidae | LC | 4 |
| [Striated cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728360) | *Conus striatus* | Conidae | LC | 10 |
| [Conus striolatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795872) | *Conus striolatus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [ringed cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728298) | *Conus taeniatus* | Conidae | LC | 7 |
| [Conus terebra](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728271) | *Conus terebra* | Conidae | LC | 6 |
| [tessellate cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795804) | *Conus tessulatus* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Cloth-of-gold cone, Textile cone shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728235) | *Conus textile* | Conidae | LC | 8 |
| [ruddy cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728220) | *Conus tinianus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [Tulip cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728233) | *Conus tulipa* | Conidae | LC | 2 |
| [Conus varius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728151) | *Conus varius* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [Conus ventricosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795736) | *Conus ventricosus* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [flag cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/7599276) | *Conus vexillum* | Conidae | LC | 14 |
| [Conus violaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728406) | *Conus violaceus* | Conidae | LC | 3 |
| [virgin cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728347) | *Conus virgo* | Conidae | LC | 1 |
| [obese cone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728242) | *Conus zeylanicus* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [Eoconus diversiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9347028) | *Eoconus diversiformis* | Conidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lilliconus biraghii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6510906) | *Lilliconus biraghii* | Conidae | LC | 5 |
| [Lilliconus congruens](https://www.gbif.org/species/9878481) | *Lilliconus congruens* | Conidae | DD | 1 |
| [Profundiconus neotorquatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9257398) | *Profundiconus neotorquatus* | Conidae | NE | 3 |
| [Profundiconus rashafunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11762382) | *Profundiconus rashafunensis* | Conidae | NE | 1 |
| [Profundiconus teramachii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6511408) | *Profundiconus teramachii* | Conidae | LC | 10 |
| [Pseudolilliconus korni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6509773) | *Pseudolilliconus korni* | Conidae | DD | 4 |
| [Orphanopusia osiridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9522016) | *Orphanopusia osiridis* | Costellariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pusia microzonias](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125863) | *Pusia microzonias* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum amabile](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727197) | *Vexillum amabile* | Costellariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Vexillum chelonia](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498412) | *Vexillum chelonia* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum depexum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727231) | *Vexillum depexum* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum gorii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498501) | *Vexillum gorii* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum modestum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727238) | *Vexillum modestum* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum oleaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9305825) | *Vexillum oleaceum* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum pacificum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727230) | *Vexillum pacificum* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum pardale](https://www.gbif.org/species/7892320) | *Vexillum pardale* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum unifasciale](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498409) | *Vexillum unifasciale* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vexillum unifascialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727219) | *Vexillum unifascialis* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [little fox miter](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796263) | *Vexillum vulpecula* | Costellariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ranzani's triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488614) | *Cymatium ranzanii* | Cymatiidae | NE | 6 |
| [Gelagna pallida](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488625) | *Gelagna pallida* | Cymatiidae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/) · [4](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/)


---

# Somaliland citizenship law (Law No. 22/2002)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/somaliland-citizenship-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland's Citizenship Law, Law No. 22/2002, was passed by the House of Representatives on 1 March 2002 and signed by the President on 3 June 2002. A person is a Somaliland citizen by birth if their father descends from people living in Somaliland on 26 June 1960 or before. Dual citizenship is allowed. A foreigner can be granted citizenship after 10 years of lawful residence, by presidential decree.

## What is the law?

The Somaliland Citizenship Law, Law No. 22/2002, sets out who is a citizen of Somaliland. The House of Representatives passed it on 1 March 2002 and the President signed it on 3 June 2002 ([Somaliland Citizenship Law, annotated translation by Ibrahim Hashi Jama, Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)). It carries out Article 4 of the Somaliland constitution, approved by referendum on 31 May 2001, which says descendants of people living in Somaliland on 26 June 1960 or earlier "shall be recognised as a Somaliland citizen" (same source).

Somaliland is not recognised by most states, so this citizenship works mainly inside its territory and for its own documents. See [Somaliland passport](/en/government/somaliland-passport/).

## What came before it?

- **Under British rule:** people of the [Somaliland Protectorate](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) were "British Protected Persons" under Orders in Council of 1934 and 1949 ([Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)).
- **1960:** on 23 June 1960 the Legislative Council passed the Somaliland Nationality and Citizenship Ordinance (Ordinance No. 15 of 1960). It took effect at independence on 26 June 1960. Every Somali with no other nationality who was born in the territory, or whose father was born there, became a citizen (Section 3). A "Somali" was "any person whose mother tongue is the Somali language and who follows Somali customs" (same source).
- **1960 to 1991:** the Act of Union made citizens of Somaliland and Somalia citizens of the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). Somalia's Citizenship Law No. 28 of 1962 then applied. See [Somali citizenship law](/en/government/somali-citizenship-law/).
- **1991 onward:** on 18 May 1991 Somaliland declared it was restoring its independence. A National Charter (1993) and an Interim Constitution (1997) came before the 2001 constitution ([Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)).

## Who is a citizen by birth?

Article 2 ([Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)):

- **By descent through the father:** anyone whose father descends from people who lived in Somaliland on 26 June 1960 or before.
- **Dual citizenship:** a citizen by birth may take another country's citizenship without losing Somaliland citizenship.
- **Those abroad:** an adult child of a Somaliland citizen living abroad, as a citizen of another country or as a refugee, can take up Somaliland citizenship on first return.

## How do you prove it?

Article 3 sets the proof ([Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)):

- a declaration made in court by the *akil* (clan elder) of the person's community, who must be registered with the Ministry of Interior; and
- a form from the Citizenship Office, signed by the person.

The Ministry of Interior records each confirmation, and the chair of the region signs it.

## Can a foreigner become a citizen?

Yes, under Article 4. The applicant must ([Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)):

1. be an adult;
2. have lived lawfully in Somaliland for at least **10 unbroken years**;
3. be of good character, with no criminal conviction and no activity against Somaliland's sovereignty;
4. have paid tax while living there;
5. renounce their previous citizenship and take the oath in Article 6.

A child of a Somaliland mother with no known father can apply under the same conditions. The President grants citizenship by decree, on the advice of the National Citizenship Committee of 12 ministers, chaired by the Minister of Interior (Article 5).

## Marriage and children

- **A foreign woman** who marries a Somaliland man becomes a citizen and keeps it after divorce (Article 9.1).
- **A Somaliland woman** who marries a foreign man loses citizenship if she takes his citizenship (Article 9.2).
- **Children** under the age of majority follow their father when he gains, loses or regains citizenship (Article 10).
- **Foundlings** born in Somaliland whose parents are unknown can be confirmed as citizens, on request of their carers (Article 11).

(All from [Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm).)

## Can citizenship be lost?

Under Article 7, citizenship can be lost if a person gives it up and takes another citizenship, or serves a foreign government or army in a way that harms Somaliland's sovereignty and refuses to leave that service in time. Citizenship granted under Article 4 can also be withdrawn. A former citizen can regain it under the Article 4 conditions, by presidential decree (Article 8) ([Somalilandlaw.com](https://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)).

## How does it work alongside Somali citizenship?

Norway's country-information unit notes that Somaliland citizenship is defined by territory, not ethnicity, and that many Somalilanders also hold Somali passports ([Landinfo, 30 Sep 2021](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2061777/Respons-Somalia-Soknad-om-pass-i-Somaliland-30092021.pdf)). Somalia counts people from Somaliland as Somali citizens ([Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 2018](https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html)).

## Related pages

- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Somaliland institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)


---

# Somalia and Tanzania

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/tanzania/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Tanzania revived their ties after Somalia joined the East African Community in March 2024. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made a state visit to Dar es Salaam in April 2024, and in December 2024 Tanzania's foreign minister led the first cabinet-level visit to Mogadishu in over three decades. Nine agreements followed by mid-2025, including a deal for Air Tanzania flights to Mogadishu and Tanzanian scholarships from January 2026.

## How do Somalia and Tanzania relate today?

Relations have grown fast since Somalia joined the East African Community (EAC), whose headquarters are in Tanzania, on 4 March 2024 ([The Citizen, March 2024](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/tanzania-pledges-support-for-somalia-as-they-agree-on-strengthening-bilateral-ties-4605486)). President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made a state visit to Dar es Salaam in April 2024 ([The Citizen, 27 April 2024](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/tanzania-pledges-support-for-somalia-as-they-agree-on-strengthening-bilateral-ties-4605486)).

Somalia reopened its embassy in Dar es Salaam, and by July 2025 the two countries had signed nine agreements ([Hiiraan Online, 16 July 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)). They cover education, security, civil aviation, trade, joint surveillance, scholarships, prisoner repatriation and Kiswahili teaching (same source).

From January 2026 Tanzanian universities were to take Somali students in engineering and medicine ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)). On 1 July 2025 the two sides agreed that Air Tanzania would fly directly between Dar es Salaam and Mogadishu ([SONNA, July 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-tanzania-renew-aviation-pact-approve-direct-flight-route/)).

## When did contact begin?

### Ancestral ties

Many Somali Bantu trace their roots to peoples of present-day Tanzania, such as the Zigua and Zaramo of the north-east ([Van Lehman and Eno, *The Somali Bantu*, CAL, 2003](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf)). Their ancestors were taken to Somalia in the 19th century through the slave trade of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, some by sea from Bagamoyo (same source). See [Minority communities](/en/society/minority-communities/).

### The 1970s

In October 1972 Somalia's president, Siad Barre, mediated between Tanzania and Uganda after exiles backed by Tanzania invaded Uganda ([Daily Monitor](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/somalia-saves-uganda-and-tanzania-from-going-to-war-1680344)). The talks produced the Mogadishu Agreement (same source). Somalia and Tanzania signed a bilateral air services agreement in 1975 ([SONNA, July 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-tanzania-renew-aviation-pact-approve-direct-flight-route/)).

### After 1991

Somali refugees reached Tanzania after the state collapsed. UNHCR counted 4,829 in 1996, the highest number ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)). Tanzania settled Somali Bantu refugees of Zigua ancestry at Chogo and later granted them citizenship ([UNHCR](https://www.unhcr.org/news/somali-bantus-gain-tanzanian-citizenship-their-ancestral-land)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

### Tanzania's envoys to Somalia

- **Dr John Stephen Simbachawene**: gave a copy of his credentials to Permanent Secretary Mohamed Ali-Nor in Mogadishu ([The Diplomatic Insight, September 2021](https://thediplomaticinsight.com/somalian-foreign-secretory-met-with-the-new-tanzanian-ambassador)).
- **Bernard Yohana Kibesse**: gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-receives-copy-of-credentials-from-newly-appointed-tanzanian-ambassador/)).

### Somalia's envoys to Tanzania

- **Ilyas Ali Hassan**: appointed in December 2024; presented credentials to President Samia Suluhu Hassan on 26 November 2024 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 26 November 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=3579); [Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)). He is also non-resident ambassador to Rwanda, the DR Congo, Malawi, Mauritius and the Comoros ([Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), same article).

The two sources give different months for his appointment and credentials. He gave a copy of his credentials to Tanzania's protocol chief, Yusuph Mndolwa, on 21 November 2024 ([SONNA, 21 November 2024](https://sonna.so/en/ambassador-ilyas-ali-hassan-presents-credentials-to-tanzanian-leaders)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Siad Barre**: Somali president who brokered the 1972 Mogadishu Agreement between Tanzania and Uganda ([Daily Monitor](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/somalia-saves-uganda-and-tanzania-from-going-to-war-1680344)).
- **Samia Suluhu Hassan**: Tanzanian president who hosted Hassan Sheikh in April 2024 and offered defence and security training ([The Citizen, 27 April 2024](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/tanzania-pledges-support-for-somalia-as-they-agree-on-strengthening-bilateral-ties-4605486)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**: Somali president who made the April 2024 state visit, the first by a Somali leader since Somalia joined the EAC ([Daily News, April 2024](https://dailynews.co.tz/?p=57015)).
- **Mahmoud Thabit Kombo**: Tanzanian foreign minister who led the first cabinet-level delegation to Mogadishu in over three decades, on 19 December 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).
- **Said Shaib Mussa**: Tanzanian deputy permanent secretary who travelled with Kombo ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 18 December 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=3974)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**: Somali foreign minister who received Kombo in Mogadishu and made a return visit to Dar es Salaam six weeks later ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**: Somali foreign minister present at the signing of the aviation resolutions in Dar es Salaam in July 2025 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-tanzania-renew-aviation-pact-approve-direct-flight-route/)).
- **Ilyas Ali Hassan**: Somali ambassador who drew up a roadmap with deadlines for each agreement ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1975**: bilateral air services agreement ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-tanzania-renew-aviation-pact-approve-direct-flight-route/)).
- **19 December 2024**: five memoranda of understanding signed in Mogadishu ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)). The Somali foreign ministry listed defence, tourism, health, aviation and general cooperation ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 18 December 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=3974)).
- **Early to mid-2025**: further agreements on joint surveillance, scholarships, prisoner repatriation and Kiswahili, bringing the total to nine ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).
- **1 July 2025**: resolutions on civil aviation, opening the way for Air Tanzania flights and renewing the 1975 agreement ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-tanzania-renew-aviation-pact-approve-direct-flight-route/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **April 2024**: Hassan Sheikh's state visit to Dar es Salaam, timed with the 60th anniversary of the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar ([The Citizen](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/tanzania-pledges-support-for-somalia-as-they-agree-on-strengthening-bilateral-ties-4605486)). He visited the Medical Stores Department and Muhimbili hospital ([Villa Somalia](https://villasomalia.gov.so/state-visit-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamuds-warm-reception-and-bilateral-talks-in-tanzania/)).
- **19 December 2024**: Foreign Minister Kombo in Mogadishu ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=3974)).
- **Early 2025**: Foreign Minister Fiqi in Dar es Salaam ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).
- **2025**: Hassan Sheikh in Dar es Salaam for an extraordinary summit on the conflict in the DR Congo ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somali-president-arrives-in-uganda-for-talks-on-security-economic-ties)).
- **1 July 2025**: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Dar es Salaam ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-tanzania-renew-aviation-pact-approve-direct-flight-route/)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is small. Tanzania reported exports to Somalia of $3.24 million in 2024, up from $1.07 million in 2022 ([UN Comtrade, Tanzania–Somalia, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=834&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=834&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Imports from Somalia were $17,700 in 2024 (same source).

Main Tanzanian exports to Somalia in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, by chapter](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=834&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)):

- food preparations, $2.09 million
- essential oils and cosmetics, $0.50 million
- beverages, $0.41 million

Before the Air Tanzania deal, travellers between the two countries had to change planes in Nairobi or Addis Ababa ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202051/tanzania_somalia_forge_stronger_ties_with_direct_flights.aspx)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Tanzania gave $233,082 in humanitarian funding for Somalia in 2012, according to UN OCHA ([OCHA FTS, Somalia, 2012](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2012&groupby=organization)). Its main offer since 2024 has been training and education. The University of Dar es Salaam is preparing Kiswahili pilot programmes for schools in Kismayo and Beledweyne ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).

## What about security?

Tanzania is not among the troop contributors to the AU mission; those at the July 2026 summit were Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Burundi and Egypt ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)). In April 2024 President Samia said: "We have assured them of our support in building their capacity as a country to defend themselves" ([The Citizen, 27 April 2024](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/tanzania-pledges-support-for-somalia-as-they-agree-on-strengthening-bilateral-ties-4605486)). Defence was among the memoranda listed in December 2024 ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=3974)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Tanzania deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Hassan Sheikh thanked Tanzania in 2024 for its "unwavering support of Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity" ([Villa Somalia](https://villasomalia.gov.so/state-visit-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamuds-warm-reception-and-bilateral-talks-in-tanzania/)). No official Tanzanian contact with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) was found in the sources checked. Planned Kiswahili pilots are in Kismayo in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and Beledweyne in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) ([Hiiraan Online, 2025](https://hiiraan.org/news4/2025/July/202221/tanzania_and_somalia_forge_stronger_relations.aspx)).

## How many Somalis live in Tanzania?

Tanzania's 2022 census counted 657 Somali citizens ([NBS Tanzania, Migration and Urbanization report](https://www.nbs.go.tz/uploads/statistics/documents/en-1769966854-Migration%20and%20Urbanization%20in%20Tanzania.pdf)). UNHCR counted 151 Somali refugees at the end of 2025, and 2,736 Somali refugees were naturalised from 2007 to 2014 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1985&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN); [UNHCR solutions API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=TAN)). See [Somalis in Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/).

## Where does Tanzania stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Samia said Tanzania, as a member of the AU Peace and Security Council, would keep supporting peace efforts in Somalia ([Daily News, April 2024](https://dailynews.co.tz/?p=57015)). The two leaders agreed to work together on EAC integration (same source). Tanzania hosts the EAC headquarters, and Somalia's ambassador in Dar es Salaam also covers the EAC ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 26 November 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=3579)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)
- [Somali Bantu resettlement](/en/diaspora/somali-bantu-resettlement/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somalia and the EAC](/en/relations/eac/)
- [Somalia and Uganda](/en/relations/uganda/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)


---

# Tawakal Express: money transfer company based in Garowe

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/tawakal-express/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Tawakal Express is a Somali money transfer company with its head office in Garowe, Puntland. It says it has served Somalis since 2003 and in 2019 reported agents in more than 80 countries. It launched direct transfers to Kenya's M-Pesa in 2016 and a mobile money app, TPLUS, in 2017, and opened its own bank, SomBank, in July 2019. The Central Bank of Somalia lists it as a licensed money transfer business.

## The short version

Tawakal Express is one of the Somali money transfer companies, often called hawala firms, that carry money from Somalis abroad to their families at home. Its head office is in Garowe, the capital of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Tawakal Express, letter to customers, June 2019](https://hiiraan.com/draft4/2019/Jun/164166/to_all_tawakal_express_beloved_customer_agent_and_share_holder.aspx)). The Central Bank of Somalia lists it among the money transfer businesses it licenses ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed money transfer](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/)). In Kenya it is licensed as Tawakal Money Transfer Limited, with an office on Standard Street in Nairobi, since 1 January 2015 ([Central Bank of Kenya, licensed remittance providers, 30 September 2026](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf)).

## History

In a 2014 press release the company, then called Tawakal Money Express, said it had served the Somali community since 2003 and had offices and agents in more than 50 countries ([Tawakal Money Express, press release, 25 September 2014](https://somalitalk.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Press-release-Tawakal-Plaza-Building.25.09.14-Final.pdf)). The same release named Garad Nor as chief executive and announced plans for a Tawakal Global Bank, to be housed in new "Tawakal Plaza" buildings in Mogadishu, Garowe and [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/). The Mogadishu building was planned with seven floors, including a supermarket, a 46-room hotel and conference halls (same source).

A 2013 study for the UK government on payments between the UK and Somalia named Tawakal, with Bakaal, as one of the smaller firms serving some of the least secure parts of Puntland and south-central Somalia ([Beechwood International, 2013, p. 27](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)). In Minneapolis, the Minnesota Daily listed Tawakal in 2009 among the transfer firms used by Somali families in the [Twin Cities](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/) ([Minnesota Daily, 9 June 2009](https://mndaily.com/205158/uncategorized/money-transfer-companies-thrive-somali-community)).

## Services

In a June 2019 letter to customers, the company listed what it had done in the previous three years ([Tawakal Express, June 2019](https://hiiraan.com/draft4/2019/Jun/164166/to_all_tawakal_express_beloved_customer_agent_and_share_holder.aspx)):

- set up its head office in Garowe, with a compliance department there;
- started direct payments to Kenya's M-Pesa in 2016;
- launched a mobile money app, TPLUS, in 2017;
- grew its agent network by 40%, to more than 80 countries;
- won contracts to deliver aid money for UN agencies and other groups;
- opened SomBank in July 2019.

SomBank's website says Tawakal operates in more than 70 countries and that in the United States its sole authorised partner is Banana Pay LLC, which sends money from seventeen states ([SomBank, remittance](https://www.sombank.so/remittance)). In October 2026 Tawakal was a sponsor of the Global Somali Entrepreneurship Forum in Nairobi ([Dawan Africa, 28 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/tawakal-express-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-entrepreneurship-and-financial-innovation-at-gsef-2026)).

## Related

- [Somali money transfer companies: directory](/en/businesses/money-transfer-companies/)
- [Somalia's newer banks](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/), including SomBank
- [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/)


---

# Union for Peace and Development (UPD) and the Peace and Development Party (PDP)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/union-for-peace-and-development-party/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Peace and Development Party (PDP) was founded in April 2011 with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as chairman. He won the presidency in 2012. In October 2018, out of office, he launched the Union for Peace and Development (UPD), formed from the PDP, the Daljir Party and the Horseed caucus. As UPD leader he won the presidency again on 15 May 2022. In May 2025 he launched a new party, the Justice and Solidarity Party.

## What were these two parties?

Both were parties led by [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), President of Somalia from 2012 to 2017 and again from 2022. The Peace and Development Party came first, in 2011. The Union for Peace and Development (UPD) followed in 2018 and absorbed it.

From 2012 to 2022 Somalia's President was chosen by members of parliament, who were themselves chosen by clan delegates. Parties could not stand in elections as parties. They served as platforms for candidates ([Elections in Somalia](/en/institutions/elections-in-somalia/)).

## The Peace and Development Party, 2011

The Peace and Development Party (PDP; *Xisbiga Nabadda iyo Horumarka*) was set up in April 2011. Its members elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud chairman unanimously that month, for three years ([Alshahid, 20 Apr 2011](http://english.alshahid.net/archives/20024)). He was then a university founder and civil society figure ([Sabahi, 17 Aug 2012](http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/features/2012/08/17/feature-02)).

WardheerNews wrote in 2012 that party leaders had ties to Al-Islah, the Somali branch of the Muslim Brotherhood ([WardheerNews, 11 Sep 2012](http://wardheernews.com/News_2012/Sept/11_Will_President_Mohamud_b_%20able_to_tame_Somalia.html)). The Counter Extremism Project also describes this link ([Counter Extremism Project, Muslim Brotherhood in Somalia](https://counterextremism.com/content/muslim-brotherhood-somalia)).

On 10 September 2012 parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud President. He beat [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) by 190 votes to 79 in the second round ([VOA, 10 Sep 2012](https://www.voanews.com/content/somalia_parliament_votes_for_new_president/1505008.html)). See [the 2012 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2012/).

On 8 February 2017 he lost to [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed](/en/people/mohamed-abdullahi-farmaajo/) "Farmaajo", 97 votes to 184, and conceded ([UNSOM, 8 Feb 2017](https://unsom.unmissions.org/en/node/51627)).

## The Union for Peace and Development, 2018

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched the UPD (*Xisbiga Midowga Nabadda iyo Horumarka*) in Mogadishu on 4 October 2018 ([Goobjoog News, 4 Oct 2018](http://goobjoog.com/english/pictures-union-for-peace-and-development-party-launched-in-mogadishu/)). [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that he would serve as interim chairman for six months before members elected a leader ([Hiiraan Online, Sep 2018](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2018/Sept/160416/former_somali_president_launches_new_political_party.aspx)).

- **Who formed it:** the Peace and Development Party, the Daljir Party and the Horseed caucus of MPs ([Wikipedia, UPD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_for_Peace_and_Development_Party)).
- **Its name:** the founders first planned "Union for Peace and Democracy", but changed it after an objection that a party with a similar name existed (same source).
- **Its outlook:** Wikipedia describes it as socially conservative, mixing nationalism and moderate Islamism (same source).
- **Its first congress:** in mid-April 2019 members elected the party leader, executive and central body (same source).
- **Its allies:** in October 2019 the UPD joined the Forum for National Parties, an opposition alliance chaired by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (same source).

## Back to power in 2022

On 15 May 2022 parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud President for a second time. He beat the sitting President, Farmaajo, by 214 votes to 110 in the third round ([Garowe Online, 15 May 2022](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/hassan-sheikh-defeats-farmajo-in-somalia-s-titanic-presidential-race); [Al Jazeera, 15 May 2022](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/somalia-elects-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-as-president)). See [the 2022 presidential election](/en/history/somali-presidential-election-2022/).

## What came next?

On 13 May 2025, ahead of the move to direct elections, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched the [Justice and Solidarity Party](/en/government/justice-and-solidarity-party/) ([Garowe Online, May 2025](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/analysis-power-consolidation-somalia-s-hassan-sheikh-launches-party-before-2026-vote)).

## Related pages

- [Tayo](/en/government/tayo-party/)
- [Presidents of Somalia](/en/people/presidents-of-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and Burundi

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/burundi/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Burundi's tie to Somalia rests on its troops: it was the second country, after Uganda, to send soldiers to the African Union mission in 2007, and at its peak had about 5,400. In December 2024 the two governments fell out over Burundi's share of the new AUSSOM force, but the AU kept Burundian troops on, and in July 2026 a Burundian contingent was still based in Jowhar. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Bujumbura in November 2023 and October 2024.

## How do Somalia and Burundi relate today?

Burundi is one of the oldest troop contributors to the AU mission in Somalia. It sent troops in 2007, second only to Uganda ([AUSSOM, 1 July 2026](https://au-ssom.org/burundian-troops-in-somalia-celebrate-the-countrys-independence-reaffirm-commitment-to-peace/)). On 1 July 2026 the Burundian contingent marked Burundi's independence day at its headquarters in Jowhar, in [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) (same source).

That presence survived a dispute. In December 2024 Somalia limited Burundi to 1,041 soldiers in the new AUSSOM force, and Burundi said it would leave ([Garowe Online, 31 December 2024](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/burundi-slams-somalia-for-betrayal-in-aussom-troop-snub)). In July 2025 the AU extended the Burundian presence by six months, citing gaps left by delayed deployments ([Garowe Online, 5 July 2025](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/world/africa/african-union-extends-burundi-troop-presence-in-somalia-by-six-months)).

Burundi took part in the AUSSOM troop contributors' summit in Kampala on 31 July 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)). The two presidents agreed in October 2024 to set up a Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation ([Villa Somalia, 20 October 2024](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-on-the-working-visit-of-his-excellency-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-to-the-republic-of-burundi/)).

## When did contact begin?

Burundi became independent from [Belgium](/en/diaspora/belgium/) on 1 July 1962, two years after Somalia ([AUSSOM, 2026](https://au-ssom.org/burundian-troops-in-somalia-celebrate-the-countrys-independence-reaffirm-commitment-to-peace/)). Close contact began with the AU mission, AMISOM. The AU Peace and Security Council set it up on 19 January 2007, and the UN Security Council authorised it on 21 February 2007 in resolution 1744 ([Alain Aimé Nyamitwe, Geeska, 31 December 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/look-back-burundis-role-somali-peacekeeping-mission)).

Burundian soldiers landed in Mogadishu in December 2007 under heavy shelling ([Nyamitwe, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/look-back-burundis-role-somali-peacekeeping-mission)). They took the defence ministry headquarters, the milk and cigarette factories and [Bakara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) Market from al-Shabaab (same source).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

No resident embassy in either capital was found in the sources checked. Contact has run through the presidents, foreign ministers and military commanders:

- **Brig. Gen. Michel Ndenzako**: commander of the Burundian AUSSOM contingent in July 2026 ([AUSSOM, 1 July 2026](https://au-ssom.org/burundian-troops-in-somalia-celebrate-the-countrys-independence-reaffirm-commitment-to-peace/)).
- **Albert Shingiro**: Burundi's foreign minister, who held talks with Hassan Sheikh in Bujumbura in November 2023 ([Garowe Online, 16 November 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-what-president-hassan-sheikh-discussed-with-burundi-s-ndayishimiye)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Évariste Ndayishimiye**: Burundian president who hosted Hassan Sheikh in 2023 and 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, 20 October 2024](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Oct/198557/somali_president_hassan_sheikh_continues_regional_tour_strengthens_security_ties_with_burundi.aspx)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**: Somali president who made his first visit to Burundi on 15 November 2023 and returned in October 2024 ([Hiiraan Online, 15 November 2023](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Nov/193745/somali_president_arrives_for_first_visit_to_burundi.aspx)).
- **Pierre Nkurunziza**: Burundian president during the 2016–2017 allowances dispute, when the EU sought to stop AMISOM money passing through his government ([Africanews, 29 March 2016](https://www.africanews.com/2016/03/29/burundi-eu-plans-to-cut-back-funding-for-peacekeeping/)).
- **Smaïl Chergui**: AU peace and security commissioner who signed the January 2017 payment deal that kept Burundi in AMISOM ([Africanews, 20 January 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/01/20/burundi-drops-threat-to-withdraw-troops-from-somalia-after-au-agreement/)).
- **Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur**: Somali defence minister whose letter of 26 December 2024 set Burundi's AUSSOM share ([Garowe Online, 31 December 2024](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/burundi-slams-somalia-for-betrayal-in-aussom-troop-snub)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**: Somali foreign minister, who said Burundi's legacy was "ingrained in Somalia's history" (same source).
- **Alain Aimé Nyamitwe**: Burundian writer of a December 2024 account of the deployment ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/look-back-burundis-role-somali-peacekeeping-mission)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **19 January 2017**: memorandum between Burundi and the AU on a new channel for paying Burundian AMISOM troops ([Africanews, 20 January 2017](https://www.africanews.com/2017/01/20/burundi-drops-threat-to-withdraw-troops-from-somalia-after-au-agreement/)).
- **15 November 2023**: the two presidents decided to convene a future session of a Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation ([Garowe Online, 16 November 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-what-president-hassan-sheikh-discussed-with-burundi-s-ndayishimiye)).
- **20 October 2024**: joint communiqué committing both sides to set up that commission ([Villa Somalia](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-on-the-working-visit-of-his-excellency-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-to-the-republic-of-burundi/); [communiqué PDF](https://villasomalia.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/FINAL_JOINT_SOMALIE-BURUNDI-ENG_COMMUNIQUE_20.10.2024_B.pdf)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **15 November 2023**: Hassan Sheikh's one-day working visit to Bujumbura. He discussed Somalia's bid to join the EAC with Ndayishimiye, then EAC chair ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Nov/193745/somali_president_arrives_for_first_visit_to_burundi.aspx)).
- **20 October 2024**: Hassan Sheikh in Bujumbura, after Kampala and before Djibouti ([Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Oct/198557/somali_president_hassan_sheikh_continues_regional_tour_strengthens_security_ties_with_burundi.aspx)). Ndayishimiye welcomed the lifting of the UN arms embargo on Somalia as a "critical step" (same source).

## How much do they trade?

Trade is very small. Burundi reported exports to Somalia of $382,846 in 2022 and $268,429 in 2023 ([UN Comtrade, Burundi–Somalia, 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=108&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=108&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). No imports from Somalia were recorded for those years (same source).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Money has flowed the other way, through the AU mission. In 2016 the government received $1,000 per soldier a month from an EU-funded pool and kept $200, about $13 million a year ([Africanews, 29 March 2016](https://www.africanews.com/2016/03/29/burundi-eu-plans-to-cut-back-funding-for-peacekeeping/)). The Institute for Security Studies writes that after 2015 Burundi's defence budget was largely financed through AMISOM ([Bram Verelst, ISS Today, 14 January 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/can-burundi-afford-to-pull-its-troops-out-of-somalia)). UN OCHA lists no Burundian humanitarian grants to Somalia for 2006 to 2025 ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)).

## What about security?

Burundi had about 1,700 troops in AMISOM by the end of 2008 and about 5,500 at its peak, more than a fifth of its army ([ISS Today, 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/can-burundi-afford-to-pull-its-troops-out-of-somalia)). With Ugandan and Somali forces, its troops pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 ([CFR](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab)). Hundreds of Burundian soldiers died in Somalia, and their names are on the wall of the AU's Nyerere House in Addis Ababa ([Nyamitwe, Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/look-back-burundis-role-somali-peacekeeping-mission)). Full detail: [Burundi's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/burundi-military-in-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Burundi deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Burundian troops have worked mostly with Hirshabelle State. Hirshabelle officials attended the contingent's July 2026 event in Jowhar, where its commander thanked "the leaders of the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) and Hirshabelle State" ([AUSSOM, 1 July 2026](https://au-ssom.org/burundian-troops-in-somalia-celebrate-the-countrys-independence-reaffirm-commitment-to-peace/)). No Burundian statement or contact on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) was found in the sources checked.

## Have there been disputes?

- **AUSSOM troop numbers, December 2024**: Burundi wanted to send 2,000 soldiers; Somalia accepted 1,041 ([Garowe Online, 31 December 2024](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/burundi-slams-somalia-for-betrayal-in-aussom-troop-snub)). A senior Burundian official called it "a clear case of betrayal and ingratitude" (same source).
- **Somalia's position**: Somali officials described the move to AUSSOM as a step to self-reliance, and Somalia had bilateral deals for more troops (same source). The defence minister cited a lack of consensus on numbers ([ISS Today, 2025](https://issafrica.org/iss-today/can-burundi-afford-to-pull-its-troops-out-of-somalia)).
- **Sources differ on the request**: ISS reports that Burundi offered 3,000 and Somalia would accept about 1,000 (same source).

## How many Somalis live in Burundi?

Very few. UNHCR counted 5 Somali refugees in Burundi at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BDI)).

## Where does Burundi stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Burundi has served in AMISOM, ATMIS and AUSSOM ([AUSSOM, 2026](https://au-ssom.org/burundian-troops-in-somalia-celebrate-the-countrys-independence-reaffirm-commitment-to-peace/)). As EAC chair in November 2023, Ndayishimiye discussed Somalia's bid to join the bloc ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2023/Nov/193745/somali_president_arrives_for_first_visit_to_burundi.aspx)). The 2024 communiqué also covered security in the Horn of Africa, eastern DR Congo and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Villa Somalia](https://villasomalia.gov.so/joint-communique-on-the-working-visit-of-his-excellency-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-to-the-republic-of-burundi/)).

## Related pages

- [Burundi's military in Somalia](/en/institutions/burundi-military-in-somalia/)
- [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/), [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and Uganda](/en/relations/uganda/)
- [Somalia and the EAC](/en/relations/eac/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)


---

# Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 585 arthropod species from Somalia other than insects: crabs, shrimps, lobsters and other crustaceans, spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites, sea spiders, centipedes and millipedes.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 585 arthropod (other than insects) species with Somalia as the country, in 9 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Malacostraca: 266
- Arachnida: 159
- Copepoda: 82
- Ostracoda: 52
- Maxillopoda: 13
- Pycnogonida: 9
- Chilopoda: 2
- Branchiopoda: 1
- Diplopoda: 1

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Garypus occultus (52), Elattogarypus somalicus (49), Olpium halophilum (44), shiny Hyalomma (34), Nannochelifer litoralis (28), Fat River Crab (23) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

364 of the 585 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

25 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Ctenus somaliensis*, *Wadicosa benadira*, *Tibellus somaliensis*, *Phalaeops somalicus*, *Cristina somalica*, *Cheiridium somalicum*, *Cryptocheiridium somalicum*, *Elattogarypus somalicus*, *Barbaracurus somalicus*, *Buthus somalilandus*, *Hottentotta somalicus*, *Parabuthus somalilandus*, *Hemiscorpius somalicus*, *Pandiborellius somalilandus*, *Galeodes somalicus*, *Rhagodoca somalica*, *Metacyclops somalicus*, *Afridiella somala*, *Synalpheus somalia*, *Chaceon somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 0
- Near Threatened (NT): 1
- Least Concern (LC): 14
- Data Deficient (DD): 1
- Not Evaluated (NE): 569

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Halocyprididae: 43 species
- Buthidae: 20 species
- Diogenidae: 14 species
- Salticidae: 13 species
- Portunidae: 13 species
- Solpugidae: 11 species
- Penaeidae: 11 species
- Calappidae: 10 species
- Daesiidae: 9 species
- Rhagodidae: 9 species

## Full list (585 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [dressed deep-sea shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222578) | *Acanthephyra eximia* | Acanthephyridae | NE | 1 |
| [Acartia amboinensis](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) | *Acartia amboinensis* | Acartiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aegiochus dollfusi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5175991) | *Aegiochus dollfusi* | Aegidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aetideus armatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166416) | *Aetideus armatus* | Aetideidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aetideus giesbrechti](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166422) | *Aetideus giesbrechti* | Aetideidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chirundina indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115335) | *Chirundina indica* | Aetideidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euchirella bella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115231) | *Euchirella bella* | Aetideidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gaetanus kruppii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115291) | *Gaetanus kruppii* | Aetideidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudeuchaeta brevicauda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115414) | *Pseudeuchaeta brevicauda* | Aetideidae | NE | 1 |
| [Valdiviella insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166427) | *Valdiviella insignis* | Aetideidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alpheus alcyone](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309873) | *Alpheus alcyone* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [flathead snapping shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2226138) | *Alpheus bisincisus* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Coral Snapping Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2226147) | *Alpheus lottini* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alpheus pacificus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2226116) | *Alpheus pacificus* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Synalpheus hastilicrassus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309975) | *Synalpheus hastilicrassus* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Soft Coral Snapping Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309996) | *Synalpheus neomeris* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Synalpheus somalia](https://www.gbif.org/species/6456195) | *Synalpheus somalia* | Alpheidae | NE | 2 |
| [Synalpheus streptodactylus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7637256) | *Synalpheus streptodactylus* | Alpheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Achelia boschi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2118418) | *Achelia boschi* | Ammotheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ammothella vanninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2118186) | *Ammothella vanninii* | Ammotheidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hannonia typica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166716) | *Hannonia typica* | Ammotheidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nymphopsis curtiscapus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166748) | *Nymphopsis curtiscapus* | Ammotheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tanystylum bredini](https://www.gbif.org/species/2118267) | *Tanystylum bredini* | Ammotheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tanystylum geminum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2118256) | *Tanystylum geminum* | Ammotheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anthomuda cracens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2211894) | *Anthomuda cracens* | Antheluridae | NE | 4 |
| [Apanthura microps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2212748) | *Apanthura microps* | Anthuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Exallanthura sexpes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2212437) | *Exallanthura sexpes* | Anthuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Haliophasma poorei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2212380) | *Haliophasma poorei* | Anthuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Argiope sector](https://www.gbif.org/species/5171024) | *Argiope sector* | Araneidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cyrtophora moluccensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11559763) | *Cyrtophora moluccensis* | Araneidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Kitespider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2158518) | *Gasteracantha versicolor* | Araneidae | NE | 1 |
| [Red-legged Golden Orb-web Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/10809848) | *Trichonephila sumptuosa* | Araneidae | NE | 5 |
| [Amesopous richardsonae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2199186) | *Amesopous richardsonae* | Arcturidae | NE | 2 |
| [Argas acinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2184865) | *Argas acinus* | Argasidae | NE | 2 |
| [scarlet gamba prawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223105) | *Aristaeopsis edwardsiana* | Aristeidae | NE | 2 |
| [smooth red shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178438) | *Aristeus semidentatus* | Aristeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ascorhynchus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2118375) | *Ascorhynchus somaliensis* | Ascorhynchidae | NE | 3 |
| [Catatemnus comorensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126477) | *Catatemnus comorensis* | Atemnidae | NE | 9 |
| [Micratemnus crassipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126277) | *Micratemnus crassipes* | Atemnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paratemnoides ellingseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126362) | *Paratemnoides ellingseni* | Atemnidae | NE | 3 |
| [Titanatemnus alluaudi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126448) | *Titanatemnus alluaudi* | Atemnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Titanatemnus tanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126461) | *Titanatemnus tanensis* | Atemnidae | NE | 2 |
| [Caridina lanzana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6454886) | *Caridina lanzana* | Atyidae | DD | 1 |
| [Euaugaptilus indicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4334874) | *Euaugaptilus indicus* | Augaptilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euaugaptilus palumboii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115064) | *Euaugaptilus palumboii* | Augaptilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Haloptilus acutifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115009) | *Haloptilus acutifrons* | Augaptilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Striped Acorn Barnacle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4805564) | *Amphibalanus amphitrite* | Balanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bathypalaemonella zimmeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6455270) | *Bathypalaemonella zimmeri* | Bathypalaemonellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Benthesicymus investigatoris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223196) | *Benthesicymus investigatoris* | Benthesicymidae | NE | 1 |
| [Afridiella somala](https://www.gbif.org/species/6462289) | *Afridiella somala* | Bogidiellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Barbaracurus feti](https://www.gbif.org/species/10019806) | *Barbaracurus feti* | Buthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Barbaracurus somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10790339) | *Barbaracurus somalicus* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Buthus berberensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7918182) | *Buthus berberensis* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Buthus pococki](https://www.gbif.org/species/10741830) | *Buthus pococki* | Buthidae | NE | 5 |
| [Buthus somalilandus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10680935) | *Buthus somalilandus* | Buthidae | NE | 9 |
| [Buthus zeylensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10747916) | *Buthus zeylensis* | Buthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gint amoudensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9841332) | *Gint amoudensis* | Buthidae | NE | 4 |
| [Gint banfasae](https://www.gbif.org/species/10235489) | *Gint banfasae* | Buthidae | NE | 7 |
| [Gint dabakalo](https://www.gbif.org/species/9103510) | *Gint dabakalo* | Buthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Gint gubanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10052444) | *Gint gubanensis* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gint maidensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10447922) | *Gint maidensis* | Buthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Hottentotta somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10882570) | *Hottentotta somalicus* | Buthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eastern Nomad](https://www.gbif.org/species/6893427) | *Hottentotta trilineatus* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leiurus gubanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10721451) | *Leiurus gubanensis* | Buthidae | NE | 5 |
| [Orthochiroides vachoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6893695) | *Orthochiroides vachoni* | Buthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Orthochirus arenicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/11124783) | *Orthochirus arenicola* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [African Blacktail Scorpion](https://www.gbif.org/species/7754347) | *Parabuthus liosoma* | Buthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mazuch's Thicktail Scorpion](https://www.gbif.org/species/10710453) | *Parabuthus mazuchi* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Robust Thicktail Scorpion](https://www.gbif.org/species/10736173) | *Parabuthus robustus* | Buthidae | NE | 4 |
| [Somaliland Thicktail Scorpion](https://www.gbif.org/species/10747620) | *Parabuthus somalilandus* | Buthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calanoides brevicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4333820) | *Calanoides brevicornis* | Calanidae | NE | 4 |
| [Calanoides carinatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114946) | *Calanoides carinatus* | Calanidae | NE | 7 |
| [Nannocalanus minor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114990) | *Nannocalanus minor* | Calanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neocalanus robustior](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114957) | *Neocalanus robustior* | Calanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Undinula vulgaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114950) | *Undinula vulgaris* | Calanidae | NE | 3 |
| [Calantica kampeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6468048) | *Calantica kampeni* | Calanticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calappa africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5730498) | *Calappa africana* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Two-horn Box Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178363) | *Calappa bicornis* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [giant box crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178362) | *Calappa calappa* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calappa dumortieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5730511) | *Calappa dumortieri* | Calappidae | NE | 8 |
| [rough box crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178368) | *Calappa gallus* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Japanese Box Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5730500) | *Calappa japonica* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Box Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5730504) | *Calappa lophos* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calappa tuberculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968724) | *Calappa tuberculata* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calappa woodmasoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/5799190) | *Calappa woodmasoni* | Calappidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mursia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968720) | *Mursia africana* | Calappidae | NE | 2 |
| [Caligus productus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2116060) | *Caligus productus* | Caligidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gloiopotes watsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2116194) | *Gloiopotes watsoni* | Caligidae | NE | 2 |
| [Stenopleura atlantica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5717211) | *Stenopleura atlantica* | Calliopiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Parapallene nierstraszi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2118040) | *Parapallene nierstraszi* | Callipallenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Candacia tenuimana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115113) | *Candacia tenuimana* | Candaciidae | NE | 1 |
| [Deutella indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4314389) | *Deutella indica* | Caprellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Convex Reef Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227588) | *Carpilius convexus* | Carpiliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Centropages calaninus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114724) | *Centropages calaninus* | Centropagidae | NE | 1 |
| [Centropages furcatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114733) | *Centropages furcatus* | Centropagidae | NE | 5 |
| [Centropages gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114731) | *Centropages gracilis* | Centropagidae | NE | 2 |
| [Sarax abbatei](https://www.gbif.org/species/11397546) | *Sarax abbatei* | Charinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Common House Sac Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2164194) | *Cheiracanthium furculatum* | Cheiracanthiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cheiridium somalicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124624) | *Cheiridium somalicum* | Cheiridiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptocheiridium somalicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124640) | *Cryptocheiridium somalicum* | Cheiridiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Hansenius fuelleborni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126960) | *Hansenius fuelleborni* | Cheliferidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lophochernes persulcatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126756) | *Lophochernes persulcatus* | Cheliferidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nannochelifer litoralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126776) | *Nannochelifer litoralis* | Cheliferidae | NE | 28 |
| [Teinocheylus longissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6915947) | *Teinocheylus longissimus* | Cheyletidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chirostylus dolichopus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311281) | *Chirostylus dolichopus* | Chirostylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chirostylus micheleae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311285) | *Chirostylus micheleae* | Chirostylidae | NE | 5 |
| [Uroptychus dentatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311400) | *Uroptychus dentatus* | Chirostylidae | NE | 5 |
| [Uroptychus gracilimanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311309) | *Uroptychus gracilimanus* | Chirostylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Uroptychus murrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311297) | *Uroptychus murrayi* | Chirostylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Poli's Stellate Barnacle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115620) | *Chthamalus stellatus* | Chthamalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Baharilana lira](https://www.gbif.org/species/2213157) | *Baharilana lira* | Cirolanidae | NE | 4 |
| [Cirolana somalia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2213519) | *Cirolana somalia* | Cirolanidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cirolana undata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2213499) | *Cirolana undata* | Cirolanidae | NE | 3 |
| [Metacirolana chemola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2213357) | *Metacirolana chemola* | Cirolanidae | NE | 3 |
| [Clausocalanus pergens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114929) | *Clausocalanus pergens* | Clausocalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [ruggie hermit crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716743) | *Coenobita rugosus* | Coenobitidae | NE | 2 |
| [Forest Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716738) | *Coenobita spinosus* | Coenobitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alcirona multidigitata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2201596) | *Alcirona multidigitata* | Corallanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Argathona normani](https://www.gbif.org/species/2201651) | *Argathona normani* | Corallanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lanocira gardineri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2201588) | *Lanocira gardineri* | Corallanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hardshell shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222214) | *Aegaeon lacazei* | Crangonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Afroneutria immortalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8176869) | *Afroneutria immortalis* | Ctenidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ctenus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5170227) | *Ctenus somaliensis* | Ctenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metacyclops chelazzii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4326812) | *Metacyclops chelazzii* | Cyclopidae | NE | 14 |
| [Metacyclops somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4326874) | *Metacyclops somalicus* | Cyclopidae | NE | 14 |
| [Tetraleberis tanzania](https://www.gbif.org/species/6468424) | *Tetraleberis tanzania* | Cylindroleberididae | NE | 2 |
| [Cymonomus valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5972920) | *Cymonomus valdiviae* | Cymonomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mothocya plagulophora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2210301) | *Mothocya plagulophora* | Cymothoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nerocila orbignyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9773844) | *Nerocila orbignyi* | Cymothoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cypris decaryi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10406715) | *Cypris decaryi* | Cyprididae | NE | 14 |
| [Giant Ostracod](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987878) | *Gigantocypris muelleri* | Cypridinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Macrocypridina castanea](https://www.gbif.org/species/1030731) | *Macrocypridina castanea* | Cypridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macrocypridina poulseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/1030730) | *Macrocypridina poulseni* | Cypridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cytherella vulgata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1030552) | *Cytherella vulgata* | Cytherellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Biton brunnipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122698) | *Biton brunnipes* | Daesiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Biton ehrenbergi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122689) | *Biton ehrenbergi* | Daesiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Biton monodentatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122668) | *Biton monodentatus* | Daesiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Biton velox](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122692) | *Biton velox* | Daesiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Biton villosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122659) | *Biton villosus* | Daesiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blossia laticosta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122546) | *Blossia laticosta* | Daesiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blossia nigripalpis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122495) | *Blossia nigripalpis* | Daesiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eberlanzia benedicti](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167194) | *Eberlanzia benedicti* | Daesiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gluviopsis nigripalpis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122605) | *Gluviopsis nigripalpis* | Daesiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Deckenia imitatrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/4375290) | *Deckenia imitatrix* | Deckeniidae | NT | 1 |
| [Hawaiian hermit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224438) | *Calcinus laevimanus* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [hidden hermit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224434) | *Calcinus latens* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Morgan's Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311577) | *Calcinus morgani* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Iftin Express, Juba Express and Taaj: three Somali money transfer firms

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/iftin-juba-express-and-taaj/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Iftin Express, Juba Express and Taaj are Somali money transfer companies that serve the routes from the UK, Kenya and the Gulf to Somalia. Iftin and Juba are registered in the UK, since 2006 and 2009, and were both licensed in Kenya on 10 July 2014. Taaj was licensed in Kenya in October 2015 from an office in Eastleigh, Nairobi. A 2020 study of transfer records in Bosaso examined Iftin and Taaj, together with Amal and Dahabshiil.

## The short version

Somali money transfer companies, also called hawala firms, carry most of the money that Somalis abroad send home. Iftin Express, Juba Express and [Taaj](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) each have offices in Somalia and in countries where many Somalis live. This page puts what public registers and studies say about the three in one place.

## Iftin Express

Iftin Express Limited was incorporated in England on 28 June 2006 ([Companies House, 05860963](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05860963)). The Central Bank of Kenya licensed Iftin Express as a money remittance provider on 10 July 2014, with an office at Portal Place in central Nairobi ([Central Bank of Kenya, licensed remittance providers, 30 September 2026](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf)). The Central Bank of Somalia lists it as a licensed money transfer business ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed money transfer](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/)).

## Juba Express

Juba Express Limited was incorporated in England on 20 October 2009 ([Companies House, 07049593](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07049593)). Kenya licensed it on the same day as Iftin, 10 July 2014, with an office at Hamilton House, Nairobi ([Central Bank of Kenya, 30 September 2026](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf)). In a 2013 survey of aid agencies working in Somalia, 8% said they used Juba Express to move money, the same share as Amal and behind Dahabshiil at 69% ([Beechwood International, 2013, p. 55](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)). The Central Bank of Somalia also lists Juba Express as licensed ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-money-transfer/)).

## Taaj

Taaj Money Transfer was licensed in Kenya on 2 October 2015, with an office at Shariff Centre in Eastleigh, the Somali trading district of Nairobi ([Central Bank of Kenya, directory, 2016](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers.pdf)). It does not appear on the Kenyan register of 30 September 2026 ([Central Bank of Kenya, 30 September 2026](https://www.centralbank.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Directory-of-Licenced-Money-Remittance-Providers-as-at-September-30-2026.pdf)).

## The 2020 Bosaso study

In September 2020 Reuters reported on a study by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a Geneva research group, which matched nearly six years of transfer records from [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) with phone records ([Reuters via The Business Standard, 17 September 2020](https://www.tbsnews.net/node/134263)). It said Amal, Iftin, Dahabshiil and Taaj had together moved more than $3.7 million between suspected weapons dealers in [Somalia and Yemen](/en/relations/yemen/). It said two transfers to a Yemeni under US sanctions went through Amal and Iftin. It found no transfers by Dahabshiil or Taaj to sanctioned people, but found customers using several names and numbers with all four firms. Iftin said the transfer slip in the report was fake and that it reported every transfer over $10,000 to the Somali authorities (same source).

In April 2021 Amal said an investigation by the Central Bank of Somalia had cleared it, and asked the research group to withdraw its report ([Hiiraan Online, April 2021](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2021/Apr/182169/amal_express_demands_apology_from_geneva_watchdog_following_central_bank_clearance.aspx)).

## Related

- [Somali money transfer companies: directory](/en/businesses/money-transfer-companies/)
- [Amal Group](/en/businesses/amal-group/), [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/), [Tawakal Express](/en/businesses/tawakal-express/)
- [Somali businesses in the UK](/en/economy/somali-business-in-the-uk/)
- [Eastleigh: Somali business in Nairobi](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/)


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species) (part 3 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia, from land snails to sea shells such as cowries and cone snails. This page lists the 509 in families whose names begin with A to L.

Part 3 of 4 of [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species)](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/)

## Full list (509 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [lesser girdled triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126482) | *Gelagna succincta* | Cymatiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Knobbed Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360572) | *Gutturnium muricinum* | Cymatiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Gyrineum bozzettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10195637) | *Gyrineum bozzettii* | Cymatiidae | NE | 6 |
| [tadpole triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/4610776) | *Gyrineum gyrinum* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Purple-mouthed Kookaburra Whelk](https://www.gbif.org/species/4610782) | *Gyrineum lacunatum* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Triton Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126475) | *Gyrineum natator* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [maple leaf triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126474) | *Gyrineum perca* | Cymatiidae | NE | 4 |
| [purple gyre triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360601) | *Gyrineum pusillum* | Cymatiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ringed Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300734) | *Linatella caudata* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Large-spotted Triton Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488656) | *Lotoria grandimaculata* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [aquatile hairy triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488609) | *Monoplex aquatilis* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Monoplex comptus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488579) | *Monoplex comptus* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [jeweled triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488552) | *Monoplex gemmatus* | Cymatiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Monoplex mundus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488524) | *Monoplex mundus* | Cymatiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Goldmouth Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488594) | *Monoplex nicobaricus* | Cymatiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Hairy Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488559) | *Monoplex pilearis* | Cymatiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Bristled Triton Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488605) | *Monoplex vespaceus* | Cymatiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Doghead Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/8073189) | *Ranularia cynocephala* | Cymatiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Ranularia exilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488684) | *Ranularia exilis* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ranularia oblita](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488671) | *Ranularia oblita* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ranularia trilineata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488719) | *Ranularia trilineata* | Cymatiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Septa closeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488796) | *Septa closeli* | Cymatiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Red Triton Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488784) | *Septa rubecula* | Cymatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Full-Lipped Triton](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488636) | *Turritriton labiosus* | Cymatiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eyed Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489225) | *Arestorides argus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bistolida diauges](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489127) | *Bistolida diauges* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Red Sea cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856565) | *Bistolida erythraeensis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 18 |
| [Bistolida goodalli](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856558) | *Bistolida goodalli* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4607963) | *Bistolida hirundo* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Kiener's Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4607964) | *Bistolida kieneri* | Cypraeidae | NE | 9 |
| [Bistolida owenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360953) | *Bistolida owenii* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [stolid cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360955) | *Bistolida stolida* | Cypraeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Callistocypraea broderipii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9768910) | *Callistocypraea broderipii* | Cypraeidae | NE | 6 |
| [Cribrarula abaliena](https://www.gbif.org/species/9383344) | *Cribrarula abaliena* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cribrarula comma](https://www.gbif.org/species/11256709) | *Cribrarula comma* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sieve Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360959) | *Cribrarula cribraria* | Cypraeidae | NE | 7 |
| [Cribrarula esontropia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360962) | *Cribrarula esontropia* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [panther cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360846) | *Cypraea pantherina* | Cypraeidae | NE | 6 |
| [tiger cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360773) | *Cypraea tigris* | Cypraeidae | NE | 8 |
| [Dark Onyx Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856631) | *Erronea adusta* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [thick-edged cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361011) | *Erronea caurica* | Cypraeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Erronea cylindrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4608067) | *Erronea cylindrica* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Erronea onyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361013) | *Erronea onyx* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Erronea subviridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4608065) | *Erronea subviridis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [beautiful cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/8071807) | *Ficadusta pulchella* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gisortia gigantea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963351) | *Gisortia gigantea* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leporicypraea geographica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856738) | *Leporicypraea geographica* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Map Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360928) | *Leporicypraea mappa* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Isabell cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360985) | *Luria isabella* | Cypraeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Lurid Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360982) | *Luria lurida* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [lovely cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856721) | *Luria pulchra* | Cypraeidae | NE | 15 |
| [camel cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360750) | *Lyncina camelopardalis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [purple-mouthed cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4608090) | *Lyncina carneola* | Cypraeidae | NE | 10 |
| [Lynx Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4608089) | *Lyncina lynx* | Cypraeidae | NE | 10 |
| [Calf Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4608087) | *Lyncina vitellus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mauritia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724953) | *Mauritia arabica* | Cypraeidae | NE | 7 |
| [Mauritia depressa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724935) | *Mauritia depressa* | Cypraeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Gray's Arabica Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724934) | *Mauritia grayana* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [harlequin cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724944) | *Mauritia histrio* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mauritia maculifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724939) | *Mauritia maculifera* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Humpback Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724937) | *Mauritia mauritiana* | Cypraeidae | NE | 9 |
| [jester cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724931) | *Mauritia scurra* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Kitten Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856751) | *Melicerona felina* | Cypraeidae | NE | 8 |
| [ring cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724966) | *Monetaria annulus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 11 |
| [Serpent's-head Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856652) | *Monetaria caputserpentis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 8 |
| [money cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724968) | *Monetaria moneta* | Cypraeidae | NE | 11 |
| [Beck's cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9737368) | *Naria beckii* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cernica cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/9711502) | *Naria cernica* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eroded Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9790296) | *Naria erosa* | Cypraeidae | NE | 8 |
| [gangrenous cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9705981) | *Naria gangranosa* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [Honey Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/9709782) | *Naria helvola* | Cypraeidae | NE | 12 |
| [Lamarck's Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9690581) | *Naria lamarckii* | Cypraeidae | NE | 9 |
| [Naria marginalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9687817) | *Naria marginalis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 95 |
| [Millet Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9701472) | *Naria miliaris* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Naria nebrites](https://www.gbif.org/species/9759924) | *Naria nebrites* | Cypraeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Ocellate Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9651874) | *Naria ocellata* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9812308) | *Naria poraria* | Cypraeidae | NE | 9 |
| [Thrush cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/9666160) | *Naria turdus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 15 |
| [Kernel cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856710) | *Nucleolaria nucleus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 7 |
| [Chinese Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856729) | *Ovatipsa chinensis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 6 |
| [Coloba cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856728) | *Ovatipsa coloba* | Cypraeidae | NE | 5 |
| [Little Ass Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360689) | *Palmadusta asellus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360698) | *Palmadusta clandestina* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [Palmadusta diluculum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360691) | *Palmadusta diluculum* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [Lentiginous cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360697) | *Palmadusta lentiginosa* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zigzag cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360695) | *Palmadusta ziczac* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Fimbriate Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360949) | *Purpuradusta fimbriata* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Graceful Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360951) | *Purpuradusta gracilis* | Cypraeidae | NE | 9 |
| [Purpuradusta microdon](https://www.gbif.org/species/4608023) | *Purpuradusta microdon* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [chick-pea cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724957) | *Pustularia cicercula* | Cypraeidae | NE | 4 |
| [globose cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724959) | *Pustularia globulus* | Cypraeidae | NE | 6 |
| [Margarite chickpea cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796712) | *Pustularia margarita* | Cypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [punctate cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489214) | *Ransoniella punctata* | Cypraeidae | NE | 11 |
| [Slug-like Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360923) | *Staphylaea limacina* | Cypraeidae | NE | 9 |
| [Grape Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360921) | *Staphylaea staphylaea* | Cypraeidae | NE | 11 |
| [Alison’s Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856662) | *Talostolida pellucens* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tapering Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856665) | *Talostolida teres* | Cypraeidae | NE | 6 |
| [Talparia exusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856724) | *Talparia exusta* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [mole cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360987) | *Talparia talpa* | Cypraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [pear cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724961) | *Zonaria pyrum* | Cypraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gibberula gabryae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498956) | *Gibberula gabryae* | Cystiscidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gibberula infundibulum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498966) | *Gibberula infundibulum* | Cystiscidae | NE | 1 |
| [Persicula brinkae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498932) | *Persicula brinkae* | Cystiscidae | NE | 1 |
| [Persicula masirana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498942) | *Persicula masirana* | Cystiscidae | NE | 1 |
| [Persicula rashafuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498954) | *Persicula rashafuni* | Cystiscidae | NE | 9 |
| [Persicula testai](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498934) | *Persicula testai* | Cystiscidae | NE | 3 |
| [Diala semistriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10609794) | *Diala semistriata* | Dialidae | NE | 1 |
| [Willey’s Nudibranch](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360013) | *Halgerda willeyi* | Discodorididae | NE | 1 |
| [Sponge Slug](https://www.gbif.org/species/5190113) | *Doris verrucosa* | Dorididae | NE | 1 |
| [Clathrodrillia flavidula](https://www.gbif.org/species/6507406) | *Clathrodrillia flavidula* | Drilliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Clavus basipunctatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8117344) | *Clavus basipunctatus* | Drilliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clavus exasperatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369157) | *Clavus exasperatus* | Drilliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clavus malva](https://www.gbif.org/species/7825238) | *Clavus malva* | Drilliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Iredalea inclinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6507418) | *Iredalea inclinata* | Drilliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Melampus concretus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10176832) | *Melampus concretus* | Ellobiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eocypraea subexcisa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9645294) | *Eocypraea subexcisa* | Eocypraeidae | NE | 6 |
| [Sphaerocypraea incomparabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489236) | *Sphaerocypraea incomparabilis* | Eocypraeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cylindriscala aequatorialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6493408) | *Cylindriscala aequatorialis* | Epitoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gyroscala coronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362674) | *Gyroscala coronata* | Epitoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Janthina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2299286) | *Janthina janthina* | Epitoniidae | NE | 3 |
| [Eudaronia biconcava](https://www.gbif.org/species/10846149) | *Eudaronia biconcava* | Eudaroniidae | NE | 3 |
| [Chryseofusus graciliformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504747) | *Chryseofusus graciliformis* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Filifusus filamentosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8212860) | *Filifusus filamentosus* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fusinus barclayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504970) | *Fusinus barclayi* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusinus chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505083) | *Fusinus chuni* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fusinus forceps](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368827) | *Fusinus forceps* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fusinus guidonis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504949) | *Fusinus guidonis* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Fusinus jasminae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504988) | *Fusinus jasminae* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 5 |
| [long spindle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368837) | *Fusinus longissimus* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusinus maroccensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368794) | *Fusinus maroccensis* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusinus multicarinatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504977) | *Fusinus multicarinatus* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusinus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504822) | *Fusinus somaliensis* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 6 |
| [Fusinus spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9757126) | *Fusinus spec* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusolatirus formosior](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505242) | *Fusolatirus formosior* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Granulifusus poppei](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504798) | *Granulifusus poppei* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 6 |
| [Granulifusus rubrolineatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504785) | *Granulifusus rubrolineatus* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Granulifusus rufinodis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504795) | *Granulifusus rufinodis* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemipolygona armata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505310) | *Hemipolygona armata* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemipolygona bonnieae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505299) | *Hemipolygona bonnieae* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Polygon Latirus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368719) | *Latirus polygonus* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Latirus rhodostoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505481) | *Latirus rhodostoma* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Forsskal's whelk](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368730) | *Peristernia forskalii* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Peristernia nassatula](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368739) | *Peristernia nassatula* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Foxhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368775) | *Pleuroploca trapezium* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Turrilatirus craticulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6505542) | *Turrilatirus craticulatus* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 6 |
| [Vermeijius retiarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/9683934) | *Vermeijius retiarius* | Fasciolariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Atlantic Figsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724885) | *Ficus ficus* | Ficidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ficus investigatoris](https://www.gbif.org/species/6491448) | *Ficus investigatoris* | Ficidae | NE | 12 |
| [Ficus subintermedia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5797452) | *Ficus subintermedia* | Ficidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ficus variegata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9726071) | *Ficus variegata* | Ficidae | NE | 1 |
| [Diodora delicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6787847) | *Diodora delicata* | Fissurellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Diodora jukesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4617095) | *Diodora jukesii* | Fissurellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Emarginula undulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6515552) | *Emarginula undulata* | Fissurellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Medusafissurella salebrosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6515432) | *Medusafissurella salebrosa* | Fissurellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Blue Glaucus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5190072) | *Glaucus atlanticus* | Glaucidae | NE | 1 |
| [variable abalone](https://www.gbif.org/species/4357747) | *Haliotis varia* | Haliotidae | LC | 1 |
| [white Pacific glassy-bubble](https://www.gbif.org/species/6075966) | *Atys naucum* | Haminoeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phanerophthalmus minikoiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9887258) | *Phanerophthalmus minikoiensis* | Haminoeidae | NE | 1 |
| [lesser harp](https://www.gbif.org/species/5193079) | *Harpa amouretta* | Harpidae | NE | 9 |
| [Ventral Harp](https://www.gbif.org/species/8195784) | *Harpa cabriti* | Harpidae | NE | 3 |
| [large harp](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727297) | *Harpa major* | Harpidae | NE | 5 |
| [Morum ninomiyai](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367032) | *Morum ninomiyai* | Harpidae | NE | 1 |
| [Morum praeclarum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367034) | *Morum praeclarum* | Harpidae | NE | 1 |
| [Garden Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5858758) | *Cornu aspersum* | Helicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chocolate-Band Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2294275) | *Eobania vermiculata* | Helicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eremina desertella](https://www.gbif.org/species/8917496) | *Eremina desertella* | Helicidae | NE | 6 |
| [Helix spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9806835) | *Helix spec* | Helicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Antisabia foliacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4613411) | *Antisabia foliacea* | Hipponicidae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/)


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families M to Z (468 species) (part 2 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia. This page lists the 468 in families whose names begin with M to Z, among them murex shells and sea slugs.

Part 2 of 3 of [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families M to Z (468 species)](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-3/)

## Full list (468 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Cyllene grayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6503479) | *Cyllene grayi* | Nassariidae | NE | 5 |
| [Nassaria coromandelica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504202) | *Nassaria coromandelica* | Nassariidae | NE | 10 |
| [Nassarius albescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368333) | *Nassarius albescens* | Nassariidae | NE | 3 |
| [cake nassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368308) | *Nassarius arcularia* | Nassariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Nassarius bellulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502238) | *Nassarius bellulus* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [crowned nassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368290) | *Nassarius coronatus* | Nassariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nassarius desmoulioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502511) | *Nassarius desmoulioides* | Nassariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nassarius emilyae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8358654) | *Nassarius emilyae* | Nassariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Nassarius fretorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4605050) | *Nassarius fretorum* | Nassariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nassarius gaudiosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368266) | *Nassarius gaudiosus* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nassarius gemmuliferus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368377) | *Nassarius gemmuliferus* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nassarius margaritifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/6502672) | *Nassarius margaritifer* | Nassariidae | NE | 2 |
| [Nassarius natalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6503223) | *Nassarius natalensis* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [papillose nassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2302995) | *Nassarius papillosus* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nassarius splendidulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2302988) | *Nassarius splendidulus* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phos geminus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10770477) | *Phos geminus* | Nassariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Phos muriculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504374) | *Phos muriculatus* | Nassariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Butterfly-Wing Sand Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4612823) | *Glyphepithema alapapilionis* | Naticidae | NE | 2 |
| [black-mouth moonsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963853) | *Mammilla melanostoma* | Naticidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mammilla simiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856083) | *Mammilla simiae* | Naticidae | NE | 2 |
| [spider moonsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362134) | *Natica arachnoidea* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natica buriasiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4612858) | *Natica buriasiensis* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natica cincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/11273741) | *Natica cincta* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natica fulminea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362178) | *Natica fulminea* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Morocco Moonsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300360) | *Natica marochiensis* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natica pliculosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9008167) | *Natica pliculosa* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natica pulicaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/6493046) | *Natica pulicaris* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natica spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/11342904) | *Natica spec* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spotted Sand Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300285) | *Notocochlis gualteriana* | Naticidae | NE | 2 |
| [Polinices cumingianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856087) | *Polinices cumingianus* | Naticidae | NE | 2 |
| [Polinices mammilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362226) | *Polinices mammilla* | Naticidae | NE | 7 |
| [Polinices paciae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6492826) | *Polinices paciae* | Naticidae | NE | 2 |
| [Uberella simulans](https://www.gbif.org/species/6492655) | *Uberella simulans* | Naticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nerinea somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8651825) | *Nerinea somaliensis* | Nerineidae | NE | 8 |
| [dubious nerite](https://www.gbif.org/species/7501354) | *Clithon oualaniense* | Neritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mienerita debilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7948747) | *Mienerita debilis* | Neritidae | NE | 3 |
| [Nerita adenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5858064) | *Nerita adenensis* | Neritidae | NE | 2 |
| [blotched nerite](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728452) | *Nerita albicilla* | Neritidae | NE | 5 |
| [Nerita orbignyana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5858074) | *Nerita orbignyana* | Neritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nerita plicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728454) | *Nerita plicata* | Neritidae | NE | 10 |
| [polished nerite](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728457) | *Nerita polita* | Neritidae | NE | 3 |
| [Nerita quadricolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/6788389) | *Nerita quadricolor* | Neritidae | NE | 1 |
| [textile nerite](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728449) | *Nerita textilis* | Neritidae | NE | 9 |
| [Nerita undata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728465) | *Nerita undata* | Neritidae | NE | 5 |
| [Smaragdia rangiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369930) | *Smaragdia rangiana* | Neritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Smaragdia souverbiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369932) | *Smaragdia souverbiana* | Neritidae | NE | 2 |
| [Emerald Nerite](https://www.gbif.org/species/2291431) | *Smaragdia viridis* | Neritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neritopsis radula](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369901) | *Neritopsis radula* | Neritopsidae | NE | 2 |
| [inflated olive](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368130) | *Oliva bulbosa* | Olividae | NE | 23 |
| [Oliva caerulea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368106) | *Oliva caerulea* | Olividae | NE | 1 |
| [Oliva irisans](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368125) | *Oliva irisans* | Olividae | NE | 1 |
| [common olive](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368129) | *Oliva oliva* | Olividae | NE | 1 |
| [Oliva ornata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4602799) | *Oliva ornata* | Olividae | NE | 1 |
| [tiger olive](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368137) | *Oliva tigrina* | Olividae | NE | 2 |
| [Oliva todosina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368102) | *Oliva todosina* | Olividae | NE | 1 |
| [Calcarovula gracillima](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489434) | *Calcarovula gracillima* | Ovulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Little Egg Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361039) | *Calpurnus verrucosus* | Ovulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Carpiscula bullata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489624) | *Carpiscula bullata* | Ovulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pink-mouth Egg Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5192700) | *Ovula costellata* | Ovulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Egg Cowry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5192699) | *Ovula ovum* | Ovulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Phenacovolva subreflexa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489411) | *Phenacovolva subreflexa* | Ovulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fruit Egg Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4611190) | *Prionovolva brevis* | Ovulidae | NE | 7 |
| [Prionovolva melonis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489678) | *Prionovolva melonis* | Ovulidae | NE | 4 |
| [Procalpurnus lacteus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4611167) | *Procalpurnus lacteus* | Ovulidae | NE | 4 |
| [Pseudosimnia jeanae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489488) | *Pseudosimnia jeanae* | Ovulidae | NE | 5 |
| [Pseudosimnia wieseorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489489) | *Pseudosimnia wieseorum* | Ovulidae | NE | 6 |
| [Serratovolva dondani](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856772) | *Serratovolva dondani* | Ovulidae | NE | 4 |
| [Volva kilburni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489468) | *Volva kilburni* | Ovulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerithium naricum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4956721) | *Cerithium naricum* | Pachychilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cleopatra bulimoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7617385) | *Cleopatra bulimoides* | Paludomidae | LC | 9 |
| [Cleopatra hemmingi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7957509) | *Cleopatra hemmingi* | Paludomidae | DD | 4 |
| [Cleopatra rugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7958835) | *Cleopatra rugosa* | Paludomidae | EN | 2 |
| [Paludomus ajanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5782678) | *Paludomus ajanensis* | Paludomidae | EN | 1 |
| [Scutellastra exusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5858000) | *Scutellastra exusta* | Patellidae | NE | 1 |
| [common distorsio](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360514) | *Distorsio anus* | Personidae | NE | 2 |
| [Distorsio euconstricta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4614352) | *Distorsio euconstricta* | Personidae | NE | 1 |
| [Distorsio muehlhaeusseri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126479) | *Distorsio muehlhaeusseri* | Personidae | NE | 7 |
| [Hunchback Distorsio](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300636) | *Distorsio perdistorta* | Personidae | NE | 1 |
| [Distorsio reticularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4614357) | *Distorsio reticularis* | Personidae | NE | 2 |
| [Distorsio somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488309) | *Distorsio somalica* | Personidae | NE | 5 |
| [Phasianella nivosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4357661) | *Phasianella nivosa* | Phasianellidae | NE | 2 |
| [variegated pheasant shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4357666) | *Phasianella solida* | Phasianellidae | NE | 9 |
| [Tricolia ios](https://www.gbif.org/species/6515707) | *Tricolia ios* | Phasianellidae | NE | 5 |
| [European physa, Tadpole snail, Bladder snail, Acute bladder snail, Pewter physa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5189806) | *Physella acuta* | Physidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cantharus spiralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6503980) | *Cantharus spiralis* | Pisaniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Engina melanozona](https://www.gbif.org/species/11579043) | *Engina melanozona* | Pisaniidae | NE | 2 |
| [bumble bee snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727962) | *Engina mendicaria* | Pisaniidae | NE | 3 |
| [Engina natalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6503764) | *Engina natalensis* | Pisaniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Engina zea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727955) | *Engina zea* | Pisaniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pisania ignea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368547) | *Pisania ignea* | Pisaniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pollia fumosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727938) | *Pollia fumosa* | Pisaniidae | NE | 4 |
| [Waved Buccinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5727932) | *Pollia undosa* | Pisaniidae | NE | 5 |
| [Hinea fasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6787378) | *Hinea fasciata* | Planaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [cluster whelk](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725590) | *Planaxis savignyi* | Planaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Furrowed Clusterwink](https://www.gbif.org/species/5192155) | *Planaxis sulcatus* | Planaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pfeiffer's Ramshorn Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/7480207) | *Biomphalaria pfeifferi* | Planorbidae | LC | 1 |
| [Planorbarius metidjensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9684504) | *Planorbarius metidjensis* | Planorbidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pleurotomaria spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9756349) | *Pleurotomaria spec* | Pleurotomariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ligatella dauaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8949713) | *Ligatella dauaensis* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ligatella ganalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8814916) | *Ligatella ganalensis* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ligatella hilgerti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8887703) | *Ligatella hilgerti* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ligatella luxurians](https://www.gbif.org/species/11113172) | *Ligatella luxurians* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rochebrunia bourguignati](https://www.gbif.org/species/8781121) | *Rochebrunia bourguignati* | Pomatiidae | NE | 12 |
| [Rochebrunia guillaini](https://www.gbif.org/species/9715324) | *Rochebrunia guillaini* | Pomatiidae | NE | 35 |
| [Rochebrunia hinduorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9734832) | *Rochebrunia hinduorum* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rochebrunia milneedwardsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9685769) | *Rochebrunia milneedwardsi* | Pomatiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Rochebrunia obtusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9768166) | *Rochebrunia obtusa* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rochebrunia perrieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9819247) | *Rochebrunia perrieri* | Pomatiidae | NE | 56 |
| [Socotora albicans](https://www.gbif.org/species/9801614) | *Socotora albicans* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tropidophora delmaresi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9662473) | *Tropidophora delmaresi* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tropidophora nyasana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9795899) | *Tropidophora nyasana* | Pomatiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tropidophora zanguebarica](https://www.gbif.org/species/10623045) | *Tropidophora zanguebarica* | Pomatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pirenella conica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363026) | *Pirenella conica* | Potamididae | LC | 2 |
| [Giant Mangrove Whelk](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363040) | *Terebralia palustris* | Potamididae | NE | 1 |
| [Procerithium hunti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8701477) | *Procerithium hunti* | Procerithiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochus arabiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9318644) | *Trochus arabiensis* | Proconulidae | NE | 5 |
| [Clivipollia fragaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/6125752) | *Clivipollia fragaria* | Prodotiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Fleshy Peristernia](https://www.gbif.org/species/9220238) | *Clivipollia incarnata* | Prodotiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clivipollia pulchra](https://www.gbif.org/species/4601110) | *Clivipollia pulchra* | Prodotiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prodotia crocata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368399) | *Prodotia crocata* | Prodotiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prodotia iostoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/4368400) | *Prodotia iostoma* | Prodotiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Comitas aequatorialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6513097) | *Comitas aequatorialis* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Crassispira cerithina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7546725) | *Crassispira cerithina* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Crassispira somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8304191) | *Crassispira somalica* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Funa tayloriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512899) | *Funa tayloriana* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Inquisitor elachystoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/6513299) | *Inquisitor elachystoma* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Inquisitor elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/6513291) | *Inquisitor elegans* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leucosyrinx julia](https://www.gbif.org/species/6513062) | *Leucosyrinx julia* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leucosyrinx sansibarica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6513037) | *Leucosyrinx sansibarica* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Naudedrillia praetermissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512992) | *Naudedrillia praetermissa* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ptychobela baynhami](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512758) | *Ptychobela baynhami* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ptychobela opisthochetos](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512751) | *Ptychobela opisthochetos* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ptychobela suturalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4603052) | *Ptychobela suturalis* | Pseudomelatomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pupoides coenopictus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8882736) | *Pupoides coenopictus* | Pupillidae | NE | 1 |
| [Longchaeus acus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7816410) | *Longchaeus acus* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 1 |
| [miter pyram](https://www.gbif.org/species/2298171) | *Otopleura mitralis* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 2 |
| [giant Atlantic pyram](https://www.gbif.org/species/5191772) | *Pyramidella dolabrata* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pyramidella nisoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9191930) | *Pyramidella nisoides* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pyrgulina vicina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8897374) | *Pyrgulina vicina* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tiberia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10779681) | *Tiberia somaliensis* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbonilla ducalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9050696) | *Turbonilla ducalis* | Pyramidellidae | NE | 1 |
| [giant frogsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300815) | *Ranella olearium* | Ranellidae | NT | 1 |
| [Pagodidaphne schepmani](https://www.gbif.org/species/6508664) | *Pagodidaphne schepmani* | Raphitomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Volvulella flavotincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7734879) | *Volvulella flavotincta* | Rhizoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ringicula orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9127041) | *Ringicula orientalis* | Ringiculidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ringicula suavis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8923187) | *Ringicula suavis* | Ringiculidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rissoa infrastriolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9050793) | *Rissoa infrastriolata* | Rissoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rissoina bertholleti](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361747) | *Rissoina bertholleti* | Rissoinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arabian tibia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361142) | *Tibia insulaechorab* | Rostellariidae | NE | 4 |
| [Adeuomphalus orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11198628) | *Adeuomphalus orientalis* | Seguenzioidea | NE | 1 |
| [Brookula aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8791108) | *Brookula aethiopica* | Seguenzioidea | NE | 1 |
| [Terebellum obtusum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8614668) | *Terebellum obtusum* | Seraphsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arxellia infralaevis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11601361) | *Arxellia infralaevis* | Solariellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gonaxis bottegoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10537779) | *Gonaxis bottegoi* | Streptaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gulella hemmingi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9018836) | *Gulella hemmingi* | Streptaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gulella orestias](https://www.gbif.org/species/11185964) | *Gulella orestias* | Streptaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gulella somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11155627) | *Gulella somaliensis* | Streptaxidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ptychotrema somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/10468312) | *Ptychotrema somaliense* | Streptaxidae | NE | 2 |
| [Streptostele suradensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8854976) | *Streptostele suradensis* | Streptaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tayloria somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9938201) | *Tayloria somaliensis* | Streptaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tayloria striata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11129876) | *Tayloria striata* | Streptaxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Canarium erythrinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489874) | *Canarium erythrinum* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Canarium mutabile](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856069) | *Canarium mutabile* | Strombidae | NE | 7 |
| [Canarium wilsonorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489873) | *Canarium wilsonorum* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-3/)


---

# Clams, octopus, squid and other molluscs of Somalia: 339 species (part 2 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 339 mollusc species from Somalia other than snails: clams, oysters and other bivalves, octopus, squid and cuttlefish, and chitons.

Part 2 of 3 of [Clams, octopus, squid and other molluscs of Somalia: 339 species](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-3/)

## Full list (339 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Circular Clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/2287379) | *Anodontia edentula* | Lucinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Codakia punctata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372961) | *Codakia punctata* | Lucinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pacific tiger lucine](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372957) | *Codakia tigerina* | Lucinidae | NE | 5 |
| [Lace Cockle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2287459) | *Divalucina cumingi* | Lucinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Divaricella angulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/9800358) | *Divaricella angulifera* | Lucinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Divaricella macandreae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372947) | *Divaricella macandreae* | Lucinidae | NE | 1 |
| [smooth platter shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372875) | *Loripes clausus* | Lucinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucina lirata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8551275) | *Lucina lirata* | Lucinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucina spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/11189173) | *Lucina spec* | Lucinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Smooth Trough Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4371482) | *Mactra lilacea* | Mactridae | NE | 4 |
| [Radiately-Ridged Trough Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4588426) | *Meropesta nicobarica* | Mactridae | NE | 1 |
| [Arctostrea aualites](https://www.gbif.org/species/9436020) | *Arctostrea aualites* | Malleidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eligmus polytypus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8560949) | *Eligmus polytypus* | Malleidae | NE | 4 |
| [Eligmus rollandi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8642007) | *Eligmus rollandi* | Malleidae | NE | 4 |
| [Eligmus weiri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8637969) | *Eligmus weiri* | Malleidae | NE | 5 |
| [Heligmus asiaticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8536989) | *Heligmus asiaticus* | Malleidae | NE | 2 |
| [Heligmus integer](https://www.gbif.org/species/8532725) | *Heligmus integer* | Malleidae | NE | 2 |
| [Heligmus rollandi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8663691) | *Heligmus rollandi* | Malleidae | NE | 3 |
| [American hammer oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4592243) | *Malleus albus* | Malleidae | NE | 3 |
| [Malleus legumen](https://www.gbif.org/species/6532232) | *Malleus legumen* | Malleidae | NE | 1 |
| [common hammer-oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4592250) | *Malleus malleus* | Malleidae | NE | 1 |
| [Malleus regula](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374719) | *Malleus regula* | Malleidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pacific pearl-oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2285337) | *Pinctada margaritifera* | Margaritidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pinctada vulgaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374762) | *Pinctada vulgaris* | Margaritidae | NE | 1 |
| [eastern pearlshell](https://www.gbif.org/species/7911174) | *Margaritifera margaritifera* | Margaritiferidae | EN | 1 |
| [Idioteuthis tyroi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2289858) | *Idioteuthis tyroi* | Mastigoteuthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hjort's Whiplash Squid](https://www.gbif.org/species/8247143) | *Mastigopsis hjorti* | Mastigoteuthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chinese Wedge Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126945) | *Coecella chinensis* | Mesodesmatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudomonotis nigricans](https://www.gbif.org/species/8694002) | *Pseudomonotis nigricans* | Monotidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mya depressa](https://www.gbif.org/species/11113894) | *Mya depressa* | Myidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arcomytilus laitmairensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8502256) | *Arcomytilus laitmairensis* | Mytilidae | NE | 5 |
| [Modiola subangustissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/9329069) | *Modiola subangustissima* | Mytilidae | NE | 3 |
| [Eared Horse Mussel](https://www.gbif.org/species/4593370) | *Modiolus auriculatus* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Modiolus imbricatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8696725) | *Modiolus imbricatus* | Mytilidae | NE | 8 |
| [Mytilus autissiodorensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8634712) | *Mytilus autissiodorensis* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mytilus blanfordi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8442335) | *Mytilus blanfordi* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mytilus glendayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8584281) | *Mytilus glendayi* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mytilus jurensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8654542) | *Mytilus jurensis* | Mytilidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mytilus perplicatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9617925) | *Mytilus perplicatus* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mytilus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9617636) | *Mytilus somaliensis* | Mytilidae | NE | 4 |
| [Mytilus spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9659607) | *Mytilus spec* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mexilhao Mussel](https://www.gbif.org/species/5188828) | *Perna perna* | Mytilidae | NE | 1 |
| [Septifer cumingii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9450610) | *Septifer cumingii* | Mytilidae | NE | 2 |
| [pointed nut clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/2285417) | *Nuculana acuta* | Nuculanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nucula consentanea](https://www.gbif.org/species/6532835) | *Nucula consentanea* | Nuculidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nucula spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/11645439) | *Nucula spec* | Nuculidae | NE | 1 |
| [Palaeonucula cuneiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11535690) | *Palaeonucula cuneiformis* | Nuculidae | NE | 7 |
| [Dollfus's octopus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856036) | *Amphioctopus aegina* | Octopodidae | LC | 1 |
| [foliate oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4595289) | *Dendostrea folium* | Ostreidae | NE | 8 |
| [Cock's Comb Oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/5188917) | *Lopha cristagalli* | Ostreidae | NE | 2 |
| [Magallana gryphoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9742788) | *Magallana gryphoides* | Ostreidae | NE | 5 |
| [Ostrea costata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9362686) | *Ostrea costata* | Ostreidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ostrea dorsalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951257) | *Ostrea dorsalis* | Ostreidae | NE | 6 |
| [Ostrea gregarea](https://www.gbif.org/species/9248913) | *Ostrea gregarea* | Ostreidae | NE | 7 |
| [Ostrea latimarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4595383) | *Ostrea latimarginata* | Ostreidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ostrea protoimbricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951234) | *Ostrea protoimbricata* | Ostreidae | NE | 3 |
| [Ostrea roncana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8611195) | *Ostrea roncana* | Ostreidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ostrea subangulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951215) | *Ostrea subangulata* | Ostreidae | NE | 6 |
| [Saccostrea virleti](https://www.gbif.org/species/11119161) | *Saccostrea virleti* | Ostreidae | NE | 3 |
| [Oxytoma inequivalve](https://www.gbif.org/species/9635437) | *Oxytoma inequivalve* | Oxytomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nautilus hexagonus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9749592) | *Nautilus hexagonus* | Paracenoceratidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grammatodon egertonianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8474087) | *Grammatodon egertonianus* | Parallelodontidae | NE | 10 |
| [Amussiopecten labadyei](https://www.gbif.org/species/12245887) | *Amussiopecten labadyei* | Pectinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Annachlamys reevei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374027) | *Annachlamys reevei* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Annachlamys striatula](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374022) | *Annachlamys striatula* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Azumapecten ruschenbergerii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6530829) | *Azumapecten ruschenbergerii* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bractechlamys corallinoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373907) | *Bractechlamys corallinoides* | Pectinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bractechlamys nodulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373905) | *Bractechlamys nodulifera* | Pectinidae | NE | 11 |
| [Camptochlamys obscura](https://www.gbif.org/species/12214521) | *Camptochlamys obscura* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Camptonectes auritus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8468253) | *Camptonectes auritus* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Camptonectes virdunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8457724) | *Camptonectes virdunensis* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chlamys curvivarians](https://www.gbif.org/species/8547049) | *Chlamys curvivarians* | Pectinidae | NE | 5 |
| [Chlamys spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/10803487) | *Chlamys spec* | Pectinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Chlamys textoria](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794777) | *Chlamys textoria* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Costellamussiopecten baranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/12240505) | *Costellamussiopecten baranensis* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptopecten bernardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374062) | *Cryptopecten bernardi* | Pectinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Eopecten velatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8619923) | *Eopecten velatus* | Pectinidae | NE | 3 |
| [royal cloak scallop](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373972) | *Gloripallium pallium* | Pectinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Gloripallium speciosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373970) | *Gloripallium speciosum* | Pectinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Laevichlamys rubromaculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373572) | *Laevichlamys rubromaculata* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Laevichlamys superficialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373562) | *Laevichlamys superficialis* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [austral scallop](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373491) | *Mimachlamys asperrima* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mimachlamys gloriosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373474) | *Mimachlamys gloriosa* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [noble scallop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2285868) | *Mimachlamys sanguinea* | Pectinidae | NE | 16 |
| [Mimachlamys townsendi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373519) | *Mimachlamys townsendi* | Pectinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Mirapecten cranmerorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373912) | *Mirapecten cranmerorum* | Pectinidae | NE | 36 |
| [Mirapecten tuberosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373918) | *Mirapecten tuberosus* | Pectinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pecten dorotheae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374187) | *Pecten dorotheae* | Pectinidae | NE | 8 |
| [Pecten erythraeensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374173) | *Pecten erythraeensis* | Pectinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pecten excavatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374168) | *Pecten excavatus* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pecten feddeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/9336441) | *Pecten feddeni* | Pectinidae | NE | 2 |
| [St.James's scallop](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374181) | *Pecten jacobaeus* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pecten sedanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951841) | *Pecten sedanensis* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pecten subcorneus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9527546) | *Pecten subcorneus* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spondylopecten palinurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8524532) | *Spondylopecten palinurus* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Humpback Scallop](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373699) | *Talochlamys pusio* | Pectinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Volachlamys fultoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374075) | *Volachlamys fultoni* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Volachlamys singaporina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4374071) | *Volachlamys singaporina* | Pectinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Knife Finger Oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4589737) | *Ensiculus cultellus* | Pharidae | NE | 2 |
| [Siliqua polita](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729073) | *Siliqua polita* | Pharidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cardium protei](https://www.gbif.org/species/8730486) | *Cardium protei* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 2 |
| [Goniomya lacunosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8455983) | *Goniomya lacunosa* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Goniomya literata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8569276) | *Goniomya literata* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pholadomya aubryi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8605307) | *Pholadomya aubryi* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pholadomya carinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8468174) | *Pholadomya carinata* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pholadomya inornata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9450868) | *Pholadomya inornata* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 5 |
| [Pholadomya lirata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8681378) | *Pholadomya lirata* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 6 |
| [Pholadomya percarinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8473039) | *Pholadomya percarinata* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pholadomya somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8592467) | *Pholadomya somaliensis* | Pholadomyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pinna bicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/2285351) | *Pinna bicolor* | Pinnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rough Penshell](https://www.gbif.org/species/2285352) | *Pinna rudis* | Pinnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plicatula cochlear](https://www.gbif.org/species/8523673) | *Plicatula cochlear* | Plicatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plicatula cossmanni](https://www.gbif.org/species/4952344) | *Plicatula cossmanni* | Plicatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Atlantic Kittenpaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/2286102) | *Plicatula gibbosa* | Plicatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plicatula imbricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8810214) | *Plicatula imbricata* | Plicatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [plicate kitten's paw](https://www.gbif.org/species/4373289) | *Plicatula plicata* | Plicatulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cetomya orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6523272) | *Cetomya orientalis* | Poromyidae | NE | 2 |
| [Posidonia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8617453) | *Posidonia somaliensis* | Posidoniidae | NE | 3 |
| [Claviderma gagei](https://www.gbif.org/species/6487566) | *Claviderma gagei* | Prochaetodermatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Parvamussium anolense](https://www.gbif.org/species/12253274) | *Parvamussium anolense* | Propeamussiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pacific asaphis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4371830) | *Asaphis violascens* | Psammobiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gari insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6527344) | *Gari insignis* | Psammobiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zebra Wingshell](https://www.gbif.org/species/7188005) | *Pterelectroma physoides* | Pteriidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hairy Wing Oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4592267) | *Pteria heteroptera* | Pteriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Praeradiolites hoeninghausi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8688570) | *Praeradiolites hoeninghausi* | Radiolitidae | NE | 2 |
| [Praeradiolites subtoucasi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8643853) | *Praeradiolites subtoucasi* | Radiolitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Abra chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8464838) | *Abra chuni* | Semelidae | NE | 6 |
| [Semele carnicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729081) | *Semele carnicolor* | Semelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Semele crenulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794213) | *Semele crenulata* | Semelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pharaoh Cuttlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/12186722) | *Acanthosepion pharaonis* | Sepiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arabian Cuttlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/12206631) | *Aurosepina arabica* | Sepiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Trident Cuttlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/12222152) | *Erythalassa trygonina* | Sepiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Hooded Cuttlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/12197477) | *Rhombosepion prashadi* | Sepiidae | LC | 5 |
| [Sepia joubini](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290842) | *Sepia joubini* | Sepiidae | DD | 1 |
| [Sepia sewelli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290848) | *Sepia sewelli* | Sepiidae | DD | 2 |
| [Common Spineless Cuttlefish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290906) | *Sepiella inermis* | Sepiidae | DD | 2 |
| [Whip-bearing Bobtail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2289069) | *Austrorossia mastigophora* | Sepiolidae | LC | 3 |
| [corrugate solecurtus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5189097) | *Solecurtus cumingianus* | Solecurtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Solen ceylonensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6528374) | *Solen ceylonensis* | Solenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Solen cylindraceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6528351) | *Solen cylindraceus* | Solenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ubiquitous Peaclam](https://www.gbif.org/species/7664805) | *Euglesa casertana* | Sphaeriidae | LC | 1 |
| [Ram's Horn Squid](https://www.gbif.org/species/5189558) | *Spirula spirula* | Spirulidae | LC | 1 |
| [Spondylus decussatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794801) | *Spondylus decussatus* | Spondylidae | NE | 2 |
| [Spondylus foliaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794785) | *Spondylus foliaceus* | Spondylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spondylus gravis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729628) | *Spondylus gravis* | Spondylidae | NE | 8 |
| [Spondylus mucronatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5933019) | *Spondylus mucronatus* | Spondylidae | NE | 2 |
| [Spondylus nicobaricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729643) | *Spondylus nicobaricus* | Spondylidae | NE | 2 |
| [Spondylus ornatissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5933031) | *Spondylus ornatissimus* | Spondylidae | NE | 2 |
| [Spondylus pratii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729611) | *Spondylus pratii* | Spondylidae | NE | 8 |
| [Spondylus spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9730351) | *Spondylus spec* | Spondylidae | NE | 3 |
| [golden thorny oyster](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729617) | *Spondylus versicolor* | Spondylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tancredia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8523492) | *Tancredia africana* | Tancrediidae | NE | 1 |
| [Speckled Tellin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5793892) | *Arcopaginula inflata* | Tellinidae | NE | 1 |
| [foliated tellin](https://www.gbif.org/species/4588820) | *Phylloda foliacea* | Tellinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Quidnipagus palatam](https://www.gbif.org/species/2287038) | *Quidnipagus palatam* | Tellinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Serratina fimbriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7835941) | *Serratina fimbriata* | Tellinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Serratina resecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4588624) | *Serratina resecta* | Tellinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tellinella cruciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8635186) | *Tellinella cruciata* | Tellinidae | NE | 5 |
| [Tellinides striatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9011014) | *Tellinides striatus* | Tellinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cream Wafer Clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/7516293) | *Tonganaella perna* | Tellinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Kuphus polythalamius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4948619) | *Kuphus polythalamius* | Teredinidae | NE | 18 |
| [Thracia viceliacensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8608938) | *Thracia viceliacensis* | Thraciidae | NE | 4 |
| [Trigonia reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7627351) | *Trigonia reticulata* | Trigoniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trigonia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8491802) | *Trigonia somaliensis* | Trigoniidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-3/)


---

# Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 650 species from Somalia in the smaller animal groups: corals, sea anemones and jellyfish, sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers, sponges, lamp shells, worms and sea squirts.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 650 animal (corals, echinoderms, sponges, worms and others) species with Somalia as the country, in 13 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Cnidaria: 241
- Echinodermata: 132
- Annelida: 105
- Brachiopoda: 58
- Porifera: 36
- Rotifera: 19
- Chordata: 19
- Platyhelminthes: 15
- Nematoda: 8
- Sipuncula: 6

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are *Somalirhynchia africana* (25), *Frenulina cruenta* (23), Spiral Wire Coral (16), *Daghanirhynchia daghaniensis* (14), *Stellasteropsis fouadi* (14), Stereocidaris indica (12) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

380 of the 650 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

33 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Somalidrilus elongatus*, *Prionospio somaliensis*, *Somalirhynchia subversabilis*, *Rhynchonella somalica*, *Somalirhynchia africana*, *Somalirhynchia bihendulensis*, *Somalirhynchia bihenensis*, *Somalirhynchia stefaninii*, *Somalirhynchia tumida*, *Striithyris somaliensis*, *Argyrotheca somaliensis*, *Somalithyris bihendulensis*, *Somalithyris macfadyeni*, *Loboidothyris jubaensis*, *Aulacothyris jubaensis*, *Somalitela ambalensis*, *Bolocera somaliensis*, *Phelliactis somaliensis*, *Eleutherobia somaliensis*, *Alveopora somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: massive starlet coral ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Deepwater coral, Sandfish ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 1
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 2
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 11
- Data Deficient (DD): 5
- Not Evaluated (NE): 631

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Naididae: 19 species
- Diphyidae: 16 species
- Nereididae: 15 species
- Merulinidae: 15 species
- Terebratulidae: 13 species
- Rhynchonellidae: 11 species
- Astrocoeniidae: 11 species
- Nephtheidae: 10 species
- Holothuriidae: 10 species
- Caryophylliidae: 9 species

## Full list (650 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Hyaloplacoida echinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2236267) | *Hyaloplacoida echinum* |  | NE | 2 |
| [Lepreus fischeri](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) | *Lepreus fischeri* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Phalium spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9706128) | *Phalium spec* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Abyla trigona](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264928) | *Abyla trigona* | Abylidae | NE | 4 |
| [Abylopsis eschscholtzii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8202890) | *Abylopsis eschscholtzii* | Abylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Abylopsis tetragona](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264942) | *Abylopsis tetragona* | Abylidae | NE | 4 |
| [Bassia bassensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185507) | *Bassia bassensis* | Abylidae | NE | 4 |
| [Enneagonum hyalinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264919) | *Enneagonum hyalinum* | Abylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Short-spined Crown-of-Thorns](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271220) | *Acanthaster brevispinus* | Acanthasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Crown of thorns starfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271208) | *Acanthaster planci* | Acanthasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Acropora tergestina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5931681) | *Acropora tergestina* | Acroporidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alveopora somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8467264) | *Alveopora somaliensis* | Acroporidae | NE | 3 |
| [Astreopora hemisphaerica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5931713) | *Astreopora hemisphaerica* | Acroporidae | NE | 2 |
| [Dendracis bifaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/8545739) | *Dendracis bifaria* | Acroporidae | NE | 5 |
| [Bolocera somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5720549) | *Bolocera somaliensis* | Actiniidae | NE | 4 |
| [Colonial Anemone](https://www.gbif.org/species/4339051) | *Gyractis sesere* | Actiniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Actinostola bulbosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6472227) | *Actinostola bulbosa* | Actinostolidae | NE | 3 |
| [Actinostromaria darroensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8585079) | *Actinostromaria darroensis* | Actinostromariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Actinostroma praesalevensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8444250) | *Actinostroma praesalevensis* | Actinostromatidae | NE | 3 |
| [Adeonellopsis arculifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1009954) | *Adeonellopsis arculifera* | Adeonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aeginura grimaldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269440) | *Aeginura grimaldii* | Aeginidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aeolosoma hemprichii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4289013) | *Aeolosoma hemprichii* | Aeolosomatidae | NE | 5 |
| [Aeolosoma travancorense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4411198) | *Aeolosoma travancorense* | Aeolosomatidae | NE | 4 |
| [Agalma okenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7396035) | *Agalma okenii* | Agalmatidae | NE | 5 |
| [Athorybia rosacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185476) | *Athorybia rosacea* | Agalmatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Melophysa melo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264813) | *Melophysa melo* | Agalmatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Siphonophore](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264848) | *Nanomia bijuga* | Agalmatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cladocarpus alatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2267252) | *Cladocarpus alatus* | Aglaopheniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cladocarpus dofleini](https://www.gbif.org/species/2267309) | *Cladocarpus dofleini* | Aglaopheniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cladocarpus sewelli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2267275) | *Cladocarpus sewelli* | Aglaopheniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lytocarpia flexuosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6180893) | *Lytocarpia flexuosa* | Aglaopheniidae | NE | 1 |
| [White Stinger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2266916) | *Macrorhynchia philippina* | Aglaopheniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Taxella eximia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8235380) | *Taxella eximia* | Aglaopheniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Winged Box Jelly](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264702) | *Alatina alata* | Alatinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eleutherobia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2262569) | *Eleutherobia somaliensis* | Alcyoniidae | NE | 9 |
| [Girdled Anemone](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184220) | *Triactis producta* | Aliciidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amphianthus valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184291) | *Amphianthus valdiviae* | Amphianthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Connectastrea piriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9510875) | *Connectastrea piriformis* | Amphiastreidae | NE | 3 |
| [Thamnoseris gibberosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9259874) | *Thamnoseris gibberosa* | Amphiastreidae | NE | 2 |
| [Amphinome djiboutiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196994) | *Amphinome djiboutiensis* | Amphinomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Benthoscolex coecus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2317537) | *Benthoscolex coecus* | Amphinomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Notopygos hispida](https://www.gbif.org/species/7508243) | *Notopygos hispida* | Amphinomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amphioncus platydiscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278227) | *Amphioncus platydiscus* | Amphiuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Amphiura crypta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2277840) | *Amphiura crypta* | Amphiuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Oochoristica agamae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4412797) | *Oochoristica agamae* | Anoplocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anseropoda novemradiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272183) | *Anseropoda novemradiata* | Anseropodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Muricella ramosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264288) | *Muricella ramosa* | Anthogorgiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Muricella reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264310) | *Muricella reticulata* | Anthogorgiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Antipathes aculeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6472308) | *Antipathes aculeata* | Antipathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Antipathes indistincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258195) | *Antipathes indistincta* | Antipathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spiral Wire Coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258325) | *Cirrhipathes spiralis* | Antipathidae | NE | 16 |
| [Stichopathes indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258284) | *Stichopathes indica* | Antipathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acanthopathes undulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258138) | *Acanthopathes undulata* | Aphanipathidae | NE | 2 |
| [Aphanipathes sarothamnoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258119) | *Aphanipathes sarothamnoides* | Aphanipathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aphrocallistes beatrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/2235966) | *Aphrocallistes beatrix* | Aphrocallistidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ovactis brasiliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258484) | *Ovactis brasiliensis* | Arachnactidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coelopleurus maillardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341336) | *Coelopleurus maillardi* | Arbaciidae | NE | 3 |
| [Archaster angulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271318) | *Archaster angulatus* | Archasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ascidia retrosipho](https://www.gbif.org/species/2330521) | *Ascidia retrosipho* | Ascidiidae | NE | 7 |
| [Neptune's Heart Sea Squirt](https://www.gbif.org/species/2330609) | *Phallusia mammillata* | Ascidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Black Tunicate](https://www.gbif.org/species/2330558) | *Phallusia nigra* | Ascidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aspidosiphon muelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2510282) | *Aspidosiphon muelleri* | Aspidosiphonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Paranepanthia brachiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272259) | *Paranepanthia brachiata* | Asterinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudonepanthia briareus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271991) | *Pseudonepanthia briareus* | Asterinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Asterodiscides belli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272741) | *Asterodiscides belli* | Asterodiscididae | NE | 2 |
| [Asterodiscides elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272747) | *Asterodiscides elegans* | Asterodiscididae | NE | 2 |
| [Asterodiscides lacrimulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272762) | *Asterodiscides lacrimulus* | Asterodiscididae | NE | 2 |
| [Astrea tuberosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9558601) | *Astrea tuberosa* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrocoenia gregoryi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944912) | *Astrocoenia gregoryi* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Astrocoenia immersa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944903) | *Astrocoenia immersa* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrocoenia newtoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8572462) | *Astrocoenia newtoni* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrocoenia ramosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9540752) | *Astrocoenia ramosa* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrocoenia somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8698272) | *Astrocoenia somalica* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyathocoenia miocenica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9301923) | *Cyathocoenia miocenica* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stephanocoenia tricoronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944888) | *Stephanocoenia tricoronata* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylocoenia ranikoti](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944898) | *Stylocoenia ranikoti* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylocoenia saxulensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8640861) | *Stylocoenia saxulensis* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylocoenia taurinensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944890) | *Stylocoenia taurinensis* | Astrocoeniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Atolla valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/10720524) | *Atolla valdiviae* | Atollidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trophomera improvisa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6484353) | *Trophomera improvisa* | Benthimermithidae | NE | 1 |
| [Biemna ehrenbergi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2243039) | *Biemna ehrenbergi* | Biemnidae | NE | 2 |
| [Biemna megastyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2242992) | *Biemna megastyla* | Biemnidae | NE | 2 |
| [massive beige horny sponge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2243013) | *Biemna variantia* | Biemnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerianthula carlgreni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6472077) | *Cerianthula carlgreni* | Botrucnidiferidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gymnanthula sennai](https://www.gbif.org/species/6472081) | *Gymnanthula sennai* | Botrucnidiferidae | NE | 1 |
| [Garveia crassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2266506) | *Garveia crassa* | Bougainvilliidae | NE | 4 |
| [Anuraeopsis coelata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1002877) | *Anuraeopsis coelata* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anuraeopsis fissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/1002869) | *Anuraeopsis fissa* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brachionus angularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4984131) | *Brachionus angularis* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Box-like Rotifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/4984102) | *Brachionus calyciflorus* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brachionus caudatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4984110) | *Brachionus caudatus* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brachionus durgae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4984084) | *Brachionus durgae* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brachionus quadridentatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4984191) | *Brachionus quadridentatus* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Keratella cochlearis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1002590) | *Keratella cochlearis* | Brachionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Migliorinia migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7913990) | *Migliorinia migiurtina* | Brissidae | NE | 1 |
| [Himantozoum leontodon](https://www.gbif.org/species/1006102) | *Himantozoum leontodon* | Bugulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calycopsis bigelowi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265202) | *Calycopsis bigelowi* | Bythotiaridae | NE | 1 |
| [Calamophyllia aylmeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9479266) | *Calamophyllia aylmeri* | Calamophylliidae | NE | 6 |
| [Callyspongia diffusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2246021) | *Callyspongia diffusa* | Callyspongiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eupaxia quadrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1007865) | *Eupaxia quadrata* | Candidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dasybranchus caducus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2317958) | *Dasybranchus caducus* | Capitellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scyphoproctus djiboutiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2318161) | *Scyphoproctus djiboutiensis* | Capitellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) rugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259154) | *Caryophyllia rugosa* | Caryophylliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Devonshire Cup-coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259158) | *Caryophyllia smithii* | Caryophylliidae | NE | 5 |
| [Deepwater coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/9783587) | *Desmophyllum pertusum* | Caryophylliidae | VU | 1 |
| [striped bum coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184468) | *Heterocyathus alternatus* | Caryophylliidae | LC | 1 |
| [striped bum coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184467) | *Heterocyathus sulcatus* | Caryophylliidae | LC | 1 |
| [Paracyathus altus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5931490) | *Paracyathus altus* | Caryophylliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhizosmilia valida](https://www.gbif.org/species/8452739) | *Rhizosmilia valida* | Caryophylliidae | NE | 1 |
| [maculate stony coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259062) | *Solenosmilia variabilis* | Caryophylliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rawsons cup coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/4283586) | *Trochocyathus rawsonii* | Caryophylliidae | NE | 4 |
| [Synarachnactis africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258592) | *Synarachnactis africana* | Cerianthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trichactis hardyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258594) | *Trichactis hardyi* | Cerianthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Chaetaster vestitus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271075) | *Chaetaster vestitus* | Chaetasteridae | NE | 4 |
| [Haliclona cribriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5182053) | *Haliclona cribriformis* | Chalinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Radicipes aureus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263006) | *Radicipes aureus* | Chrysogorgiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amphiacme abyssorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258643) | *Amphiacme abyssorum* | Chunellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Acanthocidaris maculicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341461) | *Acanthocidaris maculicollis* | Cidaridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ten-lined Urchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341401) | *Eucidaris metularia* | Cidaridae | NE | 1 |
| [Rough Pencil Urchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341473) | *Prionocidaris pistillaris* | Cidaridae | NE | 8 |
| [Stereocidaris indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341404) | *Stereocidaris indica* | Cidaridae | NE | 12 |
| [Dodecaceria joubini](https://www.gbif.org/species/2324114) | *Dodecaceria joubini* | Cirratulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cladocora gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943914) | *Cladocora gracilis* | Cladocoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Cladocora rosicensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943912) | *Cladocora rosicensis* | Cladocoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Chuniphyes moserae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264838) | *Chuniphyes moserae* | Clausophyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Crystallophyes amygdalina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264841) | *Crystallophyes amygdalina* | Clausophyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heteropyramis crystallina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264836) | *Heteropyramis crystallina* | Clausophyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heteropyramis maculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264835) | *Heteropyramis maculata* | Clausophyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clavularia chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/9205260) | *Clavularia chuni* | Clavulariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudocladochonus hicksoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2260757) | *Pseudocladochonus hicksoni* | Clavulariidae | NE | 1 |
| [orangered boring sponge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2251872) | *Spheciospongia purpurea* | Clionaidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clypeaster complanatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9328217) | *Clypeaster complanatus* | Clypeasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Clypeaster dalpiazi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7507452) | *Clypeaster dalpiazi* | Clypeasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Clypeaster fervens](https://www.gbif.org/species/5721229) | *Clypeaster fervens* | Clypeasteridae | NE | 9 |
| [Clypeaster rarispinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5721234) | *Clypeaster rarispinus* | Clypeasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Clypeaster reticulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5721235) | *Clypeaster reticulatus* | Clypeasteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Clypeus rostellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7891077) | *Clypeus rostellus* | Clypeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lissodendoryx ciocalyptoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2239571) | *Lissodendoryx ciocalyptoides* | Coelosphaeridae | NE | 2 |
| [Lissodendoryx rhaphidiophora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2239618) | *Lissodendoryx rhaphidiophora* | Coelosphaeridae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somalia and Rwanda

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/rwanda/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Rwanda and Somalia signed a General Cooperation Agreement in Kigali on 27 October 2025 and agreed to set up a Joint Permanent Commission. Rwanda's ambassador to Somalia, Martin Ngoga, took up his post in January 2025, and Somalia's ambassador in Dar es Salaam also covers Rwanda. A Rwandan, Patrick Mazimhaka, led the African Union's 2005 fact-finding mission to Somaliland. Trade was about $0.7 million in 2024.

## How do Somalia and Rwanda relate today?

The two countries have built formal ties since 2020. On 27 October 2025 the foreign ministers, Olivier Nduhungirehe and Abdisalam Abdi Ali, signed a General Cooperation Agreement in Kigali ([Rwanda High Commission in Kenya, October 2025](https://rwandainkenya.gov.rw/info/info-details/rwanda-somalia-sign-general-cooperation-agreement)). They agreed to set up a Joint Permanent Commission covering justice, education, agriculture, ICT, trade and mutual legal assistance (same source).

The ministers spoke by telephone on 9 June 2026 and met at the AU Executive Council in July 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 9 June 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-rwanda-foreign-ministers-discuss-bilateral-relations/); [Somali Foreign Ministry, 28 July 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-rwanda-strengthen-diplomatic-ties-at-african-union-executive-council/)). Rwanda has an ambassador accredited to Somalia, and Somalia's envoy is based in Dar es Salaam (see below).

## When did contact begin?

The best-known early link concerns [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). Patrick Mazimhaka, a Rwandan who was deputy chairperson of the AU Commission from 2003 to 2008, led an AU fact-finding mission to Somaliland from 30 April to 4 May 2005 ([AU Commission, 25 January 2018](https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20180125/african-union-commission-extends-condolences-following-death-he-patrick); [AU mission report, 2005](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/au-fact-finding-mission-to-somaliland-30-april-to-4-may-2005.pdf)). The mission visited Hargeisa, Berbera, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/), [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [Borama](/en/regions/awdal/) (same report).

Its report called Somaliland's search for recognition "historically unique and self-justified in African political history" ([Martin Plaut, 31 December 2025](https://martinplaut.com/2025/12/31/the-african-union-mission-that-recommended-somalilands-independence)). It said "the AU should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case" (same source). In 2006 UNPO reported that the report had not yet been discussed by the AU Executive Council ([UNPO, 2006](https://unpo.org/article/3867)). See [Somalia and the African Union](/en/relations/african-union/).

Rwanda and Somalia signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement in February 2020, Rwanda's 100th such agreement ([KT Press, 8 February 2020](https://www.ktpress.rw/tag/rwanda-somalia-relations)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Martin Karoli Ngoga**: Rwanda's ambassador to Somalia; gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in January 2025 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 30 January 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-receives-copy-of-credentials-from-rwandas-ambassador/)).
- **Ilyas Ali Hassan**: Somalia's ambassador to [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and non-resident ambassador to Rwanda; presented credentials to President Paul Kagame in Kigali in May 2025 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 21 May 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/non-resident-somali-ambassador-presents-credentials-to-rwandas-president)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Patrick Mazimhaka**: Rwandan AU deputy chairperson who led the 2005 mission to Somaliland ([AU mission report](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/au-fact-finding-mission-to-somaliland-30-april-to-4-may-2005.pdf)). He died on 25 January 2018 ([AU Commission](https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20180125/african-union-commission-extends-condolences-following-death-he-patrick)).
- **Paul Kagame**: Rwandan president who met Hassan Sheikh in Kigali on 12 August 2024 and pledged continued support ([Hiiraan Online, 13 August 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197517/somali_rwanda_presidents_discuss_bilateral_relations_and_regional_cooperation.aspx)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**: Somali president who attended Kagame's inauguration on 11 August 2024 (same source).
- **Olivier Nduhungirehe**: Rwandan foreign minister who signed the 2025 agreement and praised Somalia's work in the A3+ group on the UN Security Council ([KT Press, 27 October 2025](https://www.ktpress.rw/?p=118381)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**: Somali foreign minister who signed the 2025 agreement during a two-day visit to Kigali (same source).
- **Ilyas Ali Hassan**: Somali ambassador who met Somali traders and students in Kigali ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-rwanda-engages-diaspora-in-kigali-commits-to-enhanced-cooperation)).
- **Aisa Kirabo Kacyira**: Rwandan former mayor of Kigali, named head of the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) in February 2023 ([Garowe Online, 26 February 2023](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/rwanda-s-diplomat-appointed-head-of-un-office-in-somalia)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **February 2020**: Bilateral Air Services Agreement ([KT Press, 8 February 2020](https://www.ktpress.rw/tag/rwanda-somalia-relations)).
- **27 October 2025**: General Cooperation Agreement, with a Joint Permanent Commission to follow ([Rwanda High Commission in Kenya](https://rwandainkenya.gov.rw/info/info-details/rwanda-somalia-sign-general-cooperation-agreement)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **11–12 August 2024**: Hassan Sheikh in Kigali for Kagame's inauguration and talks ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197517/somali_rwanda_presidents_discuss_bilateral_relations_and_regional_cooperation.aspx)).
- **27–28 October 2025**: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Kigali ([KT Press](https://www.ktpress.rw/?p=118381)).

## How much do they trade?

Rwanda reported exports to Somalia of $691,192 in 2024 and $866,349 in 2022 ([UN Comtrade, Rwanda–Somalia, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=646&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=646&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Imports from Somalia were $10,973 in 2024 (same source).

Main Rwandan exports to Somalia in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, by chapter](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=646&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)):

- coffee and tea, $334,701
- food preparations, $275,142
- cereal and flour products, $81,349

Somalia's ambassador thanked Rwanda for its visa-free policy, which eases travel for Somali traders and students ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-rwanda-engages-diaspora-in-kigali-commits-to-enhanced-cooperation)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

UN OCHA lists no Rwandan humanitarian grants to Somalia for 2006 to 2025 ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)). The 2025 agreement focuses on training and exchanges in justice, education, agriculture and ICT ([Rwanda High Commission in Kenya](https://rwandainkenya.gov.rw/info/info-details/rwanda-somalia-sign-general-cooperation-agreement)).

## What about security?

Rwanda does not send troops to the AU mission in Somalia ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)). In 2025 the two ministers noted existing cooperation in policing and defence ([Rwanda High Commission in Kenya](https://rwandainkenya.gov.rw/info/info-details/rwanda-somalia-sign-general-cooperation-agreement)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Rwanda deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Rwanda's main link to the Somaliland question is the 2005 AU mission led by Mazimhaka ([AU mission report](https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/au-fact-finding-mission-to-somaliland-30-april-to-4-may-2005.pdf)). The mission said Somaliland's authorities had visited the AU Commission in 2003, 2004 and early 2005 seeking observer status (same report). No Rwandan government statement on Somaliland's status was found in the sources checked.

## How many Somalis live in Rwanda?

Few. UNHCR counted 22 Somali refugees in Rwanda at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RWA)). Somalis are among the people flown to Rwanda from Libya under the Emergency Transit Mechanism, which had received more than 3,000 evacuees by September 2026 ([KT Press, September 2026](https://www.ktpress.rw/2026/09/rwanda-has-received-more-than-3000-asylum-seekers-evacuated-from-libya-since-2019/); [Monitor](https://monitor.co.ug/africa/news/rwanda-african-union-and-unhcr-to-help-libyan-asylum-seekers-4760586)).

## Where does Rwanda stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Rwanda and Somalia are both EAC members, and Somalia's ambassador said cooperation follows EAC standards ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-rwanda-engages-diaspora-in-kigali-commits-to-enhanced-cooperation)). In October 2025 the ministers discussed the Doha and Washington peace processes on eastern DR Congo ([KT Press](https://www.ktpress.rw/?p=118381)). Nduhungirehe praised Somalia's role on the UN Security Council as part of the A3+ group (same source).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the African Union](/en/relations/african-union/)
- [Somalia and Tanzania](/en/relations/tanzania/)
- [Somalia and Libya](/en/relations/libya/)
- [Somaliland declaration 1991](/en/history/somaliland-declaration-1991/)
- [Somalis in Libya](/en/diaspora/libya/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species) (part 4 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia, from land snails to sea shells such as cowries and cone snails. This page lists the 509 in families whose names begin with A to L.

Part 4 of 4 of [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families A to L (509 species)](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/) · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/) · **4**

## Full list (509 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [white hoofsnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300722) | *Hipponix antiquatus* | Hipponicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pilosabia trigona](https://www.gbif.org/species/4613425) | *Pilosabia trigona* | Hipponicidae | NE | 2 |
| [Sabia conica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300732) | *Sabia conica* | Hipponicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Buchema shearmani](https://www.gbif.org/species/7847671) | *Buchema shearmani* | Horaiclavidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudexomilus fuscoapicatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512019) | *Pseudexomilus fuscoapicatus* | Horaiclavidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cithna aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8835745) | *Cithna aethiopica* | Liotiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cithna marginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8959587) | *Cithna marginata* | Liotiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common conniwink](https://www.gbif.org/species/6622674) | *Bembicium melanostoma* | Littorinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinolittorina millegrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301151) | *Echinolittorina millegrana* | Littorinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinolittorina natalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856856) | *Echinolittorina natalensis* | Littorinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Littoraria coccinea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725401) | *Littoraria coccinea* | Littorinidae | NE | 2 |
| [robust shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725398) | *Littoraria undulata* | Littorinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Pyramid Noddiwink](https://www.gbif.org/species/2301162) | *Nodilittorina pyramidalis* | Littorinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Peasiella fasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4611602) | *Peasiella fasciata* | Littorinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Peasiella infracostata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6491517) | *Peasiella infracostata* | Littorinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Asteracmea maraisi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10593263) | *Asteracmea maraisi* | Lottiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Radix natalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5784498) | *Radix natalensis* | Lymnaeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Marsh Pond Snail](https://www.gbif.org/species/5778354) | *Stagnicola palustris* | Lymnaeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Lyocyclus aethiopicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8254530) | *Lyocyclus aethiopicus* | Lyocyclidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/) · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-2/) · [3](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l-3/) · **4**


---

# Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families M to Z (468 species) (part 3 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 977 snail species (class Gastropoda) from Somalia. This page lists the 468 in families whose names begin with M to Z, among them murex shells and sea slugs.

Part 3 of 3 of [Snails and sea snails of Somalia: families M to Z (468 species)](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/) · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-2/) · **3**

## Full list (468 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Conomurex coniformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7495735) | *Conomurex coniformis* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mauritian conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489953) | *Conomurex decorus* | Strombidae | NE | 5 |
| [Dolomena plicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489816) | *Dolomena plicata* | Strombidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dolomena sibbaldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489809) | *Dolomena sibbaldii* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dolomena yerburyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11779018) | *Dolomena yerburyi* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Diana Conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/4612040) | *Euprotomus aurisdianae* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusistrombus fusiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11544890) | *Fusistrombus fusiformis* | Strombidae | NE | 4 |
| [Gibberulus albus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11207244) | *Gibberulus albus* | Strombidae | NE | 3 |
| [Gibbose Stromb](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489966) | *Gibberulus gibberulus* | Strombidae | NE | 9 |
| [Harpago arthriticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7561738) | *Harpago arthriticus* | Strombidae | NE | 3 |
| [Chiragra Conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489849) | *Harpago chiragra* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [common spider conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/4361115) | *Lambis lambis* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [giant spider conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/9549550) | *Lambis truncata* | Strombidae | NE | 2 |
| [Silver Conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489972) | *Lentigo lentiginosus* | Strombidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lister's conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489835) | *Mirabilistrombus listeri* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Persististrombus radix](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963466) | *Persististrombus radix* | Strombidae | NE | 5 |
| [Strombus depertitus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9246448) | *Strombus depertitus* | Strombidae | NE | 5 |
| [West Indian Fighting Conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/8257822) | *Strombus pugilis* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Strombus spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/9684373) | *Strombus spec* | Strombidae | NE | 2 |
| [Terestrombus afrobellatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963471) | *Terestrombus afrobellatus* | Strombidae | NE | 2 |
| [Thetystrombus coronatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10714300) | *Thetystrombus coronatus* | Strombidae | NE | 1 |
| [Goliath conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/9340270) | *Titanostrombus goliath* | Strombidae | NE | 2 |
| [Old's conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489994) | *Tricornis oldi* | Strombidae | NE | 37 |
| [three-horned conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/6489995) | *Tricornis tricornis* | Strombidae | NE | 13 |
| [Toothed Conch](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963503) | *Tridentarius dentatus* | Strombidae | NE | 3 |
| [smooth mouthed topshell](https://www.gbif.org/species/11417457) | *Rochia virgata* | Tegulidae | NE | 1 |
| [toothed top shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358250) | *Tectus dentatus* | Tegulidae | NE | 7 |
| [Tectus mauritianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358253) | *Tectus mauritianus* | Tegulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Duplicate Auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796407) | *Duplicaria duplicata* | Terebridae | NE | 5 |
| [Duplicaria oponensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11131037) | *Duplicaria oponensis* | Terebridae | NE | 3 |
| [Duplicaria veronicae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512651) | *Duplicaria veronicae* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Hastula aciculina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728435) | *Hastula aciculina* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Hastula casta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796420) | *Hastula casta* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Sandbeach auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728430) | *Hastula hectica* | Terebridae | NE | 9 |
| [Lanced Auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728437) | *Hastula lanceata* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [Hastula nimbosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5796435) | *Hastula nimbosa* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Combed Auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728440) | *Hastula strigilata* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Hastulopsis elialae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512033) | *Hastulopsis elialae* | Terebridae | NE | 6 |
| [Maculauger minipulcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/10822794) | *Maculauger minipulcher* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Myurella affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857152) | *Myurella affinis* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [Myurellopsis kilburni](https://www.gbif.org/species/11100243) | *Myurellopsis kilburni* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Oxymeris cerithina](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512497) | *Oxymeris cerithina* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [Crenulated Auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857182) | *Oxymeris crenulata* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [Oxymeris dimidiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512508) | *Oxymeris dimidiata* | Terebridae | NE | 5 |
| [Tiger Auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5857177) | *Oxymeris felina* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [Partecosta nassoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/10940293) | *Partecosta nassoides* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Punctoterebra brianoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/12259774) | *Punctoterebra brianoi* | Terebridae | NE | 3 |
| [Terebra anilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4605194) | *Terebra anilis* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebra babylonia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369854) | *Terebra babylonia* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebra cingulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8226060) | *Terebra cingulifera* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [Terebra fernandae](https://www.gbif.org/species/11075595) | *Terebra fernandae* | Terebridae | NE | 4 |
| [Terebra funiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369874) | *Terebra funiculata* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebra laevigata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369834) | *Terebra laevigata* | Terebridae | NE | 2 |
| [chocolate spotted auger](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369868) | *Terebra subulata* | Terebridae | NE | 3 |
| [Terebra tessellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6512385) | *Terebra tessellata* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [triseriate](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369819) | *Terebra triseriata* | Terebridae | NE | 1 |
| [Red-rimmed Melania](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362965) | *Melanoides tuberculata* | Thiaridae | NE | 15 |
| [Eudolium bairdii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2300438) | *Eudolium bairdii* | Tonnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pacific grinning tun](https://www.gbif.org/species/5192508) | *Malea pomum* | Tonnidae | NE | 3 |
| [Tonna canaliculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126542) | *Tonna canaliculata* | Tonnidae | NE | 3 |
| [spotted tun](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360494) | *Tonna dolium* | Tonnidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tonna lischkeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488179) | *Tonna lischkeana* | Tonnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pacific partridge tun](https://www.gbif.org/species/4360507) | *Tonna perdix* | Tonnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tonna rosemaryae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6488184) | *Tonna rosemaryae* | Tonnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tonna tessellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4611642) | *Tonna tessellata* | Tonnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Inella pagoda](https://www.gbif.org/species/11220614) | *Inella pagoda* | Triphoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Trivirostra hordacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4612286) | *Trivirostra hordacea* | Triviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rice Grain Bean Cowrie](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362062) | *Trivirostra oryza* | Triviidae | NE | 3 |
| [Clanculus flosculus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358083) | *Clanculus flosculus* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clanculus gemmulifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/6126366) | *Clanculus gemmulifer* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [strawberry top](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358103) | *Clanculus pharaonius* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clanculus puniceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358078) | *Clanculus puniceus* | Trochidae | NE | 5 |
| [Ethalia minolina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7495975) | *Ethalia minolina* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jujubinus suarezensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6787785) | *Jujubinus suarezensis* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Priotrochus obscurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514480) | *Priotrochus obscurus* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rubritrochus pulcherrimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514347) | *Rubritrochus pulcherrimus* | Trochidae | NE | 2 |
| [Stomatia phymotis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5723977) | *Stomatia phymotis* | Trochidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trochus ambalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8656673) | *Trochus ambalensis* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochus cariniferus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514387) | *Trochus cariniferus* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochus erithreus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9512405) | *Trochus erithreus* | Trochidae | NE | 5 |
| [Trochus kochii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514384) | *Trochus kochii* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [maculated top shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724100) | *Trochus maculatus* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [black-spotted topshell](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724118) | *Trochus nigropunctatus* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochus tentorium](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724113) | *Trochus tentorium* | Trochidae | NE | 1 |
| [Buccinulum brunobrianoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/6504260) | *Buccinulum brunobrianoi* | Tudiclidae | NE | 5 |
| [Euthria somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6503647) | *Euthria somalica* | Tudiclidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tudivasum zanzibaricum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498809) | *Tudivasum zanzibaricum* | Turbinellidae | NE | 1 |
| [spined Caribbean vase](https://www.gbif.org/species/2302843) | *Vasum capitellum* | Turbinellidae | NE | 1 |
| [helmet vase](https://www.gbif.org/species/2302844) | *Vasum cassiforme* | Turbinellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vasum lactisfloris](https://www.gbif.org/species/8105917) | *Vasum lactisfloris* | Turbinellidae | NE | 4 |
| [Caribbean vase](https://www.gbif.org/species/2302842) | *Vasum muricatum* | Turbinellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vasum rhinoceros](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363316) | *Vasum rhinoceros* | Turbinellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Vasum stephanti](https://www.gbif.org/species/6498776) | *Vasum stephanti* | Turbinellidae | NE | 10 |
| [Pacific top vase](https://www.gbif.org/species/4363319) | *Vasum turbinellus* | Turbinellidae | NE | 5 |
| [Bolma somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514944) | *Bolma somaliensis* | Turbinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Crowned Turban Shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/5724158) | *Lunella coronata* | Turbinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Turbo albofasciatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514790) | *Turbo albofasciatus* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [silver-mouthed turban](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358528) | *Turbo argyrostomus* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbo bozzettiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/6514789) | *Turbo bozzettiana* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [chestnut turban](https://www.gbif.org/species/2293197) | *Turbo castanea* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [gold-mouthed turban](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358524) | *Turbo chrysostomus* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbo imperialis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358541) | *Turbo imperialis* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbo laetus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5859884) | *Turbo laetus* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [giant green turban](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358544) | *Turbo marmoratus* | Turbinidae | NE | 2 |
| [cat's-eye shell](https://www.gbif.org/species/2293196) | *Turbo petholatus* | Turbinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Turbo radiatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358546) | *Turbo radiatus* | Turbinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Turbo setosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4358523) | *Turbo setosus* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbo stenogyrus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5859896) | *Turbo stenogyrus* | Turbinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptogemma aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/11096432) | *Cryptogemma aethiopica* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptogemma praesignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11055833) | *Cryptogemma praesignis* | Turridae | NE | 3 |
| [Gemmula amabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5728070) | *Gemmula amabilis* | Turridae | NE | 2 |
| [Gemmula kieneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795984) | *Gemmula kieneri* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Gemmula sibogae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795975) | *Gemmula sibogae* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Gemmula vagata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6508499) | *Gemmula vagata* | Turridae | NE | 2 |
| [Gemmula webberae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6508466) | *Gemmula webberae* | Turridae | NE | 2 |
| [Iotyrris cingulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856994) | *Iotyrris cingulifera* | Turridae | NE | 5 |
| [Iotyrris devoizei](https://www.gbif.org/species/5856998) | *Iotyrris devoizei* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Lophiotoma acuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369094) | *Lophiotoma acuta* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucerapex denticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6508451) | *Lucerapex denticulata* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Purpuraturris tanyspira](https://www.gbif.org/species/12173073) | *Purpuraturris tanyspira* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Turridrupa bijubata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4369211) | *Turridrupa bijubata* | Turridae | NE | 2 |
| [Turris crispa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5795921) | *Turris crispa* | Turridae | NE | 1 |
| [Unedogemmula unedo](https://www.gbif.org/species/6508532) | *Unedogemmula unedo* | Turridae | NE | 2 |
| [Turritella columnaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725616) | *Turritella columnaris* | Turritellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Turritella maculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725602) | *Turritella maculata* | Turritellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Turritella pseudotethis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5934300) | *Turritella pseudotethis* | Turritellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turritella torulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5725609) | *Turritella torulosa* | Turritellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turritella vittulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5934384) | *Turritella vittulata* | Turritellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Atlantic Umbrella Slug](https://www.gbif.org/species/5193004) | *Umbraculum umbraculum* | Umbraculidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bloyetia erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9184439) | *Bloyetia erlangeri* | Urocyclidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bloyetia kismajuensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8757539) | *Bloyetia kismajuensis* | Urocyclidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bloyetia peliostoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/10850190) | *Bloyetia peliostoma* | Urocyclidae | NE | 6 |
| [Bloyetia unizonata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11195481) | *Bloyetia unizonata* | Urocyclidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chlamydarion hians](https://www.gbif.org/species/10036920) | *Chlamydarion hians* | Urocyclidae | NE | 3 |
| [Thapsia masukuensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10113792) | *Thapsia masukuensis* | Urocyclidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochonanina formosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/11120002) | *Trochonanina formosa* | Urocyclidae | NE | 3 |
| [Trochonanina gigas](https://www.gbif.org/species/10777078) | *Trochonanina gigas* | Urocyclidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochonanina insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11124722) | *Trochonanina insignis* | Urocyclidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochonanina pyramidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/10761257) | *Trochonanina pyramidea* | Urocyclidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trochonanina solida](https://www.gbif.org/species/10802807) | *Trochonanina solida* | Urocyclidae | NE | 3 |
| [Valvata revoili](https://www.gbif.org/species/5784746) | *Valvata revoili* | Valvatidae | DD | 1 |
| [Vanikoro distans](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362035) | *Vanikoro distans* | Vanikoridae | NE | 2 |
| [Vanikoro gueriniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4612115) | *Vanikoro gueriniana* | Vanikoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Afriathleta rosavittoriae](https://www.gbif.org/species/12248192) | *Afriathleta rosavittoriae* | Volutidae | NE | 15 |
| [Capensisvoluta boswellae](https://www.gbif.org/species/11697148) | *Capensisvoluta boswellae* | Volutidae | NE | 1 |
| [Festilyria casaana](https://www.gbif.org/species/12221598) | *Festilyria casaana* | Volutidae | NE | 4 |
| [festive lyria](https://www.gbif.org/species/4601582) | *Festilyria festiva* | Volutidae | NE | 28 |
| [lyre-formed lyria](https://www.gbif.org/species/4367840) | *Lyria lyraeformis* | Volutidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ponderiana digitata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11678103) | *Ponderiana digitata* | Xenophoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ponderiana profunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/11505643) | *Ponderiana profunda* | Xenophoridae | NE | 2 |
| [rough carriersnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362280) | *Xenophora corrugata* | Xenophoridae | NE | 2 |
| [Xenophora cumulans](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963246) | *Xenophora cumulans* | Xenophoridae | NE | 8 |
| [Xenophora deshayesi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4963240) | *Xenophora deshayesi* | Xenophoridae | NE | 2 |
| [pallid carriersnail](https://www.gbif.org/species/4362285) | *Xenophora pallidula* | Xenophoridae | NE | 5 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/) · [2](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z-2/) · **3**


---

# Clams, octopus, squid and other molluscs of Somalia: 339 species (part 3 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 339 mollusc species from Somalia other than snails: clams, oysters and other bivalves, octopus, squid and cuttlefish, and chitons.

Part 3 of 3 of [Clams, octopus, squid and other molluscs of Somalia: 339 species](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-2/) · **3**

## Full list (339 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Transkeia globosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8034015) | *Transkeia globosa* | Ungulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Deep-sea Vampire Squid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2290924) | *Vampyroteuthis infernalis* | Vampyroteuthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Antigona aglaurae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5794298) | *Antigona aglaurae* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [red callista](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729357) | *Callista erycina* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Callista erycinella](https://www.gbif.org/species/6524522) | *Callista erycinella* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Circe rugifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/6525044) | *Circe rugifera* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Circenita callipyga](https://www.gbif.org/species/6524257) | *Circenita callipyga* | Veneridae | NE | 4 |
| [Clementia papyracea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372695) | *Clementia papyracea* | Veneridae | NE | 5 |
| [Dosinia alta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372862) | *Dosinia alta* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Dosinia prostrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6525624) | *Dosinia prostrata* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Eocallista krenkeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/8530000) | *Eocallista krenkeli* | Veneridae | NE | 3 |
| [Comb Circe](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372803) | *Gafrarium pectinatum* | Veneridae | NE | 2 |
| [irus clam](https://www.gbif.org/species/5189331) | *Irus irus* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Paratapes textilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8385517) | *Paratapes textilis* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [reticulated venus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4590382) | *Periglypta reticulata* | Veneridae | NE | 3 |
| [Pitar affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4372759) | *Pitar affinis* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Placamen foliaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6524892) | *Placamen foliaceum* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Sunetta sunettina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4590413) | *Sunetta sunettina* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [furrowed venus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4590539) | *Tapes sulcarius* | Veneridae | NE | 1 |
| [Tivela damaoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/6524031) | *Tivela damaoides* | Veneridae | NE | 2 |
| [Venus granosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9558539) | *Venus granosa* | Veneridae | NE | 3 |
| [Vertambitus affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4370849) | *Vertambitus affinis* | Verticordiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vulsella legumen](https://www.gbif.org/species/4951599) | *Vulsella legumen* | Vulsellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scissileda semisculpta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6533189) | *Scissileda semisculpta* | Yoldiidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia-2/) · **3**


---

# Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species (part 2 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 585 arthropod species from Somalia other than insects: crabs, shrimps, lobsters and other crustaceans, spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites, sea spiders, centipedes and millipedes.

Part 2 of 4 of [Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/)

## Full list (585 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Rosy Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311587) | *Calcinus rosaceus* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [whitebanded hermit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224437) | *Calcinus seurati* | Diogenidae | NE | 3 |
| [Calcinus tropidomanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311593) | *Calcinus tropidomanus* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ciliopagurus tenebrarum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311701) | *Ciliopagurus tenebrarum* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ciliopagurus tricolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311707) | *Ciliopagurus tricolor* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Long-legged Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311766) | *Clibanarius longitarsus* | Diogenidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coastal Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311791) | *Clibanarius virescens* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [striated hermit crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311947) | *Dardanus arrosor* | Diogenidae | NE | 2 |
| [Blue Knee Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224419) | *Dardanus guttatus* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [whitespotted hermit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224426) | *Dardanus megistos* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Deep Hermit Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224420) | *Dardanus pedunculatus* | Diogenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemisphaerodromia monodous](https://www.gbif.org/species/8551109) | *Hemisphaerodromia monodous* | Dromiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lauridromia dehaani](https://www.gbif.org/species/4646289) | *Lauridromia dehaani* | Dromiidae | NE | 1 |
| [sea spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166720) | *Endeis mollis* | Endeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hyastenus convexus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4375114) | *Hyastenus convexus* | Epialtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hyastenus inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4375116) | *Hyastenus inermis* | Epialtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spider crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2226744) | *Hyastenus spinosus* | Epialtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Naxioides robillardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4645631) | *Naxioides robillardi* | Epialtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Samadinia pulchra](https://www.gbif.org/species/11156798) | *Samadinia pulchra* | Epialtidae | NE | 2 |
| [Samadinia riversandersoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/11189710) | *Samadinia riversandersoni* | Epialtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stilbognathus curvirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5970441) | *Stilbognathus curvirostris* | Epialtidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tylocarcinus styx](https://www.gbif.org/species/4375121) | *Tylocarcinus styx* | Epialtidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stegodyphus dufouri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2164291) | *Stegodyphus dufouri* | Eresidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stegodyphus hildebrandti](https://www.gbif.org/species/2164277) | *Stegodyphus hildebrandti* | Eresidae | NE | 1 |
| [smooth redeye crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968758) | *Eriphia sebana* | Eriphiidae | NE | 1 |
| [rough redeye crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968754) | *Eriphia smithii* | Eriphiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Erythrosquilla megalops](https://www.gbif.org/species/6465595) | *Erythrosquilla megalops* | Erythrosquillidae | NE | 2 |
| [Microcercus scorteccii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5175571) | *Microcercus scorteccii* | Eubelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Somaloniscus taramassoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2200265) | *Somaloniscus taramassoi* | Eubelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eucalanus elongatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166471) | *Eucalanus elongatus* | Eucalanidae | NE | 3 |
| [Paraeucalanus attenuatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115570) | *Pareucalanus attenuatus* | Eucalanidae | NE | 8 |
| [Pareucalanus sewelli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115572) | *Pareucalanus sewelli* | Eucalanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Euchaeta longicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114337) | *Euchaeta longicornis* | Euchaetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paraeuchaeta investigatoris](https://www.gbif.org/species/4333617) | *Paraeuchaeta investigatoris* | Euchaetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eucopia grimaldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178257) | *Eucopia grimaldii* | Eucopiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eucopia major](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178258) | *Eucopia major* | Eucopiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eucopia sculpticauda](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178259) | *Eucopia sculpticauda* | Eucopiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Eucopia unguiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178263) | *Eucopia unguiculata* | Eucopiidae | NE | 9 |
| [Nemesis aggregatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4328719) | *Nemesis aggregatus* | Eudactylinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Eumunida funambulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311257) | *Eumunida funambulus* | Eumunididae | NE | 1 |
| [Eumunida spiridonovi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9543833) | *Eumunida spiridonovi* | Eumunididae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphausia distinguenda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2228009) | *Euphausia distinguenda* | Euphausiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hansarsia gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/12180345) | *Hansarsia gracilis* | Euphausiidae | NE | 10 |
| [Thysanopoda cristata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227974) | *Thysanopoda cristata* | Euphausiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Manningia amabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6465616) | *Manningia amabilis* | Eurysquillidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sahastata nigra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2167532) | *Sahastata nigra* | Filistatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Temoropia mayumbaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114850) | *Temoropia mayumbaensis* | Fosshageniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Elegant Squat Lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716686) | *Allogalathea elegans* | Galatheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown Squat Lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716603) | *Galathea balssi* | Galatheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Galathea tanegashimae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716602) | *Galathea tanegashimae* | Galatheidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lauriea gardineri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4311210) | *Lauriea gardineri* | Galatheidae | NE | 2 |
| [Phylladiorhynchus serrirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310505) | *Phylladiorhynchus serrirostris* | Galatheidae | NE | 2 |
| [Camel Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167200) | *Galeodes arabs* | Galeodidae | NE | 4 |
| [Galeodes blanchardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167210) | *Galeodes blanchardi* | Galeodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Galeodes granti](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167339) | *Galeodes granti* | Galeodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Galeodes inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167253) | *Galeodes inermis* | Galeodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Galeodes somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167248) | *Galeodes somalicus* | Galeodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Galeodes subbarbarus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5167346) | *Galeodes subbarbarus* | Galeodidae | NE | 5 |
| [Paragaleodes scalaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123189) | *Paragaleodes scalaris* | Galeodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Elattogarypus somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124738) | *Elattogarypus somalicus* | Garypidae | NE | 49 |
| [Garypus marmoratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124824) | *Garypus marmoratus* | Garypidae | NE | 5 |
| [Garypus occultus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124802) | *Garypus occultus* | Garypidae | NE | 52 |
| [deep-sea red crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225530) | *Chaceon affinis* | Geryonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chaceon somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5972509) | *Chaceon somaliensis* | Geryonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pterotricha lesserti](https://www.gbif.org/species/2133653) | *Pterotricha lesserti* | Gnaphosidae | NE | 1 |
| [Elaphognathia gladia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2204371) | *Elaphognathia gladia* | Gnathiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Elaphognathia ramosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2204383) | *Elaphognathia ramosa* | Gnathiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Gnathia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2204577) | *Gnathia arabica* | Gnathiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gnathia somalia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2204596) | *Gnathia somalia* | Gnathiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Neognathophausia gigas](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221448) | *Neognathophausia gigas* | Gnathophausiidae | NE | 3 |
| [deep water giant red mysid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221446) | *Neognathophausia ingens* | Gnathophausiidae | NE | 6 |
| [Philippine mantis shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2214272) | *Gonodactylaceus falcatus* | Gonodactylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gonodactylellus choprai](https://www.gbif.org/species/6465287) | *Gonodactylellus choprai* | Gonodactylidae | NE | 4 |
| [Gonodactylellus lanchesteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6465289) | *Gonodactylellus lanchesteri* | Gonodactylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gonodactylus botti](https://www.gbif.org/species/6465293) | *Gonodactylus botti* | Gonodactylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chiragra Mantis Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/5717420) | *Gonodactylus chiragra* | Gonodactylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Red Nipper](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382805) | *Geograpsus stormi* | Grapsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Green Rock Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382863) | *Grapsus fourmanoiri* | Grapsidae | NE | 2 |
| [Grapsus longitarsis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8405766) | *Grapsus longitarsis* | Grapsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Natal lightfoot crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225821) | *Grapsus tenuicrustatus* | Grapsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Purple Estuarine Rock Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225805) | *Metopograpsus messor* | Grapsidae | NE | 2 |
| [Metopograpsus thukuhar](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225804) | *Metopograpsus thukuhar* | Grapsidae | NE | 1 |
| [rhodesgrass mealybugs](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987723) | *Alacia alata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 4 |
| [Alacia leptothrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987719) | *Alacia leptothrix* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Alacia valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987718) | *Alacia valdiviae* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Archiconchoecissa cucullata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028755) | *Archiconchoecissa cucullata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Clausoecia pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/6468631) | *Clausoecia pusilla* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Conchoecetta acuminata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028772) | *Conchoecetta acuminata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Conchoecetta giesbrechti](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028774) | *Conchoecetta giesbrechti* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Conchoecia magna](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028761) | *Conchoecia magna* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Conchoecilla daphnoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028594) | *Conchoecilla daphnoides* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Conchoecissa imbricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028689) | *Conchoecissa imbricata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 5 |
| [Discoconchoecia elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028478) | *Discoconchoecia elegans* | Halocyprididae | NE | 4 |
| [Euconchoecia chierchiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028483) | *Euconchoecia chierchiae* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Fellia cornuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028468) | *Fellia cornuta* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Halocypris inflata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028740) | *Halocypris inflata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 4 |
| [Lophuroecia lophura](https://www.gbif.org/species/9983213) | *Lophuroecia lophura* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Macrochoecilla macrocheira](https://www.gbif.org/species/10175981) | *Macrochoecilla macrocheira* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Macroconchoecia caudata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028590) | *Macroconchoecia caudata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Macroconchoecia macroreticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028588) | *Macroconchoecia macroreticulata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Macroconchoecia reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028591) | *Macroconchoecia reticulata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Metaconchoecia rotundata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987697) | *Metaconchoecia rotundata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Metaconchoecia subinflata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987706) | *Metaconchoecia subinflata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Mikroconchoecia curta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028752) | *Mikroconchoecia curta* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Mikroconchoecia echinulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028750) | *Mikroconchoecia echinulata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Mollicia acanthophora](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028582) | *Mollicia acanthophora* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Mollicia amblypostha](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028586) | *Mollicia amblypostha* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Mollicia mollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028584) | *Mollicia mollis* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Muelleroecia macromma](https://www.gbif.org/species/6468656) | *Muelleroecia macromma* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Orthoconchoecia atlantica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987681) | *Orthoconchoecia atlantica* | Halocyprididae | NE | 4 |
| [Orthoconchoecia bispinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987678) | *Orthoconchoecia bispinosa* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Orthoconchoecia striola](https://www.gbif.org/species/4987679) | *Orthoconchoecia striola* | Halocyprididae | NE | 5 |
| [Paraconchoecia aequiseta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028648) | *Paraconchoecia aequiseta* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Paraconchoecia allotherium](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028656) | *Paraconchoecia allotherium* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Paraconchoecia echinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028650) | *Paraconchoecia echinata* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Paraconchoecia oblonga](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028668) | *Paraconchoecia oblonga* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Paramollicia cellularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028556) | *Paramollicia cellularis* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Paramollicia dichotoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028553) | *Paramollicia dichotoma* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Platyconchoecia prosadene](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028745) | *Platyconchoecia prosadene* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Porroecia porrecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028676) | *Porroecia porrecta* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Porroecia spinirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028674) | *Porroecia spinirostris* | Halocyprididae | NE | 3 |
| [Proceroecia brachyaskos](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028568) | *Proceroecia brachyaskos* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Proceroecia macroprocera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028565) | *Proceroecia macroprocera* | Halocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Proceroecia microprocera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028562) | *Proceroecia microprocera* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Proceroecia procera](https://www.gbif.org/species/1028564) | *Proceroecia procera* | Halocyprididae | NE | 1 |
| [Hemiscorpius somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7950793) | *Hemiscorpius somalicus* | Hemiscorpiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hersilia caudata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5168902) | *Hersilia caudata* | Hersiliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Disseta palumbii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4333087) | *Disseta palumbii* | Heterorhabdidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heterorhabdus norvegicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166453) | *Heterorhabdus norvegicus* | Heterorhabdidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heterorhabdus papilliger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166446) | *Heterorhabdus papilliger* | Heterorhabdidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heterorhabdus spinifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166447) | *Heterorhabdus spinifrons* | Heterorhabdidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paraheterorhabdus compactus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115523) | *Paraheterorhabdus compactus* | Heterorhabdidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hippa ovalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716839) | *Hippa ovalis* | Hippidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gordonopsis profundorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5969369) | *Gordonopsis profundorum* | Homolidae | NE | 1 |
| [Homolax megalops](https://www.gbif.org/species/5969393) | *Homolax megalops* | Homolidae | NE | 3 |
| [Homolochunia valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377427) | *Homolochunia valdiviae* | Homolidae | NE | 1 |
| [Enigmazomus benoiti](https://www.gbif.org/species/2181492) | *Enigmazomus benoiti* | Hubbardiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Achaeus barnardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729758) | *Achaeus barnardi* | Inachidae | NE | 1 |
| [Achaeus erythraeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729782) | *Achaeus erythraeus* | Inachidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scorpion Spider Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178706) | *Inachus dorsettensis* | Inachidae | NE | 3 |
| [Macropodia formosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729787) | *Macropodia formosa* | Inachidae | NE | 2 |
| [Oncinopus neptunus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2226604) | *Oncinopus neptunus* | Inachidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sunipea callistus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8626962) | *Sunipea callistus* | Inachidae | NE | 3 |
| [Sunipea indicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4375152) | *Sunipea indicus* | Inachidae | NE | 3 |
| [Amblyomma lepidum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2184241) | *Amblyomma lepidum* | Ixodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Somali Hyalomma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2183021) | *Hyalomma erythraeum* | Ixodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Somali relict hyalomma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2182938) | *Hyalomma punt* | Ixodidae | NE | 3 |
| [coarse-legged Hyalomma](https://www.gbif.org/species/9031792) | *Hyalomma rufipes* | Ixodidae | NE | 19 |
| [shiny Hyalomma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2183002) | *Hyalomma truncatum* | Ixodidae | NE | 34 |
| [Rhipicephalus humeralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2183649) | *Rhipicephalus humeralis* | Ixodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Freyanella plataleae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4547319) | *Freyanella plataleae* | Kramerellidae | NE | 1 |
| [candycane crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5972530) | *Latreillia metanesa* | Latreilliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Latreillia pennifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5972534) | *Latreillia pennifera* | Latreilliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Accalathura sladeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2199544) | *Accalathura sladeni* | Leptanthuridae | NE | 3 |
| [Lernanthropinus temminckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4328559) | *Lernanthropinus temminckii* | Lernanthropidae | NE | 1 |
| [fleeting purse crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221771) | *Myra fugax* | Leucosiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Murphydium foliatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2138526) | *Murphydium foliatum* | Linyphiidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/)


---

# Somaliland National Electoral Commission

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/somaliland-national-electoral-commission/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The National Electoral Commission (NEC), in Somali Komishanka Doorashooyinka Qaranka, runs Somaliland's presidential, parliamentary and local elections, registers voters and announces interim results. It has seven members: three nominated by the President, two by the House of Elders and two by the opposition parties, all confirmed by the House of Representatives for a five-year term. Its rules are now in Chapter 2 of Law No. 19/2020. Muse Hassan Yusuf has chaired it since 17 September 2022.

## What does the commission do?

The National Electoral Commission (NEC), in Somali *Komishanka Doorashooyinka Qaranka*, organises [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s presidential, parliamentary and local council elections and referendums ([Wikipedia, National Electoral Commission (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electoral_Commission_(Somaliland))). It registers voters, runs the polls and announces interim results, which the courts then certify ([Somaliland NEC, 2024 interim results](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)). Its headquarters are in Hargeisa. For the results of each election, see [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/).

## How are its members chosen?

The commission has **seven members**. Under Article 11(2) of the 2001 Election Law ([Somalilandlaw.com, Electoral Commission](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_electoral_commissio.html)):

- **three** are nominated by the President;
- **two** are nominated by the House of Elders ([Guurti](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)); and
- **two** are nominated by the registered opposition parties.

The House of Representatives confirms each nominee. The term is **five years**, counted from the day the House approves the appointment (same source).

Since October 2020 the commission's rules have been in **Chapter 2, Articles 12 to 26**, of the Elections and Voter Registration Law, Law No. 19/2020 (same source). See [Somaliland's election laws](/en/government/somaliland-elections-law/).

## Each commission since 2002

From Somalilandlaw.com ([Electoral Commission page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_electoral_commissio.html)):

- **First commission (2002 to 2007):** ran the local elections of December 2002, the presidential election of 2003 and the House of Representatives election of 2005. Its term ended on 21 January 2007, and no new commission was sworn in until September 2007. A Constitutional Court ruling on the appointments was given in May 2007.
- **Second commission (2007 to 2009):** five members were confirmed on 2 June 2007 and the last two on 3 September 2007. All members resigned on 5 October 2009.
- **Third commission (2009 to 2014):** confirmed on 24 October 2009 by 65 votes, with none against. It chose Essa [Yusuf Mohamed](/en/people/yusuf-mahamud-ibrahim/) as chair and Ali-Khadar Hassan Osman as deputy.
- **Fourth commission (2014 to 2019):** confirmed on 29 November 2014 by 69 votes, with none against.
- **Commission from 2019:** chaired by Abdirashid Mohamoud Ali (Riyo-raac), with Mustafe Mohamed Dahir (Dhawal) as vice chair.

## Chairpersons

| No. | Chair | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdillahi Abdi Haji Omar (Jawaan) | March to September 2002 |
| 2 | Ahmed Haji Ali Adami | October 2002 to February 2007 |
| 3 | Mohamed Yusuf Ahmed | September 2007 to March 2008 |
| 4 | Mohamed Ismail Mohamed (Kaba-weyne) | 22 March 2008 to December 2008 |
| 5 | Jama Mahmoud Omar (Jama-Sweden) | January to September 2009 |
| 6 | Isse Yusuf Haji Mohamed (Isse Hamari) | 2 November 2009 to 20 April 2014 |
| 7 | Mohamed Ahmed Hirsi Geelle | 22 April 2014 to November 2014 |
| 8 | Abdikadir Iman Warsame | 24 November 2014 to 30 November 2019 |
| 9 | Abdirashid Mahmoud Ali (Riyo-Raac) | December 2019 to June 2022 |
| 10 | Muse Hassan Yusuf | 17 September 2022 to present |

Source: [Wikipedia, National Electoral Commission (Somaliland)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electoral_Commission_(Somaliland)).

## Recent work

The commission ran the joint presidential and party election of 13 November 2024 and published the interim results ([Somaliland NEC](https://slnec.net/news/somaliland-national-electoral-commission-releases-interim-results-of-the-november-13-double-election)). In February 2026 it proposed a ten-month delay to the parliamentary and local elections due on 31 May 2026, citing drought, insecurity and technical problems ([Dawan](https://dawan.africa/news/somaliland-delays-elections-by-10-months-over-security-drought-concerns)).

## Related pages

- [Elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/)
- [Somaliland's election laws](/en/government/somaliland-elections-law/)
- [Laws of Somaliland](/en/government/laws-of-somaliland/)


---

# Somalia and South Africa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/south-africa/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> South Africa and Somalia established formal diplomatic relations in 2012, when South Africa also committed R100 million to help build Somali institutions. Somalia opened a Somali-owned embassy building in Pretoria on 3 July 2025, while South Africa covers Somalia from its High Commission in Nairobi. South Africa exported $9.2 million of goods to Somalia in 2024. About 22,000 Somali refugees and asylum seekers live there, and attacks on Somali shopkeepers have been a recurring issue between the governments.

## How do Somalia and South Africa relate today?

South Africa established formal diplomatic relations with Somalia in 2012 ([South African High Commission, Nairobi](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)). South Africa covers Somalia from its High Commission in Nairobi, while Somalia has an embassy in Pretoria (same source).

On 3 July 2025 Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali opened a new embassy building in Pretoria, owned by Somalia ([SONNA, 3 July 2025](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-inaugurates-somali-embassy-in-pretoria/)). The next day he and South Africa's minister, Ronald Lamola, discussed visa waivers for diplomats and the reopening of South Africa's mission in Mogadishu ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 4 July 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7227)).

The two ministers met again in Pretoria on 3 February 2026 and at the AU Executive Council in July 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 3 February 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-south-africa-bilateral-talks-in-pretoria/); [Somali Foreign Ministry, 29 July 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-strengthens-strategic-partnership-with-south-africa-at-african-union-executive-council/)). Lamola restated South Africa's support for Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity (same sources).

## When did contact begin?

Somalia's foreign ministry says Somalia supported South Africans in their struggle against apartheid ([Garowe Online, 14 July 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-raises-concerns-over-deaths-of-its-nationals-in-south-africa)). In February 1993 Oliver Tambo spoke of Somalia's "regression" into clan war at a solidarity conference in Johannesburg ([DIRCO, Deputy Minister Marius Fransman, 19 September 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/speeches/2012/frans0919.html)).

Somali refugees began arriving after apartheid ended. UNHCR counted 96 Somali refugees in South Africa in 1994 and 4,810 in 2000 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RSA)).

In March 2012 South Africa still had no representation in Somalia and dealt with it through Nairobi ([DIRCO, parliamentary reply, March 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/2012pq/pq12a.html)). It had sent the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) a draft agreement on diplomatic relations and planned to sign it during a visit by Somalia's foreign minister (same source). The agreement was signed in Pretoria by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and Abdullahi Haji Hassan ([South African High Commission, Nairobi](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

### South Africa's envoys to Somalia

- **South African High Commission in Nairobi**: accredited to Somalia ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).
- **M. J. Mahlangu**: High Commissioner to Kenya; presented credentials as non-resident ambassador to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) in October 2022 (same source). DIRCO says security had made it hard for earlier high commissioners to present credentials (same source).

### Somalia's envoys to South Africa

- **Sheikh Sharif**: addressed as Somalia's ambassador-designate at a DIRCO workshop in Cape Town on 19 September 2012 ([DIRCO, 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/speeches/2012/frans0919.html)).
- **Mohamed Sheikh Isaaq (Isxaaq)**: ambassador at the embassy's opening in July 2025 and at the February 2026 talks ([SONNA, 2025](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-inaugurates-somali-embassy-in-pretoria/); [Somali Foreign Ministry, 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-south-africa-bilateral-talks-in-pretoria/)).
- **Ismail Abdulle Soomane**: deputy ambassador and chargé d'affaires a.i. in April 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 30 April 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8582)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and Abdullahi Haji Hassan**: foreign ministers who signed the 2012 agreement establishing diplomatic relations ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).
- **Marius Fransman**: deputy minister who opened South Africa's first workshop with the Somali diaspora and the peace group ACCORD in September 2012 ([DIRCO, 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/speeches/2012/frans0919.html)).
- **Jamal Barrow**: Somali deputy foreign minister who opened South Africa's training course for 25 senior Somali diplomats in March 2013 ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).
- **Ronald Lamola**: South African minister of international relations who met Somali ministers in 2025 and 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7227)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**: Somali foreign minister who opened the Pretoria embassy building in 2025 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-inaugurates-somali-embassy-in-pretoria/)).
- **Hassan Mohamed Ali (Nadara)**: Somali deputy foreign minister who visited the Somali community in Johannesburg in April 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 30 April 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8578)).
- **Somali Association of South Africa**: lead applicant in the 2014 court case that upheld refugees' right to run shops ([SAFLII, [2014] ZASCA 143](https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2014/143.html)).
- **Mhlekwa Nxumalo**: led a South African business delegation to [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in December 2020 ([Somaliland Chronicle, 21 December 2020](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2020/12/21/exclusive-interview-with-mhlekwa-nxumalo-the-leader-of-the-south-african-delegation-to-somaliland/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **2012**: agreement establishing diplomatic relations, signed in Pretoria ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).
- **September 2023**: Bilateral Agreement on General Cooperation, signed by the two foreign ministers at the UN General Assembly (same source).
- **2025**: the ministers discussed memoranda and visa waivers for diplomatic and service passports ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 4 July 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7227)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **February 2005**: Somaliland's president Dahir Riyale Kahin visited South Africa to meet business, political and religious leaders ([UNPO, 8 February 2005](https://unpo.org/article/1898)).
- **2012**: Somalia's foreign minister Abdullahi Haji Hassan in Pretoria ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).
- **October 2022**: High Commissioner Mahlangu in Mogadishu (same source).
- **3–4 July 2025**: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Pretoria ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-inaugurates-somali-embassy-in-pretoria/)).
- **3 February 2026**: Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Pretoria ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-south-africa-bilateral-talks-in-pretoria/)).
- **April 2026**: Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Mohamed Ali in Johannesburg ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8578)).

## How much do they trade?

South Africa reported exports to Somalia of $9.24 million in 2024, $13.39 million in 2023 and $12.99 million in 2018 ([UN Comtrade, South Africa–Somalia, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=710&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=710&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=710&partnerCode=706&period=2018&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Imports from Somalia were $219,106 in 2024 (same source).

Main South African exports to Somalia in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, by chapter](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=710&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)):

- fruit and nuts, $2.51 million
- machinery, $0.84 million
- meat, $0.71 million
- iron and steel goods, $0.54 million

Somalis in South Africa run many small township grocery shops. In a 2012 study of Delft South in Cape Town, 80% of the foreign shopkeepers were Somali ([Charman and Piper, 2012](https://core.ac.uk/download/62633424.pdf)). See [Somali shops in South Africa](/en/economy/somali-shops-in-south-africa/).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

In 2012 South Africa committed R100 million to help the Transitional Federal Government build institutions ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)). In March 2013 it trained 25 senior Somali diplomats (same source).

UN OCHA records these South African humanitarian grants for Somalia ([OCHA Financial Tracking Service](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)):

- 2007: $53,606
- 2009: $192,802
- 2011: $1,169,590
- 2012: $198,903
- 2015: $473,530
- 2018: $584,307

## What about security?

South Africa has not sent troops to the AU missions in Somalia ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)). In 2012 it said "a political solution is the only option" and that political negotiations, not military intervention, would bring lasting peace ([DIRCO, March 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/2012pq/pq12a.html)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does South Africa deal with Somaliland and the member states?

South Africa told its parliament in 2012 that it recognises Somalia as a sovereign state ([DIRCO, March 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/2012pq/pq12a.html)). Somaliland's president Dahir Riyale Kahin visited South Africa in February 2005 ([UNPO, 2005](https://unpo.org/article/1898)).

In December 2020 a South African delegation with business people visited Hargeisa and met the president ([Somaliland Chronicle, 21 December 2020](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2020/12/21/exclusive-interview-with-mhlekwa-nxumalo-the-leader-of-the-south-african-delegation-to-somaliland/)). Its leader, Mhlekwa Nxumalo, said recognition would need South Africa to "formally make a decision as a country" (same source). In 2025 and 2026 Lamola backed Somalia's unity and territorial integrity ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7227)).

## Have there been disputes?

Attacks on Somali shopkeepers have strained ties. Each side's position is set out below.

- **September 2017**: South Africa's migration committee, chaired by Minister Jeff Radebe, rejected claims by the Somali Community Board that Somalis were being killed every second day in Cape Town ([South African Government, 4 September 2017](https://www.gov.za/node/772848)). "The discourse of Somalian isolation to crime is incorrect," Radebe said (same source).
- **July 2021**: during unrest after Jacob Zuma's jailing, Somalia said four of its nationals had been killed and asked South Africa to protect them ([Garowe Online, 14 July 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-raises-concerns-over-deaths-of-its-nationals-in-south-africa)). Its foreign ministry said relations would not be harmed (same source).
- **June 2026**: more than 20 Somalis left Potchefstroom after at least 15 Somali shops were looted during anti-immigration protests ([TimesLIVE, 25 June 2026](https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-06-25-somali-nationals-evacuate-potchefstroom-townships-after-spaza-shop-lootings/)). Somalia's embassy urged calm and said no new South African policy targeted Somalis ([AllAfrica, 30 June 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202606300583.html)).

## How many Somalis live in South Africa?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 17,931 Somali refugees and 3,905 asylum seekers in South Africa ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RSA)). See [Somalis in South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/).

## Where does South Africa stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

South Africa's minister attended the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Conference on Somalia on 23 February 2012 and called for "an inclusive Somali owned peace process" ([DIRCO, March 2012](https://dirco1.azurewebsites.net/docs/2012pq/pq12a.html)). In 2012 it said it was exploring help for Somali ministries in governance, constitution-building and the judiciary (same source). DIRCO says the two countries work together in the UN and the AU, and through IGAD and SADC ([DIRCO](https://dirco.gov.za/kenya/bilateral-relations/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in South Africa](/en/diaspora/south-africa/)
- [Somali shops in South Africa](/en/economy/somali-shops-in-south-africa/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somalia and Tanzania](/en/relations/tanzania/)
- [Somalia and the African Union](/en/relations/african-union/)
- [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)


---

# Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species (part 2 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 650 species from Somalia in the smaller animal groups: corals, sea anemones and jellyfish, sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers, sponges, lamp shells, worms and sea squirts.

Part 2 of 5 of [Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)

## Full list (650 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Cyllometra manca](https://www.gbif.org/species/7014341) | *Cyllometra manca* | Colobometridae | NE | 8 |
| [Decametra mollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341277) | *Decametra mollis* | Colobometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Decametra taprobanes](https://www.gbif.org/species/6474056) | *Decametra taprobanes* | Colobometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Columastrea bicoronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11153498) | *Columastrea bicoronata* | Columastreidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Crevice Feather Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/4340941) | *Comanthus parvicirrus* | Comatulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Meandraraea somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8444222) | *Meandraraea somalica* | Comoseridae | NE | 1 |
| [Corallium stylasteroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185003) | *Corallium stylasteroides* | Coralliidae | NE | 3 |
| [Corallimorphus rigidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2260708) | *Corallimorphus rigidus* | Corallimorphidae | NE | 3 |
| [Rhodosoma turcicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200456) | *Rhodosoma turcicum* | Corellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Coronarctus tenellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2253267) | *Coronarctus tenellus* | Coronarctidae | NE | 1 |
| [wrinkle coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258889) | *Coscinaraea monile* | Coscinaraeidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cryptopora curiosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5183882) | *Cryptopora curiosa* | Cryptoporidae | NE | 8 |
| [Red Sea Apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/5721357) | *Pseudocolochirus violaceus* | Cucumariidae | NE | 3 |
| [dinner plate medusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269456) | *Solmissus marshalli* | Cuninidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cunnolites humilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8506241) | *Cunnolites humilis* | Cunnolitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebratula pinguis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4868975) | *Terebratula pinguis* | Cyclothyrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Conical star coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259075) | *Deltocyathus italicus* | Deltocyathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Deltocyathus murrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259077) | *Deltocyathus murrayi* | Deltocyathidae | NE | 2 |
| [Deltocyathus rotulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259069) | *Deltocyathus rotulus* | Deltocyathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Balanophyllia carinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259664) | *Balanophyllia carinata* | Dendrophylliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Balanophyllia (Eupsammia) stimpsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259644) | *Balanophyllia stimpsonii* | Dendrophylliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Dendrophyllia candelabrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944456) | *Dendrophyllia candelabrum* | Dendrophylliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendrophyllia indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259683) | *Dendrophyllia indica* | Dendrophylliidae | NE | 4 |
| [Endopachys grayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259594) | *Endopachys grayi* | Dendrophylliidae | NE | 5 |
| [smooth bum coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259718) | *Heteropsammia cochlea* | Dendrophylliidae | LC | 5 |
| [Psammonema waweri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9499741) | *Psammonema waweri* | Desmodoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Chaetodiadema granulatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341355) | *Chaetodiadema granulatum* | Diadematidae | NE | 2 |
| [Diadema setosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5721108) | *Diadema setosum* | Diadematidae | NE | 1 |
| [Chelophyes contorta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264784) | *Chelophyes contorta* | Diphyidae | NE | 10 |
| [Dimophyes arctica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264800) | *Dimophyes arctica* | Diphyidae | NE | 4 |
| [Diphyes bojani](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185472) | *Diphyes bojani* | Diphyidae | NE | 3 |
| [Diphyes chamissonis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185470) | *Diphyes chamissonis* | Diphyidae | NE | 2 |
| [Diphyes dispar](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185473) | *Diphyes dispar* | Diphyidae | NE | 5 |
| [Eudoxoides mitra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264787) | *Eudoxoides mitra* | Diphyidae | NE | 4 |
| [Gilia reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185508) | *Gilia reticulata* | Diphyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lensia cossack](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264776) | *Lensia cossack* | Diphyidae | NE | 4 |
| [Lensia meteori](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264742) | *Lensia meteori* | Diphyidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lensia multicristata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264763) | *Lensia multicristata* | Diphyidae | NE | 5 |
| [Lensia subtilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264778) | *Lensia subtilis* | Diphyidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lensia subtiloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264766) | *Lensia subtiloides* | Diphyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Muggiaea atlantica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264796) | *Muggiaea atlantica* | Diphyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sulculeolaria chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264803) | *Sulculeolaria chuni* | Diphyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sulculeolaria quadrivalvis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264802) | *Sulculeolaria quadrivalvis* | Diphyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sulculeolaria turgida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264808) | *Sulculeolaria turgida* | Diphyidae | NE | 2 |
| [Diploastrea crassolamellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943890) | *Diploastrea crassolamellata* | Diploastraeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Discinisca multiradiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9486711) | *Discinisca multiradiata* | Discinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dolioletta gegenbauri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4356853) | *Dolioletta gegenbauri* | Doliolidae | NE | 2 |
| [Xenobrochus indianensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2252647) | *Xenobrochus indianensis* | Dyscoliidae | NE | 11 |
| [Echinaster purpureus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2273638) | *Echinaster purpureus* | Echinasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinolampas alexandri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7760881) | *Echinolampas alexandri* | Echinolampadidae | NE | 4 |
| [Echinolampas caranoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8239944) | *Echinolampas caranoi* | Echinolampadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Colobocentrotus atratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341559) | *Colobocentrotus atratus* | Echinometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Rock-boring Urchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278861) | *Echinometra lucunter* | Echinometridae | NE | 1 |
| [slate pencil urchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5842749) | *Heterocentrotus mamillatus* | Echinometridae | NE | 4 |
| [Echinoptilum echinatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258821) | *Echinoptilum echinatum* | Echinoptilidae | NE | 4 |
| [Hygrosoma hoplacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/4876789) | *Hygrosoma hoplacantha* | Echinothuriidae | NE | 1 |
| [double-rowed sea urchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/2279010) | *Sperosoma biseriatum* | Echinothuriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sperosoma durum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5965522) | *Sperosoma durum* | Echinothuriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Edwardsianthus pudicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6472290) | *Edwardsianthus pudicus* | Edwardsiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phialopsis diegensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5186149) | *Phialopsis diegensis* | Eirenidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ellisella gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6473560) | *Ellisella gracilis* | Ellisellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Verrucella umbella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2262328) | *Verrucella umbella* | Ellisellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Verrucella umbraculum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2262243) | *Verrucella umbracula* | Ellisellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Epiphanes macroura](https://www.gbif.org/species/4984243) | *Epiphanes macroura* | Epiphanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Proalides tentaculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1003036) | *Proalides tentaculatus* | Epiphanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Epizoanthus armatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6473062) | *Epizoanthus armatus* | Epizoanthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Epizoanthus planus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258068) | *Epizoanthus planus* | Epizoanthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Epizoanthus valdivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6473037) | *Epizoanthus valdivae* | Epizoanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eudiocrinus indivisus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341296) | *Eudiocrinus indivisus* | Eudiocrinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunice djiboutiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5198494) | *Eunice djiboutiensis* | Eunicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunice flaccida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5198202) | *Eunice flaccida* | Eunicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunice marenzelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5198458) | *Eunice marenzelleri* | Eunicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eunice mindanavensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5198416) | *Eunice mindanavensis* | Eunicidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eupatagus ornatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4876638) | *Eupatagus ornatus* | Eupatagidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eupatagus rostratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8554496) | *Eupatagus rostratus* | Eupatagidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphrosine pilosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196873) | *Euphrosine pilosa* | Euphrosinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Asteromorpha capensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9223952) | *Asteromorpha capensis* | Euryalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Exocoelactis actinostoloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4339292) | *Exocoelactis actinostoloides* | Exocoelactinidae | NE | 8 |
| [Common liver fluke, Sheep liver fluke](https://www.gbif.org/species/6475141) | *Fasciola hepatica* | Fasciolidae | NE | 1 |
| [Circophyllia farquharsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8606794) | *Circophyllia farquharsoni* | Faviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Favia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8564732) | *Favia africana* | Faviidae | NE | 2 |
| [Favia corollaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943994) | *Favia corollaris* | Faviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Favia magnifica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8546288) | *Favia magnifica* | Faviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Favia praeamplior](https://www.gbif.org/species/8646155) | *Favia praeamplior* | Faviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Favia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943992) | *Favia somaliensis* | Faviidae | NE | 2 |
| [Solenastrea uananensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8699954) | *Solenastrea uananensis* | Faviidae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinocyamus crispus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341804) | *Echinocyamus crispus* | Fibulariidae | NE | 5 |
| [broad beau of sea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2279077) | *Echinocyamus pusillus* | Fibulariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Truncatoflabellum crassum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2260241) | *Truncatoflabellum crassum* | Flabellidae | NE | 8 |
| [Pherusa coronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5199018) | *Pherusa coronata* | Flabelligeridae | NE | 2 |
| [Frenulina cruenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2252808) | *Frenulina cruenta* | Frenulinidae | NE | 23 |
| [Fungiacyathus symmetricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2260006) | *Fungiacyathus symmetricus* | Fungiacyathidae | NE | 1 |
| [mushroom coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/4283631) | *Cycloseris cyclolites* | Fungiidae | LC | 1 |
| [Cycloseris striata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943196) | *Cycloseris striata* | Fungiidae | NE | 1 |
| [trunked jellyfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5186387) | *Geryonia proboscidalis* | Geryoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jewel Jelly](https://www.gbif.org/species/5186382) | *Liriope tetraphylla* | Geryoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oligopodia epigonus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4875812) | *Oligopodia epigonus* | Gitolampadids | NE | 1 |
| [Glycera africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5195561) | *Glycera africana* | Glyceridae | NE | 1 |
| [Gnosonesima tropicalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4344152) | *Gnosonesima tropicalis* | Gnosonesimidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nephasoma rutilofuscum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2509642) | *Nephasoma rutilofuscum* | Golfingiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Goniada multidentata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2316608) | *Goniada multidentata* | Goniadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Calliaster mamillifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/5186807) | *Calliaster mamillifer* | Goniasteridae | NE | 10 |
| [Calliaster thompsonae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5186811) | *Calliaster thompsonae* | Goniasteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Armored Sea Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272457) | *Fromia hemiopla* | Goniasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Red Sea Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272450) | *Fromia milleporella* | Goniasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Goniodiscaster aegis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10574677) | *Goniodiscaster aegis* | Goniasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Stellasteropsis fouadi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271909) | *Stellasteropsis fouadi* | Goniasteridae | NE | 14 |
| [Astroboa clavata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278586) | *Astroboa clavata* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astroboa nigrofurcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278598) | *Astroboa nigrofurcata* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 2 |
| [Naked Basket Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278591) | *Astroboa nuda* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 3 |
| [Astrocladus exiguus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278544) | *Astrocladus exiguus* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 2 |
| [Astrocladus socotrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9689653) | *Astrocladus socotrana* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 3 |
| [Astrocyclus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9790422) | *Astrocyclus somaliensis* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 2 |
| [Astroglymma sculptum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2278510) | *Astroglymma sculptum* | Gorgonocephalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euclavarctus thieli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2253394) | *Euclavarctus thieli* | Halechiniscidae | NE | 2 |
| [Halecium labiatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2268510) | *Halecium labiatum* | Haleciidae | NE | 1 |
| [Topsentia halichondrioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5183239) | *Topsentia halichondrioides* | Halichondriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Halicreas minimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269545) | *Halicreas minimum* | Halicreatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Haliscera conica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269538) | *Haliscera conica* | Halicreatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Halopteris campanula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185884) | *Halopteris campanula* | Halopterididae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoglossothyris sulcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8476807) | *Pseudoglossothyris sulcata* | Hegathyridae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebratula ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9536695) | *Terebratula ruspolii* | Hegathyridae | NE | 1 |
| [Plesiocidaris wrightii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9979249) | *Plesiocidaris wrightii* | Hemicidaridae | NE | 2 |
| [Ophioplocus incipiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275613) | *Ophioplocus incipiens* | Hemieuryalidae | NE | 3 |
| [Hesione splendida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194267) | *Hesione splendida* | Hesionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leocrates giardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194234) | *Leocrates giardi* | Hesionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Recrosalenia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7605592) | *Recrosalenia somaliensis* | Heterodiadematidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dermatoxys getula](https://www.gbif.org/species/7028314) | *Dermatoxys getula* | Heteroxynematidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dermatoxys probscidiphora](https://www.gbif.org/species/7028316) | *Dermatoxys probscidiphora* | Heteroxynematidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hexarthra mira](https://www.gbif.org/species/1000447) | *Hexarthra mira* | Hexarthridae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown Sandfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/5721581) | *Bohadschia marmorata* | Holothuriidae | DD | 1 |
| [Holothuria aphanes](https://www.gbif.org/species/4343051) | *Holothuria aphanes* | Holothuriidae | DD | 1 |
| [lolly fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2279167) | *Holothuria atra* | Holothuriidae | LC | 1 |
| [Elephant Trunkfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/4342927) | *Holothuria fuscopunctata* | Holothuriidae | LC | 1 |
| [Holothuria klunzingeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4342948) | *Holothuria klunzingeri* | Holothuriidae | DD | 1 |
| [White Thread Fish](https://www.gbif.org/species/4343052) | *Holothuria leucospilota* | Holothuriidae | LC | 1 |
| [Holothuria (Metriatyla) martensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5967352) | *Holothuria martensii* | Holothuriidae | DD | 6 |
| [Holothuria pervicax](https://www.gbif.org/species/4343061) | *Holothuria pervicax* | Holothuriidae | LC | 1 |
| [Holothuria samoana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4342938) | *Holothuria samoana* | Holothuriidae | DD | 1 |
| [Sandfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2279170) | *Holothuria scabra* | Holothuriidae | VU | 1 |
| [Calliactis polypus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10570072) | *Calliactis polypus* | Hormathiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Chondrophellia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2257443) | *Chondrophellia africana* | Hormathiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Hormathia spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7771500) | *Hormathia spinosa* | Hormathiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paracalliactis valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2257413) | *Paracalliactis valdiviae* | Hormathiidae | NE | 8 |
| [Phelliactis somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2257457) | *Phelliactis somaliensis* | Hormathiidae | NE | 6 |
| [Hyalonema coniforme](https://www.gbif.org/species/5180313) | *Hyalonema coniforme* | Hyalonematidae | NE | 3 |
| [Hyalonema molle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5180302) | *Hyalonema molle* | Hyalonematidae | NE | 4 |
| [Hyalonema simile](https://www.gbif.org/species/5180377) | *Hyalonema simile* | Hyalonematidae | NE | 5 |
| [Hyalonema somalicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5180371) | *Hyalonema somalicum* | Hyalonematidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hyalonema validum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5180361) | *Hyalonema validum* | Hyalonematidae | NE | 3 |
| [Phorbas styliferus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5715700) | *Phorbas styliferus* | Hymedesmiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Keroeides koreni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264204) | *Keroeides koreni* | Keroeididae | NE | 6 |
| [Depressed Sand Dollar](https://www.gbif.org/species/8328491) | *Jacksonaster depressus* | Laganidae | NE | 5 |
| [Sismondia polymorpha](https://www.gbif.org/species/9631536) | *Sismondia polymorpha* | Laganidae | NE | 1 |
| [Favia bihinense](https://www.gbif.org/species/9410154) | *Favia bihinense* | Latomeandridae | NE | 2 |
| [Bihenithyris barringtoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8460411) | *Bihenithyris barringtoni* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Bihenithyris weiri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8506004) | *Bihenithyris weiri* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Charltonithyris africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9476684) | *Charltonithyris africana* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 3 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)


---

# Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species (part 3 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 585 arthropod species from Somalia other than insects: crabs, shrimps, lobsters and other crustaceans, spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites, sea spiders, centipedes and millipedes.

Part 3 of 4 of [Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/)

## Full list (585 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Lophogaster schmidti](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178238) | *Lophogaster schmidti* | Lophogastridae | NE | 3 |
| [Lucicutia aurita](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114273) | *Lucicutia aurita* | Lucicutiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucicutia grandis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114289) | *Lucicutia grandis* | Lucicutiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucicutia longicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114283) | *Lucicutia longicornis* | Lucicutiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lucicutia wolfendeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114280) | *Lucicutia wolfendeni* | Lucicutiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Wadicosa benadira](https://www.gbif.org/species/7875852) | *Wadicosa benadira* | Lycosidae | NE | 4 |
| [Ambasiopsis brevipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2218275) | *Ambasiopsis brevipes* | Lysianassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Macrostylis wolffi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5176091) | *Macrostylis wolffi* | Macrostylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Majella brevipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968631) | *Majella brevipes* | Majidae | NE | 2 |
| [Micippa thalia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4375150) | *Micippa thalia* | Majidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paramaya spinigera](https://www.gbif.org/species/7589624) | *Paramaya spinigera* | Majidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prismatopus tosaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968472) | *Prismatopus tosaensis* | Majidae | NE | 5 |
| [Bathycalanus bradyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114258) | *Bathycalanus bradyi* | Megacalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Elenacalanus sverdrupi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9286839) | *Elenacalanus sverdrupi* | Megacalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Megacalanus princeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114264) | *Megacalanus princeps* | Megacalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gaussia princeps](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114836) | *Gaussia princeps* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metridia effusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4333709) | *Metridia effusa* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metridia venusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114810) | *Metridia venusta* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pleuromamma abdominalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114829) | *Pleuromamma abdominalis* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pleuromamma gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114831) | *Pleuromamma gracilis* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pleuromamma indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4333690) | *Pleuromamma indica* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pleuromamma xiphias](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114827) | *Pleuromamma xiphias* | Metridinidae | NE | 1 |
| [coral clinging crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2226775) | *Mithrax hispidus* | Mithracidae | NE | 6 |
| [shorthorn clinging crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5968612) | *Nemausa cornuta* | Mithracidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tethysbaena somala](https://www.gbif.org/species/2215766) | *Tethysbaena somala* | Monodellidae | NE | 21 |
| [Tethysbaena stocki](https://www.gbif.org/species/2215746) | *Tethysbaena stocki* | Monodellidae | NE | 7 |
| [Trapezionida arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/11888915) | *Trapezionida arabica* | Munididae | NE | 1 |
| [Munidopsis nias](https://www.gbif.org/species/8122845) | *Munidopsis nias* | Munidopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Munidopsis regia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310551) | *Munidopsis regia* | Munidopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Anchialina sanzoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2220685) | *Anchialina sanzoi* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Boreomysis tattersalli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2220394) | *Boreomysis tattersalli* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinomysis chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221152) | *Echinomysis chuni* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euchaetomera tenuis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221044) | *Euchaetomera tenuis* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gibberythrops acanthura](https://www.gbif.org/species/2220936) | *Gibberythrops acanthura* | Mysidae | NE | 2 |
| [Illigiella brevisquamosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2220535) | *Illigiella brevisquamosa* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Longithorax capensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2220442) | *Longithorax capensis* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Siriella aequiremis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2220867) | *Siriella aequiremis* | Mysidae | NE | 1 |
| [Styloptocuma exstans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2214662) | *Styloptocuma exstans* | Nannastacidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nullosetigera aequalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115490) | *Nullosetigera aequalis* | Nullosetigeridae | NE | 1 |
| [Milky Fiddler Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/9399267) | *Austruca lactea* | Ocypodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Inversed Fiddler Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/9289772) | *Cranuca inversa* | Ocypodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Horned Ghost Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382444) | *Ocypode ceratophthalmus* | Ocypodidae | LC | 1 |
| [smooth-eyed ghost crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382448) | *Ocypode cordimana* | Ocypodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ocypode cordimana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7469246) | *Ocypode cordimana* | Ocypodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ocypode jousseaumei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382452) | *Ocypode jousseaumei* | Ocypodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pink Ghost Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382445) | *Ocypode ryderi* | Ocypodidae | LC | 3 |
| [Red Sea ghost crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382453) | *Ocypode saratan* | Ocypodidae | NE | 2 |
| [Callistodontopyge cingulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6186582) | *Callistodontopyge cingulata* | Odontopygidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oecobius petronius](https://www.gbif.org/species/2162509) | *Oecobius petronius* | Oecobiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Uroctea sudanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2162460) | *Uroctea sudanensis* | Oecobiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Beierolpium flavum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124966) | *Beierolpium flavum* | Olpiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Olpium fuscimanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124938) | *Olpium fuscimanum* | Olpiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Olpium halophilum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2124917) | *Olpium halophilum* | Olpiidae | NE | 44 |
| [Orchestina arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2140266) | *Orchestina arabica* | Oonopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Orchestina intricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7855295) | *Orchestina intricata* | Oonopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oplophorus typus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4647752) | *Oplophorus typus* | Oplophoridae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyrtomaia granulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5971139) | *Cyrtomaia granulosa* | Oregoniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyrtomaia suhmii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4645773) | *Cyrtomaia suhmii* | Oregoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Grypachaeus hyalinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4645750) | *Grypachaeus hyalinus* | Oregoniidae | NE | 5 |
| [Pleistacantha oryx](https://www.gbif.org/species/4645755) | *Pleistacantha oryx* | Oregoniidae | NE | 2 |
| [Epixanthus frontalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377509) | *Epixanthus frontalis* | Oziidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ozius rugulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377526) | *Ozius rugulosus* | Oziidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pylopaguropsis pustulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4312206) | *Pylopaguropsis pustulosa* | Paguridae | NE | 1 |
| [Anisomenaeus spinimanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6456656) | *Anisomenaeus spinimanus* | Palaemonidae | NE | 2 |
| [Coralliocaris viridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225251) | *Coralliocaris viridis* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Bumblebee Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178555) | *Gnathophyllum americanum* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Harpiliopsis beaupresii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225486) | *Harpiliopsis beaupresii* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Jocaste japonica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178547) | *Jocaste japonica* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Basket Star Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/6456682) | *Lipkemenes lanipes* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [hairy river prawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/2224674) | *Macrobrachium rude* | Palaemonidae | LC | 3 |
| [Palaemonella rotumana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225259) | *Palaemonella rotumana* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Yemenicaris trullicauda](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310259) | *Yemenicaris trullicauda* | Palaemonidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudopalicus serripes](https://www.gbif.org/species/4648937) | *Pseudopalicus serripes* | Palicidae | NE | 1 |
| [buffalo blunthorn lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221658) | *Palinustus mossambicus* | Palinuridae | NE | 1 |
| [scalloped spiny lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221635) | *Panulirus homarus* | Palinuridae | LC | 1 |
| [Arabian whip lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221630) | *Puerulus sewelli* | Palinuridae | LC | 1 |
| [Plesionika adensameri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309689) | *Plesionika adensameri* | Pandalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gondwana striped shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222426) | *Plesionika alcocki* | Pandalidae | NE | 5 |
| [Plesionika bifurca](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309684) | *Plesionika bifurca* | Pandalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Golden Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222385) | *Plesionika martia* | Pandalidae | NE | 3 |
| [Plesionika orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4646075) | *Plesionika orientalis* | Pandalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plesionika semilaevis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222386) | *Plesionika semilaevis* | Pandalidae | NE | 4 |
| [oriental narwal shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222468) | *Plesionika spinipes* | Pandalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Echthrogaleus denticulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9075724) | *Echthrogaleus denticulatus* | Pandaridae | NE | 1 |
| [Gangliopus pyriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2116142) | *Gangliopus pyriformis* | Pandaridae | NE | 2 |
| [Pandarus smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166528) | *Pandarus smithii* | Pandaridae | NE | 1 |
| [Acrocalanus longicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114251) | *Acrocalanus longicornis* | Paracalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Metapenaeopsis manningi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223586) | *Metapenaeopsis manningi* | Penaeidae | NE | 6 |
| [Metapenaeopsis velutina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223577) | *Metapenaeopsis velutina* | Penaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [peregrine shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223738) | *Metapenaeus stebbingi* | Penaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Parapenaeus fissuroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223543) | *Parapenaeus fissuroides* | Penaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pelagopenaeus balboae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223424) | *Pelagopenaeus balboae* | Penaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Penaeopsis challengeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223858) | *Penaeopsis challengeri* | Penaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Gondwana shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223865) | *Penaeopsis jerryi* | Penaeidae | NE | 1 |
| [Indian white prawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223719) | *Penaeus indicus* | Penaeidae | NE | 6 |
| [western king prawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/8157296) | *Penaeus latisulcatus* | Penaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [aloha prawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223449) | *Penaeus marginatus* | Penaeidae | NE | 2 |
| [giant tiger prawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/8406925) | *Penaeus monodon* | Penaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Petalophthalmus oculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221427) | *Petalophthalmus oculatus* | Petalophthalmidae | NE | 1 |
| [Petrarca okadai](https://www.gbif.org/species/6468112) | *Petrarca okadai* | Petrarcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zibrowia auriculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5862514) | *Zibrowia auriculata* | Petrarcidae | NE | 3 |
| [Talacalanus greenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4334985) | *Talacalanus greenii* | Phaennidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cristina somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6905905) | *Cristina somalica* | Phalangiidae | NE | 1 |
| [European running crab spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2148040) | *Thanatus vulgaris* | Philodromidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tibellus cobusi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2147948) | *Tibellus cobusi* | Philodromidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tibellus flavipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2147903) | *Tibellus flavipes* | Philodromidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Grass Running Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2147929) | *Tibellus minor* | Philodromidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tibellus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2147925) | *Tibellus somaliensis* | Philodromidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cellar spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2150089) | *Artema atlanta* | Pholcidae | NE | 5 |
| [Slender Cellar Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2149711) | *Leptopholcus gracilis* | Pholcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cellar spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2149761) | *Micropholcus fauroti* | Pholcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ninetis minuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2150567) | *Ninetis minuta* | Pholcidae | NE | 1 |
| [Giant Amblypygid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2181351) | *Damon diadema* | Phrynichidae | NE | 2 |
| [Phrynichus brevispinatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2181380) | *Phrynichus brevispinatus* | Phrynichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phrynichus longespina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2181369) | *Phrynichus longespina* | Phrynichidae | NE | 4 |
| [Phrynichus spinitarsus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7551500) | *Phrynichus spinitarsus* | Phrynichidae | NE | 2 |
| [Harrovia elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/5972359) | *Harrovia elegans* | Pilumnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pilumnus scabriusculus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377541) | *Pilumnus scabriusculus* | Pilumnidae | NE | 1 |
| [common hairy crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227619) | *Pilumnus vespertilio* | Pilumnidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phalaeops somalicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2150808) | *Phalaeops somalicus* | Pisauridae | NE | 1 |
| [Scaly Rock Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225791) | *Plagusia squamosa* | Plagusiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Flatback Lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227931) | *Stereomastis sculpta* | Polychelidae | LC | 2 |
| [Labidocera acuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166367) | *Labidocera acuta* | Pontellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Labidocera pseudacuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5720209) | *Labidocera pseudacuta* | Pontellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pontellina plumata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5166375) | *Pontellina plumata* | Pontellidae | NE | 5 |
| [Propontocypris paradispar](https://www.gbif.org/species/6469079) | *Propontocypris paradispar* | Pontocyprididae | NE | 2 |
| [Natal Porcelain Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310347) | *Pachycheles natalensis* | Porcellanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pachycheles tomentosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310346) | *Pachycheles tomentosus* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lamarck's porcelain crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310327) | *Petrolisthes lamarckii* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Petrolisthes moluccensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310324) | *Petrolisthes moluccensis* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Petrolisthes rufescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310318) | *Petrolisthes rufescens* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Petrolisthes virgatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4310307) | *Petrolisthes virgatus* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [De Haan's Porcelain Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716578) | *Pisidia dehaanii* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pisidia delagoae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716573) | *Pisidia delagoae* | Porcellanidae | NE | 1 |
| [striped swimming crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4647366) | *Charybdis feriata* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Charybdis natator](https://www.gbif.org/species/4307415) | *Charybdis natator* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Charybdis omanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5974315) | *Charybdis omanensis* | Portunidae | NE | 2 |
| [Charybdis smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11251120) | *Charybdis smithii* | Portunidae | NE | 2 |
| [Eodemus arabicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11525909) | *Eodemus arabicus* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [three spot swimming crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178580) | *Portunus sanguinolentus* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [crenate swimming crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225583) | *Thalamita crenata* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thalamita foresti](https://www.gbif.org/species/4307302) | *Thalamita foresti* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thalamita integra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225590) | *Thalamita integra* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thalamita prymna](https://www.gbif.org/species/4307287) | *Thalamita prymna* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thalamita spinifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225572) | *Thalamita spinifera* | Portunidae | NE | 2 |
| [Thalamita woodmasoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/5974394) | *Thalamita woodmasoni* | Portunidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thalamitoides quadridens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2225564) | *Thalamitoides quadridens* | Portunidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fat River Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/11903439) | *Maritimonautes obesus* | Potamonautidae | LC | 23 |
| [Chorisquilla spinosissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/4649709) | *Chorisquilla spinosissima* | Protosquillidae | NE | 1 |
| [Caystre's Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227567) | *Pseudozius caystrus* | Pseudoziidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodalma melanocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123407) | *Rhagodalma melanocephala* | Rhagodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodes albolimbata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123337) | *Rhagodes albolimbata* | Rhagodidae | NE | 3 |
| [Rhagodes nicotrae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123355) | *Rhagodes nicotrae* | Rhagodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodoca macrocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123389) | *Rhagodoca macrocephala* | Rhagodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodoca paecila](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123399) | *Rhagodoca paecila* | Rhagodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodoca picta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123400) | *Rhagodoca picta* | Rhagodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodoca pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123404) | *Rhagodoca pusilla* | Rhagodidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhagodoca somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123401) | *Rhagodoca somalica* | Rhagodidae | NE | 7 |
| [Rhagoduna puccionii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2123434) | *Rhagoduna puccionii* | Rhagodidae | NE | 5 |
| [Rhincalanus cornutus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114451) | *Rhincalanus cornutus* | Rhincalanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhincalanus nasutus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114450) | *Rhincalanus nasutus* | Rhincalanidae | NE | 7 |
| [Cyrba ocellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2171150) | *Cyrba ocellata* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/)


---

# Somalia and Libya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/libya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Libya lent Somalia 2 million Libyan dinars in 1974 to finish Kismayo airport, but the two governments broke relations twice, over the Ogaden war in 1977 and over Libyan support for Somali rebels in 1981, before restoring them in 1985. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Tripoli in February 2025 and signed four memoranda. Today the main issue is migration: thousands of Somalis cross Libya towards Italy, and Somalia brings migrants home from there.

## How do Somalia and Libya relate today?

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made an official visit to Tripoli in February 2025. On 24 February he met Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and the two governments signed four memoranda of understanding ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 24 February 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-sign-four-mous-to-strengthen-bilateral-cooperation/)). They covered visa-free travel for diplomats, a joint ministerial committee, political consultations and a link between the cities of Mogadishu and Tripoli (same source).

Both countries have missions in each other's capitals. Somalia's new ambassador presented credentials in Tripoli in June 2026, and Libya has a chargé d'affaires in Mogadishu ([Dawan Africa, 14 June 2026](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-ambassador-presents-credentials-to-libyas-presidential-council-head); [Somali Foreign Ministry, 23 June 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8732)).

Migration dominates the agenda. Somalia's ministers have raised the welfare of Somalis in Libya, voluntary returns and the smuggling networks along the route ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 21 October 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-coordinate-ahead-of-cen-sad-meetings-in-tripoli-2/)). In November 2026 Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali attended the CEN-SAD session in Tripoli and discussed Somali livestock exports with Libya's finance minister ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 8 November 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-discuss-economic-and-financial-cooperation/)).

## When did contact begin?

### Loans and the Arab League

Somalia joined the Arab League on 14 February 1974 ([Somali Archive, Siad Barre's accession speech](https://somaliarchive77.substack.com/p/the-arabs-and-somalis-need-each-other)). On 26 June 1974 Libya and Somalia signed a loan agreement for 2 million Libyan dinars to finish Kismayo international airport ([Libyan Law No. 19 of 1975, Libyan Legal Compendium](https://lawsociety.ly/legislation/%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d9%82%d9%85-19-%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%86%d8%a9-1975-%d9%85-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a9/?print=1)).

The loan carried 5% interest. Somalia was to repay it over ten years from 1 January 1977, in Somali goods priced at world market rates (same source). Libya's Revolutionary Command Council ratified it on 25 February 1975 (same source). The two countries also adopted a plan in 1974 to carry out an economic, cultural and technical cooperation agreement ([Libyan Legal Compendium, 1974](https://lawsociety.ly/akn/ly/doc/agreement/somalia/1974/16-3)).

### Two breaks, 1977 and 1981

Libya supported Ethiopia in the 1977–1978 Ogaden war, and Somalia withdrew recognition of Libya in 1977 ([GlobalSecurity, "Somalia – Foreign Relations"](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/somalia/forrel.htm)). In 1981 Somalia broke relations, accusing Muammar Gaddafi of backing the armed opposition Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) and the Somali National Movement (SNM) ([Library of Congress Country Study, "Relations with Arab Countries"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). Relations were restored in April 1985 ([GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/somalia/forrel.htm)).

See [Ogaden war 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) and [Armed movements 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).

### After 1991

[Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and Libya were the only countries to keep a continued, if intermittent, diplomatic presence in Somalia during the years of war ([Al Jazeera, 28 May 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)). In February 2009 Gaddafi became chairman of the African Union ([VOA via GlobalSecurity, February 2009](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2009/02/mil-090203-voa06.htm)). In March 2009 President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed held talks in Tripoli on bilateral ties ([VOA via GlobalSecurity, March 2009](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2009/03/mil-090327-voa05.htm)).

IGAD leaders met on Somalia in Sirte on the sidelines of the AU summit in Libya, with [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) present ([IGAD communiqué, 30 June 2009](https://osesgy.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/090630%20Communique%20of%20IGAD%2014th%20extra-ordinary%20session%20%28Sirte%2C%20Libya%29.pdf)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Abdulfatah Sheikh Ahmed Abdulmanan**: Somalia's ambassador; presented credentials to Presidential Council head Mohamed al-Menfi in Tripoli on 13 June 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 14 June 2026](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-ambassador-presents-credentials-to-libyas-presidential-council-head)).
- **Nasr Mohamed Al-Sanousi**: Libya's chargé d'affaires to Somalia, received in Mogadishu in June and October 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 23 June 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8732); [21 October 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-coordinate-ahead-of-cen-sad-meetings-in-tripoli-2/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Mohamed al-Zarruq Rajab**: Libyan treasury minister who signed the 1974 Kismayo airport loan ([Libyan Law No. 19 of 1975](https://lawsociety.ly/legislation/%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d9%82%d9%85-19-%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%86%d8%a9-1975-%d9%85-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a9/?print=1)).
- **Mohamed Yusuf Weirah**: Somali secretary of state for finance who signed the same loan (same source).
- **Abdessalam Jalloud**: Libyan prime minister who signed the 1975 law ratifying the loan (same source).
- **Muammar Gaddafi**: Libyan leader whom Somalia accused in 1981 of backing the SSDF and SNM ([Library of Congress Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).
- **Siad Barre**: Somali president who broke with Libya in 1977 and 1981 and restored ties in 1985 ([GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/somalia/forrel.htm)). See [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Abdulhamid Dbeibah**: leaders who met in Tripoli on 24 February 2025 ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-sign-four-mous-to-strengthen-bilateral-cooperation/)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and Taher Salem Al-Baour**: foreign ministers who signed the 2025 memoranda (same source).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**: Somali foreign minister who discussed migration with Al-Baour at the UN in September 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 24 September 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-strengthen-coordination-on-migration/)).
- **Hassan Mohamed Ali**: Somali deputy foreign minister who received 129 returnees from Libya in July 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 2 July 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/deputy-minister-welcomes-129-somali-returnees-from-libya/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1974**: plan to carry out an economic, cultural and technical cooperation agreement ([Libyan Legal Compendium](https://lawsociety.ly/akn/ly/doc/agreement/somalia/1974/16-3)).
- **26 June 1974**: loan of 2 million Libyan dinars for Kismayo international airport, ratified 25 February 1975 ([Libyan Law No. 19 of 1975](https://lawsociety.ly/legislation/%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d9%82%d9%85-19-%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%86%d8%a9-1975-%d9%85-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a9/?print=1)).
- **24 February 2025**: four memoranda: visa exemption for diplomatic passports, a joint ministerial committee, political consultations, and cooperation between the Mogadishu and Tripoli municipalities ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-sign-four-mous-to-strengthen-bilateral-cooperation/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **March 2009**: President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Tripoli ([VOA via GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2009/03/mil-090327-voa05.htm)).
- **30 June – 2 July 2009**: Sharif at the IGAD and AU meetings in Sirte ([IGAD communiqué](https://osesgy.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/090630%20Communique%20of%20IGAD%2014th%20extra-ordinary%20session%20%28Sirte%2C%20Libya%29.pdf)).
- **23 February 2025**: Foreign Minister Fiqi in Tripoli, ahead of the president ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 23 February 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=5455)).
- **24 February 2025**: Hassan Sheikh in Tripoli ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-sign-four-mous-to-strengthen-bilateral-cooperation/)).
- **6–8 November 2026**: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Tripoli for CEN-SAD ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 7 November 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-participates-in-22nd-cen-sad-session-in-tripoli/)).

## How much do they trade?

Libya has not reported its trade with Somalia to UN Comtrade for recent years ([UN Comtrade query, Libya–Somalia, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=434&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). The 1974 loan was to be repaid in Somali goods, arranged between Libya's supply agency and Somalia's commerce ministry ([Libyan Law No. 19 of 1975](https://lawsociety.ly/legislation/%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d9%82%d9%85-19-%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%86%d8%a9-1975-%d9%85-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a9/?print=1)). In November 2026 Somalia's foreign minister and Libya's finance minister discussed growing Somali livestock exports to Libya ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-discuss-economic-and-financial-cooperation/)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

The 1974 airport loan is the main recorded Libyan financing (see above). UN OCHA lists no Libyan humanitarian grants to Somalia for 2006 to 2025 ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?locationid=206&year=2011&groupby=organization)). Return flights for Somali migrants are run with IOM's Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 2 July 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/deputy-minister-welcomes-129-somali-returnees-from-libya/)).

## What about security?

Libya does not take part in the AU mission in Somalia ([Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/explainer-what-did-the-kampala-aussom-summit-decide-and-why-did-somalia-oppose-part-of-the-communique)). In the early 1980s Somalia accused Libya of supporting the SSDF and SNM rebels ([Library of Congress Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). Today the security agenda is people smuggling: in October 2026 the two sides agreed to work against smuggling and trafficking networks on the route ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-and-libya-coordinate-ahead-of-cen-sad-meetings-in-tripoli-2/)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Libya deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Libya deals with Somalia's federal government. Of 129 migrants flown home from Libya in July 2026, 110 landed in Mogadishu and 19 in Hargeisa ([Somali Foreign Ministry, 2 July 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/deputy-minister-welcomes-129-somali-returnees-from-libya/)). The 1974 loan paid for Kismayo airport, now in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) ([Libyan Law No. 19 of 1975](https://lawsociety.ly/legislation/%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d9%82%d9%85-19-%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%86%d8%a9-1975-%d9%85-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a9/?print=1)). No Libyan statement on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) was found in the sources checked.

## Have there been disputes?

- **1977**: Somalia withdrew recognition of Libya over its support for Ethiopia in the Ogaden war ([GlobalSecurity](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/somalia/forrel.htm)).
- **1981–1985**: Somalia broke relations, accusing Gaddafi of backing the SSDF and SNM; ties resumed in 1985 ([Library of Congress Country Study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).
- **Migrants**: Somalis held by smugglers have described abuse in Kufra and Bani Walid ([VOA, 2018](https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-migrants-returning-libya-tell-abuse-horror/4259510.html)). Libya is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention ([UNHCR, Libya 2024](https://www.unhcr.org/us/sites/en-us/files/2025-06/Libya%20ARR%202024_48.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Libya?

UNHCR registered 778 Somali asylum seekers in Libya at the end of 2025, and IOM counted more than 1,400 Somali migrants stranded there in April 2025 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=LBY); [Dawan, citing IOM](https://dawan.africa/news/over-100-somali-migrants-repatriated-from-libya)). See [Somalis in Libya](/en/diaspora/libya/).

## Where does Libya stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Both countries are members of the Arab League, the AU and CEN-SAD; Somalia attended CEN-SAD's 22nd session in Tripoli in November 2026 ([Somali Foreign Ministry](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-participates-in-22nd-cen-sad-session-in-tripoli/)). Libya hosted the 2009 AU summit in Sirte, where IGAD leaders met on Somalia ([IGAD communiqué](https://osesgy.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/090630%20Communique%20of%20IGAD%2014th%20extra-ordinary%20session%20%28Sirte%2C%20Libya%29.pdf)). Since 2019 Rwanda, UNHCR and the AU have flown refugees, including Somalis, from Libya to Rwanda ([KT Press, September 2026](https://www.ktpress.rw/2026/09/rwanda-has-received-more-than-3000-asylum-seekers-evacuated-from-libya-since-2019/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in Libya](/en/diaspora/libya/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Somalia and Rwanda](/en/relations/rwanda/)
- [Ogaden war 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)
- [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)


---

# Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species (part 3 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 650 species from Somalia in the smaller animal groups: corals, sea anemones and jellyfish, sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers, sponges, lamp shells, worms and sea squirts.

Part 3 of 5 of [Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)

## Full list (650 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Charltonithyris bihinensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9248912) | *Charltonithyris bihinensis* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 5 |
| [Sphaeroidothyris browni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8539581) | *Sphaeroidothyris browni* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 4 |
| [Striithyris somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8597561) | *Striithyris somaliensis* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebratula zieteni](https://www.gbif.org/species/7014209) | *Terebratula zieteni* | Loboidothyrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Lopadorrhynchus brevis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2312471) | *Lopadorrhynchus brevis* | Lopadorrhynchidae | NE | 2 |
| [Luidia heterozona](https://www.gbif.org/species/2270577) | *Luidia heterozona* | Luidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Luidia ludwigi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2270675) | *Luidia ludwigi* | Luidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lumbrineris oxychaeta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2322930) | *Lumbrineris oxychaeta* | Lumbrineridae | NE | 1 |
| [Lumbrineris quasibifilaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2323114) | *Lumbrineris quasibifilaris* | Lumbrineridae | NE | 2 |
| [Scoletoma laurentiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/11131025) | *Scoletoma laurentiana* | Lumbrineridae | NE | 1 |
| [Macropneustes trevisani](https://www.gbif.org/species/7423406) | *Macropneustes trevisani* | Macropneustidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euclymene annandalei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2319598) | *Euclymene annandalei* | Maldanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Isocirrus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/12222636) | *Isocirrus africanus* | Maldanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Isocirrus watsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/12194461) | *Isocirrus watsoni* | Maldanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Maldane aequalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8849942) | *Maldane aequalis* | Maldanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Notoproctus pacificus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2319244) | *Notoproctus pacificus* | Maldanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Praxillella kerguelensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2319272) | *Praxillella kerguelensis* | Maldanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gymnopatagus valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5964388) | *Gymnopatagus valdiviae* | Maretiidae | NE | 5 |
| [Hemimaretia elevata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5964374) | *Hemimaretia elevata* | Maretiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fine-spined Heart Urchin](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341673) | *Maretia planulata* | Maretiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Meandrina africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8689242) | *Meandrina africana* | Meandrinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pachygyra savii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4944090) | *Pachygyra savii* | Meandrinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Argyrotheca somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2252830) | *Argyrotheca somaliensis* | Megathyrididae | NE | 10 |
| [Melithaea flabellum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2261540) | *Melithaea flabellum* | Melithaeidae | NE | 4 |
| [Melithaea mabahissi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8399938) | *Melithaea mabahissi* | Melithaeidae | NE | 4 |
| [Solenocaulon ramosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2262156) | *Solenocaulon ramosum* | Melithaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Solenocaulon tortuosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2262155) | *Solenocaulon tortuosum* | Melithaeidae | NE | 3 |
| [Anisocoenia quadriseriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8510786) | *Anisocoenia quadriseriata* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrea defrancei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9341273) | *Astrea defrancei* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrea reussiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9327280) | *Astrea reussiana* | Merulinidae | NE | 2 |
| [lesser star coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2260151) | *Goniastrea edwardsi* | Merulinidae | LC | 1 |
| [Hydnophora affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8531553) | *Hydnophora affinis* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hydnophora infundibulum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8549957) | *Hydnophora infundibulum* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hydnophora rudis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943822) | *Hydnophora rudis* | Merulinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Leptastrea anomala](https://www.gbif.org/species/9283454) | *Leptastrea anomala* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leptoria concentrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5931537) | *Leptoria concentrica* | Merulinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Monticulastraea insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943935) | *Monticulastraea insignis* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Monticulastraea solidior](https://www.gbif.org/species/9521632) | *Monticulastraea solidior* | Merulinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Orbicella carnegiei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9550721) | *Orbicella carnegiei* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Orbicella farquharsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/9358174) | *Orbicella farquharsoni* | Merulinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Prionastraea insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9553253) | *Prionastraea insignis* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tridacophyllia cristatoseriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9550358) | *Tridacophyllia cristatoseriata* | Merulinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stephanophyllia complicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2260489) | *Stephanophyllia complicata* | Micrabaciidae | NE | 1 |
| [Antho arbuscula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2240771) | *Antho arbuscula* | Microcionidae | NE | 2 |
| [Clathria cactiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2240087) | *Clathria cactiformis* | Microcionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Clathria lendenfeldi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2240436) | *Clathria lendenfeldi* | Microcionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astroporina orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8647818) | *Astroporina orientalis* | Milleporellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astroporina stellans](https://www.gbif.org/species/8551741) | *Astroporina stellans* | Milleporellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astroporina stellifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8518253) | *Astroporina stellifera* | Milleporellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Milleporidium somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/9526875) | *Milleporidium somaliense* | Milleporellidae | NE | 8 |
| [Molgula somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2331517) | *Molgula somaliensis* | Molgulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Molpadia brevicaudata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5966126) | *Molpadia brevicaudata* | Molpadiidae | NE | 2 |
| [muscular fusiform sea cucumber](https://www.gbif.org/species/5188290) | *Molpadia musculus* | Molpadiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pseudomonocelis cavernicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2502646) | *Pseudomonocelis cavernicola* | Monocelididae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudomonocelis pardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4344651) | *Pseudomonocelis pardii* | Monocelididae | NE | 4 |
| [Monorhaphis chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2236676) | *Monorhaphis chuni* | Monorhaphididae | NE | 12 |
| [Montastraea irradians](https://www.gbif.org/species/12078376) | *Montastraea irradians* | Montastraeidae | NE | 2 |
| [Mycale dendyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2242210) | *Mycale dendyi* | Mycalidae | NE | 1 |
| [Black coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258467) | *Cupressopathes abies* | Myriopathidae | NE | 3 |
| [Myriopathes ulex](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258409) | *Myriopathes ulex* | Myriopathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Myxilla burtoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/10898481) | *Myxilla burtoni* | Myxillidae | NE | 2 |
| [Allonais gwaliorensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6135527) | *Allonais gwaliorensis* | Naididae | NE | 3 |
| [aquatic oligochaete worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/4812255) | *Allonais inaequalis* | Naididae | NE | 3 |
| [aquatic oligochaete worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2308175) | *Allonais paraguayensis* | Naididae | NE | 4 |
| [aquatic oligochaete worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2308177) | *Allonais pectinata* | Naididae | NE | 4 |
| [Aulophorus flabelliger](https://www.gbif.org/species/5815556) | *Aulophorus flabelliger* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [Aulophorus furcatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10541663) | *Aulophorus furcatus* | Naididae | NE | 7 |
| [Aulophorus michaelseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/9672303) | *Aulophorus michaelseni* | Naididae | NE | 2 |
| [Chaetogaster langi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5716171) | *Chaetogaster langi* | Naididae | NE | 3 |
| [Aquatic Oligochaete Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2308139) | *Dero digitata* | Naididae | NE | 3 |
| [Aquatic Oligochaete Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2308141) | *Dero obtusa* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [aquatic oligochaete worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2308158) | *Dero pectinata* | Naididae | NE | 4 |
| [Aquatic Oligochaete Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194062) | *Pristina aequiseta* | Naididae | NE | 3 |
| [Pristina foreli](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194056) | *Pristina foreli* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [Aquatic Oligochaete Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/5739724) | *Pristina jenkinae* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [Aquatic Oligochaete Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194048) | *Pristina longiseta* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [Pristina menoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194061) | *Pristina menoni* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [aquatic oligochaete worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/11093489) | *Pristina proboscidea* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [Aquatic Oligochaete Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/5194055) | *Pristina sima* | Naididae | NE | 1 |
| [Somalidrilus elongatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5958313) | *Somalidrilus elongatus* | Naididae | NE | 2 |
| [Pocillorhynchus spiroductus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2502086) | *Pocillorhynchus spiroductus* | Nannorhynchididae | NE | 1 |
| [Stephanoscyphistoma corniformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9187000) | *Stephanoscyphistoma corniformis* | Nausithoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya bruuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263588) | *Dendronephthya bruuni* | Nephtheidae | NE | 8 |
| [Dendronephthya disciformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263505) | *Dendronephthya disciformis* | Nephtheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya hystricosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263461) | *Dendronephthya hystricosa* | Nephtheidae | NE | 4 |
| [Dendronephthya kukenthali](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263586) | *Dendronephthya kukenthali* | Nephtheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya nova](https://www.gbif.org/species/11810437) | *Dendronephthya nova* | Nephtheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya pumilio](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263664) | *Dendronephthya pumilio* | Nephtheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya putteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/10455432) | *Dendronephthya putteri* | Nephtheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya rubeola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263459) | *Dendronephthya rubeola* | Nephtheidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dendronephthya staphyloidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263534) | *Dendronephthya staphyloidea* | Nephtheidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dendronephthya vervoorti](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263552) | *Dendronephthya vervoorti* | Nephtheidae | NE | 7 |
| [Micronephthys palatii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10522871) | *Micronephthys palatii* | Nephtyidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alitta succinea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2315382) | *Alitta succinea* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Composetia marmorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8509418) | *Composetia marmorata* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Leonnates indicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2316227) | *Leonnates indicus* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Annelid](https://www.gbif.org/species/2315369) | *Namalycastis abiuma* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Neanthes augeneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196620) | *Neanthes augeneri* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Neanthes bruaca](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196706) | *Neanthes bruaca* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Neanthes unifasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196676) | *Neanthes unifasciata* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Nereis hemprichii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196473) | *Nereis hemprichii* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Nereis riisei](https://www.gbif.org/species/5196331) | *Nereis riisei* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Nereis trifasciata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9720725) | *Nereis trifasciata* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Perinereis anderssoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2316177) | *Perinereis anderssoni* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Perinereis striolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2316172) | *Perinereis striolata* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Perinereis vallata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2316110) | *Perinereis vallata* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Platynereis abnormis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2315939) | *Platynereis abnormis* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Platynereis polyscalma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2315980) | *Platynereis polyscalma* | Nereididae | NE | 1 |
| [Gelliodes pumila](https://www.gbif.org/species/2245529) | *Gelliodes pumila* | Niphatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cephalodella catellina](https://www.gbif.org/species/1003444) | *Cephalodella catellina* | Notommatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cephalodella gibba](https://www.gbif.org/species/1003341) | *Cephalodella gibba* | Notommatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cephalodella pachyodon](https://www.gbif.org/species/1003434) | *Cephalodella pachyodon* | Notommatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Paradiopatra furcatoseta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7909293) | *Paradiopatra furcatoseta* | Onuphidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhamphobrachium bipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2323705) | *Rhamphobrachium bipes* | Onuphidae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhamphobrachium chuni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2323724) | *Rhamphobrachium chuni* | Onuphidae | NE | 1 |
| [Armandia melanura](https://www.gbif.org/species/5197502) | *Armandia melanura* | Opheliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiacantha vorax](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275141) | *Ophiacantha vorax* | Ophiacanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heteronardoa carinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272383) | *Heteronardoa carinata* | Ophidiasteridae | NE | 6 |
| [Heteronardoa diamantinae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272390) | *Heteronardoa diamantinae* | Ophidiasteridae | NE | 4 |
| [common comet star](https://www.gbif.org/species/5187107) | *Linckia guildingi* | Ophidiasteridae | NE | 5 |
| [Multipore Sea Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/5187112) | *Linckia multifora* | Ophidiasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Button Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/9759282) | *Nardoa variolata* | Ophidiasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Tamaria fusca](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272339) | *Tamaria fusca* | Ophidiasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pied Brittle Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/10108948) | *Breviturma pica* | Ophiocomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Breviturma pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/10423393) | *Breviturma pusilla* | Ophiocomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiocoma erinaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275458) | *Ophiocoma erinaceus* | Ophiocomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lagoon Brittle Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275475) | *Ophiocoma scolopendrina* | Ophiocomidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bathypectinura heros](https://www.gbif.org/species/2276316) | *Bathypectinura heros* | Ophiodermatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Banded Brittle Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275576) | *Ophiolepis superba* | Ophiolepididae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiomusa muta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9669701) | *Ophiomusa muta* | Ophiomusaidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ophiomyxa australis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2276557) | *Ophiomyxa australis* | Ophiomyxidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiopeza spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2276289) | *Ophiopeza spinosa* | Ophiopezidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amphiophiura concava](https://www.gbif.org/species/2277205) | *Amphiophiura concava* | Ophiopyrgidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amphiophiura trifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2277250) | *Amphiophiura trifolium* | Ophiopyrgidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aspidophiura corone](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275605) | *Aspidophiura corone* | Ophiopyrgidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiuroglypha irrorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4340516) | *Ophiuroglypha irrorata* | Ophiopyrgidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiuroglypha schmidtotti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8754376) | *Ophiuroglypha schmidtotti* | Ophiopyrgidae | NE | 3 |
| [Macrophiothrix propinqua](https://www.gbif.org/species/2275751) | *Macrophiothrix propinqua* | Ophiotrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiothrix aristulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5187780) | *Ophiothrix aristulata* | Ophiotrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiothrix echinotecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5187831) | *Ophiothrix echinotecta* | Ophiotrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) purpurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5187876) | *Ophiothrix purpurea* | Ophiotrichidae | NE | 6 |
| [Mosaic Cushion Star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272918) | *Halityle regularis* | Oreasteridae | NE | 4 |
| [Cushion sea star](https://www.gbif.org/species/2272892) | *Pentaceraster alveolatus* | Oreasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Beaded Starfish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2271949) | *Pentaceraster mammillatus* | Oreasteridae | NE | 3 |
| [Oulastrea edwardsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/11203910) | *Oulastrea edwardsi* | Oulastreidae | NE | 1 |
| [Syphatineria transafricana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7026872) | *Syphatineria transafricana* | Oxyuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Acanthogorgia flabellum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264256) | *Acanthogorgia flabellum* | Paramuriceidae | NE | 1 |
| [Acanthogorgia inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264224) | *Acanthogorgia inermis* | Paramuriceidae | NE | 2 |
| [Paracis alba](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184928) | *Paracis alba* | Paramuriceidae | NE | 3 |
| [Villogorgia arbuscula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2261177) | *Villogorgia arbuscula* | Paramuriceidae | NE | 1 |
| [Villogorgia tenuis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6473258) | *Villogorgia tenuis* | Paramuriceidae | NE | 2 |
| [Isozoanthus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6472998) | *Isozoanthus africanus* | Parazoanthidae | NE | 5 |
| [Isozoanthus valdivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6473002) | *Isozoanthus valdivae* | Parazoanthidae | NE | 3 |
| [Isis brevis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9278621) | *Isis brevis* | Parisididae | NE | 1 |
| [Parisis fruticosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263699) | *Parisis fruticosa* | Parisididae | NE | 2 |
| [Amphictene capensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11119039) | *Amphictene capensis* | Pectinariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pedinopsis melo](https://www.gbif.org/species/7437369) | *Pedinopsis melo* | Pedinopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mauve Stinger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264423) | *Pelagia noctiluca* | Pelagiidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)


---

# Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species (part 4 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 585 arthropod species from Somalia other than insects: crabs, shrimps, lobsters and other crustaceans, spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites, sea spiders, centipedes and millipedes.

Part 4 of 4 of [Crabs, shrimps, spiders, scorpions and other arthropods of Somalia: 585 species](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/) · **4**

## Full list (585 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Jumping spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2177741) | *Hasarius adansoni* | Salticidae | LC | 2 |
| [Heliophanillus fulgens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2173678) | *Heliophanillus fulgens* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heliophanus undecimmaculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2172073) | *Heliophanus undecimmaculatus* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hyllus argyrotoxus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5172247) | *Hyllus argyrotoxus* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gray Wall Jumper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2169064) | *Menemerus bivittatus* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Menemerus brevibulbis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2169184) | *Menemerus brevibulbis* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mogrus mathisi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2170379) | *Mogrus mathisi* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Myrmarachne kitale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2175298) | *Myrmarachne kitale* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pachyballus transversus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2176619) | *Pachyballus transversus* | Salticidae | NE | 2 |
| [Pantropical Jumper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2171214) | *Plexippus paykulli* | Salticidae | NE | 2 |
| [Jumping spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/5172456) | *Plexippus petersi* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thyene inflata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2173147) | *Thyene inflata* | Salticidae | NE | 1 |
| [Santia spicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5175976) | *Santia spicata* | Santiidae | NE | 4 |
| [Dantya piercei](https://www.gbif.org/species/1030601) | *Dantya piercei* | Sarsiellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nealella muelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6468310) | *Nealella muelleri* | Sarsiellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alcockianum alcockianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2113958) | *Alcockianum alcockianum* | Scalpellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Annandaleum gruvelii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2113950) | *Annandaleum gruvelii* | Scalpellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Arcoscalpellum michelottianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2113915) | *Arcoscalpellum michelottianum* | Scalpellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Catherinum minardi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10692026) | *Catherinum minardi* | Scalpellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Catherinum novaezelandiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/10745462) | *Catherinum novaezelandiae* | Scalpellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Catherinum recurvitergum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4335634) | *Catherinum recurvitergum* | Scalpellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Amallothrix tropica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4334554) | *Amallothrix tropica* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoamallothrix indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4334437) | *Pseudoamallothrix indica* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoamallothrix profunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114620) | *Pseudoamallothrix profunda* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scaphocalanus brevicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114661) | *Scaphocalanus brevicornis* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scaphocalanus curtus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114651) | *Scaphocalanus curtus* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scaphocalanus major](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114654) | *Scaphocalanus major* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scaphocalanus subbrevicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114656) | *Scaphocalanus subbrevicornis* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scolecithricella dentata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114710) | *Scolecithricella dentata* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [Scottocalanus dauglishi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4334638) | *Scottocalanus dauglishi* | Scolecitrichidae | NE | 1 |
| [African Giant Centipede](https://www.gbif.org/species/2232236) | *Ethmostigmus trigonopodus* | Scolopendridae | NE | 1 |
| [Redhead Centipede](https://www.gbif.org/species/5179468) | *Scolopendra morsitans* | Scolopendridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pandiborellius meidensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10679925) | *Pandiborellius meidensis* | Scorpionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pandiborellius somalilandus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10768550) | *Pandiborellius somalilandus* | Scorpionidae | NE | 9 |
| [Pandinoides militaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/10705453) | *Pandinoides militaris* | Scorpionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pandinops pugilator](https://www.gbif.org/species/10874699) | *Pandinops pugilator* | Scorpionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pandinurus awalei](https://www.gbif.org/species/10893651) | *Pandinurus awalei* | Scorpionidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pandinurus pallidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7433904) | *Pandinurus pallidus* | Scorpionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pandinurus smithi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10812229) | *Pandinurus smithi* | Scorpionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mosaic Locust Lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309480) | *Chelarctus cultrifer* | Scyllaridae | LC | 2 |
| [Eduarctus aesopius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309474) | *Eduarctus aesopius* | Scyllaridae | LC | 2 |
| [striated locust lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309473) | *Eduarctus martensii* | Scyllaridae | LC | 1 |
| [blunt slipper lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221741) | *Scyllarides squammosus* | Scyllaridae | LC | 2 |
| [clamkiller slipper lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221737) | *Scyllarides tridacnophaga* | Scyllaridae | LC | 3 |
| [flathead lobster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2221754) | *Thenus orientalis* | Scyllaridae | LC | 5 |
| [Selenops lumbo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2155497) | *Selenops lumbo* | Selenopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Selenops sabulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2155489) | *Selenops sabulosus* | Selenopidae | NE | 1 |
| [Challengerosergia challengeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9810276) | *Challengerosergia challengeri* | Sergestidae | NE | 2 |
| [Deosergestes henseni](https://www.gbif.org/species/6454159) | *Deosergestes henseni* | Sergestidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cristarma eulimene](https://www.gbif.org/species/11185714) | *Cristarma eulimene* | Sesarmidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cristarma ortmanni](https://www.gbif.org/species/11153583) | *Cristarma ortmanni* | Sesarmidae | NE | 1 |
| [Red Rock Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382812) | *Neosarmatium meinerti* | Sesarmidae | NE | 2 |
| [Sicyonia japonica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223224) | *Sicyonia japonica* | Sicyoniidae | NE | 2 |
| [veiled shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223289) | *Hymenopenaeus equalis* | Solenoceridae | NE | 1 |
| [Hymenopenaeus propinquus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2223302) | *Hymenopenaeus propinquus* | Solenoceridae | NE | 1 |
| [Solenocera algoensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4309331) | *Solenocera algoensis* | Solenoceridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ferrandia ferrandii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122769) | *Ferrandia ferrandii* | Solpugidae | NE | 1 |
| [Solpugassa dentatidens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122755) | *Solpugassa dentatidens* | Solpugidae | NE | 1 |
| [Solpugyla maestrii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122816) | *Solpugyla maestrii* | Solpugidae | NE | 2 |
| [Zeria fordi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122834) | *Zeria fordi* | Solpugidae | NE | 2 |
| [Zeria loveridgei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122870) | *Zeria loveridgei* | Solpugidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zeria nasuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122820) | *Zeria nasuta* | Solpugidae | NE | 7 |
| [Zeria serraticornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122855) | *Zeria serraticornis* | Solpugidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zeriassa dubia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122908) | *Zeriassa dubia* | Solpugidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zeriassa lepida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122927) | *Zeriassa lepida* | Solpugidae | NE | 10 |
| [Zeriassa pardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122910) | *Zeriassa pardii* | Solpugidae | NE | 18 |
| [Zeriassa ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2122911) | *Zeriassa ruspolii* | Solpugidae | NE | 15 |
| [Eusparassus laevatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8242539) | *Eusparassus laevatus* | Sparassidae | NE | 7 |
| [Eusparassus perezi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7919990) | *Eusparassus perezi* | Sparassidae | NE | 4 |
| [Eusparassus vestigator](https://www.gbif.org/species/7508746) | *Eusparassus vestigator* | Sparassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Walckenaer's Huntsman Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2162312) | *Eusparassus walckenaeri* | Sparassidae | NE | 2 |
| [Huntsman Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2161710) | *Heteropoda venatoria* | Sparassidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cassidias africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2206711) | *Cassidias africana* | Sphaeromatidae | NE | 4 |
| [Cilicaea latreillei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2206761) | *Cilicaea latreillei* | Sphaeromatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Oxinasphaera furcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2206958) | *Oxinasphaera furcata* | Sphaeromatidae | NE | 4 |
| [Mimocalanus cultrifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114869) | *Mimocalanus cultrifer* | Spinocalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spinocalanus abyssalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114890) | *Spinocalanus abyssalis* | Spinocalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Spinocalanus magnus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2114886) | *Spinocalanus magnus* | Spinocalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stenasellus costai](https://www.gbif.org/species/2205520) | *Stenasellus costai* | Stenasellidae | NE | 4 |
| [Stenasellus pardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2205529) | *Stenasellus pardii* | Stenasellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Subeucalanus crassus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115565) | *Subeucalanus crassus* | Subeucalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Subeucalanus mucronatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4335166) | *Subeucalanus mucronatus* | Subeucalanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Subeucalanus subcrassus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115567) | *Subeucalanus subcrassus* | Subeucalanidae | NE | 1 |
| [Subeucalanus subtenuis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115566) | *Subeucalanus subtenuis* | Subeucalanidae | NE | 2 |
| [Metataeniacanthus aquilonius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4324947) | *Metataeniacanthus aquilonius* | Taeniacanthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Metataeniacanthus gibbsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4324946) | *Metataeniacanthus gibbsi* | Taeniacanthidae | NE | 5 |
| [Metataeniacanthus synodi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4324938) | *Metataeniacanthus synodi* | Taeniacanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Mesacturoides fimbriatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6465236) | *Mesacturoides fimbriatus* | Takuidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leucauge branicki](https://www.gbif.org/species/2151486) | *Leucauge branicki* | Tetragnathidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tetralia rubridactyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4645910) | *Tetralia rubridactyla* | Tetraliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tetraloides heterodactylus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5972755) | *Tetraloides heterodactylus* | Tetraliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ischnocolus jickelii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2153367) | *Ischnocolus jickelii* | Theraphosidae | NE | 3 |
| [Kilimanjaro Baboon Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2153908) | *Pterinochilus chordatus* | Theraphosidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown Widow](https://www.gbif.org/species/2157944) | *Latrodectus geometricus* | Theridiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Paidiscura dromedaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/2155832) | *Paidiscura dromedaria* | Theridiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Runcinia flavida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2165516) | *Runcinia flavida* | Thomisidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thomisus blandus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2166134) | *Thomisus blandus* | Thomisidae | NE | 2 |
| [Two-spotted Flower Crab Spider](https://www.gbif.org/species/2166161) | *Thomisus daradioides* | Thomisidae | NE | 2 |
| [Thomisus granulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2166109) | *Thomisus granulatus* | Thomisidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thomisus machadoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2166141) | *Thomisus machadoi* | Thomisidae | NE | 1 |
| [rusty guard crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5799454) | *Trapezia bidentata* | Trapeziidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cymodoce Guard Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5730518) | *Trapezia cymodoce* | Trapeziidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brown Guard Crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5178754) | *Trapezia digitalis* | Trapeziidae | NE | 1 |
| [African Brine Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/9489150) | *Triops granarius* | Triopsidae | NE | 1 |
| [Miagrammopes raffrayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2142578) | *Miagrammopes raffrayi* | Uloboridae | NE | 1 |
| [Feather-legged Lace Weaver](https://www.gbif.org/species/2142456) | *Uloborus plumipes* | Uloboridae | NE | 1 |
| [Mediterranean Mud Shrimp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2222986) | *Upogebia pusilla* | Upogebiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rostratoverruca intexta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6467521) | *Rostratoverruca intexta* | Verrucidae | NE | 1 |
| [Verruca gibbosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2115657) | *Verruca gibbosa* | Verrucidae | NE | 2 |
| [Withius fuscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2126585) | *Withius fuscus* | Withiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Actaeodes tomentosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5730578) | *Actaeodes tomentosus* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [splendid pebble crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227771) | *Etisus splendidus* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Gaillardiellus rueppelli](https://www.gbif.org/species/4646883) | *Gaillardiellus rueppelli* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leptodius exaratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227828) | *Leptodius exaratus* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lophozozymus anaglyptus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5863650) | *Lophozozymus anaglyptus* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neoliomera sabaea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377805) | *Neoliomera sabaea* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [areolated xanthid crab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2227823) | *Pilodius areolatus* | Xanthidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hermippus affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2163437) | *Hermippus affinis* | Zodariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trygetus nitidissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2163173) | *Trygetus nitidissimus* | Zodariidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia-3/) · **4**


---

# Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species (part 4 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 650 species from Somalia in the smaller animal groups: corals, sea anemones and jellyfish, sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers, sponges, lamp shells, worms and sea squirts.

Part 4 of 5 of [Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)

## Full list (650 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Pennatula pearceyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258706) | *Pennatula pearceyi* | Pennatulidae | NE | 4 |
| [inflated sea pen](https://www.gbif.org/species/10903588) | *Ptilella inflata* | Pennatulidae | NE | 4 |
| [Pericosmus macronesius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5964199) | *Pericosmus macronesius* | Pericosmidae | NE | 1 |
| [Neopetrosia contignata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2246215) | *Neopetrosia contignata* | Petrosiidae | NE | 1 |
| [peanut worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2509463) | *Phascolion strombus* | Phascoliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Phascolosoma carneum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2509985) | *Phascolosoma carneum* | Phascolosomatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phascolosoma puntarenae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2510074) | *Phascolosoma puntarenae* | Phascolosomatidae | NE | 3 |
| [Phormosoma bursarium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341385) | *Phormosoma bursarium* | Phormosomatidae | NE | 4 |
| [Hydrodendron dichotomum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2268575) | *Hydrodendron dichotomum* | Phylactothecidae | NE | 1 |
| [Eulalia magalaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5195375) | *Eulalia magalaensis* | Phyllodocidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polychaete](https://www.gbif.org/species/2311915) | *Eumida sanguinea* | Phyllodocidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllodoce erythraeensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5195103) | *Phyllodoce erythraeensis* | Phyllodocidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllodoce gravida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5195008) | *Phyllodoce gravida* | Phyllodocidae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllodoce malmgreni](https://www.gbif.org/species/5195057) | *Phyllodoce malmgreni* | Phyllodocidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vanadis crystallina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2313213) | *Vanadis crystallina* | Phyllodocidae | NE | 1 |
| [Plesiastrea grayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4943852) | *Plesiastrea grayi* | Plesiastreidae | NE | 3 |
| [Plesiolampas curriae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8199448) | *Plesiolampas curriae* | Plesiolampadidae | NE | 1 |
| [Vogeloides oesophagea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4557022) | *Vogeloides oesophagea* | Pneumospiruridae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylophora africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8451549) | *Stylophora africana* | Pocilloporidae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylophora conferta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7720154) | *Stylophora conferta* | Pocilloporidae | NE | 4 |
| [Stylophora rugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8458064) | *Stylophora rugosa* | Pocilloporidae | NE | 2 |
| [Cystodytes dellechiajei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2330276) | *Cystodytes dellechiajei* | Polycitoridae | NE | 3 |
| [Aplidium lobatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2331029) | *Aplidium lobatum* | Polyclinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cincturorhynchus karlingi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2501906) | *Cincturorhynchus karlingi* | Polycystididae | NE | 3 |
| [Djeziraia pardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2501799) | *Djeziraia pardii* | Polycystididae | NE | 3 |
| [Gyratrix hermaphroditus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2501742) | *Gyratrix hermaphroditus* | Polycystididae | NE | 1 |
| [Hawadlia papii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2501921) | *Hawadlia papii* | Polycystididae | NE | 3 |
| [Paulodora subcontorta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2501770) | *Paulodora subcontorta* | Polycystididae | NE | 3 |
| [Phonorhynchoides somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4344601) | *Phonorhynchoides somaliensis* | Polycystididae | NE | 3 |
| [Polycystis ali](https://www.gbif.org/species/5233236) | *Polycystis ali* | Polycystididae | NE | 2 |
| [Polymastia clavata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2251426) | *Polymastia clavata* | Polymastiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Admetella longipedata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2314670) | *Admetella longipedata* | Polynoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Fifteen-scaled Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2313557) | *Harmothoe imbricata* | Polynoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepidonotus jacksoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/2314176) | *Lepidonotus jacksoni* | Polynoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Alveopora microscopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9325910) | *Alveopora microscopica* | Poritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Astrea microsiderea](https://www.gbif.org/species/9270665) | *Astrea microsiderea* | Poritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Goniopora lagreneii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8942225) | *Goniopora lagreneii* | Poritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Goniopora minuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9315346) | *Goniopora minuta* | Poritidae | NE | 3 |
| [Porites leptoclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/8652913) | *Porites leptoclada* | Poritidae | NE | 5 |
| [Porites micrantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/9608692) | *Porites micrantha* | Poritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Porites multilamellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8510555) | *Porites multilamellata* | Poritidae | NE | 6 |
| [Porites pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/8646922) | *Porites pusilla* | Poritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Blue Button](https://www.gbif.org/species/5185632) | *Porpita porpita* | Porpitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Heimia incurvirostrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8631711) | *Heimia incurvirostrum* | Postepithyrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Somalithyris bihendulensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8655888) | *Somalithyris bihendulensis* | Postepithyrididae | NE | 1 |
| [Somalithyris macfadyeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8676251) | *Somalithyris macfadyeni* | Postepithyrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Terebratula suprajurensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9618200) | *Terebratula suprajurensis* | Postepithyrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Nectadamas diomedeae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265017) | *Nectadamas diomedeae* | Prayidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nectopyramis natans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265003) | *Nectopyramis natans* | Prayidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nectopyramis thetis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265001) | *Nectopyramis thetis* | Prayidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rosacea plicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264979) | *Rosacea plicata* | Prayidae | NE | 2 |
| [Prenaster alpinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4876573) | *Prenaster alpinus* | Prenasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Callogorgia flabellum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2261978) | *Callogorgia flabellum* | Primnoidae | NE | 1 |
| [Brinkmanniella microps](https://www.gbif.org/species/4344296) | *Brinkmanniella microps* | Promesostomidae | NE | 1 |
| [Euretaster cribrosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2270700) | *Euretaster cribrosus* | Pterasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Pyrostremma agassizi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498552) | *Pyrostremma agassizi* | Pyrosomatidae | NE | 1 |
| [Giant Salp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2498550) | *Pyrostremma spinosum* | Pyrosomatidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bargmannia elongata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264856) | *Bargmannia elongata* | Pyrostephidae | NE | 2 |
| [Halocynthia spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2331870) | *Halocynthia spinosa* | Pyuridae | NE | 2 |
| [Red-throated ascidian](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200658) | *Herdmania momus* | Pyuridae | NE | 4 |
| [Pyura gangelion](https://www.gbif.org/species/2331800) | *Pyura gangelion* | Pyuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Siderastrea propitia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8490264) | *Siderastrea propitia* | Rhizangiidae | NE | 1 |
| [African pillow coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258897) | *Siderastrea savignyana* | Rhizangiidae | LC | 1 |
| [massive starlet coral](https://www.gbif.org/species/2258895) | *Siderastrea siderea* | Rhizangiidae | CR | 1 |
| [echuniderm](https://www.gbif.org/species/4340695) | *Democrinus chuni* | Rhizocrinidae | NE | 7 |
| [American pipit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269505) | *Aglaura hemistoma* | Rhopalonematidae | NE | 4 |
| [silky medusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269525) | *Colobonema sericeum* | Rhopalonematidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pantachogon haeckeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269528) | *Pantachogon haeckeli* | Rhopalonematidae | NE | 3 |
| [Rhopalonema funerarium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269534) | *Rhopalonema funerarium* | Rhopalonematidae | NE | 1 |
| [veiled medusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269535) | *Rhopalonema velatum* | Rhopalonematidae | NE | 2 |
| [Bihendulirhynchia afra](https://www.gbif.org/species/8595980) | *Bihendulirhynchia afra* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Burmirhynchia gregoryi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9234424) | *Burmirhynchia gregoryi* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Burmirhynchia jirbaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8491431) | *Burmirhynchia jirbaensis* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Daghanirhynchia daghaniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8597901) | *Daghanirhynchia daghaniensis* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 14 |
| [Daghanirhynchia farquharsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8490461) | *Daghanirhynchia farquharsoni* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Daghanirhynchia kabeitensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8503089) | *Daghanirhynchia kabeitensis* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Daghanirhynchia macfadyeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8683353) | *Daghanirhynchia macfadyeni* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 6 |
| [Kallirhynchia cavagnarii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9377771) | *Kallirhynchia cavagnarii* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Kallirhynchia weiri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9340763) | *Kallirhynchia weiri* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Somalirhynchia subversabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9459847) | *Somalirhynchia subversabilis* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 5 |
| [Terebratula quadriplicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9442451) | *Terebratula quadriplicata* | Rhynchonellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Sabellaria monroi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8852539) | *Sabellaria monroi* | Sabellariidae | NE | 3 |
| [Black-spotted Feather Duster](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200322) | *Branchiomma nigromaculatum* | Sabellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Laonome elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2329019) | *Laonome elegans* | Sabellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Notaulax marenzelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9503708) | *Notaulax marenzelleri* | Sabellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Notaulax pigmentata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9607436) | *Notaulax pigmentata* | Sabellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sabella lamyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2328525) | *Sabella lamyi* | Sabellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Flaccisagitta hexaptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306885) | *Flaccisagitta hexaptera* | Sagittidae | NE | 1 |
| [Serratosagitta pacifica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2306950) | *Serratosagitta pacifica* | Sagittidae | NE | 1 |
| [Linthia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7612371) | *Linthia somaliensis* | Schizasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Opissaster derasmoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8268639) | *Opissaster derasmoi* | Schizasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Opissaster somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7555115) | *Opissaster somaliensis* | Schizasteridae | NE | 2 |
| [Schizaster delorenzoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8086615) | *Schizaster delorenzoi* | Schizasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Ohshimella ehrenbergii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4342150) | *Ohshimella ehrenbergii* | Sclerodactylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhynchonella azaisi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9192345) | *Rhynchonella azaisi* | Septirhynchiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Septirhynchia madashonensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8680264) | *Septirhynchia madashonensis* | Septirhynchiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Septirhynchia pulchra](https://www.gbif.org/species/8596852) | *Septirhynchia pulchra* | Septirhynchiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hydroides heterocera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8400812) | *Hydroides heterocera* | Serpulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Hydroides minax](https://www.gbif.org/species/2328346) | *Hydroides minax* | Serpulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hydroides operculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8303052) | *Hydroides operculata* | Serpulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sertularella dubia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2268957) | *Sertularella dubia* | Sertularellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Salacia tetracythara](https://www.gbif.org/species/5186348) | *Salacia tetracythara* | Sertulariidae | NE | 1 |
| [Diplobrachia southwardae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2307297) | *Diplobrachia southwardae* | Siboglinidae | NE | 11 |
| [Lamellisabella minuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2307309) | *Lamellisabella minuta* | Siboglinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Siboglinum silone](https://www.gbif.org/species/2307361) | *Siboglinum silone* | Siboglinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fimbriosthenelais longipinnis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2312886) | *Fimbriosthenelais longipinnis* | Sigalionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Leanira adenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2313105) | *Leanira adenensis* | Sigalionidae | NE | 3 |
| [Pisionidens caissara](https://www.gbif.org/species/8855370) | *Pisionidens caissara* | Sigalionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sthenolepis vulturis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2313082) | *Sthenolepis vulturis* | Sigalionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Siphonogorgia variabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2263030) | *Siphonogorgia variabilis* | Siphonogorgiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Penis Peanut Worm](https://www.gbif.org/species/7794872) | *Sipunculus norvegicus* | Sipunculidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lenopharynx tubatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4344186) | *Lenopharynx tubatus* | Solenopharyngidae | NE | 1 |
| [Solmundella bitentaculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2269434) | *Solmundella bitentaculata* | Solmundaeginidae | NE | 1 |
| [Prionospio somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2320657) | *Prionospio somaliensis* | Spionidae | NE | 1 |
| [Turkey cup sponge](https://www.gbif.org/species/8234398) | *Spongia officinalis* | Spongiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Steginoporella buskii](https://www.gbif.org/species/1007499) | *Steginoporella buskii* | Steginoporellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Oesophagostomum radiatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2283526) | *Oesophagostomum radiatum* | Strongylidae | NE | 1 |
| [black synascidia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2332084) | *Botrylloides niger* | Styelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cnemidocarpa hemprichi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2332332) | *Cnemidocarpa hemprichi* | Styelidae | NE | 4 |
| [Polycarpa papillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200819) | *Polycarpa papillata* | Styelidae | NE | 10 |
| [Polycarpa pedunculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5200860) | *Polycarpa pedunculata* | Styelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pleated tunicate](https://www.gbif.org/species/2331954) | *Styela plicata* | Styelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ascidian](https://www.gbif.org/species/2332243) | *Symplegma brakenhielmi* | Styelidae | NE | 1 |
| [Conopora laevis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265527) | *Conopora laevis* | Stylasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Conopora verrucosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265522) | *Conopora verrucosa* | Stylasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylaster sanguineus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2265347) | *Stylaster sanguineus* | Stylasteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylina lortphillipsii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8623817) | *Stylina lortphillipsii* | Stylinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Stylina macfadyeni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8555087) | *Stylina macfadyeni* | Stylinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepoarctus coniferus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2253408) | *Lepoarctus coniferus* | Styraconyxidae | NE | 2 |
| [Odontosyllis fulgurans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2309640) | *Odontosyllis fulgurans* | Syllidae | NE | 1 |
| [Odontosyllis gravieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2309602) | *Odontosyllis gravieri* | Syllidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polyarthra remata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1003117) | *Polyarthra remata* | Synchaetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polyarthra vulgaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/1003112) | *Polyarthra vulgaris* | Synchaetidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hydrozoan](https://www.gbif.org/species/2268636) | *Synthecium megathecum* | Syntheciidae | NE | 1 |
| [Synthecium patulum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2268647) | *Synthecium patulum* | Syntheciidae | NE | 2 |
| [Salmaciella erythracis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5965111) | *Salmaciella erythracis* | Temnopleuridae | NE | 6 |
| [Salmaciella oligopora](https://www.gbif.org/species/4875560) | *Salmaciella oligopora* | Temnopleuridae | NE | 1 |
| [Temnotrema siamense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341541) | *Temnotrema siamense* | Temnopleuridae | NE | 5 |
| [Lanice flabellum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4308117) | *Lanice flabellum* | Terebellidae | NE | 2 |
| [Loimia contorta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2325234) | *Loimia contorta* | Terebellidae | NE | 3 |
| [Polycirrus coccineus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8017034) | *Polycirrus coccineus* | Terebellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Polycirrus decipiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4308106) | *Polycirrus decipiens* | Terebellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebella pterochaeta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2325178) | *Terebella pterochaeta* | Terebellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thelepus setosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2325290) | *Thelepus setosus* | Terebellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thelepus vaughani](https://www.gbif.org/species/2325281) | *Thelepus vaughani* | Terebellidae | NE | 1 |
| [Cererithyris wylliei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9608304) | *Cererithyris wylliei* | Terebratulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Goniothyris glendayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/8608617) | *Goniothyris glendayi* | Terebratulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Loboidothyris aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8607505) | *Loboidothyris aethiopica* | Terebratulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Loboidothyris jubaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9239217) | *Loboidothyris jubaensis* | Terebratulidae | NE | 5 |
| [Lophrothyris senilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8448238) | *Lophrothyris senilis* | Terebratulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Ptyctothyris daghaniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8505251) | *Ptyctothyris daghaniensis* | Terebratulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Terebratula anatina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8701583) | *Terebratula anatina* | Terebratulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebratula aualites](https://www.gbif.org/species/9298599) | *Terebratula aualites* | Terebratulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Terebratula bisuffarcinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4869021) | *Terebratula bisuffarcinata* | Terebratulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Terebratula ferrandii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9614001) | *Terebratula ferrandii* | Terebratulidae | NE | 1 |
| [Terebratula perovalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4868986) | *Terebratula perovalis* | Terebratulidae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/)


---

# Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species (part 5 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-5/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 650 species from Somalia in the smaller animal groups: corals, sea anemones and jellyfish, sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers, sponges, lamp shells, worms and sea squirts.

Part 5 of 5 of [Corals, sea urchins, sponges, worms and other animals of Somalia: 650 species](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · **5**

## Full list (650 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Terebratula quillyensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9291207) | *Terebratula quillyensis* | Terebratulidae | NE | 4 |
| [Terebratula subsella](https://www.gbif.org/species/10666433) | *Terebratula subsella* | Terebratulidae | NE | 5 |
| [Golf Ball Sponge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2248916) | *Cinachyrella australiensis* | Tetillidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tetraplatia volitans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2264403) | *Tetraplatia volitans* | Tetraplatiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhynchonella somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9578891) | *Rhynchonella somalica* | Tetrarhynchiidae | NE | 2 |
| [Somalirhynchia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8624687) | *Somalirhynchia africana* | Tetrarhynchiidae | NE | 25 |
| [Somalirhynchia bihendulensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8469028) | *Somalirhynchia bihendulensis* | Tetrarhynchiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Somalirhynchia bihenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8573675) | *Somalirhynchia bihenensis* | Tetrarhynchiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Somalirhynchia stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8593439) | *Somalirhynchia stefaninii* | Tetrarhynchiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Somalirhynchia tumida](https://www.gbif.org/species/8525380) | *Somalirhynchia tumida* | Tetrarhynchiidae | NE | 3 |
| [Cosmiometra gardineri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4341203) | *Cosmiometra gardineri* | Thalassometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Cosmiometra iole](https://www.gbif.org/species/6473954) | *Cosmiometra iole* | Thalassometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Cosmiometra woodmasoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/4874193) | *Cosmiometra woodmasoni* | Thalassometridae | NE | 1 |
| [Oceanometra valdiviae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8041742) | *Oceanometra valdiviae* | Thalassometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhabdophyllia barkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9401733) | *Rhabdophyllia barkii* | Thecosmiliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Thamnoseris lobata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9255611) | *Thamnoseris lobata* | Thecosmiliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Tomopteris dunckeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2312727) | *Tomopteris dunckeri* | Tomopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Tomopteris rolasi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2312711) | *Tomopteris rolasi* | Tomopteridae | NE | 1 |
| [Trachycladus cervicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2250958) | *Trachycladus cervicornis* | Trachycladidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trachycladus tethyoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2250964) | *Trachycladus tethyoides* | Trachycladidae | NE | 2 |
| [Trichocerca pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/1001955) | *Trichocerca pusilla* | Trichocercidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trichostrongylus probolurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4559198) | *Trichostrongylus probolurus* | Trichostrongylidae | NE | 1 |
| [Trigonithyris eruduwensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8558975) | *Trigonithyris eruduwensis* | Trigonithyrididae | NE | 2 |
| [Filinia longiseta](https://www.gbif.org/species/1000461) | *Filinia longiseta* | Trochosphaeridae | NE | 1 |
| [Filinia pejleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/1000466) | *Filinia pejleri* | Trochosphaeridae | NE | 1 |
| [Black and white sea lily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2274679) | *Tropiometra carinata* | Tropiometridae | NE | 2 |
| [Sphenotrochus intermedius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4339502) | *Sphenotrochus intermedius* | Turbinoliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Tropidocyathus lessonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2259369) | *Tropidocyathus lessonii* | Turbinoliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lindahl's droopy sea pen](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184411) | *Umbellula lindahli* | Umbellulidae | NE | 2 |
| [Umbellula pellucida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184407) | *Umbellula pellucida* | Umbellulidae | NE | 4 |
| [Umbellula spicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5184413) | *Umbellula spicata* | Umbellulidae | NE | 2 |
| [two-tentacled sea cucumber](https://www.gbif.org/species/2279292) | *Ypsilothuria bitentaculata* | Ypsilothuriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Aulacothyris jubaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8632964) | *Aulacothyris jubaensis* | Zeilleriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Kingena latifrons](https://www.gbif.org/species/9425839) | *Kingena latifrons* | Zeilleriidae | NE | 3 |
| [Microthyridina farquharsoni](https://www.gbif.org/species/8665076) | *Microthyridina farquharsoni* | Zeilleriidae | NE | 2 |
| [Somalitela ambalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8473852) | *Somalitela ambalensis* | Zeilleriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zeilleria egena](https://www.gbif.org/species/8654549) | *Zeilleria egena* | Zeilleriidae | NE | 1 |
| [Zoanthus somaliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/11516397) | *Zoanthus somaliae* | Zoanthidae | NE | 2 |
| [Zygophylax adhaerens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2268026) | *Zygophylax adhaerens* | Zygophylacidae | NE | 9 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-3/) · [4](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia-4/) · **5**


---

# Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) law, Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/civil-registration-and-vital-statistics-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Bill sets national rules for recording births, deaths, marriages and divorces. The Council of Ministers approved it on 19 November 2023, the House of the People passed it on 24 May 2025 by 136 votes to 1 with 5 abstentions, and the Upper House approved it in November 2025. It has 6 chapters and 46 articles.

## What is the CRVS law?

The **Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Bill** sets the rules for how Somalia's federal government records life events. It has **6 chapters and 46 articles** and covers the registration of **births, deaths, marriages, divorces** and related events ([SONNA, 3 February 2024](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-interior-presents-civil-registration-and-vital-statistics-bill-to-the-parliament)). It was drafted by the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation ([MoIFAR](/en/institutions/ministry-of-interior/)), which runs a Civil Registration Services Directorate ([MoIFAR](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=27526)).

Civil registration is different from the national ID card. The ID card is issued by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) under the Identification and Registration Act (Law No. 009 of 2023). See [National ID card (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/) and [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/).

## What came before it?

- **2003:** a national law gave local governments the duty to register births, deaths, marriages and divorces (IRB Canada 2023, as cited on [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)).
- **August 2021:** the Council of Ministers approved a national CRVS Policy (same source).

## How did the bill pass through government?

| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 19 November 2023 | Council of Ministers approves the draft, presented by Interior Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi | [Biometric Update, 21 November 2023](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202311/somali-cabinet-okays-crvs-bill-seeks-digital-id-collaboration-with-ethiopia) |
| 3 February 2024 | Minister Fiqi presents the bill to the House of the People | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-interior-presents-civil-registration-and-vital-statistics-bill-to-the-parliament) |
| 24 May 2025 | House of the People passes it: 136 for, 1 against, 5 abstentions | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-passes-key-bills-on-displacement-and-civil-registration/); [Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-parliament-passes-bills-on-idps-and-civil-registration) |
| November 2025 | Upper House holds second reading (19 November) and approves the bill (reported 24 November) | [MoIFAR, 19 November 2025](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=29802); [MoIFAR, 24 November 2025](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=29907) |

At the 24 May 2025 sitting, chaired by Speaker Adan Mohamed Nur (Madobe), the House also passed the Internally Displaced Persons Bill by 136 votes to 4 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-passes-key-bills-on-displacement-and-civil-registration/)).

At the time the Cabinet approved the bill, Minister Fiqi said it would let local governments provide services to citizens in a coordinated and secure way ([Biometric Update](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202311/somali-cabinet-okays-crvs-bill-seeks-digital-id-collaboration-with-ethiopia)).

## Has it been signed?

Under the Upper House's own description of the process, a bill passed by both houses goes to the President for signature and is then published in the Official Gazette ([Senate of Somalia, how laws are made](https://senate.gov.so/laws/?lang=en)). The sources found for this page do not report the date of signature or gazette publication for the CRVS law.

## Who runs civil registration?

MoIFAR's **Civil Registration Services Directorate** leads the CRVS system, with a National CRVS Steering Committee that met in 2023 and 2025 ([MoIFAR, Steering Committee communiqué 2025](https://moifar.gov.so/en/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/COMMUNIQUE-National-CRVS-STEERING-COMMITTEE-2025-ENGLISH_.pdf)). The directorate has its own website at crvs.gov.so ([MoIFAR](https://moifar.gov.so/en/?p=27526)).

## Related pages

- [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [National ID card (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)
- [Somali citizenship law](/en/government/somali-citizenship-law/)
- [Data Protection Act 2023](/en/government/data-protection-act-2023/)


---

# Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport (JIB)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/djibouti-ambouli-international-airport/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport (IATA JIB, ICAO HDAM) serves Djibouti City, 6 km from the centre. It began as French air base 188 in 1948. It has one 3,150-metre runway, one terminal and handled 176,861 passengers in 2010, but about three quarters of its traffic is military: French, US (Camp Lemonnier), Japanese and Italian forces all use it.

## At a glance

- **Codes:** IATA JIB, ICAO HDAM ([OurAirports, HDAM](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDAM/)).
- **Runway:** one paved runway, 09/27, 10,335 feet (about 3,150 metres) long; the field is 49 feet above sea level ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDAM/)). The runways run east–west, so with a westerly wind aircraft approach straight over the city ([Wikipedia, Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport)).
- **Where:** in the town of Ambouli, about 6 km from the centre of Djibouti City, on a site of about 10 square kilometres (same source).
- **Terminal:** a single terminal with one departure gate and one baggage belt (same source).
- **Website:** [aeroport-jib.com](http://www.aeroport-jib.com/).

## History

In 1948 a hard runway and a terminal were built at Ambouli, creating French **air base 188**, made official in July 1949. The runway was lengthened in the 1960s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport)). In the mid-1970s it was enlarged for more international airlines, with the state-owned Air Djibouti flying regular routes, and it grew further after independence in 1977 through a series of renovations (same source). For the Somali community of Djibouti see [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Passengers

In 2010 the airport served **176,861 passengers** ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport)). Somali carriers fly between Djibouti and Hargeisa, Mogadishu and other cities; Wikipedia lists Jubba Airways schedules and AeroRoutes reported a Djibouti–Mogadishu service from July 2024 ([AeroRoutes, June 2024](https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240605-msjul24jibmgq); [Jubba Airways schedules](https://www.jubbaairways.com/schedules.html)). See [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/).

## A military airfield as much as a civil one

Wikipedia states that military traffic makes up about **75%** of the airport's traffic ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport)). The forces based on or beside the field include:

- **France:** the 5th Overseas Interarms Regiment, army helicopters, and the air force's base 188 with Mirage 2000-5 fighters and transport aircraft ([French Ministry of Armed Forces](https://www.defense.gouv.fr/ema/forces-prepositionnees/djibouti/dossier/les-forces-francaises-stationnees-a-djibouti)).
- **United States:** **[Camp Lemonnier](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/)**, on the south side of the airfield, a former French Foreign Legion camp that houses Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa. In 2014 the US signed a new 20-year lease ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport)).
- **Japan:** the Japan Self-Defense Forces base set up in 2009 on a 12-hectare site next to the airport, with two P-3C aircraft and 180 personnel, its only base outside Japan, aimed at protecting Japanese ships from piracy ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport)).
- **Italy:** the Italian Air Force, supporting the European Union's naval force against piracy off Somalia (same Wikipedia article).
- **Djibouti:** the Djibouti Air Force, on the south-west side.

## Air traffic control dispute

US military officials said American flights made up more than half of the airport's 30,000 departures and arrivals in 2014. Documents reported by the *Washington Post* in 2015 described US consultants counting an average of 2,378 controller errors per 100,000 operations over three months at the Djiboutian-run control tower ([Washington Post, April 2015](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/miscues-at-us-counterterrorism-base-put-aircraft-in-danger-documents-show/2015/04/30/39038d5a-e9bb-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b_story.html)). The Djibouti government called the allegations exaggerated or made up, and US officials said conditions had improved; from 2014 US Navy controllers volunteered to teach English to new Djiboutian controllers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti–Ambouli_International_Airport); [Navy news](https://www.militarynews.com/norfolk-navy-flagship/news/quarterdeck/navy-air-traffic-controllers-teach-djiboutians-english/article_fcd1c57f-2cba-5acd-8cb1-9512af82b09b.html)).

## Related

- [Port of Djibouti](/en/infrastructure/port-of-djibouti/)
- [Airports and airstrips of Djibouti](/en/infrastructure/airports-of-djibouti/)


---

# Ethiopia–Djibouti railways: the 1917 line and the 2018 line

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/ethiopia-djibouti-railways/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Two railways have joined Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti through Somali-inhabited country around Dire Dawa, Dewele and Ali Sabieh. The French metre-gauge line, 784 km long, was built in 1897–1917 and is now mostly abandoned. The Chinese-built electric standard-gauge line, 759 km long, opened on 1 January 2018 and ends at Doraleh port and Nagad station.

## Two lines, one route

Landlocked Ethiopia's nearest port is Djibouti, and both railways to it cross the Somali-inhabited lowlands east of Dire [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) before entering Djibouti between Dewele and Ali Sabieh ([Wikipedia, Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addis_Ababa–Djibouti_Railway)). The Associated Press described the new line as running "through restive region", the Somali Region of Ethiopia ([AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/541fbd8c7bd041ecafeff0058ea25b97/ethiopias-new-coastal-rail-link-runs-through-restive-region)).

## The metre-gauge line, 1897 to today

The **Ethio-Djibouti Railway** (Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien) is a single-track, 1,000 mm gauge line of 784 km, about 100 km of it in Djibouti. Work started in 1897, a year after Ethiopia's victory at Adwa; the line reached Dire Dawa (311 km) by 1902 and Addis Ababa in 1917 ([Wikipedia, Ethio-Djibouti Railways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethio-Djibouti_Railways)). Before it, the trip from the coast to Addis Ababa took six weeks by camel and mule caravan. The Djibouti City station was finished in 1900 and Dire Dawa's in 1910 (same source; [train-franco-ethiopien.com](http://www.train-franco-ethiopien.com/histoire_en.php)).

- **Rolling stock:** in 1936 the company had 60 locomotives, 45 coaches and 353 goods wagons; Swiss SLM steam engines gave way to diesels from 1950, with Alsthom the main supplier from 1954 (same Wikipedia article).
- **Decline:** from the 1950s road transport competed with it. French steelworks supplied rails and sleepers until 1975, when maintenance stopped; an EU-funded rehabilitation ran from 2007 to 2012 (same source).
- **Working length:** 784 km from 1917 to 2004; 311 km (Djibouti–Dire Dawa) from 2004 to 2014; 213 km (Guelile–Dire Dawa) since 2014. In February 2018 a mixed passenger and freight train ran twice a week between Dire Dawa and the border, stopping at Dewele and Guelile ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethio-Djibouti_Railways)).

## The standard-gauge line, 2018

The **Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway** is an electrified standard-gauge line of 759 km: 666 km in Ethiopia and 93 km in Djibouti. It runs from Sebeta outside Addis Ababa through Modjo, Adama, Awash and Dire Dawa to **Nagad** station near Djibouti's airport; freight trains run the last 12 km to **Doraleh** port on diesel ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addis_Ababa–Djibouti_Railway)). It has 21 stations and 68 bridges and viaducts and no tunnels (same source). Chinese contractors China Railway Group (CREC) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) built it, and Ethiopia and Djibouti secured about $3 billion in loans ([Capital Ethiopia, May 2013](http://capitalethiopia.com/2013/05/27/ethiopia-djibouti-secure-3-bln-loan-for-railway-project/)).

- **Opening:** Djibouti's section and Nagad station were opened on 10 January 2017 by Djibouti's President [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/en/people/ismail-omar-guelleh/) and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn ([Wikipedia, Nagad railway station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagad_railway_station)); commercial service on the whole line was inaugurated on 1 January 2018 ([Xinhua, January 2018](https://web.archive.org/web/20180101183806/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/01/c_136865306.htm)).
- **Owner and operator:** the Ethio-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport company, owned 75% by Ethiopia and 25% by Djibouti, formed in 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addis_Ababa–Djibouti_Railway)).
- **Traffic and money:** capacity is 24.9 million tonnes of freight a year. In 2019 it carried 84,073 passengers and earned $40 million against operating costs of $70 million (same source). Wikipedia reports that power cuts on the electrified line have kept freight below plans, so most Ethiopian cargo still goes by road ([Wikipedia, Port of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti)).

## Related

- [Port of Djibouti and Doraleh](/en/infrastructure/port-of-djibouti/)
- [Airports of the Somali Region of Ethiopia](/en/infrastructure/airports-somali-region-ethiopia/)
- [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/) and [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/)


---

# Somalia and France

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/france/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> France deals with Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, which is accredited to Somalia. Paris calls the bilateral tie modest and works mostly through the EU and the UN, including the Atalanta naval operation and the EU training missions. France is Somalia's third-largest Paris Club creditor, sold about US$13.6 million of goods to Somalia in 2024, and held 17,014 Somali refugees at the end of 2025.

## How do Somalia and France relate today?

France has no embassy inside Somalia. The French Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, is accredited to Somalia ([France Diplomatie, Somalie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie)). France's foreign ministry describes the bilateral relationship as modest, with most French engagement going through the European Union and the United Nations ([France Diplomatie, relations bilatérales, updated 29 October 2026](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).

France takes part in three EU missions for Somalia ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)):

- **[EUNAVFOR Atalanta](/en/institutions/uk-eu-military-in-somalia/)**, the naval operation against piracy.
- **EUTM Somalia**, which trains the Somali armed forces.
- **[EUCAP Somalia](/en/relations/european-union/)**, which builds maritime and justice capacity.

France exported US$13.6 million of goods to Somalia in 2024 and imported US$7.3 million, by French customs figures ([UN Comtrade, France–Somalia 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## When did contact begin?

France's link to the Somali lands began with the colony it held on the Gulf of Tadjoura, French Somaliland, later called the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas and, from 1977, the Republic of Djibouti. The division of the Somali lands into five parts, one of them French, is told on [Partition of Somali lands, 1884–1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/).

In the 1960s relations were strained because Somalia opposed the French presence in the Territory of the Afars and the Issas ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)). France and Somalia established diplomatic relations soon after Somalia's independence in 1960 ([Wikipedia, France–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

During the Ogaden war, on 10 November 1977, representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and West Germany met in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) to coordinate a position on the conflict ([US Department of State, *FRUS 1977–1980*, vol. XVII, doc. 34](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d34)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Embassy:** the French Embassy in Kenya, Peponi Gardens, off Peponi Road, Nairobi, covers Somalia ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie)).
- **The French embassy in Mogadishu** closed in June 1993 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Rémi Maréchaux** was named ambassador to Somalia in January 2014, and **Antoine Sivan** was accredited in July 2017 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Somalia's missions in France** are listed in France's directory of foreign representations ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie)).

## Who built the tie?

Few individual connectors appear in the French record. The named ones are the two ambassadors above, Rémi Maréchaux and Antoine Sivan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). Most French work in Somalia is carried by EU missions and UN funding rather than by bilateral envoys ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).

## How much do they trade?

French customs figures, in US dollars ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)):

- 2015: exports 14.3 million, imports 8.4 million ([UN Comtrade 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2015&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2022: exports 16.5 million, imports 16.1 million ([UN Comtrade 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2023: exports 38.0 million, imports 17.4 million ([UN Comtrade 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2024: exports 13.6 million, imports 7.3 million

The French Treasury recorded €38.2 million of exports and €9.7 million of imports in 2017, mostly French food products ([France Diplomatie, présentation](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/presentation-de-la-somalie)). No French direct investment has been recorded since 2009 ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).

In 2024 France's top exports were electrical equipment, cereal-based foods and vehicles ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). Its imports from Somalia included paper products and gums and resins such as frankincense ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=251&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **Direct aid:** €0.2 million in 2016, making France Somalia's 23rd bilateral donor ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).
- **Humanitarian aid:** €4.8 million in 2017 ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).
- **French Development Agency (AFD):** no planned action in Somalia in the short term ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).
- **Debt:** France is the third bilateral creditor of Somalia in the Paris Club, after the United States and Italy ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).
- **Through the EU and UN:** France contributes to EU funding of the African Union mission, over €1.6 billion since 2007, and through UN dues to the UN support office for the AU force ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).

## What about security?

France's security role runs through EU missions: Atalanta at sea, EUTM Somalia for army training and EUCAP Somalia for maritime and justice capacity ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)). France sent personnel to the UN mission UNOSOM II in 1993–1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). For the full picture see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does France deal with Somaliland and the member states?

France says [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) accounts for most of its bilateral cooperation with Somalia ([France Diplomatie](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/relations-bilaterales)).

## Have there been disputes?

In the 1960s Somalia opposed France's continued rule in the Territory of the Afars and the Issas, which strained relations ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)).

In January 2013 French commandos raided Bulo Marer in a bid to free the hostage Denis Allex; the federal government condemned the raid as unilateral ([Al Jazeera, 13 January 2013](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/1/13/france-confirms-failed-somali-hostage-rescue); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulo_Marer_hostage_rescue_attempt)). See [The French raid on Bulo Marer, January 2013](/en/history/bulo-marer-raid-2013/).

## How many Somalis live in France?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 17,014 Somali refugees and 1,783 Somali asylum seekers in France ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=5&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=FRA)). On 31 December 2017, 4,713 Somalis held a valid residence permit ([France Diplomatie, présentation](https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/information-par-pays/somalie/presentation-de-la-somalie)). See [France (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/france/).

## Where does France stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

France is a permanent member of the Security Council. In December 2025 talks on renewing the [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) sanctions, France asked to name ISIL-Somalia and said the Council must keep the central role in deciding whether to change the arms measures ([Security Council Report, December 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/al-shabaab-sanctions-vote-on-a-draft-resolution-renewing-the-sanctions-regime.php)). In the AUSSOM renewal talks the same month, France backed keeping political reporting on Somalia ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php?print=true)). Both resolutions, 2806 and 2809, passed unanimously ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php?print=true)).

## Related pages

- [Partition of Somali lands, 1884–1926](/en/history/partition-1884-1926/)
- [Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Naval missions off Somalia](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/)
- [The French raid on Bulo Marer, January 2013](/en/history/bulo-marer-raid-2013/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [France (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/france/)


---

# Somalia and IGAD

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/igad/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia is a founding member of IGAD, the Horn of Africa bloc set up as IGADD in 1986 and relaunched in 1996. IGAD keeps a mission office in Mogadishu and runs peacebuilding, border and health projects there. In December 2025 and June 2026 it restated its support for Somalia's unity after Israel's recognition of Somaliland.

## How do Somalia and IGAD relate today?

Somalia is one of IGAD's eight member states, with Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Sudan and Uganda ([IGAD, about](https://igad.int/about/)). IGAD's headquarters are in Djibouti, and its Executive Secretary is Dr Workneh Gebeyehu of Ethiopia, in office since November 2019 (same source).

IGAD has a mission office in Somalia, which works with the federal government and international partners on IGAD programmes ([IGAD, 16 September 2024](https://igad.int/igad-executive-secretary-h-e-dr-workneh-gebeyehu-official-visit-to-the-federal-republic-of-somalia/)). In 2026 its work in Somalia included women's peacebuilding, border management and Ebola preparedness (see below).

## When did Somalia join IGAD?

Somalia was a founding member. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda set up the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) in 1986 to deal with droughts and other disasters ([IGAD, about](https://igad.int/about/)).

In April 1995 the heads of state, meeting in Addis Ababa, decided to revitalise the body. The new IGAD was launched at the fifth summit in Djibouti on 25 and 26 November 1996 ([IGAD, about](https://igad.int/about/)). Eritrea joined after 1993 and South Sudan in 2011 (same source).

IGAD's own history notes the "Ethiopia-Somalia war of 1977" as an example of border conflict in the region, and lists the Somalia peace process among the regional problems it has worked on ([IGAD, history](https://igad.int/about/?tab=the-history)).

## Who leads IGAD's work on Somalia?

- **Dr Workneh Gebeyehu:** IGAD Executive Secretary since November 2019, succeeding Ambassador Mahboub Maalim ([IGAD, about](https://igad.int/about/)). On 16 September 2024 he visited Mogadishu and met President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) and Foreign Minister Ahmed Fiqi ([IGAD, 16 September 2024](https://igad.int/igad-executive-secretary-h-e-dr-workneh-gebeyehu-official-visit-to-the-federal-republic-of-somalia/)).
- **Dr Mohamud Kaarshe:** head of the IGAD Mission to Somalia ([IGAD, 16 September 2024](https://igad.int/igad-executive-secretary-h-e-dr-workneh-gebeyehu-official-visit-to-the-federal-republic-of-somalia/); [IGAD, 10 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-ilo-and-iom-train-somali-border-police-and-immigration-officers-in-integrated-border-management/)). An IGAD release of 7 October 2026 names the head of mission as Mohamud Abdi Ahmed ([IGAD, 7 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-equips-women-leaders-in-galmudug-with-practical-skills-to-advance-sustainable-peace/)).
- **Abdoulkader Houssein Omar:** Djibouti's foreign minister, speaking as chair of IGAD at the AU Peace and Security Council on Somalia on 6 January 2026 ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).

## What has IGAD agreed with Somalia?

During the 16 September 2024 visit, IGAD and the Somali government signed an agreement to strengthen relations. It included a Regional Centre of Excellence in Blue Economy ([IGAD, 16 September 2024](https://igad.int/igad-executive-secretary-h-e-dr-workneh-gebeyehu-official-visit-to-the-federal-republic-of-somalia/)). The talks also covered countering violent extremism, displacement caused by climate and inclusive governance (same source).

## What does IGAD do in Somalia?

- **Women and peace:** IGAD trained women leaders and peace committee members in Mogadishu in 2026. Its project on women's economic resilience for peace is paid for by the African Development Bank and runs in [Somalia and South Sudan](/en/relations/south-sudan/) ([IGAD, 7 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-equips-women-leaders-in-galmudug-with-practical-skills-to-advance-sustainable-peace/); [IGAD, 1 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-trains-women-leaders-and-peace-committee-members-to-strengthen-womens-role-in-peacebuilding-in-somalia/)).
- **Borders and free movement:** from 4 to 8 October 2026 IGAD, the ILO and IOM trained 40 immigration and border police officers from the federal and regional governments, under an EU-funded free-movement project ([IGAD, 10 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-ilo-and-iom-train-somali-border-police-and-immigration-officers-in-integrated-border-management/)).
- **Health:** from 28 September to 1 October 2026 IGAD and Somali experts drew up a costed Ebola preparedness plan in Mogadishu, funded by the Pandemic Fund ([IGAD, 1 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-and-somalia-finalize-costed-ebola-response-workplan-in-mogadishu/)).
- **Drought:** IGAD's drought resilience initiative was set up after the 2010 to 2011 drought, which hit Somalia hard ([IGAD, history](https://igad.int/about/?tab=the-history)).

For other bodies working inside Somalia, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## What has IGAD said about Somali politics?

- **26 December 2025:** IGAD noted the "orderly conduct" of Mogadishu's municipal elections on 25 December 2025, calling them "an initial step toward the direct election of representatives by the Somali people" ([IGAD, 26 December 2025](https://igad.int/igad-notes-the-conduct-of-municipal-elections-in-mogadishu-as-a-step-toward-democratic-governance/)).
- **16 May 2026:** after talks between the federal government and opposition in Mogadishu from 13 to 15 May 2026, IGAD encouraged "continued dialogue to address outstanding issues" ([IGAD, 16 May 2026](https://igad.int/igad-secretariat-calls-for-continued-dialogue-in-somalia/)).
- **4 June 2026:** after reports of violence in Mogadishu, Workneh Gebeyehu urged all sides to "place the interests of the Somali people first" ([IGAD, 4 June 2026](https://igad.int/igad-calls-for-immediate-de-escalation-to-protect-somalias-stability-and-future/)).
- **June 2024:** IGAD congratulated Somalia on its election to the UN Security Council ([Eastleigh Voice, June 2024](https://new.eastleighvoice.co.ke/somalia/48090/igad-congratulates-somalia-on-un-security-council-election)).

## How does IGAD deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Israel's recognition:** on 27 December 2025 the IGAD Secretariat said Somalia "remains a sovereign IGAD Member State" and that unilateral recognition runs against the UN Charter, the AU Constitutive Act and the IGAD Agreement ([IGAD, 27 December 2025](https://igad.int/igad-secretariat-reiterates-its-firm-commitment-to-the-federal-republic-of-somalias-unity-sovereignty-and-territorial-integrity/)).
- **[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) office in Jerusalem:** on 18 June 2026, after reports that Somaliland was opening an embassy in Jerusalem, IGAD said Somalia's "unity and territorial integrity must be fully respected" ([IGAD, 18 June 2026](https://igad.int/igad-calls-for-restraint-and-respect-for-somalias-sovereignty-amid-emerging-developments/)).
- **Member states:** IGAD trained women peace actors from [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) in October 2026 ([IGAD, 7 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-equips-women-leaders-in-galmudug-with-practical-skills-to-advance-sustainable-peace/)). The AU asked its Commission to work with IGAD and the EAC on dialogue between the federal government and the member states ([AU PSC, communiqué 1324](https://au-ssom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DOC-20260107-WA0004.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the African Union](/en/relations/african-union/)
- [Somalia and the EAC](/en/relations/eac/)
- [Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and India

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/india/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> India and Somalia established relations in 1960, and India's High Commission in Nairobi now covers Somalia. India exported US$765.66 million of goods to Somalia in 2024–25 and imported US$35.20 million, and it issued 5,252 visas to Somalis in 2024. About 4,600 Indian troops served in UNOSOM II in 1993–94, and the Indian Navy has patrolled against piracy off Somalia since 2008.

## How do Somalia and India relate today?

India has no embassy in Somalia. Its High Commission in Nairobi is also accredited to Somalia ([High Commission of India, Nairobi, India–Somalia brief, October 2025](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

The main facts today:

- **Trade:** India exported US$765.66 million of goods to Somalia in 2024–25 and imported US$35.20 million ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **Travel:** India's mission issued 5,252 visas to Somali nationals in 2024 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **Training:** Somalia has 15 Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships a year, and its ITEC training places rose from 15 to 30 in 2025 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## When did contact begin?

India's government notes that traders from India have worked along the Horn of Africa's Indian Ocean coast since ancient times ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). For the oldest written record of this trade, see [The Periplus and the Somali ports](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/).

India established diplomatic relations with Somalia in 1960 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). India's Commissioner in Mauritius was accredited as ambassador and presented credentials in 1961 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

India later opened a resident embassy in Mogadishu. It closed after the civil war began in 1991 ([Assistant High Commission of India, Mombasa, August 2021](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **1961:** India's Commissioner in Mauritius was accredited to Somalia ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **Today:** the High Commissioner in Nairobi is accredited to Somalia ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **May 2021:** High Commissioner Virander Paul presented credentials and met President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo ([Assistant High Commission, Mombasa](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)). He attended President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's inauguration in June 2022 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **July 2015:** Minister of State V. K. Singh visited Somalia as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special envoy ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **June 2024:** High Commissioner Namgya C. Khampa met Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in Mogadishu on 12 June 2024 ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 June 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=2855)).
- **2026:** Adarsh Swaika, based in Nairobi, gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Mogadishu on 16 April 2026 ([SONNA, 16 April 2026](https://sonna.so/en/article/somalia-formalizes-diplomatic-engagement-with-india-to-accelerate-bilateral-economic-projects)). He presented his credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in August 2026 ([The Tribune, 19 August 2026](https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/indian-envoy-adarsh-swaika-presents-credentials-to-somali-president/)).

Somali ambassadors who presented credentials to India's president at Rashtrapati Bhavan:

- **Ebyan Mahamed Salah:** to President Pratibha Patil, dated 18 December 2010 in the caption ([Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive](https://dpl.rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in/view_datails/MTEyNzQ=)).
- **Faduma Abdullahi Mohamud:** to President Ram Nath Kovind, 28 August 2019 ([Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive](https://dpl.rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in/view_datails/ODA2NA==)).
- **Ahmed Ali Dahir:** to President Droupadi Murmu, 26 August 2022 ([Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive](https://dpl.rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in/view_datails/MTg4Mjg=)).
- **Abdullahi Mohamed Odowa:** to President Droupadi Murmu, 17 February 2025 ([Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive](https://dpl.rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in/view_datails/MjU1Mzc=)).

The full list of Indian ambassadors in Mogadishu before 1991 was not found in records that could be opened for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Abdirashid Ali Shermarke** visited India in 1963 with the information minister, and again in 1968 as president ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **E. Ahamed**, Minister of State, led India's delegation to the [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Conference on Somalia in February 2012 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **V. K. Singh**, Minister of State, carried the invitation to the India–Africa Forum Summit to Somalia in July 2015 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, president, attended that summit in New Delhi on 26–29 October 2015 and received an honorary doctorate from Barkatullah University, Bhopal ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **[Yusuf Garaad Omar](/en/people/yusuf-garaad-omar/)**, foreign minister, made his first official visit on 31 July to 4 August 2017; the prisoner transfer agreement was signed then ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4); [Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).
- **Mahdi Mohamed Guled**, deputy prime minister, attended the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance in March 2018 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **Hassan Ali Mohamed**, defence minister, attended DefExpo and the India–Africa defence ministers' meeting on 5–7 February 2020 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **S. Jaishankar**, external affairs minister, met Prime Minister [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) in Paris in November 2019, Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in New York in September 2024 and Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in September 2025 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). He hosted Abdisalam Abdi Ali in New Delhi in January 2026, where they discussed trade, education and health ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 January 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/bilateral-meeting-between-somalia-and-india/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **2017:** agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). Somali officials brought 117 prisoners home from India under it in January to March 2018 ([Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).
- **May 2017:** Somalia signed the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement ([Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).
- **5 June 2018:** memorandum between India's Foreign Service Institute and Somalia's foreign ministry on training diplomats ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## Which leaders have visited?

Somali leaders in India ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)):

- **1963:** Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, with the information minister.
- **1968:** President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.
- **2011:** Deputy Prime Minister [Abdiweli Mohamed Ali](/en/people/abdiweli-gaas/), at a CII–EXIM Bank conclave.
- **26–29 October 2015:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, India–Africa Forum Summit.
- **31 July to 4 August 2017:** Foreign Minister Yusuf Garaad Omar.
- **March 2018:** Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled.
- **5–7 February 2020:** Defence Minister Hassan Ali Mohamed.
- **2023–2025:** health, energy, water, telecoms and other ministers at Indian-hosted meetings, including Health Minister Ali Haji Adam Abubakar on 17 November 2023.

- **January 2026:** Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali, New Delhi ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 January 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/bilateral-meeting-between-somalia-and-india/)).

Indian leaders in Somalia:

- **July 2015:** Minister of State V. K. Singh ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).
- **1992, 2012 and 2017:** other ministerial visits ([Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)).

## How much do they trade?

India runs a large trade surplus with Somalia. India's Department of Commerce figures, in US dollars ([Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/); [High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)):

- **2013–14:** exports US$210.89 million, imports US$46.39 million.
- **2016–17:** exports US$506.47 million, imports US$17.70 million.
- **2019–20:** exports US$583.87 million, imports US$15.05 million.
- **2021–22:** exports US$744.58 million, imports US$18.06 million.
- **2022–23:** exports US$946.37 million, imports US$17.90 million, the peak year.
- **2023–24:** exports US$819.58 million, imports US$28.21 million.
- **2024–25:** exports US$765.66 million, imports US$35.20 million.

India's calendar-year figures reported to UN Comtrade show the same growth:

- **2010:** exports US$71.0 million, imports US$9.2 million ([UN Comtrade, 2010](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=699&period=2010&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2015:** exports US$418.4 million, imports US$16.3 million ([UN Comtrade, 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=699&period=2015&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2020:** exports US$544.0 million, imports US$5.1 million ([UN Comtrade, 2020](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=699&period=2020&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2024:** exports US$803.3 million, imports US$34.7 million ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=699&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

In 2024 sugar made up US$249.7 million of India's exports to Somalia and cereals, mainly rice, US$230.3 million. Vehicles (US$49.1 million) and medicines (US$42.9 million) came next ([UN Comtrade, 2024, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=699&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)).

As a least developed country, Somalia qualifies for India's duty-free tariff preference scheme ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Indian aid and grants ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)):

- **1985:** Somalia was among the recipients of 100,000 tonnes of wheat offered to the region.
- **1992:** relief supplies worth 2 million rupees.
- **September 2011:** US$8 million for Horn of Africa relief through the World Food Programme.
- **After 2011:** US$2 million for the African Union mission, plus US$1 million to the UN trust fund for it in each of 2012, 2017 and 2021.
- **July 2018:** medicines worth US$1 million, handed to Somalia's health minister in Mogadishu.
- **February 2021:** 27 mini-buses.
- **September 2025:** 10 tonnes of medical aid.

Training and scholarships ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)):

- **ICCR:** 15 places a year.
- **ITEC:** 15 places a year, raised to 30 in 2025.
- **e-VBAB online degrees:** 364 Somali students enrolled.
- **Diplomats:** 20 trained in 2015, a course in 2018, and 10 in August 2025.

In June 2024 the two sides agreed to make it easier for Somalis needing medical treatment in India to get visas without intermediaries ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 June 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=2855)).

## What about security?

About 4,600 Indian troops served in UNOSOM II in 1993–94, and 12 were killed ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). The Indian Navy has carried out anti-piracy patrols in the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) since 2008 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

Under Operation Sankalp, the navy acted when the bulk carrier MV Ruen was hijacked on 14 December 2023, and ended its action against the hijacking by March 2024 ([Press Information Bureau, Government of India, 23 March 2024](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2016201)). In its first 100 days the operation responded to 18 incidents and saved over 110 lives ([PIB, 23 March 2024](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2016201)).

See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does India deal with Somaliland and the member states?

India's official ties are with the Federal Government ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). India held consular camps in Mogadishu in 2017 and 2018 and in Garowe, [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), in 2019 and 2020 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). International Day of Yoga events were held in Garowe and Mogadishu in 2019 ([Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)). After Israel recognised [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) on 26 December 2025, India's foreign ministry said its position was unchanged and that India engages with Somalia as a single state ([Pravasi Samwad, 10 January 2026](https://pravasisamwad.com/?p=44132)).

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources used.

## How many Somalis live in India?

UNHCR counted 486 Somali refugees and 912 Somali asylum seekers in India at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=IND)). See [Somalis in India and Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/).

In the other direction, about 150 Indian nationals work in Somalia and about 500 people of Indian origin live there ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). Some 200 Indian families once lived in Somalia, many in textile dyeing in Mogadishu and [Merca](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/); most left after 1991 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## Where does India stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

India sent troops to UNOSOM II and has funded the African Union mission ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)). It is a member of the UN Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and took part in its July 2018 plenary in Nairobi ([Mombasa brief](https://www.ahcimombasa.gov.in/page/overview-somalia/)). Both countries belong to the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Non-Aligned Movement, where their ministers met in 2022 and 2025 ([High Commission of India, Nairobi](https://hcinairobi.gov.in/eoinrb_pages/MzI4)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in India and Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/)
- [The Periplus and the Somali ports](/en/history/periplus-somali-ports-1st-century/)
- [Ancient frankincense and myrrh trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/)
- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Somalia and Pakistan](/en/relations/pakistan/)


---

# Somalia and Israel

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/israel/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia has never recognised Israel, and the two have no diplomatic relations. On 26 December 2025 Israel became the first UN member state to recognise Somaliland; Somalia's government called the step null and void, and the African Union, the Arab League, IGAD and the OIC rejected it. Israel named Michael Lotem its first ambassador to Somaliland in April 2026, and Somaliland opened an embassy in Jerusalem on 15 June 2026.

## How do Somalia and Israel relate today?

Somalia and Israel have no diplomatic relations. Somalia has never recognised the State of Israel ([The Times of Israel, 7 July 2016](https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-talks-with-leader-of-muslim-african-state/)).

On 26 December 2025, Israel recognised Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state, the first UN member state to do so ([Africanews, 26 December 2025](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2025/12/26/israel-becomes-first-country-to-recognize-somaliland)). Somalia's foreign ministry said any such recognition is "null, void, and without any legal or political effect" ([Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, press statement](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8088)).

Since then, the two sides have exchanged ambassadors. Somaliland opened an embassy in Jerusalem on 15 June 2026 ([The Times of Israel, 15 June 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/visiting-somaliland-president-opens-embassy-in-jerusalem/)). Israel's ambassador presented his credentials in Hargeisa in late October 2026, when the cornerstone of an Israeli embassy was laid ([Al Jazeera, 1 November 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/israels-first-ambassador-to-somaliland-presents-credentials-in-hargeisa)).

## When did contact begin?

British Somaliland became independent as the [State of Somaliland](/en/states/state-of-somaliland-1960/) on 26 June 1960 and joined the former Italian trust territory on 1 July 1960 to form the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/). Israel says it recognised the State of Somaliland in those five days. Israel's foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar said in Hargeisa that Israel "recognized Somaliland on June 26, 1960, and again on December 26, 2025" ([Somaliland Chronicle, 6 January 2026](https://www.somalilandchronicle.com/2026/01/06/israeli-foreign-minister-makes-historic-visit-to-somaliland/)).

In 2010, foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Haaretz that Israel had been the first state to recognise Somaliland in 1960 and was ready to do so again ([UNPO, 2010](https://www.unpo.org/content/view/10712/)). The united Somali Republic did not recognise Israel ([The Times of Israel, 7 July 2016](https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-talks-with-leader-of-muslim-african-state/)).

Somalia joined the Arab League on 14 February 1974, the first member whose people are not Arab ([ALECSO, Somalia member profile](https://n.alecso.org/en/member-states/view/25-somalia); [Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

There are no ambassadors between Somalia and Israel. Between Israel and Somaliland:

- **Dr Mohamed Hagi** ([Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Hagi Mohamoud), Somaliland's first ambassador to Israel. Israel's foreign ministry accepted his appointment in February 2026, noting he had helped build the relationship through 2025 as an adviser to the president ([Somali Guardian, February 2026](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/israel-accepts-somalilands-first-ambassador-since-recognition/)). President Isaac Herzog received his credentials on 18 May 2026 ([The Times of Israel, 19 May 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/somalilands-first-ever-embassy-anywhere-will-open-in-jerusalem-envoy-says/)).
- **Michael Lotem**, Israel's first ambassador to Somaliland, non-resident, named in April 2026. He had served as ambassador to Kenya, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan ([Al Jazeera, 26 April 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/26/israel-appoints-first-ambassador-to-somaliland); [Al Jazeera, 1 November 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/israels-first-ambassador-to-somaliland-presents-credentials-in-hargeisa)).

Missions:

- **Embassy of Somaliland in Jerusalem**, in the Har Hotzvim technology park, opened 15 June 2026 ([The Times of Israel, 15 June 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/visiting-somaliland-president-opens-embassy-in-jerusalem/)).
- **Embassy of Israel in Hargeisa**: cornerstone laid in late October 2026 ([Al Jazeera, 1 November 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/israels-first-ambassador-to-somaliland-presents-credentials-in-hargeisa)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Benjamin Netanyahu**, Israel's prime minister, signed the recognition on 26 December 2025 and phoned Somaliland's president during the signing ([Africanews, 26 December 2025](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2025/12/26/israel-becomes-first-country-to-recognize-somaliland)). He signed a joint declaration with Somaliland's president in Jerusalem on 15 June 2026 ([Dawan Africa, 15 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-says-it-signed-cooperation-deal-with-israel)).
- **Gideon Sa'ar**, Israel's foreign minister, co-signed the December 2025 declaration ([Ynetnews, December 2025](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjnm0b6xze)). He met Somaliland's president in secret at the foreign ministry in October 2025, two months before recognition ([The Times of Israel, 15 June 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/visiting-somaliland-president-opens-embassy-in-jerusalem/)). He visited Hargeisa on 6 January 2026 ([Al Jazeera, 6 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/6/israeli-fm-visits-somaliland-after-world-first-recognition-storm)).
- **Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro)**, Somaliland's president since 2024, signed the mutual declaration and made the first state visit to Israel on 14 to 18 June 2026 ([Al Jazeera, 27 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals); [Garowe Online, 14 June 2026](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somaliland-president-arrives-in-israel-on-landmark-visit-to-open-embassy)).
- **Abdirahman Dahir Adam**, Somaliland's foreign minister, and **Khadar Hussein Abdi**, minister of the presidency, took part in the talks with Sa'ar in Hargeisa ([The Citizen, January 2026](https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/africa/israeli-foreign-minister-visits-somaliland-angering-somalia-5318600)).
- **Isaac Herzog**, Israel's president, hosted Somaliland's president on 14 June 2026 and received Ambassador Hagi's credentials ([The Times of Israel, 15 June 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/visiting-somaliland-president-opens-embassy-in-jerusalem/)).
- **Israel Katz**, Israel's defence minister, said the two sides had cooperated on secret operations for years ([Al Jazeera, 1 November 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/israels-first-ambassador-to-somaliland-presents-credentials-in-hargeisa)).
- **Ibrahim Egal**, Somaliland's president, wrote to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 seeking ties, a letter cited by Israel's foreign ministry in 2010 ([UNPO, 2010](https://www.unpo.org/content/view/10712/)).
- **Yigal Palmor**, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, stated in 2010 that Israel was ready to recognise Somaliland ([UNPO, 2010](https://www.unpo.org/content/view/10712/)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)**, Somalia's president, was reported by The Times of Israel in 2016 to have met Netanyahu. Somalia's government denied that any meeting took place, and Netanyahu neither confirmed nor denied it ([The Times of Israel, 7 July 2016](https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-talks-with-leader-of-muslim-african-state/)).
- **Save a Child's Heart**, an Israeli medical charity, has treated 49 children from Somaliland at Wolfson Medical Center since 2004. The link began when a Somaliland diplomat in Ethiopia sought heart surgery for his child ([JNS](https://www.jns.org/israel-news/israeli-charity-brings-life-saving-heart-care-to-children-from-somaliland)).

## What agreements have they signed?

Somalia and Israel have signed no agreements. Between Israel and Somaliland:

- **26 December 2025**: joint and mutual declaration of recognition and diplomatic relations, signed by Netanyahu, Sa'ar and President Abdullahi ([Ynetnews, December 2025](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjnm0b6xze)). Netanyahu said it was made "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords initiated by President Trump" ([Ynetnews](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjnm0b6xze)).
- **15 June 2026**: a cooperation declaration covering the economy, security, technology, investment and social development, signed during the state visit ([Dawan Africa, 15 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somaliland-says-it-signed-cooperation-deal-with-israel)). Somaliland's Council of Ministers approved it in early July 2026, subject to parliament ([AllAfrica, 3 July 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202607030052.html)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **July 2016**: The Times of Israel reported a meeting between Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Netanyahu; Somalia denied it ([The Times of Israel, 7 July 2016](https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-talks-with-leader-of-muslim-african-state/)).
- **October 2025**: President Abdullahi met Sa'ar in secret at Israel's foreign ministry ([The Times of Israel, 15 June 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/visiting-somaliland-president-opens-embassy-in-jerusalem/)).
- **6 January 2026**: Sa'ar in Hargeisa, the first official visit by an Israeli cabinet minister. Both sides said they would open embassies ([Al Jazeera, 6 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/6/israeli-fm-visits-somaliland-after-world-first-recognition-storm)).
- **18 May 2026**: Ambassador Hagi received by President Herzog ([The Times of Israel, 19 May 2026](https://www.timesofisrael.com/somalilands-first-ever-embassy-anywhere-will-open-in-jerusalem-envoy-says/)).
- **14 to 18 June 2026**: President Abdullahi's state visit, with Herzog, Netanyahu and Sa'ar, and visits to the Knesset and Yad Vashem ([Garowe Online, 14 June 2026](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somaliland-president-arrives-in-israel-on-landmark-visit-to-open-embassy)).
- **Late October 2026**: Ambassador Lotem in Hargeisa to present credentials ([Dawan Africa, 3 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-rejects-israels-accreditation-of-ambassador-in-hargeisa)).

## How much do they trade?

No trade figures between Somalia and Israel are published in the sources found. In June 2026, Somaliland's delegation met Israeli business leaders on trade, water technology and renewable energy ([Garowe Online, 14 June 2026](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somaliland-president-arrives-in-israel-on-landmark-visit-to-open-embassy)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Israel's development agency MASHAV travelled with Sa'ar to Hargeisa in January 2026 ([Somaliland Chronicle, 6 January 2026](https://www.somalilandchronicle.com/2026/01/06/israeli-foreign-minister-makes-historic-visit-to-somaliland/)). Sa'ar said Somaliland water sector staff would train in Israel ([The National, 6 January 2026](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/01/06/israeli-foreign-minister-gideon-saar-makes-first-official-visit-to-somaliland)).

A MASHAV-funded medical delegation screened children in Somaliland, and Save a Child's Heart treated 20 Somaliland patients in 2024 and 19 in 2025 ([JNS](https://www.jns.org/israel-news/israeli-charity-brings-life-saving-heart-care-to-children-from-somaliland)).

## What about security?

In 1978, during the Ogaden War, foreign minister Moshe Dayan said Israel was selling arms to Ethiopia for its war against Somalia, but sent no troops or aircraft ([JTA, 8 February 1978](https://www.jta.org/archive/dayan-says-israel-is-selling-arms-to-ethiopia-but-is-not-sending-any-troops-or-aircraft)). In 2026, defence minister Israel Katz spoke of years of secret cooperation with Somaliland. President Abdullahi said no talks on an Israeli base had been held ([Al Jazeera, 1 November 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/israels-first-ambassador-to-somaliland-presents-credentials-in-hargeisa)). Somalia's government said it will not allow foreign military bases on its territory ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8088)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Israel deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Israel recognises Somaliland and deals with its government directly, as set out above. Somaliland's three parties, Kulmiye, Waddani and Kaah, issued a joint statement on 30 December 2025 backing the recognition ([Horn Diplomat](https://www.horndiplomat.com/somaliland-political-parties-endorse-israel-ties-hail-recognition-as-historic-breakthrough/)).

After the recognition, Djibouti recalled its diplomats and Somaliland suspended Air Djibouti flights ([Somaliland Chronicle, 6 January 2026](https://www.somalilandchronicle.com/2026/01/06/israeli-foreign-minister-makes-historic-visit-to-somaliland/)). No dealings between Israel and the other member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

**Somalia's stated position.** Somalia's foreign ministry "categorically and unequivocally rejects" the recognition and calls Somaliland "an integral, inseparable, and inalienable part" of Somalia ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8088)). On 28 December 2025 Somalia's parliament unanimously declared the recognition null and void. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called it a "naked invasion" ([The National, 28 December 2025](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/12/28/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-draws-widespread-regional-and-international-condemnation)).

Somalia called Sa'ar's visit "unacceptable interference" ([Algemeiner, 6 January 2026](https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/01/06/african-union-calls-immediate-revocation-somalilands-recognition-israel/)). On 3 November 2026 it called Lotem's accreditation and the embassy cornerstone null and void under the Vienna Convention ([Dawan Africa, 3 November 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-rejects-israels-accreditation-of-ambassador-in-hargeisa)).

**Israel's stated position.** At the UN, deputy ambassador Jonathan Miller said the decision was "not a hostile step toward Somalia" and did not rule out dialogue ([Al Jazeera, 30 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)). Sa'ar said the recognition was "not directed at anyone" ([Algemeiner](https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/01/06/african-union-calls-immediate-revocation-somalilands-recognition-israel/)).

**Somaliland's stated position.** President Abdullahi called it "a historic moment" and the start of a "strategic partnership" ([Al Jazeera, 27 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)).

**Gaza.** In March 2025, US and Israeli officials told AP that Israel had approached Somaliland about taking Palestinians from Gaza ([Africanews](https://www.africanews.com/amp/2025/12/26/israel-becomes-first-country-to-recognize-somaliland)). Somalia's foreign ministry said it "will never accept to make the Palestinian people stateless" ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8088)).

**Reactions of other bodies and states:**

- **African Union**: Commission chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said the AU "firmly rejects" any recognition of Somaliland ([Al Jazeera, 27 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)). The Peace and Security Council called for "immediate revocation" on 6 January 2026 ([Algemeiner](https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/01/06/african-union-calls-immediate-revocation-somalilands-recognition-israel/)).
- **Arab League**: Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called it a clear violation of international law ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)). The League Council said on 28 December that it "constitutes an attack on Arab national security" ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/12/28/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-draws-widespread-regional-and-international-condemnation)).
- **Gulf Cooperation Council**: Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi called it a grave violation of international law ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)).
- **Joint statement**: foreign ministers of 21 states and the OIC rejected the decision, among them Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), Turkey and Somalia ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/12/28/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-draws-widespread-regional-and-international-condemnation)).
- **European Union**: backed Somalia's territorial integrity and urged dialogue between Mogadishu and Hargeisa ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)).
- **United States**: the State Department said it recognises Somalia's territorial integrity, "which includes the territory of Somaliland" ([The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/12/28/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-draws-widespread-regional-and-international-condemnation)). President Donald Trump said "no" when asked whether the US would follow ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)).
- **Turkey**: called the recognition a "clear intervention" in Somalia's internal affairs ([Ynetnews](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjnm0b6xze)).
- **[Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/)** said it would fight any Israeli use of Somaliland ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/27/israels-recognition-of-somaliland-slammed-across-world-capitals)).

## How many Somalis live in Israel?

No count of Somalis in Israel appears in UN or Israeli data found for this page.

## Where does Israel stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

At Somalia's request, the UN Security Council met on 29 December 2025 ([UN DPPA](https://dppa.un.org/en/mtg-sc-10084-asg-khiari-29-dec-2025)). Fourteen of the fifteen members condemned the recognition ([Al Jazeera, 30 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)).

- **Somalia**: Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman called it an "act of aggression" ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)).
- **United States**: Deputy representative Tammy Bruce said Israel "has the same right to establish diplomatic relations as any other sovereign state" and that US policy had not changed ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)).
- **China**: Ambassador Sun Lei said China "opposes any act to split" Somalia ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)).
- **Arab League**: envoy Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz rejected forced displacement of Palestinians and the use of northern Somali ports for military bases ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)).

In April 2026 a joint statement by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Palestine, Jordan and others called Israel's naming of an envoy to Somaliland a "flagrant violation" of Somalia's sovereignty ([Garowe Online, 18 April 2026](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/arab-islamic-nations-condemn-israel-s-diplomatic-move-in-somaliland)).

## Related pages

- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [British Somaliland, 1884 to 1960](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/)
- [Independence and union, 26 June to 1 July 1960](/en/history/independence-and-union-26-june-1-july-1960/)
- [Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Laws of Somaliland: list of numbered laws since 1993

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/laws-of-somaliland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland makes laws through its two houses of parliament and the President, under the 1997 interim constitution and the 2001 constitution. Laws are numbered in one running series. This list gives more than 50 numbered laws traced on Somalilandlaw.com, from the 1996 tax laws to the 2021 Investment Law (Law No. 99/2021). Laws come into force when both houses pass them, except money bills, and the President signs them.

## How does Somaliland make laws?

A bill becomes law when the House of Representatives and the House of Elders (Guurti) pass it and the President signs it. Money bills need only the House of Representatives ([Somalilandlaw.com, Somaliland Legislation](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)). This system began with the interim constitution of February 1997 and continued under the constitution approved by referendum in May 2001 (same source). Laws are published in the Official Gazette ([Somalilandlaw.com, Official Gazette](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_official_gazette.html)).

Laws carry one running number and the year, for example Law No. 22/2002. Laws from before 1991 also stay in force where they do not conflict with the constitution, including [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) laws of 1960 to 1969 ([Somalilandlaw.com, Somali Republic 1960–89 laws](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somali_rep_60-89_laws.html)).

**Coverage.** Somalilandlaw.com, run by the lawyer Ibrahim Hashi Jama, says records from 1993 to 1996 are incomplete because of record-keeping at the House at the time ([Somalilandlaw.com](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)). The list below comes from its subject pages and stops at 2021.

## Constitution, state and government

- **Law No. 22/2002:** Citizenship Law ([text](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/citizenship_law.htm)). See [Somaliland citizenship law](/en/government/somaliland-citizenship-law/).
- **Law No. 39/2010:** National Human Rights Commission Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/administrative_law.html)).
- **Law No. 46/2010:** Salaries and Emoluments of the President, Vice-President and Members of the Two Houses ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)).
- **Law No. 48/2011:** National Development Commission Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/administrative_law.html)).
- **Law No. 60/2013:** Statistics Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/index.html)).
- **Law No. 62/2013:** Privileges of Former Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Members of Parliament; signed 28 September 2013 ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)).
- **Law No. 68/2014:** Quality Control Commission Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_government.html)).

## Elections and parties

- **Law No. 14/2000:** the first law on political associations and parties ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 14/2011:** Regulation of Political Parties and Associations Law, signed by the President on 23 August 2011; the House passed amendments on 22 October 2011 ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)).
- **Law No. 20/2001:** Presidential and Local Councils Elections Law, consolidated and amended in 2017 ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 19/2020:** Elections and Voter Registration Law (*Xeerka Doorashooyinka iyo Diiwaangelinta Cod-bixiyaasha*), in force on gazetting, 19 October 2020. It replaced the earlier presidential, local, parliamentary and voter registration laws ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/electoral_laws.html)). See [Somaliland elections law](/en/government/somaliland-elections-law/).

## Courts, police and crime

- **Law No. 7/1995:** Police Force Law, later amended ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/police_law_.html)).
- **Law No. 93/1996:** Structure of the Corrections Corps Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/prison_law.html)).
- **Law No. 94/1996:** Prisons Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/prison_law.html)).
- **Law No. 24/2003:** Organisation of the Judiciary Law, replaced by a new Organisation of the Judiciary Law in 2020 ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_judicial_system.html)). See [Courts of Somaliland](/en/government/courts-of-somaliland/).
- **Law No. 30/2004:** Advocates Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legal_profession.htm)).
- **Law No. 40/2009:** Law banning anti-personnel mines ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_public_safety_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 51/2012:** Maintenance of Public Order and Security Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/public_order___security__law.html)).
- **Law No. 52/2012:** Piracy Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_piracy_law.html)).
- **Law No. 63/2013:** Police Force Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/police_law_.html)).
- **Law No. 78/2018:** Rape and Sexual Offences Law, *Xeerka Kufsiga iyo Ku Xadgudbka Jinsiga* ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/criminal_law.html)).
- **Bill No. 78/2020:** Rape, Fornication and Other Related Offences Bill, approved by the House of Representatives in 2020 to replace the 2018 law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/criminal_law.html)). See [Sexual offences laws](/en/government/sexual-offences-laws/).

## Money, tax and public finance

- **Law No. 79/1996:** Public Contracts Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_public_finance_law.html)).
- **Law No. 82/1996:** Circulation Tax Law (same page).
- **Law No. 83/1996:** Registration Tax Law (same page).
- **Law No. 84/1996:** Sales Tax Law (same page).
- **Law No. 89/1996:** Direct Taxation Law (same page).
- **Law No. 91/1996:** Customs Law, repealed in 2016 (same page).
- **Law No. 7/1999:** Office of the Auditor General Law (same page).
- **Law No. 11/1999:** Post and Telecommunication Taxes Law (same page).
- **Law No. 12/2000:** Local Government Unified Tariffs Law (same page).
- **Law No. 64/2013:** Roads Development Levies Law, passed by the House on 24 September 2013 ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_legislation.html)).
- **Law No. 72/2016:** Inland Revenue Taxes Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_public_finance_law.html)).
- **Law No. 73/2016:** Customs Law (same page).
- **Law No. 75/2016:** Public Finances and Management Law, 57 articles (same page).
- **Law No. 76/2016:** State Auditor General Law, 70 articles (same page).

## Banks, business and investment

- **Law No. 29/2004:** Foreign Investment Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/foreign_investment_law_2004.htm)).
- **Law No. 55/2012:** Islamic Banks Law, 41 articles, signed 3 October 2012 ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/banking___finance_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 80/2018:** Companies Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_company_law.html)).
- **Law No. 86/2019:** Money Transfer Businesses Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/banking___finance_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 92/2020:** Insurance Agency Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/insurance_companies_bill.htm)).
- **Law No. 93/2021:** Special Economic Zones Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/commercial_law__other.html)).
- **Law No. 94/2021:** Ports Agency Law (same page).
- **Law No. 99/2021:** Investment Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/foreign_investment_law_2004.htm)).

## Land, sea, transport and environment

- **Law No. 70/2017:** Civil Aviation Authority Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_civil_aviation_law.html)).
- **Law No. 79/2018:** Environmental Management Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/environmental_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 83/2018:** Urban Waste Management and Sanitation Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_utilities_laws.html)).
- **Law No. 84/2018:** Fisheries Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_fishery_law.html)).
- **Law No. 85/2018:** Coastguard Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/territorial_sea_and_waters.htm)).

## Social laws

- **Law No. 7/1996:** Civil Service Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/labour_employment_law.html)).
- **Law No. 19/2001:** Health Professionals Commission Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/health_professionals_commissio.htm)).
- **Law No. 77/2018:** National Education Law ([page](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/education_law.html)).

## Related pages

- [Constitution of Puntland](/en/government/constitution-of-puntland/)
- [Somaliland institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)


---

# Legumes of Somalia: all 434 species of acacias and the pea family on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 434 species of the legume or pea family (Fabaceae) from Somalia, the largest plant family on record there. It includes the acacias and other thorn trees that dominate Somali bushland, and the yeheb nut shrub, Cordeauxia edulis.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 434 legume (pea family) species with Somalia as the country, in 1 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Fabaceae: 434

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Blackeyed Pea (399), Gum Arabic (162), Vachellia edgeworthii (126), Vachellia etbaica (118), Egyptian thorn, Gum arabic tree, Babul, Babul acacia, Thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia, Egyptian mimosa, Thorny acacia, Prickly acacia, Scented-pod acacia, Nile acacia (110), Crotalaria dumosa (100) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

91 of the 434 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

18 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Abrus somalensis*, *Albizia obbiadensis*, *Chapmannia somalensis*, *Cordyla somalensis*, *Coronilla somalensis*, *Crotalaria benadirensis*, *Crotalaria jubae*, *Crotalaria somalensis*, *Indigofera ogadensis*, *Lupinus somaliensis*, *Paracalyx somalorum*, *Senegalia ogadensis*, *Senegalia somalensis*, *Sesbania somalensis*, *Tephrosia obbiadensis*, *Trifolium somalense*, *Vigna somaliensis*, *Zygocarpum somalense* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: Senegalia petrensis, Senegalia pseudonigrescens ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Endangered: *Adenopodia rotundifolia*, [yeheb-nut-bush](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/), *Crotalaria rhynchocarpa*, *Crotalaria trifoliolata*, Dalbergia uarandensis, *Indigofera rothii*, *Newtonia erlangeri*, Parkinsonia raimondoi, *Philenoptera kanurii*, *Rhynchosia malacotricha*, Senegalia densispina, Senegalia flagellaris, Senegalia manubensis, Senegalia moggii, *Senegalia ochracea*, Senegalia venosa, *Trifolium somalense*, Vachellia cernua, Vachellia qandalensis, *Vachellia tephrophylla*, *Vachellia walwalensis*, *Vigna monantha* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Albizia obbiadensis, Cordyla somalensis, *Crotalaria malindiensis*, Dialium orientale, Dicraeopetalum stipulare, Indigofera longimucronata, Parkinsonia anacantha, *Senegalia ankokib*, Senegalia caraniana, Senegalia cheilanthifolia, *Senna ellisiae* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 2
- Endangered (EN): 22
- Vulnerable (VU): 11
- Near Threatened (NT): 5
- Least Concern (LC): 122
- Data Deficient (DD): 6
- Not Evaluated (NE): 266

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Fabaceae: 434 species

## Full list (434 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-3/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Abrus gawenensis](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/) | *Abrus gawenensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crab's Eye](https://www.gbif.org/species/5348711) | *Abrus precatorius* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Abrus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5348709) | *Abrus somalensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [coast myall](https://www.gbif.org/species/2978269) | *Acacia binervia* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Green Wattle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2979778) | *Acacia decurrens* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Acacia leucophaea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2978618) | *Acacia leucophaea* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [dune wattle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2981177) | *Acacia ligulata* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Golden wreath wattle, Orange wattle, Blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2978552) | *Acacia saligna* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [pindan wattle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2979375) | *Acacia tumida* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [juniper wattle](https://www.gbif.org/species/2978369) | *Acacia ulicifolia* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Adenopodia rotundifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2952376) | *Adenopodia rotundifolia* | Fabaceae | EN | 3 |
| [Malagasy jointvetch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949284) | *Aeschynomene cristata* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [ambatch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949161) | *Aeschynomene elaphroxylon* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Jointvetch](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949250) | *Aeschynomene indica* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Aeschynomene uniflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949070) | *Aeschynomene uniflora* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Afrocalliandra gilbertii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10719668) | *Afrocalliandra gilbertii* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [pod-mahogany](https://www.gbif.org/species/5358281) | *Afzelia quanzensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Alantsilodendron pilosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2976295) | *Alantsilodendron pilosum* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Krishna Siris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2973271) | *Albizia amara* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [mucenna albizia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2973214) | *Albizia anthelmintica* | Fabaceae | LC | 20 |
| [Woman’s-tongue tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2973215) | *Albizia lebbeck* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Albizia obbiadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2973340) | *Albizia obbiadensis* | Fabaceae | VU | 4 |
| [many-stemmed false-thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/2973189) | *Albizia petersiana* | Fabaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Alysicarpus glumaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2948677) | *Alysicarpus glumaceus* | Fabaceae | NE | 51 |
| [white moneywort](https://www.gbif.org/species/2948685) | *Alysicarpus monilifer* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [red moneywort](https://www.gbif.org/species/2948646) | *Alysicarpus rugosus* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Peanut](https://www.gbif.org/species/5353770) | *Arachis hypogaea* | Fabaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Argyrolobium confertum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963672) | *Argyrolobium confertum* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Argyrolobium fischeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963728) | *Argyrolobium fischeri* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Argyrolobium rupestre](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963744) | *Argyrolobium rupestre* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Astragalus atropilosulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5344995) | *Astragalus atropilosulus* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bauhinia buscalionii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2953694) | *Bauhinia buscalionii* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Bauhinia ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2953893) | *Bauhinia ellenbeckii* | Fabaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Bauhinia leucantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2953015) | *Bauhinia leucantha* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [St. Thomas Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2953031) | *Bauhinia tomentosa* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Biserrula pelecinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2938473) | *Biserrula pelecinus* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cadia purpurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2968353) | *Cadia purpurea* | Fabaceae | LC | 44 |
| [Cadia purpurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7573852) | *Cadia purpurea* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dwarf Poinciana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2958715) | *Caesalpinia pulcherrima* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Cape Golden-Pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956417) | *Calpurnia aurea* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Canavalia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2962182) | *Canavalia africana* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Maunaloa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2962193) | *Canavalia cathartica* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sword Jackbean](https://www.gbif.org/species/2962057) | *Canavalia gladiata* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Baybean](https://www.gbif.org/species/2962021) | *Canavalia rosea* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [long-pod-cassia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5357073) | *Cassia abbreviata* | Fabaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Ceratonia oreothauma](https://www.gbif.org/species/5356355) | *Ceratonia oreothauma* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Tropical Sensitive Pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949868) | *Chamaecrista absus* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Chamaecrista dunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2950178) | *Chamaecrista dunensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chamaecrista fallacina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949562) | *Chamaecrista fallacina* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Chamaecrista hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2950592) | *Chamaecrista hildebrandtii* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Five-leaf cassia, Fishbone cassia, Japanese-tea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949769) | *Chamaecrista mimosoides* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Chamaecrista puccioniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2949799) | *Chamaecrista puccioniana* | Fabaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Chamaecrista zambesica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2950434) | *Chamaecrista zambesica* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chapmannia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3977323) | *Chapmannia somalensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Chick Pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2947311) | *Cicer arietinum* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Butterfly pea, Blue pea, Blue pea vine, Asian pigeonwings, Pigeon wings, Cordofan pea, Darwin pea, Bluebellvine,](https://www.gbif.org/species/2946519) | *Clitoria ternatea* | Fabaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Colutea abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956458) | *Colutea abyssinica* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [yeheb-nut-bush](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/) | *Cordeauxia edulis* | Fabaceae | EN | 43 |
| [Cordyla somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5358321) | *Cordyla somalensis* | Fabaceae | VU | 35 |
| [Coronilla somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5349975) | *Coronilla somalensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Craibia brevicaudata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2944936) | *Craibia brevicaudata* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crotalaria aculeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8414615) | *Crotalaria aculeata* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria aegyptiaca](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941794) | *Crotalaria aegyptiaca* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crotalaria albicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941970) | *Crotalaria albicaulis* | Fabaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Crotalaria allophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941889) | *Crotalaria allophylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Crotalaria axillaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/8045368) | *Crotalaria axillaris* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crotalaria ballyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942098) | *Crotalaria ballyi* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crotalaria barkae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942929) | *Crotalaria barkae* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Crotalaria benadirensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942402) | *Crotalaria benadirensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crotalaria bogdaniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942620) | *Crotalaria bogdaniana* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Crotalaria boranica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942104) | *Crotalaria boranica* | Fabaceae | NE | 42 |
| [Crotalaria camptosepala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3970655) | *Crotalaria camptosepala* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Crotalaria cephalotes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942429) | *Crotalaria cephalotes* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria comanestiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941793) | *Crotalaria comanestiana* | Fabaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Crotalaria cylindrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942865) | *Crotalaria cylindrica* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Crotalaria deflersii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941837) | *Crotalaria deflersii* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Crotalaria densicephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942939) | *Crotalaria densicephala* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crotalaria dumosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942256) | *Crotalaria dumosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 100 |
| [Crotalaria emarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942548) | *Crotalaria emarginata* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Crotalaria emarginella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942585) | *Crotalaria emarginella* | Fabaceae | NE | 72 |
| [Crotalaria fascicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942631) | *Crotalaria fascicularis* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria heterotricha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942326) | *Crotalaria heterotricha* | Fabaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Crotalaria horrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942607) | *Crotalaria horrida* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crotalaria impressa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941909) | *Crotalaria impressa* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Shakeshake](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942375) | *Crotalaria incana* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Crotalaria incrassifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942545) | *Crotalaria incrassifolia* | Fabaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Crotalaria intricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942886) | *Crotalaria intricata* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crotalaria jubae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941906) | *Crotalaria jubae* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [birdflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942065) | *Crotalaria laburnifolia* | Fabaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Crotalaria lachnocarpoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942168) | *Crotalaria lachnocarpoides* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria leprieurii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941957) | *Crotalaria leprieurii* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria leptocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942517) | *Crotalaria leptocarpa* | Fabaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Crotalaria leucoclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942570) | *Crotalaria leucoclada* | Fabaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Crotalaria linearifoliolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942175) | *Crotalaria linearifoliolata* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Crotalaria macrocalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942756) | *Crotalaria macrocalyx* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crotalaria malindiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941956) | *Crotalaria malindiensis* | Fabaceae | VU | 21 |
| [Crotalaria microphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942163) | *Crotalaria microphylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Small-Leaved Rattlepod](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942601) | *Crotalaria monteiroi* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria mudugensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3968785) | *Crotalaria mudugensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crotalaria natalitia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941865) | *Crotalaria natalitia* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [slender leaf rattlebox](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942268) | *Crotalaria ochroleuca* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria oligosperma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942476) | *Crotalaria oligosperma* | Fabaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Crotalaria persica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942211) | *Crotalaria persica* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Crotalaria phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942899) | *Crotalaria phillipsiae* | Fabaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Crotalaria pleiophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942087) | *Crotalaria pleiophylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Crotalaria pteropoda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942460) | *Crotalaria pteropoda* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Crotalaria pycnostachya](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941725) | *Crotalaria pycnostachya* | Fabaceae | NE | 43 |
| [Rattleweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942610) | *Crotalaria retusa* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Crotalaria rhynchocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942485) | *Crotalaria rhynchocarpa* | Fabaceae | EN | 7 |
| [Crotalaria rufocaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941740) | *Crotalaria rufocaulis* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [African rattlebox](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942423) | *Crotalaria saltiana* | Fabaceae | NE | 59 |
| [Crotalaria scassellatii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942317) | *Crotalaria scassellatii* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Crotalaria senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941917) | *Crotalaria senegalensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Somali Rattlepod](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942278) | *Crotalaria somalensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Crotalaria thomasii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942364) | *Crotalaria thomasii* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Crotalaria trifoliolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941742) | *Crotalaria trifoliolata* | Fabaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Crotalaria tropeae](https://www.gbif.org/species/11189531) | *Crotalaria tropeae* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria verdcourtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2941878) | *Crotalaria verdcourtii* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crotalaria warfae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2942819) | *Crotalaria warfae* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Scurfy Pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2948921) | *Cullen americanum* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [scurfy-pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2948930) | *Cullen corylifolium* | Fabaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Cullen plicatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2948948) | *Cullen plicatum* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Siam-bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/2946183) | *Cyamopsis tetragonoloba* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dalbergia commiphoroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2968910) | *Dalbergia commiphoroides* | Fabaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Dalbergia eremicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2968406) | *Dalbergia eremicola* | Fabaceae | NT | 1 |
| [Dalbergia microphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2968360) | *Dalbergia microphylla* | Fabaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Dalbergia uarandensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2968482) | *Dalbergia uarandensis* | Fabaceae | EN | 8 |
| [Poinciana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956173) | *Delonix baccal* | Fabaceae | NT | 8 |
| [Creamy Peacock Flower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956174) | *Delonix elata* | Fabaceae | LC | 49 |
| [Royal Poinciana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956176) | *Delonix regia* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Denisophytum eriantherum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9324251) | *Denisophytum eriantherum* | Fabaceae | NE | 71 |
| [Desmodium ospriostreblum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2967217) | *Desmodium ospriostreblum* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dialium orientale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970964) | *Dialium orientale* | Fabaceae | VU | 6 |
| [Aroma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2975891) | *Dichrostachys cinerea* | Fabaceae | LC | 29 |
| [Dichrostachys kirkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2975902) | *Dichrostachys kirkii* | Fabaceae | NT | 23 |
| [Dicraeopetalum stipulare](https://www.gbif.org/species/2974572) | *Dicraeopetalum stipulare* | Fabaceae | VU | 11 |
| [Dolichos trilobus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2975585) | *Dolichos trilobus* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Dorycnopsis abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2950913) | *Dorycnopsis abyssinica* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Entada africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2976222) | *Entada africana* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Entada leptostachya](https://www.gbif.org/species/2976218) | *Entada leptostachya* | Fabaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Erythrina madagascariensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5349768) | *Erythrina madagascariensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Erythrina melanacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5349649) | *Erythrina melanacantha* | Fabaceae | LC | 26 |
| [Bird-of-paradise shrub](https://www.gbif.org/species/8130309) | *Erythrostemon gilliesii* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |


This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-3/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Port of Djibouti and Doraleh

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/port-of-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Port of Djibouti, with the newer Doraleh terminals beside it, handles about 2,500 ship calls a year and over 95% of Ethiopia's foreign trade. It grew with the Djibouti–Addis Ababa railway from 1917, opened its first container terminal in February 1985, and in 2021 was ranked first in Africa in the World Bank's container port index. Since 2018 it has been at the centre of a legal fight with DP World over the Doraleh container terminal.

## At a glance

- **Who runs it:** the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA), which reports to the presidency and also oversees the free zones ([Wikipedia, Port of Djibouti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti); [DPFZA](http://www.dpfza.gov.dj/message-chairman)).
- **Traffic:** an estimated 2,500 ships call each year (same Wikipedia article).
- **Ethiopia:** about 70% of the port's cargo goes to or from Ethiopia, which is over 95% of landlocked Ethiopia's foreign trade (same source).
- **Ranking:** in January 2021 the World Bank and IHS Markit's Container Port Performance Index ranked it the best container port in Africa and 61st in the world, with ships spending a median of under one day in port ([Hellenic Shipping News](https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/djibouti-ranked-top-port-in-africa-in-world-bank-and-ihs-markit-report-on-container-ports/)).
- **Website:** [portdedjibouti.com](https://www.portdedjibouti.com/).

## How the port grew

Djibouti's sheltered coast gave Ethiopia its closest outlet to the sea. The French-built railway from Addis Ababa, started in 1897 and finished in 1917, made the port ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti); [Port de Djibouti, history](https://www.portdedjibouti.com/port-history/)); see [Ethio-Djibouti Railways](/en/infrastructure/ethiopia-djibouti-railways/). Between 1948 and 1957 four deep-water quays were built and the channels dredged, with new warehouses, oil storage, power, water and rail sidings. In 1952 the French company Pétroles de Somalie (later Total) bunkered its first ship, and Mobil arrived in 1956. Bunkering, the sale of ship fuel, quadrupled in ten years to a peak of 1.8 million tonnes in 1965. The first modern container terminal opened in February 1985 (same sources). Djibouti's civil war of 1991 to 1994 hit the economy, and by the early 2000s the old railway had decayed.

## Doraleh, Damerjog and the Chinese railway

- **Doraleh:** work on the Doraleh Multipurpose Port began in 2013; it relieves the old port and adds 29 million tonnes of capacity a year ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti)).
- **Damerjog:** construction began in September 2013, financed by China Merchants Group and the government and built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. It handles livestock, liquid bulk and ship repair ([Zawya](https://www.zawya.com/mena/en/project/180918040142/djibouti-port-sa-damerjog-livestock-port/)).
- **Railway:** the Chinese-built, electrified [Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway](/en/infrastructure/ethiopia-djibouti-railways/), built 2011–2016, ends at Doraleh. Wikipedia notes that power problems have kept it below expectations, so most Ethiopian cargo still comes by road ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti)).

## The DP World dispute

Dubai's DP World ran the Doraleh Container Terminal under a concession. In February 2018 Djibouti revoked the concession by presidential decree under a new law allowing it to end contracts for "strategic infrastructure", and transferred the assets ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti); [Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/418b5250-f7fa-4ad3-837f-871dd259ec87)). The [London](/en/diaspora/london/) Court of International Arbitration ruled in 2020 that the seizure was illegal; an earlier award ordered Djibouti to pay $533 million. DP World says the government has ignored six rulings in its favour, and in July 2021 a seventh found that the state company PDSA had breached the joint-venture agreement ([Maritime Executive](https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/ruling-by-london-tribunal-says-djibouti-acted-illegally); [AllAfrica, July 2021](https://allafrica.com/stories/202107120668.html)). Djibouti rejected the 2020 ruling and handed a stake in the port to China Merchants Ports Holdings ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti)). DP World is also the operator at [Berbera](/en/economy/ports/) in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Foreign bases around the port

Wikipedia reports that Djibouti earns about $125 million a year in rent from US, Chinese, French, Japanese and Italian bases ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Djibouti); [Quartz](https://qz.com/africa/1056257/how-a-tiny-african-country-became-the-worlds-key-military-base/)). China opened its naval support base next to Doraleh in 2017, its first military base abroad ([Reuters, July 2017](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-djibouti-idUSKBN19X049)). The US base, [Camp Lemonnier](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/), is at the airport; see [Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport](/en/infrastructure/djibouti-ambouli-international-airport/).

## Related

- [Somalia's seaports](/en/economy/ports/)
- [Airports and airstrips of Djibouti](/en/infrastructure/airports-of-djibouti/)
- [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/)


---

# Salaam Somali Bank: Somalia's first bank since 1991

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/salaam-somali-bank/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Salaam Somali Bank is a privately owned Islamic bank based in Mogadishu. It opened in October 2009 and describes itself as the first bank to operate in Somalia since 1991. It started DEEQTOON mobile banking with Hormuud Telecom in 2010 and installed Somalia's first cash machines in 2014. It reports 55 branches, runs drought insurance for herders and issues the Waafi card. The Central Bank of Somalia licenses it.

## The short version

Salaam Somali Bank (SSB) is a privately owned Islamic commercial bank with its head office in Mogadishu. It was set up in **October 2009** and says it was the first bank to operate in Somalia since the state collapsed in 1991 ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank); [Financial Fortune Media, 11 August 2023](https://www.financialfortunemedia.com/salaam-somali-bank-digs-up-innovation-ingredients-to-spur-growth/)). It appears on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed banks ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

## Timeline

- **2009:** the bank opens its first branches in Hamarweyne and [Bakaara](/en/economy/bakaara-market/) market in Mogadishu ([Garowe Online, 1 June 2022](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/salaam-somali-bank-branch-in-bakaro-provided-free-microfinance-to-the-local-traders)).
- **2010:** it launches **DEEQTOON**, mobile banking built on [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/)'s technology. Customers can deposit, withdraw, transfer and check balances by phone ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank)).
- **2011:** it starts a free monthly microfinance programme. By 2021 the programme had supported 6,306 people, 41 percent of them women, with $7.5 million (same source).
- **October 2014:** Somalia's first cash machines open in Mogadishu, run by Salaam ([BBC, 7 October 2014](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29519877)).
- **2023:** DEEQTOON reaches about **400,000 transactions a day**, the bank reports ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank)).
- **July 2024:** the bank brings in Visa debit cards and card machines ([TechAfrica News, 17 July 2024](https://techafricanews.com/2024/07/17/salaam-somali-bank-introduces-visa-cards-and-pos-systems-to-enhance-financial-services/)). It also starts issuing the [Waafi](/en/businesses/waafi/) prepaid Mastercard through the Waafi app ([Hiiraan Online, August 2024](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Aug/197338/mastercard_and_salaam_somali_bank_unveil_the_waafi_card_for_digital_payments.aspx)).
- **2024:** it wins The Banker's Islamic Bank of the Year in the international category ([The Banker, Islamic Banking Awards 2024](https://www.thebanker.com/content/5b2f8e2d-aadd-5a62-8cb0-a972c5c483e3)).

## Branches and services

- The bank reports **55 branches**, 20 of them in Mogadishu ([CIO Africa, 9 October 2023](https://cioafrica.co/driving-somalias-financial-inclusion-salaam-somali-banks-story/)).
- **Islamic finance products:** murabaha (cost-plus sale), musharakah and mudarabah (profit-sharing partnerships), istisna (financing for things to be built), ijara (leasing) and qard hasan (interest-free loans) (same source).
- **Accounts:** current and savings accounts, including a Dalmar account for Somalis abroad, a Hajj and Umrah savings account and a student account. Accounts are also offered for aid agencies and charities ([Salaam Somali Bank, archived 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140520104811/http://www.salaamsombank.com/pages.php?id=1)).
- **Business banking:** letters of credit, guarantees, trade finance and payroll. The bank uses the SWIFT network for transfers abroad ([Wikipedia, Salaam Somali Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaam_Somali_Bank)).
- **Housing:** the bank was the only financier of Daaru Salaam City, a Mogadishu housing project of about 2,000 homes (same source).

## Drought insurance for herders

In 2023 Salaam began offering livestock insurance with the World Bank and the reinsurer ZEP-RE. Premiums are 90 percent subsidised, and payouts are triggered by satellite readings of pasture. By March 2026 the scheme had enrolled more than **163,000 pastoralists** and paid out **$4.5 million** ([Devex, 3 April 2026](https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/in-drought-hit-somalia-savings-accounts-offer-a-lifeline-112193)).

## Links to Hormuud

Salaam and Hormuud jointly fund the **Hormuud Salaam Foundation**, which works in education, health, skills training and emergency aid ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/press-releases/saving-lives-through-awareness-somalia-s-leading-telecom-hormuud-plays-a-significant-role-in-battling-the-covid-19)). Reports describe the Waafi app as developed by Salaam with Hormuud, Telesom and Golis ([Developing Telecoms, 2024](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/financial-services/17119-salaam-bank-and-paymentology-target-somalia-s-waafi-mobile-app-users.html)). For the wider group, see [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/). For all banks, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/) and [Somalia's main banks](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/).


---

# Somalia and Sierra Leone

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/sierra-leone/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Sierra Leone sent an 850-strong battalion to the AU mission in Somalia in April 2013, based in Kismayo, and withdrew it from January 2015 after the Ebola outbreak blocked its rotation. Since then it has contributed police: two Sierra Leonean officers led the AU mission's police component, Augustine Magnus Kailie from 2019 and Hillary Sao Kanu from 2 March 2023, and a 160-strong Sierra Leone police unit served in Kismayo in 2024.

## How do Somalia and Sierra Leone relate today?

The main link between the two countries is the African Union mission in Somalia. Sierra Leone sent combat troops from 2013 to 2015, then police officers. In 2023 the AU mission described Sierra Leone as a police-contributing country that provides military staff officers, a Formed Police Unit and individual police officers ([ATMIS, 28 April 2023](https://atmis-au.org/?p=3338)).

Sierra Leonean nationals have also held senior posts in the missions. The AU mission's police component was led by Sierra Leonean commissioners from 2019, and Amadu Kamara, Director of the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) in 2023, is from Sierra Leone ([ATMIS, 28 April 2023](https://atmis-au.org/?p=3338)).

Sierra Leone sat on the UN Security Council in 2024 and 2025. It voted for resolution 2767 on 27 December 2024, which set up the AU Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia, AUSSOM ([UN Project, S/PV.9828](https://un-project.org/meeting/S-PV-9828/)).

## When did contact begin?

Sierra Leone became independent from Britain on 27 April 1961 ([ATMIS, 28 April 2023](https://atmis-au.org/?p=3338)). The first large, recorded contact between the two states came in April 2013, when an 850-soldier Sierra Leonean battalion deployed to Somalia with AMISOM ([Garowe Online, 18 December 2014](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-bids-farewell-to-sierra-leone-peacekeepers)).

The AU mission in Mogadishu marked Sierra Leone's 62nd independence anniversary in April 2023. Acting Force Commander Major General Marius Ngendabanka said Sierra Leone's peacekeepers "made tremendous contributions to AMISOM" ([ATMIS, 28 April 2023](https://atmis-au.org/?p=3338)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, President of Somalia, said in August 2014 that no new Sierra Leonean troops would deploy because of Ebola, and praised the contingent for coming "at a very difficult time" ([Al Jazeera, 21 December 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/12/21/s-leone-to-withdraw-somalia-troops-over-ebola)). On 18 December 2014 he bade the battalion farewell in Kismayo ([Garowe Online, 18 December 2014](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-bids-farewell-to-sierra-leone-peacekeepers)).
- **Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe)**, Jubaland's leader, joined the Kismayo farewell ([Garowe Online, 18 December 2014](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-bids-farewell-to-sierra-leone-peacekeepers)).
- **Maman Sidikou**, the AU's special representative for Somalia, spoke at the farewell and said, "They have to go" ([Al Jazeera, 21 December 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/12/21/s-leone-to-withdraw-somalia-troops-over-ebola)).
- **Augustine Magnus Kailie**, an assistant inspector general of the Sierra Leone Police with about 30 years' service, became AMISOM Police Commissioner in November 2019. He said the post repaid the support Sierra Leone received after its 1991–2002 civil war ([Garowe Online, 9 November 2019](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/new-amisom-police-chief-vows-to-step-up-stabilization-efforts-in-somalia)).
- **Francisco Madeira**, head of AMISOM, met Kailie on his arrival and praised the Sierra Leone Police contingent ([Garowe Online, 9 November 2019](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/new-amisom-police-chief-vows-to-step-up-stabilization-efforts-in-somalia)).
- **Hillary Sao Kanu**, formerly Director of Support Services at Sierra Leone Police headquarters, took up duty as ATMIS Police Commissioner on 2 March 2023 ([ATMIS, 17 May 2023](https://atmis-au.org/commissioner-of-police-cp-hillary-sao-kanu/)). She led a police force of about 856 personnel in four Formed Police Units in 2023 ([Daily Graphic, 25 September 2023](https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/features/sustaining-security-in-somalia-atmis-police-playing-significant-role.html)).
- **Samuel Abu Bakarr Kargbo**, a superintendent of police, commanded the Sierra Leone Formed Police Unit in Kismayo in 2024 ([ATMIS, 19 November 2024](https://atmis-au.org/?p=5652)).
- **Amadu Kamara**, from Sierra Leone, was Director of UNSOS, the UN office that supplies the AU mission, in 2023 ([ATMIS, 28 April 2023](https://atmis-au.org/?p=3338)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade holds no trade with Somalia reported by Sierra Leone for 2019 or 2021 to 2024 ([UN Comtrade, Sierra Leone reporter, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=694&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)).

## What about security?

Sierra Leone's 850 soldiers deployed in April 2013 for a 12-month tour and were based in Kismayo ([Garowe Online, 2014](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-bids-farewell-to-sierra-leone-peacekeepers); [Al Jazeera, 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/12/21/s-leone-to-withdraw-somalia-troops-over-ebola)). On 14 October 2014 an 800-strong replacement battalion was placed in 21-day quarantine in Sierra Leone after one soldier tested positive for Ebola ([Reuters via UNHCR, 14 October 2014](https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/9935)). The AU blocked the rotation, the battalion was due to leave in January 2015, and Ethiopian troops in AMISOM were set to replace it in Kismayo ([Al Jazeera, 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/12/21/s-leone-to-withdraw-somalia-troops-over-ebola); [Garowe Online, 2014](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-bids-farewell-to-sierra-leone-peacekeepers)).

Sierra Leone then sent police. On 19 November 2024, 160 officers of the Sierra Leone Formed Police Unit received AU medals in Kismayo for a year's service. Their tasks included VIP escorts, guarding government sites and protecting AU police trainers ([ATMIS, 19 November 2024](https://atmis-au.org/?p=5652)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Sierra Leone deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Sierra Leone's troops and police served mainly in Jubaland. The 2014 farewell in Kismayo was held with Jubaland's leader, Ahmed Madobe ([Garowe Online, 18 December 2014](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-president-hassan-bids-farewell-to-sierra-leone-peacekeepers)). The 2024 medal parade at the AU mission's Sector Six headquarters in Kismayo was attended by Jubaland officials, including CID commander Omar Hujale ([ATMIS, 19 November 2024](https://atmis-au.org/?p=5652)).

## Have there been disputes?

In 2014, activists and a social media campaign by Somalis called for no new Sierra Leonean troops to be sent while Ebola spread in West Africa. In August 2014 President Hassan Sheikh said none would deploy ([Al Jazeera, 21 December 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/12/21/s-leone-to-withdraw-somalia-troops-over-ebola)). Sierra Leone had by then reported more than 2,470 Ebola deaths, according to WHO figures cited in the same report.

## Where does Sierra Leone stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- **AU missions:** troop contributor to AMISOM in 2013–2015; police contributor to AMISOM, ATMIS and AUSSOM ([ATMIS, 2023](https://atmis-au.org/?p=3338); [SONNA, 16 November 2021](https://sonna.so/en/ghana-deploys-new-police-contingent-to-somalia/)).
- **UN Security Council, 2024–2025:** Sierra Leone was one of 14 members voting for resolution 2767 on 27 December 2024; the United States abstained. Algeria spoke for the three African members (Algeria, Mozambique and Sierra Leone) and Guyana, the "A3+". Guided by the AU, the group backed the "hybrid" option for funding the new mission ([UN Project, S/PV.9828](https://un-project.org/meeting/S-PV-9828/)).

## Related pages

- [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/)
- [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/)
- [AUSSOM](/en/institutions/aussom/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somali Police Force](/en/institutions/somali-police-force/)
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/)
- [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/)
- [Somalia and Algeria](/en/relations/algeria/)


---

# Somalia v. Kenya: the sea border case at the International Court of Justice

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/somalia-v-kenya-icj-maritime-case/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 28 August 2014 to draw its sea border with Kenya. On 12 October 2021 the Court found there was no agreed border and drew one itself. It rejected Kenya's claim to a straight line east along the line of latitude, and split the disputed area roughly 77 to 23 in Somalia's favour, according to an ASIL analysis. Kenya did not take part in the final hearings and said it did not recognise the ruling.

## What was the case about?

[Somalia and Kenya](/en/relations/kenya/) disagreed about where their border runs out to sea, starting from the coast near [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/). The area both countries claimed was about 160,580 square kilometres of ocean ([Anadolu Agency, 19 Mar 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)). It includes blocks Kenya had offered for oil and gas exploration.

- **Somalia's claim:** a line running south-east, roughly continuing the direction of the land border (the equidistance method).
- **Kenya's claim:** a line running straight east, along the parallel of latitude. Kenya said Somalia had accepted this line for more than 35 years ([Anadolu Agency, 19 Mar 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)).

## How did the case unfold?

From the ICJ case record ([ICJ, case 161](https://www.icj-cij.org/case/161)):

- **28 August 2014:** Somalia files its application against Kenya.
- **7 October 2015:** Kenya objects that the Court has no jurisdiction and that the two countries had agreed to negotiate.
- **2 February 2017:** the Court rejects Kenya's objections and decides to hear the case ([ICJ, Judgment on preliminary objections](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20170202-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)).
- **2019 to 2021:** hearings set for September 2019 are postponed to November 2019, June 2020 and March 2021, at Kenya's request and then because of COVID-19.
- **15 to 18 March 2021:** hearings held in hybrid form. Kenya does not take part. It told the Court three days before that it would stay away, because its request for another delay was refused ([ASIL Insights, vol. 25, issue 25](https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/25/issue/25/world-court-fixes-somalia-kenya-maritime-boundary-technical-considerations-and)).
- **24 September 2021:** Kenya withdraws its declaration accepting the Court's compulsory jurisdiction ([International Legal Materials, Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-legal-materials/article/maritime-delimitation-in-the-indian-ocean-som-v-kenya-icj/7D7F76A302095EFD18B97B0D0139B9C9)).
- **12 October 2021:** the Court gives judgment on the merits ([ICJ, Judgment of 12 Oct 2021](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)).

## What did the Court decide?

From the judgment and the ASIL summary ([ICJ judgment](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf); [ASIL Insights](https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/25/issue/25/world-court-fixes-somalia-kenya-maritime-boundary-technical-considerations-and)):

1. **No agreed border.** The Court found that Somalia had not accepted Kenya's line along the parallel of latitude. So it had to draw the border itself.
2. **Territorial sea (to 12 nautical miles).** A median line, using points on the two mainland coasts and leaving out small islets.
3. **Economic zone and continental shelf (to 200 nautical miles).** The Court drew an equidistance line, then moved it north to a bearing of 114 degrees from a point called Point A. It said the straight line would cut off Kenya's maritime area because of the inward curve of the coast from Somalia to [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), an effect made stronger by Tanzania's Pemba Island. The line ends where it meets Kenya's 200-mile limit, at **Point B**, 3° 4′ 21.3″ S, 44° 35′ 30.7″ E ([ICJ judgment](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)). The vote was 10 to 4. Judges Abraham, Yusuf, Bhandari and Salam voted against (same source).
4. **Beyond 200 nautical miles.** The same line continues to the outer edge of the continental shelf. The vote was 9 to 5. Judge Robinson joined the four judges named above in voting against this part only (same source).
5. **Somalia's claim against Kenya.** Somalia complained of surveying and drilling that Kenya carried out or authorised in the Lamu Basin, including offshore oil concession blocks L-5, L-13, L-21, L-22, L-23, L-24 and L-26. The Court unanimously rejected Somalia's claim that Kenya's activities in the disputed area broke international law and that Kenya owed reparation ([ICJ, Judgment, operative clause](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)).

## Who gained what?

The ASIL authors, three maritime boundary specialists, estimate ([ASIL Insights](https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/25/issue/25/world-court-fixes-somalia-kenya-maritime-boundary-technical-considerations-and)):

- The area both sides claimed was split about **77 to 23 in Somalia's favour**.
- Kenya still kept about **64 percent** of the jurisdiction it had claimed.
- About **75 percent** of Kenya's three offshore oil and gas blocks in the area fall on the Somali side.

The same authors argue the territorial sea line runs nearly 13 nautical miles, past the 12-mile limit. They also note the ruling is final and cannot be appealed (same source).

## How did each country respond?

- **Kenya:** President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected the ruling "in totality" and said Kenya did not recognise its findings, arguing that international courts have jurisdiction only as far as a state consents ([Garowe Online, Oct 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/uhuru-rejects-icj-ruling-on-maritime-border-row-as-farmaajo-fights-back)). He called the decision "zero-sum" and said the matter must be negotiated ([Nation, Oct 2021](https://nation.africa/kenya/news/politics/icj-decision-zero-sum-solution-must-be-negotiated-says-uhuru-kenyatta-3581390)). Kenya's foreign ministry also said it did not recognise the judgment ([BBC News, 12 Oct 2021](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-58885535)).
- **Somalia:** President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo welcomed the ruling, thanked the Court for upholding the rule of law and asked Kenya to respect it ([VOA, Oct 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-welcomes-international-court-decision-on-kenya-maritime-dispute-/6268795.html); [The Star, 13 Oct 2021](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2021-10-13-somalia-asks-kenya-to-accept-maritime-ruling-after-icj-verdict)).

Two legal scholars later studied how Kenya's withdrawal from the Court's compulsory jurisdiction affects future cases ([Benatar and Schatz, Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea, 2024](https://doi.org/10.1163/29501636-01010007)). A technical study rebuilt the line point by point ([Bekker, Schofield and van de Poll, International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 2022](https://doi.org/10.1163/15718085-bja10104)).

## Related pages

- [Kenya and Somalia: Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)
- [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/)
- [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/)


---

# Grasses and sedges of Somalia: all 475 species on record

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 475 grass and sedge species from Somalia: 367 grasses (Poaceae) and 108 sedges (Cyperaceae).

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 475 grass and sedge species with Somalia as the country, in 2 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Poaceae: 367
- Cyperaceae: 108

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Great Millet (1,784), Buffel-grass (223), Chrysopogon plumulosus (153), Sixweeks Threeawn (150), Klein grass (127), Sporobolus ruspolianus (103) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

110 of the 475 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

15 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Bulbostylis somaliensis*, *Cyperus benadirensis*, *Cyperus obbiadensis*, *Cyperus pseudosomaliensis*, *Cyperus somalidunensis*, *Cyperus somaliensis*, *Fuirena somaliensis*, *Aristida migiurtina*, *Aristida somalensis*, *Cenchrus somalensis*, *Chloris jubaensis*, *Dinebra somalensis*, *Loudetia migiurtina*, *Perotis somalensis*, *Sporobolus somalensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: *Bulbostylis densicaespitosa*, Cyperus afrodunensis, Cyperus chordorrhizus, *Sporobolus scitulus* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: *Cyperus commixtus*, *Cyperus densibulbosus*, *Cyperus micropelophilus*, *Eragrostis ambleia*, Panicum pinifolium ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 4
- Vulnerable (VU): 5
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 102
- Data Deficient (DD): 3
- Not Evaluated (NE): 361

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Poaceae: 367 species
- Cyperaceae: 108 species

## Full list (475 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-3/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Tuberous Bulrush](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/) | *Bolboschoenus glaucus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Sea Club-rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718307) | *Bolboschoenus maritimus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Watergrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5292372) | *Bulbostylis barbata* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Bulbostylis densicaespitosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5292197) | *Bulbostylis densicaespitosa* | Cyperaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Bulbostylis hensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5292249) | *Bulbostylis hensii* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Slender Sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/5292456) | *Bulbostylis hispidula* | Cyperaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Bulbostylis somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5292432) | *Bulbostylis somaliensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Greater Brown Sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2728632) | *Carex brunnea* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Carex negrii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2723764) | *Carex negrii* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyperus afrodunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714232) | *Cyperus afrodunensis* | Cyperaceae | EN | 6 |
| [Cyperus alatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718788) | *Cyperus alatus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Foxtail Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715045) | *Cyperus alopecuroides* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Umbrella sedge, Umbrella papyrus, Umbrella palm, Umbrella plant, Umbrella grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714156) | *Cyperus alternifolius* | Cyperaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Foothill Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716444) | *Cyperus amabilis* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cyperus amauropus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715994) | *Cyperus amauropus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Jointed Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713638) | *Cyperus articulatus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Cyperus baobab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715115) | *Cyperus baobab* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus benadirensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713927) | *Cyperus benadirensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cyperus bifax](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714881) | *Cyperus bifax* | Cyperaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cyperus brunneofibrosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715037) | *Cyperus brunneofibrosus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Cyperus bulbosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715129) | *Cyperus bulbosus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Cyperus chaetophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715697) | *Cyperus chaetophyllus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cyperus chordorrhizus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714579) | *Cyperus chordorrhizus* | Cyperaceae | EN | 25 |
| [Cyperus ciliatopilosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718829) | *Cyperus ciliatopilosus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus commixtus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715715) | *Cyperus commixtus* | Cyperaceae | VU | 2 |
| [Cyperus comosipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718611) | *Cyperus comosipes* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Poorland Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713479) | *Cyperus compressus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Cyperus conglomeratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714301) | *Cyperus conglomeratus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Cyperus costatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718680) | *Cyperus costatus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cyperus crassipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716055) | *Cyperus crassipes* | Cyperaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Cyperus cruentus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714086) | *Cyperus cruentus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pacific Island Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714453) | *Cyperus cyperoides* | Cyperaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Cyperus densibulbosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713774) | *Cyperus densibulbosus* | Cyperaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Cyperus dichromus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714530) | *Cyperus dichromus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Variable Flat-sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714796) | *Cyperus difformis* | Cyperaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Cyperus dilatatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714531) | *Cyperus dilatatus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Piedmont Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713460) | *Cyperus distans* | Cyperaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Cyperus diurensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716080) | *Cyperus diurensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pale Galingale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715482) | *Cyperus eragrostis* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Yellow Nutsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716226) | *Cyperus esculentus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Giant Sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715206) | *Cyperus exaltatus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Cyperus eximius](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718886) | *Cyperus eximius* | Cyperaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Yellow Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2730906) | *Cyperus flavescens* | Cyperaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cyperus grandibulbosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716204) | *Cyperus grandibulbosus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Cyperus gypsophilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713969) | *Cyperus gypsophilus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Queensland sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2731093) | *Cyperus hyalinus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyperus jeminicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714606) | *Cyperus jeminicus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cyperus kilimandscharicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714569) | *Cyperus kilimandscharicus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Smooth Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713559) | *Cyperus laevigatus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Galingale](https://www.gbif.org/species/8243603) | *Cyperus longus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Cyperus macrorrhizus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715602) | *Cyperus macrorrhizus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Maculated Sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715867) | *Cyperus maculatus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cyperus margaritaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716662) | *Cyperus margaritaceus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus meeboldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714032) | *Cyperus meeboldii* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cyperus michelianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714056) | *Cyperus michelianus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Cyperus microglumis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715568) | *Cyperus microglumis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus micromedusaeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715270) | *Cyperus micromedusaeus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus micropelophilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715141) | *Cyperus micropelophilus* | Cyperaceae | VU | 2 |
| [Cyperus microstylus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718818) | *Cyperus microstylus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cyperus mogadoxensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713550) | *Cyperus mogadoxensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cyperus mudugensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714355) | *Cyperus mudugensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus niveus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716380) | *Cyperus niveus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Cyperus nubicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714883) | *Cyperus nubicus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cyperus nyikanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10831552) | *Cyperus nyikanus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyperus obbiadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716748) | *Cyperus obbiadensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cyperus ossicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714288) | *Cyperus ossicaulis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Papyrus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716311) | *Cyperus papyrus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Cyperus pelophilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2730891) | *Cyperus pelophilus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cyperus phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716108) | *Cyperus phillipsiae* | Cyperaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cyperus pluricephalus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714550) | *Cyperus pluricephalus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus poecilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714299) | *Cyperus poecilus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cyperus pseudosomaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716479) | *Cyperus pseudosomaliensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Cyperus pseudovestitus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715718) | *Cyperus pseudovestitus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyperus recurvispicatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715169) | *Cyperus recurvispicatus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Purple Nutsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714818) | *Cyperus rotundus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Coco-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714875) | *Cyperus rubicundus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 18 |
| [Cyperus scott-elliotii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10794005) | *Cyperus scott-elliotii* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [fragrant spike sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/3583416) | *Cyperus sesquiflorus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cyperus somalidunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713627) | *Cyperus somalidunensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyperus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713457) | *Cyperus somaliensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cyperus spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/10389922) | *Cyperus spec* | Cyperaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Bearded Flatsedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2714313) | *Cyperus squarrosus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Giant Sedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716624) | *Cyperus thunbergii* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nut Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/8263668) | *Cyperus tuberosus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Cyperus undulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2715284) | *Cyperus undulatus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyperus vestitus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2713758) | *Cyperus vestitus* | Cyperaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyperus welwitschii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718954) | *Cyperus welwitschii* | Cyperaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Purple Spikerush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2717771) | *Eleocharis atropurpurea* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Eleocharis caduca](https://www.gbif.org/species/2717948) | *Eleocharis caduca* | Cyperaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Canada Spikesedge](https://www.gbif.org/species/2716850) | *Eleocharis geniculata* | Cyperaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Fimbristylis bisumbellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2708744) | *Fimbristylis bisumbellata* | Cyperaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Puerto Rico Fimbry](https://www.gbif.org/species/2708680) | *Fimbristylis complanata* | Cyperaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Tropical Fimbry](https://www.gbif.org/species/2709108) | *Fimbristylis cymosa* | Cyperaceae | LC | 6 |
| [West Indian Fimbry](https://www.gbif.org/species/2708137) | *Fimbristylis ferruginea* | Cyperaceae | LC | 22 |
| [Fuirena boreocoerulescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2719079) | *Fuirena boreocoerulescens* | Cyperaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ciliate fuirena](https://www.gbif.org/species/2719118) | *Fuirena ciliaris* | Cyperaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Fuirena somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718983) | *Fuirena somaliensis* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fuirena striatella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2719096) | *Fuirena striatella* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Schoenoplectiella articulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2710683) | *Schoenoplectiella articulata* | Cyperaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Bristly Clubrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/12195458) | *Schoenoplectiella brachyceras* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mat Clubrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/12180600) | *Schoenoplectiella corymbosa* | Cyperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Schoenoplectiella juncea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2710789) | *Schoenoplectiella juncea* | Cyperaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Spring Onion Clubrush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2710700) | *Schoenoplectiella senegalensis* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Shore Club-rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2711288) | *Schoenoplectus litoralis* | Cyperaceae | LC | 9 |
| [coast club-rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2711310) | *Schoenoplectus subulatus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Black Bog-rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2709923) | *Schoenus nigricans* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Round-headed Club-rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2718201) | *Scirpoides holoschoenus* | Cyperaceae | LC | 37 |
| [Scleria verrucosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2712519) | *Scleria verrucosa* | Cyperaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Goosegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703234) | *Acrachne racemosa* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Oat Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4139637) | *Acroceras zizanioides* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [rabbit foot aeluropus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4136488) | *Aeluropus lagopoides* | Poaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Afrotrichloris hyaloptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4136038) | *Afrotrichloris hyaloptera* | Poaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Afrotrichloris martinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4136032) | *Afrotrichloris martinii* | Poaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Agrostis gracilifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122559) | *Agrostis gracilifolia* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [cockatoo grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703273) | *Alloteropsis cimicina* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Andropogon amethystinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4153827) | *Andropogon amethystinus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Andropogon aridus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4153435) | *Andropogon aridus* | Poaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Andropogon chinensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151666) | *Andropogon chinensis* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Bluestem](https://www.gbif.org/species/2706112) | *Andropogon gayanus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Andropogon greenwayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4148073) | *Andropogon greenwayi* | Poaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Andropogon kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7736816) | *Andropogon kelleri* | Poaceae | NE | 87 |
| [Andropogon kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4146455) | *Andropogon kelleri* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Andropogon leprodes](https://www.gbif.org/species/4146005) | *Andropogon leprodes* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Andropogon pseudapricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142503) | *Andropogon pseudapricus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Andropogon pungens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142298) | *Andropogon pungens* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stab Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/8372153) | *Andropogon schirensis* | Poaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Anthephora nigritana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4135384) | *Anthephora nigritana* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [wool grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4135365) | *Anthephora pubescens* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Aristida abnormis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130924) | *Aristida abnormis* | Poaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Aristida adoensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8017722) | *Aristida adoensis* | Poaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Sixweeks Threeawn](https://www.gbif.org/species/2706277) | *Aristida adscensionis* | Poaceae | LC | 150 |
| [Aristida anisochaeta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130198) | *Aristida anisochaeta* | Poaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Spreading Prickle Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4128792) | *Aristida congesta* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Aristida funiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127452) | *Aristida funiculata* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Aristida kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4126400) | *Aristida kelleri* | Poaceae | NE | 44 |
| [Aristida laevis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4126298) | *Aristida laevis* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Aristida leptura](https://www.gbif.org/species/4126046) | *Aristida leptura* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aristida migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4125508) | *Aristida migiurtina* | Poaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Aristida mutabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4125301) | *Aristida mutabilis* | Poaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Aristida paoliana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4124817) | *Aristida paoliana* | Poaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Aristida protensa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4124270) | *Aristida protensa* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Aristida pycnostachya](https://www.gbif.org/species/4123870) | *Aristida pycnostachya* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Aristida scribneriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4123181) | *Aristida scribneriana* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aristida sieberiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4123040) | *Aristida sieberiana* | Poaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Aristida somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122991) | *Aristida somalensis* | Poaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Aristida stenophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122817) | *Aristida stenophylla* | Poaceae | NE | 53 |
| [Aristida stenostachya](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122809) | *Aristida stenostachya* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Aristida tenuiseta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122328) | *Aristida tenuiseta* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |


This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-3/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Premier Bank: the Islamic bank that brought Mastercard to Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/premier-bank/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Premier Bank is a privately owned Islamic commercial bank in Mogadishu. It was incorporated in 2013, licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia in 2014 and opened on 21 May 2015 with two branches. It was the first Somali bank to issue Mastercard cards. It later opened in Hargeisa and Baidoa, runs the Premier Wallet app, and in 2025 began SWIFT transfers in several currencies.

## The short version

Premier Bank is a privately owned Islamic (sharia-compliant) commercial bank with its head office in Mogadishu. It was incorporated in **2013** and licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia in **2014** ([Wikipedia, Premier Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Bank)). It remains on the Central Bank's register of licensed banks ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

## Opening in 2015

The bank held its opening ceremony in Mogadishu in May 2015, with President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) and the Central Bank governor, Bashir Isse Ali, attending ([African Review, 23 June 2015](https://africanreview.com/finance/banking-a-finance/new-international-bank-starts-operations-in-somalia)). At the time it had **two branches**, both in Mogadishu. The report called it the second international bank in Somalia after the [International Bank of Somalia](/en/businesses/international-bank-of-somalia/) (same source). The bank told the ceremony that it had partnered with Mastercard and SWIFT to bring those services to Somalia (same source). Wikipedia gives the opening date as 21 May 2015 and says the founders were private Somali investors with banking experience in South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), Djibouti and Kenya ([Wikipedia, Premier Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Bank)).

## Cards and payments

- **Mastercard:** in June 2015 Mastercard said it had become the first international payment network to enter Somalia, through Premier Bank. Premier was also the first Somali bank to partner with Visa ([Wikipedia, Premier Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Bank)).
- **Premier Wallet:** the bank relaunched its Premier Wallet app with new services in December 2024 ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/premier-bank-relaunches-premier-wallet-with-new-digital-solutions)). Customers can now receive money sent through Ria Money Transfer directly into the wallet ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/premier-wallet-partners-with-ria-money-transfer-for-instant-international-remittances-in-somalia)).
- **SWIFT transfers:** in June 2025 the bank said its SWIFT connection let customers send and receive US dollars, euros, Chinese yuan, UAE dirhams, Saudi riyals and other currencies. Transfers of **$10,000 or more** need supporting documents ([The Standard, 12 June 2025](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/amp/africa/article/2001521594/premier-bank-eyes-mogadishu-market-with-cross-border-payment-services)).

## Branches outside Mogadishu

- **Hargeisa:** the bank opened in Hargeisa in May 2017 ([Radio Dalsan, 28 May 2017](https://www.radiodalsan.com/en/2017/05/28/premier-bank-now-in-hargeisa-somaliland/)).
- **Baidoa:** it later opened a branch in Baidoa, the capital of [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/). The branch offers Mastercard cards, digital wallets, online banking and business financing ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/premier-bank-expands-with-new-branch-in-baidoa)).

## Other activity

- In October 2018 the bank's chairman announced a **$1 million fund** for Somali technology startups at the Mogadishu Tech Summit, run with the iRise innovation hub ([Goobjoog, 27 October 2018](https://goobjoog.com/english/boost-for-start-ups-in-somalia-as-premier-bank-announces-1m-fund/); [Ventureburn, 26 October 2018](https://ventureburn.com/2018/10/somalian-premier-irise-fund/)).
- In 2025 it was named Outstanding African Banking Brand at the African Business Leadership Awards ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/premier-bank-wins-outstanding-african-banking-brand-award-2025)).

For all banks, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/) and [Somalia's main banks](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/). For how cards and wallets fit with mobile money, see [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/).


---

# Samantar v. Yousuf: the US torture case against a former Somali Prime Minister

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/samantar-v-yousuf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Samantar v. Yousuf was a US lawsuit brought in 2004 by Somalis who said they or their relatives were tortured or killed under the Siad Barre government. They sued Mohamed Ali Samatar, Defence Minister and later Prime Minister, who lived in Virginia. On 1 June 2010 the US Supreme Court ruled that he could not claim immunity as a 'foreign state'. In 2012 he chose not to contest the claims, and a court ordered him to pay US$21 million.

## Who sued whom?

Bashe Abdi Yousuf and other Somalis sued [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/) in a US federal court in Virginia in 2004 ([Justia, case 1:2004cv01360](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/virginia/vaedce/1:2004cv01360/26960/366/)). Samatar was Somalia's Defence Minister in the 1980s and Prime Minister from 1987 to 1990. He had lived in Virginia since the government fell in 1991 ([SCOTUSblog, 1 Jun 2010](https://www.scotusblog.com/2010/06/analysis-an-elusive-immunity-issue-2/)).

The plaintiffs said that forces under his command tortured, detained and killed civilians, mainly Isaaq, in the north in the 1980s. They sued under two US laws: the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 and the Alien Tort Statute ([Center for Justice and Accountability, Yousuf v. Samantar](https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/yousuf-v-samantar/uscourt-ats-tvpa/)). The Center for Justice and Accountability acted for them, with law firms working without fee (same source).

## What did the US Supreme Court decide in 2010?

Samatar argued that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act protected him. That law says a "foreign state shall be immune" from US courts, with some exceptions.

On 1 June 2010 the Supreme Court ruled against him, unanimously ([US Supreme Court, opinion 08-1555](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1555.pdf)). It held that "foreign state" in the Act does not cover an individual official acting for that state ([SCOTUSblog, 1 Jun 2010](https://www.scotusblog.com/2010/06/analysis-an-elusive-immunity-issue-2/)). The citation is *Samantar v. Yousuf*, 560 U.S. 305 (2010). The Court sent the case back to decide whether older, common-law rules might still protect him. The New York Times covered the arguments in March 2010 ([New York Times, 3 Mar 2010](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/us/04scotus.html)).

## What happened after?

- **23 February 2012:** at the start of trial, Samatar's lawyer told the court he would accept a default rather than contest the claims ([Center for Justice and Accountability](https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/yousuf-v-samantar/uscourt-ats-tvpa/)).
- **28 August 2012:** Judge Leonie Brinkema awarded US$21 million. Each of seven plaintiffs received US$1 million in compensation and US$2 million in punitive damages ([Justia, Document 366](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/virginia/vaedce/1:2004cv01360/26960/366/); [Akin Gump, 2012](https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/press-releases/akin-gump-pro-bono-client-wins-landmark-victory-awarded-21m-in)).
- **2 November 2012:** the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled he had no common-law immunity either. Chief Judge William Traxler wrote that violations of *jus cogens*, the highest rules of international law such as the ban on torture, are by definition not acts a state can authorise ([Courthouse News](https://www.courthousenews.com/no-immunity-for-somali-leader-who-tortured/); [International Crimes Database](https://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/842)).
- **March 2015:** the Supreme Court declined to hear his further appeal, leaving the ruling in place ([Akin Gump](https://akingump.com/en/news-insights/supreme-court-preserves-decision-in-favor-of-akin-gump-pro-bono.html); [Wikipedia, Mohammad Ali Samatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)).
- **2016:** Samatar died ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Samatar)).

## What did Samatar say?

When he accepted the default in 2012, he said he could no longer afford the case and that his health was failing. He said he had "never approved any killings" and called the case politically motivated ([CBS News/AP, 28 Aug 2012](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-judge-awards-21m-to-somalis-who-sued-ex-pm-for-torturing-and-killing-his-own-people/)).

## Why the case matters in law

The Center for Justice and Accountability says the Fourth Circuit decision was the first appeals ruling in the US to deny common-law immunity to a foreign official for violations of *jus cogens* ([CJA](https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/yousuf-v-samantar/uscourt-ats-tvpa/)). The 2010 ruling is cited in later cases about whether former officials of other countries can be sued in the United States ([SCOTUSblog](https://www.scotusblog.com/2010/06/analysis-an-elusive-immunity-issue-2/)).

## Related pages

- [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/)
- [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)


---

# Aloes, dragon trees, palms and other monocot plants of Somalia: 227 species

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 227 monocot plant species from Somalia outside the grasses and sedges: aloes, dragon trees (Dracaena, which now includes Sansevieria) and other members of the asparagus family, arums, amaryllis, palms, orchids, spiderworts and seagrasses.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 227 monocot (other than grasses and sedges) species with Somalia as the country, in 23 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Asparagaceae: 58
- Asphodelaceae: 51
- Commelinaceae: 27
- Araceae: 17
- Amaryllidaceae: 12
- Colchicaceae: 8
- Arecaceae: 7
- Iridaceae: 7
- Orchidaceae: 7
- Juncaceae: 6

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Commelina albescens (47), rat's ear (40), Gabal Elba Dragon Tree (29), Aloe scobinifolia (28), [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) Aloe (28), Aneilema pusillum (28) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

56 of the 227 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

12 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Arisaema somalense*, *Chlorophytum somaliense*, *Dracaena hargeisana*, *Ledebouria somaliensis*, *Aloe somaliensis*, *Bulbine migiurtina*, *Gladiolus somalensis*, *Aneilema benadirense*, *Aneilema obbiadense*, *Aneilema somaliense*, *Commelina somalensis*, *Cyanotis somaliensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: Aloe brunneostriata, *Aloe jucunda*, Aloe moledarana ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Endangered: Bankouale Palm, Gabal Elba Dragon Tree, Aloe albovestita, Aloe ambigens, *Aloe bella*, Daloh Cliff Aloe, *Aloe gillettii*, soft distant sword-leaved aloe, Aloe grisea, *Aloe hildebrandtii*, *Aloe peckii*, Aloe scobinifolia ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Aloe lindenii, Aloe retrospiciens, Somaliland Aloe ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 3
- Endangered (EN): 12
- Vulnerable (VU): 3
- Near Threatened (NT): 5
- Least Concern (LC): 58
- Data Deficient (DD): 2
- Not Evaluated (NE): 144

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Asparagaceae: 58 species
- Asphodelaceae: 51 species
- Commelinaceae: 27 species
- Araceae: 17 species
- Amaryllidaceae: 12 species
- Colchicaceae: 8 species
- Arecaceae: 7 species
- Iridaceae: 7 species
- Orchidaceae: 7 species
- Juncaceae: 6 species

## Full list (227 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia-2/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Arrow Head](https://www.gbif.org/species/2865247) | *Limnophyton obtusifolium* | Alismataceae | LC | 8 |
| [Garlic](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia/) | *Allium sativum* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Allium spathaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2857772) | *Allium spathaceum* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ammocharis tinneana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5325622) | *Ammocharis tinneana* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Crinum abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853891) | *Crinum abyssinicum* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Seven Sisters](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853938) | *Crinum americanum* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rattrayii Crinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853913) | *Crinum jagus* | Amaryllidaceae | LC | 1 |
| [pyjama lily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853929) | *Crinum macowanii* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crinum purpurascens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853936) | *Crinum purpurascens* | Amaryllidaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Candy-striped Crinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853683) | *Crinum stuhlmannii* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 4 |
| [One Day Lily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853255) | *Pancratium tenuifolium* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pancratium trianthum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2853265) | *Pancratium trianthum* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bloodlily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2860677) | *Scadoxus multiflorus* | Amaryllidaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Aponogeton abyssinicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5328601) | *Aponogeton abyssinicus* | Aponogetonaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Aponogeton nudiflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5328563) | *Aponogeton nudiflorus* | Aponogetonaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Amorphophallus gallaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2871630) | *Amorphophallus gallaensis* | Araceae | NE | 5 |
| [Amorphophallus maximus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2871474) | *Amorphophallus maximus* | Araceae | NE | 4 |
| [Yellow Cobra Lily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2866859) | *Arisaema flavum* | Araceae | NE | 3 |
| [Arisaema mildbraedii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2867186) | *Arisaema mildbraedii* | Araceae | NE | 1 |
| [Arisaema somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2867245) | *Arisaema somalense* | Araceae | NE | 9 |
| [Giraffe's Knees](https://www.gbif.org/species/5330157) | *Gonatopus boivinii* | Araceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fat Duckweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2867569) | *Lemna gibba* | Araceae | LC | 1 |
| [Minute Duckweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2867627) | *Lemna perpusilla* | Araceae | LC | 2 |
| [Water cabbage, Water lettuce, Nile cabbage, Shellflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2870583) | *Pistia stratiotes* | Araceae | LC | 6 |
| [Stylochaeton borumense](https://www.gbif.org/species/7654660) | *Stylochaeton borumense* | Araceae | NE | 2 |
| [Stylochaeton borumensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2871826) | *Stylochaeton borumensis* | Araceae | NE | 2 |
| [Stylochaeton grandis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2871838) | *Stylochaeton grandis* | Araceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stylochaeton hypogeum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7509684) | *Stylochaeton hypogeum* | Araceae | NE | 3 |
| [Bushveld Arum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7735379) | *Stylochaeton natalense* | Araceae | NE | 2 |
| [Stylochiton borumensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3604337) | *Stylochiton borumensis* | Araceae | NE | 3 |
| [Stylochiton grandis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3604318) | *Stylochiton grandis* | Araceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rootless Duckweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5330092) | *Wolffia arrhiza* | Araceae | LC | 1 |
| [doum palm](https://www.gbif.org/species/8192439) | *Hyphaene compressa* | Arecaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Doum Palm](https://www.gbif.org/species/8041758) | *Hyphaene coriacea* | Arecaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Hyphaene reptans](https://www.gbif.org/species/8060711) | *Hyphaene reptans* | Arecaceae | DD | 3 |
| [Egyptian doum palm](https://www.gbif.org/species/7931200) | *Hyphaene thebaica* | Arecaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Bankouale Palm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2733413) | *Livistona carinensis* | Arecaceae | EN | 5 |
| [Phoenix caespitosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5293137) | *Phoenix caespitosa* | Arecaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Date](https://www.gbif.org/species/6109699) | *Phoenix dactylifera* | Arecaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Albuca abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2772379) | *Albuca abyssinica* | Asparagaceae | NE | 22 |
| [sea-onion](https://www.gbif.org/species/3647605) | *Albuca bracteata* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Albuca donaldsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2772416) | *Albuca donaldsonii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Green Tamarak](https://www.gbif.org/species/8704606) | *Albuca virens* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Anthericum corymbosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2773924) | *Anthericum corymbosum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Anthericum jamesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2773918) | *Anthericum jamesii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Anthericum neghellense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774768) | *Anthericum neghellense* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [asparagus-fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768551) | *Asparagus africanus* | Asparagaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Asparagus brachiatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768836) | *Asparagus brachiatus* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spur-hook Asparagus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768622) | *Asparagus buchananii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Asparagus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768780) | *Asparagus falcatus* | Asparagaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Asparagus flagellaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768456) | *Asparagus flagellaris* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Asparagus leptocladodius](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768391) | *Asparagus leptocladodius* | Asparagaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Asparagus natalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768676) | *Asparagus natalensis* | Asparagaceae | NE | 10 |
| [asparagus-fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768632) | *Asparagus racemosus* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Asparagus scaberulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768410) | *Asparagus scaberulus* | Asparagaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Common Asparagus Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768686) | *Asparagus setaceus* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chlorophytum africanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774507) | *Chlorophytum africanum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chlorophytum appendiculatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774798) | *Chlorophytum appendiculatum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Chlorophytum applanatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774927) | *Chlorophytum applanatum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Chlorophytum bifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774803) | *Chlorophytum bifolium* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chlorophytum cameronii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774805) | *Chlorophytum cameronii* | Asparagaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Chlorophytum filifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774930) | *Chlorophytum filifolium* | Asparagaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Chlorophytum gallabatense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774366) | *Chlorophytum gallabatense* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Chlorophytum hiranense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774386) | *Chlorophytum hiranense* | Asparagaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Chlorophytum inconspicuum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774616) | *Chlorophytum inconspicuum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chlorophytum littorale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774472) | *Chlorophytum littorale* | Asparagaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Chlorophytum nervosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774572) | *Chlorophytum nervosum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chlorophytum parvulum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774469) | *Chlorophytum parvulum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Chlorophytum petraeum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774338) | *Chlorophytum petraeum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Chlorophytum ramosissimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774431) | *Chlorophytum ramosissimum* | Asparagaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Chlorophytum somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2775095) | *Chlorophytum somaliense* | Asparagaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Chlorophytum tordense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2775057) | *Chlorophytum tordense* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chlorophytum tuberosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774912) | *Chlorophytum tuberosum* | Asparagaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Chlorophytum zavattarii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2774632) | *Chlorophytum zavattarii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dainty Green Bells](https://www.gbif.org/species/2768199) | *Dipcadi viride* | Asparagaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Dracaena canaliculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11094726) | *Dracaena canaliculata* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dracaena chahinianii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10847720) | *Dracaena chahinianii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dracaena eilensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10962109) | *Dracaena eilensis* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dracaena forskaliana](https://www.gbif.org/species/10939705) | *Dracaena forskaliana* | Asparagaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Dracaena hanningtonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5303896) | *Dracaena hanningtonii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Dracaena hargeisana](https://www.gbif.org/species/10991606) | *Dracaena hargeisana* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dracaena lavranii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10671513) | *Dracaena lavranii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gabal Elba Dragon Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/5304569) | *Dracaena ombet* | Asparagaceae | EN | 29 |
| [Dracaena perrotii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11007491) | *Dracaena perrotii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dracaena phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/10946657) | *Dracaena phillipsiae* | Asparagaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Dracaena powellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11039670) | *Dracaena powellii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Dracaena serpenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/10768748) | *Dracaena serpenta* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dracaena suffruticosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/10941526) | *Dracaena suffruticosa* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dracaena volkensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11002638) | *Dracaena volkensii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indian-squill](https://www.gbif.org/species/2776661) | *Drimia indica* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Drimiopsis barteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2776461) | *Drimiopsis barteri* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Drimiopsis botryoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2776478) | *Drimiopsis botryoides* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ledebouria cordifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2773782) | *Ledebouria cordifolia* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ledebouria kirkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2773795) | *Ledebouria kirkii* | Asparagaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Wave-Leaved Hyacinth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2773721) | *Ledebouria revoluta* | Asparagaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ledebouria somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2773760) | *Ledebouria somaliensis* | Asparagaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Spiky Hedgehog Lily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2770408) | *Massonia echinata* | Asparagaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aloe albovestita](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777692) | *Aloe albovestita* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 5 |
| [Aloe ambigens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777335) | *Aloe ambigens* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 4 |
| [Aloe bargalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777815) | *Aloe bargalensis* | Asphodelaceae | NT | 4 |
| [Aloe bella](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777581) | *Aloe bella* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 2 |
| [Aloe breviscapa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777772) | *Aloe breviscapa* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Aloe brunneostriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777623) | *Aloe brunneostriata* | Asphodelaceae | CR | 4 |
| [Aloe citrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777183) | *Aloe citrina* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Daloh Cliff Aloe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778149) | *Aloe cremnophila* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 9 |
| [Aloe ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777320) | *Aloe ellenbeckii* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Aloe gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777998) | *Aloe gillettii* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 7 |
| [Aloe glabrescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777843) | *Aloe glabrescens* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 17 |
| [soft distant sword-leaved aloe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777568) | *Aloe gracilicaulis* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 8 |
| [Aloe grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777182) | *Aloe grisea* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 6 |
| [Aloe heliderana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777838) | *Aloe heliderana* | Asphodelaceae | NT | 9 |
| [Aloe hemmingii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777818) | *Aloe hemmingii* | Asphodelaceae | NT | 1 |
| [Aloe heybensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778169) | *Aloe heybensis* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Aloe hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777533) | *Aloe hildebrandtii* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 21 |
| [Aloe inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777950) | *Aloe inermis* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Aloe jucunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777678) | *Aloe jucunda* | Asphodelaceae | CR | 18 |
| [Aloe lindenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777458) | *Aloe lindenii* | Asphodelaceae | VU | 4 |
| [Aloe luntii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777811) | *Aloe luntii* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Aloe macrocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777569) | *Aloe macrocarpa* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Diredawan Aloe](https://www.gbif.org/species/7835669) | *Aloe mcloughlinii* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Aloe medishiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778001) | *Aloe medishiana* | Asphodelaceae | NT | 12 |
| [Aloe megalacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777974) | *Aloe megalacantha* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Aloe microdonta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777575) | *Aloe microdonta* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 26 |
| [Aloe miskatana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777456) | *Aloe miskatana* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Aloe moledarana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777951) | *Aloe molederana* | Asphodelaceae | CR | 12 |
| [Aloe niebuhriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777184) | *Aloe niebuhriana* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aloe nugalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8866341) | *Aloe nugalensis* | Asphodelaceae | DD | 4 |
| [Aloe otallensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777404) | *Aloe otallensis* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Aloe parvidens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778082) | *Aloe parvidens* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Aloe peckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777916) | *Aloe peckii* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 18 |
| [Aloe pirottae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778074) | *Aloe pirottae* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Aloe rabaiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777836) | *Aloe rabaiensis* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Aloe retrospiciens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777369) | *Aloe retrospiciens* | Asphodelaceae | VU | 6 |
| [Aloe rigens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777186) | *Aloe rigens* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 21 |
| [Aloe rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778115) | *Aloe rivae* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Aloe ruspoliana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777751) | *Aloe ruspoliana* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Aloe sanguinalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10352610) | *Aloe sanguinalis* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Aloe scobinifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778135) | *Aloe scobinifolia* | Asphodelaceae | EN | 28 |
| [Somaliland Aloe](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777387) | *Aloe somaliensis* | Asphodelaceae | VU | 28 |
| [Aloe tomentosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777906) | *Aloe tomentosa* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Aloe trichosantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2777606) | *Aloe trichosantha* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Somali Tree Aloe](https://www.gbif.org/species/9412114) | *Aloidendron eminens* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Hollow-stemmed Asphodel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2778437) | *Asphodelus fistulosus* | Asphodelaceae | LC | 1 |
| [African Beardstyle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5304898) | *Bulbine abyssinica* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Bulbine macrocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8109554) | *Bulbine macrocarpa* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia-2/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# International Bank of Somalia (IBS Bank): founding, share sale and branches

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/international-bank-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> The International Bank of Somalia (IBS Bank) is a commercial bank in Mogadishu. It was incorporated in July 2013 and opened on 11 October 2014. Bloomberg reported it as the first Somali lender able to handle foreign transactions. It was founded by Somali businesspeople based mostly in Dubai. In 2015 it offered $10 million of shares to the public. It has branches in Mogadishu and other cities, and opened in Hargeisa in 2023.

## The short version

The International Bank of Somalia, known as **IBS Bank**, was incorporated in **July 2013** and began operating in Mogadishu on **11 October 2014** ([Wikipedia, International Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_of_Somalia)). Bloomberg reported it as the first Somali lender able to handle foreign transactions ([Bloomberg, 13 October 2014](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-13/somali-bank-becomes-first-lender-to-handle-foreign-transactions.html)). President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), ministers and business people attended the opening ([Goobjoog, 13 October 2014](http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=4804)). The bank is on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed banks ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

## Owners and the 2015 share sale

- The bank was founded by Somali entrepreneurs based mainly in **Dubai** ([Wikipedia, International Bank of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_of_Somalia)).
- In March 2015 it launched a **$10 million** public share offer, in blocks of $500 to $500,000. The offer was 10 percent of the bank's capital, and the founders held a further 31 percent ([Capital Markets in Africa, March 2015](https://www.capitalmarketsinafrica.com/bank-seeks-to-raise-10-mln-via-share-sale-in-war-torn-somalia/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_of_Somalia)).
- At that time it was one of six local banks with commercial licences from the Central Bank (same source).
- In 2019 Mahat [Mohammed Ahmed](/en/people/mohammed-ahmed/) became chief executive ([Somalia Investor, 30 January 2019](https://somaliainvestor.so/mahat-mohammed-ahmed-the-fresh-pair-of-hands-at-the-helm-of-international-bank-of-somalia-ibs/)).

## Services

IBS offers personal, business, wholesale and investment banking, as well as takaful (Islamic insurance). Its products include trade finance, home finance, deposits and project funds ([Asoko Insight, 2015](http://asokoinsight.com/news/international-bank-somalia-opens-mogadishu/)). It began issuing **Mastercard** cards in July 2019 ([Goobjoog, 8 July 2019](https://goobjoog.com/english/ibs-launch-mastercard-in-somalia/)) and announced a partnership with **Visa** in May 2020 ([Africa Business Communities, 19 May 2020](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801194212/https://africabusinesscommunities.com/tech/tech-news/visa-collaborates-with-ibs-bank-somalia-to-drive-payments-inclusion/)).

## Branches

- The bank lists **seven branches** in Mogadishu and branches in **Garowe, Kismayo, [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) and Baidoa** ([IBS Bank, Find us, 2020](https://ibsbank.so/find-us/)).
- **Hargeisa:** [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s vice president formally opened IBS Bank's Hargeisa branch in June 2023. By then the bank had been working in Somaliland for almost a year ([Somaliland Standard, 15 June 2023](https://somalilandstandard.com/sl-vice-president-launches-ibs-bank-branch-in-hargeisa)).

## Standing

African Business named IBS among the largest of Somalia's 13 licensed banks in 2025 ([African Business, August 2025](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)). It won Bank of the Year at the Somali Annual Business Awards in 2016 and 2017 ([Somalia Investor, 19 February 2018](https://somaliainvestor.so/international-bank-of-somalia-ibs-clinches-company-of-the-year-crown/)).

For all banks, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/) and [Somalia's main banks](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/). For another bank of the same period, see [Premier Bank](/en/businesses/premier-bank/).


---

# Legumes of Somalia: all 434 species of acacias and the pea family on record (part 2 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 434 species of the legume or pea family (Fabaceae) from Somalia, the largest plant family on record there. It includes the acacias and other thorn trees that dominate Somali bushland, and the yeheb nut shrub, Cordeauxia edulis.

Part 2 of 3 of [Legumes of Somalia: all 434 species of acacias and the pea family on record](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-3/)

## Full list (434 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [anatree](https://www.gbif.org/species/5360150) | *Faidherbia albida* | Fabaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Gelrebia oligophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/9432743) | *Gelrebia oligophylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Gelrebia trothae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9526232) | *Gelrebia trothae* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Gelrebia trothaei](https://www.gbif.org/species/10897363) | *Gelrebia trothaei* | Fabaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Guilandina bonduc](https://www.gbif.org/species/8400302) | *Guilandina bonduc* | Fabaceae | LC | 7 |
| [False Indigo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2966659) | *Indigastrum costatum* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Indigofera amorphoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972145) | *Indigofera amorphoides* | Fabaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Indigofera arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971391) | *Indigofera arabica* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Indigofera argentea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971766) | *Indigofera argentea* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Bengal indigo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972067) | *Indigofera arrecta* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Khedaish](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971765) | *Indigofera articulata* | Fabaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Indigofera bayensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972263) | *Indigofera bayensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Indigofera boranica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972249) | *Indigofera boranica* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Indigofera brachynema](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972448) | *Indigofera brachynema* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Indigofera brevicalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971598) | *Indigofera brevicalyx* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Indigofera cavallii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972123) | *Indigofera cavallii* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Indigofera ciferrii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971601) | *Indigofera ciferrii* | Fabaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Indigofera cliffordiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972290) | *Indigofera cliffordiana* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indigofera coerulea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971772) | *Indigofera coerulea* | Fabaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Rusty Indigo](https://www.gbif.org/species/8425549) | *Indigofera colutea* | Fabaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Indigofera cordifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972128) | *Indigofera cordifolia* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera dauensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972144) | *Indigofera dauensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Indigofera deflersii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972234) | *Indigofera deflersii* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indigofera dendroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971867) | *Indigofera dendroides* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera dissitiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971548) | *Indigofera dissitiflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3970628) | *Indigofera ellenbeckii* | Fabaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Indigofera eremophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972163) | *Indigofera eremophila* | Fabaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Indigofera exellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972008) | *Indigofera exellii* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Indigofera gypsacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971957) | *Indigofera gypsacea* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Indigofera hiranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971908) | *Indigofera hiranensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indigofera hochstetteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972197) | *Indigofera hochstetteri* | Fabaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Indigofera intricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971536) | *Indigofera intricata* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Indigofera karkarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8235596) | *Indigofera karkarensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971538) | *Indigofera kelleri* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Indigofera longimucronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971976) | *Indigofera longimucronata* | Fabaceae | VU | 4 |
| [Indigofera lughensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972235) | *Indigofera lughensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Squarepod Indigo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972028) | *Indigofera lupatana* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera microcarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971378) | *Indigofera microcarpa* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [scarlet-pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972490) | *Indigofera miniata* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Indigofera nephrocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972206) | *Indigofera nephrocarpa* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indigofera nugalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971762) | *Indigofera nugalensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Indigofera nummulariifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971920) | *Indigofera nummulariifolia* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hasr](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971726) | *Indigofera oblongifolia* | Fabaceae | LC | 24 |
| [Indigofera ogadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971432) | *Indigofera ogadensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Indigofera pellucida](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971687) | *Indigofera pellucida* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indigofera phymatodea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972368) | *Indigofera phymatodea* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Indigofera pretoriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972436) | *Indigofera pretoriana* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera pseudointricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971535) | *Indigofera pseudointricata* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera punctata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7953389) | *Indigofera punctata* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera rothii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972026) | *Indigofera rothii* | Fabaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Indigofera ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971444) | *Indigofera ruspolii* | Fabaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Indigofera sabulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972266) | *Indigofera sabulosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Indigofera schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971724) | *Indigofera schimperi* | Fabaceae | NE | 76 |
| [Indigofera scopiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972072) | *Indigofera scopiformis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Indigofera sedgewickiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972350) | *Indigofera sedgewickiana* | Fabaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Indigofera semitrijuga](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971558) | *Indigofera semitrijuga* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Indigofera sparteola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972321) | *Indigofera sparteola* | Fabaceae | NE | 19 |
| [creeping indigo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971635) | *Indigofera spicata* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indigofera spiniflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972386) | *Indigofera spiniflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Indigofera spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972105) | *Indigofera spinosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 35 |
| [Indigofera streyana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972200) | *Indigofera streyana* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera strobilifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972325) | *Indigofera strobilifera* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Indigofera suaveolens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972096) | *Indigofera suaveolens* | Fabaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Indigofera subulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971660) | *Indigofera subulata* | Fabaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Indigofera tanganyikensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972151) | *Indigofera tanganyikensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 8 |
| [True indigo, Indigo, Common indigo, Indian indigo, Bengal Indigo, Ceylon Indigo, Wild Indigo, Chinese indigo, Commercial Indigo, Dyers Indigo, East Asian Indigo Plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972043) | *Indigofera tinctoria* | Fabaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Indigofera trialata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971586) | *Indigofera trialata* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Asian Indigo](https://www.gbif.org/species/4271745) | *Indigofera trita* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Indigofera vicioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972360) | *Indigofera vicioides* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera viscosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/11131745) | *Indigofera viscosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indigofera volkensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971617) | *Indigofera volkensii* | Fabaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Horse/wild tamarind, Jumbie bean, Lead tree, Leucaena](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970418) | *Leucaena leucocephala* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [divi-divi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2958707) | *Libidibia coriaria* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Lotus garcinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8298127) | *Lotus garcinii* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Lotus quinatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5356887) | *Lotus quinatus* | Fabaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Lotus torulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5356834) | *Lotus torulosus* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Lupinus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3969990) | *Lupinus somaliensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Perennial Horsegram](https://www.gbif.org/species/2976978) | *Macrotyloma axillare* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [horse gram](https://www.gbif.org/species/2976931) | *Macrotyloma uniflorum* | Fabaceae | LC | 20 |
| [Tattered Medick](https://www.gbif.org/species/2965221) | *Medicago laciniata* | Fabaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Black Medick](https://www.gbif.org/species/2965201) | *Medicago lupulina* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [bur medick](https://www.gbif.org/species/8073758) | *Medicago minima* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Button Medick](https://www.gbif.org/species/2965299) | *Medicago orbicularis* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Toothed Medick](https://www.gbif.org/species/2965531) | *Medicago polymorpha* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Alfalfa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9151957) | *Medicago sativa* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Small Melilot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971016) | *Melilotus indicus* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Microcharis karinensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963354) | *Microcharis karinensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Microcharis kucharii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963332) | *Microcharis kucharii* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Microcharis microcharoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963314) | *Microcharis microcharoides* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Microcharis omissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3961915) | *Microcharis omissa* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Microcharis sessilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963316) | *Microcharis sessilis* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Microcharis stipulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963318) | *Microcharis stipulosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Microcharis tenuirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963337) | *Microcharis tenuirostris* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Microcharis tritoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963345) | *Microcharis tritoides* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Microcharis wajirensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2963286) | *Microcharis wajirensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [small panga-panga](https://www.gbif.org/species/5355738) | *Millettia usaramensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Giant sensitive-plant, Giant sensitive-tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2969431) | *Mimosa pigra* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cork Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2933885) | *Mundulea sericea* | Fabaceae | NE | 37 |
| [Common Gemsbokbean](https://www.gbif.org/species/2971170) | *Neorautanenia mitis* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Newtonia erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5348472) | *Newtonia erlangeri* | Fabaceae | EN | 16 |
| [Ononis sicula](https://www.gbif.org/species/2977111) | *Ononis sicula* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Ormocarpum keniense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2954022) | *Ormocarpum keniense* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Caterpillarpod](https://www.gbif.org/species/2954031) | *Ormocarpum kirkii* | Fabaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Ormocarpum muricatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2954020) | *Ormocarpum muricatum* | Fabaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Ormocarpum trachycarpum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2954053) | *Ormocarpum trachycarpum* | Fabaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Caterpillar Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2954028) | *Ormocarpum trichocarpum* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Oxytropis neglecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5360844) | *Oxytropis neglecta* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Paracalyx microphyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2947100) | *Paracalyx microphyllus* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Paracalyx nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2947105) | *Paracalyx nogalensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Paracalyx scariosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2947098) | *Paracalyx scariosus* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Paracalyx somalorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2947103) | *Paracalyx somalorum* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [African locust bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5348822) | *Parkia filicoidea* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Jerusalem thorn, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jelly bean tree, Barbados flowerfence, Horse-bean, Retaima](https://www.gbif.org/species/5357217) | *Parkinsonia aculeata* | Fabaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Parkinsonia anacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5357232) | *Parkinsonia anacantha* | Fabaceae | VU | 2 |
| [Parkinsonia raimondoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5357216) | *Parkinsonia raimondoi* | Fabaceae | EN | 3 |
| [Parkinsonia scioana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5357220) | *Parkinsonia scioana* | Fabaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Pericopsis laxiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2940390) | *Pericopsis laxiflora* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Sieva Bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350438) | *Phaseolus lunatus* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [French Bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350452) | *Phaseolus vulgaris* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Philenoptera kanurii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3976071) | *Philenoptera kanurii* | Fabaceae | EN | 7 |
| [Philenoptera laxiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2969179) | *Philenoptera laxiflora* | Fabaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Appleleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3976037) | *Philenoptera violacea* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Monkeypod, Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, Sweet inga, Blackbead](https://www.gbif.org/species/2962831) | *Pithecellobium dulce* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Platycelyphium voense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2943551) | *Platycelyphium voense* | Fabaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Chilean algarrobo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5358466) | *Prosopis chilensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Prosopis, Mesquite, Algaroba bean, Mexican thorn, Ironwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/5358460) | *Prosopis juliflora* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Bug-catcher](https://www.gbif.org/species/2932982) | *Pseudarthria hookeri* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Small-Leaved Bloodwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/5349254) | *Pterocarpus lucens* | Fabaceae | LC | 14 |
| [Red-Wing](https://www.gbif.org/species/5357452) | *Pterolobium stellatum* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [silver snoutbean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350613) | *Rhynchosia albissima* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Rhynchosia densiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/5351048) | *Rhynchosia densiflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Rhynchosia elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350830) | *Rhynchosia elegans* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Rhynchosia gansole](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350869) | *Rhynchosia gansole* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Rhynchosia malacophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350866) | *Rhynchosia malacophylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Rhynchosia malacotricha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350980) | *Rhynchosia malacotricha* | Fabaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Rhynchosia megalocalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/5351021) | *Rhynchosia megalocalyx* | Fabaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Rhynchosia micrantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350582) | *Rhynchosia micrantha* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Least Snoutbean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350585) | *Rhynchosia minima* | Fabaceae | LC | 51 |
| [Rhynchosia pulverulenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350762) | *Rhynchosia pulverulenta* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Rhynchosia ramosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350818) | *Rhynchosia ramosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhynchosia schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350620) | *Rhynchosia schimperi* | Fabaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Rhynchosia sublobata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350565) | *Rhynchosia sublobata* | Fabaceae | NE | 19 |
| [snoutbean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350820) | *Rhynchosia totta* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Rhynchosia velutina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350661) | *Rhynchosia velutina* | Fabaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Rhynchosia viscosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5350600) | *Rhynchosia viscosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Rain tree, Saman, Monkey pod, Cow tamarind, Giant thibet, Inga saman, East Indian walnut, Soar, Suar, Crow bean tree, False powder puff, French tamarind, Coco tamarind](https://www.gbif.org/species/2972960) | *Samanea saman* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Senegalia ankokib](https://www.gbif.org/species/8335206) | *Senegalia ankokib* | Fabaceae | VU | 23 |
| [Senegalia asak](https://www.gbif.org/species/7818163) | *Senegalia asak* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Senegalia brevispica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7642799) | *Senegalia brevispica* | Fabaceae | LC | 27 |
| [Senegalia caraniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8220762) | *Senegalia caraniana* | Fabaceae | VU | 12 |
| [Senegalia cheilanthifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7843790) | *Senegalia cheilanthifolia* | Fabaceae | VU | 36 |
| [Senegalia circummarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7483680) | *Senegalia circummarginata* | Fabaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Senegalia condyloclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/8364699) | *Senegalia condyloclada* | Fabaceae | NT | 7 |
| [Senegalia densispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7751475) | *Senegalia densispina* | Fabaceae | EN | 5 |
| [Senegalia flagellaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/7938787) | *Senegalia flagellaris* | Fabaceae | EN | 5 |
| [purplepod acacia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7894190) | *Senegalia goetzei* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Senegalia hamulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7768967) | *Senegalia hamulosa* | Fabaceae | LC | 69 |
| [Climbing Wattle](https://www.gbif.org/species/10709698) | *Senegalia kerrii* | Fabaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Senegalia laeta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3796062) | *Senegalia laeta* | Fabaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Senegalia manubensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8399001) | *Senegalia manubensis* | Fabaceae | EN | 6 |
| [hookthorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/6710006) | *Senegalia mellifera* | Fabaceae | LC | 79 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-3/)


---

# Dahabshil Bank International: the Dahabshiil group's Islamic bank

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Dahabshil Bank International is the Islamic bank of the Dahabshiil money transfer group. The Central Bank of Djibouti licensed Dahabshiil to take deposits and lend in December 2008, and the bank opened in Djibouti in 2009. In November 2014 it opened a $12 million headquarters building in Hargeisa, reported as the first commercial bank in Somaliland. It also works in Mogadishu and Bosaso and is on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed banks.

## The short version

Dahabshil Bank International (DBI) is a sharia-compliant bank owned by the [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) group, the largest Somali money transfer company ([Wikipedia, Dahabshil Bank International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International)). It appears on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed banks as Dahabshiil International Bank ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

## Timeline

- **29 December 2008:** [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) announces that the **Central Bank of Djibouti** has authorised it to provide banking services: taking deposits and lending to people, businesses and companies. It planned to offer savings and current accounts, home finance, personal loans and debit and credit cards ([Hiiraan Online, January 2009](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2009/Jan/9509/dahabshiil_receives_djibouti_central_bank_license_to_offer_banking_services.aspx)).
- **2009:** the bank opens in Djibouti and becomes an officially recognised institution in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), opening its first Hargeisa branch the same year ([Wikipedia, Dahabshil Bank International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International)).
- **November 2014:** Somaliland's president at the time, [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) "Silanyo", opens the bank's **$12 million** headquarters building in central Hargeisa. The building also houses a shopping centre and a hotel. Reports described it as the first commercial bank in Somaliland's history ([Somalilandsun, reprinted by Dahabshil Bank](https://dahabshilbank.com/africas-largest-money-transfer-business-selects-hargeisa-as-flagship-of-dahabshil-international-bank); [Reuters, 30 November 2014, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150120094101/http://af.reuters.com/article/somaliaNews/idAFL2N0TK0L720141130)).
- **By November 2014:** the bank had lent **$70 million** to finance, livestock, farming, health and education ([Wikipedia, citing Reuters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International)).

## Where it works

At the 2014 opening, the group's chief executive, [Abdirashid Duale](/en/people/abdirashid-duale/), described the bank as headquartered in Djibouti, with branches in Hargeisa, Mogadishu and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) ([Somalilandsun, reprinted by Dahabshil Bank](https://dahabshilbank.com/africas-largest-money-transfer-business-selects-hargeisa-as-flagship-of-dahabshil-international-bank)). Wikipedia gives Hargeisa as the head office and also calls it one of the main banks in Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International)). A 2013 report for the UK government named Dahabshil Bank and Salaam African Bank, both registered in Djibouti, as the only two banks then operating in Somalia apart from the money transfer firms ([Beechwood International, Safer Corridors Rapid Assessment, 2013, p. 35](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c4e04ed915d3d0e87b799/SAFER_CORRIDORS_RAPID_ASSESSMENT__2013__SOMALIA___UK_BANKING.PDF)).

## Services and memberships

The bank offers personal, private, business and international banking, and also provides a commodities exchange service ([Dahabshil Bank, archived 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140916030849/http://dahabshilbank.com/cms.php?id=Host_Country&)). Wikipedia lists the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency among the bodies it belongs to ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahabshil_Bank_International)).

## Names on maps and apps

In October 2024 Dahabshiil removed the name "Somaliland" from its platforms after a directive from the federal government of Somalia ([Hiiraan Online, October 2024](https://store.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/Oct/198344/dahabshiil_removes_somaliland_from_platforms_after_somali_government_directive.aspx)).

For the group's money transfer and telecom businesses, see [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) and [Somtel](/en/businesses/somtel/). For all banks, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/).


---

# Ferns, conifers, mosses and seaweeds of Somalia: 131 species

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/ferns-conifers-mosses-and-seaweeds-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 131 plant species from Somalia outside the flowering plants: red and green seaweeds, ferns, mosses and liverworts, clubmosses, and conifers such as the African pencil cedar, Juniperus procera, of the northern mountains.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 131 non-flowering plant species with Somalia as the country, in 10 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Florideophyceae: 39
- Polypodiopsida: 28
- Bryopsida: 23
- Ulvophyceae: 21
- Pinopsida: 9
- Lycopodiopsida: 4
- Jungermanniopsida: 3
- Gnetopsida: 2
- Charophyceae: 1
- Marchantiopsida: 1

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are African juniper (77), Maidenhair Fern (57), *Selaginella yemensis* (43), Oeosporangium coriaceum (40), Aleuritopteris scioana (33), Shrubby Horsetail (24) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

64 of the 131 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

5 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Fissidens somaliae*, *Barbula somaliae*, *Tortella somaliae*, *Riccia somaliensis*, *Ephedra somalensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: Monterey Pine ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Norfolk Island Pine ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 1
- Vulnerable (VU): 1
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 15
- Data Deficient (DD): 0
- Not Evaluated (NE): 114

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Pteridaceae: 16 species
- Pottiaceae: 12 species
- Rhodomelaceae: 7 species
- Galaxauraceae: 5 species
- Aspleniaceae: 5 species
- Codiaceae: 4 species
- Halimedaceae: 4 species
- Cystocloniaceae: 4 species
- Solieriaceae: 4 species
- Cupressaceae: 4 species

## Full list (131 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Landlady's Wig](/en/nature/ferns-conifers-mosses-and-seaweeds-of-somalia/) | *Ahnfeltia plicata* | Ahnfeltiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Anadyomene wrightii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272949) | *Anadyomene wrightii* | Anadyomenaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Norfolk Island Pine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2684969) | *Araucaria heterophylla* | Araucariaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Egyptian Spleenwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/2650613) | *Asplenium aethiopicum* | Aspleniaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Rustyback](https://www.gbif.org/species/2650617) | *Asplenium ceterach* | Aspleniaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Mauritius spleenwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/4258282) | *Asplenium daucifolium* | Aspleniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Asplenium phillipsianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7924275) | *Asplenium phillipsianum* | Aspleniaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Asplenium stuhlmannii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4257831) | *Asplenium stuhlmannii* | Aspleniaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Boodlea composita](https://www.gbif.org/species/8259272) | *Boodlea composita* | Boodleaceae | NE | 1 |
| [palamocladium moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/2679728) | *Palamocladium leskeoides* | Brachytheciaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Saw-blade Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9359402) | *Caulerpa serrulata* | Caulerpaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceramium diaphanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5277142) | *Ceramium diaphanum* | Ceramiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Corallophila cinnabarina](https://www.gbif.org/species/2658295) | *Corallophila cinnabarina* | Ceramiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Champia irregularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2663432) | *Champia irregularis* | Champiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chara zeylanica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5270840) | *Chara zeylanica* | Characeae | LC | 4 |
| [Cladophora mauritiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272477) | *Cladophora mauritiana* | Cladophoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cladophora vagabunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272441) | *Cladophora vagabunda* | Cladophoraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Codium decorticatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272147) | *Codium decorticatum* | Codiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Codium dichotomum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272200) | *Codium dichotomum* | Codiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Velvet Horn](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272167) | *Codium tomentosum* | Codiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Codium vermilara](https://www.gbif.org/species/5272160) | *Codium vermilara* | Codiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Jania cultrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6453204) | *Jania cultrata* | Corallinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Arizona cypress](https://www.gbif.org/species/2684046) | *Cupressus lusitanica* | Cupressaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Italian Cypress](https://www.gbif.org/species/2684030) | *Cupressus sempervirens* | Cupressaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Juniperus excelsa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8042675) | *Juniperus excelsa* | Cupressaceae | NE | 1 |
| [African juniper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2684500) | *Juniperus procera* | Cupressaceae | LC | 77 |
| [Hypnea musciformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9802728) | *Hypnea musciformis* | Cystocloniaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Hypnea nidifica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2668400) | *Hypnea nidifica* | Cystocloniaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Green Tips](https://www.gbif.org/species/2668366) | *Hypnea spicifera* | Cystocloniaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Hypnea valentiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2668329) | *Hypnea valentiae* | Cystocloniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bracken](https://www.gbif.org/species/5275012) | *Pteridium aquilinum* | Dennstaedtiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Avrainvillea erecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2643501) | *Avrainvillea erecta* | Dichotomosiphonaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Avrainvillea lacerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2643478) | *Avrainvillea lacerata* | Dichotomosiphonaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Shrubby Horsetail](https://www.gbif.org/species/8404336) | *Ephedra ciliata* | Ephedraceae | LC | 24 |
| [Somaliland Jointfir](https://www.gbif.org/species/2653360) | *Ephedra somalensis* | Ephedraceae | LC | 13 |
| [Fissidens somaliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8791973) | *Fissidens somaliae* | Fissidentaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Common Cord-moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/5281229) | *Funaria hygrometrica* | Funariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dichotomaria marginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4376188) | *Dichotomaria marginata* | Galaxauraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Galaxaura clavigera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2665244) | *Galaxaura clavigera* | Galaxauraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Galaxaura rugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2665285) | *Galaxaura rugosa* | Galaxauraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Tricleocarpa cylindrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2665235) | *Tricleocarpa cylindrica* | Galaxauraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tricleocarpa fragilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2665223) | *Tricleocarpa fragilis* | Galaxauraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Gelidiella acerosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2663047) | *Gelidiella acerosa* | Gelidiellaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gracilaria corticata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5278820) | *Gracilaria corticata* | Gracilariaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Gracilaria isabellana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5729946) | *Gracilaria isabellana* | Gracilariaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dapple-mouthed Grimmia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7777829) | *Grimmia tergestina* | Grimmiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sessile Grimmia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5281668) | *Schistidium apocarpum* | Grimmiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Halimeda cylindracea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2643278) | *Halimeda cylindracea* | Halimedaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Large Leaf Watercress Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2643285) | *Halimeda discoidea* | Halimedaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Watercress Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2643260) | *Halimeda opuntia* | Halimedaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Stalked Lettuce Leaf Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2643307) | *Halimeda tuna* | Halimedaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Carpopeltis maillardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2656575) | *Carpopeltis maillardii* | Halymeniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Halymenia dilatata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2656311) | *Halymenia dilatata* | Halymeniaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Halymenia durvillei](https://www.gbif.org/species/2656308) | *Halymenia durvillei* | Halymeniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bird's-foot Wing-moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/7435779) | *Nogopterium gracile* | Lembophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Leucodon dracaenae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5282876) | *Leucodon dracaenae* | Leucodontaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Yamadaella caenomyce](https://www.gbif.org/species/2664897) | *Yamadaella caenomyce* | Liagoraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Fragile Coral Weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5276535) | *Amphiroa fragilissima* | Lithophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Staghorn Clubmoss](https://www.gbif.org/species/6385660) | *Palhinhaea cernua* | Lycopodiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Metzgeria quadrifaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/7661201) | *Metzgeria quadrifaria* | Metzgeriaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Alleniella remota](https://www.gbif.org/species/8185355) | *Alleniella remota* | Neckeraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Prince-of-Wales Feather-moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/5282898) | *Leptodon smithii* | Neckeraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Large Adderstongue](https://www.gbif.org/species/3659152) | *Ophioglossum polyphyllum* | Ophioglossaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Netted Adderstongue](https://www.gbif.org/species/2650137) | *Ophioglossum reticulatum* | Ophioglossaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Pseudolithothamnium album](https://www.gbif.org/species/7654258) | *Pseudolithothamnium album* | Peyssonneliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aleppo Pine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5285604) | *Pinus halepensis* | Pinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Mexican Weeping Pine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5285090) | *Pinus patula* | Pinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Monterey Pine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5285727) | *Pinus radiata* | Pinaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Plagiochila fusifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/7634826) | *Plagiochila fusifera* | Plagiochilaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Plagiochila squamulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7398977) | *Plagiochila squamulosa* | Plagiochilaceae | NE | 1 |
| [African fern-pine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2687628) | *Afrocarpus gracilior* | Podocarpaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Lepisorus excavatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4025570) | *Lepisorus excavatus* | Polypodiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Barbula somaliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9000069) | *Barbula somaliae* | Pottiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pointed Beard-moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/5711152) | *Didymodon acutus* | Pottiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Didymodon tophaceopsis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5280205) | *Didymodon tophaceopsis* | Pottiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hydrogonium fontanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7487477) | *Hydrogonium fontanum* | Pottiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hymenostylium crassinervium](https://www.gbif.org/species/5280340) | *Hymenostylium crassinervium* | Pottiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hymenostylium hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5280339) | *Hymenostylium hildebrandtii* | Pottiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hook-beak Tufa-moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/7347186) | *Hymenostylium recurvirostrum* | Pottiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sendtner's Molendoa Moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/2671204) | *Molendoa sendtneriana* | Pottiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [pseudocrossidium moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/2671805) | *Pseudocrossidium replicatum* | Pottiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fragile Tortula Moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/2671326) | *Syntrichia fragilis* | Pottiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Small Twisted Moss](https://www.gbif.org/species/2671342) | *Tortella humilis* | Pottiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Tortella somaliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2671341) | *Tortella somaliae* | Pottiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Actiniopteris dimorpha](https://www.gbif.org/species/7335807) | *Actiniopteris dimorpha* | Pteridaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Fan-Leaved Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/4205838) | *Actiniopteris radiata* | Pteridaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Actiniopteris semiflabellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4205834) | *Actiniopteris semiflabellata* | Pteridaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Adiantum balfourii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3749148) | *Adiantum balfourii* | Pteridaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Maidenhair Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2651816) | *Adiantum capillus-veneris* | Pteridaceae | LC | 57 |
| [Adiantum incisum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8309462) | *Adiantum incisum* | Pteridaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aleuritopteris farinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7874167) | *Aleuritopteris farinosa* | Pteridaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aleuritopteris scioana](https://www.gbif.org/species/8205311) | *Aleuritopteris scioana* | Pteridaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Jersey Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5566022) | *Anogramma leptophylla* | Pteridaceae | NE | 1 |
| [green cliffbrake](https://www.gbif.org/species/7173446) | *Cheilanthes viridis* | Pteridaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Scaly Lip Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/7335582) | *Cosentinia vellea* | Pteridaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Oeosporangium coriaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9764710) | *Oeosporangium coriaceum* | Pteridaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Onychium divaricatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5566707) | *Onychium divaricatum* | Pteridaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Pellaea calomelanos](https://www.gbif.org/species/7335563) | *Pellaea calomelanos* | Pteridaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Pellaea longipilosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5566104) | *Pellaea longipilosa* | Pteridaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ladder Brake, Ladder brake fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/5275398) | *Pteris vittata* | Pteridaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Ptychomitrium indicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2674119) | *Ptychomitrium indicum* | Ptychomitriaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Amansia glomerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5277555) | *Amansia glomerata* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Amansia rhodantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5277370) | *Amansia rhodantha* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chondria dasyphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/7769508) | *Chondria dasyphylla* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Leveillea jungermannioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5278181) | *Leveillea jungermannioides* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lophocladia lallemandii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2659723) | *Lophocladia lallemandii* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Melanothamnus polyphysus](https://www.gbif.org/species/12206647) | *Melanothamnus polyphysus* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Palisada perforata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5823941) | *Palisada perforata* | Rhodomelaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Red Sea Grapes](https://www.gbif.org/species/2663158) | *Botryocladia pseudodichotoma* | Rhodymeniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Riccia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7873069) | *Riccia somaliensis* | Ricciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Azolla nilotica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4196470) | *Azolla nilotica* | Salviniaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Mosquito Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/2650106) | *Azolla pinnata* | Salviniaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Sarcodia montagneana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2667579) | *Sarcodia montagneana* | Sarcodiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Schizymenia dubyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2665958) | *Schizymenia dubyi* | Schizymeniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sebdenia monardiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2656275) | *Sebdenia monardiana* | Sebdeniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Selaginella bryopteris](https://www.gbif.org/species/7944571) | *Selaginella bryopteris* | Selaginellaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Selaginella phillipsina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8096715) | *Selaginella phillipsina* | Selaginellaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Selaginella yemensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8402802) | *Selaginella yemensis* | Selaginellaceae | NE | 43 |
| [Green Bubble Weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2644845) | *Dictyosphaeria cavernosa* | Siphonocladaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2668123) | *Eucheuma denticulatum* | Solieriaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Eucheuma serra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2668112) | *Eucheuma serra* | Solieriaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Meristotheca papulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2668282) | *Meristotheca papulosa* | Solieriaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Sarconema filiforme](https://www.gbif.org/species/5279582) | *Sarconema filiforme* | Solieriaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Splachnobryum aquaticum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8842979) | *Splachnobryum aquaticum* | Splachnobryaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Spyridia hypnoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2657182) | *Spyridia hypnoides* | Spyridiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Marsh Fern](https://www.gbif.org/species/6426452) | *Thelypteris confluens* | Thelypteridaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Green Hair Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8556759) | *Chlorodesmis fastigiata* | Udoteaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sea Lettuce](https://www.gbif.org/species/5273309) | *Ulva lactuca* | Ulvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Ulva reticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5273443) | *Ulva reticulata* | Ulvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Sea Tube](https://www.gbif.org/species/5273060) | *Valonia utricularis* | Valoniaceae | NE | 1 |

## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Grasses and sedges of Somalia: all 475 species on record (part 2 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 475 grass and sedge species from Somalia: 367 grasses (Poaceae) and 108 sedges (Cyperaceae).

Part 2 of 3 of [Grasses and sedges of Somalia: all 475 species on record](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-3/)

## Full list (475 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Aristida triticoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122097) | *Aristida triticoides* | Poaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Small Carpgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290201) | *Arthraxon hispidus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Arthraxon lanceolatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4119690) | *Arthraxon lanceolatus* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Arthraxon prionodes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5674566) | *Arthraxon prionodes* | Poaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Arundo grass, Bamboo reed, Cow cane, Donax cane, Giant cane, River cane, Spanish cane/reed, Wild cane, Reedgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703041) | *Arundo donax* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [creeping-bluegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704099) | *Bothriochloa insculpta* | Poaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Smelly Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4136419) | *Bothriochloa radicans* | Poaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Brachiaria breviglumis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4133808) | *Brachiaria breviglumis* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Brachiaria longiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/4132909) | *Brachiaria longiflora* | Poaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Brachiaria stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4132011) | *Brachiaria stefaninii* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Brachypodium flexum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5676364) | *Brachypodium flexum* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [mountain bromegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127409) | *Bromus leptoclados* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Castellia tuberculosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4144268) | *Castellia tuberculosa* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pearl Millet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5828197) | *Cenchrus americanus* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Indian Sandburr](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289734) | *Cenchrus biflorus* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [African Fountain Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/7618730) | *Cenchrus caudatus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Buffel-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4109540) | *Cenchrus ciliaris* | Poaceae | LC | 223 |
| [Cenchrus divisus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9250411) | *Cenchrus divisus* | Poaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Napier Millet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5671694) | *Cenchrus geniculatus* | Poaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Feathertop](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290192) | *Cenchrus longisetus* | Poaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Cenchrus massaicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5828210) | *Cenchrus massaicus* | Poaceae | DD | 5 |
| [Cenchrus mitis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5674299) | *Cenchrus mitis* | Poaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Cloncurry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4104614) | *Cenchrus pennisetiformis* | Poaceae | LC | 29 |
| [Crimson fountaingrass, Fountain grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5828232) | *Cenchrus setaceus* | Poaceae | LC | 46 |
| [cow sandbur](https://www.gbif.org/species/5673992) | *Cenchrus setigerus* | Poaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Cenchrus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5673985) | *Cenchrus somalensis* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Cenchrus stramineus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6068785) | *Cenchrus stramineus* | Poaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Natal Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5828212) | *Cenchrus unisetus* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Chloris amethystea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5679319) | *Chloris amethystea* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Chloris flagellifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/9248510) | *Chloris flagellifera* | Poaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Rhodes Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289618) | *Chloris gayana* | Poaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Chloris jubaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678681) | *Chloris jubaensis* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Chloris mensensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678630) | *Chloris mensensis* | Poaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Chloris mossambicensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678613) | *Chloris mossambicensis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chloris nutans](https://www.gbif.org/species/9403902) | *Chloris nutans* | Poaceae | NE | 13 |
| [spiderweb chloris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678495) | *Chloris pycnothrix* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Feathery Rhodes-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289624) | *Chloris virgata* | Poaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Chrysopogon aucheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5677919) | *Chrysopogon aucheri* | Poaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Chrysopogon plumulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5677467) | *Chrysopogon plumulosus* | Poaceae | NE | 153 |
| [Coelachyrum brevifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4114207) | *Coelachyrum brevifolium* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Coelachyrum longiglume](https://www.gbif.org/species/4114178) | *Coelachyrum longiglume* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Coelachyrum piercei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4114162) | *Coelachyrum piercei* | Poaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Coelachyrum poiflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5827979) | *Coelachyrum poiflorum* | Poaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Coelachyrum praeflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4114156) | *Coelachyrum praeflorum* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sickle Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678195) | *Ctenium concinnum* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [kachi grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151099) | *Cymbopogon caesius* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cymbopogon commutatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150990) | *Cymbopogon commutatus* | Poaceae | NE | 59 |
| [Citronella Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705267) | *Cymbopogon nardus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cymbopogon nervatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4138622) | *Cymbopogon nervatus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bitter Turpentine Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4138305) | *Cymbopogon pospischilii* | Poaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Camel Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705269) | *Cymbopogon schoenanthus* | Poaceae | NE | 32 |
| [African stargrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289797) | *Cynodon aethiopicus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bermuda-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/6109637) | *Cynodon dactylon* | Poaceae | NE | 75 |
| [African Bermuda grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289802) | *Cynodon nlemfuensis* | Poaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Bermudagrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289798) | *Cynodon plectostachyus* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crowfoot Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2706188) | *Dactyloctenium aegyptium* | Poaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Dactyloctenium aristatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149990) | *Dactyloctenium aristatum* | Poaceae | NE | 47 |
| [double comb grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149888) | *Dactyloctenium geminatum* | Poaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Dactyloctenium hackelii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149847) | *Dactyloctenium hackelii* | Poaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Dactyloctenium robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4135826) | *Dactyloctenium robecchii* | Poaceae | NE | 65 |
| [Dactyloctenium scindicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4135816) | *Dactyloctenium scindicum* | Poaceae | NE | 94 |
| [Danthoniopsis barbata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4146821) | *Danthoniopsis barbata* | Poaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Crowfoot Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142071) | *Desmostachya bipinnata* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Kleberg's Bluestem](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702446) | *Dichanthium annulatum* | Poaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Dichanthium foveolatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4133054) | *Dichanthium foveolatum* | Poaceae | NE | 78 |
| [African Couchgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289929) | *Digitaria abyssinica* | Poaceae | NE | 57 |
| [Digitaria acuminatissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/4131963) | *Digitaria acuminatissima* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Digitaria argyrotricha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5676573) | *Digitaria argyrotricha* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Digitaria arushae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5676569) | *Digitaria arushae* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tropical Finger-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289998) | *Digitaria ciliaris* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [brown-seed finger grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289973) | *Digitaria diagonalis* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Indian Crabgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289974) | *Digitaria longiflora* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Digitaria macroblephara](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675495) | *Digitaria macroblephara* | Poaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Digitaria macroblephara](https://www.gbif.org/species/8066930) | *Digitaria macroblephara* | Poaceae | NE | 5 |
| [digit grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289950) | *Digitaria milanjiana* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Digitaria nodosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675428) | *Digitaria nodosa* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Digitaria pennata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127046) | *Digitaria pennata* | Poaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Digitaria pennata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7870077) | *Digitaria pennata* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Digitaria rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675280) | *Digitaria rivae* | Poaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Hairy Finger-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289972) | *Digitaria sanguinalis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [blackseed crabgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675188) | *Digitaria ternata* | Poaceae | NE | 5 |
| [long-plume finger grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289935) | *Digitaria velutina* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Digitaria villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289992) | *Digitaria villosa* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dignathia ciliata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4131595) | *Dignathia ciliata* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Dignathia gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130332) | *Dignathia gracilis* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Dignathia hirtella](https://www.gbif.org/species/4126338) | *Dignathia hirtella* | Poaceae | NE | 36 |
| [Dignathia villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4113415) | *Dignathia villosa* | Poaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Viper Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703240) | *Dinebra retroflexa* | Poaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Dinebra somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7767204) | *Dinebra somalensis* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Brown Beetle-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/8010581) | *Diplachne fusca* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Disakisperma obtusiflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7505155) | *Disakisperma obtusiflorum* | Poaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Disakisperma yemenicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9426507) | *Disakisperma yemenicum* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Shama Millet](https://www.gbif.org/species/6431411) | *Echinochloa colonum* | Poaceae | LC | 66 |
| [Gulf Cockspur Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702804) | *Echinochloa crus-pavonis* | Poaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Echinochloa haploclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702821) | *Echinochloa haploclada* | Poaceae | NE | 44 |
| [Antelope Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702805) | *Echinochloa pyramidalis* | Poaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Echinochloa rotundiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/4118165) | *Echinochloa rotundiflora* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hippo Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702806) | *Echinochloa stagnina* | Poaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Panic Veldtgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702863) | *Ehrharta erecta* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Wild African Finger Millet](https://www.gbif.org/species/4124350) | *Eleusine africana* | Poaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Finger Millet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705957) | *Eleusine coracana* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eleusine floccifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4115735) | *Eleusine floccifolia* | Poaceae | LC | 42 |
| [Yard-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705953) | *Eleusine indica* | Poaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Eleusine intermedia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4115596) | *Eleusine intermedia* | Poaceae | DD | 7 |
| [Lemon Scented Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4114608) | *Elionurus muticus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Elionurus royleanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4114523) | *Elionurus royleanus* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [silver-spike grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152785) | *Elytrophorus spicatus* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [soft-feather pappus grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/8669627) | *Enneapogon cenchroides* | Poaceae | NE | 29 |
| [feather pappus grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703892) | *Enneapogon desvauxii* | Poaceae | NE | 23 |
| [Enneapogon lophotrichus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152366) | *Enneapogon lophotrichus* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Enneapogon persicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152264) | *Enneapogon persicus* | Poaceae | NE | 70 |
| [Rock Nine-Awned Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152153) | *Enneapogon scaber* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Bottlebrush Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152136) | *Enneapogon scoparius* | Poaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Enteropogon barbatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5679690) | *Enteropogon barbatus* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Mopane Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5679682) | *Enteropogon macrostachyus* | Poaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Enteropogon monostachyos](https://www.gbif.org/species/7896146) | *Enteropogon monostachyos* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Enteropogon rupestris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5679668) | *Enteropogon rupestris* | Poaceae | NE | 43 |
| [Enteropogon sechellensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5679662) | *Enteropogon sechellensis* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Eragrostis aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150758) | *Eragrostis aethiopica* | Poaceae | LC | 30 |
| [Eragrostis ambleia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150564) | *Eragrostis ambleia* | Poaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Rough Love Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150175) | *Eragrostis aspera* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Mediterranean Lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705431) | *Eragrostis barrelieri* | Poaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Shade Eragrostis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149589) | *Eragrostis biflora* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eragrostis capitulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4148990) | *Eragrostis capitulifera* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stink-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705369) | *Eragrostis cilianensis* | Poaceae | NE | 93 |
| [Gophertail Lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705373) | *Eragrostis ciliaris* | Poaceae | NE | 71 |
| [Cylinderflower lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705391) | *Eragrostis cylindriflora* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eragrostis elegantissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147540) | *Eragrostis elegantissima* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eragrostis gloeophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4146704) | *Eragrostis gloeophylla* | Poaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Eragrostis incrassata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4146098) | *Eragrostis incrassata* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Pond Lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705394) | *Eragrostis japonica* | Poaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Eragrostis kuchariana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4145714) | *Eragrostis kuchariana* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Eragrostis lepida](https://www.gbif.org/species/4145411) | *Eragrostis lepida* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Eragrostis lutensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4144918) | *Eragrostis lutensis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eragrostis mabiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4144888) | *Eragrostis mabiana* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Eragrostis mabrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7571362) | *Eragrostis mabrana* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Eragrostis macilenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4144881) | *Eragrostis macilenta* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Eragrostis mahrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5940771) | *Eragrostis mahrana* | Poaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Small Love-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705449) | *Eragrostis minor* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Eragrostis namaquensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8090166) | *Eragrostis namaquensis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thalia Lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4143386) | *Eragrostis papposa* | Poaceae | NE | 64 |
| [Eragrostis psammophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142348) | *Eragrostis psammophila* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Eragrostis schweinfurthii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4141250) | *Eragrostis schweinfurthii* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Eragrostis sennii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4120346) | *Eragrostis sennii* | Poaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Wilman Lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705445) | *Eragrostis superba* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Teff](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705325) | *Eragrostis tef* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Japanese Lovegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705426) | *Eragrostis tenella* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Elastic Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705397) | *Eragrostis tenuifolia* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Eragrostis trachyantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/4139844) | *Eragrostis trachyantha* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eragrostis tridentata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151196) | *Eragrostis tridentata* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eriochloa barbatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9505679) | *Eriochloa barbatus* | Poaceae | LC | 63 |
| [Eriochloa meyeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4134240) | *Eriochloa meyeriana* | Poaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Perennial cupgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702519) | *Eriochloa pseudoacrotricha* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [red Rhodes grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4131412) | *Eustachys paspaloides* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Exotheca abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4123418) | *Exotheca abyssinica* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Squirrel's Tail Fescue](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702740) | *Festuca bromoides* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lizard-Tail Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705462) | *Hackelochloa granularis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Halopyrum mucronatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4125155) | *Halopyrum mucronatum* | Poaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Harpachne schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4125110) | *Harpachne schimperi* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [black spear grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290179) | *Heteropogon contortus* | Poaceae | NE | 60 |
| [Holcolemma inaequale](https://www.gbif.org/species/4121605) | *Holcolemma inaequale* | Poaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Hyparrhenia anthistirioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4110419) | *Hyparrhenia anthistirioides* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hyparrhenia barteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4110367) | *Hyparrhenia barteri* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hyparrhenia confinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147330) | *Hyparrhenia confinis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Silky thatching grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703242) | *Hyparrhenia dregeana* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tambookie grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703245) | *Hyparrhenia filipendula* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-3/)


---

# Legumes of Somalia: all 434 species of acacias and the pea family on record (part 3 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 434 species of the legume or pea family (Fabaceae) from Somalia, the largest plant family on record there. It includes the acacias and other thorn trees that dominate Somali bushland, and the yeheb nut shrub, Cordeauxia edulis.

Part 3 of 3 of [Legumes of Somalia: all 434 species of acacias and the pea family on record](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-2/) · **3**

## Full list (434 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Senegalia moggii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7365292) | *Senegalia moggii* | Fabaceae | EN | 5 |
| [Senegalia ochracea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7377308) | *Senegalia ochracea* | Fabaceae | EN | 7 |
| [Senegalia ogadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7832230) | *Senegalia ogadensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Senegalia oliveri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7578265) | *Senegalia oliveri* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Senegalia persiciflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/7754039) | *Senegalia persiciflora* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Senegalia petrensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7436752) | *Senegalia petrensis* | Fabaceae | CR | 4 |
| [Senegalia pseudonigrescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8086941) | *Senegalia pseudonigrescens* | Fabaceae | CR | 1 |
| [Senegalia rovumae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8244042) | *Senegalia rovumae* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Gum Arabic](https://www.gbif.org/species/3977346) | *Senegalia senegal* | Fabaceae | LC | 162 |
| [Senegalia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7985203) | *Senegalia somalensis* | Fabaceae | NT | 23 |
| [Senegalia venosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8322198) | *Senegalia venosa* | Fabaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Senegalia zizyphispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7803218) | *Senegalia zizyphispina* | Fabaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Emperor's Candlesticks](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956947) | *Senna alata* | Fabaceae | LC | 3 |
| [true senna](https://www.gbif.org/species/2958032) | *Senna alexandrina* | Fabaceae | LC | 41 |
| [tanner's cassia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956966) | *Senna auriculata* | Fabaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Senna baccarinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957903) | *Senna baccarinii* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Christmasbush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2958076) | *Senna bicapsularis* | Fabaceae | LC | 9 |
| [candelabra-tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957556) | *Senna didymobotrya* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Senna ellisiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957786) | *Senna ellisiae* | Fabaceae | VU | 19 |
| [Senna holosericea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956981) | *Senna holosericea* | Fabaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Senna hookeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956940) | *Senna hookeriana* | Fabaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Senna humifusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957293) | *Senna humifusa* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Port Royal Senna](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957095) | *Senna italica* | Fabaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Senna longiracemosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957369) | *Senna longiracemosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Sicklepod](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957408) | *Senna obtusifolia* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Septicweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957966) | *Senna occidentalis* | Fabaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Dwarf Cassia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957867) | *Senna petersiana* | Fabaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Senna ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957915) | *Senna ruspolii* | Fabaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Siamese Cassia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2956905) | *Senna siamea* | Fabaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Wild cassia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957182) | *Senna singueana* | Fabaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Algarrobilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957379) | *Senna sophera* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sickle Senna, Sickle Wild sensitive-plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957728) | *Senna tora* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Senna truncata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2957829) | *Senna truncata* | Fabaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Dunchi Fiber](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970721) | *Sesbania bispinosa* | Fabaceae | LC | 14 |
| [vegetable hummingbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970672) | *Sesbania grandiflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vegetable Hummingbird](https://www.gbif.org/species/8281950) | *Sesbania grandiflora* | Fabaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Sesbania greenwayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970647) | *Sesbania greenwayi* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Riverhemp](https://www.gbif.org/species/8147957) | *Sesbania leptocarpa* | Fabaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Sesbania quadrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970594) | *Sesbania quadrata* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Papagayo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970735) | *Sesbania sericea* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Egyptian Riverhemp](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970648) | *Sesbania sesban* | Fabaceae | LC | 19 |
| [Sesbania somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3975454) | *Sesbania somalensis* | Fabaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Shrubby Pencilflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2975709) | *Stylosanthes fruticosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Pencilflower, Shrubby stylo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2975725) | *Stylosanthes scabra* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tamarind](https://www.gbif.org/species/2975768) | *Tamarindus indica* | Fabaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Taverniera abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970327) | *Taverniera abyssinica* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Taverniera cuneifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7687249) | *Taverniera cuneifolia* | Fabaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Taverniera lappacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970329) | *Taverniera lappacea* | Fabaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Taverniera longisetosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970332) | *Taverniera longisetosa* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Taverniera multinoda](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970323) | *Taverniera multinoda* | Fabaceae | NE | 23 |
| [Taverniera oligantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2970335) | *Taverniera oligantha* | Fabaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tephrosia alba](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342316) | *Tephrosia alba* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tephrosia anomala](https://www.gbif.org/species/5629838) | *Tephrosia anomala* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tephrosia dura](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341925) | *Tephrosia dura* | Fabaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Tephrosia emeroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342381) | *Tephrosia emeroides* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Tephrosia filiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342017) | *Tephrosia filiflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Tephrosia flava](https://www.gbif.org/species/5612574) | *Tephrosia flava* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Tephrosia heterophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342330) | *Tephrosia heterophylla* | Fabaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Tephrosia hookeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342210) | *Tephrosia hookeriana* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tephrosia karkarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341988) | *Tephrosia karkarensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Tephrosia lortii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342452) | *Tephrosia lortii* | Fabaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Tephrosia nana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342547) | *Tephrosia nana* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [South African hoarypea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342209) | *Tephrosia noctiflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Tephrosia obbiadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342431) | *Tephrosia obbiadensis* | Fabaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Tephrosia pentaphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342255) | *Tephrosia pentaphylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Tephrosia pentaphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/7903929) | *Tephrosia pentaphylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tephrosia polyphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342058) | *Tephrosia polyphylla* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Indigo sauvage](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342490) | *Tephrosia pumila* | Fabaceae | LC | 26 |
| [Fishpoison](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342239) | *Tephrosia purpurea* | Fabaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Tephrosia scopulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341943) | *Tephrosia scopulata* | Fabaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Tephrosia subtriflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342281) | *Tephrosia subtriflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Tephrosia uniflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/8031700) | *Tephrosia uniflora* | Fabaceae | NE | 44 |
| [Tephrosia villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5342176) | *Tephrosia villosa* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Blue Wiss](https://www.gbif.org/species/8777864) | *Teramnus labialis* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Teramnus repens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8042543) | *Teramnus repens* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hop Trefoil](https://www.gbif.org/species/5359477) | *Trifolium campestre* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [White Clover](https://www.gbif.org/species/5358748) | *Trifolium repens* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Trifolium somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/8340746) | *Trifolium somalense* | Fabaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Trigonella falcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5360381) | *Trigonella falcata* | Fabaceae | DD | 2 |
| [Tylosema argentea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5353679) | *Tylosema argenteum* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Creeping Bauhinia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5708629) | *Tylosema fassoglense* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Tylosema humifusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5353682) | *Tylosema humifusum* | Fabaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Nyanga flat-top](https://www.gbif.org/species/8306913) | *Vachellia abyssinica* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vachellia bussei](https://www.gbif.org/species/7440463) | *Vachellia bussei* | Fabaceae | LC | 79 |
| [Vachellia cernua](https://www.gbif.org/species/8059443) | *Vachellia cernua* | Fabaceae | EN | 5 |
| [Vachellia dolichocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/8272004) | *Vachellia dolichocephala* | Fabaceae | NE | 15 |
| [ant-gall acacia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3974788) | *Vachellia drepanolobium* | Fabaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Vachellia edgeworthii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7660474) | *Vachellia edgeworthii* | Fabaceae | NE | 126 |
| [Vachellia etbaica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7764376) | *Vachellia etbaica* | Fabaceae | LC | 118 |
| [redthorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3974764) | *Vachellia gerrardii* | Fabaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Choė](https://www.gbif.org/species/7788531) | *Vachellia haematoxylon* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Vachellia hockii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8086708) | *Vachellia hockii* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Robber Thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/7862591) | *Vachellia horrida* | Fabaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Karroothorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3974754) | *Vachellia karroo* | Fabaceae | LC | 5 |
| [flood-plain acacia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7368983) | *Vachellia kirkii* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Vachellia leucospira](https://www.gbif.org/species/7681761) | *Vachellia leucospira* | Fabaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Egyptian thorn, Gum arabic tree, Babul, Babul acacia, Thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia, Egyptian mimosa, Thorny acacia, Prickly acacia, Scented-pod acacia, Nile acacia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3974744) | *Vachellia nilotica* | Fabaceae | LC | 110 |
| [Vachellia oerfota](https://www.gbif.org/species/8389897) | *Vachellia oerfota* | Fabaceae | LC | 78 |
| [Vachellia paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8226270) | *Vachellia paolii* | Fabaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Vachellia pilispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8104497) | *Vachellia pilispina* | Fabaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vachellia qandalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7824247) | *Vachellia qandalensis* | Fabaceae | EN | 2 |
| [Vachellia reficiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8360236) | *Vachellia reficiens* | Fabaceae | LC | 34 |
| [splendid acacia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8166188) | *Vachellia robusta* | Fabaceae | LC | 81 |
| [thirtythorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3974722) | *Vachellia seyal* | Fabaceae | LC | 27 |
| [paperbark-horn](https://www.gbif.org/species/7564113) | *Vachellia sieberiana* | Fabaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Hairy-Pod Thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/8043008) | *Vachellia stuhlmannii* | Fabaceae | LC | 31 |
| [Vachellia tephrophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/7420298) | *Vachellia tephrophylla* | Fabaceae | EN | 7 |
| [Umbrella Thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3974700) | *Vachellia tortilis* | Fabaceae | LC | 71 |
| [Vachellia walwalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8415952) | *Vachellia walwalensis* | Fabaceae | EN | 8 |
| [Fever Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/7403310) | *Vachellia xanthophloea* | Fabaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Vachellia zanzibarica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7536488) | *Vachellia zanzibarica* | Fabaceae | LC | 42 |
| [Vatovaea pseudolablab](https://www.gbif.org/species/2960746) | *Vatovaea pseudolablab* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [moth-bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982794) | *Vigna aconitifolia* | Fabaceae | DD | 2 |
| [Hairypod Cowpea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982573) | *Vigna luteola* | Fabaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Vigna membranacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982638) | *Vigna membranacea* | Fabaceae | LC | 38 |
| [Vigna monantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982591) | *Vigna monantha* | Fabaceae | EN | 23 |
| [Mung Bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982380) | *Vigna radiata* | Fabaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Vigna somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982602) | *Vigna somaliensis* | Fabaceae | DD | 4 |
| [Blackeyed Pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982583) | *Vigna unguiculata* | Fabaceae | NE | 399 |
| [Zombi Pea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2982409) | *Vigna vexillata* | Fabaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Wajira albescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2967021) | *Wajira albescens* | Fabaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Wajira danissana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3969624) | *Wajira danissana* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Wajira grahamiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3969619) | *Wajira grahamiana* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Wajira praecox](https://www.gbif.org/species/3969616) | *Wajira praecox* | Fabaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Wajira virescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3969612) | *Wajira virescens* | Fabaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Zornia apiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5355255) | *Zornia apiculata* | Fabaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Barb Caterpillarbean](https://www.gbif.org/species/5355339) | *Zornia glochidiata* | Fabaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Zygocarpum gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3967826) | *Zygocarpum gillettii* | Fabaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Zygocarpum rectangulare](https://www.gbif.org/species/3967823) | *Zygocarpum rectangulare* | Fabaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Zygocarpum somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3967818) | *Zygocarpum somalense* | Fabaceae | NE | 11 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/legumes-of-somalia-2/) · **3**


---

# Aloes, dragon trees, palms and other monocot plants of Somalia: 227 species (part 2 of 2)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 227 monocot plant species from Somalia outside the grasses and sedges: aloes, dragon trees (Dracaena, which now includes Sansevieria) and other members of the asparagus family, arums, amaryllis, palms, orchids, spiderworts and seagrasses.

Part 2 of 2 of [Aloes, dragon trees, palms and other monocot plants of Somalia: 227 species](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia/) · **2**

## Full list (227 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Bulbine migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5304790) | *Bulbine migiurtina* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Salty Capespinach](https://www.gbif.org/species/2779330) | *Trachyandra saltii* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Trachyandra triquetra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2779329) | *Trachyandra triquetra* | Asphodelaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Colchicum longifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2739801) | *Colchicum longifolium* | Colchicaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Colchicum schimperianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2740455) | *Colchicum schimperianum* | Colchicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Gloriosa baudii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2740072) | *Gloriosa baudii* | Colchicaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Gloriosa revoilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2740065) | *Gloriosa revoilii* | Colchicaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Gloriosa simplex](https://www.gbif.org/species/2740056) | *Gloriosa simplex* | Colchicaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Flame Lily](https://www.gbif.org/species/2740024) | *Gloriosa superba* | Colchicaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Iphigenia oliveri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5294817) | *Iphigenia oliveri* | Colchicaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Iphigenia pauciflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/5294841) | *Iphigenia pauciflora* | Colchicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Aneilema benadirense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763332) | *Aneilema benadirense* | Commelinaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Aneilema lamuense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763254) | *Aneilema lamuense* | Commelinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aneilema longicapsa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763324) | *Aneilema longicapsa* | Commelinaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Aneilema obbiadense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763212) | *Aneilema obbiadense* | Commelinaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Aneilema pusillum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763214) | *Aneilema pusillum* | Commelinaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Aneilema somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763240) | *Aneilema somaliense* | Commelinaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Aneilema trispermum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763341) | *Aneilema trispermum* | Commelinaceae | NE | 7 |
| [African Yellow Dayflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763987) | *Commelina africana* | Commelinaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Commelina albescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764104) | *Commelina albescens* | Commelinaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Sand-dwelling Dayflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764124) | *Commelina arenicola* | Commelinaceae | NT | 4 |
| [Benghal Dayflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763941) | *Commelina benghalensis* | Commelinaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Water grass, French weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764202) | *Commelina diffusa* | Commelinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Erect Dayflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764389) | *Commelina erecta* | Commelinaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Commelina forskalaei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3697010) | *Commelina forskalaei* | Commelinaceae | NE | 7 |
| [rat's ear](https://www.gbif.org/species/4270425) | *Commelina forskaolii* | Commelinaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Commelina frutescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764193) | *Commelina frutescens* | Commelinaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Commelina imberbis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764085) | *Commelina imberbis* | Commelinaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Commelina mascarenica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764278) | *Commelina mascarenica* | Commelinaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Commelina petersii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764166) | *Commelina petersii* | Commelinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commelina purpurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764108) | *Commelina purpurea* | Commelinaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Commelina somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764361) | *Commelina somalensis* | Commelinaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Commelina stefaniniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764191) | *Commelina stefaniniana* | Commelinaceae | NE | 23 |
| [Annual Yellow Dayflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764438) | *Commelina subulata* | Commelinaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Zambezia Dayflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764263) | *Commelina zambesica* | Commelinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pussy-ears](https://www.gbif.org/species/5303359) | *Cyanotis somaliensis* | Commelinaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Large Dewflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/2764739) | *Murdannia simplex* | Commelinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Palisota hirsuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/2763821) | *Palisota hirsuta* | Commelinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Smooth ribbon seagrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5328491) | *Cymodocea rotundata* | Cymodoceaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Narrowleaf seagrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2864102) | *Halodule uninervis* | Cymodoceaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Species code: Si](https://www.gbif.org/species/2864078) | *Syringodium isoetifolium* | Cymodoceaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Species code: Tc](https://www.gbif.org/species/5328510) | *Thalassodendron ciliatum* | Cymodoceaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Climbing Bamboo](https://www.gbif.org/species/5287573) | *Flagellaria guineensis* | Flagellariaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Species code: Ea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2866113) | *Enhalus acoroides* | Hydrocharitaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Lagarosiphon cordofanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2865557) | *Lagarosiphon cordofanus* | Hydrocharitaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Ottelia exserta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5329547) | *Ottelia exserta* | Hydrocharitaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Water Lettuce](https://www.gbif.org/species/5329480) | *Ottelia ulvifolia* | Hydrocharitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tapegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2865526) | *Vallisneria spiralis* | Hydrocharitaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Narrow Stargrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2852820) | *Hypoxis angustifolia* | Hypoxidaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Afrosolen schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10911800) | *Afrosolen schimperi* | Iridaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gladiolus abyssinicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2750464) | *Gladiolus abyssinicus* | Iridaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gladiolus candidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2750239) | *Gladiolus candidus* | Iridaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Gladiolus gunnisii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2749991) | *Gladiolus gunnisii* | Iridaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Gladiolus schweinfurthii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2750363) | *Gladiolus schweinfurthii* | Iridaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Gladiolus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2750265) | *Gladiolus somalensis* | Iridaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Romulea fischeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2744006) | *Romulea fischeri* | Iridaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Frog Rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/6413509) | *Juncus hybridus* | Juncaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Brak Rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2701413) | *Juncus kraussii* | Juncaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Lax Rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2701456) | *Juncus oxycarpus* | Juncaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Ball Rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2701133) | *Juncus punctorius* | Juncaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Hard Sea Rush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2701397) | *Juncus rigidus* | Juncaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Juncus sphaerocarpus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2701665) | *Juncus sphaerocarpus* | Juncaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tropical Woodorchid](https://www.gbif.org/species/5310163) | *Bonatea steudneri* | Orchidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eastern Marsh Helleborine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5319011) | *Epipactis veratrifolia* | Orchidaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Desert Orchid](https://www.gbif.org/species/5311779) | *Eulophia petersii* | Orchidaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Habenaria macrantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2830076) | *Habenaria macrantha* | Orchidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Habenaria socotrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2829036) | *Habenaria socotrana* | Orchidaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Holothrix arachnoidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2782113) | *Holothrix arachnoidea* | Orchidaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Holothrix nyasae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2782080) | *Holothrix nyasae* | Orchidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pandanus candelabrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5327264) | *Pandanus candelabrum* | Pandanaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Water-hyacinth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2765942) | *Pontederia crassipes* | Pontederiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Variableleaf Water Hyacinth](https://www.gbif.org/species/11040407) | *Pontederia diversifolia* | Pontederiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Broad-Leaved Pondweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5642195) | *Potamogeton schweinfurthii* | Potamogetonaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Leg-Ripper](https://www.gbif.org/species/5295301) | *Smilax anceps* | Smilacaceae | NE | 11 |
| [narrow-leaf cumbungi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289534) | *Typha domingensis* | Typhaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Southern cattail, Cumbungi, Narrowleaf cumbungi, Reedmace](https://www.gbif.org/species/8059611) | *Typha domingensis* | Typhaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Xerophyta acuminata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2863410) | *Xerophyta acuminata* | Velloziaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Xerophyta arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2863449) | *Xerophyta arabica* | Velloziaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Xerophyta rippsteinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2863376) | *Xerophyta rippsteinii* | Velloziaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Xerophyta schnizleinia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2863394) | *Xerophyta schnizleinia* | Velloziaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Aframomum cereum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2758942) | *Aframomum cereum* | Zingiberaceae | NE | 1 |
| [African-ginger](https://www.gbif.org/species/2757671) | *Siphonochilus aethiopicus* | Zingiberaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/aloes-palms-and-other-monocots-of-somalia/) · **2**


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 501 species in the families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 501 flowering plant (families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae) species with Somalia as the country, in 12 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Acanthaceae: 182
- Apocynaceae: 136
- Amaranthaceae: 96
- Anacardiaceae: 27
- Apiaceae: 22
- Aizoaceae: 16
- Annonaceae: 10
- Achariaceae: 4
- Araliaceae: 3
- Aristolochiaceae: 3

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Hypoestes forskaolii (116), White Veld Violet (110), Sericocomopsis pallida (93), *Aerva javanica* (87), Desert-Rose (81), Barleria argentea (78) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

108 of the 501 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

26 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Diplolophium somaliense*, *Tribulocarpus somalensis*, *Atriplex erigavoensis*, *Chionothrix somalensis*, *Halothamnus somalensis*, *Ceropegia migiurtina*, *Ceropegia somalensis*, *Ceropegia somalica*, *Ceropegia somalicoides*, *Cryptolepis migiurtina*, *Cryptolepis somaliensis*, *Cynanchum somaliense*, *Goydera somaliensis*, *Periploca somaliensis*, *Vincetoxicum somaliense*, *Barleria jubata*, *Barleria shebelleensis*, *Blepharis ogadenensis*, *Blepharis somaliensis*, *Crabbea migiurtina* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: Barleria longissima, *Isoglossa congesta* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: *Barleria jubata*, Barleria punctata, *Justicia brevipila*, Rhinacanthus rotundifolius, *Lannea malifolia*, *Lannea obovata* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 2
- Vulnerable (VU): 6
- Near Threatened (NT): 5
- Least Concern (LC): 68
- Data Deficient (DD): 2
- Not Evaluated (NE): 418

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Acanthaceae: 182 species
- Apocynaceae: 136 species
- Amaranthaceae: 96 species
- Anacardiaceae: 27 species
- Apiaceae: 22 species
- Aizoaceae: 16 species
- Annonaceae: 10 species
- Achariaceae: 4 species
- Araliaceae: 3 species
- Aristolochiaceae: 3 species

## Full list (501 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Acanthus gaed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5573950) | *Acanthus gaed* | Acanthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Bear's Breeches](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) | *Acanthus polystachyus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Anisotes involucratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5576169) | *Anisotes involucratus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Anisotes tanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5576121) | *Anisotes tanensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Anisotes trisulcus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264401) | *Anisotes trisulcus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Asystasia ansellioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3775373) | *Asystasia ansellioides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Asystasia calcicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/7676163) | *Asystasia calcicola* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Asystasia excellens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3775175) | *Asystasia excellens* | Acanthaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Chinese violet, Coromandel, Creeping foxglove, Ganges primrose, Asystasia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3173254) | *Asystasia gangetica* | Acanthaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Asystasia guttata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3775091) | *Asystasia guttata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 28 |
| [African Coromandel](https://www.gbif.org/species/7468660) | *Asystasia intrusa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Asystasia intrusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3775056) | *Asystasia intrusa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Asystasia mysurensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774908) | *Asystasia mysurensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Asystasia riparia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774712) | *Asystasia riparia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Gray Mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925403) | *Avicennia marina* | Acanthaceae | LC | 19 |
| [baen](https://www.gbif.org/species/6413451) | *Avicennia officinalis* | Acanthaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Barleria acanthoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774236) | *Barleria acanthoides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Barleria albomarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774120) | *Barleria albomarginata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Barleria argentea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774027) | *Barleria argentea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 78 |
| [Barleria argentia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7763507) | *Barleria argentia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Barleria brevispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7914310) | *Barleria brevispina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Barleria buxifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773640) | *Barleria buxifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Barleria clinopodium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773446) | *Barleria clinopodium* | Acanthaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Barleria compacta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9158786) | *Barleria compacta* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Barleria delamerei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773211) | *Barleria delamerei* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Barleria dentata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773199) | *Barleria dentata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Barleria eranthemoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772967) | *Barleria eranthemoides* | Acanthaceae | LC | 30 |
| [Barleria glandulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772827) | *Barleria glandulifera* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Barleria gracilispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7432041) | *Barleria gracilispina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Barleria grandicalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772787) | *Barleria grandicalyx* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Barleria hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772654) | *Barleria hildebrandtii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 51 |
| [Barleria hochstetteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8017304) | *Barleria hochstetteri* | Acanthaceae | NE | 37 |
| [Barleria jubata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772387) | *Barleria jubata* | Acanthaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Barleria lanceata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772252) | *Barleria lanceata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Barleria linearifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7263497) | *Barleria linearifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Barleria longissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772106) | *Barleria longissima* | Acanthaceae | EN | 2 |
| [Barleria mucronifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771791) | *Barleria mucronifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Barleria orbicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771614) | *Barleria orbicularis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Barleria paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771553) | *Barleria paolii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Barleria paolioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7876396) | *Barleria paolioides* | Acanthaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Barleria parviflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/8189861) | *Barleria parviflora* | Acanthaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Barleria polhillii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8087140) | *Barleria polhillii* | Acanthaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Porcupine Flower](https://www.gbif.org/species/3173129) | *Barleria prionitis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Barleria proxima](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771274) | *Barleria proxima* | Acanthaceae | NE | 59 |
| [Barleria puccionii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771241) | *Barleria puccionii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Barleria punctata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771196) | *Barleria punctata* | Acanthaceae | VU | 8 |
| [Barleria quadrispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771096) | *Barleria quadrispina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 57 |
| [Barleria shebelleensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10708042) | *Barleria shebelleensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Barleria smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770657) | *Barleria smithii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Barleria submollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770429) | *Barleria submollis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Barleria ventricosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770225) | *Barleria ventricosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Blepharis boranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575787) | *Blepharis boranensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 18 |
| [eyelash plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/3780159) | *Blepharis ciliaris* | Acanthaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Blepharis diplodonta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575707) | *Blepharis diplodonta* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Blepharis edulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575687) | *Blepharis edulis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Blepharis eilensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11795221) | *Blepharis eilensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Blepharis forgiarinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575655) | *Blepharis forgiarinii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Blepharis glinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575623) | *Blepharis glinus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Blepharis hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264280) | *Blepharis hildebrandtii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Blepharis linariifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575474) | *Blepharis linariifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Surprise Packet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575447) | *Blepharis maderaspatensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Blepharis ogadenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575397) | *Blepharis ogadenensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Blepharis scandens](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575320) | *Blepharis scandens* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Somali Lashes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575296) | *Blepharis somaliensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Blepharis spinescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575286) | *Blepharis spinescens* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Blepharis tanae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575258) | *Blepharis tanae* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Blepharis thulinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575242) | *Blepharis thulinii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Blepharis trifida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575230) | *Blepharis trifida* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crabbea albolutea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574132) | *Crabbea albolutea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crabbea migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574106) | *Crabbea migiurtina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Crabbea thymifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574077) | *Crabbea thymifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Velvet Pricklehead](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574072) | *Crabbea velutina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crossandra arenicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773707) | *Crossandra arenicola* | Acanthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Crossandra baccarinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773679) | *Crossandra baccarinii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Crossandra horrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773438) | *Crossandra horrida* | Acanthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [firecracker-flower](https://www.gbif.org/species/6359825) | *Crossandra infundibuliformis* | Acanthaceae | LC | 36 |
| [Crossandra johanninae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773348) | *Crossandra johanninae* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sabi Crossandra](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773251) | *Crossandra mucronata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Crossandra nilotica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773232) | *Crossandra nilotica* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Crossandra praecox](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773148) | *Crossandra praecox* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Crossandra spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773034) | *Crossandra spinosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Crossandra stenostachya](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773016) | *Crossandra stenostachya* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dicliptera paniculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575270) | *Dicliptera paniculata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Dicliptera suffruticosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575036) | *Dicliptera suffruticosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Dicliptera verticillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574971) | *Dicliptera verticillata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Duosperma actinotrichum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774189) | *Duosperma actinotrichum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Duosperma longicalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/7263644) | *Duosperma longicalyx* | Acanthaceae | LC | 28 |
| [Duosperma stoloniferum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773971) | *Duosperma stoloniferum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dyschoriste bayensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773206) | *Dyschoriste bayensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Dyschoriste hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8223872) | *Dyschoriste hildebrandtii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Dyschoriste hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772702) | *Dyschoriste hildebrandtii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dyschoriste lycioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772300) | *Dyschoriste lycioides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Dyschoriste miskatensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772202) | *Dyschoriste miskatensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Dyschoriste nummulifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772088) | *Dyschoriste nummulifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dyschoriste radicans](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771749) | *Dyschoriste radicans* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ecbolium amplexicaule](https://www.gbif.org/species/5573240) | *Ecbolium amplexicaule* | Acanthaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Ecbolium barlerioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5573174) | *Ecbolium barlerioides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Ecbolium gymnostachyum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8129975) | *Ecbolium gymnostachyum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [ice crossandra](https://www.gbif.org/species/5576253) | *Ecbolium ligustrinum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ecbolium subcordatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264297) | *Ecbolium subcordatum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Green shrimp plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264277) | *Ecbolium viride* | Acanthaceae | NE | 52 |
| [Eranthemum suffruticosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3776374) | *Eranthemum suffruticosum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [hygrophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/5415352) | *Hygrophila auriculata* | Acanthaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Hygrophila erecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575565) | *Hygrophila erecta* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hypoestes aristata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264156) | *Hypoestes aristata* | Acanthaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Hypoestes canescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8283831) | *Hypoestes canescens* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hypoestes carnosula](https://www.gbif.org/species/3778187) | *Hypoestes carnosula* | Acanthaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Hypoestes cinerea](https://www.gbif.org/species/8143249) | *Hypoestes cinerea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hypoestes forskaolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3777618) | *Hypoestes forskaolii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 116 |
| [Hypoestes triflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3776474) | *Hypoestes triflora* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ichthyostoma thulinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3776311) | *Ichthyostoma thulinii* | Acanthaceae | NT | 5 |
| [Isoglossa congesta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9015494) | *Isoglossa congesta* | Acanthaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Isoglossa parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574525) | *Isoglossa parvifolia* | Acanthaceae | NT | 1 |
| [Isoglossa somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574496) | *Isoglossa somalensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Justicia anagalloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772788) | *Justicia anagalloides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Justicia anisotoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3772612) | *Justicia anisotoides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Justicia baravensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771832) | *Justicia baravensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Justicia brevipila](https://www.gbif.org/species/8948673) | *Justicia brevipila* | Acanthaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Justicia caerulea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7603603) | *Justicia caerulea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Justicia calyculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770605) | *Justicia calyculata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Justicia cordata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3768936) | *Justicia cordata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Justicia cufodontii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3781814) | *Justicia cufodontii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Justicia elliotii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3780674) | *Justicia elliotii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Justicia flava](https://www.gbif.org/species/7494800) | *Justicia flava* | Acanthaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Justicia gesneriflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3779528) | *Justicia gesneriflora* | Acanthaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Justicia gesnerifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3779518) | *Justicia gesnerifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Justicia grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3779065) | *Justicia grisea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Justicia heterocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264189) | *Justicia heterocarpa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Justicia kucharii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3777286) | *Justicia kucharii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Justicia ladanoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3777195) | *Justicia ladanoides* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Justicia matammensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8242435) | *Justicia matammensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Justicia minutifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3774723) | *Justicia minutifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Justicia odora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773420) | *Justicia odora* | Acanthaceae | NE | 62 |
| [Justicia ornatopila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773102) | *Justicia ornatopila* | Acanthaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Justicia ovatifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7555677) | *Justicia ovatifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Justicia phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7654197) | *Justicia phillipsiae* | Acanthaceae | NE | 35 |
| [Justicia potamophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3771370) | *Justicia potamophila* | Acanthaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Justicia rendlei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770196) | *Justicia rendlei* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Justicia schimperiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3768929) | *Justicia schimperiana* | Acanthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Justicia striata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264353) | *Justicia striata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Justicia thiniophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3780230) | *Justicia thiniophila* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Lepidagathis calycina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8191723) | *Lepidagathis calycina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 12 |


This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Grasses and sedges of Somalia: all 475 species on record (part 3 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 475 grass and sedge species from Somalia: 367 grasses (Poaceae) and 108 sedges (Cyperaceae).

Part 3 of 3 of [Grasses and sedges of Somalia: all 475 species on record](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-2/) · **3**

## Full list (475 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Thatching Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703243) | *Hyparrhenia hirta* | Poaceae | NE | 48 |
| [Hyparrhenia papillipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/4109461) | *Hyparrhenia papillipes* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hyparrhenia pilgeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4109420) | *Hyparrhenia pilgeriana* | Poaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Ischaemum afrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4144035) | *Ischaemum afrum* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Lasiurus scindicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5677003) | *Lasiurus scindicus* | Poaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Southern Cutgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702901) | *Leersia hexandra* | Poaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Leptochloa anisopoda](https://www.gbif.org/species/9568522) | *Leptochloa anisopoda* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Leptothrium inerme](https://www.gbif.org/species/9336336) | *Leptothrium inerme* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Leptothrium senegalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4116449) | *Leptothrium senegalense* | Poaceae | NE | 98 |
| [Loudetia arundinacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675693) | *Loudetia arundinacea* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Pointed Russet Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675304) | *Loudetia flavida* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Loudetia migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5675667) | *Loudetia migiurtina* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Megathyrsus infestus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8572559) | *Megathyrsus infestus* | Poaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Guinea grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4108550) | *Megathyrsus maximus* | Poaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Melanocenchris abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4108532) | *Melanocenchris abyssinica* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Natal red top, Rose Natal grass, Natal grass, Blanketgrass, Holme's grass, Red Natal grass, Ruby grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2702504) | *Melinis repens* | Poaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Microchloa indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4112143) | *Microchloa indica* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kunth's smallgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703589) | *Microchloa kunthii* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [sweet signal grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4155246) | *Moorochloa eruciformis* | Poaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Prickly Brack Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4112136) | *Odyssea paucinervis* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dwarf Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142727) | *Oropetium capense* | Poaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Oropetium minimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142673) | *Oropetium minimum* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Oropetium thomaeum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142653) | *Oropetium thomaeum* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [red rice](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703462) | *Oryza longistaminata* | Poaceae | LC | 2 |
| [red rice](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703461) | *Oryza punctata* | Poaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Rice](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703459) | *Oryza sativa* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Panicum atrosanguineum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4104818) | *Panicum atrosanguineum* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Klein grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705092) | *Panicum coloratum* | Poaceae | NE | 127 |
| [Panicum geminatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8056138) | *Panicum geminatum* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Panicum hippothrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/4142645) | *Panicum hippothrix* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Panicum humile](https://www.gbif.org/species/4141722) | *Panicum humile* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Panicum hygrocharis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4111654) | *Panicum hygrocharis* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Panicum infestum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9006120) | *Panicum infestum* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Panicum laticomum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4138515) | *Panicum laticomum* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Panicum massaiense](https://www.gbif.org/species/7998097) | *Panicum massaiense* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Panicum maximum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7562245) | *Panicum maximum* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Panicum pinifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4115719) | *Panicum pinifolium* | Poaceae | VU | 40 |
| [Panicum poioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5940333) | *Panicum poioides* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Torpedo Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705093) | *Panicum repens* | Poaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Panicum ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4126038) | *Panicum ruspolii* | Poaceae | LC | 2 |
| [elbow buffalo grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4123081) | *Panicum subalbidum* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [desert grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4121027) | *Panicum turgidum* | Poaceae | NE | 42 |
| [Decumbent Crowngrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705582) | *Paspalum decumbens* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Seashore Paspalum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8100050) | *Paspalum vaginatum* | Poaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Perotis acanthoneuron](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678897) | *Perotis acanthoneuron* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Perotis hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678872) | *Perotis hildebrandtii* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Purple Spike Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678853) | *Perotis patens* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Perotis somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678835) | *Perotis somalensis* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Perotis vaginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5678829) | *Perotis vaginata* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Reed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290149) | *Phragmites australis* | Poaceae | LC | 11 |
| [tropical reed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290154) | *Phragmites karka* | Poaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Poa leptoclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/4118779) | *Poa leptoclada* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Asia minor bluegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289912) | *Polypogon fugax* | Poaceae | NE | 14 |
| [beard grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/7629854) | *Polypogon fugax* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Annual Beard-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289917) | *Polypogon monspeliensis* | Poaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Water Bent](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289919) | *Polypogon viridis* | Poaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Pseudoroegneria reflexiaristata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151319) | *Pseudoroegneria reflexiaristata* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudozoysia sessilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150214) | *Pseudozoysia sessilis* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Itchgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704075) | *Rottboellia cochinchinensis* | Poaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Wild Sugarcane](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703935) | *Saccharum spontaneum* | Poaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Sarga purpureosericea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4132373) | *Sarga purpureosericea* | Poaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Sarga versicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/4132333) | *Sarga versicolor* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kalahari Sand Quick](https://www.gbif.org/species/5674887) | *Schmidtia pappophoroides* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Schoenefeldia transiens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4122660) | *Schoenefeldia transiens* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Sehima ischaemoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4120868) | *Sehima ischaemoides* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [rat-tail grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4932075) | *Sehima nervosa* | Poaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Setaria desertorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9292918) | *Setaria desertorum* | Poaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Egyptian Panicgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4117082) | *Setaria geminata* | Poaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Vlei Bristlegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5673948) | *Setaria incrassata* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Setaria kagerensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5673908) | *Setaria kagerensis* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bigleaf Bristlegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289665) | *Setaria megaphylla* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Black bristlegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289690) | *Setaria nigrirostris* | Poaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Setaria orthosticha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5673800) | *Setaria orthosticha* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Setaria poiretiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289708) | *Setaria poiretiana* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Yellow Bristle-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289693) | *Setaria pumila* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Setaria sagittifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5673675) | *Setaria sagittifolia* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [African bristlegrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289709) | *Setaria sphacelata* | Poaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Rough Bristle-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289686) | *Setaria verticillata* | Poaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Indian Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704414) | *Sorghastrum nutans* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sorghum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4108497) | *Sorghum arundinaceum* | Poaceae | LC | 64 |
| [Great Millet](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705181) | *Sorghum bicolor* | Poaceae | NE | 1784 |
| [Sudangrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705184) | *Sorghum drummondii* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sorghum virgatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4105502) | *Sorghum virgatum* | Poaceae | LC | 3 |
| [African Dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152259) | *Sporobolus africanus* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sporobolus agrostoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152254) | *Sporobolus agrostoides* | Poaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Sporobolus airiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152242) | *Sporobolus airiformis* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Sporobolus angustifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4152099) | *Sporobolus angustifolius* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sporobolus brockmanii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151462) | *Sporobolus brockmanii* | Poaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Sporobolus compactus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151177) | *Sporobolus compactus* | Poaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Sporobolus confinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151086) | *Sporobolus confinis* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sporobolus consimilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4151028) | *Sporobolus consimilis* | Poaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Madagascar Dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704750) | *Sporobolus coromandelianus* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Red Dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150265) | *Sporobolus festivus* | Poaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Fringed dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704773) | *Sporobolus fimbriatus* | Poaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Sporobolus helvolus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4932161) | *Sporobolus helvolus* | Poaceae | NE | 92 |
| [pan dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149487) | *Sporobolus ioclados* | Poaceae | NE | 70 |
| [Sporobolus minimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4148780) | *Sporobolus minimus* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sporobolus minutus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4116602) | *Sporobolus minutus* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Sporobolus nervosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4148456) | *Sporobolus nervosus* | Poaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Famine Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4116955) | *Sporobolus panicoides* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Sporobolus pellucidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4148191) | *Sporobolus pellucidus* | Poaceae | NE | 25 |
| [West Indian dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/4117345) | *Sporobolus pyramidalis* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sporobolus robustus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147632) | *Sporobolus robustus* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sporobolus ruspolianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147601) | *Sporobolus ruspolianus* | Poaceae | NE | 103 |
| [Sporobolus scitulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147444) | *Sporobolus scitulus* | Poaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Sporobolus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147253) | *Sporobolus somalensis* | Poaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Salt grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4147245) | *Sporobolus spicatus* | Poaceae | NE | 50 |
| [Tropical Dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704800) | *Sporobolus tenuissimus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sporobolus tourneuxii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4146799) | *Sporobolus tourneuxii* | Poaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Seashore Dropseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2704745) | *Sporobolus virginicus* | Poaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Stipa dregeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4141848) | *Stipa dregeana* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stipa keniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4138910) | *Stipa keniensis* | Poaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Stipagrostis acutiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130781) | *Stipagrostis acutiflora* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stipagrostis hirtigluma](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130547) | *Stipagrostis hirtigluma* | Poaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Stipagrostis paradisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130407) | *Stipagrostis paradisea* | Poaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Desert grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130292) | *Stipagrostis plumosa* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Silky Bushman Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130126) | *Stipagrostis uniplumis* | Poaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Stipagrostis xylosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4130097) | *Stipagrostis xylosa* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Taeniorhachis repens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127593) | *Taeniorhachis repens* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tetrachaete elionuroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127179) | *Tetrachaete elionuroides* | Poaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Tetrapogon cenchriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127084) | *Tetrapogon cenchriformis* | Poaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Tetrapogon ferrugineus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127071) | *Tetrapogon ferrugineus* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tetrapogon roxburghiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9553561) | *Tetrapogon roxburghiana* | Poaceae | NE | 41 |
| [Tetrapogon tenellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4127022) | *Tetrapogon tenellus* | Poaceae | NE | 66 |
| [Tetrapogon villosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4126990) | *Tetrapogon villosus* | Poaceae | NE | 61 |
| [Thelepogon elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/8331950) | *Thelepogon elegans* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [red grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2703467) | *Themeda triandra* | Poaceae | NE | 45 |
| [African Bur-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290129) | *Tragus berteronianus* | Poaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Kenya bur grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290128) | *Tragus heptaneuron* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [European Bur-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290126) | *Tragus racemosus* | Poaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Tricholaena teneriffae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4120647) | *Tricholaena teneriffae* | Poaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Trichoneura mollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8189626) | *Trichoneura mollis* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Trigonochloa rupestris](https://www.gbif.org/species/8428200) | *Trigonochloa rupestris* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Italian sugarcane](https://www.gbif.org/species/6431296) | *Tripidium ravennae* | Poaceae | LC | 21 |
| [Tripogon curvatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4116329) | *Tripogon curvatus* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Tripogon leptophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4116216) | *Tripogon leptophyllus* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tripogon subtilissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4115940) | *Tripogon subtilissimus* | Poaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Tripogonella minima](https://www.gbif.org/species/10945551) | *Tripogonella minima* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Trisetopsis elongata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9269991) | *Trisetopsis elongata* | Poaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bread Wheat](https://www.gbif.org/species/7795888) | *Triticum aestivum* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Urochloa arida](https://www.gbif.org/species/12217760) | *Urochloa arida* | Poaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Urochloa comata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150891) | *Urochloa comata* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Deflexed Brachiaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150831) | *Urochloa deflexa* | Poaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Creeping False Paspalum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150823) | *Urochloa dictyoneura* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Urochloa lachnantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5828161) | *Urochloa lachnantha* | Poaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Urochloa leersioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150420) | *Urochloa leersioides* | Poaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Para grass, Mauritius signal grass, Scotch grass, California grass, Water grass, Dutch grass, Buffalo grass, Carib grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705848) | *Urochloa mutica* | Poaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Urochloa oligotricha](https://www.gbif.org/species/4150143) | *Urochloa oligotricha* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Urochloa ovalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/12191822) | *Urochloa ovalis* | Poaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Sharp-flowered Signal-grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705869) | *Urochloa panicoides* | Poaceae | LC | 52 |
| [Plantain Signalgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705828) | *Urochloa plantaginea* | Poaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dixie Signalgrass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705875) | *Urochloa ramosa* | Poaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Creeping Panic Grass, Running Grass, Sprawling Signal Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/2705833) | *Urochloa reptans* | Poaceae | LC | 21 |
| [Urochloa rudis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149799) | *Urochloa rudis* | Poaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Red Top Grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/10758810) | *Urochloa serrata* | Poaceae | NE | 4 |
| [African liverseed grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149632) | *Urochloa trichopus* | Poaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Urochloa xantholeuca](https://www.gbif.org/species/4149509) | *Urochloa xantholeuca* | Poaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Urochondra setulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4115927) | *Urochondra setulosa* | Poaceae | NE | 32 |
| [hippo grass](https://www.gbif.org/species/5289907) | *Vossia cuspidata* | Poaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Zaqiqah mucronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10995789) | *Zaqiqah mucronata* | Poaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Maize](https://www.gbif.org/species/5290052) | *Zea mays* | Poaceae | LC | 31 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/grasses-and-sedges-of-somalia-2/) · **3**


---

# MyBank (Somalia): digital bank licensed in 2019

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/mybank-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> MyBank is a Somali commercial bank founded in 2018 and among five banks the Central Bank of Somalia licensed in 2019. It launched a Mastercard debit card for shopping in shops and online in November 2021. In 2024 it linked its accounts to Hormuud's EVC Plus and the Waafi app, and in September 2026 it launched IskuFilan, loans for women that use gold as security.

## The short version

MyBank is a commercial bank in Mogadishu. It was **established in 2018** and is licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia ([Dawan Africa, 10 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/mybank-launches-gold-backed-loans-for-somali-women)). It appears as My Bank on the Central Bank's register of licensed banks ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

## The 2019 licence

MyBank was one of **five banks** the Central Bank cleared in 2019, which brought the number of commercial banks in south and central Somalia to ten. The others were [Daryeel Bank](/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/), SomBank, Agro Africa Bank and Amana Bank ([Goobjoog, 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-licenses-five-more-banks)). The Central Bank then required a locally incorporated bank to have at least **$5 million** of starting capital and to keep at least that much (same source).

## Systems and cards

- In March 2020 the Kuwaiti software firm Path Solutions announced that MyBank would use its iMAL Islamic core banking system ([Payment Expert, 23 March 2020](https://paymentexpert.com/2020/03/23/path-solutions-links-with-mybank-in-somalia/); [Finextra](https://finextra.com/pressarticle/81889/path-solutions-signs-somalias-mybank-to-imal-core)).
- In November 2021 MyBank, Mastercard and Network International launched a **Mastercard debit card**. It works at shop terminals and cash machines and, for the first time for MyBank, for online shopping. Network International gives the bank its link to the Mastercard network ([Mastercard newsroom, November 2021](https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/eemea/en/newsroom/press-releases/en/2021/november/mybank-mastercard-and-network-international-elevate-ecommerce-in-somalia-with-new-debit-card-launch)).

## Links to mobile money

- In October 2024 Hormuud announced that its **EVC Plus** mobile money service could now move money to and from accounts at MyBank and Agro Bank, and that it planned to add more banks in 2025 ([TechAfrica News, 21 October 2024](https://techafricanews.com/2024/10/21/hormuud-partners-with-mybank-and-agrobank-to-enhance-digital-banking/); [Developing Telecoms](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/financial-services/17487-hormuud-bolsters-mobile-money-platform-with-bank-partnerships.html)).
- After an agreement signed in October 2024, MyBank customers can check balances and pay bills through the [Waafi](/en/businesses/waafi/) app. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) Africa reported Waafi as having more than two million active users ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/mybank-breaks-new-ground-with-waafis-2m-users)).

## IskuFilan: gold-backed loans for women

On **10 September 2026** MyBank launched **IskuFilan**, a financing service that lets women use gold as security instead of the personal guarantors banks usually ask for. Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama launched the service ([Dawan Africa, 10 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/mybank-launches-gold-backed-loans-for-somali-women)). The bank's chief executive estimated that about 1 million Somali women hold gold. He said that at an average of 20 grams each this would be worth about **$3 billion**, more than the combined assets of Somalia's banks (same source). The chair of the Banadir Region Women Organization noted that gold has long been a store of savings for Somali women (same source).

For all banks, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/) and [Somalia's main banks](/en/economy/somalias-main-banks/). For women's role in business, see [Women in the economy](/en/economy/women-in-the-economy/).


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 671 species in the families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 671 flowering plant (families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae) species with Somalia as the country, in 27 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Asteraceae: 234
- Convolvulaceae: 115
- Burseraceae: 70
- Capparaceae: 44
- Brassicaceae: 38
- Caryophyllaceae: 36
- Combretaceae: 27
- Cleomaceae: 23
- Boraginaceae: 22
- Celastraceae: 19

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Abyssinian myrrh (276), balm-of-Gilead (156), Commiphora chiovendana (79), Commiphora gurreh (77), African myrrh (73), Grey-Leaved Bittertea (71) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

144 of the 671 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

29 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Bidens somaliensis*, *Dicoma somalense*, *Dicoma somalensis*, *Emilia somalensis*, *Erythroseris somalensis*, *Gutenbergia somalensis*, *Helichrysum erigavoanum*, *Helichrysum ogadense*, *Helichrysum somalense*, *Launaea benadirensis*, *Pentzia somalensis*, *Pluchea somaliensis*, *Pulicaria migiurtinorum*, *Pulicaria somalensis*, *Cystostemon somaliensis*, *Brassica somalensis*, *Erucastrum erigavicum*, *Farsetia somalensis*, *Cadaba somalensis*, *Maerua somalensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: *Aspilia macrorrhiza*, *Elaeodendron aquifolium*, Commiphora alata, *Commiphora arenaria*, Commiphora chaetocarpa, *Commiphora gardoensis*, Commiphora stellatopubescens, *Commiphora sulcata*, Stictocardia macalusoi ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: *Emilia bellioides*, Kleinia scottii, Farsetia somalensis, Boscia mazzocchii, Lanceleaf Buttonwood, *Commiphora acuminata*, Commiphora alaticaulis, *Commiphora cyclophylla*, Commiphora erlangeriana, *Commiphora guidottii*, *Commiphora lobatospathulata*, *Commiphora playfairii*, *Convolvulus jefferyi*, Ipomoea paolii ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 9
- Vulnerable (VU): 14
- Near Threatened (NT): 15
- Least Concern (LC): 101
- Data Deficient (DD): 6
- Not Evaluated (NE): 526

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Asteraceae: 234 species
- Convolvulaceae: 115 species
- Burseraceae: 70 species
- Capparaceae: 44 species
- Brassicaceae: 38 species
- Caryophyllaceae: 36 species
- Combretaceae: 27 species
- Cleomaceae: 23 species
- Boraginaceae: 22 species
- Celastraceae: 19 species

## Full list (671 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Hispid Starbur](https://www.gbif.org/species/3100375) | *Acanthospermum hispidum* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Billygoat-weed, Chick weed, Goatweed, Whiteweed](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) | *Ageratum conyzoides* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Anthemis tigreensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3122580) | *Anthemis tigreensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Yemen Mapdaisy](https://www.gbif.org/species/10295233) | *Arrowsmithia ericifolia* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Artemisia abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9540418) | *Artemisia abyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aspilia macrorrhiza](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396268) | *Aspilia macrorrhiza* | Asteraceae | EN | 16 |
| [Aspilia mossambicensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396229) | *Aspilia mossambicensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 27 |
| [Athroisma lobatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3130364) | *Athroisma lobatum* | Asteraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Atractylis cryptocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/5398273) | *Atractylis cryptocephala* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Five-Leaved Black Jack](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392065) | *Bidens biternata* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Bidens macroptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5391668) | *Bidens macroptera* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Black-jack](https://www.gbif.org/species/5391845) | *Bidens pilosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Munodo bur-marigold](https://www.gbif.org/species/5391827) | *Bidens schimperi* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bidens somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392043) | *Bidens somaliensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bidens ternata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5391794) | *Bidens ternata* | Asteraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Blainvillea](https://www.gbif.org/species/8264433) | *Blainvillea gayana* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Blepharispermum ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141640) | *Blepharispermum ellenbeckii* | Asteraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Blepharispermum fruticosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8691260) | *Blepharispermum fruticosum* | Asteraceae | NE | 22 |
| [Blepharispermum fruticosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141647) | *Blepharispermum fruticosum* | Asteraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Blepharispermum pubescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141633) | *Blepharispermum pubescens* | Asteraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Blepharispermum villosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141637) | *Blepharispermum villosum* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Blepharispermum yemense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141645) | *Blepharispermum yemense* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Blumea axillaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5395843) | *Blumea axillaris* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Whitestem Distaff Thistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/3138253) | *Carthamus leucocaulos* | Asteraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Bitter bush, Jack in the bush, Siam weed, Triffid weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3087725) | *Chromolaena odorata* | Asteraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cineraria abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141243) | *Cineraria abyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cineraria deltoidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141227) | *Cineraria deltoidea* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spear Thistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/3112801) | *Cirsium vulgare* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Conyza hochstetteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7597189) | *Conyza hochstetteri* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Conyza schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5398130) | *Conyza schimperi* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stinking Hawk's-beard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5403470) | *Crepis foetida* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Crepis rueppellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5403412) | *Crepis rueppellii* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Curio avasimontanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3122404) | *Curio avasimontanus* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Little Ironweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/6445734) | *Cyanthillium cinereum* | Asteraceae | NE | 18 |
| [Dichrocephala chrysanthemifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3115608) | *Dichrocephala chrysanthemifolia* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Auriculate Dichrocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3115588) | *Dichrocephala integrifolia* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dicoma aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103368) | *Dicoma aethiopica* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dicoma bangueolensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103386) | *Dicoma bangueolensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 15 |
| [Dicoma gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103351) | *Dicoma gillettii* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dicoma paivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103353) | *Dicoma paivae* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Dicoma popeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103354) | *Dicoma popeana* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Dicoma schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103348) | *Dicoma schimperi* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Dicoma somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103350) | *Dicoma somalense* | Asteraceae | NE | 12 |
| [Dicoma somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9198756) | *Dicoma somalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Dicoma thuliniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103388) | *Dicoma thuliniana* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dicoma tomentosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3103375) | *Dicoma tomentosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Golden-Bittertea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5400066) | *Distephanus divaricatus* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Distephanus plumosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5400078) | *Distephanus plumosus* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Doellia bovei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3138690) | *Doellia bovei* | Asteraceae | NE | 12 |
| [Echinops giganteus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392820) | *Echinops giganteus* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Echinops longifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392701) | *Echinops longifolius* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Echinops macrochaetus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392880) | *Echinops macrochaetus* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Echinops pappii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392909) | *Echinops pappii* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Echinops spinosissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392840) | *Echinops spinosissimus* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [False Daisy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384950) | *Eclipta prostrata* | Asteraceae | LC | 12 |
| [Emilia abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5401498) | *Emilia abyssinica* | Asteraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Emilia baberka](https://www.gbif.org/species/5401541) | *Emilia baberka* | Asteraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Emilia bellioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5401546) | *Emilia bellioides* | Asteraceae | VU | 22 |
| [Emilia corallina](https://www.gbif.org/species/11113156) | *Emilia corallina* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Emilia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5401554) | *Emilia somalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Argentine Fleabane](https://www.gbif.org/species/3146717) | *Erigeron bonariensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Erlangea centaurioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3111629) | *Erlangea centaurioides* | Asteraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Erlangea centauroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9057881) | *Erlangea centauroides* | Asteraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Erlangea smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3111655) | *Erlangea smithii* | Asteraceae | NE | 7 |
| [Erythroseris somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4208418) | *Erythroseris somalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Eschenbachia gouanii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10716490) | *Eschenbachia gouanii* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Eschenbachia tigrensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10850103) | *Eschenbachia tigrensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euryops arabicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5394972) | *Euryops arabicus* | Asteraceae | NE | 35 |
| [Felicia abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5401230) | *Felicia abyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 40 |
| [Felicia abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8017798) | *Felicia abyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Clustered Yellowtops](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086845) | *Flaveria trinervia* | Asteraceae | NE | 25 |
| [Galgera decurrens](https://www.gbif.org/species/12199720) | *Galgera decurrens* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gallant Soldier](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132570) | *Galinsoga parviflora* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Shaggy Soldier](https://www.gbif.org/species/8298495) | *Galinsoga quadriradiata* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Wing Vomitdaisy](https://www.gbif.org/species/3119845) | *Geigeria alata* | Asteraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Sticky Niger](https://www.gbif.org/species/3088623) | *Guizotia scabra* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Guizotia villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3088650) | *Guizotia villosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gutenbergia boranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3113816) | *Gutenbergia boranensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gutenbergia pumila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3113823) | *Gutenbergia pumila* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Gutenbergia rueppellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3113852) | *Gutenbergia rueppellii* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Gutenbergia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3113825) | *Gutenbergia somalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 17 |
| [Bittertea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3130899) | *Gymnanthemum amygdalinum* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Blue Bitter Tea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3124059) | *Gymnanthemum myrianthum* | Asteraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Sunflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/9206251) | *Helianthus annuus* | Asteraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Helichrysum arbuscula](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131957) | *Helichrysum arbuscula* | Asteraceae | NE | 7 |
| [Helichrysum argyranthum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132063) | *Helichrysum argyranthum* | Asteraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Helichrysum arussense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131456) | *Helichrysum arussense* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Helichrysum citrispinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131876) | *Helichrysum citrispinum* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Helichrysum cuspidatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131954) | *Helichrysum cuspidatum* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Helichrysum erigavoanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131126) | *Helichrysum erigavoanum* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stinking Strawflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/7438716) | *Helichrysum foetidum* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [everlasting-flower](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131124) | *Helichrysum formosissimum* | Asteraceae | LC | 7 |
| [Helichrysum globosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131324) | *Helichrysum globosum* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Helichrysum glumaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131195) | *Helichrysum glumaceum* | Asteraceae | NE | 49 |
| [Helichrysum gofense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131542) | *Helichrysum gofense* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Daisy](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131229) | *Helichrysum luteoalbum* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Helichrysum meyeri-johannis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131803) | *Helichrysum meyeri-johannis* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Helichrysum ogadense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131327) | *Helichrysum ogadense* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Helichrysum psiadiifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131942) | *Helichrysum psiadiifolium* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Helichrysum pumilum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8008459) | *Helichrysum pumilum* | Asteraceae | NE | 12 |
| [Helichrysum somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3131587) | *Helichrysum somalense* | Asteraceae | NE | 26 |
| [Helichrysum traversii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132030) | *Helichrysum traversii* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Iphiona phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3125395) | *Iphiona phillipsiae* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Iphiona pinnatifida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3125408) | *Iphiona pinnatifida* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Iphionopsis oblanceolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3087169) | *Iphionopsis oblanceolata* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Iphionopsis rotundifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3087166) | *Iphionopsis rotundifolia* | Asteraceae | NE | 41 |
| [Jeffreycia hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9270886) | *Jeffreycia hildebrandtii* | Asteraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Jurinea monocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/5392503) | *Jurinea monocephala* | Asteraceae | NE | 18 |
| [Kleinia abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405679) | *Kleinia abyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kleinia caespitosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405651) | *Kleinia caespitosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Kleinia curvata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405626) | *Kleinia curvata* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Kleinia dolichocoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405644) | *Kleinia dolichocoma* | Asteraceae | LC | 6 |
| [Kleinia gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405659) | *Kleinia gracilis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kleinia grantii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405656) | *Kleinia grantii* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Canary Islands Candle-Plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405673) | *Kleinia neriifolia* | Asteraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Kleinia odora](https://www.gbif.org/species/8029038) | *Kleinia odora* | Asteraceae | NE | 24 |
| [Kleinia pendula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405697) | *Kleinia pendula* | Asteraceae | NE | 38 |
| [Kleinia polycotoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405685) | *Kleinia polycotoma* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Kleinia scottii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405647) | *Kleinia scottii* | Asteraceae | VU | 5 |
| [Kleinia squarrosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405676) | *Kleinia squarrosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 17 |
| [Kleinia tortuosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405662) | *Kleinia tortuosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Kleinia triantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405660) | *Kleinia triantha* | Asteraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Kleinia tuberculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5405691) | *Kleinia tuberculata* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Curly knob-bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3098694) | *Laggera crispata* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mol-albina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144854) | *Launaea arborescens* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Launaea benadirensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144847) | *Launaea benadirensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Launaea bornmuelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144765) | *Launaea bornmuelleri* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Launaea calmadowensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11825865) | *Launaea calmadowensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [bitter-lettuce](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144775) | *Launaea cornuta* | Asteraceae | NE | 24 |
| [Launaea crassifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144877) | *Launaea crassifolia* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Launaea hafunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144811) | *Launaea hafunensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 21 |
| [Achicoria Azul](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144674) | *Launaea intybacea* | Asteraceae | NE | 39 |
| [Launaea lackii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144822) | *Launaea lackii* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Launaea massauensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7946332) | *Launaea massauensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Launaea petitiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144711) | *Launaea petitiana* | Asteraceae | NE | 49 |
| [Launaea pseudoabyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3144866) | *Launaea pseudoabyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 11 |
| [Lipotriche pungens](https://www.gbif.org/species/9507486) | *Lipotriche pungens* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dwarf Sage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3127458) | *Litogyne gariepina* | Asteraceae | LC | 5 |
| [Microglossa pyrrhopappa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5698296) | *Microglossa pyrrhopappa* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Monactinocephalus paniculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3148384) | *Monactinocephalus paniculatus* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nidorella aegyptiaca](https://www.gbif.org/species/8339120) | *Nidorella aegyptiaca* | Asteraceae | NE | 7 |
| [Nidorella elliotii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3126357) | *Nidorella elliotii* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somalia's newer banks: Agro, Amana, Bushra, Bulsho, Daryeel, Galaxy, Idman, SomBank and Ziraat

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somalias-newer-banks/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Since 2019 the Central Bank of Somalia has licensed a wave of new banks. In 2019 it licensed MyBank, Daryeel Bank, SomBank, Agro Africa Bank and Amana Bank, with a minimum capital of $5 million each. Bushra Business Bank, Galaxy International Bank, Idman Community Bank and Bulsho Bank followed. In 2022 it licensed the first foreign banks in decades, Turkey's Ziraat Katilim and Egypt's Banque Misr, and Ziraat opened in Mogadishu in October 2023.

## The short version

In 2019 Somalia had five privately owned banks in the south and centre. That year the Central Bank cleared **five more**: MyBank, Daryeel Bank, SomBank, Agro Africa Bank and Amana Bank. Each locally incorporated bank had to bring at least **$5 million** of capital and keep at least that much ([Goobjoog, 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-licenses-five-more-banks)). By late 2024 the Central Bank listed 13 commercial banks ([Wikipedia, List of banks in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Somalia)). In November 2026 its register showed 15, including one foreign bank ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)). The older and larger banks have their own pages: [Salaam Somali Bank](/en/businesses/salaam-somali-bank/), [Premier Bank](/en/businesses/premier-bank/), [International Bank of Somalia](/en/businesses/international-bank-of-somalia/), [Dahabshil Bank International](/en/businesses/dahabshil-bank-international/), [MyBank](/en/businesses/mybank-somalia/) and [Amal Bank](/en/businesses/amal-group/).

## The banks, one by one

**Agro Africa Bank (Agro Bank).** Licensed in 2019 ([Goobjoog, 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-licenses-five-more-banks)). Its head office is on Wadnaha Road in Howlwadaag, Mogadishu ([Somali Investment Promotion Office, banking sector](https://sominvest.gov.so/key-sectors/banking-finance/)). In October 2024 Hormuud linked its EVC Plus mobile money service to Agro Bank and MyBank accounts ([TechAfrica News, 21 October 2024](https://techafricanews.com/2024/10/21/hormuud-partners-with-mybank-and-agrobank-to-enhance-digital-banking/)).

**Amana Bank.** Licensed in 2019 ([Goobjoog, 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-licenses-five-more-banks)). In 2020 it chose Path Solutions' iMAL Islamic banking software to replace its old system ([IBS Intelligence, 2020](https://ibsintelligence.com/ibsi-news/amana-bank-selects-path-solutions-as-preferred-technology-partner)). A 2020 UNIDO report on Somalia's financial sector lists it among the newly opened banks in Mogadishu ([UNIDO and Ministry of Commerce, 2020](https://downloads.unido.org/ot/21/18/21185699/1_UNIDO_MoCI%20Report%20Financial%20Sector_final.pdf)).

**Bushra Business Bank.** On the Central Bank's list of commercial banks ([Wikipedia, List of banks in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Somalia)). Its office is at KM4, Makka al-Mukarama Street, Hodan district, Mogadishu ([Somali Investment Promotion Office](https://sominvest.gov.so/key-sectors/banking-finance/)).

**Bulsho Development Bank.** Listed as Bulsho Bank on the Central Bank register in November 2026 ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)). On 20 October 2026 it launched an Islamic financing service for traders, farmers, livestock owners and young innovators, which also covers housing and small businesses ([Dawan Africa, 20 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/bulsho-development-bank-launches-financing-service-for-traders-and-farmers)).

**Daryeel Bank.** Licensed in 2019 ([Goobjoog, 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-licenses-five-more-banks)). The Central Bank register gives its address in [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/) ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

**Galaxy International Bank (GIB).** On the Central Bank's list of commercial banks ([Wikipedia, List of banks in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Somalia)). Its SWIFT code is GLXYSOSM, and its listed address is the ABC Building on Airport Road, Mogadishu ([Wise, SWIFT code GLXYSOSMXXX](https://wise.com/gb/swift-codes/GLXYSOSMXXX)).

**Idman Community Bank.** On the Central Bank's list of commercial banks ([Wikipedia, List of banks in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Somalia)). In October 2026 it finished a three-month course in money management for 30 women business owners it had lent to ([Dawan Africa, 25 October 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/idman-bank-concludes-three-month-financial-training-for-30-somali-women-entrepreneurs)).

**SomBank (Somali Bank Limited).** Licensed in 2019 ([Goobjoog, 2019](https://en.goobjoog.com/central-bank-licenses-five-more-banks)). It is still on the Central Bank's register ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

## The first foreign banks

- On **2 July 2022** the Central Bank's board approved licences for **Ziraat Katilim** of Turkey and **Banque Misr** of Egypt to open branches ([Daily Sabah, July 2022](https://www.dailysabah.com/business/finance/turkish-participation-bank-gets-green-light-to-operate-in-somalia); [Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-licenses-egyptian-turkish-banks)).
- Ziraat Katilim, a state-owned Turkish Islamic bank and part of the Ziraat finance group, opened its first Mogadishu branch in **October 2023**. The Central Bank governor called it the first international bank to operate in Somalia in more than five decades ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/turkish-bank-ziraat-katilim-formally-launches-in-somalia-cbs-calls-it-historic-moment); [allAfrica, 31 October 2023](https://allafrica.com/stories/202310310110.html)).
- Banque Misr does not appear on the Central Bank's November 2026 register ([Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks](https://centralbank.gov.so/licensed-banks/)).

For the overall picture, see [Banks in Somalia](/en/economy/banks/), [Who is licensed](/en/economy/licensed-banks-and-money-companies/) and [Foreign companies in Somalia](/en/economy/foreign-companies-in-somalia/).


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species) (part 2 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 501 species in the families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 2 of 4 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/)

## Full list (501 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Lepidagathis calycina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3777109) | *Lepidagathis calycina* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepidagathis scabra](https://www.gbif.org/species/3775812) | *Lepidagathis scabra* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepidagathis scariosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3775803) | *Lepidagathis scariosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Lepidagathis speciosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8876567) | *Lepidagathis speciosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Megalochlamys linifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773207) | *Megalochlamys linifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Megalochlamys ogadenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773188) | *Megalochlamys ogadenensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Megalochlamys trinervia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8695651) | *Megalochlamys trinervia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Megalochlamys violacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3773117) | *Megalochlamys violacea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 37 |
| [Monechma bracteatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770250) | *Monechma bracteatum* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Monechma carnosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/11206097) | *Monechma carnosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Monechma debile](https://www.gbif.org/species/3770176) | *Monechma debile* | Acanthaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Neuracanthus argyrophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769236) | *Neuracanthus argyrophyllus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Neuracanthus capitatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769220) | *Neuracanthus capitatus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Neuracanthus cladanthacanthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769212) | *Neuracanthus cladanthacanthus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Neuracanthus lindaui](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769153) | *Neuracanthus lindaui* | Acanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Neuracanthus matsabdianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769129) | *Neuracanthus matsabdianus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Neuracanthus migiurtinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769121) | *Neuracanthus migiurtinus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Neuracanthus niveus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769110) | *Neuracanthus niveus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Neuracanthus ovalifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769101) | *Neuracanthus ovalifolius* | Acanthaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Neuracanthus pictus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769082) | *Neuracanthus pictus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Neuracanthus polyacanthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3769076) | *Neuracanthus polyacanthus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Neuracanthus robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7263213) | *Neuracanthus robecchii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Neuracanthus tephrophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7263202) | *Neuracanthus tephrophyllus* | Acanthaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Rhinacanthus rotundifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5572954) | *Rhinacanthus rotundifolius* | Acanthaceae | VU | 2 |
| [Ruellia carnea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575029) | *Ruellia carnea* | Acanthaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Ruellia discifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574728) | *Ruellia discifolia* | Acanthaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Ruellia linearibracteolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574071) | *Ruellia linearibracteolata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Ruellia nocturna](https://www.gbif.org/species/9201783) | *Ruellia nocturna* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [White Veld Violet](https://www.gbif.org/species/5573538) | *Ruellia patula* | Acanthaceae | NE | 110 |
| [Prostrate Wild Petunia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5415375) | *Ruellia prostrata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ruspolia hypocrateriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5575605) | *Ruspolia hypocrateriformis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Jammy Mouth](https://www.gbif.org/species/3779755) | *Ruttya fruticosa* | Acanthaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Satanocrater coccineus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3778096) | *Satanocrater coccineus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Satanocrater paradoxus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8427290) | *Satanocrater paradoxus* | Acanthaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Satanocrater ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3778038) | *Satanocrater ruspolii* | Acanthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Satanocrater somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3778026) | *Satanocrater somalensis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Thunbergia affinis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574402) | *Thunbergia affinis* | Acanthaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Black eyed Susan vine, Black-eyed Susan, Black-eyed Susan clock vine, Bright eyes, Winged clockvine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5415463) | *Thunbergia alata* | Acanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Thunbergia guerkeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5574120) | *Thunbergia guerkeana* | Acanthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Thunbergia paulitschkeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5573804) | *Thunbergia paulitschkeana* | Acanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Grandidiera boivinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3878753) | *Grandidiera boivinii* | Achariaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Lindackeria bukobensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3879739) | *Lindackeria bukobensis* | Achariaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Lindackeria somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3879567) | *Lindackeria somalensis* | Achariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Forest-Peach](https://www.gbif.org/species/3878331) | *Rawsonia lucida* | Achariaceae | LC | 2 |
| [African Baconfig](https://www.gbif.org/species/8124412) | *Aizoon canariense* | Aizoaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Heart-leaf Ice-Plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/8185812) | *Mesembryanthemum cordifolium* | Aizoaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sesuvium hydaspicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3706964) | *Sesuvium hydaspicum* | Aizoaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Shoreline Seapurslane](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084883) | *Sesuvium portulacastrum* | Aizoaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Desert Pink](https://www.gbif.org/species/10965161) | *Sesuvium sesuvioides* | Aizoaceae | NE | 1 |
| [New Zealand spinach](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384307) | *Tetragonia tetragonioides* | Aizoaceae | NE | 1 |
| [New Zealand-Spinach](https://www.gbif.org/species/5554574) | *Tetragonia tetragonoides* | Aizoaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Trianthema ceratosepala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3704558) | *Trianthema ceratosepalum* | Aizoaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Trianthema corallicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/7916556) | *Trianthema corallicolum* | Aizoaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Trianthema crystallinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7329299) | *Trianthema crystallinum* | Aizoaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Desert Horse-Purslane](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084848) | *Trianthema portulacastrum* | Aizoaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Red Spinach](https://www.gbif.org/species/7512002) | *Trianthema triquetrum* | Aizoaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Tribulocarpus dimorphanthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3703920) | *Tribulocarpus dimorphanthus* | Aizoaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Tribulocarpus retusus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7632355) | *Tribulocarpus retusus* | Aizoaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Tribulocarpus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10709159) | *Tribulocarpus somalensis* | Aizoaceae | NE | 2 |
| [African Purslane](https://www.gbif.org/species/7329156) | *Zaleya pentandra* | Aizoaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Achyranthes abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3672899) | *Achyranthes abyssinica* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Devil's Horsewhip](https://www.gbif.org/species/3085168) | *Achyranthes aspera* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Achyranthes coynei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3676272) | *Achyranthes coynei* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Achyranthes sicula](https://www.gbif.org/species/7626296) | *Achyranthes sicula* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Aerva javanica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7925519) | *Aerva javanica* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 87 |
| [Khakiweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084949) | *Alternanthera pungens* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Rabbit-meat](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084939) | *Alternanthera sessilis* | Amaranthaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Love-lies-bleeding](https://www.gbif.org/species/6109611) | *Amaranthus caudatus* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Purple Amaranth](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384390) | *Amaranthus cruentus* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spleen Amaranth](https://www.gbif.org/species/8279930) | *Amaranthus dubius* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Short-tepalled Pigweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384373) | *Amaranthus graecizans* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Green Amaranth](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384364) | *Amaranthus hybridus* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Amaranthus sparganicephalus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8205620) | *Amaranthus sparganicephalus* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Thunberg's amaranth](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384383) | *Amaranthus thunbergii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Slender Amaranth](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384334) | *Amaranthus viridis* | Amaranthaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Anabasis articulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5568629) | *Anabasis articulata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Anabasis ehrenbergii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5568609) | *Anabasis ehrenbergii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Glaucous Glasswort](https://www.gbif.org/species/9417609) | *Arthrocaulon macrostachyum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Atriplex coriacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3760595) | *Atriplex coriacea* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Atriplex erigavoensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3759847) | *Atriplex erigavoensis* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Atriplex farinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7548065) | *Atriplex farinosa* | Amaranthaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Shrubby Orache](https://www.gbif.org/species/3083718) | *Atriplex halimus* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Atriplex nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3756911) | *Atriplex nogalensis* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Atriplex stocksii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3759555) | *Atriplex stocksii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Caroxylon africanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9458669) | *Caroxylon africanum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Caroxylon imbricatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7889407) | *Caroxylon imbricatum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Caroxylon spinescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3759397) | *Caroxylon spinescens* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Cockscomb](https://www.gbif.org/species/3085191) | *Celosia argentea* | Amaranthaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Celosia polystachia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673478) | *Celosia polystachya* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Celosia schweinfurthiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673375) | *Celosia schweinfurthiana* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [woolflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/3085198) | *Celosia trigyna* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Centemopsis gracilenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673099) | *Centemopsis gracilenta* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Centemopsis micrantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673077) | *Centemopsis micrantha* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Nettle-leaved Goosefoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/8149099) | *Chenopodiastrum murale* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [grey goosefoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/3083903) | *Chenopodium opulifolium* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Chionothrix somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3676425) | *Chionothrix somalensis* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Climacoptera crassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9284811) | *Climacoptera crassa* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cornulaca ehrenbergii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3758928) | *Cornulaca ehrenbergii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cornulaca monacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3758905) | *Cornulaca monacantha* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyathula orthacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5548538) | *Cyathula orthacantha* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Globe Cyathula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5548482) | *Cyathula uncinulata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dasysphaera alternifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675629) | *Dasysphaera alternifolia* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Dasysphaera hyposericea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675612) | *Dasysphaera hyposericea* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Dasysphaera robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675599) | *Dasysphaera robecchii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dasysphaera tomentosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675591) | *Dasysphaera tomentosa* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [false amaranth](https://www.gbif.org/species/6429755) | *Digera muricata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Schrader Goosefoot](https://www.gbif.org/species/5568322) | *Dysphania schraderiana* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Eriostylos stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675175) | *Eriostylos stefaninii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Fadenia zygophylloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5568052) | *Fadenia zygophylloides* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [gomphrena-weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084911) | *Gomphrena celosioides* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Halothamnus beckettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5568716) | *Halothamnus beckettii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Halothamnus bottae](https://www.gbif.org/species/6035803) | *Halothamnus bottae* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Halothamnus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/6035776) | *Halothamnus somalensis* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 41 |
| [Kaviria pycnophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3758330) | *Kaviria pycnophylla* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Kaviria rubescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3758324) | *Kaviria rubescens* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Lagenantha cycloptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3756439) | *Lagenantha cycloptera* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Lopriorea ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675811) | *Lopriorea ruspolii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Neocentema robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675412) | *Neocentema robecchii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Shrubby Russian Thistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/9465030) | *Nitrosalsola vermiculata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nothosaerva brachiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675362) | *Nothosaerva brachiata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Nucularia perrinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6285517) | *Nucularia perrinii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [aerva](https://www.gbif.org/species/10974033) | *Ouret lanata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 77 |
| [Foambush](https://www.gbif.org/species/10858334) | *Ouret leucura* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pandiaka lanuginosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675067) | *Pandiaka lanuginosa* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pleuropterantha revoilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4931284) | *Pleuropterantha revoilii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 62 |
| [Pleuropterantha thulinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673576) | *Pleuropterantha thulinii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Pleuropterantha undulatifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673571) | *Pleuropterantha undulatifolia* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Polyrhabda atriplicifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673539) | *Polyrhabda atriplicifolia* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Psilotrichum amplum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673370) | *Psilotrichum amplum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Psilotrichum gloveri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673253) | *Psilotrichum gloveri* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Psilotrichum gnaphalobryum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673249) | *Psilotrichum gnaphalobryum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Psilotrichum gracilipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673236) | *Psilotrichum gracilipes* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Psilotrichum lanatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673208) | *Psilotrichum lanatum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Psilotrichum leptostachys](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673198) | *Psilotrichum leptostachys* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Psilotrichum patulum](https://www.gbif.org/species/11734920) | *Psilotrichum patulum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Psilotrichum scleranthum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673091) | *Psilotrichum scleranthum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Psilotrichum sericeum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673079) | *Psilotrichum sericeum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Psilotrichum stenanthum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673070) | *Psilotrichum stenanthum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Psilotrichum tomentosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3673059) | *Psilotrichum tomentosum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Psilotrichum virgatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3674491) | *Psilotrichum virgatum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [forest burr](https://www.gbif.org/species/7323604) | *Pupalia lappacea* | Amaranthaceae | LC | 46 |
| [Pupalia robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3674954) | *Pupalia robecchii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Rosifax sabuletorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3674774) | *Rosifax sabuletorum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Salsola forskaolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/6285548) | *Salsola forskaolii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sericocomopsis hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3674518) | *Sericocomopsis hildebrandtii* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sericocomopsis pallida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3674481) | *Sericocomopsis pallida* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 93 |
| [Sevada schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3758353) | *Sevada schimperi* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Soda longifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/11277578) | *Soda longifolia* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Seablite](https://www.gbif.org/species/3757104) | *Suaeda aegyptiaca* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [brakbos](https://www.gbif.org/species/3083537) | *Suaeda fruticosa* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Suaeda micromeris](https://www.gbif.org/species/3756821) | *Suaeda micromeris* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 16 |
| [South-Indian seepweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7563473) | *Suaeda monoica* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Arabian Jointed Glasswort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3755896) | *Suaeda vermiculata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Mungily](https://www.gbif.org/species/7340130) | *Tecticornia indica* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Traganum nudatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3760351) | *Traganum nudatum* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Volkensinia prostrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3675752) | *Volkensinia prostrata* | Amaranthaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 573 species in the families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 573 flowering plant (families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae) species with Somalia as the country, in 36 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Euphorbiaceae: 203
- Lamiaceae: 127
- Cucurbitaceae: 48
- Loranthaceae: 25
- Crassulaceae: 25
- Heliotropiaceae: 22
- Geraniaceae: 21
- Cordiaceae: 12
- Lythraceae: 10
- Malpighiaceae: 8

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are *Leucas abyssinica* (85), Cucumis (83), Mopaneveld keepsafe (60), Heliotropium aegyptiacum (59), Hairy Heliotrope (59), Jatropha rivae (55) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

113 of the 573 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

28 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Cordia somaliensis*, *Heliotropium benadirense*, *Calyptrotheca somalensis*, *Gisekia haudica*, *Coccinia ogadensis*, *Eureiandra somalensis*, *Zehneria somalensis*, *Pelargonium somalense*, *Coleus scebeli*, *Endostemon obbiadensis*, *Isoleucas somala*, *Lavandula somaliensis*, *Leucas somalensis*, *Otostegia migiurtiana*, *Salvia somalensis*, *Scutellaria somalensis*, *Teucrium somalense*, *Tinnea somalensis*, *Croton somalensis*, *Euphorbia erigavensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: *Euphorbia carinulata*, *Euphorbia thulinii*, Dirachma somalensis ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Endangered: *Heliotropium benadirense*, Momordica littorea, Endostemon glandulosus, Ocimum ellenbeckii, Orthosiphon hanningtonii, *Euphorbia appendiculata*, *Euphorbia cameronii*, *Euphorbia giumboensis*, *Euphorbia noxia*, Englerina ramulosa, *Plicosepalus ogadenensis*, Devil's Backbone ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Cordia somaliensis, *Bourreria orbicularis*, Corallocarpus ellipticus, *Pelargonium boranense*, Croton megalocarpoides, *Croton talaeporos*, *Erythrococca pubescens*, Euphorbia monacantha, Ammannia petrensis, *Erianthemum occultum* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 3
- Endangered (EN): 12
- Vulnerable (VU): 10
- Near Threatened (NT): 7
- Least Concern (LC): 90
- Data Deficient (DD): 1
- Not Evaluated (NE): 450

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Euphorbiaceae: 203 species
- Lamiaceae: 127 species
- Cucurbitaceae: 48 species
- Loranthaceae: 25 species
- Crassulaceae: 25 species
- Heliotropiaceae: 22 species
- Geraniaceae: 21 species
- Cordiaceae: 12 species
- Lythraceae: 10 species
- Malpighiaceae: 8 species

## Full list (573 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [East African cordia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660325) | *Cordia africana* | Cordiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cordia crenata](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) | *Cordia crenata* | Cordiaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Cordia faulknerae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5662302) | *Cordia faulknerae* | Cordiaceae | NT | 2 |
| [grey-bark saucerberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5662125) | *Cordia goetzei* | Cordiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [snot berry](https://www.gbif.org/species/7295132) | *Cordia monoica* | Cordiaceae | LC | 45 |
| [Assyrian Plum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341290) | *Cordia myxa* | Cordiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cordia obtusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5661285) | *Cordia obtusa* | Cordiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Bushveld Saucerberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660891) | *Cordia quercifolia* | Cordiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Grey-Leaved Cordia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660676) | *Cordia sinensis* | Cordiaceae | LC | 50 |
| [Cordia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660660) | *Cordia somaliensis* | Cordiaceae | VU | 47 |
| [Kou](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341267) | *Cordia subcordata* | Cordiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cordia suckertii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660585) | *Cordia suckertii* | Cordiaceae | NT | 29 |
| [Aeonium leucoblepharum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4197898) | *Aeonium leucoblepharum* | Crassulaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cotyledon barbeyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5688791) | *Cotyledon barbeyi* | Crassulaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Three-parted Crassula](https://www.gbif.org/species/5688378) | *Crassula alata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [grassland red crassula](https://www.gbif.org/species/7334539) | *Crassula alba* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crassula schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7689533) | *Crassula schimperi* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crassula volkensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7334448) | *Crassula volkensii* | Crassulaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Kalanchoe bentii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4200847) | *Kalanchoe bentii* | Crassulaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Kalanchoe bipartita](https://www.gbif.org/species/4200815) | *Kalanchoe bipartita* | Crassulaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Kalanchoe citrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7334406) | *Kalanchoe citrina* | Crassulaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Neverdie](https://www.gbif.org/species/6441622) | *Kalanchoe crenata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Devil's Backbone](https://www.gbif.org/species/2985936) | *Kalanchoe daigremontiana* | Crassulaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Kalanchoe glaucescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4199985) | *Kalanchoe glaucescens* | Crassulaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Christmastree Plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2985933) | *Kalanchoe laciniata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Narrow-leaved kalanchoë](https://www.gbif.org/species/7334272) | *Kalanchoe lanceolata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Kalanchoe](https://www.gbif.org/species/7334266) | *Kalanchoe lateritia* | Crassulaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Penwiper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2985938) | *Kalanchoe marmorata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 35 |
| [Kalanchoe migiurtinorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4199396) | *Kalanchoe migiurtinorum* | Crassulaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Air plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/2985930) | *Kalanchoe pinnata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Kalanchoe prittwitzii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4199039) | *Kalanchoe prittwitzii* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kalanchoe stenosiphon](https://www.gbif.org/species/4198508) | *Kalanchoe stenosiphon* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kalanchoe subrosulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4198459) | *Kalanchoe subrosulata* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sedum treleasei](https://www.gbif.org/species/5690845) | *Sedum treleasei* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Umbilicus botryoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5689534) | *Umbilicus botryoides* | Crassulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Umbilicus horizontalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7334434) | *Umbilicus horizontalis* | Crassulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Umbilicus tropaeolifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/7485164) | *Umbilicus tropaeolifolius* | Crassulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [cherry vine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3623378) | *Blastania cerasiformis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cephalopentandra ecirrhosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3622340) | *Cephalopentandra ecirrhosa* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Colocynth](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874622) | *Citrullus colocynthis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Water Melon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874621) | *Citrullus lanatus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Scarlet-Fruited Gourd](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874564) | *Coccinia grandis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Coccinia microphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624404) | *Coccinia microphylla* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coccinia ogadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8325346) | *Coccinia ogadensis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Corallocarpus ellipticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3623501) | *Corallocarpus ellipticus* | Cucurbitaceae | VU | 5 |
| [Indian bryonia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7666595) | *Corallocarpus epigaeus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Corallocarpus glomeruliflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7825611) | *Corallocarpus glomeruliflorus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Corallocarpus schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3623232) | *Corallocarpus schimperi* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cucumis baladensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3622617) | *Cucumis baladensis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Cucumis carolinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3622500) | *Cucumis carolinus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [teasel gourd](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874574) | *Cucumis dipsaceus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 11 |
| [cucumis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874572) | *Cucumis ficifolius* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cucumis hastatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625794) | *Cucumis hastatus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Hairy Wild Cucumber](https://www.gbif.org/species/7894214) | *Cucumis hirsutus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cucumis jeffreyanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625606) | *Cucumis jeffreyanus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cucumis kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7756621) | *Cucumis kelleri* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Melon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874570) | *Cucumis melo* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 12 |
| [African horned melon](https://www.gbif.org/species/8350997) | *Cucumis metuliferus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cucumis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874576) | *Cucumis prophetarum* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 83 |
| [Cucumis pubituberculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624629) | *Cucumis pubituberculatus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Cucumis pustulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4939974) | *Cucumis pustulatus* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Calabaza](https://www.gbif.org/species/7393329) | *Cucurbita moschata* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Dactyliandra stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11054761) | *Dactyliandra stefaninii* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Eureiandra cogniauxii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625340) | *Eureiandra cogniauxii* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Eureiandra somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625254) | *Eureiandra somalensis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Kedrostis abdallae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7733878) | *Kedrostis abdallae* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Stinky Haap](https://www.gbif.org/species/3623873) | *Kedrostis foetidissima* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Kedrostis gijef](https://www.gbif.org/species/3623862) | *Kedrostis gijef* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Kedrostis leloja](https://www.gbif.org/species/3623746) | *Kedrostis leloja* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 5 |
| [White-flowered Gourd](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874672) | *Lagenaria siceraria* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Southern Balsampear](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874582) | *Momordica balsamina* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Momordica boivinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3622184) | *Momordica boivinii* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Momordica cymbalaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/4939854) | *Momordica cymbalaria* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Momordica dissecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625675) | *Momordica dissecta* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Momordica littorea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625196) | *Momordica littorea* | Cucurbitaceae | EN | 28 |
| [Momordica rostrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624640) | *Momordica rostrata* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Momordica sessilifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624526) | *Momordica sessilifolia* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Momordica spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624446) | *Momordica spinosa* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Momordica trifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624347) | *Momordica trifolia* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Momordica trifoliolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624329) | *Momordica trifoliolata* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Peponium vogelii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625863) | *Peponium vogelii* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Zehneria anomala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3625155) | *Zehneria anomala* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Zehneria minutiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624487) | *Zehneria minutiflora* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cape Zehn](https://www.gbif.org/species/7317735) | *Zehneria scabra* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Zehneria somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3624198) | *Zehneria somalensis* | Cucurbitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Calyptrotheca somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4023407) | *Calyptrotheca somalensis* | Didiereaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Calyptrotheca taitense](https://www.gbif.org/species/7775285) | *Calyptrotheca taitense* | Didiereaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dirachma somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3829082) | *Dirachma somalensis* | Dirachmaceae | CR | 12 |
| [Madagascar Sundew](https://www.gbif.org/species/3191240) | *Drosera madagascariensis* | Droseraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Diospyros bussei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4070242) | *Diospyros bussei* | Ebenaceae | NT | 20 |
| [Diospyros consolatae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4071043) | *Diospyros consolatae* | Ebenaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Diospyros greenwayi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4070544) | *Diospyros greenwayi* | Ebenaceae | NT | 2 |
| [Rigid Star Berry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4070454) | *Diospyros squarrosa* | Ebenaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Diospyros wajirensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4070497) | *Diospyros wajirensis* | Ebenaceae | NT | 3 |
| [Celestial Guarri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5662686) | *Euclea divinorum* | Ebenaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Coastal Guarri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7414233) | *Euclea racemosa* | Ebenaceae | LC | 23 |
| [Bourreria lyciacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4063033) | *Bourreria lyciacea* | Ehretiaceae | NT | 16 |
| [Bourreria orbicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4062902) | *Bourreria orbicularis* | Ehretiaceae | VU | 17 |
| [Bourreria scabra](https://www.gbif.org/species/9805043) | *Bourreria scabra* | Ehretiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Bourreria teitensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4062506) | *Bourreria teitensis* | Ehretiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Ehretia bakeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4067081) | *Ehretia bakeri* | Ehretiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Glandular Puzzlebush](https://www.gbif.org/species/4066252) | *Ehretia obtusifolia* | Ehretiaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Water-fire](https://www.gbif.org/species/8339627) | *Bergia ammannioides* | Elatinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Bergia anagalloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7499923) | *Bergia anagalloides* | Elatinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Bergia polyantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5646172) | *Bergia polyantha* | Elatinaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Woody Bergia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5646125) | *Bergia suffruticosa* | Elatinaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Agarista salicifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5684694) | *Agarista salicifolia* | Ericaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Tree Heath](https://www.gbif.org/species/5333410) | *Erica arborea* | Ericaceae | LC | 21 |
| [Nectaropetalum kaessneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7284870) | *Nectaropetalum kaessneri* | Erythroxylaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Acalypha ciliata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056276) | *Acalypha ciliata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Acalypha crenata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056479) | *Acalypha crenata* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Acalypha fruticosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056623) | *Acalypha fruticosa* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 37 |
| [Indian Copperleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056259) | *Acalypha indica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Acalypha lanceolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056367) | *Acalypha lanceolata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Zambezi Acalypha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056092) | *Acalypha ornata* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Three Seeded Mercury](https://www.gbif.org/species/3056915) | *Acalypha segetalis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Match Me If You Can](https://www.gbif.org/species/3057221) | *Acalypha wilkesiana* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Caperonia fistulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055023) | *Caperonia fistulosa* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Caperonia serrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055003) | *Caperonia serrata* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cephalocroton cordofanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055908) | *Cephalocroton cordofanus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 49 |
| [Cephalocroton polygynus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055915) | *Cephalocroton polygynus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chrozophora oblongifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054429) | *Chrozophora oblongifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Turn-sole](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054465) | *Chrozophora tinctoria* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Croton cliffordii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3058155) | *Croton cliffordii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Croton confertus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3060082) | *Croton confertus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Croton crispatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3058428) | *Croton crispatus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Orange-Leaf Croton](https://www.gbif.org/species/3059533) | *Croton dichogamus* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [mutundu](https://www.gbif.org/species/3059413) | *Croton macrostachyus* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Croton megalocarpoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3059984) | *Croton megalocarpoides* | Euphorbiaceae | VU | 8 |
| [Mukinduri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3059962) | *Croton megalocarpus* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Rough-Leaved Feverberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/3059559) | *Croton menyharthii* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 27 |
| [Lesser Lavender Croton](https://www.gbif.org/species/3058146) | *Croton pseudopulchellus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Croton schimperianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3060282) | *Croton schimperianus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Croton somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3059956) | *Croton somalensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Croton talaeporos](https://www.gbif.org/species/3058935) | *Croton talaeporos* | Euphorbiaceae | VU | 19 |
| [Dalechampia ficifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055611) | *Dalechampia ficifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spurgecreeper](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055569) | *Dalechampia scandens* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 23 |
| [Dalechampia trifoliata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3055607) | *Dalechampia trifoliata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Erythrococca integrifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054615) | *Erythrococca integrifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Erythrococca kirkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054571) | *Erythrococca kirkii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Erythrococca pubescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054579) | *Erythrococca pubescens* | Euphorbiaceae | VU | 2 |


This list is in 4 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species) (part 3 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 501 species in the families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 3 of 4 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/)

## Full list (501 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Anacampseros vespertina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5646668) | *Anacampseros vespertina* | Anacampserotaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Lannea alata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3661280) | *Lannea alata* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Lannea barteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3661192) | *Lannea barteri* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Lannea cotoneaster](https://www.gbif.org/species/3661141) | *Lannea cotoneaster* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 21 |
| [Lannea malifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3660890) | *Lannea malifolia* | Anacardiaceae | VU | 16 |
| [Lannea obovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3660820) | *Lannea obovata* | Anacardiaceae | VU | 23 |
| [Lannea rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3660781) | *Lannea rivae* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Lannea schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321677) | *Lannea schimperi* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [False Marula](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321665) | *Lannea schweinfurthii* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Lannea triphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3660624) | *Lannea triphylla* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Mango](https://www.gbif.org/species/3190638) | *Mangifera indica* | Anacardiaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Mangifera macrocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3662538) | *Mangifera macrocarpa* | Anacardiaceae | DD | 2 |
| [cromwo](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321499) | *Ozoroa insignis* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Pistacia falcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3662064) | *Pistacia falcata* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Mastic Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3190583) | *Pistacia lentiscus* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 29 |
| [Rhus retinorrhaea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7678955) | *Rhus retinorrhaea* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Peppertree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3190642) | *Schinus molle* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Searsia crenulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544385) | *Searsia crenulata* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Searsia glutinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321813) | *Searsia glutinosa* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Blue-Fruited Crowberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321783) | *Searsia laevigata* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Dune Karee](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544278) | *Searsia natalensis* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 19 |
| [Searsia puccionii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544249) | *Searsia puccionii* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Searsia pyroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321717) | *Searsia pyroides* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Searsia retinorrhoea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544230) | *Searsia retinorrhoea* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Searsia ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544211) | *Searsia ruspolii* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Searsia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544205) | *Searsia somalensis* | Anacardiaceae | NE | 27 |
| [hyaena taaibos](https://www.gbif.org/species/5544201) | *Searsia tenuinervis* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Sorindeia madagascariensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7625849) | *Sorindeia madagascariensis* | Anacardiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Soursop (fruit)](https://www.gbif.org/species/5407273) | *Annona muricata* | Annonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Sugar apple, Sweetsop](https://www.gbif.org/species/5407099) | *Annona squamosa* | Annonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Large Hookberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154880) | *Artabotrys brachypetalus* | Annonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [purple cluster-pear](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154014) | *Cleistochlamys kirkii* | Annonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Monanthotaxis fornicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3156063) | *Monanthotaxis fornicata* | Annonaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Monodora grandidieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154096) | *Monodora grandidieri* | Annonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Uvaria acuminata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154365) | *Uvaria acuminata* | Annonaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Uvaria denhardtiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154409) | *Uvaria denhardtiana* | Annonaceae | NT | 35 |
| [Uvaria leptocladon](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154401) | *Uvaria leptocladon* | Annonaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Uvaria lucida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3154227) | *Uvaria lucida* | Annonaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Dill](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034646) | *Anethum graveolens* | Apiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lesser Water-parsnip](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034699) | *Berula erecta* | Apiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Spadeleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034128) | *Centella asiatica* | Apiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Coriander](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034871) | *Coriandrum sativum* | Apiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Queen Anne's Lace](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034742) | *Daucus carota* | Apiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Diplolophium somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3637296) | *Diplolophium somaliense* | Apiaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Drusa glandulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7485085) | *Drusa glandulosa* | Apiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Giant Fennel](https://www.gbif.org/species/8048981) | *Ferula communis* | Apiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Fennel](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034922) | *Foeniculum vulgare* | Apiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Haplosciadium abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3632240) | *Haplosciadium abyssinicum* | Apiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Fool's Water-cress](https://www.gbif.org/species/3631293) | *Helosciadium nodiflorum* | Apiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Heracleum abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3630794) | *Heracleum abyssinicum* | Apiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pimpinella etbaica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5539350) | *Pimpinella etbaica* | Apiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pimpinella hirtella](https://www.gbif.org/species/5539281) | *Pimpinella hirtella* | Apiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pycnocycla glauca](https://www.gbif.org/species/3641195) | *Pycnocycla glauca* | Apiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pycnocycla ledermannii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3641184) | *Pycnocycla ledermannii* | Apiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Seseli scopulorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3629511) | *Seseli scopulorum* | Apiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Carrot Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3637619) | *Steganotaenia araliacea* | Apiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Steganotaenia commiphoroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3637612) | *Steganotaenia commiphoroides* | Apiaceae | NT | 12 |
| [Spreading Hedge-parsley](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034823) | *Torilis arvensis* | Apiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ajowan](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034241) | *Trachyspermum ammi* | Apiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Trachyspermum pimpinelloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3628733) | *Trachyspermum pimpinelloides* | Apiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [arrow-poison-tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/7576345) | *Acokanthera schimperi* | Apocynaceae | LC | 35 |
| [Desert-Rose](https://www.gbif.org/species/7155887) | *Adenium obesum* | Apocynaceae | LC | 81 |
| [Climbing Milk-Apricot](https://www.gbif.org/species/3618024) | *Ancylobothrys petersiana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Buckollia volubilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3579445) | *Buckollia volubilis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Calciphila galgalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3621312) | *Calciphila galgalensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Calciphila gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3621298) | *Calciphila gillettii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Giant Milkweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3579089) | *Calotropis gigantea* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Mudar](https://www.gbif.org/species/5414566) | *Calotropis procera* | Apocynaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Egyptian carissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5536282) | *Carissa spinarum* | Apocynaceae | LC | 24 |
| [Be-still tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169652) | *Cascabela thevetia* | Apocynaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Madagascar periwinkle, Rose periwinkle, Rosy periwinkle, Cape periwinkle, Old-maid, Pink periwinkle](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169830) | *Catharanthus roseus* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Ceropegia ahmarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3576570) | *Ceropegia ahmarensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7150881) | *Ceropegia arabica* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ceropegia archeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9233487) | *Ceropegia archeriana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia ballyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9634091) | *Ceropegia ballyi* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Ceropegia baradii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9398874) | *Ceropegia baradii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia bentii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9437181) | *Ceropegia bentii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia bihendulensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9360875) | *Ceropegia bihendulensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceropegia caput-viperae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9358612) | *Ceropegia caput-viperae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ceropegia chrysanthoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9320258) | *Ceropegia chrysanthoides* | Apocynaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Ceropegia codonoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9263481) | *Ceropegia codonoides* | Apocynaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Ceropegia concinna](https://www.gbif.org/species/9446013) | *Ceropegia concinna* | Apocynaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Ceropegia congestiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/9542418) | *Ceropegia congestiflora* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia crassa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9355015) | *Ceropegia crassa* | Apocynaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceropegia cubiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9510906) | *Ceropegia cubiformis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia dammanniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9375057) | *Ceropegia dammanniana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Ceropegia dicapuae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9467027) | *Ceropegia dicapuae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ceropegia dodsoniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9525494) | *Ceropegia dodsoniana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia edithiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9403801) | *Ceropegia edithiae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Ceropegia edulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9343805) | *Ceropegia edulis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia eilensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9485152) | *Ceropegia eilensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ceropegia furta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9282605) | *Ceropegia furta* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia galgallensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9603273) | *Ceropegia galgallensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia gemugofana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9362627) | *Ceropegia gemugofana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia gracilipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/9478630) | *Ceropegia gracilipes* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia horwoodii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9553177) | *Ceropegia horwoodii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia huernioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9591423) | *Ceropegia huernioides* | Apocynaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Ceropegia lindenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3574545) | *Ceropegia lindenii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceropegia longiflorica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9257095) | *Ceropegia longiflorica* | Apocynaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceropegia malum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9578086) | *Ceropegia malum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/9433896) | *Ceropegia migiurtina* | Apocynaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Ceropegia mijerteina](https://www.gbif.org/species/9584485) | *Ceropegia mijerteina* | Apocynaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Ceropegia moniliformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9563705) | *Ceropegia moniliformis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ceropegia nubica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9592399) | *Ceropegia nubica* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia penicillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9265715) | *Ceropegia penicillata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ceropegia planiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/9316255) | *Ceropegia planiflora* | Apocynaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Ceropegia priogonium](https://www.gbif.org/species/9409390) | *Ceropegia priogonium* | Apocynaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Ceropegia prognatha](https://www.gbif.org/species/9624256) | *Ceropegia prognatha* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Ceropegia racemosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573706) | *Ceropegia racemosa* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia retrospiciens](https://www.gbif.org/species/9235520) | *Ceropegia retrospiciens* | Apocynaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Ceropegia richardiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9555247) | *Ceropegia richardiana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ceropegia sacculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9338850) | *Ceropegia sacculata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia sharpei](https://www.gbif.org/species/9449454) | *Ceropegia sharpei* | Apocynaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Ceropegia socotrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9248618) | *Ceropegia socotrana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Somali Lanternflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573315) | *Ceropegia somalensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9278847) | *Ceropegia somalica* | Apocynaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Ceropegia somalicoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9465678) | *Ceropegia somalicoides* | Apocynaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Ceropegia sordida](https://www.gbif.org/species/9631713) | *Ceropegia sordida* | Apocynaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Ceropegia sprengeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9547815) | *Ceropegia sprengeri* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia subaphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573137) | *Ceropegia subaphylla* | Apocynaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceropegia subscandens](https://www.gbif.org/species/9484558) | *Ceropegia subscandens* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia tihamana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573006) | *Ceropegia tihamana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ceropegia tubata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10150042) | *Ceropegia tubata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia vaduliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9351917) | *Ceropegia vaduliae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ceropegia variegata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3572872) | *Ceropegia variegata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ceropegia virchowii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9486348) | *Ceropegia virchowii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ceropegia watsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9298198) | *Ceropegia watsonii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Conomitra linearis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7533964) | *Conomitra linearis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cryptolepis calophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/9557400) | *Cryptolepis calophylla* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptolepis gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7934156) | *Cryptolepis gillettii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cryptolepis migiurtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7389700) | *Cryptolepis migiurtina* | Apocynaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Cryptolepis nugaalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8412467) | *Cryptolepis nugaalensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cryptolepis orbicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7998233) | *Cryptolepis orbicularis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cryptolepis somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7450907) | *Cryptolepis somaliensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cryptolepis stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10821397) | *Cryptolepis stefaninii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cryptolepis stefianinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7374373) | *Cryptolepis stefianinii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Madagascar Rubbervine](https://www.gbif.org/species/8230770) | *Cryptostegia madagascariensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cynanchum abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7543836) | *Cynanchum abyssinicum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cynanchum blyttioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3582008) | *Cynanchum blyttioides* | Apocynaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Cynanchum boveanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7886218) | *Cynanchum boveanum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cynanchum crassiantherae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3581007) | *Cynanchum crassiantherae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Cynanchum falcatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3580145) | *Cynanchum falcatum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Swallow-wort](https://www.gbif.org/species/7312452) | *Cynanchum gerrardi* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cynanchum hastifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/7312422) | *Cynanchum hastifolium* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Cynanchum insipidum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9421714) | *Cynanchum insipidum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cynanchum radians](https://www.gbif.org/species/3575755) | *Cynanchum radians* | Apocynaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cynanchum revoilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9517130) | *Cynanchum revoilii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 56 |
| [Cynanchum rubricoronae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3575346) | *Cynanchum rubricoronae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Miniflower Buckhorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3575140) | *Cynanchum schistoglossum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cynanchum somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3574882) | *Cynanchum somaliense* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Cynanchum thruppii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9440182) | *Cynanchum thruppii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cynanchum validum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573762) | *Cynanchum validum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cynanchum viminale](https://www.gbif.org/species/7504382) | *Cynanchum viminale* | Apocynaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Ephippiocarpa humilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3620308) | *Ephippiocarpa humilis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Ephippiocarpa orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3620297) | *Ephippiocarpa orientalis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Silkrubber](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169843) | *Funtumia elastica* | Apocynaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Swan Plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/7150619) | *Gomphocarpus fruticosus* | Apocynaceae | NE | 52 |
| [Gomphocarpus integer](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573780) | *Gomphocarpus integer* | Apocynaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Gomphocarpus phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573451) | *Gomphocarpus phillipsiae* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Balloon Cottonbush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3170326) | *Gomphocarpus physocarpus* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Goydera somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3578220) | *Goydera somaliensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [huntaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/5536465) | *Hunteria zeylanica* | Apocynaceae | LC | 6 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species) (part 2 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 671 species in the families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 2 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)

## Full list (671 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Nidorella pedunculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3126054) | *Nidorella pedunculata* | Asteraceae | NE | 17 |
| [Poverty](https://www.gbif.org/species/3117464) | *Nidorella resedifolia* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nidorella triloba](https://www.gbif.org/species/4212090) | *Nidorella triloba* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Grey-Leaved Bittertea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3124901) | *Orbivestus cinerascens* | Asteraceae | NE | 71 |
| [Orbivestus homilanthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3125133) | *Orbivestus homilanthus* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Orbivestus karaguensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4254650) | *Orbivestus karaguensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Orbivestus leopoldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8129815) | *Orbivestus leopoldii* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Osteospermum vaillantii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3126622) | *Osteospermum vaillantii* | Asteraceae | NE | 27 |
| [Santa-Maria, Santa Maria feverfew, Whitetop weed, Famine weed, Carrot grass, Congress grass, Wild Carrot Weed, Parthenium weed, Ragweed parthenium, Bitter-broom, Bitterweed, False camomile, False ragweed, Ragweed, Barley flower, Bastard feverfew, Broomweed, Mugwort, Whiteheads, Wormwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086784) | *Parthenium hysterophorus* | Asteraceae | LC | 2 |
| [African Draaibos](https://www.gbif.org/species/3139179) | *Pegolettia senegalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Pentzia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5391164) | *Pentzia somalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 11 |
| [Mouse-ear-hawkweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7874303) | *Pilosella officinarum* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Piloselloides hirsuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3097405) | *Piloselloides hirsuta* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pluchea arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132694) | *Pluchea arabica* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Barnouf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132635) | *Pluchea dioscoridis* | Asteraceae | NE | 15 |
| [Pluchea heterophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132725) | *Pluchea heterophylla* | Asteraceae | NE | 17 |
| [Pluchea littoralis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132680) | *Pluchea littoralis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pluchea lucens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132685) | *Pluchea lucens* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pluchea nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132625) | *Pluchea nogalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Woolly camphor-weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132599) | *Pluchea ovalis* | Asteraceae | LC | 8 |
| [Pluchea sarcophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132704) | *Pluchea sarcophylla* | Asteraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Pluchea somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132690) | *Pluchea somaliensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pluchea succulenta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3132666) | *Pluchea succulenta* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pseudoblepharispermum mudugense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3150330) | *Pseudoblepharispermum mudugense* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoblepharispermum tuddense](https://www.gbif.org/species/11166024) | *Pseudoblepharispermum tuddense* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Psiadia incana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3119720) | *Psiadia incana* | Asteraceae | NE | 29 |
| [Resin-Leaved Yellowhead](https://www.gbif.org/species/3119760) | *Psiadia punctulata* | Asteraceae | NE | 29 |
| [Pulicaria adenophora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095617) | *Pulicaria adenophora* | Asteraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Pulicaria albida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095550) | *Pulicaria albida* | Asteraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Pulicaria argyrophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095650) | *Pulicaria argyrophylla* | Asteraceae | NE | 17 |
| [Pulicaria attentuata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4213245) | *Pulicaria attentuata* | Asteraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Pulicaria aualites](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095644) | *Pulicaria aualites* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pulicaria aylmeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095591) | *Pulicaria aylmeri* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pulicaria collenettei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095677) | *Pulicaria collenettei* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pulicaria confusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095543) | *Pulicaria confusa* | Asteraceae | NE | 27 |
| [Pulicaria discoidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095634) | *Pulicaria discoidea* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pulicaria dumulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095566) | *Pulicaria dumulosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pulicaria gabrielii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095549) | *Pulicaria gabrielii* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pulicaria glutinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095597) | *Pulicaria glutinosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 15 |
| [Pulicaria hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095614) | *Pulicaria hildebrandtii* | Asteraceae | NE | 15 |
| [Pulicaria inuloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095672) | *Pulicaria inuloides* | Asteraceae | LC | 3 |
| [Pulicaria kurtziana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095608) | *Pulicaria kurtziana* | Asteraceae | NE | 18 |
| [Pulicaria migiurtinorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095530) | *Pulicaria migiurtinorum* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pulicaria monocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095658) | *Pulicaria monocephala* | Asteraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Pulicaria petiolaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095602) | *Pulicaria petiolaris* | Asteraceae | NE | 12 |
| [Pulicaria renschiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095626) | *Pulicaria renschiana* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Pulicaria schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095646) | *Pulicaria schimperi* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pulicaria sericea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095556) | *Pulicaria sericea* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Pulicaria somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095645) | *Pulicaria somalensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pulicaria undulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095567) | *Pulicaria undulata* | Asteraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Pulicaria uniseriata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3095573) | *Pulicaria uniseriata* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [False Sowthistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5385648) | *Reichardia tingitana* | Asteraceae | NE | 4 |
| [African bonebract](https://www.gbif.org/species/3145346) | *Sclerocarpus africanus* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [bonebract](https://www.gbif.org/species/7596704) | *Sclerocarpus africanus* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Senecio hadiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3109127) | *Senecio hadiensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Senecio lyratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7712789) | *Senecio lyratus* | Asteraceae | NE | 7 |
| [Solanecio angulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3090960) | *Solanecio angulatus* | Asteraceae | LC | 12 |
| [Solanecio gigas](https://www.gbif.org/species/3090944) | *Solanecio gigas* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Prickly Sow-thistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/3105782) | *Sonchus asper* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Smooth Sow-thistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/8228544) | *Sonchus oleraceus* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Slender Sow-thistle](https://www.gbif.org/species/3105768) | *Sonchus tenerrimus* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sphaeranthus angolensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3094718) | *Sphaeranthus angolensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Sphaeranthus ramosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3094681) | *Sphaeranthus ramosus* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sphaeranthus ukambensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3094716) | *Sphaeranthus ukambensis* | Asteraceae | LC | 21 |
| [African Marigold](https://www.gbif.org/species/3088488) | *Tagetes erecta* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Southern Marigold](https://www.gbif.org/species/3088481) | *Tagetes minuta* | Asteraceae | NE | 9 |
| [camphorwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3141279) | *Tarchonanthus camphoratus* | Asteraceae | LC | 30 |
| [Coatbuttons, Tridax daisy](https://www.gbif.org/species/3149462) | *Tridax procumbens* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Golden Crownbeard](https://www.gbif.org/species/3147913) | *Verbesina encelioides* | Asteraceae | NE | 11 |
| [Vernonia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396729) | *Vernonia arabica* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Vernonia aschersonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396781) | *Vernonia aschersonii* | Asteraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Vernonia bulo-burtiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5397566) | *Vernonia buloburtiensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Vernonia cockburniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5703510) | *Vernonia cockburniana* | Asteraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Vernonia cryptocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396921) | *Vernonia cryptocephala* | Asteraceae | NE | 18 |
| [ironweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5397194) | *Vernonia galamensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Vernonia mogadoxensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396619) | *Vernonia mogadoxensis* | Asteraceae | NE | 11 |
| [Vernonia newbouldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396657) | *Vernonia newbouldii* | Asteraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Vernonia phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5397309) | *Vernonia phillipsiae* | Asteraceae | NE | 22 |
| [Vernonia popeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5397348) | *Vernonia popeana* | Asteraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Vernonia sabulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5396598) | *Vernonia sabulosa* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vernonia spathulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7998501) | *Vernonia spathulata* | Asteraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Vernoniastrum ambiguum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3124518) | *Vernoniastrum ambiguum* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vernoniastrum musofense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4237166) | *Vernoniastrum musofense* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vernoniastrum uncinatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3124402) | *Vernoniastrum uncinatum* | Asteraceae | NE | 18 |
| [Vicoa lignea](https://www.gbif.org/species/10223953) | *Vicoa lignea* | Asteraceae | NE | 12 |
| [Volutaria abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7355370) | *Volutaria abyssinica* | Asteraceae | NE | 22 |
| [Volutaria albicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5699656) | *Volutaria albicaulis* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Volutaria lippii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7797176) | *Volutaria lippii* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Californian Burr, Burweed, Cocklebur](https://www.gbif.org/species/3089146) | *Xanthium orientale* | Asteraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spiny Cocklebur](https://www.gbif.org/species/3089150) | *Xanthium spinosum* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Rough Cocklebur](https://www.gbif.org/species/3089154) | *Xanthium strumarium* | Asteraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Youth-and-age](https://www.gbif.org/species/3111754) | *Zinnia elegans* | Asteraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sarcophyte piriei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4195297) | *Sarcophyte piriei* | Balanophoraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Barbeya oleoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5680625) | *Barbeya oleoides* | Barbeyaceae | LC | 19 |
| [Barbeya oleoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7402164) | *Barbeya oleoides* | Barbeyaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Berberis holstii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3982229) | *Berberis holstii* | Berberidaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Sausage Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172561) | *Kigelia africana* | Bignoniaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Bellbean-Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/5668590) | *Markhamia zanzibarica* | Bignoniaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Rhigozum somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4091977) | *Rhigozum somalense* | Bignoniaceae | NE | 7 |
| [pink-jacaranda](https://www.gbif.org/species/4092124) | *Stereospermum kunthianum* | Bignoniaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cuban pink trumpet-tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172527) | *Tabebuia pallida* | Bignoniaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Yellow bells](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172492) | *Tecoma stans* | Bignoniaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Arabian-primrose](https://www.gbif.org/species/4065217) | *Arnebia hispidissima* | Boraginaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Cynoglossum alpinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8037679) | *Cynoglossum alpinum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Cynoglossum lanceolatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7295053) | *Cynoglossum lanceolatum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cystostemon heliocharis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4062028) | *Cystostemon heliocharis* | Boraginaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Cystostemon intricatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4061997) | *Cystostemon intricatus* | Boraginaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Cystostemon somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4061930) | *Cystostemon somaliensis* | Boraginaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Cystostemon virescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4061921) | *Cystostemon virescens* | Boraginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Echiochilon arabicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060492) | *Echiochilon arabicum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Echiochilon arenarium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060484) | *Echiochilon arenarium* | Boraginaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Echiochilon baricum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060478) | *Echiochilon baricum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Echiochilon collenettei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060458) | *Echiochilon collenettei* | Boraginaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Echiochilon cyananthum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060444) | *Echiochilon cyananthum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Echiochilon longiflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060390) | *Echiochilon longiflorum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 41 |
| [Echiochilon persicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060372) | *Echiochilon persicum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Pale Bugloss](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925889) | *Echium italicum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Judean Viper's bugloss](https://www.gbif.org/species/4058657) | *Echium judaeum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Paracynoglossum lanceolatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4064484) | *Paracynoglossum lanceolatum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Trichodesma hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660990) | *Trichodesma hildebrandtii* | Boraginaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Trichodesma marsabiticum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660943) | *Trichodesma marsabiticum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bells Of St Mary's](https://www.gbif.org/species/5660920) | *Trichodesma physaloides* | Boraginaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Trichodesma trichodesmoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/8199830) | *Trichodesma trichodesmoides* | Boraginaceae | NE | 19 |
| [camelbush](https://www.gbif.org/species/7294697) | *Trichodesma zeylanicum* | Boraginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thale Cress](https://www.gbif.org/species/3052436) | *Arabidopsis thaliana* | Brassicaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Alpine Rock-cress](https://www.gbif.org/species/5375020) | *Arabis alpina* | Brassicaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chinese Mustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/3042751) | *Brassica juncea* | Brassicaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cabbage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3042845) | *Brassica oleracea* | Brassicaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Brassica somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3042795) | *Brassica somalensis* | Brassicaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Hairy Bitter-cress](https://www.gbif.org/species/3046258) | *Cardamine hirsuta* | Brassicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Diceratella elliptica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5374684) | *Diceratella elliptica* | Brassicaceae | NE | 35 |
| [Diceratella incana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5374688) | *Diceratella incana* | Brassicaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Diceratella inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5374696) | *Diceratella inermis* | Brassicaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Diceratella psilotrichoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5374687) | *Diceratella psilotrichoides* | Brassicaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Diceratella revoilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5374695) | *Diceratella revoilii* | Brassicaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Diceratella smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5374682) | *Diceratella smithii* | Brassicaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Diplotaxis harra](https://www.gbif.org/species/5376405) | *Diplotaxis harra* | Brassicaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Perennial Wall-rocket](https://www.gbif.org/species/5376426) | *Diplotaxis tenuifolia* | Brassicaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Eremobium aegyptiacum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3051168) | *Eremobium aegyptiacum* | Brassicaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Garden Rocket](https://www.gbif.org/species/5375920) | *Eruca vesicaria* | Brassicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [African Dogmustard](https://www.gbif.org/species/5375517) | *Erucastrum arabicum* | Brassicaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Erucastrum erigavicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5375570) | *Erucastrum erigavicum* | Brassicaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Farsetia cornus-africani](https://www.gbif.org/species/3047983) | *Farsetia cornus-africani* | Brassicaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Farsetia divaricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048005) | *Farsetia divaricata* | Brassicaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Farsetia emarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048018) | *Farsetia emarginata* | Brassicaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Farsetia fruticans](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048006) | *Farsetia fruticans* | Brassicaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Farsetia longisiliqua](https://www.gbif.org/species/3047996) | *Farsetia longisiliqua* | Brassicaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Farsetia longistyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048020) | *Farsetia longistyla* | Brassicaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Farsetia pedicellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048013) | *Farsetia pedicellata* | Brassicaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Farsetia robecchiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3047979) | *Farsetia robecchiana* | Brassicaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Farsetia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3047980) | *Farsetia somalensis* | Brassicaceae | VU | 5 |
| [Farsetia spinulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048016) | *Farsetia spinulosa* | Brassicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Farsetia stenoptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3047999) | *Farsetia stenoptera* | Brassicaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Farsetia stylosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3047985) | *Farsetia stylosa* | Brassicaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Farsetia tenuisiliqua](https://www.gbif.org/species/3048007) | *Farsetia tenuisiliqua* | Brassicaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Garden Cress](https://www.gbif.org/species/5376565) | *Lepidium sativum* | Brassicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Matthiola erlangeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5377365) | *Matthiola erlangeriana* | Brassicaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Morettia canescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3050522) | *Morettia canescens* | Brassicaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Moricandia sinaica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5376041) | *Moricandia sinaica* | Brassicaceae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 668 species in the families Malvaceae to Santalaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 668 flowering plant (families Malvaceae to Santalaceae) species with Somalia as the country, in 51 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Malvaceae: 178
- Rubiaceae: 103
- Orobanchaceae: 29
- Plantaginaceae: 28
- Polygalaceae: 26
- Nyctaginaceae: 24
- Phyllanthaceae: 24
- Moraceae: 21
- Rutaceae: 18
- Polygonaceae: 16

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Limonium axillare (75), *Reseda amblycarpa* (74), Triumfetta actinocarpa (70), Senra incana (69), Olive (61), Small-Leaved Crossberry (61) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

149 of the 668 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

26 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Ochradenus somalensis*, *Reseda migiurtinorum*, *Boerhavia somalensis*, *Ceratolimon migiurtinum*, *Portulaca somalica*, *Cyclamen somalense*, *Polygala somaliensis*, *Coptosperma somaliense*, *Dirichletia somaliensis*, *Empogona somaliensis*, *Plocama somaliensis*, *Cyclocheilon somaliense*, *Campylanthus somaliensis*, *Bridelia somalensis*, *Phyllanthus somalensis*, *Oldfieldia somalensis*, *Abutilon anglosomaliae*, *Abutilon somalense*, *Gossypium somalense*, *Grewia ogadenensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Critically Endangered: Cyclamen somalense, *Hildegardia gillettii* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Endangered: *Bridelia somalensis*, *Melhania somalensis*, *Turraea barbata* ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Diodia aulacosperma, Oldenlandia richardsonioides, Pyrostria phyllanthoidea, *Vangueria gillettii*, *Chrysojasminum stans*, Andrachne schweinfurthii, Upland Cotton, *Grewia balensis*, *Warneckea amaniensis*, African cherry, Zanthoxylum holtzianum ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 2
- Endangered (EN): 3
- Vulnerable (VU): 11
- Near Threatened (NT): 7
- Least Concern (LC): 152
- Data Deficient (DD): 4
- Not Evaluated (NE): 489

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Malvaceae: 178 species
- Rubiaceae: 103 species
- Orobanchaceae: 29 species
- Plantaginaceae: 28 species
- Polygalaceae: 26 species
- Nyctaginaceae: 24 species
- Phyllanthaceae: 24 species
- Moraceae: 21 species
- Rutaceae: 18 species
- Polygonaceae: 16 species

## Full list (668 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Abutilon anglosomaliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7365658) | *Abutilon anglosomaliae* | Malvaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Abutilon bidentatum](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) | *Abutilon bidentatum* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Texas Indian mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152629) | *Abutilon fruticosum* | Malvaceae | NE | 52 |
| [Monkey bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/7279347) | *Abutilon guineense* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Florida Keys Indian Mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152619) | *Abutilon hirtum* | Malvaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Abutilon longicuspe](https://www.gbif.org/species/7279230) | *Abutilon longicuspe* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Abutilon mauritianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3937512) | *Abutilon mauritianum* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Abutilon pannosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7496905) | *Abutilon pannosum* | Malvaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Abutilon ramosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7825205) | *Abutilon ramosum* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Abutilon rotundifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3936176) | *Abutilon rotundifolium* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Abutilon somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3935872) | *Abutilon somalense* | Malvaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Velvetleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152614) | *Abutilon theophrasti* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Baobab](https://www.gbif.org/species/5406695) | *Adansonia digitata* | Malvaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Hairy Mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3939445) | *Anisodontea scabrosa* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [kurrajong](https://www.gbif.org/species/7323035) | *Brachychiton populneus* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cienfuegosia welshii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7842924) | *Cienfuegosia welshii* | Malvaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Jute](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152092) | *Corchorus aestuans* | Malvaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Corchorus baldaccii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260900) | *Corchorus baldaccii* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Corchorus cinerascens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260760) | *Corchorus cinerascens* | Malvaceae | NE | 52 |
| [Corchorus depressus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8129124) | *Corchorus depressus* | Malvaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Corchorus erinoceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260592) | *Corchorus erinoceus* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Corchorus fascicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260572) | *Corchorus fascicularis* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Jackswitch](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152083) | *Corchorus hirsutus* | Malvaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Tossa Jute](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152084) | *Corchorus olitorius* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Corchorus parviflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7311056) | *Corchorus parviflorus* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Corchorus parvifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259954) | *Corchorus parvifolius* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Corchorus pseudoolitorius](https://www.gbif.org/species/7931447) | *Corchorus pseudoolitorius* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [horn-fruited jute](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152090) | *Corchorus tridens* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Threelocule Corchorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152081) | *Corchorus trilocularis* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Corchorus urticifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259450) | *Corchorus urticifolius* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [River Dombeya](https://www.gbif.org/species/5547566) | *Dombeya kirkii* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dombeya taylorii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8244406) | *Dombeya taylorii* | Malvaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Dombeya torrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/7344946) | *Dombeya torrida* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Gossypioides kirkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3934642) | *Gossypioides kirkii* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tree Cotton](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152663) | *Gossypium arboreum* | Malvaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Creole Cotton](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152666) | *Gossypium barbadense* | Malvaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Gossypium bricchettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3934223) | *Gossypium bricchettii* | Malvaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Levant Cotton](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152658) | *Gossypium herbaceum* | Malvaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Upland Cotton](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152661) | *Gossypium hirsutum* | Malvaceae | VU | 5 |
| [Gossypium somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3940827) | *Gossypium somalense* | Malvaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Gossypium stocksii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3940811) | *Gossypium stocksii* | Malvaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Gossypium trifurcatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3940653) | *Gossypium trifurcatum* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Gossypium vollesenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3940578) | *Gossypium vollesenii* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Grewia arborea](https://www.gbif.org/species/8415464) | *Grewia arborea* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Grewia balensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261156) | *Grewia balensis* | Malvaceae | VU | 7 |
| [Grewia bicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/8042537) | *Grewia bicolor* | Malvaceae | NE | 7 |
| [bilobed grewia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152079) | *Grewia biloba* | Malvaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Grewia ceraciformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7375601) | *Grewia ceraciformis* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Grewia cerasifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8017545) | *Grewia cerasifera* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Grewia densa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260370) | *Grewia densa* | Malvaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Grewia erythraea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260133) | *Grewia erythraea* | Malvaceae | NE | 29 |
| [warty donkeyberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260004) | *Grewia forbesii* | Malvaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Grewia gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259977) | *Grewia gillettii* | Malvaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Grewia glandulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259947) | *Grewia glandulosa* | Malvaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Grewia holstii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259697) | *Grewia holstii* | Malvaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Grewia kakothamnos](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259534) | *Grewia kakothamnos* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Grewia lilacina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261902) | *Grewia lilacina* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Grewia mollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261595) | *Grewia mollis* | Malvaceae | LC | 14 |
| [Grewia ogadenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261370) | *Grewia ogadenensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Grewia pannosisepala](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261124) | *Grewia pannosisepala* | Malvaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Grewia penicillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261056) | *Grewia penicillata* | Malvaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Grewia picta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260992) | *Grewia picta* | Malvaceae | LC | 14 |
| [Grewia plagiophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260949) | *Grewia plagiophylla* | Malvaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Grewia schweinfurthii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260353) | *Grewia schweinfurthii* | Malvaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Grewia tembensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260077) | *Grewia tembensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Small-Leaved Crossberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/7311070) | *Grewia tenax* | Malvaceae | LC | 61 |
| [Grewia trichocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259969) | *Grewia trichocarpa* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Grewia tristis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259916) | *Grewia tristis* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mdomoko](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259907) | *Grewia truncata* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Grewia velutina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7588107) | *Grewia velutina* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Grewia villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4259732) | *Grewia villosa* | Malvaceae | LC | 20 |
| [Harmsia lepidota](https://www.gbif.org/species/7385380) | *Harmsia lepidota* | Malvaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Harmsia sidoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7884989) | *Harmsia sidoides* | Malvaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Hermannia boranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7696838) | *Hermannia boranensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Hermannia exappendiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7551336) | *Hermannia exappendiculata* | Malvaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Modest Dollsrose](https://www.gbif.org/species/8261475) | *Hermannia modesta* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hermannia paniculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8069820) | *Hermannia paniculata* | Malvaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Hermannia tigreensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7695228) | *Hermannia tigreensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hibiscus aponeurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3939774) | *Hibiscus aponeurus* | Malvaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Hibiscus argutus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3939693) | *Hibiscus argutus* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hibiscus bricchettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3939084) | *Hibiscus bricchettii* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Brown Indianhemp](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152547) | *Hibiscus cannabinus* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Hibiscus ceratophorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3938687) | *Hibiscus ceratophorus* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Hibiscus crassinervius](https://www.gbif.org/species/3938247) | *Hibiscus crassinervius* | Malvaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Hibiscus dongolensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3937864) | *Hibiscus dongolensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Hibiscus flavifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4939638) | *Hibiscus flavifolius* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hibiscus fuscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3937211) | *Hibiscus fuscus* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hibiscus hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3936701) | *Hibiscus hildebrandtii* | Malvaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Hibiscus ludwigii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3935812) | *Hibiscus ludwigii* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hibiscus macranthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3935768) | *Hibiscus macranthus* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tiny White Wild Hibiscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8356610) | *Hibiscus micranthus* | Malvaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Rosemallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3935028) | *Hibiscus ovalifolius* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Hibiscus palmatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8010160) | *Hibiscus palmatus* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hibiscus panduriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7278860) | *Hibiscus panduriformis* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hibiscus purpureus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3934153) | *Hibiscus purpureus* | Malvaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Hibiscus pycnostemon](https://www.gbif.org/species/3934125) | *Hibiscus pycnostemon* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hibiscus rostellatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3933849) | *Hibiscus rostellatus* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fringed Rosemallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/9064581) | *Hibiscus schizopetalus* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hibiscus scindicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3933606) | *Hibiscus scindicus* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Doll's Hibiscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3933466) | *Hibiscus sidiformis* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Hibiscus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3933371) | *Hibiscus somalensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Hibiscus sparseaculeatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8195203) | *Hibiscus sparseaculeatus* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hibiscus spartioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3933346) | *Hibiscus spartioides* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Bladder Ketmia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152560) | *Hibiscus trionum* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tropical Fanleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152562) | *Hibiscus vitifolius* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Hildegardia barteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5545403) | *Hildegardia barteri* | Malvaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Hildegardia gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5547796) | *Hildegardia gillettii* | Malvaceae | CR | 7 |
| [Least Mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152378) | *Malva parviflora* | Malvaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Chinese Mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152377) | *Malva verticillata* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Threelobe False Mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3152268) | *Malvastrum coromandelianum* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Melhania annua](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671972) | *Melhania annua* | Malvaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Melhania coriacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3668122) | *Melhania coriacea* | Malvaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Melhania denhamii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671773) | *Melhania denhamii* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Melhania engleriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671736) | *Melhania engleriana* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Melhania hiranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671594) | *Melhania hiranensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Melhania incana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7777532) | *Melhania incana* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Melhania kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671505) | *Melhania kelleri* | Malvaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Melhania latibracteolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671484) | *Melhania latibracteolata* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Melhania muricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3668580) | *Melhania muricata* | Malvaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Melhania ovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7652129) | *Melhania ovata* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Melhania parviflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671277) | *Melhania parviflora* | Malvaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Melhania phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671236) | *Melhania phillipsiae* | Malvaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Melhania praemorsa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671193) | *Melhania praemorsa* | Malvaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Melhania quercifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671172) | *Melhania quercifolia* | Malvaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Melhania rehmannii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671151) | *Melhania rehmannii* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Melhania rotundata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671130) | *Melhania rotundata* | Malvaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Melhania somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671035) | *Melhania somalensis* | Malvaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Melhania stipulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3668862) | *Melhania stipulosa* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Melhania substricta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3671022) | *Melhania substricta* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Melhania velutina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3670964) | *Melhania velutina* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Melhania volleseniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3670932) | *Melhania volleseniana* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Microcos cerasifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260273) | *Microcos cerasifera* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pavonia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7279665) | *Pavonia arabica* | Malvaceae | NE | 51 |
| [Pavonia arenaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619341) | *Pavonia arenaria* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dainty Pavonia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619236) | *Pavonia burchellii* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pavonia elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619068) | *Pavonia elegans* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pavonia ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619067) | *Pavonia ellenbeckii* | Malvaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Pavonia eremogeiton](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619062) | *Pavonia eremogeiton* | Malvaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Pavonia flavoferruginea](https://www.gbif.org/species/8268121) | *Pavonia flavoferruginea* | Malvaceae | NE | 36 |
| [Pavonia friisii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619003) | *Pavonia friisii* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pavonia kotschyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7494801) | *Pavonia kotschyi* | Malvaceae | NE | 41 |
| [Pavonia leptocalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618768) | *Pavonia leptocalyx* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pavonia marginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618717) | *Pavonia marginata* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pavonia matteiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618713) | *Pavonia matteiana* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pavonia mollissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618670) | *Pavonia mollissima* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pavonia nigrescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618612) | *Pavonia nigrescens* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pavonia paucibracteata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618537) | *Pavonia paucibracteata* | Malvaceae | NE | 7 |


This list is in 5 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species) (part 4 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 501 species in the families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 4 of 4 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae (501 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/) · **4**

## Full list (501 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Kirk's landolphia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169746) | *Landolphia kirkii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Leptadenia arborea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3580344) | *Leptadenia arborea* | Apocynaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Broom Brush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3580180) | *Leptadenia pyrotechnica* | Apocynaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Oleander](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169756) | *Nerium oleander* | Apocynaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Oxystelma bornouense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3581932) | *Oxystelma bornouense* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pentatropis bentii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8140388) | *Pentatropis bentii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Pentatropis nivalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8266933) | *Pentatropis nivalis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Trellis-vine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3170445) | *Pergularia daemia* | Apocynaceae | LC | 40 |
| [Pergularia tomentosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7877996) | *Pergularia tomentosa* | Apocynaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Hallab](https://www.gbif.org/species/6022574) | *Periploca laevigata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Periploca somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7753278) | *Periploca somaliensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Periploca visciformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8032432) | *Periploca visciformis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Pleiocarpa pycnantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3616604) | *Pleiocarpa pycnantha* | Apocynaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Frangipani](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169674) | *Plumeria rubra* | Apocynaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Raphionacme borenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3573533) | *Raphionacme borenensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bungo](https://www.gbif.org/species/3614900) | *Saba comorensis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Schlechterella abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8044012) | *Schlechterella abyssinica* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Schlechterella africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7728038) | *Schlechterella africana* | Apocynaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Secamone punctulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8087905) | *Secamone punctulata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Stephanotis rubicunda](https://www.gbif.org/species/12202971) | *Stephanotis rubicunda* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stephanotis schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/12192321) | *Stephanotis schimperi* | Apocynaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Stephanotis stelostigma](https://www.gbif.org/species/12185301) | *Stephanotis stelostigma* | Apocynaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Strophanthus mirabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3619999) | *Strophanthus mirabilis* | Apocynaceae | NE | 26 |
| [toadtree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3617608) | *Tabernaemontana elegans* | Apocynaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Tabernaemontana penduliflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3615115) | *Tabernaemontana penduliflora* | Apocynaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Crawcraw Vine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3571904) | *Tacazzea apiculata* | Apocynaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Vincetoxicum arachnoideum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10859432) | *Vincetoxicum arachnoideum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Vincetoxicum cernuum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10776575) | *Vincetoxicum cernuum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Vincetoxicum fleckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10738621) | *Vincetoxicum fleckii* | Apocynaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Vincetoxicum fruticulosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5525670) | *Vincetoxicum fruticulosum* | Apocynaceae | NE | 49 |
| [Vincetoxicum linifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/5525538) | *Vincetoxicum linifolium* | Apocynaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Vincetoxicum schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/10831905) | *Vincetoxicum schimperi* | Apocynaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Vincetoxicum somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/10853768) | *Vincetoxicum somaliense* | Apocynaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Wrightia demartiniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5535393) | *Wrightia demartiniana* | Apocynaceae | NT | 8 |
| [African Holly](https://www.gbif.org/species/5533588) | *Ilex mitis* | Aquifoliaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cussonia holstii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3035216) | *Cussonia holstii* | Araliaceae | LC | 39 |
| [Cussonia zimmermannii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3035208) | *Cussonia zimmermannii* | Araliaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Whorled Marshpennywort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3034602) | *Hydrocotyle verticillata* | Araliaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Aristolochia bracteolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3588540) | *Aristolochia bracteolata* | Aristolochiaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Aristolochia rigida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3589704) | *Aristolochia rigida* | Aristolochiaceae | NE | 59 |
| [Aristolochia spec](https://www.gbif.org/species/12119239) | *Aristolochia spec* | Aristolochiaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-acanthaceae-to-aristolochiaceae-3/) · **4**


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species) (part 3 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 671 species in the families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 3 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)

## Full list (671 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Schouwia purpurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5375907) | *Schouwia purpurea* | Brassicaceae | NE | 4 |
| [French Rocket](https://www.gbif.org/species/3046765) | *Sisymbrium erysimoides* | Brassicaceae | NE | 8 |
| [London-rocket](https://www.gbif.org/species/3046851) | *Sisymbrium irio* | Brassicaceae | NE | 2 |
| [African elemi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421351) | *Boswellia frereana* | Burseraceae | NE | 43 |
| [Boswellia globosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5636140) | *Boswellia globosa* | Burseraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Boswellia neglecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5636115) | *Boswellia neglecta* | Burseraceae | NE | 56 |
| [Boswellia occulta](https://www.gbif.org/species/10823074) | *Boswellia occulta* | Burseraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Boswellia rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5636096) | *Boswellia rivae* | Burseraceae | LC | 31 |
| [olibanum-tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/8330171) | *Boswellia sacra* | Burseraceae | NT | 57 |
| [Commiphora acuminata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3994230) | *Commiphora acuminata* | Burseraceae | VU | 1 |
| [Hairy Corkwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286896) | *Commiphora africana* | Burseraceae | LC | 52 |
| [Commiphora alata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3994119) | *Commiphora alata* | Burseraceae | EN | 5 |
| [Commiphora alaticaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3994108) | *Commiphora alaticaulis* | Burseraceae | VU | 10 |
| [Commiphora arenaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993953) | *Commiphora arenaria* | Burseraceae | EN | 7 |
| [Commiphora baluensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993911) | *Commiphora baluensis* | Burseraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Commiphora boranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993837) | *Commiphora boranensis* | Burseraceae | LC | 10 |
| [Commiphora campestris](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286853) | *Commiphora campestris* | Burseraceae | LC | 19 |
| [Commiphora chaetocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993631) | *Commiphora chaetocarpa* | Burseraceae | EN | 4 |
| [Commiphora chiovendana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993604) | *Commiphora chiovendana* | Burseraceae | LC | 79 |
| [Commiphora ciliata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993585) | *Commiphora ciliata* | Burseraceae | NT | 18 |
| [Commiphora corrugata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993509) | *Commiphora corrugata* | Burseraceae | NT | 13 |
| [Commiphora cyclophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/8021195) | *Commiphora cyclophylla* | Burseraceae | VU | 37 |
| [Commiphora cyclophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993419) | *Commiphora cyclophylla* | Burseraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Commiphora drake-brockmanii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993347) | *Commiphora drake-brockmanii* | Burseraceae | NE | 16 |
| [Rough-leaved Corkwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286807) | *Commiphora edulis* | Burseraceae | LC | 24 |
| [Commiphora enneaphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993247) | *Commiphora enneaphylla* | Burseraceae | DD | 3 |
| [Commiphora erlangeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993528) | *Commiphora erlangeriana* | Burseraceae | VU | 11 |
| [Commiphora erosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993237) | *Commiphora erosa* | Burseraceae | NE | 24 |
| [Commiphora foliacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993186) | *Commiphora foliacea* | Burseraceae | LC | 50 |
| [Commiphora gardoensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993111) | *Commiphora gardoensis* | Burseraceae | EN | 7 |
| [balm-of-Gilead](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993077) | *Commiphora gileadensis* | Burseraceae | NT | 156 |
| [Commiphora gorinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993015) | *Commiphora gorinii* | Burseraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commiphora guidottii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992936) | *Commiphora guidottii* | Burseraceae | NE | 21 |
| [Commiphora guidottii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7509298) | *Commiphora guidottii* | Burseraceae | VU | 5 |
| [Commiphora gurreh](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992899) | *Commiphora gurreh* | Burseraceae | NE | 77 |
| [Commiphora hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992844) | *Commiphora hildebrandtii* | Burseraceae | LC | 25 |
| [Commiphora hodai](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992827) | *Commiphora hodai* | Burseraceae | NT | 29 |
| [Commiphora horrida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992767) | *Commiphora horrida* | Burseraceae | NE | 29 |
| [bisabol myrrh](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286751) | *Commiphora kataf* | Burseraceae | NE | 69 |
| [Abyssinian myrrh](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286744) | *Commiphora kua* | Burseraceae | NE | 276 |
| [Commiphora kucharii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992593) | *Commiphora kucharii* | Burseraceae | LC | 20 |
| [Commiphora lacerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992551) | *Commiphora lacerata* | Burseraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commiphora lobatospathulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992428) | *Commiphora lobatospathulata* | Burseraceae | VU | 23 |
| [Commiphora multifoliolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3994109) | *Commiphora multifoliolata* | Burseraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Commiphora murraywatsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3994094) | *Commiphora murraywatsonii* | Burseraceae | NE | 2 |
| [African myrrh](https://www.gbif.org/species/3994082) | *Commiphora myrrha* | Burseraceae | NE | 73 |
| [Commiphora obovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993998) | *Commiphora obovata* | Burseraceae | NT | 17 |
| [Commiphora oddurensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7533875) | *Commiphora oddurensis* | Burseraceae | LC | 45 |
| [Commiphora oddurensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993989) | *Commiphora oddurensis* | Burseraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commiphora ornifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286874) | *Commiphora ornifolia* | Burseraceae | NT | 2 |
| [Commiphora paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993875) | *Commiphora paolii* | Burseraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Commiphora parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993866) | *Commiphora parvifolia* | Burseraceae | NT | 9 |
| [Commiphora petiolutata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7401645) | *Commiphora petiolutata* | Burseraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commiphora playfairii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993811) | *Commiphora playfairii* | Burseraceae | VU | 18 |
| [Commiphora pseudopaolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993779) | *Commiphora pseudopaolii* | Burseraceae | NT | 4 |
| [Commiphora quadricincta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993713) | *Commiphora quadricincta* | Burseraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Commiphora quercifoliola](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993705) | *Commiphora quercifoliola* | Burseraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Commiphora quidottii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7912954) | *Commiphora quidottii* | Burseraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commiphora rostrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286834) | *Commiphora rostrata* | Burseraceae | NE | 32 |
| [Commiphora samharensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7286821) | *Commiphora samharensis* | Burseraceae | NE | 25 |
| [Glossy Corkwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993367) | *Commiphora schimperi* | Burseraceae | LC | 13 |
| [Commiphora sennii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993331) | *Commiphora sennii* | Burseraceae | NE | 37 |
| [Commiphora serrulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993312) | *Commiphora serrulata* | Burseraceae | LC | 8 |
| [Commiphora setulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993293) | *Commiphora setulifera* | Burseraceae | NE | 11 |
| [Commiphora sphaerocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993213) | *Commiphora sphaerocarpa* | Burseraceae | LC | 28 |
| [Commiphora sphaerophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993204) | *Commiphora sphaerophylla* | Burseraceae | NT | 34 |
| [Commiphora spinulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993178) | *Commiphora spinulosa* | Burseraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Commiphora staphyleifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7790236) | *Commiphora staphyleifolia* | Burseraceae | DD | 2 |
| [Commiphora staphyleifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993157) | *Commiphora staphyleifolia* | Burseraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commiphora stellatopubescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993149) | *Commiphora stellatopubescens* | Burseraceae | EN | 13 |
| [Commiphora sulcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3993046) | *Commiphora sulcata* | Burseraceae | EN | 17 |
| [Commiphora truncata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992908) | *Commiphora truncata* | Burseraceae | NT | 43 |
| [Commiphora unilobata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3992864) | *Commiphora unilobata* | Burseraceae | NT | 21 |
| [Buxus hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987952) | *Buxus hildebrandtii* | Buxaceae | LC | 62 |
| [candelabrum cactus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6381277) | *Cylindropuntia imbricata* | Cactaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Opuntia anahuacensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5621712) | *Opuntia anahuacensis* | Cactaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Flat hand dildo, Jumbie prickle, Prickly pear, Seaside tuna, Sour prickle](https://www.gbif.org/species/6378623) | *Opuntia dillenii* | Cactaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Indian-Fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384064) | *Opuntia ficus-indica* | Cactaceae | DD | 1 |
| [bunny-ears prickly-pear](https://www.gbif.org/species/7283961) | *Opuntia microdasys* | Cactaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Common Pricklypear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384142) | *Opuntia monacantha* | Cactaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Araluen pear, Common pest pear, Prickly pear, Erect Pricklypear](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384075) | *Opuntia stricta* | Cactaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Campanula edulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5411424) | *Campanula edulis* | Campanulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cyphia glandulifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3166499) | *Cyphia glandulifera* | Campanulaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Garden Lobelia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5408087) | *Lobelia erinus* | Campanulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Giant Lobelia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5408376) | *Lobelia giberroa* | Campanulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [giant lobelia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5408326) | *Lobelia rhynchopetalum* | Campanulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Wahlenbergia flexuosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5413970) | *Wahlenbergia flexuosa* | Campanulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Wahlenbergia lobelioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5413517) | *Wahlenbergia lobelioides* | Campanulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [African Elm](https://www.gbif.org/species/5834428) | *Celtis africana* | Cannabaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Elm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2984508) | *Trema orientale* | Cannabaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Shepherd's Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/5602553) | *Boscia angustifolia* | Capparaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Boscia coriacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7779310) | *Boscia coriacea* | Capparaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Boscia coriacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7450688) | *Boscia coriacea* | Capparaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Boscia mazzocchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7769134) | *Boscia mazzocchii* | Capparaceae | VU | 12 |
| [Boscia minimifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5602460) | *Boscia minimifolia* | Capparaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Broad-Leaved Boscia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5602456) | *Boscia mossambicensis* | Capparaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Senegal boscia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5377842) | *Boscia senegalensis* | Capparaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cadaba baccarinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872723) | *Cadaba baccarinii* | Capparaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Cadaba barbigera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872715) | *Cadaba barbigera* | Capparaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cadaba divaricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872675) | *Cadaba divaricata* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cadaba farinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054234) | *Cadaba farinosa* | Capparaceae | LC | 42 |
| [Cadaba glandulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872613) | *Cadaba glandulosa* | Capparaceae | LC | 28 |
| [Cadaba linearifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872566) | *Cadaba linearifolia* | Capparaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Cadaba longifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872561) | *Cadaba longifolia* | Capparaceae | LC | 23 |
| [Cadaba mirabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7273391) | *Cadaba mirabilis* | Capparaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Cadaba rotundifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872494) | *Cadaba rotundifolia* | Capparaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cadaba ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872486) | *Cadaba ruspolii* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cadaba somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872472) | *Cadaba somalensis* | Capparaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Grey-Leaved Worm Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872460) | *Cadaba termitaria* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Caper](https://www.gbif.org/species/5601795) | *Capparis cartilaginea* | Capparaceae | LC | 33 |
| [karira](https://www.gbif.org/species/7782352) | *Capparis decidua* | Capparaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Capparis sepiaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/7273413) | *Capparis sepiaria* | Capparaceae | LC | 9 |
| [African caper](https://www.gbif.org/species/5602023) | *Capparis tomentosa* | Capparaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Maerua aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871949) | *Maerua aethiopica* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bead-Bean](https://www.gbif.org/species/7273321) | *Maerua angolensis* | Capparaceae | LC | 31 |
| [Maerua candida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871786) | *Maerua candida* | Capparaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Maerua crassifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871765) | *Maerua crassifolia* | Capparaceae | LC | 27 |
| [Blue Bushcherry](https://www.gbif.org/species/10120626) | *Maerua decumbens* | Capparaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Maerua denhardtiorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872335) | *Maerua denhardtiorum* | Capparaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Maerua erlangeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871668) | *Maerua erlangeriana* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Maerua glauca](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871595) | *Maerua glauca* | Capparaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Maerua holstii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871542) | *Maerua holstii* | Capparaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Maerua intricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871514) | *Maerua intricata* | Capparaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Maerua kaessneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871486) | *Maerua kaessneri* | Capparaceae | NT | 3 |
| [Maerua macrantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871429) | *Maerua macrantha* | Capparaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Maerua oblongifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7273267) | *Maerua oblongifolia* | Capparaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Maerua pseudopetalosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9907455) | *Maerua pseudopetalosa* | Capparaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Maerua purpurascens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871263) | *Maerua purpurascens* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Maerua sessiliflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3873405) | *Maerua sessiliflora* | Capparaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Maerua somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3873381) | *Maerua somalensis* | Capparaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Maerua subcordata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8044731) | *Maerua subcordata* | Capparaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Maerua thomsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3873331) | *Maerua thomsonii* | Capparaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Maerua triphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/7352245) | *Maerua triphylla* | Capparaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Thilachium thomasii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3872273) | *Thilachium thomasii* | Capparaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Pterocephalus frutescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/7862302) | *Pterocephalus frutescens* | Caprifoliaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Pawpaw](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874484) | *Carica papaya* | Caricaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Slender Sandwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384470) | *Arenaria leptoclados* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Sticky Mouse-ear](https://www.gbif.org/species/3085440) | *Cerastium glomeratum* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cerastium octandrum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7783171) | *Cerastium octandrum* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cometes abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8068753) | *Cometes abyssinica* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Cometes abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5529065) | *Cometes abyssinica* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Gymnocarpos parvibractus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3594453) | *Gymnocarpos parvibractus* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Harras](https://www.gbif.org/species/3594418) | *Gymnocarpos sclerocephalus* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Fastigiate Gypsophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/7267655) | *Gypsophila fastigiata* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Herniaria bicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/3594120) | *Herniaria bicolor* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Minuartia ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3813268) | *Minuartia ellenbeckii* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Paronychia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5529060) | *Paronychia somaliensis* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Petroana montana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9866809) | *Petroana montana* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Barley Sugar Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/7843610) | *Pollichia campestris* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Polycarpaea basaltica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3807149) | *Polycarpaea basaltica* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Polycarpaea caespitosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3807044) | *Polycarpaea caespitosa* | Caryophyllaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Polycarpaea clavifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3807014) | *Polycarpaea clavifolia* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Polycarpaea eriantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3817505) | *Polycarpaea eriantha* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Polycarpaea guardafuiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3817358) | *Polycarpaea guardafuiensis* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polycarpaea pulvinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3816987) | *Polycarpaea pulvinata* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Polycarpaea robbairea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7268216) | *Polycarpaea robbairea* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Polycarpaea somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3816860) | *Polycarpaea somalensis* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Polycarpaea spicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3816844) | *Polycarpaea spicata* | Caryophyllaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Polycarpaea ventiversa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3816588) | *Polycarpaea ventiversa* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Four-leaved Allseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3085381) | *Polycarpon tetraphyllum* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species) (part 2 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 573 species in the families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 2 of 4 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/)

## Full list (573 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Abyssinian spurge](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069564) | *Euphorbia abyssinica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia acalyphoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069430) | *Euphorbia acalyphoides* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Euphorbia actinoclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069021) | *Euphorbia actinoclada* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia adenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069880) | *Euphorbia adenensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Euphorbia adenochila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068724) | *Euphorbia adenochila* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Euphorbia agowensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067929) | *Euphorbia agowensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Euphorbia ammophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066801) | *Euphorbia ammophila* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia amplophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3917224) | *Euphorbia amplophylla* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia appendiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068826) | *Euphorbia appendiculata* | Euphorbiaceae | EN | 17 |
| [Euphorbia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068672) | *Euphorbia arabica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Euphorbia atrox](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064919) | *Euphorbia atrox* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Euphorbia ballyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069933) | *Euphorbia ballyi* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [balsam spurge](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069871) | *Euphorbia balsamifera* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Euphorbia baradii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069657) | *Euphorbia baradii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia barbicollis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069445) | *Euphorbia barbicollis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Euphorbia bariensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069396) | *Euphorbia bariensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Euphorbia bisellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065143) | *Euphorbia bisellenbeckii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Euphorbia breviarticulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069966) | *Euphorbia breviarticulata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Euphorbia bussei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068335) | *Euphorbia bussei* | Euphorbiaceae | NT | 2 |
| [Euphorbia calamiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067235) | *Euphorbia calamiformis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia cameronii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066491) | *Euphorbia cameronii* | Euphorbiaceae | EN | 22 |
| [Euphorbia carinulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064762) | *Euphorbia carinulata* | Euphorbiaceae | CR | 7 |
| [Euphorbia carteriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064050) | *Euphorbia carteriana* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Euphorbia colubrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063819) | *Euphorbia colubrina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia columnaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070624) | *Euphorbia columnaris* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Euphorbia cryptospinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065763) | *Euphorbia cryptospinosa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia cuneata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065338) | *Euphorbia cuneata* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 44 |
| [Euphorbia dasyacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069369) | *Euphorbia dasyacantha* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia densispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070304) | *Euphorbia densispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia dunensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068926) | *Euphorbia dunensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia eilensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067926) | *Euphorbia eilensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067540) | *Euphorbia ellenbeckii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia engleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066804) | *Euphorbia engleri* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia erigavensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065683) | *Euphorbia erigavensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065364) | *Euphorbia erlangeri* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Euphorbia etuberculosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070023) | *Euphorbia etuberculosa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Euphorbia fascicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068255) | *Euphorbia fascicaulis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia forsskalii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065147) | *Euphorbia forsskalii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia galgalana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069798) | *Euphorbia galgalana* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Euphorbia geldorensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068622) | *Euphorbia geldorensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Euphorbia gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067197) | *Euphorbia gillettii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Euphorbia giumboensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067097) | *Euphorbia giumboensis* | Euphorbiaceae | EN | 20 |
| [Euphorbia globulicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066074) | *Euphorbia globulicaulis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia glochidiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066020) | *Euphorbia glochidiata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Euphorbia gossypina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065287) | *Euphorbia gossypina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Euphorbia grandicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070580) | *Euphorbia grandicornis* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Euphorbia grandicornis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7858737) | *Euphorbia grandicornis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia granulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070132) | *Euphorbia granulata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Euphorbia grosseri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069256) | *Euphorbia grosseri* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia gypsophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067908) | *Euphorbia gypsophila* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia hadramautica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067861) | *Euphorbia hadramautica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Euphorbia hararensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067101) | *Euphorbia hararensis* | Euphorbiaceae | DD | 1 |
| [Pillpod Sandmat](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068937) | *Euphorbia hirta* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Euphorbia holmesiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068152) | *Euphorbia holmesiae* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia horwoodii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067597) | *Euphorbia horwoodii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Denegu](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065120) | *Euphorbia immersa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Euphorbia imparispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065080) | *Euphorbia imparispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Smooth Creeping Milkweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064820) | *Euphorbia inaequilatera* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 44 |
| [Euphorbia inaequispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064655) | *Euphorbia inaequispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Euphorbia inculta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063976) | *Euphorbia inculta* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Euphorbia indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063803) | *Euphorbia indica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Euphorbia intricata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069073) | *Euphorbia intricata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia jatrophoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067259) | *Euphorbia jatrophoides* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia johannis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066988) | *Euphorbia johannis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065401) | *Euphorbia kelleri* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Euphorbia kiritensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064764) | *Euphorbia kiritensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Euphorbia leontopoda](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066946) | *Euphorbia leontopoda* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Euphorbia leucochlamys](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066420) | *Euphorbia leucochlamys* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Euphorbia lindenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070411) | *Euphorbia lindenii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia longetuberculosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3917714) | *Euphorbia longetuberculosa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Euphorbia longispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069960) | *Euphorbia longispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Euphorbia longituberculosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069896) | *Euphorbia longituberculosa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia major](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070488) | *Euphorbia major* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Euphorbia margaretae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065172) | *Euphorbia margaretae* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Three-Forked Euphorbia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064025) | *Euphorbia matabelensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Coastal Beach Sandmat](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068495) | *Euphorbia mesembryanthemifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Euphorbia migiurtinorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067214) | *Euphorbia migiurtinorum* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Euphorbia mitriformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065631) | *Euphorbia mitriformis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Euphorbia monacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065277) | *Euphorbia monacantha* | Euphorbiaceae | VU | 5 |
| [Euphorbia mosaica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063843) | *Euphorbia mosaica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Euphorbia multiclava](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070095) | *Euphorbia multiclava* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Euphorbia murielii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066043) | *Euphorbia murielii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia myrioclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068481) | *Euphorbia myrioclada* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia neogillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069924) | *Euphorbia neogillettii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia nigrispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065105) | *Euphorbia nigrispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Euphorbia nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064600) | *Euphorbia nogalensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Euphorbia noxia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064031) | *Euphorbia noxia* | Euphorbiaceae | EN | 20 |
| [Euphorbia nubica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064007) | *Euphorbia nubica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 53 |
| [Euphorbia pachyclada](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065321) | *Euphorbia pachyclada* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Euphorbia papilionum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070229) | *Euphorbia papilionum* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Euphorbia patentispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063916) | *Euphorbia patentispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Petty Spurge](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066386) | *Euphorbia peplus* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia perarmata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066040) | *Euphorbia perarmata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Euphorbia phillipsiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063793) | *Euphorbia phillipsiae* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Euphorbia phillipsioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063751) | *Euphorbia phillipsioides* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Euphorbia pirottae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8354244) | *Euphorbia pirottae* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Euphorbia polyantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066855) | *Euphorbia polyantha* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Euphorbia ponderosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065490) | *Euphorbia ponderosa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Euphorbia prona](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069659) | *Euphorbia prona* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia pseudostellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065399) | *Euphorbia pseudostellata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Euphorbia reptans](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068562) | *Euphorbia reptans* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066838) | *Euphorbia robecchii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Euphorbia salsicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070170) | *Euphorbia salsicola* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia scatorhiza](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068743) | *Euphorbia scatorhiza* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia scheffleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068658) | *Euphorbia scheffleri* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Euphorbia schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068493) | *Euphorbia schimperi* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Euphorbia schimperiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068450) | *Euphorbia schimperiana* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia schizacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068251) | *Euphorbia schizacantha* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Euphorbia scordiifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066916) | *Euphorbia scordiifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia scyphadena](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066756) | *Euphorbia scyphadena* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia sennii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065102) | *Euphorbia sennii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia sepulta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3064850) | *Euphorbia sepulta* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia setispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069534) | *Euphorbia setispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Euphorbia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067410) | *Euphorbia somalensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia systyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/9770702) | *Euphorbia systyla* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Euphorbia thulinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069799) | *Euphorbia thulinii* | Euphorbiaceae | CR | 1 |
| [Indiantree Spurge](https://www.gbif.org/species/3069353) | *Euphorbia tirucalli* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Euphorbia transvaalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3068082) | *Euphorbia transvaalensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia triaculeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3067832) | *Euphorbia triaculeata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Euphorbia tripartita](https://www.gbif.org/species/3066792) | *Euphorbia tripartita* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euphorbia turbiniformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065790) | *Euphorbia turbiniformis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Euphorbia umbonata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3065185) | *Euphorbia umbonata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Euphorbia xylacantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3063942) | *Euphorbia xylacantha* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Euphorbia zeylana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3070068) | *Euphorbia zeylana* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Excoecaria madagascariensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3071691) | *Excoecaria madagascariensis* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Givotia gosai](https://www.gbif.org/species/3071136) | *Givotia gosai* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Jatropha aspleniifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072844) | *Jatropha aspleniifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Jatropha brockmanii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072982) | *Jatropha brockmanii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Jatropha collina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3073005) | *Jatropha collina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Jatropha crinita](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072728) | *Jatropha crinita* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Barbados Nut](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072953) | *Jatropha curcas* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Jatropha dichtar](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072888) | *Jatropha dichtar* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Jatropha ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3073062) | *Jatropha ellenbeckii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Jatropha glauca](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061035) | *Jatropha glauca* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Jatropha humifusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072876) | *Jatropha humifusa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Jatropha hypogyna](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072814) | *Jatropha hypogyna* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Jatropha inaequispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072741) | *Jatropha inaequispina* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Jatropha marginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072729) | *Jatropha marginata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Jatropha marmorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072734) | *Jatropha marmorata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Jatropha miskatensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072710) | *Jatropha miskatensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Jatropha nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3073036) | *Jatropha nogalensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Jatropha obbiadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072915) | *Jatropha obbiadensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Jatropha palmatifida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072940) | *Jatropha palmatifida* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Jatropha paradoxa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3073003) | *Jatropha paradoxa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Jatropha pelargoniifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072988) | *Jatropha pelargoniifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 42 |
| [Jatropha phillipseae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072951) | *Jatropha phillipseae* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Jatropha rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072916) | *Jatropha rivae* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 55 |
| [Jatropha robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072788) | *Jatropha robecchii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Jatropha rosea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072695) | *Jatropha rosea* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Jatropha spicata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072794) | *Jatropha spicata* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Jatropha spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072746) | *Jatropha spinosa* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Jatropha spinosissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/3073117) | *Jatropha spinosissima* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Jatropha stuhlmannii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072721) | *Jatropha stuhlmannii* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Jatropha tenuicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072740) | *Jatropha tenuicaulis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Jatropha tetracantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072948) | *Jatropha tetracantha* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Jatropha trifida](https://www.gbif.org/species/3073104) | *Jatropha trifida* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Jatropha tropaeolifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072944) | *Jatropha tropaeolifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 11 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae (218 species)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 218 species in the families Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 218 flowering plant (families Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae) species with Somalia as the country, in 23 families ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest families by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Solanaceae: 45
- Zygophyllaceae: 36
- Verbenaceae: 28
- Vitaceae: 24
- Sapindaceae: 16
- Sapotaceae: 10
- Scrophulariaceae: 10
- Urticaceae: 6
- Wellstediaceae: 5
- Turneraceae: 5

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Gnidia somalensis (106), Solanum somalense (90), Kelleronia gillettiae (82), simple-leaved bean caper (78), bitter-apple (68), Fagonia socotrana (60) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

34 of the 218 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

10 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Wellstedia somalensis*, *Mimusops somalensis*, *Lippia somalensis*, *Viola somalensis*, *Gnidia somalensis*, *Solanum jubae*, *Solanum somalense*, *Vahlia somalensis*, *Tetraena migiurtinorum*, *Tetraena somalensis* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)):

- Endangered: Canjeel ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))
- Vulnerable: Wellstedia socotrana, *Mimusops somalensis*, Camptolepis ramiflora ([IUCN via GBIF](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species))

All plant lists: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 1
- Vulnerable (VU): 3
- Near Threatened (NT): 1
- Least Concern (LC): 55
- Data Deficient (DD): 1
- Not Evaluated (NE): 157

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Solanaceae: 45 species
- Zygophyllaceae: 36 species
- Verbenaceae: 28 species
- Vitaceae: 24 species
- Sapindaceae: 16 species
- Sapotaceae: 10 species
- Scrophulariaceae: 10 species
- Urticaceae: 6 species
- Wellstediaceae: 5 species
- Turneraceae: 5 species

## Full list (218 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae-2/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Allophylus abyssinicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5578024) | *Allophylus abyssinicus* | Sapindaceae | LC | 18 |
| [Allophylus ferrugineus](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae/) | *Allophylus ferrugineus* | Sapindaceae | LC | 1 |
| [lowveld false-crowberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/7264799) | *Allophylus rubifolius* | Sapindaceae | LC | 50 |
| [Camptolepis ramiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3788017) | *Camptolepis ramiflora* | Sapindaceae | VU | 2 |
| [Faux-Persil](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189932) | *Cardiospermum corindum* | Sapindaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Balloonvine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189939) | *Cardiospermum halicacabum* | Sapindaceae | LC | 21 |
| [Deinbollia borbonica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265136) | *Deinbollia borbonica* | Sapindaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Hopbush](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421144) | *Dodonaea viscosa* | Sapindaceae | LC | 43 |
| [Haplocoelum foliolosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265029) | *Haplocoelum foliolosum* | Sapindaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Haplocoelum inoploeum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8046065) | *Haplocoelum inoploeum* | Sapindaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Hirania rosea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3786238) | *Hirania rosea* | Sapindaceae | NE | 2 |
| [river-litchi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3785538) | *Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius* | Sapindaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepisanthes senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3784947) | *Lepisanthes senegalensis* | Sapindaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Indaba tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3785741) | *Pappea capensis* | Sapindaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Bread And Cheese](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189950) | *Paullinia pinnata* | Sapindaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Serjania seriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5576771) | *Serjania seriana* | Sapindaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Manilkara mochisia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2885311) | *Manilkara mochisia* | Sapotaceae | LC | 12 |
| [African pear](https://www.gbif.org/species/2885327) | *Manilkara obovata* | Sapotaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Manilkara sulcata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2885147) | *Manilkara sulcata* | Sapotaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Canjeel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2883702) | *Mimusops angel* | Sapotaceae | EN | 22 |
| [Mimusops fruticosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4014675) | *Mimusops fruticosa* | Sapotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mimusops laurifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2883821) | *Mimusops laurifolia* | Sapotaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Forest Moepel](https://www.gbif.org/species/2883807) | *Mimusops obtusifolia* | Sapotaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Mimusops somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2883817) | *Mimusops somalensis* | Sapotaceae | VU | 1 |
| [white milkwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/2887200) | *Sideroxylon inerme* | Sapotaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Boot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2887174) | *Sideroxylon mascatense* | Sapotaceae | LC | 55 |
| [Mossy Saxifrage](https://www.gbif.org/species/8028512) | *Saxifraga hypnoides* | Saxifragaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Anticharis arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8174217) | *Anticharis arabica* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Anticharis glandulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3741656) | *Anticharis glandulosa* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Anticharis senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3741610) | *Anticharis senegalensis* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Aptosimum pumilum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3727768) | *Aptosimum pumilum* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Buddleja corrugata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7442591) | *Buddleja corrugata* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Buddleja polystachya](https://www.gbif.org/species/4055622) | *Buddleja polystachya* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Camptoloma lyperiiflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5563687) | *Camptoloma lyperiiflorum* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Rhabdotosperma brevipedicellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3724166) | *Rhabdotosperma brevipedicellata* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Scrophularia arguta](https://www.gbif.org/species/8408006) | *Scrophularia arguta* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 12 |
| [qetetina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3736050) | *Verbascum sinaiticum* | Scrophulariaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Brucea antidysenterica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5555223) | *Brucea antidysenterica* | Simaroubaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Sweet Pepper](https://www.gbif.org/species/2932944) | *Capsicum annuum* | Solanaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Recurved Thorn-apple, Pricklyburr, Downy thorn-apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928755) | *Datura innoxia* | Solanaceae | NE | 16 |
| [hoary thorn-apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928747) | *Datura metel* | Solanaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Thorn-apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928751) | *Datura stramonium* | Solanaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Hyoscyamus grandiflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3802681) | *Hyoscyamus grandiflorus* | Solanaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Hyoscyamus insanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3802677) | *Hyoscyamus insanus* | Solanaceae | NE | 5 |
| [boxthorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3797421) | *Lycium europaeum* | Solanaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Southern Boxthorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3796884) | *Lycium intricatum* | Solanaceae | NE | 3 |
| [African Honeythorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/7300058) | *Lycium shawii* | Solanaceae | LC | 42 |
| [Apple of Peru](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341754) | *Nicandra physalodes* | Solanaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cut-leaved Ground-cherry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341792) | *Physalis angulata* | Solanaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cape-gooseberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341784) | *Physalis peruviana* | Solanaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Solanum alatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8164979) | *Solanum alatum* | Solanaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Small-flowered Nightshade](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930222) | *Solanum americanum* | Solanaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Forest Bitterberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/2931542) | *Solanum anguivi* | Solanaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Solanum arundo](https://www.gbif.org/species/2931643) | *Solanum arundo* | Solanaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Apple of Sodom](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929236) | *Solanum campylacanthum* | Solanaceae | LC | 47 |
| [Solanum coagulans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929580) | *Solanum coagulans* | Solanaceae | LC | 51 |
| [Solanum cordatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930606) | *Solanum cordatum* | Solanaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Solanum cymbalariifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930704) | *Solanum cymbalariifolium* | Solanaceae | DD | 4 |
| [Solanum dasyphyllum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929147) | *Solanum dasyphyllum* | Solanaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Solanum dennekense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930037) | *Solanum dennekense* | Solanaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Solanum forskalii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929500) | *Solanum forskalii* | Solanaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Solanum forsskaolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10751502) | *Solanum forsskaolii* | Solanaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Solanum glabratum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929732) | *Solanum glabratum* | Solanaceae | LC | 30 |
| [Solanum hastifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2932419) | *Solanum hastifolium* | Solanaceae | LC | 17 |
| [bitter-apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929691) | *Solanum incanum* | Solanaceae | LC | 68 |
| [Solanum jubae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930296) | *Solanum jubae* | Solanaceae | LC | 38 |
| [Tomato](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930137) | *Solanum lycopersicum* | Solanaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Solanum melastomoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2931423) | *Solanum melastomoides* | Solanaceae | LC | 40 |
| [Aubergine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930617) | *Solanum melongena* | Solanaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Solanum memphiticum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2930450) | *Solanum memphiticum* | Solanaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Black Nightshade](https://www.gbif.org/species/9150405) | *Solanum nigrum* | Solanaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Solanum pampaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929139) | *Solanum pampaninii* | Solanaceae | LC | 37 |
| [Solanum runsoriense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929532) | *Solanum runsoriense* | Solanaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Solanum schimperianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8401012) | *Solanum schimperianum* | Solanaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Solanum somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2931532) | *Solanum somalense* | Solanaceae | LC | 90 |
| [Solanum tarderemotum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929511) | *Solanum tarderemotum* | Solanaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Mozambique Bitter Apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/2931701) | *Solanum tettense* | Solanaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Red Nightshade](https://www.gbif.org/species/2929505) | *Solanum villosum* | Solanaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Withania grisea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3801145) | *Withania grisea* | Solanaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Withania reichenbachii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3800992) | *Withania reichenbachii* | Solanaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Withania riebeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3800987) | *Withania riebeckii* | Solanaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Withania](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928840) | *Withania somnifera* | Solanaceae | NE | 55 |
| [Withania sphaerocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7299829) | *Withania sphaerocarpa* | Solanaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Chickenspike](https://www.gbif.org/species/3158672) | *Sphenoclea zeylanica* | Sphenocleaceae | LC | 1 |
| [African honeysuckle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5560356) | *Halleria lucida* | Stilbaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Bogwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/4055888) | *Nuxia congesta* | Stilbaceae | NE | 30 |
| [River-Elder](https://www.gbif.org/species/4055659) | *Nuxia oppositifolia* | Stilbaceae | LC | 15 |
| [flameflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/4022012) | *Talinum portulacifolium* | Talinaceae | LC | 24 |
| [athel tamarisk](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874704) | *Tamarix aphylla* | Tamaricaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Tamarix arborea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3613108) | *Tamarix arborea* | Tamaricaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Tamarix mascatensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3612920) | *Tamarix mascatensis* | Tamaricaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Tamarix nilotica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7316455) | *Tamarix nilotica* | Tamaricaceae | LC | 27 |
| [African Rue](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189912) | *Peganum harmala* | Tetradiclidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Osyridicarpos schimperianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3789065) | *Osyridicarpos schimperianus* | Thesiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thesium fastigiatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8377290) | *Thesium fastigiatum* | Thesiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thesium hararensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7837698) | *Thesium hararensis* | Thesiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Gnidia latifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5524662) | *Gnidia latifolia* | Thymelaeaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Gnidia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5524118) | *Gnidia somalensis* | Thymelaeaceae | NE | 106 |
| [Gnidia stenophylloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5524065) | *Gnidia stenophylloides* | Thymelaeaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Synaptolepis kirkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7785789) | *Synaptolepis kirkii* | Thymelaeaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Loewia glandulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8151627) | *Loewia glandulosa* | Turneraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Loewia glutinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5680493) | *Loewia glutinosa* | Turneraceae | NE | 30 |
| [Streptopetalum arenarium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4161150) | *Streptopetalum arenarium* | Turneraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Streptopetalum hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4161129) | *Streptopetalum hildebrandtii* | Turneraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Streptopetalum serratum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4161112) | *Streptopetalum serratum* | Turneraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Desert Nettle](https://www.gbif.org/species/4101888) | *Forsskaolea tenacissima* | Urticaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Desert Nettle](https://www.gbif.org/species/8040520) | *Forsskaolea viridis* | Urticaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Forsskaolea viridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4101865) | *Forsskaolea viridis* | Urticaceae | NE | 2 |
| [New Zealand Pellitory](https://www.gbif.org/species/5361795) | *Parietaria debilis* | Urticaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Pouzolzia parasitica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4099533) | *Pouzolzia parasitica* | Urticaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Small Nettle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5361815) | *Urtica urens* | Urticaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Vahlia dichotoma](https://www.gbif.org/species/5669445) | *Vahlia dichotoma* | Vahliaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Vahlia digyna](https://www.gbif.org/species/5669464) | *Vahlia digyna* | Vahliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Somali Toiing](https://www.gbif.org/species/7299118) | *Vahlia somalensis* | Vahliaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Bouchea pseudochascanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4083873) | *Bouchea pseudochascanum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chascanum elburense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085806) | *Chascanum elburense* | Verbenaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Chascanum gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085784) | *Chascanum gillettii* | Verbenaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Chascanum glandulosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085768) | *Chascanum glandulosum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chascanum hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085734) | *Chascanum hildebrandtii* | Verbenaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Chascanum laetum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085662) | *Chascanum laetum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chascanum marrubiifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/7635901) | *Chascanum marrubiifolium* | Verbenaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Chascanum mixtum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085622) | *Chascanum mixtum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Chascanum moldenkei](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085613) | *Chascanum moldenkei* | Verbenaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Chascanum obovatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7297417) | *Chascanum obovatum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Chascanum rariflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085556) | *Chascanum rariflorum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Chascanum sessilifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085532) | *Chascanum sessilifolium* | Verbenaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Chascanum sulcatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085526) | *Chascanum sulcatum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Coelocarpum africanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085167) | *Coelocarpum africanum* | Verbenaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Largeleaf Lantana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925303) | *Lantana camara* | Verbenaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Lantana petitiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085182) | *Lantana petitiana* | Verbenaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Threeleaf Shrubverbena](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925321) | *Lantana trifolia* | Verbenaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Lantana ukambensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4083763) | *Lantana ukambensis* | Verbenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lantana viburnoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7383157) | *Lantana viburnoides* | Verbenaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Lippia carviodora](https://www.gbif.org/species/4085453) | *Lippia carviodora* | Verbenaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Lippia dauensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4084997) | *Lippia dauensis* | Verbenaceae | NE | 12 |
| [lemonbush](https://www.gbif.org/species/4086664) | *Lippia javanica* | Verbenaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Lippia rugosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4084335) | *Lippia rugosa* | Verbenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lippia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4083924) | *Lippia somalensis* | Verbenaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Frogfruit](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341112) | *Phyla nodiflora* | Verbenaceae | LC | 37 |
| [Priva adhaerens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4086945) | *Priva adhaerens* | Verbenaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Heartleaf velvetbur](https://www.gbif.org/species/4086846) | *Priva cordifolia* | Verbenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vervain](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925529) | *Verbena officinalis* | Verbenaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Hybanthus durus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4077828) | *Hybanthus durus* | Violaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pink Ladies-Slipper](https://www.gbif.org/species/11446635) | *Pigea enneasperma* | Violaceae | NE | 18 |
| [red-fruit violetbush](https://www.gbif.org/species/4076135) | *Rinorea elliptica* | Violaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Viola somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5664602) | *Viola somalensis* | Violaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Viola stocksii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5664317) | *Viola stocksii* | Violaceae | NE | 14 |


This list is in 2 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae-2/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species) (part 4 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 671 species in the families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 4 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)

## Full list (671 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Woody Sandwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/7267926) | *Rhodalsine geniculata* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Fine-leaved Sandwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/5586962) | *Sabulina tenuifolia* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Silene apetala](https://www.gbif.org/species/6363958) | *Silene apetala* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Silene baccifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/10953644) | *Silene baccifera* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [African Catchfly](https://www.gbif.org/species/7574131) | *Silene burchellii* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Silene burchellii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7267194) | *Silene burchellii* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Silene flammulifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8280062) | *Silene flammulifolia* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Small-flowered Catchfly](https://www.gbif.org/species/5384848) | *Silene gallica* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spergularia flaccida](https://www.gbif.org/species/9716413) | *Spergularia flaccida* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Sphaerocoma hookeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3594475) | *Sphaerocoma hookeri* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Telephium sphaerospermum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7767379) | *Telephium sphaerospermum* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sticky Catchfly](https://www.gbif.org/species/8153621) | *Viscaria vulgaris* | Caryophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Australian pine tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2891930) | *Casuarina equisetifolia* | Casuarinaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Catha edulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7979745) | *Catha edulis* | Celastraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sand Paddlepod](https://www.gbif.org/species/5579845) | *Elachyptera parvifolia* | Celastraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Elaeodendron aquifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/7579160) | *Elaeodendron aquifolium* | Celastraceae | EN | 14 |
| [Elaeodendron schweinfurthianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3791126) | *Elaeodendron schweinfurthianum* | Celastraceae | LC | 13 |
| [Gymnosporia arbutifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265517) | *Gymnosporia arbutifolia* | Celastraceae | LC | 15 |
| [Angle-stem Spikethorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3790807) | *Gymnosporia heterophylla* | Celastraceae | LC | 16 |
| [Gymnosporia obbadiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8099154) | *Gymnosporia obbadiensis* | Celastraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gymnosporia obbiadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794336) | *Gymnosporia obbiadensis* | Celastraceae | NE | 9 |
| [Gymnosporia parviflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265759) | *Gymnosporia parviflora* | Celastraceae | NT | 1 |
| [Gymnosporia punctata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794076) | *Gymnosporia punctata* | Celastraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Confettitree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3793847) | *Gymnosporia senegalensis* | Celastraceae | LC | 19 |
| [Gymnosporia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3793808) | *Gymnosporia somalensis* | Celastraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Gymnosporia undata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3793673) | *Gymnosporia undata* | Celastraceae | LC | 22 |
| [Loeseneriella crenata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7939753) | *Loeseneriella crenata* | Celastraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Kooboo-berry](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265777) | *Mystroxylon aethiopicum* | Celastraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Pristimera andongensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265512) | *Pristimera andongensis* | Celastraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Mopane Paddle-Pod](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265761) | *Reissantia indica* | Celastraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Salacia madagascariensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5580325) | *Salacia madagascariensis* | Celastraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Salacia stuhlmanniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5579766) | *Salacia stuhlmanniana* | Celastraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Rigid Hornwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/2882398) | *Ceratophyllum demersum* | Ceratophyllaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Couepia paraensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2984805) | *Couepia paraensis* | Chrysobalanaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Helianthemum citrinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3596055) | *Helianthemum citrinum* | Cistaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Helianthemum cylindrifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3595816) | *Helianthemum cylindrifolium* | Cistaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Helianthemum hadedense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3595211) | *Helianthemum hadedense* | Cistaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Helianthemum hirtum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3595086) | *Helianthemum hirtum* | Cistaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Helianthemum humile](https://www.gbif.org/species/3596496) | *Helianthemum humile* | Cistaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Helianthemum somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3595678) | *Helianthemum somalense* | Cistaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Helianthemum speciosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3595621) | *Helianthemum speciosum* | Cistaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Sun-Rose](https://www.gbif.org/species/3595552) | *Helianthemum stipulatum* | Cistaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cleome albescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/7273294) | *Cleome albescens* | Cleomaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Cleome ramosissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/8665926) | *Cleome ramosissima* | Cleomaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Cleome ramosissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/7641013) | *Cleome ramosissima* | Cleomaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coalisina tenella](https://www.gbif.org/species/9784600) | *Coalisina tenella* | Cleomaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Dipterygium glaucum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3873162) | *Dipterygium glaucum* | Cleomaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Gilgella scaposa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9781135) | *Gilgella scaposa* | Cleomaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Spiderwisp](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054227) | *Gynandropsis gynandra* | Cleomaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Puccionia macradenia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3871416) | *Puccionia macradenia* | Cleomaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Rorida brachystyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/9737754) | *Rorida brachystyla* | Cleomaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Rorida cornus-africani](https://www.gbif.org/species/9745557) | *Rorida cornus-africani* | Cleomaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rorida droserifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/9785180) | *Rorida droserifolia* | Cleomaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Rorida kersiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9656703) | *Rorida kersiana* | Cleomaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Rorida polytricha](https://www.gbif.org/species/9809742) | *Rorida polytricha* | Cleomaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Rorida quinquenervia](https://www.gbif.org/species/9699006) | *Rorida quinquenervia* | Cleomaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sieruela gallaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9816221) | *Sieruela gallaensis* | Cleomaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sieruela hanburyana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9733690) | *Sieruela hanburyana* | Cleomaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Sieruela hirta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9669819) | *Sieruela hirta* | Cleomaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sieruela kelleriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/9660808) | *Sieruela kelleriana* | Cleomaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Sieruela monophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/9649267) | *Sieruela monophylla* | Cleomaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sieruela parvipetala](https://www.gbif.org/species/9700614) | *Sieruela parvipetala* | Cleomaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sieruela strigosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9674231) | *Sieruela strigosa* | Cleomaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Stylidocleome brachycarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9763145) | *Stylidocleome brachycarpa* | Cleomaceae | NE | 42 |
| [Tarenaya parviflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/7941052) | *Tarenaya parviflora* | Cleomaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Livingstone's Garcinia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189564) | *Garcinia livingstonei* | Clusiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Combretum aculeatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698905) | *Combretum aculeatum* | Combretaceae | LC | 32 |
| [Four-Leaved Combretum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698812) | *Combretum adenogonium* | Combretaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Combretum angustipetalum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698574) | *Combretum angustipetalum* | Combretaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Combretum collinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699477) | *Combretum collinum* | Combretaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Powderpuff Combretum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699419) | *Combretum constrictum* | Combretaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Combretum contractum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699414) | *Combretum contractum* | Combretaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Combretum exalatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698750) | *Combretum exalatum* | Combretaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Combretum falcatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698692) | *Combretum falcatum* | Combretaceae | NE | 1 |
| [russet bushwillow](https://www.gbif.org/species/7166924) | *Combretum hereroense* | Combretaceae | LC | 27 |
| [Combretum iliairii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8208544) | *Combretum iliairii* | Combretaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Combretum molle](https://www.gbif.org/species/7961582) | *Combretum molle* | Combretaceae | LC | 23 |
| [Barberton Bushwillow](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699462) | *Combretum padoides* | Combretaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Lanceleaf Buttonwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/5553336) | *Conocarpus lancifolius* | Combretaceae | VU | 56 |
| [White Mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189382) | *Laguncularia racemosa* | Combretaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Terminalia basilei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699383) | *Terminalia basilei* | Combretaceae | DD | 15 |
| [Kalahari sand terminalia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7327085) | *Terminalia brachystemma* | Combretaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Terminalia brevipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698994) | *Terminalia brevipes* | Combretaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Terminalia brownii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698977) | *Terminalia brownii* | Combretaceae | LC | 42 |
| [India Almond](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189394) | *Terminalia catappa* | Combretaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Terminalia laxiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698355) | *Terminalia laxiflora* | Combretaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Terminalia leiocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698332) | *Terminalia leiocarpa* | Combretaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Terminalia macroptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8232633) | *Terminalia macroptera* | Combretaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Terminalia orbicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699116) | *Terminalia orbicularis* | Combretaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Terminalia parvula](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698867) | *Terminalia parvula* | Combretaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Terminalia polycarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698611) | *Terminalia polycarpa* | Combretaceae | NE | 41 |
| [Lowveld Clusterleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3698514) | *Terminalia prunioides* | Combretaceae | LC | 20 |
| [Terminalia spinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3699608) | *Terminalia spinosa* | Combretaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Cnestis ferruginea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3686799) | *Cnestis ferruginea* | Connaraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Argyreia hirsuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678879) | *Argyreia hirsuta* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Astripomoea hyoscyamoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677702) | *Astripomoea hyoscyamoides* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Astripomoea lachnosperma](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677697) | *Astripomoea lachnosperma* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Astripomoea malvacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677684) | *Astripomoea malvacea* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Astripomoea nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677674) | *Astripomoea nogalensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Astripomoea procera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677659) | *Astripomoea procera* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cladostigma dioicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678154) | *Cladostigma dioicum* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cladostigma hildebrandtioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/8406963) | *Cladostigma hildebrandtioides* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Field Bindweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928390) | *Convolvulus arvensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Convolvulus aschersonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3676855) | *Convolvulus aschersonii* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Convolvulus capitulifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/7642151) | *Convolvulus capitulifer* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 27 |
| [Convolvulus capituliferus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7324446) | *Convolvulus capituliferus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Convolvulus glomeratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7502429) | *Convolvulus glomeratus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Convolvulus hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678324) | *Convolvulus hildebrandtii* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Convolvulus hystrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678056) | *Convolvulus hystrix* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 63 |
| [Convolvulus jefferyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677703) | *Convolvulus jefferyi* | Convolvulaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Convolvulus rhyniospermus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3679137) | *Convolvulus rhyniospermus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Convolvulus rhyniospermus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7929236) | *Convolvulus rhyniospermus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Convolvulus sagittatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7549505) | *Convolvulus sagittatus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Convolvulus sarmentosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678728) | *Convolvulus sarmentosus* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Convolvulus scopulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678537) | *Convolvulus scopulatus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Convolvulus sericocephalus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678252) | *Convolvulus sericocephalus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Convolvulus sericophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678244) | *Convolvulus sericophyllus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Small Blue-convolvulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678083) | *Convolvulus siculus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Convolvulus stenocladus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677590) | *Convolvulus stenocladus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Convolvulus subspathulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677344) | *Convolvulus subspathulatus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Convolvulus verdcourtianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3681650) | *Convolvulus verdcourtianus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Cretan Alkaliweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7324452) | *Cressa cretica* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Cuscuta abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3681153) | *Cuscuta abyssinica* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Yellow Dodder](https://www.gbif.org/species/3610757) | *Cuscuta campestris* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [small-seed alfalfa dodder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2927522) | *Cuscuta planiflora* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 10 |
| [kidneyweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928667) | *Dichondra repens* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Distimake ampelophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9553606) | *Distimake ampelophyllus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Distimake dimorphophyllus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9529072) | *Distimake dimorphophyllus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Distimake semisagittus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9275380) | *Distimake semisagittus* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Distimake somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9372004) | *Distimake somalensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Slender Dwarf Morningglory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928673) | *Evolvulus alsinoides* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Gold Dwarf Morning Glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549147) | *Hewittia malabarica* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hildebrandtia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7324288) | *Hildebrandtia africana* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Hildebrandtia diredawaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549127) | *Hildebrandtia diredawaensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hildebrandtia linearifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549125) | *Hildebrandtia linearifolia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Hildebrandtia obcordata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7324282) | *Hildebrandtia obcordata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Hildebrandtia sepalosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549110) | *Hildebrandtia sepalosa* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Hildebrandtia sericea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549108) | *Hildebrandtia sericea* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Hildebrandtia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549105) | *Hildebrandtia somalensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Hyalocystis popovii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3679791) | *Hyalocystis popovii* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Hyalocystis viscosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3679784) | *Hyalocystis viscosa* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Trumpet Flower](https://www.gbif.org/species/7324238) | *Ipomoea adenioides* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Climbing Kapok](https://www.gbif.org/species/3679360) | *Ipomoea albivenia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea anemophoba](https://www.gbif.org/species/3679117) | *Ipomoea anemophoba* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Water spinach, River spinach, Water morning glory, Water convolvulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928525) | *Ipomoea aquatica* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Ipomoea arachnosperma](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678842) | *Ipomoea arachnosperma* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tree Morning Glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/7324166) | *Ipomoea arborescens* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Ipomoea argyrophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678552) | *Ipomoea argyrophylla* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 27 |
| [bellvine](https://www.gbif.org/species/8302726) | *Ipomoea biflora* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Mile-a-minute vine, Messina creeper, Cairo morning glory, Coast morning glory, Coastal morning glory, Railroad creeper, Railway creeper, Five-fingered morning glory, Five-leaf morning glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928531) | *Ipomoea cairica* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Gloria De La Manana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928590) | *Ipomoea carnea* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ipomoea cicatricosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3681494) | *Ipomoea cicatricosa* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 67 |
| [Ipomoea citrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3681366) | *Ipomoea citrina* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Alamovine](https://www.gbif.org/species/8117771) | *Ipomoea coptica* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species) (part 3 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 573 species in the families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 3 of 4 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/)

## Full list (573 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Jatropha variabilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072936) | *Jatropha variabilis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Jatropha villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072997) | *Jatropha villosa* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mercury Doughwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3072557) | *Micrococca mercurialis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Castor-oil-Plant](https://www.gbif.org/species/5380041) | *Ricinus communis* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 14 |
| [tamboti](https://www.gbif.org/species/5378880) | *Spirostachys africana* | Euphorbiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Spirostachys venenifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/5378878) | *Spirostachys venenifera* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Woodland Suregada](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054868) | *Suregada zanzibariensis* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Tragia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8255025) | *Tragia arabica* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Tragia cinerea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061798) | *Tragia cinerea* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tragia hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061830) | *Tragia hildebrandtii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Tragia mixta](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061803) | *Tragia mixta* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Cannabis Leaf Nettle](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061821) | *Tragia plukenetii* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Tragia pungens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061785) | *Tragia pungens* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tragia rhoicifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3061837) | *Tragia rhoicifolia* | Euphorbiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Frankenia corymbosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3873636) | *Frankenia corymbosa* | Frankeniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mostuea microphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4020302) | *Mostuea microphylla* | Gelsemiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cabbage Tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/4018973) | *Anthocleista vogelii* | Gentianaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Lesser Centaury](https://www.gbif.org/species/7439391) | *Centaurium pulchellum* | Gentianaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Enicostema axillare](https://www.gbif.org/species/3170131) | *Enicostema axillare* | Gentianaceae | LC | 34 |
| [Grand Yellowwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3840048) | *Exochaenium grande* | Gentianaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Soft Stork's-bill](https://www.gbif.org/species/9297163) | *Erodium malacoides* | Geraniaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Erodium neuradifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/7268511) | *Erodium neuradifolium* | Geraniaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Geranium arabicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2890772) | *Geranium arabicum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Geranium bequaertii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2889961) | *Geranium bequaertii* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Geranium biuncinatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2890985) | *Geranium biuncinatum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Geranium favosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2890999) | *Geranium favosum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Geranium mascatense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2890857) | *Geranium mascatense* | Geraniaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Geranium ocellatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2890294) | *Geranium ocellatum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Geranium yemense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2890978) | *Geranium yemense* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Monsonia angustifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7926816) | *Monsonia angustifolia* | Geraniaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Monsonia heliotropioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7736275) | *Monsonia heliotropioides* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Monsonia ignea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827735) | *Monsonia ignea* | Geraniaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Monsonia longipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827643) | *Monsonia longipes* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Monsonia senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827412) | *Monsonia senegalensis* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lady's Mantle-Leaved Pelargonium](https://www.gbif.org/species/8588196) | *Pelargonium alchemilloides* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pelargonium boranense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3828336) | *Pelargonium boranense* | Geraniaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Pelargonium christophoranum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827534) | *Pelargonium christophoranum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pelargonium glechomoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827596) | *Pelargonium glechomoides* | Geraniaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pelargonium multibracteatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827805) | *Pelargonium multibracteatum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Pelargonium quinquelobatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3828918) | *Pelargonium quinquelobatum* | Geraniaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Pelargonium somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3827484) | *Pelargonium somalense* | Geraniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ostrich Herb](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794715) | *Gisekia africana* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Gisekia diffusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794731) | *Gisekia diffusa* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Gisekia haudica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794723) | *Gisekia haudica* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Gisekia pharnaceoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7265816) | *Gisekia pharnaceoides* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 36 |
| [Oldmaid](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084008) | *Gisekia pharnacioides* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Gisekia polylopha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794728) | *Gisekia polylopha* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Gisekia scabridula](https://www.gbif.org/species/3794713) | *Gisekia scabridula* | Gisekiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Gull feed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5407597) | *Scaevola plumieri* | Goodeniaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Euploca applanata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10823726) | *Euploca applanata* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Euploca laxa](https://www.gbif.org/species/10837814) | *Euploca laxa* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Forget-me-not](https://www.gbif.org/species/4062375) | *Euploca ovalifolia* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Euploca personata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10820873) | *Euploca personata* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Euploca rariflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/7294882) | *Euploca rariflora* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Euploca sessilistigma](https://www.gbif.org/species/10874685) | *Euploca sessilistigma* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Bristly Heliotrope](https://www.gbif.org/species/4062306) | *Euploca strigosa* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Heliotropium aegyptiacum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4067974) | *Heliotropium aegyptiacum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 59 |
| [Scorpion's-Tail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925809) | *Heliotropium angiospermum* | Heliotropiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Heliotropium bacciferum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7295525) | *Heliotropium bacciferum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Heliotropium benadirense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4067403) | *Heliotropium benadirense* | Heliotropiaceae | EN | 14 |
| [Heliotropium congestum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4066738) | *Heliotropium congestum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Heliotropium drepanophyllum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4066282) | *Heliotropium drepanophyllum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Heliotropium lignosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8298439) | *Heliotropium lignosum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Heliotropium longiflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7295150) | *Heliotropium longiflorum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Heliotropium ophioglossum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4063460) | *Heliotropium ophioglossum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Heliotropium pectinatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7294965) | *Heliotropium pectinatum* | Heliotropiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Heliotropium pterocarpum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4062549) | *Heliotropium pterocarpum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Common Heliotrope](https://www.gbif.org/species/7294783) | *Heliotropium steudneri* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 53 |
| [Heliotropium subspinosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4061473) | *Heliotropium subspinosum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Dwarf Heliotrope](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925777) | *Heliotropium supinum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Hairy Heliotrope](https://www.gbif.org/species/4060631) | *Heliotropium zeylanicum* | Heliotropiaceae | NE | 59 |
| [gyro damson](https://www.gbif.org/species/7326414) | *Gyrocarpus americanus* | Hernandiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Gyrocarpus angustifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/3685318) | *Gyrocarpus angustifolius* | Hernandiaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Gyrocarpus hababensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3685454) | *Gyrocarpus hababensis* | Hernandiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Acacia Jackalskos](https://www.gbif.org/species/3646094) | *Hydnora abyssinica* | Hydnoraceae | NE | 10 |
| [Cape jackalskos](https://www.gbif.org/species/7319908) | *Hydnora africana* | Hydnoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [currybush](https://www.gbif.org/species/7330049) | *Hypericum revolutum* | Hypericaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Hypericum somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3711524) | *Hypericum somaliense* | Hypericaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Hypericum synstylum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3711013) | *Hypericum synstylum* | Hypericaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Pyrenacantha kaurabassana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3597199) | *Pyrenacantha kaurabassana* | Icacinaceae | NE | 4 |
| [monkey chair](https://www.gbif.org/species/3597145) | *Pyrenacantha malvifolia* | Icacinaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Bitter Bush Mango](https://www.gbif.org/species/5592221) | *Irvingia tenuinucleata* | Irvingiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Common Kirkia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5555218) | *Kirkia acuminata* | Kirkiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Kirkia burgeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7342803) | *Kirkia burgeri* | Kirkiaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Kirkia tenuifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7888162) | *Kirkia tenuifolia* | Kirkiaceae | LC | 33 |
| [Swahili Rocksage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3889045) | *Aeollanthus zanzibaricus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [musk-basil](https://www.gbif.org/species/3882375) | *Basilicum polystachyon* | Lamiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Clerodendrum hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307984) | *Clerodendrum hildebrandtii* | Lamiaceae | LC | 18 |
| [Clerodendrum robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3890148) | *Clerodendrum robecchii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 37 |
| [Clinopodium abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307338) | *Clinopodium abyssinicum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Mount Mulanje Calamint](https://www.gbif.org/species/3885266) | *Clinopodium vernayanum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coleus aegyptiacus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11097453) | *Coleus aegyptiacus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cal Madow Mountain Hullwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/11038327) | *Coleus argentifolius* | Lamiaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Abyssinian Coleus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8030165) | *Coleus barbatus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Coleus burorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5605837) | *Coleus burorum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dog Hullwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/5605819) | *Coleus caninus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Coleus cuneatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5605758) | *Coleus cuneatus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Camphor Spurflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/10925826) | *Coleus cylindraceus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coleus gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5605621) | *Coleus gracilis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hairy Spurflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/10964472) | *Coleus hadiensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Coleus igniarioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/11012616) | *Coleus igniarioides* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Coleus igniarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5605576) | *Coleus igniarius* | Lamiaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Coleus lanuginosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8424843) | *Coleus lanuginosus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Stepped Hullwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/10550291) | *Coleus otostegioides* | Lamiaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Coleus petraeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/11008640) | *Coleus petraeus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coleus scebeli](https://www.gbif.org/species/5605231) | *Coleus scebeli* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Endostemon ctenoneurus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899734) | *Endostemon ctenoneurus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Endostemon glandulosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899704) | *Endostemon glandulosus* | Lamiaceae | EN | 5 |
| [Endostemon gracilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899696) | *Endostemon gracilis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Oromian Keepsafe](https://www.gbif.org/species/7392475) | *Endostemon kelleri* | Lamiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Endostemon leucosphaerus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899672) | *Endostemon leucosphaerus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Endostemon membranaceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899658) | *Endostemon membranaceus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hobyan Keepsafe](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899650) | *Endostemon obbiadensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Puntland Keepsafe](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899629) | *Endostemon racemosus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Endostemon stenocaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899597) | *Endostemon stenocaulis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Mopaneveld keepsafe](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899590) | *Endostemon tenuiflorus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 60 |
| [Purpling Keepsafe](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899585) | *Endostemon tereticaulis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 36 |
| [Endostemon tomentosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899577) | *Endostemon tomentosus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Mombasan Keepsafe](https://www.gbif.org/species/3899526) | *Endostemon wakefieldii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Equilabium flaccidum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10022410) | *Equilabium flaccidum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dainty Slippermint](https://www.gbif.org/species/10946614) | *Equilabium gracile* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fuerstia dendrothrix](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896307) | *Fuerstia dendrothrix* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [kamyuye](https://www.gbif.org/species/3884477) | *Hoslundia opposita* | Lamiaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Isoleucas somala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3900279) | *Isoleucas somala* | Lamiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Somaliland Lavender](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891826) | *Lavandula aristibracteata* | Lamiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Puntland Lavender](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891416) | *Lavandula galgalloensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Lavandula macra](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891266) | *Lavandula macra* | Lamiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Downy Lavender](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891036) | *Lavandula pubescens* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lavandula setifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3890924) | *Lavandula setifera* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Golis Mountain Lavender](https://www.gbif.org/species/3890918) | *Lavandula somaliensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Leucas abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8121673) | *Leucas abyssinica* | Lamiaceae | LC | 85 |
| [Leucas cuneifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5606817) | *Leucas cuneifolia* | Lamiaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Leucas ellipticifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7577071) | *Leucas ellipticifolia* | Lamiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Leucas glabrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307194) | *Leucas glabrata* | Lamiaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Leucas glabrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7732603) | *Leucas glabrata* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Leucas inflata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7955294) | *Leucas inflata* | Lamiaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Leucas jamesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5606636) | *Leucas jamesii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Whitewort](https://www.gbif.org/species/7775217) | *Leucas martinicensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Leucas minimifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5606500) | *Leucas minimifolia* | Lamiaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Leucas neuflizeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307054) | *Leucas neuflizeana* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Leucas nubica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5606424) | *Leucas nubica* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Leucas somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5606282) | *Leucas somalensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Leucas urticifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7375957) | *Leucas urticifolia* | Lamiaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Biblical mint](https://www.gbif.org/species/7510173) | *Mentha longifolia* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Micromeria filiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307109) | *Micromeria filiformis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [African Whitweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307029) | *Micromeria imbricata* | Lamiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Nepeta azurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7965184) | *Nepeta azurea* | Lamiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [American Basil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2927097) | *Ocimum americanum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Sweet Basil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2927096) | *Ocimum basilicum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Ocimum circinatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3898094) | *Ocimum circinatum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ocimum cufodontii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897934) | *Ocimum cufodontii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Ocimum ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897815) | *Ocimum ellenbeckii* | Lamiaceae | EN | 2 |
| [long-stamen basil](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897753) | *Ocimum filamentosum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Ocimum forskoelei](https://www.gbif.org/species/7710400) | *Ocimum forskoelei* | Lamiaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Ocimum forsskalii](https://www.gbif.org/species/11157992) | *Ocimum forsskalii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ocimum forsskaolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8344952) | *Ocimum forsskaolii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Ocimum fruticosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897593) | *Ocimum fruticosum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Ocimum grandiflorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7308611) | *Ocimum grandiflorum* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Clove basil, African basil, Wild basil, Shrubby Basil, Tea bush, Zulu basil East Indian Basil, Mosquito plant, Fever Plant, Tree Basil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2927094) | *Ocimum gratissimum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Ocimum jamesii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897210) | *Ocimum jamesii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Ocimum nummularia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896757) | *Ocimum nummularia* | Lamiaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Ocimum obovatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7371653) | *Ocimum obovatum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species) (part 2 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 668 species in the families Malvaceae to Santalaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 2 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)

## Full list (668 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Pavonia pirottae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618517) | *Pavonia pirottae* | Malvaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Pavonia procumbens](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618493) | *Pavonia procumbens* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Pavonia propinqua](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618490) | *Pavonia propinqua* | Malvaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Pavonia rotundifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618379) | *Pavonia rotundifolia* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pavonia serrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618245) | *Pavonia serrata* | Malvaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Pavonia zeylanica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5617913) | *Pavonia zeylanica* | Malvaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ceylon Swamp Mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/10746336) | *Pavonia zeylonica* | Malvaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Roifia dictyocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7673339) | *Roifia dictyocarpa* | Malvaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Senra incana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3933983) | *Senra incana* | Malvaceae | NE | 69 |
| [Sida alba](https://www.gbif.org/species/5406744) | *Sida alba* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sida calliantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/5619216) | *Sida calliantha* | Malvaceae | NE | 3 |
| [‘Ilima, Flannel weed, Bala, Country mallow, Heart-leaf sida, Flannel sida, Indian country mallow](https://www.gbif.org/species/5406755) | *Sida cordifolia* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sida longipedicellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5618197) | *Sida longipedicellata* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Sida ogadensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5617910) | *Sida ogadensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Sida ovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5617892) | *Sida ovata* | Malvaceae | NE | 23 |
| [Queensland-hemp, Arrow-leaf Sida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5406735) | *Sida rhombifolia* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sida tanaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5617344) | *Sida tanaensis* | Malvaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sida tenuicarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5617325) | *Sida tenuicarpa* | Malvaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Large-leaved Star-Chestnut](https://www.gbif.org/species/7342772) | *Sterculia africana* | Malvaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Sterculia rhynchocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7923310) | *Sterculia rhynchocarpa* | Malvaceae | LC | 40 |
| [Sterculia stenocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7516196) | *Sterculia stenocarpa* | Malvaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Symphyochlamys erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3937093) | *Symphyochlamys erlangeri* | Malvaceae | NT | 18 |
| [Sea hibiscus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7115794) | *Talipariti tiliaceum* | Malvaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Thespesia danis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7279062) | *Thespesia danis* | Malvaceae | LC | 26 |
| [Triumfetta actinocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4261191) | *Triumfetta actinocarpa* | Malvaceae | NE | 70 |
| [Triumfetta flavescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260291) | *Triumfetta flavescens* | Malvaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Triumfetta glabrior](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260241) | *Triumfetta glabrior* | Malvaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Triumfetta heterocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260005) | *Triumfetta heterocarpa* | Malvaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Triumfetta trigona](https://www.gbif.org/species/4260903) | *Triumfetta trigona* | Malvaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Triumfetta welwitschii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7311128) | *Triumfetta welwitschii* | Malvaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Uhaloa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5406665) | *Waltheria indica* | Malvaceae | LC | 14 |
| [Melastomastrum theifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3868738) | *Melastomastrum theifolium* | Melastomataceae | NE | 1 |
| [Warneckea amaniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3865762) | *Warneckea amaniensis* | Melastomataceae | VU | 1 |
| [Warneckea sansibarica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8917319) | *Warneckea sansibarica* | Melastomataceae | LC | 1 |
| [Neem](https://www.gbif.org/species/3190474) | *Azadirachta indica* | Meliaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Cape-ash](https://www.gbif.org/species/3851310) | *Ekebergia capensis* | Meliaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Chinaberry tree, Pride of India, Bead-tree, Cape lilac, Syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac](https://www.gbif.org/species/5914287) | *Melia azedarach* | Meliaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Melia volkensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5597440) | *Melia volkensii* | Meliaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Christmas-bells](https://www.gbif.org/species/3190493) | *Trichilia emetica* | Meliaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Turraea barbata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3850068) | *Turraea barbata* | Meliaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Turraea holstii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3849756) | *Turraea holstii* | Meliaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Turraea parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7672512) | *Turraea parvifolia* | Meliaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Turraea retusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3852642) | *Turraea retusa* | Meliaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Turraea wakefieldii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3852224) | *Turraea wakefieldii* | Meliaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cannonball mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/3190516) | *Xylocarpus moluccensis* | Meliaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Winged Bersama](https://www.gbif.org/species/3845259) | *Bersama abyssinica* | Melianthaceae | LC | 22 |
| [Chasmanthera dependens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3831092) | *Chasmanthera dependens* | Menispermaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ivy-Vine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3829552) | *Cissampelos mucronata* | Menispermaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Velvetleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3033937) | *Cissampelos pareira* | Menispermaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Cocculus pendulus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3830806) | *Cocculus pendulus* | Menispermaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Stem-Fruit Climber](https://www.gbif.org/species/3829501) | *Tiliacora funifera* | Menispermaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tinospora bakis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3830860) | *Tinospora bakis* | Menispermaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Water Snowflake](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341503) | *Nymphoides indica* | Menyanthaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Apodytes dimidiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3597463) | *Apodytes dimidiata* | Metteniusaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Lotus Sweetjuice](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084616) | *Glinus lotoides* | Molluginaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Glinus setiflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3783712) | *Glinus setiflorus* | Molluginaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Threadstem Carpetweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/9397635) | *Hypertelis cerviana* | Molluginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Hypertelis umbellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9545368) | *Hypertelis umbellata* | Molluginaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Paramollugo angustifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/9454389) | *Paramollugo angustifolia* | Molluginaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Nakedstem Carpetweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/9476003) | *Paramollugo nudicaulis* | Molluginaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Drought Spookasem](https://www.gbif.org/species/8368294) | *Pharnaceum lineare* | Molluginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dorstenia barnimiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7262729) | *Dorstenia barnimiana* | Moraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Dorstenia ellenbeckiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3765065) | *Dorstenia ellenbeckiana* | Moraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dorstenia foetida](https://www.gbif.org/species/7262610) | *Dorstenia foetida* | Moraceae | NE | 41 |
| [Dorstenia gypsophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3764799) | *Dorstenia gypsophila* | Moraceae | NE | 8 |
| [Dorstenia horwoodii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9178728) | *Dorstenia horwoodii* | Moraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dorstenia poinsettifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7515664) | *Dorstenia poinsettifolia* | Moraceae | NE | 1 |
| [zambezi fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5571097) | *Ficus bussei* | Moraceae | NE | 15 |
| [River Sandpaper Fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5930699) | *Ficus capreifolia* | Moraceae | LC | 5 |
| [Shortleaf Fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5361938) | *Ficus citrifolia* | Moraceae | LC | 3 |
| [African Rock Fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5571065) | *Ficus glumosa* | Moraceae | LC | 12 |
| [Red-leaved rock fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5570086) | *Ficus ingens* | Moraceae | LC | 4 |
| [Punjab fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5361916) | *Ficus palmata* | Moraceae | LC | 4 |
| [Ficus platyphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5572533) | *Ficus platyphylla* | Moraceae | LC | 6 |
| [Ficus populifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8368351) | *Ficus populifolia* | Moraceae | LC | 15 |
| [Ficus sagittifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5571073) | *Ficus sagittifolia* | Moraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Wonderboom fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5571063) | *Ficus salicifolia* | Moraceae | NE | 49 |
| [Crown-fruited Fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5570867) | *Ficus scassellatii* | Moraceae | NE | 10 |
| [septic fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/7852448) | *Ficus septica* | Moraceae | LC | 1 |
| [bush fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5569827) | *Ficus sur* | Moraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Sycamore Fig](https://www.gbif.org/species/5361921) | *Ficus sycomorus* | Moraceae | LC | 30 |
| [Ficus vasta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5571755) | *Ficus vasta* | Moraceae | LC | 5 |
| [Moringa borziana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3752350) | *Moringa borziana* | Moringaceae | LC | 20 |
| [Moringa longituba](https://www.gbif.org/species/3752383) | *Moringa longituba* | Moringaceae | LC | 34 |
| [Horseradishtree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3054181) | *Moringa oleifera* | Moringaceae | LC | 2 |
| [wild drumsticktree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3752342) | *Moringa peregrina* | Moringaceae | LC | 23 |
| [Moringa pygmaea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3752354) | *Moringa pygmaea* | Moringaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Moringa rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3752345) | *Moringa rivae* | Moringaceae | NT | 4 |
| [Moringa ruspoliana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3752371) | *Moringa ruspoliana* | Moringaceae | DD | 12 |
| [Morella salicifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7335105) | *Morella salicifolia* | Myricaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Ambon forest nutmeg](https://www.gbif.org/species/7799651) | *Myristica fatua* | Myristicaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Myrtle](https://www.gbif.org/species/5418406) | *Corymbia torelliana* | Myrtaceae | LC | 1 |
| [River Redgum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3176197) | *Eucalyptus camaldulensis* | Myrtaceae | NT | 1 |
| [Eugenia whytei](https://www.gbif.org/species/5416266) | *Eugenia whytei* | Myrtaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Guava, Common guava, Yellow guava, Lemon guava](https://www.gbif.org/species/5420380) | *Psidium guajava* | Myrtaceae | LC | 1 |
| [water-pear](https://www.gbif.org/species/3183278) | *Syzygium guineense* | Myrtaceae | LC | 7 |
| [creeping thorn-rose](https://www.gbif.org/species/3701813) | *Neurada procumbens* | Neuradaceae | NE | 2 |
| [salt tree](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986936) | *Nitraria retusa* | Nitrariaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Boerhaavia erecta](https://www.gbif.org/species/10773504) | *Boerhaavia erecta* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Scarlet Spiderling](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086287) | *Boerhavia coccinea* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Red Spiderling](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086282) | *Boerhavia diffusa* | Nyctaginaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Boerhavia elegans](https://www.gbif.org/species/7327190) | *Boerhavia elegans* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Erect Spiderling](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086281) | *Boerhavia erecta* | Nyctaginaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Anena](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086288) | *Boerhavia repens* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Boerhavia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700296) | *Boerhavia somalensis* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Bougainvillea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5553651) | *Bougainvillea buttiana* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Great Bougainvillea](https://www.gbif.org/species/7167078) | *Bougainvillea spectabilis* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commicarpus ambiguus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3701197) | *Commicarpus ambiguus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Commicarpus boissieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3701161) | *Commicarpus boissieri* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commicarpus fallacissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8657684) | *Commicarpus fallacissimus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commicarpus grandiflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3701054) | *Commicarpus grandiflorus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [St. Helena Hogweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7327324) | *Commicarpus helenae* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Commicarpus hiranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3701006) | *Commicarpus hiranensis* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Commicarpus mistus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700972) | *Commicarpus mistus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Commicarpus parviflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700958) | *Commicarpus parviflorus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Commicarpus pedunculosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700947) | *Commicarpus pedunculosus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Plumbago Stars](https://www.gbif.org/species/7327307) | *Commicarpus plumbagineus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Commicarpus ramosissimus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700891) | *Commicarpus ramosissimus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Commicarpus reniformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700868) | *Commicarpus reniformis* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Commicarpus sinuatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700825) | *Commicarpus sinuatus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Commicarpus squarrosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3701029) | *Commicarpus squarrosus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Commicarpus stenocarpus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3700793) | *Commicarpus stenocarpus* | Nyctaginaceae | NE | 6 |
| [White Egyptian Lotus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2882429) | *Nymphaea lotus* | Nymphaeaceae | LC | 5 |
| [blue lotus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7326947) | *Nymphaea nouchali* | Nymphaeaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Ochna atropurpurea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3695385) | *Ochna atropurpurea* | Ochnaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Boat-Fruited Ochna](https://www.gbif.org/species/3695995) | *Ochna inermis* | Ochnaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Ochna leucophloeos](https://www.gbif.org/species/7326746) | *Ochna leucophloeos* | Ochnaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Ochna ovata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3695001) | *Ochna ovata* | Ochnaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thomas' Bird's-Eye Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3189677) | *Ochna thomasiana* | Ochnaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Bastard Sourplum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3685821) | *Olax dissitiflora* | Olacaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Chrysojasminum stans](https://www.gbif.org/species/9620539) | *Chrysojasminum stans* | Oleaceae | VU | 8 |
| [Jasminum abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7821504) | *Jasminum abyssinicum* | Oleaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Jazmin De Trapo](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172270) | *Jasminum fluminense* | Oleaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Catalonian jasmine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172262) | *Jasminum grandiflorum* | Oleaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Jasminum meyeri-johannis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3683281) | *Jasminum meyeri-johannis* | Oleaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Summer Jasmine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172261) | *Jasminum officinale* | Oleaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Jasminum punctulatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3682483) | *Jasminum punctulatum* | Oleaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Jasminum streptopus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8186401) | *Jasminum streptopus* | Oleaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bastard Ironwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/9233275) | *Noronhia foveolata* | Oleaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Noronhia mildbraedii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9486847) | *Noronhia mildbraedii* | Oleaceae | NE | 1 |
| [black ironwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/7475694) | *Olea capensis* | Oleaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Olive](https://www.gbif.org/species/5415040) | *Olea europaea* | Oleaceae | NE | 61 |
| [water-primrose](https://www.gbif.org/species/7322187) | *Ludwigia adscendens* | Onagraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Yerba De Jicotea](https://www.gbif.org/species/5420986) | *Ludwigia erecta* | Onagraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ludwigia jussiaeoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7557998) | *Ludwigia jussiaeoides* | Onagraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ludwigia perennis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8129014) | *Ludwigia perennis* | Onagraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Lepionurus sylvestris](https://www.gbif.org/species/3658877) | *Lepionurus sylvestris* | Opiliaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Opilia campestris](https://www.gbif.org/species/7321378) | *Opilia campestris* | Opiliaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Kirk's Tobacco Witchweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3724536) | *Alectra orobanchoides* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Alectra parasitica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7331604) | *Alectra parasitica* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Yellow Paintflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/7331592) | *Alectra sessiliflora* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Asepalum eriantherum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3570697) | *Asepalum eriantherum* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Yellow Broomrape](https://www.gbif.org/species/7332229) | *Cistanche phelypaea* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Cistanche senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3730573) | *Cistanche senegalensis* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cistanche tubulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7332217) | *Cistanche tubulosa* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Cyclocheilon kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3570696) | *Cyclocheilon kelleri* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Cyclocheilon physocalyx](https://www.gbif.org/species/3570690) | *Cyclocheilon physocalyx* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Cyclocheilon somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3570693) | *Cyclocheilon somaliense* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 23 |
| [Cycnium erectum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3727330) | *Cycnium erectum* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Vlei Ink-flower](https://www.gbif.org/species/6438726) | *Cycnium tubulosum* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Ghikaea speciosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3730649) | *Ghikaea speciosa* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Harveya obtusifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7999986) | *Harveya obtusifolia* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lindenbergia indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3731671) | *Lindenbergia indica* | Orobanchaceae | LC | 33 |
| [Lindenbergia serpyllifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3724802) | *Lindenbergia serpyllifolia* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 5 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)


---

# Airports and airstrips of Bari and Nugaal

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airstrips-bari-and-nugaal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Bari and Nugaal, in Puntland, have 15 recorded airfields. Two take jets: Bosaso's Bender Qassim airport and Garowe's General Mohamed Abshir airport. The rest are dirt or gravel strips at Qardho, Iskushuban, Eyl, Qandala, Caluula, Bandarbeyla and Xaafuun, plus old and abandoned fields. This page lists each one with its codes, runway, position and sources.

## About this list

The rows below join three open registers: **OurAirports**, a public database of airfields with codes and runways ([OurAirports, Somalia](https://ourairports.com/countries/SO/airports.html)); **GeoNames**, the world gazetteer, whose feature codes mark airfields, airports and abandoned airfields ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)); and **Wikidata** ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/)). Where two registers place a field within 4 km of each other they are shown as one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet; from GeoNames in metres. The Somali name in brackets is the Wikidata label. Runway figures come from OurAirports unless the text says otherwise.

## The two main airports

- **Bosaso:** [Bender Qassim International Airport](/en/infrastructure/bosaso-airport/), reopened in January 2016 after an Italian-funded runway rebuild.
- **Garowe:** [General Mohamed Abshir International Airport](/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/), opened in 2010, with a [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) Fund runway project.

## The smaller fields

**Iskushuban.** The airstrip (CMS, HCMS) has unpaved but marked runways that are unusually wide, at over 550 feet (168 m) ([Wikipedia, Iskushuban Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskushuban_Airport)).

**Eyl.** The airstrip (HCME) serving the old coastal town of Eyl in Nugaal is at 879 feet (268 m), with a 1,050-metre runway ([Wikipedia, Eyl Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyl_Airport)); OurAirports describes it as graded earth.

**[Qandala](/en/regions/qandala/) (Candala).** An airstrip (CXN, HCMC) open to the public, 9 feet above sea level, with one natural-surface runway of 3,579 feet (1,091 m) ([Wikipedia, Candala Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candala_Airport)).

**[Caluula](/en/regions/caluula/) (Alula).** The airstrip (ALU, HCMA) serves the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) town of Caluula; the runway lies about half a kilometre inland, parallel to the shore ([Wikipedia, Alula Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula_Airport)).

**Xaafuun ([Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/)).** OurAirports lists two strips on the Xaafuun peninsula: a coastal strip (HCBA) and the "Old Base" strip (HCBG) to the east ([OurAirports, SO-0004](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0004/); [OurAirports, SO-0005](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0005/)).

**Old and abandoned fields.** OurAirports records the old Bosaso airport as closed. GeoNames marks two abandoned airfields near Meeladeen and lists strips at Dudo and at a site it names "Conoco" in Nugaal ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388814)). For oil exploration in the region see [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/).

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alula Airport (Gegada diyaaradah Caluula) | Alula | ALU / HCMA |  | 6 ft | 11.958, 50.748 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMA/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730597); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15179592); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula_Airport) |
| Bandarbeyla Airport | Bandarbeyla |  |  |  | 9.46, 50.742 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0010/) |
| [Bender Qassim International Airport](/en/infrastructure/bosaso-airport/) | Bosaso | BSA / HCMF | 01/19 3550 ft SAN; 09/27 7874 ft ASP | 3 ft | 11.275, 49.139 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMF/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7668294) |
| Candala Airport (Gegada diyaarada Qandala) | Candala | CXN / HCMC | 04/22 3610 ft | 30 ft | 11.496, 49.91 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMC/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730599); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15207110); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candala_Airport) |
| Conoco |  |  |  | 382 m | 8.537, 48.689 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388814) |
| Dudo |  |  |  | 398 m | 9.347, 50.208 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388844) |
| Eil Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Eyl) | Eyl | HCM / HCME | 06/24 3445 ft Graded earth | 879 ft | 8.104, 49.82 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCME/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730600); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11824362); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyl_Airport) |
| Gardo Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Qardho) | Gardo | GSR / HCMG |  | 2632 ft | 9.546, 49.119 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMG/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730601); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12692796); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qardho_Airport) |
| [Garowe Airport](/en/infrastructure/garowe-airport/) | Garowe | GGR / HCGR | 06/24 6562 ft ASP | 1465 ft | 8.458, 48.568 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMW/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8298667) |
| Hafun Airstrip | Hafun | HCBA |  | 35 ft | 10.445, 51.247 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0004/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388821) |
| Hafun Old Base Airstrip | Hafun | HCBG |  | 555 ft | 10.415, 51.326 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0005/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388843) |
| Iskushuban Airport (Gegada Diyaaradaha Iskushuban) | Iskushuban | CMS / HCMS |  | 1121 ft | 10.314, 50.206 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMS/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730604); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12694927); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskushuban_Airport) |
| Meeladeen |  |  | (abandoned) | 424 m | 10.53, 49.725 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388832) |
| Meeladeen West |  |  | (abandoned) | 478 m | 10.576, 49.587 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388833) |
| Old Bosaso Airport | Bosaso |  | (closed) |  | 11.268, 49.099 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0009/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388838) |

## Related

- [Galkayo's Abdullahi Yusuf Airport](/en/infrastructure/abdullahi-yusuf-airport-galkayo/)
- [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) and [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/)
- [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/)


---

# Somalia and the Arab League

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/arab-league/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia joined the League of Arab States in 1974, as its first member whose people are not ethnically Arab. Arab funds remain among its largest creditors: at the end of 2025 Somalia owed US$206.3 million to the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and US$202 million to the Arab Monetary Fund. In December 2025 the League rejected Israel's recognition of Somaliland.

## How do Somalia and the Arab League relate today?

Somalia is a member of the League of Arab States. When Israel recognised [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) in December 2025, the League's Secretary General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, called the move "a clear violation of international law and a flagrant infringement of the principle of the unity and sovereignty of states" ([Anadolu Agency, 26 December 2025](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/arab-league-gulf-bloc-reject-israel-s-recognition-of-somalias-breakaway-region-of-somaliland/3782118)).

At the UN Security Council on 29 December 2025, the Arab League's envoy, Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, spoke for the 22-member group. He rejected "any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people" ([Al Jazeera, 30 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)).

## When did Somalia join?

Somalia joined the Arab League in 1974 and became its first member whose people are not ethnically Arab ([US Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, "Relations with Arab Countries"](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). The study links the move to Somalia's long cultural, religious and trade ties with the Arabian Peninsula, and to Somalis' sense of identification with Arabs (same source).

## How did Arab ties shape Somalia before 1991?

The Library of Congress study gives this sequence ([US Library of Congress, "Relations with Arab Countries"](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)):

- **1970s:** Somalia at first backed Arab states that opposed US policy in the Middle East, including Algeria, Iraq and Libya.
- **After the Ogaden War:** the [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) government moved closer to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and both began to give military aid.
- **1981 to 1985:** Somalia broke relations with Libya, accusing Muammar al-Qadhafi of backing the SSDF and the SNM rebels; relations were restored in 1985.
- **1980s:** Somalia depended more and more on economic aid from [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/), [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), Saudi Arabia and the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/).
- **1990:** this dependence was a key reason Somalia joined the US-led coalition against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait. Qatar then cancelled further repayment of its loans, and Saudi Arabia offered a US$70 million grant and cheaper oil.

See also [The Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) and [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## What does Somalia owe to Arab lenders?

Somalia's Ministry of Finance lists its foreign debt at the end of 2025 ([Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report FY2025](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)). The Arab lenders it names are:

- **Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development:** US$206.30 million, of which US$131.07 million is unpaid interest.
- **Arab Monetary Fund:** US$201.97 million.
- **Abu Dhabi Fund for Development:** US$267.81 million.
- **Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development:** US$123.88 million.
- **Saudi Fund for Development:** US$117.31 million.
- **Iraq:** US$227.12 million. **Libya:** US$46.97 million.

The same report records these steps (same source):

- **11 February 2025:** a rescheduling with the Abu Dhabi Fund over 40 years, with 16 years' grace and no interest until the end of 2028.
- **9 April 2025:** a 20-year rescheduling with the Arab Monetary Fund at zero interest.
- **8 February 2026:** Algeria wrote to confirm full forgiveness of its debt.

The ministry also held technical talks with Iraq, Libya and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. Under the 2023 debt relief, the Arab Coordination Group of lenders was part of the US$3 billion given by bilateral and commercial creditors ([IMF press release 23/438, 13 December 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)). See [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## How does the Arab League deal with Somaliland?

The League treats Somaliland as part of Somalia. In its December 2025 statement it called unilateral recognitions "an unacceptable interference in Somalia's internal affairs" ([Anadolu Agency, 26 December 2025](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/arab-league-gulf-bloc-reject-israel-s-recognition-of-somalias-breakaway-region-of-somaliland/3782118)). The Gulf Cooperation Council issued its own statement the same day, through its Secretary General Jasem Albudaiwi (same source).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)


---

# Data Protection Act 2023 (Law No. 005)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/data-protection-act-2023/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's Data Protection Act, Law No. 005 of 2023, is the country's first full law on personal data. It was signed in March 2023 and took effect on 23 March 2023. It applies to anyone who processes personal data in Somalia or targets people in Somalia. It gives people the right to see, correct and delete their data, requires breaches to be reported within 72 hours, and created the Data Protection Authority.

## What is the law?

The Data Protection Act, Law No. 005 of 2023, sets rules for how organisations collect and use information about people in Somalia. It is Somalia's first comprehensive data protection law ([Wikipedia, Data Protection Act, 2023](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Act,_2023)). It has 43 articles in nine chapters ([text of the Act, via Data Protection Africa](https://dataprotection.africa/wp-content/uploads/Somalia_DPA.pdf)).

- **Signed:** sources give 21 or 22 March 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Act,_2023); [Digital Policy Alert](https://digitalpolicyalert.org/event/17376-signed-data-protection-act-2023-including-data-protection-authority-governance)).
- **In force:** 23 March 2023, across Somalia ([DataGuidance](https://legacy.dataguidance.com/jurisdiction/somalia)).
- **Regulator:** the Data Protection Authority, launched in February 2024. See [Data Protection Authority](/en/institutions/data-protection-authority/).

## Who does it cover?

Under Article 4, the law applies to any "data controller" that ([text of the Act](https://dataprotection.africa/wp-content/uploads/Somalia_DPA.pdf)):

1. is based or operating in Somalia;
2. processes data inside Somalia; or
3. monitors people in Somalia or offers them goods or services.

**What it does not cover** (Article 5): personal and household use; police and court work on crime; public health emergencies; national security; and journalism, teaching, art and literature where the rules would clash with those purposes (same source). Smaller controllers had two years before most rules applied to them.

## What rights does it give people?

Chapter IV gives each person ("data subject") these rights ([text of the Act](https://dataprotection.africa/wp-content/uploads/Somalia_DPA.pdf)):

- **To know and get a copy** of personal data an organisation holds, and where it came from, free of charge (Article 20).
- **To correct** wrong, out-of-date or misleading data, or **to delete** it (Article 20).
- **To withdraw consent** (Article 21).
- **To object** to processing (Article 22).
- **Not to be judged only by a machine:** not to face a decision based only on automated processing (Article 23).

**Children** (Article 16): consent must come from a parent or guardian. For online services, a child aged 16 or over can consent for themselves (same source).

## What must organisations do?

([text of the Act](https://dataprotection.africa/wp-content/uploads/Somalia_DPA.pdf))

- **Have a lawful reason** for processing, collect only what is needed, keep it no longer than needed and keep it accurate (Articles 14 and 15).
- **Tell people** what they collect and why (Article 18).
- **Keep data secure** (Article 24).
- **Report breaches within 72 hours** to the Authority when a breach risks harming people (Article 25), and keep records of breaches (Article 27).
- **Assess risk** before high-risk processing (Article 29).
- **Limit transfers abroad** to countries or bodies with adequate protection, or with other safeguards (Articles 30 and 31).
- **Register:** "data controllers of major importance" must register with the Authority within six months, and name a data protection officer (Articles 32 to 34).

## What are the penalties?

- **Complaints and orders:** the Authority hears complaints, investigates and can issue orders (Articles 35 to 37).
- **Failing to obey an order** is an offence. In the text published by Data Protection Africa, the fine is written as "[US one million dollars]" and the prison term as "[two] years", both in square brackets ([text of the Act](https://dataprotection.africa/wp-content/uploads/Somalia_DPA.pdf), Article 38).
- **Appeal:** anyone unhappy with an order can ask the Supreme Court to review it within 30 days (Article 39).
- **Damages:** a person harmed, or a consumer group for them, can sue the organisation in court (Article 40).

## How has it been put into practice?

Reviews by the Strathmore University CIPIT centre and TechHive Advisory describe the Act as based on international models and discuss its regulations ([CIPIT, Strathmore University](https://cipit.strathmore.edu/ushering-in-a-new-dawn-for-data-protection-unpacking-the-somalia-data-protection-act-of-2023/); [TechHive Advisory](https://www.techhiveadvisory.africa/insights/review-of-somalias-data-protection-act-and-implementing-regulations)). In 2026 the Authority began registering banks, telecoms, hospitals, NGOs and government offices, and trained public and private bodies on the law ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-data-protection-authority-opens-registration-for-institutions-handling-personal-data); [Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-trains-public-private-institutions-on-data-protection-law)).

## Related pages

- [Ministry of Communications and Technology](/en/institutions/ministry-of-communications-and-technology/)
- [Somali national ID (NIRA)](/en/states/national-id-nira/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species) (part 5 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-5/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 671 species in the families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 5 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · **5**

## Full list (671 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Ipomoea cordofana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3680952) | *Ipomoea cordofana* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Ipomoea corrugata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3680925) | *Ipomoea corrugata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Leafy Morning Glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/3680831) | *Ipomoea crassipes* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea donaldsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3680004) | *Ipomoea donaldsonii* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 37 |
| [Fig-leaved morning glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/3679316) | *Ipomoea ficifolia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea galhareriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678784) | *Ipomoea galhareriana* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ipomoea garckeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678763) | *Ipomoea garckeana* | Convolvulaceae | NT | 16 |
| [Ipomoea heterosepala](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677666) | *Ipomoea heterosepala* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ipomoea hiranensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677499) | *Ipomoea hiranensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Oceanblue Morningglory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928598) | *Ipomoea indica* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea kotschyana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3681840) | *Ipomoea kotschyana* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Whiteflower Beach Morning-Glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928581) | *Ipomoea littoralis* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Ipomoea longituba](https://www.gbif.org/species/3680896) | *Ipomoea longituba* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea marmorata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4927143) | *Ipomoea marmorata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Ipomoea nephrosepala](https://www.gbif.org/species/7785536) | *Ipomoea nephrosepala* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Obscure morning glory, Small white morning glory, Lesser Glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928565) | *Ipomoea obscura* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Ipomoea oenotherae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7842225) | *Ipomoea oenotherae* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea ovatolanceolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7406974) | *Ipomoea ovatolanceolata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Ipomoea paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8333687) | *Ipomoea paolii* | Convolvulaceae | VU | 9 |
| [Ipomoea papilio](https://www.gbif.org/species/4927170) | *Ipomoea papilio* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ipomoea perbella](https://www.gbif.org/species/10804021) | *Ipomoea perbella* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Bayhops](https://www.gbif.org/species/7999386) | *Ipomoea pes-caprae* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Ipomoea pogonantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/7943213) | *Ipomoea pogonantha* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Water Morning-glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/4927157) | *Ipomoea rubens* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Ipomoea sagittifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/6708886) | *Ipomoea sagittifolia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Purple-throat Morning Glory](https://www.gbif.org/species/4927127) | *Ipomoea sinensis* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Ipomoea spathulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8185368) | *Ipomoea spathulata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Ipomoea sultani](https://www.gbif.org/species/8123068) | *Ipomoea sultani* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Ipomoea tenuirostris](https://www.gbif.org/species/8048713) | *Ipomoea tenuirostris* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Grannyvine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928589) | *Ipomoea tricolor* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ipomoea triflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/7370134) | *Ipomoea triflora* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ipomoea verticillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7525574) | *Ipomoea verticillata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Oval-Leaf Clustervine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341721) | *Jacquemontia ovalifolia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Hairy Clustervine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341725) | *Jacquemontia tamnifolia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [whorled clustervine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5341723) | *Jacquemontia verticillata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Merremia candei](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549123) | *Merremia candei* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Merremia ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549044) | *Merremia ellenbeckii* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Merremia emarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549041) | *Merremia emarginata* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Merremia gorinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5549019) | *Merremia gorinii* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Merremia truncata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5548900) | *Merremia truncata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Seddera arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678305) | *Seddera arabica* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Seddera bagshawei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678297) | *Seddera bagshawei* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Seddera bracteata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678283) | *Seddera bracteata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Seddera cinerea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678268) | *Seddera cinerea* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Seddera erlangeriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678264) | *Seddera erlangeriana* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Seddera glomerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678247) | *Seddera glomerata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Seddera hirsuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5829174) | *Seddera hirsuta* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Seddera latifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/8010730) | *Seddera latifolia* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Seddera micrantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678179) | *Seddera micrantha* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Seddera pedunculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5792743) | *Seddera pedunculata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Seddera virgata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3678065) | *Seddera virgata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Stictocardia incomta](https://www.gbif.org/species/5829131) | *Stictocardia incomta* | Convolvulaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Stictocardia macalusoi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3677815) | *Stictocardia macalusoi* | Convolvulaceae | EN | 8 |
| [Featherleaf Merremia](https://www.gbif.org/species/9271423) | *Xenostegia pinnata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 6 |
| [African Morningvine](https://www.gbif.org/species/2928381) | *Xenostegia tridentata* | Convolvulaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Corbichonia decumbens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3783338) | *Corbichonia decumbens* | Corbichoniaceae | NE | 7 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-asteraceae-to-corbichoniaceae-4/) · **5**


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species) (part 4 of 4)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 573 species in the families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 4 of 4 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae (573 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/) · **4**

## Full list (573 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Ocimum spectabile](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896086) | *Ocimum spectabile* | Lamiaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Ocimum spicatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896078) | *Ocimum spicatum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Holy Basil](https://www.gbif.org/species/2927100) | *Ocimum tenuiflorum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ocimum verticillifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3895714) | *Ocimum verticillifolium* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Orthosiphon bullosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7826679) | *Orthosiphon bullosus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Orthosiphon hanningtonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3892627) | *Orthosiphon hanningtonii* | Lamiaceae | EN | 6 |
| [Pale Piccadill](https://www.gbif.org/species/3892216) | *Orthosiphon pallidus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Chilantippatam](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891796) | *Orthosiphon thymiflorus* | Lamiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Otostegia ericoidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891497) | *Otostegia ericoidea* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Otostegia erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891485) | *Otostegia erlangeri* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Otostegia fruticosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307811) | *Otostegia fruticosa* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Otostegia hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891429) | *Otostegia hildebrandtii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Otostegia migiurtiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3891350) | *Otostegia migiurtiana* | Lamiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Otostegia modesta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307795) | *Otostegia modesta* | Lamiaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Otostegia tomentosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307780) | *Otostegia tomentosa* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Plectranthus hadiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8338131) | *Plectranthus hadiensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Premna oligotricha](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896693) | *Premna oligotricha* | Lamiaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Premna resinosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7308443) | *Premna resinosa* | Lamiaceae | LC | 53 |
| [Premna schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896144) | *Premna schimperi* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Northern Premna](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896119) | *Premna senensis* | Lamiaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Renschia heterotypica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3888153) | *Renschia heterotypica* | Lamiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Rotheca makanjana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3887403) | *Rotheca makanjana* | Lamiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Musical Note](https://www.gbif.org/species/9214398) | *Rotheca microphylla* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [butterfly-bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/7307157) | *Rotheca myricoides* | Lamiaceae | LC | 18 |
| [Egyptian sage](https://www.gbif.org/species/10667710) | *Salvia aegyptiaca* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Puntland Sage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3884021) | *Salvia bariensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Rift Valley Sage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3896115) | *Salvia merjamie* | Lamiaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Nile Sage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3894697) | *Salvia nilotica* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Somalia sage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3887224) | *Salvia somalensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 36 |
| [Wild Clary](https://www.gbif.org/species/6409706) | *Salvia verbenaca* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Arabian Skullcap](https://www.gbif.org/species/5609999) | *Scutellaria arabica* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Scutellaria somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5608138) | *Scutellaria somalensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Somaliland Woundwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3882903) | *Stachys glandulosa* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Stachys hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7512932) | *Stachys hildebrandtii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Teucrium clementiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897595) | *Teucrium clementiae* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Teucrium eburneum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3897055) | *Teucrium eburneum* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [River Woodsage](https://www.gbif.org/species/3895984) | *Teucrium kraussii* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Teucrium polioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3894436) | *Teucrium polioides* | Lamiaceae | NE | 19 |
| [poley](https://www.gbif.org/species/3887764) | *Teucrium polium* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Teucrium somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3893037) | *Teucrium somalense* | Lamiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Teucrium yemense](https://www.gbif.org/species/3892388) | *Teucrium yemense* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tinnea aethiopica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7459287) | *Tinnea aethiopica* | Lamiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Black Sunbell](https://www.gbif.org/species/7306461) | *Tinnea aethiopica* | Lamiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Borenan Sunbell](https://www.gbif.org/species/3881796) | *Tinnea somalensis* | Lamiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Chinese Chastetree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925564) | *Vitex negundo* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [scabrid fingerleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3903043) | *Vitex schliebenii* | Lamiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Simpleleaf Chastetree](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925561) | *Vitex trifolia* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Volkameria acerbiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5610220) | *Volkameria acerbiana* | Lamiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hairy Tinderwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/8003495) | *Volkameria eriophylla* | Lamiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cat's Whiskers](https://www.gbif.org/species/6111581) | *Volkameria glabra* | Lamiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Love-vine, Dodder laurel](https://www.gbif.org/species/3033999) | *Cassytha filiformis* | Lauraceae | LC | 10 |
| [Utricularia arenaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/4088097) | *Utricularia arenaria* | Lentibulariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Utricularia inflexa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7297957) | *Utricularia inflexa* | Lentibulariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lead Bladderwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/4087884) | *Utricularia livida* | Lentibulariaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Star Bladderwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/8076464) | *Utricularia stellaris* | Lentibulariaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Limeum angustifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3783562) | *Limeum angustifolium* | Limeaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Limeum fruticosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3783782) | *Limeum fruticosum* | Limeaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Limeum praetermissum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3783575) | *Limeum praetermissum* | Limeaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Linum volkensii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4049091) | *Linum volkensii* | Linaceae | NE | 6 |
| [blue gem](https://www.gbif.org/species/3728025) | *Craterostigma plantagineum* | Linderniaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Craterostigma pumilum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3728016) | *Craterostigma pumilum* | Linderniaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Craterostigma smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3727986) | *Craterostigma smithii* | Linderniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Small-flower False Pimpernel](https://www.gbif.org/species/3730405) | *Lindernia parviflora* | Linderniaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Stemodiopsis buchananii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7323116) | *Stemodiopsis buchananii* | Linderniaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Stemodiopsis rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4097930) | *Stemodiopsis rivae* | Linderniaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Kissenia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4931779) | *Kissenia arabica* | Loasaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cape-Teak](https://www.gbif.org/species/5645363) | *Strychnos decussata* | Loganiaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Coffee Bean Strychnos](https://www.gbif.org/species/5645835) | *Strychnos henningsii* | Loganiaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Hairy-leaved monkey-orange](https://www.gbif.org/species/5645507) | *Strychnos madagascariensis* | Loganiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Natal Orange](https://www.gbif.org/species/5414400) | *Strychnos spinosa* | Loganiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Agelanthus heteromorphus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003199) | *Agelanthus heteromorphus* | Loranthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Agelanthus sansibarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4002909) | *Agelanthus sansibarensis* | Loranthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Agelanthus subulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001144) | *Agelanthus subulatus* | Loranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Emelianthe panganensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7288122) | *Emelianthe panganensis* | Loranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Englerina ramulosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003133) | *Englerina ramulosa* | Loranthaceae | EN | 4 |
| [Erianthemum aethiopicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003011) | *Erianthemum aethiopicum* | Loranthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Silky matchflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/4002971) | *Erianthemum dregei* | Loranthaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Erianthemum occultum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4002889) | *Erianthemum occultum* | Loranthaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Helixanthera flabellifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001693) | *Helixanthera flabellifolia* | Loranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Helixanthera thomsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001069) | *Helixanthera thomsonii* | Loranthaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Oncocalyx angularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003839) | *Oncocalyx angularis* | Loranthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Oncocalyx bolusii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003828) | *Oncocalyx bolusii* | Loranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Oncocalyx cordifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003815) | *Oncocalyx cordifolius* | Loranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Oncocalyx fischeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003768) | *Oncocalyx fischeri* | Loranthaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Oncocalyx ghikae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003755) | *Oncocalyx ghikae* | Loranthaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Oncocalyx glabratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003744) | *Oncocalyx glabratus* | Loranthaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Oncocalyx kelleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003731) | *Oncocalyx kelleri* | Loranthaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Oncocalyx ugogensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003680) | *Oncocalyx ugogensis* | Loranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Phragmanthera dschallensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001612) | *Phragmanthera dschallensis* | Loranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Plicosepalus curviflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4003056) | *Plicosepalus curviflorus* | Loranthaceae | NE | 46 |
| [Plicosepalus meridianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001486) | *Plicosepalus meridianus* | Loranthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Plicosepalus nummulariifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/7591191) | *Plicosepalus nummulariifolius* | Loranthaceae | NE | 22 |
| [Plicosepalus ogadenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001473) | *Plicosepalus ogadenensis* | Loranthaceae | EN | 1 |
| [Plicosepalus sagittifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001453) | *Plicosepalus sagittifolius* | Loranthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Plicosepalus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4001440) | *Plicosepalus somalensis* | Loranthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [eared redstem](https://www.gbif.org/species/3188714) | *Ammannia auriculata* | Lythraceae | LC | 3 |
| [Ammannia petrensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8288715) | *Ammannia petrensis* | Lythraceae | VU | 6 |
| [Ammannia radicans](https://www.gbif.org/species/7888790) | *Ammannia radicans* | Lythraceae | LC | 3 |
| [Henna](https://www.gbif.org/species/5420912) | *Lawsonia inermis* | Lythraceae | LC | 50 |
| [Hyssop Loosestrife](https://www.gbif.org/species/3188747) | *Lythrum hyssopifolia* | Lythraceae | LC | 3 |
| [Ironwood mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/3188706) | *Pemphis acidula* | Lythraceae | LC | 3 |
| [Pomegranate](https://www.gbif.org/species/5420901) | *Punica granatum* | Lythraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Rotala stagnina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3988640) | *Rotala stagnina* | Lythraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Rotala tenella](https://www.gbif.org/species/3988564) | *Rotala tenella* | Lythraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Sonneratia alba](https://www.gbif.org/species/5406998) | *Sonneratia alba* | Lythraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Acridocarpus glaucescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986393) | *Acridocarpus glaucescens* | Malpighiaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Acridocarpus orientalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986283) | *Acridocarpus orientalis* | Malpighiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Acridocarpus zanzibaricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986151) | *Acridocarpus zanzibaricus* | Malpighiaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Caucanthus albidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3983469) | *Caucanthus albidus* | Malpighiaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Caucanthus auriculatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3983446) | *Caucanthus auriculatus* | Malpighiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Caucanthus edulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3983429) | *Caucanthus edulis* | Malpighiaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Triaspis niedenzuiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5634647) | *Triaspis niedenzuiana* | Malpighiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Tristellateia africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3983489) | *Tristellateia africana* | Malpighiaceae | LC | 1 |


This list is in 4 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-cordiaceae-to-malpighiaceae-3/) · **4**


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species) (part 3 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 668 species in the families Malvaceae to Santalaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 3 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)

## Full list (668 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Nodding Broomrape](https://www.gbif.org/species/3173260) | *Orobanche cernua* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Common Broomrape](https://www.gbif.org/species/3173271) | *Orobanche minor* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Hemp Broomrape](https://www.gbif.org/species/3728894) | *Phelipanche ramosa* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pseudosopubia delamerei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3725283) | *Pseudosopubia delamerei* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudosopubia hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3725268) | *Pseudosopubia hildebrandtii* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Pseudosopubia procumbens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3725240) | *Pseudosopubia procumbens* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Asiatic Witchweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3171161) | *Striga asiatica* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Giant Mealie Witchweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3729383) | *Striga forbesii* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 5 |
| [tobacco witchweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3171158) | *Striga gesnerioides* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Striga latericea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3729269) | *Striga latericea* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Xylocalyx carterae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3728671) | *Xylocalyx carterae* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Xylocalyx hispidus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3728663) | *Xylocalyx hispidus* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Xylocalyx recurvus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3741863) | *Xylocalyx recurvus* | Orobanchaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Procumbent Yellow-sorrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/8427624) | *Oxalis corniculata* | Oxalidaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Skewleaf Sorrel](https://www.gbif.org/species/3627864) | *Oxalis obliquifolia* | Oxalidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mexican Poppy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2888485) | *Argemone mexicana* | Papaveraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Fumaria abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5531416) | *Fumaria abyssinica* | Papaveraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Adenia aculeata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7313543) | *Adenia aculeata* | Passifloraceae | NE | 33 |
| [Adenia ballyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527854) | *Adenia ballyi* | Passifloraceae | NE | 16 |
| [Adenia cissampeloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527841) | *Adenia cissampeloides* | Passifloraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Adenia ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527814) | *Adenia ellenbeckii* | Passifloraceae | NE | 14 |
| [Adenia globosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527798) | *Adenia globosa* | Passifloraceae | LC | 1 |
| [Adenia gummifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/8357296) | *Adenia gummifera* | Passifloraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Adenia keramanthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7718649) | *Adenia keramanthus* | Passifloraceae | LC | 2 |
| [Adenia venenata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527888) | *Adenia venenata* | Passifloraceae | NE | 16 |
| [Basananthe aciphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/3587851) | *Basananthe aciphylla* | Passifloraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Basananthe berberoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3587798) | *Basananthe berberoides* | Passifloraceae | DD | 14 |
| [Basananthe hanningtoniana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3587761) | *Basananthe hanningtoniana* | Passifloraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Basananthe merolae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3587649) | *Basananthe merolae* | Passifloraceae | NE | 11 |
| [Basananthe subsessilicarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3587523) | *Basananthe subsessilicarpa* | Passifloraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Passionfruit, Purple granadilla, Purple passionfruit, Black passion fruit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874190) | *Passiflora edulis* | Passifloraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Wild maracuja, Bush passion fruit, Wild water lemon, Stinking passionflower, Stinking passionfruit, Stinking passion vine, Running pop, Fetid passionflower, Love in a mist passion flower, Love in a mist, Mossy passion flower, Red fruit passionflower, Scarlet fruited passionflower, Wild passionfruit](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874211) | *Passiflora foetida* | Passifloraceae | NE | 5 |
| [Large Caltrops](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527253) | *Pedalium murex* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Pterodiscus coeruleus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527220) | *Pterodiscus coeruleus* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Pterodiscus kellerianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527292) | *Pterodiscus kellerianus* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Pterodiscus purpureus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527285) | *Pterodiscus purpureus* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pterodiscus ruspolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527283) | *Pterodiscus ruspolii* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 36 |
| [Pterodiscus saccatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527282) | *Pterodiscus saccatus* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pterodiscus undulatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5527276) | *Pterodiscus undulatus* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 21 |
| [Sesamothamnus busseanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3585278) | *Sesamothamnus busseanus* | Pedaliaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Sesamothamnus rivae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3585254) | *Sesamothamnus rivae* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 21 |
| [sesame](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172622) | *Sesamum indicum* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Sesamum rosaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/10628104) | *Sesamum rosaceum* | Pedaliaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Northern Rock Hardpear](https://www.gbif.org/species/3672670) | *Olinia rochetiana* | Penaeaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Large Lightning Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3917675) | *Clutia abyssinica* | Peraceae | LC | 21 |
| [Clutia lanceolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7584556) | *Clutia lanceolata* | Peraceae | LC | 4 |
| [Andrachne fragilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3079674) | *Andrachne fragilis* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Andrachne maroccana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3079670) | *Andrachne maroccana* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Andrachne schweinfurthii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3079676) | *Andrachne schweinfurthii* | Phyllanthaceae | VU | 28 |
| [false orpine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3079631) | *Andrachne telephioides* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 7 |
| [tassel-berry](https://www.gbif.org/species/3076520) | *Antidesma venosum* | Phyllanthaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Blue sweetberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/3076233) | *Bridelia cathartica* | Phyllanthaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Bridelia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3076167) | *Bridelia somalensis* | Phyllanthaceae | EN | 15 |
| [Bushweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382877) | *Flueggea leucopyrus* | Phyllanthaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Common Bushweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382823) | *Flueggea virosa* | Phyllanthaceae | LC | 25 |
| [Meineckia phyllanthoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3081142) | *Meineckia phyllanthoides* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 12 |
| [carry-me-seed](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382589) | *Phyllanthus amarus* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Phyllanthus gossweileri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5381847) | *Phyllanthus gossweileri* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllanthus hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382272) | *Phyllanthus hildebrandtii* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Phyllanthus leucanthus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382010) | *Phyllanthus leucanthus* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Phyllanthus lunifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382534) | *Phyllanthus lunifolius* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Phyllanthus maderaspatensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5381104) | *Phyllanthus maderaspatensis* | Phyllanthaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Phyllanthus pinnatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5381372) | *Phyllanthus pinnatus* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllanthus pseudoniruri](https://www.gbif.org/species/5381813) | *Phyllanthus pseudoniruri* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [potato-bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382478) | *Phyllanthus reticulatus* | Phyllanthaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Phyllanthus rotundifolius](https://www.gbif.org/species/5381743) | *Phyllanthus rotundifolius* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Phyllanthus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382695) | *Phyllanthus somalensis* | Phyllanthaceae | NT | 26 |
| [Phyllanthus spinosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382522) | *Phyllanthus spinosus* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Phyllanthus xylorrhizus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5382620) | *Phyllanthus xylorrhizus* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Thecacoris spathulifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3079493) | *Thecacoris spathulifolia* | Phyllanthaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Bloodberry, Rougeplant, Bloodberry rougeplant, Baby pepper, Coral berry, Inkberry, pigeon berry, Small pokeweed, Turkeyberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084027) | *Rivina humilis* | Phytolaccaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Oldfieldia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3075116) | *Oldfieldia somalensis* | Picrodendraceae | NE | 6 |
| [Acorn Peperomia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086448) | *Peperomia tetraphylla* | Piperaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pittosporum abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4161489) | *Pittosporum abyssinicum* | Pittosporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cape pittosporum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2986302) | *Pittosporum viridiflorum* | Pittosporaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Indian-pennywort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3171169) | *Bacopa monnieri* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Campylanthus anisotrichus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3740319) | *Campylanthus anisotrichus* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Campylanthus incanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7333172) | *Campylanthus incanus* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Campylanthus junceus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3740260) | *Campylanthus junceus* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Campylanthus parviflorus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3740251) | *Campylanthus parviflorus* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Campylanthus reconditus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3740230) | *Campylanthus reconditus* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Campylanthus somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3740206) | *Campylanthus somaliensis* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Campylanthus spinosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7333160) | *Campylanthus spinosus* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Red-leaved Toadflax](https://www.gbif.org/species/8056226) | *Chaenorhinum rubrifolium* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Globularia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5578452) | *Globularia arabica* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Sharp-leaved Fluellen](https://www.gbif.org/species/3170819) | *Kickxia elatine* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Weasel's-snout](https://www.gbif.org/species/3171145) | *Misopates orontium* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Nanorrhinum hastatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3737209) | *Nanorrhinum hastatum* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Nanorrhinum heterophyllum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3737204) | *Nanorrhinum heterophyllum* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Nanorrhinum ramosissimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3737184) | *Nanorrhinum ramosissimum* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Glandular Plantain](https://www.gbif.org/species/7303104) | *Plantago afra* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Plantago albicans](https://www.gbif.org/species/8424834) | *Plantago albicans* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Plantago amplexicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7303042) | *Plantago amplexicaulis* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Ribwort Plantain](https://www.gbif.org/species/8208358) | *Plantago lanceolata* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Poskea africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3788551) | *Poskea africana* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Poskea socotrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3788535) | *Poskea socotrana* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Schweinfurthia pedicellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7897978) | *Schweinfurthia pedicellata* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Schweinfurthia pedicellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7876117) | *Schweinfurthia pedicellata* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Schweinfurthia pterosperma](https://www.gbif.org/species/7623614) | *Schweinfurthia pterosperma* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Stemodia serrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3730284) | *Stemodia serrata* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [American Speedwell](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172084) | *Veronica americana* | Plantaginaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Blue Water-speedwell](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172086) | *Veronica anagallis-aquatica* | Plantaginaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Grey Field-speedwell](https://www.gbif.org/species/3172074) | *Veronica polita* | Plantaginaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ceratolimon migiurtinum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4089985) | *Ceratolimon migiurtinum* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Ceratostigma abyssinicum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4089935) | *Ceratostigma abyssinicum* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 47 |
| [Blue Leadwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3082279) | *Ceratostigma plumbaginoides* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Limonium axillare](https://www.gbif.org/species/4090344) | *Limonium axillare* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 75 |
| [Limonium cylindrifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4090786) | *Limonium cylindrifolium* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Limonium cylindrifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/8172891) | *Limonium cylindrifolium* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Limonium maurocordatae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4090169) | *Limonium maurocordatae* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Limonium paulayanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4088906) | *Limonium paulayanum* | Plumbaginaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Limonium xipholepis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4090741) | *Limonium xipholepis* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 24 |
| [Cape Leadwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3082283) | *Plumbago auriculata* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Wild Leadwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3082282) | *Plumbago zeylanica* | Plumbaginaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Polygala abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/7807131) | *Polygala abyssinica* | Polygalaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Polygala acicularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7561934) | *Polygala acicularis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala amboniensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051695) | *Polygala amboniensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Polygala argentea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051048) | *Polygala argentea* | Polygalaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Puntland Falsepea](https://www.gbif.org/species/4050451) | *Polygala bariensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 4 |
| [black beniseed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293327) | *Polygala butyracea* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala citrina](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051984) | *Polygala citrina* | Polygalaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Polygala dasanensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051062) | *Polygala dasanensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Polygala effusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4050370) | *Polygala effusa* | Polygalaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Woolly-winged milkwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293411) | *Polygala erioptera* | Polygalaceae | NE | 28 |
| [Polygala erlangeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8006490) | *Polygala erlangeri* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala gawenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4049340) | *Polygala gawenensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala gypsophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051603) | *Polygala gypsophila* | Polygalaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Polygala hamarensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051576) | *Polygala hamarensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Polygala irregularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293461) | *Polygala irregularis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 30 |
| [Polygala kajii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4050332) | *Polygala kajii* | Polygalaceae | NE | 4 |
| [longstem milkwort](https://www.gbif.org/species/3191437) | *Polygala longicaulis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala meonantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051627) | *Polygala meonantha* | Polygalaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Polygala obtusissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/4050211) | *Polygala obtusissima* | Polygalaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Polygala praetermissa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051536) | *Polygala praetermissa* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala sadebeckiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4049626) | *Polygala sadebeckiana* | Polygalaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Polygala senensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293652) | *Polygala senensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Polygala somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051690) | *Polygala somaliensis* | Polygalaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Polygala sphenoptera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051511) | *Polygala sphenoptera* | Polygalaceae | NE | 29 |
| [Polygala stenopetala](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293552) | *Polygala stenopetala* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polygala steudneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4051249) | *Polygala steudneri* | Polygalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Oxygonum altissimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4038320) | *Oxygonum altissimum* | Polygonaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Oxygonum atriplicifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4038306) | *Oxygonum atriplicifolium* | Polygonaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Oxygonum hastatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4038065) | *Oxygonum hastatum* | Polygonaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Oxygonum sagittatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4037919) | *Oxygonum sagittatum* | Polygonaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Oxygonum salicifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4037910) | *Oxygonum salicifolium* | Polygonaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Oxygonum sinuatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4036410) | *Oxygonum sinuatum* | Polygonaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Oxygonum thulinianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4037881) | *Oxygonum thulinianum* | Polygonaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tapertip Smartweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/8213795) | *Persicaria acuminata* | Polygonaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Denseflower Knotweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/6391450) | *Persicaria glabra* | Polygonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [curlytop knotweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/2889262) | *Persicaria lapathifolia* | Polygonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Persicaria senegalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7291212) | *Persicaria senegalensis* | Polygonaceae | LC | 6 |
| [spotted knotweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7537964) | *Persicaria strigosa* | Polygonaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Bequaert's Dock](https://www.gbif.org/species/7291884) | *Rumex nepalensis* | Polygonaceae | NE | 2 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · **3** · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae (218 species) (part 2 of 2)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 218 species in the families Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 2 of 2 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae (218 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae/) · **2**

## Full list (218 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Viscum grandicaule](https://www.gbif.org/species/4069283) | *Viscum grandicaule* | Viscaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Viscum griseum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4069258) | *Viscum griseum* | Viscaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Viscum schimperi](https://www.gbif.org/species/4069352) | *Viscum schimperi* | Viscaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Triplet Mistletoe](https://www.gbif.org/species/7295716) | *Viscum triflorum* | Viscaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bumpy Mistletoe](https://www.gbif.org/species/4068967) | *Viscum tuberculatum* | Viscaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Ampelocissus africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293841) | *Ampelocissus africana* | Vitaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Cissus aphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/4053413) | *Cissus aphylla* | Vitaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Cissus aphyllantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/4053404) | *Cissus aphyllantha* | Vitaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Cactus Grape](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052577) | *Cissus cactiformis* | Vitaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cissus ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4054552) | *Cissus ellenbeckii* | Vitaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Cissus furcifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/4054086) | *Cissus furcifera* | Vitaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Veldt grape, Devil's backbone, Adamant creeper](https://www.gbif.org/species/7130673) | *Cissus quadrangularis* | Vitaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Cissus quinquangularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4053137) | *Cissus quinquangularis* | Vitaceae | NT | 7 |
| [Venezuelan treebine](https://www.gbif.org/species/3039168) | *Cissus rotundifolia* | Vitaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Cyphostemma adenocaule](https://www.gbif.org/species/8641447) | *Cyphostemma adenocaule* | Vitaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Cyphostemma betiforme](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052910) | *Cyphostemma betiforme* | Vitaceae | NE | 18 |
| [Cyphostemma boranense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052885) | *Cyphostemma boranense* | Vitaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Cyphostemma cornus-africani](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052610) | *Cyphostemma cornus-africani* | Vitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyphostemma crithmifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052532) | *Cyphostemma crithmifolium* | Vitaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cyphostemma cyphopetalum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293698) | *Cyphostemma cyphopetalum* | Vitaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Cyphostemma digitatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052302) | *Cyphostemma digitatum* | Vitaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Cyphostemma dysocarpum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293952) | *Cyphostemma dysocarpum* | Vitaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Cyphostemma engleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/4055291) | *Cyphostemma engleri* | Vitaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Cyphostemma junceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4054832) | *Cyphostemma junceum* | Vitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyphostemma serpens](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293764) | *Cyphostemma serpens* | Vitaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Cyphostemma stefanianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4053047) | *Cyphostemma stefanianum* | Vitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cyphostemma ternatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4052826) | *Cyphostemma ternatum* | Vitaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bushveld Grape](https://www.gbif.org/species/4053636) | *Rhoicissus revoilii* | Vitaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Bushman Grape](https://www.gbif.org/species/7293795) | *Rhoicissus tridentata* | Vitaceae | LC | 4 |
| [Wellstedia filtuensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4058699) | *Wellstedia filtuensis* | Wellstediaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Wellstedia laciniata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4058691) | *Wellstedia laciniata* | Wellstediaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Wellstedia robusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4058684) | *Wellstedia robusta* | Wellstediaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Wellstedia socotrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4058675) | *Wellstedia socotrana* | Wellstediaceae | VU | 9 |
| [Wellstedia somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4058667) | *Wellstedia somalensis* | Wellstediaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Tallowwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/2889811) | *Ximenia americana* | Ximeniaceae | LC | 4 |
| [desert-date](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421115) | *Balanites aegyptiaca* | Zygophyllaceae | LC | 31 |
| [Balanites glabra](https://www.gbif.org/species/8079239) | *Balanites glabra* | Zygophyllaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Small Green-thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/7309910) | *Balanites pedicellaris* | Zygophyllaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Balanites rotundifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7309913) | *Balanites rotundifolia* | Zygophyllaceae | LC | 24 |
| [Fagonia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384929) | *Fagonia arabica* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Fagonia bruguieri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384901) | *Fagonia bruguieri* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Fagonia charoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987275) | *Fagonia charoides* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Virgin's Mantle](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384851) | *Fagonia cretica* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Fagonia densispina](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987020) | *Fagonia densispina* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Fagonia gypsophila](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986890) | *Fagonia gypsophila* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Fagonia indica](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384811) | *Fagonia indica* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Fagonia lahovarii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986694) | *Fagonia lahovarii* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Fagonia latifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986682) | *Fagonia latifolia* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Fagonia latistipulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987558) | *Fagonia latistipulata* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fagonia paulayana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987305) | *Fagonia paulayana* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 49 |
| [Fagonia socotrana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7285850) | *Fagonia socotrana* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 60 |
| [Kelleronia gillettiae](https://www.gbif.org/species/8374542) | *Kelleronia gillettiae* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 82 |
| [Kelleronia revoilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/7573416) | *Kelleronia revoilii* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Kelleronia splendens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986730) | *Kelleronia splendens* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 43 |
| [Melocarpum hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987266) | *Melocarpum hildebrandtii* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 38 |
| [Melocarpum robecchii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987259) | *Melocarpum robecchii* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Woolly Sugarfountain](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987415) | *Seetzenia lanata* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Tetraena alba](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987280) | *Tetraena alba* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Tetraena decumbens](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987199) | *Tetraena decumbens* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Tetraena hamiensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987131) | *Tetraena hamiensis* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Tetraena migiurtinorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3987061) | *Tetraena migiurtinorum* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 4 |
| [simple-leaved bean caper](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986990) | *Tetraena simplex* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 78 |
| [Tetraena smithii](https://www.gbif.org/species/10888886) | *Tetraena smithii* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Tetraena somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3986979) | *Tetraena somalensis* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Tribulus bimucronatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384903) | *Tribulus bimucronatus* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Puncture Vine](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421117) | *Tribulus cistoides* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Tribulus ochroleucus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6084569) | *Tribulus ochroleucus* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Tribulus parvispinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384910) | *Tribulus parvispinus* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Tribulus pentandrus](https://www.gbif.org/species/6384893) | *Tribulus pentandrus* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Small Caltrops](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421116) | *Tribulus terrestris* | Zygophyllaceae | LC | 33 |
| [Arid Devilthorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/7285865) | *Tribulus zeyheri* | Zygophyllaceae | NE | 3 |


This list is in 2 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-sapindaceae-to-zygophyllaceae/) · **2**


---

# Fungi, lichens, algae and microbes of Somalia: 310 species

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 310 species from Somalia in the kingdoms of fungi (including lichens), Chromista (diatoms, brown algae, forams and others), bacteria and viruses.

## In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 310 fungus, alga and microbe species with Somalia as the country, in 4 groups ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

The largest groups by number of species on record are ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)):

- Chromista: 161
- Fungi: 130
- Bacteria: 15
- Viruses: 4

## Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Globorotalia menardii (220), Globigerinita glutinata (157), Pulleniatina obliquiloculata (150), Orbulina universa (148), *Globigerinoides ruber* (140), *Neogloboquadrina dutertrei* (139) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

143 of the 310 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

## Named after Somali places

3 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example *Streptomyces somaliensis*, *Fragilaria somalica*, *Helicogermslita somala* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)).

## How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

## Red List summary

- Critically Endangered (CR): 0
- Endangered (EN): 0
- Vulnerable (VU): 0
- Near Threatened (NT): 0
- Least Concern (LC): 1
- Data Deficient (DD): 0
- Not Evaluated (NE): 309

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF ([GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/openapi/v1/species)).

## Largest families

- Globigerinidae: 31 species
- Globorotaliidae: 23 species
- Sargassaceae: 13 species
- Lepidocyclinidae: 10 species
- Physciaceae: 9 species
- Pucciniaceae: 9 species
- Aspergillaceae: 8 species
- Staphylococcaceae: 7 species
- Agaricaceae: 7 species
- Arthrodermataceae: 6 species

## Full list (310 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv).



This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-3/)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Alloioneis kurzii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9592385) | *Alloioneis kurzii* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Leprevost's helminthocarpon lichen](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/) | *Helminthocarpon leprevostii* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Neomoelleria cornuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/10215243) | *Neomoelleria cornuta* |  | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudospiromastix tentaculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7924235) | *Pseudospiromastix tentaculata* |  | NE | 2 |
| [The Prince](https://www.gbif.org/species/5243429) | *Agaricus augustus* | Agaricaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Phellorinia herculeana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2530284) | *Phellorinia herculeana* | Agaricaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Podaxis ferrandii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3333890) | *Podaxis ferrandii* | Agaricaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Desert Shaggymane](https://www.gbif.org/species/2535532) | *Podaxis pistillaris* | Agaricaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Schizostoma laceratum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5243101) | *Schizostoma laceratum* | Agaricaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Bleaching Stalked Puffball](https://www.gbif.org/species/7242539) | *Tulostoma albicans* | Agaricaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tulostoma volvulatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7962808) | *Tulostoma volvulatum* | Agaricaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Alveolina elliptica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5822505) | *Alveolina elliptica* | Alveolinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Farysia thuemenii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2557059) | *Farysia thuemenii* | Anthracoideaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Arachnomyces pilosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/10801465) | *Arachnomyces pilosus* | Arachnomycetaceae | NE | 3 |
| [tylophoron lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/3392838) | *Tylophoron moderatum* | Arthoniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ctenomyces vellereus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7486821) | *Ctenomyces vellereus* | Arthrodermataceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nannizzia corniculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2596018) | *Nannizzia corniculata* | Arthrodermataceae | NE | 7 |
| [Trichophyton gourvilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3468883) | *Trichophyton gourvilii* | Arthrodermataceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ringworm](https://www.gbif.org/species/2596156) | *Trichophyton rubrum* | Arthrodermataceae | NE | 5 |
| [Trichophyton soudanense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2596140) | *Trichophyton soudanense* | Arthrodermataceae | NE | 6 |
| [Trichophyton violaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2596151) | *Trichophyton violaceum* | Arthrodermataceae | NE | 22 |
| [Ascobolus americanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2595580) | *Ascobolus americanus* | Ascobolaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Aspergillus aeneus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5259892) | *Aspergillus aeneus* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Aspergillus ambiguus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5259878) | *Aspergillus ambiguus* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Aspergillus eburneocremeus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5260050) | *Aspergillus eburneocremeus* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Aspergillus microcysticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5259979) | *Aspergillus microcysticus* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Aspergillus multicolor](https://www.gbif.org/species/5259969) | *Aspergillus multicolor* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Black Mold](https://www.gbif.org/species/3465658) | *Aspergillus niger* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Aspergillus peyronelii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5259926) | *Aspergillus peyronelii* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Aspergillus terreus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5259838) | *Aspergillus terreus* | Aspergillaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nitzschia stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9698449) | *Nitzschia stefaninii* | Bacillariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Umbilicosphaera foliosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/4378037) | *Umbilicosphaera foliosa* | Calcidiscaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Umbilicosphaera sibogae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4378038) | *Umbilicosphaera sibogae* | Calcidiscaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Baculifera tobleri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2609621) | *Baculifera tobleri* | Caliciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Brain Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/10956142) | *Diploicia canescens* | Caliciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dirinaria Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2609212) | *Dirinaria applanata* | Caliciaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dirinaria coccinea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3433600) | *Dirinaria coccinea* | Caliciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Buttoned rosette lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/4281360) | *Pyxine cocoes* | Caliciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [pyxine lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2609311) | *Pyxine petricola* | Caliciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Candeina nitida](https://www.gbif.org/species/5900018) | *Candeina nitida* | Candeinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Globoquadrina dehiscens](https://www.gbif.org/species/7779161) | *Globoquadrina dehiscens* | Catapsydracidae | NE | 12 |
| [Ceratolithus cristatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5423918) | *Ceratolithus cristatus* | Ceratolithaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cerrena hydnoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9012872) | *Cerrena hydnoides* | Cerrenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bacteriastrum comosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/4275462) | *Bacteriastrum comosum* | Chaetocerotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chaetoceros atlanticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4275440) | *Chaetoceros atlanticus* | Chaetocerotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chaetoceros coarctatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4275438) | *Chaetoceros coarctatus* | Chaetocerotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chaetoceros ralfsii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3192929) | *Chaetoceros ralfsii* | Chaetocerotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Chaetomium convolutum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2573770) | *Chaetomium convolutum* | Chaetomiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Chrysothrix candelaris](https://www.gbif.org/species/5258337) | *Chrysothrix candelaris* | Chrysotrichaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cladosporium sphaerospermum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2620632) | *Cladosporium sphaerospermum* | Cladosporiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Coccolithus pelagicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9124414) | *Coccolithus pelagicus* | Coccolithaceae | NE | 52 |
| [Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3202313) | *Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica* | Coccolithaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Collema pulchellum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7250610) | *Collema pulchellum* | Collemataceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coscinodiscus sol](https://www.gbif.org/species/3193608) | *Coscinodiscus sol* | Coscinodiscaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coscinodiscus stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9514144) | *Coscinodiscus stefaninii* | Coscinodiscaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dictyota bartayresiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/5423551) | *Dictyota bartayresiana* | Dictyotaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Encrusting Fan-leaf Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3200482) | *Lobophora variegata* | Dictyotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Padina antillarum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3200167) | *Padina antillarum* | Dictyotaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Stoechospermum polypodioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377145) | *Stoechospermum polypodioides* | Dictyotaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ascochyta brachypodii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2615043) | *Ascochyta brachypodii* | Didymellaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Dinophysis uracantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/7429012) | *Dinophysis uracantha* | Dinophysaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Erysiphe sibiliae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2578866) | *Erysiphe sibiliae* | Erysiphaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Moneuplotes crassus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7853033) | *Moneuplotes crassus* | Euplotidae | NE | 1 |
| [Fragilaria somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/9582958) | *Fragilaria somalica* | Fragilariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Scalpel green seaweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/10209692) | *Caulerpa scalpelliformis* | Fucaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pepper Pot](https://www.gbif.org/species/2554318) | *Myriostoma coliforme* | Geastraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Beella digitata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8057687) | *Beella digitata* | Globigerinidae | NE | 29 |
| [Globigerina bulloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/8262490) | *Globigerina bulloides* | Globigerinidae | NE | 135 |
| [Globigerina conglomerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7850045) | *Globigerina conglomerata* | Globigerinidae | NE | 24 |
| [Globigerina falconensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7940879) | *Globigerina falconensis* | Globigerinidae | NE | 103 |
| [Globigerina praebulloides](https://www.gbif.org/species/8056761) | *Globigerina praebulloides* | Globigerinidae | NE | 18 |
| [Globigerinella adamsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/7516167) | *Globigerinella adamsi* | Globigerinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Globigerinella calida](https://www.gbif.org/species/8021961) | *Globigerinella calida* | Globigerinidae | NE | 86 |
| [Globigerinella siphonifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/7599994) | *Globigerinella siphonifera* | Globigerinidae | NE | 107 |
| [Globigerinoides bollii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9091856) | *Globigerinoides bollii* | Globigerinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Globigerinoides conglobatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7417142) | *Globigerinoides conglobatus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 63 |
| [Globigerinoides extremus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9309050) | *Globigerinoides extremus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Globigerinoides obliquus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8725930) | *Globigerinoides obliquus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 15 |
| [Globigerinoides ruber](https://www.gbif.org/species/8107071) | *Globigerinoides ruber* | Globigerinidae | NE | 140 |
| [Globigerinoides sacculifer](https://www.gbif.org/species/7700746) | *Globigerinoides sacculifer* | Globigerinidae | NE | 71 |
| [Globigerinoides subquadratus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9024074) | *Globigerinoides subquadratus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 10 |
| [Globigerinoides tenellus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7394528) | *Globigerinoides tenellus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 48 |
| [Globigerinoides triloba](https://www.gbif.org/species/4919637) | *Globigerinoides trilobus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 4 |
| [Globorotaloides hexagonus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7346984) | *Globorotaloides hexagonus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 89 |
| [Globoturborotalita decoraperta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9572881) | *Globoturborotalita decoraperta* | Globigerinidae | NE | 16 |
| [Globoturborotalita druryi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9379551) | *Globoturborotalita druryi* | Globigerinidae | NE | 10 |
| [Globoturborotalita nepenthes](https://www.gbif.org/species/9469891) | *Globoturborotalita nepenthes* | Globigerinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Globoturborotalita rubescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8115607) | *Globoturborotalita rubescens* | Globigerinidae | NE | 100 |
| [Orbulina suturalis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3212013) | *Orbulina suturalis* | Globigerinidae | NE | 18 |
| [Orbulina universa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8399349) | *Orbulina universa* | Globigerinidae | NE | 148 |
| [Paragloborotalia mayeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/8098117) | *Paragloborotalia mayeri* | Globigerinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sphaeroidinella dehiscens](https://www.gbif.org/species/8221243) | *Sphaeroidinella dehiscens* | Globigerinidae | NE | 28 |
| [Sphaeroidinellopsis seminulina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7347009) | *Sphaeroidinellopsis seminulina* | Globigerinidae | NE | 32 |
| [Trilobatus praeimmaturus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9567627) | *Trilobatus praeimmaturus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 15 |
| [Trilobatus quadrilobatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9256595) | *Trilobatus quadrilobatus* | Globigerinidae | NE | 64 |
| [Turborotalita humilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7865941) | *Turborotalita humilis* | Globigerinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Turborotalita quinqueloba](https://www.gbif.org/species/8346087) | *Turborotalita quinqueloba* | Globigerinidae | NE | 20 |
| [Globigerinita glutinata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8186067) | *Globigerinita glutinata* | Globigerinitidae | NE | 157 |
| [Globigerinita uvula](https://www.gbif.org/species/7672896) | *Globigerinita uvula* | Globigerinitidae | NE | 14 |
| [Dentoglobigerina altispira](https://www.gbif.org/species/9506230) | *Dentoglobigerina altispira* | Globoquadrinidae | NE | 16 |
| [Dentoglobigerina baroemoenensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/10116489) | *Dentoglobigerina baroemoenensis* | Globoquadrinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Dentoglobigerina globosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/10228871) | *Dentoglobigerina globosa* | Globoquadrinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dentoglobigerina venezuelana](https://www.gbif.org/species/10042635) | *Dentoglobigerina venezuelana* | Globoquadrinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Fohsella robusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9518008) | *Fohsella robusta* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Globorotalia acostaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7346995) | *Globorotalia acostaensis* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 8 |
| [Globorotalia crassaformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8039603) | *Globorotalia crassaformis* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 93 |
| [Globorotalia crassula](https://www.gbif.org/species/10294469) | *Globorotalia crassula* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 14 |
| [Globorotalia cultrata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7346991) | *Globorotalia cultrata* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 7 |
| [Globorotalia fohsi](https://www.gbif.org/species/9112557) | *Globorotalia fohsi* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 4 |
| [Globorotalia hirsuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7797642) | *Globorotalia hirsuta* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 6 |
| [Globorotalia inflata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8417863) | *Globorotalia inflata* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 15 |
| [Globorotalia limbata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9270390) | *Globorotalia limbata* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 3 |
| [Globorotalia menardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4382036) | *Globorotalia menardii* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 220 |
| [Globorotalia merotumida](https://www.gbif.org/species/8297243) | *Globorotalia merotumida* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Globorotalia multicamerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/6123306) | *Globorotalia multicamerata* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Globorotalia peripheroacuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6123340) | *Globorotalia peripheroacuta* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 3 |
| [Globorotalia plesiotumida](https://www.gbif.org/species/9504633) | *Globorotalia plesiotumida* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 9 |
| [Globorotalia praemenardii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8292926) | *Globorotalia praemenardii* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Globorotalia scitula](https://www.gbif.org/species/7539660) | *Globorotalia scitula* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 127 |
| [Globorotalia tosaensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7656387) | *Globorotalia tosaensis* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 34 |
| [Globorotalia truncatulinoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7774473) | *Globorotalia truncatulinoides* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 61 |
| [Globorotalia tumida](https://www.gbif.org/species/8364214) | *Globorotalia tumida* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 70 |
| [Globorotalia ungulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/8191751) | *Globorotalia ungulata* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 8 |
| [Neogloboquadrina dutertrei](https://www.gbif.org/species/8038119) | *Neogloboquadrina dutertrei* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 139 |
| [Neogloboquadrina incompta](https://www.gbif.org/species/7775876) | *Neogloboquadrina incompta* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 22 |
| [Neogloboquadrina pachyderma](https://www.gbif.org/species/7576430) | *Neogloboquadrina pachyderma* | Globorotaliidae | NE | 57 |
| [Gonyaulax spinifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/7758129) | *Gonyaulax spinifera* | Gonyaulacaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Protoceratium reticulatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9108137) | *Protoceratium reticulatum* | Gonyaulacaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Spiniferites ramosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8479384) | *Spiniferites ramosus* | Gonyaulacaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Gossleriella tropica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3191645) | *Gossleriella tropica* | Gossleriellaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Desert Crater Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2602094) | *Diploschistes diacapsis* | Graphidaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Xalocoa ocellata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9741975) | *Xalocoa ocellata* | Graphidaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Graphiola phoenicis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2513294) | *Graphiola phoenicis* | Graphiolaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Arachniotus dankaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2595830) | *Arachniotus dankaliensis* | Gymnoascaceae | NE | 34 |
| [Gymnascella devroeyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2595857) | *Gymnascella devroeyi* | Gymnoascaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Gymnascella hyalinospora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2595838) | *Gymnascella hyalinospora* | Gymnoascaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudoarachniotus roseus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3301212) | *Pseudoarachniotus roseus* | Gymnoascaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: **1** · [2](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-2/) · [3](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-3/)


## Sources

- [GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei)
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)


---

# Somalia and Germany

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/germany/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Germany and Somalia have had diplomatic relations since 1 July 1960. Germany covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, while Somalia has an embassy in Berlin. Germany puts its development cooperation with Somalia at about €546 million, signed a further €75 million agreement in 2025, and is one of Somalia's main humanitarian donors. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on 5 November 2024.

## How do Somalia and Germany relate today?

Germany describes itself as a reliable partner with an interest in a stable, democratic Somalia ([Federal Foreign Office, Germany and Somalia](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)). On 5 November 2024 President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) visited Berlin and met Chancellor Olaf Scholz ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).

Key facts today:

- **Development:** German development cooperation with Somalia totals about €546 million, focused on jobs and vocational training, farming and food security, and resilience ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).
- **Humanitarian:** Germany is among the main humanitarian donors and pays into UN pooled emergency funds ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).
- **Embassies:** Somalia has an embassy at Rheinstraße 10 in Berlin ([Federal Foreign Office, representations](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/vertretungensomalia/203140)). Germany covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi ([German Wikipedia, list of German ambassadors to Somalia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_deutschen_Botschafter_in_Somalia)).
- **Trade:** Germany exported US$26.1 million of goods to Somalia in 2024 and imported US$2.7 million ([UN Comtrade, Germany–Somalia 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## When did contact begin?

West Germany and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 1 July 1960, the day the [Somali Republic](/en/states/somali-republic-1960-1969/) was formed ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)). East Germany followed on 8 April 1970 ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).

In the 1960s West Germany gave a moderate amount of aid and shared the training of the Somali police with Italy and the United States ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)). Earlier, in 1885–1886, agents of the German East Africa Company signed treaties with rulers on the southern Somali coast; Germany gave up these claims in the 1890 Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty ([German Wikipedia, Deutsch-somalische Beziehungen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsch-somalische_Beziehungen)).

## What happened at Mogadishu airport in 1977?

On 18 October 1977 the German border police unit GSG 9, led by Ulrich Wegener, stormed the hijacked Lufthansa airliner "Landshut" at Mogadishu airport and freed its passengers ([German Wikipedia, Entführung der Landshut](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entf%C3%BChrung_der_Landshut)). Minister of State Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski flew to Mogadishu with the unit and won the agreement of President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) for a joint operation ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entf%C3%BChrung_der_Landshut)). He reported success to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt at 2:12 a.m. local time ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entf%C3%BChrung_der_Landshut)). See [The Landshut hijacking and the Mogadishu airport rescue, October 1977](/en/history/landshut-hijacking-mogadishu-1977/).

A month later, on 10 November 1977, US, British, French and West German officials met in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) to coordinate a position on the Ogaden war ([US Department of State, *FRUS 1977–1980*, vol. XVII, doc. 34](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d34)). Somalia opened an embassy in Bonn in 1978 ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsch-somalische_Beziehungen)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

West German ambassadors to Somalia, as listed from German records ([German Wikipedia, list](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_deutschen_Botschafter_in_Somalia)):

- Wilhelm Kopf, 1960–1963
- Rolf Nagel, 1963–1967
- Josef Holik, 1971–1974
- Horst Becker, 1975–1977
- Michael Libal, chargé d'affaires, 1977
- Cornelius Alexander Metternich, 1978–1982
- Reinhard Schäfers, 1982–1985
- Steffen Rudolph, 1985–1987
- Anna-Margareta Peters, 1988–1989
- Helmut Rau, 1990–1991

The German embassy in Mogadishu closed as the civil war began, and since 1990 the ambassador in Nairobi has been accredited to Somalia ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_deutschen_Botschafter_in_Somalia)). **Annett Günther** presented her credentials to President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmaajo" on 7 October 2018, the third ambassador in a row since relations were renewed ([Federal Foreign Office, 5 March 2019, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).

Somalia's ambassador in Berlin is **Abdiasis Mohamud Mohamed**, appointed on 4 September 2024 ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/vertretungensomalia/203140)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski:** German Minister of State who negotiated with Siad Barre in Mogadishu in October 1977 ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entf%C3%BChrung_der_Landshut)).
- **Siad Barre:** Somali President who agreed to the joint rescue operation in 1977 ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entf%C3%BChrung_der_Landshut)).
- **Annett Günther:** ambassador accredited in 2018 ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Olaf Scholz:** met in Berlin on 5 November 2024 ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).
- **Mahmud A. [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Farah "Beenebeene"**, Somalia's Minister of Planning, and **Julia Hanning**, head of East Africa at Germany's development ministry (BMZ): signed the €75 million agreement in Mogadishu in 2025 ([Fokus Afrika, 2 November 2025](https://fokus-afrika.de/somalia-und-deutschland-schliessen-75-millionen-euro-entwicklungsabkommen-ab/)).
- **Abdiasis Mohamud Mohamed:** Somali ambassador in Berlin since 2024 ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/vertretungensomalia/203140)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **October 2017:** at government talks in Berlin, Germany pledged €103.44 million for Somalia's reconstruction ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).
- **2025:** a €75 million development agreement for two years from 2026, covering farming and food systems, education, jobs and vocational training, water and climate resilience ([Fokus Afrika](https://fokus-afrika.de/somalia-und-deutschland-schliessen-75-millionen-euro-entwicklungsabkommen-ab/)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **October 1977:** Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski in Mogadishu ([German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entf%C3%BChrung_der_Landshut)).
- **5 November 2024:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Berlin ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).

## How much do they trade?

Germany's Foreign Office said in 2019 that economic relations were almost non-existent because the conditions were lacking ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). German customs figures, in US dollars ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)):

- 2015: exports 16.7 million, imports 1.1 million ([UN Comtrade 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2015&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2019: exports 30.6 million, imports 3.1 million ([UN Comtrade 2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2019&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2023: exports 17.5 million, imports 2.1 million ([UN Comtrade 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2024: exports 26.1 million, imports 2.7 million

Machinery led German exports in 2024 at US$12.5 million ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). Germany's main imports were oil seeds such as sesame (US$1.35 million) and gums and resins such as frankincense (US$0.95 million) ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=276&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Development cooperation stopped during the civil war and restarted in 2014 ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). The figures grew as follows:

- **2018:** the Foreign Office gave more than €75 million in humanitarian aid; the development portfolio stood at about €322 million ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).
- **Since 2015:** over €30 million from the Foreign Office for crisis prevention and stabilisation ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).
- **Today:** about €546 million in development cooperation ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).

German money also pays for centres in Baidoa and Kismayo, run by the International Organization for Migration, that help former [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) fighters return to civilian life ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). Germany funded weapons stores built to international standards for the Somali armed forces ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).

## What about security?

Germany takes part in EU and UN missions with civilian staff and police: [EUCAP Somalia](/en/relations/european-union/), the EU training mission EUTM and the naval operation Atalanta ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)). It has sent police to the UN missions UNSOM and UNTMIS, and funds the African Union mission through the EU ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). German troops served in UNOSOM II in 1993 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Germany deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Germany has backed Somalia's federal system directly. It placed advisers in the Prime Minister's office, the interior ministry and the governments of all member states ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). It gave special help to [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/), then the youngest member state, and supported local mediation in the conflict between [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). It also supports a federal police structure ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)).

## How many Somalis live in Germany?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 41,383 Somali refugees and 5,641 Somali asylum seekers in Germany ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=5&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=GFR)). See [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/).

## Where does Germany stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Germany contributes to the UN support office UNSOS through its UN dues, and to the African Union mission through the EU's African Peace Facility ([Federal Foreign Office 2019 text, via ZVEI](https://www.zvei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Themen/Maerkte_Recht/Aussenwirtschaft/Afrika/Somalia/Somalia-Ueberblick-Politik-Recht/AA-Somalia-bilaterale-Beziehungen-2019.pdf)). It notes that UNTMIS, which took over from UNSOM in 2024, is due to end in October 2026 ([Federal Foreign Office](https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/somalia-node/-/203138)).

## Related pages

- [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Disengaged combatants programme](/en/institutions/disengaged-combatants-programme/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Germany (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/germany/)


---

# Somalia and Jordan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/jordan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Jordan have had relations since January 1967, when Somalia's first ambassador-designate arrived in Amman. Neither side keeps a resident embassy in the other's capital: Somalia's ambassador in Damascus, Abiib Muse Farah, presented credentials to King Abdullah II on 6 September 2026. Somalia's cabinet approved a defence cooperation agreement with Jordan in August 2025, and two-way trade was about US$2.9 million in 2023.

## How do Somalia and Jordan relate today?

Somalia and Jordan are both members of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Neither keeps a resident embassy in the other's capital. Somalia's ambassador in Damascus, Abiib Muse Farah, presented his credentials to King Abdullah II as non-resident ambassador on 6 September 2026 ([Petra, 6 September 2026](https://petra.gov.jo/en/news/king-accepts-credentials-of-new-ambassadors-28)).

The closest recent tie is military. Somalia's Council of Ministers approved a defence cooperation agreement with Jordan on 28 August 2025, focused on training the Somali National Army ([Raxanreeb, 28 August 2025](https://raxanreeb.com/?p=40661)). Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi met Jordan's chief of staff in Amman on 14 July 2026 ([Petra, 14 July 2026](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-somalia-discuss-military-cooperation-1)).

Trade is small. In 2023 Jordan exported goods worth US$1.77 million to Somalia and imported US$1.08 million ([WITS, Jordan exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/JOR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, Jordan imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/JOR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Relations date from January 1967. The trade paper Mideast Mirror recorded that "the first Somali ambassador designate to Jordan, Mr. Hassan Adam, arrived in Amman on January 1" 1967 ([Mideast Mirror, 1967, quoted in Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

Somalia joined the Arab League, of which Jordan is a founding member, on 14 February 1974 ([Somali Archive, Barre's speech on joining the Arab League](https://somaliarchive77.substack.com/p/the-arabs-and-somalis-need-each-other); [Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somalia's envoys to Jordan:

- **Hassan Adam**, first ambassador-designate, arrived in Amman on 1 January 1967 ([Mideast Mirror, via Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).
- **Tahir Mahmood Geely**, non-resident ambassador, presented credentials to King Abdullah II at Basman Palace; the report gives no year ([Ammon News](https://en.ammonnews.net/print.php?id=34357)).
- **Abiib Muse Farah**, non-resident ambassador, credentials accepted on 6 September 2026 ([Petra](https://petra.gov.jo/en/news/king-accepts-credentials-of-new-ambassadors-28)). He is Somalia's resident ambassador in Syria ([SANA, 2 September 2025](https://sana.sy/en/syria/2265181/)).

No Jordanian ambassador to Somalia appears in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **King Abdullah II** met President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) in Aqaba in April 2015, with the leaders of Kenya, [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and Djibouti ([Royal Hashemite Court](https://kingabdullah.jo/en/node/48102)). He discussed counter-terrorism with him again in January 2016 ([Royal Hashemite Court](https://kingabdullah.jo/en/node/48773)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, Somalia's president, phoned the King on 2 March 2026 to discuss the escalation in the region ([Petra, 2 March 2026](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/king-receives-call-from-somalia-president)).
- **Mahdi Mohamed Guled**, then Somalia's deputy prime minister, met the King on the sidelines of the Aqaba Meetings on counter-terrorism ([Royal Hashemite Court](https://kingabdullah.jo/en/node/53764)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, Somalia's defence minister, led a delegation to Jordan's General Command on 14 July 2026 ([Petra](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-somalia-discuss-military-cooperation-1)).
- **Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti**, chairman of Jordan's Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosted Fiqi and called military cooperation "a key pillar" of the tie ([Petra](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-somalia-discuss-military-cooperation-1)).
- **Samir Mubaidain**, Jordan's interior minister, met Somalia's interior minister **Mohamed Abubakar Islow** at a Council of Arab Interior Ministers session in Algeria. Islow asked for help with police training ([Ammon News](https://en.ammonnews.net/print.php?id=37343)).
- **Salah Ahmed Jama**, acting prime minister, chaired the cabinet meeting that approved the defence agreement ([Raxanreeb](https://raxanreeb.com/?p=40661)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **August 2025**: defence cooperation agreement between the two defence ministries, approved by Somalia's cabinet on 28 August 2025, covering training and capacity building ([Raxanreeb](https://raxanreeb.com/?p=40661)).

No other bilateral treaty appears in the sources found.

## Which leaders have visited?

- **1 January 1967**: Somalia's first ambassador-designate in Amman ([Wikipedia table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).
- **April 2015**: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Aqaba ([Royal Hashemite Court](https://kingabdullah.jo/en/node/48102)).
- **14 July 2026**: Defence Minister Fiqi in Amman ([Petra](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-somalia-discuss-military-cooperation-1)).

## How much do they trade?

Jordan's exports to Somalia ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/JOR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)):

- 2019: US$3.21 million
- 2021: US$1.92 million
- 2023: US$1.77 million

Jordan's imports from Somalia were US$1.69 million in 2018 and US$1.08 million in 2023 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/JOR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

In 2023 Jordan's main exports were medicines (US$519,000), vegetable and fruit preparations (US$371,000) and cereal preparations (US$333,000) ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=400&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)). Its main import was fish (US$891,000) ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=400&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

The UN's Financial Tracking Service records no humanitarian funding from Jordan to Somalia from 1999 to 2026 ([OCHA FTS](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2025)). Somalia owes Jordan no debt in the Ministry of Finance's end-2025 list ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## What about security?

The 2025 defence agreement covers army training and capacity building ([Raxanreeb](https://raxanreeb.com/?p=40661)). In July 2026 both sides discussed training programmes, joint exercises and counter-terrorism ([Petra](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-somalia-discuss-military-cooperation-1)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Jordan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Jordan treats Somaliland as part of Somalia:

- **27–28 December 2025**: Jordan's foreign minister signed the joint statement of 21 states and the OIC rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland ([Radio Algérie, 28 December 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)).
- **May 2026**: Jordan joined a 19-state statement rejecting Somaliland's plan to open an embassy in Jerusalem ([Al-Quds, 26 May 2026](https://alquds.com/en/posts/241380)).
- **16 June 2026**: spokesman Fouad Majali called the embassy's opening "a blatant violation of international law" and restated "full support for the unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia" ([Petra, 16 June 2026](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-condemns-so-called-somalilands-opening-of-embassy-in-jerusalem)).

No dealings between Jordan and the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

No disputes between the two governments appear in the sources found.

## How many Somalis live in Jordan?

UNHCR counted 324 Somali refugees in Jordan in 2025, down from 601 in 2015 ([UNHCR population data, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true); [UNHCR, 2015](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2015&yearTo=2015&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Jordan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Jordan backs Somalia's unity in Arab League and OIC statements ([Petra](https://petra.gov.jo/index.php/en/news/jordan-condemns-so-called-somalilands-opening-of-embassy-in-jerusalem)). The King has drawn Somali leaders into the Aqaba Process meetings on counter-terrorism in East Africa ([Royal Hashemite Court](https://kingabdullah.jo/en/node/56560)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/)
- [Somalia and Syria](/en/relations/syria/)
- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Juvenile Justice Law, Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/juvenile-justice-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's Juvenile Justice Law sets up a separate justice system for children accused of crimes, with juvenile courts at first-instance and appeal level and rehabilitation centres run by the Ministry of Justice. The House of the People passed it on 10 March 2025 by 139 votes to 2, the Upper House passed it in December 2025 by 30 votes to 1, and the Ministry of Justice launched it on 16 August 2026. It updates Law No. 13 of 3 March 1970.

## What is the Juvenile Justice Law?

The **Juvenile Justice Law** creates a separate system for children who are accused of crimes. It sets procedures for arrest, detention, prosecution, rehabilitation and sentencing, and keeps children's cases apart from adult cases ([Dawan, 16 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-landmark-law-establishing-special-courts-for-children)). In English news reports it is also called the **Youth Justice Bill** ([SONNA, 10 March 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-approves-youth-justice-and-income-tax-bills/)).

## What does it set up?

According to the Ministry of Justice launch reported by [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-landmark-law-establishing-special-courts-for-children)):

- **Juvenile courts (Article 8):** special divisions for children's cases at both first-instance and appeal court level.
- **Arrest (Article 15):** police may arrest a person who has reached the age of 14, and must promptly tell the child's parents or legal guardian.
- **Rehabilitation and correctional centres:** the Ministry of Justice is responsible for building and running them, with care suited to the child's age and circumstances.
- **Welfare:** courts and officials must take more account of the child's mental and physical condition, and extra services are provided to protect the child's rights.

## What law did it replace?

The new law follows a review of earlier laws, including **Law No. 13 of 3 March 1970**, which set up a Juvenile Court and rehabilitation system (same source).

## How did it pass?

| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 10 March 2025 | House of the People passes it: 139 for, 2 against, no abstentions | [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-approves-youth-justice-and-income-tax-bills/) |
| December 2025 | Upper House passes it at third reading: 30 for, 1 against | [Hiiraan Online, December 2025](https://hiiraan.com/politics4/2025/Dec/203936/somalias_senate_approves_accountancy_law_changes_passes_juvenile_justice_bill.aspx) |
| 16 August 2026 | Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs launches the law in Mogadishu | [Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-landmark-law-establishing-special-courts-for-children) |

At the March 2025 vote, Justice Minister Hassan Moallim Mohamud called the bill "crucial for the justice sector" ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-parliament-approves-youth-justice-and-income-tax-bills/)). The House passed an Income Tax Bill at the same sitting (same source).

## Why was it written?

Somalia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on 1 October 2015. In its first review of Somalia in 2022, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that Somalia had developed a Juvenile Justice Bill, and said there was no functioning child justice system in the country, although [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) had set up child courts in 2018. It asked Somalia to "enact the Juvenile Justice Bill in line with the Convention", bring member state laws into line with it, and set up specialised child courts with trained judges across the country ([UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, 2022, para. 67](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)). See [Convention on the Rights of the Child in Somalia](/en/government/convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-somalia/).

## Related pages

- [Convention on the Rights of the Child in Somalia](/en/government/convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-somalia/)
- [Sexual offences laws](/en/government/sexual-offences-laws/)


---

# Somalia and Pakistan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/pakistan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Pakistan and Somalia have had relations since 1960 and both belong to the OIC. Pakistani troops were the first UN security personnel to reach Mogadishu, on 14 September 1992, and 25 were killed there on 5 June 1993. Pakistan exported US$90.6 million of goods to Somalia in 2024, mostly rice, over 700 Somali students were in Pakistani universities in 2025, and in 2026 the two governments widened security and military training ties.

## How do Somalia and Pakistan relate today?

Somalia has an embassy in Islamabad. Its ambassador in 2025 was Sheikhnur Mohamed Hassan ([The University of Faisalabad, 30 April 2025](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).

Ties grew in 2026 around security:

- **January 2026:** Somalia's interior minister, Ali Yusuf, and Pakistan's interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, agreed to work together on training, border management, disaster management and a joint strategy against terrorism ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)).
- **August 2026:** Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi met Pakistan's army, navy and air force chiefs, who pledged help with training Somali forces ([Dawn, 6 August 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/2021029); [Shabelle Media, 7 August 2026](https://shabellemedia.com/pakistan-pledges-continued-support-for-somalias-security-forces/)).
- **Students:** over 700 Somali students were at Pakistani universities in April 2025 ([The University of Faisalabad](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).

## When did contact begin?

Pakistan and Somalia established diplomatic relations in 1960. An honorary Somali consulate opened in Karachi on 16 March 2017, marking 57 years of relations ([Dawn, 8 April 2017](https://www.dawn.com/news/1325689/honorary-somalian-consulate-ransacked-in-karachi)).

Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which describes itself as the second-largest intergovernmental organisation after the UN ([OIC](https://www.oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=52&p_ref=26&lan=en)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Sheikhnur Mohamed Hassan:** Somali ambassador to Pakistan in 2025 ([The University of Faisalabad](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).
- **Honorary consulate, Karachi:** opened 16 March 2017 in the offices of a pharmaceutical firm in Clifton ([Dawn, 8 April 2017](https://www.dawn.com/news/1325689/honorary-somalian-consulate-ransacked-in-karachi)).

Earlier ambassadors in both directions were not found in records that could be opened for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Sheikhnur Mohamed Hassan**, ambassador, agreed in April 2025 with the University of Faisalabad that it would give 100 Somali students free tuition and housing ([The University of Faisalabad](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)).
- **Ali Yusuf**, Somalia's interior minister, led a delegation to Islamabad in January 2026 and carried a message from Somalia's prime minister to Prime Minister Shehbaz [Sharif](/en/society/asharaaf/) ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)).
- **Mohsin Naqvi**, Pakistan's interior minister, promised support in policing and counter-terrorism and visa help for Somalis coming for treatment or study ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, Somalia's defence minister, met Admiral Naveed Ashraf and Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu on 5 August 2026 and Field Marshal Asim Munir on 6 August 2026 ([Dawn, 6 August 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/2021029)).
- **Asim Munir**, Pakistan's army chief, pledged to help rebuild Somalia's security institutions through training ([Shabelle Media, 7 August 2026](https://shabellemedia.com/pakistan-pledges-continued-support-for-somalias-security-forces/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **January 2026:** understanding on cooperation in training, border management, disaster management and counter-terrorism, and on visa facilitation for Somali patients and students ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)).

No bilateral treaty text was found in the UN Treaty Collection or ministry records that could be opened for this page.

## Which leaders have visited?

Somali leaders in Pakistan:

- **22 January 2026:** Interior Minister Ali Yusuf, Islamabad ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)).
- **5–6 August 2026:** Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi ([Dawn, 6 August 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/2021029)).

Ali Yusuf invited Mohsin Naqvi to visit Somalia ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)). No visit by a Pakistani head of state or government to Somalia was found.

## How much do they trade?

Pakistan's reported trade with Somalia, from UN Comtrade:

- **2010:** exports US$61.0 million, imports US$3.4 million ([UN Comtrade, 2010](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2010&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2015:** exports US$23.9 million, imports US$7.0 million ([UN Comtrade, 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2015&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2020:** exports US$66.5 million, imports US$4.9 million ([UN Comtrade, 2020](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2020&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2022:** exports US$85.6 million, imports US$1.8 million ([UN Comtrade, 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2022&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2024:** exports US$90.6 million, imports US$1.7 million ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

In 2024 cereals, mainly rice, made up US$61.7 million of Pakistan's exports, followed by salt, stone and cement, sugar, and medicines ([UN Comtrade, 2024, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). Pakistan's imports from Somalia were mainly hides and skins ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=586&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Pakistan's support is mainly in education and training. The University of Faisalabad offered 100 Somali students free education and hostel places in 2025 ([The University of Faisalabad](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)). In 2026 Pakistan offered training for Somali police and armed forces ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724); [Shabelle Media](https://shabellemedia.com/pakistan-pledges-continued-support-for-somalias-security-forces/)).

No Pakistani humanitarian funding to Somalia appears in the UN's Financial Tracking Service records checked for this page ([OCHA FTS, 2022](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2022&groupby=organization)).

## What about security?

Pakistan agreed to provide the unit of 500 UN security personnel planned for Mogadishu, and the first group arrived on 14 September 1992 ([UN, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom1backgr2.html)). On 5 June 1993 attacks on UNOSOM II troops in south Mogadishu killed 25 Pakistani soldiers, by the UN's count ([UN, UNOSOM II background](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom2backgr2.html)).

In 2026 the two countries agreed on training and counter-terrorism cooperation, including maritime security ([Dawn, 6 August 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/2021029)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## How does Pakistan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Pakistan's contacts in the sources used are all with the Federal Government ([Dawn, 24 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1968724)). No Pakistani office, agreement or statement on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) was found in the sources used.

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found. On 7 April 2017 armed men robbed Somalia's honorary consulate in Karachi, taking laptops, phones and cash, and police opened an investigation ([Dawn, 8 April 2017](https://www.dawn.com/news/1325689/honorary-somalian-consulate-ransacked-in-karachi)).

## How many Somalis live in Pakistan?

Somalia's ambassador said in April 2025 that over 700 Somali students were studying in Pakistan ([The University of Faisalabad](https://tuf.edu.pk/news-and-events/ambassador-of-somalia-visits-tuf-strengthening-academic-ties)). See [Somalis in India and Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/).

## Where does Pakistan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Pakistan provided the first UN security unit in Mogadishu in 1992 and served in UNOSOM II ([UN, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom1backgr2.html); [UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unosom2backgr2.html)). Both countries work together in the OIC ([OIC](https://www.oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=52&p_ref=26&lan=en)).

## Related pages

- [Somalis in India and Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/)
- [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and India](/en/relations/india/)


---

# Sexual offences laws in Somaliland and Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/sexual-offences-laws/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somaliland passed its first stand-alone rape law, the Rape and Sexual Offences Law No. 78/2018, in 2018. It was suspended soon after, and in August 2020 the House of Representatives approved a different text, the Rape, Fornication and Other Related Offences Bill No. 78/2020. In federal Somalia, a Sexual Offences Bill was approved by the cabinet in 2018, a rival Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill appeared in 2020, and on 14 October 2026 the House of the People passed a sexual offences bill by 132 votes to 3.

## What laws cover rape in Somaliland and Somalia?

Before 2018 neither [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) nor federal Somalia had a stand-alone law on rape. Cases fell under the old Somali Penal Code, which NPR reported refers to sexual offences only as "carnal violence" and "acts of lust" ([NPR, 30 January 2018](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/01/30/581552354/somaliland-debates-a-tough-new-penal-code-for-rape-and-sexual-offences)). Since then both governments have drafted new laws, and the texts have changed several times.

## Somaliland: the Rape and Sexual Offences Law, 2018

The **Rape and Sexual Offences Bill**, in Somali *Xeerka Kufsiga iyo Ku Xadgudbka Jinsiga*, was passed by Somaliland's House of Representatives in January 2018. NPR, citing VOA, reported that 46 of 51 members present voted for it ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/01/30/581552354/somaliland-debates-a-tough-new-penal-code-for-rape-and-sexual-offences)). Civil society groups had worked with the House on the text since 2013 (same source). President [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/) signed it into law in August 2018 ([openDemocracy](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/somaliland-rape-law-backlash/)), and it became **Law No. 78/2018** ([Somaliland Sun](https://somalilandsun.com/the-somaliland-rape-and-sexual-offences-act-law-no-78-2018)). SIHA described its passage as historic ([SIHA](https://sihanet.org/gender-alert-a-historic-passage-of-the-sexual-offences-bill-in-somaliland)).

As described by NPR at the bill stage, the text:

- set prison terms of 15 to 20 years for rape, 18 to 22 years where the victim is under 15, and life where the attacker infects the victim with HIV;
- set punishments for trafficking, gang rape, attempted rape, forced marriage and unwanted touching;
- barred an accused person from using the victim's sexual history as evidence; and
- required the Supreme Court and the National Judiciary Committee to train judges in sexual offences cases.

After it was signed, the law faced opposition and was suspended. The Minister of Religious Affairs promised a review ([Somaliland Chronicle, 1 October 2018](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2018/10/01/somaliland-rape-and-sexual-offences-bill-claims-its-first-political-casualty/amp)).

## Somaliland: Bill No. 78/2020

On 25 August 2020 the House of Representatives approved a new text, the **Rape, Fornication and Other Related Offences Bill No. 78/2020**, which was drafted to replace the 2018 law ([Somalilandlaw.com, Criminal law](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/criminal_law.html)). openDemocracy reported that religious leaders were behind the new version and that, in its words, it "permits child marriage"; it also wrote that survivors of sexual violence were left "in legal limbo" ([openDemocracy](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/somaliland-rape-law-backlash/)). SIHA and partners called for the 2018 law to be revived ([SIHA joint statement](https://sihanet.org/joint-statement-the-sexual-offences-bill-must-be-urgently-revived)).

The sources found for this page do not state that the 2020 bill completed all steps to become law. For the full list of numbered Somaliland laws, see [Laws of Somaliland](/en/government/laws-of-somaliland/).

## Federal Somalia: the Sexual Offences Bill, 2018

The federal Council of Ministers unanimously endorsed a **Sexual Offences Bill** in 2018 and sent it to Parliament. It was developed with ministries, religious leaders and civil society. In 2019 the bill was returned to the Cabinet, and a later motion in the House of the People to bring it back for a first reading was not considered ([UN Somalia, 11 August 2020](https://somalia.un.org/en/87142-somalia-draft-law-%E2%80%98major-setback%E2%80%99-victims-sexual-violence)).

## Federal Somalia: the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill, 2020

In August 2020 a different draft, the **Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill**, was put before the House of the People. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged lawmakers to reject it and said its provisions "constitute serious breaches of international human rights norms". The UN reported that the draft allowed minors to marry based on reproductive maturity, independent of age ([JURIST](https://www.jurist.org/news/2020/08/un-rights-chief-urges-somali-lawmakers-to-reject-bill-legitimizing-child-marriage/); [Scoop, OHCHR statement](https://m.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2008/S00089/un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-on-draft-sexual-intercourse-related-crimes-law-in-somalia.htm)). The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, called on Parliament to withdraw it and said it would be a "major setback in the fight against sexual violence" ([UN Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/en/87142-somalia-draft-law-%E2%80%98major-setback%E2%80%99-victims-sexual-violence)).

A UN fact sheet of November 2025 stated that the draft then under discussion did not include lack of consent in its definition of rape ([UNSOM fact sheet](https://admin.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/2025-11/ENDING_SEXUAL_VIOLENCE_FACTSHEET%20ENG.pdf)).

## Federal Somalia: the bill passed in October 2026

On 14 October 2026 the House of the People passed a bill on rape and sexual crimes. [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) named it the **Rape and Indecency Crimes Bill** ([Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalias-lower-house-passes-rape-and-indecency-crimes-bill)). The Rio Times named it the **Sexual Offences Bill**, reported a vote of 132 to 3, and said the bill still needed the Upper House and the President before becoming law, and that its final text had not been published ([Rio Times](https://www.riotimesonline.com/somalia-sexual-offences-bill-2026/)).

## Names used for each text

| Place | Year | Name | Number | Stage reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somaliland | 2018 | Rape and Sexual Offences Law | 78/2018 | Signed August 2018, then suspended |
| Somaliland | 2020 | Rape, Fornication and Other Related Offences Bill | 78/2020 | Approved by House of Representatives |
| Somalia | 2018 | Sexual Offences Bill | none | Endorsed by cabinet, returned 2019 |
| Somalia | 2020 | Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill | none | Tabled in House of the People |
| Somalia | 2026 | Rape and Indecency Crimes Bill / Sexual Offences Bill | none | Passed by House of the People |

Sources: as cited in each section above.


---

# Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) was an armed movement that fought from the 1970s to the late 1980s for the Somali-inhabited Ogaden to leave Ethiopia and join Somalia. It was formally founded at a conference near Mogadishu in January 1976, grew out of the 1963 'Nasrallah' rising, and fought alongside the Somali army in the 1977 to 1978 Ogaden War. It declined in the 1980s, and members of its youth wing founded the ONLF in 1984.

## What was the WSLF?

The Western Somali Liberation Front, in Somali *Jabhadda Xoreynta Soomaali Galbeed*, was an armed movement. Its aim was independence for the Somali-inhabited Ogaden region of Ethiopia and union with Somalia ([Wikipedia, WSLF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Somali_Liberation_Front)). "Western Somalia" was its name for the Ogaden.

It was backed by the Somali government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) and fought beside the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) in the [Ogaden War of 1977 to 1978](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/) ([Human Rights Watch, Evil Days, 1991](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RcVFXUwraxsC)).

## Where did it come from?

- **1948 to 1955:** Britain handed the Ogaden and, later, lands east of Jigjiga to Ethiopia. Somali leaders there asked for self-determination, without result ([Council on Foreign Relations, The United States in World Affairs, 1964](http://archive.org/details/unitedstatesinwo0000unse_n1j4)).
- **1963:** a rising known as *Nasrallah*, or the Ogaden Liberation Front, began with about 300 men and grew to about 3,000. Ethiopia's counter-insurgency led to the 1964 border war between Ethiopia and Somalia ([Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2014](https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2014.946238)).
- **1965 to 1975:** Nasrallah opened offices in Mogadishu, Iraq and Syria. Its fighters became the core of the WSLF ([RAND, Rebels and Separatists in Ethiopia](https://books.google.com/books?id=PBMOAQAAMAAJ)).

## How was it founded?

After the Derg took power in Ethiopia in 1974, and during a severe drought in the Ogaden, Ogaden Somalis pressed the Barre government to support a renewed armed struggle. By 1975 it agreed ([Wikipedia, citing Abdi 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Somali_Liberation_Front)). Members debated whether to call the movement "Ogaden" or "Western Somali"; the second name won (same source).

In January 1976 a general conference met about 100 km north-west of Mogadishu. It elected a 25-member committee, with **Abdullahi Hassan Mahmoud** as the first leader (same source). The front set up a youth wing, the Western Somali Youth Organization ([Ghent University, Afrika Focus](https://openjournals.ugent.be/af/article/61158/galley/185563/view/); [MERIP, June 1982](https://merip.org/1982/06/with-the-wslf/)).

Many Harari and Muslim Oromo people also joined. The anthropologist I. M. Lewis wrote that Oromo support reached into its command ([Wikipedia, citing Lewis, Saints and Somalis, 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Somali_Liberation_Front)). Somalia also set up a sister front for Oromo areas, the Somali Abo Liberation Front ([Human Rights Watch, 1991](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RcVFXUwraxsC)).

## How was it organised?

It had four brigades, *Afar Gaas* ([Wikipedia, citing Cambridge University Press](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Somali_Liberation_Front)):

- **Duufaan** (First Brigade)
- **Ahmed Gurey** (Second Brigade), the largest, named after the 16th-century leader Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi
- **Horyaal** (Third Brigade)
- **Ciil Tire** (Fourth Brigade)

## What happened in 1976 to 1978?

- **Early 1976:** full guerrilla war began in the north and south of the Ogaden and spread into Bale and Sidamo ([Praeger, Political Conflict on the Horn of Africa](https://books.google.com/books?id=YKlyAAAAMAAJ)).
- **1 June 1977:** fighters cut the Addis Ababa to Djibouti railway, which carried about 70 percent of Ethiopia's exports. It stayed closed until August ([Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution](https://archive.org/details/ethiopianrevolut0000gebr/page/n229/mode/2up?q=)).
- **Early 1977:** Somalia sent about 3,000 soldiers to fight as guerrillas with the front ([Human Rights Watch, 1991](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RcVFXUwraxsC)).
- **13 July 1977:** the Somali army invaded. Somalia's government said in public that the fighting was by the WSLF. By September, Somali and WSLF forces held about 90 percent of the Ogaden and took Jigjiga (same source).
- **Early 1978:** with new Soviet equipment and Cuban troops, Ethiopia pushed them back ([RUSI Journal, 1983](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03071848308523524)).
- **11 March 1978:** after the Somali army withdrew, the WSLF leader said the front would keep fighting ([Halgan, SRSP journal](https://books.google.com/books?id=dyoOAQAAMAAJ)).

## What happened after the war?

- **1978 to 1979:** the front retook much of the countryside. By the end of the 1970s it was estimated at 18,000 fighters, the second-largest rebel force in Ethiopia after the Eritrean EPLF ([Gebru Tareke](https://archive.org/details/ethiopianrevolut0000gebr/page/n229/mode/2up?q=)).
- **1979:** a CIA review found that the Ethiopian-backed Somali Salvation Democratic Front fought poorly against the WSLF, which had wide support among Somalis ([CIA, Africa Review, 1979](https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00912A002700010002-8.pdf)). The same year its Isaaq wing, *Afraad*, clashed with the main force ([Human Rights Watch, 1991](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RcVFXUwraxsC)).
- **August 1980:** Ethiopia's "Operation Lash" used six divisions, about 60,000 men. The WSLF withdrew into northern Somalia ([Gebru Tareke](https://archive.org/details/ethiopianrevolut0000gebr/page/n229/mode/2up?q=)).
- **1982 to 1984:** the Somali National Movement, backed by Ethiopia, fought the WSLF in north-west Somalia. In December 1984 it forced the front out of its bases there ([Human Rights Watch, 1991](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RcVFXUwraxsC)).
- **1984:** members of the youth wing founded the [Ogaden National Liberation Front](/en/institutions/ogaden-national-liberation-front/) (ONLF) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Somali_Liberation_Front)).
- **By 1989:** the WSLF had stopped operating as a fighting force (same source).

## Related pages

- [The Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/)
- [Somali Salvation Democratic Front](/en/institutions/somali-salvation-democratic-front/)
- [The Siad Barre era](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)


---

# Airports and airstrips of Awdal, Maroodi Jeex, Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airstrips-awdal-togdheer-sanaag-sool/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The five north-western regions have 17 recorded airfields. Two take large jets, Hargeisa and Berbera. Burao has a 2.4 km dirt runway, Erigavo sits 1,743 metres up, and Borama's airport is out of use. Las Anod, now seat of North Eastern State, is building a new airport, launched on 14 April 2025. This page lists every field with codes, runway, position and sources.

## About this list

The rows join three open registers: **OurAirports** ([Somalia list](https://ourairports.com/countries/SO/airports.html)), the **GeoNames** gazetteer ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)) and **Wikidata** ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/)). Fields within 4 km of each other in two registers are shown as one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres. The Somali name in brackets is the Wikidata label. The regions are named as on the pre-1991 map; for how they are administered today see [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and [North Eastern State](/en/states/north-eastern-state/).

## The two main airports

- **Hargeisa:** [Egal International Airport](/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/), opened by the RAF in 1954, runway extended in 2013.
- **Berbera:** [Berbera International Airport](/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/), the Soviet-built 4 km runway, reopened after a UAE-funded rebuild in November 2021.

## Burao (Burco)

Burao Airport (BUO, HCMV) lies less than a kilometre north-east of the New Bridge in the city centre. Wikipedia records that its facilities were being renovated under the supervision of the International Civil Aviation Organization as of 2012 ([Wikipedia, Burao Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_Airport)). OurAirports lists a dirt runway, 04/22, of 7,875 feet (2,400 m) at 3,400 feet above sea level ([OurAirports, HCMV](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMV/)).

## Borama (Boorama)

Borama Airport (BXX) serves the capital of [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/). Wikipedia states that it is not in use and that there are plans to reopen it ([Wikipedia, Borama Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borama_Airport)); a Somaliland aviation minister pledged to revive it ([Somaliland Informer](https://web.archive.org/web/20150403133013/http://www.somalilandinformer.com/minister-of-aviation-pledges-to-rejuvenate-borama-airport/)).

## Erigavo (Ceerigaabo)

Erigavo Airport (ERA, HCMU), also called Garoonka Diyaaradaha Ilkacase, serves the capital of [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/). At 5,720 feet (1,743 m) it is the highest recorded airfield on this page, with a 2,000-metre runway ([Wikipedia, Erigavo Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erigavo_Airport)).

## Las Anod (Laascaanood)

Las Anod's airstrip (HCMP) is at Tifafleh, about 10 km north-west of the city ([Wikipedia, Las Anod Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_Airport)). Wikipedia notes that Tifafle was a waypoint in early 20th-century boundary talks between Britain, Italy and the [Dervish State](/en/history/dervish-movement-1899-1920/), and that in the 2010s the airport saw disputes over khat imports and fighting between local groups; in October 2018 a plane carrying medical supplies was barred from landing ([World News, October 2018](https://article.wn.com/view/2018/10/25/A_Plane_Carrying_Medical_Supplies_Barred_From_Landing_in_Las/)).

In January 2025 the SSC-Khaatumo administration laid a foundation stone for a new airport, as part of a community-funded programme ([Somali Dispatch](https://www.somalidispatch.com/latest-news/the-ssc-khatumo-administration-today-laid-the-foundation-for-the-airport-in-las-anod/)). On 14 April 2025 Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) and a federal delegation launched construction ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/laascaanood-on-the-rise-new-airport-and-power-projects-launched-by-pm-hamza)). In August 2026 North Eastern State's president, Abdikadir Ahmed Aw-Ali "Firdhiye", named a committee to build the airport ([Horseed Media](https://horseedmedia.net/firdhiye-oo-magacaabay-guddi-u-qareema-dhismaha-garoonka-diyaaradaha-laascaanood/424654/)). Wikipedia reports that the state's civil aviation minister said China had offered to finance it, and that the administration chose to go ahead through community self-reliance (*isku-tashi bulsho*) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_Airport)).

## Buuhoodle, Taleex and Las Qoray

Wikidata records **[Ismail Mire](/en/people/ismail-mire/) International Airport** near Buuhoodle in the Cayn area, with the IATA code BHE, and an airport at **Taleex (Taleh)** ([Wikidata, Q25067584](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25067584); [Wikidata, Q16901093](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16901093)). OurAirports lists a strip at the coastal town of **Las Qoray (Las Khorey)**, code LKR ([OurAirports, SO-0008](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0008/)).

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul Ghadi |  |  | (abandoned) | 783 m | 10.472, 42.854 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388852) |
| Badhan |  |  |  | 1123 m | 10.692, 48.341 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388854) |
| [Berbera Airport](/en/infrastructure/berbera-airport/) | Berbera | BBO / HCMI | 05/23 13582 ft ASP | 30 ft | 10.385, 44.937 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMI/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297285) |
| Borama Airport (Gegada Diyaaraha Borama) | Borama | BXX |  |  | 9.946, 43.15 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-BXX/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730898); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15550); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borama_Airport) |
| Buraan |  |  |  | 805 m | 10.266, 48.913 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388834) |
| Burao Airport (Gegada diyaaraha Burco) | Burao | BUO / HCMV | 04/22 7875 ft dirt | 3400 ft | 9.527, 45.555 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMV/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297288); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15552); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_Airport) |
| Dobo Pass |  |  |  | 485 m | 10.604, 43.067 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388819) |
| [Egal International Airport](/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/) | Hargeisa | HGA / HCMH | 06/24 12139 ft ASP | 4471 ft | 9.514, 44.083 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMH/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297284) |
| Erigavo Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Ceerigaabo) | Erigavo | ERA / HCMU |  | 5720 ft | 10.642, 47.388 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMU/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730605); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15556); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erigavo_Airport) |
| Ismail Mire International Airport (Gegada Diyaaradaha Ismaaciil Mire) |  | BHE |  |  | 8.231, 46.327 | [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25067584) |
| Kalabeyed |  | HCKB |  | 1570 m | 9.691, 43.475 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388813); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q119520869) |
| Las Anod (Gegada Diyaaradaha Laascaanood) |  | HCMP |  | 639 m | 8.568, 47.346 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388831); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11824521); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Anod_Airport) |
| Las Khorey Airport | Las Khorey | LKR |  |  | 11.173, 48.214 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0008/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8260956); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35273523) |
| Naqdhabijo North Airfield |  |  |  | 985 m | 9.214, 45.717 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388815) |
| Salalmac |  |  |  | 611 m | 8.556, 47.494 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388853) |
| Sheik |  |  |  | 1391 m | 9.917, 45.204 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388820) |
| Taleh Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Taleex) |  |  |  |  | 9.146, 48.421 | [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16901093) |

## Related

- [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/), [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/), [Sool](/en/regions/sool/), [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/)
- [Airports and airstrips of Bari and Nugaal](/en/infrastructure/airstrips-bari-and-nugaal/)


---

# Somalia and Bahrain

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/bahrain/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Bahrain have had relations since 29 October 1972. Somalia's ambassador in Riyadh covers Bahrain; the two foreign ministers last met at the UN in September 2025. Bahrain bought US$8.6 million of Somali goods in 2023, mostly live animals, and funded a hospital and a teachers' institute in Mogadishu in 2011 and 2012. Bahrain did not sign the December 2025 joint statement against Israel's recognition of Somaliland.

## How do Somalia and Bahrain relate today?

Somalia and Bahrain are both members of the Arab League and the OIC. Neither keeps a resident embassy in the other's capital; Somalia's ambassador in Riyadh is accredited to Bahrain ([News of Bahrain, 22 December 2022](https://newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/86778.html)).

The foreign ministers, Abdisalam Abdi Ali and Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, met in New York on 23 September 2025. Abdisalam congratulated Bahrain on its election to the UN Security Council for 2026–2027 ([SONNA, 23 September 2025](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-discusses-bilateral-ties-with-his-bahraini-counterpart-at-unga-80th-session/)).

Bahrain is a buyer of Somali livestock. In 2023 it imported US$8.6 million of Somali goods and exported US$748,000 to Somalia ([WITS, Bahrain imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/BHR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, Bahrain exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/BHR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Relations were established on 29 October 1972, according to Bahrain's foreign ministry, as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia). In 1990 Bahrain was one of Somalia's main sources of imports, after Italy and with Norway and Britain ([Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/64.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somalia's ambassadors to Bahrain, both based in Riyadh:

- **Taher Jili** presented credentials to Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in August 2016 ([Goobjoog, 29 August 2016](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-ambassador-to-bahrain-presents-credentials-to-foreign-affairs-minister)).
- **Salem Mao Haji** presented credentials by video link to Foreign Minister Al Zayani on 21 December 2022 ([News of Bahrain, 22 December 2022](https://newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/86778.html)).

No Bahraini ambassador to Somalia appears in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa**, chairman of Bahrain's Royal Charity Organisation, directed the 2011 hospital and 2012 teachers' institute projects in Somalia ([PR Newswire, 28 September 2011](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bahrain-provides-additional-relief-aid-to-somalia-funds-specialist-hospital-130726738.html); [PR Newswire, 31 January 2012](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/bahrain-contributes-to-second-development-project-in-somalia-eases-needs-of-famine-victims-138402059.html)).
- **Edid Ibrahim**, Somalia's education minister, thanked Bahrain when the teachers' institute deal was signed ([PR Newswire, 31 January 2012](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/bahrain-contributes-to-second-development-project-in-somalia-eases-needs-of-famine-victims-138402059.html)).
- **Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani**, Bahrain's foreign minister, received Ambassador Salem Mao Haji in 2022 and met Abdisalam Abdi Ali in 2025 ([News of Bahrain](https://newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/86778.html); [SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-discusses-bilateral-ties-with-his-bahraini-counterpart-at-unga-80th-session/)). The two also spoke by phone ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalia-bahrain-diplomatic-engagement/)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, then Somalia's foreign minister, chaired the Arab ministerial group on Somalia at the Arab League in Cairo, in which Bahrain took part ([Zawya, 2024](https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/foreign-minister-participates-in-3rd-arab-ministerial-working-group-meeting-on-supporting-somalia-c39gysnb)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **September 2011**: Royal Charity Organisation contract to fund a US$1.5 million specialist hospital and a nursing school in Somalia, and US$1.2 million for ten wells with Islamic Relief ([PR Newswire, 28 September 2011](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bahrain-provides-additional-relief-aid-to-somalia-funds-specialist-hospital-130726738.html)).
- **30 January 2012**: US$1.5 million agreement with Islamic Relief Worldwide for a teachers' institute in Somalia ([PR Newswire, 31 January 2012](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/bahrain-contributes-to-second-development-project-in-somalia-eases-needs-of-famine-victims-138402059.html)).

## Which leaders have visited?

No state visits appear in the sources found. In 2024 Bahrain hosted the 33rd Arab League summit in Manama, where Somalia's prime minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) met Iraq's president ([Garowe Online, 4 July 2024](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somali-pm-hamza-abdi-barre-leaves-for-iraq-to-boost-bilateral-ties)).

## How much do they trade?

Bahrain's imports from Somalia ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/BHR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)):

- 2018: US$4.89 million
- 2020: US$8.03 million
- 2022: US$9.48 million
- 2023: US$8.60 million

In 2023, live animals made up US$7.94 million of these imports, and fruit and nuts US$590,000 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=48&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)). Bahrain's exports to Somalia were mainly dairy produce (US$564,000) ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=48&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **2011 famine**: Bahrain pledged US$3 million in emergency aid, recorded by the UN ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011)). It sent 200 tons of relief in November 2011 and funded the Bahrain Specialist Hospital in Mogadishu to restore eyesight to 1,000 people ([PR Newswire, 31 January 2012](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/bahrain-contributes-to-second-development-project-in-somalia-eases-needs-of-famine-victims-138402059.html)).
- **2012**: US$1.5 million for a teachers' institute (same source).

Somalia owes Bahrain no debt in the Ministry of Finance's end-2025 list ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## What about security?

No Bahraini military role in Somalia appears in the sources found. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Bahrain deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **2024**: Bahrain took part in the Arab ministerial group that rejected the Ethiopia–[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) memorandum and stated that "Somaliland is an integral part of Somalia" ([Zawya](https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/foreign-minister-participates-in-3rd-arab-ministerial-working-group-meeting-on-supporting-somalia-c39gysnb)).
- **28 December 2025**: Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE did not sign the joint statement of 21 states and the OIC rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland ([Radio Algérie, 28 December 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)).

No dealings between Bahrain and Somaliland or the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

In April 2018, during the Gulf crisis, Bahrain's foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa accused Somalia of "denying and insulting" the UAE. This followed Somalia's neutrality in the Saudi–[Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) dispute and its seizure of US$9.6 million from a UAE plane in Mogadishu ([Africanews, 11 April 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/04/11/somalia-has-repaid-uae-s-support-with-insult-bahrain-foreign-minister/)).

## How many Somalis live in Bahrain?

No UNHCR count of Somali refugees in Bahrain appears in its 2025 data ([UNHCR population data, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Bahrain stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Bahrain holds a UN Security Council seat for 2026–2027, overlapping Somalia's 2025–2026 term ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-discusses-bilateral-ties-with-his-bahraini-counterpart-at-unga-80th-session/)). In the Arab League it joined the 2024 ministerial group backing Somalia's territorial integrity ([Zawya](https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/foreign-minister-participates-in-3rd-arab-ministerial-working-group-meeting-on-supporting-somalia-c39gysnb)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Somalia and the UAE](/en/relations/uae/)
- [Somalia and Qatar](/en/relations/qatar/)
- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species) (part 4 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 668 species in the families Malvaceae to Santalaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 4 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)

## Full list (668 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Rumex nervosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4038018) | *Rumex nervosus* | Polygonaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Spiny Threecornerjack](https://www.gbif.org/species/2888870) | *Rumex spinosus* | Polygonaceae | NE | 4 |
| [bladder dock](https://www.gbif.org/species/2888986) | *Rumex vesicarius* | Polygonaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Portulaca ciferrii](https://www.gbif.org/species/4022137) | *Portulaca ciferrii* | Portulacaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Portulaca commutata](https://www.gbif.org/species/4022097) | *Portulaca commutata* | Portulacaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Portulaca constricta](https://www.gbif.org/species/4022055) | *Portulaca constricta* | Portulacaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Portulaca kermesina](https://www.gbif.org/species/7288931) | *Portulaca kermesina* | Portulacaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Portulaca nogalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4022604) | *Portulaca nogalensis* | Portulacaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Common Purslane](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084719) | *Portulaca oleracea* | Portulacaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Chickenweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3084699) | *Portulaca quadrifida* | Portulacaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Portulaca somalica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4023586) | *Portulaca somalica* | Portulacaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Portulaca wightiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7886552) | *Portulaca wightiana* | Portulacaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Portulaca wightiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/4023295) | *Portulaca wightiana* | Portulacaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Montpellier Coris](https://www.gbif.org/species/7290586) | *Coris monspeliensis* | Primulaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Cyclamen somalense](https://www.gbif.org/species/4007715) | *Cyclamen somalense* | Primulaceae | CR | 3 |
| [River Dotleaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3719794) | *Embelia schimperi* | Primulaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Evotrochis verticillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/11992664) | *Evotrochis verticillata* | Primulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Scarlet Pimpernel](https://www.gbif.org/species/8184903) | *Lysimachia arvensis* | Primulaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Chaffweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7939955) | *Lysimachia minima* | Primulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Maesa lanceolata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7330870) | *Maesa lanceolata* | Primulaceae | LC | 13 |
| [African-boxwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/7331120) | *Myrsine africana* | Primulaceae | NE | 40 |
| [Myrsine melanophloeos](https://www.gbif.org/species/7899792) | *Myrsine melanophloeos* | Primulaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Brookweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3169313) | *Samolus valerandi* | Primulaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Forest Ironplum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3075865) | *Drypetes gerrardii* | Putranjivaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Stem-fruit Ironplum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3075876) | *Drypetes natalensis* | Putranjivaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Drypetes parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3075872) | *Drypetes parvifolia* | Putranjivaceae | NE | 3 |
| [False Forest Ironplum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3075819) | *Drypetes reticulata* | Putranjivaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Anemone somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3923052) | *Anemone somaliensis* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Clematis hirsuta](https://www.gbif.org/species/6374361) | *Clematis hirsuta* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Clematis sigensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3928247) | *Clematis sigensis* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Clematis simensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3928221) | *Clematis simensis* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Traveller's-joy](https://www.gbif.org/species/3033558) | *Clematis vitalba* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Clematis wightiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7931157) | *Clematis wightiana* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Delphinium leroyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/3930376) | *Delphinium leroyi* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Nigella](https://www.gbif.org/species/7278276) | *Nigella arvensis* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Black-cumin](https://www.gbif.org/species/5371700) | *Nigella sativa* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Celery-leaved Buttercup](https://www.gbif.org/species/3033374) | *Ranunculus sceleratus* | Ranunculaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Globeflower](https://www.gbif.org/species/3033289) | *Trollius europaeus* | Ranunculaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Taily Weed](https://www.gbif.org/species/7275957) | *Ochradenus baccatus* | Resedaceae | LC | 51 |
| [Ochradenus somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3916599) | *Ochradenus somalensis* | Resedaceae | NE | 53 |
| [Reseda amblycarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/9012409) | *Reseda amblycarpa* | Resedaceae | NE | 74 |
| [Reseda amblyocarpa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3916553) | *Reseda amblyocarpa* | Resedaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Reseda aucheri](https://www.gbif.org/species/7275934) | *Reseda aucheri* | Resedaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Reseda ellenbeckii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3916481) | *Reseda ellenbeckii* | Resedaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Reseda linifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/7556858) | *Reseda linifolia* | Resedaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Reseda migiurtinorum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3916390) | *Reseda migiurtinorum* | Resedaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Reseda sessilifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3916619) | *Reseda sessilifolia* | Resedaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Reseda telephiifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3916400) | *Reseda telephiifolia* | Resedaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Soap Bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/3875572) | *Helinus integrifolius* | Rhamnaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Helinus mystacinus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3875546) | *Helinus mystacinus* | Rhamnaceae | NE | 9 |
| [Mountain Date](https://www.gbif.org/species/3874547) | *Phyllogeiton discolor* | Rhamnaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Glossy Leaf](https://www.gbif.org/species/3875856) | *Rhamnus prinoides* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 9 |
| [Rhamnus staddo](https://www.gbif.org/species/3877792) | *Rhamnus staddo* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 11 |
| [pauper's-tea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3039516) | *Sageretia thea* | Rhamnaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Scutia myrtina](https://www.gbif.org/species/8317476) | *Scutia myrtina* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 1 |
| [large jujube](https://www.gbif.org/species/3877223) | *Ziziphus abyssinica* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Ziziphus hamur](https://www.gbif.org/species/3876267) | *Ziziphus hamur* | Rhamnaceae | NE | 39 |
| [Chinese jujube](https://www.gbif.org/species/3039423) | *Ziziphus jujuba* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Indian jujube](https://www.gbif.org/species/3039424) | *Ziziphus mauritiana* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 15 |
| [Buffalo Thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/3875567) | *Ziziphus mucronata* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 26 |
| [small jujube](https://www.gbif.org/species/3875058) | *Ziziphus pubescens* | Rhamnaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Christ's-thorn](https://www.gbif.org/species/8228089) | *Ziziphus spina-christi* | Rhamnaceae | LC | 35 |
| [Oriental Mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/7583876) | *Bruguiera gymnorhiza* | Rhizophoraceae | LC | 1 |
| [velvet-fruited onionwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3874027) | *Cassipourea euryoides* | Rhizophoraceae | LC | 2 |
| [African Onionwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3874109) | *Cassipourea malosana* | Rhizophoraceae | LC | 5 |
| [spurred mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086518) | *Ceriops tagal* | Rhizophoraceae | LC | 3 |
| [Rhizophora mucronata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10920169) | *Rhizophora mucronata* | Rhizophoraceae | NE | 4 |
| [Mangrove](https://www.gbif.org/species/3086527) | *Rhizophora mucronata* | Rhizophoraceae | LC | 3 |
| [African Redwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/5370415) | *Hagenia abyssinica* | Rosaceae | LC | 2 |
| [African cherry](https://www.gbif.org/species/3022853) | *Prunus africana* | Rosaceae | VU | 1 |
| [Abyssinian rose](https://www.gbif.org/species/3004064) | *Rosa abyssinica* | Rosaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Rosa abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8090355) | *Rosa abyssinica* | Rosaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Afrocanthium pseudoverticillatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2900886) | *Afrocanthium pseudoverticillatum* | Rubiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Agathisanthemum bojeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910952) | *Agathisanthemum bojeri* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Breonadia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2900926) | *Breonadia salicina* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Bullockia mombazensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5829787) | *Bullockia mombazensis* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Bristly Canthium](https://www.gbif.org/species/5829785) | *Bullockia setiflora* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Canthium glaucum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2917579) | *Canthium glaucum* | Rubiaceae | LC | 12 |
| [Catunaregam nilotica](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910914) | *Catunaregam nilotica* | Rubiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Coastal Bone-Apple](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910920) | *Catunaregam obovata* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Coelospermum truncatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2897072) | *Coelospermum truncatum* | Rubiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Coffea rhamnifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2895512) | *Coffea rhamnifolia* | Rubiaceae | DD | 31 |
| [Conostomium longitubum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2898340) | *Conostomium longitubum* | Rubiaceae | NE | 41 |
| [Coptosperma graveolens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893836) | *Coptosperma graveolens* | Rubiaceae | LC | 39 |
| [Black Butterspoon](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893864) | *Coptosperma nigrescens* | Rubiaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Coptosperma somaliense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893875) | *Coptosperma somaliense* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Coptosperma wajirense](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893873) | *Coptosperma wajirense* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cordylostigma longifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/6288341) | *Cordylostigma longifolium* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cordylostigma obtusilobum](https://www.gbif.org/species/6288343) | *Cordylostigma obtusilobum* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Diodia aulacosperma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2908626) | *Diodia aulacosperma* | Rubiaceae | VU | 28 |
| [Dirichletia glaucescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2896635) | *Dirichletia glaucescens* | Rubiaceae | LC | 19 |
| [Dirichletia pubescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2896637) | *Dirichletia pubescens* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Dirichletia somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3845590) | *Dirichletia somaliensis* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Empogona kirkii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2900749) | *Empogona kirkii* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Empogona ovalifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5937604) | *Empogona ovalifolia* | Rubiaceae | LC | 17 |
| [Empogona somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5937615) | *Empogona somaliensis* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Feretia apodanthera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2899651) | *Feretia apodanthera* | Rubiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Galium glaciale](https://www.gbif.org/species/2914860) | *Galium glaciale* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Galium setaceum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2913869) | *Galium setaceum* | Rubiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [False Cleavers](https://www.gbif.org/species/2913214) | *Galium spurium* | Rubiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Galium tenuissimum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2914501) | *Galium tenuissimum* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Gardenia fiorii](https://www.gbif.org/species/5334990) | *Gardenia fiorii* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Gardenia stenophylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5335109) | *Gardenia stenophylla* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [powderbark gardenia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5334974) | *Gardenia ternifolia* | Rubiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [common gardenia](https://www.gbif.org/species/5335053) | *Gardenia volkensii* | Rubiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Heinsia crinita](https://www.gbif.org/species/2899496) | *Heinsia crinita* | Rubiaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Rough Trembletop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910153) | *Kohautia aspera* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Bushveld Trembletop](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910098) | *Kohautia caespitosa* | Rubiaceae | NE | 45 |
| [Kohautia dolichostyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910059) | *Kohautia dolichostyla* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Kohautia platyphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910054) | *Kohautia platyphylla* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Kohautia subverticillata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2910067) | *Kohautia subverticillata* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Lamprothamnus zanguebaricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/5335614) | *Lamprothamnus zanguebaricus* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Meyna tetraphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2908518) | *Meyna tetraphylla* | Rubiaceae | LC | 8 |
| [Mitragyna inermis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2900458) | *Mitragyna inermis* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Oldenlandia chiovendae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2916148) | *Oldenlandia chiovendae* | Rubiaceae | NE | 13 |
| [Flat-Top Mille Graines](https://www.gbif.org/species/2911970) | *Oldenlandia corymbosa* | Rubiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Oldenlandia fastigiata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2916078) | *Oldenlandia fastigiata* | Rubiaceae | NE | 32 |
| [Clusterflower Mille Graines](https://www.gbif.org/species/2911992) | *Oldenlandia herbacea* | Rubiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Oldenlandia ichthyoderma](https://www.gbif.org/species/2915947) | *Oldenlandia ichthyoderma* | Rubiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Oldenlandia monanthos](https://www.gbif.org/species/2916322) | *Oldenlandia monanthos* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Oldenlandia richardsonioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2916157) | *Oldenlandia richardsonioides* | Rubiaceae | VU | 42 |
| [Oldenlandia saxifragoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/2916215) | *Oldenlandia saxifragoides* | Rubiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Oxyanthus zanguebaricus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2901585) | *Oxyanthus zanguebaricus* | Rubiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Paederia pospischilii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2909489) | *Paederia pospischilii* | Rubiaceae | LC | 14 |
| [Pavetta crebrifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925237) | *Pavetta crebrifolia* | Rubiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Common Brides-bush](https://www.gbif.org/species/2924573) | *Pavetta gardeniifolia* | Rubiaceae | LC | 19 |
| [Pavetta incana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2924964) | *Pavetta incana* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pavetta microphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925297) | *Pavetta microphylla* | Rubiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Pavetta oliveriana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925245) | *Pavetta oliveriana* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pavetta pammalaka](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925294) | *Pavetta pammalaka* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pavetta sennii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2924659) | *Pavetta sennii* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pavetta transjubensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2924705) | *Pavetta transjubensis* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Pavetta uniflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2924865) | *Pavetta uniflora* | Rubiaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Pavetta venenata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2925140) | *Pavetta venenata* | Rubiaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Pavetta villosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/2924805) | *Pavetta villosa* | Rubiaceae | NE | 14 |
| [Pentanisia calcicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2898429) | *Pentanisia calcicola* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pentanisia longipedunculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2898459) | *Pentanisia longipedunculata* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Pentanisia longituba](https://www.gbif.org/species/2898460) | *Pentanisia longituba* | Rubiaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Pentanisia microphylla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2898432) | *Pentanisia microphylla* | Rubiaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Pentanisia ouranogyne](https://www.gbif.org/species/2898454) | *Pentanisia ouranogyne* | Rubiaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Pentanopsis fragrans](https://www.gbif.org/species/2896647) | *Pentanopsis fragrans* | Rubiaceae | NE | 33 |
| [Pentanopsis gracilicaulis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2896645) | *Pentanopsis gracilicaulis* | Rubiaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Pentas glabrescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2909083) | *Pentas glabrescens* | Rubiaceae | NE | 31 |
| [Egyptian Starcluster](https://www.gbif.org/species/2908986) | *Pentas lanceolata* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Pentas pauciflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2909087) | *Pentas pauciflora* | Rubiaceae | NE | 7 |
| [Pentodon laurentioides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5340515) | *Pentodon laurentioides* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Hale's Pentodon](https://www.gbif.org/species/5340516) | *Pentodon pentandrus* | Rubiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Plocama calcicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/3846357) | *Plocama calcicola* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Plocama somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3846315) | *Plocama somaliensis* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Plocama tinctoria](https://www.gbif.org/species/3846311) | *Plocama tinctoria* | Rubiaceae | LC | 3 |
| [Polysphaeria multiflora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2901915) | *Polysphaeria multiflora* | Rubiaceae | LC | 11 |
| [Polysphaeria parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2901905) | *Polysphaeria parvifolia* | Rubiaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Bird-Berry](https://www.gbif.org/species/2921862) | *Psychotria capensis* | Rubiaceae | LC | 6 |
| [Dotted Wild Coffee](https://www.gbif.org/species/2922220) | *Psychotria punctata* | Rubiaceae | NE | 15 |
| [Psydrax graniticola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893235) | *Psydrax graniticola* | Rubiaceae | NE | 11 |
| [Psydrax kaessneri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893140) | *Psydrax kaessneri* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Psydrax schimperianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2893075) | *Psydrax schimperianus* | Rubiaceae | LC | 2 |
| [Pyrostria phyllanthoidea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2894208) | *Pyrostria phyllanthoidea* | Rubiaceae | VU | 10 |
| [Rhodopentas bussei](https://www.gbif.org/species/3845991) | *Rhodopentas bussei* | Rubiaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Rhodopentas parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3845988) | *Rhodopentas parvifolia* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rothmannia ravae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2906257) | *Rothmannia ravae* | Rubiaceae | LC | 5 |
| [Indian madder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2892192) | *Rubia cordifolia* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Thin-leaved Madder](https://www.gbif.org/species/2892374) | *Rubia tenuifolia* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rytigynia parvifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2904271) | *Rytigynia parvifolia* | Rubiaceae | LC | 3 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · **4** · [5](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/)


---

# Airports and airstrips of Mudug, Galguduud and Hiiraan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airstrips-mudug-galguduud-hiiraan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Central Somalia has 21 recorded airfields across Mudug, Galguduud and Hiiraan. Galkayo has the only long paved runway. Beledweyne has a 2.2 km gravel strip, Cabudwaaq's diaspora-funded airport opened to scheduled flights on 11 October 2012, and Cadaado is Galmudug's largest working airport. Most others are dirt strips. This page lists each one with sources.

## About this list

The rows join **OurAirports** ([Somalia list](https://ourairports.com/countries/SO/airports.html)), the **GeoNames** gazetteer ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)) and **Wikidata** ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/)). Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres; the Somali name in brackets is the Wikidata label.

## Galkayo

[Abdullahi Yusuf Airport](/en/infrastructure/abdullahi-yusuf-airport-galkayo/) in north Galkayo has two parallel 3 km strips, one paved. Wikidata also lists an "Oshaco International Airport" serving Galmudug, at the point GeoNames calls "Galkaio South" ([Wikidata, Q38251117](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38251117)).

## Beledweyne

Beledweyne's airport (BLW, HCMN), also called Ugaas Khaliif International Airport and earlier Duqow Ahmed Fiidow airport, is in open country about 2 km north-east of the city. Its only runway, 04/22, is 2,200 by 20 metres of crushed rock and packed sand, at 559 feet above sea level ([Wikipedia, Beledweyne Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beledweyne_Airport)). It reopened for civilian use in June 2012 ([Sabahi, June 2012](http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/newsbriefs/2012/06/21/newsbrief-07)). The Djibouti Defence Forces had refurbished the strip by February 2015, and the municipality launched a further project that May ([Goobjoog, February 2015](http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=10485); [Goobjoog, May 2015](http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=13484)). Wikipedia states the airport is named after Ugaas Khaliif, an ugaas (traditional leader) of the [Xawaadle](/en/society/xawaadle/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beledweyne_Airport)).

## Cabudwaaq (Abudwak)

[Cabudwaaq](/en/regions/caabudwaaq/)'s airport began as a dirt strip. A rebuild started in 2011, paid for by people from the area living abroad; in June 2012 the Somali-American Women's Foundation gave $70,000 after the airport committee asked for help. Scheduled flights began on **11 October 2012**, and the airport handled about 2 flights a day and 800 passengers a month. In February 2021 the runway was regravelled and graded ahead of paving ([Wikipedia, Abudwak Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak_Airport), citing [Sabahi](http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/newsbriefs/2012/07/11/newsbrief-07) and [Sokaab](https://www.sokaab.com/home/view_project?id=16)). The town sits on the Ethiopian border, so the airport also serves nearby settlements across it.

## Cadaado, Dhuusamareeb and Guriceel

- **Cadaado (Adado):** IATA AAD, ICAO HCAD. Wikipedia calls it the largest working airport in [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) ([Wikipedia, Adado Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adado_Airport)).
- **Dhuusamareeb:** also known as [Ugaas Nuur](/en/people/ughaz-nur-ii/) Airport, serving Galmudug's capital ([Wikipedia, Dusmareb Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusmareb_Airport)); OurAirports gives the code HCDM ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCDM/)).
- **Guriceel:** IATA GUO, a domestic airport ([Wikipedia, Guriel Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guriel_Airport)).

## The coast: Hobyo and Garacad

Hobyo's airstrip (CMO, HCMO, also called Obbia) has one 1,100-metre unpaved runway parallel to the coast about 2 km inland, with no fuel storage and no scheduled flights ([Wikipedia, Hobyo Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo_Airport)). OurAirports lists a strip at Garacad, where a new port is being built ([OurAirports, SO-0011](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0011/); [Wikipedia, Garacad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garacad)).

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abudwak |  |  |  | 328 m | 6.181, 46.194 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388846) |
| Adado Airport (Gegada Diyaaradaha Cadaado) | Adado | AAD / HCAD |  | 1001 ft | 6.096, 46.638 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/AAD/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/11497239); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25037309); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adado_Airport) |
| Aveno Airfield |  |  |  | 296 m | 4.231, 45.916 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7929675) |
| Bahdo |  |  |  | 209 m | 5.837, 47.215 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388840) |
| Bandiiradiey |  |  |  | 342 m | 6.472, 46.994 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388827) |
| Beledweyne Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Beledweyne) | Beledweyne | BLW / HCMN | 04/22 7218 ft Gravel | 559 ft | 4.767, 45.239 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMN/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297287); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12691865); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beledweyne_Airport) |
| Biyocadde |  |  |  | 258 m | 5.064, 45.951 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388816) |
| Cabudwaak Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Caabudwaaq) |  |  |  |  | 6.172, 46.418 | [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5015854); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abudwak_Airport) |
| Ceelbuur |  |  |  | 153 m | 4.596, 46.611 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388828) |
| Ceeldheer Airport | Ceeldheer |  | (closed) |  | 3.842, 47.168 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0012/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388836) |
| Dusomareb Airport (Gegada Diyaaradaha Dhuusamareeb) |  | HCDM |  | 840 ft | 5.472, 46.36 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCDM/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388849); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18206440); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusmareb_Airport) |
| [Galcaio Airport](/en/infrastructure/abdullahi-yusuf-airport-galkayo/) | Galcaio | GLK / HCMR | 05L/23R 9859 ft ASP; 05R/23L 9859 ft TURF | 975 ft | 6.781, 47.455 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMR/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730603) |
| Galdogob Airport |  | HCGD |  |  | 6.959, 47.016 | [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137296599) |
| Galkaio South |  |  |  | 296 m | 6.692, 47.403 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388839); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38251117) |
| Garacad Airport | Garacad |  |  |  | 6.877, 49.248 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0011/) |
| Goldogob |  |  |  | 381 m | 7.077, 47.121 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388829) |
| Guriel Airport (Gegada diyaaradah Guriceel) | Guriel | GUO |  |  | 5.317, 45.985 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0020/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/11497240); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17060473); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guriel_Airport) |
| Gurueragu South |  |  |  | 318 m | 6.064, 46.092 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388851) |
| Harrardera New |  |  |  | 116 m | 4.543, 47.998 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388850) |
| Hobyo Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Hobyo) | Hobyo | CMO / HCMO |  | 65 ft | 5.358, 48.515 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMO/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730602); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11824643); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobyo_Airport) |
| Jalalaqsi |  |  |  | 121 m | 3.378, 45.58 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388835) |

## Related

- [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/), [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/)
- [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/) and [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/)


---

# Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species) (part 5 of 5)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-5/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 3,065 species of broad-leaved flowering plants (dicots) from Somalia. This page lists the 668 species in the families Malvaceae to Santalaceae, in alphabetical order of family; legumes have their own page.

Part 5 of 5 of [Flowering plants of Somalia: families Malvaceae to Santalaceae (668 species)](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · **5**

## Full list (668 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Spermacoce brachyantha](https://www.gbif.org/species/2918863) | *Spermacoce brachyantha* | Rubiaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Spermacoce chaetocephala](https://www.gbif.org/species/2918396) | *Spermacoce chaetocephala* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Spermacoce filituba](https://www.gbif.org/species/2918421) | *Spermacoce filituba* | Rubiaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Spermacoce paolii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2918333) | *Spermacoce paolii* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Spermacoce pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/2918384) | *Spermacoce pusilla* | Rubiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Tennantia sennii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2900977) | *Tennantia sennii* | Rubiaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Hispid Valantia](https://www.gbif.org/species/2894034) | *Valantia hispida* | Rubiaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Vangueria apiculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2917930) | *Vangueria apiculata* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Vangueria gillettii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2917804) | *Vangueria gillettii* | Rubiaceae | VU | 3 |
| [Vangueria randii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2917748) | *Vangueria randii* | Rubiaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Wendlandia arabica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5338703) | *Wendlandia arabica* | Rubiaceae | NT | 13 |
| [Bottegoa insignis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3788076) | *Bottegoa insignis* | Rutaceae | NT | 17 |
| [horsewood](https://www.gbif.org/species/11016483) | *Clausena anisata* | Rutaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Fagaropsis hildebrandtii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3835846) | *Fagaropsis hildebrandtii* | Rutaceae | NT | 5 |
| [Haplophyllum arbusculum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7830167) | *Haplophyllum arbusculum* | Rutaceae | NE | 8 |
| [Haplophyllum sanguineum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5593089) | *Haplophyllum sanguineum* | Rutaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Haplophyllum tuberculatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5834570) | *Haplophyllum tuberculatum* | Rutaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Harrisonia abyssinica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3709029) | *Harrisonia abyssinica* | Rutaceae | LC | 10 |
| [Thamnosma africana](https://www.gbif.org/species/7405189) | *Thamnosma africana* | Rutaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thamnosma hirschii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3835961) | *Thamnosma hirschii* | Rutaceae | NE | 17 |
| [Thamnosma hirschii](https://www.gbif.org/species/8057490) | *Thamnosma hirschii* | Rutaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Thamnosma somalensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3835907) | *Thamnosma somalensis* | Rutaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Vepris eugeniifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3834571) | *Vepris eugeniifolia* | Rutaceae | LC | 13 |
| [Vepris glomerata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7269194) | *Vepris glomerata* | Rutaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Vepris nobilis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3834246) | *Vepris nobilis* | Rutaceae | LC | 16 |
| [Vepris simplicifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3834051) | *Vepris simplicifolia* | Rutaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Climbing Orange](https://www.gbif.org/species/10789822) | *Zanthoxylum asiaticum* | Rutaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Zanthoxylum chalybaeum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7557554) | *Zanthoxylum chalybaeum* | Rutaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Zanthoxylum holtzianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7269575) | *Zanthoxylum holtzianum* | Rutaceae | VU | 3 |
| [Abyssinian-gooseberry](https://www.gbif.org/species/2874133) | *Dovyalis abyssinica* | Salicaceae | LC | 49 |
| [Dovyalis verrucosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8313280) | *Dovyalis verrucosa* | Salicaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Governor’s plum, Ramontchi, Batoko plum, Madagascar plum, Indian plum](https://www.gbif.org/species/5331162) | *Flacourtia indica* | Salicaceae | LC | 1 |
| [African-Dogrose](https://www.gbif.org/species/3879362) | *Oncoba spinosa* | Salicaceae | LC | 7 |
| [Scolopia theifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3878893) | *Scolopia theifolia* | Salicaceae | NE | 19 |
| [Bee-Sting](https://www.gbif.org/species/3796625) | *Azima tetracantha* | Salvadoraceae | LC | 36 |
| [Dobera glabra](https://www.gbif.org/species/7724878) | *Dobera glabra* | Salvadoraceae | NE | 25 |
| [Dobera loranthifolia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3796618) | *Dobera loranthifolia* | Salvadoraceae | NE | 5 |
| [toothbrushtree](https://www.gbif.org/species/5580727) | *Salvadora persica* | Salvadoraceae | LC | 30 |
| [Osyris compressa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3789002) | *Osyris compressa* | Santalaceae | NE | 1 |
| [African Sandalwood](https://www.gbif.org/species/3788959) | *Osyris lanceolata* | Santalaceae | LC | 32 |


This list is in 5 parts: [1](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae/) · [2](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-2/) · [3](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-3/) · [4](/en/nature/flowering-plants-of-somalia-malvaceae-to-santalaceae-4/) · **5**


---

# Fungi, lichens, algae and microbes of Somalia: 310 species (part 2 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-2/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 310 species from Somalia in the kingdoms of fungi (including lichens), Chromista (diatoms, brown algae, forams and others), bacteria and viruses.

Part 2 of 3 of [Fungi, lichens, algae and microbes of Somalia: 310 species](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-3/)

## Full list (310 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Gymnodinium catenatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8301674) | *Gymnodinium catenatum* | Gymnodiniaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Haddonia hagni](https://www.gbif.org/species/10247727) | *Haddonia hagni* | Haddoniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudocyclammina lituus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9626573) | *Pseudocyclammina lituus* | Hauraniidae | NE | 1 |
| [Helicosphaera carteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3201956) | *Helicosphaera carteri* | Helicosphaeraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Climacodium frauenfeldianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3192148) | *Climacodium frauenfeldianum* | Hemiaulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Paslahepevirus balayani](https://www.gbif.org/species/12201781) | *Paslahepevirus balayani* | Hepeviridae | NE | 2 |
| [Fulvifomes pappianus](https://www.gbif.org/species/12255742) | *Fulvifomes pappianus* | Hymenochaetaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phellinus rimosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/8173622) | *Phellinus rimosus* | Hymenochaetaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sphaeronaema sesami](https://www.gbif.org/species/2590166) | *Sphaeronaema sesami* | Hysteriaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Weissella confusa](https://www.gbif.org/species/5427940) | *Weissella spec.* | Lactobacillaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Arnium cirriferum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2573370) | *Arnium cirriferum* | Lasiosphaeriaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Lecanora helva](https://www.gbif.org/species/2606754) | *Lecanora helva* | Lecanoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [rim lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2606963) | *Lecanora leprosa* | Lecanoraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Lepidocyclina contorta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9507559) | *Lepidocyclina contorta* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepidocyclina ehilensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9375625) | *Lepidocyclina ehilensis* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Lepidocyclina formosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/6123171) | *Lepidocyclina formosa* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Lepidocyclina formosoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/9479254) | *Lepidocyclina formosoides* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 6 |
| [Lepidocyclina mira](https://www.gbif.org/species/9298452) | *Lepidocyclina mira* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lepidocyclina palustris](https://www.gbif.org/species/9580016) | *Lepidocyclina palustris* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 8 |
| [Lepidocyclina pusilla](https://www.gbif.org/species/9341874) | *Lepidocyclina pusilla* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 2 |
| [Lepidocyclina sphynx](https://www.gbif.org/species/9507735) | *Lepidocyclina sphynx* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 1 |
| [Lepidocyclina tournoueri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9369267) | *Lepidocyclina tournoueri* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 3 |
| [Nephrolepidina praemarginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/10893464) | *Nephrolepidina praemarginata* | Lepidocyclinidae | NE | 7 |
| [False Hairball Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2587097) | *Lichinella stipatula* | Lichinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Nakataea oryzae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7974617) | *Nakataea oryzae* | Magnaporthaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mastogloia stefaninii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9678926) | *Mastogloia stefaninii* | Mastogloiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudallescheria boydii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2564942) | *Pseudallescheria boydii* | Microascaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Filoboletus manipularis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3295969) | *Filoboletus manipularis* | Mycenaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mycocalicium victoriae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7790825) | *Mycocalicium victoriae* | Mycocaliciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Mycoporum eschweileri](https://www.gbif.org/species/2626804) | *Mycoporum eschweileri* | Mycoporaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Cercospora longipes](https://www.gbif.org/species/5264563) | *Cercospora longipes* | Mycosphaerellaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Mycosphaerella sesami](https://www.gbif.org/species/2622032) | *Mycosphaerella sesami* | Mycosphaerellaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Passalora cajani](https://www.gbif.org/species/2624561) | *Passalora cajani* | Mycosphaerellaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Orthoneis binotata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7870359) | *Orthoneis binotata* | Naviculaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Fusarium lichenicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/8565738) | *Fusarium lichenicola* | Nectriaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Coccolithus floridanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9761529) | *Coccolithus floridanus* | Noelaerhabdaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Emiliania huxleyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/5423960) | *Emiliania huxleyi* | Noelaerhabdaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Gephyrocapsa oceanica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3202309) | *Gephyrocapsa oceanica* | Noelaerhabdaceae | NE | 43 |
| [Nummulites carteri](https://www.gbif.org/species/9008987) | *Nummulites carteri* | Nummulitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nummulites cyrenaicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9364923) | *Nummulites cyrenaicus* | Nummulitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Nummulites hormoensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9306061) | *Nummulites hormoensis* | Nummulitidae | NE | 1 |
| [Operculina complanata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7956988) | *Operculina complanata* | Nummulitidae | NE | 5 |
| [Nyungwea anguinella](https://www.gbif.org/species/10779965) | *Nyungwea anguinella* | Opegraphaceae | NE | 1 |
| [scribble lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/5516650) | *Opegrapha astraea* | Opegraphaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ophthalmidium martanum](https://www.gbif.org/species/9384274) | *Ophthalmidium martanum* | Ophthalmidiidae | NE | 1 |
| [Orbitoides tissoti](https://www.gbif.org/species/9463995) | *Orbitoides tissoti* | Orbitoididae | NE | 1 |
| [Dictyoconus africanus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9602101) | *Dictyoconus africanus* | Orbitolinidae | NE | 5 |
| [Highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza](https://www.gbif.org/species/10308782) | *Influenza A virus* | Orthomyxoviridae | NE | 26 |
| [Oxytoxum tesselatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3206299) | *Oxytoxum tesselatum* | Oxytoxaceae | NE | 1 |
| [bulbothrix lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2605136) | *Bulbothrix isidiza* | Parmeliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Common Green Shield Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2606178) | *Flavoparmelia caperata* | Parmeliaceae | LC | 1 |
| [Speckled Greenshield Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2605679) | *Flavopunctelia flaventior* | Parmeliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Old-man’s Beard Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2606124) | *Usnea angulata* | Parmeliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [string-of-sausage lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2606028) | *Usnea articulata* | Parmeliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Florida beard lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2606038) | *Usnea florida* | Parmeliaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hysterostomella bosciae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3544493) | *Hysterostomella bosciae* | Parmulariaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Powdery Rock-olive Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/10698690) | *Peltula euploca* | Peltulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Peltula marginata](https://www.gbif.org/species/3477605) | *Peltula marginata* | Peltulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Common rock-olive lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2587143) | *Peltula obscurans* | Peltulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Calciodinellum albatrosianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7748282) | *Calciodinellum albatrosianum* | Peridiniaceae | NE | 25 |
| [Calciodinellum operosum](https://www.gbif.org/species/8253423) | *Calciodinellum operosum* | Peridiniaceae | NE | 20 |
| [Pentapharsodinium dalei](https://www.gbif.org/species/7822471) | *Pentapharsodinium dalei* | Peridiniaceae | NE | 16 |
| [Crossopsora gilgiana](https://www.gbif.org/species/2514077) | *Crossopsora gilgiana* | Phakopsoraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Phomatospora dinemasporium](https://www.gbif.org/species/2574485) | *Phomatospora dinemasporium* | Phomatosporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllachora afra](https://www.gbif.org/species/2571453) | *Phyllachora afra* | Phyllachoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllachora ischaemi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2570361) | *Phyllachora ischaemi* | Phyllachoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllachora setariicola](https://www.gbif.org/species/2570689) | *Phyllachora setariicola* | Phyllachoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Phyllachora sporoboli](https://www.gbif.org/species/2571110) | *Phyllachora sporoboli* | Phyllachoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Hanging Fringe Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/12210533) | *Anaptychia crinalis* | Physciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Heterodermia lepidota](https://www.gbif.org/species/3427454) | *Heterodermia lepidota* | Physciaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Smooth Shadow-crust Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/8636716) | *Hyperphyscia syncolla* | Physciaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Physcia poncinsii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2608945) | *Physcia poncinsii* | Physciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Star Rosette Lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2608941) | *Physcia stellaris* | Physciaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Physcia undulata](https://www.gbif.org/species/2608902) | *Physcia undulata* | Physciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Physcia verrucosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/3428113) | *Physcia verrucosa* | Physciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Physconia servitii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3427668) | *Physconia servitii* | Physciaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Tornabea scutellifera](https://www.gbif.org/species/2609594) | *Tornabea scutellifera* | Physciaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Alternaria tenuissima](https://www.gbif.org/species/2616214) | *Alternaria tenuissima* | Pleosporaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Curvularia pallescens](https://www.gbif.org/species/2616087) | *Curvularia pallescens* | Pleosporaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Podospora australis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5254112) | *Podospora australis* | Podosporaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Triangularia anserina](https://www.gbif.org/species/10810645) | *Triangularia anserina* | Podosporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Triangularia arizonensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/12203318) | *Triangularia arizonensis* | Podosporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polykrikos kofoidii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3207804) | *Polykrikos kofoidii* | Polykrikaceae | NE | 12 |
| [Funalia floccosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/7451024) | *Funalia floccosa* | Polyporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ganoderma weberianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/2549559) | *Ganoderma weberianum* | Polyporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pseudofavolus tenuis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3364917) | *Pseudofavolus tenuis* | Polyporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Trametes strumosa](https://www.gbif.org/species/8020892) | *Trametes strumosa* | Polyporaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pontosphaera discopora](https://www.gbif.org/species/4377996) | *Pontosphaera discopora* | Pontosphaeraceae | NE | 13 |
| [Pontosphaera japonica](https://www.gbif.org/species/3202116) | *Pontosphaera japonica* | Pontosphaeraceae | NE | 18 |
| [Pontosphaera syracusana](https://www.gbif.org/species/3202117) | *Pontosphaera syracusana* | Pontosphaeraceae | NE | 2 |
| [Scyphosphaera apsteinii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3201599) | *Scyphosphaera apsteinii* | Pontosphaeraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Protoperidinium nudum](https://www.gbif.org/species/7360380) | *Protoperidinium nudum* | Protoperidiniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Selenopemphix nephroides](https://www.gbif.org/species/7520588) | *Selenopemphix nephroides* | Protoperidiniaceae | NE | 26 |
| [Blushing Scale](https://www.gbif.org/species/5261396) | *Psora decipiens* | Psoraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Puccinia aristidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2515355) | *Puccinia aristidae* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Puccinia cenchri](https://www.gbif.org/species/6017031) | *Puccinia cenchri* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Puccinia heterospora](https://www.gbif.org/species/2514979) | *Puccinia heterospora* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Puccinia otostegia](https://www.gbif.org/species/3376559) | *Puccinia otostegia* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rust fungus](https://www.gbif.org/species/9703802) | *Puccinia peradeniyae* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Uromyces clignyi](https://www.gbif.org/species/2515789) | *Uromyces clignyi* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Uromyces hobsonii](https://www.gbif.org/species/2516017) | *Uromyces hobsonii* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Uromyces setariae-italicae](https://www.gbif.org/species/2515914) | *Uromyces setariae-italicae* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Uromyces tenuicutis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2515587) | *Uromyces tenuicutis* | Pucciniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Pulleniatina obliquiloculata](https://www.gbif.org/species/7438866) | *Pulleniatina obliquiloculata* | Pulleniatinidae | NE | 150 |
| [Pyrenographa xylographoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/3468403) | *Pyrenographa xylographoides* | Pyrenulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [wart lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/3467824) | *Pyrenula macularis* | Pyrenulaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Wart lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/3467485) | *Pyrenula microcarpa* | Pyrenulaceae | NE | 1 |
| [cartilage lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/2608089) | *Ramalina complanata* | Ramalinaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ravenelia stictica](https://www.gbif.org/species/5468604) | *Ravenelia stictica* | Raveneliaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Human immunodeficiency virus 1](https://www.gbif.org/species/10221120) | *Human immunodeficiency virus 1* | Retroviridae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhabdolithes claviger](https://www.gbif.org/species/8403839) | *Rhabdolithes claviger* | Rhabdosphaeraceae | NE | 2 |
| [rabies virus](https://www.gbif.org/species/12240176) | *Lyssavirus rabies* | Rhabdoviridae | NE | 2 |
| [Pseudedomia hamaouii](https://www.gbif.org/species/9257210) | *Pseudedomia hamaouii* | Rhapydioninidae | NE | 1 |
| [Proboscia alata](https://www.gbif.org/species/9159800) | *Proboscia alata* | Rhizosoleniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhizosolenia hyalina](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421980) | *Rhizosolenia hyalina* | Rhizosoleniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhizosolenia polydactyla](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421997) | *Rhizosolenia polydactyla* | Rhizosoleniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhizosolenia robusta](https://www.gbif.org/species/9666621) | *Rhizosolenia robusta* | Rhizosoleniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Rhizosolenia styliformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/5421984) | *Rhizosolenia styliformis* | Rhizosoleniaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Montagne's roccella lichen](https://www.gbif.org/species/3546053) | *Roccella montagnei* | Roccellaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Roccellographa cretacea](https://www.gbif.org/species/3546625) | *Roccellographa cretacea* | Roccellographaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Daviesina ruida](https://www.gbif.org/species/9682103) | *Daviesina ruida* | Rotaliidae | NE | 3 |
| [Dictyoconoides cooki](https://www.gbif.org/species/8393610) | *Dictyoconoides cooki* | Rotaliidae | NE | 1 |
| [Dictyoconoides kohaticus](https://www.gbif.org/species/4919357) | *Dictyoconoides kohaticus* | Rotaliidae | NE | 3 |
| [Lockhartia hunti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8869235) | *Lockhartia hunti* | Rotaliidae | NE | 22 |
| [Rotalia trochidiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/9094261) | *Rotalia trochidiformis* | Rotaliidae | NE | 2 |
| [Ticinella roberti](https://www.gbif.org/species/8737200) | *Ticinella roberti* | Rotaliporidae | NE | 1 |
| [Hormophysa cuneiformis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3197801) | *Hormophysa cuneiformis* | Sargassaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Polycladia myrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/8159857) | *Polycladia myrica* | Sargassaceae | NE | 5 |
| [Sargassum aquifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3196783) | *Sargassum aquifolium* | Sargassaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sargassum asperifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3196811) | *Sargassum asperifolium* | Sargassaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sargassum ilicifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3197248) | *Sargassum ilicifolium* | Sargassaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Sargassum latifolium](https://www.gbif.org/species/3196993) | *Sargassum latifolium* | Sargassaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Narrow-leaf gulfweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3196812) | *Sargassum natans* | Sargassaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sargassum subrepandum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3196664) | *Sargassum subrepandum* | Sargassaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Sirophysalis trinodis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7424787) | *Sirophysalis trinodis* | Sargassaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbinaria condensata](https://www.gbif.org/species/5422689) | *Turbinaria condensata* | Sargassaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Turbinaria conoides](https://www.gbif.org/species/5422697) | *Turbinaria conoides* | Sargassaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Turbinaria decurrens](https://www.gbif.org/species/5422680) | *Turbinaria decurrens* | Sargassaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Ornate Turbanweed](https://www.gbif.org/species/3197381) | *Turbinaria ornata* | Sargassaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Oyster thief](https://www.gbif.org/species/3197958) | *Colpomenia sinuosa* | Scytosiphonaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Swiss Cheese Algae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3198487) | *Hydroclathrus clathratus* | Scytosiphonaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Orbitolites complanatus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7547017) | *Orbitolites complanatus* | Soritidae | NE | 1 |
| [Sphenolithus heteromorphus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3201792) | *Sphenolithus heteromorphus* | Sphenolithaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Sporobolomyces roseus](https://www.gbif.org/species/2556456) | *Sporobolomyces roseus* | Sporidiobolaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Sporormiella similis](https://www.gbif.org/species/2617951) | *Sporormiella similis* | Sporormiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Albifimbria verrucaria](https://www.gbif.org/species/9751035) | *Albifimbria verrucaria* | Stachybotryaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Staphylococcus agnetis](https://www.gbif.org/species/7412744) | *Staphylococcus agnetis* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 2 |
| [staph aureus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227657) | *Staphylococcus aureus* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 6 |
| [Staphylococcus chromogenes](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227714) | *Staphylococcus chromogenes* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Staphylococcus delphini](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227691) | *Staphylococcus delphini* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 1 |
| [epidermal coagulase-negative staphylococcus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227655) | *Staphylococcus epidermidis* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Staphylococcus pasteuri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227709) | *Staphylococcus pasteuri* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Staphylococcus simulans](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227708) | *Staphylococcus simulans* | Staphylococcaceae | NE | 6 |
| [False Turkeytail](https://www.gbif.org/species/2553040) | *Stereum lobatum* | Stereaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/) · **2** · [3](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-3/)


---

# Somalia and Iraq

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/iraq/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Iraq have had relations since 17 October 1966. Iraq built Somalia's oil refinery in the late 1970s and was a close partner of the Siad Barre government, but Somalia sided with the coalition against Iraq in 1990. Somalia reopened its embassy in Baghdad in 2015, and Iraq is one of its largest bilateral creditors: US$227.12 million at the end of 2025.

## How do Somalia and Iraq relate today?

Somalia has an embassy in Baghdad, reopened in October 2015 ([Garowe Online, 16 October 2015](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-embassy-in-baghdad-amid-growing-iranian-interests)). Both are members of the Arab League and the OIC.

Iraq is one of Somalia's largest creditors. At the end of 2025 Somalia owed Iraq US$227.12 million: US$31.22 million of principal, with the rest in interest arrears and penalty interest ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)). The ministry held technical talks with Iraq in 2025 on a settlement under the debt relief framework (same source).

Recent contacts centre on security. Internal Security Minister Abdullahi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ismail ([Fartaag](/en/institutions/ministry-of-internal-security/)) led a delegation to Baghdad in January 2025 ([SONNA, 13 January 2025](https://sonna.so/en/internal-security-minister-and-his-delegation-arrive-in-iraq)).

## When did contact begin?

Relations were established on 17 October 1966, according to the trade paper Mideast Mirror, as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia).

In the 1970s Somalia backed Arab states that opposed US policy in the Middle East, among them Iraq, Algeria and Libya ([Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). Somali soldiers trained in Iraq before the Ogaden War. Iraqi and Syrian pilots flew some of Somalia's MiG-21 missions from July 1977 ([ACIG, Ogaden War 1977–1978](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)).

In the late 1970s Iraq helped Somalia build a refinery at Jasiira, north-east of Baraawe, with a capacity of 10,000 barrels a day. Iraqi crude deliveries stopped when the Iran–Iraq War began in 1980 and were erratic by 1989 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/63.htm)).

In 1990 Somalia joined the US-led coalition against Iraq after its invasion of [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/). Its dependence on aid from Kuwait, [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), Saudi Arabia and the UAE was a key reason ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somalia's ambassadors in Baghdad:

- **Khadija Mohamed Makhsoumi** presented her credentials to President Fuad Masum on 22 June 2015 ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-embassy-in-baghdad-amid-growing-iranian-interests)).
- **Liban Sheikh Mohamud** gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on 1 June 2021 ([Iraq MFA, June 2021](https://mofa.gov.iq/?p=23471)).

Iraq's envoys:

- **Ismat Kittani**, an Iraqi diplomat, was the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia from 3 November 1992 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **Ahmed Nayef Rashid Al-Dulaimi**, Iraq's ambassador in Cairo and envoy to the Arab League, spoke for Iraq at the 2022 Somalia climate conference ([Iraq MFA, 7 December 2022](https://mofa.gov.iq/?p=35467)).

No resident Iraqi ambassador in Mogadishu appears in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Abdisalan Omar Hadliye**, Somalia's foreign minister, opened the Baghdad embassy in October 2015 ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-embassy-in-baghdad-amid-growing-iranian-interests)).
- **Abdikarin Hussein Gulled**, Somalia's envoy to Kuwait and later head of [Galmudug](/en/states/galmudug/), attended the opening; his wife Khadija Makhsoumi became ambassador (same source).
- **Abdi Saeed Musa** (Abdisaid Muse Ali), Somalia's foreign minister, met Iraqi under-secretary **Qahtan Taha Khalaf** in Islamabad in 2022. Khalaf invited Somalia's foreign and finance ministers to Baghdad to agree on repaying Somalia's debt ([Iraq MFA, 10 April 2022](https://mofa.gov.iq/?p=31180)).
- **[Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/)**, Somalia's prime minister, met President Abdul Latif Rashid at the 2024 Arab summit in Manama and left for Iraq on 4 July 2024 at the invitation of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani ([Garowe Online, 4 July 2024](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somali-pm-hamza-abdi-barre-leaves-for-iraq-to-boost-bilateral-ties)).
- **Hussein Moallim**, Somalia's national security adviser, met Iraq's adviser **Qasim al-Araji** in Baghdad ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-and-iraq-deepen-security-ties-in-high-level-discussions)).
- **Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Fartaag)**, internal security minister, led the January 2025 delegation to Baghdad ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/internal-security-minister-and-his-delegation-arrive-in-iraq)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty text appears in the sources found. Somalia's debt to Iraq comes from loans of the 1970s and 1980s; Iraq was among the smaller Arab lenders listed by the Library of Congress ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **Late December 1977 to early January 1978**: President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) toured states including Iraq and Syria to seek support during the Ogaden War ([ACIG](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)).
- **October 2015**: Foreign Minister Hadliye in Baghdad ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-new-embassy-in-baghdad-amid-growing-iranian-interests)).
- **July 2024**: Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre ([Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somali-pm-hamza-abdi-barre-leaves-for-iraq-to-boost-bilateral-ties)).
- **January 2025**: Minister Fartaag in Baghdad ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/internal-security-minister-and-his-delegation-arrive-in-iraq)).
- **May 2025**: President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) addressed the 34th Arab League summit in Baghdad ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-president-reaffirms-support-for-palestine-at-baghdad-summit/)).

## How much do they trade?

Recorded trade is very small. The last Iraqi figure in WITS is US$1.53 million of imports from Somalia in 2014 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/IRQ/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Iraq's main transfers were oil and the Jasiira refinery before 1980 ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/63.htm)). In December 2022 Iraq's envoy said Baghdad wanted to pay its contributions to an Arab support fund for Somalia ([Iraq MFA](https://mofa.gov.iq/?p=35467)). The UN's Financial Tracking Service records no Iraqi government humanitarian funding to Somalia since 1999 ([OCHA FTS](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2023)).

## What about security?

Before 1991, Somali soldiers trained in Iraq, and Iraqi pilots flew for Somalia in 1977 ([ACIG](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)). Since 2024 the two have discussed counter-terrorism cooperation ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/internal-security-minister-and-his-delegation-arrive-in-iraq)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Iraq deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **27 December 2025**: Iraq's foreign ministry, then chair of the Arab League summit, called Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) "a clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the sisterly Republic of Somalia" ([Rudaw, 27 December 2025](https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/27122025); [Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/iraq/298805/iraq-condemns-israels-recognition-of-somaliland-upholds-somalias-territorial-integrity)).
- **28 December 2025**: Iraq signed the joint statement of 21 states and the OIC ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)).
- **19 April 2026**: Iraq called Israel's envoy to Somaliland a "violation of Somalia's sovereignty and international law" ([Shafaq News, 19 April 2026](https://www.shafaq.com/en/Iraq/Iraq-Israel-Somaliland-envoy-could-fuel-territorial-disputes)).

## Have there been disputes?

In 1990–1991 Somalia sided with the coalition that reversed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). The unpaid debt remains open: Iraq asked in 2022 to agree on a payment mechanism ([Iraq MFA](https://mofa.gov.iq/?p=31180)).

## How many Somalis live in Iraq?

UNHCR counted 13 Somali refugees in Iraq in 2025, against 320 in 1995 ([UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true); [UNHCR, 1995](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=1995&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Iraq stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Iraq's diplomat Ismat Kittani led the UN operation in Somalia from November 1992 ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)). Iraq hosted the May 2025 Arab summit, where Somalia's president spoke ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-president-reaffirms-support-for-palestine-at-baghdad-summit/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Kuwait](/en/relations/kuwait/)
- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Airports and airstrips of Gedo, Bakool, Bay and the Jubba valley

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airstrips-gedo-bakool-bay-juba/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The south-west of Somalia has 16 recorded airfields across Gedo, Bakool, Bay, Middle Juba and Lower Juba. Kismayo and Baidoa have long paved runways. The rest, at Baardheere, Garbahaarrey, Luuq, Doolow, Xuddur, Waajid, Afmadow, Dhoobley and other towns, are smaller strips, most with no published runway data. This page lists each one with sources.

## About this list

The rows join **OurAirports** ([Somalia list](https://ourairports.com/countries/SO/airports.html)), the **GeoNames** gazetteer ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)) and **Wikidata** ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/)). Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres; the Somali name in brackets is the Wikidata label.

## The two long runways

- **Kismayo:** [Kismayo Airport](/en/infrastructure/kismayo-airport/), a 3.7 km asphalt runway built in the 1970s, run by the Jubaland administration since 2013.
- **Baidoa:** [Baidoa Airport](/en/infrastructure/baidoa-airport/), a 2,940-metre asphalt runway first paved with Soviet help in 1974.

## Gedo

- **[Baardheere](/en/regions/baardheere/) (Bardera):** the airport (BSY, HCMD) is at about 550 feet above sea level, with one compacted-sand runway, 15/33, of 1,300 by 30 metres ([Wikipedia, Bardera Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardera_Airport)). OurAirports gives 4,017 feet ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMD/)).
- **Garbahaarrey:** the airport (GBM) serving Gedo's capital has one runway of 1,050 metres ([Wikipedia, Garbaharey Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbaharey_Airport)).
- **Luuq:** Lugh Ganane Airport (LGX, HCMJ) serves the river town of Luuq ([Wikipedia, Lugh Ganane Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugh_Ganane_Airport)).
- **Doolow:** OurAirports and Wikidata list a strip on the Somali side of the border town, code HCDL ([Wikidata, Q134601913](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134601913)). Across the border, Dolo in Ethiopia has its own airport, built between 2009 and 2012 to support UNHCR's refugee camps ([Wikipedia, Dolo Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolo_Airport)); see [Airports of the Somali Region of Ethiopia](/en/infrastructure/airports-somali-region-ethiopia/).
- GeoNames also marks strips at Buurdhuubo and Berdaale West.

## Bakool and Bay

GeoNames records airfields at **Xuddur (Hudur)**, the capital of [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), at **Waajid** and at **Yeed**, and at **Diinsoor** in [Bay](/en/regions/bay/) ([GeoNames, Hudur](https://www.geonames.org/13388823); [GeoNames, Waajid](https://www.geonames.org/13388837); [GeoNames, Yeed](https://www.geonames.org/13388830); [GeoNames, Diinsoor](https://www.geonames.org/13388825)). Wikidata holds an unnamed airport record in Bakool at 3.8° N, 43.05° E ([Wikidata, Q11824548](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11824548)).

## Middle and Lower Juba

OurAirports lists strips at **Afmadow**, **Bu'aale** (code HCBU, also called Dujuma), **[Dhoobley](/en/regions/dhobley/)** near the Kenyan border, and **[Jamaame](/en/regions/jamaame/)** on the lower [Jubba](/en/regions/jubba-river/) ([OurAirports, SO-0017](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0017/); [OurAirports, SO-0018](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0018/); [OurAirports, SO-0007](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0007/); [OurAirports, SO-0016](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0016/)). Afmadow lies about 110 km north-west of Kismayo; it was taken by Jubaland forces backed by the Kenyan army on 31 May 2012 ([Wikipedia, Afmadow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afmadow), citing [BBC, May 2012](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18288639)).

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afmadow Airport | Afmadow |  |  | 79 ft | 0.538, 42.056 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0017/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/443864) |
| Baardheere Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Baardheere) | Baardheere | BSY / HCMD | 15/33 4017 ft sand | 396 ft | 2.33, 42.312 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMD/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8261065); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2785252); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardera_Airport) |
| [Baidoa Airport](/en/infrastructure/baidoa-airport/) | Baidoa | BIB / HCMB |  | 1820 ft | 3.102, 43.627 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMB/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730598) |
| Berdaale West |  |  |  | 405 m | 3.217, 43.177 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388842) |
| Bu'aale Airfield | Bu'aale | HCBU |  | 200 ft | 1.268, 42.588 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0018/) |
| Buurdhuubo Airstrip | Buurdhuubo |  |  |  | 3.157, 42.525 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0006/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6773918) |
| Dhoobley Airstrip | Dhoobley |  |  |  | 0.4, 40.996 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0007/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388841) |
| Diinsoor |  |  |  | 333 m | 2.43, 42.971 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388825) |
| Doolow Airport | Doolow | HCDL |  | 625 ft | 4.149, 42.081 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0019/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388847); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18206534); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolo_Airport) |
| Garbaharey Airport (Gegada diyaaradaha Gerbohaareey) | Garbaharey | GBM |  | 755 ft | 3.323, 42.213 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/GBM/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8298973); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3274453); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbaharey_Airport) |
| Hudur |  |  |  | 495 m | 4.125, 43.879 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388823) |
| Jamaame Airstrip | Jamaame |  |  |  | 0.058, 42.755 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0016/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388848) |
| [Kismayo Airport](/en/infrastructure/kismayo-airport/) | Kismayo | KMU / HCMK | 4/22 12139 ft ASP | 49 ft | -0.377, 42.459 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMK/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730089) |
| Lugh Ganane Airport | Luuq | LGX / HCMJ |  | 507 ft | 3.812, 42.546 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMJ/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/9410010); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18210658); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugh_Ganane_Airport) |
| Waajid |  |  |  | 375 m | 3.829, 43.248 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388837) |
| Yeed |  |  |  | 355 m | 4.537, 43.034 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388830) |

## Related

- [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/), [Bakool](/en/regions/bakool/), [Bay](/en/regions/bay/), [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/), [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) and [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)


---

# Fungi, lichens, algae and microbes of Somalia: 310 species (part 3 of 3)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-3/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> GBIF holds records of 310 species from Somalia in the kingdoms of fungi (including lichens), Chromista (diatoms, brown algae, forams and others), bacteria and viruses.

Part 3 of 3 of [Fungi, lichens, algae and microbes of Somalia: 310 species](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/). Sources are listed on part 1.

This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-2/) · **3**

## Full list (310 species)

| Name | Scientific name | Family | Red List | Records in Somalia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Lactococcus lactis](https://www.gbif.org/species/11016394) | *Lactococcus lactis* | Streptococcaceae | NE | 4 |
| [group B Streptococcus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227057) | *Streptococcus agalactiae* | Streptococcaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Streptococcus infantarius](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227099) | *Streptococcus infantarius* | Streptococcaceae | NE | 10 |
| [Streptococcus macedonicus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3227069) | *Streptococcus macedonicus* | Streptococcaceae | NE | 2 |
| [Streptococcus thermophilus](https://www.gbif.org/species/7381052) | *Streptococcus thermophilus* | Streptococcaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Streptomyces somaliensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/3223628) | *Streptomyces somaliensis* | Streptomycetaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Scolecobasidiella avellanea](https://www.gbif.org/species/2591171) | *Scolecobasidiella avellanea* | Sympoventuriaceae | NE | 4 |
| [Syracosphaera histrica](https://www.gbif.org/species/4378007) | *Syracosphaera histrica* | Syracosphaeraceae | NE | 1 |
| [Syracosphaera pulchra](https://www.gbif.org/species/3201641) | *Syracosphaera pulchra* | Syracosphaeraceae | NE | 3 |
| [Caloplaca ochraceofulva](https://www.gbif.org/species/2610114) | *Caloplaca ochraceofulva* | Teloschistaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Leproplaca obliterans](https://www.gbif.org/species/7428759) | *Leproplaca obliterans* | Teloschistaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Solitaria chrysophthalma](https://www.gbif.org/species/8025796) | *Solitaria chrysophthalma* | Teloschistaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Teloschistes perrugosus](https://www.gbif.org/species/3429425) | *Teloschistes perrugosus* | Teloschistaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Thoracosphaera heimii](https://www.gbif.org/species/3205645) | *Thoracosphaera heimii* | Thoracosphaeraceae | NE | 25 |
| [Tilletia sleumeri](https://www.gbif.org/species/3372073) | *Tilletia sleumeri* | Tilletiaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Dermoloma bellerianum](https://www.gbif.org/species/3325904) | *Dermoloma bellerianum* | Tricholomataceae | NE | 1 |
| [Ustilago cynodontis](https://www.gbif.org/species/8664341) | *Ustilago cynodontis* | Ustilaginaceae | NE | 1 |
| [Cholera](https://www.gbif.org/species/3222442) | *Vibrio cholerae* | Vibrionaceae | NE | 3 |
| [Helicogermslita somala](https://www.gbif.org/species/12189803) | *Helicogermslita somala* | Xylariaceae | NE | 1 |


This list is in 3 parts: [1](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/) · [2](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia-2/) · **3**


---

# Somalia and Syria

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/syria/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Syria have had relations since December 1964. Somalia kept ties through Syria's civil war and sent a resident ambassador, Abiib Muse Farah, who presented credentials to President Ahmad al-Sharaa in September 2025. Syria rejected Israel's recognition of Somaliland on 28 December 2025. Syria hosted several hundred to several thousand Somali refugees after 1991.

## How do Somalia and Syria relate today?

Somalia has a resident ambassador in Damascus. Abiib Muse Farah gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani on 2 September 2025 ([SANA, 2 September 2025](https://sana.sy/en/syria/2265181/)). He then presented them to President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who sent greetings to President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) ([TRT Afrika, September 2025](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/9be1be41f104)).

On 28 July 2026 Farah met Mohammad al-Ahmad, the Syrian foreign ministry's adviser for Arab affairs, to discuss cooperation ([SANA, 28 July 2026](https://sana.sy/en/politics/2332795/)). In May 2025 President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the Baghdad Arab summit ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-president-reaffirms-support-for-palestine-at-baghdad-summit/)).

Recorded trade is very small. Syria's last figures in WITS show exports to Somalia of US$783,000 in 2010 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SYR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Relations date from 14 December 1964, according to a CIA foreign-broadcast report of that year, as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia).

Before the Ogaden War, Somali soldiers trained in Syria. In July 1977 some of Somalia's MiG-21 missions were flown by Iraqi and Syrian pilots ([ACIG, Ogaden War 1977–1978](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)). President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) toured Syria, Iraq and other states at the turn of 1978 to seek support (same source).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Abiib Muse Farah**, Somalia's ambassador in Damascus since September 2025 ([SANA](https://sana.sy/en/syria/2265181/)). He is also non-resident ambassador to Jordan ([Petra, 6 September 2026](https://petra.gov.jo/en/news/king-accepts-credentials-of-new-ambassadors-28)).

No Syrian ambassador to Somalia appears in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Ahmad al-Sharaa**, Syria's president, received Ambassador Farah in 2025 and praised the "historical relations" with Mogadishu ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/9be1be41f104)).
- **Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani**, Syria's foreign minister, received the credentials copy on 2 September 2025 ([SANA](https://sana.sy/en/syria/2265181/)).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, then Somalia's foreign minister, wrote to the new Syrian foreign minister in January 2025 and said he planned to visit Damascus ([Hiiraan Online, January 2025](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2025/jan/199682/somali_government_moves_to_enhance_diplomatic_ties_with_syria_after_leadership_change.aspx)).
- **Faisal Mekdad**, Syria's former foreign minister, held the first phone call with a Somali foreign minister since the Syrian war began in 2011 ([Somali Guardian](https://www.somaliguardian.com/news/somalia-news/somalia-syria-foreign-ministers-hold-phone-talks-for-the-first-time/)).
- **Siad Barre**, Somalia's president, sought Syrian backing during the Ogaden War ([ACIG](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral agreements appear in the sources found.

## Which leaders have visited?

- **Late 1977 to early 1978**: President Siad Barre visited Syria ([ACIG](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)).
- **September 2025**: Ambassador Farah received at the presidential palace in Damascus ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/9be1be41f104)).

## How much do they trade?

Syria's exports to Somalia ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SYR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)):

- 2006: US$1.43 million
- 2009: US$962,000
- 2010: US$783,000

Syria's imports from Somalia were US$859,000 in 2008 and US$684,000 in 2010 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/SYR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)). No later Syrian figures are published.

## How much aid and money has gone in?

The UN's Financial Tracking Service records no Syrian funding to Somalia since 1999 ([OCHA FTS](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011)). Somalia owes Syria no debt in the Ministry of Finance's end-2025 list ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## What about security?

Syria trained Somali soldiers before 1977, and Syrian pilots flew for Somalia in the Ogaden War ([ACIG](https://acig.org/artman/publish/article_188.shtml)). No later military ties appear in the sources found. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Syria deal with Somaliland and the member states?

On 28 December 2025 Syria's foreign ministry called Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) "a direct infringement on the sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia." It warned that "any attempts to create parallel entities or support separatist projects represent a dangerous precedent" ([UNA-OIC, 28 December 2025](https://una-oic.org/en/ALL/2025/12/28/Syria-condemns-the-mutual-recognition-between-the-parties/)).

Syria was not among the 21 signatories of that day's joint statement ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)). No dealings with Somaliland or the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

No disputes between the two governments appear in the sources found.

## How many Somalis live in Syria?

UNHCR counted 2,762 Somali refugees in Syria in 2010 and 205 in 2025 ([UNHCR, 2010](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2010&yearTo=2010&coo=SOM&coa_all=true); [UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). In 1995 the figure was 1,199 ([UNHCR, 1995](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=1995&yearTo=1995&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Syria stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Syria backs Somalia's territorial integrity ([UNA-OIC](https://una-oic.org/en/ALL/2025/12/28/Syria-condemns-the-mutual-recognition-between-the-parties/)). Somalia's president welcomed the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the 2025 Arab summit ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-president-reaffirms-support-for-palestine-at-baghdad-summit/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Iraq](/en/relations/iraq/)
- [Somalia and Jordan](/en/relations/jordan/)
- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Airports and airstrips of Mogadishu and the Shabelle regions

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airstrips-mogadishu-and-shabelle/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Mogadishu, Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle have 12 recorded airfields. Aden Adde in Mogadishu is the country's busiest airport; a second, larger airport is planned north-east of the city. Baledogle is the biggest military base, and K50 served as the capital's airport in wartime. Smaller strips include Jowhar, Baraawe, Merca and Dayniile. This page lists each with sources, and the Italian-era Petrella field.

## About this list

The rows join **OurAirports** ([Somalia list](https://ourairports.com/countries/SO/airports.html)), the **GeoNames** gazetteer ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)) and **Wikidata** ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/)). Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres. OurAirports files some fields under "Mogadishu" as the nearest city even when they lie in Lower or Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/).

## The main fields

- [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/): Mogadishu's airport since 1928, with a 3.2 km runway on the coast.
- [New Mogadishu International Airport](/en/infrastructure/new-mogadishu-international-airport/): planned on about 20 square kilometres at Maaxaay (El Maan), with a World Bank-funded design study launched in February 2026. OurAirports already lists the site as "under construction" ([OurAirports, SO-0022](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0022/)).
- [Baledogle airfield](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/): the largest military base, near Wanlaweyn.
- [K50 airstrip](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/): Mogadishu's stand-in airport during the 2007 to 2011 fighting.

## Petrella, the first airfield

Before today's airport, Mogadishu's first field was **Aeroporto di Mogadiscio-Petrella**, opened in 1928 about 3 miles south of the city and named after Enrico Petrella, an Italian pilot who had died there in 1921 when it was still a simple strip ([Wikipedia, Petrella Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrella_Airport)). The 36th "Squadriglia Mogadiscio" was based there from 1926, and in 1935–36 it was the centre for Italian air raids on southern Ethiopia. From 1938 a bus service linked it to the city and port. It was partly destroyed in 1941 and reopened to civilian flights in 1950 under the UN trusteeship (same source). See [Toward independence, 1920 to 1960](/en/history/) for the period.

## Smaller strips

- **Jowhar:** GeoNames marks an airfield at the capital of [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/) and of [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388817)).
- **Baraawe:** OurAirports and GeoNames list strips at the old port town; see [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) ([OurAirports, SO-0015](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0015/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388818)).
- **Merca (Marka):** OurAirports lists the town's airstrip as closed ([OurAirports, SO-0014](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0014/)).
- **[Dayniile](/en/society/internal-displacement/) and Cisaleey (Isaley):** OurAirports lists a strip at Dayniile on Mogadishu's north-west edge and a closed field at Cisaleey north of the city ([OurAirports, SO-0013](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0013/); [OurAirports, SO-0021](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0021/)).
- **Uadan highway strip:** a road strip south-west of the city ([OurAirports, SO-0003](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0003/)).

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) | Mogadishu | MGQ / HCMM | 05/23 10446 ft ASP | 29 ft | 2.014, 45.305 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HCMM/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297286); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108079714) |
| [Baledogle Airfield](/en/infrastructure/baledogle-airfield/) | Wanlaweyn | HC01 |  | 297 ft | 2.671, 44.793 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0002/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388824) |
| Baraawe Airport | Baraawe |  |  |  | 1.094, 43.995 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0015/) |
| Barawe |  |  |  | 70 m | 1.162, 44.012 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388818) |
| Cisaleey Airport | Mogadishu |  | (closed) | 29 ft | 2.117, 45.489 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0021/) |
| Dayniile Airport | Mogadishu |  |  |  | 2.122, 45.269 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0013/) |
| Jowhar |  |  |  | 111 m | 2.886, 45.469 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388817) |
| [K50 Airstrip](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) | Mogadishu |  |  | 100 ft | 2.005, 44.987 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0001/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8555687) |
| Kilometer 50 |  |  |  | 73 m | 1.945, 44.947 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13388826) |
| Merca Airport | Merca |  | (closed) |  | 1.633, 44.649 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0014/) |
| [New Mogadishu International Airport (Under Construction)](/en/infrastructure/new-mogadishu-international-airport/) | Mogadishu |  | (closed) | 30 ft | 2.2, 45.62 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0022/) |
| Uadan Highway Airstrip | Mogadishu |  |  |  | 1.973, 45.223 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/SO-0003/); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12695386) |

## Related

- [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/), [Lower Shabelle](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)
- [Airlines in Somalia](/en/economy/airlines-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and Palestine

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/palestine/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia recognised the State of Palestine on 15 November 1988, the day it was declared, and has backed Palestinian statehood in the Arab League, the OIC and the UN since. Palestine's ambassador Rowaid Adil Mohamed presented credentials in Mogadishu in January 2025. Palestine joined the statements rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland, and Somalia's government says Israel plans to move Palestinians from Gaza to Somaliland, which Israel denies.

## How do Somalia and Palestine relate today?

Somalia recognises the State of Palestine and supports a state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital ([Radio Algérie, 10 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)). On 30 January 2025 Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi received the credentials of Palestine's ambassador, Rowaid Adil Mohamed. He said Somalia would keep backing an "independent and sovereign state" for Palestinians ([SONNA, 30 January 2025](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-receives-credentials-from-palestinian-thai-ambassadors)).

The Somaliland question has drawn the two closer. Palestine signed the December 2025 joint statement rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland ([Radio Algérie, 28 December 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)). Somalia's foreign ministry said it "will never accept to make the Palestinian people stateless" ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8088)).

## When did contact begin?

Somalia recognised the State of Palestine on 15 November 1988, the day of the Palestinian declaration of independence, as Algeria did ([UNESCO, 1989 request for the admission of Palestine, cited in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). Somalia had joined the Arab League on 14 February 1974 ([Somali Archive](https://somaliarchive77.substack.com/p/the-arabs-and-somalis-need-each-other)).

In 2012 the two re-established diplomatic relations, when Palestinian envoy Kamil Abdallah presented credentials to President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) with a message from President Mahmoud Abbas ([Hiiraan Online, 22 April 2012](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Apr/23734/somalia_and_palestine_re_establish_diplomatic_relations.aspx)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Kamil Abdallah**, Palestinian envoy, credentials presented in April 2012 ([Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Apr/23734/somalia_and_palestine_re_establish_diplomatic_relations.aspx)).
- **Rowaid Adil Mohamed** (spelt Ruwid Adel Mohammed by [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/)), ambassador of the State of Palestine, credentials received on 30 January 2025 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-receives-credentials-from-palestinian-thai-ambassadors); [SoDMA, 4 February 2025](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/?p=4837)).

Somalia has no embassy in Palestine in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Mahmoud Abbas**, Palestinian president, sent a message to Somalia's president when relations were renewed in 2012 ([Hiiraan Online](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Apr/23734/somalia_and_palestine_re_establish_diplomatic_relations.aspx)).
- **Sharif Sheikh Ahmed**, Somalia's president, received the Palestinian envoy in 2012 (same source).
- **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, Somalia's foreign minister, received Ambassador Rowaid in January 2025. As defence minister in January 2026 he said Somalia had "confirmed information" that Israel planned to move Palestinians to Somaliland ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-receives-credentials-from-palestinian-thai-ambassadors); [Al Jazeera, 11 January 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/11/somali-minister-says-israel-plans-to-displace-palestinians-to-somaliland)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)**, Somalia's president, told the Baghdad Arab summit in May 2025 that "the Palestinian cause is a test for us Arabs" ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-president-reaffirms-support-for-palestine-at-baghdad-summit/)).
- **Abukar Osman Baalle**, Somalia's UN ambassador, told the Security Council in January 2025 that Somalia was "gravely concerned" about Gaza ([SONNA, 4 January 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-declares-firm-stance-on-palestine-at-un-security-council)).
- **Mahamoud Moallim**, head of the [Somali Disaster Management Agency](/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/), met Ambassador Rowaid with clerics **Bashir Ahmed Salad** and **Ali Mahamud Hassan (Wajis)** on support for Gaza ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/?p=4837)).
- **Abdullahi Janagale**, chairman of the Somali Action Network, led the "Somali Kitchen in Gaza", backed by more than US$250,000 raised by Somalis, which served daily meals from 29 July 2025 ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/2faa407e47b0)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral agreements appear in the sources found. Both signed joint statements in the Arab League and OIC, listed below.

## Which leaders have visited?

No state visits appear in the sources found.

## How much do they trade?

No trade figures between Somalia and Palestine are published in WITS.

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Somalia's aid to Gaza has been private. The Somali Kitchen in Gaza raised more than US$250,000 from Somalis at home and abroad, about US$5,000 a day during a 50-day campaign, sent through the Palestinian Scholars Association ([TRT Afrika](https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/2faa407e47b0)).

## What about security?

No military ties exist. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Palestine deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Palestine treats Somaliland as part of Somalia:

- **28 December 2025**: Palestine signed the joint statement of 21 states and the OIC rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)).
- **May 2026**: Palestine joined 19 states rejecting Somaliland's plan to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which they said violates "the rights of the Palestinian people" ([Al-Quds, 26 May 2026](https://alquds.com/en/posts/241380)).
- **15 June 2026**: Hamas called the opening of Somaliland's embassy in Jerusalem a "political sin" ([Al-Quds, 15 June 2026](https://alquds.com/en/posts/244616)).

## Have there been disputes?

There are no disputes between Somalia and Palestine in the sources found. The dispute is over Gaza and Somaliland:

- **Somalia's position**: Defence Minister Fiqi said in January 2026 that Israel planned to transfer Palestinians to Somaliland, calling it a "serious violation" of international law ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/11/somali-minister-says-israel-plans-to-displace-palestinians-to-somaliland)).
- **Israel's position**: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said displacement to Somaliland "was not part of our agreement" (same source).
- **Somaliland's position**: its foreign ministry had denied agreeing to resettle Palestinians (same source).

## How many Somalis live in Palestine?

No count of Somalis in Palestine appears in UNHCR data ([UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Palestine stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Somalia supports full UN membership for Palestine, as set out in its August 2025 joint communiqué with Algeria ([Radio Algérie, August 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). At the UN Security Council, Somalia called on Israel to "respond to the international community's calls for restraint" ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-declares-firm-stance-on-palestine-at-un-security-council)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/)
- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Somalia and the OIC](/en/relations/oic/)
- [Somalia and Algeria](/en/relations/algeria/)
- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)


---

# Airports of the Somali Region of Ethiopia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airports-somali-region-ethiopia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali Region of Ethiopia has 21 recorded airfields. Three have long paved runways: Jijiga's Garad Wiil-Waal airport (2,400 m, at 1,810 m above sea level), Gode (2,288 m, opened by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1966) and Kebri Dahar (2,500 m, concrete). The rest are smaller fields at Warder, Shilavo, Kelafo, Geladi, Dolo and other towns.

## About this list

The rows join **OurAirports** ([Ethiopia list](https://ourairports.com/countries/ET/airports.html)) and the **GeoNames** gazetteer for Ethiopia's Somali Region ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)), with **Wikidata** where it matches. Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres. For the Somali community of the region see [Somalis in Ethiopia](/en/diaspora/ethiopia/) and [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/).

## Jijiga: Garad Wiil-Waal Airport

Garad Wilwal Airport (IATA JIJ, ICAO HAJJ), also written Garaad Wiil-Waal, serves Jijiga, the regional capital. It is 12 km east of the city and is named after Wiil Waal, a 17th-century ruler of Jigjiga ([Wikipedia, Jijiga Gerad Wilwal Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga_Gerad_Wilwal_Airport)). Its single asphalt runway, 03/21, is 2,400 by 45 metres, at 5,937 feet (1,810 m) above sea level (same source; [OurAirports, HAJJ](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAJJ/)).

Jijiga's first airfield, north-west of the city centre, was built in 1929. A crash there in July 1930, of a Fiat AS-1 trainer bought in 1929, was the second air disaster in Ethiopia, and the first pilot tests in Ethiopia were passed at Jijiga by Mishka Babitcheff and Asfaw Ali on 1 and 4 September 1930 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga_Gerad_Wilwal_Airport), citing the [Nordic Africa Institute's local history of Ethiopia](http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/j/ORTJI.pdf)). By the 1990s the airport was one of 10 bases of the Ethiopian Air Force (same source). Ethiopian Airlines lists Jijiga in its domestic network ([Ethiopian Airlines](https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/us/book/network/domestic)). OurAirports lists the old field as closed ([OurAirports, ET-0001](https://ourairports.com/airports/ET-0001/)).

## Gode: Ugaas Mirad Airport

Gode Airport (GDE, HAGO), named Ugaas Mirad Ugaas Leyli Airport after a former mayor of the town, has one asphalt runway of 2,288 by 35 metres at 254 metres above sea level. The Swedish firm Skanska began building it in 1965, and Emperor Haile Selassie opened it on **10 June 1966**. It was first a military air base and later also took civil flights ([Wikipedia, Gode Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gode_Airport), citing the [Nordic Africa Institute](http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/g/ORTGIR.pdf)).

## Kebri Dahar (Qabridahar)

Kabri Dar Airport (ABK, HAKD) has a 2,500 by 46 metre concrete runway at 549 metres (1,801 ft) ([Wikipedia, Kabri Dar Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabri_Dar_Airport)). On 12 June 1977 an Ethiopian Airlines Douglas C-47A (ET-AAP) was damaged beyond repair there when its left landing gear collapsed on landing ([Aviation Safety Network](http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19770612-1)).

## Smaller fields

- **Warder:** WRA, HAWR, at 1,850 feet ([OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAWR/)).
- **Shilavo:** HIL, HASL, a single unpaved runway ([Wikipedia, Shilavo Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilavo_Airport)).
- **Kelafo, Geladi, Degehabur:** OurAirports lists Kelafo East (LFO) and Geladi (GLC), and the Degehabur field as closed ([OurAirports, Ethiopia](https://ourairports.com/countries/ET/airports.html)).
- **Dolo:** built between 2009 and 2012 beside the Somali border to support UNHCR's refugee operation ([Wikipedia, Dolo Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolo_Airport)).
- GeoNames marks further strips at Mustahil, El Carre, El Suga, God Dere, Hanan and Gurueragu, and abandoned fields at Har Adde and north of Gode.

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degah Bur Airport | Degah Bur |  | (closed) | 3550 ft | 8.234, 43.567 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/ET-0013/) |
| Dolo Airport | Dolo |  |  | 630 ft | 4.175, 42.033 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/ET-0007/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393882); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18206534); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolo_Airport) |
| Dolo Odo Nw |  |  |  | 204 m | 4.208, 42.004 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393899); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18206534); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolo_Airport) |
| El Carre |  |  |  | 961 m | 5.84, 42.107 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393910) |
| El Suga |  |  |  | 377 m | 5.814, 44.557 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6311051) |
| Geladi Airport | Geladi | GLC / HAGL |  | 1383 ft | 6.984, 46.421 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/ET-GLC/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6311115) |
| Gerad Wilwal International Airport | Jijiga | JIJ / HAJJ | 3/21 8202 ft Asphalt | 5954 ft | 9.332, 42.912 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAJJ/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8659107) |
| God Dere |  |  |  | 417 m | 5.061, 43.973 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6311191) |
| Gode Airport | Gode | GDE / HAGO | 04/22 7505 ft PEM | 834 ft | 5.935, 43.579 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAGO/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297269) |
| Gode North |  |  | (abandoned) | 584 m | 6.099, 43.886 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393890) |
| Gurueragu |  |  |  | 446 m | 6.358, 45.734 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6311112) |
| Gurueragu East |  |  |  | 347 m | 6.306, 46.223 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393898) |
| Hanan |  |  |  | 430 m | 6.158, 44.538 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393909) |
| Har Adde |  |  | (abandoned) | 338 m | 5.882, 44.671 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6311049) |
| Kebri Dahar Airport | Kebri Dahar | ABK / HAKD | 08/26 8202 ft Concrete | 1800 ft | 6.733, 44.241 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAKD/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297274) |
| Kelafo East Airport | Kelafo | LFO / HAKL |  | 1730 ft | 5.657, 44.35 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAKL/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730589) |
| Mandera North |  |  |  | 193 m | 3.978, 41.865 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393892) |
| Mustahil |  |  |  | 318 m | 5.221, 44.734 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6311148) |
| Old Jijiga Airport | Jijiga |  | (closed) | 5500 ft | 9.361, 42.789 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/ET-0001/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7910383) |
| Shilavo Airport | Shilavo | HIL / HASL |  | 1296 ft | 6.078, 44.764 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HASL/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/11694467) |
| Warder Airport | Warder | WRA / HAWR |  | 1850 ft | 6.972, 45.333 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HAWR/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/11608649) |

## Related

- [Airports and airstrips of Gedo, Bakool, Bay and the Jubba valley](/en/infrastructure/airstrips-gedo-bakool-bay-juba/)
- [Airports of North Eastern Kenya](/en/infrastructure/airports-north-eastern-kenya/)


---

# Somalia and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on 1 October 2015, with reservations to articles 14, 20 and 21 and to any provision contrary to Sharia. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child first reviewed Somalia on 9 and 10 May 2022. Its findings of 3 June 2022 raised very low birth registration, female genital mutilation of girls aged 5 to 10, child marriage, and the recruitment of children as young as 8 by armed groups and government forces.

## What is the Convention?

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a UN treaty adopted in 1989. It sets out the rights of every person under 18, including to life, health, education, a name and nationality, and protection from violence and exploitation. Almost every country in the world has joined it. A committee of experts in Geneva reviews each country's record.

## When did Somalia join?

Somalia ratified the Convention on **1 October 2015** ([UN Human Rights Committee, concluding observations on Somalia, 2024](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4046158/files/CCPR_C_SOM_CO_1-EN.pdf)).

**Reservations.** On ratifying, Somalia made interpretative reservations to:

- **Article 14:** freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
- **Article 20:** care for children without a family;
- **Article 21:** adoption;
- and a general reservation to any provision contrary to the general principles of Sharia ([UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, 22 Jun 2022, para. 6](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)).

At the 2022 review, Somalia's delegation said the reservations came mainly from religious considerations ([Child Rights Connect, session report, 2022](https://childrightsconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sessionreport_somalia_final_en-4.pdf)). Because Somalia did not accept Article 20, its citizenship law has no rule for adopted children ([Manby, Citizenship Law in Africa, 2016, p. 57](https://web.archive.org/web/20210626151025/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/d5d1d086-1a0d-4088-b679-003e09e9c125/citizenship-law-africa-third-edition-20160129.pdf)).

## The first review, 2022

The Committee considered Somalia's first report on 9 and 10 May 2022, and adopted its findings on 3 June 2022 ([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, para. 1](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf); [UN Geneva, May 2022](https://ungeneva.org/en/news-media/meeting-summary/2022/05/le-comite-des-droits-de-lenfant-examine-le-premier-rapport-de-la)). It welcomed new bills, the Somalia Every Newborn Action Plan 2019 to 2023, a national child health strategy and the 2019 Social Protection Policy ([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, para. 3](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)).

## What did the Committee find?

All points below are from the Committee's 2022 findings ([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)).

**Who counts as a child (para. 22)**
- The 2012 Provisional Constitution defines a child as under 18.
- The constitutions of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), it said, define a child as under 15.
- Under Sharia and custom, as described to the Committee, childhood ends at physical maturity, between 12 and 14.

**Birth registration and nationality (para. 32)**
- Birth registration coverage "remains extremely low", despite efforts in some districts of Puntland and Somaliland.
- There was no legal framework to register a child at birth.
- Somali women cannot pass citizenship to their children unless the father is also Somali, and the Citizenship Amendment Bill had not moved since 2016. See [Somali citizenship law](/en/government/somali-citizenship-law/).

**Harmful practices (para. 42)**
- Female genital mutilation is widespread, "in particular involving girls between 5 and 10 years of age".
- Progress was limited, partly because of resistance from traditional and religious leaders.
- Child marriage was common, "especially among children 15 years of age or even younger".
- It noted a draft federal bill against FGM and Puntland's zero-tolerance policy.

**Violence and sexual offences (paras. 40 to 41)**
- It welcomed sexual offences laws in Puntland and Somaliland and urged adoption of the federal Sexual Offences Bill of 2018.

**Children and armed conflict (para. 68)**
- It noted an army order banning the use of children, the children and armed conflict road map, and the programme for disengaged combatants.
- It was "seriously concerned" that children as young as 8 are recruited or abducted by armed groups and government forces, and that recruiting children was not a crime in law.

## What did it recommend?

([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf))

- Define a child as under 18 in every law, and ban marriage under 18 for girls and boys (para. 23).
- Create a legal system to register every birth (para. 33).
- Adopt the FGM bill and end child marriage (para. 43).
- Adopt the Juvenile Justice Bill (para. 67).
- Make recruiting children into armed forces a crime (para. 69).
- Withdraw the reservations (para. 7).

## Related pages

- [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [Ministry of Family and Human Rights](/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/)
- [Disengaged combatants programme](/en/institutions/disengaged-combatants-programme/)


---

# Cybersecurity and cybercrime laws, Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/cybersecurity-and-cybercrime-laws/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia has two separate bills on online security. The Cybercrime Bill, approved by the Council of Ministers on 21 August 2025, makes hacking, data breaches and online fraud crimes. The Cybersecurity Law, passed by the House of the People on 26 January 2026, sets up a national cybersecurity framework and the Somalia Computer Incident Response Team (SOM-CIRT). A cybersecurity bill of 6 chapters and 33 articles had its first reading in the Upper House on 29 August 2026.

## What laws cover cybersecurity in Somalia?

Two federal texts deal with online security. They are often confused in news reports:

- the **Cybersecurity Law**, which sets out who protects networks and how attacks are reported and handled; and
- the **Cybercrime Bill**, which makes harmful acts online into crimes and lets police and courts deal with them.

Somalia's [Data Protection Act 2023](/en/government/data-protection-act-2023/) also places security duties on anyone who handles personal data.

## The Cybersecurity Law

The House of the People of the Federal Parliament approved the Cybersecurity Law on **26 January 2026** ([SONNA, 26 January 2026](https://sonna.so/en/house-of-the-people-of-the-federal-parliament-of-somalia-approves-cybersecurity-bill/)). According to [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) and [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), the law:

- creates a national framework for managing cybersecurity;
- sets up the **Somalia Computer Incident Response Team (SOM-CIRT)**;
- sets out the duties of the Ministry of Communications and Technology and the technical role of the [National Communications Authority](/en/institutions/national-communications-authority/);
- places duties on operators of critical infrastructure; and
- sets out how incidents are prevented, reported and handled

([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/house-of-the-people-of-the-federal-parliament-of-somalia-approves-cybersecurity-bill/); [Goobjoog, 26 January 2026](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalias-lower-house-passes-cybersecurity-bill)).

National Communications Authority Director General Mustafa Yasin [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) called the vote "an important step" toward a coordinated national system. State Minister of Communications and Technology Ahmed Osman Dirie called the law "a critical pillar" for national cybersecurity ([Radio Dalsan, 26 January 2026](https://radiodalsan.com/2026/01/26/somalia-approves-cybersecurity-law-what-you-need-to-know/)).

On **29 August 2026** the Upper House held the first reading of a cybersecurity bill with **6 chapters and 33 articles**, described as a legal framework to prevent and respond to cyberattacks on internet infrastructure and digital services. It was read at the first sitting of the Senate's eighth session, chaired by Speaker Abdi Hashi Abdullahi, and was due for second and third readings ([Dawan, 29 August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-senate-holds-first-reading-of-cybersecurity-meteorological-agency-bills)).

## The Cybercrime Bill

The Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/), approved the **Cybercrime Bill** on **21 August 2025**. It was presented by the Minister of Communications and Technology ([SONNA, 21 August 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somali-cabinet-approves-landmark-cybersecurity-bill-to-boost-digital-security/)). SONNA reported that the bill:

- protects the safety and security of computer systems, networks and programs;
- bans the illegal use of computer systems;
- gives police a legal basis to detect, investigate and prosecute cybercrime; and
- names hacking, data breaches and online financial fraud as threats it covers.

The House of the People later began its review of a cybercrimes law ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/house-of-the-people-approves-accountants-bill-amendments-and-initiates-review-of-cybercrimes-law/)).

## Timeline

| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 21 August 2025 | Cabinet approves the Cybercrime Bill |
| 26 January 2026 | House of the People approves the Cybersecurity Law |
| 29 August 2026 | Upper House holds first reading of a cybersecurity bill (6 chapters, 33 articles) |

Sources: as cited above.

## Related pages

- [National Communications Authority](/en/institutions/national-communications-authority/)
- [Ministry of Communications and Technology](/en/institutions/ministry-of-communications-and-technology/)
- [Data Protection Act 2023](/en/government/data-protection-act-2023/)


---

# Somalia and Malaysia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/malaysia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Malaysia and Somalia are linked mainly by trade, education and refugees. Malaysia exported US$96.9 million of goods to Somalia in 2024, mostly palm oil and dairy products, and about 2,945 Somalis were registered with UNHCR in Malaysia in February 2026. A Malaysian soldier was killed with the UN force in Mogadishu on 3 October 1993.

## How do Somalia and Malaysia relate today?

Somalia has an ambassador in Malaysia. In June 2025 Ambassador Ali Mohamed Abukar (Wolf) took part in a visit to Kuala Lumpur by Education Minister Farah [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulkadir and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).

The main links today:

- **Trade:** Malaysia exported US$96.9 million of goods to Somalia in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **Education:** in July 2026 Hormuud University in Mogadishu sent its first students abroad, on an exchange with Universiti Malaysia Perlis ([Dawan Africa, 27 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-students-to-depart-for-malaysia-under-new-academic-exchange-programme)).
- **Refugees:** about 2,945 Somalis were registered with UNHCR in Malaysia at the end of February 2026 ([UNHCR Malaysia, Figures at a glance](https://unhcr.org/my/what-we-do/figures-glance-malaysia)).

## When did contact begin?

The first recorded state contact found for this page is Malaysia's part in the UN operation in Somalia in 1993. A Malaysian soldier was killed in Mogadishu on 3 October 1993, alongside 18 US soldiers ([Human Rights Watch, World Report 1994](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)).

The date on which the two countries established diplomatic relations was not found in records that could be opened for this page.

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Ali Mohamed Abukar (Wolf):** Somali ambassador to Malaysia, named in June 2025 ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).

Malaysian envoys accredited to Somalia were not found in records that could be opened for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir**, Somalia's education minister, led a delegation to Kuala Lumpur and met Somali students there on 9 June 2025 ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).
- **Ali Mohamed Omar**, state minister for foreign affairs, was part of the same delegation, which planned meetings with senior Malaysian officials ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).
- **Abdi Omar Shuriye**, president of Hormuud University, sent the university's first student group to Universiti Malaysia Perlis in July 2026 ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-students-to-depart-for-malaysia-under-new-academic-exchange-programme)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty or memorandum was found in records that could be opened for this page. The 2026 student exchange runs under Universiti Malaysia Perlis's International Student Hosting Programme ([Dawan Africa](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-students-to-depart-for-malaysia-under-new-academic-exchange-programme)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **June 2025:** Education Minister Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir and State Minister Ali Mohamed Omar in Kuala Lumpur ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).

No visit by a Malaysian head of government or minister to Somalia was found.

## How much do they trade?

Malaysia's reported trade with Somalia, from UN Comtrade:

- **2010:** exports US$9.4 million ([UN Comtrade, 2010](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2010&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2015:** exports US$66.7 million ([UN Comtrade, 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2015&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2020:** exports US$89.9 million, imports US$0.5 million ([UN Comtrade, 2020](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2020&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2023:** exports US$122.1 million ([UN Comtrade, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).
- **2024:** exports US$96.9 million, imports US$0.7 million ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

In 2024 animal and vegetable fats and oils, mainly palm oil, made up US$59.4 million of these exports, and dairy products US$25.9 million, followed by soap ([UN Comtrade, 2024, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=458&period=2024&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

No Malaysian government funding to Somalia appears in the UN's Financial Tracking Service records checked for this page ([OCHA FTS, 2011](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011&groupby=organization)). Malaysia's main contribution is education: about 1,500 Somali students were in Malaysia in 2011, mostly at public universities ([Hiiraan Online, 21 February 2011](https://hiiraan.com/news2_rss/2011/Feb/malaysia_most_somali_students_are_driven_to_get_an_education.aspx)).

## What about security?

Malaysian troops served with UNOSOM II in Mogadishu, and one was killed on 3 October 1993 ([Human Rights Watch, World Report 1994](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)). See [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/), [Battle of Mogadishu 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Malaysia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

No Malaysian office, agreement or statement on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states was found in the sources used. Somalia's 2025 delegation came from the federal government ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7044)).

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources used.

## How many Somalis live in Malaysia?

UNHCR listed about 2,945 Somalis among registered refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia at the end of February 2026 ([UNHCR Malaysia](https://unhcr.org/my/what-we-do/figures-glance-malaysia)). See [Malaysia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/malaysia/).

## Where does Malaysia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Malaysia contributed troops to the UN operation in Somalia in 1993 ([Human Rights Watch, World Report 1994](https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1994/WR94/Africa-08.htm)). Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation ([OIC](https://www.oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=52&p_ref=26&lan=en)).

## Related pages

- [Malaysia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/malaysia/)
- [UN intervention 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Battle of Mogadishu 1993](/en/history/battle-of-mogadishu-1993/)
- [Somalia and Pakistan](/en/relations/pakistan/)


---

# Somalia and the OIC

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/oic/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia has been a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation since its founding summit in Rabat in 1969. The OIC opened a humanitarian office in Mogadishu in March 2011, and its members pledged US$350 million for the famine that August. On 10 January 2026 its foreign ministers adopted a resolution rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland.

## How do Somalia and the OIC relate today?

Somalia is one of the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), listed as "Federal Republic of Somalia, member since 1969" ([OIC, member states](https://www.oic-oci.org/en/members)). The OIC's Contact Group on Somalia last met in Doha on 28 July 2025 ([Arab News Pakistan, 28 July 2025](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2609756/saudi-arabia)).

On 10 January 2026 the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers met in extraordinary session in Jeddah. It adopted a resolution condemning Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Dawn, 11 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1966324)). On 20 June 2026 Somalia signed a US$45 million framework for 2026 to 2028 with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the OIC's development bank ([Dawan Africa, 20 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-signs-dollar45-million-agreement-with-islamic-development-bank)).

## When did Somalia join?

Somalia took part in the First Islamic Summit Conference in Rabat, held from 22 to 25 September 1969 ([Final Declaration, Rabat, 25 September 1969](https://soufflesmonde.com/posts/final-declaration-of-the-first-islamic-summit-conference-rabat-morocco-25-september-1969)). It was one of six members of the preparatory committee, with Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iran, Malaysia and Niger, which met in Rabat on 8 and 9 September 1969 ([The Wire](https://thewire.in/diplomacy/india-pakistan-oic-first-plenary)). [Garowe Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) describes Somalia as a founding member ([Garowe Online, 27 October 2018](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-mogadishu-hosts-oic-summit-1st-time-in-history)).

Somalia joined the Islamic Development Bank on 12 August 1974 ([IsDB, Somalia](https://www.isdb.org/somalia)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu**, OIC Secretary-General, opened the International Contact Group on Somalia meeting in Jeddah on 17 December 2009 ([UNPOS, 17 December 2009](https://unpos.unmissions.org/node/100040410)). He led the Istanbul famine meeting of 17 August 2011 ([Terra Daily/AFP, 17 August 2011](https://terradaily.com/oic-members-vow-to-donate-350-million-to-somalia-999/)).
- İhsanoğlu made the first visit to Somalia by an OIC secretary-general on 8 October 2012, meeting President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) and Prime Minister [Abdi Farah Shirdon](/en/people/abdi-farah-shirdon/) ([UPI, 8 October 2012](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/10/08/OIC-leader-makes-first-trip-to-Somalia/70351349705314/)).
- **Recep Tayyip Erdoğan**, then Turkish prime minister, hosted the August 2011 meeting and visited a Mogadishu camp two days later ([Dawn, 17 August 2011](https://dawn.com/news/652475/oic-meets-on-somalia-in-istanbul); [ODI/HPG, February 2015](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/9457.pdf)).
- **Hesham Youssef**, OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, spoke for the OIC at the Contact Group meeting in Mogadishu in October 2018 ([Arab News, 29 October 2018](https://arabnews.com/node/1395376)).
- **[Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/)**, then prime minister, opened that meeting at Halane, the first OIC ministerial meeting held in Somalia ([Garowe Online, 27 October 2018](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-mogadishu-hosts-oic-summit-1st-time-in-history)).
- **Hissein Brahim Taha**, OIC Secretary-General, met Foreign Minister **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi** in Jeddah ([Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=2721)). In January 2026 he said Somalia's unity "allows no compromise or concession" ([The Peninsula, 2 January 2026](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/02/01/2026/oic-holds-emergency-meeting-on-somalia-after-israeli-recognition-of-somaliland)).
- **Bihi Iman Ige**, Somalia's finance minister, and **Muhammad Al Jasser**, IsDB president, signed the 2026–2028 framework in Baku ([Dawan Africa, 20 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-signs-dollar45-million-agreement-with-islamic-development-bank)).

## What did the OIC do in the 2011 famine?

The OIC's humanitarian department, ICHAD, opened its Humanitarian Coordination Office in Mogadishu in March 2011. It grew from five staff to 35, almost all Somali ([ODI/HPG, February 2015](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/9457.pdf)). İhsanoğlu had announced in December 2009 that a mission would open from January 2010 ([ReliefWeb](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/ihsanoglu-oic-open-humanitarian-mission-mogadishu-2010-assist-reconstruction-somalia)).

On 17 August 2011 about 40 member states met in Istanbul and pledged US$350 million, against a target of US$500 million. Turkey's share was US$150 million ([Terra Daily/AFP, 17 August 2011](https://terradaily.com/oic-members-vow-to-donate-350-million-to-somalia-999/)). The meeting set up a Somali Task Force of Kazakhstan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and the OIC Secretariat ([ODI/HPG, 2015](https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/9457.pdf)).

The OIC coordinated about 40 aid groups as the "OIC Coalition", including the [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/) Red Crescent, IIRO and IHH. It distributed 25,000 tonnes of food during the famine (same source). A Saudi campaign set up by King Abdullah earmarked US$72 million over two years for recovery through the OIC. This had built 18 primary schools and rehabilitated 15 secondary schools by 2015 (same source).

## What has the Islamic Development Bank funded?

- **Totals:** 89 projects, 84 completed and five active, with total funding listed as 129 million ([IsDB, Somalia](https://www.isdb.org/somalia)).
- **2016:** a US$4.9 million agreement for higher education (same source).
- **2026–2028:** a US$45 million Country Engagement Framework for energy, agriculture, health and vocational training ([Dawan Africa, 20 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-signs-dollar45-million-agreement-with-islamic-development-bank)).
- **Debt:** Somalia owed the IsDB US$27.87 million at the end of 2025 and repaid US$0.14 million that year ([Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report FY2025](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)). See [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## Which OIC meetings has Somalia attended or hosted?

- **22–25 September 1969:** first Islamic summit, Rabat (see above).
- **17 December 2009:** International Contact Group on Somalia, hosted by the OIC in Jeddah ([UNPOS](https://unpos.unmissions.org/node/100040410)).
- **17 August 2011:** emergency ministerial meeting on the famine, Istanbul.
- **27 October 2018:** OIC Contact Group on Somalia, Mogadishu ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-mogadishu-hosts-oic-summit-1st-time-in-history)).
- **May 2024:** 15th Islamic Summit, Banjul; President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud cancelled his trip ([Dawan Africa](https://dawan.africa/news/somali-president-cancels-gambia-oic-trip)).
- **11–12 November 2024:** joint Arab-Islamic summit, Riyadh, where Hassan Sheikh gave a keynote on Gaza ([Garowe Online, 12 November 2024](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/palestinian-state-with-east-jerusalem-as-capital-is-solution-says-somalia-s-president)).
- **28 July 2025:** Contact Group on Somalia, Doha ([Arab News Pakistan](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2609756/saudi-arabia)).
- **1 and 10 January 2026:** extraordinary meetings in Jeddah on Somaliland (below).

## How does the OIC deal with Somaliland?

On 4 January 2024 the OIC General Secretariat issued a statement of solidarity with Somalia after the Ethiopia–Somaliland memorandum of 1 January 2024. It was circulated at the UN as document S/2024/35 ([UN Digital Library, S/2024/35](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4033416/files/S_2024_35-EN.pdf)).

After Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025, the OIC Executive Committee met in Jeddah on 1 January 2026 ([The Peninsula, 2 January 2026](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/02/01/2026/oic-holds-emergency-meeting-on-somalia-after-israeli-recognition-of-somaliland)). On 10 January the 22nd extraordinary Council of Foreign Ministers, called at Somalia's request, adopted a resolution rejecting the recognition ([Al-Ahram](https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/560464.aspx); [Dawn, 11 January 2026](https://www.dawn.com/news/1966324)). It also condemned the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Somaliland on 6 January 2026 (same sources).

## Where does the OIC stand at the UN on Somalia?

At the UN Security Council on 29 December 2025, [Pakistan](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-south-asia/), an OIC member, called Israel's recognition "deeply troubling" ([Al Jazeera, 30 December 2025](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/30/un-security-council-members-condemn-israels-recognition-of-somaliland)). The OIC hosted the 2009 International Contact Group meeting in Jeddah, chaired by the UN Special Representative ([UNPOS](https://unpos.unmissions.org/node/100040410)). See [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/)
- [Somalia and Turkey](/en/relations/turkey/)
- [Somalia and Saudi Arabia](/en/relations/saudi-arabia/)
- [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)


---

# Somalia and Russia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/russia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Soviet Union was Somalia's main arms supplier from 1962, built up the port of Berbera and signed a 20-year friendship treaty with Somalia on 11 July 1974. Somalia ended the treaty and expelled Soviet advisers in November 1977, after Moscow backed Ethiopia in the Ogaden war. Ties since then have been small: Russian exports to Somalia reached US$14.8 million in 2021, mostly wheat, and Russia's position on Somalia is now set mainly in the UN Security Council.

## How do Somalia and Russia relate today?

Relations are formal but thin. Somalia has an embassy in Moscow; Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame has been named as ambassador since 2016 ([Wikipedia, Russia–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). Russia covers Somalia from its embassy in Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

Trade is small and mostly one way. Russian exports to Somalia were US$14.8 million in 2021, two-thirds of it cereals, mainly wheat ([UN Comtrade, Russia–Somalia 2021](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2021&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2021&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). In 2023 Russia named Somalia as one of six African countries to receive free grain ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

Most of Russia's stated positions on Somalia today come through the UN Security Council, where it is a permanent member (see below).

## When did contact begin?

The Soviet Union and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 11 September 1960 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). In 1962 Moscow agreed to lend money to train and equip the Somali armed forces ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)).

By the late 1960s ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)):

- about 300 Soviet military advisers served with the Somali forces;
- their equipment was almost all from Eastern Europe;
- about 500 Somalis had received military training in the USSR.

Soviet non-military aid included technical scholarships, printing presses, broadcasting equipment and help for farming and industry ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)).

## What was the 1974 treaty, and why did it end?

After the 1969 coup, young Somali officers trained in the Soviet Union backed the new military government, though there was no evidence the coup was Soviet-inspired ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/21.htm)). The government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) adopted "scientific socialism" ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/21.htm)).

On 11 July 1974 the two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation ([Patman, *The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa*, Cambridge University Press, 1990, appendix A](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/soviet-union-in-the-horn-of-africa/sovietsomali-treaty-of-11-july-1974/BF551078BFC83894FF3E6F71B708B5F3)). The port and airfield at Berbera were developed by the Soviet Union in this period ([Library of Congress, Relations with the United States](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/80.htm)).

In the 1977 Ogaden war the Soviet Union sided with Ethiopia ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/80.htm)). In November 1977 Siad Barre ended the 1974 treaty and expelled Soviet advisers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)). A Soviet airlift to Ethiopia began on 28 November 1977 ([US Department of State, *FRUS 1977–1980*, vol. XVII, doc. 35](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d35)).

Somalia then turned to the United States. A 1980 agreement gave US forces access to Berbera, Kismayo and Mogadishu, and the US refurbished the Soviet-built facility at Berbera ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/80.htm)). See [The Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somali ambassadors to the USSR and Russia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)):

- Mohamed Ibrahim Liqliiqato, 1969–1970
- Mohamed Mohamoud Handule, 27 July 2007 to 2015
- Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame, from 2016

Russia has no resident embassy in Mogadishu; its embassy in Djibouti covers Somalia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Siad Barre:** Somali President who signed the 1974 treaty and ended it in November 1977 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **[Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke](/en/people/omar-abdirashid-sharmarke/) and Sergei Lavrov:** the Somali Prime Minister met the Russian Foreign Minister on 19 April 2016 and asked for help against [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **[Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/) and Arkady Dvorkovich:** the Somali Prime Minister met the Russian Deputy Prime Minister at the Davos forum in January 2018 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Mohamed Mohamoud Handule and Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame:** Somali ambassadors in Moscow from 2007 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **June 1961:** cultural cooperation agreement ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **1962:** Soviet loans for the Somali armed forces ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)).
- **11 July 1974:** Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, ended by Somalia in November 1977 ([Patman, 1990](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/soviet-union-in-the-horn-of-africa/sovietsomali-treaty-of-11-july-1974/BF551078BFC83894FF3E6F71B708B5F3); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## How much do they trade?

Russian customs figures, in US dollars ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2021&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)):

- 2015: exports 1.2 million ([UN Comtrade 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2015&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2019: exports 1.7 million, mostly cereals, machinery and vegetables ([UN Comtrade 2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2019&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2020: exports 6.9 million ([UN Comtrade 2020](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2020&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2021: exports 14.8 million, imports 0.23 million

Russia has not reported trade with Somalia to the UN after 2021 ([UN Comtrade 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=643&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## What about security?

From 1962 to 1977 the Soviet Union armed and trained the Somali army, as described above ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)). There is no Russian military presence in Somalia today in the sources found. For current foreign forces see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and, for the Soviet era, [Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/).

## How does Russia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The Soviet base at Berbera was in what is now [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/80.htm)). No sourced Russian dealings with Somaliland or the member states after 1991 were found.

## Have there been disputes?

- **1977:** Somalia ended the friendship treaty after Moscow backed Ethiopia in the Ogaden war ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations); [Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/80.htm)).
- **1978:** Siad Barre criticised Soviet influence in the Horn of Africa at the summit of the Organisation of African Unity ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **May 2010:** after Russian forces freed the tanker MV Moscow University from Somali pirates, Somalia said relations could suffer over how the suspects were treated ([Wikipedia, citing VOA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## How many Somalis live in Russia?

No UNHCR count of Somali refugees in Russia appears for 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=5&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=RUS)). Somali students went to the USSR for military and technical training from the 1960s ([Library of Congress](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)).

## Where does Russia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

In December 2025 talks on the Al-Shabaab sanctions regime, Russia backed Somalia's call to narrow the regime to Al-Shabaab and supported a sunset clause ([Security Council Report, December 2025](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/al-shabaab-sanctions-vote-on-a-draft-resolution-renewing-the-sanctions-regime.php)). It proposed removing conditions from the paragraph on changing the arms embargo ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/al-shabaab-sanctions-vote-on-a-draft-resolution-renewing-the-sanctions-regime.php)).

In the AUSSOM renewal talks the same month, Russia joined China and the African members in asking to limit the Secretary-General's reporting to the resolution's implementation ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php?print=true)). Russia voted for both resolutions, 2806 and 2809, which passed unanimously ([Security Council Report](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/12/somalia-vote-on-aussom-mandate-renewal.php?print=true)).

## Related pages

- [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/)
- [Somali armed forces, 1960–1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/)
- [The Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI): the Coca-Cola plant in Hargeisa

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI) bottles Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Dasani near Hargeisa. It was founded by the Djibouti-based businessman Ahmed Osman Guelleh, whose father's group OGF started in Djibouti in 1949. Its $17 million plant opened on 22 May 2012 and was described at the time as the largest single investment in Somaliland.

## The short version

Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI) is a drinks company headquartered in **Hargeisa** ([Busiweek, archived 2021](https://web.archive.org/web/20210421083701/https://www.busiweek.com/sbi-sets-pace-for-industrialization-in-unrecognized-somaliland/)). In early 2010 it won the licence to build and run a Coca-Cola bottling plant in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([The Guardian, 20 July 2012](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/jul/20/somaliland-bottles-hopes-coca-cola-plant)). The **$17 million** plant opened on **22 May 2012**, with Somaliland's then president [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) (Silanyo) at the ceremony ([Reuters, 23 May 2012](https://www.reuters.com/article/somalia-somaliland-cocacola/coca-cola-opens-bottling-plant-in-somaliland-idUSL5E8GN5GK20120523)). The Guardian called it Somaliland's single biggest investment to that date (same Guardian source).

Its products include Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Dasani water, plus its own **Lis** dairy and **Miiran** juice brands, with a regional depot in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Beverage Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries)). Its official website is under the name Laas Group ([Laas Group](https://laas-group.com)).

## The family and group behind it

SBI was founded by **Ahmed Osman Guelleh** (*Axmed Cismaan Geelle*), born in 1959 or 1960, with **Mustafe Osman Guelleh** as chief executive ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Beverage Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries)). National Public Radio named Moustapha Guelle and his brothers as the owners ([NPR, 28 August 2012](https://www.wgbh.org/news/2012-08-28/somaliland-a-pocket-of-stability-in-a-chaotic-region)). Their father, Osman Guelle Farah, started a business in Djibouti in 1949 and grew it into shipping, construction and property, the OGF group ([Financial Times, Coca-Cola boosts Somaliland economy, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190918113626/https://www.ft.com/content/35ab85bc-80ca-11e0-8351-00144feabdc0)).

Ahmed Osman Guelleh worked at Inchcape Shipping Services in Djibouti, rising from accountant to general manager, before starting his own firms. He held the Coca-Cola franchise for the north around 1985 and lost it when the civil war began; he regained it in late 2010 (same FT source). The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study lists the logistics firms of his **GSK Group**: Djibouti Container Freight Station, Djibouti Shipping Lines, East Africa Holdings, General Transport Services, Integrated Shipping Services, OGF Shipping, Premier Shipping Agency, Red Sea Express and Three Sixty Stevedoring ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## The dispute with Djibouti, 2017 to 2019

- In **September 2017** Djibouti authorities issued an arrest warrant for Ahmed Osman Guelleh, who was in the UAE and moved to Hargeisa ([Horn Diplomat, October 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/the-djibouti-authorities-vowed-to-arrest-tycoon-ahmed-gelle-arab-upon-his-arrival-in-djibouti/); [Somali Tribune, 8 October 2017](https://www.somtribune.net/2017/10/08/ahmed-osman-guellehs-empire-collapsing/)).
- In **March 2018** the Djibouti bank BCI Mer Rouge said GSK and Ahmed Osman Guelleh owed it about **$20 million**, a loan taken to build the Hargeisa Coca-Cola plant ([BBC Somali, 9 April 2019](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-47871748)).
- In **April 2019** the Somali news site Caasimada reported that several of his Djibouti companies, including Three Sixty Stevedoring and Djibouti Container Freight Station, had been handed to relatives of Djibouti's president ([Caasimada, 5 April 2019](https://www.caasimada.net/xog-ismaciil-cumar-geelle-oo-qoyskiisa-u-qeybiyey-hantidii-ganacsade-axmed-cismaan-geelle-ee-jabuuti/)).
- In **September 2023** the Madagascar weekly *L'Écho du Sud* ranked him second among the richest people in Djibouti, at $160 million ([L'Écho du Sud, 7 September 2023](https://www.lechodusud.com/les-10-personnes-les-plus-riches-de-djibouti/)).

## Sources disagree

- **Who founded SBI.** Wikipedia names Ahmed Osman Guelleh; NPR named Moustapha Guelle and his brothers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries); [NPR](https://www.wgbh.org/news/2012-08-28/somaliland-a-pocket-of-stability-in-a-chaotic-region)).
- **The Mogadishu plant is a different company.** A separate Coca-Cola plant in Mogadishu was reopened in 2004 by a company owned by 339 Somali shareholders who raised $8.3 million ([StrategyPage, 5 July 2004](https://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20040705.aspx)).

See also [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).


---

# Airports and airstrips of Djibouti

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airports-of-djibouti/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Djibouti has 14 recorded airfields besides military helipads. Djibouti–Ambouli in the capital is the only international airport and also hosts French, US, Japanese and Italian forces. Chabelley, south-west of the city, has a 2.4 km paved runway, and Dikhil a paved 1.8 km strip. Small fields serve Obock, Tadjoura, Ali Sabieh and Assa-Gueyla, and OurAirports lists a Hassan Gouled International Airport site at Balbala.

## About this list

The rows join **OurAirports** ([Djibouti list](https://ourairports.com/countries/DJ/airports.html)) and the **GeoNames** gazetteer ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)), with **Wikidata** where it matches. Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row; heliports are left out. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres. For Djibouti's Somali community see [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## The international airport

[Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport](/en/infrastructure/djibouti-ambouli-international-airport/) (JIB, HDAM) has a 3,150-metre runway and served 176,861 passengers in 2010; about three quarters of its traffic is military.

## Chabelley

Chabelley (HDCH), in Arta region south-west of the capital, has a paved runway, 10/28, of 7,795 feet (about 2,376 m) ([OurAirports, HDCH](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDCH/)).

## Regional towns

- **Dikhil:** an airstrip (HDDK) with a paved runway, 11/29, of 5,770 feet, at 1,520 feet ([OurAirports, HDDK](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDDK/); [Wikipedia, Dikhil Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikhil_Airport)).
- **Obock:** OBC, HDOB, one runway of 1,390 metres at 69 feet (21 m) above sea level ([Wikipedia, Obock Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obock_Airport)).
- **Tadjoura:** TDJ, HDTJ, serving the town on the Gulf of Tadjoura ([Wikipedia, Tadjoura Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadjoura_Airport)).
- **Ali Sabieh:** AII, HDAS, at 2,313 feet ([Wikipedia, Ali-Sabieh Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali-Sabieh_Airport); [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDAS/)).
- **Assa-Gueyla:** HDAG, an airstrip serving the village of 'Assa Gaila in Tadjourah region ([Wikipedia, Assa-Gueyla Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assa-Gueyla_Airport)).
- **Herkale:** HDHE, an airstrip 7 km north-west of the hamlet of Khôr 'Angar by the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, the entrance to the Red Sea ([Wikipedia, Herkale Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herkale_Airport)).
- **Moucha Island:** MHI, HDMO. Wikipedia notes that its status is unclear and that no records or photos of the strip can be found ([Wikipedia, Moucha Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moucha_Airport)).
- **Holhol:** OurAirports lists a strip at Holhol ([OurAirports, DJ-0001](https://ourairports.com/airports/DJ-0001/)).

## Hassan Gouled airport site

OurAirports lists a **Djibouti [Hassan Gouled](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/) International Airport** site at Balbala, west of the capital, with the status "closed", meaning not in service ([OurAirports, DJ-0002](https://ourairports.com/airports/DJ-0002/)).

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ado Bouri |  |  |  | 1 m | 12.603, 43.182 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393911) |
| Ali-Sabieh Airport | Ali-Sabieh | AII / HDAS |  | 2313 ft | 11.147, 42.72 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDAS/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730606) |
| Assa-Gueyla Airport | Assa-Gueyla | HDAG |  | 2050 ft | 12.189, 42.637 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDAG/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393891) |
| Biidley |  |  |  | 230 m | 11.32, 43.074 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393907) |
| Chabelley Airport | Chabelley | HDCH | 10/28 7795 ft ASP | 279 ft | 11.517, 43.061 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDCH/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/8555602) |
| Dikhil Airport | Dikhil | HDDK | 11/29 5770 ft ASP | 1520 ft | 11.098, 42.351 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDDK/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393886) |
| Djibouti Hassan Gouled International Airport | Balbala |  | (closed) | 108 ft | 11.548, 43.124 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/DJ-0002/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6301550) |
| [Djibouti-Ambouli Airport](/en/infrastructure/djibouti-ambouli-international-airport/) | Djibouti City | JIB / HDAM | 09/27 10335 ft PEM | 49 ft | 11.547, 43.16 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDAM/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6301550) |
| Hadla |  |  |  | 471 m | 11.043, 42.972 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393877) |
| Herkale Airport | Herkale | HDHE |  | 38 ft | 12.445, 43.293 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDHE/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13393912); [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5739242); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herkale_Airport) |
| Holhol Airport | Holhol |  |  |  | 11.306, 42.92 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/DJ-0001/) |
| Moucha Airport | Moucha Island | MHI / HDMO |  |  | 11.73, 43.21 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDMO/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730607) |
| Obock Airport | Obock | OBC / HDOB |  | 69 ft | 11.967, 43.267 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDOB/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7730608) |
| Tadjoura Airport | Tadjoura | TDJ / HDTJ |  | 246 ft | 11.787, 42.917 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HDTJ/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/7668295) |

## Related

- [Port of Djibouti](/en/infrastructure/port-of-djibouti/)
- [Djibouti–Addis Ababa railway](/en/infrastructure/ethiopia-djibouti-railways/)


---

# Airports of North Eastern Kenya

Source: https://calankii.com/en/infrastructure/airports-north-eastern-kenya/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Kenya's mainly Somali north-east, the counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, has 20 recorded airfields. Wajir has the only long runway, 2,795 metres, built for the Kenya Air Force in 1977–78; since 2007 flights from Somalia to Nairobi have had to stop there for checks. Garissa and Mandera have short paved strips, and Dadaab, Liboi, El Wak and other towns have airstrips.

## About this list

The rows join **OurAirports** ([Kenya list](https://ourairports.com/countries/KE/airports.html)) and the **GeoNames** gazetteer for Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties ([GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/)). Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres. For the Somali community of the region see [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/), [Dadaab and the Kenyan camps](/en/diaspora/dadaab-and-kenya-camps/) and [Somalia and Kenya](/en/relations/kenya/).

## Wajir

Wajir Airport (WJR, HKWJ) has one asphalt runway of 2,795 metres (9,170 ft) at 231 metres above sea level, about 495 km north-east of Nairobi's main airport by air. The Israeli company HZ built it in 1977–78 as a Kenya Air Force base, and in 2012 US Navy Seabees laid a new runway able to take heavy aircraft ([Wikipedia, Wajir Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wajir_Airport)).

In November 2006 Kenya suspended direct flights to and from Somalia, citing security concerns over the Islamic Courts Union. After pressure from Somali traders to restore cargo flights, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority lifted the ban in August 2007 on condition that all such flights stop at Wajir for customs, immigration and security screening. A new terminal was built and the airport was commissioned for both civil and military flights on 7 September 2007 (same source). The stop rule was still in force in January 2017 ([The EastAfrican, 2017](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Security-checks-at-Wajir-airport-remain/2558-3781130-pvoa4dz/index.html)), and the *Daily Nation* reported on direct Somalia–Nairobi flights hurting Wajir's traffic ([Daily Nation](https://www.nation.co.ke/business/Direct-Somali-Nairobi-flights-hurt-Wajir-Airport/996-3885348-a7oqtd/index.html)). Wikipedia records that as of August 2021 flights from Somalia still had to stop at Wajir.

The airport has about 100 staff, mostly police, and two military camps within its limits. It handles about seven flights a day, mostly cargo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wajir_Airport)).

## Garissa and Mandera

- **Garissa:** GAS, HKGA, about 315 km north of Nairobi by air, with one asphalt runway, 17/35, of 1,200 metres at 145 metres above sea level. It mainly serves government, aid and charter flights ([Wikipedia, Garissa Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa_Airport)).
- **Mandera:** NDE, HKMA, near the point where the Kenyan, Ethiopian and Somali borders meet, about 800 km from Nairobi by air, with one asphalt runway of 1,100 metres at 231 metres ([Wikipedia, Mandera Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandera_Airport)).

## Border and camp airstrips

- **Liboi:** LBK, beside the border town in Garissa County, one murram (gravel) runway, 12/30, of 1,800 metres at 98 metres above sea level ([Wikipedia, Liboi Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liboi_Airport)).
- **Dadaab and Hagadera:** OurAirports lists the Dadaab strip and a closed strip at Hagadera camp ([OurAirports, KE-0108](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-0108/); [OurAirports, KE-6033](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-6033/)).
- GeoNames marks further strips at El Wak, Rhamu, Takabba, Derkali, Ber Hawamadi, Khorof Harar, Dif, Gurar and Wajir West, and OurAirports lists Buna, Bute, Habaswein, Hulugho and Mado Gashi.

## Every recorded airfield

| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ber Hawamadi |  |  |  | 358 m | 3.567, 41.512 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307525) |
| Buna Airport | Buna | HKBZ |  | 1642 ft | 2.801, 39.481 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-0102/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307492) |
| Bute Moyale Airport | Bute | HKBT |  | 2128 ft | 3.338, 39.414 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-0103/) |
| Dadaab Airport | Dadaab | HKDA |  | 400 ft | 0.058, 40.318 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-0108/) |
| Derkali |  |  |  | 923 m | 3.894, 40.315 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307619) |
| Dif |  |  |  | 108 m | 1.01, 40.941 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307558) |
| El Wak |  |  |  | 386 m | 2.815, 40.855 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307541) |
| Garissa Airport | Garissa | GAS / HKGA | 17/35 3556 ft asphalt | 475 ft | -0.464, 39.648 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HKGA/) |
| Gurar |  |  |  | 895 m | 3.308, 39.544 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307648) |
| Habaswein Airport | Habaswein |  |  |  | 1.016, 39.506 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-0120/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307598) |
| Hagadera Airport | Dadaab |  | (closed) | 360 ft | 0.008, 40.383 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-6033/) |
| Hulugho Airport | Hulugho |  |  | 490 ft | -1.149, 41.047 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-6951/) |
| Khorof Harar |  |  |  | 288 m | 2.212, 40.749 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307642) |
| Liboi Airport | Liboi | LBK |  | 280 ft | 0.348, 40.882 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-LBK/) |
| Mado Gashi Airport | Mado Gashi |  |  | 1000 ft | 0.72, 39.18 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/KE-6924/) |
| Mandera Airport |  |  |  | 230 m | 3.933, 41.844 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297315) |
| Rhamu |  |  |  | 283 m | 3.925, 41.224 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307557) |
| Takabba |  |  |  | 621 m | 3.427, 40.23 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307569) |
| Wajir Airport | Wajir | WJR / HKWJ | 15/33 9193 ft ASP | 770 ft | 1.733, 40.092 | [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/airports/HKWJ/); [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/6297327) |
| Wajir West |  |  |  | 263 m | 1.782, 39.934 | [GeoNames](https://www.geonames.org/13307615) |

## Related

- [Airports of the Somali Region of Ethiopia](/en/infrastructure/airports-somali-region-ethiopia/)
- [Airports and airstrips of Gedo, Bakool, Bay and the Jubba valley](/en/infrastructure/airstrips-gedo-bakool-bay-juba/)


---

# Hass Petroleum: the Somali-Kenyan fuel company

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/hass-petroleum/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hass Petroleum is a fuel trading and retail company founded in Kisumu, Kenya, in 1997 by two Somali-Kenyan brothers, Abdirizak Ali Hassan and Abdinasir Ali Hassan, and now based in Nairobi. It opened its first filling station in 2002, entered Somalia in 2012, and in 2017 sold a 40.3 percent stake to Oman's state oil company.

## The short version

Hass Petroleum says it was founded and registered in **Kisumu, Kenya, in 1997** by the late **Abdirizak Ali Hassan** and its current chairman, **Abdinasir Ali Hassan** ([Hass Petroleum, Our history](https://hasspetroleum.com/our-history/)). It began as a fuel reseller for export, aiming at [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/)'s newly opened fuel market, and opened its first retail filling station in Kisumu in **2002** (same source; [Wikipedia, Hass Petroleum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hass_Petroleum)). Its head office is in Nairobi and its chief executive is Mohamud Salat (Wikipedia, same page).

Abdinasir Ali Hassan was born in Garissa, Kenya, and lives in the UAE and [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Wikipedia, Abdinasir Ali Hassan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdinasir_Ali_Hassan)).

## Where it works

The company lists storage depots in **Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Zambia and South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)**, and dates its entry into **Somalia to 2012** ([Hass Petroleum, Our history](https://hasspetroleum.com/our-history/)). It describes the wider business as the Hass Group ([Hass Group, About](https://hasspetroleum.com/new/about/)). In 2017 it was named business of the year at the International Somali Awards ([International Somali Awards, 2017 winners](http://internationalsomaliawards.com/#nominees)).

## The Oman stake and the Nairobi tower

In **July 2017** [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/)'s state-owned oil company bought a **40.3 percent** stake in Hass Petroleum ([Daily Nation, Local oil dealer sells big stake to Omani firm](https://nation.africa/kenya/business/local-oil-dealer-sells-big-stake-to-omani-firm-407116)). In **May 2017** building work began on the Pinnacle, a tower in Nairobi's Upper Hill planned by the Hass group and partners as Africa's tallest building, with a Hilton hotel ([The Economist, 25 May 2017](https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21722664-does-start-africas-tallest-building-signal-end-kenyas-boom-work); [Daily Nation, Hilton replies to hotel rivals with 45-floor Nairobi tower](http://www.nation.co.ke/business/Hilton-replies-to-hotel-rivals-with-45-floor-Nairobi-tower/996-3406900-egoyefz/index.html)).

## Place in Somali business

Hass is one of several large firms founded by Somalis in Kenya, alongside the trading and money transfer houses of Nairobi's [Eastleigh](/en/economy/eastleigh-somali-business/) district (see [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)). The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study notes that some newer Somali ventures in oil and gas made Kenya a key market, unlike most Somali transnational firms whose business is built around the Somali market ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- **Founding year.** The company says 1997; a 2025 local history blog says 1996 ([Hass Petroleum](https://hasspetroleum.com/our-history/); [Kisumu Kulture, April 2025](https://kisumukulture.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-rise-of-hass-petroleum-from-kisumu.html)).
- **Number of countries.** Wikipedia says more than 11; the company's depot list names 7; the 2025 blog says 9 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hass_Petroleum); [Hass Petroleum](https://hasspetroleum.com/our-history/)).

See also [Somali business pioneers](/en/economy/somali-business-pioneers/).


---

# Somalia and Bangladesh

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/bangladesh/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Bangladesh and Somalia have no embassies in each other's capitals; Somalia's ambassador in Islamabad handles Dhaka. Bangladesh sent troops to UNOSOM I and II in the 1990s. Somali pirates held two Bangladeshi ships, the Jahan Moni (December 2010 to March 2011) and the MV Abdullah (12 March to 14 April 2024).

## How do Somalia and Bangladesh relate today?

The two countries have no embassies in each other's capitals. On 30 November 2025 Sheikhnur Mohamed Hossain, Somalia's ambassador in Islamabad, called on the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) in Dhaka ([FBCCI, 30 November 2025](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)). They discussed trade and investment in livestock, medical services and medicines (same source).

In April 2026 Bangladesh joined a statement by Muslim-majority countries against Israel's plan to appoint an ambassador to [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 19 April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604200211.html)). The statement called the plan "a clear violation of Somalia's sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity" (same source).

The best-known contacts between the two peoples have been at sea. Somali pirates held the Bangladeshi ships Jahan Moni in 2010–2011 and MV Abdullah in 2024 (see below).

## When did contact begin?

Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The first large Bangladeshi presence in Somalia came with the UN missions of the early 1990s. Bangladesh is listed among the troop contributors to UNOSOM I ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html)) and [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/), which ran from March 1993 to March 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Somalia to Bangladesh:** Somalia covers Bangladesh from its embassy in Islamabad. Ambassador **Sheikhnur Mohamed Hossain** visited Dhaka in November 2025, with **Asma Haghi**, named as the embassy's diplomatic coordinator ([FBCCI, 30 November 2025](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)).
- **Bangladesh to Somalia:** no resident mission in Mogadishu was found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Balal Mohamed Cusman**, Somalia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, met Bangladesh's Foreign Minister **AK Abdul Momen** on 17 November 2021 at the IORA Council of Ministers. They agreed to work together on education, IT and agriculture ([The Business Standard, 18 November 2021](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)).
- **AK Abdul Momen** proposed contract farming on unused Somali land, places for Somali students in Bangladeshi private universities and a double taxation agreement (same source).
- **Sheikhnur Mohamed Hossain**, Somali ambassador, met FBCCI administrator **Md. Abdur Rahim Khan** in Dhaka on 30 November 2025 ([FBCCI](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)).
- **Meherul Karim**, chief executive of KSRM Group, led the company's talks that freed the MV Abdullah in 2024. He said KSRM drew on its experience with the Jahan Moni in 2010–2011 ([The Business Standard, April 2024](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/we-used-2010s-jahan-moni-rescue-experience-help-free-mv-abdullah-crew-ksrm-827961)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty or memorandum was found. In 2021 the two sides agreed in principle to cooperate in education, IT and agriculture; a double taxation agreement was proposed by Bangladesh ([The Business Standard, 18 November 2021](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **17 November 2021:** ministers met on the sidelines of the 21st IORA Council of Ministers ([The Business Standard](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)).
- **30 November 2025:** Somalia's ambassador in Islamabad in Dhaka ([FBCCI](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)).

## How much do they trade?

Bangladesh's most recent report to the UN of trade with Somalia is for 2018. That year it exported goods worth US$15.6 million to Somalia and imported almost nothing ([UN Comtrade, Bangladesh reporter, 2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=50&period=2018&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)). The main exports were ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=50&period=2018&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)):

- prepared vegetables and fruit, US$7.4 million
- sugar and sugar sweets, US$2.4 million
- medicines, US$2.3 million
- flour and bakery products, US$1.0 million
- drinks, US$0.9 million

In 2025 the two sides named livestock, medical services and medicines as areas to grow ([FBCCI, 30 November 2025](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

UN OCHA's Financial Tracking Service lists no humanitarian funding to Somalia from the Government of Bangladesh in the years checked, 2008 to 2025 ([OCHA FTS, Somalia 2011 by source](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011&groupby=organization)).

## What about security?

Bangladeshi soldiers served in UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html); [UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). Bangladesh has not been an [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) or AUSSOM contributor. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/).

**Piracy cases:**

- **Jahan Moni:** hijacked in the Arabian Sea on 5 December 2010 with 25 Bangladeshi crew and the wife of the chief engineer, and taken to the coast near Garacad on 12 December ([The Financial Express](https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/print/crew-released-jahan-moni-sails-for-oman)). The ship and crew were freed on 14 March 2011 ([Capital FM, March 2011](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2011/03/somali-pirates-free-bangladeshi-ship/)). The Business Standard later put the ransom at US$4 million ([The Business Standard, 2024](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/we-used-2010s-jahan-moni-rescue-experience-help-free-mv-abdullah-crew-ksrm-827961)).
- **MV Abdullah:** a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier of S.R. Shipping, part of KSRM Group, seized on 12 March 2024 while carrying 58,000 tonnes of coal from Maputo to Al Hamriya in the UAE, with 23 Bangladeshi crew ([BenarNews, 14 April 2024](https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/hostages-freed-04142024104335.html)). It was freed early on 14 April 2024; two pirates told Reuters a US$5 million ransom was paid, and KSRM declined to give a figure ([The Business Standard](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/we-used-2010s-jahan-moni-rescue-experience-help-free-mv-abdullah-crew-ksrm-827961)). Bangladesh's State Minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, said the ransom reports were untrue (same source).
- During the 2024 handover, payment was dropped into the sea from a plane, Somali police patrolled the shore and an EU warship stood off; two warships then escorted the ship to Al Hamriya in the UAE ([Prothom Alo, 14 April 2024](https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/1gvqcn84vi)).

See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/).

## How does Bangladesh deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Bangladesh signed the April 2026 statement rejecting Israel's plan to send an ambassador to Somaliland ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 19 April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604200211.html)). No Bangladeshi contacts with Somaliland or the member states were found.

## Have there been disputes?

No bilateral dispute was found.

## How many Somalis live in Bangladesh?

UNHCR counted 30 refugees and 28 asylum seekers from Somalia in Bangladesh at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BGD)).

## Where does Bangladesh stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

- Troop contributor to UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)).
- In 2021 Somalia asked Bangladesh to back its candidacy for a UN Security Council seat for 2025–2026; Bangladesh asked for Somalia's support for its IMO and Human Rights Council bids and on the Rohingya question ([The Business Standard, 18 November 2021](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)).
- In April 2026 Bangladesh backed Somalia's territorial integrity in the joint statement on Somaliland ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604200211.html)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Pakistan](/en/relations/pakistan/)
- [Somalia and India](/en/relations/india/)
- [Somalia and the OIC](/en/relations/oic/)
- [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/)
- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and the EAC

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/eac/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia is the East African Community's eighth member. It applied in March 2012, was admitted at the Arusha summit on 24 November 2023, signed the accession treaty on 15 December 2023 and became a full member on 4 March 2024. At least nine Somali members sit in the East African Legislative Assembly.

## How do Somalia and the EAC relate today?

Somalia is one of the eight Partner States of the East African Community (EAC), with Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) and Uganda ([EAC, home page](https://www.eac.int/); [EAC, Partner States](https://www.eac.int/eac-partner-states)). It became a full member on 4 March 2024 ([EAC, home page](https://www.eac.int/)).

The members list of the fifth East African Legislative Assembly (2022 to 2027) shows at least nine elected members from Somalia ([EALA, fifth Assembly members](https://www.eala.org/members/category/5th-assembly-2022-2027)):

- Ambassador Zahra Ali Hassan
- Faisal Roble
- Hussein Hassan Abdi
- Fahma Ahmed Nur
- Ilham Ali Gassar
- Faduma Abdullahi Mohamud
- Abdirahman Bashir Shariff
- Ambassador Abukar Abdi Osman
- Dr Abdisalam Hadliye Omer

The World Bank has published an economic assessment of what accession means for Somalia's economy ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).

## When did Somalia join the EAC?

The road took 12 years:

- **6 March 2012:** Somalia's [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) asked to join. Ambassador Abdi Hakim Ali Yasin, special envoy of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, delivered the request in Nairobi. It was addressed to Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, then EAC chair, and handed to Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula ([Capital FM, 6 March 2012](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-applies-to-join-eac-bloc/)). Al Jazeera dates the first application to 2011 ([Al Jazeera, 29 November 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next)).
- **August 2022:** after returning to office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appointed a special envoy for the accession ([Al Jazeera, 29 November 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next)).
- **24 November 2023:** the 23rd Ordinary Summit in Arusha admitted Somalia as the eighth member ([EAC press release, 25 November 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2977-east-african-community-continues-on-a-trajectory-of-expansion-as-summit-admits-somalia-into-the-bloc)).
- **15 December 2023:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, as EAC chair, signed the Treaty of Accession at State House, Entebbe, Uganda. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni was witness ([EAC press release, 15 December 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2989-somali-to-sign-treaty-of-accession-with-the-east-african-community-today); [EAC, home page](https://www.eac.int/)). Capital FM gives the signing date as 16 December ([Capital FM, 4 March 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).
- **4 March 2024:** Somalia deposited its instrument of ratification with Secretary General Peter Mathuki at EAC headquarters in Arusha and became a full member ([EAC, home page](https://www.eac.int/); [Capital FM, 4 March 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).

The treaty gave Somalia six months after signing to ratify. It also asked the EAC Council of Ministers to draw up a roadmap for Somalia's integration ([EAC press release, 15 December 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2989-somali-to-sign-treaty-of-accession-with-the-east-african-community-today)).

## What does Somalia pay and receive?

At the 2023 summit, leaders agreed a new formula for paying the EAC budget: 65% shared equally among members and 35% by size of economy ([EAC press release, 25 November 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2977-east-african-community-continues-on-a-trajectory-of-expansion-as-summit-admits-somalia-into-the-bloc)).

Membership opens the EAC common market to Somalia. Kenya's President William Ruto said Somalia's entry added "an extra 15 million people" to the common market ([EAC press release, 25 November 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2977-east-african-community-continues-on-a-trajectory-of-expansion-as-summit-admits-somalia-into-the-bloc)). President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pointed to Somalia's coastline of about 3,000 miles (same source).

Livestock is Somalia's main export, followed by bananas, fish, hides and skins ([Al Jazeera, 29 November 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next)). For trade figures see [Trade, exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).

## Who built the tie?

- **Abdi Hakim Ali Yasin:** special envoy of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed; delivered the 2012 application ([Capital FM, 6 March 2012](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-applies-to-join-eac-bloc/)).
- **Sharif Sheikh Ahmed:** President of the Transitional Federal Government when Somalia applied ([Capital FM, 6 March 2012](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-applies-to-join-eac-bloc/)). See [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/).
- **Moses Wetangula:** Kenya's foreign minister, who received the request and said it would go to the EAC organs ([Capital FM, 6 March 2012](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-applies-to-join-eac-bloc/)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud:** President; named a special envoy in 2022, called admission "a historic one", and signed the treaty ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next); [EAC press release, 25 November 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2977-east-african-community-continues-on-a-trajectory-of-expansion-as-summit-admits-somalia-into-the-bloc)). See [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/).
- **Peter Mathuki:** EAC Secretary General; attended the signing and received the ratification ([EAC press release, 15 December 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2989-somali-to-sign-treaty-of-accession-with-the-east-african-community-today); [Capital FM, 4 March 2024](https://capitalfm.africa/somalia-deposits-ratification-instrument-with-eac-sg/)).
- **Salva Kiir Mayardit:** President of South Sudan and EAC chair from the November 2023 summit; signed the treaty for the EAC ([EAC press release, 15 December 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2989-somali-to-sign-treaty-of-accession-with-the-east-african-community-today)).
- **Évariste Ndayishimiye:** President of Burundi; chaired the EAC until the admission summit ([EAC press release, 25 November 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2977-east-african-community-continues-on-a-trajectory-of-expansion-as-summit-admits-somalia-into-the-bloc)).
- **Yoweri Museveni:** President of Uganda; hosted and witnessed the signing in Entebbe ([EAC press release, 15 December 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2989-somali-to-sign-treaty-of-accession-with-the-east-african-community-today)).

## What did people in Somalia say?

Al Jazeera recorded a range of named Somali views in November 2023 ([Al Jazeera, 29 November 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next)):

- **Mohamed Abdi Waare,** former [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) president, spoke of economic and strategic openings. See [Mohamed Abdi Waare](/en/people/mohamed-abdi-waare/).
- **Abdirahman Abdishakur,** MP, said the EAC is mainly an economic bloc and Somalia had few goods or services to offer yet.
- **Bashir Sheikh-Ali,** of the Heritage Institute, said gaps in infrastructure and an independent judiciary could limit Somalia's part.
- **Abdullahi Abdi,** a Horn of Africa analyst, said the bloc gives Kenya and Somalia a way to settle future disputes.

## Does the EAC have offices in Somalia?

The EAC Secretariat and the Assembly sit in Arusha, Tanzania ([EAC press release, 15 December 2023](https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2989-somali-to-sign-treaty-of-accession-with-the-east-african-community-today)). No EAC office in Somalia was found in EAC sources. For the bodies that do work inside Somalia, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## How does the EAC deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The EAC admitted the Federal Republic of Somalia as a single Partner State ([EAC, Partner States](https://www.eac.int/eac-partner-states)). Al Jazeera noted that the federal government's relations with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) had worsened over the disputed town of Las Anod, and that friction between the federal government and member states could slow ratification ([Al Jazeera, 29 November 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next)).

## Have there been disputes?

- **Kenya maritime case:** Somalia took its sea border with Kenya to the International Court of Justice, which ruled largely in its favour in 2021; Kenya rejected the ruling. Analysts named by Al Jazeera saw the EAC as a forum for such disputes ([Al Jazeera, 29 November 2023](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/29/somalia-has-joined-the-eac-regional-bloc-what-happens-next)).
- **Security worries:** some critics said Somalia could bring security problems into the bloc; others pointed to conflict in the DRC and South Sudan, already members (same source).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and IGAD](/en/relations/igad/)
- [Somalia and the African Union](/en/relations/african-union/)
- [Somalia and the World Bank](/en/relations/world-bank/)
- [Trade, exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and Morocco

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/morocco/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Morocco have had relations since January 1979. On 28 November 2025 their foreign ministers signed a 2026–2028 cooperation roadmap and Morocco raised its scholarships for Somali students to 120 a year. Somalia backs Morocco's position on Western Sahara and voted for UN Security Council Resolution 2797 on 31 October 2025; Morocco states its support for Somalia's sovereignty.

## How do Somalia and Morocco relate today?

On 28 November 2025 Foreign Ministers Abdisalam Abdi Ali and Nasser Bourita signed a cooperation roadmap for 2026 to 2028 in Rabat. It covers agriculture, fisheries, tourism, renewable energy, education, health, security and culture. They also signed a visa waiver for diplomatic passports ([Somalia MFA, 28 November 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-signs-agreement-with-moroccan-counterpart-marking-a-new-era-in-bilateral-relations/)).

Morocco raised its quota of scholarships for Somali students to 120 a year, for university, technical and vocational training (same source).

Somalia has an ambassador in Rabat, Salaad Ali Ibrahim, received by King Mohammed VI on 2 October 2023 ([Hespress, 2 October 2023](https://fr.hespress.com/332962-332962.html)). Trade is small: Morocco exported US$317,000 to Somalia in 2023 and imported US$587,000 ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/MAR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/MAR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## When did contact begin?

Relations date from 24 January 1979, according to the MEED Arab Report of that year, as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia). Both joined the OIC at its founding in 1969 ([OIC, member states](https://www.oic-oci.org/en/members)).

Somalia had no diplomatic mission in Morocco until the 2020s. The two set up a High Joint Committee in 2019 ([Morocco World News, 24 September 2022](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/09/351501/somalia-to-open-embassy-in-rabat-consulate-in-dakhla)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Salaad Ali Ibrahim**, Somalia's ambassador to Morocco, received by King Mohammed VI on 2 October 2023 ([Hespress](https://fr.hespress.com/332962-332962.html)).

Somalia announced in September 2022 that it would open an embassy in Rabat and a consulate general in Dakhla, in Western Sahara ([Morocco World News](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/09/351501/somalia-to-open-embassy-in-rabat-consulate-in-dakhla)). No Moroccan ambassador to Somalia appears in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Nasser Bourita**, Morocco's foreign minister since 2017, signed the 2019 MoUs and the 2025 roadmap and announced the 120 scholarships ([Morocco World News, 28 November 2025](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269900/somalia-renews-support-for-moroccos-sovereignty-over-western-sahara/)).
- **[Ahmed Isse Awad](/en/people/ahmed-isse-awad/)**, Somalia's foreign minister, signed three MoUs with Bourita in March 2019 ([Hiiraan Online, March 2019](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Mar/162977/somalia_signs_agreements_with_morocco_supports_morocco_s_territorial_integrity.aspx)).
- **Mahmoud Abdi Hassan**, Somalia's foreign minister, met Bourita in Dakhla in April 2022 at the opening of a research centre on child soldiers ([Morocco World News, 2 April 2022](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/04/47982/morocco-somalia-discuss-prospects-for-regional-stability/)).
- **[Abshir Omar Jama](/en/people/abshir-omar-huruse/)**, Somalia's foreign minister, announced the Rabat embassy and Dakhla consulate in New York in September 2022 ([Morocco World News](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/09/351501/somalia-to-open-embassy-in-rabat-consulate-in-dakhla)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**, Somalia's foreign minister, signed the 2026–2028 roadmap ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-signs-agreement-with-moroccan-counterpart-marking-a-new-era-in-bilateral-relations/)).
- **[Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/)**, Somalia's prime minister, met Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch in Rabat in November 2025 while attending the MEDays forum in Tangier ([Morocco World News, 27 November 2025](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269763/morocco-expresses-support-for-all-efforts-aimed-at-promoting-peace-sovereignty-of-somalia/)).
- **Aziz Akhannouch** restated Morocco's support for "the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia over its territory" (same source).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **March 2019**: three MoUs: a High Joint Committee chaired by the foreign ministers, political consultations, and training of diplomats ([Morocco World News, 2 April 2022](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/04/47982/morocco-somalia-discuss-prospects-for-regional-stability/)).
- **28 November 2025**: joint communiqué, the 2026–2028 cooperation roadmap, and a visa waiver for diplomatic passports ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-signs-agreement-with-moroccan-counterpart-marking-a-new-era-in-bilateral-relations/); [Radio Dalsan, 29 November 2025](https://radiodalsan.com/news/297155/somalia-and-morocco-forge-strategic-partnership-for-2026-2028)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **March 2019**: Foreign Minister Ahmed Isse Awad in Rabat ([Hiiraan Online](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Mar/162977/somalia_signs_agreements_with_morocco_supports_morocco_s_territorial_integrity.aspx)).
- **March–April 2022**: Foreign Minister Mahmoud Abdi Hassan in Dakhla ([Morocco World News](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/04/47982/morocco-somalia-discuss-prospects-for-regional-stability/)).
- **November 2025**: Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre in Rabat and Tangier, and Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Rabat ([Morocco World News](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269763/morocco-expresses-support-for-all-efforts-aimed-at-promoting-peace-sovereignty-of-somalia/)).

## How much do they trade?

Morocco's exports to Somalia ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/MAR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)):

- 2019: US$347,000
- 2021: US$1.81 million
- 2023: US$317,000

Morocco's imports from Somalia were US$2.60 million in 2021 and US$587,000 in 2023 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/MAR/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)). In 2023 all of Morocco's imports were in the customs group for lac, gums and resins. Its exports were mainly fuel (US$177,000) and medicines (US$75,000) ([UN Comtrade, imports](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=504&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true); [UN Comtrade, exports](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=504&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Morocco's main contribution is education: 120 scholarships a year from 2025 ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-signs-agreement-with-moroccan-counterpart-marking-a-new-era-in-bilateral-relations/)). The UN's Financial Tracking Service records one Moroccan government gift of food aid, US$6,666, in 2003 ([OCHA FTS, 2003](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2003)).

## What about security?

The 2025 roadmap includes security cooperation ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-signs-agreement-with-moroccan-counterpart-marking-a-new-era-in-bilateral-relations/)). No Moroccan troops or training missions appear in the sources found. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Morocco deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **28 December 2025**: Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE did not sign the joint statement of 21 states and the OIC against Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)).
- **May 2026**: Morocco signed a 19-state statement rejecting Somaliland's plan for an embassy in Jerusalem and backing Somalia's territorial integrity ([Al-Quds, 26 May 2026](https://alquds.com/en/posts/241380)).
- **November 2025**: Akhannouch restated support for Somalia's sovereignty over its territory ([Morocco World News](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269763/morocco-expresses-support-for-all-efforts-aimed-at-promoting-peace-sovereignty-of-somalia/)).

No dealings with Somaliland or the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

No disputes appear in the sources found. On Western Sahara, Somalia backs Morocco. On 17 November 2020 Somalia's foreign ministry said it "stands alongside the brotherly Kingdom of Morocco" over the reopening of the Guerguerat crossing ([Morocco World News, 2 April 2022](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/04/47982/morocco-somalia-discuss-prospects-for-regional-stability/)).

## How many Somalis live in Morocco?

UNHCR counted 86 Somali refugees and 104 asylum seekers in Morocco in 2025 ([UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Morocco stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Somalia, a Security Council member, was one of 11 members that voted for Resolution 2797 on Western Sahara on 31 October 2025 ([Morocco World News](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269763/morocco-expresses-support-for-all-efforts-aimed-at-promoting-peace-sovereignty-of-somalia/)). Both agreed in 2025 to coordinate positions in international bodies ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somali-fm-signs-agreement-with-moroccan-counterpart-marking-a-new-era-in-bilateral-relations/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Algeria](/en/relations/algeria/)
- [Somalia and the OIC](/en/relations/oic/)
- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/)
- [Foreign ministers of Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-ministers-of-somalia/)


---

# National Payment System law, Somalia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/government/national-payment-system-law/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia's National Payment System Bill gives the Central Bank of Somalia legal power to oversee payment systems, payment service providers and digital platforms. Drafted by the Ministry of Finance, it was passed by the House of the People in November 2025 by 154 votes to 2, and by the Upper House in January 2026 by 28 votes to 0. The payment system itself has run since 2021, and processed about US$2.4 billion in 2025.

## What is the National Payment System?

The **National Payment System (NPS)** is the platform run by the [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/) that links banks so money can move between them. It has these parts ([Central Bank of Somalia, NPS](https://centralbank.gov.so/nps/)):

- **Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS):** large payments between banks, settled at once;
- **Automated Clearing House (ACH):** bulk payments such as salaries;
- **Instant Funds Transfer (IFT)**;
- **SOMQR:** a national QR code for paying for goods, taxes and fees, launched March 2023; and
- the **Somali Payment Switch** and the **Somali Instant Payment System (SIPS)**, launched January 2025, which link banks, mobile wallets and card terminals 24 hours a day.

The Central Bank dates the NPS launch to July 2021 (same source). Bloomberg, republished by Al Jazeera, reported the launch on 10 August 2021 and quoted Governor Abdirahman M. Abdullahi: "The impact on the economy will be unprecedented" ([Al Jazeera, 10 August 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/8/10/somalia-sets-up-national-payments-system-as-it-rebuilds-country)).

For the wider idea of one shared payment network, see [One national payment system](/en/forces/one-national-payment-system/). For phone payments, see [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## What does the law do?

The system ran for four years without its own law. The Central Bank listed a draft National Payment System bill among its commitments, alongside a revised Financial Institutions Law and an Insurance Law ([CBS Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Finance, gives the Central Bank clear legal power to supervise financial transactions, payment service providers and digital platforms ([Dawan, November 2025](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-approves-national-payment-system-law)).

## How did it pass Parliament?

| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | House of the People passes the bill, 154 for and 2 against | [Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-approves-national-payment-system-law) |
| December 2025 | Upper House finance committee consults banks and the Central Bank, and amends the text | [Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/298987/senate-finance-committee-consults-banks-and-central-bank-on-national-payment-system-law) |
| January 2026 | Upper House completes the third reading, 28 for and 0 against, under Speaker Abdi Hashi Abdullahi | [Goobjoog, 12 January 2026](https://en.goobjoog.com/upper-house-passes-national-payment-system-bill-warns-of-deepening-drought) |

The sources found for this page do not report the date the President signed the law.

## How much money goes through it?

Figures from the Central Bank ([CBS Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf), Table 12):

| Year | RTGS (US$ million) | ACH (US$ million) | Total (US$ million) | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1,059 | 367 | 1,426 | 922,904 |
| 2023 | 1,298 | 410 | 1,709 | 1,062,103 |
| 2024 | 1,421 | 518 | 1,939 | 1,277,216 |
| 2025 | 1,850 | 572 | 2,422 | 1,409,151 |

In 2025 the number of transactions rose 10 percent and their value 25 percent over 2024. RTGS carried about 76 percent of the value (same source).

## Related pages

- [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/)
- [Banks](/en/economy/banks/)
- [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/)


---

# Somalia and the Netherlands

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/netherlands/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Netherlands treats Somalia as a focus country for its aid, under a 2023–2026 country strategy on justice, security, jobs and migration. Its embassy in Nairobi covers Somalia, with an honorary consul in Mogadishu, and Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker presented his credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in September 2025. Dutch exports to Somalia were US$11.5 million in 2024.

## How do Somalia and the Netherlands relate today?

"Somalia is a focus country for the Dutch government," says the Dutch embassy for Somalia ([Netherlands and You, The Netherlands and Somalia](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/the-netherlands-and-somalia)). Dutch work is guided by a Multi-Annual Country Strategy for 2023–2026 ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia)). Its main lines are ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia)):

- **Security, rule of law and human rights.**
- **Economic development**, aimed at young people facing hardship.
- **Regional safety, humanitarian aid and migration**, including investments in livelihoods for young people at risk of recruitment by armed groups.

The Netherlands has no embassy inside Somalia. Its embassy in Nairobi covers Somalia, and it cannot give consular help to people while they are inside Somalia ([Netherlands and You, consular affairs](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/consular-affairs)). An honorary consul works in Mogadishu ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/consular-affairs)).

## When did contact begin?

The record of Dutch–Somali ties in the sources found is recent. In 1993 the Netherlands was one of the countries that sent military or police personnel to the UN mission UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). For the history of the Somali community in the Netherlands, see [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Henk Jan Bakker:** Dutch ambassador to Kenya, accredited to Somalia, since 2024; he presented his credentials to President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) in Mogadishu in September 2025 ([Netherlands and You, interview](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)). He joined the Dutch foreign ministry in 1992 and was earlier ambassador to Uganda, Ethiopia and Afghanistan ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)).
- **Mohamed Bashir Osman "Midnimo":** honorary consul in Mogadishu ([Netherlands and You, honorary consul](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/honorary-consul-somalia)).

The Nairobi embassy is described as the largest Dutch embassy in Africa ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Henk Jan Bakker:** in his first, 24-hour visit to Mogadishu in September 2025 he discussed development cooperation, humanitarian aid and bilateral relations with the President ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)).
- **Mohamed Bashir Osman "Midnimo":** born in Mogadishu and back there since 2016, he founded the advertising agency Daauus and co-founded Guriga Oranje (Orange House), a cultural and business hub ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/honorary-consul-somalia)). As honorary consul he helps Dutch citizens, promotes Dutch trade and runs an online community for Somali alumni of Dutch universities ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/honorary-consul-somalia)).
- **[Abdalle Mumin](/en/people/abdalle-mumin/):** executive director of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, which received the embassy's Human Rights Tulip nomination, the first Somali group among the ten global nominees ([Netherlands and You, Embassy Tulip](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/embassy-tulip)).
- **Nimo Jirdeh:** executive director of the Acacia Dialogue Center, who spoke at the embassy's Tulip event ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/embassy-tulip)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **September 2025:** Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker in Mogadishu to present credentials to the President ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)).

## How much do they trade?

Dutch customs figures, in US dollars ([UN Comtrade, Netherlands–Somalia 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)):

- 2015: exports 9.6 million ([UN Comtrade 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2015&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2019: exports 18.9 million ([UN Comtrade 2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2019&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2022: exports 30.5 million, imports 1.5 million ([UN Comtrade 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2023: exports 10.8 million ([UN Comtrade 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2024: exports 11.5 million, imports 0.67 million

In 2024 the main Dutch exports were electrical equipment, medicines, dairy products and machinery ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). Almost all imports from Somalia were oil seeds such as sesame ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=528&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2)). The honorary consul's role includes opening doors for Dutch businesses ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/honorary-consul-somalia)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

The Dutch embassy does not publish yearly totals on its Somalia pages; it points to the Dutch Development Results website ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/the-netherlands-and-somalia)). Named programmes include ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/the-netherlands-and-somalia)):

- **Nexus Skills and Jobs**, investing in education and work for young people; it runs in Somalia and seven other countries.
- **Justice and local governance**, focused on people-centred justice, local government and transitional justice, with Somalia's Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, civil society and the UN.

## What about security?

Dutch security work in Somalia is civilian: rule of law, local governance and work to keep young people out of armed groups ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia)). The Netherlands contributed personnel to UNOSOM II in 1993–1995 ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). For the military side see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does the Netherlands deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The embassy's Somalia pages do not mention [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states separately ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)). Bakker said he hoped to visit other regions of the country ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/ambassador-henk-jan-bakker1)).

## How many Somalis live in the Netherlands?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 4,918 Somali refugees and 2,209 Somali asylum seekers in the Netherlands ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=5&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=NET)). Counts of everyone of Somali origin, including Dutch citizens, are much higher; see [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/).

## Where does the Netherlands stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

The Netherlands sent personnel to UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). Its main partners in Somalia today include the United Nations ([Netherlands and You](https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/somalia/the-netherlands-and-somalia)).

## Related pages

- [UN intervention, 1992–1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Netherlands (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/netherlands/)
- [Somalis in public office in Europe](/en/diaspora/somalis-in-public-office-in-europe/)


---

# Somalia and Algeria

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/algeria/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Algeria have had relations since at least March 1974. Ties grew fast in 2025: Somalia opened a new embassy in Algiers in August, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made a state visit in November, and Algeria raised scholarships for Somali students. On 8 February 2026 Algeria wrote to forgive Somalia's debt of US$1.56 million. Both sat on the UN Security Council in 2025, and Algeria rejects any recognition of Somaliland.

## How do Somalia and Algeria relate today?

Somalia has an embassy in Algiers, which moved into a new building on 10 August 2025 ([Radio Algérie, 11 August 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69165)). Algeria has no embassy in Mogadishu yet; Somalia's interior minister welcomed its planned opening in May 2026 ([Horizons, 13 May 2026](https://www.horizons.dz/2026/05/le-president-tebboune-recoit-une-lettre-de-son-homologue-somalien/)).

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) made an official visit to Algeria from 10 November 2025 and held talks with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on 11 November. They signed agreements and set up a joint ministerial committee ([Radio Algérie, 11 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)).

On 8 February 2026 Algeria wrote to confirm full forgiveness of Somalia's debt, listed at US$1.56 million at the end of 2025 ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## When did contact begin?

Abdel-Hamid Ali Yousef was appointed Somalia's ambassador to Algeria on 17 March 1974, according to the Arab Report and Record, as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia).

In the 1970s Somalia backed Arab states that opposed US policy in the Middle East, including Algeria, Iraq and Libya ([Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). Algeria pledged food aid during Somalia's 1974–1975 drought ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/59.htm)). It also lent small sums to Somalia by the late 1970s ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)).

On 15 November 1988 Algeria and Somalia were the first two states to recognise the State of Palestine ([UNESCO, 1989, cited in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somalia's ambassadors to Algeria:

- **Abdel-Hamid Ali Yousef**, appointed 17 March 1974 ([Wikipedia table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).
- **[Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/) Hassan**, credentials presented to President Tebboune on 28 April 2025 ([Radio Algérie, 29 April 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/63813)). He is also non-resident ambassador to Tunisia ([SONNA, 6 May 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/)).

Algerian envoys:

- **[Mohamed Sahnoun](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/)**, Algerian diplomat, UN Special Representative for Somalia from 28 April 1992 until he resigned later that year ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **Selma Malika Haddadi**, Algeria's ambassador to Ethiopia and the AU, was received by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) ([Algerian Embassy in Nairobi](https://embnairobi.mfa.gov.dz/fr/news-and-press-releases/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-of-somalia-receives-algerian-ambassador-to-ethiopia-he-selma-malika-haddadi)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Abdelmadjid Tebboune**, Algeria's president, met Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the Algiers Arab summit in November 2022 and hosted his 2025 state visit ([Radio Algérie, 10 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, Somalia's president, thanked Algeria for standing with Somalia "during its most difficult periods" ([Radio Algérie, 11 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)).
- **Ahmed Attaf**, Algeria's foreign minister, hosted Abdisalam Abdi Ali from 9 to 11 August 2025 and signed three MoUs ([Radio Algérie, August 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**, Somalia's foreign minister, opened the new embassy and handed a message to Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui (same source).
- **Dahir Mohamud Gelle**, presidential envoy, carried a letter from Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to Tebboune on 21 November 2024. **Kamel Baddari**, Algeria's higher education minister, carried Tebboune's reply in December 2024 ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **Ali Yusuf Hosh**, Somalia's interior minister, gave Tebboune another letter on 13 May 2026 and praised the scholarships ([Horizons](https://www.horizons.dz/2026/05/le-president-tebboune-recoit-une-lettre-de-son-homologue-somalien/)).
- **Ali [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/)**, Somalia's state minister for foreign affairs, received the first group of 27 Somali scholarship students in Algiers ([Goobjoog, 2 December 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sends-first-scholarship-students-to-algeria-as-bilateral-ties-deepen)).
- **Selma Bakhta Mansouri**, Algeria's secretary of state for African affairs, opened the new Somali embassy with Abdisalam ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69165)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **10 August 2025**: three MoUs on a joint ministerial commission, political consultations between the foreign ministries, and training of Somali diplomats by Algeria's diplomatic institute ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- **11 November 2025**: agreements signed during the state visit, with a joint ministerial committee to follow them up ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)). One report counts eight agreements ([APA News](https://fr.apanews.net/?p=268025)).
- **8 February 2026**: Algeria's letter forgiving Somalia's debt ([Ministry of Finance](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **November 2022**: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the 31st Arab League summit in Algiers ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **9–11 August 2025**: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Algiers ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- **10–11 November 2025**: state visit by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **13 May 2026**: Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Hosh received by Tebboune ([Horizons](https://www.horizons.dz/2026/05/le-president-tebboune-recoit-une-lettre-de-son-homologue-somalien/)).

## How much do they trade?

Recorded trade is tiny. Algeria's last reported exports to Somalia were US$43,500 in 2017 and its imports US$4,100 ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/DZA/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/DZA/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Scholarships are Algeria's main contribution. Sources give different figures:

- In August 2025 Algeria raised its quota from 15 to 50 university places a year ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that the agreement provides 120 scholarships, with 500 more announced in agriculture, energy and technical sciences. It said 45 Somali students were enrolled in Algeria in December 2025 ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sends-first-scholarship-students-to-algeria-as-bilateral-ties-deepen)).
- APA News reported 110 Somali students to be hosted from 2026 ([APA News](https://fr.apanews.net/?p=268025)).

Algeria also offered training for Somali experts in hydrocarbons and health ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). It forgave Somalia's US$1.56 million debt in February 2026 ([Ministry of Finance](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## What about security?

Ambassador Yusuf Ahmed Hassan said in April 2025 that Somalia wants Algeria's counter-terrorism experience ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/63813)). Defence and security were among the areas reviewed in November 2025 ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Algeria deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Algeria backs "Somalia's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity" and opposes foreign interference ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). Its foreign minister signed the 28 December 2025 joint statement against Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Radio Algérie, 28 December 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)). Algeria also signed the May 2026 statement against Somaliland's Jerusalem embassy plan ([Al-Quds, 26 May 2026](https://alquds.com/en/posts/241380)). No dealings with Somaliland or the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

None appear in the sources found. On Western Sahara the two hold different positions: in their August 2025 communiqué they backed the UN envoy's search for a solution "based on the Sahrawi people's will" ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)), while Somalia voted for UN Resolution 2797, which Morocco welcomed ([Morocco World News, 27 November 2025](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269763/morocco-expresses-support-for-all-efforts-aimed-at-promoting-peace-sovereignty-of-somalia/)).

## How many Somalis live in Algeria?

UNHCR counted six Somali asylum seekers in Algeria in 2025 ([UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). Students are counted separately; 45 were enrolled in December 2025 ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sends-first-scholarship-students-to-algeria-as-bilateral-ties-deepen)).

## Where does Algeria stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Algeria (2024–2025) and Somalia (2025–2026) sat together on the UN Security Council and agreed to coordinate there ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). Algeria sits on the AU Peace and Security Council for 2025–2028 (same source). Algerian diplomat Mohamed Sahnoun led the first UN operation in Somalia in 1992 ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Morocco](/en/relations/morocco/)
- [Somalia and Tunisia](/en/relations/tunisia/)
- [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/)


---

# Somalia and Tunisia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/tunisia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and Tunisia have had relations since July 1969. Neither keeps an embassy in the other's capital: Somalia's ambassador in Algiers, Yusuf Ahmed Hassan, presented credentials in Tunis on 6 May 2026. Tunisia called Israel's recognition of Somaliland 'a serious act' and stated its 'absolute support' for Somalia's unity in January 2026. Trade is small: Tunisia exported US$265,000 to Somalia in 2023.

## How do Somalia and Tunisia relate today?

Somalia and Tunisia are members of the Arab League, the African Union and the OIC. Neither keeps a resident embassy in the other's capital. On 6 May 2026 Somalia's ambassador in Algiers, [Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/) Hassan, presented his credentials as non-resident ambassador to Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti in Tunis ([SONNA, 6 May 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/)). They discussed trade, education, agriculture, livestock exports and regional security (same source).

Tunisia's minister stressed the will to build cooperation "notably in higher education" ([La Presse, May 2026](https://www.lapresse.tn/?p=4332753)).

Trade is small. In 2023 Tunisia exported US$265,000 to Somalia, mostly vegetable fats and cereal products, and imported almost nothing ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUN/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=788&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)).

## When did contact begin?

Relations date from July 1969, according to Ursel Clausen's *Tunisie – notes biographiques* (1976), as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia). Somalia joined the Arab League on 14 February 1974 ([Somali Archive](https://somaliarchive77.substack.com/p/the-arabs-and-somalis-need-each-other)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Yusuf Ahmed Hassan**, Somalia's ambassador to Algeria, accredited to Tunisia on 6 May 2026 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/); [Radio Algérie, 29 April 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/63813)).

No Tunisian ambassador to Somalia appears in the sources found.

## Who built the tie?

- **Mohamed Ali Nafti**, Tunisia's foreign minister, received Ambassador Hassan's credentials and spoke for Tunisia on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) at the OIC in January 2026 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/); [Webdo, 11 January 2026](https://www.webdo.tn/fr/actualite/international/la-tunisie-denonce-encore-la-reconnaissance-de-letat-de-somaliland-par-lentite-sioniste/391118/)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**, Somalia's foreign minister, met Nafti in Jeddah at the extraordinary OIC meeting on Somalia ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/minister-of-foreign-affairs-and-international-cooperation-h-e-abdisalam-abdi-ali-met-on-saturday-evening-in-jeddah-with-his-counterpart-h-e-mohamed-ali-nafti-minister-of-foreign-affairs-migrati/)).
- **Mohamed Ali Hagaa**, Somalia's state minister for internal security, met his Tunisian counterpart at the Arab interior ministers' conference in Tunis in March 2023 ([SONNA, 3 March 2023](https://sonna.so/en/state-minister-mohamed-ali-hagaa-attends-arab-league-conference-in-tunisia)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral agreements appear in the sources found.

## Which leaders have visited?

- **March 2023**: State Minister Mohamed Ali Hagaa in Tunis for the 40th Council of Arab Interior Ministers ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/state-minister-mohamed-ali-hagaa-attends-arab-league-conference-in-tunisia)).
- **6 May 2026**: Ambassador Yusuf Ahmed Hassan in Tunis ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/)).

## How much do they trade?

Tunisia's exports to Somalia ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUN/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL)):

- 2018: US$346,000
- 2021: US$907,000
- 2022: US$128,000
- 2023: US$265,000

In 2023 the main goods were vegetable and animal fats (US$185,000) and cereal preparations (US$71,000) ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=788&period=2023&partnerCode=706&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2&includeDesc=true)). Tunisia's imports from Somalia peaked at US$16,000 in 2021 ([WITS](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/TUN/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

The UN's Financial Tracking Service records no Tunisian funding to Somalia since 1999 ([OCHA FTS](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011)). Somalia owes Tunisia no debt in the Ministry of Finance's end-2025 list ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## What about security?

No Tunisian military role in Somalia appears in the sources found. Security was on the agenda of the May 2026 talks ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Tunisia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

At the OIC's 22nd extraordinary foreign ministers' meeting in Jeddah on 10 January 2026, Nafti called Israel's recognition of Somaliland "un acte grave" (a serious act). He stated Tunis's "absolute support" for Somalia's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity ([Webdo, 11 January 2026](https://www.webdo.tn/fr/actualite/international/la-tunisie-denonce-encore-la-reconnaissance-de-letat-de-somaliland-par-lentite-sioniste/391118/)).

Tunisia was not among the 21 signatories of the joint statement of 28 December 2025 ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)). No dealings with Somaliland or the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

No disputes appear in the sources found.

## How many Somalis live in Tunisia?

UNHCR counted 22 Somali refugees and 432 asylum seekers in Tunisia in 2025, against 1,045 asylum seekers in 2024 ([UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true); [UNHCR, 2024](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)).

## Where does Tunisia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Tunisia backs Somalia's territorial integrity in the OIC ([Webdo](https://www.webdo.tn/fr/actualite/international/la-tunisie-denonce-encore-la-reconnaissance-de-letat-de-somaliland-par-lentite-sioniste/391118/)). In January 2026 both foreign ministers rejected "any action that undermines Somalia's unity" ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/minister-of-foreign-affairs-and-international-cooperation-h-e-abdisalam-abdi-ali-met-on-saturday-evening-in-jeddah-with-his-counterpart-h-e-mohamed-ali-nafti-minister-of-foreign-affairs-migrati/)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Algeria](/en/relations/algeria/)
- [Somalia and Morocco](/en/relations/morocco/)
- [Somalia and the OIC](/en/relations/oic/)
- [Somalia and the Arab League](/en/relations/arab-league/)
- [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/)


---

# Somalia and the European Union

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/european-union/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The EU and its forerunner have worked with Somalia since the 1960s, when Somalia became an associate of the European Economic Community. Since 2008 the EU has run three missions linked to Somalia: the naval Operation Atalanta, the training mission EUTM Somalia and the civilian EUCAP Somalia. The EU backs Somalia's unity and called for dialogue with Somaliland in December 2025.

## How do Somalia and the European Union relate today?

The EU runs a naval operation, Atalanta, off the Somali coast and in the Red Sea. It protects World Food Programme ships and counters piracy, and it supports the EU's wider approach to Somalia ([EUNAVFOR Atalanta](https://eunavfor.eu/)). Portugal took command of the operation's force in October 2026 (same source).

The EU also has two sister missions ([EUNAVFOR, sister missions](https://eunavfor.eu/sister-missions)):

- **EUTM Somalia:** strengthens Somalia's federal defence institutions so that Somali authorities can take over security.
- **EUCAP Somalia:** builds Somalia's civilian maritime law enforcement, including in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

The EU is a donor to the World Bank's Somalia Multi-Partner Fund, which pays for core government systems ([World Bank, Somalia Multi-Partner Fund](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/brief/the-somalia-multi-partner-fund-mpf)). It also funds IGAD's free-movement project, which trained 40 Somali border and immigration officers in Mogadishu in October 2026 ([IGAD, 10 October 2026](https://igad.int/igad-ilo-and-iom-train-somali-border-police-and-immigration-officers-in-integrated-border-management/)).

## When did contact begin?

In the 1960s Italy's sponsorship allowed Somalia to become an associate of the European Economic Community (EEC), the EU's forerunner ([US Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, "Foreign Relations, 1960-69"](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/17.htm)).

## Which EU missions work on Somalia?

- **Operation Atalanta, from 2008:** set up by Council Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP of 10 November 2008 to deter, prevent and stop piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast and to protect World Food Programme ships. It was based on UN Security Council resolutions 1814, 1816 and 1838 of 2008. Its first headquarters was at Northwood in the United Kingdom, and its first budget for common costs was €8.3 million ([EUR-Lex, Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32008E0851)). Its headquarters is now at Rota naval base in Spain ([EUNAVFOR Atalanta](https://eunavfor.eu/)).
- **EUTM Somalia, from 2010:** set up by Council Decision 2010/96/CFSP of 15 February 2010 to help train Somali security forces for the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/). The first target was 2,000 recruits, trained "mainly in Uganda", with a liaison office in Nairobi ([EUR-Lex, Decision 2010/96/CFSP](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32010D0096)).
- **EUCAP Nestor, from 2012, renamed EUCAP Somalia in 2016:** a civilian mission set up on 16 July 2012 to build maritime security capacity in Djibouti, Kenya, the Seychelles and Somalia, with its headquarters in Djibouti ([EUR-Lex, Decision 2012/389/CFSP](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32012D0389)). On 12 December 2016 it was renamed EUCAP Somalia and refocused on Somalia alone: fisheries inspection, search and rescue, counter-smuggling, anti-piracy and coastal policing ([EUR-Lex, Decision (CFSP) 2016/2240](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016D2240)).

By its own count, Atalanta has transferred 177 suspected pirates to the authorities. It has protected 2,519 WFP ships carrying 3,311,078 tonnes of food and aid ([EUNAVFOR Atalanta](https://eunavfor.eu/)).

For the security side in full, see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/). For other bodies inside Somalia, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## Who built the tie?

- **Alexander Rondos:** appointed EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa from 1 January 2012. Somalia was his first priority, including support for the UN-led political process and the Djibouti Peace Agreement ([EUR-Lex, Decision 2011/819/CFSP](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32011D0819)).
- **Rear Admiral Phillip Jones:** named the first EU Operation Commander of Atalanta in 2008 ([EUR-Lex, Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32008E0851)).
- **Colonel Ricardo González Elul:** named the first Mission Commander of EUTM Somalia in 2010 ([EUR-Lex, Decision 2010/96/CFSP](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32010D0096)).

## How much money has the EU put in?

- **Debt relief:** in March 2020 the EU contributed to clearing Somalia's arrears to the African Development Bank, alongside a bridge loan from the United Kingdom ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).
- **Multi-Partner Fund:** the EU is one of the supporters of this fund, which was set up in 2013 ([World Bank, Somalia Multi-Partner Fund](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/brief/the-somalia-multi-partner-fund-mpf)).
- **Mission budgets:** EUCAP's budget was set at €12 million for 16 December 2015 to 28 February 2017 ([EUR-Lex, Decision (CFSP) 2016/2240](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016D2240)).

For all donors, see [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## How does the EU deal with Somaliland and the member states?

- **Recognition question:** after Israel recognised Somaliland in December 2025, the EU said it "reaffirms the importance of respecting the unity, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity" of Somalia. It also said: "The EU encourages meaningful dialogue between Somaliland and the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/)" ([The Media Line, 28 December 2025](https://themedialine.org/headlines/un-security-council-to-meet-as-21-muslim-countries-eu-condemn-somaliland-recognition)).
- **Maritime work in Somaliland:** EUCAP Somalia's mandate includes building maritime law enforcement capacity in Somaliland ([EUNAVFOR, sister missions](https://eunavfor.eu/sister-missions)).

## Related pages

- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)
- [Somalia and the World Bank](/en/relations/world-bank/)


---

# Somalia and Switzerland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/switzerland/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Switzerland recognised Somalia right after independence on 1 July 1960 and covers it from its embassy in Nairobi. Somalia is a priority country for Swiss development work: a new 2026–2029 programme for Somalia and the nearby dry lands of Kenya and Ethiopia has a budget of about CHF 112 million. Trade is tiny, just over CHF 367,000 in 2020, and UNHCR counted 4,565 Somali refugees in Switzerland at the end of 2025.

## How do Somalia and Switzerland relate today?

Switzerland describes its relations with Somalia as good ([Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), bilateral relations, 1 February 2026](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). It has no office inside Somalia; the Swiss embassy in Kenya is responsible for it ([FDFA, Switzerland–Somalia](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en)).

Somalia is a priority country for Swiss development cooperation ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). The current programme runs from 2026 to 2029 with a budget of about CHF 112 million, 98% of it from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) ([FDFA, cooperation programme](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/cooperation-programme-ic)). It covers Somalia together with the dry lands of north-eastern Kenya and south-eastern Ethiopia ([FDFA](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/cooperation-programme-ic)).

## When did contact begin?

Switzerland recognised Somalia immediately after it became independent on 1 July 1960 ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). It has given humanitarian aid to Somalia since independence, alongside development projects ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Swiss side:** the Embassy of Switzerland in Kenya, in Nairobi, covers Somalia, including visas and consular services ([FDFA, representations](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/swiss-representations-contacts)).
- **Cooperation office:** the SDC regional office in Nairobi runs the programme for Somalia ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

No named Swiss or Somali ambassador appears in the Swiss government pages found.

## Who built the tie?

The Swiss record names institutions rather than individuals. The SDC and the State Secretariat for Migration fund and run the programme together ([FDFA, cooperation programme](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/cooperation-programme-ic)). Its main partners are UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, the African Union and the regional body IGAD ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

## What does the Swiss programme do?

The 2026–2029 programme aims at "an inclusive and peaceful Somalia" and the nearby dry lands, built from the bottom up and aimed at the most vulnerable people ([FDFA, themes, 30 March 2026](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/themes)). It has three outcomes ([FDFA, themes](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/themes)):

- **Peace and governance:** helping communities, especially women and young people, take part in governance, and making institutions more inclusive and accountable.
- **Human development:** keeping health and water services running and cutting risks for herding and displaced communities.
- **Climate-resilient economy:** building incomes for displaced people and (agro-)pastoralists.

The programme focuses on three cross-border migration and trade corridors that link farming and herding areas with towns ([FDFA, cooperation programme](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/cooperation-programme-ic)). The previous Horn of Africa programme, 2022–2025, worked on good governance, food security, health, migration and protection ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

## How much do they trade?

Trade between the two countries was just over CHF 367,000 in 2020 ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). Switzerland imported essential oils from Somalia and sold office equipment and electronic devices ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

Swiss customs figures reported to the UN, in US dollars ([UN Comtrade, Switzerland–Somalia 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=757&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)):

- 2015: exports 1.0 million ([UN Comtrade 2015](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=757&partnerCode=706&period=2015&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2022: exports 1.3 million ([UN Comtrade 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=757&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2023: exports 1.3 million ([UN Comtrade 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=757&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- 2024: exports 0.31 million, imports 0.04 million

In 2024 most Swiss exports were optical and medical instruments ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=757&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). Imports included gums and resins such as frankincense, and essential oils ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=757&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=M&cmdCode=AG2)). Remittances from the diaspora make a significant contribution to Somalia's economy, the FDFA notes ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **2026–2029:** about CHF 112 million ([FDFA, cooperation programme](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/cooperation-programme-ic)).
- **Humanitarian aid:** given since 1960, combined with development, political, migration and security tools ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).
- **Scholarships:** Somali researchers and artists can apply for Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

## What about security?

Switzerland has no military role in Somalia in the sources found. Its peace work falls under "good governance" in its cooperation programme ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). For foreign military forces see [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Switzerland deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The Swiss programme pages describe work by corridor and community rather than by member state, and do not name [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the member states ([FDFA, themes](https://www.schweiz-somalia.eda.admin.ch/en/themes)).

## How many Somalis live in Switzerland?

At the end of 2020, 5,459 Somali citizens lived in Switzerland and 22 Swiss citizens lived in Somalia ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 4,565 Somali refugees and 1,099 Somali asylum seekers in Switzerland ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=5&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=SWI)). See [Switzerland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/switzerland/).

## Where does Switzerland stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Switzerland works with the African Union, IGAD and UN agencies in Somalia ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)). It treats Somalia as part of the Greater Horn of Africa, one of five regional priorities of its Sub-Saharan Africa strategy for 2021–2024 ([FDFA](https://www.eda.admin.ch/en/bilateral-relations-switzerland-somalia)).

## Related pages

- [Switzerland (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/switzerland/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and the World Bank

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/world-bank/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The World Bank lent to Somalia from 1965 to 1990, then stopped for almost three decades. Since Somalia cleared its arrears on 5 March 2020 and won debt relief on 13 December 2023, the Bank's IDA arm has built a portfolio of about US$2.34 billion in grants, covering cash transfers, health, water, power and budgets. It works from Nairobi.

## How do Somalia and the World Bank relate today?

The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), its fund for the poorest countries, has a Somalia portfolio of US$2.34 billion. Six regional projects add US$523 million ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).

Recent approvals listed by the Bank include ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)):

- **SPRING** (productive, resilient and inclusive growth): US$105 million.
- **Second Economic Resilience Development Policy Financing:** US$125 million, budget support.
- **BOOST-YOU** (social protection and youth jobs): US$112 million.
- **Bulsho** (community and local institutions): US$35 million.

The Bank's current plan for Somalia, the Country Partnership Framework, covers fiscal years 2024 to 2028. It aims at private-sector jobs, human capital and resilience to climate and other shocks ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).

## When did the World Bank start working in Somalia?

The Bank's first project in Somalia, a roads loan of US$6.2 million, was approved on 29 March 1965 ([World Bank Projects API, Somalia](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).

From 1965 to 1990 the Bank approved 41 projects worth about US$492 million in total (same source). They included:

- **Ports:** Mogadishu port construction, US$13 million (1973), and port modernisation, US$22.6 million (1986).
- **Roads:** four highway projects between 1968 and 1983.
- **Water:** two Mogadishu water supply projects (1978 and 1982).
- **Farming and livestock:** the Trans-Juba livestock project (1974), Northwest Region agriculture (1976 and 1985), Bay Region agriculture (1979) and the Central Rangelands projects (1979 and 1988).
- **Energy:** petroleum (1980) and gas (1984) exploration, and power rehabilitation (1987).
- **Reform loans:** agricultural sector adjustment credits of US$30 million (1986) and US$70 million (1989).

The last pre-war approval was an education rehabilitation project of US$26.1 million on 27 March 1990 ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).

## What happened after 1991?

After the state collapsed, Somalia fell into arrears and was outside the international financial system for 30 years ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). The Bank could not lend in the usual way. A few small grants were made, such as [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) primary health services and tsunami livelihood recovery in 2005 ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).

In 2013 donors and the Bank set up the **Somalia Multi-Partner Fund (MPF)**. It is a trust fund that pays for core government systems at federal and state level and helped Somalia return to normal relations with lenders ([World Bank, Somalia Multi-Partner Fund](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/brief/the-somalia-multi-partner-fund-mpf)). Its supporters are Canada, Denmark, the EU, Italy, Germany, Norway, the State and Peacebuilding Fund, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom (same source).

The first projects of the new era included public financial management capacity in December 2013 and the Recurrent Cost and Reform Financing Facility in August 2014 ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).

## How were the arrears cleared?

Somalia's arrears to IDA were cleared on 5 March 2020 with a bridge loan from Norway. Norway was repaid from a World Bank development policy grant ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).

That grant was the **Somalia Reengagement and Reform Development Policy Financing**, approved on 27 February 2020 for US$420 million, the largest single World Bank operation in Somalia ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).

On 25 March 2020 the IMF and World Bank declared Somalia eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). The same month Somalia joined MIGA, the World Bank Group's investment-guarantee agency ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).

The IDA board approved the completion point on 12 December 2023, and the IMF the next day. IDA's share of the relief was US$448.5 million, plus US$96.4 million under a second scheme, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative ([IMF press release 23/438, 13 December 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)). For the full debt story see [Somalia and the IMF](/en/relations/imf/) and [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## What has the World Bank paid for since 2013?

From 2013 to mid-2024 the Bank approved operations worth about US$2.9 billion in Somalia ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)). The main lines, with approval dates (same source):

- **Cash safety net (Baxnaano):** Shock Responsive Safety Net, US$65 million (8 August 2019), with additional financing of US$110 million (2021), US$143 million (2022) and US$100 million (15 December 2023). The Bank says Baxnaano has reached 4 million people ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)). See [Baxnaano: Somalia's safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/).
- **Paying the government:** Recurrent Cost and Reform Financing, phases 1 to 3 (2014, 2015, 2020) and additional financing in 2022 and 2024.
- **Budget support:** Inclusive Growth development policy operations, US$100 million (2022) and US$75 million (2023), then the Economic Resilience series from 2024.
- **Health:** Damal Caafimaad, US$100 million (28 June 2021), the Bank's first health investment in Somalia in 30 years ([World Bank feature, 24 November 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/11/24/improving-access-to-maternal-and-child-healthcare-in-somaliland)). COVID-19 vaccines: US$48 million (2021) and US$23 million (2022).
- **Electricity:** Somali Electricity Sector Recovery, US$150 million (8 December 2021), and clean energy access, US$100 million (28 November 2023).
- **Cities:** Somalia Urban Resilience Project II, US$133.5 million (9 December 2019), with three later top-ups.
- **Water:** Barwaaqo rural water, US$70 million (9 December 2022).
- **Education:** education for human capital, US$40 million (2021), and Rajo Kaaba for women's education and skills, US$52 million (2022).
- **Fisheries:** Badmaal sustainable fisheries, US$50 million (12 June 2024).
- **Regional:** Horn of Africa Infrastructure Integration, US$63 million (30 September 2022).
- **Crisis recovery:** Somalia Crisis Recovery Project, US$137.5 million (15 May 2020) and US$50 million more (2021).

In 2026 the Bank's Crisis Response Window gave US$35 million for emergency cash to 498,000 people ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).

## Who built the tie?

- **David Malpass, World Bank Group President:** announced the HIPC decision point on 25 March 2020 and called renewed financing "an important landmark" ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).
- **Hassan Ali Khaire, Prime Minister:** spoke for Somalia at the decision point ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). See [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/).
- **Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa:** spoke for the Bank at the completion point in December 2023 ([IMF press release 23/438](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).
- **[Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/), President, and [Bihi Iman Egeh](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/), Minister of Finance:** spoke for Somalia at the completion point ([IMF press release 23/438](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).
- **Qimiao Fan:** World Bank division director for Kenya, Rwanda, [Somalia and Uganda](/en/relations/uganda/) ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).
- **Hideki Matsunaga:** World Bank country manager for Somalia ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)).
- **Norway:** gave the bridge loan that cleared Somalia's IDA arrears in March 2020 ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).

## Where is the World Bank's office?

The Somalia country office is at the Delta Center, Menengai Road, Upper Hill, Nairobi, Kenya ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)). Projects are run by Somali ministries, for example the Ministry of Health Development for Damal Caafimaad ([World Bank feature, 24 November 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/11/24/improving-access-to-maternal-and-child-healthcare-in-somaliland)). For other bodies in the country see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## How does the World Bank deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The Bank lends to the Federal Government, but several projects run in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and the states:

- **Somaliland civil service:** the Somaliland Civil Service Strengthening Project, US$10 million, approved on 30 June 2016, followed by a second phase ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).
- **Berbera port:** a US$4.9 million towage services project, approved on 2 October 2015 (same source).
- **Somaliland health:** Damal Caafimaad began in Somaliland in early 2024. By 2024 it had 49 working health facilities there and more than 425,000 outpatient visits, up 27% on the year before ([World Bank feature, 24 November 2025](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/11/24/improving-access-to-maternal-and-child-healthcare-in-somaliland)).
- **Puntland:** Puntland primary health services was approved on 23 November 2005 ([World Bank Projects API](https://search.worldbank.org/api/v2/projects?format=json&countrycode_exact=SO&rows=200&fl=id,project_name,boardapprovaldate,totalcommamt,status,closingdate)).
- **State systems:** the Multi-Partner Fund pays for core government systems at both federal and state level ([World Bank, Somalia Multi-Partner Fund](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/brief/the-somalia-multi-partner-fund-mpf)).

## How does the Bank see Somalia joining the EAC?

The Bank published an economic assessment of Somalia's accession to the East African Community, which Somalia joined in March 2024 ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview); [World Bank, Economic Assessment of Somalia's Accession to the EAC](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/ca270665-fad3-4593-8cfd-32e6bf1af0fa)). See [Somalia and the EAC](/en/relations/eac/).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and the IMF](/en/relations/imf/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Baxnaano: Somalia's safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/)
- [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/)
- [Electricity](/en/economy/electricity/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and the IMF

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/imf/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia joined the IMF on 31 August 1962. After almost three decades cut off by unpaid debts, it cleared its IMF arrears on 25 March 2020 and reached the HIPC completion point on 13 December 2023, cutting its foreign debt from US$5.3 billion to US$0.6 billion. A three-year Extended Credit Facility of SDR 105 million runs to 18 December 2026.

## How do Somalia and the IMF relate today?

Somalia is in the third year of an Extended Credit Facility (ECF), a low-interest IMF loan tied to reforms. The arrangement started on 19 December 2023 and expires on 18 December 2026. It was agreed at SDR 105 million, of which SDR 75 million had been drawn by 31 October 2026 ([IMF, Somalia: history of lending commitments, 31 October 2026](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/extarr2.aspx?memberKey1=870&date1key=2026-10-31)).

The IMF's fourth review of the programme was concluded in December 2025 ([World Bank, Somalia overview](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview)). Somalia owed the IMF SDR 117 million at 31 March 2026 ([IMF, Somalia country page](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM)).

The IMF's resident representative for Somalia is Jehann Jack, based in Nairobi ([IMF, Resident Representative for Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/countries/resrep/som)).

## When did Somalia join the IMF?

Somalia became a member on 31 August 1962 ([IMF, Resident Representative for Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/countries/resrep/som)). Its quota, the share that sets its voting power and borrowing limits, is SDR 163.4 million ([IMF, Somalia country page](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM)).

## What has Somalia borrowed from the IMF?

Somalia has had 16 IMF arrangements since joining ([IMF, Somalia country page](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM)). All amounts below are in special drawing rights (SDR), the IMF's unit of account ([IMF, history of lending commitments](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/extarr2.aspx?memberKey1=870&date1key=2026-10-31)):

- **1964 to 1970:** seven one-year stand-by arrangements, from SDR 2.8 million to SDR 7 million each. Somalia drew on four of them.
- **27 February 1980:** stand-by of SDR 11.5 million; SDR 6 million drawn.
- **15 July 1981:** stand-by of SDR 43.13 million, fully drawn.
- **15 July 1982:** stand-by of SDR 60 million, fully drawn.
- **22 February 1985:** stand-by of SDR 20.1 million, fully drawn.
- **29 June 1987:** stand-by of SDR 33.15 million (SDR 5.53 million drawn) and a Structural Adjustment Facility of SDR 30.94 million (SDR 8.84 million drawn). These were the last before the state collapsed in 1991.
- **25 March 2020:** Extended Fund Facility of SDR 39.568 million, drawn at once, and an ECF of SDR 252.862 million, fully drawn by 15 December 2023.
- **19 December 2023:** the current ECF, now SDR 105 million.

In all, Somalia has been promised SDR 631.33 million and has drawn SDR 529.03 million ([IMF, history of lending commitments](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/extarr2.aspx?memberKey1=870&date1key=2026-10-31)).

## How did the arrears and debt relief work?

Somalia was outside the international financial system for 30 years ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). Before re-borrowing, it had to clear its arrears.

From 2016 Somalia ran four Staff-Monitored Programmes in a row. These are IMF-watched reform plans with no money attached ([IMF, Key questions on Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM/key-questions-on-somalia)).

In March 2020 the arrears were cleared with bridge loans from donor countries ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)):

- **World Bank (IDA):** cleared on 5 March 2020 with a bridge loan from Norway.
- **African Development Bank:** cleared on 5 March 2020 with bridge financing from the United Kingdom and a contribution from the EU.
- **IMF:** cleared on 25 March 2020 with a bridge loan from Italy, repaid from the first drawing under the new IMF programme.

More than 100 countries gave resources used to clear Somalia's debt to the IMF ([IMF, Key questions on Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM/key-questions-on-somalia)).

The two milestones under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative were:

- **Decision point, 25 March 2020:** the IMF and World Bank found Somalia eligible, the 37th country to reach this stage. Its debt was about US$5.2 billion at end-2018, 110.7% of GDP in present-value terms ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).
- **Completion point, 13 December 2023:** the IMF board met on 13 December and the World Bank's IDA board on 12 December. Somalia had carried out 13 of its 14 reform triggers ([IMF press release 23/438, 13 December 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).

The relief cut external public debt from US$5.3 billion at end-2018 to US$0.6 billion at end-2023, from 64% of GDP to under 6% ([IMF, Key questions on Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM/key-questions-on-somalia)). Total debt-service savings were US$4.5 billion ([IMF press release 23/438](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)):

- **IMF:** US$343.2 million, plus US$164.3 million of relief beyond HIPC.
- **World Bank (IDA):** US$448.5 million.
- **African Development Fund:** US$131.0 million.
- **Other multilateral lenders:** US$573.1 million.
- **Bilateral and commercial lenders:** US$3.0 billion, including Paris Club members and the Arab Coordination Group.

For what Somalia still owes and to whom, see [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/).

## What did the 2020 to 2023 programme involve?

The 2020 package was a three-year blend of an Extended Fund Facility (SDR 39.57 million, 24% of quota) and an ECF (SDR 252.86 million, 155% of quota) ([IMF press release 23/437, 13 December 2023](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23437-imf-concludes-the-sixth-review-of-the-extended-credit-facility-for-somalia)). It ran for 45 months ([IMF, Key questions on Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM/key-questions-on-somalia)).

The sixth and last review was concluded on 13 December 2023 with a payment of SDR 7 million. That brought the total paid under the 2020 package to SDR 292.43 million, about US$388.7 million ([IMF press release 23/437](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23437-imf-concludes-the-sixth-review-of-the-extended-credit-facility-for-somalia)).

Reforms listed by the IMF include steady macroeconomic policy, more pro-poor spending, more domestic revenue, stronger public financial management, better bank supervision, and a stronger Central Bank ([IMF, Key questions on Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM/key-questions-on-somalia)).

## What does the current programme cover?

The new ECF was first approved on 19 December 2023 for SDR 75 million, about US$100 million ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346, December 2024](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)). It was later raised to SDR 105 million ([IMF, history of lending commitments](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/extarr2.aspx?memberKey1=870&date1key=2026-10-31)).

The programme has five aims: fiscal sustainability, more domestic revenue and better public financial management, a deeper financial sector, a better business climate and governance, and better statistics ([IMF, Key questions on Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM/key-questions-on-somalia)).

On 9 December 2024 the IMF board completed the second review and the 2024 Article IV consultation. This released SDR 7.5 million, bringing payments under the ECF to SDR 45 million, about US$60 million ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)). The report projected real growth of 4% for 2024 and 2025 ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/12/17/somalia-2024-article-iv-consultation-and-second-review-under-the-extended-credit-facility-559663)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Hassan Ali Khaire, Prime Minister:** spoke for the government when Somalia reached the HIPC decision point in March 2020 ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)). See [Hassan Ali Khaire](/en/people/hassan-ali-khaire/).
- **Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director:** welcomed the decision point in March 2020 ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).
- **David Malpass, World Bank Group President:** called the resumption of regular financing "an important landmark" in March 2020 ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President:** spoke for Somalia at the completion point in December 2023 ([IMF press release 23/438](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)). See [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/).
- **[Bihi Iman Egeh](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/), Minister of Finance:** led the government side at the completion point ([IMF press release 23/438](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)) and met the IMF team for the 2024 review ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)).
- **Jihad Azour, IMF Director for the Middle East and Central Asia:** the department that handles Somalia; he spoke for the IMF at the completion point ([IMF press release 23/438](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23438-imf-and-world-bank-announce-us-4-5-billion-in-debt-relief-for-somalia)).
- **Antoinette Sayeh, IMF Deputy Managing Director:** chaired the board meeting that completed the sixth review on 13 December 2023 ([IMF press release 23/437](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/12/13/pr23437-imf-concludes-the-sixth-review-of-the-extended-credit-facility-for-somalia)).
- **Laura Jaramillo, IMF mission chief:** headed the staff team for the 2024 talks, held in Istanbul from 17 to 25 September 2024 ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)).
- **Jehann Jack, IMF resident representative:** a member of the 2024 team ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)).
- **Central Bank Governor Abdullahi and Petroleum Minister Mohamed:** also met the 2024 mission, as the report names them ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)). See [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/institutions/central-bank-of-somalia/).
- **Bridge lenders:** Italy for the IMF arrears, Norway for the World Bank and the United Kingdom for the African Development Bank ([World Bank, 25 March 2020](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/03/25/somalia-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-enhanced-hipc-initiative)).

## Does the IMF have an office in Somalia?

The resident representative office for Somalia is in Nairobi, Kenya ([IMF, Resident Representative for Somalia](https://www.imf.org/en/countries/resrep/som)). The IMF's training and technical help for Somalia is paid for through a Somalia Country Fund ([IMF, Somalia country page](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/SOM)). For other bodies working in the country, see [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## How does the IMF deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The IMF lends to the [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/). Its programme targets cover the federal budget, the Central Bank and federal debt rules, such as the debt policy decree the prime minister issued on 15 July 2024 ([IMF Country Report No. 24/346](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2024/english/1somea2024002-print-pdf.pdf)). For the money the states and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) raise and spend, see [Member states' money](/en/economy/member-states-money/) and [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/).

## Related pages

- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/institutions/central-bank-of-somalia/)
- [Budget and taxes](/en/economy/budget-and-taxes/)
- [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and the World Bank](/en/relations/world-bank/)


---

# Hormuud Telecom: Somalia's largest phone and mobile money company

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Hormuud Telecom was founded in Mogadishu on 2 April 2002 by Somali shareholders and grew into the country's largest phone network and the operator of EVC Plus, the biggest mobile money service. It says it employs more than 20,000 people and covers most of the population with 4G and, since 2024, 5G in many towns.

## How it began

Hormuud Telecom was founded on **2 April 2002** in Mogadishu by a group of Somali shareholders, starting with 16 network sites ([Wikipedia, Hormuud Telecom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)). It grew during the years when Somalia had no working national government, building its network without a state regulator ([University of Oxford research](https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1ac123d0-39ae-4ad2-8717-23e6b4fedcf2/files/rnz806072v)).

It is privately owned by many Somali shareholders. Sources give very different counts, from about 18,000 to more than 189,000 investors ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)).

## Size

- **Mobile money:** Hormuud's **EVC Plus** is reported to handle about 155 million transactions worth about $2.7 billion a month, and to pay aid for more than 145 aid groups ([TechCabal, June 2026](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).
- **Jobs:** more than 20,000 full- and part-time staff in 2021, about 45 percent of them engineers, which would make it the largest private employer in the country ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)).
- **Market share:** estimates range from about 39 percent (Omdia, late 2023) to 45 to 47 percent ([Connecting Africa](https://connectingafrica.com/5g-networks/hormuud-telecom-launches-5g-in-somalia); [TS2](https://ts2.tech/en/internet-access-in-somalia-growth-challenges-and-the-future-of-connectivity/)).

## Services

- **EVC Plus** mobile money, used through simple phone codes on any phone. Its first transfers date from 2011 or 2012, depending on the source ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)).
- **WAAFI**, a smartphone app for payments and international transfers, launched in 2021 (same source).
- Mobile, fixed-line and home and business internet.
- **Phones on credit:** Hormuud planned to finance 100,000 smartphones for low-income users by the end of 2026, with a $19 deposit and no credit history needed ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).

## Network

- **4G** covers more than 70 percent of the population ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).
- **5G** launched in 2024 in Mogadishu, Kismayo, Galkayo, Baidoa, Dhusamareeb, Beledweyne, [Afgoye](/en/regions/lower-shabelle/), Merca, Dhobley and other towns ([Connecting Africa](https://connectingafrica.com/5g-networks/hormuud-telecom-launches-5g-in-somalia)).
- **Undersea cables:** Hormuud owns the Somali segments of the PEACE cable, 40 percent of the Somali landing of DARE1, and a share of G2A ([National Communications Authority](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)).

## Licences

- In February 2021 the Central Bank gave EVC Plus Somalia's **first mobile money licence** ([VOA](https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_somalia-issues-first-license-mobile-money-service/6202644.html)).
- Hormuud holds spectrum licence NCA-MFSL-003/2023 and is listed as compliant by the National Communications Authority ([NCA, licence register](https://mail.nca.gov.so/services/licenses)).
- The GSMA re-certified EVC Plus for secure mobile money in August 2025 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-hormuud-telecom-re-certified-by-gsma-for-secure-mobile-money-services)).

## The foundation

The **Hormuud Salaam Foundation**, set up in 2009 with Salaam Somali Bank, gave more than $5 million to COVID-19 response in 2020, built Somalia's first public oxygen plant in 2021, and gave $1 million for flood relief in 2023 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuud_Telecom)).

## See also

See [Mobile money in Somalia](/en/economy/mobile-money/), [Telecoms and internet](/en/economy/telecoms/), [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/) and [Somali business groups](/en/economy/somali-business-groups/).


---

# Telesom: Somaliland's largest phone company and the maker of ZAAD

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/telesom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Telesom is a private phone and internet company founded in Hargeisa in 2002 by local investors, the first telecom firm to work in Somaliland. In June 2009 it launched ZAAD, the first mobile money service in the Somali regions. A 2013 GSMA case study said it was owned by about 1,500 shareholders, all from Somaliland, living at home or abroad.

## The short version

Telesom was founded in **2002 in Hargeisa** by local investors and was the first telecommunications company to operate in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Telesom, About, archived 2020](https://web.archive.org/web/20200127231003/https://www.telesom.com/about)). It sells mobile and fixed-line calls, mobile and fixed broadband, SMS and cloud services, and runs the **ZAAD** mobile money service ([Wikipedia, Telesom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesom)). Its chief executive is Abdikarim Mohamed Eid (same source).

## Who owns it

A 2013 case study by the GSMA, the global mobile operators' association, said Telesom was "owned by 1,500 shareholders – all Somalilanders who live locally or abroad" ([GSMA, Innovative Inclusion: Telesom ZAAD, 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). No list of shareholders is published.

The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study of Somali business groups describes Telesom in Hargeisa and Golis in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) as entities "aligned" with Hormuud Telecom of Mogadishu, each with its own shareholders in its own territory, and says the three together held about **81 percent of SIM cards** in the Somali regions at the time ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019, box 6 and box 7](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## ZAAD, the first Somali mobile money

Telesom launched **ZAAD in June 2009**, the first mobile money service in the country ([GSMA case study, 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). With ZAAD people store US dollars on their phone, pay shops and bills, and receive money from abroad. By 2012, almost **40 percent** of Telesom's GSM customers were active ZAAD users (same source). In June 2014 ZAAD had about **450,000 registered users, 31 percent of them women** ([GSMA, Connected Women: the example of Telesom](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/programme/connected-women/reaching-half-of-the-market-women-and-mobile-money-the-example-of-telesom-in-somaliland/)). Later the service added a currency exchange function so users could swap Somaliland shillings and dollars on the phone ([GSMA, currency exchange functionality](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programme/mobile-money/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)). In 2024 ZAAD received the GSMA's Mobile Money Certification ([Nation, 2024](https://nation.africa/africa/news/somaliland-s-telesom-earns-gsma-certification-for-its-zaad-mobile-money-service-4750276)).

The money transfer service WorldRemit, founded by the Hargeisa-born Ismail Ahmed, connects to ZAAD so money sent from abroad lands in the phone wallet ([Wikipedia, WorldRemit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldRemit)). See [WorldRemit and Zepz](/en/businesses/worldremit/).

## Firsts the company claims

Telesom says it was the first to bring 2G, 3G and 4G (LTE) to Somaliland ([Telesom, Telesom First](https://telesom.com/about/telesom_first)). Before Dara-Salaam Bank opened in Hargeisa in 2010, it operated as Salaam Financial Services ([Dara-Salaam Bank, About us, archived 2019](https://web.archive.org/web/20190314175014/http://darasalaambank.com/index.php/about-us)).

## Sources disagree

- **Shareholders.** The GSMA's 2013 case study says about 1,500; a 2012 press article reported about 1,000 ([GSMA 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf); [Somaliland telecoms: cashless doesn't mean less cash, May 2012, reprinted](https://samotalis.blogspot.com/2012/05/somaliland-telecoms-cashless-doesnt.html)).
- **ZAAD launch month.** GSMA gives June 2009; the 2012 article gives May 2009 (same sources).
- **Ties to Hormuud.** Clingendael describes Telesom as Hormuud-aligned; Telesom presents itself as a Somaliland company owned by local shareholders ([Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf); [Telesom, About](https://web.archive.org/web/20200127231003/https://www.telesom.com/about)).

For all the phone companies side by side, see [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/). For mobile money across the country, see [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/).


---

# Golis Telecom: Puntland's largest phone company and the Sahal mobile wallet

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/golis-telecom/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Golis Telecom was founded in Bosaso in 2002 and is the largest phone and internet company in Puntland, with a network covering the main towns and more than 50 districts. It runs the Sahal mobile money service. Its chairman is Abdiaziz Guureeye Karshe.

## The short version

Golis Telecom (Somali: *Shirkadda Isgaarsiinta ee Golis*) was founded in **2002** to supply GSM mobile, fixed-line and internet services. Its head office is in **[Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)**, the port city and commercial capital of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) ([Golis Telecom profile, archived 2007](https://web.archive.org/web/20071022212418/http://golistelecom.com/about_g.htm)). It is the largest operator in Puntland, and its network covers the main cities and more than **50 districts** (same source).

Golis has service centres in Garowe, Qardho, Galkayo, Las Anod, [Erigavo](/en/regions/sanaag/), Armo, [Galdogob](/en/history/ethiopian-somali-border-war-1982/), Burtinle, Bursalah, [Badhan](/en/regions/badhan/), [Dhahar](/en/regions/dhahar/), Bargal and Hingalol, among others ([Golis Telecom, About us](https://golistelecom.com/about-us/)). Wikipedia lists its chairman as Abdiaziz Guureeye Karshe and its chief operating officer as [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Bari ([Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia)).

## Services

- **Sahal**, the Golis mobile money wallet, used across Puntland. Wikipedia reports Golis was certified as a licensed mobile money provider for Sahal in 2023 ([Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golis_Telecom_Somalia)).
- **Xogmaal**, an early phone information service for email, web search, exchange rates, weather and news from Somali and international broadcasters ([Golis, Xogmaal, archived 2007](https://web.archive.org/web/20071022113223/http://golistelecom.com/xogmal.htm)).
- **Kaaftoon**, a mobile banking service that Salaam Bank launched with Golis in Bosaso in August 2011 ([Puntland Voice, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141016111930/http://puntlandvoice.com/salaam-puntland-bank-boosaaso-oo-soo-bandhigtay-adeeg-loogu-magac-daray-%E2%80%9Ckaaftoon%E2%80%9D/)).

In 2005 *The Economist* reported that Somali mobile users enjoyed some of the cheapest call rates in Africa, in an article about Golis ([The Economist, Somalia calling, December 2005](http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5328015)).

## Money and growth

A 2012 Hogan Lovells Africa newsletter, written by Hassan M. Osman of the Somali Economic Forum, said Golis bought its first equipment from China for **$2.7 million** and had repaid the whole sum two years later ([Hogan Lovells Africa newsletter, September 2012](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)). A 2023 report in Kenya's *Standard* said Golis had grown to more than **1.2 million subscribers** and was investing in 4G ([The Standard, How Golis telco is changing Puntland's story](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/africa/article/2001499614/how-golis-telco-is-changing-puntlands-story)).

## How it connects with others

In 2022 Golis joined the National Communications Authority's interconnection framework, which lets customers call between networks ([NCA, interconnection framework](https://nca.gov.so/interconnection-framework/)). The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study describes Golis in Puntland and Telesom in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) as entities aligned with Hormuud Telecom, each with its own local shareholders, and reports that the three held about 81 percent of Somali SIM cards ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- **Who came first.** The 2012 Hogan Lovells newsletter calls Golis "among the first" private operators, while the same text names Somali Telecom (1994) as the first; Golis gives its own founding year as 2002 ([Hogan Lovells](https://www.hlc.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/africaseptember2012newslettersomaliatelecoms_pdf.pdf)).
- **Profit.** The same newsletter says Golis reported over $40 million of profit in 2005, the same figure it gives for Hormuud's yearly sales (same source).

See also [Telesom](/en/businesses/telesom/), [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/) and [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/).


---

# Somtel: the Dahabshiil phone company, eDahab and the DARE1 cable

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somtel/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somtel is a mobile phone and internet company based in Hargeisa that works in both Somaliland and Somalia. The money transfer group Dahabshiil bought a majority stake in 2008 and Wikipedia gives its ownership as 95 percent Dahabshiil. It runs the eDahab mobile wallet, co-owns the DARE1 undersea cable with Djibouti Telecom, and in January 2024 was reported as the first operator to launch 5G in the Somali regions.

## The short version

Somtel is a telecommunications company headquartered in **Hargeisa** that provides mobile voice, data and mobile money in both [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and Somalia ([Somtel, Regions, 2017](http://www.somtelnetwork.net/regions/); [Wikipedia, Somtel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel)). Wikipedia gives its founding year as **2009** and its ownership as **95 percent [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) and 5 percent public shares**, and says the company is registered in the British Virgin Islands ([Wikipedia, Somtel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel)). The Dahabshiil group bought its majority stake in 2008 ([Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia)). It is listed as part of the Dahabshiil group portfolio ([Somtel, Group portfolio](https://somtelnetwork.net/Dahabshiil)).

## eDahab

Somtel and the Dahabshiil group launched the **eDahab** mobile wallet in Somaliland ([Somaliland Press, archived 2015](https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144805/http://www.somalilandpress.com/somalilandsomtel-launches-e-dahab-mobile-money-services/)). In 2018 the *Somaliland Sun* described eDahab as changing how markets settle payments ([Somaliland Sun, 20 October 2018, cited in Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## The DARE1 cable

DARE1 is a **5,400 km undersea cable** linking Djibouti, Mogadishu and Mombasa, with up to 30 terabits per second of capacity. Its owners are **Djibouti Telecom and Somtel**. In October 2018 the two firms announced that their supply contract with the cable maker TE SubCom had come into force ([SubTel Forum, 2018](https://subtelforum.com/djibouti-telecom-somtel-te-subcom-dare1/)). Somalia's National Communications Authority lists Somtel as co-owner of the DARE1 landing ([NCA, submarine cables](https://mail.nca.gov.so/what-we-do/submarine-cables)).

## 5G and other links

- In **November 2013** O3b Networks agreed to supply satellite capacity to Somtel ([O3b, archived 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140102233642/http://www.o3bnetworks.com/2816)).
- Somtel's networks run on GSM, 3G (2100 MHz) and 4G LTE (800 MHz) ([Wikipedia, Somtel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel)).
- In **January 2024** Somtel and eDahab announced a 5G network, reported as the first in the Somali regions ([DatacenterDynamics, January 2024](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/somtel-launches-first-5g-network-in-somalia/); [The Star, 1 January 2024](https://the-star.co.ke/news/2024-01-01-somtel-launches-first-5g-network-in-somalia)).

## Market share

The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study said Dahabshiil, through Somtel, had about **16 percent** of Somali SIM cards, against about 81 percent for Hormuud, Telesom and Golis together, and that Dahabshiil was the second biggest competitor in Hargeisa, Garowe and Mogadishu ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). In July 2014 Hormuud, NationLink and Somtel agreed to set up a joint company so their customers could call across networks ([Wikipedia, Communications in Somalia, citing TeleGeography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia)).

## Sources disagree

- **First 5G.** Somtel's January 2024 launch was billed as the first; Hormuud also announced 5G in several towns in 2024 ([DatacenterDynamics](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/somtel-launches-first-5g-network-in-somalia/); see [Hormuud Telecom](/en/businesses/hormuud-telecom/)).
- **Founding year.** Wikipedia gives 2009; Dahabshiil's stake dates from 2008 ([Wikipedia, Somtel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somtel)).

See also [Dahabshiil](/en/businesses/dahabshiil/) and [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/).


---

# SomCable: the fibre internet company of Somaliland

Source: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somcable/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-12

> Somaliland Cable (SomCable) is a private internet and fibre company in Hargeisa, founded in 2010 by the businessman Mohamed Said Guedi (Mohamed Aw Said). It built a fibre line from Djibouti to Berbera and inland, completed in 2014, became the first fibre network in Somaliland in 2015, and covers more than 1,700 km.

## The short version

Somaliland Cable, known as **SomCable**, is a private internet service provider based in **Hargeisa** ([SomCable, Company profile](https://somcable.com/page-about-3.html)). It was founded in **2010** by the local businessman Mohamed Aw Said ([Wajaale News](http://www.wajaalenews.net/?p=48576)), who is also known as **Mohamed Said Guedi**, its founder and chief executive ([AllAfrica, 29 October 2019](https://allafrica.com/stories/201910290034.html)). His trading group is MSG ([MSG Trading Est., listed in Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## The fibre line

In 2010 SomCable said it had a contract to bring a cable from Djibouti port to Berbera. The company says it invested **more than $100 million** and that the work employed more than **10,000 local workers**. The project was completed in **September 2014** ([AllAfrica, 29 October 2019](https://allafrica.com/stories/201910290034.html); [Wikipedia, SomCable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SomCable)). In 2015 SomCable became the first company to offer a fibre-optic network in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), and the network covers more than **1,700 km** ([Togdheer News, 2016](http://togdheernews.com/articles/07/10/2016/maqaalo-ku-saabsan-shirkada-somcable/)).

In October 2014 SomCable launched the first 4G LTE service and the first fibre-to-the-premises (GEPON/FTTP) service in Somaliland. It also links to the **Africa-1** undersea cable, built by Alcatel Submarine Networks, which lands at Berbera ([Wikipedia, SomCable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SomCable)).

## Links to Djibouti and the business community

The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study of Somali business notes that several large Somali firms depend on Djibouti Telecom for their connection to the global network, and quotes a member of parliament describing Mohamed aw Said of SomCable, "from Djibouti", and [Abdirashid Duale](/en/people/abdirashid-duale/) of [Dahabshiil](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/) as sharing land around the National Bank in Hargeisa ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)).

## Sources disagree

- **Philanthropy.** In 2019 the website *Somaliland Chronicle* published an article disputing SomCable's chairman's public account of his charitable work; SomCable and other outlets describe the chairman's donations and awards ([Somaliland Chronicle, 8 November 2019](https://somalilandchronicle.com/2019/11/08/false-advertising-somcable-chairman-lies-about-his-philanthropic-activities-in-somaliland/); [Wajaale News](http://www.wajaalenews.net/?p=48576)).
- **Size of the investment.** The $100 million and 10,000 workers figures come from the company and press interviews; the company does not publish audited accounts ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/201910290034.html)).

See also [Telecoms and internet in Somalia](/en/economy/telecoms/) and [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/).


---

# Somalia and Australia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/australia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Australia and Somalia set up formal diplomatic relations on 20 April 2010. Australia has no embassy in Somalia; its main links are aid, peacekeeping in the 1990s and a Somali community of 18,401 people by ancestry in 2021. Australian aid peaked at US$63.1 million in the 2011 famine year and was US$1.5 million in 2024.

## How do Somalia and Australia relate today?

The two countries have had formal diplomatic relations since 20 April 2010, according to an Australian parliamentary report cited by Wikipedia ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). Neither has an embassy in the other's capital.

The links today are mostly people and aid. The 2021 Census counted 18,401 people of Somali ancestry in Australia, and 8,101 people born in Somalia ([Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census QuickStats](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). Australian official aid to Somalia was US$1.5 million in 2024 ([OECD, DAC2a aid data](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/AUS+KOR+BRA+IDN.SOM.206.USD.V?startPeriod=2000&endPeriod=2024)).

## When did contact begin?

The earliest recorded state link is in fishing. Somalia set up fishing cooperatives at Eyl, Cadale and Baraawe in 1975 with Soviet trawlers ([US Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/59.htm)). When Soviet personnel left Somalia in 1978, Australia and Italy supported these projects ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/59.htm)).

Australia also mattered to Somalia's main export trade. In the 1980s Saudi Arabia banned Somali cattle over rinderpest, and the Library of Congress study noted claims that Saudi businessmen had invested in Australian ranches ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/61.htm)). The ban left Somalia with a large budget deficit ([Library of Congress, 1992](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/61.htm)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

No resident ambassador has served in either capital. No list of Australian heads of mission accredited to Somalia was found in the sources reached for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR)** served in Baidoa in 1993 under the US-led Unified Task Force ([Australian War Memorial, film record F04174](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C268729)).
- **Abdullahi Alim**, who came to Australia from Somalia as a refugee aged five, was Western Australia's Young Australian of the Year in 2017 ([Auspire, 9 July 2020](https://auspire.org.au/news/was-2017-young-australian-of-the-year-joins-royal-family/)). He set up MYHACK, a hackathon to build tools against violent extremist propaganda ([Auspire, 2020](https://auspire.org.au/news/was-2017-young-australian-of-the-year-joins-royal-family/)).
- **Ben Murphy**, Oxfam's humanitarian advocacy lead, spoke for aid groups on the 2015 money-transfer cuts ([SBS News, 19 February 2015](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/somalis-hit-hard-by-money-transfer-cuts/rkzodz2l7)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **20 April 2010:** establishment of diplomatic relations ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

No bilateral treaty appears in the sources reached for this page.

## Which leaders have visited?

No state or ministerial visit in either direction was found in the sources reached for this page.

## How much do they trade?

Trade is small. UN Comtrade records Australian exports to Somalia of:

- US$1.2 million in 2019 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2019&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$1.0 million in 2021 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2021&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$0.5 million in 2022 and 2023 ([UN Comtrade, 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$0.3 million in 2024 and US$0.8 million in 2025 ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2025](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))

Imports from Somalia stayed under US$130,000 a year in those years ([UN Comtrade, 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Electrical equipment made up most Australian exports in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=36&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

OECD figures for Australian official aid to Somalia, in current US dollars ([OECD, DAC2a](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/AUS+KOR+BRA+IDN.SOM.206.USD.V?startPeriod=2000&endPeriod=2024)):

- 2006: US$2.4 million; 2007: US$3.1 million
- 2010: US$5.1 million
- 2011: US$63.1 million, the year of the famine
- 2012: US$16.3 million
- 2013 to 2016: between US$5.2 million and US$13.1 million a year
- 2017: US$14.3 million
- 2018 to 2020: US$6.9 million, US$9.2 million and US$3.1 million
- 2021 and 2022: US$0.7 million and US$1.4 million
- 2023: US$6.9 million
- 2024: US$1.5 million

Money also flows the other way through families. In February 2015 Westpac, the last major Australian bank serving money-transfer firms, was due to close their accounts at the end of March ([SBS News, 19 February 2015](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/somalis-hit-hard-by-money-transfer-cuts/rkzodz2l7)). The closures were part of counter-terrorism measures, and an Oxfam Australia report warned they could push people in Somalia deeper into poverty ([SBS News, 2015](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/somalis-hit-hard-by-money-transfer-cuts/rkzodz2l7)).

## What about security?

Australia sent military personnel to both UN operations in Somalia, UNOSOM I in 1992 to 1993 and UNOSOM II in 1993 to 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html); [UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). The 1 RAR battalion group patrolled Baidoa in 1993 under the US-led task force ([Australian War Memorial](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C268729)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## How does Australia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Australia's 1993 deployment was in Baidoa, now in [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/) ([Australian War Memorial](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C268729)). No Australian office, agreement or stated position on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) was found in the sources reached for this page.

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments is on record in the sources reached. The 2015 bank closures drew warnings from aid groups ([SBS News, 2015](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/somalis-hit-hard-by-money-transfer-cuts/rkzodz2l7)).

## How many Somalis live in Australia?

The 2021 Census counted 18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia, more than half of them in Victoria ([ABS, 2021](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/9224_AUS)). See [Australia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/australia/).

## Where does Australia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Australia contributed troops to UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html)). Australian votes and statements on Somalia at the Security Council were not covered in the sources reached for this page.

## Related pages

- [Australia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/australia/)
- [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and Indonesia](/en/relations/indonesia/)


---

# Somalia and Brazil

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/brazil/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Brazil and Somalia established diplomatic relations in 1987, and Brazil covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi. The tie is mainly trade: Brazil sold Somalia goods worth US$125.9 million in 2025, almost all cane sugar, and bought almost nothing back.

## How do Somalia and Brazil relate today?

Brazil has no embassy in Mogadishu and Somalia has none in Brasília. Brazil covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, according to Wikipedia, which cites the embassy's site ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

Trade is the main link. Brazilian exports to Somalia were US$125.9 million in 2025, while imports from Somalia were US$12,700 ([UN Comtrade, Brazil–Somalia 2025](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## When did contact begin?

The two states set up relations in 1987. Sources give two dates:

- **2 February 1987**, in Wikipedia's list of Brazil's relations, citing UN records ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Brazil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Brazil)).
- **2 April 1987**, in Wikipedia's list of Somalia's relations, with no source given ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Brazil's ambassador in Nairobi is accredited to Somalia ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). Somalia has no accreditation to Brazil, according to the same page ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)). Names of the Brazilian envoys were not found in the sources reached for this page.

## Who built the tie?

No named officials or business figures behind Brazil–Somalia contacts were found in the sources reached for this page. Brazil's foreign ministry site, which would hold this record, was not reachable while this page was written.

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1987:** establishment of diplomatic relations ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Brazil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Brazil)).

No other bilateral agreement was found in the sources reached.

## Which leaders have visited?

No state or ministerial visit in either direction was found in the sources reached for this page.

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Brazilian exports to Somalia of:

- US$63.5 million in 2010 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2010&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$11.8 million in 2012 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2012&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$24.6 million in 2014 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2014&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$81.4 million in 2016 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2016&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$60.7 million in 2018 and US$20.5 million in 2019 ([UN Comtrade, 2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2018&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2019&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$75.0 million in 2020 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2020&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$42.1 million in 2022 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$174.6 million in 2023 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$154.1 million in 2024 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$125.9 million in 2025 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))

Sugar dominates. In 2024 Brazil sold Somalia US$143.5 million of cane sugar and US$9.2 million of poultry meat ([UN Comtrade, by product 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=1701,0207,0202)). Sugar was also the largest item in 2023, at US$168.9 million, and in 2025, at US$120.1 million ([UN Comtrade, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2); [2025](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)).

Imports from Somalia were small: US$73,700 in 2022, US$52,600 in 2023 and US$15,100 in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=76&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Brazil does not report its aid to the OECD, and no Brazilian aid figures for Somalia were found in the sources reached ([OECD, DAC2a query](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/AUS+KOR+BRA+IDN.SOM.206.USD.V?startPeriod=2000&endPeriod=2024)).

## What about security?

Brazil is not listed among the troop contributors to UNOSOM I or [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html); [UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). No Brazilian military presence in Somalia was found. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Brazil deal with Somaliland and the member states?

No Brazilian office, agreement or stated position on [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or a member state was found in the sources reached for this page.

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources reached for this page.

## Where does Brazil stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Brazil's votes and statements on Somalia, including during its Security Council terms, were not covered in the sources reached for this page.

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Cuba](/en/relations/cuba/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)


---

# Somalia and Cuba

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/cuba/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Cuba and Somalia were close partners in the early and mid-1970s, when Cuban advisers helped train Somali guerrillas. In 1977 Fidel Castro tried to reconcile Somalia and Ethiopia without success, and Cuba sent thousands of troops to fight for Ethiopia in the Ogaden War. On 13 November 1977 Somalia broke diplomatic relations with Cuba.

## How do Somalia and Cuba relate today?

Present-day contacts between the two governments are not documented in the sources found for this page. The record covers the 1970s, when the two were close, and the break of November 1977 ([Wikipedia, Ogaden War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War)).

## When did contact begin?

Somalia and Cuba established diplomatic relations on 19 July 1972, according to a Cuban foreign-policy chronology cited by Wikipedia ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

Trade came earlier. After the October 1969 coup, the United States ended its aid programme to Somalia because ships under the Somali flag were trading with North Vietnam and Cuba, which US law barred ([US State Department study, 6 July 1973, FRUS 1969–1976, vol. E-6, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)). In June 1973 Somalia's ambassador in Washington, Abdullahi Addou, said the "Vietnam and Cuban issues" might be solved so that US aid could resume ([Memorandum of conversation, 11 June 1973, FRUS doc. 90](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d90)).

## What did Cuba do in Somalia in the 1970s?

- **Guerrilla training, 1973:** a Cuban delegation visited Somalia in mid-April 1973 and agreed to send paramilitary advisers for the final phase of guerrilla training in Somali camps ([FRUS doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)). Nearly 1,600 trainees were being gathered at one site to await them ([FRUS doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)).
- **Development help, 1975:** the US embassy in Mogadishu reported that Cubans, East Germans, North Koreans, Czechs and Bulgarians were helping the Soviet Union carry Somalia's "socialist transformation" ([US Embassy telegram, 3 September 1975, FRUS doc. 145](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d145)).
- **Security services, 1976:** the embassy wrote that Soviets, Cubans and East Germans helped organise the security police and militia ([US Embassy airgram, 25 November 1976, FRUS doc. 168](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d168)).
- **Ogaden operations, early 1977:** a White House memo noted that some Cubans in Somalia were "helping the Somalis mount guerrilla operations into Ethiopia" ([Brzezinski memo to Vice President Mondale, 1977, FRUS 1977–1980, vol. XVII, doc. 7](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d7)).

Cuban scholarships for Somali students in this period are not documented in the sources found.

## What changed in 1977?

In early 1977 Fidel Castro tried to bring Ethiopia's and Somalia's leaders together ([FRUS 1977–1980, doc. 7](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d7)). The US record says the effort "seems to have failed" and that Castro found the Somali side "more irredentist than socialist" ([FRUS doc. 7](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d7)).

By August 1977 Somali forces and insurgents held about two-thirds of the Ogaden, and Cuba backed Ethiopia ([US record, 3 August 1977, FRUS doc. 25](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d25)). By November 1977 Western governments counted about 400 Cuban military advisers in Ethiopia ([Vance memo to Carter, 12 November 1977, FRUS doc. 34](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d34)). On 13 November 1977 Somalia ended its treaty with the Soviet Union and ordered Soviet advisers out ([FRUS doc. 45, note](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d45)). On the same day it broke diplomatic relations with Cuba ([Wikipedia, Ogaden War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War)).

By 23 February 1978 nearly 10,000 Cubans were in Ethiopia, with a mechanised infantry brigade in action and about 40 Cuban pilots ([US National Security Council minutes, FRUS doc. 62](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d62)). Raúl Castro told the Soviet leadership that Cuban forces would not enter Somali territory, as reported by Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin on 14 February 1978 ([FRUS doc. 56](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d56)).

## Who built and broke the tie?

- **Siad Barre**, President of Somalia, led the government that took Cuban help and later broke with Havana ([FRUS doc. 7](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d7)).
- **Fidel Castro**, President of Cuba, tried to reconcile [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) in 1977 ([FRUS doc. 7](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d7)).
- **Raúl Castro**, Cuba's first vice-president, gave Moscow the assurance on Somali territory in early 1978 ([FRUS doc. 56](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d56)).
- **Abdullahi Addou**, Somali ambassador to the US, discussed the Cuban shipping issue with US officials in 1973 ([FRUS doc. 90](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d90)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **19 July 1972:** establishment of diplomatic relations ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).
- **April 1973:** Cuban undertaking to send paramilitary advisers ([FRUS doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)).

## How much do they trade?

No trade between the two is recorded in UN Comtrade for recent years; Cuba and Somalia do not file trade data with it ([UN Comtrade, Somalia–Cuba 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=706&partnerCode=192&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## What about security?

Cuba's military role in the Somali lands was in the 1970s: advisers in Somalia until 1977, then combat forces with Ethiopia against Somalia in 1977 and 1978 ([FRUS doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91); [FRUS doc. 62](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d62)). In January 1980 a CIA report said Cuba had decided to keep its troops in Ethiopia because it expected the US to gain base rights at Berbera ([CIA cable, 24 January 1980, FRUS doc. 100](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v17p1/d100)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## Have there been disputes?

The Ogaden War was the main dispute. In April 1978, after a coup attempt, Siad Barre blamed the Soviet Union and Cuba and called them "new imperialists" ([Wikipedia, Somali Democratic Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Democratic_Republic)).

## Related pages

- [Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)
- [Somali Democratic Republic, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/)
- [Somali armed forces, 1960 to 1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/)
- [Somalia and North Korea](/en/relations/north-korea/)


---

# Desert warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/desert-warthog/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The desert warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) is a wild pig of the Horn of Africa, living from southeastern Ethiopia through western Somalia to Kenya. Its living subspecies is called the Somali warthog; the Cape subspecies of South Africa died out in the 1800s. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The desert warthog (*Phacochoerus aethiopicus*) is a wild member of the pig family, Suidae, native to the Horn of Africa. Two subspecies have been named. The Cape warthog (*P. a. aethiopicus*) of South Africa died out in the 19th century. The living one, the Somali warthog (*P. a. delamerei*), is found mainly in Kenya and Somalia, in parts of Ethiopia, and possibly still in Djibouti and Eritrea ([IUCN Red List, *Phacochoerus aethiopicus*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41767A44140316.en); [iNaturalist observations](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?order=asc&place_id=7218&subview=table&taxon_id=42123)).

## A species found again

Studies of DNA and body shape showed that the warthogs of East Africa once taken for a form of the common warthog are in fact surviving members of *P. aethiopicus*, which had been thought extinct ([Randi and others, *Mammalian Biology*, 2002](https://doi.org/10.1078/1616-5047-00013)). It differs from the common warthog in its ear tips, which curl back, its lack of incisor teeth, its larger snout, the swollen pouches under its eyes and its more hooked "warts" (same source).

## Where it lives

Its range runs from southeastern Ethiopia through western Somalia to eastern and central Kenya. It lives in open dry country: thin woodland, dry scrub and sandy plains, but not uplands. It needs regular water, so it may live near villages and where water seeps to the surface ([IUCN Red List, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41767A44140316.en)).

## How it lives

Desert warthogs live in groups called sounders, mostly females and young; males live alone or in bachelor groups. A group's home range is usually centred on a water hole, and the animals move between several burrows. They are active by day and eat mostly grass, leaves, flowers, fruit, roots and bulbs, and sometimes insects and carrion ([Animal Diversity Web, *Phacochoerus aethiopicus*](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Phacochoerus_aethiopicus/)).

Breeding usually comes at the end of the rains, between March and May. Pregnancy lasts about 170 days, and two or three piglets are born in a burrow. Lions, leopards, cheetahs and spotted hyenas hunt them (same source).

## Disease research

In an experiment, desert warthogs infected with African swine fever showed no signs of illness but could pass it to domestic pigs for at least 33 days. The disease is spread by the tick *Ornithodoros moubata*, so killing warthogs to protect pigs does not stop it (same source). The desert warthog is also an important host of the tsetse fly ([Wikipedia, Desert warthog, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_warthog)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 22 records of the desert warthog from Somalia, dated from 1896 to 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2441211)). By type: 11 sightings by people, 11 museum specimens.

Records that name a region (17 of 22), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 13, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 3, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1896, from a place recorded as "Mandheera ("Mandera")", held by the Field Museum, Chicago ([GBIF record 665914394](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/665914394)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2026, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by iNaturalist ([GBIF record 6159384446](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/338460496)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the desert warthog is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41767A44140316.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441211)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Artiodactyla |
| Family | Suidae |
| Genus | Phacochoerus |
| Species | *Phacochoerus aethiopicus* |

Scientific name with author: *Phacochoerus aethiopicus* (Pallas, 1766) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441211)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41767A44140316.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2441211)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2441211)
- [Randi and others, Mammalian Biology, 2002](https://doi.org/10.1078/1616-5047-00013)
- [Animal Diversity Web](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Phacochoerus_aethiopicus/)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_warthog)


---

# Somalia and Indonesia

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/indonesia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Indonesia and Somalia have had diplomatic relations since 21 December 1960. Indonesia covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, and its ambassador there since 2025 is Tyas Baskoro Her Witjaksono Adji. Trade is one-way and growing: Indonesian exports to Somalia, mostly palm oil and clothing, reached US$163.2 million in 2025.

## How do Somalia and Indonesia relate today?

Indonesia has no embassy in Mogadishu. Its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, covers Somalia. On 24 March 2025 President Prabowo Subianto swore in Tyas Baskoro Her Witjaksono Adji as ambassador to Kenya, also accredited to "the Federal Republic of Somalia" ([Cabinet Secretariat of Indonesia, 24 March 2025](https://setkab.go.id/en/president-prabowo-inaugurates-31-indonesian-ambassadors-extraordinary-and-plenipotentiary/)).

Trade is the largest part of the tie. Indonesian exports to Somalia were worth US$163.2 million in 2025, while imports from Somalia were about US$31,000 ([UN Comtrade, Indonesia–Somalia 2025](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## When did contact begin?

Somalia's foreign ministry listed 21 December 1960 as the date relations with Indonesia began, according to Wikipedia's table of Somali diplomatic relations ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Tyas Baskoro Her Witjaksono Adji**, Indonesian ambassador in Nairobi, accredited to Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, sworn in on 24 March 2025 ([Cabinet Secretariat, 2025](https://setkab.go.id/en/president-prabowo-inaugurates-31-indonesian-ambassadors-extraordinary-and-plenipotentiary/)).

Earlier Indonesian envoys to Somalia and Somali envoys to Jakarta were not found in the sources reached for this page.

## Who built the tie?

- **Prabowo Subianto**, President of Indonesia, appointed the current ambassador accredited to Somalia in March 2025 ([Cabinet Secretariat, 2025](https://setkab.go.id/en/president-prabowo-inaugurates-31-indonesian-ambassadors-extraordinary-and-plenipotentiary/)).
- **Tyas Baskoro Her Witjaksono Adji**, ambassador, handles the relationship from Nairobi ([Cabinet Secretariat, 2025](https://setkab.go.id/en/president-prabowo-inaugurates-31-indonesian-ambassadors-extraordinary-and-plenipotentiary/)).

Business figures behind the palm oil and textile trade were not named in the sources reached.

## What agreements have they signed?

- **21 December 1960:** establishment of diplomatic relations ([Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).

No bilateral treaty was found in the sources reached for this page.

## Which leaders have visited?

No state or ministerial visit in either direction was found in the sources reached for this page.

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Indonesian exports to Somalia of:

- US$10.9 million in 2012 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2012&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$36.6 million in 2014 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2014&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$42.4 million in 2016 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2016&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$68.1 million in 2018 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2018&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$73.1 million in 2020 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2020&flowCode=X&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$100.4 million in 2022 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$97.1 million in 2023 and US$98.5 million in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$163.2 million in 2025 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))

The main goods in 2025 were ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)):

- animal and vegetable fats and oils: US$98.2 million, of which palm oil was US$97.2 million ([UN Comtrade, palm oil](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X&cmdCode=1511,1513,1516,1517))
- clothing (not knitted): US$25.8 million
- soap and cleaning products: US$14.7 million
- synthetic yarn and fabric: US$4.3 million
- plastics: US$3.8 million

Indonesia bought almost nothing from Somalia: US$68,800 in 2023 and US$31,500 in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=360&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Indonesia does not report its aid to the OECD, and no Indonesian aid figures for Somalia were found in the sources reached ([OECD, DAC2a query](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/AUS+KOR+BRA+IDN.SOM.206.USD.V?startPeriod=2000&endPeriod=2024)).

## What about security?

Indonesia sent military personnel to both UN operations in Somalia: UNOSOM I in 1992 to 1993 and UNOSOM II in 1993 to 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html); [UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/).

## How does Indonesia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Indonesia's ambassador is accredited to the Federal Republic of Somalia ([Cabinet Secretariat, 2025](https://setkab.go.id/en/president-prabowo-inaugurates-31-indonesian-ambassadors-extraordinary-and-plenipotentiary/)). No Indonesian office or agreement with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or a member state was found in the sources reached.

## Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources reached for this page.

## Where does Indonesia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Indonesia was a troop contributor to UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). Indonesia's statements on Somalia during its Security Council terms were not covered in the sources reached.

## Related pages

- [UN intervention, 1992 to 1995](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and Australia](/en/relations/australia/)
- [Somalia and South Korea](/en/relations/south-korea/)


---

# Juba weaver (Ploceus dichrocephalus)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/juba-weaver/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Juba weaver or Salvadori's weaver (Ploceus dichrocephalus) is a weaver bird of the Horn of Africa, named after the Juba river. It was described in 1896 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) weaver (*Ploceus dichrocephalus*), also called Salvadori's weaver, is a bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae. It lives in the Horn of Africa ([IUCN Red List, *Ploceus dichrocephalus*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718956A94603859.en); [Wikipedia, Juba weaver, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba_weaver)).

Its English name refers to the Juba river of southern Somalia. Its other name honours Tommaso Salvadori, who described it in 1896 under another genus; the brackets around his name in the scientific name show that it was later moved to *Ploceus* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788939)).

## What the record shows

Most of the Juba weaver's shared records from Somalia are museum specimens: 17 of 27. Records that name a region come from [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), Middle Juba and Middle Shabelle (see records below).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 27 records of the Juba weaver from Somalia, dated from 1901 to 2021 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5788939)). By type: 17 museum specimens, 9 sightings by people, 1 other record.

Records that name a region (11 of 27), by region: Woqooyi Galbeed 8, Middle Juba 2, Middle Shabelle 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1901, from a place recorded as "Lowidu", held by SMF ([GBIF record 207983877](https://id.senckenberg.de/object/sesam-1182584)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2021, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 3600362202](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3600362202)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Juba weaver is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718956A94603859.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788939)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Ploceidae |
| Genus | Ploceus |
| Species | *Ploceus dichrocephalus* |

Scientific name with author: *Ploceus dichrocephalus* (Salvadori, 1896) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788939)).

## Related pages

- [Middle Juba](/en/regions/middle-juba/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)
- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718956A94603859.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788939)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5788939)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba_weaver)


---

# Somalia and North Korea

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/north-korea/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia and North Korea established diplomatic relations on 13 April 1967, and the ties are still listed today. North Korea had an embassy in Mogadishu until its staff fled with South Korean diplomats in January 1991. Since then contact is thin: a UN panel traced one mortar round fired at Mogadishu airport in 2020 to a North Korean design.

## How do Somalia and North Korea relate today?

Relations exist on paper. The US-based National Committee on North Korea lists Somalia among North Korea's diplomatic partners, with ties dating from 13 April 1967 ([NCNK, DPRK Diplomatic Relations](https://www.ncnk.org/resources/briefing-papers/all-briefing-papers/dprk-diplomatic-relations)). Neither country has a resident embassy in the other's capital today; North Korea's diplomats left Mogadishu in January 1991 ([Korea Herald, 12 August 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

Somalia is bound by the UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea. The UN panel that monitors those sanctions has listed Somalia among countries that had not filed national implementation reports ([UN Panel of Experts, S/2017/150](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/150&l=en&t=pdf); [S/2024/215](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2024/215&l=en&t=pdf)).

## When did contact begin?

North Korea and Somalia set up relations on 13 April 1967, under the civilian government in Mogadishu ([NCNK](https://www.ncnk.org/resources/briefing-papers/all-briefing-papers/dprk-diplomatic-relations)). It was part of a wave of North Korean ties with newly independent African and Asian states in the 1960s ([NCNK](https://www.ncnk.org/resources/briefing-papers/all-briefing-papers/dprk-diplomatic-relations)).

After the 1969 coup, President Siad Barre visited Pyongyang. A US government study of July 1973 dates the visit to May 1972 and says close relations followed ([US State Department, FRUS 1969–1976, vol. E-6, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)). Wikipedia, citing published histories, gives 1971 and says Barre signed an agreement on technical and economic help with Kim Il Sung ([Wikipedia, North Korea–Somalia relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

The 1973 US study records that North Korea trained Somali guerrillas in North Korea, even before the visit ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)). In July 1972 Somalia's defence minister agreed with Pyongyang to cut the training from six to four months so that more men could be trained ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)). By June 1973 at least 175 Somalis had come home from this training and were teaching others in camps in Somalia ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)).

The same study says North Korea publicly backed the "unification" of the Somali territories in joint communiqués ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)). In September 1975 the US embassy in Mogadishu listed North Koreans among the East Germans, Cubans, Czechs and Bulgarians helping with Somalia's socialist programmes ([US Embassy Mogadishu telegram, 3 September 1975, FRUS doc. 145](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d145)).

When the Soviet bloc moved to back Ethiopia's Derg in the 1977 Ogaden War, North Korea also sent military aid to Ethiopia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

- **Kim Ryong-su** was North Korea's ambassador in Mogadishu when the city fell into fighting at the end of 1990 ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

No later resident North Korean ambassador to Somalia appears in the sources found. Somalia has no embassy in Pyongyang.

## Who built the tie?

- **Siad Barre**, President of Somalia, visited Pyongyang in May 1972 according to a US study, or 1971 according to Wikipedia ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Somalia's defence minister** (unnamed in the record) agreed in July 1972 to speed up guerrilla training in North Korea ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)).
- **Abdullahi Addou**, Somalia's ambassador in Washington, told US officials in November 1975 that Somalia's vote for a resolution on Korea that the US opposed reflected earlier commitments ([State Department telegram, 22 November 1975, FRUS doc. 152](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d152)).
- **Kim Il Sung**, leader of North Korea, signed the 1971 cooperation agreement with Barre ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **Kim Ryong-su**, North Korean ambassador, led his staff out of Mogadishu with South Korean diplomats in January 1991 ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).
- **Kang Shin-sung**, South Korea's ambassador, sheltered the North Koreans in his residence and arranged their escape ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **1971 or 1972:** agreement on technical and economic assistance, signed in Pyongyang ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).
- **July 1972:** arrangement to shorten training of Somali guerrillas in North Korea ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91)).

No other bilateral agreement appears in the sources found.

## Which leaders have visited?

- **May 1972 (US record) or 1971 (Wikipedia):** President Siad Barre to Pyongyang ([FRUS, doc. 91](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d91); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## How did North Korea's embassy leave Mogadishu?

When fighting reached Mogadishu at the end of 1990, North Korean diplomats were stranded. Fourteen North Koreans, four of them children, moved into the South Korean ambassador's residence ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)). One North Korean diplomat was shot by government forces and died at the Italian embassy ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

On 12 January 1991, 13 North Koreans and six South Koreans flew out on a Red Cross plane and Italian military aircraft ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)). In Mombasa, Kenya, the North Korean ambassador asked to part from the South Koreans ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)). The 2021 South Korean film "Escape from Mogadishu" tells this story ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade holds no records of trade between the two for 2019 to 2024 ([UN Comtrade, Somalia–North Korea 2022](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=706&partnerCode=408&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Neither country files its own trade figures with the database for those years.

## What about security?

On 17 February 2020 [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) fired four 60 mm mortar rounds towards the UN compound at [Aden Adde International Airport](/en/infrastructure/aden-adde-international-airport/) in Mogadishu ([UN Panel of Experts on Somalia, S/2020/949](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2020/949&l=en&t=pdf)). One unexploded round had features "consistent with a 60-mm HE type 63 mortar round, manufactured in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" ([S/2020/949](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2020/949&l=en&t=pdf)).

The North Korea sanctions panel took up this finding in 2021 and asked Somalia for clarification ([UN Panel of Experts on DPRK, S/2021/211](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2021/211&l=en&t=pdf)). In 2022 it said it was still looking into "possible arms exports" from North Korea to Somalia and had not received a reply ([S/2022/132](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/132&l=en&t=pdf)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UN arms embargo, 1992 to 2023](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/).

## How does North Korea deal with Somaliland and the member states?

No North Korean contact with [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) or the federal member states appears in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

No public dispute between the two governments is on record. The open matter is the UN panel's 2021 and 2022 request to Somalia about the mortar round, which the panel said was unanswered ([S/2022/132](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2022/132&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Where does North Korea stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

In 1975 Somalia supported a General Assembly resolution on Korea that the United States opposed. Ambassador Addou said Somalia's UN representative spoke in moderate terms despite "heavy pressure from North Korean and other communist delegations" ([FRUS, doc. 152](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve06/d152)).

The UN Security Council has kept sanctions on North Korea since 2006, and all members, Somalia included, must report how they apply them. The panel listed Somalia among states yet to submit reports under resolution 2270 (2016) in 2017, and under resolution 2397 (2017) in 2019 and 2020 ([S/2017/150](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2017/150&l=en&t=pdf); [S/2019/171](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2019/171&l=en&t=pdf); [S/2020/840](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2020/840&l=en&t=pdf)). In 2024 Somalia was one of 62 states the panel wrote to about missing reports ([S/2024/215](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2024/215&l=en&t=pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and South Korea](/en/relations/south-korea/)
- [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/)
- [Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)
- [Ogaden War, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/)
- [Somali armed forces, 1960 to 1991](/en/history/somali-armed-forces-1960-1991/)
- [UN arms embargo, 1992 to 2023](/en/history/un-arms-embargo-1992-2023/)


---

# Somali bee-eater (Merops revoilii)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-bee-eater/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali bee-eater (Merops revoilii) is the smallest bee-eater in its genus, a green, blue and cinnamon bird of dry acacia scrub in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. It catches small flying insects from low perches and nests in banks and well sides. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali bee-eater (*Merops revoilii*) is a bird of the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It is the smallest member of its genus ([Fry and Fry, *Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers*](https://books.google.com/books?id=U_XUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264)). Oustalet described it in 1882 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475409)).

## What it looks like

Males and females look alike: slender, with spiky feathers on the head. The crown is shiny green and the eyebrow blue. The upper body is green, the lower back and rump bright blue and the tail bluish-green. The cheeks, chin and throat are white and the breast and belly cinnamon-buff. The bill is black, the eyes reddish-brown and the legs dark grey. Unlike many bee-eaters, it has no dark trailing edge to the wings ([Fry and Fry](https://books.google.com/books?id=U_XUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264)).

## Where it lives

Its range runs from southern Ethiopia through Somalia to northern and eastern Kenya. It lives in open acacia and commiphora scrub, dry grassland with scattered bushes, and steppe ([Wikipedia, Somali bee-eater, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_bee-eater)).

## How it lives

It catches small flying insects in short dashes from a low perch. It is seen alone or in pairs. It nests in the banks of road cuttings and in the sides of deep wells. In Kenya it breeds from March to June ([Handbook of the Birds of the World, Somali Bee-eater](http://www.hbw.com/node/55840)).

The IUCN suggests that clearing of woodland and forest may be creating new open habitat for it, so its numbers may be rising ([IUCN Red List, *Merops revoilii*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683710A92997263.en)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 129 records of the Somali bee-eater from Somalia, dated from 1894 to 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2475409)). By type: 95 sightings by people, 33 museum specimens, 1 other record.

Records that name a region (101 of 129), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 62, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 19, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 7, [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) 2, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) 2, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 2, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 1, Banadir (Mogadishu) 1, [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) 1, Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) 1, [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) 1, Middle Shabelle 1, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1894, from a place recorded as "The Hand, S.E. of Berbera", held by the American Museum of Natural History ([GBIF record 858968342](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/858968342)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2026, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by iNaturalist ([GBIF record 6163414299](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/339065921)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali bee-eater is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683710A92997263.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475409)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Coraciiformes |
| Family | Meropidae |
| Genus | Merops |
| Species | *Merops revoilii* |

Scientific name with author: *Merops revoilii* Oustalet, 1882 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475409)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683710A92997263.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2475409)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2475409)
- [Fry and Fry, Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers](https://books.google.com/books?id=U_XUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_bee-eater)


---

# Somali bushbaby (Galago gallarum)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-bushbaby/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali bushbaby or Somali lesser galago (Galago gallarum) is a small night-active primate that lives in thorny scrub in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. In Somalia its range runs from Odweyne in the north to the Kenyan border. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali bushbaby (*Galago gallarum*), also called the Somali lesser galago, is a small primate of the family Galagidae. It is active at night and lives in trees ([IUCN Red List, *Galago gallarum*, 2019](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T8786A17963185.en)). It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia (same source).

## Range and habitat

Unlike other galagos, it is tied to dry thorny woodland and semi-arid thorn scrub. This covers large parts of southwestern Ethiopia and much of Kenya, and in Somalia runs from Odweyne, south of the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) coast, southward to the Kenyan border ([Butynski and De Jong, "Natural history of the Somali lesser galago", *Journal of East African Natural History*, 2004](https://doi.org/10.2982/0012-8317(2004)93[23:nhotsl]2.0.co;2)).

## How it was classified

Oldfield Thomas described it in 1901. It was later treated as one of many subspecies of the Senegal lesser galago (*Galago senegalensis*). T. R. Olson raised it again to a separate species in his 1979 PhD thesis and a 1986 paper, and this has not been disputed since. No subspecies are recognised (same source).

## What it looks like

Its face and throat are whitish. Its ears, eye-rings, muzzle and tail are black or dark brown, which gives a sharp contrast. Its belly is pale. Its body hairs are grey for most of their length with a buff tip, so it looks sand-coloured by day and greyish at night (same source).

It shares part of its range with the Senegal lesser galago and can be told apart by the length of its hind limb, hind foot, ear and tail, and in the field by its look, call and habitat. In southern Somalia and coastal Kenya its range touches that of the Kenya coast galago, which lives in moister places and has a different call (same source).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 3 records of the Somali bushbaby from Somalia, dated from 1901 to 1976 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2436521)). By type: 3 museum specimens.

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1901, held by SMF ([GBIF record 207836024](http://sesam.senckenberg.de/page/index.asp?objekt_id=163913&sprache_kurz=en)).

The newest dated record is a museum specimen from 1976, from a place recorded as "Kismayo", held by MNKNU ([GBIF record 5896043392](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/5896043392)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali bushbaby is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T8786A17963185.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436521)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Primates |
| Family | Galagidae |
| Genus | Galago |
| Species | *Galago gallarum* |

Scientific name with author: *Galago gallarum* Thomas, 1901 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436521)).

## Related pages

- [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/)
- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T8786A17963185.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2436521)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2436521)
- [Butynski and De Jong, Natural history of the Somali lesser galago, 2004](https://doi.org/10.2982/0012-8317(2004)93[23:nhotsl]2.0.co;2)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_bushbaby)


---

# Somali courser (Cursorius somalensis)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-courser/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali courser (Cursorius somalensis) is a sandy-brown wader of dry open country that runs on the ground to catch insects. It lives in Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Kenya, and has two subspecies. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali courser (*Cursorius somalensis*) is a wader of the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. Unusually for a wader, it lives in open dry country: semi-desert, short grassland and burnt grass, where it hunts insects by running on the ground. It is native to Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia, Somalia, the far southeast of South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), and northern and eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia, Somali courser, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)). Shelley described it in 1885 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)).

## How to recognise it

It is 19 to 22 cm long. It looks much like the cream-coloured courser but its body is a darker greyish-brown. In flight only the outer half of the underwing is black, while the cream-coloured courser's whole underwing is black. Both have a black stripe and white eyebrow behind the eye that look like a "V" from behind ([Wikipedia, Somali courser, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)).

In the north of its range it meets cream-coloured coursers that come for the winter, so care is needed to tell them apart (same source).

## Two subspecies

The IOC World Bird List accepts two subspecies ([IOC World Bird List, coursers](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/sandpipers/)):

- *C. s. somalensis* Shelley, 1885: Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
- *C. s. littoralis* Erlanger, 1905: far southeast South Sudan, northern and eastern Kenya, and southern Somalia.

It has been accepted as a species of its own only since near the end of the 20th century. Before that, some authors treated its two forms as subspecies of the cream-coloured courser and others as subspecies of Burchell's courser of southern Africa ([Wikipedia, Somali courser, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 56 records of the Somali courser from Somalia, dated from 1901 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=4849822)). By type: 52 sightings by people, 3 museum specimens, 1 other record.

Records that name a region (53 of 56), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 19, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 14, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 6, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) 4, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 3, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 3, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) 2, [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) 2 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1901, from a place recorded as "Kismaayo", held by SMF ([GBIF record 767397324](https://id.senckenberg.de/object/sesam-381526)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Sanaag, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 6690808301](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6690808301)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali courser is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732297A95046219.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Family | Glareolidae |
| Genus | Cursorius |
| Species | *Cursorius somalensis* |

Scientific name with author: *Cursorius somalensis* Shelley, 1885 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732297A95046219.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=4849822)
- [IOC World Bird List](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/sandpipers/)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)


---

# Somali crombec (Sylvietta isabellina)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-crombec/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali crombec (Sylvietta isabellina) is a small, almost tailless African warbler of dry scrub in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. Elliot described it in 1897. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali crombec (*Sylvietta isabellina*) is an African warbler. It was once placed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae, and now sits in the family Macrosphenidae ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493543); [Wikipedia, Somali crombec, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_crombec)). It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, [Somalia and Tanzania](/en/relations/tanzania/), and its natural habitat is dry tropical shrubland ([IUCN Red List, *Sylvietta isabellina*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22715135A94441675.en)).

Elliot described it in 1897 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493543)).

## The Baroda subspecies

The ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe described a subspecies, *gaekwari*, named after Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the Maharaja of Baroda in India. It is now considered the same as the main form ([Hartert, "Types of birds in the Tring Museum", Biodiversity Heritage Library](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3479609); [British Museum, *History of the collections*, vol. 2](https://archive.org/stream/historyofcollect02brit#page/355/mode/1up)).

## What the record shows

More than half of its 39 shared records from Somalia are museum specimens, the oldest from 1896. Records that name a region come mostly from [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), with a few from [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/), Banadir and Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) (see records below).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 39 records of the Somali crombec from Somalia, dated from 1896 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2493543)). By type: 21 museum specimens, 17 sightings by people, 1 other record.

Records that name a region (19 of 39), by region: Togdheer 9, Woqooyi Galbeed 6, Hiiraan 2, Banadir (Mogadishu) 1, Lower Juba 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1896, from a place recorded as "Le Gud", held by the Field Museum, Chicago ([GBIF record 668178078](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/668178078)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Togdheer, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 6661954295](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6661954295)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali crombec is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22715135A94441675.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493543)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Macrosphenidae |
| Genus | Sylvietta |
| Species | *Sylvietta isabellina* |

Scientific name with author: *Sylvietta isabellina* Elliot, 1897 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493543)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22715135A94441675.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2493543)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2493543)
- [Biodiversity Heritage Library, Types of birds in the Tring Museum](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3479609)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_crombec)


---

# Somali crow (Corvus edithae)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-crow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali crow, or dwarf raven (Corvus edithae), is a crow of the Horn of Africa, about 44 to 46 cm long, living mainly in Somalia, Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and northeastern Kenya. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali crow (*Corvus edithae*), also called the dwarf raven, is a member of the crow family. It is about the size of the Eurasian carrion crow, 44 to 46 cm long, with a longer bill and a browner tint to its feathers, especially when they are worn ([Wikipedia, Somali crow, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_crow)).

It was first described by Lort Phillips in 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788768)).

## Range

The species lives mainly in Somalia, Djibouti, the Ogaden (the Somali Region of Ethiopia) and the former Northern Frontier District of Kenya ([Wikipedia, Somali crow, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_crow)). It was once treated as a subspecies of the larger brown-necked raven (*Corvus ruficollis*) and is now treated as a separate species. It can be told from the brown-necked raven by its call, its look and its behaviour (same source).

Some authorities place it closer to the pied crow (*Corvus albus*). Where the two meet, hybrid birds between the pied crow and the Somali crow have been recorded (same source).

## Nest, eggs and voice

The nest is a bulky, raven-like platform of sticks in a lone tree or on a telegraph pole. Near the coast, or where there are no trees, it nests on cliffs. It lays 3 to 5 eggs in April and early May. Its call is a harsh "caw", like that of the rook ([Wikipedia, Somali crow, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_crow)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 188 records of the Somali crow from Somalia, dated from 1985 to 2026 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5788768)). By type: 186 sightings by people, 1 other record, 1 museum specimen.

Records that name a region (185 of 188), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 122, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 30, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 13, Banadir (Mogadishu) 8, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) 3, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 2, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) 2, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 2, [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) 1, [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) 1, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a sighting by a person from 1985, from Banadir (Mogadishu), held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 957067395](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/957067395)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2026, from Banadir (Mogadishu) ([GBIF record 6568513817](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6568513817)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali crow is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732286A95046030.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788768)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Corvidae |
| Genus | Corvus |
| Species | *Corvus edithae* |

Scientific name with author: *Corvus edithae* Lort Phillips, 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788768)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732286A95046030.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5788768)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5788768)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_crow)


---

# Somali dwarf shrew (Crocidura nana)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-dwarf-shrew/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali dwarf shrew (Crocidura nana) is a tiny shrew known from Somalia and Ethiopia, described in 1890 from Dollo. It lives in dry lowland grassland. The IUCN Red List lists it as Data Deficient, meaning there is too little information to judge its risk. Every shared record of it from Somalia dates from 1897.

## In short

The Somali dwarf shrew (*Crocidura nana*) is a mammal of the shrew family, Soricidae. It is found in Ethiopia and Somalia. Its natural habitat is dry tropical lowland grassland ([IUCN Red List, *Crocidura nana*, 2019](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T41341A22306927.en)).

George Edward Dobson described it in 1890 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435629)). Its type locality, the place the specimen used to describe the species came from, is Dollo in Somalia ([Wilson and Reeder, *Mammal Species of the World*, 3rd edition, 2005](https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/)).

## What is known

The IUCN has placed it in the Data Deficient category: there is not enough information on its range, numbers or threats to place it in a risk category ([IUCN Red List, 2019](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T41341A22306927.en)). All five GBIF records from Somalia are museum specimens or specimens cited in published papers, all dated 1897 (see records below).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 5 records of the Somali dwarf shrew from Somalia, dated 1897 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2435629)). By type: 3 specimens cited in published papers, 2 museum specimens.

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1897, from a place recorded as "??", held by the Natural History Museum, [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([GBIF record 1919846040](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1919846040)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali dwarf shrew is **Data Deficient** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T41341A22306927.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435629)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Soricomorpha |
| Family | Soricidae |
| Genus | Crocidura |
| Species | *Crocidura nana* |

Scientific name with author: *Crocidura nana* Dobson, 1890 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435629)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T41341A22306927.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435629)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2435629)
- [Wilson and Reeder, Mammal Species of the World, 2005](https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_dwarf_shrew)


---

# Somali fiscal (Lanius somalicus)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-fiscal/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali fiscal (Lanius somalicus), also called the Somali shrike, is a black-and-white shrike of open grassy and semi-desert country in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya. It hunts large insects and stores prey on thorns. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali fiscal (*Lanius somalicus*) is a bird of the shrike family, Laniidae. Other names for it are the Karoli fiscal, the Somali fiscal shrike and the Somali shrike ([Avibase, Somali Fiscal](http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=F79321856B22FEE2)). Hartlaub and Heuglin described it in 1859 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492856)).

## Range and habitat

Its range covers much of Somalia, southern Djibouti, eastern and southern Ethiopia, southeastern South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and northern Kenya. It lives mainly in open grassy country and semi-desert with some scrub. Where it meets the Taita fiscal (*Lanius dorsalis*), the Taita fiscal usually keeps to thicker and less dry places ([Wikipedia, Somali fiscal, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_fiscal)).

## How it lives

Like other shrikes, it sits on a perch with a clear view and drops onto prey. It eats mostly large insects such as grasshoppers, mantises and beetles. It sometimes spikes prey on thorns to eat later, and small birds have been found in these stores. In the breeding season it defends the area around its nest and will attack birds up to the size of a raven ([*Shrikes*, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=HclLAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA152)).

It usually breeds in the rainy season. The nest is in a bush, and it lays four, sometimes three, eggs. Little is known about how long the eggs take to hatch or the young take to fly (same source).

The IUCN notes that it has a wide range, is common in places and has a stable population trend ([IUCN Red List, *Lanius somalicus*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705066A93999126.en)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 160 records of the Somali fiscal from Somalia, dated from 1896 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2492856)). By type: 148 sightings by people, 12 museum specimens.

Records that name a region (147 of 160), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 85, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 30, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 18, Banadir (Mogadishu) 5, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 4, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 3, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) 1, [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1896, from a place recorded as "Bodeleh", held by the Field Museum, Chicago ([GBIF record 668172571](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/668172571)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by iNaturalist ([GBIF record 6130277622](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/293748187)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali fiscal is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705066A93999126.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492856)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Laniidae |
| Genus | Lanius |
| Species | *Lanius somalicus* |

Scientific name with author: *Lanius somalicus* Hartlaub & Heuglin, 1859 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492856)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705066A93999126.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2492856)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2492856)
- [Avibase, Somali Fiscal](http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=F79321856B22FEE2)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_fiscal)


---

# Somali golden mole (Calcochloris tytonis)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-golden-mole/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali golden mole (Calcochloris tytonis) is known only from pieces of jaw and ear bone found in a barn owl pellet at Jowhar, Somalia, in 1964. It is endemic to Somalia. The IUCN Red List lists it as Data Deficient: there is too little information to judge its risk.

## In short

The Somali golden mole (*Calcochloris tytonis*) is a golden mole, a small burrowing mammal of the family Chrysochloridae. It is endemic to Somalia ([GBIF, *Calcochloris tytonis*](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432184)).

## How it was found

In 1964 Alberto Simonetta of the University of Florence found pieces of its jaw and ear bones inside a barn owl pellet at Jowhar, in Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). An owl pellet is the ball of bones and fur that an owl coughs up after eating ([Wikipedia, Somali golden mole, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_golden_mole)). Simonetta published the species in 1968 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432184)).

## How it differs from other golden moles

Its lower jaw has a different shape from other members of the family. The length of the jaw fits within the range of *Amblysomus leucorhinus* and *Amblysomus sclateri*, but the rising part of the jaw is much wider, by about 2 mm, than in the closest match ([Wikipedia, Somali golden mole, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_golden_mole)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 3 records of the Somali golden mole from Somalia ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2432184)). By type: 3 specimens cited in published papers.

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali golden mole is **Data Deficient** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T4767A21285700.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432184)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Afrosoricida |
| Family | Chrysochloridae |
| Genus | Calcochloris |
| Species | *Calcochloris tytonis* |

Scientific name with author: *Calcochloris tytonis* (Simonetta, 1968) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432184)).

## Related pages

- [Middle Shabelle](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/)
- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T4767A21285700.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2432184)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2432184)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_golden_mole)


---

# Somali hedgehog (Atelerix sclateri)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-hedgehog/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali hedgehog (Atelerix sclateri) is a small night-active hedgehog found only in Somalia. It lives in grassland and other open savanna. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern, and little is known about it.

## In short

The Somali hedgehog (*Atelerix sclateri*) is a mammal of the hedgehog family, Erinaceidae. It is endemic to Somalia, which means it is found nowhere else, and it is active at night ([Wikipedia, Somali hedgehog, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_hedgehog)).

It was described by Anderson in 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437135)).

## Where it lives

The IUCN Red List assessment describes it as a savanna species, believed to live mostly in grassland and other open habitats, in the outer parts of Somalia ([IUCN Red List, *Atelerix sclateri*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T2275A22324040.en)).

Little research has been done on it. The assessment records no known current threats to its habitat (same source).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 5 records of the Somali hedgehog from Somalia, dated from 1895 to 2023 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2437135)). By type: 2 sightings by people, 2 specimens cited in published papers, 1 museum specimen.

Records that name a region (2 of 5), by region: [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 2 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1895, from a place recorded as "Berbera", held by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ([GBIF record 1321092727](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1321092727)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2023, from Togdheer, held by iNaturalist ([GBIF record 4039200665](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146696943)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali hedgehog is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T2275A22324040.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437135)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Erinaceomorpha |
| Family | Erinaceidae |
| Genus | Atelerix |
| Species | *Atelerix sclateri* |

Scientific name with author: *Atelerix sclateri* Anderson, 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437135)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T2275A22324040.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2437135)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2437135)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_hedgehog)


---

# Somali lark (Corypha somalica)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-lark/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali lark (Corypha somalica, formerly Mirafra somalica) is a lark found only in Somalia, in dry lowland grassland. It has two subspecies, one in the north and one in central Somalia, the second once treated as a separate species, Ash's lark. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali lark (*Corypha somalica*) is a lark, family Alaudidae, endemic to Somalia. Its natural habitat is dry tropical lowland grassland ([IUCN Red List, *Mirafra somalica*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22717043A94519133.en)). The IUCN estimates the area its range covers at about 270,000 km² (same source).

## Names

The British ornithologist Harry Witherby described it in 1903 as *Certhilauda somalica* ([Witherby, *Certhilauda somalica* n. sp., 1903, Biodiversity Heritage Library](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37116823)). It was later placed in the genus *Mirafra*. A large genetic study of the lark family by Per Alström and colleagues, published in 2023, moved it with several other species to the revived genus *Corypha* ([Alström and others, "Systematics of the avian family Alaudidae", *Avian Research*, 2023](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100095); [IOC World Bird List, larks](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/larks/)). GBIF still lists it as *Mirafra somalica* ([GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490598)).

Other names for it include "Somali bushlark" and "Somali long-billed lark". The name "Somali lark" has also been used for Archer's lark and the russet lark ([Avibase](http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=CF0FECC361144AD3); [Wikipedia, Somali lark, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_lark)).

## Two subspecies

The IOC World Bird List recognises two subspecies ([IOC World Bird List, larks](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/larks/)):

- *C. s. somalica* (Witherby, 1903): northern Somalia.
- *C. s. ashi* (Colston, 1982): central Somalia.

The second was described by Peter Colston in 1982 as a separate species, *Mirafra ashi* or Ash's lark, named for the ornithologist John Ash, who collected the specimen. It is now treated as a subspecies of the Somali lark on genetic and behavioural evidence and because both share the same type locality ([Wikipedia, Somali lark, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_lark)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 22 records of the Somali lark from Somalia, dated from 1903 to 2024 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2490598)). By type: 12 museum specimens, 10 sightings by people.

Records that name a region (2 of 22), by region: [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/) 2 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1903, from a place recorded as "Dibbit, about 6%50' N., 47%30' E., [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).", held by the Natural History Museum, [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([GBIF record 1291474015](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1291474015)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2024, from a place recorded as "Owdweyne, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) : Tuuyo Plains" ([GBIF record 4862940675](https://data.biodiversitydata.nl/xeno-canto/observation/XC899834)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali lark is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22717043A94519133.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490598)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Alaudidae |
| Genus | Mirafra |
| Species | *Mirafra somalica* |

Scientific name with author: *Mirafra somalica* (Witherby, 1903) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490598)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22717043A94519133.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2490598)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2490598)
- [Alström and others, Avian Research, 2023](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100095)
- [IOC World Bird List, larks](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/larks/)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_lark)


---

# Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-ostrich/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali ostrich or blue-necked ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes) is one of the two living ostrich species, recognised as separate from the common ostrich in 2014. It lives across most of Somalia and nearby Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. Somalis long kept tamed ostriches for meat, eggs and feathers. The IUCN Red List lists it as Vulnerable.

## In short

The Somali ostrich (*Struthio molybdophanes*), also called the blue-necked ostrich, is a large flightless bird of the Horn of Africa ([Redman, Stevenson and Fanshawe, *Birds of the Horn of Africa*](https://books.google.com/books?id=QOs9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34)). It is one of only two living species of ostrich; the other is the common ostrich. It was long treated as a subspecies of the common ostrich and was recognised as a separate species in 2014 ([IUCN Red List, *Struthio molybdophanes*, 2022](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22732795A208237218.en)). GBIF records the Somali name *Goronyo soomaaliyeed* ([GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495149)).

## How it was described

Anton Reichenow described it in a Berlin newspaper supplement on 16 September 1883. He gave its range as the plains of Somali country and western Oromo ("Galla") land, from 10 degrees north to the Equator ([Reichenow, "Immer Neues aus Afrika", 1883, Biodiversity Heritage Library](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32621301)).

A study of mitochondrial DNA found it to be the most distinct of all ostriches, splitting from their common ancestor some 3.6 to 4.1 million years ago. The East African Rift appears to have kept it apart from the North African ostrich ([Freitag and Robinson, *The Auk*, 1993](http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v110n03/p0614-p0622.pdf)). It has no subspecies ([Birds of the World, Somali Ostrich](https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/ostric3/1.0/introduction)).

## What it looks like and how it lives

The skin of its neck and thighs is blue-grey, not pink, and turns brighter blue on males in the mating season. Its neck has no broad white ring. Males have white wing and tail feathers; females have brown ones ([Wikipedia, Somali ostrich, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_ostrich)).

It lives mostly in northeastern Ethiopia, southern Djibouti, most of Kenya and across most of Somalia. Where it overlaps with the common ostrich, it keeps to bushier, thicker country and feeds mostly by browsing, while the common ostrich grazes open savanna (same source; [Freitag and Robinson, 1993](http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v110n03/p0614-p0622.pdf)).

## Ostriches in Somali life

Somalis partly domesticated ostriches for a long time. The Italian explorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti pictured tamed ostriches at a Somali village at Bio Caboba in 1888 ([Robecchi Bricchetti, *Nell'Harrar*, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/nellharrar00bricgoog)). People ate the meat and used the eggs as ornaments ([BirdLife International, Somali Ostrich](https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/somali-ostrich-struthio-molybdophanes)). Herders sold the feathers of tamed ostriches at coastal markets ([James, *The Unknown Horn of Africa*, 1888](https://archive.org/details/unknownhornofafr00jame)).

The ostrich appears in Somali poetry. The early 20th-century poet Qamaan Bulxan wrote: "Baal-goray waa lagu ogaa, inuu bildhaamaaye!" ("It is known that the ostrich's feather shines!") ([Qamaan Bulxan, *Taariikh iyo maanso*, Roma Tre University](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/2571/1/Qamaan%20bulxan%20%28taariikh%20iyo%20maanso%29.pdf)).

## Numbers

A 2006 report on wildlife trade in Somalia states that the Somali ostrich was common in central and southern Somalia in the 1970s and 1980s. After the collapse of the state and with no working wildlife protection, its range and numbers shrank through uncontrolled hunting for meat, medicine and eggs ([Wildlife Trade in Somalia, 2006](http://www.wmenews.com/newsletters/File/Volume-1/Issue-4/support_art/Wildlife_Trade_in_Somalia_20061.pdf)). In Kenya it is farmed for meat, feathers and eggs ([Wikipedia, Somali ostrich, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_ostrich)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 5 records of the Somali ostrich from Somalia, dated from 1994 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2495149)). By type: 5 sightings by people.

Records that name a region (5 of 5), by region: [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 1, [Galgaduud](/en/regions/galgaduud/) 1, [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) 1, Middle [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) 1, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a sighting by a person from 1994, from Middle Juba, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 1755929187](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1755929187)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Galgaduud ([GBIF record 5276877131](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/5276877131)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali ostrich is **Vulnerable** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22732795A208237218.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495149)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Struthioniformes |
| Family | Struthionidae |
| Genus | Struthio |
| Species | *Struthio molybdophanes* |

Scientific name with author: *Struthio molybdophanes* Reichenow, 1883 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495149)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22732795A208237218.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2495149)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2495149)
- [Birds of the World, Somali Ostrich](https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/ostric3/1.0/introduction)
- [Wildlife Trade in Somalia, 2006](http://www.wmenews.com/newsletters/File/Volume-1/Issue-4/support_art/Wildlife_Trade_in_Somalia_20061.pdf)
- [Qamaan Bulxan, Taariikh iyo maanso](https://arcadia.sba.uniroma3.it/bitstream/2307/2571/1/Qamaan%20bulxan%20%28taariikh%20iyo%20maanso%29.pdf)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_ostrich)


---

# Somali pigeon (Columba oliviae)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-pigeon/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali pigeon or Somali stock dove (Columba oliviae) is a pale grey pigeon found only in Somalia, mostly on the dry rocky coast of the northeast. Its population size and trend are not measured. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali pigeon (*Columba oliviae*), also called the Somali stock dove, is a bird of the pigeon family, Columbidae, and is endemic to Somalia ([IUCN Red List, *Columba oliviae*, 2024](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22690092A238753952.en)). It was described by S. Clarke in 1918 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231870)).

## How to recognise it

It is a mid-sized, pale grey pigeon with a mauve cap, yellow eyes and a shiny bronze-green collar. It has a bluish-grey rump, dark wing edges and dark bands on its tail, all clearest in flight ([Wikipedia, Somali pigeon, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_pigeon)). It is smaller and paler than the feral pigeon, and it lacks the dark neck band of the collared doves that share its range ([Wikipedia, Somali pigeon, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_pigeon)). Its call has been written as "wuk-wuk-wuk-ooooh" (same source).

Taxonomists place it with the stock dove and the yellow-eyed pigeon, in the *Oenas* group of the genus *Columba* ([Taxonomy of the genus *Columba*](http://www.macaronesian.org/assets/files/file-e7a51afe4001ca.pdf)).

## Where it lives and what it eats

Its range covers much of northeast Somalia, especially the coast, including [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/). It does not migrate ([eBird, Somali Pigeon](https://ebird.org/species/sompig1); [BirdLife International, Somali Pigeon factsheet](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/somali-pigeon-columba-oliviae/text)). It lives mostly on the ground in dry coastal country, on cliffs and hills with little plant cover. It is seen in pairs or small flocks and feeds on seeds, grain from farms and berries (same sources).

## What is known about its numbers

Its population size and trend are unknown. BirdLife notes that no law protects it and that a population survey is needed ([BirdLife International](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/somali-pigeon-columba-oliviae/text)). The IUCN Red List notes possible competition from the speckled pigeon (*Columba guinea*), which is spreading into its range ([IUCN Red List, 2024](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22690092A238753952.en)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 35 records of the Somali pigeon from Somalia, dated from 1917 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5231870)). By type: 19 museum specimens, 16 sightings by people.

Records that name a region (16 of 35), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 15, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1917, from a place recorded as "Dubbar, 700', 8 miles south of Berbera, [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/)", held by the Natural History Museum, [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([GBIF record 1291491186](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1291491186)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by iNaturalist ([GBIF record 6188587367](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/347761621)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali pigeon is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22690092A238753952.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231870)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Columbiformes |
| Family | Columbidae |
| Genus | Columba |
| Species | *Columba oliviae* |

Scientific name with author: *Columba oliviae* S.Clarke, 1918 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231870)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22690092A238753952.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231870)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5231870)
- [eBird, Somali Pigeon](https://ebird.org/species/sompig1)
- [BirdLife International, Somali Pigeon](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/somali-pigeon-columba-oliviae/text)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_pigeon)


---

# Somali serotine (Neoromicia somalica)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-serotine/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali serotine (Neoromicia somalica) is a small vesper bat of the savanna. Despite its name it has been recorded in 27 or more African countries, from Senegal to Zimbabwe. It was described in 1901. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali serotine (*Neoromicia somalica*) is a bat of the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae. Its natural habitat is savanna ([IUCN Red List, *Neoromicia somalica*, 2017](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T44925A22046866.en)).

Oldfield Thomas described it in 1901 under another genus; the brackets in its scientific name show it has since been moved ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/7990922)).

## Range

Despite its name, the bat lives across much of Africa south of the Sahara. It is recorded in Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe ([IUCN Red List, 2017](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T44925A22046866.en); [Wikipedia, Somali serotine, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_serotine)).

Few records exist from Somalia itself: GBIF holds four, the last from 1980 (see records below).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 4 records of the Somali serotine from Somalia, dated from 1897 to 1980 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=7990922)). By type: 2 specimens cited in published papers, 2 museum specimens.

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1897, from a place recorded as "Hargaisa 3500ft /", held by the Natural History Museum, [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([GBIF record 1919784308](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1919784308)).

The newest dated record is a museum specimen from 1980, from a place recorded as "SNAI Sugar plantation, 1.5 km S, 0.5 km E Giohar, 02° 46'N, 45° 31'E", held by TCWC ([GBIF record 675878783](http://portal.vertnet.org/o/tcwc/mammals?id=urn-catalog-tcwc-mammals-41940)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali serotine is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T44925A22046866.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/7990922)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Chiroptera |
| Family | Vespertilionidae |
| Genus | Neoromicia |
| Species | *Neoromicia somalica* |

Scientific name with author: *Neoromicia somalica* (Thomas, 1901) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/7990922)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T44925A22046866.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/7990922)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=7990922)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_serotine)


---

# Somali shrew (Crocidura somalica)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-shrew/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali shrew (Crocidura somalica) is a small white-toothed shrew of dry savanna, found in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Mali. Oldfield Thomas described it in 1895. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali shrew (*Crocidura somalica*) is a mammal of the shrew family, Soricidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Mali, [Somalia and Sudan](/en/relations/sudan/), and its natural habitat is dry savanna ([GBIF, IUCN category](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736); [Wikipedia, Somali shrew, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_shrew)).

Oldfield Thomas of the British Museum described it in 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736)).

## A wide but patchy range

Its known range is split between the Horn of Africa in the east (Somalia, Ethiopia and [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/)) and Mali in West Africa ([Wikipedia, Somali shrew, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_shrew)). The genus *Crocidura* is known in English as the white-toothed shrews ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736)).

## What the record shows

GBIF holds five records from Somalia, four of them museum specimens, dated from 1960 to 1986 (see records below). None of the shared records from Somalia names a region.

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 5 records of the Somali shrew from Somalia, dated from 1960 to 1986 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2435736)). By type: 4 museum specimens, 1 specimen cited in a published paper.

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1960, held by the Paris Natural History Museum ([GBIF record 1064381593](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1064381593)).

The newest dated record is a museum specimen from 1986, held by the Natural History Museum, [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([GBIF record 1919701399](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1919701399)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali shrew is **Least Concern** ([GBIF, IUCN Red List category](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Soricomorpha |
| Family | Soricidae |
| Genus | Crocidura |
| Species | *Crocidura somalica* |

Scientific name with author: *Crocidura somalica* Thomas, 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736)).

## Related pages

- [Mammals of Somalia](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/2435736)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=2435736)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_shrew)


---

# Somali sparrow (Passer castanopterus)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-sparrow/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali sparrow (Passer castanopterus) is a sparrow of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. It has two subspecies, one in Djibouti, Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia and one in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali sparrow (*Passer castanopterus*) is a bird of the sparrow family, Passeridae. It is found in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya ([IUCN Red List, *Passer castanopterus*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718187A94571562.en)). Blyth described it in 1855 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231192)).

## Relatives

It has been grouped with the russet sparrow (*Passer rutilans*) of Asia as one "superspecies", and the two have sometimes been treated as a single species. The *Handbook of the Birds of the World* states that their likeness in plumage and body shape is more likely convergent evolution, meaning they came to look alike separately, than a sign of one shared line ([Handbook of the Birds of the World, Somali Sparrow](http://www.hbw.com/node/60930)).

## Two subspecies

Two subspecies are recognised ([Wikipedia, Somali sparrow, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_sparrow)):

- *Passer castanopterus castanopterus* Blyth, 1855: Djibouti, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and eastern Ethiopia.
- *Passer castanopterus fulgens* Friedmann, 1931: southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, south to Kapedo and Marsabit.

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 109 records of the Somali sparrow from Somalia, dated from 1899 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5231192)). By type: 78 sightings by people, 31 museum specimens.

Records that name a region (84 of 109), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 42, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 13, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 9, Banadir (Mogadishu) 4, Bay 4, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) 4, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 2, Somaliland (no region given) 2, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 2, [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/) 1, [Nugaal](/en/regions/nugaal/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1899, from a place recorded as "Berbera", held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard ([GBIF record 863440810](http://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Orn:235016)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 6642382932](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6642382932)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali sparrow is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718187A94571562.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231192)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Passeridae |
| Genus | Passer |
| Species | *Passer castanopterus* |

Scientific name with author: *Passer castanopterus* Blyth, 1855 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231192)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718187A94571562.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5231192)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5231192)
- [Handbook of the Birds of the World, Somali Sparrow](http://www.hbw.com/node/60930)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_sparrow)


---

# Somali starling (Onychognathus blythii)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-starling/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali starling (Onychognathus blythii) is a starling of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and the island of Socotra. In Somalia most of its shared records come from Sanaag and Woqooyi Galbeed. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

## In short

The Somali starling (*Onychognathus blythii*) is a bird of the starling family, Sturnidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and on Socotra, the Yemeni island east of the Horn ([IUCN Red List, *Onychognathus blythii*, 2016](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710614A94254046.en)).

Hartlaub described it in 1859 under another genus; the brackets around the author's name in its scientific name show that it has since been moved to *Onychognathus* ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230743)).

## Habitat

In the Dogu'a Tembien district of northern Ethiopia, it has been recorded in bushy and shrubby areas ([Nyssen and others, *Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains*, Springer, 2019](https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546)). In Somalia, its shared records are concentrated in [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/), in the northern highlands (see records below).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 104 records of the Somali starling from Somalia, dated from 1896 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5230743)). By type: 73 sightings by people, 31 museum specimens.

Records that name a region (74 of 104), by region: Sanaag 44, Woqooyi Galbeed 16, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 8, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) 3, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 2, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 1 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1896, from a place recorded as "Jerato Pass", held by the Field Museum, Chicago ([GBIF record 668178070](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/668178070)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Sanaag, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 6613865907](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6613865907)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali starling is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710614A94254046.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230743)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Sturnidae |
| Genus | Onychognathus |
| Species | *Onychognathus blythii* |

Scientific name with author: *Onychognathus blythii* (Hartlaub, 1859) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230743)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710614A94254046.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5230743)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5230743)
- [Nyssen and others, Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains, 2019](https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_starling)


---

# Somali thrush (Turdus ludoviciae)

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-thrush/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> The Somali thrush or Somali blackbird (Turdus ludoviciae) is a thrush found only in Somalia, in juniper woodland in the northern mountains between 1,300 and 2,000 m. It was once listed as Critically Endangered; in 2021 the IUCN moved it to Least Concern after research found habitat loss less severe than feared.

## In short

The Somali thrush (*Turdus ludoviciae*), also called the Somali blackbird, is a songbird of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is endemic to Somalia ([Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_thrush)). Lort Phillips described it in 1895 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789051)).

## What it looks like

It has a black head and breast, a yellow bill, a brown back and wings, and a grey belly with red sides ([Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_thrush)).

## Where it lives

It lives in mountain juniper woodland and the open ground between, at 1,300 to 2,000 m (same source). Most of its shared records come from Sanaag (see records below).

## A change in its Red List status

BirdLife International listed it as Critically Endangered in 2008 because of habitat loss ([BirdLife International, 2008 IUCN Red List status changes](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22708735/177949776)). Later research found that the loss of its forest habitat was not as severe as first feared, and in 2021 it was moved down to Least Concern ([IUCN Red List, *Turdus ludoviciae*](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22708735/177949776)). Local efforts to protect the forests appear to have helped ([Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_thrush)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 69 records of the Somali thrush from Somalia, dated from 1899 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5789051)). By type: 37 sightings by people, 32 museum specimens.

Records that name a region (37 of 69), by region: Sanaag 28, [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 7, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 2 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1899, from a place recorded as "Wagga Mt.", held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard ([GBIF record 863570469](http://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Orn:234939)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Sanaag, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 6613937797](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6613937797)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali thrush is **Least Concern** ([GBIF, IUCN Red List category](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789051); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789051)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Turdidae |
| Genus | Turdus |
| Species | *Turdus ludoviciae* |

Scientific name with author: *Turdus ludoviciae* (Lort Phillips, 1895) ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789051)).

## Related pages

- [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/)
- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/5789051)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=5789051)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_thrush)


---

# Somalia and South Korea

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/south-korea/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> South Korea and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 25 September 1987. Seoul covers Somalia from its embassy in Nairobi, keeps an anti-piracy naval unit in the Gulf of Aden since 2009, and sold Somalia goods worth US$12.7 million in 2025. Since 2022 Korea has given US$7.6 million through WFP for Somali nutrition and school meals.

## How do Somalia and South Korea relate today?

South Korea has no embassy in Somalia. Its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, is listed by Seoul as the mission for Somalia ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea, Somalia country page](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=172)). The ambassador in Nairobi is accredited to Somalia at the same time ([Embassy of Korea in Kenya](https://ke.mofa.go.kr/ke-en/wpge/m_10536/contents.do)).

Korea's naval Cheonghae Unit has worked in the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) off Somalia since March 2009 ([Korea Herald, 2020](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2212063)). In January 2026 the two foreign ministers spoke by video. Korea's minister affirmed "full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia" ([SONNA, 12 January 2026](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-holds-virtual-meeting-with-his-korean-counterpart-to-uphold-somalias-sovereignty/)).

Korean exports to Somalia were worth US$12.7 million in 2025, against US$3.3 million of imports ([UN Comtrade, Korea–Somalia 2025](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Aid flows mostly through UN agencies such as WFP, UNDP and UNFPA.

## When did contact begin?

Seoul and Mogadishu established diplomatic relations on 25 September 1987, under President [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) ([MOFA Korea](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=172)). The Korean diplomat Kang Shin-sung arrived in Mogadishu on Christmas Eve 1987 as the first ambassador ([Korea Herald, 12 August 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)). He opened the embassy to win support for South Korea's bid to join the UN ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

When fighting reached Mogadishu at the end of 1990, the South Korean staff sheltered North Korean diplomats in the ambassador's residence ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)). Fourteen North Koreans, including four children, joined seven South Koreans there ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

On 12 January 1991 they flew out on a Red Cross plane and Italian military aircraft, with help from Italian ambassador Mario Sica ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)). They landed in Mombasa, Kenya. The 2021 Korean film "Escape from Mogadishu" is based on Kang's 2006 novel about these events ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

South Korean ambassadors to Somalia:

- **Kang Shin-sung**, 1987 to 1991, resident in Mogadishu ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).
- **Kim Chan-woo**, presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu, in a report dated 17 July 2014 ([Goobjoog, 2014](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-president-receive-credentials-from-south-korean-ambassador)).
- **Yeo Sung-jun**, presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 22 March 2024 ([Goobjoog, 22 March 2024](https://en.goobjoog.com/president-mohamud-receives-credentials-of-four-new-ambassadors)).
- **Kang Hyung-shik**, ambassador in Nairobi, handed a copy of his credentials for Somalia to Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Mogadishu in 2025 ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2025](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=7405)).

On 22 July 2026 two Somali ministries reported meetings with the Korean ambassador. The Ministry of Internal Security named him as Kang Hyung-shik ([Ministry of Internal Security, 22 July 2026](https://mois.gov.so/en/?p=999)). A [Dawan](/en/society/somaliland-newspapers/) report of a meeting the same day with the deputy foreign minister named the ambassador as Park Ji-hyun ([Dawan, 22 July 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-and-south-korea-strengthen-maritime-security-cooperation)).

Somalia's ambassador in Nairobi, Jabriil Ibrahim Cabdulle, has handled contacts with the Korean embassy there ([SONNA, 20 February 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-and-south-korea-discuss-strengthening-bilateral-relations/)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Kang Shin-sung**, first ambassador, opened the embassy in 1987 and led the joint escape with North Korean diplomats in January 1991 ([Korea Herald, 2021](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2670114)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, President of Somalia, received Korean ambassadors in 2014 and 2024 ([Goobjoog, 2014](https://en.goobjoog.com/somali-president-receive-credentials-from-south-korean-ambassador); [Goobjoog, 2024](https://en.goobjoog.com/president-mohamud-receives-credentials-of-four-new-ambassadors)).
- **Hamza Abdi Barre**, Prime Minister of Somalia, led Somalia's delegation to the first Korea–Africa Summit in Seoul in June 2024 ([Goobjoog, 4 June 2024](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-barre-stresses-somalias-potential-for-investment-during-the-south-korea-africa-summit)).
- **Han Duck-soo**, Prime Minister of South Korea, met Hamza Abdi Barre in Seoul in June 2024 and pledged support for Somali national projects ([Somali Dispatch, 7 June 2024](https://www.somalidispatch.com/?p=22534)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**, Somalia's foreign minister, held talks with Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in January 2026 and attended the Korea–Africa Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Seoul in June 2026 ([SONNA, 2026](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-holds-virtual-meeting-with-his-korean-counterpart-to-uphold-somalias-sovereignty/); [Dawan, 1 June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-seeks-trade-and-investment-cooperation-with-south-korea)).
- **Cho Hyun**, Korea's foreign minister, gave the January 2026 statement of respect for Somalia's territorial integrity ([SONNA, 2026](https://sonna.so/en/minister-of-foreign-affairs-holds-virtual-meeting-with-his-korean-counterpart-to-uphold-somalias-sovereignty/)).
- **[Bihi Iman Egeh](/en/institutions/ministry-of-finance/)**, Somalia's finance minister, spoke at the 8th Korea–Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) ministerial conference in Seoul in September 2026 ([Dawan, 13 September 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-can-become-digital-gateway-for-horn-of-africa-finance-minister-says)).
- **Wankyu Park**, KOICA country director, runs Korea's peacebuilding programme with UNDP that covers Somalia ([WardheerNews, 29 September 2025](https://wardheernews.com/south-korean-agency-joins-undp-to-tackle-extremism-in-somalia/)).
- **Abdullahi [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Ismail ([Fartaag](/en/institutions/ministry-of-internal-security/))**, Somalia's internal security minister, discussed coast guard and police training with the Korean ambassador in July 2026 ([Ministry of Internal Security, 2026](https://mois.gov.so/en/?p=999)).

## What agreements have they signed?

No bilateral treaty between the two states appears in the Korean ministry's country page ([MOFA Korea](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=172)). Cooperation runs through project agreements with UN agencies:

- **October 2024:** KOICA, UNFPA and the Federal Government launched a project on maternal health, gender-based violence and youth ([UNFPA Somalia, 22 October 2024](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/news/koica-unfpa-and-federal-government-somalia-launch-new-project-build-resilience-somalias)).
- **November 2024:** UNDP and KOICA began a US$18 million peacebuilding and violent-extremism programme for Kenya, [Somalia and South Sudan](/en/relations/south-sudan/), running to 2027 ([WardheerNews, 2025](https://wardheernews.com/south-korean-agency-joins-undp-to-tackle-extremism-in-somalia/)).
- **December 2024:** KOICA gave WFP US$22 million over three years for Kenya, South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) and Somalia, reaching 150,000 people in Somalia ([WFP, 10 December 2024](https://www.wfp.org/news/koica-and-wfp-strengthen-climate-resilience-and-food-security-vulnerable-families-east-africa)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **July 2023:** Somalia's foreign ministry permanent secretary visited Korea ([MOFA Korea](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=172)).
- **February 2023:** President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met Korean presidential secretary Chang Seong-min at the African Union summit ([MOFA Korea](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=172)).
- **4 to 5 June 2024:** Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre attended the Korea–Africa Summit in Seoul and met Prime Minister Han Duck-soo ([Goobjoog, 2024](https://en.goobjoog.com/pm-barre-stresses-somalias-potential-for-investment-during-the-south-korea-africa-summit); [Somali Dispatch, 2024](https://www.somalidispatch.com/?p=22534)).
- **31 May to 2 June 2026:** Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali attended the Korea–Africa Foreign Ministers' Meeting and met President Lee Jae-myung with other African ministers ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2026](https://web.mfa.gov.so/?p=8674)).
- **September 2026:** Finance Minister Bihi Iman Egeh attended the KOAFEC ministerial conference in Seoul ([Dawan, 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-can-become-digital-gateway-for-horn-of-africa-finance-minister-says)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade records Korean exports to Somalia of:

- US$14.4 million in 2021 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2021&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$13.4 million in 2022 ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2022&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$14.9 million in 2023, with imports of US$2.2 million ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$14.6 million in 2024, with imports of US$2.7 million ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))
- US$12.7 million in 2025, with imports of US$3.3 million ([UN Comtrade](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2025&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL))

In 2024 the largest Korean exports were electrical machinery (US$4.5 million), medicines (US$3.5 million), cosmetics, plastics and machinery ([UN Comtrade, by product 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=410&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)). Korea's KOTRA put total 2023 trade at US$17.06 million, matching these figures ([MOFA Korea](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/nation/m_4902/view.do?seq=172)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

OECD data show Korean official aid to Somalia at US$1 million or less a year until 2018, then US$1.95 million in 2019, US$2.18 million in 2020 and US$9.78 million in 2024 ([OECD, DAC2a](https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.DCD.FSD,DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A,/AUS+KOR+BRA+IDN.SOM.206.USD.V?startPeriod=2000&endPeriod=2024)).

- **WFP:** Korea has given WFP US$7.6 million for Somalia since 2022, for nutrition, school meals and climate resilience ([WFP, 30 September 2026](https://www.wfp.org/news/republic-korea-funds-school-meals-and-nutrition-children-somalia)). The latest grant, US$2 million in September 2026, covers 47,500 children ([WFP, 2026](https://www.wfp.org/news/republic-korea-funds-school-meals-and-nutrition-children-somalia)).
- **Horn of Africa pledge:** in May 2023 Korea pledged US$2.3 million and US$18.4 million of rice for drought response across the Horn of Africa ([MOFA Korea, 2023](https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/brd/m_5676/view.do?seq=322204)).
- **Peacebuilding:** KOICA has partnered with UNDP since 2006; its regional programme has produced six local action plans on preventing violent extremism ([WardheerNews, 2025](https://wardheernews.com/south-korean-agency-joins-undp-to-tackle-extremism-in-somalia/)).
- **Health:** see the [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) section below for a Korean-funded immunisation project.

## What about security?

Korea's navy formed the Cheonghae Unit on 3 March 2009 to protect shipping from Somali piracy, as part of [Combined Task Force 151](/en/institutions/naval-missions-off-somalia/) ([Korea Herald, 2020](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/2212063)). By February 2019 it had assisted 21,895 ships and carried out 21 anti-piracy interdictions ([Korea Times, 12 March 2019](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/defense/20190312/navys-anti-piracy-unit-marks-10th-anniversary)). On 21 January 2011 its commandos retook the hijacked ship Samho Jewelry and freed all 21 crew; eight pirates were killed and five captured ([Korea Times, 21 January 2011](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/southkorea/20110121/navy-rescues-all-21-abducted-sailors)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does South Korea deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Korea has no office in Somaliland. In July 2026 Somaliland's health minister, Hussein Bashir Hirsi, opened an immunisation project funded by the Government of Korea, covering eight districts and 53 health facilities ([Somaliland Ministry of Health Development, 2026](https://somalilandmohd.com/somaliland-launches-landmark-immunization-initiative-with-korean-government-support/)).

The KOICA–UNFPA project of 2024 includes federal member states; [South West State](/en/states/south-west-state/)'s humanitarian minister, Abdinasir Arush, spoke at its launch ([UNFPA Somalia, 2024](https://somalia.unfpa.org/en/news/koica-unfpa-and-federal-government-somalia-launch-new-project-build-resilience-somalias)).

After Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025, Korea told the Security Council it supports Somalia's "sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, including its internationally recognised borders" ([Permanent Mission of Korea to the UN, 29 December 2025](https://hun.mofa.go.kr/un-en/brd/m_28247/view.do?seq=183)).

## Have there been disputes?

Piracy brought the sharpest incidents:

- **2006:** pirates seized the Korean trawler Dongwon-ho 628 in April and freed its 25 crew in late July ([Al Jazeera, 30 July 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/7/30/somali-pirates-free-captives-2)).
- **2010:** the Korean tanker [Samho Dream](/en/economy/ships-hijacked-off-somalia/) was held for 217 days and released on 6 November 2010 after a ransom of about US$9 million ([Al Jazeera, 7 November 2010](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/11/7/somali-pirates-get-hefty-ransom)).
- **2011:** the Busan District Court sentenced Mohammed Araye to life for shooting Samho Jewelry captain Seok Hae-kyun, and four other men to prison terms ([Korea Times, 27 May 2011](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/southkorea/20110527/court-hands-life-imprisonment-to-somali-pirate)). The Busan High Court upheld the life term in September 2011 and cut one other sentence from 15 to 12 years ([VOA, 8 September 2011](https://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/09/08/south-korean-court-affirms-life-sentence-for-somali-pirate)).

Korea has banned its citizens from travelling to Somalia since 2007, and extended the ban again in January 2022 ([Garowe Online, 8 January 2022](https://www.garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/world/south-korea-extends-travel-ban-on-six-nations-including-somalia)).

## Where does South Korea stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Korea sent personnel to the UN operation [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) in 1993 to 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)).

Korea sat on the Security Council in 2024 and 2025, overlapping with Somalia in 2025 ([SONNA, 2025](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-and-south-korea-discuss-strengthening-bilateral-relations/)). In December 2025 it welcomed the Council's renewal of the AUSSOM mandate and the sanctions on [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) ([Korean Mission to the UN, 2025](https://hun.mofa.go.kr/un-en/brd/m_28247/view.do?seq=183)). It urged "good-faith dialogue" among Somali stakeholders on governance and the roles of federal and regional institutions ([Korean Mission to the UN, 2025](https://hun.mofa.go.kr/un-en/brd/m_28247/view.do?seq=183)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and North Korea](/en/relations/north-korea/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/)
- [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/)
- [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/)
- [Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/)


---

# Somalia and Taiwan

Source: https://calankii.com/en/relations/taiwan/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia does not have official relations with Taiwan and recognises the People's Republic of China. Taiwan and Somaliland opened representative offices in Hargeisa and Taipei in 2020. In April 2025 Somalia stopped accepting Taiwan-issued travel documents; Taiwan asked it to revoke the step and China's embassy backed it.

## How do Somalia and Taiwan relate today?

The [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) has no official ties with Taiwan. China's embassy in Mogadishu says China recognises the Federal Government as "the only legitimate government representing the entire Somalia, including [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)" ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 24 May 2024](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202405/t20240530_11358311.htm)).

Taiwan's links in the Somali lands run through Somaliland. Taiwan opened a representative office in Hargeisa on 17 August 2020 ([Focus Taiwan, 17 August 2020](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202008170019)). Somaliland opened its office in Taipei on 9 September 2020 ([France 24, 9 September 2020](https://www.france24.com/en/20200909-somaliland-launches-representative-office-in-taiwan)).

From 30 April 2025, Somalia's Civil Aviation Authority stopped accepting Taiwan-issued passports for entry, exit or transit ([Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, 29 April 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762)). Taiwan has told its citizens not to travel to Somalia or Somaliland until the notice is withdrawn ([Taiwan MOFA, 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762)).

## When did contact begin?

Taiwan says it began building relations with Somaliland in 2009 ([Taiwan MOFA, 1 July 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)). Somaliland's office in Taipei dates the start of good relations to 2007 ([Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan](https://somaliland.tw/somaliland-taiwan-history/)).

Earlier, in September 2015, Taiwan gave Oceans Beyond Piracy a grant of US$166,000 to set up maritime security centres in five Somali ports ([Taiwan MOFA, 10 September 2015](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=32652)). Taiwan's representative to the EU, Tung Kuo-yu, signed the agreement in Brussels ([Taiwan MOFA, 2015](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=32652)).

## Who are the representatives?

- **Allen Chenhwa Lou** has been Taiwan's representative in Hargeisa since the office opened; he had been a counsellor at Taiwan's office in Saudi Arabia ([Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan](https://somaliland.tw/somaliland-taiwan-history/); [Taiwan MOFA, Somaliland page](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/CountryInfoEn.aspx?CASN=2&n=1289&sms=0&s=200)).
- **Wu Chen-chi** served as Taiwan's chargé d'affaires in Somaliland in December 2021 ([Taiwan MOFA, 28 December 2021](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=97113)).
- **Mohamed Hagi** spoke for Somaliland as its representative at the opening of its Taipei office in September 2020 ([France 24, 2020](https://www.france24.com/en/20200909-somaliland-launches-representative-office-in-taiwan)).

Taiwan's office is in the Sha'ab area of Hargeisa, on Road No. 1 ([Taiwan MOFA, Somaliland page](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/CountryInfoEn.aspx?CASN=2&n=1289&sms=0&s=200)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Joseph Wu**, Taiwan's foreign minister, signed the protocol with Somaliland on 26 February 2020 and announced the offices on 1 July 2020 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)).
- **Yasin Haji Mohamoud**, Somaliland's foreign minister, signed the protocol in Taipei and met President Tsai Ing-wen ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)).
- **Tsai Ing-wen**, President of Taiwan, received Yasin Haji Mohamoud in February 2020 ([Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan](https://somaliland.tw/somaliland-taiwan-history/)).
- **Lai Ching-te**, President of Taiwan, welcomed the coast guard deal of July 2025 ([Focus Taiwan, 24 July 2025](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202507240027)).
- **François Chihchung Wu**, deputy foreign minister, attended the inauguration of Somaliland's President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) on 12 December 2024 as Lai's envoy ([Taiwan MOFA, 11 December 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=118808)).
- **Rhoda Jama Elmi**, Somaliland's deputy foreign minister, received him at Hargeisa airport ([Taiwan MOFA, 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=118808)).
- **Hassan Mohamed Ali Gafadhi**, Somaliland's health minister, signed a COVID-19 vaccine agreement with Taiwan in December 2021 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2021](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=97113)).
- **[Musa Hassan](/en/history/medieval-towns-of-gebiley-and-kabab/) Yousuf**, chair of Somaliland's National Electoral Commission, led a delegation to Taipei in January 2024 ([Taiwan MOFA, 4 January 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=116312)).
- **Omar Shuaib Mohamed**, Somaliland's livestock minister, laid the stone for a Taiwanese-led livestock project in Berbera in December 2025 ([Somaliland Standard, 26 December 2025](https://somalilandstandard.com/historic-groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-20-million-taiwan-led-investment-in-somalilands-livestock-sector/)).

## What agreements have they signed?

All are between Taiwan and Somaliland:

- **26 February 2020:** Bilateral protocol to set up representative offices, signed in Taipei ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)). The offices have privileges similar to those under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations ([Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan](https://somaliland.tw/somaliland-taiwan-history/)).
- **17 August 2020:** Agreement on technical cooperation, signed as the Hargeisa office opened ([Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan](https://somaliland.tw/somaliland-taiwan-history/)).
- **27 December 2021:** Donation of 150,000 doses of Taiwan's Medigen COVID-19 vaccine ([Taiwan MOFA, 2021](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=97113)).
- **24 July 2025:** Coast guard cooperation agreement, signed in Taipei ([Focus Taiwan, 2025](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202507240027)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **February 2020:** Foreign Minister Yasin Haji Mohamoud in Taipei ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)).
- **January 2024:** Somaliland's electoral commission in Taipei ([Taiwan MOFA, 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=116312)).
- **May 2024:** a Somaliland delegation attended Lai Ching-te's inauguration on 20 May, according to China's embassy ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 2024](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202405/t20240530_11358311.htm)).
- **11 to 12 December 2024:** Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu in Hargeisa ([Taiwan MOFA, 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=118808)).
- **July 2025:** Somaliland's head of external affairs in Taipei for the coast guard deal ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 28 July 2025](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202507/t20250728_11677994.htm)).

## How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade lists Taiwan as "Other Asia, not elsewhere specified". Exports from Taiwan to Somalia were US$1.7 million in 2023 and US$3.9 million in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=490&partnerCode=706&period=2023&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL); [UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=490&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Imports from Somalia were US$0.4 million in 2024 ([UN Comtrade, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=490&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=TOTAL)). Machinery was the largest export in 2024, at US$2.2 million ([UN Comtrade, by product](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=490&partnerCode=706&period=2024&flowCode=X&cmdCode=AG2)).

In December 2025 Central Sky International Trading Co. began building a US$20 million livestock quarantine zone near Berbera port ([Somaliland Standard, 2025](https://somalilandstandard.com/historic-groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-20-million-taiwan-led-investment-in-somalilands-livestock-sector/)). It is a joint venture with Saudi and US investors ([Somaliland Standard, 2025](https://somalilandstandard.com/historic-groundbreaking-ceremony-marks-20-million-taiwan-led-investment-in-somalilands-livestock-sector/)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

- **Health:** the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps held free clinics in ten regions of Somaliland in January 2020, seeing 2,880 patients ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)). TaiwanICDF had trained 23 Somaliland medical workers by then ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)).
- **Scholarships:** three Somaliland students were studying in Taiwan on Taiwan Scholarships in July 2020 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2020](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=93645)).
- **Vaccines:** 150,000 doses of Medigen in December 2021 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2021](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=97113)).
- **Maritime:** US$166,000 for Somali port security centres in 2015 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2015](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=32652)).

## What about security?

Taiwan's coast guard signed a cooperation agreement with Somaliland's coast guard on 24 July 2025 ([Focus Taiwan, 2025](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202507240027)). Taiwan has no forces in Somali territory. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Taiwan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Taiwan describes Somaliland as "an important East African partner" ([Taiwan MOFA, 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=118808)). It says the two cooperate in public health, agriculture, information technology and women's empowerment ([Taiwan MOFA, 2024](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=116312)). No ties with [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/) or the other member states appear in Taiwan's ministry releases.

## Have there been disputes?

**The 2020 offices.** Each party stated its position:

- **Somalia** called the move a reckless attempt to undermine its sovereignty ([France 24, 2020](https://www.france24.com/en/20200909-somaliland-launches-representative-office-in-taiwan)).
- **China** accused Taipei of separatism ([France 24, 2020](https://www.france24.com/en/20200909-somaliland-launches-representative-office-in-taiwan)).
- **Somaliland's** representative Mohamed Hagi said: "From Somaliland's perspective we are independent," and that the tie posed no threat to China ([France 24, 2020](https://www.france24.com/en/20200909-somaliland-launches-representative-office-in-taiwan)).

**The 2025 travel-document ban.** Somalia's Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on 22 April 2025 that Taiwan-issued travel documents would not be valid from 30 April ([Taiwan MOFA, 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762)). It cited the one-China principle and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762)).

- **Taiwan** said: "It demands that the government of Somalia immediately revoke this notification," and rejected Somalia's reading of Resolution 2758 ([Taiwan MOFA, 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762)).
- **China's embassy** backed the step and praised Somalia for "upholding the one-China principle" ([Chinese Embassy in Somalia, 30 April 2025](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202504/t20250430_11614512.htm)). It said it "firmly opposes the Taiwan authorities and Somaliland hosting each other's institution" ([Chinese Embassy, 2025](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202504/t20250430_11614512.htm)).

**Other exchanges.** In March 2025 Taiwan's Hargeisa office said "China has never governed Taiwan for a second"; China's embassy replied that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory" ([Chinese Embassy, 19 March 2025](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202503/t20250319_11578454.htm)). In September 2026 the embassy condemned remarks on Taiwan made in the United States by Somaliland's President Irro ([Chinese Embassy, 16 September 2026](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202609/t20260916_12023118.htm)). It said "Somaliland is an inalienable part of Somalia's territory" ([Chinese Embassy, 2026](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202609/t20260916_12023118.htm)).

## Where does Taiwan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Taiwan is not a UN member. Somalia's aviation notice and China's embassy both cite UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971 as the basis for their position ([Taiwan MOFA, 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762); [Chinese Embassy, 2025](https://so.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zsgx_1/202503/t20250319_11578454.htm)). Taiwan rejects that reading ([Taiwan MOFA, 2025](https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&s=119762)).

## Related pages

- [Somaliland institutions](/en/institutions/somaliland-institutions/)
- [Muse Bihi Abdi](/en/people/muse-bihi-abdi/)
- [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/)
- [Somalia and South Korea](/en/relations/south-korea/)


---

# Wildlife and nature of Somalia: species, endemics, threats and records

Source: https://calankii.com/en/nature/wildlife-of-somalia/ · Language: en · Last checked: 2026-11-13

> Somalia lies in the Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot, one of only two fully dry hotspots on Earth. GBIF, the global open database of species records, holds 102,145 records of 9,869 species from Somalia. Somalia's 2016 national biodiversity plan lists 24 bird species and 93 reptile species found only there or in the Horn, and records large losses of wildlife since the 1980s.

## In short

Somalia sits where two global centres of endemism meet: the Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot and the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa hotspot. The Horn of Africa hotspot is one of only two hotspots in the world that are entirely dry; the other is the Succulent Karoo of southwestern Africa ([Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), Ullah and Gadain, FAO SWALIM, 2016, pp. 17 and 26](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) held 102,145 records from Somalia, covering 9,869 species: 5,661 animals, 3,898 plants, 161 chromists (such as diatoms and brown algae), 130 fungi, 15 bacteria and 4 viruses ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

## Species found only here

The national plan gives these counts of species present in Somalia and of endemic species, meaning found nowhere else, based on Conservation International's figures ([NBSAP 2016, p. 26](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)):

- Plants: 3,165 species, 800 endemic (25%)
- Mammals: 220 species, 20 endemic (9.1%)
- Birds: 697 species, 24 endemic (3.4%)
- Reptiles: 285 species, 93 endemic (32.6%)
- Amphibians: 30 species, 6 endemic (20%)
- Freshwater fish: 100 species, 10 endemic (10%)

BirdLife International gives a different bird count, 566 species with 9 endemic. The plan notes that figures from different sources often do not match; elephant figures for southern Somalia, for example, range from a high of 6,000 down to 70 ([NBSAP 2016, pp. 26 to 27](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

The plan names the beira, the dibatag (Clarke's gazelle), Speke's gazelle and the silver dik-dik as the most notable endemic mammals, and notes the [Somali wild ass](/en/nature/somali-wild-ass/) and the [desert warthog](/en/nature/desert-warthog/). A cheetah was seen in [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) region during the plan's preparation. Seven of the hotspot's 24 endemic bird species are found only in Somalia, among them the Warsangli linnet of the northern mountains ([NBSAP 2016, p. 18](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

## Five ecoregions

The plan divides Somalia's land into five ecoregions, following White (1983), Leslie (1990) and WWF (2014) ([NBSAP 2016, p. 29](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)):

- *Acacia–Commiphora* bushland, the main vegetation of the country
- *Juniperus* forest of the northern Golis mountains: see [Somali montane xeric woodlands](/en/nature/somali-montane-xeric-woodlands/)
- Evergreen and semi-evergreen bushland
- Semi-desert grassland and bushland, including the Hobyo grasslands and the Ethiopian xeric grasslands
- Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest in the far south

## The coast and the sea

The plan describes Somalia's coastline as the longest and least spoiled in Africa, with coral reefs, seabird colonies and turtle nesting beaches that are not protected. Seabird nesting sites include [Mait](/en/regions/maydh/) Island, Zeila Island and islets off Mogadishu. Citing IUCN (1999), it records 87 coral species, 140 reef fish species, and dolphins including the common, spinner and spotted dolphin ([NBSAP 2016, p. 27](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

## Losses recorded

Colonial officials such as R. E. Drake-Brockman (1910) described great abundance and variety of wildlife, and Somalia was then known as one of the best wildlife areas in Africa. By the mid-1980s, IUCN and UNEP (1986) described wildlife as sparse and scattered because of livestock grazing and illegal hunting. The plan records grazing pressure, tree cutting for charcoal and firewood, soil erosion and droughts as causes of damage to vegetation and soils ([NBSAP 2016, p. 27](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

The plan's IUCN Red List tables count 166 threatened species in Somalia: 15 mammals, 17 birds, 4 reptiles, 26 fish, 2 molluscs, 60 other invertebrates and 42 plants ([NBSAP 2016, p. 28](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)).

## How the record grew

Most of the species record comes from museum and herbarium specimens: 71,519 of GBIF's 102,145 records from Somalia. Sightings by people make up 20,965, most of them birds shared through eBird. The largest holders are the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (26,124 records), the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (13,570) and Uppsala University (4,562) ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)).

By decade, dated records rose from 602 in the 1870s to 20,509 in the 1980s, fell to 5,304 in the 1990s and 3,067 in the 2000s, and rose again to 11,983 in the 2020s so far (same source).

## Every species list

- Animals: [mammals](/en/nature/mammals-of-somalia/), [birds](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/), [reptiles](/en/nature/reptiles-of-somalia/), [amphibians](/en/nature/amphibians-of-somalia/), [perch-like fish](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-perch-like/), [sharks, rays and other fish](/en/nature/fish-of-somalia-sharks-rays-and-others/), [butterflies and moths](/en/nature/butterflies-and-moths-of-somalia/), [beetles](/en/nature/beetles-of-somalia/), [other insects](/en/nature/other-insects-of-somalia/), [snails A to L](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-a-to-l/), [snails M to Z](/en/nature/snails-of-somalia-m-to-z/), [clams, octopus and other molluscs](/en/nature/clams-octopus-and-other-molluscs-of-somalia/), [crabs, spiders and other arthropods](/en/nature/crabs-spiders-and-other-arthropods-of-somalia/), [corals, sea urchins, worms and others](/en/nature/corals-sea-urchins-worms-and-other-animals-of-somalia/)
- Plants: [Plants of Somalia](/en/nature/plants-of-somalia/), with every plant list
- Others: [fungi, algae and microbes](/en/nature/fungi-algae-and-microbes-of-somalia/)
- All 9,869 species in one open data file: [species-recorded-in-somalia.csv](/data/nature/species-recorded-in-somalia.csv)

## Sources

- [Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2016](https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/so/so-nbsap-01-en.pdf)
- [GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO)
- [Wikipedia, Wildlife of Somalia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Somalia)